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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16508-8.txt b/16508-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b401ef --- /dev/null +++ b/16508-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10533 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of American Men of Action, by Burton E. Stevenson + +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: American Men of Action + +Author: Burton E. Stevenson + +Release Date: August 10, 2005 [EBook #16508] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Gundry and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +AMERICAN +MEN OF ACTION + + +BY + + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + +AUTHOR OF "A GUIDE TO BIOGRAPHY--MEN OF MIND," +"A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA," ETC.; COMPILER OF +"DAYS AND DEEDS--POETRY," "DAYS AND +DEEDS--PROSE," ETC. + + +GARDEN CITY NEW YORK: + +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY + +1913 + + + * * * * * + + +COPYRIGHT, 1909, 1910, BY + +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY + + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON] + + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I.--A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY + +II.--THE BEGINNERS + + Summary to Chapter II + +III.--WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN + + Summary to Chapter III + +IV--LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS + + Summary to Chapter IV + +V--STATESMEN + + Summary to Chapter V + +VI.--PIONEERS + + Summary to Chapter VI + +VII.--GREAT SOLDIERS + + Summary to Chapter VII + +VIII.--GREAT SAILORS + + Summary to Chapter VIII + +INDEX + + + * * * * * + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Washington _Frontispiece_ + +Columbus + +Jefferson + +Jackson + +Lincoln + +Cleveland + +Franklin + +Webster + +Boone + +Grant + +Lee + +Dewey + + + * * * * * + + + + +AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY + + +No doubt most of you think biography dull reading. You would much rather +sit down with a good story. But have you ever thought what a story is? +It is nothing but a bit of make-believe biography. + +Let us see, in the first place, just what biography means. It is formed +from two Greek words, "bios," meaning life, and "graphein," meaning to +write: life-writing. In other words, a biography is the story of the +life of some individual. Now what the novelist does is to write the +biographies of the people of his story; not usually from the cradle to +the grave, but for that crucial period of their careers which marked +some great success or failure; and he tries to make them so life-like +and natural that we will half-believe they are real people, and that the +things he tells about really happened. Sometimes, to accomplish this, he +even takes the place of one of his own characters, and tells the story +in the first person, as Dickens does in "David Copperfield." That is +called autobiography, which is merely a third Greek word, "autos," +meaning self, added to the others. An automobile, for instance, is a +self-moving vehicle. So autobiography is the biography of oneself. The +great aim of the novelist is, by any means within his power, to make his +tale seem true, and the truer it is--the truer to human nature and the +facts of life--the greater is his triumph. + +Now why is it that everyone likes to read these make-believe +biographies? Because we are all interested in what other people are +doing and thinking, and because a good story tells in an entertaining +way about life-like people, into whom the story-teller has breathed +something of his own personality. Then how does it come that so few of +us care to read the biographies of real people, which ought to be all +the more interesting because they are true instead of make-believe? +Well, in the first place, because most of us have never tried to read +biography in the right way, and so think it tiresome and uninteresting. +Haven't you, more than once, made up your mind that you wouldn't like a +thing, just from the look of it, without ever having tasted it? You know +the old proverb, "One man's food is another man's poison." It isn't a +true proverb--indeed, few proverbs are true--because we are all built +alike, and no man's food will poison any other man; although the other +man may think so, and may really show all the symptoms of poisoning, +just because he has made up his mind to. + +Most of you approach biography in that way. You look through the book, +and you see it isn't divided up into dialogue, as a story is, and there +are no illustrations, only pictures of crabbed-looking people, and so +you decide that you are not going to like it, and consequently you don't +like it, no matter how likeable it is. + +It isn't wholly your fault that you have acquired this feeling. +Strangely enough, most biographies give no such impression of reality as +good fiction does. John Ridd, for instance, is more alive for most of us +than Thomas Jefferson--the one is a flesh-and-blood personality, while +the other is merely a name. This is because the average biographer +apparently does not comprehend that his first duty is to make his +subject seem alive, or lacks the art to do it; and so produces merely a +lay-figure, draped with the clothing of the period. And usually he +misses the point and fails miserably because he concerns himself with +the mere doing of deeds, and not with that greatest of all things, the +development of character. + +All great biographies are written with insight and imagination, as well +as with truth; that is, the biographer tries, in the first place, to +find out not only what his subject did, but what he thought; he tries to +realize him thoroughly, and then, reconstructing the scenes through +which he moved, interprets him for us. He endeavors to give us the +rounded impression of a human being--of a man who really walked and +talked and loved and hated--so that we may feel that we knew him. But +most biographies are seemingly written about statues on pedestals, and +not good statues at that. + +I am hoping to see the rise, some day, of a new school of biography, +which will not hesitate to discard the inessential, which will disdain +to glorify its subject, whose first duty it will be to strip away the +falsehoods of tradition and to show us the real man, not hiding his +imperfections and yet giving them no more prominence than they really +bore in his life; which will realize that to the man nothing was of +importance except the growth of his spirit, and that to us nothing else +concerning him is of any moment; which will show him to us illumined, as +it were, from within, and which will count any other sort of +life-history as vain and worthless. What we need is biography by X-ray, +and not by tallow candle. + +Until that time comes, dear reader, you yourself must supply the X-ray +of insight. If you can learn to do that, you will find history and +biography the most interesting of studies. Biography is, of course, the +basis of all history, since history is merely the record of man's +failures and successes; and, read thus, it is a wonderful and inspiring +thing, for the successes so overtop the failures, the good so out-weighs +the bad. By the touchstone of imagination, even badly written biography +may be colored and vitalized. Try it--try to see the man you are reading +about as an actual human being; make him come out of the pages of the +book and stand before you; give him a personality. Watch for his humors, +his mistakes, his failings--be sure he had them, however exalted he may +have been--they will help to make him human. The spectacle of +Washington, riding forward in a towering rage at the battle of +Monmouth, has done more to make him real for us than any other incident +in his life. So the picture that Franklin gives of his landing at +Philadelphia and walking up Market street in the early morning, a loaf +of bread under either arm, brings him right home to us; though this +simple, kindly, and humorous philosopher is one of the realest figures +on the pages of history. We love Andrew Jackson for his irascible +wrong-headedness, Farragut for his burst of wrath in Mobile harbor, +Lincoln for his homely wisdom. + +I have said that, read as the record of man's failures and successes, +history is an inspiring thing. Perhaps of the history of no country is +this so true as of that of ours. By far the larger part of our great men +have started at the very bottom of the ladder, in poverty and obscurity, +and have fought their way up round by round against all the forces of +society. Nowhere else have inherited wealth and inherited position +counted for so little as in America. Again, we have had no wars of greed +or ambition, unless the war with Mexico could be so called. We have, at +least, had no tyrants--instead, we have witnessed the spectacle, unique +in history, of a great general winning his country's freedom, and then +disbanding his army and retiring to his farm. "The Cincinnatus of the +West," Byron called him; and John Richard Green adds, "No nobler figure +ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life." He has emerged from the +mists of tradition, from the sanctimonious wrappings in which the early +biographers disguised him, has softened and broadened into the most +human of men, and has won our love as well as our veneration. + +George Washington was the founder. Beside his name, two others stand +out, serene and dominant: Christopher Columbus, the discoverer; Abraham +Lincoln, the preserver. And yet, neither Columbus, nor Washington, nor +Lincoln was what we call a genius--a genius, that is, in the sense in +which Shakespeare or Napoleon or Galileo was a genius. But they combined +in singular degree those three characteristics without which no man may +be truly great: sincerity and courage and singleness of purpose. + +It is not without a certain awe that we contemplate these men--men like +ourselves, let us always remember, but, in many ways, how different! Not +different in that they were infallible or above temptation; not +different in that they never made mistakes; but different in that they +each of them possessed an inward vision of the true and the eternal, +while most of us grope blindly amid the false and trivial. What that +vision was, and with what high faith and complete devotion they followed +it, we shall see in the story of their lives. + +This is the basic difference between great men and little ones--the +little ones are concerned solely with to-day; the great ones think only +of the future. They have gained that largeness of vision and of +understanding which perceives the pettiness of everyday affairs and +which disregards them for greater things. They live in the world, +indeed, but in a world modified and colored by the divine ferment within +them. There are some who claim that America has never produced a genius +of the first order, or, at most, but two; however that may be, she has +produced, as has no other country, men with great hearts and seeing eyes +and devoted souls who have spent themselves for their country and their +race. + +One hears, sometimes, a grumbler complaining of the defects of a +republic; yet, certainly, in these United States, the republican form of +government, established with no little fear and uncertainty by the +Fathers, has, with all its defects, received triumphant vindication. +Nowhere more triumphant than in the men it has produced, the story of +whose lives is the story of its history. + +There are two kinds of greatness--greatness of deed and greatness of +thought. The first kind is shown in the lives of such men as Columbus +and Washington and Farragut, who translated thought into action and who +_did_ great things. The second kind is the greatness of authors and +artists and scientists, who write great books, or paint great pictures +or make great discoveries, and this sort of greatness will be considered +in a future volume; for all there has been room for in this one is the +story of the lives of America's great "men of action." And even of them, +only a sketch in broad outline has been possible in space so limited; +but this little book is merely a guide-post, as it were, pointing toward +the road leading to the city where these great men dwell--the City of +American Biography. + +It is a city peopled with heroes. There are Travis and Crockett and +Bowie, who held The Alamo until they all were slain; there is Craven, +who stepped aside that his pilot might escape from his sinking ship; +there is Lawrence, whose last words are still ringing down the years; +there is Nathan Hale, immortalized by his lofty bearing beneath the +scaffold; there is Robert Gould Shaw, who led a forlorn hope at the head +of a despised race;--even to name them is to review those great events +in American history which bring proud tears to the eyes of every lover +of his country. + +Of all this we shall tell, as simply as may be, giving the story of our +country's history and development in terms of its great men. So far as +possible, the text has been kept free of dates, because great men are of +all time, and, compared with the deeds themselves, their dates are of +minor importance. But a summary at the end of each chapter gives, for +purposes of convenient reference, the principal dates in the lives of +the men whose achievements are considered in it. + + * * * * * + +In the preparation of these thumb-nail sketches, the present writer +makes no pretense of original investigation. He has taken his material +wherever he could find it, making sure only that it was accurate, and +his sole purpose has been to give, in as few words as possible, a +correct impression of the man and what he did. From the facts as given, +however, he has drawn his own conclusions, with some of which, no doubt, +many people will disagree. But he has tried to paint the men truly, in a +few strokes, as they appeared to him, without seeking to conceal their +weaknesses, but at the same time without magnifying them--remembering +always that they were men, subject to mistakes and errors, to be honored +for such true vision as they possessed; remarkable, many of them, for +heroism and high devotion, and worthy a lasting place in the grateful +memory of their country. + +The passage of years has a way of diminishing the stature of men thought +great, and often of increasing that of men thought little. Few American +statesmen, for example, loom as large to-day as they appeared to their +contemporaries. Looking back at them, we perceive that, for the most +part, they wasted their days in fighting wind-mills, or in doing things +which had afterwards to be undone. Only through the vista of the years +do we get a true perspective, just as only from a distance can we see +which peaks of the mountain-range loom highest. But even the mist of +years cannot dim essential heroism and nobility of achievement. Indeed, +it enhances them; the voyage of Columbus seems to us a far greater thing +than his contemporaries thought it; Washington is for us a more +venerable figure than he was for the new-born Union; and Lincoln is just +coming into his own as a leader among men. + +Every boy and girl ought to try to gain as true and clear an idea as +possible of their country's history, and of the men who made that +history. It is a pleasant study, and grows more and more fascinating as +one proceeds with it. The great pleasure in reading is to understand +every word, and so to catch the writer's thought completely. Knowledge +always gives pleasure in just that way--by a wider understanding. +Indeed, that is the principal aim of education: to enable the individual +to get the most out of life by broadening his horizon, so that he sees +more and understands more than he could do if he remained ignorant. And +since you are an American, you will need especially to understand your +country. You will be quite unable to grasp the meaning of the references +to her story which are made every day in conversation, in newspapers, in +books and magazines, unless you know that story; and you will also be +unable properly to fulfil your duties as a citizen of this Republic +unless you know it. + +For the earliest years, and, more especially, for the story of the +deadly struggle between French and English for the possession of the +continent, the books to read above all others are those of Francis +Parkman. He has clothed history with romantic fascination, and no one +who has not read him can have any adequate idea of the glowing and +life-like way in which those Frenchmen and Spaniards and Englishmen work +out their destinies in his pages. The story of Columbus and of the early +explorers will be found in John Fiske's "Discovery of America," a book +written simply and interestingly, but without Parkman's insight and +wizardry of style--which, indeed, no other American historian can equal. +A little book by Charles F. Lummis, called "The Spanish Pioneers," also +gives a vivid picture of those early explorers. The story of John Smith +and William Bradford and Peter Stuyvesant and William Penn will also be +found in Fiske's histories dealing with Virginia and New England and the +Dutch and Quaker colonies. Almost any boy or girl will find them +interesting, for they are written with care, in simple language, and not +without an engaging humor. + +There are so many biographies of Washington that it is difficult to +choose among them. Perhaps the most interesting are those by Woodrow +Wilson, Horace E. Scudder, Paul Leicester Ford, and Henry Cabot +Lodge--all well-written and with an effort to give a true impression of +the man. Of the other Presidents, no better biographies exist than those +in the "American Statesmen" series, where, of course, the lives of the +principal statesmen are also to be found. Not all of them, nor, perhaps, +even most of them are worth reading by the average boy or girl. There is +no especial reason why the life of any man should be studied in detail +after he has ceased to be a factor in history. Of the Presidents, +Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln are still vital to the life +of to-day, and of the statesmen there are a few, like Franklin, +Hamilton, Webster, Calhoun and Clay, whose influence is still felt in +our national life, but the remainder are negligible, except that you +must, of course, be familiar in a broad way with their characters and +achievements to understand your country's story. + +History is the best place to learn the stories of the pioneers, soldiers +and sailors. Archer Butler Hulburt has a little book, "Pilots of the +Republic," which tells about some of the pioneers; John Fiske wrote a +short history of "The War of Independence," which will tell you all you +need know about the soldiers of the Revolution, with the exception of +Washington; and you can learn about the battles of the Civil War from +any good history of the United States. There is a series called the +"Great Commanders Series," which tells the story, in detail, of the +lives of American commanders on land and sea, but there is no reason why +you should read any of them, with the exception of Lee, Farragut, and +possibly Grant, though you will find the lives of Taylor and "Stonewall" +Jackson interesting in themselves. For the sailors, with the exception +of Farragut, Barnes's "Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors" will suffice; +though every boy will enjoy reading Maclay's "History of the American +Navy," where the story of our great sea-fights is told better than it +has ever been told before. + +These books may be found in almost any public library, and on the +shelves there, too, you will probably find Elbert Hubbard's "Little +Journeys," which give flashlight portraits of statesmen and soldiers and +many other people, vivid and interesting, but sometimes distorted, as +flashlights have a way of being. + +Perhaps the librarian will permit you to look over the shelves where the +biographies and works dealing with American history are kept. Don't be +over-awed by the number of volumes, because there are scores and scores +which are of no importance to you. Theodore Parker had a wrong idea +about reading, for once upon a time he undertook to read all the books +in a library, beginning at the first one and proceeding along shelf +after shelf. He never finished the task, of course, because he found +out, after a while, that there are many books which are not worth +reading, and many more which are of value only to specialists in certain +departments of knowledge. No man can "know it all." But every man should +know one thing well, and have a general knowledge of the rest. + +For instance, none but an astronomer need know the mathematics of the +science, but all of us should know the principal facts concerning the +universe and the solar system, and it is a pleasure to us to recognize +the different constellations as we gaze up at the heavens on a cloudless +night. None but a lawyer need spend his time reading law-books, but most +of us want to know the broad principles upon which justice is +administered. No one but an economist need bother with the abstract +theories of political economy, but if we are to be good citizens, we +must have a knowledge of its foundations, so that we may weigh +intelligently the solutions of public problems which different parties +offer. + +So if you are permitted to look along the shelves of the public library, +you will have no concern with the great majority of the books you see +there; but here and there one will catch your eye which interests you, +and these are the ones for you to read. You have no idea how the habit +of right reading will grow upon you, and what a delightful and valuable +habit it will prove to be. Like any other good habit, it takes pains at +first to establish, an effort of will and self-control. But that very +effort helps in the forming of character, and the habit of right reading +is perhaps the best and most far-reaching in its effects that any boy or +girl can form. I hope that this little volume, and the other books which +I have mentioned, will help you to form it. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BEGINNERS + + +Nearly five hundred years ago, there lived, in the beautiful old Italian +city of Genoa, a poor wool-comber named Dominico Colombo, and about +1446, a son was born to him and to his wife, Susanna, and in due time +christened Christoforo. + +The world into which the child was born was very different to the one in +which we live. Europe was known, and northern Africa, and western Asia; +but to the east stretched the fabulous country of the Grand Khan, +Cathay, Cipango, and farthest Ind; while to the west rolled the Sea of +Darkness, peopled with unimaginable terrors. + +Of the youth of Christopher Columbus, as we call him, little is known. +No doubt it was much like other boyhoods, and one likes to picture him, +in such hours of leisure as he had, strolling about the streets of +Genoa, listening to the talk, staring in at the shop-windows, or +watching the busy life in the harbor. That the latter had a strong +attraction for him there can be no doubt, for though he followed his +father's trade till early manhood, he finally found his real vocation as +a seaman. It was on the ocean that true romance dwelt, for it led to +strange lands and peoples, and no one knew what wonders and mysteries +lay behind each horizon. It was there, too, high courage was developed +and endurance, for it was there that men did battle hand to hand with +nature's mightiest forces. It was the one career of the age which called +to the bold and adventurous spirit. What training Columbus received or +what voyages he made we know not; but when, at about the age of thirty, +he steps into the light of history, it is as a man with a wide and +thorough knowledge of both the theory and practice of seamanship; a man, +too, of keen mind and indomitable will, and with a mighty purpose +brooding in his heart. + +It was natural enough that his eyes should turn to Portugal, for +Portugal was the greatest sea-faring nation of the age. Her sailors had +discovered the Madeira Islands, and crept little by little down the +coast of Africa, rounding this headland and that, searching always for a +passage to India, which they knew lay somewhere to the east, until, at +last, they had sailed triumphantly around the Cape of Good Hope. It is +worth remarking that Columbus's brother, Bartholomew, of whom we hear so +little, but who did so much for his brother's fame, was a member of that +expedition, and Columbus himself must have gathered no little +inspiration from it. + +So to Lisbon Columbus went, and his ardent spirit found a great stimulus +in the adventurous atmosphere of that bustling city. He went to work as +a map-maker, marrying the daughter of one of the captains of Prince +Henry the Navigator, from whom he secured a great variety of maps, +charts and memoranda. His business kept him in close touch with both +mariners and astronomers, so that he was acquainted with every +development of both discovery and theory. In more than one mind the +conviction was growing up that the eastern shore of Asia could be +reached by sailing westward from Europe--a conviction springing +naturally enough from the belief that the earth was round, which was +steadily gaining wider and wider acceptance. In fact, a Florentine +astronomer named Toscanelli furnished Columbus with a map showing how +this voyage could be accomplished, and Columbus afterwards used this map +in determining his route. + +That the idea was not original with Columbus takes nothing from his +fame; his greatness lies in being the first fully to grasp its meaning, +fully to believe it, fully to devote his life to it. For the last +measure of a man's devotion to an idea is his willingness to stake his +life upon it, as Columbus staked his. The idea possessed him; there was +room in him only for a dogged determination to realize it, to trample +down such obstacles as might arise to keep him from his goal. And +obstacles enough there were, for many years of waiting and +disappointment lay before him--years during which, a shabby and +melancholy figure, laughed at and scorned, mocked by the very children +in the streets, he "begged his way from court to court, to offer to +princes the discovery of a world." And here again was his true +greatness--that he did not despair, that his spirit remained unbroken +and his high heart still capable of hope. + +Yet let us not idealize him too much. The eagerness to reach the Indies +was wholly because of the riches which they possessed. The spice trade +was especially coveted, and tradition told of golden cities of fabulous +wealth and beauty which lay in the country to the east. The great motive +behind all the early voyages was hope of gain, and Columbus had his full +share of it. Yet there grew up within him, in time, something more than +this--a love of the project for its own sake--though to the very last, a +little overbalanced, perhaps, by his great idea, he insisted upon the +rewards and honors which must be his in case of success. + +With his route well-outlined and his plans carefully matured, Columbus +turned naturally to the King of Portugal, John II., as a man interested +in all nautical enterprise, and especially interested in finding a route +to the Indies. That crafty monarch listened to Columbus attentively and +was evidently impressed, for he took possession of the maps and plans +which Columbus had prepared, under pretense of examining them while +considering the project, placed them in the hands of one of his own +captains and dispatched him secretly to try the route. That captain, +whose name has been lost to history, must afterwards have been chagrined +enough at the manner in which he missed immortal fame, for, after +sailing a few days to the westward, he turned back and reported to his +royal master that the thing could not be done. His was not the heart +for such an enterprise. + +Columbus, learning of the king's treachery, left the court in disgust, +and sending his brother, Bartholomew, to lay the plan before the King of +England, himself proceeded to Spain, whose rulers, Ferdinand and +Isabella, were perhaps the most enlightened of the age. Of Bartholomew's +adventures in England little is known. One thing alone is +certain--England missed the great opportunity just as Portugal had. And +for long years it seemed that, in Spain, Columbus would have no better +fortune. The Spanish monarchs listened to him with interest--as who +would not?--and appointed a council of astronomers and map-makers to +examine the project and to pass upon its feasibility. This council, not +without the connivance of the king and queen, who were absorbed in war +with the Moors, and who, at the same time, did not wish the plan to be +taken elsewhere, kept Columbus waiting for six years, alternating +between hope and despair, and finally reported that the project was +"vain and impossible of execution." + +Indignant at thought of the years he had wasted, Columbus determined to +proceed to Paris, to seek an audience of the King of France. His wife +was dead, and he started for Palos, with his little son, Diego, +intending to leave the boy with his wife's sister there, while he +himself journeyed on to Paris. Trudging wearily across the country, they +came one night to the convent of La Rabida, and Columbus stopped to ask +for a crust of bread and cup of water for the child. The prior, Juan +Perez de Marchena, struck by his noble bearing, entered into +conversation with him and was soon so interested that he invited the +travellers in. + +Marchena had been Isabella's confessor, and still had great influence +with her. After carefully considering the project which Columbus laid +before him, he went to the queen in person and implored her to +reconsider it. His plea was successful, and Columbus was again summoned +to appear at court, a small sum of money being sent him so that he need +not appear in rags. The Spanish monarchs received him well, but when +they found that he demanded the title of admiral at once, and, in case +of success, the title of viceroy, together with a tenth part of all +profits resulting from either trade or conquest, they abruptly broke off +the negotiations, and Columbus, mounting a mule which had been given +him, started a second time for Paris. He had proceeded four or five +miles, in what sadness and turmoil of spirit may be imagined, when a +royal messenger, riding furiously, overtook him and bade him return. His +terms had been accepted. + +This is what had happened: In despair at the departure of Columbus, Luis +de Santangel, receiver of the revenues of Aragon, and one of the few +converts to his theories, had obtained an audience of the queen, and +pointed out to her, with impassioned eloquence, the glory which Spain +would win should Columbus be successful. The queen's patriotic ardor +was enkindled, and when Ferdinand still hesitated, she cried, "I +undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile. I will pledge my +jewels to raise the money that is needed!" Santangel assured her that he +himself was ready to provide the money, and advanced seventeen thousand +florins from the coffers of Aragon, so that Ferdinand paid for the +expedition, after all. + +It is in no way strange that the demands of Columbus should have been +thought excessive; indeed, the wonderful thing is that they should, +under any circumstances, have been agreed to. Here was a man, to all +appearances a penniless adventurer, asking for honors, dignities and +rewards which any grandee of Spain might have envied him. That they +should have been granted was due to the impulsive sympathy of Isabella +and the indifference of her royal consort, who said neither yes nor no; +though, in the light of subsequent events, it is not improbable that the +thought may have crossed his mind that royal favor may always be +withdrawn, and that the hand which gives may also take away. + +But though Columbus had triumphed in this particular, his trials were by +no means at an end. The little port of Palos was commanded by royal +order to furnish the new Admiral with two small vessels known as +caravels. This was soon done, but no sailors were willing to embark on +such a voyage, the maddest in all history. Only by the most extreme +measures, by impressment and the release of criminals willing to +accompany the expedition in order to get out of jail, were crews +finally provided. A third small vessel was secured, and on the morning +of Friday, August 3, 1492, this tiny fleet of three boats, the Santa +Maria, the Pinta and the Niņa, whose combined crews numbered less than +ninety men, sailed out from Palos on the grandest voyage the world has +ever known. + +The shore was lined with people weeping and wringing their hands for the +relatives and friends whom they were sure they should never see again, +and most of the sailors were certain that they were bidding farewell +forever to their native land. Even at the present day, few men would +care to undertake such a voyage in such ships. The two little caravels, +Niņa and Pinta, were decked only at stern and prow. The Santa Maria was +but little larger, her length being only about sixty feet, and all three +of the vessels were old, leaky, and in need of frequent repairs. + +The map which Toscanelli had given Columbus years before showed Japan +lying directly west of the Canaries, so to the Canaries Columbus steered +his fleet, and then set forth westward into the unknown. By a fortunate +chance, it was the very best route he could have chosen, for he came at +once into the region of the trade winds, which, blowing steadily from +the east, drove the vessels westward day after day over a smooth sea. +But this very thing, favorable as it was, added greatly to the terror of +the men. How were they to get back to Spain, with the wind always +against them? What was the meaning of a sea as smooth as their own +Guadalquiver? They implored Columbus to turn back; but to turn back was +the last thing in his thoughts. An opportune storm helped to reassure +his men by proving that the wind did not always blow from the east and +that the sea was not always calm. + +But there were soon other causes of alarm. The compass varied strangely, +and what hope for them was there if this, their only guide, proved +faithless? They ran into vast meadows of floating seaweed, the Sargasso +Sea, and it seemed certain that the ships would soon be so entangled +that they could move neither backward nor forward. Still Columbus pushed +steadily on, and his men's terror and angry discontent deepened until +they were on the verge of mutiny; various plots were hatched and it was +evident that affairs would soon reach a crisis. + +One can guess the Admiral's thoughts as he paced the poop of his ship on +that last night, pausing from time to time to strain his eyes into the +darkness. Picture him to yourself--a tall and imposing figure, clad in +that gray habit of the Franciscan missionary he liked to wear; the face +stern and lined with care, the eyes gray and piercing, the high nose and +long chin telling of a mighty will, the cheeks ruddy and freckled from +life in the open, the white hair falling about his shoulders. Picture +him standing there, a memorable figure, whose hour of triumph was at +hand. He knew the desperate condition of things--none better; he knew +that his men were for the most part criminals and cowards; at any +moment they might rise and make him prisoner or throw him overboard. +Well, until that moment, he would hold his ship's prow to the west! For +twenty years he had labored to get this chance; he would rather die than +fail. + +And then, suddenly, far ahead, he saw a light moving low along the +horizon. It disappeared, reappeared, and then vanished altogether. The +lookout had also seen it, and soon after, as the moon rose, a gun from +the Pinta, which was in the lead, announced that land had been sighted. +It was soon plainly visible to everyone, a low beach gleaming white in +the moonlight, and the ships hove-to until daybreak. + +In the early dawn of the twelfth day of October, 1492, the boats were +lowered, and Columbus and a large part of his company went ashore, wild +with exultation. They found themselves on a small island, and Columbus +named it San Salvador. It was one of the Bahamas, but which one is not +certainly known. Columbus, of course, believed himself near the coast of +Asia, and spent two months in searching for Japan, discovering a number +of islands, but no trace of the land of gold and spices which he sought. +One of his ships was wrecked and the captain of the third sailed away to +search for gold on his own account, so that it was in the little Niņa +alone that Columbus at last set sail for Spain. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS] + +It was no longer a summer sea through which the tiny vessel ploughed her +way, but a sea swept by savage hurricanes. More than once it seemed +that the ship must founder, but by some miracle it kept afloat, and +on March 15, 1493, sailed again into the port of Palos. The great +navigator was received with triumphal honors by Ferdinand and Isabella, +and invited to sit in their presence while he told the wonderful story +of his discoveries. + +Wonderful indeed! Yet what a dizziness would have seized that audience +could they have guessed the truth! Could they have guessed that the +proud kingdom of Spain was but an insignificant patch compared with the +vast continent Columbus had discovered and upon which a score of nations +were to dwell. + +The life-work of the great navigator practically ended on the day he +told his story to the court of Spain, for, though he led three other +expeditions across the ocean, the discoveries they made were of no great +importance. Not a trace did he find of that golden country, which he +sought so eagerly, and at last, broken in health and fortune, in +disfavor at court, stripped of the rewards and dignities which had been +promised him, he died in a little house at Valladolid on the twentieth +of May, 1506. He believed to the last that it was the Indies he had +discovered, never dreaming that he had given a new continent to the +world. + +Yet is his fame secure, for the task which he accomplished was unique, +never to be repeated. He had robbed the Sea of Darkness of its terrors, +and while those who followed him had need of courage and resolution, it +was no longer into the unknown that they sailed forth. They knew that +there was no danger of sailing over the edge and dropping off into +space; they knew that there were no dragons, nor monsters, nor other +blood-curdling terrors to be encountered, but that the other side of the +world was much like the side they lived on. That was Columbus's great +achievement. To cross the Atlantic, perilous as the voyage was, was +after all a little thing; but actually to _start_--to surmount the wall +of bigotry and ignorance which, for centuries, had shut the west away +from the east, to surmount that wall and throw it down by a faith which +rose superior to human belief and incredulity and terror of the +unknown--there was the miracle! + + * * * * * + +Many there were to follow, each contributing his mite toward the task of +defining the new continent. Perhaps you have seen a photographic +negative slowly take shape in the acid bath--the sharp out-lines first, +then, bit by bit, the detail. Just so did America grow beneath the gaze +of Europe, though two centuries and more were to elapse before it stood +out upon the map clean-cut and definite from border to border. + +First to follow Columbus, and the first white men since the vikings to +set foot on the North American continent, which Columbus himself had +never seen, were John and Sebastian Cabot, Italians like their +predecessor, but in the service of the King of England and with an +English ship and an English crew prophetic of the race which was, in +time, to wrest the supremacy of the continent from the other nations of +Europe. They explored the coast from Newfoundland as far south, perhaps, +as Chesapeake Bay, and upon their discoveries rested the English claim +to North America, though they themselves are little more than faint and +ill-defined shadows upon the page of history, so little do we know of +them. + +And just as the New World was eventually to be dominated by a nation +other than that which first took possession of it, so was it to be named +after a man other than its discoverer: an inconsiderable adventurer +named Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, who accompanied three or four +Spanish expeditions as astronomer or pilot, but who had no part in any +real discovery in the New World. He wrote a number of letters describing +the voyages which he claimed to have made, and one of these was printed +in a pamphlet which had a wide circulation, so that Vespucci's name came +to be connected in the public mind with the new land in the west much +more prominently than that of any other man. In 1502, in a little book +dealing with the new discoveries, the suggestion was made that there was +nothing "rightly to hinder us from calling it [the New World] Amerige or +America, i.e., the land of Americus," and America it was +thenceforward--one of the great injustices of history. Since it had to +be so, let us be thankful that it was Vespucci's first name which was +selected, and not his last one. + +Meanwhile, the Spaniards had pushed their way across the Caribbean and +explored the shores of the gulf, finding at last in Mexico a land of +gold. World-worn, disease-racked Ponce de Leon, conqueror and governor +of Porto Rico, struggled through the everglades of Florida, seeking the +fountain of eternal youth, and getting his death-wound there instead. +Ferdinand Magellan, man of iron if there ever was one, seeking a western +passage to the Moluccas, skirted the coast of South America, wintered +amid the snows of Patagonia, worked his way through the strait which +bears his name, and held on westward across the Pacific, making the +first circumnavigation of the globe, a feat so startling in audacity +that there is none in our day to compare with it, except, perhaps, a +journey to another planet. Magellan himself never again saw Europe, +meeting his death in a fight with the natives of the Philippines, but +one of his ships, with eighteen men, struggled south along the coast of +Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and so home. + +Half a century was to elapse before the feat was repeated--this time by +that slave-trader, pirate, and doughty scourge of the Spaniard, Sir +Francis Drake, who, following in Magellan's wake, and pausing only long +enough to harry the Spanish settlements in Chili and Peru and capture a +Spanish treasureship, held northward along the coast as far as southern +Oregon, and then turned westward across the Pacific, around the Cape of +Good Hope, and home again, where Elizabeth, in spite of Spanish +protests, was waiting to reward him with a touch of sword to shoulder. +The Muse of History smiles ironically when she records that Drake's +principal discovery in the New World was that of the potato, which he +introduced into England. + +Not until Drake's voyage was completed was the vast extent of the North +American continent even suspected, although its interior had been +explored in many directions. Hernando de Soto, with an experience gained +with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and succeeding Ponce de Leon in +the governorship of Florida, marched with a great expedition through +what is now South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, and came out, at +last, upon the Mississippi, only to find burial beneath its waters, +while the tattered remnant of his force staggered back to Mexico. + +Francisco de Coronado, marching northward from Mexico, in search of the +fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, found only the squalid villages of the +Zuni Indians, after stumbling on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and +marching as far north as the southern line of Kansas. Jacques Cartier, +following another will-o'-the-wisp to the north, and searching for the +storied city of Norembega, supposed to exist somewhere in the wilderness +south of Cape Breton, found it not, indeed, but laid the foundations for +the great empire which France was to establish along the St. Lawrence. + +And Henry Hudson, in the little Half-Moon, chartered by a company of +thrifty Dutchmen to search for the northwest passage, blundered instead +upon the mighty river which bears his name, explored it as far north as +the present city of Albany, and paved the way for that picturesque +Dutch settlement which grew into the greatest city of the New World. He +did more than that, for, persevering in the search and sailing far to +the north, he came, at last, into the great bay also named for him, +where tragic fate lay waiting. For there, in that icy fastness of the +north, his mutinous crew bound him, set him adrift in a small boat, and +sailed away and left him. + +So, by the beginning of the seventeenth century, the New World was +fairly well defined upon the maps which the map-makers were always +industriously drawing; and so were the spheres of influence where each +nation was to be for a time paramount; the Spaniards in the Gulf of +Mexico, the Dutch along the Hudson, the French on the St. Lawrence, and +the English on the long coast to the south. But in all the leagues and +leagues from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf, nowhere had the white man as +yet succeeded in gaining a permanent foothold. + + * * * * * + +Although the continent of North America had been discovered by John +Cabot in 1497, nearly a century elapsed before England made any serious +attempt to take possession of it. Cabot's voyages had created little +impression, for he had returned from them empty-handed; instead of +finding the passage to the Indies which he sought, he had discovered +nothing but an inconvenient and apparently worthless barrier stretching +across the way, and for many years the great continent was regarded only +in that light, and such explorations as were made were with the one +object of getting through it or around it. In fact, as late as 1787, +opinion in Europe was divided as to whether the discovery of the New +World had been a blessing or a curse. + +But Spain had been working industriously. The honor of giving America to +the world was hers, and she followed that first discovery by centuries +of such pioneering as the world had never seen. Her explorers overran +Mexico and Peru, discovered the Mississippi, the Pacific, carved their +way up into the interior of the continent, looked down upon the wonders +of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, founded settlements up and down the +land from Kansas to Chili--yes, and did more than that. They opened the +first churches, set up the first presses, printed the first books, wrote +the first histories, drew the first accurate maps. They established +schools among the Indians, sent missionaries to them, translated the +Bible into twelve Indian dialects, made thousands of converts, and +established an Indian policy as humane and enlightened--once Spanish +supremacy was recognized--as any in the world. The savages with whom +Spain had to contend were the deadliest, the most cruel, that Europeans +ever encountered--no more resembling the warriors of King Philip and the +Powhatan than a house-cat resembles a panther. They conquered them +without extermination, and converted them to Christianity! An amazing +feat, and one which disposes for all time of that old, outworn legend +that the Spain of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was a +moribund and degenerate nation. + +But a change was at hand. The world moved, and Spain, chained to an +outworn superstition, did not move with it. The treasure she drew from +Mexico and Peru she poured out to prop the tottering pillars of church +despotism; and the end came when, in 1588, Elizabeth's doughty captains +wiped out the "invincible" armada, and dethroned Spain for all time from +her position as mistress of the seas. + +It was then that English eyes turned toward the New World and that +projects of colonization were set afoot in earnest; and the one great +dominant hero of that early movement was Sir Walter Raleigh. He had +accompanied his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on a voyage to the +New World ten years earlier, and after Gilbert's tragic death, took over +the patent for land in America which Gilbert held. It is worth noting +that this patent provided in the plainest terms that such colonies as +might be planted in America should be self-governing in the fullest +sense--a provision also included in the patent granted to the company +which afterwards succeeded in gaining and maintaining a foothold on the +James. + +Raleigh spent nearly a million dollars in endeavoring to establish a +colony on Roanoke Island--a colony which absolutely disappeared, and +whose fate was never certainly discovered; and it was not until the +Virgin Queen, after whom all that portion of the country had been named, +was dead, and Raleigh himself, shorn of his estates, was a prisoner in +the Tower under charge of treason, that a new charter was given to an +association of influential men known as the Virginia Company, which was +destined to have permanent results. On New Year's Day, 1607, an +expedition of three ships, carrying, besides their crews, one hundred +and five colonists, started on the voyage across the ocean, under +command of Captain Christopher Newport. Among Newport's company was a +scarred and weather-beaten soldier, who was soon to assume control of +events through sheer fitness for the task, and who bore that commonest +of all English names, John Smith. + +But John Smith's career had been anything but common. Born in +Lincolnshire in 1579, and early left an orphan, he had gone to the +Netherlands while still in his teens, and had spent three years there +fighting against the Spaniards. A year or two later, he had embarked +with a company of Catholic pilgrims for the Levant, intent on fighting +against the Turk, but a storm arose which all attributed to the presence +of the Huguenot heretic on board, and he was forthwith flung into the +sea. Whether the storm thereupon abated, history does not state, but +Smith managed to swim to a small island, from which he was rescued next +day. Journeying across Europe to Styria, he entered the service of +Emperor Rudolph II., and spent two or three years fighting against the +Turks, accomplishing feats so surprising that one would be inclined to +class them with those of Baron Munchausen, were they not, for the most +part, well authenticated. He was captured, at last, but managed to +escape, and made his way across the Styrian desert, through Russia, +Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and finally back to England, just in time to +meet Captain Newport, and arrange to sail with him for Virginia. + +It is not remarkable that a man tried by such experiences should, from +the first, have taken a prominent part in the enterprise. An unwelcome +part in the beginning, for scarcely had the voyage begun, when he was +accused of plotting mutiny, arrested and kept in irons until the ships +reached Virginia. Late in April, the fleet entered Hampton Roads, and +proceeding up the river, which was forthwith named the James, came at +last on May 13th, to a low peninsula which seemed suited for a +settlement. The next day they set to work building a fort, which they +called Fort James, but the settlement soon came to be known as +Jamestown. + +Once the fort was finished, Captain Newport sailed back to England for +supplies, and the little settlement was soon in desperate straits for +food. Within three months, half of the colonists were in their graves, +and bitter feuds arose among the survivors. These were for the most part +"gentlemen adventurers," who had accompanied the expedition in the hope +of finding gold, and who were wholly unfitted to cope with the +conditions in which they found themselves. Of all of them, Smith was by +far the most competent, and he did valiant service in trading with the +Indians for corn and in conducting a number of expeditions in search of +game. + +It was while on one of these, in December, 1607, that that incident of +his career occurred which is all that a great many people know of +Captain John Smith. With two companions, he was paddling in a canoe up +the Chickahominy, when the party was attacked by Indians. Smith's two +companions were killed, and he himself saved his life only by exhibiting +his compass and doing other things to astonish and impress the savages. + +He was finally taken captive to the Powhatan, the ruler of the tribe, +and, according to Smith's story, a long debate ensued among the Indians +as to his fate. Presently two large stones were laid before the chief, +and Smith was dragged to them and his head forced down upon them, but +even as one of the warriors raised his club to dash out the captive's +brains, the Powhatan's daughter, a child of thirteen named Pocahontas, +threw herself upon him, shielding his head with hers, and claimed him +for her own, after the Indian custom. Smith was thereupon released, +adopted into the tribe, and sent back to Jamestown, where he arrived on +the eighth of January, 1608. + +From the Indian standpoint, there was nothing especially unusual about +this procedure, for any member of the tribe was privileged to claim a +captive, if he wished. A century before, Ortiz, a member of De Soto's +expedition, had been captured by the Indians and saved in precisely the +same way, and many instances of the kind occurred in the years which +followed. But to the captive, it partook of the very essence of +romance; he had only the dimmest idea of what was really happening, and +his account of it, written many years later, was of the most sentimental +kind. Many doubts have been cast on the story, and historians seem +hopelessly divided about it, as they are about many other incidents of +Smith's life. Certain it is, however, that Pocahontas afterwards +befriended the colony on more than one occasion; and was finally +converted, married to a planter named John Rolfe, and taken to England, +where, among the artificialities of court life, she soon sickened and +died. + +On the very day that Smith reached Jamestown with his Indian escort, the +supply ship sent out by Captain Newport also arrived, bringing 120 new +colonists. Of the original 105, only thirty-eight were left alive. But +Smith's enemies were yet in the ascendancy, and he spent the summer of +1608 in exploration, leaving the colony to its own devices. When he +returned to it in September, he found it reduced and disheartened. His +brave and cheery presence acted as a tonic, and at last the colonists, +appreciating him at his true value, elected him president. He put new +life into everyone, and when, soon afterwards, Newport arrived again +from England with fresh supplies, he found the colony in fairly good +shape. + +But the members of the Virginia Company were growing impatient at the +failure of the venture to bring any returns, and they sent out +instructions by Newport demanding that either a lump of gold be sent +back to England or that the way to the South Sea be discovered. Smith +said plainly that the instructions were ridiculous, and wrote an answer +to them in blunt soldier English. Then, turning his hand in earnest to +the government of the disorderly rabble under him, he instituted an iron +discipline, whipped the laggards into line, and by the end of April had +some twenty houses built, thirty or forty acres of ground broken up and +planted, nets and weirs arranged for fishing, a new fortress under way, +and various small manufactures begun. A great handicap was the system, +by which all property was held in common, so that the drones shared +equally with the workers, but Smith took care that there should be few +drones. There can be no doubt that his sheer will power kept the colony +together, but his credit with the company was undermined by enemies in +England, nor did his own blunt letter help matters. The company was +re-organized on a larger scale, a new governor appointed, new colonists +started on the way; and, finally, in 1609, Smith was so seriously +wounded by the explosion of a bag of gun-powder, that he gave up the +struggle and returned to England. + +Instant disaster followed. When he left the colony, it numbered five +hundred souls; when the next supply ship reached it in May, 1610, it +consisted of sixty scarecrows, mere wrecks of human beings. The rest had +starved to death--or been eaten by their companions! There was a hasty +consultation, and it was decided that Virginia must be abandoned. On +Thursday, June 7, 1610, the cabins were stripped of such things as were +of value, and the whole company went on shipboard and started down the +river--only to meet, next day, in Hampton Roads, a new expedition headed +by the new governor, Lord Delaware, himself! By this slight thread of +coincidence was the fate of Virginia determined. + +The ship put about at once, and on the following Sunday morning, Lord +Delaware stepped ashore at Jamestown, and, falling to his knees, thanked +God that he had been in time to save Virginia. He proceeded at once to +place the colony upon a new and sounder basis, and it was never again in +danger of extinction, though Jamestown itself was finally abandoned as +unsuited to a settlement on account of its malarious atmosphere. But +Virginia itself grew apace into one of the greatest of England's +colonies in America. + +John Smith himself never returned to Virginia. In 1614, he explored the +coast south of the Penobscot, giving it the name it still bears, New +England. A year later, while on another expedition, he was captured by +the French and forced to serve against the Spaniards. Broken in health +and fortune, he spent his remaining years in London, dying there in +1631. There is a portrait of him, showing him as a handsome, bearded +man, with nose and mouth bespeaking will and spirit--just such a man as +one would imagine this gallant soldier of fortune to have been. + +While the English, under the guiding hand of John Smith, were fighting +desperately to maintain themselves upon the James, the French were +struggling to the same purpose and no less desperately along the St. +Lawrence. We have seen how Jacques Cartier explored and named that +region, but civil and religious wars in France put an end to plans of +colonization for half a century, and it was not until 1603 that Samuel +Champlain, the founder of New France, and one of the noblest characters +in American history, embarked for the New World. + +Samuel Champlain was born at Brouage about 1567, the son of a sea-faring +father, and his early years were spent upon the sea. He served in the +army of the Fourth Henry, and after the peace with Spain, made a voyage +to Mexico. Upon his return to France in 1603, he found a fleet preparing +to sail to Canada, and at once joined it. Some explorations were made of +the St. Lawrence, but the fleet returned to France within the year, +without accomplishing anything in the way of colonization. Another +expedition in the following year saw the founding of Port Royal, while +Champlain made a careful exploration of the New England coast, but he +found nothing that attracted him as did the mighty river to the north. +Thither, in 1608, he went, and sailing up the river to a point where a +mighty promontory rears its head, disembarked and erected the first rude +huts of the city which he called by the Indian name of Quebec, or "The +Narrows." A wooden wall was built, mounting a few small cannon and +loopholed for musketry, and the conquest of Canada had begun. A +magnificent cargo of furs was dispatched to France, and Champlain and +twenty-eight men were left to winter at Quebec. When spring came, only +nine were left alive, but reinforcements and supplies soon arrived, and +Champlain arranged to proceed into the interior and explore the country. + +The resources at his disposal were small, he could not hope to assemble +a great expedition; so he determined to make the venture with only a few +men and little baggage, relying upon the friendship of the Indians, +instead of seeking to conquer them, as the Spaniards had always done. +Champlain had from the first treated the Indians well, and it was this +necessity of gaining their friendship that determined the policy which +France pursued--the policy of making friends of the Indians, entering +into an alliance with them, and helping them fight their battles. +Champlain opened operations by joining an Algonquin war-party against +the Iroquois, and assisting at their defeat--starting, at the same time, +a blood feud with that powerful tribe which endured as long as the +French held Canada. In the course of this expedition, he discovered the +beautiful lake which bears his name. + +He went back to France for a time, after that, and on his next return to +Canada, in 1611, began building a town at the foot of a rock which had +been named Mont Royal, since corrupted to Montreal. Succeeding years +were spent in further explorations, which carried him across Lake +Ontario, and in plans for the conversion of the Indians, to which the +aid of the Jesuits was summoned. Missions were established, and the +intrepid priests pushed their way farther and farther into the +wilderness. To this work, Champlain gave more and more of his thought in +the last years of his life, which ended on Christmas day, 1635. + +Among the young men whom Champlain set to work among the Indians was +Jean Nicolet. The year before his death, Champlain sent him on an +exploring expedition to the west, in the course of which he visited Lake +Michigan and perhaps Lake Superior. Following in his footsteps, the +Jesuits gradually established missions as far west as the Wisconsin +River, and, finally, in 1670, at Sault Ste. Marie, the French formally +took possession of the whole Northwest. + +It was at about this time there appeared upon the scene another of those +picturesque and formidable figures, in which this period of American +history so abounds--Robert Cavalier La Salle. La Salle was at that time +only twenty years of age. He had reached Canada four years earlier and +had devoted himself for three years to the study of the Indian +languages, in order to fit himself for the career of western exploration +which he contemplated. One day he was visited by a party of Senecas, who +told him of a river, which they called the Ohio, so great that many +months were required to traverse it. From their description, La Salle +concluded that it must fall into the Gulf of California, and so form the +long-sought passage to China. He determined to explore it, and after +surmounting innumerable obstacles, actually did reach it, and descend it +as far as the spot where the city of Louisville now stands, afterwards +exploring the Illinois and the country south of the Great lakes, as well +as the lakes themselves. + +Fired by La Salle's report of his discoveries, two other Frenchmen, +Louis Joliet, a native of Quebec, who had already led an expedition in +search of the copper mines of Lake Superior, and Jacques Marquette, a +Jesuit priest and accomplished linguist, started on a still greater +journey. With five companions and two birchbark canoes, they headed down +the Wisconsin river, and on June 17, 1673, glided out upon the blue +waters of the Mississippi. A fortnight later, they reached a little +village called Peoria, where the Indians received them well, and +continuing down the river, passed the Missouri, the Ohio, and finally, +having gone far enough to convince themselves that the river emptied +into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Gulf of California, they turned +about and reached Green Bay again in September, having paddled more than +2,500 miles. Marquette, shattered in health, remained at Green Bay, +while Joliet pushed on to Montreal to tell of his discoveries. Marquette +rallied sufficiently at the end of a year to attempt a mission among the +Illinois Indians, where death found him in the spring of 1675. Joliet +spent his last years in a vain endeavor to persuade the government of +France to undertake on a grand scale the development of the rich lands +along the Mississippi. + +But the story which Joliet took back with him to Quebec fired anew the +ambition of La Salle. He conceived New France as a great empire in the +wilderness, and he determined to descend the mighty river to its mouth +and establish a city there which would hold the river for France against +all comers. Such occupation would, according to French doctrine, give +France an indisputable right to the whole territory which the river and +its tributaries drained, and La Salle's plan was to establish a chain of +forts stretching from Lake Erie to the Gulf, to build up around these +great cities, and so to lay the foundations for the mightiest empire in +history. We may well stand amazed before a plan so ambitious, and before +the determination with which this great Frenchman set about its +accomplishment. + +To most men, such a scheme seemed but the dream of an enthusiast; but La +Salle was in deadly earnest, and for eight years he labored to perfect +the details of the plan. At last, on April 9, 1682, he planted the flag +of France at the mouth of the Mississippi, naming the country Louisiana +in honor of his royal master, whose property it was solemnly declared to +be. That done, the intrepid explorer hastened back to France; a fleet +was fitted out and attempted to sail directly to the mouth of the great +river, but missed it; the ships were wrecked on the coast of Texas, and +La Salle was shot from ambush by two of his own followers while +searching on foot for the river. + +So ended La Salle's part in the accomplishment of a plan which, +grandiose as it was, reached a sort of realization--for a great French +city near the mouth of the river _was_ built and a thin chain of forts +connecting it with Canada, where the French power remained unbroken for +three quarters of a century longer; while not until the beginning of the +nineteenth century, when the royal line of Louis had been succeeded by a +soldier of fortune from Corsica, did the great territory which La Salle +had named Louisiana pass from French possession. + + * * * * * + +On the nineteenth day of November, 1620, fourteen years after the +settlement of Jamestown and twelve after the settlement of Quebec, a +storm-beaten vessel of 120 tons burthen crept into the lee of Cape Cod +and dropped anchor in that welcome refuge. The vessel was the Mayflower, +and she had just completed the most famous voyage in American history, +after that of Columbus. The colonists she carried, about a hundred in +number, Separatists from the Church of England, have come down through +history as the "Pilgrim Fathers." Among them was one destined to rule +the fortunes of the colony for more than a quarter of a century. His +name was William Bradford, and he was at that time thirty years of age. + +Bradford was born in 1590 at Austerfield, in Yorkshire, England, and at +the age of sixteen, joined a company of Puritans or Separatists, which +met for a time at the little town of Scrooby, but, being threatened with +persecution, resolved to remove to Holland. Most of the congregation got +away without interference, but Bradford and a few others were arrested +and spent several months in prison. As soon as he was released, he +joined the colony in Amsterdam, and afterwards, in 1609, removed with it +to Leyden. But the newcomers found themselves out of sympathy with Dutch +customs and habits of thought, and after long debate, determined to +remove to America and found a colony of their own. A patent was +obtained, the Mayflower chartered, the congregation put aboard, and the +voyage begun on the fifth day of September, 1620. + +The colonists expected to settle somewhere near the mouth of the Hudson, +but, whether by accident or design, their captain brought up off Cape +Cod, and it was decided to land there. After some days' search, a +suitable site for a settlement was found, work was begun on houses and +fortifications, and the place was named New Plymouth. + +Jonathan Carver had been chosen the first governor and guided the colony +through the horrors of that first winter; the story of Jamestown was +repeated, and by the coming of spring, more than half the colonists were +dead. Among them was Carver himself, and William Bradford was at once +chosen to succeed him. There can be no doubt that it was to Bradford's +wise head and strong hand the colony owed its quick rally, and its +escape from the prolonged misery which makes horrible the early history +of Virginia. He seems to have possessed a temper resolute, but +magnanimous and patient to an unusual degree, together with a religion +sincere and devoted, yet neither intolerant nor austere. What results +can be accomplished by a combination of qualities at once so rare and so +admirable is shown by the work which William Bradford did at Plymouth, +over which he ruled almost continuously until his death, thirty-seven +years later. + +Bradford's success lay first in his courage in doing away with the +pernicious system by which all the property was held in common. In doing +this, he violated the rules of his company, but he saw that utter +failure lay the other way. He divided the colony's land among the +several families, in proportion to their number, and compelled each +family to shift for itself. The communal system had nearly wrecked +Jamestown and would have wrecked Plymouth had not Bradford had the +courage to disregard all precedent and make each family its own +provider. Years afterwards, in commenting on the results of this +revolutionary change, he wrote, "Any general want or suffering hath not +been among them since to this day." + +And, indeed, this was true. Under Bradford's guidance, the little colony +increased steadily in wealth and numbers, and became the sure forerunner +of the great Puritan migration of 1630, which founded the colony of +Massachusetts, into which the older colony of Plymouth was finally +absorbed. Of Bradford himself, little more remains to be told. The +establishment of Plymouth Plantation was his life work. He was a far +bigger man than most of his contemporaries, with a broader outlook upon +life and deeper resources within himself. One of these was a literary +culture which fairly sets him apart as the first American man of +letters. He wrote an entertaining history of his colony, as well as a +number of philosophical and theological works, all marked with a style +and finish noteworthy for their day. + + * * * * * + +The government of the colony of Massachusetts presented, for over half a +century, the most perfect union of church and state ever witnessed in +America. The secular arm was ever ready to support the religious, and to +compel every resident of the colony to walk in the strait and narrow way +of Puritanism. This was a task easy enough at first, but growing more +and more difficult as the character of the settlers became more diverse, +until, finally, it had to be abandoned altogether. + +One of the first and most formidable of all those who dared array +themselves against this bulwark of Puritanism was Roger Williams. He was +the son of a merchant tailor of London, had developed into a precocious +boy, had shown a leaning toward Puritan doctrines, and had ended by +out-Puritaning the Puritans. This was principally apparent in an +intolerance of compromise which led him to remarkable extremes. He +refused to conform to the use of the common prayer, and so cut himself +off from all chance of preferment; he renounced a property of some +thousands of pounds rather than take the oath required by law; and at +last was forced to flee the country, reaching Massachusetts in 1631. + +He was, of course, soon at war with the constituted authorities over +questions of doctrine, and at last it was decided to get rid of him by +sending him back to England. He was at Salem at the time, and hearing +that a warrant had been despatched from Boston for him, he promptly took +to the woods, and, making his way with a few followers to Narragansett +Bay, broke ground for a settlement which he named Providence. It was the +beginning of the first state in the world which took no cognizance +whatever of religious belief, so long as it did not interfere with civil +peace. He was soon joined by more adherents, and a few years later, he +obtained from the king a charter for the colony of Rhode Island. + +Almost from the moment of his landing in America, Williams had +interested himself greatly in the welfare of the Indians. The principal +cause of his expulsion from Massachusetts was his contention that the +land belonged to the Indians and not to the King of England, who +therefore had no right to give it away, so that the colony's charter was +invalid. His town of Providence was built on land which the Indians had +given him, and he soon acquired considerable influence among them. He +learned to speak their language with great facility, translated the +Bible into their tongue, and on more than one occasion saved New England +from the horrors of an Indian war. But, despite his lofty character, it +is impossible at this day, to regard Williams with any degree of +sympathy or liking, or to think of him except as a trouble-maker over +trifles. Intolerance, happily, is fading from the world, and with it +that useless scrupulosity of behavior, which accomplishes no good, but +whose principal result is to make uncomfortable all who come in contact +with it. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, just to the south of Rhode Island, a prosperous little +settlement had been established, which was soon to grow into the most +commercially important on the continent. We have seen how Henry Hudson, +in 1609, in a vessel chartered by the Dutch West India Company, entered +the Hudson river and explored it for some hundred and fifty miles. The +Dutch claimed the region as the result of that voyage, and during the +next few years, Dutch traders visited it regularly and did a lively +business in furs; but no attempt was made at colonization until 1624, +although small trading-posts had existed at various points along the +river for ten years previously. + +All of this country was included in the patent granted the Virginia +Company, and it was for the mouth of the Hudson that the Pilgrims had +sailed in the Mayflower. The charge has since been made that their +captain had been bribed by the thrifty Dutch to land them somewhere +else, and at any cost, to keep them away from the neighborhood of the +Dutch trading-posts. From whatever cause, this was certainly done, and +many years were to elapse before there came another English invasion. + +In 1626, Peter Minuit, director for the Dutch West India Company, +purchased Manhattan Island from the Indians, giving for it trinkets and +merchandise to the value of $24, and founding New Amsterdam as the +central trading depot. From the first, the settlement was a cosmopolitan +one, just as it is to-day, and in 1643, it was said that eighteen +languages were spoken there. + +The most notable figure in this prosperous and growing colony was that +of Peter Stuyvesant, an altogether picturesque and gallant personality. +Born in Holland in 1602, he had entered the army at an early age, and, +as governor of Curaįao, lost a leg in battle. In 1646, he was appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, and reached New Amsterdam in the +spring of the following year. So much powder was burned in firing +salutes to welcome him that there was scarcely any left. His speech of +greeting was brief and to the point. + +"I shall govern you," he said, "as a father his children, for the +advantage of the chartered West India Company, and these burghers, and +this land." + +And he proceeded to do it, having in mind the old adage that to spare +the rod is to spoil the child. There was never any doubt in Stuyvesant's +mind that the first business of a ruler is to rule, and popular +government seemed to him the merest idiocy. "A valiant, weather-beaten, +mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited +old governor"--the adjectives describe him well; a sufficiently imposing +figure, with his slashed hose and velvet jacket and tall cane and +silver-banded wooden leg, he ruled the colony for twenty years with a +rod of iron, fortifying it, enlarging it, settling its boundaries, +keeping the Indians over-awed, the veriest dictator this continent ever +saw, until, one August day in 1664, an English fleet sailed up the bay +and summoned the city to surrender. + +Stuyvesant set his men to work repairing the fortifications, and was for +holding out, but the town was really defenseless against the frigates, +which had only to sail up the river and bombard it from either side; his +people were disaffected and to some extent not sorry to be delivered +from his rule; the terms offered by the English were favorable, and +though Stuyvesant swore he never would surrender, a white flag was +finally run up over the ramparts of Fort Amsterdam. The city was at once +renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York, to whom it had been +granted; and the hard-headed old governor spent the remaining years of +his life very comfortably on his great farm, the Bouwerie, just outside +the city limits. + +This conquest, bloodless and easy as it was, was fraught with momentous +consequences. It brought New England into closer relations with Maryland +and Virginia by creating a link between them, binding them together; it +gave England command of the spot designed by nature to be the commercial +and military centre of the Atlantic sea-board, and confirmed a +possession of it that was never thereafter seriously disturbed, until +the colonies themselves disputed it. Had New Amsterdam remained Dutch, +dividing, as it did, New England from the South, there would never have +been any question of revolution or independence. The flash of that +little white flag on that September day, decided the fate of the +continent. + + * * * * * + +The Duke of York, being of a generous disposition and having many claims +upon him, used a portion of the great territory granted him in America +to reward his friends, and thereby laid the foundation for another great +commonwealth with a unique history. New Jersey was given jointly to Sir +George Carteret and Lord Berkeley, and in 1673, Lord Berkeley sold his +share, illy-defined as the "southwestern part," to a Quaker named Edward +Byllinge. Byllinge soon became insolvent, and his property was taken +over by William Penn and two others, as trustees, and the seeds sown for +one of the most interesting experiments in history. + +There are few figures on the page of history more admirable, +self-poised, and clear-sighted than this quiet man. He was born in +London in 1644, the son of a distinguished father, and apparently +destined for the usual career at the court of England. But while at +Oxford, young Penn astonished everybody and scandalized his relatives by +joining the Society of Friends, or Quakers, founded by George Fox only a +short time before. His family at once removed him from Oxford and sent +him to Paris, in the hope that amid the gayeties of the French capital +he would forget his Quaker notions, but he was far from doing so. He +returned home after a time, and his father threatened to shut him up in +the Tower of London, but he retorted that for him the Tower was the +worst argument in the world. We get some amusing glimpses of the +contention in his household. + +"You may 'thee' and 'thou' other folk as much as you like," his angry +father told him, "but don't you dare to 'thee' and 'thou' the King, or +the Duke of York, or me." + +The Quakers insisted upon the use of "thee" and "thou," alleging that +the use of the plural "you" was not only absurd, but a form of flattery, +and this manner of address has been persisted in by them to this day. +Penn, of course, continued to use them, much to his father's +indignation, and even went so far as to wear his hat in the king's +presence, an act of audacity which only amused that merry monarch. The +story goes that the king, seeing young Penn covered, removed his own +hat, remarking jestingly, "Wherever I am, it is customary for only one +to be covered"; a neat reproof, as well as a lesson in manners which +would have made any other young man's ears tingle, but Penn calmly +enough replied, "Keep thy hat on, Friend Charles." + +After his father's death, in 1670, Penn found himself heir to a great +estate, and began to devote himself entirely to the defense and +explanation of Quakerism. Again and again, he was thrown into prison and +kept there for months on end, but gradually he began to win for the +Friends a certain degree of respect and consideration, perhaps as much +because of his high social station, gallant bearing and magnetic +personality, as because of any of his arguments. In 1677, he made a sort +of missionary tour of Europe, returning to England to set actively +afloat the project for Quaker colonization in America which he had long +been turning over in his mind. + +Three years, however, passed before he could secure from the Duke of +York a release of all his powers of sovereignty over West Jersey, but +this was finally accomplished, and soon afterwards he secured from the +crown a charter for a great strip of country in that region. Penn named +this region "Sylvania," or "Woodland," but when the King came to approve +the charter, he wrote the name "Penn" before "Sylvania," and when Penn +protested, assured him laughingly that the name was given the country +not in his honor but in that of his father, and so it stood. + +Penn had been allowed a free hand in shaping the policy of his colony, +and forthwith proclaimed such a government as existed nowhere else on +earth. Absolute freedom of conscience was guaranteed to everyone; it was +declared that governments exist for the sake of the governed, that to +reform a criminal is more important than to punish him, that the death +penalty should be inflicted only for murder or high treason, and that +every man had a right to vote and to hold office. All of which are such +matters of course to-day that we can scarcely realize how revolutionary +they were two centuries ago. + +To all who should come to his colony, Penn offered land at the rate of +forty shillings for a hundred acres, and the experiment, denounced at +first as visionary and certain of failure, was so successful that within +a year, more than three thousand persons had sailed to settle along the +Delaware. In the summer of 1682, Penn himself sailed for the New World, +and late in the following autumn, at a spot just above the junction of +the Schuylkill and Delaware, laid out a city as square and level as a +checker-board, and named it Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. +Before taking possession of the land, he concluded a treaty with the +Delaware Indians, to whom it belonged, "the only treaty," as Voltaire +says, "between savages and Christians that was never sworn to and never +broken." Penn's stately and distinguished bearing, his affability and +kindness of heart, made a deep impression upon the Indians; they always +remembered him with trust and affection; and seventy years elapsed +before Pennsylvania tasted the horrors of Indian warfare. + +The growth of the new city was phenomenal. Settlers came so fast that +cabins could not be built for them, and many of them lived for a time in +caves along the river. The remainder of Penn's life was spent for the +most part in England, where his interests demanded his presence, but he +built a handsome residence in the city which he had founded and lived +there at intervals until his death. + +No consideration, however brief, of his life and work can be complete +without some reference to the remarkable effect the establishment of his +colony had on emigration to America. Pennsylvania gave a refuge and home +to the most intelligent and progressive peoples of Europe, chafing under +the religious restrictions which, at home, they could not escape. The +Mennonites, the Dunkers, and the Palatines were among these, but by far +the most important were the so-called Scotch-Irish--Scotchmen who, a +century before, had been sent to Ireland by the English government, in +the hope of establishing there a Protestant population which would, in +time, come to outnumber and control the native Irish. The Scotch were +Presbyterians, of course, and finding the Irish environment distasteful, +began, about 1720, to come to America in such numbers that, fifty years +later, they formed a sixth part of our entire population. Nearly all of +them settled in Western Pennsylvania, from which a steady stream flowed +ever southward and westward, furnishing the hardy pioneers of Kentucky +and Tennessee, and forming the main strength of American democracy. We +shall see, in the chapters which follow, how many of the men eminent in +the country's history, traced their descent from this stock. + + * * * * * + +One more interesting experiment in colonization, conceived and carried +out by a man of unusual personality, remains to be recorded. James +Oglethorpe, born in 1689, for forty years led the usual life of the +wealthy English gentleman--first the army, then a period of quiet +country life, and finally parliament. There, however, he took a place +apart, almost at once, by his interest in prison reform. The condition +of the English prisons of the day was indescribably foul and loathsome, +and as horror after horror was unearthed by his investigations, a great +project began to take shape in his mind. This was nothing less than the +founding in America of a colony where prisoners for debt should be +encouraged to settle, and where they should be given means to make a new +start in life. For in those days, a man who could not pay his debts was +cast into prison and kept there, frequently in the greatest misery, as +though that helped matters any. + +In 1732, Oglethorpe succeeded in securing a charter for such a colony, +which he named Georgia, in honor of the King. Trustees were appointed, +the support of influential men secured, and on November 16, 1732, the +first shipload of emigrants left England. Oglethorpe himself accompanied +them. He had undertaken to establish the colony on the condition that he +receive no recompense, and was authorized to act as colonial governor. + +Charleston, South Carolina, was reached about the middle of January, +and, after some exploration, Oglethorpe selected as the site of the +first settlement a bluff on the rich delta lands of the Savannah. +Thither the emigrants proceeded, and at once began to build the town, +which was named Savannah after the river flowing at its feet. Oglethorpe +himself was indefatigable. He concluded a treaty with the Indians, +provided for the defense of the colony against the Spaniards, who held +Florida, and, most important of all, welcomed a colony of Jews, who had +come from London at their own expense, and who soon became as valuable +as any of Savannah's citizens. Probably never before in history had a +Christian community welcomed a party of this unfortunate race, which had +been despised and persecuted from one end of Europe to the other, which +could call no country home, nor invoke the protection of any government. + +A year later, another strange band of pilgrims was welcomed--Protestants +driven out of the Tyrolese valleys of Austria. A ship had been sent for +them, and Oglethorpe gave them permission to select a home in any part +of the province, and sent his carpenters to assist them in building +their houses. Georgia owes much of her greatness to these sturdy people, +whose love of independence was to find another vent in the Revolution. + +As soon as these new arrivals were comfortably settled and provided for, +Oglethorpe proceeded to London, where he secured the passage of laws +prohibiting slavery and the importation of liquor into the colony, and +not until his connection with it ended were slaves brought in. When he +returned to Georgia, it was with two vessels, and over three hundred +colonists--Scotchmen, Salzburgers and Moravians, the sturdiest people of +the Old World. Oglethorpe welcomed them all, and it was this mixture of +races which served to give Georgia her curious cosmopolitan population. +Another important arrival was Charles Wesley, who came out as a +missionary, and who acted for a time as the Governor's secretary. He was +succeeded by the famous George Whitfield, who labored there until his +death in 1770. + +Oglethorpe's public career ended in 1754, when, having returned to +England, he failed of election to parliament. His remaining years were +spent in retirement. That he was an extraordinary man cannot be +gainsaid, and the plan, so far in advance of his age, which he conceived +and carried through to success, forms one of the most interesting +experiments in colonization ever attempted anywhere. + + * * * * * + +This, then, is the story in briefest outline of the men who discovered +America and who fought for a foothold on her borders. Most of them, it +will be noted, undertook the struggle not for commercial ends nor from +the love of adventure, but in order to establish for themselves a home +where they would be free in matters of the spirit. The traces of that +purpose may be found on almost every page of American history and do +much to render it the inspiring thing it is. We shall see how many of +the great men who loom large in these pages traced their descent from +those hardy pioneers for whom no sacrifice seemed too great provided it +secured for them + + "Freedom to worship God." + + + + +SUMMARY + + +COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. Born at Genoa, Italy, probably in 1446; removed +to Portugal about 1473; laid plan to reach the Indies before John II. +of Portugal, 1484; appeared at court of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1485; +Spanish monarchs agreed to his demands, April 17, 1492; sailed from +Palos, August 3, 1492; discovered West Indies, October 12, 1492; +returned to Palos, March 15, 1493; embarked on second voyage with 17 +vessels and 1,500 men, September 25, 1493; discovered Dominica, Porto +Rico, Jamaica, and returned to Spain, March, 1496; started on third +voyage, May 30, 1498; discovered Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco; +recalled to Santo Domingo by disorders and finally arrested and sent +back to Spain in chains, October, 1500; released and started on fourth +voyage in March, 1502; discovered Honduras, but was wrecked on Jamaica, +and reached Spain again after terrible sufferings, November 7, 1504; +passed his remaining days in poverty and died at Valladolid, May 20, +1506. + +CABOT, JOHN. Born at Genoa, date unknown; became citizen of Venice, +1476; removed to Bristol, England, and in 1495 secured from Henry VII. a +patent for the discovery, at his own expense, of unknown lands in the +eastern, western, or northern seas; sailed from Bristol, May, 1497; +discovered coast of Newfoundland and returned to England in August, +1497; date of death unknown. + +CABOT, SEBASTIAN. Son of John Cabot, born probably at Venice, 1477; +accompanied his father's expedition, 1497; commanded an English +expedition in search of a northwest passage, 1517; removed to Spain and +made grand pilot of Castile, 1518; sailed in command of a Spanish +expedition, April 3, 1526; skirted coast of South America, discovered +the Uruguay and Parana, and reached Spain again in 1530; returned to +England, 1546; died at London, 1557. + +VESPUCCI, AMERIGO. Born at Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451; removed to +Spain, 1495; claimed to have accompanied four expeditions as astronomer +in 1497, 1499, 1501 and 1503, during which some explorations were made +of the coasts of both North and South America; died at Seville, February +22, 1512. + +PONCE DE LEON, JUAN. Born in Aragon about 1460; accompanied the second +voyage of Columbus, 1493; conquered Porto Rico and appointed governor, +1510; heard story from Indians of an island to the north named Bimini, +on which was a fountain giving eternal youth to all who drank of its +waters, and sailed in search of it, March, 1513; discovered the mainland +and landed on April 8, Pascua Florida, or Easter Sunday, taking +possession of the country for the King of Spain and calling it Florida, +in honor of the day; returned to Porto Rico, September, 1513; sailed +with a large number of colonists to settle Florida, March, 1521; +attacked by Indians and forced to retreat, he himself being wounded by +an Indian arrow and dying from the effects of the wound a short time +later. + +MAGALHÃES, FERNÃO DE; generally known as Ferdinand Magellan. Born in +Portugal about 1480; sailed from Spain to find a western passage to the +Moluccas, September 20, 1519; reached the Brazilian coast, explored Rio +de la Plata, wintered on Patagonian coast, passed through Strait of +Magellan and reached the Pacific, November 28, 1520; crossed the Pacific +and discovered the Philippines, March 16, 1521; killed in a fight with +the natives, April 27, 1521. + +DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS. Born in Devonshire, England, about 1540; fitted out +a freebooting expedition and attacked the Spanish settlements in the +West Indies, 1572, capturing Porto Bello, Cartagena, and other towns and +taking an immense treasure; sailed again from England, December, 1577, +circumnavigating the globe and reaching home again September, 1580, +where he was met by Queen Elizabeth and knighted on his ship; ravaged +the West Indies and Spanish Main, 1585, and the coast of Spain, 1587; +commanded a division of the fleet defeating the Spanish Armada, July, +1588; died off Porto Bello, 1596. + +SOTO, HERNANDO DE. Born in Spain, 1500; took prominent part in conquest +of Peru, 1532-1536; appointed governor of Porto Rico and Florida, 1537; +landed at Tampa Bay, May 25, 1539; discovered the Mississippi, May, +1541; died of malarial fever and buried in the Mississippi, June, 1542. + +CORONADO, FRANCISCO VASQUEZ DE. Born at Salamanca about 1500; reached +Mexico in 1539, and in 1540, headed an expedition in search of Cibola +and the Seven Cities supposed to have been founded seven centuries +before by some Spanish bishops fleeing from the Moors; penetrated to +what is now New Mexico and perhaps to Kansas, reaching Mexico again with +only a remnant of his force; date of death unknown. + +CARTIER, JACQUES. Born at St. Malo, France, December 31, 1494; made +three voyages to Canada, 1534-1542; exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +and sailing up the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal; died after 1552. + +HUDSON, HENRY. Date and place of birth unknown; sailed in service of +Dutch East India Company to find a northwest passage, March 25, 1609; +sighted Nova Scotia and explored coast as far south as Chesapeake Bay; +explored Hudson river, September, 1609; sailed again to find a northwest +passage, 1610; entered Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, where he wintered; +set adrift in open boat, with eight companions, by mutinous crew, June +23, 1611; never seen again. + +SMITH, CAPTAIN JOHN. Born in Lincolnshire, England, in January, 1579; +served in Netherlands and against Turks, sailed for Virginia with +Christopher Newport, December 19, 1606; chosen president of colony, +September 10, 1608; returned to London in autumn of 1609; explored New +England coast, 1614; created admiral of New England, 1617; spent +remainder of life in vain endeavor to secure financial support for a +colony in New England; died at London, June 21, 1632. + +CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE. Born at Brouage, France, 1567; explored Canada and +New England, 1603-1607; founded Quebec, 1608; discovered Lake Champlain, +1609; died at Quebec, December 25, 1635. + +NICOLET, JEAN. Place and date of both birth and death unknown. + +LA SALLE, ROBERT CAVALIER, SIEUR DE. Born at Rouen, November 22, 1643; +came to Canada, 1666; set out on tour of western exploration, +discovering Ohio river, 1669; descended the Mississippi to its mouth, +1681; led a band of colonists from France, 1685; missed mouth of river, +and murdered by his own men while seeking it, March 20, 1687. + +JOLIET, LOUIS. Born at Quebec, September 21, 1645; commissioned to +explore Mississippi river, by Frontenac, governor of New France, 1672; +explored Fox, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Illinois rivers, 1673; died +May, 1700. + +MARQUETTE, JACQUES. Born at Laon, France, 1637; accompanied Joliet in +1673; died near Lake Michigan, May 18, 1675. + +BRADFORD, WILLIAM. Born at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, 1590; +governor of Plymouth colony, 1621-1657 (except in 1633-1634, 1636, 1638, +1644); died at Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 9, 1657. + +WILLIAMS, ROGER. Born in Wales about 1600; reached Massachusetts, 1631; +pastor at Plymouth and Salem, 1631-1635; ordered to leave colony and +fled from Salem, January, 1636; founded Providence, June, 1636; went to +England and obtained charter for Rhode Island colony, 1644; president of +colony until death, April, 1684. + +STUYVESANT, PETER. Born in Holland, 1602; served in West Indies, for a +time governor of Curaįao, and returned to Holland in 1644; appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, 1646; reached New Amsterdam, 1647; +surrendered colony to the English, September, 1664; died at New York, +August, 1682. + +PENN, WILLIAM. Born at London, October 14, 1644; became preacher of +Friends, 1668; part proprietor of West Jersey, 1675; received grant of +Pennsylvania, 1681; founded Philadelphia, 1682; returned to England, +1684; deprived of government of colony on charge of treason, 1692, but +restored to it in 1694; visited Pennsylvania, 1699-1701; died at +Ruscombe, Berks, England, July 30, 1718. + +OGLETHORPE, JAMES EDWARD. Born at London, December 21, 1696; projected +colony of Georgia for insolvent debtors and persecuted Protestants, and +conducted expedition for its settlement, 1733; returned to England, +1743; died at Cranham Hall, Essex, England, 1785. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN + + +Near the left bank of the Potomac river, in the northwestern +part of Westmoreland county, Virginia, there stood, in the year 1732, a +little cabin, where lived a planter by the name of Augustine Washington. +It was a lonely spot, for the nearest neighbor was miles away, but the +little family, consisting of father, mother, and two boys, Lawrence and +Augustine, were kept busy enough wresting a living from the soil. Here, +on the twenty-second day of February, a third son was born, and in due +time christened George. + +Just a century had elapsed since John Smith had died in London, but in +that time the colony which he had founded and which had been more than +once so near extinction, had grown to be the greatest in America. Half a +million people were settled along her bays and rivers, engaged, for the +most part, in the culture of tobacco, for which the colony had long been +famous and which was the basis of her wealth. Her boundaries were still +indefinite, for though, by, the king's charter, the colony was supposed +to stretch clear across the continent to the Pacific, the country beyond +the Blue Ridge mountains was still a wilderness where the Indian and the +wild beast held undisputed sway. Even in Virginia proper, there were few +towns and no cities, Williamsburg, the capital, having less than two +hundred houses; but each planter lived on his own estate, very much +after the fashion of the feudal lords of the Middle Ages, generous, +hospitable, and kind-hearted, fond of the creature-comforts, proud of +his women and of his horses, and satisfied with himself. + +It was into this world that George Washington was born. While he was +still a baby, his father moved to a place he purchased on the banks of +the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, and here the boy's childhood +was spent. His father died when he was only eleven years old, but his +mother was a vigorous and capable woman, from whom her son inherited not +a little of his sturdy character. He developed into a tall, strong, +athletic youth, and many stories are told of his prowess. He could jump +twenty feet; on one occasion he threw a stone across the Rappahannock, +and on another, standing beneath the famous Natural Bridge, threw a +stone against its great arch, two hundred feet above his head. He grew +to be over six feet in height and finely proportioned--altogether a +handsome and capable fellow, who soon commanded respect. + +At that time, surveying was a very important occupation, since so much +of the colony remained to be laid out, and George began to study to be a +surveyor, an occupation which appealed to him especially because it was +of the open air. He was soon to get a very important commission. + +When Augustine Washington died, he bequeathed to his elder son, +Lawrence, an estate on the Potomac called Hunting Creek. Near by lay the +magnificent estate of Belvoir, owned by the wealthy William Fairfax, and +Lawrence Washington had the good fortune to win the heart and hand of +Fairfax's daughter. With the money his bride brought him, he was able to +build for himself a very handsome dwelling on his estate, whose name he +changed to Mount Vernon, in honor of the English admiral with whom he +had seen some service. George, of course, was a frequent visitor at +Belvoir, meeting other members of the Fairfax family, among them Thomas, +sixth Lord Fairfax, who finally engaged him to survey a great estate +which had been granted him by the king on the slope of the Blue Ridge +mountains. + +George Washington was only sixteen years of age when he started out on +this errand into what was then the wilderness. It was a tremendous task +which he had undertaken, for the estate comprised nearly a fifth of the +present state, but he did it so well that, on Lord Fairfax's +recommendation, he was at once appointed a public surveyor, and may +fairly be said to have commenced his public career. His brother soon +afterwards secured for him the appointment as adjutant-general for the +district in which he lived, so that it became his duty to attend to the +organization and equipment of the district militia. This was the +beginning of his military service and of his study of military +science. He was at that time eighteen years of age. + +That was the end of his boyhood. You will notice that I have said +nothing about his being a marvel of goodness or of wisdom--nothing, for +instance, about a cherry tree. That fable, and a hundred others like it, +were the invention of a man who wrote a life of Washington half a +century after his death, and who managed so to enwrap him with +disguises, that it is only recently we have been able to strip them all +away and see the man as he really was. Washington's boyhood was much +like any other. He was a strong, vigorous, manly fellow; he got into +scrapes, just as any healthy boy does; he grew up straight and handsome, +ready to play his part in the world, and he was called upon to play it +much earlier than most boys are. We shall see what account he gave of +himself. + +When George was twenty years old, his brother Lawrence died and made him +his executor. From that time forward, Mount Vernon was his home, and in +the end passed into his possession. But he was not long to enjoy the +pleasant life there, for a year later, he was called upon to perform an +important and hazardous mission. + +We have seen how La Salle dreamed of a great French empire, stretching +from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi. This was already +becoming a reality, for the governor of Canada had sent troops to occupy +the Ohio valley, and to build such forts as might be needed to hold it. +This was bringing the French altogether too close for comfort. +As long as they were content to remain in the Illinois country, nothing +much was thought of it, for that was far away; but here they were now +right at Virginia's back door, and there was no telling when they would +try to force it open and enter. So Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, +determined to dispatch a commissioner to the officer-in-command of the +French, to summon him to leave English territory. The commissioner was +also to try to kill two birds with one stone and form an alliance with +the Indians, so that, if it came to fighting, the Indians would be with +the English. No more delicate and dangerous mission could well be +conceived, and after careful consideration, the governor selected George +Washington to undertake it. + +On October 30, 1753, Washington left Williamsburg, with a journey of +more than a thousand miles before him. How that journey was +accomplished, what perils he faced, what difficulties he overcame, how, +on more than one occasion his life hung by a thread--all this he has +told, briefly and modestly, in the journal which he kept of the +expedition. Three months from the time he started, he was back again in +Williamsburg, having faced his first great responsibility, and done his +work absolutely well. He had shown a cool courage that nothing could +shake, a fine patience, and a penetration and perception which nothing +could escape. He was the hero of the hour in the little Virginia +capital; the whole colony perceived that here was a man to be depended +upon. + +He had found the French very active along the Ohio, preparing +to build forts and hold the country, and laughing at Dinwiddie's summons +to vacate it. This news caused Virginia to put a military force in the +field at once, and dispatch it to the west, with Washington in virtual +command. It was hoped to build a strong fort at the junction of the +Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which would prevent the French getting +to the Ohio, since all travel in that wilderness must be by water. On +May 28, 1754, while hastening forward to secure this position, +Washington's little force encountered a party of French, and the first +shots were exchanged of the great contest which, twelve years later, was +to result in the expulsion of the French from the continent. It was +Washington who gave the word to fire, little foreseeing what history he +was making. + +"I heard the bullets whistle," he wrote home to his mother, "and believe +me, there is something charming in the sound"--a bit of bravado which +shows that Washington had not yet quite outgrown his boyhood. No doubt +the bullets sounded much less charmingly five weeks later when he and +his men, brought to bay in a rude fortification which he named Fort +Necessity, were surrounded by a superior force of French and Indians, +and, after an all-day fight, compelled to surrender. It is worth +remarking that this bitter defeat--the first reverse which Washington +suffered--occurred on the third day of July, 1754. Twenty-one years from +that day, he was to draw his sword at the head of an American army. + +Washington made his way back to Virginia with the news of his +failure. The French had occupied the vantage ground he was aiming at and +at once proceeded to erect a fort there, which they named Duquesne. Aid +was asked from England to repel these invaders, and early in 1755, a +great force under Major-General Edward Braddock advanced against the +enemy. Washington served as aide-de-camp to the general, whose ideas of +warfare had been gained on the battlefields of Europe, and who could not +understand that these ideas did not apply to warfare in a wilderness. In +consequence, when only a few miles from the fort, he was attacked by a +force of French and Indians, his army all but annihilated and he himself +wounded so severely that he died a few days later. During that fierce +battle, Washington seemed to bear a charmed life. Four bullets tore +through his coat and two horses were shot under him, but he received not +a scratch, and did effective work in rallying the Virginia militia to +cover the retreat. Three years later, he had the satisfaction of +marching into Fort Duquesne with an English force, which banished the +French for all time from the valley of the Ohio. + +That victory ended the war for a time, and Washington returned to +Virginia to marry a charming and wealthy widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, and +to take the seat in the House of Burgesses to which he had just been +elected. He served there for fifteen years, living the life of the +typical Virginia planter on his estate of Mount Vernon, which had passed +into his possession through the death of his brother's only +child. He had become one of the most important men of the colony, whose +opinion was respected and whose influence was very great. + +During all this period, the feeling against England was growing more and +more bitter. Let us be candid about it. The expulsion of the French from +the continent had freed the colonies from the danger of French +aggression and from the feeling that they needed the aid of the mother +country. That they should have been taxed to help defray the great +expense of this war against the French seems reasonable enough, but +there happened to be in power in England, at the time, a few obstinate +and bull-headed statesmen, serving under an obstinate and ignorant king, +and they handled the question of taxation with so little tact and +delicacy that, among them, they managed to rouse the anger of the +colonies to the boiling point. + +For the colonists, let us remember, were of the same obstinate and +bull-headed stock, and it was soon evident that the only way to settle +the difference was to fight it out. But the impartial historian must +write it down that the colonies had much more to thank England for than +to complain about, and that at first, the idea of a war for independence +was not a popular one. As it went on, and the Tories were run out of the +country or won over, as battle and bloodshed aroused men's passions, +then it gradually gained ground; but throughout, the members of the +Continental Congress, led by John and Samuel Adams, were ahead +of public opinion. + +As we have said, it soon became apparent that there was going to be a +fight, and independent companies were formed all over Virginia, and +started industriously to drilling. Washington, by this time the most +conspicuous man in the colony, was chosen commander-in-chief; and when, +at the gathering of the second Continental Congress at Philadelphia, +came news of the fight at Lexington and Concord, the army before Boston +was formally adopted by the Congress as an American army, and Washington +was unanimously chosen to command it. I wonder if any one foresaw that +day, even in the dimmest fashion, what immortality of fame was to come +to that tall, quiet, dignified man? + +That was on the 15th day of June, 1775, and Washington left immediately +for Boston to take command of the American forces. All along the route, +the people turned out to welcome him and bid him Godspeed. Delegations +escorted him from one town to the next, and at last, on the afternoon of +July 2d, he rode into Cambridge, where, the next day, in the shadow of a +great elm on Cambridge Common, he took command of his army, and began +the six years' struggle which resulted in the establishment of the +independence of the United States of America. + +His first task was to drive the British from Boston, and he had +accomplished it by the following March. Then came a long period of +reverses and disappointments, during which his little army, +outnumbered, but not outgeneraled, was driven from Long +Island, from New York, and finally across New Jersey, taking refuge on +the south bank of the Delaware. There he gathered it together, and on +Christmas night, 1776, while the enemy were feasting and celebrating in +their quarters at Trenton, he ferried his army back across the +ice-blocked river, fell upon the British, administered a stinging +defeat, and never paused until he had driven them from New Jersey. That +brilliant campaign effectually stifled the opposition which he had had +to fight in the Congress, and resulted in his being given full power +over the army, and over all parts of the country which the army +occupied. + +One more terrible ordeal awaited him--the winter of 1777-1778 spent at +Valley Forge, where the army, without the merest necessities of life, +melted away from desertion and disease, until, at one time, it consisted +of less than two thousand effective men. The next spring saw the +turning-point, for France allied herself with the United States; the +British were forced to evacuate Philadelphia and were driven back across +New Jersey to New York; and, finally, by one of the most brilliant +marches in history, Washington transferred his whole army from the +Hudson to the Potomac, and trapped Cornwallis and his army of seven +thousand men at Yorktown. Cornwallis tried desperately to free himself, +but to no avail, and on October 19, 1781, he surrendered his entire +force. + +There is a pretty legend that, as Cornwallis delivered up his sword, a +cheer started through the American lines, but that Washington +stilled it on the instant, remarking, "Let posterity cheer for us." +Whether the legend be true or not, posterity _has_ cheered, for that +brilliant victory really ended the war, although two years passed before +peace was declared and the independence of the United States +acknowledged by the King of England. + +Long before this, everybody knew what the end would be, and there was +much discussion as to how the new country should be governed. A great +many people were dissatisfied with the Congress, and it was suggested to +Washington that there would be a more stable government if he would +consent himself to be King or Dictator, or whatever title he might wish, +and that the army, which had won the independence of the country, would +support him. Washington's response was prompt and decisive. + +"Let me conjure you," he wrote, "if you have any regard for your +country, concern for yourself, or respect for me, to banish these +thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any +one else, a sentiment of like nature." + +It was perhaps the first time in the history of the world that men had +witnessed the like. Soon afterwards, the army was disbanded, and +Washington, proceeding to Annapolis, where the Congress was in session, +resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. There are some who +consider that the greatest scene in history--the hero sheathing his +sword "after a life of spotless honor, a purity unreproached, a courage +indomitable, and a consummate victory." + +A private citizen again, Washington returned quietly to his +estate at Mount Vernon. But he could not remain there--the country +needed him too badly, and his great work was yet to do. For let us +remember that his great work was not the leading of the American army to +victory, not the securing of independence, but the establishment of this +Republic. More than of any other man was this the work of Washington. He +saw the feeble Confederation breaking to pieces, now that the stress of +danger was removed; he beheld the warring interests and petty jealousies +of statesmen who yet remained colonial; but he was determined that out +of these thirteen jarring colonies should come a nation; and when the +convention to form a constitution met at Philadelphia, he presided over +it, and it was his commanding will which brought a constitution out of a +turmoil of selfish interests, through difficulties and past obstacles +which would have discouraged any other man. + +And, the Constitution once adopted, all men turned to Washington to +start the new Nation on her great voyage. Remember, there was no +government, only some written pages saying that a government was to be; +it was Washington who converted that idea into a reality, who brought +that government into existence. It was a venture new to history; a +Republic founded upon principles which, however admirable in the +abstract, had been declared impossible to embody in the life of a +nation. And yet, eight years later, when Washington retired from the +presidency, he left behind him an effective government, with an +established revenue, a high credit, a strong judiciary, a vigorous +foreign policy, and an army which had repressed insurrections, and which +already showed the beginnings of a truly national spirit. + +At the end of his second term as President, the country demanded that he +accept a third; the country, without Washington at the head of it, +seemed to many people like a ship on a dangerous sea without a pilot. +But he had guided her past the greatest dangers, and he refused a third +term, setting a precedent which no man in the country's history has been +strong enough to disregard. In March, 1797, he was back again at Mount +Vernon, a private citizen. + +He looked forward to and hoped for long years of quiet, but it was not +to be. On December 12, 1799, he was caught by a rain and sleet storm, +while riding over his farm, and returned to the house chilled through. +An illness followed, which developed into pneumonia, and three days +later he was dead. + +He was buried at Mount Vernon, which has become one of the great shrines +of America, and rightly so. For no man, at once so august and so +lovable, has graced American history. Indeed, he stands among the +greatest men of all history. There are few men with such a record of +achievement, and fewer still who, at the end of a life so crowded and +cast in such troubled places, can show a fame so free from spot, a +character so unselfish and so pure. + +We know Washington to-day as well as it is possible to know any man. We +know him far better than the people of his own household knew +him. Behind the silent and reserved man, of courteous and serious +manner, which his world knew, we perceive the great nature, the warm +heart and the mighty will. We have his letters, his journals, his +account-books, and there remains no corner of his life hidden from us. +There is none that needs to be. Think what that means--not a single +corner of his life that needs to be shadowed or passed over in silence! +And the more we study it, the more we are impressed by it, and the +greater grows our love and veneration for the man of whom were uttered +the immortal words, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the +hearts of his countrymen"--words whose truth grows more apparent with +every passing year. + + * * * * * + +It is one of the maxims of history that great events produce great men, +and the struggle for independence abundantly proved this. Never again in +the country's history did it possess such a group of statesmen as during +its first years, the only other period at all comparable with it being +that which culminated in the Civil War. It was inevitable that these men +should assume the guidance of the newly-launched ship of state, and +Washington had, in every way possible, availed himself of their +assistance. Alexander Hamilton had been his secretary of the treasury, +Thomas Jefferson his secretary of state, and James Monroe his minister +to France. The first man to succeed him in the presidency, however, was +none of these, but John Adams of Massachusetts. His election +was not uncontested, as Washington's had been; in fact, he was elected +by a majority of only three, Jefferson receiving 68 electoral votes to +his 71. + +Let us pause for a moment to see how this contest originated, for it was +the beginning of the party government which has endured to the present +day, and which is considered by many people to be essential to the +administration of the Republic. When Washington was elected there were, +strictly speaking, no parties; but there was a body of men who had +favored the adoption of the Constitution, and another, scarcely less +influential, who had opposed it. The former were called Federals, as +favoring a federation of the several states, and the latter were called +Anti-Federals, as opposing it. + +One point of difference always leads to others, wider and wider apart, +as the rain-drop, shattered on the summit of the Great Divide, flows one +half to the Atlantic the other half to the Pacific. So, after the +adoption of the Constitution, there was never any serious question of +abrogating it, but two views arose as to its interpretation. The +Federals, in their endeavor to strengthen the national government, +favored the liberal view, which was that anything the Constitution did +not expressly forbid was permitted; while the Anti-Federals, anxious to +preserve all the power possible to the several states, favored the +strict view, which was that unless the Constitution expressly permitted +a thing, it could not be done. As there were many, many points upon +which the Constitution was silent--its framers being mere human beings +and not all-wise intelligences--it will be seen that these +interpretations were as different as black and white. It was this +divergence, combined with another as to whether, in joining the Union, +the several states had surrendered their sovereignty, which has +persisted as the fundamental difference between the Republican and +Democratic parties to the present day. + +Adams was a Federalist, and his choice as the candidate of that party +was due to the fact that Hamilton, its leader, was too unpopular with +the people at large to stand any chance of election, more especially +against such a man as Jefferson, who would be his opponent. With +Hamilton out of the way, the place plainly belonged to Adams by right of +succession, and he was nominated. He was aided by the fact that he had +served as Vice-President during both of Washington's administrations, +and it was felt that he would be much more likely to carry out the +policies of his distinguished predecessor than Jefferson, who had been +opposed to Washington on many public questions. Even at that, as has +been said, he won by a majority of only three votes. + +In a general way Adams did continue Washington's policies, even +retaining his cabinet. But, while his attitude on national questions +was, in the main, a wise one, he was so unwise and undignified in minor +things, so consumed by petty jealousies, envies and contentions, that he +made enemies instead of friends, and when, four years later, he was +again the Federal candidate, he was easily beaten by Jefferson, and +retired from the White House a soured and disappointed man, +fleeing from the capital by night in order that he might not have to +witness the inauguration of his successor. To such depths had he been +brought by colossal egotism. In his earlier years, he had done +distinguished service as a member of the Continental Congress, but his +prestige never recovered from the effect of his conduct during his term +as President, and his last years were passed in retirement. By a +singular coincidence, he and Jefferson died upon the same day, July 4, +1826. + +Thomas Jefferson, whose influence is perhaps more generally acknowledged +in the life of the Republic of to-day than that of any other man of his +time, and whose name, Washington's apart, is oftenest on men's lips, was +born in Virginia in 1743, graduated from William and Mary College, +studied law, and took a prominent part in the agitation preceding the +Revolution. Early in his life, owing to various influences, he began +forming those ideas of simplicity and equality which had such an +influence over his later life, and over the great party of which he was +the founder. His temperament was what we call "artistic"; that is, he +loved books and music and architecture, and the things which make for +what we call culture. And yet, with all that, he soon grew wise and +skillful in the world's affairs, possessing an industry and insight +which assured his speedy success as a lawyer, despite an impediment of +speech which prevented him from being an effective orator. + +He had the good fortune to marry happily, finding a comrade and +helpmate, as well as a wife, in beautiful Martha Skelton, with +whom he rode away to his estate at Monticello when he was twenty-seven. +She saw him write the Declaration of Independence, saw him war-governor +of Virginia, and second only to Washington in the respect and affection +of the people of that great commonwealth; and then she died. The shock +of her death left Jefferson a stricken man; he secluded himself from the +public, and declared that his life was at an end. + +Washington, however, eight years later, persuaded him to accept a place +in his cabinet as secretary of state. Within a year he had definitely +taken his place as the head of the Anti-Federalist, or Republican party, +and laid the foundations of what afterwards became known as the +Democratic party. His trust in the people had grown and deepened, his +heart had grown more tender with the coming of affliction, and it was +his theory that in a democracy, the people should control public policy +by imposing their wishes upon their rulers, who were answerable to +them--a theory which is now accepted, in appearance, at least, by all +political parties, but which the Federalist leaders of that time +thoroughly detested. Jefferson seems to have felt, too, that the +tendency of those early years was too greatly toward an aristocracy, +which the landed gentry of Virginia were only too willing to provide, +and when, at last, he was chosen for the presidency, he set the country +such an example of simplicity and moderation that there was never again +any chance of its running into that danger. + +Everyone has read the story of how, on the day of his +inauguration, he rode on horseback to the capitol, clad in studiously +plain clothes and without attendants, tied his horse to the fence, and +walked unannounced into the Senate chamber. This careful avoidance of +display marked his whole official career, running sometimes, indeed, +into an ostentation of simplicity whose good taste might be questioned. +But of Jefferson's entire sincerity there can be no doubt. Inconsistent +as he sometimes was--as every man is--his purposes and policies all +tended steadily toward the betterment of humanity; and the great mass of +the people who to this day revere his memory, "pay a just debt of +gratitude to a friend who not only served them, as many have done, but +who honored and respected them, as very few have done." + +Perhaps the greatest single act of his administration was the purchase +from France of the vast territory known as Louisiana, which included the +state now bearing that name, and the wide, untrodden, wilderness west of +the Mississippi, paying for it the sum of fifteen million dollars--a +rate of a fraction of a cent an acre. The purchase aroused the bitterest +opposition, but Jefferson seems to have had a clearer vision than most +men of what the future of America was to be. He served for two terms, +refusing a third nomination which he was besought to accept, and +retiring to private life on March 4, 1809, after a nearly continuous +public service of forty-four years. The remainder of his life was spent +quietly at his home at Monticello, where men flocked for a +guidance which never failed them. The cause to which his last years were +devoted was characteristic of the man--the establishment of a common +school system in Virginia, and the founding of the University of +Virginia, which still bears the imprint of his mind. + +[Illustration: JEFFERSON] + +Jefferson is one of the few men whose portrait, as preserved for us, +shows us the man as we imagine him to be. No one can look at that lofty +and noble countenance, with its calm and wide-set eyes, its firm yet +tender mouth, its expression of complete serenity, without realizing +that here was a man placed above the weakness and pettiness and meanness +of the world, on a pinnacle of his own, strong in spirit, wise in +judgment, and almost prophetic in vision. + +The presidency descended, by an overwhelming majority, to one of +Jefferson's stanch friends and supporters, for whom he had paved the +way--James Madison, also a Virginian, who had been his secretary of +state for eight years, and who was himself to serve two terms, during +which the influence of the "Sage of Monticello" was paramount. The great +crisis which Madison had to face was the second war with England, a war +brought on by British aggression on the high seas, and bitterly opposed, +especially in New England. The war, characterized by blunders on land +and brilliant successes on the ocean, really resulted without victory to +either side, and, indeed, was very nearly a defeat for America; but in +the end, it enabled us to regain possession of the posts which +England had persisted in occupying along the western boundary, and +banished forever any fear that she might, at any time in the future, +attempt to reassert her sovereignty over the United States. + +Madison was also fortunate in his wife, the beautiful and brilliant +Dolly Payne Todd, who played so prominent a part in the social life of +the time, and who, when the British were marching into Washington to +sack that city, managed to save some of the treasures of the White House +from the invaders. It is difficult for us to realize, at this distant +day, that our beautiful capital was once in the enemy's hands, given +over to the flames; that was one of the great disgraces of the War of +1812; for the only force which rallied to the defense of the city was a +few regiments of untrained militia, which could not stand for a minute +before the British regulars, but ran away at the first fire. + +Madison and his wife, however, soon came back to the White House from +which they had been driven, and remained there four years longer, until +the close of his second term, in 1817. For nearly a score of years +thereafter, they lived a happy and tranquil life on their estate, +Montpelier. + +It is somewhat difficult to estimate Madison. He stood on a sort of +middle ground between Jefferson and Hamilton. Earlier in his career, +Hamilton influenced him deeply in regard to the adoption of the +Constitution, of which he has been called the father. But, at a later +date, Jefferson's influence became uppermost, and Madison +swung over to the extreme of the state rights view, and drew the +resolutions of the Virginia legislature declaring the Alien and Sedition +laws "utterly null and void and of no effect," so that he has also been +called the "Father of Nullification." However unstable his opinions may +have been, there is no questioning his patriotism or the purity of his +motives. + +Again the presidential tradition was to remain unbroken, for Madison's +successor was James Monroe, his secretary of state, a Virginian and a +Democrat. The preponderance of the Democratic party was never more in +evidence, for while he received 183 electoral votes, Rufus King, the +Federalist candidate, received only 34. This, however, was as nothing to +the great personal triumph he achieved four years later, when, as a +candidate for re-election, only one vote was cast against him, and that +by a man who voted as he did because he did not wish to see a second +President chosen with the unanimity which had honored Washington. + +Monroe is principally remembered to-day from a "doctrine" enunciated by +him and known by his name, which remains a vital portion of American +policy. It was in 1823 that he declared that the United States would +consider any attempt of a European power to establish itself in this +hemisphere as dangerous to her peace and safety, and as the +manifestation of an unfriendly disposition. The language is cautious and +diplomatic, but what it means in plain English is that the United States +will resist by force any attempt of a European power to +conquer and colonize any portion of the three Americas--in other words, +that this country will safeguard the independence of all her neighbors. +This principle has come to be regarded as a basic one in the foreign +relations of the United States, and while no European power has formally +acknowledged it, more than one have had to bow before it. It is +interesting to know that the enunciation of such a "doctrine" was +recommended by Thomas Jefferson, and that Jefferson was Monroe's +constant adviser throughout his career. + +Monroe retired from the presidency in 1825, and the seven remaining +years of his life were passed principally on his estate in Virginia. +Jefferson said of him, "He is a man whose soul might be turned wrong +side outwards, without discovering a blemish to the world,"--an estimate +which was, of course, colored by a warm personal friendship, but which +was echoed by many others of his contemporaries. Certain it is that few +men have ever so won the affection and esteem of the nation, and his +administration was known as the "era of good feeling." He is scarcely +appreciated to-day at his true worth, principally because he does not +measure up in genius to the great men who preceded him. + +At striking variance with the practical unanimity of Monroe's election +was that of John Quincy Adams, his successor. Over a quarter of a +century had elapsed since a northern man had been chosen to the +presidency. That man, strangely enough, was the father of the +present candidate, but had retired from office after one acrimonious +term, discredited and disappointed. Since then, the government of the +country had been in the hands of Virginians. Now came John Quincy Adams, +calling himself a Democrat, but really inheriting the principles of his +father, and the contest which ensued for the presidency was +unprecedented in the history of the country. + +Adams's principal opponent was Andrew Jackson, a mighty man of whom we +shall soon have occasion to speak, and so close was the contest that the +electoral college was not able to make a choice. So, as provided by the +Constitution, it was carried to the House of Representatives, and there, +through the influence of Henry Clay, who was unfriendly to Jackson, +Adams was chosen by a small majority. An administration which began in +bitterness, continued bitter and turbulent. Men's passions were aroused, +and four years later Adams repeated the fate of his father, in being +overwhelmingly defeated. + +But the most remarkable portion of his story is yet to come. Before that +time, it had been the custom, as we have seen, for the ex-President to +spend the remaining years of his life in dignified retirement; but the +year after Adams left the White House, he was elected to the House of +Representatives, and was returned regularly every two years until his +death, which occurred upon its floor. He did much excellent work there, +and was conspicuous in more than one memorable scene, but he is chiefly +remembered for his battle for the right of petition. No more +persistent fight was ever made by a man in a parliamentary body and some +reference must be made to it here. + +Soon after he took his seat in Congress, the movement against slavery +was begun, and one fruit of it was the appearance of petitions for the +abolition of slavery in the House of Representatives. A few were +presented by Mr. Adams, and then more and more, as they were sent in to +him, and finally the southern representatives became so aroused, that +they succeeded in passing what was known as the "gag rule," which +prevented the reception of these petitions by the House. Adams protested +against this rule as an invasion of his constitutional rights, and from +that time forward, amid the bitterest opposition, addressed his whole +force toward the vindication of the right of petition. On every petition +day, he would offer, in constantly increasing numbers, petitions which +came to him from all parts of the country for the abolition of slavery. +The southern representatives were driven almost to madness, but Adams +kept doggedly on his way, and every year renewed his motion to strike +out the gag rule. As constant dripping will wear away a stone, so his +persistence wore away opposition, or, rather, the sentiment of the +country was gradually changing, and at last, on December 3, 1844, his +motion prevailed, and the great battle which he had fought practically +alone was won. Four years later he fell, stricken with paralysis, at his +place in the House. + +It is worth pausing to remark that, of the six men who, up to +this time, had held the presidency, four were from Virginia and two from +Massachusetts; that, in every instance, the Virginians had been +re-elected and had administered the affairs of the country to the +satisfaction of the people, while both the Massachusetts men had been +retired from office at the end of a single term, and after turbulent and +violent administrations. All of them were what may fairly be called +patricians, men of birth and breeding; they were the possessors of a +certain culture and refinement, were descended from well-known families, +and there seemed every reason to believe that the administration of the +country would be continued in the hands of such men. For what other +class of men was fitted to direct it? Then, suddenly, the people spoke, +and selected for their ruler a man from among themselves, a man whose +college was the backwoods, whose opinions were prejudices rather than +convictions, and yet who was, withal, perhaps the greatest popular idol +this country will ever see; whose very blunders endeared him to the +people, because they knew his heart was right. + + * * * * * + +On the fifteenth day of March, 1767, in a little log cabin on the upper +Catawba river, almost on the border-line between North and South +Carolina--so near it, in fact, that no one knows certainly in which +state it stood--a boy was born and christened Andrew Jackson. His father +had died a few days before--one of those sturdy Scotch-Irish whom we +have seen emigrating to America in such numbers in search of +a land of freedom. The boy grew up in the rude backwoods settlement, +rough, boisterous, unlettered; at the age of fourteen, riding with +Sumter in the guerrilla warfare waged throughout the state against the +British, and then, captured and wounded on head and hand by a +sabre-stroke whose mark he bore till his dying day, a prisoner in the +filthy Camden prison-pen, sick of the small-pox, and coming out of it, +at last, more dead than alive. + +His mother nursed him back to life, and then started for Charleston to +see what could be done for the prisoners rotting in the British +prison-ships in the harbor, only herself to catch the prison-fever, and +to be buried in a grave which her son was never able to discover. + +Young Jackson, sobered by this and other experiences, applied himself +with some diligence to his books, taught school for a time, studied law, +and at the age of twenty was admitted to the bar, for which the standard +was by no means high. To the west, the new state of Tennessee was in +process of organization--an unpeopled wilderness for the most part--and +early in the year 1788, Jackson secured the appointment as public +prosecutor in the new state. It is not probable he had much competition, +for the position was one calling for desperate courage, as well as for +endurance to withstand the privations of back-woods life, and the +pecuniary reward was small. In the fall of 1788, he proceeded to +Nashville with a wagon train which came within an ace of being +annihilated by Indians before it reached its destination. + +Jackson found his new position exactly suited to his peculiar genius. +His personal recklessness made him the terror of criminals; he possessed +the precise qualifications for success before backwoods juries and for +personal popularity among the rough people who were his clients, with +whom usually might was right. At the end of three or four years, he +practically monopolized the law business of the district; and he soon +became by far the most popular man in it, despite a hot-headed +disposition which made him many enemies, which involved him in +numberless quarrels, and which resulted in his fighting at least one +duel, in which he killed his opponent and was himself dangerously +wounded. + +It was inevitable, of course, that he should enter politics, and equally +inevitable that he should be successful there. Eight years after his +arrival from Carolina, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected to +represent his state in Congress, and covered the eight hundred miles to +Philadelphia on horseback. From the House, he was appointed to serve in +the Senate, resigned from it to accept an election as Judge of the +Supreme Court of Tennessee, was chosen major-general of the Tennessee +militia, and so began that military career which was to have a +remarkable culmination. + +On the 25th of June, 1812, apprised of the outbreak of the second war +with England, Jackson offered to the President his own services and +those of the twenty-five hundred militia men of his district. +The offer was at once accepted, and Jackson, getting his troops +together, proceeded down the river to New Orleans. But jealousies at +headquarters intervened, he was informed that New Orleans was in no +present danger, his force was disbanded and left to get back home as +best it could. Jackson, wild with rage, pledged his own resources to +furnish this transportation, but was afterwards reimbursed by the +government. + +It was while he was getting his men back home again that Jackson +received the nickname of "Old Hickory," which clung to him all the rest +of his life, and which was really a good description of him. The story +also illustrates how it was that his men came to idolize him, and why it +was that he appealed so strongly to the common people. Jackson had three +good horses, on that weary journey, but instead of riding one of them +himself, he loaned all three to sick men who were unable to walk, and +himself trudged along at the head of his men. + +"The general is tough, isn't he?" one of them remarked, glancing at the +tall, sturdy figure. + +"Tough!" echoed another. "I should say he is--as tough as hickory!" + +Jackson was lying in bed with a bullet in his shoulder, which he had +received in an affray with Jesse Benton, and also, no doubt, nursing his +chagrin over his treatment by the War Department, when news came of a +great Indian uprising in Alabama. The Creeks had gone on the warpath and +had opened proceedings by capturing Fort Mims, at the junction of the +Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, on August 30, 1813, and massacring over +five hundred people who had taken refuge there. Alabama was almost +abandoned by the whites, and Georgia and Tennessee at once rushed to her +relief by voting men and money to put down the Indians. + +Jackson forgot wound and chagrin and took the field as soon as he was +able to stir. He at once quarrelled with the other officers; but his men +believed in him, though lack of food and the expiring of the short term +of enlistment created so much insubordination that, on one occasion, he +had to use half his army to prevent the other half from marching home. +His energy was remarkable; he pushed forward into the Creek country, cut +the Indians to pieces at Horseshoe Bend, and drove the survivors into +Florida. At the end of seven months, the war was over, and the Creeks +had been so punished that there was never any further need to fear them. + +The campaign had another result--it established Jackson's reputation as +a fighter, and soon afterwards he was appointed a major-general in the +army of the United States, and was given command of the Department of +the South. The pendulum had swung the other way, with a vengeance! But +Jackson rose magnificently to this increased responsibility. He +discovered that the English were in force at Pensacola, which was in +Florida and therefore on Spanish territory; but he did not hesitate. He +marched against the place with an army of three thousand, stormed the +town, captured it, blew up the forts, which the Spaniards hastily +surrendered, and so made it untenable as an English base. Perhaps no +other exploit of his career was so audacious, or so well carried out. +Pensacola subdued, he hastened to New Orleans, which was in the gravest +danger. + +The overthrow of Napoleon and his banishment to Elba had given England a +breathing-space, and the veteran troops which had been with Wellington +in Spain were left free for use against the Americans. A great +expedition was at once organized to attack and capture New Orleans, and +at its head was placed General Pakenham, the brilliant commander of the +column which had delivered the fatal blow at Salamanca. A fleet of fifty +vessels, manned by the best sailors of England, was got ready, ten +thousand men put aboard, and in December, a week after Jackson's arrival +at New Orleans, this great fleet anchored off the broad lagoons of the +Mississippi delta. Seventeen thousand men, in all, counting the sailors, +who could, of course, be employed in land operations; and a mighty +equipment of artillery, for which the guns of the fleet could also be +used. The few American gunboats were overpowered, and Pakenham proceeded +leisurely to land his force for the advance against the city, which it +seemed that nothing could save. On December 23d, his advance-guard of +two thousand men was but ten miles below New Orleans. + +On the afternoon of that very day, the vanguard of Jackson's +Tennesseans marched into New Orleans, clad in hunting-shirts of +buckskin or homespun, wearing coonskin caps, and carrying on their +shoulders the long rifles they knew how to use so well. They had made +one of the most remarkable marches in history, in their eagerness to +meet the enemy, and Jackson at once hurried them forward for a night +attack. It was delivered with the greatest fury, and the British were so +roughly handled that they were forced to halt until the main body of the +army came up. + +When they did advance, they found that Jackson had made good use of the +delay. With the first light of the dawn which followed the battle, he +had commenced throwing up a rude breastwork, one end resting on the +river, the other on a swamp, and by nightfall, it was nearly done. Mud +and logs had been used, and bales of cotton, until it formed a fairly +strong position. The British were hurrying forward reinforcements, and +little did either side suspect that on that very day, at Ghent, +thousands of miles away, a treaty of peace had been signed between the +United States and England, and that the blood they were about to spill +would be spilled uselessly. + +In a day or two, the British had got up their artillery, and tried to +batter down the breastworks, but without success; then, Pakenham, +forgetting Bunker Hill, determined to try a frontal assault. He had no +doubt of victory, for he had three times as many men as Jackson; troops, +too, seasoned by victories won over the most renowned marshals of +Napoleon. At Toulouse they had driven Marshal Soult from a position +infinitely stronger than this rude breastworks; time after time +they had charged and carried fortifications, manned by the best +soldiers in Europe. What chance, then, had this little force of +backwoodsmen, commanded by an ignorant and untrained general? So +Pakenham ordered that the assault should take place on the morning of +January 8th. + +From the bustle and stir in the British camp, the Americans knew that +something unusual was afoot, and long before dawn, the riflemen were +awake, had their breakfast, and then took their places behind the mud +walls, their rifles ready. At last the sun rose, the fog lifted, and +disclosed the splendid and gleaming lines of the British infantry, ready +for the advance. As soon as the air was clear, Pakenham gave the word, +and the columns moved steadily forward. From the American breastworks +not a rifle cracked. Half the distance was covered, three-fourths; and +then, as one man, those sturdy riflemen rose and fired, line upon line. +Under that terrible fire, the British column broke and paused, then +surged forward again, almost to the foot of the breastworks. But not a +man lived to mount them. No column could stand under such a fire, and +the British broke and ran. + +Mad with rage, Pakenham rallied his men and placed himself at their +head. Again came the word to charge, and again that gleaming column +rushed forward, only to be again met by that deadly hail of lead. +Pakenham, mortally wounded, reeled and fell from his saddle, officer +after officer was picked off by those unequalled marksmen, the field was +covered with dead and dying. Even the British saw, at last, the folly of +the movement, and retired sullenly to their lines. For a week they lay +there; then, abandoning their heavy artillery, they marched back to +their ships and sailed for England. The men who had conquered the +conquerors of Europe had themselves met defeat. + +The battle had lasted less than half an hour, but the British left +behind them no less than twenty-six hundred men--seven hundred killed, +fourteen hundred wounded, five hundred prisoners. The American loss was +eight killed and thirteen wounded. + +News of this brilliant victory brought sudden joy to a depressed people, +for elsewhere on land the war had been waged disgracefully enough, and +Jackson's name was on everyone's lips. His journey to Washington was a +kind of triumphal march, and his popularity grew by leaps and bounds. +People journeyed scores of miles to see him, for there was a strange +fascination about the rugged old fighter which few could resist, and +already his friends were urging him as a candidate for the presidency. +There could be no doubt that he was the people's choice, and at last, in +the campaign of 1823, he was formally placed in nomination, his chief +opponent being John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts. The result of that +contest has already been told. Jackson received more electoral votes +than any other candidate, but not enough to elect, and the contest was +decided by the House of Representatives. On that occasion, Henry Clay +came nearer committing political suicide than ever again in his life, +for he threw his influence against Jackson, and lost a portion of +his popularity which he never recovered. + +Jackson bided his time, and spent the four years following in careful +preparation for the next contest. So well did he build his fences that, +when the electoral vote was cast, he received the overwhelming majority +of 178 votes to 83 for Adams. + +Never before had the city of Washington seen such an inauguration as +took place on the fourth of March following. It seemed as though the +whole population of the country had assembled there to see the old +fighter take the oath of office. Daniel Webster wrote of it, "I never +saw such a crowd here before. Persons came five hundred miles to see +General Jackson and really seem to think that our country is rescued +from some dreadful danger." As, perhaps, it was. + +Jackson began his administration with characteristic vigor. It was he +who first put into practice the principle, "To the victors belong the +spoils." There was about him no academic courtesy, and he proceeded at +once to displace many Federal officeholders and to replace them with his +own adherents. The Senate tried for a time to stem the tide, but was +forced to give it up. There was no withstanding that fierce and dominant +personality. Jackson was more nearly a dictator than any President had +ever been before him, or than any will ever be again. His great +popularity seemed rather to increase than to diminish, and in 1832, he +received no less than 219 electoral votes. + +[Illustration: JACKSON] + +Let us do him justice. Prejudiced and ignorant and +wrong-headed as he was, he was a pure patriot, laboring for his +country's good. Nothing proves this more strongly than his attitude on +the nullification question, in other words, the right of a state to +refuse to obey a law of the United States, and to withdraw from the +Union, should it so desire. This is not the place to go into the +constitutional argument on this question. It is, of course, all but +certain that the original thirteen states had no idea, when they +ratified the Constitution, that they were entering an alliance from +which they would forever be powerless to withdraw; and the right of +withdrawal had been asserted in New England more than once. South +Carolina was the hot-bed of nullification sentiment, arising partly from +the growing anti-slavery feeling at the North, and partly because of the +enactment of a tariff law which was felt to be unjust, and on October +25, 1832, the South Carolina legislature passed an ordinance asserting +that, since the state had entered the Union of its free will, it could +withdraw from it at any time and resume the sovereign and independent +position which it had held at the close of the Revolution, and that it +would do so should there be any attempt to enforce the tariff laws +within the state. + +Jackson's attitude on this question was already well known. At a banquet +celebrating Jefferson's birthday, two years before, at which Calhoun and +others had given toasts and made addresses in favor of nullification, +Jackson had startled his audience by rising, glass in hand, +and giving the toast, "Our Federal Union--it must be preserved!" That +toast had fallen like a bombshell among the ranks of the nullifiers, and +had electrified the whole Nation. Since then, he had become a stronger +nationalist than ever; besides, he was always ready for a fight, and +whenever he saw a head had the true Irishman's impulse to hit it. So he +responded to the South Carolina nullification ordinance by sending two +men-of-war to Charleston harbor and collecting a force of United States +troops along the Carolina border. "I consider the power to annul a law +of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the +existence of the Union," he wrote; and when a South Carolina +congressman, about to go home, asked the President if he had any +commands for his friends in that state, Jackson retorted: + +"Yes, I have; please give my compliments to my friends in your state, +and say to them that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in +opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I +can lay my hands on, engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first +tree I can reach." + +Whether or not this message was delivered history does not say, but the +whole Nation arose in wrath behind its President, state after state +denounced nullification and disunion, and the South Carolina ordinance +was finally repealed. So the storm passed for the moment. It left +Jackson more of a popular hero than ever; it was as though he had won +another battle of New Orleans. One cannot but wonder what would have +happened had he been acting as President, instead of Buchanan, in those +trying years after 1856. + +He retired from the presidency broken in health and fortune, for however +well he took care of the interests of his friends, he was always +careless about his own. The last eight years of his life were spent at +his Tennessee estate, The Hermitage. The end came in 1845, but his name +has remained as a kind of watchword among the common people--a synonym +for rugged honesty, and bluff sincerity. His career is, all in all, by +far the most remarkable of any man who ever held the high office of +President--with one possible exception, that of Abraham Lincoln. + + * * * * * + +Jackson was one of the most perfect political manipulators and +machine-builders this country ever saw, and he had so perfected his +machine at the close of his second term that he was able to name as his +successor and the heir of his policies, Martin Van Buren, of New York, a +man who had been one of Jackson's most valued lieutenants from the +first, an astute politician, but not remarkable in any way, nor able to +impress himself upon the country. He announced at his inauguration that +it was his intention, to tread in the footsteps of his "illustrious +predecessor," but none for a moment imagined that he was big enough to +fill Jackson's shoes. Indeed, Jackson, was by far the most important +figure at the inauguration. + +Van Buren's term as President witnessed nothing more +momentous than the great panic of 1837, which he faced with a calmness +and clear-sightedness surprising even to his friends, but which +nevertheless assisted a collection of malcontents, under the leadership +of Henry Clay, calling themselves National Republicans or Whigs, to +defeat him for re-election. There was really no valid reason why he +should have been re-elected; he had little claim, upon the country, but +was for the most part, merely a clever politician, the first to attain +the presidency. His life had been marked by an orderly advance from +local to state, and then to national offices--an advance obtained not +because he stood for any great principle, but because he knew how to +make friends and build his political fences. + +His nomination and election to the presidency was in no sense an +accident, as was Taylor's, Pierce's, Hayes's and Garfield's, but was +carefully prearranged and thoroughly understood. Yet let us do him the +justice to add that his public services were, in some respects, of a +high order, and that he was not wholly unworthy of the last great honor +paid him. He was a candidate for the nomination in 1844, but was +defeated by James K. Polk; and four years later, secured the nomination, +but was defeated at the polls by Zachary Taylor. That ended his +political career. + +In the campaign against him of 1840, the Whigs were fortunate in having +for their candidate William Henry Harrison, a man of immense personal +popularity, resembling Jackson in that his reputation had been made as +an Indian fighter in the West, where he had defeated Tecumseh at the +battle of Tippecanoe, and by a successful campaign in the war of 1812. +Since then, he had been living quietly on his farm in Ohio, with no +expectation of anything but passing his remaining years in quiet, for he +was nearly seventy years of age. But Clay, with a sort of prophetic +insight, picked him out as the Whig leader, and "Tippecanoe and Tyler +Too" became the rallying cry of a remarkable campaign, which swept the +country from end to end and effectually swamped Van Buren. It was too +strenuous for a man as old as Harrison, and he died at the White House +within a month of taking the oath of office. + +The "Tyler Too" was John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President, and +who assumed the office of President upon Harrison's death. His accession +was little less than a bomb-shell to the party which had nominated him +and secured his election. For he was a Virginian, a follower of Calhoun +and an ardent pro-slavery man, while the Whigs were first, last and all +the time anti-slavery. He had been placed on the ticket with Harrison, +who was strongly anti-slavery, in the hope of securing the votes of some +disaffected Democrats, but to see him President was the last thing the +Whigs desired. The result was that he soon became involved in a bitter +quarrel with Clay and the other leaders of the party, which effectually; +killed any chance of renomination he may have had. He became the mark +for perhaps the most unrestrained abuse ever aimed at a +holder of the presidency. + +It was largely unmerited, for Tyler was a capable man, had seen service +in Congress and as governor of his state; but he was dry and +uninspiring, and not big enough for the presidency, into which he could +never have come except by accident. His administration was marked by few +important events except the annexation of Texas, which will be dealt +with more particularly when we come to consider the lives of Sam Houston +and the other men who brought the annexation about. He retired to +private life at the close of his term, appearing briefly twenty years +later as a member of a "congress" which endeavored to prevent the war +between the states, and afterwards as a member of the Confederate +Congress, in which he served until his death. + +Clay secured the Whig nomination for himself, in the campaign of 1844, +and his opponent on the Democratic ticket was James Knox Polk, a native +of North Carolina, but afterwards removing to Tennessee. He had been a +member of Congress for fourteen years, and governor of Tennessee for +three, and was a consistent exponent of Democratic principles. Two great +questions were before the country: the annexation of Texas and the right +to Oregon. Polk was for the immediate annexation of Texas and for the +acquisition of Oregon up to 54° 40" north latitude, regardless of Great +Britain's claims, and "Fifty-four forty or fight!" became one of the +battle-cries of the campaign. Clay, inveterate trimmer and +compromiser that he was, professed to be for the annexation of Texas, +provided it could be accomplished without war with Mexico, which was +arrant nonsense, since Mexico had given notice that she would consider +annexation an act of war. The result of Clay's attitude, and of a +widespread distrust of his policies, was that Polk was elected by a +large majority. + +His administration was destined to be a brilliant one, for Texas was at +once annexed, and the brief war with Mexico which followed, one of the +most successful ever waged by any country, carried the southwestern +boundary of the United States to the Rio Grande, and added New Mexico +and California to the national domain, while a treaty with England +secured for the country the present great state of Oregon, although here +Polk receded from his position and accepted a compromise which confined +Oregon below the forty-ninth parallel. But even this was something of a +triumph. With that triumph, the name of Marcus Whitman is most closely +associated, through a brilliant but rather useless feat of his, of which +we shall speak later on. Polk seems to have been an able and +conscientious man, without any pretensions to genius--just a good, +average man, like any one of ten thousand other Americans. He refused a +renomination because of ill-health, and died soon after retiring from +office. + +The Democratic party had by this time become hopelessly disrupted over +the slavery question, which had become more and more acute. The great +strength of the state rights party had always been in the +South, and southern statesmen had always opposed any aggression on the +part of the national government. The North, on the other hand, had +always leaned more or less toward a strong centralization of power. So +it followed that while the Democratic party was paramount in the South, +its opponents, by whatever name known, found their main strength in the +North. + +Yet, even in the North, there was a strong Democratic element, and, but +for the intrusion of the slavery question, the party would have +controlled the government for many years to come. But the North was +gradually coming to feel that the slavery question was more important +than the more abstract one of national aggression; the more so since, by +insisting upon the enforcement of such measures as the Fugitive Slave +Law, the South was, as it were, keeping open and bleeding a wound which +might to some extent have healed. In 1848 the split came, and the +Democratic party put two candidates in the field, Lewis Cass for the +South, and Martin Van Buren for the North. + +The Whig Party, taking advantage of the knowledge gained in previous +campaigns, looked around for a famous general, and managed to agree upon +Zachary Taylor, who had made an exceedingly brilliant record in the war +with Mexico. He was sixty-five years old at the time, a sturdy giant of +a man, reared on the frontier, hardened by years of Indian warfare, +whose nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" was not a bad description. He +caught the popular fancy, for he possessed those qualities +which appeal to the plain people, and this, assisted by the division in +the ranks of his opponents, won him a majority of the electoral votes. +He took the oath of office on March 4, 1849, but, after sixteen months +of troubled administration, died suddenly on July 9, 1850. + +Millard Fillmore, who had been elected Vice-President, at once took the +oath of office as chief executive. He was a New York man, a lawyer, had +been a member of Congress, and, as Vice-President, had presided over the +bitter slavery debates in the Senate. His sympathies were supposed to be +anti-slavery, yet he signed the Fugitive Slave Law, when it was placed +before him, much to the chagrin of many people who had voted for him. He +signed his own political death-warrant at the same time, for, at the +Whig National Convention in 1852, he was defeated for the nomination for +President, after a long struggle, by General Winfield Scott, another +veteran of the Mexican war. Four years later, Fillmore, having managed +to regain, the confidence of his party, secured the Whig nomination +unanimously, but was defeated at the polls, and spent the remaining +years of his life quietly at his home in Buffalo. + +Against General Scott, the Democrats nominated Franklin Scott Pierce, +the nomination being in the nature of an accident, though Pierce was in +every way a worthy candidate. His family record begins with his father, +Benjamin Pierce, who, as a lad of seventeen, stirred by the tidings of +the fight at Lexington, left his home in Chelmsford, musket +on shoulder, to join the patriot army before Boston. He settled in New +Hampshire after the Revolution, and his son Franklin was born there in +1804. He followed the usual course of lawyer, congressman and senator, +and served throughout the war with Mexico, rising to the rank of +brigadier-general, and securing a reputation second only to that of +Scott and Taylor. + +At the Democratic convention of 1852, Pierce was not a candidate for the +nomination, and did not know that any one intended to mention his name, +or even thought of him in that connection. But the convention was unable +to agree on a candidate, and on the fourth day and thirty-third ballot, +some delegate cast his vote for General Franklin Pierce, of New +Hampshire. The name attracted attention, Pierce's career had been +distinguished and above reproach, other delegates voted for him, until, +on the forty-ninth ballot, he was declared the unanimous choice of the +convention. His election was overwhelming, as he carried twenty-seven +states out of thirty-one. + +Once in the presidential chair, however, this popularity gradually +slipped away from him. He found himself in an impossible position, +between two fires, for the slavery question was dividing the country +more and more and there seemed no possible way to reconcile the warring +sections. Pierce, perhaps, made the mistake of trying to placate both, +instead of taking his stand firmly with one or the other; and the +consequence was that at the convention of 1856, he received a few votes +from courtesy, but was never seriously in the running, which resulted in +the nomination of James Buchanan. Pierce returned to his home in New +Hampshire, to find his friends and neighbors estranged from him by his +supposed pro-slavery views, which had yet not been radical enough to win +him the friendship of the South; but time changed all that, and his last +years were spent in honored and opulent retirement. + +James Buchanan was, like Andrew Jackson, of Scotch-Irish descent, but +there the resemblance between the two ended, for Buchanan had little of +Jackson's tremendous positiveness and strength of character. His +disposition was always to compromise, while Jackson's was to fight. Now +compromise is often a very admirable thing, but where it shows itself to +be impossible and leaves fighting the only resource, the wise man puts +all thought of it behind him and prepares for battle. Which is precisely +what Buchanan did not do. He had been a lawyer and congressman, minister +to Russia, senator, secretary of state and minister to England, and so +had the widest possible political acquaintanceship; he was a man of +somewhat unusual culture; but, alas! he found that something more than +culture was needed to guide him in the troublous times amid which he +fell. I have often thought that Buchanan's greatest handicap was his +wide friendship, which often made it almost impossible to say no, +however much he may have wished to do so. An unknown backwoodsman, like +Andrew Jackson, with no favors to return and no friendships to be +remembered, could have acted far more effectively. + +Buchanan's opponent for the presidency was John C. Frémont, and there +was a great stir and bustle among the people who were supposed to +support him, but Buchanan won easily, and at once found himself in the +midst of the most perplexing difficulties. Kansas was in a state of +civil war; two days after his inauguration the Supreme Court handed down +the famous Dred Scott decision, declaring the right of any slave-holder +to take his slaves as property into any territory; while the young +Republican party was siding openly with the abolitionists, and, a very +firebrand in a powder-house, in 1859, John Brown seized Harper's Ferry, +Virginia, and attempted to start a slave insurrection. Now a slave +insurrection was the one thing which the South feared more than any +other--it was the terror which was ever present. And so John Brown's mad +attempt excited a degree of hysteria almost unbelievable. + +Small wonder that Buchanan was soon at his wits' ends. His sympathies +were with the slave-holders; he doubted his right to coerce a seceding +state; his friendships were largely with southern statesmen--and yet, to +his credit be it stated, on January 8, 1860, after secession had become +a thing assured, he seems suddenly to have seen his duty clearly, and in +a special message, declared his intention to collect the revenues and +protect public property in all the states, and to use force +if necessary. Taken all in all, his attitude in those trying days was a +creditable one--as creditable as could be expected from any average man. +What the time needed was a genius, and fortunately one rose to the +occasion. Buchanan, harried and despondent, must have breathed a deep +sigh of relief when he surrendered the helm to the man who had been +chosen to succeed him--the man, by some extraordinary chance, in all the +land best fitted to steer the ship of state to safety--the man who was +to be the dominant figure of the century in American history. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +WASHINGTON, GEORGE. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22 +(old style, February 11), 1732; sent on a mission to the French beyond +the Alleghenies, 1753-54; appointed lieutenant-colonel, 1754; defeated +by the French at Fort Necessity, July 3, 1754; aide-de-camp to Braddock, +1755; commanded on the frontier, 1755-57; led the advance-guard for the +reduction of Fort Duquesne, 1758; married Martha Custis, January 9, +1759; delegate to Continental Congress, 1774-75; appointed +commander-in-chief of the continental forces, June 15, 1775; assumed +command of the army, July 3, 1775; compelled evacuation of Boston, March +17, 1776; defeated at battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776; defeated +at White Plains, October 28, 1776; surprised the British at Trenton, +December 26, 1776; won the battle of Princeton, January, 1777; defeated +at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777; at Valley Forge, during the winter +of 1777-78; won the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778; captured +Yorktown and the army of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781; resigned his +commission as commander-in-chief, December 23, 1783; president of the +Constitutional Convention, 1787; unanimously elected President of the +United States, January, 1789; inaugurated at New York, April 30, 1789; +unanimously re-elected, 1793; issued farewell address to the people, +September, 1796; retired to Mount Vernon, March, 1797; died there, +December 14, 1799. + +ADAMS, JOHN. Born at Braintree, now Quincy, Massachusetts, October 30, +1735; graduated at Harvard, 1755; studied law, took a leading part in +opposing Stamp Act, was counsel for the British soldiers charged with +murder in connection with the "Boston massacre" in 1770, and became a +leader of the patriot party; member of Revolutionary Congress of +Massachusetts, 1774; delegate to first and second Continental Congress, +1774-75; commissioner to France, 1777; negotiated treaties with the +Netherlands, Great Britain and Prussia, 1782-83; minister to London, +1785-88; Federal Vice-President, 1789-97; President, 1797-1801; defeated +for re-election and retired to Quincy, 1801; died there, July 4, 1886. + +JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April +2, 1743; member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1769-75, and +1776-78, and of the Continental Congress, 1775-76; drafted Declaration +of Independence, 1776; governor of Virginia, 1779-81; member of +Congress, 1783-84; minister to France, 1784-89; secretary of state, +1789-93; Vice-President, 1797-1801; President, 1801-09; died at +Monticello, Albemarle County, Virginia, July 4, 1826. + +MADISON, JAMES. Born at Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751; +graduated at Princeton, 1771; delegate to Congress, 1780-83, and to the +Constitutional Convention, 1787; member of Congress, 1789-97; secretary +of state, 1801-09; President, 1809-1817; died at Montpelier, Orange +County, Virginia, June 28, 1836. + +MONROE, JAMES. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758; +member of Virginia assembly, 1782; member of Congress, 1783-86; United +States senator, 1790-94; minister to France, 1794-96; governor of +Virginia, 1799-1802; minister to Great Britain, 1803-07; secretary of +state, 1811-17; President, 1817-25, an administration, known as "the era +of good feeling"; died at New York City, July 4, 1831. + +ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY. Born at Braintree, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767; +graduated at Harvard, 1788; admitted to the bar, 1791; minister to the +Netherlands, 1794-97; and to Prussia, 1797-1801; United States senator, +1803-08; minister to Russia, 1809-14; minister to England, 1815-17; +secretary of state, 1817-25; President, 1825-29; member of Congress, +1831-48; died at Washington, February 23, 1848. + +JACKSON, ANDREW. Born at the Waxham settlement, North Carolina (?), +March 15, 1767; member of Congress, 1796-97; United States senator, +1797-98; justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1798-1804; defeated +the Creeks at Talladega, 1813, and at Horseshoe Bend, 1814; captured +Pensacola from the English, 1814; won the battle of New Orleans, January +8, 1815; commanded against the Seminoles, 1817-18; governor of Florida, +1821; United States senator, 1823-25; defeated for President by J.Q. +Adams, 1824; President, 1829-37; died at the Hermitage, near +Nashville, Tennessee, June 8, 1845. + +VAN BUREN, MARTIN. Born at Kinderhook, New York, December 5, 1782; +admitted to the bar, 1803; entered New York State Senate, 1812; United +States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29; secretary of +state, 1829-31; Vice-President, 1833-37; President, 1837-41; defeated +for President, 1840, 1844, 1848; died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862. + +HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Berkeley, Charles City County, +Virginia, February 9, 1773; governor of Indiana Territory, 1801-13; won +victory of Tippecanoe, 1811, and of the Thames, 1813; member of +Congress, 1816-19; United States senator, 1825-28; minister to Colombia, +1828-29; defeated for Presidency, 1836; elected President in the +"log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign, 1840; inaugurated, March 4, 1841; +died at Washington, April 4, 1841. + +TYLER, JOHN. Born at Greenway, Charles City County, Virginia, March 29, +1790; admitted to the bar, 1809; member of Virginia legislature, +1811-16; member of Congress, 1816-21; governor of Virginia, 1825-27; +United States senator, 1827-36; elected Vice-President, 1840, and +succeeded to Presidency on the death of General Harrison, April 4, 1841; +president of the peace convention of 1861, favored secession and served +as member of the Confederate provisional Congress; died at Richmond, +Virginia, January 18, 1862. + +POLK, JAMES KNOX. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, November +2, 1795; admitted to the bar, 1820; member of Congress, +1825-39; speaker of the House of Representatives, 1835-39; governor of +Tennessee, 1839-41; President, 1845-49; died at Nashville, Tennessee, +June 15, 1849. + +TAYLOR, ZACHARY. Born in Orange County, Virginia, September 24, 1784; +entered the army as first lieutenant, 1808; served in War of 1812, +attaining rank of major; served in Black Hawk's war, 1832, with rank of +colonel; defeated Seminole Indians, 1837; commander-in-chief of Florida, +1838; took command of the army in Texas, 1845; won battle of Palo Alto, +May 8, 1846, and that of Reseca de la Palma, May 9, 1846; captured +Matamoras, May 18, and Monterey, September 24, 1846; defeated Santa Anna +at Buena Vista, February 22-23, 1847; appointed major-general, June 29, +1846; elected President, 1848; inaugurated, March 4, 1849; died at +Washington, July 9, 1850. + +FILLMORE, MILLARD. Born at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, January +7, 1800; admitted to the bar, 1823; member of New York State +legislature, 1829-31; member of Congress, 1833-35, 1837-43; elected +Vice-President, 1848, and succeeded to presidency on the death of +Taylor, July 9, 1850; died at Buffalo, New York, March 8, 1874. + +PIERCE, FRANKLIN. Born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, +1804; member of Congress, 1833-37; United States senator, 1837-42; +served with distinction in Mexican war; President, 1853-57; died at +Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, 1869. + +BUCHANAN, JAMES. Born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, +April 22, 1791; member of Congress, 1821-31; minister to +Russia, 1831-33; United States senator, 1833-45; secretary of state, +1845-49; minister to Great Britain, 1853-56; President, 1857-61; died at +Wheatland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1868. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS + + +And so we have come down through the years to Abraham Lincoln--that +patient and gentle man whose memory ranks with Washington's as America's +priceless heritage. A blessing and an inspiration--a mystery, too; an +enigma among men, lonely and impressive; not fully understood nor +understandable to the depths of that great heart of his; not fully +explainable, for what strange power was it lifted that ignorant, +ill-bred, uncouth, backwoods boy to a station among the stars? + +Seldom has any man who started so low mounted so high. Abraham Lincoln's +early life was of the most miserable description. His father, Thomas +Lincoln, was a worthless rover; his mother, Nancy Hanks, was of a "poor +white" Virginia family with an unenviable record. His birthplace was a +squalid log cabin in Washington County, Kentucky. His surroundings were +such as are commonly encountered in a coarse, low, ignorant, +poverty-stricken family. His father was at the very bottom of the social +scale, so ignorant he could scarcely write his name. His mother +inherited the shiftlessness and carelessness which is part and parcel of +"poor white." These things are incontestable, they must be looked in +the face. And yet, in spite of them, in spite of such a handicap as few +other great men even approximated, Abraham Lincoln emerged to be the +leader of a race. + +In 1816, Thomas Lincoln decided he would remove to Indiana. Abraham was +at that time seven years old, and for a year after the removal, the +family lived in what was called a "half-faced camp," fourteen feet +square--that is to say, a covered shed of three sides, the fourth side +being open to the weather. Then the family achieved the luxury of a +cabin, but a cabin without floor or door or window. Amid this +wretchedness, Lincoln's mother died, and was laid away in a rough coffin +of slabs at the edge of the little clearing. Three months later, a +passing preacher read the funeral service above the grave. + +Thomas Lincoln soon married again and, strangely enough, made a wise +choice, for his new wife not only possessed furniture enough to fill a +four-horse wagon, but, what was of more importance, was endowed with a +thrifty and industrious temperament. That she should have consented to +marry the ne'er-do-well is a mystery; perhaps he was not without his +redeeming virtues, after all. She made him put a floor and windows in +his cabin, and she was a better mother to his children than their real +one had ever been. For the first time, young Abraham got some idea of +the comforts and decencies of life, and, as his step-mother put it, +"began to look a little human." He was not an attractive object, even at +best, for he was lanky and clumsy, with great hands and feet, and a +skin prematurely wrinkled and shrivelled. By the time he was seventeen, +he was six feet tall, and he soon added two more inches to his stature. +Needless to say, his clothes never caught up with him, but were always +too small. + +His schooling was of the most meagre description; in fact, in his whole +life, he went to school less than one year. Yet there soon awakened +within the boy a trace of unusual spirit. He actually liked to read. He +saw few books, but such as he could lay his hands on, he read over and +over. That one fact alone set him apart at once from the other boys of +his class. To them reading was an irksome labor. + +All this reading had its effect. He acquired a vocabulary. That is to +say, instead of the few hundred words which were all the other boys knew +by which to express their thoughts, he soon had twice as many; besides +that, he soon got a reputation as a wit and story-teller, and his +command of words made him fond of speechmaking. He resembled most boys +in liking to "show off." He had learned, too, that there were comforts +in the world which he need never look for in his father's house, and so, +as soon as he was of age, he left that unattractive dwelling-place and +struck out for himself, making a livelihood in various ways--by +splitting rails, running a river boat, managing a store, enlisting for +the Black Hawk war--doing anything, in a word, that came to hand and +would serve to put a little money in his pocket. He came to know a great +many people and so, in 1832, he proclaimed himself a candidate for the +state legislature for Sangamon County, Illinois, where he had made his +home for some years. No doubt to most people, his candidacy must have +seemed in the nature of a joke, and though he stumped the county +thoroughly and entertained the crowds with his stories and flashes of +wit, he was defeated at the polls. + +That episode ended, he returned to store-keeping; but he had come to see +that the law was the surest road to political preferment, and so he +spent such leisure as he had in study, and in 1836 was admitted to the +bar. As has been remarked before, the requirements for admission were +anything but prohibitory, most lawyers sharing the oft-quoted opinion of +Patrick Henry that the only way to learn law was to practise it. Lincoln +decided to establish himself at Springfield, opened an office there, and +for the next twenty years, practised law with considerable success, +riding from one court to another, and gradually extending his circle of +acquaintances. He even became prosperous enough to marry, and in 1842, +after a courtship of the most peculiar description, married a Miss Mary +Todd--a young woman somewhat above him in social station, and possessed +of a sharp tongue and uncertain temper which often tried him severely. + +It was inevitable, of course, that he should become interested again in +politics, and he threw in his fortunes with the Whig Party, serving two +or three terms in the state legislature and one in Congress. All of this +did much to temper and chasten his native coarseness and uncouthness, +but he was still just an average lawyer and politician, with no evidence +of greatness about him, and many evidences of commonness. Then, +suddenly, in 1858, he stood forth as a national figure, in a contest +with one of the most noteworthy men in public life, Stephen A. Douglas. + +Douglas was an aggressive, tireless and brilliant political leader, the +acknowledged head of the Democratic party, and had represented Illinois +in the Senate for many years. He had a great ambition to be President, +had missed the nomination in 1852 and 1856, but was determined to secure +it in 1860, and was carefully building to that end. His term as senator +expired in 1858, and his re-election seemed essential to his success. Of +his re-election he had no doubt, for Illinois had always been a +Democratic state, though it was becoming somewhat divided in opinion. +The southern part was largely pro-slavery, but the northern part, +including the rapidly-growing city of Chicago, was inclined the other +way. This division of opinion made Douglas's part an increasingly +difficult one, for pro-slave and anti-slave sentiment were as +irreconcilable as fire and water. + +Lincoln, meanwhile, had been active in the formation of the new +Republican party in the state, had made a number of strong speeches, +and, on June 16, 1858, the Republican convention resolved that: "Hon. +Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States senator +to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. +Douglas's term of office." A month later, Lincoln challenged Douglas to +a series of joint debates. Douglas at once accepted, never doubting his +ability to overwhelm his obscure opponent, and the famous duel began +which was to rivet national attention and give Lincoln a national +prominence. + +The challenge on Lincoln's part was a piece of superb generalship. In +such a contest, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Whatever +the result, the fact that he had crossed swords with so renowned a man +as Stephen A. Douglas would give him a kind of reflected glory. But in +addition to that, he had the better side of the question. His course was +simple; he was seeking the support of anti-slavery people; Douglas's +task was much more complex, for he wished to offend neither northern nor +southern Democrats, and he soon found himself offending both. To carry +water on both shoulders is always a risky thing to attempt, and Douglas +soon found himself fettered by the awkward position he was forced to +maintain; while Lincoln, free from any such handicap, could strike with +all his strength. + +His stand from the first was a bold one--so bold that many of his +followers regarded it with consternation and disapproval. In his speech +accepting the nomination, he had said, "I believe this government cannot +endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all one +thing or all the other," and he pursued this line of argument in the +debates alleging that the purpose of the pro-slavery men was to make +slavery perpetual and universal, and pointing to recent history in +proof of the assertion. When asked by Douglas whether he considered the +negro his equal, he answered: "In the right to eat the bread which his +own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the +equal of every living man." He was not an abolitionist, and declared +more than once that he had "no purpose, directly or indirectly, to +interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it +exists," that he had "no lawful right to do so," but only to prohibit it +in "any new country which is not already cursed with the actual presence +of the evil." + +Even so skillful a debater as Douglas soon found himself hard put to it +to answer Lincoln's arguments, without offending one or the other of the +powerful factions whose support he must have to reach the presidency. At +the beginning, his experience and adroitness gave him an advantage, +which, however, Lincoln's earnestness and directness soon overcame. Tens +of thousands of people gathered to hear the debates, they were printed +from end to end of the country, and Lincoln loomed larger than ever +before the nation; but so far as the immediate result was concerned, +Douglas was the victor, for the election gave him a majority of the +legislature, and he was chosen to succeed himself in the Senate. + +Yet more than once he must have regretted that he had consented to cross +swords with his lank opponent, for he had been forced into many an +awkward corner. There is a popular tradition that the presidential +nomination came to Lincoln unsought; but this is anything but true. On +the contrary, in those debates with Douglas, he was consciously laying +the foundation for his candidacy two years later. He used every effort +to drive Douglas to admissions and statements which would tell against +him in a presidential campaign, while he himself took a position which +would insure his popularity with the Republican party. So his defeat at +the time was of no great moment to him. + +He had gained an entrance to the national arena, and he took care to +remain before the public. He made speeches in Ohio, in Kansas, and even +in New York and throughout New England, everywhere making a powerful +impression. To disunion and secession he referred only once or twice, +for he perceived a truth which, even yet, some of us are reluctant to +admit: that every nation has a right to maintain by force, if it can, +its own integrity, and that a portion of a nation may sometimes be +justified in struggling for independent national existence. The whole +justification of such a struggle lies in whether its cause and basis is +right or wrong. So, beneath the question of disunion, was the question +as to whether slavery was right or wrong. On this question, of course, +northern opinion was practically all one way, while even in the South +there were many enemies of the institution. The world was outgrowing +what was really a survival of the dark ages. + +When the campaign for the presidential nomination opened in the winter +of 1859-1860, Lincoln was early in the field and did everything possible +to win support. He secured the Illinois delegates without difficulty, +and when the national convention met at Chicago, in May, the contest +soon narrowed down to one between Lincoln and William H. Seward. Let it +be said, at once, that Seward deserved the nomination, if high service +and party loyalty and distinguished ability counted for anything, and it +looked for a time as though he were going to get it, for on the first +ballot he received 71 more votes than Lincoln. But in the course of his +public career he had made enemies who were anxious for his defeat, his +campaign managers were too confident or too clumsy to take advantage of +opportunity; Lincoln's friends were busy, and by some expert trading, of +which, be it said in justice to Lincoln, he himself was ignorant, +succeeded in securing for him a majority of the votes on the third +ballot. + +So, blindly and almost by chance, was the nomination secured of the one +man fitted to meet the crisis. The only other event in American history +to be compared with it in sheer wisdom was the selection of Washington +to head the Revolutionary army--a selection made primarily, not because +of Washington's fitness for the task, but to heal sectional differences +and win the support of the South to a war waged largely in the North. + +The nomination, so curiously made, was received with anything but +enthusiasm by the country at large. "Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter," +might appeal to some, but there was a general doubt whether, after all, +rail-splitting, however honorable in itself, was the best training for +a President. However, the anti-slavery feeling was a tie that bound +together people of the most diverse opinions about other things, and a +spirited canvass was made, greatly assisted by the final and suicidal +split in the ranks of the Democracy, which placed in nomination two men, +Lincoln's old antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, representing the northern +or moderate element of the party, and John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, +representing the southern, or extreme pro-slavery element. And this was +just the corner into which Lincoln had hoped, all along, to drive his +opponents. Had the party been united, he would have been hopelessly +defeated, for in the election which followed, he received only a little +more than one third of the popular vote; but this was sufficient to give +him the northern states, with 180 electoral votes. But let us remember +that, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was the choice for President of very much +less than half the people of the country. + +The succeeding four months witnessed the peculiar spectacle of the South +leisurely completing its arrangements for secession, and perfecting its +civil and military organization, while the North, under a discredited +ruler of whom it could not rid itself until March 4th, was unable to +make any counter-preparation or to do anything to prevent the diversion +of a large portion of the arms and munitions of the country into the +southern states. It gave the southern leaders, too, opportunity to work +upon the feelings of their people, more than half of whom, in the fall +of 1860, were opposed to disunion. It should not be forgotten that, +however fully the South came afterwards to acquiesce in the policy of +secession, it was, in its inception, a plan of the politicians, +undertaken, to a great extent, for purposes of self-aggrandizement. They +controlled the conventions which, in every case except that of Texas, +decided whether or not the state should secede. "We can make better +terms out of the Union than in it," was a favorite argument, and many of +them dreamed of the establishment of a great slave empire, in which they +would play the leading parts. + +To the southern leaders, then, the election of Lincoln was the striking +of the appointed hour for rebellion. South Carolina led the way, +declaring, on December 17, 1860, that the "Union now subsisting between +South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of +America, is hereby dissolved." Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, +Louisiana and Texas followed. Opinion at the North was divided as to the +proper course to follow. Horace Greeley, in the New York _Tribune_, +said that the South had as good a right to secede from the Union as the +colonies had to secede from Great Britain, and, as Greeley afterwards +observed, the _Tribune_ had plenty of company in these sentiments. +Meanwhile the Southern Confederacy had been formed, Jefferson Davis +elected President, and steps taken at once for the organization of an +army. + +Everyone was waiting anxiously for the inauguration of the new +President--waiting to see what his course would be. They were not left +long in doubt. His inaugural address was earnest and direct. He said, +"The union of these States is perpetual. No State upon its own mere +motion can lawfully get out of the Union. I shall take care that the +laws of the Union are faithfully executed in all the States." It was, in +effect, a declaration of war, and was so received by the South. Whether +or not it was the constitutional attitude need not concern us now. + +The story of Lincoln's life for the next five years is the story of the +Civil War. How Lincoln grew and broadened in those fateful years, how he +won men by his deep humanity, his complete understanding, his ready +sympathy; how, once having undertaken the task of conquering rebellion, +he never faltered nor turned back despite the awful sacrifices which the +conflict demanded; all this has passed into the commonplaces of history. +No man ever had a harder task, and no other man could have accomplished +it so well. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN] + +The emancipation of the slaves, which has loomed so large in history, +was in reality, merely an incident, a war measure, taken to weaken the +enemy and justifiable, perhaps, only on that ground; the preliminary +proclamation, indeed, proposed to liberate the slaves only in such +states as were in rebellion on the following first of January. Nor did +emancipation create any great popular enthusiasm. The congressional +elections which followed it showed a great reaction against +anti-slavery. The Democrats carried Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, +Illinois. For a time the administration was fighting for its life, +and won by an alarmingly small margin. + +Before the year had elapsed, however, there was a great reversal in +public opinion, and at the succeeding election, Lincoln received 212 out +of 233 electoral votes. The end of the Confederacy was by this time in +sight. A month after his second inauguration, Richmond fell, and five +days later, Lee surrendered his army to General Grant. Lincoln at once +paid a visit to Richmond and then returned to Washington for the last +act of the drama. + +The fourteenth of April was Good Friday, and the President arranged to +take a small party to Ford's theatre to witness a performance of a farce +comedy called "Our American Cousin." The President entered his box about +nine o'clock and was given a tumultuous reception. Then the play went +forward quietly, until suddenly the audience was startled by a pistol +shot, followed by a woman's scream. At the same instant, a man was seen +to leap from the President's box to the stage. Pausing only to wave a +dagger which he carried in his hand and to shout, "Sic semper tyrannis!" +the man disappeared behind the scenes. Amid the confusion, no efficient +pursuit was made. The President had been shot through the head, the +bullet passing through the brain. Unconsciousness, of course, came +instantly, and death followed in a few hours. + +Eleven days later, the murderer, an actor by the name of John Wilkes +Booth, was surrounded in a barn where he had taken refuge; he refused to +come out, and the barn was set on fire. Soon afterwards, the assassin +was brought forth with a bullet at the base of his brain, whether fired +by himself or one of the besieging soldiers was never certainly known. + +It is startling to contemplate the fearful responsibility which Booth +assumed when he fired that shot. So far from benefiting the South, he +did it incalculable harm, for the North was thoroughly aroused by the +deed. Thousands and thousands flocked to see the dead President as he +lay in state at the Capitol, and in the larger cities in which his +funeral procession paused on its way to his home in Springfield. The +whole country was in mourning, as for its father; business was +practically suspended, and the people seemed stunned by the great +calamity. That so gentle a man should have been murdered wakened, deep +down in the heart of the North, a fierce resentment; the feelings of +kindliness for a vanquished foe were, for the moment, swept away in +anger; and the North turned upon the South with stern face and shining +eyes. The wild and foolish assassin brought down upon the heads of his +own people such a wrath as the great conflict had not awakened. We shall +see how bitter was the retribution. + +Not then so fully as now was Lincoln's greatness understood. He has come +to personify for us the triumphs and glories, the sadness and the +pathos, of the great struggle which he guided. His final martyrdom seems +almost a fitting crown for his achievements. It has, without doubt, done +much to secure him the exalted niche which he occupies in the hearts of +the American people, whom, in a way, he died to save. Had he lived +through the troubled period of Reconstruction which followed, he might +have emerged with a fame less clear and shining; and yet the hand which +guided the country through four years of Civil War, was without doubt +the one best fitted to save it from the misery and disgrace which lay in +store for it. But speculations as to what might have been are vain and +idle. What was, we know; and above the clouds of conflict, Lincoln's +figure looms, serene and venerable. Two of his own utterances reveal him +as the words of no other man can--his address on the battlefield of +Gettysburg, and his address at his second inauguration--but two months +after he was laid to rest, James Russell Lowell, at the services in +commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of Harvard College, +paid him one of the most eloquent tributes ever paid any man, concluding +with the words: + +"Great captains, with their guns and drums; + Disturb our judgment for the hour, +But at last silence comes; + These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, +Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man; +Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame; + New birth of our new soil, the first American." + +On the ticket with Lincoln, the Republicans had placed, as a sop to such +pro-slavery sentiment as still existed at the North, a southerner and +state rights Democrat named Andrew Johnson. By one of those singular +chances of history, Johnson's origin and early years had been very much +like Lincoln's. He, too, was born of a "poor white" family; first seeing +the light in North Carolina about six weeks before Abraham Lincoln +opened his eyes in that rude log cabin in Kentucky. His condition was, +if anything, even more hopeless and degraded than Lincoln's, and if any +one had prophesied that these two ignorant and poverty-stricken children +would one day rise, side by side, to the greatest position in the +Republic, he would have been regarded, and justly, as a hopeless madman. +But not even to a madman did any such wild idea occur. "Poor whites" +were despised throughout the South, even by the slaves; if there was, in +the whole United States, any law of caste, it was against these ignorant +and shiftless people; and Andrew Johnson, at the age of fifteen, was +little better than a young savage. He had never gone to school, he had +never seen a book. But one day, he heard a man reading aloud, and the +wonder of it quickened a new purpose within him. He induced a friend to +teach him the alphabet, and then, borrowing the book, he laboriously +taught himself to read. So there was something more than "poor white" in +him, after all. + +By the time he was eighteen, he had had enough of his shiftless +surroundings, and struck out for himself, journeyed across the mountains +to Greenville, Tennessee, met there a girl of sixteen named Eliza +McCardle, and, with youth's sublime improvidence, married her! As it +happened, he did well, for his wife had a fair education, and night +after night taught him patiently, until he could read fairly well and +write a little. I like to think of that family group, so different from +most, and to admire that girl-wife teaching her husband the rudiments of +education. + +Already, as a result of his lowly birth and the class prejudice he +everywhere encountered, young Johnson had conceived that hatred of the +ruling class at the South which was to influence his after life so +deeply. He had a certain rude eloquence which appealed to the lower +classes of the people, and, in 1835, succeeded in gaining an election to +the state legislature. He nursed his political prospects carefully, and +eight years later, was sent to Congress. He was afterwards twice +governor of Tennessee. + +It has been said that secession was, in the beginning, a policy of the +ruling class in the South and not of the people. It is not surprising, +then, that Johnson should have arrayed himself against it, and fought it +with all his might. This position made him so prominent, that on March +4, 1862, Lincoln appointed him military-governor of Tennessee--a +position which was exactly to Johnson's taste and which he filled well. +In this position, he seemed the embodiment of the Union element of the +South, and at their national convention in 1864, the Republicans decided +that the President's policy of reconstruction for the South would be +greatly aided by the presence of a southern man on the ticket, and +Johnson was thereupon chosen for the office of Vice-President. On the +same day that Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time, Johnson took +the oath of office in the Senate chamber, and delivered a speech which +created a sensation. He declared, in effect, that Tennessee had never +been out of the Union, that she was electing representatives who would +soon mingle with their brothers from the North at Washington, and that +she was entitled to every privilege which the northern states enjoyed. + +Three hours after the death of the President, Andrew Johnson took the +oath of office as his successor, but he was regarded with suspicion at +both North and South--at the North, because he was believed to be at +heart pro-slavery; at the South because of his well-known animosity +toward the aristocratic and ruling class. He was also known to be +stubborn, high-tempered and intemperate, and he and Congress were soon +at sword's point. Johnson was of the opinion that the question of +suffrage for the negroes should be left to the several states; a +majority of Congress were determined to exact this for their own +protection. This was embodied in the so-called Civil Rights Bill, +conferring citizenship upon colored men. It was promptly vetoed by the +President, and was passed over his veto; soon afterwards the fourteenth +amendment was passed, conferring the suffrage upon all citizens of the +United States without regard to color or previous condition of +servitude. It also was vetoed, and passed over the veto. Johnson was +hailed as a traitor by Republicans, and the campaign against him +culminated in his impeachment by Congress early in 1868. The trial +which followed was the most bitter in the history of the Senate, but +Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the failure of the prosecution to secure +the two-thirds vote necessary for conviction by a single vote, +thirty-five senators voting for conviction and nineteen for acquittal. + +Johnson's friends were jubilant, but his power had vanished. The seceded +states one by one came back into the Union in accordance with the +Reconstruction act which Johnson had vetoed. He failed of the nomination +on the Democratic ticket, and after the inauguration of his successor, +at once returned to his old home in Tennessee. There he attempted to +secure the nomination for United States senator, but his influence was +gone and he was defeated. So ended his public life. + +It has been rather the fashion to picture Johnson, as an intemperate and +bull-headed ignoramus, but such a characterization is far from fair. But +for Lincoln's assassination, some such policy of reconstruction as +Johnson advocated would probably have been carried out, instead of the +policy of fanatics like Thaddeus Stevens, which left the South a prey to +the carpet-bagger and the ignorant negro for over a decade. Johnson +himself might have accomplished more if he had been of a less violent +disposition; but he was ignorant of diplomacy, incapable of compromise, +and so was worsted in the fight. However we may disagree with his policy +and dislike his character, let us at least not forget that picture of +the "poor white" boy teaching himself to read; and that other of the +girl-wife patiently instructing him in the rudiments of writing. + + * * * * * + +A successful war inevitably gives to its commanders a tremendous popular +prestige. We have seen how the battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson +a national hero, how William Henry Harrison loomed large after the +battle of Tippecanoe, and how Zachary Taylor was chosen President as a +result of his victories in Mexico. The country was now to undergo +another period of military domination, longer lived than those others, +as the Civil War was greater than them--a period from which it has even +yet not fully recovered. + +In 1868, the Republican party nominated unanimously for President the +general who had pushed the war to a successful finish, and who had +received Lee's surrender, Ulysses Simpson Grant, and he was elected by +an overwhelming majority. For the first time in the history of the +country, a man had been elected President without regard to his +qualifications for the office, for even Jackson had had many years' +experience in public affairs. Of such qualifications, Grant had very +few. He was egotistical, a poor judge of men, without experience in +statesmanship, and unwilling to submit to guidance. As a result, his +administration was marked by inefficiency and extravagance, and ended in +a swirl of scandal. + +Born in Ohio in 1822, and graduated at West Point, he had served through +the war with Mexico, resigned from the army, remained in obscurity for +six years, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to support +himself in civil life, and entered the army again at the outbreak of the +Civil War. From the first he was successful more than any other of the +Union generals, not so much because of military genius as from a certain +tenacity of purpose with which he fairly wore out the enemy. But a +people discouraged by reverses were not disposed to inquire too closely +into the reason of his victories, and early in 1864, after a brilliant +campaign along the Mississippi, he had been appointed commander-in-chief +of the Union army, and began that series of operations against Richmond +which cost the North so dear, but which resulted in the fall of the +capital of the Confederacy and in Lee's surrender. + +A bearded, square-jawed, silent man, he caught the public fancy by two +messages, the one of "Unconditional surrender," with which he had +answered the demand for terms on the part of the Confederates whom he +had entrapped in Fort Donelson; the other, the famous: "I propose to +fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," with which he +started his campaign in the Wilderness. Both were characteristic, and if +Grant had retired from public life at the close of the Civil War, or had +been content to remain commander-in-chief of the army of the United +States, his fame would probably have been brighter than it is to-day. + +His training, such as it was, had been wholly military and his inaugural +address showed his profound ignorance of the work which lay before +him--an ignorance all the more profound and unreachable because of his +serene unconsciousness of it. He fell at once an easy prey to political +demagogues, and before the close of his first administration, +demoralization was widespread throughout the government. A large portion +of the Republican party, realizing his unfitness for the office, opposed +his renomination, and when they saw his nomination was inevitable, broke +away and named a ticket of their own, but Grant's victory was a sweeping +one. + +With this stamp of public approval, the boodlers became bolder and great +scandals followed, involving many members of Congress and even some +members of the cabinet, but not the President himself, of whose personal +honesty there was never any doubt, and in 1873, came the worst panic the +country had ever experienced. A political reaction followed, and in 1874 +the Democrats carried the country, gaining the House of Representatives +by a majority of nearly a hundred. + +Following his retirement from office in 1877, Grant made a tour of the +world, returning in 1879, to be again a candidate for the presidency, +and coming very near to getting the nomination. It was characteristic of +the man's egotism that, even yet, he did not realize his unfitness for +the office, but thought himself great enough to disregard the precedent +which Washington had established. He lived five years longer, the last +years of his life rendered miserable by cancer of the throat, which +finally killed him. + +In the summer of 1876, the Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, +at that time Governor of Ohio, as their candidate for President--a +nomination which was a surprise to the country, which had confidently +expected that of James G. Blaine. Hayes was by no means a national +figure, although he had served in the Union army, had been in Congress, +and, as has been said, was governor of Ohio at the time of his +nomination. Nor was he a man of more than very ordinary ability, +upright, honest, and mediocre. The Democratic candidate was Samuel J. +Tilden, a political star of the first magnitude, and the contest which +followed was unprecedented in American history. + +Tilden received a popular majority of half a million votes, and 184 +electoral votes, out of the 185 necessary to elect, without counting the +votes from Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, all of which he had +carried on the face of the returns. The Republicans disputed the vote in +these states, however, and by the inexorable use of party machinery and +carpet-bag government, declared Hayes elected. For a time, so manifest +was the partisan bias of this decision, the country seemed on the verge +of another Civil War, but Tilden led in wiser council, and Hayes was +permitted to take his seat. It is the only instance in a national +election where the will of the people at the polls has been defied and +overridden. + +Hayes was a sincere and honest man, and he felt keenly the cloud which +the manner of his election cast over his administration. He was never +popular with his party, and no doubt he felt that the debt he owed it +for getting him his seat was a doubtful one. His administration was +noteworthy principally because he destroyed the last vestiges of +carpet-bag government in the South, and left the southern states to work +out their own destiny unhampered. He was not even considered for a +renomination, and spent the remainder of his life quietly in his Ohio +home. + +Hayes's successor was another so-called "dark horse," that is, a man of +minor importance, whose nomination, was due to the fact that the party +leaders could not agree upon any of the more prominent candidates. They +were Grant, Blaine and John Sherman, and after thirty-five ballots, it +was evident that a "dark horse" must be found. The choice fell upon +James Abram Garfield, who was not prominent enough to have made any +enemies, and who was as astonished as was the country at large when it +heard the news. + +Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831, in a little log cabin and to a +position in the world not greatly different to Lincoln's. While laboring +at various rough trades, he succeeded in preparing himself for college, +worked his way through, got into politics, served through the Civil War, +and later for eighteen years in Congress, where he made a creditable but +by no means brilliant record. He was elected President by a small +majority, and enraged the many enemies of James G. Blaine by selecting +that astute politician as his secretary of state. One of these, a +rattle-brained New Yorker named Charles J. Guiteau, approached the +President on July 2, 1881, as he was waiting at a railroad station in +Washington, about to start on a journey, and shot him through the body. +Death followed, after a painful struggle, two months later. + +Obscure, in a sense, as Garfield had been, the man who succeeded him was +immeasurably more so. Chester Alan Arthur was a successful New York +lawyer, who had dabbled in politics and held some minor appointive +offices, his selection as Vice-President being due to the desire of the +Republican managers to throw a sop to the Empire State. His +administration, however, while marked by no great or stirring event, was +for the most part wise and conservative, but James G. Blaine had by this +time secured complete control of the party, and Arthur had no chance for +the nomination for President. He died of apoplexy within two years of +his retirement. + + * * * * * + +The Republican party had been supreme in the national government for a +quarter of a century, and there seemed no reason to doubt that Blaine, +its candidate in the campaign of 1884, would at last realize his +consuming ambition to be elected President. He had an immense personal +prestige, he had outlived the taint of corruption attached to him during +the administration of Grant, and he had for years been preparing and +strengthening himself for this contest. So he entered it confidently. + +But a new issue had arisen--that of the protective tariff, which, +originally a war revenue measure, had been formally adopted as a +principle of Republicanism, which was hailed by its adherents as a new +and brilliant economic device for enriching everybody at nobody's +expense, and which had really enriched a few at the expense of the many. +The Democrats, with considerable hesitation and ambiguity, pronounced +against it, arraigned the Republican party for corruption, and named as +their nominee Grover Cleveland, of New York. + +Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837, the son of a clergyman whose +early death threw him upon his own resources. He started west in search +of employment, stopped at Buffalo, and afterwards made it his home. He +studied law while working as a clerk and copyist, was admitted to the +bar in 1859, and in the late seventies was elected mayor of Buffalo on a +reform ticket. Almost at once, the country's eyes were fastened upon +him. Elected as a reform mayor, he continued to be one after his +induction into office. He actually seemed to think that the promises and +pledges made by him during his campaign were still binding upon him, and +astounded the politicians by proceeding to carry those promises out. So +scathing were the veto messages he sent in, one after another, to a +corrupt council, that they awakened admiration and respect even among +his opponents. The messages, written in the plainest of plain English, +aroused the people of the city to the way in which they had been robbed +by dishonest officials, they rallied behind him, and his reputation was +made. In 1882, his party wanted a reform candidate for governor, and +they naturally turned to Cleveland, and he was elected by a plurality of +two hundred thousand. + +He found the same condition of things on a larger scale at Albany as at +Buffalo--a corrupt machine paying political debts with public money--and +here, again, he showed the same astonishing regard for pre-election +pledges, the same belief in his famous declaration that "a public office +is a public trust," and bill after bill was vetoed, while the people +applauded. And with every veto came a message stating its reasons in +language which did not mince words and which all could understand. He +showed himself not only to be entirely beyond the control of the +political machine of his own party, but also to possess remarkable moral +courage, and he became naturally and inevitably the Democratic candidate +for President, since the Democratic platform was in the main an +arraignment of Republican corruption and moral decay. The campaign which +followed was a bitter one; but Blaine had estranged a large portion of +his party, he made a number of bad blunders, and Cleveland was elected. +The old party founded by Jefferson, which, beginning with Jefferson's +administration, had ruled the country uninterruptedly for forty years, +was returned to power, and on an issue which would have delighted +Jefferson's heart. + +Much to the dismay and disappointment of the politicians, the new +President made no clean sweep of Republican officeholders. He took the +unheard-of ground that, in the public service, as in any other, good +work merited advancement, no matter what the politics of the individual +might be. He made some changes, as a matter of course, but he was from +the first sturdily in favor of civil service reform. It is worth +remarking that a Democratic President was the first to take a decided +stand against the principle of "to the victors belong the spoils," first +put into practice by another Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, over +fifty years before. + +His stand, too, on the pension question was startling in its audacity. +The shadow of the Civil War still hung over the country; the soldiers +who had served in that war had formed themselves into a great, +semi-political organization, known as the Grand Army of the Republic, +and worked unceasingly for increased pensions, which Congress had found +itself unable to refuse. More than that, the members of Congress were in +the habit of passing hundreds of special bills, giving pensions to men +whose claims had been rejected by the pension department, as not coming +within the law. Cleveland took the stand that, unless the soldier had +been disabled by the war, he had no just claim to government support, +and he vetoed scores of private pension bills, many of which were shown +to be fraudulent. + +In other ways, his remarkable strength of personality soon became +apparent, and his determination to do what he thought his duty, +regardless of consequences. His message of December, 1887, fairly +startled the country. It was devoted entirely to a denunciation of the +high tariff laws, a subject on which the Democratic leaders had deemed +it prudent to maintain a discreet silence since the preceding election, +and which many of them hoped would be forgotten by the public. But +Cleveland's message brought the question squarely to the front, and made +it the one issue of the campaign which followed. Cleveland would have +been elected but for the traitorous conduct of the leaders in New York, +who had never forgiven him for the way in which, as governor, he had +scourged them. New York State was lost to him, and his opponent, +Benjamin Harrison, was elected, although his popular vote fell below +that of Cleveland by over a hundred thousand. + +But Cleveland had his revenge four years later, when, in spite of the +protests of the leaders from his own state of New York, he was again +nominated on a platform denouncing the tariff, and defeated Harrison by +an overwhelming majority. And now came one of those strange instances of +party perfidy and party suicide, of which the country has just witnessed +a second example. In accordance with the platform pledges, a bill to +lower the tariff was at once framed in the House and adopted; but the +Senate, although Democratic in complexion, so altered it that it fell +far short of carrying out the party pledges. The leader in the Senate +was Arthur P. Gorman, of Maryland, and to him chiefly was due this act +of treachery. The President refused to sign the bill, and it became a +law without his signature. There can be little question that it was the +failure of the Democratic party to fulfil its pledges at that critical +time which led to its subsequent disruption and defeat. + +Twice more did Cleveland startle the country with his extraordinary +decision of character. In the summer of 1894, a great railroad strike, +centering at Chicago, occasioned an outbreak of violence, which the +governor of Illinois did nothing to quell. The President, therefore, +declaring that the rioters had no right to interfere with the United +States mails, ordered national troops to the scene to maintain order. A +year later, when the British Government, involved in a boundary dispute +with Venezuela, declared that it did not accept the Monroe Doctrine and +would not submit the dispute to arbitration, the President sent a +message to Congress, declaring that the Monroe Doctrine must be upheld +at whatever cost. The country was thrilled from end to end, the +President's course approved, and Great Britain at last consented to +arbitration. + +[Illustration: CLEVELAND] + +And yet, when Cleveland left the presidential chair for the second time, +he had entirely lost control of and sympathy with his own party. He had +shown little tact in his dealings with the party leaders. He seemed to +forget that, after all, these leaders had certain rights and privileges +which should be respected; he sometimes blundered through very anxiety +to be right. You have heard some men called so upright that they leaned +over backward--well, that, occasionally, was Cleveland's fault. He +was subjected to such a storm of abuse as no other ex-President ever had +to endure. That he felt it keenly there can be no question; but in the +years which followed, his sturdy and unassailable character came to be +recognized and appreciated, and his death, in the summer of 1908, was +the occasion of deep and widespread sorrow. + + * * * * * + +We have told how, in 1888, Cleveland was defeated for the presidency by +Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was a grandson of the old warrior of +Tippecanoe, William Henry Harrison, the successful candidate of the Whig +party forty-eight years before. He was an able but not brilliant man, +had served through the Civil War, and was afterwards elected senator +from Indiana, to which state he had removed from Ohio at an early age. +The platform on which he was elected pledged the party to the protective +tariff principle, and a high tariff measure, known as the McKinley Bill, +was passed, raising duties to a point higher than had ever before been +known in the history of the United States. + +The Dependent Pension Bill, which Cleveland had vetoed, and which gave a +pension to every Union soldier who was from any cause unable to earn a +living, was also passed. But these policies did not appeal to the +public; besides which, Harrison, although a man of integrity and +ability, was popular with neither the rank nor file of his party, +through a total lack of personal magnetism, and though he received the +nomination, Cleveland easily defeated him. The remainder of his life +was passed quietly at his Indiana home. + + * * * * * + +We have seen how Cleveland's independence and want of tact estranged him +from his party, and the party itself was soon to run upon virtual +shipwreck, under the guidance of strange leaders. A word must be said, +in this place, of the extraordinary man who led it three times to +defeat. + +When the Democratic national convention met in Chicago in 1896, one of +the delegates from Nebraska was a brilliant and eloquent lawyer named +William Jennings Bryan. He had gained some prominence in his state, and +had served in Congress for four years, but he was practically unknown +when he arose before the convention and made a free-silver speech which +fairly carried the delegates off their feet. Good oratory is rare at any +time; its power can hardly be overestimated, especially in swaying a +crowd; and Bryan was one of the greatest orators that ever addressed a +convention. + +His nomination for the Presidency followed, and the result was the +practical dismemberment of the Democratic party. For Bryan was a +Populist, as far as possible removed from the fundamental principles of +Democracy, advocating strange socialistic measures; and the conservative +element of the party regarded him and his theories with such distrust +that it put another ticket in the field, and he was badly beaten. Twice +more he led the party in presidential campaigns, each time being +defeated more decisively than the last. His engaging personality, his +ready oratory, and his supreme gifts as a politician won for him a vast +number of devoted friends, who believed, and who still believe, in him +absolutely; but the country at large, apparently, will have none of him. + + * * * * * + +The Republican nominee in 1896 was William McKinley, of Ohio, best known +as the framer of the McKinley tariff bill. Born in Ohio in 1843, he had +served through the Civil War, had been a member of Congress and twice +governor of Ohio. He was a thorough party man, and modified his former +views on the silver question to conform with the platform on which he +was nominated; his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, was one of the most +astute politicians the country had ever produced, and raised a campaign +fund of unprecedented magnitude; all of which, combined with the +disintegration of the Democratic party, gave McKinley a notable victory. + +The great event of his first administration was the war with Spain, +undertaken to free Cuba, into which McKinley, be it said to his credit, +was driven unwillingly by public clamor, cunningly fostered by a portion +of the press. Its close saw the purchase of the Philippines, and the +entrance of the United States upon a colonial policy believed by many to +be wholly contrary to the spirit of its founders. + +There was never any question of McKinley's renomination, for his +prestige and personal popularity were immense, and his victory was +again decisive. He had broadened rapidly, had gained in statesmanship, +had acquired a truer insight into the country's needs, and was now +freed, to a great extent, from party obligations. Great hopes were built +upon his second administration, and they would no doubt have been +fulfilled, in part at least; but a few months after his inauguration, he +was shot through the body by an irresponsible anarchist while holding a +public reception at Buffalo, and died within the week. The years which +have elapsed since his death enable us to view him more calmly than was +possible while he lived, and the country has come to recognize in him an +honest and well-meaning man, of more than ordinary ability, who might +have risen to true statesmanship and won for himself a high place in the +country's history had he been spared. + +On the ticket with McKinley, a young New Yorker named Theodore Roosevelt +had been elected Vice-President. Roosevelt had long been prominent in +his native state as an enthusiastic reformer, had made a sensational +record in the war with Spain, and, on his return home, had been elected +governor by popular clamor, rather than by the will of the politicians, +to whom his rough-and-ready methods were extremely repugnant. So when +the national convention was about to be held, they conceived the great +idea of removing him from state politics and putting him on the shelf, +so to speak, by electing him Vice-President, and the plan was carried +out in spite of Roosevelt's protests. Alas for the politicians! It was +with a sort of poetic justice that he took the oath as President on the +day of McKinley's death, September 14, 1901, while they were still +rubbing their eyes and wondering what had happened. + +His evident honesty of purpose, combined with an impulsive and energetic +temperament, which led him into various indiscretions, soon made him a +popular hero. He was a sort of Andrew Jackson over again, and in 1904, +he was sent back to the presidency by an overwhelming majority. For a +time he was, indeed, the central figure of the republic. His energy was +remarkable; he had a hand in everything; but many people, after a time, +grew weary of so tumultuous and strenuous a life, and drew away from +him, while still more were estranged by the undignified and violent +controversies in which he became entangled. It is too soon, however, to +attempt to give a true estimate of him. Indeed, he is as yet only in +mid-career; and what his years to come will accomplish cannot be even +guessed. + +Despite his controversies with the leaders of his party, he retained +sufficient power to dictate the nomination of his successor, William +Howard Taft, an experienced jurist and administrator, who is but just +entering upon his work as these lines are written, but to whom the +American people are looking hopefully for a wise and moderate +administration. + + * * * * * + +So stands the history of the rulers of the nation. As one looks back at +them, one perceives a certain rhythmical rise and fall of merit and +attainment, which may roughly be represented thus: + +[Illustration] + +Washington freed us from the power of England; Lincoln freed us from the +power of slavery; the third man in this great trio will be he who will +solve the vast economic problems which are the overshadowing issues of +our day. Will he be a Democrat or Republican--or of some new party yet +to be born? In any event, let us hope that Fate will not long withhold +him! + + + + +SUMMARY + + +LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809; +served in Black Hawk war, 1832; admitted to the bar, 1836; began +practice of law at Springfield, Illinois, 1837; Whig member Illinois +legislature, 1834-42; member of Congress, 1847-49; Republican candidate +for United States senator and held series of debates with Stephen A. +Douglas, 1858; elected President, 1860; inaugurated, March 4, 1861; +re-elected President, 1864; began second term, March 4, 1865; entered +Richmond with Federal army, April 4, 1865; shot by John Wilkes Booth, at +Ford's Theatre, Washington, April 14, 1865, and died the following day. + +JOHNSON, ANDREW. Born at Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808; +member of Congress from Tennessee, 1843-53; governor of Tennessee, +1853-57; United States senator, 1857-62; military governor of Tennessee, +1862-64; inaugurated Vice-President, March 4, 1865; succeeded Lincoln as +President, April 15, 1865; impeached by Congress for high crimes and +misdemeanors, but acquitted after a trial lasting from March 23 to May +26, 1868; United States senator from Tennessee, 1875; died in Carter +County, Tennessee, July 31, 1875. + +GRANT, ULYSSES SIMPSON. Born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, +April 27, 1822; graduated at West Point, 1843; served through Mexican +war, 1846-48; left the army in 1854, and settled in St. Louis; removed +to Galena, Illinois, 1860; appointed colonel, June 17, 1861; +brigadier-general, August 7, 1861; captured Fort Donelson, February 16, +1862; promoted to major-general of volunteers and made commander of the +Army of the District of West Tennessee, March, 1862; gained battle of +Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862; captured Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and made +major-general in the regular army; won battle of Chattanooga, November +23-25, 1863; made lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of American +armies, March, 1864; took up his headquarters with the Army of the +Potomac, fought battles of Wilderness, and received Lee's surrender at +Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865; made general, July 25, 1866; +elected President, 1868, and re-elected, 1872; made tour of the world, +1877-79; unsuccessful candidate for nomination for presidency, 1880; +made general on the retired list, March 4, 1885; died at Mount McGregor, +New York, July 23, 1885. + +HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD. Born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822; +served in the Union army during the Civil War, being brevetted +major-general of volunteers in 1864; member of Congress from Ohio, +1865-67; governor of Ohio, 1868-72 and 1876; Republican candidate for +President, 1876; declared elected by the Electoral Commission, March 2, +1877, and served, 1877-81; died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893. + +GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM. Born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November +19, 1831; instructor in and later president of Hiram College, Ohio, +1856-61; joined the Union army as lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, +1861; defeated General Humphrey Marshall at the battle of Middle Creek, +January 10, 1862; promoted brigadier-general, 1862; promoted +major-general, 1863; member of Congress, 1863-80; elected United States +senator, 1880; elected President, 1880; inaugurated, March 4, 1881; shot +in Washington by Guiteau, July 2, 1881; died at Elberon, New Jersey, +September 19, 1881. + +ARTHUR, CHESTER ALAN. Born at Fairfield, Vermont, October 5, 1830; +graduated at Union College, 1848; taught school and practiced law in New +York City; inspector-general of New York troops, 1862; collector of the +port of New York, 1871-78; elected Vice-President, 1880; succeeded +Garfield as President, September 20, 1881, serving to March 4, 1885; +defeated for Republican nomination, 1884; died at New York, November +18, 1886. + +CLEVELAND, GROVER. Born at Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, +1837; studied law at Buffalo, New York, and admitted to the bar, 1859; +assistant district attorney of Erie County, 1863-66; sheriff of Erie +County, 1871-74; Democratic mayor of Buffalo, 1882; governor of New +York, 1883-84; elected President, 1884; served as President, 1885-89; +advocated a reduction of the tariff in his message to Congress in +December, 1887; defeated for re-election, 1888; re-elected President, +1892; served, 1893-97; died at Princeton, New Jersey, June 24, 1908. + +HARRISON, BENJAMIN. Born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833; graduated +at Miami University, 1852; studied law and practiced at Indianapolis; +served in Civil War and was brevetted brigadier-general; United States +senator, 1881-87; elected President, 1888; defeated for re-election, +1892; died at Indianapolis, March 13, 1901. + +MCKINLEY, WILLIAM. Born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, +1844; served in the Civil War, attaining the rank of major; member of +Congress, 1877-91; elected governor of Ohio, 1891; re-elected, 1893; +elected President, 1896; re-elected, 1900; shot by an assassin at +Buffalo, New York, and died there, September 14, 1901. + +ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Born at New York City, October 27, 1858; graduated +at Harvard, 1880; New York state assemblyman, 1882-84; resided on North +Dakota ranch, 1884-86; national Civil Service Commissioner, 1889-95; +president New York Police Board, 1895-97; assistant secretary of the +navy, 1897-98; resigned to organize regiment of Rough Riders and served +through war with Spain; governor of New York, 1899-1900; elected +Vice-President, 1900; succeeded to presidency on death of McKinley, +September 14, 1901; elected President, 1904; retired from presidency, +March 4, 1909. + +TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD. Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, September 15, 1857; +graduated at Yale, 1878; admitted to bar, 1880; judge Superior Court, +1887-90; solicitor-general of the United States, 1890-92; United States +circuit judge, 1892-1900; President Philippine Commission, 1900-04; +secretary of war, 1904-08; elected President, 1908; inaugurated, March +4, 1909. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER V + +STATESMEN + + +If one were asked to name the most remarkable all-around genius this +country has produced, the answer would be Benjamin Franklin--whose life +was perhaps the fullest, happiest and most useful ever lived in America. +There are half a dozen chapters of this series in which he might +rightfully find a place, and in which, indeed, it will be necessary to +refer to him, for he was an inventor, a scientist, a man of letters, a +philanthropist, a man of affairs, a reformer, and a great many other +things besides. But first and greatest of all, he was a benign, +humorous, kind-hearted philosopher, who devoted the greater portion of +his life to the service of his country and of humanity. + +Benjamin Franklin was born at Boston in 1706, the fifteenth of a family +of seventeen children. His father was a soap-boiler, and was kept pretty +busy providing for his family, none of whom, with the exception of +Benjamin, ever attained any especial distinction; this being one of +those mysteries of nature, which no one has ever been able to explain, +and yet which happens so often--the production of an eagle in a brood of +common barnyard fowls--a miracle, however, which never happens except +when the barnyard fowls are of the human species. Benjamin himself, at +first, was only an ugly duckling in no way remarkable. + +At the age of ten, he was apprenticed to his brother, who was a printer, +and needed a boy to do the dirty work around the office, and thought +there was no need of paying good money to an outsider, when it might +just as well be kept in the family. So Benjamin went to work sweeping +out, and washing up the dirty presses, and making himself generally +useful during the day; but--and here is the first gleam of the eagle's +feather--instead of going to bed with the sun as most boys did, he sat +up most of the night reading such books and papers as he was able to get +hold of at the office, or himself writing short articles for the paper +which his brother published. These he slipped unsigned under the front +door of the office, so that his brother would not suspect they came from +him; for no man is a prophet to his own family, and these contributions +would have promptly gone into the waste basket had his brother suspected +their source. As it was, however, they were printed, and not until +Benjamin revealed their authorship did his brother discover how bad they +were. + +After he had served in the printing office for seven years, Benjamin +came to the conclusion that his family would never appreciate him at his +real worth. He was like most boys in this, differing from them only in +being right. So he sold some of his books, and without saying anything +to his father or brother, who would probably have reasoned him out of +his purpose with a cowhide whip, he hid himself on board a boat bound +for New York. Arrived there, he soon discovered that printers and +budding geniuses were in no great demand, and so proceeded on to +Philadelphia, partly on foot and partly by water. + +Everyone knows the story of how he landed there, with only a few pennies +in his pocket, but with a sublime confidence in his ability to make +more; how he proceeded to the nearest bakeshop, asked for three pennies' +worth of bread, and when he was given three loaves, took them rather +than reveal his ignorance by confessing that he really wanted only one +loaf, and walked up Market street, with a loaf under each arm, and +eating the third. He has told the story in his inimitable way in his +autobiography, a work which gives him high place among American men of +letters. Small wonder that red-cheeked Deborah Reed smiled at him from +the door of her father's house--but Franklin saw the smile and +remembered it, and though it brought them both distress enough at first, +he asked Deborah to be his wife, six years later, and she consented, and +a good wife she made him. Years afterward, when he was Ambassador to +France and the pet of the French court, the centre of perhaps the most +brilliant and witty circle in Europe, the talk, one day, chanced to turn +upon tailors, of whom the company expressed the utmost detestation. +Franklin listened with a quiet smile, which some one at last observed. + +"Don't you agree," he was asked, "that tailors are a conscienceless and +extortionate class?" + +"No," he answered, still smiling; "how could I? You see, I'm in love +with mine." + +And he told proudly and with shining eyes how the clothes he wore had +been spun into thread and woven into cloth and cut out and fitted and +sewed together by his wife's own hands; and it was no doubt Deborah he +had in mind when he said: "God bless all good women who help men to do +their work." + +The young adventurer had no difficulty in finding employment as a +printer, for printers were in demand in that Quaker city. He prospered +from the first, and at the age of twenty-four, had a little business of +his own, and was editing the _Pennsylvania Gazette_. Two years later, he +began the publication of an almanac purporting to be written by one +Richard Saunders, and which soon won an immense reputation as "Poor +Richard's Almanac." As an almanac, it did not differ much from others, +but, in addition to the usual information about the tides and changes of +the moon and seasons of the year, it contained a wealth of wise and +witty sayings, many of which have passed into proverbs and are in common +use to-day. Here are a few of them: + + Virtue and a trade are a child's best portions. + + Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble. + + The way to be safe is never to be secure. + + When you are good to others, you are best to yourself. + + Well done is better than well said. + + God helps them that help themselves. + + Wish not so much to live long as to live well. + + He that won't be counselled can't be helped. + +That he was a philosopher in deed as well as in word was soon to be +proved, for, at the age of forty-two, he did the wisest thing a man can +do, but for which very few have courage. He had won an established +position in the world and as much wealth as he felt he needed, so he +sold his business, intending to devote the remainder of his life to +science, of which he had always been passionately fond. Already he had +founded the Philadelphia Library and the American Philosophical Society, +had invented the Franklin stove, and served as postmaster of +Philadelphia, and a few years later, he established the institution +which is now the University of Pennsylvania. It was at about this time +that, by experimenting with a kite, he proved lightning to be a +discharge of electricity, and suggested the use of lightning rods. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN] + +But his scientific studies were destined to be interrupted, for his +country called him, and the remainder of his life was passed in her +service, first as agent in London for Pennsylvania, where he did +everything possible to avert the Revolution; then as a member of the +Continental Congress, and one of the committee of five which drew up the +Declaration of Independence; then as ambassador to France, where, +practically unaided, he succeeded in effecting the alliance between the +two countries which secured the independence of the colonies; and +finally as President of Pennsylvania and a member of the Constitutional +Convention. His last public act was to petition Congress to abolish +slavery in the United States. If one were asked to name the three men +who did most to secure the independence of their country, they would be +George Washington, who fought her battles, Robert Morris, who financed +them, and Benjamin Franklin, who secured the aid of France. When Thomas +Jefferson, who had been selected as minister to France, appeared at the +court of Louis XVI, he presented his papers to the Comte de Vergennes. + +"You replace Mr. Franklin?" inquired the nobleman, glancing at the +papers. + +"No, monsieur," Jefferson replied, "I succeed him. No one could replace +him." + +And that answer had more truth than wit. + +Honors came to Franklin such as no other American has ever received, but +he remained from first to last the same quiet, deep-hearted, and +unselfish man, whose chief motive was the promotion of human welfare. He +had his faults and made his mistakes; but time has sloughed them all +away, and there are few sources of inspiration which can compare with +the study of his life. + + * * * * * + +No family has loomed larger in American affairs than the Adams family of +Massachusetts. John Adams, President himself and living to see his own +son President--an experience which, probably no other man will ever +enjoy--had a second cousin who played a much more important part than he +did in securing the independence of the United States. His name was +Samuel Adams, and when he graduated from Harvard in 1740, at the age of +eighteen, his thesis discussed the question, "Whether it be lawful to +resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be +preserved," and answered it in the affirmative. + +Samuel Adams was a silent, stern and deeply religious man, something of +a dreamer, a bad manager and constantly in debt; but he was perhaps the +first in America to conceive the idea of absolute independence from +Great Britain, and he worked for this end unceasingly and to good +purpose. The wealthy John Hancock was one of his converts, and it was +partly to warn these two of the troops sent out to capture them that +Paul Revere took that famous ride to Lexington on the night of April 18, +1775. A month later, when General Gage offered amnesty to all the +rebels, Hancock and Adams were especially excepted. + +It was Samuel Adams who, perceiving that Virginia was apt to be lukewarm +in aiding a war which was to be fought mostly in the North, suggested +the appointment of Virginia's favorite son, George Washington, as +commander-in-chief of the American army, and who seconded the motion to +that effect made by John Adams. He lived to see his dream of +independence realized, and his grave in the old Granary burying ground +at Boston is one of the pilgrimage places of America. + +With his name that of John Hancock is, as we have seen, closely +associated. The worldly circumstances of the two were very different, +for Samuel Adams was always poor, while John Hancock had fallen heir to +one of the greatest fortunes in New England. He was only twenty-seven at +the time, and his fortune made a fool of him, as sudden wealth has a way +of doing. It was at this time, being young and impressionable, he met +Samuel Adams, a silent and reserved man, fifteen years his senior and +regarded by his neighbors as a harmless crank. But there was something +about him which touched Hancock's imagination--and touched his +pocketbook, too, for about the first thing Adams did was to borrow money +from him. + +Hancock was no doubt glad to lend the money, for he had more than he +knew what to do with, and spent it in such a lavish manner that he was +soon one of the most popular men in Boston. So when one of his ships was +seized for smuggling in a cargo of wine, all his friends and employees +got together and paraded the streets, and a lot of boys and loafers +joined them, for drink was flowing freely, and pretty soon there was a +riot, and the troops were called out and fired a volley and killed five +men, and the rest of the mob decided that it was time to go home, and +went. And that was the Boston massacre about which you have heard so +much that it would almost seem to rank with that of St. Bartholomew. +But, as the Irishman remarked, the man who gets his finger pinched makes +a lot more racket than the one who gets his head cut off; and the Boston +massacre, for all the hullabaloo that was raised about it, was merely +an insignificant street riot. No doubt Samuel Adams did his full share +in fanning that little spark into a conflagration! + +For Adams had acquired great influence over Hancock, and that vapid +young man was fond of being seen in the company of the older one. Adams +was anxious to secure Hancock for the revolutionary cause, and soon had +him so hopelessly entangled that there was no escape for him. On the +anniversary of the Boston massacre, he persuaded Hancock to deliver a +revolutionary speech, which he had himself prepared, and after that +there was a British order out for Hancock's arrest; Adams contrived that +Hancock should be one of the three delegates from Massachusetts to the +Continental Congress--John and Samuel Adams were the other two--and +Hancock was deeply impressed by the honor; at the second Congress, Adams +saw to it that his friend was chosen President. In consequence, Hancock +was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, the incident +which is the best known in his career. He signed the document in great +sprawly letters, remarking grandiloquently, as he did so, "I guess King +George can read that without spectacles," and for many years, "John +Hancock" was the synonym for a bold signature. He was afterwards +governor of Massachusetts for more than a decade, and on one occasion +attempted to snub Washington, with very poor success. His body lies in +the old Granary burying-ground, only a step from that of Samuel Adams. + + * * * * * + +One day, while Thomas Jefferson was a student at William and Mary +College, at Williamsburg, a young friend named Patrick Henry dropped in +to see him, and announced that he had come to Williamsburg to be +admitted to the bar. + +"How long have you studied law?" Jefferson inquired. + +"Oh, for over six weeks," Henry answered. + +The story goes that Jefferson advised his friend to go home and study +for at least a fortnight longer; but Henry declared that the only way to +learn law was to practice it, and went ahead and took the examination, +such as it was, and passed! + +That was in 1760, and Patrick Henry was twenty-four years old at the +time. He had been a wild boy, cared little for books, and had failed as +a farmer and as a merchant before turning to law as a last resort. Nor +as a lawyer was he a great success, the truth being that he lacked the +industry and diligence which are essential to success in any profession; +but he had one supreme gift, that of lofty and impassioned oratory. In +1765, as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he made the +rafters ring and his auditors turn pale by his famous speech against the +stamp act; as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, he made +the only real speech of the Congress, arousing the delegates from an +attitude of mutual suspicion to one of patriotic ardor for a common +cause. + +"Government," said he, "is dissolved. Where are your landmarks, your +boundaries of colonies? The distinctions between Virginians, +Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a +Virginian, but an American." + +Samuel Adams said afterwards that, but for that speech, which drew the +delegates together and made them forget their differences, the Congress +would probably have ended in a wrangle. And a year later, again in +Virginia, in defense of his resolution to arm the militia, he gave +utterance to the most famous speech of all, starting quietly with the +sentence, "Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the +illusions of hope," and ending with the tremendous cry: "I know not what +course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me +death!" + +That was the supreme moment of Patrick Henry's life. He did a great work +after that, as member of the Continental Congress, as commander-in-chief +of the Virginia forces, and as governor of the Commonwealth, but never +again did he come so near the stars--as, indeed, few men ever do. + + * * * * * + +You have all heard the story of Damon and Pythias, true type of devoted +friendship, and history abounds in such examples; but sometimes it shows +a darker side, and the controlling force in two men's lives will be hate +instead of love, and the end will be shipwreck and tragedy. Such a story +we are to tell briefly here of the lives of Alexander Hamilton and +Aaron Burr. + +They were born a year apart. Burr in 1756, at Newark, New Jersey; +Hamilton, in 1757, on the little West Indian island of Nevis. Burr was +of a distinguished ancestry, his grandfather being the famous Jonathan +Edwards; Hamilton's father was an obscure planter whose first name has +been lost to history. Burr graduated at Princeton, entered the army, +rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and resigned in 1777 to study +law, being admitted to the New York bar five years later. Hamilton was +sent to New York, entered King's, now Columbia, College, got caught in +the rising tide of Revolution, proved himself uncommonly ready with +tongue and pen, enlisted, saw the battles of Long Island, Trenton, and +Princeton, was appointed aide-de-camp to Washington and acted as his +secretary, filling the post admirably, but resigned in a fit of pique +over a fancied slight, and repaired to New York to study law. Such, in +outline, is the history of these two men until Fate threw them in each +other's way. + +New York City was the arena where the battle was fought. Within a few +years, Hamilton and Burr were the most famous men in the town. They +resembled each other strongly in temperament and disposition; each was +"passionate, brooking no rivalry; ambitious, faltering at no obstacle; +proud with a fiery and aggressive pride; eloquent with the quick wit, +the natural vivacity, and the lofty certainty of the true orator." They +were too nearly alike to be friends; they became instinctive enemies. +Each felt that the other was in the way. + +For sixteen years, Burr practiced law in New York, growing steadily in +influence. For five of those years, Hamilton did the same. They were the +foremost lawyers in the city. No man could stand before them, and when +they met on opposite sides of a case, it was, indeed, a meeting of +giants. But in 1789, Washington appointed Hamilton his secretary of the +treasury, and leaving New York, Hamilton applied himself to the great +task of establishing the public credit, laying the basis for the +financial system of the nation, which endures until this day. It was a +splendid task, splendidly performed, and Hamilton emerged from it the +leader of the powerful Federal party. + +In 1800, two men were candidates for the presidency. One was Thomas +Jefferson and the other was Aaron Burr. Instead of being overwhelmed by +the great Virginian, Burr received an equal number of electoral votes, +and the contest was referred to Congress for decision. As a Federalist, +Burr felt that he should have Hamilton's support, but Hamilton used his +great influence against him, stigmatizing him as "a dangerous man," and +Jefferson was elected. Four years later, Burr was a candidate for +governor of New York, and again Hamilton openly, bitterly, and +successfully opposed him, again speaking of him as "a dangerous man." + +Smarting under the sting of this second defeat, Burr sent a note to +Hamilton asking if the expression, "a dangerous man," referred to him +politically or personally. Hamilton sent a sneering reply, and expressed +himself as willing to abide by the consequences. It was "fighting +language between fighting men"--a quarrel which Hamilton had been +seeking for five years and which he had done everything in his power to +provoke--and Burr promptly sent a challenge. Hamilton as promptly +accepted it, named pistols at ten paces as the weapons, and at seven +o'clock on the morning of July 11, 1804, the two men faced each other on +the heights of Weehawken, overlooking New York bay. Both fired at the +word; Burr's bullet passed through Hamilton's body; Hamilton's cut a +twig above Burr's head. Hamilton died next day, and Burr, his political +career at an end, buried himself in the West. + +Three years later, he was arrested, charged with treason, for attempting +to found an independent state within the borders of the Union. He had a +wild dream of establishing a great empire to the west of the +Mississippi, and had collected arms and men for the expedition, and was +on his way down the Mississippi when he was arrested and taken back to +Richmond for trial. But his plan could not be proved to be treasonable; +indeed, his arrest was due more to the animosity which Jefferson felt +toward him, than from any other cause, and, brought to trial a year +later, he was acquitted. But his reputation was ruined, there was no +hope for him in public life, and his remaining years were spent quietly +in the practice of his profession, partly abroad and partly in New +York. + +It has been too much the habit to picture Burr as a thoroughgoing +scoundrel who murdered an innocent man and conspired against his +country. As a matter of fact, he did neither. Of the charge of treason +he was acquitted, even at a time when public feeling ran high against +him, and in the quarrel with Hamilton, it was Hamilton who was at all +times the aggressor. Both were brilliant, accomplished and courtly +men--even, perhaps, men of genius--but Fate spread a net for their feet, +blindly they stumbled into it, and, too proud to retrace their steps, +pushed on to the tragic end. + +The presiding judge at Burr's trial, not the least of whose achievements +was the holding level of the scales of justice on that memorable +occasion, was the last of that great school of statesmen who had fought +for their country's independence, and who had seen the states united +under a common Constitution. John Marshall lived well into the +nineteenth century, and his great work was to interpret that +Constitution to the country, to give it the meaning which it has for us +to-day. Marshall was a Virginian, was just of age at the outbreak of the +Revolution, and served in the American army for five years, enlisting as +a private and rising to the rank of captain. At the close of the war, he +studied law, gained a prominent place in the politics of his state, drew +the attention of Washington by his unusual ability, and in 1800 was +appointed by him secretary of state. A year later he was made chief +justice of the Supreme Court--an appointment little less than inspired +in its wisdom. + +For thirty-four years, John Marshall occupied that exalted position, +interpreting to the new country its organic law, and the decisions +handed down by him remain the standard authority on constitutional +questions. In clearness of thought, breadth of view, and strength of +logic they have never been surpassed. His service to his country was of +incalculable value, for he built for the national government a firm, +foundation which has stood unshaken through the years. + + * * * * * + +So we come to a new era in American history--an era marked by unexampled +bitterness of feeling and culminating in the great struggle for the +preservation of the Union. Across this era, three mighty giants cast +their shadows--Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. + +Closely and curiously intertwined were the destinies of these three men, +Clay was born in 1777; Webster and Calhoun five years later. Calhoun and +Clay were Irishmen and hated England; Webster was a Scotchman, and +Scotchmen were usually Tories. Calhoun and Clay were southerners, but +with a difference, for Calhoun was born in the very sanctum sanctorum of +the South, South Carolina, while Clay's life was spent in the border +state of Kentucky, so removed from the South that it did not secede from +the Union. Webster was a product of Massachusetts. Calhoun and Webster +were, in temperament and belief, as far apart as the poles; Clay stood +between them, "the great compromiser." Calhoun and Webster were greater +than Clay, for they possessed a larger genius and a broader culture; and +Webster was a greater man than Calhoun, because he possessed the truer +vision. Calhoun died in 1850; Clay and Webster in 1852. For the forty +years previous to that, these three men were in every way the most +famous and conspicuous in America. Others flashed, meteor-like, into a +brief brilliance; but these three burned steady as the stars. They had +no real rivals. And yet, though each of them was consumed by an ambition +to be President, not one was able to realize that ambition, and their +last years were embittered by defeat. + +As has been said, Clay was the smallest man of the three. His reputation +rests, not upon constructive statesmanship, but upon his ability as a +party leader, in which respect he has had few equals in American +history, and upon his success in proposing compromises. Born in +Virginia, and admitted to the bar in 1797, he moved the same year to +Lexington, Kentucky, where his practice brought him rapid and brilliant +success. His personality, too, won him many friends, and it was so all +his life. "To come within reach of the snare of his speech was to love +him," and even to this day Kentucky believes that no statesman ever +lived who equalled this adopted son of hers, nor doubts the entire +sincerity of his famous boast that he would rather be right than +President. + +Of course he got into politics. That was his natural and inevitable +field. As early as 1806 he was sent to the Senate, and afterwards to the +House, of which he was speaker for thirteen years. Three times was he a +candidate for the presidency, defeated once by John Quincy Adams, once +by Andrew Jackson, and once, when victory seemed almost his, by William +Henry Harrison. That other great party leader, James G. Blaine, was to +meet a similar fate years later. Henry Clay lacked the deep foresight, +the prophetic intuition necessary to statesmanship of the first rank, +and some of the achievements which he considered the greatest of his +life were in reality blunders which had afterwards to be corrected. But +as a compromiser, as a rider of troubled waters, and a pilot at a time +when shipwreck seemed imminent and unavoidable, he proved his consummate +ability, and merits the gratitude of his country. + +Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were leaders in the same great party, and +were, for the most part, personal friends as well as political allies. +But Webster overshadowed Clay in intellect, however he may have been +outdistanced by him in political astuteness. If Clay were the fox, +Webster was the lion. As a constitutional lawyer, he has never been +excelled; as an orator, no other American has ever equalled him. He had +in supreme degree the orator's equipment of a dominant and impressive +personality, a moving voice, an eloquent countenance, and a command of +words little less than inspired. The last sentences of his reply to +Hayne have come ringing down the years, and stand unequalled as sheer +eloquence: + + "When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun + in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored + fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, + discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds or + drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and + lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, + now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high + advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, + not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, + bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is + all this worth'? nor those other words of delusion and folly, + 'Liberty first and Union afterwards'; but everywhere, spread all + over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, + as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind + under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true + American heart--Liberty _and_ Union, now and forever, one and + inseparable!" + +The great audience that listened spellbound to that oration, arose and +left the Capitol like persons in a dream. Never were they to forget the +effect of that tremendous speech. + +But the last years of his life were ruined by his ambition to be +President. In spite of his commanding talents, or, perhaps, because of +them, he never at any time had a chance of receiving the nomination of +his party, and his final defeat in 1852, by Winfield Scott, practically +killed him. + +[Illustration: WEBSTER] + +Webster was the son of a New Hampshire farmer, who managed to send him +to Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1801. Four years later +he was admitted to the bar at Boston, and in 1812 he was elected to +Congress. We find him at once violently opposing the second war with +England, for which Clay was working so aggressively. For ten years after +that, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, and soon +became the foremost lawyer of New England, especially on constitutional +questions. In 1823, he was again sent to Congress; entered the Senate in +1828, and remained in public life practically until his death. + +It was in 1830 that he delivered the speech already referred to--perhaps +the most remarkable ever heard within the walls of the Capitol. Senator +Hayne, of South Carolina, had made a remarkable address, lasting two +days, advocating the right of a state to render null and void an +unconstitutional law of Congress--in other words, the right of secession +from the Union. Two days later, Webster rose to reply. His appearance, +always impressive, was unusually so that day; his argument, always +close-knit and logical, was the very summation of these qualities; his +words seemed edged with fire as he argued that the Constitution is +supreme, the Union indissoluble, and that no state has, or can have the +right to resist or nullify a national law. It was the greatest oration +of America's greatest orator. + +Of its effect upon the people who heard it we have spoken; throughout +the country it produced a profound impression. The North felt that a new +prophet had arisen; the South, a new foeman. The great advocate of +nullification, however, was not Hayne, who would be scarcely remembered +to-day but for the fact that it was to him Webster addressed his reply, +but that formidable giant of a man, John C. Calhoun--the man whom the +South felt to be her peculiar representative on the question of state +rights, of nullification, and, at last, of slavery. His fate was one of +the saddest in American history, for the cause he fought for was a +doomed cause, and as he sank into his grave, he saw tottering down upon +him the great structure which he had devoted his whole life to +upholding. + +Not much is known of Calhoun's youth. He was the grandson of an Irish +immigrant who had settled in South Carolina, graduated from Yale in +1804, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and, returning to his native +state, was, in 1811, elected a member of Congress. That was the +beginning of a public career which was to last until his death. + +Almost from the first, he was consumed with an ambition to be President, +and perhaps would have been, but for an incident so trivial that, under +ordinary circumstances, it would have had no consequences. In 1818, as +Monroe's secretary of war, Calhoun had occasion at a cabinet meeting to +express some censure of Andrew Jackson's conduct of the Seminole war--a +censure which was deserved, since Jackson had violated the law of +nations in pursuing his enemy into a foreign country. Twelve years +later, when Jackson was President and Calhoun, as Vice-President, was in +direct line of succession, so to speak, Jackson heard of Calhoun's +remarks, flew into a violent rage, came out as Calhoun's declared enemy, +and dealt the death-blow to his presidential aspirations. + +Smarting from this injustice, Calhoun turned his attention to the +question of state sovereignty, and in February, 1833, South Carolina +passed the nullification ordinance to which we have already referred. +Calhoun at once resigned the vice-presidency and took his seat in the +Senate, prepared to defend the attitude of his state. But Jackson did +not wait for that. Seeing that here was an opportunity to strike his +enemy, he ordered troops to South Carolina, and threatened to hang +Calhoun as high as Haman--a threat which he very possibly would have +attempted to carry out had not hostilities been averted by the genius +for compromise of Henry Clay. From that time forward, Calhoun became the +high priest of the doctrine of state rights and the great defender of +slavery. He fought inch by inch the growing sentiment against it; he +knew it was a losing fight, and almost the last words uttered by his +dying lips were, "The South! The poor South! God knows what will become +of her!" + + * * * * * + +The great triumvirate left no successors to compare with them in +prestige or power. Two survivals from the war of 1812 were still on the +scene, Thomas Hart Benton and Lewis Cass. Benton was a North Carolina +man who had removed to Nashville, and at the outbreak of the war, +enlisted under Andrew Jackson, and got into a disgraceful street fight +with him, in the course of which Jackson was nearly killed. Strange to +say, that doughty old hero chose to forget the matter long years +afterwards, when Benton was in the Senate--a Union senator from the +slave state of Missouri. + +Cass also served through the war, but at the North; was involved in +Hull's surrender of Detroit and broke his sword in rage at the disgrace +of it; and was afterwards governor of Michigan and Jackson's secretary +of war; then, in 1848, Democratic nominee for President and defeated +because of Martin Van Buren's disaffection; finally, in 1857, Buchanan's +secretary of state, resigning, in 1860, because that shilly-shally +President could not make up his mind to send reinforcements to Bob +Anderson at Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. A man who played many +parts, filled many positions, and filled them well, Cass's name deserves +to be more widely remembered than it is. + +In those days, a strange, pompous and ineffective figure was flitting +across the stage, impressing men with a respect and significance which +it did not possess, its name, Stephen A. Douglas, nicknamed "The Little +Giant," but giant in little else than power to create disturbance. +Perhaps no other man ever possessed that power in quite the same degree; +nor possessed in a greater degree that fascination of personality which +makes friends and gains adherents. + +Consumed by a gnawing desire of the presidency, beaten for the +nomination in 1852, destroying the serenity of the land two years later +by contending that Congress had no right to limit slavery in the +territories, in the vain hope of winning southern support, but finding +himself instead dubbed traitor and Judas Iscariot, receiving thirty +pieces of silver from a club of Ohio women, travelling from Boston to +Chicago "by the light of his own effigies," which yelling crowds were +burning at the stake, and finally hooted off the stage in his own city, +certainly it would seem that Douglas's public career was over forever. + +But he managed to live down his blunder and to regain much of his old +strength by reason of his winning personality; yet made another blunder +when he agreed to meet Abraham Lincoln in debate--and one which cost him +the presidency. For his opponent drove him into corners from which he +could find no way out except at the risk of offending the South. In +those days, one had to be either for or against slavery; there was no +middle course, and the man who attempted to find one, fell between two +stools, as Douglas himself soon learned. + +Last scene of all, pitted against that same Abraham Lincoln who had +greased the plank for him and shorn him of his southern support, in the +presidential contest of 1860, defeated and wounded to death by it, for +he knew that never again would he be within sight of that long-sought +prize; yet rising nobly at the last to a height of purest patriotism, +declaring for the Union, pledging his support to Lincoln, pointing the +way of duty to his million followers, and destroying at a blow the +South's hope of a divided North--let us do Stephen A. Douglas, that +justice, and render him that meed of praise; for whatever the mistakes +and turnings and evasions of his career, that last great work of his +outweighed them all. + +A man who had a great reputation in his own day as an orator and +statesman, but whose polished periods appeal less and less to succeeding +generations was Edward Everett--an evidence, perhaps, that the head +alone can never win lasting fame. Everett was a New Englander; a Harvard +man, graduating with the highest honors; and two years later, pastor of +a Unitarian church in Boston. There his eloquence soon attracted +attention, and won him a wide reputation. At the age of twenty-one, he +was appointed professor of Greek at Harvard; and in 1824, at the age of +thirty, he was chosen to represent the Boston district in Congress. He +remained there for ten years, served four terms as governor of +Massachusetts, was ambassador to England, and then, president of Harvard +from 1846-1849; was appointed secretary of state on the death of Daniel +Webster in 1852; and finally, in the following year, was elected to the +Senate, but was soon forced to resign on account of ill-health. + +Soon afterwards, he threw himself into the project to purchase Mount +Vernon by private subscription, delivered his oration on Washington 122 +times, netting more than $58,000 toward the project; obtained another +$10,000 from the _Public Ledger_ by writing for it a weekly article for +the period of a year, and added $3,000 more, secured from the readers of +that paper. From that time on, he delivered various lectures for +philanthropic causes, the receipts aggregating nearly a hundred thousand +dollars. They are little read to-day because, in spite of his erudition, +polish and high attainments, Everett really had no new message to +deliver. + + * * * * * + +With the coming of the Civil War, another triumvirate emerges to control +the destinies of the nation--Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and +William Henry Seward. Stevens and Seward had been introduced to politics +by the ineffectual and absurd anti-Masonic party, which flitted across +the stage in the early thirties. In 1851, Massachusetts rebuked Daniel +Webster for his supposed surrender to the slavery party, made in hope of +attaining the presidency, by placing Sumner in his seat in the Senate, +and retiring him to private life, where he still remained the most +commanding figure in the country. + +Seward was already in the Senate, had spoken in reply to Webster, and +assumed the leadership which Webster forfeited. In the House, too, was +Stevens, who soon gained prominence by a certain vitriolic force which +was in him, and these three men labored unceasingly for the defeat of +the South--indeed, for more than its defeat--for payment, to the last +drop, for the sins it had committed. They were bound together by party +ties and in other ways, but most closely of all by a hatred of slavery, +which, with Stevens and Sumner, mounted at times to fanaticism and led +them into the errors always awaiting the fanatic. + +Thaddeus Stevens, the oldest of the three, had been born in Vermont, but +removed to Pennsylvania at the age of twenty-two, and began to practice +law there. In 1831, he was one of the moving spirits in the formation of +the anti-Masonic party, which fancied it saw, in the spread of Masonry, +a grave danger to the republic. Two years later, Stevens was chosen a +member of the Pennsylvania legislature, but his career did not really +begin until, in 1848, at the age of fifty-seven, he was elected a member +of the national House of Representatives, where he soon took his place +as the leader of the anti-slavery faction. From that time forward, he +was unceasing in his warfare against slavery, frequently going to +lengths where few cared to follow, and which would seem to indicate that +there was a trace of madness in the man. He developed an exaggerated and +sentimental regard for the negro, and grew radical and relentless toward +the South. + +At the close of the war, he regarded the southern states as conquered +territory, to be treated as such, and his ideas of treatment seem to +have been founded upon those of the Middle Ages. He wished to confiscate +the property of all Confederates; endeavored to impeach President +Johnson, who was trying to enforce a system of reconstruction which was +at least better than that which Stevens advocated. For a time he seemed +to suffer from a very vertigo of hatred, which ate into his soul and +destroyed him. The plan of reconstruction adopted by Congress was an +embodiment of his ideas; but Johnson was acquitted of the charges +Stevens brought against him, and Stevens's poison, as it were, turned in +upon himself and killed him. His last request, that his body be buried +in an obscure private cemetery, because public cemeteries excluded +negroes, shows the man's unbalanced condition, the length to which his +ideas had led him. + +Charles Sumner, who was to the Senate much what Stevens was to the +House, although a larger and better-balanced man, was a typical +Bostonian and inheritor of the New England conscience, which, of course, +meant that he was opposed through and through to slavery. He was a +successful lawyer, and as his sentiments were well known, he was chosen +to succeed Webster when the latter wavered on the anti-slavery question, +and threw some pledges of assistance to the South. There was never any +doubt about Sumner's position, no sign of wavering or coquetting with +the enemy, and in 1856, he was assaulted by a southern senator and so +severely injured that three years passed before he could resume his +seat. + +He did so in time to oppose any compromise with slavery or the slave +power, which the threatening attitude of the South had almost scared the +North into considering, and urged the immediate emancipation of the +slaves. When this had been accomplished, his first thought was to make +sure that the slaves would remain free, and he began the contest for +negro suffrage, as the only guarantee of negro freedom, which he finally +won. In the reconstruction period following the war, he was inevitably +an ally of Thaddeus Stevens, though the latter far surpassed him in +vindictiveness toward the South. + +Let us not forget that the South had shown itself blind to its own +interests when, as soon as reconstructed by Andrew Johnson, it had, +state by state, adopted laws virtually enslaving the black man again. +But for this fatuity, there would probably have been no such feeling of +vindictiveness at the North as soon developed there; certainly there +would have been no excuse for such severity as was afterwards exhibited. +So it is true in a sense that the South has itself to blame for the +horrors of the reconstruction period, and for the suspicion with which +its good faith toward the negro was for many years regarded. Sumner was +not a vindictive man, and in his last years, incurred a vote of censure +from his own State for offering a bill to remove the names of battles of +the Civil War from the Army Register and from the regimental colors of +the United States. He practically died in harness in 1874. Looking back +at him, one sees how much larger he looms than Stevens; one cannot but +admire his courage and honesty of purpose; his public life was a +continual struggle for the right, as he saw it, and, remembering that, +his faults need not trouble us. + +When Sumner arrived in the Senate, he found William H. Seward, of New +York, already there. Seward, who had been admitted to the bar in 1822, +at the age of twenty-one, was carried into the New York legislature by +the anti-Masonic wave of 1830. Eight years later, he was the Whig +governor of the state, and in 1849 was sent to the Senate. There he soon +rivetted attention by his rebuke of Webster for condoning the Fugitive +Slave Law, and caught the reins of party leadership as they fell from +Webster's hands. It was then that he made his famous statement that the +war against slavery was waged under a "higher law than the +Constitution," and that the fall of slavery was inevitable. + +In 1856, when the newly-formed anti-slavery party, known as the +Republican, met to name a national ticket, Seward was the logical +candidate, but refused to allow his name to be considered, and the +choice fell upon that brilliant adventurer, John C. Frémont. Frémont +was, of course, defeated, and Seward continued to be the leader of +Republican thought, and the chief originator of Republican doctrine. +Indeed, he was, in a sense, the Republican party, so that, four years +later, he seemed not only the logical but the inevitable choice of the +party for President. His most formidable opponent was Abraham Lincoln, +of Illinois, who had been carefully working for the nomination, and who +was blessed with the shrewdest of campaign managers. Seward led on the +first ballot, and would have won but for the expert trading already +referred to in the story of Lincoln's nomination. + +It was natural that Lincoln should offer him the state portfolio, and +Seward accepted it. From first to last, he held true to the President, +and the services he rendered the country were second only to those of +Lincoln himself. When Lincoln was killed, an attempt was also made to +murder Seward, and was very nearly successful--so nearly that for days +Seward lingered between life and death. He recovered, however, to resume +his place in Johnson's cabinet. Over the new President he had great +influence; he had long been an advocate of mercy toward the South, and +he did much to persuade the President to the course he followed in +restoring the southern states to the Union, without reference to the +wishes of Congress. Even John Sherman pronounced the plan "wise and +judicious," but Stevens, Sumner, and their powerful coterie in Congress +violently opposed it, and Seward came in for his share of the +vituperation and bitter accusation which the plan called forth. +Johnson's defeat closed his political career, and the last years of his +life were spent in travel. + +The very cause of his downfall marks him as the greatest of the three, +for he placed justice above expediency, and not even the attempt upon +his life changed his feeling toward the South. Perhaps the wisdom of his +judgment was never better exemplified than in his purchase from Russia +of the great territory known as Alaska, for the sum of $7,200,000. +Alaska was regarded at the time as an icy desert of no economic value, +but time has changed that estimate, and the discovery of gold there made +it one of the richest of the country's possessions. + +Outside of Seward, Sumner and Stevens, the most prominent public man of +the time was Salmon P. Chase, an Ohioan who had for many years taken an +important part in the anti-slavery controversy. Although sent to the +Senate in 1849 as a Democrat, he left the party on the nomination of +Pierce in 1852, when it stood committed to the support and extension of +slavery. Three years later, he was elected governor of Ohio by the +Republicans. He was Lincoln's secretary of the treasury, and financed +the country during its most trying period in a way that compelled the +admiration even of his enemies. He served afterwards as Chief Justice of +the Supreme Court, dying in 1873. He was another man whose life was +embittered by failure to attain the prize of the presidency. Three times +he tried for it, in 1860, in 1864, and in 1868, but he never came within +measurable distance of it. For he lacked the capacity for making +friends, and repelled rather than attracted by a studiously impressive +demeanor, a painful decorousness, and an unbending dignity, which was, +of course, no true dignity at all, but merely a bad imitation of it. In +a word, he lacked the saving sense of humor--the quality which endeared +Abraham Lincoln to the whole nation. + +Another Ohioan who loomed large in the history of the time was John +Sherman, a lawyer like all the rest, a member of Congress since 1855, +not at first a great opponent of slavery, but drawn into the battle by +his allegiance to the Republican party, forming an alliance with +Thaddeus Stevens, and collaborating with him in the production of the +reconstruction act. He was appointed secretary of the treasury by +President Hayes, in 1876, and his great work for the country was done in +that office, in re-establishing the credit which the Civil War had +shaken. He, also, was bitten by the presidential bacillus, and was a +candidate for the nomination at three conventions, but each time fell +short of the goal--once when he had it seemingly within his grasp. A +stern, forceful, capable man, he left his impress upon the times. + + * * * * * + +Of the men who guided the fortunes of the Confederacy, only two need be +mentioned here--Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens; for, rich as +the Confederacy was in generals, it was undeniably poor in statesmen. +The golden age of the South had departed; with John C. Calhoun passed +away the last really commanding figure among Dixie's statesmen, and from +him to Jefferson Davis is a long step downward. + +Davis's early life was romantic enough. Born in 1808 in Kentucky, of a +father who had served in the Revolution, appointed to the National +Military Academy by President Monroe; graduating there in 1828 and +serving through the Black Hawk war; then abruptly resigning from the +army to elope with the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, and settling +near Vicksburg, Mississippi, to embark in cotton planting; drawn +irresistibly into politics and sent to Congress, but resigning to accept +command of the First Mississippi Rifles and serving with great +distinction through the war with Mexico; and, finally, in 1847, sent to +the Senate--such was Davis's history up to the time he became involved +in the maelstrom of the slavery question. + +From the first, he was an ardent advocate of the state-rights theory of +government, and the right of secession, and for thirteen years he +defended these theories in the Senate, gradually emerging as the most +capable advocate the South possessed. That fiery and impulsive people, +looking always for a hero to worship, found one in Jefferson Davis, and +he soon gained an immense prestige among them. On January 9, 1861, his +state seceded from the Union, and he withdrew from the Senate. Before he +reached home, he was elected commander-in-chief of the Army of the +Mississippi, and a few days later, he was chosen President of the +Confederate States. + +From the first, his task was a difficult one, and it grew increasingly +so as the war went on. That he performed it well, there can be no +question. He was the government, was practically dictator, for he +dominated the Confederate Congress absolutely, and its principal +business was to pass the laws which he prepared. Only toward the close +of the war did it, in a measure, free itself from this control, and, +finally, in 1865, it passed a resolution attributing Confederate +disaster to Davis's incompetency as commander-in-chief, a position which +he had insisted on occupying; removing him from that position and +conferring it upon General Lee, giving the latter, at the same time, +unlimited powers in disposing of the army. + +But it was too late. Even Lee himself could not ward off the inevitable. +On the morning of Sunday, April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis sat in his pew +at church in the city of Richmond, when an officer handed him a +telegram. It was from Lee, and read, "Richmond must be evacuated this +evening," Lee had fought and lost the battle of Petersburg, and was in +full retreat. Davis left the church quietly, called his cabinet +together, packed up the government archives, and boarded a train for the +South. For over a month, he moved from place to place endeavoring to +escape capture, his party melting away until it comprised only his +family and a few servants; and finally, on May 9th, he was surprised and +taken by a company of Union cavalry near Irwinsville, in southern +Georgia. Davis was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe for two years--a +thoroughly senseless procedure which only served to keep open a painful +wound--and on Christmas Day, 1868, was pardoned by President Johnson. + +Davis's imprisonment had added immensely to his prestige. The South +forgot his blunders and short-comings, seeing in him only the martyr who +had suffered for his people, and welcomed him with a kind of hysterical +adoration, which lasted until his death. The last years of his life were +passed quietly on his estate in Mississippi. + +When Davis was chosen President of the Confederacy, Alexander H. +Stephens was chosen Vice-President. Stephens had also had a picturesque +career. Left an orphan, without means, at the age of fifteen he had +nevertheless secured an education, and, in 1834, after two months' +study, was admitted to the Georgia bar. He at once began to win a more +than local reputation, for he was a man of unusual ability, and in 1836, +he was elected to the Legislature, though an avowed opponent of +nullification. + +Seven years later, he was sent to Congress, and continued to oppose the +secession movement; but he saw whither things were trending, and in 1859 +he resigned from Congress, remarking that he knew there was going to be +a smash-up and thought he would better get off while there was time. In +1860 he made a great Union speech; and it is a remarkable proof of the +hold he had upon the people of the South, that, in spite of this, and of +his well-known convictions, he was chosen Vice-President of the +Confederacy a year later. He accepted, but within a year he had +quarrelled with Jefferson Davis on the question of state rights, and in +1864, organized the Georgia Peace party. From that time on to the close +of the war, he labored to bring about a treaty of peace, but in vain. + +He was imprisoned for a few months after the downfall of the +Confederacy, but was soon released and was prominent in the political +life of Georgia for fifteen years thereafter, being governor of the +state at the time of his death in 1883. A more contradictory, obstinate, +prickly-conscienced man never appeared in American politics. + + * * * * * + +So passed the era of the Civil War. Have we had any great statesmen +since? Some near-great ones, perhaps, but none of the very first rank. +Great men are moulded by great events, or, at least, require great +events to prove their greatness. Let us pause a moment, however, to pay +tribute to one of the most accomplished party leaders in American +history--a man almost to rank with Henry Clay--James G. Blaine. + +As a young editor from Maine, he had entered Congress in 1863. There he +had encountered another fiery youngster in Roscoe Conkling, and an +intense rivalry sprang up between them. They were very different in +temperament, Blaine being the more popular, Conkling the more brilliant. +Blaine had a genius for making friends and keeping them; Conkling's +quick temper and hasty tongue frequently cost him his most powerful +adherents. Three years later, this rivalry came to an open clash, in +which each denounced the other on the floor of the House in words as +stinging as parliamentary law permitted. Blaine's tirade was so bitter +that Conkling became an implacable enemy and never again spoke to him. +It was almost the story of Hamilton and Burr over again, except that the +age of duelling had passed. + +That quarrel on the floor of the House was to have momentous +consequences. Blaine became speaker of the House and the most popular +and powerful man in his party, so that it seemed that nothing could +stand between him and the desire for the presidency which gnawed at his +heart, just as it had at Henry Clay's. But always in the way stood +Conkling. + +In 1876, at Cincinnati, Blaine was nominated by Robert G. Ingersoll in +one of the most eloquent addresses ever delivered on the floor of a +national convention, and on the first ballot fell only a few votes short +of a majority. But his enemies were at work, and on the seventh ballot, +succeeded in stampeding the convention to Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes, +however, was pledged to a single term, and Blaine was hailed as the +nominee in 1880; but when the convention assembled, there was Conkling +with a solid phalanx of over three hundred delegates for Grant. The +result was that neither Blaine nor Grant could get a majority of the +votes, and the nomination fell to Garfield. Finally, by tireless work, +Blaine laid his plans so well that he secured the nomination four years +later, only to have New York State thrown against him by Conkling and to +go down to defeat. Conkling had his revenge, and Blaine's career was +practically at an end, for he was an old and broken man. + +Let us add frankly that there were many within his own party who +mistrusted him--who believed him insincere, if not actually dishonest, +and refused to support him. For a fourth time, in 1892, he attempted to +get the nomination, but his name had lost its wizardry, and he was +defeated by Benjamin Harrison. There are few more pitiful stories in +American politics than that of this brilliant and able man, consumed by +the desire for a great prize which seemed always within his grasp and +yet which always eluded him. For a quarter of a century, he chased this +will-o'-the-wisp, only to be led by it into a bog and left to perish +there. + +There are a few names on the later pages of American statesmanship which +stand for notable achievement, more especially in the line of diplomacy, +the two greatest of which are those of John Hay and Elihu Root. Both of +these men, as secretary of state, did memorable work; not the sort of +work which appeals to popular imagination, for there was nothing +spectacular about it; but quiet and effective work in the forming of +informal alliances and treaties with foreign nations, maintaining +America's position as a world power, and making her the friend of all +the world. That is the position she should occupy, since she has no +quarrel with any one; and it is with its maintenance that the +statesmanship of the present day is principally concerned. + + * * * * * + +So we close this chapter on American Statesmen. It is a tragic +chapter--tragic because of thwarted ambitions, and unfulfilled desires. +Of them all, Benjamin Franklin was the only one whose life was from +first to last happy and contented, who realized his ideals and who died +in peace; and this, I think, because he asked nothing for himself, +hungered for no preferment, was consumed by no ambition, sacrificed +nothing to expediency, but accepted life with large philosophy and +never-failing humor, realizing that in serving others he was best +serving himself, and whose inward peace was manifest in his placid and +smiling countenance. Upon the rocks of ambition the greatest of those +who followed him dashed themselves to pieces. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Born at Boston, January 17, 1706; established the +_Pennsylvania Gazette_, 1729; founded Philadelphia library, 1731; began +publication of "Poor Richard's Almanac," 1732; postmaster of +Philadelphia, 1737; founded American Philosophical Society and +University of Pennsylvania, 1743; demonstrated by means of a kite that +lightning is a discharge of electricity, 1752; deputy postmaster-general +for British colonies in America, 1753-74; colonial agent for +Pennsylvania in England, 1757-75; elected to second Continental +Congress, 1775; ambassador to France, 1776-85; negotiated treaty with +France, February 6, 1778; concluded treaty of peace with England, in +conjunction with Jay and Adams, September 3, 1783; returned to America, +1785; President of Pennsylvania, 1785-88; delegate to Constitutional +Convention, 1787; died at Philadelphia, April 17, 1790. + +ADAMS, SAMUEL. Born at Boston, September 27, 1722; delegate to first and +second Continental Congress, 1775-76; lieutenant-governor of +Massachusetts, 1789-94; governor of Massachusetts, 1794-97; died at +Boston, October 2, 1803. + +HANCOCK, JOHN. Born at Quincy, Massachusetts, January 12, 1837; +President of the Provincial Congress, 1774-75; President of Continental +Congress, 1775-77; governor of Massachusetts, 1780-85 and 1787-93; died +at Quincy, October 8, 1793. + +HENRY, PATRICK. Born at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia, May 20, 1736; +admitted to the bar, 1760; entered Virginia House of Burgesses, 1765; +member of Continental Congress, 1774; of Virginia Convention, 1775; +governor of Virginia, 1776-79 and 1784-86; died at Red Hill, Charlotte +County, Virginia, June 6, 1799. + +HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. Born in the island of Nevis, West Indies, January +11, 1757; settled in New York, 1772; entered Continental service as +captain of artillery, 1776; on Washington's staff, 1777-81; member of +Continental Congress, 1782-83; of the Constitutional Convention, 1787; +secretary of the treasury, 1789-95; appointed commander-in-chief of the +army, 1799; mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr, July 11, 1804, +and died the following day. + +BURR, AARON. Born at Newark, New Jersey, February 6, 1756; served with +distinction in the Canada expedition in 1775 and at Monmouth in 1778; +began practice of law in New York, 1783; United States senator, 1791-97; +Vice-President, 1801-05; killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, July 11, +1804; in 1805, conceived plan of conquering Texas and perhaps Mexico and +establishing a great empire in the South-west; arrested in Mississippi +Territory, January 14, 1807; indicted for treason at Richmond, +Virginia, May 22, and acquitted, September 1, 1807; died at Port +Richmond, Staten Island, September 14, 1836. + +MARSHALL, JOHN. Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, September 24, 1755; +served in the Revolution; United States envoy to France, 1797-98; member +of Congress, 1799-1800; secretary of state, 1800-01; chief justice of +the United States Supreme Court, 1801-35; died at Philadelphia, July 6, +1835. + +CLAY, HENRY. Born in Hanover County, near Richmond, Virginia, April 12, +1777; United States senator from Kentucky, 1806-07 and 1809-11; member +of Congress, 1811-21 and 1823-25; peace commissioner at Ghent, 1814; +candidate for President, 1824; secretary of state, 1825-29; senator, +1832-42 and 1849-52; Whig candidate for President, 1832 and 1844; chief +designer of the "Missouri Compromise" of 1820, of the compromise of +1850, and of the compromise tariff of 1832-33; died at Washington, June +29, 1852. + +WEBSTER, DANIEL. Born at Salisbury, now Franklin, New Hampshire, January +18, 1782; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1801; admitted to the bar at +Boston, 1805; Federalist member of Congress from New Hampshire, 1813-17; +removed to Boston, 1816; member of Congress from Massachusetts, 1823-27; +Whig United States senator, 1827-41; received several electoral votes +for President, 1836, and unsuccessful candidate for Whig nomination +until death; secretary of state, 1841-43; senator, 1845-50; secretary of +state, 1850-52; died at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 24, 1852. + +CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL. Born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, +March 18, 1782; graduated at Yale, 1804; admitted to the bar, 1807; +member of the South Carolina general assembly, 1808-09; member of +Congress, 1811-17; secretary of war in Monroe's cabinet, 1817-24; +Vice-President, 1825-32; United States senator, 1832-43; secretary of +state under Tyler, 1844-45; re-elected to the Senate of which he +remained a member until his death, at Washington, March 31, 1850. + +BENTON, THOMAS HART. Born at Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, +1782; United States senator from Missouri, 1821-51; member of Congress, +1853-55; died at Washington, April 10, 1858. + +CASS, LEWIS. Born at Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, 1782; served in +the second war with England; governor of Michigan Territory, 1813-31; +secretary of war, 1831-36; minister to France, 1836-42; United States +senator, 1845-48; Democratic candidate for President, 1848; senator, +1849-57; secretary of state, 1857-60; died at Detroit, Michigan, June +17, 1866. + +DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD. Born at Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813; judge +of the Supreme Court of Illinois, 1841; member of Congress, 1843-47; +United States senator, 1847-61; Democratic candidate for President, +1860; died at Chicago, June 3, 1861. + +EVERETT, EDWARD. Born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 11, 1794; +professor of Greek at Harvard, 1819-25; editor the _North American +Review_, 1819-24; member of Congress, 1825-35; governor of +Massachusetts, 1836-40; minister to England, 1841-45; president of +Harvard College, 1846-49; secretary of state, 1852-53; senator, 1853-54; +candidate of Constitutional Union party for Vice-President, 1860; died +at Boston, January 15, 1865. + +STEVENS, THADDEUS. Born in Caledonia County, Vermont, April 4, 1792; +graduated at Dartmouth College, 1814; removed to Gettysburg, +Pennsylvania, and admitted to the bar, 1816; Whig member of Congress, +1849-53; Republican member of Congress, 1859-68; proposed impeachment of +President Johnson, 1868; died at Washington, April 11, 1868. + +SUMNER, CHARLES. Born at Boston, January 6, 1811; graduated at Harvard, +1830; admitted to the bar, 1834; United States senator, 1851-74; +assaulted in Senate chamber by Preston Brooks, May 22, 1856; chairman of +committee on foreign affairs, 1861-71; died at Washington, March 11, +1874. + +SEWARD, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Florida, Orange County, New York, May 16, +1801; graduated at Union College, 1820; admitted to the bar, 1822; +member State Senate, 1830-34; Whig governor of New York, 1838-43; United +States senator, 1849-61; candidate for Republican nomination for +President, 1860; secretary of state, 1861-69; died at Auburn, New York, +October 10, 1872. + +CHASE, SALMON PORTLAND. Born at Cornish, New Hampshire, January 13, +1808; United States senator from Ohio, 1849-55; governor of Ohio, +1856-60; secretary of the treasury, 1861-64; chief justice of the +Supreme Court, 1864-73; died at New York City, May 7, 1873. + +SHERMAN, JOHN. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823; admitted to the +bar, 1844; Republican member of Congress from Ohio, 1855-61; senator, +1861-77; secretary of the treasury, 1877-81; senator, 1881-97; +secretary of state, 1897-98; candidate for presidential nomination in +1884 and 1888; died at Washington, October 22, 1900. + +DAVIS, JEFFERSON. Born in Christian County, Kentucky, June 3, 1808; +graduated at West Point, 1828; Democratic member of Congress from +Mississippi, 1845-46; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; United States +senator, 1847-51; secretary of war, 1853-57; senator, 1857-61; resigned +his seat, January 21, 1861; inaugurated President of the Confederacy, +February 22, 1862; arrested near Irwinsville, Georgia, May 10, 1865; +imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, 1865-67; amnestied, 1868; died +at New Orleans, December 6, 1889. + +STEPHENS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Born near Crawfordville, Georgia, February +11, 1812; graduated at University of Georgia, 1832; member of State +legislature, 1836; member of Congress, 1843-59; Vice-President of the +Confederacy, 1861-65; imprisoned in Fort Warren, Boston harbor, +May-October, 1865; member of Congress, 1873-82; governor of Georgia, +1883; died at Atlanta, Georgia, March 4, 1883. + +BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE. Born at West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, January +31, 1830; member of Congress from Maine, 1862-76; senator, 1876-81; +secretary of state, 1881 and 1889-92; unsuccessful candidate of +Republican party for President, 1884; died at Washington, January 27, +1893. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PIONEERS + + +The settlers in America did not find an unoccupied country of which they +were free to take possession, but a land in which dwelt a savage and +warlike people, who had been named Indians, because the first voyagers +supposed that it was the Indies they had discovered. The name has clung, +in spite of the attempts of scientists to fasten upon them the name +Amerinds, to distinguish them from the inhabitants of India. Indians +they will probably always remain, a standing evidence of the confusion +of thought of the early voyagers. + +That the Indians owned the country there can be no question; but +civilization has never stopped to consider the claims of savage peoples, +and it did not in this case. Might made right; besides, the Indians, +consisting of scattered, semi-nomadic tribes, seemed to have no use for +the great territory they occupied. Indeed, they themselves, at first, +welcomed the white-skinned newcomers; but they soon grew jealous of +encroachments which never ceased, and at last fought step by step for +their country. They were driven back, defeated, exterminated. But in the +early years, no settlement was safe, and every man was, in a sense, a +pioneer. + +The French, in their eagerness for empire, allied themselves with the +Indians, supplied them with arms, and offered a bounty for scalps; and +for nearly three quarters of a century, a bitter and bloody contest was +waged, which ended only with the expulsion of the French from the +continent. Deprived of their ally, the Indians retreated beyond the +mountains, where their war parties gathered to drive back the white +invader. Those years on the frontier developed a race of men accustomed +to danger and ready for any chance; and towering head and shoulders +above them all stands the mighty figure of Daniel Boone, the most famous +of American pioneers. About him cluster legends and tales innumerable, +some true, many false; but one thing is certain; for boldness, cunning +and knowledge of woodcraft and Indian warfare he had no equal. + +Born in Pennsylvania, but moving at an early age to the little frontier +settlement of Holman's Ford, in North Carolina, the boy had barely +enough schooling to enable him to read and write. His real books were +the woods, and he studied them until they held no secrets from him. He +was a born hunter, a lover of the wild life of the forest, impatient of +civilization, and truly at home only in the wilderness. The cry of the +panther, the war-whoop of the Indian, were music to him; that was his +nature--to love adventure, to court danger, to welcome the thrill of the +pulse which peril brings. Understand him: he was not the man to incur +foolish risks; but he incurred necessary ones without a second thought. +He was near death no doubt a hundred times, yet lived to die in his +bed. But he was at his best, he really lived, only when the wilderness +held him and when his life depended upon his care and watchfulness. + +[Illustration: Boone] + +In 1755, Boone married and built a log cabin far up the Yadkin, where he +had no neighbors; but as the years passed, other families settled near; +the smoke of other cabins rose above the woods; his fields were bounded +by rude fences; he could scarcely stir out without encountering some +neighbor. It was too crowded for Daniel Boone; he felt the same +sensation that your nature lover feels to-day in the midst of a teeming +city--a sense of suffocation and disgust--and he finally determined to +move still further westward, and to cross the mountains into Kentucky, +concerning whose richness many stories had reached his ears. He +persuaded six men to accompany him, and on the first day of May, 1769, +set forth on the perilous journey which was to mark the beginning of his +life-work. + +Up to that time, the Alleghany Mountains had marked a boundary beyond +which white settlers dared not go, for to the west lay great reaches of +forest, uninhabited except for wild beasts and still wilder bands of +roving Indians. Into this forest, Boone and his companions plunged, and +after some weeks of wandering, emerged into the beautiful and fertile +country of Kentucky--a country not owned by any Indian tribe, but +visited only by wandering war- and hunting-parties from the nations +living north of the Ohio or south of the Tennessee. The party found +game in abundance, especially great droves of buffalo, and spent some +months in hunting and exploring. A roving war-party stumbled upon one of +Boone's companions, and forthwith killed him; a second soon met the same +fate, and Boone himself had more than one narrow escape. The danger grew +so great, that the other members of the party returned over the +mountains, and Boone was, for a time, left alone, as he himself put it, +"without company of any fellow-creature, or even a horse or dog." + +His brother joined him after a time, and the two spent the winter +together. Game furnished abundant food, and the only danger was from the +Indians, but that was an ever-present one. Sometimes they slept in +hollow trees, at other times, they changed their resting-place every +night, and after making a fire, would go off for a mile or two in the +woods to sleep. Unceasing vigilance was the price of safety. When spring +came, Boone's brother returned over the mountains, and again he was left +alone. Three months later the brother came back, bringing a party of +hunters, but no one was inclined to settle in so dangerous a locality, +the struggle to possess which was so fierce that it became known as "the +dark and bloody ground." + +In 1773, Boone himself started to lead a band of settlers over the +mountains, but while passing through the frowning defiles of the +Cumberland Gap, they were attacked by Indians and driven back, two of +Boone's sons being among the slain. Hunting parties crossed the +mountains from time to time after that, and made great inroads on the +vast herds of game, but the Indians were in arms everywhere, and not +until they had been defeated at the battle of Point Pleasant, the +bloodiest in the history of Virginia with its Indian foe, did they sue +for peace. + +The coming of peace marked a new era in the development of the western +country. Some years before, a company of men headed by Richard +Henderson, had conceived the grandiose project of founding in the west a +great colony, and had purchased from the Cherokee Indians a vast tract +of land, which they named Transylvania. It included all the land between +the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, and Daniel Boone was selected to +blaze a way into the wilderness, to mark out a road, and start the first +settlement. He got a party together, crossed the mountains, and on April +1, 1775, began to build a fort on the left bank of the Kentucky river, +calling it Fort Boone, afterwards Boonesborough. Some settlers moved in, +but the outbreak of the Revolution and the consequent renewal of Indian +hostilities under encouragement from the British put a stop to +immigration. + +The fort, alone and unprotected in the wilderness, was soon attacked by +a great war-party, but managed to beat off the assailants. Shortly +afterwards, while leading an expedition to the Blue Licks, on the +Licking river, to secure a supply of salt, Boone became separated from +his men, and was surprised and captured by an Indian war-party. The joy +of the savages at this capture may be imagined, for they had in their +hands their most intrepid foe. After being exhibited to the British at +Detroit, he was brought back to the Indian settlements north of the +Ohio, and formally adopted into an Indian family, for the savages +desired, if possible, to make this mighty hunter and warrior one of +themselves. And Boone might have really adopted Indian life, which +appealed to him in many ways, but one day he found that preparations +were on foot for another great expedition against Boonesborough. +Watching his opportunity, he managed to escape, and reached the fort in +time to warn it of the impending attack. He covered the distance, 160 +miles, in four days, eating but a single meal upon the road--a turkey +which he managed to shoot. + +He came to Boonesborough like one risen from the dead. The fort was at +once put into a state of defense, and endured the most savage assault +ever directed against it, the Indians numbering nearly five hundred, +while the garrison mustered but sixty-five. The siege lasted for nine +days, when the Indians, despairing of overcoming a resistance so +desperate, retired. + +The succeeding years were full of adventure and hair-breadth escapes, +which cannot even be mentioned here. On one occasion, Boone and his +brother, Squire, were surprised by Indians; the latter was killed and +scalped and Boone escaped with the greatest difficulty. At the battle of +Blue Licks, two years later, two sons fought at his side, one of whom +was killed and the other severely wounded. But Boone seemed to bear a +charmed life. His years in the wilderness had developed in him an +almost supernatural keenness of sight and hearing; and constant peril +from the Indians had made him very careful. Whenever he went into the +woods after game or Indians, he had perpetually to keep watch to make +sure that he was not being hunted in turn. Every turkey-call might mean +a lurking savage, every cracking twig might mean an approaching foe. + +On one occasion, his daughter and two other girls were carried off by +Indians, and Boone, raising a small company, followed the trail of the +fugitives without resting for two days and a night; then came to where +the Indians had killed a buffalo calf and were camped around it, never +dreaming of danger. So Boone and his men crept up on them, shot down the +Indians and rescued the girls. On still another occasion, he was pursued +by Indians, who used a tracking dog to follow his trail. Boone turned, +shot the dog, and then made good his escape. Such incidents might be +related by the dozen. No wonder Boone was considered one of the most +valuable men on the frontier, and was a very tower of strength in +defending it against the Indians. + +The end, however, was sad enough. When Kentucky was admitted to the +Union, Boone's titles to the land he had laid out for himself were +declared to be defective; it was all taken from him, and he moved first +to Ohio, and then to Missouri, where he spent his last years. He was +hale and hearty almost to the end, leading a hunting-party to the mouth +of the Kansas when he was eighty-two years old, and completely tiring +out its younger members. Nearly at the end of his life, Congress +recognized his services to his country by granting him eight hundred and +fifty acres of land in Missouri, and on this grant, the last years of +his life were spent. Chester Harding visited him just before the end and +painted a portrait of him which remains the best delineation of the +redoubtable old pioneer, whose striking face tells of the resolute will, +and unshrinking courage which made the settlement of Kentucky possible. + +Scarcely less prominent than Boone on the Kentucky frontier, and with a +career in many ways even more adventurous, was Simon Kenton. Born in +Virginia in 1755, he had grown to young manhood, rough and uncultivated, +and with little evidence of having been raised in a civilized community. +At the age of sixteen, he had a desperate affray with a neighbor named +William Veach, during which he caught Veach around the body, whirled him +into the air, and dashed him to the ground with such violence, that he +thought he had broken his neck. Not daring to return home or to linger +in the neighborhood, for fear his crime would be discovered and he +himself arrested and hanged, he plunged into the wilderness and made his +way westward over the mountains, changing his name to Simon Butler. + +The two or three years following were spent by him in roaming along the +Ohio valley, sometimes alone, sometimes with two or three companions, +and always surrounded by danger. On one occasion, his camp was surprised +by Indians, and he and his companion were forced to flee for their +lives without weapons of any kind, and with no clothing but their +shirts. For six days and nights, they wandered without fire or food, +suffering from the cold, for it was the dead of winter, and so torn and +lacerated that on the last two days they covered only six miles, most of +it on hands and knees. Staggering and crawling forward, they came out at +last upon the Ohio river, and by good fortune fell in with a +hunting-party and were saved. + +Kenton's life was full of just such incidents. Daniel Boone found in him +a most valuable ally, incapable of fear and with a knowledge of +woodcraft surpassed only by Boone himself. Kenton was inside Boone's +fort whenever it was in danger, and on one occasion saved Boone's life. +Let us tell the story, for it is typical of the border warfare in which +both Boone and Kenton were so expert. + +One morning, having loaded their guns for a hunt, Kenton and two +companions were standing in the gate of Fort Boone, when two men, who +were driving in some horses from a near-by field, were fired upon by +Indians. They fled toward the fort, the Indians after them, and one of +them was overtaken and killed and was being scalped, when Kenton and his +companions ran up, killed one of the Indians and pursued the others to +the edge of the clearing. Boone, meanwhile, had heard the firing, and +came hurrying out with reinforcements, only, a moment later, to be cut +off from the fort by a strong body of savages. There was nothing to do +but to cut their way back through them, and in the charge, Boone +received a ball through the leg, breaking the bone. As he fell, the +Indian leader raised his tomahawk to kill him, but Kenton, seeing his +comrade's peril, shot the Indian through the heart, and succeeded in +dragging Boone inside the fort. + +During the Dunmore war, Kenton ranged the Indian country as a spy, +carrying his life in his hand, and accompanied George Rogers Clark on +his famous Illinois campaign. A short time later, with one or two +others, he started on an expedition to run off some horses from the +Miami villages, and had nearly succeeded, when he was captured. The +Indians hated him more bitterly than they hated Boone himself, and they +prepared to enjoy themselves at his expense. They bound him to a wild +horse and chased the horse through the forest until their captive's face +was torn and bleeding from the lashing of the branches; they staked him +down at night so that he could not move hand or foot, and when they +reached their town, the whole population turned out to make him run the +gauntlet. The Indians formed in a double line, about six feet apart, +each armed with a heavy club, and Kenton was forced to run between them. +He had not gone far when he saw ahead of him an Indian with drawn knife, +prepared to plunge it into him as he passed. By a mighty effort, he +broke through the line, but was soon recaptured, lashed with whips, +pelted with stones, branded with red-hot irons, and condemned to be +burnt at the stake. + +But before killing him, the Indians concluded to lend him to other towns +to have some sport with, so he was taken from town to town, compelled to +run the gauntlet at each one, and subjected to a variegated list of +tortures. Three or four times, he was tied to a stake for the final +execution, but each time the Indians decided to wait a while longer. +Finally, an Englishman got the Indians to consent to send Kenton for a +visit to Detroit, and he spent the winter there. Then, with two other +captives, and with the help of a kind-hearted Irish woman, he managed to +escape, and made his way back to Kentucky--over four hundred miles +through the Indian country, narrowly escaping death a hundred times--in +thirty-three days. + +There he learned that he need not have fled from Pennsylvania, that the +man with whom he had fought years before was not dead, but had +recovered. For the first time since his appearance in the west, he +assumed his real name, and was known thereafter as Simon Kenton. Soon +afterwards he returned to his old home, and brought the whole family +back with him to Kentucky. One would have thought he had had enough of +fighting, but he was with Wayne at the Fallen timbers and with William +Henry Harrison at the battle of the Thames. Sadly enough, the last years +of this old hero were passed in want. His land in Kentucky was taken +from him by speculators because he had failed to have it properly +registered, and he was imprisoned for debt on the spot where he had +reared the first cabin in northern Kentucky. + +In the spring of 1824, an old, tattered, weather-beaten figure appeared +on the streets of Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky. So strange and +wild it was that a gang of street boys gathered and ran hooting after +it. Men laughed--till suddenly, one of them, looking again, recognized +Simon Kenton. In a moment a guard of honor was formed, and the tattered +figure was conducted to the Capitol, placed in the speaker's chair, and +for the first and only time in his life, Simon Kenton received some +portion of the respect and homage to which his deeds entitled him. + + * * * * * + +Boone and Kenton, with a handful of hardy and fearless pioneers, laid +the foundations of Kentucky; but in the history of the "Old Northwest," +the country north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, one name +stands out transcendent; the name of a man as daring, as brave, as +resourceful as any on the border--George Rogers Clark. He was greater +than Boone or Kenton in that he had a wider vision; they saw only the +duties of the present; he saw the possibilities of the future, and his +exploits form one of the most thrilling chapters of American history. + +Clark, a Virginian by birth, started out in life as a surveyor, and +early in 1775, removed to Kentucky to follow his profession. There was, +no doubt, plenty of surveying to be done there, since the whole country +was an uncharted wilderness, but the beginning of the Revolution was +accompanied by an immediate outbreak of Indian hostilities, so serious +that the very existence of the Kentucky settlements was threatened. +Soon all but two of them, Boonesborough and Harrodsburg, had to be +abandoned. Boone was, of course, in command at his fort, and Clark, who +had seen some service in Dunmore's war, became the natural leader at +Harrod's. His influence rapidly increased, and he was chosen as a +delegate to journey to Williamsburg and urge upon Virginia the needs of +the western colony, which lay within her chartered limits. + +Clark set off without delay on the long and dangerous journey, reached +Williamsburg, gained an audience of Patrick Henry, the governor of +Virginia, and painted the needs of Kentucky in such colors that he soon +gained the sympathy of the impulsive and warm-hearted governor, and +together they secured from the Assembly a large gift of lead and powder +for the protection of the frontier. More than that, they succeeded in +making Virginia acknowledge her responsibility for the new colony by +constituting it the county of Kentucky. This, it may be added, put an +end forever to Henderson's dream of the independent colony of +Transylvania. + +Clark got his powder and ball safe to Harrodsburg just in time to repel +a desperate Indian assault; but it was evident that there would be no +safety for the Kentucky settlements so long as England controlled the +country north of the Ohio. All that region formed a part of what was +known as the Province of Quebec. Here and there dotted through it were +quaint little towns of French Creoles, the most important being +Detroit, Vincennes on the Wabash, and Kaskaskia and Kahokia on the +Illinois. These French villages were ruled by British officers +commanding small bodies of regular soldiers, and keeping the Indians in +a constant state of war against their Kentucky neighbors, furnishing +them with arms and ammunition, and rewarding them for every expedition +they undertook against the Americans. They had no idea that any band of +Americans which could be mustered west of the mountains would dare to +attack them, and so were careless in their guard, and maintained only +small garrisons at the various forts. + +All this Clark found out by means of spies which he sent through the +country, and finally, having his plan matured, he went again to Virginia +in December, 1777, and laid before Governor Henry his whole idea, +explaining in detail why he thought it could be carried out +successfully. Henry was at once enthused with it, so daring and full of +promise he thought it, and he enlisted the aid of Thomas Jefferson. The +result was that when Clark set out on his return journey, it was with +orders not only to defend Kentucky, but to attack Kaskaskia and the +other British posts, and he carried with him Ģ1,200 in paper money, and +an order on the commander of Fort Pitt for such boats and ammunition as +he might need. + +With great difficulty, Clark got together a force of about a hundred and +fifty men, one of whom was Simon Kenton. He could not get many +volunteers from Kentucky because the settlers there thought they had +all they could do to defend their own forts without going out to attack +the enemy's and only a few men could be spared. In May, 1778, this +little force started down the Ohio in flat boats, and landing just +before they reached the Mississippi, marched northward against +Kaskaskia, where the British commander of the entire district had his +headquarters. Clark knew that his force was outnumbered by the garrison +and that it would be necessary to surprise the town. After a six days' +march across country, he came to the outskirts of the village on the +evening of July 4th, and found a great dance in progress in the fort. +Waiting until the revelry was at its height, Clark advanced silently, +surprised the sentries, and surrounded the fort without causing any +alarm. Then with his men posted, Clark walked forward through the open +door, and leaning against the wall, watched the dancers, as they whirled +around by the light of the flaring torches. + +Suddenly an Indian, after looking at him for a moment, raised the +war-whoop; the dancing ceased, but Clark, shouting at the top of his +voice to still the confusion, bade the dancers continue, asking them +only to remember that thereafter they were dancing under the flag of the +United States, instead of that of Great Britain. A few moments later, +the commandant was captured in his bed, and the investment was complete. +The other settlements in the neighborhood surrendered at once, so that +the Illinois country was captured without the firing of a gun. + +But when the news reached the British governor, Hamilton, at Detroit, he +at once prepared to recapture the country. He had a much larger force at +his command than Clark could possibly muster, and in the fall of the +year he advanced against Vincennes at the head of over five hundred men. +The little American garrison was unable to oppose such a force and was +compelled to surrender. Instead of pushing on against Clark at +Kaskaskia, Hamilton disbanded his Indians and sent some of his troops +back to Detroit, and prepared to spend the winter at Vincennes. He +repaired the fort, strengthened the defenses, and then sat down for the +winter, confident that when spring came, he would again be master of the +whole Illinois country. + +Clark, at Kaskaskia, realized that it was a question of his taking the +British or the British taking him, and that, if he waited for spring, he +would have no chance at all; so he gathered together the pick of his +men, one hundred and seventy all told, and early in February, 1779, set +out for Vincennes. The task before him was to capture a force nearly +equal to his own, protected by a strong fort well supplied for a siege. + +At first the journey was easy enough, for they passed across the snowy +Illinois prairies, broken occasionally by great stretches of woodland, +but when they reached the drowned lands of the Wabash, the march became +almost incredibly difficult. The ice had just broken up and everything +was flooded; heavy rains set in, and when the men were not wading +through icy water, they were struggling through mud nearly knee-deep. +After twelve days of this, they came to the bank of the Embarass river, +only to find the country all under water, save one little hillock, where +they spent the night without food or fire. For four days they waited +there for the flood to retire, with practically nothing to eat; but the +rain continued and the flood increased, and Clark, finally, in +desperation, plunged into the water and called to his men to follow. All +day they waded, and toward evening reached a small patch of dry ground, +where they spent a miserable night. At sunrise Clark started on again, +through icy water waist-deep, this time with the stern command to shoot +the first laggard. Some of the men failed and sank beneath the waves, to +be rescued by the stronger ones, and by the middle of the afternoon they +had all got safe to land. By good fortune, they captured some Indian +squaws with a canoe-load of food, and had their first meal in two days. +Soon afterwards the sun came out, and they saw before them the walls of +the fort they had come to capture. + +The British had no suspicion of their danger, and they thought the first +patter of bullets against the palisades the usual friendly salute from +an Indian hunting party. But they were soon undeceived, and answered the +rifles with ineffective fire from their two small cannon. All night the +fight continued, and at dawn an Indian war-party, which had been +ravaging the Kentucky settlements, entered the town, ignorant that the +Americans had captured it. Marching up to the fort, they suddenly found +themselves surrounded and seized. In their belts they carried the scalps +of the settlers--men, women and children--they had slain, and, +infuriated at the sight, the Americans tomahawked the savages, one after +another, before the eyes of the British. + +Then Clark sent to the fort a peremptory summons to surrender, adding, +that "his men were eager to avenge the murder of their relatives and +friends and would welcome an excuse to storm the fort." To the British, +it seemed a choice between surrender and massacre. They had seen the +bloody vengeance wreaked upon their Indian allies, and they had every +reason to believe that they would be dealt with in the same manner, +since it was they who had set the Indians on. Clark was himself, of +course, in desperate straits, without means for carrying on a successful +siege, but the British were far from suspecting this, and at ten o'clock +on the morning of February 25, 1779, marched out and stacked arms, while +Clark fired a salute of thirteen guns in honor of the colonies, from +whose possession the Northwest was never again to pass. + +For eight years longer, Clark devoted his life to protecting the border +from British and Indian invasion. The war over, he returned to Kentucky, +and took up his abode in a little log cabin on the Ohio near Louisville. +He was without means, and a horrible accident marred his last years, +for, while alone in his cabin, he was stricken with paralysis, and fell +with one of his legs in the old-fashioned fire-place. There was no one +to draw him out of danger, and before the pain brought him partially to +his senses, his leg was so badly burned that it had to be amputated. +There were no anaesthetics in those days, but while the leg was being +removed, a fife and drum corps played its hardest at the bedside, and +the doughty old warrior kept time to the music with his fingers. + +He lived for ten years thereafter, though his paralysis never left him. +He felt keenly the ingratitude of the Republic which he had served so +well, and which yet, in his old age, abandoned him to want, and the +story is told that, when the state of Virginia sent him a sword of +honor, he thrust it into the ground and broke it with his crutch. + +"I gave Virginia a sword when she needed one," he said; "but now, when I +need bread, she sends me a toy!" + + * * * * * + +In the settlement of the country north of the Ohio, one man, a veteran +of the Revolution, was foremost. His name was Rufus Putnam, and he was a +cousin of that Israel Putnam, some of whose exploits we will soon +relate. He has been well called the "Father of Ohio," for he was the +founder of the first permanent white settlement made within the borders +of the state. He was born in 1738, at Sutton, Massachusetts, and his +early life was a hard and rough one. Left an orphan while still a child, +he was put to work as soon as he was big enough to be of any use, and +received practically no education, although he managed to teach himself +to read and write. He earned a few pennies by watering horses for +travelers, and with this money purchased a spelling-book and arithmetic. + +He served through the French war and the Revolution, rendering +distinguished service and retiring with the rank of brigadier-general; +and at its close, finding that Congress would be unable for a long time +to pay many of the soldiers for their services, he became interested in +the suggestion that payment be made in land along the Ohio river, and +offered to lead a band of settlers to their new homes. In March, 1786, +in Boston, he and some others formed the Ohio Company, and one of their +directors, Manasseh Cutler, a preacher of more than usual ability, was +selected to lay the company's plan before Congress. The result was the +famous ordinance of 1787, providing for the establishment and government +of the Northwest Territory, of which Arthur St. Clair was named +governor. Cutler also secured a large land grant for the new company, +and in the following year, Putnam started across the mountains with the +first band of emigrants. + +They reached the vicinity of Pittsburg after a weary journey, and there +built a boat which they named the Mayflower, and in it floated down the +river, until they reached the mouth of the Muskingum. On April 17, 1788, +they began the erection of a blockhouse, which was to be the nucleus of +the new settlement, and a place of defense in case of Indian attack. The +settlement was named Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette, the Queen +of France; it prospered from the first, and in a few years was a lively +little village. There were Indian alarms at first, but General Wayne's +victory secured a lasting peace. Putnam served as a brigadier-general in +Wayne's campaign, and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the +peace treaty. + +He lived for many years thereafter, and remained to the last the leading +man of the settlement. He was interested in every project for the +betterment of the new Commonwealth, helped to found the Ohio University +at Athens, was one of the drafters of the state constitution, and +founded the first Bible school west of the mountains. A venerable +figure, he died in 1824, having lived to see the valley which he had +entered a wilderness settled by hundreds of thousands, and the state +which he had helped to found become one of the greatest in the Union. + + * * * * * + +By the end of the eighteenth century, the country between the +Alleghanies and the Mississippi was fairly well known, first through the +explorations of such pioneers as Boone and Clark and Kenton, and, later +on, through the steady advance of civilization, forever throwing new +outposts westward. But beyond the great river stretched a mighty +wilderness whose character and extent were only guessed at. The United +States, of course, had little interest in it, since it belonged to +France, and since, east of the river, there were millions of acres as +yet unsettled; but when, in 1803, President Jefferson purchased it of +Napoleon Bonaparte for the sum of fifteen million dollars, all that was +changed. By that purchase, the area of the United States was more than +doubled; but there were many people at the time who opposed the purchase +on the ground that the country east of the river would never be +thoroughly settled and that there would be no use whatever for the great +territory west of it. So mistaken, sometimes, is human foresight! + +The President determined that this great addition to the Nation should +be explored without delay, and, securing from Congress the necessary +powers, he appointed his private secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to +head an expedition to the Pacific. + +Lewis was at that time twenty-nine years of age. He seems to have been +of an adventurous disposition for, despite the fact that he inherited a +fortune, he enlisted in the army as a private as soon as he was of age. +Five years later, he had risen to the rank of captain, and, attracting +the attention of President Jefferson, he was appointed his secretary. He +proved to be so capable and enterprising that the President selected him +for this dangerous and arduous task of exploration. With him was +associated Lieutenant William Clark, a brother of that hardy adventurer, +George Rogers Clark. + +William Clark, who was eighteen years younger than his famous brother, +had joined him in Kentucky in 1784, at the age of fourteen, and soon +became acquainted with the perils of Indian warfare. He was appointed +ensign in the army four years later, and rose to the rank of adjutant, +but was compelled to resign, from the service in 1796, on account of +ill-health. He settled at the half-Spanish town of St. Louis, and in +March, 1804, was appointed by President Jefferson a second lieutenant of +artillery, with orders to join Captain Lewis in his journey to the +Pacific. Clark was really the military director of the expedition, and +his knowledge of Indian life and character had much to do with its +success. + +The party consisted of twenty-eight men, and in the spring of 1804, +started up the Missouri, following it until late in October, when they +camped for the winter near the present site of Bismarck, North. Dakota. +They resumed the journey early in the spring, and in May, caught their +first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. Reaching the headwaters of the +Columbia, at last, they floated down its current, and on the morning of +November 7, 1806, after a journey of a year and a half, full of every +sort of hardship and adventure, they saw ahead of them the blue expanse +of the Pacific. They spent the winter on the coast, and reached St. +Louis again in September, 1807, having traversed over nine thousand +miles of unbroken wilderness where no white man had ever before set +foot. It was largely because of this expedition that our government was +able, forty years later, to claim and maintain a title to the state of +Oregon. + +Congress rewarded the members of the expedition with grants of land, +and Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri. But the strain of the +expedition to the Pacific had undermined his health; he became subject +to fits of depression, and on October 8, 1809, he put an end to his life +in a lonely cabin near Nashville, Tennessee, where he had stopped for a +night's lodging. Clark lived thirty years longer, serving as Indian +agent, governor of Missouri, and superintendent of Indian affairs. + +While Lewis and Clark were struggling across the continent, another +young adventurer was conducting some explorations farther to the east. +Zebulon Pike, aged twenty-seven, a captain in the regular army, was, in +1805, appointed to lead an expedition to the source of the Mississippi. +He accomplished this, after a hard journey lasting nine months; and, a +year later, leading another expedition to the southwest, discovered a +great mountain which he named Pike's Peak, and, continuing southward, +came out on the Rio Grande. He was in Spanish territory, and was held +prisoner for a time, but was finally released upon representations from +the government at Washington. He rose steadily in the service, and in +1813, during the second war with England, led an assault upon Little +York, now Toronto. The town was captured, but the fleeing British +exploded a powder magazine, and General Pike was crushed and killed +beneath the flying fragments. He died with his head on the British flag, +which had been hauled down and brought to him. + +The next step to be recorded in the growth of the United States is a +step variously regarded as infamous or glorious--but it was marked by +one of the most heroic incidents in history, and dominated by the +picturesque and remarkable personality of Sam Houston. + +The purchase of Louisiana from the French brought the United States in +direct contact with Mexico, which claimed a great territory in the +southwest, and, finally, in 1819, a line between the possessions of the +two countries was agreed upon. It left Mexico in possession of the wide +stretch of country now included in the states of California, Nevada, +Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of this +country was practically unknown to Americans, and the great stretches of +arid land which comprised large portions of it were considered worthless +and uninhabitable. But a good many Americans had drifted across the +border into the fertile plains of Texas, and settled there. As time went +on, the stream of immigration increased, until there were in the country +enough American settlers to take a prominent part in the revolt of +Mexico against Spain in 1824. The revolt was successful, and the country +which had discovered the New World lost her last foothold there. + +The settlers in Texas, coming as they did largely from the southern +states, were naturally slave-holders, but in 1829, Mexico abolished +slavery, an action which greatly enraged them. It is startling to +reflect that a country which we consider so inferior to ourselves should +have preceded us by over thirty years in this great step forward in +civilization. In other ways, the Mexican yoke was not a pleasant one to +the Texans, and within a few years, the whole country was in a state of +seething insurrection. President Jackson was eager to annex Texas, whose +value to the Union he fully recognized, and offered Mexico five million +dollars for the province, but the offer was refused. Such was the +condition of affairs when, in 1833, Sam Houston appeared upon the scene. + +The story of the life of this extraordinary man reads like a fable. Born +in Virginia in 1793, he was taken to Tennessee at the age of thirteen, +and promptly began his career by running away from home and joining the +Cherokee Indians. When his family found him, he refused to return home, +and the next seven years were spent largely in the wilderness with his +savage friends. The wild life was congenial to him, and he grew up rough +and head-strong and healthy. Then the Creek war broke out, and Houston +enlisted with Andrew Jackson. One incident of that war gives a better +insight into Houston's character than volumes of description. At the +battle of the Horseshoe, where the Creeks made a desperate stand, a +barbed arrow struck Houston in the thigh and sank deep into the flesh. +He tried to pull it out and failed. + +"Here," he called to a comrade, "pull out this arrow." + +The other took hold of the shaft of the arrow and pulled with all his +might, but could not dislodge it. + +"I can't get it out," he said, at last. + +"Oh, yes, you can!" cried Houston, and raised his sword. "Pull it out, +or it'll be worse for you!" + +The soldier saw he was in earnest, and, taking hold of the arrow again, +gave it a mighty wrench. It came out, but the barbs of the arrow tore +the flesh badly. Houston, however, paused only to tie up the wound +roughly, and hurried back into the fight, though Jackson ordered him to +the rear. Before long, two bullets struck him down, and he lay between +life and death for many days. + +Such desperate valor was exactly after "Old Hickory's" heart, and from +that time forward, Jackson was Houston's friend and patron. In 1818, he +managed to gain admittance to the bar, and his rise was so rapid that +within five years he had been elected to Congress, and four years later +governor of Tennessee. Then came the strange catastrophe which nearly +wrecked his life. + +Houston was, after Andrew Jackson, the most popular man in the state. He +resembled the hero of New Orleans in many ways, being rough, rude, +hot-headed and honest--just the sort of man to appeal to the people +among whom his lot was cast. When, therefore, in January, 1829, while +governor of the state, he married Miss Eliza Allen, a member of one of +the most prominent families in it, everybody wished him well, and the +wedding was a great affair. But scarcely was the honeymoon over, when he +sent his bride back to her parents, resigned the governorship, and, +refusing to give any explanation of his conduct, plunged into the +wilderness to the west. + +Perhaps the most characteristic feature of frontier society is its +chivalry toward women, and Houston's conduct brought about his head a +perfect storm of indignation. No doubt he had many enemies who welcomed +the opportunity to wreck his fame, and who gladly added their voices to +the uproar. From the most popular man, he became the most hated, and it +would have been dangerous for him to venture back within the state's +borders. Not until after his death, did his wife give any explanation of +his conduct. She stated that he had discovered that she loved another, +and that he had deserted her so that she could secure a divorce on the +ground of abandonment. That explanation, lame as it is, is the only one +ever offered by either of the principals. + +Meanwhile, Houston had joined his old friends, the Cherokees, now living +in Arkansas Territory, and asked to be admitted to the tribe. The +Indians expressed the opinion that he should have beaten his wife +instead of abandoning her, but nevertheless adopted him, and for three +years he lived their life, dressing, fighting, hunting and drinking +precisely like any Indian. The papers, meanwhile, were filled with +surmises concerning him. No one understood why he should have exiled +himself, and it was reported that he intended to lead the Cherokees into +Texas, conquer the country and set up a government of his own. President +Jackson wrote to him, protesting against "any such chimerical, visionary +scheme," which, needless to say, Houston had never entertained. These +rumors grew so annoying, that he issued a proclamation offering a prize +"To the Author of the Most Elegant, Refined, and Ingenious Lie or +Calumny" about him. + +The trouble culminated when Houston, having gone to Washington to plead +for his friends, the Indians, caned a member of Congress who had +slandered him on the floor of the House. He was arrested, and arraigned +before the bar of the House for "breach of privilege," and was +reprimanded by the Speaker and fined five hundred dollars--a fine which +President Jackson promptly remitted, remarking that a few more examples +of the same kind would teach Congressmen to keep civil tongues in their +heads. Houston's comment on the affair was, "I was dying out once, and, +had they taken me before a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars +for assault and battery, it would have killed me; but they gave me a +national tribunal for a theatre and it set me up again." + +It did "set him up" in earnest. The President, who always had a warm +place in his heart for him, helped by sending him--not, perhaps, without +some insight into the future--to Texas, to examine into the value of +that country, in case the United States should decide to buy it. What +Jackson's private instructions were can only be surmised, but, +certainly, Houston showed no hesitation or uncertainty after he reached +the scene. + +On December 10, 1832, he crossed into Mexican territory, and was soon at +the head of the Texas insurrectionists, who had determined to establish +a government of their own, and who found in Houston a leader after their +own hearts. Armed collisions between Texans and Mexican troops became +of common occurrence, and the spirit of revolt spread so rapidly that +Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, sent an army under General Cos to pacify +the country and drive the Americans out. + +It was the spark in the magazine. All Texas sprang to arms under such +leaders as Houston, Austin, Travis, Bonham, Fannin, "Deaf" Smith, and +"Ben" Milam; took Goliad, where Milam lost his life heading a desperate +assault; captured Concepįion and San Antonio, until, by the middle of +December, 1836, not a Mexican soldier was left north of the Rio Grande. +But Houston, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan +forces, knew they would return, and bent every effort to organize a +disciplined army. It was a difficult thing to do with the high-tempered +and lawless elements at hand; everything was disorder and confusion, and +meanwhile came word that Santa Anna himself, at the head of an army of +six thousand men, was entering Texas. + +No effective opposition could be offered such an army; the San Antonio +garrison was entrapped in the old mission called The Alamo and killed to +the last man; Fannin and his force, three hundred and fifty strong, were +cornered at Goliad and brutally shot down in detachments after they had +surrendered; and Santa Anna, certain that Texas had been conquered, +divided his army into columns to occupy the country. Houston only was +left, and the fate of Texas hung on his little force; he knew he could +strike but once; if he were defeated, the war for independence would +end then and there; so he watched and waited, gathering together the +stragglers, keeping them in heart, laboring like a very Hercules. +Hundreds of miles away, in Washington, old Andrew Jackson, a map of +Texas before him, followed with his finger the retreat as far as he knew +it, and paused with in on San Jacinto. + +"Here's the place," he said. "If Sam Houston's worth one bawbee, he'll +stand here and give 'em a fight." + +And so it was. It makes the pulses thrill, even yet, the story of that +twenty-first of April, 1836; how Houston destroyed the bridge behind +them, so that there could be no retreat, and then, on his great gray +horse, tried to address his men, but could only cry: "Remember The +Alamo"; how old Rusk could say not even that, but choked with a sob at +the first word, and waved his hand toward the enemy; how the solitary +fife struck up, "Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?" +while those seven hundred gaunt, starved, ragged phantoms, burning with +rage at the thought of their comrades foully slain, deployed on the open +prairie and charged the unsuspecting Mexican army. It was over in half +an hour--the enemy annihilated, 630 killed, 200 wounded, 700 +prisoners--among the prisoners Santa Anna himself, begging for mercy. +And Aaron Burr, dying in New York with the vision of his Texan empire +still before him, reading, weeks later, the news of the victory, cried +out, "I was thirty years too soon!" + +There was never any question, after that, of Texan independence; Santa +Anna, to save a life forfeited a hundred times over, was ready to agree +to any terms. Houston was a popular hero; Texas was his child, and he +was unanimously chosen President of the new Republic. From the first, +Houston, recalling the wishes of his old leader, Andrew Jackson, sought +annexation to the United States, and the debates over the question in +Congress nearly disrupted the Union. For the North feared the effects of +such a tremendous addition to slave territory, from which three or four +states might be carved, and so destroy the balance of power between +North and South. Again, Mexico, which still dreamed of reconquering +Texas, notified the United States that annexation would be considered a +declaration of war; but Houston pressed the question with great +adroitness, it was evident that Texas really belonged in the Union, and +on March 1, 1845, Congress passed the resolution of annexation, and +Houston and Husk, the heroes of San Jacinto, were at once elected +senators. + +In the brief but brilliant war with Mexico which followed, which is +considered more in detail in connection with the life of Winfield Scott, +and which resulted in the securing of the great Southwest for the United +States, Houston played no part, except as a member of the Senate, where +he remained until 1859, being defeated finally by a secessionist. For, +true to the precepts of Jackson, he was from the first bitterly opposed +to nullification and secession. The same year, he was elected governor +of Texas, turning a Union minority into a triumphant majority by the +wizardry of his personality. He could not prevent secession, however, +but he refused to take the oath to the Confederate government required +by the legislature and was deposed. Martial law being established, an +officer one day demanded Houston's pass. + +"San Jacinto," he answered, and went on his way, nor did any dare molest +him. But he was worn out and aging fast, and the end came toward the +close of July, 1863. + +Reference has been made to the capture of the old mission at San Antonio +known as "The Alamo," and a brief account must be given of the +remarkable group of men who lost their lives there--David Crockett, +James Bowie, and William Barrett Travis. Crockett was perhaps the most +famous of the three, and his name is still more or less of a household +word throughout the middle West, while some of his stories have passed +into proverbs. He was the most famous rifle shot in the whole country +and the most successful hunter. Born in Tennessee soon after the +Revolutionary war, of an Irish father, he ran away from home after a few +days' schooling, knocked about the country, served through the Creek war +under Andrew Jackson, and gained so much popularity by his hunting +stories, with which he held great audiences spellbound, that he was +elected to the State legislature and then to Congress, though he had +never read a newspaper. In Congress, he managed to antagonize Andrew +Jackson, not a difficult task by any means, with the result that +Jackson, who carried Tennessee in his vest pocket, effectively ended +Crockett's political career. Crockett left the state in disgust, seeking +new worlds to conquer, and hearing of the struggle in Texas, decided to +join the revolutionists. + +By boat and on horseback, he made his way toward the distant plains +where the Texans were waging their life and death struggle against the +Mexicans. More than one hairbreadth escape did the old hunter have from +Indians, desperadoes and wild beasts, but he finally got to the +neighborhood of San Antonio, and fell in with another adventurer, a +bee-hunter, also on his way to join the Texans. They soon learned that a +great Mexican army was marching on San Antonio, and that the defenders +of the place had gathered in the old mission called "The Alamo." There +were only a hundred and fifty of them, while the Mexican army numbered +four thousand; but they had made up their minds to hold the place, a +mere shell, utterly unable to withstand artillery, or even a regular and +well-directed assault. It was plain enough that to attempt to defend the +place against such an overwhelming force was desperate in the extreme, +but Crockett and his companion kept straight on, and were soon inside +The Alamo. A few days later, Santa Anna's great army camped around it. + +In command of The Alamo garrison was Colonel Travis, a young man of +twenty-five; an Alabaman, admitted to the bar there, but driven out of +his native state by financial troubles, and casting in his lot with the +Texas revolutionists, among whom he soon acquired considerable +influence. The third of the trio, Colonel Bowie, was a native of +Georgia, but had settled in Louisiana, where, nine years before, he had +been a participant in a celebrated affray. Two gentlemen, becoming +involved in a quarrel, decided to settle it in approved fashion by a +duel, and, accompanied by their friends, among whom was Bowie, adjourned +to a convenient place and took a shot at each other without doing any +damage. They were about to declare honor satisfied and to shake hands, +when a dispute arose among their friends, and before it was over, +fifteen were killed and six were badly injured. Bowie distinguished +himself by stabbing a man to death with a knife made from a large file. +The weapon was afterwards sent to Philadelphia and there fashioned into +the deadly knife which has ever since been known by his name. The +prospect of trouble in Texas naturally attracted him, he was made +colonel of militia there, and dispatched to The Alamo with a small force +by General Houston early in 1836. + +Here, then, in this old and crumbling Spanish mission, toward the end of +February, were gathered a hundred and fifty Texans, a wild and +undisciplined band, impatient of restraint or control, but men of iron +courage and the best shots on the border, with Travis in command; while +without was the army of Santa Anna. On February 24th, Travis, in a +letter asking for reinforcements, announced the siege and added that he +would never surrender or retreat. Early in March, thirty-two men from +Gonzales, knowing they were going to well-nigh certain death, made their +way into the fort, raising its garrison to 180. + +Santa Anna demanded unconditional surrender, and Travis answered with a +cannon-shot; whereat, on the morning of the sixth of March, the Mexican +army stormed the fort from all sides, swarmed in through breaches and +over the walls, which the Texans were too few to man, and a desperate +hand-to-hand conflict followed. To and fro between the shattered walls +the fight reeled, each tall Texan the centre of a group of foes, +fighting with a wild and desperate courage; but the odds were too great, +and one by one they fell, thrust through with bayonets or riddled by +bullets. Colonel Travis fell, and so did Bowie, sick and weak from a +wasting disease, but rising from his bed, and dying fighting with his +great knife red with the blood of his foes. At last a single man stood +at bay. It was Davy Crockett. + +Wounded in a dozen places, ringed about by the bodies of the men he had +slain, he stood facing his foes, his back against a wall, knife in hand, +daring them to come on. No one dared to run in upon that old lion. So +they held him there with their lances, while, the musketeers loaded +their carbines and shot him down. Not a man of the garrison was left +alive, but each of them had avenged himself four times over, for the +Mexican loss was over five hundred. So ended one of the most heroic +events in American history. "Thermopylae had its messengers of death; The +Alamo had none." + + * * * * * + +One more era remains to be recorded, that in which the United States +confirmed its hold upon the Pacific coast, and here again the story is +that of the lives of three men--Marcus Whitman, John Augustus Sutter, +and John Charles Frémont. It was Whitman who brought home to the Nation +the value of Oregon by a spectacular ride from ocean to ocean; it was +Sutter who led the way for an American invasion of California, and who +gave impetus to that invasion by the discovery of gold; and it was +Frémont who led the revolution there against the Mexicans, and who +secured the country's independence. + +The explorations of Lewis and Clark, early in the century, had made the +country along the Columbia river known to the East in a dim way, but it +was so distant and so inaccessible that it excited little interest. Just +before the second war with England, John Jacob Astor had attempted to +carry out a far-reaching plan for the development of the country and the +securing of its great fur trade, but the outbreak of the war had stopped +all efforts in that direction, and Astor never took them up again. +Meanwhile through Canada, the Hudson Bay Company, a great English +concern engaged in the fur trade, had extended its stations to the +Pacific coast, and was quietly taking possession of the country. + +In 1834, the American board of missions, learning of the need for a +missionary among the Oregon Indians, appointed Marcus Whitman to the +work. Whitman was at that time thirty-two years of age and was just +about to be married. His betrothed agreed to accompany him on his +perilous mission, and, after great difficulty, he secured an associate +in the person of Rev. H.H. Spalding, also just married. What a bridal +trip that was! At Pittsburg, George Catlin, who knew the western Indians +better than any living man, having spent years among them, warned them +of the folly of attempting to take women across the plains; at +Cincinnati, they were greeted by William Moody, only forty-five years of +age and yet the first white man born there; at the frontier town of St. +Louis, they joined a hunting expedition up the Missouri, and by June 6, +1836, were at Laramie. + +A month later, they crossed the Great Divide by the South Pass, +"discovered," six years later, by Frémont; and toward the end of July, +they came to the great mountain rendezvous of traders and trappers high +in the mountains near Fort Hall. Some of those men had not seen a white +woman for a quarter of a century. You can imagine, then, what a +sensation the arrival of Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding occasioned, and +with what warmth they were welcomed. Ten days they tarried there, then +pressed on westward, and on September 2, 1836, after a journey of +thirty-five hundred miles, the gates of Fort Walla-Walla, on the lower +Columbia, opened to receive them, and the conquest of Oregon began. + +Fort Walla-Walla belonged to the Hudson Bay Company, which had +undisputed control of the rich Oregon fur trade, and which was +determined to retain it at any cost. So the difficulties of the Oregon +trail were invariably exaggerated, and immigration from the states +systematically discouraged. Nevertheless, in the years following +Whitman's arrival, other parties of missionaries and settlers worked +their way into the country, until, in 1842, their number reached about a +hundred and fifty. The Hudson Bay Company realized that neither England +nor America had a clear title to the region, and that its population +must, in the end, determine its nationality. Consequently it bent every +effort to hurry English settlers into the country. In October, 1842, +Whitman was dining with a company of Englishmen at Walla-Walla, when a +messenger arrived with news of the approach of a large body of settlers +from Canada. A shout arose: "Hurrah for Oregon! America is too late! +We've got the country!" And Whitman, at a glance, saw through the plan. + +Twenty-four hours later, he had started to ride across the continent to +carry the news to Washington. He had caught the import of the news, had +grasped its consequences, and he was determined that Oregon, with its +great forests and broad prairies, its mighty rivers, and its +unparalleled richness, should be saved for the Union. If the Nation only +knew the value of the prize, England would never be permitted to carry +it off. His wife and friends protested against the desperate +venture--four thousand miles on horseback--for it would soon be the dead +of winter, with snow hiding the trail and filling the passes, with +streams ice-blocked and winter-swollen, and last but not least, with the +Blackfoot Indians on the warpath. But he would listen to none of this: +his duty, as he conceived it, lay clear before him; he was determined to +set out at once. Amos Lovejoy volunteered to accompany him, a busy night +was spent in preparation, and the next day they were off. + +No diary of that remarkable journey was kept by Dr. Whitman, but most of +its incidents are known. Terribly severe weather was encountered almost +at the start, for ten days they were snowed up in the mountains, and +long before the journey ended, were reduced to rations of dog and mule +meat. But they struggled on, more than once losing the way and giving +themselves up for lost, and on March 3, 1843, just five months from +Walla-Walla, Whitman entered Washington. + +His spectacular ride rivetted public attention upon the far western +country, and the information which he gave concerning it opened the +Nation's eyes to its value. When he returned, later in the year, to the +banks of the Columbia, he took back with him a train of two hundred +wagons and a thousand settlers--a veritable army of occupation which the +British could not match. Three years later, so steadily did the tide +continue which Whitman had started, the American population had risen +to over ten thousand, there was never any further real uncertainty as to +whom Oregon belonged, and the treaty of 1846 settled the question for +all time. + +The new territory was soon to be the scene of a terrible tragedy. The +white man had brought new diseases into it, measles, fevers, and even, +smallpox; they spread rapidly among the Indians, aggravated by their +imprudence and ignorance of proper treatment, and many died. The Indians +became convinced that the missionaries were to blame, and it is claimed, +too, that the emissaries of the Hudson Bay Company urged them on. +However that may have been, on the twenty-ninth of November, 1847, the +Indians fell upon the missionaries and killed fifteen, of them, among +the dead being Marcus Whitman and his wife. So ended the life of the man +who saved Oregon, and of the woman who was the first of her sex to cross +the continent. + +Meanwhile, far to the south, a drama scarcely less thrilling was +enacting, its chief personage being John Augustus Sutter. Sutter was a +Swiss and had received a military education and served in the Swiss +Guard before coming to America in 1834. He settled first at St. Louis +and then at Santa Fé, where he gained considerable experience as a +trader. Finally, in 1838, he decided to cross the Rockies, and after +trading for a time in a little schooner up and down the coast, was +wrecked in San Francisco Bay. He made his way inland, and founded the +first white settlement in the country on the site of what is now +Sacramento. Here, in 1841, he built a fort, having secured a large grant +of land from the Mexican Government, and set up what was really a little +empire in the wilderness, over which he reigned supreme. And here, three +years later, down from the snow-filled and tempest-swept passes of the +Rockies, came a party of starving and frost-bitten scarecrows, the +exploring expedition headed by John Charles Frémont, of whom we shall +speak presently. + +The rest of Sutter's history is soon told. In 1848, when Mexico ceded +California to the United States, he was the owner of a vast domain, over +which thousands of head of cattle wandered. A few years later, he was +practically a ruined man--ruined by gold. On the eighteenth day of +January, 1848, one of his men named Marshall, brought to Sutter a lump +of yellow metal which he had uncovered while digging a mill-race. There +could be no doubt of it--it was gold! News of the great discovery soon +got about; there was a great rush for this new Eldorado; Sutter's land +was overrun with gold-seekers, who cared nothing for his rights, and +when he attempted to defend his titles in the courts, they were declared +invalid, and his land was taken from him. To crown his disasters, his +homestead was destroyed by fire; finding himself ruined, without land +and without money, he gave up the struggle in despair and returned east, +passing his last years in poverty in a little town in Pennsylvania. + +Frémont, meantime, had done a great work for California. The son of a +Frenchman, showing an early aptitude for mathematics, he had secured an +appointment to the United States engineering corps, and, after various +minor expeditions in which he had acquitted himself well, was put in +charge of an expedition for the exploration of the Rocky Mountains. He +was fortunate at the start in securing the services as guide and +interpreter of that famous hunter and plainsman, Kit Carson, whose life +had been passed on the prairies, who knew more Indians and Indian +dialects than any other white man, and who was, to his generation, what +Davy Crockett was to an earlier one. To Carson a great share of the +expedition's success was no doubt due, and it was so successful that in +the following year, Frémont was leading another over the country between +the Rockies and the Pacific. This one was almost lost in the mountains, +and came near perishing of cold and hunger, but, finally, in March, +1844, managed to struggle through to Sutter's Fort. + +Frémont found California in a state of unrest amounting almost to +insurrection against Mexican rule, and as the number of white settlers +increased, this feeling grew, until Mexico, becoming alarmed, sent an +armed force to occupy the country. The show of force was the one thing +needed to fire the magazine; the settlers sprang to arms as one man, +and, under Frémont's leadership, defeated the Mexicans and drove them +southward across the border. Soon afterwards, General Kearny marched in +from the east, from his remarkable and bloodless conquest of New Mexico, +with a force sufficient to render it certain that California would +never again be taken by the Mexicans. + +On the fourth of July, 1849, Frémont was chosen governor of the new +territory, and in the following year, arranged the treaty by which +California passed permanently to the United States. The new state was +quick to reward him and sent him to the Senate, where he gained +sufficient prominence to receive the nomination of the anti-slavery +party for the presidency in 1856. He never had any chance of election, +for the reform party had not yet sufficient strength, and was defeated +by Buchanan. He served with some distinction in the Civil War, gaining +considerable notoriety, while in charge of the Western Department in +1861, by issuing a proclamation freeing the slaves of secessionists in +Missouri. The proclamation drew forth some laudatory verses from John G. +Whittier, but was promptly countermanded by President Lincoln. Soon +afterwards, Frémont became involved in personal disputes with his +superior officers, was relieved from active service, and the remainder +of his life was spent in private enterprises. + + * * * * * + +Fremont's "pathfinding" virtually completed the exploration of the +country. A few secluded nooks and corners became known only as the tide +of immigration crept into them; but in its general features, the great +continent, on whose eastern shore the white man was fighting for a +foothold two centuries before, was known from ocean to ocean. It had +been conquered and occupied by a dominant race, and won for +civilization. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +BOONE, DANIEL. Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1735; +settled at Holman's Ford, North Carolina, 1748; explored Kentucky, +1769-70; founded Boonesborough, 1775; moved to Missouri, 1795; died at +Charette, Missouri, September 26, 1820. + +KENTON, SIMON, Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, April 3, 1755; fled to +the West, 1771; ranged western country as a spy, 1776-78; with George +Rogers Clark's expedition, 1778; commanded a battalion of Kentucky +volunteers under Wayne, 1793-94; brigadier-general of Ohio militia, +1805; at battle of the Thames, 1813; died in Logan County, Ohio, April +29, 1836. + +CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS. Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, +1752; settled in Kentucky, 1775; major of militia, 1776; sent as +delegate to Virginia, 1776; second journey to Virginia, 1777; started on +Illinois expedition, June 24, 1778; captured Kaskaskia, July 4, 1778; +captured Vincennes, February 24, 1779; defeated Miami Indians and +destroyed villages, 1782; died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 18, +1818. + +PUTNAM, RUFUS. Born in Sutton, Massachusetts, April 9, 1738; served in +campaigns against the French, 1757-60; superintended defenses of New +York City, 1776; superintended construction of fortifications at West +Point, 1778; promoted to brigadier-general, January 7, 1783; founded +Marietta, Ohio, April 7, 1788; judge of Supreme Court of Northwest +Territory, 1789; served as brigadier-general under Wayne, 1792-93; +member of Ohio Constitutional Convention, 1803; formed first Bible +society west of the Alleghanies, 1812; died at Marietta, Ohio, May 1, +1824. + +LEWIS, MERIWETHER. Born near Charlottesville, Virginia, August 18, 1774; +entered United States army, 1795; promoted captain, 1800; private +secretary to President Jefferson, 1801-03; explored country west of +Mississippi, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1808; killed +himself near Nashville, Tennessee, October 8, 1809. + +CLARK, WILLIAM. Born in Virginia, August 1, 1770; removed to Kentucky, +1774; lieutenant of infantry, March 7, 1792; resigned from service, +July, 1796; removed to St. Louis, 1796; accompanied Meriwether Lewis on +western explorations, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1813-21; +superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1822-38; died at St. Louis, September +1, 1838. + +PIKE, ZEBULON MONTGOMERY. Born at Lamberton, New Jersey, January 5, +1779; entered United States army, 1799; captain, 1806; conducted +exploring expeditions in Louisiana Territory, 1805-07; major, 1808; +colonel, 1812; brigadier-general, March 12, 1813; died in assault on +York (now Toronto), Canada, April 27, 1813. + +HOUSTON, SAMUEL. Born near Lexington, Virginia, March 2, 1793; served in +war of 1812; member of Congress from Tennessee, 1823-27; governor of +Tennessee, 1827-29; defeated Mexicans at San Jacinto, April, 1836; +President of Texas, 1836-38 and 1841-44; United States senator from +Texas, 1845-59; governor of Texas, 1859-61; died at Huntersville, Texas, +July 25, 1863. + +CROCKETT, DAVID. Born at Limestone, Tennessee, August 17, 1786; member +of Congress, 1827-33; served in Texan war, 1835-36; killed at The Alamo, +San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, March 6, 1836. + +BOWIE, JAMES. Born in Burke County, Georgia, about 1790; notorious in +duel of 1827; went to Texas, 1835; made colonel of Texan army, 1835; +killed at the Alamo, March 6, 1836. + +TRAVIS, WILLIAM BARRETT. Born in Conecuh County, Alabama, 1811; admitted +to the bar, 1830; went to Texas, 1832; killed at the Alamo, March 6, +1836. + +WHITMAN, MARCUS. Born in Rushville, Ontario County, New York, September +4, 1802; appointed missionary to Oregon, 1834; reached Fort Walla Walla, +September 2, 1836; started on ride across continent, October 3, 1842; +reached Washington, March 3, 1843; took great train of emigrants back to +Oregon, 1843; killed by Indians at Waülatpu, Oregon, November 29, 1847. + +SUTTER, JOHN AUGUSTUS. Born in Kandern, Baden, February 15, 1803; +graduated at military college at Berne, Switzerland, 1823; served in +Swiss Guard through Spanish campaign, 1823-24; emigrated to America and +settled at St. Louis, 1834; crossed Rocky Mountains, 1838; settled in +California, 1839; built fort on present site of Sacramento, 1841; gold +discovered on his ranch, January 18, 1848; homestead burned, 1864; +removed to Litiz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1873; died at +Washington, D.C., June 17, 1880. + +FRÉMONT, JOHN CHARLES. Born at Savannah, Georgia, January 21, 1813; +explored South Pass, Rocky Mountains, 1842; Pacific Slope, 1843-45; +took part in conquest of California, 1846-47; United States senator from +California, 1850-51; Republican candidate for presidency, 1856; Federal +Commander of Department of the West, 1861; governor of Arizona, 1878-82; +died at New York City, July 13, 1890. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GREAT SOLDIERS + + +We have seen how the great crises in our country's history have produced +great men to deal with them. We shall see now how great wars produce +great soldiers. The Revolution produced them; the Civil War produced +them. The second war with England, and the war with Spain failed to +produce them because they were too quickly ended, and without desperate +need. They served, however, to pierce certain gold-laced bubbles which +had been strutting about the stage pretending to be great and impressing +many people with their greatness; but which were, in reality, great only +in self-conceit, and in that colossal! So did the Revolution and the +Civil War, at first, and costly work it was until the last of them had +vanished, to be replaced by men who knew how to fight; for it seems one +of the axioms of history that the fiercer your soldier is in peace, the +more useless he is on a battlefield. The war with Mexico, by a fortunate +chance, found a few good fighters ready at hand, and so was pushed +through in the most brilliant way. One trembles to think how the +Revolution might have begun--and ended!--but for the fact that +Washington, experienced in warfare and disdaining gold lace and empty +boasts, was, by a fortunate chance, chosen commander-in-chief. That +choice is our greatest debt to John and Samuel Adams. + + * * * * * + +Early in the eighteenth century, there lived in the old historic town of +Salem, Massachusetts, Joseph Putnam and his wife, Elizabeth. They +already had nine children, and, in 1718, a tenth was born to them and +they named him Israel, which means a soldier of God. His career was +destined to be one of the most romantic and adventurous in American +history, but none of his brothers or sisters managed to get into the +lime-light of fame. + +Israel himself started in tamely enough as a farmer, having bought a +tract of five hundred acres down in Connecticut. Wild animals had been +pretty well exterminated by that time, but one old she-wolf still had +her den not far from Putnam's farm, and one night she came out and +amused herself by killing sixty or seventy of his fine sheep. When +Putnam found them stretched upon the ground next morning, a great rage +seized him; he swore that that wolf should never have the chance to do +such another night's work; he tracked her to her cave, and descending +without hesitation into the dark and narrow entrance, shot straight +between the eyes he saw gleaming at him through the darkness, and +dragged the carcass out into the daylight. That incident gives some idea +of Israel Putnam's temper, and what desperate things he was capable of +doing when his blood was up. + +That was in 1735, and twenty years elapsed before he again appeared upon +the page of history. But in 1755 began the great war with France, and +for the next ten years, Putnam's life was fairly crowded with incident. +Connecticut furnished a thousand men to resist the expected French +invasion, and Putnam was put in command of a company with the rank of +captain. His company acted as rangers, and for two years did remarkable +service in harassing the enemy and in warning the settlers against +lurking bands of Indians, set on by the French. On more than one +occasion, he saved his life by the closest margin. He was absolutely +fearless, and this, together with a clear head and quick eye, carried +him safely through peril after peril, any one of which would have proved +the death of a man less resolute. + +He saved a party of soldiers from the Indians by steering them in a +bateau safely down the dangerous rapids of the Hudson; he saved Fort +Edward from destruction by fire at the imminent risk of his life, +working undaunted although the flames were threatening, every moment, to +explode the magazine; a year later, captured by the Indians, who feared +and hated him, he was bound to a stake, after some preliminary tortures, +and a pile of fagots heaped about him and set on fire. The flames were +searing his flesh, when a French officer happened to come up and rescued +him. These are but three incidents out of a dozen such. He seemed to +bear a charmed life, and any of his men would willingly have died for +him. In 1765, when he returned home after ten years of continuous +campaigning, it was with the rank of colonel, and a reputation for +daring and resourcefulness second to none in New England. + +Ten years of quiet followed, and Israel Putnam was fifty-seven years of +age--an age when most men consider their life work done. On the +afternoon of April 20, 1775, he was engaged in hauling some stones from +a field with a team of oxen, when he heard galloping hoofbeats down the +road, and looking up, saw a courier riding up full speed. The courier +paused only long enough to shout the tidings of the fight at Concord, +and then spurred on again. Putnam, leaving his oxen where they stood, +threw himself upon horseback, without waiting to don his uniform, and at +sunrise next day, galloped into Cambridge, having travelled nearly a +hundred miles! Verily there were giants in those days! + +He was placed in command of the Connecticut forces with the rank of +brigadier-general, and soon afterwards was one of four major-generals +appointed by the Congress for the Continental army. For four years +thereafter he took a conspicuous part in the war, bearing himself always +with characteristic gallantry. But the machine had been worn out by +excessive exertion; in 1779 he was stricken with paralysis, and the last +years of his life were passed quietly at home. For sheer, extravagant +daring, which paused at no obstacle and trembled at no peril, he has, +perhaps, never had his equal among American soldiers. + +Not far from West Greenwich, Connecticut, there is a steep and rocky +bluff, the scene of one of Putnam's most extraordinary feats, performed +only a short time before he was stricken down. An expedition, fifteen +hundred strong, had been sent by the British against West Greenwich, and +Putnam rallied a company to oppose the invaders, but his little force +was soon routed and dispersed, and sought to escape across country with +the British in hot pursuit. Putnam, prominent as the leader of the +Americans, was hard pressed, and his horse, weary from a long march, was +failing; his capture seemed certain, for the enemy gained upon him +rapidly; when suddenly, he turned his horse down the steep bluff at his +side, reached the bottom in safety by some miracle, and rode away in +triumph, leaving his astonished and baffled pursuers at the top, for not +one dared follow him! + + * * * * * + +I have spoken of how the test of war winnows the wheat from the chaff. +This was so in those days as in these, and, as an amusing proof of it, +one has only to glance over the names of the generals appointed by the +Congress at the same time as Putnam. Artemas Ward, Seth Pomeroy, William +Heath, Joseph Spencer, David Wooster, John Thomas, John Sullivan--what +cursory student of American history knows anything of them? Four others +are better remembered--Richard Montgomery, for the gallant and hopeless +assault upon Quebec in which he lost his life; Charles Lee for +disobeying Washington's orders at the battle of Monmouth and provoking +the great Virginian to an historic outburst of rage; Nathanael Greene +for his masterly conduct of the war in the South; Horatio Gates, first +for a victory over Burgoyne which he did very little to bring about, and +second for his ill-starred attempt to supplant Washington as +commander-in-chief. + +Let us pause for a glance at Gates. Born in England, he had seen service +in the British army, and had been badly wounded at Braddock's defeat, +but managed to escape from the field. He resigned from the army, after +that, and settled in Virginia, where his supposed military prowess won +him the appointment of brigadier-general at the outbreak of the +Revolution. He secured command of the Northern army, which had gathered +to resist the great force which was marching south from Canada under +John Burgoyne. He found the field already prepared by General Schuyler, +a much more able officer. Stark had defeated and captured a strong +detachment at Bennington, and Herkimer had won the bloody battle of +Oriskany; the British army was hemmed in by a constantly-increasing +force of Americans, and was able to drag along only a mile a day; +Burgoyne and his men were disheartened and apprehensive of the future, +while the Americans were exultant and confident of victory. In such +circumstances, on September 19, 1777, was fought the first battle of +Bemis Heights, a bloody and inconclusive struggle, supported wholly by +the division of Benedict Arnold, who behaved so gallantly that Gates, +who had not even ridden on the field of battle, was consumed with +jealousy, took Arnold's division away from him, and did not mention him +in the dispatches describing the battle. + +The eve of the second battle found the most successful and popular +general in the American army without a command. Gates, deeming victory +certain, thought it safe to insult Arnold, and banished him to his tent; +but on October 7th, when the second struggle was in progress, Arnold, +seeing the tide of battle going against his men, threw himself upon his +horse and dashed into the conflict. In a frenzy of rage, he dressed the +lines, rallied his men, who cheered like mad when they saw him again at +their head, and led a charge which sent the British reeling back. He +pursued the fleeing enemy to their entrenchments, and dashed forward to +storm them, but, in the very sally-port, horse and rider fell +together--the horse dead, the rider with a shattered leg. That ended the +battle which he had virtually conducted in the most gallant manner +imaginable. Had he died then, he would have been a national hero--but +another fate awaited him! + +Gates had not been on the field. He had remained in his tent, ready to +ride away in case of defeat. He had ordered all the baggage wagons +loaded, ready to retreat, for he was by no means the kind of general who +burns his bridges behind him. His jealousy of Arnold mounted to fever +heat, but that hero, lying grievously wounded in his tent, was for the +moment beyond reach of his envy. + +Burgoyne attempted to retreat, but found it was too late. Surrounded +and hemmed in on every side, he turned and turned for six days seeking +vainly for some way out; but there was no escaping, the American army +was growing in numbers and confidence daily, and his own supplies were +running short. Pride and ambition yielded at last to stern necessity and +he surrendered. + +Gates, believing himself a second Alexander, became so inflated with +conceit that he did not even send a report of the surrender to +Washington, but communicated it direct to the Congress, over the head of +his commander-in-chief. Weak and envious, he entered heart and soul into +the plot to supplant Washington in supreme command; but his real +incompetency was soon apparent, for, at the battle of Camden, making +blunder after blunder, he sent his army to disastrous defeat, and was +recalled by the Congress, his northern laurels, as had been predicted, +changed to southern willows. So blundering had been his conduct of the +only campaign that he had managed that his military career ended then +and there, and the remainder of his life was spent upon his estate in +Virginia. + +No doubt his petty and ignoble spirit rejoiced at the downfall of the +brilliant man who had won for him his victories over Burgoyne. Let us +speak of him for a moment. In remembering Arnold the traitor, we are apt +to forget Arnold the general. There is, of course, no excuse for +treason, and yet Arnold had without doubt suffered grave injustice. He +was by nature rash to recklessness, at home on the battlefield and +delighting in danger, with a real genius for the management of a battle +and a personality whose charm won him the absolute devotion of his men. +But he was also proud and selfish, and these qualities caused his ruin. + +Let us do him justice. Two days after the battle of Concord, he had +marched into Cambridge at the head of a company of militia which he had +collected at New Haven; it was he who suggested the expedition against +Ticonderoga and who marched into the fortress side by side with Ethan +Allen; it was he who led an expedition against Quebec, accomplishing one +of the most remarkable marches in history, and, after a brilliant +campaign, retreated only before overwhelming numbers; on Lake Champlain +he engaged in a naval battle, one of the most desperate ever fought by +an American fleet, which turned back a British invasion and delayed +Burgoyne's advance for a year; while visiting his home at New Haven, a +British force invaded Connecticut, and Arnold, raising a force of +volunteers, drove them back to their ships and nearly captured them; +then, rejoining the northern army, he rendered the most gallant service, +turned Saint Leger back from Oriskany and won virtually unaided the two +battles of Saratoga, which resulted in Burgoyne's surrender. + +It will be seen from this that, to the end of 1777, no man in the +American army had rendered his country more signal service. Indeed, +there was none who even remotely approached Arnold in glory of +achievement. But from the first he had been the victim of petty +persecution, and of circumstances which kept from him the credit rightly +due him; and a cabal against him in the Congress prevented his receiving +his proper rank in the service. We have seen how Gates made no reference +to him in reporting the brilliant victory at Saratoga; and the same +thing had happened to him again and again. His close friendship with +Washington caused the latter's enemies to do him all the harm they +could, and Arnold, disgusted at his country's ingratitude, gradually +drifted into Tory sentiments. He married the daughter of a Tory, +associated largely with Tories during a winter at Philadelphia, and at +last resolved to end the war, as he thought, in favor of England by +delivering the line of the Hudson to the British. The result of this +would be to divide the colonies in two and to render effective +co-operation almost impossible. + +So he sought and obtained command of West Point in order to carry out +this purpose, began his preparations, and had all his plans laid, when +the merest accident revealed the plot to Washington. Arnold escaped by +fleeing to a British man-of-war in the river, and after a short service +against his country, marked by a raid along the Virginia shore, he +sailed for England, where his last years were spent in poverty and +embittered by remorse. His last great act of treachery blotted out the +brilliant achievements which had gone before, and his name lives only as +that of the most infamous traitor in American history. + +Of the great names which come down to us from the Revolution, the one +which seems most admirable after that of Washington himself is that of +Nathanael Greene, not so much because of his military skill, although +that was of the highest order, as because of his pure patriotism, his +lack of selfishness, and his utter devotion to the cause for which he +fought. He was with Washington at Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth, and +did much to save the army of the battle of the Brandywine. After Gates's +terrible defeat at Camden, he was put in command of the army of the +South, and conducted the most brilliant campaign of the war, defeating +the notorious Sir Guy Tarleton, and forcing Cornwallis north into +Virginia, where he was to be entrapped at Yorktown, and ending the war +which had devastated the South by capturing Charleston. After +Washington, he was perhaps the greatest general the war produced; +certainly he was the purest patriot, and his name should never be +forgotten by a grateful country. + +Linked forever with Greene in the annals of southern warfare, are three +men--Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and "Light Horse Harry" Lee--three +true knights and Christian gentlemen, worthy of all honor. The first of +these, indeed, may fairly be called the Bayard of American history, the +cavalier without fear and without reproach. Born in South Carolina in +1732, he had seen some service in the Cherokee war, and at once, upon +news of the fight at Lexington, raised a regiment and played an +important part in driving the British from Charleston in 1776--a +victory so decisive that the southern states were freed from attack for +over two years. + +After the crushing defeat of Gates at Camden Marion's little band was +the only patriot force in South Carolina, but he harassed the British so +effectively that he soon became genuinely feared. No one ever knew where +he would attack, for the swiftness of his movements seemed almost +superhuman. No hardship disturbed him; he endured heat and cold with +indifference; his food was of the simplest. Every school-boy knows the +story of how, inviting a British officer to dinner, he sat down +tranquilly before a log on which were a few baked potatoes, which formed +the whole meal, and how the Englishman went away with the conviction +that such a foe as that could never be conquered. No instance of +rapacity or cruelty was ever charged against him, nor did he ever injure +any woman or child. + +As a partisan leader, Sumter was second only to Marion, and for two +years the patriot fortunes in the South were in their hands. Together +they joined Greene when he took charge of the southern army, and proved +invaluable allies. Sumter lived to the great age of ninety-eight, and +was the last surviving general officer of the Revolution. He was, too, +the last survivor of the Braddock expedition, which he had accompanied +at the age of twenty-one, and which had been cut to pieces on the +Monongahela twenty years before the battle of Lexington was fought. + +"Light Horse Harry" Lee, whose "Legion" won such fame in the early +years of the Revolution and whose services with Greene in the South were +of the most brilliant character, also lived well into the nineteenth +century. It was he who, in 1799, appointed by Congress to deliver an +address in commemoration of Washington, uttered the famous phrase, +"First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." +His son, Robert Edward Lee, was destined to become perhaps the greatest +general in our history. + + * * * * * + +So passed the era of the Revolution, and for thirty years the new +country was called upon to face no foreign foe; but pressing upon her +frontier was an enemy strong and cruel, who knew not the meaning of the +word "peace." Set on by the British during the Revolution, the Indians +continued their warfare long after peace had been declared. In the +wilderness north of the Ohio they had their villages, from which they +issued time after time to attack the white settlements to the south and +east. No one knew when or where they would strike, and every village and +hamlet along the frontier was liable to attack at any time. The farmer +tilling his fields was shot from ambush; the hunter found himself +hunted; children were carried away to captivity, and women, looking up +from their household work, found an Indian on the threshold. + +The land which the Indians held was so beautiful and fertile that +settlers ventured into it, despite the deadly peril, and in 1787, the +Northwest Territory was formed by Congress, and General Arthur St. +Clair appointed its governor. A Scotchman, brave but impulsive, with a +good military training, St. Clair had made an unfortunate record in the +Revolution. Put in command of the defenses of Ticonderoga in the summer +of 1777, to hold it against the advancing British army under Burgoyne, +he had permitted the enemy to secure possession of a position which +commanded the fort, and he was forced to abandon it. The British started +in hot pursuit, and several actions took place in which the Americans +lost their baggage and a number of men. St. Clair had really been placed +in an impossible position, but his forced abandonment of the fort +impressed the public very unfavorably. He still had the confidence of +Washington, who assigned him to the important task of governing the new +Northwest Territory, and subduing the Indians who overran it. With +Braddock's bitter experience still vividly before him, Washington warned +St. Clair to beware of a surprise in any expedition he might lead +against the Indians, and the events which followed showed how badly that +warning was needed. + +In the fall of 1791, St. Clair collected a large force at Fort +Washington, on the site of the present city of Cincinnati, and prepared +to advance against the Miami Indians. He had fourteen hundred men, but +he himself was suffering with gout and had to be conveyed most of the +way in a hammock. By the beginning of November, the army had reached the +neighborhood of the Miami villages, and there, on the morning of the +fourth, was surprised, routed and cut to pieces. Less than five hundred +escaped from the field, the Indians spreading along the road and +shooting down the crazed fugitives at leisure. St. Clair's military +reputation had received its death blow, but Washington, with wonderful +forbearance, permitted him to retain the governorship of the Territory, +from which he was removed by Jefferson in 1802. He lived sixteen years +longer, poor and destitute, having used his own fortune to defray the +expenses of his troops in the Revolution--a debt which, to the lasting +disgrace of the government, it neglected to cancel. He grew old and +feeble, and was thrown from a wagon, one day, and killed. Upon the +little stone which marks his grave is this inscription: "The earthly +remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this +humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one +due from his country." + +The task which proved St. Clair's ruin was to be accomplished by another +survivor of the Revolution--"Mad" Anthony Wayne; "Mad" because of his +fury in battle, the fierceness of his charge, and his recklessness of +danger--attributes which he shared with Benedict Arnold. He was thirty +years of age at the opening of the Revolution, handsome, full of fire, +and hungering for glory. He was to win his full share of it, and to +prove himself, next to Washington and Greene, the best general in the +army. + +His favorite weapon was the bayonet, and he drilled his troops in the +use of it until they were able to withstand the shock of the renowned +British infantry, who have always prided themselves on their prowess +with cold steel. His first service was with Arnold in Canada; he was +with Washington at the Brandywine; and at Germantown, hurling his troops +upon the Hessians, he drove them back at the point of the bayonet, and +retreated only under orders when the general attack failed. At Monmouth, +it was he and his men who, standing firm as a rock, repulsed the first +fierce bayonet charge of the British guards and grenadiers. + +So it is not remarkable that, when Washington found an unusually +hazardous piece of work in hand, he should have selected Wayne to carry +it through. The British held a strong fort called Stony Point, which +commanded the Hudson and which Washington was anxious to capture. It was +impossible to besiege it, since British frigates held the river, and it +was so strong that an open assault could never carry it. It stood on a +rocky promontory, surrounded on three sides by water and connected with +the land only by a narrow, swampy neck. The only chance to take the +place was by a night attack, and Wayne eagerly welcomed the opportunity +to try it. + +On the afternoon of July 15, 1779, Wayne, at the head of about thirteen +hundred men, started for the fort. He arrived near it after nightfall, +and dividing his force into three columns, moved forward to the attack. +He relied wholly upon the bayonet, and not a musket was loaded. The +advance was soon discovered by the British sentries, and a heavy fire +opened upon the Americans, but they pressed forward, swarmed up the +long, sloping embankment of the fort, and in a moment were over the +walls. + +A bullet struck Wayne in the head, and he staggered and fell. Two of his +officers caught him up and started to take him to the rear, but he +struggled to his feet. + +"No, no," he cried, "I'm going in at the head of my men! Take me in at +the head of my men!" + +And at the head of his men he was carried into the fort. + +For a few moments, the bayonets flashed and played, then the British +broke and ran, and the fort was won. No night attack was ever delivered +with greater skill and boldness. + +Wayne soon recovered from his wound, and took an active part in driving +Cornwallis into the trap at Yorktown. Then he had retired from the army, +expecting to spend the remainder of his life in peace; but Washington, +remembering the man, knew that he was the one above all others to teach +the Ohio Indians a lesson, and called him to the work. Wayne accepted +the task, and five thousand men were placed under his command and +started westward over the mountains. + +He spent the winter in organizing and drilling his forces on the bank of +the Ohio where Cincinnati now stands, but which was then merely a fort +and huddle of houses. He made the most careful preparations for the +expedition, and early in the spring, he commenced his march northward +into the Indian country. The savages gathered to repulse him at a spot +on the Maumee where, years before, a tornado had cut a wide swath +through the forest, rendering it all but impenetrable. Here, on the +twentieth of August, 1794, he advanced against the enemy, and, throwing +his troops into the "Fallen Timbers," in which the Indians were +ambushed, routed them out, cut them down, and administered a defeat so +crushing that they could not rally from it, and their whole country was +laid waste with fire and sword. Wayne did his work well, burning their +villages, and destroying their crops, so that they would have no means +of sustenance during the coming winter. Thoroughly cowed by this +treatment, the Indians sued for peace, and at Greenville, nearly a year +later, Wayne made a treaty in which twelve tribes took part. It marked +the beginning of a lasting peace, which opened the "Old Northwest" to +the white settler. + + * * * * * + +No soldier of the Revolution, with the exception of Washington, was +elevated to the presidency, nor did any of them attain an exalted place +in the councils of the Nation. Statecraft and military genius rarely go +hand in hand, and it was not until 1828 that a man whose reputation had +been made chiefly on the battlefield was sent to the White House. Andrew +Jackson was the only soldier, with one exception, who came out of the +War of 1812 with any great reputation, and it is only fair to add that +his victory at New Orleans was due more to the rashness of the British +in advancing to a frontal attack against a force of entrenched +sharpshooters than to any remarkable generalship on the American side. + +The war with Mexico found two able generals ready to hand, and laid the +foundations of the reputations of many more. "Old Rough and Ready" +Zachary Taylor, who commanded during the campaign which ended with the +brilliant victory at Buena Vista, had been tested in the fire of +frontier warfare, and won the presidency in 1848; and Franklin Pierce, +who commanded one of the divisions which captured the City of Mexico, +won the same prize four years later. It was in this war that Grant, Lee, +Johnston, Davis, Meade, Hooker, Thomas, Sherman, and a score of others +who were to win fame fifteen years later, got their baptism of fire. +Their history belongs to the period of the Civil War and will be told +there; but the chief military glory of the war with Mexico centres about +a man who divided the honors of the War of 1812 with Andrew Jackson but +who failed to achieve the presidency, and whose usefulness had ended +before the Civil War began--Winfield Scott. + +A Virginian, born in 1786, Scott entered the army at an early age, and +had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the opening of the second +war with England. Two years later, he was made a brigadier-general, and +commanded at the fierce and successful battles of Chippewa and Lundy's +Lane. At the close of the war, he was made a major-general, and received +the thanks of Congress for his services. In 1841, he became +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States; but, at the +opening of the war with Mexico, President Polk, actuated by partisan +jealousy, kept Scott in Washington and assigned Zachary Taylor to the +command of the armies in the field. Scott had already an enviable +reputation, and had been an aspirant for the presidency, and Polk feared +that a few victories would make him an invincible candidate. Perhaps he +was afraid that Scott would develop into another Andrew Jackson. + +However, it was impossible to keep the commander-in-chief of the army +inactive while a great war was in progress, and early in 1847, he was +sent to the front, and on March 9 began one of the most successful and +brilliant military campaigns in history. Landing before Vera Cruz, he +captured that city after a bombardment of twenty days, and, gathering +his army together, started on an overland march for the capital of +Mexico. Santa Anna, with a great force, awaited him in a strong position +at Cerro Gordo, but Scott seized the key of it in a lofty height +commanding the Mexican position, and soon won a decisive victory. The +American army swept on like a tidal wave, and city after city fell +before it, until, on the twentieth of August, it reached the city of the +Montezumas. An armistice delayed the advance until September 7, but on +that day offensive operations were begun. Great fortifications strongly +manned guarded the town, but they were carried one after another by +assault, and on September 14, General Scott marched at the head of his +army through the city gates. The war was ended--a war in which the +Americans had not lost a single battle, and had gained a vast empire. + +General Scott came out of the war with a tremendous reputation; but he +lacked personal magnetism. A certain stateliness and dignity kept people +at a distance, and, together with an exacting discipline, won him the +sobriquet of "Old Fuss and Feathers." In 1852, he was the candidate of +the Whig party for President; but the party was falling to pieces, he +himself had no great personal following, and he was defeated by the +Democratic candidate, one of his own generals, Franklin Pierce. He +remained in command of the army until the outbreak of the Civil War. Age +and infirmities prevented his taking the field, and after the disastrous +defeat at Bull Run, he resigned the command. General Scott was renowned +for his striking physique, more majestic, perhaps, even than that of +Washington. He has, indeed, been called the most imposing general in +history. + + * * * * * + +With General Scott ends another era of our history, and we come to a +consideration of the soldiers made famous by the greatest war of the +nineteenth century--the civil conflict which threatened, for a time, to +disrupt the Union. It was a war waged on both sides with desperate +courage and tenacity, and it developed a number of commanders not, +perhaps, of the very first rank, but standing high in the second. + +The first real success of the war was won by George B. McClellan. A +graduate of West Point, veteran of the war with Mexico, and military +observer of the war in the Crimea, he had resigned from the army in 1857 +to engage in the railroad business, with headquarters at Cincinnati. At +the opening of the war, he was commissioned major-general, and put in +command of the Department of Ohio. His first work was to clear western +Virginia of Confederates, which he did in a series of successful +skirmishes, lasting but a few weeks. He lost only eight men, while the +Confederates lost sixteen hundred, besides over a thousand taken +prisoners. The achievement was of the first importance, since it saved +for the Union the western section of Virginia which, a year later, was +admitted as a separate state. It is worth remembering that in this +campaign, McClellan's opponent was no less a personage than Robert E. +Lee. + +The success was the greater as contrasted with the disaster at Bull Run, +and in August, 1861, McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the +Potomac, gathered about Washington and still discouraged and +disorganized from that defeat and rout. His military training had been +of the most thorough description, especially upon the technical side, +and no better man could have been found for the task of whipping that +great army into shape. He soon proved his fitness for the work, and four +months later, he had under him a trained and disciplined force, the +equal of any that ever trod American soil. He forged the instrument +which, in the end, a stronger man than he was to use. Let that always +be remembered to his credit. + +He had become a sort of popular hero, idolized by his soldiers, for he +possessed in greater degree than any other commander at the North that +personal magnetism which wins men. But it was soon evident that he +lacked those qualities of aggressiveness, energy, and initiative +essential to a great commander; that he was unduly cautious. He seems to +have habitually over-estimated the strength of the enemy and +under-estimated his own. With this habit of mind, it was certain that he +would never suffer a great defeat; but it was also probable that he +would never win a great victory, and a great victory was just what the +North hungered for to wipe out the disgrace of Bull Run. Not for eight +months was he ready to begin the campaign against Richmond, and it ended +in heavy loss and final retreat, partly because of McClellan's +incapacity and partly because of ignorant interference with his plans on +the part of politicians at Washington. For it must be remembered that +McClellan was a Democrat, and soon became the natural leader of that +party at the North--a fact which seemed little less than treason to many +of the political managers at the Capital. + +One great and successful battle he fought, however, at Antietam, +checking Lee's attempt to invade the North and sending him in full +retreat back to Virginia, but his failure to pursue the retreating army +exasperated the President, and he was removed from command of the army +on November 7, 1862. This closed his career as a soldier. In the light +of succeeding events, it cannot be doubted that his removal was a +serious mistake. All in all, he was the ablest commander the Army of the +Potomac ever had; he was a growing man; a little more experience in the +field would probably have cured him of over-timidity, and made him a +great soldier. General Grant summed the matter up admirably when he +said, "The test applied to him would be terrible to any man, being made +a major-general at the beginning of the war. If he did not succeed, it +was because the conditions of success were so trying. If he had fought +his way along and up, I have no reason to suppose that he would not have +won as high distinction as any of us." In 1864, McClellan was the +nominee of the Democratic party for the presidency, but received only +twenty-one electoral votes. + +The command of the Army of the Potomac passed to Ambrose E. Burnside, +who had won some successes early in the war, but who had protested his +unfitness for a great command, and who was soon to prove it. He led the +army after Lee, found him entrenched on the heights back of +Fredericksburg, and hurled division after division against an +impregnable position, until twelve thousand men lay dead and wounded on +the field. Burnside, half-crazed with anguish at his fatal mistake, +offered his resignation, which was at once accepted. + +"Fighting Joe" Hooker succeeded him, and was soon to demonstrate that +he, too, was unfitted for the great task. Early in May, believing Lee's +army to be in retreat, he attacked it at Chancellorsville, only to be +defeated with a loss of seventeen thousand men. At the beginning of the +battle, Hooker had enjoyed every advantage of position, and his army +outnumbered Lee's; but he sacrificed his position, with unaccountable +stupidity, moving from a high position to a lower one, provoking the +protest from Meade that, if the army could not hold the top of a hill, +it certainly could not hold the bottom of it; and he seemed unable to +use his men to advantage, holding one division in idleness while another +was being cut to pieces. + +It is, perhaps, sufficient comment upon the folly of dismissing +McClellan to point out that within seven months of his retirement, the +Army of the Potomac, which had been the finest fighting-machine in +existence on the continent, had lost thirty thousand men on the field +and thousands more by desertion, and had been converted from a confident +and well-disciplined force into a discouraged and disorganized rabble. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile a new star had arisen in the West in the person of U.S. +Grant--"Unconditional Surrender" Grant, as he was called, after his +capture of Fort Donelson--the event which riveted the eyes of the Nation +upon him and which marked the beginning of his meteor-like advancement. +We have already spoken of Grant as President, and of his unfitness +for that high office. There are also many who dispute his ability as +a commander, who point out that his army always outnumbered that opposed +to him, and who claim that his victories were won by brute force and not +by military skill. That there is some truth in this nobody can deny, and +yet his campaign against Vicksburg was one of the most brilliant in this +or any other war. It might be added, too, that it takes something more +than preponderance of numbers to win a battle--as Hooker showed at +Chancellorsville--and that Grant did win a great many. + +[Illustration: GRANT] + +The truth about Grant is that he was utterly lacking in that personal +magnetism which made McClellan, Sheridan and "Stonewall" Jackson +idolized by their men, and which is essential to a great commander. He +was cold, reserved, and silent, repelled rather than attracted. He +succeeded mainly because he was determined to succeed, and hung on with +bull-dog tenacity until he had worn his opponent out. Not till then did +he stop to take stock of his own injuries. "I propose to fight it out on +this line, if it takes all summer," was a characteristic utterance. + +The honors of Union victories were fairly divided with Grant by William +Tecumseh Sherman, a man who, as a general, was greater in some respects +than his chief. Sherman was an Ohioan, and, after graduating from West +Point and serving in California during the war with Mexico, resigned +from the army to seek more lucrative employment. He was given a +regiment when the war opened, and his advance was rapid. He first showed +his real worth at the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded a division +and by superb fighting, saved Grant's reputation. + +Grant had collected an army of forty thousand men at Pittsburg Landing, +an obscure stopping-place in southern Tennessee for Mississippi boats, +and though he knew that the Confederates were gathering at Corinth, +twenty miles away, he left his army entirely exposed, throwing up not a +single breastwork, never dreaming that the enemy would dare attack him. +Nevertheless, they did attack, while Grant himself was miles away from +his army, and by the end of the first day's fighting, had succeeded in +pushing the Union forces back upon the river, in a cramped and dangerous +position. The action was resumed next day, and the Confederates forced +to retire, which they did in good order. That the Union army was not +disastrously defeated was due largely to the superb leadership of +Sherman, who had three horses shot under him and was twice wounded, but +whose demeanor was so cool and inspiring that his raw troops, not +realizing their peril, were filled with confidence and fought like +veterans. + +Sherman's fame increased rapidly after that. When Grant departed for the +East to take command of the Army of the Potomac, he planned for Sherman +a campaign against Atlanta, Georgia--a campaign which Sherman carried +out in the most masterly manner, marching into Atlanta in triumph on +September 2, 1864. The campaign had cost him thirty-two thousand men, +but the Confederate loss had been much heavier, and in Atlanta the +Confederacy lost one of its citadels. It was especially valuable because +of the great machine shops located there, and these Sherman proceeded to +destroy before starting on his famous "march to the sea." + +This, the most spectacular movement of the whole war, was planned by +Sherman, who secured Grant's permission to carry it out, and the start +was made on the fifteenth of November. The army marched by four roads, +as nearly parallel as could be found, starting at seven o'clock every +morning and covering fifteen miles every day. All railroads and other +property that might aid the Confederates were destroyed, the soldiers +were allowed to forage freely, and in consequence a swath of destruction +sixty miles wide and three hundred miles long was cut right across the +Confederacy. A locust would have had difficulty in finding anything to +eat after the army had passed. It encountered no effective resistance, +and by the middle of December, came within sight of the sea. + +On December 21, Sherman entered Savannah, and wired Lincoln that he +presented him the city as a Christmas gift. Then he turned northward to +join Grant, taking Columbia, Fayetteville, Goldsboro and Raleigh, and +destroying Confederate arsenals, foundries, railroads and public works +of all descriptions. Lee had surrendered four days before Sherman +marched into Raleigh, and the next day a flag of truce from General +Joseph E. Johnston opened negotiations for the surrender of his army. + +This, the virtual close of the Civil War, ended Sherman's career in the +field. In 1866, he was made lieutenant-general, and three years later +succeeded Grant as commander-in-chief of the army, retiring from the +service in 1884, at the age of sixty-four. + +Whatever may have been the relative merits of Grant and Sherman as +commanders, there can be no question as to the greatest cavalry leader +in the Union armies, and one of the greatest in any army, Philip Henry +Sheridan. Above any cavalry leader, North or South, except "Stonewall" +Jackson, Sheridan possessed the power of rousing his men to the utmost +pitch of enthusiastic devotion; young, dashing and intrepid himself, his +men were ready to follow him anywhere--and it was usually to victory +that he led them. + +Sheridan was a West Pointer, graduating in 1853, and was appointed +captain at the outbreak of the war. It was not until May of 1862 that he +found his real place as colonel of cavalry, and not until the first days +of the following year that he had the opportunity to distinguish +himself. Then, at the battle of Murfreesboro, he broke through the +advancing Confederate line which was crumpling up the right of the Union +army, and turned the tide of battle from defeat to victory. As a reward, +he was appointed major-general of volunteers. In April, 1864, he became +commander of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, and three +months later made his famous raid along the valley of the Shenandoah. + +Entering the valley with an army of forty thousand men, Sheridan swept +Early and a Confederate force out of it, and then, to render impossible +any Confederate raids thereafter with the valley as a base, rode from +end to end of it, destroying everything that would support an army. +Early, meanwhile, had been reinforced, and, one misty morning, fell upon +the Federals while they lay encamped at Cedar Creek. The surprise was +complete, and in a short time the Union army was in full flight. +Sheridan had been called to Washington, and on the morning of the battle +was at Winchester, some twenty miles away. In the early dawn, he heard +the rumble of the cannonade, and, springing to horse, galloped to the +battlefield, to meet his men retreating. + +"Face about, boys! face about!" he shouted, riding up and down the +lines; and his men saw him, and burst into a cheer, and reformed their +lines, and, catching his spirit of victory, led by their loved +commander, fell upon Early, routed him and practically destroyed his +army. Perhaps nowhere else in history is there an instance such as +this--of a general meeting his army in full retreat, stopping the panic, +facing them about, and leading them to victory. + +In the last campaign against Richmond, Sheridan's services were of +inestimable value; it was he who defeated a great Confederate force at +the brilliant battle of Five Forks; it was he who got in front of Lee's +retreating army and cornered it at Appomattox. He had his full share of +honors, succeeding Sherman as general-in-chief of the army in 1883, and +receiving the rank of general from Congress, just before his death five +years later. Grant, Sherman and Sheridan are the only men in the +country's history who have held this highest of military titles. + + * * * * * + +After these three men, George H. Thomas was the most prominent commander +on the Union side; notable, too, from the fact that he was a Virginian, +and was considered a traitor by his native state for his adherence to +the Union cause, just as poor old Winfield Scott had been. He had made +something of a name for himself before the Civil War opened, +distinguishing himself in the war with Mexico and winning brevets for +gallantry at the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. He won a decisive +victory at Mill Springs early in 1862, and saved the army from rout at +Murfreesboro by his heroic holding of the centre. But his most famous +exploit was the defence of Horseshoe ridge, against overwhelming odds, +at the battle of Chickamauga. + +The Union right wing had been routed, and the Confederates, certain of a +great victory, turned against the left wing, twenty-five thousand +strong, under command of Thomas. They swarmed up the slope on which +Thomas had taken his position, only to be hurled back with heavy loss. +Again and again they charged, sixty thousand of them, but Thomas stood +like a rock against which the Confederates dashed themselves in vain. +For six hours that terrific fighting continued, until nearly half of +Thomas's men lay dead or wounded, but night found him still master of +the position, saving the Union army from destruction. Ever afterwards +Thomas was known as "The Rock of Chickamauga." + +In the following year, he again distinguished himself by defeating Hood +at Nashville, in one of the most brilliant battles of the war. The +defeat was the most decisive by either side in a general engagement, the +Confederate army losing half its numbers, and being so routed and +demoralized that it could not rally and was practically destroyed. +Thomas's plan of battle is studied to this day in the military schools +of Europe, and has been compared with that of Napoleon at Austerlitz. + +After Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas, there is a wide gap. No other +commanders on the Union side measured up to them, although there were +many of great ability. McPherson, Buell, Sumner, Hancock, Meade, +Rosecrans, Kilpatrick, Pope--all had their hours of triumph, but none of +them developed into what could be called a great commander. Whether from +inherent weakness, or from lack of opportunity for development, all +stopped short of greatness. It is worth noting that every famous +general, Union or Confederate, and most of the merely prominent ones, +were graduates of West Point and had received their baptism of fire in +Mexico, the only exception being Sheridan, who did not graduate from +West Point until after the war with Mexico was over. + + * * * * * + +Turning now to the Confederate side, we find here, too, four supremely +able commanders, the first of whom, Robert E. Lee, is believed by many +to be the greatest in our country's history. No doubt some of the renown +which attaches to Lee's name is due to his desperate championship of a +lost cause, and to the love which the people of the South bore, and +still bear, him because of his singularly sweet and unselfish character. +But, sentiment aside, and looking at him only as a soldier, he must be +given a place in the front rank of our greatest captains. There are not +more than two or three to rank with him--certainly there is none to rank +ahead of him. + +Robert Edward Lee was a son of that famous "Light Horse Harry" Lee to +whose exploits during the Revolution we have already referred. He was +born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, entered West Point at +the age of eighteen, and graduated four years later, second in his +class. His father had died ten years before, and his mother lived only +long enough to welcome him home from the Academy. He was at once +assigned to the engineer corps of the army, distinguished himself in the +war with Mexico and served as superintendent of West Point from 1852 to +1855. + +Meanwhile, at the age of twenty-four, he had married Mary Randolph, +daughter of Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, and +great-grand-daughter of George Washington's wife. Miss Custis was a +great heiress, and in time the estate of Arlington, situated on the +heights across the Potomac from Washington, became hers and her +husband's, but he nevertheless continued in the service. The marriage +was a happy and fortunate one in every way, and Lee's home life was +throughout a source of help and inspiration to him. + +In the autumn of 1859, while home on leave, he was ordered to assist in +capturing John Brown, who had taken Harper's Ferry. At the head of a +company of marines, he took Brown prisoner and, protecting him from a +mob which would have lynched him, handed him over to the authorities. +Two years later came the great trial of his life, when he was called +upon to decide between North and South, between Virginia and the Union. + +Lee was not a believer in slavery; he had never owned slaves, and when +Custis died in 1859, Lee had carried out the dead man's desire that all +the slaves at Arlington should be freed. Neither was he a believer in +secession; but, on the other hand, he questioned the North's right to +invade and coerce the seceding states, and when Virginia joined them, +and made him commander-in-chief of her army, he accepted the trust. +Shortly before, at the instance of his fellow-Virginian, General Scott, +he had been offered command of the Union army, but declined it, stating +that, though opposed to secession and deprecating war, he could take no +part in an invasion of the southern states. + +Curiously enough, the southern press, which was to end by idolizing him, +began by abusing him. His first campaign was in western Virginia and was +a woeful failure, due partly to the splendid way in which McClellan, on +the Union side, managed it, and partly to blunders on the Confederate +side for which Lee was in no way responsible; but the result was that +that section of the state was lost to the Confederacy forever, and Lee +got the blame. Even his friends feared that he had been over-rated, and +he was sent away from the field of active hostilities to the far South, +where he was assigned to command Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. He +accepted the assignment without comment, and went to work immediately +fortifying the coast, to such good purpose that his reputation was soon +again firmly established. Early in 1862, he was recalled to Richmond to +assist in its defense. He found his beautiful estate on the heights +opposite Washington confiscated, his family exiled, his fortune gone. + +General Joseph E. Johnston was in command of the forces at Richmond, and +was preparing to meet McClellan, who was slowly advancing up the +peninsula. But Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, on May +31, and on the following day, Lee assumed command of the army. He got it +well in hand at once, sent Stuart on a raid around McClellan's lines, +and gradually forced the Union army away from Richmond, until the +capital of the Confederacy was no longer in danger. Flushed with +success, Lee threw his army to the northeast against Pope, routed him, +crossed the Potomac into Maryland, threatened Washington, and carried +the war with a vengeance into the enemy's country. A more complete +reversal of conditions could not be imagined; a month before, he had +been engaged in a seemingly desperate effort to save Richmond; now he +had started upon an invasion of the North which promised serious +results. + +But things did not turn out as he expected. The inhabitants of Maryland +did not rally to him, McClellan was soon after him with a great army, +and on September 17, overtook him at Antietam, and fought a desperate +battle; from which Lee, overwhelmed by an army half again as large as +his own, was forced to withdraw defeated, though in good order, and +recross the Potomac into Virginia. Three months later, he got his +revenge in full measure at Fredericksburg, routing Burnside with fearful +loss, and early in May of the following year scored heavily again by +defeating Hooker at Chancellorsville. The last victory was a +dearly-bought one, for it cost the life of that most famous of all +American cavalry leaders, "Stonewall" Jackson, of whom we shall speak +hereafter. + +That was the culmination of Lee's career, for two months after +Chancellorsville, having started on another great invasion of the North, +on the fourth day of July, 1863, he was forced to retire from the fierce +battle of Gettysburg with his army seriously crippled and with all hope +of invading the North at an end. He was on the defensive, after that, +with Grant's great army gradually closing in upon him and drawing nearer +and nearer to Richmond. That he was able to prolong this struggle for +nearly two years, especially considering the exhausted state of the +South, was remarkable to the last degree, eloquent testimony to the high +order of his leadership. Toward the last, his men were in rags and +practically starving, but there was no murmuring so long as their +beloved "Marse Robert" was with them. + +On the ninth day of April, 1865, six days after the fall of Richmond, +Lee found himself surrounded at Appomattox Courthouse by a vastly +superior force under General Grant. To have fought would have meant a +useless waste of human life. Lee chose the braver and harder course, and +surrendered. He knew that there could be but one end to the struggle, +and he was brave enough to admit defeat. On that occasion, Grant rose to +the full stature of a hero. He treated his conquered foe with every +courtesy; granted terms whose liberality was afterwards sharply +criticised by the clique in control of Congress, but which Grant +insisted should be carried out to the letter; sent the rations of his +own army to the starving Confederates, and permitted them to retain +their horses in order that they might get home, and have some means of +earning a livelihood. + +[Illustration: LEE] + +When Lee rode back to his army, it was to be surrounded by his ragged +soldiers, who could not believe that the end had come, who were ready to +keep on fighting, and who broke down and sobbed like children when +they learned the truth. The next day, he issued an address to his army, +a dignified and worthy composition, which is still treasured in many a +southern home; and then, mounting his faithful horse, Traveller, which +had carried him through the war, he rode slowly away to Richmond. He was +greeted everywhere with the wildest enthusiasm, and found himself then, +as he has ever since remained, the idol and chosen hero of the southern +people, who saw in him a unique and splendid embodiment of valor and +virtue, second only to the first and greatest of all Virginians, and +even surpassing him in the subtle qualities of the heart. + +As has been said, his fortune was gone, and it was necessary for him to +earn a living. The opportunity soon came in the offer of the presidency +of Washington College, at Lexington, where the remainder of his days +were spent in honored quiet. Those five years of warfare, with their +hardships and exposures, had brought on rheumatism of the heart, and the +end came on October 12, 1870. He died dreaming of battle, and his last +words were, "Tell Hill he _must_ come up!" + +Next to Lee in the hearts of the Southern soldiers was Thomas Jonathan +Jackson, better known by the sobriquet of "Stonewall," which General Bee +gave him during the first battle of Bull Run. Driven back by the Union +onset, the Confederate left had retreated a mile or more, when it +reached the plateau where Jackson and his brigade were stationed. The +brigade never wavered, but stood fast and held the position. + +"See there!" shouted General Bee, "Jackson is standing like a stone +wall. Rally on the Virginians!" + +Rally they did, and Jackson was ever thereafter known as "Stonewall." + +It was a good name, as representing not only his qualities of physical +courage, but also his qualities of moral courage. There was something +rock-like and immovable about him, even in his everyday affairs, and so +"Stonewall" he remained. + +In some respects Stonewall Jackson was the most remarkable man whom the +war made famous. A graduate of West Point, he had served through the +Mexican war, and then, finding the army not to his liking, had resigned +from the service to accept a professorship at the Virginia Military +Institute. He made few friends, for he was of a silent and reserved +disposition, and besides, he conducted a Sunday school for colored +children. It is a fact worth noting that neither of the two great +leaders of the Confederate armies believed in slavery, the one thing +which they were fighting to defend. So Jackson's neighbors merely +thought him queer, and left him to himself; certainly, none suspected +that he was a genius. + +Yet a genius he was, and proved it. Enlisting as soon as the war began, +and distinguishing himself, as we have seen, by holding back the Union +charge at Bull Run, he was made a major-general after that battle, and +a year later probably saved Richmond from capture by preventing the +armies of Banks and McDowell from operating with McClellan, making one +of the most brilliant campaigns of the war, overwhelming both his +antagonists, and, leaving them stunned behind him, hastening to Richmond +to assist Lee, arriving just in time to turn the tide of battle at +Gaines Mills. + +As soon as McClellan had been beaten back from Richmond, Jackson +returned to the Shenandoah valley, defeated Banks at Cedar Run, seized +Pope's depot at Manassas, and held him on the ground until Lee came up, +when Pope was defeated at the second battle of Bull Run. Two weeks +later, Jackson captured Harper's Ferry, with thirteen thousand +prisoners, seventy cannon, and a great quantity of stores; commanded the +left wing of the Confederate army at Antietam, against which the corps +of Hooker, Mansfield and Sumner hurled themselves in vain; and at +Fredericksburg commanded the right wing, which repelled the attack of +Franklin's division. + +These remarkable successes had established Jackson's reputation as a +commander of unusual merit; he was promoted to lieutenant-general, and +Lee came to rely upon him more and more. He had, too, by a certain high +courage and charm of character, won the complete devotion of his men; to +say that they loved him, that any one of them would have laid down his +life for him, is but the simple truth. No other leader in the whole war, +with the exception of Lee, who dwelt in a region high and apart, was +idolized as he was. But his career was nearly ended, and, by the bitter +irony of fate, he was to be killed by the very men who loved him. + +On the second day of May, 1863, Lee sent him on a long flanking movement +around Hooker's army at Chancellorsville. Emerging from the woods +towards evening, he surprised and routed Howard's corps, and between +eight and nine o'clock rode forward with a small party beyond his own +lines to reconnoitre the enemy's position. As he turned to ride back, +his party was mistaken for Federal cavalrymen and a volley poured into +it by a Confederate outpost. Several of the party were killed, and +Jackson received three wounds. They were not in themselves fatal, but +pneumonia followed, and death came eight days later. + +There was none to fill his place--it was as though Lee had lost his +right arm. The result of the war would have been in no way different had +he lived, but his death was an incalculable loss to the Confederacy. It +was Lee's opinion that he would have won the battle of Gettysburg had he +had Jackson with him, and this is more than probable, so evenly did +victory and defeat hang in the balance there. But, even then, the North +would have been far from conquered, and its superior resources and +larger armies must have won in the end. Perhaps, after all, Jackson's +death was, in a way, a blessing, since it shortened a struggle which, in +any event, could have had but one result. + +Another heavy loss which the Confederacy suffered even earlier in the +war was that of Albert Sidney Johnston, killed at the battle of Shiloh. +Jefferson Davis said the cause of the South was lost when Johnston fell, +but this was, of course, only a manner of speaking, for Johnston could +not have saved it. Johnston had an adventurous career and saw a great +deal of fighting before the Civil War began. Graduating at West Point in +1826, he served as chief of staff to General Atkinson during the Black +Hawk war, and then, joining the Texan revolutionists, served first as a +private and then as commander of the Texan army. He commanded a regiment +in the war with Mexico, and in 1857, led a successful expedition against +the rebellious Mormons in Utah. + +His training, then, and an experience greater than any other commander +in the Civil War started out with, fitted him for brilliant work from +the very first. At the outbreak of the war, he was put by the +Confederate government in command of the departments of Kentucky and +Tennessee, and on April 6, 1862, swept down upon Grant's unprotected +army at Shiloh. That battle might have ended in a disastrous defeat for +the North but for the accident which deprived the Confederates of their +commander. About the middle of the afternoon, while leading his men +forward to the attack which was pressing the Federals back upon the +river, he was struck by a bullet which severed an artery in the thigh. +The wound was not a fatal, nor even a very serious one, and his life +could have been saved had it been given immediate attention. But +Johnston, carried away by the prospect of impending victory and the +excitement of the fight, continued in the saddle cheering on his men, +his life-blood pulsing away unheeded, until he sank unconscious into the +arms of one of his officers. He was lifted to the ground and a surgeon +hastily summoned. But it was too late. + +Johnston's death left the command of the army to General Pierre +Beauregard, who had had the somewhat dubious honor of firing the first +shot of the war against Fort Sumter and of capturing the little garrison +which defended it. Beauregard was a West Point man, standing high in his +class, and his work, previous to the war, was largely in the engineer +corps. When the war began, he was superintendent of the academy at West +Point, but resigned at once to join the South. After the capture of +Sumter, he was ordered to Virginia and was in practical command at the +first battle of Bull Run, which resulted in the rout of the Union +forces. After that, he was sent to Tennessee, as second in command to +Albert Sidney Johnston, and he succeeded to the command of the army on +Johnston's death at Shiloh. + +The first day's fighting at Shiloh had resulted in a Confederate +victory, but Beauregard was not able to maintain this advantage on the +second day, and was finally compelled to draw off his forces. Grant +pursued him, and Beauregard was forced to retreat far to the south +before he was safe from capture. Two years later, he attempted to stop +Sherman on his march to the sea, but was unable to do so, and, joining +forces with Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered, to Sherman a few days after +Appomattox. + +Joseph E. Johnston had been a classmate of Lee at West Point, and had +seen much service before the Civil War began. He was aide-de-camp to +General Scott in the Black Hawk war; and in the war with the Florida +Indians, was brevetted for gallantry in rescuing the force he commanded +from an ambush into which it had been lured, the fight being so +desperate that, besides being wounded, no less than thirty bullets +penetrated his clothes. In the war with Mexico he was thrice brevetted +for gallantry, and was seriously wounded at Cerro Gordo and again at +Chapultepec. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was +quartermaster-general of the United States army, resigning that position +to take service with the South. + +When McDowell advanced against Beauregard at Bull Run, Johnston, who was +at Winchester, hastened with his army to the scene of battle, and this +reinforcement, which McDowell had endeavored vainly to prevent, won the +day for the Confederates. He remained in command at Richmond, opposing +McClellan's advance up the peninsula, but was badly wounded at the +battle of Seven Pines, and was incapacitated for duty for several +months, Lee succeeding him in command of the army. + +Johnston was never again to gain any great victories, for he had in some +way incurred the ill-will of Jefferson Davis, and was placed in one +impossible position after another, sent to meet an enemy which always +outnumbered him, and refused the assistance which he should have had. +The last of these tasks was that of stopping Sherman's march to the sea, +but Sherman had sixty thousand men to his seventeen thousand, and a +battle was out of the question. + +After Lee's surrender, Davis fled south to Greensboro, where Johnston +found him and advised that, since the war had been decided against them, +it was their duty to end it without delay, as its further continuance +could accomplish nothing and would be mere murder. To this Davis +reluctantly agreed, and Johnston thereupon sought Sherman and made terms +of surrender for his army and Beauregard's. The terms which Sherman +granted were rejected by Congress as too liberal, and another agreement +was drawn up, similar to the one which had been signed between Grant and +Lee. It is worth remarking that the Union generals in the field were +disposed to treat their fallen foes with greater charity and kindness +than the politicians in Congress, who had never seen a battlefield, and +who were concerned, not with succoring a needy brother, but with +wringing every possible advantage from the situation. + +To two other southern commanders we must give passing mention before +turning from this period of our history. First of these is James +Longstreet, who had the reputation of being the hardest fighter in the +Confederate service, whose men were devoted to him, and called him +affectionately "Old Pete." The army always felt secure when "Old Pete" +was with it; and, indeed, he did not seem to know how to retreat. He +held the Confederate right at Bull Run, and the left at Fredericksburg; +he saved Jackson from defeat by Pope, at the second battle of Bull Run; +he was on the right at Gettysburg, and tried to dissuade Lee from the +disastrous charge of the third day which resulted in Confederate defeat; +he held the left at Chickamauga, did brilliant service in the +Wilderness, and was included in the surrender at Appomattox. A sturdy +and indomitable man, the Confederacy had good reason to be proud of him. + +The second is J.E.B. Stuart, as a cavalry leader second only to +Jackson, and Sheridan, but with his reputation shadowed by a fatal +mistake. He was a past master of the sudden and daring raid, and on more +than one occasion carried consternation into the enemy's camp by a +brilliant dash through it. One of his most successful raids was made +around McClellan's army on the peninsula, shaking its sense of security +and threatening its communications. On another occasion, he dashed into +Pope's camp, captured his official correspondence and personal effects +and made prisoners of several officers of his staff, Pope himself +escaping only because he happened to be away from headquarters. The one +shadow upon his military career, referred to above, was his absence from +the field of Gettysburg. + +He was directed to take a position on the right of the Confederate army, +but started away on a raid in the rear of the Federals, not expecting a +battle to be fought at once, and he did not get back to the main army +until the battle of Gettysburg had been lost. The absence of cavalry +was a severe handicap to the Confederate army, and Lee always attributed +his defeat to Stuart's absence; but Stuart maintained that he had acted +under orders, and that the mistake was not his. He was killed in a fight +with Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern, Virginia, a short time later. + +And here we must end the story of the great soldiers of the Confederacy. +There were many others who fought well and bravely--Bragg, A.P. Hill, +Magruder, Pemberton--but none of them attained the dimensions of a +national figure. Weighing the merits of the leaders of the two armies, +they would seem to be pretty evenly balanced. This was natural enough, +since all of them had had practically the same training and experience, +and, during the war, the same opportunities. Lee, Jackson and Johnston +were fairly matched by Grant, Sheridan and Sherman. + +The Southern leaders, perhaps, showed more dash and vim than the +Northern ones, for they waged a more desperate fight; but both sides +fought with the highest valor, and if the war did not have for the North +the poignant meaning it had for the South, it was because practically +all of its battles were fought on southern soil, and the southern people +saw their fair land devastated. In no instance did the North suffer any +such burning humiliation as that inflicted on the South by Sherman in +his march to the sea; at the close of the war, despite its sacrifice of +blood and treasure, the North was more prosperous than it had been at +the beginning, while the South lay prostrate and ruined. So to the North +the war has receded into the vista of memory, while to the South it is a +wound not yet wholly healed. + + * * * * * + +There have been no great American soldiers since the Civil War--at +least, there has been no chance for them to prove their greatness, for +there is only one test of a soldier and that is the battlefield. When +George A. Custer was ambushed and his command wiped out by the Sioux in +1876, a wave of sorrow went over the land for the dashing, fair-haired +leader and his devoted men; yet the very fact that he had led his men +into a trap clouded such military reputation as he had gained during the +last years of the war. + +The war with Spain was too brief to make any reputations, though it was +long enough to ruin several. The man who gained most glory in that +conflict was "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, veteran of Shiloh, of Murfreesboro, +of Chickamauga, dashing like a gnat against Sherman's flanks, and +annoying him mightily on that march to the sea; a southerner of the +southerners, and yet with a great patriotism which sent him to the front +in 1898, and a hard experience which enabled him to save the day at +Santiago, when the general in command lay in a hammock far to the rear. + +Let us pause, too, for mention of Nelson A. Miles, who had volunteered +at the opening of the Civil War, fought in every battle of the Army of +the Potomac up to the surrender at Appomattox, been thrice wounded and +as many times brevetted for gallantry; the conqueror of the Cheyenne, +Comanche and Sioux Indians in the years following the war; and finally +attaining the rank of commander-in-chief of the army of the United +States; to find himself, as Winfield Scott had done, at odds politically +with the head of the War Department and with the President, and kept at +home when a war was raging. For the same reason as Scott had been, +perhaps, since some of his admirers had talked of him for the +presidency. He was released, at last, to command the expedition against +Porto Rico, which resulted in the complete and speedy subjugation of +that island. A careful and intelligent, if not a brilliant soldier, he +is, perhaps, the most eminent figure which the years since the great +rebellion have developed. + + * * * * * + +Looking back over the military history of the country since its +beginning, it is evident that America has produced no soldier of +commanding genius--no soldier, for instance, to rank with Napoleon, who, +at his prime, seemed able to compel victory; or with Frederick the +Great, that past master of the art of war. Yet it should be remembered +that both these men were soldiers all their lives, and that they stand +practically unmatched in modern history. Of the next rank--the rank of +Wellington and Von Moltke--we have, at least, three, Washington, Lee, +and Grant; while to match such impetuous and fiery leaders as Ney, and +Lannes, and Soult, we have Harry Lee, Marion, Sheridan, Jackson, and +Albert Sidney Johnston. So America has no reason to blush for her +military achievements--more especially since her history has been one of +peace, save for fifteen years out of the one hundred and thirty-three of +her existence. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +PUTNAM ISRAEL. Born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7, 1718; served in +French and Indian war, 1755-62; in Pontiac's war, 1764; one of the +commanding officers at battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775; +major-general in Continental army, 1775; took part in siege of Boston, +1775-76; commanded at defeat on Long Island, August 27, 1776; commanded +in high-lands of the Hudson, 1777; served in Connecticut, 1778-79; +disabled by a stroke of paralysis, 1779; died at Brooklyn, Connecticut, +May 19, 1790. + +GATES, HORATIO. Born at Maldon, England, in. 1728; served as captain +under Braddock, 1755; settled in Berkeley County, Virginia; +adjutant-general in Continental army, 1775; succeeded Schuyler as +commander in the North, 1777; received Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, +1777; President of the Board of War and Ordnance, November, 1777; +appointed to command in the South, 1780; totally defeated by Cornwallis +at Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 1780; succeeded by General Greene; +died at New York City, April 10, 1806. + +ARNOLD, BENEDICT. Born at Norwich, Connecticut, January 14, 1741; +commissioned colonel, 1775; took part in capture of Ticonderoga, 1775; +commanded expedition against Quebec, 1775; made brigadier-general and +commanded at a naval battle on Lake Champlain, 1776; decided the second +battle of Saratoga, 1777; appointed commander of Philadelphia, 1778; +tried by court-martial and reprimanded by Washington, 1780; appointed +commander of West Point, 1780; treason discovered by Washington, +September 23, 1780; conducted British expeditions against Virginia and +Connecticut, 1781; died at London, June 14, 1801. + +GREENE, NATHANAEL. Born at Warwick, Rhode Island, May 24, 1742; +distinguished himself at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown, +and succeeded Gates in command of the southern army, 1780; conducted +retreat from the Catawba to the Dan, 1781; won victories of Guildford +Court House and Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near Savannah, Georgia, June +19, 1786. + +MARION, FRANCIS. Born at Winyaw, South Carolina, 1732; a partisan leader +in South Carolina, 1780-82; served at Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near +Eutaw, South Carolina, February 27, 1795. + +SUMTER, THOMAS. Born in Virginia in 1734; in Braddock campaign, 1755; +lieutenant-colonel of regiment of South Carolina riflemen, 1776; +defeated Tories at Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780; defeated by Tarleton at +Fishing Creek, August 18, 1780; defeated Tarleton at Blackstock Hill, +November 20, 1780; member of Congress from South Carolina, 1789-93; +senator, 1801-09; minister to Brazil, 1809-11; died near Camden, South +Carolina, June 1, 1832. + +LEE, HENRY. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 29, 1756; +distinguished in Revolution as commander of "Lee's Legion"; governor of +Virginia, 1792-95; member of Congress, 1799-1801; died at Cumberland +Island, Georgia, March 25, 1818. + +ST. CLAIR, ARTHUR. Born at Thurso, Scotland, 1734; served at Louisburg +and at Quebec, 1758; resigned from British army and settled in Ligonier +valley, Pennsylvania, 1764; appointed colonel, January 3, 1776; +brigadier-general, August 9, 1776; organized New Jersey militia and +participated in battles of Trenton and Princeton; major-general, +February 19, 1777; succeeded Gates in command at Ticonderoga, and +abandoned fort at approach of Burgoyne's army, July, 1777; +court-martialed in consequence, 1778, and acquitted "with the highest +honor"; succeeded Arnold in command of West Point, 1780; before Yorktown +at surrender of Cornwallis, and in South till close of war; delegate to +Continental Congress, 1785-87; governor of Northwest Territory, +1789-1802; defeated by Indians near Miami villages, November 4, 1791; +died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818. + +WAYNE, ANTHONY. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745; +member of Pennsylvania legislature, 1774; colonel of Pennsylvania troops +in Canada, 1776; brigadier-general, 1777; served at Brandywine, +Germantown, and Monmouth; stormed Stony Point, July 15, 1779; commanded +at Green Spring, 1781; served at Yorktown; member of Congress from +Georgia, 1791-92; appointed major-general and commander-in-chief of the +army, 1792; won the battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794; negotiated treaty +of Greenville, 1795; died at Erie, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1796. + +SCOTT, WINFIELD. Born near Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1786; admitted +to the bar, 1806; entered United States army as captain, 1808; served in +war of 1812, distinguishing himself at Queenstown Heights, Chippewa and +Lundy's Lane; brigadier-general and brevet major-general, 1814; served +against Seminoles and Creeks, 1835-37; major-general and +commander-in-chief of the army, 1841; appointed to chief command in +Mexico, 1847; took Vera Cruz, won battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, +Churubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec and entered City of Mexico, +September 14, 1847; unsuccessful Whig candidate for President, 1852; +retired from active service, 1861; died at West Point, New York, May 29, +1866. + +MCLELLAN, GEORGE BRINTON. Born at Philadelphia, December 3, 1826; +graduated at West Point, 1846; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; sent to +Europe to observe Crimean war, 1855-56; in railroad business, 1857-61; +major-general of volunteers, April, 1861; cleared West Virginia of +Confederates, June and July, 1861; commander Department of the Potomac, +August, 1861; organized Army of the Potomac and conducted Peninsula +campaign, 1861-62; superseded by Burnside, November 7, 1862; Democratic +candidate for President, 1864; governor of New Jersey, 1878-81; died at +Orange, New Jersey, October 29, 1885. + +BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT. Born at Liberty, Indiana, May 23, 1824; +captured Roanoke Island and Newbern, February-March, 1862; fought at +Antietam, September 17, 1862; commanded Army of the Potomac, November +7, 1862-January 26, 1863; defeated at Fredericksburg, December, 1862; +governor of Rhode Island, 1867-69; senator, 1875-81; died at Bristol, +Rhode Island, September 13, 1881. + +HOOKER, JOSEPH. Born at Hadley, Massachusetts, November 13, 1814; +graduated at West Point, 1837; served as captain in Mexican war; +brigadier-general, 1861; corps commander at South Mountain, Antietam, +and Fredericksburg; commander of Army of the Potomac, January 25, 1863; +defeated by Lee at Chancellorsville, May 2-3, 1863; relieved of command, +June 27, 1863; served in Chattanooga campaign and with Sherman; died at +Garden City, New York, October 31, 1879. + +SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, February 8, 1820; +graduated at West Point, 1840; served in California during Mexican war; +colonel in Union army, 1861; brigadier-general, 1861; was at Bull Run +and Shiloh, and made major-general of volunteers, May 1, 1862; served at +Chattanooga and Vicksburg, won battles of Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw +Mountain, and Peachtree Creek; made major-general in regular army, +August 12, 1864; occupied Atlanta, September 2, 1864; started on march +to the sea, November 12, 1864; entered Savannah, December 21, 1864; +received surrender of Johnston's army, April 26, 1865; +lieutenant-general, 1866; general and commander of the army, 1869; +retired, 1884; died at New York City, February 14, 1891. + +SHERIDAN, PHILIP HENRY. Born at Albany, New York, March 6, 1831; +graduated at West Point, 1853; captain, 1861; colonel of cavalry, 1862; +at Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; commander +of cavalry corps of Army of the Potomac, April, 1864; at Wilderness, +Hawe's Shop and Trevellian; won victories of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, +Cedar Creek, and devastated Shenandoah Valley, 1864; major-general, +November 8, 1864; commanded at Five Forks, March 31, April 1, 1865; took +leading part in pursuit of Lee; lieutenant-general, 1867; succeeded +Sherman as Commander-in-chief, 1883; general, 1888; died at Nonquith, +Massachusetts, August 5, 1888. + +THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY. Born in Southampton County, Virginia, July 31, +1816; graduated at West Point, 1840; served in Seminole and Mexican +wars; brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861; at Mill Springs, +Perryville and Murfreesboro; became famous for his defense of Union +position at Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863; with Sherman in Georgia, +1864; defeated Hood at Nashville, December 15-16, 1864; died at San +Francisco, March 28, 1870. + +LEE, ROBERT EDWARD. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 19, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served with distinction in Mexican +war; superintendent of West Point Academy, 1852-55; commanded forces +which captured John Brown, 1859; resigned commission in United States +Army, April, 1861; appointed major-general of Virginia forces, April, +1861; commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, June 3, 1862; +commanded in Seven Days' Battles, Manassas campaign, at Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, 1863; against +Grant at Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, 1864-65; +surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, April 9, 1865; president of +Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, 1865-70; died at Lexington, +Virginia, October 12, 1870. + +JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN. Born at Clarksburg, West Virginia, January 21, +1824; graduated at West Point, 1846; served through Mexican war and +resigned from army, 1851; professor of philosophy and artillery tactics +Virginia Military Institute, 1851-61; joined Confederate army at opening +of Civil War; brigadier-general at Bull Run, July 21, 1861; +major-general, November, 1861; at Winchester, Cross Keys, Gaines's Mill, +Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Harper's Ferry, Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; mortally wounded by his own men at +Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863; died at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May +10, 1863. + +JOHNSTON, ALBERT SIDNEY. Born at Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, +February 3, 1803; graduated at West Point, 1826; served in Black Hawk +war, 1832; resigned from army, 1834; enlisted as private in Texan army, +1836; succeeded Felix Houston as commander of Texan army, 1837; +secretary of war for Republic of Texas, 1838-40; served in Mexican war, +1846-47; commanded successful expedition against revolted Mormons in +Utah, 1857; appointed commander of Department of Kentucky and Tennessee +in Confederate service, 1861; attacked Grant's army at Shiloh, April 6, +1862, and killed there while leading his men. + +BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT. Born near New Orleans, May 23, 1818; +graduated at West Point, 1838; served with distinction in Mexican war; +superintendent of West Point Academy, 1860-61; resigned to accept +appointment as brigadier-general in Confederate army, 1861; bombarded +and captured Fort Sumter, April 12-14, 1861; commanded at battle of Bull +Bun, July 21, 1861; general, 1861; assumed command of army at Shiloh on +death of Johnston, April 6, 1862; surrendered to Sherman, 1865; +president of New Orleans and Jackson Railroad Company, 1865-70; +adjutant-general of Louisiana, 1878; died at New Orleans, February 20, +1893. + +JOHNSTON, JOSEPH ECCLESTON. Born near Farmville, Virginia, February 3, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; took part in +battle of Bull Run, opposed McClellan in Peninsular campaign, fought +battles of Resaca and Dallas against Sherman, and surrendered to Sherman +at Durham Station, North Carolina, April 26, 1865; member of Congress, +1876-78; United States Commissioner of Railways, 1885-89; died at +Washington, D.C., March 21, 1891. + +LONGSTREET, JAMES. Born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, January +8, 1821; graduated at West Point, 1842; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; promoted +major-general, 1861; was present at second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, +Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville and the Wilderness; United States +minister to Turkey, 1880-81; United States Commissioner of Pacific +Railroads, 1897; died January 2, 1904. + +STUART, JAMES EWELL BROWN. Born in Patrick County, Virginia, February 6, +1833; graduated at West Point, 1854; entered Confederate service, 1861, +and became leading cavalry officer in Army of Northern Virginia; at Bull +Run, Peninsula, Manassas Junction, Antietam, Fredericksburg and +Chancellorsville; mortally wounded at battle of Yellow Tavern, and died +at Richmond, May 12, 1864. + +WHEELER, JOSEPH. Born in Augusta, Georgia, September 10, 1836; graduated +at West Point, 1859; entered Confederate army as colonel; at Shiloh, +Green River, Perryville; brigadier-general, 1862; major-general, 1863; +at Murfreesboro, commanded cavalry at Chickamauga, fought Sherman almost +daily on the march to the sea; included in Johnston's surrender, April +26, 1865; member of Congress, from Alabama, 1881-99; appointed +major-general of volunteers, U.S.A., May 4, 1898; in command of cavalry +at Las Guasimas and before Santiago; in Philippine Islands, 1899-1900; +died at Brooklyn, New York, January 25, 1906. + +MILES, NELSON APPLETON. Born at Westminster, Massachusetts, August 8, +1839; entered Union army as volunteer, 1861, attaining rank of +major-general of volunteers; enlisted in regular army at close of war, +rising grade by grade to major-general, and commander-in-chief, +1895-1903; conducted campaigns against Geronimo and Natchez, 1886; in +command of United States troops at Chicago strike, 1884; +lieutenant-general, June 6, 1900; retired, August 8, 1903. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GREAT SAILORS + + +We have said that America has produced no soldier of commanding genius, +but her sailors outrank the world. Even Great Britain, mighty seafaring +nation as she has been, cannot, in the last hundred and fifty years, +show any brighter galaxy of stars. Just why it would be difficult to +say. Perhaps America inherited from England the traditions of that race +of heroes who made the age of Elizabeth, so memorable on the ocean, and +who started their country on her career as mistress of the +seas--Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Gilbert, and Howard of +Effingham. + +Surely in direct descent from these daring adventurers was that earliest +of America's naval commanders, John Paul Jones, well called the "Founder +of the American Navy." He it was who first carried the Stars and Stripes +into foreign waters, and who made Europe to see that a new nation had +arisen, in the west. He it was who first scouted the tradition of +England's invincibility on the sea, and carried the war into her very +ports. He it was who proved that American valor yielded no whit to +British valor--who, when Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, asked if he +had struck his colors, shouted back that he had not yet begun to fight, +although his ship had been shot to pieces and was sinking; but who +thereupon did begin, and to such good purpose that he captured his +adversary and got his crew aboard her as his own ship sank. Truly a +remarkable man and one worth looking at closely. + +In the middle of the eighteenth century, there lived in the county of +Kirkcudbright, Scotland, a poor gardener named John Paul. He had a large +family, and finding it no small task to feed so many mouths, accepted +the offer of a distant relative named William Jones to adopt his oldest +son, William, named in honor of that same relative. Jones owned a +plantation in Virginia, and thither the boy accompanied him, being known +thereafter as William Paul Jones. None of John Paul's numerous children, +however, would have figured on the pages of history but for the youngest +son, born in 1747, and named after his father, John Paul. + +Little John Paul had a short childhood, for as soon as he could handle a +line, he was put to work with the fishermen on Solway Firth to help earn +a living for the family. By the time that he was twelve years old, he +was a first-class sailor, and had developed a love for the sea and a +disregard of its perils which never left him. Securing his father's +consent, he shipped as apprentice for a voyage to Virginia, and visited +his brother, who was managing his adopted father's estate near +Fredericksburg. The old planter took a great fancy to the boy, and +offered to adopt him also, but young John Paul preferred the +adventurous life of the ocean to humdrum existence on a Virginia +plantation. For the next fifteen years, he followed the sea, studying +navigation and naval history, French and Spanish, and fitting himself in +every way for high rank in his profession. + +On the seventeenth of April, 1773, John Paul anchored his brig, the Two +Friends, in the Rappahannock just below his brother's plantation, and +rowed to shore to pay him a visit. He found him breathing his last. He +died childless, and John Paul found himself heir to the estate, which +was a considerable one. Resigning command of his vessel, he settled down +to the life of a Virginia planter, adding to his name the last name of +his family's benefactor, and being known thereafter as John Paul Jones. + +Events were at this time hurrying forward toward war with Great Britain; +Virginia was in a ferment, and Paul Jones was soon caught up by this +tide of patriotism. When, in 1775, the Congress decided to "equip a navy +for the defence of American liberty," Jones at once offered his +services, and was made a senior first lieutenant. It is amusing to run +over the names of those first officers of the American navy. As was the +case with the first generals, out of the whole list only two names live +with any lustre--Paul Jones and Nicholas Biddle. + +Paul Jones was the first of these officers to receive his commission, +John Hancock handing it to him in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, +shortly after noon on December 22, 1775. Immediately afterwards, the +new lieutenant, accompanied by a distinguished party, including Hancock +and Thomas Jefferson, proceeded to the Chestnut street wharf, where the +Alfred, the first American man-of-war was lying moored. Captain +Saltonstall, who was to command the ship, had not yet arrived from +Boston, and at Hancock's direction, Lieutenant Jones took command, and +ran up the first American flag ever shown from the masthead of a +man-of-war. It was not the Stars and Stripes, which had not yet been +adopted as the flag of the United States, but a flag showing a +rattlesnake coiled at the foot of a pine-tree, with the words, "Don't +tread on me." + +Three other small vessels were soon placed in commission, and the +squadron started out on its first cruise on February 17, 1776. Through +the inexperience and incompetency of the officers, the cruise was a +complete failure, and resulted in the dismissal of "Commander-in-Chief" +Ezekial Hopkins, and the retirement of Jones's immediate superior, +Captain Dudley Saltonstall. It was a striking example of how the first +blast of battle winnows the wheat from the chaff, and its best result +was to give Paul Jones a command of his own. Never thereafter was he +forced to serve under an imbecile superior, but was always, to the end +of his career, the ranking officer on his station. + +His first command was a small one, the sloop-of-war Providence, with +fourteen guns and 107 men, but in six weeks he had captured sixteen +prizes, of which eight were manned and sent to port, and eight +destroyed at sea; was twice chased by frigates, escaping capture only by +the most brilliant manoeuvring; and made two descents on the coast of +Nova Scotia, releasing some American prisoners, capturing arms and +ammunition, dispersing a force of Tories, and destroying a number of +fishing smacks; and finally reached port again with a crew of +forty-seven, all the rest having been told off to man his prizes. + +Work of so brilliant a description won instant recognition, especially +as contrasted with the failure of the first cruise, and Jones was +promoted to a captaincy, and the Alfred, a ship mounting twenty-eight +guns, added to his command. A cruise of thirty-three days in these two +vessels resulted in seven prizes, two of them armed transports loaded +with supplies for the British army. + +Fired by these successes, Jones's great ambition was for a cruise along +the coast of England. He argued that the time had come when the American +flag should be shown in European waters, and that the moral effect of a +descent upon the English coast would be tremendous. It would have this +further advantage, that England was expecting no such attack, that her +ports would be found unprepared for it, and that great damage to her +shipping could probably be done. Lafayette, who had become a warm friend +of the daring captain, heartily approved the plan, and on June 14, 1777, +the Congress passed the following resolution: + + _Resolved_, That the Flag of the Thirteen United States of America + be Thirteen Stripes, Alternate Red and White; that the Union be + Thirteen Stars in a Blue Field, Representing a New Constellation. + + _Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be Appointed to Command + the Ship Ranger. + +That these two acts should have been joined in one resolution seems a +remarkable coincidence. "The flag and I are twins," Jones used to say; +"we cannot be parted in life or death"; and it was this flag he carried +with him when he sailed from Portsmouth in the dawn of the first day of +November, 1777. Something else he carried, too--dispatches which had +been placed in his hands only a few hours before, telling of Burgoyne's +surrender. "I will spread the news in France in thirty days," Jones +promised, as his ship cast loose, and he actually did land at Nantes +thirty-one days later. The news he brought decided France in favor of an +alliance with the United States, and the Treaty of Alliance was signed +two months later. + +Jones, meanwhile, had overhauled and refitted his ship, and on the tenth +of April, set sail from Brest, intending to make a complete circuit of +the British Isles. Entering the Irish Sea, he spread terror along its +shores, where his coming was like a bolt from the blue, engaged and +captured the British ship-of-war Drake, took a number of prizes, and +sailed into Brest again after an absence of twenty-eight days. + +It has been the fashion in some quarters to call Jones a pirate, but it +is difficult to see any argument for such a characterization of him. He +sailed under the flag of the United States, held a commission from the +United States, and attacked an enemy with whom the United States was at +war. There is no hint of piracy about that; but Jones came to be a sort +of bogeyman to the coast towns of the British Isles, who never knew when +to expect an attack from him, and no name was too hard for their +frightened inhabitants to apply to him. + +But it was some time before Jones was able to strike another blow. He +realized that he must have a more effective squadron for his second +cruise, and more than a year was spent in getting it together. Finally, +on August 14, 1779, he got to sea again with a squadron of four +vessels--not a very effective one, but the best that could be had. The +flagship was an unwieldy old Indiaman which Jones had named the Bon +Homme Richard, in honor of his good friend, Benjamin Franklin, whose +Poor Richard was almost as famous in France as in America. The other +three ships were commanded by Frenchmen, and all the crews were of the +most motley description. On September 23, the squadron sighted a great +fleet of English merchantmen, under convoy of the Serapis, a powerful +frigate mounting forty-four guns, and the Countess of Scarborough, +mounting twenty-eight. Jones signalled his squadron to give chase and +himself closed with the Serapis. + +Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, was very willing for the contest, since +his ship was greatly superior to Jones's old boat in fighting +qualities; but Jones succeeded in depriving the Serapis of some of this +advantage by running his vessel into her and lashing fast. So close did +they lie that their yardarms interlocked, and their rigging was soon so +fouled that Jones could not have got away, even had he wished to do so. +For three hours the ships lay there, side by side, pouring broadsides +into each other; their decks were soon covered with dead and wounded; +two of the Richard's guns burst and her main battery was silenced, but +Jones kept fighting on, for a time with so few guns that the captain of +the Serapis thought he had surrendered. + +"Have you struck?" he shouted, through his trumpet. + +"No," Jones shouted back, "I have not yet begun to fight!" + +The Serapis was on fire and the Richard was sinking, but at this +juncture, one of the men of the Richard crept out along a yardarm, and +dropped a hand grenade down a hatchway of the Serapis. It wrought +fearful havoc, and Pearson struck his flag. + +It was time, for the Richard was on fire in two places, all her +main-deck guns were dismounted, and she was sinking fast. She was kept +afloat with great difficulty until morning, giving Jones time to place +his wounded on the Serapis, and to save such of her fittings as could be +removed. The Pallas, another of Jones's ships, had captured the +Scarborough, and with these prizes, Jones put back to France. He was +welcomed with great enthusiasm there, received the thanks of the +Congress, and was designated to command the ship-of-the-line then +building. But he fought no more battles under the Stars and Stripes. +After a brief service with Russia, he returned to Paris, broken in +health, and died there in 1792. His body was only recently brought to +this country and interred with national honors at Annapolis. + +We have said that there was only one other naval commander of the +Revolution whose name shines with any lustre to-day--Nicholas Biddle. +His career was a brief and brilliant one. Born in Philadelphia, he had +gone to sea at the age of thirteen, was cast away on a desert island, +was rescued, and enlisted in the English navy, but returned to America +as soon as revolution threatened. He was given command of a little brig +called the Andrea Doria, took a number of prizes, and made so good a +record that in 1776 he was appointed to command the new frigate, +Randolph. Using Charleston, South Carolina, as his base, he captured +four prizes within a few days, but on his second cruise, fell in with a +British sixty-four, the Yarmouth. After a sharp action of twenty +minutes, fire got into the magazine of the Randolph, in some way, and +she blew up, only four of her crew of 310 escaping. The blow was a heavy +one to the American navy, for Biddle was its best commander, next to +Jones, and the Randolph was its best ship. Luckily the French alliance +placed the French fleet at the disposal of the colonies--or Cornwallis +would never have been captured at Yorktown. + +It is one of our polite fictions that the United States has always been +victorious in war; but, as a matter of fact, we were not victorious in +the second war with England, and, when the treaty of peace came to be +signed, abandoned practically all the contentions which war had been +declared to maintain. On land, the war was, for the most part, a series +of costly blunders, beginning with the surrender of Detroit, and closing +with the sack of Washington, and had England had her hands free of +Napoleon, the result for us might have been very serious. The only +considerable and decisive victory won by American arms was that of +Andrew Jackson at New Orleans--a battle fought after the treaty of peace +had been signed. + +But on the ocean there was a different story--a series of brilliant +victories which, while they did not seriously cripple the great English +navy, caused Canning to declare in Parliament that "the sacred spell of +the invincibility of the British navy is broken." The heaviest blow was +struck to British commerce, no less than sixteen hundred English +merchantmen falling victims to privateers and ships-of-war. + +The group of men who commanded the American vessels was a most +remarkable one, and their fighting qualities were worthy in every way of +John Paul Jones. First blood was drawn by David Porter, illustrious +scion of a family which gave five generations to brilliant service in +the navy. On August 13, 1812, Porter, with the Essex, engaged in a +sharp battle with the British ship Alert, which, after an action of +eight minutes, surrendered in a sinking condition. He had seen hard +service before that, had been twice impressed by British vessels and +twice escaped, had fought French and pirates, and spent some time in a +prison in Tripoli. + +After his capture of the Alert, he went on a cruise in the Pacific, +destroying the English whale fisheries there, capturing booty valued at +two and a half million dollars, and taking four hundred prisoners. So +great was the damage he inflicted, that a British squadron was fitted +out and sent to the Pacific to capture him, found him in a partially +disabled condition in the harbor of Valparaiso, and, disregarding the +neutrality of the port, sailed in and attacked him. The engagement +lasted two hours and a half, the Essex finally surrendering when reduced +to a helpless wreck. On the Essex at the time was a midshipman aged +twelve years, who got his first taste of fighting there, and whose name +was destined to become, after that of Paul Jones, the most famous in +American naval history--David Glasgow Farragut. + +Less than a week after Porter's victory over the Alert, another and much +more important one was won by Captain Isaac Hull in the frigate +Constitution--"Old Ironsides"--the most famous ship-of-war the navy has +ever possessed. Isaac Hull was a nephew of General William Hull, who, on +August 16, 1812, surrendered Detroit and his entire army to the British +without striking a blow. Three days later, Isaac Hull, having sailed +from Boston without orders, in his anxiety to meet the enemy and for +fear the command of the Constitution would be given to some one else--a +breach of discipline for which he would probably have been +court-martialled and shot, had the cruise ended disastrously--fell in +with the powerful British frigate Guerričre. Inscribed across the +Guerričre's mainsail in huge red letters were the words: + + All who meet me have a care, + I am England's Guerričre. + +She was a powerful vessel, but neither the vessel nor the menace +frightened Hull, and he sailed straight for her, holding his fire until +he was within fifty yards, when he let fly a broadside and then another, +which sent two of her masts by the board, and the third soon followed, +leaving her unmanageable. Within a very few minutes, under Hull's raking +fire, she was reduced to a "perfect wreck"--so perfect, in fact, that +she had to be blown up and sunk, as there was no chance of getting her +back to port. The Constitution was practically uninjured, and Hull +sailed back to Boston, with his ship crowded with British prisoners. He +was welcomed with the wildest enthusiasm, banquets were given in his +honor, swords voted him by state legislatures, New York ordered a +portrait painted of him, and Congress gave him a gold medal. The War +Department discreetly permitted his disobedience of orders to drop out +of sight. + +Hull's victory was not the result of accident, but of long and careful +training. He had begun his sea career in the merchant service at the age +of fourteen, was a captain at the age of twenty, and entered the navy in +1798. He soon gained a high reputation for seamanship, and his genius +for handling a ship under all conditions was one of the most important +factors in his success. He saved his ship on one occasion, when she was +becalmed and practically surrounded by a powerful British fleet, by +"kedging"--in other words, sending a row-boat out with an anchor, which +was dropped as far ahead as the boat could take it, and the ship pulled +up to it by means of the windlass. As soon as the British saw him doing +this, they tried it too, but Hull managed to get away from them by +almost superhuman exertions. He served in the navy for many years after +his memorable victory over the Guerričre, but never achieved another so +notable. + +The second capture of a British frigate in the war of 1812 was made by +Stephen Decatur, who had distinguished himself years before by an +exploit which Lord Nelson called "the most daring act of the age." +Decatur, who possessed in unusual degree the dash and brilliance so +valuable in a naval commander, came naturally by his love of the sea, +for his grandfather had been an officer in the French navy, and his +father was a captain in the navy of the United States. + +Entering the service at the age of eighteen, his first cruise was in the +frigate, United States, which he was afterwards to command. He rose +steadily in the service and got his first command six years later, being +given the sixteen-gun brig Argus, and sent with Commodore Preble to +assist in subduing the Barbary corsairs. + +It is difficult to-day to realize that there was a time when the United +States paid tribute to anybody, more especially to a power so +insignificant as the Barbary States. Yet such was the fact. Lying along +the north coast of Africa were the half-civilized states of Morocco, +Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, and most of their income was from piracy. +All merchantmen were their prey; they divided the loot and sold the +crews into slavery. Many nations, to secure immunity from these +outrages, paid a stated sum yearly to these powers, and the United +States was one of them. + +Why the nations did not join together and wipe the pirates out of +existence is difficult to understand, but so it was. On one occasion, +Congress actually revoked an order for some new ships for the navy, and +used the appropriation to buy off the Barbary powers. The fund was known +as the "Mediterranean Fund," and was intrusted to the secretary of state +to expend as might be necessary. But after a while, the Barbary powers +became so outrageous in their demands, that it occurred to the State +Department that there might be another way of dealing with them, and a +squadron under Commodore Preble was sent to the Mediterranean for the +purpose. + +Shortly before he reached there, the U.S. frigate Philadelphia, +commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had gone upon a reef just outside the +harbor of Tripoli and had been surrounded and captured, with all her +crew, by the Tripolitan gunboats. The Tripolitans got her off the rocks, +towed her into the harbor, and anchored her close under the guns of +their forts. They also strengthened her batteries, and prepared her for +a cruise, which could not but have been disastrous to our shipping. It +was evident that she must be destroyed before she got out of the harbor, +and Stephen Decatur volunteered to lead a party into the harbor on this +desperate mission. Commodore Preble hesitated to accept Decatur's offer, +for he knew how greatly against success the odds were, but finally, in +January, 1804, he told him to go ahead. + +A small vessel known as a ketch had recently been captured from the +Tripolitans, and Decatur selected this in which to make the venture. He +took seventy men from his own vessel, and, on the night of February 15, +sailed boldly into the harbor of Tripoli. Let us pause for a minute to +consider the odds against him. First there was the Philadelphia with her +forty guns double-shotted and ready to fire; half a gunshot away was the +Bashaw's castle, the mole and crown batteries, while within range were +ten other batteries, mounting, all told, a hundred and fifteen guns. +Between the Philadelphia and the shore lay a number of Tripolitan +cruisers, galleys and gunboats. Into this hornet's nest, Decatur steered +his little vessel of sixty tons, carrying four small guns, and having a +crew of only seventy men. + +The Tripolitans saw the vessel entering the harbor, but supposed it to +be one of their own until it was alongside the Philadelphia. Then there +was a cry of "Americanos!" and a rush to quarters, but it was too late, +for Decatur and his men swarmed up the side and over the rail of the +Philadelphia, and charged the dismayed and panic-stricken Tripolitans. +There was a short and desperate struggle, and five minutes later, the +ship was cleared of the enemy. + +It was manifestly impossible to get the Philadelphia out of the harbor, +so Decatur gave the order to burn her. Combustibles had been prepared in +advance, and in a moment, flames began to break out in all parts of the +ship. Then the order was given to return to the ketch, the cable was +cut, the sweeps got out, and the ketch drew rapidly away from the +burning vessel. The sounds of the męlée had awakened the troops on +shore, and, as the harbor was lighted by the flames from the +Philadelphia, the shore batteries opened upon the little vessel, but +without doing her any serious damage, and Decatur got safely out of the +harbor and back to the fleet without losing a man. + +Shortly afterwards his life was saved by one of those acts of heroism +which stir the blood. In a general attack upon the Tripolitan gunboats, +Decatur laid his ship alongside one of the enemy, grappled with her and +boarded. Decatur was the first over the side and a desperate +hand-to-hand combat followed. The pirate captain, a gigantic fellow, +soon met Decatur face to face, and stood on tiptoe to deal him a +tremendous blow with his scimitar. Decatur rushed in under the swinging +sword, grappled with him, and they fell to the deck together, when +another Tripolitan raised his scimitar to deal the American a fatal +blow. A young sailor named Reuben James, himself with both arms disabled +from sword cuts, seeing his beloved captain's peril, interposed his own +head beneath the descending sword and received a wound which marked him +for life. An instant later, Decatur's crew rallied to him, killed the +pirate captain and drove the remainder of his crew over the side into +the sea. + +At the outbreak of the war of 1812, Decatur was given command of the +United States, and on the morning of October 25, overhauled the British +frigate Macedonian near the Canary Islands. Seventeen minutes later, the +Macedonian, with a third of her crew dead, hauled down her colors. +Decatur had lost only twelve men killed and wounded, and placing a crew +aboard his prize, got her safely to New York. This victory was soon +followed by disaster, for, securing command of the President, a frigate +mounting forty-four guns, he attempted to get past the British blockade +of New York harbor, but ran into a squadron of the enemy, and, after a +running fight lasting thirty hours, was overhauled by a superior force +and compelled to surrender. Decatur was taken captive to Bermuda, but +was soon parolled, and, after commanding a squadron in the +Mediterranean, built himself a house at Washington, expecting to spend +the remainder of his days there in honorable retirement. + +But it was not to be. In 1816, Decatur, while a member of the board of +navy commissioners, had occasion to censure Commodore James Barron. +Barron considered himself insulted, and a long correspondence followed, +which finally resulted in Barron challenging Decatur to fight a duel. +Under the code of honor then in vogue, Decatur could do nothing but +accept, and the meeting took place at Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, +1820. At the word "fire," Barron fell wounded in the hip, where Decatur +had said he would shoot him, while Decatur himself received a wound in +the abdomen from which he died that night. He was, all in all, one of +the most brilliant and efficient men the navy ever boasted; and he will +be remembered, too, for his immortal toast: "My country: may she be +always right; but, right or wrong, my country!" + +Closely associated with Decatur in some of his exploits was William +Bainbridge, as handsome, impetuous and daring a sailor as ever trod a +deck. Bainbridge, who was five years younger than Decatur, began his +seafaring career at the age of sixteen, and three years later was in +command of a merchantman. He entered the navy at its reorganization in +1798, and two years later was appointed to command the George +Washington, a ship of twenty-eight guns. + +Bainbridge's first duty was to carry a tribute of half a million +dollars to the Dey of Algiers, according to the arrangement made by the +Secretary of State which we have already mentioned. The errand was a +hateful one to Bainbridge, as it would have been to any American +sailorman; but he was in the navy to obey orders, and in September, +1800, he reached Algiers and anchored in the harbor and delivered the +tribute. But when he had done this, the Dey sent word that he had a +cargo of slaves and wild beasts for the Sultan of Turkey at +Constantinople, and that Bainbridge must take them, or his ship would be +taken from him and he and his crew sold into slavery. + +There was nothing to do but consent, since the ship was wholly in the +Dey's power, so to Constantinople Bainbridge sailed her. When a boat was +sent ashore there to announce her arrival, the Turks were greatly +astonished, for they had never heard of a nation called the United +States, and did not know that there was a great continent on the other +side of the world. It makes us feel less self-important, sometimes, when +we stop to consider that about one half the human race, even at the +present day, have no idea of our existence. + +Well, Bainbridge delivered his cargo, and then sailed back to Algiers +with orders from the Sultan to the Dey. He delivered these to the Dey, +and in accordance with them, the Dey immediately declared war on France, +and notified all the French in Algiers that if they had not left his +dominions within forty-eight hours, they would be sold into slavery. +There was no French ship in the harbor, and it looked, for a time, as +though, the French would not be able to get away, but as soon as he +learned of their predicament, Bainbridge gathered them together and took +them over to Spain--an act for which he received the personal thanks of +Napoleon Bonaparte. + +Bainbridge was, of course, glad to get away from Algiers, but he had by +no means seen the last of the Barbary pirates. Returning to the United +States, he was given command of the Philadelphia, and sent back to the +Mediterranean with Commodore Preble's squadron to give the pirates a +lesson. The Philadelphia went on ahead to Tripoli and began a vigorous +blockade of that port, but, in chasing a Tripolitan vessel which was +trying to enter the harbor, ran hard and fast on an uncharted reef, and +keeled over so far that her guns were useless. The Tripolitans were not +long in discovering her predicament, swarmed out of the harbor in their +gunboats, and soon had the American vessel at their mercy. + +With what bitterness of spirit Bainbridge hauled down his flag may be +imagined. He and his men were taken ashore and imprisoned and their +vessel was got off the reef and towed into the harbor. From the window +of their prison, the Americans could see her riding at anchor, flying +the flag of Tripoli, and the sight did not render their imprisonment +more pleasant. But one night, they heard shots in the harbor, and, +looking out, beheld the Philadelphia in flames, and the little ketch +bearing Decatur and his men fading rapidly away through the darkness +toward the harbor mouth. Six months later, they watched the American +assault upon the harbor, but their hearts fell when the American +squadron finally gave up the attempt and withdrew. It was not until the +following year that peace was made, and Bainbridge and his men released, +after a captivity of nineteen months. Never since that time has the +United States paid tribute to any nation. + +When the second war with England began, President Madison and his +advisers thought it foolhardy to attempt to oppose Great Britain on the +ocean, for she had the strongest fleet of any nation in the world, and +so decided to confine the war entirely to land. It was Bainbridge who +brought about a change of this unwise policy by impassioned pleading, to +the everlasting glory of the American navy. Hull resigned the +Constitution to him, after his victory over the Guerričre--it was really +for fear that Bainbridge would get command of the ship that Hull had +sailed from Boston without orders--and Bainbridge sailed for the South +Atlantic, and captured the British frigate Java, after a terrific fight, +in which he was himself seriously wounded. This was his last fight, +though the years which followed saw him in many important commands. For +sheer romance and adventure, his career has seldom been excelled. + +Another hero of the war of 1812, whose name is associated with a deed of +imperishable gallantry, was James Lawrence. He had entered the navy as +midshipman in 1798, at the age of eighteen, and served in the war +against Tripoli, first under Hull and then under Decatur, and +accompanied the latter on the expedition which destroyed the +Philadelphia. But the deed by which he is best remembered is his fight +with the British frigate Shannon. In the spring of 1813, he was assigned +to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, a vessel hated by the whole +navy because of the bad luck which seemed to pursue her. Lawrence +accepted the command reluctantly, and proceeded to Boston, where she was +lying, to prepare her for a voyage. + +A crew was secured with great difficulty, most of them being foreigners, +and his officers were all young and inexperienced. What the crew and +officers alike needed was a practice cruise to put them in shape to meet +the enemy, and Lawrence knew this better than anybody, but when the +British frigate Shannon appeared outside the harbor with a challenge for +a battle, Lawrence, feeling that to refuse would be dishonorable, +hoisted anchor and sailed out to meet her. + +The Shannon was one of the finest frigates in the English navy, manned +by an experienced crew, and commanded by Philip Broke, one of the best +officers serving under the Union Jack. The ships ranged up together and +broadsides were delivered with terrible effect. Lawrence was wounded in +the leg, but kept the deck. Then the ships fouled, and Lawrence called +for boarders, but his crew, frightened at the desperate nature of the +conflict, did not respond, and a moment later he fell, shot through the +body. As he was borne below, he kept shouting, "Don't give up the ship! +Fight her till she strikes or sinks! Don't give up the ship!" his voice +growing weaker and weaker as his life ebbed away. + +The battle was soon over, after that, for the British boarded, the +Chesapeake's foreign crew threw down their arms, and the triumphant +enemy hauled down the Chesapeake's flag. A few days later, the two ships +sailed into the harbor of Halifax, Lawrence's body, wrapped in his +ship's flag, lying in state on the quarter-deck. He was buried with +military honors, first at Halifax, and then at New York, where Hull, +Stewart and Bainbridge were among those who carried the pall. His cry, +"Don't give up the ship!" was to be the motto of another battle, far to +the west, where Great Britain experienced the greatest defeat of the +war. + +Before describing it, however, let us speak briefly of four other +valiant men, whose deeds redounded to the honor of their country--Edward +Preble, Charles Stewart, Johnston Blakeley, and Thomas Macdonough. It +was said of Preble that he had the worst temper and the best heart in +the world. At sixteen years of age he ran away to sea, and two years +later, he actually saw a sea-serpent, a hundred and fifty feet in length +and as big around as a barrel, and got close enough to fire at it. He +saw service in the Revolution, and in 1803, was appointed to command the +expedition against the Barbary corsairs, of which we have already +spoken, and which resulted in bringing those pirates to their knees. +The trials of that expedition ruined his health, and he survived it but +a few years. + +To Charles Stewart belongs the remarkable exploit of engaging and +capturing two British ships at the same time. Enlisting in 1798, he was +with Preble at Tripoli, and was given command of the Constitution, after +Bainbridge's successful cruise in her, and started out in search of +adventure on December 17, 1814. Two months later, off the Madeira +Islands he sighted two British ships-of-war and at once gave chase. He +overhauled them at nightfall, and, running between them, gave them +broadside after broadside, until both struck their colors. They were the +Cyane and the Levant. Stewart got back to New York the middle of May to +find out that peace had been declared over a month before his encounter +with the British ships. + +He was received with enthusiasm, and "Old Ironsides" got the reputation +of being invincible. Her career had, indeed, been remarkable. She had +done splendid work before Tripoli, escaped twice from British squadrons +and seven times run the blockade through strong British fleets; she had +captured three frigates and a sloop-of-war, besides many merchantmen, +and had taken more than eleven hundred prisoners. From all of these +engagements she had emerged practically unscathed, and in none of them +had she lost more than nine men. Stewart was the last survivor of the +great captains of 1812, living until 1869, having been carried on the +navy list for seventy-one years. + +Johnston Blakeley was a South Carolinian, and won renown by a remarkable +cruise in the Wasp. The Wasp was a stout and speedy sloop, carrying +twenty-two guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy men, and in 1814 +she sailed from the United States, and headed for the English Channel, +to carry the war into the enemy's country, after the fashion of Paul +Jones. The Channel, of course, was traversed constantly by English +fleets and squadrons and single ships-of-war, and here the Wasp sailed +up and down, capturing and destroying merchantmen, and, by the skill and +vigilance of her crew and commander, escaping an encounter with any +frigate or ship-of-the-line. + +But one June morning, while chasing two merchantmen, she sighted the +British brig Reindeer, and at once prepared for action. The Reindeer +accepted the challenge, and after some broadsides had been exchanged, +the ships fouled and the British boarded. A desperate struggle followed, +in which the English commander was killed. Then the boarders were driven +back, and the Americans boarded in their turn, and in a minute had the +Reindeer in their possession. Her colors were hauled down, she was set +afire, and the Wasp continued her cruise. + +Late one September afternoon, British ships of war appeared all around +her, and selecting one which seemed isolated from the others, Captain +Blakeley decided to try to run alongside and sink her after nightfall. +She was the eighteen-gun brig Avon, a bigger ship than the Wasp, but +Blakeley ran alongside, discharged his broadsides, and soon had the +Avon in a sinking condition. She struck her flag, but before Blakeley +could secure his prize, two other British ships came up and he was +forced to flee. + +Soon afterwards, he encountered a convoy of ships bearing arms and +munitions to Wellington's army, under the care of a great three-decker. +Blakeley sailed boldly in, and, evading the three-decker's movements, +actually cut out and captured one of the transports and made his escape. +Then she sailed for home, and that was the last ever heard of the Wasp. +She never again appeared, and her fate has never been determined. But +when she sank, if sink she did, there went to the bottom one of the +gallantest ships and bravest captains in the American navy. + +All of the battles which we have thus far described were fought on salt +water, but two great victories were won on inland waters, and of one of +these Thomas Macdonough was the hero. He had entered the navy in 1800, +at the age of seventeen, served before Tripoli, and accompanied Decatur +on the expedition which burned the Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the +second war with England, he was sent to Lake Champlain, and set about +the building of a fleet to repel the expected British invasion from +Canada. The British were also busy at the other end of the lake, and on +September 9, 1814, Macdonough sailed his fleet of fourteen boats, ten of +which were small gunboats, and the largest of which, the Saratoga, was +merely a corvette, into Plattsburg Bay, and anchored there. + +The abdication of Napoleon had enabled England to turn her undivided +attention to America, and one great force was sent against New Orleans, +while another was concentrated in Canada, for the purpose of invading +New York by way of Lake Champlain. On this latter enterprise, a force of +twelve thousand regulars started from Montreal early in August, while +the British naval force on the lake was augmented to nineteen vessels. +On September 11, this fleet got under way, and, certain of victory, +sailed into Plattsburg Bay and attacked Macdonough. A terrific battle +followed, in which the Saratoga had every gun on one side disabled and +had to wear around under fire in order to use those on the other side. +But three hours later, every British flag had been struck, and the land +force, seeing their navy defeated, retreated hastily to Canada. So +riddled were both squadrons that in neither of them did a mast remain +upon which sail could be made. + +But the greatest victory of the war, the one which had the most +important and far-reaching consequences, had been won a year before, far +to the west, on the blue waters of Lake Erie, by Oliver Hazard Perry, at +that time only twenty-eight years of age. Perry came of a seafaring +stock, for his father was a captain in the navy, and the boy's first +voyage was made with him in 1799. At the outbreak of the war of 1812, he +was in command of a division of gunboats at Newport, but finding that, +owing to the British blockade, there was little chance of his seeing +active service in that position, he asked to be sent to the Great +Lakes, whose possession we were preparing to dispute with England. + +The importance of this mission can hardly be overestimated. By the +capture of Detroit, earlier in the war, the English had obtained +undisputed control of Lake Erie, and were in position to carry out their +plan of extending the Dominion of Canada along the Ohio and Mississippi +rivers down to the Gulf, and so shutting in the United States upon the +West. To Perry was assigned the task of stopping this project, and of +regaining control of the lake. + +He arrived at Lake Erie in the spring of 1813, and proceeded at once to +build the fleet which was to sail under the Stars and Stripes. He showed +the utmost skill and energy in doing this, and by the middle of July, in +spite of many difficulties, had nine vessels ready to meet the +enemy--two brigs and two gunboats which he had built, and five small +boats which were brought up from the Niagara river. On the third of +August, he sailed out to meet the British, his ships being manned by a +motley crew of "blacks, soldiers, and boys." + +The flagship had been named the Lawrence, after the heroic commander of +the Chesapeake. Luckily the English were not ready for battle, and Perry +had a month in which to drill his men before the enemy sailed out to +meet him. At last, on the morning of Saturday, September 10, 1813, the +British fleet was seen approaching, and Perry formed his ships in line +of battle. + +The British squadron consisted of six vessels, mounting 63 guns, and +manned by 502 men. The American ships mounted 54 guns, with 490 men. +Although of smaller total weight than the American guns, the British +guns were longer and would carry farther, and so were much more +effective. The British crews, too, were better disciplined, a large +number of the men being from the royal navy, and the squadron was +commanded by Robert Heriot, a man of much experience, who had fought +under Nelson at Trafalgar. + +The American shore was lined with an anxious crowd, who appreciated the +great issues which hung upon the battle. Perry, calling his men aft, +produced a blue banner bearing in white letters the last words of the +man after whom the Lawrence was named: "Don't give up the ship!" + +"Shall I hoist it, boys?" he asked. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" they shouted, and the bunting was run up to the +main-royal masthead. Then a hush fell upon the water as the two fleets +drew together. A few minutes before noon the engagement began, Perry +heading straight for the flagship of the enemy, and drawing the fire of +practically the whole British squadron by running ahead of the other +ships, which, owing to the light breeze, could not get within range. For +two hours, he fought against these hopeless odds, and almost without +support, until his ship was reduced to a wreck and only one of her guns +could be worked, while of her crew of 103, only twenty were left on +their feet. Every nook and corner of the brig was occupied by some +wounded and dying wretch seeking vainly to find shelter from the British +fire. Even the cockpit, where the wounded were carried for treatment, +was not safe, for some of the men were killed while under the surgeon's +hands. No fewer than six cannon balls passed through the cockpit, while +two went through the magazine, which, by some miracle, did not explode. +The ship was so disabled, at last, that it drifted out of action, and +Perry, taking his pennant and the blue flag bearing the words "Don't +give up the ship!" under his arm, got into a boat with four seamen, and +started for the Niagara, his other brig. + +The British saw the little boat dancing over the waves, and after a +moment of dazed astonishment at a manoeuvre unheard of in naval warfare +and daring almost to madness, concentrated their fire on it. One cannon +ball penetrated the boat, but Perry, stripping off his coat, stuffed it +into the hole and so kept the boat afloat until the Niagara was reached. +Clambering on board, Perry ran up his flags, reformed his line, closed +with the enemy, raked them, engaged them at close quarters, where their +long guns gave them no advantage, and conducted an onslaught so terrific +that, twenty minutes later, the entire British squadron had hauled down +their flags. + +Perry at once rowed back to the Lawrence, and upon her splintered and +bloodstained deck, received the surrender of the British officers. Then, +using his cap for a desk, he wrote with a pencil on the back of an old +letter the famous message announcing the victory: "We have met the enemy +and they are ours--two ships, two brigs, two schooners and one sloop." +More than that was ours, for the victory, and the prompt advance of +General Harrison which followed it, compelled the British to evacuate +Detroit and Michigan, and to abandon forever the attempt to annex the +West to Canada. Half a century later, when the great Erie canal was +opened, the guns of Perry's fleet, placed at ten-mile intervals along +its banks, announced the departure of the first fleet of boats from +Buffalo, carrying the news to New York City, a distance of 360 miles, in +an hour and twenty minutes. + +Perry lived only six years longer, dying while still a young man, in the +saddest possible manner. In June, 1819, he was given command of a +squadron designed to protect American trade in South American waters, +and while ascending the Orinoco, contracted the yellow fever, and died a +few days later. He was buried at Trinidad, but some years afterwards, a +ship-of-war brought him home, and he sleeps at Newport, Rhode Island, +near the spot where he was born. + +So ends the story of that group of naval commanders, who dealt so +surprising and terrific a blow at the tradition of English supremacy on +the ocean. + + * * * * * + +The brother of the victor of Lake Erie, Matthew Calbraith Perry, must +also be mentioned here, for his was a unique achievement--the peaceful +conquest of a great Eastern empire. Born in 1794, and educated in the +best traditions of the navy, he was selected to command the expedition +which, in 1853, was ordered to visit Japan, that strange nation of the +Orient which, up to that time, had kept her ports closed to foreign +commerce. Perry's conduct of this delicate mission was notable in the +extreme, and its result was the signing of a treaty between Japan and +the United States which has long been regarded as one of the greatest +diplomatic triumphs of the age. + + * * * * * + +In the spring of 1861, a captain of the United States navy was living at +Norfolk, Va., his home, the home of his wife's family, and the home of +his closest friends. Excitement ran high, for it was as yet an open +question whether or not the great state of Virginia would join her +sisters farther south and renounce her allegiance to the Union. It was a +time of searching of hearts, and this man of sixty years was brought +face to face with the bitterest moment of his life. He must choose +between his country and his state; between his flag and the love and +respect of his relatives and friends. + +In the end, the flag won. It was the flag he had taken his boyish oath +to honor; on more than one occasion, he had seen the haughtiest colors +on the ocean bow with respect before it; he had seen men, writhing in +the agony of death, expend their last breath to defend it. It had +wrapped itself about his heart, and meant more to him than home or +friends or kindred. So the flag won. + +On the seventeenth day of April, 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union. +The day following, our gray-haired captain, expressing the opinion that +secession was not the will of the majority of the people, but that the +state had been dragooned out of the Union by a coterie of politicians, +was told that he could no longer live in Norfolk. + +"Very well," he answered, "I can live somewhere else." + +He went home and told his wife that the time had come when she must +choose whether she would remain with her own kinsfolk or follow him. Her +choice was made on the instant, and within two hours, David Glasgow +Farragut, his wife and their only son, were on a steamer headed for the +North. A few days later, he offered his services to the Union. + +Before going forward with him upon his great career, let us cast a +glance over his boyhood--such a boyhood as falls to the lot of not one +in a million. Born in 1801, of a father who had served in the Revolution +and who was afterwards to become a friend and companion of Andrew +Jackson, his childhood was passed amid the dangers and alarms of the +Tennessee frontier. In 1808 occurred the incident which paved the way +for his entrance into the navy. While fishing on Lake Pontchartrain, his +father fell in with a boat in which was lying an old man prostrated by +the heat of the sun. Farragut took him at once to his own home, where he +was tenderly cared for, but he died a few days later. The sufferer was +David Porter, father of Captain Porter of the Essex, at that time in +charge of the naval station at New Orleans. + +Captain Porter was informed of the accident to his father, and hastened +to the home of the Farraguts. He felt deeply their kindness, and as some +slight return, offered to adopt one of the Farragut children, take him +North with him, and do what he could for his advancement. Young David +promptly said that he would go, the arrangements were concluded, and the +boy of seven accompanied his new protector to Washington. He spent two +years at school there, and then, on December 17, 1810, at the age of +nine, received an appointment as midshipman in the United States navy. +Two years later, he accompanied Porter in the Essex on that memorable +trip around Cape Horn. + +Porter took so many prizes in the South Pacific that his supply of older +officers ran out, and twelve-year old David Farragut was appointed +prize-master of one of them, with orders to take her to Valparaiso. When +Farragut gave his first order, her skipper, a hot-tempered old sea-dog, +flew into a rage, and declaring that he had "no idea of trusting himself +with a blamed nutshell," rushed below for his pistols. The +twelve-year-old commander shouted after him that, if he came on deck +again, he would be thrown overboard, and thenceforth was master of the +ship. He was back on the Essex again when she was attacked in Valparaiso +harbor by a British squadron, and got his baptism of fire in one of the +hardest-fought naval battles in history. + +From that time until the outbreak of the Civil War, his life was spent +in the most active service, and he rose to the rank of captain. As has +been seen, he cast in his lot with the North, and asked for active duty +at once, but it was not until eight months later that the summons came. +When it did come, it was of a nature to fill him with the most unbounded +enthusiasm. The national government had determined to attempt to send a +fleet past the formidable forts at the mouth of the Mississippi, for the +purpose of capturing New Orleans. Farragut was sent for, shown the list +of vessels which were preparing for the expedition, and asked if he +thought it could succeed. He answered that he would undertake to do it +with two-thirds the number, and when he was told that he was to command +the expedition, his delight knew no bounds. He felt that his chance had +come. On the second of February, 1862, he sailed out of Hampton Roads +with a squadron of seventeen vessels, and turned his prow to the south. + +The task which had been set him was one to give the stoutest heart +pause. Twenty miles above the mouth of the Mississippi were two +formidable forts and a number of water batteries, with combined +armaments greatly superior to those of Farragut's fleet. A great barrier +of logs stretched across the river, while farther up lay a Confederate +fleet of fifteen vessels, one of which was an ironclad ram. A strong +force of Confederate sharpshooters was stationed along either bank, and +a number of fire-rafts were ready to be lighted and sent down against +the Union fleet. It was against these obstacles that Farragut, after a +week of preliminary attack, started up the river in his wooden vessels +at three o'clock in the morning of April 24, 1862. + +As soon as the Confederates descried the advancing fleet, they lighted +great fires along the banks and opened a terrific cannonade. Blazing +fire-rafts threw a lurid glare against the sky. The fleet, pausing a few +minutes to discharge their broadsides into the forts, steamed on up the +river; Farragut's flagship grounded under the guns of Fort St. Philip, +and a fireship, blazing a hundred feet in the air, floated against her +and set her on fire, but the flames were extinguished, the flagship +backed off, and headed again up the stream. Before the coming of dawn, +the entire fleet, with the exception of three small boats, had passed +the forts and were grappling with the Confederate squadron above. Of +this, short work was made. Some of the enemy's vessels were driven +ashore, some were run down, others were riddled with shot--and the +proudest city of the South lay at Farragut's mercy. + +On the first day of May, the United States troops under General Butler, +marched into the city, and Farragut, glad to be relieved of an +unpleasant task, proceeded up the river, ran by the batteries at +Vicksburg, assisted at the reduction of Port Hudson, and finally sailed +for New York in his flagship, the Hartford, arriving there in August, +1863. He had already been commissioned rear-admiral, and he was given a +most enthusiastic reception, for his passage of the Mississippi was +recognized as an extraordinary feat. An examination of his ship showed +that she had been struck 240 times by shot and shell in her nineteen +months of service. + +Immediately after the surrender of New Orleans, Farragut had desired to +proceed against the port of Mobile, Alabama, which was so strongly +fortified that all attempts to close it had been in vain, and which was +the only important port left open to the Confederates. But the +government decided that Mobile could wait a while, and sent him, +instead, to open the Mississippi. That task accomplished, the time had +come for him to attempt the greatest of his career--greater, even, than +his capture of New Orleans, and much more hazardous. In the spring of +1864, he was in the Gulf, preparing for the great enterprise. + +Mobile harbor was defended by works so strong and well-placed that it +was considered well-nigh impregnable. The Confederates had realized the +importance of keeping this, their last port, open, so that they could +communicate with the outer world, and had spared no pains to render it +so strong that they believed no attack could subdue it. Two great forts, +armed with heavy and effective artillery, guarded the entrance; the +winding channel was filled with torpedoes, and in the inner harbor was a +fleet of gunboats, and, most powerful of all, the big, ironclad ram, +Tennessee. In charge of the Tennessee was the same man who had guided +the Merrimac on her fatal visit to Hampton Roads, Franklin Buchanan, but +the Tennessee was a much more powerful vessel than the Merrimac had ever +been, and it was thought that nothing afloat could stand against her. + +It was this position, then, which, at daybreak of August 5, 1864, +Farragut sailed in to assault. His fleet consisted of four ironclad +monitors, and fourteen wooden vessels, and his preparations were made +most carefully, for he fully realized the gravity of the task before +him. He himself was in his old flagship, the Hartford, and mounting into +the rigging to be above the smoke, he was lashed fast there, so that he +would not fall to the deck, in case a bullet struck him. The thought of +that brave old leader taking that exposed position so that he might +handle his fleet more ably will always be a thrilling one--and the event +proved how wise he was in choosing it. + +The word was given, and, at half past six in the morning, the monitors +took their stations, while the wooden ships formed in column, the plan +being for the monitors, with their iron sides, to steam in between the +wooden ships and the forts, and so protect them as much as possible. The +light vessels were lashed each to the left of one of the heavier ones, +so that each pair of ships was given a double chance to escape, should +one be rendered helpless by a shot in the boiler, or in some other vital +portion of her machinery. The Brooklyn was at the head of the column, +while the Hartford came second, and the others followed. In this order, +the fleet advanced to the attack. + +There was an unwonted stillness on the ships as they swung in towards +the harbor mouth, for every man felt within him a vague unrest caused by +one awful and mysterious peril, the torpedoes. For the forts, the +gunboats, even the great ironclad, the men cared nothing--they had met +such perils before--but lurking beneath the water was a horror not to be +guarded against. They knew that these deadly mines were scattered along +the channel through which they must make their way, and that any moment +might be the end of some proud vessel. + +The ships were all in fighting trim, with spars housed and canvas +furled, and decks spread with sawdust so that they would not grow +slippery with the blood which was soon to flow. As the fleet came within +range of the forts, a terrific cannonade began, in which the Confederate +ships, stationed just inside the harbor, soon joined. One of them was +the great ram, Tennessee, and the commander of the leading monitor, the +Tecumseh, noted her and determined to give her battle. So he swung his +ship toward her and ordered full steam ahead; but an instant later, +there came a sudden dull roar, an uplifting of the water, the boat +quivered from stem to stern, and then plunged, bow first, beneath the +waves. + +Farragut, from his lofty station, saw the Tecumseh disappear, and then +saw the Brooklyn, the ship ahead of him in the battle line, stop and +begin to back. It was an awful moment--the crisis of the fight and of +Farragut's career as well. The ships were halted in a narrow channel, +right beneath the forts; a few moments' delay meant that they would be +blown out of the water. + +"What's the matter there?" he roared. + +"Torpedoes!" came the cry from the Brooklyn's deck, for her captain had +perceived a line of little buoys stretching right across her path. + +"Damn the torpedoes!" shouted the admiral. "Go ahead, Captain Drayton," +he continued, addressing his own captain. "Four bells!" and the +Hartford, swinging aside, cleared the Brooklyn and took the lead. + +On went the flagship across the line of torpedoes, which could be heard +knocking against her bottom as she passed, but not one of them exploded, +and a moment later, one of the most daring feats in naval history had +been accomplished. Farragut had seen, instantly, that the risk must be +taken, and so he took it. + +The remainder of the fleet followed the flagship, the forts were passed, +and the battle virtually won. The Confederate fleet, and especially the +great ram, was still to be reckoned with, but before proceeding to that +portion of the task, Farragut steamed up the harbor and served breakfast +to his men. Just as this was finished, the Tennessee attacked, and put +up a desperate fight, but finally became unmanageable and was forced to +surrender. + +So ended the battle of Mobile Bay. It left Farragut's fame secure as one +of the greatest sea-captains of all time; great in daring, in skill, in +foresight, and with a coolness and presence of mind which no peril +could shake. Congress created for him the grade of admiral, before +unknown in the United States navy, and the whole country joined in +honoring him. + +Swinging to and fro with the ebb and flow of the tide at the entrance of +Mobile Bay, is a buoy which marks the spot of a deed of purest heroism. +A few fathoms below that buoy lies the monitor Tecumseh, sunk by a +torpedo at the beginning of the battle, as we have seen, and the buoy +commemorates, not the sinking of the ship, but the self-sacrifice of her +commander, Tunis Augustus Craven. + +Craven had entered the navy at the age of sixteen and had seen much +service and distinguished himself in many ways before he was given +command of the Tecumseh and ordered to join Farragut's squadron. On the +morning of the attack, he was given the post of honor at the head of the +column, and determined to come to close quarters with the Tennessee, if +he could. But fate intervened, when his quarry was almost within reach. +Craven had stationed himself in the little pilot-house beside the pilot, +the better to direct the movements of his ship, and when he and the +pilot felt that sudden shock and saw the Tecumseh sinking, both of them +sprang for the narrow opening leading from the pilot-house to the turret +chamber below. They reached the opening at the same instant; it was so +small that only one could pass at a time, and Craven, with a greatness +of soul found only in heroes, drew back, saying quietly, "After you, +pilot." + +"There was nothing after me," said the pilot afterwards, "for when I +reached the last round of the ladder, the vessel seemed to drop from +under me." + + * * * * * + +At the outbreak of the Civil War, the commerce of the United States was +the next to the largest in the world. The North destroyed southern +commerce by capturing or blockading southern ports, while the South +retaliated by fitting out a large number of commerce-destroyers, to +range the seas and take what prizes they could--a plan which had been +adopted by America in both wars with England, and which is the only +resource of a power whose navy is greatly inferior to that of its +antagonist. + +The bright particular star of the Confederate service was Raphael +Semmes, who had been trained in the United States navy, and who, first +in the Sumter and afterwards in the Alabama, captured a total of +seventy-seven prizes, nearly all of which he destroyed. To his capture, +the United States devoted some of its best ships, but it was not until +the summer of 1864, that he was finally cornered. + +On Sunday, June 12, 1864, the United States sloop-of-war Kearsarge lay +at anchor off the sleepy town of Flushing, Holland. Her commander, John +Ancrum Winslow, had served in the navy of the United States for +thirty-seven years, and had done good work off Vera Cruz in the war with +Mexico, but the crowning achievement of his life was at hand. As his +ship lay swinging idly at her anchor, a boat put off to her, a messenger +jumped aboard, and three minutes later a gun was fired, recalling +instantly every member of the ship's company ashore. The message was +from our minister to France and stated that the long-sought Alabama had +arrived at Cherbourg. For nearly two years, Winslow had been searching +for that scourge of American shipping, but Semmes had always eluded him, +so it may well be believed that Winslow lost no time in getting under +way. On Tuesday morning, he reached Cherbourg, and breathed a great sigh +of relief as he saw, beyond the breakwater, the flag of the Alabama. He +took his station off the port, and kept a close lookout for fear his +enemy would again elude him. But the precaution was unnecessary, for +Semmes had decided to offer battle. + +Four days passed, however, with the Kearsarge keeping grim guard. Then, +on Sunday morning, June 19, as the crew of the Kearsarge was at divine +service, the officer of the deck reported a steamer at the harbor-mouth. +A moment later, the lookout shouted, "She's coming, and heading straight +for us!" Captain Winslow, putting aside his prayer-book, seized the +trumpet, ordered the decks cleared for action, and put his ship about +and bore down on the Alabama. + +The two vessels were remarkably well-matched, but the engagement was +decisive evidence of the superior qualities of northern marksmanship. It +was, in fact, an exhibition of that magnificent gunnery which was so +evident in the war of 1812, and which was to be shown again in the war +with Spain. Nearly all of the 173 shots fired by the Kearsarge took +effect, while of the 370 fired by the Alabama, only 28 reached their +target. As a result, at the end of an hour and a half, the Alabama was +sinking, while the Kearsarge was practically uninjured and had lost only +three men. Hauling down her flag, the Alabama tried to run in shore, but +suddenly, settling by the stern, lifted her bow high in the air and +plunged to the bottom of the sea. So ended the career of the Alabama. +Winslow received the usual rewards of promotion and the thanks of +Congress, and passed the remainder of his life unadventurously in the +navy service. + +One other battle remains to be recorded--in some respects the most +important in history, because it revolutionized the construction of +battleships, and suddenly rendered all the existing navies of the world +practically useless. + +On the eighth day of March, 1862, a powerful squadron of Union vessels +lay at anchor in Hampton Roads, consisting of the Congress, the +Cumberland, the St. Lawrence, the Roanoke, and the Minnesota. It was a +beautiful spring morning, and the tall ships rocked lazily at their +anchors, while their crews occupied themselves with routine duties. +Shortly before noon, a strange object was seen approaching down the +Elizabeth river. To the Union officers, it looked like the roof of a +large barn belching forth smoke. In reality, it was the Confederate +ironclad, Merrimac, under command of Captain Franklin Buchanan. + +Buchanan had, in his day, been one of the most distinguished officers in +the United States navy. He had entered the service in 1815, as +midshipman, and won rapid promotion. In 1845, he was selected by the +secretary of the navy to organize the naval academy at Annapolis, and +was its first commandant. He commanded the Germantown at the capture of +Vera Cruz, and the Susquehanna, the flagship of Commodore Perry's famous +expedition to Japan. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commandant +of the Washington navy-yard, and, being himself a Baltimore man, +resigned from the service after the attack made in Baltimore on the +Massachusetts troops passing through there. Finding that his state did +not secede, he withdrew his resignation and asked to be restored, but +for some reason, the secretary of the navy, Gideon Welles, refused this +request, and Buchanan was fairly driven into the enemy's service. + +The Confederacy was glad to get him, gave him the rank of captain and +put him in charge of the work at the Norfolk, Virginia, navy-yard. The +most important business going forward there was the reconstruction of +the United States frigate, Merrimac. This consisted in building above +her berth-deck sloping bulwarks seven feet high, covered with four +inches of iron, and pierced for ten guns. To her bow, about two feet +under water, a cast-iron ram was attached, and on the eighth of March, +she cast loose from her moorings and started down the river. She was +scarcely complete, her crew had never been drilled, she had never fired +a gun, nor had her engines made a single revolution, while the ship +itself was merely a bold experiment, which had never made a trial trip. +Yet Buchanan, on reaching Hampton Roads, headed straight for the Union +fleet. + +There, as soon as the identity of the stranger was discovered, hurried +preparations for battle were made. Decks were cleared, magazines opened, +and guns loaded, and as soon as the Merrimac was in range, the Union +ships and shore batteries opened upon her, but such projectiles as +struck her, glanced harmlessly from her iron mail. Not until she was +quite near the Cumberland did the Merrimac return the fire. Then she +opened her bow-port and sent a seven-inch shell through the Cumberland's +quarter. The Cumberland answered with a broadside which would have blown +any wooden vessel out of the water, but which affected the Merrimac not +at all. Buchanan had determined to test the power of his ram, and +keeping on at full speed, crashed into the Cumberland's side. Then he +backed out, leaving a yawning chasm, through which the water poured into +the doomed ship. She settled rapidly and sank with a roar, her crew +firing her guns to the last moment. + +The Merrimac then turned her attention to the Congress, with such deadly +effect that that vessel was forced to surrender after an hour's +fighting, in which she was repeatedly hulled and set on fire. Most of +her crew escaped to the shore, and the Confederates completed her +destruction by firing hot shot into her. Evening was at hand by this +time, and the Merrimac withdrew, intending to destroy the other ships in +the harbor next morning. + +So ended the most disastrous day in the history of the United States +navy. Two ships were lost, and over three hundred men killed or wounded. +On the Merrimac, two had been killed and eight wounded, but the vessel +herself, though she had been the target for more than a hundred heavy +guns, was practically uninjured and as dangerous as ever. + +Among the wounded was Captain Buchanan, who was forced to relinquish the +command of the Merrimac. For his gallantry, he was thanked by the +Confederate Congress, and promoted to full admiral and senior officer of +the Confederate navy. As soon as he recovered from his wound, he was +placed in charge of the naval defenses of Mobile, Alabama, and there +superintended the construction of the ram Tennessee, which he commanded +during the action with Farragut two years later. His handling of the +vessel was daring almost to madness, but she became disabled and was +forced to surrender. Buchanan was taken prisoner, and never again took +part in any naval action. + +Let us return to Hampton Roads. + +The news of the disaster to the Union fleet spread gloom and +consternation throughout the North, and corresponding rejoicing +throughout the South. The remaining ships in Hampton Roads plainly lay +at the Merrimac's mercy, and after they had been destroyed, there was +nothing to prevent her steaming up the Potomac and attacking +Washington. It seemed as if nothing but a miracle could save the country +from awful disaster. + +And that miracle was at hand. + +Among the coincidences of history, none is more remarkable than the +arrival at Hampton Roads on the night of March 8, 1862, of the strange +and freakish-looking craft known as the Monitor. Proposed to the Navy +Department in the preceding fall by John Ericsson, in spite of sneers +and doubts, a contract was given him in October to construct a vessel +after his design. The form of the Monitor is too well known to need +description--"a cheese-box on a raft," the name given her in derision, +describes her as well as anything. She was launched on the last day of +January, and three weeks later was handed over to the Government, but it +was not until the fourth of March that her guns were mounted, two +powerful rifled cannon. At the request of Ericsson, she was named the +Monitor, and this name came afterwards to be adopted to describe the +class of ships of which she was the first. So dangerous was service in +her considered, that volunteers were called for, and Lieutenant John +Lorimer Worden was given command of her. + +Worden had entered the navy twenty-seven years before, and at the +opening of the Civil War, had delivered the orders from the secretary of +the navy which saved Fort Pickens, in the harbor of Pensacola, to the +Union. Attempting to return North overland, he was arrested and held as +a prisoner seven months, being exchanged just in time to enable him to +procure command of the Monitor. Rumors of the construction of the +Merrimac had reached the North, and two days after her guns were aboard, +the Monitor left New York harbor for Hampton Roads. Just after she +passed Sandy Hook, orders recalling her were received there, fortunately +too late to be delivered. By such slight threads do the events of +history depend. + +Meanwhile, Captain Worden was making such progress southward as he could +with his unwieldy and dangerous craft, which had been designed only for +the smooth waters of rivers and harbors and which was wholly unable to +cope with the boisterous Atlantic. There was a brisk wind, and the +vessel was soon in imminent danger of foundering. The waves broke over +her smoke-stack and poured down into her fires, so that steam could not +be kept up; the blowers which ventilated the ship would not work, and +she became filled with gas which rendered some of her crew unconscious. +Undoubtedly she would have gone to the bottom very shortly had not the +wind moderated. Even then, it was almost a miracle that she should win +through, but win through she did, and at four o'clock on the afternoon +of Saturday, March 8, as she was passing Cape Henry, Captain Worden +heard the distant booming of guns. As darkness came, he saw far ahead +the glare of the burning Congress. + +About midnight, the little vessel crept up beside the Minnesota and +anchored. Her crew were completely exhausted. For fifty hours, they had +fought to keep their ship afloat, and on the morrow they must be +prepared to meet a formidable foe. All that night they worked with their +vessel, making such repairs as they could. At eight o'clock next +morning, the Merrimac appeared, and the Monitor started to meet her. + +Amazed at sight of what appeared to be an iron turret sliding over the +water toward him, the commander of the Merrimac swung toward this tiny +antagonist, intending to destroy her before proceeding to the work in +hand. Captain Worden had taken his station in the pilot-house, and +reserved his fire until within short range. Then, slowly circling about +his unwieldy foe, he fired shot after shot, which, while they did not +disable her, prevented her from destroying the Union ships in the +harbor. Finding the Monitor apparently invulnerable, and with her +machinery giving trouble, the Merrimac at last withdrew to Norfolk. + +That the battle was a victory for the Monitor cannot be questioned; she +had prevented the destruction of the Union ships, and this she continued +to do, until, in the following May, the Confederates, finding themselves +compelled to abandon Norfolk, set the Merrimac on fire and blew her up. +Six months later, the Monitor met a tragic fate, foundering in a storm +off Cape Hatteras, a portion of her crew going down with her. + +Honors were showered upon Worden for his gallant work. He was given +command of the monitor Montauk, and later on destroyed the Confederate +privateer Nashville. After the war, he was promoted to rear-admiral, and +remained in the service until 1886. + +There were others in the war whose deeds brought glory to themselves and +to the navy--Lieutenant William B. Cushing, who destroyed the +Confederate ram Albemarle in Plymouth harbor, a deed comparable with the +burning of the Philadelphia early in the century; David Dixon Porter, +whose work on the Mississippi was second only to Farragut's, who four +times received the thanks of Congress, and who, in the end, became +admiral of the navy; Charles Stuart Boggs, who, in the sloop-of-war +Varuna, sank five Confederate vessels in the river below New Orleans, +before he was himself sunk--but none of them, and, indeed, none of those +whose exploits we have given, measured up to the stature of Farragut, +one of the greatest commanders of all time, and, all things considered, +the very greatest in the history of America. + + * * * * * + +Thirty years and more passed after that epoch-making contest between the +Monitor and the Merrimac before the world witnessed another battle to +the death between ironclads. Theoretically, wood had long since been +displaced by iron, iron by steel, and steel by specially-forged +armor-plate, battleship designers struggling always to build a vessel +which could withstand modern projectiles. But as to the actual results +in warfare, there was nothing but theory to go upon until that first +day of May, 1898, when George Dewey steamed into the harbor of Manila, +at the head of his squadron, and opened fire upon the Spanish fleet. + +Dewey had received his training under the best of masters, Farragut. +Graduating from Annapolis in 1858, he served as lieutenant on the +Mississippi, when that vessel, as part of Farragut's fleet, ran past the +forts below New Orleans. A short time later, in trying to pass the +Confederate batteries at Port Hudson, the Mississippi ran hard and fast +aground. Half an hour was spent, under a terrific fire, in trying to get +her off; then Dewey, after spiking her guns, assisted in scuttling her +and escaped with her captain in a small boat. He saw other active +service, and got his first command in 1870. He was commissioned +commodore in 1896, and on January 1, 1898, took command of the Asiatic +squadron. + +Few people in the world beside himself suspected, even in the dimmest +manner, the task which lay before him; but with a rare sagacity, he had +foreseen that, in the event of war with Spain, the far East would be the +scene of operations of the first importance. He thereupon applied for +the command of the Asiatic squadron, and his application was granted. +Dewey proceeded immediately to Hong Kong, and began to concentrate his +forces there and to get them into first-class condition. He spent much +of his time studying the charts of the Pacific, and his officers noticed +that the maps of the Philippine Islands soon became worn and marked. On +Tuesday, April 26, came the explanation of all this in a cablegram +stating that war had been declared between the United States and Spain, +and ordering Dewey to proceed at once to the Philippine Islands and +capture or destroy the Spanish fleet which was stationed there. + +Early the next afternoon, the squadron started on its six hundred mile +journey. What lay at the end of it, no one on the fleet knew. Of the +Spanish force, Dewey knew only that twenty-three Spanish war vessels +were somewhere in the Philippines; he knew, too, that they were probably +at Manila, and that the defenses of the harbor were of the strongest +description. But he remembered one of Farragut's sayings, "The closer +you get to your enemy, the harder you can strike," and he lost no time +in getting under way. + +[Illustration: DEWEY] + +Dewey's squadron consisted of seven vessels, of which one was a revenue +cutter, and two colliers. He was many thousands of miles from the +nearest base of supplies and to fail would mean that he would have to +surrender. So, on that momentous voyage, he drilled and drilled his men, +until their discipline was perfect. On April 30, land was sighted, and +precautions were redoubled, since the enemy might be encountered at any +moment. Careful search failed to reveal the Spaniards in Subig Bay, and +at six o'clock in the evening, Dewey announced to his officers that he +had determined to force Manila Bay that night. At nine o'clock the fleet +was off the bay, all lights were extinguished save one at the stern of +each ship to serve as a guide for the one following, and even that +light was carefully screened on both sides so that it could not be seen +from the shore. Then the fleet headed for the harbor mouth. + +What the defenses of the channel were, no one knew. It was reported to +be full of torpedoes. But perhaps Dewey remembered Farragut at Mobile +Bay. At any rate, he did not hesitate, but kept straight on, and the +fleet had almost passed the harbor mouth, before its presence was +discovered. Then the shore batteries opened, but without effect, and the +entire squadron passed safely into the harbor. Then followed long hours +of waiting for the dawn, and at five o'clock came the signal, "Prepare +for action," for the Spanish fleet had been sighted at anchor far down +the harbor. + +Fifteen minutes later, the Spaniards opened fire, but Dewey went +silently on toward his goal. Suddenly, a short distance away, there was +a dull explosion, and a great mass of water and mud sprang into the air. +A mine had been exploded; the fleet had entered the mine fields. Now, if +ever, it would be blown into eternity, but there was no pause in the +progress of that silent line of battle. From the bridge of the Olympia, +the most exposed position in the squadron, Dewey watched the progress of +his ships. In the conning tower, eagerly awaiting the word to fire, was +Captain Gridley. At last, with a final glance at the shore, Dewey bent +over the rail. + +"You may fire when ready, Gridley," he said, quietly. + +Ready! Surely that was satire on Dewey's part, for just one second later +the bridge under his feet leaped like a springboard as the great gun +beneath it gave the signal. Scarcely had the shell left the muzzle when +an answering roar came from the other ships. The battle had begun, the +Spanish ships were riddled with a shower of bursting shells, their crews +cut to pieces, and the ships themselves set on fire. The guns of the +American squadron roared with clocklike regularity, while the firing +from the Spanish ships steadily decreased. Two hours of this work, and +the smoke hung so heavy over the water that it was difficult to +distinguish the enemy's ships. + +"What time is it, Rees?" asked Dewey, of his executive officer. + +"Seven forty-five, sir." + +"Breakfast time," said Dewey, with a queer smile. "Run up the signals, +'Cease firing,' and 'Follow me.'" + +Again it was a lesson from Farragut, and Dewey, steaming back down the +harbor, signalled "Let the men go to breakfast." His captains, coming +aboard the Olympia, gave a series of reports unique in naval history. +Not a man had been killed, not a gun disabled, not a ship seriously +injured. Three hours were devoted to cooling off and cleaning the guns, +getting up more ammunition, and breakfast was leisurely eaten. + +Meanwhile, across the bay, on the riddled and sinking Spanish ships the +wildest confusion reigned. At eleven o'clock, the American fleet was +seen again approaching, and a few minutes later, that terrible storm of +fire recommenced. There was practically no reply. Three of the Spanish +ships were on fire, and their magazines exploded one after another with +a mighty roar; a broadside from the Baltimore sank a fourth; a shell +from the Raleigh exploded the magazine of a fifth, and so, one by one, +the Spanish ships were blown to pieces, until not one remained. An hour +later, the shore batteries had been silenced, and Dewey hoisted the +signal, "Cease firing." + +So ended the greatest naval battle since Trafalgar--a battle which +riveted the attention of the world, and brought home to Europe a +realization of the fact that here was a new world-power to be reckoned +with. With six ships, carrying 1,668 men and fifty-three guns, Dewey had +destroyed the Spanish squadron of nine ships, carrying 1,875 men and +forty-two guns; not an American had been killed, and only six wounded, +while the Spanish loss was 618 killed and wounded; and not an American +vessel had been injured. And, in addition to destroying the Spanish +fleet, a series of powerful shore batteries had been silenced, and the +way prepared for the American occupation of the Philippines. Dewey's +place as one of the great commanders of history was secure. + +News of the victory created the wildest excitement and enthusiasm in the +United States. Dewey became a popular hero, and when he returned from +the Philippines, was welcomed with triumphal honors, which recalled the +great days of the Roman empire. He was commissioned admiral of the +navy, a rank which had been created for Farragut, and which has been +held by only two men besides him. + +Another great American naval victory marked the brief war with +Spain--the destruction of Admiral Cervera's powerful fleet as it tried +to escape from the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, on the third day of July, +1898--a victory which made the Independence Day which followed one long +to be remembered in the United States. There, as at Manila, the entire +Spanish fleet was destroyed, without a single American vessel being +seriously injured, and with a loss of only one killed and one wounded on +the American side. But the victory at Santiago was the victory of no one +man. The ranking officer, William Thomas Sampson, was miles away when +the engagement began. The next in rank, Winfield Scott Schley, so +conducted himself that he was brought before a court of inquiry. The +battle was really fought and won by the commanders of the various +ships--Robley D. Evans, John W. Philip, Charles E. Clark, Henry C. +Taylor, Richard Wainwright--by the very simple procedure of getting as +close to the enemy as they could, and hammering him as hard as their +guns would let them. One and all, they behaved with the utmost +gallantry. But most remarkable of all in the history of the navy from +first to last has been the superb work of the "men behind the guns," +whose marksmanship has been the despair and envy of the world. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +JONES, JOHN PAUL. Born at Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, July +6, 1747; settled in Virginia, 1773; appointed first lieutenant in +American navy, 1775; commanded Ranger and cruised in the Irish sea, +1777-78; sailed from France in Bon Homme Richard, August 14, 1779; +fought Serapis, September 23, 1779; resigned from American service, +entered the French and later the Russian navy, served under Potemkin in +the Black Sea with rank of rear-admiral; returned to Paris, 1790; died +there, July 18, 1792. + +BIDDLE, NICHOLAS. Born at Philadelphia, September 10, 1750; captain in +American navy, 1775; appointed to command the Randolph, June 6, 1776; +killed when ship blew up in fight with Yarmouth, March 7, 1778. + +PORTER, DAVID. Born at Boston, February 1, 1780; entered navy, 1798; +served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; commander of the Essex in war of +1812; defeated and taken prisoner in Valparaiso harbor, March 28, 1814; +resigned, 1826; commander of Mexican naval forces, 1826-29; United +States minister to Turkey, 1831-43; died at Pera, Constantinople, March +3, 1843. + +HULL, ISAAC. Born at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1773; entered navy, +1798; served in war with Tripoli, 1801-03; sailed from Boston in command +of the Constitution, August 2, 1812; defeated Guerričre, August 19, +1812; remained in navy till end of life; died at Philadelphia, February +13, 1843. + +DECATUR, STEPHEN. Born at Sinnepuxent, Maryland, January 5, 1779; +entered navy, 1798; burned frigate Philadelphia in harbor of Tripoli, +February 16, 1804; commanded frigate United States in war of 1812; +captured British frigate, Macedonian, October 25, 1812; captured by +British fleet, January 15, 1815; killed in a duel with James Barron, +near Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, 1820. + +BAINBRIDGE, WILLIAM. Born at Princeton, New Jersey, May 7, 1774; +lieutenant-commandant in quasi-naval-war with France, 1798; commanded +Philadelphia in Tripolitan war; captured by Tripolitans, November 1, +1804; commander of Constitution in war of 1812; captured British frigate +Java, December 29, 1812; served in navy till death at Philadelphia, July +28, 1833. + +LAWRENCE, JAMES. Born at Burlington, New Jersey, October 1, 1781; +entered navy, 1798; served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; sailed from +Boston in the Chesapeake, and defeated by British frigate Shannon, June +1, 1813; died at sea from wound received in battle, June 6, 1813. + +PREBLE, EDWARD. Born at Falmouth (now Portland), Maine, August 15, 1761; +served as midshipman during Revolution; commissioned lieutenant, +February 9, 1798; captain, May 15, 1799; commanded squadron operating +against Barbary States, 18O3-O4; died at Portland, Maine, August 25, +1807. + +STEWART, CHARLES. Born at Philadelphia, July 28, 1778; lieutenant in +United States navy, March 9, 1798; served in war with Tripoli; captain, +April 22, 1806; commanded Constitution, 1813-14, capturing many prizes; +remained in navy till death, rising to rank of rear-admiral; died at +Bordentown, New Jersey, November 6, 1869. + +BLAKELEY, JOHNSTON. Born near Seaford, County Down, Ireland, October, +1781; brought to America, 1783; entered navy as midshipman, February 5, +1800; lieutenant, February 10, 1807; master commander, July 24, 1813; +sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the Wasp, May 1, 1814; +captured Reindeer, sunk Avon, captured Atalanta; the Wasp was spoken by +a Swedish ship, October 9, 1814, and never seen again. + +MACDONOUGH, THOMAS. Born in Newcastle County, Delaware, December 23, +1783; entered the navy as midshipman, 1800; served in war against +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; master commander, 1813; defeated British +squadron under Downie on Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814; died at +sea, November 16, 1825. + +PERRY, OLIVER HAZARD. Born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, +1785; entered navy as midshipman, April 7, 1799; served in war with +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; ordered to Lake Erie, February 17, 1813; +reached Erie, March 27, 1813; defeated British fleet, September 10, +1813; assisted in defense of Baltimore, 1814; commanded Java and John +Adams; died at Port Spain, Island of Trinidad, August 23, 1819. + +PERRY, MATTHEW CALBRAITH. Born at Newport, Rhode Island, April 10, 1794; +entered navy as midshipman, 1809; lieutenant, February 27, 1813; saw +distinguished service in many ships and many waters; master-commandant, +January 7, 1833; captain, March 15, 1837; commodore, June 12, 1841; +commanded fleet at capture of Vera Cruz, 1844; organized and commanded +expedition to Japan, delivering President's letter to the Mikado, July +14, 1853, and signing treaty, March 31, 1854; died in New York City, +March 4, 1858. + +FARRAGUT, DAVID GLASGOW. Born at Campbell's Station, Tennessee, July 5, +1801; adopted by David Porter and given commission as midshipman, 1810; +served under Porter in the Essex, 1813-14; lieutenant, 1821; commander, +1841; captain, 1855; appointed commander of squadron to reduce New +Orleans, January, 1862; passed the forts below New Orleans on the night +of April 23-24, 1862; compelled surrender of city, April 25, 1862; +passed batteries at Vicksburg, June 28, 1862; rear-admiral, July 16, +1862; fought battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864; vice-admiral, 1864; +admiral, 1866; died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 14, 1870. + +CRAVEN, TUNIS AUGUSTUS MACDONOUGH. Born at Portsmouth, Hew Hampshire, +January 11, 1813; entered navy as midshipman, 1829; served in various +ships and in coast survey; commander, April, 1861; given command of +monitor Tecumseh, with post of honor in battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, +1864; struck torpedo and sank almost instantly, carrying down Craven and +almost everyone else on board. + +SEMMES, RAPHAEL. Born in Charles County, Maryland, September 27, 1809; +midshipman in navy, 1826; lieutenant, 1837; at siege of Vera Cruz, 1847; +commander in Confederate navy, April 4, 1861; took command of Alabama, +August, 1863; Alabama destroyed by Kearsarge, June 19, 1864; guarded +water approaches to Richmond, 1865; after war, engaged in practice of +law until his death at Mobile, Alabama, August 30, 1877. + +WINSLOW, JOHN ANCRUM. Born at Wilmington, North Carolina, November 19, +1811; entered navy as midshipman, 1827; lieutenant, 1839; commander, +1855; captain, 1862; commanded Kearsarge on special service in pursuit +of Alabama, 1863-64; sank Alabama, June 19, 1864; rear-admiral, 1870; +died at Boston, Massachusetts, September 29, 1873. + +BUCHANAN, FRANKLIN. Born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 17, 1800; +entered navy as midshipman, 1815; lieutenant, 1825; master-commandant, +1841; organized naval academy at Annapolis, 1845; at siege of Vera Cruz, +1847; commanded flagship in Perry's Japan expedition, 1852; captain, +1855; commandant Washington navy yard, 1859; entered Confederate +service, September, 1861; commanded Merrimac in Hampton Roads and +Tennessee in Mobile Bay; died in Talbot County, Maryland, May 11, 1874. + +WORDEN, JOHN LORIMER. Born in Westchester County, New York, March 12, +1818; entered navy, 1840; lieutenant, 1846; taken prisoner while +returning North from Fort Pickens, 1861; released after seven months' +captivity, and appointed to the Monitor; met Merrimac in Hampton Roads, +March 9, 1862; received thanks of Congress and commissioned commander, +July, 1862; captain, February, 1863; commodore, 1868; superintendent of +naval academy, 1870-74; rear-admiral, 1872; retired, 1886; died at +Washington, October 18, 1897. + +DEWEY, GEORGE. Born at Montpelier, Vermont, December 26, 1837; entered +naval academy, 1854; graduated, 1858; with Farragut on Mississippi, +1862; commander, 1872; captain, 1884; commodore, 1896; fought battle of +Manila Bay, May 1, 1898; thanked by Congress and promoted rear-admiral, +1898; admiral, 1899. + + + * * * * * + + + + + +INDEX + + +Adams, John, 84, 89-92, 124, 174, 175, 177, 208, 263. + +Adams, John Quincy, 98-100, 109, 110, 125, 186. + +Adams, Samuel, 84, 175-178, 179, 208-209, 263. + +Allen, Eliza, 240-241. + +Allen, Ethan, 270. + +Anderson, Robert, 191. + +Arnold, Benedict, 267-271, 276, 277, 311-312, 313. + +Arthur, Chester Alan, 153, 166-167. + +Astor, John Jacob, 250. + +Atkinson, Henry, 303. + +Austin, Moses, 243. + + +Bainbridge, William, 334, 337-340, 342, 343, 378. + +Banks, Nathaniel P., 301. + +Barnes, James, 22. + +Barron, James, 337. + +Beauregard, Pierre, 304-305, 306, 317-318. + +Bee, Bernard E., 299, 300. + +Benton, Jesse, 104. + +Benton, Thomas Hart, 191, 211. + +Berkeley, Lord, 62. + +Biddle, Nicholas, 322, 328, 377. + +Blaine, James G., 151, 152, 153, 155, 186, 205-207, 213. + +Blakeley, Johnston, 342, 344-345, 379. + +Boggs, Charles Stuart, 370. + +Boone, Daniel, 215-221, 222, 223, 225, 226, 234, 258. + +Boone, Squire, 219. + +Booth, John Wilkes, 141-142, 164. + +Bowie, James, 18, 246-250, 260. + +Braddock, Edward, 82, 123, 267, 273, 275, 311. + +Bradford, William, 21, 54-57, 74. + +Bragg, Braxton, 308. + +Breckenridge, John C., 138. + +Broke, Philip, 341. + +Brooks, Preston, 212. + +Brown, John, 122, 295, 316. + +Bryan, William Jennings, 160-161. + +Buchanan, Franklin, 356, 363-366, 381. + +Buchanan, James, 113, 121-123, 127-128, 191, 257. + +Buell, Don Carlos, 293. + +Burgoyne, John, 267-269, 270, 275, 311, 313, 325. + +Burnside, Ambrose E., 285, 297, 314-315. + +Burr, Aaron, 179-183, 205, 209-210, 245. + +Butler, Benjamin, 355. + +Butler, Simon; see Kenton, Simon. + +Byllinge, Edward, 62. + + +Cabot, John, 36-37, 40, 70. + +Cabot, Sebastian, 36-37, 70. + +Calhoun, John Caldwell, 21, 111, 115, 184-190, 201, 211. + +Carson, Kit, 265. + +Carteret, Sir George, 62. + +Cartier, Jacques, 39, 49, 72. + +Carver, Jonathan, 55. + +Cass, Lewis, 118, 191, 211. + +Catlin, George, 251. + +Champlain, Samuel, 49-51, 73. + +Chase, Salmon Portland, 200, 212. + +Clark, Charles E., 376. + +Clark, George Rogers, 223, 225-232, 234, 235, 258. + +Clark, William, 235-237, 250, 259. + +Clay, Henry, 22, 99, 109, 114, 115, 116, 117, 184-190, 205, 206, + 210. + +Cleveland, Grover, 154-159, 160, 164, 167. + +Columbus, Bartholomew, 26, 29. + +Columbus, Christopher, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25-36, 54, 69-70. + +Columbus, Diego, 29. + +Conkling, Roscoe, 205-206. + +Cornwallis, Charles, 85, 124, 272, 278, 311, 313, 328. + +Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, 39, 72. + +Craven, Tunis Augustus Macdonough, 18, 360-361, 380. + +Crockett, David, 18, 246-250, 256, 260. + +Cushing, William B., 370. + +Custer, George A., 309. + +Custis, Mrs. Martha, 82, 123. + +Custis, Mary Randolph, 295. + +Custis, Washington Parke, 295. + +Cutler, Manasseh, 233. + + +Davis, Jefferson, 139, 201-204, 213, 280, 303, 305, 306. + +Decatur, Stephen, 332-337, 339, 341, 377-378. + +Delaware, Thomas West, Lord, 48. + +De Leon, Juan Ponce, 38, 39, 71. + +Dewey, George, 370-376, 381. + +Dinwiddie, Robert, 80, 81. + +Douglas, Stephen A., 133-136, 138, 164, 191-193, 211. + +Drake, Sir Francis, 38-39, 72. + + +Early, Jubal Anderson, 291. + +Edwards, Jonathan, 180. + +Ericsson, John, 367. + +Evans, Robley D., 376. + +Everett, Edward, 193-194, 211-212. + + +Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, 78. + +Fairfax, William, 78. + +Fannin, James W., 243. + +Farragut, David Glasgow, 15, 17, 22, 330, 351-360, 366, 370, + 371-372, 373, 374, 376, 380, 381. + +Ferdinand of Aragon, 29, 31, 35. + +Fillmore, Millard, 119, 127. + +Fiske, John, 21, 22. + +Ford, Paul Leicester, 21. + +Franklin, Benjamin, 15, 21, 169-174, 207, 208, 325. + +Franklin, William Buel, 301. + +Frémont, John C., 122, 198, 250, 251, 255-257, 261. + + +Gage, Thomas, 175. + +Garfield, James Abram, 114, 152-153, 166, 206. + +Gates, Horatio, 267-269, 271, 272, 311, 312, 313. + +Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 42. + +Gorman, Arthur P., 157. + +Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 22, 141, 148-150, 152, 153, 165-166, 206, + 280, 285, 286-288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 298, 303, 304, 306, 308, + 310, 316, 317. + +Greeley, Horace, 139. + +Greene, Nathanael, 267, 272, 273, 276, 311, 312. + +Gridley, Charles Vernon, 373. + +Guiteau, Charles J., 152-153, 166. + + +Hale, Nathan, 18. + +Hamilton, Alexander, 21, 89, 91, 96, 179-183, 205, 209. + +Hamilton, Henry, 229. + +Hancock, John, 175-178, 209, 322, 323. + +Hancock, Winfield Scott, 293. + +Hanks, Nancy, 129-130. + +Hanna, Mark, 161. + +Harding, Chester, 221. + +Harrison, Benjamin, 157, 159-160, 167, 207. + +Harrison, William Henry, 114-115, 126, 148, 159, 186, 224, 350. + +Hay, John, 207. + +Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 114, 151-152, 166, 201, 206. + +Hayne, Robert Young, 187, 188, 189. + +Heath, William, 266. + +Henderson, Richard, 218, 226. + +Henry, Patrick, 132, 178-179, 209, 226, 227. + +Heriot, Robert, 348. + +Herkimer, Nicholas, 267. + +Hill, A.P., 299, 308. + +Hood, John Bell, 293, 316. + +Hooker, Joseph, 280, 285-286, 287, 297, 301, 315. + +Hopkins, Ezekial, 323. + +Houston, Felix, 317. + +Houston, Sam, 116, 238-246, 248, 259-260. + +Howard, Oliver Otis, 302. + +Hubbard, Elbert, 22. + +Hudson, Henry, 39-40, 59, 72-73. + +Hulburt, Archer Butler, 22. + +Hull, Isaac, 330-332, 340, 341, 377. + +Hull, William, 191, 330. + + +Ingersoll, Robert G., 206. + +Isabella of Castile, 29, 30, 31, 35. + + +Jackson, Andrew, 15, 21, 99, 101-113, 114, 121, 122, 125-126, 148, + 156, 163, 164, 186, 189, 190, 191, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, + 245, 246, 247, 279, 280, 281, 329, 352. + +Jackson, Thomas Jonathan, 22, 287, 290, 297, 299-302, 307, 308, + 311, 317. + +James, Reuben, 335-336. + +Jay, John, 208. + +Jefferson, Thomas, 13, 21, 89, 90, 91, 92-95, 96, 98, 124, 155, + 174, 178, 181, 227, 235, 236, 259, 276, 323. + +John II., King of Portugal, 28. + +Johnson, Andrew, 143-148, 165, 196, 197, 199, 203, 212. + +Johnston, Albert Sidney, 280, 302-304, 311, 317, 318. + +Johnston, Joseph E., 289-290, 296, 305-306, 308, 315, 318, 319. + +Joliet, Louis, 52, 73-74. + +Jones, John Paul, 320-328, 329, 344, 377. + +Jones, William, 321. + +Jones, William Paul, 321. + + +Kearny, Stephen Watts, 257. + +Kenton, Simon, 221-225, 228, 234, 258. + +Kilpatrick, Hugh Judson, 293. + +King, Rufus, 97. + + +La Salle, Robert Cavalier, 51-54, 73, 79. + +Lawrence, James, 18, 340-342, 347, 378. + +Lee, Charles, 266. + +Lee, "Light Horse Harry," 272-274, 294, 311, 313. + +Lee, Robert Edward, 22, 141, 148, 149, 203, 274, 280, 283, 284, + 285, 286, 289, 292, 294-299, 301, 302, 305, 306, 307, 308, + 310, 315, 316-317. + +Lewis, Meriwether, 235-237, 250, 259. + +Lincoln, Abraham, 15, 16, 19, 21, 113, 129-143, 144, 145, 146, + 147, 152, 164-165, 192, 193, 198-199, 200, 257, 289. + +Lincoln, Thomas, 129-131. + +Lodge, Henry Cabot, 21. + +Longstreet, James, 306-307, 318. + +Lovejoy, Amos, 253. + +Lowell, James Russell, 143. + +Lummis, Charles F., 21. + + +McCardle, Eliza, 144-145. + +Maclay, Edward Stanton, 22. + +McClellan, George B., 282-286, 287, 296, 297, 301, 305, 307, + 314, 318. + +Macdonough, Thomas, 342, 345-346, 379. + +McDowell, Irwin, 301, 305. + +McKinley, William, 159, 161-163, 167, 168. + +McPherson, James Birdseye, 293. + +Madison, James, 95-97, 125, 340. + +Magellan, Ferdinand, 38, 71. + +Magruder, John Bankhead, 308. + +Mansfield, Joseph King Fenno, 301. + +Marchena, Juan Perez de, 30. + +Marion, Francis, 272-273, 311, 312. + +Marquette, Jacques, 52, 74. + +Marshall, Humphrey, 166. + +Marshall, James Wilson, 255. + +Marshall, John, 183-184, 210. + +Meade, George G., 280, 286, 293. + +Milam, Benjamin R., 243. + +Miles, Nelson A., 309-310, 319. + +Minuit, Peter, 59. + +Monroe, James, 89, 97-98, 125, 158, 189, 201, 211. + +Montgomery, Richard, 266. + +Moody, William, 251. + +Morris, Robert, 174. + + +Newport, Christopher, 43, 44, 46. + +Nicolet, Jean, 51, 73. + + +Oglethorpe, James, 66-69, 75. + +Ortiz, Juan, 45. + + +Pakenham, Edward Michael, 106, 107, 108. + +Parker, Theodore, 23. + +Parkman, Francis, 20, 21. + +Paul, John, 321. + +Paul, John; see Jones, John Paul. + +Paul, William, 321. + +Pearson, Richard, 320, 326, 327. + +Pemberton, John Clifford, 308. + +Penn, William, 21, 62-66, 74. + +Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 350-351, 364, 379, 381. + +Perry, Oliver Hazard, 346-350, 379. + +Philip, John W., 376. + +Philip, King, 41. + +Pierce, Benjamin, 119. + +Pierce, Franklin Scott, 114, 119-121, 127, 200, 280, 282. + +Pike, Zebulon, 237, 259. + +Pocahontas, 45, 46. + +Polk, James Knox, 114, 116-117, 126-127, 281. + +Pomeroy, Seth, 266. + +Pope, John, 293, 297, 301, 307. + +Porter, David, 352. + +Porter, David, jr., 329-330, 345, 352-353, 377, 380. + +Porter, David Dixon, 370. + +Powhatan, The, 41, 45. + +Preble, Edward, 333, 334, 339, 342-343, 378. + +Putnam, Elizabeth, 263. + +Putnam, Israel, 232, 263-266, 311. + +Putnam, Joseph, 263. + +Putnam, Rufus, 232-234, 258-259. + + +Raleigh, Sir Walter, 42-43. + +Reed, Deborah, 171-172. + +Revere, Paul, 175. + +Rolfe, John, 46. + +Roosevelt, Theodore, 162-163, 167-168. + +Root, Elihu, 207. + +Rosecrans, William Starke, 293. + +Rusk, Thomas Jefferson, 244, 245. + + +St. Clair, Arthur, 233, 274-276, 313. + +St. Leger, Barry, 270. + +Saltonstall, Dudley, 323. + +Sampson, William Thomas, 376. + +Santa Anna, 127, 243, 244, 245, 248, 249, 281. + +Santangel, Luis de, 30, 31. + +Schley, Winfield Scott, 376. + +Schuyler, Philip John, 267, 311. + +Scott, Winfield, 119, 120, 188, 245, 280-282, 292, 295, 305, + 310, 314. + +Scudder, Horace E., 21. + +Semmes, Raphael, 361-363, 380. + +Seward, William H., 137, 194-200, 212. + +Shaw, Robert Gould, 18. + +Sheridan, Philip Henry, 287, 290-292, 293, 294, 307, 308, 311, + 315-316. + +Sherman, John, 152, 199, 200-201, 212-213. + +Sherman, William Tecumseh, 280, 287-290, 292, 293, 304, 305, + 306, 308, 309, 315, 316, 318, 319. + +Skelton, Martha, 93. + +Smith, John, 21, 43-49, 73, 76. + +Soto, Hernando de, 39, 45, 72. + +Spalding, H.H., 251. + +Spencer, Joseph, 266. + +Stark, John, 267. + +Stephens, Alexander H., 201-205, 213. + +Stevens, Thaddeus, 147, 194-200, 201, 212. + +Stewart, Charles, 342, 343, 378. + +Stuart, J.E.B., 296, 307-308, 318-319. + +Stuyvesant, Peter, 21, 60-62, 74. + +Sullivan, John, 266. + +Sumner, Charles, 194-200, 212. + +Sumner, Edwin Vose, 293, 301. + +Sumter, Thomas, 102, 272-273, 312. + +Sutter, John Augustus, 250, 254-256, 260-261. + + +Taft, William Howard, 163, 168. + +Tarleton, Guy, 272, 312. + +Taylor, Henry C., 376. + +Taylor, Zachary, 22, 114, 118-119, 120, 127, 148, 202, 280, 281. + +Tecumseh, 115. + +Thomas, George H., 280, 292-293, 316. + +Thomas, John, 266. + +Tilden, Samuel J., 151. + +Todd, Dolly Payne, 96. + +Todd, Mary, 132. + +Toscanelli, Paolo del Pozzo, 27, 32. + +Travis, William Barrett, 18, 243, 246-250, 260. + +Tyler, John, 115-116, 126, 211. + + +Van Buren, Martin, 113-114, 115, 118, 126, 191. + +Veach, William, 221. + +Vespucci, Amerigo, 37, 71. + + +Wainwright, Richard, 376. + +Ward, Artemus, 266. + +Washington, Augustine, 76, 77, 78. + +Washington, George, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 76-89, 90, 92, 93, + 97, 123-124, 129, 137, 150, 164, 174, 175, 177, 180, 181, 183, + 194, 209, 262, 266, 269, 271, 272, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, + 282, 295, 310, 312. + +Washington, Lawrence, 76, 78, 79, 83. + +Wayne, Anthony, 224, 234, 258, 259, 276-279, 313-314. + +Webster, Daniel, 21, 110, 184-190, 193, 194, 198, 210. + +Welles, Gideon, 364. + +Wesley, Charles, 68. + +Wheeler, Joseph, 309, 319. + +Whitfield, George, 69. + +Whitman, Marcus, 117, 250-254, 260. + +Whittier, John G., 257. + +Williams, Roger, 57-59, 74. + +Wilson, Woodrow, 21. + +Winslow, John Ancrum, 361-363, 380-381. + +Wooster, David, 266. + +Worden, John Lorimer, 367-370, 381. + + +York, Duke of, 61, 62, 63, 64. + + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Men of Action, by Burton E. 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Stevenson + +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: American Men of Action + +Author: Burton E. Stevenson + +Release Date: August 10, 2005 [EBook #16508] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Gundry and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/cover-0422-1.jpg" width="324" height="500" alt="cover" title="cover" /> + +</div> + + + +<h1>AMERICAN<br /> +MEN OF ACTION</h1> + + +<h3>BY</h3> + + +<h2>BURTON E. STEVENSON</h2> + + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "A GUIDE TO BIOGRAPHY—MEN OF MIND,"<br /> +"A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA," ETC.; COMPILER OF<br /> +"DAYS AND DEEDS—POETRY," "DAYS AND<br /> +DEEDS—PROSE," ETC.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">GARDEN CITY NEW YORK:</p> + +<p class="center">DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY</p> + +<p class="center">1913</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1909, 1910, BY</p> + +<p class="center">DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 376px;"><a name="washington" id="washington"></a> +<img src="images/Illus-0410-1.jpg" width="376" height="500" alt="washington" title="Washington" /> +<br /><span class="caption">Washington</span> +</div> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class="toc"> +<p>CHAPTER <span class="page_toc">PAGE</span></p> +<p>I.—A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY<span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><big><b>11</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>II.—THE BEGINNERS<span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><big><b>25</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter II<span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_70"><big><b>69</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>III.—WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN <span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><big><b>75</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter III <span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_123"><big><b>123</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>IV—LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS <span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><big><b>129</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter IV <span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_164"><big><b>164</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>V—STATESMEN <span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><big><b>169</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter V<span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_208"><big><b>208</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>VI.—PIONEERS<span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><big><b>214</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter VI <span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_258"><big><b>258</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>VII.—GREAT SOLDIERS <span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><big><b>262</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter VII <span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_311"><big><b>311</b></big></a></span></p> +<p>VIII.—GREAT SAILORS <span class="page_toc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><big><b>320</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">Summary to Chapter VIII<span class="page_toc"><a href="#page_377"><big><b>377</b></big></a></span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 4em;">INDEX<span class="page_toc"><a href="#INDEX"><big><b>382</b></big></a></span></p> +</div> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<div class="toc"> + +<p> <span class="page_toc">FACING<br /> +PAGE</span></p> +<br /> +<p>Washington <span class="page_toc"><a href="#washington"><big><i>Frontispiece</i></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Columbus<span class="page_toc"><a href="#columbus"><big><b>34</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Jefferson <span class="page_toc"><a href="#jefferson"><big><b>94</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Jackson<span class="page_toc"><a href="#jackson"><big><b>110</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Lincoln<span class="page_toc"><a href="#lincoln"><big><b>140</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Cleveland<span class="page_toc"><a href="#cleveland"><big><b>158</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Franklin <span class="page_toc"><a href="#franklin"><big><b>174</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Webster<span class="page_toc"><a href="#webster"><big><b>188</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Boone<span class="page_toc"><a href="#boone"><big><b>216</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Grant<span class="page_toc"><a href="#grant"><big><b>286</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Lee<span class="page_toc"><a href="#lee"><big><b>298</b></big></a></span></p> + +<p>Dewey<span class="page_toc"><a href="#dewey"><big><b>372</b></big></a></span></p> + +</div> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h2>AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_11" id="page_11"></a><span class="pagenum">page 11</span>No doubt most of you think biography dull reading. You would much +rather sit down with a good story. But have you ever thought what a +story is? It is nothing but a bit of make-believe biography.</p> + +<p>Let us see, in the first place, just what biography means. It is formed +from two Greek words, "bios," meaning life, and "graphein," meaning to +write: life-writing. In other words, a biography is the story of the +life of some individual. Now what the novelist does is to write the +biographies of the people of his story; not usually from the cradle to +the grave, but for that crucial period of their careers which marked +some great success or failure; and he tries to make them so life-like +and natural that we will half-believe they are real people, and that the +things he tells about really happened. Sometimes, to accomplish this, he +even takes the place of one of his own characters, and tells the story +in the first person, as Dickens does in "David Copperfield." That is +called autobiography, which is merely a third Greek word, "autos," +meaning self, added to the <a name="page_12" id="page_12"></a><span class="pagenum">page 12</span>others. An automobile, for instance, +is a self-moving vehicle. So autobiography is the biography of oneself. +The great aim of the novelist is, by any means within his power, to make +his tale seem true, and the truer it is—the truer to human nature and +the facts of life—the greater is his triumph.</p> + +<p>Now why is it that everyone likes to read these make-believe +biographies? Because we are all interested in what other people are +doing and thinking, and because a good story tells in an entertaining +way about life-like people, into whom the story-teller has breathed +something of his own personality. Then how does it come that so few of +us care to read the biographies of real people, which ought to be all +the more interesting because they are true instead of make-believe? +Well, in the first place, because most of us have never tried to read +biography in the right way, and so think it tiresome and uninteresting. +Haven't you, more than once, made up your mind that you wouldn't like a +thing, just from the look of it, without ever having tasted it? You know +the old proverb, "One man's food is another man's poison." It isn't a +true proverb—indeed, few proverbs are true—because we are all built +alike, and no man's food will poison any other man; although the other +man may think so, and may really show all the symptoms of poisoning, +just because he has made up his mind to.</p> + +<p>Most of you approach biography in that way. You look through the book, +and you see it isn't divided up into dialogue, as a story is, and there +are <a name="page_13" id="page_13"></a><span class="pagenum">page 13</span>no illustrations, only pictures of crabbed-looking people, +and so you decide that you are not going to like it, and consequently +you don't like it, no matter how likeable it is.</p> + +<p>It isn't wholly your fault that you have acquired this feeling. +Strangely enough, most biographies give no such impression of reality as +good fiction does. John Ridd, for instance, is more alive for most of us +than Thomas Jefferson—the one is a flesh-and-blood personality, while +the other is merely a name. This is because the average biographer +apparently does not comprehend that his first duty is to make his +subject seem alive, or lacks the art to do it; and so produces merely a +lay-figure, draped with the clothing of the period. And usually he +misses the point and fails miserably because he concerns himself with +the mere doing of deeds, and not with that greatest of all things, the +development of character.</p> + +<p>All great biographies are written with insight and imagination, as well +as with truth; that is, the biographer tries, in the first place, to +find out not only what his subject did, but what he thought; he tries to +realize him thoroughly, and then, reconstructing the scenes through +which he moved, interprets him for us. He endeavors to give us the +rounded impression of a human being—of a man who really walked and +talked and loved and hated—so that we may feel that we knew him. But +most biographies are seemingly written about statues on pedestals, and +not good statues at that.</p> + +<p><a name="page_14" id="page_14"></a><span class="pagenum">page 14</span>I am hoping to see the rise, some day, of a new school of +biography, which will not hesitate to discard the inessential, which +will disdain to glorify its subject, whose first duty it will be to +strip away the falsehoods of tradition and to show us the real man, not +hiding his imperfections and yet giving them no more prominence than +they really bore in his life; which will realize that to the man nothing +was of importance except the growth of his spirit, and that to us +nothing else concerning him is of any moment; which will show him to us +illumined, as it were, from within, and which will count any other sort +of life-history as vain and worthless. What we need is biography by +X-ray, and not by tallow candle.</p> + +<p>Until that time comes, dear reader, you yourself must supply the X-ray +of insight. If you can learn to do that, you will find history and +biography the most interesting of studies. Biography is, of course, the +basis of all history, since history is merely the record of man's +failures and successes; and, read thus, it is a wonderful and inspiring +thing, for the successes so overtop the failures, the good so out-weighs +the bad. By the touchstone of imagination, even badly written biography +may be colored and vitalized. Try it—try to see the man you are reading +about as an actual human being; make him come out of the pages of the +book and stand before you; give him a personality. Watch for his humors, +his mistakes, his failings—be sure he had them, however exalted he may +have been—they will help to <a name="page_15" id="page_15"></a><span class="pagenum">page 15</span>make him human. The spectacle of +Washington, riding forward in a towering rage at the battle of Monmouth, +has done more to make him real for us than any other incident in his +life. So the picture that Franklin gives of his landing at Philadelphia +and walking up Market street in the early morning, a loaf of bread under +either arm, brings him right home to us; though this simple, kindly, and +humorous philosopher is one of the realest figures on the pages of +history. We love Andrew Jackson for his irascible wrong-headedness, +Farragut for his burst of wrath in Mobile harbor, Lincoln for his homely +wisdom.</p> + +<p>I have said that, read as the record of man's failures and successes, +history is an inspiring thing. Perhaps of the history of no country is +this so true as of that of ours. By far the larger part of our great men +have started at the very bottom of the ladder, in poverty and obscurity, +and have fought their way up round by round against all the forces of +society. Nowhere else have inherited wealth and inherited position +counted for so little as in America. Again, we have had no wars of greed +or ambition, unless the war with Mexico could be so called. We have, at +least, had no tyrants—instead, we have witnessed the spectacle, unique +in history, of a great general winning his country's freedom, and then +disbanding his army and retiring to his farm. "The Cincinnatus of the +West," Byron called him; and John Richard Green adds, "No nobler figure +ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life." He has emerged from +<a name="page_16" id="page_16"></a><span class="pagenum">page 16</span>the mists of tradition, from the sanctimonious wrappings in which +the early biographers disguised him, has softened and broadened into the +most human of men, and has won our love as well as our veneration.</p> + +<p>George Washington was the founder. Beside his name, two others stand +out, serene and dominant: Christopher Columbus, the discoverer; Abraham +Lincoln, the preserver. And yet, neither Columbus, nor Washington, nor +Lincoln was what we call a genius—a genius, that is, in the sense in +which Shakespeare or Napoleon or Galileo was a genius. But they combined +in singular degree those three characteristics without which no man may +be truly great: sincerity and courage and singleness of purpose.</p> + +<p>It is not without a certain awe that we contemplate these men—men like +ourselves, let us always remember, but, in many ways, how different! Not +different in that they were infallible or above temptation; not +different in that they never made mistakes; but different in that they +each of them possessed an inward vision of the true and the eternal, +while most of us grope blindly amid the false and trivial. What that +vision was, and with what high faith and complete devotion they followed +it, we shall see in the story of their lives.</p> + +<p>This is the basic difference between great men and little ones—the +little ones are concerned solely with to-day; the great ones think only +of the future. They have gained that largeness of vision and of <a name="page_17" id="page_17"></a><span class="pagenum">page 17</span> +understanding which perceives the pettiness of everyday affairs and +which disregards them for greater things. They live in the world, +indeed, but in a world modified and colored by the divine ferment within +them. There are some who claim that America has never produced a genius +of the first order, or, at most, but two; however that may be, she has +produced, as has no other country, men with great hearts and seeing eyes +and devoted souls who have spent themselves for their country and their +race.</p> + +<p>One hears, sometimes, a grumbler complaining of the defects of a +republic; yet, certainly, in these United States, the republican form of +government, established with no little fear and uncertainty by the +Fathers, has, with all its defects, received triumphant vindication. +Nowhere more triumphant than in the men it has produced, the story of +whose lives is the story of its history.</p> + +<p>There are two kinds of greatness—greatness of deed and greatness of +thought. The first kind is shown in the lives of such men as Columbus +and Washington and Farragut, who translated thought into action and who +<i>did</i> great things. The second kind is the greatness of authors and +artists and scientists, who write great books, or paint great pictures +or make great discoveries, and this sort of greatness will be considered +in a future volume; for all there has been room for in this one is the +story of the lives of America's great "men of action." And even of them, +only a sketch in broad outline has been possible in space so limited; +but this little book is merely <a name="page_18" id="page_18"></a><span class="pagenum">page 18</span>a guide-post, as it were, +pointing toward the road leading to the city where these great men +dwell—the City of American Biography.</p> + +<p>It is a city peopled with heroes. There are Travis and Crockett and +Bowie, who held The Alamo until they all were slain; there is Craven, +who stepped aside that his pilot might escape from his sinking ship; +there is Lawrence, whose last words are still ringing down the years; +there is Nathan Hale, immortalized by his lofty bearing beneath the +scaffold; there is Robert Gould Shaw, who led a forlorn hope at the head +of a despised race;—even to name them is to review those great events +in American history which bring proud tears to the eyes of every lover +of his country.</p> + +<p>Of all this we shall tell, as simply as may be, giving the story of our +country's history and development in terms of its great men. So far as +possible, the text has been kept free of dates, because great men are of +all time, and, compared with the deeds themselves, their dates are of +minor importance. But a summary at the end of each chapter gives, for +purposes of convenient reference, the principal dates in the lives of +the men whose achievements are considered in it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 33%;' /> + +<p>In the preparation of these thumb-nail sketches, the present writer +makes no pretense of original investigation. He has taken his material +wherever he could find it, making sure only that it was accurate, and +his sole purpose has been to give, in as few <a name="page_19" id="page_19"></a><span class="pagenum">page 19</span>words as possible, +a correct impression of the man and what he did. From the facts as +given, however, he has drawn his own conclusions, with some of which, no +doubt, many people will disagree. But he has tried to paint the men +truly, in a few strokes, as they appeared to him, without seeking to +conceal their weaknesses, but at the same time without magnifying +them—remembering always that they were men, subject to mistakes and +errors, to be honored for such true vision as they possessed; +remarkable, many of them, for heroism and high devotion, and worthy a +lasting place in the grateful memory of their country.</p> + +<p>The passage of years has a way of diminishing the stature of men thought +great, and often of increasing that of men thought little. Few American +statesmen, for example, loom as large to-day as they appeared to their +contemporaries. Looking back at them, we perceive that, for the most +part, they wasted their days in fighting wind-mills, or in doing things +which had afterwards to be undone. Only through the vista of the years +do we get a true perspective, just as only from a distance can we see +which peaks of the mountain-range loom highest. But even the mist of +years cannot dim essential heroism and nobility of achievement. Indeed, +it enhances them; the voyage of Columbus seems to us a far greater thing +than his contemporaries thought it; Washington is for us a more +venerable figure than he was for the new-born Union; and Lincoln is just +coming into his own as a leader among men.</p> + +<p><a name="page_20" id="page_20"></a><span class="pagenum">page 20</span>Every boy and girl ought to try to gain as true and clear an idea +as possible of their country's history, and of the men who made that +history. It is a pleasant study, and grows more and more fascinating as +one proceeds with it. The great pleasure in reading is to understand +every word, and so to catch the writer's thought completely. Knowledge +always gives pleasure in just that way—by a wider understanding. +Indeed, that is the principal aim of education: to enable the individual +to get the most out of life by broadening his horizon, so that he sees +more and understands more than he could do if he remained ignorant. And +since you are an American, you will need especially to understand your +country. You will be quite unable to grasp the meaning of the references +to her story which are made every day in conversation, in newspapers, in +books and magazines, unless you know that story; and you will also be +unable properly to fulfil your duties as a citizen of this Republic +unless you know it.</p> + +<p>For the earliest years, and, more especially, for the story of the +deadly struggle between French and English for the possession of the +continent, the books to read above all others are those of Francis +Parkman. He has clothed history with romantic fascination, and no one +who has not read him can have any adequate idea of the glowing and +life-like way in which those Frenchmen and Spaniards and Englishmen work +out their destinies in his pages. The story of Columbus and of the early +explorers <a name="page_21" id="page_21"></a><span class="pagenum">page 21</span>will be found in John Fiske's "Discovery of America," +a book written simply and interestingly, but without Parkman's insight +and wizardry of style—which, indeed, no other American historian can +equal. A little book by Charles F. Lummis, called "The Spanish +Pioneers," also gives a vivid picture of those early explorers. The +story of John Smith and William Bradford and Peter Stuyvesant and +William Penn will also be found in Fiske's histories dealing with +Virginia and New England and the Dutch and Quaker colonies. Almost any +boy or girl will find them interesting, for they are written with care, +in simple language, and not without an engaging humor.</p> + +<p>There are so many biographies of Washington that it is difficult to +choose among them. Perhaps the most interesting are those by Woodrow +Wilson, Horace E. Scudder, Paul Leicester Ford, and Henry Cabot +Lodge—all well-written and with an effort to give a true impression of +the man. Of the other Presidents, no better biographies exist than those +in the "American Statesmen" series, where, of course, the lives of the +principal statesmen are also to be found. Not all of them, nor, perhaps, +even most of them are worth reading by the average boy or girl. There is +no especial reason why the life of any man should be studied in detail +after he has ceased to be a factor in history. Of the Presidents, +Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln are still vital to the life +of to-day, and of the statesmen there are a few, like Franklin, +Hamilton, Webster, Calhoun <a name="page_22" id="page_22"></a><span class="pagenum">page 22</span>and Clay, whose influence is still +felt in our national life, but the remainder are negligible, except that +you must, of course, be familiar in a broad way with their characters +and achievements to understand your country's story.</p> + +<p>History is the best place to learn the stories of the pioneers, soldiers +and sailors. Archer Butler Hulburt has a little book, "Pilots of the +Republic," which tells about some of the pioneers; John Fiske wrote a +short history of "The War of Independence," which will tell you all you +need know about the soldiers of the Revolution, with the exception of +Washington; and you can learn about the battles of the Civil War from +any good history of the United States. There is a series called the +"Great Commanders Series," which tells the story, in detail, of the +lives of American commanders on land and sea, but there is no reason why +you should read any of them, with the exception of Lee, Farragut, and +possibly Grant, though you will find the lives of Taylor and "Stonewall" +Jackson interesting in themselves. For the sailors, with the exception +of Farragut, Barnes's "Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors" will suffice; +though every boy will enjoy reading Maclay's "History of the American +Navy," where the story of our great sea-fights is told better than it +has ever been told before.</p> + +<p>These books may be found in almost any public library, and on the +shelves there, too, you will probably find Elbert Hubbard's "Little +Journeys," which give flashlight portraits of statesmen and soldiers +<a name="page_23" id="page_23"></a><span class="pagenum">page 23</span>and many other people, vivid and interesting, but sometimes +distorted, as flashlights have a way of being.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the librarian will permit you to look over the shelves where the +biographies and works dealing with American history are kept. Don't be +over-awed by the number of volumes, because there are scores and scores +which are of no importance to you. Theodore Parker had a wrong idea +about reading, for once upon a time he undertook to read all the books +in a library, beginning at the first one and proceeding along shelf +after shelf. He never finished the task, of course, because he found +out, after a while, that there are many books which are not worth +reading, and many more which are of value only to specialists in certain +departments of knowledge. No man can "know it all." But every man should +know one thing well, and have a general knowledge of the rest.</p> + +<p>For instance, none but an astronomer need know the mathematics of the +science, but all of us should know the principal facts concerning the +universe and the solar system, and it is a pleasure to us to recognize +the different constellations as we gaze up at the heavens on a cloudless +night. None but a lawyer need spend his time reading law-books, but most +of us want to know the broad principles upon which justice is +administered. No one but an economist need bother with the abstract +theories of political economy, but if we are to be good citizens, we +must have a knowledge of its foundations, so that <a name="page_24" id="page_24"></a><span class="pagenum">page 24</span>we may weigh +intelligently the solutions of public problems which different parties +offer.</p> + +<p>So if you are permitted to look along the shelves of the public library, +you will have no concern with the great majority of the books you see +there; but here and there one will catch your eye which interests you, +and these are the ones for you to read. You have no idea how the habit +of right reading will grow upon you, and what a delightful and valuable +habit it will prove to be. Like any other good habit, it takes pains at +first to establish, an effort of will and self-control. But that very +effort helps in the forming of character, and the habit of right reading +is perhaps the best and most far-reaching in its effects that any boy or +girl can form. I hope that this little volume, and the other books which +I have mentioned, will help you to form it.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE BEGINNERS</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_25" id="page_25"></a><span class="pagenum">page 25</span>Nearly five hundred years ago, there lived, in the beautiful +old Italian city of Genoa, a poor wool-comber named Dominico Colombo, +and about 1446, a son was born to him and to his wife, Susanna, and in +due time christened Christoforo.</p> + +<p>The world into which the child was born was very different to the one in +which we live. Europe was known, and northern Africa, and western Asia; +but to the east stretched the fabulous country of the Grand Khan, +Cathay, Cipango, and farthest Ind; while to the west rolled the Sea of +Darkness, peopled with unimaginable terrors.</p> + +<p>Of the youth of Christopher Columbus, as we call him, little is known. +No doubt it was much like other boyhoods, and one likes to picture him, +in such hours of leisure as he had, strolling about the streets of +Genoa, listening to the talk, staring in at the shop-windows, or +watching the busy life in the harbor. That the latter had a strong +attraction for him there can be no doubt, for though he followed his +father's trade till early manhood, he finally found his real vocation as +a seaman. It was on the ocean that true romance dwelt, for it led to +strange lands <a name="page_26" id="page_26"></a><span class="pagenum">page 26</span>and peoples, and no one knew what wonders and +mysteries lay behind each horizon. It was there, too, high courage was +developed and endurance, for it was there that men did battle hand to +hand with nature's mightiest forces. It was the one career of the age +which called to the bold and adventurous spirit. What training Columbus +received or what voyages he made we know not; but when, at about the age +of thirty, he steps into the light of history, it is as a man with a +wide and thorough knowledge of both the theory and practice of +seamanship; a man, too, of keen mind and indomitable will, and with a +mighty purpose brooding in his heart.</p> + +<p>It was natural enough that his eyes should turn to Portugal, for +Portugal was the greatest sea-faring nation of the age. Her sailors had +discovered the Madeira Islands, and crept little by little down the +coast of Africa, rounding this headland and that, searching always for a +passage to India, which they knew lay somewhere to the east, until, at +last, they had sailed triumphantly around the Cape of Good Hope. It is +worth remarking that Columbus's brother, Bartholomew, of whom we hear so +little, but who did so much for his brother's fame, was a member of that +expedition, and Columbus himself must have gathered no little +inspiration from it.</p> + +<p>So to Lisbon Columbus went, and his ardent spirit found a great stimulus +in the adventurous atmosphere of that bustling city. He went to work as +a map-maker, marrying the daughter of one of the <a name="page_27" id="page_27"></a><span class="pagenum">page 27</span>captains of +Prince Henry the Navigator, from whom he secured a great variety of +maps, charts and memoranda. His business kept him in close touch with +both mariners and astronomers, so that he was acquainted with every +development of both discovery and theory. In more than one mind the +conviction was growing up that the eastern shore of Asia could be +reached by sailing westward from Europe—a conviction springing +naturally enough from the belief that the earth was round, which was +steadily gaining wider and wider acceptance. In fact, a Florentine +astronomer named Toscanelli furnished Columbus with a map showing how +this voyage could be accomplished, and Columbus afterwards used this map +in determining his route.</p> + +<p>That the idea was not original with Columbus takes nothing from his +fame; his greatness lies in being the first fully to grasp its meaning, +fully to believe it, fully to devote his life to it. For the last +measure of a man's devotion to an idea is his willingness to stake his +life upon it, as Columbus staked his. The idea possessed him; there was +room in him only for a dogged determination to realize it, to trample +down such obstacles as might arise to keep him from his goal. And +obstacles enough there were, for many years of waiting and +disappointment lay before him—years during which, a shabby and +melancholy figure, laughed at and scorned, mocked by the very children +in the streets, he "begged his way from court to court, to offer to +princes the discovery of a world." And here again was his true +greatness—that he did <a name="page_28" id="page_28"></a><span class="pagenum">page 28</span>not despair, that his spirit remained +unbroken and his high heart still capable of hope.</p> + +<p>Yet let us not idealize him too much. The eagerness to reach the Indies +was wholly because of the riches which they possessed. The spice trade +was especially coveted, and tradition told of golden cities of fabulous +wealth and beauty which lay in the country to the east. The great motive +behind all the early voyages was hope of gain, and Columbus had his full +share of it. Yet there grew up within him, in time, something more than +this—a love of the project for its own sake—though to the very last, a +little overbalanced, perhaps, by his great idea, he insisted upon the +rewards and honors which must be his in case of success.</p> + +<p>With his route well-outlined and his plans carefully matured, Columbus +turned naturally to the King of Portugal, John II., as a man interested +in all nautical enterprise, and especially interested in finding a route +to the Indies. That crafty monarch listened to Columbus attentively and +was evidently impressed, for he took possession of the maps and plans +which Columbus had prepared, under pretense of examining them while +considering the project, placed them in the hands of one of his own +captains and dispatched him secretly to try the route. That captain, +whose name has been lost to history, must afterwards have been chagrined +enough at the manner in which he missed immortal fame, for, after +sailing a few days to the westward, he turned back and reported to his +royal master that the thing could <a name="page_29" id="page_29"></a><span class="pagenum">page 29</span>not be done. His was not the +heart for such an enterprise.</p> + +<p>Columbus, learning of the king's treachery, left the court in disgust, +and sending his brother, Bartholomew, to lay the plan before the King of +England, himself proceeded to Spain, whose rulers, Ferdinand and +Isabella, were perhaps the most enlightened of the age. Of Bartholomew's +adventures in England little is known. One thing alone is +certain—England missed the great opportunity just as Portugal had. And +for long years it seemed that, in Spain, Columbus would have no better +fortune. The Spanish monarchs listened to him with interest—as who +would not?—and appointed a council of astronomers and map-makers to +examine the project and to pass upon its feasibility. This council, not +without the connivance of the king and queen, who were absorbed in war +with the Moors, and who, at the same time, did not wish the plan to be +taken elsewhere, kept Columbus waiting for six years, alternating +between hope and despair, and finally reported that the project was +"vain and impossible of execution."</p> + +<p>Indignant at thought of the years he had wasted, Columbus determined to +proceed to Paris, to seek an audience of the King of France. His wife +was dead, and he started for Palos, with his little son, Diego, +intending to leave the boy with his wife's sister there, while he +himself journeyed on to Paris. Trudging wearily across the country, they +came one night to the convent of La Rabida, and Columbus stopped to +<a name="page_30" id="page_30"></a><span class="pagenum">page 30</span>ask for a crust of bread and cup of water for the child. The +prior, Juan Perez de Marchena, struck by his noble bearing, entered into +conversation with him and was soon so interested that he invited the +travellers in.</p> + +<p>Marchena had been Isabella's confessor, and still had great influence +with her. After carefully considering the project which Columbus laid +before him, he went to the queen in person and implored her to +reconsider it. His plea was successful, and Columbus was again summoned +to appear at court, a small sum of money being sent him so that he need +not appear in rags. The Spanish monarchs received him well, but when +they found that he demanded the title of admiral at once, and, in case +of success, the title of viceroy, together with a tenth part of all +profits resulting from either trade or conquest, they abruptly broke off +the negotiations, and Columbus, mounting a mule which had been given +him, started a second time for Paris. He had proceeded four or five +miles, in what sadness and turmoil of spirit may be imagined, when a +royal messenger, riding furiously, overtook him and bade him return. His +terms had been accepted.</p> + +<p>This is what had happened: In despair at the departure of Columbus, Luis +de Santangel, receiver of the revenues of Aragon, and one of the few +converts to his theories, had obtained an audience of the queen, and +pointed out to her, with impassioned eloquence, the glory which Spain +would win should Columbus be successful. The queen's patriotic ardor +<a name="page_31" id="page_31"></a><span class="pagenum">page 31</span>was enkindled, and when Ferdinand still hesitated, she cried, +"I undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile. I will pledge +my jewels to raise the money that is needed!" Santangel assured her that +he himself was ready to provide the money, and advanced seventeen +thousand florins from the coffers of Aragon, so that Ferdinand paid for +the expedition, after all.</p> + +<p>It is in no way strange that the demands of Columbus should have been +thought excessive; indeed, the wonderful thing is that they should, +under any circumstances, have been agreed to. Here was a man, to all +appearances a penniless adventurer, asking for honors, dignities and +rewards which any grandee of Spain might have envied him. That they +should have been granted was due to the impulsive sympathy of Isabella +and the indifference of her royal consort, who said neither yes nor no; +though, in the light of subsequent events, it is not improbable that the +thought may have crossed his mind that royal favor may always be +withdrawn, and that the hand which gives may also take away.</p> + +<p>But though Columbus had triumphed in this particular, his trials were by +no means at an end. The little port of Palos was commanded by royal +order to furnish the new Admiral with two small vessels known as +caravels. This was soon done, but no sailors were willing to embark on +such a voyage, the maddest in all history. Only by the most extreme +measures, by impressment and the release of criminals willing to +accompany the expedition in order to get <a name="page_32" id="page_32"></a><span class="pagenum">page 32</span>out of jail, were +crews finally provided. A third small vessel was secured, and on the +morning of Friday, August 3, 1492, this tiny fleet of three boats, the +Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña, whose combined crews numbered less +than ninety men, sailed out from Palos on the grandest voyage the world +has ever known.</p> + +<p>The shore was lined with people weeping and wringing their hands for the +relatives and friends whom they were sure they should never see again, +and most of the sailors were certain that they were bidding farewell +forever to their native land. Even at the present day, few men would +care to undertake such a voyage in such ships. The two little caravels, +Niña and Pinta, were decked only at stern and prow. The Santa Maria was +but little larger, her length being only about sixty feet, and all three +of the vessels were old, leaky, and in need of frequent repairs.</p> + +<p>The map which Toscanelli had given Columbus years before showed Japan +lying directly west of the Canaries, so to the Canaries Columbus steered +his fleet, and then set forth westward into the unknown. By a fortunate +chance, it was the very best route he could have chosen, for he came at +once into the region of the trade winds, which, blowing steadily from +the east, drove the vessels westward day after day over a smooth sea. +But this very thing, favorable as it was, added greatly to the terror of +the men. How were they to get back to Spain, with the wind always +against them? What was the meaning <a name="page_33" id="page_33"></a><span class="pagenum">page 33</span>of a sea as smooth as their +own Guadalquiver? They implored Columbus to turn back; but to turn back +was the last thing in his thoughts. An opportune storm helped to +reassure his men by proving that the wind did not always blow from the +east and that the sea was not always calm.</p> + +<p>But there were soon other causes of alarm. The compass varied strangely, +and what hope for them was there if this, their only guide, proved +faithless? They ran into vast meadows of floating seaweed, the Sargasso +Sea, and it seemed certain that the ships would soon be so entangled +that they could move neither backward nor forward. Still Columbus pushed +steadily on, and his men's terror and angry discontent deepened until +they were on the verge of mutiny; various plots were hatched and it was +evident that affairs would soon reach a crisis.</p> + +<p>One can guess the Admiral's thoughts as he paced the poop of his ship on +that last night, pausing from time to time to strain his eyes into the +darkness. Picture him to yourself—a tall and imposing figure, clad in +that gray habit of the Franciscan missionary he liked to wear; the face +stern and lined with care, the eyes gray and piercing, the high nose and +long chin telling of a mighty will, the cheeks ruddy and freckled from +life in the open, the white hair falling about his shoulders. Picture +him standing there, a memorable figure, whose hour of triumph was at +hand. He knew the desperate condition of things—none better; he knew +that his men were for the most part criminals and cowards; at any +moment <a name="page_34" id="page_34"></a><span class="pagenum">page 34</span>they might rise and make him prisoner or throw him +overboard. Well, until that moment, he would hold his ship's prow to the +west! For twenty years he had labored to get this chance; he would +rather die than fail.</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, far ahead, he saw a light moving low along the +horizon. It disappeared, reappeared, and then vanished altogether. The +lookout had also seen it, and soon after, as the moon rose, a gun from +the Pinta, which was in the lead, announced that land had been sighted. +It was soon plainly visible to everyone, a low beach gleaming white in +the moonlight, and the ships hove-to until daybreak.</p> + +<p>In the early dawn of the twelfth day of October, 1492, the boats were +lowered, and Columbus and a large part of his company went ashore, wild +with exultation. They found themselves on a small island, and Columbus +named it San Salvador. It was one of the Bahamas, but which one is not +certainly known. Columbus, of course, believed himself near the coast of +Asia, and spent two months in searching for Japan, discovering a number +of islands, but no trace of the land of gold and spices which he sought. +One of his ships was wrecked and the captain of the third sailed away to +search for gold on his own account, so that it was in the little Niña +alone that Columbus at last set sail for Spain.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="columbus" id="columbus"></a><img alt="Columbus (21K)" src="images/Columbus.jpg" height="500" width="382" /> +<br /><span class="caption">COLUMBUS</span> +</div> +<p>It was no longer a summer sea through which the tiny vessel ploughed her +way, but a sea swept by savage hurricanes. More than once it seemed +that <a name="page_35" id="page_35"></a><span class="pagenum">page 35</span>the ship must founder, but by some miracle it kept +afloat, and on March 15, 1493, sailed again into the port of Palos. The +great navigator was received with triumphal honors by Ferdinand and +Isabella, and invited to sit in their presence while he told the +wonderful story of his discoveries.</p> + +<p>Wonderful indeed! Yet what a dizziness would have seized that audience +could they have guessed the truth! Could they have guessed that the +proud kingdom of Spain was but an insignificant patch compared with the +vast continent Columbus had discovered and upon which a score of nations +were to dwell.</p> + +<p>The life-work of the great navigator practically ended on the day he +told his story to the court of Spain, for, though he led three other +expeditions across the ocean, the discoveries they made were of no great +importance. Not a trace did he find of that golden country, which he +sought so eagerly, and at last, broken in health and fortune, in +disfavor at court, stripped of the rewards and dignities which had been +promised him, he died in a little house at Valladolid on the twentieth +of May, 1506. He believed to the last that it was the Indies he had +discovered, never dreaming that he had given a new continent to the +world.</p> + +<p>Yet is his fame secure, for the task which he accomplished was unique, +never to be repeated. He had robbed the Sea of Darkness of its terrors, +and while those who followed him had need of courage and resolution, it +was no longer into the unknown <a name="page_36" id="page_36"></a><span class="pagenum">page 36</span>that they sailed forth. They +knew that there was no danger of sailing over the edge and dropping off +into space; they knew that there were no dragons, nor monsters, nor +other blood-curdling terrors to be encountered, but that the other side +of the world was much like the side they lived on. That was Columbus's +great achievement. To cross the Atlantic, perilous as the voyage was, +was after all a little thing; but actually to <i>start</i>—to surmount the +wall of bigotry and ignorance which, for centuries, had shut the west +away from the east, to surmount that wall and throw it down by a faith +which rose superior to human belief and incredulity and terror of the +unknown—there was the miracle!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Many there were to follow, each contributing his mite toward the task of +defining the new continent. Perhaps you have seen a photographic +negative slowly take shape in the acid bath—the sharp out-lines first, +then, bit by bit, the detail. Just so did America grow beneath the gaze +of Europe, though two centuries and more were to elapse before it stood +out upon the map clean-cut and definite from border to border.</p> + +<p>First to follow Columbus, and the first white men since the vikings to +set foot on the North American continent, which Columbus himself had +never seen, were John and Sebastian Cabot, Italians like their +predecessor, but in the service of the King of England and with an +English ship and an English crew prophetic of the race which was, in +time, to wrest the <a name="page_37" id="page_37"></a><span class="pagenum">page 37</span>supremacy of the continent from the other +nations of Europe. They explored the coast from Newfoundland as far +south, perhaps, as Chesapeake Bay, and upon their discoveries rested the +English claim to North America, though they themselves are little more +than faint and ill-defined shadows upon the page of history, so little +do we know of them.</p> + +<p>And just as the New World was eventually to be dominated by a nation +other than that which first took possession of it, so was it to be named +after a man other than its discoverer: an inconsiderable adventurer +named Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, who accompanied three or four +Spanish expeditions as astronomer or pilot, but who had no part in any +real discovery in the New World. He wrote a number of letters describing +the voyages which he claimed to have made, and one of these was printed +in a pamphlet which had a wide circulation, so that Vespucci's name came +to be connected in the public mind with the new land in the west much +more prominently than that of any other man. In 1502, in a little book +dealing with the new discoveries, the suggestion was made that there was +nothing "rightly to hinder us from calling it [the New World] Amerige or +America, i.e., the land of Americus," and America it was +thenceforward—one of the great injustices of history. Since it had to +be so, let us be thankful that it was Vespucci's first name which was +selected, and not his last one.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the Spaniards had pushed their way across the Caribbean and +explored the shores of the <a name="page_38" id="page_38"></a><span class="pagenum">page 38</span>gulf, finding at last in Mexico a +land of gold. World-worn, disease-racked Ponce de Leon, conqueror and +governor of Porto Rico, struggled through the everglades of Florida, +seeking the fountain of eternal youth, and getting his death-wound there +instead. Ferdinand Magellan, man of iron if there ever was one, seeking +a western passage to the Moluccas, skirted the coast of South America, +wintered amid the snows of Patagonia, worked his way through the strait +which bears his name, and held on westward across the Pacific, making +the first circumnavigation of the globe, a feat so startling in audacity +that there is none in our day to compare with it, except, perhaps, a +journey to another planet. Magellan himself never again saw Europe, +meeting his death in a fight with the natives of the Philippines, but +one of his ships, with eighteen men, struggled south along the coast of +Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and so home.</p> + +<p>Half a century was to elapse before the feat was repeated—this time by +that slave-trader, pirate, and doughty scourge of the Spaniard, Sir +Francis Drake, who, following in Magellan's wake, and pausing only long +enough to harry the Spanish settlements in Chili and Peru and capture a +Spanish treasureship, held northward along the coast as far as southern +Oregon, and then turned westward across the Pacific, around the Cape of +Good Hope, and home again, where Elizabeth, in spite of Spanish +protests, was waiting to reward him with a touch of sword to shoulder. +The Muse of History smiles ironically when she records <a name="page_39" id="page_39"></a><span class="pagenum">page 39</span>that +Drake's principal discovery in the New World was that of the potato, +which he introduced into England.</p> + +<p>Not until Drake's voyage was completed was the vast extent of the North +American continent even suspected, although its interior had been +explored in many directions. Hernando de Soto, with an experience gained +with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and succeeding Ponce de Leon in +the governorship of Florida, marched with a great expedition through +what is now South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, and came out, at +last, upon the Mississippi, only to find burial beneath its waters, +while the tattered remnant of his force staggered back to Mexico.</p> + +<p>Francisco de Coronado, marching northward from Mexico, in search of the +fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, found only the squalid villages of the +Zuni Indians, after stumbling on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and +marching as far north as the southern line of Kansas. Jacques Cartier, +following another will-o'-the-wisp to the north, and searching for the +storied city of Norembega, supposed to exist somewhere in the wilderness +south of Cape Breton, found it not, indeed, but laid the foundations for +the great empire which France was to establish along the St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>And Henry Hudson, in the little Half-Moon, chartered by a company of +thrifty Dutchmen to search for the northwest passage, blundered instead +upon the mighty river which bears his name, explored it as far north as +the present city of Albany, and paved the <a name="page_40" id="page_40"></a><span class="pagenum">page 40</span>way for that +picturesque Dutch settlement which grew into the greatest city of the +New World. He did more than that, for, persevering in the search and +sailing far to the north, he came, at last, into the great bay also +named for him, where tragic fate lay waiting. For there, in that icy +fastness of the north, his mutinous crew bound him, set him adrift in a +small boat, and sailed away and left him.</p> + +<p>So, by the beginning of the seventeenth century, the New World was +fairly well defined upon the maps which the map-makers were always +industriously drawing; and so were the spheres of influence where each +nation was to be for a time paramount; the Spaniards in the Gulf of +Mexico, the Dutch along the Hudson, the French on the St. Lawrence, and +the English on the long coast to the south. But in all the leagues and +leagues from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf, nowhere had the white man as +yet succeeded in gaining a permanent foothold.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Although the continent of North America had been discovered by John +Cabot in 1497, nearly a century elapsed before England made any serious +attempt to take possession of it. Cabot's voyages had created little +impression, for he had returned from them empty-handed; instead of +finding the passage to the Indies which he sought, he had discovered +nothing but an inconvenient and apparently worthless barrier stretching +across the way, and for many years the great continent was regarded only +in that light, and such explorations as were <a name="page_41" id="page_41"></a><span class="pagenum">page 41</span>made were with +the one object of getting through it or around it. In fact, as late as +1787, opinion in Europe was divided as to whether the discovery of the +New World had been a blessing or a curse.</p> + +<p>But Spain had been working industriously. The honor of giving America to +the world was hers, and she followed that first discovery by centuries +of such pioneering as the world had never seen. Her explorers overran +Mexico and Peru, discovered the Mississippi, the Pacific, carved their +way up into the interior of the continent, looked down upon the wonders +of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, founded settlements up and down the +land from Kansas to Chili—yes, and did more than that. They opened the +first churches, set up the first presses, printed the first books, wrote +the first histories, drew the first accurate maps. They established +schools among the Indians, sent missionaries to them, translated the +Bible into twelve Indian dialects, made thousands of converts, and +established an Indian policy as humane and enlightened—once Spanish +supremacy was recognized—as any in the world. The savages with whom +Spain had to contend were the deadliest, the most cruel, that Europeans +ever encountered—no more resembling the warriors of King Philip and the +Powhatan than a house-cat resembles a panther. They conquered them +without extermination, and converted them to Christianity! An amazing +feat, and one which disposes for all time of that old, outworn legend +that the Spain of the fifteenth <a name="page_42" id="page_42"></a><span class="pagenum">page 42</span>and early sixteenth centuries +was a moribund and degenerate nation.</p> + +<p>But a change was at hand. The world moved, and Spain, chained to an +outworn superstition, did not move with it. The treasure she drew from +Mexico and Peru she poured out to prop the tottering pillars of church +despotism; and the end came when, in 1588, Elizabeth's doughty captains +wiped out the "invincible" armada, and dethroned Spain for all time from +her position as mistress of the seas.</p> + +<p>It was then that English eyes turned toward the New World and that +projects of colonization were set afoot in earnest; and the one great +dominant hero of that early movement was Sir Walter Raleigh. He had +accompanied his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on a voyage to the +New World ten years earlier, and after Gilbert's tragic death, took over +the patent for land in America which Gilbert held. It is worth noting +that this patent provided in the plainest terms that such colonies as +might be planted in America should be self-governing in the fullest +sense—a provision also included in the patent granted to the company +which afterwards succeeded in gaining and maintaining a foothold on the +James.</p> + +<p>Raleigh spent nearly a million dollars in endeavoring to establish a +colony on Roanoke Island—a colony which absolutely disappeared, and +whose fate was never certainly discovered; and it was not until the +Virgin Queen, after whom all that portion of the country had been named, +was dead, and Raleigh himself, shorn of his estates, was a prisoner in +the Tower <a name="page_43" id="page_43"></a><span class="pagenum">page 43</span>under charge of treason, that a new charter was +given to an association of influential men known as the Virginia +Company, which was destined to have permanent results. On New Year's +Day, 1607, an expedition of three ships, carrying, besides their crews, +one hundred and five colonists, started on the voyage across the ocean, +under command of Captain Christopher Newport. Among Newport's company +was a scarred and weather-beaten soldier, who was soon to assume control +of events through sheer fitness for the task, and who bore that +commonest of all English names, John Smith.</p> + +<p>But John Smith's career had been anything but common. Born in +Lincolnshire in 1579, and early left an orphan, he had gone to the +Netherlands while still in his teens, and had spent three years there +fighting against the Spaniards. A year or two later, he had embarked +with a company of Catholic pilgrims for the Levant, intent on fighting +against the Turk, but a storm arose which all attributed to the presence +of the Huguenot heretic on board, and he was forthwith flung into the +sea. Whether the storm thereupon abated, history does not state, but +Smith managed to swim to a small island, from which he was rescued next +day. Journeying across Europe to Styria, he entered the service of +Emperor Rudolph II., and spent two or three years fighting against the +Turks, accomplishing feats so surprising that one would be inclined to +class them with those of Baron Munchausen, were they not, for the most +part, well authenticated. He was captured, at last, but managed <a name="page_44" id="page_44"></a><span class="pagenum">page 44</span> +to escape, and made his way across the Styrian desert, through +Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and finally back to England, just in +time to meet Captain Newport, and arrange to sail with him for Virginia.</p> + +<p>It is not remarkable that a man tried by such experiences should, from +the first, have taken a prominent part in the enterprise. An unwelcome +part in the beginning, for scarcely had the voyage begun, when he was +accused of plotting mutiny, arrested and kept in irons until the ships +reached Virginia. Late in April, the fleet entered Hampton Roads, and +proceeding up the river, which was forthwith named the James, came at +last on May 13th, to a low peninsula which seemed suited for a +settlement. The next day they set to work building a fort, which they +called Fort James, but the settlement soon came to be known as +Jamestown.</p> + +<p>Once the fort was finished, Captain Newport sailed back to England for +supplies, and the little settlement was soon in desperate straits for +food. Within three months, half of the colonists were in their graves, +and bitter feuds arose among the survivors. These were for the most part +"gentlemen adventurers," who had accompanied the expedition in the hope +of finding gold, and who were wholly unfitted to cope with the +conditions in which they found themselves. Of all of them, Smith was by +far the most competent, and he did valiant service in trading with the +Indians for corn and in conducting a number of expeditions in search of +game.</p> + +<p><a name="page_45" id="page_45"></a><span class="pagenum">page 45</span>It was while on one of these, in December, 1607, that that +incident of his career occurred which is all that a great many people +know of Captain John Smith. With two companions, he was paddling in a +canoe up the Chickahominy, when the party was attacked by Indians. +Smith's two companions were killed, and he himself saved his life only +by exhibiting his compass and doing other things to astonish and impress +the savages.