path: root/49905-0.txt

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 49905 ***

The Mentor, No. 32, Historic Spots of America




THE MENTOR

“A Wise and Faithful Guide and Friend”

    VOL. 1      NO. 32




HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA

    JAMESTOWN

    PLYMOUTH ROCK

    TICONDEROGA

    INDEPENDENCE HALL

    THE ALAMO

    GETTYSBURG

[Illustration]

_By ROBERT McNUTT McELROY_

_Head of the Department of History and Politics, Princeton University_


A few years before the settlement of the territory now known as the
United States the people of Europe had witnessed a great naval battle
in which two kinds of civilizations contended for supremacy. England
and Spain were the combatants, and the issue, as we now clearly see,
was whether the old idea of monarchy or the new idea of democracy
should dominate two continents. Gold from Mexico and Peru had made
Spain a great power. Successive royal inheritances had given to her
kingly line the control of a large part of Europe. She was the champion
of the Church of Rome, and regarded it as her mission to prevent all
heretics from planting colonies in the New World. England, on the
other hand, was the champion of Protestantism, whose doctrine of the
direct responsibility of the individual led logically to democracy in
government. England won the battle, destroying Spain’s great Armada,
and thus opening the New World to the settlement of men professing
Protestant doctrines; for as soon as Spain’s power on the seas was
shattered Protestants could plant colonies without danger of having
them destroyed by a Spanish man-of-war.

[Illustration: JAMESTOWN ISLAND

_The exact site of the original settlement. Once a peninsula, this
ground has been cut away from the mainland by the constant washing of
the river. It is now protected by a stone wall._]


THE VIRGINIA COMPANY

[Illustration: OLD CHURCH AT JAMESTOWN

_A ruined tower of the earliest colonial days._]

[Illustration: JAMESTOWN CHURCH

_A reproduction of the church built 1639-1647. This building was put up
for the Jamestown Exposition in 1907, using the old tower, which can be
seen in the background, for its entrance._]

Within a few years after the destruction of the Armada a great
colonizing company was established in England for the purpose of
sending out men to settle the New World. Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, and a number of associates asked King James the First
of England to grant them a charter of incorporation. He consented,
and on April 10, 1606, transferred to them the vast district called
Virginia, which comprised practically all the territory later
occupied by the thirteen American colonies. The charter which made
the grant clearly declared “that all and every the Persons … which
shall dwell and inhabit within every or any of the said colonies or
Plantations, and every of their children, … shall have and enjoy all
liberties, Franchises, and Immunities … as if they had been abiding
and born within this our Realm of England.” This was a promise of
self-government for all English colonies in America, and if England
had carried it out in good faith there would not later have been the
necessity of fighting the Revolutionary War; since all that the
Americans demanded at the opening of that conflict was to be taxed only
by their own representatives, a privilege which Englishmen in England
had enjoyed for many generations.

[Illustration: JAMESTOWN MONUMENT

_A shaft to commemorate the first permanent English settlement on
American soil. Jamestown was founded May 13, 1607._]

The Virginia Company, as this great corporation was called, was divided
into two subcompanies, the London and the Plymouth Companies, to each
of which was assigned the task of colonizing one-half the territory.

Before many weeks had passed George Popham attempted to plant a colony
in the part assigned to the Plymouth Company, but it utterly failed.

The London Company, meanwhile, had fitted up three small vessels, the
Godspeed, the Discovery, and the Susan Constant, placed one hundred
and five colonists aboard, and sent them forth to plant a colony. They
sailed from the Downs on New Year’s Day, 1607, and after a stormy
voyage of almost four months dropped anchor off a pleasant point of
land, to which in gratitude they gave the name “Point Comfort.”


JAMESTOWN, THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT

As they had been warned, however, to establish this settlement far up
a navigable river, out of danger from wandering vessels of the Spanish
Main, they entered the beautiful river of Powhatan, which they called
the James, and sailed up it for some fifty miles until they came to a
wooded island, which they chose as the site of their colony. There they
cut logs and built the rude huts which marked the site of Jamestown,
the first permanent English settlement within the limits of what we now
know as the United States of America.

