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diff --git a/33000.txt b/33000.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8016eb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/33000.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26560 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Greater Republic, by Charles Morris + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Greater Republic + A History of the United States + +Author: Charles Morris + +Release Date: July 18, 2010 [EBook #33000] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREATER REPUBLIC *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Suzanne Lybarger, Graeme Mackreth +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: UNITED STATES SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION and +Standard Time Divisions.] + + + + +A NEW HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES + +The Greater Republic + + EMBRACING + + THE GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR COUNTRY FROM THE + EARLIEST DAYS OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT + TO THE PRESENT EVENTFUL YEAR + + + SHOWING HOW FROM THIRTEEN COLONIES WITH A SCATTERED POPULATION ALONG THE + ATLANTIC COAST A GREAT REPUBLIC HAS BEEN FORMED, EMBRACING + FORTY-FIVE STATES WITH 75,000,000 INHABITANTS AND VAST + COLONIAL POSSESSIONS IN TWO HEMISPHERES + + +By CHARLES MORRIS, LL.D. + +Author of "Decisive Events in American History," "Half Hours with the +Best American Authors," "An Historical Review of Civilization," Etc., +Etc. + + +Embellished With Over 300 New Engravings + +ILLUSTRATING ALL THAT IS INTERESTING AND INSPIRING IN OUR HISTORY + + + JOHN C. WINSTON & CO. + PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO + 1899 + + +Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by + +W.E. SCULL. + +in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + * * * * * + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION. + + +The late war with Spain marks a momentous epoch in the progress of our +country, whose history, stretching through the centuries of discovery, +exploration, settlement, the struggle for independence, foreign and +domestic war, lofty achievement in all departments of knowledge and +progress, is the most interesting in human annals. It is a record full +of instruction and incitement to endeavor, which must fill every +American with pride in his birthright, and with gratitude to Him who +holds the earth and the sea in the hollow of His hand. + +The following pages contain a complete, accurate, and graphic history of +our country from the first visit of the Northmen, a thousand years ago, +to the opening of its new destiny, through the late struggle, resulting +in the freeing of Cuba, the wresting of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and +the Ladrones from the tyranny of the most cruel of modern nations, and +the addition of Hawaii to our domain. The Greater United States, at one +bound, assumes its place in the van of nations, and becomes the foremost +agent in civilizing and christianizing the world. + +The task, long committed to England, Germany, France, Russia, and later +to Japan, must henceforth be shared with us, whose glowing future gives +promise of the crowning achievement of the ages. With a fervent trust in +a guiding Providence, and an abiding confidence in our ability, we enter +upon the new and grander career, as in obedience to the divine behest +that the Latin race must decrease and the Anglo-Saxon increase, and that +the latter, in a human sense, must be the regenerator of all who are +groping in the night of ignorance and barbarism. + +It is a wonderful story that is traced in the pages that follow. A +comprehension of the present and of the promise of the future +necessitates an understanding of the past. The history of the Greater +United States, therefore, is complete, from the first glimpse, in the +early morning of October 12, 1492, of San Salvador by Columbus, through +the settlement of the colonies, their struggles for existence, the +colonial wars, the supreme contest between England and France for +mastery in the New World, the long gloom of the Revolution that brought +independence, the founding of the Republic, in 1787, the growth and +expansion of the nation, the mighty War for the Union that united the +divided house and planted it upon a rock, and the later "war for +humanity," when the perishing islands, stretching their hands to us in +helpless anguish, were gathered under the flag of freedom, there to +remain through all time to come. + +There have been many leaders in this great work. Not the story of the +deeds alone, but of those who performed them is told. History, +biography, and all that is interesting and profitable to know are here +truthfully set forth, for their lesson is one whose value is beyond +measurement. + +In addition to the history of that which was simply the United States, a +complete account is given of our new colonial possessions, Hawaii, Porto +Rico, the Philippines, the Ladrones, and of Cuba, the child of our +adoption. Their geography, their soil, climate, productions, +inhabitants, and capabilities are set forth with fullness and accuracy. + +In conclusion, the publishers confidently claim that "The Greater +Republic" is the fullest, most interesting, reliable, and instructive +work of the kind ever offered the public. + +[Illustration: "I AM READY FOR ANY SERVICE THAT I CAN GIVE MY COUNTRY" + +In 1798 our Government was about to declare war against France. Congress +appointed Washington Commander-in-chief of the American Army. The +Secretary of War carried the commission in person to Mt. Vernon. The old +hero, sitting on his horse in the harvest field, accepted in the above +patriotic words.] + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. + +DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. + +The Visits of the Northmen to the New World--The Indians and Mound +Builders--Christopher Columbus--His Discovery of America--Amerigo +Vespucci--John Cabot--_Spanish Explorers_--Balboa--His Discovery of +the Pacific--Magellan--Ponce de Leon--De Narvaez--De Soto--Menendez +--_French Explorers_--Verrazzani--Cartier--Ribault--Laudonniere--Champlain +--La Salle--_English Explorers_--Sir Hugh Willoughby--Martin +Frobisher--Sir Humphrey Gilbert--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Lost +Colony--_Dutch Explorer_--Henry Hudson 33 + + +CHAPTER II. + +SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. + +_Virginia_,--Founding of Jamestown--Captain John +Smith--Introduction of African Slavery--Indian Wars--Bacon's +Rebellion--Forms of Government--Prosperity--Education--_New +England_,--Plymouth--Massachusetts Bay Colony--Union of the +Colonies--Religious Persecution--King Philip's War--The +Witchcraft Delusion--_New Hampshire_,--_The Connecticut +Colony_,--_The New Haven Colony_,--Union of the Colonies--Indian +Wars--The Charter Oak--_Rhode Island_,--Different Forms of +Government--_New York_,--The Dutch and English Settlers--_New +Jersey_,--_Delaware_,--_Pennsylvania_,--_Maryland_,--Mason and +Dixon's Line--_The Carolinas_,--_Georgia_ 47 + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INTERCOLONIAL WARS AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. + +King William's War--Queen Anne's War--King George's War--The +French and Indian War--England and France Rivals in the Old World +and the New--The Early French Settlements--The Disputed +Territory--France's Fatal Weakness--Washington's Journey Through +the Wilderness--The First Fight of the War--The War Wholly +American for Two Years--The Braddock Massacre--The Great Change +Wrought by William Pitt--Fall of Quebec--Momentous Consequences +of the Great English Victory--The Growth and Progress of the +Colonies and their Home Life 75 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE REVOLUTION--THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. + +Causes of the Revolution--The Stamp Act--The Boston Tea +Party--England's Unbearable Measures--The First Continental +Congress--The Boston Massacre--Lexington and Concord--The Second +Continental Congress--Battle of Bunker Hill--Assumption of +Command by Washington--British Evacuation of Boston--Disastrous +Invasion of Canada 89 + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED). THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA. + +Declaration of Independence--The American Flag--Battle of Long +Island--Washington's Retreat Through the Jerseys--Trenton and +Princeton--In Winter Quarters--Lafayette--Brandywine and +Germantown--At Valley Forge--Burgoyne's Campaign--Port Schuyler +and Bennington--Bemis Heights and Stillwater--The Conway +Cabal--Aid from France--Battle of Monmouth--Molly Pitcher--Failure +of French Aid--Massacre at Wyoming--Continental Money--Stony +Point--Treason of Arnold--Paul Jones' Great Victory 103 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED). + +Capture of Savannah--British Conquest of Georgia--Fall of +Charleston--Bitter Warfare in South Carolina--Battle of +Camden--Of King's Mountain--Of the Cowpens--Battle of Guilford +Court-House--Movements of Cornwallis--The Final Campaign--Peace +and Independence 131 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +The Method of Government During the Revolution--Impending +Anarchy--The State Boundaries--State Cessions of Land--Shays' +Rebellion--Adoption of the Constitution--Its Leading Features--The +Ordinance of 1787--Formation of Parties--Election of the First +President and Vice-President 143 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON--1789-1809. + +Washington--His Inauguration as First President of the United +States--Alexander Hamilton--His Success at the Head of the +Treasury Department--The Obduracy of Rhode Island--Establishment +of the United States Bank--Passage of a Tariff Bill--Establishment +of a Mint--The Plan of a Federal Judiciary--Admission of Vermont, +Kentucky, and Tennessee--Benjamin Franklin--Troubles with the Western +Indians--Their Defeat by General Wayne--Removal of the National +Capital Provided for--The Whiskey Insurrection--The Course of +"Citizen Genet"--Jay's Treaty--Re-election of Washington--Resignation +of Jefferson and Hamilton--Washington's Farewell Address--Establishment +of the United States Military Academy at West Point--The Presidential +Election of 1796--John Adams--Prosperity of the Country--Population +of the Country in 1790--Invention of the Cotton Gin--Troubles with +France--War on the Ocean--Washington Appointed Commander-in-Chief--Peace +Secured--The Alien and Sedition Laws--The Census of 1800--The +Presidential Election of 1800--The Twelfth Amendment to the +Constitution--Thomas Jefferson--Admission of Ohio--The Indiana +Territory--The Purchase of Louisiana--Its Immense Area--Abolishment of +the Slave Trade--War with Tripoli--The Lewis and Clark Expedition +--Alexander Hamilton Killed in a Duel by Aaron Burr--The First Steamboat +on the Hudson--The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic--England's +Oppressive Course Toward the United States--Outrage by the British Ship +_Leander_--The Affair of the _Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_--Passage of +the Embargo Act--The Presidential Election of 1808 153 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809-1817. THE WAR OF 1812. + +James Madison--The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts--Revival +of the Latter Against England--The _Little Belt_ and the +_President_--Population of the United States in 1810--Battle of +Tippecanoe--Declaration of War Against England--Comparative +Strength of the Two Nations on the Ocean--Unpopularity of the War +in New England--Preparations Made by the Government--Cowardly +Surrender of Detroit--Presidential Election of 1812--Admission of +Louisiana and Indiana--New National Bank Chartered--Second +Attempt to Invade Canada--Battle of Queenstown Heights--Inefficiency +of the American Forces in 1812--Brilliant Work of the Navy--The +_Constitution_ and the _Guerriere_--The _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_--The +_United States_ and the _Macedonian_--The _Constitution_ and the +_Java_--Reorganization and Strengthening of the Army--Operations +in the West--Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson--American Invasion +of Ohio and Victory of the Thames--Indian Massacre at Fort Mimms--Capture +of York (Toronto)--Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett's Harbor--Failure of +the American Invasion of Canada--The _Hornet_ and _Peacock_--Capture +of the _Chesapeake_--"Don't Give Up the Ship"--Captain Decatur Blockaded +at New London--Capture of the _Argus_ by the Enemy--Cruise of the +_Essex_--The Glorious Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie--Success +of the American Arms in Canada--Battle of the Chippewa--Of Lundy's +Lane--Decisive Defeat of the Enemy's Attack on Plattsburg--Punishment +of the Creek Indians for the Massacre at Fort Mimms--Vigorous Action +by the National Government--Burning of Washington by the British--The +Hartford Convention 181 + + +CHAPTER X. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829. + +James Monroe--The "Era of Good Feeling"--The Seminole +War--Vigorous Measures of General Jackson--Admission of +Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri--The Missouri +Compromise--The Monroe Doctrine--Visit of Lafayette--Introduction +of the Use of Gas--Completion of the Erie Canal--The First "Hard +Times"--Extinction of the West Indian Pirates--Presidential +Election of 1824--John Quincy Adams--Prosperity of the Country +--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the +Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional +Action on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828 205 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, +1829-1845. + +Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The +President's Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential +Election of 1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United +States Treasury Among the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The +Nullification Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the +Steam Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and +Friction Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the +United States in 1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism +--France and Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United +States--The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, +and Daniel Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren +--The Panic of 1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United +States in 1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison +--His Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton +Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A +Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican +Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of +Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential +Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His +Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection 215 + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840. + +The Origin of the "Caucus"--The Election of 1792--The First +Stormy Election--The Constitution Amended--Improvement of the +Method of Nominating Presidential Candidates--The First +Presidential Convention--Convention in Baltimore in +1832--Exciting Scenes--The Presidential Campaign of 1820--"Old +Hickory"--Andrew Jackson's Popularity--Jackson Nominated--"Old +Hickory" Defeated--The "Log-Cabin" and "Hard-Cider" Campaign of +1840--"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"--Peculiar Feature of the +Harrison Campaign 239 + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845-1849. + +James K. Polk--_The War with Mexico_--The First Conflict--Battle +of Resaca de la Palma--Vigorous Action of the United States +Government--General Scott's Plan of Campaign--Capture of +Monterey--An Armistice--Capture of Saltillo--Of Victoria--Of +Tampico--General Kearny's Capture of Santa Fe--Conquest of +California--Wonderful March of Colonel Doniphan--Battle of Buena +Vista--General Scott's March Toward the City of Mexico--Capture +of Vera Cruz--American Victory at Cerro Gordo--Five American +Victories in One Day--Santa Anna--Conquest of Mexico Completed--Terms +of the Treaty of Peace--The New Territory Gained--The Slavery Dispute +--The Wilmot Proviso--"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"--Adjustment of the +Oregon Boundary--Admission of Iowa and Wisconsin--The Smithsonian +Institute--Discovery of Gold in California--The Mormons--The +Presidential Election of 1848 251 + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857. + +Zachary Taylor--The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress--The +Omnibus Bill--Death of President Taylor--Millard Fillmore--Death +of the Old Leaders and Debut of the New--The Census of 1850--Surveys +for a Railway to the Pacific--Presidential Election of 1852--Franklin +Pierce--Death of Vice-President King--A Commercial Treaty Made with +Japan--Filibustering Expeditions--The Ostend Manifesto--The "Know +Nothing" Party--The Kansas-Nebraska Bill and Repeal of the Missouri +Compromise 269 + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865 THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861. + +Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson +Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort +Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops +in Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of +England and France--Friendship of Russia--The States that +Composed the Southern Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big +Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia--General +George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull Run--General McClellan +Called to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--Union Disaster +at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in Missouri--Battle of Wilson's +Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure +of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The Trent Affair--Summary +of the Year's Operations 285 + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862. + +Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate +Line of Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg +Landing or Shiloh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of +Louisville--Battle of Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or +Stone River--Battle of Pea Ridge--Naval Battle Between the +_Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the Two Vessels--Capture of New +Orleans--The Advance Against Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula +Campaign--_The First Confederate Invasion of the North_--_Battle +of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous Union Repulse at +Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the War's Operations_--_The +Confederate Privateers_--_The Emancipation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks +and Bond Issues_ 301 + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863. + +The Military Situation in the West--Siege and Capture of +Vicksburg--The Mississippi Opened--Battle of Chickamauga--"The +Rock of Chickamauga"--The Battle Above the Clouds--Siege of +Knoxville--General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of +the Potomac--His Plan of Campaign Against Richmond--Stonewall +Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh Corps--Critical Situation of +the Union Army--Death of Jackson--Battle of Chancellorsville--Defeat +of Hooker--The Second Confederate Invasion--Battle of Gettysburg--The +Decisive Struggle of the War--Lee's Retreat--Subsequent Movements of +Lee and Meade--Confederate Privateering--Destruction of the +_Nashville_--Failure of the Attacks on Charleston--The Military +Raids--Stuart's Narrow Escape--Stoneman's Raid--Morgan's Raid in +Indiana and Ohio 333 + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONCLUDED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONCLUDED), 1864-1865. + +The Work Remaining to be Done--General Grant Placed in Command of +all the Union Armies--The Grand Campaign--Bank's Disastrous Red +River Expedition--How the Union Fleet was Saved--Capture of +Mobile by Admiral Farragut--The Confederate Cruisers--Destruction +of the _Alabama_ by the _Kearsarge_--Fate of the Other Confederate +Cruisers--Destruction of the _Albemarle_ by Lieutenant William B. +Cushing--Re-election of President Lincoln--Distress in the South and +Prosperity in the North--The Union Prisoners in the South--Admission +of Nevada--The Confederate Raids from Canada--Sherman's Advance to +Atlanta--Fall of Atlanta--Hood's Vain Attempt to Relieve Georgia--Superb +Success of General Thomas--"Marching Through Georgia"--Sherman's +Christmas Gift to President Lincoln--Opening of Grant's Final +Campaign--Battles in the Wilderness--Wounding of General +Longstreet and Death of Generals Stuart and Sedgwick--Grant's +Flanking Movements Against Lee--A Disastrous Repulse at Cold +Harbor--Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley--"Bottling-up" +of Butler--Explosions of the Petersburg Mine--Early's Raids--His Final +Defeat by Sheridan--Grant's Campaign--Surrender of Lee--Assassination +of President Lincoln--Death of Booth and Punishment of the +Conspirators--Surrender of Jo Johnston and Collapse of the +Southern Confederacy--Capture of Jefferson Davis--His Release and +Death--Statistics of the Civil War--A Characteristic Anecdote 367 + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT, 1865-1877. + +Andrew Johnson--Reconstruction--Quarrel Between the President and +Congress--The Fenians--Execution of Maximilian--Admission of +Nebraska--Laying of the Atlantic Cable--Purchase of Alaska--Impeachment +and Acquittal of the President--Carpet-bag Rule in the South--Presidential +Election of 1868--U.S. Grant--Settlement of the _Alabama_ Claims +--Completion of the Overland Railway--The Chicago Fire--Settlement +of the Northwestern Boundary--Presidential Election of 1872--The Modoc +Troubles--Civil War in Louisiana--Admission of Colorado--Panic of +1873--Notable Deaths--Custer's Massacre--The Centennial--The +Presidential Election of 1876 the Most Perilous in the History of +the Country 407 + + +CHAPTER XX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR, 1877-1885. + +R.B. Hayes--The Telephone--Railway Strikes--Elevated +Railroads--War with the Nez Perce Indians--Remonetization of +Silver--Resumption of Specie Payments--A Strange Fishery +Award--The Yellow Fever Scourge--Presidential Election of +1878--James A. Garfield--Civil Service Reform--Assassination of +President Garfield--Chester A. Arthur--The Star Route Frauds--The +Brooklyn Bridge--The Chinese Question--The Mormons--Alaska +Exploration--The Yorktown Centennial--Attempts to Reach the North +Pole by Americans--History of the Greely Expedition 427 + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (FIRST) AND OF HARRISON, 1885-1893. + +Grover Cleveland--Completion of the Washington Monument--The +Bartholdi Statue--Death of General Grant--Death of Vice-President +Hendricks--The First Vice-President to Die in Office--George +Clinton--Elbridge Gerry--William R. King--Henry Wilson--Death of +General McClellan--Of General Hancock--His Career--The Dispute +Between Capital and Labor--Arbitration--The Anarchistic Outbreak +in Chicago--The Charleston Earthquake--Conquest of the Apaches +--Presidential Election of 1888--Benjamin Harrison--The Johnstown +Disaster--Threatened War with Chili--The Indian Uprising of 1890-91 +--Admission of New States--Presidential Election of 1892 459 + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND), 1893-1897. + +Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill--The World's +Columbian Exposition at Chicago--The Hawaiian Imbroglio--The +Great Railroad Strike of 1894--Coxey's Commonweal Army--Admission +of Utah--Harnessing of Niagara--Dispute with England Over +Venezuela's Boundary--Presidential Election of 1896 487 + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND, CONCLUDED), 1893-1897. + +Settling the Northwest--The Face of the Country Transformed--Clearing +Away the Forests and its Effects--Tree-planting on the Prairies--Pioneer +Life in the Seventies--The Granary of the World--The Northwestern +Farmer--Transportation and Other Industries--Business Cities and +Centres--United Public Action and its Influence--The Indian +Question--Other Elements of Population--Society and General Culture 511 + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF MCKINLEY, 1897-1901. + +William McKinley--Organization of "Greater New York"--Removal of +General Grant's Remains to Morningside Park--The Klondike Gold +Excitement--Spain's Misrule in Cuba--Preliminary Events of the +Spanish-American War 527 + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF MCKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901. + +THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. + +Opening Incidents--Bombardment of Matanzas--Dewey's Wonderful +Victory at Manila--Disaster to the _Winslow_ at Cardenas Bay--The +First American Loss of Life--Bombardment of San Juan, Porto +Rico--The Elusive Spanish Fleet--Bottled-up in Santiago +Harbor--Lieutenant Hobson's Daring Exploit--Second Bombardment of +Santiago and Arrival of the Army--Gallant Work of the Rough +Riders and the Regulars--Battles of San Juan and El Caney--Destruction +of Cervera's Fleet--General Shafter Reinforced in Front of Santiago +--Surrender of the City--General Miles in Porto Rico--An Easy Conquest +--Conquest of the Philippines--Peace Negotiations and Signing of the +Protocol--Its Terms--Members of the National Peace Commission--Return +of the Troops from Cuba and Porto Rico--The Peace Commission in +Paris--Conclusion of its Work--Terms of the Treaty--Ratified by +the Senate 547 + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901 + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS + +The Islands of Hawaii--Their Inhabitants and Products--City of +Honolulu--History of Cuba--The Ten Years' War--The Insurrection +of 1895-98--Geography and Productions of Cuba--Its Climate--History +of Porto Rico--Its People and Productions--San Juan and Ponce--Location, +Discovery, and History of the Philippines--Insurrections of the +Filipinos--City of Manila--Commerce--Philippine Productions--Climate +and Volcanoes--Dewey at Manila--The Ladrone Islands--Conclusion 587 + + +[Illustration: PENN'S TREATY BELT] + +[Illustration: A Settler. Ruins of Jamestown. Indian Chief.] + + + + +List of Illustrations. + +PAGE + +Amerigo Vespucci, 33 +Meeting Between the Northmen and Natives, 34 +Sebastian Cabot, 35 +Columbus and the Egg, 37 +An Indian Council of War, 41 +"The Broiling of Fish Over the Fire," 43 +Indian Village Enclosed with Palisades, 44 +Sir Walter Raleigh, 45 +Seal of the Virginia Company, 47 +Armor Worn by the Pilgrims in 1620, 52 +Landing of Myles Standish, 54 +Roger Williams in Banishment, 57 +Primitive Mode of Grinding Corn, 60 +Friends' Meeting-House, Burlington, N.J., 64 +Moravian Easter Service, Bethlehem, Pa., 68 +Colonial Plow--1706, 71 +Ancient Horseshoes, 72 +A Colonial Flax-wheel, 72 +Silk-winding, 73 +A Comfortier, or Chafing Dish, 73 +Early Days in New England, 74 +Places of Worship in New York in 1742, 75 +Attack on Rioters, Springfield, Mass., in 1786, 77 +Young Washington Riding a Colt, 79 +Braddock's Defeat, 81 +Martello Tower on the Heights of Abraham, 82 +A Dutch Household as Seen in the Early Days in New York, 83 +Memorial Hall, Harvard College, 85 +Bible Brought Over in the _Mayflower_, 86 +American Stage-coach of 1795, 87 +The Old South Church, Boston, 91 +Patrick Henry, 93 +The Monument on Bunker Hill, 94 +Nomination of Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, 96 +Faneuil Hall, Boston, 97 +St. Paul's Church, New York, 101 +Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 104 +The Liberty Bell, 105 +The Statue of Liberty, 107 +An Old New York Mansion, 109 +Washington Crossing the Delaware, 113 +"Give Them Watts, Boys," 115 +Washington at Valley Forge, 117 +An Old Colonial House at Germantown, 120 +Virginia Currency, 1670, 123 +Paul Jones, 125 +The _Bon Homme Richard_ and _Serapis_, 126 +British Captain Surrendering Sword, 127 +Escape of Benedict Arnold, 129 +Tarleton's Lieutenant and the Farmer, 134 +Cornwallis, 137 +A Plantation Gateway, 143 +Senate Chamber, 147 +House of Representatives, 149 +An Old Indian Farm-house, 152 +Mary Ball, the Mother of Washington, 153 +George Washington, 154 +Inauguration of Washington, 155 +Alexander Hamilton, 157 +Ben Franklin in His Father's Shop, 159 +Franklin's Grave, 160 +Chief Justice John Jay, 163 +Washington's Bedroom in which He Died, 165 +Mother of Washington Receiving Lafayette, 166 +John Adams, 168 +The Cotton Gin, Invented in 1793, 169 +Thomas Jefferson, 171 +Development of Steam Navigation, 177 +Robert Fulton, 178 +James Madison, 182 +The Arts of Peace and the Art of War, 187 +Mrs. James Madison, 191 +Burning of Washington, 197 +Weathersford and General Jackson, 201 +First Train of Cars in America, 205 +James Monroe, 205 +An Indian's Declaration of War, 207 +John Quincy Adams, 211 +"Johnny Bull," or No. 1, 213 +Andrew Jackson, 216 +Samuel Houston, 218 +Oseola's Indignation, 221 +Western Railroad in Earlier Days, 222 +John C. Calhoun, 223 +Henry Clay, 224 +Daniel Webster, 225 +Martin Van Buren, 227 +William Henry Harrison, 239 +John Tyler, 231 +Where the First Morse Instrument was Constructed, 235 +Speedwell Iron Works, Morristown, N.J. 236 +Old Gates at St. Augustine, Florida, 239 +A Typical Virginia Court-House, 241 +The White House at Washington, D.C., 243 +Old Spanish House, New Orleans, 247 +The Marigny House, New Orleans, 248 +James K. Polk, 251 +Robert E. Lee in the Mexican War, 253 +General Winfield Scott, 257 +Battle of Cerro Gordo, 259 +The Smithsonian Institute, 263 +Gold Washing--The Sluice, 264 +Gold Washing--The Cradle, 265 +Great Salt Lake City, Utah, 267 +Zachary Taylor, 269 +Millard Fillmore, 271 +Franklin Pierce, 273 +Lucretia Mott, 275 +Henry Ward Beecher, 276 +James Buchanan, 278 +Lucretia Mott Protecting Dangerfield, 279 +Harper's Ferry, 281 +Abraham Lincoln, 285 +From Log-Cabin to the White House, 286 +Jefferson Davis, 287 +Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S.C., 289 +A Skirmisher, 291 +General George B. McClellan, 293 +Statue of McClellan, Philadelphia, Pa., 295 +Fortifying Richmond, 297 +Breech-loading Mortar, or Howitzer, 302 +A Railroad Battery, 305 +Sec. Stanton's Opinion about the _Merrimac_, 309 +John Ericsson, 312 +Libby Prison in 1865, 315 +Libby Prison in 1884, 316 +Moist Weather at the Front, 319 +Antietam Bridge, 325 +Model of Gatling Gun, 329 +U.S. Military Telegraph Wagon, 331 +Admiral Porter, 334 +David G. Farragut, 335 +Grant After the Battle of Belmont, 337 +General George H. Thomas, 341 +General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson, 345 +House in which Stonewall Jackson Died, 346 +General Robert E. Lee, 349 +General George G. Meade, 351 +Cushing's Last Shot, 354 +Entrance to Gettysburg Cemetery, 357 +The Swamp Angel Battery, 363 +Bailey's Dams on the Red River, 371 +Monument of Farragut at Washington, 373 +Bird's-eye View of Andersonville Prison, 383 +Death of General Polk, 385 +General William T. Sherman, 389 +General Lee Leading the Texans' Charge, 393 +General Philip H. Sheridan, 395 +Lincoln Entering Richmond, 398 +The Desperate Extremity of the Confederates, 403 +Horace Greeley, 405 +Lincoln's Grave, Springfield, Ill., 406 +Andrew Johnson, 407 +Log-cabin Church at Juneau, Alaska, 411 +Southern Legislature Under Carpet-bag Rule, 413 +Ulysses Simpson Grant, 415 +Mrs. Julia Dent Grant, 415 +The Burning of Chicago, 1871, 417 +Section of Chicago Stock-yards, 418 +Monument to General Lee, Richmond, Va., 422 +General George Crook, 423 +Memorial Hall of 1876, 425 +Samuel J. Tilden, 426 +Rutherford B. Hayes, 427 +Grant at Windsor Castle, 431 +Grant in Japan, 433 +The Boy James Garfield and his Mother, 434 +James A. Garfield, 435 +The Aged Mother of President Garfield, 436 +Assassination of President Garfield, 437 +Memorial Tablet to President Garfield, 438 +Chester Alan Arthur, 439 +The Brooklyn Bridge, 440 +Scene in Chinatown, San Francisco, 441 +A Funeral in the Arctic Regions, 449 +Grover Cleveland, 459 +Tomb of General U.S. Grant, New York, 464 +City Hall, Philadelphia, 467 +Old Haymarket Plaza, Chicago, 471 +General Crook's Apache Guide, 475 +An Indian Warrior, 477 +Benjamin Harrison, 479 +Indian Mother and Infant, 481 +Indian Agency, 484 +Henry Moore Teller, 487 +Model of U.S. Man-of-War, 488 +Machinery Hall, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 490 +Horticultural Building, World's Fair, 1893, 491 +Agricultural Building, World's Fair, 1893, 491 +Woman's Building, World's Fair, 1893, 492 +Thomas A. Edison, 493 +The Viking Ship, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 495 +Art Palace, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 496 +Government Building, World's Fair, 1893, 496 +James G. Blaine, 499 +A Scene of the Chicago Strike of 1894, 501 +A Gold Prospecting Party, British Guiana, 505 +The Venezuelan Commission, 507 +William Jennings Bryan, 508 +Albert Shaw, 511 +A Dispute Over a Brand, 513 +Sluice-gate, 517 +Between the Mills, 518 +Barrel-hoist and Tunnel, Washburn Mill, 518 +Mossbrae, 520 +Section of Chicago Stock-yards, 521 +The Falls of St. Anthony, 1885, 523 +Lake-shore Drive, Chicago, 525 +Wm. McKinley, 527 +The Obelisk, Central Park, New York, 529 +John Sherman, 531 +Thomas B. Reed, 533 +Tomb of U.S. Grant, New York, 534 +Review of the Navy and Merchant Marine on the Hudson, April 27, 1897, 535 +Map of Alaska, 536 +Ready for the Trail, 537 +General Calixto Garcia, 539 +General Maximo Gomez, 541 +Jose Marti, 543 +General Antonio Maceo, 544 +The U.S. Battleship _Maine_ and her Officers, 545 +Admiral George Dewey, 551 +Camp Scene at Chickamauga, 555 +Richmond P. Hobson, 557 +Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, 559 +Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, 560 +Gov. Theodore Roosevelt, 561 +Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, 565 +Rear-Admiral John C. Watson, 567 +Major-General William R. Shaffer, 570 +Major-General Nelson A. Miles, 571 +Major-General Joseph Wheeler, 573 +Major-General Wesley Merritt, 577 +Major-General Elwell S. Otis, 584 +Admiral Dewey's Flagship the _Olympia_, 585 +Native Grass House, Hawaii, 587 +Royal Palace, Hawaii, 589 +Raising of the American Flag, Honolulu, 589 +Hula Dancing Girls, Hawaii, 590 +Church in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, 592 +Sugar Cane Plantation, Hawaiian Islands, 594 +Tomb of Christopher Columbus, Havana, Cuba, 595 +Indian Statue in the Prado, Havana, Cuba, 597 +Daring Attack of Cuban Patriots, 599 +General Maximo Gomez, 602 +Sunrise Executions, Havana, 603 +A Volante, Cuba, 608 +Entrance to the Public Grounds, Havana, 609 +A Market Girl, Porto Rico, 610 +The Custom House, Ponce, Porto Rico, 612 +Native Belles, Porto Rico, 614 +The Market Place, Ponce, Porto Rico, 615 +Filipinos of the Savage Tribes 617 +Native Hunters, Philippine Islands, 618 +Philippine Warriors, 622 +Native Residence in the Suburbs of Manila, 624 +A Typical Moro Village, Philippine Islands, 626 +Bridge Over the Pasig River, 628 +A Popular Street Conveyance, Manila, 631 +A Wedding Procession, Philippine Islands, 633 +Drying Sugar, Philippine Islands, 635 +The Strange Wagons of Philippine Islands, 636 +Native House and Palms, Ladrone Islands, 644 + + +[Illustration: William Penn Esq. Proprietor of Pennsylvania 1703.] + + + + +LIST OF FULL-PAGE HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + Page +"I am ready for any service that I can give my country" _Frontispiece_ +Search for the Fountain of Youth opp. 39 +Pocahontas Saving the Life of John Smith opp. 49 +The Marriage of Pocahontas opp. 50 +Gallup's Recapture of Oldham's Boat opp. 58 +William Penn, the good and wise ruler opp. 65 +Notable Audience in Maryland to hear George Fox opp. 66 +Hiawatha, Pounder of the Iroquois League opp. 72 +Washington's First Victory opp. 80 +The Battle of Bunker Hill opp. 89 +The Capture of Major Andre opp. 128 +Daring Desertion of John Campe opp. 136 +The Surrender at Yorktown opp. 139 +United States Capitol, Washington opp. 142 +The Battle of Fallen Timbers opp. 160 +Campaign Speechmaking in Earlier Days opp. 238 +Fremont, the Great Pathfinder, addressing the Indians opp. 250 +Battle of Resaca de la Palma opp. 256 +The Blue and the Gray opp. 284 +The First Battle of Bull Run, 1861 opp. 294 +The Attack on Fort Donelson opp. 301 +General Lee's Invasion of the North opp. 324 +The Battle of Malvern Hill opp. 333 +The Fatal Wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson opp. 346 +Pickett's Return from his Famous Charge opp. 355 +Attack on Charleston, August 23 to September 29, 1893 opp. 360 +The Sinking of the "Alabama" opp. 375 +Sherman's Three Scouts opp. 384 +Surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865 opp. 397 +The Civil War Peace Conference opp. 400 +The Electoral Commission, 1877 opp. 427 +The Farthest North Reached by Lieutenant Lockwood on the + Greely Expedition opp. 453 +The Washington Monument opp. 460 +Arbitration opp. 469 +The Hero of the Strike, Coal Creek, Tenn opp. 486 +The Viking Ship at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, +1893 opp. 495 +Congressional Library, Washington, D.C. opp. 510 +Cathedral Spires in the Garden of the Gods opp. 515 +Greater New York opp. 528 +President McKinley and the War Cabinet opp. 547 +City of Havana, Cuba opp. 549 +The U.S. Battleship "Maine" opp. 550 +Map of Cuba opp. 553 +The Battle of Manila, May 1, 1898 opp. 554 +Americans Storming San Juan Hill opp. 560 +U.S. Battleship "Oregon" opp. 565 +The Surrender of Santiago, July 17, 1898 opp. 570 +In the War-room at Washington opp. 576 +The United States Peace Commissioners of the Spanish War opp. 580 +Popular Commanders in the Filipino War opp. 586 +Prominent Spaniards in 1898 opp. 595 +San Juan, Porto Rico opp. 610 +The Escolta, City of Manila opp. 619 +The Beautiful Luneta, Manila's Fashionable Promenade and Drive opp. 620 +The Shipyard and Arsenal at Cavite, Philippine Islands opp. 629 +Raising the Flag on Fort San Antonio de Abad, Malate opp. 630 +Scenes from the Philippine Islands opp. 639 +The Mouth of the Pasig River opp. 640 + + + + +Author's introduction. + + +The annals of the world contain no more impressive example of the birth +and growth of a nation than may be seen in the case of that which has +been aptly termed the Greater Republic, whose story from its feeble +childhood to its grand maturity it is the purpose of this work to set +forth. Three hundred years is a brief interval in the long epoch of +human history, yet within that short period the United States has +developed from a handful of hardy men and women, thinly scattered along +our Atlantic coast, into a vast and mighty country, peopled by not less +than seventy-five millions of human beings, the freest, richest, most +industrious, and most enterprising of any people upon the face of the +earth. It began as a dwarf; it has grown into a giant. It was despised +by the proud nations of Europe; it has become feared and respected by +the proudest of these nations. For a long time they have claimed the +right to settle among themselves the affairs of the world; they have now +to deal with the United States in this self-imposed duty. And it is +significant of the high moral attitude occupied by this country, that +one of the first enterprises in which it is asked to join these ancient +nations has for its end to do away with the horrors of war, and +substitute for the drawn sword in the settlement of national disputes a +great Supreme Court of arbitration. + +This is but one of the lessons to be drawn from the history of the great +republic of the West. It has long been claimed that this history lacks +interest, that it is devoid of the romance which we find in that of the +Eastern world, has nothing in it of the striking and dramatic, and is +too young and new to be worth men's attention when compared with that of +the ancient nations, which has come down from the mists of prehistoric +time. Yet we think that those who read the following pages will not be +ready to admit this claim. They will find in the history of the United +States an abundance of the elements of romance. It has, besides, the +merit of being a complete and fully rounded history. We can trace it +from its birth, and put upon record the entire story of the evolution of +a nation, a fact which it would be difficult to affirm of any of the +older nations of the world. + +If we go back to the origin of our country, it is to find it made up of +a singular mixture of the best people of Europe. The word best is used +here in a special sense. The settlers in this country were not the rich +and titled. They came not from that proud nobility which claims to +possess bluer blood than the common herd, but from the plain people of +Europe, from the workers, not the idlers, and this rare distinction they +have kept up until the present day. But of this class of the world's +workers, they were the best and noblest. They were men who thought for +themselves, and refused to be bound in the trammels of a State religion; +men who were ready to dare the perils of the sea and the hardships of a +barren shore for the blessings of liberty and free-thought; men of +sturdy thrift, unflinching energy, daring enterprise, the true stuff out +of which alone a nation like ours could be built. + +Such was the character of the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the hardy +empire-builders of New England, of the Quakers of New Jersey and +Pennsylvania, the Catholics of Maryland, the Huguenots of the South, the +Moravians and other German Protestants, the sturdy Scotch-Irish, and the +others who sought this country as a haven of refuge for free-thought. We +cannot say the same for the Hollanders of New Amsterdam, the Swedes of +Delaware, and the English of Virginia, so far as their purpose is +concerned, yet they too proved hardy and industrious settlers, and the +Cavaliers whom the troubles in England drove to Virginia showed their +good blood by the prominent part which their descendants played in the +winning of our independence and the making of our government. While the +various peoples named took part in the settlement of the colonies, the +bulk of the settlers were of English birth, and Anglo-Saxon thrift and +energy became the foundation stones upon which our nation has been +built. Of the others, nearly the whole of them were of Teutonic origin, +while the Huguenots, whom oppression drove from France, were of the very +bone and sinew of that despot-ridden land. It may fairly be said, then, +that the founders of our nation came from the cream of the populations +of Europe, born of sturdy Teutonic stock, and comprising thrift, energy, +endurance, love of liberty, and freedom of thought to a degree never +equaled in the makers of any other nation upon the earth. They were of +solid oak in mind and frame, and the edifice they built had for its +foundation the natural rights of man, and for its super-structure that +spirit of liberty which has ever since throbbed warmly in the American +heart. + +It was well for the colonies that this underlying unity of aim existed, +for aside from this they were strikingly distinct in character and +aspirations. Sparsely settled, strung at intervals along the +far-extended Atlantic coast, silhouetted against a stern background of +wilderness and mountain range, their sole bond of brotherhood was their +common aspiration for liberty, while in all other respects they were +unlike in aims and purposes. The spirit of political liberty was +strongest in the New England colonies, and these held their own against +every effort to rob them of their rights with an unflinching boldness +which is worthy of the highest praise, and which set a noble example for +the remaining colonists. Next to them in bold opposition to tyranny were +the people of the Carolinas, who sturdily resisted an effort to make +them the enslaved subjects of a land-holding nobility. In Pennsylvania +and Maryland political rights were granted by high-minded proprietors, +and in these colonies no struggle for self-government was necessary. +Only in Virginia and New York was autocratic rule established, and in +both of these it gradually yielded to the steady demand for +self-government. + +On the other hand, New England, while politically the freest, was +religiously the most autocratic. The Puritans, who had crossed the ocean +in search of freedom of thought, refused to grant a similar freedom to +those who came later, and sought to found a system as intolerant as that +from which they had fled. A natural revulsion from their oppressive +measures gave rise in Rhode Island to the first government on the face +of the earth in which absolute religious liberty was established. Among +the more southern colonies, a similar freedom, so far as liberty of +Christian worship is concerned, was granted by William Penn and Lord +Baltimore. But this freedom was maintained only in Rhode Island and +Pennsylvania, religious intolerance being the rule, to a greater or less +degree, in all the other colonies; the Puritanism of New England being +replaced elsewhere by a Church of England autocracy. + +The diversity in political condition, religion, and character of the +settlers tended to keep the colonies separate, while a like diversity of +commercial interests created jealousies which built up new barriers +between them. The unity that might have been looked for between these +feeble and remote communities, spread like links of a broken chain far +along an ocean coast, had these and other diverse conditions to contend +with, and they promised to develop into a series of weak and separate +nations rather than into a strong and single commonwealth. + +The influences that overcame this tendency to disunion were many and +important. We can only glance at them here. They may be divided into two +classes, warlike hostility and industrial oppression. The first step +towards union was taken in 1643, when four of the New England colonies +formed a confederation for defense against the Dutch and Indians. "The +United Colonies of New England" constituted in its way a federal +republic, the prototype of that of the United States. The second step of +importance in this connection was taken in 1754, when a convention was +held at Albany to devise measures of defense against the French. +Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of colonial union, which was accepted +by the convention. But the jealousy of the colonies prevented its +adoption. They had grown into communities of some strength and with a +degree of pride in their separate freedom, and were not ready to yield +to a central authority. The British Government also opposed it, not +wishing to see the colonies gain the strength which would have come to +them from political union. As a result, the plan fell to the ground. + +The next important influence tending towards union was the oppressive +policy of Great Britain. The industries and commerce of the colonies had +long been seriously restricted by the measures of the mother-country, +and after the war with France an attempt was made to tax the colonists, +though they were sternly refused representation in Parliament, the +tax-laying body. Community in oppression produced unity in feeling; the +colonies joined hands, and in 1765 a congress of their representatives +was held in New York, which appealed to the King for their just +political rights. Nine years afterwards, in 1774, a second congress was +held, brought together by much more imminent common dangers. In the +following year a third congress was convened. This continued in session +for years, its two most important acts being the Declaration of +Independence from Great Britain and the Confederation of the States, the +first form of union which the colonies adopted. This Confederation was +in no true sense a Union. The jealousies and fears of the colonies made +themselves apparent, and the central government was given so little +power that it threatened to fall to pieces of its own weight. It could +pass laws, but could not make the people obey them. It could incur +debts, but could not raise money by taxation to pay them. The States +kept nearly all the power to themselves, and each acted almost as if it +were an independent nation, while the Congress of the Confederation was +left without money and almost without authority. + +This state of affairs soon grew intolerable. "We are," said Washington, +"one nation to-day, and thirteen to-morrow." Such a union it was +impossible to maintain. It was evident that the compact must give way; +that there must be one strong government or thirteen weak ones. This +last alternative frightened the States. None of them was strong enough +to hold its own against foreign governments. They must form a strong +union or leave themselves at the mercy of ambitious foes. It was this +state of affairs that led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, by +whose wisdom the National Union which has proved so solid a bond was +organized. The Constitution made by this body gave rise to the Republic +of the United States. A subsequent act, which in 1898 added a number of +distant island possessions to our Union, and vastly widened its +interests and its importance in the world's councils, made of it a +"Greater Republic," a mighty dominion whose possessions extended half +round the globe. + +While the changes here briefly outlined were taking place, the country +was growing with phenomenal rapidity. From all parts of northern and +western Europe, and above all from Great Britain, new settlers were +crowding to our shores, while the descendants of the original settlers +were increasing in numbers. How many people there were here is in doubt, +but it is thought that in 1700 there were more than 200,000, in 1750 +about 1,100,000, and in 1776 about 2,500,000. The first census, taken in +1790, just after the Federal Union was formed, gave a population of +nearly 4,000,000. + +A people growing at this rate could not be long confined to the narrow +ocean border of the early settlements. A rich and fertile country lay +back, extending how far no one knew, and soon there was a movement to +the West, which carried the people over the mountains and into the broad +plains beyond. A war was fought with France for the possession of the +Ohio country. Boone and other bold pioneers led hardy settlers into +Kentucky and Tennessee, and George Rogers Clark descended the Ohio and +drove the British troops from the northwest territory, gaining that vast +region for the new Union. + +After the War for Independence the movement westward went on with +rapidity. The first settlement in Ohio was made at Marietta in 1788; +Cincinnati was founded in 1790; in 1803 St. Louis was a little village +of log-cabins; and in 1831 the site of Chicago was occupied by a dozen +settlers gathered round Fort Dearborn. But while the cities were thus +slow in starting, the country between them was rapidly filling up, the +Indians giving way step by step as the vanguard of the great march +pressed upon them; here down the Ohio in bullet-proof boats, there +across the mountains on foot or in wagons. A great national road +stretched westward from Cumberland, Maryland, which in time reached the +Mississippi, and over whose broad and solid surface a steady stream of +emigrant wagons poured into the great West. At the same time steamboats +were beginning to run on the Eastern waters, and soon these were +carrying the increasing multitude down the Ohio and the Mississippi into +the vast Western realm. Later came the railroad to complete this phase +of our history, and provide a means of transportation by whose aid +millions could travel with ease where a bare handful had made their way +with peril and hardship of old. + +Up to 1803 our national domain was bounded on the west by the +Mississippi, but in that year the vast territory of Louisiana was +purchased from France and the United States was extended to the summit +of the Rocky Mountains, its territory being more than doubled in area. +Here was a mighty domain for future settlement, across which two daring +travelers, Lewis and Clark, journeyed through tribes of Indians never +before heard of, not ending their long route until they had passed down +the broad Columbia to the waters of the Pacific. + +From time to time new domains were added to the great republic. In 1819 +Florida was purchased from Spain. In 1845 Texas was added to the Union. +In 1846 the Oregon country was made part of the United States. In 1848, +as a result of the Mexican War, an immense tract extending from Texas +to the Pacific was acquired, and the land of gold became part of the +republic. In 1853 another tract was purchased from Mexico, and the +domain of the United States, as it existed at the beginning of the Civil +War, was completed. It constituted a great section of the North American +continent, extending across it from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and +north and south from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a fertile, +well-watered, and prolific land, capable of becoming the nursery of one +of the greatest nations on the earth. Beginning, at the close of the +Revolution, with an area of 827,844 square miles, it now embraced +3,026,484 square miles of territory, having increased within a century +to nearly four times its original size. + +In 1867 a new step was taken, in the addition to this country of a +region of land separated from its immediate domain. This was the +territory of Alaska, of more than 577,000 square miles in extent, and +whose natural wealth has made it a far more valuable acquisition than +was originally dreamed of. In 1898 the Greater Republic, as it at +present exists, was completed by the acquisition of the island of Porto +Rico in the West Indies, and the Hawaiian and Philippine Island groups +in the Pacific Ocean. These, while adding not greatly to our territory, +may prove to possess a value in their products fully justifying their +acquisition. At present, however, their value is political rather than +industrial, as bringing the United States into new and important +relations with the other great nations of the earth. + +The growth of population in this country is shown strikingly in the +remarkable development of its cities. In 1790 the three largest cities +were not larger than many of our minor cities to-day. Philadelphia had +forty-two thousand population, New York thirty-three thousand, and +Boston eighteen thousand. Charleston and Baltimore were still smaller, +and Savannah was quite small. There were only five cities with over ten +thousand population. Of inland towns, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with +something over six thousand population, was the largest. In 1890, one +hundred years afterwards, New York and Philadelphia had over one million +each, and Chicago, a city not sixty years old, shared with them this +honor. As for cities surpassing those of a century before, they were +hundreds in number. A similar great growth has taken place in the +States. From the original thirteen, hugging closely the Atlantic coast, +we now possess forty-five, crossing the continent from ocean to ocean, +and have besides a vast territorial area. + +The thirteen original States, sparsely peopled, poor and struggling for +existence, have expanded into a great galaxy of States, rich, powerful, +and prosperous, with grand cities, flourishing rural communities, +measureless resources, and an enterprise which no difficulty can baffle +and no hardship can check. Our territory could support hundreds of +millions of population, and still be much less crowded than some of the +countries of Europe. Its products include those of every zone; hundreds +of thousands of square miles of its soil are of virgin richness; its +mineral wealth is so great that its precious metals have affected the +monetary standards of the world, and its vast mineral and agricultural +wealth is as yet only partly developed. Vast as has been the production +of gold in California, its annual output is of less value than that of +wheat. In wheat, corn, and cotton, indeed, the product of this country +is simply stupendous; while, in addition to its gold and silver, it is a +mighty storehouse of coal, iron, copper, lead, petroleum, and many other +products of nature that are of high value to mankind. + +In its progress towards its present condition, our country has been +markedly successful in two great fields of human effort, in war and in +peace. A brief preliminary statement of its success in the first of +these, and of the causes of its several wars, may be desirable here, as +introductory to their more extended consideration in the body of the +work. The early colonists had three enemies to contend with: the +original inhabitants of the land, the Spanish settlers in the South, and +the French in the North and West. Its dealings with the aborigines has +been one continuous series of conflicts, the red man being driven back +step by step until to-day he holds but a small fraction of his once +great territory. Yet the Indians are probably as numerous to-day as they +were originally, and are certainly better off in their present peaceful +and partly civilized condition than they were in their former savage and +warlike state. + +The Spaniards were never numerous in this country, and were forced to +retire after a few conflicts of no special importance. Such was not the +case with the French, who were numerous and aggressive, and with whom +the colonists were at war on four successive occasions, the last being +that fierce conflict in which it was decided whether the Anglo-Saxon or +the French race should be dominant in this country. The famous battle on +the Plains of Abraham settled the question, and with the fall of Quebec +the power of France in America fell never to rise again. + +A direct and almost an immediate consequence of this struggle for +dominion was the struggle for liberty between the colonists and the +mother-country. The oppressive measures of Great Britain led to a war of +seven years' duration, in which more clearly and decisively than ever +before the colonists showed their warlike spirit and political genius, +and whose outcome was the independence of this country. At its +conclusion the United States stepped into line with the nations of the +world, a free community, with a mission to fulfill and a destiny to +accomplish--a mission and a destiny which are still in process of +development, and whose final outcome no man can foresee. + +The next series of events in the history of our wars arose from the +mighty struggle in Europe between France and Great Britain and the +piratical activity of the Barbary States. The latter were forced to +respect the power of the United States by several naval demonstrations +and conflicts; and a naval war with France, in which our ships were +strikingly successful, induced that country to show us greater respect. +But the wrongs which we suffered from Great Britain were not to be so +easily settled, and led to a war of three years' continuance, in which +the honors were fairly divided on land, but in which our sailors +surprised the world by their prowess in naval conflict. The proud boast +that "Britannia rules the waves" lost its pertinence after our two +striking victories on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, and our remarkable +success in a dozen conflicts at sea. Alike in this war and in the +Revolution the United States showed that skill and courage in naval +warfare which has recently been repeated in the Spanish War. + +The wars of which we have spoken had a warrant for their being. They +were largely unavoidable results of existing conditions. This cannot +justly be said of the next struggle upon which the United States +entered, the Mexican War, since this was a politician's war pure and +simple, one which could easily have been avoided, and which was entered +into with the avowed purpose of acquiring territory. In this it +succeeded, the country gaining a great and highly valuable tract, whose +wealth in the precious metals is unsurpassed by any equal section of the +earth, and which is still richer in agricultural than in mineral wealth. + +The next conflict that arose was the most vital and important of all our +wars, with the exception of that by which we gained our independence. +The Constitution of 1787 did not succeed in forming a perfect Union +between the States. An element of dissension was left, a "rift within +the lute," then seemingly small and unimportant, but destined to grow to +dangerous proportions. This was the slavery question, disposed of in the +Constitution by a compromise, which, like every compromise with evil, +failed in its purpose. The question continued to exist. It grew +threatening, portentous, and finally overshadowed the whole political +domain. Every effort to settle it peacefully only added to the strain; +the union between the States weakened as this mighty hammer of discord +struck down their combining links; finally the bonds yielded, the +slavery question thrust itself like a great wedge between, and a mighty +struggle began to decide whether the Union should stand or fall. With +the events of this struggle we are not here concerned. They are told at +length in their special place. All that we shall here say is this: While +the war was fought for the preservation of the Union, it was clearly +perceived that this union could never be stable while the disorganizing +element remained, and the war led inevitably to the abolition of +slavery, the apple of discord which had been thrown between the States. +The greatness of the result was adequate to the greatness of the +conflict. With the end of the Civil War, for the first time in their +history, an actual and stable Union was established between the States. + +We have one more war to record, the brief but important struggle of +1898, entered into by the United States under the double impulse of +indignation against the barbarous destruction of the _Maine_ and of +sympathy for the starving and oppressed people of Cuba. It yielded +results undreamed of in its origin. Not only was Cuba wrested from the +feeble and inhuman hands of Spain, but new possessions in the oceans of +the east and west were added to the United States, and for the first +time this country took its predestined place among the nations engaged +in shaping the destiny of the world, rose to imperial dignity in the +estimation of the rulers of Europe, and fairly won that title of the +GREATER REPUBLIC which this work is written to commemorate. + +Such has been the record of this country in war. Its record in peace has +been marked by as steady a career of victory, and with results +stupendous almost beyond the conception of man, when we consider that +the most of them have been achieved within little more than a century. +During the colonial period the energies of the American people were +confined largely to agriculture, Great Britain sternly prohibiting any +progress in manufacture and any important development of commerce. It +need hardly be said that the restless and active spirit of the colonists +chafed under these restrictions, and that the attempt to clip the +expanding wings of the American eagle had as much to do with bringing on +the war of the Revolution as had Great Britain's futile efforts at +taxation. The genius of a great people cannot thus be cribbed and +confined, and American enterprise was bound to find a way or carve +itself a way through the barriers raised by British avarice and tyranny. + +It was after the Revolution that the progress of this country first +fairly began. The fetters which bound its hands thrown off, it entered +upon a career of prosperity which broadened with the years, and extended +until not only the whole continent but the whole world felt its +influence and was embraced by its results. Manufacture, no longer held +in check, sprang up and spread with marvelous rapidity. Commerce, now +gaining access to all seas and all lands, expanded with equal speed. +Enterprise everywhere made itself manifest, and invention began its long +and wonderful career. + +In fact, freedom was barely won before our inventors were actively at +work. Before the Constitution was formed John Fitch was experimenting +with his steamboat on the Delaware, and Oliver Evans was seeking to move +wagons by steam in the streets of Philadelphia. Not many years elapsed +before both were successful, and Eli Whitney with his cotton-gin had set +free the leading industry of the South and enabled it to begin that +remarkable career which proved so momentous in American history, since +to it we owe the Civil War with all its great results. + +With the opening of the nineteenth century the development of the +industries and of the inventive faculty of the Americans went on with +enhanced rapidity. The century was but a few years old when Fulton, with +his improved steamboat, solved the question of inland water +transportation. By the end of the first quarter of the century this was +solved in another way by the completion of the Erie Canal, the longest +and hitherto the most valuable of artificial water-ways. The railroad +locomotive, though invented in England, was prefigured when Oliver +Evans' steam road-wagon ran sturdily through the streets of +Philadelphia. To the same inventor we owe another triumph of American +genius, the grain elevator, which the development of agriculture has +rendered of incomparable value. The railroad, though not native here, +has had here its greatest development, and with its more than one +hundred and eighty thousand miles of length has no rival in any country +upon the earth. To it may be added the Morse system of telegraphy, the +telephone and phonograph, the electric light and electric motor, and all +that wonderful series of inventions in electrical science which has been +due to American genius. + +We cannot begin to name the multitude of inventions in the mechanical +industries which have raised manufacture from an art to a science and +filled the world with the multitude of its products. It will suffice to +name among them the steam hammer, the sewing machine, the cylinder +printing-press, the type-setting machine, the rubber vulcanizer, and the +innumerable improvements in steam engines and labor-saving apparatus of +all kinds. These manufacturing expedients have been equaled in number +and importance by those applied to agriculture, including machines for +plowing, reaping, sowing the seed, threshing the grain, cutting the +grass, and a hundred other valuable processes, which have fairly +revolutionized the art of tilling the earth, and enabled our farmers to +feed not only our own population but to send millions of bushels of +grain annually abroad. + +In truth, we have entered here upon an interminable field, so full of +triumphs of invention and ingenuity, and so stupendous in its results, +as to form one of the chief marvels of this wonderful century, and to +place our nation, in the field of human industry and mechanical +achievement, foremost among the nations of the world. Its triumphs have +not been confined to manufacture and agriculture; it has been as active +in commerce, and now stands first in the bulk of its exports and +imports. In every other direction of industry it has been as active, as +in fisheries, in forestry, in great works of engineering, in vast mining +operations; and from the seas, the earth, the mountain sides, our +laborers are wresting annually from nature a stupendous return in +wealth. + +Our progress in the industries has been aided and inspired by an equal +progress in educational facilities, and the intellectual development of +our people has kept pace with their material advance. The United States +spends more money for the education of its youth than any other country +in the world, and among her institutions the school-house and the +college stand most prominent. While the lower education has been +abundantly attended to, the higher education has been by no means +neglected, and amply endowed colleges and universities are found in +every State and in almost every city of the land. In addition to the +school-house, libraries are multiplying with rapidity, art galleries and +museums of science are rising everywhere, temples to music and the drama +are found in all our cities, the press is turning out books and +newspapers with almost abnormal energy, and in everything calculated to +enhance the intelligence of the people the United States has no +superior, if any equal, among the nations of the earth. + +It may seem unnecessary to tell the people of the United States the +story of their growth. The greatness to which this nation has attained +is too evident to need to be put in words. It has, in fact, been made +evident in two great and a multitude of smaller exhibitions in which the +marvels of American progress have been shown, either by themselves or in +contrast with those of foreign lands. The first of these, the Centennial +Exposition of 1876, had a double effect: it opened our eyes at once to +our triumphs and our deficiencies, to the particulars in which we +excelled and those in which we were inferior to foreign peoples. In the +next great exhibition, that at Chicago in 1893, we had the satisfaction +to perceive, not only that we had made great progress in our points of +superiority, but had worked nobly and heartily to overcome our defects, +and were able to show ourselves the equal of Europe in almost every +field of human thought and skill. In architecture a vision of beauty was +shown such as the world had never before seen, and in the general domain +of art the United States no longer had need to be ashamed of what it had +to show. + +And now, having briefly summed up the steps of progress of the United +States, I may close with some consideration of the problem which we +confront in our new position as the Greater Republic, the lord of +islands spread widely over the seas. Down to the year 1898 this country +held a position of isolation, so far as its political interests were +concerned. Although the sails of its merchant ships whitened every sea +and its commerce extended to all lands, its boundaries were confined to +the North American continent, its political activities largely to +American interests. Jealous of any intrusion by foreign nations upon +this hemisphere, it warned them off, while still in its feeble youth, by +the stern words of the Monroe doctrine, and has since shown France and +England, by decisive measures, that this doctrine is more than an empty +form of words. + +Such was our position at the beginning of 1898. At the opening of 1899 +we had entered into new relations with the world. The conclusion of the +war with Spain had left in our hands the island of Porto Rico in the +West Indies and the great group of the Philippines in the waters of +Asia, while the Hawaiian Islands had became ours by peaceful annexation. +What shall we do with them? is the question that follows. We have taken +hold of them in a way in which it is impossible, without defeat and +disgrace, to let go. Whatever the ethics of the question, the Philippine +problem has assumed a shape which admits of but one solution. These +islands will inevitably become ours, to hold, to develop, to control, +and to give their people an opportunity to attain civilization, +prosperity, and political manumission which they have never yet +possessed. That they will be a material benefit to us is doubtful. That +they will give us a new position among the nations of the earth is +beyond doubt. We have entered formally into that Eastern question which +in the years to come promises to be the leading question before the +world, and which can no longer be settled by the nations of Europe as an +affair of their own, with which the United States has no concern. + +This new position taken by the United States promises to be succeeded by +new alliances, a grand union of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, which will give +them a dominant position among the powers of the world. In truth, it may +not cease with the union of the Anglo-Saxons. The ambition and vast +designs of Russia are forcing the other nations to combine for +protection, and a close alliance of all the Teutonic peoples is +possible, combined to resist the Slavic outgrowth, and eventually +perhaps to place the destinies of the world in the hands of these two +great races, the Teutonic and the Slavic. + +All this may be looking overfar into the future. All that can be said +now is that our new possessions have placed upon us new duties and new +responsibilities, and may effectually break that policy of political +isolation which we have so long maintained, and throw us into the +caldron of world politics to take our part in shaping the future of the +uncivilized races. For this we are surely strong enough, enterprising +enough, and moral enough; and whatever our record, it is not likely to +be one of defeat, of injustice and oppression, or of forgetfulness of +the duty of nations and the rights of man. + + + CHARLES MORRIS. + JULY, 1899. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. + +The Visits of the Northmen to the New World--The Indians and Mound +Builders--Christopher Columbus--His Discovery of America--Amerigo +Vespucci--John Cabot--_Spanish Explorers_--Balboa--His Discovery of the +Pacific--Magellan--Ponce de Leon--De Narvaez--De Soto--Menendez--_French +Explorers_--Verrazzani--Cartier--Ribault--Laudonniere--Champlain--La +Salle--_English Explorers_--Sir Hugh Willoughby--Martin Frobisher--Sir +Humphrey Gilbert--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Lost Colony--_Dutch +Explorer_--Henry Hudson. + + +THE NORTHMEN. + +It has been established beyond question that the first white visitors to +the New World were Northmen, as the inhabitants of Norway and Sweden +were called. They were bold and hardy sailors, who ventured further out +upon the unknown sea than any other people. It was about the year 1000 +that Biorn, who was driven far from his course by a tempest, sighted the +northern part of the continent. Other adventurers followed him and +planted a few settlements, which, however, lasted but a few years. +Snorri, son of one of these settlers, was the first child born of +European parents on this side of the Atlantic. Soon all traces of these +early discoverers vanished, and the New World lay slumbering in +loneliness for nearly five hundred years. + +[Illustration: AMERIGO VESPUCCI.] + + +THE MOUND BUILDERS. + +Nevertheless, the country was peopled with savages, who lived by hunting +and fishing and were scattered over the vast area from the Pacific to +the Atlantic and from the Arctic zone to the southernmost point of South +America. No one knows where these people came from; but it is probable +that at a remote period they crossed Bering Strait, from Asia, which was +the birthplace of man, and gradually spread over the continents to the +south. There are found scattered over many parts of our country immense +mounds of earth, which were the work of the Mound Builders. These people +were long believed to have been a race that preceded the Indians, and +were distinct from them, but the best authorities now agree that they +were the Indians themselves, who constructed these enormous +burial-places and were engaged in the work as late as the fifteenth +century. It is strange that they attained a fair degree of civilization. +They builded cities, wove cotton, labored in the fields, worked gold, +silver, and copper, and formed regular governments, only to give way in +time to the barbarism of their descendants, who, though a contrary +impression prevails, are more numerous to-day than at the time of the +discovery of America. + +[Illustration: MEETING BETWEEN THE NORTHMEN AND NATIVES.] + + +DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. + +The real discoverer of America was Christopher Columbus, an Italian, +born in Genoa, about 1435. He was trained to the sea from early boyhood, +and formed the belief, which nothing could shake, that the earth was +round, and that by sailing westward a navigator would reach the coast of +eastern Asia. The mistake of Columbus was in supposing the earth much +smaller than it is, and of never suspecting that a continent lay between +his home and Asia. + +He was too poor to fit out an expedition himself, and the kings and +rulers to whom he applied for help laughed him to scorn. He persevered +for years, and finally King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were +won over to his views. They and some wealthy friends of Columbus +furnished the needed funds, and on August 3, 1492, he sailed from Palos, +Spain, in command of three small vessels, the _Santa Maria_, the +_Pinta_, and the _Nina_. + +As the voyage progressed, the sailors became terrified and several times +were on the point of mutiny; but Columbus by threats and promises held +them to their work, and on Friday, October 12, 1492, land was sighted. +He was rowed ashore and took possession of the new country in the name +of Ferdinand and Isabella. While it is not known with certainty where he +landed, it was probably Watling Island, one of the Bahamas. He named it +San Salvador, and, believing it to be a part of India, called the +natives _Indians_, by which name they will always be known. He afterward +visited Cuba and Haiti, and returned to Palos on the 15th of March, +1493. + +Columbus was received with the highest honors, and, as the news of his +great discovery spread, it caused a profound sensation throughout +Europe. He made three other voyages, but did not add greatly to his +discoveries. He died, neglected and in poverty, May 20, 1506, without +suspecting the grandeur of his work, which marked an era in the history +of the world. + + +OTHER DISCOVERERS. + +Another famous Italian navigator and friend of Columbus was Amerigo +Vespucci, who, fired by the success of the great navigator, made several +voyages westward. He claimed to have seen South America in May, 1497, +which, if true, made him the first man to look upon the American +continent. Late investigations tend to show that Vespucci was correct in +his claim. At any rate, his was the honor of having the country named +for him. + +[Illustration: SEBASTIAN CABOT.] + +John Cabot, also an Italian, but sailing under the flag of England, +discovered the continent of North America, in the spring of 1497. A year +later, Sebastian, son of John, explored the coast from Nova Scotia as +far south as Cape Hatteras. It was the work of the elder Cabot that gave +England a valid claim to the northern continent. + +From what has been stated, it will be seen that Spain, now decrepit and +decayed, was one of the most powerful of all nations four hundred years +ago. Other leading powers were England, France, and Holland, and all of +them soon began a scramble for new lands on the other side of the +Atlantic. Spain, having been the first, had a great advantage, and she +was wise enough to use all the means at her command. We will first trace +the explorations made by that nation. + +In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a lawless rogue, hid himself in a cask +on board of a vessel in order to escape his creditors, and was not +discovered by the angry captain until so far from land that he could not +be taken back again. As it turned out, this was a fortunate thing for +the captain and crew, for Balboa was a good sailor, and when the ship +was wrecked on the coast of Darien he led the men through many dangers +to an Indian village, where they were saved from starvation. Balboa had +been in the country before and acquired a knowledge of it, which now +proved helpful. + +The story of Spain in America is one long, frightful record of massacre, +cruelty, greed, and rapine. Ferocious by nature, her explorers had not +sufficient sense to see that it was to their interest to treat the +Indians justly. These people, although armed only with bows and arrows, +at which the Spaniards laughed, still outnumbered them a thousandfold +and could crush them by the simple force of numbers. Besides, they were +always provided with food, which they were eager to give to their +pale-faced brothers, who were often unable to obtain it, but whose +vicious nature would not permit them to be manly and just. + +Moreover, the Spaniards were crazy after gold, which they believed +existed in many places in prodigious quantities. The sight of the yellow +ornaments worn by the natives fired their cupidity, and they inquired +eagerly in the sign language where the precious metal could be found. +One of the Indians replied that six days' travel westward would bring +them to the shores of a great sea, where gold was as plentiful as the +pebbles on the beach. + +[Illustration: CARAVELS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. (After an engraving +published in 1584.)] + + +DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC. + +This information, as may be believed, set the Spaniards wild, and, +engaging a number of the natives as guides, they plunged into the hot, +steaming forests, and pressed on until one day they came to the base of +a mountain, from the top of which the guides said the great sea could be +seen. Balboa made his men stay where they were while he climbed to the +crest of the mountain alone. This was on the 26th of September, 1513, +and, as Balboa looked off to the westward, his eyes rested upon the +Pacific Ocean, the mightiest body of water on the globe. + +He had made a grand discovery, and one which led to the conquest of +Mexico and Peru and the colonization of the western coast of our +country. Spain sent her armed expeditions thither, and in time they +overran the sections named, their footprints marked everywhere by fire +and blood. Many remains exist to-day in the Southwest of the early +visits of those rapacious adventurers, during the first half of the +sixteenth century. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a building made of adobe +or sun-dried clay which was built in 1582. + + +THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. + +In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan coasted South America to the strait named in +his honor, and, passing through it, entered upon the vast body of water +discovered six years before by Balboa. Magellan gave it the name of +Pacific Ocean, and, sailing westward, discovered the Philippine Islands, +which have lately acquired such importance in our history. There +Magellan died. Several of his ships were lost, but one of them succeeded +in reaching Spain after an absence of two years. This was the first +circumnavigation of the globe and demonstrated the grandeur of the +discovery made by Columbus. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS AND THE EGG. + +At a dinner the Spanish courtiers, jealous of Columbus, said anyone +could discover the Indies. When, at Columbus' request, they failed to +make an egg stand on its end, he showed them how to do it by flattening +the end of it. "Anyone could do that," remarked a courtier. "So anyone +can discover the Indies, after I have shown the way."] + +One of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage was Ponce de +Leon. He was well on in years, and became deeply interested in a story +told by the Indians of a wonderful land to the north of Cuba, where +there was a marvelous spring, which would bring back youth to any who +drank from its waters. De Leon set out to hunt for the land and +discovered it in Florida on Easter Sunday, in 1513. He drank to +repletion again and again from the springs he found, but without +restoring his youth, and he was killed by Indians in 1521, while trying +to form a settlement on the coast. + +De Narvaez visited Florida, in 1528, in charge of a large expedition, +with the intention of marching into the interior, but the Spaniards were +so brutal to the Indians that they fought them step by step, until only +four wretched beings were left alive. They lived a long time with the +natives, but gradually worked their way across the continent to +California, where they found some of their countrymen, who took care of +them. + + +DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. + +One of the best-equipped expeditions ever sent out was that of Hernando +de Soto, which landed at Tampa Bay in May, 1539. Although the intention +was to penetrate far into the interior, the Spaniards had no sooner set +foot on land than they began their outrages against the Indians, who, as +in the case of De Narvaez, turned upon them and slew large numbers. The +explorers, however, pushed on and passed over a large section of +country, though the precise course taken is not known. In the summer of +1541 they crossed the present State of Mississippi and thus discovered +the Father of Waters. Three years were spent in wandering through the +South, during which one-third of the number were killed or died and all +the property destroyed. Losing heart at last, De Soto turned about, in +May, 1542, and started for the sea with the intention of returning home. +He was worn and weakened from fever, and he expired on the 21st of the +month. Fearful that the news of his death would incite the Indians to +attack them, his survivors wrapped the body in blankets, weighted it +with stones, and at midnight rowed stealthily out into the river and let +it sink from sight. There was something fitting in the fact that the +Mississippi should prove the last resting-place of its discoverer. + +Pedro Menendez was one of the most execrable miscreants that ever lived. +He arrived off the coast of Florida with a large expedition and at the +mouth of the St. John's saw a number of ships flying the flag of France. +He furiously attacked them and drove them to sea. Then he returned to a +fine harbor which he had discovered and began the town of St. Augustine. +This was in 1565, and St. Augustine is, therefore, the oldest settlement +within the present limits of the United States, excluding those founded +in some of our colonial possessions. + +Let us now turn attention to the French explorations. France in those +days was a spirited rival of Spain, and, in 1524, she sent out a fleet +of four vessels under the command of Verrazzani, who, strange as it may +seem, was also an Italian. Two months later, with only a single ship +remaining, he sighted the mainland of America, it is believed near North +Carolina, from which point he coasted northward along New England. He +gave the name of New France to all the countries he visited, but his +account of his explorations is so vague that it is uncertain what lands +he saw. Verrazzani, however, seems to have been the first navigator who +formed a correct idea of the size of the globe. + +[Illustration: SEARCH FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BY PONCE DE LEON.] + +In 1534 Jacques Cartier, with two ships, entered the mouth of the St. +Lawrence. He was so impressed by the desolation of the shores of +Newfoundland that he declared his belief that it was the land to which +God had banished Cain. Nevertheless, he took possession of the country +in the name of France and then returned home. + +Cartier visited the country the following year with a larger expedition +and sailed up the St. Lawrence to the sites of Quebec and Montreal. He +was not successful in his attempts to found colonies, but his discovery +gave France a title to the immense region which she held with a firm +grasp for more than a hundred years. + +Failing to establish colonies in the North, France now directed her +efforts to the south. The Huguenots suffered so much persecution in the +Old World that they sought a home in the New. Captain John Ribault, +sailing from Havre with two ships, sighted Florida on the last day of +April, 1562. The Indians were friendly and the explorers were charmed +with the country. Ribault took possession of it in the name of France +and gave French names to various places. Finally he dropped anchor in +the harbor of Port Royal and began founding a settlement. + +All were in good spirits and wished to remain, but Ribault sailed for +France, leaving thirty men behind. After a time they quarreled and +rigged up a worthless boat with which they set sail for home. All would +have perished, had they not been picked up by an English vessel, which +humanely landed the feeblest on the coast of France, while the strong +men were taken to England as prisoners of war. + +It was the intention of Ribault to return to America, but civil war was +raging in France, and for a time he was prevented. In April, 1564, three +more ships set sail to repeat the attempt at colonization. They were +under the command of Captain Laudonniere, who had been a member of the +former expedition. He began a settlement at what is now known as St. +John's Bluff. The friendly Indians helped and all promised well, but +unfortunately the colonists became dissatisfied and rebelled against the +strict rule of Laudonniere. Some of the men stole two small vessels and +set sail for the West Indies on a piratical expedition. Laudonniere +hurriedly prepared two larger vessels to pursue them. When they were +ready, the malcontents stole them and followed their comrades. Three of +the buccaneers were captured by the Spanish, while the pilot of the +fourth, who had been pressed into service, steered the vessel back to +the colony before the rogues suspected what he was doing. Laudonniere +made them prisoners and hanged the ringleaders. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN COUNCIL OF WAR.] + +At the time when utter ruin impended, Ribault arrived with seven ships +and plenty of supplies. It was at this juncture, when everything +promised well, that Menendez, the Spanish miscreant, as already stated, +appeared with his powerful fleet and attacked the French ships. Three +were up the river, and the four, being no match for the Spaniards, +escaped by putting to sea. Menendez landed men and supplies further +south, learning which Ribault prepared to attack them. Before he could +do so, a violent tempest scattered his ships. By a laborious march +through swamps and thickets, amid a driving storm, Menendez descended +like a cyclone upon the unprotected French and massacred them all, +including the women and children. Another force of French, under solemn +promise of protection, surrendered, but they, too, were put to death. +They were afterwards avenged by an expedition from France. + +Samuel de Champlain proved himself one of the greatest of French +explorers. He left the banks of the St. Lawrence at the beginning of the +seventeenth century, and discovered the lake which bears his name. His +numerous excellent maps added much to the knowledge of the country. +Joining De Monts, another explorer, he founded the colony of Port Royal +in Nova Scotia in 1605. This settlement, afterward named Annapolis, was +the first permanent French colony planted in America. Quebec was founded +by Champlain in 1608. + +The greatest French explorer, however, was Sieur de la Salle, who was +hardly twenty-three years old when he first visited Canada in 1666. +Leading an expedition westward, he fell ill while in the country of the +Seneca Indians and was forced to part with his companions near the head +of Lake Ontario. When he regained his strength he pressed on to the Ohio +River, down which he descended to the falls opposite the present city of +Louisville. Returning to France, he was made a nobleman and appointed +governor of the country around Fort Frontenac, which he had planted on +the shore of Lake Ontario. He demolished the fort and erected a much +stronger one, built four small vessels, and established a thriving trade +with the Indians. + +In August, 1679, La Salle launched a vessel at the port of Niagara, with +which he sailed the length of Lake Erie, across Lakes St. Clair, Huron, +and Michigan to Green Bay. He then sent back his vessel for supplies and +crossed the lake in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph, where he +built a fort. He visited the Indian tribes in the neighborhood and made +treaties with the chiefs. + +On the present site of Peoria, he erected a fort in 1680. Then, sending +Father Hennepin to explore the country to the northward, La Salle made +the entire journey of several hundred miles, alone and on foot, to Fort +Frontenac, where he learned that the vessel he had sent back for +supplies was lost. + +With a new party he made his way to the fort planted on the Illinois +River, but found it had been broken up and all the white men were gone. +Thence La Salle went down the Mississippi to its mouth, where he set up +a column with the French arms and proclaimed the country the possession +of the king of France. He was welcomed back to his native land, and when +he proposed to his ruler to conquer the fine mining country in the +Southwest, the offer was promptly accepted and he was made commandant. +He set out with four ships and about 300 persons. + +But the good fortune that had marked the career of La Salle up to this +point now set the other way, and disaster and ruin overtook him. His men +were mostly adventurers and vagabonds, and the officer in command of the +ships was an enemy of the explorer. The two quarreled and the vessels +had gone some distance beyond the mouth of the Mississippi before La +Salle discovered the blunder. He appealed to the captain to return, but +he refused and anchored off Matagorda Bay. Then the captain decided that +it was necessary to go home for supplies, and sailing away he left La +Salle with only one small vessel which had been presented to him by the +king. + +The undaunted explorer erected a fort and began cultivating the soil. +The Indians, who had not forgotten the cruelty of the Spaniards, were +hostile and continually annoyed the settlers, several of whom were +killed. Disease carried away others until only forty were left. +Selecting a few, La Salle started for the Illinois country, but had not +gone far when he was treacherously shot by one of his men. The Spaniards +who had entered the country to drive out the French made prisoners of +those that remained. + +[Illustration: (From the original drawing made by John White in 1585. By +permission of the British Museum.)] + + +THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. + +Next in order is an account of the English explorations. Going back to +May, 1553, we find that Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from London in that +month with three ships. At that time, and for many years afterward, the +belief was general that by sailing to the northwest a shorter route to +India could be found, and such was the errand that led the English +navigator upon his eventful voyage. + +For two years not the slightest news was heard of Sir Hugh Willoughby. +Then some Russian fishermen, who were in one of the harbors of Lapland, +observed two ships drifting helplessly in the ice. They rowed out to the +wrecks, and climbing aboard of one entered the cabin where they came +upon an impressive sight. Seated at a table was Sir Hugh Willoughby, +with his journal open and his pen in hand, as if he had just ceased +writing. He had been frozen to death months before. Here and there about +him were stretched the bodies of his crews, all of whom had succumbed to +the awful temperature of the far North. + +The third ship was nowhere in sight, and it was believed that she had +been crushed in the ice and sunk, but news eventually arrived that she +had succeeded in reaching Archangel, whence the crew made their way +overland to Moscow. A result of this involuntary journey was that it +opened a new channel for profitable trade. + +Still the _ignis fatuus_ of a shorter route to India tantalized the +early navigators. The belief was general that the coveted route lay +north of our continent. In 1576 Martin Frobisher started on the vain +hunt with three small vessels. He bumped helplessly about in the ice, +but repeated the effort twice, and on one of his voyages entered the +strait that bears his name. The region visited by him is valueless to +the world, and his explorations, therefore, were of no practical benefit +to anyone. + +Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in June, 1583, sailed for America with an +important expedition which gave every promise of success. In his case, +however, disaster overtook him earlier than others. He was hardly out of +sight of land when his most important vessel deserted and went back to +port. The men were a sorry lot, and at Newfoundland he sent another ship +home with the sick and the mutineers. Of the three vessels remaining, +the largest was wrecked and all but fifteen drowned. Sir Humphrey was on +the smallest boat on his way home, when one dark night it foundered, +carrying down all on board. + +[Illustration: INDIAN VILLAGE ENCLOSED WITH PALISADES. (From the +original drawing in the British Museum, made by John White in 1585.)] + +The famous Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Gilbert, and a great +favorite at the court of Queen Elizabeth, was deeply interested in the +plans of his relative, and in April, 1584, sent out two well-equipped +vessels for the purpose of colonization. They brought back a glowing +report and Raleigh was knighted by the pleased queen, who gave him the +privilege of naming the new country. He called it Virginia, in honor of +the virgin Queen Elizabeth. + +A large expedition sailed for the new country in the spring of 1585 and +a fort was built on Roanoke Island. But the Englishmen were as greedy +for gold as the Spaniards, and, instead of cultivating the land, they +spent their time groping for the precious metal. This was suicidal, +because the Indians were violently hostile, and would not bring forward +any food for the invaders. All must have perished miserably but for the +arrival of Sir Francis Drake, who carried the survivors back to England. + +It is worth recording that this stay in America resulted in the +Englishmen learning the use of tobacco, which they introduced into their +own country. Sir Walter Raleigh became a great smoker, and the incident +is familiar of his servant, who, seeing his master smoking a pipe, was +terrified at the belief that he was on fire and dashed a mug of ale over +him to put out the flames. + +Much more useful knowledge was that gained of maize or Indian corn, the +potato, and sassafras. They attracted favorable attention in England, +and were gradually introduced to other countries in Europe, where the +amount raised is very large. + + +THE LOST COLONY. + +A strange and romantic interest attaches to the colony which Sir Walter +Raleigh sent out in 1587. It numbered 300 men and women and was in +charge of John White. While resting at Roanoke, the daughter of Governor +White, the wife of Ananias Dare, had a daughter born to her. She was +given the name of "Virginia," and was the first child of English +parentage born within the present limits of the United States. + +[Illustration: SIR WALTER RALEIGH.] + +These settlers were as quarrelsome as many of their predecessors and got +on ill together. Governor White sailed for England for more immigrants +and supplies, but when he reached that country he found the internal +troubles so serious that he was kept away from America for three years. +When finally he returned to Virginia, he was unable to find a member of +the colony. On one of the trees was the word "CROATAN" cut in the bark, +which seemed to indicate that the settlers had removed to a settlement +of that name; but, though long and continuous search was made and many +of the articles belonging to the settlers were recognized, not a person +could be discovered. Sir Walter Raleigh sent several expeditions with +orders to use every effort to clear up the mystery, but it was never +solved. The story of the "Lost Colony" has led to a great deal of +investigation and surmise. Two theories have supporters. The most +probable is that all the settlers were massacred by Indians. Another is +that they were adopted by the red men and intermarried among them. In +support of this supposition is the fact that a long time afterward many +members of the adjoining tribes showed unmistakable signs of mixed +blood. There were so-called Indians with blonde hair, blue eyes, and +light complexion--characteristics never seen among those belonging to +the genuine American race. + +Holland's explorations in America were less important than those of any +of her rivals. The thrifty Dutchmen were more anxious to secure trade +than to find new countries, and seemed content to allow others to spend +wealth and precious lives in penetrating to the interior of the New +World and in planting settlements, which almost invariably succumbed to +disaster. + +Early in the seventeenth century a company of English merchants sent out +a skillful navigator named Henry Hudson to hunt for the elusive +northwest passage. He took with him only eleven men, one of whom was his +son. He made a brave effort to succeed, ploughing his way through the +frozen regions until he passed the 80th degree of latitude, which was +the furthest point then attained by man. But, within less than ten +degrees of the pole, he was forced by the ice to turn back. + + +THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. + +Hudson's reputation as a skillful navigator led the wealthy corporation +known as the Dutch East India Company to seek his services. He was +placed in command of a small vessel called the _Half Moon_ and ordered +to sail to the northeast instead of the northwest. He did as directed, +but his experience was similar to his previous one, and, being compelled +to withdraw, he headed westward. Sighting Cape Cod, he named it New +Holland, unaware that it had already been named by Champlain. He +continued southward to Chesapeake Bay, where he learned that the English +had planted a settlement. Turning northward, he entered Delaware Bay, +but was displeased with the shallow water and sailed again northward. On +September 3, 1609, he dropped anchor opposite Sandy Hook. + +Hudson now began ascending the magnificent river which bears his name. +At the end of ten days he had reached a point opposite the present site +of Albany. The Indians were friendly and curious. Many of them put out +in their canoes and were made welcome on board the little Dutch vessel, +which was a source of constant wonderment to them, for they had never +seen anything of the kind before. + +Descending the stream, Hudson made his way to Dartmouth, England, from +which point he sent an account of his discovery to Holland. That country +lost no time in claiming sovereignty over the new territory, the claim +being so valid that no other nation could legitimately dispute it. + +Hudson's achievement added to his fame, and he was once more sent in +search of the northwest passage. He entered the bay and strait which +bear his name, and passed a winter in that terrible region. In the +following spring his crew mutinied, and, placing the navigator, his son, +and several members in an open boat, set them adrift, and none of them +was ever heard of again. + +[Illustration: Seal of The Virginia Company.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. + +_Virginia_,--Founding of Jamestown--Captain John Smith--Introduction of +African Slavery--Indian Wars--Bacon's Rebellion--Forms of +Government--Prosperity--Education--_New England_,--Plymouth--Massachusetts +Bay Colony--Union of the Colonies--Religious Persecution--King Philip's +War--The Witchcraft Delusion--_New Hampshire_,--_The Connecticut Colony_, +--_The New Haven Colony_,--Union of the Colonies--Indian Wars--The Charter +Oak--_Rhode Island_,--Different Forms of Government--_New York_,--The +Dutch and English Settlers--_New Jersey_,--_Delaware_,--_Pennsylvania_, +--_Maryland_,--Mason and Dixon's Line--_The Carolinas_--_Georgia_. + + +At the opening of the seventeenth century there was not a single English +settlement on this side of the Atlantic. It has been shown that the +French succeeded in planting colonies in Canada, that of De Monts, in +1605, in Acadia (the French name of Nova Scotia), proving successful, +while Champlain founded Quebec three years later. St. Augustine, +Florida, was founded by the Spanish in 1565, but it has played an +insignificant part in our history. England was the mother of the +colonies, from which the original thirteen States sprang, and we are +vastly more indebted to her than to all other nations combined. + + +THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT. + +In the year 1606, when James I. was king of England, he gave a charter +or patent to a number of gentlemen, which made them the owners of all +that part of America lying between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth +degrees of north latitude. The men who received this gift associated +themselves together under the name of the London Company, and in the +same year sent out three vessels, carrying 105 men, but no women or +children. A storm drove them out of their course, and, in the month of +May, they entered the mouth of a broad river, which they named the +James in honor of their king. They sailed up stream for fifty miles, +and, on the 13th of May, 1607, began the settlement of Jamestown, which +was the first English colony successfully planted in America. Everything +looked promising, but the trouble was that the men did not wish to work, +and, instead of cultivating the soil, spent their time in hunting for +gold which did not exist anywhere near them. They were careless in their +manner of living and a great many fell ill and died. They must have +perished before long had they not been wise enough to elect Captain John +Smith president or ruler of the colony. + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND HIS ADVENTURES. + +This man is one of the most interesting characters in the early history +of our country. He was a great boaster, and most of his associates did +not like him. He had been a wanderer in many parts of the world, and had +any number of stories to tell of his wonderful adventures. Probably some +of those stories were true and many fiction. Be that as it may, he was +an energetic and brave man, and the very one to save the perishing +settlers. He made every man work, and none wrought harder than himself. +As a consequence matters began to mend at once. + +Obeying his orders in London, Captain Smith, when it seemed prudent to +do so, spent much of his time in exploring the streams that flowed into +the James. It must not be forgotten that it was still believed in Europe +that America formed a part of Asia, and that no one needed to penetrate +far into the interior to reach that country. + +On one of these voyages Captain Smith was taken prisoner by the Indians, +who led him before their chief Powhatan. The chief decided that he must +be put to death, and, with his hands tied together, he was placed on the +ground, with his head resting on two big stones. Then one of the +warriors stepped forward to dash out his brains with a club. At that +moment Pocahontas, the young daughter of the chief, ran forward, and, +throwing her arms around the head of Smith, begged her father to spare +his life. The chief consented, and the prisoner was set free and +returned to Jamestown. Such is the story which Captain Smith told after +the death of Pocahontas in England, which she had visited with her +husband, an Englishman named Rolfe, and it can never be known whether +the incident was true or not. Some years later Smith was so badly +injured by the explosion of gunpowder that he had to return to England +for treatment. There he died in 1631. His invaluable services in this +country have led historians to regard him as the saviour of the Virginia +colony. + +[Illustration: POCAHONTAS SAVING THE LIFE OF JOHN SMITH.] + +The most woeful blow that was struck the American colonies was in +August, 1619, when a Dutch ship sailed up the James and sold twenty +negroes, kidnapped in Africa, to the colonists as slaves. It was thus +that African slavery was introduced into this country, bringing in its +train more sorrow, suffering, desolation, and death than pen can +describe or imagination conceive. The institution became legal in all +the colonies, and the ships of New England, as well as those of old +England, were actively engaged for many years in the slave trade. + +[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS.] + +WARS WITH THE INDIANS. + +The marriage of Pocahontas to one of the settlers made her father a firm +friend of the whites as long as he lived. At his death, his brother +Opechankano succeeded him. He hated intensely the invaders of the +hunting grounds, and began plotting to exterminate them. On the 22d of +March, 1622, he made such a sudden and furious assault upon the +plantations, as the farms were called, along the James that 400 people +were killed in one day. The settlers rallied, slew many of the Indians +and drove the remainder far back in the woods, but by the time this was +accomplished half of the 4,000 settlers were dead and the eighty +plantations were reduced to eight. + +Opechankano was not crushed, and for more than twenty years he busied +himself in perfecting his plans for a greater and more frightful +massacre. It was in April, 1644, that he struck his second blow, killing +between three and four hundred of the settlers. Once more the Virginians +renewed the war of extermination, and pressed it mercilessly until the +Indians sued for peace, gave a large tract of land to their conquerors, +and retired still further into the wilderness. It is worth noting that +at the time of this last massacre Opechankano was nearly a hundred years +old. + + +BACON'S REBELLION. + +Sir William Berkeley was the most bigoted ruler Virginia ever had. In +one of his messages, he thanked God that there were no free schools or +printing in his province. He was very tyrannous, and, having friends in +the assembly, they prevented the election of any new members from 1666 +to 1676. The taxes became intolerable, and trade fell into the hands of +a few individuals. Not only that, but the governor disbanded the troops +which had gathered for protection against the Indians, who renewed their +attacks on the exposed plantations. + +This was more than the people could stand, and they rose in rebellion +under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon, a popular young planter, who +had lost several members of his family through the attacks of the +Indians. Berkeley was cowed for a time, but the arrival of some ships +from England enabled him to take the field against Bacon. During the +civil war, Jamestown was burned to the ground and never rebuilt. Bacon +pressed his resistance so vigorously that his success seemed certain, +when unfortunately he fell ill and died. Left without a leader, the +rebellion crumbled to pieces. The exultant Berkeley punished the +leading rebels without mercy. He hanged twenty-two, and was so ferocious +that the king lost patience and ordered him to return to England. "The +old fool!" he exclaimed; "he has taken away more lives in that naked +country than I did for the murder of my father." + + +PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY. + +Colonial Virginia underwent several changes in its form of government. A +"Great Charter" was granted to it in 1613 by the London Company. This +permitted the settlers to make their own laws. The House of Burgesses, +which was called together at Jamestown by Governor Yeardley, July 30, +1619, was the first legislative body that ever met in this country. King +James was dissatisfied with the tendency of things, and in 1624 he took +away the charter and granted a new one, which allowed the colony to +elect the members of the House of Burgesses, while the king appointed +the council and their governor. This made Virginia a royal province, +which she remained until the Revolution. + +[Illustration: ARMOR WORN BY THE PILGRIMS IN 1620.] + +Virginia became very prosperous. Immense quantities of tobacco were +raised and sent to England and Holland, where it became widely popular. +Its cultivation was so profitable in the colony that for a time little +else was cultivated. It was planted even along the streets of Jamestown +and became the money of the province. Everything was paid for in so many +pounds of tobacco. The population steadily increased, and in 1715 was +95,000, which was the same as that of Massachusetts. A half-century +later, Virginia was the richest and most important of the thirteen +colonies. The people lived mostly on large plantations, for land was +plentiful and the Indians gave no further trouble. Most of the +inhabitants were members of the Church of England, and their assemblies +passed severe laws against the entrance of people of other religious +beliefs into the colony. It required the furnace blasts of the +Revolution to purify Virginia and some other provinces of this spirit of +intolerance. + +Education was neglected or confined to the rich who could send their +children to England to be educated. Some of the early schools were +destroyed by Indians, but William and Mary College, founded in 1692, was +the second college in the United States. It was never a very strong +institution. + + +THE "OLD DOMINION." + +It is worth recording how Virginia received the name of the "Old +Dominion." She remained loyal to Charles I. throughout the civil war in +England which ended in the beheading of the king. She was true also to +Charles II. when he was a fugitive and declared an outlaw. While in +exile, he sent Governor Berkeley his commission as Governor of Virginia, +and that ruler was immensely pleased. The king, to show his appreciation +of the loyalty of his colony, made public declaration that Virginia +added a fifth country to his kingdom, making it consist of England, +Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia, and he devised as an addition +to the motto of the English coat of arms, "_En dat Virginia quintam_" +("Lo! Virginia gives the fifth"). While Cromwell was turning things +topsy-turvy in England, a great many of the best families among the +Royalists emigrated to Virginia, where they were received with open arms +by Governor Berkeley and the owners of the plantations. From this arose +the name "Old Dominion," which is often applied to Virginia. + + +THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH. + +During the early days of Virginia there was bitter persecution in +England of those whose religious views differed from the Church of +England. This cruelty drove many people to other countries, and because +of their wanderings they were called "Pilgrims." Those who remained +members of the English church and used their efforts to purify it of +what they believed to be loose and pernicious doctrines were nicknamed +"Puritans." Those who withdrew from the membership of the church were +termed "Separatists" or "Independents." This distinction is often +confounded by writers and readers. + +One hundred and two Pilgrims, all Separatists, who had fled to Holland, +did not like the country, and decided to make their homes in the New +World, where they could worship God as their consciences dictated. They +sailed in the _Mayflower_, and, after a long and stormy passage, landed +at Plymouth, Massachusetts, December 21, 1620, in the midst of a +blinding snowstorm. + +The Pilgrims were hardy, industrious, and God-fearing, and were prepared +to face every kind of danger and suffering without murmur. They were +severely austere in their morals and conduct, and, when writhing in the +pangs of starvation, maintained their faith unshaken in the wisdom and +goodness of their Heavenly Father. All these admirable qualities were +needed during the awful winter, which was one of the severest ever known +in New England. They built log-houses, using oiled paper instead of +glass for the windows, and in the spring were able to buy corn of the +Indians, who pitied their sufferings, for in the space of a few weeks +one-half of the Pilgrims had died. At one time there were but seven well +persons in the colony. Among those who passed away was John Carver, the +first governor. + +[Illustration: LANDING OF MYLES STANDISH.] + +The survivors held their ground with grim heroism, and by-and-by other +immigrants arrived, and the growth and prosperity, though slow, was +certain. It had no charter, but was governed by an agreement which had +been drawn up and signed in the cabin of the _Mayflower_, about the time +the bleak coast of New England was sighted. For sixty years after the +settlement of Plymouth, its history was uneventful. It was never very +large, but the real work which it accomplished was in bringing +thousands of other colonists to follow it to New England, who were +opponents of the Established Church, and who gave to that section of our +country a distinctive character of its own. + + +MYLES STANDISH. + +It is an interesting coincidence that while Virginia had her Captain +John Smith, Plymouth possessed a character quite similar in the person +of Captain Myles Standish. He was the military leader of the colony, +with a courage that was absolutely fearless. He has been described as a +very small man, with a "long, yellow beard," and a temper as inflammable +as gunpowder. Nothing would rouse his anger sooner than to hear any slur +upon his stature. A big, hulking Indian, belonging to a party much +larger than Standish's, once looked down upon the diminutive Englishman, +and, with a curl of his lip, referred to him as too small to fight. The +next day, in a fight that arose with the chiefs, Standish killed the +insulting Indian with his own knife. All readers are familiar with the +beautiful poem of Longfellow, which tells how Standish employed John +Alden to woo Priscilla, the "loveliest maid of Plymouth," for him, and +he did it with such success that Alden won her for himself. + + +MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. + +The Massachusetts Bay Colony included the part of the present State of +Massachusetts from the neighborhood of Boston northward. It was founded +by Puritans, who, it will be remembered, had not separated wholly from +the Church of England, but opposed many of its ceremonies. In the civil +war with England they sided with the Parliament and were subjected to +the same persecution as the Separatists. In 1628 a number of wealthy +Puritans bought the territory from the Council of Plymouth, and, +receiving a charter the following year from Charles I., sent small +colonies across the Atlantic. Then the company itself followed, taking +with it the charter and officers, thus gaining a colony in America that +was wholly independent of England. Salem and some other small +settlements had previously been made. + +The colony was one of the most important that ever settled in this +country. Its leaders were not only of the best character, but were +wealthy, wise, and far-seeing. A large number arrived in 1630, and +founded Boston, Cambridge, Lynn, and other towns. Although they suffered +many privations, they were not so harsh as those of Plymouth, and the +colony prospered. During the ten years succeeding 1630, 20,000 people +settled in Massachusetts, and in 1692 the two colonies united under the +name of Massachusetts. + +It would seem that since these people had fled to America to escape +religious persecution, they would have been tolerant of the views of +those among them, but such unhappily was not the case. The most +important part of their work was the building of churches and the +establishment of religious instruction. The minister was the most +important man in the colony, and no one was allowed to vote unless a +member of the church. A reproof in church was considered the most +disgraceful penalty that could be visited upon a wrong-doer. The sermons +were two, three, and sometimes four hours long, and the business of one +of the officers was to watch those overcome by drowsiness and wake them +up, sometimes quite sharply. + +[Illustration: KING PHILIP'S WAR--DEATH OF THE KING.] + +RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. + +Roger Williams, a Baptist preacher, told the Puritans, as the people +came generally to be called, that they did wrong to take the land from +the Indians without paying for it, and that a person was answerable to +God alone for his belief. These charges were answered by the banishment +of Williams from the colony. All the Baptists were expelled in 1635. +Shortly afterward, Anne Hutchinson boldly preached the doctrine of +Antinomianism, which declares that a man is not saved by the help of +good works, but by divine grace alone. In other words, no matter how +wickedly he lives, his salvation is wholly independent of it. She went +to Rhode Island and afterward to New Netherland, where she was killed in +one of the attacks of the Indians upon the Dutch settlements. + +[Illustration: ROGER WILLIAMS IN BANISHMENT.] + +The Quakers greatly annoyed the New England colonists. They persisted in +rising in the Puritan meetings and disputing with ministers. Many were +fined, whipped, imprisoned, and banished, but in the face of warnings +they returned. As a consequence, four were put to death. Then a reaction +set in and the persecution ceased. + +The most formidable war in which the early colonies of New England were +involved was with King Philip, who was the son of Massasoit, a firm +friend of the settlers until his death. Philip was one of the great +Indians of history. Like many of his people he saw with anger the growth +of the white men, who in time would drive him and his warriors from +their hunting grounds. Realizing the magnitude of the work of +exterminating all the settlers, he visited the different tribes and used +every effort to unite them in a war against the invaders. He was partly +successful, and, with the allies secured, King Philip began the war by +attacking a party of settlers at Swansea, on Sunday, June 24, 1675, +while they were on their way to church. Several whites were killed, when +the Indians hurried off to the Connecticut Valley to continue their +dreadful work. + +All understood their peril, and flew to arms. Every man carried his +musket to church, and they were stacked outside the door, while a +sentinel paced up and down. More than once the long sermon was +interrupted by the crack of the red men's guns and their wild whoops, as +they swarmed out of the woods. Springing down from the pulpit, the +minister was among the foremost in beating the heathen back, and, when +quiet was restored, probably he resumed and finished his sermon. + +The war was prosecuted furiously on both sides. In the depth of winter, +when the snow lay several feet on the ground, John Winslow led 1,500 men +against the Narragansett stronghold, which was in the heart of a great +swamp, and was one of the most powerful fortifications ever erected by +the red men on this continent. In the terrible fight, 200 white men and +nearly 1,000 Indians were killed. Finally, Philip was run down in a +swamp near his old home on Mount Hope, not far from the present city of +Bristol, Rhode Island. While stealing out of his hiding-place, he was +confronted by a white soldier and a friendly Indian. The gun of the +former missed fire, whereupon the Indian leveled his musket and shot the +Wampanoag leader dead. The war ended a few months later. During its +continuance, six hundred white men were killed and many more wounded; +thirteen towns were destroyed and five hundred buildings burned, but the +Indian power in southern New England was shattered forever. + + +THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. + +One of the most fearful delusions recorded in history is that of the +general belief in witchcraft which prevailed in Europe down to the +seventeenth century. Its baleful shadow all too soon fell upon New +England. Massachusetts and Connecticut made laws against witchcraft and +hanged a number of persons on the charge of being witches. In 1692 the +town of Salem went crazy over the belief that the diabolical spirits +were at work among them. Two little girls, who were simpletons that +ought to have been spanked and put to bed, declared with bulging eyes +that different persons had taken the form of a black cat and pinched, +scratched, and bitten them. The people, including the great preacher +Cotton Mather, believed this stuff, and the supposed wizards and witches +were punished with fearful severity. Suspicion in many cases meant +death; evil men disposed of their creditors and enemies by charging them +with witchcraft; families were divided and the gentlest and most +irreproachable of women suffered disgraceful death. Everybody, including +ministers and judges, lost their wits. The magistrates crowded the +jails, until twenty had been put to death and fifty-five tortured before +the craze subsided. Then it became clear that no one, no matter what his +station, was safe, and the delusion, which forms one of the blackest +pages in New England, passed away. + +[Illustration: GALLUP'S RECAPTURE OF OLDHAM'S BOAT + +Which had been taken by the Indians from the Puritan exiles in 1636. +"Steer straight for the vessel," cried Gallup, and stationing himself at +the bow he opened fire on the Indians. Every time his gun flashed some +one was hit. This incident was the beginning of the Pequot War.] + +SETTLEMENT OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. + +New Hampshire was the name of John Mason's share of a territory granted +to him and Sir Fernando Gorges by the Council of Plymouth in 1622. This +grant included all the land between the Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers. +The first settlement was made in 1623, at New and at Little Harbor, near +Portsmouth. In 1629 the proprietors divided their grants, the country +west of the Piscataqua being taken by Mason, who named it New Hampshire, +while Gorges, who owned the eastern section, called it Maine. + +The settlements were weak and their growth tardy. In 1641 New Hampshire +placed itself under the protection of Massachusetts, but the king +separated them in 1679, and made New Hampshire a royal colony. In 1688 +it again joined Massachusetts, and three years later was set off once +more by the king, after which it remained a royal colony until the +Revolution. + + +THE CONNECTICUT COLONY. + +The Connecticut colony included all of the present State of Connecticut, +excepting a few townships on the shore of Long Island Sound. It came +into the possession of the Earl of Warwick in 1630, and the following +year he transferred it to Lords Say, Brooke, and others. The Dutch +claimed the territory and erected a fort on the Connecticut River to +keep out the English. The latter, however, paid no attention to them, +and a number of Massachusetts traders settled at Windsor in 1633. +Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, was settled in 1635. A great +many emigrants came from Massachusetts in 1636, the principal leader +being Thomas Hooker. They founded Weathersfield, Windsor, and Hartford, +and in 1639 adopted the name of the Connecticut colony and drew up a +written constitution, the first ever framed by a body of men for their +own government. Other settlements were made and Saybrook united with +them. + +The most eventful incident in the history of Connecticut was the war +with the Pequot Indians, who were a powerful tribe in the eastern part +of the State. They tried to persuade the Narragansetts to join them, but +Roger Williams, who lived among them, persuaded Canonicus, their chief, +to refuse. Then the Pequots committed the fatal mistake of going to war +alone. The settlers, fully roused to their danger, assailed the Pequot +stronghold with fury, one summer morning in 1637, and killed all their +enemies, sparing neither women nor children. Thus a leading tribe of +Indians were blotted out in one day. + + +THE NEW HAVEN COLONY. + +The New Haven colony comprised the townships already referred to as +lying on Long Island Sound. It was settled in 1638 by a company of +English immigrants, who were sufficiently wise and just to buy the lands +of the Indians. Other towns were settled, and in 1639 the group took the +name of the New Haven colony. Neither of the colonies had a charter, and +there was much rivalry in the efforts to absorb the towns as they were +settled. The majority preferred to join the Connecticut colony, for the +other, like Massachusetts, would permit no one not a member of church to +vote or hold office. + +[Illustration: PRIMITIVE MODE OF GRINDING CORN.] + + +THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. + +What is known in the history of England as the Commonwealth, +established by Cromwell, came to an end in 1660. Charles II. ascended +the throne, and Winthrop, governor of the Connecticut colony, which had +now grown to be the stronger of the two, went to England to secure a +charter. It was granted to him in 1662, and covered the territory +occupied by both colonies, who were permitted to elect their assembly, +their governor, and to rule themselves. New Haven, after deliberating +over the question, reluctantly accepted the charter, and in 1665 the two +were united under the name of the Colony of Connecticut. + +Everything was going along smoothly, when, in 1687, Governor Andros came +down with a company of soldiers from Boston and ordered the people to +surrender their charter. He was acting under the orders of the king, who +did not fancy the independence with which the colony was conducting +matters. Andros confronted the assembly, which were called together in +Hartford. They begged that he would not enforce his demands. He +consented to listen to their arguments, though there was not the +slightest probability of it producing any effect upon him. + + +THE CHARTER OAK. + +The talk continued until dark, when the candles were lighted. Suddenly, +at a signal, all were blown out. When they were re-lighted, the charter, +which had been lying on the table in plain sight, was nowhere to be +found. Captain Wadsworth had slipped out during the interval of darkness +and hidden the paper in the hollow of an oak. Then he returned and took +his place among the members, looking the most innocent of all. Andros +fumed and raved and informed the assembly that their trick would avail +them nothing, since their charter government was at an end. He went back +to Boston, to be turned out of office two years later, when the precious +charter was brought from its hiding-place. + +No effort was spared to preserve the historical "Charter Oak," that had +thus been made famous. It was supported and propped in every part that +showed signs of weakness, and held up its head until 1856, when a +terrific storm brought it to the ground, shattered to fragments, all of +which were carefully gathered and preserved by those fortunate enough to +obtain them. + +The early division of the colonies was long marked by the fact that +Hartford and New Haven served as the two capitals of the State until +1873, when Hartford became the sole capital. + + +SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND. + +It has been stated that when Roger Williams was banished from +Massachusetts he took refuge among the Narragansett Indians, who +occupied the country at the head of Narragansett Bay. Canonicus, the +chief, held the good man in high esteem, and presented him with a large +tract of land, which the devout Williams named "Providence" in +remembrance of the manner in which he believed God had directed him +thither. Settlers from Massachusetts followed him, and all were +hospitably received and kindly treated. The fullest religious liberty +was allowed, and even when Anne Hutchinson visited Williams, he treated +her like a sister. Williams obtained a charter in 1644 from the +Parliament and it was confirmed in 1654. The new one granted by Charles +II. in 1663 united all the colonies into one, under the name Rhode +Island and Providence Plantations. This is still the legal name of the +State, which retains its two capitals, Providence and Newport, the +Legislature meeting alternately in each. The charter of Charles II. +suited the people so well that it remained in force until 1842, when +Thomas Dorr headed a rebellion, as related hereafter, which resulted in +the establishment of a new charter. + +The existence of Rhode Island was threatened by the claim of Connecticut +to all the land on the west to the shore of Narragansett Bay, while +Plymouth insisted that the land on the east to the shore of the same bay +belonged to her. Rhode Island stoutly resisted, and succeeded in 1741 +and 1752 in fixing her boundaries as they are to-day, which make her the +smallest State in the Union. + + +SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. + +It has been shown that Holland was more anxious to secure trade than +territory. Soon after the discovery of the Hudson, by Captain Henry +Hudson, the Dutch traders sent vessels to Manhattan Island, now +constituting the city of New York, and began bartering with the Indians. +In 1621 Holland granted the territory from Delaware Bay to the +Connecticut River to the Dutch West India Company. The name given to the +territory was New Netherland, while the settlement, which grew in time +into the metropolis of America, was called New Amsterdam. The whole +island was bought from the Indians for sixty guilders, equal to about +twenty-four dollars, a price which is considerably less than would be +demanded to-day for the site of Greater New York. + +New Netherland was governed successively by Peter Minuet, Walter Van +Twiller, William Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant, who were sent out by the +Dutch West India Company, and whose rule extended from 1626 to 1664. Of +these, Stuyvesant was by far the ablest, and he made a strong impression +on the social and political life of New Netherland. He was severe and +stubborn, however, and many of the Dutchmen found his rule so onerous +that they were rather pleased than otherwise, when the English, in 1664, +claimed the territory by right of discovery and sent out a fleet which +compelled Stuyvesant to surrender the town. The doughty old governor +stamped about New Amsterdam with his wooden leg, calling upon his +countrymen to rally and drive back the rascals, but little or no heed +was paid to his appeals. + +Charles II. had granted the territory to his brother the Duke of York, +who soon after ascended the throne, thus making the colony, which +included that of New Jersey, a royal one. The Connecticut people had +settled a large part of Rhode Island, which they claimed, but the duke +was too powerful to be resisted, and Long Island became a part of New +York, as the city and province were named. + +In 1673, while at war with England, Holland sent a fleet which +recaptured New York, but it was given back to England, upon the signing +of a treaty in 1674. The manner in which New Netherland was settled by +the Dutch was quite different from that of New England. Wealthy men, +termed "patroons," were granted immense tracts of laud and brought over +settlers, whose situation was much like that of the serfs of Russia. +Traces of the patroon system remained long after the Revolution, and, in +1846, caused the "Anti-Rent War," which resulted in the death of a +number of people. + +The province of New York suffered greatly from misrule. The people were +not permitted to elect their own assembly until 1683, and two years +later, when the Duke of York became king, he took away the privilege. +William and Mary, however, restored it in 1691, and it remained to the +Revolution. + +As a proof of the bad governorship of New York, it may be said that +there is good reason to believe that one of its rulers was interested +with the pirates who infested the coast, while another, who refused to +sign the death-warrant of two persons who had committed no serious +crime, was made drunk and then persuaded to sign the fatal paper. When +he became sober, he was horrified to find that both had been executed. + + +WILLIAM KIDD, THE PIRATE. + +The piracy alluded to became such a scandalous blight that strenuous +measures were taken to crush it. In 1697 Captain William Kidd, a New +York shipmaster and a brave and skillful navigator, was sent to assist +in the work. After he had cruised for a while in distant waters, he +turned pirate himself. He had the effrontery to return home three years +later, believing his friends would protect him; but, though they would +have been willing enough to do so, they dared not. He was arrested, +tried in England, convicted, and hanged. Piracy was finally driven from +the American waters in 1720. + +In 1740 New York was thrown into a panic by the report that the negroes +had formed a plot to burn the town. It is scarcely possible that any +such plot existed, but before the scare had passed away four whites and +eighteen negroes were hanged, and, dreadful as it may sound, fourteen +negroes were burned at the stake. In addition, nearly a hundred were +driven out of the colony. + +The fine harbor and noble river emptying into it gave New York such +advantages that, by 1750, it had become one of the most important +cities on the coast, though its population was less than that of +Philadelphia. At the time named, its inhabitants numbered about 12,000, +which was less than that of Philadelphia. The province itself contained +90,000 inhabitants. The chief towns were New York, Albany, and Kingston. +Brooklyn, which attained vast proportions within the following century, +was merely a ferry station. + + +SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. + +New Jersey, as has been stated, was originally a part of New Netherland. +As early as 1618, the Dutch erected a trading post at Bergen. All now +included in the State was granted, in 1664, by the Duke of York to Lord +John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Carteret was once governor of the +island of Jersey in the English Channel, and gave the name to the new +province. In the year mentioned, the first English settlement was made +at Elizabethtown, now known as Elizabeth. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, BURLINGTON, NEW +JERSEY.] + +In 1674, the province was divided into East and West Jersey, a +distinction which is preserved to some extent to the present day. +Berkeley, who owned West Jersey, sold it to a number of Quakers, some of +whom settled near Burlington. Carteret sold his part to William Penn and +eleven other Quakers. The various changes of ownership caused much +trouble with the land titles. In 1702, all the proprietors surrendered +their rights to the crown and New Jersey became a royal colony. The same +governor ruled New York and New Jersey, though those in the latter +elected their own assembly. A complete separation from New York took +place in 1738, and New Jersey remained a royal province until the +Revolution. Its location averted all troubles with the Indians. Newark, +the principal city, was settled in 1666, by emigrants from Connecticut. +Burlington, founded in 1677, was one of the capitals and Perth Amboy the +other. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN, THE GOOD AND WISE RULER.] + +EARLY SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE. + +In 1638, a number of Swedes formed the settlement of Christina on the +Delaware, near Wilmington. They bought the land from the Indians and +named it New Sweden. A second settlement, that of Chester, was made just +below the site of Philadelphia in 1643, and was the first in the present +State of Pennsylvania. The fiery Governor Stuyvesant of New +Netherland looked upon these attempts as impudent invasions of his +territory, and, filled with anger, hurried down to Delaware and captured +both. It was a matter of no moment to the thrifty Swedes, who kept on +the even tenor of their way and throve under the new government as well +as under the old. A further account of the settlement of Delaware will +be given in our history of that of Pennsylvania. + +[Illustration: NOTABLE AUDIENCE IN MARYLAND TO HEAR GEORGE FOX, THE +FOUNDER OF THE "SOCIETY OF FRIENDS" OR QUAKERS.] + + +SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. + +The peace-loving Quakers were among those who suffered persecution in +England for conscience sake. William Penn was the son of Admiral Penn, +who disliked the Quakers and had been a valiant officer for the English +government. When he died, the crown owed him a large sum of money, which +William offered to liquidate in return for a grant of the land now known +as the State of Pennsylvania. The king willingly agreed to this, and the +Duke of York, who had a strong liking for Penn, added the present State +of Delaware to the grant, in which, as has been stated, the Swedes had +made a number of settlements. + +William Penn was one of the best and wisest rulers that had to do with +the settlement of our country. The king, more as a piece of pleasantry +than otherwise, insisted upon naming the province "Pennsylvania," in +honor of the proprietor, much to the good man's dismay. He offered the +royal secretary a liberal fee to omit the first part of the name from +the charter, but it was not done. No rule could have been more kindly. +Absolute freedom of conscience was permitted; in all trials by jury of +an Indian, one-half of the jury were to be composed of Indians, and, +although Penn was induced to permit the punishment of death for treason +and murder, to be provided for in the code, no man was ever executed +while Penn had anything to do with the province. + +His first act, after his arrival in 1682, was characteristic. He called +the Indian chiefs together, under a great spreading elm at Shackamaxon, +and paid them for the land that was already his by royal grant. In +addition, he made the red men many presents and signed a treaty, which +neither party broke for sixty years. It has been truly said that this +was the only treaty not sworn to which was kept inviolate by both +parties. + +Penn himself laid out the city of Philadelphia in 1683. A year later, it +had a population of 7,000, and in three years more its population +increased faster than that of New York in half a century. Delaware, then +called the "Three Lower Counties," was given a separate government at +the request of the people in 1703. They were allowed their own deputy +governor, but Pennsylvania and Delaware continued substantially under +one government until the Revolution. + +The good ruler met with many misfortunes. In 1692, the province was +taken from him, because of his friendship to James II., but restored +soon afterward. In 1699, when he made his second visit, he found the +people had in a great measure grown away from him, and were unwilling +that he should exercise his former supervision. While absent, a +dishonest steward robbed him of nearly all his property in England; and, +failing in health and mind, he died in 1718. His sons became +proprietors, but the people grew more and more discontented with the +payment of rents. To end the disputes and quarrels, the State abolished +the rents during the Revolution, paying the proprietors the sum of +$650,000 for the extinguishment of their rights. + + +PHILADELPHIA. + +Philadelphia was prosperous from the first. New York City did not catch +up to it until after the year 1810. It was early noted, as it has been +since, for its cleanliness, fine buildings, and the attention it gave to +education. It had a printing press in 1686, and three years later a +public high school. In the year 1749, the present University of +Pennsylvania was founded as a school, becoming a college in 1755, and a +university in 1779. Many of the names of streets, such as Walnut, +Chestnut, Pine, Mulberry, and others, were given to it when the city was +laid out. + +[Illustration: MORAVIAN EASTER SERVICE, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.] + +The settlement of the province was confined for a long time to the +eastern section. No population was more varied. The Scotch and Irish +were mainly in the central portion, the Dutch and Germans in the east +and northeast, and the English in the southeastern part of the colony. +There are hundreds of people to-day in Pennsylvania, whose ancestors for +several generations have been born there, who are unable to speak or +understand a word of English. + +Maryland is the next colony in order of settlement. The Roman Catholics +were among those who suffered persecution in England, and Maryland was +founded as a place of refuge for them. Among the most prominent of the +English Catholics was Sir George Calvert, known as Lord Baltimore. His +first attempt to found a colony was in Newfoundland, but the rigorous +climate compelled him to give it up. He decided that the most favorable +place was that portion of Virginia lying east of the Potomac. Virginia +had its eye already upon the section, and was preparing to settle it, +when Charles I., without consulting her, granted the territory to Lord +Baltimore. Before he could use the patent, he died, and the charter was +made to his son, Cecil Calvert, in 1632. He named it Maryland in +compliment to the queen, Henrietta Maria. + +Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, began the settlement of +Maryland at St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac. He took with him +200 immigrants and made friends with the Indians, whom he treated with +justice and kindness. Annapolis was founded in 1683 and Baltimore in +1729. + +Despite the wisdom and liberality of Calvert's rule, the colony met with +much trouble, because of Virginia's claim to the territory occupied by +the newcomers. William Clayborne of Virginia had established a trading +post in Maryland and refused to leave, but he was driven out, whereupon +he appealed to the king, insisting that the Catholics were intruders +upon domain to which they had no right. The king decided in favor of +Lord Baltimore. Clayborne however, would not assent, and, returning to +Maryland in 1645, he incited a rebellion which was pressed so vigorously +that Calvert was forced to flee. He gathered enough followers to drive +Clayborne out in turn. The Catholics then established a liberal +government and passed the famous "Toleration Act," which allowed +everybody to worship God as he saw fit. Many persons in the other +colonies, who were suffering persecution, made their homes in Maryland. + +After a time, the Protestants gained a majority in the assembly and made +laws which were very oppressive to the Catholics. The strife degenerated +into civil war, which lasted for a number of years. The proprietor in +1691 was a supporter of James II., because of which the new king, +William, took away his colony and appointed the governors himself. The +proprietor's rights were restored in 1716 to the fourth Lord Baltimore. +The Calverts became extinct in 1771, and the people of Maryland assumed +proprietorship five years later. Comparative tranquillity reigned until +the breaking out of the Revolution. + +An interesting occurrence during this tranquil period was the arrival +from England of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends or +Quakers. In the assemblage which gathered on the shores of the +Chesapeake to listen to his preaching were members of the Legislature, +the leading men of the province, Indian sachems and their families, with +their great chief at their head. + +The disputed boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was fixed in +1767, by two surveyors named Mason and Dixon. This boundary became +famous in after years as the dividing line between the free and slave +States. + +Charles II., in 1663 and 1665, granted the land between Florida and +Virginia to eight proprietors. The country had been named Carolina in +honor of their king, Charles IX. (Latin, _Carolus_), and since Charles +II. was King of England the name was retained, though he was not the +ruler meant thus to be honored. The country was comparatively +uninhabited after the failure of the French colony, except by a few +Virginians, who made a settlement on the northern shore of Albemarle +Sound. + + +THE CAROLINAS. + +For twenty years the proprietors tried to establish upon American soil +one of the most absurd forms of government ever conceived. The land was +to be granted to nobles, known as barons, landgraves, and caziques, +while the rest of the people were not to be allowed to hold any land, +but were to be bought and sold with the soil, like so many cattle. The +settlers ridiculed and defied the fantastical scheme, which had to be +abandoned. It was the work of John Locke, the famous philosopher, who at +one time was secretary of Lord Cooper, one of the proprietors. + +The first settlement of the Carteret colony was made in 1670, on the +banks of the Ashley, but in 1680 it was removed to the present site of +Charleston. The colonies remained united for about seventy years, when +it became apparent that the territory was too large to be well governed +by one assembly and a single governor. In 1729, the present division was +made, and the rights of government and seven-eighths of the land were +returned to the crown. + +The soil and climate were so favorable that thousands of immigrants were +attracted thither. Among them were numerous Huguenots or French +Protestants, whose intelligence, thrift, and morality placed them among +the very best settlers found anywhere in our country. Newbern was +settled by a colony of Swiss in 1711, and there was a large influx of +Scotch after their rebellion of 1740, England giving them permission to +leave Scotland. Scotch immigrants settled Fayetteville in 1746. + +There were occasional troubles with the Indians, the most important of +which was the war with the Tuscaroras, in 1711. This tribe was utterly +defeated and driven northward into New York, where they joined the +Iroquois or Five Nations. The union of the Tuscaroras caused the +Iroquois to be known afterward as the Six Nations. + +The Carolinas were afflicted with some of the worst governors +conceivable, interspersed now and then with excellent ones. Often there +was sturdy resistance, and in 1677 one of the governors, who attempted +to enforce the Navigation Act, was deposed and imprisoned. In 1688, +another was driven out of the colony. The population was widely +scattered, but the people themselves were as a whole the best kind of +citizens. They would not permit religious persecution, and defeated the +effort to make the Church of England the colony church. As a +consequence, the Carolinas became, like Maryland and Pennsylvania, a +refuge for thousands of those who were persecuted in the name of +religion. + + +GEORGIA. + +Georgia was the last of the thirteen original colonies to be settled, +and, though it long remained the weakest of them all, its history is +very interesting. It, too, was a country of refuge for those suffering +persecution, but their affliction was different in its nature from those +of whom we have made record. + +One of the remarkable facts connected with the government of nations +claiming the highest civilization, hardly more than a century ago, was +the brutality of their laws. Many crimes, comparatively trifling in +their nature, were punishable with death. One of the most cruel of these +oppressive laws was that which permitted a man to throw into prison a +neighbor who was unable to pay the money he owed. If a poor tenant fell +ill, and could not pay his landlord, the latter could have him flung +into jail and kept there until the debt was paid. Since the debtor was +unable to earn a penny while in prison, and probably his wife and +children were equally helpless, the landlord thus deprived himself of +all possibility of getting his money, while the wretched debtor +literally "rotted" in prison. Thousands died in dreadful misery, merely +because they were poor. + +[Illustration: COLONIAL PLOW WITH WOODEN MOULD-BOARD. 1706 (State +Agricultural Museum, Albany, N.Y.)] + +This system of allowing imprisonment for debt prevailed in our own +country until within the memory of men still living. It makes one's +cheeks tingle with shame and indignation to recall that Robert Morris, +who devoted all his wealth and energies to raising money for the +patriots during the Revolution, who furnished Washington with thousands +of dollars, and but for whose help the war must have failed, became poor +after independence was gained and was imprisoned for debt. + +The system caused such horrible suffering in England that the pity of +all good men was stirred. Among these was James Edward Oglethorpe, one +of the most admirable characters in modern history. He was a brave and +skillful soldier, eminently just, of the highest social position and a +member of Parliament. He determined to do something practical for the +perishing debtors in English jails. He, therefore, asked George II. to +give him a grant of land in America to which the imprisoned debtors +could be sent, and the king, whose heart also seemed to be touched, +promptly did so. It was said of Oglethorpe that the universal respect +felt for him made certain that any favor he asked of his own associates +or friends would be willingly granted. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT HORSESHOES PLOWED UP IN SCHENECTADY CO., N.Y. + +(In the New York State Agricultural Museum.)] + +The king not only presented him with valuable equipments, but Parliament +granted him a liberal sum, to which wealthy citizens added. He had the +best wishes of his entire country when he sailed for America with one +hundred and fourteen persons. He named the new colony Georgia in honor +of the king, and began the settlement of Savannah in 1733, Darien and +Augusta being founded three years later. It need hardly be said of such +a man, that, like Penn and Baltimore, he bought the lands anew of the +Indians and retained their friendship from the start. On one of his +visits to England he took a party of red men with him, entertained them +at his country place and presented them at court. + +The Spaniards claimed Georgia as their own territory, and raised a large +force with which to expel Oglethorpe, whose colony had been increased by +the arrival of other immigrants, but the English officer handled his men +with such extraordinary skill that the Spaniards were utterly routed. + +[Illustration: A COLONIAL FLAX-WHEEL.] + +It would be supposed that Georgia would have been one of the most +successful of the original colonies, since seemingly it possessed every +advantage, but such was far from the fact. One cause for this was the +"coddling" the pioneers received. They were harmed by too much kindness. +Had they been compelled to hew their own way, like their neighbors, they +would have done better. They were like children spoiled by being granted +too many favors. + +[Illustration: HIAWATHA, FOUNDER OF THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE + +The Iroquois League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, +Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations, who founded in the New York +wilderness a barbaric republic, with bonds of union that might serve in +many respects as a model for civilized nations.] + +Another cause was the poor laws by which the people were ruled. Slavery +at first was forbidden within its borders, though it was tolerated all +about them. Then, in 1747, the trustees yielded to the general demand +and admitted slavery. Other rules caused discontent, and many settlers +moved away. Population appeared to be at a standstill, and finally the +trustees in 1752 surrendered their rights to the crown. More liberal +laws followed and the prosperity increased. + +[Illustration: SILK-WINDING. + +(Fac-simile of a picture in Edward Williams' "Virginia Truly Valued." +1650.)] + +Of General Oglethorpe, it may be added that he lived to reach his +ninety-eighth year. It was said of him that he was the handsomest old +man in London, and people often stopped on the streets to look at and +admire him. He always had a warm regard for the American colonies. +Indeed, it was this marked friendship for them which prevented his +appointment as commander-in-chief of the British forces during the +Revolution. + + +GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. + +It will thus be seen that, beginning with Virginia, in 1607, the +American colonies had grown in a little more than a century and a +quarter to thirteen. These were strung along the Atlantic coast from +Maine to Florida, and in 1750 their population was about 1,260,000. This +was vigorous growth. All the colonists, although born on this side of +the Atlantic, considered themselves Englishmen, and were proud of their +king, three thousand miles away across the ocean. With such loyal +subjects, the English crown had the best opportunity in the world to +become the most powerful of all the nations. + +[Illustration: A COMFORTIER, OR CHAFING-DISH. + +(New York State Cabinet of Natural History, Albany.)] + +But Great Britain was not free from misgiving over the rapid growth of +her American colonies. Nothing looked more probable than that before +many years they would unite in one government of their own and declare +their independence of the British crown. Then was the time for the +display of wise statesmanship, but unhappily for England and happily for +the colonies, such wise statesmanship proved to be lacking on the other +side of the water. The colonies displayed great industry. They grew +tobacco, rice, indigo, and many other products which were eagerly +welcomed by the British merchants, who exported their own manufactures +in exchange for them. The inevitable result was that England and the +American colonies increased their wealth by this means. Not only that, +but the colonies voted ships, men, and money to help the mother country +in the wars in which she was often involved. + +As early as 1651, Parliament passed the first of the oppressive +Navigation Acts, which forbade the colonies to trade with any other +country than England, or to receive foreign ships into their ports. This +act was so harsh and unjust that it was never generally enforced, until +the attempt, more than a century later, when it became one of the +leading causes of the American Revolution. + +[Illustration: EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND.] + +[Illustration: PLACES OF WORSHIP IN NEW YORK IN 1742. + +1. Lutheran. 2. French. 3. Trinity. 4. New Dutch. 5. Old Dutch. 6. +Presbyterian. 7. Baptist. 8. Quaker. 9. Synagogue.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INTERCOLONIAL WARS AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. + +King William's War--Queen Anne's War--King George's War--The French and +Indian War--England and France Rivals in the Old World and the New--The +Early French Settlements--The Disputed Territory--France's Fatal +Weakness--Washington's Journey Through the Wilderness--The First Fight +of the War--The War Wholly American for Two Years--The Braddock +Massacre--The Great Change Wrought by William Pitt--Fall of +Quebec--Momentous Consequences of the Great English Victory--The Growth +and Progress of the Colonies and Their Home Life. + + +KING WILLIAM'S WAR. + +If anything were needed to prove the utter uselessness and horrible +barbarity of war, it is found in a history of the strife in which the +American colonies were involved through the quarrels of their rulers, +thousands of miles away on the other side of the Atlantic. Men lived for +years in America as neighbors, meeting and exchanging visits on the most +friendly terms, and with no thought of enmity, until the arrival of some +ship with news that their respective governments in Europe had gone to +war. Straightway, the neighbors became enemies, and, catching up their +guns, did their best to kill one another. Untold misery and hundreds of +lives were lost, merely because two ambitious men had gotten into a +wrangle. The result of such a dispute possessed no earthly interest to +the people in the depths of the American wilderness, but loyalty to +their sovereigns demanded that they should plunge into strife. + +As time passed, Spain and Holland declined in power, and England and +France became formidable rivals in the New World as well as in the Old. +In 1689, when William III. was on the throne of England, war broke out +between that country and France and lasted until 1697. The French, +having settled in Canada, were wise enough to cultivate the friendship +of the Indians, who helped them in their savage manner in desolating the +English settlements. Dover, New Hampshire, was attacked by the French +and Indians, who killed more than a score of persons and carried away a +number of captives. In other places, settlers were surprised in the +fields and shot down. Early in 1690, another party came down from +Canada, and, when the snow lay deep on the ground and the people were +sleeping in their beds, made a furious attack upon Schenectady. The town +was burned and sixty persons tomahawked, while the survivors, half-clad, +struggled through the snow to Albany, sixteen miles distant. + +The Americans in retaliation attempted to invade Canada, but the result +was a disastrous failure. The war continued in a desultory way, with +great cruelties on both sides, until 1697, when a treaty signed at +Ryswick, Holland, settled the quarrel between King William and James +II., by deciding that the former was the rightful king of England. The +suffering and deaths that had been inflicted on this side of the +Atlantic produced not the slightest effect upon the quarrel between the +two claimants to the throne. + + +QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. + +In 1702, England got into a wrangle with France and Spain. This time the +Iroquois Indians took no part, because of their treaty with France, +although in the previous war they fought on the side of the English. In +the depth of winter in 1703-4, Deerfield, Massachusetts, was attacked +and destroyed. Forty-seven of the people were tomahawked and more than a +hundred carried into captivity. Their sufferings were so dreadful on the +long tramp through the snow to Canada that nearly all sank down and +died. Maine and New Hampshire were devastated by the hordes, who showed +no mercy to women and children. Another English invasion of Canada was +attempted, but failed like its predecessor. The aimless, cruel war +continued until 1713, when a treaty of peace was signed at Utrecht in +Holland, by which England secured control of the fisheries of +Newfoundland, while Labrador, Hudson Bay, and Acadia or Nova Scotia were +ceded to Great Britain. The result in both instances would have been the +same had the English and French settlers and the Indians continued on +amicable terms. + + +KING GEORGE'S WAR. + +In 1740, the War for the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe and +soon involved most of the European nations. Because George II. was on +the throne of England, the struggle is known in this country as King +George's War. + +A notable event in America was the capture of the fortress of Louisburg, +one of the strongest fortifications in the world, mainly by New England +troops. It was a grand achievement which thrilled this country and +England, and caused consternation in France. A treaty of peace was +signed in 1744 at Aix-la-Chapelle, a town in western Germany. New +England was enraged to find that by the terms of this treaty Louisburg +was given back to France, and all her valor, sacrifice, and suffering +went for naught. + + +THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. + +[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON RIOTERS AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS., IN 1786.] + +It has already been shown that England and France, who had long been +rivals in the Old World, had become equally bitter rivals on this side +of the Atlantic. On the west, the thirteen English colonies were walled +in by the Allegheny Mountains, beyond which none of the settlers had +advanced. All the country lying between these mountains and the +Mississippi was claimed by France, who was pushing southward through it, +and had given it the name of New France or Louisiana. The first French +settlement within the northwestern part of our country was the mission +of St. Mary, near Sault Ste. Marie, now in the State of Michigan, it +having been established in 1668. Several others of minor importance were +planted at different points. + +England did not oppose the acquirement of Canada by the French early in +the seventeenth century, but no serious attempt was made by that people +to colonize the territory within the United States until 1699, when +D'Iberville crossed the Gulf of Mexico in quest of the mouth of the +Mississippi. When he found it, he planted a settlement at Biloxi, now in +Mississippi, but removed it in 1702 to Mobile. The Mississippi Company, +a French organization, obtained in 1716 a grant of Louisiana, and in +1718 sent out a colony that began the settlement of New Orleans. + +It will thus be seen that by 1750 the French had acquired large +possessions in North America. They were, determined to hold them, and, +to do so, established a chain of sixty forts reaching from Montreal to +the Gulf of Mexico. These forts were the foundations of many important +cities of to-day, such as New Orleans, Natchez, Detroit, Vincennes, +Toledo, Fort Wayne, Ogdensburg, and Montreal. To the rear of the main +chain of forts were others like Mackinaw, Peoria, and Kaskaskia. + +Extensive as was the territory thus taken possession of by the French, +they were fatally weak because of their scant population, amounting to +less than 150,000 souls, while the English colonies had grown to +1,500,000. The French traders were just about strong enough to hold the +Indians in check, but no more. + +Thus with the French on the west and the English on the east of the +Alleghanies, the two rival forces were slowly creeping toward each +other, and were bound soon to meet, when the supreme struggle for +possession of the North American continent would open. By-and-by, the +French hunters and traders, as they climbed the western slope of the +mountains, met the English trappers moving in their direction. Being the +advance skirmishers of their respective armies, they often exchanged +shots, and then fell back to report what they had seen and done to their +countrymen. + +The fertile lands of the Great West had long attracted attention, and +many efforts had been made to buy them at a cheap price to sell again to +settlers. In 1749, the Ohio Company was formed by a number of London +merchants and several prominent Virginians. The lands they bought lay in +western Pennsylvania, which Virginia claimed as part of her territory. +This company proved its earnestness by sending out surveyors, opening +roads, and offering tempting inducements to settlers. + +The French were equally prompt and took possession of the country +between the Alleghanies and their main chain of forts. They built a fort +at Presq' Isle, on the site of the present city of Erie, and began +erecting a new chain of forts southward toward the Ohio. Governor +Dinwiddie of Virginia saw the danger of permitting this encroachment, +and he wrote a letter of remonstrance to the French commander, which was +placed in the hands of GEORGE WASHINGTON, to be carried five hundred +miles through wilderness, across mountains and dangerous rivers, to the +point in western Pennsylvania where the French officer was building his +forts upon disputed ground. + +[Illustration: YOUNG WASHINGTON RIDING A COLT. + +One summer morning, young George, with three or four boys, was in the +field looking at a colt, given him by his mother, and when the boys said +that it could never be tamed, George said: "You help me get on its back, +and I'll tame it."] + +The journey was a long and perilous one, but Washington, who was a +magnificent specimen of vigorous young manhood, performed it in safety, +and brought back the reply of the French commander, which notified +Governor Dinwiddie that he not only refused to vacate the territory, but +would drive out every Englishman he found within it. + +This meant war, and Virginia made her preparations. She raised about 400 +men and placed them under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, +who was more familiar with the country than anyone else. The Ohio +Company at that time were putting up a fort on the present site of +Pittsburg, and Washington hurried forward to protect it. The Frenchmen +understood the value of a post at the junction of the Alleghany and +Monongahela Rivers, and also started on a race for it. They arrived +first, captured the fort, strengthened it, and gave it the name of Fort +Duquesne. That done, they set out to meet Washington, who was descending +the Monongahela. + + +OPENING OF THE WAR. + +The meeting between these forces brought on the first fight of the +French and Indian War. It was the advance party of each which met, and +it is said that the first musket was fired by Washington himself. The +French had enlisted a number of Indians, but Washington killed or +captured nearly all of them as well as the whites. The main body of the +French, however, was so much more powerful than his own, that Washington +moved back a few miles and built a fortification which he named Fort +Necessity. There, after a brisk fight, he was compelled to surrender, +July 4, 1754, on the promise that he and his men should be allowed to +return to Virginia. That province was so well pleased with his work that +he acted as its leading officer throughout the remainder of the war. + +A peculiarity of the French and Indian War must be noted. For two years +it was entirely an American war, not extending to Europe until 1756. For +the first time the English colonies acted together. They saw the value +of the territory in dispute and were ready to make common cause for its +possession. England was inclined to let them do the best they could +without help from her. She advised that they form some plan for united +action. In accordance with this suggestion, a meeting was held at Albany +in 1754, composed of delegates from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, +and the New England colonies. Benjamin Franklin, the great philosopher, +proposed the "Albany plan of Union," which was agreed upon. + +When this was submitted to the king, he saw too much of American +independence in it, and promptly rejected it, while the colonies did the +same on the ground that it gave the king too much power. There was much +significance in this action. + + +EXPULSION OF THE CANADIANS. + +It was now so evident that war must soon come that England and France +began sending troops to America. At the same time, the respective +governments continued to profess--diplomatically--their strong +friendship for each other. In June, 1755, a force consisting of British +regulars and colonial troops sailed from Boston and captured the few +remaining French forts in Nova Scotia. The inhabitants were gathered +together in their churches, placed on ships, and then distributed +southward among the English colonies. This act has been often denounced +as one unworthy of the British people. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S FIRST VICTORY + +"Washington was at the head of his men with a musket in his grasp. The +instant he saw the Frenchmen he discharged his gun at them, and gave the +order to his men to fire. Hence it came about that the first hostile +shot in the French and Indian War was fired by George Washington."] + + +BRADDOCK'S MASSACRE. + +Among the English officers who arrived in 1755 was General Edward +Braddock. He was brave and skillful, but conceited and stubborn. When +Washington, who was one of his aides, explained to him the character of +the treacherous foes whom he would have to fight and advised him to +adopt similar tactics, the English officer insultingly answered that +when he felt the need of advice from a young Virginian, he would ask for +it. He marched toward Fort Duquesne and was within a few miles of the +post, when he ran into an ambush and was assailed so vehemently by a +force of French and Indians that half his men were killed, the rest put +to flight, and himself mortally wounded. Washington and his Virginians, +by adopting the Indian style of fighting, checked the pursuit and saved +the remainder of the men. + +[Illustration: BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.] + +In the spring of 1756, England and France declared war against each +other and the struggle now involved those two countries. For two years +the English, despite their preponderance of forces in America, lost +rather than gained ground. Their officers sent across the ocean were a +sorry lot, while the French were commanded by Montcalm, a brilliant +leader. He concentrated his forces and delivered many effective blows, +capturing the forts on the northern border of New York and winning all +the Indians to his support. The English fought in detached bodies and +were continually defeated. + + +ENGLISH SUCCESSES. + +But a change came in 1758, when William Pitt, one of the greatest +Englishmen in history, was called to the head of the government. He +weeded out inefficient officers, replaced them with skillful ones, who, +concentrating their troops, assailed the French at three important +points. Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, which had been captured more +than a hundred years before, during King George's War, was again taken +by a naval expedition in the summer of 1758. In the autumn, Fort +Duquesne was captured without resistance and named Fort Pitt, in honor +of the illustrious prime minister. The single defeat administered to the +English was at Ticonderoga, where Montcalm commanded in person. This was +a severe repulse, in which the English lost in the neighborhood of 1,600 +men. It was offset by the expulsion of the French from northwestern New +York and the capture of Fort Frontenac, on the present site of Kingston +in Canada. + +[Illustration: MARTELLO TOWER ON THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM, WHERE WOLFE WAS +KILLED.] + +One wise step of Pitt was in winning the cordial support of the +provincials, as the colonists were called, to the British regulars. Our +ancestors thus gained a most valuable military training which served +them well in the great struggle for independence a few years later. + + +WOLFE'S GREAT VICTORY. + +The year 1759 brought decisive success to the English. Knowing that they +intended to attack Quebec, Montcalm drew in his troops to defend that +city. It therefore was an easy matter for the English to capture +Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort Niagara, General Wolfe, one of the +very ablest of English leaders, left Louisburg with a fleet and sailed +up the St. Lawrence. He found the fortifications of Quebec at so great +an elevation that he could make no impression upon them. Three months +passed in idle waiting and the besiegers were almost disheartened. Wolfe +himself was so distressed by anxiety that he fell ill. The sagacious +Montcalm could not be induced to come out and give battle, and there +seemed no way of reaching him. + +[Illustration: A DUTCH HOUSEHOLD. + +As seen in the early days in New York.] + +But the lion-hearted Wolfe would not be denied. He found a path leading +up to the Heights of Abraham, as the plain above was called, and, +selecting a mild night in September, his troops floated down the river +in their boats and landed at the foot of the cliff. All night long the +English soldiers were clambering up the steep path, dragging a few guns +with them, and, when the morning sun rose, it shone on the flashing +bayonets of the whole army drawn up in battle array before the walls of +Quebec. + +The astonished Montcalm, instead of remaining within the city, marched +his army out and gave battle. In the fight both Wolfe and Montcalm were +fatally wounded. Wolfe lived long enough to learn that the French were +fleeing before his victorious troops. "Now, I can die happy," he said, +and shortly after expired. When Montcalm was told he must die, he +mournfully replied: "So much the better; I shall not live to see the +surrender of Quebec." + + +MOMENTOUS RESULTS OF THE WAR. + +This battle was one of the decisive ones of the world, for, as will be +seen, its results were of momentous importance to mankind. The conquest +of Canada followed in 1760, and the other French forts fairly tumbled +into the possession of the English. Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas, was +so angered at the turn of events that he refused to be bound by the +terms of the surrender. He brought a number of tribes into an alliance, +captured several British posts in the West, and laid siege to Detroit +for more than a year, but in the end he was defeated, his confederacy +scattered, and Pontiac himself, like Philip, was killed by one of his +own race. + +The war was over, so far as America was concerned, but England and +France kept it up for nearly three years, fighting on the ocean and +elsewhere. In 1762, Spain joined France, but received a telling blow in +the same year, when an English expedition captured the city of Havana. +In this important event, the provincials gave valuable aid to the +British regulars. The colonies also sent out a number of privateers +which captured many rich prizes from the Spaniards. + +By 1763, Great Britain had completely conquered France and Spain, and a +treaty of peace was signed at Paris. France and Spain agreed to give up +all of North America east of the Mississippi, and England ceded _Cuba to +Spain in exchange for Florida, exchanging Florida in 1783 for the Bahama +Islands. The former_ was a victory for Spanish diplomacy, since Florida +was practically worthless to _Spain_, while Havana, _the capital of +Cuba_, was an enormously wealthy city, and the island possessed +marvelous fertility and almost boundless resources. + +France, after her wholesale yielding to England, paid Spain her ally by +ceding to her all her possessions west of the Mississippi, including the +city of New Orleans. This enormous territory, then known as Louisiana, +comprehended everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi +River, from British America to the Gulf of Mexico. In extent it was an +empire from which many of the most important States of the Union have +been carved. When it is remembered that these changes were the result of +a war in which the capture of Quebec was the decisive conflict, it will +be admitted that there was ample warrant for pronouncing it one of the +great battles of the world. + +The thirteen original colonies were now "full grown." Their population +had increased to 2,000,000 and was fast growing. Their men had proven +their bravery and generalship in the French and Indian War. Many of them +had developed into fine officers, and all compared favorably with the +British regulars. Their loyalty to England was proven by the 30,000 +lives that had been given that she might conquer her traditional rival +and enemy. + +The adventurous spirit of the colonists was shown by the fact that many +began crossing the Alleghanies into the fertile district beyond, where +they were in continual danger from the fierce Indians. James Robertson +led a party of emigrants who made the first settlement in Tennessee in +1768, and the famous Daniel Boone and a company of immigrants were the +pioneers in Kentucky in 1769. No effort was made to settle the country +north of the Ohio until after the Revolution. + +[Illustration: MEMORIAL HALL, HARVARD COLLEGE.] + +The intellectual progress of the colonies was remarkable. The first +printing press was set up at Cambridge in 1639, and newspapers and books +were in general circulation. Harvard College was founded in +Massachusetts in 1638; William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1692; Yale, in +Connecticut, in 1700; the College of New Jersey (now Princeton +University), in 1746; the University of Pennsylvania, in 1749; and +King's College (now Columbia), in New York, in 1754. Much attention was +given to education, commerce was greatly extended, the oppressive +Navigation Act being generally disregarded, and thousands of citizens +were in prosperous circumstances. + +More significant than all else was the growth of the sentiment of unity +among the different colonies. Although properly known as provincials, to +distinguish them from the British, they now, instead of speaking of +themselves as New Englanders or Virginians or Englishmen, often +substituted the name "Americans." The different colonies were looked +upon as members of the same great family, ready to make common cause +against a danger threatening any one of them. Some of the bolder ones +began to express the thought that it would be a fine thing if they were +all independent of the mother country, though for years the sentiment +assumed no importance. + +Now was the time for England to display wisdom, justice, and +statesmanship toward her subjects in America. Had she treated them as +she now treats Canada and Australia and her other colonies, there never +would have been a Revolution. No doubt in time we should have separated +from her, but the separation would have been peaceable. + +[Illustration: BIBLE BROUGHT OVER IN THE "MAYFLOWER" IN PILGRIM HALL, +NEW PLYMOUTH.] + +But while Great Britain has always been immeasurably above Spain in her +treatment of her American subjects, she was almost as foolish, because +she chilled the loyalty that had been proven in too many instances to be +doubted. The mother country was laboring under the weight of burdensome +taxes, and, since the colonies had always been prompt in voting money +and supplies as well as men to assist England, Parliament thought she +saw a way of shouldering a large part of this burden upon the Americans. +Her attempts to do so and the results therefrom properly belong to the +succeeding chapter. + + +HOME LIFE OF THE COLONISTS. + +A few facts will assist in understanding the events that follow. +Slavery, as has been stated, was legal and existed in all the colonies, +but climatic conditions caused it to flourish in the South and decline +in the North. All the colonies were Protestant, though religious liberty +was permitted everywhere. + +The laws were amazingly strict and would never be submitted to in these +times. To illustrate: a watchman in Hartford rang a bell every morning +as notice to all adults to rise from their beds. Massachusetts had +fourteen and Virginia seventeen offenses that were punishable with +death. Some of the minor punishments were unique. If a woman became a +common scold, she was placed near her own door, with a gag fastened in +her mouth, that all might see and beware of her example. For other +offenses, a man was ducked in water or put in the stocks. A stock was a +strong framework, through which the feet or both feet and hands were +thrust and held fast, while the pillory was a framework through which +the head and hands of a criminal were imprisoned. Besides the disgrace +attending such punishment, it was very trying. The whipping-post was +quite common long after the Revolution, and it is still occasionally +used in Delaware. + +[Illustration: AMERICAN STAGE-COACH OF 1795, FROM "WELD'S TRAVELS." +(Probably similar in form to those of the later colonial period.)] + +Men and boys dressed much alike, and the fashions for women and girls +were similar. The breeches of the men suggested the present style of +knickerbockers, the rich making quite a display of silver buckles and +buttons. The breeches of the poorer people were made of coarse cloth, +deerskin, or leather, the object being to obtain all the wear possible. +The wealthy used velvet, and the men and women were as fond of display +as their descendants. + +In the earliest days, all the houses were made of logs, and oiled paper +took the place of glass for windows. Carpets were an unknown luxury. +Often the floor was the smooth, hard ground. The cooking was done in the +big fireplace, where an iron arm called a crane was swung over the fire +and sustained the pots and kettles. Coal and matches were unknown, a +fire being started by means of a piece of steel and flint or with the +help of a sun glass. + +Coffee and tea were great luxuries, but nearly every family made its own +beer. Rum and hard cider were drunk by church people as well as others, +the only fault being when one drank too much. The important cities and +towns were connected by stages, but most of the traveling was done on +foot or horseback. Since most of the settlements were near the sea or on +large rivers, long journeys were made by means of coasting sloops. When +a line of stages in 1766 made the trip between New York and Philadelphia +in two days, it was considered so wonderful that the vehicles were +called "flying machines." + +Regarding the state of religion in the colonies, Prof. George F. Holmes +says: + +"The state of religion among the people differed greatly in the +different provinces. The Church of England was the established religion +in New York, Virginia, and the Carolinas. In Maryland, the population +remained largely Roman Catholic. In New England the original Puritanism +was dominant, but its rigor had become much softened. A solemn and +somewhat gloomy piety, however, still prevailed. The Presbyterians were +numerous, influential, and earnest in New Jersey. There, but especially +in Pennsylvania, were the quiet and gentle Quakers. In Carolina and +Georgia, Moravians and other German Protestants were settled, and +Huguenot families were frequent in Virginia and South Carolina. + +"Everywhere, however, was found an intermixture of creeds, and +consequently the need of toleration had been experienced. Laxity of +morals and of conduct was alleged against the communities of the +Anglican Church. In the middle of the eighteenth century a low tone of +religious sentiment was general. The revival of fervor, which was +incited then by the Wesleys, was widely spread by Whitefield in America, +and Methodism was making itself felt throughout the country. The +Baptists were spreading in different colonies and were acquiring +influence by their earnest simplicity. They favored liberty in all forms +and became warm partisans of the revolutionary movement." + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL + +When the third attack was made, and the Americans' ammunition was +exhausted with the first volley, a desperate hand-to-hand struggle +followed. General Warren was fighting heroically when a British officer +recognized him, seized a musket from a private and shot him dead.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE REVOLUTION--THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. + +Clauses of the Revolution--The Stamp Act--The Boston Tea +Party--England's Unbearable Measures--The First Continental +Congress--The Boston Massacre--Lexington and Concord--The Second +Continental Congress--Battle of Bunker Hill--Assumption of Command by +Washington--British Evacuation of Boston--Disastrous Invasion of Canada. + + +CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. + +England was never guilty of greater folly than in the treatment of her +American colonies after the close of the French and Indian War. As has +been said, she was oppressed by burdensome taxation and began seeking +excuse for shifting a large portion of it upon the shoulders of her +prosperous subjects across the sea, who had always been ready to vote +money and give their sons to help in the wars which were almost solely +for the benefit of the mother country. It has been shown that the +intercolonial conflicts were of no advantage to the colonies which were +dragged into them and suffered greatly therefrom. Since the surrounding +territory would soon be necessary for the expansion of the Americans, +they had much to gain by the defeat of the French and their expulsion +from America; but they had done their full share, and it was unjust to +demand further sacrifices from them. + + +PASSAGE OF THE STAMP ACT. + +Hardly had peace been declared, when, in 1764, the British government +asserted that it had the _right_ to tax her colonies. The latter paid +little attention to the declaration, but were rudely awakened in 1765 by +the passage of the Stamp Act, which was to go into effect in November of +that year. It decreed that thenceforward no newspapers or pamphlets +could be printed, no marriage-certificate given, and no documents used +in lawsuits, unless stamps were attached, and these could be bought only +from British agents. + +It was ordered further that the oppressive Navigation Acts, which had +been evaded for a hundred years, should be rigidly enforced, while +soldiers were to be sent to America to see that the orders were carried +out. Since these troops were to be paid from the money received for the +stamps, it will be seen that the Americans would be obliged to bear the +expense of the soldiers quartered upon them. + +Now we use revenue stamps to-day and no one objects, but the difference +in the two cases is that we tax ourselves for our own expenses, and our +representatives grade the taxes so as to suit the people. If we do not +think the taxes equitable, we can elect other representatives, pledged +to change them. But it must be remembered that we never had a +representative in the British Parliament, whose English members did just +as they pleased. That was "taxation without representation." + +The news of the action of the British government threw the colonies into +an angry mood and they vehemently declared their intention to resist the +Stamp Act. They did not content themselves with words, but mobbed the +stamp agents, compelled others to resign, and, when the date arrived for +the act to go into effect, they refused to buy a single obnoxious stamp. + + +REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. + +The Stamp Act Congress, as it was called, met in New York City, October +7, 1765. There were representatives from all the colonies except four, +but they supported the others. Lacking the authority to make any laws, +it issued a bold declaration of rights and sent petitions to the king +and Parliament, setting forth the American grievances. The sturdy +resistance of the colonies alarmed England. They had many friends in +Parliament, including the illustrious Pitt, and, at the beginning of +1766, the act was repealed. The Americans were so delighted that they +almost forgot that England in repealing the act still asserted her right +to tax them. + +Several years now followed in which the colonies quietly resisted the +efforts of England to tax them. This was done by a general agreement not +to buy any of the articles upon which taxes were laid. The men who did +this and opposed the mother country were known as Whigs, while those who +stood by England were called Tories. + + +DEFIANT ACTS BY THE AMERICANS. + +But violence was sure to follow where the indignation was so intense and +widespread. There were continual broils between the British soldiers and +citizens, the most serious of which occurred in Boston on March 5, 1770, +when the soldiers fired upon the citizens who had attacked them, killed +three and wounded several. This incident, known in history as the +"Boston Massacre," added to the mutual anger. In North Carolina, William +Tryon, the Tory Governor, had a battle with the patriots at Alamance in +1771, killed a large number, and treated others so brutally that many +fled across the mountains and helped to settle Tennessee. In 1772, a +British vessel, the _Gaspe_, which was active in collecting duties from +Providence, was captured and burned by a number of Rhode Island people. +England offered a reward for the capture of the "rebels," but, though +they were well known, no one would have dared, if so disposed, to arrest +them. + + +THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. + +The British Parliament was impatient with the colonies, and threatened +all sorts of retaliatory measures. In 1770, Parliament took the tax off +of all articles except tea, upon which it was made so light that the +luxury was cheaper in America with the tax than in England without it. +The Americans, however, were contending for a principle, and +contemptuously rejected the offer. When the tea ships reached +Charleston, the cargoes were stored in damp cellars, where they soon +molded and spoiled. At New York, Philadelphia, and other points they +would not allow the ships to land their cargoes, and they sailed back to +England. A similar reception having been given the vessels in Boston, +the British officers refused to leave the harbor. Late at night, +December 16, 1773, a party of citizens, painted and disguised as +Indians, boarded the ships and emptied 342 chests--all on board--into +the harbor. + +[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON. An immense assemblage +gathered here on the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, and stirring addresses +were made by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams. The "Boston Tea Party" +followed.] + +The "Boston Tea Party" thrilled the colonies and exhausted the patience +of England, who felt that the time for stern measures had come. Her +dallying course had only encouraged the rebels, and as in the story, +having tried in vain the throwing of grass, she now determined to see +what virtue there was in using stones. + + +ENGLAND'S UNBEARABLE MEASURES. + +The measures which she passed and which were unbearable were: 1. The +Boston Port Bill, which forbade all vessels to leave or enter Boston +harbor. This was a death-blow to Boston commerce and was meant as a +punishment of those who were leaders in the revolt against the mother +country. 2. The Massachusetts Bill, which was another destructive blow +at the colony, since it changed its charter by taking away the right of +self-government and placing it in the hands of the agents of the king. +3. The Transportation Bill, which ordered that all soldiers charged with +the crime of murder should be taken to England for trial. 4. The Quebec +Act, which made the country east of the Mississippi and north of the +Ohio a part of Canada. These acts were to be enforced by the sending of +troops to America. + + +THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. + +The result of the passage of these harsh measures was to unite all the +colonies in a determination to resist them to the last. The necessity +for consultation among the leaders was so apparent that, in response to +a general call, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, +September 5, 1774, all the colonies being represented except Georgia, +which favored the action. + +This Congress adopted a declaration of rights, asserting that they alone +were empowered to tax themselves, and it named a number of acts of +Parliament that were a direct invasion of such rights. An address was +sent to the king and to the people of Great Britain, but none to +Parliament, which had deeply offended the Americans. The agreement known +as the Articles of Association pledged our ancestors not to buy goods or +sell them to Great Britain until the obnoxious acts were repealed by +Parliament. It declared further that, if force was used against +Massachusetts by England, all the other colonies would help her in +resisting it. Before adjournment, a new Congress was called to meet in +the following May. + +The language of the First Continental Congress sounds bold, but the +people themselves were bolder. Companies of armed men began drilling +everywhere, and the Americans were eager for a conflict with the +detested "red coats." The excitement was more intense in Massachusetts +than anywhere else, and it was plain that the opening gun of the +impending Revolution would be fired upon her soil. The affairs of the +colony were directed by a provincial congress, which collected a +quantity of guns and ammunition, and ordered the enrollment of 20,000 +"minute men," who were to hold themselves ready to answer any call at a +minute's notice. + +General Gage was the British commander in Boston, and he was so alarmed +by the aggressive acts of the Americans that he began to throw up +fortifications on the neck of land connecting the town with the +mainland. His alert spies notified him that the Americans had collected +a quantity of military supplies which were stored at Concord, some +twenty miles from Boston. Gage ordered 800 troops to march secretly to +Concord and destroy them. + +Guarded as were the movements of the British, the Americans were +equally watchful and discovered them. Paul Revere dashed out of the +town on a swift horse and spread the news throughout the country. In the +gray light of the early morning, April 19, 1775, as the soldiers marched +into Lexington, on the way to Concord beyond, they saw some fifty minute +men gathered on the village green. Major Pitcairn ordered them to +disperse, and they refusing to do so, a volley was fired. Eight +Americans were killed and a large number wounded, the others fleeing +before the overwhelming force. Thus was the shot fired that "was heard +round the world." + +The British advanced to Concord, destroyed the stores there, and then +began their return to Boston. All the church bells were ringing and the +minute men were swarming around the troops from every direction. They +kept up a continuous fire upon the soldiers from behind barns, houses, +hedges, fences, bushes, and from the open fields. The soldiers broke +into a run, but every one would have been shot down had not Gage sent +reinforcements, which protected the exhausted fugitives until they +reached a point where they were under the guns of the men-of-war. In +this first real conflict of the war, the Americans lost 88 and the +British 273 in killed, wounded, and missing. General Gage was now +besieged in Boston by the ardent minute men, who in the flush of their +patriotism were eager for the regulars to come out and give them a +chance for a battle. Men mounted on swift horses rode at headlong speed +through the colonies, spreading the stirring news, and hundreds of +patriots hurried to Boston that they might take part in the war for +their rights. Elsewhere, the fullest preparations were made for the +struggle for independence which all felt had opened. + +[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY, America's greatest orator; member of the +Second Continental Congress.] + +As agreed upon, the Second Continental Congress assembled in +Philadelphia, May 10, 1775. It included some of the ablest men in +America, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, +Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph, of Virginia; Benjamin Franklin +and Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania; John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John +Hancock, of Massachusetts; John Jay, of New York; and Roger Sherman and +Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The former Congress had talked; the +present acted. By general consent it was accepted as the governing body +of the colonies. The forces around Boston were declared to be a +Continental army, money was voted to support it, and Washington was +appointed its commander. + +Meanwhile, British reinforcements under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne +arrived in Boston, swelling Gage's army to 10,000 men. They occupied the +town, on the peninsula which covers the middle of the harbor, while +around them on the hills of the mainland was a larger force of +Americans, without uniforms, poorly clothed, badly armed and +undisciplined, but overflowing with patriotism. + +A little to the north of Boston a second peninsula extended into the +harbor. It has several elevations, one of which, Bunker Hill, the +patriots determined to seize and fortify. Colonel Prescott with a +thousand men set out one dark night to perform the task, but, believing +Breed's Hill more desirable, since it was nearer Boston, he set his men +to work upon that. + +(The name "Bunker" is more euphonious than "Breed's," and the latter is +now generally known by the former name. Upon it has been built the +Bunker Hill Monument.) + +Although close to the British sentinels, the Americans toiled through +the night without discovery. When the sun rose June 17, 1775, the enemy +in Boston were astonished to see a line of intrenchments extending +across the hill above them, with the Americans still working like +beavers. They continued without interruption until noon, when the +British were seen coming across the harbor in boats. They were the +regulars, finely disciplined, and numbered nearly 3,000, who, landing +near Charlestown, formed in fine order and advanced with precision +against the 1,500 patriots, eagerly waiting for them behind their +intrenchments. + +It was about the middle of the afternoon that the British columns +marched to the attack, covered by a heavy fire of cannon and howitzers, +Howe himself commanding the right wing. The steeples and roofs of Boston +swarmed with people, breathlessly watching the thrilling sight. +Charlestown had been fired and four hundred of its houses laid in ashes. + +[Illustration: THE MONUMENT ON BUNKER HILL.] + +The Americans behind their breastworks were impatient to open fire, but +Prescott restrained them until they could "see the whites of the eyes" +of their enemies. Then in a loud, clear voice he shouted "_Fire_!" There +was an outflame of musketry along the front of the intrenchments, and +scores of troops in the first rank fell. The others hesitated a moment, +and then turned and fled down the slope. There their officers formed +them into line, and once more they advanced up the slope. The delay gave +the Americans time to reload, and they received the troops with the same +withering fire as before, sending them scurrying to the bottom of the +hill, where with great difficulty the daring officers formed them into +line for a third advance. The British cannon had been brought to bear, +and the ships and batteries maintained a furious cannonade. The patriots +were compelled to withdraw from the breastwork outside the fort, and the +redoubt was attacked at the same moment from three sides. The spectators +were confident of seeing the invaders hurled back again, but saw to +their dismay a slackening of the fire of the Americans, while the +troops, rushing over the intrenchments, fought with clubbed muskets. + +At the very moment victory was within the grasp of the patriots, their +recklessly fired ammunition gave out, and they began sullenly +retreating, fighting with clubbed weapons. As it was, their retreat +would have been cut off, had not a company of provincials checked the +British until the main body of Americans had fallen back. The battle of +Bunker Hill was over and ended with the defeat of the patriots, who had +lost 150 killed, 270 wounded, and 80 taken prisoners. General Gage gave +his loss as 224 killed and 830 wounded. Among the killed was Major +Pitcairn, the leader of the English troops who fired upon the minute men +at Lexington. The American Colonel Prescott had his clothing torn to +shreds by bayonet thrusts, but was not hurt. A British officer, +recognizing the brilliant Warren, snatched a musket from the hands of a +soldier and shot him dead. + +Prescott and Putnam conducted the retreat by way of Charlestown Neck to +Prospect Hill, where new intrenchments commanding Boston were thrown up. +The British fortified the crest of Breed's Hill. General Gage, in +reporting the affair to his government, used the following impressive +language: + +"The success, which was very necessary in our present condition, cost us +dear. The number of killed and wounded is greater than our forces can +afford to lose. We have lost some extremely good officers. The trials we +have had show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have +supposed them to be, and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged +among them for a few years past, joined with uncommon zeal and +enthusiasm. They intrench and raise batteries; they have engineers. They +have fortified all the heights and passes around the town, which it is +not impossible for them to occupy. The conquest of this country is not +easy; you have to cope with vast numbers. In all their wars against the +French, they never showed so much conduct, attention, and perseverance +as they do now. I think it my duty to let you know the situation of +affairs." + +General Washington, accompanied by his aide, Mifflin, Joseph Reed, his +military secretary, and General Lee, arrived at Cambridge, July 2, 1775. +He was joyfully welcomed, and he and his companions remained for a few +days the guests of President Langdon of Harvard College. On the 3th of +July, Washington's commission was read to a part of the army and to the +provincial congress of Massachusetts, and he assumed command of the +Continental forces. + +[Illustration: NOMINATION OF WASHINGTON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE +CONTINENTAL ARMY.] + +A prodigious task confronted him. The undisciplined and wretchedly clad +swarm came and went as they chose, none having enlisted for more than a +brief term. About 2,000 were sick or absent on furlough, out of a total +of 16,771 soldiers. Several thousand more were needed to resist the +attack that it was believed the enemy would soon make. But the British +had received so severe treatment that it required weeks for them to +recover, and the summer became oppressively hot. England recalled Gage, +who sailed for home in October, and was succeeded by Howe. Washington +closely besieged the enemy in Boston. Throwing up intrenchments, he +steadily approached the city, and day by day and week by week the +situation of Howe became more critical. When winter arrived, Washington +formed the plan of crossing Charles River on the ice, but at a council +of war the majority of officers declared the scheme too hazardous. + +Washington now decided to fortify and occupy Dorchester Heights, which +would command the city and in a large degree the harbor. General Knox +brought a number of cannon from Ticonderoga, that were dragged over the +Green Mountains on sleds. Their arrival did much to cheer the spirits of +the patriots, who numbered about 14,000. The commander called upon +Massachusetts to furnish him with 6,000 militia, which was partly done. + +[Illustration: FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, "THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY."] + +With a view of concealing his real purpose, Washington kept up a +bombardment of the British lines throughout the nights of March 2, 3, +and 4, 1776. On the night last named, General Thomas moved with 1,200 +men from Roxbury and took possession undetected of the higher hill which +commanded Nook's Hill, nearer the city. General Howe was amazed the next +morning when he saw what had been done, for his position had become +untenable. Preparations were made to embark men in boats and attack the +Americans, but a violent storm prevented. Then it was agreed that but +one thing could be done, and that was to evacuate Boston. + +The evacuation took place March 17th. The British destroyed a great +deal of property, but left many supplies behind which fell into the +hands of the Americans. Washington entered the city on the 19th, the +main body of troops following the next day. The street through which he +rode still bears his name. The Massachusetts Legislature voted their +thanks to the great man, and Congress ordered a commemorative medal in +gold and bronze to be struck. This medal is now in the possession of the +Massachusetts Historical Society. + +When Howe sailed away, he took with him more than a thousand Tories, who +dared not remain behind and meet their indignant countrymen. Instead of +going to New York, as he originally intended, the British commander went +to Halifax, where he waited for reinforcements and gave his thoughts to +forming campaigns for the conquest of the colonies. + + +DISASTROUS INVASION OF CANADA. + +While the siege of Boston was in progress, the Americans fixed upon a +plan for the invasion of Canada. The mistake, which has been repeated +more than once, was in believing that the Canadians, if given the +opportunity, would make common cause against Great Britain. General +Philip Schuyler was placed in command of the expedition, but fell ill, +and Richard Montgomery, the second in command, took charge. He was a +valiant Irishman, who had done brilliant service in the British army, +and was full of ardor for the American cause. + +In several unimportant skirmishes, his men were so insubordinate and +cowardly that he was disgusted, and expressed his regret that he had +ever taken command of such a lot of troops. Nevertheless, he pressed on +from Ticonderoga, while Schuyler at Albany used every effort to forward +him supplies. St. John was invested, and the impetuous Ethan Allen, one +of his officers, hastened to Chambly to raise a force of Canadians. He +recruited nearly a hundred, and, being joined by a few Americans, set +out to capture Montreal. The promised reinforcements did not reach him, +and, being attacked by a powerful force, he made the best defense he +could, but was finally compelled to surrender, with all of his men who +had not escaped. Allen was sent to England, where he was held a prisoner +for a long time. + +The British fort at Chambly was besieged, and surrendered October 18th. +With its capture, the Americans secured six tons of powder and seventeen +cannon. The fort of St. John was captured November 3d. By that time, +Carleton, the British commander, was so alarmed that he abandoned +Montreal, which surrendered on the 20th. Taking possession, Montgomery +issued a proclamation, urging the Canadians to unite with the colonies +in the war for independence, and to elect representatives to the +Continental Congress. + +Benedict Arnold, at the head of eleven hundred men, had withdrawn from +the camp before Boston, September 13th, and was pressing forward to join +Montgomery. His course was up the Kennebec, through the gloomy +wilderness to the Chaudiere, down which he passed to Point Levi. The +journey was of the most trying nature. The weather became bitterly cold, +and the stream was too swift at times for them to make headway against +it, except by wading the chilly current and slowly dragging the boats +against it. At other places, even this was impossible, and the heavy +boats had to be laboriously carried around the falls and rapids. + +Finally the time came to leave the river and plunge into the snowy +forests, where all would have been lost, had not a small party, sent in +advance, "blazed" the trees. There was plenty of ice in the swamps, but +none was strong enough to bear their weight, and they sank through to +their knees in the half-frozen ooze. Toiling doggedly forward, a month +passed before they reached Duck River, by which time they were in a +starving condition. Their provisions gave out, and they ate dogs and +candles. Some, in their extremity, chewed boiled moccasins for the +infinitesimal nourishment to be extracted from them. Roots and the bark +of saplings were devoured, and the wonderful courage of Arnold was all +that prevented the men from throwing themselves on the ground and giving +up. So many fell ill and died that Colonel Enos, in command of the rear +division, turned about with his men and returned to Cambridge. + +Nothing, however, could shake the dauntless courage of Arnold. He pushed +on, and, obtaining a few cattle, was able to give his men temporary +relief. Winter was closing in, the weather was growing colder every day, +many men were barefoot, and without any protection against the icy rain +except the branches of the leafless trees. The wonder is that the whole +band did not perish. + +Finally on the 4th of November, the famishing band caught sight of the +first house they had seen in weeks. Traveling now became better, and +about a week later they reached Point Levi, opposite Quebec. There they +had to wait several days to procure canoes, with which the seven hundred +men, resembling so many shivering tramps, crossed the St. Lawrence and +huddled together under the Heights of Abraham. + +What earthly hope could such a body of men, without cannon, with injured +muskets and powder, and cartridges partly spoiled, have in attacking the +walled town of Quebec? None, unless the Canadians made common cause with +them. Following the steep path up which Wolfe and his brave men had +climbed seventeen years before, the gaunt Americans struggled after +their intrepid leader. + +The next act in the grim comedy was to send forward a flag of truce with +a demand for the surrender of Quebec. General Carleton must have smiled +at the grotesqueness of the proceeding, when he sent back a refusal. A +few shots followed, when Arnold, finding he had not half a dozen rounds +of ammunition apiece for his men, and was in danger of being attacked +himself, retreated to a point twenty miles below Quebec, where +Montgomery joined him on the 1st of December and assumed command. + +The Americans now numbered 3,000, and had six field-pieces and five +light mortars. They set out for Quebec, in front of which they encamped +four days later. + +Of all the series of disastrous invasions of Canada, none was more +dismal and pathetic than that of Montgomery and Arnold. The winter was +unusually severe for a region which is noted for its intensely cold +weather. The ground froze to the hardness of a rock, and, unable to make +any impression in it with shovel and pick, the besiegers threw up walls +of ice, which the cannon of the defenders sent flying into thousands of +fragments. The men grew mutinous, and, realizing the desperate +situation, Montgomery ordered an assault to be made on the last day of +the year. + +The plan was for the first division under Montgomery to move down the +river and attack the lower town near the citadel, while the second +division under Arnold was to pass around the city to the north, assault +by way of the St. Charles, and unite with Montgomery in his attack upon +the Prescott gate. The other two divisions were to remain in the rear of +the upper town and divert the garrison by feint attacks. + +A blinding snowstorm was raging and the men could hardly distinguish one +another. Success depended upon surprise, but the defenders had learned +of the intended attack, and Montgomery had hardly started when the +battery delivered a fire which instantly killed him and both his aides. +Their deaths threw his men into a panic, and they fled in such haste +that they escaped the fate of their leaders. + +Meanwhile, Arnold had moved, as agreed upon, with his division along the +St. Charles, the men bending their heads to the icy blast and protecting +their muskets under their coats. As soon as the garrison caught sight of +the dim figures they opened fire, but the Americans pressed on and +carried the first barricade. Arnold, however, received a severe wound in +the leg, and, suffering great pain, was carried to the rear. Daniel +Morgan, one of the bravest officers of the Revolution, succeeded to the +command, and, with his riflemen at his heels, was the first to climb the +ladders placed against the barricade. Two musket-balls grazed the +leader's face, which was scorched by the flash, and he was knocked down; +but he instantly sprang to his feet and called upon his men to follow +him. They did so with such dash that the enemy took refuge in the houses +on both sides of the street. + +But for the disaster that had overtaken Montgomery, Quebec probably +would have been captured, but Morgan's command was in darkness, the +driving snow interfered with firing, and they knew nothing of the town. +Only a few of the troops found the next barricade, and, when they +climbed the ladders, were confronted by leveled muskets whose fire was +very destructive. Not only that, but the British, who had taken refuge +in the houses in the streets, kept up their firing. + +[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, NEW YORK, WHERE MONTGOMERY WAS +BURIED.] + +The Americans fought for a long time with the greatest heroism, but +after the loss of sixty, the remainder, with the exception of a few +that had fled, were obliged to surrender. The fragments of the helpless +army fell again under the command of the wounded Arnold, who, despite +the hopelessness of the attempt, still pressed the siege of Quebec. He +had sent an urgent message to Schuyler for reinforcements. They +straggled through the wintry forests to his aid, some 3,000 arriving in +the course of the winter. Carleton, who was too wise to venture out on +the plain as Montcalm had done, felt secure behind the walls, and gave +little heed to the ragged swarm huddled together in front of the town. + +General Wooster brought fresh troops in March and assumed command. He +lacked military skill, and two months later was succeeded by General +Thomas. The latter saw that he had no more than a thousand effective +troops under his control, and decided to withdraw the ill-starred +expedition. Carleton, who had received large reinforcements, attacked +him on his retreat and captured a hundred prisoners and nearly all the +stores. The sufferings of the Americans were now aggravated by smallpox, +which broke out among them and caused many deaths, General Thomas being +one of the victims. General Sullivan succeeded him in command. He lost a +number of prisoners and retreated to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, thus +bringing the disastrous expedition to a close in the month of June, +1776. + +It is proper that tribute should be given to the humanity of Carleton, +the British commander. He caused search to be made in the snow for the +body of Montgomery, and, when it was found, it was brought into the city +and buried with the honors of war. Other parties scoured the woods for +the suffering Americans, who were placed in the hospital and received +tender care. Those who voluntarily came in were allowed to go as soon as +they were strong enough to travel, and to the needy ones Carleton +furnished money. A half-century later the remains of Montgomery were +brought to New York and deposited beneath the monument in St. Paul's +churchyard. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED).--THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE +SEA. + +Declaration of Independence--The American Flag--Battle of Long +Island--Washington's Retreat Through the Jerseys--Trenton and +Princeton--In Winter Quarters--Lafayette--Brandywine and Germantown--At +Valley Forge--Burgoyne's Campaign--Fort Schuyler and Bennington--Bemis +Heights and Stillwater--The Conway Cabal--Aid from France--Battle of +Monmouth--Molly Pitcher--Failure of French Aid--Massacre at +Wyoming--Continental Money--Stony Point--Treason of Arnold--Paul Jones' +Great Victory. + + +DIFFERENT THEATRES OF WAR. + +The Revolution, beginning in New England, gradually moved southward. +After the first few conflicts it passed into the Middle States, which +for nearly three years became the theatre of the war. Then it shifted to +the South, which witnessed its triumphant close. + +It has been shown that, despite this change of scene, the colonies were +ardently united from the beginning in the struggle for independence. It +should be remembered, however, that, for a considerable time after the +beginning of actual fighting, the Americans were not struggling so much +to gain their liberty as to compel England to do them justice. But for +the stubbornness of George III., who at times was insane, the reasonable +prayers of the patriots would have been granted, and our ancestors would +have been retained as subjects of the crown. + +But the most far-seeing of Americans comprehended the inevitable end, +which must be subjection to tyranny or independence. The trend of events +so clearly indicated this that steps were taken looking toward the +utter and final separation of the colonies from the mother country. + +Congress was still in session in Philadelphia, and early in June the +question of declaring American independence was brought forward by +Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, who introduced a resolution, seconded by +John Adams, of Massachusetts, declaring the colonies free and +independent States. The matter was of so momentous importance that it +was debated long and earnestly by the able members, but since there was +no doubt that definite action would soon take place, a committee was +appointed to draw up the Declaration of Independence. The members were +Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and R.R. +Livingston. The immortal document was the work of Thomas Jefferson, the +assistance of the other members being so slight that it is not worth +mention. + +[Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. (Washington's statue in +front.)] + +The debate over the Declaration, after it was read to Congress, was +earnest, and considerable difference of opinion developed, but on the +4th of July it was adopted and signed by every member present, excepting +one, while the absent delegates afterward attached their signatures. +Thornton, the member from New Hampshire, signed it precisely four +months after its adoption. John Hancock, being President of the +Congress, placed his name first in his large, bold hand, and it +appropriately stands by itself. + +As soon as the Declaration was adopted, it was ordered that copies of it +should be sent to the various assemblies, conventions, and committees or +councils of safety, to the commanding officers of the Continental +troops, and that it should be proclaimed in each of the United States +and at the head of the army. + +It was received everywhere with delight. Bells were rung, bonfires +kindled, and eloquent addresses made. The old Liberty Bell, still +carefully preserved in Independence Hall, sent out its note over the +city and across the Delaware. How appropriate is the inscription on the +bell, cast many years before anyone dreamed of the American Revolution: +"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants +thereof." + +[Illustration: THE LIBERTY BELL, AS EXHIBITED AT THE NEW ORLEANS +EXPOSITION.] + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG. + +Now that the nation was born, it required a flag under which to fight +for its independence. Various patterns had been used. The one first +raised over the American troops at Boston contained thirteen stripes, as +at present, but, in place of white stars in a blue field, it displayed a +union of the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George. Numerous designs were +submitted to Congress, but the first recognized Continental standard was +that raised by Washington, January 2, 1776. By resolution of Congress, +June 14, 1777, this was replaced by the pattern as it is to-day, +excepting in the number of stars. The rule is that whenever a new State +is admitted to the Union its representative star shall appear in the +blue field of the banner on the 4th of July following its admission. + +Despite the enthusiasm with which the Declaration of Independence was +received everywhere, the affairs of the States (as they must now be +called) were by no means encouraging. Montgomery and Arnold were engaged +upon their disastrous invasion of Canada, and the city of New York was +in grave peril from the enemy. Moreover, England was not to be +frightened by the Declaration of Independence. The angered king and +Parliament put forth more strenuous efforts than before to conquer their +rebellious subjects. + + +GENERAL LEE IN NEW YORK. + +When Washington entered Boston after the British evacuation, he +immediately sent six of his best regiments to New York, which he was +convinced would soon be attacked. General Charles Lee had been placed in +command there and Washington intended to follow. The people in New York +were alive to their danger and Lee did his utmost to strengthen the +defenses. An intrenched camp was laid out on Columbia Heights, on the +Brooklyn side, to guard the town against an attack from the sea, and +another intrenched camp was erected on the New York side, between Fulton +and Wall Streets. This was named Fort Stirling and was an important +position, since it permitted the batteries to sweep the channel, or, in +case of the occupation of the city by an enemy, they could be bombarded. +A fort was built opposite Hell Gate to defend an approach by way of the +Sound, while works were placed below Canal Street to cover the river. +There were no fortifications, however, on the Jersey shore. + +Lee ruled with a high hand in New York, showing no consideration to the +Tories and making himself highly popular with the revolutionary party. +Having been placed in command of the southern department, he left New +York, and Lord Stirling (an American who inherited his title) succeeded +him. He put forth every effort to make the city impregnable, following +the advice and orders of Washington, who knew the necessity of such +rigorous measures. + + +BRAVE DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON. + +The British plan of campaign was to capture the city of New York, +overrun the State, push the war in the South, and invade the Northern +States from Canada. The South Carolinans, as soon as they heard the news +of Lexington, began fortifying the harbor of Charleston. These included +the barricading of the streets, in case of the capture of the harbor +defenses. General Lee, as soon as he arrived, inspected the defenses and +gave it as his opinion that they were not strong enough to resist the +British fleet and the forts would be knocked into ruins. + +"Then," said Colonel Moultrie, "we'll fight behind the ruins." + +"You have no means of retreat." + +"Since we shall not retreat, no means are needed." + +Lee, although still apprehensive, yielded to the bravery of the +defenders and agreed to do his utmost to assist them in their defense. + +On the 17th of June, 2,500 British troops landed with the intention of +wading across to Sullivan's Island, but found the supposed ford too +deep. Delays followed, and on the 28th the fleet under Admiral Parker +opened the attack on the fort. The palmetto logs of which it was +composed were the best possible material, since they were too spongy to +be shattered, and seemed to absorb the ponderous balls hurled against +them. The return fire of the garrison wrought great havoc among the +vessels, and the battle raged fiercely for hours. + +When everything was obscured by the blinding smoke, the flag staff of +the fort was cut away by a cannon ball. It had scarcely fallen, when +Sergeant William Jasper sprang through one of the embrasures, caught up +the flag, climbed the wall amid a frightful fire, waved it defiantly at +the enemy, fastened it to a pike, fixed it in place, and then coolly +leaped down among his comrades. + +[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY ON GOVERNOR'S ISLAND, IN NEW YORK +HARBOR. (Presented to the United States by Bartholdi.)] + +That night Admiral Parker withdrew his fleet, having lost more than two +hundred in killed and wounded, while of the Americans only ten had been +killed and twenty-nine wounded. The triumph of the patriots was +absolute, and General Lee in a letter to Washington wrote that he was +enraptured by the coolness and bravery of the defenders. In honor of the +gallant conduct of Colonel Moultrie, the fort was given his name, and +the whole country was inspired by what was certainly one of the most +remarkable achievements of the Revolution. + + +AN UNSATISFACTORY SITUATION. + +The progress of the war, however, was less satisfactory in the North. On +the same day that the British attacked Fort Moultrie, a part of the +fleet from Nova Scotia appeared off Sandy Hook, with the purpose of +attacking the city. Before Lee left for the South, he expressed the +opinion that no fleet could capture it, but Washington, after arriving +and inspecting the defenses, failed to share his confidence, and +strengthened the works in every way possible. + +Believing Governor's Island a place of strategic importance, General +Putnam had seized it before the arrival of Washington, and threw up a +number of breastworks, occupying also Red Hook on Long Island. Then +Paulus Hook (now Jersey City) was fortified and hulks were sunk in the +channel between Governor's Island and the Battery. The erection of Fort +Lee, up the Hudson, was begun during the summer, on the Palisades, while +Fort Washington was built on the New York side. By the time the fleet +arrived, about a hundred cannon and mortars were ready for service. + + +GENERAL HOWE'S FIRST MOVE. + +Governor Tryon, formerly of North Carolina, was now Governor of New York +and a bitter Tory. There were thousands who thought like him, and they +welcomed General Howe, whose intention was to land on Long Island, but +the strong defenses of the Americans caused him to disembark his troops +on Staten Island. Admiral Howe, brother of the general, arrived soon +after, and, in August, the Hessians swelled the British force to 32,000 +men. The Hessians were natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and were hired +by England. De Heister, their commander, was a veteran of many +campaigns, and they formed fully one-fourth of the enemy's forces. +Compared with this formidable array, the Americans presented a pitiful +plight. They were scarcely one-half as numerous, were poorly armed and +disciplined, most of them without uniforms, while many were lacking in +courage, as their commander was to learn to his cost. + +General Howe's first move was to send two ships and three tenders up the +Hudson, aiming to cut off Washington's communication with the country +and Canada. At the same time, he wished to take soundings of the river +and encourage the Tories, who were more plentiful than would be +supposed. Several weeks were spent in this work, during which one of +the tenders was burned by the Americans. + +[Illustration: AN OLD NEW YORK MANSION.] + + +AMERICAN DEFEAT ON LONG ISLAND. + +In the latter part of August, the British troops were moved from Staten +Island to Gravesend Bay on Long Island, and it was evident that Howe, +instead of bombarding New York, meant to advance upon it from across +Long Island. In anticipation of this movement, Washington had stationed +General Greene's division at Brooklyn. Unfortunately that admirable +officer was ill, and General Sullivan took his place. He boastingly +declared that no force of the British could carry his fortification, +and, indeed, was so foolishly confident, that Washington superseded him +with Israel Putnam, who was no better, for he left the pass on the +British right unguarded. Quick to discover the oversight, the enemy took +advantage of it, and in the battle of Long Island, fought August 27th, +the Americans suffered disastrous defeat. Sullivan was caught between +two fires, and, fighting with the energy of desperation, most of his men +cut their way through the English line and reached Brooklyn. Lord +Stirling's division was surprised in the same manner and few escaped the +enemy. By noon the victory of the British was complete. + +Washington with deep anguish witnessed the overwhelming disaster. He +hurriedly crossed to Brooklyn and sent forward every man that could be +spared, but nothing availed to check the panic of the rest of the +forces, who were chased to the foot of the lines in Brooklyn. Howe was +so confident of bagging the whole lot that, in order to save loss of +life, he resorted to regular approaches. + +The situation of the Americans could not have been more critical, for, +when the British fleet passed up the river, their supplies would be cut +off. Three hundred patriots had been killed and wounded, and among the +prisoners were Lord Stirling and General Sullivan. The Americans in +Brooklyn numbered 10,000, while the enemy were twice as numerous. + +When it looked as if all hope was gone, the elements came to the relief +of the sorely beset patriots. A violent head-wind held back the ships, +and a tremendous downpour of rain on the 28th and 29th suspended +operations. It was so clear that the only course open was to evacuate +Brooklyn, that the work was begun and pressed incessantly for thirteen +hours, the rain and fog hiding the movement from Howe. Too weak to hold +the city against him, there was nothing left to do but to retreat, +future movements being guided by events. + + +CAPTURE OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH. + +Four ships ascended the river, September 13th, and anchored a mile above +the city. Others followed. The movement, however, was a feint, intended +to cover General Howe's attack by land. Before the latter, the Americans +made such a cowardly flight that Washington and other officers were +filled with irrestrainable rage, struck many with the flat of their +swords, and threatened to run them through. But nothing could check the +panic, until they joined the main body at Harlem. In this manner, the +city of New York fell into the hands of the British, who captured 300 +prisoners, a number of cannon, and a large quantity of stores. The +American army pulled itself together on Harlem Heights, while the enemy +encamped in front, their right resting on the East River and their left +on the Hudson, with both flanks supported by armed ships. + + +NATHAN HALE, THE "MARTYR SPY." + +While General Howe occupied New York, one of the most pathetic incidents +of the Revolution occurred. It was of the highest importance that +Washington should gain information of the intentions and the strength of +the enemy. In order to do so, Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, +voluntarily entered the British lines disguised as a spy. He did his +work with shrewdness and skill, but on his return, and when about to +re-enter the American lines, he was recognized and captured. When +accused, he admitted his identity and business, and without trial was +condemned to death. He was brutally treated by the provost-marshal, who +refused him a light to read his Bible, and destroyed the letters he +wrote to his mother. He was hanged the morning after his capture, his +last words being: "My only regret is that I have but one life to give to +my country." + +The months passed without any important movement on either side. Howe +made careful preparations and Washington closely watched him. The +Continental army was divided into four divisions, commanded respectively +by Generals Heath, Sullivan, Lincoln, and Lee (who had lately returned +from the South). At a council of war it was decided that Harlem Heights +could not be held against the enemy, but at the urgent request of +General Greene, a strong garrison was left in Fort Washington. It +numbered 3,000, and was under the command of Colonel Robert Magaw of +Philadelphia. + + +CONTINUED RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS. + +In accordance with the plan agreed upon, Washington fell slowly back and +was attacked at White Plains. He inflicted severe loss on the enemy, but +continued to retreat, whereupon Howe turned back and assailed Fort +Washington with such an overwhelming force that Colonel Magaw +surrendered. + +Washington's fear now was that the British would press a campaign +against Philadelphia, the capital. Accordingly, he crossed to New +Jersey, and, with General Greene, took position at Fort Lee. The enemy +threatened it with such a large force that it was abandoned and he began +his retreat through New Jersey, with Cornwallis, the ablest of the +British generals, in close pursuit. The two armies were frequently so +near each other that they exchanged shots. + + +THE DARK DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION. + +The "dark days" of the Revolution had come. Winter was at hand, and +hundreds of the ragged Continentals, as they tramped over the frozen +roads, left the bloody prints of their bare feet on the ground. Many +lost heart, and the desertions were so numerous that it looked as if the +whole army would crumble to pieces. + +The remark has often been made of Washington that he never won a battle, +but the wonder is that he did so well with the miserable force under his +command. His greatness, however, rests upon a much broader foundation. +He, far more than any other man, saw the end from the beginning, and +embodied within himself the spirit of the struggle for American +independence. He was the Revolution. Had he been killed, the struggle +would have stopped, for no one could have been his successor. Subjected +to trials whose exasperating nature it is impossible for us to +comprehend, he never lost heart. He pressed forward with sublime faith +that no disaster, defeat, or misfortune could weaken. Moreover, let it +not be forgotten that he fought from the opening to the close of the +struggle without accepting a cent in the way of payment. + +When Washington reached the little town of Trenton, he was joined by +Stirling, the junction raising the force to 5,000 men. General Lee, +disobeying orders, marched so tardily that he was captured at Basking +Ridge, N.J., by a company of British horse. Investigations that have +since been made leave no doubt that Lee purposely allowed himself to be +taken, and that while in the enemy's hands he offered to do all he could +in the way of betrayal of his country. Washington crossed the Delaware +into Pennsylvania, just as Cornwallis entered the upper end of the town. + +The great man, knowing the universal depression, saw that a blow must be +struck to raise the drooping spirits of his countrymen. Otherwise the +struggle would collapse from sheer despair. As for the enemy, they gave +scarcely a thought to the shivering ragamuffins on the other side of the +river. The Hessian commander, Colonel Rall, had occupied the town with +his men, and they prepared to enjoy life to the full. Rall drank toddy, +smoked, and played cards, while the wintry winds roared outside. Perhaps +a feeling akin to pity moved him when he thought of the starving, +freezing Continentals who were foolish enough to rebel against the rule +of the great and good King George III. + + +BATTLE OF TRENTON. + +Washington determined to attack the Hessians in Trenton. He divided his +army into three divisions, sending one to Bristol, opposite Burlington, +another remained opposite Trenton, while he himself marched several +miles up stream to a point since known as Washington's Crossing. + +The movements down the river were to be directed against the enemy's +detachments at Bordentown, Burlington, and Mount Holly, but the stream +was so choked with masses of floating ice that neither division was able +to force its way over. Washington, with 2,500 of the best officers and +men in the army, crossed the stream in the face of a driving storm of +snow and sleet, and, reaching the village of Birmingham, several miles +inland, divided his force. Sullivan took the road which runs close to +and parallel with the river, while Washington, with Greene, followed the +Scotch road. The latter joins the upper part of the town, while the +river road enters the lower end. The plan was for the two divisions to +strike Trenton at the same time and attack the Hessians in front and +rear. It was hardly light on the morning succeeding Christmas, 1776, +when Washington drove in the sentinels and advanced rapidly in the +direction of Sullivan, the report of whose guns showed that he had +arrived on time and was vigorously pressing matters. + +The rattle of musketry and the boom of cannon roused the startled +Hessians, who made the best defense possible. Colonel Rall leaped from +his bed, and, hastily donning his clothes, strove to collect and form +his men. While doing so he was mortally wounded. The moment quickly came +when his situation was hopeless. Supported on either side by a sergeant, +Rall walked painfully forward to where Washington was seated on his +horse, and, handing his sword to him, asked that mercy should be shown +his men. Washington assured him his request was unnecessary. Rall was +carried to a building, where, as he lay on the bed, he was visited by +Washington, who expressed his sympathy for his sufferings, which soon +were terminated by death. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE.] + +The battle of Trenton, as it is known in history, was remarkable in more +than one respect. The Americans captured 950 prisoners, six guns, a +large number of small arms, killed twenty and wounded nearly a hundred +of the enemy. Of the Americans, four were wounded and two killed, and it +is probable that these deaths were due to the extreme cold rather than +the aim of the Hessians, whose work is very suggestive of that of the +Spaniards in the late war. + +The moral effect of the victory, however, was almost beyond estimate. +The threatening clouds that had so long darkened the land were +scattered, and the glorious sun of hope burst through and cheered all. +The triumph may be summed up in the expression that it marked the +"turning of the tide." Reverses were yet waiting for the Americans, but +the war for independence was steadily to advance to its triumphant +conclusion. + + +THE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY. + +The situation of Washington at Trenton, however, was critical. +Cornwallis with his powerful force was at Princeton, ten miles distant, +and was sure to advance against him as soon as he learned of the reverse +at Trenton. Washington, therefore, recrossed the Delaware on the same +day of the victory, with his prisoners and captured war material. One +result was that the British, as soon as they learned what had taken +place, abandoned South Jersey. + +Washington remained three days in Pennsylvania, when he again crossed +the Delaware and re-entered Trenton. More than 3,000 reinforcements +joined him, and 1,400 New England soldiers, whose terms of enlistment +were expiring, were so inspired by the victory that they volunteered for +six weeks longer. Robert Morris, to whom we have referred as the +financier of the Revolution, raised $50,000 in specie and sent it to +Washington to be used in paying the troops, who very sorely needed it. + +As soon as Cornwallis was told by his scouts that Washington had +returned to Trenton, he advanced against him with a force of 7,000 men, +determined to wipe out the disgrace of a few days before. This was on +the 2d of January, 1777. Greene held the British commander in check +until the close of the day, when he was able to drive the Americans to +the eastern shore of the Assunpink Creek, which runs through the middle +of the town and was spanned by a wooden bridge. There was brisk fighting +at this bridge, but the cannon of Washington were so effective that the +British troops gave up the attempt to force a passage until the morning +of the following day. + + +WASHINGTON'S CRITICAL SITUATION. + +The two armies encamped in sight of each other on opposite banks of the +Assunpink, their camp-fires and sentinels in plain sight. The situation +of the American army could not have been more critical. Behind it was +the Delaware filled with floating ice and in front the superior army of +Cornwallis, confident of capturing Washington and his forces on the +morrow. + +But when the raw wintry morning dawned, Cornwallis was astounded to hear +the booming of cannon in the direction of Princeton, ten miles behind +him. Washington had withdrawn his entire force, and, reaching the +college town by a roundabout course, was driving the British troops +before him. The chagrined and angered Cornwallis hurried to Princeton +in order to avert the threatened disaster. + + +BATTLE OF PRINCETON. + +But Washington had already won a victory, scattering the British forces +right and left. Although he lost a number of brave officers and men, he +killed sixty of the enemy and captured 250 prisoners. When Cornwallis +arrived the Americans were gone, and the British troops hurried to +Brunswick (now New Brunswick) to protect the stores there. Washington +withdrew to Morristown, where he went into winter quarters and remained +until May, much of the time being devoted to making forays upon the +enemy, who now and then retaliated in kind. + +[Illustration: "GIVE THEM WATTS, BOYS!" + +The spirit shown by our sturdy patriots is well illustrated by the story +of the minister, who, when in one battle there was a lack of wadding, +brought out an armful of hymn books and exclaimed: "Give them Watts, +boys!"] + +Washington left Morristown on the 28th of May, aware that Howe intended +to make a campaign against Philadelphia. There was considerable +manoeuvring by the two armies, Howe trying to flank Washington, who +was too alert to be entrapped, and no material advantage was gained by +either side. + +About this time a number of foreign officers joined the American army. +The most distinguished was the Marquis de Lafayette, who served without +pay and won the gratitude of the whole country because of his devotion +to the cause of American independence and his intimate friendship with +Washington. + +Meanwhile, being driven out of New Jersey, the British pushed their +campaign against Philadelphia by way of the Chesapeake. In August, 1777, +Sir William Howe sailed from New York with 16,000 troops, and, on the +24th, reached the head of Elk River in Maryland. At Brandywine, on the +11th of September, the American army was defeated with severe loss, +Lafayette being among the wounded. Washington entered Philadelphia the +next day, and, crossing the Schuylkill, posted his troops on the eastern +bank of the river, with detachments at the ferries where it was thought +the enemy were likely to attempt to cross. General Wayne concealed +himself and 1,500 men in the woods, intending to attack the British in +the rear, but a Tory betrayed his presence to the enemy, who in a +furious assault slew 300 of his men. This disaster is known in history +as the Paoli Massacre. + + +BRITISH OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA. + +Howe, having gained control of the Schuylkill, crossed with his army, +and, advancing to Germantown, took possession of Philadelphia on the +27th of September. The main body remained in Germantown, while the +American army, now reinforced to 11,000, were on the eastern side of the +Schuylkill, eighteen miles distant. Howe was engaged in reducing the +forts on the Delaware to open a passage for his fleet, when Washington +advanced against the force at Germantown, hoping to surprise it. He +would have succeeded, but for several obstacles wholly unexpected. The +stone building known as the "Chew House" offered a stubborn resistance +and defied the cannon fired against it. The delay caused by the attempt +to reduce it gave the enemy time to rally. Besides, the dense fog +disorganized the attack, and more than once bodies of Americans fired +into one another. On the verge of victory, a retreat was ordered and the +Americans fell back, after having suffered a loss of 1,200 men. Congress +on the approach of the enemy fled to the little town of York, +Pennsylvania. + + +WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. + +While the British were holding high revel in Philadelphia, the +Continentals shivered and starved at Valley Forge, twenty miles away. +Thousands of the men were without shoes and stockings. In each log hut +were twelve privates, who had scarcely any bedding, and who kept from +freezing at night by the mutual warmth of their bodies. The farmers of +the neighborhood were so unpatriotic that Washington was often compelled +to take straw and grain from them by force, giving in return an order +upon the government for the property thus used. It is said that Isaac +Potts, a Quaker at whose house Washington made his headquarters, was +passing through the woods one day, when he heard the voice of some one +in prayer. Peering among the trees he saw Washington on his knees, +beseeching the help of heaven in the struggle for liberty. When Potts +returned to his home and related the incident to his wife, he added that +he could no longer doubt the success of the Americans, since he had +heard Washington praying for it. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE.] + +It has been shown that one of the most important campaigns planned by +the British was that of invading New York from Canada. If successful, +New England would be cut off from the other States and forced to submit. +Formidable preparations were made for this movement. An army of more +than 7,000 British and Hessian troops, in addition to a corps of +artillery, was placed under the command of General Burgoyne, who was +accompanied by several members of Parliament, who had crossed the ocean +for the pleasure of witnessing the overthrow of the rebellious +Americans. The route was from Canada by way of Lake Champlain to Albany, +where the army was to be joined by a strong force to be sent up the +Hudson from New York. Clinton failed to carry out his part, because of +the delay in sending to him from London a detailed account of the +intended plan of campaign. + + +A CLEVER STRATAGEM. + +At Crown Point, Burgoyne was joined by a number of Indian allies, a +proceeding which greatly incensed the patriots. It was arranged that +another body of British troops under Colonel St. Leger, including +Indians and Tories, were to ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and +advance across the State by way of the Mohawk to Albany. Carrying out +this programme, St. Leger invested Fort Schuyler at the head of the +Mohawk, with a force of 1,800 men. While General Herkimer was hurrying +with some militia to the relief of the garrison, he was ambuscaded by a +detachment of British and Indians and killed, but an advance from the +fort drove off his assailants. St. Leger persisted in his siege of the +fort, and Benedict Arnold marched with a brigade to attack him. His +force, however, was so weak that he saw the folly of assault, and had +recourse to an ingenious and successful stratagem. He sent an +underwitted boy, who had been arrested as a Tory, into the British camp +with the story that the reinforcements just arrived for the Americans +numbered several thousand, the fable being confirmed shortly after by an +Indian scout. St. Leger was so frightened that he fled to Canada, +leaving his tents and most of his military stores. + +The Americans abandoned Fort Ticonderoga before the advance of Burgoyne, +who reached Fort Edward, while General Schuyler crossed the Hudson and +assumed position at Saratoga. Burgoyne crossed the river on the 13th and +14th of September, and General Gates, lately appointed to the command of +the northern department, advanced toward the enemy and encamped a few +miles north of Stillwater. On the night of the 17th, the two armies were +within four miles of each other, and, two days later, Burgoyne attacked +Gates. The loss on each side was severe, but the result was indecisive. + +A danger of another character threatened the invading army. Provisions +and supplies were running out, and it was impossible to obtain more. No +help arrived from Clinton, the desertions were numerous, and, realizing +his desperate situation, Burgoyne determined to drive the Americans from +their position on the left and then retreat to Canada. He made a +determined attempt, but was defeated with the loss of several hundred +men, including a number of his best officers, nine pieces of artillery, +and the encampment and equipage of a Hessian brigade. + + +SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. + +General Gates now disposed his forces so as almost completely to +surround Burgoyne, who called a council of war, at which it was agreed +that nothing was left for them but to capitulate. Accordingly, October +17, 1777, he surrendered his army to General Gates. This consisted of +5,763 officers and men, including the disappointed members of +Parliament. All the Indians having fled, none was left of them to +surrender. The spoils of war included a fine train of artillery of +forty-two pieces, 5,000 muskets, and a vast quantity of ammunition and +stores. The prisoners were treated with great kindness, their captors +sharing their food with them. + +The news of the loss of one of her most important armies caused dismay +in England and unbounded rejoicing in America. It was the climax of the +triumph at Trenton, and renewed hope thrilled the country from New +England to Georgia. + + +THE CONWAY CABAL. + +Congress awarded a gold medal to Gates for his capture of Burgoyne, and +he was placed at the head of the new board of war. He was puffed up over +his victory, for which most of the credit was due to Schuyler and +Arnold. Finding congenial spirits in General Mifflin and an Irishman +named Conway, both members of the board, including also General Charles +Lee, who had been exchanged, a plot was formed for displacing Washington +and putting Gates in supreme command of military affairs. The "Conway +Cabal" utterly failed, for there were precious few in the country who +did not appreciate the lofty character of Washington, and none except +the plotters felt sympathy with any attempt to dim the lustre of the +name that will always be among the brightest in history. + + +AID FROM FRANCE. + +One of the immeasurable advantages that followed the capture of Burgoyne +was our alliance with France. That country sympathized with us from the +first, though her traditional hatred of England had much to do with the +sentiment, but hitherto her assistance had been secret. She wished a +good pretext for coming out openly, and this was furnished by the +capture of Burgoyne. Franklin was in France as our representative, and +his quaint wit and homely wisdom made him very popular at the gay court. +He urged the claims of the United States so forcibly that the king +yielded, and concluded a treaty, February 6, 1778, by which the +independence of the United States was acknowledged and relations of +reciprocal friendship formed with our country. This was the first treaty +made by the United States with a foreign country. France agreed to send +a fleet of sixteen war-vessels, under D'Estaing, and an army of 4,000 +men to our assistance. Great Britain at once declared war against +France, and offered to give the United States freedom from taxation and +representation in Parliament if they would join in the hostilities +against her old enemy. The Americans were incapable of so perfidious a +course, and were now fully determined on securing their independence. +Spain joined France, in 1779, in the war against Great Britain (because +of the relations of the ruling families), and Holland for commercial +reasons united with them in 1780. Thus Great Britain soon found her +hands full. + +Congress decided, while Washington was at Valley Forge, that the army +should consist of 40,000 foot, besides artillery and horse. Washington +had 12,000, while the total American force under arms was barely 15,000. +At the same time the British had 30,000 troops in New York and +Philadelphia, besides 3,700 in Rhode Island. + + +EVACUATION OF PHILADELPHIA. + +The British army occupied Philadelphia from September, 1777, until June +the following year. Admiral Howe's fleet lay in the Delaware, and +General Howe, who was of a sluggish temperament, was superseded by Sir +Henry Clinton, between whom and Cornwallis the relations soon became +strained. With a view of concentrating the British forces, and, since +the French fleet was known to have sailed for America, it was decided +that the army in Philadelphia should be removed to New York. Wishing to +strike France, it was determined to make a descent upon the French West +Indies, for which 5,000 troops were to be detached from the army. + +[Illustration: AN OLD COLONIAL HOUSE OF GERMANTOWN.] + + +BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. + +Clinton found that he had not enough transports to take his troops to +New York, and a considerable number started overland. On the same day +that he marched out of Philadelphia, Washington's vanguard entered it. +On the 28th, Clinton was encamped near Monmouth Court-House, New Jersey +(now Freehold), with Washington close upon him. With five miles +separating the two armies at night, Lee, who had command of 5,000 men, +moved them nearer the enemy, Washington having ordered him to attack in +the morning as soon as Clinton began moving. + +The days were the longest in the year and the heat frightful. At the +earliest dawn, Washington was notified that the enemy had started toward +New York. He ordered Lee to advance and open battle without delay, +unless he saw urgent reasons for not doing so. Washington at the same +time pushed forward with the main body to his support. + +The attack was made about eight o'clock, but the reports of the +movements were so confusing that those of the Americans became +disjointed; but everything was going in their favor, when greater +confusion caused a falling back of the patriots, with the result that at +noon Lee's whole division was in retreat, and he had started to follow +them when he came face to face with Washington himself. + +Those who saw the meeting never forgot it. It required immense +provocation to rouse Washington's anger, but he was in a savage mood, +and in a voice of thunder demanded of Lee the meaning of his retreat. +Lee was confused, but, breaking in upon him, the commander ordered him +to the rear, while he took command. The battle lasted until five o clock +in the afternoon, scores on each side succumbing from the heat. While +the advantage was with the Americans, the battle was indecisive, and +Washington anxiously waited for daylight to complete his victory; but +Clinton moved away in the night, and, reaching Sandy Hook, was taken +aboard of Howe's fleet and landed in New York on the 5th of July. +Washington marched to the Hudson, crossed at King's Ferry, and took +position near his former camp at White Plains. Lee was court-martialed +and dismissed for his conduct, and, as stated elsewhere, it has been +proven that he was a traitor to the American cause. + +There are several interesting facts connected with the battle of +Monmouth, on whose grounds a fine monument was erected some years ago. +Among the British grenadiers slain was a sergeant who was seven feet +four inches in height. So many of these grenadiers were killed that +thirteen were buried in one grave. Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, their +commander, was among the slain. On the pews and floor of the old Tennent +church, still standing on the scene of the battle, may be seen the dark +stains from the wounds of several soldiers who were carried within the +quaint structure. + + +THE STORY OF MOLLY PITCHER. + +It would never do to omit the story of Molly Pitcher from the account +of the battle of Monmouth, for the incident is true, and is +commemorated on one of the bronze reliefs of the monument. Her husband +was a cannoneer, who with his companions suffered so much from thirst +that Molly was kept busy carrying water for them from a neighboring +spring. While thus engaged, her husband was killed before her eyes, and +there being no one available to handle the piece, an officer ordered its +removal. Molly asked the privilege of taking her husband's place. +Permission was given, and she handled the cannon with skill throughout +the entire action. + +The incident was told to Washington, who after the battle asked that she +be presented to him. He complimented her warmly, and conferred upon her +the rank of lieutenant, while Congress gave her half-pay during life. +The State of Pennsylvania, where she afterward made her home at +Carlisle, added to this, so that she lived in comfort for the rest of +her days. Her right name was Mary McAuley, and she died in Carlisle in +1833, a fine slab of marble marking her last resting-place. + + +DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE AID FROM FRANCE. + +Despite the great expectations roused by the friendship of France and +the arrival of her fleet, it gave little aid to the Americans until the +Yorktown campaign. D'Estaing had a fine opportunity of forcing his way +into New York, destroying the British fleet and blockading Clinton, but +he lacked the courage to do so. Then he sailed for Newport, Rhode +Island, to attack the British forces there, but matters were so delayed +that Howe arrived with a fleet of equal strength. While they were +manoeuvring for position, a violent storm arose, and, at the close, +D'Estaing sailed to Boston for repairs, taking all his troops with him, +while Howe returned to New York. + +The Americans were indignant over the desertion of their allies. The +French officers were insulted on the streets of Boston, and one of them +was killed in a brawl. Sullivan and Greene were so outspoken that it +required all the shrewdness of Washington and Congress to prevent an +open rupture. + + +THE WYOMING MASSACRE. + +In the month of July, 1778, a band of Tories and Indians entered the +lovely valley of Wyoming, under the leadership of Colonel John Butler, +whose cousin, Colonel Zebulon Butler, was commander of the old men and +boys left in the town by the departure of nearly all of the able-bodied +men to fight in the Continental armies. The patriots made a brave +defense, but they were overcome and put to flight. Women and children +ran to the woods, in which they were overtaken and tomahawked; others +died from exposure, while a few succeeded in reaching the towns on the +upper Delaware. This sad massacre has made the name of Wyoming known +throughout the world, and gives a sad pathos to the monument which was +erected in 1824 over the bones of the victims. + + +PUNISHMENT OF THE IROQUOIS. + +Some months later, Cherry Valley in New York suffered a similar +visitation from the Indians, who now learned for the first time that a +power had grown up in this country which could not only punish, but +could do so with unprecedented vigor. The red men were so troublesome +that Congress saw it would not do to defer giving them a much-needed +lesson. The guilty Indians were the Iroquois in central New York. In +1779, General Sullivan led an expedition against them. He showed no +mercy to those that had denied mercy to the helpless. Hundreds were +killed, their houses burned, their fields laid waste, and the whole +country made such a desert that many perished from starvation. + + +THE CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. + +One of the "sinews of war" is money. It is impossible for any nation to +carry on a war long without funds. The Americans were poor, but they +issued paper promises to pay, which were known as Continental money. As +the war progressed, and more money was needed, it was issued. In 1778, +it took eight paper dollars to equal one of gold or silver. More was +necessary and more was issued. Besides this, the paper and printing were +of such poor quality that the British in New York made a great many +counterfeits that were exchanged with the farmers in the vicinity. The +value of the currency decreased until the time came when it was +absolutely worthless. + +[Illustration: (Continental Currency)] + +When Clinton occupied New York and Washington was encamped on the Hudson +above, there were many forays against each other. The design of the +British commander was to force his way to the Highlands, seize the +passes and gain full command of the Hudson. He had already secured Stony +Point, and Washington formed a plan for retaking it, which was intrusted +to the brilliant Anthony Wayne. + +In the middle of July, Wayne took command of four regiments of +infantry, which marched twelve miles through the insufferably hot +night, when they reached a point about a mile from the fort. Wayne went +forward while his men were resting and made a careful reconnaissance. +Rejoining his troops, he divided them into two columns, and, to prevent +any mistake as to their identity, a piece of white paper was pinned to +each hat. All the superfluous clothing was flung aside. He impressed +upon his men that the bayonet alone was to be used, and, to prevent the +discharge of a gun by some nervous soldier, he ordered his officers to +cut down the first man who took his musket from his shoulder without the +order to do so. + +The two divisions approaching from opposite sides were to attack the +fort at the same moment. Before it was reached, the pickets discovered +them and opened fire. The garrison was aroused, and, hurrying to their +posts, cried out tauntingly: + +"Come on, you rebels! we're waiting for you!" + +"We'll be there," was the reply; and the patriots kept their word, +carrying matters with such a rush that the flag was speedily lowered. +While leading his men, Wayne was struck in the forehead by a musket-ball +and fell to the ground. Believing himself mortally wounded, he asked to +be carried forward that he might die within the fort. While his men were +assisting him, it was found that he had only been stunned. He recovered +a moment later and was among the first to enter the defenses. + +The American loss was slight, and they secured nearly six hundred +prisoners, with a lot of valuable stores. The fort was destroyed before +they left, the ruins being occupied some days later by a British force. + + +THE INFANT AMERICAN NAVY. + +Thus far we have had nothing to tell about the infant American navy. At +the beginning of the war, in 1775, Washington sent several privateers to +cruise along the New England coast, and Congress established a naval +department. Thirteen ships were fitted out and two battalions of seamen +enlisted. The opportunity of capturing prizes from the enemy was very +alluring to the skillful American seamen, and so many dashing privateers +started forth in quest of them that in the course of three years fully +five hundred ships, sailing under the English flag, were captured. Some +of the daring cruisers did not hesitate to enter British waters in +search of the enemy. + + +GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES. + +No braver man than John Paul Jones ever trod the quarter-deck. On the +first chance he displayed so much courage and skill that he was made a +captain. He was cruising off Solway Firth near his birthplace one night, +when he rowed ashore on the coast of Cumberland, with only thirty-one +volunteers, and burned three vessels in the harbor of Whitehaven and +spiked a number of cannon in the guard-room of the fort. England was +alarmed, declared him a pirate, and put forth every effort to capture +him. + +In 1779, Paul Jones, as he is more generally known, put to sea in +command of the _Bon Homme Richard_, and accompanied by two consorts, the +_Alliance_ and the _Pallas_. The _Richard_ was an old East Indiaman, +given him by the king of France and named in compliment to Franklin, who +had published "Poor Richard's Almanac" for so many years that he was +often identified with the publication. + +When Jones was off Scarborough, he sighted the Baltic fleet of +merchantmen homeward bound, and escorted by the frigates _Countess of +Scarborough_ and the _Serapis_. The latter carried fifty guns and the +former twenty-two, while Jones had forty-four guns and three hundred and +seventy-five men, two-thirds of whom were prisoners of war, since he had +greatly weakened his crew in order to send home the many prizes +captured. + +[Illustration: PAUL JONES] + +The moment Jones identified the enemy, he signaled to his consorts to +join him in pursuit. Night had closed in and the moon was shining, when +the captain of the _Serapis_ hailed Jones, who answered by opening fire. +The enemy was equally prompt, and thus one of the most famous fights in +naval history began. It is almost past comprehension how Jones fought so +terrifically when the disadvantages under which he labored are known. +Firing had scarcely begun when one of the guns on the lower deck +exploded, killing several men. The survivors ran above, and the piece +was not used again during the fight. + +Jones tried to close with the _Serapis_, but, finding he could not bring +his guns to bear, he allowed his ship to fall off. The prisoners, who +outnumbered his crew, were kept busy extinguishing the fires that +continually broke out, by being told that it was the only way to save +themselves from death by burning. In the midst of the terrific fighting, +when the _Richard_ seemed doomed, Captain Pearson of the _Serapis_ +shouted: + +"Have you struck?" + +"Struck!" replied Jones; "I am just beginning to fight." + +[Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN BON HOMME RICHARD AND SERAPIS.] + +While the ships were lurching, one of the enemy's anchors caught the +quarter of the _Richard_ and the two held fast, thenceforward fighting +side by side. They were so close indeed that the _Serapis_ could not +open her starboard ports, and the cannon were fired through the +port-lids, which were blown off; but the main deck of the _Richard_ was +so high that the broadsides of the enemy injured no one, though they did +great damage to the vessel. This tremendous battle lasted for two hours, +the muzzles of the guns scraping one another, and the cannon being +discharged as fast as they could be loaded. The _Richard_ was soon +shattered to that extent that she began sinking. Fire broke out +repeatedly on both vessels, and finally Jones was able to work only +three of his guns. At this crisis, he found that his consort, the +_Alliance_, Captain Landais, was firing into him as well as the +_Serapis_; but not heeding him, he continued his battle with the +_Serapis_, whose sailors fought as bravely as his own. + +The fearful struggle was decided by a sailor in the rigging of the +_Richard_, who was engaged in throwing hand-grenades on the deck of the +_Serapis_. One of these dropped into the hatchway and exploded a mass of +eighteen-pound cartridges, which killed twenty and wounded twice as many +more. Captain Pearson placed himself at the head of his boarders and +made a rush for the deck of the _Richard_. Jones, leading his own men, +drove them back. The explosion of the grenades silenced the main battery +of the _Serapis_, and Captain Pearson himself hauled down his colors, +both crews in the awful confusion believing for some minutes that it was +the _Richard_ that had surrendered. + +When day dawned, the riddled _Richard_ was settling fast, and Jones had +barely time to remove his crew to the _Serapis_ when his own vessel went +down. Four-fifths of his men had been killed or wounded. + +[Illustration: BRITISH CAPTAIN SURRENDERING HIS SWORD TO PAUL JONES.] + +Investigation of the conduct of Captain Landais in firing into the +_Richard_ led to the conclusion that he was insane, and he was deprived +of his command. Jones did no more special service for the Americans. For +his unsurpassable achievement he received the thanks of Congress, and +the king of France presented him with a gold sword. After the war he +became a rear-admiral in the Russian navy, and died in Paris in 1792. + +One of the saddest and most shocking events of the Revolution was the +treason of Benedict Arnold, who had won a brilliant reputation for his +bravery and generalship. He was quick-tempered, treacherous, and +extravagant, and disliked by most of his men, despite his extraordinary +daring. His first resentment against Congress was the failure of that +body to make him one of the first five major-generals, in the face, too, +of Washington's urgent recommendation for such promotion, which was made +after Arnold's splendid services at Saratoga. + +He was placed in command at Philadelphia, while recovering from the +wounds received at Saratoga. He married a Tory lady, and his misconduct +caused his trial by court-martial, which sentenced him to be reprimanded +by the commander-in-chief. Washington performed the unpleasant duty with +delicacy, but its memory rankled and was increased by his anger against +Congress for its refusal to allow his claims for expenses in the +Canadian expedition. Influenced also, no doubt, by the Tory sentiments +of his wife, he determined to take the step which has covered his name +with everlasting infamy. + +On the plea that his wounds were not yet healed, he induced Washington +to place him in command at West Point, the most important post in the +country and the principal depot of supplies. He opened a correspondence +with Sir Henry Clinton at New York, and agreed for a stated sum of money +and an appointment in the British army to surrender the post to a force +which Clinton was to send against it. When a point in the negotiations +was reached where it was necessary to send a trusted agent to meet +Arnold, Clinton dispatched Major John Andre, who went up the Hudson in a +sloop, and, September 22, 1780, met Arnold at the foot of Long Clove +Mountain. Everything being agreed upon, Andre started to return to the +sloop, but found that, owing to its having been fired upon by a party of +Americans, it had dropped down stream. Obliged to make his way to New +York by land, he assumed the dress of a civilian, and, furnished with a +pass by Arnold, he set out on horseback. + +[Illustration: THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE + +Much sympathy was felt in America for Andre, but the justice of his +being hung as a spy was never questioned. His three captors, Paulding, +Van Wart and Williams, were honored with medals and $200.00 a year each +for life, and monuments were erected to their memories by our +Government.] + +When near Tarrytown, he was stopped by three Americans, Isaac Van Wart, +John Paulding, and David Williams, who demanded his identity and +business. One of the three happened to be wearing a British coat, which +he had exchanged for one of his own while a prisoner of war, and the +fact led Andre to think they were friends. Before he discovered his +mistake, he had made known that he was a British officer, and he was +ordered to dismount and submit to a search. The fatal papers were found +on him, and, seeing his business was known, he offered everything he +had, besides the promise of a large sum of money from Sir Henry Clinton, +to be allowed to go. His captors refused and conducted him to North +Castle, where he was given up to Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson. That +officer had the proof before him in the papers that Arnold was the +unspeakable traitor, but with a stupidity difficult to understand, he +sent a letter to Arnold acquainting him with the capture of Andre. + +[Illustration: ESCAPE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.] + +Arnold was eating breakfast at his house near the Hudson, when the note +was brought to him by the messenger. Knowing what it meant, he called +his wife to him, told her of his danger, kissed his sleeping boy in the +cradle, ran out of the house, mounted his horse and galloped at headlong +speed for the river. There he sprang into a boat and ordered the men to +row with all haste to the sloop, still at anchor a short distance down +stream and waiting for Andre. Since these men had no suspicion of the +truth they obeyed orders, and Arnold, by waving a white handkerchief +over his head, prevented the Americans on the shore from firing at him. +He reached the sloop in safety and was carried to New York. + +The fact that Andre was wearing a civilian suit at the time of his +capture made him a spy, according to the laws of war, and the +court-martial before which he was called sentenced him to be hanged. +Clinton was greatly distressed by the impending fate of his favorite +officer and did his utmost to secure his release by Washington. It was +intimated to Clinton that Washington might be induced to exchange Andre +for Arnold, but such an act by the British commander would have covered +his name with infamy, and he was too honorable even to consider it. + +Andre accepted his fate bravely, only asking that he might be shot +instead of hanged, but even that boon was denied him. General Greene, +who presided at the court-martial, insisted that such leniency would +have been an admission of a doubt of the justice of his sentence. Andre +was hanged October 2, 1780. King George III. caused a mural tablet to be +erected to his memory, and his remains were removed to England in 1821 +and placed in Westminster Abbey. A pension was conferred upon his mother +and his brother was created a baronet. Sad as was the fate of Andre, and +general as was the sympathy felt for him in this country, there can be +no question of the justice of his sentence. He was a spy, and, had he +succeeded in his mission, might have caused the failure of the war for +independence. + +Arnold received more than $30,000 as a reward for his treason. He was +disliked by the British officers, and Cornwallis did not hesitate to +show his contempt for him. He engaged in several raids against his +countrymen, but since he always fought "with a rope around his neck," he +was never trusted with any important command. + +He removed to England with his family after the war, and his sons +received commissions in the British army. It is worth noting that all +did creditable service, and their descendants became worthy members of +the community, a fact which no one can regret, since they could be held +in no way responsible for the horrifying crime of their ancestor, who, +despised by all around him, died in London in 1801. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED). + +Capture of Savannah--British Conquest of Georgia--Fall of +Charleston--Bitter Warfare in South Carolina--Battle of Camden--Of +King's Mountain--Of the Cowpens--Battle of Guilford Court-House--Movements +of Cornwallis--The Final Campaign--Peace and Independence. + + +CONQUEST OF GEORGIA. + +The wave of war continued to roll southward. The British had met with +such meagre success in the Northern and Middle States that they turned +their efforts toward the conquest of the South. In the latter part of +December, 1778, an expedition from New York compelled the small garrison +at Savannah to surrender. British troops from Florida then reinforced +the expedition, Augusta and other towns were captured, and the whole +State was brought under British control. General Benjamin Lincoln, the +American commander, had too few troops to offer successful resistance, +and the Tories gave much trouble. + +In September, 1779, Lincoln crossed into Georgia and, with the aid of +the French fleet under D'Estaing, made an attempt to recapture Savannah. +The attack was made with the greatest bravery by the allies, but they +suffered a disastrous repulse, and D'Estaing again sailed for the West +Indies. Georgia was brought so completely under British control that a +royal governor and officers were installed. The Whigs were treated with +great cruelty, and for two years the struggle in the Carolinas assumed a +ferocious character. It was civil war in its most frightful form. +Neighbor was arrayed against neighbor. Every man was compelled to be a +Whig or Tory, and when one party captured another, it generally executed +the prisoners as traitors. There were many instances in which those of +the same family fought one another with the utmost fury, and the horrors +of war were displayed in all their dreadful colors. + +For a long time the British kept a strong force at Newport, but they +were withdrawn, and a strong expedition was sent South to capture +Charleston. + + +BRITISH CAPTURE OF CHARLESTON. + +General Lincoln had a garrison of 3,000, his forts, and a number of +vessels, with which he was confident of making a successful defense of +the city. The ships, however, were so inferior to those of the enemy +that Commodore Whipple sank all except one at the mouth of Cooper River +to block the channel, and added his men and guns to the defenses of +Charleston. + +Clinton's force was about double that of Lincoln, and he made his +approaches with care and skill. By April 10th he was within a half-mile +of the city, and, Lincoln having refused the demand for surrender, the +enemy opened fire. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, the best cavalry leader +the British had in the country, scattered the patriot cavalry at the +rear of the city, which was fully invested. Reinforcements arrived from +New York, and the siege was pushed vigorously. The garrison made a +sortie which accomplished nothing. Tarleton continually defeated the +American cavalry at the rear, many guns were dismounted, food and +supplies were exhausted until all hope was gone, and on the 12th of May, +1780, Lincoln surrendered his army and the city. + +This was one of the severest blows of the war. Clinton secured the city +and more than 400 pieces of artillery. He treated his prisoners kindly, +but lost no time in following up his success. Tarleton destroyed the +command of Colonel Abraham Buford, numbering 400 men, and thus +effectually quenched all organized resistance for a time in South +Carolina. + +Clinton would have completed the conquest of the South by advancing into +North Carolina, had he not learned that a French fleet was expected on +the coast. This led him to return to New York with the main army, while +Cornwallis was left behind with 4,000 men to complete the unfinished +work as best he could. + +In the spring of 1780, Washington sent reinforcements to the South, with +a regiment of artillery under Baron De Kalb, a German veteran who had +come to America with Lafayette. Although one of the finest of officers, +he could scarcely speak a word of English, and General Gates, on June +13, 1780, was ordered by Congress to assume command of the southern +department. He proved unequal to the difficult task, for not only were +the troops few and miserably disciplined and armed, but they were in a +starving condition. The summer was one of the hottest ever known, and, +although reinforcements were expected, Gates decided not to wait before +putting his forces in motion. Reinforcements reaching him after a time, +he marched against Cornwallis, who was eager to meet him. + + +AMERICAN DEFEAT AT CAMDEN. + +The battle was fought at Camden, and was conducted with such skill by +Cornwallis that the raw and untried patriots were utterly routed. The +centre and left wings were swept from the field, but the right under De +Kalb fought with splendid heroism, and it required the whole army of +Cornwallis to drive it from the field. In the fight De Kalb received +eleven wounds, and died the next morning. + +The battle of Camden marked the complete destruction of Gates' army. The +militia scattered to their homes, convinced that it was useless to fight +longer, while Gates with a few adherents continued his flight for nearly +two hundred miles. Two days later, Colonel Sumter with eight hundred men +was attacked on the Wateree by Tarleton, who killed half his force and +recaptured his prisoners and booty. + + +PATRIOT PARTISANS. + +Confident that the complete conquest of the South was close at hand, +Cornwallis gave every energy to the work. This was rendered difficult by +the activity of Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, and other +partisan leaders, who were acquainted with every mile of the country, +and on their horses made swift marches, struck effective blows, and were +off again before pursuit could be made. The wonderful work of Marion in +this respect caused him to be known as the "Swamp Fox of the Carolinas." +Many of Tarleton's troopers fell before the fire of these daring +rangers, who occasionally were strong enough to capture important posts. +It is worthy of mention in this place that to Sumter was the distinction +of attaining the greatest age of any officer of the Revolution. At his +death, in 1832, he was in his ninety-ninth year. + + +AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE. + +As illustrative of the spirit of the Southern colonists, we may be +pardoned for the digression of the following anecdote. The fighting of +Marion and his men was much like that of the wild Apaches of the +southwest. When hotly pursued by the enemy his command would break up +into small parties, and these as they were hard pressed would subdivide, +until nearly every patriot was fleeing alone. There could be no +successful pursuit, therefore, since the subdivision of the pursuing +party weakened it too much. + +"We will give fifty pounds to get within reach of the scamp that +galloped by here, just ahead of us," exclaimed a lieutenant of +Tarleton's cavalry, as he and three other troopers drew up before a +farmer, who was hoeing in the field by the roadside. + +The farmer looked up, leaned on his hoe, took off his old hat, and, +mopping his forehead with his handkerchief, looked at the angry soldier +and said: + +"Fifty pounds is a big lot of money." + +"So it is in these times, but we'll give it to you in gold, if you'll +show us where we can get a chance at the rebel; did you see him?" + +"He was all alone, was he? And he was mounted on a black horse with a +white star in his forehead, and he was going like a streak of lightning, +wasn't he?" + +"That's the fellow!" exclaimed the questioners, hoping they were about +to get the knowledge they wanted. + +"It looked to me like Jack Davis, though he went by so fast that I +couldn't get a square look at his face, but he was one of Marion's men, +and if I ain't greatly mistaken it was Jack Davis himself." + +[Illustration: TARLETON'S LIEUTENANT AND THE FARMER (JACK DAVIS).] + +Then looking up at the four British horsemen, the farmer added, with a +quizzical expression: + +"I reckon that ere Jack Davis has hit you chaps pretty hard, ain't he?" + +"Never mind about _that_," replied the lieutenant; "what we want to know +is where we can get a chance at him for just about five minutes." + +The farmer put his cotton handkerchief into his hat, which he now slowly +replaced, and shook his head: "I don't think he's hiding round here," he +said; "when he shot by Jack was going so fast that it didn't look as if +he could stop under four or five miles. Strangers, I'd like powerful +well to earn that fifty pounds, but I don't think you'll get a chance to +squander it on me." + +After some further questioning, the lieutenant and his men wheeled their +horses and trotted back toward the main body of Tarleton's cavalry. The +farmer plied his hoe for several minutes, gradually working his way +toward the stretch of woods some fifty yards from the roadside, where he +stepped in among the trees and disappeared. You understand, of course, +that the farmer that leaned on his hoe by the roadside and talked to +Tarleton's lieutenant about Jack Davis and his exploits was Jack Davis +himself. + +One day a British officer visited Marion under a flag of truce. When the +business was finished Marion urged him to stay to dinner, and the +officer accepted the invitation. The meal consisted of only baked sweet +potatoes. Noting the surprise of his guest, Marion explained that the +fare was the regular food of himself and soldiers, but, in honor of the +guest, the allowance had been increased that day. This anecdote, which +seems to be authentic, was supplemented by the officer's return to +Charleston, where he resigned his commission, declaring that it was +useless to try to conquer such men. Marion led a spotless life, held in +high esteem by friend and enemy, and his name will always be revered +throughout this country, especially in the South. + + +PATRIOT VICTORY AT KING'S MOUNTAIN. + +The next battle took place at King's Mountain, October 8, 1780. +Cornwallis had sent Colonel Ferguson with about 1,100 men to rouse the +Tories in North Carolina. He met with slight success, and fortified +himself on King's Mountain, between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, and on +the border between North and South Carolina. Aware of his danger, he +sent messengers to Cornwallis urging him to forward reinforcements +without delay. The Americans captured every one of the messengers, and +of course no reinforcements arrived. + +The patriots consisted mainly of North Carolina and Kentucky riflemen, +numbering 1,500, all excellent marksmen. They attacked in three separate +columns, each of which was repulsed by Ferguson's men, who fought with +coolness and bravery. Then the Americans united and attacked again. +Ferguson was mortally wounded, and his successor was so hard pressed +that he surrendered. Four hundred of his men fled, three hundred were +killed, and eight hundred laid down their arms, while the loss of the +Americans was no more than twenty. + +King's Mountain was a brilliant victory for the Americans and caused +Cornwallis to retreat into North Carolina. His men suffered greatly, and +the commander himself falling ill, the command was turned over to Lord +Rawdon, then a young man and famous afterward in India as the Marquis of +Hastings. + + +GENERAL GREENE'S SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH. + +The failure of Gates led Congress to send the Quaker General Greene to +the South. Next to Washington, he was the most skillful leader of the +Revolution, and, despite his discouragements and difficulties, he +speedily demonstrated the wisdom of the step that placed him where he +was so much needed. + + +DEFEAT OF TARLETON. + +Greene sent Daniel Morgan, the famous commander of the Virginia +riflemen, into South Carolina with a thousand men to gather recruits. +Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton with the same number after him. The +forces met at the Cowpens, near Spartanburg, in January, 1781. This time +the terrible Tarleton found that he had met his master. Morgan utterly +routed him, as was proven by the fact that Tarleton lost a hundred men +killed, besides ten commissioned officers. A large number were wounded, +and six hundred prisoners, his two guns, his colors, eight hundred +muskets, a hundred horses, and most of his baggage train were captured. +Of the Americans only twelve were killed and about fifty wounded. +Tarleton himself had a narrow escape, but got away with a handful of +men. + + +GREENE'S SKILLFUL RETREAT. + +Determined to punish the audacious Morgan, Cornwallis started after him +with his entire army. Greene and Morgan, having united, fell back, for +their troops were too few to risk a battle. Their retreat across North +Carolina into Virginia has never been surpassed in this country. Three +times the British army were at the heels of the Americans, who avoided +them through the fortunate rise of the rivers, immediately after they +had crossed. Cornwallis maintained the pursuit until the Dan was +reached, when he gave up and returned to Hillboro. + + +BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. + +Having obtained a number of recruits, Greene turned back into North +Carolina, and the two armies encountered at Guilford Court-House (now +Greensboro), in March, 1781. Some of the American militia gave way, but +the rest bravely held their ground, and, when compelled at last to +retreat, did so in good order. Cornwallis had been handled so roughly +that he did not venture to pursue the Americans. + +[Illustration: DARING DESERTION OF JOHN CAMPE + +From the American to the English ranks, for the purpose of associating +himself with the traitor Benedict Arnold, seizing him and getting him +alive into the hands of the Americans.] + +Cornwallis now withdrew to Wilmington, while Greene moved across +North Carolina after the British forces under Lord Rawdon. Several +engagements took place, the principal one being at Hobkirk's Hill, near +Camden. Greene inflicted severe losses upon the enemy, but was compelled +to retreat, and spent the summer among the hills of the Santee, in the +neighborhood of Camden. Advancing toward the coast, he fought the last +battle in the State, at Eutaw Springs, near Charleston, September 8, +1781. The advantage was with the British, but the victory was one of +those that are as disastrous as defeat. Their loss was so heavy that +they retreated during the night and took shelter in Charleston. Greene +had completed his work with admirable effectiveness. Without winning +victories he had, by his caution, skill, celerity of movement, and +generalship, almost cleared the South of the enemy, for the only points +held by them were Charleston and Savannah, where they were closely +hemmed in for the rest of the war. + +[Illustration: (CORNWALLIS)] + + +MOVEMENTS OF CORNWALLIS. + +Meanwhile Cornwallis was at Wilmington, where he learned of Greene's +movements too late to intercept him. He was confident, however, that +Rawdon was strong enough to overthrow Greene, and he moved northward +into Virginia to join the forces already there, and complete the +conquest of the State. No serious opposition was encountered by him, and +Tarleton plundered the country as he passed through it. Entering +Virginia, Cornwallis found himself opposed by Lafayette, with 4,000 +troops, which was hardly one-half the force under his own command. +Orders came from Clinton in New York for Cornwallis to seize upon some +suitable place near the coast, easily reached by the British vessels. +Cornwallis selected Yorktown, on the peninsula between the James and +York Rivers, where he fixed the headquarters of the army, and began +throwing up fortifications. + + +OUR FRENCH ALLIES. + +The time had come when the friendship of France for America was to +accomplish something. In the summer of 1780 Rochambeau landed at Newport +with 6,000 troops, and later they were marched to Washington's camp, +near Peekskill and Morristown. Confident that he now had an army that +could achieve important results, Washington made preparations to attack +Clinton in New York. Rochambeau gave him every help, the allies working +together with the utmost cordiality and enthusiasm. + + +THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN. + +Clinton was in a constant state of apprehension, for he had good cause +to fear the result of the attack that impended. Washington's plan, +however, was changed, in the summer of 1781, by the news that a French +fleet and a strong force would soon arrive in Chesapeake Bay and shut +off Cornwallis from all assistance from Clinton. Washington decided to +march southward and capture Yorktown and Cornwallis, meanwhile keeping +Clinton under the belief that he meant to attack him. So well was the +secret kept that Clinton's suspicions were not aroused until several +days after the departure of the allied armies. + +De Grasse, the commander of the French fleet, arrived in Chesapeake Bay +August 30th. Thus Cornwallis was blocked off from the sea, and enough +soldiers were landed to prevent the British commander's escape by land. +On the same day Washington and Rochambeau, after making a feint toward +Staten Island, began a rapid march through New Jersey to Philadelphia, +and thence to Elkton, Maryland. Officers and men were in high spirits, +for they knew they were on the eve of great events. The citizens of +Philadelphia shared the feeling, and cheered the men as they marched +through the streets. On the way southward Washington made a hurried +visit to Mount Vernon, which he had not seen since the opening of the +war. + +Aware of the grave danger threatening Cornwallis, a British fleet made +an effort to relieve him, but the more powerful French fleet easily beat +it off. The allied armies boarded the waiting ships at Elkton, and, +sailing down the Chesapeake to James River, joined Lafayette's force in +front of Yorktown. + +[Illustration: THE SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN] + +The historical siege of Yorktown opened September 30, 1781. The French +and American armies were ranged in a half-circle in front of Yorktown. +Cornwallis was indignant at the apparent desertion by Clinton, and wrote +to him in the middle of September: "This place is in no state of +defense. If you cannot relieve me very soon, you must expect to hear the +worst." Word came from Clinton that a fleet of twenty-three ships and +more than 5,000 troops would sail to his relief about the 5th of +October. + +The French soldiers in their gay uniforms and the Continentals in their +rags maintained an ardent but friendly rivalry in pressing the siege. +Washington aimed and applied the match to the first gun that was fired +into Yorktown. Governor Nelson, being asked to direct the bombardment, +selected the house which he believed to be the headquarters of +Cornwallis, and calmly saw it battered to ruins. It was his own home. + +The condition of the defenders hourly grew worse. The lack of forage +compelled them to kill most of their horses, whose bodies drifted down +the river. As is generally the case at such times, sickness broke out +among the British troops, and 2,000 of the 7,000 were in the hospital. +The allies steadily worked their way forward by means of parallels, and +finally the guns along the entire front of Cornwallis were dismounted +and his shells expended. + +His situation had become so desperate that no one could have condemned +him for surrendering, but, before doing so, he resolved to make a +determined effort to extricate himself from the trap in which he was +caught. His plan was to abandon his sick, baggage, and all incumbrances, +cross the river in the darkness to Gloucester, attack and scatter the +French force stationed there, and then hasten northward through +Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New York. + +This attempt would have been made, but, after a part of the army had +crossed, a violent storm scattered the boats and compelled their return. +The result quenched the last spark of hope in the breast of Cornwallis. +He opened negotiations with Washington, and the terms of surrender were +signed October 18th. + + +THE SURRENDER. + +At two o'clock the next afternoon, the British troops marched slowly out +of Yorktown, drums beating, muskets shouldered, and colors cased. The +American line was drawn up on the right of the road and the French on +the left, its extent being fully a mile. Washington allowed no idle +spectators present, and repressed every sign of exultation on the part +of the captors. + +General O'Hara, riding at the head of the troops, saluted when he came +opposite Washington, and apologized for the absence of Cornwallis, who +was suffering from illness. When O'Hara's sword was offered to +Washington, he replied that General Lincoln had been designated to +receive it. There was poetical justice in this, since it was Lincoln who +had been obliged to surrender Charleston to Clinton the previous year. + +The prisoners numbered 7,247 English and Hessian soldiers and 840 +sailors. Seventy-five brass and thirty-one iron guns were also secured, +including the accoutrements of the army. Clinton with the promised +relief arrived off the Chesapeake on the 24th, and learned to his +consternation that every British soldier in Virginia was a prisoner of +war. With indescribable sadness he sailed back to New York, feeling, as +did everyone else, that English rule in America was ended and American +independence won. + +Washington dispatched a courier with the glorious news to Philadelphia. +Riding at headlong speed and changing his horse frequently, he reached +the national capital on the evening of the 23d. In those days the city +was provided with watchmen, who made the tour of the streets crying the +hour. That night the cry rang out-- + +"PAST TWO O'CLOCK AND CORNWALLIS IS TAKEN." + +Windows flew up, lights twinkled from every house, men rushed out +half-clothed, cheering, flinging their hats in air and embracing one +another in their joy. All the bells were set ringing, and the whole city +gave itself over to rejoicing. It was stirred to its profoundest depths +by the thrilling tidings, for even the dullest knew it meant the +independence for which the patriots had struggled throughout more than +six suffering years. + +Congress assembled at an early hour and marched to the Dutch Lutheran +Church, where all united in giving thanks to God for His great mercy and +blessing. The aged doorkeeper of Congress was so overcome with joy that +he dropped dead. Washington directed that divine service be held at the +heads of the regiments, in gratitude for the "particular interposition +of Providence in their behalf." + + +THE NEWS IN ENGLAND. + +It would be difficult to describe the dismay caused in England when the +news crossed the ocean. Lord North strode up and down his room, flinging +his arms above his head and moaning, "My God! it is all over!" While +others were equally stricken by the tidings, America had many friends in +that country who had opposed from the beginning the attempt to subjugate +the colonies. Even those who voted for the war measures were now loud in +insisting that no more blood and treasure should be wasted in continuing +hostilities. They demanded the removal of the ministers who advised the +contrary, and the House of Commons declared by vote that anyone who +favored the continuance of the war was a public enemy. + +While the surrender at Yorktown virtually ended the struggle, Washington +was too wise to disband the army. No more battles took place, but the +country remained in an unsettled condition for a long time, and the +embers of hate often broke into flame. It is claimed that the last blood +shed in the Revolution was that of Captain Wilmot, shot in a skirmish in +September, 1782, at Stone Ferry. + + +TREATY OF PEACE AND ITS TERMS. + +It had been agreed by both parties that hostilities should stop, and +commissioners were appointed to arrange the terms of peace. The +preliminary articles were signed at Versailles, November 30, 1782, but +the final treaty was not executed until September 3d of the following +year. On April 19, 1783, the eighth anniversary of Lexington, Washington +at the headquarters of the army officially declared the war at an end. + +By the final treaty, England acknowledged the United States to be free +and independent, with Canada as a boundary on the north, the Mississippi +River on the west, and Florida, extending westward to the Mississippi, +on the south. Spain, which still owned Louisiana west of the +Mississippi, now received Florida from Great Britain. + +The American army was disbanded, and officers and men went to their +homes dissatisfied because they had not been paid for years. Washington +presented himself before Congress at Annapolis and resigned his +commission. The British evacuated Savannah in July, 1782, Charleston in +December, and New York City, their last post, November 25, 1783. The +forts north of the Ohio, however, were held by English garrisons for +about twelve years longer. + +[Illustration: UNITED STATES CAPITOL, WASHINGTON.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +The Method of Government During the Revolution--Impending Anarchy--The +State Boundaries--State Cessions of Land--Shays' Rebellion--Adoption of +the Constitution--Its Leading Features--The Ordinance of 1787--Formation +of Parties--Election of the First President and Vice-President. + + +War is not only a blight to mankind, but it inflicts wounds that can +never heal and brings a train of woe and suffering which lasts for +years. The social system is disorganized, industry checked, resources +exhausted, and a debt entailed whose burden is felt for generations. The +United States had won the priceless boon of independence, but the States +were exhausted and in the lowest depths of poverty. They were like those +who, having lost everything, are compelled to begin life anew. + +[Illustration: A PLANTATION GATEWAY. + +(Entrance to the Estate of William Byrd, at Westover, Va.)] + + +WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT. + +While the war was under way, the States were held together by the one +common danger, and the Continental Congress managed the affairs of the +Union, but the body was without any authority to govern, and whatever it +did in that direction was only what the people permitted. The State +governments were tangible, for State constitutions had been formed and +the Legislatures received direct authority from the people. When they +chose to disobey Congress they did so, and no penalty could be visited +upon them. As the end of the war approached, the authority of the +respective States increased and that of Congress dwindled until it was +but a mere name and shadow. + +The Articles of Confederation were agreed upon by Congress in 1777. They +defined the respective powers of Congress and were not to go into effect +until a majority of the States should agree to them. Within the +following two years all yielded their assent except Maryland, which did +so March 1, 1781. + + +DISPUTE OVER STATE BOUNDARIES. + +The cause of this prolonged delay was the dispute over western +territory. Few persons suspect the extent of the wrangling over the +respective boundaries of the States. When the charters were granted by +England, the western boundaries of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New +Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were defined, and +consequently they could not ask for an extension of them. New York +insisted that she had no western boundary. The remaining six States had +their western boundaries named as the Pacific Ocean, which was at a +distance that no one dreamed of at the time. They asserted that the +transfer of Louisiana to Spain fixed the Mississippi River as the limit +in that direction. + +Among these claims none was so remarkable as that of Virginia. The most +that her sister States asked was that their northern and southern +boundaries should run parallel to the westward, but Virginia insisted +that her northern boundary extended northwest, which, if allowed, would +have given her all of the present States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, +Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Her claim was crossed by those of +Massachusetts and Connecticut. + +The States whose western boundaries had been settled were indignant over +the injustice of the claims of the others, for, since the whole thirteen +assisted in wresting the territory from Great Britain, they asserted +that all should share it. Some of the States sold lands in the west, +whose ownership was disputed by other States, and Maryland, as +intimated, refused her assent to the Articles of Confederation until +assured that these western claims would be abandoned. + + +HOW THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED. + +It was evident that the only way out of the confusion was by the +surrender of these claims, and New York set the example in 1780. In +response to the earnest request of Congress, Virginia did the same in +1784, Massachusetts in 1785, Connecticut in 1786, South Carolina in +1787, North Carolina in 1790, and Georgia in 1802. The result was that +the western boundaries of the States named were fixed as they are +to-day, and the United States came into the possession of a large +territory. Connecticut held fast to a large strip of land in +northeastern Ohio, which is still known as the Western Reserve. The same +State, which had settled Wyoming in Pennsylvania, claimed it for a time, +but finally gave it up. + +It took but a short time to demonstrate the utter worthlessness of the +Articles of Confederation. Congress, the central governing power, had no +authority to lay taxes, punish crimes, or regulate foreign or domestic +commerce. Its whole function was to give advice to the respective +States, which, as might be supposed, paid little or no heed to it. +Furthermore, the stronger States made laws inimical to the smaller ones, +and Congress was powerless to remedy it. Naturally Great Britain +oppressed American commerce, and there was no way of checking it. + +The prosperity which most of the people expected to follow peace did not +appear. The Continental currency was not worth the paper it was printed +on. Even at this late day, when a man uses the expression that an +article is "not worth a Continental," it is understood to mean that it +has no value at all. + + +WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM. + +The condition of no one was more pitiful than that of the heroes who had +fought through the Revolution and won our independence. They went to +their poverty-smitten homes in rags. While Washington was at his +headquarters at Newburgh, in 1783, an anonymous paper was distributed +among the troops calling upon them to overthrow the civil governments +and obtain their rights by force. They even dared to ask Washington to +become their king, but that great man spurned the offer in a manner that +prevented it ever being repeated. But his sympathy was aroused, and he +finally secured five years' full pay for the officers, and thus averted +the danger. + +At that time the Northern and Middle States contained about a million +and a half of people and the Southern a million. Virginia had 400,000 +inhabitants, and was the most populous, with Pennsylvania and +Massachusetts next, each having 350,000. The present Empire State of New +York was one of the weak States, the city containing about 14,000, +Boston 20,000, and Philadelphia 40,000. It was estimated that the debt +of the respective States was $20,000,000 and of the country $42,000,000. + + +SHAYS' INSURRECTION. + +Rioting and disorder are always sure to follow so deplorable a condition +of affairs. Daniel Shays, formerly a captain in the Continental army, +headed a mob of 2,000 men in Massachusetts, who demanded the stoppage of +the collection of taxes and the issuance of a large amount of paper +money for general use. When they had dispersed the Supreme Court, +sitting at Springfield, General Lincoln was sent with 4,000 troops to +put down the rebellion. Lincoln placed the judges in their seats, and +then, when the rioters were about to attack him, he gave them a volley. +The rioters scattered and the rebellion ended. Fourteen of the +ringleaders were afterward sentenced to death, but were reprieved and +finally pardoned. + + +THE MEETING AT ANNAPOLIS. + +Shays' rebellion was one of the best things that could have happened, +for it showed the country more clearly than before that it was on the +verge of anarchy, and that the remedy must not be delayed. Long before +this, Washington comprehended the serious peril of the country, and he +was in continual consultation with men whose worth and counsel he +valued. The result was that a meeting of commissioners from Maryland, +Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York met at Annapolis in +September, 1786. They held an earnest discussion, but as only a minority +of the States were represented, nothing positive could be done, and an +adjournment was had with a recommendation that each State should send +delegates to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787. The prestige of +Washington's name gave so much weight to the recommendation that at the +appointed date all the States were represented except Rhode Island. + +The wisdom of Washington was again manifest in a letter which he wrote +some months before the meeting of the Constitutional Convention, and +which contained the following: + +"We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion of +human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that +without the intervention of a coercive power, men will not adopt and +carry into execution measures best calculated for their own good. I do +not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged +somewhere a power that will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a +manner as the authority of the State governments extend over the several +States.... I am told that even respectable characters speak of a +monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds +speaking; thence acting is but a single step. But how irrevocable and +tremendous! What a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions! +What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are +incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis +of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious!" + +When the news reached Washington of the disorders in New England, he was +greatly troubled. "What stronger evidence can be given," he asked, "of +the want of energy in our government than these disorders? If there is +not a power in it to check them, what security has a man for his life, +liberty, or property? The consequences of a bad or inefficient +government are too obvious to be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereigns pulling +against one another, and all tugging at the federal head, will soon +bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and energetic constitution, +well checked and well watched to prevent encroachments, might restore +us to that degree of respectability and consequence to which we had the +fairest prospect of attaining." + + +THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787. + +Washington was placed at the head of the delegation from Virginia. +Although he hoped that he would be permitted to spend the rest of his +days in the domestic quiet of Mount Vernon, his patriotism would not +permit him to decline, even though he saw the certainty that the action +would bring him forward once more into public affairs. Only a part of +the delegates met in Philadelphia, May 14, 1787, and an adjournment was +had from day to day until the 25th, when, a majority being present, the +convention organized and unanimously chose Washington as chairman. For +four months it sat with closed doors, meeting in the same room in +Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and +where the chair is still preserved in which Washington sat. + +[Illustration: SENATE CHAMBER.] + +What an assemblage of great and noble men, all of whose names have +become historical! With the peerless Washington at the head, there were +James Madison, afterward President of the United States; Benjamin +Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin West, Edmund Randolph, Robert +Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Sherman, Clymer, Read, and Dickinson. It may +well be imagined that among those men the discussions, which were +continued several hours daily, were of the most interesting nature. +Inevitably there was a diversity of views, and the arguments at times +grew warm, but with such an aggregation of statesmanship and wisdom, the +best results were certain. Steadily the wonderful Constitution was +moulded into shape, and on the 17th of September was signed by all the +delegates except Randolph and Mason, of Virginia, and Gerry, of +Massachusetts. It was then submitted to Congress, which forwarded it to +the respective States for acceptance or rejection--the assent of nine +being necessary to make it operative. + +So important a document was sure to elicit earnest discussion and many +able men opposed its adoption. At that early day appeared the germs of +the present political parties. The problem was as to the right division +of power between the national or central government and the respective +States. Those who favored the widest latitude to the States were called +Republicans, while their opponents were given the name of Federalists. +The views of the latter predominated in the main, though the +Constitution was really a compromise between its supporters and +opponents. + +The beneficent features of the instrument were so manifest that its +adoption soon followed. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified it, +and, being the ninth State, its provisions became operative throughout +the Union. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not assent, and the +Constitution went into effect without their vote. These two States had +issued a good deal of paper money, and disliked the Constitution because +it forbade such action. The opposition of the other States was caused by +the fear that too much power was conferred upon the central government. +To remove this not wholly unreasonable objection, the first ten +amendments were adopted and ratified in 1791. + + +FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION. + +The Constitution supplied the great requirement without which the +government itself would have been a nullity: the power to act supplanted +the power simply to advise. The government consists of three +departments: a legislative or Congress, which makes the laws; an +executive department, consisting of the President and his officers, to +execute the laws made by Congress; and a judiciary department (the +Federal courts), which decides disputed questions under the laws. The +Constitution is our supreme law and must be obeyed by the general +government, the State governments, and the people; if not, the general +government punishes the offender. + +Congress, or the legislative department, consists of two branches, the +Senate and House of Representatives. Each State, no matter what its +population, is entitled to two Senators, who serve for six years and are +elected by the respective State Legislatures; the Representatives are +apportioned according to the population, are voted for directly by the +people, and serve for two years. In this admirable manner, each State is +protected by its Senators against any encroachment upon its rights, +while the populous States receive the recognition to which they are +entitled through the House of Representatives. + +Congress, the two branches acting together, lay taxes, borrow money, +regulate commerce, coin money, establish post offices, declare war, +raise and support armies and navies, and employ militia to suppress +insurrections. All States are forbidden to do any of these things, +except to impose their own taxes, borrow for themselves, and employ +their own militia. A majority of each house is enough to pass any bill, +unless the President within ten days thereafter vetoes the act (that is, +objects to it), when a two-thirds vote of each branch is necessary to +make it a law. Treaties made by the President do not go into effect +until approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. + +[Illustration: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.] + +The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four +years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is +commander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of +officers, it being necessary that most of the appointments shall be +confirmed by the Senate. In case of misconduct, the President is to be +impeached (charged with misconduct) by the House of Representatives and +tried by the Senate. If convicted and removed, or if he should die or +resign or be unable to perform the duties of his office, the +Vice-President takes his place and becomes President. With this +exception, the Vice-President presides over the Senate, with no power to +vote except in case of a tie. No provision was made for a successor in +the event of the death of the Vice-President, but in 1886 the +Presidential Succession Law was passed, which provides that, in case of +the death or disability of the President and Vice-President, the order +of succession shall be the secretaries of State, of the treasury, of +war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, and the secretaries +of the navy and of the interior. + +The judiciary department, or power to decide upon the constitutionality +of laws, was given to one supreme court and such inferior courts as +Congress should establish. The judges are appointed by the President and +Senate and hold office during life or good behavior. The State courts +have the power of appeal to the supreme court of the United States, +whose decision is final, the questions being necessarily based upon +offenses against any law of Congress, or upon the doubtful meaning of a +law, or the doubt of the constitutional power of Congress to pass a law. + +At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, three-fifths of the +slaves were to be counted in calculating the population for the +Representatives. Fugitive slaves were to be arrested in the States to +which they had fled. New Territories were to be governed by Congress, +which body admits the new States as they are formed. Each State is +guaranteed a republican form of government, and the vote of +three-fourths of the States can change the Constitution through the +means of amendments. The provisions regarding slavery, as a matter of +course, lost their effect upon the abolishment of the institution at the +close of the Civil War. + + +THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. + +Congress remained in session in New York, while the Philadelphia +convention was at work upon the Constitution, and during that period +organized a territorial government for the immense region northwest of +the Ohio, which belonged to the United States. The enterprising nature +of the American people asserted itself, and hundreds of emigrants began +making their way into that fertile section, where the best of land could +be had for the asking. But the Indians were fierce and warred +continually against the settlers. Most of these had been soldiers in the +Revolution, and they generally united for mutual protection. The Ohio +Company was formed in 1787, and, in order to assist it, Congress passed +the Ordinance of 1787, of which mention has been made. + +Slavery was forever forbidden in the Territory northwest of the Ohio, +and the inhabitants were guaranteed full religious freedom, trial by +jury, and equal political and civil privileges. The governors of the +Territory were to be appointed by Congress until the population was +sufficient to permit the organization of five separate States, which +States should be the equal in every respect of the original thirteen. +From the Territory named the powerful and prosperous States of Ohio, +Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin were afterward formed. + + +SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST. + +The Indian titles to 17,000,000 acres of land in the Territory had been +extinguished by treaties with the leading tribes, despite which the red +men contested the advancing settlers with untiring ferocity. Flatboats +were attacked on their way down the Ohio, and the families massacred; +blockhouses were assailed, and the smoke of the settlers' burning cabins +lit the skies at night. The pioneer path to the fertile region was +crimsoned by the blood of those who hewed their way through the western +wilderness. + +Until formed into States, the region was known as _The Northwestern +Territory_. In 1788, Rufus Putnam, of Massachusetts, at the head of +forty pioneers, founded the settlement of Marietta, and within the same +year 20,000 people erected their homes in the region that had been +visited by Daniel Boone and others nearly twenty years before. + +No sooner had the ninth State ratified the Constitution than the +Congress of the Confederation named March 4, 1789, as the day on which, +in the city of New York, the new government should go into effect. + +The time had come for the selection of the first President of the United +States, and it need not be said that the name of only one +man--WASHINGTON--was in people's thoughts. So overmastering was the +personality of that great man that he was the only one mentioned, and +what is most significant of all, not a politician or leader in the +country had the effrontery to hint that he had placed himself "in the +hands of his friends" in the race for the presidency. Had he done so, he +would have been buffeted into eternal obscurity. + +Whatever may be said of the ingratitude of republics, it can never be +charged that the United States was ungrateful to Washington. The people +appreciated his worth from the first, and there was no honor they would +not have gladly paid him. + + +THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. + +The date of the 4th of March was fixed without special reason for +launching the new government, and it has been the rule ever since, +though it often falls upon the most stormy and unpleasant day of the +whole year. Some of the States were so slow in sending their +representatives to New York, that more than a month passed before a +quorum of both houses appeared. When the electoral vote for the +President was counted, it was found that every one of the sixty-nine had +been cast for Washington. The law was that the person receiving the next +highest number became Vice-President. This vote was: John Adams, of +Massachusetts, 34; John Jay, of New York, 9; R.H. Harrison, of Maryland, +6; John Rutledge, of South Carolina, 6; John Hancock, of Massachusetts, +4; George Clinton, of New York, 3; Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, 2; +John Milton, of Georgia, 2; James Armstrong, of Georgia, Benjamin +Lincoln, of Massachusetts, and Edward Telfair, of Georgia, 1 vote each. +Vacancies (votes not cast). + +John Adams, of Massachusetts, therefore, became the first +Vice-President. + +[Illustration: AN OLD INDIAN FARM-HOUSE.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON--1789-1809. + +Washington--His Inauguration as First President of the United +States--Alexander Hamilton--His Success at the Head of the Treasury +Department--The Obduracy of Rhode Island--Establishment of the United +States Bank--Passage of a Tariff Bill--Establishment of a Mint--The Plan +of a Federal Judiciary--Admission of Vermont, Kentucky, and +Tennessee--Benjamin Franklin--Troubles with the Western Indians--Their +Defeat by General Wayne--Removal of the National Capital Provided +for--The Whiskey Insurrection--The Course of "Citizen Genet"--Jay's +Treaty--Re-election of Washington--Resignation of Jefferson and +Hamilton--Washington's Farewell Address--Establishment of the United +States Military Academy at West Point--The Presidential Election of +1796--John Adams--Prosperity of the Country--Population of the Country +in 1790--Invention of the Cotton Gin--Troubles with France--War on the +Ocean--Washington Appointed Commander-in-Chief--Peace Secured--The Alien +and Sedition Laws--The Census of 1800--The Presidential Election of +1800--The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution--Thomas +Jefferson--Admission of Ohio--The Indiana Territory--The Purchase of +Louisiana--Its Immense Area--Abolishment of the Slave Trade--War with +Tripoli--The Lewis and Clark Expedition--Alexander Hamilton Killed in a +Duel by Aaron Burr--The First Steamboat on the Hudson--The First Steamer +to Cross the Atlantic--England's Oppressive Course Toward the United +States--Outrage by the British Ship _Leander_--The Affair of the +_Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_--Passage of the Embargo Act--The Presidential +Election of 1808. + +[Illustration: MARY BALL, AFTERWARD THE MOTHER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.] + + +WASHINGTON. + +The name of Washington will always stand peerless and unapproachable on +the pages of human history. In great crises, Heaven raises up men for +its appointed work. As soldier, statesman, and patriot, he combined in +his own personality the full requirements of the prodigious task than +which no greater was ever laid upon the shoulders of man. Through +trials, sufferings, discouragements, disappointments, abuse, ill +treatment, opposition, and misunderstandings, he never lost heart; his +lofty patriotism was never quenched; his sublime faith in God and the +destiny of his country never wavered, and, seeing with the eye of +undimmed faith the end from the beginning, he advanced with serene +majesty and unconquerable resolve to the conclusion and perfection of +his mighty work. + +It has been said of Washington that he embodied within himself the +genius of sanity and the sanity of genius. We can conceive of Lincoln, +Grant, or any other great man losing his mind, but like the snowy crest +of a mountain, rising far above the plain, he stood by himself, and it +is impossible to think of him as losing even in the slightest degree the +magnificent attributes of his personality. As has been stated, his was +the single example in our history in which the fate of our country +rested with one man. Had he fallen in battle at any time between +Lexington and Yorktown, the Revolution would have stopped and +independence been postponed indefinitely. But when Heaven selects its +agent, it shields him in impenetrable armor, and, though Washington was +exposed to innumerable personal perils in the wilderness and in battle, +when his comrades were smitten with death around him, he never received +the slightest wound, and lived to see his work finished, when, in the +quiet of his own home at Mount Vernon, he lay down, folded his arms, and +passed to his reward. + +[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732-1799.) Two terms, 1789-1797.] + +George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February +22, 1732. There is a general misunderstanding as to his family. He had +three half-brothers, one half-sister, and three brothers and two +sisters. His half-brothers and sister, children of Augustine Washington +and Jane Butler, were: Butler (died in infancy), Lawrence, Augustine, +and Jane. His brothers and sisters, children of Augustine Washington and +Mary Ball, were: Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred +(died in infancy). + +Washington's father died when the son was eleven years old, and his +training devolved upon his mother, a woman of rare force of character. +He received a common school education, but never became learned in +books. He early showed a liking for military matters, was fond of the +sports of boyhood, and was manly, truthful, and so eminently fair in +everything, that his playmates generally selected him as umpire and +cheerfully accepted his decisions. He became an expert surveyor, and, at +the age of sixteen, was employed by Lord Fairfax to survey his immense +estate. The work, which continued for three years and was of the most +difficult nature, attended by much hardship and danger, was performed to +the full satisfaction of his employer. + +[Illustration: INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.] + +Washington grew to be a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. He was +six feet two inches tall, with a large frame and a strength surpassing +that of two ordinary men. No one in the neighborhood was his equal in +horsemanship, running, leaping, throwing, swimming, and all manner of +athletic sports. He was of the highest social rank, wealthy, and a +vestryman and member of the Episcopal Church. He was rather fond of pomp +and ceremony, somewhat reserved in manner, and at times seemed cold and +distant, but with a character that was without flaw or stain. It has +already been said that he served throughout the Revolution without +accepting a penny for his services. He kept an account of all he +received from the government, but sometimes forgot to note what he paid +out. In such cases he balanced his books by paying the deficit from his +own pocket, so that it may be truthfully said he not only won +independence for his country, but paid for the privilege of doing so. + +Washington from his first services in the French and Indian War was so +identified with the history of his country that the account of one +includes that of the other. Having told of his election to the +presidency, it, therefore, remains to give the principal incidents of +his administration. + + +WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION. + +A special messenger reached Mount Vernon with news of Washington's +election on the 14th of April, and two days later he set out for New +York. The journey was one continual ovation, special honors being shown +him at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and New York, where they +attained their culmination. He arrived on the 23d of April, and the +inauguration took place a week later. Amid impressive ceremonies, the +oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor of the +State of New York, in Federal Hall, on the present site of the +sub-treasury building. Washington stood in a balcony of the senate +chamber, in full view of the great multitude on the outside. He showed +considerable embarrassment, but was cheered to the echo and was greatly +touched by the manifestations of the love of his fellow-countrymen. + +At the opening of his administration, Washington became ill and no +important business was done until September. On the 10th of that month, +Congress created a department of foreign affairs, a treasury department, +and a department of war. Thomas Jefferson was nominated to the first, +Alexander Hamilton to the second, and General Henry Knox to the third. +All were admirable appointments. + + +ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + +Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, was one of the most remarkable +men identified with the history of our country. He was born in the West +Indies in 1757, and, while a child, displayed extraordinary ability. +When fifteen years old, he was sent to New York City and entered King's +(now Columbia) College. A patriotic speech made when he was only +seventeen years old held his hearers spellbound by its eloquence. At +twenty, he organized a company of cavalry and performed excellent +service on Long Island and at White Plains. Washington was so impressed +by his brilliancy that he placed him on his staff and made him his +military secretary. Many of the best papers of the commander-in-chief +received their finishing touches from the master hand of Hamilton. He +was in Congress in 1782-1783, and helped to frame the Constitution. +When the New York Convention assembled to ratify the new Constitution, +three-fourths of its members were strongly opposed to it, but Hamilton +by the sheer force of his eloquent logic won them over and secured the +assent of the State to the adoption of the Constitution. He was one of +our most brilliant statesmen and the foremost Federalist of his time. + + +HAMILTON'S WISE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCES. + +The greatest problem which confronted the country was that of finance, +and Hamilton grasped it with the skill of a master. Hardly had he +received his commission, when Congress called upon him for a plan to +provide for the public debt and to revive the dead national credit. +Hamilton's first answer was that the country would begin by being +honest, and that every dollar of the confederation, then amounting +almost to $80,000,000, should be paid, the United States assuming all +debts due to American citizens, as well as the war debt of each State. +This bold and creditable ground greatly improved public credit, before +any provision was made for the payment of the vast debt. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + +(1757-1804).] + +Hamilton's plan was to fund the entire debt and issue new certificates. +It was vehemently opposed, especially the provision that the State debts +should be assumed by the general government; but solely by his wonderful +ability he carried the measure through Congress. The debate sharpened +the lines between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists or Republicans. + +It will be remembered that at that time neither North Carolina nor Rhode +Island had adopted the Constitution. The former called a convention, +and, on the 13th of November, 1789, ratified it, but Rhode Island +continued to sulk until Providence and Newport withdrew from the State, +and Massachusetts and Connecticut made ready to parcel the State between +them. This frightened her, and, on May 29, 1790, she joined her +sisters. + +The following year Hamilton gave another proof of his power by carrying +through Congress, in the face of the strongest opposition, a measure for +the relief of the financial straits of the government. The only banks in +the country were one each in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, all of +which were State institutions. He advocated the establishment of a bank +in which the government should be one-fifth owner of the capital stock +of $10,000,000 and a preferred borrower to the same amount. It was to be +under private management. In the face of the strong opposition, the act +creating it was passed, and it was chartered for twenty years. The +subscriptions required that one-fourth should be paid in specie and the +rest in six per cent. certificates of the bank. Within two hours after +the subscription books were opened the entire amount of stock was +subscribed. The United States Bank was destined to play an important +part in national affairs in after years. + + +PASSAGE OF A TARIFF BILL. + +Having provided the means for funding the debt and for borrowing money, +it yet remained to find some way of earning the money. The method was so +apparent that Congress lost no time in passing a tariff bill. A law +placed a duty on imported and domestic spirits, and, in February, 1792, +a protective tariff bill was enacted. This provided that the materials +from which goods are manufactured should not be taxed, while articles +competing with those made in this country were prohibited. A mint was +also established in Philadelphia for coining money. + + +THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY ORGANIZED. + +The plan for the Federal judiciary was perfected on the lines proposed +by Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The national judiciary consisted of a +supreme court, having a chief justice and five associate justices, who +were to hold two sessions annually at the seat of the Federal +government. Specified jurisdiction was given to the circuit and district +courts, and each State was made a district; the Territories of Maine and +Kentucky were provided for in the same manner, and the remaining +Territories were grouped into three circuits. When the matter in dispute +amounted to $2,000, an appeal could be taken from the lower courts to +the supreme court. The President was to appoint a marshal in each +district, possessing the general powers of a sheriff, and the interests +of the government were placed in the hands of a district attorney. + +The first chief justice of the United States was John Jay, of New York, +while Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, was made attorney-general. The +associate judges were John Rutledge, of South Carolina; James Wilson, of +Pennsylvania; William Cushing, of Massachusetts; Robert H. Harrison, of +Maryland; and John Blair, of Virginia. + +Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791; Kentucky, June 1, +1792; and Tennessee exactly two years later. These three States were all +that were formed during the presidency of Washington. + +[Illustration: BEN FRANKLIN MOULDING CANDLES IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP.] + +Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia, April 17, 1790, at the age of +eighty-four years. Since he was one of the greatest of all Americans, he +is entitled to fitting notice. He was born in Boston in 1706, and was +the youngest of seventeen children. His father was a tallow chandler and +soap boiler, a trade which Benjamin detested. He was apprenticed to his +brother, who was a printer, and while a boy gave evidence of his +remarkable keenness and brilliant common sense. Rebelling against the +discipline of his brother, he ran away, tramping most of the distance +to Philadelphia. There he secured a situation and showed himself so +skillful and tasteful a printer that he never lacked for work. He +established a paper in Philadelphia in 1729, and began the publication +of _Poor Richard's Almanac_ in 1732, the year in which Washington was +born. The wit, homely philosophy, and keen penetration shown by Franklin +attracted wide attention and gave the almanac an enormous circulation, +which lasted as long as it was published. Many of his proverbs are still +popular and widely quoted. + +In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster of the British colonies, +and, as a delegate to the Albany Convention in 1754, proposed an +important plan for colonial union. From 1757 to 1762, and again from +1764 to the Revolution, he was agent of Pennsylvania in England; part of +the time also for Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia. Returning to +Philadelphia in 1775, he was at once chosen a delegate to the +Continental Congress. Few persons, in looking at his handsome signature +on the Declaration of Independence, would suspect that it was written +when he was seventy years old. It has been shown that he was one of the +committee of five who drew up the Declaration, and in the following +autumn was sent to Paris to join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. His +services there were of the highest importance. He had a leading part in +the negotiations of the treaty of peace in 1783, after which he +negotiated a favorable treaty with Russia. He returned to America in +1785, and was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and +1787. He was an influential member of the Constitutional convention, and +probably was second to Washington in popularity. His funeral in +Philadelphia was attended by more than 20,000 persons. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S GRAVE.] + +Franklin's researches in electricity, though slight as compared with the +discoveries since made by Edison, Tesla, and others, extended his fame +to Europe. By means of the kite which he sent aloft in a thunderstorm, +he proved that the lightning in the atmosphere is identical with that +developed by frictional electricity. This discovery led to the invention +of the lightning-rod for buildings, which has been the means of saving +property beyond estimate. He was the inventor also of an economical +stove and other useful contrivances. He made himself wealthy, and the +fortune which he left at his death was the foundation of the splendid +institution of learning known as the University of Pennsylvania. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS + +In this memorable battle of August 20, 1794, General Wayne visited a +final defeat upon the Indians at Maumee Rapids, putting an end to the +war in the Northwest, which for nearly four years had terrorized and +devastated the territory now occupied by the States of Indiana, Ohio and +Illinois.] + + +DISASTROUS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE WESTERN INDIANS. + +Returning to the history of Washington's presidency, mention must be +made of the troubles with the western Indians, who, as has been stated, +fought relentlessly against the advance of civilization into their +hunting grounds. Between 1783 and 1790, 1,500 persons were killed by the +red men near the Ohio. It being clear that peace could not be secured +except by a thorough chastisement of the Indians, Congress gave General +Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, authority to call +for 500 militia from Pennsylvania and a thousand from Kentucky, to which +were added 400 regulars. Under General Harmar they marched against the +Indian villages. + +In the campaign the Indians outgeneraled Harmar, who, after inflicting +some damage, was defeated and lost 200 men in killed and wounded. The +defeat encouraged the savages, who became more aggressive than ever. +General St. Clair organized a second expedition consisting of 2,000 men, +including cavalry and artillery, with which in October, 1793, he entered +the Indian country, only to suffer a more disastrous defeat than General +Harmar, and in which the losses were so dreadful that the news caused +consternation in Philadelphia. Washington had cautioned St. Clair +against the very mistakes he made, and he completely lost his temper. He +paced up and down his room, giving such expressions to his feelings that +those around him were awed into silence. By-and-by, he seemed to regret +the outburst, and, when the trembling St. Clair some time later +presented himself, the President received him without reproach; but St. +Clair was overwhelmed by his disgrace and resigned his command. + + +WAYNE'S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS. + +Washington determined that no more blunders should be made, and +appointed Anthony Wayne to the command of the next expedition. He raised +a large force, moved cautiously, and took every precaution against +surprise, as Washington had told him to do. He had 4,000 men under his +command, and the consummate woodcraft and tricks of the red men failed +to deceive him. At Fallen Timbers, near the present city of Toledo, he +met a large force, August 20, 1794, of Canadians and Indians, completely +routed them, killed a great many, with slight loss to himself, and so +crushed the confederation of tribes that they gave no more trouble for a +long time. A year later, 1,100 chiefs and warriors met the United States +commissioners at Fort Greenville and signed a treaty of peace, by which +they ceded to the government an immense tract of land lying in the +present States of Michigan and Indiana. An impetus was given to western +emigration, which suffered no interruption for many years. + + +THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYLVANIA. + +One of the acts of Congress was to declare that Philadelphia was to be +the national capital for ten years, from 1790, when it was to be removed +to a point on the Potomac River, where the city of Washington now +stands. One measure which Hamilton induced Congress to pass caused +trouble. It doubled the duty on imported spirits and taxed those +distilled in this country. So much dissatisfaction appeared in North +Carolina and Pennsylvania that the law was modified, but it did not end +the discontent. The officers sent to Pennsylvania to collect the taxes +were resisted and the militia sympathized with the rioters, whose +numbers swelled to 7,000 under arms. When they began to talk of +appealing to England, Washington lost patience and sent a large body of +Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey militia to the section. +They were under the command of General Henry Lee, governor of Virginia, +and arrived on the scene in October, 1794. Order was soon restored, and +the ringleaders, expressing sorrow for their acts, were not punished. +This seems to be the rule in our country, except that repentance on the +part of criminals is not required. + + +"CITIZEN GENET." + +The action of "Citizen Genet" caused a flurry during Washington's +presidency. The "Reign of Terror" had begun in France, where the most +appalling revolution in history had taken place. The tyranny of the +rulers had driven the people to frenzied desperation, and, overthrowing +the government, their massacres were not checked until literally +hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Since their rebellion was +begun against tyranny, and France had helped us in our war for +independence, there was general sympathy for the people in our own +country, though everyone was shocked by the deeds that soon horrified +the civilized world. + +Having established a government, the revolutionists sent Edward Charles +Genet to this country as its representative. He was warmly welcomed at +Charleston, where he landed in April, 1793. He was too discourteous to +go to Philadelphia to present his credentials, and began enlisting +recruits for France and intriguing for an alliance with us. Since France +was fighting England, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Holland, it can be +understood how desirable such an alliance would have been to her. + +Washington was too wise to be misled, and he issued a proclamation of +neutrality, forbidding citizens of the United States to equip vessels to +carry on hostilities against the belligerent powers. Genet paid no +attention to this, but kept on enlisting men and fitting out cruisers +in American waters. His course became so intolerable that Washington +demanded his recall. This demand was complied with, and he was ordered +to return home. No one knew better than he that if he showed himself in +France he would lose his head. So he stayed in this country until his +death in 1834. + + +JAY'S TREATY. + +[Illustration: CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY.] + +The course of England became so unjust toward the commerce, because of +her war with France, that Chief Justice John Jay, in May, 1794, was sent +as envoy extraordinary to that country to demand redress. A treaty was +agreed upon and ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, which provided +that the British garrisons should be withdrawn from the western posts by +June 1, 1796; free inland navigation upon lakes and rivers was +guaranteed to both nations, except that the United States was excluded +from the territory of the Hudson Bay Company; British vessels were +admitted to the rivers and harbors on our seacoast, but our shipping was +shut out from the rivers and harbors of the British provinces, with the +exception of small vessels trading between Montreal and Quebec; our +northeastern boundary was to be fixed by a commission; the payments of +debts incurred before the war were guaranteed to British creditors, if +such debts were collectible by an American creditor; Great Britain was +to pay for losses resulting from irregular captures by her cruisers; +citizens of either country were allowed to hold landed possessions in +the territory of the other; private property was not to be confiscated +in time of war; trade between the United States and the West Indies was +free to the vessels of both nations, but American vessels were forbidden +to carry West Indian products from the islands or from the States to any +other part of the world. The last clause was to be in force only two +years, when further negotiation was to take place. In addition, the two +years' limit was applicable to the right of American vessels to trade +between the East Indies and the United States, but in time of war they +were not to take thither any rice or military stores; free commerce was +established between the British dominions in Europe and the United +States; the regulation of duties was provided for, as well as the +appointment of consuls and the rules of blockade; privateering was +regulated; what was contraband of war was defined, and it was agreed +that piracy should be punished; ships of war could enter the ports of +either country; criminals escaping from one country to the other were to +be surrendered; and, in the event of war between the two countries, +citizens in hostile territory were not to be molested. + +Although this treaty possessed many good points, and was the best +obtainable by our envoy, it gave so many advantages to Great Britain +that it roused bitter enmity in this country. Public meetings were held +in the leading cities, where it was denounced as cowardly and made for +the express purpose of avoiding a war with England. The feeling rose so +high that Jay was burned in effigy, Hamilton was assaulted at a public +meeting, the British minister insulted, and even Washington himself +treated with disrespect. Better judgment prevailed, when the passions +cooled, and it is now admitted that Jay's treaty, when all the +circumstances are considered, was a commendable one. + + +SECOND ELECTION OF WASHINGTON. + +It was Washington's wish to retire to private life on conclusion of his +first term, but he could not disregard the demand from all quarters. No +competitor appeared in the field against him, and for a second time he +was unanimously elected. His vote was 132; that cast for the candidates +for the minor office being, John Adams, Federalist, 77; George Clinton, +of New York, Republican, 50; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Republican, +4; Aaron Burr, of New York, Republican, 1; vacancies, 3. This vote made +John Adams again Vice-President. + +Since Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans (or as now called the +Democrats), and Hamilton of the Federalists (afterward the Whigs), and +the two, as members of Washington's cabinet, were able and aggressive, +they were continually disputing. Sometimes they sorely tried +Washington's patience, who, appreciating the ability of both, often had +hard work to prevent an open rupture. On the last day in 1793, Jefferson +resigned his office as secretary of foreign affairs and retired to +private life at Monticello, Virginia. A year later Hamilton resigned as +minister of finance. Through his efforts public credit had been +restored, and industry and trade had revived. He well deserved the +eloquent tribute of Daniel Webster: "He smote the rock of the national +resources, and abundant streams of revenues burst forth. He touched the +dead corpse of public credit, and it sprung upon its feet." + +As Washington's second term drew to a close, a universal demand was made +that he should serve again. Despite the fact that the two great +political parties were fairly organized, and each contained many able +men, no one would have had the temerity to offer himself as a +competitor; but he was growing old, his strength had been worn out in +the service of his country, and the rest he yearned for could no longer +be denied him. He, therefore, issued his immortal Farewell Address to +his countrymen and withdrew to Mount Vernon, where he peacefully passed +away December 14, 1799, mourned by the whole country and revered by the +civilized world. + +The Farewell Address contains counsel that can never lose its value to +America. After thanking his fellow-countrymen for the confidence they +had always shown in him, and the support he had received from them, he +said that the love of liberty was so interwoven with every ligament of +their hearts that no recommendation of his was necessary to fortify that +attachment. The unity of government, by which they were made one people, +had also become very dear to them. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S BEDROOM, MT. VERNON, IN WHICH HE DIED.] + +"It is justly so," he said, "for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence--the support of your tranquillity at home, your +peace abroad; of your safety, of your prosperity; of that very liberty +which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee that, from +different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, +many artifices be employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of +this truth--as this is the point in your political fortress against +which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most +constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) +directed--it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the +immense value of your national union to your collective and individual +happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable +attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as the +palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its +preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest +even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly +frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion +of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now +link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of +sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common +country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The +name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must +also exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation +derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, +you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. +You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the +independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and +joints efforts; of common dangers, sufferings, and successes." + +[Illustration: THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON RECEIVING MARQUIS LAFAYETTE. + +Previous to his departure for Europe, in the fall of 1784, the Marquis +de Lafayette repaired to Fredericksburg to pay his parting respects to +Washington's mother and to ask her blessing. + +Conducted by one of her grandsons he approached the house, when, the +young gentleman observing, "There, sir, is my grandmother," the Marquis +beheld, working in her garden, clad in domestic-made clothes and her +gray head covered by a plain straw hat, the mother of "his hero, his +friend, and a country's preserver." The lady saluted him kindly, +observing, "Ah, Marquis, you see an old woman; but come, I can make you +welcome to my poor dwelling without the parade of changing my dress."] + +Washington next pointed out the mutual advantages derived from one +another in the different sections of the Union, and impressively warned +his countrymen against the danger of sectional parties and the baneful +effects of party spirit. He commended the Constitution, which could be +amended, whenever the necessity arose, as beneficent in its provisions +and obligatory upon all. Other wholesome counsel, which he added, made +the Farewell Address a priceless heritage to the generations that came +after him. + +The immediate effect of the paper was excellent. The various State +Legislatures voted thanks to Washington, and were warm in their praises +of his wise and patriotic services as President. The regret was +universal that the country was so soon to lose his valuable counsel and +guidance. + + +WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY ESTABLISHED. + +During the Revolution Washington recommended the excellent location of +West Point as the proper one for a military school of instruction. An +act establishing the United States Military Academy at that place was +passed March 16, 1802. It provided that fifty students or cadets should +be given instruction under the senior engineer or officer, assisted by +the corps of engineers of the army. As the institution grew, +professorships of mathematics, engineering, philosophy, etc., were +added, and the academy was made a military body subject to the rules and +articles of war. A superintendent was designated in 1815, and the +present system of appointing cadets was instituted in 1843. The rigid +course, steadily elevated, probably prevents fully one-half of those +entering from graduating, and, a comparison of the West Point Military +Academy with similar institutions establishes the fact that it is the +finest of the kind in the world. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1796. + +The presidential election of 1796 was a close one, the result being: +John Adams, Federalist, 71; Thomas Jefferson, Republican, 68; Thomas +Pinckney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 59; Aaron Burr, of New York, +Republican, 30; Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, Republican, 15; Oliver +Ellsworth, of Connecticut, Independent, 11; George Clinton, of New York, +Republican, 7; John Jay, of New York, Federalist, 5; James Iredell, of +North Carolina, Federalist, 3; George Washington, of Virginia, John +Henry, of Maryland, and S. Johnson, of North Carolina, all Federalists, +2 votes each; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, +Federalist, 1 vote. Since it required 70 votes to elect, it will be seen +that John Adams was barely successful, with Jefferson close to him. + +John Adams, the second President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, +October 19, 1735. He graduated at Harvard, at the age of twenty, and was +admitted to the bar three years later. He was one of the most active and +influential members of the First and Second Continental Congresses. It +was he who by his eloquent logic persuaded Congress to adopt the +Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, his strenuous political +opponent, declared that Adams was the pillar of its support and its +ablest advocate and defender. It was Adams who suggested the appointment +of General Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental army. +During the progress of the war, he criticised the management of +Washington, but, long before the death of the Father of his Country, +candidly acknowledged the injustice of such criticism. + +[Illustration: JOHN ADAMS. + +(1735-1826.) One term, 1797-1801.] + +The services of Adams were not confined to his early efforts in Congress +nor to his term as President. He did important work as commissioner to +France and Holland, and as minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a +treaty of peace with Great Britain. He obtained large loans and induced +leading European powers to make excellent treaties with his country. +Adams and Franklin framed the preliminary treaty of Versailles, and, as +the first American minister to England, he served until 1788. He +received the thanks of Congress for the "patriotism, perseverance, +integrity, and diligence" displayed while representing his country +abroad. When John Adams assumed the duties of the presidency, he found +the country comparatively prosperous and well governed. + +The South was the most prosperous. Until 1793, its principal productions +were rice, indigo, tar, and tobacco. The soil and climate were highly +favorable to the growth of cotton, but its culture was unprofitable, for +its seeds were so closely interwoven in its texture that only by hard +work could a slave clean five pounds a day. In the year named, Eli +Whitney, a New England schoolteacher, living in Georgia, invented the +cotton gin, with which a man can clean a thousand pounds of cotton a +day. This rendered its cultivation highly profitable, gave an importance +to the institution of slavery, and, in its far-reaching effects, was the +greatest invention ever made in this country. + + +TROUBLES WITH FRANCE. + +The matter which chiefly occupied public attention during the +administration of the elder Adams was our difficulties with France. That +country had hardly emerged from the awful Reign of Terror in which a +million of people were massacred, and it was under the control of a set +of bloody minded miscreants, who warred against mankind and believed +they could compel the United States to pay a large sum of money for the +privilege of being let alone. They turned our representatives out of the +country, enacted laws aimed to destroy our commerce, and instructed +their naval officers to capture and sell American vessels and cargoes. + +[Illustration: THE COTTON GIN, INVENTED IN 1793. + +A machine which does the work of more than 1,000 men.] + +President Adams, who abhorred war, sent special ministers to protest +against the course of France. The impudent reply was there would be no +stoppage until the men who controlled the French government were paid +large sums of money. This exasperating notice brought the answer from +Charles Cotesworth Pinckney which has become historical: "Millions for +defense, but not one cent for tribute." + +Although war was not declared, it prevailed on the ocean during the +latter half of 1798. Congress convened, abolished the treaties with +France, strengthened the navy, and ordered it to attack French vessels +wherever found. Several engagements took place, in all of which the +French men-of-war were whipped "to a standstill." The most important of +the naval battles was between the _Constitution_, under Commodore +Truxton, and the French frigate _L'Insurgente_, in which the latter was +captured. A messenger was sent to Mount Vernon, carrying the appointment +of Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. He found the +great man in the harvest field; but when Washington donned his +spectacles and read the paper, he replied that he was then as always +ready to serve his country in whatever capacity he could. He accepted +with the understanding that he was not to be called into the field until +actual hostilities took place on the land, and that Alexander Hamilton +should until then be the commander-in-chief. + +Doubtless a destructive war would have resulted, but for the fact that +Napoleon Bonaparte, as a stepping-stone to his marvelous career, +overturned the French government and installed himself as emperor. He +saw the folly of a war with the United States, when he was certain soon +to be embroiled with more powerful neighbors near home. He offered fair +terms of peace to our country in 1799, and they were accepted. + + +THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS. + +One of the gravest mistakes made by the Federalists in Congress was the +passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Irritated by the mischief-making +of foreigners, a law was enacted which permitted the President to arrest +any alien in the country whose presence he considered dangerous. The +acts under which this was to be done were known as the Alien Laws. The +most detested measure, however, was that which authorized the arrest of +any person who should speak evil of the government, and was known as the +Sedition Law. There were arrests and punishments under its provisions, +and the majority of the people were bitterly hostile to it. It was +unquestionably a direct invasion of the liberty of speech. The claim +that no editor, public speaker, or private citizen should be allowed to +condemn an action of the government which he disproved was unbearable, +but it was in direct line with the Federal policy of a powerful central +government, and as directly opposed to Republican principles. The +feeling became so intense that at the next presidential election the +Federal party was defeated and never afterward gained control of the +government. + + +REMOVAL OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TO WASHINGTON. + +The census of 1800 showed that the population of the country had +increased to 5,308,483. In that year, the national capital was removed +from Philadelphia to the straggling, partly built village of Washington, +standing in the woods, and without any of the structures that have made +it one of the most attractive cities in the world. + +The presidential election of 1800 was an exciting one. Thomas Jefferson +and Aaron Burr, both Republicans, received 73 electoral votes, while +John Adams, Federalist had 65; Charles C. Pinckney, Federalist, 64; John +Jay, Federalist 1. The vote between the leaders being a tie, the +election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where, after +thirty-eight ballots, Jefferson was elected, with Burr, the next highest +candidate, Vice-President. The preceding election, as will be +remembered, gave a President and Vice-President of different political +parties, always an undesirable thing, and this fact, added to the +difficulties of the election just over, led to the adoption in 1804 of +the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which requires the electors +to vote separately for the President and Vice-President. + + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. + +Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, was born at +Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. His father, a +wealthy planter, died when his son was fourteen years old, and he +entered William and Mary College, where he was the most assiduous +student in the institution. Jefferson was as fond as Washington of +athletic sports, and, though he was of less massive build, he attained +the same stature, six feet two inches. In college, he was an awkward, +freckle-faced, sandy haired youth, who, but for his superior mental +attainments, would have commanded little respect. Except for his +fondness for hunting and horseback riding, he never could have acquired +the physique which allowed him to spend ten, twelve, and sixteen hours +of every twenty-four in hard study. + +[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON. + +(1743-1826.) Two terms, 1801-1809.] + +Jefferson was undoubtedly the most learned of all our Presidents. He was +not only a fine mathematician, but a master of Latin, Greek, French, +Spanish, and Italian. He was an exquisite performer on the violin, and +it was said of him, by one of the most noted European musicians, that he +never heard an amateur play the king of instruments as well as the slim +Virginian. + +Jefferson married a wealthy lady and named his attractive home +Monticello. His great ability caused his election to the Virginia +Legislature while a young man, and he was soon afterward sent to +Congress. Lacking the gifts of oratory, he had no superior as a writer +of fine, classical, forceful English. Among the many excellent laws he +secured for Virginia was the separation of Church and State. He was the +author of a parliamentary manual for the government of the United States +Senate, which is still an authority, and of our present system of +decimal currency; but the reader does not need to be reminded that his +fame will go down to posterity chiefly as the writer of the Declaration +of Independence; but Jefferson felt almost equally proud of the fact +that he was founder of the University of Virginia, which, abandoning the +old system, introduced the "free system of independent schools." He also +proposed for his State a comprehensive system of free public schools. + +Although wealthy, he went almost to the extreme of simplicity. His dress +was as plain as that of the Quakers; he wore leathern shoestrings +instead of the fashionable silver buckles; and strove to keep his +birthday a secret, because some of his friends wished to celebrate it. +He was opposed to all pomp, ceremony, and titles. He is universally +regarded as the founder of the Democracy of the present day, and was +undeniably one of the greatest Presidents we have had. + + +WELCOME LEGISLATION. + +The administration of Jefferson proved among the most important in the +history of our country. Congress promptly abolished the tax on distilled +spirits and a number of other manufactures, a step which enabled the +President to dismiss a large number of revenue collectors, whose +unwelcome duties had entailed considerable expense upon the country. The +obnoxious Sedition Law was repealed, and the Alien Law so modified that +it was shorn of its disagreeable features. + + +ADMISSION OF OHIO. + +In the year 1800, a line was run through the Northwest Territory from +the mouth of the Great Miami to Fort Recovery and thence to Canada. +Three years afterward, the territory thus defined was admitted to the +Union as the State of Ohio. The Indiana Territory included the portion +west of the line named, with Vincennes as the capital. The Mississippi +Territory was organized so as to extend from the western boundaries of +Georgia to the Mississippi. + +The punishment administered to France in 1798 naturally gave that +country a respect for the United States, and in 1802 our relations with +her became quite friendly. Bonaparte, having established a truce with +the nations around him, found time to give some attention to the +American republic. He seemed to believe he could establish a French +colonial empire, not only in the West Indies, but in the immense +province of Louisiana. Had Bonaparte succeeded, he would have acquired +control of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing would have +pleased England more than to see so serious a check placed upon our +growth, and nothing would have displeased our countrymen more than to be +shut off from the Father of Waters and the right to emigrate westward. +They were ready to go to war before submitting to such deprivation. + + +PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. + +No one was more keenly alive to the situation than Jefferson. He +carefully instructed our envoy at Paris to make the strongest possible +representations to the French ruler of the grave mistake of the course +he had in mind, which must inevitably result in an alliance with Great +Britain in sweeping France from the seas and driving her from the West +Indies. Bonaparte was too wise not to perceive that this was no empty +threat, and that his visionary French empire in the West would prove an +element of weakness rather than strength. Nothing was plainer than the +truth that the stronger the United States became, the more dangerous +would it be for his traditional enemy, England. He, therefore, proposed +to sell Louisiana to the United States. + +This was the very thing for which Jefferson had been skillfully working +from the first. The bargain was speedily completed. On April 30, 1803, +Louisiana came into our possession for the sum of $11,250,000, we +agreeing at the same time to pay certain debts due from France to +American citizens, amounting to $3,750,000, so that the total cost of +Louisiana was $15,000,000. + +It must not be forgotten that the Territory of Louisiana, as purchased +by us, was vastly more extensive than is the present State of that name. +It included the area from which have been carved the States of +Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, +Montana, part of Kansas, Wyoming and Colorado, and the Territory of +Oklahoma, the whole area being 1,171,931 square miles, as against +827,844, which was all the territory occupied previous to 1803. +Peaceable possession was taken on the 20th of December following. The +governorship of the Territory was offered to Lafayette, and declined by +him, but he received a grant of 12,000 acres within its limits. + + +SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED. + +At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, it was agreed that the +slave trade should be permitted for twenty years. It was abolished, +therefore, in 1808, and the penalty for engaging in it was made +punishable with death. At the time of the purchase of Louisiana, it was +believed that it included Texas, but the United States gave up this +claim in 1819 to Spain in return for the cession of Florida. + +It seems incredible, but it was true, that for twenty years we had been +paying a large tribute to Algiers on condition that she would not molest +our commerce. Other nations did the same, because it was more convenient +than keeping a navy in those far-off waters. A treaty with Morocco had +been signed, in 1787, under which we also paid her tribute. The people +of the Barbary States naturally waxed insolent, and when we were slow in +sending our tribute they imposed a heavy penalty, which we meekly paid. + + +WAR WITH TRIPOLI. + +One of the most disgusted men was Captain William Bainbridge, when +obliged to carry the tribute in 1800 to the Dey of Algiers, who informed +him that the Americans were his slaves, and must do as he ordered. The +indignant officer expressed the hope that the next tribute he delivered +would be from the mouths of his cannon. The following year the ruler of +Tripoli became ruffled because we did not send him as much tribute as he +thought he was entitled to, and actually declared war against us. + +The flurry of 1798 with France had caused a considerable increase in our +navy, which was furnished with plenty of daring officers, who afterward +made names for themselves. They eagerly welcomed a war of that nature +which of necessity was a naval one. The operations were confined to the +Mediterranean, on whose shore are the Barbary States. + +The first real fight took place in August, 1801, between the +_Enterprise_, a vessel of twelve guns, and a Tripolitan vessel of +fourteen guns. It occurred off Malta, and lasted for two hours, when the +Tripolitan hauled down his flag. Thereupon the Americans left their guns +and were cheering, when the enemy treacherously fired a broadside into +the _Enterprise_. Nothing loth, Lieutenant Sterrett renewed the battle +with such vigor that in a few minutes the flag was lowered a second +time, only to renew the fighting when the enemy saw an advantage. + +Thoroughly exasperated, Lieutenant Sterrett now determined to complete +the business. The vessel was raked fore and aft, the mizzen-mast torn +away, the hull knocked to splinters, and fifty men killed and wounded. +Then the American officer caught sight of the captain leaping up and +down on the deck, shrieking and flinging his arms about, as evidence +that he was ready to surrender in earnest. He threw his own flag +overboard, but Lieutenant Sterrett demanded that his arms and ammunition +should follow, the remainder of the masts cut away, and the ship +dismantled. That being done, Sterrett allowed him to rig a jury mast and +told him to carry his compliments to the Dey. + +The war against the Tripolitans was very similar to that against the +Spaniards in 1898. The _Enterprise_ had not lost a man, although the +Americans inflicted severe loss on the enemy. In July, 1802, the +_Constellation_, in a fight with nine Tripolitan gunboats, drove five +ashore, the rest escaping by fleeing into the harbor. More than once a +Tripolitan vessel was destroyed, with all on board, without the loss of +a man on our side. + +But the war was not to be brought to a close without an American +disaster. In 1803 the fine frigate _Philadelphia_, while chasing a +blockade-runner, ran upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, and, being +helpless, a fleet of the enemy's gunboats swarmed around her and +compelled Captain Bainbridge and his crew to surrender. The frigate was +floated off at high tide and the enemy refitted her. + + +A GALLANT EXPLOIT. + +One night in February, 1804, the _Intrepid_, a small vessel under the +command of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, one of the bravest of American +naval officers, approached the _Philadelphia_, as she lay at anchor, +and, being hailed, replied, through a native whom he had impressed into +service, that he was a merchantman who had lost his anchors. The +Tripolitans allowed the vessel to come alongside without any suspicion +on their part. Suddenly a score of Americans sprang up and leaped +through the port-holes of the frigate. It took them but a few minutes to +clear the deck, when the vessel was fired in several places and the men +safely withdrew. The _Philadelphia_ burned to the water's edge. + +Early in August, Commodore Preble bombarded the town of Tripoli from his +mortar boats. During a fight with the gunboats James Decatur, a brother +of Stephen, received the surrender of one he was fighting, and stepped +on the deck to take possession. As he did so, the captain shot him dead. +Stephen had just destroyed a gunboat when he learned of this treacherous +occurrence and dashed after the craft, which he boarded. Recognizing the +captain from his immense size, he attacked him, and, in a desperate +personal encounter, in which he narrowly escaped death himself, killed +the Moor. + + +THE BOMB KETCH. + +The Americans fixed up the _Intrepid_ as a bomb ketch, storing a hundred +barrels of powder and missiles and a hundred and fifty shells on deck. +Under command of Captain Richard Somers, and accompanied by twelve men, +the vessel ran slowly into the harbor one dark night. The intention was +to fire a slow-match and then for the officer and men to withdraw in +boats. Captain Somers was discovered by the enemy, and in some unknown +way the ketch was blown up with all on board, and without doing any +material harm to the shipping and fortifications in the harbor. + +Commodore Preble was superseded in November by Commodore Barron, who +arrived with the _President_ and _Constellation_. This gave the +Americans ten vessels, carrying 264 guns. Hostilities were pressed with +so much vigor that the Dey of Tripoli became anxious to make peace +before the terrible fleet from the West destroyed him and his people. +Accordingly, a treaty was signed on the 3d of June by which the +Tripolitans were given $60,000 for the prisoners in their hands, and the +payment of tribute to them was ended. + + +EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK. + +In those comparatively modern days the vast region west of the +Mississippi was almost unknown. President Jefferson recommended a +congressional appropriation for the exploration of the country. The +appropriation being made, a party of thirty men left the Mississippi, +May 14, 1804, under command of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William +Clark. Both had had a good deal of experience in the Indian country, and +they ascended the Missouri in a flotilla for 2,600 miles. To the three +streams which form the Missouri they gave the names of Jefferson, +Gallatin, and Madison. A detachment was then left in charge of the +boats, and the remainder, riding the horses they had captured and tamed, +made their way across the mountains. They discovered the two streams +which bear their names, and traced the Columbia to its outlet in the +Pacific Ocean. + +The expedition was absent for two years, and its report on returning +added much to our geographical knowledge of the section. They were the +first party of white men to cross the continent north of Mexico. Captain +Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri Territory in 1806, and was +acting as such when he committed suicide in 1809. Captain Clark was also +governor of Missouri Territory, and afterward superintendent of Indian +affairs. He died in St. Louis in 1838. + + +THE BURR AND HAMILTON DUEL. + +No one read the wicked character of Aaron Burr more unerringly than +Alexander Hamilton. He saw that he was ready to ruin his country for the +sake of gratifying an insatiate ambition. Hamilton was always outspoken +in expressing his opinions; and the hostility between the two became so +bitter that Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Although the latter had +had a son killed through the barbarous code within the preceding year, +he was foolish enough to accept the challenge, and the duel was fought +at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 12, 1804. Hamilton fired in the air, but +Burr aimed straight for his antagonist and inflicted a wound from which +he died the next day. + +Although Burr presided in the Senate after the duel, the whole country +was shocked by the occurrence, and his friends fell away from him. In +1804, when Jefferson was re-elected to the presidency, George Clinton +took the place of Burr as Vice-President. Burr then engaged in a plot to +form a new empire in the southwest, the precise nature of which is +uncertain. He found a few to join with him, but it came to naught, and +in 1807 he was tried at Richmond, Virginia, on the charge of treason, +but acquitted. He spent some years in wandering over Europe, and then +returned to resume the practice of law in New York. He died in obscurity +and poverty on Staten Island in 1836. + +[Illustration: DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM NAVIGATION FOLLOWING FULTON'S +DISCOVERY.] + +A notable event of Jefferson's administrations was the first voyage of a +steamboat up the Hudson. This was the _Clermont_, the invention of +Robert Fulton, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765. +This boat was slightly over one hundred feet in length and about twenty +feet broad, with side paddle-wheels and a sheet-iron boiler brought from +England. There was general ridicule of the idea of moving boats by steam +against a current, and the craft was called "Fulton's Folly." The crowd +which gathered on the wharf in New York, August 1, 1807, indulged in +jests which were not hushed until the craft moved slowly but smoothly up +stream. Heading against the current, she made the voyage to Albany in +thirty-two hours. She met with some mishaps, but after a time made +regular trips between that city and New York, at the rate of five miles +an hour. + + +OCEAN STEAMERS. + +This incident marked an epoch in the history of the West, where the +first steamboat was built in 1811. Within a few years, they were plying +on all the important rivers, greatly assisting emigration and the +development of the country. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was +the _Savannah_ in 1819. The screw propeller was introduced by the great +Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, in 1836. Really successful ocean +navigation began in 1838, when the _Sirius_ and _Great Western_ made the +voyage from England to the United States. + +[Illustration: ROBERT FULTON.] + + +OPPRESSIVE COURSE OF ENGLAND. + +The devastating war raging between England and France was destructive to +American commerce and interests. The star of the wonderful Napoleon +Bonaparte was rapidly in the ascendant, and his marvelous military +genius seemed to threaten the "equilibrium of the world." England had no +love for the United States and played havoc with our shipping. Her +privateers infested our coasts, like swarms of locusts. Because of her +immense naval superiority, she pestered us almost beyond bearing. She +stopped our vessels off-shore, followed them into rivers and harbors, +overhauled the crews, and in many cases took sailors away under the plea +that they were English deserters. Her claim was that "once a British +subject, always a British subject;" no sworn allegiance to any other +government could release the claim of England upon him. + +Our vessels were prohibited from carrying imports from the West Indies +to France, but evaded the law by bringing imports to this country and +then reshipping them to France. England peremptorily ordered the +practice to stop and declared that all vessels thus engaged should be +lawful prizes to her ships. This action caused general indignation in +this country and thousands of citizens clamored for war. + +Jefferson never lost his self-poise. While a thorough patriot, he knew +the meaning of war. He sent a message to Congress on the subject in +January, 1806, and the question was one of earnest and prolonged +discussion, ending in the adoption of a resolution to prohibit certain +articles of British manufacture. + +But matters rapidly grew worse. In May following England declared the +coast of Europe, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, in a state +of blockade. Bonaparte retaliated with the famous Berlin Decree, which +blockaded the British Islands. In the spring of 1807 the British ship +_Leander_ fired into a coasting vessel and killed one of the men. The +President issued a proclamation forbidding the _Leander_ and the two +ships in her company from entering any of the waters of the United +States; calling upon all officers to apprehend the captain of the +_Leander_ on a charge of murder; prohibiting all communication between +the shore and the ships, and warning all citizens from giving them aid +under penalty of the law. Envoys were sent to England to adjust the +trouble, but their efforts came to naught. + + +THE AFFAIR OF THE LEOPARD AND CHESAPEAKE. + +Matters were in this tense state when the most glaring outrage of all +was perpetrated. The British ship-of-war _Leopard_, of fifty guns, was +cruising off the capes of Virginia, hunting for the American frigate +_Chesapeake_, which she claimed had a number of English deserters on +board. The _Chesapeake_ was hailed, and the English captain asked +permission to send dispatches on board. Such courtesies were common, and +Captain James Barron, the American commander, willingly complied with +the request. When the boat arrived, a letter was presented to Captain +Barron, containing the orders of the British admiral to search the +_Chesapeake_ for a number of deserters, who were mentioned by name. +Captain Barron sent word that he had no knowledge of any deserters, and +refused to submit. Thereupon the _Leopard_ fired several broadsides into +the _Chesapeake_, which, being entirely unprepared for battle, was +obliged to strike her flag, three men having been killed and eighteen +wounded. Four men were then selected from the crew of the _Chesapeake_, +three of whom were negroes, all declared to be deserters, and taken on +board the _Leopard_. + +The country was thrown into a tumult of excitement, and the President, +by proclamation, closed all American harbors and waters against the +British navy, prohibited any intercourse with such vessels, and sent a +special minister to England to demand satisfaction. Congress was called +together, and a hundred thousand men in the different States were +ordered to hold themselves in readiness for service. The action of the +captain of the _Leander_ was disavowed, reparation offered, and the +offending admiral was recalled, but the reparation promised was never +made, and Great Britain refused to give up the right of search. + + +THE EMBARGO ACT. + +Although the action of England was anything but satisfactory, it averted +war for the time. In December, Congress passed the Embargo Act, which +forbade all American vessels to leave the coast of the United States. +The belief was that by thus suspending commerce with England and France, +the two countries would be forced to respect our neutrality. The real +sufferers, however, were ourselves; New England and New York, whose +shipping business was ruined, denounced the act in unmeasured terms. +Thus the administration of Jefferson, which had brought so much material +prosperity to the country and was so prolific in beneficent events, +closed amid clouds and threatened disaster. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1808. + +In the presidential election of 1808, the electoral vote was as follows: +James Madison, of Virginia, Republican, 122; Charles C. Pinckney, of +South Carolina, Federalist, 47; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, +6. For Vice-President, George Clinton, Republican, 113; Rufus King, of +New York, Federalist, 47; John Langdon, of New Hampshire, 9; James +Madison, 3; James Monroe, 3. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Clinton became +respectively President and Vice-President. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809-1817. + +THE WAR OF 1812. + +James Madison--The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts--Revival of the +Latter Against England--The _Little Belt_ and the _President_--Population +of the United States in 1810--Battle of Tippecanoe--Declaration of War +Against England--Comparative Strength of the Two Nations on the +Ocean--Unpopularity of the War in New England--Preparations Made by +the Government--Cowardly Surrender of Detroit--Presidential Election +of 1812--Admission of Louisiana and Indiana--New National Bank +Chartered--Second Attempt to Invade Canada--Battle of Queenstown +Heights--Inefficiency of the American Forces in 1812--Brilliant Work +of the Navy--The _Constitution_ and the _Guerriere_--The _Wasp_ and +the _Frolic_--The _United States_ and the _Macedonian_--The +_Constitution_ and the _Java_--Reorganization and Strengthening of the +Army--Operations in the West--Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson--American +Invasion of Ohio and Victory of the Thames--Indian Massacre at Fort +Mimms--Capture of York (Toronto)--Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett's +Harbor--Failure of the American Invasion of Canada--The _Hornet_ +and _Peacock_--Capture of the _Chesapeake_--"Don't Give Up the +Ship"--Captain Decatur Blockaded at New London--Capture of the +_Argus_ by the Enemy--Cruise of the _Essex_--The Glorious Victory of +Commodore Perry on Lake Erie--Success of the American Arms in +Canada--Battle of the Chippewa--Of Lundy's Lane--Decisive Defeat of the +Enemy's Attack on Plattsburg--Punishment of the Creek Indians for the +Massacre at Fort Mimms--Vigorous Action by the National +Government--Burning of Washington by the British--The Hartford +Convention. + + +JAMES MADISON. + +James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, was born at +Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751, and died June 28, 1836. He +received the best educational facilities and graduated from Princeton +College at the age of twenty. He devoted himself so closely to study +that he permanently injured his health. In 1776, he was elected a member +of the Virginia Legislature, and was offered the mission to France, +after the return of Jefferson, but declined it. Again he had the chance +of becoming Jefferson's successor, when the latter resigned as secretary +of State, but refused through fear of causing differences in +Washington's cabinet. He was a Federalist at first, but changed his +views and became an earnest Republican. Jefferson made him his secretary +of State, and he served throughout both administrations. He was a +cultured gentleman, an ardent friend of Jefferson, and carried out his +policy when he became President. + + +THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT. + +Just before the close of Jefferson's last term, Congress repealed the +Embargo Act and passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade all trade +with England. This was in 1809, and the law was abrogated in the +following year. Our relations with England, however, continued to grow +more irritating, until it became clear that war was at hand. Congress +gave notice that if either Great Britain or France would repeal their +offensive decrees, the Non-Intercourse Act would be revived against the +other. Bonaparte immediately announced that he revoked his decrees, but +instead of doing so, he enforced them more rigidly than before, thus +accomplishing what he sought, that of arraying the United States against +Great Britain. The Non-Intercourse Law was revived against Great +Britain, whose conduct became more exasperating than ever. Our whole +coast was under surveillance, and many of our merchant vessels were +captured without any excuse whatever. + +[Illustration: JAMES MADISON. (1751-1836.) Two terms, 1809-1817.] + +In the dusk of early evening, May 16, 1811, the British sloop _Little +Belt_, while occupied in holding up American vessels, hailed the frigate +_President_ off the coast of Virginia. Deeming the reply of the American +not sufficiently respectful, the _Little Belt_ fired a shot at the +_President_, which instantly let fly with a broadside, followed by +several others, that killed eleven men and wounded twenty-one. The +incident added to the angry excitement in both countries and brought war +nearer. + + +BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. + +The population of the United States in 1810 was 7,239,881, somewhat more +than a third of Great Britain and Ireland. Our growth in the West was +rapid. There was a continual stream of emigration thither, and the +Indians, seeing how rapidly their hunting grounds were passing from +them; combined to resist the invasion. This was done under the +leadership of Tecumseh, the ablest Indian that ever lived. In this +course he was incited by British agents, who, knowing that war was +coming, were anxious to do the Americans all the harm they could. The +outrages of the red men became so numerous that General William Henry +Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territory, gathered a large, force +and marched against them. Near the present city of Lafayette, while +encamped at a place called Tippecanoe, he was furiously assailed (Nov. +7, 1811) by the Indians. Tecumseh was absent at the time, and the battle +was brought on, against his orders, by his brother, called "The +Prophet." The loss was severe on both sides, but the Indians were +decisively defeated. + +By this time the American people were clamoring more loudly than ever +for war with England. The congressional candidates were obliged to +declare whether they favored or opposed the war. Those who opposed it +were beaten at the polls. Congress, which had been making preparations +for some time for hostilities, declared war against England, June 18, +1812. It is a regrettable fact that we could not know that almost on the +same day England suspended the Orders of Council, so far as they +affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable been in existence at the +time, there would have been no war. + + +ENGLAND'S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH. + +England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her +strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had +1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which +carried less than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by +144,000 men. The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few +gunboats of little value. Indeed, the relative strength of the warring +nations was so disproportionate that the intention of the United States +at first was not to attempt a conflict on the ocean. Captains Bainbridge +and Stewart, however, persuaded the government to allow our little navy +to try its hand. + +Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some +advantages for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them +to find the enemy than for the latter to find them, because of the +disproportion between the number of their vessels. More important, +however, than all was the fact that our navy contained no politicians. +The men were brave sailors, and marvelously skillful in handling guns. +With these conditions they were sure to win glory on the ocean. + +Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the +incidents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant +so long on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless. +She held the surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant +for doing so. Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the +insignificant American navy. When such a mistake is made the +consequences are sure to be disastrous to the one committing the +blunder. + +Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has +been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to +the politicians. They have the "pull," as it is called, with the +government, and secure the appointment of men as leaders who are +totally lacking in military skill. When defeat has followed defeat, with +exasperating regularity, the government gradually awakes to the fact +that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a politician in +charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the same +position, merely because his father was a good soldier and has become a +politician. + + +THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN SOME SECTIONS. + +Moreover, it must be remembered that our country was by no means a unit +in favoring the second war with England. It was popular in most of the +Middle States and the South, but bitterly opposed in New England. When +the news reached Boston of the declaration of war, the shipping hung +their flags at half-mast. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, +through their Legislatures, protested against it, but, as in the +Revolution, the general enthusiasm swept away all opposition. + +An increase of the regular army was ordered to 25,000 men, in addition +to the call for 50,000 volunteers, while the States were asked to summon +100,000 militia, to be used in defense of the coast and harbors. The +government authorized a loan of $11,000,000, and Henry Dearborn, of +Massachusetts, was made the first major-general and commander-in-chief +of the army, while the principal brigadiers were James Wilkinson, +William Hull, Joseph Bloomfield, and Wade Hampton, the last being father +of the general of the same name who became famous as a Confederate +leader in the War for the Union. + + +A SHAMEFUL SURRENDER. + +The opening battle of the war was one of the most shameful affairs that +ever befell the American arms. General William Hull, who had made a +creditable record in the Revolution, was governor of Michigan Territory. +He was ordered to cross the river from Detroit, which was his home, and +invade Canada. He showed great timidity, and learning that a British +force, under General Brock, was advancing against him, he recrossed the +river and returned to Detroit, before which General Brock appeared, on +the 12th of August, at the head of 700 British soldiers and 600 Indians. +In demanding the surrender of the post, he frightened Hull, whose +daughter and her children were with him, by telling him he would be +unable to restrain the ferocity of his Indians, if the Americans made a +defense. + +The soldiers were brave and eager to fight, but, to their inexpressible +disgust, the siege had been pressed but a short time when Hull ran up a +white flag and surrendered, August 16th. With the submission of Detroit +went the whole territory northwest of Ohio. + +The country was angered and humiliated by the act. Twenty-five men were +given in exchange for Hull, and he was placed on trial, charged with +treason, cowardice, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was convicted +on the last two charges and sentenced to be shot. In recognition of his +services in the Revolution, however, the President pardoned him, and he +died, without ever having gained the respect of his countrymen, in 1825. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1812. + +Before proceeding with the history of the war, a few incidents not +connected with it should be recorded. In the presidential election of +1812, the electoral vote was: for President, James Madison, Republican, +128; De Witt Clinton, of New York, Federalist, 89. For Vice-President, +Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, Republican, 131; Jared Ingersoll, of +Pennsylvania, Federalist, 86. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Gerry were +elected. + +Louisiana was admitted as a State in 1812, being a part of the immense +territory of that name purchased from France in 1803. Indiana was +admitted in 1816, and was the second of the five States carved out of +the old Northwest Territory. It will be recalled that the United States +Bank was chartered in 1791 for twenty years. Its charter, therefore, +expired in 1811. In 1816, Congress chartered a new bank, on the same +plan and for the same length of time. The public money was to be +deposited in it or its branches, except when the secretary of the +treasury choose to order its deposit elsewhere. + + +BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS. + +Returning to the history of the war, it has to be said that the second +attempt to invade Canada was more disastrous if possible than the first, +and more disgraceful to American arms. The troops on the Niagara +frontier were mainly New York militia, with a few regulars and recruits +from other States, all under the command of Stephen Van Rensselaer. +Resolved to capture the Heights of Queenstown, he sent two columns +across the river on the morning of October 13, 1812. They were led by +Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, cousin of the general and a brave +officer. The engagement was a brisk one, the colonel being wounded early +in the fight, but his troops gallantly charged the Heights and captured +the fortress. General Brock was reinforced and attacked the Americans, +but was repulsed, Brock being killed. The fierceness of the battle is +shown by that fact that the three commanders who succeeded Brock were +either killed or severely wounded. + +Under the attack of superior forces, the Americans had managed to hold +their ground and they now began to intrench. Meanwhile, the 1,200 New +York militia on the other side of the river had become frightened by the +sounds of battle, and when called upon to cross refused to do so, on the +cowardly plea that they had enlisted to defend only their State. +Lieutenant-Colonel Winfield Scott had taken command of the brigade and +was engaged in intrenching, when the enemy, again reinforced, drove his +troops, after two attacks, to the river, where they were hemmed in and +compelled to surrender. The American loss in killed and wounded was +fully a thousand. General Van Rensselaer was so disgusted with the +conduct of his militia that he resigned his command, and was succeeded +by General Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, whose conduct led to the +general conviction that he was mentally about as near to being an idiot +as it is possible for a man to be and still retain a little ground for +being thought otherwise. + +The first thing General Smyth did was to issue a proclamation of so +bombastic a character that his friends were humiliated. He made several +starts toward Canada, but in each instance recalled his troops, and +acted so inexplicably that the militia were on the point of revolting, +when he was deprived of his command. This closed the military operations +for the year 1812, and the story is enough to crimson the cheek of every +American with shame. + + +BRILLIANT WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. + +On the ocean, however, the record was brilliant and as astonishing to +friends as to enemies. Hardly had the news of the declaration of war +reached New York, when Commodore John Rodgers put to sea in the +_President_, the same vessel that had taught the _Little Belt_ her +severe lesson. Some time later Rodgers sighted the frigate _Belvidera_ +and gave chase. He killed a number of the crew, but the vessel managed +to escape. Continuing his cruise, he captured a number of merchantmen +and retook an American prize. The luckiest ship in the American navy was +said to be the _Constitution_, afterward popularly known as "Old +Ironsides." Under command of Captain Isaac Hull, nephew of the disgraced +general of Detroit, she engaged the sloop-of-war _Guerriere_ off the +coast of Massachusetts. The battle was a desperate one, but +extraordinary marksmanship prevailed, and the enemy were compelled to +strike their flag after a loss of 79 killed and wounded, while that of +the Americans was 7 killed and 7 wounded. + +The victory caused deep chagrin in England and corresponding rejoicing +in the United States. Congress gave Captain Hull a gold medal and +distributed $50,000 among his crew. + +In October, the sloop-of-war _Wasp_, Captain Jacob Jones, met the +British brig _Frolic_ off Cape Hatteras. Since the vessels were of +precisely the same strength, the contest could not have been a more +perfect test of the bravery and efficiency of the ships of England and +our own country. As respects bravery, it was equal, for the men on both +sides fought with a courage that could not have been surpassed. When +the crew of the _Wasp_ boarded the _Frolic_, they found no one on deck +except the man at the wheel and two wounded officers. The vessels were +so damaged that on the same day the British ship _Poicters_ captured +both. + +During the same month (October 25th), Commodore Stephen Decatur, in +command of the frigate _United States_, encountered the British frigate +_Macedonian_ off the Island of Madeira, and captured her after a battle +of two hours, in which he lost twelve men, while that of the enemy was +more than a hundred. The _Macedonian_ was so shattered that only with +the greatest difficulty was she brought into New London. + +The command of the _Constitution_ was now turned over to Bainbridge, who +sighted the frigate _Java_ off the coast of Brazil, December 29th. In +the terrific battle that followed he lost 34 men, but killed 120 of the +enemy, tore out every mast, and burst her hull with round shot. The +_Java_ was blown up, and the prisoners and wounded were taken to Boston, +where Bainbridge received a right royal welcome. + +[Illustration: THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR.] + +This ends the history of the first half-year of the war of 1812. While +everything went wrong on land, the ocean showed only a succession of +brilliant victories. England, chagrined and humiliated, declared that +her flag had been disgraced "by a piece of striped bunting flying at the +mast-heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws." + + +REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. + +Congress took measures for strengthening and reorganizing the army. The +pay and bounty of the soldiers were increased; the President was +empowered to raise twenty additional regiments of infantry, to borrow +money, and to issue treasury notes, and provisions were made for adding +four ships-of-the-line, six frigates, and as many vessels of war on the +Great Lakes as might be needed. The army was organized into three +divisions: the Army of the North, under General Wade Hampton, to act in +the country about Lake Champlain; the Army of the Centre, under the +commander-in-chief, General Henry Dearborn, to act on the Niagara +frontier and Lake Ontario; and the Army of the East, under General +Winchester, who soon after was superseded by General William Henry +Harrison. + + +IN THE WEST. + +The last-named officer did his utmost to drive the British out of +Detroit. His troops were volunteers, brave but undisciplined, and +displayed their most effective work in scattered fighting and against +the Indians; but their success was not decisive. When the swamps and +lakes of the Northwest were sufficiently frozen to bear their weight, +Harrison repeated his attempts to expel the British from Detroit. His +advance, under General Winchester, was attacked on the River Raisin by +the British, led by General Proctor. Winchester was as prompt as General +Hull in surrendering. Proctor allowed his Indians to massacre the +wounded prisoners, most of whom were Kentuckians. Thereafter, when the +Kentucky troops rushed into battle they raised the war-cry, "Remember +the Raisin!" + +The disaster to Winchester caused Harrison to fall back to Fort Meigs, +which stood near the site of the present town of Defiance. There, in the +spring of 1813, he was besieged by Proctor. A force of Kentuckians +relieved him, after severe loss, and Proctor retreated. Some months +later he again advanced against Fort Meigs, but was repulsed, and +marched to Fort Stephenson, where Fremont now stands. + +The besiegers consisted of 3,000 British and Indians, while the garrison +numbered only 160, under the command of Major George Croghan, only +twenty years of age. When Proctor ordered the youth to surrender he +threatened that, in case of resistance, every prisoner would be +tomahawked. Major Croghan replied that when the surrender took place +there would not be a single man left to tomahawk. Although Croghan had +but a single cannon, he made so gallant a defense that his assailants +were repulsed, and Proctor, fearing the approach of Harrison, withdrew +from the neighborhood. + + +BATTLE OF THE THAMES. + +Perry's great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813, as related +further on, gave the Americans command of that body of water. Harrison's +troops were placed on board of Perry's vessels and carried across from +Ohio to Canada. They landed near Malden and Proctor fell back to +Sandwich, with the Americans following. He continued his retreat to the +Thames, where, with the help of Tecumseh, he selected a good +battle-ground and awaited the Americans, who attacked him on the 5th of +October. Proctor fled early in the battle, but his regulars fought +bravely. The 1,500 Indians, under the lead of Tecumseh, displayed +unusual heroism, but, when the great Tecumseh fell, they fled in a +panic. The American victory was overwhelming and complete. + +Tecumseh's irresistible eloquence had roused the Creeks to take the +warpath in the South. The danger became so imminent that 500 of the +inhabitants took refuge in a stockade known as Fort Mimms, Alabama, +thirty-five miles above Mobile. The sentinels, believing there was no +danger, were careless, and on August 21, 1813, nearly a thousand Creeks +attacked the place, which was surprised and captured after feeble +resistance. More than 200 were tomahawked, the negroes being spared to +become slaves of the Indians. + + +CAPTURE OF TORONTO (YORK). + +In April of this year, General Dearborn crossed Lake Ontario from +Sackett's Harbor to Toronto (then known as York), which was the capital +of Upper Canada and the chief depot for the supply of the western +garrisons. Under a sharp fire, General Zebulon Pike drove the enemy from +the works. The explosion of a magazine in the fort caused the death of +General Pike in the moment of victory. + +The operations left Sackett's Harbor almost unprotected, and led to an +attack by the British admiral, Sir James Yeo, and General Prevost. The +commander of the garrison appealed to General Jacob Brown, a militia +officer of the neighborhood, who hurriedly gathered a small force and +added it to the defenders. In the attack which followed Brown showed +great skill, and General Prevost, believing his retreat was about to be +cut off, fled in a panic, leaving 300 dead and wounded. In the +engagements in that section during the remainder of the year, General +Brown was about the only officer who displayed any military ability, his +skill eventually placing him at the head of the United States army. + +The fighting that followed was mainly in favor of the British, who +recaptured York. Eight hundred Americans were made prisoners at Beaver +Dams, and, as the autumn approached, the enemy found themselves in +command of a powerful squadron. + + +INCOMPETENT COMMANDERS. + +There was much dissatisfaction with General Dearborn, the head of the +army. He was in ill-health, never led his troops in person, and missed a +good opportunity of capturing Montreal. He was relieved in June and +succeeded by General Wilkinson, who arrived at Sackett's Harbor in +August. He began preparations for invading Canada, but was so laggard in +his movements that the enemy had abundance of time in which to make +ready. The St. Lawrence seemed to be fortified at every point, but +General Brown, by brave fighting, opened the way for the flotilla. + +General Wilkinson reached St. Regis, November 11th, at which point +General Wade Hampton was to co-operate with him. But that officer, owing +to a lack of provisions, had fallen back to Plattsburg, hoping to keep +open his communications with the St. Lawrence. This obliged General +Wilkinson to retreat, and Wilkinson, Hampton, and other officers +quarreled like so many children. + +Disaster and disgrace seemed to follow the American land forces during +the first two years of the war, but the fault lay wholly with the +officers, who were incompetent, and many times lacking in patriotism. +The soldiers were brave, but were comparatively powerless with such poor +commanders. + +Once again the American navy performed brilliant work, though, +unfortunately, the record was marred by a sad disaster. On February +24th, Captain James Lawrence, who had made several minor captures from +the enemy, riddled the English brig-of-war _Peacock_, while in command +of the _Hornet_, and, in a fierce engagement of fifteen minutes, +compelled her to surrender and hoist a signal of distress. She went down +so quickly that several of the _Hornet's_ crew, who were giving aid, +sank with her, besides thirteen of the enemy. Captain Lawrence treated +his prisoners so kindly that, upon reaching New York, they gave him a +letter of thanks. + + +CAPTURE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BY THE SHANNON. + +Captain Lawrence's fine work caused him to be promoted to the command of +the _Chesapeake_, then refitting at Boston. Captain Broke (afterward Sir +Philip, B.V.), commander of the _Shannon_, cruising off Boston, +challenged Lawrence to come out and fight him. The American promptly +accepted the challenge. It was a piece of unwarrantable recklessness, +for the _Chesapeake_ was not yet ready for the sea, and his crew was +undisciplined and in a surly mood, because some promised prize money +had not been paid them. Moreover, it is said that most of the sailors +were under the influence of liquor. + +The _Chesapeake_ sailed gaily out of the harbor on the 1st of June, +followed by a number of pleasure boats and barges crowded with +spectators, while the hills swarmed with people, many with glasses, all +anxious to witness the triumph of the gallant young captain. A woeful +disappointment awaited them. + +The battle was a terrific one. In a short time the rigging of the +_Chesapeake_ was so mangled that she became unmanageable, and could not +escape a raking fire which did frightful execution. Captain Lawrence was +twice wounded, the last time mortally, and was carried below at the time +the enemy were preparing to board. He ordered that the colors should not +be struck. "Tell the men to fire faster," he cried; "_don't give up the +ship!_" + +Boarders swarmed over the _Chesapeake_ and a few minutes later she was +captured, the loss of the Americans being 48 killed and 98 wounded, that +of the enemy being about half as great. Lawrence lived four days, most +of the time delirious, during which he continually repeated the appeal, +"_Don't give up the ship!_" The impressiveness of the circumstances and +the words themselves made them the motto of the American navy in many a +subsequent engagement. + +[Illustration: MRS. JAMES MADISON + +(DOLLY PAYNE). + +During the burning of Washington in 1812 by the British, Dolly Madison's +heroism saved the Declaration of Independence from destruction. She +broke the glass case containing it and fled.] + +Lawrence was one of the bravest of men, and entered the navy when only +seventeen years old. He helped Captain Decatur in burning the +_Philadelphia_, in the harbor of Tripoli, during the war with that +country. His body was taken to Halifax and buried with the honors of +war, several of the oldest captains in the British navy acting as +pall-bearers. + + +CAPTAIN DECATUR CHECKED. + +An exasperating experience befell Captain Decatur. On the day of the +capture of the _Chesapeake_, he was compelled to take refuge in the +harbor of New London, to escape a powerful squadron. He was in command +of the _United States_, the _Macedonian_, and the _Hornet_. Chafing with +impatience, he made repeated attempts to get to sea, but he declared +that in every instance the blockading squadron were notified by means of +blue lights displayed by Tories on shore. He was thus held helpless +until the close of hostilities. This betrayal by his own countrymen +caused much resentment throughout the country, and the enemies of the +Federal party gave it the name of "Blue Lights," and Connecticut was +often taunted for her disloyal course in the war, though the offenders +were probably few in number. + +By this time, England had acquired so wholesome a respect for the +American navy that orders were issued that two or three vessels should +always cruise in company, and under no circumstances should a single +vessel engage an American, where there was the least preponderance +against the British. The Americans were the only nation against whom +such an order was ever issued. + +Captain William Henry Allen, in command of the brig _Argus_, boldly +entered the English Channel and destroyed much shipping of the enemy. +Many vessels were sent in search of him, and on the 14th of August he +was captured by the _Pelican_. Soon afterward the brig _Enterprise_ +captured the British _Boxer_ off the coast of Maine. The fight was a +desperate one, both commanders being killed. They were buried side by +side in Portland. + + +THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. + +In the spring of 1813, Captain David Porter (father of Admiral David +Dixon Porter), in command of the _Essex_, doubled Cape Horn and entered +the Pacific, where until then no American frigate had ever been seen. He +protected American vessels and nearly broke up the British whaling trade +in that ocean. He made so many captures that he soon had almost a fleet +under his command, and was able to pay his men with the money taken from +the enemy. Every nation in that region was a friend of England, and he +seized the Marquesas Islands, where he refitted his fleet and resumed +his cruise. Early in 1814, he entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, +where he was blockaded by two British vessels that had long been +searching for him. Regardless of international law, they attacked the +_Essex_, which was in a crippled condition and unable to close with +them, and finally compelled her surrender. + + +OPERATIONS ON THE LAKES. + +Thus far our record of the exploits of the American navy has been +confined to the ocean, but the most important doings of all occurred on +the lakes. At the beginning, our force upon these inland waters was +weak. On Lake Ontario, there was but one small vessel, while the British +had several. Both sides began building war-vessels. The American fleet +was commanded by Commodore Chauncey and the British by Sir James Yeo. +They alternated in gaining command of the lake. Meanwhile, the +ship-builders were so busy that from about a dozen vessels on either +side they increased the number to more than a hundred each by the close +of the war. + + +PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY. + +One of the grandest of all triumphs was gained by the American navy in +the early autumn of 1813. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Lake +Erie to build a navy. Perry at that time was not thirty years old and +had never seen a naval battle. By August, he had a squadron of two large +and seven small vessels, carrying 54 guns and 416 men, with which he set +out to find Commodore Barclay, who had two large and four small vessels, +with 63 guns and 440 men. + +The two squadrons met at the western end of Lake Erie on the 10th of +September. Barclay centred such a furious fire upon the _Lawrence_, +Perry's flagship, that in two hours she was in a sinking condition. +Perry entered a small boat, and, exposed to a sharp fire, was rowed to +the _Niagara_, on which he hoisted his flag. The battle was renewed, +and, while the enemy was trying to form a new line of battle, Perry ran +the _Niagara_ directly through the fleet, delivering broadsides right +and left. The other vessels were prompt in following her, and poured +such a raking fire into the enemy that fifteen minutes later Barclay +surrendered. The British commander had but one arm when the battle +opened, and, before it ended, his remaining arm was shot off. He lost +200 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, while the Americans had 27 +killed and 96 wounded. + +It has already been shown that this victory was of the utmost +importance, for Proctor was waiting to invade Ohio, if it went his way, +while General Harrison was also waiting to invade Canada, in the event +of an American triumph. In sending news of his victory to General +Harrison, Perry, in his hastily written dispatch, used the words which +have been quoted thousands of times: "We have met the enemy and they are +ours." It will be recalled that Harrison immediately embarked his troops +on Perry's ships, and, crossing the lake, pursued Proctor to the Thames, +where he decisively defeated him and ended all danger of an invasion of +Ohio by the enemy. + +The American government now began to heed the benefit of the severe +lessons of defeat. The worthless generals were weeded out, and the army +in western New York reorganized so effectually that the country was +cheered by a number of victories--proof that the rank and file were of +the best quality and that their previous defeats were due to their +leaders. + +On July 3, 1814, Gens. Scott, Ripley, and Brown crossed the Niagara from +Black Rock to Erie with 3,000 men. Brown's ability had become so +manifest that by this time he was a major-general. When he appeared in +front of Fort Erie, it surrendered without resistance. Brown pursued a +British corps of observation down the river until it crossed Chippewa +Creek and joined the main body. Brown withdrew and united also with the +principal forces of the Americans, who attacked the British on the 5th +of July, in their strong intrenchments behind the Chippewa. They were +completely defeated, routed out of their defenses, and driven up the +shore of Lake Ontario. Their Indian allies were so disgusted with the +defeat of the British and the furious fighting of the Americans that all +deserted the British commander. + + +BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE. + +The British army received reinforcements and turned back to meet the +Americans who were pursuing them. The armies met, July 25th, at Lundy's +Lane, within sight of Niagara Falls, where the fiercely contested +battle, beginning at sunset, lasted until midnight. The British +commander was wounded and captured and the enemy driven back. The loss +of the Americans was serious. Scott was so badly wounded that he could +take no further part in the war, Brown was less severely injured, and +Ripley withdrew with the army to Fort Erie. + +An exploit of Colonel James Miller deserves notice. At a critical point +in the battle, General Brown saw that victory depended upon the +silencing of a battery of seven guns stationed on a hill, that was +pouring a destructive fire into the Americans. + +"Colonel," said he, "can you capture that battery?" + +"I can try," was the modest reply, and a few minutes later Colonel +Miller was in motion with his regiment. The darkness enabled the men to +conceal themselves under the shadow of a fence, along which they +silently crept until they could peep between the rails and see the +gunners standing with lighted matches awaiting the order to fire. +Thrusting the muzzles of their guns through the openings, they shot down +every gunner, and, leaping over the fence, captured the battery in the +face of a hot infantry fire. The enemy made three attempts to recapture +the battery, but were repulsed each time. When General Ripley retreated, +he left the guns behind, so that they again fell into the hands of the +British from whom they had been so brilliantly won. + +The enemy soon received reinforcements and besieged the Americans in +Fort Erie. Brown, although still suffering from his wound, resumed +command and drove his besiegers once more beyond the Chippewa. The +Americans evacuated Fort Erie on the 5th of November, and recrossing the +Niagara went into winter quarters at Black Rock and Ontario. There were +no more military operations during the war between Lakes Erie and +Ontario. + + +THE ARMY OF THE NORTH. + +General Wilkinson was so inefficient with the Army of the North that he +was superseded by General Izard, who advanced with his force to the aid +of General Brown at Fort Erie. This left Plattsburg uncovered, and the +British decided to attack it by land, and to destroy at the same time +the American flotilla on Lake Champlain. + +Sir George Prevost, at the head of an army of 14,000 men, entered +American territory on the 3d of September, and three days later reached +Plattsburg. The garrison withdrew to the south side of the Saranac, and +prepared to dispute the passage of the stream. Commodore Downie appeared +off the harbor of Plattsburg, with the British squadron, September 11th. +The American squadron, under Commodore Macdonough, was in the harbor, +and consisted of two less barges than the enemy, 86 guns, and 820 men, +while the English commander had 95 guns and more than a thousand men. + +During the battle which followed the British land forces made repeated +attempts to cross the Saranac, but were defeated in every instance. The +battle on the water lasted less than three hours, during which Commodore +Downie was killed, his vessel sunk, and the remainder sunk or captured. +The destruction of the British squadron was complete, and the land +forces withdrew during the night. England was so dissatisfied with the +action of Sir George Prevost that he was dismissed from command. No more +serious fighting took place in that section during the war. + + +PUNISHMENT OF THE CREEK INDIANS. + +Mention has been made of the massacre at Fort Mimms in Alabama by the +Creeks, August 30, 1813. Tennessee acted with prompt vigor. General +Jackson at the head of 5,000 men marched into the Creek country and +punished the Indians with merciless rigor. After repeated defeats, the +Creeks made a stand at the Great Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River. +There a thousand warriors gathered, with their wives and children, +prepared to fight to the last. The desperate battle was fought March 27, +1814, and at its close 600 Indians were killed and the remainder +scattered. The spirit of the Creeks was crushed, and General Jackson's +exploit made him the most popular military leader in the Southwest. + +Matters looked gloomy for the Americans at the beginning of 1814. +England sent a formidable force of veterans to Canada, and another to +capture Washington, while the main body expected to take New Orleans, +with the intention of retaining the city and province of Louisiana upon +the conclusion of peace. + + +PREPARING FOR THE FINAL STRUGGLE. + +The American government gathered up her loins for the great struggle. +The President was authorized to borrow $25,000,000, and to issue +treasury notes to the amount of $5,000,000. Such sums are but bagatelles +in these days, but in 1814 the credit of the government was so poor that +the notes depreciated one-fifth of their face value. One hundred and +twenty-four dollars were offered as a bounty for every recruit, while +the pay, rations, and clothing were placed upon a generous scale. An +order was issued increasing the regular army to 66,000 men, and an +embargo laid with the aim of stopping trade under British licenses was +repealed in April. + +The British cruisers kept the Atlantic coast in continual alarm. +Entering Delaware Bay they burned every merchant vessel in sight. When +the people of Lewiston refused to sell food to them, they bombarded +their homes. In Chesapeake Bay Admiral Cockburn plundered private +dwellings. Among the places sacked and burned were Lewes, Havre de +Grace, Fredericktown, and Georgetown. More leniency was shown the New +England coast because of her opposition to the war. Another inexcusable +proceeding on the part of the invaders was that of persuading many +slaves to leave their masters and join the enemy. This business +compelled England, after the close of the war, to pay the United States +one million and a quarter dollars, on the award of the Emperor of Russia +to whom the question was submitted. + + +CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON. + +But this year saw the crowning disgrace to the American arms. The +mismanagement of affairs left our national capital defenseless. In +August, 1814, Sir Alexander Cochrane carried a British army up the +Chesapeake on board his squadron. Commodore Barney with his few ships +had taken shelter in the Patuxent. Paying no attention to him, Ross +landed his 5,000 veterans within 40 miles of Washington and advanced +against the city. The government had awakened to the threatened peril a +short time before, and placed 500 regulars and 2,000 undisciplined +militia under the command of General William H. Winder. + +Winder took a strong position at Bladensburg and awaited Ross and +Cochrane. The British army met with no opposition, and, upon reaching +Marlborough, found that Commodore Barney, acting under the orders of the +secretary of war, had burned his fleet and hurried to Washington. The +English commander arrived in sight of Washington on the 24th of August. +His approach to Bladensburg was over a bridge defended by artillery from +Barney's flotilla, which were handled by Barney and his sailors. They +fought with the utmost heroism, repelling the British again and again; +but the militia fled, and, when Barney was wounded and his command +helpless, he surrendered. General Ross complimented him for his bravery +and immediately paroled him. + +This was the only check encountered by the British in their advance upon +Washington. General Winder had learned enough of his militia to know +that no dependence could be placed upon them, and he fled to Georgetown. +The President, heads of departments, and most of the citizens joined in +the stampede, and the advance guard of General Ross entered the city +that evening. + +[Illustration: BURNING OF WASHINGTON.] + +The British commander offered to spare the city for a large sum of +money, but no one was within reach with authority to comply with his +demand. Ross claimed that his flag of truce had been fired on, and he +ordered the city to be burned. In the conflagration that followed, the +President's house, the department offices, numerous private dwellings, +the libraries and public archives, many works of art in the public +buildings, the navy yard and its contents, a frigate on the stocks, and +several small vessels were destroyed. The patent office and jail were +the only public property spared. The burning of Washington was an +outrage which was generally condemned in England. + +After a rest and the reception of reinforcements, Ross marched against +Baltimore, which he declared should be his winter quarters. While on the +road he was mortally wounded by an American sharpshooter in a tree. Such +a brave defense was made by Forts McHenry and Covington, guarding the +narrow passage from the Patapsco into the harbor of Baltimore, that the +British fleet and the land forces were repelled. The success of this +defense inspired Francis S. Key to write our famous national song, _The +Star-Spangled Banner_. + + +THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. + +The war became intensely unpopular in New England. Its shipping suffered +severely, and the demands for peace grew more clamorous. On the 15th of +December, 1814, a convention of delegates, appointed by the Legislatures +of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont, +met in Hartford and held secret sessions for three weeks. An address was +agreed upon charging the national government with carrying on a policy +injurious to New England. Amendments were proposed to the Constitution, +and a committee was selected to confer with the government at Washington +and to propose that the revenues of New England should be applied to her +own defense. An agreement was made that if their proposed action failed, +and peace was not soon made, the convention should meet again in the +following June. There was open talk of a withdrawal from the Union, and +doubtless grave results would have followed had the war gone on. The +Hartford Convention and the "Blue Lights" of Connecticut gave the final +death-blow to the Federal party. + + +A TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED. + +Despite the progress of the war, peace negotiations had been going on +for a long time. Russia, whose system of government has always been the +exact opposite of ours, has shown us marked friendship in many +instances. As early as 1813 she offered to mediate between Great Britain +and the United States. The President appointed five commissioners, John +Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert +Gallatin, who were sent to Ghent, Belgium, where they were met by Lord +Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams, the commissioners for Great +Britain. After long negotiations, the commissioners reached an agreement +on the 24th of December, 1814. The treaty did not contain a word about +the search of American vessels for alleged deserters, which was the real +cause of the war, nor was any reference made to the wrongs done our +commerce, and the rights of neutral nations were not defined. The Orders +of Council, however, died of themselves, Great Britain never again +attempting to enforce them. It was agreed that all places captured by +either side during the progress of the war or afterward should be +surrendered, and provisions were made for fixing the boundary between +the United States and Canada. + +In those days, when the ocean telegraph was not thought of and there +were no swift-going steamers, news traveled slowly, and it did not reach +Washington until February 4, 1815. Meanwhile, the most important battle +of the war had taken place and several captures were made on the ocean. + +The Creek Indians had been so crushed by General Jackson that they ceded +a large part of their lands to the Americans. They were sullen, and when +a British squadron entered the Gulf of Mexico they eagerly did all they +could to help the enemy. The squadron, by permission of the Spanish +authorities took possession of the forts of Pensacola, and fitted out an +expedition against Fort Bower at the entrance to Mobile Bay. They +attacked the fort, September 15th, by sea and land, but were repulsed. +Among the land assailants were several hundred Creek warriors, who thus +received another lesson of the bravery of American soldiers. + +General Jackson, in command of the southern military district, was +enraged by the course of the Spanish authorities. He marched from Mobile +at the head of 2,000 Tennessee militia and a number of Choctaws, stormed +Pensacola, November 7th, drove the British from the harbor, and +compelled the Spanish governor to surrender the town. + + +GENERAL JACKSON'S GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS. + +Having completed his work in this summary fashion, he returned to +Mobile, where he found an urgent call for him to go to the defense of +New Orleans, which was threatened by a powerful force of the enemy. The +invasion, to which we have referred in another place, was a formidable +one and had been arranged a long time before. General Jackson reached +New Orleans, December 2d, and began vigorous preparations. He enlisted +almost everybody capable of bearing arms, including negroes and +convicts. One of the most famous freebooters that ever ravaged the Gulf +of Mexico was Lafitte, to whom the British made an extravagant offer for +his help, but he refused, and gave his services to Jackson. + +Jackson's vigor filled the city with confidence, but he was so strict +that dissatisfaction was expressed, whereupon he declared martial law; +in other words, he took the city government into his own hands and ruled +as he thought best. He neglected no precaution. Fort St. Philip, +guarding the passage of the Mississippi at Detour la Plaquemine, was +made stronger by new works, and a line of fortifications was built four +miles below the city, on the left of the river, and extended eastward to +an impassable cypress swamp. It was a disputed question for a time +whether Jackson used cotton bales in the defenses of New Orleans, but it +is established that he placed them on the tops of the intrenchments. +Cannon were also mounted at different points. The militia under General +Morgan, and the crews and guns of a part of the squadron of Commodore +Patterson, held the west bank of the river. These precautions enabled +the defenders to enfilade the approaching enemy. A detachment guarded +the pass of Bayou St. John, above the city, and a number of gunboats +awaited to dispute the passage of the river between Lake Pontchartrain +and Lake Borgne. + +The British fleet appeared at the entrance to this channel, December +14th, and was immediately assailed by the American flotilla, which was +destroyed before it could inflict serious damage. Left free to select +the point of attack, the British sent a force in flat-bottomed boats to +the extremity of the lake, where they landed in a swamp. They repelled +an attack by Jackson, who fell back toward the city. On the 28th of +December the British were within half a mile of the American lines. They +began a fire of shells, but were repulsed by Jackson's artillery. + +The defenders numbered some 3,000 militia, who were stationed in a line +of intrenchments a mile long and four miles from the town. This line was +protected by a ditch in front, flanked by batteries on the other side of +the river, and, in addition, eight other batteries were in position. + +The British worked slowly forward until on the first day of the year +they were within less than a quarter of a mile of New Orleans. As the +best material at hand from which to erect breastworks they used +hogsheads of sugar and molasses, which were sent flying in fragments by +the American cannon. Several attacks upon the defenders were repulsed +and the final assault delayed for a number of days. + +Sir Edward Pakenham, a veteran of the Peninsular wars, and a +brother-in-law of Wellington, the conqueror of Napoleon, was in command +of the reinforcements. While the advance went on slowly, 3,000 militia +joined Jackson. They were composed mainly of Kentucky and Tennessee +riflemen, the finest marksmen in the world. They were men, too, who did +not lose their heads in battle, but, kneeling behind their +intrenchments, coolly took aim and rarely threw away a shot. + +On the morning of Jan. 8, 1815, the English army advanced against the +American intrenchments. They numbered nearly 8,000 veterans, and England +never placed a finer body of men in the field. The American riflemen, +with shotted cannon and leveled rifles, calmly awaited the command to +open on the advancing host. They were formed in two lines, those at the +rear loading for those in front, who were thus enabled to keep up an +almost continuous fire. + +[Illustration: WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON.] + +Before the outburst of flame the British dissolved like snow in the sun, +but the survivors with unsurpassable heroism persisted until it was +apparent that not a man would be left alive if they maintained their +ground. Then they fell back to decide upon some other method of attack. + +Angered by his repulse, Pakenham ran to the head of a regiment bearing +scaling ladders and called upon his men to follow him. Only a few +succeeded in piercing the American lines. Pakenham fell, mortally +wounded; his successor was killed, and the third in command was so badly +injured that he could give no orders. "All that were left of them" +retreated. From the opening to the close of the battle was less than +half an hour, during which the British lost 2,500 in killed, wounded, +and prisoners, one-third being killed. On the American side eight were +killed and thirteen wounded. A few days later the British withdrew to +their ships and sailed for the West Indies, where they learned of the +signing of the treaty of peace. + + +WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. + +It will be noticed that as the war progressed the principal fighting +changed from the ocean to the land. Several encounters took place on the +sea, but they were mostly unimportant, and did not always result +favorably for us. In September, 1814, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in command +of the privateer _Armstrong_, while lying in the harbor of Fayal, one of +the Azores, was attacked by a fleet of boats from three British +frigates. He fought all through the night, and, although outnumbered +twenty to one, made one of the most remarkable defenses in naval annals. + +On the 16th of January following, the _President_ was captured by the +British ship _Endymion_. On the 20th of February, while Captain Charles +Stewart was cruising off Cape St. Vincent, in the _Constitution_, with +no thought that peace had been declared, he fell in with two British +brigs, the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_. It was a bright moonlight night, +and, after a brief engagement, in which Stewart displayed consummate +seamanship, he captured both vessels. + +But peace had come and was joyfully welcomed everywhere. The war had +cost us heavily in men, ships, and property; the New England factories +were idle, commerce at a standstill, and the whole country in a +deplorable state. But everything now seemed to spring into life under +the glad tidings. The shipping in New England was decked with bunting, +and, within twenty-four hours after the news arrived, the dockyards rang +with the sound of saw and hammer. + + +WAR WITH ALGIERS. + +The Barbary States did not forget their rough treatment at the hands of +the United States a few years before. During the war they allowed the +British to capture American vessels in their harbors, and sometimes +captured them on their own account. In 1812 the Dey of Algiers compelled +the American consul to pay him a large sum of money to save himself, +family, and a few friends from being carried off into slavery. We were +too busily occupied elsewhere to give this barbarian attention, but in +March, 1815, war was declared against Algiers, and Commodores Decatur +and Bainbridge were sent to the Mediterranean with two squadrons to +conduct operations. + +They did it to perfection. After capturing several frigates, they +approached the city of Algiers and demanded the immediate surrender of +every American prisoner, full indemnity for all property destroyed, and +the disavowal of all future claims to tribute. The terrified Dey eagerly +signed the treaty placed before him on the quarter-deck of Decatur's +ship. The Pasha of Tunis was compelled to pay a round sum on account of +the American vessels he had allowed the British to capture in his harbor +during the war. When he had done this, the Pasha of Tripoli was called +upon and forced to make a similar contribution to the United States +treasury. + + +FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL COLONIZATION SOCIETY. + +The negro had long been a disturbing factor in politics, and, in 1816, +the National Colonization Society was formed in Princeton, N.J., and +immediately reorganized in Washington. Its object was to encourage the +emancipation of slaves by obtaining a place for them outside the United +States, whither they might emigrate. It was hoped also that by this +means the South would be relieved of its free black population. The +scheme was so popular that branches of the society were established in +almost every State. At first free negroes were sent to Sierra Leone, on +the western coast of Africa, under the equator. Later, for a short time, +they were taken to Sherbrooke Island, but in 1821 a permanent location +was purchased at Cape Mesurado, where, in 1847, the colony declared +itself an independent republic under the name of Liberia. Its capital, +Monrovia, was named in honor of the President of the United States. The +republic still exists, but its functions were destroyed by the war for +the Union, which abolished slavery on this continent, and Liberia has +never been looked upon with great favor by the colored people of this +country. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1816. + +It has already been shown that the course of the Federal party in the +War of 1812 ruined it. The Federal nominee for the presidency was Rufus +King, of New York. He was a native of Maine, a graduate of Harvard +College, and had served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. It +was he who in 1785 moved the provision against slavery in the Northwest +Territory, and he was an active member of the Constitutional Convention +of 1787, afterward returning to Massachusetts and giving all his +energies to bringing about the ratification of the Constitution. He was +United States senator from New York in 1789-1796; was minister to +London, 1796-1803; and again a United States senator, 1813-1825. + +John Eager Howard, the candidate for the vice-presidency, had hardly a +less claim upon the recognition of his countrymen, for he joined the +patriot army at the outbreak of the Revolution, and fought with marked +gallantry at White Plains, Germantown, Monmouth, and Camden, and won +special honor at the Cowpens in 1781. He was afterward governor of +Maryland, declined the portfolio of war in Washington's cabinet, and was +United States senator from 1796 to 1803. + +These facts are given to show the character and standing of the +candidates of the Federalists in the presidential election of 1816. The +following was the result: For President, James Monroe, of Virginia, +Republican, 133; Rufus King, of New York, Federalist, 34. For +Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Republican, 183; John +Eager Howard, of Maryland, Federalist, 22; James Ross, of Pennsylvania, +5; John Marshall, of Virginia, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, 3. +Vacancies, 4. Thus Monroe became President and Tompkins Vice-President. + +[Illustration: FIRST TRAIN OF CARS IN AMERICA.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829. + +James Monroe--The "Era of Good Feeling"--The Seminole War--Vigorous +Measures of General Jackson--Admission of Mississippi, Illinois, +Alabama, Maine, and Missouri--The Missouri Compromise--The Monroe +Doctrine--Visit of Lafayette--Introduction of the Use of Gas--Completion +of the Erie Canal--The First "Hard Times"--Extinction of the West Indian +Pirates--Presidential Election of 1824--John Quincy Adams--Prosperity of +the Country--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the +Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional Action +on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828. + + +JAMES MONROE. + +James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was born at +Monroe's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758, and died +July 4, 1831. It will be noticed that four out of the first five +Presidents were natives of Virginia, and in course of time three others +followed. It will be admitted, therefore, that the State has well earned +the title of the "Mother of Presidents." + +[Illustration: JAMES MONROE. + +(1758-1831.) Two terms, 1817-1825.] + +Monroe received his education at William and Mary College, and was a +soldier under Washington. He was not nineteen years old when, as +lieutenant at the battle of Trenton, he led a squad of men who captured +a Hessian battery as it was about to open fire. He studied law under +Jefferson, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and, when +twenty-five years old, was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He +was minister plenipotentiary to France in 1794, but his course +displeased the administration and he was recalled. From 1799 to 1802 he +was governor of Virginia, and, in the latter year, was sent to France by +President Jefferson to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he +was again governor of Virginia, and shortly afterward appointed +secretary of State by Madison. He also served as secretary of war at the +same time, and, as the treasury was empty, pledged his private means for +the defense of New Orleans. Monroe was of plain, simple manners, of +excellent judgment and of the highest integrity. While his career did +not stamp him as a man of genius, yet it proved him to be that which in +his situation is better--an absolutely "safe" man to trust with the +highest office in the gift of the American people. Under Monroe the +United States made greater advancement than during any previous decade. + +Everything united to make his administration successful. The Federal +party having disappeared, its members either stopped voting or joined +the Republicans. Since, therefore, everybody seemed to be agreed in his +political views, the period is often referred to as "the era of good +feeling," a condition altogether too ideal to continue long. + + +TARIFF LEGISLATION. + +Shortly after Monroe's inauguration he made a tour through the country, +visiting the principal cities, and contributing by his pleasing manner +greatly to his popularity. The manufactures of the country were in a low +state because of the cheapness of labor in Great Britain, which enabled +the manufacturers there to send and sell goods for less prices than the +cost of their manufacture in this country. Congress met the difficulty +by imposing a tax upon manufactured goods brought hither, and thereby +gave our people a chance to make and sell the same at a profit. The +controversy between the advocates of free trade and protection has been +one of the leading questions almost from the first, and there has never +been and probably never will be full accord upon it. + + +THE SEMINOLE WAR. + +Perhaps the most important event in the early part of Monroe's +administration was the Seminole war. Those Indians occupied Florida, and +could hide themselves in the swampy everglades and defy pursuit. Many +runaway slaves found safe refuge there, intermarried with the Seminoles, +and made their homes among them. They were not always fairly treated by +the whites, and committed many outrages on the settlers in Georgia and +Alabama. When the Creeks, who insisted they had been cheated out of +their lands, joined them, General Gaines was sent to subdue the savages. +He failed, and was caught in such a dangerous situation that General +Jackson hastily raised a force and marched to his assistance. + +Since Florida belonged to Spain, Jackson was instructed by our +government not to enter the country except in pursuit of the enemy. "Old +Hickory" was not the man to allow himself to be hampered by such orders, +and, entering Florida in March, 1818, he took possession the following +month of the Spanish post of St. Mark's, at the head of Appalachee Bay. +Several Seminoles were captured, and, proof being obtained that they +were the leaders in a massacre of some settlers a short time before, +Jackson hanged every one of them. + +Advancing into the interior, he captured two British subjects, Robert C. +Ambrister, an Englishman, and Alexander Arbuthnot, a Scotchman. There +seemed to be no doubt that the latter had been guilty of inciting the +Indians to commit their outrages, and both were tried by court-martial, +which sentenced Arbuthnot to be hanged and Ambrister to receive fifty +lashes and undergo a year's imprisonment. Jackson set aside the verdict, +and shot the Englishman and hanged the Scotchman. He then marched +against Pensacola, the capital of the province, drove out the Spanish +authorities, captured Barrancas, whose troops and officials were sent to +Havana. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN'S DECLARATION OF WAR.] + +Jackson carried things with such a high hand that Spain protested, and +Congress had to order an investigation. The report censured Jackson; but +Congress passed a resolution acquitting him of all blame, and he became +more popular than ever. + +Spain was not strong enough to expel the Americans, and she agreed to a +treaty, in October, 1820, by which East and West Florida were ceded to +the United States, the latter paying Spain $5,000,000. The Sabine River, +instead of the Rio Grande, was made the dividing line between the +territories of the respective governments west of the Mississippi. +Jackson was the first governor of Florida, and, as may be supposed, he +had a stormy time, but he straightened out matters with the same iron +resolution that marked everything he did. + + +STATES ADMITTED--THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. + +A number of States were admitted to the Union while Monroe was +President. The first was Mississippi, in 1817. The territory was claimed +by Georgia, which gave it to the United States in 1802. Illinois was +admitted in 1818, being the third of the five States formed from the old +Northwest Territory. Alabama became a State in 1819, and had been a part +of the territory claimed by Georgia. Maine was admitted in 1820, and, as +has been shown, was for a long time a part of Massachusetts, and +Missouri became a State in 1821. + +The strife over the admission of the last-named State was so angry that +more than one person saw the shadow of the tremendous civil war that was +to darken the country and deluge it in blood forty years later. The +invention of the cotton gin in 1793 had made cotton the leading industry +of the South and given an enormous importance to slavery. The soil and +the climate and economic conditions caused it to flourish in the South, +and the lack of such conditions made it languish and die out in the +North. + +Missouri applied for admission in March, 1818, but it was so late in the +session that Congress took no action. At the following session a bill +was introduced containing a provision that forbade slavery in the +proposed new State. The debate was bitter and prolonged, accompanied by +threats of disunion, but a compromise was reached on the 28th of +February, 1821, when the agreement was made that slavery was to be +permitted in Missouri, but forever prohibited in all other parts of the +Union, north and west of the northern limits of Arkansas, 36 deg. 30', +which is the southern boundary of Missouri. The State was admitted August +21st, increasing the number to twenty-four. The census showed that in +1820 the population of the United States was 9,633,822. The State of New +York contained the most people (1,372,111); Virginia next (1,065,116); +and Pennsylvania almost as many (1,047,507). + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1820. + +It was in the autumn of 1820, during the excitement over the admission +of Missouri, that the presidential election occurred. The result is not +likely ever to be repeated in the history of our country. There was no +candidate against Monroe, who would have received every electoral vote, +but for the action of one member, who declared that no man had the right +to share that honor with Washington. He therefore cast his single vote +for Adams of Massachusetts. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, +Republican, received 218; Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, 8; Daniel +Rodney, of Delaware, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, and Richard +Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1 vote each. Monroe and Tompkins were therefore +re-elected. + + +THE MONROE DOCTRINE. + +South America has long been the land of revolutions. In 1821, there was +a general revolt against Spain in favor of independence. Great sympathy +was felt for them in this country, and, in March, 1822, Congress passed +a bill recognizing the embryo republics as sovereign nations. In the +following year President Monroe sent a message to Congress in which he +declared that for the future the American continent was not to be +considered as territory for colonization by any foreign power. This +consecration of the whole Western Hemisphere to free institutions +constitutes the MONROE DOCTRINE, one of the most precious and jealously +guarded rights of the American nation. The memorable document which +bears the President's name was written by John Quincy Adams, his +secretary of State. + +America could never forget Lafayette, who had given his services without +pay in our struggle for independence, who shed his blood for us, and who +was the intimate and trusted friend of Washington. He was now an old +man, and, anxious to visit the country he loved so well, he crossed the +ocean and landed in New York, in August, 1824. He had no thought that +his coming would cause any stir, and was overwhelmed by the honors shown +him everywhere. Fort Lafayette saluted him as he sailed up New York Bay, +and processions, parades, addresses, feastings, and every possible +attention were given to him throughout his year's visit, during which he +was emphatically the "nation's guest." Nor did the country confine +itself to mere honors. He had been treated badly in France and was poor. +Congress made him a present of $200,000 in money, and sent him home in +the frigate _Brandywine_, named in his honor, for it was at the battle +of the Brandywine that Lafayette was severely wounded. + +An important invention introduced into this country from England in 1822 +was lighting by gas, which soon became universal, to be succeeded in +later years by electricity. Steamboat navigation was common and travel +by that means easy. On land we were still confined to horseback and +stages, but there was great improvement in the roads, through the aid of +Congress and the different States. + + +COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL. + +The Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo and Albany, was begun on the 4th of +July, 1817, its most persistent advocate being Governor De Witt Clinton. +It was costly, and the majority believed it would never pay expenses. +They dubbed it "De Witt Clinton's Ditch," and ridiculed the possibility +that it would prove of public benefit. In October, 1825, it was opened +for public traffic. It is 363 miles long, having the greatest extent of +any canal in the world. It passes through a wonderfully fertile region, +which at that time was little more than a wilderness. Immediately towns +and villages sprang into existence along its banks. Merchandise could +now be carried cheaply from the teeming West, through the Great Lakes, +the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River, to New York City and the Atlantic. +Its original cost was $7,600,000, and its earnings were so enormous that +in many single years they amounted to half that sum. It is now operated +by the State without charge to those using it. + +No combination of statesmen are wise enough to prevent the occasional +recurrence of "hard times." Nearly everyone has a cure for the blight, +and the intervals between them are irregular, but they still descend +upon us, when most unexpected and when it seems we are least prepared to +bear them. No one needs a long memory to recall one or two afflictions +of that nature. + + +THE FIRST "HARD TIMES." + +The first financial stringency visited the country in 1819. The +establishment in 1817 of the Bank of the United States had so improved +credit and increased the facilities for trade that a great deal of wild +speculation followed. The officers of the branch bank in Baltimore were +dishonest and loaned more than $2,000,000 beyond its securities. The +President stopped the extravagant loans, exposed the rogues, and greatly +aided in bringing back the country to a sound financial basis, although +the Bank of the United States narrowly escaped bankruptcy--a calamity +that would have caused distress beyond estimate. + +Amid the stirring political times our commerce suffered from the pirates +who infested the West Indies. Their depredations became so annoying that +in 1819 Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame, was sent out with a small +squadron to rid the seas of the pests. Before he could accomplish +anything, he was stricken with yellow fever and died. Other squadrons +were dispatched to southern waters, and in 1822 more than twenty +piratical vessels were destroyed in the neighborhood of Cuba. Commodore +Porter followed up the work so effectively that the intolerable nuisance +was permanently abated. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1824. + +There were plenty of presidential candidates in 1824. Everybody now was +a Republican, and the choice, therefore, lay between the men of that +political faith. The vote was as follows: Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, +99; John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, 84; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, +37; William H. Crawford, of Georgia, 41. For Vice-President: John C. +Calhoun, of South Carolina, 182; Nathan Sandford, of New York, 30; +Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, 24; Andrew Jackson, 13; Martin Van +Buren, of New York, 9; Henry Clay, 2. + +This vote showed that no candidate was elected, and the election, +therefore, was thrown into the House of Representatives. Although +Jackson was far in the lead on the popular and electoral vote, the +friends of Clay united with the supporters of Adams, who became +President, with Calhoun Vice-President. The peculiar character of this +election led to its being called the "scrub race for the presidency." + + +JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. + +John Quincy Adams, the sixth President, was born at Braintree, +Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and was the son of the second President. +He was given every educational advantage in his youth, and when eleven +years old accompanied his father to France and was placed in a school in +Paris. Two years later he entered the University of Leyden, afterward +made a tour through the principal countries of Europe, and, returning +home, entered the junior class at Harvard, from which he graduated in +1788. Washington appreciated his ability, and made him minister to The +Hague and afterward to Portugal. When his father became President he +transferred him to Berlin. The Federalists elected him to the United +States Senate in 1803, and in 1809 he was appointed minister to Russia. +He negotiated important commercial treaties with Prussia, Sweden, and +Great Britain, and, it will be remembered, he was leading commissioner +in the treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close. He was +a man of remarkable attainments, but he possessed little magnetism or +attractiveness of manner, and by his indifference failed to draw warm +friends and supporters around him. Adams was re-elected to Congress +repeatedly after serving out his term as President. He was seized with +apoplexy while on the point of rising from his desk in the House of +Representatives, and died February 23, 1848. + +[Illustration: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. + +(1767-1848.) One term, 1825-1829.] + +The country was highly prosperous during the presidency of the younger +Adams. The public debt, to which the War of 1812 added $80,000,000, +began to show a marked decrease, money was more plentiful, and most +important of all was the introduction of the steam locomotive from +England. Experiments had been made in that country for a score of years, +but it was not until 1829 that George Stephenson, the famous engineer, +exhibited his "Rocket," which ran at the rate of nearly twenty miles an +hour. + + +INTRODUCTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE. + +The first clumsy attempts on this side were made in 1827, when two short +lines of rails were laid at Quincy, near Boston, but the cars were drawn +by horses, and, when shortly after, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was +chartered, the intention was to use the same motor. In 1829, a steam +locomotive was used on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad, followed +by a similar introduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The first +railroad chartered expressly for steam was granted in South Carolina for +a line to run from Charleston to Hamburg. The first locomotive made by +Stephenson was brought across the ocean in 1831. The Americans set to +work to make their own engines, and were successful in 1833. It will be +noted that these events occurred after the administration of Adams. + + +THE CHEROKEES IN GEORGIA. + +Most of the country east of the Mississippi was being rapidly settled. +Immense areas of land were sold by the Indian tribes to the government +and they removed west of the river. The Cherokees, however, refused to +sell their lands in Georgia and Alabama. They were fully civilized, had +schools, churches, and newspapers, and insisted on staying upon the +lands that were clearly their own. Georgia was equally determined to +force them out of the State, and her government was so high-handed that +President Adams interfered for their protection. The governor declared +that the Indians must leave, and he defied the national government to +prevent him from driving them out. The situation of the Cherokees +finally became so uncomfortable that, in 1835, they sold their lands and +joined the other tribes in the Indian Territory, west of the +Mississippi. + + +AN IMPRESSIVE OCCURRENCE. + +One of the most impressive incidents in our history occurred on the 4th +of July, when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. It was just half a +century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, of which +Jefferson was the author and whose adoption Adams secured. + +Adams attained the greatest age of any of our Presidents, being nearly +ninety-one years old when he died. He retained the brightness of his +mind, his death being due to the feebleness of old age. When he was +asked if he knew the meaning of the joyous bells that were ringing +outside, his wan face lighted up, and he replied: "It is the 4th of +July; God bless it!" His last words, uttered a few minutes later: +"Jefferson still survives." + +[Illustration: "JOHNNY BULL," OR NO. 1. + +(The first locomotive used.)] + +It was a natural error on the part of Adams, but Jefferson had passed +away several hours before, in his eighty-fourth year. He died quietly, +surrounded by friends, with his mind full of the inspiring associations +connected with the day. His last words were: "I resign my soul to God, +and my daughter to my country." + +An important issue of the younger Adams' administration was the tariff. +Naturally the South were opposed to a protective tariff, because they +had no manufactures, and were, therefore, compelled to pay higher prices +for goods than if admitted free of duty. A national convention was held +at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1827, to discuss the +question of the protection of native industry. Only four of the +slave-holding States were represented, but the members memorialized +Congress for an increase of duties on a number of articles made in this +country. In the session of 1827-28, Congress, in deference to the +general sentiment, passed a law which increased the duties on fabrics +made of wool, cotton, linen, and on articles made from lead, iron, etc. +The Legislatures of the Southern States protested against this action as +unjust and unconstitutional, and in the presidential election of that +year the entire electoral vote of the South was cast against Adams. + +The "Era of good feeling" was gone and politics became rampant. The +policy of a protective tariff became known as the American System, and +Henry Clay was its foremost champion. Their followers began to call +themselves National Republicans, while their opponents soon assumed the +name of Democrats, which has clung to them ever since, though the +National Republicans changed their title a few years later to Whigs. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1828. + +The presidential election of 1828 resulted as follows: Andrew Jackson, +Democrat, 178; John Quincy Adams, National Republican, 83. For +Vice-President, John C. Calhoun, Democrat, 171; Richard Rush, of +Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49; William Smith, of South Carolina, +Democrat, 7. Jackson and Calhoun therefore were elected. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, +1829-1845. + +Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The President's +Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential Election of +1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury Among +the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The Nullification +Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the Steam +Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and Friction +Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the United States in +1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism--France and +Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United States--The Specie +Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel +Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren--The Panic of +1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United States in +1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison--His +Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton +Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A +Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican +Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of +Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential +Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His +Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection. + + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +Andrew Jackson, seventh President, ranks among the greatest of those who +have been honored with the highest gift their countrymen can confer upon +them. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, at Waxhaw Settlement, on the +line between North and South Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were +wretchedly poor and he received only a meagre education. His father died +just before the birth of his son, who enlisted in the patriot army when +but thirteen years old, and was captured at the battle of Hanging Rock. +When a British officer ordered the boy to clean his boots, he refused. +He was brutally beaten for his stubbornness; he told the officer that he +might kill him, but he could never make a servant of him. + +Shortly afterward he was seized with smallpox and was abandoned to die, +but his mother secured his release and nursed him back to health. She +died soon afterward, and, while still a boy, Andrew was left without a +single near relative. At the close of the Revolution, he took up the +study of law, pursuing it in a desultory way, until his removal to +Nashville, at the age of twenty-one years. He threw his law books aside +when the Indians began their outrages, and we have told of his striking +services as a soldier and military leader, culminating with his great +victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still widely +celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he possessed +many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray +personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a +thousand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core, +intensely patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. He would stand +by a friend to the death, unless he became convinced of his +unworthiness, when he instantly became his unrelenting enemy. + +[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON. + +(1767-1845.) Two terms, 1829-1837.] + +He fought numerous duels, and stood up without a tremor in front of one +of the most famous of duelists. When his opponent's bullet tore a +dreadful wound in his breast, he resolutely repressed all evidence of +pain until he had killed his antagonist, in order that the latter should +not have the pleasure of knowing he had hurt Jackson. + +While carrying one arm in a sling from this wound, he led a strong force +into the Creek country. When the men were close upon starvation, they +mutinied. Jackson rode in front of them, pistol in hand, and declared he +would shoot the first one who refused to obey his orders. Not a man +rebelled. At the same time he divided all the food he had among them, +which consisted solely of acorns. Nevertheless, he pressed on and +utterly destroyed the Indian confederation. + +Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife, +the unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his +own character. Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence +upon those with whom he comes in contact. In Jackson's estimation, the +only living person whose views were right upon every question was +himself. He was intolerant of opposition, and merciless in his enmity of +a personal opponent. He made mistakes, as was inevitable, and some of +them wrought great injury; but even his opponents respected while they +feared him, and the qualities which we have indicated gave him a warm +place not only in the affection of his own generation but in the +generations that came after him. + +When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his +home, known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his +declining years in quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and +died of consumption, June 8, 1845. + + +"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS." + +It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his +authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends, +and, on the principle of "To the victors belong the spoils," that an +administration to be successful must be composed of those of the same +political faith with its head, he began a system of removals from +office. The total number of such removals made by his predecessors was +seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A year after his +inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, since +their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates, +in pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President +adopted no halfway measures. + +He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he +wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number +of boon associates, who became known as his "Kitchen Cabinet." + + +JACKSON'S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK. + +One of the President's unbearable aversions was the United States Bank. +He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his +first message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had +failed to establish a uniform and sound currency and that its existence +was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire +in 1836, and Congress passed an act renewing it for fifteen years. +Jackson vetoed the measure, and the two-thirds majority necessary to +pass it again could not be obtained. + +By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the +treasury, who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons +for the step. Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and +when he very properly refused, the President removed him. He made Roger +B. Taney, afterward chief justice of the United States, his new +secretary of the treasury, and that pliable official promptly +transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been selected. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832. + +Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was +bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the +presidential election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was +cast: Andrew Jackson, 219; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican, +49; John Floyd, of Georgia, Independent, 11; William Wirt, of Maryland, +Anti-Masonic, 7. For Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New +York, received 189 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National +Republican, 49; Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, Independent, 11; Amos +Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti-Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of +Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular vote, Jackson had more than a +hundred thousand in excess of all the others in a total of one million +and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory." + +[Illustration: SAMUEL HOUSTON. + +One of "Old Hickory's" volunteers, afterward famous in the Texan War for +Independence. + +(1793-1863).] + +It rarely happens in the history of any country that the government +finds itself in the possession of more money than it wants. It became +clear, however, that not only would the public debt soon be paid, but a +surplus would accrue. In view of this certainty, Henry Clay secured the +passage of a bill in 1832, which reduced the tariff, except where such +reduction came in conflict with home labor. Several years later, the +surplus, amounting to $28,000,000, was divided among the States. + + +BLACK HAWK WAR. + +In the year named occurred the Black Hawk War. The tribes known as the +Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes lived in the Territory of Wisconsin. The +Sacs and Foxes made a treaty with the United States in 1830, by which +they ceded all their lands in Illinois to the government. When the time +arrived for them to leave, they refused, and the governor called out a +military force to compel them to remove beyond the Mississippi. Black +Hawk, a famous chieftain of the Sacs, left, but returned at the head of +a thousand warriors, gathered from the tribes named, and began a savage +attack upon the settlements. The peril was so grave that the government +sent troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson to Rock Island. On the way +thither, cholera, which had never before appeared in this country, broke +out among the troops and raged so violently that operations for a time +were brought to a standstill. + +When Atkinson was able to do so, he pushed on, defeated the Indians, and +captured Black Hawk. He was taken to Washington, where he had a long +talk with President Jackson, who gave him good advice, and induced him +to sign a new treaty providing for the removal of his people to the +Indian Territory. Then Black Hawk was carried on a tour through the +country, and was so impressed by its greatness that, when he returned to +his people, he gave no more trouble. It is worth remembering that both +Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War. + + +NULLIFICATION MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA. + +South Carolina had long been soured over the tariff measures, which, +while they helped the prosperity of other sections of the Union, were +oppressive to her, because there were no manufactures carried on within +her borders. When Congress, in the spring of 1832, imposed additional +duties, she was so angered that she called a convention in November, at +which her governor presided. The new tariff was declared +unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and notice was given that +any attempt to collect the duties would be resisted by South Carolina, +which, unless her demands were granted, would withdraw from the Union +and establish herself as an independent government. Other States +endorsed her action and the situation became serious. + +President Jackson hated the tariff as much as South Carolina, but his +love for the Union was unquenchable, and, having sworn to enforce the +laws, he was determined to do it in the face of any and all opposition. +Because Vice-President Calhoun sided with his native State, Jackson +threatened to arrest him. Calhoun resigned, went home, and was elected +United States senator. + +President Jackson issued a warning proclamation on the 10th of December, +but South Carolina continued her war preparations, and the President +sent General Scott, with the sloop-of-war _Natchez_, to Charleston, with +orders to strengthen the garrison in the harbor. Scott displayed great +discretion, and won the good-will of the citizens by his forbearance and +courtesy. The other Southern States condemned the rash course of South +Carolina, within which gradually appeared quite a number of supporters +of the Union. Then Clay introduced a bill in Congress, which became law, +providing for a gradual reduction of duties until the 30th of June, +1842, when they were to reach a general level of twenty per cent. +Calhoun, now a member of the Senate, supported the compromise, and the +threatened civil war passed away for the time. + + +SECOND SEMINOLE WAR. + +Trouble once more broke out with the Seminoles of Florida. The +aggravation, already referred to, continued. Runaway slaves found safe +refuge in the swamps of the State and intermarried with the Indians. A +treaty, known as that of Payne's Landing, was signed in May, 1832, by +which a number of chiefs visited the country assigned to the Creeks, it +being agreed that, if they found it satisfactory, the Seminoles should +remove thither. They reported in its favor, but the other leaders, +incensed at their action, killed several of them, and declared, probably +with truth, that they did not represent the sentiment of their people, +and doubtless had been influenced by the whites to make their report. +The famous Osceola expressed his opinion of the treaty by driving his +hunting-knife through it and the top of the table on which it lay. + +It being clear that the Seminoles had no intention of going west, +President Jackson sent General Wiley Thompson to Florida with a military +force to drive them out. The Indians secured a delay until the spring of +1835, under the promise to leave at that time; but when the date +arrived, they refused to a man. Osceola was so defiant in an interview +with General Thompson that the latter put him in irons and held him +prisoner for a couple of days. Then the chief promised to comply with +the terms of the treaty and was released. He had not the slightest +intention, however, of keeping his promise, but was resolved to be +revenged upon Thompson for the indignity he had put upon him. + +In the month of December, 1835, while Thompson and a party of friends +were dining near Fort King, with the windows raised, because of the +mildness of the day, Osceola and a party of his warriors stole up and +fired a volley through the windows, which killed Thompson and four of +his companions. Before the garrison of the fort could do anything, the +Seminoles had fled. + + +DADE'S MASSACRE. + +On the same day of this tragical occurrence, Major Francis L. Dade set +out with 140 mounted men to the relief of General Clinch, stationed at +Fort Drane, in the interior of Florida, where he was threatened with +massacre. Dade advanced from Fort Brooke at the head of Tampa Bay, and +was not far on the road when he was fired upon by the Indians from +ambush. Half the men were killed, including Major Dade. The remainder +hastily fortified themselves, but were attacked in such overwhelming +numbers that every man was shot down. Two wounded soldiers crawled into +the woods, but afterward died. "Dade's Massacre" caused as profound a +sensation throughout the country as did that of Custer and his command +forty years later. + +The Seminole War dragged on for years. General Scott commanded for a +time in 1836, and vigorously pressed a campaign in the autumn of that +year; but when he turned over the command, in the spring of 1837, to +General Zachary Taylor, the conquest of the Seminoles seemingly was as +far off as ever. Taylor attempted to use a number of Cuban bloodhounds +for tracking the mongrels into the swamps, but the dogs refused to take +the trail of the red men, and the experiment (widely denounced in the +North) was a failure. + +In October, while Osceola and a number of warriors were holding a +conference with General Jessup under the protection of a flag of truce, +all were made prisoners, and Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in +Fort Moultrie in 1838. The war dragged on until 1842, when General +Worth, after it had cost $40,000,000 and many lives, brought it to an +end by destroying the crops of the Seminoles and leaving to them the +choice between starvation and submission. + +[Illustration: OSCEOLA'S INDIGNATION.] + + +GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMFORTS OF LIFE. + +The steam locomotive, of which we have given a brief history, came into +general use during the presidency of General Jackson. When he left +office 1,500 miles of railway had been built, and many more were being +laid in different parts of the country. It wrought a social revolution +by bringing all parts of the country into close communication, making +settlement easy and the cost of moving crops slight. Anthracite coal was +tested in 1837, and, because of its great advantages, was soon widely +used. McCormick's reaper was patented in 1834, and gave an enormous +impetus to the cultivation of western lands. In the early days fire was +obtained by the use of flint and steel or the sun-glass. Friction +matches appeared in 1836, and quickly supplanted the clumsy method that +had been employed for centuries. + +On the night of December 16, 1835, New York City was visited by the most +destructive fire in its history. The weather was so cold that the +volunteer fire department could do little to check the conflagration, +which destroyed 648 buildings, covering seventeen blocks and thirteen +acres of ground. The value of the property lost was $20,000,000. + + +THE COUNTRY IN 1830. + +The population of the United States in 1830 was 12,866,020, and the +postoffices, which in 1790 numbered only 75, had grown to 8,450. The +sales of the western lands had increased from $100,000 to $25,000,000 a +year, a fact which explains the rapid extinguishment of the public debt. + +[Illustration: WESTERN RAILROAD IN EARLIER DAYS.] + +Two States were admitted to the Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan in +1837. The former was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was +originally settled by the French at Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan was +the fourth State formed from the Northwest Territory, and was first +settled by the French at Detroit in 1701. + +Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison, +in his Boston paper, _The Liberator_, demanded the immediate abolition +of slavery. Anti-slavery societies were organized in different parts of +the country and the members became known as abolitionists. The South was +incensed by the agitation, which reached its culmination in the great +Civil War of 1861-65. + + +FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS. + +President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which +he came in contact. We had been pressing a suit against France for the +injuries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but +that country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to +Congress that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill. +France flared up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen +wars would not have moved him to recall his words. England, however, +mediated, and France paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no +time in settling a similar account with us. + +President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to +his countrymen. It was well written and patriotic; but his last official +act, which was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends. +The speculation in western lands had assumed such proportions that the +treasury department, in July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the +collectors of the public revenues to receive only gold and silver in +payment. This circular caused so much confusion and trouble that, at the +beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it would have given +great relief. Jackson held the bill in his possession until the +adjournment of Congress, and thus prevented its becoming a law. + +The stormy years of Jackson's presidency brought into prominence three +of the greatest of Americans. All, at different times, were members of +the United States Senate, where their genius overshadowed those who +under other circumstances would have attracted national attention. These +men were John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster. + + +JOHN C. CALHOUN. + +[Illustration: JOHN C. CALHOUN. (1782-1850).] + +The first named was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, March 18, 1782, +and, graduating at Yale, studied law and early developed fine qualities +of statesmanship. He was elected to the House of Representatives in +1811, and became at once the leader of the younger element of the +Democratic party. He was a vehement advocate of the war with Great +Britain, and, in 1817, was appointed secretary of war under Monroe, +serving to the close of his presidency. It has been shown that he was +elected Vice-President with Adams. Elected again with Jackson, the two +became uncompromising opponents, and he resigned in 1832, immediately +entering the Senate, where he was accepted as the leader of the "State +rights" men. + +His services as senator were interrupted for a short time when, in +1844-45, he acted as secretary of State in Tyler's administration. He +was determined to secure the admission of Texas and by his vigor did so, +in the face of a strong opposition in the North. He re-entered the +Senate and resumed his leadership of the extreme southern wing of the +Democratic party. He died in Washington, March 31, 1850, while Clay's +compromise measures were pending. + +Calhoun ranks among the foremost of American statesmen, and as the +champion of the South his place is far above any who appeared before or +who have come after him. As a speaker, he was logical, clear, and always +deeply in earnest. Daniel Webster said of him: "He had the indisputable +basis of all high character--unspotted integrity and honor unimpeached. +Nothing groveling, low, or meanly selfish came near his head or his +heart." + + +HENRY CLAY. + +[Illustration: HENRY CLAY. (1777-1852).] + +Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in the "Slashes," Virginia. He +studied law, and at the age of twenty removed to Kentucky, which is +proud to claim the honor of having been his home and in reality his +State. His great ability and winning manners made him popular +everywhere. He served in the Kentucky Legislature, and, before he was +thirty years old, was elected to the United States Senate, of which he +was a member from 1806 to 1807. He soon became recognized as the +foremost champion of the cause of internal improvements and of the +tariff measures, known as the "American System." His speakership of the +Kentucky Assembly, his term as United States senator again, 1809-11, and +as a member of the House of Representatives in 1811, followed rapidly. +Against precedent, being a newcomer, he was chosen Speaker, and served +until his resignation in 1814. He was as strenuous an advocate of the +war with Great Britain as Calhoun, and it has been stated that he was +one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent in 1814. The +following year he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and +acted without a break as Speaker until 1821. He was the most powerful +advocate of the recognition of the Spanish-American States in revolt, +and but for Clay the Missouri Compromise would not have been prepared +and adopted. + +Absent but a brief time from Congress, he again acted as Speaker in +1823-25. President Adams appointed him his secretary of State, and he +retired from office in 1829, but two years later entered the Senate from +Kentucky. For the following twenty years he was the leader of the Whig +party, opposed Jackson in the bank controversy, and secured the tariff +compromise of 1833 and the settlement with France in 1835. He retired +from the Senate in 1843, his nomination for the presidency following a +year later. Once more he entered the Senate, in 1849, and brought about +the great compromise of 1850. He died June 29, 1852. + +Clay's vain struggle for the presidency is told in the succeeding +chapter. It seems strange that while he was indisputably the most +popular man in the United States, he was not able to secure the great +prize. The American Congress never knew a more brilliant debater, nor +did the public ever listen to a more magnetic orator. His various +compromise measures in the interest of the Union were beyond the +attainment of any other man. His fame rests above that which any office +can confer. His friends idolized and his opponents respected him. A +strong political enemy once refused an introduction to him on the ground +that he could not withstand the magnetism of a personal acquaintance +which had won "other good haters" to his side. John C. Breckinridge, his +political adversary, in his funeral oration, said: "If I were to write +his epitaph, I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on the stone which +shall mark his resting-place, 'Here lies a man who was in the public +service for fifty years and never attempted to deceive his countrymen.'" + + +DANIEL WEBSTER. + +[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER. (1782-1852).] + +Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire, +and died October 24, 1852. He was educated at Exeter Academy and +graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801. After teaching school a short +time in Maine, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1805, and +began practice at Boscawen, in his native State. Two years afterward, he +removed to Portsmouth, where he speedily became a leader at the bar and +served in Congress from 1813 to 1817. At that time he was a moderate +Federalist. He settled in Boston in 1818, and assumed a front rank among +lawyers by his argument before the United States Supreme Court in the +celebrated "Dartmouth College Case," which involved the obligation of +contracts and the powers of the national government. He was congressman +from Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827, was chairman of the judiciary +committee, and attracted great attention by his speeches on Greece, then +struggling for independence, and his pleas in favor of free trade. + +Webster's fame as an eloquent orator was already established. As such, +he was the greatest that America ever produced, and many claim that he +surpassed any who spoke the English tongue. Among his masterpieces were +his speeches at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial; at the laying of +the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, 1825; and his eulogy on +Adams and Jefferson, 1826. + +When he entered the United States Senate in 1827, he immediately took +rank beside the giants, Calhoun and Clay. He was an advocate of the +protective tariff of 1823, and in 1830 reached the highest point of +thrilling and eloquent logic in his reply to Robert Young Hayne, of +South Carolina, who asserted that any State had the right to disobey +such laws of Congress as she deemed unconstitutional. Webster's speech +is a classic, never surpassed in its way, and the debate won for him the +proud title of "Expounder of the Constitution." + +Naturally Webster opposed nullification, and he and Calhoun had many +earnest contests worthy of two such masters of logic. W.H. Harrison +appointed him his secretary of State, and he remained with Tyler until +1843. In 1845, he was again sent to the United States Senate, but in +1850 he alienated many of his former supporters by his speech in favor +of Clay's compromise measures, He was secretary of State in 1850-52, and +his death called out more addresses and testimonials than any other +since that of Washington. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1836. + +The following was the electoral vote cast in 1836: Martin Van Buren, of +New York, Democrat, 170; William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 73; Hugh +L. White, of Tennessee, Whig, 26; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, +Whig, 14; Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, Whig, 11. For +Vice-President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Democrat, 147; Francis +Granger, of New York, Whig, 77; John Tyler, of Virginia, Whig, 47; +William Smith, of Alabama, Democrat, 23. The vote for Johnson as +Vice-President was not sufficient to elect him, but he was chosen by the +House of Representatives. + + +MARTIN VAN BUREN. + +Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born December 5, 1782, at +Kinderhook, N.Y., and died July 24, 1862. He became eminent as a lawyer, +and his skill as a Democratic politician caused him to be known as the +"Little Magician." He held a number of public offices, being State +senator, United States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29; +and secretary of State under Jackson, 1829-31, when Jackson appointed +him minister to England, but his political opponents secured his defeat +in the Senate. Becoming Vice-President under Jackson, he presided in the +Senate from 1833 to 1837. Jackson was so pleased with Van Buren that he +chose him as his successor. He was the Free Soil candidate for the +presidency in 1848, and thereby brought about the defeat of Cass by +Taylor. + +The administration of Van Buren was one of the most unpopular we have +ever had, and through no fault of his. A great deal of the prosperity of +Jackson's term was superficial. He had been despotic, as shown in his +removal of the United States Bank deposits and the issue of the specie +circular of 1836. Confusion ensued in business, and an era of wild +speculation followed a distribution of the surplus in the treasury among +the States. The credit system took the place of the cash system, banks +sprang up like mushrooms, and an immense amount of irredeemable money +was put in circulation. + +[Illustration: MARTIN VAN BUREN. + +(1782-1862.) One term, 1837-1841.] + +These institutions were known as "wild-cat banks," and their method of +defrauding the public was as follows: They bought several hundred +thousands of cheap bills which, having cost them practically nothing, +they used in offering higher prices for public lands than others could +pay in gold and silver. They trusted to chance that their bills would +not soon come back for redemption, but if they did so, the banks +"failed" and the holders of the notes lost every dollar. + +The fraud was a deliberate one, but the establishment of the national +banking law since then renders a repetition of the swindle impossible. + + +THE PANIC OF 1837. + +Van Buren was hardly inaugurated when the panic of 1837 burst upon the +country. The banks were forced to suspend specie payment, many failed, +and mercantile houses that had weathered other financial storms toppled +over like tenpins. In two months the failures in New York and New +Orleans amounted to $150,000,000. Early in May, a deputation of New York +merchants and bankers called upon the President and asked him to put off +the collection of duties on imported goods, to rescind the specie +circular, and convene Congress in the hope of devising measures for +relief. All that the President consented to do was to defer the +collection of duties. Immediately the banks in New York suspended specie +payments, and their example was followed by others throughout the +country. The New York Legislature then authorized the suspension of +specie payments for a year. This left the national government without +the means of paying its own obligations (since no banks would return its +deposits in specie) except by using the third installment of the surplus +revenue that had been promised to the States. + +The country was threatened with financial ruin, and Congress convened in +September. The President in his message proposed the establishment of an +independent treasury for the custody of the public funds, and their +total separation from banking institutions. Such a bill failed, but it +became a law in 1840. Congress, however, obtained temporary relief by +authorizing the issue of $10,000,000 in treasury notes. + +The fact remained, however, that the country was rich, and though much +distress prevailed, the financial stress began to lessen as more healthy +methods of business were adopted. In 1838 most of the banks resumed +specie payments, but the effect of the panic was felt for years. Since +the distress occurred while Van Buren was President, the blame was +placed by many upon the administration. + +At that time the present Dominion of Canada was divided into two +provinces, known as Upper and Lower Canada. Dissatisfaction with some of +the features of Great Britain's rule caused a rebellion in Lower Canada +in 1837. Much sympathy was felt for them in this country, and especially +in New York, from which a force of 700 men seized and fortified Navy +Island, in Niagara River. There were plenty of loyalists in Canada, who +made an attempt to capture the place, but failed. On the night of +December 29, 1837, they impetuously attacked the supply steamer +_Caroline_, killed twelve of the defenders, set the boat on fire, and +sent it over Niagara Falls. + +President Van Buren issued a proclamation forbidding all interference in +the affairs of Canada, and General Wool was sent to the frontier with a +military force strong enough to compel obedience. He obliged the +insurgents on Navy Island to surrender and pledge themselves to refrain +from all unlawful acts. These vigorous measures soon brought quiet to +the border, and England's wise policy toward the disaffected provinces +has made Canada one of her most loyal provinces. + +The population of the United States in 1840 was 17,649,453, further +evidence of the real prosperity of the country. Railroad building went +on vigorously, there being fully 4,000 miles in operation at the close +of Van Buren's term. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840. + +The following was the presidential vote of 1840: William Henry Harrison, +of Ohio, Whig, 234; Martin Van Buren, 70. For Vice-President, John +Tyler, 234; E.M. Johnson, 48; L.W. Tazewell, of Virginia, Democrat, 11; +James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 1. + + +WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. (1773-1841.) One month, 1841.] + +William Henry Harrison, ninth President, was born February 9, 1773, in +Virginia, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the +Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of Virginia. The son +graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, and took up the study of +medicine, but was fond of military matters, and, entering the army of +St. Clair, he displayed great bravery and skill. He helped General Wayne +win his victory over the Indians in 1794, and was rapidly promoted. He +became secretary of the Northwest Territory in 1798, and the following +year was made delegate to Congress. In 1800, he was appointed governor +of Indiana Territory, and was acting as such when he won his decisive +victory at Tippecanoe, in the autumn of 1811. An account has been given +of his brilliant services in the War of 1812. + +He attained the rank of major-general in the regular army, but resigned +in 1814. He was congressman from 1816 to 1819, United States senator +from 1825 to 1828, and United States minister to the United States of +Columbia, 1828-29. + +President Harrison wore no hat or overcoat while delivering his +inaugural. Although accustomed to the hardships of the frontier, and +naturally one of the most rugged of men, he was now old and weak in +body. His imprudence, added to the annoyance from the clamorous +office-seekers, drove him frantic. He succumbed to pneumonia and died on +the 4th of April, just one month after his inauguration. He was the +first President to die in office, and an immense concourse attended his +funeral, his remains being interred near North Bend, Ohio. + + +JOHN TYLER. + +As provided by the Constitution, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was +immediately sworn into office as his successor. Like many of his +predecessors, John Tyler was a native of Virginia, where he was born +March 29, 1790. He possessed great natural ability and was a practicing +lawyer at the age of nineteen, and a member of the State Legislature at +twenty-one. When thirty-five, he was chosen governor of Virginia, and +was a United States senator from 1827 to 1836. + +Since he was the first President not elected to the office, there was +considerable discussion among the politicians as to his precise +_status_. It was contended by some that he was chief executive "in +trust," and was therefore bound to carry out the policy of his immediate +predecessor. Tyler insisted that he was as much the President, in every +respect, as if he had been elected by the people to that office, and in +this insistence he was unquestionably right. + +Tyler quickly involved himself in trouble with the Whigs. They passed an +act to re-establish the United States Bank, whose charter expired in +1836, though it had continued in operation under the authority of the +State of Pennsylvania. President Tyler vetoed the bill. He suggested +some modifications, and it was passed again, but to the indignant +amazement of his party he vetoed it a second time. He was declared a +traitor and widely denounced. All his cabinet resigned, with the +exception of Daniel Webster, who, as stated elsewhere, remained until +1843, in order to complete an important treaty with England then under +negotiation. + + +THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY. + +This was known as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Our northeastern +boundary was loosely defined by the treaty of 1783, and it was finally +agreed by Great Britain and the United States to refer the questions in +dispute to three commissions to be jointly constituted by the two +countries. The first of these awarded the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay +to the United States; the third established the boundary line from the +intersection of the forty-fifth parallel with the St. Lawrence to the +western point of Lake Huron. It remained for the second commission to +determine the boundary from the Atlantic to the St. Lawrence. The +question was a bone of contention for many years, and at last was +referred to Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. These two gentlemen met +in a spirit of fairness, calmly discussed the matter, and without the +slightest friction reached an agreement, which was signed August 9, +1842, and confirmed by the Senate. + + +CIVIL WAR IN RHODE ISLAND. + +Rhode Island had been governed down to 1842 by the charter received from +Charles II., in 1663. This charter permitted only the owners of a +certain amount of property to vote. Dissatisfaction gradually grew until +1842, when two political parties were formed in the little State, one +favoring a new constitution and the other clinging to the old. The +former carried the Legislature, after adopting a State constitution, and +elected Thomas W. Dorr governor. Their opponents elected Samuel W. King, +and both placed armed forces in the field. When civil war was imminent, +the national government interfered and Dorr's forces were dispersed +without bloodshed. Dorr was arrested, and on his trial found guilty of +treason. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but offered liberty +on condition of taking the oath of allegiance. He refused, and, in June, +1845, was unconditionally released. Meanwhile, the general +dissatisfaction with the colonial charter led to the calling of a +convention, which adopted a new constitution, that went into effect in +May, 1843. + +[Illustration: JOHN TYLER. (1790-1862.) One partial term, 1841-1845.] + + +THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK. + +It has been shown that when the Dutch were the owners of New York State +many of them took possession of immense tracts of lands, over which they +ruled like the feudal lords in ancient England. These grants and +privileges were inherited by their descendants and were not affected by +the Revolution. Among the wealthiest patroons were the Van Rensselaers, +whose estates included most of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Stephen +Van Rensselaer was easy-going and so wealthy that he did not take the +trouble to collect the rents due from his numerous tenants, who, at his +death, in 1840, owed him nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. His +heirs determined to collect this amount and set vigorous measures on +foot to do so. The tenants resisted, furious fights took place, and the +military were called out, but the tenants remained resolute in refusing +to pay rent. The disturbances continued and were known as "The Anti-Rent +War." The eastern towns of Rensselaer County and the Livingston manor of +Columbia County were soon in a state of insurrection, and many outrages +were committed. In Delaware County, while a deputy-sheriff was trying to +perform his duty he was killed. The civil authorities were powerless to +suppress the revolt, and, in 1846, the governor declared the County of +Delaware in a state of insurrection, and called out the military. They +arrested the ringleaders, and the murderers of the deputy-sheriff were +sentenced to imprisonment for life. Conciliatory measures followed, most +of the patroon lands were sold to the tenants, and the great estates +gradually passed out of existence. + + +A SHOCKING ACCIDENT. + +A shocking accident occurred on the 28th of February, 1844. Mr. Upshur, +secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, secretary of the navy, and a number of +distinguished ladies and gentlemen were taken on an excursion down the +Potomac, by Commodore Stockton, on the steamer _Princeton_. For the +entertainment of his guests, the commodore ordered the firing of an +immense new gun that had been placed on board a short time before. It +had been discharged several times, and, upon what was intended and +indeed proved to be the last discharge, it exploded, killing Mr. Upshur, +Mr. Gilmer, Commodore Kennon, Virgil Maxey, lately minister to The +Hague, and several of the visitors, besides wounding seventeen sailors, +some of whom died. Although Commodore Stockton lived many years +afterward, he never fully recovered from the shock. The accident cast a +gloom throughout the whole country. + + +ADMISSION OF FLORIDA. + +One State, Florida, was admitted to the Union during Tyler's +administration. Its early history has been given, it having been bought +from Spain in 1819. It was made a State in 1845. + +Texas now became a subject of national interest. Although the United +States made claim to it as a part of the Louisiana purchase, the claim +was abandoned in 1819, when Florida came into our possession. In 1821, a +colony of Americans formed a settlement in Mexican territory, encouraged +to do so by the home government. Others emigrated thither, among whom +were many restless adventurers and desperate men. By-and-by they began +talking of wresting Texas from Mexico and transferring it to the United +States. There is little doubt that in this design they received +encouragement from many men holding high places in the United States. + + +THE TEXAS REVOLUTION. + +The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a +convention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the +Mexican Republic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced +to San Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a +mission-house known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a +single star, floating defiantly above it. In this body of fearless men +were the eccentric Davy Crockett, formerly congressman from Tennessee; +the Bowie brothers, one of whom was the inventor of the Bowie knife; +Colonel Travis, and others as dauntless as they. They had several rifles +apiece, and maintained a spirited defense, night and day, for ten days, +under the incessant attacks of the Mexicans. Finally, when the brave +band was reduced to less than a dozen, they surrendered under the +promise that their lives would be spared. Santa Anna caused the massacre +of every one. + +"Remember the Alamo!" became the war-cry of the Texans, and, in the +following month, under the command of Sam Houston, they virtually +destroyed the Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner. Houston was +more merciful to him than he had been to the Alamo prisoners, and +protected him from the vengeance of the soldiers. He was very glad to +sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas. + +The Mexican government, however, repudiated the action of its president, +and a guerrilla warfare was waged by both sides for several years +without any progress being made in the conquest of the province. Texas +organized itself into an independent republic, elected Sam Houston +president, and secured recognition from the United States, England, and +several European governments. While making no organized effort to +conquer Texas, Mexico insisted that the province was her own. + + +ADMISSION OF TEXAS. + +One of the first steps of Texas, after declaring her independence, was +to apply for admission into the Union. There was great opposition in the +North because its admission would add an enormous slave area to our +country. For the same reason the South clamored that it should be made +a State. Calhoun, who succeeded Upshur as secretary of State, in March, +1844, put forth every effort to bring Texas into the Union. Clay's +opposition lost him the support of the South in his presidential +aspirations. President Tyler, who favored its admission, made an +annexation treaty with Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. Then +a joint resolution was introduced, and, after a hot discussion, was +passed with the proviso that the incoming President might act, if he +preferred, by treaty. The resolution was adopted March 1, 1845, by the +Senate, three days before the close of President Tyler's term. Calhoun +instantly dispatched a messenger to Texas with orders to travel with the +utmost haste that the new State might be brought in under the +resolution. President Tyler immediately signed the bill, and the +"Lone-Star" State became a member of the Union. On the last day but one +of the close of his term he signed the bills for the admission of +Florida and Iowa, but the latter was not formally admitted until the +following year. + + +THE COPPER MINES OF MICHIGAN. + +There were many events of a non-political nature, but of the highest +importance, that occurred during Tyler's administration. Copper took its +place as one of the great mineral productions of the United States in +1844. The Indians at last abandoned their claims to the country near +Lake Superior, in northern Michigan, and the explorations that followed +proved that the copper mines there are the richest in the world. +Numerous companies were formed and copper-mining became the leading +industry of that section. An interesting discovery was that many of the +mines had been worked hundreds of years before by the Indians. + +The wonderful richness of the gold deposits in California, the vast +mineral resources of Missouri and Tennessee, and the untold wealth of +the petroleum bed under the surface of Pennsylvania were unsuspected. + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1844. + +The presidential election of 1844 hinged on the question of the proposed +annexation of Texas. It has been stated that the Whigs nominated Henry +Clay, who opposed annexation. Van Buren lost the Democratic renomination +through his opposition to annexation, and the Southern Democrats secured +the candidacy of James K. Polk. The Abolitionists did not think Clay's +opposition to annexation quite as earnest as it should be, and they +placed William Birney in nomination. As a result Clay lost the State of +New York, and through that his election to the presidency. The electoral +vote was as follows: + +James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 170; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, +Whig, 105. For Vice-President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, +Democrat, 170; Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Whig, 105. This +secured the election of Polk and Dallas. James G. Birney and Thomas +Morris, candidates of the Liberty party for President and +Vice-President, received no electoral vote, but, as stated, caused the +loss of the State of New York to Clay, thereby throwing enough electoral +votes to Polk and Dallas to give them success. + + +THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. + +The convention which placed Polk in nomination was held in the city of +Baltimore. A railway train was waiting to carry the news to Washington, +and, as soon as the passengers could hurry on board, it steamed at the +highest speed to the national capital. When the people left the cars an +hour later they found, to their inexpressible amazement, newspaper +extras for sale containing the news of Polk's nomination. In answer to +their questions they were told that it had been received from Baltimore +by TELEGRAPH. + +[Illustration: SHOP IN WHICH THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED +FOR EXHIBITION BEFORE CONGRESS.] + +This was on the 29th of May, 1844, and was the first public message sent +by magnetic telegraph. It marked an era in the history of civilization. + +Investigation seems to establish that Professor Joseph Henry, of the +Smithsonian Institute, was the real inventor of the electro-magnetic +telegraph, though that honor has been given and will continue to be +given by most people to Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, whose relation to +the telegraph was much the same as that of Fulton to the steamboat. He +added to the ideas of those before him and first brought them into +practical use. + +Professor Morse deserves all the credit he has received as one of the +greatest of inventors. He studied painting when young and became an +artist of considerable skill. As early as 1832 he conceived the idea of +an electro-magnetic telegraph and began his experiments. The project +absorbed all his energies until he became what is called in these days a +"crank," which is often the name of one who gives all his thoughts and +efforts to the development of a single project. He drifted away from his +relatives, who looked upon him as a visionary dreamer, and when his +ragged clothes and craving stomach demanded attention, he gave +instruction in drawing to a few students who clung to him. + +Light gradually dawned upon Morse, and he continued his labors under +discouragements that would have overcome almost any other man. He +secured help from Alfred Vail, of Morristown, N.J., who invented the +alphabetical characters and many essential features of the system, +besides furnishing Morse with funds, without which his labors would have +come to a standstill. There was not enough capital at command to +construct a line of telegraph, and Morse and his few friends haunted +Congress with their plea for an appropriation. Ezra Cornell, founder of +Cornell University, gave assistance, and, finally, in the very closing +days of the session of Congress in 1844, an appropriation of $30,000 was +made to defray the expenses of a line between Baltimore and Washington. + +[Illustration: THE SPEEDWELL IRON WORKS, MORRISTOWN, N.J. + +Here was forged the shaft for the Savannah, the first steamship which +crossed the Atlantic. Here was manufactured the tires, axles and cranks +of the first American locomotive. Shop in which Vail and Baxter +constructed the first telegraph apparatus, invented by Morse, for +exhibition before Congress.] + +The invention, like most others of an important nature, was subjected to +merciless ridicule. A wag hung a pair of muddy boots out of a window in +Washington, with a placard announcing that they belonged to a man who +had just arrived by telegraph; another placed a package on the wires, +and called to his friends to see it whisked away by lightning; while +many opposed the apparent experimenting with the electric fluid, which +they believed would work all sorts of mischief. Nevertheless, the +patient toilers kept at work, often stopped by accident, and in the face +of all manner of opposition. The first line was laid underground, and, +as has been shown, carried the news of Polk's nomination for the +presidency to Washington. + +Professor Morse was in Washington, and the first message was dictated by +Annie Ellsworth, March 28, 1844, and received by Alfred Vail, forty +miles away in Baltimore. It consisted of the words, "What hath God +wrought?" and the telegram is now in the possession of the Connecticut +Historical Society. It may be said that since then the earth has been +girdled by telegraph lines, numbers of which pass under the ocean, +uniting all nations and the uttermost extremities of the world. + +In the preceding pages we have done little more than give the results of +the various presidential campaigns. The two leading political parties +were the Whigs and the Democrats, and many of the elections were of +absorbing interest, not only to the participants, but to the country at +large. Several were distinguished by features worthy of permanent +record, since they throw valuable light upon the times, now forgotten, +and were attended in many instances by far-reaching results. + +It seems proper, therefore, that a chapter should be devoted to the most +important presidential campaigns preceding and including one of the most +memorable--that of 1840--often referred to as the "hard cider +campaign." + +[Illustration: CAMPAIGN SPEECHMAKING IN EARLIER DAYS.] + +[Illustration: OLD GATES AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840. + +The Origin of the "Caucus"--The Election of 1792--The First Stormy +Election--The Constitution Amended--Improvement of the Method of +Nominating Presidential Candidates--The First Presidential +Convention--Convention in Baltimore in 1832--Exciting Scenes--The +Presidential Campaign of 1820--"Old Hickory"--Andrew Jackson's +Popularity--Jackson Nominated--"Old Hickory" Defeated--The "Log-Cabin" +and "Hard-Cider" Campaign of 1840--"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"--Peculiar +Feature of the Harrison Campaign. + + +The presidential nominating convention is a modern institution. In the +early days of the Republic a very different method was pursued in order +to place the candidates for the highest office in the land before the +people. + + +THE ORIGIN OF THE "CAUCUS." + +In the first place, as to the origin of the "caucus." In the early part +of the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the +shipping business in the North End of Boston held a meeting for +consultation. That meeting was the germ of the political caucuses which +have formed so prominent a feature of our government ever since its +organization. + +The Constitution of our country was framed and signed in the month of +September, 1787, by the convention sitting in Philadelphia, and then +sent to the various Legislatures for their action. It could not become +binding until ratified by nine States. On the 2d of July, 1788, Congress +was notified that the necessary nine States had approved, and on the +13th of the following September a day was appointed for the choice of +electors for President. The day selected was the first Wednesday of +January, 1789. The date for the beginning of proceedings under the new +Constitution was postponed to the first Wednesday in March, which +happened to fall on the 4th. In that way the 4th of March became fixed +as the date of the inauguration of each President, except when the date +is on Sunday, when it becomes the 5th. + +Congress met at that time in the city of New York. It was not until the +1st of April that a quorum for business appeared in the House of +Representatives, and the Senate was organized on the 6th of that month. +The electors who were to choose the President were selected by the +various State Legislatures, each elector being entitled to cast two +votes. The rule was that the candidate receiving the highest number +became President, while the next highest vote elected the +Vice-President. The objection to this method was that the two might +belong to different political parties, which very condition of things +came about at the election of the second President, when John Adams was +chosen to the highest office and Thomas Jefferson to the second. The +former was a Federalist, while Jefferson was a Republican, or, as he +would have been called later, a Democrat. Had Adams died while in +office, the policy of his administration would have been changed. + +There could be no doubt as to the first choice. While Washington lived +and was willing thus to serve his country, what other name could be +considered? So, when the electoral vote was counted on the 6th of April, +1789, every vote of the ten States which took part in the election was +cast for him. He received 69 (all); John Adams, 34; John Jay, 9; R.H. +Harrison, 6; John Rutledge, 6; John Hancock, 4; George Clinton, 3; +Samuel Huntingdon, 2; John Milton, 2; James Armstrong, Benjamin Lincoln, +and Edward Telfair, 1 each. + + +THE ELECTION OF 1792. + +At the next election, in 1792, the result was: Washington, 132 (all) +votes; John Adams, 77; George Clinton, 50; Thomas Jefferson, 4; Aaron +Burr, 1; vacancies, 3. It would have been the same at the third election +had the illustrious Father of his Country consented to be a candidate; +but he was growing feeble, and had already sacrificed so much for his +country, that his yearning for the quiet, restful life at Mount Vernon +could not be denied him. So he retired, and, less than three years +later, passed from earth. + + +THE FIRST STORMY ELECTION. + +What may be looked upon as the first stormy election of a President took +place in 1800. When the electoral votes came to be counted, they were +found to be distributed as follows: Thomas Jefferson, 73; Aaron Burr, +73; John Adams, 65; Charles C. Pinckney, 64; John Jay, 1. Jefferson and +Burr being tied, the election was thrown into the House of +Representatives, where the contest became a memorable one. The House met +on the 11th of February, 1801, to decide the question. On the first +ballot, Jefferson had eight States and Burr six, while Maryland and +Vermont were equally divided. Here was another tie. + +[Illustration: A TYPICAL VIRGINIA COURT-HOUSE.] + +Meanwhile, one of the most terrific snowstorms ever known swept over +Washington. Mr. Nicholson, of Maryland, was seriously ill in bed, and +yet, if he did not vote, his State would be given to Burr, who would be +elected President. Nicholson showed that he had the "courage of his +convictions" by allowing himself to be bundled up and carried through +the blizzard to one of the committee rooms, where his wife stayed by his +side day and night. On each ballot the box was brought to his bedside, +and he did not miss one. The House remained in continuous session until +thirty-five ballots had been cast without any change. + +It was clear by that time that Burr could not be elected, for the +columns of Jefferson were as immovable as a stone wall. The break, when +it came, must be in the ranks of Burr. On the thirty-sixth ballot, the +Federalists of Maryland, Delaware, and South Carolina voted blank, and +the Federalist of Vermont stayed away. This gave the friends of +Jefferson their opportunity, and, fortunately for the country, Thomas +Jefferson was elected instead of the miscreant Burr. + + +THE CONSTITUTION AMENDED. + +As a result of this noted contest, the Constitution was so amended that +each elector voted for a President and a Vice-President, instead of for +two candidates for President. It was a needed improvement, since it +insured that both should belong to the same political party. + +During the first term of Washington, the country was divided into two +powerful political parties. Men who, like Washington, Hamilton, and +others, believed in a strong central government, with only such +political power as was absolutely necessary distributed among the +various States, were Federalists. Those who insisted upon the greatest +possible power for the States, yielding nothing to Congress beyond what +was distinctly specified in the Constitution, were Republicans, of whom +Thomas Jefferson was the foremost leader. Other points of difference +developed as the years passed, but the main distinction was as given. +After the election of John Adams, the Federalist party gradually +dwindled, and in the war of 1812 its unpatriotic course fatally weakened +the organization. + + +THE COUNTRY DIVIDED IN PARTIES. + +The Republican party took the name of Democratic-Republican, which is +its official title to-day. During Monroe's administration, when almost +the last vestige of Federalist vanished, their opponents gradually +acquired the name of Democrats, by which they are now known. After a +time, the Federalists were succeeded by the Whigs, who held well +together until the quarrel over the admission of Kansas and the question +of slavery split the party into fragments. From these, including Know +Nothings, Abolitionists, Free Soilers, and Northern Democrats, was +builded, in 1856, the present Republican party, whose foundation stone +was opposition to the extension of slavery. Many minor parties have +sprung into ephemeral life from time to time, but the Democrats and +Republicans will undoubtedly be the two great political organizations +for many years to come, as they have been for so many years past. + + +IMPROVEMENT OF THE METHOD OF NOMINATING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. + +It will be noted that the old-fashioned method of nominating +presidential candidates was clumsy and frequently unfair. Candidates +sometimes announced themselves for offices within the gift of the +people; but if that practice had continued to modern times, the number +of candidates thus appealing for the suffrages of their fellow-citizens +might have threatened to equal the number of voters themselves. The more +common plan was for the party leaders to hold private or informal +caucuses. The next method was for the legislative caucus to name the +man. The unfairness of this system was that it shut out from +representation those whose districts had none of the opposite political +party in the Legislature. To adjust the matter, the caucus rule was so +modified as to admit delegates specially sent up from the districts that +were not represented in the Legislature. This, it will be seen, was an +important step in the direction of the present system, which makes a +nominating convention consist of delegates from every part of a State, +chosen for the sole purpose of making nominations. + +[Illustration: THE WHITE HOUSE AT WASHINGTON, D.C.] + +The perfected method appeared in New Jersey as early as 1812, in +Pennsylvania in 1817, and in New York in 1825. There was no clearly +defined plan followed in making the presidential nominations for 1824, +and four years later the legislative caucus system was almost +universally followed. After that, the system which had been applied in +various States was applied to national matters. + + +THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTION. + +In the year 1826, William Morgan, a worthless character, living in +Batavia, New York, attempted to expose the secrets of the order of Free +Masons, of which he had become a member. While he was engaged in +printing his book, he disappeared and was never afterward seen. The +Masons were accused of making way with him, and a wave of opposition +swept over the country which closed many lodges and seemed for a time to +threaten the extinction of the order. An anti-Masonic party was formed +and became strong enough to carry the election in several States. Not +only that, but in September, 1831, the anti-Masons held a National +nominating convention in Baltimore and put forward William Wirt, former +attorney-general of the United States, as their nominee for the +Presidency, with Amos Ellmaker, candidate for the Vice-Presidency. The +ticket received seven electoral votes. The noteworthy fact about this +almost forgotten matter is that the convention was the first +presidential one held in this country. + + +CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE IN 1832. + +The system was now fairly launched, for in December of the same year the +National Republicans met in convention in Baltimore and nominated Henry +Clay, and in May, 1832, Martin Van Buren was nominated by a Democratic +convention. He was renominated at the same place and in the same manner +in 1835, but the Whigs did not imitate their opponents. In 1840, +however, the system was adopted by both parties, and has been followed +ever since. + +Our whole country seethes with excitement from the hour when the first +candidate is hinted at until his nomination is made, followed by his +election or defeat a few months later. Some persons see a grave peril in +this periodic convulsion, which shakes the United States like an +earthquake, but it seems after all to be a sort of political +thunderstorm which purifies the air and clarifies the ideas that +otherwise would become sodden or morbid. It is essentially American, and +our people's universal love of fair play leads them to accept the +verdict at the polls with philosophy and good nature. + +And yet there have been many exciting scenes at the nominating +conventions of the past, as there doubtless will be in many that are yet +to come. Coming down to later times, how often has it proved that the +most astute politicians were all at sea in their calculations. The +proverbial "dark horse" has become a potent factor whom it is not safe +to forget in making up political probabilities. + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1820. + +Probably the most tranquil presidential campaign of the nineteenth +century was that of 1820, when James Monroe was elected for the second +time. He was virtually the only candidate before the country for the +exalted office. When the electoral college met, the astounding fact was +revealed that he had every vote--the first time such a thing had +occurred since Washington's election. + +But there was one elector who had the courage to do that which was +never done before and has never been done since: he voted contrary to +his instructions and in opposition to the ticket on which he was +elected. Blumer, of New Hampshire, explained that, as he viewed it, no +President had the right to share the honor of a unanimous election with +Washington, and, though an ardent friend of Monroe, he deliberately cast +his one vote for Adams, in order to preserve Washington's honor +distinct. His motive was appreciated, and Blumer was applauded for the +act, Monroe himself being pleased with it. + + +"OLD HICKORY" + +It is hardly necessary to repeat that this incident has not been +duplicated since that day. Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," was probably +the most popular man in the country when the time came for naming the +successor of Monroe. It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that when +the project of running him for the presidency was first mentioned to +Jackson, he was displeased. It had never entered his head to covet that +exalted office. + +"Don't think of it," he said; "I haven't the first qualification; I am a +rough, plain man, fitted perhaps to lead soldiers and fight the enemies +of our country, but as for the presidency, the idea is too absurd to be +held." + +But what American cannot be convinced that he is pre-eminently fitted +for the office? It did not take long for the ambition to be kindled in +the breast of the doughty hero. His friends flattered him into the +conviction that he was the man of all others to assume the duties, and +the "bee buzzed" as loudly in Jackson's bonnet as it ever has in that of +any of his successors. + + +ANDREW JACKSON'S POPULARITY. + +It cannot be denied that "Old Hickory" was a great man, and though he +was deficient in education, lacking in statesmanship, and obstinate to +the last degree, he was the possessor of those rugged virtues which +invariably command respect. He was honest, clean in his private life, a +stanch friend, an unrelenting enemy, and an intense patriot--one who was +ready to risk his life at any hour for his country. In addition, he +never knew the meaning of personal fear. No braver person ever lived. +When the sheriff in a court-room was afraid to attempt to arrest a +notorious desperado, Jackson leaped over the chairs, seized the ruffian +by the throat, hurled him to the floor, and cowed him into submission. +When a piece of treachery was discovered on a Kentucky racecourse, +Jackson faced a mob of a thousand infuriated men, ruled off the +dishonest official, and carried his point. He challenged the most noted +duelist of the southwest, because he dared to cast a slur upon Jackson's +wife. It mattered not that the scoundrel had never failed to kill his +man, and that all of Jackson's friends warned him that it was certain +death to meet the dead-shot. At the exchange of shots, Jackson was +frightfully wounded, but he stood as rigid as iron, and sent a bullet +through the body of his enemy, whom he did not let know he was himself +wounded until the other breathed his last. + +Above all, had not "Old Hickory" won the battle of New Orleans, the most +brilliant victory of the War of 1812? Did not he and his unerring +riflemen from the backwoods of Tennessee and Kentucky spread +consternation, death, and defeat among the red-coated veterans of +Waterloo? No wonder that the anniversary of that glorious battle is +still celebrated in every part of the country, and no wonder, too, that +the American people demanded that the hero of all these achievements +should be rewarded with the highest office in the gift of his +countrymen. + + +JACKSON NOMINATED. + +Jackson, having "placed himself in the hands of his friends," threw +himself into the struggle with all the unquenchable ardor of his nature. +On July 22, 1822, the Legislature of Tennessee was first in the field by +placing him in nomination. On the 22d of February, 1824, a Federalist +convention at Harrisburg, Pa., nominated him, and on the 4th of March +following a Republican convention did the same. It would seem that he +was now fairly before the country, but the regular Democratic nominee, +that is, the one named by the congressional caucus, was William H. +Crawford, of Georgia. The remaining candidates were John Quincy Adams +and Henry Clay, and all of them belonged to the Republican party, which +had retained the presidency since 1800. Adams and Clay were what was +termed _loose_ constructionists, while Jackson and Crawford were +_strict_ constructionists. + + +"OLD HICKORY" DEFEATED. + +The canvass was a somewhat jumbled one, in which each candidate had his +ardent partisans and supporters. The contest was carried out with vigor +and the usual abuse, personalities, and vituperation until the polls +were closed. Then when the returns came to be made up it was found that +Jackson had received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay +37. "Old Hickory" was well ahead, but his strength was not sufficient to +make him President, even though on the popular vote he led Adams by more +than 50,000. Consequently the election went to the House of +Representatives, where the supporters of Clay combined with those of +Adams and made him President. Thus came the singular result that the man +who had the largest popular and electoral vote was defeated. + +It was a keen disappointment to Jackson and his friends. The great +Senator Benton, of Missouri, one of the warmest supporters of "Old +Hickory," angrily declared that the House was deliberately defying the +will of the people by placing a minority candidate in the chair. The +senator's position, however, was untenable, and so it was that John +Quincy Adams became the sixth President of our country. + + +JACKSON'S TRIUMPH. + +But the triumph of "Old Hickory" was only postponed. His defeat was +looked upon by the majority of men as a deliberate piece of trickery, +and they "lay low" for the next opportunity to square matters. No fear +of a second chance being presented to their opponents. Jackson was +launched into the canvass of 1828 like a cyclone, and when the returns +were made up he had 178 electoral votes to 83 for Adams--a vote which +lifted him safely over the edge of a plurality and seated him firmly in +the White House. + +[Illustration: OLD SPANISH HOUSE ON BOURBON STREET, NEW ORLEANS.] + +It is not our province to treat of the administration of Andrew Jackson, +for that belongs to history, but the hold which that remarkable man +maintained upon the affections of the people was emphasized when, in +1832, he was re-elected by an electoral vote of 219 to 49 for Clay, 11 +for Floyd, and 7 for Wirt. Despite the popular prejudice against a third +term, there is little doubt that Jackson would have been successful had +he chosen again to be a candidate. He proved his strength by selecting +his successor, Martin Van Buren. + + +THE "LOG-CABIN AND HARD-CIDER" CAMPAIGN OF 1840. + +The next notable presidential battle was the "log-cabin and hard-cider" +campaign of 1840, the like of which was never before seen in this +country. General William Henry Harrison had been defeated by Van Buren +in 1836, but on the 4th of December, 1839, the National Whig Convention, +which met at Harrisburg to decide the claims of rival candidates, +placed Harrison in nomination, while the Democrats again nominated Van +Buren. + +General Harrison lived at North Bend, Ohio, in a house which consisted +of a log-cabin, built many years before by a pioneer, and was afterward +covered with clapboards. The visitors to the house praised the +republican simplicity of the old soldier, the hero of Tippecanoe, and +the principal campaign biography said that his table, instead of being +supplied with costly wines, was furnished with an abundance of the best +cider. + +[Illustration: THE MARIGNY HOUSE, NEW ORLEANS. + +(Where Louis Philippe stopped in 1798.)] + +The canvass had hardly opened, when the _Baltimore Republican_ slurred +General Harrison by remarking that, if some one would pension him with a +few hundred dollars and give him a barrel of hard cider, he would sit +down in his log-cabin and be content for the rest of his life. That +sneer furnished the keynote of the campaign. Hard cider became almost +the sole beverage of the Whigs throughout the country. In every city, +town and village, and at the cross-roads, were erected log-cabins, while +the amount of hard cider drank would have floated the American navy. The +nights were rent with the shouts of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and +scores of campaign songs were sung by tens of thousands of exultant, +even if not always musical, voices. We recall that one of the most +popular songs began: + + "Oh, where, tell me where, was the log-cabin made? + 'Twas made by the boys that wield the plough and the spade." + +There was no end to the songs, which were set to the most popular airs +and sung over and over again. You would hear them in the middle of the +night on some distant mountain-top, where the twinkling camp-fire showed +that a party of Whigs were drinking hard cider and whooping it up for +Harrison; some singer with a strong, pleasing voice would start one of +the songs from the platform, at the close of the orator's appeal, and +hardly had his lips parted, when the thousands of Whigs, old and young, +and including wives and daughters, would join in the words, while the +enthusiasm quickly grew to a white heat. The horsemen riding home late +at night awoke the echoes among the woods and hills with their musical +praises of "Old Tippecanoe." The story is told that in one of the +backwoods districts of Ohio, after the preacher had announced the hymn, +the leader of the singing, a staid old deacon, struck in with a Harrison +campaign song, in which the whole congregation, after the first moment's +shock, heartily joined, while the aghast preacher had all he could do to +restrain himself from "coming in on the chorus." There was some truth in +the declaration of a disgusted Democrat that, from the opening of the +canvass, the whole Whig population of the United States went upon a +colossal spree on hard cider, which continued without intermission until +Harrison was installed in the White House. + +And what did November tell? The electoral vote cast for Martin Van +Buren, 60; for General Harrison, 234. No wonder that the supply of hard +cider was almost exhausted within the next three days. + + +PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. + +As we have noted, the method of nominating presidential candidates by +means of popular conventions was fully established in 1840, and has +continued uninterruptedly ever since. One peculiar feature marked the +Harrison campaign of 1840. The convention which nominated Martin Van +Buren met in Baltimore in May of that year. On the same day, the young +Whigs of the country held a mass-meeting in Baltimore, at which fully +twenty thousand persons were present. They came from every part of the +Union, Massachusetts sending fully a thousand. When the adjournment took +place, it was to meet again in Washington at the inauguration of +Harrison. The railway was then coming into general use, and this greatly +favored the assembling of mass-conventions. + +[Illustration: FREMONT, THE GREAT PATHFINDER, ADDRESSING THE INDIANS AT +FORT LARAMIE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845-1849. + +James K. Polk--_The War with Mexico_--The First Conflict--Battle of +Resaca de la Palma--Vigorous Action of the United States +Government--General Scott's Plan of Campaign--Capture of Monterey--An +Armistice--Capture of Saltillo--Of Victoria--Of Tampico--General +Kearny's Capture of Santa Fe--Conquest of California--Wonderful March of +Colonel Doniphan--Battle of Buena Vista--General Scott's March Toward +the City of Mexico--Capture of Vera Cruz--American Victory at Cerro +Gordo--Five American Victories in One Day--Santa Anna--Conquest of +Mexico Completed--Terms of the Treaty of Peace--The New Territory +Gained--The Slavery Dispute--The Wilmot Proviso--"Fifty-Four Forty or +Fight"--Adjustment of the Oregon Boundary--Admission of Iowa and +Wisconsin--The Smithsonian Institute--Discovery of Gold in +California--The Mormons--The Presidential Election of 1848. + + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Illustration: JAMES K. POLK. + +(1795-1849.) One term, 1845-1849.] + +James K. Polk, eleventh President, was born in Mecklenburg County, North +Carolina, November 2, 1795, and died June 15, 1849. His father removed +to Tennessee when the son was quite young, and he therefore became +identified with that State. He studied law, was a leading politician, +and was elected to Congress in 1825, serving in that body for fourteen +years. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, his next +advancement being to the presidency of the United States. + +The President made George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, his +secretary of the navy. It was he who laid the foundation of the United +States Naval Academy at Annapolis, which was opened October 10, 1845. It +is under the immediate care and supervision of the navy department and +corresponds to the Military Academy at West Point. + +Everybody knew that the admission of Texas meant war with Mexico, for +that country would never yield, until compelled to do so, the province +that had rebelled against her rule and whose independence she had +persistently refused to recognize. Texas was unable to withstand the +Mexican army, and her authorities urged the United States to send a +force for her protection. General Zachary Taylor, who was in camp in +western Louisiana, was ordered to advance into and occupy Texan +territory. + +Mexico had always insisted that the Nueces River was her western +boundary, while Texas maintained that the Rio Grande was the dividing +line. The dispute, therefore, was really over the tract of land between +the two rivers. Our country proposed to settle the question by +arbitration, but Mexico would not consent, claiming that the section +(known as Coahuila) had never been in revolt against her authority, +while Texas declared that it was a part of itself, and its Legislature +so decided December 19, 1836. + +General Taylor established a camp at Corpus Christi in the latter part +of 1845, at the mouth of the Nueces. With nearly 5,000 troops, he +marched, in January, to the Rio Grande to meet the Mexicans who were +preparing to invade the disputed territory. Taylor established a depot +of provisions at Point Isabel on the Gulf, and, upon reaching the Rio +Grande, hastily built Fort Brown, opposite the Mexican town of +Matamoras. + +Some time later the Mexican forces reached Matamoras, and General Arista +on the 26th of April notified Taylor that hostilities had begun. To +emphasize his declaration, Captain Thornton with a company of dragoons +was attacked the same day, and, after the loss of sixteen men in killed +and wounded, was compelled to surrender to a much superior force. This +was the first engagement of the war and was fought on ground claimed by +both countries. + + +BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. + +The Mexicans acted vigorously and soon placed Taylor's lines of +communication in such danger that he hurried to Point Isabel to prevent +its falling into the hands of the enemy. He left Major Brown with 300 +men in charge of Fort Brown. The Mexicans were exultant, believing +Taylor had been frightened out of the country. But that valiant officer +paused at Point Isabel only long enough to make its position secure, +when he marched rapidly toward Fort Brown. Reaching Palo Alto, on the +road, he found the way disputed by fully 6,000 Mexicans, who were three +times as numerous as his own army. Attacking the enemy with great +spirit, he routed them with the loss of a hundred men, his own loss +being four killed and forty wounded. + +Resuming his march toward Fort Brown, Taylor had reached a point within +three miles of it, when he was brought face to face with a much larger +force at Resaca de la Palma. The battle was a severe one, and for a long +time was in doubt; but the tide was turned by a dashing charge of +Captain May with his dragoons. Despite a destructive fire of grapeshot, +the horsemen galloped over the Mexican batteries, cut down the gunners, +and captured the commanding officer. Taylor then pushed on to Fort Brown +and found it safe, though it had been under an almost continuous +bombardment, in which Major Brown, the commandant, was killed. + +[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE IN ONE OF THE BATTLES OF THE MEXICAN WAR. + +"Always to be found where the fighting was the fiercest."] + + +WAR DECLARED BY CONGRESS. + +News of these battles was carried north by carrier pigeons and +telegraph, and the war spirit of the country was roused. Congress on +the 11th of May declared that war existed by the act of the Mexican +government, and $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of the President, +who was authorized to accept 50,000 volunteers. The call for them was +answered by 300,000, who were eager to serve in the war. + + +GENERAL SCOTT'S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. + +General Scott, as head of the army, formed a careful plan of campaign +for the conquest of Mexico. Of the three divisions, General Kearny, with +the army of the west, was to cross the Rocky Mountains and conquer the +northern Mexican provinces; General Scott himself, with the army of the +centre, was to advance from the coast into the interior of the country, +making the city of Mexico, the capital of the republic, his objective +point; while General Taylor, with the army of occupation, was to seize +and hold the Rio Grande country. The work of mustering in the troops was +intrusted to General Wool, who, some time later, established himself at +San Antonio, and sent many soldiers to the different commands. + + +CAPTURE OF MONTEREY. + +Within less than two weeks after his victory at Resaca de la Palma, +Taylor crossed over from Fort Brown and captured Matamoras. Then he +turned up the right bank of the Rio Grande and marched into the +interior. The Mexicans retreated to the fortified town of Monterey, +where they were so powerful that Taylor waited for reinforcements before +attacking them. His forces amounted to 6,600 by the latter part of +August, and he then advanced against Monterey, which was defended by a +garrison of 10,000 men. + +The city was invested on the 19th of September. Two days sufficed for +General Worth to capture the fortified works in the rear of the town, +and on the next day the remaining defenses on that side were carried by +storm. At daylight, on the 23d, the city in front was captured by +assault. The Mexicans maintained a vicious defense from their adobe +houses, but the Americans, charging through the streets, battered in the +doors, chased the defenders from room to room and over the housetops +until they flung down their arms and shouted for mercy. The commander +was allowed to evacuate the city, and fell back toward the national +capital. + + +OTHER VICTORIES. + +Taylor was about to resume his advance when the enemy asked for an +armistice, saying the authorities wished to negotiate for peace. Taylor +agreed to an armistice of eight weeks, but the proposal was a trick of +the enemy, who spent every hour of the respite in making preparations to +resist the Americans' advance. Santa Anna, who was undergoing one of +his periodical banishments, was called back and given the presidency. +When the armistice granted by Taylor expired, the Mexicans had an army +of 20,000 in the field, and, under orders from Washington, the American +commander moved forward. The first town captured was Saltillo, seventy +miles southwest of Monterey. It was taken by General Worth, with the +advance, on the 15th of November, 1846. In the following month Victoria, +in the province of Tamaulipas, was captured by General Butler, who, +advancing from Monterey, united with Patterson at this place. Their +intention was to move upon Tampico, on the coast, but they learned that +it had surrendered to Captain Conner, commander of an American squadron. +Meanwhile, General Wool, marching from San Antonio, arrived within +supporting distance of Monterey. Such was the situation when General +Scott reached the army and took command. + + +GENERAL KEARNY'S OPERATIONS. + +General Kearny, in command of the army of the west, left Fort +Leavenworth, in June, 1846, on the way to conquer New Mexico and +California. He had a long and laborious march before him, but he reached +Santa Fe on the 18th of August, and it was easily captured and +garrisoned. New Mexico was powerless, and the whole province +surrendered. Then Kearny, at the head of 400 dragoons, set out for the +Pacific coast, but he had not gotten far on the road when he met a +messenger who informed him that California had been conquered by Colonel +John C. Fremont, acting in conjunction with Commodores Sloat and +Stockton. Kearny sent most of his men back to Santa Fe and pushed for +the Pacific coast, with a hundred dragoons. He arrived in November, and +joined Fremont and Stockton. + + +CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA. + +Fremont acquired the name of the "Pathfinder" because of his exploring +expeditions in the far West. He explored a portion of the Rocky +Mountains in 1842, and, in the following two years, conducted an +expedition with much skill and success through the regions of Utah, the +basin of the Columbia, and the passes of the Sierra Nevada. He was in +charge of a third expedition in 1846, and was in California when the +Mexican war broke out. He received the dispatches as if they were news +to him, but there is good reason to believe that the government had sent +him thither, in order that he might be on the ground and do the very +work he did. He urged the pioneers to declare their independence. They +ardently did so, raised the "Black Bear Flag," and gathered around +Fremont, who continually defeated the superior forces of Mexicans. + +The town of Monterey, eighty miles south of San Francisco, was captured +by Commodore Sloat with an American squadron, and San Diego was taken +soon afterward by Commodore Stockton, in command of the Pacific +squadron; learning which, Fremont raised the American flag in the place +of that of California, and, joining the naval commanders, advanced upon +Los Angeles, which submitted without resistance. In a short time the +immense province of California was conquered by what may be called a +handful of Americans. + + +THE WONDERFUL MARCH OF COLONEL DONIPHAN. + +Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan had been left at Santa Fe with his small +force of dragoons. At the head of 700 men, he performed one of the most +remarkable exploits of the war. Riding directly through the enemy's +country for nearly a thousand miles, he reached the Rio Grande on +Christmas day and won a battle; he then crossed the river and captured +El Paso, and, heading for Chihuahua, was met by a Mexican force on the +banks of Sacramento Creek. They outnumbered Doniphan's force four to +one, and displayed the black flag, as notice that no quarter would be +given. The Americans lay flat on the ground, and the first volleys +passed harmlessly over their heads. The Mexicans made the mistake of +believing they had been decimated by the discharge, and charged upon +what they supposed were the few survivors. They were received with a +withering volley, and assailed with such fierceness by the Americans +that they were utterly routed. Chihuahua thus fell into the possession +of Colonel Doniphan, but, since the term of the enlistment of his men +had expired, he could advance no further. He then conducted them to New +Orleans, where they were mustered out of service. They had marched a +distance of 5,000 miles, won several victories, suffered not a single +defeat, and were back again in their homes all within a year. + +General Scott had landed on the coast for the purpose of marching into +the interior to the national capital. In order to make his advance +resistless, he withdrew the larger part of Taylor's army and united it +with his own. Taylor felt he was used unjustly, for both he and Wool +were threatened by Santa Anna at the head of 20,000, men, but bluff "Old +Rough and Ready" made no protest and grimly prepared for the danger. The +greatest number of troops he could concentrate at Saltillo was about +6,000, and, after placing garrisons there and at Monterey, he had only +4,800 remaining, but, undismayed, he marched out to meet Santa Anna. +Four miles away, he reached the favorable battle ground of Buena Vista, +posted his men, and awaited attack. + +The Mexican commander was so confident of overwhelming the Americans +that, in his message to Taylor, he assured him he would see that he was +personally well treated after his surrender. General Taylor sent word +that he declined to obey the summons, and the messenger who carried the +message to Santa Anna added the significant words: "General Taylor +_never_ surrenders." + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA + +Captain May leaped his steed over the parapets, followed by those of his +men whose horses could do a like feat, and was among the gunners the +next moment, sabering them right and left. General La Vega and a hundred +of his men were made prisoners and borne back to the American lines.] + +The American army was placed at the upper end of a long and narrow pass +in the mountains. It was flanked on one side by high cliffs and on the +other by impassable ravines, which position compelled the enemy to +attack him in front. + + +BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. + +The battle opened early on the morning of February 23d, with the +Mexicans swarming through the gorges and over the hills from San Luis +Potosi. The first assault was against the American right, but it was +beaten back by the Illinois troops; the next was against the centre, but +it was repelled by Captain Washington's artillery; and then the left +flank was vehemently assailed. A mistaken order caused an Indiana +regiment to give way, and for a time the whole army was in danger; but +the Mississippians and Kentuckians gallantly flung themselves into the +breach, the Indiana and Illinois troops rallied, and the Mexicans were +driven tumultuously back. In this brilliant exploit Colonel Jefferson +Davis, with his Mississippi regiment, played a prominent part. + +[Illustration: GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.] + + +"A LITTLE MORE GRAPE, CAPTAIN BRAGG." + +The next charge was upon Captain Bragg's battery, but that officer, in +obedience to General Taylor's famous request, "A little more grape, +Captain Bragg," scattered the Mexican lancers in every direction. The +success was followed up by a cavalry charge, which completed the +discomfiture of the enemy, who fled with the loss of 2,000 men. + +Buena Vista was a superb victory for the Americans, but it cost them +dear. The killed, wounded, and missing numbered nearly 800. Among the +killed was Colonel Henry Clay, son of the Kentucky orator and statesman. +The battle completed the work of General Taylor, who soon afterward +returned to the United States. The glory he had won made him President +less than two two years later. + +Returning once more to General Scott, he entered upon the last +campaign, March 9, 1847. Old army officers of to-day contrast the +admirable manner in which he did his preliminary work with the +mismanagement in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Impatience was +expressed at his tardiness in getting his troops ready on the transports +at New York. To all such complaints, the grim old soldier replied that +he would embark when everything was ready and not a single hour before. +As a consequence, his men landed at Vera Cruz in the best condition, +there was not the slightest accident, and every soldier when he stepped +ashore had three days' rations in his knapsack. Twelve thousand men were +landed, and in three days the investment of Vera Cruz was complete. Then +a Mexican train was captured and the troops had provisions in abundance. + + +CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ. + +The city having refused to surrender, the bombardment opened on the +morning of March 22d. The water-side of Vera Cruz was defended by the +castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, built a century and a half before by Spain +at enormous cost. Commodore Conner assisted throughout the four days +that the cannonade lasted. The success of the bombardment made the +Americans confident of capturing the castle by assault, and they were +preparing to do so when the authorities proposed satisfactory terms of +surrender, which took place March 29th. + +The direct march upon the capital now began, with General Twiggs in +command of the advance. The road steadily rises from the coast and +abounds in passes and mountains, which offer the best kind of natural +fortifications. When Twiggs reached one of these passes, named Cerro +Gordo, he found that Santa Anna had taken possession of it with 15,000 +troops. The whole American army numbered only 9,000, and it looked as if +they were halted in front of an impregnable position, but it must be +captured or the whole campaign would have to be abandoned. + + +BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. + +There was no hesitation on the part of our troops, who, under the lead +of the bravest and most skillful of officers, attacked with their usual +energy and daring. The Mexicans made the best defense possible, but +within a few hours they abandoned every position and were driven in +headlong confusion from the field. They lost 3,000 prisoners, among whom +were five generals, while the escape of Santa Anna was so narrow that he +left his cork leg behind. + +The American army pressed on to Jalapa, which made no resistance, and +furnished a large amount of supplies, and Puebla, a city of 80,000 +inhabitants, was occupied on the 15th of May. There the ground was high +and the air cool and salubrious. The men were exhausted from their +arduous campaign, and Scott decided to give them a good rest, so as to +be fully prepared for the final struggle. Besides it was necessary to +receive reinforcements before venturing further. Santa Anna, realizing +that the critical period of the struggle was at hand, put forth every +energy to collect an army to beat back the invaders. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. + +"Captain Lee led the way, and showed the men just what to do. They +lowered the cannons by ropes down the steep cliffs and hauled them up on +the opposite hillside."] + +Early in August the American army had been increased to 11,000 men, and, +leaving a small garrison at Puebla, Scott set out for the beautiful city +of Mexico. No serious resistance offered until they reached Ayotla, +fifteen miles from the capital. There it was found that the regular +road bristled with forts, and, although there was no doubt that all +could be carried, the American commander wisely decided to move his army +around to the south, where he could advance over a comparatively +undefended route. Without any difficulty he reached San Augustine, which +was within ten miles of the capital. + +Had the positions been changed, a force ten times as great as the +Americans could not have captured the city of Mexico, and yet it fell +before a force only one-third as numerous as the defenders. + + +A DAY OF VICTORIES. + +The fighting began before sunrise, August 20, 1847, and when night came +five distinct victories had been won. The fortified camp of Contreras +was captured in about fifteen minutes. Shortly after the fortified +village of San Antonio was taken by another division of the army. Almost +at the same time, a division stormed one of the fortified heights of +Churubusco, while still another captured the second height. Seeing the +danger of his garrisons, Santa Anna moved out of the city and attacked +the Americans. The reserves immediately assailed, drove him back, and +chased him to the walls of the capital, into which the whole Mexican +force crowded themselves at night. + +It was in accordance with the nature of Santa Anna that he should set +2,000 convicts loose that night on the promise that they would fight +against the Americans. Then he stole out of the city, whose authorities +sent a delegation to Scott to treat for peace. This trick had been +resorted to so many times by the Mexicans, who never kept faith, that +the American commander refused to listen to them. An advance was made, +and in a short time the city was completely in our possession. + + +SANTA ANNA. + +At Puebla there were 2,000 Americans in the hospital under charge of a +small guard. Santa Anna attacked them, thinking that at last he had +found a foe whom he could beat; but he was mistaken, for reinforcements +arrived in time to drive him away. This terminated for a time the career +of the treacherous Santa Anna, with whom the Mexican people were +thoroughly disgusted. + +It is proper to state at this point that Santa Anna while in command of +the Mexican army made a direct offer to General Taylor to betray his +cause for a large sum of money, and he actually received an installment, +but circumstances prevented the completeness of the bargain. This +miscreant was president and dictator of Mexico in 1853-55, was banished +and returned several times, and was still plotting to recover his power +when he died, in his eighty-second year. + +The capture of the capital of Mexico completed the victorious campaign. +The entrance into the city was made September 14, 1847, the American +flag raised over the palace, and General Scott, with a sweep of his +sword over his head, while his massive frame made a striking picture in +front of the palace, proclaimed the conquest of the country. All that +remained was to arrange the terms of peace. + + +TERMS OF PEACE. + +In the following winter, American ambassadors met the Mexican congress +in session at Guadalupe Hidalgo, so named from the small town where it +was situated. There was a good deal of discussion over the terms; our +ambassadors insisting that Mexico should surrender the northern +provinces, which included the present States of California, Nevada, +Utah, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico and portions of +Colorado and Wyoming, as indemnity for the war. Mexico would not +consent, and matters drifted along until the 2d of February, 1848, when +the new Mexican government agreed to these terms. The treaty was +modified to a slight extent by the United States Senate, adopted on the +10th of March, ratified by the Mexican congress sitting at Queretaro, +May 30th, and proclaimed by President Polk on the 4th of July. Thus +ended our war with Mexico. + +By the terms of the treaty, the United States was to pay Mexico +$15,000,000, and assume debts to the extent of $3,000,000 due to +American citizens from Mexico. These sums were in payment for the +immense territory ceded to us. This cession, the annexation of Texas, +and a purchase south of the Gila River in 1853, added almost a million +square miles to our possessions, nearly equaling the Louisiana purchase +and exceeding the whole area of the United States in 1783. + +It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that the governing of the new +territory caused so much trouble that more than once it was seriously +proposed in Congress that Mexico should be asked to take it back again. +General Sherman was credited with the declaration that if the identity +of the man who caused the annexation of Texas could be established, he +ought to be court-martialed and shot. However, all this changed when the +vast capabilities and immeasurable worth of the new countries were +understood. The section speedily developed a wealth, enterprise, and +industry of which no one had before dreamed. + + +THE SLAVERY QUESTION. + +The real peril involved in the acquisition of so much territory lay in +the certainty that it would revive the slavery quarrel that had been put +to sleep by the Missouri Compromise, nearly thirty years before. The +North demanded that slavery should be excluded from the new territory, +because it was so excluded by Mexican law, and to legalize it would keep +out emigrants from the free States. The South demanded the authorization +of slavery, since Southern emigrants would not go thither without their +slaves. Still others proposed to divide the new territory by the +Missouri Compromise line. This would have cut California in two near the +middle, and made one part of the province slave and the other free. +Altogether, it will be seen that trouble was at hand. + +Before the outbreak of the Mexican War, Congressman David Wilmot, of +Pennsylvania, introduced the Proviso known by his name. It was a +proposal to purchase the territory from Mexico, provided slavery was +excluded. The introduction of the bill produced much discussion, and it +was defeated by the opposition of the South. + + +THE OREGON BOUNDARY DISPUTE. + +Great Britain and the United States had jointly occupied Oregon for +twenty years, under the agreement that the occupancy could be ended by +either country under a year's notice to the other. Many angry debates +took place in Congress over the question whether such notice should be +given. The United States claimed a strip of territory reaching to +Alaska, latitude 54 deg. 40', while Great Britain claimed the territory +south of the line to the Columbia River. Congress as usual had plenty of +wordy patriots who raised the cry of "Fifty-four forty or fight," and it +was repeated throughout the country. Cooler and wiser counsels +prevailed, each party yielded a part of its claims, and made a middle +line the boundary. A minor dispute over the course of the boundary line +after it reached the Pacific islets was amicably adjusted by another +treaty in 1871. + + +STATES ADMITTED. + +It has been stated that the bill for the admission of Iowa did not +become operative until 1846. It was the fourth State formed from the +Louisiana purchase, and was first settled by the French at Dubuque; but +the post died, and no further settlements were made until the close of +the Black Hawk War of 1832, after which the population increased with +great rapidity. + +Wisconsin was the last State formed from the old Northwest Territory. A +few weak settlements were made by the French as early as 1668, but, as +in the case of Iowa, its real settlement began after the Black Hawk War. + + +THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. + +James Smithson of England, when he died in 1829, bequeathed his large +estate for the purpose of founding the Smithsonian Institution at +Washington "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In +1838, his estate, amounting to more than half a million dollars, was +secured by a government agent and deposited in the mint. John Quincy +Adams prepared a plan of organization, which was adopted. + +The Smithsonian Institution, so named in honor of its founder, was +placed under the immediate control of a board of regents, composed of +the President, Vice-President, judges of the supreme court, and other +principal officers of the government. It was provided that the entire +sum, amounting with accrued interest to $625,000, should be loaned +forever to the United States government at six per cent.; that from the +proceeds, together with congressional appropriations and private gifts, +proper buildings should be erected for containing a museum of natural +history, a cabinet of minerals, a chemical laboratory, a gallery of art, +and a library. The plan of organization was carried out, and Professor +Joseph Henry of Princeton College, the real inventor of the +electro-magnetic telegraph, was chosen secretary. + +[Illustration: THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.] + + +THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. + +For many years hardy hunters and trappers had penetrated the vast +wilderness of the West and Northwest in their hunt for game and +peltries. Some of these were in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, +whose grounds extended as far toward the Arctic Circle as the rugged men +and toughened Indians could penetrate on their snowshoes. + +At points hundreds of miles apart in the gloomy solitudes were erected +trading posts to which the red men brought furs to exchange for +trinkets, blankets, firearms, and firewater, and whither the white +trappers made their way, after an absence of months in the dismal +solitudes. Further south, among the rugged mountains and beside the +almost unknown streams, other men set their traps for the beaver, fox, +and various fur-bearing animals. Passing the Rocky Mountains and Cascade +Range they pursued their perilous avocation along the headwaters of the +rivers flowing through California. They toiled amid the snows and storms +of the Sierras, facing perils from the Indians, savage beasts, and the +weather, for pay that often did not amount to the wages received by an +ordinary day laborer. + +Little did those men suspect they were walking, sleeping, and toiling +over a treasure bed; that instead of tramping through snow and over ice +and facing the arctic blasts and vengeful red men, if they had dug into +the ground, they would have found wealth beyond estimate. + +The priests lived in the adobe haciendas that the Spanish had erected +centuries before, and, as they counted their beads and dozed in calm +happiness, they became rich in flocks and the tributes received from the +simple-minded red men. Sometimes they wondered in a mild way at the +golden trinkets and ornaments brought in by the Indians and were puzzled +to know where they came from, but it seemed never to have occurred to +the good men that they could obtain the same precious metal by using the +pick and shovel. The years came and passed, and red men and white men +continued to walk over California without dreaming of the immeasurable +riches that had been nestling for ages under their feet. + +[Illustration: GOLD WASHING--THE SLUICE.] + +One day in February, 1848, James W. Marshall, who had come to California +from New Jersey some years before, and had been doing only moderately +well with such odd jobs as he could pick up, was working with a +companion at building a sawmill for Colonel John A. Sutter, who had +immigrated to this country from Baden in 1834. Going westward, he +founded a settlement on the present site of Sacramento in 1841. He built +Fort Sutter on the Sacramento, where he was visited by Fremont on his +exploring expedition in 1846. + +Marshall and his companion were engaged in deepening the mill-race, the +former being just in front of the other. Happening to look around, he +asked: + +"What is that shining near your boot?" + +His friend reached his hand down into the clear water and picked up a +bright, yellow fragment and held it between his fingers. + +"It is brass," he said; "but how bright it is!" + +"It can't be brass," replied Marshall, "for there isn't a piece of brass +within fifty miles of us." + +The other turned it over again and again in his hand, put it in his +mouth and bit it, and then held it up once more to the light. Suddenly +he exclaimed: + +"I believe it's gold!" + +"I wonder if that's possible," said Marshall, beginning to think his +companion was right; "how can we find out?" + +"My wife can tell; she has made some lye from wood-ashes and will test +it." + +[Illustration: GOLD WASHING--THE CRADLE.] + +The man took the fragment to his wife, who was busy washing, and, at his +request, she boiled it for several hours with the lye. Had it been +brass--the only other metal it possibly could have been--it would have +turned a greenish-black. When examined again, however, its beautiful +bright lustre was undiminished. There was scarcely a doubt that it was +pure gold. + +The two men returned to the mill-race with pans, and washed out probably +fifty dollars' worth of gold. Despite the certainty of his friend, +Marshall was troubled by a fear that the fragment was neither brass nor +gold, but some worthless metal of which he knew nothing. He carefully +tied up all that had been gathered, mounted a fleet horse, and rode to +Sutter's store, thirty miles down the American River. + +Here he took Colonel Sutter into a private room and showed him what he +had found, saying that he believed it to be gold. Sutter read up the +account of gold in an encyclopedia, tested the substance with aqua +fortis, weighed it, and decided that Marshall was right, and that the +material he had found was undoubtedly gold. + +It was a momentous discovery, repeated nearly a half-century later, when +the same metal was found in enormous quantities in the Klondike region. +Colonel Sutter and his companions tried to keep the matter a secret, but +it was impossible. Marshall, being first on the ground, enriched +himself, but by bad management lost all he had gained and died a poor +man. Colonel Sutter tried to keep intruders off his property, but they +came like the swarms of locusts that plagued Egypt. They literally +overran him, and when he died, in 1880, he was without any means +whatever; but California has since erected a handsome statue to his +memory. + +For the following ten or twenty years, it may be said, the eyes of the +civilized world were upon California, and men rushed thither from every +quarter of the globe. There was an endless procession of emigrant trains +across the plains; the ships that fought the storms on their way around +Cape Horn were crowded almost to gunwales, while thousands halved the +voyage by trudging, across the Isthmus of Panama to the waiting ships on +the other side. California became a mining camp and millions upon +millions of gold were taken from her soil. + + +THE MORMONS. + +By this time the Mormons engaged much public attention. Joseph Smith, of +Sharon, Vermont, and Palmyra, New York, was the founder of the sect. He +claimed to have found in a cave a number of engraved plates, containing +the Mormon Bible, which was his guide in the formation of a new form of +religious belief. Although polygamy was not commended, it was afterward +added to their peculiar faith, which is that sins are remitted through +baptism, and that the will of God was revealed to his prophet, Smith, as +it was to be revealed to his successors. + +The most grotesque farce in the name of religion is sure to find +believers, and they soon gathered about Smith. The first Mormon +conference was held at Fayette, N.Y., in 1830. As their number +increased, they saw that the West offered the best opportunity for +growth and expansion, and, when there were nearly 2,000 of them, they +removed to Jackson, Missouri, where they made a settlement. Their +practices angered the people, and, as soon as they could find a good +pretext, the militia were called out and they were ordered to "move on." + +Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, they laid out a city which they +named Nauvoo. Some of them were wealthy, and, as they held their means +in common, they were able to erect a beautiful temple and numerous +residences. Converts now flocked to them until they numbered fully +10,000. Their neighbors were displeased with their presence, and the +feeling grew into indignation when the Mormons not only refused to obey +the State laws, but defied them and passed laws of their own in open +opposition. In the excitement that followed, Joseph Smith and his +brother Hyram were arrested and lodged in jail at Carthage. Lynch-law +was as popular in the West as it is to-day in the South, and a mob broke +into the jail and killed the Smith brothers. This took place in June, +1844, and the Illinois Legislature annulled the charter of Nauvoo. + +[Illustration: GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.] + +The experience of the Mormons convinced them that they would never be +allowed to maintain their organization in any of the States. They, +therefore, gathered up their worldly goods, and, in 1846, set out on the +long journey to the far West. Reaching the Basin of Utah, they founded +Great Salt Lake City, which is one of the handsomest, best governed, and +cleanest (in a physical sense) cities in the world. + +While referring to these peculiar people, we may as well complete their +history by anticipating events that followed. + +In 1857, our government attempted to extend its judicial system over +Utah Territory. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, until then +had not been disturbed, and he did not mean to be interfered with by any +government. He insulted the Federal judges sent thither and drove them +out of the Territory, his pretext being that the objectionable character +of the judges justified the step. Our government, which is always +patient in such matters, could not accept this explanation, and Alfred +Cumming, superintendent of Indian affairs on the Upper Missouri, was +made governor of Utah and Judge Delano Eckels, of Indiana, was appointed +chief justice of the Territory. Knowing that he would be resisted, +Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston was sent thither to compel obedience to +the laws. + +The United States troops, numbering 2,500, entered the Territory in +October and were attacked by the Mormons, who destroyed their supply +train and compelled the men to seek winter quarters near Fort Bridges. +Affairs were in this critical state when a messenger from the President, +in the spring of 1858, carried a conciliatory letter to Brigham Young, +which did much to soothe his ruffled feelings. Then, by-and-by, Governor +Powell of Kentucky and Major McCulloch of Texas appeared with a +proclamation of pardon to all who would submit to Federal authority. The +Mormons were satisfied, accepted the terms, and in May, 1860, the United +States troops were withdrawn from the Territory. + +Since that time our government has had many difficulties in dealing with +the Mormons. Although polygamy is forbidden by the laws of the States +and Territories, the sect continued to practice it. In March, 1882, +Congress passed what is known as the Edmunds Act, which excluded Mormons +from local offices which they had hitherto wholly controlled. Many +persons were indicted and punished for the practice of polygamy, while +others abandoned it. Brigham Young, who had become governor of Deseret +in 1849, and two years later was appointed governor of Utah, died in +1877, at which time he was president of the Mormon church. The practice +of polygamy was never fully eradicated, and Utah, at this writing, is +represented in the United States Senate by men who make no attempt at +concealing the fact that they are polygamists. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1848. + +The former Democrats and Whigs who were friendly to the Wilmot Proviso +formed the Free Soil party in 1848, to which also the Abolitionists +naturally attached themselves. The regular Whigs and Democrats refused +to support the Wilmot Proviso, through fear of alienating the South. The +Free Soilers named as their nominees Martin Van Buren, for President, +and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President; the +Democrats selected Louis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and William +O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President; the Whig candidates were +General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, for President, and Millard +Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President. At the electoral vote Zachary +Taylor was elected President and Millard Fillmore Vice-President. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857. + +Zachary Taylor--The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress--The Omnibus +Bill--Death of President Taylor--Millard Fillmore--Death of the Old +Leaders and Debut of the New--The Census of 1850--Surveys for a Railway +to the Pacific--Presidential Election of 1852--Franklin Pierce--Death of +Vice-President King--A Commercial Treaty Made with Japan--Filibustering +Expeditions--The Ostend Manifesto--The "Know Nothing" Party--The Kansas +Nebraska Bill and Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. + + +ZACHARY TAYLOR. + +[Illustration: ZACHARY TAYLOR. + +(1784-1850.) One partial term, 1849-1850.] + +General Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States, was born +at Orange Court-House, Virginia, September 24, 1784, but, while an +infant, his parents removed to Kentucky. His school education was +slight, but he possessed fine military instincts and developed into one +of the best of soldiers. His services in the war of 1812 and in that +with Mexico have been told in their proper place. His defense of Fort +Harrison, on the Wabash, during the last war with England, won him the +title of major by brevet, that being the first time the honor was +conferred in the American army. + +No man could have been less a politician than "Old Rough and Ready," for +he had not cast a vote in forty years. Daniel Webster characterized him +as an "ignorant frontier colonel," and did not conceal his disgust over +his nomination by the great party of which the New England orator was +the leader. It was Taylor's brilliant services in Mexico, that made him +popular above all others with the masses, who are the ones that make +and unmake presidents. Besides, a great many felt that Taylor had not +been generously treated by the government, and this sentiment had much +to do with his nomination and election. + + +THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. + +The "irrepressible conflict" between slavery and freedom could not be +postponed, and when, on the 13th of February, 1850, the President sent +to Congress the petition of California for admission as a State, the +quarrel broke out afresh. The peculiar character of the problem has +already been stated. A part of California lay north and a part south of +36 deg. 30', the dividing line between slavery and freedom as defined by +the Missouri Compromise, thirty years, before. Congress, therefore, had +not the power to exclude slavery, and the question had to be decided by +the people themselves. They had already done so by inserting a clause in +the Constitution which prohibited slavery. + +There were violent scenes on the floor of Congress. General Foote, of +Mississippi, was on the point of discharging a pistol at Colonel Benton, +of Missouri, when bystanders seized his arm and prevented. Weapons were +frequently drawn, and nearly every member went about armed and ready for +a deadly affray. The South threatened to secede from the Union, and we +stood on the brink of civil war. + + +THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. + +It was at this fearful juncture that Henry Clay, now an old man, +submitted to the Senate his famous "Omnibus Bill," so called because of +its many features, which proposed a series of compromises as follows: +the admission of California as a State, with the Constitution adopted by +her people (which prohibited slavery); the establishment of territorial +governments over all the other newly acquired Territories, with no +reference to slavery; the abolishment of all traffic in slaves in the +District of Columbia, but declaring it inexpedient to abolish slavery +there without the consent of the inhabitants and also of Maryland; the +assumption of the debts of Texas; while all fugitive slaves in the free +States should be liable to arrest and return to slavery. + +John C. Calhoun, the Southern leader, was earnestly opposed to the +compromise, but he was ill and within a few weeks of death, and his +argument was read in the Senate by Senator Mason. Daniel Webster +supported the measure with all his logic and eloquence, and it was his +aid extended to Clay that brought about the passage of the bill, all the +sections becoming laws in September, 1850, and California, conquered +from Mexico in 1846, took her place among the sisterhood of States. +Webster's support of the fugitive slave law lost him many friends in the +North, and, has been stated, rendered his election to the presidency +impossible. + +On the 4th of July, 1850, the remains from Kosciusko's tomb were +deposited in the monument in Washington, and President Taylor was +present at the ceremonies. The heat was terrific and caused him great +distress. On his return home he drank large quantities of ice-water and +milk, though he was warned against the danger of doing so. A fatal +illness followed, and he died on the 9th of July. Vice-President +Fillmore was sworn into office on the following day. + + +MILLARD FILLMORE. + +[Illustration: MILLARD FILLMORE. + +(1800-1874.) One partial term, 1850-53.] + +Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born at Summer Hill, New +York, February 7, 1800. He learned the fuller's trade, afterward taught +school, and, studying law, was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, where he +attained marked success. He was State comptroller for one term and +served in Congress for four terms. He died in Buffalo, March 7, 1874. +Fillmore was a man of good ability, but the inferior of many of those +who preceded him in the exalted office. He was a believer in the +compromise measures of Clay, and performed his duties conscientiously +and acceptably. + +Fillmore's administration is notable for the fact that it saw the +passing away of the foremost leaders, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, with +others of less prominence. They were succeeded in Congress by the +anti-slavery champions, William H. Seward, of New York; Charles Sumner, +of Massachusetts; and Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio. From the South, too, +came able men, in Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; John Y. Mason, of +Louisiana; and others. The giants had departed and their mantles fell +upon shoulders that were not always able to wear them as fittingly as +their predecessors. + +The slavery agitation produced its natural effect in driving many of the +Southern Whigs into the Democratic party, while a few Northern Democrats +united with the Whigs, who, however, were so disrupted that the +organization crumbled to pieces after the presidential election of +1852, and, for a time, no effective opposition to the Democratic party +seemed possible. + + +THE NEED OF A TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILROAD. + +The population of the United States in 1840 was 23,191,876. General +prosperity prevailed, but all felt the urgent need of a railroad +connecting Missouri and California. The Pacific coast had become a +leading part of the Union and its importance was growing every year. But +the building of such a railway, through thousands of miles of +wilderness, across lofty mountains and large rivers, was an undertaking +so gigantic and expensive as to be beyond the reach of private parties, +without congressional assistance. Still all felt that the road must be +built, and, in 1853, Congress ordered surveys to be made in order to +find the best route. The building of the railway, however, did not begin +until the War for the Union was well under way. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1852. + +When the time arrived for presidential nominations, the Democratic +convention met in Baltimore, June 12, 1852. The most prominent +candidates were James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, and +William L. Marcy. There was little variance in their strength for +thirty-five ballots, and everybody seemed to be at sea, when the +Virginia delegation, on the next ballot, presented the name of Franklin +Pierce of New Hampshire. + +"Who is Franklin Pierce?" was the question that went round the hall, +but, on the forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes to 11 for all the +others, and the question was repeated throughout the United States. +Pierce's opponent was General Winfield Scott, the commander-in-chief in +the Mexican War, who had done fine service in the War of 1812, and ranks +among the foremost military leaders of our country. But, personally, he +was unpopular, overbearing in his manners, a martinet, and without any +personal magnetism. No doubt he regarded it as an act of impertinence +for Pierce, who had been his subordinate in Mexico, to presume to pit +himself against him in the political field. But the story told by the +November election was an astounding one and read as follows: + +Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, Democrat, 254; Winfield Scott, of New +Jersey, Whig, 42; John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, Free Democrat, 0; +Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 0. For Vice-President: William +R. King, of Alabama, Democrat, 254; William A. Graham, of North +Carolina, Whig, 42; George W. Julian, of Indiana, Free Democrat, 0. + +The Whig convention which put Scott in nomination met also in Baltimore, +a few days after the Democratic convention. Webster was confident of +receiving the nomination, and it was the disappointment of his life +that he failed. The "Free Democrats," who placed candidates in +nomination, represented those who were dissatisfied with the various +compromise measures that had been adopted by Congress. The only States +carried by Scott were Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee. + + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +(1804-1869.) One term, 1853-1857.] + +Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New +Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College, +he became a successful lawyer. He always showed a fondness for military +matters, though not to the extent of neglecting politics and his +profession. He was elected to his State Legislature and was a member of +Congress from 1833 to 1837, and, entering the Senate in 1839, he +remained until 1842, afterward declining a cabinet appointment from +President Polk. He volunteered in the Mexican War, commanded a brigade, +and showed great gallantry in several battles. He died October 8, 1869. + +Mr. King, the Vice-President, was in such feeble health that he took the +oath of office in Cuba, and, returning to his native State, died April +18, 1853, being the first vice-president to die in office. One +remarkable fact should be stated regarding the administration of Pierce: +there was not a change in his cabinet throughout his whole term, the +only instance of the kind thus far in our history. + + +A TREATY WITH JAPAN. + +It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to +the world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other +country, and wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854, +Commodore M.C. Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced +the government to make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the +beginning of the marvelous progress of that country in civilization and +education, which forms one of the most astonishing records in the +history of mankind. Japan's overwhelming defeat of China, whose +population is ten times as great as our own; her acceptance of the most +advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of her rulers have +carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading powers and +justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is +sometimes applied to her people. + + +FILIBUSTERING. + +Pierce's administration was marked by a number of filibustering +expeditions against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them +succeeded, and a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish +authorities. The American government offered to purchase Cuba of Spain, +but that country indignantly replied that the mints of the world had not +coined enough gold to buy it. Could she have foreseen the events of +1898, no doubt she would have sold out for a moderate price. + +In August, 1854, President Pierce directed Mr. Buchanan, minister to +England, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and Mr. Soule, envoy to Spain, +to meet at some convenient place and discuss the question of obtaining +possession of Cuba. These distinguished gentlemen met at Ostend on the +9th of October, and adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, from which place they +issued, on the 18th of October, what is known as the "Ostend Manifesto +or Circular," in which they recommended the purchase of Cuba, declaring +that, if Spain refused to sell, the United States would be justified "by +every law, human and divine," in wresting it from her. This declaration, +for which there was no justification whatever, caused angry protest in +Europe and in the free States of our country, but was ardently applauded +in the South. Nothing came of it, and the country soon became so +absorbed in the slavery agitation that it was forgotten. + + +THE "KNOW NOTHINGS." + +Patriotic men, who feared what was coming, did all in their power to +avert it. One of these attempts was the formation of the "Know Nothing" +party, which grew up like a mushroom and speedily acquired a power that +enabled it to carry many local elections in the various States. It was a +secret organization, the members of which were bound by oath to oppose +the election of foreign-born citizens to office. The salutation, when +one member met another, was, "Have you seen Sam?" If one of them was +questioned about the order, his reply was that he knew nothing, from +which the name was given to what was really the Native American party. +It soon ran its course, but has been succeeded in its cardinal +principles by the American Protective Association of the present day. + +Meanwhile, the slavery question was busy at its work of disintegration. +The Democratic party was held together for a time by the Compromise of +1850, to the effect that the inhabitants of the new Territories of New +Mexico and Utah should be left to decide for themselves the question of +slavery. In a few years the settlements in Nebraska and Kansas made it +necessary to erect territorial governments there, and the question of +slavery was thus brought before Congress again. The Missouri Compromise +forbade slavery forever in those sections, for both of them lie to the +north parallel of 36 deg. 30'. Stephen A. Douglas, however, and a number +of other Democratic leaders in Congress claimed that the Compromise of +1850 nullified this agreement, and that the same freedom of choice should +be given to the citizens of Kansas and Nebraska as was given to those in +Utah and New Mexico. This policy was called "Squatter Sovereignty." + + +THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. + +The bill was bitterly fought in Congress, but it passed the Senate by a +vote of thirty-seven to fourteen, and after another fierce struggle was +adopted in the House by a vote of 113 to 100. It received several +amendments, and the President signed it May 31, 1854. Thus the Missouri +Compromise was repealed and the first note of civil war sounded. The +question of slavery was opened anew, and could never be closed without +the shedding of blood to an extent that no one dreamed. + +[Illustration: LUCRETIA MOTT. + +The advance agent of emancipation. (1793-1880.)] + + +FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. + +The enforcement of the fugitive slave law was resisted in the North and +numerous conflicts took place. During the attempted arrest of Anthony +Burns in Boston a deputy-sheriff was shot dead, and Federal troops from +Rhode Island had to be summoned before Burns could be returned to +slavery. Former political opponents began uniting in both sections. In +the North the opponents of slavery, comprising Democrats, Free-Soilers, +Know Nothings, Whigs, and Abolitionists, joined in the formation of the +"Anti-Nebraska Men," and under that name they elected, in 1854, a +majority of the House of Representatives for the next Congress. Soon +after the election, the new organization took the name of Republicans, +by which they are known to-day. Its members, with a few exceptions among +the Germans in Missouri and the Ohio settlers in western Virginia, +belonged wholly to the North. + + +CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS. + +Kansas became for the time the battle-ground between slavery and +freedom. Societies in the North sent emigrants into Kansas, first +furnishing them with Bibles and rifles, while the pro-slavery men +swarmed thither from Missouri, and the two parties fought each other +like Apache Indians. In the midst of the civil war, a territorial +legislature was formed, and in many instances the majority of the +candidates elected was double that of the voting population in the +district. Governor A.H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed +governor of the Territory, and, finding himself powerless to check the +anarchy, went to Washington in April, 1855, to consult with the +government. While there he was nominated for Congress, and defeated by +the fraudulent votes of the pro-slavery men. + +[Illustration: HENRY WARD BEECHER. + +The Great Pulpit Orator and Anti-Slavery Agitator.] + +Meanwhile, two State governments had been formed. The pro-slavery men +met at Lecompton, in March, and adopted a Constitution permitting +slavery. Their opponents assembled in Lawrence, August 15th, and elected +delegates, who came together in October and ratified the Topeka +Constitution, which forbade slavery. In January, 1856, the people held +an election under this Constitution. In the same month President Pierce +sent a message to Congress, in which he declared the formation of a free +State government in Kansas an act of rebellion, while that adopted at +Lecompton was the valid government. Governor Reeder was superseded by +William Shannon. A committee sent by Congress into the Territory to +investigate and report could not agree, and nothing came of it. + +The civil war grew worse. A free State government, with General Joseph +Lane as its head and supported by a well-armed force, was formed at +Lawrence. The town was sacked and almost destroyed, May 20, 1856. On the +4th of July following, the free State Legislature was dispersed by +Federal troops, upon order of the national government. + +John W. Geary now tried his hand as governor. His first step was to +call upon both parties to disarm, and neither paid any attention to +him. Finding he could not have the support of the President in the +vigorous policy he wished to adopt, Governor Geary resigned and was +succeeded by Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. He showed a disposition to +be fair to all concerned, but, before he could accomplish anything, he +was turned out to make room for J.W. Denver. He was soon disgusted and +gave way to Samuel Medary. Before long, it became evident that the +influx of northern settlers must overcome the pro-slavery men, and the +struggle was given up by the latter. A constitution prohibiting slavery +was ratified in 1859 and Charles Robinson elected governor. + + +VIOLENT SCENES IN CONGRESS. + +Nebraska lies so far north that it was not disturbed. Acts of +disgraceful violence took place in Congress, challenges to duels being +exchanged, personal collisions occurring on the floor, while most of the +members went armed, not knowing what minute they would be assaulted. In +May, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, for utterances made +in debate, was savagely assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South +Carolina, and received injuries from which he did not recover for +several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his brutal act and +re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority. + +The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it +placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the +country by the vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics: + +James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174; John C. Fremont, of +California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native +American, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, +Democrat, 174; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114; A.J. +Donelson, of Tennessee, Native American, 8. + + +JAMES BUCHANAN. + +[Illustration: JAMES BUCHANAN. + +(1791-1868.) One term, 1857-1861.] + +James Buchanan, fifteenth President, was born in Mercersburg, +Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from Dickinson College in +1809. He became a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to +Congress in 1821. Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office. +President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon +returning home, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He +left that body, in 1845, to become Polk's secretary of State. In 1853, +he was appointed minister to England, where he remained until his +election to the presidency in 1856. He died at his home in Lancaster, +June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon Buchanan prove his ability, +though he has been often accused of showing timidity during his term of +office, which was of the most trying nature. He was the only bachelor +among our Presidents. + + +STATES ADMITTED. + +Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a part of the +Louisiana purchase. Troubles over the Indian titles delayed its +settlement until 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid. +Oregon was admitted in 1859. The streams of emigration to California +overflowed into Oregon, where some of the precious metal was found. It +was learned, however, in time that Oregon's most valuable treasure mine +was in her wheat, which is exported to all parts of the world. Kansas, +of which we have given an account in the preceding pages, was quietly +admitted, directly after the seceding Senators abandoned their seats, +their votes having kept it out up to that time. The population of the +United States in 1860 was 31,443,321. Prosperity prevailed everywhere, +and, but for the darkening shadows of civil war, the condition of no +people could have been more happy and promising. + + +THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. + +Dred Scott was the negro slave of Dr. Emerson, of Missouri, a surgeon in +the United States army. In the discharge of his duty, his owner took him +to military posts in Illinois and Minnesota. Scott married a negro woman +in Minnesota, and both were sold by Dr. Emerson upon his return to +Missouri. The negro brought suit for his freedom on the ground that he +had been taken into territory where slavery was forbidden. The case +passed through the various State courts, and, reaching the United States +Supreme Court, that body made its decision in March, 1857. + +This decision was to the effect that negro slaves were not citizens, and +no means existed by which they could become such; they were simply +property like household goods and chattels, and their owner could take +them into any State in the Union without forfeiting his ownership in +them. It followed also from this important decision that the Missouri +Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 were null and void, since +it was beyond the power of the contracting parties to make such +agreements. Six of the justices concurred in this decision and two +dissented. + +[Illustration: LUCRETIA MOTT PROTECTING THE NEGRO DANGERFIELD FROM THE +MOB IN PHILADELPHIA. + +When Daniel Dangerfield, a fugitive slave, was tried in Philadelphia, +Lucretia Mott sat during all his trial by the side of the prisoner. When +the trial was ended Dangerfield was set at liberty, and Mrs. Mott walked +out of the court-room and through the mob which threatened to lynch him, +her hand on the colored man's arm, and that little hand was a sure +protector, for no one dared to touch him.] + +This decision was received with delight in the South and repudiated in +the North. The contention there was that the Constitution regarded +slaves as "persons held to labor" and not as property, and that they +were property only by State law. + + +JOHN BROWN'S RAID. + +While the chasm between the North and South was rapidly growing wider, a +startling occurrence took place. John Brown was a fanatic who believed +Heaven had appointed him its agent for freeing the slaves in the South. +He was one of the most active partisans on the side of freedom in the +civil war in Kansas, and had been brooding over the subject for years, +until his belief in his mission became unshakable. + +Brown's plan was simple, being that of invading Virginia with a small +armed force and calling upon the slaves to rise. He believed they would +flock around him, and he fixed upon Harper's Ferry as the point to begin +his crusade. + +Secretly gathering a band of twenty men, in the month of October, 1859, +he held them ready on the Maryland shore. Late on Sunday night, the +16th, they crossed the railway bridge over the Potomac, seized the +Federal armory at Harper's Ferry, stopped all railroad trains, arrested +a number of citizens, set free such slaves as they came across, and held +complete possession of the town for twenty-four hours. + +Brown acted with vigor. He threw out pickets, cut the telegraph wires, +and sent word to the slaves that their day of deliverance had come and +they were summoned to rise. By this time the citizens had themselves +risen, and, attacking the invaders, drove them into the armory, from +which they maintained fire until it became clear that they must succumb. +Several made a break, but were shot down. Brown retreated to an +engine-house with his wounded and prisoners and held his assailants at +bay all through Monday and the night following. + +News having been sent to Washington, Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived +Tuesday morning with a force of marines and land troops. The local +militia of Virginia had also been called out. The situation of Brown was +hopeless, but he refused to surrender. Colonel Lee managed matters with +such skill that only one of his men was shot, while Brown was wounded +several times, his two sons killed, and others slain. The door of the +engine-house was battered in and the desperate men overpowered. The +enraged citizens would have rended them to pieces, had they been +allowed, but Colonel Lee protected and turned them over to the civil +authorities. Brown and his six companions were placed on trial, found +guilty of what was certainly an unpardonable crime, and hanged on the 2d +of December, 1859. + +Many in the South believed that the act of Brown was planned and +supported by leading Republicans, but such was not the fact, and they +were as earnest in condemnation of the mad proceeding as the extreme +slavery men, but John Brown's raid served to fan the spark of civil war +that was already kindled and fast growing into a flame. + +[Illustration: HARPER'S FERRY] + + +PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. + +The presidential campaigns that had been pressed heretofore with a +certain philosophic good nature, now assumed a tragic character. The +South saw the growing preponderance of the North. New States were +continually forming out of the enormous territory in the West, the +opposition to slavery was intensifying, and its overthrow was certain. +Senator Seward had announced the "irrepressible conflict" between +freedom and the institution, and the only remedy the South saw lay in +secession from the Union, for they loved that less than slavery. They +announced their unalterable intention of seceding in the event of the +election of a president of Republican principles. The Republicans placed +Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, in nomination. Jefferson Davis saw that +the only way of defeating him was by uniting all the opposing parties +into one. He urged such a union, but the elements would not fuse. + +The Democratic convention assembled in Charleston in April, 1860, and +had hardly come together when the members began quarreling over slavery. +Some of the radicals insisted upon the adoption of a resolution favoring +the opening of the slave trade, in retaliation for the refusal of the +North to obey the fugitive slave law. This measure, however, was voted +down, and many were in favor of adopting compromises and making +concessions for the sake of the Union. Stephen A. Douglas was their +candidate, but no agreement could be made, and the convention split +apart. The extremists were not satisfied with "squatter sovereignty," +and, determined to prevent the nomination of Douglas, they withdrew from +the convention. Those who remained, after balloting some time without +result, adjourned to Baltimore, where, on the 18th of June, they placed +Douglas in nomination, with Herschel V. Johnson as the nominee for +Vice-President. Their platform was the doctrine that the people of each +Territory should settle the question of slavery for themselves, but they +expressed a willingness to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. + +The seceding delegates adjourned to Richmond, and again to Baltimore, +where, June 28th, they nominated John C. Breckinridge for President and +Joseph Lane for Vice-President. Their platform declared unequivocally in +favor of slavery being protected in all parts of the Union, where the +owners chose to take their slaves. + +The American party, which called themselves Constitutional Unionists, +had already met in Baltimore, and nominated John Bell for President and +Edward Everett for Vice-President. Their platform favored the +"Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws." This +platform was of the milk-and-water variety, appealing too weakly to the +friends and opponents of slavery to develop great strength. The question +of African slavery had become the burning one before the country, and +the people demanded that the political platforms should give out no +uncertain sound. + +Amid uncontrollable excitement, the presidential election took place +with the following result: + +Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican, 180; Stephen A. Douglas, of +Illinois, Democrat, 12; John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 72; +John Bell, of Tennessee, Union, 39. For Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin, +of Maine, Republican, 180; Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, Democrat, +12; Joseph Lane, of Oregon, Democrat, 72; Edward Everett, of +Massachusetts, Union, 39. + +On the popular vote, Lincoln received 866,352; Douglas, 1,375,157; +Breckinridge, 845,763; Bell, 589,581. Lincoln had the electoral votes of +all the Northern States, except a part of New Jersey; Virginia, +Kentucky, and Tennessee supported Bell, while most of the Southern +States voted for Breckinridge. The Democratic party, which, with the +exception of the break in 1840 and 1848, had controlled the country for +sixty years, was now driven from the field. + + +SECESSION AND FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. + +The hope was general that the South would not carry out her threat of +seceding from the Union, and, but for South Carolina, she would not have +done so; but that pugnacious State soon gave proof of her terrible +earnestness. Her Convention assembled in Charleston, and passed an +ordinance of secession, December 20, 1860, declaring "That the Union +heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North +America is dissolved." The other Southern States, although reluctant to +give up the Union, felt it their duty to stand by the pioneer in the +movement against it, and passed ordinances of secession, as follows: +Mississippi, January 9, 1861; Florida, January 10th; Alabama, January +11th; Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, January 26th; and Texas, +February 23d. + +In the hope of averting civil war numerous peace meetings were held in +the North, and Virginia called for a "peace conference," which assembled +in Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of +those in the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, +Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was +made president of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were +rejected by the Virginia and North Carolina delegates and refused by +Congress, which, since the withdrawal of the Southern members, was +controlled by the Republicans. + +The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to +Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed "The Confederate States of +America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander +H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. A constitution and flag, both +resembling those of the United States, were adopted and all departments +of the government organized. + +As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the +government property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern +United States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service +of the Confederacy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort +Pickens at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South +Carolina authorities began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the +steamer _Star of the West_ attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it +was fired upon, January 9th, and driven off. Thus matters stood at the +close of Buchanan's administration, March 4, 1861. + +[Illustration: THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865. + +THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861. + +Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson +Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort +Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops in +Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of England and +France--Friendship of Russia--The States that Composed the Southern +Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign +in Western Virginia--General George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull +Run--General McClellan Called to the Command of the Army of the +Potomac--Union Disaster at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in +Missouri--Battle of Wilson's Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at +Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The +Trent Affair--Summary of the Year's Operations. + + +Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President, ranks among the greatest that has +ever presided over the destinies of our country. He was born in Hardin +(now Larue) County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809, but when seven years +old his parents removed to Indiana, making their home near the present +town of Gentryville. + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +(1809-1865.) Two terms (died in office), 1861-1865.] + +His early life was one of extreme poverty, and his whole schooling did +not amount to more than a year; but, possessing a studious mind, he +improved every spare hour in the study of instructive books. At the age +of sixteen the tall, awkward, but powerful boy was earning a living by +managing a ferry across the Ohio. He remained for some time after +reaching manhood with his parents, who removed to Illinois in 1830, and +built a log-cabin on the north fork of the Sangamon. He was able to give +valuable help in clearing the ground and in splitting rails. With the +aid of a few friends he constructed a flat-boat, with which he took +produce to New Orleans. Selling both goods and boat, he returned to his +home and still assisted his father on the farm. In the Black Hawk War he +was elected captain of a company, but did not see active service. + +By this time his ability had attracted the notice of friends, and at the +age of twenty-five he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, in which +he served for four terms. Meanwhile he had studied law as opportunity +presented, and was sent to Congress in 1846. He opposed the war with +Mexico, but, among such giants as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and +others, he could not make any distinctive mark; but his powerful common +sense, his clear logic, his unassailable integrity, his statesmanship +and grasp of public questions, and his quaint humor, often approaching +the keenest wit, carried him rapidly to the front and made him the +leader of the newly formed Republican party. In 1858 he stumped Illinois +for United States senator against Stephen A. Douglas, his valued friend. +His speeches attracted national attention as masterpieces of eloquence, +wit, and forceful presentation of the great issues which were then +agitating the country. He was defeated by Douglas, but the remarkable +manner in which he acquitted himself made him the successful candidate +of the Republican party in the autumn of 1860. + +[Illustration: FROM LOG-CABIN TO THE WHITE HOUSE.] + +Lincoln was tall and ungainly, his height being six feet four inches. +His countenance was rugged and homely, his strength as great as that of +Washington, while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which +his bitterest opponent never questioned, won for him the name of +"Honest Abe." He was one of the most kind-hearted of men, and his rule +of life was "malice toward none and charity for all". He grew with the +demands of the tremendous responsibilities placed upon him, and the +reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader has been surpassed +by no previous President and becomes greater with the passing years. + + +MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER. + +All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was the +strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the +Confederates intended to take possession of it, secretly removed his +garrison from Fort Moultrie on the night of December 26, 1860. Anderson +was in a trying position, for the secretary of war, Floyd, and the +adjutant-general of the army, Cooper, to whom he was obliged to report, +were secessionists, and not only refused to give him help, but threw +every obstacle in his way. President Buchanan was surrounded by +secessionists, and most of the time was bewildered as to his course of +duty. He resented, however, the demand of Secretary Floyd for the +removal of Anderson because of the change he had made from Moultrie to +Sumter. Floyd resigned and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, an +uncompromising Unionist, who did all he could to hold up the President +in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew +stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the +North. An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as +attorney-general, for he was a man of great ability and a relentless +enemy of secession. + + +JEFFERSON DAVIS. + +[Illustration: JEFFERSON DAVIS.] + +Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern +Confederacy that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February, +was born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were +natives of the same State, with less than a year's difference in their +ages. Davis was graduated at West Point in 1828, and served on the +northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk War. He was also a lieutenant of +cavalry in the operations against the Comanches and Apaches. He resigned +from the army and became a cotton-planter in Mississippi, which State he +represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned to assume the colonelcy +of the First Mississippi regiment. + +Colonel Davis displayed great gallantry at the storming of Monterey and +at the battle at Buena Vista, and on his return home was immediately +elected to the United States Senate, in which he served 1847-51 and +1857-61. From 1853 to 1857 he was secretary of war under Pierce. He was +one of the Southern leaders, and had already been mentioned as a +candidate for the presidency. He resigned his seat in the United States +Senate in January, 1861, upon the secession of his State, and, being +elected Provisional President of the Southern Confederacy February 9th, +was inaugurated February 18th. In the following year he and Stephens +were regularly elected President and Vice-President respectively, and +were inaugurated on the 18th of the month. + + +INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. + +President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, on the +11th of February for Washington. He stopped at various points on the +route, and addressed multitudes that had gathered to see and hear him. A +plot was formed to assassinate him in Baltimore, but it was defeated by +the vigilance of the officers attending Lincoln, who took him through +the city on an earlier train than was expected. General Scott had the +capital so well protected by troops that no disturbance took place +during the inauguration. + + +BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER. + +The Confederate government sent General Beauregard to assume charge of +the defenses in Charleston harbor. Finding the fort was being furnished +with supplies, he telegraphed to his government for instructions. He was +ordered to enforce the evacuation. Beauregard demanded the surrender of +the fort, and, being refused by Major Anderson, he opened fire, early on +the morning of April 12th, from nineteen batteries. Major Anderson had a +garrison of 79 soldiers and 30 laborers who helped serve the guns. He +allowed the men to eat breakfast before replying. In a few hours the +supply of cartridges gave out, and blankets and other material were used +as substitutes. The garrison were kept within the bomb-proof galleries, +and did not serve the guns on the open parapets, two of which had been +dismounted by the fire from the Confederate batteries, which after a +time set fire to the officers' barracks. The flames were extinguished, +but broke out several times. The smoke became so smothering that the +men could breathe only by lying flat on their faces. Finally the +position became so untenable that Anderson ran up the white flag in +token of surrender. No one was killed on either side. + +The news of the surrender created wild excitement North and South and +united both sections. While the free States rallied to the Union, almost +as one man, the Unionists in the South became ardent supporters of the +cause of disunion. It was now a solid North against a solid South. + +[Illustration: FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE +DISTANCE.] + +Three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called +for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and Congress was +summoned to meet on the 4th of July. Few people comprehended the +stupendous work that would be required to crush the rebellion. While the +South was hurrying its sons into the ranks, 300,000 answered the call of +President Lincoln, who on the 19th of April issued another proclamation +declaring a blockade of the Southern ports. + + +UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE. + +Many of the Confederates demanded that an advance should be made upon +Washington, and, had it been done promptly, it could have been captured +without difficulty. Realizing its danger, the national government called +upon the States for troops and several regiments were hurried thither. +While the Seventh Pennsylvania and Sixth Massachusetts were passing +through Baltimore, they were savagely assailed by a mob. A portion of +the Sixth Massachusetts were hemmed in, and stoned and pelted with +pistol-shots. They remained cool until three of their number had been +killed and eight wounded, when they let fly with a volley which +stretched nearly a dozen rioters on the ground, besides wounding many +others. This drove the mob back, although they kept up a fusillade until +the train drew out of the city with the troops aboard. + + +ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES. + +The Confederates in Virginia continued active. They captured Harper's +Ferry and the Norfolk Navy Yard, both of which proved very valuable to +them. Their government issued "letters of marque" which permitted +private persons to capture merchant vessels belonging to the United +States, against which the Confederate Congress declared war. + +The border States were in perhaps the most trying situation of all, for, +while they wished to keep out of the war, they were forced to act the +part of buffer between the hostile States. The secessionists in +Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri made determined efforts to bring about +the secession of those States, but the Union men were too strong. The +armies on both sides received many recruits from the States named, which +in some cases suffered from guerrilla fighting between former friends +and neighbors. + +Kentucky, whose governor was a secessionist, thought she could hold a +neutral position, but the majority of the citizens were Union in their +sentiments. Besides, the situation of the State was such that it was +soon invaded by armed forces from both sides, and some of the severest +battles of the war were fought on its soil. + + +THE WAR AS VIEWED IN EUROPE. + +The prospect of the splitting apart of the United States was pleasing to +all the European powers, with the single exception of Russia. France was +especially urgent in favoring an armed intervention in favor of the +Confederacy, but England would not agree, nor would she recognize the +Confederate States as an independent nation, for, had she done so, the +United States would immediately have declared war against her. In May, +however, England declared the Confederacy a belligerent power, thereby +entitling it to make war and man war vessels, which could take refuge in +foreign ports. While this recognition was of unquestionable help, it +would not have amounted to a great deal had not England permitted the +building of swift and powerful cruisers, which were turned over to the +Confederates, and did immense damage to Northern commerce. + +When June arrived, the Southern Confederacy was composed of eleven +States: South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, +Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. As soon +as Virginia seceded (May 23d), the capital was removed from Montgomery +to Richmond. It was clear that Virginia would be the principal +battle-ground of the war, and the Confederate volunteers throughout the +South hurried into the State. + +An intelligent knowledge of the direction from which danger was likely +to come was shown by the placing of troops in western Virginia to meet +Confederate attacks, while soldiers were moved into southern Kentucky to +defend Tennessee. In Virginia they held the line from Harper's Ferry to +Norfolk, and batteries were built along the Mississippi to stop all +navigation of that stream. The erection of forts along the Atlantic and +Gulf coasts for protection against the blockading fleets soon walled in +the Confederacy on every hand. + + +THE MILITARY SITUATION. + +General Scott for a time held the general command of all the United +States forces. But he was old and growing weak in body and mind, and it +was evident must soon give way to a younger man. The national forces +held the eastern side of the Potomac, from Harper's Ferry to Fort +Monroe, and a small section of the western side opposite Washington. +While enlisting and drilling troops, they strove to hold also Kentucky +and Missouri, succeeding so well that their grip was never lost +throughout the war. + +[Illustration: A SKIRMISHER.] + +With the opposing forces face to face, continual skirmishing was kept +up. This had no effect on the war itself, but was expressive of the +martial spirit which animated both sides. General B.F. Butler, who had +great executive but slight military ability, was in command at Fort +Monroe. While there he refused to surrender a number of fugitive slaves +that had fled into his lines, declaring them "contraband of war." The +phrase was a happy one and caught the fancy of the North. + + +UNION DISASTER AT BIG BETHEL. + +Butler fortified Newport News, which is a point of land at the junction +of the James River and Hampton Roads. Fifteen miles away was a +Confederate detachment, on the road to Yorktown, where the main body was +under the command of General J.B. Magruder, a former artillery officer +of the United States army. The Confederate position at Big Bethel was a +strong one and had a garrison of more than a thousand troops. A short +distance in front was Little Bethel, where a small detachment was under +the command of Colonel D.H. Hill, also a former member of the United +States army. + +General Pierce advanced to the attack early on the morning of June 9th. +The two columns mistook each other, and not until 10 men were killed was +the sad blunder discovered. An assault quickly followed, but the +assailants were defeated with the loss of 14 killed and 49 wounded. +Among the slain was Lieutenant John T. Greble, a brilliant West Point +officer, who ought to have been in command of the brigade, with which he +doubtless would have achieved a success. The incompetency of the +political leader cost dearly, but the government was yet to learn that +full-fledged officers are not to be found among men who have made +politics their life profession. + + +SUCCESSFUL UNION CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. + +The only place where there were any Union successes was in western +Virginia. Colonel Wallace with a detachment of Indiana Zouaves--a +favorite form of military troops at the beginning of the war--made a +forced march at night over a mountain road, from Cumberland, in +Maryland, to Romney, where the Confederates had a battery on a bluff +near the village, guarded by a number of field-pieces. By a spirited +dash, the Union troops captured the position and drove the defenders +into the woods. Unable to overtake them, Colonel Wallace returned to +Cumberland. + +This incident had important results. General Jo Johnston, one of the +best commanders of the war, was at Harper's Ferry, and, fearing for his +communications, he evacuated the post, and marched up the Shenandoah +Valley to a point near Winchester. + + +GENERAL McCLELLAN. + +The operations in western Virginia brought into prominence an officer +who was destined to play an important part in the war. He was George B. +McClellan, born in Philadelphia in 1826, and graduated at West Point in +1846. He rendered fine service in the Mexican War, after which, +resigning from the army, he was for several years engineer for the +Illinois Central Railroad and afterward a railroad president. He was +appointed a major-general at the opening of the Civil War, and, with +15,000 troops, mostly from the Western States, he advanced against the +Confederates in western Virginia under the command of General Garnett, +also a graduate and formerly an instructor at West Point. Garnett held a +position west of the principal line of the Alleghanies, which covered +the road leading from Philippi to Beverly. Colonel Pegram was placed in +charge of the hill Rich Mountain, a short distance south of Garnett. + +McClellan advanced against these two positions. Colonel Rosecrans, with +four regiments and in the face of a blinding rainstorm, followed a +circuitous path through the woods, and charged up the elevation against +a strong fire. The Confederates were driven from their position and down +the other side of the hill. Colonel Pegram, finding his position turned, +retreated in the direction of Beverly. Rosecrans pursued and Garnett +turned to the north, aiming for St. George on the Cheat River. Pegram +had surrendered with 600 men, the remainder joining Garnett, who was +hard pressed by General Morris. Despite the obstructions thrown in his +path, he overtook the fugitives on the 13th of July at Carrick's Ford on +the Cheat River. There the Confederates were routed and Garnett shot +dead at the head of his troops. The remnant of his force fled in +disorder, and succeeded in reaching Monterey on the eastern side of the +mountains. + +[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. + +(1826-1885).] + +The campaign in western Virginia was a brilliant Union success. A +thousand prisoners, seven guns, 1,500 stands of arms, and twelve colors +were captured, with slight loss to the victors. All the credit of this +success was given to McClellan, and, since the North was yearning for +some leader with the halo of success attached to his name, they at once +proclaimed "Little Mac" as their idol, destined to crush secession and +re-establish the Union in all its strength and former glory. + +In September General Robert E. Lee was sent into western Virginia to +regain the ground lost, but he failed and was driven out of the section +by Rosecrans, the successor of McClellan. Before this took place, +however, the opening battle of the war had been fought elsewhere. + + +"ON TO RICHMOND!" + +The removal of the Confederate government from Montgomery to Richmond +was unbearably exasperating to the North. It may be said that the +secession flag was flaunted in sight of Washington. The New York +_Tribune_, the most influential journal of the North, raised the cry +"_On to Richmond_!" and the pressure became so clamorous and persistent +that the government, although conscious of the risk of the step, ordered +an advance against the Confederate capital. Congress, which had met July +4th, appropriated $500,000,000 for carrying on the war, and authorized +President Lincoln to call out 500,000 volunteers for crushing the +rebellion. + +The Union army across the Potomac from Washington numbered about 40,000 +men and was under the command of General Irvin McDowell. It was only +partly disciplined, had a few good and many incompetent officers, was +composed of fine material, but of necessity lacked the steadiness which +can only be acquired by actual campaigns and fighting. + +General Beauregard, with a Confederate army not quite so numerous, held +a strong military position near Manassas Junction, some thirty miles +from Washington, and connected with Richmond by rail. General Jo +Johnston had a smaller Confederate army at Winchester, it being his duty +to hold General Patterson in check and prevent his reinforcing McDowell. +At the same time Patterson, to prevent Johnston from joining Beauregard, +planned an offensive movement against the Confederate commander at +Winchester. + + +THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. + +McDowell's plan was to advance to Fairfax Court-House, and then, turning +south, cut Beauregard's communications. The first movement was made on +the afternoon of July 16th. General Mansfield with 16,000 men remained +in Washington to protect the capital from surprise. The advance was +slow, occupying several days. McDowell discovered six Confederate +brigades posted along the creek known as Bull Run, and he decided to +begin his attack upon them. While General Tyler was sent across the +stone bridge to threaten the Confederate front, Hunter and Heintzelman +were directed to make a detour and attack the enemy's front and rear. +Johnston, who had hurried up from Winchester, had decided to hasten the +battle through fear of the arrival of Patterson with reinforcements for +McDowell, but the latter, moving first, Johnston was compelled to act on +the defensive. + +[Illustration: FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861 + +On July 16, 1861, the first great battle of the Civil War was fought, +resulting in the complete defeat of the Union army, which fled in panic +from the field. Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit they could +easily have captured Washington city. The total loss to the Union army +in killed, wounded, captured and missing was 3,334 men; that of the +Southern army, 1,982. The Confederates gained another victory at Bull +Run in 1862.] + +Tyler and Hunter were tardy in their movements, but by noon McDowell had +turned the Confederate left and uncovered the stone bridge. Instead of +using the advantage thus secured and assuming position at Manassas +depot, he kept up his pursuit of the fleeing Confederates to the woods. +There, when everything seemed to be going the way of the Union array, it +was checked by General T.J. Jackson's brigade, whose firm stand in the +face of seeming disaster won for him the soubriquet of "Stonewall" +Jackson, first uttered in compliment by General Bee, by which name the +remarkable man will always be remembered. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF McCLELLAN IN CITY HALL SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA.] + +The stand of Jackson enabled Johnston to rally the right and Beauregard +the left, but matters were in a critical shape, when Kirby Smith, who +had escaped Patterson in the valley, rushed across the fields from +Manassas with 15,000 fresh troops. This timely arrival turned, the +fortunes of the day. McDowell was driven from the plateau he had +occupied, and the whole Union army was thrown into a panic and rushed in +headlong flight for the defenses of Washington. Nothing could stay their +flight, and the city was overrun with the terrified fugitives, who +swarmed into the railroad trains, fled to the open fields beyond, +spreading the most frightful rumors, while many did not believe +themselves safe until at home in the North. + +Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit, they could have easily +captured Washington. They failed to do so, because they did not know +how beaten and disorganized the Union forces were. The Union losses in +this first great battle of the war were: Killed, 470; wounded, 1,071; +captured and missing, 1,793; total, 3,334. The Confederate losses were: +Killed, 387; wounded, 1,582; captured and missing, 13; total, 1,982. + + +GENERAL McCLELLAN APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. + +Bull Run was a bitter humiliation for the North, but it served a good +purpose. The national government understood for the first time the +formidable nature of the task before it. Its determination to subdue the +rebellion was intensified rather than lessened, but it now went about it +in the right way. Incompetent officers were weeded out, careful and +vigorous measures set on foot, and, what was the most popular movement +of all, General McClellan was called to the command of the Army of the +Potomac. He took charge August 20th, and set about organizing and +disciplining the magnificent body of men. No one could surpass him at +such work, and he had the opportunity of establishing himself as the +idol of the nation. That he failed to do so was clue to an inherent +defect of his nature. He shrank from taking chances, lacked nerve and +dash, distrusted himself, and was so slow and excessively cautious that +he wore out the patience of the government and finally of the nation +itself. + +General Scott's old age and increasing infirmities compelled him in +November to give up the command of the Union armies, and all hopes +centred upon McClellan. He kept drilling the Army of the Potomac, and by +the close of the year had 150,000 well-trained soldiers under his +command. The impatience of the North began to manifest itself, but no +general advance took place, though the Confederate line was gradually +pushed back from its threatening position in front of Washington to its +first position at Bull Run. The Confederacy was also busy in recruiting +and drilling its forces. Knowing that Richmond was the objective point +of the Union advance, the city was surrounded with formidable +fortifications. + + +DISASTER AT BALL'S BLUFF. + +On the 19th of October General McCall was ordered to occupy +Drainesville, eighteen miles northwest of Washington. At the same time, +General Stone was directed to keep watch of Leesburg, from which the +patrols afterward reported a weak Confederate force. An advance was +ordered, whereupon Colonel Evans, who had given the Confederates great +help at Bull Run, concentrated his forces on the road leading from +Leesburg to Washington, and, on the morning of the 21st, had assumed a +strong position and was ready to be attacked. + +[Illustration: FORTIFYING RICHMOND. + +In the foreground we see R.E. Lee and two other confederate officers +directing the work.] + +The Union troops were ferried across the river in three scows, two +skiffs, and a life-boat, which combined would not carry one-fourth of +the men. When all were over they advanced to Leesburg, where no +Confederate camp was found, but the enemy in the woods attacked them. +Colonel E.D. Baker, a civilian officer from California, hurried across +the river with 1,900 men and took command. The enemy was reinforced and +drove the Unionists back. Colonel Baker was killed and the Federals +fled in a panic to the Potomac, with the Confederates upon them. The +fugitives swarmed into the boats and sank three of them; others leaped +over the bank and swam and dived for their lives, the enemy shooting and +bayoneting all who did not surrender. When the horrible affair was over, +the Union loss was fully a thousand men. This occurrence was in some +respects more disgraceful than Bull Run. + + +MILITARY OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI. + +Claiborne F. Jackson, governor of Missouri, was a strong secessionist, +and did all he could to take the State out of the Union, but the +sentiment against him was too strong. St. Louis was also secession in +feeling, but Captain Nathaniel Lyon kept the disloyalists in subjection +so effectively that he was rewarded by being made a brigadier-general. +Governor Jackson by proclamation called out 50,000 of the State militia +to repel the "invasion" of the State by United States troops. Sterling +Price, a major-general of the State forces, was dispatched to Booneville +and Lexington, on the Missouri River. + +Colonel Franz Sigel, with 1,100 Union troops, had an engagement in the +southwestern part of the State and was compelled to retreat, but he +managed his withdrawal so skillfully that he killed and wounded a large +number of his pursuers. General Lyon joined Sigel near Springfield, and +the Confederates, under General Ben McCulloch, retreated to Cowskin +Prairie, on the border of the Indian Territory. + + +BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK. + +Both sides were reinforced, the Unionists being under the command of +General John C. Fremont, who had been assigned to the department of the +West, which included Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. The two +armies met early in August near Wilson's Creek. The Confederates were +the most numerous, but were poorly armed and disciplined. The battle was +badly mismanaged by both sides, and General Lyon, while leading a +charge, was shot dead. His men were defeated and retreated in the +direction of Springfield. + +Missouri was now overrun with guerrillas and harried by both sides. +Colonel Mulligan made a desperate stand at Lexington in September, but +an overwhelming force under General Price compelled him to surrender. +Price moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who +also occupied Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho passed an +ordinance of secession, but most of the State remained in the hands of +the Federals until they finally gained entire possession. + +General Fremont's course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued +what was in reality an emancipation proclamation, which President +Lincoln was compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and +so extravagant that he was superseded in November by General Hunter, +who was soon sent to Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General +Halleck. The fighting in the State was fierce but of an indecisive +character. + +The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance +of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a +graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General +U.S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became +known that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp +at Belmont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his +gunboats. + + +OPERATIONS ON THE COAST. + +A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board, +under command of General B.F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August, +1861, captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establishing +themselves at that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining +coast of North Carolina. A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in +November under Commodore Dupont and General T.W. Sherman and captured +Port Royal. The fleet was so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred +vessels and transports, that the garrisons were easily driven out of the +forts, after which the land forces took possession of them. The islands +between Charleston and Savannah were seized, and in September a Union +fleet took possession of Ship Island, not far from the mouth of the +Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New Orleans. + + +THE TRENT AFFAIR. + +It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from +England and France. The Confederate government thought they could be +induced to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective +governments. Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, +of Louisiana, both of whom had been United States senators, were +appointed commissioners, the former to England and the latter to France. + +They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took +passage on the British steamer _Trent_ for England. Captain Charles +Wilkes, of the steamer _San Jacinto_, knew of their intended sailing and +was on the lookout for them. Before they were fairly on their way, +Captain Wilkes stopped the _Trent_, and, despite the protests of the +captain and the rebel commissioners, he forcibly took them off and +carried them to the United States. + +In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war +with England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American +vessels by British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as +persistent in her claim to the right to make such search. The positions +were now reversed, and England expressed indignation, and demanded the +return of the commissioners and a disavowal of the act of Captain +Wilkes. The position of our government was untenable, and Secretary +Seward gracefully confessed it, and surrendered the prisoners, neither +of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest benefit to the +Confederacy. + + +SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS. + +The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two real +battles of the war--Bull Run and Wilson's Creek--had been won by them. +In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they had +also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the +North and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which +to learn war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling +of firearms and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive, +and fighting, as may be said, on inner lines. + +It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved +Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite +the strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive +minority in each State. Washington, which more than once had been in +danger of capture, was made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in +the West was cut off and formed into a separate State. In wealth and +resources the North vastly preponderated. An immense army had been +raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, the sentiment +overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the +manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of +hundreds of ships for the navy and the furnishing of supplies and +equipments to the armies. + +[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON. + +This memorable battle of February, 1862, was the first serious blow to +the Confederate cause. It was also Grant's first victory of importance, +and marks the beginning of his rise to fame. Fifteen thousand prisoners +were taken. Grant generously allowed the Confederates to retain their +personal baggage, and the officers to keep their side arms. General +Buckner expressed his thanks for this chivalrous act, and later in life +became Grant's personal friend.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862. + +Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate Line of +Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg Landing or +Shiloh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of Louisville--Battle of +Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone River--Battle of Pea +Ridge--Naval Battle Between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the +Two Vessels--Capture of New Orleans--The Advance Against +Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula Campaign--_The First Confederate +Invasion of the North_--_Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous +Union Repulse at Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the Wars Operations_--_The +Confederate Privateers_--_The Emancipation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks +and Bond Issues_. + + +CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. + +The fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert +Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in +chief command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern +Kentucky, from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two +powerful forts had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary +line. One was Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort +Donelson, twelve miles away, on the Cumberland. + +Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger, +numbering 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky, +and the lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U.S. Grant, at +Cairo. Under Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest +leaders in the Union army. In January, with a division of Buell's army, +he attacked the Confederates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In +the battle, General Zollicoffer, the Confederate commander, was killed. + +Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River, +intending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew +H. Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though +most of the garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson. + + +CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. + +Upon learning that Fort Henry had fallen, Grant steamed up the +Cumberland to attack Fort Donelson, which was reinforced until the +garrison numbered some 20,000 men. It was a powerful fortification, +with many rifle-pits and intrenchments on the land side, and powerful +batteries commanding the river. The political General Floyd was in chief +command, the right wing being under General Simon B. Buckner and the +left in charge of General Gideon J. Pillow. + +On the afternoon of February 14th, Commodore Foote opened the attack +with two wooden vessels and four ironclad gunboats. The garrison made no +reply until the boats had worked their way to within a fourth of a mile +of the fort, the elevation of which enabled it to send a plunging fire, +which proved so destructive that two of the boats were disabled and +drifted down current, the other following. Some fifty men were killed, +and among the wounded was Commodore Foote. He withdrew to Cairo, +intending to wait until a sufficient force could be brought up from that +point. + +[Illustration: UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR +HOWITZER.] + +But General Grant, like the bull-dog to which he was often compared, +having inserted his teeth in his adversary, did not mean to let go. +Placing his troops in front of the works, it did not take him long to +invest the whole Confederate left, with the exception of a swampy strip +near the river. The weather, which had been unusually mild for the +season, now became extremely cold, and some of the Union men were frozen +to death in the trenches. The garrison also suffered greatly, but the +siege was pressed with untiring vigor. Seeing the inextricable coils +closing round them, the defenders made an attempt to cut their way out, +but Grant with true military genius saw the crisis and ordered an +advance along the whole line, the gunboats giving all the help they +could. + +The situation of the garrison was so dangerous that a council of war was +held that night. Floyd and Pillow were frightened nearly out of their +wits. They rated themselves so high as prizes for the Federals that they +determined to make their escape before the surrender, which was +inevitable, was forced. Buckner was another sort of man. Disgusted with +the cowardice of his associates, he quietly announced that he would stay +by his men to the last. Floyd stole out of the fort with his brigade and +crossed the river in boats, while Pillow followed in a scow, a large +number of the cavalry galloping by the lower road to Nashville. + +Grant was ready for the assault at daylight the next morning, when he +received a note from General Buckner proposing an armistice until noon +in order to arrange terms of capitulation. Grant's reply became famous: +"No terms except immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted; +I propose to move immediately upon your works." Buckner was +disappointed, but he had no choice except to submit. He was greatly +relieved to find that his conqueror was a chivalrous man, who granted +better terms than he expected. The privates were allowed to retain their +personal baggage and the officers their side-arms. The number of +prisoners was 15,000, and the blow was the first really severe one that +the South had received. As may be supposed, the news caused great +rejoicing in the North and was the beginning of Grant's fame as a +military leader--a fame which steadily grew and expanded with the +progress of the war. + +Jefferson Davis saw the mistake he had made in intrusting important +interests to political generals. He deprived Floyd of his command, and +that officer dropped back to the level from which he never ought to have +been raised. Pillow had done some good work in the Mexican War, but he +was erratic and unreliable, and he, too, was summarily snuffed out. +Buckner, a West Point graduate, upon being exchanged soon afterward, was +assigned to an important command and proved himself an excellent +soldier. + + +CHANGE IN THE CONFEDERATE LINE OF DEFENSE. + +The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson compelled a change in the +Confederate line of defense. General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew +from Bowling Green to Nashville, but fell back again upon learning of +the fall of Fort Donelson, and assumed position near Murfreesboro', +Tennessee. All the northern part of that State, including the Cumberland +River, was given up by the Confederates, and, when the new line was +established, the centre was held by Beauregard at Jackson, the left by +Polk at New Madrid, and the right by Johnston at Murfreesboro'. Thus the +Confederates were driven out of Kentucky and the northern part of +Tennessee. It was a serious check for the Confederacy. + + +CAPTURE OF ISLAND NO. 10. + +General Grant gave the enemy no rest. In order to retain possession of +Island No. 10, it was necessary for them to hold the outpost of New +Madrid. In the latter part of February, General Pope led an expedition +against that place, while Commodore Foote made a demonstration in front +with his gunboats. Through cold and storm the Unionists bravely pushed +their way, and the garrison of New Madrid were compelled to take refuge +on Island No. 10, and in the works on the Kentucky side of the river. +Operations were then begun against Island No. 10. By digging a canal +twelve miles long, which permitted the gunboats to pass around the +defenses, and by energetic operations in all directions, the Confederate +position was rendered untenable, and the post, with a large amount of +war material, was surrendered to Commodore Foote. + +Meanwhile, General Grant, after the occupation of Nashville, went down +the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, while General Buell, with the +other portion of the Union army, started for the same point by land. +Aware of this division of the Federal forces, General Albert Sidney +Johnston hastily concentrated his own divisions with the intention of +crushing the two Union armies before they could unite. When Johnston +arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing on the 3d of April he had +40,000 men, divided into three corps and a reserve. + + +BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. + +Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is called in the South, consists of +a high bluff, a half-mile in extent, where General W.T. Sherman had been +ordered to take position and prepare for the arrival of 100,000 men. +Grant was not prepared for the unexpected attack. Buell was some +distance away with 40,000 troops, and the Union commander had a somewhat +less force on his side of the Tennessee River. Only a few defenses had +been thrown up, and the men were scattered over the ground, when at +daylight on Sunday morning, April 6th, the Confederates furiously +assailed the outlying divisions of the Union army and drove them back +upon the main body. They steadily gained ground, and it looked as if +nothing could save the Union army from overwhelming disaster. + +When the attack was made Grant was on the opposite side of the river in +consultation with Buell. Hurrying to the scene of the furious conflict, +it looked as if his army was on the edge of inevitable destruction, but +he handled his demoralized forces with such masterly skill that the +panic was checked, and on the river bank, over which they had been +well-nigh driven, an effective stand was made and the Confederates were +checked, the gunboats giving invaluable assistance in saving the army +from defeat. The night closed with all the advantage on the side of the +Confederates. + +The darkness, however, was of immeasurable value to the Federals. +Buell's army was brought across the river and other reinforcements +arrived, so that in the morning Grant found himself in command of fully +50,000 well-equipped troops. The greatest advantage gained by the +Federals, however, came during the previous day's fighting, when +everything was going the way of their enemies. General Albert Sidney +Johnston, while directing operations, was struck by a shot which +shattered his knee and mortally wounded him. He spoke only a few words +as he was lifted from his horse, and the command devolved upon +Beauregard, much his inferior in ability. He was unable to restrain the +troops from plundering the captured Union camps; and when on the second +day Grant launched his regiments against them, they were driven +pell-mell from the field, and did not stop their retreat until they +reached Corinth, Mississippi. + +[Illustration: A RAILROAD BATTERY.] + +Little fear of the Union troops being caught a second time at such a +disadvantage. They were established on the upper part of the Tennessee, +prepared to strike blows in any direction. + + +EVACUATION OF CORINTH. + +The withdrawal of Beauregard to Corinth made that point valuable to the +Unionists, because of the large number of railroads which centre there. +It was strongly fortified, and no one expected its capture without a +severe battle. General Halleck, who was high in favor with the +government, assumed command of the Union armies and began an advance +upon Corinth. He moved slowly and with great caution, and did not reach +the front of the place until the close of May. While making preparations +to attack, Beauregard withdrew and retired still further southward. No +further Union advance was made for some time. The important result +accomplished was in opening up the Mississippi from Cairo to Memphis and +extending the Union line so that it passed along the southern boundary +of Tennessee. + +Beauregard resembled McClellan in many respects. He was excessively +cautious and disposed to dig trenches and throw up fortifications rather +than fight. Jefferson Davis always had a warm regard for General Braxton +Bragg, whom he now put in the place of Beauregard. By the opening of +September, Bragg had an army of 60,000 men. Kirby Smith's corps was at +Knoxville and Hardee and Polk were with Bragg at Chattanooga. + +They were ordered to march through Kentucky to Louisville, threatening +Cincinnati on the way. Kirby Smith's approach threw that city into a +panic, but he turned off and joined Bragg at Frankfort. + + +A RACE FOR LOUISVILLE. + +By this time the danger of Louisville was apparent, and Buell, who was +near Nashville, hastened to the defense of the more important city. +Bragg ran a race with him, but the burning of a bridge, spanning the +river at Bardstown, stopped him just long enough to allow Buell to reach +Louisville first. This was accomplished on the 25th of September, and +Buell's army was increased to 100,000 men. + + +BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. + +Disappointed in securing the main prize, Bragg marched to Frankfort, +where he installed a provisional governor of Kentucky and issued a +high-sounding proclamation, to which few paid attention. Bragg had +entered one of the richest sections of the State, and he secured an +enormous amount of supplies in the shape of cattle, mules, bacon, and +cloth. His presence in the State was intolerable to the Union forces, +and Buell, finding a strong army under his command, set out to attack +him. Bragg started to retreat through the Cumberland Mountains on the +1st of October, with Buell in pursuit. A severe but indecisive battle +was fought at Perryville, and the Confederates succeeded in carrying +away their immense booty to Chattanooga, while the Union army took +position at Nashville. + +The government was dissatisfied with the sluggishness of Buell and +replaced him with General William S. Rosecrans. He posted a part of his +army at Nashville and the remainder along the line of the Cumberland +River. Advancing against Bragg, he faced him in front of Murfreesboro', +some forty miles from Nashville. On the 30th of December brisk firing +took place between the armies, and when they encamped for the night +their fires were in plain sight of each other. + + +BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO' OR STONE RIVER. + +The opposing forces were on both sides of Stone River (this battle is +generally referred to in the South by that name), a short distance to +the northwest of Murfreesboro'. By a curious coincidence, each of the +respective commanders formed the same plan of attack, it being to mass +his forces on the left and crush his enemy's right wing. A terrific +engagement lasted all day, and night closed without any decisive +advantage to either side, though the Confederates had succeeded in +driving back the Union right upon the left and occupying a considerable +portion of the field formerly held by the Federals. + +The exhaustion of the armies prevented anything more than skirmishing on +New Year's day, 1863, but on the afternoon of January 2d the furious +battle was renewed. Rosecrans ordered an advance of the whole line, and +the Confederate right wing was broken and the flank so endangered that +Bragg was compelled to withdraw his entire army. The only way for him to +retain Tennessee was to abandon Murfreesboro'. Accordingly, he retreated +to a point beyond Duck River, about fifty miles south of Murfreesboro', +which was occupied by the Federals, January 5, 1863. + +Other important events took place in the West. General Sterling Price +wintered in Springfield, Missouri, in the southern part of the State, +and gained a good many recruits and a large amount of needed supplies. +He was attacked by Sigel and Curtis on the 12th of February, and +continued his retreat to the Boston Mountains, where he was reinforced +by McCulloch, Van Dorn, and Albert Pike, and felt himself strong enough +to turn about and attack Curtis, who was in the neighborhood of Pea +Ridge. + + +BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE. + +The Union right was commanded by General Sigel, the left by General +Carr, and the centre by General Jefferson C. Davis. Sigel was surprised +and came very near being cut off, but he was master of the art of +retreating rather than of advancing, and he extricated his Germans with +astonishing skill and joined the main army. General Curtis changed his +front, and in the attack his right wing was driven back, obliging him +that night to take a new position a mile to the rear. The fighting next +day was at first in favor of the Confederates, and for a time the Union +army was in a critical position; but with great bravery and skill the +enemy's left was turned, the centre broken, and their forces driven in +disorder from the field. + +In this battle Albert Pike used 2,000 Indian allies. They belonged to +the "civilized" tribes, and good service was expected from them; but +they were unaccustomed to fighting in the open, could not be +disciplined, and in the excitement of the struggle it is alleged they so +lost their heads that they scalped about as many of the Confederates as +Unionists. At any rate, the experiment was a failure, and thereafter +they cut no figure in the war. + + +INDECISIVE FIGHTING. + +The enemy were so badly shaken that they retreated toward the North to +reorganize and recruit. Reinforcements from Kansas and Missouri also +joined Curtis, who advanced in the direction of Springfield, Missouri, +upon learning that Price was making for the same point. Nothing +followed, and Curtis returned to Arkansas. He had been at Batesville in +that State a few months when he found himself in serious peril. His +supplies were nearly exhausted, and it was impossible to renew them in +the hostile country by which he was surrounded. An expedition for his +relief left Memphis in June, but failed. Supplies from Missouri, +however, reached him early in July. + +Curtis marched to Jacksonport, and afterward established himself at +Helena on the Mississippi. In September he was appointed commander of +the department of Missouri, which included that State, Arkansas, and the +Indian Territory. There were many minor engagements, and the Unionists +succeeded in keeping the Confederates from regaining their former +foothold in Missouri and north of Arkansas. It may be said that all the +fighting in that section produced not the slightest effect on the war as +a whole. The best military leaders of the Confederacy advised President +Davis to withdraw all his forces beyond the Mississippi and concentrate +them in the East, but he rejected their counsel, and his stubbornness +greatly weakened the Confederacy. + +Having given an account of military operations in the West, it now +remains to tell of the much more important ones that occurred on the +coast and in the East, for they were decisive in their nature, and +produced a distinct effect upon the progress of the war for the Union. + + +CONSTRUCTION OF THE MERRIMAC. + +It has been stated that early in the war the Norfolk navy yard was +burned to prevent its falling into the possession of the Confederates. +Among the vessels sunk was the frigate _Merrimac_, which went down +before much injury was done to her. She was a formidable craft of 3,500 +tons, 300 feet in length, and had mounted 40 guns. The Confederates +succeeded in raising her, and proceeded to work marvelous changes in +her structure, by which she was turned into the first real armor-clad +ever constructed. She was protected by layers of railroad iron, which +sloped like the roof of a house, and was furnished with a prow of cast +iron which projected four feet in front. Pivot guns were so fixed as to +be used for bow and stern chasers, and the pilot-house was placed +forward of the smoke-stack and armored with four inches of iron. She +carried ten guns, one at the stern, one at the bow, and eight at the +sides, and fired shells. Her iron armor sloped down at the sides, so +that she looked like an enormous mansard-roof moving through the water. +Her commanding officer was Commodore Franklin Buchanan, formerly of the +United States navy, while under him were Lieutenant Catesby R. Jones, +the executive officer, six other lieutenants, six midshipmen, surgeons, +engineers, and subordinate officers, in addition to a crew of 300 men. +She was rechristened the _Virginia_, but will always be remembered as +the _Merrimac_. + +[Illustration: SECRETARY STANTON'S OPINION ABOUT THE MERRIMAC. + +"The whole character of the war will be changed."] + +Of necessity this craft, being the pioneer of its kind, had many +defects. She could move only very slowly, and her great length of 300 +feet and poor steering apparatus required a half-hour for her to make a +complete turn, while her draft of 22 feet confined her to the narrow +channel of the Roads. Still she could go faster than an ordinary sailing +vessel, and her resistless momentum and iron prow enabled her to crush +any vessel afloat as if it were an egg-shell. + +Great pains were taken by the Confederates to keep secret the +particulars of her building; but it was known in Washington that a +strange craft was in course of construction at Norfolk, with which it +was expected to capture Washington and devastate the leading cities +along the Atlantic seaboard. Ericsson, the famous Swedish inventor, was +engaged near New York in building a smaller vessel upon the same +principle, and he was pressed to make all possible haste in finishing +it; for, though the government did not suspect the terrible +effectiveness of the _Merrimac_, they meant to take all reasonable +precautions against it. + + +AWFUL WORK OF THE MERRIMAC. + +There were lying at Hampton Roads at that time five Union vessels, +which, being so close to the dangerous craft, were on the alert day and +night for her appearance. About noon on March 8th a column of dark smoke +in the direction of the Norfolk navy yard, followed by the forging into +sight of the huge hulk, left no doubt that the long-expected _Merrimac_ +was coming forth upon her errand of death and destruction. In her +company were three gunboats ready to aid her in any way possible. The +steam frigate _Minnesota_ and _Roanoke_ and the sailing frigates +_Congress_, _Cumberland_, and _St. Lawrence_ immediately cleared their +decks for action. + +The _Minnesota_ and _Roanoke_ moved out to meet the _Merrimac_, but both +got aground. In the case of the _Minnesota_ this was due to the +treachery of the pilot, who was in the employ of the Confederates. The +_Cumberland_ swerved so as to bring her broadsides to bear, and opened +with her pivot guns, at the distance of a mile. The aim was accurate, +but the iron balls which struck the massive hide of the _Merrimac_ +bounded off like pebbles skipping over the water. Then the _Congress_ +added her broadsides to those of the _Cumberland_, but the leviathan +shed them all as if they were tiny hailstones, and, slowly advancing in +grim silence, finally opened with her guns, quickly killing four marines +and five sailors on the _Cumberland_. Then followed her resistless +broadsides, which played awful havoc with officers and men. Swinging +slowly around, the _Merrimac_ next steamed a mile up the James, and, +turning again, came back under full speed. Striking the _Cumberland_ +under the starboard bow, she smashed a hole into her through which a +horse might have entered. The ship keeled over until her yardarms were +close to the water. The terrific force broke off the prow of the +_Merrimac_, but her frightful shots riddled the _Cumberland_ and set +her on fire. The flames were extinguished, and the _Cumberland_ +delivered broadside after broadside, only to see the enormous missiles +fly off and spin harmlessly hundreds of feet away. + +Lieutenant George U. Morris, of the _Cumberland_, ran up the red flag +meaning "no surrender," and with a heroism never surpassed maintained +the unequal fight, if fight it can be called where there was absolutely +no hope for him. Finally the _Cumberland_ went down to her cross-trees, +in fifty-four feet of water. Lieutenant Morris succeeded in saving +himself by swimming, but of the crew of 376, 121 lost their lives. + +The _Cumberland_ being destroyed, the _Merrimac_ headed for the +_Congress_, which had run aground. She replied with her harmless +broadsides, but the _Merrimac_ held her completely at her mercy, raking +her fore and aft, and killing 100 of the crew, including the commander. +It being evident that not a man could escape, the white flag was run up +in token of surrender. The hot firing from the shore preventing +Commodore Buchanan from taking possession of the _Congress_, whereupon +he fired her with hot shot. + +During the fighting, Commodore Buchanan fearlessly exposed himself on +the upper deck of the _Merrimac_, and was badly wounded in the thigh by +a Union sharpshooter, whereupon the command was assumed by Lieutenant +Jones. By that time it was growing dark and the _Merrimac_ steamed back +to Sewall's Point, intending to return the next morning and complete her +appalling work of destruction. + + +CONSTERNATION IN THE NORTH. + +The news of what she had done caused consternation throughout the North. +President Lincoln called a special cabinet meeting, at which Secretary +Stanton declared, in great excitement, that nothing could prevent the +monster from steaming up the Potomac, destroying Washington, and laying +the principal northern cities under contribution. The alarm of the bluff +secretary was natural, but there was no real ground for it. + + +THE MONITOR. + +The Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, had completed his _Monitor_, which +at that hour was steaming southward from New York. Although an ironclad +like the _Merrimac_, she was as different as can be conceived in +construction. She resembled a raft, the upper portion of which was 172 +feet long and the lower 124 feet. The sides of the former were made of +oak, twenty-five inches thick, and covered with five-inch iron armor. + +The turret was protected by eight-inch plates of wrought iron, +increasing in thickness to the port-holes, near which it was eleven +inches through. It was nine feet high, with a diameter of twenty-one +feet. She drew only ten feet of water, and was armored with two +eleven-inch Dahlgren guns, smooth bore, firing solid shot weighing 180 +pounds. + +The pilot-house was made of nine-inch plates of forged iron, rose four +feet above the deck, and would hold three men by crowding. The _Monitor_ +was one-fifth the size of the _Merrimac_, and her appearance has been +likened to that of a cheese-box on a raft. She was in command of +Lieutenant John L. Worden, with Lieutenant S. Dana Green as executive +officer. Her crew consisted of sixteen officers and forty-two men, and +she left New York on the morning of March 6th, in tow of a tug-boat. The +greatest difficulty was encountered in managing her, the men narrowly +escaping being smothered by gas, and, had not the weather been unusually +favorable, she would have foundered; but providentially she steamed into +Hampton Roads, undiscovered by the enemy, and took her position behind +the _Minnesota_, ready for the events of the morrow. + +[Illustration: JOHN ERICSSON. + +The famous constructor of the Monitor.] + +The _Merrimac_ was promptly on time the next morning, and was +accompanied by two gunboats; but while steaming toward the remaining +Union vessels the _Monitor_ darted out from behind the _Minnesota_ and +boldly advanced to meet her terrible antagonist. They silently +approached each other until within a hundred yards, when the _Monitor_ +fired a shot, to which the _Merrimac_ replied. The firing was rapid for +a time and then became slower, with the intervening space varying from +fifty yards to four times that distance. A number of the _Merrimac's_ +shots struck the _Monitor's_ pilot-house and turret, the crash doing no +harm except almost to deafen the men within. Most of the shells, +however, missed or skipped over the low deck of the smaller boat. + +The latter was able to dodge the rushes of the larger craft and play all +around her, but the terrible pounding worked damage to both, the +_Monitor_ suffering the most. The iron plate of the pilot-house was +lifted by a shell, which blinded Lieutenant Worden, and so disabled him +that he was forced to turn over the command to Lieutenant Green. Worden, +who lived to become an admiral, never fully recovered from his injuries. +The firing, dodging, ramming, and fighting continued for four hours, but +the _Merrimac_ was unable to disable her nimble antagonist, and slowly +steamed back to Norfolk, while the _Monitor_ returned to her former +position, and was carefully kept in reserve by the government against +future perils of a similar character. + + +FATE OF THE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. + +Neither of the vessels was permitted to do further service. Some months +later, upon the evacuation of Norfolk, the _Merrimac_ was blown up to +prevent her falling into the hands of the Unionists, and the _Monitor_ +foundered off Hatteras in December, 1862. The battle wrought a complete +revolution in naval warfare. The days of wooden ships ended, and all the +navies of the world are now made up mainly of ironclads. + +More important work was done by the Union fleets during this year. The +government put forth every energy to build ships, with the result that +hundreds were added to the naval force, many of which were partial and +others wholly ironclad. + + +OTHER COAST OPERATIONS. + +A month before the fight between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_, a +formidable naval expedition under Commodore Goldsborough and General +Ambrose E. Burnside passed down the Atlantic coast and captured Roanoke +Island. St. Augustine and a number of other places in Florida were +captured by troops from Port Royal. Siege was laid to Fort Pulaski, at +the mouth of the Savannah River, and it surrendered April 11th. The +advantage of these and similar captures was that it gave the blockading +fleets control of the principal harbors, and made it easier to enforce a +rigid blockade. There were two ports, however, which the Union vessels +were never able to capture until the close of the war. They were +Charleston and Wilmington, North Carolina. The latter became the chief +port from which the Confederate blockade-runners dashed out or entered +and were enabled to bring the most-needed medical and other supplies to +the Confederacy, while at the same time the owners and officers of the +ships reaped fortunes for themselves. + + +CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. + +One of the primal purposes of the war was to open the Mississippi, which +was locked by the enemy at Vicksburg and New Orleans. As a necessary +step in the opening of the great river, an expedition was fitted out for +the capture of New Orleans. Well aware of what was coming, the +Confederates had done all they could to strengthen the defenses of the +city. Thirty miles from the mouth of the Mississippi were the powerful +Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on opposite sides of the river. They +mounted 100 heavy guns, and six powerful chains were stretched across, +supported by an immense raft of cypress logs. Thus the river was closed +and no fleet could approach New Orleans until these obstructions were +removed or overcome. When this should be done, it was still seventy-five +miles to New Orleans. + +Above the boom of hulks and logs was a fleet of fifteen Confederate +vessels, including the ironclad ram _Manassas_, and a partly completed +floating battery armored with railroad iron, and known as the +_Louisiana_. It has been stated that the ironclads of those days were +only partly protected by armor. + +The naval and military expedition which sailed for New Orleans in the +spring of 1862 consisted of six sloops of war, sixteen gunboats, five +other vessels, and twenty-one mortar-schooners, the last being under +charge of Captain David D. Porter, while Commodore David G. Farragut had +command of the fleet. The troops, mostly from New England, were +commanded by General B.F. Butler. + +Farragut crossed the bar, April 8th, and spent several days in making +his preparations for bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The +bombardment began April 27th, 1,400 shells being thrown in one day. +Farragut then called his captains together and told them he had resolved +to run by the forts. The only question, therefore, was as to the best +means of doing it. It was decided to make the attempt at night. The +darkness, however, was of little benefit, since the enemy's huge +bonfires on both shores lit up the river as if it were noonday. Previous +to this, Lieutenant C.H.B. Caldwell, in the gunboat _Itasca_, had +ascended the river undiscovered in the darkness and opened a way through +the boom for the fleet. + +Farragut arranged the fleet in two columns, his own firing upon Fort +Jackson, while the other poured its broadsides into Fort St. Philip. The +flagship _Hartford_ led the way under cover of Porter's mortar-boats and +the others followed. There was a furious fight between the fleets, but +every Confederate was either captured or destroyed. + +Farragut steamed on to the city, silencing the batteries along the +banks, and, at noon, a messenger was sent ashore with a demand for the +surrender of the city. General Lovell was in command of 3,000 troops, +intended for the defense of New Orleans, but he fled. The mayor refusing +to haul down the secession flag, the Union troops took possession, +raised the Union banner over the mint, and placed the city in charge of +General Butler. The citizens were in such a savage mood that Commodore +Farragut had to bring them to their senses by a threat to bombard the +city. + +General Butler ruled with great strictness, and virtually held New +Orleans under martial law. A Confederate won the applause of his friends +by climbing to the top of the mint, hauling down the flag, dragging it +through the mud, and then tearing it to shreds. Butler brought him to +trial before a military commission, and, being found guilty of the +unpardonable insult to the flag, he was hanged. + +The fall of New Orleans, one of the leading cities, was a severe blow to +the Confederacy. The only points where the Mississippi was strongly held +by the enemy were at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and attention was +already turned to them. Farragut having completed his work, for the time +took command in the Gulf of Mexico. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1865.] + +The most momentous events of the year occurred in the east and marked +the struggle between the Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of +Northern Virginia, as it came to be called. + + +THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND. + +McClellan continued to drill and train his army through the fall of +1861, and well into the following year. It numbered nearly 200,000 men +and was one of the finest organizations in the world. In reply to the +expressions of impatience, the commander invariably replied that a +forward movement would soon be begun, but the weeks and months passed +and the drilling went on, and nothing was done. Finally, the government +gave the commander to understand that he must advance. + +McClellan's plan was to move against Richmond, from the lower part of +Chesapeake Bay, by way of Urbana on the Rappahannock. While this had +many advantages, its fatal objection in the eyes of the President was +that it would leave Washington unprotected. He issued an order on the +27th of January directing that on the 22d of February there should be a +general land and naval movement against the enemy's position on the +Potomac, and that, after providing for the defense of Washington, a +force should seize and occupy a point upon the railway to the southwest +of Manassas Junction. McClellan was offended by the act of the President +and protested, but Mr. Lincoln clung in the main to his plan, and, since +the delay continued, he issued orders directing the formation of the +army into corps and naming the generals to command them. Another order +made arrangements for the intended advance, and it was left to McClellan +to carry them out. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1884, BEFORE ITS REMOVAL TO CHICAGO.] + +Reliable information reached Washington that General Joseph E. Johnston, +commander of the Confederate forces at Manassas, was engaged in +withdrawing his lines with a view of taking a stronger position nearer +Richmond. General McClellan began a forward movement with the Army of +the Potomac on the 10th of March. The truth was that Confederate spies +in Washington had apprised Johnston of the intended advance of McClellan +from the lower Chesapeake, and his action was with a view of checkmating +the Union commander. Instead of carrying out this plan, McClellan +marched to Centreville and occupied the vacated intrenchments of the +enemy. The general hope was that Johnston would be forced to give +battle, but the roads in Virginia, at that season, were one sea of mud, +which made progress so slow that the Confederates had time in which to +withdraw at their leisure. + +Crossing the Potomac into Virginia, with the main army, McClellan made +his first headquarters at Fairfax Court-House. About that time he +received news that he was relieved of the command of the other +departments, his authority being confined to the direction of the Army +of the Potomac. He was directed by the President to garrison Manassas +securely, see that Washington was protected, and, with the rest of his +force, assume a new base at Fort Monroe, or "anywhere between here and +there," and, above all things, to pursue the enemy "by _some_ route." + +McClellan's four corps commanders were Sumner, McDowell, Heintzelman, +and Keyes, and they and he agreed upon a plan of campaign. The +difficulties of transporting nearly 100,000 men to Fort Monroe were so +great that two weeks were occupied in completing the transfer. In order +to prevent the Confederates from getting in his rear, McClellan directed +Banks to rebuild the railroad from Washington to Manassas and Strasburg, +thus keeping open communication with the Shenandoah Valley, where the +enemy were in force, a fact which caused the government much uneasiness +for the national capital. Indeed, it was a part of the effective plan of +Johnston to embarrass the campaign against Richmond. + +Banks occupied Winchester about the middle of March and sent a force +under Shields to Strasburg. He found Stonewall Jackson there with such a +strong force that he fell back to Winchester, where, after the +withdrawal of the main body by Banks, he was attacked by Jackson, who +was repulsed. + +In pursuance of the new plan of campaign, McClellan made Fort Monroe his +first base of operations, using the route through Yorktown and West +Point for the advance to Richmond. He expected to fight a great battle +on the way thither, for the enemy could not fail to read the meaning of +his movements. McClellan reasoned that this battle would take place +between West Point and Richmond, and his intention was to advance +without delay to the former position and use it as his chief depot for +supplies. His plan was to make a combined naval and military attack on +Yorktown, send a strong force up the York River, aided by the gunboats, +and thus establish his new base of operations within twenty-five miles +of the Confederate capital. + +It was not long before he began calling for reinforcements, and the +government, instead of aiding him, took away piecemeal many of the +troops upon which the commander had counted to aid him in his campaign. +He wanted 150,000 men and a large increase of cannon. The 10,000 men, +composing Blenker's division, were detached, as the President informed +him, to support Fremont, but Mr. Lincoln promised to withdraw no more +from the main army. + +McClellan remained at his headquarters near Alexandria until most of his +forces were well on the road to the Yorktown peninsula. He left on the +1st of April and the troops were landed three days later. Then a force +of 56,000 men with 100 guns started for Yorktown. + +But for the inherent timidity and distrust of McClellan, he might have +captured Richmond, by marching straight ahead to the city, for the +Confederate force opposed to him was but a fragment of his own, and +could have been trampled underfoot. The Confederate intrenchments were a +dozen miles in length, and were defended by Magruder with a force that +allowed less than a thousand men for each mile. + +Instead of pushing on, McClellan began a regular siege of Yorktown. +Immense siege guns were dragged through the muddy swamps, and the musket +was laid aside for the spade and shovel, which the men applied week +after week, until worn out and with thousands prostrated by sickness. +The delay, as a matter of course, was improved by the Confederates in +strengthening the defenses of their capital. At the end of a month, the +Union army advanced, whereupon Magruder fell back to other +fortifications nearer Richmond. The whole month had been worse than +thrown away by McClellan, for it had given the enemy all the time they +needed to complete their defenses. + +The Confederate army was increased, and reinforcements were sent to +McClellan, whose forces were fully 20,000 in excess of those under +Johnston, but the Union leader magnified the strength of the enemy and +continued to call for more troops. It was this unvarying demand that +brought the impatient remark from Secretary of War Stanton: + +"If I gave McClellan a million men, he would swear the rebels had two +millions, and sit down in the mud and refuse to move until he had three +millions." + +The Confederates fell back to Williamsburg, at the narrowest part of the +peninsula, between the James and York Rivers, and began fortifying their +position. The Union gunboats ascended to Yorktown, where the Federal +depots were established. Longstreet, in command of the Confederate rear, +halted and gave battle with a view of protecting his trains. + +The engagement took place on May 5th. The Unionists were repulsed at +first, but regained and held their ground, the night closing without any +decided advantage to either army. Longstreet, however, had held the +Federals in check as long as was necessary, and when he resumed his +retreat McClellan did not attempt to pursue him. + +The Confederates continued falling back, with McClellan cautiously +following. The delay secured by the enemy enabled them to send their +baggage and supply trains into Richmond, while the army stripped for the +fray. They abandoned the Yorktown peninsula altogether and evacuated +Norfolk, which was occupied by General Wool. It was this movement which +caused the blowing up of the _Merrimac_, referred to elsewhere. + +From this it will be seen that both shores of the James were in +possession of the Union forces. The Confederate army withdrew within the +defenses of Richmond on the 10th of May, and the Federal gunboats, after +steaming up the river to within twelve miles of the city, were compelled +to withdraw before the plunging shots of the batteries, which stood on +the tops of the high bluffs. + +Following the line of the Pamunkey, McClellan's advance-guard reached +the Chickahominy on the 21st of May, and could plainly see the spires +and steeples of Richmond, which was thrown into a state of great alarm. +Rain fell most of the time, and the rise of the Chickahominy carried +away the bridges, made the surrounding country a swamp, and badly +divided the Union army. + +[Illustration: MOIST WEATHER AT THE FRONT.] + +One of the most effective means employed by the Confederate commander +against the Union advance was by creating a diversion in the Shenandoah +Valley and fear for the safety of Washington. Rather than lose that, our +government would have sacrificed the Army of the Potomac. General +Johnston had sent Stonewall Jackson into the Valley, where Banks was in +command. He was another of the political generals, wholly unfitted for +the responsibilities placed in his hands. + +At the opening of hostilities, Banks was so confident that he +telegraphed the government that Jackson was on the eve of being crushed; +but it proved the other way. Banks was completely outgeneraled and sent +flying toward Washington. His troops marched more than thirty miles a +day, and would have been captured or destroyed to a man had Jackson +continued his pursuit, but his forces were fewer in numbers, and he +allowed the exhausted and panic-stricken fugitives to find refuge in +Washington. + +This routing of Banks frightened Washington again, and McDowell was +hastily called from Fredericksburg to the defense of the capital. This +was the very thing for which the Confederates had planned, since it kept +those reinforcements away from McClellan, who was ordered by President +Lincoln to attack at once or give up his plan. Still cautious and +wishing to feel every foot of the way, McClellan pushed a reconnaissance +in the direction of Hanover Court-House. + +When fire was opened on the Confederates most of them fell back to +Richmond. General Jo Johnston, perceiving that the Union army was +divided by the swollen Chickahominy, quickly took advantage of it, and +prepared to hurl a force of 50,000 against the Union corps, which +numbered a little more than half as many. A violent rain so interfered +with his plans that 10,000 of his troops were unable to take part in the +battle. In the disjointed struggle which followed, the Confederates were +successful at what is known as the battle of Seven Pines, but were +defeated at Fair Oaks. Both were fought on June 1st. + + +GENERAL LEE BECOMES CONFEDERATE COMMANDER. + +In the fighting on the morrow, General Johnston, while directing the +attack of the right, was desperately wounded by an exploding shell, +which broke several ribs and knocked him from his horse. General G.W. +Smith succeeded him in command, but three days later gave way to General +R.E. Lee, who in time became the supreme head of the military forces of +the Confederacy, and retained his command to the last. + + +McCLELLAN'S TARDINESS. + +The corps commanders believed that if McClellan would press matters +Richmond could be captured, but the Union leader devoted several weeks +to building bridges. It rained incessantly and the health of the men +suffered. Many more died from disease than from bullets and wounds, and +McClellan's tardiness gave the enemy the time they needed in which to +make their combinations as strong as possible. Stonewall Jackson, +although placed in a perilous position in the Shenandoah Valley, +skillfully extricated himself and united his corps with the troops that +were defending Richmond. + + +GENERAL STUART'S RAID. + +While McClellan was engaged in constructing bridges over the +Chickahominy, and no important movement was made by either army, General +J.E.B. Stuart, the famous cavalry leader, left Richmond, June 13th, with +a strong mounted force, and, by rapid riding and his knowledge of the +country, passed entirely around the Federal army, cutting telegraph +wires, burning bridges, capturing wagons and supplies, frightening +McClellan, and returning to Richmond, after two days' absence, with the +loss of only a single man. + +The Union commander was discouraged by the withdrawal of McDowell to the +defense of Washington, by the uncertainty regarding the disposition of +the enemy's corps, and by the belief that they were much more numerous +than was the fact. He decided to change the base of his operations from +the Pamunkey to the James. Both he and Lee fixed upon the same day--June +26th--for an offensive movement; but Lee was the first to act. On the +afternoon of that day a vehement attack was made upon the Union right. +The assault was repulsed, after a furious struggle, and it marked the +beginning of that fearful series of battles known as the Seven Days' +Fight. + + +THE SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT. + +Feeling insecure, McClellan fell back, and the terrific fighting, +beginning June 26th, at Mechanicsville, continued with scarcely any +intermission until July 1st. Both armies were well handled and fought +bravely, but McClellan kept steadily falling back. Lee was not satisfied +with simply defeating the Union army; he strained every nerve to destroy +it, but he was defeated in his purpose, and, as the hot afternoon of +June 30th was drawing to a close, the last wagon train of the Union army +reached Malvern Hill, and preparations were hurriedly made to resist the +assault that every one knew would soon come. + +Malvern Hill was a strong position. In addition the Federals had the aid +of the gunboats. Indeed, the place was so well-nigh impregnable that the +warmest admirers of General Lee must condemn his furious and repeated +assaults upon it. He suffered a disastrous repulse, and in the end +withdrew to the defenses of Richmond, while McClellan took position at +Harrison's Landing. All the Union troops had arrived by the night of +July 3d, and their commander began to study out a new plan for another +advance against the Confederate capital. Before anything could be done, +he was peremptorily ordered to withdraw his army from the peninsula. The +movement was begun with the purpose of uniting the troops with those of +General Pope, who was to the southeast of Washington, and placing them +all under his command. + +Pope had 40,000 troops between Fredericksburg and Washington. Learning +the situation, Lee kept enough men to hold Richmond, and sent the rest, +under Stonewall Jackson, against Pope in the north. Jackson executed the +task intrusted to him in his usual meteoric fashion. Despite the risk +involved, he threw himself between Pope and Washington and struck here, +there, and everywhere so rapidly that the Union general became +bewildered, his associate officers disgusted, and everything was +involved in inextricable confusion. + + +SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. + +The second battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, opened early on August 29th +and lasted until dusk. The fighting was desperate, Jackson standing +mainly on the defensive and waiting for Longstreet, who was hurrying +forward through Thoroughfare Gap. At night Jackson withdrew so as to +connect with Longstreet. Believing the movement meant a retreat, Pope +telegraphed to that effect to Washington. But he was grievously +mistaken, for the Confederates were rapidly reinforced, as was +discovered the next day, when the battle was renewed and pressed +resistlessly against the Federals. In the afternoon Lee arrived on the +ground, and, taking command, ordered an advance. Pope retreated, and +that night crossed Bull Run and took position behind the field works at +Centreville. Other corps joined him, and on the 1st of September Lee +made a demonstration against the Union right flank. Pope now became +terrified, as he saw that Washington was threatened, and he began a +tumultuous retreat toward the capital, pursued and harassed by the +Confederates, until at last the whole disorganized army found rest and +safety behind the fortifications at Washington. Pope had been +disastrously defeated, and the second campaign against Richmond was one +of the worst failures conceivable. + + +McCLELLAN RECALLED TO COMMAND. + +Pope had done the best he knew how, but the task was beyond his ability, +and he was glad enough to be relieved of his command, which was assumed +once more by McClellan, who still retained a great deal of his +popularity with the rank and file. Pope's division had been styled the +Army of Virginia, but the name was now dropped, and the consolidated +forces adopted the title of the Army of the Potomac, by which it was +known to the close of the war. + +The success of the Confederates had been so decisive that the Richmond +authorities now decided to assume the aggressive and invade the North. +It was a bold plan thus to send their principal army so far from its +base, and General Lee did not favor it, but the opportunity was too +tempting for his superiors to disregard. One great incentive was the +well-founded belief that if the Confederacy gained a marked advantage, +England and France would intervene and thus secure the independence of +the South. + +The neighboring State of Maryland was viewed with longing and hopeful +eyes by Lee and his army. It was a slave State, had furnished a good +many men to the Confederate armies, and, had it been left to itself, +probably would have seceded. What more likely, therefore, than that its +people would hasten to link their fortunes with the Confederacy on the +very hour that its most powerful army crossed her border? + + +THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND. + +The Confederate army began fording the Potomac at a point nearly +opposite the Monocacy, and by the 5th of September all of it was on +Maryland soil. The bands struck up the popular air, "Maryland, my +Maryland," the exultant thousands joining in the tremendous chorus, as +they swung off, all in high spirits at the belief that they were +entering a land "flowing with milk and honey," where they would find +abundant food and be received with outspread arms. + +Frederick City was reached on the 6th, and two days later Lee issued an +address to the people of Maryland, inviting them to unite with the +South, but insisting that they should follow their free-will in every +respect. The document was a temperate one, and the discipline of the +troops was so excellent that nothing in the nature of plundering +occurred. + +But it did not take Lee long to discover he had made a grievous mistake +by invading Maryland. If the people were sympathetic, they did not show +it by anything more than words and looks. They refused to enlist in the +rebel army, gave Lee the "cold shoulder," and left no doubt that their +greatest pleasure would be to see the last of the ragged horde. + +While at Frederick, Lee learned that the Union Colonel Miles was at +Harper's Ferry with 12,000 troops, held there by the direct order of +General Halleck, who was the acting commander-in-chief of the United +States forces. Lee determined to capture the whole body, and, detaching +Stonewall Jackson with three divisions, ordered him to do so and return +to him with the least possible delay. + +Military critics have condemned this act of Lee as one of the gravest +blunders of his career. His advance thus far had been resistless, and it +was in his power to capture Baltimore, and probably Philadelphia and +Washington; but the delay involved in awaiting the return of Jackson +gave McClellan, who was a skillful organizer, time to prepare to meet +the Confederate invasion. + +Jackson lost not an hour in capturing Harper's Ferry, the defense of +which was so disgraceful that had not Colonel Miles been killed just as +the white flag was run up he would have been court-martialed and +probably shot. Many suspected him of treason, but the real reason was +his cowardice and the fact that he was intoxicated most of the time. Be +that as it may, Harper's Ferry surrendered with its garrison of 11,500 +men, who were immediately paroled. The Confederates obtained seventy-two +cannon, 13,000 small arms, and an immense amount of military stores. + +Scarcely had the surrender taken place, when Jackson, who had hardly +slept for several days and nights, received orders from Lee to join him +at once. He started without delay, but he and his men were almost worn +out. It is likely that by this time Lee was aware of the mistake he had +made when he stopped for several days while his leading assistant went +off to capture a post that was of no importance to either side. + + +McCLELLAN'S PURSUIT OF LEE. + +Leaving a strong garrison to defend Washington, McClellan, at the head +of 100,000 troops, set out to follow Lee, who had about 70,000 under his +immediate command. The Union leader reached Frederick on the 12th of +September, and there a curious piece of good fortune befell him. + +In the house which had been used as the headquarters of General D.H. +Hill was found a copy of an order issued by General Lee, which detailed +his projected movements, and contained his instructions to his various +leaders. It was priceless information to General McClellan, who made +good use of it. + +Lee manoeuvred to draw McClellan away from Washington and Baltimore, +that he might attack them before the Union commander could return to +their defense. Lee left Frederick on September 10th, after Jackson had +started for Harper's Ferry, and, marching by South Mountain, aimed for +Boonsboro'. Stuart and his cavalry remained east of the mountains to +watch McClellan, who was advancing with every possible precaution. Lee +expected Harper's Ferry would fall on the 13th, but the surrender did +not take place until two days later. The Confederate army being divided, +McClellan tried to take advantage of the fact, hoping to save Colonel +Miles at Harper's Ferry. It did not take Lee long to perceive from the +actions of the Union commander that in some way he had learned of his +plans. + +It would not be interesting to give the details of the many manoeuvres +by each commander, but before long Lee saw he could not hold his +position at South Mountain, and he retreated toward Sharpsburg, near the +stream of water known as Antietam Creek. He was thus on the flank of any +Federal force that might attempt to save Harper's Ferry. Naturally he +held the fords of the Potomac, so that in case of defeat the way to +Virginia was open. + +[Illustration: GENERAL LEE'S INVASION OF THE NORTH. + +The Confederate army under General Lee twice invaded the north. The +first invasion was brought to a disastrous end by the Battle of +Antietam, September 17, 1862. The second invasion ended with greater +disaster at Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Gettysburg was the greatest and +Antietam the bloodiest battles of the war.] + +Still Lee and Jackson were separated by a wide stretch of mountain, +river, and plain, and McClellan was aware of the fact. He had the +opportunity to cut off each division in detail, but lacked the nerve and +dash to do it. There were subordinates in the Army of the Potomac who +yearned for just such a chance, but McClellan's timidity and excessive +caution deprived him of another golden opportunity, as it had done +before and was soon to do again. + +The position of Lee was among a range of hills, which, following the +form of a crescent, extended from the lower point of Antietam Creek to a +bend in the Potomac. Jackson was straining every nerve to join Lee, but +his men were taxed beyond endurance, and many of them fell by the +roadside from utter exhaustion, only a portion reaching Sharpsburg on +the 16th. The full Confederate army did not exceed 40,000, while +McClellan, who arrived on the opposite side of Antietam Creek, that +afternoon, had 70,000. Instead of attacking at once, he waited two days, +and thus gave Lee time to gather many thousand stragglers. + +[Illustration: ANTIETAM BRIDGE.] + + +BATTLE OF ANTIETAM OR SHARPSBURG. + +Finally, when McClellan had no excuse for further delay, and the enemy +was in fine form, he opened the attack on the morning of the 17th. To +reach Lee the Union commander had to cross the creek, which was spanned +by three bridges, each defended by Confederate batteries. + +The first attack was by Hooker on the enemy's left, where he drove +Jackson back, after he had been reinforced by Hood, cleared the woods, +and took possession of the Dunker Church, which stood slightly north of +Sharpsburg. A little way beyond the Confederates made a stand, and, +being reinforced, recovered most of the ground they had lost. General +Mansfield was killed and Hooker received a painful wound in the foot. +When their two corps were retreating in confusion, Sumner arrived, +rallied them, and made a successful stand. Seeing the critical +situation, Lee hurried every available man to that point. This left only +2,500 troops in front of the bridge, where Burnside had 14,000. +McClellan sent repeated orders for him to advance, but he paid no +attention until one o'clock, when he crossed without trouble, and then +remained idle for three more hours. The heights were soon captured, and +a position secured from which the rebel lines could be enfiladed. A.P. +Hill arrived at this juncture from Harper's Ferry with 4,000 men, and +drove Burnside in a panic to the creek. Fighting soon ceased, both sides +too much exhausted to keep up the terrific struggle, the position of the +two armies being much the same as at first. + +This fierce battle had wrenched and disorganized both armies, but +McClellan, who had much the larger body, could have destroyed or +captured those in front of him, had he followed the urgent advice of his +officers, and given the enemy no rest. But he decided to await +reinforcements, which arrived to the number of 14,000 that night. Then +he resumed his preparations, and on the morning of the 19th advanced +against the enemy, only to find there was none in front of him. + + +LEE'S RETREAT. + +The retreat of Lee was deliberate. Having accurately gauged the +commander in front of him, he spent all of the 18th in completing his +preparations, and made no move until the next morning. Then, protected +by batteries on the opposite bank, he crossed the Potomac, and on the +20th drove back a Union reconnaissance. The government, impatient with +McClellan's tardiness, urged and almost ordered him to follow up Lee, +but the commander preferred to guard against being followed up himself +by the Army of Northern Virginia. Thus again a golden opportunity +slipped away unimproved. + +Naturally each side claimed a victory at Antietam or Sharpsburg, as it +is called in the South, but such a claim in either case is hardly +justifiable. It may be said, on the one hand, that Lee's invasion of the +North was brought to a disastrous end by his check at Antietam, but the +claim of Lee was that his failure to secure the expected recruits from +Maryland, and his distance from the base of supplies, necessitated such +a withdrawal on his part, for it is established that he was opposed to +the northward advance from the first. + +On the other hand, he had received a serious check, but his army +remained intact and was as well prepared as ever to contest the campaign +against Richmond, a campaign which had to be pushed to a successful +conclusion before the war could end. The one grand opportunity of +General McClellan's life was presented to him at the close of the battle +of Antietam, and, failing to seize it, it never came again, and his +military career ended with failure. + +Antietam was, in comparison to numbers engaged, the bloodiest battle of +the Civil War. The Union loss was 2,108 killed; 9,549 wounded; 753 +missing; total, 12,410. The Confederate loss was 1,886 killed; 9,348 +wounded; 1,367 captured and missing; total, 12,601. + +The government was insistent that McClellan should push his advance +against Richmond, but the favorable autumn wore away and the wet season +arrived before a plan of campaign was formulated. This was to cross the +Blue Ridge Mountains from Harper's Ferry, following the southeastern +side of the range, leaving detachments to guard all the passes, and thus +threaten the Confederate communications in the Shenandoah Valley. + + +McCLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE. + +Accordingly, on the 25th of October, the Army of the Potomac once more +faced toward the Confederate capital. In the course of a week, it held +the whole region southwest of the Blue Ridge and was near the army of +General Lee, who fell back, cautiously followed at a safe distance by +the Union commander. On the night of November 7th, while McClellan was +talking in his tent with Burnside, a messenger arrived from Washington +with an official order, relieving McClellan of the command of the Army +of the Potomac and appointing Burnside as his successor. McClellan +promptly turned over the care of the army to him, and, as directed, +proceeded to Trenton, N.J., to await further orders. + +It may be added that General McClellan never served again in the army. +He resigned in 1864, and was nominated the same year for President of +the United States, but received only 21 electoral votes. He was +Democratic governor of New Jersey 1878-1881, and died at his home in +Orange, N.J., October 29, 1885. + +Burnside, although a fine corps commander, was not qualified to command +the splendid body over which he was thus placed. He devoted a number of +days to acquainting himself with his vastly enlarged duties. The six +corps were united into three divisions of two corps each, Sumner +commanding the right, Hooker the centre, and Franklin the left, while +General Sigel had charge of a body of reserve. + +After consulting with General Halleck, it was decided that the Army of +the Potomac should make a rapid march down the Rappahannock, cross by +pontoon-bridges at Fredericksburg, and then advance upon Richmond by way +of Hanover Court-House. + +Everything depended upon initiating the movement before it was +discovered by the enemy, but the delays, which perhaps were unavoidable, +revealed the truth to Lee. When Sumner's division reached a point +opposite Fredericksburg they saw the Confederates on the other side +awaiting them. Still the force was so meagre that Sumner wished to cross +and crush it, but Burnside would not permit. The delay gave Lee time to +bring up his whole army and make his position impregnable. He stationed +a battery some miles below the town to prevent any Union gunboats coming +up stream, while every ford was closely guarded. + +Burnside faltered before the position that was like a mountain wall, but +the North was clamorous for something to be done, and he decided to make +the hopeless attack. One hundred and forty-seven cannon were posted, on +the night of December 10th, so as to command the town and cover the +crossing of the river. Unable to prevent this, Lee made his preparations +to annihilate the Unionists after they had crossed. + + +UNION DISASTER AT FREDERICKSBURG. + +In the face of a brisk fire, a force was sent over the river and +occupied the town, while Franklin laid his bridges two miles below and +crossed without trouble. When the cold, foggy morning of December 13th +broke, the whole Army of the Potomac was on the southern shore and the +Confederate army was on the heights behind Fredericksburg. + +As the fog had cleared to some extent, General Franklin advanced against +the Confederate right, but, misunderstanding Burnside's order, he made +only a feint. Fighting was kept up throughout the day, and once General +Meade forced a gap in the enemy's line, but he was not reinforced, and +was driven back with severe loss. + +The attack on the right having failed, Sumner threw himself against the +left. This required the seizure of Marye's Hill, and was hopeless from +the first. As the Union troops emerged from the town they were in fair +range of an appalling fire that mowed down scores. Still they pressed on +with a courage that could not be surpassed until one-half lay dead and +dying, when the rest staggered backward out of the furnace-blast of +death. The gallant Hancock gathered up the fragments of the shattered +line, and, uniting them with his own men, numbering 5,000 in all, he led +a charge, which in a brief while stretched 2,000 dead or wounded. Still +the survivors held their ground and were joined by others, who fell so +fast that it was soon evident that every man would be killed. Then +grimly remarking, "I guess we have had enough killed to satisfy +Burnside," Hancock ordered the brave fellows to fall back. + +Burnside was frantic over the repeated failures. He was determined that +the heights should be carried, and ordered Hooker, his only remaining +general, to do it. Hooker went across with his three divisions, made a +careful reconnoissance, and saw that to carry out the command meant the +massacre of all his troops. He returned to Burnside and begged him to +recall his order. He refused, and Hooker attempted to obey, leading +4,000 of as brave men as ever shouldered a musket; but before they could +reach the stone wall 1,700 lay helpless on the icy earth and the +remainder fled. + +Had not night been at hand, Burnside would have ordered another charge +and sacrificed hundreds of more lives, but he concluded to let the men +live until the next morning. Already 1,200 had been killed, almost +10,000 wounded, and several thousand were missing. The commanders +gathered around Burnside and insisted that the army should be brought +across the river before it was annihilated, but he refused. He was +resolved on sacrificing several thousand more under the ghastly name of +a "charge." At last, however, he became more reasonable and listened to +his officers. Perhaps the shrieks of the wounded, who lay for two days +and nights where they had fallen without help, produced some effect in +awaking him to a sense of his horrible blundering and incompetency, for, +when the bleak, dismal morning dawned, the intended "charge" was not +ordered. The Army of the Potomac had been wounded so well-nigh unto +death that it could not stand another similar blow. + +[Illustration: LATEST MODEL OF GATLING GUN.] + +On the cold, rainy night of December 15th, the wretched forces tramped +back over the river on the pontoon-bridges, having suffered the worst +defeat in the army's whole history. It was in the power of Lee to +destroy it utterly, but it slipped away from him, just as it had +slipped away from McClellan after the battle of Antietam. + +The Union losses at Fredericksburg were: Killed, 1,284; wounded, 9,600; +missing, 1,769; total, 12,653. The Confederate losses were: Killed, 596; +wounded, 4,068; captured and missing, 651. Total, 5,315. + + +SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS. + +The eventful year had been one of terrible fighting. It had opened with +the Union successes of Forts Henry and Donelson, followed by Pea Ridge, +Pittsburg Landing, and Corinth in the West, the naval battle between the +_Merrimac_ and _Monitor_, the capture of Roanoke Island and of New +Orleans. Bragg's invasion of Kentucky was injurious to the Union cause, +while, as we have seen, the campaign against Richmond had been a series +of disastrous failures. Still, taken as a whole, the year showed a +decisive step forward. The Union line had been advanced across the State +of Tennessee, substantial progress had been made in opening the +Mississippi, and the blockade was enforced with a rigidity that caused +great distress in the Confederacy. + +Both sides felt the terrific strain of the war. The Confederacy in April +passed a conscription act, which made all able-bodied males between the +ages of eighteen and thirty-five years soldiers for the war. All such +were taken from the control of the State of which they were residents +and placed at the disposal of President Davis until the close of the +war. This conscription act was soon made much more severe in its +provisions. + + +THE CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS. + +One source of help to the Confederacy was her privateers, which wrought +immense damage to northern shipping. England assisted in fitting them +out. Despite the protests of Minister Adams, many of these were allowed +to put to sea. One of the first was the _Oreto_, afterward known as the +_Florida_. She succeeded in eluding the blockade at Mobile, through +flying the British flag, delivered her valuable freight, received her +armament, and came forth again in the latter part of December and began +her wholesale destruction of American merchantmen. + +The privateer _Sumter_ was driven into Gibraltar, and so closely watched +by the _Tuscarora_ that Captain Semmes, her commander, sold her, and +made his way to England, where the English built for him the most famous +privateer the Confederacy ever had--the _Alabama_--of which much more +will be told further on. + + +THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. + +The national government had learned by this time the full measurement +of the gigantic task before it. By the close of the year, 1,300,000 +volunteers had been called for, and the daily expenses amounted to +$3,000,000. The conviction, too, was growing that slavery was the real +cause of the war, and the time had come to treat it with less +consideration than many leading officers and men whose patriotism could +not be doubted were disposed to show toward the "peculiar institution." +President Lincoln was one of the wisest men who ever sat in the +executive chair, and none read so unerringly the signs of the times as +he. The Abolitionists were impatient with his slowness, while many of +the doubting thought he went too fast. He waited until the right hour, +and then issued his Emancipation Proclamation. + +[Illustration: UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON.] + +This appeared soon after the battle of Antietam, and it is said was the +fulfillment of the pledge President Lincoln had made to heaven that, if +Lee's invasion was turned back, he would issue the great paper, which, +in effect, would see free 4,000,000 bondsmen. In it he warned the +seceding States that in every one which failed to return to its +allegiance by the first of January, 1863, he would declare the slaves +free. The warning was received with scorn, as was expected. From the +date named, therefore, all the armed forces of the Union treated the +slaves as free wherever encountered. Before long colored men were +enlisted as soldiers and sailors, and they bore no inconsiderable part +in the prosecution of the war. + + +"GREENBACKS." + +It will be understood that the revenue of the government was altogether +unequal to the vast demands upon it. Taxation was increased, and, in +1862, the government began the issue of its own paper money. The backs +of the bills being printed in green ink, these bills were known as +"greenbacks." They were made a legal tender, despite considerable +opposition to the measure. The law gave any person owing a debt, no +matter if contracted in gold and silver, the right to pay the same with +greenbacks. Since it is impossible to regulate the value of money except +by the law of supply and demand, the bills, as compared with gold, +depreciated a good deal in value. + +The act of February 25, 1862, authorized the issue of $150,000,000, and +further issues were made on June 11, 1862, and March 3, 1863. The +depreciation of greenbacks was such that the price of gold averaged 2.20 +throughout 1864, and at one time reached 2.85. In other words, a +greenback dollar was worth only thirty-five cents. Another method of +raising money was through the sale of bonds, of which many millions were +issued. To encourage their sale, the National Banking System was +established in 1863. This required all banks that issued currency to +deposit a slightly larger amount of bonds in Washington. Thus the banks +were compelled to help the government by loaning it money. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, JULY 1, 1862 + +Malvern Hill was a very strong position taken by General McClellan in +his retreat before the army of Lee. General Lee made furious and +repeated assaults upon this well-nigh impregnable position, each time to +meet an inevitable repulse, and in the end a defeat accompanied by +severe losses, which necessitated his withdrawal to Richmond.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863. + +The Military Situation in the West--Siege and Capture of Vicksburg--The +Mississippi Opened--Battle of Chickamauga--"The Rock of +Chickamauga"--The Battle Above the Clouds--Siege of Knoxville--General +Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--His Plan of +Campaign Against Richmond--Stonewall Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh +Corps--Critical Situation of the Union Army--Death of Jackson--Battle of +Chancellorsville--Defeat of Hooker--The Second Confederate +Invasion--Battle of Gettysburg--The Decisive Struggle of the War--Lee's +Retreat--Subsequent Movements of Lee and Meade--Confederate +Privateering--Destruction of the _Nashville_--Failure of the Attacks on +Charleston--The Military Raids--Stuart's Narrow Escape--Stoneman's +Raid--Morgan's Raid in Indiana and Ohio. + + +There were now such immense armies in the field and military operations +were conducted on so vast a scale that the reader must carefully study +the situation in order to gain an intelligent idea of the progress of +the momentous events. We will give our attention first to operations in +the West. + + +THE SITUATION IN THE WEST. + +There were four Union armies in that section. The first was the one +under Rosecrans, which, on the opening days of the year, won the victory +at Murfreesboro' or Stone River, an account of which is given in the +preceding chapter. The second was near Holly Springs, under General +Grant; a third was in New Orleans, under General Banks, who had +succeeded General Butler; and the fourth was in Arkansas. The main +object of all these armies was to open the Mississippi. When that should +be accomplished, the Confederacy would be split in two. Hundreds of +thousands of beeves were drawn from Texas and the country beyond the +Mississippi, and to shut off this supply would be one of the most +effective blows that could be struck against the rebellion. + + +GRANT BEFORE VICKSBURG. + +General Sherman had failed to capture Vicksburg, and General Grant +assumed command of the forces besieging it. He saw that the defenses +facing the Mississippi and the lower part of the Yazoo were too powerful +to be taken by storm. He decided as a consequence to turn the rear of +the lines, and, securing an entrance into the upper part of the Yazoo, +reach the rear of the batteries at Haines' Bluff. + +In this important work he received valuable help from the ironclads of +Admiral Porter. With one of them he opened communication with the +squadron in the lower part of the Mississippi and disabled a Confederate +steamer under the guns of Vicksburg. Two of the boats groped their way +through the swamps and wooded creeks, where nothing more than canoes and +dugouts had ventured before, obtained a great deal of cotton and burned +much more, disregarded the torpedoes and fought the rebels along the +banks, explored new routes, and in the end both were captured by the +enemy. + +[Illustration: ADMIRAL PORTER.] + +Several ingenious plans were tried to capture these formidable +fortifications. One was an attempt to force a passage into the Upper +Yazoo. Another was to open a new channel for the Mississippi. Both were +failures, but the levees along the Yazoo were cut and many acres in the +rear of Vicksburg overflowed, while a great deal of Arkansas and +Louisiana was flooded. The object of all this was to shut off the +supplies of Vicksburg. Admiral Farragut now strove to pass from the +lower Mississippi by the Port Hudson batteries to Vicksburg. The effort +was made on the night of March 14th, which was of inky darkness. The +approach was discovered by the enemy, who kindled large bonfires on the +bank which revealed the passing vessels. The latter opened on the +batteries with great effect, but only two, including the flagship, were +able to get past, the thirteen being forced to turn back. The +_Mississippi_ ran aground and was set on fire and abandoned. With the +two vessels in hand, Farragut blockaded the mouth of the Red River and +gave valuable help to General Grant, but the land forces advancing from +Baton Rouge to aid in the attack on Vicksburg turned back upon learning +of the failure of Farragut's fleet to run past the batteries. + +General Grant had set out to capture Vicksburg and nothing could turn +him from his purpose. His aim was to sever the Confederate +communications with the east by turning the defenses of the Yazoo and +the Mississippi. General McClernand was sent in the latter part of March +to occupy New Carthage to the south, while General Banks, by advancing +from New Orleans, threatened Port Hudson in conjunction with the fleet +lying near. + +Banks' force was so large that the most the enemy could do was to delay +his advance by burning bridges and obstructing the river. In the latter +part of April, he established himself at Simmsport, near the junction of +the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi. Admiral Porter, who was lying with +his fleet above Vicksburg, now made the attempt to join Farragut below, +and it proved one of the most exciting experiences of the war. + + +RUNNING THE BATTERIES. + +Naturally a dark night--April 16th--was selected, and eight gunboats, +three transports, and several barges loaded with supplies silently +dropped down the river in the impenetrable mist, while the thousands of +Union troops intently watched the hulls as they melted from sight in the +gloom. The hope was general that they would be able to float past +undiscovered, and, when an hour of intense stillness went by, the +watchers and listeners began to breathe more freely, though their +anxiety was only partly lifted. + +[Illustration: DAVID G. FARRAGUT.] + +Suddenly two crimson lines of fire flamed along the river front, and the +earth trembled under the stupendous explosion. The ships had been +detected, and the river was swept by a tempest of shot and shell that it +seemed must shatter to fragments every one of the craft. It should be +remembered that these batteries extended for a long distance along the +shore, and they opened one after the other, as the ships came opposite. +Thus the fleet became the target of battery after battery, and had a +continuous and extended gantlet to run before reaching safety. + +The gunboats returned the fire as they swept by, and many of their shots +were effective, but in such a duel the advantage is always with the land +batteries. One of the transports was disabled, and another, directly +behind her, had to stop to avoid running into the injured craft. The +crew of the former, finding themselves the centre of a terrific fire, +launched the yawl, and, leaping into it, pulled for the shore. They had +scarcely left their vessel when it was fired by a shell, and, aflame +from stem to stern, it drifted down stream. Meanwhile, the transport +that had grounded was towed out of danger. With this exception, the +whole fleet got safely past, the loss being only one man killed and two +wounded on Porter's flagship. + +General Grant was greatly pleased with this success. A few nights later +a second attempt was successful. He was thus enabled to send supplies to +the army, with which he intended to attack Vicksburg on the south. +Gradually shifting his own position, he reached a point opposite Grand +Gulf, a short distance below the mouth of the Big Black River. + + +CAPTURE OF GRAND GULF. + +Although Grand Gulf was strongly fortified its quick capture was a +necessity. McClernand had been ordered several times to attack it, but +he was so laggard that Grant himself undertook the task. It proved one +of extreme difficulty, and he was obliged to make a change of plans, but +he handled his troops with admirable skill and with such effect that the +Confederate commander's position at Grand Gulf became untenable and he +withdrew. Grant rode into town and found the place in the possession of +Admiral Farragut. + +The success was so brilliant that Pemberton, the Confederate general +commanding the forces at Vicksburg, became alarmed and telegraphed to +General Jo Johnston for reinforcements, but Johnston was too much +occupied with Rosecrans in Tennessee to spare any of his men, and about +all he could do was to send encouraging words to his subordinate. + + +GRANT'S FINE GENERALSHIP. + +General Grant never displayed his great genius more strikingly than in +the operations before Vicksburg. For days and nights he seemed scarcely +to eat or sleep. He was here, there, and everywhere, and was familiar +with all the minute details of his momentous enterprise. General +Pemberton confessed in his reports that the amazing activity of Grant +"embarrassed him." + +Grand Gulf was made the base of operations, and, well aware that +reinforcements would be hurried to the garrison, Grant hastened his +movements. While pressing his attack he learned that Johnston was at +Jackson with a strong force, with which to reinforce Pemberton. He +immediately dispatched McPherson and Sherman thither, and, after a +fierce fight, Jackson was captured. Grant learned from deserters that +Johnston, the chief Confederate commander in that section, had sent +peremptory orders to Pemberton to leave Vicksburg and attack him in the +rear. The latter, with his usual promptness, met this danger, and, by +decisively defeating the enemy at Champion Hill, he accomplished the +splendid feat of keeping Johnston out of Vicksburg and Pemberton in. It +was a great exploit, for Jo Johnston was one of the ablest generals of +the war, and the fine campaign which he had planned was brought to +naught. Not only was he kept out of Vicksburg, but it was made +impossible for him to send any help to Pemberton, around whom the Union +commander was drawing the coils more tightly each day. + +[Illustration: GRANT AFTER THE BATTLE OF BELMONT.] + +Still the defenses of Vicksburg were too powerful to be captured by +storm, and Grant did the only thing possible--he besieged the city. The +siege began about the middle of May. The garrison had provisions for +barely two months, from which they had to supply the inhabitants of the +town. Jo Johnston saw the peril and set to work with such vigor to raise +a force to send to the relief of Pemberton, that Grant was hurried into +making an assault on the rebel works. This took place before daylight on +the morning of May 19th. Though successful at first, the Federals were +repulsed. A grand assault was undertaken three days later and pressed +with the utmost bravery, but it resulted in another repulse, in which +the loss of the assailants was three times greater than that of the +defenders. Porter tried to help with his fleet, but his vessels were so +badly injured by the batteries that they were compelled to withdraw from +action. + +This failure showed that it was useless to try to capture Vicksburg +except through a regular siege, which was pressed henceforth without +intermission. Shells were thrown into the doomed city night and day; the +people lived in caves, on short rations, and underwent miseries and +sufferings which it is hard to comprehend in these days. All the time +Grant was edging closer and closer. Parallels and approaches were +constructed; mines sunk and countermining done. Several attempts were +made to relieve Vicksburg, but the bulldog-like grip of Grant could not +be loosened, and the condition of the garrison became much like that of +Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. + + +FALL OF VICKSBURG. + +The defenders displayed the greatest bravery and endurance, and held out +until the time came when it was apparent that it was a choice between +surrender and starving to death. That man who prefers to starve rather +than submit to a magnanimous foe is a fool. Pemberton had 21,000 troops +under his command, but 6,000 were in the hospitals, while Grant had +fully 60,000 soldiers waiting and eager to make the assault. On the 3d +of July, a flag of truce was displayed in front of Vicksburg, and a +message was sent to the Union commander, asking for an armistice with a +view of arranging for the capitulation of Vicksburg. Grant's reply was +his usual one, that the only terms he could accept were unconditional +surrender, and he, therefore, declined to appoint commissioners. + +The commanders then met between the lines, and Grant agreed that the +garrison should be paroled and allowed to go to their homes, and that +the city, stores, arms, and supplies should belong to the conquerors. +Although the Union commander's terms "unconditional surrender" sounded +harsh, they always proved of a generous nature. There was a good deal of +criticism in the South of Pemberton for selecting the 4th of July for +making his submission, since the Union people would be sure to make a +greater ado over it. Pemberton's explanation was that he believed Grant +would be more disposed to give him liberal terms on that date than on +any other, and it would not be strange if he was partly right. + + +IMPORTANCE OF THE CAPTURE. + +The capture of Vicksburg was one of the most important Union successes +of the war. In his official report, Grant thus summarized the results of +his campaign: "The defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of +Vicksburg; the occupation of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi; and +the capture of Vicksburg, its garrison and munitions of war; a loss to +the enemy of 37,000 prisoners, at least 10,000 killed and wounded, and +hundreds, perhaps thousands, who can never be collected or reorganized. +Arms and munitions of war for an army of 60,000 men have fallen into our +hands, beside a large amount of other public property and much that was +destroyed to prevent our capturing it." + +Thus one of the great objects of the war was accomplished. The +Mississippi was opened throughout its entire length and the Confederacy +cut in twain. That President Davis felt the gravity of the blow (to +which one still more decisive was added about the same time) was proven +by his proclamation calling into service all persons in the Confederacy +not legally exempt, who were between the ages of eighteen and forty-five +years. He also appointed the 21st of August as a day of fasting, +humiliation, and prayer. + +Grant's magnificent success greatly increased his popularity in the +North. His praises were in every one's mouth; he was declared to be the +ablest military leader that had yet appeared, and more than one saw in +him the coming saviour of the Union. + +Perhaps it is slightly premature to say that the Mississippi was opened +from the hour of the surrender of Vicksburg. Port Hudson held out, but +its fall was a corollary of that of the more important city. It had +stoutly resisted several attacks, but, realizing the hopelessness of his +situation, the Confederate commander surrendered on the 9th of July, and +the opening of the Mississippi was fully completed. + + +ROSECRANS' CAMPAIGN. + +The reader will recall that the battle of Murfreesboro' took place at +the very beginning of the year. Rosecrans, the Union commander, never +repeated the brilliant skill he had shown in fighting Bragg on Stone +River. He seemed to think that that repulse of the enemy was sufficient +to last a good while, for he remained idle throughout the several months +that followed. There were a number of brisk skirmishes and fights, but +none was of importance. When June arrived without anything of account +having been accomplished, the government suggested to Rosecrans that it +was time he took steps to drive Bragg into Georgia and thus secure +Eastern Tennessee, where the sentiment was strongly Union. + +Rosecrans hesitated, but upon receiving a stronger intimation that he +ought to be up and doing, he began a series of movements, in the latter +part of June, which caused Bragg to withdraw to Chattanooga, where he +intrenched himself. Burnside then advanced from Ohio into Eastern +Tennessee, but was so delayed that Bragg was heavily reinforced from +Virginia. To protect his communications, he fell back, however, upon +the approach of the Federal army, which occupied Chattanooga. + +Unaware of the increased strength of the enemy, Rosecrans divided his +army into three columns, separated by wide spaces of mountains, and +marched in loose order against his foe, observing which Bragg determined +to overwhelm each of the columns in detail. + +The first demonstration was against General George H. Thomas, who +commanded the Federal left, and was encamped at the foot of Lookout +Mountain. That splendid officer eluded the enemy launched against him, +and effected a junction with the other two corps. + +At the same time the centre of the three columns was attacked, but the +assault was repulsed, and the reunited Union army on the 18th of +September stood on the western bank of the Chickamauga, which stream was +well named, for the Indian word means "the river of death." The position +was twelve miles from Chattanooga, and it was a perilous one, for, as +has been stated, Bragg had been heavily reinforced, and Longstreet with +a powerful column of veterans from Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was +approaching. He, therefore, decided to make an attempt to recover +Chattanooga. + + +BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. + +The Confederates crossed the Chickamauga, and, on the morning of the +19th, Rosecrans opened the battle by attacking the enemy's right wing. +The entire armies were soon involved, and the fighting lasted until +nightfall, with the result in favor of the Confederates. Although forced +from several positions, they gained and held the road leading to +Chattanooga, and the Union troops were driven almost to the base of +Missionary Ridge. + +Late that night, Longstreet arrived with his fire-seasoned veterans. He +was one of Lee's best lieutenants, and it was arranged that the battle +should be renewed the next morning at daybreak, with Longstreet +commanding the left wing. From some cause, the Confederate attack was +delayed until ten o'clock, the delay giving the Federals time to throw +up a number of breastworks. Against these Bragg repeatedly charged with +his right wing, but was repulsed each time. + +Thomas, in command of the Union left, also repelled a sharp attack, but +Longstreet routed Rosecrans, and, discerning a gap caused by the +transfer of the Union centre to strengthen the left, Longstreet led his +men impetuously into the opening, thus splitting the Union army in two. +Striking in both directions, he threw the two divisions into such +disorder and confusion that the frightened Rosecrans galloped in hot +haste to Chattanooga to secure his supply train and the pontoon-bridges +over the Tennessee. At the same time, he telegraphed the terrifying +tidings to Washington that the whole Union army had been beaten. + + +"THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA." + +At a crisis in the tremendous battle, General Hood, one of the +Confederate leaders, was wounded, and a halt was made until another +officer could be brought up to take his place. Short as was the delay, +it gave the Unionists time to rally and strengthen their endangered +points. Despite this advantage, the telegram of Rosecrans would have +been verified and the magnificent army destroyed except for one man. He +was George H. Thomas, the heroic commander of the Union left. Longstreet +launched his veterans against him again and again, but he beat them back +in every instance. Never did men fight more bravely than those +Americans, arrayed against each other, and never was finer generalship +displayed than by General Thomas, whose wonderful defense that day won +for him the name by which he will always be remembered--"The Rock of +Chickamauga." + +[Illustration: GEORGE H. THOMAS. + +"The Rock of Chickamauga."] + +Holding his heroes well in hand, Thomas was ready to renew the battle +the next day, but Bragg did not molest him. The Confederates, however, +had won a victory, for they drove the Federals from the field and +retained possession of it. Thomas fell slowly back toward Chattanooga, +presenting a firm front to the enemy. + +Chickamauga ranks as one of the great battles of the war. The Union +losses were: killed, 1,656; wounded, 9,749; missing, 4,774; total, +16,179. The Confederate losses were: killed, 2,268; wounded, 13,613; +captured and missing, 1,090; total, 16,971. + + +SUPERSEDURE OF ROSECRANS BY THOMAS. + +Rosecrans' conduct of this battle caused his supersedure by Thomas, +while several division commanders were suspended, pending an inquiry +into their course. President Davis removed General Leonidas Polk, who +was thought to have shown hesitancy of action at critical points. Bragg, +however, was the most blamable, for, with the advantage overwhelmingly +in his favor, he refused to permit Longstreet to follow up his success. +One of the peculiarities of the Confederate President was his strong +likes and dislikes. He was a personal enemy of Jo Johnston, and more +than once humiliated him, but he was also a friend of Bragg, and, in the +face of indignant protests, retained him in chief command in the +southwest. + +As soon as the Union army reached Chattanooga intrenchments were thrown +up. Bragg appeared before the town on the 23d, and, finding the position +too strong to be carried by assault, he laid siege to it. The situation +of the army became so dangerous that great uneasiness was felt in +Washington, where the wise step was taken of sending General Grant +thither, with his appointment to the command of the entire West. +Abundant reinforcements were hurried to the imperiled point, the entire +Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from the Army of the Potomac forming the +principal commands. The Federals became much the stronger, but Bragg did +not abandon his siege of Chattanooga. + +Recalling the advance of Burnside from the Ohio to the relief of +Rosecrans, it should be stated that he did not arrive in time to take +part in the battle of Chickamauga, but occupied Knoxville on the 9th of +September. Bragg sent Longstreet with a strong force to attack Burnside, +the Confederate commander thereby weakening his army, which could ill +stand it. Grant arrived at Chattanooga on the night of October 20th, and +telegraphed Burnside to hold Knoxville at all hazards, while he gave his +attention to Bragg. + +Sherman came up with his troops November 15th, and a week later Grant +had an army of 80,000 men on the ground, while the removal of Longstreet +left Bragg with only 50,000. His line, twelve miles long, embraced two +elevations commanding a view of Chattanooga Valley. Lookout Mountain was +on the south, while Missionary Ridge on the east was not quite so high. +The Confederate left wing rested on the former, and the right on +Missionary Ridge, with the Chattanooga flowing between. Bragg was +justified in considering his position impregnable. + + +THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS. + +Grant, however, held a different opinion. On the night of the 23d the +enemy's picket lines were forced back and an improved position secured. +The following morning, Hooker, having already crossed the river, was +ordered to attack the position on Lookout Mountain. His movements were +hidden for a time by a dense fog, and it was his intention to stop as +soon as the enemy's rifle-pits at the base were captured; but, when this +was accomplished, the men were carried away by their enthusiasm, noting +which Hooker ordered them to charge the Confederate position. Up the +mountain the cheering, eager fellows swept with irresistible valor. The +Stars and Stripes was planted on the crest and 2,000 of the fleeing +Confederates were made prisoners. The fog still lay heavy in the valley +below, a fact which has led to the battle being called the "Battle above +the Clouds." + + +DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES. + +The following morning was also foggy, but, when it lifted, Sherman's +corps was seen advancing against the Confederate right, close to +Chickamauga station. In the face of a heavy artillery fire the Federals +pressed on, but at the end of an hour they were compelled to retreat. By +order of Grant the attack was renewed, but another severe repulse +followed. Next a general movement against the left centre was ordered, +and this was successful. The enemy was driven in confusion toward +Ringgold, to the southeast, while a large number of prisoners and a vast +amount of supplies were captured. + +General Hooker pursued and drove the Confederates out of Ringgold, but +they assumed so strong a position at Taylor's Ridge that Grant ordered +him not to attack, but to remain and hold Ringgold, Sherman, in the +meantime, marching against Longstreet. Bragg had blundered so much in +conducting this disastrous campaign that President Davis was forced to +replace him with Hardee. + + +RAISING OF THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE. + +Meanwhile, Longstreet was besieging Burnside at Knoxville, where the +15,000 Union troops were threatened with starvation. The town was +invested November 17th, and the next day some of the outworks were +carried. Well aware that Grant, after his defeat of Bragg, would hurry +to the relief of Knoxville, Longstreet attacked on the 29th, but +suffered a bloody repulse. He stubbornly held his ground until he +learned that Sherman was close upon him, when he withdrew and started on +his march to Virginia. The campaign soon ended in Tennessee, which was +virtually recovered to the Union. + +The reader will note that we have described the leading events in the +West and Southwest from the opening of the year to its close. Once more +it is necessary to return to January, 1863, in order to give a history +of the most important campaign of all--that against Richmond, which was +defended by the formidable Army of Northern Virginia, under the command +of General Robert E. Lee. + + +BURNSIDE SUPERSEDED BY HOOKER. + +Burnside's management of the attack on Fredericksburg in December, 1862, +was so incompetent and disastrous that it was impossible for him to +retain the chief command. Knowing that several of his generals had +severely criticised him, Burnside sent a list of names to Washington, +giving the government the choice of removing them or accepting his +resignation. Prominent on Burnside's "black list" was the name of +Hooker. On the 26th of January Burnside's resignation was accepted, and +Hooker was made his successor. + +The morale of the grand organization had been injured by its wretched +leadership, but the material itself could not have been finer. Hooker +set resolutely to work, and, by the 1st of May, the army was well +trained and disciplined, and numbered 130,000 men, of whom fully 12,000 +were cavalry. Lee had about half as many troops. + +Knowing it would not do to remain idle when the beautiful spring weather +came, Hooker had been carefully planning for another campaign against +Richmond. He had won a fine reputation for himself as a fighter and +skillful corps commander, and the hopes were high that he would lead his +superb army directly into the rebel capital. Everything seemed to be in +his favor, and the campaign opened promisingly. + + +THE NEW CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND. + +Hooker's plan was to assail Lee at two points. The Rappahannock and +Rapidan were to be crossed a short distance west of Fredericksburg, and +the left wing attacked. While this was going on, Hooker's own left wing +was to occupy the heights and secure possession of the Richmond +Railroad. The powerful Union cavalry were to ride around Lee's position +and cut off his retreat to Richmond. This involved the destruction of +the railroads and bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers. + +This important movement was begun April 27th. The main portion of the +corps of Meade, Howard, and Slocum, numbering 36,000 men, marched thirty +miles up the Rappahannock and crossed the stream without resistance. A +force then moved ten miles down the other side of the river, driving +away several Confederate detachments, and opened the way for Couch with +12,000 men to cross and join the other three corps. Taking different +routes, the 48,000 advanced toward Chancellorsville, which had been +named as the rendezvous. They were soon followed by Sickles with 18,000 +men. + +It was not until the Union movement had progressed thus far that Lee +read its purpose. He hastily called in his divisions, and, on the +forenoon of May 1st, the Army of Northern Virginia was drawn up in +battle-line in front of that dense-wooded district known as the +Wilderness. + +Exultingly confident, Hooker ordered an advance that day from near +Chancellorsville toward Fredericksburg. Hardly had he started when he +learned that Lee was moving against him; he, therefore, paused and threw +up defenses. His aim was to flank Lee, and, to prevent it, the +Confederate commander took desperate chances. Keeping up a rattling +demonstration in front he sent Stonewall Jackson with 30,000 men around +the right of the Union army. Had Hooker known of this daring movement, +he could easily have crushed each division in detail. + + +STONEWALL JACKSON'S FLANK MOVEMENT. + +Jackson carried out his programme with fearful completeness. Without his +purpose being suspected, he traveled fifteen miles, reaching the road +leading from Orange to Fredericksburg, on the southern side of the +Rapidan. He was thus within two miles of General Howard's Eleventh +Corps. The men were preparing supper with no thought of danger, when the +air was suddenly split by thousands of "rebel yells," and the graybacks +rushed out of the woods and swept everything before them. The whole +Eleventh Corps broke into a wild panic, and ran for their lives toward +Chancellorsville. + +The German division especially, under the command of Carl Schurz, were +irrestrainable in their terror. + +The majority, however, stood their ground bravely, and their commanders +put forth every effort to stop the wild stampede. A partial success was +attained, and the artillery poured in a fire which checked the pursuit. +Fortunately night was at hand, and the fighting soon ceased. The +position of the Union army was critical in the extreme. It was squeezed +in between Chancellorsville and the fork of the two rivers. What fate +awaited it on the morrow? + +[Illustration: THOMAS J. ("STONEWALL") JACKSON.] + +At this juncture, the Confederate cause received the severest blow in +its history. That remarkable man, Stonewall Jackson, was confident that +the destruction of the Union army was at hand, and he was impatient for +the morrow that he might complete the fearful work. In the dusk of early +evening he rode forward, accompanied by several of his staff, to +reconnoitre the Union position. Passing beyond the outer line of +skirmishers, the party halted in the gloom and peered toward the Federal +lines. Dimly discerned by a South Carolina regiment, they were mistaken +for the enemy, and a volley was fired at them. One of the staff was +killed and two wounded. Comprehending the blunder, Jackson wheeled and +galloped into the woods, but before the shelter could be reached, the +South Carolinians fired a second time. + +Jackson was struck twice in the left arm and once in the right hand. His +frightened horse whirled about and plunged away. A limb knocked off his +hat and came near unseating him, but he managed to keep in the saddle +and guide his steed into the road, where one of his staff helped him to +the ground and supported him to the foot of a tree where he was laid +down. He was suffering so keenly that he could not walk, and was carried +on a litter to the rear. For a part of the way, all were exposed to such +a hot artillery fire that they had to pause several times and lie down. + +[Illustration: HOUSE IN WHICH STONEWALL JACKSON DIED.] + +The wound grew so bad that the arm was amputated, but pneumonia +followed, and Jackson died on Sunday, May 10th. His last words, uttered +in his delirium, were: "Let us cross over the river and rest under the +shadow of the trees." + + +BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. + +The fighting at Chancellorsville was renewed at daylight, May 3d. +General Stuart succeeded to the command of Jackson's corps. The +superior numbers of the Union army and its compact formation gave it +all the advantage. It needed but one thing to insure overwhelming +success: that was competent leadership, and that was the one thing which +it did not have. + +[Illustration: THE FATAL WOUNDING OF "STONEWALL" JACKSON + +After his first great victory at Chancellorsville, "Stonewall" Jackson +believed that the destruction of the Union army was at hand, and in his +impatience for the morrow, that he might complete the work, he rode in +the dusk of the evening beyond his outposts to reconnoiter. A South +Carolina regiment mistook his party for the enemy and fired upon them, +mortally wounding their great commander.] + +With the weaker army still separated, it forced the Federals back toward +the river, where Hooker was compelled to form a second line. Holding him +there, Lee turned toward Sedgwick, who was at Fredericksburg with 25,000 +men. He had a good opportunity to assail Lee in the rear, but failed to +do so, and gave his efforts to capturing Marye's Heights, which was +defended by a weak garrison. It was easily taken, and Sedgwick sent a +column in the direction of Chancellorsville. On the road it encountered +some breastworks, thrown up by the force which Lee had dispatched to +check Sedgwick's advance. He was driven back, and the rebels, having +been reinforced, recaptured Marye's Heights. Sedgwick made a hurried +retreat, and thenceforward formed no factor in the battle. + +Having disposed of him, Lee turned again upon Hooker. Early on the 5th, +he placed a number of his guns within range of United States Ford and +dropped a few shells among the wagon trains. Nothing, however, was +accomplished on this day, except that the dry and parched woods were set +on fire, and many of the wounded who were unable to help themselves were +burned to death. Every horror that can be conceived as to war was added +to the awful scene. + + +RETREAT OF THE UNION ARMY. + +A heavy rainstorm caused the Rapidan and Rappahannock to rise so rapidly +that Hooker decided, after consulting his officers, to get back while he +had the chance to do so. The bridges were covered with pine boughs, and, +with the noise of the wheels deadened by the crashing thunder, the +wagons and artillery made the passage without discovery. By the +following morning, the entire Army of the Potomac was once more across +the Rappahannock and marching back to its old camp at Falmouth, and once +more the advance against Richmond had ended in woeful disaster. + +The losses of the Unionists at Chancellorsville were: killed, 1,606; +wounded, 9,762; missing, 5,919; total, 17,287. The losses of the +Confederates were: killed, 1,665; wounded, 9,081; captured and missing, +2,018; total, 12,764. + + +THE SECOND CONFEDERATE INVASION. + +After such a frightful Union defeat, it was no wonder that the +Confederates again decided to invade the North. Lee was not favorable to +the plan, but he must have felt that the prospect of success was better +than ever before. He made his preparations with great care, and +strengthened his army to 75,000 men, divided into three corps, commanded +respectively by Longstreet, Ewell, and A.P. Hill. He had in addition +15,000 cavalry under General J.E.B. ("Jeb") Stuart. + +The northward march was begun the first week in June. Longstreet and +Ewell advanced upon Culpeper, while Hill remained near Fredericksburg, +aiming to deceive Hooker as to his intentions. Hooker quickly perceived +that most of the rebel army had disappeared from his front, but it was a +mystery to him where it had gone. A reconnoissance developed the +direction taken by the two missing corps. Unsuspicious of the grand +project that was in the mind of the Confederate commander, Hooker moved +down the Shenandoah Valley, taking the same course as Lee, but with the +Blue Ridge Mountains between them. + + +LEE'S PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS. + +Passing through the defiles in this range, Lee dropped down on Milroy at +Winchester before he dreamed of danger. Most of his 7,000 men were +captured, but Milroy and a few escaped by a hurried flight at night. All +doubt now had vanished as to the intentions of Lee; he was aiming for +Pennsylvania, at the head of a powerful, well-organized army; Washington +and probably Philadelphia were in peril. The only check that could block +its way was the Army of the Potomac, and Hooker lost no time in moving. +He reached Fairfax Court-House on the night of the 14th, thus placing +himself on the flank of Ewell. The Confederates, however, held the +mountain passes securely and nothing effective could be done. + +[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE. + +Confederate Commander-in-chief at Gettysburg. + +(1807-1870).] + +On the 22d the headquarters of Lee were at Beverly, ten miles from +Winchester, with which Lee kept up communication through A.P. Hill's +corps, which was between Culpeper and Front Royal. Ewell, without +hesitation, forded the Potomac into Maryland, while his cavalry pushed +on into Pennsylvania. + +By this time the government was so alarmed that President Lincoln, on +the 15th of June, called by proclamation on the governors of Ohio, +Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia to furnish 100,000 militia +for the protection of those States. Pennsylvania, the one in greatest +danger, was so laggard that she asked New Jersey to come to her help, +and that little State gallantly did so. + + +GENERAL MEADE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. + +Hooker deserved credit for appreciating his own unfitness for the +command of the army that was again to fight Lee. He crossed the Potomac +June 26th, making a movement which threatened Lee's communications, and +resigned the next day. At Frederick, on the 28th, he published an order +to the effect that the army had been placed in charge of Major-General +George G. Meade. + +This was an excellent appointment. Although Meade was born, in 1815, in +Cadiz, Spain, he was an American, because his father was the United +States naval agent at the time. Meade was graduated from West Point in +1835, and won distinction in the war with the Seminoles and with Mexico. +The appointment was a surprise to him, but it pleased everybody, and he +modestly took hold, resolved to do the best he could. + + +MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL MEADE. + +He adhered to the general plan of Hooker. His army numbered about +100,000, and no braver men lived anywhere. Nearly all of Lee's troops +were north of the Potomac, partly in Maryland and partly in +Pennsylvania. On the 27th of June the whole army was at Chambersburg, +Pennsylvania; but Lee was greatly hampered by the absence of Stuart and +his cavalry. That dashing officer was very fond of making raids, and, +giving a wider meaning to the permission of Lee than that general +intended, he was off on another of his bold ventures, with no certainty +as to when he would return. It was upon him that Lee was obliged to +depend for news of the Union army. Receiving none, he was on the point +of advancing against Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, when he +paused upon receiving the first reliable news of the Army of the +Potomac. + +Meade had pushed his advance beyond Middleton, where his left was lying +when he took command of the army at Frederick. This action of the Union +commander looked as if he intended to cross the mountains and attack the +Confederate rear. Ewell's corps was at York and Carlisle, but still +there was no knowledge whatever of the whereabouts of Stuart. + +Lee now attempted to draw Meade away from the Potomac by concentrating +his army to the east of the mountains. Hill and Longstreet advanced to +Gettysburg, while Ewell was ordered to do the same. Lee himself lagged +in the hope that Stuart would join him, and because of that, Meade, who +was keenly on the alert, arrived in the neighborhood of Gettysburg +first. On the last day of June, he was within a few miles of the town, +while Lee was somewhat to the north and making for the same place. + +Stuart and his cavalry had harassed the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, +but, unable to stay its advance, they crossed the Potomac, and, moving +to the east of Meade, entered Carlisle shortly after Ewell had left for +Gettysburg. Stuart's delay was owing to the fact that he did not know +Lee's whereabouts. + + +THE FIRST DAY AT GETTYSBURG. + +The two mighty armies were now within striking distance of each other. +It was yet early in the day when a collision took place between a +Confederate division and Reynolds' Corps on the western side of the +town. Reynolds was one of the best officers in the Union army. He was +engaged in directing the movements of his troops when he was struck in +the head by a rifle bullet and instantly killed. General Doubleday +succeeded him in command, but was unable to drive back the enemy. Howard +arrived with the Eleventh Corps early in the afternoon and took charge +of the whole force. These were mainly composed of Germans, who were so +overwhelmingly stampeded by Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville. They +did not appear to have recovered from that panic, for they fled +pell-mell through Gettysburg, with the enemy whooping at their heels. +Nearly all who did not run were cut down or they surrendered. + +Meade had sent Hancock to take chief command, and, aided by Howard, he +rallied the shattered corps on the crest of Culp's Hill, behind the +town. The keen eye of Hancock was quick to see that it was here the +decisive struggle must take place, and he sent an urgent message to +Meade, fifteen miles away, to lose not an hour in hurrying his troops +forward. Meade followed the counsel. Some of his men arrived that night, +some the next morning, while those from the greatest distance did not +come in until the following afternoon. + +The line as formed by Hancock extended along Cemetery Hill on the west +and south of Gettysburg. It was a formidable position, and Lee, after +carefully studying it, decided to await the arrival of Longstreet and +Ewell with their corps before making his attack. Events proved that the +decision was a disastrous mistake on the part of the Confederate +commander. + +When the sultry first day of July drew to a close, the Federal right +held Culp's Hill, the centre Cemetery Hill, the left was along Cemetery +Ridge, and the reserve on the right. This line curved in the form of a +horseshoe, with the projecting portion facing Gettysburg. Sedgwick, it +will be remembered, had not arrived, but the force was composed of a +hundred thousand veterans who had 200 cannon at command. + +That night the Confederates were in Gettysburg and a part of the country +to the east and west. Ewell formed the left and held the town; Seminary +Ridge was occupied by Hill's Corps, and confronted the centre and left +of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. When Pickett's division came up on +the 3d, it was placed on the right of Hill's position and faced Round +Top. + +Most of the succeeding day was spent by both armies in preparing for the +tremendous death-grapple. At about five o'clock in the afternoon, having +become convinced that the left and left centre of the Union line were +the weakest points, Lee directed his efforts against them. They were +held by Sickles, who made a blunder by advancing a portion of his force +beyond the battle-line and seizing a ridge. It was because of this +blunder that the first Confederate attack was made at that point. + +Longstreet and Ewell opened with a sharp cannonade, under cover of which +Hood's division impetuously assaulted Sickles' left. He drove his right +wing between Sickles left and Little Round Top, and was steadily +succeeding in his purpose, when one of those apparently trifling things, +for which no one can account, interfered and brought about momentous +results. + +[Illustration: GEORGE G. MEADE. + +The Union commander-in-chief at Gettysburg.] + +Little Round Top was the key to the position, and yet it had no real +defenders. Had Hood known this, he could have seized it without the +slightest difficulty. Perceiving its importance, he began working his +way toward it, and only some extraordinary interference could prevent it +speedily falling into his possession. + +But General Gouverneur Warren, chief engineer, and his officers had +climbed Little Round Top and were using it as a signal station. Soon the +shots began flying so fast about them that they made hurried +preparations to leave. Warren, however, saw the importance of holding +the hill, and told his associates to make a pretense of doing so, while +he looked around for a force to bring to the spot. + +Fortunately, a large body of reinforcements were hurrying past to +Sickles, who had sent an urgent call for them. Without hesitation, +General Warren detached a brigade for the defense of Little Round Top. +They ran up the slope, dragging a battery with them. Hardly had they +done so, when Hood made a fierce charge. The fighting was of the most +furious nature, and it looked for a time as if the yelling Texans would +carry the hill, but they were forced back, and, pressing their way up +the ravine at the foot, turned the left Union flank, but were forced +again to retire by a bayonet charge. + +Sickles called for reinforcements when attacked by Longstreet, but with +their aid he could not hold his position. He was rushed back by the +terrific fighter, and Longstreet gained and held the key-point of the +line against the repeated assaults of the Union troops. Not only that, +but he was resistlessly advancing, when more reinforcements arrived and +attacked him just as he reached a wheatfield and grove of woods on the +western side of Plum Run. The Confederates were beginning to give way, +when Hood, having carried Sickles' extreme left, arrived. A vehement +charge carried Hood through two divisions that were doubled back on +their main line on Cemetery Ridge; Sickles' left having been crushed, +his centre and right were assailed, and the latter was driven back. In +the fighting Sickles lost a leg as well as his entire advanced position. + +The close of the 2d of July brought brilliant, but only partial, success +to the Confederates. After reaching Cemetery Ridge, Longstreet's men +were repulsed by Hancock. The Confederate commander fell back to the +western side of the wheatfield, where he remained until morning. Ewell, +impetuously attacking the Union right centre at Cemetery and Culp's +Hill, kept back Federal reinforcements from reaching the left, which +Longstreet was pounding, drove out the Federal artillery and infantry, +and held the works. This was a most important success, and, if Ewell +could maintain his position throughout the morrow, General Lee would +have a chance of taking Meade's line in reverse. The conclusion of the +second day, therefore, left matters in dubious shape for both sides. +While the Confederates had made gains, they were not decisive. Still +they were such as to cause grave concern on the part of Meade and his +brother officers, who held a long, anxious consultation, and discussed +the question whether it was not wise to fall back and assume a new and +stronger position. The decision was to remain where they were. + + +THE THIRD DAY. + +Naturally Lee strengthened his force near where Ewell had secured a +lodgment within the breastworks of Culp's Hill, with the purpose of +making his main attack there; but Meade could not fail to see the +utmost importance of driving out the enemy from his position. He shelled +it at daylight on the 3d, and sent a strong body of infantry against the +intruders. The Confederates made a desperate resistance, but in the end +were expelled, and the Union line re-established. + +It will be seen that this miscalculation of Lee compelled him to change +his plans. Sitting on his horse, riding back and forth, often halting +and scanning the battlefield through his glasses, and continually +consulting his officers, he finally decided to direct his supreme effort +against the Union centre. Success there meant the defeat and rout of the +Union army, for, if the two wings could be wedged apart, they would be +overwhelmed and destroyed by the charging Confederates. + +But the impressive fact was as well known to the Federals as to their +enemies, and nothing was neglected that could add to the strength of +their position. All night long troops kept arriving, and in the +moonlight were assigned to their positions for the morrow. It took Lee +several hours to complete his preparations for the assault upon the +Union centre. At noon he had 145 cannon posted on Seminary Ridge, +opposite Meade's centre, while Meade had 80 pieces of artillery lined +along the crest of Cemetery Hill. + + +PICKETT'S CHARGE. + +At noon the Confederates opened with all their cannon, their object +being to silence the batteries in front, to clear the way for the charge +against the Union centre. The eighty Federal pieces replied, and for two +hours the earth rocked under the most prodigious cannonade ever heard on +this side of the Atlantic. Then the Union fire gradually ceased, and, as +the vast volume of smoke slowly lifted, a column of 5,000 gray-coated +men were seen to issue from the Confederate lines more than a mile away +and advance at a steady stride toward the Union intrenchments. Their +bayonets shone in the afternoon sun, and their fluttering battle-flags, +the splendid precision of their step, and their superb soldierly +appearance made so thrilling a picture that an involuntary murmur of +admiration ran along the Union lines, even though these same men were +advancing to kill and wound them. + +They formed the division of General George E. Pickett, and no more +magnificent charge was ever made. They advanced in a double line, their +own artillery ceasing firing as they gradually passed within range with +beautiful regular step, which seemed to hasten, as if even with their +perfect discipline they could not restrain, their eagerness to join in +the death-grapple. + +The Union artillery remained silent until half the space was crossed, +when it burst forth, and the Confederates went down by the score. The +gaps could be seen from every point of the immense field, but those who +were unhurt immediately closed up and continued their dauntless advance +without a tremor. Coming still closer under the murderous artillery +fire, they broke into the double-quick, and it looked as if nothing +could check them. + +Waiting until within a few hundred yards, the artillery and musketry +blazed forth again. Through a misconception of orders, the Confederate +line had become disjointed, and the supports of Pickett were repelled +and a large number killed or taken prisoners, but Pickett's own division +came on unfalteringly, let fly with a volley at the breastworks in front +of them, and then, with their resounding yells, dashed up the crest of +Cemetery Ridge and drove out the defenders at the point of the bayonet. + +[Illustration: CUSHING'S LAST SHOT.] + +Immediately the hand-to-hand fighting became like that of so many +tigers. Guns were clubbed, men wrestled and fought and struck with their +bare fists, while a fire was converged upon the assailants of so +murderous a nature that even the daring Pickett saw that every one of +his men would be killed, if they remained. He gave the order to fall +back, and the survivors broke into a run down the slope for their own +lines. + +[Illustration: Drawn by W.B. DAVIS. + +PICKETT'S RETURN FROM HIS FAMOUS CHARGE. + +"General, my noble division is swept away."] + +Pickett's charge ranks among the famous in modern history, and was one +of the most striking incidents of the war. The double column which +marched across that fire-swept field numbered 5,000 of the flower of the +Confederate army. Thirty-five hundred were killed, wounded, or taken +prisoners. Of the three brigade commanders, one was killed, the second +mortally wounded, and the third badly hurt. One only of the fourteen +field officers returned, and out of the twenty-four regimental officers, +only two were unhurt. The ferocity of the charge resulted in many deaths +among the Unionists, and General Hancock was painfully wounded, but +refused to leave the field until the struggle was over. + +And all this valor had gone for naught. The Southerners had attempted an +impossible thing, and the penalty was fearful. Unspeakably depressed, +General Lee saw the return of the staggering, bleeding survivors, and, +riding among them, he did all he could to cheer the mute sufferers by +his sympathetic words. He insisted that the failure was wholly his own +fault, and that not a word of censure should be visited upon anyone +else. + +The expectation of the Confederates was that the Federals would follow +up this repulse with an immediate advance, and preparations were +hurriedly made to repel it; but the ammunition was low on Cemetery +Ridge, and the furious struggle had exhausted the defenders. Day was +closing and the great battle of Gettysburg was ended. + + +THE FEARFUL LOSSES. + +The Union losses were: killed, 3,070; wounded, 14,497; missing, 5,434; +total, 23,001. The Confederate losses were: killed, 2,592; wounded, +12,706; captured and missing, 5,150; total, 20,448. To quote from Fox's +"Regimental Losses in the American Civil War:" "Gettysburg was the +greatest battle of the war; Antietam the bloodiest; the largest army was +assembled by the Confederates in the Seven Days' Fight; by the Unionists +at the Wilderness." + + +THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE WAR. + +Gettysburg has been styled the Waterloo of the Southern Confederacy. +"Highest tide" was reached by its fortunes during those three first days +in July, 1863. Lee put forth his supreme effort, and the result was +defeat. He and his leading generals clearly saw that their cause had +received its death-blow, and, as one of them expressed it, the fighting +thenceforward was for terms. They were not yet conquered, and severe +work remained to be done, but never again did the Lost Cause come so +near success. Its sun, having reached meridian, must now go down until +it should set forever in gloom, disaster, and ruin. + +General Lee could not fail to perceive that all that remained to him was +to leave the country before overtaken by irretrievable disaster. He +withdrew Ewell's Corps that night from Gettysburg and posted it on +Seminary Ridge, where intrenchments were thrown up. The town was +occupied by Meade, and the dismal morrow was spent by the Confederates +in burying their dead and removing their wounded. At night the retreat +was begun by the Chambersburg and Fairfield roads, which enter the +Cumberland Valley through the South Mountain range. Great battles always +produce violent storms, and one of these added to the unspeakable +wretchedness of the homeward march. Finding Lee was retreating, Meade +sent Sedgwick in pursuit. The rear guard was overtaken on the night of +the 6th, but its position was too strong to be attacked and the Union +army took a route parallel to that of the Confederate. There was +considerable skirmishing, but nothing decisive occurred, and the +retiring army reached Hagerstown, where it found the fords of the +Potomac so swollen as to be impassable. Lee, therefore, intrenched, and +stayed where he was until the 13th, by which time the river had fallen +sufficiently to be forded, and he once more re-entered Virginia. Meade, +fearful that the great prize was about to escape him, made strenuous +efforts to intercept him, but failed, and returned to the Rappahannock, +while Lee established himself in the neighborhood of Culpeper. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO GETTYSBURG CEMETERY.] + +A period of inactivity now followed. Both Meade and Lee sent strong +detachments from their armies to the southwest, where, as we have seen, +they had the most active kind of service at Chickamauga, Missionary +Ridge, Knoxville, and other places. When Lee had considerably depleted +his forces, Meade thought the prospect of success warranted his making a +move against him. Accordingly, he sent his cavalry across the +Rappahannock, whereupon Lee withdrew to a position behind the Rapidan, +which was so strong that Meade dared not attack, and he, therefore, +attempted a flank movement. Before, however, it could be carried out, he +was called upon to send two more of his corps to the southwest, because +of the defeat of Rosecrans at Chickamauga. These corps were the Eleventh +and Twelfth under the command of Hooker. + +This withdrawal compelled Meade to give up his purpose, and he remained +on the defensive. By-and-by, when the troops were returned to him, he +prepared once more to advance, but Lee anticipated him by an effort to +pass around his right flank and interpose between him and Washington. +Crossing the Rapidan on the 9th of October, he moved swiftly to Madison +Court-House, without detection by Meade, who did not learn of it until +the next day, when his outpost was attacked and driven back on the main +army at Culpeper. This was proof that the Union right flank had been +turned, and Meade immediately started his trains toward the +Rappahannock, following a few hours later with his army. On the further +side of Bull Run, he fortified himself so strongly that Lee saw it was +useless to advance further, and, on the 18th of October, he returned to +the line of the Rappahannock. + +Meade started for Richmond on the 7th of November. The Confederates were +found occupying earthworks on the north of the Rappahannock. An +impetuous assault drove them out and across the river. Meade pushed on +to Culpeper, and Lee hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan. + +Meade's judgment was that no further advance should be made, but the +clamor of the North forced him to try another of the many attempts to +capture Richmond. He crossed the river on the 26th and 27th of November, +his aim being to divide the Confederate army by a rapid march on Orange +Court-House. But it seemed as if the flood-gates of heaven were then +opened. The rain fell in torrents day and night, and the country became +a sea of mud and water. Bridges had to be laid to connect different +portions of the army, and all offensive movements were for a while out +of the question. The delay gave Lee time to form his troops into a +compact mass, so that when the Unionists were ready to attack, it was so +evident that another Fredericksburg massacre would follow that the plan +was abandoned. + +In truth, Lee felt so strong that he was disposed to advance himself, +but was dissuaded by the belief that some blunder of the Union commander +would give him a better opportunity, but Meade was too wise to do so. On +the 1st of December he returned to his old quarters on the Rapidan. The +weather had become extremely cold, and both armies went into winter +quarters. + +The principal military movements of this year have now been described, +but it remains to tell of the operations on the seacoast and of the +leading military raids. + + +PRIVATEERING. + +The Confederates displayed great activity and ingenuity in the +construction of ironclads and in running the blockade. Their vessels +continually dodged in and out of a few of the leading ports, the +principal one being Wilmington, North Carolina. The profits in a single +cargo of a blockade-runner were so enormous that the owners were +enriched by several successful voyages, while a single one would +reimburse them for the loss of their ship. Under such circumstances it +was no wonder that they took desperate chances, and firms were organized +who paid liberal salaries to the officers of vessels, who advertised +among their friends the regular dates of their departure, and, the worst +of it was, they were very regular in keeping them. + +The _Alabama_ and other privateers were busy on the ocean, and the +Confederates strained every nerve to send others to sea. The _Nashville_ +was a fine steamer that was in the Ogeechee River, Georgia, waiting for +a chance to slip out and join the commerce destroyers. She had a +valuable cargo of cotton, and the Federal cruisers were alert to prevent +her escape. They would have gone up the river after her, but there were +too many torpedoes waiting for them, and the guns of Fort McAllister +were too powerful. + +Captain Worden, of the old _Monitor_, was now in command of the +_Montauk_, and he was delighted on the night of February 27th to observe +the _Nashville_ lying stuck fast in shallow water above Fort McAllister. +The opportunity was too tempting to be neglected, and the next morning, +despite a hot attack from the fort, he fired into the _Nashville_ until +she broke into flames and soon after blew up. + + +FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS ON CHARLESTON. + +Naturally the desire was strong in the North to humble Charleston, where +the baleful secession sentiment was born and brought all the woe upon +the country. General Beauregard was in command of that department, and +he made every preparation for the attack, which he knew would soon come. +In a proclamation he urged the removal of all non-combatants, and called +upon the citizens to rally to the defense of the city. + +A fleet of ironclads was always lying outside of Charleston, watching +for an opportunity to give its attention to the forts or city. One +tempestuous night in January a couple of rams dashed out of the harbor, +and, in a ferociously vicious attack, scattered the ironclads, and +compelled a gunboat to surrender. Thereupon the Confederates claimed +that the blockade had been raised, but no one paid any attention to the +claim. + +An expedition was carefully organized for the capture of Charleston, and +placed in command of Admiral Samuel F. Dupont. The fleet, numbering a +hundred vessels, left the mouth of the North Edisto River on the 6th of +April, and on the same day crossed the bar and entered the main channel +on the coast of Morris Island. + +A dense haze delayed operations until the following day, when a line of +battle was formed by the ironclads, the wooden vessels remaining outside +the bar. A raft was fastened to the front of the _Weehawken_, with which +it was intended to explode the torpedoes. The cumbrous contrivance +greatly delayed the progress of the fleet, which advanced slowly until +the _Weehawken_ had passed the outer batteries and was close to the +entrance to the inner harbor. Then Fort Moultrie fired a gun, instantly +followed by that of Fort Sumter, and the batteries on Sullivan and on +Morris Island. Then a hawser, which the Confederates had stretched +across the channel with the purpose of clogging the screws of the +propellers, was encountered, the _Weehawken_ was compelled to grope +around for a better passage, and everything went wrong. The _New +Ironsides_ made an attempt to turn but became unmanageable, two other +ironclads ran afoul of her, and matters were in a bad way when Admiral +Dupont signaled for each one to do the best it could. + +After a time, eight ironclads secured position in front of Fort Sumter, +at distances varying from a third to half a mile. This placed them in +direct range of 300 heavy guns which concentrated their appalling fire +upon them, the shots following one another as rapidly as the ticking of +a watch. The _Keokuk_, which ran close to Fort Sumter, was struck ninety +times, in the course of half an hour, in the hull and turrets, and +nineteen shots pierced her sides close to and below the water-line. Her +commander with great difficulty extricated her from her perilous +position, and she sank the next day. + +The fight was another proof of the fact that, in all such engagements, +the preponderating advantage is with the land batteries. The ships of +the squadron were severely injured, but they inflicted no perceptible +damage upon the forts. Admiral Dupont had gone into the battle against +his judgment, and he now signaled for the ships to withdraw. All with +the exception of the _New Ironsides_ returned to Port Royal on the 12th +of April. + +This failure caused great disappointment in the North and to the +government. Admiral Dupont was ordered to hold his position inside of +Charleston bar, and to prevent the enemy from erecting any new defenses +on Morris Island. The admiral replied that he was ready to obey all +orders, but, in his judgment, he was directed to take an unwise and +dangerous step. Thereupon he was superseded by Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, +and preparations were begun for a combined land and naval attack upon +Charleston. + +[Illustration: ATTACK ON CHARLESTON, AUGUST 23D TO SEPTEMBER 29, 1863 + +"After a time eight ironclads secured position in front of Fort Sumpter, +at a distance varying from a third to half a mile. This placed them in +direct range of 300 heavy guns, which concentrated their appalling fire +upon them, the shots following one another as rapidly as the ticking of +a watch."] + +One of the best engineer officers in the service was General Quincy A. +Gillmore, who had captured Fort Pulaski at Savannah the previous year. +He was summoned to Washington, and helped the government to arrange the +plan of attack upon Charleston. The most feasible course seemed to be +for a military force to seize Morris Island and bombard Fort Sumter from +that point, the fleet under Dahlgren giving help. There was hope that +the monitors and ironclads would be able to force their way past the +batteries and approach nigh enough to strike Charleston. + +Accordingly, a sufficient detachment was gathered on Folly Island, which +lies south of Morris Island, and batteries were erected among the woods. +On the 10th of July, General Strong with 2,000 men attacked a force of +South Carolina infantry at the southern part of Morris Island, and drove +them to Fort Wagner at the opposite end. The Confederates were +reinforced, and, in the attack on Fort Wagner, the Federals were +repulsed and obliged to retreat, with heavy loss. + +On the night of the 18th, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a +determined assault was made upon Fort Wagner, one of the newly formed +negro regiments being in the lead. The fighting was of the most furious +character, but the Federals suffered a decisive defeat, in which their +losses were five times as great as those of the defenders. + +General Gillmore carried parallels against the fort, and the ironclads +assisted in the bombardments; but, though it continued for weeks, the +city of Charleston seemed to be as far from surrender as ever. A part of +the time the weather was so intolerably hot that operations were +suspended. + +Gillmore, however, was so near Charleston that he was able to reach it +with his heaviest guns, and he prepared to do so. His principal piece +was a Parrott, which threw a 100-pound ball, and was christened the +"Swamp Angel." + +The first shot was fired at midnight, August 22d. As the screeching +shell curved over and dropped into the sleeping city, with its frightful +explosion, it caused consternation. The people sprang from their beds +and rushed into the streets, many fleeing to the country. Beauregard +sent an indignant remonstrance, telling Gillmore that all civilized +nations, before bombarding a city, gave warning that the non-combatants +might be removed. Gillmore explained his reason for his course, and +agreed to wait until the following night before renewing the +bombardment. + +At that hour it was resumed, with the promise of grave results, but at +the thirty-sixth discharge the Swamp Angel exploded, and thus terminated +its own career. General Gillmore continued to push his parallels against +Fort Wagner. Although the ironclads could not pass the obstructions to +the inner harbor so as to help, Gillmore persevered, and finally +rendered Forts Wagner and Gregg untenable. The evacuation occurred on +the night of September 6th. As soon as the Federals took possession, +they had to make all haste to repair the ramparts to protect themselves +against the fire from Fort Moultrie and James Island, whose guns were +immediately turned upon them. + +By this time, Fort Sumter was in ruins, its artillery could not be +served, and its garrison comprised only a detachment of infantry. Upon +being summoned to surrender by Dahlgren, the commander invited the +admiral to come and take the fort. The effort to do so was made by a +military force and the ironclads on the 9th of September, but failed. No +more important attempts followed. The result had shown that the defenses +of Charleston were practically impregnable, and, though shells were +occasionally sent into the forts and city, the latter was not captured +until near the end of the war, and then it was brought about, as may be +said, by the collapse of the Confederacy itself. + +When the war began the Southerners were the superiors of the Northerners +as regarded their cavalry. Horseback riding is more common in the South +than in the North, but it did not take the Union volunteers long to +acquire the art, and, as the war progressed, the cavalry arm was greatly +increased and strengthened. One of the natural results of this was +numerous raids by both sides, some of which assumed an importance that +produced a marked effect on the military campaigns in progress, while in +other cases, the daring excursions were simply an outlet to the +adventurous spirit which is natural to Americans and which manifests +itself upon every opportunity and occasion. + + +ONE OF GENERAL STUART'S RAIDS. + +Mention has been made of the embarrassment caused General Lee during his +Gettysburg campaign by the absence of Stuart with his calvary on one of +his raids. In the autumn, Stuart started out on a reconnaissance to +Catlett's Station, where he observed French's column in the act of +withdrawing from the river, whereupon he turned back toward Warrenton. +Taking the road leading from that town to Manassas, he found himself +unexpectedly confronting the corps of General Warren. Thus he was caught +directly between two fires and in imminent danger of defeat and capture, +for his force was but a handful compared with either column of the +Federals. Fortunately for the raider, he and his men were in a strip of +woods, and had not been seen, but discovery seemed certain, for their +enemies were on every hand, and the slightest inadvertence, even such as +the neighing of a horse, was likely to betray them. + +Stuart called his officers around him to discuss what they could do to +extricate themselves from their dangerous situation. No one proposed to +surrender, and it looked as if they would be obliged to abandon their +nine pieces of horse artillery and wait until night, when they might cut +their way out. + +[Illustration: THE SWAMP ANGEL BATTERY BOMBARDING CHARLESTON.] + +Stuart did not like the idea of losing his guns. At any rate, he would +not consent, until another plan which had occurred to him was tried. +Several of his men were dismounted, and each was furnished with a musket +and infantry knapsack. The uniform was not likely to attract notice in +the darkness, in case they met any Federals. These messengers were +ordered to pick their way through the Union lines to Warrenton, where +they would find General Lee, who was to be told of the danger in which +Stuart was placed. The Confederate commander could be counted upon to +send prompt help. Fortunately for Stuart, two of his men succeeded in +getting through the Union lines and reaching Lee. + +At the best, however, the night must pass before help could arrive, and +it need not be said that the hours were long and anxious ones to the +troopers hiding in the woods, with the Federal camp-fires burning on +every side, and the men moving about and likely to come among them at +any moment. They were so close, indeed, that their laughter and +conversation were plainly heard. + +The alert horsemen suddenly observed two Union officers coming toward +them. Their careless manner showed they had no thought of danger, and +they were strolling along, when several dark figures sprang up from the +ground, shoved their pistols in their faces, and warned them if they +made the least outcry they would be instantly shot. The prisoners saw +the shadowy forms all around them, and were sensible enough to submit +and give no trouble. The night gradually wore away, and just as it was +growing light, and while the Union division on the heights of Cedar Run, +where they were posted to protect the rear of General Warren, were +preparing breakfast, they were alarmed by the firing of musketry from +the advance of a Confederate column coming up the Warrenton road. + +"That means that Uncle Bob has sent us help!" was the gratified +exclamation of Stuart to his delighted friends; "we must take a hand in +this business." + +The cavalry opened fire on the Union lines, which were thrown into some +confusion, during which Stuart limbered up his guns and quickly rejoined +Ewell. + + +STONEMAN'S RAID. + +As has been stated, General Hooker at the opening of the battle of +Chancellorsville was confident that he was going to defeat Lee. In order +to cut off his retreat, he sent General Stoneman, with 2,300 cavalry, on +April 28th, to the rear of the Confederate army. Stoneman crossed the +Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, where his force was divided. One-half, led +by General Averill, headed for the Orange Railroad, a little way above +Culpeper, then occupied by Fitzhugh Lee, with a force of 500 men. He was +attacked with such vigor that he hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan, +burning the bridges behind him. Averill, instead of pursuing, turned +about and made his way back to Hooker, in time to accompany him in his +retreat to the northern bank of the Rappahannock. + +Meanwhile, Stoneman crossed the Rapidan on the 1st of May, and galloped +to Louisa Station, on the Virginia Central Railroad, a dozen miles to +the east of Gordonsville. There he paused and sent out several +detachments, which wrought a great deal of mischief. One of them +advanced to Ashland, only fifteen miles from Richmond, while another +went still closer to the Confederate capital. These bodies of troopers +caused much alarm, and a general converging of the enemy's cavalry +caused Stoneman to start on his return, May 6th. For a time he was in +great danger, but his men were excellently mounted, and, by hard riding, +they effected a safe escape along the north bank of the Pamunkey and +York Rivers, and rejoined their friends at Gloucester. + + +GRIERSON'S RAID. + +During the siege of Vicksburg a daring raid was made in the rear of the +city by Colonel B.H. Grierson. In this instance his work was of great +help to General Grant, for he destroyed the Confederate lines of +communication, and checked the gathering of reinforcements for +Pemberton. Grierson, who conceived the plan of the raid, left La Grange +on the 17th of April with three regiments of cavalry. After crossing the +Tallahatchie, he rode south to the Macon and Corinth Railroad, where the +rails were torn up, telegraph lines cut, and bridges and other property +destroyed. To do the work thoroughly detachments were sent in different +directions, and they spared nothing. + +Grierson now changed his course to the southwest, seized the bridge over +Pearl River, burned a large number of locomotives, and forced his way +through a wild country to Baton Rouge, which he found in the possession +of Unionists. He had been engaged for a fortnight on his raid, during +which he destroyed an immense amount of property, captured several +towns, fought several sharp skirmishes, and carried off many prisoners. + +John S. Mosby was the most daring Confederate raider in the East. Some +of his exploits and escapes were remarkable, and an account of them +would fill a volume with thrilling incidents. General Lee did not look +with favor on such irregular work, but accepted it as one of the +accompaniments of war, and it cannot be denied that Mosby gave him +valuable help in more than one instance. + + +MORGAN'S RAID. + +John H. Morgan was famous in the southwest as a raider and guerrilla. At +the beginning of July, 1863, he seized Columbia, near Jamestown, +Kentucky, and advanced against Colonel Moore at Greenbrier Bridge. His +reception was so hot that he was obliged to retreat, whereupon he +attacked Lebanon, where there was considerable vicious fighting in the +streets. One of Morgan's regiments was commanded by his brother, who was +killed. The incensed leader set fire to the houses, and, although the +defenders surrendered, the place was sacked. Then the invaders retreated +before the Union cavalry who were advancing against them. Their course +was through Northern Kentucky, where they plundered right and left, and +spread dismay on every hand. + +Reckless and encouraged by their successes, they now swam their horses +over the Ohio River, and, entering Indiana, gave that State its first +experience in war. The local militia were called out, but the +experienced cavalry easily brushed them aside. They knew, however, it +would be different when they met the regular Union cavalry who were +riding hard after them. To escape them, Morgan started for western +Virginia. When he entered Ohio, the State was terrified, and even +Cincinnati trembled, but the raiders had no thought of stopping until +they readied western Virginia, where they would be safe. + +The telegraph had carried the news of Morgan's movements everywhere, and +the determination was general that he should not be allowed to escape +from the entanglements in which he and his men had involved themselves. +The militia guarded all the fords of the Ohio; gunboats steamed back and +forth; the roads were blocked by felled trees, and everything possible +was done to obstruct the band, who were so laden with plunder that their +exhausted animals had to proceed slowly. + +It is stated by credible witnesses, who saw the formidable company +riding along the highway when hard pressed, that nearly every man in the +saddle was sound asleep. They dared not make any extended halt through +fear of their pursuers, and when they did pause it was because of their +drooping animals. + +Reaching the Ohio at last, Morgan planted his field guns near Buffington +Island, with the view of protecting his men while they swam the river. +Before he could bring them into use, a gunboat knocked the pieces right +and left like so many tenpins. Abandoning the place, Morgan made the +attempt to cross at Belleville, but was again frustrated. It was now +evident that the time had come when each must lookout for himself. +Accordingly, the band broke up and scattered. Their pursuers picked them +up one by one, and Morgan himself and a few of his men were surrounded +near New Lisbon, Ohio, and compelled to surrender. He and his principal +officers were sentenced to the Ohio penitentiary, where they were kept +in close confinement until November 27th, when through the assistance of +friends (some of whom were probably within the prison), he and six +officers effected their escape, and succeeded in reaching the +Confederate lines, where they were soon at their characteristic work +again. + +Morgan was a raider by nature, but, as is often the case, the "pitcher +went to the fountain once too often." While engaged upon one of his +raids the following year he was cornered by the Federal cavalry, and in +the fight that followed was shot dead. + +Far below these men in moral character were such guerrillas as +Quantrell, who were simply plunderers, assassins, and murderers, who +carried on their execrable work through innate depravity, rather than +from any wish to help the side with which they identified themselves. +Most of them soon ran their brief course, and died, as they had lived, +by violence. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONCLUDED), 1861-1865. + +WAR FOR THE UNION (CONCLUDED), 1864-1865. + +The Work Remaining to be Done--General Grant Placed in Command of all +the Union Armies--The Grand Campaign--Banks' Disastrous Red River +Expedition--How the Union Fleet was Saved--Capture of Mobile by Admiral +Farragut--The Confederate Cruisers--Destruction of the _Alabama_ by the +_Kearsarge_--Fate of the Other Confederate Cruisers--Destruction of the +_Albemarle_ by Lieutenant William B. Cushing--Re-election of President +Lincoln--Distress in the South and Prosperity in the North--The Union +Prisoners in the South--Admission of Nevada--The Confederate Raids from +Canada--Sherman's Advance to Atlanta--Fall of Atlanta--Hood's Vain +Attempt to Relieve Georgia--Superb Success of General Thomas--"Marching +Through Georgia"--Sherman's Christmas Gift to President Lincoln--Opening +of Grant's Final Campaign--Battles in the Wilderness--Wounding of +General Longstreet and Deaths of General Stuart and Sedgwick--Grant's +Flanking Movements Against Lee--A Disastrous Repulse at Cold +Harbor--Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley +--"Bottling-up" of Butler--Explosions of the Petersburg Mine--Early's +Raids--His Final Defeat by Sheridan--Grant's Campaign--Surrender of +Lee--Assassination of President Lincoln--Death of Booth and Punishment +of the Conspirators--Surrender of Jo Johnston and Collapse of the +Southern Confederacy--Capture of Jefferson Davis--His Release and +Death--Statistics of the Civil War--A Characteristic Anecdote. + + +THE WORK TO BE DONE. + +Two grand campaigns remained to be prosecuted to a successful conclusion +before the great Civil War could be ended and the Union restored. The +first and most important was that of General Grant against Richmond, or, +more properly, against Lee, who was still at the head of the unconquered +Army of Northern Virginia, and who must be overcome before the +Confederate capital could fall. The second was the campaign of General +Sherman, through the heart of the Southern Confederacy. Other +interesting and decisive operations were to be pressed, but all were +contributory to the two great ones mentioned. + +Several momentous truths had forced themselves upon the national +government. It had learned to comprehend the magnitude of the struggle +before it. Had the North and South possessed equal resources and the +same number of troops, the latter could not have been conquered any more +than the North could have been defeated had the situation been reversed. +But the North possessed men, wealth, and resources immensely beyond +those of the South. The war had made the South an armed camp, with +privation and suffering everywhere, while in the North a person might +have traveled for days and weeks without suspecting that a domestic war +was in progress. It was necessary to overwhelm the South, and the North +had not only the ability to do so, but was resolved that it should be +done. Its estimates were made on the basis of an army of a million men. +Large bounties were offered for soldiers, and, when these did not +provide all that was needed, drafting was resorted to. There had been +rioting and disorder in New York City and other places during the summer +of 1863, when there was a vicious revolt against drafting, but the +government persisted and obtained the men it needed. + + +THE RIGHT LEADER. + +Another proven fact was that the war could not be successfully +prosecuted by a bureau in Washington. This attempt at the beginning had +brought disaster; but the excuse for this interference was that the +right leaders had not yet appeared. General after general was tried at +the head of the armies, and had either failed or come short of the +expected success. The events of 1863, however, indicated unerringly the +right men to whom the destinies of the nation could be safely intrusted. +Foremost among these was General Ulysses S. Grant. With that genius of +common sense, which always actuated President Lincoln, he nominated him +to the rank of lieutenant-general, the grade of which was revived by +Congress in February, 1864, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on +the 2d of March. In obedience to a summons from Washington, Grant left +Nashville on the 4th of the month, arrived on the 9th, and President +Lincoln handed him his commission on the following day. + +"I don't know what your plans are, general," said the President, "nor do +I ask to know them. You have demonstrated your ability to end this war, +and the country expects you to do it. Go ahead, and you may count upon +my unfaltering support." + +Grant modestly accepted the tremendous responsibility, which placed him +in command of all the armies of the United States, and he established +his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper, Va., March +26, 1864. + + +THE GRAND CAMPAIGN. + +The plan of campaign determined upon by Grant was to concentrate all the +national forces into a few distinct armies, which should advance on the +same day against the opposing Confederate armies, and, by fighting +incessantly, prevent any one of them from reinforcing the other. The +armies of the enemy were themselves to be the objective points, and they +were to be given no time for rest. Sherman was to advance from Atlanta +against Johnston, who had an army larger in numbers than that of Lee; +Banks' army, as soon as it could be withdrawn from the disastrous Red +River expedition, was to act against Mobile; Sigel was to pass down the +valley of Virginia and prevent the enemy from making annoying raids from +that quarter; Butler was to ascend the James and threaten Richmond; and, +finally, the Army of the Potomac, under the immediate command of Meade, +was to protect Washington, and essay the most herculean task of all--the +conquest of Lee and his army. + +Orders were issued by Grant for a general movement of all the national +forces on the 4th of May. Since they were so numerous, and began nearly +at the same time, it is necessary to give the particulars of each in +turn, reserving that of the most important--Grant's own--for the last. + + +BANKS' RED RIVER EXPEDITION. + +One of the most discreditable affairs of the war was what is known as +Banks' Red River Expedition. That officer was in command at New Orleans, +when it was decided to send a strong force up the Red River, in quest of +the immense quantities of cotton stored in that region, though the +ostensible object was the capture of Shreveport, Louisiana, 350 miles +above New Orleans, and the capital of the State. + +The plan was for the army to advance in three columns, supported by +Admiral Porter with a fleet, which was to force a passage up the Red +River. General A.J. Smith was to march from Vicksburg, with the first +division of the army, which numbered 10,000 men; Banks was to lead the +second from New Orleans, and Steele the third from Little Rock. + +General Edmund Kirby Smith was the Confederate commander of the +Trans-Mississippi Department. Although he had fewer men than the +invaders, he prepared for a vigorous resistance. He sent Generals Price +and Marmaduke to harass Steele, directed General Dick Taylor to obstruct +the Red River as much as he could, while he made ready to make the best +fight possible. + +Fifty miles above the mouth of the Red River stood Fort de Russy, which, +although considerably strengthened, was carried by assault, March 13th. +On the 15th, Porter's twelve gunboats and thirty transports joined +Franklin at Alexandria. The Federal cavalry occupied Natchitoches, on +the last day of the month, and in the van of the army; they arrived at +Mansfield on the 8th of April, several days after Admiral Porter had +reached Grand Echore on the Red River. + +Meanwhile, the Confederate General Dick Taylor kept fighting and falling +back before the Union advance, but he was continually reinforced, until +he felt strong enough to offer the Federals battle. This took place on +the 8th, a short distance from Mansfield. The assault was made with +vehemence, and the Union troops, who were straggling along for miles, +were taken by surprise and driven into headlong panic, leaving their +artillery behind, and not stopping their flight until under the +protection of the guns of the Nineteenth Corps. Then a stand was made, +and Banks fell back to his old camping ground at Pleasant Hill. His +intention was to remain there, but his command was so disorganized that +he continued his flight. The Confederates had already chased them so +long that they were worn out, while Banks continued retreating until he +reached Grand Echore, where he breathed freely for the first time, since +he had the protection of the gunboats. + +Disgraceful as was the overthrow of the land forces, a still greater +disaster threatened the fleet. Porter had gone further up the river, but +returned to Grand Echore upon learning of the defeat of Banks. He had to +sweep the shores continually with grapeshot, to clear it of the +Confederate sharpshooters, who succeeded in capturing two of the +transports and blowing up another with a torpedo. The Red River was low, +with the water falling hourly. The retreating army reached Alexandria on +the 27th of April, but the fleet was stopped by the shallowness of the +water above the falls, and the officers despaired of saving it. The only +possible recourse seemed to destroy all the vessels to prevent their +falling into the hands of the enemy. + + +HOW THE UNION FLEET WAS SAVED. + +In this crisis, Colonel Joseph Bailey, of Wisconsin, submitted a plan +for a series of wing dams above the falls, believing they would raise +the water high enough to float all the vessels. The other engineers +scoffed at the project, but Porter placed 3,000 men and all that Bailey +needed at his command. + +The task was a prodigious one, for the falls, as they were termed, were +a mile in length and it was necessary to swell the current sufficiently +to carry the vessels past the rocks for the whole distance. The large +force of men worked incessantly for nearly two weeks, by which time the +task was accomplished and the fleet plunged through unharmed to the +deeper water below the falls. The genius of a single man had saved the +Union fleet. + +Banks, having retreated to Alexandria, paused only long enough to burn +the town, when he kept on to New Orleans, where some time later he was +relieved of his command. The Red River expedition was the crowning +disgrace of the year. + + +THE CAPTURE OF MOBILE. + +After the fall of New Orleans, in April, 1862, Mobile was the leading +port of the Southern Confederacy. It was blockaded closely, but the +Confederate cruisers succeeded now and then in slipping in and out, +while a number of ironclads were in process of building, and threatened +to break the blockade. Admiral Farragut, the greatest naval hero of +modern times, after a careful reconnaissance of the defenses, told the +government that if it would provide him with a single ironclad, he +would capture Mobile. He was promised a strong land force under General +Granger and several monitors, which were sent to him. + +Farragut, fully appreciating the task before him, made his preparations +with care and thoroughness. His fleet consisted of eighteen vessels, +four of which--the _Tecumseh_, _Winnebago_, _Manhattan_, and +_Chickasaw_--were ironclads, while the others were of wood. Admiral +Buchanan (commander of the _Merrimac_ in her first day's fight with the +_Monitor_) had less vessels, three gunboats, and the formidable ram +_Tennessee_. But he was assisted by three powerful forts, with large +garrisons--Gaines, Morgan, and Powell--which commanded the entrance, +while the _Tennessee_ was regarded by the Confederates as able to sink +the whole Union fleet. + +[Illustration: BAILEY'S DAMS ON THE RED RIVER.] + +The wooden vessels were lashed in couples, so as to give mutual help, +and with the _Brooklyn_ and _Hartford_ (Farragut's flagship) in the +lead, the procession entered Mobile Bay on the morning of August 5, +1864. As they came opposite the forts they opened fire upon them, and in +a few minutes the latter began their thunderous reply. The battle was +tremendous, and the smoke was so dense that Farragut, who was closely +watching and directing the action of the fleet, gradually climbed the +rigging, so as to place himself above the obstructing vapor. His height +was such that the captain of the vessel became anxious for his safety, +since if he was struck, as looked probable, he was sure to fall to the +deck or overboard. He, therefore, sent a man after him, with a rope in +hand. Amid the gentle remonstrances of the admiral, this man lashed him +fast to the rigging. When the increasing smoke made it necessary to +climb higher, Farragut untied the fastenings, and, after he had taken +several upward steps, tied himself again. + +The harbor bristled with torpedoes, to which, however, Farragut and his +officers paid little heed. The _Tecumseh_, Commander T.A.M. Craven, was +hurrying to attack the ram _Tennessee_, when a gigantic torpedo exploded +beneath her, smashing in the bottom and causing her to sink so suddenly +that nearly a hundred men went down with her. The pilot and Craven were +in the pilot house, and, feeling the boat dropping beneath them, both +sprang to the narrow ladder leading out. They reached the foot together, +when the commander bowed and, pausing, said to the pilot: "You first, +sir." He had barely time to scramble out, when Captain Craven and the +rest went down. + +The Union vessels pressed forward with such vigor that, with the +exception of the loss of the _Tecumseh_, the forts were passed without +the ships receiving serious injury. When, however, the battle seemed +won, the _Tennessee_ came out from under the guns of Fort Powell and +headed for the Union vessels. She believed herself invulnerable in her +massive iron hide, and selected the flagship as her special target. The +_Hartford_ partly dodged her blow and rammed her in return. The ram was +accompanied by three gunboats, which were soon driven out of action, but +the _Tennessee_ plunged here and there like some enraged monster driven +at bay, but which the guns and attacks of her assailants could not +conquer. + +Tons of metal were hurled with inconceivable force against her mailed +sides, only to drop harmlessly into the water. She was butted and +rammed, and in each case it was like the rat gnawing a file: the injury +fell upon the assailant. She was so surrounded by her enemies that they +got in one another's way and caused mutual hurt. + +But as continual dropping wears away stones, this incessant hammering +finally showed effect. Admiral Buchanan received a painful wound, and a +number of his men were killed; the steering-chains were broken, the +smoke-stack was carried away, the port shutters jammed, and finally the +wallowing "sea-hog" became unmanageable. Then the white flag was +displayed and the battle was over. Farragut had won his most memorable +battle, and the last important seaport of the Confederacy was gone. + +Two days later Fort Gaines was captured, and Fort Morgan surrendered on +the 23d of the same month. The land force rendered valuable assistance, +and the blockade became more rigid. The coast line, however, was so +extensive that it was impossible to seal every port, and the Confederacy +obtained a good deal of sorely needed medical supplies through the +daring blockade-runners, which often managed to elude the watchful +fleets. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO ADMIRAL FARRAGUT AT WASHINGTON.] + +The Confederate cruisers were still roaming the ocean and creating +immense havoc among the Union shipping. Despite our protests to England, +she helped to man these vessels, and laid up a fine bill for damages +which she was compelled to pay after the close of the war. + + +THE CONFEDERATE CRUISERS. + +During the year 1864, several new cruisers appeared on the ocean, one of +which, the _Tallahassee_, boldly steamed up and down off our northern +coast, and, in the space of ten days, destroyed thirty-three vessels. +The most famous of all these cruisers was the _Alabama_, which was built +at Birkenhead, England, and launched May 15, 1862. She was a bark-rigged +propeller of 1,016 tons register, with a length over all of 220 feet. +Her two horizontal engines were of 300 horse-power each. When +completed, she was sent on a pretended trial trip. At the Azores she +received her war material from a waiting transport, while her commander, +Captain Raphael Semmes, and his officers, who had gone thither on a +British steamer, went aboard. The _Alabama_ carried 8 guns and a crew of +149 men, most of whom were Englishmen. Thus fairly launched, she started +on her career of destruction, which continued uninterruptedly for +twenty-two months. + + +DESTRUCTION OF THE ALABAMA. + +One of the many United States vessels that was engaged in a hunt for the +_Alabama_ was the _Kearsarge_, Captain John Ancrum Winslow. She was of +1,030 tons, carried 7 guns, and had a crew of 163 men, nearly all of +whom were Americans. On Sunday, July 12, 1864, while lying off the town +of Flushing, Holland, Captain Winslow received a dispatch from Minister +W.L. Dayton, at Paris, notifying him that the _Alabama_ had arrived at +Cherbourg, France. Winslow lost no time in steaming thither, and reached +Cherbourg on Tuesday, where he saw the cruiser across the breakwater +with the Confederate flag defiantly flying. + +Winslow did not dare enter the harbor, for, had he done so, he would +have been obliged, according to international law, to remain twenty-four +hours after the departure of the _Alabama_, which would thereby gain all +the opportunity she needed for escape. He, therefore, took station off +the port, intending to wait until the cruiser came out. + +This precaution, however, was unnecessary, for Semmes, grown bold by his +long career of destroying unarmed merchantmen, had resolved to offer the +_Kearsarge_ battle. He sent a challenge to Captain Winslow, couched in +insulting language, and the Union officer promptly accepted it. + +The news of the impending battle was telegraphed far and wide, and +excursion trains were run from Paris and other points to Cherbourg. On +Sunday, June 19th, fully 15,000 people lined the shores and wharves, and +among them all it may be doubted whether there were more than a hundred +whose sympathies were not keenly on the side of the _Alabama_. France +was intensely in favor of the Southern Confederacy, and nothing would +have pleased Louis Napoleon, the emperor, better than to see our country +torn apart. He did his utmost to persuade England to join him in +intervening against us. + +With a faint haze resting on the town and sea, the _Alabama_ steamed +slowly out of the harbor on Sunday morning, June 19th, and headed toward +the waiting _Kearsarge_. The latter began moving seaward, as if afraid +to meet her antagonist. The object of Captain Winslow, however, was to +draw the _Alabama_ so far that no question about neutral waters could +arise, and in case the _Alabama_ should be disabled, he did not +intend to give her the chance to take refuge in Cherbourg. + +[Illustration: THE SINKING OF THE "ALABAMA," THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL +CONFEDERATE CRUISERS. + +The battle between the _Kearsarge_ and the _Alabama_ took place off the +coast of Holland, June, 1864. "The famous cruiser was going down, and +the boats of the _Kearsarge_ were hurriedly sent to help the drowning +men. The stern settled, the bow rose high in the air, the immense ship +plunged out of sight, and the career of the _Alabama_ was ended +forever."] + +Three miles was the neutral limit, but Captain Winslow continued to +steam out to sea until he had gone nearly seven miles from shore. Then +he swung around and made for the _Alabama_. As he did so, Captain Semmes +delivered three broadsides, with little effect. Then fearing a raking +fire, Captain Winslow sheered and fired a broadside at a distance of +little more than half a mile, and strove to pass under the _Alabama's_ +stern, but Semmes also veered and prevented it. + +Since each vessel kept its starboard broadside toward the other, they +began moving in a circular direction, the current gradually carrying +both westward, while the circle narrowed until its diameter was about a +fourth of a mile. + +From the beginning the fire of the _Kearsarge_ was much more accurate +and destructive than her antagonist's. Hardly had the battle opened when +the gaff and colors of the _Alabama_ were shot away, but another ensign +was quickly hoisted at the mizzen. Captain Winslow instructed his +gunners to make every shot count. This was wise, for its effects became +speedily apparent. The _Kearsarge_ fired 173 shots, nearly all of which +landed, while of the 370 of the _Alabama_, only 28 hit the _Kearsarge_. +One of these, a 68-pounder shell, exploded on the quarter-deck, wounding +three men, one mortally. Another shell, bursting in the hammock +nettings, started a fire, which was speedily extinguished. A third +buried itself in the sternpost, but fortunately did not explode. The +damage done by the remaining shots was trifling. + +One of the _Kearsarge's_ 11-inch shells entered the port of the +_Alabama's_ 8-inch gun, tore off a part of the piece, and killed several +of the crew. A second shell entered the same port, killed one man and +wounded several, and soon a third similar shot penetrated the same +opening. Before the action closed, it was necessary to re-form the crew +of the after pivot gun four times. These terrific missiles were aimed +slightly below the water-line of the _Alabama_, with a view of sinking +her. + +About an hour had passed and seven complete revolutions had been +described by the ships, and the eighth had just begun, when it became +apparent that the _Alabama_ was sinking. She headed for neutral waters, +now only two miles distant, but a few well-planted shots stopped her, +and she displayed the white flag. Her race was run, and Captain Winslow +immediately ceased firing and lowered his only two serviceable boats, +which were hurried to the aid of the drowning men. A few minutes later +the bow of the _Alabama_ rose high in air, and then the noted cruiser +plunged downward, stern foremost, and disappeared forever in the bottom +of the ocean. + +Cruising in the neighborhood of the fight was the English yacht +_Deerhound_, which now joined in rescuing the crew of the _Alabama_ at +the request of Captain Winslow. She was in duty bound to deliver the men +she saved to Winslow as prisoners of war, but, instead of doing so, she +watched her chance, and, under full steam, made for Southampton, +carrying forty-two, among whom were Captain Semmes and fourteen +officers. Semmes had flung his sword into the sea and leaped overboard +as the _Alabama_ was going down. His vessel had nine killed, ten +drowned, and twenty-one wounded, while on the _Kearsarge_ of the three +wounded only one died. A demand was made upon the English government for +the surrender of the men carried away by the _Deerhound_, but it was +refused. + + +FATE OF THE OTHER CRUISERS. + +The Confederate cruiser _Georgia_ took on the guise of a merchant +vessel, but was seized off the coast of Portugal by the _Niagara_, and +sent to this country as a lawful prize. The _Florida_, while lying in +the neutral port of Bahia, Brazil, was attacked, October 7th, by the +_Wachuset_, captured, and taken to Hampton Roads. This action was +illegal, being similar to the attack made upon the _Essex_ in the harbor +of Valparaiso in the War of 1812. While awaiting decision as to the +legality of her capture, she was run into by a steam transport and sunk. +It may be doubted whether this method of settling the dispute was wholly +accidental. + +The _Shenandoah_ did most of her destructive work in the far Pacific. As +a consequence she did not hear of the conclusion of the war until +several months afterward, and she was, therefore, virtually a pirate +fighting under a flag that had no legal existence. Her captain, when the +news reached him, steamed for England, and turned over his vessel to the +British government. + + +DESTRUCTION OF THE "ALBEMARLE" BY LIEUTENANT CUSHING. + +Probably no more formidable ironclad was ever built by the Southern +Confederacy than the _Albemarle_. She had been constructed under great +difficulties, work being begun early in 1863, when, it was said, her +keel was laid in a cornfield. When finished she was 122 feet over all, +and was propelled by twin screws with engines of 200 horse-power each. +Her armament consisted of an Armstrong gun of 100 pounds at the bow and +a similar one at the stern. + +The _Albemarle_ demonstrated on the first opportunity the appalling +power she possessed. The Federals had captured Plymouth, North Carolina, +which was attacked by the Confederates, April 17th and 18th. They were +repulsed mainly through the assistance of two wooden gunboats, the +_Miami_ and _Southfield_, but the _Albemarle_ came down the river on the +19th and engaged them. The shots of the gunboats did no more harm than +those of the _Cumberland_ and _Congress_ when fired against the +_Merrimac_. The _Southfield_ was crushed as so much pasteboard, and +sent to the bottom of the river, while the mangled _Miami_ limped off, +accompanied by two tugboats. The next day Plymouth surrendered to the +Confederates. In a fight some weeks later with the Union vessels, the +_Albemarle_ inflicted great injury, and withstood all the ramming and +broadsides that could be brought against her. She was a most dangerous +vessel indeed, and caused the government a great deal of uneasiness. + +Several attempts were made to destroy her, but the Confederates were +watchful and vigilant. She was moored to the wharf, about eight miles up +the river, upon the shores of which a thousand men were encamped. They +patrolled the banks and kept bright fires burning all night. The crew of +the ram were alert, and a boom of cypress logs encircled the craft some +thirty feet from the hull, to ward off the approach of torpedoes. It +would seem that no possible precaution was neglected. + +Among the most daring men ever connected with the American navy was +William Barker Cushing. He was born in 1842, and educated at the Naval +Academy. He was of so wild a disposition that many of his friends saw +little hope of his success in life. But, entering the service at the +beginning of the war, he quickly gave proof of a personal courage that +no danger could affect. He seemed to love peril for the sake of itself, +and where death threatened he eagerly went. He expressed confidence that +he could destroy the _Albemarle_ and asked permission to make the +attempt. His superior officers knew that if its destruction was within +the range of human possibility, he would accomplish it, and the ram was +so great a menace to the Union fleet that he was told to try his hand at +the seeming impossible task. + +Although Cushing was a young man of unsurpassable bravery, ready at all +times to take desperate chances, there was what might be termed method +in his madness. He needed no one to tell him that in his attempt to +destroy the _Albemarle_, the slightest neglect in his preparations were +likely to prove fatal. He, therefore, took every precaution that +ingenuity could devise. Two picket boats were constructed with spar +torpedoes attached, and with engines so formed that by spreading +tarpaulin over them all light and sound was obscured. When traveling at +a low rate of speed, they could pass within a few yards of a person in +the darkness without his being able to hear or see anything. A howitzer +was mounted at the bow, and the spar, with the torpedo attached, was +fitted at the starboard bow. + +The boats, having been completed in New York, were sent to Norfolk by +way of the canals. One of them was lost in Chesapeake Bay, but the other +reached its destination. Several days were spent in preparation, and the +night of October 27th was selected for the venture. It could not have +been more favorable, for it was of impenetrable darkness and a fine, +misty rain was falling. Cushing's companions in the picket boat were: +Acting Ensign W.L. Howarth, Acting Master's Mates T.S. Gay and John +Woodman, Acting Assistant Paymaster F.H. Swan, Acting Third Assistant +Engineers C.L. Steever and W. Stotesbury, and eight men whose names were +as follows: S. Higgens, first-class fireman; R. Hamilton, coal heaver; +W. Smith, B. Harley, E.J. Houghton, ordinary seamen; L. Deming, H. +Wilkes, and R.H. King, landsmen. He took in tow a small cutter, with +which to capture the guard that was in a schooner anchored near the +_Southfield_ that had been raised, and whose duty it was to send up an +alarm rocket on the approach of any expedition against the _Albemarle_. +It was intended to run ashore a little below the ram, board and capture +her by surprise, and take her down the river. + +It was about midnight that the start was made. Several of the men were +familiar with the river, and the boat kept close to shore, where the +gloom was still more profound. No one spoke except when necessary and +then in the lowest tones, while all listened and peered into the drizzly +night. The straining ears could hear only the soft rippling of the water +from the prow and the faint muffled clanking of the engine. The speed +was slackened as they approached the schooner, whose outlines soon +assumed form. No one whispered, but all held themselves ready for the +rush the moment the guard discovered them. + +Sentinels, however, are not always alert, and on this dismal night the +guard detected nothing of the phantom craft which glided past like a +shadow with the cutter in tow. This was the first stroke of good +fortune, and each man felt a thrill of encouragement, for only a mile +remained to be passed to reach the _Albemarle_. + +A little way further and the boats swept around a bend in the river, +where, had it been daylight, they could have seen the ram. Here was +where the fires had been kept blazing the night through, but the guards +were as drowsy as those below, for they had allowed them to sputter and +die down to a few embers, while the sentinels were doubtless trying to +keep comfortable in the wet, dismal night. + +Still stealing noiselessly forward, the men in the boat soon saw the +gloom slowly take shape in front. The outlines revealed the massive +ironclad lying still and motionless against the wharf, with not a light +or sign of life visible. The nerves of each of the brave crew were +strung to the highest tension, when the stillness was broken by the +barking of a dog. The canine, more vigilant than his masters, gave the +alarm, and instantly it seemed as if a hundred dogs were making night +hideous with their signals. Springing to their feet, the sentinels on +shore discerned the strange boat and challenged it. No reply was given; +a second challenge was made, and then a gun was fired. The guards seemed +to spring to life everywhere, more dogs barked, alarm rattles were +sprung, wood was thrown on the fires which flamed up, soldiers seized +their weapons and rushed to their places under the sharp commands of +their officers. + +Cushing now called to the engineer to go ahead under full speed. At the +same moment, he cut the towline and ordered the men on the cutter to +return and capture the guard near the _Southfield_. The launch was +tearing through the water straight for the ram, when, for the first +time, Cushing became aware of the boom of logs which inclosed it. His +hope now was that these logs had become so slimy from lying long in the +water that it was possible for the launch to slip over them. With +wonderful coolness, he veered off for a hundred yards, so as to gain +sufficient headway, and then circled around and headed for the ram. + +Standing erect at the bow, Cushing held himself ready to use the torpedo +the moment he could do so. A volley was fired, which riddled his coat +and tore off the heel of one of his shoes, but he did not falter. Then +followed the crisp snapping of the primers of the cannon, which showed +the immense guns had missed fire. Had they been discharged, the boat and +every man on it would have been blown to fragments. + +"Jump from the ram!" shouted Cushing, as he rushed forward, with the +speed of a racehorse; "we're going to blow you up!" + +The howitzer at the front of the launch was fired at that moment, and +then the boat slid over the logs, like a sleigh over the snow, carrying +the men directly in front of the gaping mouth of the 100-pounder +Armstrong. + +The critical moment had come, and, crouching forward, Cushing shoved the +torpedo spar under the overhang, and waited till he felt it rise and +bump against the ship's bottom, when he jerked the trigger line. A +muffled, cavernous explosion was heard, the ram tilted partly over, and +an immense geyser spouted upward, filling the launch and swamping it. +The enormous cannon was discharged, but, aimed directly at the boat, the +aim was deflected by the careening of the ram, and the frightful charge +passed harmlessly over the heads of the men. + +Cushing called to each one to lookout for himself, and leaped as far as +he could into the water. There he kicked off his shoes, and dropped his +sword and revolver. The incensed Confederates shouted to the Unionists +to surrender, and a number did so; but others, including Cushing, +continued swimming until in the darkness they passed out of range. + +It surpasses comprehension how Cushing escaped. Nearly half his crew had +been struck before the launch was submerged, and Paymaster Swan and +another man were shot at his side. Cushing, Woodman, and Houghton leaped +into the water at the same time and swam in different directions, no one +knowing where he would come out. Houghton was a powerful swimmer, and, +keeping cool and husbanding his strength, he made shore a short +distance below, passed through the enemy's line to the mouth of the +river, and escaped unharmed. + +Cushing continued swimming for nearly a mile, when hearing a splashing +near him he approached and found Woodman in the last stage of +exhaustion. Cushing gave him all the help he could, but he himself was +worn out, and, despite his efforts, Woodman slipped from his grasp and +was drowned. When about to give up Cushing's feet touched bottom and he +struggled to shore, where he sank in a collapse, unable to stir until +morning. By that time his strength had sufficiently returned to enable +him to stagger to a swamp where he threw himself down near a path. A few +minutes later, two officers walked by talking earnestly about the +sinking of the _Albemarle_, but the listener could not overhear enough +of their conversation to learn whether or not the ram had been +destroyed. + +Growing stronger, he pushed into the swamp, until he reached a negro's +hut. There he made himself known, and was received kindly. Cushing asked +the negro to go to Plymouth and find out whether the _Albemarle_ had +been harmed. The African departed, and, when he returned at the end of +several hours, his arms were filled with food and his eyes protruding. + +"Suah as yo's born, marse!" he gasped, "de _Albemarle_ am at de bottom +ob de riber!" + +Such was the fact, for the exploding torpedo had gouged more than twenty +square feet out of the ram abreast of the port quarter, through which +the torrent rushed and carried it down in a few minutes. Cushing +remained with his dusky friend until night, when he tramped a long way +through swamp and wood to where an old skiff rested against the bank of +a small stream. Paddling down this to the river, he kept on until he +reached the Union vessels, where he was taken on board and welcomed as +deserved the hero who had accomplished that which was beyond the ability +of the whole fleet. + +Before proceeding with our account of the closing military operations of +the war, it is proper to record several minor, but important, events. + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1864. + +The year 1864 was a presidential one. Although Hannibal Hamlin had +served acceptably as Vice-President throughout Lincoln's first term, +political wisdom suggested replacing him with a man more closely +identified with the struggle for the Union. Hamlin belonged to the State +of Maine, where the voice of disloyalty was never heard. Andrew Johnson, +as we shall learn in the next chapter, was what was termed a war +Democrat, who had risked his life in the defense of his principles. He +was nominated for Vice-President, while Lincoln, as was inevitable, was +renominated for the presidency. The nominees of the Democrats were +General George B. McClellan, the unsuccessful Union commander, and +George H. Pendleton, of Ohio. McClellan acted very creditably when, +finding that many believed him opposed to the war, he stated in +unequivocal language that he favored its prosecution until the Union was +fully restored. His platform may be described as a criticism of the +methods of the administration. His position drove away many who would +have supported a candidate in favor of peace at any price, but he +preserved his self-respect, although it helped to bring his decisive +defeat. + +In the November election the result was: Lincoln and Johnson each 212 +electoral votes; McClellan and Pendleton each 21. On the popular vote, +the Republican ticket received 2,216,067 and the Democratic 407,342 +votes. Of course, no vote was cast in the eleven seceding States. The +result was emphatic proof that the North was unalterably opposed to +peace upon any terms except the full restoration of the Union. The great +successes, such as Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Mobile, and the destruction of +the Confederate cruisers, as well as the rapid exhaustion of the South, +contributed very much to the success of the Republican party. + + +DISTRESS IN THE SOUTH. + +The distress in the South was intense and grew daily more so. The +Confederate money had so depreciated in value that a paper dollar was +not worth more than a penny, and by-and-by it had absolutely no value at +all. The farce of such a currency caused many grim jests among the +Confederates themselves. Thus an officer gave his colored servant five +thousand dollars to curry his horse, and another officer exchanged six +months of his own pay for a paper dollar. In truth, the Southerners were +fighting without pay, while their clothing and food were of the poorest +character. All the men being in some branch of the service, the women +had to look after the homes that were running to waste. The conscription +act was made so rigid that the drag-net gathered in the large boys and +men past middle life. + + +PROSPERITY OF THE NORTH. + +It was far different in the North. The enormous demands of the +government for war supplies gave the country an unnatural prosperity. +Although prices were high, there was an abundance of money, which, while +depreciating to some extent, never did so to a degree to cause distress. +The resources were almost limitless, and the conviction was so general +that the war was near its conclusion, that the greenback currency and +the national bonds began to rise in value. The real dissatisfaction was +in the continual demand for more soldiers. In the course of the year +fully 1,200,000 men had been summoned to the ranks. Several drafts took +place, and bounties were paid, which in many instances were at the rate +of a thousand dollars to a man. A good many people began to declare this +demand exorbitant, and that, if the real necessity existed, the Union +was not worth such an appalling cost of human life. + + +WAR'S DESOLATION. + +Behind all this seeming prosperity were thousands of mourning households +and desolate hearthstones in the North as well as the South. Fathers, +brothers, and sons had fallen, and would nevermore return to their loved +ones. The shadow was everywhere. Sorrow, broken-hearts, and lamentation +were in the land, for war, the greatest curse of mankind, spares neither +parent, child, nor babe. The exchange of prisoners, carried on almost +from the very opening of the war, ceased, because the Confederate +authorities refused to exchange negro soldiers. As a consequence, +multitudes of Union prisoners suffered indescribable misery in many of +the Southern prisons. This was especially the case in Andersonville, +Georgia, where a brute named Wirz, a Swiss, showed a fiendish delight in +adding to the tortures of those committed to his care. This miscreant +was afterward tried for his atrocities, found guilty, and hanged. He was +the only man executed for the part he took in the war. There was less +suffering in other places. The straits to which the Confederates +themselves were driven made it impossible in some instances to give the +care they would have given to their prisoners. In the early part of +1864, more than a hundred Unionists confined in Libby Prison, Richmond, +escaped by tunneling, but most of them were recaptured and returned to +confinement. + +Nevada was admitted to the Union in 1864. It formed part of the Mexican +cession of 1848, prior to which time no settlement had been made in the +State. In that year the Mormons settled in Carson and Washoe Valleys. In +1859, silver was found to exist in vast quantities, and, in 1866, the +area of the State was increased by additions from Arizona and Utah. + + +CONFEDERATE RAIDERS FROM CANADA. + +One of the most irritating annoyances resulted from the presence of +Confederates in Canada, who continually plotted mischief against the +North. In October, 1864, a band of them rode into St. Albans, Vermont, +which is only fifteen miles from the border, robbed the bank of a large +amount of money, burned a hotel, fired into a crowd of citizens, +committed other outrages, and galloped back to Canada, where thirteen +were arrested and thrown into prison. The legal proceedings which +followed resulted in the discharge of the prisoners on technical +grounds. General Dix, in command of the Eastern Department, issued +orders that in the future all such marauders were to be pursued and +shot down or arrested, no matter where they took refuge. Had these +measures been carried out, there would have been war with England, which +would never permit such invasion of her territory. General Dix's action +was disavowed by our government, while the Canadian authorities took +care to prevent any more similar outrages. + +It has been stated that General Grant planned a forward movement of the +Union forces early in May of this year, with the purpose of keeping the +Confederate armies so incessantly engaged that they would have no +opportunity of reinforcing one another. + +[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE NORTH END OF ANDERSONVILLE PRISON. + +(_From a photograph._) + +In the middle-ground midway of the swamp is the "Island" which was +covered with shelters after the higher ground had all been occupied.] + + +GENERAL SHERMAN'S ADVANCE TO ATLANTA. + +General Sherman, the faithful lieutenant of Grant, was in command of the +three armies, respectively, of the Cumberland, of Tennessee, and of +Ohio, led by Generals Thomas, McPherson, and Schofield. General Jo +Johnston was Sherman's opponent, his commanders being Hardee, Hood, and +Polk. The troops were less numerous than the Federals, but they were the +finest of soldiers and were led by skillful officers. + +Sherman made his preparations with care and thoroughness. Chattanooga +was his starting-point on his march through the South, and by the 1st of +May he had 254 guns, 100,000 men, and an immense amount of supplies at +that town. He began his famous march on the 7th of May. Johnston, who +saw his purpose, confronted him at Dalton, where an attack by Unionists +was repulsed; but Sherman resorted to flanking tactics, and Johnston +fell back, crossing the river, May 15th, and taking a new position at +Etowah, forty miles to the south of Resaca. + +The great risk assumed by Sherman will be understood. It was necessary +to preserve his communications, for he had but a single railroad line +behind him. To do this, he had to leave strong detachments at different +points, thereby weakening his army as he advanced into Confederate +territory. Johnston, being among friends, was not obliged to do anything +of that nature. He could preserve his forces intact and add slightly to +them. By-and-by, the armies would be nearly equal in numbers, when +Johnston proposed to give battle to the invaders. + +The Union army marched in three columns, their flanks guarded by +cavalry, and the columns always within supporting distance of one +another. The steady advance and retreat went on with occasional brisk +fighting. On the 14th of June, during an exchange of shots, the head of +General Leonidas Polk was carried away by a cannon ball. Now and then +Johnston attacked Sherman, but invariably without gaining any important +advantage. + +At last Sherman grew tired of continually flanking his enemy, and made +the mistake of assaulting him. This was at Kenesaw Mountain on the 27th +of June. The attack was made with great gallantry, but the Unionists +were repulsed with the loss of 3,000 men. + +Sherman returned to his flanking tactics, which were conducted with so +much skill that finally Johnston was forced into the defenses of +Atlanta. It was there he meant to make a stand and deliver battle on +something approaching equal terms. His generals were dissatisfied with +his continual falling back and protested. That Johnston was sagacious in +what he did cannot be questioned; but his old enemy, President Davis, +took advantage of the opportunity to remove him and place General Hood +in chief command. + +Hood had not half the ability of Johnston, but he believed in fighting. +He assumed Johnston's place on the 17th of July. The news was pleasant +to Sherman, for he rated Hood at his true value as compared with +Johnston. + +[Illustration: SHERMAN'S THREE SCOUTS + +"Setting out at night they paddled continuously down the river until +daylight, when they ran the boat among the reeds and remained in hiding +until night came again."] + +It had been a long and difficult march from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and +yet it may be said that Sherman had only reached his true +starting-point. He gave his soldiers a needed rest, and waited for +reinforcements. Those expected from Corinth, Mississippi, were routed by +General Forrest, but the needed men were obtained from other quarters, +and the three columns converged upon Atlanta, July 20th. The defenses +extended for three miles about the city, but were not quite completed. +McPherson secured possession of a hill that gave him a view of the city, +observing which Hood made a furious assault upon him on the night of the +22d. He came perilously near success, but, by hastening reinforcements +to the threatened point, Sherman was able to repel the attack. In the +fighting General McPherson, one of the best of the Union generals, was +killed. + +[Illustration: DEATH OF GENERAL POLK.] + +The plan of Sherman was to shut off Atlanta from the rest of the world. +By thus excluding its supplies, it would be starved into submission, as +was the case at Vicksburg. Accordingly, he began a series of works, +intended to be extended gradually around the city. This was difficult +and dangerous, as was proven when two columns of Union cavalry, failing +to effect a junction, through some misunderstanding, were separately +attacked and routed. Among the many prisoners taken was General +Stoneman, and the cavalry arm of the service was greatly weakened. + +The impetuous Hood made a furious onslaught upon the Union army July +28th, renewing it several times, but was defeated with heavy loss in +each instance. Sherman, through the failure of one of his generals to +reach his assigned position in time, narrowly missed bagging Hood and +his whole army. + + +FALL OF ATLANTA. + +But Sherman displayed masterly generalship by so manoeuvring as to +draw Hood away from the defenses and by thrusting his army between the +corps of Hardee and Atlanta. The only escape now for the Confederates +was to abandon the city, which was done on the 1st of September, many of +the citizens going with the retiring army. At nine o'clock the next +morning General Slocum, at the head of a strong reconnoitering column, +rode into Atlanta, and the mayor made a formal surrender of the place. + +The news of the fall of Atlanta caused great rejoicing in the North, and +corresponding depression in the South. President Davis hurried to the +neighborhood to investigate for himself. He found matters so bad that +they could not be much worse. Hood, however, was as combative as ever, +and proposed to attack Sherman's lines of communication. It was a +dangerous proceeding, but Davis consented. On his way back to Richmond +he stopped at Macon and made a speech, in which he announced the plans +of Hood. This speech was published in the Southern papers, reached the +North, where it was republished, and in due time these papers went to +Sherman, It can well be understood that Davis' speech proved "mighty +interesting" reading to the Union commander. + + +FAILURE OF HOOD'S PLAN FOR THE RELIEF OF GEORGIA. + +Hood's plan was simple. He proposed to march into Tennessee, and, by +threatening Sherman's communications, compel him to withdraw from +Georgia. But Sherman was not to be caught thus easily. He followed Hood +to the north of the Chattahoochee, and, then letting him go whither he +chose, turned back to Atlanta. Hood kept right on through northern +Alabama, and advanced against Nashville. General Thomas had been sent +by Sherman from Atlanta, with the Army of the Cumberland, to look after +Hood. General Schofield, in command in the southern part of the State, +fell back to Franklin, eighteen miles south of Nashville, where he was +attacked November 30th by Hood. It was a savage battle, but the +Confederates were held in check until night, when Schofield retreated +across the river, and took refuge in Nashville. There General Thomas +gathered all his troops, and threw up a line of intrenchments to the +south of the city. Hood appeared in front of them December 2d, and began +building works and counter batteries. He was certain of capturing the +place and its defenders by regular siege operations. Never did the +genius of Thomas shine more brilliantly than at the siege of Nashville. +He industriously gathered reinforcements, perfected his defenses, and +refused to move until fully prepared. The whole country became +impatient; even General Grant sent him urgent messages, and at one time +issued an order for his removal. But Thomas could not be shaken from his +purpose. Not until December 15th did he feel himself ready to strike, +and then he did it with the might of a descending avalanche. He sallied +forth, captured several redoubts, and drove back the Confederates for a +number of miles. He renewed the battle on the 16th, and utterly routed +Hood's army. The panic-stricken troops fled in confusion, drawing +Forrest and his cavalry into the disorganized flight, while Thomas +vigorously pursued until the fugitives scrambled over Duck River toward +the Tennessee, which was crossed on the 27th of December. + +Hood's army was virtually destroyed. He lost more than 13,000 prisoners, +including several general officers, and many guns, while more than 2,000 +deserters joined Thomas. The disgusted Hood asked to be relieved of his +command, and Dick Taylor, who had defeated Banks some months before in +Texas, assumed his place, but he really was left with no army to +command. The proud host which had promised so much existed no longer. +The Rock of Chickamauga had fallen upon it and ground it to powder. + + +SHERMAN'S MARCH FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA. + +Sherman proved his confidence in Thomas by not waiting for him to +complete his wonderful task, before beginning his march from Atlanta to +the sea, 300 miles distant. Since it was impossible to maintain the long +and increasing slender line of communications behind him, Sherman made +no effort to do so. He "cut loose" entirely, proposing to live off the +granary of the South, through which his 60,000 veterans began their +famous tramp. Weeks passed, during which the national government heard +not a word from Sherman, except such as filtered through the Confederate +lines, and which was always tinctured by the hopes of the enemy. There +were continual rumors of the Union army meeting "a lion in its path," +and of its being overwhelmed by disaster, but nothing of a positive +nature was learned, and naturally there was considerable uneasiness, +though Grant knew Sherman too well to feel any distrust of his success. + +At the beginning of his march, Sherman aimed to deceive the enemy as to +his real destination. The secret was shared only with his corps +commanders and General Kilpatrick, leader of the cavalry. The advance +was in two columns, the right under General Howard and the left under +General Slocum. Atlanta was burned on the night of November 15th, and +Sherman himself rode out from the city the next day with the left wing. + +It was impossible for the Confederates to present any serious opposition +to the invaders. Frantic appeals were issued to the South to rise and +crush the enemy, but they accomplished nothing. The bands of militia +were brushed aside like so many children, and the march "From Atlanta to +the Sea" was simply a huge picnic for Sherman and his army. The opening +of the Mississippi had sliced off the left limb of the Southern +Confederacy, and Sherman was now boring his way through the heart. + +Milledgeville, the capital of the State, was reached on the 21st, but +before the Federals arrived the Legislature adjourned precipitately and +took to its heels. Governor Brown and most of the members ran to +Augusta, which was surrendered two days later, plundered, and partly +burned. Kilpatrick made a demonstration against Macon, and could easily +have captured it, but his movement was intended only as a feint. Rightly +surmising by this time that the seacoast was Sherman's destination, +General Hardee did all he could to obstruct the roads leading thither, +but he was powerless to check the invaders. Thousands of negroes +followed the army, singing the "Day of Jubilee has Come," but many of +the poor people perished amid the dismal wastes and barrens of Eastern +Georgia. + +Finally Sherman passed down the peninsula formed by the Ogeechee and +Savannah Rivers and approached Savannah. The enemy were easily driven +from their field-works, and by December 10th all the Confederates were +forced into their lines and the whole Union army was in front of +Savannah. The 300 miles had been passed in twenty-five days and the +listening ears could now hear the faint boom of the distant Atlantic +breakers. + +But Hardee was in Savannah with 15,000 men, capable of offering a strong +defense. To meet his heavy cannon, Sherman had only field artillery, +and, instead of making a direct attack, which would have involved +considerable loss of life, he decided to starve the garrison to terms. +Admiral Dahlgren was lying off the coast, but the mouth of the river was +commanded by Fort McAllister, and it was dangerous work to attempt to +communicate with the Union fleet. Sherman sent off three scouts, who +paddled cautiously down the river at night, hiding in the rice-fields by +day, until they finally succeeded in attracting the notice of a gunboat +which ran in and picked them up. The glorious news was carried to +Admiral Dahlgren, who immediately dispatched it North, where, as may be +supposed, it caused unbounded rejoicing. + +Fort McAllister, fifteen miles below the city, was such an obstacle to +the co-operation of the fleet that Sherman determined to capture it. It +was taken with a rush on the 13th of December, and the way opened for a +supply of ammunition and heavy guns from Hilton Head. General Forster, +the Union commander of that department, was ordered to occupy the +railroad connecting Savannah and Charleston. When that should be done, +Savannah would be completely invested. + + +PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S UNIQUE CHRISTMAS GIFT. + +On the 17th, Sherman demanded the surrender of the city. Hardee refused +and Sherman prepared to bombard it. But the Confederates, who still had +control of Savannah River, retreated across that stream on the night of +the 20th, and tramped into South Carolina. Sherman entered the city the +next day and wrote at once to President Lincoln "I beg to present you, +as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and +plenty of ammunition; also about 25,000 bales of cotton." It was a +unique Christmas gift indeed, and President Lincoln sent back the thanks +of the government and nation to the Union commander, his officers and +soldiers. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN. + +(1820-1891.)] + +One pleasing feature of Sherman's entrance into Savannah was the +widespread Union sentiment which manifested itself among the citizens. +They were tired of the war and glad to see this evidence that its close +was near. They did not destroy their cotton or property, but were quite +willing to turn it over to their conquerors. General Geary was appointed +commandant and ruled with tact and kindness. Here we will leave Sherman +for a time, and give our attention to the single remaining, but most +important, campaign of all--that of General Grant against Lee. + + +GRANT'S ADVANCE AGAINST LEE. + +When the Army of the Potomac was ready to move against Lee and Richmond, +it consisted of three instead of five corps. Hancock commanded the +Second, Warren the Fifth, and Sedgwick the Sixth. Beside this, the Ninth +Corps, which included many colored troops, was under command of +Burnside, and was left for a time to guard the communications with +Washington. This force numbered 140,000 men, and, as has been stated, +was the largest number ever assembled by the Unionists. + +In addition to this stupendous host, 42,000 troops were in and about +Washington, 31,000 in West Virginia, and 59,000 in the department of +Virginia and North Carolina. In South Carolina, Georgia, and at other +points were 38,000. General Lee had less than 58,000 under his immediate +command, and the whole number of Confederates in the region threatened +by Grant's 310,000 was about 125,000. + +General Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac, and the +cavalry corps was under General Philip H. Sheridan. Best of all, the +veterans were now inspired by a feeling of confidence to which they had +long been strangers. They felt that they had a commander at last who was +competent to lead them to victory. + +Lee was acting on the defensive and held a powerful position. Longstreet +was at Gordonsville, Ewell on the Rapidan, and A.P. Hill at Orange +Court-House. The Rapidan itself was held by small bodies of troops, +whose duty it was to keep watch of the movements of the Union army. + +Grant's plan was to advance directly to Richmond. He intended to cross +the Rapidan, attack Lee's right, cut his communications, and compel him +to fight. At the same time Butler was to ascend the James from Fort +Monroe, seize City Point, and, advancing along the south bank of the +river, cut the Confederate communications south of the James, and, if +possible, capture Petersburg. + +If Grant succeeded in defeating Lee, he intended to follow him to +Richmond. If he failed, he meant to transfer his whole army to the +southern side of the James, using Butler's column to cover the movement, +and attack from that quarter. At the same time, General Sigel was to +organize his army into two expeditions, one under General Crook in the +Kanawha Valley, and the other commanded by himself in the Shenandoah +Valley. The object of this campaign was to cut the Central Railroad and +the Virginia and Tennessee Road. Since the bulk of Lee's supplies were +received over these lines, the success of the plan would inflict a +mortal blow upon the Confederate army. + +The Army of the Potomac began moving, May 3d, at midnight. The advance +was in two columns. The right, including Warren's and Sedgwick's Corps, +crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford, and the left, Hancock's Corps, +made the passage at Ely's Ford, six miles below. On the following night, +the bivouac was between the Rapidan and Chancellorsville. + + +THE BATTLES IN THE WILDERNESS. + +Reading Grant's purpose, Lee determined to attack him in the dense, +wooded country known as the Wilderness, where it would be impossible for +the Union commander to use his artillery. Acting promptly, a furious +assault was made and the Confederates attained considerable success. The +ground was unfavorable for the Unionists, but Grant did not shrink. His +line was five miles long and mostly within the woods, where he could use +neither cavalry nor artillery with effect; but he made his attack with +such vehemence that after several hours of terrific fighting he drove +the flying Confederates back almost to the headquarters of Lee, where +Longstreet saved the army from overthrow and re-established the line. + + +WOUNDING OF GENERAL LONGSTREET. + +Before noon the next day, Longstreet forced Hancock's left to the Brock +Road and determined to seize the latter. Had he done so, another +disastrous defeat would have been added to those suffered by the Army of +the Potomac at the hands of Lee. Longstreet was in high spirits and +determined to lead the movement in person. While riding forward, he met +General Jenkins, who was also exultant over what seemed certain success. +The two stopped to shake hands, and when doing so, they and their +escorts were mistaken by a body of Confederate troops for Union cavalry +and fired upon. Longstreet waved his hand and shouted to the men to stop +firing. They did so, but Jenkins had already been killed and Longstreet +himself was shot in the throat. He fell from his saddle and lay beside +the body of Jenkins. He was believed to be dead, but, showing signs of +life, was placed on a litter and carried to the rear, the soldiers +cheering as he was borne past. The reader will recall the strange +wounding of Stonewall Jackson, under almost similar circumstances, by +his own men. Longstreet recovered in time to take a leading part in the +closing incidents of the war. + +This occurrence caused a feeling akin to dismay in the Confederate +ranks, and defeated the movement that was about to be undertaken. +General Lee was so disturbed that he placed himself at the head of a +Texas brigade, with the resolve to lead it in a charge that should be +decisive, but his men would not permit, and compelled him to resume his +place at the rear. + +Grant's position was too strong to be carried and Lee was equally +secure. Meanwhile Grant carefully hunted for a weak spot in his enemy's +line, and decided that Spottsylvania Court-House was the place, and +thither he marched his army on the night of May 7th. + +While this movement was in progress, Sheridan and his cavalry made a +dash toward Richmond in the effort to cut Lee's communications. The +vigilant Stuart intercepted them at Yellow Tavern, within seven miles of +the city, and compelled Sheridan to return, but in the fighting Stuart +received a wound from which he died the next day. + +When Grant's advance reached Spottsylvania Court-House, the Confederates +were in possession, and repulsed the attempt to drive them out. While +the preparations for renewing the battle were going on, General Sedgwick +was struck in the head by a Confederate sharpshooter and instantly +killed. + + +GRANT'S REPULSE AT COLD HARBOR. + +A series of flank movements followed, with fierce fighting, in which the +Union loss was great. Reinforcements were sent to Grant, and nothing +could deter his resolution to drive Lee to the wall. At Cold Harbor, on +June 3d, however, the Union commander received one of the most bloody +repulses of the war, suffering a loss of ten thousand in the space of +less than half an hour, and his losses from the Rapidan to the +Chickahominy--whither he moved his army--equaled the whole number of men +in Lee's army. The latter was within the defenses of Richmond, of which +the centre was Cold Harbor. Having much shorter lines, the Confederates +were able to anticipate the movements of the Army of the Potomac and +present a defiant front at all times. + +Meanwhile matters had gone wrong in the Shenandoah Valley. On the 15th +of May, Sigel was utterly routed by Breckinridge. The Union officer +failed so badly that he was superseded by Hunter, who made just as +wretched a failure. The 15,000 troops under Breckinridge were sent to +reinforce Lee, when, had Sigel and Hunter done their duty, this force +would have been compelled to stay in the Shenandoah Valley. + +Another movement that was meant to help Grant materially was that of +Butler, who was to threaten Richmond by water, while Grant and Meade +were assailing the city in front. But Butler was outgeneraled by +Beauregard, who succeeded in "bottling him up," as Grant expressed it, +at Bermuda Hundred, a peninsula formed by the James, twenty miles below +Richmond. There Butler was held helpless, while Beauregard sent a small +part of his meagre force to reinforce Lee. + +[Illustration: GENERAL LEE DASHES TO THE FRONT TO LEAD THE TEXANS' +CHARGE.] + +The terrible repulse which Grant received at Cold Harbor convinced him +that it was only throwing away life to persist in the campaign against +Richmond by the "overland" route. With characteristic decision, he +decided to move his army to the front of Petersburg and thus shut off +Lee's communication with the South. Holding his position in front of the +Confederate leader until June 12th, Grant crossed the Chickahominy and +advanced to City Point. Passing the James on pontoon-bridges, he marched +toward Petersburg, where the army arrived on the 15th. The next day the +Army of the Potomac was south of the James. Petersburg was immediately +attacked, but the defenders repelled every assault. The next day, Lee's +whole army entered the breastworks of the town. After repeated attacks +by the Unionists, Grant saw the impossibility of capturing Petersburg +by direct attack and he began its siege. Several times the Confederates +made sallies against threatening movements and drove the Federals from +the positions that had been gained at no little loss of life. + +Early in July, Grant consented to allow Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasant, of +a Pennsylvania regiment belonging to Burnside's corps, to run a mine +under one of the approaches to the enemy's intrenchments before +Petersburg. It was believed, apparently with reason, that the explosion +would open a gap in the line through which the Federals might make a +dash and capture the town before the defenders could rally from their +confusion. + +The mine was laid and four tons of powder were fired at daylight on the +morning of July 30th. A cavity was opened by the stupendous explosion, +200 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Instantly, the Union +batteries opened on those of the enemy, silenced them, and the +assaulting column charged. The dreadful mistake was made by the men of +halting in the cavity for shelter. The troops sent to their help also +stopped and huddled together, seeing which the terrified gunners ran +back to their abandoned pieces and opened upon the disorganized mass in +the pit. The slaughter continued until the Confederate officers sickened +at the sight and ordered it stopped. The horrible business resulted in +the loss of nearly 1,000 prisoners and 3,000 killed and wounded. + + +GENERAL EARLY'S RAIDS. + +Since the entire Army of the Potomac was in front of Petersburg, the +Confederates took advantage of the opportunity to give Washington +another scare, in the hope, also, of compelling Grant to withdraw a +considerable body of troops from before Richmond. General Early was sent +thither with 8,000 men by General Lee, with orders to attack the +Federals in the valley. Sigel, whose great forte was that of retreating, +fell back before the advance of Early, crossed the Potomac, and took +position on Maryland Heights. Early moved up the Monocacy into Maryland, +causing great alarm in Washington. The President called upon +Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts for militia with which to +repel the invasion. They were placed under the command of General Lew +Wallace, who was defeated at Monocacy Junction, July 9th. Early attacked +Rockville, fourteen miles west of Washington, and Colonel Harry Gilmor, +himself a citizen of Baltimore, cut the communications between that city +and Philadelphia. He captured a railway train, and among his prisoners +was General Franklin, who was wounded and on his way north. The loose +watch kept over the captives allowed them to escape. + +Early was in high feather over his success, and his cavalry appeared in +front of Washington, July 11th, and exchanged shots with Fort Stevens; +but a spirited attack drove them off, and they crossed the Potomac at +Edward's Ferry, and passed to the western side of the Shenandoah. Early +made his headquarters at Winchester and repelled several assaults upon +him. + +The Confederate leader had been so successful that he soon made a second +raid. He crossed the Potomac, July 29th, and, entering Pennsylvania, +reached Chambersburg, from which a ransom of $200,000 in gold was +demanded. It not being forthcoming, the city was fired, and the +invaders, after some hard fighting, succeeded in getting back to the +southern shore of the Potomac. + + +SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. + +These raids were so exasperating that Grant, who could not give them his +personal attention, determined to put an effectual stop to them. The +government united the departments of western Virginia, Washington, and +the Susquehanna, and placed them under the charge of General Sheridan, +who had 40,000 men at his disposal. Sheridan, whose force was three +times as numerous as Early's, was anxious to move against him, and Grant +finally gave his consent on the condition that he would desolate the +Shenandoah Valley to that extent that nothing would be left to invite +invasion. + +[Illustration: GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.] + +In the first encounter between Sheridan and Early near the Opequan, a +small tributary of the Potomac, west of the Shenandoah, Early was routed +and sent flying toward Winchester, with the loss of many prisoners and +supplies. He was driven through the town, and his troops intrenched +themselves on Fisher's Hill, near Strasburg. They were again attacked, +on the 21st of September, and compelled to retreat further up the +valley. Early received a reinforcement, and secured himself at Brown's +Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where for the first time he was really +safe. + +This left Sheridan free to carry out the orders of Grant to devastate +the valley, and he made thorough work of it. Nothing was spared, and the +burning and destruction were so complete that his homely remark seemed +justified when he said that no crow would dare attempt to fly across +the region without taking his rations with him. + +Feeling that the situation was secure, Sheridan now went to Washington +to consult with the government. On the 19th of October the Union camp at +Cedar Creek was surprised and routed by Early, who captured eighteen +guns, which were turned on the fugitives as they fled in the direction +of Middletown. Their commander, General Wright, finally succeeded in +rallying them, mainly because the Confederates were so overcome at sight +of the food in the abandoned camps that they gave up the pursuit to +feast and gorge themselves. + + +"SHERIDAN'S RIDE." + +Sheridan had reached Winchester, "twenty miles away," on his return from +Washington, when the faint sounds of firing told him of the battle in +progress. Leaping into his saddle, he spurred at headlong speed down the +highway, rallied the panic-stricken troops, placed himself at their +head, and, charging headlong into the rebel mob at Cedar Creek, +scattered them like so much chaff, retook the camps, and routed Early so +utterly that no more raids were attempted by him or any other +Confederates during the remainder of the war. Indeed, it may be said +that this disgraceful overthrow ended the military career of Jubal +Early. When some months later General Lee was placed at the head of all +the military affairs of the Confederacy, he lost no time in doing two +things: the first was to restore General Jo Johnston to his old command, +and the second to remove Early from his. + +The stirring incident described furnished the theme for the well-known +poem of T. Buchanan Read, entitled "Sheridan's Ride." + +Grant held fast to that which he won by terrific fighting. Petersburg +lies about twenty miles to the south of Richmond, and the strongly +fortified Union lines were nearly thirty miles in length, extending from +a point close to the Weldon Railroad, on Grant's left, across the James +to the neighborhood of Newmarket, on the right. Holding the inner part +of this circle, Lee was able for a long time to repel every assault. + +The Confederate commander fought furiously to prevent his enemy from +obtaining possession of the Weldon Road, but late in August a lodgment +was effected from which the Federals could not be driven. Other +advantages were gained, but the close of the year saw Lee still +unconquered and defiant. + + +GRANT'S SLOW BUT RESISTLESS PROGRESS. + +Early in February, 1865, Grant attempted to turn the Confederate right, +but was repulsed, though he gained several miles of additional +territory. Sheridan soon after destroyed the Richmond and Lynchburg +Railroad and the locks of the James River Canal, after which he joined +the Army of the James. + +[Illustration: SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT, AT APPOMATTOX +COURT-HOUSE, APRIL 9, 1865. + +"The two generals met at the house of Major McLean, in the hamlet of +Appomattox Courthouse, where Lee surrendered all that remained of the +Confederate Army, which for nearly four years had beaten back every +attempt to capture Richmond. Grant's terms, as usual, were generous. He +did not ask for Lee's sword, and demanded only that he and his men +should agree not again to bear arms against the Government of the United +States."] + +But Lee was beginning to feel the tremendous and continued pressure. His +army numbered barely 35,000 men. A.P. Hill commanded the right wing, +stretching from Petersburg to Hatcher's Run; General J.B. Gordon, the +centre, at Petersburg; and Longstreet, who had recovered from his wound, +the left wing, north and south of the James; while the cavalry did what +it could to cover the flanks. This attenuated line was forty miles long. +Realizing the desperate straits, the Confederate authorities early in +1865 placed the entire military operations of the Confederacy in the +hands of Lee. + +The latter planned to fall back toward Danville and unite with Johnston. +If successful this would have given him a formidable army; but Grant did +not intend to permit such a junction. Fighting went on almost +continually, the gain being with the Union army, because of its greatly +superior numbers and the skill with which they were handled by the +master, Grant. April 1st a cannonade opened along the whole Union line. +Lee's right wing had been destroyed, but the others were unbroken. At +daylight the next morning an advance was made against the Confederate +works. Lee was forced back, and he strengthened his lines by making them +much shorter. + +The Confederates steadily lost ground, many were killed and taken +prisoners, and in a charge upon the Union left General A.P. Hill lost +his life. At last the enemy's outer lines were hopelessly broken, and +Lee telegraphed the startling fact to President Davis, who received it +while sitting in church, Sunday, April 2d. The Confederate President was +told that Lee could hold Petersburg but a few hours longer, and Davis +was warned to have the authorities ready to leave Richmond unless a +message was sent to the contrary. No such longed-for message arrived. + + +EVACUATION OF RICHMOND. + +The counsel of Lee was followed. Jefferson Davis, the members of his +cabinet, and a number of leading citizens left the capital that night +for Charlotte, North Carolina. The whole city was thrown into the +wildest confusion; rioting and drunkenness filled the streets, buildings +were fired, and pandemonium reigned. General Witzel, who occupied the +Union works to the north of Richmond, learned the astounding news, and +the next morning rode into the city without opposition. The tidings were +telegraphed to Washington. The following day President Lincoln arrived, +and was quartered in the house formerly occupied by Jefferson Davis. +Martial law was proclaimed, and order restored in the stricken city. + +But General Lee had not yet surrendered. No men ever fought more +heroically than he and his soldiers. On the Sunday that he sent his +message to President Davis, the commander found the only line of retreat +left to him was that which led to the westward, and even that was +threatened. Anticipating Lee's retreat, Grant used all possible energy +to cut him off. On the night of April 6th Lee crossed the Appomattox +near Farmville. That night his general officers held a consultation, and +agreed that but one course was left to them and that was to surrender. +Their views were communicated to Lee, but he would not yet consent to +that decisive step. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN ENTERING RICHMOND.] + +Grant was in Farmville on the 7th, and he sent a letter to Lee, +reminding him of the uselessness of further resistance and asking for +his surrender. Lee still declined, and continued his retreat. Then +Sheridan threw his powerful division of cavalry in front of the +Confederates, and Lee decided to cut his way through the ring of +bayonets and sabres by which he was environed. This desperate task was +assigned to the indomitable Gordon. He made a resistless beginning, when +he saw the impossibility of success. The news was sent to Lee, who +realized at last that all hope was gone. He forwarded a note to Grant, +asking for a suspension of hostilities with a view to surrender. The two +generals met at the house of Major McLean, in the hamlet of Appomattox +Court-House, on the 9th of April, where Lee surrendered all that +remained of the Confederate army, which for nearly four years had beaten +back every attempt to capture Richmond. + +Grant's terms as usual were generous. He did not ask for Lee's sword, +and demanded only that he and his men should agree not to bear arms +again against the government of the United States. They were to +surrender all public property, but Grant told them to keep their horses, +"as you will need them for your spring ploughing." The soldiers who had +fought each other so long and so fiercely fraternized like brothers, +exchanged grim jests over the terrible past, and pledged future +friendship. The reunion between the officers was equally striking. Most +of them were old acquaintances, and all rejoiced that the war was at +last ended. General Lee rode with his cavalry escort to his home in +Richmond and rejoined his family. He was treated with respect by the +Union troops, who could not restrain a feeling of sympathy for their +fallen but magnanimous enemy. + + +ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. + +The bonfires in the North had hardly died out and the echoes of the glad +bells were still lingering in the air, when the whole country was +startled by one of the most horrifying events in all history. President +Lincoln, on the night of April 14th, was sitting in a box at Ford's +Theatre in Washington, accompanied by his wife and another lady and +gentleman, when, at a little past ten o'clock, John Wilkes Booth, an +actor, stealthily entered the box from the rear, and, without any one +suspecting his awful purpose, fired a pistol-bullet into the President's +brain. The latter's head sank, and he never recovered consciousness. + +Booth, after firing the shot, leaped upon the stage from the box, +brandished a dagger, shouted _"Sic semper tyrannis!"_ and, before the +dumbfounded spectators could comprehend what had been done, dashed out +of a rear door, sprang upon a waiting horse, and galloped off in the +darkness. + +No pen can describe the horror and rage which seized the spectators when +they understood what had taken place. The stricken President was carried +across the street to a house where he died at twenty-two minutes past +seven the next morning. + +About the time of his assassination, an attempt was made upon the life +of Secretary Seward, who was confined to his bed, suffering from a fall. +A male attendant prevented the miscreant from killing the secretary, +though he was badly cut. The best detective force of the country was set +to work, and an energetic pursuit of Booth was made. He had injured his +ankle when leaping from the box upon the stage of the theatre, but he +rode into Maryland, accompanied by another conspirator, named David E. +Harrold. At the end of eleven days they were run down by the pursuing +cavalry, who brought them to bay on the 26th of April. They had +crossed from Maryland into Virginia and taken refuge in a barn near Port +Royal, on the Rappahannock. + +[Illustration: THE CIVIL WAR PEACE CONFERENCE. + +Three commissioners from the Confederacy suggesting terms of peace to +President Lincoln and Secretary Seward in Fortress Monroe, January +1865.] + + +DEATH OF BOOTH. + +The barn was surrounded and the two men were summoned to surrender. +Harrold went out and gave himself up. Booth refused and defied the +troopers, offering to fight them single-handed. To drive him from his +hiding-place, the barn was set on fire. Booth, carbine in hand and +leaning on his crutch, approached the door with the intention of +shooting, when Sergeant Boston Corbett fired through a crevice and hit +Booth in the neck. The wound was a mortal one, and Booth was brought out +of the barn and laid on the ground, where he died after several hours of +intense suffering. The body was taken to Washington and secretly buried. +There is good reason to believe that it was sunk at night in the +Potomac. + + +PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. + +The country was in no mood to show leniency to any one concerned in the +taking off of the beloved President. Of the five conspirators tried, +four were hanged. They were: Payne, Harrold, G.A. Atzeroot, and Mrs. +Mary A. Surratt, at whose house the conspirators held their meetings. +Dr. S.A. Mudd, who dressed Booth's wounded ankle, and was believed to be +in sympathy with the plotters, was sentenced to the Dry Tortugas for a +number of years. He showed so much devotion during an outbreak of yellow +fever there that he was pardoned some time later. John Surratt, the +assailant of Secretary Seward, fled to Italy, where he was discovered by +Archbishop Hughes, and the Italian government, as an act of courtesy, +delivered him to our government. On his first trial the jury disagreed, +and on the second he escaped through the plea of limitations. + +The whole country mourned the death of President Lincoln. His greatness, +his goodness, and his broad, tender charity were appreciated by every +one. The South knew that they had lost in him their best friend. Had he +lived, much of the strife of the succeeding few years would have been +saved, and the bitter cup that was pressed to the lips of the conquered +South would have been less bitter than it was made by others. The +remains of the martyred President were laid in their final resting-place +at Springfield, Illinois, and the fame of Lincoln grows and increases +with the passing years. + + +SHERMAN'S NORTHWARD ADVANCES. + +The army of General Jo Johnston did not surrender until after the death +of President Lincoln. Sherman, as will be remembered, made the city of +Savannah a Christmas present to the President. Leaving a strong +detachment in the city, Sherman moved northward with an army of 70,000 +men, including artillery, the start being made on the 1st of February. +Charleston, where the first ordinance of secession was passed and which +had successfully defied every movement against it, now found itself +assailed in the rear. The garrison, after destroying the government +stores, the railway stations, blowing up the ironclads in the harbor, +bursting the guns on the ramparts of the forts, and setting the city on +fire, withdrew. This took place February 17th. The next day General +Gillmore entered Charleston and his troops extinguished the few +buildings that were still burning. + +It has not been forgotten that Wilmington, North Carolina, had become +the great blockade-running port of the Southern Confederacy. The mouth +of Cape Fear River was defended by Fort Fisher, a very powerful +fortification. General Butler made an attempt to capture it in December, +but failed. Another effort followed January 15th, under General Alfred +Terry, and was successful. The defeated garrison joined Johnston to help +him in disputing the northward advance of Sherman. + +There was severe fighting, especially at Goldsborough, but the Union +army was so much the superior that its progress could not be stayed. +There Schofield reinforced Sherman, who, feeling all danger was past, +turned over the command to his subordinate and went north to consult +with Grant, reaching his headquarters on the 27th of March. Soon after +the surrender of Lee, the whole Confederacy was in such a state of +collapse that the Union cavalry galloped back and forth through every +portion at will. + +Returning to his command, Sherman moved against Johnston, April 10th. +Four days later, Johnston admitted in a communication to the Union +commander that the surrender of Lee meant the end of the war, and he +asked for a temporary suspension of hostilities, with the view of making +arrangements for the laying down of the Confederate arms. Sherman +consented, and these two commanders met and discussed the situation. + + +SURRENDER OF JO JOHNSTON AND COLLAPSE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. + +In the exchange of views which followed, the great soldier, Sherman, was +outwitted by Johnston and the Confederate president and cabinet, who +were behind him. They secured his agreement to a restoration, so far as +he could bring it about, of the respective State governments in the +South as they were before the war, with immunity for the secession +leaders from punishment, and other privileges, which, if granted, would +have been throwing away most of the fruits of the stupendous struggle. +Sherman thus took upon himself the disposition of civil matters with +which he had nothing to do. The more sagacious Grant saw the mistake of +his old friend, and, visiting his camp, April 24th, told him his +memorandum was disapproved, and notice was to be sent Johnston of the +resumption of hostilities. Two days later, Sherman and Johnston again +met, and the Confederate commander promptly agreed to surrender his army +on the same conditions that were given to Lee. + +[Illustration: THE DESPERATE EXTREMITY OF THE CONFEDERATES AT THE END OF +THE CIVIL WAR.] + +General J.H. Wilson and his cavalry captured Macon, Georgia, April 21st, +and, on the 4th of May, General Dick Taylor surrendered the remainder of +the Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, at which time also +Admiral Farrand surrendered to Admiral Thatcher all the naval forces of +the Confederacy that were blockaded in the Tombigbee River. At that +time, Kirby Smith was on the other side of the Mississippi, loudly +declaring that he would keep up the fight until independence or better +terms were secured, but his followers did not share his views, and +deserted so fast that he, Magruder, and others made their way to Mexico, +where, after remaining awhile, they returned to the United States and +became peaceful and law-abiding citizens. The troops left by them +passed under the command of General Brent, who, on the 26th of May, +surrendered to General Canby, when it may be said the War for the Union +was ended. + +After the surrender of Johnston, Jefferson Davis and the members of his +cabinet became fugitives, under the escort of a few paroled soldiers. It +was feared they might join Kirby Smith and encourage him to continue his +resistance, while others believed he was striving to get beyond the +jurisdiction of the United States. + +The party hurried through the dismal wastes of Georgia, in continual +fear that the Union cavalry would burst from cover upon them and make +all prisoners. In the early morning light of May 10th, Mr. Davis, while +asleep in his tent, near Irwinsville, Wilkinson County, Georgia, was +aroused by the alarming news that the camp was surrounded by Union +cavalry. He leaped to his feet and ran for his horse, but the animal was +already in the possession of a Federal trooper. His wife threw a shawl +over his shoulders, and he attempted to escape from the camp without +being recognized, but he was identified and made prisoner. He had been +captured by a squad of General J.H. Wilson's cavalry, under the command +of Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard of the Fourth Michigan. His +fellow-prisoners were his wife and children, his private secretary, +Burton Harrison, his aide-de-camp, and Postmaster-General Reagan, all of +whom were taken to Macon, and thence to Fort Monroe, Virginia. + +It was a serious problem, now that the president of the defunct +Confederacy was captured, what should be done with him. He was kept in +Fort Monroe until his health was impaired, when he was released on bail; +Horace Greeley, the well-known editor of the _New York Tribune_, being +one of his bondsmen. He had been indicted for treason in 1866, being +released the following year, but his trial was dropped on the 6th of +February, 1869. He passed the remainder of his life in Memphis, and +later at Beauvoir, Mississippi, dying in New Orleans, December 6, 1889, +in the eighty-second year of his age. + + +STATISTICS OF THE WAR. + +The most carefully prepared statistics of the Civil War give the +following facts: Number of men in the Union army furnished by each State +and Territory, from April 15, 1861, to close of war, 2,778,304, which, +reduced to a three years' standing, was 2,326,168. The number of +casualties in the volunteer and regular armies of the United States, +according to a statement prepared by the adjutant-general's office, was: +Killed in battle, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease, +199,720; other causes, such as accidents, murder, Confederate prisons, +etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; total deserted, 199,105. Number of +soldiers in the Confederate service, who died of wounds or disease +(partial statement), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement), 104,428. +Number of United States troops captured during the war, 212,508; +Confederate troops captured, 476,169. Number of United States troops +paroled on the field, 16,431; Confederate troops paroled on the field, +248,599. Number of United States troops who died while prisoners, +30,156; Confederate troops who died while prisoners, 30,152. It is safe +to say that the number of men killed and disabled on both sides during +the War for the Union was fully one million. The public debt of the +United States, July 1, 1866, was $2,773,236,173.69, which on the 1st of +November, 1897, had been reduced to $1,808,777,643.40. + +Mention has been made of the frightful brutalities of Captain Wirz, the +keeper of Andersonville prison. He richly merited the hanging which he +suffered on the 10th of November, 1865. As has been stated, he was the +only person executed for his part in the Civil War. + +England, upon receiving news of the arrest of Jefferson Davis, declared +all ports, harbors, and waters belonging to Great Britain closed against +every vessel bearing the Confederate flag. The French government took +the same action a few days later. + +More than a generation has passed since the close of the great Civil +War, which resulted in the cementing of the Union so firmly that the +bonds can never again be broken. Whatever resentment may have been felt +lasted but a brief while, and the late war with Spain removed the last +vestige. + +[Illustration: HORACE GREELEY. + +(1811-1872.)] + +A little incident may serve as one of the thousand similar occurrences +which prove how perfectly the North and South fraternized long ago. The +officer who did the most effective work for the Union in the South +during the closing months of the war was General James H. Wilson, a +detachment of whose cavalry captured the fugitive Jefferson Davis. It +was General Wilson, who, on the 21st of April, 1865, rode into Macon, +Georgia, and took possession of the city. In the month of December, +1898, while on a visit to Macon, he made an address to the citizens, +from which the following extract is given: + + +THIRTY-THREE YEARS LATER. + +FELLOW-CITIZENS: It is with infinite pleasure that I address myself in +words of peace to a Macon audience. [Cheers.] Thirty-odd years ago I +came into this town with 15,000 cavalry thundering at my heels. +[Laughter and shouts.] I was met with the roaring of cannon and the +firing of musketry. [Cheers.] I was greeted by the burning of warehouses +and the destruction of property, which I now profoundly regret. +[Cheers.] The welcome that was extended to me then was of the silent +quality. [Laughter.] An illustrious citizen, then your chief magistrate, +the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, after a four-hours' interview, speaking of me +then, said to another gathering of illustrious citizens, at the head of +which was Howell Cobb: "He is a clever young man, but, gentlemen, he +takes the military view of the situation." [Laughter.] That was a fact +then, but now I come among you and I receive a different welcome. I was +then a victor; to-day I am a captive. [Cheers.] I must say I am a +willing captive of your city. The fair women and the brave and excellent +gentlemen of your town have, by their open and generous hospitality, +imprisoned me deep down in their hearts, and I would be recreant to +every feeling of my own if I desired release from such pleasing bondage. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN'S GRAVE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT 1865-1877. + +Andrew Johnson--Reconstruction--Quarrel Between the President and +Congress--The Fenians--Execution of Maximilian--Admission of +Nebraska--Laying of the Atlantic Cable--Purchase of Alaska--Impeachment +and Acquittal of the President--Carpet-bag Rule in the South--Presidential +Election of 1868--U.S. Grant--Settlement of the _Alabama_ +Claims--Completion of the Overland Railway--The Chicago Fire--Settlement +of the Northwestern Boundary--Presidential Election of 1872--The Modoc +Troubles--Civil War in Louisiana--Admission of Colorado--Panic of +1873--Notable Deaths--Custer's Massacre--The Centennial--The Presidential +Election of 1876 the Most Perilous in the History of the Country. + + +THE SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT. + +As provided by the Constitution, Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, took +the oath of office as President on the day that Abraham Lincoln died. He +was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808, and his parents +were so poor that they did not send him to school at all. When only ten +years old, he was apprenticed to a tailor, and anyone who at that time +had prophesied that he would some day become President of the United +States would have been set down as an idiot or a lunatic. + +[Illustration: ANDREW JOHNSON. + +(1808-1875.) One partial term, 1865-1869.] + +Among the visitors to the tailor shop was a kind-hearted old gentleman +who was in the habit of reading to the boys and men. Andrew became +interested in what he heard, and, seeing how much better it would be for +him to be able to read for himself, set to work and learned. He removed +to Greenville, Tennessee, in 1826, and there married a noble woman, who +encouraged his ambition and helped him in his studies. Nature had given +him marked ability, and he became interested in local politics. The +citizens had confidence in him, for he was twice elected alderman, twice +mayor, was sent three times to the State Legislature, and in 1843 was +elected to Congress. He remained there for ten years, when he was chosen +governor of Tennessee, and, in 1857, became United States senator. + +Johnson had always been a Democrat, and, when the political upheaval +came in 1860, he supported Breckinridge. While he favored slavery, he +was a Unionist in every fibre of his being, and declared that every man +who raised his hand against the flag should be hanged as a traitor. +Tennessee was torn by the savage quarrel, and for a time the +secessionists were rampant. When Johnson returned to his home in May, +1861, his train was stopped by a mob who were determined to lynch him, +but he met the angered men at the door with a loaded revolver and cowed +them. + +It was such men as Johnson that President Lincoln appreciated and +determined to keep bound to him. He appointed him military governor of +Tennessee in 1862, and it need hardly be said that Johnson made things +lively for the secessionists, and did not forget to give attention to +those who had persecuted him. His personal courage and honesty won the +admiration of the North, and, as we have shown, led to his being placed +on the ticket with President Lincoln, when he was renominated in 1864. + +The reader will not forget that the surrender of Johnson and the +capture, imprisonment, and release of Jefferson Davis occurred while +Johnson was President. + + +THE PROBLEM OF RECONSTRUCTION. + +Reconstruction was the grave problem that confronted the country at the +close of the war. The question was as to the status of the States lately +in rebellion. It would not do to restore them to their full rights, with +the same old governments, for they might make better preparations and +secede again. Nothing was clearer than that slavery was the real cause +of the war, and the safety of the nation demanded that it should be +extirpated forever. The Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure and +simply freed the slaves, but did not prevent the re-establishment of +slavery. In December, 1865, therefore, the Thirteenth Amendment, having +been adopted by three-fourths of the States, was declared a part of the +Constitution. By it slavery was forever abolished, and one of the +gravest of all perils was removed. + +President Johnson was a man of strong passions and prejudices. He had +been a "poor white" in the South, whose condition in some respect was +worse than that of slaves. He held a bitter personal hatred of the +aristocratic Southerners, who had brought on the war. His disposition at +first was to hang the leaders, but after awhile he swung almost as far +in the opposite direction. At the same time, he was not particularly +concerned for the welfare of the freed slaves, who were called +"freedmen." + + +THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY. + +President Johnson termed his plan "my policy," and briefly it was: To +appoint provisional or temporary governors for each of the States lately +in rebellion. These governors called conventions of delegates, who were +elected by the former white voters of the respective States. When the +conventions met they declared all the ordinances of secession void, +pledged themselves never to pay any debt of the Southern Confederacy, +and ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, as proposed by Congress early in +1865, and which abolished slavery. Before the close of the year named, +each of the excluded States had been reorganized in accordance with this +plan. Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas took the step while Lincoln was +President. + +The vexatious question was as to the treatment of the freedmen. The +South had no faith that they would work, except when compelled to do so +by slave-overseers. The new governments passed laws, therefore, to +compel them to work, under the penalty of being declared vagrants and +sent to jail, where they would be forced to hard labor. This method was +denounced in the North as a re-establishment of slavery under a new +name. The Republican majority in December, 1865, refused for a time to +admit any members from the States that had been in rebellion. + + +QUARREL BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT. + +Thus a quarrel arose between the President and Congress. The latter +proposed to keep the States on probation for a time, before giving them +their full rights, while the President strenuously insisted that they +should be admitted at once on the same status as those that had not been +engaged in secession. To keep out the eighty-five members who had been +refused admission, Congress imposed a test oath, which excluded all who +had been connected in any way with the Confederate government. The +Republicans had a two-thirds vote in Congress which enabled them to pass +any bill they chose over the President's veto. While they had not +formulated any clear policy, they were resolved to protect the freedmen +in all their rights. The reorganization of Tennessee being satisfactory, +her members were received by Congress in 1866. + +The congressional elections of this year intrenched the Republicans in +Congress, and they were sure of the power for the next two years to +carry through any policy upon which they might agree. By that time, too, +they had fixed upon their plan of reconstruction and prepared to enforce +it. + +This policy was to allow the freedmen to vote and to deprive the +Confederate leaders of the right to do so. To accomplish this, the plan +was to place all the seceding States under military governors, who +should call new conventions to form State governments. The negroes and +not the leading Confederates had the power to vote for these delegates. +Provided the new governments allowed the freedmen the right of suffrage, +and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment (which excluded the leading +Confederates from office), then the Southern senators and +representatives would be admitted to Congress. + + +THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. + +The "civil rights" bill, which placed the blacks and whites on the same +footing, was vetoed by the President, March 27th. He pointed out the +danger of giving suffrage to 4,000,000 ignorant people, lately slaves, +and said unscrupulous men in the North would hasten South and take +advantage of their ignorance. This was precisely what took place. The +South was overrun by a set of scoundrels known as "carpet-baggers" +(because they were supposed to carry all their worldly possessions when +they reached the South in a carpet bag; in many instances a score of +trunks would not have sufficed to hold what they took back), whose rule +was worse than a pestilence, and forms one of the most shameful episodes +in our history. According to the old system, the negroes were counted in +making up the congressional representation of the South, and the +Republicans insisted that they were, therefore, entitled to vote. The +bill was passed April 9th, over the President's veto. + +The story of the bitter quarrel between the President and Congress is an +unpleasant one. Words were uttered by him and by leading members of +Congress which it would be well to forget. The President became angrier +as the wrangle progressed, for, in the face of the hostile majority, he +was powerless. The fight continued through the years 1867 and 1868. In +June of the latter year, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North +Carolina, and South Carolina were re-admitted to Congress. The States +that had seceded were divided into five military districts, and +President Johnson, much against his will, was obliged to appoint the +governors. As a result of all this, the negroes were largely in the +majority in the South, and the Republican vote in Congress was greatly +increased. But in the North, the fall elections went mostly Democratic, +though not enough so to overcome the opposing majority in Congress. + +During these exciting times there were several occurrences of a +different nature which require notice. The Fenians are men of Irish +birth who favor the independence of their country from Great Britain. +One of their favorite methods is by the invasion of Canada. In 1866, +about 1,500 of them entered Canada from Buffalo, and some skirmishing +occurred, but the movement was so clearly a violation of law that the +President sent a military force to the frontier and promptly stopped it. + +[Illustration: LOG-CABIN CHURCH AT JUNEAU, ALASKA.] + + +EXECUTION OF MAXIMILIAN. + +France had taken advantage of our Civil War to make an attempt to +establish a monarchy in Mexico. French troops were landed, an empire +proclaimed, and Maximilian, an Austrian archduke, declared emperor. He +went to Mexico in 1864, where he was compelled to fight the Mexicans who +had risen against his rule. With the help of the strong military force +which Louis Napoleon placed at his disposal, he was able to maintain +himself for a time. With the conclusion of the war, our government +intimated to Emperor Napoleon that it would be politic for him to +withdraw from Mexico, although we were quite willing to allow Maximilian +to remain emperor if it was the wish of the Mexicans. Napoleon acted on +the warning, but the misguided victim chose to stay, and was captured by +the Mexicans in 1867 and shot. That was the end of the attempt to +establish an empire in Mexico, which has long been a prosperous and +well-governed republic. + + +ADMISSION OF NEBRASKA. + +Nebraska was admitted to the Union in 1867. It was a part of the +Louisiana purchase and was made a Territory in 1854, by the +Kansas-Nebraska act. Being located much further north than Kansas, it +escaped the strife and civil war which desolated that Territory. It has +proven to be a rich agricultural region, though it suffers at times from +grasshoppers, drought, and storms. + +The attempts to lay an Atlantic telegraph cable resulted in failures +until 1866, when a cable was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland. Since +then other cables have been successfully stretched beneath the ocean +until it may be said the world is girdled by them. + + +PURCHASE OF ALASKA. + +In 1867 our country purchased from Russia the large tract in the +northwest known as Russian America. The sum paid was $7,200,000, a price +which many deemed so exorbitant that it was considered a mere pretext of +Secretary Seward, who strongly urged the measure, in order to give +Russia a bonus for her valuable friendship during the Civil War. +Inclusive of the islands, the area of Alaska is 577,390 square miles. +The country was looked upon as a cold, dismal land of fogs and storms, +without any appreciable value, but its seal fisheries and timber have +been so productive of late years that it has repaid its original cost +tenfold and more. + + +WIDENING OF THE BREACH BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT. + +One of the acts passed by Congress in March, 1867, forbade the President +to dismiss any members of his cabinet without the consent of the Senate. +The President insisted that the Constitution gave him the right to do +this. Secretary of War Stanton, who had resigned by his request, was +succeeded by General Grant, who gave way to Stanton, when the latter was +replaced by the Senate, in January, 1868. On the 21st of February the +President dismissed him and appointed Adjutant-General Thomas secretary +_ad interim_. Stanton refused to yield, and remained at his office night +and day, with a company of friends and a military guard. Several demands +for the office were made by General Thomas, but all were refused. It was +believed the President would send troops to enforce his order, but he +did not proceed to that extremity. + + +IMPEACHMENT AND ACQUITTAL OF THE PRESIDENT. + +On the 24th of February the House of Representatives passed a resolution +to impeach the President. This was simply to accuse or charge him with +the commission of high crimes and misdemeanors. In such cases the trial +must be conducted by the Senate. A committee was appointed to prepare +the articles of impeachment, which, in the main, accused the executive +of violating the civil tenure act in his removal of Secretary Stanton, +though other charges were added. + +When the President is impeached, the Constitution provides that his +trial shall take place before the Senate, sitting as a court. The trial +occupied thirty-two days, lasting until May 26th, with Chief Justice +Chase presiding, on which day a vote was taken on the eleventh article +of impeachment. Thirty-five senators voted for acquittal and nineteen +for conviction. One more vote--making the necessary two-thirds--would +have convicted. Ten days later the same vote was given on the other +charges, whereupon a verdict of acquittal was ordered. + +[Illustration: A SOUTHERN LEGISLATURE UNDER CARPET-BAG RULE. + +The carpet-baggers debauched the negroes, sending some of the most +ignorant of them to the Legislature, where their personal conduct was a +disgrace and they voted away vast sums of money for adventurers who +bribed them with a pittance.] + + +SAD CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. + +The country was in a lamentable condition. Congress censured the +President, who expressed his contempt for that body. General Sheridan, +whom the President had removed from the governorship of Louisiana, was +complimented for his administration, and Congress declared that there +was no valid government in the South, the jurisdiction of which was +transferred to General Grant, the head of the army. + +By this time the carpet-baggers had swarmed into the sorely harried +region like so many locusts. They secured the support of the ignorant +blacks, by falsehood and misrepresentations, controlled the State +Legislatures, and had themselves elected to Congress. Enormous debts +were piled up, and negroes, who could not write their names, exultingly +made laws for their former masters, who remained in sullen silence at +their homes and wondered what affliction was coming next. The colored +legislators adjourned pell-mell to attend the circus; hundreds of +thousands of dollars were stolen, and extravagance, corruption, and +debauchery ran riot. As a public man remarked, one general +conflagration, sweeping from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, could +not have wrought more devastation in the South than the few years of +carpet-bag governments. + +Yet all such evils are sure to right themselves, sooner or later. The +means are apt to be violent and revolutionary, and sometimes breed crime +of itself. It was not in the nature of things that the whites should +remain passive and meek under this unspeakable misrule. They united for +self-protection. One of the bands thus formed was the Ku-Klux, which in +time committed so many crimes in terrorizing the negroes that they were +suppressed by the stern arm of the military; a revolt of the best people +took place, and soon after 1870 the blight of carpet-bag government +disappeared from the South. + + +TRUE RECONCILIATION. + +Despite the turbulence and angry feeling, the work of reconciliation +went on of itself. Northern capital entered the promising fields of the +South; former Union and Confederate leaders, as well as privates, +respected one another, as brave men always do, and became warm friends. +While many of the former went South, hundreds of the latter made their +homes in the North, where they were welcomed and assisted in the +struggle to "get upon their feet." This fraternal mingling of former +soldiers and the friendly exchange of visits between Union and +Confederate posts brought about true reconciliation, despite the +wrangles of politicians. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1868. + +Before, however, this was fully accomplished, the presidential election +of 1868 took place. The most popular hero in this country, as in others, +is the military one, and the great value of General Grant's services in +the war for the Union made it clear, long before the assembling of the +nominating convention, that he would be the candidate of the Republican +party. He was unanimously named, with Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, the +Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the nominee for +Vice-President. The Democrats placed in nomination Horatio Seymour, of +New York, and General Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. The result in +November was as follows: Republican ticket, 214 electoral votes; +Democratic, 80. The election was a striking proof of the popularity of +the great soldier. + +Andrew Johnson was hopeful of a nomination from the Democrats, but his +name was scarcely mentioned. He lived in retirement for a number of +years, but was elected United States senator in 1875, and he died at his +home July 31st of that year. + + +THE EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT. + +Ulysses S. Grant had already become so identified with the history of +our country that little remains to be added to that which has been +recorded. He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. Appointed +to West Point, he gave no evidence of special brilliancy, and was +graduated in 1843 with only a fair standing. He did good service in the +war with Mexico and was brevetted captain, but resigned his commission +in 1854 and went into business, where he attained only moderate success. +He was among the first to volunteer when the Civil War broke out. The +opportunity thus presented for the full display of his military genius +rapidly brought him to the front, the culmination of his career being +reached when he compelled the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox +Court-House in April, 1865, thereby bringing the long and terrible war +to a triumphant conclusion. He was a man of simple tastes, modest, but +with an unerring knowledge of his own abilities, thoroughly patriotic, +honest, chivalrous, devoted to his friends, and so trustful of them that +he remained their supporters sometimes after receiving proof of their +unworthiness. The mistakes of his administration were due mainly to this +trait of his character, which it is hard to condemn without reservation. + +[Illustration: ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. + +(1822-1885.) Two terms, 1869-1877.] + +The country being fairly launched once more on its career of progress +and prosperity, the government gained the opportunity to give attention +to matters which it was compelled to pass by while the war was in +progress. The first most important step was to call England to account +for her help in fitting out Confederate privateers, when we were in +extremity. It required considerable tact and delicacy to get the +"Alabama Claims," as they were termed, in proper form before the British +authorities, for they felt sensitive, but it was finally accomplished. +The arbitration tribunal which sat at Geneva, Switzerland, in June, +1872, decreed that England should pay the United States the sum of +$15,500,000 because of the damage inflicted by Confederate cruisers upon +Northern commerce. The amount was paid, and friendly relations between +the two countries were fully restored. + +[Illustration: MRS. JULIA DENT GRANT.] + +Our rapid growth had long since made the building of a railroad from the +East to the Pacific a necessity that continually grew more urgent. +Construction was begun as early as 1863, but the Civil War caused the +work to lag, and at the end of two years only one hundred miles had been +graded and forty laid. The progress then became more vigorous. + +The road consisted of two divisions. The first was from Omaha, Nebraska, +to Ogden, Utah, a distance of 1,032 miles, while the western division, +known as the Central Pacific, covered the distance of 885 miles between +Ogden and San Francisco. Steadily approaching each other, these long +lines of railway met on the 10th of May, 1869, when the last spike, made +of solid gold, was driven, and the two locomotives, standing with their +pilots almost touching, joined in a joyous screech of their whistles. +The important event was celebrated with much ceremony, for it was worthy +of being commemorated. + + +RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED. + +The vexatious work of reconstruction was completed during the early +months of 1870. Virginia had held out against the terms prescribed by +Congress, but her senators and representatives were admitted to their +seats in the latter part of January; those of Mississippi in the +following month, and those of Texas in March, at which time the +secretary of State issued a proclamation declaring the adoption of the +Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees negro +suffrage. For the first time in almost twenty years, all the States were +fully represented in Congress. + + +THE CHICAGO FIRE. + +On the 8th of October, 1871, Chicago was visited by the greatest +conflagration of modern times, with the single exception of that of +Moscow. Like many events, fraught with momentous consequences, it had a +trifling cause. A cow kicked over a lamp in a stable on De Koven Street, +which set fire to the straw. A gale swiftly carried the flames into some +adjoining lumber yards and frame houses. All the conditions were +favorable for a tremendous conflagration. The fire swept over the south +branch of the Chicago River, and raged furiously in the business +portion of the city. The main channel of the river was leaped as if it +were a narrow alley, and there were anxious hours when thousands +believed the whole city was doomed. As it was, the fire-swept district +covered four or five miles, and fully 20,000 buildings were burned. It +is believed that 250 lives were lost, about 100,000 people made +homeless, and $192,000,000 worth of property destroyed. + +[Illustration: THE BURNING OF CHICAGO IN 1871.] + +Chicago's affliction stirred the sympathy of the whole country. +Contributions were sent thither from every State, and everything was +done to aid the sufferers who had lost their all. With true American +pluck, the afflicted people bent to the work before them. Night and day +thousands toiled, and within the space of a year a newer and more +magnificent city rose like a Phoenix from its ashes. Chicago to-day is +one of the grandest and most enterprising cities in the world. + + +SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY. + +We had made a treaty with England in 1846 which located the line of our +northwestern boundary along the 49th parallel westward to the middle of +"the channel" separating the continent from Vancouver's Island, and +then southward through the middle of the channel and of Fuca's Strait to +the Pacific Ocean. It was found, however, there were several channels, +and it was impossible to decide which was meant in the treaty. The claim +of England included the island of San Juan, she insisting that the +designated channel ran to the south of that island. Naturally, we took +the opposite view and were equally insistent that the channel ran to the +north, and that San Juan, therefore, belonged to us. The two nations +displayed their good sense by referring the dispute to arbitration and +selected the Emperor of Germany as the arbitrator. He decided in 1872 in +our favor. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1872. + +It was a curious presidential election that took place in 1872. The +South was bitterly opposed to the Republican plan of reconstruction and +a good many in the North sympathized with them. One of the strongest +opponents of Grant's renomination was the _New York Tribune_, of which +Horace Greeley was editor. The Republicans who agreed with him were +called "Liberal Republicans," while the Straight-out Democrats retained +their organization. Naturally, the regular Republicans renominated +Grant, but Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, took the place of Schuyler +Colfax as the nominee for the Vice-Presidency. Horace Greeley, who had +spent his life in vigorously fighting the principles of the Democratic +party, was now endorsed by that organization after his nomination by the +Liberal Republicans, with B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, as his running +partner. + +[Illustration: SECTION OF CHICAGO STOCK-YARDS, THE LARGEST IN THE +WORLD.] + +The election was a perfect jumble. Eight candidates were voted for as +President and eleven for Vice-President. Grant received 286 electoral +votes and carried thirty-one States. Greeley was so crushed by his +defeat that he lost his reason and died within a month after election. +His electors scattered their votes, so that Thomas A. Hendricks, the +regular Democratic candidate, received 42; B. Gratz Brown, 16; Charles +J. Jenkins, 2; and David Davis, 1. + + +THE INDIAN QUESTION. + +The second term of Grant was more troublous than the first. The +difficulties with the Indians, dating from the first settlement in the +country, were still with us. At the suggestion of the President, a grand +council of delegates of the civilized tribes met in December, 1870, in +the Choctaw division of the Indian Territory. The subject brought before +them was the organization of a republican form of government, to be +under the general rule of the United States. A second convention was +held in the following July and a provisional government organized. A +proposal was adopted that the United States should set aside large +tracts of land for the exclusive occupancy and use of the Indians. These +areas were to be known as "reservations," and so long as the Indians +remained upon them they were to be protected from molestation. + +This scheme seemed to promise a settlement of the vexed question, but it +failed to accomplish what was expected. In the first place, most of the +Indians were unfriendly to it. No matter how large a part of country you +may give to a red man as his own, he will not be satisfied without +permission to roam and hunt over _all_ of it. + +A more potent cause of trouble was the origin of all the Indian +troubles, from the colonial times to the present: the dishonesty and +rascality of the white men brought officially in contact with the red +men. Not only did these miscreants pursue their evil ways among the +Indians themselves, but there was an "Indian ring" in Washington, whose +members spent vast sums of money to secure the legislation that enabled +them to cheat the savages out of millions of dollars. This wholesale +plundering of the different tribes caused Indian wars and massacres, +while the evil men at the seat of the government grew wealthy and lived +in luxury. + + +THE MODOC TROUBLES. + +Trouble at once resulted from removing the Indians to reservations that +were inferior in every respect to their former homes. The Modocs, who +had only a few hundred warriors, were compelled by our government to +abandon their fertile lands south of Oregon and go to a section which +was little better than a desert. They rebelled, and, under the +leadership of Captain Jack and Scar-faced Charley, a number took refuge +among some lava beds on the upper edge of California. On the 11th of +April, 1873, a conference was held between the Indian leaders and six +members of the peace commission. While it was in progress, the savages +suddenly attacked the white men. General Edward S. Canby and Dr. Thomas +were instantly killed, and General Meachem, another member, was badly +wounded, but escaped with his life. + +The war against the Modocs was pushed. After much difficulty and +fighting, they were driven to the wall and compelled to surrender. +Captain Jack and two of his brother chiefs were hanged in the following +October. The remaining members were removed to a reservation in Dakota, +where they have given no further trouble. + + +CIVIL WAR IN LOUISIANA. + +In the early part of this year, civil war broke out in Louisiana because +of the quarrels over reconstruction measures. The difficulty first +appeared two years earlier, when opposing factions made attempts to +capture the Legislature by unseating members belonging to the opposing +party. Matters became so grave that in the following January Federal +troops had to be used to preserve the peace. In December, 1872, another +bitter quarrel arose over the election of the governor and members of +the Legislature. The returning board divided, one part declaring William +P. Kellogg elected, while the other gave the election to John McEnery, +the candidate of the white man's party. Most of the negro vote had been +cast for Kellogg. + +As a consequence, two rival State governments were organized. McEnery +was enjoined by the United States district court from acting, because, +as was asserted, the returning board which declared him elected had done +so in defiance of its order. + +In the face of this prohibition, McEnery was inaugurated. The question +was referred to the Federal government, which declared in favor of +Kellogg. Thereupon the McEnery government disbanded, but in the latter +part of 1874 McEnery again laid claim to election. D.P. Penn, his +lieutenant-governor, and his armed followers took possession of the +State House. A fight followed in which Kellogg was driven from the +building, twenty-six persons killed and a large number wounded. Kellogg +appealed to Washington for help. McEnery, who was absent during these +violent proceedings, now returned and took the place of Penn. President +Grant ordered his supporters to disperse and General Emory forced +McEnery to surrender. The peace was broken in January, 1875, over the +election of members to the Legislature, and the Federal troops were +again called to restore order. A congressional committee was sent South +to investigate, and finally the quarrel was ended and Kellogg was +recognized as the legal governor. + + +ADMISSION OF COLORADO. + +Colorado became the thirty-eighth State in August, 1876. The name is +Spanish, and refers to that part of the Rocky Mountains noted for its +many colored peaks. Colorado has more than thirty peaks within its +borders whose height is quite or nearly three miles. The wild, +mountainous region was explored in 1858 at two points, one near Pike's +Peak and the other in the southwestern portion. Both exploring parties +discovered gold, which, while abundant, is hard to extract. The +Territory was organized in 1861, and the principal discoveries of the +enormous deposits of silver have been made since 1870. The date of +Colorado's admission has caused it often to be referred to as the +"Centennial State." + + +THE PANIC OF 1873. + +We had learned the meaning of hard times in 1837 and again in 1857. Once +more, in 1873, the blight fell upon the country. There were various +causes, all of which, in one sense, were the war. Prices had become +inflated, money was plentiful, and cities, towns, and people had become +extravagant. A mania seemed to seize municipal corporations for +indulging in "improvements," which brought ruinous debts upon the +municipalities. Enormous sums of money were invested in the building of +new railroad lines where the country was not developed sufficiently to +repay the expenditures. The quantity of goods brought into this country +was much in excess of that exported, a fact which turned the balance of +trade, as it was termed, against us. This required the sending abroad of +a large amount of money. + +As illustrative of the extravagance in railroad building, it may be said +that, in the single year 1871, 8,000 miles were put in operation. +Instead of using ready money with which to build these lines, bonds were +issued by the railroad companies, which expected to pay the debts out of +the future earnings of the roads. In the course of five years +$1,750,000,000 were invested in railroad projects. The same speculative +spirit pervaded mining and manufacturing companies, which also borrowed +money by issuing bonds. A great amount of these were sold abroad, after +which the home market was industriously worked through the newspapers, +which overflowed with glowing promises. Thousands of poor widows, +orphans, and the trustees of estates invested all their scanty savings +in these enterprises. + +Then the failures began. The banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company, +Philadelphia, one of the greatest in the United States, suspended, and +the whole country was alarmed. Next came the panic, which reached its +height in a few months. This was followed by dull times, when factories +closed, and multitudes were thrown out of employment. Several years +passed before the country fully recovered from the panic of 1873. + + +NOTABLE DEATHS. + +Many noted men died during those times. The bluff, aggressive, and +patriotic Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's war secretary, passed away in +December, 1869, shortly after his appointment to the bench of the +supreme court by President Grant. General R.E. Lee, who had become +president of the Washington and Lee University, died at his home in +Lexington, Virginia, in 1870. Among others of prominence who died in the +same year were General George H. Thomas and Admiral Farragut. In 1872, +William H. Seward, Horace Greeley, Professor Morse, and General George +H. Meade breathed their last, and in the year following Chief Justice +Chase and Charles Sumner died. Millard Fillmore and Andrew Johnson, as +has been stated, died respectively in 1874 and 1875. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.] + +The Democrats now gained a majority in the House of Representatives for +the first time since 1860. Among the members elected from the South were +several distinguished military leaders of the Southern Confederacy, +besides Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, who had been its +vice-president. + +It was about this time that gold was discovered among the Black Hills, +which by treaty belonged to the Sioux Indians, since the section was +within their reservation. White men were warned to keep away, and steps +were taken by the military authorities to prevent them entering upon the +forbidden ground. But no risk or danger is sufficient to quench men's +thirst for gold, and thousands of the most desperate characters hurried +to the Black Hills and began digging for the yellow deposit. + + +CUSTER'S MASSACRE. + +The Sioux are fierce and warlike. They have given our government a great +deal of trouble, and, finding their reservation invaded by white men, +they retaliated by leaving it, burning houses, stealing horses, and +cattle, and killing settlers in Wyoming and Montana. Their outrages +became so serious that the government sent a strong military force +thither under Generals Terry and Crook, which drove a formidable body of +warriors under the well-known Sitting Bull and others toward the Big +Horn Mountains and River. + +[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE CROOK.] + +Generals Reno and Custer rode forward with the Seventh Cavalry to +reconnoitre, and discovered the Indians encamped in a village nearly +three miles long on the left bank of the Little Big Horn River. Custer, +who was an impetuous, headlong officer, instantly charged upon the +Indians without waiting for reinforcements. + +This woeful blunder was made June 25, 1876. All that is known of it has +been obtained from the Indians themselves. They agree that Custer and +his men dashed directly among the thousands of warriors, and that they +fought with desperate heroism, but Custer and every one of his men were +killed. The number was 261. General Reno held his position at the lower +end of the encampment on the bluffs of the Little Big Horn until +reinforcements arrived. Soldiers were sent to the neighborhood, and +there was more sharp fighting. It was a long time and there was much +negotiation necessary before the Sioux could be persuaded to return to +their reservation in Dakota. + +On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States was one hundred years old. +Preparations had been on foot for several years to give it a fitting +celebration. A bill was passed by Congress as early as March, 1871, +providing that an exhibition of foreign and American arts, products, and +manufactures should be held under the auspices of the government of the +United States. A centennial commission was appointed, consisting of +General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut; Professor John L. Campbell, of +Indiana; Alfred T. Goshorn, of Ohio; and John L. Shoemaker, of +Pennsylvania. Naturally Philadelphia, where the Declaration of +Independence was written and signed, was selected as the most fitting +place to hold the celebration. Fairmount Park, one of the largest and +finest in the world, was set apart for the buildings. + +The invitations sent to other nations were courteously accepted, the +following being those that took part: The Argentine Confederation, +Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, +Egypt, France (including Algeria), German Empire, Great Britain and her +colonies, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, +Liberia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Orange Free State, +Persia, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunis, +Turkey, United States of Colombia, and Venezuela. + +To furnish room for the display of the myriads of articles, five +principal buildings were erected, viz.: the Main Building, 1,876 feet +long and 464 feet wide; the Art Gallery or Memorial Hall, Machinery +Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The exhibition was +formally opened by President Grant, May 1st, and closed by him six +months later. The daily attendance began with about 5,000, but rose to +275,000 toward the close. The total number of visitors was some +10,000,000, and the total receipts, as officially given out, were +$3,761,598. The exhibition was a splendid success in every sense. + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876. + +Few people to-day understand the danger through which the country passed +in the autumn and winter of 1876. In June, the two great political +parties put their presidential tickets in the field. That of the +Republicans was Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and William A. Wheeler, of +New York; of the Democrats, Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A. +Hendricks, of Indiana. The Independent Greenback party also nominated a +ticket, at the head of which was the venerable philanthropist, Peter +Cooper, of New York, with Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio, the candidate for the +vice-presidency. + +There was little difference between the platforms of the two leading +parties. The Democrats declared for _reform_ through all the methods of +the administration. The Republicans were equally loud in their calls for +the reform of every political abuse, and for the punishment of any and +all who made wrongful use of political offices. They also insisted that +the rights of the colored men should be safeguarded, and denounced the +doctrine of State sovereignty, of which there was little to be feared, +since it had been effectually killed by the war. + +The Greenbackers made considerable stir. They also used the shibboleth +of reform, but put the currency question before all others. Although the +government was committed to the redemption of the national legal-tenders +and bonds in gold, the Greenbackers insisted that this was impossible, +and was also unjust to the debtor class. They claimed, further, that it +was the duty of the government to provide a national paper currency, +based not on specie, but on bonds bearing a low rate of interest. The +Republicans and Democrats maintained that the government could not +abrogate its promises of redeeming the currency and bonds in gold. + +The Greenback party polled 81,740 votes, the Prohibition 9,522, and the +American 2,636, none gaining an electoral vote. For several days after +the November election, it was generally believed that the Democrats had +been successful, though a few Republican papers, notably the _New York +Times_, persistently claimed that the Republican ticket had been +successful. + +[Illustration: MEMORIAL HALL OF 1876.] + +There was a dispute in four States. In Louisiana, the returning board +threw out the returns from several parishes on the ground of +intimidation and fraud, thereby placing 4,000 majority to the credit of +the Republicans. The Democrats insisted that the rejected votes should +be counted, and, had it been done, Tilden would have been elected. + +In South Carolina, two bodies claimed to be the legal Legislature and +both canvassed the returns, one giving a plurality of 800 to the +Republican ticket and the other a smaller majority to the Democratic. +Precisely the same wrangle occurred in Florida, where each side claimed +a majority of about a hundred. Matters were still more complicated in +Oregon, where a Republican elector was declared ineligible, because he +held the office of postmaster at the time he was chosen elector. The +governor proposed to withhold the certificate from him and give it to a +Democrat. Had everything claimed by the Republicans been conceded, they +would have had 185 and the Democrats 184. It was necessary, therefore, +for the Republicans to maintain every point in order to secure their +President, for it was beyond dispute that Tilden had received 184 +electoral votes. On the popular vote, he had 4,284,885 to 4,033,950 for +Hayes. Each party charged the other with fraud, and thousands of +Democrats were so incensed at what they believed was a plot to cheat +them out of the presidency that they were ready to go to war. Had they +done so, it would have been the most terrible peril that ever came upon +the Republic, for the war would not have been one section against the +other, but of neighborhood against neighborhood throughout the land. + +[Illustration: SAMUEL J. TILDEN (1814-1886.)] + +As if nothing in the way of discord should be lacking, the Senate was +Republican and the House Democratic. The election being disputed, it +fell to them to decide the question--something they would never do, +since they were deadlocked. This was so apparent that thoughtful men saw +that some new and extraordinary means must be found to save the country +from civil war. + +Congress, after long and earnest discussion, passed a bill creating an +Electoral Commission, to which it was agreed to submit the dispute. This +commission was to consist of fifteen members, five to be appointed by +the House, five by the Senate, and the remaining five to consist of +judges of the Supreme Court. + +The Senate being Republican, its presiding officer, the Vice-President, +named three Republicans and two Democrats; the House naturally appointed +three Democrats and two Republicans; while of the Supreme Court, three +were Republicans and two Democrats. This, it will be noted, gave to the +commission eight Republicans and seven Democrats. The body by a strict +party vote decided every dispute in favor of the Republicans, and on the +2d of March, 1877, two days before inauguration, Rutherford B. Hayes was +decided President-elect of the United States. + +[Illustration: THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION WHICH DECIDED UPON THE ELECTION +OF PRESIDENT HAYES. + +Composed of three Republican and two Democratic Senators, three +Democratic and two Republican Representatives, three Republican and two +Democratic Justices of the Supreme Court; total, eight Republicans and +seven Democrats. By a strict party vote the decision was given in favor +of Mr. Hayes, who, two days later, March 4, 1877, was inaugurated +President of the United States.] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR, 1877-1885. + +R.B. Hayes--The Telephone--Railway Strikes--Elevated Railroads--War with +the Nez Perce Indians--Remonetization of Silver--Resumption of Specie +Payments--A Strange Fishery Award--The Yellow Fever Scourge--Presidential +Election of 1878--James A. Garfield--Civil Service Reform--Assassination +of President Garfield--Chester A. Arthur--The Star Route Frauds--The +Brooklyn Bridge--The Chinese Question--The Mormons--Alaska Exploration +--The Yorktown Centennial--Attempts to Reach the North Pole by Americans +--History of the Greely Expedition. + + +THE NINETEENTH PRESIDENT. + +[Illustration: RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES (1823-1893) One term, +1877-1881.] + +Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware County, Ohio, October 4, +1822, and was graduated from Kenyon College at the age of twenty years. +In 1845 he completed his legal studies at Harvard University, and +practiced law, first at Marietta, in his native State, then at Fremont, +and finally in Cincinnati. He entered the military service, at the +beginning of the war, as major, and rose to the rank of brevet +major-general. His career as a soldier was creditable. While still in +the service, in 1864, he was elected to Congress, and was governor of +Ohio in 1867, 1869, and again in 1875. His popularity as chief +magistrate of one of the leading States led to his nomination to the +presidency, to which, however, it must be conceded, he had not a clear +title. He died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893. + +President Hayes proved his desire to strengthen the fraternal feeling +between the North and South by appointing as a member of his cabinet +David McKey, his postmaster-general. Mr. McKey was from Tennessee, and +had served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Hayes' administration +on the whole was uneventful, though marked by a number of incidents +which deserve mention. It was in 1877 that the first telephone for +business purposes was put into use. It connected the residence of +Charles Williams, in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his business office +in Boston, three miles distant. Alexander Bell, of the latter city, was +the inventor of the instrument, which is now in general use throughout +the country, and serves to connect points more than a thousand miles +apart. + + +RAILWAY STRIKES. + +In the summer of 1877 occurred one of the most violent outbreaks among +labor men that has ever been known in this country. There was unrest in +the mining districts over the question of wages, and the dissatisfaction +spread to the principal manufacturing points. When the Baltimore and +Ohio Railroad made a reduction of 10 per cent. in the pay of its +employees it was followed, July 14th, by a partial strike on their line. +The men had the sympathy of workmen throughout the country, and the +strike spread to the Pennsylvania, Erie, New York Central, and their +western connections, including the Missouri and Pacific, and a number of +less important lines west of the Mississippi. + +The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is one of the most intelligent +and conservative labor organizations in the country. It has won the +respect of corporations as well as of the community-at-large by its +fairness and its refusal to engage in strikes, except as a last resort +against grievances. Its members are located in all parts of the country, +and include a good many thousands. In the strike named the Brotherhood +took the lead, and the firemen, brakemen, and other railroad employees +joined them. The result was the stoppage of the wheels of commerce and +the ruin of vast amounts of perishable freight, to say nothing of the +expensive delays of all kinds. The railroad companies called upon the +various State authorities for protection in operating their lines, but, +as is generally the case, the militia were either in sympathy with the +strikers or were afraid of them. As a final resort, an appeal was made +to the United States government, whose soldiers understand only one +duty, that of obeying orders. + +The strikers stopped all trains in Baltimore and Martinsburg, West +Virginia, and defied the authorities. The militia were scattered, but a +few regulars were sufficient to raise the blockade. On the 20th of July, +in an attempt of the rioters to resist the clearing of the streets in +Baltimore, nine persons were killed and a score wounded. The strike +extended until it included the whole country, with the exception of the +cotton-growing States. + +The most dangerous outbreak was in Pittsburg, where an immense mob held +control of the city for two days. Disorder and violence reigned, and the +authorities were powerless. When on the 21st soldiers appeared on the +streets they were assailed with stones and pistol-shots, and they +replied with several volleys which killed and wounded a number of +rioters. This only added fuel to the flames, and the mob became more +savage than ever. The soldiers were attacked so furiously that they ran +into a roundhouse of the railway company for protection. There they were +besieged, and oil cars were rolled against the building and fired with +the purpose of burning the soldiers to death. The firemen were not +allowed to put out the flames, and it was several days before the +defenders were rescued. + +The infuriated mob applied the torch to the buildings of the railroad +company, gutted cars, scattered or carried off the contents, burst open +and drank barrels of whiskey, and raged like so many wild beasts. Before +the terrific outbreak subsided, the Union Depot and all the machine +shops and railway buildings in the city were burned. Among the losses +were 126 locomotives and 2,500 cars laden with valuable freight. The +regular troops finally subdued the rioters, but not until a hundred +people had been killed and property destroyed to the value of five +million dollars. + +There was rioting accompanied with violence in Chicago, Buffalo, +Columbus, Ohio, and at many other points. In Chicago, on the 26th of +July, nineteen persons were killed. St. Louis was disturbed, but there +was no special outbreak. In San Francisco a savage attack was made on +the Chinese and the managers of the lumber yards. At one period, on +6,000 miles of railroad not a wheel was turned, and 100,000 laborers +were idle or assisting in the rioting. Such violent ebullitions soon +expend themselves. By-and-by the men began returning to their work, and +within two or three weeks all the railroads were operating as usual. + +About this time the elevated railway system was adopted in New York +City. It has proved so convenient that many lines have been added in the +metropolis, and the same means of travel is used in other cities, though +of late years electric trolley cars have been widely introduced. + + +THE NEZ PERCE WAR. + +When Lewis and Clark journeyed across the upper part of our country, at +the beginning of the century, they made a treaty with the Nez Perce +Indians, whose home was in the northwest. They were visited afterward by +missionaries, and no trouble occurred with them until after our war with +Mexico. A large section of their land was bought by the United States +government in 1854, and a reservation was set apart for them in +northwestern Idaho and northeastern Oregon. As in the case of the +Seminoles of Florida however, many of the chiefs were opposed to the +sale of their lands, and, when the date came for their departure, +refused to leave. + +Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces was one of the most remarkable Indians of +the century. He was shrewd, sagacious, brave, and remarkably +intelligent. General Wesley Merritt, of the United States army, has +pronounced his military genius of the highest order, and, in the +incidents we are about to narrate, his exploit in its way has never been +surpassed. A good many people will recall seeing Joseph at the +ceremonies at the tomb of General Grant in 1897, where his fine military +appearance attracted much attention. + +In 1877, General Howard, commanding the department of the Columbia, +marched against the troublesome Nez Perces with a small force of +regulars. Being too weak to fight the soldiers, Chief Joseph, at the +head of his band, repeatedly eluded them with masterly skill. This +strange chase continued for hundreds of miles, Joseph keeping his women, +children, and impedimenta not only intact, but beyond reach of the +pursuers, who were filled with admiration of his genius. In the autumn +of 1877, the Nez Perces passed through the mountains of northern +Montana, where they were confronted by Colonel Miles and the regulars. +Even then Joseph could not be brought to battle, and crossed the +Missouri near the mouth of the Mussel Shell. In the Bear Paw Mountains, +however, his camp was surrounded and he was brought to bay. The Nez +Perces fought with great bravery, but were defeated. Joseph faced the +inevitable, and, walking forward to where General Howard was sitting on +his horse, handed him his rifle. Then, pointing to the sun in the sky, +he said: "From where the sun is in yonder heavens, I fight the white man +no more." + +General Howard admired the valiant and chivalrous warrior, who had +conducted his campaign not only with rare skill, but without any of the +outrages and cruelties which seem natural to the American race. He took +his hand, and promised to be his friend. General Howard was able to keep +his promise, and secured such a favorable location for Joseph and his +band that they have been peaceable and satisfied ever since. + + +REMONETIZATION OF SILVER. + +The money or currency question has long been a disturbing factor in +politics. During the war the silver currency had been out of +circulation, its place being taken for awhile by postage stamps and +afterward by "shinplasters," which were paper fractional parts of a +dollar. In 1873, Congress made gold the exclusive money standard. Silver +depreciated some ten per cent., and the "hard money" people opposed the +measures that were set on foot to remonetize silver; that is, to bring +it into circulation again. Such a bill was passed, then vetoed by the +President, promptly repassed over his veto, and it was ordered that the +coinage of silver should proceed at a rate not to exceed $2,000,000 a +month. About this time (December 18, 1878), gold and paper money for the +first time in seventeen years was of equal value. + +In accordance with the law of 1875, specie payments by the United States +government was effected January 1, 1879. At that time there was an +accumulation of $138,000,000 in the United States treasury, nearly all +of it gold, representing forty per cent. of the outstanding bonds. The +mere knowledge of this fact so strengthened the public credit that, +instead of the anticipated rush on the 1st of January, only $11,000,000 +was offered for redemption. The problem of specie payment proved to be a +bugbear. + +[Illustration: GRANT AT WINDSOR CASTLE.] + + +THE FISHERY AWARD. + +By the treaty of Washington, signed in 1872, Americans were allowed to +take fish of every kind, except shellfish, on the seacoasts and shores +and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of the provinces of Quebec, Nova +Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, and the adjacent islands, +without restriction as to the distance from shore. In return for this +privilege, our government agreed to charge a duty upon certain kinds of +fish brought by British subjects into American harbors. There were other +mutual concessions, and, in order to balance matters and make everything +smooth, the whole question was placed in the hands of an arbitration +commission, which began its sessions in the summer of 1877, at Halifax. +The commission included a member appointed by the Queen, one by the +President, and the third by the Austrian ambassador at the Court of St. +James. Our country was astounded by the verdict of this commission, +which was that the United States should pay the sum of $5,000,000 to the +British government. Even England was surprised, and our government was +disposed to refuse to accept the verdict; but to do that would have +established a bad precedent, and the sum named was paid to Great Britain +in the autumn of 1878. + + +THE YELLOW FEVER SCOURGE. + +Yellow fever has been one of the most dreadful scourges that our country +has suffered. It first appeared on this continent in 1780, when Boston +was ravaged in the summer of that year. It afterward appeared in New +York and Philadelphia, especially in 1793 and 1797, after which its +visitations have been mainly confined to the South, where the sanitation +measures have been less rigid than in the North. It has been proven that +strict quarantine and absolute cleanliness are safeguards against its +entrance, though, after the frightful plague has once appeared in a +place, it is impossible to stamp it out. It subsides before the approach +of frost and cold weather, and the cure for those smitten is to carry +them to cool elevations. Thus far science has not been able to discover +the real nature of yellow fever, nor to provide a remedy. It has been +established, however, that it is due to bacilli or disease germs, as is +the case with cholera, consumption, and many other diseases, and there +is reason to believe a specific remedy will soon be brought to light. + +One of the most destructive visitations of yellow fever was in the +summer and autumn of 1873. Memphis and New Orleans suffered the most, +and at one time those cities were abandoned by all who could leave them. +Other portions of the country contributed every possible assistance in +the way of medical help, nurses, and money, but before the scourge was +extirpated by cool weather fully 15,000 persons had succumbed. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1878. + +The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago at the opening of +June. As General Grant had returned from his memorable tour round the +world, having been received everywhere with the highest honors, a +determined effort was now made to renominate him for a third term. +Roscoe Conkling, United States senator from New York, was the leader in +the movement, and the whole number of Grant's supporters was 306, who +without a break cast their vote for him thirty-six times in succession. +They failed because of the widespread opposition to any man holding the +exalted office for a longer period than Washington, the Father of his +Country. + +The principal rivals of General Grant were James G. Blaine, of Maine, +and John Sherman, of Ohio. There being a deadlock, the supporters of +these two candidates united and thereby nominated James A. Garfield, of +Ohio, with Chester A. Arthur, of New York, as the nominee for +Vice-President. + +[Illustration: GRANT IN JAPAN.] + +The Democratic Convention, which met in Cincinnati in the latter part of +June, placed in nomination General Winfield S. Hancock, of New York, and +William H. English, of Indiana. The prospect of Hancock's election was +excellent, but he destroyed it by one of those unfortunate expressions +which more than once have defeated candidates for high office. When +questioned concerning the tariff he expressed the opinion that it was a +"local issue," a remark which many accepted as displaying ignorance of +the important subject, and they, therefore, voted against him. The +result was as follows: James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, 214 +electoral votes; W.S. Hancock and W.H. English, 155; James B. Weaver and +B.J. Chambers, the Greenback candidates, received 307,306 popular votes; +Neal Dow and H.A. Thompson, the Prohibition, 10,305; and John W. Phelps +and S.C. Pomeroy, American, 707; but none of the three secured an +electoral vote. + +James A. Garfield was born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November +19, 1831. While he was an infant his father died and he was left to the +care of his noble mother, to whom he was devotedly attached. + +[Illustration: THE BOY JAMES GARFIELD BRINGING HIS FIRST DAY'S EARNINGS +TO HIS MOTHER.] + +Garfield spent his boyhood in the backwoods, and at one time was the +driver of a canal-boat. He became strong, rugged, and a fine athlete, +and at the same time obtained the rudiments of an English education. At +the age of seventeen he attended the high school at Chester, and by hard +study acquired an excellent knowledge of Latin, Greek, and algebra. He +was a student at Hiram College, and became an instructor in 1854. The +same year he entered Williams College, from which he was graduated with +honor in 1856. He returned to Ohio, and was appointed a professor in +Hiram College. He indulged his taste for politics and law, and served +for a time in the State Senate, but was president of the college when +the war broke out. He at once volunteered, and was appointed +lieutenant-colonel and afterward colonel of the Forty-second Regiment of +Ohio Volunteers. + +Garfield displayed remarkable ability in the military service, and had +he remained would have won high distinction. As a brigadier-general he +did fine work in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was chief-of-staff to +General Rosecrans, and showed great gallantry in the tremendous battle +of Chickamauga. He was in the field when elected to Congress in 1862. +His desire was to remain, but, at the personal request of President +Lincoln, he entered Congress, where it was felt his help was needed in +the important legislation before the country. The estimate in which he +was held by his fellow-citizens is shown by the fact that he served as a +member of Congress for seventeen years. In 1879 he was chosen United +States senator, but did not take his seat because of his nomination for +the presidency. + + +CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. + +The question of "civil service reform," as it is termed, assumed +prominence during the term of Hayes. This, as all understand, means that +the public offices should be filled not in accordance with politics, but +be determined by fitness. The charge has been made with reason that, +when public servants have become skilled in the discharge of their +duties, they are turned out to make room for the friends of the new +administration, where politics are different. In that way public service +is injured. + +[Illustration: JAMES A. GARFIELD (1831-1881.) One partial term, 1881.] + +The opponents of civil service reform maintain, on the other hand, that +there are thousands out of office who are just as capable as those in +office, and that the party ought to reward those that have helped it to +success. "To the victor belong the spoils" was the policy of Andrew +Jackson, and it has been followed in a greater or less degree ever +since. The cry of civil service reform was long a well-sounding motto +with which to catch votes, but no serious effort was made to enforce it. +Hayes tried his hand, but the clamor for political rewards was so +insistent that he gave it up, and matters dropped back into their old +ruts. The vexatious question was inherited by Garfield, and the hope was +general that he would not only make a determined effort, but would +succeed in carrying out the principles of real civil service reform. + +The task soon proved beyond the capacity of himself or any human being. +It seemed as if nearly every man in the country had been the deciding +factor in the election of the President, while the "original Garfield +man" would have formed a full regiment. The executive threw up his +hands, and decided to pass over the plague to the next administration. + +The quarrel produced a split in the Republican party itself, and two +wings were formed, known as "Half-breeds" and "Stalwarts." At the head +of the latter was the brilliant New York senator, Roscoe Conkling, who +had been so persistent in his efforts to renominate General Grant for a +third term. The leader of the Half-breeds was James G. Blaine, as +brilliant as Conkling, while both were strong personal opponents. The +Stalwarts claimed the right of dividing the offices, as had been the +custom for a century, the senators and representatives apportioning the +plums among the horde of claimants. The President was supported by the +Half-breeds in his claim that it was his province to bestow these gifts +as he saw fit. + +The collectorship of the port of New York is one of the best offices at +the disposal of the administration. The President nominated Judge +William Robertson. He was personally distasteful to Conkling, and, when +he found himself unable to prevent his confirmation by the Senate, he +and Thomas C. Platt, the junior senator from New York, resigned their +seats. Both afterward sought and failed to secure a re-election from the +Legislature. Congress adjourned in June. + +[Illustration: THE AGED MOTHER OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.] + + +ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. + +Relieved from the pressure of his duties, the President now made his +arrangements for placing his two sons in Williams College and joining +his invalid wife at the seashore. On the 2d of July, 1881, accompanied +by Secretary Blaine and several friends, he rode to the Baltimore +Railroad station to board the cars. He had just entered the building and +was chatting with his secretary, when a miscreant named Charles Julias +Guiteau stepped up behind him and shot him with a pistol in the back. +The wounded President sank to the floor and was carried to the executive +mansion, while the assassin was hurried to prison before he could be +lynched, as he assuredly would have been but for such prompt action by +the authorities. + +The shock to the country was scarcely less than when Abraham Lincoln was +shot in Ford's Theatre. Although the wound of the President was severe, +it was not believed to be necessarily fatal. He received the best +medical attention, and prayers for his recovery were sent up from every +quarter of the land and across the sea. Daily bulletins of his condition +were issued and messages of sympathy were received from many crowned +heads on the other side of the Atlantic. The sufferer was removed on the +6th of September to Elberon, New Jersey, where it was hoped the +invigorating sea-air would bring back strength to his wasted frame. +These hopes were vain, and, on the 19th of September, he quietly +breathed his last. It may be noted that this date was the anniversary of +the battle of Chickamauga, where General Garfield performed his most +brilliant service in the war. Amid universal expressions of sympathy the +remains were borne to Cleveland, where a fine monument has been erected +to his memory. + +[Illustration: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.] + +Guiteau was a miserable "crank," who had long dogged the President for +an appointment, failing to obtain which he shot him. That his brain was +partly awry, with perhaps a taint of insanity, cannot be questioned, +but, none the less, it was shown that he clearly knew the difference +between right and wrong and was morally responsible for his unspeakable +crime. He was given a fair trial, and, having been found guilty, was +hanged on the 30th of June, 1882. + + +THE TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT. + +Chester Alan Arthur, who was immediately sworn in as President, was born +in Vermont, October 5, 1830. He received his education at Union College, +from which he was graduated in 1849. He taught school for a time in his +native State, and then removed to the City of New York, where he studied +law and was admitted to the bar. His ability speedily brought him to the +front and gave him a lucrative practice. He was quartermaster-general of +the State of New York during the war and displayed fine executive +ability. When the war ended, he resumed the practice of law and was made +collector of customs for the port of New York in 1871. Seven years later +he was removed by President Hayes, and shortly after he entered the +presidential canvass of 1880. He died November 18, 1886. + +Arthur took the oath of office in New York, on the day succeeding the +death of Garfield, and left at once for Washington. Chief Justice Waite +administered the oath again to him in the vice-president's room. Among +those present were General Grant, General Sherman, Senator Sherman, and +ex-President Hayes. + +[Illustration: TABLET IN THE WAITING-ROOM OF THE RAILWAY STATION WHERE +GARFIELD WAS SHOT.] + +While President Arthur showed slight disposition to change the policy of +the administration, he inherited many vexatious matters from his +predecessor. One of the worst of these was the "Star Route Frauds." + +The rapid settlement of the West naturally created a demand for improved +mail facilities. In a number of places, fast mail routes had been +organized by the postoffice department, and these were designated on the +official documents by the figures of stars. The authorized expenditures +of the postoffice department were clearly defined, but a clause in the +law permitted it to "expedite" such routes as proved to be inefficient. +This opened the door for fraud, and, as is always the case, it lost no +time in entering. + +The contracts were let at the legal rates, and then, availing themselves +of the legal authority, the same routes were "expedited" at immense +profits. The money thus stolen--and it amounted to immense sums--was +divided among the parties letting the contracts and the contractors. +Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, and Thomas J. Brady--formerly +second-assistant postmaster-general--were indicted for a conspiracy to +defraud the government and enrich themselves. All were prominent +politicians, and their trial attracted national attention. Although the +testimony seemed to establish the guilt of the parties accused, all +three escaped, the miscarriage of justice causing a qualm of disgust and +indignation among right-minded citizens. + +One of the famous structures in the country is the Brooklyn Bridge, +which was completed and opened for traffic May 24, 1883. Operations on +it were begun January 3, 1870, and the towers were finished six years +later. The first wire reaching from tower to tower was strung August 14, +1876. Each of the four cables contains 5,296 wires, untwisted, lying +straight, and held in place by other wires coiled tightly around them. +The length of the main span is 1,595-1/2 feet; the two land spans are +930 feet each; the masonry approach on the New York side is 1,562 feet +long, and that on the Brooklyn side 971 feet. The total distance, +therefore, is about 6,000 feet, or more than a mile. The middle of the +main span is about 135 feet above the water in summer, and in winter, +owing to the contraction caused by cold, it is three feet more. The +height is such that nearly any ship can pass under the bridge without +lowering its top-mast. Twenty persons were killed during the +construction of the bridge. Although the day was inclement and +unfavorable, the opening of the structure to travel was attended with +many ceremonies, including civic and military processions, oratory, +salutes by naval vessels, and illuminations and fireworks in the +evening. + +[Illustration: CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. + +(1830-1886.) One partial term, 1881-1885.] + + +THE CHINESE. + +The State of California, on account of its situation, received thousands +of Chinese immigrants every year from across the Pacific. These people +live so meanly that they could afford to work for wages upon which a +white man would starve. Consequently they crowded out other laborers and +caused so much discontent that something in the nature of a revolt took +place against them. The grievance of the Californians was so +well-founded that Congress, while Hayes was President, passed a bill +which forbade the immigration of Chinese laborers to this country, and +requiring those already here to take out certificates, if they left the +United States, so as to identify themselves before being allowed to +return. President Hayes vetoed the bill, but it was passed in 1882. The +amazing ingenuity of the Chinese has enabled them to evade the law in +many instances, but their immigration was substantially checked. +Probably there is no more degraded community on the face of the earth +than the part in San Francisco known as "Chinatown." Most of the yellow +celestials live underground, where their unspeakable villainies are a +flaming reproach to the authorities that permit them. + +[Illustration: THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.] + + +THE MORMONS. + +The Mormons proved a thorn in the side of the body politic. Their +polygamous practices led to the passage in 1882 of Senator Edmunds' bill +which excluded polygamists from holding office. A good many persons +were convicted and sentenced for violation of the law, which was upheld +by the Supreme Court. + +While this legislation did much to abate the crime, it cannot be said +that it effectually ended it, for, at this writing, one of the +representatives from the new State of Utah is the husband of several +wives, and it is apparent that still more severe legislation will be +required to stamp out the evil. + +[Illustration: SCENE IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO.] + + +EXPLORATION OF ALASKA. + +Attention was so generally directed toward Alaska, our recent purchase +from Russia, that an exploring expedition visited that country in 1883, +under the command of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. It should be stated +that the party, which was a small one, went thither without authority +from the government, its departure from Portland, Oregon, May 22d, being +secret. It was gone for several months, and brought back interesting and +valuable information. One bit of knowledge was new. The explorers +learned that the length of the great river Yukon is 2,044 miles, which +makes it the third in length in the United States, the fourth in North +America, the seventh in the western hemisphere, and the seventeenth in +the world. The area drained by this immense stream is 200,000 square +miles. + + +THE YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL. + +We have learned of the centennial celebration of the birth of our +republic in Philadelphia. Many other celebrations of important events +were held in different parts of the country, the most important of which +was the commemoration of the great victory at Yorktown, which brought +the Revolution to a close and secured the independence of our country. + +As was befitting, preparations were made on a grand scale for this +celebration. Thousands journeyed thither days before the exercises +opened. President Arthur arrived at ten o'clock on the morning of +October 18, 1881, in a government steamer, his approach being announced +by salute after salute, each of twenty-one guns, from the different +ships of the fleet. + +The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Robert Nelson, grandson of +Governor Nelson, who commanded the Virginia militia at Yorktown and +directed the fire so as to destroy his own home, in which Cornwallis had +his headquarters, after which Governor Holliday, of Virginia, made the +address. At its conclusion, the sword was held up to view which was +presented to the horseman who rode at high speed to Philadelphia with +the news of the surrender of Cornwallis. Another interesting fact was +that W.W. Henry, the grandson of Patrick Henry, was sitting at that +moment on the platform. + +The corner-stone of the monument was laid with Masonic ceremonies. The +chair in which the Grand Master for the occasion sat was one that had +been used by Washington when he was Grand Master of the Virginia Masons. +The sash and apron were presented to him at Mount Vernon in 1784, and +had been worked by Mrs. Lafayette. The gavel was made from a portion of +the quarter-deck of the United States frigate _Lawrence_, flagship of +Commodore Perry, when he won his great victory on Lake Erie in +September, 1813. Space cannot be given to enumerate the notables who +were present nor the eloquent addresses that were made. Among the guests +were descendants of Rochambeau, Steuben, and many German and French +friends. The centennial ode was written by Paul H. Hayne, the Southern +poet (who died in 1886), and the oration of the day was by Robert C. +Winthrop. + +It was a graceful tribute to the friendly course of England, when +Secretary Blaine, at the reception which followed the ceremonies, read +the following order: + + "In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily + existing between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust + and confidence of peace and good-will between the two countries for + all centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound + respect entertained by the American people for the illustrious + sovereign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne, it is + hereby ordered that at the close of these services, commemorative of + the valor and success of our forefathers in their patriotic struggle + for independence, the British flag shall be saluted by the forces of + the army and navy of the United States now at Yorktown. The secretary + of war and the secretary of the navy will give orders accordingly. + + + "CHESTER A. ARTHUR. + + "By the PRESIDENT. + "JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State." + +The final ceremonies of Yorktown occurred on the 20th of October, at +which time 9,000 sailors, regulars, and militia made an impressive +spectacle. They were under the command of General Hancock, and +represented all of the thirteen original States, including a number of +others. They passed in review before the President, both branches of +Congress, governors of the States and their staffs, and the French and +German guests of the government. + + +ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE. + +One of these days the North Pole will be reached, but no one can say +when. For hundreds of years the attempt has been made again and again, +and daring navigators have penetrated far into those icy regions, where +the temperature for months at a time registers forty, fifty, and sixty +degrees below zero, only to perish or be turned back disappointed. + +The first American expedition into the Arctic regions was conducted by +Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. He sailed from New York in the steamer _Advance_, +May 30, 1853. He reached Smith Strait, as far as Cape George Russell, +and then returned to Van Rensselaer Harbor for the winter. A number of +excursions were made from that point, and 125 miles of coast were traced +to the north and east. Two of the men penetrated to Washington Land in +latitude 82 deg. 27', and discovered an open channel, which they named +Kennedy. Kane came home in 1855, having been further north than any +other explorer. He was obliged to abandon his ship and proceed overland +to the Danish settlements in the south, where he was met by a relief +party. + +One of the members of this expedition was Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who, in +1860, attained 81 deg. 35' north latitude, when he was forced to return +without having accomplished anything of importance. Sir John Franklin, +an English navigator, had been lost in the Arctic regions a number of +years before, and several expeditions had been sent in search of him, +but all failed to secure any definite information. In 1860, Dr. Charles +F. Hall, of Connecticut, led an expedition in quest of the lost +explorer. He was unfortunate enough to lose his boat and was obliged to +return. The most interesting discoveries made by Dr. Hall were a number +of relics of Frobisher's expedition to those dismal regions fully 300 +years before. A second party, under Hall, found the same year several +relics of Franklin, and dissipated all possible hope that he or any of +his men were still living. + +Dr. Hall was an enthusiastic explorer of those inhospitable regions and +spent five years among the Eskemos. Coming home, he organized a third +party, for, cheerless and dismal as are those frozen solitudes, they +seemed to hold a resistless fascination to all who have visited them. +This expedition reached 80 deg. north latitude, where Hall died. + + +THE GREELY EXPEDITION. + +In 1880, the proposal was made by an international polar commission that +the leading countries should unite in establishing meteorological +stations in the polar region. This was with no intention of helping +explorations toward the North Pole, but to permit the study of weather +phenomena and the actions of the magnetic needle, respecting which much +remains to be learned. + +Congress appropriated funds with which to establish a scientific colony +for Americans, one at Point Barrow in Alaska and the other at Lady +Franklin Bay in Grinnell Land. These stations were to be occupied for +periods varying from one to three years. + +The party designed for Lady Franklin Bay consisted of First Lieutenant +Adolphus W. Greely, U.S.A., Commander; Lieutenants F.S. Kislingbury and +James B. Lockwood, U.S.A., as assistants; and Dr. O. Pavy as surgeon and +naturalist. In addition, there were twenty-two sergeants, corporals, and +privates, all belonging to the army, and two Eskemos. All the other +attempts to establish circumpolar stations, numbering about a dozen, +were successful. + +The steamer _Proteus_ conveyed the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, the +start being made from the harbor of St. John's, Newfoundland. It would +seem that every needed precaution had been taken to avert disaster. +Since the expedition had an attainable point fixed upon as its +destination, it would seem that it had only to establish a base, where +the government would deposit abundant supplies, to which Greely could +return when he chose or when he found himself compelled to retreat. Then +he could carry forward supplies on his sleds and leave them at different +points along his route, so that he would be sure of finding them on his +return. This scheme is so simple that it would seem that there was no +possible, or at least probable, way of going wrong. Yet misfortune has +been the fate of most of the Arctic expeditions. + +It was arranged that two ships were to go to Lady Franklin Bay in the +summer of 1883 to bring back the explorers. These ships were to be the +steam whaler _Proteus_ and the United States gunboat _Yantic_, commanded +by Lieutenant E.A. Garlington; but the _Proteus_, when near Cape Sabine +and before she had landed her supplies, was crushed by the ice and sunk. +With great difficulty, Garlington and his men escaped from the wreck in +small boats and made their way to Upernavik, where they had left the +_Yantic_. The party then returned to the United States, without having +left an ounce of supplies at Lady Franklin Bay, where Greely expected to +find all he needed on his return. + +Now let us follow the exploring party under Greely which left St. +John's, Newfoundland, July 7, 1881, in the _Proteus_, that was afterward +lost. Icebergs were soon encountered, but seven hundred miles were +passed without any land appearing. The days had lengthened, light +appearing shortly after midnight and lasting until ten o'clock the +succeeding night, but the fog was dense and all-pervading. On July 16th, +the _Proteus_ was steaming cautiously through the mist, when the icy +coast of Disco Island, several hundred feet in height, loomed up +directly ahead. + +The most interesting sight was a vast iceberg in two parts, joined by an +immense overhanging arch, under which it would have been easy for the +ship to sail. The captain was too wise to make any such attempt. He +steamed to one side of it, and, when some distance beyond, fired a +signal gun for a pilot. The report was followed by a thunderous +rumbling, and, looking back, the crew saw the vast arch, weighing +thousands of tons, descend to the water with a crash that caused the +steamer to rock to and fro for several minutes. Had she been caught +beneath the mass, she would have been crushed like a tiny insect. + +A landing was made at the settlement of Disco. In this squalid town all +the dwellings were mere huts, with the exception of those of the +inspector and governor. It was a strange sight to find in one of these +dwellings in the North a piano, billiard table, carpets, and many of the +luxuries of civilized life. The visitors were treated with the utmost +hospitality and took part in a dance in progress. + +Returning to the _Proteus_ the party steamed through the fog to +Upernavik, which was reached on the 23d of July. They were never out of +sight of icebergs, but they caused no trouble, and were easily avoided. +By means of the steam launch, several men made a passage through inner +waters to Proven, a sparse settlement, where they procured some clothing +suitable for the high latitudes. + +These settlements, far beyond the Arctic Circle, belong to Denmark, +which exercises a nominal control over them. One of the industries of +Proven is the furnishing of supplies to Arctic explorers. A liberal +quantity of fresh food was secured, beside two native guides and +thirty-two Eskemo dogs. It was near here that McClintock, the explorer, +was frozen in for an entire year; but the weather continued unusually +mild. A mountainous iceberg while drifting slowly with the current +sloughed off so much from one side that its centre of gravity was +displaced and the mountain of ice turned a complete somersault before it +settled to rest. + +There is hardly any limit to the time in which provisions can be +preserved in the polar regions. A cache was found among the Gary Islands +which had been left by Sir George Nares years before, and nearly all was +in as good condition as when placed there. One of the strange phenomena +of the Arctic regions is the red snow, mentioned by Sir John Ross, which +was seen by the Greely party. This color is found to be due to myriads +of tiny plants deposited on the crust. That most eminent botanist, +Robert Brown, subjected it to careful examination and pronounced it to +be a unicellular plant of the order _Algae_, and Dr. Greville, of +Edinburgh, gave it its name (_Protococcus nivalis_), by which it is now +known to the scientific world. + +The steamer halted at Littleton Island on the 2d of August. A number of +articles were found at "Life-Boat Cove," that had been left by the +Polaris expedition in 1873. A quantity of coal was unloaded here to be +taken aboard on the return. + +Steaming up Kennedy Channel, a deposit of provisions was made near +Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay. A short distance north, an immense +ice pack stopped the ship which repeatedly tried in vain to butt its way +through. It was compelled to drift with the pack until the 11th of +August, when an opening appeared and the _Proteus_ forced a passage to +Bellot Island, at the entrance to Discovery Harbor. + + +AT LADY FRANKLIN BAY. + +The steamer had now reached Lady Franklin Bay, which was its +destination, and near which Fort Conger, a signal station, was to be +established. The ship was unloaded and a house built, the men living in +tents the meanwhile, and on the 19th of August, the _Proteus_ bade the +explorers good-by and started on her return to Newfoundland. + +A number of musk oxen were shot in the vicinity, and now and then a +ptarmigan was bagged. The men moved into the house in the latter part of +August, and Lockwood directed the laying out of the observatory and the +digging of the foundation pier for the transit. The earth was frozen so +hard that it was like chipping solid ice. The house gave the men +comfortable quarters. On the first Sunday all work was stopped and +religious services held. The intention was to send an exploring +expedition along the northern coast of Greenland, and it was placed in +charge of Lockwood. It would have been given to Kislingbury, the senior +officer, but for the fact that he and Greely were not on good terms. + +Men were sent to examine St. Patrick's Bay to the northeast, for a site +to establish a depot on the channel of exploration. Such a place was +found and the exploring parties were continually active, some of them +going a good many miles from camp. Game was plentiful, but the wolves +were fierce. Numbers were poisoned by means of arsenic mixed with meat +thrown in their way. It being the beginning of their Arctic experience, +the men enjoyed themselves to an extent that would hardly be supposed. +This was mainly because they were kept busy and the novelty of their +life had not yet worn off. One pleasant custom was that of celebrating +the birthdays of different members of the party, which was done with a +vigor that sometimes reached good-natured boisterousness. + +When the sun sank far from sight on the 16th of October, every one knew +that it would not show itself again for four months. It will be +admitted, too, that the weather had become keen, for it registered forty +degrees below zero most of the time and the moisture within the house +was frozen to the depth of an inch on the window-panes. + +With the coming of the long, dismal night the wolves became fiercer, and +prowled so closely around the building that no one dared venture far +from the door without firearms in his hands, and the men generally went +in company, ready for an attack that was liable to be made at any +minute. + + +INTOLERABLE LONELINESS. + +Time always hangs heavy when one is forced to remain idle and the dismal +night stretches through a third or half of the year. On the 1st of +November, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by seven men, left the +dwelling to try the passage of the straits, hoping to push his way to +the place where Captain Hall made his winter quarters. They dragged a +heavily loaded sled after them, upon which rested a boat, which they +expected to use in case they reached open water. The men set out bravely +and toiled hard, but were compelled to turn back, finding it impossible +to make any progress. + +No one can describe the horrible loneliness of such a life as the party +were now compelled to lead. They played cards and games, told stories, +and held discussions until all such things palled on their taste. Then +they grew weary of one another's company, and hours would pass without a +man speaking a word. Dr. Hayes has related that, when thus placed, he +has dashed out of the dwelling in desperation and wandered for miles +through the frozen solitudes, for no other reason than that the company +of his friends had become unbearable. He stated further that a rooster +on his ship deliberately flew overboard and committed suicide out of +sheer loneliness. + +One means resorted to by the explorers for relieving the frightful +monotony was the publication of a paper called the _Arctic Moon_. The +contents were written and copies made by the hektograph process. Then +Greely formed a class in arithmetic, and Lockwood taught a class in +geography and grammar. Matters were quite lively on Thanksgiving Day +(the party being careful to note the passage of the regular days), when +foot-races were run and shooting matches indulged in, Greely +distributing the prizes. + +One of the many curious facts regarding life in the Arctic regions is +that its rigors are often withstood better by the inexperienced than by +the experienced. The two Eskemo guides were the most depressed of the +whole party, and one of them wandered off in a dazed condition. When +found miles away, he was running as if in fear of his life, and it was +with great difficulty he was persuaded to return. The second native +would have run off had he not been closely watched. + +In the middle of February, the thermometer fell to sixty-five degrees +below zero, an intensity of cold which few living men have experienced. +At such a terrible temperature pure brandy and glycerine freeze hard, +and a man, though heavily clothed, will perish in a few minutes. The +Eskemo dogs by choice slept in the snow outside rather than within the +building. + + +THE GRAVE OF DR. HALL. + +On the last day of February, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by +Brainard, Jewell, Long, the two Eskemos, and a couple of dog teams, +started on a journey to Thank God Harbor, seventy-five miles away. The +journey was made without accident and the observatory was found still +standing, while near at hand was the grave of the Arctic explorer, +Captain C.F. Hall. The grave was marked by a metallic headboard, put up +by the English and the other by Hall's comrades. On the British board +are these words: "To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life in the +advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This tablet has been erected +by the British Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed in his footsteps +and profited by his experience." The American inscription is as follows: + + IN MEMORY OF + CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, + LATE COMMANDER U.S. STEAMER POLARIS, NORTH POLE EXPEDITION, + DIED NOVEMBER 8, 1871. + "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, + THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE." + +The great ambition of Lieutenant Lockwood was to lead an expedition +along the northern coast of Greenland, to which Arctic explorers +hitherto had paid comparatively slight attention. His intelligence, +daring, and skill caused Greely to give him his full confidence and to +leave the entire arrangement of the venture in his hands. + +Lockwood's intention was to start about the 1st of April. Sergeant +Brainard was to go with the supporting parties in advance to Cape Sumner +and leave supplies. Then when Lockwood's party reached the same point, +with all the provisions they could carry with comfort, the explorers +would be well supplied. + + +LOCKWOOD'S EXPEDITION TO THE FAR NORTH. + +Amid the firing of pistols, waving of flags, and cheers, the start was +made by Lockwood on the 2d of April. Three days later, the party +dragging a sled laden with pemmican reached a snow-house, where they +found Brainard and his friends returning. There were thirteen in all, +and they were crowded in their close quarters, but the fact gave them +additional warmth. + +[Illustration: A FUNERAL IN THE ARTIC REGIONS.] + +It will be remembered that the long Arctic night was about ended. In the +misty light, a dark object was discerned on the top of a neighboring +iceberg, which being scrutinized was recognized as an eagle. It was +accepted as a good omen by the men, who cheered the noble bird that +vividly reminded them of their distant home. + +The direction was now to the northeast. They crossed the straits at Cape +Beechy, pushing to within a few miles of the eastern shore, whence they +were to proceed directly to Fort Sumner. In order to follow the course +of the party intelligently the reader needs to keep a reliable map of +the Arctic regions before him. + +Fort Conger stood close to the intersection of sixty-fifth meridian and +the eighty-second parallel, being a little south of the latter and east +of the former. From this starting-point, the route of Lockwood was +slightly south of northeast to its termination. Almost from the +beginning, the traveling was so difficult that the bravest explorers +could not have been blamed for turning back. + +The ice was tumbled together in irregular masses many feet in thickness, +through which they often had to cut the way with axes for their sledges. +The wind rose to a hurricane, and was of piercing coldness, and so +filled with fine particles that they cut the face like bird-shot. Most +of the time they could not see one another when separated by a few feet. +Muffled to their eyes, the brave explorers fought their-way onward, +often compelled to stop and turn their backs to the gale, which almost +swept them off their feet. Frequently they crouched behind the piles of +ice to regain their breath while the furious wind roared above their +heads. + +Toughened, as were all the men, some of them succumbed under the fearful +work. These returned to camp, and the party was reduced to nine. This +occurred on the 10th of April, very near where the 82d parallel crosses +the 60th meridian. There Lieutenant Lockwood came to a halt, and turned +back with the dogs to Fort Conger. The round journey was a hundred +miles, but it was necessary to get supplies that could be obtained in no +other way, and to secure new runners for their sledges, which were +battered by their rough usage. + +Accompanied by the two Eskemos, Lockwood made a new start on the 14th of +April, and averaged two miles an hour until he reached his new camp. +From that point the nine men had three sledges, which they dragged, and +a fourth that was drawn by the dogs. With indomitable pluck they +struggled onward, and all were thrilled on the 25th of the month by the +knowledge that they had reached a point further north than had ever been +attained by an American, and they hoped to surpass all others. + +The heroic explorers had by no means finished their task. At regular +points they cached their provisions against the return. If the reader +will locate on his map the intersection of the 55th meridian with the +parallel of 82 deg. 20', he will have a point close to Cape Bryant, where +the supports of the party withdrew and started on their return to camp. +All who were now left were Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and +the Eskemo Frederick. + +Lockwood apportioned rations for twenty-five days among the three. +Consequently the northward journey and the return must be made within +that time, since they believed it impossible to obtain food in that +fearful region. Shaking hands with their companions, who wished them +good-speed, the little party broke into two divisions, one tramping +southward, while the other resumed its laborious journey toward the +northeast. + +Before Lockwood left Cape Sabine, Lieutenant Greely gave it as his +belief that his brave assistant might succeed in reaching Cape +Britannia, which lies about 40 deg. east and 82 deg. 45' north. The +explorer Beaumont saw this cape, but was unable to reach it. When +Lockwood and Brainard arrived there, however, they had no thought of +stopping. A cairn was built, a written account of their travels +deposited, and five days' rations left. Then the heroes bent to their +herculean task again. + +The Eskemo was left with the dogs, while the two white men, wrapped in +their furs, laboriously climbed an adjoining mountain, half a mile in +height. From the crest they scanned the snowy landscape, the very +picture of desolation. Twenty miles to the northeast, the direction they +were traveling, they made out a dark promontory, terminating in a rocky +headland and penetrating the Polar Ocean, while between it and them a +number of islands reared their heads and were separated by fiords. Half +of the remaining horizon was filled with the dismal ice of the Frozen +Sea. + +They had no expectation of meeting with animal life in this world of +desolation, but they fired several times (and missed) at ptarmigan, and, +having wounded a rabbit, succeeded in running it down. It was a mystery +to them how this little animal found the means of sustaining life so +near the Pole. + +It may be wondered how far these three men would have gone had it been +possible to travel. They became accustomed to the exhaustive work, but +the end of the journey was reached on the 13th of May, when they paused +on the edge of an immense fissure in the ice, extending indefinitely to +the right and left, and too broad to be crossed. They searched for a +long time, only to learn that it was utterly out of their power to go a +foot further. Nothing remained but to learn their exact location. + +While Lockwood was preparing to take an observation, the sun was +obscured by fog. All the next day so furious a storm raged that they +could do nothing but huddle in their tent and wait for it to pass. +Finally, the conditions became favorable and Lockwood made his +observations with the utmost care. When they were completed the +astounding truth was revealed that their latitude was 84 deg. 24-1/2' +north and 40 deg. 46-1/2' west from Greenwich. This surpassed the +achievement of the Nares expedition sent out by England, in 1875-76, +for the sole purpose of reaching the furthest northern point possible. +Lockwood and Brainard, therefore, had attained the highest point, which +up to that time had never been reached by man. On the 7th of April, +1895, however, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, penetrated +to 86 deg. 15', which surpassed that of Lockwood and Brainard by 200 +miles and was within 225 miles of the Pole itself. + +The return journey was as exhausting and trying as the outward one, but +the little party never lost courage. Fort Conger was reached early in +June, and, as may be supposed, the explorers received a royal welcome +from their comrades. The three men were suffering from snow blindness, +rheumatism, and various ills brought on by their exposure and terrific +labors, but all were in high spirits, as they might well be, when they +recalled the wonderful achievement they had made. + + +WEARY WAITING. + +The brief summer was at hand. The snow melted during the middle of the +day and the first rain they had seen fell. On the 4th of July they had +shooting matches and engaged in a game of baseball. It can hardly be +said, however, that the American game has gained much of a foothold +north of the Arctic Circle. + +All suffered from intense depression of spirits which could not be +shaken off. Again hours would pass without a man speaking a word. They +seemed mutually repellent and miserable. This sad condition resulted +from purely physical causes and no one could be blamed for it. + +The company were now waiting for the _Proteus_ which was due. Several +reports that she was in sight threw all into pleasurable excitement, but +it need not be said they were doomed to disappointment, since the relief +ship was at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The little steam launch had +been repaired and enabled the party to explore the neighboring coasts +for a distance of several hundred miles. A number of musk oxen were +shot, but, except at certain seasons, their flesh is so strongly +impregnated with musk that it is unpalatable for food. + +As the weary days passed without bringing the wished-for steamer, hope +sank. Many were sure some accident had befallen the ship and she would +never be seen again. If so (and of course such was the fact), more +months must pass before the news could be carried to the United States +and a new relief expedition be sent. It was hard thus to be forgotten by +their friends at home. As a last resort the party could retreat in their +boats, but all dreaded the almost hopeless recourse. Gradually the +summer drew to a close and once more they saw the low-sweeping sun dip +below the horizon not to appear again for months. The long, horrible +Arctic night again enveloped them in misery and gloom. + +When the month of January came every member of the party, including +Greely himself, were convinced that their country had abandoned them and +they must look out for themselves. He announced that if no relief +appeared they would start for home not later than the 8th of August. + +[Illustration: THE FARTHEST NORTH REACHED BY LIEUT. LOCKWOOD ON THE +GREELY EXPEDITION.] + +Lieutenant Lockwood seems to have been about the only member of the +party who for a time kept up his high spirits. He was not satisfied with +what he had already done, and insisted upon another chance to push +northward. He had fixed upon the eighty-fourth parallel as the point +to reach, and he urged the matter so strongly that Greely, who greatly +admired his courage, gave his consent, though confident that he would +find it impossible to do as well as in the former instance. + + +A FAILURE. + +Lockwood made his start on the morning of March 27, 1883, his companions +being the same as before. Two weeks later, as Greely was lying in his +tent, wondering how his friend was making out, Lockwood walked in with a +smile: + +"Too much water," he said; "if it had only been ice, we could have +managed it, but we had no means of getting across the water. Better luck +next time." + +The next time, however, never came. Greely, Lockwood, and Brainard +always remained on good terms, but it was not the case with some of the +others. Companionship, under such conditions, is a bore, and many a time +the three gentlemen named went off on explorations that occupied several +days, with no other object than to get away from those whose company was +distasteful beyond bearing. + + +THE START HOMEWARD. + +Greely had given up all hope of receiving help from the United States +and determined to start for home as soon as his surroundings would +permit. His plan was to proceed to Littleton Island, where it was +possible they might find a vessel that would take them to Newfoundland. +The explorers, twenty-five in all, made their start southward, August 9, +1883. Their boats were the steam launch referred to, a whale boat, an +English boat, and a smaller one, which it was thought would prove useful +in the event of an accident. + +For a time the progress was encouraging. The water was quite open, but +ice soon appeared. They saved their boats from being nipped by drawing +them up on a floe. When open water again showed, they took to the boats +and reached Sun Bay without mishap. Then they made their way to Cape +Lieber, twenty miles south from Fort Conger, where they were almost +overwhelmed in a blinding snowstorm. There they landed and waited for +the ice to move and open the way for them along the western shore of the +strait. A fog kept them there several days, and when they started again +it was in the midst of another blinding snowstorm. One of the incidents +of the struggle against ice and tempest was the falling overboard of +Lieutenant Greely and an accident to the launch. Scoresby Bay was +reached on the 22d of August, and found to be full of floating ice. It +was necessary again to save the boats by drawing them up on the floe. By +that time, too, the supply of coal had become so low that Greely held a +consultation with his officers over their situation, which was not only +dangerous but rapidly becoming more so. He proposed to abandon the +launch, and use the other boats with which to push along the western +shore, but the majority believed they had a chance of making Littleton +Island. Ere long it was found necessary to leave behind the smallest +boat, and when that was done most of the party believed all were doomed. +The elements and even the tides were against them. + +The launch soon became useless and was abandoned. Resort was then had to +sledge travel, two carrying a boat between them, and all pulled by the +men. They had not gone far in this toilsome manner when another of the +boats had to be left behind, giving them only one. Even the courageous +Lockwood now expressed his belief that none of the party would escape +alive. Still it was better to die struggling than to sit down and fold +their hands. + +Misfortunes crowded upon them. The current continued the wrong way and +the floe upon which they were drifting carried them toward Baffin Bay. +Sludge ice, the most troublesome of all, abounded, and their poor +rations grew scant. In the latter part of September enough of the floes +came in contact to permit the men to pass over them to solid land, some +twelve miles from Cape Sabine. A reconnoitering party in attempting to +reach that point was turned back by the open water. Another company, +however, got through and brought back important news. The _Proteus_ had +been wrecked and a couple of caches, left by English ships, together +with the stores brought from the wreck of the _Proteus_, were +discovered. As may be supposed, they formed a welcome addition to the +meagre stock of food. + + +THE LAST EXTREMITY. + +It being inevitable that another winter must be passed in the land of +desolation, preparations were made for doing so. The spot selected was +between Cape Sabine and Cocked Hat Island. A hut was erected and the +supplies moved thither. Greely informed the men that he had decided to +reduce the rations so that they would last until the coming March. A +cairn was built at Cape Sabine in which was placed a record of what had +been done by the explorers. + +All admitted the necessity of reducing the rations, but it was done to +that extent that the men suffered continually from hunger. They were +glad to eat mouldy potatoes, and, when, occasionally, a fox was shot, +nothing was left but the shining bones. If the preceding period was +horrible it was now more so, for all felt they had every reason for +depression, gloom, and despair. The meagre food made them more +susceptible to cold, and, although Greely strove to awaken an interest +in different educational subjects, the conditions were so woeful that he +accomplished little. It may seem strange, but it was natural that the +men's thoughts should dwell almost continually upon delicacies in the +way of eating. They talked about the choicest viands and smacked their +lips over tempting feasts which, alas! existed only in imagination. + +Every man uttered a prayer of thanks when the 21st of December arrived, +for it meant that the appalling polar night was half over, but how +endless the other half seemed to them! + +In the following month the feet of Corporal Ellison were so badly frozen +that they sloughed off, as did several of his fingers. Soon afterward +one of the men died. The brave Lockwood felt himself growing so weak +that he privately requested Greely to leave him behind, if he should be +alive, when the homeward start was made. Greely replied that under no +conceivable circumstances would he abandon any one if alive, provided he +himself survived the period of waiting. + +An attempt was made in February to reach Littleton Island in the hope of +finding the relief ship or stores, but the open water compelled the men +to turn back. The same cause prevented their getting to the Greenland +shore, which could be seen when the weather was clear. + +When the middle of March came all were placed on starvation rations. +None of the canned vegetables, coffee, or chocolate was left. The +straits remained open and shut them off from reaching Greenland, where +they might have found game. The bravest of the party lost heart and sank +into the apathy of despair. They felt themselves simply waiting for +death. Lockwood wrote in his diary: "I am glad that each day comes to an +end. It brings us nearer the end of this life, whatever that end may +be." + +The fuel, which had been carefully husbanded, gave out in the latter +part of March. The famishing sufferers gathered their furs more tightly +around them and huddled together to secure the mutual warmth of their +emaciated bodies. The furs and shoes could be gnawed and eaten when the +last extremity arrived. Unexpectedly to all, Sergeant Lynn and one of +the Eskemos died at the beginning of April. When there was a chance to +shoot game the men were too weak to hunt for it. + +Lieutenant Lockwood, the hero of the wonderful achievement narrated, +whose high spirits and exalted courage carried him through all manner of +perils, died early on the morning of April 9th, his death being due to +starvation. When the brave fellow had passed away there had not been a +mouthful of food within reach for several days. + +Before this, it became evident that some one was stealing from the +scanty store. Investigation disclosed the wretched thief to be a man +named Henry. Greely warned him, for he was imperiling the lives of all. +He stole again, whereupon, by orders of Greely, he was shot. When the +final extremity came there is reason to believe that cannibalism was +indulged in, though not to much extent. There is no certainty, however, +on the matter, and the survivors denied having seen it. + + +THE RESCUE. + +Though it may seem that the Greely party was forgotten at home, yet such +was not the fact. The loss of the _Proteus_ caused the gravest fears for +their safety, and, in the spring of 1884, the navy department fitted out +a new relief expedition, consisting of the _Thetis_, the _Bear_, and the +_Alert_, under Commander Winfield S. Schley, who made such a brilliant +record in our late war with Spain. + +Commander Schley sailed from Brooklyn in May, and lost not an hour. He +left St. John's on the 12th, meeting a great deal of ice in Baffin Bay +and Smith Sound, but he fought his way through, and sent a strong party +ashore June 22d to hunt for signs of the missing explorers. The steam +launch of the _Bear_ took the party to Brevoort Island, where Lieutenant +Lockwood's letter was found, giving their location and stating that they +were nearly out of provisions. Since the letter was dated eight months +before, the dismayed commander and his officers believed it hardly +possible that any of the men would be found alive. + +The _Bear_ was pushed on, and the launch started out again early the +next morning. Before sunset Greely's camp was discovered. Making all +haste forward, the relief party lifted the flap and breathlessly peered +in. + +They saw Greely on his knees, muttering the prayers for the dying over +one of his comrades. He looked up, dazed, bewildered, and unable to read +the full meaning of what met his eyes. Around him, in different +postures, were stretched his comrades, some dead and the others close to +death. Those still living were Greely, Brainard, Biederbeck, Fredericks, +Long, Connell, and Ellison. A few days' later arrival on the part of the +_Bear_, and not one would have been breathing. As it was their lives +were still in great danger, and it was necessary to nurse them with the +utmost care. The remains of all who had died, with the exception of the +Eskemo, were brought back to the United States. During the halt in the +harbor of Disco, to leave the body of the Eskemo, Corporal Ellison, who +had been so badly frozen, died. The relief expedition reached St. John's +on July 17th and New York on the 8th of August. + +In 1886 the prize of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain and +the back premium were awarded to Captain Adolphus W. Greely and Sergeant +David L. Brainard, for having attained the greatest results for the year +in adding to geographical knowledge by examinations or explorations. No +one can deny that this recognition and honor were well won. + +The Greely expedition possesses so much interest that we have given +considerable space to the narration. Among the many explorations of the +far North, few or none equal this, not only in heroic daring but in +results accomplished. It may be said that the fate of the Sir John +Franklin party was made clear in 1880, by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, +of the United States army, who discovered the skeletons of several of +the unfortunate explorers, together with various relics of the +expedition. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1884. + +In the presidential election of 1884 the Democratic candidates were +Grover Cleveland, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The +Republican were James G. Blaine, of Maine, and General John A. Logan, of +Illinois. The chief issue with the Republicans was the tariff, while the +Democrats put forward that of civil service reform. There was much +bitter discussion, some of the leading Republican papers refusing to +support Blaine because of charges affecting his personal integrity. On +the other hand, Cleveland was attacked with scarcely less bitterness. +The quarrel between the leading parties caused some of the weaker ones +to put forward candidates, with a result as follows: Grover Cleveland +and T.A. Hendricks, 219; James G. Blaine and John A. Logan, 182; John P. +St. John and William Daniel, Prohibition, received 151,809 popular +votes; and Benjamin F. Butler and A.M. West, People's party, 133,825. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (FIRST) AND OF HARRISON, 1885-1893. + +Grover Cleveland--Completion of the Washington Monument--The Bartholdi +Statue--Death of General Grant--Death of Vice-President Hendricks--The +First Vice-President to Die in Office--George Clinton--Elbridge +Gerry--William R. King--Henry Wilson--Death of General McClellan--Of +General Hancock--His Career--The Dispute Between Capital and +Labor--Arbitration--The Anarchistic Outbreak in Chicago--The Charleston +Earthquake--Conquest of the Apaches--Presidential Election of +1888--Benjamin Harrison--The Johnstown Disaster--Threatened War with +Chili--The Indian Uprising of 1890-91--Admission of New +States--Presidential Election of 1892. + + +THE TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT. + +[Illustration: GROVER CLEVELAND. + +(1837-.) Two terms, 1885-1889--1893-1897.] + +The city of Buffalo, N.Y., has the distinction of being the only one in +the United States which has furnished two presidents of the country. +Millard Fillmore hailed from Buffalo and Grover Cleveland went from that +city to occupy the highest office in the gift of the American people. +His native place, however, was Caldwell, New Jersey, where he was born, +March 18, 1837. He was the son of a clergyman and received a fair +education in the public schools, and became an instructor for a time in +an institution for the blind at Clinton, N.Y. He removed to Buffalo in +1855, and, having engaged in the study of law, soon became prominent at +the bar. He was appointed assistant district attorney in 1863, and in +1870 was elected sheriff of the county. His course gained the confidence +of the community and led to his election as mayor of Buffalo, in 1881, +though the city was naturally strongly Republican in politics. + +Mr. Cleveland added to his popularity by his able administration and was +nominated for governor of the State in the autumn of the following year. +His success by the unprecedented majority of 192,854 attracted national +attention and led the Democrats to believe he was their most available +candidate for the presidency. His course as governor commended itself to +his friends, who were so numerous that, when his name was presented at +Chicago, he received 683 votes against 137 for all others. + +It will be noted that Mr. Cleveland was the first Democratic President +since the opening of the war. He assumed his office with the best wishes +of the people, though it is worth noting in this place that the majority +by which he was elected was much less than a glance at the returns would +suggest. At a public reception of Mr. Blaine, during the canvass, a +clergyman referred to the Democratic party as that of "Rum, Romanism, +and Rebellion." This unfortunate expression drove away a number of votes +from Mr. Blaine, who was defeated in New York by a few hundreds only; +but they were sufficient to turn the thirty-six electoral votes to Mr. +Cleveland and secure his election by the majority already named. + + +COMPLETION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. + +For years preceding the Civil War, and for a long time afterward, the +Washington monument was a source of reproach and jest among the people, +because so long a period was allowed to pass before its completion. The +corner-stone was laid July 4, 1848, at which time Robert C. Winthrop, +Speaker of the House of Representatives, delivered the address. The +occasion was made notable by the presence of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, +John C. Calhoun, and President Polk. The memorial to the greatest +American orator that ever lived was allowed to stand uncompleted for +thirty-seven years, its formal dedication taking place February 21st +(the 22d fell on Sunday), 1885. The address of the venerable W.W. +Corcoran, first vice-president of the Washington Monument Society, +formed in 1833, was read by Dr. J.C. Welling, president of Columbia +University, and the ceremonies were of an interesting character. The +Masonic services were conducted by the Grand Lodge of the District of +Columbia, which used the gavel that Washington had employed in laying +the corner-stone of the national capitol, September 18, 1793, while the +Bible was the one upon which he took his vows when made a Mason. A +second Bible was the one upon which he was sworn into office, April 30, +1789, when inaugurated President of the United States. This relic is now +the property of St. John Lodge, No. 1, of New York City. + +[Illustration: THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.] + +President Arthur's address was as follows: + + "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: Before the dawn of the century whose eventful + years will soon have faded into the past--when death had but lately + robbed the republic of its most beloved and illustrious citizen--the + Congress of the United States pledged the faith of the nation that in + this city, bearing his honored name, and then, as now, the seat of + the general government, a monument should be erected 'to commemorate + the great events of his military and political life.' + + "The stately column that stretches heavenward from the plain whereon + we stand bears witness to all who behold it that the covenant which + our fathers made their children have fulfilled. In the completion of + this great work of patriotic endeavor there is abundant cause for + national rejoicing; for while this structure shall endure it shall be + to all mankind a steadfast token of the affectionate and reverent + regard in which this people continue to hold the memory of + Washington. Well may he ever keep the foremost place in the hearts of + his countrymen; the faith that never faltered; the wisdom that was + broader and deeper than any learning taught in schools; the courage + that shrank from no peril and was dismayed by no defeat; the loyalty + that kept all selfish purposes subordinate to the demands of + patriotism and honor; the sagacity that displayed itself in camp and + cabinet alike; and, above all, that harmonious union of moral and + intellectual qualities which has never found its parallel among men; + these are the attributes of character which the intelligent thought + of this century ascribes to the grandest figure of the last. + + "But other and more eloquent lips than mine will to-day rehearse to + you the story of his noble life and its glorious achievements. To + myself has been assigned a simpler and more formal duty, in + fulfillment of which I do now, as President of the United States and + in behalf of the people, receive this monument from the hands of the + builder, and declare it dedicated from this time forth to the + immortal name and memory of George Washington." + +The ceremonies at the monument being completed, those within the capitol +followed. General Sheridan was in charge of the military, and the +oration of Robert C. Winthrop, who was kept away by illness, was read by +Governor Long. John W. Daniel, a leading soldier on the side of the +Confederacy during the Civil War and afterward a member of Congress from +Virginia, delivered a graphic sketch of Washington, and closed with the +eloquent peroration: + + "Long live the republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved + by all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed + of all lands and religions--long may it be the citadel of that + liberty which writes beneath the eagle's folded wings: 'We will sell + to no man, we will deny to no man right and justice.' + + "Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free, + magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, + hovered over by the guardian angel of Washington's example, may they + ever be worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave + who knew the rights of man--may they each be a column, and all + together, under the Constitution, a perpetual temple of peace, + unshadowed by a Caesar's palace, at whose altar may freely commune all + who seek the union of liberty and brotherhood. + + "Long live our country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it + stand, far removed in fact, as in space, from the Old World's feuds + and follies--solitary and alone in its grandeur and glory--itself the + immortal monument of him whom Providence commissioned to teach man + the power of truth, and to prove to the nations that their Redeemer + liveth." + +It is worth noting that the Washington Monument with its 555 feet is the +highest in the world; the Cathedral at Cologne, 511 feet, is next; while +the height of the Great Pyramid is 486 feet. The cap-stone was put in +position December 6, 1884, and the whole cost of the monument was +$1,187,710, of which Congress furnished $900,000. An iron stairway of +900 steps and an elevator provide means for ascending the interior. + + +THE BARTHOLDI STATUE. + +When a person enters New York harbor on his visit or return to the New +World, the most striking object upon which his eyes rest is the Statue +of Liberty. This represents the idea of Liberty enlightening the world, +as conceived by Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the eminent French +sculptor. He began circulating his subscriptions for the work through +France in 1874. The popularity of the scheme is attested by the fact +that contributions were received from 180 cities, forty general +councils, a large number of chambers of commerce and of societies, and +more than 10,000 subscribers. On the 22d of February, 1877, Congress +voted to accept the gift, and set apart Bedlow's Island for the site. +The statue was finished in 1883, and displayed to public view for some +time in Paris. Its official presentation to the minister of the United +States took place July 4, 1884. + +The French transport _Isere_, with the Liberty statue on board, arrived +at New York, June 24, 1885, and was saluted and welcomed by a hundred +different vessels. The dedication ceremonies, October 28, 1886, were +among the most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of our +country. Among those on the reviewing stand, near the Worth Monument, +were President Cleveland, General Sheridan, the members of the +President's cabinet, M. Bartholdi, M. de Lesseps, representative of the +diplomatic corps at Washington, and many distinguished American +citizens. + +The following facts will give an idea of the size of this great statue: +the forefinger is more than eight feet long; the second joint is about +five feet in circumference; the finger-nail is a foot long, and the nose +nearly four feet; the head is fourteen and a half feet high, and can +accommodate forty persons, while the hollow torch will hold twelve +persons. The copper sheets which form the outside of the statue weigh +eighty-eight tons. From the base to the top of the torch is slightly +more than 150 feet, which is 305 feet above low-water mark. + + +DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT. + +In no event of Cleveland's first administration was the public more +deeply concerned than in the death of General Grant, the foremost +defender of the Union. After his return from his triumphant journey +around the world, he engaged in business in the city of New York. The +soul of honor himself, it was hard for him to believe the dishonesty of +others; but he became the victim of unscrupulous persons, and lost not +only all his own savings but those of many of his friends. He did +everything in his power to make good his losses, but succeeded only to a +slight extent. He was ruined financially, though a grateful nation would +never permit him to suffer want. + +[Illustration: THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF GENERAL GRANT PASSING WEST POINT.] + +It was at this sad period that a cancer developed at the root of his +tongue, and, though he received the best medical attention in the +country, the malignant excrescence soon made it evident that he was +beyond human help. He devoted himself heroically to writing his +memoirs, and, with the grim determination which was so marked a feature +of his character, he fought off the last great enemy until the valuable +work was finished. + +General Grant's last days were spent with his family at Mount McGregor +in New York State, where he quietly breathed his last on the evening of +July 22, 1885. The body was embalmed and removed to the City Hall in New +York, where it was viewed by mourning thousands before its removal to +the last resting-place in Riverside Park. The final impressive scenes, +when the remains were deposited in the mausoleum on the banks of the +Hudson, took place in 1897. + + +DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS. + +Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States, died November +25, 1885, at his home in Indianapolis, from paralysis of the heart. He +was born in Ohio in 1819, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in +1843. He was elected to the Indiana Legislature in 1848, and three years +later became Democratic member of Congress from the central district of +Indiana. He was chosen a United States senator in 1868, and strongly +opposed the impeachment of President Johnson. He was prominently named +several times for the presidency of the United States. In Indianapolis, +where he had long made his home, he was universally respected by members +of all parties. + + +OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS WHO DIED IN OFFICE. + +Since Mr. Hendricks was not the first Vice-President to die in office, +it will be interesting to complete the list. George Clinton served one +term under Jefferson, and had nearly ended another under Madison, when +he died in 1812. His career had been extraordinary. He was a soldier in +the French and Indian War, was a sailor on a privateer, and became a +brigadier-general in the Revolution, but was unsuccessful in his defense +of the Highland forts in 1777. At one time he was a member of the +Provincial Congress and was the first governor of New York, serving for +eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795, and again 1801-04, when he became +Vice-President. His death occurred in Washington, and the eight +pall-bearers were Revolutionary soldiers. + +It was a curious coincidence that the next Vice-President to die in +office was the immediate successor of Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, who died +November 23, 1814. He was a native of Massachusetts, a member of its +colonial House of Representatives and a delegate to the Continental +Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence and aided in framing +the Constitution, though he refused to sign it, on the ground that it +conferred too much power on the national government. He held a number of +important public offices and was governor of Massachusetts in 1810 and +1811. In the latter year, the Republicans (modern Democrats) carried +out a redistricting scheme by which the Essex district took a form which +many fancied bore a resemblance to a salamander. It was from this +incident that the word "gerrymander," so often heard in politics in +these days, took its name. + +It will be recalled that when Franklin Pierce became President, the +Vice-President, William R. King, was an invalid in Cuba, where he took +the oath of office before the American consul. He was in the last stages +of consumption and died shortly after his return to his home in Alabama. + +Henry Wilson, Vice-President with General Grant, died November 25, 1875, +his death being hastened, it is believed, by the news of the death of +his intimate friend, Senator Ferry, of Connecticut. + +The death of General McClellan has already been mentioned as taking +place on the 29th of October, 1885. A few months later, February 9, +1886, General Hancock died at his home on Governor's Island. + + +DEATH OF GENERAL HANCOCK--HIS CAREER. + +General Winfield Scott Hancock was an ideal American soldier and +officer, brave, chivalrous, courteous to foe as well as friend, +patriotic, a gentleman at all times and under all circumstances, genial, +remarkably handsome and prepossessing in manner, who made friends +everywhere. His conduct of political affairs in a section of the South +during the troublous reconstruction days won the commendation of his +government and the respect of the South, who pronounced him a "just +man," for whom they formed a strong personal affection. But for +Hancock's unfortunate slip, he assuredly would have been elected +President of the United States in 1880. + +The two peculiarities of Hancock's birth was that he was a twin and was +born on St. Valentine's day, February 14, 1824, in Montgomery County, +Pennsylvania. Appointed to West Point, he found among his fellow-cadets +U.S. Grant, G.B. McClellan, Rosecrans, Longstreet, and Stonewall +Jackson. + +Hancock entered the Mexican War as second lieutenant, taking part in +three engagements, receiving a wound and winning the brevet of first +lieutenant. He was appointed quartermaster in 1855, with the rank of +captain. Three years later he was a member of the expedition to Utah to +bring the Mormons to terms. When the Civil War broke out, he was at Los +Angeles, Southern California, where considerable sympathy was shown for +the Southern Confederacy. The tact of the United States forces in that +section held the State true, a patriotic speech of General Hancock +contributing greatly to the same end. + +His patriotism would not allow him to remain idle, and, when he learned +of the grave condition of affairs in the East, he applied to be called +thither. The request was granted, and he was so anxious to serve his +country that he did not pause to call on his parents while on the way to +Washington. + +Hancock's first appointment was as quartermaster-general in General +Robert Anderson's command in Kentucky; but McClellan, who knew his +worth, made a personal request of President Lincoln to appoint him +brigadier-general. His commission was dated September 23, 1861. +McClellan said of him: "He was a man of the most chivalrous courage and +of superb presence, especially in action; he had a wonderfully quick and +correct eye for ground and for handling troops; his judgment was good, +and it would be difficult to find a better corps commander." + +[Illustration: CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA. + +Equestrian statues of Generals Reynolds and McClellan ornament the +plaza, and one of General Hancock is to be erected on one of the vacant +corners.] + +General Hancock gave invaluable help in moulding the Army of the Potomac +into the magnificent form it attained, and his brigade was conceded to +be the finest and most effective in the whole army at the time the +landing was made on the peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the James +River. + +In the bloody battle of Williamsburg, his skill and personal courage +were of the highest order. Making a feint of retreating, he drew the +enemy after him into the position he intended, when he turned and +assailed them with a furious musketry fire. It was his men who captured +the first colors taken by the Army of the Potomac, and it was on that +occasion that Hancock used the expression which has been often quoted. +In the midst of the tumult and swirl of battle he shouted: "Now, +gentlemen, we will give them the bayonet!" Hancock received the personal +thanks of McClellan for his fine work. + +He was always loyal to his superiors, McClellan, Burnside, McClellan +again, Hooker, and Meade, rapidly rising in prominence until at the +great battle of Gettysburg he contributed perhaps more than any single +man to the success of the Union arms. Among the titles applied to him by +his admiring countrymen were "The Superb" and "The Hero of Gettysburg." + +The Confederates who came in contact with him expressed their admiration +of his dauntless courage and coolness. He was painfully wounded, but, +while lying on a stretcher, he sent a message to General Meade that the +Confederate army was in retreat. Meade replied with his grateful thanks +and sympathy, and Congress also thanked him. + +His ardent patriotism placed him in the saddle before his wound had +healed, and at one time during the battle of the Wilderness he was +obliged to give up his command. At Chancellorsville he captured the +whole division of General Edward Johnson. When that officer was brought +into Hancock's tent the latter extended his hand to his old +acquaintance, exclaiming heartily, "How are you, Ned?" + +"I refuse to take your hand," replied the humiliated prisoner. + +"All right," said Hancock, "I shouldn't have offered it to you under any +other circumstances." + +Hancock was in command of the Second Army Corps for the last time at the +battle of Boydton. His remarkable skill in training soldiers caused +Secretary Stanton to assign to him the task of organizing the First +Veteran Corps, composed of soldiers, all of whom had been in service two +years. He afterward commanded the Army of the Shenandoah, and was in +charge at Washington at the time of the assassination of Lincoln. + +In 1869, he was transferred from the command of the division of the +Atlantic and assigned to that of Dakota, where he remained until 1872, +when he resumed command of the division of the Atlantic. His last public +appearance was when he commanded the military forces which assisted in +the funeral ceremonies of General Grant. + +As a proof that General Hancock's skill with the pen was hardly less +than that with the sword, the following extract is given from an article +by him on the battle of Gettysburg: + +[Illustration: ARBITRATION + +The relations of capital and labor--mutually dependent the one upon the +other--both selfish and often unjust--have caused serious trouble in the +past decade of the world's history. Fair and equitable arbitration seems +to be the only safe and just way of settling disputes of this +character.] + +"Cemetery Hill has since become consecrated ground. The place where +General Howard was superseded in command on the first day of the fight +is now covered with the graves of thousands of gallant soldiers whose +bones lie buried at the base of the beautiful monumental column which +commemorates their fame. Two of the marble statues ornamenting the +pedestal personify War and History. War, symbolized by a soldier resting +from the conflict, narrates to History the story of the struggle and the +deeds of the martyr-heroes who fell in that famous battle. In +remembrance of these noble comrades who laid down their lives for the +general weal, it were simply sacrilege for any survivor to pour into the +ears of History an incorrect account of the contest, still more to +assume to himself honors belonging perhaps less to the living than to +the dead. + +"The historian of the future who essays to tell the tale of Gettysburg +undertakes an onerous task, a high responsibility, a sacred trust. Above +all things, justice and truth should dwell in his mind and heart. Then, +dipping his pen as it were in the crimson tide, the sunshine of heaven +lighting his page, giving 'honor to whom honor is due,' doing even +justice to the splendid valor alike of friend and foe, he may tell the +world how the rain descended in streams of fire, and the floods came in +the billows of rebellion, and the winds blew in blasts of fraternal +execration, and beat upon the fabric of the Federal Union, and that it +fell not, for, resting on the rights and liberties of the people, it was +founded upon a rock." General Hancock died February 9, 1886. + + +CAPITAL AND LABOR. + +Perhaps the gravest problem which confronts our country is the eternal +strife between capital and labor. It is a problem which when solved will +prove one of the most beneficent boons that ever blessed mankind. +Disputes continually arise between employers and employees; strikes have +occurred without number, many of them attended by violence, the +destruction of property and lamentable loss of life. Arbitration is the +best and most sensible cure for the grave peril which at times has +seemed to threaten the safety of our institutions, and when the employer +and those dependent upon him for the support of themselves and families +meet in a friendly spirit and discuss their differences, they are +certain to reach an amicable agreement. + +That men have the right to strike and combine against a lowering of +their wages or for the purpose of increasing them is beyond all dispute. +That they have the right to destroy property or prevent other men from +taking their places is contended by no intelligent person, but, so long +as human nature remains as it is, they will do so, with the result that +in almost every instance it is the laborers themselves who are the +greatest losers and sufferers. + +One fact for which all ought to be grateful is that the murderous +anarchists who once plotted and struck with the venom of rattlesnakes +have either disappeared or ceased their evil work. They are scarcely +heard of in these days, and that it may ever remain thus is the fervent +wish of every patriotic and right-minded citizen. + +It is inevitable that so long as the United States remains an asylum for +the persecuted and oppressed of all nations, it must receive many of the +miscreants that have been compelled to flee from their own countries to +escape the penalty of their crimes. Despite the ravings of the +anarchists, we have good-naturedly let them alone, not believing they +would ever dare to carry out any of the threats which they were so fond +of making. Thus they became emboldened and finally ventured to put their +execrable principles into practice. + +There were a good many strikes in different parts of the country in the +early months of 1886. A number were settled by arbitration, such as the +strike on the elevated railroads in New York City, but others were +fought out to the bitter end. + +A strike occurred on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the spring of +1886. The strikers became violent, destroyed property, and a number of +lives were lost. The end came in May, and, as is generally the case, it +was against the employes, many of whom were unable to regain the places +that had been taken by others. + + +ANARCHISTIC OUTBREAK IN CHICAGO. + +The cry for eight hours, at the same rate of wages previously paid for +ten, was raised in New York and Chicago in May, 1886. Here and there a +compromise of nine hours was agreed upon with a half of each Saturday +for the employes, but in other cases the employers would not yield +anything. This issue led to the strike of 40,000 workmen in Chicago, who +were chiefly lumbermen, brickmakers, freight-handlers, iron-workers, and +men employed in factories. So many people were idle that business of all +kinds suffered. Naturally there were many parades and much +speech-making. That "an idle mind is the devil's workshop" was proven by +the appearance of the communistic red flag in some of the parades and by +the savage utterances of their speech-makers. + +The pork packers and brewers amicably adjusted the strikes of their men, +but the majority of the employers refused to concede anything. Sunday, +the 2d of May, passed without incident, but the police knew the +anarchists were plotting and trouble was at hand. Probably 12,000 +strikers gathered the next day at the McCormick Reaper Works on Western +Avenue, where they shattered the windows with stones. At the moment an +attack was about to be made upon the buildings, a patrol wagon dashed up +with twelve policemen, who sprang to the ground. Drawing their revolvers +they faced the mob and ordered them to disperse. They were answered with +a volley of stones. The policemen fired twice over the heads of the +rioters, thereby encouraging instead of intimidating them. Seeing the +folly of throwing away their shots, the policemen now fired directly at +the rioters, who answered with pistol-shots, but they did not hit any of +the officers. + +Other patrol wagons hurried up, and the officers did not wait until they +could leap out before opening fire. Their brave attack forced back the +mob, and in the course of an hour the streets were cleared. The +terrified workmen were escorted by the policemen to their homes. But for +such protection they would have been killed by the infuriated rioters. + +Tuesday was marked by many affrays between the officers and +law-breakers, but no serious conflict occurred. Placards were +distributed during the day, calling upon the "workingmen" to meet that +evening at the old Haymarket Place, and the organ of the anarchists +urged the men to arm against the police. At the meeting the most +incendiary speeches were made, and the speakers had roused the several +thousand listeners to the highest pitch of excitement, when Inspector +Bonfield at the head of a column of officers forced his way to the +stand, ordered the speaker to stop, and commanded the crowd to disperse. +He was answered with jeers and a storm of missiles. While the policemen +were calmly awaiting the orders of the inspector, some one in the crowd +threw a sputtering dynamite bomb at the feet of the officers. + +[Illustration: OLD HAYMARKET PLAZA, CHICAGO. + +This monument shows the spot where on May 3, 1886, a dynamite bomb was +thrown by anarchists into a group of policemen, killing seven, crippling +eleven for life, and injuring twelve others so they were unable to do +duty for a year.] + +A moment later it exploded, killing seven and crippling eleven for life. +The enraged survivors dashed into the mob, shooting and using their +clubs with fearful effect. Within five minutes the crowd was scattered, +but many lay dead and wounded on the ground. In the investigation that +followed, it was shown that the anarchists had planned to slay hundreds +of innocent people and plunder the city. Their leaders were brought to +trial, ably defended, and the most prominent sentenced to death. One +committed suicide, a number were hanged, and others sentenced to long +terms of imprisonment. All of the latter were pardoned by Governor +Altgeld when he assumed office. Since that time, as has been stated, the +anarchists have given little trouble. + + +THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. + +The year 1886 was marked by one of the most terrifying visitations that +can come to any country. Earthquake shocks have been felt in different +places in the United States, and the earth-tremors are so frequent in +California that they cause little alarm, for very few have inflicted any +damage to property or life. + +On the night of August 31st, the city of Richmond, Virginia, was thrown +into consternation by a series of earthquake shocks. The convicts in the +penitentiary became so panic-stricken that the militia had to be called +out to control them. The shock was felt still more violently in +Columbia, South Carolina. The buildings swayed as if rocked in a gale, +and hundreds of citizens rushed into the street in their night robes. +The scenes were less startling in Memphis, Nashville, Raleigh, +Chattanooga, Selma, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Mobile, St. Louis, Cleveland, +Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburg, while the tremor was felt as far north +as Albany, N.Y. + +The most fearful visitation, however, was at Charleston, South Carolina. +Telegraphic communication was cut off with the rest of the world, and +for hours the horrifying belief prevailed that the city had been +entirely destroyed. Such, happily, was not the fact, though never in all +the stormy history of Charleston did she pass through so terrible an +experience. + +Late on the evening named, the inhabitants found themselves tossed +about, with their houses tumbling into ruins. They ran in terror into +the streets, many not stopping until they reached the open country, +while others flung themselves on their knees and begged heaven to save +them. + +The shocks that night were ten in number, each less violent than its +predecessor. Fires started in several quarters, and twenty houses were +burned before the firemen gained control. The next morning vibrations +again shook the city, all coming from the southeast and passing off in a +northwesterly direction. The first warning was a deep, subterraneous +rumbling, then the earth quivered and heaved, and in a few seconds the +terrific wave had gone by. When night came again, 50,000 people--men, +women, and children--were in the streets, none daring to enter their +houses. They fled to the open squares to escape being crushed by the +falling buildings. Many believed the day of judgment had come and the +negroes were frenzied with terror. + +Singular effects of the earthquake showed themselves. In some places, +the covers were hurled from the wells and were followed by geysers of +mud and water. Some wells were entirely emptied, but they soon refilled. +The shocks continued at varying intervals for several weeks, though none +was as violent as at first. In Charleston fully a hundred people were +killed and two-thirds of the city required rebuilding. While damage was +done at other points, none equaled that at Charleston. + +The country was quick to respond to the needs of the smitten city. +Contributions were forwarded from every point as freely as when Chicago +was devastated by fire. Tents, provisions, and many thousands of dollars +were sent thither. Even Queen Victoria telegraphed her sympathy to +President Cleveland. One of the mitigations of such scourges is that +they seem to draw humanity closer into one general brotherhood. + + +CONQUEST OF THE APACHES. + +An important work accomplished during the first administration of +Cleveland was the conquest and subjection of the Apaches of the +Southwest. These Indians are the most terrible red men that ever lived +anywhere. They are incredibly tough of frame, as merciless as tigers, +and capable of undergoing hardships and privations before which any +other people would succumb. They will travel for days without a mouthful +of food, will go for hour after hour through a climate that is like that +of Sahara without a drop of moisture, will climb precipitous mountains +as readily as a slight declivity, will lope across the burning deserts +all day without fatigue, or, if riding one of their wiry ponies, will +kill and eat a portion of them when hunger must be attended to, and then +continue their journey on foot. + +If a party of Apache raiders are hard pressed by cavalry, they will +break up and continue their flight singly, meeting at some rendezvous +many miles away, after the discouraged troopers have abandoned pursuit. +They seem as impervious to the fiery heat of Arizona and New Mexico as +salamanders. Tonight they may burn a ranchman's home, massacre him and +all his family, and to-morrow morning will repeat the crime fifty miles +distant. + +No men could have displayed more bravery and endurance in running down +the Apaches than the United States cavalry. The metal-work of their +weapons grew so hot that it would blister the bare hands, and for days +the thermometer marked one hundred and twenty degrees. + +Captain Bourke, who understands these frightful red men thoroughly, +gives the following description of the Apache: + +"Physically, he is perfect; he might be a trifle taller for artistic +effect, but his apparent 'squattiness' is due more to great girth of +chest than to diminutive stature. His muscles are hard as bone, and I +have seen one light a match on the sole of his foot. When Crook first +took the Apache in hand, he had few wants and cared for no luxuries. War +was his business, his life, and victory his dream. To attack a Mexican +camp or isolated village, and run off a herd of cattle, mules, or sheep, +he would gladly travel hundreds of miles, incurring every risk and +displaying a courage which would have been extolled in a historical +novel as having happened in a raid by Highlanders upon Scotchmen; but +when it was _your_ stock, or your friend's stock, it became quite a +different matter. He wore no clothing whatever save a narrow piece of +calico or buckskin about his loins, a helmet also of buckskin, +plentifully crested with the plumage of the wild turkey and eagle, and +long-legged moccasins, held to the waist by a string, and turned up at +the toes in a shield which protected him from stones and the 'cholla' +cactus. If he felt thirsty, he drank from the nearest brook; if there +was no brook near by he went without, and, putting a stone or a twig in +his mouth to induce a flow of saliva, journeyed on. When he desired to +communicate with friends at home, or to put himself in correspondence +with persons whose co-operation had been promised, he rubbed two sticks +together, and dense signal smoke rolled to the zenith, and was answered +from peaks twenty and thirty miles away. By nightfall, his bivouac was +pitched at a distance from water, generally on the flank of a rocky +mountain, along which no trail would be left, and up which no force of +cavalry could hope to ascend without making noise enough to wake the +dead." + +This graphic picture of the dusky scourge of the Southwest will explain +the dread in which he was held by all who were compelled to live away +from the towns. When practicable, the ranchmen combined against the +Apaches, but, from the necessities of the case, they were powerless to +extirpate the pests. Unsuccessful attempts were made by the military +forces, but nothing definite was accomplished until General George Crook +took the work in hand. + +Crook was an old Indian campaigner who thoroughly understood the nature +of the difficult task before him. His preparations being completed, he +ordered his different columns to converge, December 9, 1872, on Tonto +Basin, which was one of the principal strongholds of the Apaches in +Arizona. The section is inclosed by the Mogollen, the Mazatzal, and the +Sierra Ancha Mountains, and the timbered region is so elevated that +during the winter months it is covered with snow. Crook himself took +station at Camp Grant, one of the most unattractive posts in the +country. + +This officer having started on his campaign pushed it with untiring +energy. He had selected the best Indian fighters to be found anywhere, +and they pursued and rounded up the bucks with amazing skill and +persistency. As soon as they corralled a party of hostiles, they +impressed the best trailers and used them in running down the others. +The Indians were allowed no time to rest. When they had fled many miles, +and supposed their pursuers were left far out of sight, as had hitherto +been the case, they discovered them at their heels. Plunging into their +fastnesses in the mountains did not avail, for the white and the red +trailers could follow and did follow them wherever they took refuge. + +The pursuing detachments frequently crossed one another's trails, often +met and kept within supporting distance. The danger which threatened the +Apaches was as present in the darkness as when the sun was shining. One +of the seemingly inaccessible strongholds was reached by the troopers +pushing the pursuit all through the night. As a proof of the skill of +the Apache trailers, it may be said they were often guided in the gloom +by the feeling of their feet, which told them when they were on the +trail of the enemy. Captain Bourke, whom we have quoted, was in command +of a detachment of the best Indian trailers and sharpshooters. He thus +describes the scene and incidents, when, after hours of stealthy pursuit +through the rough region, they came upon the hostiles, who believed +themselves beyond reach of the most persistent enemies of any race: + +[Illustration: GENERAL CROOK'S APACHE GUIDE.] + +"Lieutenant William J. Ross, of the Twenty-first Infantry, was assigned +to lead the first detachment, which contained the best shots from among +the soldiers, packers, and scouts. The second detachment came under my +own orders. Our pioneer party slipped down the face of the precipice +without accident, following a trail from which an incautious step would +have caused them to be dashed to pieces; after a couple of hundred yards +this brought them face to face with the cave, and not two hundred feet +from it. In front of the cave was the party of raiders, just returned +from their successful trip of killing and robbing in the settlement near +Florence on the Gila River. They were dancing to keep themselves warm +and to express their joy over their safe return. Half a dozen or more of +the squaws had arisen from their slumbers and were bending over a fire +and hurriedly preparing refreshments for their victorious kinsmen. The +fitful gleam of the glowing flame gave a Macbethian tinge to the weird +scene, and brought into bold relief the grim outlines of the cliffs, +between whose steep walls, hundreds of feet below, growled the rushing +current of the swift Salado. + +"The Indians, men and women, were in high good humor, and why should +they not be? Sheltered in the bosom of these grim precipices, only the +eagle, the hawk, the turkey buzzard, or the mountain sheep could venture +to intrude upon them. But hark! What is that noise? Can it be the breeze +of morning which sounds 'click, click?' You will know in one second +more, poor, deluded, red-skinned wretches, when the 'bang! boom!' of +rifles and carbines, reverberating like the roar of a cannon, from peak +to peak, shall lay six of your number dead in the dust. + +"The cold, gray dawn of that chill December morning was sending its +first rays above the horizon and looking down upon one of the worst +bands of Apaches in Arizona, caught like wolves in a trap. They rejected +with scorn our summons to surrender, and defiantly shrieked that not one +of our party should escape from the canyon. We heard their death-song +chanted, and then out of the cave and over the great pile of rocks, +which protected the entrance like a parapet, swarmed the warriors. But +we outnumbered them three to one, and poured in lead by the bucketful. +The bullets, striking the mouth and roof of the cave, glanced among the +savages in rear of the parapet, and wounded some of the women and +children, whose wails filled the air. + +"During the heaviest part of the firing, a little boy not more than four +years old, absolutely naked, ran out at the side of the parapet and +stood dumfounded between the two fires. Nantaje, without a moment's +pause, rushed forward, grasped the trembling infant by the arm, and +escaped unhurt with him, inside our lines. A bullet, probably deflected +from the rocks, had struck the boy on top of his head and plowed around +to the back of his neck, leaving a welt an eighth of an inch thick, but +not injuring him seriously. Our men suspended their firing to cheer +Nantaje and welcome the new arrival; such is the inconsistency of human +nature. + +"Again the Apaches were summoned to surrender, or, if they would not do +that, to let such of their women and children as so desired pass out +between the lines; again they yelled their refusal. Their end had come. +The detachment led by Major Brown at the top of the precipice, to +protect our retreat in case of necessity, had worked its way over to a +high shelf of rock overlooking the enemy beneath, and began to tumble +down great bowlders, which speedily crushed the greater number of the +Apaches. The Indians on the San Carlos reservation still mourn +periodically for the seventy-six of their relatives who yielded up the +ghost that morning. Every warrior died at his post. The women and +children had hidden themselves in the inner recesses of the cave, which +was of no great depth, and were captured and taken to Camp McDowell. A +number of them had been struck by glancing bullets or fragments of +falling rock. As soon as our pack trains could be brought up, we mounted +the captives on our horses and mules and started for the nearest +military station, the one just named, over fifty miles away." + +This was one of the most decisive blows received by the hostiles. No +more murderous band had ever desolated the ranches of Southern Arizona. +It had been virtually wiped out by the troopers, who, complete as was +their work, lost only a single man. + + +A GREAT TRANSFORMATION. + +This achievement may illustrate the manner in which the American +troopers did their work. A few days later a blow almost as destructive +was delivered at Turret Butte, and within a month a hundred and ten +Apaches in the Superstition Mountains surrendered to Major Brown and +accompanied him to Camp Grant. The Indians understood the character of +the man who was pressing them so remorselessly. They offered to +surrender to General Crook, who told them that, if they would stop +killing people and live peaceful lives, he would teach them to work, +find a market for their products, and prove himself the truest friend +they could have. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN WARRIOR.] + +They accepted the offer, for they knew Crook could be trusted. Strange +as it may appear, he had all the Apaches within a month at work digging +ditches, cutting hay and wood, planting vegetables, and as peaceful and +contented as so many farmers in the interior of one of our own States. +This transformation included all the Apaches in Arizona, excepting the +Chiricahuas, who were not within the jurisdiction of Crook. + +The terrible scourge that had so long desolated the Southwest was gone, +and all would have been well but for the vicious "Indian Ring" in +Washington, or, as it was more popularly known, the "Tucson Ring," who +secured legislation by which the 6,000 Apaches were ordered to leave the +reservation and go to that of San Carlos, where the soil is arid, the +water brackish, and the flies make life intolerable. As was inevitable, +the Indians were exasperated and revolted. They preferred to be shot +down while resenting the injustice than to submit quietly to it. Again +the reign of terror opened, and the blood of hundreds of innocent people +paid for the villainy of the rapacious miscreants who were beyond reach. + + +GERONIMO, THE FAMOUS APACHE CHIEF. + +The most famous chief of the Warm Spring Apaches was Geronimo. Another +hardly less prominent was his cousin Chato, who joined the whites in +their attempts to run down Geronimo. They professed to hate each other, +but there is ground for believing the two were secret allies, and kept +up continual communication by which Geronimo was able to avoid his +pursuers and continue his fearful career. + +General Crook took the saddle again, when Geronimo escaped from Fort +Apache in May, 1885, with a band of more than a hundred warriors, women, +and children. They traveled one hundred and twenty miles before making +their first camp. Try as they might, the cavalry could not get within +gunshot, and, though the chase was pressed for hundreds of miles, the +fugitives placed themselves beyond reach for a time in the Sierra Madre +Mountains. + +But Crook never let up, and finally corralled Geronimo. He held him just +one night, when he escaped. The wily leader stole back to camp the next +night, carried off his wife, and was beyond reach before pursuit could +be made. + +There was an agreement between the United States and Mexico by which the +troops of the former were allowed to follow any marauding Indians beyond +the Rio Grande when they were seeking escape by entering Mexico. General +H.W. Lawton (who won fame in Cuba during our late war with Spain and +still more in the Philippines) took the field with the Fourth Cavalry, +May 5, 1885. Lawton is a giant in stature and strength, with more +endurance than an Indian, absolutely fearless, and he was resolute to +run down the Apaches, even if compelled to chase them to the city of +Mexico. + +And he did it. Geronimo was followed with such untiring persistency, +losing a number of his bucks in the attacks made on him, that in +desperation he crossed the Rio Grande and headed again for the Sierra +Madre. A hot chase of two hundred miles brought the Apaches to bay, and +a brisk fight took place within the confines of Mexico. The Indians fled +again, and Lawton kept after them. The pursuit took the troopers 300 +miles south of the boundary line, the trail winding in and out of the +mountains and canyons of Sonora, repeatedly crossing and doubling upon +itself, but all the time drawing nearer the dusky scourges, who at last +were so worn out and exhausted that when summoned to surrender they did +so. + +Geronimo, one of the worst of all the Apaches, was once more a prisoner +with his band. But he had been a prisoner before, only to escape and +renew his outrages. So long as he was anywhere in the Southwest, the +ranchmen felt unsafe. Accordingly, he and his leading chiefs were sent +to Fort Pickens, Florida, the others being forwarded to Fort Marion, St. +Augustine. Their health after a time was affected, and they were removed +to Mount Vernon, Alabama. The prisoners, including the women and +children, number about 400. A school was opened, whither the boys and +girls were sent to receive instruction, and some of the brightest pupils +in the well-known Indian School at Carlisle were the boys and girls +whose fathers were merciless raiders in Arizona only a few years ago, +and who are now quiet, peaceful, contented, and "good Indians." The +Apaches have been thoroughly conquered, and the ranchmen and their +families have not the shadow of a fear that the terror that once +shadowed their thresholds can ever return. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1888. + +Although President Cleveland offended many of his party by his devotion +to the policy of civil service reform, he was renominated in 1888, while +the nominee of the Republicans was Benjamin Harrison. Other tickets were +placed in the field, and the November election resulted as follows: +Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman, Democrats, 168 electoral votes; +Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, Republicans, 233; Clinton B. Fisk +and John A. Brooks, Prohibition, received 249,907 popular votes; Alson +J. Streeter and C.E. Cunningham, United Labor, 148,105; James L. Curtis +and James R. Greer, American, 1,591. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN HARRISON. (1833-.) One term, 1889-1894.] + + +THE TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT. + +Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His +father was a farmer, and _his_ father was General William Henry +Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territory, and afterward President +of the United States, and the first to die in office. His father was +Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of +Independence. Thus the twenty-third President possesses illustrious +lineage. + +Benjamin Harrison entered Miami University when a boy, and was graduated +before the age of twenty. He studied law, and upon his admission to the +bar settled in Indianapolis, which has since been his home. He +volunteered early in the war, and won the praise of Sheridan and other +leaders for his gallantry and bravery. He was elected to the United +States Senate in 1881, and his ability placed him among the foremost +leaders in that distinguished body. As a debater and off-hand speaker, +he probably has no superior, while his ability as a lawyer long ago +placed him in the very front rank of his profession. + + +THE JOHNSTOWN DISASTER. + +The Conemaugh Valley, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, is about +twenty miles in length. The city of Johnstown lies thirty-nine miles +west-southwest of Altoona and seventy-eight miles east-by-south of +Pittsburg. It is the seat of the Cambria Iron Works, which give +employment to fully 6,000 men, and is one of the leading industrial +establishments of the country. Conemaugh Lake is at the head of the +winding valley, eighteen miles away, and was the largest reservoir of +water in the world. It was a mile and a half wide at its broadest part, +and two miles and a half long. Most of the lake was a hundred feet deep. +The dam was a fifth of a mile wide, ninety feet thick at its base, and +one hundred and ten feet high. The mass of water thus held in restraint +was inconceivable. + +The people living in the valley below had often reflected upon the +appalling consequences if this dam should give way. Few persons +comprehend the mighty strength of water, whose pressure depends mainly +upon its depth. A tiny stream, no thicker than a pipe-stem, can +penetrate deeply enough into a mountain to split it apart, and, should +the reservoir ever burst its bounds, it would spread death and +desolation over miles of country below. + +There had been several alarms, but the engineers sent to make an +examination of the dam always reported it safe, and the people, like +those who live at the base of a volcano, came to believe that all the +danger existed in their imagination. + +On the 31st of May, 1889, the dam suddenly gave way, sliding from its +base, like an oiled piece of machinery, and the vast mass of water shot +forward at the speed of more than two miles a minute. Seven minutes +after the bursting of the dam, the head of the resistless flood was +eighteen miles down the valley. A man on horseback had started, at a +dead-run, some minutes before the catastrophe, shouting a warning to the +inhabitants, some of whom, by instantly taking to flight up the +mountain side, were able to save themselves, but the majority waited too +long. + + +A FURIOUS TORRENT. + +Imagination cannot picture the awful power of this prodigious torrent. +Trees were uptorn or flattened to the earth, houses, locomotives, and +massive machinery were tumbled over and over and bobbed about like so +many corks, and the flood struck Johnstown with the fury of a cyclone, +sweeping everything before it, as if it were so much chaff. Tearing +through the city and carrying with it thousands of tons of wreckage of +every description, it plunged down the valley till it reached the +railroad bridge below Johnstown. There, for the first time, it +encountered an obstruction which it could not overcome. The structure +stood as immovable as a solid mountain, and the furious torrent piled up +the debris for a mile in width and many feet in depth. In this mass were +engines, houses, trees, furniture, household utensils, iron in all +forms, while, winding in and out, were hundreds of miles of barbed wire, +which knit the wreckage together. In many of the dwellings people were +imprisoned, and before a step could be taken to relieve them fire broke +out and scores were burned to death. + +[Illustration: INDIAN MOTHER AND INFANT.] + +How many people lost their lives in the Johnstown flood will never be +known. The remains of bodies were found for months and even years +afterward. The official list, when made up, was 2,280, of which 741 +bodies were unidentified; but there is little doubt that the loss was +fully twice the number given. Nothing of the kind has ever before +occurred in the history of our country, and it is to be hoped that such +a disaster will never be repeated. + +Again the calamity awoke an instant sympathetic response. Provisions, +tents, and money were sent to the sufferers from all parts of the Union, +and nothing that could relieve them was neglected. Johnstown was soon +rebuilt, and to-day there are no signs of the fearful visitation it +received, only a comparatively short time since. On November 14, 1892, +at the payment of the annuity provided for the orphans of Johnstown, the +sum of $20,325 was distributed. + +We came very near to having a war with Chili in the latter part of 1891. +On the 16th of October of that year, some forty men, attached to the +American warship _Baltimore_, lying in the harbor of Valparaiso, +obtained leave to go ashore. Sailors at such times are as frolicksome as +so many boys let out for a vacation, and it cannot be claimed that these +Jackies were models of order and quiet behavior. They were in uniform +and without weapons. + +They had been in the city only a short time, when one of them became +involved in a wrangle with a Chilian. His companions went to his +assistance whereupon a native mob quickly gathered and set upon them. +The Chilians detest Americans, and, seeing a chance to vent their +feelings, they did so with vindictive fury. They far outnumbered the +sailors, and besides nearly every one of them was armed. The boatswain's +mate of the _Baltimore_, Riggin by name, was killed and several +seriously wounded, one of whom afterward died from his injuries. +Thirty-five of the Americans were arrested and thrown into prison, but +as they could not be held upon any criminal charge they were released. + +The captain of the _Baltimore_ was the present Rear-Admiral Schley, who +rescued the Greely party of Arctic explorers, and gave so good an +account of himself, while in command of the _Brooklyn_, during the +destruction of Cervera's fleet off Santiago, July 3, 1898. When our +government learned of the affair, it directed Captain Schley to make a +full investigation. He did so, and his report left no doubt that the +Chilians had committed a gross outrage against our flag. + +The next act of our government was to demand an apology from Chili and +the payment of an indemnity to the sufferers and to the families of +those who had been killed by the attack of the mob. Chili is a fiery +nation, and her reply was so insolent that preparations were set on foot +to bring her to terms by force of arms. At the moment, as may be said, +when war impended, she sent an apology and forwarded a satisfactory +indemnity, whereupon the flurry subsided. + + +A GREAT INDIAN WAR THREATENED IN 1890-1891. + +A still greater danger threatened the country in the winter of +1890-1891, when we were menaced by the most formidable Indian uprising +that has ever occurred in the history of our country. + +Indian wars hitherto had been confined to certain localities, where, by +the prompt concentration of troops, they were speedily subdued; but in +the instance named the combination was among the leading and most +warlike tribes, who roamed over thousands of square miles of the +Northwest. A fact not generally suspected is that the red men of this +country are as numerous to-day as they ever were. While certain tribes +have disappeared, others have increased in number, with the result that +the sentimental fancy that at some time in the future the red man will +disappear from the continent has no basis in fact. The probability is +that they will increase, though not so rapidly as their Caucasian +brethren. + +The strongest tribe in the Northwest is the Sioux. It was they who +perpetrated the massacres in Minnesota in 1862. If necessary they could +place 5,000 warriors in the field, with every man a brave and skillful +fighter in his way. It was they, too, who overwhelmed Custer and his +command on the Little Big Horn in June, 1876. When it is added that the +squaws are as vicious fighters as their husbands, it will be understood +what a war with them means, especially since they have the help of +neighboring tribes. + +For a long time there have been two classes of Indians. The progressives +favor civilization, send their children to Carlisle and other schools, +engage in farming, and, in short, are fully civilized. They remain on +their reservation and give the government no trouble. Opposed to them +are the barbarians, or untamable red men, who refuse to accept +civilization, hate the whites, and are ready to go to war on a slight +pretext, even though they know there can be but one result, which is +their own defeat. + +The Indians are among the most superstitious people in the world. When, +therefore, a number of warriors appeared among them, dressed in white +shirts, engaging in furious "ghost dances," and declaring that the +Messiah was about to revisit the earth, drive out the white men, and +restore the hunting grounds to the faithful Indians, the craze spread +and the fanatical promises of the ghost dancers were eagerly accepted by +thousands of red men. + + +SITTING BULL. + +The most dangerous Sioux Indian was the medicine man known as Sitting +Bull, already referred to in our account of the Custer massacre. He +always felt bitter against the whites, and had caused them a good deal +of trouble. He saw in the ghost dance the opportunity for which he +longed, and he began urging his people to unite against their hereditary +enemies, as he regarded them. + +It soon became apparent that, unless he was restrained, he would cause +the worst kind of trouble, and it was determined to arrest him. The most +effective officers employed against the men are the Indian police in the +service of the United States government. These people did not like +Sitting Bull, and hoped they would have trouble in arresting him, since +it would give the pretext they wanted for shooting him. + +Sitting Bull's camp was forty miles northwest of Fort Yates, North +Dakota, whither the Indian police rode on the morning of December 15, +1890, with the United States cavalry lingering some distance in the +rear. The taunts of Sitting Bull's boy Crowfoot caused him to offer +resistance, and in a twinkling both parties began shooting. Sitting +Bull, his son, and six warriors were killed, while four of the Indian +police lost their lives, among them the one who had fired the fatal shot +at the medicine man. + +The remaining members of Sitting Bull's command fled to the "Bad Lands" +of Dakota, but a number were persuaded to return to Pine Ridge Agency. +There were so many, however, who refused to come in that the peril +assumed the gravest character. The only way to bring about a real peace +was to compel the disarming of the Indians, for so long as they had +weapons in their hands they were tempted to make use of them. + +[Illustration: INDIAN AGENCY.] + +It was the time for coolness, tact, and discretion, and the American +officers displayed it to a commendable degree. They carefully avoided +giving the Indians cause for offense, while insisting at the same time +upon their being disarmed. + +On December 28th, a band of malcontents were located near Wounded Knee +Creek, by the Seventh Cavalry, who had been hunting several days for +them. They were sullen, but, when ordered to surrender their weapons, +made a pretense of doing so. Emerging from their tepees, however, they +produced only a few worthless weapons. Being sharply ordered to bring +the remainder, they suddenly wheeled and began firing upon the soldiers. +In an instant, a fierce fight was in progress, with the combatants +standing almost within arm's reach of one another. + + +SQUAWS AS VICIOUS AS WILDCATS. + +Twenty-eight soldiers were killed and thirty wounded, while fully as +many of the Indians were shot down. In the fighting, the squaws were as +vicious as wildcats, and fought with as much effectiveness as the +warriors. A wounded officer was beaten to death by several of them +before he could be rescued. Finally, the Indians fled and joined the +malcontents, already assembled in the Bad Lands. + +This affair made the outlook still darker. The Seventh Cavalry had just +reached camp on the morning of December 30th, when a courier dashed up +to Pine Ridge, with word that the Catholic Mission building was on fire +and the Indians were killing the teachers and pupils. The wearied +troopers galloped hurriedly thither, but found the burning building was +the day school, a mile nearer Pine Ridge. A strong force of Indians were +gathered beyond, and the Seventh attacked them. The Sioux were so +numerous that the cavalry were in great danger of being surrounded, when +a vigorous attack by the Ninth Cavalry (colored) on the rear of the +Indians scattered them. + +Warriors continued to slip away from the agency and join the hostiles. +Their signal fires were seen burning at night, and recruits came all the +way from British America to help them. It was remarked at one time that +the only friendly Indians were the police, a few Cheyennes, and the +scouts, including a few Sioux chiefs, among whom American Horse was the +most conspicuous. He never wavered in his loyalty to the whites, and +boldly combated in argument his enemies, at the risk of being killed at +any moment by his infuriated countrymen. + + +THE ALARMING CLOUD DISSOLVED. + +There were a number of skirmishes and considerable fighting, but General +Miles, who assumed charge of all the military movements, displayed +admirable tact. When the Sioux began slowly coming toward the agency, it +was under orders from him that not a gun should be fired nor a +demonstration made except to repel an attack or to check a break on the +part of the Indians. This course was followed, the troopers keeping at a +goodly distance behind the hostiles, who seemed more than once on the +point of wheeling about and assailing them, despite their promises to +come into the agency and surrender their arms. + +The Sioux, however, kept their pledge, and, on the 15th of January, +1891, the immense cavalcade entered the agency. Everyone was amazed at +the strength displayed by the Indians, which was far greater than +supposed. In the procession were 732 lodges, and careful estimates made +the whole number 11,000, of whom 3,000 were warriors. Had these red men +broken loose and started upon the war trail, the consequences would have +been frightful. + +While the weapons turned in by the Indians were only a few in number and +of poor quality, General Miles was satisfied the trouble was over and +issued a congratulatory address to those under his command. His opinion +of the situation proved correct, and the alarming war cloud that had +hung over the Northwest melted and dissolved. While there have been +slight troubles in different parts of the country since, none assumed a +serious character, and it is believed impossible that ever again the +peril of 1890-91 can threaten the country. + + +ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. + +Several States were admitted to the Union during Harrison's +administration. The first were North and South Dakota, which became +States in November, 1889. The Dakotas originally formed part of the +Louisiana purchase. The capital was first established at Yankton in +March, 1862, but was removed to Bismarck in 1883. The two States +separated in 1889. + +In November of the latter year Montana was admitted, and in July +following Idaho and Wyoming. Montana was a part of Idaho Territory until +May, 1864, when it was organized as a separate Territory. Idaho itself +was a part Of Oregon Territory until 1863, and, when first formed, was +made up of portions of Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Nebraska. The +boundaries were changed in 1864 and a part added to Montana. Wyoming +gained its name from the settlers who went thither from Wyoming Valley, +Pennsylvania. It first became a Territory in 1863. + + +PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1892. + +The Republicans renominated President Harrison in 1892, with Whitelaw +Reid the candidate for Vice-President, while the Democrats put forward +ex-President Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson. The result of the +election was as follows: + +Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrats, 277 electoral votes; +Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, Republicans, 144. Of the popular +vote, James B. Weaver and James G. Field, People's Party, received +1,041,028 votes; John Bidwell and James B. Cranfil, Prohibition, +264,133; and Simon Wing and Charles M. Matchett, Social Labor, 21,164 +votes. + +[Illustration: THE HERO OF THE STRIKE, COAL CREEK, TENN. In 1892 a +period of great labor agitation began, lasting for several years. One of +the most heroic figures of those troublous times is Colonel Anderson, +under a flag of truce, meeting the infuriated miners at Coal Creek.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND), 1893-1897. + +Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill--The World's Columbian +Exposition at Chicago--The Hawaiian Imbroglio--The Great Railroad Strike +of 1894--Coxey's Commonweal Army--Admission of Utah--Harnessing of +Niagara--Dispute with England Over Venezuela's Boundary--Presidential +Election of 1896. + + +REPEAL OF THE PURCHASE CLAUSE OF THE SHERMAN BILL. + +[Illustration: HENRY MOORE TELLER. Senator from Colorado. The most +prominent among the "Silver Senators."] + +Grover Cleveland was the first President of the United States who had an +interval between his two terms. His inauguration was succeeded by a +financial stringency, which appeared in the summer and autumn of 1893. +There seemed to be a weakening of general confidence in all parts of the +country, and much suffering followed, especially in the large cities, +greatly relieved, however, by the well-ordered system of charity. Many +people thought that one cause of the trouble was the Sherman Bill, which +provided for a large monthly coinage of silver. Congress was convened in +extraordinary session August 7th by the President, who recommended that +body to repeal the purchase clause of the Sherman act. Such a repeal was +promptly passed by the House, but met with strong opposition in the +Senate. There is less curb to debate in that branch of Congress, and the +senators from the silver States, like Colorado, Idaho and Nevada, where +the mining of silver is one of the most important industries, did what +they could to delay legislation. Some of the speeches were spun out for +days, with no other purpose than to discourage the friends of the +measure by delaying legislation. Finally, however, a vote was reached +October 30th, when the bill passed and was immediately signed by the +President. + + +THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. + +The most notable event of Cleveland's second administration was the +World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago. Properly the four +hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America should have taken +place in 1892, but the preparations were on so grand a scale that they +could not be completed in time. + +[Illustration: Model of U.S. Man of War Built for exhibit at Worlds +Fair.] + +The part of the government in this memorable celebration was opened by a +striking naval parade or review of the leading war-ships of the world. +They assembled at Hampton Roads, Virginia, coming from points of the +globe thousands of miles apart. Steaming northward to New York, the +review took place April 27, 1893. In addition to the thirty-five +war-ships, there were the three Columbian caravels sent by Spain and +presented to the United States. When ranged in two lines on the Hudson, +these ships extended for three miles, and represented, besides our own +country, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Brazil, +Holland, and Argentina. The steel-clad yacht _Dolphin_ steamed between +these two lines, bearing President Cleveland and his cabinet, while each +ship as she came opposite thundered her salute. No conqueror of ancient +or modern times ever received so magnificent a tribute. + +Chicago, having won the prize of the location of the World's Fair, +selected the site on the 2d of July, 1890. This covered nearly 700 +acres of beautiful laid-out grounds and parks, extending from the point +nearest the city, two and a half miles, to the southern extremity of +Jackson Park. The site selected by the directors was the section known +as Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance. The park has a frontage of one +and a half miles on Lake Michigan and contains 600 acres, while the +Midway Plaisance, connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, afforded +eighty-five acres more. It is 600 feet wide and a mile in length. Since +world's fairs have become a favorite among nations, the following +statistics will give a correct idea of the vastness of the one held in +Chicago, from May 1 to November 1, 1893: + + London, 1857, 21-1/2 acres occupied; 17,000 exhibitors; + total receipts, $1,780,000 + + Paris, 1855, 24-1/2 " " 22,000 exhibitors; + total receipts, 6,441,200 + + London, 1862, 23-1/2 " " 28,633 exhibitors; + total receipts, 1,644,260 + + Paris, 1867, 37 " " 52,000 exhibitors; + total receipts, 2,103,675 + + Vienna, 1873, 280 " " 142,000 exhibitors; + total receipts, 6,971,832 + + Philadelphia, 1876, 236 " " 30,864 exhibitors; + total receipts, 3,813,724 + + Paris, 1878, 100 " " 40,366 exhibitors; + total receipts, 2,531,650 + + Paris, 1889, 173 " " 55,000 exhibitors; + total receipts, 8,300,000 + + Chicago, 1893, 645 " " 65,422 exhibitors; + total receipts, 33,290,065 + +The countries which made generous appropriations for exhibits were: +Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa +Rica, Denmark, Danish West Indies, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great +Britain, Barbadoes, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cape +Colony, Ceylon, India, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, New South Wales, New +Zealand, Trinidad, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, Haiti, Japan, +Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies, +Nicaragua, Norway, Orange Free State, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador, +San Domingo, Spain, Cuba, Sweden, Uruguay. + +All the States in the Union entered heartily into the scheme, their +total appropriations amounting to $6,000,000. The original plan called +for ten main buildings: Manufactures, Administration, Machinery, +Agriculture, Electricity, Mines, Transportation, Horticulture, +Fisheries, and the Venetian Village; but there were added: the Art +Galleries, the Woman's Building, the Forestry, Dairy, Stock, Pavilion, +Terminal Station, Music Hall, Peristyle, Casino, Choral, +Anthropological, and many others. + + +OPENING OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. + +The grounds and buildings were opened October 21, 1892, with appropriate +ceremonies by Vice-President Morton and other distinguished citizens. +The most important exhibits were as follows: + +The Transportation Building displayed about everything that could be +possibly used in transportation, from the little baby-carriage to the +ponderous locomotive. The progress of ship-building from its infancy to +the present was shown, among the exhibits being an accurate model of the +_Santa Maria_, the principal ship of Columbus, which was wrecked in the +West Indies, on his first voyage. The Bethlehem steam hammer, the +largest in the world, was ninety-one feet high and weighed 125 tons. + +Among the locomotives were the "Mississippi," built in England in 1834; +a model of Stephenson's "Rocket;" a steam carriage, used in France in +1759; and a model of Trevithick's locomotive of 1803. There were also +the first cable car built, the boat and steam fixtures made and +navigated by Captain John Stevens in 1804, and the "John Bull," used on +the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and which, it is claimed, is the oldest +locomotive in America. + +[Illustration: MACHINERY HALL.] + +The exhibit in the Mines and Mining Building were divided into 123 +classes, including cement from Heidelberg, mosaics in Carlsbad stone, +French asphalt specimens, French work in gold, platinum, and aluminum, +silver and ores from nearly every part of the world, and ores from +different sections of our own country. + +The Government Building was specially attractive, with its exhibits of +the several departments of the United States government. A case of +humming birds contained 133 varieties, and in another case were +represented 106 families of American birds. There were stuffed fowls, +flamingoes, nests, Rocky Mountain goats and sheep, armadilloes from +Texas, sea otters, American bisons, a Pacific walrus, 300 crocodiles of +the Nile, crocodile birds, fishes and reptiles, and an almost endless +display of coins and metals. + +[Illustration] + +The Department of Ethnology contained figures of Eskemos and specimens +of their industry, Canadian Indians, Indian wigwam, ancient pottery, +models of ruins found in Arizona, a brass lamp used at a feast 169 years +before Christ; scrolls of the law of Tarah, made in the tenth century in +Asia; silver spice-box of the time of Christ; phylacteries, used by the +Jews at morning prayers, except on Saturday; knife used by priests in +slaying animals for sacrifice. + +[Illustration] + +In the State Department thousands of people gazed with awe upon what was +believed to be the original Declaration of Independence as it came from +the hand of Thomas Jefferson. It was, however, only a close copy, since +the government under no circumstances will permit the original to leave +the archives at Washington. But among the original papers were the +petition of the United Colonies to George III., presented by Benjamin +Franklin in 1774; the original journal of the Continental Congress; +Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; an autograph letter of George III.; +and various proclamations issued by Presidents, with their autographs +and letters, by Washington, Franklin, the Adamses, Jefferson, Madison, +Polk, Van Buren, Monroe, Lincoln, Grant, Arthur, and Hayes. + + +WONDERFUL HISTORIC RELICS. + +[Illustration] + +The most interesting historic papers were letters penned by Napoleon, +Alexander of Russia, and other foreign potentates, the Webster-Ashburton +treaty signed by Queen Victoria, and a shark's tooth sent as a treaty by +the king of Samoa. Precious relics were Washington's commission as +commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, his sword, his diary, and his +account books and army reports; the sash with which Lafayette bound up +his wound at Brandywine; the calumet pipe which Washington smoked when +seventeen years old; Benjamin Franklin's cane; the sword of General +Jackson; a waistcoat embroidered by Marie Antoinette; wampum made before +the discovery of America; camp service of pewter used by Washington +throughout the Revolution; Bible brought over by John Alden in the +_Mayflower_; and a piece of torch carried by "Old Put" (General Israel +Putnam) into the den of the wolf which he killed. + +A section of one of the big trees of California was 20 feet in diameter +at the top and 26 feet at the base. + +The dreadful sufferings of persons imprisoned for debt in England, which +led to the founding of Georgia, were recalled by a warrant for the +arrest and imprisonment of one of the unfortunates, issued in 1721. + +There also were to be seen a page from the Plymouth records of 1620 and +1621; a land patent of 1628; the royal commission creating the common +pleas court of Massachusetts in 1696; a page from the horrible +witchcraft trials in Salem in 1692; a door-knocker brought to this +country in the _Mayflower_; and portraits of many historical persons. + +In the War Department were shown a six-pounder bronze gun presented by +Lafayette to the colonial forces; the four-pounder gun that fired the +first shot in the Civil War; the rifled gun that fired the last shot; +cannon used in the Mexican War; cast-iron cannon found in the Hudson +River; Chinese cannon captured at Corea; cannon captured at Yorktown; +boot-legs from which the starving members of the Greely Arctic +expedition made soup; relics of Sir John Franklin; a wagon used by +General Sherman throughout all his marches; the sacred shirt worn by +Sitting Bull at the time of the massacre of Custer and his command on +the Little Big Horn. + + +EXHIBITS OF THE TREASURY AND POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENTS. + +In the Treasury Department was represented the United States Mint in +operation, besides historic medals, ancient and modern coins, including +those of foreign countries, a ten-thousand gold dollar certificate and a +silver certificate of the same denomination. + +The eyes of the philatelists sparkled at the treasures in the Postoffice +Department, which included all the issues of stamps from 1847 to 1893. +Some of the single stamps were worth thousands of dollars, and it would +have required a fortune to purchase the whole collection, had it been +for sale. The methods of carrying the mail were illustrated by a +representation of dogs drawing a sled over the snow and a Rocky Mountain +stage-coach. It would require volumes to convey an intelligent idea of +the display in the Patent Office, Interior Department, Geological +Survey, Agricultural Department, and the United States Commission. + +[Illustration: THOMAS A. EDISON. + +(1847-.)] + +Everybody knows that wonderful discoveries have been made in +electricity, and no doubt we are close upon still greater ones. The name +of Edison is connected with the marvelous achievements in this field, +and there was much food for thought and speculation in the exhibits of +the Electricity Building. These, while profoundly interesting, were +mainly so in their hints of what are coming in the near future. + +Machinery Hall was a favorite with thousands of the visitors. The +exhibits were so numerous that they were divided into eighty-six +classes, grouped into: + +1. Motors and apparatus for the generation and transmission of power, +hydraulic and pneumatic apparatus. + +2. Fire-engines, apparatus and appliances for extinguishing fire. + +3. Machine tools and machines for working metals. + +4. Machinery for the manufacture of textile fabrics and clothing. + +5. Machines for working wood. + +6. Machines and apparatus for type-setting, printing, stamping and +embossing, and for making books and paper making. + +7. Lithography, zincography, and color painting. + +8. Photo-mechanical and other mechanical processes for illustrating, +etc. + +9. Miscellaneous hand-tools, machines and apparatus used in various +arts. + +10. Machines for working stones, clay, and other minerals. + +11. Machinery used in the preparation of foods, etc. + + +OTHER NOTABLE EXHIBITS. + +The cost of the model of the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, where +the wearied Columbus stopped to crave food for himself and boy, was +$50,000. The relics of the great explorer were numerous and of vivid +interest. + +Hardly less interesting was the reproduction of the Viking ship +unearthed in a burial mound in Norway in 1880, the model being precisely +that of the vessels in which the hardy Norsemen navigators crossed the +Atlantic a thousand years ago. It was seventy-six feet in length, the +bow ornamented with a large and finely carved dragon's head and the +stern with a dragon's tail. Rows of embellished shields ran along the +outside of the bulwarks, and all was open except a small deck fore and +aft, while two water-tight compartments gave protection to the men in +stormy weather. The rigging consisted of one mast with a single yard, +that could be readily taken down, but there were places for immense +oars, whose handling must have required tremendous muscular power. + +The Agricultural Building had an almost endless variety of articles, +such as cocoa, chocolate, and drugs from the Netherlands; wood pulp from +Sweden; odd-looking shoes and agricultural products from Denmark and +from France, the most striking of which was the Menier chocolate tower +that weighed fifty tons; fertilizers and products from Uruguay; an +elephant tusk seven and a half feet long; woods, wools, and feathers +from the Cape of Good Hope; a Zulu six feet and seven and a half inches +tall; a Canadian cheese weighing eleven tons, with other exhibits from +various countries, and specimens of what are grown in most of our own +States. The articles were so numerous that a list is too lengthy to be +inserted in these pages. + +[Illustration: THE VIKING SHIP. + +1. Appearance when discovered. 2. After restoration. 3. Rudder, shield, +and dragon-head.] + +The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building was of such unprecedented +size that its ground area was more than thirty acres, and its gallery +space forty-four acres. Its roof structure surpassed any ever made, and +it was the largest building in the world. So vast indeed was it that it +is worth our while to impress it upon our minds by several comparisons. +Any church in Chicago, which contains numerous large ones, can be placed +in the vestibule of St. Peter's at Rome, but the latter is only +one-third of the size of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. The +Coliseum of ancient Rome would seat 80,000 persons, but in the central +hall of the Chicago building, which is a single room without a +supporting column, 75,000 people could be comfortably seated, while the +building itself would seat 300,000 persons. The iron and steel in the +roof would build two Brooklyn bridges, and it required eleven acres of +glass to provide for the skylights. In its construction 17,000,000 feet +of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron were +used, with a total cost of $1,700,000. The ground plan was twice the +size of the pyramid of Cheops. + +[Illustration] + +We have recorded enough, however, to give some idea of the wealth of +treasures exhibited at Chicago in 1893, and which drew visitors from all +parts of the world. It is not worth while to refer at length to the +display of the foreign countries, for those who had the pleasure of +looking upon them will always carry their pleasant memory, while those +who were deprived of the privilege can gain no adequate idea from the +most extended description. The Midway Plaisance was a unique feature, +with its Hungarian Orpheum, Lapland Village, Dahomey Village, the +captive balloon, Chinese Village, Austrian Village, Cyclorama of the +volcano of Kilauea, the Algerian and Tunisian Village, the Ferris Wheel, +the never-to-be-forgotten street in Cairo, the numerous natives, and +other scenes that were not always on the highest plane of morality. + +[Illustration] + + +THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES. + +We as Americans are prone to forget some of the important events in our +history. The memory of them fades too soon. A hundred, years must pass +before our country will look upon another Columbian Exposition. That, in +the nature of things, will surpass the one in 1893, as far as that +surpassed the ordinary country fairs of our grandparents. When that +great year--1992--comes around, none of us will be here to look upon its +wonders. It seems proper, therefore, that, in dismissing the subject, we +should place on record the amount contributed by each State, without +which the grand success of the enterprise could never have been +attained. + + Alabama.................. $38,000 Nebraska................. $85,000 + Arizona.................. 30,000 Nevada................... 10,000 + Arkansas................. 55,000 New Hampshire............ 25,000 + California............... 550,000 New Jersey............... 130,000 + Colorado................. 167,000 New Mexico............... 35,000 + Connecticut.............. 75,000 New York................. 600,000 + Delaware................. 20,000 North Carolina........... 45,000 + Florida.................. 50,000 North Dakota............. 70,000 + Georgia.................. 100,000 Ohio..................... 200,000 + Idaho.................... 100,000 Oklahoma................. 17,500 + Illinois................. 800,000 Oregon................... 60,000 + Indiana.................. 135,000 Pennsylvania............. 360,000 + Iowa..................... 130,000 Rhode Island............. 57,500 + Kansas................... 165,000 South Carolina........... 50,000 + Kentucky................. 175,000 South Dakota............. 85,000 + Louisiana................ 36,000 Tennessee................ 25,000 + Maine.................... 57,000 Texas.................... 40,000 + Maryland................. 60,000 Utah..................... 50,600 + Massachusetts............ 175,000 Vermont.................. 39,750 + Michigan................. 275,000 Virginia................. 75,000 + Minnesota................ 150,000 Washington............... 100,000 + Mississippi.............. 25,000 West Virginia............ 40,000 + Missouri................. 150,000 Wisconsin................ 212,000 + Montana.................. 100,000 Wyoming.................. 30,000 + ---------- + Total................$6,060,350 + +The islands composing the group known under the general name of Hawaii +have long been of interest to different nations, and especially to our +country. A treaty was made in 1849 between Hawaii and the United States, +which provided for commerce and the extradition of criminals, and in +1875 a reciprocity treaty was concluded. This gave a marked impetus to +the sugar industry, which was almost wholly in the hands of foreigners. +Further treaty rights were confirmed by Congress in 1891. + +David Kalakaua became king of Hawaii in 1874. He had slight ability, and +was fonder of the pleasures of life than of measures for the good of his +country and subjects. He was displeased to see the hold gained by +foreigners in his country and their rapidly growing power. He joined +with the native Legislature in its cry of "Hawaii for the Hawaiians," +and did all he could to check the material progress of the islands. +Progressive men, however, gained control, and in 1887 Kalakaua was +compelled to sign a new constitution which deprived him of all but a +shadow of authority. The white residents were granted the right of +suffrage and closer relations were established with the United States. + +While engaged in negotiating a treaty with our country Kalakaua died, in +1891, in San Francisco, and his sister, Liliuokalani, succeeded him as +queen. She was much of the same mould as her brother, but of a more +revengeful nature. She was angered against the foreigners and the +progressive party, and alert for an opportunity to strike them a fatal +blow. She thought the time had come in January, 1893, when the leading +party was bitterly divided over important measures. She summoned the +Legislature and urged it to adopt a new constitution, which took away +the right of suffrage from the white residents and restored to the crown +the many privileges that had been taken from it. She was so radical in +her policy that her friends induced her to modify it in several +respects. She was thoroughly distrusted by the white residents, who did +not doubt that she would break all her promises the moment the pretext +offered. Nor would they have been surprised if a general massacre of the +white inhabitants were ordered. + +So deep-seated was the alarm that the American residents appealed for +protection to the United States man-of-war _Boston_, which was lying in +the harbor of Honolulu. The commander landed a company of marines, +against the protest of the queen's minister of foreign affairs and the +governor of the island, although they were assured that no attempt would +be made to interfere with their rights. In the face of this assurance, a +revolt took place, the monarchy was declared at an end, and a +provisional government was organized, to continue until terms of union +with the United States could be agreed upon. + +More decided steps followed. On February 1, 1894, the government was +formally placed under the protectorate of the United States, and the +Stars and Stripes was hoisted over the government building by a party of +marines. There was a strong sentiment in favor of annexation, and the +American minister was highly pleased. + +President Harrison was of the same mind, and authorized the presence on +the island of troops that might be needed to protect the lives and +property of Americans there, but he disavowed the protectorate. No +doubt, however, he favored the movement, but thought it wise to "make +haste slowly." + +In a short time, a treaty was framed which was acceptable to the +President. It provided that the government of Hawaii should remain as it +was, the supreme power to be vested in a commissioner of the United +States, with the right to veto any of the acts of the local government. +The public debt was to be assumed by the United States, while +Liliuokalani was to be pensioned at the rate of $20,000 a year, and her +daughter was to receive $150,000. President Harrison urged upon the +Senate the ratification of the treaty, fearing that delay would induce +some other power to step in and take the prize. + +[Illustration: JAMES G. BLAINE. + +(1830-1893.) + +Secretary of State under Harrison's administration.] + + +PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S CHANGE OF POLICY. + +Such was the status when President Cleveland came into office on the 4th +of March, 1893. His views were the very opposite of his predecessor's, +and he took steps to enforce them. He maintained there would have been +no revolution in Hawaii had not the force of marines landed from the +_Boston_. He withdrew the proposed treaty from the Senate, and sent +James H. Blount, of Georgia, to Hawaii as special commissioner to make +an investigation of all that had occurred, and to act in harmony with +the views of the President. On the 1st of April, Blount caused the +American flag to be hauled down, and formally dissolved the +protectorate. Minister Stevens was recalled and succeeded by Mr. Blount +as minister plenipotentiary. Steps were taken to restore Liliuokalani, +and her own brutal stubbornness was all that prevented. She was +determined to have the lives of the leaders who had deposed her, and to +banish their families. This could not be permitted, and the Dole +government refused the request to yield its authority to the queen. + +The situation brought President Cleveland to a standstill, for he had +first to obtain the authority of Congress in order to use force, and +that body was so opposed to his course that it would never consent to +aid him. The provisional government grew stronger, and speedily +suppressed a rebellion that was set on foot by the queen. It won the +respect of its enemies by showing clemency to the plotters, when it +would have been legally justified in putting the leaders to death. The +queen was arrested, whereupon she solemnly renounced for herself and +heirs all claim to the throne, urged her subjects to do the same, and +declared her allegiance to the republic. + + +ANNEXATION OF HAWAII. + +Let us anticipate a few events. In May, 1898, Representative Newlands +introduced into the House a resolution providing for the annexation of +Hawaii. Considerable opposition developed in the Senate, but the final +vote was carried, July 6th, by 42 to 21. The President appointed as +members of the commission, Senators Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; John +T. Morgan, of Alabama; Representative Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; and +President Dole and Chief Justice Judd, of the Hawaiian Republic. All the +congressmen named were members of the Committee on Foreign Relations and +Foreign Affairs. + +The news of the admission of Hawaii to the Union was received in the +islands with great rejoicing. A salute of one hundred guns was fired on +the Executive Building grounds at Honolulu, and the formal transfer, +August 12th, was attended with appropriate ceremonies. A full +description of these interesting islands, their history and their +products, will be found in Chapter XXVI. of this volume. + + +THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1894. + +One of the greatest railroad strikes in this country occurred in the +summer of 1894. Early in the spring of that year, the Pullman Car +Company, whose works are near Chicago, notified their employes that they +had to choose between accepting a reduction in their wages or having the +works closed. They accepted the cut, although the reduction was from +twenty-five to fifty per cent. of what they had been receiving. + +When May came, the distressed workmen declared it impossible for them +and their families to live on their meagre pay. They demanded a +restoration of the old rates; but the company refused, affirming that +they were running the business at a loss and solely with a view of +keeping the men at work. On the 11th of May, 3,000 workmen, a majority +of the whole number, quit labor and the company closed their works. + +The American Railway Union assumed charge of the strike and ordered a +boycott of all Pullman cars. Eugene V. Debs was the president of the +Union, and his sweeping order forbade all engineers, brakemen, and +switchmen to handle the Pullman cars on every road that used them. This +was far-reaching, since the Pullman cars are used on almost every line +in the country. + +A demand was made upon the Pullman Company to submit the question to +arbitration, but the directors refused on the ground that there was +nothing to arbitrate, the question being whether or not they were to be +permitted to operate their own works for themselves. A boycott was +declared on all roads running out of Chicago, beginning on the Illinois +Central. Warning was given to every road handling the Pullman cars that +its employes would be called out, and, if that did not prove effective, +every trade in the country would be ordered to strike. + +[Illustration: ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILWAY.] + +The railroad companies were under heavy bonds to draw the Pullman cars, +and it would have cost large sums of money to break their contracts. +They refused to boycott, and, on June 26th, President Debs declared a +boycott on twenty-two roads running out of Chicago, and ordered the +committees representing the employes to call out the workmen without an +hour's unnecessary delay. + +The strike rapidly spread. Debs urged the employes to refrain from +injuring the property of their employers, but such advice is always +thrown away. Very soon rioting broke out, trains were derailed, and men +who attempted to take the strikers' places were savagely maltreated. +There was such a general block of freight that prices of the necessaries +of life rose in Chicago and actual suffering impended. So much property +was destroyed that the companies called on the city and county +authorities for protection. The men sent to cope with the strikers were +too few, and when Governor Altgeld forwarded troops to the scenes of the +outbreaks, they also were too weak, and many of the militia openly +showed their sympathy with the mob. + +Growing bolder, the strikers checked the mails and postal service and +resisted deputy marshals. This brought the national government into the +quarrel, since it is bound to provide for the safe transmission of the +mails. On July 2d a Federal writ was issued covering the judicial +district of northern Illinois, forbidding all interference with the +United States mails and with interstate railway commerce. Several +leaders of the strike were arrested, whereat the mob became more +threatening than ever. The government having been notified that Federal +troops were necessary to enforce the orders of the courts in Chicago, a +strong force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry was sent thither. +Governor Altgeld protested, and President Cleveland told him in effect +to attend to his own business and sent more troops to the Lake City. + +There were several collisions between the mob and military, in which a +number of the former were killed. Buildings were fired, trains ditched, +and the violence increased, whereupon the President dispatched more +troops thither, with the warning that if necessary he would call out the +whole United States army to put down the law-breakers. + +The strike, which was pressed almost wholly by foreigners, was not +confined to Chicago. A strong antipathy is felt toward railroads in +California, owing to what some believe have been the wrongful means +employed by such corporations on the Pacific coast. + +There were ugly outbreaks in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, the +difficulty being intensified by the refusal of the militia to act +against the strikers. A force of regular soldiers, while hurrying over +the railroad to the scene of the disturbance, was ditched by the +strikers and several killed and badly hurt. The incensed soldiers were +eager for a chance to reach the strikers, but they were under fine +discipline and their officers showed great self-restraint. + + +END OF THE STRIKE. + +The course of all violent strikes is short. The savage acts repel +whatever sympathy may have been felt for the workingmen at first. Few of +the real sufferers took part in the turbulent acts. It was the +foreigners and the desperate men who used the grievances as a pretext +for their outlawry, in which they were afraid to indulge at other times. +Then, too, the stern, repressive measures of President Cleveland had a +salutary effect. Many labor organizations when called upon to strike +replied with expressions of sympathy, but decided to keep at work. +President Debs, Vice-President Howard, and other prominent members of +the American Railway Union were arrested, July 10th, on the charge of +obstructing the United States mails and interfering with the execution +of the laws of the United States. A number--forty-three in all--was +indicted by the Federal grand jury, July 19th, and the bonds were fixed +at $10,000 each. Bail was offered, but they declined to accept it and +went to jail. On December 14th, Debs was sentenced to six months' +imprisonment for contempt, the terms of the others being fixed at three +months. + +On August 5th, the general committee of strikers officially declared the +strike at an end in Chicago, and their action was speedily imitated +elsewhere. + + +COXEY'S COMMONWEAL ARMY. + +One of the most remarkable appeals made directly to the law-making +powers by the unemployed was that of Coxey's "Commonweal Army." Despite +some of its grotesque features, it was deserving of more sympathy than +it received, for it represented a pitiful phase of human poverty and +suffering. + +The scheme was that of J.S. Coxey, of Massillon, Ohio, who left that +town on the 25th of March, 1894, with some seventy-five men. They +carried no weapons, and believed they would gather enough recruits on +the road to number 100,000 by the time they reached Washington, where +their demands made directly upon Congress would be so imposing that that +body would not dare refuse them. They intended to ask for the passage of +two acts: the first to provide for the issue of $500,000,000 in +legal-tender notes, to be expended under the direction of the secretary +of war at the rate of $20,000,000 monthly, in the construction of roads +in different parts of the country; the second to authorize any State, +city, or village to deposit in the United States treasury +non-interest-bearing bonds, not exceeding in amount one-half the +assessed valuation of its property, on which the secretary of the +treasury should issue legal-tender notes. + +This unique enterprise caused some misgiving, for it was feared that +such an immense aggregation of the unemployed would result in turbulence +and serious acts of violence. Few could restrain sympathy for the object +of the "army," while condemning the means adopted to make its purpose +effective. + +The result, however, was a dismal fiasco. The trampers committed no +depredations, and when they approached a town and camped near it the +authorities and citizens were quite willing to supply their immediate +wants in order to get rid of them. But, while a good many recruits were +added, fully as many deserted. At no time did Coxey's army number more +than 500 men, and when it reached Washington on the 1st of May it +included precisely 336 persons, who paraded through the streets. Upon +attempting to enter the Capitol grounds they were excluded by the +police. Coxey and two of his friends disregarded the commands, and were +arrested and fined five dollars apiece and sentenced to twenty days' +imprisonment for violating the statute against carrying a banner on the +grounds and in not "keeping off the grass." The army quickly dissolved +and was heard of no more. + +Similar organizations started from Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, +and different points for Washington. In some instances disreputable +characters joined them and committed disorderly acts. In the State of +Washington they seized a railroad train, had a vicious fight with deputy +marshals, and it was necessary to call out the militia to subdue them. +Trouble occurred in Kansas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. The total +strength of the six industrial armies never reached 6,000. + + +ADMISSION OF UTAH. + +On the 4th of January, 1896, Utah became the forty-fifth member of the +Federal Union. The symbolical star on the flag is at the extreme right +of the fourth row from the top. The size of the national flag was also +changed from 6 by 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 4 inches. + +Utah has been made chiefly famous through the Mormons, who emigrated +thither before the discovery of gold in California. Its size is about +double that of the State of New York, and its chief resources are +mineral and agricultural. It forms a part of the Mexican cession of +1848, and its name is derived from the Ute or Utah Indians. Salt Lake +City was founded, and Utah asked for admission into the Union in 1849, +but was refused. A territorial government was organized in 1860, with +Brigham Young as governor. It has been shown elsewhere that in 1857 it +was necessary to send Federal troops to Utah to enforce obedience to the +laws. Polygamy debarred its admission to the Union for many years. + +The constitution of the State allows women to vote, hold office, and sit +on juries, and a trial jury numbers eight instead of twelve persons, +three-fourths of whom may render a verdict in civil cases, but unanimity +is required to convict of crime. The constitution also forbids polygamy, +and the Mormon authorities maintain that it is not practiced except +where plural marriages were contracted before the passage of the United +States law prohibiting such unions. + +It has been said by scientists that the power which goes to waste at +Niagara Falls would, if properly utilized, operate all the machinery in +the world. The discoveries made in electricity have turned attention to +this inconceivable storage of power, with the result that Niagara has +been practically "harnessed." + +In 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company was incorporated, followed +three years later by that of the Cataract Construction Company. Work +began in October, 1890, and three more years were required to complete +the tunnel, the surface-canal, and the preliminary wheel-pits. + +The first distribution of power was made in August, 1895, to the works +of the Pittsburg Reduction Company, near the canal. Other companies were +added, and the city of Buffalo, in December, 1895, granted a franchise +to the company to supply power to that city. The first customer was the +Buffalo Railway Company. November 15, 1896, at midnight, the current was +transmitted by a pole line, consisting of three continuous cables of +uninsulated copper, whose total length was seventy-eight miles. Since +that date, the street cars have been operated by the same motor, with +more industrial points continually added. + +[Illustration: A GOLD PROSPECTING PARTY ON DEBATABLE LAND IN BRITISH +GUIANA.] + +While our past history shows that we have had only two wars with Great +Britain, yet it shows also that talk of war has been heard fully a score +of times. Long after 1812, we were extremely sensitive as regarded the +nation that the majority of Americans looked upon as our hereditary foe, +and the calls for war have been sounded in Congress and throughout the +land far oftener than most people suspect. That such a calamity to +mankind has been turned aside is due mainly to the good sense and mutual +forbearance of the majority of people in both countries. England and the +United States are the two great English-speaking nations. Together they +are stronger than all the world combined. With the same language, the +same literature, objects, aims, and religion, a war between them would +be the most awful catastrophe that could befall humanity. + +The last flurry with the "mother country" occurred in the closing weeks +of 1895, and related to Venezuela, which had been at variance with +England for many years. Until 1810, the territory lying between the +mouths of the Orinoco and the Amazon was known as the Guianas. In the +year named Spain ceded a large part of the country to Venezuela, and in +1814 Holland ceded another to Great Britain. The boundary between the +Spanish and Dutch possessions had never been fixed by treaty, and the +dispute between England and Venezuela lasted until 1887, when diplomatic +relations were broken off between the two countries. + +Venezuela asked that the dispute might be submitted to arbitration, but +England would not agree, though the territory in question was greater in +extent than the State of New York. The United States was naturally +interested, for the "Monroe Doctrine" was involved, and in February, +1895, Congress passed a joint resolution, approving the suggestion of +the President that the question should be submitted to arbitration, but +England still refused. A lengthy correspondence took place between Great +Britain and this country, and, on December 17, 1895, in submitting it to +Congress, President Cleveland asked for authority from that body to +appoint a commission to determine the merits of the boundary dispute, as +a guide to the government in deciding its line of action, insisting +further that, if England maintained her unwarrantable course, the United +States should resist "by every means in its power, as a willful +aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by Great +Britain of any lands, or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over +any territory, which after investigation we have determined of right +belongs to Venezuela." + +There was no mistaking the warlike tone of these words. The country and +Congress instantly fired up and the land resounded with war talk. +Congress immediately appropriated the sum of $100,000 for the expense of +the commission of inquiry, and two days later the Senate passed the bill +without a vote in opposition. The committee was named on the 1st of the +following January and promptly began its work. + +But the sober second thought of wise men in both countries soon made +itself felt. Without prolonging the story, it may be said that the +dispute finally went to arbitration, February 2, 1897, where it should +have gone in the first place, and it was settled to the full +satisfaction of Great Britain, the United States, and Venezuela. Another +fact may as well be conceded, without any reflection upon our +patriotism: Had England accepted our challenge to war, for which she was +fully prepared with her invincible navy, and we were in a state of +unreadiness, the United States would have been taught a lesson that she +would have remembered for centuries to come. Thank God, the trial was +spared to us and in truth can never come, while common sense reigns. + +[Illustration: COUDERT. WHITE. BREWER. ALVEY. GILMAN. VENEZUELAN +COMMISSION. Appointed by President Cleveland, January, 1896, to +determine the true boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela.] + + +THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1896. + +The presidential election in the fall of 1896 was a remarkable one. The +month of September had hardly opened when there were eight presidential +tickets in the field. Given in the order of their nominations they +were: + +Prohibition (May 27th)--Joshua Levering, of Maryland; Hale Johnson, of +Illinois. + +National Party, Free Silver, Woman-Suffrage offshoot of the regular +Prohibition (May 28th)--Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska; James H. +Southgate, of North Carolina. + +Republican (June 18th)--William McKinley, of Ohio; Garret A. Hobart, of +New Jersey. + +Socialist-Labor (July 4th)--Charles H. Matchett, of New York; Matthew +Maguire, of New Jersey. + +Democratic (July 10th to 11th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska; +Arthur Sewall, of Maine. + +People's Party (July 24th to 25th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska; +Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia. + +National Democratic Party (September 8th)--John McAuley Palmer, of +Illinois; Simon Boliver Buckner, of Kentucky. + +[Illustration: WM. JENNINGS BRYAN. Democratic candidate for President, +1896.] + +As usual, the real contest was between the Democrats and Republicans. +The platform of the former demanded the free coinage of silver, which +was opposed by the Republicans, who insisted upon preserving the +existing gold standard. This question caused a split in each of the +leading parties. When the Republican nominating convention inserted the +gold and silver plank in its platform, Senator Teller, of Colorado, led +thirty-two delegates in their formal withdrawal from the convention. A +large majority of those to the National Democratic Convention favored +the free coinage of silver in the face of an urgent appeal against it by +President Cleveland. They would accept no compromise, and, after +"jamming" through their platform and nominating Mr. Bryan, they made +Arthur Sewall their candidate for Vice-President, though he was +president of a national bank and a believer in the gold standard. + +In consequence of this action, the Populists or People's Party refused +to accept the candidature of Mr. Sewall, and put in his place the name +of Thomas E. Watson, who was an uncompromising Populist. + +There was also a revolt among the "Sound Money Democrats," as they were +termed. Although they knew they had no earthly chance of winning, they +were determined to place themselves on record, and, after all the other +tickets were in the field, they put Palmer and Buckner in nomination. In +their platform they condemned the platform adopted by the silver men and +the tariff policy of the Republicans. They favored tariff for revenue +only, the single gold standard, a bank currency under governmental +supervision, international arbitration, and the maintenance of the +independence and authority of the Supreme Court. + +Mr. Bryan threw all his energies into the canvass and displayed +wonderful industry and vigor. He made whirlwind tours through the +country, speaking several times a day and in the evening, and won many +converts. Had the election taken place a few weeks earlier than the +regular date, it is quite probable he would have won. Mr. McKinley made +no speech-making tours, but talked many times to the crowds who called +upon him at his home in Canton, Ohio. The official vote in November was +as follows: + +McKinley and Hobart, Republican, 7,101,401 popular votes; 271 electoral +votes. + +Bryan and Sewall, Democrat and Populist, 6,470,656 popular votes; 176 +electoral votes. + +Levering and Johnson, Prohibition, 132,007 popular votes. + +Palmer and Buckner, National Democrat, 133,148 popular votes. + +Matchett and Maguire, Socialist-Labor, 36,274 popular votes. + +Bentley and Southgate, Free Silver Prohibition, 13,969 popular votes. + +Despite the political upheavals that periodically occur throughout our +country, it steadily advances in prosperity, progress and growth. Its +resources were limitless, and the settlement of the vast fertile areas +in the West and Northwest went on at an extraordinary rate. In no +section was this so strikingly the fact as in the Northwest. So great +indeed was the growth in that respect that the subject warrants the +special chapter that follows. + +[Illustration: CORNER AT TOP OF STAIRWAY NEW CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, +WASHINGTON, D.C.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND-CONCLUDED), 1893-1897. + +THE GREAT NORTHWEST. + +BY ALBERT SHAW, PH.D., + +_Editor "Review of Reviews," formerly editor of "Minneapolis Tribune."_ + +Settling the Northwest--The Face of the Country Transformed--Clearing +Away the Forests and its Effects--Tree-planting on the Prairies--Pioneer +Life in the Seventies--The Granary of the World--The Northwestern +Farmer--Transportation and Other Industries--Business Cities and +Centres--United Public Action and its Influence--The Indian +Question--Other Elements of Population--Society and General Culture. + + +"Northwest" is a shifting, uncertain designation. The term has been used +to cover the whole stretch of country from Pittsburg to Puget Sound, +north of the Ohio River and the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude. +Popularly it signified the old Northwestern Territory--including Ohio, +Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--until about the time of the +Civil War. In the decade following the war, Illinois and Iowa were +largely in the minds of men who spoke of the Northwest. From 1870 to +1880, Iowa, Kansas, northern Missouri, and Nebraska constituted the most +stirring and favored region--the Northwest _par excellence_. But the +past decade has witnessed a remarkable development in the Dakotas; and +Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Montana, with Iowa and Nebraska, +are perhaps the States most familiarly comprised in the idea of the +Northwest. These States are really in the heart of the continent--midway +between oceans; and perhaps by common consent the term Northwest will, a +decade hence, have moved on and taken firm possession of Oregon, +Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming, while ultimately Alaska may succeed to +the designation. + +[Illustration: ALBERT SHAW.] + +But for the present the Northwest is the great arable wedge lying +between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and between the Missouri +River and the Rocky Mountains. It is a region that is pretty clearly +defined upon a map showing physical characteristics. For the most part, +it is a region of great natural fertility, of regular north-temperate +climate, of moderate but sufficient rainfall, of scant forests and great +prairie expanses, and of high average altitude without mountains. In a +word, it is a region that was adapted by nature to the cultivation of +the cereals and leading crops of the temperate zone without arduous and +time-consuming processes for subduing the wilderness and redeeming the +soil. + + +SETTLING THE NORTHWEST. + +This "New Northwest," in civilization and in all its significant +characteristics, is the creature of the vast impulse that the successful +termination of the war gave the nation. No other extensive area was ever +settled under similar conditions. The homestead laws, the new American +system of railroad building, and the unprecedented demand for staple +food products in the industrial centres at home and abroad, peopled the +prairies as if by magic. Until 1870, fixing the date very roughly, +transportation facilities followed colonization. The railroads were +built to serve and stimulate a traffic that already existed. The +pioneers had done a generation's work before the iron road overtook +them. In the past two decades all has been changed. The railroads have +been the pioneers and colonizers. They have invaded the solitary +wilderness, and the population has followed. Much of the land has +belonged to the roads, through subsidy grants, but the greater part of +the mileage has been laid without the encouragement of land subsidies or +other bonuses, by railway corporations that were willing to look to the +future for their reward. + +It would be almost impossible to over-estimate the significance of this +method of colonization. Within a few years it has transformed the +buffalo ranges into the world's most extensive fields of wheat and corn. +A region comprising northern and western Minnesota and the two Dakotas, +which contributed practically nothing to the country's wheat supply +twelve or fifteen years ago, has, by this system of railroad +colonization, reached an annual production of 100,000,000 bushels of +wheat alone--about one-fourth of the crop of the entire country. In like +manner, parts of western Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, that produced no +corn before 1875 or 1880, are now the centre of corn-raising, and yield +many hundreds of millions of bushels annually. These regions enter as +totally new factors into the world's supply of foods and raw materials. +A great area of this new territory might be defined that was inhabited +in 1870 by less than a million people, in 1880 by more than three +millions, and in 1899 by from eight to ten millions. + +[Illustration: A DISPUTE OVER A BRAND.] + +Let us imagine a man from the East who has visited the Northwestern +States and Territories at some time between the years 1870 and 1875, and +who retains a strong impression of what he saw, but who has not been +west of Chicago since that time, until, in the World's Fair year, he +determines upon a new exploration of Iowa, Nebraska, the Datokas, +Minnesota, and Wisconsin. However well informed he had tried to keep +himself through written descriptions and statistical records of Western +progress, he would see what nothing but the evidence of his own eyes +could have made him believe to be possible. Iowa in 1870 was already +producing a large crop of cereals, and was inhabited by a thriving, +though very new, farming population. But the aspect of the country was +bare and uninviting, except in the vicinity of the older communities on +the Mississippi River. As one advanced across the State the farm-houses +were very small, and looked like isolated dry-goods boxes; there were +few well-built barns or farm buildings; and the struggling young +cottonwood and soft-maple saplings planted in close groves about the +tiny houses were so slight an obstruction to the sweep of vision across +the open prairie that they only seemed to emphasize the monotonous +stretches of fertile, but uninteresting, plain. Now the landscape is +wholly transformed. A railroad ride in June through the best parts of +Iowa reminds one of a ride through some of the pleasantest farming +districts of England. The primitive "claim shanties" of thirty years ago +have given place to commodious farm-houses flanked by great barns and +hay-ricks, and the well-appointed structures of a prosperous +agriculture. In the rich, deep meadows herds of fine-blooded cattle are +grazing. What was once a blank, dreary landscape is now garden-like and +inviting. The poor little saplings of the earlier days, which seemed to +be apologizing to the robust corn-stalks in the neighboring fields, have +grown on that deep soil into great, spreading trees. One can easily +imagine, as he looks off in every direction and notes a wooded horizon, +that he is--as in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky--in a farming region which +has been cleared out of primeval forests. There are many towns I might +mention which twenty-five years ago, with their new, wooden shanties +scattered over the bare face of the prairie, seemed the hottest place on +earth as the summer sun beat upon their unshaded streets and roofs, and +seemed the coldest places on earth when the fierce blizzards of winter +swept unchecked across the prairie expanses. To-day the density of shade +in those towns is deemed of positive detriment to health, and for +several years past there has been a systematic thinning out and trimming +up of the great, clustering elms. Trees of from six to ten feet in girth +are found everywhere by the hundreds of thousands. Each farm-house is +sheltered from winter winds by its own dense groves. Many of the farmers +are able from the surplus growth of wood upon their estates to provide +themselves with a large and regular supply of fuel. If I have dwelt at +some length upon this picture of the transformation of the bleak, +grain-producing Iowa prairies of thirty years ago into the dairy and +live-stock farms of to-day, with their fragrant meadows and ample +groves, it is because the picture is one which reveals so much as to the +nature and meaning of Northwestern progress. + + +CLEARING AWAY THE FORESTS AND ITS EFFECTS. + +Not a little has been written regarding the rapid destruction of the +vast white-pine forests with which nature has covered large districts of +Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It is true that this denudation has +progressed at a rate with which nothing of a like character in the +history of the world is comparable. It is also true, doubtless, that the +clearing away of dense forest areas has been attended with some +inconvenient climatic results, and particularly with some objectionable +effects upon the even distribution of rainfall and the regularity of the +flow of rivers. But most persons who have been alarmed at the rapidity +of forest destruction in the white-pine belt have wholly overlooked the +great compensating facts. It happens that the white-pine region is not +especially fertile, and that for some time to come it is not likely to +acquire a prosperous agriculture. But adjacent to it and beyond it +there was a vast region of country which, though utterly treeless, was +endowed with a marvelous richness of soil and with a climate fitted for +all the staple productions of the temperate zone. This region embraced +parts of Illinois, almost the whole of Iowa, southern Minnesota, Kansas, +Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and parts of Montana--a region of +imperial extent. Now, it happens that for every acre of pine land that +has been denuded in Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northern Minnesota +there are somewhere in the great treeless region further south and west +two or three new farm-houses. The railroads, pushing ahead of settlement +out into the open prairie, have carried the white-pine lumber from the +gigantic sawmills of the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries; and thus +millions of acres of land have been brought under cultivation by farmers +who could not have been housed in comfort but for the proximity of the +pine forests. The rapid clearing away of timber areas in Wisconsin has +simply meant the rapid settlement of North and South Dakota, western +Iowa, and Nebraska. + +[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL SPIRES, COLORADO.] + + +TREE PLANTING ON THE PRAIRIES. + +The settlement of these treeless regions means the successful growth on +every farm of at least several hundred trees. Without attempting to be +statistical or exact, we might say that an acre of northern Minnesota +pine trees makes it possible for a farmer in Dakota or Nebraska to have +a house, farm buildings, and fences, with a holding of at least one +hundred and sixty acres upon which he will successfully cultivate +several acres of forest trees of different kinds. Even if the denuded +pine lands of the region south and west of Lake Superior would not +readily produce a second growth of dense forest--which, it should be +said in passing, they certainly will--their loss would be far more than +made good by the universal cultivation of forest trees in the prairie +States. It is at least comforting to reflect, when the friends of +scientific forestry warn us against the ruthless destruction of standing +timber, that thus far at least in our Western history we have simply +been cutting down trees in order to put a roof over the head of the man +who was invading treeless regions for the purpose of planting and +nurturing a hundred times as many trees as had been destroyed for his +benefit! There is something almost inspiring in the contemplation of +millions of families, all the way from Minnesota to Colorado and Texas, +living in the shelter of these new pine houses and transforming the +plains into a shaded and fruitful empire. + + +PIONEER LIFE IN THE SEVENTIES. + +[Illustration: SLUICE-GATE.] + +The enormous expansion of our railway systems will soon have made it +quite impossible for any of the younger generation to realize what +hardships were attendant upon such limited colonization of treeless +prairie regions as preceded the iron rails. In 1876 I spent the summer +in a part of Dakota to which a considerable number of hardy but poor +farmers had found their way and taken up claims. They could not easily +procure wood for houses, no other ordinary building material was +accessible, and they were living in half-underground "dugouts," +so-called. There was much more pleasure and romance in the pioneer +experiences of my own ancestors a hundred years ago, who were living in +comfortable log-houses with huge fire places, and shooting abundant +supplies of deer and wild turkey in the deep woods of southern Ohio. The +pluck and industry of these Dakota pioneers, most of whom were Irish men +and Norwegians, won my heartiest sympathy and respect. Poor as they +were, they maintained one public institution in common--namely, a +school, with its place of public assemblage. The building had no floor +but the beaten earth, and, its thick walls were blocks of matted prairie +turf, its roof also being of sods supported upon some poles brought from +the scanty timber-growth along the margin of a prairie river. To-day +these poor pioneers are enjoying their reward. Their valley is traversed +by several railroads; prosperous villages have sprung up; their lands +are of considerable value; they all live in well-built farm-houses; +their shade trees have grown to a height of fifty or sixty feet; a +bustling and ambitious city, with fine churches, opera-houses, electric +illumination, and the most advanced public educational system, is only a +few miles away from them. Such transformations have occurred, not alone +in a few spots in Iowa and South Dakota, but are common throughout a +region that extends from the British dominions to the Indian Territory, +and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains--a region +comprising more than a half-million square miles. + + +THE GRANARY OF THE WORLD. + +[Illustration: BETWEEN THE MILLS.] + +Naturally the industrial life of these Northwestern communities is based +solidly upon agriculture. There is, perhaps, hardly any other +agricultural region of equal extent upon the face of the earth that is +so fertile and so well adapted for the production of the most necessary +articles of human food. During the past decade the world's markets have +been notably disturbed and affected, and profound social changes and +political agitations have occurred in various remote parts of the earth. +It is within bounds to assert that the most potent and far-reaching +factor in the altered conditions of the industrial world during these +recent years has been the sudden invasion and utilization of this great +new farming region. Most parts of the world which are fairly prosperous +do not produce staple food supplies in appreciable surplus quantities. +Several regions which are not highly prosperous sell surplus food +products out of their poverty rather than out of their abundance. That +is to say, the people of India and the people of Russia have often been +obliged, in order to obtain money to pay their taxes and other necessary +expenses, to sell and send away to prosperous England the wheat which +they have needed for hungry mouths at home. They have managed to subsist +upon coarser and cheaper food. But in our Northwestern States the +application of ingenious machinery to the cultivation of fertile and +virgin soils has within the past twenty-five years precipitated upon the +world a stupendous new supply of cereals and of meats, produced in +quantities enormously greater than the people of the Northwestern States +could consume. These foodstuffs have powerfully affected agriculture in +Ireland, England, France, and Germany, and, in fact, in every other part +of the accessible and cultivated globe. + +[Illustration: BARREL-HOIST AND TUNNEL THROUGH THE WASHBURN MILL.] + + +THE NORTHWESTERN FARMER. + +So much has been written of late about the condition of the farmer in +these regions that it is pertinent to inquire who the Western farmer is. +In the old States the representative farmer is a man of long training in +the difficult and honorable art of diversified agriculture. He knows +much of soils, of crops and their wise rotation, of domestic animals and +their breeding, and of a hundred distinct phases of the production, the +life, and the household economics that belong to the traditions and +methods of Anglo-Saxon farming. If he is a wise man, owning his land and +avoiding extravagance, he can defy any condition of the markets, and can +survive any known succession of adverse seasons. There are also many +such farmers in the West. But there are thousands of wheat-raisers or +corn-growers who have followed in the wake of the railway and taken up +government or railroad land, and who are not yet farmers in the truest +and best sense of the word. They are unskilled laborers who have become +speculators. They obtain their land for nothing, or for a price ranging +from one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per acre. They borrow on +mortgage the money to build a small house and to procure horses and +implements and seed-grain. Then they proceed to put as large an acreage +as they can manage into a single crop--wheat in the Dakotas, wheat or +corn in Nebraska and Kansas. They speculate upon the chances of a +favorable season and a good crop safely harvested; and they speculate +upon the chances of a profitable market. They hope that the first two +crops may render them the possessor of an unincumbered estate, supplied +with modest buildings, and with a reasonable quantity of machinery and +live stock. Sometimes they succeed beyond their anticipations. In many +instances the chances go against them. They live on the land, and the +title is invested in them; but they are using borrowed capital, use it +unskillfully, meet an adverse season or two, lose through foreclosure +that which has cost them nothing except a year or two of energy spent in +what is more nearly akin to gambling than to farming, and finally help +to swell the great chorus that calls the world to witness the distress +of Western agriculture. It cannot be said too emphatically that real +agriculture in the West is safe and prosperous, and that the +unfortunates are the inexperienced persons, usually without capital, who +attempt to raise a single crop on new land. For many of them it would be +about as wise to take borrowed money and speculate in wheat in the +Chicago bucket-shops. + +[Illustration: MOSSBRAE.] + +The great majority, however, of these inexperienced and capital-less +wheat and corn producers gradually become farmers. It is inevitable, at +first, that a country opened by the railroads for the express purpose of +obtaining the largest possible freightage of cereals should for a few +seasons be a "single-crop country." Often the seed-grain is supplied on +loan by the roads themselves. They charge "what the traffic will bear." +The grain is all, or nearly all, marketed through long series of +elevators following the tracks, at intervals of a few miles, and owned +by some central company that bears a close relation to the railroad. +Thus the corporations which control the transportation and handling of +the grain in effect maintain for their own advantage an exploitation of +the entire regions that they traverse, through the first years of +settlement. Year by year the margin of cultivation extends further +West, and the single-crop sort of farming tends to recede. The wheat +growers produce more barley and oats and flax, try corn successfully, +introduce live stock and dairying, and thus begin to emerge as real +farmers. + +Unless this method of Western settlement is comprehended, it is not +possible to understand the old Granger movement and the more recent +legislative conflicts between the farmers of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, +Minnesota, and the Dakotas, on the one hand, and the great +transportation and grain-handling corporations on the other. It was +fundamentally a question of the division of profits. The railroads had +"made" the country: were they entitled to allow the farmers simply a +return about equal to the cost of production, keeping for themselves the +difference between the cost and the price in the central markets, or +were they to base their charges upon the cost of their service, and +leave the farmers to enjoy whatever profits might arise from the +production of wheat or corn? Out of that protracted contest has been +developed the principle of the public regulation of rates. The position +of these communities of farmers with interests so similar, forming +commonwealths so singularly homogeneous, has led to a reliance upon +State aid that is altogether unprecedented in new and sparsely settled +regions, where individualism has usually been dominant, and governmental +activity relatively inferior. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT BLOCK-HOUSE, ALASKA.] + + +TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. + +But agriculture, while the basis of Northwestern wealth, is not the sole +pursuit. Transportation has become in these regions a powerful interest, +because of the vast surplus agricultural product to be carried away, and +of the great quantities of lumber, coal, salt, and staple supplies in +general, to be distributed throughout the new prairie communities. The +transformation of the pine forests into the homes of several million +people has, of course, developed marvelous sawmill and building +industries; and the furnishing of millions of new homes has called into +being great factories for the making of wooden furniture, iron stoves, +and all kinds of household supplies. In response to the demand for +agricultural implements and machinery with which to cultivate five +hundred million acres of newly utilized wild land, there have come into +existence numerous great establishments for the making of machines that +have been especially invented to meet the peculiarities and exigencies +of Western farm life. + +Through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, Indian corn has become a +greater product in quantity and value than wheat; while in Wisconsin, +Minnesota, and North and South Dakota the wheat is decidedly the +preponderant crop. Although in addition to oats and barley, which +flourish in all the Western States, it has been found possible to +increase the acreage of maize in the northern tier, it is now believed +that the most profitable alternate crop in the latitude of Minneapolis +and St. Paul is to be flax. Already a region including parts of +Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas has become the +most extensive area of flax culture in the whole world. The crop has +been produced simply for the seed, which has supplied large linseed oil +factories in Minneapolis, Chicago, and various Western places. But now +it has been discovered that the flax straw, which has heretofore been +allowed to rot in the fields as a valueless product, can be utilized for +a fibre which will make a satisfactory quality of coarse linen fabrics. +Linen mills have been established in Minneapolis, and it is somewhat +confidently predicted that in course of time the linen industry of that +ambitious city will reach proportions even greater than its wonderful +flour industry, which for a number of years has been without a rival +anywhere in the world. + + +THE "TWIN CITIES." + +The railroad system of the Northwest has been developed in such a way +that no one centre may be fairly regarded as the commercial capital of +the region. Chicago, with its marvelous foresight, has thrown out lines +of travel that draw to itself much of the traffic which would seem +normally to belong to Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth on the north, or +to St. Louis and Kansas City on the south. But in the region now under +discussion, the famous "Twin Cities," Minneapolis and St. Paul, +constitute unquestionably the greatest and most distinctive centre, both +of business and of civilization. They are beautifully situated, and they +add to a long list of natural advantages very many equally desirable +attractions growing out of the enterprising and ambitious forethought of +the inhabitants. They are cities of beautiful homes, pleasant parks, +enterprising municipal improvements; advanced educational +establishments, and varied industrial interests. Each is a distinct +urban community, although they lie so near together that they constitute +one general centre of commerce and transportation when viewed from a +distance. Their stimulating rivalry has had the effect to keep each city +alert and to prevent a listless, degenerate local administration. About +the Falls of St. Anthony, at Minneapolis, great manufacturing +establishments are grouping themselves, and each year adds to the +certainty that these two picturesque and charming cities have before +them a most brilliant civic future. + +[Illustration: THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY, 1885.] + + +UNITED PUBLIC ACTION AND ITS INFLUENCE. + +The tendency to rely upon united public action is illustrated in the +growth of Northwestern educational systems. The universities of these +commonwealths are State universities. Professional education is under +the State auspices and control. The normal schools and the agricultural +schools belong to the State. The public high school provides +intermediate instruction. The common district school, supported jointly +by local taxation and State subvention, gives elementary education to +the children of all classes. As the towns grow the tendency to graft +manual and technical courses upon the ordinary public school curriculum +is unmistakably strong. The Northwest, more than any other part of the +country, is disposed to make every kind of education a public function. + +Radicalism has flourished in the homogeneous agricultural society of +the Northwest. In the anti-monopoly conflict there seemed to have +survived some of the intensity of feeling that characterized the +anti-slavery movement; and a tinge of this fanatical quality has always +been apparent in the Western and Northwestern monetary heresies. But it +is in the temperance movement that this sweep of radical impulse has +been most irresistible. It was natural that the movement should become +political and take the form of an agitation for prohibition. The history +of prohibition in Iowa, Kansas, and the Dakotas, and of temperance +legislation in Minnesota and Nebraska, reveals--even better perhaps than +the history of the anti-monopoly movement--the radicalism, homogeneity, +and powerful socializing tendencies of the Northwestern people. Between +these different agitations there has been in reality no slight degree of +relationship; at least their origin is to be traced to the same general +conditions of society. + +The extent to which a modern community resorts to State action depends +in no small measure upon the accumulation of private resources. Public +or organized initiative will be relatively strongest where the impulse +to progress is positive but the ability of individuals is small. There +are few rich men in the Northwest. Iowa, great as is the Hawkeye State, +has no large city and no large fortunes. Of Kansas the same thing may be +said. The Dakotas have no rich men and no cities. Minnesota has +Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Nebraska has Omaha; but otherwise these +two States are farming communities, without large cities or concentrated +private capital. Accordingly the recourse to public action is +comparatively easy. South Dakota farmers desire to guard against drought +by opening artesian wells for irrigation. They resort to State +legislation and the sale of county bonds. North Dakota wheat-growers are +unfortunate in the failure of crops. They secure seed-wheat through +State action and their county governments. A similarity of condition +fosters associated action and facilitates the progress of popular +movements. + +In such a society the spirit of action is intense. If there are few +philosophers, there is remarkable diffusion of popular knowledge and +elementary education. The dry atmosphere and the cold winters are +nerve-stimulants, and life seems to have a higher tension and velocity +than in other parts of the country. + + +THE INDIAN QUESTION. + +The Northwest presents a series of very interesting race problems. The +first one, chronologically at least, is the problem that the American +Indian presents. It is not so long ago since the Indian was in +possession of a very large portion of the region we are now considering. +A number of tribes were gradually removed further West, or were assigned +to districts in the Indian Territory. But most of them were concentrated +in large reservations in Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, +Montana, and Wyoming. The past few years have witnessed the rapid +reduction of these reservations, and the adoption of a policy which, if +carried to its logical conclusion with energy and good faith, will at an +early date result in the universal education of the children, in the +abolition of the system of reservations, and in the settlement of the +Indian families upon farms of their own, as fully enfranchised American +citizens. + + +OTHER ELEMENTS OF POPULATION. + +[Illustration: LAKE-SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO.] + +The most potent single element of population in the Northwest is of New +England origin, although more than half of it has found its way into +Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, by filtration +through the intermediate States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, +Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. But there has also been a vast direct +immigration from abroad; and this element has come more largely, by far, +from the northern than from the central and southern races of Europe. +The Scandinavian peninsula and the countries about the Baltic and North +Seas have supplied the Northwest with a population that already numbers +millions. From Chicago to Montana there is now a population of full +Scandinavian origin, which, perhaps, may be regarded as about equal in +numbers to the population that remains in Sweden and Norway. In +Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as in +northern Iowa and in some parts of Nebraska, there are whole counties +where the population is almost entirely Scandinavian. Upon all this +portion of the country for centuries to come the Scandinavian +patronymics will be as firmly fixed as they have been upon the Scotch +and English coasts, where the Northmen intrenched themselves so +numerously and firmly about nine hundred or a thousand years ago. The +Scandinavians in the Northwest become Americans with a rapidity +unequaled by any other non-English-speaking element. Their political +ambition is as insatiate as that of the Irish, and they already secure +offices in numbers. Their devotion to the American school system, their +political aptitude and ambition, and their enthusiastic pride in +American citizenship are thoroughly hopeful traits, and it is generally +believed that they will contribute much of strength and sturdiness to +the splendid race of Northwestern Americans that is to be developed in +the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Valleys. The Northwestern Germans +evince a tendency to mass in towns, as in Milwaukee, and to preserve +intact their language and national traits. + + +SOCIETY AND GENERAL CULTURE. + +The large towns of the Northwest are notable for the great numbers of +the brightest and most energetic of the young business and professional +men of the East that they contain. While they lack the leisure class and +the traditions of culture that belong to older communities, they may +justly claim a far higher percentage of college-bred men and of families +of cultivated tastes than belong to Eastern towns of like population. +The intense pressure of business and absorption of private pursuits are, +for the present, seeming obstacles to the progress of Western +communities in the highest things; but already the zeal for public +improvements and for social progress in all that pertains to true +culture is very great. Two decades hence no man will question the +quality of Northwestern civilization. If the East is losing something of +its distinctive Americanism through the influx of foreign elements and +the decay of its old-time farming communities, the growth of the +Northwest, largely upon the basis of New England blood and New England +ideas, will make full compensation. + +Every nation of the world confronts its own racial or climatic or +industrial problems, and nowhere is there to be found an ideal state of +happiness or virtue or prosperity; but, all things considered, it may +well be doubted whether there exists any other extensive portion, either +of America or of the world, in which there is so little of pauperism, of +crime, of social inequality, of ignorance, and of chafing discontent, as +in the agricultural Northwest that lies between Chicago and the Rocky +Mountains. Schools and churches are almost everywhere flourishing in +this region, and the necessities of life are not beyond the reach of any +element or class. There is a pleasantness, a hospitality, and a +friendliness in the social life of the Western communities that is +certainly not surpassed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY, 1897-1901. + +William McKinley--Organization of "Greater New York"--Removal of General +Grant's Remains to Morningside Park--The Klondike Gold Excitement--Spain's +Misrule in Cuba--Preliminary Events of the Spanish-American War. + + +THE TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT. + +William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, +1843, of Scotch ancestry, his father, David, being one of the pioneers +of the iron business in Eastern Ohio. + +The parents were in moderate circumstances, and the son, having prepared +for college, was matriculated at Alleghany College, Meadville, +Pennsylvania, but his poor health soon obliged him to return to his +home. He became a schoolteacher at the salary of $25 per month, and, as +was the custom in many of the country districts, he "boarded round;" +that is, he made his home by turns with the different patrons of his +school. He used rigid economy, his ambition being to save enough money +to pay his way through college. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM McKINLEY. + +(1843-.) One term, 1897-1901.] + +Destiny, however, had another career, awaiting him. The great Civil War +was impending, and when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was +flashed through the land, his patriotic impulses were roused, and, like +thousands of others, he hurried to the defense of his country. He +enlisted in Company E, as a private. It was attached to the Twenty-third +Ohio regiment, of which W.S. Rosecrans was colonel and Rutherford B. +Hayes major. Of no other regiment can it be said that it furnished two +Presidents to the United States. + +For more than a year Private McKinley carried a musket, and on the 15th +of April, 1862, was promoted to a sergeancy. Looking back to those +stirring days of his young manhood, President McKinley has said: + +"I always recall them with pleasure. Those fourteen months that I served +in the ranks taught me a great deal. I was but a schoolboy when I went +into the army, and that first year was a formative period of my life, +during which I learned much of men and affairs. I have always been glad +that I entered the service as a private and served those months in that +capacity." + +McKinley made a good soldier and saw plenty of fighting. Six weeks after +leaving Columbus, his regiment was in the battle of Carnifex Ferry, +Western Virginia, where the only victories of the early days of the war +were won. It was the hardest kind of work, hurrying back and forth +through the mountains, drenched by rains, and on short rations most of +the time. The boy did his work well and was soon ordered to Washington, +where he became one of the units in the splendid Army of the Potomac +under General McClellan. + +At Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the war, McKinley's gallantry was +so conspicuous that he was promoted to a lieutenancy. He was sent to +West Virginia again, where he was fighting continually. As an evidence +of the kind of work he did, it may be said that one morning his regiment +breakfasted in Pennsylvania, ate dinner in Maryland, and took supper in +Virginia. + +Winning promotion by his fine conduct, he became captain, July 25, 1864, +and was brevetted major, on the recommendation of General Sheridan, for +conspicuous bravery at Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. The title, "Major +McKinley," therefore, is the military one by which the President is +remembered. + +With the coming of peace, the young man found himself a veteran of the +war at the age of twenty-two, and compelled to decide upon the means of +earning his living. He took up the study of law, and was graduated from +the Albany, N.Y., law school, and admitted to the bar in 1867. He began +practice in Canton, Ohio, and, by his ability and conscientious +devotion, soon achieved success. He early showed an interest in +politics, and was often called upon to make public addresses. He +identified himself with the Republican party, and was elected district +attorney in Stark County, which almost invariably went Democratic. In +1876, he was elected to Congress, against a normal Democratic majority, +for five successive terms, being defeated when he ran the sixth time +through the gerrymandering of his district by his political opponents. + +[Illustration: GREATER NEW YORK. + +On January 1, 1898, Greater New York was created by the union of New +York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and Staten Island, into one +municipality. The city now covers nearly 318 square miles, contains over +three and one-half millions inhabitants, and, next to London, is the +largest city in the world.] + +During his seven terms in Congress, Mr. McKinley was noted for his clear +grasp of national questions and his interest in tariff legislation. It +was in 1890 that he brought about the passage of the tariff measure +which is always associated with his name. In the same year he was +defeated, but, being nominated for governor, he was elected by 80,000 +majority. As in the case of Mr. Cleveland, this triumph attracted +national attention, and his administration was so satisfactory that he +could have received the nomination for the presidency twice before he +accepted it. + +The presidential administration of McKinley has proven one of the most +eventful in our history, for, as set forth in the following chapters, it +marked our entrance among the leading nations of the world, in the field +of territorial expansion beyond the limits of our own continent and +hemisphere. Before entering upon the history of this phase of our +national existence, attention must be given to important happenings of a +different nature. One of these was the organization of what is popularly +known as "Greater New York." + +[Illustration: THE OBELISK IN CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK.] + + +"GREATER NEW YORK." + +For a number of years, a prominent question among the inhabitants of the +metropolis and outlying cities was that of their union under one +government. The New York Legislature in 1890 appointed a committee to +inquire into and report upon the subject. After several years of +discussion, the Legislature provided for a referendum, the result of +which showed a large majority in favor of uniting the cities referred +to. A bill was carefully framed, passed both branches of the law-making +body by a strong vote in February, 1897, and was signed by the mayors of +Brooklyn and of Long Island City. Mayor Strong, of New York, however, +vetoed the bill, but the Legislature immediately repassed it, and it was +signed by Governor Black. + +The expanded metropolis began its official existence January 1, 1898, +the government being vested in a mayor and a municipal assembly, which +consists of two branches elected by the people. The population at the +time named was about 3,400,000, the daily increase being 400. Should +this rate continue, the total population at the middle of the twentieth +century will be 20,000,000, which will make it the most populous in the +world, unless London wakes up and grows faster than at present. + +The area of Greater New York is 317.77 square miles. Its greatest width +from the Hudson River to the boundary line across Long Island beyond +Creedmoor is sixteen miles, and the extreme length, from the southern +end of Staten Island to the northern limits of Yonkers, is thirty-two +miles. Within these bounds are the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Long +Island City, Jamaica, all of Staten Island, the western end of Long +Island, Coney Island, Rockaway, Valley Stream, Flushing, Whitestone, +College Point, Willets' Point, Fort Schuyler, Throggs' Neck, +Westchester, Baychester, Pelham Manor, Van Cortlandt, Riverdale, and +Spuyten Devil. + + +REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT'S REMAINS TO MORNINGSIDE PARK. + +The removal of the remains of General Grant to their final resting-place +in the magnificent tomb on Morningside Heights, on the banks of the +Hudson, took place during the first year of McKinley's administration, +and was marked by ceremonies among the most impressive ever witnessed in +the metropolis of the country. The final tributes to the foremost +defender of the country were made by eloquent tongues, and pens, and by +the reverent affection of the nation itself. + +[Illustration: JOHN SHERMAN. + +Secretary of State under President McKinley; resigned 1898.] + +There have been many attempts made to analyze the character of this +remarkable man. Some of his most intimate friends failed to understand +him. Among the best of these analyses is that of Lieutenant-General John +M. Schofield. In this our last reference to General Grant, the words of +his trusted confidant deserve record: + + "General Sherman wrote that he could not understand Grant, and + doubted if Grant understood himself. A very distinguished statesman, + whose name I need not mention, said to me that, in his opinion, there + was nothing special in Grant to understand. Others have varied widely + in their estimates of that extraordinary character. Yet I believe + its most extraordinary quality was its extreme simplicity, so extreme + that many have entirely overlooked it in their search for some deeply + hidden secret to account for so great a character, unmindful of the + general fact that simplicity is one of the most prominent attributes + of greatness. + + "The greatest of all the traits of Grant's character was that which + lay always on the surface, visible to all who had eyes to see it. + That was his moral and intellectual honesty, integrity, sincerity, + veracity, and justice. He was incapable of any attempt to deceive + anybody, except for a legitimate purpose, as in military strategy; + and, above all, he was incapable of deceiving himself. He possessed + that rarest of all human faculties, the power of a perfectly accurate + estimate of himself, uninfluenced by vanity, pride, ambition, + flattery, or self-interest. Grant was very far from being a modest + man, as the word is generally understood. His just self-esteem was as + far above it as it was above flattery. The highest enconiums were + accepted for what he believed them to be worth. They did not disturb + his equilibrium in the slightest degree. Confiding, just, and + generous to everybody else, he treated with silent contempt any + suggestion that he had been unfaithful to any obligation. He was too + proud to explain where his honor had been questioned. + + "While Grant knew his own merits as well as anybody did, he also knew + his own imperfections and estimated them at their real value. For + example, his inability to speak in public, which produced the + impression of extreme modesty or diffidence, he accepted simply as a + fact in his nature which was of little or no consequence, and which + he did not even care to conceal. He would not, for many years, even + take the trouble to jot down a few words in advance, so as to be able + to say something when called upon. Indeed, I believe he would have + regarded it as an unworthy attempt to appear in a false light if he + had made preparations in advance for an 'extemporaneous' speech. Even + when he did in later years write some notes on the back of a + dinner-card, he would take care to let everybody see that he had done + so by holding the card in plain view while he read his little speech. + After telling a story, in which the facts had been modified somewhat + to give the greater effect, which no one could enjoy more than he + did, Grant would take care to explain exactly in what respects he had + altered the facts for the purpose of increasing the interest in his + story, so that he might not leave any wrong impression. + + "When Grant's attention was called to any mistake he had committed, + he would see and admit it as quickly and unreservedly as if it had + been made by anybody else, and with a smile which expressed the exact + opposite of that feeling which most men are apt to show under like + circumstances. His love of truth and justice was so far above all + personal considerations that he showed unmistakable evidence of + gratification when any error into which he might have fallen was + corrected. The fact that he had made a mistake and that it was + plainly pointed out to him did not produce the slightest unpleasant + impression; while the further fact, that no harm had resulted from + his mistake, gave him real pleasure. In Grant's judgment, no case in + which any wrong had been done could possibly be regarded as finally + settled until that wrong was righted, and if he himself had been, in + any sense, a party to that wrong, he was the more earnest in his + desire to see justice done. While he thus showed a total absence of + any false pride of opinion or of knowledge, no man could be firmer + than he in adherence to his mature judgment, nor more earnest in his + determination, on proper occasions, to make it understood that his + opinion was his own and not borrowed from anybody else. His pride in + his own mature opinion was very great; in that he was as far as + possible from being a modest man. This absolute confidence in his own + judgment upon any subject which he had mastered, and the moral + courage to take upon himself alone the highest responsibility, and to + demand full authority and freedom to act according to his own + judgment, without interference from anybody, added to his accurate + estimate of his own ability and clear perception of the necessity for + undivided authority and responsibility in the conduct of military + operations, and in all that concerns the efficiency of armies in time + of war, constituted the foundation of that very great character. + + "When summoned to Washington to take command of all the armies, with + the rank of lieutenant-general, he determined, before he reached the + capital, that he would not accept the command under any conditions + than those above stated. His sense of honor and of loyalty to the + country would not permit him to consent to be placed in a false + position, one in which he could not perform the service which the + country had been led to expect from him, and he had the courage to + say so in unqualified terms. + + "These traits of Grant's character must now be perfectly familiar to + all who have studied his history, as well as to those who enjoyed + familiar intercourse with him during his life. They are the traits of + character which made him, as it seems to me, a very great man, the + only man of our time, so far as we know, who possessed both the + character and the military ability which were, under the + circumstances, indispensable in the commander of the armies which + were to suppress the great rebellion. + + "It has been said that Grant, like Lincoln, was a typical American, + and for that reason was most beloved and respected by the people. + That is true of the statesman and the soldier, as well as of the + people, if it is meant that they were the highest type, that ideal + which commands the respect and admiration of the highest and best in + a man's nature, however far he may know it to be above himself. The + soldiers and the people saw in Grant or in Lincoln, not one of + themselves, not a plain man of the people, nor yet some superior + being whom they could not understand, but the personification of + their highest ideal of a citizen, soldier, or statesman, a man whose + greatness they could see and understand as plainly as they could + anything else under the sun. And there was no more mystery about it + all, in fact, than there was in the popular mind." + +[Illustration: SPEAKER THOMAS B. REED. + +Resigned as Speaker in 1899.] + +To the widow of General Grant was given the right to select the spot for +the last resting-place of his remains, she to repose after death beside +her husband. She decided upon Riverside. It then became the privilege of +his friends to provide a suitable tomb for the illustrious soldier. The +funds needed, amounting to nearly half a million dollars, were raised by +subscription, ground was broken on the anniversary of Grant's birthday, +April 27, 1891, and a year later the corner-stone was laid by President +Harrison. + +The tomb of General Grant, standing on the banks of the Hudson, is an +imposing structure, square in shape, ninety feet on each side, and of +the Grecian-Doric order. The entrance on the south side is guarded by a +portico in double lines of columns, approached by steps seventy feet in +width. The tomb is surmounted at a height of seventy-two feet with a +cornice and parapet, above which is a circular cupola, seventy feet in +diameter, terminating in a top the shape of a pyramid, which is 280 feet +above the river. + +The interior of the structure is of cruciform form, seventy-six feet at +its greatest length, the piers of masonry at the corners being connected +by arches which form recesses. The arches are fifty feet in height, and +are surmounted by an open circular gallery, capped with a panneled dome, +105 feet above the floor. Scenes in General Grant's career are depicted +with sculpture on the plane and relieved surfaces in _alto rilievo_. The +granite of the structure is light in color, and the sarcophagus of +brilliant reddish porphyry. The crypt rests directly under the centre of +the dome, stairways connecting with the passage surrounding the +sarcophagus, where the remains of the widow of General Grant are +eventually to repose. + +[Illustration: TOMB OF U.S. GRANT, NEW YORK.] + +The ceremonies attending the removal of the remains on April 27, 1897, +included three impressive displays, the ceremony at the tomb, the parade +of the army--the National Guard and civic bodies--and the review of the +navy and merchant marine on the Hudson. Those who gathered to take part +in the final tribute to the great soldier included the President, +Vice-President of the United States, the Cabinet, many State governors, +prominent American citizens, and representatives of foreign nations. +From 129th Street to the Battery, and from Whitehall up East River to +the Bridge, thousands of American and foreign flags were displayed, +while the parade of men on foot included 60,000 persons. + +Bishop Newman opened the exercises with prayer, and President McKinley +made one of the finest speeches of his life, the opening words of which +were: + + "A great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, here finds its + earthly coronation. Even if this day lacked the impressiveness of + ceremony and was devoid of pageantry, it would still be memorable, + because it is the anniversary of the birth of the most famous and + best beloved of American soldiers." + +[Illustration: REVIEW OF THE NAVY AND MERCHANT MARINE ON THE HUDSON, +APRIL 27, 1897.] + +The President concluded with the words: + + "With Washington and Lincoln, Grant had an exalted place in the + history and the affections of the people. To-day his memory is held + in equal esteem by those whom he led to victory, and by those who + accepted his generous terms of peace. The veteran leaders of the Blue + and Gray here meet not only to honor the name of Grant, but to + testify to the living reality of a fraternal national spirit which + has triumphed over the differences of the past and transcends the + limitations of sectional lines. Its completion--which we pray God to + speed--will be the nation's greatest glory. + + "It is right that General Grant should have a memorial commensurate + with his greatness, and that his last resting-place should be in the + city of his choice, to which he was so attached, and of whose ties he + was not forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it that the great + soldier should sleep beside the noble river on whose banks he first + learned the art of war, and of which he became master and leader + without a rival. + + "But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the + metropolis among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored + his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to + render the edifice worthy of the man, upon a site unsurpassed for + magnificence, has this monument been reared by New York as a + perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the certainty that, as + time passes, around it will assemble, with gratitude and reverence + and veneration, men of all climes, races, and nationalities. + + "New York holds in its keeping the precious dust of the silent + soldier, but his achievements--what he and his brave comrades wrought + for mankind--are in the keeping of seventy millions of American + citizens, who will guard the sacred heritage forever and + forevermore." + +[Illustration: ALASKA] + +General Horace Porter, president of the Grant Memorial Association, made +an address, giving the history of the crowning work of the association, +rendering acknowledgment to those who had given valuable help, and +closing with a masterly and eloquent tribute to the great citizen whom +all had gathered to honor. + + +THE KLONDIKE GOLD EXCITEMENT. + +There was much excitement throughout the country in 1897 over the +reported discoveries of rich deposits of gold in the Klondike, as the +region along the Yukon River in Alaska is called. These reports were +discredited at first, but they were repeated, and proof soon appeared +that they were based upon truth. In the autumn of 1896, about fifty +miners visited the section, led thither by the rumors that had come to +them. None of the men carried more than his outfit and a few hundred +dollars, but when they returned they brought gold to the value of from +$5,000 to $100,000 apiece, besides leaving claims behind them that were +worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In July, 1897, a party of miners +arrived at Seattle from the Klondike, bringing with them nuggets and +gold-dust weighing more than a ton and worth a million and a half of +dollars. Besides this, other men continually came back with such +quantities of the precious metal that it was apparent that not only were +the reports justified, but, what is the exception in such cases, the +whole truth had not been told. + +The natural consequence was that a rush set in for the Klondike, which +is the name of a tributary of the Yukon, and flows through the richest +gold fields, where the mining days of early California were repeated. +Dawson City was founded at the mouth of the Klondike, and in a short +time had a population of 5,000. Before the year closed, 500 claims were +located, with more taken up daily. As was inevitable, there was much +suffering, for the Yukon is closed by ice during the greater part of the +year, and the winter climate is of Arctic severity. The most productive +fields were found to be not in Alaska, but in the British provinces +known as the Northwest Territories. While many gathered fortunes in the +Klondike, the majority, after great hardships and suffering, returned to +their homes poorer than when they left them. + +[Illustration: READY FOR THE TRAIL.] + + +SPAIN'S MISRULE IN CUBA. + +The administration of McKinley occupies a prominent place in American +history because of our brief and decisive war with Spain. A full account +is given in the pages that follow, but it is proper in this chapter to +set forth some historical facts, that will serve to clear the way to a +proper understanding of the story of the war itself. + +Spain may best illustrate the certain decline of the Latin race and the +rise of the Anglo-Saxon. When America was discovered, she was the +leading maritime power of the world, but she was corrupt, rapacious, +ferocious, and totally devoid of what is best expressed by the term +"common sense." So lacking indeed was she in this prime requisite that +she alienated, when it was just as easy to attract, the weaker nations +and colonies with which she came in contact. It has been shown in the +earlier chapters of this work that when her exploring expeditions into +the interior of America were obliged to depend for their own existence +upon the good-will of the natives, and when they could readily gain and +retain that good-will, they roused the hatred of the simple-minded +natives by their frightful cruelties. The chief amusement of the early +Spaniards was killing Indians. They did it from the innate brutality of +their nature, when they could have gained tenfold more by justice and +kindness. + +The treatment of those poor people was precisely what on a larger scale +has been shown to her colonies. England wins and holds her dependencies +through her liberality and justice; Spain repels hers through her +treachery, falsehoods, and injustice. As a consequence, England has +become one of the mightiest nations in the world, while Spain has +steadily declined to a fourth-rate power. With the example of the +results of her idiocy, to say nothing of its dishonor, ever before her, +she has persisted in that idiocy, never learning from experience, but +always selfish, short-sighted, cruel, treacherous, and unjust. + +The steadiness with which Cuba clung to the mother country won for her +the title of the "Ever Faithful Isle." Had she received any +consideration at all, she still would have held fast. She poured +princely revenues into the lap of Spain; when other colonies revolted, +she refused to be moved. It required long years of outrage, robbery, and +injustice to turn her affection into hate, but Spain persisted until the +time came when human nature could stand no more. The crushed worm turned +at last. + +When Napoleon Bonaparte deposed the Bourbon King, Ferdinand VII., in +1808, and placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, Cuba +declared her loyalty to the old dynasty, and the king made many promises +of what he would do to prove his gratitude when he should come to his +own. This took place five years later, whereupon the king violated every +pledge he had made. + +The truth gradually worked its way into the Cuban mind that the only +thing a Spaniard could be depended upon to do is to violate his most +solemn promises. Secret societies began assuming form in the island, +whose plotting and aim were to wrest their country from Spain, on the +ground of the non-fulfillment of the pledges made by Ferdinand VII. of +what he would do when he came to the throne. + +Preparations were made for a revolt, whose avowed object was the +establishment of a Cuban republic. A certain night in 1823 was fixed +upon for a general uprising, but there were traitors in the councils, +who notified the authorities, and, before the date named, the leaders +were arrested and the revolt quenched ere a blow could be struck. + +These severe measures could not quell the spirit of liberty that was +abroad. It was not long before the Black Eagle Society was formed. It +included many hundred members, had its headquarters in Mexico, and +boldly secured recruits in the United States. But again the cause was +betrayed by its members, the leaders were arrested and imprisoned, and +Spain was secure for a time in the control of the island. + +As an illustration of that country's course against suspected citizens, +it may be said that in 1844 a rumor spread that large numbers of the +slaves on the plantations near Matanzas were making secret preparations +to rise and slay their masters. Investigation failed to establish the +truth of these charges, but many were put to the torture to compel them +to confess, and nearly a hundred were condemned and shot in cold blood. + +[Illustration: GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA. + +Hero of three wars for Cuba's freedom. Died of pneumonia in Washington, +D.C., December, 1898.] + +Naturally the affairs of Cuba from its proximity were always of great +interest to the United States, and a number of filibustering expeditions +landed on the island and aided the Cubans in their futile revolts +against Spain. These attempts at their best could only keep the island +in a turmoil, and give Spain the pretext for using the most brutal +measures of repression. + +In 1868 a revolution occurred in Spain itself, and Queen Isabella, one +of the worst rulers that sorely accursed country ever had, was driven +into exile. Cuba had not forgotten the lesson of the opening of the +century, and, instead of proclaiming her loyalty to the deposed dynasty, +she seized what promised to be a favorable opportunity for gaining her +own independence. + +One of the fairest and most impartial publications anywhere is the +_Edinburgh Review_, which used the following language in giving the +reasons for the Cuban revolt of 1868: + + "Spain governs the island of Cuba with an iron and blood-stained + hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil, and + religious liberties. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally + prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions, + in times of peace; hence their being kept from public meetings, and + forbidden to speak or write on affairs of State; hence their + remonstrances against the evils that afflicted them being looked upon + as the proceedings of rebels, from the fact that they are obliged to + keep silence and obey; hence the never-ending plague of hungry + officials from Spain to devour the product of their industry and + labor; hence their exclusion from the art of government; hence the + restrictions to which public instruction with them is subjected in + order to keep them so ignorant as not to be able to know and enforce + their rights in any shape or form whatever; hence the navy and the + standing army, which are kept in their country at an enormous + expenditure from their own wealth to make them bend their knees and + submit their necks to the iron yoke that disgraces them; hence the + grinding taxation under which they labor, and which would make all + perish in misery but for the marvelous fertility of their soil." + +The opportunity was a golden one for Spain to win back the affection of +Cuba by generosity and justice. What steps did she take to do so? + +Although the Cubans were ground to the very dust by taxation, levied in +all cases by Spaniards, and not by their own officials, Spain proposed, +in 1868, to add to the burden. In October of that year Carlos M. de +Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo, raised the standard of revolt, placed +himself at the head of a handful of patriots, which were soon joined by +thousands, and in April, 1869, a republican constitution was adopted, +slavery declared abolished, Cespedes was elected president, Francisco +Aguilero vice-president, and a legislature was called together. + +There never was hope of this insurrection securing the independence of +Cuba. The patriots were too few in number, too badly armed and equipped, +and not handled so as to be effective. But they caused great suffering +and ruin throughout the island. They instituted a guerrilla system of +warfare, and cost Spain many valuable lives. The wet and rainy seasons +came and went, and still the savage fighting continued, until at last +the rebels as well as the Spaniards were ready to welcome peace. + +Martinez Campos was the Spanish commander, and he promised General +Maximo Gomez, leader of the insurgents, that the reforms for which he +and his comrades were contending should be granted on condition that +they laid down their arms. The pledge was a sacred one, and no doubt +Campos meant honestly to keep it. Unfortunately, however, there were +higher powers than he behind him. Gomez accepted the promises of a +brother soldier, and on February 10, 1878, the treaty of El Zanjon was +signed. + +This treaty guaranteed representation to the Cubans in the Spanish +Cortes, and all who took part in the insurrection were pardoned. + +Now the lesson of all this was so plain that the wayfaring man, though a +fool, had no excuse for erring. Spain had bitterly learned the temper of +the Cubans. She could not fail to see that but one possible way existed +for her to retain control of them, and, of course, that was the very way +she avoided. The Madrid authorities thought they did a wise thing when +they secured control of the polls, and made sure that the delegates +elected were their own. Schools, sewerage, roads, everything that could +help the island were neglected and taxation increased. The reforms +promised to the insurgents upon condition of laying down their arms +proved a delusion and a snare. Thus the "captain-general" had his name +changed to "governor-general," but his tyrannical powers remained the +same as before. The right of banishment was formally repealed, but the +outrages continued under another law that was equally effective, and so +on to the end of the chapter. Once again the Cubans had been fooled by +trusting to Spanish honor. They resolved that as soon as arrangements +could be effected, they would set another insurrection on foot, which +would be fought out to the death or until independence was secured. + +[Illustration: GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ. + +_The Washington of Cuba_ is the title applied to this hero, who, as +Commander-in-Chief of the patriot army, made Cuban liberty possible.] + +Several important ends were accomplished by the Ten Years' War. Slavery +was abolished in 1886, and the island was divided into the present six +provinces. As in previous instances the United States was counted upon +for the greatest material assistance in prosecuting the revolution. The +spirit of adventure is always strong among Americans, and the +filibustering enterprises appealed strongly to them. The spice of danger +by which they were attended was their chief attraction. Our government +was bound by treaty to prevent them, so far as she could, and it went to +great expense in doing so. A number of expeditions were unable to get +away from New York, but others escaped the vigilance of officials, and +landed guns, ammunition, and men at different points on the island. One +of the greatest helps in this unlawful business was the dishonesty of +the officials employed by Spain to prevent the landing of supplies and +men. There was never any difficulty in bribing these officers, who +stumbled over one another in their eagerness to be bribed. + + +THE LAST CUBAN REVOLUTION LAUNCHED. + +Meanwhile, the leaders in the former late revolt were consulting upon +the best steps to launch the new revolution. Maximo Gomez was living in +San Domingo, and, when he was offered the command of the revolutionary +forces, he promptly accepted the responsibility. The offer came to him +through Jose Marti, the head of the organization. + +The grim veterans were resolute in their purpose. After studying the +situation, they agreed that a general uprising should be set on foot in +all the provinces on February 24, 1895. It was impossible to do this, +but the standard of revolt was raised on the date named in three of the +provinces. + +One Spanish official read truly the meaning of the signs. He was +Calleja, the captain-general. Though the revolt in the province of +Santiago de Cuba looked trifling, he knew it was like a tiny blaze +kindled in the dry prairie grass. He wished to act liberally toward the +insurgents, but the blind government at Madrid blocked his every step. +Since it had played the fool from the beginning, it kept up the farce to +the end. They ordered Calleja to stamp out the rebellion, and he did his +utmost to obey orders. + +Could the royal and insurgent forces be brought to meet in fair combat, +the latter would have been crushed out of existence at the first +meeting. But the insurgent leaders were too shrewd to risk anything of +that nature. They resumed their guerrilla tactics, striking hard blows, +here, there, anywhere that the chance offered, and then fled into the +woods and mountains before the regulars could be brought against them. + +Such a style of warfare is always cruel and accompanied by outrages of a +shocking character. The Cubans were as savage in their methods as the +Spaniards. They blew up bridges and railroad trains with dynamite, +regardless of the fact that, in so doing, it was the innocent instead of +the guilty who suffered. They burned the sugar cane, destroyed the +tobacco and coffee plantations, and impoverished the planters in order +to shut off the revenues of Spain and deprive her forces of their needed +supplies; they spread desolation and ruin everywhere, in the vain hope +that the mother country could thus be brought to a realizing sense of +the true situation. + +But Spain was deaf and blind. She sent thousands of soldiers across the +Atlantic, including the members of the best families in the kingdom, to +die in the pestilential lowlands of Cuba, while trying to stamp out the +fires of revolution that continually grew and spread. + +The island was cursed by three political parties, each of which was +strenuous in the maintenance of its views. The dominant party of course +was the loyalists, who held all the offices and opposed any compromise +with the insurgents. They were quite willing to make promises, with no +intention of fulfilling them, but knew the Cubans could no longer be +deceived. + +The second party was the insurgents, who, as has been shown, had +"enlisted for the war," and were determined not to lay down their arms +until independence was achieved. The autonomists stood between these +extremes, favoring home rule instead of independence, while admitting +the misgovernment of Cuba. + +[Illustration: JOSE MARTI. + +President of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Led into ambush and killed +by the Spaniards, May 19, 1895.] + +The Spaniards were determined to prevent the coming of Antonio Maceo, a +veteran of the Ten Years' War, possessed of great courage and resources, +who was living in Costa Rica. They knew he had been communicated with +and his presence would prove a tower of strength to the insurgents. +Bodies of Spanish cavalry galloped along the coasts, on the alert to +catch or shoot the rebel leader, while the officials closely watched all +arrivals at the seaports for the feared rebel. + +Despite these precautions, Maceo and twenty-two comrades of the previous +war effected a landing on the eastern end of the island. They were +almost immediately discovered by the Spanish cavalry, and a fierce fight +followed, in which several Cubans were killed. Maceo fought furiously, +seemingly inspired by the knowledge that he was again striking for the +freedom of his country, and he came within a hair of being killed. He +eluded his enemies, however, and, plunging into the thickets, started +for the interior to meet the other insurgent leaders. The abundance of +tropical fruits saved him from starving, and it was not long before he +met with straggling bodies of his countrymen, who hailed his coming with +enthusiasm. Recruits rapidly gathered around him, and he placed himself +at the head of the ardent patriots. + +It was just ten days after the landing of Maceo that Gomez and Jose +Marti, coming from Santo Domingo, landed on the southern coast of Cuba. +They had a lively time in avoiding the Spanish patrol, but succeeded in +reaching a strong force of insurgents, and Gomez assumed his duties as +commander-in-chief. Recruits were gathered to the number of several +thousand, and Gomez and Marti started for the central provinces with the +purpose of formally establishing the government. Marti was led astray on +the road by a treacherous guide and killed. + +Fully alive to the serious work before him, Captain-General Calleja +called upon Spain for help in quelling the rebellion. She sent 25,000 +troops to Cuba and Calleja was relieved by Field-Marshal Campos. This +was a popular move, for it was Campos who brought the Ten Years' War to +a close, and it was generally believed he would repeat his success. + +The first important act of Campos was to divide Cuba into zones, by +means of a number of strongly guarded military lines, extending north +and south across the narrower part of the island. They were called +"trochas," and were expected to offer an impassable check to the +insurgents, who, thus confined within definite limits, could be crushed +or driven into the sea with little difficulty. + +[Illustration: ANTONIO MACEO. + +Lieutenant-General in the Cuban Army.] + +The scheme, however, was a failure. The rebels crossed the trochas at +will, kept up their guerrilla tactics, picked off the regulars, +destroyed railroad trains, and went so far as to shoot the messengers +who dared to enter their camp with proposals for making peace on other +terms than independence. + +The Cubans were full of hope. They had their old leaders with them, men +who had led them in former campaigns and proven their courage and skill. +Recruits flocked to their standards, until it has been estimated that by +the close of the year fully 20,000 insurgents were in the field. With +such strong commands, the leaders were able to attain several important +successes. Considerable bodies of the regulars were defeated with +serious losses, and, in one instance, Campos succeeded in saving himself +and command only by the artillery he happened to have with him. + +Campos had prosecuted the war through civilized methods, and, therefore, +fell into disfavor at home. He was not a representative Spanish +commander, and was now superseded by General Valeriano Weyler, who +arrived in Havana in February, 1896. This man had as much human feeling +in his heart as a wounded tiger. His policy was _extermination_. He +established two powerful trochas across the island, but they proved as +ineffective as those of Campos. Then he ordered the planters and their +families, who were able to pick up a wretched living on their places, to +move into the nearest towns, where they would be able to raise no more +food for the insurgents. It mattered not to Weyler that neither could +these reconcentrados raise any food for themselves, and therefore must +starve: that was no concern of his. As he viewed it, starvation was the +right method of ridding Cuba of those who yearned for its freedom. + +[Illustration] + +No pen can picture the horrors that followed. The woeful scenes sent a +shudder throughout the United States, and many good people demanded that +the unspeakable crime should be checked by armed intervention. To do +this meant war with Spain, but we were ready for that. A Congressional +party visited Cuba in March, 1898, and witnessed the hideous suffering +of the Cubans, of whom more than a hundred thousand had been starved to +death, with scores still perishing daily. In referring to what they +saw, Senator Proctor, of Vermont, said: "I shall refer to these horrible +things no further. They are there. God pity me, I have seen them; they +will remain in my mind forever, and this is almost the twentieth +century. Christ died nineteen hundred years ago, and Spain is a +Christian nation. She has set up more crosses in more lands, beneath +more skies, and under them has butchered more people than all the other +nations of the earth combined. God grant that before another Christmas +morning the last vestige of Spanish tyranny and oppression will have +vanished from the western hemisphere." + +The ferocious measures of Weyler brought so indignant a protest from our +country that he was recalled, and his place taken by General Ramon +Blanco, who reached Havana in the autumn of 1897. Under him the +indecisive fighting went on much as before, with no important advantage +gained by either side. Friends of Cuba made appeals in Congress for the +granting of belligerent rights to the insurgents, but strict +international law demanded that their government should gain a more +tangible form and existence before such rights could be conceded. + +Matters were in this state of extreme tension when the blowing-up of the +_Maine_ occurred. While riding quietly at anchor in the harbor of +Havana, on the night of February 15, 1898, she was utterly destroyed by +a terrific explosion, which killed 266 officers and men. The news +thrilled the land with horror and rage, for it was taken at once for +granted that the appalling crime had been committed by Spaniards, but +the absolute proof remained to be brought forward, and the Americans, +with their proverbial love of justice and fair-play, waited for such +proof. + +Competent men were selected for the investigation, and they spent three +weeks in making it. They reported that it had been established beyond +question that the _Maine_ was destroyed by an outside explosion, or +submarine mine, though they were unable to determine who was directly +responsible for the act. + +The insistence of Spain, of course, was that the explosion was +accidental and resulted from carelessness on the part of Captain Sigsbee +and his crew; but it may be doubted whether any of the Spanish officials +in Havana ever really held such a belief. While Spain herself was not +directly responsible for the destruction of the warship and those who +went down in her, it was some of her officials who destroyed her. The +displacement of the ferocious Weyler had incensed a good many of his +friends, some of whom most likely expressed their views in this manner, +which, happily for the credit of humanity, is exceedingly rare in the +history of nations. + + [Illustration: PRESIDENT MCKINLEY AND THE WAR CABINET + + LYMAN J. GAGE, JAS. WILSON, C.N. BLISS, + Sec'y of the Treasury. Sec'y of Agriculture Sec'y of the Interior. + + PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. JOHN W. JOHN D. WM. R. RUSSELL A. CHAS. EMORY + GRIGGS, LONG, DAY, ALGER, SMITH, + Attorney Sec'y of Sec'y Sec'y Postmaster + General. the Navy. of State. of War. General.] + + +The momentous events that followed are given in the succeeding +chapters. + +[Illustration.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901. + +THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. + +Opening Incidents--Bombardment of Matanzas--Dewey's Wonderful Victory at +Manila--Disaster to the _Winslow_ at Cardenas Bay--The First American +Loss of Life--Bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico--The Elusive Spanish +Fleet--Bottled-up in Santiago Harbor--Lieutenant Hobson's Daring +Exploit--Second Bombardment of Santiago and Arrival of the Army--Gallant +Work of the Rough Riders and the Regulars--Battles of San Juan and El +Caney--Destruction of Cervera's Fleet--General Shafter Reinforced in +Front of Santiago--Surrender of the City--General Miles in Porto +Rico--An Easy Conquest--Conquest of the Philippines--Peace Negotiations +and Signing of the Protocol--Its Terms--Members of the National Peace +Commission--Return of the Troops from Cuba and Porto Rico--The Peace +Commission in Paris--Conclusion of its Work--Terms of the +Treaty--Ratified by the Senate. + + +"STRIPPING FOR THE FIGHT." + +Enough has already been stated to show the real cause of the war between +the United States and Spain. It was, in brief, a war for humanity, for +America could no longer close her ears to the wails of the dead and +dying that lay perishing, as may be said, on her very doorsteps. It was +not a war for conquest or gain, nor was it in revenge for the awful +crime of the destruction of the _Maine_, though few nations would have +restrained their wrath with such sublime patience as did our countrymen +while the investigation was in progress. Yet it cannot be denied that +this unparalleled outrage intensified the war fever in the United +States, and thousands were eager for the opportunity to punish Spanish +cruelty and treachery. Congress reflected this spirit when by a +unanimous vote it appropriated $50,000,000 "for the national defense." +The War and Navy Departments hummed with the activity of recruiting, the +preparations of vessels and coast defenses, the purchase of war material +and vessels at home, while agents were sent to Europe to procure all the +war-ships in the market. Unlimited capital was at their command, and +the question of price was never an obstacle. When hostilities impended +the United States was unprepared for war, but by amazing activity, +energy, and skill the preparations were pushed and completed with a +rapidity that approached the marvelous. + +War being inevitable, President McKinley sought to gain time for our +consular representatives to leave Cuba, where the situation daily and +hourly grew more dangerous. Consul Hyatt left Santiago on April 3d, but +Consul-General Lee, always fearless, remained at Havana until April +10th, with the resolution that no American refugees should be left +behind, where very soon their lives would not be worth an hour's +purchase. Lee landed in Key West April 11th, and on the same day +President McKinley sent his message upon the situation to Congress. On +April 18th the two houses adopted the following: + + WHEREAS, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than + three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have + shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been + a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in + the destruction of a United States battleship with 266 of its + officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, + and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President + of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898, + upon which the action of Congress was invited; therefore, + + _Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United + States of America, in Congress assembled-- + + First--That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought + to be, free and independent. + + Second--That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the + government of the United States does hereby demand, that the + government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government + in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from + Cuba and Cuban waters. + + Third--That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, + directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the + United States, and to call into the actual service of the United + States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be + necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. + + Fourth--That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or + intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said + island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its + determination when that is completed to leave the government and + control of the island to its people. + +[Illustration: CITY OF HAVANA AND HARBOR, SHOWING WRECK OF THE +BATTLESHIP MAINE.] + +This resolution was signed by the President April 20th, and a copy +served on the Spanish minister, who demanded his passports, and +immediately left Washington. The contents were telegraphed to United +States Minister Woodford at Madrid, with instructions to officially +communicate them to the Spanish government, giving it until April 23d to +answer. The Spanish authorities, however, anticipated this action by +sending the American minister his passports on the morning of April +21st. This act was of itself equivalent to a declaration of war. + +The making of history now went forward with impressive swiftness. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLESHIP "MAINE" Destroyed in Havana Harbor, +February 15, 1898, by which the lives of two officers and 264 members of +the crew were lost. This disaster was popularly believed to have been +the work of Spaniards, and was a potent factor in hastening the war +between Spain and the United States.] + +On April 22d the United States fleet was ordered to blockade Havana. On +the 24th Spain declared war, and the United States Congress followed +with a similar declaration on the 25th. The call for 75,000 volunteer +troops was increased to 125,000 and subsequently to 200,000. The massing +of men and stores was rapidly begun throughout the country. Within a +month expeditions were organized for various points of attack, +war-vessels were bought, and ocean passenger steamers were converted +into auxiliary cruisers and transports. By the first of July about +40,000 soldiers had been sent to Cuba and the Philippine Islands. The +rapidity with which preparations were made and the victories gained and +the progress shown by the Americans at once astonished and challenged +the admiration of foreign nations, who had regarded America as a country +unprepared for war by land or sea. On April 27th, following the +declaration of war on the 25th, Admiral Sampson, having previously +blockaded the harbor of Havana, was reconnoitering with three vessels in +the vicinity of Matanzas, Cuba, when he discovered the Spanish forces +building earthworks, and ventured so close in his efforts to investigate +the same that a challenge shot was fired from the fortification, Rubal +Cava. Admiral Sampson quickly formed the _New York, Cincinnati_, and +_Puritan_ into a triangle and opened fire with their eight-inch guns. +The action was very spirited on both sides for the space of eighteen +minutes, at the expiration of which time the Spanish batteries were +silenced and the earthworks destroyed, without casualty on the American +side, though two shells burst dangerously near the _New York_. The last +shot fired by the Americans was from one of the _Puritan's_ +thirteen-inch guns, which landed with deadly accuracy in the very centre +of Rubal Cava, and, exploding, completely destroyed the earthworks. This +was the first action of the war, though it could hardly be dignified by +the name of a battle. + +[Illustration: ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY.] + + +THE BATTLE OF MANILA. + +It was expected that the next engagement would be the bombardment of +Morro Castle, at Havana. But it is the unexpected that often happens in +war. In the Philippine Islands, on the other side of the world, the +first real battle--one of the most remarkable in history--was next to +occur. + +On April 25th the following dispatch of eight potent words was cabled to +Commodore Dewey on the coast of China: "Capture or destroy the Spanish +squadron at Manila." "Never," says James Gordon Bennett, "were +instructions more effectively carried out. Within seven hours after +arriving on the scene of action nothing remained to be done." It was on +the 27th that Dewey sailed from Mirs Bay, China, and on the night of the +30th he lay before the entrance of the harbor of Manila, seven hundred +miles away. Under the cover of darkness, with all lights extinguished on +his ships, he daringly steamed into this unknown harbor, which he +believed to be strewn with mines, and at daybreak engaged the Spanish +fleet. Commodore Dewey knew it meant everything for him and his fleet to +win or lose this battle. He was in the enemy's country, 7,000 miles from +home. The issue of this battle must mean victory, Spanish dungeons, or +the bottom of the ocean. "_Keep cool and obey orders_" was the signal he +gave to his fleet, and then came the order to fire. The Americans had +seven ships, the _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, _Raleigh_, _Petrel_, _Concord_, +_Boston_, and the dispatch-boat _McCullough_. The Spaniards had eleven, +the _Reina Christina_, _Castilla_, _Don Antonio de Ulloa_, _Isla de +Luzon_, _Isla de Cuba_, _General Lezo_, _Marquis de Duero_, _Cano_, +_Velasco_, _Isla de Mindanao_, and a transport. + +From the beginning Commodore Dewey fought on the offensive, and, after +the manner of Nelson and Farragut, concentrated his fire upon the +strongest ships one after another with terrible execution. The Spanish +ships were inferior to his, but there were more of them, and they were +under the protection of the land batteries. The fire of the Americans +was especially noted for its terrific rapidity and the wonderful +accuracy of its aim. The battle lasted for about five hours, and +resulted in the destruction of all the Spanish ships and the silencing +of the land batteries. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was +estimated to be fully one thousand men, while on the American side not a +ship was even seriously damaged and not a single man was killed +outright, and only six were wounded. More than a month after the battle, +Captain Charles B. Gridley, Commander of the _Olympia_, died, though his +death was the result of an accident received in the discharge of his +duty during the battle, and not from a wound. On May 2d Commodore Dewey +cut the cable connecting Manila with Hong Kong, and destroyed the +fortifications at the entrance of Manila Bay, and took possession of the +naval station at Cavite. This was to prevent communication between the +Philippine Islands and the government at Madrid, and necessitated the +sending of Commodore Dewey's official account of the battle by the +dispatch-boat _MCCullough_ to Hong Kong, whence it was cabled to the +United States. After its receipt, May 9th, both Houses adopted +resolutions of congratulation to Commodore Dewey and his officers and +men for their gallantry at Manila, voted an appropriation for medals for +the crew and a fine sword for the gallant Commander, and also passed a +bill authorizing the President to appoint another rear-admiral, which +honor was promptly conferred upon Commodore Dewey, accompanied by the +thanks of the President and of the nation for the admirable and heroic +services rendered his country. + +[Illustration: MAP OF CUBA] + +The Battle of Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and +courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets may +have been, the world agrees with the eminent foreign naval critic who +declared: "This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool, +well-balanced judgment, discipline, and bravery. It was a magnificent +achievement, and Dewey will go down in history ranking with John Paul +Jones and Lord Nelson as a naval hero." + +Admiral Dewey might have taken possession of the city of Manila +immediately. He cabled the United States that he could do so, but the +fact remained that he had not sufficient men to care for his ships and +at the same time effect a successful landing in the town of Manila. +Therefore he chose to remain on his ships, and though the city was at +his mercy, he refrained from a bombardment because he believed it would +lead to a massacre of the Spaniards on the part of the insurgents +surrounding the city, which it would be beyond his power to stop. This +humane manifestation toward the conquered foe adds to the lustre of the +hero's crown, and at the same time places the seal of greatness upon the +brow of the victor. He not only refrained from bombarding the city, but +received and cared for the wounded Spaniards upon his own vessels. Thus, +while he did all that was required of him without costing his country +the life of a single citizen, he manifested a spirit of humanity and +generosity toward the vanquished foe fully in keeping with the +sympathetic spirit which involved this nation in the war for humanity's +sake. + +The Battle of Manila further demonstrated that a fleet with heavier guns +is virtually invulnerable in a campaign with a squadron bearing lighter +metal, however gallantly the crew of the latter may fight. + +Before the Battle of Manila it was recognized that the government had +serious trouble on its hands. On May 4th President McKinley nominated +ten new Major-Generals, including Thomas H. Wilson, Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. J. +Sewell (who was not commissioned), and Joseph Wheeler, from private +life, and promoted Brigadier-Generals Breckinridge, Otis, Coppinger, +Shafter, Graham, Wade, and Merriam, from the regular army. The +organization and mobilization of troops was promptly begun and rapidly +pushed. Meantime our naval vessels were actively cruising around the +Island of Cuba, expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet. + +[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MANILA, MAY 1, 1898. + +ADMIRAL MONTOJO. ADMIRAL DEWEY. + +This illustration is historically correct. It shows the positions of the +vessels in that memorable battle which sounded at once the death knell +of Spanish authority in the East and West Indies.] + +On May 11th the gunboat _Wilmington_, revenue-cutter _Hudson_, and the +torpedo-boat _Winslow_ entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to attack the +defenses and three small Spanish gunboats that had taken refuge in the +harbor. The _Winslow_ being of light draft took the lead, and when +within eight hundred yards of the fort was fired upon with disastrous +effect, being struck eighteen times and rendered helpless. For more than +an hour the frail little craft was at the mercy of the enemy's +batteries. The revenue-cutter _Hudson_ quickly answered her signal of +distress by coming to the rescue, and as she was in the act of drawing +the disabled boat away a shell from the enemy burst on the _Winslow's_ +deck, killing three of her crew outright and wounding many more. Ensign +Worth Bagley, of the _Winslow_, who had recently entered active service, +was one of the killed. He was the first officer who lost his life in the +war. The same shell badly wounded Lieutenant Bernadon, Commander of the +boat. The _Hudson_, amidst a rain of fire from the Spanish gunboats and +fortifications, succeeded in towing the _Winslow_ to Key West, where the +bodies of the dead were prepared for burial and the vessel was placed in +repair. On May 12th the First Infantry landed near Port Cabanas, Cuba, +with supplies for the insurgents, which they succeeded in delivering +after a skirmish with the Spanish troops. This was the first land +engagement of the war. + +[Illustration: CAMP SCENE AT CHICKAMAUGA.] + +On the same date Admiral Sampson's squadron arrived at San Juan, Porto +Rico, whither it had gone in the expectation of meeting with Admiral +Cervera's fleet, which had sailed westward from the Cape Verde Islands +on April 29th, after Portugal's declaration of neutrality. The Spanish +fleet, however, did not materialize, and Admiral Sampson, while on the +ground, concluded it would be well to draw the fire of the forts that he +might at least judge of their strength and efficiency, if indeed he +should not render them incapable of assisting the Spanish fleet in the +event of its resorting to this port at a later period. Accordingly, +Sampson bombarded the batteries defending San Juan, inflicting much +damage and sustaining a loss of two men killed and six wounded. The loss +of the enemy is not known. The American war-ships sustained only trivial +injuries, but after the engagement it could be plainly seen that one end +of Morro Castle was in ruins. The Cabras Island fort was silenced and +the San Carlos battery was damaged. No shots were aimed at the city by +the American fleet. + +Deeming it unnecessary to wait for the Spanish war-ships in the vicinity +of San Juan, Sampson withdrew his squadron and sailed westward in the +hope of finding Cervera's fleet, which was dodging about the Caribbean +Sea. First it was heard of at the French island, Martinique, whence +after a short stay it sailed westward. Two days later it halted at the +Dutch island, Curacoa, for coal and supplies. After leaving this point +it was again lost sight of. Then began the chase of Commodore Schley and +Admiral Sampson to catch the fugitive. Schley, with his flying squadron, +sailed from Key West around the western end of Cuba, and Sampson kept +guard over the Windward and other passages to the east of the island. It +was expected that one or the other of these fleets would encounter the +Spaniard on the open sea, but in this they were mistaken. Cervera was +not making his way to the Mexican shore on the west, as some said, nor +was he seeking to slip through one of the passages into the Atlantic and +sail home to Spain, nor attack Commodore Watson's blockading vessels +before Havana, according to other expert opinions expressed and widely +published. For many days the hunt of the war-ships went on like a +fox-chase. On May 21st Commodore Schley blockaded Cienfuegos, supposing +that Cervera was inside the harbor, but on the 24th he discovered his +mistake and sailed to Santiago, where he lay before the entrance to the +harbor for three days, not knowing whether or not the Spaniard was +inside. On May 30th it was positively discovered that he had Cervera +bottled up in the narrow harbor of Santiago. He had been there since the +19th, and had landed 800 men, 20,000 Mauser rifles, a great supply of +ammunition, and four great guns for the defense of the city. + + +OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO. + +On May 31st Commodore Schley opened fire on the fortifications at the +mouth of the harbor, which lasted for about half an hour. This was for +the purpose of discovering the location and strength of the batteries, +some of which were concealed, and in this he was completely successful. +Two of the batteries were silenced, and the flagship of the Spaniards, +which took part in the engagement, was damaged. The Americans received +no injury to vessels and no loss of men. On June 1st Admiral Sampson +arrived before Santiago, and relieved Commodore Schley of the chief +command of the forces, then consisting of sixteen war-ships. + +[Illustration: RICHMOND PEARSON HOBSON.] + +Admiral Sampson, naturally a cautious commander, suffered great +apprehension lest Cervera might slip out of the harbor and escape during +the darkness of the night or the progress of a storm, which would compel +the blockading fleet to stand far off shore. There was a point in the +channel wide enough for only one warship to pass at a time, and if this +could be rendered impassable Cervera's doom would be sealed. How to +reach and close this passage was the difficult problem to be solved. On +either shore of the narrow channel stood frowning forts with cannon, and +there were other fortifications to be passed before it could be reached. +Young Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, a naval engineer, had attached +himself to Admiral Sampson's flagship, _New York_, just before it sailed +from Key West, and it was this young man of less than thirty years who +solved the problem by a plan originated by Admiral Sampson, which he +executed with a heroic daring that finds perhaps no parallel in all +naval history. At three o'clock A.M., June 3d, in company with seven +volunteers from the _New York_ and other ships, he took the United +States collier _Merrimac_, a large vessel with 600 tons of coal on +board, and started with the purpose of sinking it in the channel. The +chances were ten to one that the batteries from the forts would sink the +vessel before it could reach the narrow neck, and the chances were +hardly one in one hundred that any of the men on board the collier would +come out of this daring attempt alive. The ship had hardly started when +the forts opened fire, and amid the thunder of artillery and a rain of +steel and bursting shells the boat with its eight brave heroes held on +its way, as steadily as if they knew not their danger. The channel was +reached, and the boat turned across the channel. The sea-doors were +opened and torpedoes exploded by the intrepid crew, sinking the vessel +almost instantly, but not in the position desired. As the ship went down +the men, with side-arms buckled on, took to a small boat, and, escape +being impossible, they surrendered to the enemy. It seems scarcely less +than a miracle that any of the eight men escaped, yet the fact remained +that not one of them was seriously injured. The Spaniards were so +impressed with this act of bravery and heroism that they treated the +prisoners with the utmost courtesy, confined them in Morro Castle, and +Admiral Cervera promptly sent a special officer, under a flag of truce, +to inform Admiral Sampson of their safety. The prisoners were kept +confined in Morro Castle for some days, when they were removed to a +place of greater safety, where they were held until exchanged on July +7th. + + +THE SECOND BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND THE COMING OF THE ARMY. + +On the 6th of June the American fleet under Admiral Sampson bombarded +the forts of Santiago for about three hours. The gunners were all +instructed, however, to spare Morro Castle lest they should inflict +injury upon Hobson and his heroic companions, who were then confined +within its walls. Nearly all of the fortifications at the entrance of +the harbor were silenced. An examination after the fleet had withdrawn +revealed the fact that no lives were lost on the American side, and none +of the vessels were seriously injured. The Spanish ship _Reina Mercedes_ +was sunk in the harbor, she being the only ship from the enemy's fleet +which ventured within the range of the American's guns. + +The danger of entering the narrow harbor in the face of Cervera's fleet +rendered it necessary to take the city by land, and the government began +preparations to send General Shafter with a large force from Tampa to +aid the fleet in reducing the city. Some 15,000 men, including the now +famous Rough Riders of New York, were hurried upon transports, and under +the greatest convoy of gunboats, cruisers, and battleships which ever +escorted an army started for the western end of the island of Cuba. + +But the honor of making the first landing on Cuban soil belongs to the +marines. It was on June the 10th, a few days before the army of General +Shafter sailed from Tampa, that a landing was effected by Colonel +Huntington's six hundred marines at Caimanera, Guantanamo Bay, some +distance east of Santiago. The object of this landing was twofold: +first, to secure a place where our war-ships could safely take on coal +from colliers, and, second, to unite if possible with the insurgents in +harassing the Spaniards until General Shafter's army could arrive. +Furthermore, Guantanamo Bay furnished the American ships a safe harbor +in case of storm. + +In the whole history of the war few more thrilling passages are to be +found than the record of this brave band's achievements. The place of +landing was a low, round, bush-covered hill on the eastern side of the +bay. On the crest of the hill was a small clearing occupied by an +advance post of the Spanish army. When the marines landed and began to +climb the hill, the enemy, with little resistance, retreated to the +woods, and the marines were soon occupying the cleared space abandoned +by them. They had scarcely begun to compliment themselves on their easy +victory when they discovered that the retreat had only been a snare to +lure them into the open space, while unfortunately all around the +clearing the woods grew thick, and their unprotected position was also +overlooked by a range of higher hills covered with a dense undergrowth. +Thus the Spanish were able under cover of the bushes to creep close up +to our forces, and they soon began to fire upon them from the higher +ground of the wooded range. The marines replied vigorously to the fire +of their hidden foe, and thus continued their hit-and-miss engagement +for a period of four days and nights, with only occasional +intermissions. Perhaps the poor marksmanship of the Spaniards is to be +thanked for the fact that they were not utterly annihilated. On the +fourth day the Spanish gave up the contest and abandoned the field. + +[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE.] + +Major Henry C. Cochrane, second in command, states that he slept only an +hour and a half in the four days, and that many of his men became so +exhausted that they fell asleep standing on their feet with their rifles +in their hands. It is remarkable that during the four days the Americans +lost only six killed and about twenty wounded. The Spaniards suffered a +loss several times as great, fifteen of them having been found by the +Americans dead on the field. It is not known how many they carried away +or how many were wounded. + + +THE LANDING OF SHAFTER'S ARMY. + +On June 13th troops began to leave Tampa and Key West for operations +against Santiago, and on June 20th the transports bearing them arrived +off that city. Two days later General Shafter landed his army of 16,000 +soldiers at Daiquiri, a short distance east of the entrance to the +harbor, with the loss of only two men, and they by accident. Before the +coming of the troops the Spanish had evacuated the village of Daiquiri, +which is a little inland from the anchorage bearing the same name, and +set fire to the town, blowing up two magazines and destroying the +railroad roundhouse containing several locomotives. As the transports +neared the landing-place Sampson's ships opened fire upon Juragua, +engaging all the forts for about six miles to the west. This was done to +distract the attention of the Spanish from the landing soldiers, and was +entirely successful. After the forts were silenced the _New Orleans_ and +several gunboats shelled the woods in advance of the landing troops. The +soldiers went ashore in full fighting trim, each man carrying thirty-six +rations, two hundred rounds of ammunition for his rifle, and a +shelter-tent. + +While the troops were landing at Daiquiri, the battleship _Texas_, +hitherto considered as an unfortunate ship by the attaches of the navy, +completely changed her reputation and distinguished herself by assailing +and silencing, unaided, the Spanish battery La Socapa at Santiago, which +had hitherto withstood the attacks against it, though all the ships of +Commodore Schley's command had twice fiercely bombarded it without +result. Captain Philip and his men were complimented in warm terms of +praise by Admiral Sampson. The _Texas_ was struck but once, and that by +the last shot from the Spanish fort, killing one man and wounding eight +others, seriously damaging the ship. + +[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. SAMPSON.] + + +THE VICTORY OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. + +[Illustration: AMERICANS STORMING SAN JUAN HILL + +The most dramatic scene and the most destructive battle of the Spanish +War.] + +On June 24th the force under General Shafter reached Juragua, and the +battle by land was now really to begin. It was about ten miles out from +Santiago, at a point known as La Guasima. The country was covered with +high grass and chaparral, and in this and on the wooded hills a strong +force of Spaniards was hidden. Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's Rough +Riders, technically known as the First Volunteer Cavalry, under command +of Colonel Wood, were in the fight, and it is to their bravery and dash +that the glory of the day chiefly belongs. Troops under command of +General Young had been sent out in advance, with the Rough Riders on his +flank. There were about 1,200 of the cavalry in all, including the Rough +Riders and the First and Tenth Regulars. They encountered a body of two +thousand Spaniards in a thicket, whom they fought dismounted. The +volunteers were especially eager for the fight, and, perhaps due +somewhat to their own imprudence, were led into an ambuscade, as perfect +as was ever planned by an Indian. The main body of the Spaniards was +posted on a hill approached by two heavily wooded slopes and fortified +by two blockhouses, flanked by intrenchments of stones and fallen trees. +At the bottom of these hills run two roads, along one of which the Rough +Riders marched, and along the other eight troops of the Eighth and Tenth +Cavalry, under General Young. These roads are little more than gullies, +very narrow, and at places almost impassable. Nearly half a mile +separated Roosevelt's men from the Regulars, and it was in these trails +that the battle began. + +[Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT.] + +For an hour they held their position in the midst of an unseen force, +which poured a perfect hail of bullets upon them from in front and on +both sides. At length, seeing that their only way of escape was by +dashing boldly at the hidden foe, Colonel Wood took command on the right +of his column of Rough Riders, placing Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt at +the left, and thus, with a rousing yell, they led their soldiers in a +rushing charge before which the Spaniards fled from the hills and the +victorious assailants took the blockhouses. The Americans had sixteen +killed and fifty-two wounded, forty-two of the casualties occurring to +the Rough Riders and twenty-six among the Regulars. It is estimated that +the Spanish killed were nearly or quite one hundred. Thirty-seven were +found by the Americans dead on the ground. They had carried off their +wounded, and doubtless thought they had taken most of the killed away +also. + + +PREPARING FOR THE ASSAULT UPON SANTIAGO. + +The victory of the Rough Riders and the Regulars at La Guasima, though +so dearly bought, stimulated the soldiers of the whole army with the +spirit of war and the desire for an opportunity to join in the conquest. +They had not long to wait. The advance upon Santiago was vigorously +prosecuted on the land side, while the ships stood guard over the +entrapped Spanish Admiral Cervera in the harbor, and, anon, shelled +every fort that manifested signs of activity. On June 25th, Sevilla, +within sight of Santiago, was taken by General Chaffee, and an advance +upon the city was planned to be made in three columns by way of Altares, +Firmeza, and Juragua. General Garcia with 5,000 Cuban insurgents had +placed himself some time before at the command of the American leader. +On the 28th of June another large expedition of troops was landed, so +that the entire force under General Shafter, including the Cuban allies, +numbered over 22,000 fighting men. + +The enemy fell back at all points until the right of the American column +was within three miles of Santiago, and by the end of June the two +armies had well-defined positions. The Spanish intrenchments extended +around the city, being kept at a distance of about three and one-half +miles from the corporation limits. The trenches were occupied by about +12,000 Spanish soldiers, and there were some good fortifications along +the line. + +It was the policy of General Shafter to distribute his forces so as to +face this entire line as nearly as possible. A week was consumed, after +the landing was completed, in making these arrangements and in sending +forward the artillery, during which time the battle of La Guasima, +referred to, with some minor affairs, had occurred. Meantime the ships +of Admiral Sampson had dragged up the cables and connected them by +tap-wires with Shafter's headquarters, thus establishing communication +directly with Washington from the scene of battle. + + +THE BATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CANEY. + +The attack began July 1st, involving the whole line, but the main +struggle occurred opposite the left centre of the column on the heights +of San Juan, and the next greatest engagement was on the right of the +American line at the little town of El Caney. These two points are +several miles apart, the city of Santiago occupying very nearly the apex +of a triangle of which a line connecting these two positions would form +the base. John R. Church thus described the battles of July 1st and 2d: + + "El Caney was taken by General Lawton's men after a sharp contest and + severe loss on both sides. Here as everywhere there were blockhouses + and trenches to be carried in the face of a hot fire from Mauser + rifles, and the rifles were well served. The jungle must disturb the + aim seriously, for our men did not suffer severely while under its + cover, but in crossing clearings the rapid fire of the repeating + rifles told with deadly effect. The object of the attack on El Caney + was to crush the Spanish lines at a point near the city and allow us + to gain a high hill from which the place could be bombarded if + necessary. In all of this we were entirely successful. The engagement + began at 6.40 A.M., and by 4 o'clock the Spaniards were forced to + abandon the place and retreat toward their lines nearer the city. The + fight was opened by Capron's battery, at a range of 2,400 yards, and + the troops engaged were Chaffee's brigade, the Seventh, Twelfth, and + Seventeenth Infantry, who moved on Caney from the east; Colonel + Miles' brigade of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-fifth Infantry, + operating from the south; while Ludlow's brigade, containing the + Eighth and Twenty-second Infantry and Second Massachusetts, made a + detour to attack from the southwest. The Spanish force is thought to + have been 1,500 to 2,000 strong. It certainly fought our men for nine + hours, but of course had the advantage of a fort and strong + intrenchments. + + "The operations of our centre were calculated to cut the + communications of Santiago with El Morro and permit our forces to + advance to the bay, and the principal effort of General Linares, the + Spanish commander in the field, seems to have been to defeat this + movement. He had fortified San Juan strongly, throwing up on it + intrenchments that in the hands of a more determined force would have + been impregnable. + + "The battle of San Juan was opened by Grimes' battery, to which the + enemy replied with shrapnell. The cavalry, dismounted, supported by + Hawkins' brigade, advanced up the valley from the hill of El Pozo, + forded several streams, where they lost heavily, and deployed at the + foot of the series of hills known as San Juan under a sharp fire from + all sides, which was exceedingly annoying because the enemy could not + be discerned, owing to the long range and smokeless powder. They were + under fire for two hours before the charge could be made and a + position reached under the brow of the hill. It was not until nearly + 4 o'clock that the neighboring hills were occupied by our troops and + the final successful effort to crown the ridge could be made. The + obstacles interposed by the Spaniards made these charges anything but + the 'rushes' which war histories mention so often. They were slow and + painful advances through difficult obstacles and a withering fire. + The last 'charge' continued an hour, but at 4.45 the firing ceased, + with San Juan in our possession. + + "The Spaniards made liberal use of barbed-wire fencing, which proved + to be so effective as a stop to our advance that it is likely to + take its place among approved defensive materials in future wars. It + was used in two ways: Wires were stretched near the ground to trip up + our men when on the run. Beyond them were fences in parallel lines, + some being too high to be vaulted over. + + "The object of our attack was a blockhouse on the top of the hill of + San Juan, guarded by trenches and the defenses spoken of, a mile and + a half long. Our troops advanced steadily against a hot fire + maintained by the enemy, who used their rifles with accuracy, but did + not cling to their works stubbornly when we reached them. San Juan + was carried in the afternoon. The attack on Aguadores was also + successful, though it was not intended to be more than a feint to + draw off men who might otherwise have increased our difficulties at + San Juan. By nightfall General Shafter was able to telegraph that he + had carried all the outworks and was within three-quarters of a mile + of the city. + + "Though the enemy's lines were broken in the principal places, they + yielded no more than was forced from them, and the battle was resumed + on the 2d. The last day saw our left flank resting on the bay and our + lines drawn around the city within easy gun-fire. Fears were + entertained that the enemy would evacuate the place, and the right + flank was pushed around to the north and eventually to the northwest + of the city." + +In the fight at San Juan General Linares, commanding the Spanish forces +in Santiago, was severely wounded, and transferred the command to +General Jose Toral, second in authority. + + +THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET. + +During the previous two days' fight by land the fleet of Admiral Cervera +in Santiago harbor had taken an active part in shelling our positions, +with no inconsiderable effect; and General Shafter, largely on this +account, had about despaired of taking the city, with the force at his +command. In fact, he went so far on the morning of July 3d as to +telegraph Washington that his losses had been greatly underestimated, +that he met with stronger resistance than he had anticipated, and was +seriously considering falling back to a position five miles to the rear +to await reinforcements. He was also anxious for an interview with +Admiral Sampson. The fleet had been shelling the enemy during the two +days' fight, but it was necessary that the navy and army should have an +understanding; and at 8.30 o'clock on Sunday morning Admiral Sampson +with his flagship _New York_ steamed eastward for the purpose of +conferring with the general. + +[Illustration: THE OREGON. + +One of the most renowned ships of the American Navy is the mighty +Battleship Oregon. Her famous run from San Francisco around Cape Horn to +take part in the Battle of Santiago has never been equalled by any +battleship in the world's history. After she won fame in the destruction +of Cervera's fleet she was ordered to Manila by Admiral Dewey "for +political reasons" and remained there throughout the Philippine War +hurling her 13-inch shells into the Insurgent ranks when occasion +required.] + +General Miles telegraphed General Shafter, in response to his request to +hold his position, that he would be with him in a week with strong +reinforcements; and he promptly started two expeditions, aggregating +over 6,000 men, which reached Santiago on the 8th and 10th +respectively, in time to witness the closing engagements and surrender +of the city. But fortune again favored our cause and completely changed +the situation, unexpectedly to the American commanders of the land and +naval forces. + +It was on Sunday morning, July 3d, just before Sampson landed to meet +Shafter, that Admiral Cervera, in obedience to commands from his home +government, endeavored to run his fleet past the blockading squadron of +the Americans, with the result that all of his ships were destroyed, +nearly 500 of his men killed and wounded, and himself and about 1,300 +others were made prisoners. This naval engagement was one of the most +dramatic and terrible in all the history of conflict upon the seas, and, +as it was really the beginning of the end of what promised to be a long +and terrible struggle, it was undoubtedly the most important battle of +the war. + +[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY.] + +It had been just one month, to a day, since Hobson sunk the _Merrimac_ +at the harbor's mouth to keep Cervera in, and for nearly one month and a +half the fleets of Schley and Sampson had lain, like watch-dogs before +the gate, without for one moment relaxing their vigilance. The quiet of +Sunday morning brooded over the scene. Even the winds seemed resting +from their labors and the sea lay smooth as glass. For two days before, +July 1st and 2d, the fleets had bombarded the forts of Santiago for the +fourth time, and all the ships, except the _Oregon_, had steam down so +low as to allow them a speed of only five knots an hour. At half-past +nine o'clock the bugler sounded the call to quarters, and the Jackies +appeared on deck rigged in their cleanest clothes for their regular +Sunday inspection. On board the _Texas_ the devout Captain Philip had +sounded the trumpet-call to religious services. In an instant a line of +smoke was seen coming out of the harbor by the watch on the _Iowa_, and +from that vessel's yard a signal was run up--"The enemy is escaping to +the westward." Simultaneously, from her bridge a six-pounder boomed on +the still air to draw the attention of the other ships to her +fluttering signal. On every vessel white masses were seen scrambling +forward. Jackies and firemen tumbled over one another rushing to their +stations. Officers jumped into the turrets through manholes, dressed in +their best uniforms, and captains rushed to their conning towers. There +was no time to waste--scarcely enough to get the battle-hatches screwed +on tight. Jingle, jingle, went the signal-bells in the engine-rooms, and +"Steam! Steam!" the captains cried through the tubes. Far below decks, +in 125 to 150 degrees of heat, naked men shoveled in the black coal and +forced drafts were put on. + +One minute after the _Iowa_ fired her signal-gun she was moving toward +the harbor. From under the Castle of Morro came Admiral Cervera's +flagship, the _Infanta Maria Teresa_, followed by her sister armored +cruisers, _Almirante Oquendo_ and _Vizcaya_--so much alike that they +could not be distinguished at any distance. There was also the splendid +_Cristobal Colon_, and after them all the two fine torpedo-boat +destroyers, _Pluton_ and _Furor_. The _Teresa_ opened fire as she +sighted the American vessels, as did all of her companions, and the +forts from the heights belched forth at the same time. Countless geysers +around our slowly approaching battleships showed where the Spanish +shells exploded in the water. The Americans replied. The battle was on, +but at a long range of two or three miles, so that the secondary +batteries could not be called into use; but thirteen-inch shells from +the _Oregon_ and _Indiana_ and the twelve-inch shells from the _Texas_ +and _Iowa_ were churning up the water around the enemy. At this juncture +it seemed impossible for the Americans to head off the Spanish cruisers +from passing the western point, for they had come out of the harbor at a +speed of thirteen and one-half knots an hour, for which the blockading +fleet was not prepared. But Admiral Sampson's instructions were simple +and well understood--"Should the enemy come out, close in and head him +off"--and every ship was now endeavoring to obey that standing command +while they piled on coal and steamed up. + +Meanwhile, from the rapidly approaching _New York_ the signal +fluttered--"Close into the mouth of the harbor and engage the enemy;" +but the admiral was too far away, or the men were too busy to see this +signal, which they were, nevertheless, obeying to the letter. + +It was not until the leading Spanish cruiser had almost reached the +western point of the bay, and when it was evident that Cervera was +leading his entire fleet in one direction, that the battle commenced in +its fury. The _Iowa_ and the _Oregon_ headed straight for the shore, +intending to ram if possible one or more of the Spaniards. The _Indiana_ +and the _Texas_ were following, and the _Brooklyn_, in the endeavor to +cut off the advance ship, was headed straight for the western point. The +little unprotected _Gloucester_ steamed right across the harbor mouth +and engaged the _Oquendo_ at closer range than any of the other ships, +at the same time firing on the _Furor_ and _Pluton_, which were rapidly +approaching. + +It then became apparent that the _Oregon_ and _Iowa_ could not ram, and +that the _Brooklyn_ could not head them off, as she had hoped, and, +turning in a parallel course with them, a running fight ensued. +Broadside after broadside came fast with terrific slaughter. The +rapid-fire guns of the _Iowa_ nearest the _Teresa_ enveloped the former +vessel in a mantle of smoke and flame. She was followed by the _Oregon_, +_Indiana_, _Texas_, and _Brooklyn_, all pouring a rain of red-hot steel +and exploding shell into the fleeing cruisers as they passed along in +their desperate effort to escape. The _Furor_ and _Pluton_ dashed like +mad colts for the _Brooklyn_, and Commodore Schley signaled--"Repel +torpedo-destroyers." Some of the heavy ships turned their guns upon the +little monsters. It was short work. Clouds of black smoke rising from +their thin sides showed how seriously they suffered as they floundered +in the sea. + +[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL JOHN C. WATSON. + +Commander of the Blockading Fleet at Havana.] + +The _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_ dashed on after the cruisers, followed by +the other big ships, leaving the _Furor_ and _Pluton_ to the +_Gloucester_, hoping the _New York_, which was coming in the distance, +would arrive in time to help her out if she needed it. The firing from +the main and second batteries of all the battleships--_Oregon_, _Iowa_, +_Texas_--and the cruiser _Brooklyn_ was turned upon the _Vizcaya_, +_Teresa_, and _Oquendo_ with such terrific broadsides and accuracy of +aim that the Spaniards were driven from their guns repeatedly; but the +officers gave the men liquor and drove them back, beating and sometimes +shooting down those who weakened, without mercy; but under the terrific +fire of the Americans the poor wretches were again driven away or fell +mangled by their guns or stunned from the concussions of the missiles on +the sides of their ships. + +Presently flames and smoke burst out from the _Teresa_ and the +_Oquendo_. The fire leaped from the port-holes; and amid the din of +battle and above it all rose the wild cheers of the Americans as both +these splendid ships slowly reeled like drunken men and headed for the +shore. "They are on fire! We've finished them," shouted the gunners. +Down came the Spanish flags. The news went all over the ships--it being +commanded by Commodore Schley to keep everyone informed, even those far +below in the fire-rooms--and from engineers and firemen in the hot +bowels of the great leviathans to the men in the fighting-tops the +welkin rang until the shins reverberated with exuberant cheers. + +This was 10.20 A.M. Previously, the two torpedo boats had gone down, and +only two dozen of their 140 men survived, these having been picked up by +the _Gloucester_, which plucky little unprotected "dare-devil," not +content with the destruction she had courted and escaped only as one of +the unexplainable mysteries of Spanish gunnery, was coming up to join +the chase after bigger game; and it was to Lieutenant Wainwright, her +commander, that Admiral Cervera surrendered. The _Maine was_ avenged. +(Lieutenant Wainwright was executive officer on that ill-fated vessel +when she was blown up February 15th.) Cervera was wounded, hatless, and +almost naked when he was taken on board the _Gloucester_. Lieutenant +Wainwright cordially saluted him and grasped him by the hand, saying, "I +congratulate you, Admiral Cervera, upon as gallant a fight as was ever +made upon the sea." He placed his cabin at the service of Cervera and +his officers, while his surgeon dressed their wounds and his men did all +they could for their comfort--Wainwright supplying the admiral with +clothing. Cervera was overcome with emotion, and the face of the old +gray-bearded warrior was suffused in tears. The _Iowa_ and _Indiana_ +came up soon after the _Gloucester_ and assisted in the rescue of the +drowning Spaniards from the _Oquendo_ and _Teresa_, after which they all +hurried on after the vanishing _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_, which were +pursuing the _Vizcaya_ and _Colon_, the only two remaining vessels of +Cervera's splendid fleet. From pursuer and pursued the smoke rose in +volumes and the booming guns over the waters sang the song of +destruction. + +In twenty-four minutes after the sinking of the _Teresa_ and _Oquendo_, +the _Vizcaya_, riddled by the _Oregon's_ great shells and burning +fiercely, hauled down her flag and headed for the shore, where she hung +upon the rocks. In a dying effort she had tried to ram the _Brooklyn_, +but the fire of the big cruiser was too hot for her. The _Texas_ and the +little _Vixen_ were seen to be about a mile to the rear, and the +_Vizcaya_ was left to them and the _Iowa_, the latter staying by her +finally, while the _Texas_ and _Vixen_ followed on. + +It looked like a forlorn hope to catch the _Colon_. She was four and +one-half miles away. But the _Brooklyn_ and the _Oregon_ were running +like express trains, and the _Texas_ sped after the fugitives with all +her might. The chase lasted two hours. Firing ceased, and every power of +the ship and the nerve of commodore, captains, and officers were devoted +to increasing the speed. Men from the guns, naked to the waist and +perspiring in streams, were called on deck for rest and an airing. It +was a grimy and dirty but jolly set of Jackies, and jokes were merrily +cracked as they sped on and waited. Only the men in the fire-rooms were +working as never before. It was their battle now, a battle of speed. At +12.30 it was seen the Americans were gaining. Cheers went up and all was +made ready. "We may wing that fellow yet," said Commodore Schley, as he +commanded Captain Clark to try a big thirteen-inch shell. "Remember the +Maine" was flung out on a pennant from the mast-head of the _Oregon_, +and at 8,500 yards she began to send her 1,000-pound shots shrieking +over the _Brooklyn_ after the flying Spaniard. One threw tons of water +on board the fugitive, and the _Brooklyn_ a few minutes later with +eight-inch guns began to pelt her sides. Everyone expected a game fight +from the proud and splendid _Colon_ with her smokeless powder and +rapid-fire guns; but all were surprised when, after a feeble resistance, +at 1.15 o'clock her captain struck his colors and ran his ship ashore +sixty miles from Santiago, opening her sea-valves to sink her after she +had surrendered. + +Victory was at last complete. As the _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_ moved upon +the prey word of the surrender was sent below, and naked men poured out +of the fire-rooms, black with smoke and dirt and glistening with +perspiration, but wild with joy. Commodore Schley gazed down at the +grimy, gruesome, joyous firemen with glistening eyes suspicious of +tears, and said, in a husky voice, eloquent with emotion, "_Those are +the fellows who made this day_." Then he signaled--"The enemy has +surrendered." The _Texas_, five miles to the east, repeated the signal +to Admiral Sampson some miles further away, coming at top speed of the +_New York_. Next the commodore signaled the admiral--"_A glorious +victory has been achieved. Details communicated later_." And then, to +all the ships, "_This is a great day for our country_," all of which +were repeated by the _Texas_ to the ships further east. The cheering was +wild. Such a scene was never, perhaps, witnessed upon the ocean. Admiral +Sampson arrived before the _Colon_ sank, and placing the great nose of +the _New York_ against that vessel pushed her into shallow water, where +she sank, but was not entirely submerged. Thus perished from the earth +the bulk of the sea power of Spain. + +The Spanish losses were 1,800 men killed, wounded, and made prisoners, +and six ships destroyed or sunk, the property loss being about +$12,000,000. The American loss was one man killed and three wounded, all +from the _Brooklyn_, a result little short of a miracle from the fact +that the _Brooklyn_ was hit thirty-six times, and nearly all the ships +were struck more than once. + +The prisoners were treated with the utmost courtesy. Many of them were +taken or rescued entirely naked, and scores of them were wounded. Their +behavior was manly and their fortitude won the admiration of their +captors. Whatever may be said of Spanish marksmanship, there is no +discount on Spanish courage. After a short detention Cervera and his +captured sailors were sent north to New Hampshire and thence to +Annapolis, where they were held until released by order of President +McKinley, August 31st. + + +THREATENED BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND FLIGHT OF THE REFUGEES. + +On July 3d, while the great naval duel was in progress upon the sea, +General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago upon pain of +bombardment. The demand was refused by General Toral, who commanded the +forces after the wounding of General Linares. General Shafter stated +that he would postpone the bombardment until noon of July 5th to allow +foreigners and non-combatants to get out of the city, and he urged +General Toral in the name of humanity to use his influence and aid to +facilitate the rapid departure of unarmed citizens and foreigners. +Accordingly late in the afternoon of July 4th General Toral posted +notices upon the walls of Santiago advising all women, children, and +non-combatants that between five and nine o'clock on the morning of the +5th they might pass out by any gate of the city, all pilgrims going on +foot, no carriages being allowed, and stating that stretchers would be +provided for the crippled. + +[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER.] + +Promptly at five o'clock on the following morning a great line of +pilgrims wound out of Santiago. It was no rabble, but well-behaved +crowds of men and women, with great droves of children. About four +hundred persons were carried out on litters. Many of the poorer women +wore large crucifixes and some entered El Caney telling their beads. But +there were many not so fortunate as to reach the city. Along the +highroads in all directions thousands of families squatted entirely +without food or shelter, and many deaths occurred among them. The Red +Cross Society did much to relieve the suffering, but it lacked means of +transporting supplies to the front. + +[Illustration: THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO, JULY 17, 1898. + +After a little ceremony the two commanding Generals faced each other, +and General Toral, speaking in Spanish, said: "Through fate I am forced +to surrender to General Shafter of the American Army the city and +strongholds of the City of Santiago." General Shafter in reply said: "I +receive the city in the name of the Government of the United States."] + +While the flag of truce was still flying on the morning of July 6th a +communication was received from General Toral, requesting that the time +of truce be further extended, as he wanted to communicate again with the +Spanish government at Madrid concerning the surrender of the city; and, +further, that the cable operators, who were Englishmen and had fled to +El Caney with the refugees, be returned to the city that he might do so. +General Shafter extended the truce until four o'clock on Sunday, July +10th, and the operators returned from El Caney to work the wires for +General Toral. During all this time the refugees continued to throng the +roads to Siboney and El Caney, until 20,000 fugitives were congregated +at the two points. It is a disgraceful fact, however, that while this +truce was granted at the request of the Spanish general, it was taken +advantage of by the troops under him to loot the city. Both Cuban and +Spanish families suffered from their rapacity. + +[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL NELSON A. MILES.] + + +THE LAST BATTLE AND THE SURRENDER OF THE CITY. + +On July 8th and 10th the two expeditions of General Miles arrived, +reinforcing General Shafter's army with over 6,000 men. General Toral +was acquainted with the fact of their presence, and General Miles +urgently impressed upon him that further resistance could but result in +a useless loss of life. The Spanish commander replied that he had not +received permission to surrender, and if the Americans would not wait +longer he could only obey orders of his government, and that he and his +men would die fighting. Accordingly a joint bombardment by the army and +navy was begun. The artillery reply of the Spaniards was feeble and +spiritless, though our attack on the city was chiefly with artillery. +They seemed to depend most upon their small arms, and returned the +volleys fired from the trenches vigorously. Our lines were elaborately +protected with over 22,000 sand-bags, while the Spaniards were protected +with bamboo poles filled with earth. In this engagement the dynamite gun +of the Rough Riders did excellent service, striking the enemy's +trenches and blowing field-pieces into the air. The bombardment +continued until the afternoon of the second day, when a flag of truce +was displayed over the city. It was thought that General Toral was about +to surrender, but instead he only asked more time. + +On the advice of General Miles, General Shafter consented to another +truce, and, at last, on July 14th, after an interview with Generals +Miles and Shafter, in which he agreed to give up the city on condition +that the army would be returned to Spain at the expense of America, +General Toral surrendered. On July 16th the agreement, with the formal +approval of the Madrid and Washington governments, was signed in +duplicate by the commissioners, each side retaining a copy. This event +was accepted throughout the world as marking the end of the +Spanish-American War. + +The conditions of the surrender involved the following points: + + "(1) The 20,000 refugees at El Caney and Siboney to be sent back to + the city. (2) An American infantry patrol to be posted on the roads + surrounding the city and in the country between it and the American + cavalry. (3) Our hospital corps to give attention, as far as + possible, to the sick and wounded Spanish soldiers in Santiago. (4) + All the Spanish troops in the province, except ten thousand men at + Holguin, under command of General Luque, to come into the city and + surrender. (5) The guns and defenses of the city to be turned over to + the Americans in good condition. (6) The Americans to have full use + of the Juragua Railroad, which belongs to the Spanish government. (7) + The Spaniards to surrender their arms. (8) All the Spaniards to be + conveyed to Spain on board of American transports with the least + possible delay, and be permitted to take portable church property + with them." + + +TAKING POSSESSION OF SANTIAGO AND RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG. + +The formality of taking possession of the city yet remained to be done. +To that end, immediately after the signing of the agreement by the +commissioners, General Shafter notified General Toral that he would +formally receive his surrender of the city the next day, Sunday, July +17th, at nine o'clock in the morning. Accordingly at about 8.30 A.M., +Sunday, General Shafter, accompanied by the commander of the American +army, General Nelson A. Miles, Generals Wheeler and Lawton, and several +officers, walked slowly down the hill to the road leading to Santiago. +Under the great mango tree which had witnessed all the negotiations, +General Toral, in full uniform, accompanied by 200 Spanish officers, met +the Americans. After a little ceremony in military manoeuvring, the +two commanding generals faced each other, and General Toral, speaking in +Spanish, said: + +"Through fate I am forced to surrender to General Shafter, of the +American army, the city and the strongholds of the city of Santiago." + +General Toral's voice trembled with emotion as he spoke the words giving +up the town to his victorious enemy. As he finished speaking the Spanish +officers presented arms. + +General Shafter, in reply, said: + +"I receive the city in the name of the government of the United States." + +The officers of the Spanish general then wheeled about, presenting arms, +and General Shafter, with the American officers, cavalry and infantry, +chosen for the occasion, passed into the city and on to the governor's +palace, where a crowd, numbering 3,000 persons, had gathered. As the +great bell in the tower of the cathedral nearby gave the first stroke of +twelve o'clock the American flag was run up from the flag-pole on the +palace, and as it floated to the breeze all hats were removed by the +spectators, while the soldiers presented arms. As the cathedral bell +tolled the last stroke of the hour the military band began to play "The +Star-Spangled Banner," which was followed by "Three Cheers for the Red, +White, and Blue." The cheering of the soldiers were joined by more than +half of the people, who seemed greatly pleased and yelled "Viva los +Americanos." The soldiers along almost the whole of the American line +could see and had watched with alternating silence and cheers the entire +proceeding. + +[Illustration: GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER.] + + +GENERAL SHAFTER'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICTORY. + +Having assigned soldiers to patrol and preserve order within the city, +General Shafter and his staff returned to their quarters at camp, and +the victorious commander, who two weeks before was almost disheartened, +sent a dispatch announcing the formal surrender of Santiago. It was the +first dispatch of the kind received at Washington from a foreign country +for more than fifty years. The following extract from General Shafter's +telegram sums up the situation: + +"I have the honor to announce that the American flag has been this +instant, 12 noon, hoisted over the house of the civil government in the +city of Santiago. An immense concourse of people was present, a squadron +of cavalry and a regiment of infantry presenting arms, and a band +playing national airs. A light battery fired a salute of twenty-one +guns. + +"Perfect order is being maintained by the municipal government. The +distress is very great, but there is little sickness in town, and +scarcely any yellow fever. + +"A small gunboat and about 200 seamen left by Cervera have surrendered +to me. Obstructions are being removed from the mouth of the harbor. + +"Upon coming into the city I discovered a perfect entanglement of +defenses. Fighting as the Spaniards did the first day, it would have +cost five thousand lives to have taken it. + +"Battalions of Spanish troops have been depositing arms since daylight +in the armory, over which I have a guard. General Toral formally +surrendered the plaza and all stores at 9 A.M. About 7,000 rifles, +600,000 cartridges, and many fine modern guns were given up. + +"This important victory, with its substantial fruits of conquest, was +won by a loss of 1,593 men killed, wounded, and missing. Lawton, who had +the severe fighting around El Caney, lost 410 men. Kent lost 859 men in +the still more severe assault on San Juan and the other conflicts of the +centre. The cavalry lost 285 men, many of whom fell at El Caney, and the +feint at Aguadores cost thirty-seven men. One man of the Signal Corps +was killed and one wounded. Trying as it is to bear the casualties of +the first fight, there can be no doubt that in a military sense our +success was not dearly won." + +Thus within less than thirty days from the time Shafter's army landed +upon Cuban soil he had received the surrender not only of the city of +Santiago, but nearly the whole of the province of that name--or about +one-tenth of the entire island. + + +THE WAR IN PORTO RICO. + +It was General Miles' original plan after establishing a blockade of +Cuban ports to open the war in Porto Rico, and make no general invasion +of Cuba during the sickly season, but the enclosure of Cervera's fleet +in the harbor of Santiago changed the conditions and made it necessary +to move a military force to that point before going elsewhere. + +Now that Santiago had surrendered, according to the original plan of +General Miles, the attention of the army and navy was again turned to +Porto Rico, and the work of fitting out expeditions to that island was +begun at once. There were three expeditions sent. The first under +General Miles sailed from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 21st; the second +under General Ernst on the same day sailed from Charleston, S.C.; the +third under General Brooke embarked at Newport News on July 26th. All of +these expeditions, aggregating about 11,000 men, were convoyed by +war-ships, and successfully landed. The first, under General Miles, +reached Guanica at daylight on July 25th, where a Spanish force +attempted to resist their landing, but a few well-directed shells from +the _Massachusetts_, _Gloucester_, and _Columbia_ soon put the enemy to +flight. A party then went ashore and pulled down the Spanish flag from +the blockhouse--the first trophy of war from Porto Rican soil. As the +troops began to land the Spaniards opened fire upon them. The Americans +replied with their rifles and machine guns, and the ships also shelled +the enemy from the harbor. Five dead Spaniards were found after the +firing had ceased. Not an American was touched. + +Before nightfall all the troops were landed. The next day General Miles +marched toward Ponce. Four men were wounded in a skirmish at Yauco on +the way, but at Ponce, where General Ernst's expedition from Charleston +met them and disembarked on July 28th, the Spaniards fled on the +approach of the Americans, whom the mayor of the city and the people +welcomed with joy, making many demonstrations in their honor and +offering their services to hunt and fight the Spaniards. General Miles +issued a proclamation to the people declaring clearly the United States' +purpose of annexing them. The mayor of Ponce published this +proclamation, with an appeal from himself to the people to salute and +hail the American flag as their own, and to welcome and aid the American +soldiers as their deliverers and brothers. + +On August 4th General Brooke arrived, and the fleet commander, Captain +Higginson, with little resistance opened the port of Arroyo, where they +were successfully landed the next day, and General Haines' brigade +captured the place with a few prisoners. + +The Americans were then in possession of all the principal ports on the +south coast, covering between fifty and sixty miles of that shore. A +forward movement was inaugurated in three divisions--all of which we +will consider together--the object of General Miles being to occupy the +island and drive the Spanish forces before him into San Juan, and by the +aid of the fleet capture them there in a body, though the Spanish forces +numbered 8,000 regulars and 9,000 volunteers, against which were the +11,000 land forces of the Americans and also their fleet. + +The town of Coamo was captured August 9th after half an hour of fighting +by Generals Ernst and Wilson, the Americans driving the Spaniards from +their trenches, and sustaining a loss of six wounded. On the 10th +General Schwan encountered 1,000 Spaniards at Rosario River. This was +the most severe engagement in Porto Rico. The Spaniards were routed, +with what loss is unknown. The Americans had two killed and sixteen +wounded. + +On the 11th General Wilson moved on to Abonito and found the enemy +strongly intrenched in the mountain fastnesses along the road. He +ventured an attack with artillery, sustaining a loss of one man killed +and four wounded. On pain of another attack he sent a messenger +demanding the surrender of the town of Abonito; but the soldierly answer +was sent back: "Tell General Wilson to stay where he is if he wishes to +avoid the shedding of much blood." General Wilson concluded to delay +until General Brooke could come up before making the assault, and, while +thus waiting, the news of peace arrived. + +Meantime General Brooke had been operating around Guayama, where he had +five men wounded. At three o'clock, August 12th, the battle was just +opening in good order, and a great fight was anticipated. The gunners +were sighting their first pieces when one of the signal corps galloped +up with the telegram announcing _peace_. "You came just fifteen minutes +too soon. The troops will be disappointed," said General Brooke, and +they were. + +So ended the well-planned campaign of Porto Rico, in which General Miles +had arranged, by a masterly operation with 11,000 men, the occupation of +an island 108 miles long by thirty-seven broad. As it was, he had +already occupied about one-third of the island with a loss of only three +killed and twenty-eight wounded, against a preponderating force of +17,000 Spaniards. + +After the signing of the protocol of peace General Brooke was left in +charge of about half the forces in Porto Rico, pending a final peace, +while General Miles with the other half returned to the United States, +where he arrived early in September and was received with fitting +ovations in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, at which latter city +he again took up his quarters as the Commander of the American Army. + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES. + +After Dewey's victory at Manila, already referred to, it became evident +that he must have the co-operation of an army in capturing and +controlling the city. The insurgents under General Aguinaldo appeared +anxious to assist Admiral Dewey, but it was feared that he could not +control them. Accordingly, the big monitor _Monterey_ was started for +Manila and orders were given for the immediate outfitting of expeditions +from San Francisco under command of Major-General Wesley Merritt. The +first expedition consisted of between 2,500 and 3,000 troops, commanded +by Brigadier-General Anderson, carried on three ships, the _Charleston_, +the _City of Pekin_, and the _City of Sydney_. This was the longest +expedition (about 6,000 miles) on which American troops were ever sent, +and the men carried supplies to last a year. The _Charleston_ got away +on the 22d, and the other two vessels followed three days later. The +expedition went through safely, arriving at Manila July 1st. The +_Charleston_ had stopped on June 21st at the Ladrone Islands and +captured the island of Guam without resistance. The soldiers of the +garrison were taken on as prisoners to Manila and a garrison of American +soldiers left in charge, with the stars and stripes waving over the +fortifications. + +[Illustration: IN THE WAR ROOM AT WASHINGTON. + +The above illustration shows President McKinley, Secretary Long, +Secretary Alger, and Major-General Miles consulting map during the +progress of the Spanish-American War. It is in this room that the plans +of conducting the war by land and sea, are formulated, and the commands +for action are wired to the fleet and the army.] + +The second expedition of 3,500 men sailed June 15th under General +Greene, who used the steamer _China_ as his flagship. This expedition +landed July 16th at Cavite in the midst of considerable excitement on +account of the aggressive movements of the insurgents and the daily +encounters and skirmishes between them and the Spanish forces. + +On June 23d the monitor _Monadnoc_ sailed to further reinforce Admiral +Dewey, and four days later the third expedition of 4,000 troops under +General McArthur passed out of the Golden Gate amid the cheers of the +multitude, as the others had done; and on the 29th General Merritt +followed on the _Newport_. Nearly one month later, July 23d, General +H.G. Otis, with 900 men, sailed on the _City of Rio de Janeiro_ from San +Francisco, thus making a total of nearly 12,000 men, all told, sent to +the Philippine Islands. + +General Merritt arrived at Cavite July 25th, and on July 29th the +American forces advanced from Cavite toward Manila. On the 31st, while +enroute, they were attacked at Malate by 3,000 Spaniards, whom they +repulsed, but sustained a loss of nine men killed and forty-seven +wounded, nine of them seriously. This was the first loss of life on the +part of the Americans in action in the Philippines. The Spanish +casualties were much heavier. On the same day General McArthur's +reinforcements arrived at Cavite, and several days were devoted to +preparations for a combined land and naval attack. + +[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT.] + +On August 7th Admiral Dewey and General Merritt demanded the surrender +of the city within forty-eight hours, and foreign war-ships took their +respective subjects on board for protection. On August 9th the +Spaniards asked more time to hear from Madrid, but this was refused, +and on the 13th a final demand was made for immediate surrender, which +Governor-General Augusti refused and embarked with his family on board a +German man-of-war, which sailed with him for Hong Kong. At 9.30 o'clock +the bombardment began with fury, all of the vessels sending hot shot at +the doomed city. + +In the midst of the bombardment by the fleet American soldiers under +Generals McArthur and Greene were ordered to storm the Spanish trenches +which extended ten miles around the city. The soldiers rose cheering and +dashed for the Spanish earthworks. A deadly fire met them, but the men +rushed on and swept the enemy from their outer defenses, forcing them to +their inner trenches. A second charge was made upon these, and the +Spaniards retreated into the walled city, where they promptly sent up a +white flag. The ships at once ceased firing, and the victorious +Americans entered the city after six hours' fighting. General Merritt +took command as military governor. The Spanish forces numbered 7,000 and +the Americans 10,000 men. The loss to the Americans was about fifty +killed, wounded, and missing, which was very small under the +circumstances. + +In the meantime the insurgents had formed a government with Aguinaldo as +president. They declared themselves most friendly to American occupation +of the islands, with a view to aiding them to establish an independent +government, which they hoped would be granted to them. On September 15th +they opened their republican congress at Malolos, and President +Aguinaldo made the opening address, expressing warm appreciation of +Americans and indulging the hope that they meant to establish the +independence of the islands. On September 16th, however, in obedience to +the command of General Otis, they withdrew their forces from the +vicinity of Manila. + + +PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL. + +Precisely how to open the negotiations for peace was a delicate and +difficult question. Its solution, however, proved easy enough when the +attempt was made. During the latter part of July the Spanish government, +through M. Jules Cambon, the French ambassador at Washington, submitted +a note, asking the United States government for a statement of the +ground on which it would be willing to cease hostilities and arrange for +a peaceable settlement. Accordingly, on July 30th, a statement, +embodying President McKinley's views, was transmitted to Spain, and on +August 2d Spain virtually accepted the terms by cable. On August 9th +Spain's formal reply was presented by M. Cambon, and on the next day he +and Secretary Day agreed upon terms of a protocol, to be sent to Spain +for her approval. Two days later, the 12th inst., the French ambassador +was authorized to sign the protocol for Spain, and the signatures were +affixed the same afternoon at the White House (M. Cambon signing for +Spain and Secretary Day for the United States), in the presence of +President McKinley and the chief assistants of the Department of State. +The six main points covered by the protocol were as follows: + +"1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title +to Cuba. + +"2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and an +island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States, shall be +ceded to the latter. + +"3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and +harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which +shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the +Philippines. + +"4. That Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies +shall be immediately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be appointed +within ten days, shall, within thirty days from the signing of the +protocol, meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and +execute the details of the evacuation. + +"5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not more than +five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The +commissioners are to meet at Paris not later than October 1st. + +"6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended and +notice to that effect be given as soon as possible by each government to +the commanders of its military and naval forces." + +On the very same afternoon President McKinley issued a proclamation +announcing on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, +and over the wires the word went ringing throughout the length and +breadth of the land and under the ocean that peace was restored. The +cable from Hong Kong to Manila, however, had not been repaired for use +since Dewey had cut it in May; consequently it was several days before +tidings could reach General Merritt and Admiral Dewey; and meantime the +battle of Manila, which occurred on the 13th, was fought. + +On August 17th President McKinley named commissioners to adjust the +Spanish evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico, in accordance with the terms +of the protocol. Rear-Admiral Wm. T. Sampson, Senator Matthew C. Butler, +and Major-General James F. Wade were appointed for Cuba, and +Rear-Admiral W.S. Schley, Brigadier-General Wm. W. Gordon, and +Major-General John R. Brooke for Porto Rico. In due time Spain announced +her commissioners, and, as agreed, they met in September and the +arrangements for evacuation were speedily completed and carried out. + +President McKinley appointed as the National Peace Commission, +Secretary of State Wm. R. Day, Senator Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota, +Senator Wm. P. Frye of Maine, Senator George Gray of Delaware, and Mr. +Whitelaw Reid of New York. Secretary Day resigned his State portfolio +September 16th, in which he was succeeded by Colonel John Hay, former +Ambassador to England. With ex-Secretary Day at their head the Americans +sailed from New York, September 17th, met the Spanish Commissioners at +Paris, France, as agreed, and arranged the details of the final peace +between the two nations. Thus ended the Spanish-American War. + + +HOME-COMING OF OUR SOLDIERS. + +After Spain's virtual acceptance of the terms of peace contained in +President McKinley's note of July 30th, it was deemed unnecessary to +keep all the forces unoccupied in the fever districts of Cuba and the +unsanitary camps of our own country; consequently the next day after +receipts of Spain's message of August 2d, on August 3d, the home-coming +was inaugurated by ordering all cavalry under General Shafter at +Santiago to be transported to Montauk Point, Long Island, and on the 6th +instant transports sailed bearing those who were to come north. These +were followed rapidly by others from Santiago, and later by about half +the forces from Porto Rico under General Miles, and others from the +various camps, so that by the end of September, 1898, nearly half of the +great army of 268,000 men had been mustered out of service or sent home +on furlough. + +It is a matter of universal regret that so many of our brave volunteers +died of neglect in camps and on transports, and that fever, malaria, and +exposure carried several times the number to their graves as were sent +there by Spanish bullets. Severe criticisms have been lodged against the +War Department for both lack of efficiency and neglect in caring for the +comfort, health, and life of those who went forward at their country's +call. + +However, it must be remembered that the War Department undertook and +accomplished a herculean task, and it could not be expected, starting +with a regular force of less than 30,000 men, that an army of a quarter +of a million could be built up out of volunteers who had to be +collected, trained, clothed, equipped, and provisioned, and a war waged +and won on two sides of the globe, in a little over three months, +without much suffering and many mistakes. + + +THE TREATY OF PEACE. + +December 10, 1898, was one of the most eventful days in the past +decade--one fraught with great interest to the world, and involving the +destiny of more than 10,000,000 of people. At nine o'clock on the +evening of that day the commissioners of the United States and those of +Spain met for the last time, after about eleven weeks of +deliberation, in the magnificent apartments of the foreign ministry at +the French capital, and signed the Treaty of Peace, which finally marked +the end of the Spanish-American War. + +[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES PEACE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SPANISH WAR + +Appointed September 9, 1898. Met Spanish Commissioners at Paris, October +1st. Treaty of Peace signed by the Commissioners at Paris, December +10th. Ratified by the United States Senate at Washington, February 6, +1899.] + +This treaty transformed the political geography of the world by +establishing the United States' authority in both hemispheres, and also +in the tropics, where it had never before extended. It, furthermore, +brought under our dominion and obligated us for the government of +strange and widely isolated peoples, who have little or no knowledge of +liberty and government as measured by the American standards. In this +new assumption of responsibility America essayed a difficult problem, +the solving of which involved results that could not fail to influence +the destiny of our nation and the future history of the whole world. + +On January 3, 1899, the Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, delivered the +Treaty of Peace to President McKinley, who, on January 4th, forwarded +the same to the Senate of the United States with a view to its +ratification. Below will be found the complete text of the treaty as +submitted by the President. + + ARTICLE I.--Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and + title to Cuba. + + And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by + the United States, the United States will, so long as such occupation + shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under + international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the + protection of life and property. + + ARTICLE II.--Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto + Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West + Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones. + + ARTICLE III.--Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known + as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within + the following line: + + "A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth + parallel of north latitude and through the middle of the navigable + channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the + one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude + east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh + (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the + parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4-45) north latitude + to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and + nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119-35) east of Greenwich, + thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen + degrees and thirty-five minutes (119-35) east of Greenwich to the + parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7-40) north, + thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes + (7-40) north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth + (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a + direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel + of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree + meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one + hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of + Greenwich to the point of beginning." + + The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars + ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of ratifications + of the present treaty. + + ARTICLE IV.--The United States will, for the term of ten years from + the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, + admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine + Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United + States. + + ARTICLE V.--The United States will, upon the signature of the present + treaty, send back to Spain at its own cost the Spanish soldiers taken + as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American forces. + The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to them. + + Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present + treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines as well as the island of + Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the commissioners + appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other + islands in the West Indies, under the protocol of August 12, 1898, + which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely + executed. + + The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and + Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands + of colors, uncaptured war-vessels, small arms, guns of all calibers, + with their carriages and accessories, powder, ammunition, live stock, + and materials and supplies of all kinds belonging to the land and + naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the + property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field + artillery, in the fortifications and coast defenses shall remain in + their emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from + the exchange of ratifications of the treaty; and the United States + may, in the meantime, purchase such material from Spain if a + satisfactory agreement between the two Governments on the subject + shall be reached. + + ARTICLE VI.--Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty, + release prisoners of war and all persons detained or imprisoned for + political offenses in connection with the insurrections in Cuba and + the Philippines and the war with the United States. + + Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons made + prisoners of war by the American forces and will undertake to obtain + the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the insurgents + in Cuba and the Philippines. + + The Government of the United States will at its own cost return to + Spain and the Government of Spain will at its own cost return to the + United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, according to + the situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or caused + to be released by them, respectively, under this article. + + ARTICLE VII.--The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all + claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of + either Government or of its citizens or subjects, against the other + Government that may have arisen since the beginning of the late + insurrection in Cuba, and prior to the exchange of ratifications of + the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost + of the war. + + The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its + citizens against Spain relinquished in this article. + + ARTICLE VIII.--In conformity with the provisions of Articles I, II, + and III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba and cedes in Porto + Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island of Guam and + in the Philippine archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, barracks, + forts, structures, public highways, and other immovable property, + which, in conformity with law, belong to the public domain, and as + such belong to the Crown of Spain. + + And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or cession, as the + case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, cannot in any + respect impair the property or rights which by law belong to the + peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of provinces, + municipalities, public or private establishments, ecclesiastical or + civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to + acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced + or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality such + individuals may be. + + The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, includes + all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty relinquished + or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Peninsula. Where any + document in such archives only in part relates to said sovereignty, a + copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall be requested. + Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in + respect of documents in the archives of the islands above referred + to. + + In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are + also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authorities + possess in respect of the official archives and records, executive as + well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to + said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such + archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private + persons shall, without distinction, have the right to require in + accordance with law authenticated copies of the contracts, wills, and + other instruments forming part of notarial protocols or files, or + which may be contained in the executive or judicial archives, be the + latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid. + + ARTICLE IX.--Spanish subjects, natives of the peninsula, residing in + the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or + cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or may remove + therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of property, + including the right to sell or dispose of such property or of its + proceeds, and they shall also have the right to carry on their + industry, commerce, and professions, being subject in respect thereof + to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they + remain in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the + Crown of Spain by making before a court of record, within a year from + the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a + declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance, in default + of which declaration they shall be held to have renounced it and to + have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may + reside. + + The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of + the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined + by the Congress. + + ARTICLE X.--The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain + relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secure in the free + exercise of their religion. + + ARTICLE XI.--The Spaniards residing in the territories over which + Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty shall be + subject in matters civil as well as criminal to the jurisdiction of + the courts of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the + ordinary laws governing the same; and they shall have the right to + appear before such courts and to pursue the same course as citizens + of the country to which the courts belong. + + ARTICLE XII.--Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the + exchange of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over + which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be determined + according to the following rules: + + 1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private + individuals or in criminal matters before the date mentioned and with + respect to which there is no recourse or right of revenue under the + Spanish law shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in due + form by competent authority in the territory within which such + judgments should be carried out. + + 2. Civil suits between private individuals which may on the date + mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted to judgment before the + court in which they may then be pending or in the court that may be + substituted therefor. + + 3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the Supreme + Court of Spain against citizens of the territory which by this treaty + ceases to be Spanish shall continue under its jurisdiction until + final judgment; but such judgment having been rendered, the execution + thereof shall be committed to the competent authority of the place in + which the case arose. + + ARTICLE XIII.--The rights of property secured by copyrights and + patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island de Cuba, and in Porto + Rico, the Philippines, and other ceded territories, at the time of + the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to + be respected. Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works not + subversive of public order in the territories in question shall + continue to be admitted free of duty into such territories for the + period of ten years, to be reckoned from the days of the exchange of + the ratifications of this treaty. + + ARTICLE XIV.--Spain will have the power to establish consular offices + in the ports and places of the territories the sovereignty over which + has been either relinquished or ceded by the present treaty. + + ARTICLE XV.--The Government of each country will, for the term of ten + years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country the same + treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance and + clearance dues, light dues and tonnage duties, as it accords to its + own merchant vessels not engaged in the coastwise trade. + + This article may at any time be terminated on six months' notice + given by either Government to the other. + + ARTICLE XVI.--It is understood that any obligations assumed in this + treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the + time of its occupancy thereof; but it will, upon the termination of + such occupancy, advise any government established in the island to + assume the same obligations. + + ARTICLE XVII.--The present treaty shall be ratified by the President + of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the + Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty, the Queen Regent of Spain, and + the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington within six months + from the date hereof, or earlier, if possible. + + In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed + this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals. + + Done in duplicate, at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year + of our Lord one thousand eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. + +WILLIAM R. DAY, + +WILLIAM P. FRYE, + +WHITELAW REID, + +B. DE ABARZUZA, + +W.R. DE VILLA URRUTIA, + +CUSHMAN K. DAVIS, + +GEORGE GRAY, + +EUGENIO M. RIOS, + +J. DE GARNICA, + +RAFAEL CERERO. + +The Queen Regent of Spain signed the ratification of the Treaty of Peace +on March 17, 1899, and the final act took place on the afternoon of +April 11th, when copies of the final protocol were exchanged at +Washington by President McKinley and the French ambassador, M. Cambon, +representing Spain. The President immediately issued a proclamation of +peace, and thus the Spanish-American War came to an official end. A few +weeks later the sum of $20,000,000 was paid to Spain, in accordance with +the treaty, as partial compensation for the surrender of her rights in +the Philippines, and diplomatic relations between the Latin kingdom and +the United States were resumed. + +The territory which passes under the control of our government by the +above treaty of peace has a combined area of about 168,000 square miles, +equal to nine good States. It all lies within the tropics, where +hitherto not an acre of our country has extended; and, for that reason, +its acquisition is of the greatest commercial significance. These +islands produce all tropical fruits, plants, spices, timbers, etc. Their +combined population is upwards of 10,000,000 people, and among this vast +number there are few manufactories of any kind. They are consumers or +prospective consumers of all manufactured goods; they require the +products of the temperate zone, and in return everything they produce is +marketable in our country. + +The Spanish forces withdrew from Cuba, December 31, 1898, and, on the +following day, the Stars and Stripes was hoisted over Havana. The +change of sovereignties in Porto Rico took place without trouble, but +there has been some disturbance in Cuba, and it is evident that +considerable time must elapse before peace will be fully restored and a +stable government established in the island. + +Though the war with Spain was closed, serious trouble broke out in the +Philippines. Aguinaldo, who had headed most of the rebellions against +Spain during the later years, refused to acknowledge the authority of +the United States, and, rallying thousands of Filipinos around him, set +on foot what he claimed was a war of independence. Our government sent a +strong force of regulars and volunteers thither, all of whom acquitted +themselves with splendid heroism and bravery, and defeated the rebels +repeatedly, capturing strongholds one after the other, and, in fact, +driving everything resistlessly before them. The fighting was of the +sharpest kind, and our troops had many killed and wounded, though that +of the enemy was tenfold greater. All such struggles, however, when +American valor and skill are arrayed on one side, can have but one +result; and, animated by our sense of duty, which demanded that a firm, +equitable, and just government should be established in the Philippines, +this beneficent purpose was certain to be attained in the end. + +[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL ELWELL S. OTIS] + +On March 3, 1899, President McKinley nominated Rear-Admiral George Dewey +to the rank of full admiral, his commission to date from March 2d, and +the Senate immediately and unanimously confirmed the nomination, which +had been so richly earned. This hero, as modest as he is great, remained +in the Philippines to complete his herculean task, instead of seizing +the first opportunity to return home and receive the overwhelming honors +which his countrymen were eagerly waiting to show him. Finally, when his +vast work was virtually completed and his health showed evidence of the +terrific and long-continued strain to which it had been subjected, he +turned over his command, by direction of the government, to Rear-Admiral +Watson, and, proceeding by a leisurely course, reached home in the +autumn of 1899. The honors showered upon him by his grateful and +admiring countrymen proved not only his clear title to the foremost rank +among the greatest naval heroes of ancient and modern times, but +attested the truth that the United States is not ungrateful, and that +there is no reward too exalted for her to bestow upon those who have +worthily won it. + +[Illustration: ADMIRAL DEWEY'S FLAGSHIP THE "OLYMPIA."] + +[Illustration: GEN. ARTHUR MacARTHUR.] + +[Illustration: GEN. CHARLES KING.] + +[Illustration: GEN HENRY W. LAWTON.] + +[Illustration: GEN. FRED. FUNSTON.] + +POPULAR COMMANDERS IN THE FILIPINO WAR. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED) 1897-1901. + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. + +The Islands of Hawaii--Their Inhabitants and Products--City of +Honolulu--History of Cuba--The Ten Years' War--The Insurrection of +1895-98--Geography and Productions of Cuba--Its Climate--History of +Porto Rico--Its People and Productions--San Juan and Ponce--Location, +Discovery, and History of the Philippines--Insurrections of the +Filipinos--City of Manila--Commerce--Philippine Productions--Climate and +Volcanoes--Dewey at Manila--The Ladrone Islands--Conclusion. + + +THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS "THE PARADISE OF THE PACIFIC." + +The annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, by a joint +vote of Congress, July 7, 1898, marks a new era in the history of our +country. It practically sounded the death-knell of the conservative +doctrine of non-expansion beyond our own natural physical boundaries. +The only precedent approaching this act, in our history, is the +annexation of Texas. The Louisiana Territory, Florida, and Alaska were +acquired by purchase; California, New Mexico, and a part of Colorado +were obtained by cession from Mexico; Oregon, Washington, Montana, and +Idaho by treaty with Great Britain. Texas alone was annexed. The fact, +however, that it was a republic is the only circumstance which makes its +case analogous to that of Hawaii. Texas lay between two large nations, +and was obliged to seek union with one of them. It was within our own +continent and inhabited largely by our own people. Hawaii marks our +first advance into foreign lands, and ranges America for the first time +among the nations whose policy is that of expansion, by territorial +extensions, over the globe. + +[Illustration: NATIVE GRASS HOUSE, HAWAII.] + +Hawaii is called the "Paradise of the Pacific," and there is little +doubt that its climate, fertility and healthfulness justify the name. +It is one of the few spots upon earth where one can almost, to use a +slang phrase, "touch the button" and obtain any kind of weather he +desires. Mark Twain's suggestion to those who go to these islands to +find a congenial clime is about as practical as it is humorous--"Select +your climate, mark your thermometer at the temperature desired, and +climb until the mercury stops there." Everyone who visits Hawaii is +charmed with the country, and never forgets its novelty, stupendous and +delightful scenery, clear atmosphere, gorgeous sunlight, and profusion +of fruits and flowers. + +"No alien land in all the world," writes Mr. Clemens, "could so +longingly and beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a +life-time, as that has done. Other things leave me, but that abides. +Other things change, but that remains the same. For me its balmy airs +are always blowing; its summer seas flash in the sun; the pulsing of its +surf beats in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping +cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits +floating like islands above the cloud rack; I can feel the spirit of its +woodland solitudes; I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils +still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago." + + +DISCOVERY AND LOCATION. + +Captain Cook discovered the islands in January, 1778, and named them the +Sandwich Islands, after Lord Sandwich; but the native name, Hawaii, is +more generally used. There is good evidence that Juan Gaetano, in the +year 1555--223 years before Cook's visit--landed upon their shores. Old +Spanish charts and the traditions of the natives bear out this theory, +but they were not made known to the world until Cook visited them. It is +popularly believed that the original inhabitants of Hawaii came from New +Zealand, though that island is some 4,000 miles southwest of them. The +physical appearance of the people is very similar, and their languages +are so much alike that a native Hawaiian and a native New Zealander, +meeting for the first time, can carry on a conversation. Their ideas of +the Deity and some of their religious customs are nearly the same. That +the islands have been peopled for a long time is proven by the fact that +human bones are found under lava beds and coral reefs where geologists +declare they have lain for at least thirteen hundred years. + +There are eight inhabited islands in the archipelago, Hawaii, Maui, +Kahoolawi, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau, comprising an area +of 6,700 square miles, a little less than that of the State of New +Jersey, and about five hundred miles greater than the combined areas of +Rhode Island and Connecticut. They extend from northwest to southeast, +over a distance of about 380 miles, the several islands being separated +by channels varying in width from six to sixty miles. They lie entirely +within the tropics, not far from a direct line between San Francisco and +Japan, 2,080 miles from San Francisco, which is nearer to them than any +other point of land, except one of the Carolines. The largest and most +southern island is Hawaii, which has given its name to the group. + +[Illustration: RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG IN HONOLULU, AUGUST 12, 1898. + +The cut in the corner shows the Royal Palace formerly occupied by the +Hawaiian Kings.] + + +THE HIGHEST AND LARGEST VOLCANOES. + +The entire archipelago is of volcanic origin, but there are no active +craters to be found at the present time, except two, on the island of +Hawaii. Mauna Loa is the highest volcano in the world, being nearly +14,000 feet above the sea. It has an immense crater; but, while it still +sends forth smoke and has a lake of molten lava at the bottom, there +have been no eruptions for a number of years. Kilauea, the largest +active volcano on the globe, is about sixteen miles from Mauna Loa, on +one of its foothills, 4,000 feet above the sea, and is in a constant +state of activity. Its last great eruption occurred in 1894. This +volcano was described by the missionary Ellis in the year 1823, and +hundreds of tourists visit it every year. Its crater is nine miles in +circumference and several hundred feet deep. Under the conduct of +competent guides the tourists descend into the crater and walk over the +cool lava in places, while near them the hot flame and molten lava are +spouting to the height of hundreds of feet. + +The largest extinct volcano in the archipelago is on the island of Maui, +the bottom of the crater measuring sixteen square miles. All of these +stupendous volcanic mountains rise so gently on the western side that +horsemen easily ride to their summits. + + +INHABITANTS OF THE ISLANDS. + +When Cook visited Hawaii, he found the islands inhabited, according to +his estimate, by 400,000 natives. Forty years later when the census was +taken there were 142,000. These diminished one-half during the next +fifty years, and the native population of the islands in 1897 was only +31,019. The total population by the last census, when the islands became +a part of the United States, was 109,020, made up, in addition to the +natives mentioned, of 24,407 Japanese, 21,616 Chinese, 12,191 +Portuguese, and 3,086 Americans. The remainder were half-castes from +foreign intermarriage with the natives, together with a small +representation from England, Germany, and other European countries. + +[Illustration: HULA DANCING GIRLS, HAWAII.] + +That the original Hawaiians must soon become extinct as a pure race is +evident, though they have never been persecuted or maltreated. They are +a handsome, strong-looking people, with a rich dark complexion, jet +black eyes, wavy hair, full voluptuous lips, and teeth of snowy +whiteness; but they are constitutionally weak, easily contract and +quickly succumb to disease, and the only hope of perpetuating their +blood seems to lie in mixing it by intermarriage with other races. + + +OLD TIMES IN HAWAII. + +Prior to 1795, all the islands had separate kings, but in that and the +following year the great king of Hawaii, Kamehameha, with cannon that he +procured from Vancouver's ships, assaulted and subjugated all the +surrounding kings, and since that time the islands have been under one +government. Previous to this, the natives had been at war, according to +their traditions, for three hundred years. The fierceness of their +hand-to-hand conflicts, as described by their historians, has probably +not been surpassed by those of any other people in the world. The four +descendants of Kamehameha reigned until 1872, when the last of his line +died childless. A new king was elected, who died within a year, and +another was then elected by the people. It was to this last line that +Queen Liliuokalani belonged, and she was deposed by the revolution of +1893, led by the American and European residents upon the islands. These +patriots set up a provisional government and made repeated application +for admission to the United States, the tender of the islands being +finally accepted by a joint vote of Congress on July 7, 1898, since +which time the Hawaiian Islands have been a part of our country. + +The manners and customs of the native Hawaiians are most interesting, +but space forbids a description of them here. Their religion was a gross +form of idolatry, with many gods. Human sacrifice was freely practiced. +They deified dead chiefs and worshiped their bones. The great king, +Kamehameha I., though an idolater, was a most progressive monarch, and +invited Vancouver, who went there in 1794, taking swine, cattle, sheep, +and horses, together with oranges and other valuable plants, to bring +over teachers and missionaries to teach his people "the white man's +religion." + + +THE WORK OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES. + +But it was not until 1820, after the death of the great king, that the +first missionaries arrived, and they came from America. The year +previous, in 1819, Kamehameha II. had destroyed many of the temples and +idols and forbidden idol worship in the islands; consequently, when the +missionaries arrived they beheld the unprecedented spectacle of a nation +without a religion. The natives were rapidly converted to Christianity. +It was these American missionaries who first reduced the Hawaiian +language to writing, established schools and taught the natives. As a +result of their work, the Hawaiians are the most generally educated +people, in the elementary sense, in the world. There is hardly a person +in the islands, above the age of eight years, who cannot read and write. +In spite of education, however, many of the ancient superstitions still +exist, and some of the old stone temples are yet standing. What the +United States will do with these heathen temples remains to be seen. The +natives revere them as relics of their savage history, and as such they +may be preserved. + +[Illustration: CHURCH IN HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. + +Built of lava stone. Seating capacity about 3000.] + +Aside from the horrors of superstitions, the Hawaiians lead a happy +life, full of amusements of various kinds on the land and water--for +Hawaiian men, women and children live much of their time in the water. +Infants are often taught the art of swimming before they can walk. The +surf riding or swimming of the natives astonished Captain Cook more than +any of their remarkable performances. The time selected was when a storm +was tossing the waves high and the surf was furious. Then the men and +women would dive through the surf, with narrow boards about nine inches +wide and eight feet long, and, swimming a mile or more out to sea, mount +on the crest of a huge billow, and sitting, kneeling or standing, with +wild gesticulations, ride over the waves and breakers like gods or +demons of the storm. This practice has now ceased to be indulged in. But +the swimming of the Kanaka boys, who flock around incoming steamers, and +dive after and catch coins which tourists throw into the water, like so +many ducks diving after corn, shows what a degree of perfection the +natatorial art has attained among the native Hawaiians. Sledging down +the mountain sides, boxing, and tournament riding are other popular +amusements; and, with the exception of boxing, the women compete with +the men in the amusements. + + +PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE. + +Sugar is king in Hawaii as wheat is in the Northwest. In 1890 there were +19,000 laborers--nearly one-fifth of the total population--engaged on +sugar plantations. Ten tons to the acre have been raised on the richest +lands. The average is over four tons per acre, but it requires from +eighteen to twenty months for a crop to mature. Rice growing is also an +important industry. It is raised in marsh lands, and nearly all the +labor is done by Chinese, though they do not own the land. Coffee is +happily well suited to the soil that is unfitted for sugar and rice, and +the Hawaiian coffee is particularly fine, combining the strength of the +Java with a delicate flavor of its own. + +Diversified farming is coming more into vogue. Fruit raising will +undoubtedly become one of the most important branches when fast steamers +are provided for its transportation. Sheep and cattle raising must also +prove profitable, since the animals require little feeding and need no +housing. + +"Almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be raised, many of those +belonging to the temperate zones thriving on the elevated mountain +slopes. Fruit is abundant; the guava grows wild in all the islands, and +were the manufacture of jelly made from it carried on, on a large scale, +the product could doubtless be exported with profit. Both bananas and +pineapples are prolific, and there are many fruits and vegetables, which +as yet have been raised only for local trade, which would, if cultivated +for export, bring in rich returns. + +"Of the total exports from the Hawaiian Islands in 1895, the United +States received 99.04 per cent., and in the same year 79.04 per cent. of +the imports to the islands were from the United States. The total value +of the sugar sent to the United States in 1896 was $14,932,010; of rice, +$194,903; of coffee, $45,444; and of bananas, $121,273." + + +THE CHIEF CITY. + +Honolulu, the capital city, is to Hawaii what Havana is to Cuba, or +better, what Manila is to the Philippine Islands. Here are concentrated +the business, political and social forces that control the life and +progress of the entire archipelago. This city of 30,000 inhabitants is +situated on the south coast of Oahu, and extends up the Nuuanu Valley. +It is well provided with street-car lines--which also run to a bathing +resort four miles outside the city--a telephone system, electric lights, +numerous stores, churches and schools, a library of over 10,000 volumes, +and frequent steam communication with San Francisco. There are papers +published in the English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese +languages, and a railroad is being built, of which thirty miles along +the coast are already completed. Honolulu has also a well-equipped fire +department and public water-works. The residence portions of the city +are well laid out, the houses, many of which are very handsome, being +surrounded by gardens kept green throughout the year. The climate is +mild and even, and the city is a delightful and a beautiful place of +residence. Hawaii is peculiarly an agricultural country, and Honolulu +gains its importance solely as a distributing centre or depot of +supplies. Warehouses, lumber yards, and commercial houses abound, but +there is a singular absence of mills and factories and productive +establishments. There are no metals or minerals, or as yet, textile +plants or food plants, whose manufacture is undertaken in this unique +city. + +[Illustration: SUGAR CANE PLANTATION, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. + +About one-fifth of the entire population is engaged in sugar culture. +The average product is about three tons per acre.] + +The Hawaiian Islands are, without question, on the threshold of a great +industrial era, fraught with most potent results to the prosperity and +development of that land. Its climate is delightful and healthful, and +its soil so fertile that it will easily support 5,000,000 people. + +[Illustration: SENOR MONTERO RIOS + +President of the Spanish Peace Commission whose painful duty required +him to sign away his country's colonial possessions.] + +[Illustration: GENERAL RAMON BLANCO + +Who succeeded Weyler as Captain-General of Cuba in 1897. He was formerly +Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.] + +[Illustration: ADMIRAL CERVERA + +Commander of Spanish Fleet at Santiago.] + +[Illustration: SAGASTA + +Premier of Spain during the Spanish-American War.] + +[Illustration: PROMINENT SPANIARDS IN 1898] + + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). + +CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." + +Although Cuba is not a part or a possession of the United States, it has +since the war with Spain, in 1898, come under the protection of this +government, and is, therefore, entitled to a place in this volume. In +the hand of Providence, this island became the doorway to America. It +was here that Columbus landed, October 28, 1492. True, he touched +earlier at one of the smaller islands to the north; but it was merely a +halting before pushing on to Cuba. "Juana" Columbus called the island, +in honor of Isabella's infant son. Afterward it was successively known +as Fernandina, Santiago, and Ave Maria; but the simple natives, who were +there to the number of 350,000, called it _Cooba_, and this name +prevailed over the Spanish titles, as the island has finally prevailed +over Spanish domination, and it has come under the protection of America +with its Indian name, slightly changed to _Cuba_, remaining as the sole +and only heritage we have of the simple aborigines who have utterly +perished from the face of the earth under Spanish cruelty. + +[Illustration: TOMB OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN THE CATHEDRAL AT HAVANA. + +The ashes of the great discoverer were removed from this tomb to Spain +in December, 1898.] + +In 1494 Columbus visited Cuba a second time, and once again in 1502. In +1511 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer, with a colony of +between three and four hundred Spaniards, came, and in 1514 he founded +the towns of Santiago and Trinidad. Five years later, in 1519, the +present capital Havana, or _Habana_, was founded. The French reduced the +city in 1538, practically demolishing the whole town. Under the +governor, De Soto, it was rebuilt and fortified, the famous Morro Castle +and the Punta, which are still standing, being built at that early date. + + +THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. + +The natives, whom Columbus found in Cuba, were agreeable in feature, and +so amiable in disposition that they welcomed the white man with open +arms, and, besides contributing food, readily gave up their treasures to +please the Spaniards. Unlike the warlike cannibal tribes of the Lesser +Antilles, known as the Caribs, they lived in comparative peace with one +another, and had a religion which recognized the Supreme Being. Columbus +held several conferences with these simple natives, who numbered, +according to his estimate, from 350,000 to half a million souls, and his +associations and dealings with them on his first visit were always +friendly and of a mutually pleasing nature. But when he returned to +Spain he left soldiers, who brutally maltreated them, until the natives +rose in revolt and exterminated every white man. Even Columbus himself, +in 1494, had to fight the Indians at the landing-place. + +A salubrious climate, a fertile soil, and simple wants rendered it +unnecessary for the native to do hard work; and although it is well +proven that he did mine copper and traded in it with the mound builders +of Florida, yet the native was not accustomed to arduous toil, and +rebelled against it. This, perhaps, was unfortunate, for the perpetuity +of his race at that time depended upon this very quality. The Spanish +"friend" who came to the island was incapable of work. He neither would +nor could, under his ethics of self-respect, abase himself to labor, so +he proceeded to enslave the native to labor for him. The Cuban rebelled, +and fled before the superior Spanish weapons from the coasts to the +mountain fastnesses of the interior. + + +EXTERMINATION OF THE NATIVES. + +Then began that cruel and long-continued war of extermination, of which +history has recorded the most shocking details. The conquest was begun +under Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer. The merciless +Velasquez was his general, and the frightful cruelties which he +inaugurated upon the simple natives have been continued for nearly four +hundred years by his successors in the island, though the annihilation +of the aboriginal tribes themselves was a brief and bloody work. +Velasquez rode them down and trampled them--regardless of age or +sex--under the iron hoofs of his war-horses, slashed them with swords, +devastated their villages, and bore them away into slavery. The Cuban +had no weapons; the mountain fastnesses could not hide him from his +relentless pursuer. African slaves, who were brought to the island in +Spanish ships, were armed and forced by their masters to chase the +natives, and not a forest or mountain top was a place of refuge for +these doomed children of the soil. One historian declares: "There is +little doubt that before 1560 the whole of this native population had +disappeared from the island. They were so completely exterminated that +it is doubtful if the blood of their race was even remotely preserved in +the mixed classes who followed African and Chinese introduction." + +[Illustration: MAGNIFICENT INDIAN STATUE IN THE PRADO, HAVANA, CUBA.] + + +A PERIOD OF REST. + +For nearly two hundred years after the extermination of the natives, +Cuba rested without a struggle in the arms of Spain. The early settlers +engaged almost wholly in pastoral pursuits. Tobacco was indigenous to +the soil, and in 1580 the Cuban planters began its culture. Later, +sugar-cane was imported from the Canaries, and found to be a fruitful +and profitable crop. The beginning of the culture of sugar demanded more +laborers, and the importation of additional slaves was the result. In +1717, Spain attempted to make a monopoly of the tobacco culture, and the +first Cuban revolt occurred. In 1723 a second uprising took place, +because of an oppressive government; but these early revolts against +tyranny were insignificant as compared with those of the last +half-century. + +In 1762, the city of Havana was captured by the English, with an +expedition commanded by Lord Albemarle, but his fighting troops were +principally Americans under the immediate command of Generals Phineas +Lyman and Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. The story of Putnam's +command in this war is thrilling and sad. After first suffering +shipwreck and many hardships in reaching the island, they lay before +Havana, where Spanish bullets and fever almost annihilated the whole +command. Scarcely more than one in fifty lived to return to America. By +the Treaty of Paris, 1763, Cuba was unfortunately restored to Spain, and +it was afterward that her troubles with the "Mother Country," as Spain +affectionately called herself to all her provinces, began. The hand of +oppression for one and a quarter centuries relaxed not its grasp, and +year by year grew heavier and more galling. + + +DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTIONS. + +Some of the most prolific seeds of modern revolutions may be said to +have been sown when the African slave trade assumed important +proportions, in 1791. About the same time began a large importation of +Chinese coolies, for which Cuba paid a bounty of $400 apiece to the +importer. These coolies bound themselves to the Spaniards for eight +years, for which they were paid $4.00 per month as wages. The new influx +of labor and the coming of Las Casas as Captain-General to Cuba, in +1790, mark the beginning of Cuba's great period of prosperity. This +enterprising ruler introduced numerous public improvements, established +botanical gardens and schools of agriculture, with a view to developing +and increasing Cuba's resources and commercial importance. Owing to his +wise administration, Cuba prospered and remained undisturbed for a long +while. An insurrection occurred among the slaves in 1812, which was +promptly put down with characteristic cruelty, and the blacks remained +"good niggers" for a third of a century. By the year 1844, the slave +trade with Cuba had grown to enormous proportions. In that year alone, +statistics tell us, 10,000 slaves were landed from Africa upon the +island. Another wild and fanatical insurrection occurred the same year +among them, which, as before, ended in failure. Seventy-eight of the +rebels were shot, and many otherwise punished. By 1850, the slaves had +so multiplied and the importation had been so large that the census +showed there were nearly 500,000 on the island. + +Meantime, in 1823 and 1827, insurrections were attempted on the part of +the Creoles (descendants of Spanish and French settlers) and other free +Cubans. They failed, and the blood of the martyrs was seed in the +ground. Revolutionist and enslaved insurrectionist gradually drifted +together. They had a common cause--to struggle for freedom against +oppression. The bondsman was little or no worse off than the Creoles, +Chinese coolies, and free negroes--all native-born Cubans were shut out +from the enjoyment of true citizenship. They must do the work and pay +the tribute, but Spaniards, born in Spain, were alone allowed to hold +office of profit or trust under the government; and they looked with +inexpressible contempt upon the rest of the population, and, with the +backing of the army, preserved their domination in spite of their +inferior numbers. The governor-general was appointed from Spain and held +office from three to five years, and was expected to steal or extort +himself rich in that time. It is said not one governor-general ever +failed to do so. + +[Illustration: DARING ATTACK BY THE PATRIOTS OF CUBA UPON A FORT NEAR +VUELTAS.] + + +THE TEN YEARS' WAR. + +The first long and determined struggle of the oppressed people of Cuba +for liberty began in 1868. In that year a revolution broke out in Spain, +and the patriots seized the opportunity, while the mother country was +occupied at home, for an heroic effort to liberate themselves. They rose +first at Yara, in the district of Bayamo, and on October 10th of that +year made a declaration of independence. Eight days later the city of +Bayamo was taken by the patriots, and early in November they defeated a +force sent against them from Santiago. The majority of the South +American republics hastened to recognize the Cubans as belligerents; +but--though they held their own in guerrilla warfare against the Spanish +forces for ten years, fighting in the forests and bravely resisting all +the efforts of Spain to subdue them--there was not one great power in +the world willing to extend to the patriots the recognition of +belligerent rights. The cruelty of the Spaniards toward the soldiers +they captured, and to all inhabitants who sympathized with the patriots' +cause, was equaled only by the courage, fortitude, and exalted +patriotism which animated their victims. The following instances, +selected from scores that might be cited, are given in the Spaniards' +own words, translated, _verbatim_, into English: + + +SPANISH TESTIMONY OF HORRORS PRACTICED. + +Jacob Rivocoba, under date of September 4, 1896, writes: + + "We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright; on dying + they shouted, 'Hurrah for free Cuba! hurrah for independence!' A + mulatto said, 'Hurrah for Cespedes!' On the following day we killed a + Cuban officer and another man. Among the thirteen that we shot the + first day were found three sons and their father; the father + witnessed the execution of his sons without even changing color, and + when his turn came he said he died for the independence of his + country. On coming back we brought along with us three carts filled + with women and children, the families of those we had shot; and they + asked us to shoot them, because they would rather die than live among + Spaniards." + +Pedro Fardon, another officer, who entered entirely into the spirit of +the service he honored, writes on September 22, 1869: + + "Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we shoot all + those we find in the fields, on the farms, and in every hovel." + +And, again, on the same day, the same officer sends the following good +news to his old father: + + "We do not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or animal. + If we find cows, we kill them; if horses, ditto; if hogs, ditto; men, + women, or children, ditto; as to the houses, we burn them: so every + one receives his due--the men in balls, the animals in + bayonet-thrusts. The island will remain a desert." + +These atrocities were perpetrated not alone by the common soldier. In +fact, the above reports come from men who were officers in the Spanish +army, and they show that such actions were approved by the highest +authority. A well-authenticated account assures us that General Count +Balmaceda himself went on one occasion to the home of a patriot family, +Mora by name, to arrest or kill the patriots he had heard were stopping +there; but, finding the men all absent, he wreaked his vengeance and +thirst for blood by butchering the two Mora sisters and burning the +house over their bodies. + + +PEACE AND FAIR PROMISES. + +At last, Spain, seeing that she could neither induce the Cubans to +surrender nor draw them into a decisive battle; and finding, +furthermore, that her army of 200,000 men was likely to be annihilated +by death, disease, and patriot bullets, made overtures, which, by +promising many privileges to the people that they had not before +enjoyed, effected a peace. As a result of this war, slavery was +abolished in the island; but Spain's promises for fair and equitable +government were repudiated, and the civil powers became more +extortionate and severe than ever. This war laid a heavy debt upon +Spain, and Cuba was taxed inordinately. The people soon saw that they +had been duped. The world looked upon Cuba and Spain as at peace. To the +outsider the surface was placid, but underneath "the waters were +troubled." Such heroic spirits as Generals Calixto Garcia, Jose Marti, +Antonio Maceo, and Maximo Gomez, leaders in the ten years' struggle, +still lived, though scattered far apart, and in their hearts bore a load +of righteous wrath against their treacherous foe. While such men lived +and such conditions existed another conflict was inevitable. + + +THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. + +It was on February 24, 1895, that the last revolution of the Cuban +patriots began. Spain had heard the mutterings of the coming storm, and +hoped to stay it by visiting with severe punishment every Cuban +suspected of patriotic affiliations. Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, but a man +of fortune and education, a veteran of the ten years' war, and a Cuban +by birth, was banished to San Domingo. There were other exiles in Key +West, New York, and elsewhere. Jose Marti was the leading spirit in +forming the Cuban Junta in New York and organizing revolutionary clubs +among Cubans everywhere. Antonio Maceo was the first of the old leaders +in the field. He went secretly to Cuba and began organizing the +insurrectionists, and when war was declared the flag of the new +republic, bearing a lone white star in a red field, was flung to the +breeze. Captain-General Calleja declared martial law in the insurgents' +vicinity, and troops were hastily summoned and sent from Spain. The +revolutionists from the start fought by guerrilla methods of warfare, +dashing upon the unsuspecting Spanish towns and forces, and escaping to +the mountains before the organized Spaniards could retaliate. + +Jose Marti and Jose Maceo--brother of the general--were prompt to join +the active forces, and on April 13, 1895, General Maximo Gomez, a native +of San Domingo, came over and was made commander of the insurgent +forces. This grizzled old hero, with nearly seventy years behind him, +was at once an inspiration and a host within himself. An army of 6,000 +men was ready for his command, and the revolution took on new life and +began in all its fury. On May 19th the insurgents met their first great +disaster, when Jose Marti was led into an ambush and killed. But his +blood was like a seed planted, from which thousands of patriots sprang +up for the ranks. Within a few days there were 10,000 ill-armed but +determined men in the field. They had no artillery, nearly half were +without guns, and there was little ammunition for those who were armed. + + +THE PLANS OF CAMPOS THWARTED. + +In April, 1895, Captain-General Calleja was replaced by Martinez Campos, +the commander in the preceding war, and one of the ablest of the Spanish +generals. He sought to conciliate the people and alleviate the +prevailing distress, but the rebels in arms had lost all faith in +Spanish honor, while the veteran Gomez proved so wily that Campos could +neither capture him nor force him into an engagement. Everywhere Gomez +marched he gathered new patriots. Near the city of Bayamo, Maceo +attacked Campos, and the Spanish commander barely escaped with his life. +He was besieged in Bayamo, and had to stay there until 10,000 soldiers +were sent to escort him home. That was the last of Campos' fighting. By +August, Spain had spent $21,300,000 and lost 20,000 men by death, and +39,000 additional soldiers had been brought into the island, 25,000 of +them the flower of the Spanish army, and she was also forced to issue +$120,000,000 bonds, which she sold at a great sacrifice, to carry on the +war. + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN C.D. SIGSBEE + +Commander of the "Maine" at the frightful catastrophe in Havana Harbor, +February 15, 1898.] + +The patriots met September 13, 1895, at Camaguey and formed their +government by adopting a constitution and electing a president and other +state officers. This body formally conferred upon Gomez the commission +of commander-in-chief of the army. Before the close of the month, there +were 30,000 rebels in the field. Spanish war-ships patroled the coast, +but the insurgents held the whole interior of Santiago province, and +government forces dared not venture away from the sea. The same was true +of Santa Clara and Puerto Principe. Matanzas was debatable ground; but +Gomez made bold raids into the very vicinity of Havana. Spain continued +to increase her army, till by the year 1898 it numbered about 200,000 +men. + +As if the cup of Cuba's sorrow were not sufficiently bitter, or her +long-suffering patriots had not drunk deep enough of its gall, General +Campos was recalled, and General Valeriano Weyler (nicknamed "The +Butcher") arrived in February, 1896. He promptly inaugurated the most +bitter and inhuman policy in the annals of modern warfare. It began with +a campaign of intimidation, in which his motto was "Subjugation or +Death." He established a system of espionage that was perfect, and the +testimony of the spy was all the evidence he required. He heeded no +prayer and knew no mercy. His prisons overflowed with suspected +patriots, and his sunrise executions, every morning, made room for +others. It was thus that General Weyler carried on the war from his +palace against the unarmed natives, his 200,000 soldiers seldom securing +a shot at the insurgents, who were continually bushwhacking them with +deadly effect, while yellow fever carried them off by the thousands. How +many lives Weyler sacrificed in that dreadful year will never be known. +How many suspects he frightened into giving him all their gold for mercy +and then coldly shot for treason, no record will disclose; but the +crowded, unmarked graves on the hillside outside Havana are mute but +eloquent witnesses of his infamy. + +[Illustration: SUNRISE EXECUTIONS. + +Outside the prison walls, Havana. Weyler's way of getting rid of +prisoners.] + +Under these conditions, Gomez declared that all Cubans must take sides. +They must be for or against. It was no time for neutrals and there could +be no neutral ground, so he boldly levied forced contributions upon +planters unfavorable to his cause, and extended protection to those who +befriended the patriots. Exasperated by Weyler's atrocities upon +non-combatant patriots, he dared to destroy or confiscate the property +of Spanish sympathizers. + + +THE DEATH OF GENERAL MACEO. + +On the night of December 4, 1896, the insurgents suffered an irreparable +loss in the death of General Maceo, who was led into an ambush and +killed, it is believed, through the treachery of his staff physician. +Eight brothers of Maceo had previously given their lives for Cuban +freedom. + +At the close of 1896, the island was desolate to an extreme perhaps +unprecedented in modern times. The country was laid waste and the +cities were starving. Under the pretext of protecting them, Weyler +gathered the non-combatants into towns and stockades, and it is +authoritatively stated that 200,000 men, women, and children of the +"reconcentrados," as they were called, died of disease and starvation. +The insurgents remained masters of the island except along the coasts. +The only important incident of actual warfare was the capture of +Victoria de las Tunas, in Santiago province, by General Garcia at the +head of 3,000 men, after three days' fighting. In this battle the +Spanish commander lost his life and forty per cent. of his troops were +killed or wounded; the rest surrendered to Garcia, and the rebels +secured by their victory 1,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition, +and two Krupp guns. + +In the spring of 1898 the United States intervened. The story of our war +with Spain for Cuba's freedom is elsewhere related. + +[Illustration: CLARA BARTON. + +President of the American Red Cross Society.] + +Spain has paid dearly for her supremacy in Cuba during the last third of +the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding the fact that the revenue from +Cuba for several years prior to the Ten Years' War of 1868-78 amounted +to $26,000,000 annually--about $18 for every man, woman, and child in +the island--$20,000,000 of it was absorbed in Spain's official circles +at Havana, and "the other $6,000,000 that the Spanish government +received," says one historian, "was hardly enough to pay transportation +rates on the help that the mother country had to send to her army of +occupation." Consequently, despite this enormous tax, a heavy debt +accumulated on account of the island, even before the Ten Years' War +began. + + +FEARFUL COST OF THE WAR. + +At the close of the Ten Years' War (1878) Spain had laid upon the island +a public debt of $200,000,000, and required her to raise $39,000,000 of +revenue annually, an average at that time of nearly $30 per inhabitant. +But Spain's own debt had, also, increased to nearly $2,000,000,000, and +during this Ten Years' War she had sent 200,000 soldiers and her +favorite commanders to the island, only about 50,000 of whom ever +returned. According to our Consular Report of July, 1898, when the last +revolution began, 1895, the Cuban debt had reached $295,707,264. The +interest on this alone imposed a burden of $9.79 per annum upon each +inhabitant. During the war, Spain had 200,000 troops in the island, and +the three and one-half years' conflict cost her the loss of nearly +100,000 lives, mostly from sickness, and, as yet, unknown millions of +dollars. The real figures of the loss of life and treasure seem +incredible when we consider that Cuba is not larger than our State of +Pennsylvania, and that her entire population at the beginning of the war +was about one-fourth that of the State named, or a little less than that +of the city of Chicago alone. Yet Spain, with an army larger than the +combined northern and southern forces at the battle of Gettysburg, was +unable to overcome the insurgents, who had never more than one-fourth as +many men enlisted. But she harassed, tortured, and starved to death +within three years, perhaps, over 500,000 non-combatant citizens in her +attempt to subjugate the patriots, and was in a fair way to depopulate +the whole island when the United States at last intervened to succor +them. + + +THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND. + +What the future of Cuba may be under new conditions of government +remains to be seen. Certainly, in all the world's history few sadder or +more devastated lands have gathered their remnants of population upon +the ashes of their ruins and turned a hopeful face to the future. + +[Illustration: A SPANISH MESTIZA.] + +But the soil, the mineral and the timber not even Spanish tyranny could +destroy; and in these lie the hope, we might say the sure guarantee, of +Cuba's future. In wealth of resources and fertility of soil, Cuba is +superior to all other tropical countries, and these fully justify its +right to the title "Pearl of the Antilles," first given it by Columbus. +Under a wise and secure government, its possibilities are almost +limitless. Owing to its location at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, +which it divides into the Yucatan and Florida channels, on the south and +north, the island has been termed the "Key to the Gulf of Mexico," and +on its coat of arms is emblazoned a key, as if to imply its ability to +open or close this great sea to the commerce of the world. + +Cuba extends from east to west 760 miles, is 21 miles wide in its +narrowest part and 111 miles in the widest, with an average width of 60 +miles. It has numerous harbors, which afford excellent anchorage. The +area of the island proper is 41,655 square miles (a little larger than +the State of Ohio); and including the Isle of Pines and other small +points around its entire length, numbering in all some 1,200, there are +47,278 square miles altogether in Cuba and belonging to it. The island +is intersected by broken ranges of mountains, which gradually increase +in height from west to east, where they reach an elevation of nearly +8,000 feet. The central and western portions of the island are the most +fertile, while the principal mineral deposits are in the mountains of +the eastern end. In Matanzas and other central provinces, the +well-drained, gently sloping plains, diversified by low, forest-clad +hills, are especially adapted to sugar culture, and the country under +normal conditions presents the appearance of vast fields of cane. The +western portion of the island is also mountainous, but the elevations +are not great, and in the valleys and along the fertile slopes of this +district is produced the greater part of the tobacco for which the +island is famous. + + +FERTILITY OF SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS. + +The soil of the whole island seems well-nigh inexhaustible. Except in +tobacco culture, fertilizers are never used. In the sugar districts are +found old canefields that have produced annual crops for a hundred years +without perceptible impoverishment of the soil. Besides sugar and +tobacco, the island yields Indian corn, rice, manioc (the plant from +which tapioca is prepared), oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, +guava, and all other tropical fruits, with many of those belonging to +the temperate zone. Raw sugar, molasses, and tobacco are the chief +products, and, with fruits, nuts, and unmanufactured woods, form the +bulk of exports, though coffee culture, formerly active, is now being +revived, and its fine quality indicates that it must in time become one +of the most important products of the island. + +As a sugar country, Cuba takes first rank in the world. Mr. Gallon, the +English Consul, in his report to his government in 1897 upon this Cuban +crop, declared: "Of the other cane-sugar countries of the world, Java is +the only one which comes within 50 per cent. of the amount of sugar +produced annually in Cuba in normal times, and Java and the Hawaiian +Islands are the only ones which are so generally advanced in the process +of manufacture." Our own Consul, Hyatt, in his report of February, 1897, +expresses the belief that Cuba is equal to supplying the entire demands +of the whole western hemisphere with sugar--a market for 4,000,000 tons +or more, and requiring a crop four times as large as the island has ever +yet produced. Those who regard this statement as extravagant should +remember that Cuba, although founded and settled more than fifty years +before the United States, has nearly 14,000,000 acres of uncleared +primeval forest-land, and is capable of easily supporting a population +more than ten times that of the present. In fact, the Island of Java, +not so rich as Cuba, and of very nearly the same area, with less +tillable land, has over 22,000,000 inhabitants as against +Cuba's--perhaps at this time--not more than 1,200,000 souls. + + +MINERAL AND TIMBER RESOURCES. + +The mineral resources of Cuba are second in importance to its +agricultural products. Gold and silver are not believed to exist in +paying quantities, but its most valuable mineral, copper, seems to be +almost inexhaustible. The iron and manganese mines, in the vicinity of +Santiago, are of great importance, the ores being rated among the finest +in the world. Deposits of asphalt and mineral oils are also found. + +The third resource of Cuba in importance is its forest product. Its +millions of acres of unbroken woodlands are rich in valuable hard woods, +suitable for the finest cabinet-work and ship-building, and also furnish +many excellent dye woods. Mahogany, cedar, rosewood, and ebony abound. +The palm, of which there are thirty-odd species found in the island, is +one of the most characteristic and valuable of Cuban trees. + + +CITIES AND COMMERCE. + +The commerce of Cuba has been great in the past, but Spanish laws made +it expensive and oppressive to the Cubans. Its location and resources, +with wise government, assure to the island an enormous trade in the +future. There are already four cities of marked importance to the +commercial world: Havana with a population of 250,000, Santiago with +71,000, Matanzas with 29,000, and Cienfuegos with 30,000, are all +seaport cities with excellent harbors, and all do a large exporting +business. Add to these Cardenas with 25,000, Trinidad with 18,000, +Manzanillo with 10,000, and Guantanamo and Baracoa, each with 7,000 +inhabitants, we have an array of ten cities such as few strictly farming +countries of like size possess. Aside from cigar and cigarette making, +there is little manufacturing in Cuba; but fruit canneries, sugar +refineries, and various manufacturing industries for the consumption of +native products will rapidly follow in the steps of good government. +Hence, in the field of manufacturing this island offers excellent +inducements to capital. + + +SEASONS AND CLIMATE. + +Like all tropical countries, Cuba has but two seasons, the wet and the +dry. The former extends from May to October, June, July, and August +being the most rainy months. The dry season lasts from November to May. +This fact must go far toward making the island more and more popular as +a winter health resort. The interior of the island is mountainous, and +always pleasantly cool at night, while on the highlands the heat in the +day is less oppressive than in New York and Pennsylvania during the +hottest summer weather; consequently, when once yellow fever, which now +ravages the coasts of the island on account of its defective sanitation, +is extirpated, as it doubtless will be under the new order of things, +Cuba will become the seat of many winter homes for wealthy residents of +the United States. Even in the summer, the temperature seldom rises +above 90 deg., while the average for the year is 77 deg. At no place, +except in the extreme mountainous altitude, is it ever cold enough for +frost. + +[Illustration: A VOLANTE, THE TYPICAL CUBAN CONVEYANCE.] + + +THE EVACUATION OF HAVANA. + +The complete transfer of authority in the island of Cuba from Spain to +the United States took place on Sunday, January 1, 1899. At noon on that +day Captain-General Castellanos and staff met the representatives of the +United States in the hall of his palace, and with due formality and +marked Spanish courtesy, in the name of the King and Queen Regent of +Spain, delivered possession of Cuba to General Wade, head of the +American Evacuation Committee, and he in turn transferred the same to +General Brooke, who had been appointed by President McKinley as Military +Governor of the Division of Cuba. No unpleasant incident marred the +occasion. General Castellanos spoke with evident yet becoming emotion on +so important an occasion. Three Cuban generals were present, who, at +General Castellanos' request, were presented to him, and the Spaniard +said, with marked grace and evident sincerity, "I am sorry, gentlemen, +that we are enemies, being of the same blood;" to which one of the Cuban +patriots courteously responded, with commendable charity, "We fought +only for Cuba, and now that she is free we are no longer enemies." + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE PUBLIC GROUNDS, HAVANA, CUBA.] + +The formal transfer had scarcely taken place within the palace hall when +the flag of Spain was lowered from Morro Castle, Cabanas Fortress, and +all the public buildings, and the stars and stripes instantly arose in +its place on the flagpoles of these old and historic buildings. As its +graceful folds floated gently out upon the breeze, the crowds from the +streets cheered, the band played the most appropriate of all airs, while +voices in many places in the throng, catching up the tune, sang the +inspiring words of the "Star-Spangled Banner." + + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). + +BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. + +It was in November of the year 1493, on his second voyage to the New +World, that Columbus landed upon a strange island in quest of water for +his ships. He found it in abundance, and called the place +_Aquadilla_--the watering place. As he had done at Cuba the year before, +the great discoverer held pleasant conferences with the natives, and +with due ceremony took possession of the island for his benefactors and +sovereigns--Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. From that day until it was +ceded to the United States in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American +War, Porto Rico remained one of the most attractive and valuable of +Spain's West Indian possessions. + +[Illustration: A MARKET GIRL, PORTO RICO.] + +The simple and friendly natives gladly welcomed their Spanish invaders, +who, with the same promptness which was manifested in Cuba, proceeded to +enslave and exterminate them. In 1510, Ponce de Leon founded the first +settlement on the site of the present village of Puerto Viejo. The next +year the noted invader founded San Juan, the present capital of the +island. One of the most interesting sights of this old city to-day is +the Casa Blanca, built at that period as the palatial residence of Ponce +de Leon. It was there, perhaps, after he had finished his conquest of +the island, that this famous old Spaniard listened to the wonderful +story of the natives, who served him as slaves, concerning the +mysterious country over the sea which had hidden in its forests a +fountain wherein an old man might plunge and be restored to all the +vigor of youth. It was there and thus, perhaps, while sitting at leisure +in his palace, that de Leon planned the voyage in search of that +"fountain of youth" which resulted in the discovery and exploration of +Florida. + +[Illustration: SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO. + +This city, the capital of Porto Rico, was founded by Ponce de Leon in +1511. It is a fine specimen of an old walled town, having portcullis, +gates, walls and battlements which cost millions of dollars. It is built +on a long, narrow island, connected with the mainland by a bridge. Its +population in 1899, estimated at 31,000.] + + +ANCIENT INHABITANTS. + +As to the number of natives in Porto Rico when the Spaniards came old +chroniclers differ. Some say there were 500,000, others 300,000. It is +all surmise. Probably the latter figure is an over-estimate, for Cuba, +more than ten times as large, was not thought to contain more than half +a million inhabitants at most. A detailed account of their manners and +customs was written by one of the early Spaniards, and part of it is +translated by the British Consul, Mr. Bidwell, in his Consular Report of +1880. Some of the statements in this old book are most peculiar and +interesting. Within the last forty years archaeologists have discovered +many stone axes, spear-heads and knives, stone and clay images, and +pieces of earthenware made by the aboriginal Porto Ricans, and these are +preserved in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, in Berlin, and +elsewhere. It is curious that none of these remains had been found prior +to 1856. On the banks of the Rio Grande there still stands, also, a rude +stone monument, with strange designs carved upon its surface. + +From the earliest times, the island, with its rich produce and commerce, +was the prey of robbers. The fierce cannibal Caribs from the south made +expeditions to it before the white men came; and for many decades after +the Spanish conquest it suffered attacks from pirates by sea and +brigands upon land, who found easy hiding within its deep forests. + + +ATTACKS AND INVASIONS BY FOREIGN FORCES. + +In 1595, San Juan was sacked by the English under Drake, and again, +three years later, by the Duke of Cumberland. In 1615, Baldwin Heinrich, +a Dutchman, lost his life in an attack upon the governor's castle, and +several of his ships were destroyed by a hurricane. The English failed +to capture it, fifty-three years later; and Abercrombie tried it again +in 1797, but had to give up the undertaking after a three days' siege. +It was one hundred and one years after Abercrombie's siege before +another hostile fleet appeared before and bombarded San Juan. That was +done by Admiral Sampson, May 12, 1898, with the United States squadron +of modern ironclad battleships and cruisers. In this engagement Morro +Castle, which, though impregnable a hundred years before, was unable to +withstand modern guns, and was in a large part reduced to ruins. + +General Nelson A. Miles landed his United States troops on the island in +July, 1898, and on the 12th of August, before he completed his conquest, +hostilities were closed by the protocol of peace, and amid the rejoicing +of the natives "Beautiful Porto Rico" became a province of the United +States. The one and only attempt the Porto Ricans ever made to throw off +the Spanish yoke was in 1820; but conditions for hiding from the +soldiers were not so good as the Cubans enjoyed in their large island, +and Spanish supremacy was completely re-established by 1823. + + +THE ISLAND AND ITS POPULATION. + +Porto Rico is at once the most healthful and most densely populated +island of the West Indies. It is almost rectangular in form--100 miles +long and 36 broad. Its total area is about 3,600 square miles--a little +larger than the combined areas of Rhode Island and Delaware. Its +population, unlike that of Cuba, has greatly increased within the last +fifty years. In 1830, it numbered 319,000; in 1887, 813,937--about 220 +people to the square mile, a density which few States of the Union can +equal. About half of its population are negroes or mulattoes, who were +introduced by the Spaniards as slaves in the 16th and 17th centuries. + +[Illustration: THE CUSTOM HOUSE, PONCE, PORTO RICO, AFTER THE RAISING OF +THE AMERICAN FLAG BY GENERAL MILES.] + +Among the people of European origin the most numerous are the Spaniards, +with many Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians, Frenchmen, Chuetos +(descendants from the Moorish Jews), and natives of the Canary Islands. +There are also a number of Chinese, while the Gibaros, or small +land-holders and day-laborers of the country districts, are a curious +old Spanish cross with the aboriginal Indian blood. In this class the +aborigines are more fortunate than the original Cubans in having even a +trace of their blood preserved. + +The island is said to be capable of easily supporting three times its +present population, the soil is so universally fertile and its resources +are so well diversified. Though droughts occur in certain parts of the +island, it is all extremely well watered, by more than one thousand +streams, enumerated on the maps, and the dry sections have a system of +irrigation which may be operated very effectually and with little +expense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are considerable rivers. + + +TIMBER IN ABUNDANCE AND VARIETY. + +Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of the +interior, the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The main need +to set the interior teeming with a thrifty and healthy population is a +system of good roads. The interior, with the exception of a few +extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of rounded hills, covered with +such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their summits. At present +these forests are accessible only by mule tracks. "The timber of the +island," says our official report, "comprises more than five hundred +varieties of trees, and in the more elevated regions the vegetation of +the temperate zones is not unknown. On the hills is found a luxuriant +and diversified vegetation, tree-ferns and mountain palms being +abundant. At a lower level grow many varieties of trees noted for their +useful woods, such as the mahogany, cedar, walnut, and laurel. The +mammee, guaiacum, and copal, besides other trees and shrubs valuable for +their gum, flourish in all parts of the island. The coffee tree and +sugar cane, both of which grow well at an altitude of a thousand feet or +more, were introduced into the island--the former from Martinique in +1722, the latter from the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows +easily in the lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all +prolific. The banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after +planting, and like the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary life-time." + + +MINERALS AND MINING. + +"The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his report, +"have been very little developed, the only mineral industry of any +importance being the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas, and Cabo +Rojo. Sulphides of copper and magnetic oxides of iron are found in large +quantities, and formerly gold to a considerable extent was found in many +of the streams. At present the natives still wash out nuggets by the +crude process in use in the time of Ponce de Leon. Marble, carbonates, +lignite, and amber are also present in varying quantities, and hot +springs and mineral waters occur, the best known ones being at Coamo, +near Santa Isabel." + + +COMMERCE. + +The commerce of Porto Rico amounted, in 1896, to $36,624,120, exceeding +the records of all previous years; the increase, no doubt, being largely +due to the unsettled condition of Cuba. The value of the exports for the +same year was, for the first time for more than a decade, slightly in +excess of that of the imports; the former being valued at $18,341,430, +the latter at $18,282,690. The chief exports from the island are +agricultural products. The principal articles are sugar, coffee, +molasses, and tobacco; while rice, wheat, flour, and manufactured +articles are among the chief imports. The value of the sugar and +molasses exported to the United States during the ten years from 1888 to +1897 made up 95 per cent. of the total value of the exports to that +country. Fruits, nuts, and spices are also exported to a small extent. +Of the non-agricultural exports the most important are perfumery and +cosmetics; chemicals, drugs, and dyes; unmanufactured wood, and salt. + +[Illustration: NATIVE BELLES, PORTO RICO.] + +The leading article of import from the United States is wheat flour. +Corn and meal, bread, biscuit, meats, dairy products, wood and its +manufactures, iron, steel, etc., are also imported. + + +CITIES AND TOWNS. + +San Juan, the capital, is situated on an island off the northern coast +of the mainland, with which it is now connected by the San Antonio +bridge. The city is a perfect specimen of a walled and fortified town, +with Morro Castle crowning the promontory at the western extremity of +the island. The population, including the inhabitants of Marina and +Puerta de Tierra, as well as those within the city walls, was estimated +in 1896 at 30,000, and consists largely of negroes and of mixed races. +Owing to the lack of a good water supply, and the general unsanitary +conditions which prevail, the city is unhealthy. The houses are all of +two stories, the poorer inhabitants occupying the ground floor, while +those better off live above them. There is no running water in the city, +the inhabitants being dependent for their supply upon the rainfall which +is caught on the flat roofs of the houses and stored in cisterns, and in +dry seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. The city is built upon +clay mixed with lime packed hard and impervious to water. Its +manufactures are of small importance. + +[Illustration: THE MARKET PLACE, PONCE, PORTO RICO.] + +The city of Ponce, with a population of 37,500, and in commercial +importance the second city of Porto Rico, is situated two miles from the +coast in the southern part of the island. With an ample water supply +conveyed to the city by an aqueduct it is, perhaps, the healthiest town +on the island. Playa, its port, having a population of 5,000, is +connected with it by a fine road. + +The town of Arecibo, with a population of from 6,000 to 7,000, is +situated on the northern coast of Porto Rico, and is the port for a +district of some 30,000 inhabitants. + + +CLIMATE. + +The climate of the island, though hot and humid, is healthful, except in +marshy districts and in cities where sanitary rules are neglected. +Yellow fever seldom occurs, and when it does it is confined to the +unsanitary towns and their surroundings, never appearing far from the +coasts. The thermometer does not fall below 50 deg. or rise above 90 deg. +The heat is not so great as at Santiago, though the latter is one and a +half degrees further north. As in Cuba, there are but two seasons, the +rainy and the dry, the former lasting from July to December, the latter +from January to the close of June. The delightful, dry and salubrious +atmosphere of midwinter and spring, with its general healthfulness, +promises to bring this island into prominence both as a resort for +invalids and for homes to those who would escape the rigors of northern +winters. + +Porto Rico is an ideal lazy man's country, and the overworked American +will, undoubtedly, come to make it more and more his Mecca for rest and +recuperation. Even the interior feels the soft, salt air from the ocean. +The people are kind-hearted, "easy-going," hospitable, and fond of +amusement. Every environment conduces to the dismission of all +worriment, to rest, sleep, and a happy-go-lucky state of mind. + + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). + +THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. + + "Most bounteous here in her sea-girt lands, + Nature stretches forth her hands, + + * * * * * + + And walks on gold and silver, and knows her power increased, + Nor fears the tyrant longer--'Our Lady of the East.'"--_Stoddard_. + +The most important, and by far the most interesting, as well as the +least known of America's new possessions, gained by her war with Spain, +are the Philippine Islands. Comparatively few Americans have ever set +foot upon that far-away and semi-civilized land, the possession of which +enables America to say with England, "The sun never sets upon our flag." + +[Illustration: FILIPINOS OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES.] + +The Philippines lie almost exactly on the other side of the globe from +us. Approximately speaking, our noonday is their midnight; our sunset is +their sunrise. There are some 1,200 of these islands, 400 of which are +inhabited or capable of supporting a population; they cover about +125,000 square miles; they lie in the tropical seas, generally speaking, +from five to eighteen degrees north latitude, and are bounded by the +China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east; they are about +7,000 miles southwest from San Francisco, a little over 600 southeast +from Hong Kong, China, and about 1,000 almost due north from Australia; +they contain between 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 inhabitants, about +one-third of whom had prior to Dewey's victory, May 1, 1898, +acknowledged Spanish sovereignty to the extent of paying regular tribute +to the Spanish crown; the remainder are bound together in tribes under +independent native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all +told have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Mohammedans +and idolaters. There are no Protestant churches in the islands. + +[Illustration: NATIVE HUNTERS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.] + + +THE STORY OF DISCOVERY. + +[Illustration: THE ESCOLTA, LOOKING SOUTH. + +This is the Broadway of Manila. Along this famous street the principal +retail shops of the city are situated. Chinese and half-castes are the +principal retail merchants. At the time of the capture of the city by +Admiral Dewey and General Merritt there were not over one dozen European +merchants in Manila. Not one American firm was there; the last one, a +Boston hemp dealer, having been driven out some years before.] + +It was twenty-nine years after Columbus discovered America that Magellan +saw the Philippines, the largest archipelago in the world, in 1521. The +voyage of Magellan was much longer and scarcely less heroic than that of +the discoverer of America. Having been provided with a fleet by the +Spanish king with which to search for spice islands, but secretly +determined to sail round the world, he set out with five vessels on +August 10, 1519, crossed the Atlantic to America, and skirted the +eastern coast southward in the hope of finding some western passage into +the Pacific, which, a few years previous, had been discovered by Balboa. +It was a year and two months to a day from the time he left Spain until +he reached the southern point of the mainland of South America and +passed through the straight which has since borne his name. On the way, +one of his vessels deserted; another was wrecked in a storm. When he +passed through the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of +his original five ships, and they were the first European vessels that +ever breasted the waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the +unknown but placid sea--which he named the Pacific--the bold navigator +steered straight to the northwest. Five months later, about March +1st, he discovered the Ladrone Islands--which name Magellan gave to the +group on account of the thieving propensities of the natives--the word +_Ladrone_ meaning robber. + +[Illustration: THE BEAUTIFUL LUNETA, MANILA's FASHIONABLE PROMENADE AND +DRIVE. + +This most celebrated drive and promenade in the city of Manila is by the +old sea wall. The Governor and Archbishop, with their escorts and +striking equipages, came every afternoon to air themselves, and in the +cool of every summer evening, when the fine military band of the Spanish +army used to play. The whole population apparently came out to listen. +This was also the place of all great processions, executions, etc.] + +After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing on the +north coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. +The natives were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan to the island of +Cebu, which lay to the north, and which they reported to be very rich. +After taking possession of Mindanao in the name of his king, the +discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he made such demonstrations and gave +such descriptions of the glory and power of Spain that he easily formed +a treaty with the king of the island, who swore allegiance to his +new-found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized in the +Catholic faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against some of +the neighboring powers, and on April 25, 1521, was killed in a skirmish. +The spot where he fell is now marked by a monument. + + +FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. + +Trouble soon arose between Magellan's sailors and their new-found +allies. The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty-seven of +them were treacherously slain. The remainder, fearing for their lives, +escaped in their ships and sailed for home. It was soon discovered that +they had too few men to manage the three vessels, and one of them was +destroyed. The other two proceeded on their voyage and discovered the +spice island of Tidor, where they loaded with spices; but a few days +later one of the vessels sprang a leak and went down with her freight +and crew. The other, after many hardships, reached Spain, thus +completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. + + +SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES. + +In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined to send +another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal inspired him +to conquer and christianize the islands. To shorten the long and +dangerous voyage, he decided to prepare and start with five ships from +the coast of Mexico. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the expedition, +consisting of four hundred soldiers and sailors and six Augustine monks. +In due time the expedition landed at Cebu. The formidable appearance of +the ships awed the natives, and on April 27, 1565--forty years after +Magellan's remnant had fled from the island--Legaspi landed and took +possession. In honor of the Spanish king the archipelago was given the +name of the Philippine Islands. + +In 1570 Legaspi sent his grandson, Salcedo, to subdue the island of +Luzon, the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group. He +landed near the present site of Manila. The trustful natives readily +agreed to accept the Spanish king as their master, and to pay tribute. +Such slight tribal resistances as were offered were quickly subdued. The +next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit his grandson; and, seeing the +importance of the situation and its fine harbor, declared that city the +capital of the whole archipelago and the king of Spain the sovereign of +all the islands. Accordingly, he moved his headquarters to that point, +built houses and fortifications, and within a year had the city well +organized, when he died, leaving Salcedo as his successor in command. It +is remarkable how much these two men accomplished with so small a force; +but they did it not so much by arms as by cajoling and deceiving the +simple natives. Furthermore, they allowed the conquered people to be +governed by their own chiefs in their own way, so long as they paid a +liberal tribute to the Spanish crown. + + +STRUGGLES FOE SUPREMACY. + +The history of the Philippines has been monotonous from their discovery +until the present, a monotony broken at times by periods of adventures +in which Manila has generally been the central scene. About 1580, +Lima-hong, a Chinese pirate, took the city with an armed fleet of +sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,000 men and 1,500 women. They met with +stubborn resistance, but succeeded in scaling the walls and entering the +city. The Spanish forces were driven into a fort, which the Chinese +stormed. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict followed, and the Chinese were +finally repulsed. + +[Illustration: PHILIPPINE WARRIORS.] + +Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch attempted to obtain +possession of the Philippines. They captured scores of Spanish +merchantmen and treasure ships. Many naval engagements followed, the +details of which read like the thrilling records of buccaneers and +pirates, rather than the wars between two civil powers. Finally, after +half a century of warfare, the Dutch were decisively beaten, and +abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much to the +disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra, and +other Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been +remarkably prosperous under the mild rule of the Netherlands. + + +MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH. + +In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish +authorities. The governor heard of it, and a general massacre of the +Mongolians followed. It was even planned to destroy every Chinaman on +the islands, and they were in a fair way to do it, when, at length, the +Spaniards bethought themselves that by so doing they would practically +depopulate the islands of tradesmen and mechanics. Accordingly, they +offered pardon to those who would surrender and swear allegiance. A +century later, England sent a fleet under Admiral Cornish, with General +Draper commanding the troops, against Manila. After a desperate battle +the city fell, and the terms of surrender incorporated provisions for +free trade, freedom of speech, and, best of all, freedom in religion to +the inhabitants of the islands, and required Spain to pay England about +$4,000,000 indemnity. By the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war +between England and Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was +that Spain should retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English +troops were withdrawn, and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as +Cuba was by the same treaty) under the domination of their tyrannical +mistress, and remained under Spanish rule from that time until the +Americans freed them in 1898. + + +UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES. + +In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the church, +as conducted by the friars and priests, was the cause. Such was the case +in 1622, in 1649, and in 1660. The occasion of the revolt of 1744 is a +fair example of the provocations leading to all. A Jesuit priest ordered +all his parishioners arrested as criminals when they failed to attend +mass. One of the unfortunates died, and the priest denied him rights of +burial, ordering that his body be thrown upon the ground and left to rot +in the sun before his dwelling. The brother of the man in his +exasperation organized a mob, captured the priest, killed him, and +exposed his body for four days. Thus was formed the nucleus of a rebel +army. The insurgents in their mountain fastnesses gained their +independence and maintained it for thirty-five years, until they secured +from Spain a promise of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the +colony. + +Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1827, and 1844, but all were +suppressed. In 1872, the most formidable outbreak up to that time +occurred at Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of this +uprising also. Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to prohibit +friars from holding parishes. The promises were never carried out, and +the friars grew continually richer and more powerful and oppressive. Had +the plan of the insurgents not been balked by a mistaken signal, no +doubt they would have destroyed the Spanish garrison at Manila, but a +misunderstanding caused their defeat. The friars insisted that the +captured leaders should be executed, and it was done. + +[Illustration: A NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANILA. + +Every cottage, however humble, is surrounded by tropical trees and +flowers. The interiors are remarkably clean and cheerful. Bamboo enters +largely into the construction of all native houses and they are +generally covered with thatch.] + + +THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY. + +In 1896, the insurrection broke out again. Its causes were the old +oppressions: unbearable taxes, and imprisonment or banishment, with the +complete confiscation of property of those who could not pay; no justice +except for those who could buy it; extortion by the friars; marriage +ceremony so costly that a poor man could not pay the fee; homes and +families broken up and ruined; burial refused to the dead, unless a +large sum was paid in advance; no provision and no chance for education. +Such were some of the causes that again goaded the natives to revolution +and nerved them with courage to achieve victory after victory over their +enemies until they were, promised most of the reforms which they +demanded. Then they laid down their arms, and, as usual, the +Governor-General failed to carry out a single pledge. + +Such was the condition, and another revolt, more formidable than any of +the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his American fleet +entered Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and, by a victory unparalleled in naval +warfare, sunk the Spanish ships, silenced the forts, and dethroned the +power of Spain forever in a land which her tyranny had blighted for more +than three hundred years. + + +THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + +It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details +concerning all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor +Worcester, of the University of Michigan, tells us that the population +comprises more than eighty distinct tribes, with individual +peculiarities. They are scattered over hundreds of islands, and one who +really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and towns far +behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid +volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the innermost +wilds. Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold men, led +by the love of science or by the spirit of adventure, have continued to +penetrate these dark regions, there are many sections where the foot of +civilized man has never trod; or, if so, he came not back to tell of the +lands and peoples which his eyes beheld. + + +DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY. + +There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough exploration of +these islands. Spain persistently opposed the representatives of any +other nation entering the country. She suspected every man with a gun of +designing to raise an insurrection or make mischief among the natives. +The account of red tape necessary to secure guns and ammunition for a +little party of four or five explorers admitted through the customs at +Manila is one of the most significant, as well as one of the most +humorous, passages in Professor Worcester's story of his several years' +sojourn while exploring the archipelago. + +In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no respect +for Spain's authority, and will have none for ours for years to come. +Two-thirds of them paid no tribute, and many of them never heard of +Spain, or, if so, only remembered that a long time ago white men came +and cruelly persecuted the natives along the shore. These wild tribes +think themselves still the owners of the land. Some of them go naked and +practice cannibalism and other horrible savage customs. Any explorer's +life is in danger among them; consequently most tourists to the +Philippines see Manila and make short excursions around that city. The +more ambitious run down to the cities of Iloilo and Cebu, making short +excursions into the country from those points, and then return, thinking +they have seen the Philippines. Nothing could be further from the truth. +Such travelers no more see the Philippine Islands than Columbus explored +America. + +[Illustration: A TYPICAL MORO VILLAGE, SOUTHERN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.] + +Even near the coast there are savages who are almost as ignorant as +their brethren in the interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only "thirty +miles from Manila is a race of dwarfs that go without clothes, wear +knee-bracelets of horsehair, and respect nothing but the jungle in which +they live." The principal native peoples are of Malayan origin. Of +these, to the north of Manila are the Igorrotes; in the islands south of +Luzon are the civilized Visayas, and below them in Mindanao and the Sulu +Archipelago are the fierce Moros, who originally came from the island of +Borneo, settling in the Philippines a short time before the Spanish +discovery. They are Mohammedans in religion, and as fanatical and as +fearless fighters as the Turks themselves. For three hundred years the +Spaniards have been fighting these savages, and while they have overcome +them in nearly all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said, +upward of $100,000,000 and sacrificed more than one hundred thousand +lives in doing so. + + +THE WARLIKE MOROS. + +The fierce Moro warriors keep the Spanish settlers along their coasts in +a constant state of alarm, and the visitor to the towns feels as if he +were at an Indian outpost in early American history, because of the +constant state of apprehension that prevails. Fortunately, however, the +Moros along the coast have learned to distinguish between the Spaniard +and the Englishman or American, and through them the generosity of the +_Englese_, as they call all Anglo-Saxons, has spread to their brethren +in the interior. Therefore, American and English explorers have been +enabled to go into sections where the Spanish friars and monks, who have +been practically the only Spanish explorers, would meet with certain +death. The Mohammedan fanaticism of the Moros, and that of the Catholic +friars and Jesuits, absolutely refuse compromise. + +The Negritos (little Negroes) and the Mangyans are the principal +representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants before the Malayan tribes +came. There are supposed to be, collectively, about 1,000,000 of them, +and they are almost as destitute of clothing and as uncivilized as the +savages whom Columbus found in America, and far more degenerate and +loathsome in habits. + + +THE CITY OF MANILA. + +The Island of Luzon, on which the city of Manila stands, is about as +large as the State of New York, its area being variously estimated at +from 43,000 to 47,000 square smiles. It is the largest island in the +Philippine group, comprising perhaps one-third of the area of the entire +archipelago. Its inhabitants are the most civilized, and its territory +the most thoroughly explored. The city of Manila is the metropolis of +the Philippines. The population of the city proper and its environs is +considered to be some 300,000 souls, of whom 200,000 are natives, 40,000 +full-blooded Chinese, 50,000 Chinese half-castes, 5,000 Spanish, mostly +soldiers, 4,000 Spanish half-castes, and 300 white foreigners other than +Spaniards. Mr. Joseph Earle Stevens, already referred to, who +represented the only American firm in the city of Manila, under Spanish +rule (which finally had to turn its business over to the English and +leave the island a few years since), informs us that he and three others +were the only representatives of the United States in Manila as late as +1893. + +The city is built on a beautiful bay from twenty-five to thirty miles +across, and on both shores of the Pasig River. On the right bank of the +river, going up from the bay, is the old walled town, and around the +walls are the weedy, moats or ditches. The heavy guns and frowning +cannon from the walls suggest a troubled past. This old city is built in +triangular form, about a mile on each side, and is regarded as very +unhealthful, for the walls both keep out the breeze and keep in the foul +air and odors. The principal buildings in the old part of the city are +the cathedral, many parish churches, a few schoolhouses, and the +official buildings. The population in the walled city is given at +20,000. Up to a few years ago, no foreigner was permitted to sleep +within its walls on account of the Spaniards' fear of a conspiracy. A +bridge across the Pasig connects old Manila with the new or unwalled +city, where nearly all of the business is done and the native and +foreign residents live. + +[Illustration: BRIDGE OVER THE PASIG RIVER. + +This bridge connects the old walled city on one side of the river with +the new unwalled city on the other. Sea-going vessels ascend the river +up to the bridge.] + + +EARTHQUAKES AND TYPHOONS. + +[Illustration: THE SHIPYARDS AND ARSENAL AT CAVITE. + +Cavite is a city of about 5000 inhabitants, ten miles from Manila. The +Spanish arsenal and the only shipyards in the colony are located here. +It is the chief naval station of the islands, and has always been +considered the key to Manila from the sea. It was seized by the +insurgents in 1872, and again in 1896, and it was its forts that so +harassed Dewey with their bombardment, and it was one of the first +places occupied by the Americans after the fall of Manila.] + +It does not take one long to exhaust the sights of Manila, if the +people, who are always interesting, are excepted. Aside from the +cathedral and a few of the churches, the buildings of the city are +anything but imposing. In fact, there is little encouragement to +construct fine edifices because of the danger from earthquakes and +typhoons. It is said that not a year passes without a number of slight +earthquake shocks, and very serious ones have occurred. In 1645 +nearly all of the public buildings were wrecked and 600 persons killed. +A very destructive earthquake was that of 1863, when 400 people were +killed, 2,000 wounded, and 46 public buildings and 1,100 private houses +were badly injured or completely destroyed. In 1874 earthquakes were +again very numerous throughout the islands, shocks being felt at +intervals in certain sections for several weeks. But the most violent +convulsion of modern times occurred in 1880 when even greater +destruction than in 1863 visited Manila and other towns of Luzon. +Consequently there are very few buildings to be found more than two +stories high; and the heavy tile roofs formerly in use have, for the +most part, been replaced by lighter coverings of galvanized iron. + +[Illustration: RAISING THE FLAG ON FORT SAN ANTONIO DE ABAD, MALATE. + +This old fort was silenced by Dewey's guns August 13, 1898, with the +assistance of land forces under General Anderson. The Astor Battery on +shore under Captain March supported General McArthur's forces on the +right wing. It was the California and Colorado Volunteer Regiments, with +the Eighteenth Regulars, who finally drove out the Spaniards and +occupied the position where the Californians at once raised the Stars +and Stripes. The marks of Dewey's shells are seen on the side of the +fort.] + +These light roofs, however, are in constant danger of being stripped off +by the typhoons, terrible storms which come with a twisting motion as if +rising from the earth or the sea, fairly pulling everything detachable +after them. Masts of ships and roofs of houses are frequently carried by +these hurricanes miles distant. The better to resist the typhoons, most +of the light native houses are built on bamboo poles, which allow the +wind to pass freely under them, and sway and bend in the storm like a +tree; whereas, if they were set solidly on the earth, they would be +lifted up bodily and carried away. Glass windows being too frail to +resist the shaking of the earthquakes and the typhoons, small, +translucent oyster shells are used instead. The light thus admitted +resembles that passing through ground-glass, or, rather, stained glass, +for the coloring in the shells imparts a mellow tinted radiance like the +windows of a cathedral. + +[Illustration: A POPULAR STREET CONVEYANCE. + +As elsewhere, carriages and street cars are used in Manila, but there +are hundreds of the above "native cabs," for carrying single persons +short distances, and they are liberally patronized.] + + +MANILA AS A BUSINESS CENTER. + +The streets of Manila are wretchedly paved or not paved at all, and as +late as 1893 were lighted by kerosene lamps or by wicks suspended in +dishes of cocoanut oil. Lately an electric plant has been introduced, +and parts of the city are lighted in this manner. There are two lines of +street cars in Manila. The motive power for a car is a single small +pony, and foreigners marvel to see one of those little animals drawing +thirty-odd people. + +The retail trade and petty banking of Manila is almost entirely in the +hands of the half-castes and Chinese, and many of them have grown +immensely wealthy. There are only about three hundred Europeans in +business in the whole Philippine group, and they conduct the bulk of the +importing and exporting trade. Manila contains a number of large cigar +and cigarette factories, one of which employs 10,000 hands. There is +also a sugar refinery, a steam rice mill, and a rope factory worked +partly by men and partly by oxen, a Spanish brewery and a German cement +factory, a Swiss umbrella factory and a Swiss hat factory. The single +cotton mill, in which $200,000 of English capital is invested, runs +6,000 spindles. + +The statistics of 1897 show that the whole trade of Manila comprised +only forty-five Spanish, nineteen German, and seventeen English firms, +with six Swiss brokers and two French storekeepers having large +establishments. One of the most profitable businesses is said to be that +of selling cheap jewelry to the natives. Breastpins which dealers buy in +Europe for twelve cents each are readily sold for from $1.50 to $2.00 +each to the simple Filipinos. Almost everything that is manufactured +abroad has a fine prospective market in the Philippines, when the +condition of the people permits them to buy. + +A certain charm attaches to many specimens of native handiwork. The +women weave exquisitely beautiful fabrics from the fiber of plants. The +floors of Manila houses are admired by all foreigners. They are made of +hard wood and polished with banana leaves and greasy cloths until they +shine brightly and give an aspect of cool airiness to the room. + +[Illustration: A WEDDING PROCESSION. + +As in Asiatic countries, weddings in the Philippines are occasions of +great ceremony. No marriage would be considered "in style" without a +gorgeous procession.] + +Any kind of amusement is popular with the Filipinos--with so much +leisure on their hands--provided it does not require too great exertion +on their part. They are fond of the theatre, and, up to a few years ago, +bullfighting was a favorite pastime; but the most prominent of modern +amusements for the natives and half-castes is cockfighting. It is said +that every native has his fighting cock, which is reared and trained +with the greatest care until he shows sufficient skill to entitle him to +an entrance into the public cockpit where he will fight for a prize. The +chickens occupy the family residence, roosting overhead; and, in case of +fire, it is said that the game "rooster" is saved before the babies. +Professor Worcester tells an amusing story of the annoyance of the +crowing cocks above his head in the morning and the devices and tricks +he and his companions employed to quiet them. The Manila lottery is +another institution which intensely excites the sluggish native, and +takes from him the money which he does not lose on the cockfights. Under +the United States Government this lottery will, no doubt, be abolished +in time. It formerly belonged to the Spanish Government, and Spain +derived an annual profit of half a million dollars from it. + + +GENERAL COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES. + +It is hardly necessary, so far as the commercial world is concerned, to +mention any other locality outside of the city of Manila. To commerce, +this city (whose total imports in 1897 were only $10,000,000 and its +exports $20,000,000) is the Philippine Islands. Its present meagre +foreign trade represents only an average purchase of about one dollar +per inhabitant, and an average sale of two dollars per inhabitant for +the largest archipelago in the world, and one of the richest in soil and +natural resources. The bulk of these exports were hemp, sugar, and +tobacco; and, strange as it may seem, the United States received 41 per +cent. of her hemp and 55 per cent. of her sugar for the year 1897, +notwithstanding the fact that we had not one commercial firm doing +business in that whole vast domain. + +The city of Iloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island of +Panay, and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has an +excellent harbor, and the surrounding country is very productive, having +extensive plantations of sugar, rice, and tobacco. The population of +Iloilo is only 12,000, but there are a few larger towns in the district, +of which it is the seaport. Though the city at spring tides is covered +with water, it is said to be a very healthful place, and much cooler +than Manila. + +The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of the +same name, is a well-built town, and has a population of about 13,000. +From this point the bulk of the hemp for export comes. + + +GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ISLANDS. + +It is impossible to speak of the other islands in detail. Seven of the +group average larger than the State of New Jersey; Luzon is as extensive +as Ohio, Mindanao equals Indiana; and, as we have stated before, about +four hundred of them are inhabitable, and, like Java, Borneo, and the +Spice Islands, all are rich in natural resources. They are of a volcanic +origin, and may be described in general as rugged and mountainous. The +coasts of most of the islands are deeply indented by the sea, and the +larger ones are well watered by streams, the mouths of which afford good +harbors. Many of the mountainous parts abound in minerals. Mr. Karuph, +President of the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in May, 1898, addressed a +letter to Hon. John Hay, at that time our ambassador to England, in +which he declares that the Philippines will soon come prominently +forward as a new center of the world's gold production. "There is not a +brook," says Mr. Karuph, "that finds its way into the Pacific Ocean +whose sands and gravel do not pan the color of gold. Many valuable +deposits are close to deep water. I know of no other part of the world, +the Alaskan Treadwell mines alone excepted, where pay ore is found +within a few hundred yards of the anchorage of sea-going vessels." In +addition to gold, iron, copper, lead, sulphur, and other minerals are +found, and are believed to exist in paying quantities. The numerous +mineral springs attest their presence in almost every part of the +principal islands. + +[Illustration: DRYING SUGAR. + +Large pans containing the sugar are set in the sun to evaporate the +moisture. No refining or clarifying machinery has been introduced into +the Philippine Islands.] + + +FORESTS AND TIMBER. + +The forest products of the islands are perhaps of greater value than +their mineral resources. Timber not only exists in almost exhaustless +quantity, but--considering the whole group, which extends nearly a +thousand miles from north to south--in unprecedented diversity, +embracing sixty varieties of the most valuable woods, several of which +are so hard that they cannot be cut with ordinary saws, some so heavy +that they sink in water, and two or three so durable as to afford ground +for the claim that they outlast iron and steel when placed in the +ground or under water. Several of these woods are unknown elsewhere, +and, altogether, they are admirably suited for various decorative +purposes and for the manufacture of fine implements and furniture. + +[Illustration: THE STRANGE WAGONS OF ALBAY. + +The eighty-odd different tribes who inhabit the Philippines have varying +dialects, manners, and customs. The peculiar house-roofed wagons, shown +in the above illustration, are found in only one locality.] + +Here also are pepper, cinnamon, wax, and gums of various sorts, cloves, +tea, and vanilla, while all tropical fruits, such as cocoanuts, bananas, +lemons, limes, oranges of several varieties, pineapples, citrons, +bread-fruits, custard apples, pawpaws, and mangroves nourish, and most +of them grow wild, though, of course, they are not equal to the +cultivated fruit. There are fifty-odd varieties of the banana in the +archipelago, from the midget, which makes but a single mouthful, to the +huge fruit eighteen inches long. There seems to be no limit to which +tropical fruits and farm products can be cultivated. + +The animal and bird life of the Philippines offer a field of interesting +research to naturalists. There are no important carnivorous animals. A +small wild-cat and two species of civet-cats constitute about all that +belong to that class. The house-cats of the Philippines have curious +fish-hook crooks in the ends of their tails. There are several species +of deer in the archipelago. Hogs run wild in large numbers. The large +water buffalo (_carabao_) has been domesticated and is the chief beast +of burden with the natives. The _timarau_ is another small species of +buffalo, very wild and entirely untamable; and, though numerous in +certain places, is hard to find, and when brought to bay dies fighting. + +Birds abound in all of the islands; nearly six hundred species have been +found, over fifty of which exist nowhere else in the world. One of these +species builds a nest which is highly prized by Chinese epicures as an +article of diet. Prof. Worcester tells us "the best quality of them +sometimes bring more than their weight in gold." Crocodiles are numerous +in fresh-water lakes and streams, attaining enormous size, and in +certain places causing much loss of life among stock and men as well. +Snakes also abound, and some of them are very venomous. Cobras are found +in the southern islands. Pythons are numerous, some of the smaller sizes +being sold in the towns and kept in houses to catch rats, at which they +are said to be more expert than house-cats. + +All the domestic animals, aside from the _carabao_, have been introduced +from abroad. Cattle are extensively raised, and in some of the islands +run wild. The horses are a small Spanish breed, but are very strong and +have great endurance. Large European horses do not stand the climate +well. + + +CLIMATE, VOLCANOES, ETC. + +The mean annual temperature of Manila is 80 deg. F. The thermometer seldom +rises above 100 deg. or falls below 60 deg. anywhere in the archipelago. +There is no month in the year during which it does not rise as high as 91 +deg. January and December are the coldest months, the average temperature +being 70 deg. to 73 deg.. May is the warmest, the average being 84 deg. +April is the next warmest, with an average of 83 deg.; but the weather +is generally very moist and humid, which makes the heat more trying. The +three winter months have cool nights. Malaria is prevalent, but +contagious diseases are comparatively few. Yellow fever and cholera are +seldom heard of. + +The Philippines are the home of many volcanoes, a number of them still +active. Mayon, in the island of Luzon, is one of the most remarkable +volcanic mountains on the globe. It is a perfect cone, rising to the +height of 8,900 feet, and is in constant activity; its latest +destructive eruption took place in 1888. Apo, in the island of Mindanao, +10,312 feet high, is the largest of the Philippine volcanoes. Next is +Canloon in Negros, which rises 8,192 feet above the sea. Taal is in a +lake, with a height of 900 feet, and is noteworthy as being the lowest +volcano in the world. To those not accustomed to volcanoes, these great +fire-spouting mountains, which are but prominent representatives of many +lesser ones in the islands, seem to be an ever-present danger to the +inhabitants; but the natives and those who live there manifest little or +no fear of them. In fact, they rather pride themselves in their +possession of such terrifying neighbors. + +Such is an outline view of the Philippine Archipelago of the present +day. A new era has opened up in the history of that wonderful land with +its liberation from the Spanish yoke. The dense ignorance and +semi-savage barbarities which exist there must not be expected to yield +too rapidly to the touch of human kindness and brotherly love with which +the Christian world will now visit those semi-civilized and untamed +children of nature. Nevertheless, western civilization and western +progress will undoubtedly work mighty changes in the lives of those +people, in the development of that country, during the first quarter of +the twentieth century, which ushers in the dawn of its freedom. + + +THE BATTLE OF MANILA. + +In all the annals of naval warfare there is no engagement, terminating +in so signal a victory with so little damage to the victors, as that +which made the name of George Dewey immortal on the memorable Sunday +morning of May 1, 1898, in Manila Bay. The world knows the story of that +battle, for it has been told hundreds of times in the thousands of +newspapers and magazines and scores of books throughout the civilized +world. But few, perhaps, who peruse these pages have read the simple +details of the fight as narrated by that most modest of men, Admiral +Dewey himself. We cannot better close this chapter on the Philippines +than by inserting Admiral Dewey's official report of the battle which +wrested the Filipinos from Spanish tyranny and placed nearly ten +millions of oppressed people under the protecting care of the United +States. + +[Illustration: YOUNG MAN OF THE UPPER CLASS. + +White duck or crash trousers and a silk or pina shirt make a fashionable +suit.] + +[Illustration: AGUINALDO AT THE AGE OF 22. + +Dressed in fine pina cloth shirt.] + +[Illustration: DOING THE FAMILY WASH. + +The glory of all Philippine women is their long and beautiful hair.] + +[Illustration: NATIVE WOMAN FRUIT SELLER. + +And customers, Manila.] + + +ADMIRAL DEWEY'S STORY OF MANILA. + + "UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP OLYMPIA, CAVITE, May 4, 1898. + + "The squadron left Mirs Bay on April 27th, arrived off Bolinao on the + morning of April 30th, and, finding no vessels there, proceeded down + the coast and arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay on the same + afternoon. The Boston and the Concord were sent to reconnoitre Port + Subic. A thorough search was made of the port by the Boston and the + Concord, but the Spanish fleet was not found. Entered the south + channel at 11:30 P.M., steaming in column at eight knots. After half + the squadron had passed, a battery on the south side of the channel + opened fire, none of the shots taking effect. The Boston and + McCulloch returned the fire. The squadron proceeded across the bay at + slow speed and arrived off Manila at daybreak, and was fired upon at + 5:15 A.M. by three batteries at Manila and two near Cavite, and by + the Spanish fleet anchored in an approximately east and west line + across the mouth of Bakor Bay, with their left in shoal water in + Canacao Bay. + + "The squadron then proceeded to the attack, the flagship Olympia, + under my personal direction, leading, followed at a distance by the + Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, and Boston in the order named, + which formation was maintained throughout the action. The squadron + opened fire at 5:41 A.M. While advancing to the attack two mines were + exploded ahead of the flagship, too far to be effective. The squadron + maintained a continuous and precise fire at ranges varying from 5,000 + to 2,000 yards, countermarching in a line approximately parallel to + that of the Spanish fleet. The enemy's fire was vigorous, but + generally ineffective. Early in the engagement two launches put out + toward the Olympia with the apparent intention of using torpedoes. + One was sunk and the other disabled by our fire and beached before + they were able to fire their torpedoes. + + "At seven A.M. the Spanish flagship Reina Cristina made a desperate + attempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short range, but + was received with such a galling fire, the entire battery of the + Olympia being concentrated upon her, that she was barely able to + return to the shelter of the point. The fires started in her by our + shells at the time were not extinguished until she sank. The three + batteries at Manila had kept up a continuous fire from the beginning + of the engagement, which fire was not returned by my squadron. The + first of these batteries was situated on the south mole-head at the + entrance of the Pasig River, the second on the south position of the + walled city of Manila, and the third at Molate, about one-half mile + further south. At this point I sent a message to the Governor-General + to the effect that if the batteries did not cease firing the city + would be shelled. This had the effect of silencing them. + + "At 7:35 A.M. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for + breakfast. At 11:16 I returned to the attack. By this time the + Spanish flagship and almost all the Spanish fleet were in flames. At + 12:30 the squadron ceased firing, the batteries being silenced and + the ships sunk, burned, and deserted. + + "At 12:40 the squadron returned and anchored off Manila, the Petrel + being left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller + gunboats, which were behind the point of Cavite. This duty was + performed by Commander E.P. Wood in the most expeditious and complete + manner possible. The Spanish lost the following vessels: Sunk, Reina + Cristina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa; burned, Don Juan de + Austria, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Marquia del + Duero, El Correo, Velasco, and Isla de Mindanao (transport); + captured, Rapido and Hercules (tugs), and several small launches. + + "I am unable to obtain complete accounts of the enemy's killed and + wounded, but believe their losses to be very heavy. The Reina + Cristina alone had 150 killed, including the captain, and ninety + wounded. I am happy to report that the damage done to the squadron + under my command was inconsiderable. There were none killed and only + seven men in the squadron were slightly wounded. Several of the + vessels were struck and even penetrated, but the damage was of the + slightest, and the squadron is in as good condition now as before the + battle. + + "I beg to state to the department that I doubt if any + commander-in-chief was ever served by more loyal, efficient, and + gallant-captains than those of the squadron now under my command. + Captain Frank Wildes, commanding the Boston, volunteered to remain in + command of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving + Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the Olympia, and Gunner + J.C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, after orders + detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal staff was + excellent. Commander B.P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a volunteer + for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieutenant Brumby, + Flag Lieutenant, and Ensign E.P. Scott, aide, performed their duties + as signal officers in a highly creditable manner; Caldwell, Flag + Secretary, volunteered for and was assigned to a subdivision of the + five-inch battery. Mr. J.L. Stickney, formerly an officer in the + United States Navy, and now correspondent for the New York _Herald_, + volunteered for duty as my aide, and rendered valuable service. I + desire especially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C.G. Calkins, + the navigator of the Olympia, who came under my personal observation, + being on the bridge with me throughout the entire action, and giving + the ranges to the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the + excellence of the firing. + + "On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron again went + to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military forces evacuated + the Cavite arsenal, which was taken possession of by a landing party. + On the same day the Raleigh and the Baltimore secured the surrender + of the batteries on Corregidor Island, paroling the garrison and + destroying the guns. On the morning of May 4th, the transport Manila, + which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was towed off and made a prize." + +[Illustration: THE MOUTH OF THE PASIG RIVER. + +The city of Old Manila is surrounded by water. On the west is the sea, +to the north is the Pasig River, while moats, connected with the river +by sluices, flank the other two sides. All the principal warehouses of +the city are on the Pasig, and ships deliver and receive their cargoes +direct, without the necessity of cartage.] + +OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). + +THE LADRONE, OR MARIANA ISLANDS. + +It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day in March, +nearly 400 years ago, they beheld the verdant and beautifully sloping +hills of the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary months before they had +sailed from the coast of Spain, and all that time, first to the +southwest and then to the northwest, they had followed the setting sun. +Theirs were the first vessels manned by white men that had ever plowed +the trackless Pacific; and this was the first land ever seen by white +men within that unknown ocean. + +It was a pitiable crew on those three small, weather-beaten ships, who +drew, that March morning, toward the coast of the present island of +Guam, which is now a possession of the United States. Hunger and thirst +had driven them to the verge of madness. They had eaten even the leather +thongs from their sail fastenings, and only a small mug of water per day +was the portion of drink for a man. "Land! Land!!" It was a glad cry +from the watch aloft. There were palm trees, cocoanuts, green grass, +tropical fruits, an abundance of fresh water, and--though naked--a +curious and friendly people. No wonder Magellan paused to rest himself +and his sailors. + +Those little islands have never been of much value, and never can be. +Seventeen of them stretching in a row about six hundred miles from north +to south, and their total area, including their islets and reefs, is +variously estimated at from 400 to 560 square miles. Hence, there is but +about one-fourth more territory on the whole seventeen islands combined +than is included within the corporate limits of the city of Greater New +York. + +A broad channel divides the Ladrones into two groups. The northern group +consists of ten islets, without inhabitants; the southern group has +seven islands, four of which are inhabited. The largest island, +_Guahan_, known to us as _Guam_, ceded to us by Spain, was taken by our +warship Charleston on July 4, 1898. This island contains the only town +in the colony. Its full Spanish name is _San Ignacio de Agana_. It is +the capital of the archipelago, and contains more than half of the whole +population. + + +THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. + +When first visited by Europeans, the archipelago contained from 40,000 +to 60,000 souls, represented by two distinct classes, the nobles and the +people, between whom marriage, and even contact, were forbidden. But the +Spanish conquest soon ended this distinction by reducing all alike to +servitude. For a long time after Spanish occupation, the natives +complained and finally rebelled against the oppressive measures of their +rulers; but by the end of the seventeenth century they ceased their +resistance, and it was found by a census that fully half of them had +perished or escaped in their canoes to the Caroline Islands, and that +two-thirds of their one hundred and eighty villages had fallen to ruins. +Then came an epidemic which swept away nearly all the natives of Guam; +and the island of Tinian (one of the group) was depopulated and its +inhabitants brought to Guam. + +[Illustration: NATIVE HOUSE AND PALMS, LADRONE ISLANDS.] + +Nearly all the new arrivals soon died. In the year 1760, a census showed +a total of only 1,654 inhabitants left in all the islands, and the +Spaniards repopulated them by bringing Tagals from the Philippines. +These, mixed with the remaining natives and Spaniards, have steadily +increased. The population of the islands in 1899 was estimated at about +9,000. The people are generally lacking in energy, loose in morals, and +miserably poor. Their education has been seriously neglected. Their +religion is Catholic, no Protestant missions having been encouraged--we +might say, not allowed--there or in the Philippines or the Carolines. + + +TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, ETC. + +The islands of the northern group are mountainous, the altitudes +reaching from 2,600 to 2,700 feet. There are evidences of volcanoes all +over the archipelago, and some mountains contain small craters and cones +not yet extinct. The climate of the Ladrones, though humid, is +salubrious, and the heat, being tempered by the trade winds, is milder +than in the Philippines. The yearly average temperature of Guam is 81 deg. +Streams are everywhere copious--though the clearing of the land has +diminished their size of late years. The original flora consists +generally of Asiatic plants, but much has been introduced from the +Philippines and other sources. + +Cocoanuts, palms, the bread tree, and tropical trees and plants +generally, thrive. The large fruit bat which abounds in the Philippines +is indigenous to the Ladrones, and, despite its objectionable odor, is a +principal article of food. Swine and oxen are allowed to run wild, and +are hunted when needed. There are only a few species of birds; even +insects are rare; and the reptiles are represented by several kinds of +lizards and a single species of serpent. No domestic animals were known +in the islands until introduced by the Spaniards. + +When the United States steamship Charleston opened fire on the little +city of Agana, July 4, 1898, the people had not heard of the war, and +the governor said he thought "the noble Americans were saluting" him, +and was "deeply humiliated because he had no powder to return their +salute." It was an easy, bloodless victory. The governor and his +soldiers were carried to Manila as prisoners, and an American garrison +of a few men left to take charge of this new American territory in the +Pacific. + + +CONCLUSION. + +Thus at the close of the nineteenth century, the Greater United States +assumes its appointed place among the foremost nations of the world, and +stands on the threshold of achievements whose grandeur no man dare +attempt to prophesy. We pause, awed, grateful, and profoundly impressed, +when we recall the mighty events, the amazing progress, and the +wonderful advancements in discovery, science, art, literature, and all +that tends to the good of mankind that are certain to give the twentieth +century a pre-eminence above all the years that have gone before. + +The new era of our country has opened. The United States enters on the +first stage of the transformation from an isolated commonwealth into an +outreaching power with dependencies in both hemispheres. We can no +longer hold an attitude of aloofness from the rest of the world. With +vulnerable points in our outlying possessions, we must make ready to +defend them not only by force of arms but by diplomatic skill. +Entangling alliances as heretofore will be avoided, and the conditions, +complications, and policies of foreign powers must in the future possess +a practical importance for us. + +The original thirteen States have expanded into forty-five, embracing +the vast area between the two oceans and extending from the British +possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. To them has now been added our +colonial territory, so vast in extent that, like the British Empire, the +sun never sets on our dominions. Where a hundred years ago were only a +few scattered villages and towns, imperial cities now raise their heads. +Thousands of square miles of forest and solitude have given place to +cultivated farms, to factories, and workshops that hum with the wheels +of industry. The Patent Office issues 40,000 patents each year. We have +three cities with more than a million population apiece, and twenty-five +with a population ranging from a hundred thousand to half a million. +Greater New York is the second city in the world, and, if its present +rate of growth continues, it will surpass London before the middle of +the coming century. Our population has grown from 3,000,000 at the close +of the Revolution to 75,000,000. When Andrew Jackson became President +there was not a mile of railroad in the United States. To-day our +mileage exceeds that of all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa +combined, and the employes, connected directly or indirectly with +railroads in the United States, number almost a million persons. The +half-dozen crude newspapers of the Revolution have expanded into more +than 20,000, whose daily news is gathered from every quarter of the +globe. The total yearly issue is more than three billions. + +No country can approach the advancements we have made in invention, in +discovery, in science, in art, in education and in all the civilizing +agencies of mankind. Volumes would be required to name our achievements +in these lines. Our material property has been or is equally wonderful. +When the Civil War closed, our public debt was nearly $3,000,000,000. On +December 1, 1898, it was $1,036,000,000. Most of the leading nations +have great debts, but the United States is the only one which is +steadily decreasing its debt and at the same time enormously increasing +its resources. The debt of Great Britain is now about $87 per capita, +that of France $115, of Holland $100, of Italy $75, and of the United +States less than $15, with the security increasing all the time. + +Let the thoughtful reader note these striking facts. European nations +generally, and some South American nations also, have been compelled to +resort to various methods of taxation to supply the sums needed for +ordinary governmental expenses, to meet the interest on the existing +debt, to provide resources for new expenditures, buildings, armament, +subsidies, and various public works. England has an income tax and many +stamp taxes, a house tax, and collects some 20 per cent. of its revenue +from direct taxation. France has a tobacco monopoly, registration taxes, +stamp taxes, tax on windows, and innumerable local taxes, one being the +octroi, or tax on goods entering cities. In addition to an income tax, +and many stamp taxes, Austria derives a good deal of its public revenue +from lotteries. Italy goes still further with her tobacco monopoly, +house tax, income tax, salt tax, octroi duties, stamp taxes, and heavy +legacy and registration taxes. In the United States, however, the public +revenues have been provided for and all public expenses met, and the +national debt reduced beside, without recourse to any direct taxation. +We have no government monopolies, and the Treasury maintains a healthful +condition from the receipts of customs and internal revenue payments. + +Thus with the spirit of fraternity between all sections of the Union +stronger than ever before, with the spirit of patriotism more deeply +imbedded and all-pervading, with our moral, educational, and material +prosperity and progress greater than any time in our past history, and +never equaled by any nation, since the annals of mankind began--we face +the future, bravely resolved to meet all requirements, responsibilities, +and duties as become men whose motto is + + +IN GOD IS OUR TRUST. + + +_The End._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Greater Republic, by Charles Morris + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREATER REPUBLIC *** + +***** This file should be named 33000.txt or 33000.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/0/0/33000/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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