</p> + +<p>He was finally taken captive to the Powhatan, the ruler of the tribe, +and, according to Smith's story, a long debate ensued among the Indians +as to his fate. Presently two large stones were laid before the chief, +and Smith was dragged to them and his head forced down upon them, but +even as one of the warriors raised his club to dash out the captive's +brains, the Powhatan's daughter, a child of thirteen named Pocahontas, +threw herself upon him, shielding his head with hers, and claimed him +for her own, after the Indian custom. Smith was thereupon released, +adopted into the tribe, and sent back to Jamestown, where he arrived on +the eighth of January, 1608.</p> + +<p>From the Indian standpoint, there was nothing especially unusual about +this procedure, for any member of the tribe was privileged to claim a +captive, if he wished. A century before, Ortiz, a member of De Soto's +expedition, had been captured by the Indians and saved in precisely the +same way, and many instances of the kind occurred in the years which +followed. But to the captive, it partook of the very <a name="page_46" id="page_46"></a><span class="pagenum">page 46</span>essence +of romance; he had only the dimmest idea of what was really happening, +and his account of it, written many years later, was of the most +sentimental kind. Many doubts have been cast on the story, and +historians seem hopelessly divided about it, as they are about many +other incidents of Smith's life. Certain it is, however, that Pocahontas +afterwards befriended the colony on more than one occasion; and was +finally converted, married to a planter named John Rolfe, and taken to +England, where, among the artificialities of court life, she soon +sickened and died.</p> + +<p>On the very day that Smith reached Jamestown with his Indian escort, the +supply ship sent out by Captain Newport also arrived, bringing 120 new +colonists. Of the original 105, only thirty-eight were left alive. But +Smith's enemies were yet in the ascendancy, and he spent the summer of +1608 in exploration, leaving the colony to its own devices. When he +returned to it in September, he found it reduced and disheartened. His +brave and cheery presence acted as a tonic, and at last the colonists, +appreciating him at his true value, elected him president. He put new +life into everyone, and when, soon afterwards, Newport arrived again +from England with fresh supplies, he found the colony in fairly good +shape.</p> + +<p>But the members of the Virginia Company were growing impatient at the +failure of the venture to bring any returns, and they sent out +instructions by Newport demanding that either a lump of gold be <a name="page_47" id="page_47"></a><span class="pagenum">page 47</span> +sent back to England or that the way to the South Sea be discovered. +Smith said plainly that the instructions were ridiculous, and wrote an +answer to them in blunt soldier English. Then, turning his hand in +earnest to the government of the disorderly rabble under him, he +instituted an iron discipline, whipped the laggards into line, and by +the end of April had some twenty houses built, thirty or forty acres of +ground broken up and planted, nets and weirs arranged for fishing, a new +fortress under way, and various small manufactures begun. A great +handicap was the system, by which all property was held in common, so +that the drones shared equally with the workers, but Smith took care +that there should be few drones. There can be no doubt that his sheer +will power kept the colony together, but his credit with the company was +undermined by enemies in England, nor did his own blunt letter help +matters. The company was re-organized on a larger scale, a new governor +appointed, new colonists started on the way; and, finally, in 1609, +Smith was so seriously wounded by the explosion of a bag of gun-powder, +that he gave up the struggle and returned to England.</p> + +<p>Instant disaster followed. When he left the colony, it numbered five +hundred souls; when the next supply ship reached it in May, 1610, it +consisted of sixty scarecrows, mere wrecks of human beings. The rest had +starved to death—or been eaten by their companions! There was a hasty +consultation, and it was decided that Virginia must be abandoned. <a name="page_48" id="page_48"></a><span class="pagenum">page 48</span> +On Thursday, June 7, 1610, the cabins were stripped of such things as +were of value, and the whole company went on shipboard and started down +the river—only to meet, next day, in Hampton Roads, a new expedition +headed by the new governor, Lord Delaware, himself! By this slight +thread of coincidence was the fate of Virginia determined.</p> + +<p>The ship put about at once, and on the following Sunday morning, Lord +Delaware stepped ashore at Jamestown, and, falling to his knees, thanked +God that he had been in time to save Virginia. He proceeded at once to +place the colony upon a new and sounder basis, and it was never again in +danger of extinction, though Jamestown itself was finally abandoned as +unsuited to a settlement on account of its malarious atmosphere. But +Virginia itself grew apace into one of the greatest of England's +colonies in America.</p> + +<p>John Smith himself never returned to Virginia. In 1614, he explored the +coast south of the Penobscot, giving it the name it still bears, New +England. A year later, while on another expedition, he was captured by +the French and forced to serve against the Spaniards. Broken in health +and fortune, he spent his remaining years in London, dying there in +1631. There is a portrait of him, showing him as a handsome, bearded +man, with nose and mouth bespeaking will and spirit—just such a man as +one would imagine this gallant soldier of fortune to have been.</p> + +<p><a name="page_49" id="page_49"></a><span class="pagenum">page 49</span>While the English, under the guiding hand of John Smith, were +fighting desperately to maintain themselves upon the James, the French +were struggling to the same purpose and no less desperately along the +St. Lawrence. We have seen how Jacques Cartier explored and named that +region, but civil and religious wars in France put an end to plans of +colonization for half a century, and it was not until 1603 that Samuel +Champlain, the founder of New France, and one of the noblest characters +in American history, embarked for the New World.</p> + +<p>Samuel Champlain was born at Brouage about 1567, the son of a sea-faring +father, and his early years were spent upon the sea. He served in the +army of the Fourth Henry, and after the peace with Spain, made a voyage +to Mexico. Upon his return to France in 1603, he found a fleet preparing +to sail to Canada, and at once joined it. Some explorations were made of +the St. Lawrence, but the fleet returned to France within the year, +without accomplishing anything in the way of colonization. Another +expedition in the following year saw the founding of Port Royal, while +Champlain made a careful exploration of the New England coast, but he +found nothing that attracted him as did the mighty river to the north. +Thither, in 1608, he went, and sailing up the river to a point where a +mighty promontory rears its head, disembarked and erected the first rude +huts of the city which he called by the Indian name of Quebec, or "The +Narrows." A wooden wall was built, mounting a few small cannon and +loopholed for <a name="page_50" id="page_50"></a><span class="pagenum">page 50</span>musketry, and the conquest of Canada had begun. +A magnificent cargo of furs was dispatched to France, and Champlain and +twenty-eight men were left to winter at Quebec. When spring came, only +nine were left alive, but reinforcements and supplies soon arrived, and +Champlain arranged to proceed into the interior and explore the country.</p> + +<p>The resources at his disposal were small, he could not hope to assemble +a great expedition; so he determined to make the venture with only a few +men and little baggage, relying upon the friendship of the Indians, +instead of seeking to conquer them, as the Spaniards had always done. +Champlain had from the first treated the Indians well, and it was this +necessity of gaining their friendship that determined the policy which +France pursued—the policy of making friends of the Indians, entering +into an alliance with them, and helping them fight their battles. +Champlain opened operations by joining an Algonquin war-party against +the Iroquois, and assisting at their defeat—starting, at the same time, +a blood feud with that powerful tribe which endured as long as the +French held Canada. In the course of this expedition, he discovered the +beautiful lake which bears his name.</p> + +<p>He went back to France for a time, after that, and on his next return to +Canada, in 1611, began building a town at the foot of a rock which had +been named Mont Royal, since corrupted to Montreal. Succeeding years +were spent in further explorations, which carried him across Lake +Ontario, and in plans <a name="page_51" id="page_51"></a><span class="pagenum">page 51</span>for the conversion of the Indians, to +which the aid of the Jesuits was summoned. Missions were established, +and the intrepid priests pushed their way farther and farther into the +wilderness. To this work, Champlain gave more and more of his thought in +the last years of his life, which ended on Christmas day, 1635.</p> + +<p>Among the young men whom Champlain set to work among the Indians was +Jean Nicolet. The year before his death, Champlain sent him on an +exploring expedition to the west, in the course of which he visited Lake +Michigan and perhaps Lake Superior. Following in his footsteps, the +Jesuits gradually established missions as far west as the Wisconsin +River, and, finally, in 1670, at Sault Ste. Marie, the French formally +took possession of the whole Northwest.</p> + +<p>It was at about this time there appeared upon the scene another of those +picturesque and formidable figures, in which this period of American +history so abounds—Robert Cavalier La Salle. La Salle was at that time +only twenty years of age. He had reached Canada four years earlier and +had devoted himself for three years to the study of the Indian +languages, in order to fit himself for the career of western exploration +which he contemplated. One day he was visited by a party of Senecas, who +told him of a river, which they called the Ohio, so great that many +months were required to traverse it. From their description, La Salle +concluded that it must fall into the Gulf of California, and so form the +long-sought passage to China. He determined to explore it, and <a name="page_52" id="page_52"></a><span class="pagenum">page 52</span> +after surmounting innumerable obstacles, actually did reach it, and +descend it as far as the spot where the city of Louisville now stands, +afterwards exploring the Illinois and the country south of the Great +lakes, as well as the lakes themselves.</p> + +<p>Fired by La Salle's report of his discoveries, two other Frenchmen, +Louis Joliet, a native of Quebec, who had already led an expedition in +search of the copper mines of Lake Superior, and Jacques Marquette, a +Jesuit priest and accomplished linguist, started on a still greater +journey. With five companions and two birchbark canoes, they headed down +the Wisconsin river, and on June 17, 1673, glided out upon the blue +waters of the Mississippi. A fortnight later, they reached a little +village called Peoria, where the Indians received them well, and +continuing down the river, passed the Missouri, the Ohio, and finally, +having gone far enough to convince themselves that the river emptied +into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Gulf of California, they turned +about and reached Green Bay again in September, having paddled more than +2,500 miles. Marquette, shattered in health, remained at Green Bay, +while Joliet pushed on to Montreal to tell of his discoveries. Marquette +rallied sufficiently at the end of a year to attempt a mission among the +Illinois Indians, where death found him in the spring of 1675. Joliet +spent his last years in a vain endeavor to persuade the government of +France to undertake on a grand scale the development of the rich lands +along the Mississippi.</p> + +<p><a name="page_53" id="page_53"></a><span class="pagenum">page 53</span>But the story which Joliet took back with him to Quebec fired +anew the ambition of La Salle. He conceived New France as a great empire +in the wilderness, and he determined to descend the mighty river to its +mouth and establish a city there which would hold the river for France +against all comers. Such occupation would, according to French doctrine, +give France an indisputable right to the whole territory which the river +and its tributaries drained, and La Salle's plan was to establish a +chain of forts stretching from Lake Erie to the Gulf, to build up around +these great cities, and so to lay the foundations for the mightiest +empire in history. We may well stand amazed before a plan so ambitious, +and before the determination with which this great Frenchman set about +its accomplishment.</p> + +<p>To most men, such a scheme seemed but the dream of an enthusiast; but La +Salle was in deadly earnest, and for eight years he labored to perfect +the details of the plan. At last, on April 9, 1682, he planted the flag +of France at the mouth of the Mississippi, naming the country Louisiana +in honor of his royal master, whose property it was solemnly declared to +be. That done, the intrepid explorer hastened back to France; a fleet +was fitted out and attempted to sail directly to the mouth of the great +river, but missed it; the ships were wrecked on the coast of Texas, and +La Salle was shot from ambush by two of his own followers while +searching on foot for the river.</p> + +<p>So ended La Salle's part in the accomplishment of a plan which, +grandiose as it was, reached a sort of <a name="page_54" id="page_54"></a><span class="pagenum">page 54</span>realization—for a +great French city near the mouth of the river <i>was</i> built and a thin +chain of forts connecting it with Canada, where the French power +remained unbroken for three quarters of a century longer; while not +until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the royal line of +Louis had been succeeded by a soldier of fortune from Corsica, did the +great territory which La Salle had named Louisiana pass from French +possession.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On the nineteenth day of November, 1620, fourteen years after the +settlement of Jamestown and twelve after the settlement of Quebec, a +storm-beaten vessel of 120 tons burthen crept into the lee of Cape Cod +and dropped anchor in that welcome refuge. The vessel was the Mayflower, +and she had just completed the most famous voyage in American history, +after that of Columbus. The colonists she carried, about a hundred in +number, Separatists from the Church of England, have come down through +history as the "Pilgrim Fathers." Among them was one destined to rule +the fortunes of the colony for more than a quarter of a century. His +name was William Bradford, and he was at that time thirty years of age.</p> + +<p>Bradford was born in 1590 at Austerfield, in Yorkshire, England, and at +the age of sixteen, joined a company of Puritans or Separatists, which +met for a time at the little town of Scrooby, but, being threatened with +persecution, resolved to remove to Holland. Most of the congregation got +away without interference, but Bradford and a few others were <a name="page_55" id="page_55"></a><span class="pagenum">page 55</span> +arrested and spent several months in prison. As soon as he was +released, he joined the colony in Amsterdam, and afterwards, in 1609, +removed with it to Leyden. But the newcomers found themselves out of +sympathy with Dutch customs and habits of thought, and after long +debate, determined to remove to America and found a colony of their own. +A patent was obtained, the Mayflower chartered, the congregation put +aboard, and the voyage begun on the fifth day of September, 1620.</p> + +<p>The colonists expected to settle somewhere near the mouth of the Hudson, +but, whether by accident or design, their captain brought up off Cape +Cod, and it was decided to land there. After some days' search, a +suitable site for a settlement was found, work was begun on houses and +fortifications, and the place was named New Plymouth.</p> + +<p>Jonathan Carver had been chosen the first governor and guided the colony +through the horrors of that first winter; the story of Jamestown was +repeated, and by the coming of spring, more than half the colonists were +dead. Among them was Carver himself, and William Bradford was at once +chosen to succeed him. There can be no doubt that it was to Bradford's +wise head and strong hand the colony owed its quick rally, and its +escape from the prolonged misery which makes horrible the early history +of Virginia. He seems to have possessed a temper resolute, but +magnanimous and patient to an unusual degree, together with a religion +sincere and devoted, yet neither intolerant nor austere. What <a name="page_56" id="page_56"></a><span class="pagenum">page 56</span> +results can be accomplished by a combination of qualities at once so +rare and so admirable is shown by the work which William Bradford did at +Plymouth, over which he ruled almost continuously until his death, +thirty-seven years later.</p> + +<p>Bradford's success lay first in his courage in doing away with the +pernicious system by which all the property was held in common. In doing +this, he violated the rules of his company, but he saw that utter +failure lay the other way. He divided the colony's land among the +several families, in proportion to their number, and compelled each +family to shift for itself. The communal system had nearly wrecked +Jamestown and would have wrecked Plymouth had not Bradford had the +courage to disregard all precedent and make each family its own +provider. Years afterwards, in commenting on the results of this +revolutionary change, he wrote, "Any general want or suffering hath not +been among them since to this day."</p> + +<p>And, indeed, this was true. Under Bradford's guidance, the little colony +increased steadily in wealth and numbers, and became the sure forerunner +of the great Puritan migration of 1630, which founded the colony of +Massachusetts, into which the older colony of Plymouth was finally +absorbed. Of Bradford himself, little more remains to be told. The +establishment of Plymouth Plantation was his life work. He was a far +bigger man than most of his contemporaries, with a broader outlook upon +life and deeper resources within himself. One of <a name="page_57" id="page_57"></a><span class="pagenum">page 57</span>these was a +literary culture which fairly sets him apart as the first American man +of letters. He wrote an entertaining history of his colony, as well as a +number of philosophical and theological works, all marked with a style +and finish noteworthy for their day.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The government of the colony of Massachusetts presented, for over half a +century, the most perfect union of church and state ever witnessed in +America. The secular arm was ever ready to support the religious, and to +compel every resident of the colony to walk in the strait and narrow way +of Puritanism. This was a task easy enough at first, but growing more +and more difficult as the character of the settlers became more diverse, +until, finally, it had to be abandoned altogether.</p> + +<p>One of the first and most formidable of all those who dared array +themselves against this bulwark of Puritanism was Roger Williams. He was +the son of a merchant tailor of London, had developed into a precocious +boy, had shown a leaning toward Puritan doctrines, and had ended by +out-Puritaning the Puritans. This was principally apparent in an +intolerance of compromise which led him to remarkable extremes. He +refused to conform to the use of the common prayer, and so cut himself +off from all chance of preferment; he renounced a property of some +thousands of pounds rather than take the oath required by law; and at +last was forced to flee the country, reaching Massachusetts in 1631.</p> + +<p><a name="page_58" id="page_58"></a><span class="pagenum">page 58</span>He was, of course, soon at war with the constituted authorities +over questions of doctrine, and at last it was decided to get rid of him +by sending him back to England. He was at Salem at the time, and hearing +that a warrant had been despatched from Boston for him, he promptly took +to the woods, and, making his way with a few followers to Narragansett +Bay, broke ground for a settlement which he named Providence. It was the +beginning of the first state in the world which took no cognizance +whatever of religious belief, so long as it did not interfere with civil +peace. He was soon joined by more adherents, and a few years later, he +obtained from the king a charter for the colony of Rhode Island.</p> + +<p>Almost from the moment of his landing in America, Williams had +interested himself greatly in the welfare of the Indians. The principal +cause of his expulsion from Massachusetts was his contention that the +land belonged to the Indians and not to the King of England, who +therefore had no right to give it away, so that the colony's charter was +invalid. His town of Providence was built on land which the Indians had +given him, and he soon acquired considerable influence among them. He +learned to speak their language with great facility, translated the +Bible into their tongue, and on more than one occasion saved New England +from the horrors of an Indian war. But, despite his lofty character, it +is impossible at this day, to regard Williams with any degree of +sympathy or liking, or to think of him except as a trouble-maker over +trifles. Intolerance, <a name="page_59" id="page_59"></a><span class="pagenum">page 59</span>happily, is fading from the world, and +with it that useless scrupulosity of behavior, which accomplishes no +good, but whose principal result is to make uncomfortable all who come +in contact with it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Meanwhile, just to the south of Rhode Island, a prosperous little +settlement had been established, which was soon to grow into the most +commercially important on the continent. We have seen how Henry Hudson, +in 1609, in a vessel chartered by the Dutch West India Company, entered +the Hudson river and explored it for some hundred and fifty miles. The +Dutch claimed the region as the result of that voyage, and during the +next few years, Dutch traders visited it regularly and did a lively +business in furs; but no attempt was made at colonization until 1624, +although small trading-posts had existed at various points along the +river for ten years previously.</p> + +<p>All of this country was included in the patent granted the Virginia +Company, and it was for the mouth of the Hudson that the Pilgrims had +sailed in the Mayflower. The charge has since been made that their +captain had been bribed by the thrifty Dutch to land them somewhere +else, and at any cost, to keep them away from the neighborhood of the +Dutch trading-posts. From whatever cause, this was certainly done, and +many years were to elapse before there came another English invasion.</p> + +<p>In 1626, Peter Minuit, director for the Dutch West India Company, +purchased Manhattan Island <a name="page_60" id="page_60"></a><span class="pagenum">page 60</span>from the Indians, giving for it +trinkets and merchandise to the value of $24, and founding New Amsterdam +as the central trading depot. From the first, the settlement was a +cosmopolitan one, just as it is to-day, and in 1643, it was said that +eighteen languages were spoken there.</p> + +<p>The most notable figure in this prosperous and growing colony was that +of Peter Stuyvesant, an altogether picturesque and gallant personality. +Born in Holland in 1602, he had entered the army at an early age, and, +as governor of Curaçao, lost a leg in battle. In 1646, he was appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, and reached New Amsterdam in the +spring of the following year. So much powder was burned in firing +salutes to welcome him that there was scarcely any left. His speech of +greeting was brief and to the point.</p> + +<p>"I shall govern you," he said, "as a father his children, for the +advantage of the chartered West India Company, and these burghers, and +this land."</p> + +<p>And he proceeded to do it, having in mind the old adage that to spare +the rod is to spoil the child. There was never any doubt in Stuyvesant's +mind that the first business of a ruler is to rule, and popular +government seemed to him the merest idiocy. "A valiant, weather-beaten, +mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited +old governor"—the adjectives describe him well; a sufficiently imposing +figure, with his slashed hose and velvet jacket and tall cane and +silver-banded wooden leg, he ruled the colony for twenty years with a +rod <a name="page_61" id="page_61"></a><span class="pagenum">page 61</span>of iron, fortifying it, enlarging it, settling its +boundaries, keeping the Indians over-awed, the veriest dictator this +continent ever saw, until, one August day in 1664, an English fleet +sailed up the bay and summoned the city to surrender.</p> + +<p>Stuyvesant set his men to work repairing the fortifications, and was for +holding out, but the town was really defenseless against the frigates, +which had only to sail up the river and bombard it from either side; his +people were disaffected and to some extent not sorry to be delivered +from his rule; the terms offered by the English were favorable, and +though Stuyvesant swore he never would surrender, a white flag was +finally run up over the ramparts of Fort Amsterdam. The city was at once +renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York, to whom it had been +granted; and the hard-headed old governor spent the remaining years of +his life very comfortably on his great farm, the Bouwerie, just outside +the city limits.</p> + +<p>This conquest, bloodless and easy as it was, was fraught with momentous +consequences. It brought New England into closer relations with Maryland +and Virginia by creating a link between them, binding them together; it +gave England command of the spot designed by nature to be the commercial +and military centre of the Atlantic sea-board, and confirmed a +possession of it that was never thereafter seriously disturbed, until +the colonies themselves disputed it. Had New Amsterdam remained Dutch, +dividing, as it did, New England from the South, <a name="page_62" id="page_62"></a><span class="pagenum">page 62</span>there would +never have been any question of revolution or independence. The flash of +that little white flag on that September day, decided the fate of the +continent.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Duke of York, being of a generous disposition and having many claims +upon him, used a portion of the great territory granted him in America +to reward his friends, and thereby laid the foundation for another great +commonwealth with a unique history. New Jersey was given jointly to Sir +George Carteret and Lord Berkeley, and in 1673, Lord Berkeley sold his +share, illy-defined as the "southwestern part," to a Quaker named Edward +Byllinge. Byllinge soon became insolvent, and his property was taken +over by William Penn and two others, as trustees, and the seeds sown for +one of the most interesting experiments in history.</p> + +<p>There are few figures on the page of history more admirable, +self-poised, and clear-sighted than this quiet man. He was born in +London in 1644, the son of a distinguished father, and apparently +destined for the usual career at the court of England. But while at +Oxford, young Penn astonished everybody and scandalized his relatives by +joining the Society of Friends, or Quakers, founded by George Fox only a +short time before. His family at once removed him from Oxford and sent +him to Paris, in the hope that amid the gayeties of the French capital +he would forget his Quaker notions, but he was far from doing so. He +returned home after a time, and his father <a name="page_63" id="page_63"></a><span class="pagenum">page 63</span>threatened to shut +him up in the Tower of London, but he retorted that for him the Tower +was the worst argument in the world. We get some amusing glimpses of the +contention in his household.</p> + +<p>"You may 'thee' and 'thou' other folk as much as you like," his angry +father told him, "but don't you dare to 'thee' and 'thou' the King, or +the Duke of York, or me."</p> + +<p>The Quakers insisted upon the use of "thee" and "thou," alleging that +the use of the plural "you" was not only absurd, but a form of flattery, +and this manner of address has been persisted in by them to this day. +Penn, of course, continued to use them, much to his father's +indignation, and even went so far as to wear his hat in the king's +presence, an act of audacity which only amused that merry monarch. The +story goes that the king, seeing young Penn covered, removed his own +hat, remarking jestingly, "Wherever I am, it is customary for only one +to be covered"; a neat reproof, as well as a lesson in manners which +would have made any other young man's ears tingle, but Penn calmly +enough replied, "Keep thy hat on, Friend Charles."</p> + +<p>After his father's death, in 1670, Penn found himself heir to a great +estate, and began to devote himself entirely to the defense and +explanation of Quakerism. Again and again, he was thrown into prison and +kept there for months on end, but gradually he began to win for the +Friends a certain degree of respect and consideration, perhaps as much +because of his high social station, gallant bearing and magnetic <a name="page_64" id="page_64"></a><span class="pagenum">page 64</span> +personality, as because of any of his arguments. In 1677, he made a +sort of missionary tour of Europe, returning to England to set actively +afloat the project for Quaker colonization in America which he had long +been turning over in his mind.</p> + +<p>Three years, however, passed before he could secure from the Duke of +York a release of all his powers of sovereignty over West Jersey, but +this was finally accomplished, and soon afterwards he secured from the +crown a charter for a great strip of country in that region. Penn named +this region "Sylvania," or "Woodland," but when the King came to approve +the charter, he wrote the name "Penn" before "Sylvania," and when Penn +protested, assured him laughingly that the name was given the country +not in his honor but in that of his father, and so it stood.</p> + +<p>Penn had been allowed a free hand in shaping the policy of his colony, +and forthwith proclaimed such a government as existed nowhere else on +earth. Absolute freedom of conscience was guaranteed to everyone; it was +declared that governments exist for the sake of the governed, that to +reform a criminal is more important than to punish him, that the death +penalty should be inflicted only for murder or high treason, and that +every man had a right to vote and to hold office. All of which are such +matters of course to-day that we can scarcely realize how revolutionary +they were two centuries ago.</p> + +<p>To all who should come to his colony, Penn offered land at the rate of +forty shillings for a hundred acres, <a name="page_65" id="page_65"></a><span class="pagenum">page 65</span>and the experiment, +denounced at first as visionary and certain of failure, was so +successful that within a year, more than three thousand persons had +sailed to settle along the Delaware. In the summer of 1682, Penn himself +sailed for the New World, and late in the following autumn, at a spot +just above the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware, laid out a city +as square and level as a checker-board, and named it Philadelphia, the +City of Brotherly Love. Before taking possession of the land, he +concluded a treaty with the Delaware Indians, to whom it belonged, "the +only treaty," as Voltaire says, "between savages and Christians that was +never sworn to and never broken." Penn's stately and distinguished +bearing, his affability and kindness of heart, made a deep impression +upon the Indians; they always remembered him with trust and affection; +and seventy years elapsed before Pennsylvania tasted the horrors of +Indian warfare.</p> + +<p>The growth of the new city was phenomenal. Settlers came so fast that +cabins could not be built for them, and many of them lived for a time in +caves along the river. The remainder of Penn's life was spent for the +most part in England, where his interests demanded his presence, but he +built a handsome residence in the city which he had founded and lived +there at intervals until his death.</p> + +<p>No consideration, however brief, of his life and work can be complete +without some reference to the remarkable effect the establishment of his +colony had on emigration to America. Pennsylvania gave a refuge <a name="page_66" id="page_66"></a><span class="pagenum">page 66</span> +and home to the most intelligent and progressive peoples of Europe, +chafing under the religious restrictions which, at home, they could not +escape. The Mennonites, the Dunkers, and the Palatines were among these, +but by far the most important were the so-called Scotch-Irish—Scotchmen +who, a century before, had been sent to Ireland by the English +government, in the hope of establishing there a Protestant population +which would, in time, come to outnumber and control the native Irish. +The Scotch were Presbyterians, of course, and finding the Irish +environment distasteful, began, about 1720, to come to America in such +numbers that, fifty years later, they formed a sixth part of our entire +population. Nearly all of them settled in Western Pennsylvania, from +which a steady stream flowed ever southward and westward, furnishing the +hardy pioneers of Kentucky and Tennessee, and forming the main strength +of American democracy. We shall see, in the chapters which follow, how +many of the men eminent in the country's history, traced their descent +from this stock.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>One more interesting experiment in colonization, conceived and carried +out by a man of unusual personality, remains to be recorded. James +Oglethorpe, born in 1689, for forty years led the usual life of the +wealthy English gentleman—first the army, then a period of quiet +country life, and finally parliament. There, however, he took a place +apart, almost at once, by his interest in prison reform. The condition +of <a name="page_67" id="page_67"></a><span class="pagenum">page 67</span>the English prisons of the day was indescribably foul and +loathsome, and as horror after horror was unearthed by his +investigations, a great project began to take shape in his mind. This +was nothing less than the founding in America of a colony where +prisoners for debt should be encouraged to settle, and where they should +be given means to make a new start in life. For in those days, a man who +could not pay his debts was cast into prison and kept there, frequently +in the greatest misery, as though that helped matters any.</p> + +<p>In 1732, Oglethorpe succeeded in securing a charter for such a colony, +which he named Georgia, in honor of the King. Trustees were appointed, +the support of influential men secured, and on November 16, 1732, the +first shipload of emigrants left England. Oglethorpe himself accompanied +them. He had undertaken to establish the colony on the condition that he +receive no recompense, and was authorized to act as colonial governor.</p> + +<p>Charleston, South Carolina, was reached about the middle of January, +and, after some exploration, Oglethorpe selected as the site of the +first settlement a bluff on the rich delta lands of the Savannah. +Thither the emigrants proceeded, and at once began to build the town, +which was named Savannah after the river flowing at its feet. Oglethorpe +himself was indefatigable. He concluded a treaty with the Indians, +provided for the defense of the colony against the Spaniards, who held +Florida, and, most important of all, welcomed a colony of Jews, who had +come <a name="page_68" id="page_68"></a><span class="pagenum">page 68</span>from London at their own expense, and who soon became as +valuable as any of Savannah's citizens. Probably never before in history +had a Christian community welcomed a party of this unfortunate race, +which had been despised and persecuted from one end of Europe to the +other, which could call no country home, nor invoke the protection of +any government.</p> + +<p>A year later, another strange band of pilgrims was welcomed—Protestants +driven out of the Tyrolese valleys of Austria. A ship had been sent for +them, and Oglethorpe gave them permission to select a home in any part +of the province, and sent his carpenters to assist them in building +their houses. Georgia owes much of her greatness to these sturdy people, +whose love of independence was to find another vent in the Revolution.</p> + +<p>As soon as these new arrivals were comfortably settled and provided for, +Oglethorpe proceeded to London, where he secured the passage of laws +prohibiting slavery and the importation of liquor into the colony, and +not until his connection with it ended were slaves brought in. When he +returned to Georgia, it was with two vessels, and over three hundred +colonists—Scotchmen, Salzburgers and Moravians, the sturdiest people of +the Old World. Oglethorpe welcomed them all, and it was this mixture of +races which served to give Georgia her curious cosmopolitan population. +Another important arrival was Charles Wesley, who came out as a +missionary, and who acted for a time as the Governor's secretary. <a name="page_69" id="page_69"></a><span class="pagenum">page 69</span> +He was succeeded by the famous George Whitfield, who labored there +until his death in 1770.</p> + +<p>Oglethorpe's public career ended in 1754, when, having returned to +England, he failed of election to parliament. His remaining years were +spent in retirement. That he was an extraordinary man cannot be +gainsaid, and the plan, so far in advance of his age, which he conceived +and carried through to success, forms one of the most interesting +experiments in colonization ever attempted anywhere.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>This, then, is the story in briefest outline of the men who discovered +America and who fought for a foothold on her borders. Most of them, it +will be noted, undertook the struggle not for commercial ends nor from +the love of adventure, but in order to establish for themselves a home +where they would be free in matters of the spirit. The traces of that +purpose may be found on almost every page of American history and do +much to render it the inspiring thing it is. We shall see how many of +the great men who loom large in these pages traced their descent from +those hardy pioneers for whom no sacrifice seemed too great provided it +secured for them</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Freedom to worship God."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_70" id="page_70"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. Born at Genoa, Italy, probably in 1446; removed +to Portugal about 1473; <span class="pagenum">page 70</span>laid plan to reach the Indies before +John II. of Portugal, 1484; appeared at court of Ferdinand and Isabella, +1485; Spanish monarchs agreed to his demands, April 17, 1492; sailed +from Palos, August 3, 1492; discovered West Indies, October 12, 1492; +returned to Palos, March 15, 1493; embarked on second voyage with 17 +vessels and 1,500 men, September 25, 1493; discovered Dominica, Porto +Rico, Jamaica, and returned to Spain, March, 1496; started on third +voyage, May 30, 1498; discovered Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco; +recalled to Santo Domingo by disorders and finally arrested and sent +back to Spain in chains, October, 1500; released and started on fourth +voyage in March, 1502; discovered Honduras, but was wrecked on Jamaica, +and reached Spain again after terrible sufferings, November 7, 1504; +passed his remaining days in poverty and died at Valladolid, May 20, +1506.</p> + +<p>CABOT, JOHN. Born at Genoa, date unknown; became citizen of Venice, +1476; removed to Bristol, England, and in 1495 secured from Henry VII. a +patent for the discovery, at his own expense, of unknown lands in the +eastern, western, or northern seas; sailed from Bristol, May, 1497; +discovered coast of Newfoundland and returned to England in August, +1497; date of death unknown.</p> + +<p>CABOT, SEBASTIAN. Son of John Cabot, born probably at Venice, 1477; +accompanied his father's expedition, 1497; commanded an English +expedition in search of a northwest passage, 1517; removed to Spain and +made grand pilot of Castile, 1518; sailed in command of a Spanish +expedition, April 3, 1526; skirted coast of South America, discovered +the Uruguay and Parana, <a name="page_71" id="page_71"></a><span class="pagenum">page 71</span>and reached Spain again in 1530; +returned to England, 1546; died at London, 1557.</p> + +<p>VESPUCCI, AMERIGO. Born at Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451; removed to +Spain, 1495; claimed to have accompanied four expeditions as astronomer +in 1497, 1499, 1501 and 1503, during which some explorations were made +of the coasts of both North and South America; died at Seville, February +22, 1512.</p> + +<p>PONCE DE LEON, JUAN. Born in Aragon about 1460; accompanied the second +voyage of Columbus, 1493; conquered Porto Rico and appointed governor, +1510; heard story from Indians of an island to the north named Bimini, +on which was a fountain giving eternal youth to all who drank of its +waters, and sailed in search of it, March, 1513; discovered the mainland +and landed on April 8, Pascua Florida, or Easter Sunday, taking +possession of the country for the King of Spain and calling it Florida, +in honor of the day; returned to Porto Rico, September, 1513; sailed +with a large number of colonists to settle Florida, March, 1521; +attacked by Indians and forced to retreat, he himself being wounded by +an Indian arrow and dying from the effects of the wound a short time +later.</p> + +<p>MAGALHÃES, FERNÃO DE; generally known as Ferdinand Magellan. Born in +Portugal about 1480; sailed from Spain to find a western passage to the +Moluccas, September 20, 1519; reached the Brazilian coast, explored Rio +de la Plata, wintered on Patagonian coast, passed through Strait of +Magellan and reached the Pacific, November 28, 1520; crossed the Pacific +and discovered the Philippines, March 16, 1521; killed in a fight with +the natives, April 27, 1521.</p> + +<p><a name="page_72" id="page_72"></a><span class="pagenum">page 72</span>DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS. Born in Devonshire, England, about 1540; +fitted out a freebooting expedition and attacked the Spanish settlements +in the West Indies, 1572, capturing Porto Bello, Cartagena, and other +towns and taking an immense treasure; sailed again from England, +December, 1577, circumnavigating the globe and reaching home again +September, 1580, where he was met by Queen Elizabeth and knighted on his +ship; ravaged the West Indies and Spanish Main, 1585, and the coast of +Spain, 1587; commanded a division of the fleet defeating the Spanish +Armada, July, 1588; died off Porto Bello, 1596.</p> + +<p>SOTO, HERNANDO DE. Born in Spain, 1500; took prominent part in conquest +of Peru, 1532-1536; appointed governor of Porto Rico and Florida, 1537; +landed at Tampa Bay, May 25, 1539; discovered the Mississippi, May, +1541; died of malarial fever and buried in the Mississippi, June, 1542.</p> + +<p>CORONADO, FRANCISCO VASQUEZ DE. Born at Salamanca about 1500; reached +Mexico in 1539, and in 1540, headed an expedition in search of Cibola +and the Seven Cities supposed to have been founded seven centuries +before by some Spanish bishops fleeing from the Moors; penetrated to +what is now New Mexico and perhaps to Kansas, reaching Mexico again with +only a remnant of his force; date of death unknown.</p> + +<p>CARTIER, JACQUES. Born at St. Malo, France, December 31, 1494; made +three voyages to Canada, 1534-1542; exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +and sailing up the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal; died after 1552.</p> + +<p>HUDSON, HENRY. Date and place of birth unknown; sailed in service of +Dutch East India Company to find <a name="page_73" id="page_73"></a><span class="pagenum">page 73</span>a northwest passage, March +25, 1609; sighted Nova Scotia and explored coast as far south as +Chesapeake Bay; explored Hudson river, September, 1609; sailed again to +find a northwest passage, 1610; entered Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, +where he wintered; set adrift in open boat, with eight companions, by +mutinous crew, June 23, 1611; never seen again.</p> + +<p>SMITH, CAPTAIN JOHN. Born in Lincolnshire, England, in January, 1579; +served in Netherlands and against Turks, sailed for Virginia with +Christopher Newport, December 19, 1606; chosen president of colony, +September 10, 1608; returned to London in autumn of 1609; explored New +England coast, 1614; created admiral of New England, 1617; spent +remainder of life in vain endeavor to secure financial support for a +colony in New England; died at London, June 21, 1632.</p> + +<p>CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE. Born at Brouage, France, 1567; explored Canada and +New England, 1603-1607; founded Quebec, 1608; discovered Lake Champlain, +1609; died at Quebec, December 25, 1635.</p> + +<p>NICOLET, JEAN. Place and date of both birth and death unknown.</p> + +<p>LA SALLE, ROBERT CAVALIER, SIEUR DE. Born at Rouen, November 22, 1643; +came to Canada, 1666; set out on tour of western exploration, +discovering Ohio river, 1669; descended the Mississippi to its mouth, +1681; led a band of colonists from France, 1685; missed mouth of river, +and murdered by his own men while seeking it, March 20, 1687.</p> + +<p>JOLIET, LOUIS. Born at Quebec, September 21, 1645; commissioned to +explore Mississippi river, by Frontenac, <a name="page_74" id="page_74"></a><span class="pagenum">page 74</span>governor of New +France, 1672; explored Fox, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Illinois rivers, +1673; died May, 1700.</p> + +<p>MARQUETTE, JACQUES. Born at Laon, France, 1637; accompanied Joliet in +1673; died near Lake Michigan, May 18, 1675.</p> + +<p>BRADFORD, WILLIAM. Born at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, 1590; +governor of Plymouth colony, 1621-1657 (except in 1633-1634, 1636, 1638, +1644); died at Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 9, 1657.</p> + +<p>WILLIAMS, ROGER. Born in Wales about 1600; reached Massachusetts, 1631; +pastor at Plymouth and Salem, 1631-1635; ordered to leave colony and +fled from Salem, January, 1636; founded Providence, June, 1636; went to +England and obtained charter for Rhode Island colony, 1644; president of +colony until death, April, 1684.</p> + +<p>STUYVESANT, PETER. Born in Holland, 1602; served in West Indies, for a +time governor of Curaçao, and returned to Holland in 1644; appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, 1646; reached New Amsterdam, 1647; +surrendered colony to the English, September, 1664; died at New York, +August, 1682.</p> + +<p>PENN, WILLIAM. Born at London, October 14, 1644; became preacher of +Friends, 1668; part proprietor of West Jersey, 1675; received grant of +Pennsylvania, 1681; founded Philadelphia, 1682; returned to England, +1684; deprived of government of colony on charge of treason, 1692, but +restored to it in 1694; visited Pennsylvania, 1699-1701; died at +Ruscombe, Berks, England, July 30, 1718.</p> + +<p><a name="page_75" id="page_75"></a><span class="pagenum">page 75</span>OGLETHORPE, JAMES EDWARD. Born at London, December 21, 1696; +projected colony of Georgia for insolvent debtors and persecuted +Protestants, and conducted expedition for its settlement, 1733; returned +to England, 1743; died at Cranham Hall, Essex, England, 1785.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_76" id="page_76"></a><span class="pagenum">page 76</span>Near the left bank of the Potomac river, in the northwestern +part of Westmoreland county, Virginia, there stood, in the year 1732, a +little cabin, where lived a planter by the name of Augustine Washington. +It was a lonely spot, for the nearest neighbor was miles away, but the +little family, consisting of father, mother, and two boys, Lawrence and +Augustine, were kept busy enough wresting a living from the soil. Here, +on the twenty-second day of February, a third son was born, and in due +time christened George.</p> + +<p>Just a century had elapsed since John Smith had died in London, but in +that time the colony which he had founded and which had been more than +once so near extinction, had grown to be the greatest in America. Half a +million people were settled along her bays and rivers, engaged, for the +most part, in the culture of tobacco, for which the colony had long been +famous and which was the basis of her wealth. Her boundaries were still +indefinite, for though, by, the king's charter, the colony was supposed +to stretch clear across the continent to the Pacific, the country <a name="page_77" id="page_77"></a><span class="pagenum">page 77</span> +beyond the Blue Ridge mountains was still a wilderness where the +Indian and the wild beast held undisputed sway. Even in Virginia proper, +there were few towns and no cities, Williamsburg, the capital, having +less than two hundred houses; but each planter lived on his own estate, +very much after the fashion of the feudal lords of the Middle Ages, +generous, hospitable, and kind-hearted, fond of the creature-comforts, +proud of his women and of his horses, and satisfied with himself.</p> + +<p>It was into this world that George Washington was born. While he was +still a baby, his father moved to a place he purchased on the banks of +the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, and here the boy's childhood +was spent. His father died when he was only eleven years old, but his +mother was a vigorous and capable woman, from whom her son inherited not +a little of his sturdy character. He developed into a tall, strong, +athletic youth, and many stories are told of his prowess. He could jump +twenty feet; on one occasion he threw a stone across the Rappahannock, +and on another, standing beneath the famous Natural Bridge, threw a +stone against its great arch, two hundred feet above his head. He grew +to be over six feet in height and finely proportioned—altogether a +handsome and capable fellow, who soon commanded respect.</p> + +<p>At that time, surveying was a very important occupation, since so much +of the colony remained to be laid out, and George began to study to be a +surveyor, an occupation which appealed to him especially <a name="page_78" id="page_78"></a><span class="pagenum">page 78</span> +because it was of the open air. He was soon to get a very important +commission.</p> + +<p>When Augustine Washington died, he bequeathed to his elder son, +Lawrence, an estate on the Potomac called Hunting Creek. Near by lay the +magnificent estate of Belvoir, owned by the wealthy William Fairfax, and +Lawrence Washington had the good fortune to win the heart and hand of +Fairfax's daughter. With the money his bride brought him, he was able to +build for himself a very handsome dwelling on his estate, whose name he +changed to Mount Vernon, in honor of the English admiral with whom he +had seen some service. George, of course, was a frequent visitor at +Belvoir, meeting other members of the Fairfax family, among them Thomas, +sixth Lord Fairfax, who finally engaged him to survey a great estate +which had been granted him by the king on the slope of the Blue Ridge +mountains.</p> + +<p>George Washington was only sixteen years of age when he started out on +this errand into what was then the wilderness. It was a tremendous task +which he had undertaken, for the estate comprised nearly a fifth of the +present state, but he did it so well that, on Lord Fairfax's +recommendation, he was at once appointed a public surveyor, and may +fairly be said to have commenced his public career. His brother soon +afterwards secured for him the appointment as adjutant-general for the +district in which he lived, so that it became his duty to attend to the +organization and equipment of the district militia. This was the +beginning of his military service and of his study <a name="page_79" id="page_79"></a><span class="pagenum">page 79</span>of military +science. He was at that time eighteen years of age.</p> + +<p>That was the end of his boyhood. You will notice that I have said +nothing about his being a marvel of goodness or of wisdom—nothing, for +instance, about a cherry tree. That fable, and a hundred others like it, +were the invention of a man who wrote a life of Washington half a +century after his death, and who managed so to enwrap him with +disguises, that it is only recently we have been able to strip them all +away and see the man as he really was. Washington's boyhood was much +like any other. He was a strong, vigorous, manly fellow; he got into +scrapes, just as any healthy boy does; he grew up straight and handsome, +ready to play his part in the world, and he was called upon to play it +much earlier than most boys are. We shall see what account he gave of +himself.</p> + +<p>When George was twenty years old, his brother Lawrence died and made him +his executor. From that time forward, Mount Vernon was his home, and in +the end passed into his possession. But he was not long to enjoy the +pleasant life there, for a year later, he was called upon to perform an +important and hazardous mission.</p> + +<p>We have seen how La Salle dreamed of a great French empire, stretching +from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi. This was already +becoming a reality, for the governor of Canada had sent troops to occupy +the Ohio valley, and to build such forts as might be needed to hold it. +This was <a name="page_80" id="page_80"></a><span class="pagenum">page 80</span>bringing the French altogether too close for comfort. +As long as they were content to remain in the Illinois country, nothing +much was thought of it, for that was far away; but here they were now +right at Virginia's back door, and there was no telling when they would +try to force it open and enter. So Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, +determined to dispatch a commissioner to the officer-in-command of the +French, to summon him to leave English territory. The commissioner was +also to try to kill two birds with one stone and form an alliance with +the Indians, so that, if it came to fighting, the Indians would be with +the English. No more delicate and dangerous mission could well be +conceived, and after careful consideration, the governor selected George +Washington to undertake it.</p> + +<p>On October 30, 1753, Washington left Williamsburg, with a journey of +more than a thousand miles before him. How that journey was +accomplished, what perils he faced, what difficulties he overcame, how, +on more than one occasion his life hung by a thread—all this he has +told, briefly and modestly, in the journal which he kept of the +expedition. Three months from the time he started, he was back again in +Williamsburg, having faced his first great responsibility, and done his +work absolutely well. He had shown a cool courage that nothing could +shake, a fine patience, and a penetration and perception which nothing +could escape. He was the hero of the hour in the little Virginia +capital; the whole colony perceived that here was a man to be depended +upon.</p> + +<p><a name="page_81" id="page_81"></a><span class="pagenum">page 81</span>He had found the French very active along the Ohio, preparing +to build forts and hold the country, and laughing at Dinwiddie's summons +to vacate it. This news caused Virginia to put a military force in the +field at once, and dispatch it to the west, with Washington in virtual +command. It was hoped to build a strong fort at the junction of the +Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which would prevent the French getting +to the Ohio, since all travel in that wilderness must be by water. On +May 28, 1754, while hastening forward to secure this position, +Washington's little force encountered a party of French, and the first +shots were exchanged of the great contest which, twelve years later, was +to result in the expulsion of the French from the continent. It was +Washington who gave the word to fire, little foreseeing what history he +was making.</p> + +<p>"I heard the bullets whistle," he wrote home to his mother, "and believe +me, there is something charming in the sound"—a bit of bravado which +shows that Washington had not yet quite outgrown his boyhood. No doubt +the bullets sounded much less charmingly five weeks later when he and +his men, brought to bay in a rude fortification which he named Fort +Necessity, were surrounded by a superior force of French and Indians, +and, after an all-day fight, compelled to surrender. It is worth +remarking that this bitter defeat—the first reverse which Washington +suffered—occurred on the third day of July, 1754. Twenty-one years from +that day, he was to draw his sword at the head of an American army.</p> + +<p><a name="page_82" id="page_82"></a><span class="pagenum">page 82</span>Washington made his way back to Virginia with the news of his +failure. The French had occupied the vantage ground he was aiming at and +at once proceeded to erect a fort there, which they named Duquesne. Aid +was asked from England to repel these invaders, and early in 1755, a +great force under Major-General Edward Braddock advanced against the +enemy. Washington served as aide-de-camp to the general, whose ideas of +warfare had been gained on the battlefields of Europe, and who could not +understand that these ideas did not apply to warfare in a wilderness. In +consequence, when only a few miles from the fort, he was attacked by a +force of French and Indians, his army all but annihilated and he himself +wounded so severely that he died a few days later. During that fierce +battle, Washington seemed to bear a charmed life. Four bullets tore +through his coat and two horses were shot under him, but he received not +a scratch, and did effective work in rallying the Virginia militia to +cover the retreat. Three years later, he had the satisfaction of +marching into Fort Duquesne with an English force, which banished the +French for all time from the valley of the Ohio.</p> + +<p>That victory ended the war for a time, and Washington returned to +Virginia to marry a charming and wealthy widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, and +to take the seat in the House of Burgesses to which he had just been +elected. He served there for fifteen years, living the life of the +typical Virginia planter on his estate of Mount Vernon, which had passed +into his <a name="page_83" id="page_83"></a><span class="pagenum">page 83</span>possession through the death of his brother's only +child. He had become one of the most important men of the colony, whose +opinion was respected and whose influence was very great.</p> + +<p>During all this period, the feeling against England was growing more and +more bitter. Let us be candid about it. The expulsion of the French from +the continent had freed the colonies from the danger of French +aggression and from the feeling that they needed the aid of the mother +country. That they should have been taxed to help defray the great +expense of this war against the French seems reasonable enough, but +there happened to be in power in England, at the time, a few obstinate +and bull-headed statesmen, serving under an obstinate and ignorant king, +and they handled the question of taxation with so little tact and +delicacy that, among them, they managed to rouse the anger of the +colonies to the boiling point.</p> + +<p>For the colonists, let us remember, were of the same obstinate and +bull-headed stock, and it was soon evident that the only way to settle +the difference was to fight it out. But the impartial historian must +write it down that the colonies had much more to thank England for than +to complain about, and that at first, the idea of a war for independence +was not a popular one. As it went on, and the Tories were run out of the +country or won over, as battle and bloodshed aroused men's passions, +then it gradually gained ground; but throughout, the members of the +Continental Congress, led by <a name="page_84" id="page_84"></a><span class="pagenum">page 84</span>John and Samuel Adams, were ahead +of public opinion.</p> + +<p>As we have said, it soon became apparent that there was going to be a +fight, and independent companies were formed all over Virginia, and +started industriously to drilling. Washington, by this time the most +conspicuous man in the colony, was chosen commander-in-chief; and when, +at the gathering of the second Continental Congress at Philadelphia, +came news of the fight at Lexington and Concord, the army before Boston +was formally adopted by the Congress as an American army, and Washington +was unanimously chosen to command it. I wonder if any one foresaw that +day, even in the dimmest fashion, what immortality of fame was to come +to that tall, quiet, dignified man?</p> + +<p>That was on the 15th day of June, 1775, and Washington left immediately +for Boston to take command of the American forces. All along the route, +the people turned out to welcome him and bid him Godspeed. Delegations +escorted him from one town to the next, and at last, on the afternoon of +July 2d, he rode into Cambridge, where, the next day, in the shadow of a +great elm on Cambridge Common, he took command of his army, and began +the six years' struggle which resulted in the establishment of the +independence of the United States of America.</p> + +<p>His first task was to drive the British from Boston, and he had +accomplished it by the following March. Then came a long period of +reverses and disappointments, during which his little army, +outnumbered, <a name="page_85" id="page_85"></a><span class="pagenum">page 85</span>but not outgeneraled, was driven from Long +Island, from New York, and finally across New Jersey, taking refuge on +the south bank of the Delaware. There he gathered it together, and on +Christmas night, 1776, while the enemy were feasting and celebrating in +their quarters at Trenton, he ferried his army back across the +ice-blocked river, fell upon the British, administered a stinging +defeat, and never paused until he had driven them from New Jersey. That +brilliant campaign effectually stifled the opposition which he had had +to fight in the Congress, and resulted in his being given full power +over the army, and over all parts of the country which the army +occupied.</p> + +<p>One more terrible ordeal awaited him—the winter of 1777-1778 spent at +Valley Forge, where the army, without the merest necessities of life, +melted away from desertion and disease, until, at one time, it consisted +of less than two thousand effective men. The next spring saw the +turning-point, for France allied herself with the United States; the +British were forced to evacuate Philadelphia and were driven back across +New Jersey to New York; and, finally, by one of the most brilliant +marches in history, Washington transferred his whole army from the +Hudson to the Potomac, and trapped Cornwallis and his army of seven +thousand men at Yorktown. Cornwallis tried desperately to free himself, +but to no avail, and on October 19, 1781, he surrendered his entire +force.</p> + +<p>There is a pretty legend that, as Cornwallis delivered up his sword, a +cheer started through the <a name="page_86" id="page_86"></a><span class="pagenum">page 86</span>American lines, but that Washington +stilled it on the instant, remarking, "Let posterity cheer for us." +Whether the legend be true or not, posterity <i>has</i> cheered, for that +brilliant victory really ended the war, although two years passed before +peace was declared and the independence of the United States +acknowledged by the King of England.</p> + +<p>Long before this, everybody knew what the end would be, and there was +much discussion as to how the new country should be governed. A great +many people were dissatisfied with the Congress, and it was suggested to +Washington that there would be a more stable government if he would +consent himself to be King or Dictator, or whatever title he might wish, +and that the army, which had won the independence of the country, would +support him. Washington's response was prompt and decisive.</p> + +<p>"Let me conjure you," he wrote, "if you have any regard for your +country, concern for yourself, or respect for me, to banish these +thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any +one else, a sentiment of like nature."</p> + +<p>It was perhaps the first time in the history of the world that men had +witnessed the like. Soon afterwards, the army was disbanded, and +Washington, proceeding to Annapolis, where the Congress was in session, +resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. There are some who +consider that the greatest scene in history—the hero sheathing his +sword "after a life of spotless honor, a purity unreproached, a courage +indomitable, and a consummate victory."</p> + +<p><a name="page_87" id="page_87"></a><span class="pagenum">page 87</span>A private citizen again, Washington returned quietly to his +estate at Mount Vernon. But he could not remain there—the country +needed him too badly, and his great work was yet to do. For let us +remember that his great work was not the leading of the American army to +victory, not the securing of independence, but the establishment of this +Republic. More than of any other man was this the work of Washington. He +saw the feeble Confederation breaking to pieces, now that the stress of +danger was removed; he beheld the warring interests and petty jealousies +of statesmen who yet remained colonial; but he was determined that out +of these thirteen jarring colonies should come a nation; and when the +convention to form a constitution met at Philadelphia, he presided over +it, and it was his commanding will which brought a constitution out of a +turmoil of selfish interests, through difficulties and past obstacles +which would have discouraged any other man.</p> + +<p>And, the Constitution once adopted, all men turned to Washington to +start the new Nation on her great voyage. Remember, there was no +government, only some written pages saying that a government was to be; +it was Washington who converted that idea into a reality, who brought +that government into existence. It was a venture new to history; a +Republic founded upon principles which, however admirable in the +abstract, had been declared impossible to embody in the life of a +nation. And yet, eight years later, when Washington retired from the +presidency, he left behind him an effective government, with an <a name="page_88" id="page_88"></a><span class="pagenum">page 88</span> +established revenue, a high credit, a strong judiciary, a vigorous +foreign policy, and an army which had repressed insurrections, and which +already showed the beginnings of a truly national spirit.</p> + +<p>At the end of his second term as President, the country demanded that he +accept a third; the country, without Washington at the head of it, +seemed to many people like a ship on a dangerous sea without a pilot. +But he had guided her past the greatest dangers, and he refused a third +term, setting a precedent which no man in the country's history has been +strong enough to disregard. In March, 1797, he was back again at Mount +Vernon, a private citizen.</p> + +<p>He looked forward to and hoped for long years of quiet, but it was not +to be. On December 12, 1799, he was caught by a rain and sleet storm, +while riding over his farm, and returned to the house chilled through. +An illness followed, which developed into pneumonia, and three days +later he was dead.</p> + +<p>He was buried at Mount Vernon, which has become one of the great shrines +of America, and rightly so. For no man, at once so august and so +lovable, has graced American history. Indeed, he stands among the +greatest men of all history. There are few men with such a record of +achievement, and fewer still who, at the end of a life so crowded and +cast in such troubled places, can show a fame so free from spot, a +character so unselfish and so pure.</p> + +<p>We know Washington to-day as well as it is possible to know any man. We +know him far better than <a name="page_89" id="page_89"></a><span class="pagenum">page 89</span>the people of his own household knew +him. Behind the silent and reserved man, of courteous and serious +manner, which his world knew, we perceive the great nature, the warm +heart and the mighty will. We have his letters, his journals, his +account-books, and there remains no corner of his life hidden from us. +There is none that needs to be. Think what that means—not a single +corner of his life that needs to be shadowed or passed over in silence! +And the more we study it, the more we are impressed by it, and the +greater grows our love and veneration for the man of whom were uttered +the immortal words, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the +hearts of his countrymen"—words whose truth grows more apparent with +every passing year.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It is one of the maxims of history that great events produce great men, +and the struggle for independence abundantly proved this. Never again in +the country's history did it possess such a group of statesmen as during +its first years, the only other period at all comparable with it being +that which culminated in the Civil War. It was inevitable that these men +should assume the guidance of the newly-launched ship of state, and +Washington had, in every way possible, availed himself of their +assistance. Alexander Hamilton had been his secretary of the treasury, +Thomas Jefferson his secretary of state, and James Monroe his minister +to France. The first man to succeed him in the presidency, however, was +none of these, but John Adams of Massachusetts. His <a name="page_90" id="page_90"></a><span class="pagenum">page 90</span>election +was not uncontested, as Washington's had been; in fact, he was elected +by a majority of only three, Jefferson receiving 68 electoral votes to +his 71.</p> + +<p>Let us pause for a moment to see how this contest originated, for it was +the beginning of the party government which has endured to the present +day, and which is considered by many people to be essential to the +administration of the Republic. When Washington was elected there were, +strictly speaking, no parties; but there was a body of men who had +favored the adoption of the Constitution, and another, scarcely less +influential, who had opposed it. The former were called Federals, as +favoring a federation of the several states, and the latter were called +Anti-Federals, as opposing it.</p> + +<p>One point of difference always leads to others, wider and wider apart, +as the rain-drop, shattered on the summit of the Great Divide, flows one +half to the Atlantic the other half to the Pacific. So, after the +adoption of the Constitution, there was never any serious question of +abrogating it, but two views arose as to its interpretation. The +Federals, in their endeavor to strengthen the national government, +favored the liberal view, which was that anything the Constitution did +not expressly forbid was permitted; while the Anti-Federals, anxious to +preserve all the power possible to the several states, favored the +strict view, which was that unless the Constitution expressly permitted +a thing, it could not be done. As there were many, many points upon +which the Constitution was silent—its framers being mere human beings +and <a name="page_91" id="page_91"></a><span class="pagenum">page 91</span>not all-wise intelligences—it will be seen that these +interpretations were as different as black and white. It was this +divergence, combined with another as to whether, in joining the Union, +the several states had surrendered their sovereignty, which has +persisted as the fundamental difference between the Republican and +Democratic parties to the present day.</p> + +<p>Adams was a Federalist, and his choice as the candidate of that party +was due to the fact that Hamilton, its leader, was too unpopular with +the people at large to stand any chance of election, more especially +against such a man as Jefferson, who would be his opponent. With +Hamilton out of the way, the place plainly belonged to Adams by right of +succession, and he was nominated. He was aided by the fact that he had +served as Vice-President during both of Washington's administrations, +and it was felt that he would be much more likely to carry out the +policies of his distinguished predecessor than Jefferson, who had been +opposed to Washington on many public questions. Even at that, as has +been said, he won by a majority of only three votes.</p> + +<p>In a general way Adams did continue Washington's policies, even +retaining his cabinet. But, while his attitude on national questions +was, in the main, a wise one, he was so unwise and undignified in minor +things, so consumed by petty jealousies, envies and contentions, that he +made enemies instead of friends, and when, four years later, he was +again the Federal candidate, he was easily beaten by Jefferson, and +retired from the White House a soured and disappointed <a name="page_92" id="page_92"></a><span class="pagenum">page 92</span>man, +fleeing from the capital by night in order that he might not have to +witness the inauguration of his successor. To such depths had he been +brought by colossal egotism. In his earlier years, he had done +distinguished service as a member of the Continental Congress, but his +prestige never recovered from the effect of his conduct during his term +as President, and his last years were passed in retirement. By a +singular coincidence, he and Jefferson died upon the same day, July 4, +1826.</p> + +<p>Thomas Jefferson, whose influence is perhaps more generally acknowledged +in the life of the Republic of to-day than that of any other man of his +time, and whose name, Washington's apart, is oftenest on men's lips, was +born in Virginia in 1743, graduated from William and Mary College, +studied law, and took a prominent part in the agitation preceding the +Revolution. Early in his life, owing to various influences, he began +forming those ideas of simplicity and equality which had such an +influence over his later life, and over the great party of which he was +the founder. His temperament was what we call "artistic"; that is, he +loved books and music and architecture, and the things which make for +what we call culture. And yet, with all that, he soon grew wise and +skillful in the world's affairs, possessing an industry and insight +which assured his speedy success as a lawyer, despite an impediment of +speech which prevented him from being an effective orator.</p> + +<p>He had the good fortune to marry happily, finding a comrade and +helpmate, as well as a wife, in <a name="page_93" id="page_93"></a><span class="pagenum">page 93</span>beautiful Martha Skelton, with +whom he rode away to his estate at Monticello when he was twenty-seven. +She saw him write the Declaration of Independence, saw him war-governor +of Virginia, and second only to Washington in the respect and affection +of the people of that great commonwealth; and then she died. The shock +of her death left Jefferson a stricken man; he secluded himself from the +public, and declared that his life was at an end.</p> + +<p>Washington, however, eight years later, persuaded him to accept a place +in his cabinet as secretary of state. Within a year he had definitely +taken his place as the head of the Anti-Federalist, or Republican party, +and laid the foundations of what afterwards became known as the +Democratic party. His trust in the people had grown and deepened, his +heart had grown more tender with the coming of affliction, and it was +his theory that in a democracy, the people should control public policy +by imposing their wishes upon their rulers, who were answerable to +them—a theory which is now accepted, in appearance, at least, by all +political parties, but which the Federalist leaders of that time +thoroughly detested. Jefferson seems to have felt, too, that the +tendency of those early years was too greatly toward an aristocracy, +which the landed gentry of Virginia were only too willing to provide, +and when, at last, he was chosen for the presidency, he set the country +such an example of simplicity and moderation that there was never again +any chance of its running into that danger.</p> + +<p><a name="page_94" id="page_94"></a><span class="pagenum">page 94</span>Everyone has read the story of how, on the day of his +inauguration, he rode on horseback to the capitol, clad in studiously +plain clothes and without attendants, tied his horse to the fence, and +walked unannounced into the Senate chamber. This careful avoidance of +display marked his whole official career, running sometimes, indeed, +into an ostentation of simplicity whose good taste might be questioned. +But of Jefferson's entire sincerity there can be no doubt. Inconsistent +as he sometimes was—as every man is—his purposes and policies all +tended steadily toward the betterment of humanity; and the great mass of +the people who to this day revere his memory, "pay a just debt of +gratitude to a friend who not only served them, as many have done, but +who honored and respected them, as very few have done."</p> + +<p>Perhaps the greatest single act of his administration was the purchase +from France of the vast territory known as Louisiana, which included the +state now bearing that name, and the wide, untrodden, wilderness west of +the Mississippi, paying for it the sum of fifteen million dollars—a +rate of a fraction of a cent an acre. The purchase aroused the bitterest +opposition, but Jefferson seems to have had a clearer vision than most +men of what the future of America was to be. He served for two terms, +refusing a third nomination which he was besought to accept, and +retiring to private life on March 4, 1809, after a nearly continuous +public service of forty-four years. The remainder of his life was spent +quietly at his home <a name="page_95" id="page_95"></a><span class="pagenum">page 95</span>at Monticello, where men flocked for a +guidance which never failed them. The cause to which his last years were +devoted was characteristic of the man—the establishment of a common +school system in Virginia, and the founding of the University of +Virginia, which still bears the imprint of his mind.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="jefferson" id="jefferson"></a> +<img src="images/Illus-0412-1.jpg" alt="(29KB) jefferson" width="371" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">JEFFERSON</span> +</div> +<p>Jefferson is one of the few men whose portrait, as preserved for us, +shows us the man as we imagine him to be. No one can look at that lofty +and noble countenance, with its calm and wide-set eyes, its firm yet +tender mouth, its expression of complete serenity, without realizing +that here was a man placed above the weakness and pettiness and meanness +of the world, on a pinnacle of his own, strong in spirit, wise in +judgment, and almost prophetic in vision.</p> + +<p>The presidency descended, by an overwhelming majority, to one of +Jefferson's stanch friends and supporters, for whom he had paved the +way—James Madison, also a Virginian, who had been his secretary of +state for eight years, and who was himself to serve two terms, during +which the influence of the "Sage of Monticello" was paramount. The great +crisis which Madison had to face was the second war with England, a war +brought on by British aggression on the high seas, and bitterly opposed, +especially in New England. The war, characterized by blunders on land +and brilliant successes on the ocean, really resulted without victory to +either side, and, indeed, was very nearly a defeat for America; but in +the end, it enabled <a name="page_96" id="page_96"></a><span class="pagenum">page 96</span>us to regain possession of the posts which +England had persisted in occupying along the western boundary, and +banished forever any fear that she might, at any time in the future, +attempt to reassert her sovereignty over the United States.</p> + +<p>Madison was also fortunate in his wife, the beautiful and brilliant +Dolly Payne Todd, who played so prominent a part in the social life of +the time, and who, when the British were marching into Washington to +sack that city, managed to save some of the treasures of the White House +from the invaders. It is difficult for us to realize, at this distant +day, that our beautiful capital was once in the enemy's hands, given +over to the flames; that was one of the great disgraces of the War of +1812; for the only force which rallied to the defense of the city was a +few regiments of untrained militia, which could not stand for a minute +before the British regulars, but ran away at the first fire.</p> + +<p>Madison and his wife, however, soon came back to the White House from +which they had been driven, and remained there four years longer, until +the close of his second term, in 1817. For nearly a score of years +thereafter, they lived a happy and tranquil life on their estate, +Montpelier.</p> + +<p>It is somewhat difficult to estimate Madison. He stood on a sort of +middle ground between Jefferson and Hamilton. Earlier in his career, +Hamilton influenced him deeply in regard to the adoption of the +Constitution, of which he has been called the father. But, at a later +date, Jefferson's influence became uppermost, <a name="page_97" id="page_97"></a><span class="pagenum">page 97</span>and Madison +swung over to the extreme of the state rights view, and drew the +resolutions of the Virginia legislature declaring the Alien and Sedition +laws "utterly null and void and of no effect," so that he has also been +called the "Father of Nullification." However unstable his opinions may +have been, there is no questioning his patriotism or the purity of his +motives.</p> + +<p>Again the presidential tradition was to remain unbroken, for Madison's +successor was James Monroe, his secretary of state, a Virginian and a +Democrat. The preponderance of the Democratic party was never more in +evidence, for while he received 183 electoral votes, Rufus King, the +Federalist candidate, received only 34. This, however, was as nothing to +the great personal triumph he achieved four years later, when, as a +candidate for re-election, only one vote was cast against him, and that +by a man who voted as he did because he did not wish to see a second +President chosen with the unanimity which had honored Washington.</p> + +<p>Monroe is principally remembered to-day from a "doctrine" enunciated by +him and known by his name, which remains a vital portion of American +policy. It was in 1823 that he declared that the United States would +consider any attempt of a European power to establish itself in this +hemisphere as dangerous to her peace and safety, and as the +manifestation of an unfriendly disposition. The language is cautious and +diplomatic, but what it means in plain English is that the United States +will resist <a name="page_98" id="page_98"></a><span class="pagenum">page 98</span>by force any attempt of a European power to +conquer and colonize any portion of the three Americas—in other words, +that this country will safeguard the independence of all her neighbors. +This principle has come to be regarded as a basic one in the foreign +relations of the United States, and while no European power has formally +acknowledged it, more than one have had to bow before it. It is +interesting to know that the enunciation of such a "doctrine" was +recommended by Thomas Jefferson, and that Jefferson was Monroe's +constant adviser throughout his career.</p> + +<p>Monroe retired from the presidency in 1825, and the seven remaining +years of his life were passed principally on his estate in Virginia. +Jefferson said of him, "He is a man whose soul might be turned wrong +side outwards, without discovering a blemish to the world,"—an estimate +which was, of course, colored by a warm personal friendship, but which +was echoed by many others of his contemporaries. Certain it is that few +men have ever so won the affection and esteem of the nation, and his +administration was known as the "era of good feeling." He is scarcely +appreciated to-day at his true worth, principally because he does not +measure up in genius to the great men who preceded him.</p> + +<p>At striking variance with the practical unanimity of Monroe's election +was that of John Quincy Adams, his successor. Over a quarter of a +century had elapsed since a northern man had been chosen to the +presidency. That man, strangely enough, was <a name="page_99" id="page_99"></a><span class="pagenum">page 99</span>the father of the +present candidate, but had retired from office after one acrimonious +term, discredited and disappointed. Since then, the government of the +country had been in the hands of Virginians. Now came John Quincy Adams, +calling himself a Democrat, but really inheriting the principles of his +father, and the contest which ensued for the presidency was +unprecedented in the history of the country.</p> + +<p>Adams's principal opponent was Andrew Jackson, a mighty man of whom we +shall soon have occasion to speak, and so close was the contest that the +electoral college was not able to make a choice. So, as provided by the +Constitution, it was carried to the House of Representatives, and there, +through the influence of Henry Clay, who was unfriendly to Jackson, +Adams was chosen by a small majority. An administration which began in +bitterness, continued bitter and turbulent. Men's passions were aroused, +and four years later Adams repeated the fate of his father, in being +overwhelmingly defeated.</p> + +<p>But the most remarkable portion of his story is yet to come. Before that +time, it had been the custom, as we have seen, for the ex-President to +spend the remaining years of his life in dignified retirement; but the +year after Adams left the White House, he was elected to the House of +Representatives, and was returned regularly every two years until his +death, which occurred upon its floor. He did much excellent work there, +and was conspicuous in more than one memorable scene, but he is chiefly +<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a><span class="pagenum">page 100</span>remembered for his battle for the right of petition. No more +persistent fight was ever made by a man in a parliamentary body and some +reference must be made to it here.</p> + +<p>Soon after he took his seat in Congress, the movement against slavery +was begun, and one fruit of it was the appearance of petitions for the +abolition of slavery in the House of Representatives. A few were +presented by Mr. Adams, and then more and more, as they were sent in to +him, and finally the southern representatives became so aroused, that +they succeeded in passing what was known as the "gag rule," which +prevented the reception of these petitions by the House. Adams protested +against this rule as an invasion of his constitutional rights, and from +that time forward, amid the bitterest opposition, addressed his whole +force toward the vindication of the right of petition. On every petition +day, he would offer, in constantly increasing numbers, petitions which +came to him from all parts of the country for the abolition of slavery. +The southern representatives were driven almost to madness, but Adams +kept doggedly on his way, and every year renewed his motion to strike +out the gag rule. As constant dripping will wear away a stone, so his +persistence wore away opposition, or, rather, the sentiment of the +country was gradually changing, and at last, on December 3, 1844, his +motion prevailed, and the great battle which he had fought practically +alone was won. Four years later he fell, stricken with paralysis, at his +place in the House.</p> + +<p><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a><span class="pagenum">page 101</span>It is worth pausing to remark that, of the six men who, up to +this time, had held the presidency, four were from Virginia and two from +Massachusetts; that, in every instance, the Virginians had been +re-elected and had administered the affairs of the country to the +satisfaction of the people, while both the Massachusetts men had been +retired from office at the end of a single term, and after turbulent and +violent administrations. All of them were what may fairly be called +patricians, men of birth and breeding; they were the possessors of a +certain culture and refinement, were descended from well-known families, +and there seemed every reason to believe that the administration of the +country would be continued in the hands of such men. For what other +class of men was fitted to direct it? Then, suddenly, the people spoke, +and selected for their ruler a man from among themselves, a man whose +college was the backwoods, whose opinions were prejudices rather than +convictions, and yet who was, withal, perhaps the greatest popular idol +this country will ever see; whose very blunders endeared him to the +people, because they knew his heart was right.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On the fifteenth day of March, 1767, in a little log cabin on the upper +Catawba river, almost on the border-line between North and South +Carolina—so near it, in fact, that no one knows certainly in which +state it stood—a boy was born and christened Andrew Jackson. His father +had died a few days before—one of those sturdy Scotch-Irish whom we +have <a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a><span class="pagenum">page 102</span>seen emigrating to America in such numbers in search of +a land of freedom. The boy grew up in the rude backwoods settlement, +rough, boisterous, unlettered; at the age of fourteen, riding with +Sumter in the guerrilla warfare waged throughout the state against the +British, and then, captured and wounded on head and hand by a +sabre-stroke whose mark he bore till his dying day, a prisoner in the +filthy Camden prison-pen, sick of the small-pox, and coming out of it, +at last, more dead than alive.</p> + +<p>His mother nursed him back to life, and then started for Charleston to +see what could be done for the prisoners rotting in the British +prison-ships in the harbor, only herself to catch the prison-fever, and +to be buried in a grave which her son was never able to discover.</p> + +<p>Young Jackson, sobered by this and other experiences, applied himself +with some diligence to his books, taught school for a time, studied law, +and at the age of twenty was admitted to the bar, for which the standard +was by no means high. To the west, the new state of Tennessee was in +process of organization—an unpeopled wilderness for the most part—and +early in the year 1788, Jackson secured the appointment as public +prosecutor in the new state. It is not probable he had much competition, +for the position was one calling for desperate courage, as well as for +endurance to withstand the privations of back-woods life, and the +pecuniary reward was small. In the fall of 1788, he proceeded to +Nashville with a wagon train which came within an ace of being <a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a><span class="pagenum">page 103</span> +annihilated by Indians before it reached its destination.</p> + +<p>Jackson found his new position exactly suited to his peculiar genius. +His personal recklessness made him the terror of criminals; he possessed +the precise qualifications for success before backwoods juries and for +personal popularity among the rough people who were his clients, with +whom usually might was right. At the end of three or four years, he +practically monopolized the law business of the district; and he soon +became by far the most popular man in it, despite a hot-headed +disposition which made him many enemies, which involved him in +numberless quarrels, and which resulted in his fighting at least one +duel, in which he killed his opponent and was himself dangerously +wounded.</p> + +<p>It was inevitable, of course, that he should enter politics, and equally +inevitable that he should be successful there. Eight years after his +arrival from Carolina, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected to +represent his state in Congress, and covered the eight hundred miles to +Philadelphia on horseback. From the House, he was appointed to serve in +the Senate, resigned from it to accept an election as Judge of the +Supreme Court of Tennessee, was chosen major-general of the Tennessee +militia, and so began that military career which was to have a +remarkable culmination.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of June, 1812, apprised of the outbreak of the second war +with England, Jackson offered to the President his own services and +those <a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a><span class="pagenum">page 104</span>of the twenty-five hundred militia men of his district. +The offer was at once accepted, and Jackson, getting his troops +together, proceeded down the river to New Orleans. But jealousies at +headquarters intervened, he was informed that New Orleans was in no +present danger, his force was disbanded and left to get back home as +best it could. Jackson, wild with rage, pledged his own resources to +furnish this transportation, but was afterwards reimbursed by the +government.</p> + +<p>It was while he was getting his men back home again that Jackson +received the nickname of "Old Hickory," which clung to him all the rest +of his life, and which was really a good description of him. The story +also illustrates how it was that his men came to idolize him, and why it +was that he appealed so strongly to the common people. Jackson had three +good horses, on that weary journey, but instead of riding one of them +himself, he loaned all three to sick men who were unable to walk, and +himself trudged along at the head of his men.</p> + +<p>"The general is tough, isn't he?" one of them remarked, glancing at the +tall, sturdy figure.</p> + +<p>"Tough!" echoed another. "I should say he is—as tough as hickory!"</p> + +<p>Jackson was lying in bed with a bullet in his shoulder, which he had +received in an affray with Jesse Benton, and also, no doubt, nursing his +chagrin over his treatment by the War Department, when news came of a +great Indian uprising in Alabama. The Creeks had gone on the warpath and +had opened <a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a><span class="pagenum">page 105</span>proceedings by capturing Fort Mims, at the +junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, on August 30, 1813, and +massacring over five hundred people who had taken refuge there. Alabama +was almost abandoned by the whites, and Georgia and Tennessee at once +rushed to her relief by voting men and money to put down the Indians.</p> + +<p>Jackson forgot wound and chagrin and took the field as soon as he was +able to stir. He at once quarrelled with the other officers; but his men +believed in him, though lack of food and the expiring of the short term +of enlistment created so much insubordination that, on one occasion, he +had to use half his army to prevent the other half from marching home. +His energy was remarkable; he pushed forward into the Creek country, cut +the Indians to pieces at Horseshoe Bend, and drove the survivors into +Florida. At the end of seven months, the war was over, and the Creeks +had been so punished that there was never any further need to fear them.</p> + +<p>The campaign had another result—it established Jackson's reputation as +a fighter, and soon afterwards he was appointed a major-general in the +army of the United States, and was given command of the Department of +the South. The pendulum had swung the other way, with a vengeance! But +Jackson rose magnificently to this increased responsibility. He +discovered that the English were in force at Pensacola, which was in +Florida and therefore on Spanish territory; but he did not hesitate. He +marched against the place with an army of three thousand, <a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a><span class="pagenum">page 106</span> +stormed the town, captured it, blew up the forts, which the +Spaniards hastily surrendered, and so made it untenable as an English +base. Perhaps no other exploit of his career was so audacious, or so +well carried out. Pensacola subdued, he hastened to New Orleans, which +was in the gravest danger.</p> + +<p>The overthrow of Napoleon and his banishment to Elba had given England a +breathing-space, and the veteran troops which had been with Wellington +in Spain were left free for use against the Americans. A great +expedition was at once organized to attack and capture New Orleans, and +at its head was placed General Pakenham, the brilliant commander of the +column which had delivered the fatal blow at Salamanca. A fleet of fifty +vessels, manned by the best sailors of England, was got ready, ten +thousand men put aboard, and in December, a week after Jackson's arrival +at New Orleans, this great fleet anchored off the broad lagoons of the +Mississippi delta. Seventeen thousand men, in all, counting the sailors, +who could, of course, be employed in land operations; and a mighty +equipment of artillery, for which the guns of the fleet could also be +used. The few American gunboats were overpowered, and Pakenham proceeded +leisurely to land his force for the advance against the city, which it +seemed that nothing could save. On December 23d, his advance-guard of +two thousand men was but ten miles below New Orleans.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of that very day, the vanguard of Jackson's Tennesseans +marched into New Orleans, clad in hunting-shirts of buckskin or +homespun, wearing <a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a><span class="pagenum">page 107</span>coonskin caps, and carrying on their +shoulders the long rifles they knew how to use so well. They had made +one of the most remarkable marches in history, in their eagerness to +meet the enemy, and Jackson at once hurried them forward for a night +attack. It was delivered with the greatest fury, and the British were so +roughly handled that they were forced to halt until the main body of the +army came up.</p> + +<p>When they did advance, they found that Jackson had made good use of the +delay. With the first light of the dawn which followed the battle, he +had commenced throwing up a rude breastwork, one end resting on the +river, the other on a swamp, and by nightfall, it was nearly done. Mud +and logs had been used, and bales of cotton, until it formed a fairly +strong position. The British were hurrying forward reinforcements, and +little did either side suspect that on that very day, at Ghent, +thousands of miles away, a treaty of peace had been signed between the +United States and England, and that the blood they were about to spill +would be spilled uselessly.</p> + +<p>In a day or two, the British had got up their artillery, and tried to +batter down the breastworks, but without success; then, Pakenham, +forgetting Bunker Hill, determined to try a frontal assault. He had no +doubt of victory, for he had three times as many men as Jackson; troops, +too, seasoned by victories won over the most renowned marshals of +Napoleon. At Toulouse they had driven Marshal Soult from a position +infinitely stronger than this rude breastworks; time after time they had +charged and carried <a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a><span class="pagenum">page 108</span>fortifications, manned by the best +soldiers in Europe. What chance, then, had this little force of +backwoodsmen, commanded by an ignorant and untrained general? So +Pakenham ordered that the assault should take place on the morning of +January 8th.</p> + +<p>From the bustle and stir in the British camp, the Americans knew that +something unusual was afoot, and long before dawn, the riflemen were +awake, had their breakfast, and then took their places behind the mud +walls, their rifles ready. At last the sun rose, the fog lifted, and +disclosed the splendid and gleaming lines of the British infantry, ready +for the advance. As soon as the air was clear, Pakenham gave the word, +and the columns moved steadily forward. From the American breastworks +not a rifle cracked. Half the distance was covered, three-fourths; and +then, as one man, those sturdy riflemen rose and fired, line upon line. +Under that terrible fire, the British column broke and paused, then +surged forward again, almost to the foot of the breastworks. But not a +man lived to mount them. No column could stand under such a fire, and +the British broke and ran.</p> + +<p>Mad with rage, Pakenham rallied his men and placed himself at their +head. Again came the word to charge, and again that gleaming column +rushed forward, only to be again met by that deadly hail of lead. +Pakenham, mortally wounded, reeled and fell from his saddle, officer +after officer was picked off by those unequalled marksmen, the field was +covered with dead and dying. Even the British saw, at last, <a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a><span class="pagenum">page 109</span> +the folly of the movement, and retired sullenly to their lines. For +a week they lay there; then, abandoning their heavy artillery, they +marched back to their ships and sailed for England. The men who had +conquered the conquerors of Europe had themselves met defeat.</p> + +<p>The battle had lasted less than half an hour, but the British left +behind them no less than twenty-six hundred men—seven hundred killed, +fourteen hundred wounded, five hundred prisoners. The American loss was +eight killed and thirteen wounded.</p> + +<p>News of this brilliant victory brought sudden joy to a depressed people, +for elsewhere on land the war had been waged disgracefully enough, and +Jackson's name was on everyone's lips. His journey to Washington was a +kind of triumphal march, and his popularity grew by leaps and bounds. +People journeyed scores of miles to see him, for there was a strange +fascination about the rugged old fighter which few could resist, and +already his friends were urging him as a candidate for the presidency. +There could be no doubt that he was the people's choice, and at last, in +the campaign of 1823, he was formally placed in nomination, his chief +opponent being John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts. The result of that +contest has already been told. Jackson received more electoral votes +than any other candidate, but not enough to elect, and the contest was +decided by the House of Representatives. On that occasion, Henry Clay +came nearer committing political suicide than ever again in his life, +for he threw his influence against Jackson, <a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a><span class="pagenum">page 110</span>and lost a +portion of his popularity which he never recovered.</p> + +<p>Jackson bided his time, and spent the four years following in careful +preparation for the next contest. So well did he build his fences that, +when the electoral vote was cast, he received the overwhelming majority +of 178 votes to 83 for Adams.</p> + +<p>Never before had the city of Washington seen such an inauguration as +took place on the fourth of March following. It seemed as though the +whole population of the country had assembled there to see the old +fighter take the oath of office. Daniel Webster wrote of it, "I never +saw such a crowd here before. Persons came five hundred miles to see +General Jackson and really seem to think that our country is rescued +from some dreadful danger." As, perhaps, it was.</p> + +<p>Jackson began his administration with characteristic vigor. It was he +who first put into practice the principle, "To the victors belong the +spoils." There was about him no academic courtesy, and he proceeded at +once to displace many Federal officeholders and to replace them with his +own adherents. The Senate tried for a time to stem the tide, but was +forced to give it up. There was no withstanding that fierce and dominant +personality. Jackson was more nearly a dictator than any President had +ever been before him, or than any will ever be again. His great +popularity seemed rather to increase than to diminish, and in 1832, he +received no less than 219 electoral votes.