[Illustration: THE MAYFLOWER

_The pilgrim ship is shown as it entered Plymouth Harbor bringing the
first New England settlers._]

Through sorrow and privations, surrounded by the nameless terrors of an
unknown wilderness, harassed by savages, and disheartened by sickness,
the little colony survived as by a miracle, and became the nucleus of a
nation. Of the old Jamestown nothing now remains but an ancient church
tower overgrown with ivy and a few crumbling tombstones. But its honor
remains, secure in the hearts of a grateful people.

[Illustration: EDWARD WINSLOW

_From the only portrait of a “Mayflower” pilgrim in existence. Edward
Winslow was one of the governors of Plymouth colony._]

The failure of the Popham colony had discouraged the Plymouth Company,
and it was not until Jamestown was a flourishing village that a
permanent settlement was made in the northern part of the region which
King James had granted to the Virginia Company. Those years had been
years of strife and sorrow in England. The king in the narrow bigotry
of his ecclesiastical views, had declared that if any refused to
conform to the rules of worship prescribed by the established Church
of England, he would “harry them out of the land,” and King James had
kept his word. Many Englishmen had been “harried out of the land,”
and had taken refuge on the continent of Europe; but the band for
whom history was reserving the largest place had escaped from Scrooby
in Nottinghamshire and established themselves at Leyden, Holland.
Here they had prospered; but they were still English, and, seeing
their children growing up with distinctly Dutch characteristics, they
determined to migrate to a land where the son of an Englishman would
grow up an Englishman. It is often said that the chief aim of the
Puritans was to settle in a land where they could worship God as they
pleased. This, however, they were quite at liberty to do in Holland.
It might be said with greater truthfulness that they desired to settle
in a land where they could compel others to worship God as they
commanded--and this they managed quite effectively for some years after
their landing.


THE PILGRIMS

They accordingly obtained from the London branch of the Virginia
Company permission to settle at the mouth of the Delaware, and from
the king the promise that he would “wink at their heresy.” When all
was ready, the youngest and strongest of the Leyden congregation, with
Brewster, Bradford, Winslow, and Myles Standish at their head, repaired
to Delft Haven, where they embarked for England upon the Speedwell.
At Southampton they were joined by the Mayflower, with recruits from
London, and the two little vessels turned their prows toward the vast
waters of the Atlantic.

[Illustration: PLYMOUTH ROCK

_The granite boulder on which the Pilgrims are said to have landed in
1620._]

The Speedwell, however, soon sprang a leak, and the two vessels entered
the harbor of Plymouth in Devonshire, where as many as possible of the
Speedwell’s passengers were transferred to the Mayflower, those who
could not be there accommodated being placed ashore. As the Mayflower
glided out of the harbor on September 6, 1620, the one hundred and
two devoted souls on board waved a sad farewell to their twenty
disconsolate fellow Pilgrims who stood on the quay. As the dim outlines
of ancient Cornwall faded from their view, the hearts of flesh cried
out, but the steady voice of the Spirit gave them courage; for to the
Puritan, in spite of his faults, which were many and great, duty was
always first, and the planting of the wilderness with the choicest
seed, as he modestly called himself, was a solemn duty laid upon him by
God.

[Illustration: Copr. 1906. A. S. Burbank, Plymouth, Mass.

NATIONAL MONUMENT TO THE FOREFATHERS

_Erected in remembrance of their sufferings for civil and religious
liberty._]

Driven from their course, lost on the vast oceans of an unknown world,
the little company pressed bravely on, and on November 9 sighted Cape
Cod, far to the north of their intended destination. Here their patent
was useless, and as some of the company in “discontented and mutinous
speeches” during the voyage had declared that “they would use their
own liberty” after landing, it was thought wise to draw up a compact
binding its signers to render “all due submission and obedience” to the
government therein provided. This document has been called the first
written constitution in the world’s history. It was not a constitution,
however; but only a compact.


PLYMOUTH ROCK

After five weeks of careful inspection of the coast they selected
for their colony a spot which Captain John Smith had already named
Plymouth, in honor of the lovely harbor from which they had sailed.
Here, as tradition says, upon a great rock, now known throughout the
world as Plymouth Rock, they landed on December 21, plowed through the
deep snow, and amid the “murmuring pines and the hemlocks” began to
build a House of God and about it rude cabins of logs. To this scene
every true American heart should turn with reverence, whatever his
creed, political affiliation, or sectional tradition; for it, more
than any other in American colonial history, typifies the spirit which
has made of America a great nation. At Plymouth, more even than at
Jamestown, the political doctrines which had grown out of Calvinistic
theology took firm root. In religion the Puritans were bigoted and
intolerant; but in political theories they represented the idea of
the freedom and dignity of the individual. The God-given right of
self-government was their political motto, and from it they never
swerved. The great contest which we call the American Revolution was
not, as is sometimes asserted, an attempt to throw off the shackles of
tyranny, but was, on the contrary, a determined refusal to allow these
shackles to be put on. George the Third and his obsequious minister,
Lord North, were the real revolutionists; for they sought to take
away from the American colonies rights of self-government as old as
Jamestown and Plymouth. In this they failed, and their failure cost
England an empire.

[Illustration: PLAN OF FORT TICONDEROGA

_A restoration begun in 1909. The first fort, called Fort Carillon, was
built by the French in 1755. It was taken by the British in 1758 and
rebuilt as Fort Ticonderoga._]


TICONDEROGA AND INDEPENDENCE HALL

[Illustration: THE ETHAN ALLEN HOUSE

_An inn at Dorset, Vermont, where the Revolutionary hero used to stop._]

[Illustration: TABLET AT TICONDEROGA

_On this rock are the names of Ticonderoga’s heroes, Champlain,
Montcalm, Lord Howe, Amherst and Burgoyne._]

To tax a man without his consent has always been, since Magna Charta
was written, contrary to the liberties of native-born Englishmen. It
was therefore contrary also to the liberties of native-born Americans,
and as such it was resisted by our ancestors of the revolutionary
epoch, as it had been resisted by our ancestors of the colonial era.
When, on May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, sword in hand,
called upon the king’s ancient fortress of Ticonderoga to surrender,
giving as their authority “the great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress,” they were but putting into striking phrase the political
doctrines of Calvinism and seeking to enforce the royal promise
that Americans of whatever colony were entitled to “all Liberties,
Franchises, and Immunities … as if they had been abiding and born,
within this, our Realm of England.” And when the great political
figures of the Revolution--Adams, Witherspoon, Franklin, Jefferson, and
the rest--assembled in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, and signed the
Declaration of Independence, while the Liberty Bell pealed forth the
notes of freedom, they were but repeating the declaration of the first
American charter.

[Illustration: ETHAN ALLEN MONUMENT

_Erected at Manchester, Vt., to the daring frontiersman who captured
Fort Ticonderoga from the British._]

Our Revolution was thus a war calmly entered upon to maintain
immemorial rights and ancient institutions, whose preservation meant
liberty not alone for America, but for England as well. Today we can
clearly see what was at stake at Ticonderoga, at Bunker Hill, and upon
the long chain of Revolutionary battlefields, stretching from the lakes
to the faraway swamps of Georgia. Representative government hung in the
balance, and whenever we hear of a nation’s rising against despotism
and demanding that the people shall rule, we should add one more
blossom to the garland which we are weaving for the graves of the men
who gave Liberty to enlighten the world. Tennyson, with the soul of a
true poet, though writing for Englishmen, has expressed the thought for
all men:

    “Oh! Thou who sendest out the man,
      To rule by land and sea,
    Strong mother of a Lion-line,
    Be proud of those strong sons of thine,
    Who wrench’d their rights from Thee!”

[Illustration: LIBERTY BELL

_In Independence Hall, Philadelphia._]

Years passed by. The ideas which had triumphed in the Revolution grew
ever stronger in the nation that war had created. By slow degrees men
came to understand more fully what it meant for the people to rule.

[Illustration: ROOM IN INDEPENDENCE HALL

_The room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted July
4, 1776. Much of the original furniture is preserved here, and the
portraits of those who signed the Declaration hang about the walls._]

The colonies grew to populous cities, and the far off plains of Texas
became the field for pioneer activity: Austin, Houston, and a host of
others, with their love of “God’s out of doors,” left settled parts of
America and sought homes upon the spreading prairies of that distant
province of Mexico. With these men ideals of American freedom had
become instinctive, and from the very first a trial of strength was
inevitable between them and Santa Anna, the despotic ruler of Mexico.


THE ALAMO

The Alamo was a Franciscan mission, dating from the eighteenth century.
It was strongly built, and inclosed an area of about three acres, upon
which stood a roofless church and a few other crumbling buildings.
Its garrison consisted of 186 men, under Colonel Travis, and included
the famous frontiersmen, James Bowie and David Crockett. Sam Houston,
commander of the Texas forces, had ordered that the Alamo be blown up
and abandoned; but his orders had been disregarded, and the gallant
little garrison was now to pay the terrible price of its disobedience.

[Illustration: Copr. Archer’s Studios

PROPOSED ALAMO HEROES’ MONUMENT

_The tower will be 802 feet high, the loftiest in America, and will
cost 2,000,000 dollars._]

On February 23, 1836, the Alamo was invested by four thousand Mexican
soldiers and the final reckoning began. On March 6, after a gallant
defense, it was taken by storm, its garrison having been slaughtered to
a man. “Thermopylæ had its messenger of defeat--the Alamo had none,”
so runs the epitaph which stands upon the monument of these heroes of
liberty.

But the blood-avenger was at hand. A few weeks later Sam Houston,
standing with bared head before his little army of Texas patriots,
gathered at San Jacinto, gave the watchword, “Remember the Alamo!” and
within twenty minutes the army of Santa Anna was scattered “like the
chaff which the wind driveth away.” Texas was free.


GETTYSBURG

But I have mentioned one other battlefield, and one which in numbers
and in the military skill of those engaged, as well as in the
principles at stake, stands among the great battles of the world.
Gettysburg is a name which is justly mentioned with pride by Americans
of all sections; for when its aged veterans, North and South, can clasp
hands and declare themselves brothers, it would be presumptuous for
others to display the rancor of partizanship.

The settings of the battle were dramatic. Robert E. Lee, the ablest
commander of the Confederacy, had crossed into Pennsylvania with his
main column. The Federal army of the Potomac was close behind, intent
upon pressing northward after Lee to protect Baltimore should it be
endangered. Gettysburg lies in a fruitful valley of Pennsylvania, just
north of the Maryland borderline. It is walled in by low mountain
ranges studded with peaks--Culp’s Hill, Round Top, and Little Round
Top--whose names rouse thrilling memories. Here on July 1, 2, and 3,
1863, the two armies fought the most fearful and significant open
battle of the whole Civil War.

For the first two days fate favored the Confederate army, and “these
partial successes,” writes General Lee, “determined me to continue
the assault next day.” A movement was planned in which Pickett’s
division of Longstreet’s corps was to strike the Federal line in the
center, while Stuart with his cavalry attacked it in the rear. It was a
desperate venture, and Longstreet declared that when the moment came
for ordering Pickett and his gallant five thousand to advance, his lips
refused to form the words, and to the calm inquiry, “General, shall
I advance?” he could only reply by an affirmative bow. Within thirty
minutes two thousand of the detachment had fallen, and of the officers
who had headed this desperate venture, only Pickett and one lieutenant
came out unharmed.

Stuart had failed to reach the Federal rear in time to aid the attack
which, unsustained, had ended in disaster. “It was all my fault,”
generously commented Lee, when the whole tragic result was understood,
“Let us do the best we can toward saving that which is left us.” Meade
made no attempt at pursuit. Lee led his army back to Virginia and was
safe.

In an order of July 4, Meade had used the expression, “driving the
invader from our soil,” which, when the great, sad-eyed Lincoln read,
he heaved a deep sigh and remarked, “Will our generals never get that
idea out of their heads? The whole country is our soil.”

[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

_This struggle, the crisis of our Civil War and one of the great
battles of the world, raged for three days._]

    SUPPLEMENTARY READING--John Fiske’s “Old Virginia and Her
    Neighbors,” “Beginnings of New England,” “The Critical Period
    of American History,” and “The American Revolution”; “True
    Relation of Virginia,” Smith; “Plymouth Plantation,” Bradford;
    “Sam Houston,” Bruce; “Stuart’s Cavalry in the Gettysburg
    Campaign,” John S. Mosby.




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[Illustration: JAMESTOWN TOWER]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_Jamestown_

ONE


Slowly up the river three vessels made their way with the light though
favoring breeze. Gradually the open of the bay was passed, as, two days
previously, the open of the sea had been left behind. Now the land was
closing in on each side, and both ships were alive with the figures of
those who stood eagerly scanning the shore. And what they saw was a
welcome sight. The April sun was shining on the forests of both banks;
elms, they saw, like old friends, stretching out their branches in
friendly protection; oaks, too, knotted and gnarled, seemed to voice a
welcome. On nearer approach they noticed masses of dogwood in brilliant
bloom, and other shrubs in flower, whose fragrance was wafted over to
them as a pleasant incense. And there was a riot of sweet birds’ songs
coming out of the woods.

Truly, it was a paradise that they had come to, and many fell on their
knees in thanksgiving that they had safely crossed the seas and been
guided to a land of such beauty. Till night they sailed on up the
river, and then the sails were furled, the anchor dropped, and their
long journey was at an end.

Thus came the colonists who, a few weeks later, founded Jamestown in
Virginia, the first English settlement in America, which they named
after King James I. Starting in three small vessels, one of them but
twenty tons in burden, they had taken more than four months in crossing.

At first they had only tents to live in. It was late to plant, and food
was not plentiful. And they soon learned that terror and death lurked
in the land. Indians had stolen up, and with bows and arrows wounded
seventeen of the men and killed a boy. The thunder of muskets drove
them away; but the settlers felt it necessary to keep regular watch,
and each man sat up every third night to take his turn. Those first few
months were hard, and many died. Then they built cabins, and enjoyed
more comfort.

Captain Smith, later a governor, was absent much of the time, buying
food from the Indians. Two years afterward he went home, and the months
that followed were called the “Starving Time,” when all but sixty of
the four hundred settlers died.

Yet, through many tribulations, Jamestown lived. In 1608 it was
burned, and other cabins were built. In 1619 word was received that a
representative government had been granted. The settlers were each to
have a portion of ground, and plantations were gradually laid out along
the James. In spite of Indian massacres the colony and all Virginia
grew.

In 1676 Jamestown was burned by Nathaniel Bacon, who had risen against
the autocratic rule of the governor. In 1691 the capital of Virginia
was removed from Jamestown to Williamsburg, and the importance of the
old colony ceased, until it is now but a site of ruins.

It was on low and marshy ground that later became an island. There are
monuments erected in commemoration of the colony, of Captain Smith and
Pocahontas, and a church that resembles the one first built.

The Jamestown Exposition in 1907 was held near Norfolk, forty miles
down the river.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.




[Illustration: PLYMOUTH ROCK]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_Plymouth Rock_

TWO


The little ship hove to and the sails were furled upon the yards. The
long journey was over. There, on the harbor’s edge, rose the hill that
was to become so familiar in after years to those who had spent these
many weeks at sea. There too, below the hill and on the very shore,
projected the great boulder of granite upon which they were to make
their landing, which would ever afterward be famous. Here, at last, was
freedom in a new land, freedom to think and worship as they pleased!
And the voyagers were jubilant.

It was cold, for Christmas was only four days off; but the spirits
of the Pilgrims were not dampened. The armed men went ashore to
reconnoiter, and soon returned with the word that it was a likely
spot. Then for many days there was a sound of axes clearing the land
and felling trees to build houses with; the smoke of many fires
brought with it the odor of burning pine. But the buoyant spirits of
the colonists could not long withstand the penetrating cold. Food was
poor and scarce, and none was to be had from the surrounding country.
Sickness came, and death broke into the ranks. Indeed, before the close
of that first winter nearly half of the colonists had perished. They
were buried upon the hill near the harbor, and in the spring grain was
sowed over their graves that the Indians might not see how terribly the
little company had suffered.

Friendly Indians showed them how to plant their corn, putting fish into
the hills to fertilize it. Other colonists came; other colonies were
established--and so New England was born.

The story of gruff, big-hearted Myles Standish, the military captain
of Plymouth, and Priscilla Mullins, is inseparably connected with the
colony. Captain Standish had many encounters with the Indians. A fort
was built, and, while in general the Indians were friendly, the men
of the little army under his command were constantly on the lookout
for trouble that might arise. Once a conspiracy was detected, and the
Indians put to death with the very weapons they had brought to use upon
the people of the colony.

In 1624 each member of the colony received a parcel of land, which he
was allowed to work for himself. After that there was always plenty of
food in Plymouth. The colony was united with that of Massachusetts Bay
in 1691.

Today Plymouth is a busy city of more than 12,000 people. The great
boulder upon which the Pilgrims stepped is still there at the harbor
edge, and a protecting canopy of granite has been built above it. The
bones of some of the Pilgrims have been placed within the canopy.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.




[Illustration: TICONDEROGA]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_Ticonderoga_

THREE


Darkness had fallen long before the men of Vermont came to the lakes.
Through woods where giant trees reached upward and made the darkness
impenetrable they had marched, stumbling along, feeling their way,
often bumping into trees or falling over logs. Now at the lake shore
they were ready to embark. Silently they moved to and fro, and the only
sound was the lapping of the water against the shore and the roar of
the falls. Just a few boats could be found; but they were filled and
rowed across in silence, brought back, filled again, and again rowed
across. When dawn broke in the east eighty-three American soldiers had
been ferried over, and it was too late to wait for more.

If the attack was to be a success it must be made without more delay.
With the utmost caution, therefore, the men moved forward and up the
slope. The rumble of the falls helped them, drowning out all other
sounds. They reached the sally port. There a sentry pointed his musket
at the leader of the Americans and pulled the trigger. The piece did
not go off, and the sentry fled. In a few moments the little army
of invaders had formed a hollow square within the fort, facing the
barracks about them, their muskets ready to fire. The Indian war-cry
was given, and Ethan Allen, who led them, made his way to the quarters
of the commandant, and demanded the surrender of the fort.

“In whose name,” asked the commandant.

“In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress,”
replied Allen. And the surrender was made. So easily and quietly did
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Ticonderoga from the British
on that early morning in May, 1775, without the loss of a man or the
firing of a gun, and the army of the colonies was enriched by many
precious cannon, muskets, and a large amount of ammunition for the
struggle for freedom that had but started.

“Sounding waters” is the interpretation given to the Indian name,
Ticonderoga. Here, where the waters of Lake George descend tumultuously
into Lake Champlain, falling thirty feet in one sheer drop, where the
voyagers from Canada to New England had to leave their boats, and
portage their loads, a fort had been built by the French twenty years
before. Three years after it was put up, Ticonderoga was attacked by
six thousand British regulars and ten thousand provincials. The four
thousand men of the French garrison repulsed the attacking army, and
among the killed was Lord Howe. His memory is kept fresh by a tablet
in Westminster Abbey, erected by the people of Massachusetts. Three
weeks after this repulse, when Montcalm had gone to Quebec to oppose
General Wolfe and only four hundred men were left in the fort, Lord
Amherst, with eleven thousand English, besieged it. Realizing the
hopelessness of their task, the garrison blew up the fortifications
and abandoned the place. It had been in English hands since that time
up to its capture by the “Green Mountain Boys” under Ethan Allen. Two
years later, when General Burgoyne descended from Canada, the fort was
captured, while the Americans retreated after a feeble resistance. But
when Burgoyne surrendered, after the battle of Saratoga, Ticonderoga
again fell into American hands.

In 1909, on the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Lake
Champlain, the owner of the ground on which the ruins of the fort stood
began its restoration.

The waters still roar at the falls as they did on the night Ethan Allen
and his Green Mountain Boys made the bloodless attack upon the fort.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.




[Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_Independence Hall_

FOUR


Of the sixty American gentlemen in frosted wigs and silk stockings,
who sat in what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia and composed
the Continental Congress, there was none more aristocratic by birth,
more democratic by nature, than Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps that was one
reason why they selected him to pen the Declaration of Independence,
adopted on July 4, 1776, which remains today America’s most sacred
historical document. He was sufficiently modest, however, to insist
that in writing the Declaration he simply put down the ideas prevalent
at the time.

This Continental Congress was the first body of men at that time
sitting in any of the parliaments of the world. These statesmen had the
courage to break an old order, the valor to maintain a new one, and the
wisdom to fortify it with laws and a constitution. The first and second
Congress of our nation comprised the flower of the character of that
age. As a whole body they ruled higher for talents, firmness, and good
judgment than any national assembly known to history.

So when it came to a division between allegiance to England and a
complete separation from the mother country, these men chose wisely,
bravely, and confidently. It was a big step to take, and a dangerous
one also. Hitherto the colonies had been merely fighting for “no
taxation without representation”; but now they would be fighting for
liberty. And, if conquered, the leaders could hope for no better fate
than execution as traitors.

It is related that when Benjamin Franklin lifted his pen, after signing
the Declaration of Independence, he turned to the assembly and said
with a grim smile:

“Now, gentlemen, we must all hang together, or we shall hang
separately.”

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776; but not
all the members of the Continental Congress signed it on that day. A
great many signed at later dates.

The old bell that rang out this message of liberty is now kept as an
almost sacred relic in Independence Hall. When the Pennsylvanians were
building their State edifice they ordered a bell from England. But
when it arrived they found that it had lost its voice and had to be
recast. A quotation was inscribed on the new bell, which, though chosen
a quarter of a century in advance of the Declaration of Independence,
showed the direction in which the thoughts of all the people of America
were even then turning--“Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof.” This quotation was taken from the tenth verse
of the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus.

The bell was afterward used on various occasions of national
importance; but was cracked in 1835 in tolling for the funeral of Chief
Justice Marshall, and since 1843 has never been sounded.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.




[Illustration: THE ALAMO]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_The Alamo_

FIVE


Two men who were riding up the heights dismounted, left their horses,
and walked to the top. The scene before them was one that tried their
souls,--a great circle of troops; here and there a battery of guns;
in the center a low rambling building of adobe, at which the fire was
directed.

“It’s no use, Bonham,” said the elder of the two. “We can’t do it. To
try to get in now would be certain death. You have done your best to
get assistance; you can do no more.”

“Smith,” replied the other, “I am going in. Travis sent me for help. It
is right for you to turn back; but I cannot. I will report the results
of my mission or die in the attempt.”

Putting a white handkerchief in his hat brim and fastening it there he
mounted the splendid cream-colored horse. The two men clasped hands and
looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then Bonham rode down
toward the beleaguered fort. Smith saw him reach the Mexican lines and
spur his horse on. He was apparently unnoticed for a time, and then
the fire of hundreds was turned upon him. Bending low in the saddle,
man and horse seemed to fly over the ground. Hundreds of bullets must
have whizzed past him; but he seemed to have a charmed life. On and on
he went, and the fire against him grew heavier. But now the men of the
garrison had seen the white handkerchief, which had been agreed upon as
a signal, and a cheer went up. The gates of the fort swung open. The
horse went faster. Smith saw horse and rider reach the fort, and the
gates swing to behind them. They had gone unscathed through the entire
Mexican army.

The Alamo at San Antonio, originally built for a mission, had been
taken by the Texans in their efforts to gain independence from Mexico.
Garrisoned by a few men under Col. William Barrett Travis, it was
surrounded on February 23, 1836, by an army variously estimated at from
3,000 to 8,000 men, under General Santa Anna.

With his force of 150 Texans, among them Colonel Bowie, David Crockett,
frontiersman and ex-member of Congress, and James Butler Bonham, a
friend from boyhood days of Colonel Travis, the last named made a
gallant fight against overwhelming odds. Messengers had been despatched
to summon help, and finally Travis sent his friend out to bring
assistance. At the first place he tried, appeals were of no avail,
and he rode on to Gonzales. There he found that Captain Martin and
thirty-two men had gone to the assistance of the besieged men, fighting
their way into the fort. So he returned.

Three days after Bonham’s ride the Mexican army made a general assault.
All but six of the brave garrison were killed, and these, surrendering
on condition of parole, were butchered in cold blood. The Mexicans
lost 1,600 men. On April 21 the Mexican army overtook General Houston
and his army of 780 men at San Jacinto. The battle cry of the Texans
was “Remember the Alamo!” and the enraged men of the little army cut
the Mexican forces to pieces, killing 630 and capturing nearly all the
rest. Thus Texas won her independence.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.




[Illustration: GETTYSBURG]




_HISTORIC SPOTS OF AMERICA_

_Gettysburg_

SIX


Gettysburg was the high-water mark of the Rebellion, and Pickett’s
charge was the high-water mark of Gettysburg. In that terrific
engagement of the third day the advance of the Confederates into
northern territory was effectually checked, and the question of the
Confederacy maintaining a position in northern territory was settled.
Lee turned south with his defeated and broken forces, and as the
booming of the guns of Gettysburg died down, the Confederate cause
ebbed away.

When the battle started, more than two hundred cannon hurled shot and
shell across a lovely green valley with yellowing grain fields. The
carnage and the roar and smoke of guns continued until the Confederate
gunners began to run short of ammunition; then, on the third day, came
a lull. It was an ominous silence. Down from the one hill surged a line
of gray, and another, and another. The Confederate forces charged on
across the valley, and still the Federal batteries reserved their fire.
The supreme moment was at hand. North and South hung upon the issue
with drawn breath. Then as the gray army mounted the opposite hill,
rifles and cannon thundered again, line after line broke and fell; but
still the charging body of the Confederates kept on. They captured the
first Federal outworks, and staggered on toward the second. But the
Union fire had been too deadly. No human bravery could withstand such
losses. The gray lines fell back, leaving most of their men dead on the
field. Thus with the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg over, the
climax of the war was past.

The little town round which the battle raged was settled about 1740,
and in 1800 it became the county seat. It holds the oldest Lutheran
college in America, and likewise the oldest Lutheran theological
seminary. Today the valley is a beautiful national park, with the lines
of battle marked by six hundred monuments, five hundred iron tablets,
one thousand markers, and hundreds of cannon. Observation towers enable
the visitor to see the surrounding country.

It is a curious fact that neither side had intended to fight at
Gettysburg, General Meade having determined to make a stand at
Pipes Creek, fifteen miles distant. But Lee’s troops, coming into
contact with a body of Union cavalry near Gettysburg, July 1, 1863,
precipitated the battle, and both armies hurried to the scene. The
Federal troops were forced back, retreating through the village, and
took position on Cemetery Hill, just beyond. At one time in his march
toward Gettysburg, General Lee was within a few miles of the main
ammunition stores of the Federal army, which, had he known it, he could
easily have captured.

Both sides suffered tremendous losses. Of an army of 75,000 Lee lost
43,000 killed, wounded, and captured, and Meade 23,000 in killed and
wounded out of 90,000. In Pickett’s charge, out of fifteen regimental
commanders, ten were killed and five wounded. One regiment lost 90 per
cent. of its members; of 4,500 officers and men 3,393 were left on the
field.

    PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
    ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 32, SERIAL No. 32
    COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mentor: Historic Spots of America,
Vol. 1, Num. 32, Serial No. 32, by Robert McNutt McElroy

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 49905 ***