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="jackson" id="jackson"></a><img src="images/Illus-0413-1.jpg" alt="(25KB) jackson" width="394" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">JACKSON</span> +</div> + +<p><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a><span class="pagenum">page 111</span>Let us do him justice. Prejudiced and ignorant and +wrong-headed as he was, he was a pure patriot, laboring for his +country's good. Nothing proves this more strongly than his attitude on +the nullification question, in other words, the right of a state to +refuse to obey a law of the United States, and to withdraw from the +Union, should it so desire. This is not the place to go into the +constitutional argument on this question. It is, of course, all but +certain that the original thirteen states had no idea, when they +ratified the Constitution, that they were entering an alliance from +which they would forever be powerless to withdraw; and the right of +withdrawal had been asserted in New England more than once. South +Carolina was the hot-bed of nullification sentiment, arising partly from +the growing anti-slavery feeling at the North, and partly because of the +enactment of a tariff law which was felt to be unjust, and on October +25, 1832, the South Carolina legislature passed an ordinance asserting +that, since the state had entered the Union of its free will, it could +withdraw from it at any time and resume the sovereign and independent +position which it had held at the close of the Revolution, and that it +would do so should there be any attempt to enforce the tariff laws +within the state.</p> + +<p>Jackson's attitude on this question was already well known. At a banquet +celebrating Jefferson's birthday, two years before, at which Calhoun and +others had given toasts and made addresses in favor of nullification, +Jackson had startled his audience by <a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a><span class="pagenum">page 112</span>rising, glass in hand, +and giving the toast, "Our Federal Union—it must be preserved!" That +toast had fallen like a bombshell among the ranks of the nullifiers, and +had electrified the whole Nation. Since then, he had become a stronger +nationalist than ever; besides, he was always ready for a fight, and +whenever he saw a head had the true Irishman's impulse to hit it. So he +responded to the South Carolina nullification ordinance by sending two +men-of-war to Charleston harbor and collecting a force of United States +troops along the Carolina border. "I consider the power to annul a law +of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the +existence of the Union," he wrote; and when a South Carolina +congressman, about to go home, asked the President if he had any +commands for his friends in that state, Jackson retorted:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have; please give my compliments to my friends in your state, +and say to them that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in +opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I +can lay my hands on, engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first +tree I can reach."</p> + +<p>Whether or not this message was delivered history does not say, but the +whole Nation arose in wrath behind its President, state after state +denounced nullification and disunion, and the South Carolina ordinance +was finally repealed. So the storm passed for the moment. It left +Jackson more of a popular hero than ever; it was as though he had won +another battle of New Orleans. One cannot but wonder what <a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a><span class="pagenum">page 113</span> +would have happened had he been acting as President, instead of +Buchanan, in those trying years after 1856.</p> + +<p>He retired from the presidency broken in health and fortune, for however +well he took care of the interests of his friends, he was always +careless about his own. The last eight years of his life were spent at +his Tennessee estate, The Hermitage. The end came in 1845, but his name +has remained as a kind of watchword among the common people—a synonym +for rugged honesty, and bluff sincerity. His career is, all in all, by +far the most remarkable of any man who ever held the high office of +President—with one possible exception, that of Abraham Lincoln.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Jackson was one of the most perfect political manipulators and +machine-builders this country ever saw, and he had so perfected his +machine at the close of his second term that he was able to name as his +successor and the heir of his policies, Martin Van Buren, of New York, a +man who had been one of Jackson's most valued lieutenants from the +first, an astute politician, but not remarkable in any way, nor able to +impress himself upon the country. He announced at his inauguration that +it was his intention, to tread in the footsteps of his "illustrious +predecessor," but none for a moment imagined that he was big enough to +fill Jackson's shoes. Indeed, Jackson, was by far the most important +figure at the inauguration.</p> + +<p>Van Buren's term as President witnessed nothing <a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a><span class="pagenum">page 114</span>more +momentous than the great panic of 1837, which he faced with a calmness +and clear-sightedness surprising even to his friends, but which +nevertheless assisted a collection of malcontents, under the leadership +of Henry Clay, calling themselves National Republicans or Whigs, to +defeat him for re-election. There was really no valid reason why he +should have been re-elected; he had little claim, upon the country, but +was for the most part, merely a clever politician, the first to attain +the presidency. His life had been marked by an orderly advance from +local to state, and then to national offices—an advance obtained not +because he stood for any great principle, but because he knew how to +make friends and build his political fences.</p> + +<p>His nomination and election to the presidency was in no sense an +accident, as was Taylor's, Pierce's, Hayes's and Garfield's, but was +carefully prearranged and thoroughly understood. Yet let us do him the +justice to add that his public services were, in some respects, of a +high order, and that he was not wholly unworthy of the last great honor +paid him. He was a candidate for the nomination in 1844, but was +defeated by James K. Polk; and four years later, secured the nomination, +but was defeated at the polls by Zachary Taylor. That ended his +political career.</p> + +<p>In the campaign against him of 1840, the Whigs were fortunate in having +for their candidate William Henry Harrison, a man of immense personal +popularity, resembling Jackson in that his reputation had <a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a><span class="pagenum">page 115</span> +been made as an Indian fighter in the West, where he had defeated +Tecumseh at the battle of Tippecanoe, and by a successful campaign in +the war of 1812. Since then, he had been living quietly on his farm in +Ohio, with no expectation of anything but passing his remaining years in +quiet, for he was nearly seventy years of age. But Clay, with a sort of +prophetic insight, picked him out as the Whig leader, and "Tippecanoe +and Tyler Too" became the rallying cry of a remarkable campaign, which +swept the country from end to end and effectually swamped Van Buren. It +was too strenuous for a man as old as Harrison, and he died at the White +House within a month of taking the oath of office.</p> + +<p>The "Tyler Too" was John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President, and +who assumed the office of President upon Harrison's death. His accession +was little less than a bomb-shell to the party which had nominated him +and secured his election. For he was a Virginian, a follower of Calhoun +and an ardent pro-slavery man, while the Whigs were first, last and all +the time anti-slavery. He had been placed on the ticket with Harrison, +who was strongly anti-slavery, in the hope of securing the votes of some +disaffected Democrats, but to see him President was the last thing the +Whigs desired. The result was that he soon became involved in a bitter +quarrel with Clay and the other leaders of the party, which effectually; +killed any chance of renomination he may have had. He became the mark +for perhaps the most unrestrained <a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a><span class="pagenum">page 116</span>abuse ever aimed at a +holder of the presidency.</p> + +<p>It was largely unmerited, for Tyler was a capable man, had seen service +in Congress and as governor of his state; but he was dry and +uninspiring, and not big enough for the presidency, into which he could +never have come except by accident. His administration was marked by few +important events except the annexation of Texas, which will be dealt +with more particularly when we come to consider the lives of Sam Houston +and the other men who brought the annexation about. He retired to +private life at the close of his term, appearing briefly twenty years +later as a member of a "congress" which endeavored to prevent the war +between the states, and afterwards as a member of the Confederate +Congress, in which he served until his death.</p> + +<p>Clay secured the Whig nomination for himself, in the campaign of 1844, +and his opponent on the Democratic ticket was James Knox Polk, a native +of North Carolina, but afterwards removing to Tennessee. He had been a +member of Congress for fourteen years, and governor of Tennessee for +three, and was a consistent exponent of Democratic principles. Two great +questions were before the country: the annexation of Texas and the right +to Oregon. Polk was for the immediate annexation of Texas and for the +acquisition of Oregon up to 54° 40" north latitude, regardless of Great +Britain's claims, and "Fifty-four forty or fight!" became one of the +battle-cries of the campaign. Clay, inveterate trimmer <a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a><span class="pagenum">page 117</span>and +compromiser that he was, professed to be for the annexation of Texas, +provided it could be accomplished without war with Mexico, which was +arrant nonsense, since Mexico had given notice that she would consider +annexation an act of war. The result of Clay's attitude, and of a +widespread distrust of his policies, was that Polk was elected by a +large majority.</p> + +<p>His administration was destined to be a brilliant one, for Texas was at +once annexed, and the brief war with Mexico which followed, one of the +most successful ever waged by any country, carried the southwestern +boundary of the United States to the Rio Grande, and added New Mexico +and California to the national domain, while a treaty with England +secured for the country the present great state of Oregon, although here +Polk receded from his position and accepted a compromise which confined +Oregon below the forty-ninth parallel. But even this was something of a +triumph. With that triumph, the name of Marcus Whitman is most closely +associated, through a brilliant but rather useless feat of his, of which +we shall speak later on. Polk seems to have been an able and +conscientious man, without any pretensions to genius—just a good, +average man, like any one of ten thousand other Americans. He refused a +renomination because of ill-health, and died soon after retiring from +office.</p> + +<p>The Democratic party had by this time become hopelessly disrupted over +the slavery question, which had become more and more acute. The great +strength <a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a><span class="pagenum">page 118</span>of the state rights party had always been in the +South, and southern statesmen had always opposed any aggression on the +part of the national government. The North, on the other hand, had +always leaned more or less toward a strong centralization of power. So +it followed that while the Democratic party was paramount in the South, +its opponents, by whatever name known, found their main strength in the +North.</p> + +<p>Yet, even in the North, there was a strong Democratic element, and, but +for the intrusion of the slavery question, the party would have +controlled the government for many years to come. But the North was +gradually coming to feel that the slavery question was more important +than the more abstract one of national aggression; the more so since, by +insisting upon the enforcement of such measures as the Fugitive Slave +Law, the South was, as it were, keeping open and bleeding a wound which +might to some extent have healed. In 1848 the split came, and the +Democratic party put two candidates in the field, Lewis Cass for the +South, and Martin Van Buren for the North.</p> + +<p>The Whig Party, taking advantage of the knowledge gained in previous +campaigns, looked around for a famous general, and managed to agree upon +Zachary Taylor, who had made an exceedingly brilliant record in the war +with Mexico. He was sixty-five years old at the time, a sturdy giant of +a man, reared on the frontier, hardened by years of Indian warfare, +whose nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" was not a bad description. He +caught the <a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a><span class="pagenum">page 119</span>popular fancy, for he possessed those qualities +which appeal to the plain people, and this, assisted by the division in +the ranks of his opponents, won him a majority of the electoral votes. +He took the oath of office on March 4, 1849, but, after sixteen months +of troubled administration, died suddenly on July 9, 1850.</p> + +<p>Millard Fillmore, who had been elected Vice-President, at once took the +oath of office as chief executive. He was a New York man, a lawyer, had +been a member of Congress, and, as Vice-President, had presided over the +bitter slavery debates in the Senate. His sympathies were supposed to be +anti-slavery, yet he signed the Fugitive Slave Law, when it was placed +before him, much to the chagrin of many people who had voted for him. He +signed his own political death-warrant at the same time, for, at the +Whig National Convention in 1852, he was defeated for the nomination for +President, after a long struggle, by General Winfield Scott, another +veteran of the Mexican war. Four years later, Fillmore, having managed +to regain, the confidence of his party, secured the Whig nomination +unanimously, but was defeated at the polls, and spent the remaining +years of his life quietly at his home in Buffalo.</p> + +<p>Against General Scott, the Democrats nominated Franklin Scott Pierce, +the nomination being in the nature of an accident, though Pierce was in +every way a worthy candidate. His family record begins with his father, +Benjamin Pierce, who, as a lad of seventeen, stirred by the tidings of +the fight at Lexington, <a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a><span class="pagenum">page 120</span>left his home in Chelmsford, musket +on shoulder, to join the patriot army before Boston. He settled in New +Hampshire after the Revolution, and his son Franklin was born there in +1804. He followed the usual course of lawyer, congressman and senator, +and served throughout the war with Mexico, rising to the rank of +brigadier-general, and securing a reputation second only to that of +Scott and Taylor.</p> + +<p>At the Democratic convention of 1852, Pierce was not a candidate for the +nomination, and did not know that any one intended to mention his name, +or even thought of him in that connection. But the convention was unable +to agree on a candidate, and on the fourth day and thirty-third ballot, +some delegate cast his vote for General Franklin Pierce, of New +Hampshire. The name attracted attention, Pierce's career had been +distinguished and above reproach, other delegates voted for him, until, +on the forty-ninth ballot, he was declared the unanimous choice of the +convention. His election was overwhelming, as he carried twenty-seven +states out of thirty-one.</p> + +<p>Once in the presidential chair, however, this popularity gradually +slipped away from him. He found himself in an impossible position, +between two fires, for the slavery question was dividing the country +more and more and there seemed no possible way to reconcile the warring +sections. Pierce, perhaps, made the mistake of trying to placate both, +instead of taking his stand firmly with one or the other; and <a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a><span class="pagenum">page 121</span> +the consequence was that at the convention of 1856, he received a +few votes from courtesy, but was never seriously in the running, which +resulted in the nomination of James Buchanan. Pierce returned to his +home in New Hampshire, to find his friends and neighbors estranged from +him by his supposed pro-slavery views, which had yet not been radical +enough to win him the friendship of the South; but time changed all +that, and his last years were spent in honored and opulent retirement.</p> + +<p>James Buchanan was, like Andrew Jackson, of Scotch-Irish descent, but +there the resemblance between the two ended, for Buchanan had little of +Jackson's tremendous positiveness and strength of character. His +disposition was always to compromise, while Jackson's was to fight. Now +compromise is often a very admirable thing, but where it shows itself to +be impossible and leaves fighting the only resource, the wise man puts +all thought of it behind him and prepares for battle. Which is precisely +what Buchanan did not do. He had been a lawyer and congressman, minister +to Russia, senator, secretary of state and minister to England, and so +had the widest possible political acquaintanceship; he was a man of +somewhat unusual culture; but, alas! he found that something more than +culture was needed to guide him in the troublous times amid which he +fell. I have often thought that Buchanan's greatest handicap was his +wide friendship, which often made it almost impossible to say no, +however much he may have wished to do so. An unknown <a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a><span class="pagenum">page 122</span> +backwoodsman, like Andrew Jackson, with no favors to return and no +friendships to be remembered, could have acted far more effectively.</p> + +<p>Buchanan's opponent for the presidency was John C. Frémont, and there +was a great stir and bustle among the people who were supposed to +support him, but Buchanan won easily, and at once found himself in the +midst of the most perplexing difficulties. Kansas was in a state of +civil war; two days after his inauguration the Supreme Court handed down +the famous Dred Scott decision, declaring the right of any slave-holder +to take his slaves as property into any territory; while the young +Republican party was siding openly with the abolitionists, and, a very +firebrand in a powder-house, in 1859, John Brown seized Harper's Ferry, +Virginia, and attempted to start a slave insurrection. Now a slave +insurrection was the one thing which the South feared more than any +other—it was the terror which was ever present. And so John Brown's mad +attempt excited a degree of hysteria almost unbelievable.</p> + +<p>Small wonder that Buchanan was soon at his wits' ends. His sympathies +were with the slave-holders; he doubted his right to coerce a seceding +state; his friendships were largely with southern statesmen—and yet, to +his credit be it stated, on January 8, 1860, after secession had become +a thing assured, he seems suddenly to have seen his duty clearly, and in +a special message, declared his intention to collect the revenues and +protect public property in all the <span class="pagenum">page 123</span>states, and to use force +if necessary. Taken all in all, his attitude in those trying days was a +creditable one—as creditable as could be expected from any average man. +What the time needed was a genius, and fortunately one rose to the +occasion. Buchanan, harried and despondent, must have breathed a deep +sigh of relief when he surrendered the helm to the man who had been +chosen to succeed him—the man, by some extraordinary chance, in all the +land best fitted to steer the ship of state to safety—the man who was +to be the dominant figure of the century in American history.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>SUMMARY</h3> + + +<p>WASHINGTON, GEORGE. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22 +(old style, February 11), 1732; sent on a mission to the French beyond +the Alleghenies, 1753-54; appointed lieutenant-colonel, 1754; defeated +by the French at Fort Necessity, July 3, 1754; aide-de-camp to Braddock, +1755; commanded on the frontier, 1755-57; led the advance-guard for the +reduction of Fort Duquesne, 1758; married Martha Custis, January 9, +1759; delegate to Continental Congress, 1774-75; appointed +commander-in-chief of the continental forces, June 15, 1775; assumed +command of the army, July 3, 1775; compelled evacuation of Boston, March +17, 1776; defeated at battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776; defeated +at White Plains, October 28, 1776; surprised the British at Trenton, +December 26, 1776; won the battle of Princeton, January, 1777; defeated +at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777; at Valley Forge, during the winter +of 1777-78; <a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a><span class="pagenum">page 124</span>won the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778; +captured Yorktown and the army of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781; resigned +his commission as commander-in-chief, December 23, 1783; president of +the Constitutional Convention, 1787; unanimously elected President of +the United States, January, 1789; inaugurated at New York, April 30, +1789; unanimously re-elected, 1793; issued farewell address to the +people, September, 1796; retired to Mount Vernon, March, 1797; died +there, December 14, 1799.</p> + +<p>ADAMS, JOHN. Born at Braintree, now Quincy, Massachusetts, October 30, +1735; graduated at Harvard, 1755; studied law, took a leading part in +opposing Stamp Act, was counsel for the British soldiers charged with +murder in connection with the "Boston massacre" in 1770, and became a +leader of the patriot party; member of Revolutionary Congress of +Massachusetts, 1774; delegate to first and second Continental Congress, +1774-75; commissioner to France, 1777; negotiated treaties with the +Netherlands, Great Britain and Prussia, 1782-83; minister to London, +1785-88; Federal Vice-President, 1789-97; President, 1797-1801; defeated +for re-election and retired to Quincy, 1801; died there, July 4, 1886.</p> + +<p>JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April +2, 1743; member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1769-75, and +1776-78, and of the Continental Congress, 1775-76; drafted Declaration +of Independence, 1776; governor of Virginia, 1779-81; member of +Congress, 1783-84; minister to France, 1784-89; secretary of state, +1789-93; Vice-President, 1797-1801; President, 1801-09; died at +Monticello, Albemarle County, Virginia, July 4, 1826.</p> + +<p><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a><span class="pagenum">page 125</span>MADISON, JAMES. Born at Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751; +graduated at Princeton, 1771; delegate to Congress, 1780-83, and to the +Constitutional Convention, 1787; member of Congress, 1789-97; secretary +of state, 1801-09; President, 1809-1817; died at Montpelier, Orange +County, Virginia, June 28, 1836.</p> + +<p>MONROE, JAMES. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758; +member of Virginia assembly, 1782; member of Congress, 1783-86; United +States senator, 1790-94; minister to France, 1794-96; governor of +Virginia, 1799-1802; minister to Great Britain, 1803-07; secretary of +state, 1811-17; President, 1817-25, an administration, known as "the era +of good feeling"; died at New York City, July 4, 1831.</p> + +<p>ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY. Born at Braintree, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767; +graduated at Harvard, 1788; admitted to the bar, 1791; minister to the +Netherlands, 1794-97; and to Prussia, 1797-1801; United States senator, +1803-08; minister to Russia, 1809-14; minister to England, 1815-17; +secretary of state, 1817-25; President, 1825-29; member of Congress, +1831-48; died at Washington, February 23, 1848.</p> + +<p>JACKSON, ANDREW. Born at the Waxham settlement, North Carolina (?), +March 15, 1767; member of Congress, 1796-97; United States senator, +1797-98; justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1798-1804; defeated +the Creeks at Talladega, 1813, and at Horseshoe Bend, 1814; captured +Pensacola from the English, 1814; won the battle of New Orleans, January +8, 1815; commanded against the Seminoles, 1817-18; governor of Florida, +1821; United States senator, 1823-25; defeated for President by J.Q. +Adams, 1824; President, <a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a><span class="pagenum">page 126</span>1829-37; died at the Hermitage, near +Nashville, Tennessee, June 8, 1845.</p> + +<p>VAN BUREN, MARTIN. Born at Kinderhook, New York, December 5, 1782; +admitted to the bar, 1803; entered New York State Senate, 1812; United +States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29; secretary of +state, 1829-31; Vice-President, 1833-37; President, 1837-41; defeated +for President, 1840, 1844, 1848; died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862.</p> + +<p>HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Berkeley, Charles City County, +Virginia, February 9, 1773; governor of Indiana Territory, 1801-13; won +victory of Tippecanoe, 1811, and of the Thames, 1813; member of +Congress, 1816-19; United States senator, 1825-28; minister to Colombia, +1828-29; defeated for Presidency, 1836; elected President in the +"log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign, 1840; inaugurated, March 4, 1841; +died at Washington, April 4, 1841.</p> + +<p>TYLER, JOHN. Born at Greenway, Charles City County, Virginia, March 29, +1790; admitted to the bar, 1809; member of Virginia legislature, +1811-16; member of Congress, 1816-21; governor of Virginia, 1825-27; +United States senator, 1827-36; elected Vice-President, 1840, and +succeeded to Presidency on the death of General Harrison, April 4, 1841; +president of the peace convention of 1861, favored secession and served +as member of the Confederate provisional Congress; died at Richmond, +Virginia, January 18, 1862.</p> + +<p>POLK, JAMES KNOX. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, November +2, 1795; admitted to the <a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a><span class="pagenum">page 127</span>bar, 1820; member of Congress, +1825-39; speaker of the House of Representatives, 1835-39; governor of +Tennessee, 1839-41; President, 1845-49; died at Nashville, Tennessee, +June 15, 1849.</p> + +<p>TAYLOR, ZACHARY. Born in Orange County, Virginia, September 24, 1784; +entered the army as first lieutenant, 1808; served in War of 1812, +attaining rank of major; served in Black Hawk's war, 1832, with rank of +colonel; defeated Seminole Indians, 1837; commander-in-chief of Florida, +1838; took command of the army in Texas, 1845; won battle of Palo Alto, +May 8, 1846, and that of Reseca de la Palma, May 9, 1846; captured +Matamoras, May 18, and Monterey, September 24, 1846; defeated Santa Anna +at Buena Vista, February 22-23, 1847; appointed major-general, June 29, +1846; elected President, 1848; inaugurated, March 4, 1849; died at +Washington, July 9, 1850.</p> + +<p>FILLMORE, MILLARD. Born at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, January +7, 1800; admitted to the bar, 1823; member of New York State +legislature, 1829-31; member of Congress, 1833-35, 1837-43; elected +Vice-President, 1848, and succeeded to presidency on the death of +Taylor, July 9, 1850; died at Buffalo, New York, March 8, 1874.</p> + +<p>PIERCE, FRANKLIN. Born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, +1804; member of Congress, 1833-37; United States senator, 1837-42; +served with distinction in Mexican war; President, 1853-57; died at +Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, 1869.</p> + +<p>BUCHANAN, JAMES. Born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, +April 22, 1791; member of <a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a><span class="pagenum">page 128</span>Congress, 1821-31; minister to +Russia, 1831-33; United States senator, 1833-45; secretary of state, +1845-49; minister to Great Britain, 1853-56; President, 1857-61; died at +Wheatland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1868.</p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<h3>LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS</h3> + +<p><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a><span class="pagenum">page 129</span>And so we have come down through the years to Abraham +Lincoln—that patient and gentle man whose memory ranks with +Washington's as America's priceless heritage. A blessing and an +inspiration—a mystery, too; an enigma among men, lonely and impressive; +not fully understood nor understandable to the depths of that great +heart of his; not fully explainable, for what strange power was it +lifted that ignorant, ill-bred, uncouth, backwoods boy to a station +among the stars?</p> + +<p>Seldom has any man who started so low mounted so high. Abraham Lincoln's +early life was of the most miserable description. His father, Thomas +Lincoln, was a worthless rover; his mother, Nancy Hanks, was of a "poor +white" Virginia family with an unenviable record. His birthplace was a +squalid log cabin in Washington County, Kentucky. His surroundings were +such as are commonly encountered in a coarse, low, ignorant, +poverty-stricken family. His father was at the very bottom of the social +scale, so ignorant he could scarcely write his name. His mother +inherited the shiftlessness and carelessness which is part and parcel of +"poor white." <a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a><span class="pagenum">page 130</span>These things are incontestable, they must be +looked in the face. And yet, in spite of them, in spite of such a +handicap as few other great men even approximated, Abraham Lincoln +emerged to be the leader of a race.</p> + +<p>In 1816, Thomas Lincoln decided he would remove to Indiana. Abraham was +at that time seven years old, and for a year after the removal, the +family lived in what was called a "half-faced camp," fourteen feet +square—that is to say, a covered shed of three sides, the fourth side +being open to the weather. Then the family achieved the luxury of a +cabin, but a cabin without floor or door or window. Amid this +wretchedness, Lincoln's mother died, and was laid away in a rough coffin +of slabs at the edge of the little clearing. Three months later, a +passing preacher read the funeral service above the grave.</p> + +<p>Thomas Lincoln soon married again and, strangely enough, made a wise +choice, for his new wife not only possessed furniture enough to fill a +four-horse wagon, but, what was of more importance, was endowed with a +thrifty and industrious temperament. That she should have consented to +marry the ne'er-do-well is a mystery; perhaps he was not without his +redeeming virtues, after all. She made him put a floor and windows in +his cabin, and she was a better mother to his children than their real +one had ever been. For the first time, young Abraham got some idea of +the comforts and decencies of life, and, as his step-mother put it, +"began to look a little human." He was not an attractive object, even at +best, for <a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a><span class="pagenum">page 131</span>he was lanky and clumsy, with great hands and feet, +and a skin prematurely wrinkled and shrivelled. By the time he was +seventeen, he was six feet tall, and he soon added two more inches to +his stature. Needless to say, his clothes never caught up with him, but +were always too small.</p> + +<p>His schooling was of the most meagre description; in fact, in his whole +life, he went to school less than one year. Yet there soon awakened +within the boy a trace of unusual spirit. He actually liked to read. He +saw few books, but such as he could lay his hands on, he read over and +over. That one fact alone set him apart at once from the other boys of +his class. To them reading was an irksome labor.</p> + +<p>All this reading had its effect. He acquired a vocabulary. That is to +say, instead of the few hundred words which were all the other boys knew +by which to express their thoughts, he soon had twice as many; besides +that, he soon got a reputation as a wit and story-teller, and his +command of words made him fond of speechmaking. He resembled most boys +in liking to "show off." He had learned, too, that there were comforts +in the world which he need never look for in his father's house, and so, +as soon as he was of age, he left that unattractive dwelling-place and +struck out for himself, making a livelihood in various ways—by +splitting rails, running a river boat, managing a store, enlisting for +the Black Hawk war—doing anything, in a word, that came to hand and +would serve to put a little money in his pocket. He came to know a great +many <a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a><span class="pagenum">page 132</span>people and so, in 1832, he proclaimed himself a +candidate for the state legislature for Sangamon County, Illinois, where +he had made his home for some years. No doubt to most people, his +candidacy must have seemed in the nature of a joke, and though he +stumped the county thoroughly and entertained the crowds with his +stories and flashes of wit, he was defeated at the polls.</p> + +<p>That episode ended, he returned to store-keeping; but he had come to see +that the law was the surest road to political preferment, and so he +spent such leisure as he had in study, and in 1836 was admitted to the +bar. As has been remarked before, the requirements for admission were +anything but prohibitory, most lawyers sharing the oft-quoted opinion of +Patrick Henry that the only way to learn law was to practise it. Lincoln +decided to establish himself at Springfield, opened an office there, and +for the next twenty years, practised law with considerable success, +riding from one court to another, and gradually extending his circle of +acquaintances. He even became prosperous enough to marry, and in 1842, +after a courtship of the most peculiar description, married a Miss Mary +Todd—a young woman somewhat above him in social station, and possessed +of a sharp tongue and uncertain temper which often tried him severely.</p> + +<p>It was inevitable, of course, that he should become interested again in +politics, and he threw in his fortunes with the Whig Party, serving two +or three terms in the state legislature and one in Congress, <a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a><span class="pagenum">page 133</span> +All of this did much to temper and chasten his native coarseness and +uncouthness, but he was still just an average lawyer and politician, +with no evidence of greatness about him, and many evidences of +commonness. Then, suddenly, in 1858, he stood forth as a national +figure, in a contest with one of the most noteworthy men in public life, +Stephen A. Douglas.</p> + +<p>Douglas was an aggressive, tireless and brilliant political leader, the +acknowledged head of the Democratic party, and had represented Illinois +in the Senate for many years. He had a great ambition to be President, +had missed the nomination in 1852 and 1856, but was determined to secure +it in 1860, and was carefully building to that end. His term as senator +expired in 1858, and his re-election seemed essential to his success. Of +his re-election he had no doubt, for Illinois had always been a +Democratic state, though it was becoming somewhat divided in opinion. +The southern part was largely pro-slavery, but the northern part, +including the rapidly-growing city of Chicago, was inclined the other +way. This division of opinion made Douglas's part an increasingly +difficult one, for pro-slave and anti-slave sentiment were as +irreconcilable as fire and water.</p> + +<p>Lincoln, meanwhile, had been active in the formation of the new +Republican party in the state, had made a number of strong speeches, +and, on June 16, 1858, the Republican convention resolved that: "Hon. +Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States senator +to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. +Douglas's term <a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a><span class="pagenum">page 134</span>of office." A month later, Lincoln challenged +Douglas to a series of joint debates. Douglas at once accepted, never +doubting his ability to overwhelm his obscure opponent, and the famous +duel began which was to rivet national attention and give Lincoln a +national prominence.</p> + +<p>The challenge on Lincoln's part was a piece of superb generalship. In +such a contest, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Whatever +the result, the fact that he had crossed swords with so renowned a man +as Stephen A. Douglas would give him a kind of reflected glory. But in +addition to that, he had the better side of the question. His course was +simple; he was seeking the support of anti-slavery people; Douglas's +task was much more complex, for he wished to offend neither northern nor +southern Democrats, and he soon found himself offending both. To carry +water on both shoulders is always a risky thing to attempt, and Douglas +soon found himself fettered by the awkward position he was forced to +maintain; while Lincoln, free from any such handicap, could strike with +all his strength.</p> + +<p>His stand from the first was a bold one—so bold that many of his +followers regarded it with consternation and disapproval. In his speech +accepting the nomination, he had said, "I believe this government cannot +endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all one +thing or all the other," and he pursued this line of argument in the +debates alleging that the purpose of the pro-slavery men was to make +slavery perpetual and universal, and pointing <a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a><span class="pagenum">page 135</span>to recent +history in proof of the assertion. When asked by Douglas whether he +considered the negro his equal, he answered: "In the right to eat the +bread which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge +Douglas, and the equal of every living man." He was not an abolitionist, +and declared more than once that he had "no purpose, directly or +indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states +where it exists," that he had "no lawful right to do so," but only to +prohibit it in "any new country which is not already cursed with the +actual presence of the evil."</p> + +<p>Even so skillful a debater as Douglas soon found himself hard put to it +to answer Lincoln's arguments, without offending one or the other of the +powerful factions whose support he must have to reach the presidency. At +the beginning, his experience and adroitness gave him an advantage, +which, however, Lincoln's earnestness and directness soon overcame. Tens +of thousands of people gathered to hear the debates, they were printed +from end to end of the country, and Lincoln loomed larger than ever +before the nation; but so far as the immediate result was concerned, +Douglas was the victor, for the election gave him a majority of the +legislature, and he was chosen to succeed himself in the Senate.</p> + +<p>Yet more than once he must have regretted that he had consented to cross +swords with his lank opponent, for he had been forced into many an +awkward corner. There is a popular tradition that the presidential +nomination came to Lincoln unsought; <a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a><span class="pagenum">page 136</span>but this is anything but +true. On the contrary, in those debates with Douglas, he was consciously +laying the foundation for his candidacy two years later. He used every +effort to drive Douglas to admissions and statements which would tell +against him in a presidential campaign, while he himself took a position +which would insure his popularity with the Republican party. So his +defeat at the time was of no great moment to him.</p> + +<p>He had gained an entrance to the national arena, and he took care to +remain before the public. He made speeches in Ohio, in Kansas, and even +in New York and throughout New England, everywhere making a powerful +impression. To disunion and secession he referred only once or twice, +for he perceived a truth which, even yet, some of us are reluctant to +admit: that every nation has a right to maintain by force, if it can, +its own integrity, and that a portion of a nation may sometimes be +justified in struggling for independent national existence. The whole +justification of such a struggle lies in whether its cause and basis is +right or wrong. So, beneath the question of disunion, was the question +as to whether slavery was right or wrong. On this question, of course, +northern opinion was practically all one way, while even in the South +there were many enemies of the institution. The world was outgrowing +what was really a survival of the dark ages.</p> + +<p>When the campaign for the presidential nomination opened in the winter +of 1859-1860, Lincoln was early in the field and did everything possible +to win <a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a><span class="pagenum">page 137</span>support. He secured the Illinois delegates without +difficulty, and when the national convention met at Chicago, in May, the +contest soon narrowed down to one between Lincoln and William H. Seward. +Let it be said, at once, that Seward deserved the nomination, if high +service and party loyalty and distinguished ability counted for +anything, and it looked for a time as though he were going to get it, +for on the first ballot he received 71 more votes than Lincoln. But in +the course of his public career he had made enemies who were anxious for +his defeat, his campaign managers were too confident or too clumsy to +take advantage of opportunity; Lincoln's friends were busy, and by some +expert trading, of which, be it said in justice to Lincoln, he himself +was ignorant, succeeded in securing for him a majority of the votes on +the third ballot.</p> + +<p>So, blindly and almost by chance, was the nomination secured of the one +man fitted to meet the crisis. The only other event in American history +to be compared with it in sheer wisdom was the selection of Washington +to head the Revolutionary army—a selection made primarily, not because +of Washington's fitness for the task, but to heal sectional differences +and win the support of the South to a war waged largely in the North.</p> + +<p>The nomination, so curiously made, was received with anything but +enthusiasm by the country at large. "Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter," +might appeal to some, but there was a general doubt whether, after all, +rail-splitting, however honorable in itself, <a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a><span class="pagenum">page 138</span>was the best +training for a President. However, the anti-slavery feeling was a tie +that bound together people of the most diverse opinions about other +things, and a spirited canvass was made, greatly assisted by the final +and suicidal split in the ranks of the Democracy, which placed in +nomination two men, Lincoln's old antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, +representing the northern or moderate element of the party, and John C. +Breckenridge, of Kentucky, representing the southern, or extreme +pro-slavery element. And this was just the corner into which Lincoln had +hoped, all along, to drive his opponents. Had the party been united, he +would have been hopelessly defeated, for in the election which followed, +he received only a little more than one third of the popular vote; but +this was sufficient to give him the northern states, with 180 electoral +votes. But let us remember that, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was the choice +for President of very much less than half the people of the country.</p> + +<p>The succeeding four months witnessed the peculiar spectacle of the South +leisurely completing its arrangements for secession, and perfecting its +civil and military organization, while the North, under a discredited +ruler of whom it could not rid itself until March 4th, was unable to +make any counter-preparation or to do anything to prevent the diversion +of a large portion of the arms and munitions of the country into the +southern states. It gave the southern leaders, too, opportunity to work +upon the feelings of their people, more than half of whom, in <a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a><span class="pagenum">page 139</span> +the fall of 1860, were opposed to disunion. It should not be +forgotten that, however fully the South came afterwards to acquiesce in +the policy of secession, it was, in its inception, a plan of the +politicians, undertaken, to a great extent, for purposes of +self-aggrandizement. They controlled the conventions which, in every +case except that of Texas, decided whether or not the state should +secede. "We can make better terms out of the Union than in it," was a +favorite argument, and many of them dreamed of the establishment of a +great slave empire, in which they would play the leading parts.</p> + +<p>To the southern leaders, then, the election of Lincoln was the striking +of the appointed hour for rebellion. South Carolina led the way, +declaring, on December 17, 1860, that the "Union now subsisting between +South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of +America, is hereby dissolved." Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, +Louisiana and Texas followed. Opinion at the North was divided as to the +proper course to follow. Horace Greeley, in the New York <i>Tribune</i>, +said that the South had as good a right to secede from the Union as the +colonies had to secede from Great Britain, and, as Greeley afterwards +observed, the <i>Tribune</i> had plenty of company in these sentiments. +Meanwhile the Southern Confederacy had been formed, Jefferson Davis +elected President, and steps taken at once for the organization of an +army.</p> + +<p>Everyone was waiting anxiously for the inauguration of the new +President—waiting to see what his <a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a><span class="pagenum">page 140</span>course would be. They were +not left long in doubt. His inaugural address was earnest and direct. He +said, "The union of these States is perpetual. No State upon its own +mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union. I shall take care that +the laws of the Union are faithfully executed in all the States." It +was, in effect, a declaration of war, and was so received by the South. +Whether or not it was the constitutional attitude need not concern us +now.</p> + +<p>The story of Lincoln's life for the next five years is the story of the +Civil War. How Lincoln grew and broadened in those fateful years, how he +won men by his deep humanity, his complete understanding, his ready +sympathy; how, once having undertaken the task of conquering rebellion, +he never faltered nor turned back despite the awful sacrifices which the +conflict demanded; all this has passed into the commonplaces of history. +No man ever had a harder task, and no other man could have accomplished +it so well.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="lincoln" id="lincoln"></a><img src="images/Illus-0414-1.jpg" alt="(28KB) lincoln" width="397" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">LINCOLN</span> +</div> +<p>The emancipation of the slaves, which has loomed so large in history, +was in reality, merely an incident, a war measure, taken to weaken the +enemy and justifiable, perhaps, only on that ground; the preliminary +proclamation, indeed, proposed to liberate the slaves only in such +states as were in rebellion on the following first of January. Nor did +emancipation create any great popular enthusiasm. The congressional +elections which followed it showed a great reaction against +anti-slavery. The Democrats carried Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, +Illinois. For <a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a><span class="pagenum">page 141</span>a time the administration was fighting for +its life, and won by an alarmingly small margin.</p> + +<p>Before the year had elapsed, however, there was a great reversal in +public opinion, and at the succeeding election, Lincoln received 212 out +of 233 electoral votes. The end of the Confederacy was by this time in +sight. A month after his second inauguration, Richmond fell, and five +days later, Lee surrendered his army to General Grant. Lincoln at once +paid a visit to Richmond and then returned to Washington for the last +act of the drama.</p> + +<p>The fourteenth of April was Good Friday, and the President arranged to +take a small party to Ford's theatre to witness a performance of a farce +comedy called "Our American Cousin." The President entered his box about +nine o'clock and was given a tumultuous reception. Then the play went +forward quietly, until suddenly the audience was startled by a pistol +shot, followed by a woman's scream. At the same instant, a man was seen +to leap from the President's box to the stage. Pausing only to wave a +dagger which he carried in his hand and to shout, "Sic semper tyrannis!" +the man disappeared behind the scenes. Amid the confusion, no efficient +pursuit was made. The President had been shot through the head, the +bullet passing through the brain. Unconsciousness, of course, came +instantly, and death followed in a few hours.</p> + +<p>Eleven days later, the murderer, an actor by the name of John Wilkes +Booth, was surrounded in a barn where he had taken refuge; he refused to +come <a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a><span class="pagenum">page 142</span>out, and the barn was set on fire. Soon afterwards, the +assassin was brought forth with a bullet at the base of his brain, +whether fired by himself or one of the besieging soldiers was never +certainly known.</p> + +<p>It is startling to contemplate the fearful responsibility which Booth +assumed when he fired that shot. So far from benefiting the South, he +did it incalculable harm, for the North was thoroughly aroused by the +deed. Thousands and thousands flocked to see the dead President as he +lay in state at the Capitol, and in the larger cities in which his +funeral procession paused on its way to his home in Springfield. The +whole country was in mourning, as for its father; business was +practically suspended, and the people seemed stunned by the great +calamity. That so gentle a man should have been murdered wakened, deep +down in the heart of the North, a fierce resentment; the feelings of +kindliness for a vanquished foe were, for the moment, swept away in +anger; and the North turned upon the South with stern face and shining +eyes. The wild and foolish assassin brought down upon the heads of his +own people such a wrath as the great conflict had not awakened. We shall +see how bitter was the retribution.</p> + +<p>Not then so fully as now was Lincoln's greatness understood. He has come +to personify for us the triumphs and glories, the sadness and the +pathos, of the great struggle which he guided. His final martyrdom seems +almost a fitting crown for his achievements. It has, without doubt, done +much to <a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a><span class="pagenum">page 143</span>secure him the exalted niche which he occupies in the +hearts of the American people, whom, in a way, he died to save. Had he +lived through the troubled period of Reconstruction which followed, he +might have emerged with a fame less clear and shining; and yet the hand +which guided the country through four years of Civil War, was without +doubt the one best fitted to save it from the misery and disgrace which +lay in store for it. But speculations as to what might have been are +vain and idle. What was, we know; and above the clouds of conflict, +Lincoln's figure looms, serene and venerable. Two of his own utterances +reveal him as the words of no other man can—his address on the +battlefield of Gettysburg, and his address at his second +inauguration—but two months after he was laid to rest, James Russell +Lowell, at the services in commemoration of the three hundredth +anniversary of Harvard College, paid him one of the most eloquent +tributes ever paid any man, concluding with the words:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p>"Great captains, with their guns and drums;<br /> +<span class="i2">Disturb our judgment for the hour,</span><br /> +But at last silence comes;<br /> +<span class="i2">These all are gone, and, standing like a tower,</span><br /> +Our children shall behold his fame,<br /> +<span class="i2">The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man;</span><br /> +Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame;<br /> +<span class="i2">New birth of our new soil, the first American."</span></p> +</div></div> + +<p>On the ticket with Lincoln, the Republicans had placed, as a sop to such +pro-slavery sentiment as still existed at the North, a southerner and +state rights <a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a><span class="pagenum">page 144</span>Democrat named Andrew Johnson. By one of those +singular chances of history, Johnson's origin and early years had been +very much like Lincoln's. He, too, was born of a "poor white" family; +first seeing the light in North Carolina about six weeks before Abraham +Lincoln opened his eyes in that rude log cabin in Kentucky. His +condition was, if anything, even more hopeless and degraded than +Lincoln's, and if any one had prophesied that these two ignorant and +poverty-stricken children would one day rise, side by side, to the +greatest position in the Republic, he would have been regarded, and +justly, as a hopeless madman. But not even to a madman did any such wild +idea occur. "Poor whites" were despised throughout the South, even by +the slaves; if there was, in the whole United States, any law of caste, +it was against these ignorant and shiftless people; and Andrew Johnson, +at the age of fifteen, was little better than a young savage. He had +never gone to school, he had never seen a book. But one day, he heard a +man reading aloud, and the wonder of it quickened a new purpose within +him. He induced a friend to teach him the alphabet, and then, borrowing +the book, he laboriously taught himself to read. So there was something +more than "poor white" in him, after all.</p> + +<p>By the time he was eighteen, he had had enough of his shiftless +surroundings, and struck out for himself, journeyed across the mountains +to Greenville, Tennessee, met there a girl of sixteen named Eliza +McCardle, and, with youth's sublime improvidence, <a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a><span class="pagenum">page 145</span>married +her! As it happened, he did well, for his wife had a fair education, and +night after night taught him patiently, until he could read fairly well +and write a little. I like to think of that family group, so different +from most, and to admire that girl-wife teaching her husband the +rudiments of education.</p> + +<p>Already, as a result of his lowly birth and the class prejudice he +everywhere encountered, young Johnson had conceived that hatred of the +ruling class at the South which was to influence his after life so +deeply. He had a certain rude eloquence which appealed to the lower +classes of the people, and, in 1835, succeeded in gaining an election to +the state legislature. He nursed his political prospects carefully, and +eight years later, was sent to Congress. He was afterwards twice +governor of Tennessee.</p> + +<p>It has been said that secession was, in the beginning, a policy of the +ruling class in the South and not of the people. It is not surprising, +then, that Johnson should have arrayed himself against it, and fought it +with all his might. This position made him so prominent, that on March +4, 1862, Lincoln appointed him military-governor of Tennessee—a +position which was exactly to Johnson's taste and which he filled well. +In this position, he seemed the embodiment of the Union element of the +South, and at their national convention in 1864, the Republicans decided +that the President's policy of reconstruction for the South would be +greatly aided by the presence of a southern man on the ticket, and +Johnson was thereupon chosen for the office of Vice-President. <a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a><span class="pagenum">page 146</span> +On the same day that Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time, +Johnson took the oath of office in the Senate chamber, and delivered a +speech which created a sensation. He declared, in effect, that Tennessee +had never been out of the Union, that she was electing representatives +who would soon mingle with their brothers from the North at Washington, +and that she was entitled to every privilege which the northern states +enjoyed.</p> + +<p>Three hours after the death of the President, Andrew Johnson took the +oath of office as his successor, but he was regarded with suspicion at +both North and South—at the North, because he was believed to be at +heart pro-slavery; at the South because of his well-known animosity +toward the aristocratic and ruling class. He was also known to be +stubborn, high-tempered and intemperate, and he and Congress were soon +at sword's point. Johnson was of the opinion that the question of +suffrage for the negroes should be left to the several states; a +majority of Congress were determined to exact this for their own +protection. This was embodied in the so-called Civil Rights Bill, +conferring citizenship upon colored men. It was promptly vetoed by the +President, and was passed over his veto; soon afterwards the fourteenth +amendment was passed, conferring the suffrage upon all citizens of the +United States without regard to color or previous condition of +servitude. It also was vetoed, and passed over the veto. Johnson was +hailed as a traitor by Republicans, and the campaign against him +culminated in his impeachment by <a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a><span class="pagenum">page 147</span>Congress early in 1868. The +trial which followed was the most bitter in the history of the Senate, +but Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the failure of the prosecution to +secure the two-thirds vote necessary for conviction by a single vote, +thirty-five senators voting for conviction and nineteen for acquittal.</p> + +<p>Johnson's friends were jubilant, but his power had vanished. The seceded +states one by one came back into the Union in accordance with the +Reconstruction act which Johnson had vetoed. He failed of the nomination +on the Democratic ticket, and after the inauguration of his successor, +at once returned to his old home in Tennessee. There he attempted to +secure the nomination for United States senator, but his influence was +gone and he was defeated. So ended his public life.</p> + +<p>It has been rather the fashion to picture Johnson, as an intemperate and +bull-headed ignoramus, but such a characterization is far from fair. But +for Lincoln's assassination, some such policy of reconstruction as +Johnson advocated would probably have been carried out, instead of the +policy of fanatics like Thaddeus Stevens, which left the South a prey to +the carpet-bagger and the ignorant negro for over a decade. Johnson +himself might have accomplished more if he had been of a less violent +disposition; but he was ignorant of diplomacy, incapable of compromise, +and so was worsted in the fight. However we may disagree with his policy +and dislike his character, let us at least not forget that picture of +the "poor white" boy teaching himself to read; and that <a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a><span class="pagenum">page 148</span>other +of the girl-wife patiently instructing him in the rudiments of writing.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>A successful war inevitably gives to its commanders a tremendous popular +prestige. We have seen how the battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson +a national hero, how William Henry Harrison loomed large after the +battle of Tippecanoe, and how Zachary Taylor was chosen President as a +result of his victories in Mexico. The country was now to undergo +another period of military domination, longer lived than those others, +as the Civil War was greater than them—a period from which it has even +yet not fully recovered.</p> + +<p>In 1868, the Republican party nominated unanimously for President the +general who had pushed the war to a successful finish, and who had +received Lee's surrender, Ulysses Simpson Grant, and he was elected by +an overwhelming majority. For the first time in the history of the +country, a man had been elected President without regard to his +qualifications for the office, for even Jackson had had many years' +experience in public affairs. Of such qualifications, Grant had very +few. He was egotistical, a poor judge of men, without experience in +statesmanship, and unwilling to submit to guidance. As a result, his +administration was marked by inefficiency and extravagance, and ended in +a swirl of scandal.</p> + +<p>Born in Ohio in 1822, and graduated at West Point, he had served through +the war with Mexico, resigned from the army, remained in obscurity for +<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a><span class="pagenum">page 149</span>six years, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to +support himself in civil life, and entered the army again at the +outbreak of the Civil War. From the first he was successful more than +any other of the Union generals, not so much because of military genius +as from a certain tenacity of purpose with which he fairly wore out the +enemy. But a people discouraged by reverses were not disposed to inquire +too closely into the reason of his victories, and early in 1864, after a +brilliant campaign along the Mississippi, he had been appointed +commander-in-chief of the Union army, and began that series of +operations against Richmond which cost the North so dear, but which +resulted in the fall of the capital of the Confederacy and in Lee's +surrender.</p> + +<p>A bearded, square-jawed, silent man, he caught the public fancy by two +messages, the one of "Unconditional surrender," with which he had +answered the demand for terms on the part of the Confederates whom he +had entrapped in Fort Donelson; the other, the famous: "I propose to +fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," with which he +started his campaign in the Wilderness. Both were characteristic, and if +Grant had retired from public life at the close of the Civil War, or had +been content to remain commander-in-chief of the army of the United +States, his fame would probably have been brighter than it is to-day.</p> + +<p>His training, such as it was, had been wholly military and his inaugural +address showed his profound ignorance of the work which lay before +him—an <a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a><span class="pagenum">page 150</span>ignorance all the more profound and unreachable +because of his serene unconsciousness of it. He fell at once an easy +prey to political demagogues, and before the close of his first +administration, demoralization was widespread throughout the government. +A large portion of the Republican party, realizing his unfitness for the +office, opposed his renomination, and when they saw his nomination was +inevitable, broke away and named a ticket of their own, but Grant's +victory was a sweeping one.</p> + +<p>With this stamp of public approval, the boodlers became bolder and great +scandals followed, involving many members of Congress and even some +members of the cabinet, but not the President himself, of whose personal +honesty there was never any doubt, and in 1873, came the worst panic the +country had ever experienced. A political reaction followed, and in 1874 +the Democrats carried the country, gaining the House of Representatives +by a majority of nearly a hundred.</p> + +<p>Following his retirement from office in 1877, Grant made a tour of the +world, returning in 1879, to be again a candidate for the presidency, +and coming very near to getting the nomination. It was characteristic of +the man's egotism that, even yet, he did not realize his unfitness for +the office, but thought himself great enough to disregard the precedent +which Washington had established. He lived five years longer, the last +years of his life rendered miserable by cancer of the throat, which +finally killed him.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1876, the Republicans nominated <a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a><span class="pagenum">page 151</span>Rutherford +B. Hayes, at that time Governor of Ohio, as their candidate for +President—a nomination which was a surprise to the country, which had +confidently expected that of James G. Blaine. Hayes was by no means a +national figure, although he had served in the Union army, had been in +Congress, and, as has been said, was governor of Ohio at the time of his +nomination. Nor was he a man of more than very ordinary ability, +upright, honest, and mediocre. The Democratic candidate was Samuel J. +Tilden, a political star of the first magnitude, and the contest which +followed was unprecedented in American history.</p> + +<p>Tilden received a popular majority of half a million votes, and 184 +electoral votes, out of the 185 necessary to elect, without counting the +votes from Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, all of which he had +carried on the face of the returns. The Republicans disputed the vote in +these states, however, and by the inexorable use of party machinery and +carpet-bag government, declared Hayes elected. For a time, so manifest +was the partisan bias of this decision, the country seemed on the verge +of another Civil War, but Tilden led in wiser council, and Hayes was +permitted to take his seat. It is the only instance in a national +election where the will of the people at the polls has been defied and +overridden.</p> + +<p>Hayes was a sincere and honest man, and he felt keenly the cloud which +the manner of his election cast over his administration. He was never +popular with his party, and no doubt he felt that the debt <a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a><span class="pagenum">page 152</span>he +owed it for getting him his seat was a doubtful one. His administration +was noteworthy principally because he destroyed the last vestiges of +carpet-bag government in the South, and left the southern states to work +out their own destiny unhampered. He was not even considered for a +renomination, and spent the remainder of his life quietly in his Ohio +home.</p> + +<p>Hayes's successor was another so-called "dark horse," that is, a man of +minor importance, whose nomination, was due to the fact that the party +leaders could not agree upon any of the more prominent candidates. They +were Grant, Blaine and John Sherman, and after thirty-five ballots, it +was evident that a "dark horse" must be found. The choice fell upon +James Abram Garfield, who was not prominent enough to have made any +enemies, and who was as astonished as was the country at large when it +heard the news.</p> + +<p>Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831, in a little log cabin and to a +position in the world not greatly different to Lincoln's. While laboring +at various rough trades, he succeeded in preparing himself for college, +worked his way through, got into politics, served through the Civil War, +and later for eighteen years in Congress, where he made a creditable but +by no means brilliant record. He was elected President by a small +majority, and enraged the many enemies of James G. Blaine by selecting +that astute politician as his secretary of state. One of these, a +rattle-brained New Yorker named Charles J. <a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a><span class="pagenum">page 153</span>Guiteau, +approached the President on July 2, 1881, as he was waiting at a +railroad station in Washington, about to start on a journey, and shot +him through the body. Death followed, after a painful struggle, two +months later.</p> + +<p>Obscure, in a sense, as Garfield had been, the man who succeeded him was +immeasurably more so. Chester Alan Arthur was a successful New York +lawyer, who had dabbled in politics and held some minor appointive +offices, his selection as Vice-President being due to the desire of the +Republican managers to throw a sop to the Empire State. His +administration, however, while marked by no great or stirring event, was +for the most part wise and conservative, but James G. Blaine had by this +time secured complete control of the party, and Arthur had no chance for +the nomination for President. He died of apoplexy within two years of +his retirement.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Republican party had been supreme in the national government for a +quarter of a century, and there seemed no reason to doubt that Blaine, +its candidate in the campaign of 1884, would at last realize his +consuming ambition to be elected President. He had an immense personal +prestige, he had outlived the taint of corruption attached to him during +the administration of Grant, and he had for years been preparing and +strengthening himself for this contest. So he entered it confidently.</p> + +<p>But a new issue had arisen—that of the protective <a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a><span class="pagenum">page 154</span>tariff, +which, originally a war revenue measure, had been formally adopted as a +principle of Republicanism, which was hailed by its adherents as a new +and brilliant economic device for enriching everybody at nobody's +expense, and which had really enriched a few at the expense of the many. +The Democrats, with considerable hesitation and ambiguity, pronounced +against it, arraigned the Republican party for corruption, and named as +their nominee Grover Cleveland, of New York.</p> + +<p>Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837, the son of a clergyman whose +early death threw him upon his own resources. He started west in search +of employment, stopped at Buffalo, and afterwards made it his home. He +studied law while working as a clerk and copyist, was admitted to the +bar in 1859, and in the late seventies was elected mayor of Buffalo on a +reform ticket. Almost at once, the country's eyes were fastened upon +him. Elected as a reform mayor, he continued to be one after his +induction into office. He actually seemed to think that the promises and +pledges made by him during his campaign were still binding upon him, and +astounded the politicians by proceeding to carry those promises out. So +scathing were the veto messages he sent in, one after another, to a +corrupt council, that they awakened admiration and respect even among +his opponents. The messages, written in the plainest of plain English, +aroused the people of the city to the way in which they had been robbed +by dishonest officials, they rallied behind him, and <a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a><span class="pagenum">page 155</span>his +reputation was made. In 1882, his party wanted a reform candidate for +governor, and they naturally turned to Cleveland, and he was elected by +a plurality of two hundred thousand.</p> + +<p>He found the same condition of things on a larger scale at Albany as at +Buffalo—a corrupt machine paying political debts with public money—and +here, again, he showed the same astonishing regard for pre-election +pledges, the same belief in his famous declaration that "a public office +is a public trust," and bill after bill was vetoed, while the people +applauded. And with every veto came a message stating its reasons in +language which did not mince words and which all could understand. He +showed himself not only to be entirely beyond the control of the +political machine of his own party, but also to possess remarkable moral +courage, and he became naturally and inevitably the Democratic candidate +for President, since the Democratic platform was in the main an +arraignment of Republican corruption and moral decay. The campaign which +followed was a bitter one; but Blaine had estranged a large portion of +his party, he made a number of bad blunders, and Cleveland was elected. +The old party founded by Jefferson, which, beginning with Jefferson's +administration, had ruled the country uninterruptedly for forty years, +was returned to power, and on an issue which would have delighted +Jefferson's heart.</p> + +<p>Much to the dismay and disappointment of the politicians, the new +President made no clean sweep <a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a><span class="pagenum">page 156</span>of Republican officeholders. He +took the unheard-of ground that, in the public service, as in any other, +good work merited advancement, no matter what the politics of the +individual might be. He made some changes, as a matter of course, but he +was from the first sturdily in favor of civil service reform. It is +worth remarking that a Democratic President was the first to take a +decided stand against the principle of "to the victors belong the +spoils," first put into practice by another Democratic President, Andrew +Jackson, over fifty years before.</p> + +<p>His stand, too, on the pension question was startling in its audacity. +The shadow of the Civil War still hung over the country; the soldiers +who had served in that war had formed themselves into a great, +semi-political organization, known as the Grand Army of the Republic, +and worked unceasingly for increased pensions, which Congress had found +itself unable to refuse. More than that, the members of Congress were in +the habit of passing hundreds of special bills, giving pensions to men +whose claims had been rejected by the pension department, as not coming +within the law. Cleveland took the stand that, unless the soldier had +been disabled by the war, he had no just claim to government support, +and he vetoed scores of private pension bills, many of which were shown +to be fraudulent.</p> + +<p>In other ways, his remarkable strength of personality soon became +apparent, and his determination to do what he thought his duty, +regardless of consequences. His message of December, 1887, <a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a><span class="pagenum">page 157</span> +fairly startled the country. It was devoted entirely to a +denunciation of the high tariff laws, a subject on which the Democratic +leaders had deemed it prudent to maintain a discreet silence since the +preceding election, and which many of them hoped would be forgotten by +the public. But Cleveland's message brought the question squarely to the +front, and made it the one issue of the campaign which followed. +Cleveland would have been elected but for the traitorous conduct of the +leaders in New York, who had never forgiven him for the way in which, as +governor, he had scourged them. New York State was lost to him, and his +opponent, Benjamin Harrison, was elected, although his popular vote fell +below that of Cleveland by over a hundred thousand.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="cleveland" id="cleveland"></a><img src="images/Illus-0415-1.jpg" alt="(28KB) cleveland" width="371" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">CLEVELAND</span> +</div> + +<p>But Cleveland had his revenge four years later, when, in spite of the +protests of the leaders from his own state of New York, he was again +nominated on a platform denouncing the tariff, and defeated Harrison by +an overwhelming majority. And now came one of those strange instances of +party perfidy and party suicide, of which the country has just witnessed +a second example. In accordance with the platform pledges, a bill to +lower the tariff was at once framed in the House and adopted; but the +Senate, although Democratic in complexion, so altered it that it fell +far short of carrying out the party pledges. The leader in the Senate +was Arthur P. Gorman, of Maryland, and to him chiefly was due this act +of treachery. The President refused to sign the bill, and it became a +law without his signature. <a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a><span class="pagenum">page 158</span>There can be little question that +it was the failure of the Democratic party to fulfil its pledges at that +critical time which led to its subsequent disruption and defeat.</p> + +<p>Twice more did Cleveland startle the country with his extraordinary +decision of character. In the summer of 1894, a great railroad strike, +centering at Chicago, occasioned an outbreak of violence, which the +governor of Illinois did nothing to quell. The President, therefore, +declaring that the rioters had no right to interfere with the United +States mails, ordered national troops to the scene to maintain order. A +year later, when the British Government, involved in a boundary dispute +with Venezuela, declared that it did not accept the Monroe Doctrine and +would not submit the dispute to arbitration, the President sent a +message to Congress, declaring that the Monroe Doctrine must be upheld +at whatever cost. The country was thrilled from end to end, the +President's course approved, and Great Britain at last consented to +arbitration.</p> + +<p>And yet, when Cleveland left the presidential chair for the second time, +he had entirely lost control of and sympathy with his own party. He had +shown little tact in his dealings with the party leaders. He seemed to +forget that, after all, these leaders had certain rights and privileges +which should be respected; he sometimes blundered through very anxiety +to be right. You have heard some men called so upright that they leaned +over backward—well, that, occasionally, was Cleveland's fault. He +<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a><span class="pagenum">page 159</span>was subjected to such a storm of abuse as no other +ex-President ever had to endure. That he felt it keenly there can be no +question; but in the years which followed, his sturdy and unassailable +character came to be recognized and appreciated, and his death, in the +summer of 1908, was the occasion of deep and widespread sorrow.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>We have told how, in 1888, Cleveland was defeated for the presidency by +Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was a grandson of the old warrior of +Tippecanoe, William Henry Harrison, the successful candidate of the Whig +party forty-eight years before. He was an able but not brilliant man, +had served through the Civil War, and was afterwards elected senator +from Indiana, to which state he had removed from Ohio at an early age. +The platform on which he was elected pledged the party to the protective +tariff principle, and a high tariff measure, known as the McKinley Bill, +was passed, raising duties to a point higher than had ever before been +known in the history of the United States.</p> + +<p>The Dependent Pension Bill, which Cleveland had vetoed, and which gave a +pension to every Union soldier who was from any cause unable to earn a +living, was also passed. But these policies did not appeal to the +public; besides which, Harrison, although a man of integrity and +ability, was popular with neither the rank nor file of his party, +through a total lack of personal magnetism, and though he received the +nomination, Cleveland easily defeated <a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a><span class="pagenum">page 160</span>him. The remainder of +his life was passed quietly at his Indiana home.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>We have seen how Cleveland's independence and want of tact estranged him +from his party, and the party itself was soon to run upon virtual +shipwreck, under the guidance of strange leaders. A word must be said, +in this place, of the extraordinary man who led it three times to +defeat.</p> + +<p>When the Democratic national convention met in Chicago in 1896, one of +the delegates from Nebraska was a brilliant and eloquent lawyer named +William Jennings Bryan. He had gained some prominence in his state, and +had served in Congress for four years, but he was practically unknown +when he arose before the convention and made a free-silver speech which +fairly carried the delegates off their feet. Good oratory is rare at any +time; its power can hardly be overestimated, especially in swaying a +crowd; and Bryan was one of the greatest orators that ever addressed a +convention.</p> + +<p>His nomination for the Presidency followed, and the result was the +practical dismemberment of the Democratic party. For Bryan was a +Populist, as far as possible removed from the fundamental principles of +Democracy, advocating strange socialistic measures; and the conservative +element of the party regarded him and his theories with such distrust +that it put another ticket in the field, and he was badly beaten. Twice +more he led the party in presidential <a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a><span class="pagenum">page 161</span>campaigns, each time +being defeated more decisively than the last. His engaging personality, +his ready oratory, and his supreme gifts as a politician won for him a +vast number of devoted friends, who believed, and who still believe, in +him absolutely; but the country at large, apparently, will have none of +him.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Republican nominee in 1896 was William McKinley, of Ohio, best known +as the framer of the McKinley tariff bill. Born in Ohio in 1843, he had +served through the Civil War, had been a member of Congress and twice +governor of Ohio. He was a thorough party man, and modified his former +views on the silver question to conform with the platform on which he +was nominated; his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, was one of the most +astute politicians the country had ever produced, and raised a campaign +fund of unprecedented magnitude; all of which, combined with the +disintegration of the Democratic party, gave McKinley a notable victory.</p> + +<p>The great event of his first administration was the war with Spain, +undertaken to free Cuba, into which McKinley, be it said to his credit, +was driven unwillingly by public clamor, cunningly fostered by a portion +of the press. Its close saw the purchase of the Philippines, and the +entrance of the United States upon a colonial policy believed by many to +be wholly contrary to the spirit of its founders.</p> + +<p>There was never any question of McKinley's renomination, for his +prestige and personal popularity <a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a><span class="pagenum">page 162</span>were immense, and his +victory was again decisive. He had broadened rapidly, had gained in +statesmanship, had acquired a truer insight into the country's needs, +and was now freed, to a great extent, from party obligations. Great +hopes were built upon his second administration, and they would no doubt +have been fulfilled, in part at least; but a few months after his +inauguration, he was shot through the body by an irresponsible anarchist +while holding a public reception at Buffalo, and died within the week. +The years which have elapsed since his death enable us to view him more +calmly than was possible while he lived, and the country has come to +recognize in him an honest and well-meaning man, of more than ordinary +ability, who might have risen to true statesmanship and won for himself +a high place in the country's history had he been spared.</p> + +<p>On the ticket with McKinley, a young New Yorker named Theodore Roosevelt +had been elected Vice-President. Roosevelt had long been prominent in +his native state as an enthusiastic reformer, had made a sensational +record in the war with Spain, and, on his return home, had been elected +governor by popular clamor, rather than by the will of the politicians, +to whom his rough-and-ready methods were extremely repugnant. So when +the national convention was about to be held, they conceived the great +idea of removing him from state politics and putting him on the shelf, +so to speak, by electing him Vice-President, and the plan was carried +out in spite of Roosevelt's <a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a><span class="pagenum">page 163</span>protests. Alas for the +politicians! It was with a sort of poetic justice that he took the oath +as President on the day of McKinley's death, September 14, 1901, while +they were still rubbing their eyes and wondering what had happened.</p> + +<p>His evident honesty of purpose, combined with an impulsive and energetic +temperament, which led him into various indiscretions, soon made him a +popular hero. He was a sort of Andrew Jackson over again, and in 1904, +he was sent back to the presidency by an overwhelming majority. For a +time he was, indeed, the central figure of the republic. His energy was +remarkable; he had a hand in everything; but many people, after a time, +grew weary of so tumultuous and strenuous a life, and drew away from +him, while still more were estranged by the undignified and violent +controversies in which he became entangled. It is too soon, however, to +attempt to give a true estimate of him. Indeed, he is as yet only in +mid-career; and what his years to come will accomplish cannot be even +guessed.</p> + +<p>Despite his controversies with the leaders of his party, he retained +sufficient power to dictate the nomination of his successor, William +Howard Taft, an experienced jurist and administrator, who is but just +entering upon his work as these lines are written, but to whom the +American people are looking hopefully for a wise and moderate +administration.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So stands the history of the rulers of the nation. As one looks back at +them, one perceives a certain <span class="pagenum">page 164</span>rhythmical rise and fall of +merit and attainment, which may roughly be represented thus:</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/Illus-173.jpg" alt="(16KB) schema" width="600" height="263" /></div> + +<p>Washington freed us from the power of England; Lincoln freed us from the +power of slavery; the third man in this great trio will be he who will +solve the vast economic problems which are the overshadowing issues of +our day. Will he be a Democrat or Republican—or of some new party yet +to be born? In any event, let us hope that Fate will not long withhold +him!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809; +served in Black Hawk war, 1832; admitted to the bar, 1836; began +practice of law at Springfield, Illinois, 1837; Whig member Illinois +legislature, 1834-42; member of Congress, 1847-49; Republican candidate +for United States senator and held series of debates with Stephen A. +Douglas, 1858; elected President, 1860; inaugurated, March 4, 1861; +re-elected President, 1864; began second term, March 4, 1865; entered +Richmond with Federal army, April 4, 1865; shot by John Wilkes Booth, at +Ford's <a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a><span class="pagenum">page 165</span>Theatre, Washington, April 14, 1865, and died the +following day.</p> + +<p>JOHNSON, ANDREW. Born at Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808; +member of Congress from Tennessee, 1843-53; governor of Tennessee, +1853-57; United States senator, 1857-62; military governor of Tennessee, +1862-64; inaugurated Vice-President, March 4, 1865; succeeded Lincoln as +President, April 15, 1865; impeached by Congress for high crimes and +misdemeanors, but acquitted after a trial lasting from March 23 to May +26, 1868; United States senator from Tennessee, 1875; died in Carter +County, Tennessee, July 31, 1875.</p> + +<p>GRANT, ULYSSES SIMPSON. Born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, +April 27, 1822; graduated at West Point, 1843; served through Mexican +war, 1846-48; left the army in 1854, and settled in St. Louis; removed +to Galena, Illinois, 1860; appointed colonel, June 17, 1861; +brigadier-general, August 7, 1861; captured Fort Donelson, February 16, +1862; promoted to major-general of volunteers and made commander of the +Army of the District of West Tennessee, March, 1862; gained battle of +Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862; captured Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and made +major-general in the regular army; won battle of Chattanooga, November +23-25, 1863; made lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of American +armies, March, 1864; took up his headquarters with the Army of the +Potomac, fought battles of Wilderness, and received Lee's surrender at +Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865; made general, July 25, 1866; +elected President, 1868, and re-elected, 1872; made tour of the world, +1877-79; <a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a><span class="pagenum">page 166</span>unsuccessful candidate for nomination for +presidency, 1880; made general on the retired list, March 4, 1885; died +at Mount McGregor, New York, July 23, 1885.</p> + +<p>HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD. Born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822; +served in the Union army during the Civil War, being brevetted +major-general of volunteers in 1864; member of Congress from Ohio, +1865-67; governor of Ohio, 1868-72 and 1876; Republican candidate for +President, 1876; declared elected by the Electoral Commission, March 2, +1877, and served, 1877-81; died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893.</p> + +<p>GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM. Born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November +19, 1831; instructor in and later president of Hiram College, Ohio, +1856-61; joined the Union army as lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, +1861; defeated General Humphrey Marshall at the battle of Middle Creek, +January 10, 1862; promoted brigadier-general, 1862; promoted +major-general, 1863; member of Congress, 1863-80; elected United States +senator, 1880; elected President, 1880; inaugurated, March 4, 1881; shot +in Washington by Guiteau, July 2, 1881; died at Elberon, New Jersey, +September 19, 1881.</p> + +<p>ARTHUR, CHESTER ALAN. Born at Fairfield, Vermont, October 5, 1830; +graduated at Union College, 1848; taught school and practiced law in New +York City; inspector-general of New York troops, 1862; collector of the +port of New York, 1871-78; elected Vice-President, 1880; succeeded +Garfield as President, September 20, 1881, serving to March 4, 1885; +defeated for <a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a><span class="pagenum">page 167</span>Republican nomination, 1884; died at New York, +November 18, 1886.</p> + +<p>CLEVELAND, GROVER. Born at Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, +1837; studied law at Buffalo, New York, and admitted to the bar, 1859; +assistant district attorney of Erie County, 1863-66; sheriff of Erie +County, 1871-74; Democratic mayor of Buffalo, 1882; governor of New +York, 1883-84; elected President, 1884; served as President, 1885-89; +advocated a reduction of the tariff in his message to Congress in +December, 1887; defeated for re-election, 1888; re-elected President, +1892; served, 1893-97; died at Princeton, New Jersey, June 24, 1908.</p> + +<p>HARRISON, BENJAMIN. Born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833; graduated +at Miami University, 1852; studied law and practiced at Indianapolis; +served in Civil War and was brevetted brigadier-general; United States +senator, 1881-87; elected President, 1888; defeated for re-election, +1892; died at Indianapolis, March 13, 1901.</p> + +<p>MCKINLEY, WILLIAM. Born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, +1844; served in the Civil War, attaining the rank of major; member of +Congress, 1877-91; elected governor of Ohio, 1891; re-elected, 1893; +elected President, 1896; re-elected, 1900; shot by an assassin at +Buffalo, New York, and died there, September 14, 1901.</p> + +<p>ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Born at New York City, October 27, 1858; graduated +at Harvard, 1880; New York state assemblyman, 1882-84; resided on North +Dakota ranch, 1884-86; national Civil Service Commissioner, 1889-95; +president New York Police Board, <a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a><span class="pagenum">page 168</span>1895-97; assistant secretary +of the navy, 1897-98; resigned to organize regiment of Rough Riders and +served through war with Spain; governor of New York, 1899-1900; elected +Vice-President, 1900; succeeded to presidency on death of McKinley, +September 14, 1901; elected President, 1904; retired from presidency, +March 4, 1909.</p> + +<p>TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD. Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, September 15, 1857; +graduated at Yale, 1878; admitted to bar, 1880; judge Superior Court, +1887-90; solicitor-general of the United States, 1890-92; United States +circuit judge, 1892-1900; President Philippine Commission, 1900-04; +secretary of war, 1904-08; elected President, 1908; inaugurated, March +4, 1909.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>STATESMEN</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a><span class="pagenum">page 169</span>If one were asked to name the most remarkable all-around +genius this country has produced, the answer would be Benjamin +Franklin—whose life was perhaps the fullest, happiest and most useful +ever lived in America. There are half a dozen chapters of this series in +which he might rightfully find a place, and in which, indeed, it will be +necessary to refer to him, for he was an inventor, a scientist, a man of +letters, a philanthropist, a man of affairs, a reformer, and a great +many other things besides. But first and greatest of all, he was a +benign, humorous, kind-hearted philosopher, who devoted the greater +portion of his life to the service of his country and of humanity.</p> + +<p>Benjamin Franklin was born at Boston in 1706, the fifteenth of a family +of seventeen children. His father was a soap-boiler, and was kept pretty +busy providing for his family, none of whom, with the exception of +Benjamin, ever attained any especial distinction; this being one of +those mysteries of nature, which no one has ever been able to explain, +and yet which happens so often—the production of an eagle in a brood of +common barnyard fowls—a <a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a><span class="pagenum">page 170</span>miracle, however, which never +happens except when the barnyard fowls are of the human species. +Benjamin himself, at first, was only an ugly duckling in no way +remarkable.</p> + +<p>At the age of ten, he was apprenticed to his brother, who was a printer, +and needed a boy to do the dirty work around the office, and thought +there was no need of paying good money to an outsider, when it might +just as well be kept in the family. So Benjamin went to work sweeping +out, and washing up the dirty presses, and making himself generally +useful during the day; but—and here is the first gleam of the eagle's +feather—instead of going to bed with the sun as most boys did, he sat +up most of the night reading such books and papers as he was able to get +hold of at the office, or himself writing short articles for the paper +which his brother published. These he slipped unsigned under the front +door of the office, so that his brother would not suspect they came from +him; for no man is a prophet to his own family, and these contributions +would have promptly gone into the waste basket had his brother suspected +their source. As it was, however, they were printed, and not until +Benjamin revealed their authorship did his brother discover how bad they +were.</p> + +<p>After he had served in the printing office for seven years, Benjamin +came to the conclusion that his family would never appreciate him at his +real worth. He was like most boys in this, differing from them only in +being right. So he sold some of his books, <a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a><span class="pagenum">page 171</span>and without saying +anything to his father or brother, who would probably have reasoned him +out of his purpose with a cowhide whip, he hid himself on board a boat +bound for New York. Arrived there, he soon discovered that printers and +budding geniuses were in no great demand, and so proceeded on to +Philadelphia, partly on foot and partly by water.</p> + +<p>Everyone knows the story of how he landed there, with only a few pennies +in his pocket, but with a sublime confidence in his ability to make +more; how he proceeded to the nearest bakeshop, asked for three pennies' +worth of bread, and when he was given three loaves, took them rather +than reveal his ignorance by confessing that he really wanted only one +loaf, and walked up Market street, with a loaf under each arm, and +eating the third. He has told the story in his inimitable way in his +autobiography, a work which gives him high place among American men of +letters. Small wonder that red-cheeked Deborah Reed smiled at him from +the door of her father's house—but Franklin saw the smile and +remembered it, and though it brought them both distress enough at first, +he asked Deborah to be his wife, six years later, and she consented, and +a good wife she made him. Years afterward, when he was Ambassador to +France and the pet of the French court, the centre of perhaps the most +brilliant and witty circle in Europe, the talk, one day, chanced to turn +upon tailors, of whom the company expressed the utmost detestation. +Franklin listened with a quiet smile, which some one at last observed.</p> + +<p><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a><span class="pagenum">page 172</span>"Don't you agree," he was asked, "that tailors are a +conscienceless and extortionate class?"</p> + +<p>"No," he answered, still smiling; "how could I? You see, I'm in love +with mine."</p> + +<p>And he told proudly and with shining eyes how the clothes he wore had +been spun into thread and woven into cloth and cut out and fitted and +sewed together by his wife's own hands; and it was no doubt Deborah he +had in mind when he said: "God bless all good women who help men to do +their work."</p> + +<p>The young adventurer had no difficulty in finding employment as a +printer, for printers were in demand in that Quaker city. He prospered +from the first, and at the age of twenty-four, had a little business of +his own, and was editing the <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>. Two years later, he +began the publication of an almanac purporting to be written by one +Richard Saunders, and which soon won an immense reputation as "Poor +Richard's Almanac." As an almanac, it did not differ much from others, +but, in addition to the usual information about the tides and changes of +the moon and seasons of the year, it contained a wealth of wise and +witty sayings, many of which have passed into proverbs and are in common +use to-day. Here are a few of them:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Virtue and a trade are a child's best portions.</p> + +<p> Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.</p> + +<p> The way to be safe is never to be secure.</p> + +<p> When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.</p> + +<p> <a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a><span class="pagenum">page 173</span>Well done is better than well said.</p> + +<p> God helps them that help themselves.</p> + +<p> Wish not so much to live long as to live well.</p> + +<p> He that won't be counselled can't be helped.</p></div> + +<p>That he was a philosopher in deed as well as in word was soon to be +proved, for, at the age of forty-two, he did the wisest thing a man can +do, but for which very few have courage. He had won an established +position in the world and as much wealth as he felt he needed, so he +sold his business, intending to devote the remainder of his life to +science, of which he had always been passionately fond. Already he had +founded the Philadelphia Library and the American Philosophical Society, +had invented the Franklin stove, and served as postmaster of +Philadelphia, and a few years later, he established the institution +which is now the University of Pennsylvania. It was at about this time +that, by experimenting with a kite, he proved lightning to be a +discharge of electricity, and suggested the use of lightning rods.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="franklin" id="franklin"></a><img src="images/Illus-0416-1.jpg" alt="(27KB) franklin" width="365" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">FRANKLIN</span> +</div> + +<p>But his scientific studies were destined to be interrupted, for his +country called him, and the remainder of his life was passed in her +service, first as agent in London for Pennsylvania, where he did +everything possible to avert the Revolution; then as a member of the +Continental Congress, and one of the committee of five which drew up the +Declaration of Independence; then as ambassador to France, where, +practically unaided, he succeeded in effecting the alliance between the +two countries which secured the independence of the colonies; and +finally as President <a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a><span class="pagenum">page 174</span>of Pennsylvania and a member of the +Constitutional Convention. His last public act was to petition Congress +to abolish slavery in the United States. If one were asked to name the +three men who did most to secure the independence of their country, they +would be George Washington, who fought her battles, Robert Morris, who +financed them, and Benjamin Franklin, who secured the aid of France. +When Thomas Jefferson, who had been selected as minister to France, +appeared at the court of Louis XVI, he presented his papers to the Comte +de Vergennes.</p> + +<p>"You replace Mr. Franklin?" inquired the nobleman, glancing at the +papers.</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur," Jefferson replied, "I succeed him. No one could replace +him."</p> + +<p>And that answer had more truth than wit.</p> + +<p>Honors came to Franklin such as no other American has ever received, but +he remained from first to last the same quiet, deep-hearted, and +unselfish man, whose chief motive was the promotion of human welfare. He +had his faults and made his mistakes; but time has sloughed them all +away, and there are few sources of inspiration which can compare with +the study of his life.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No family has loomed larger in American affairs than the Adams family of +Massachusetts. John Adams, President himself and living to see his own +son President—an experience which, probably no other man will ever +enjoy—had a second cousin who <a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a><span class="pagenum">page 175</span>played a much more important +part than he did in securing the independence of the United States. His +name was Samuel Adams, and when he graduated from Harvard in 1740, at +the age of eighteen, his thesis discussed the question, "Whether it be +lawful to resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth cannot +otherwise be preserved," and answered it in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>Samuel Adams was a silent, stern and deeply religious man, something of +a dreamer, a bad manager and constantly in debt; but he was perhaps the +first in America to conceive the idea of absolute independence from +Great Britain, and he worked for this end unceasingly and to good +purpose. The wealthy John Hancock was one of his converts, and it was +partly to warn these two of the troops sent out to capture them that +Paul Revere took that famous ride to Lexington on the night of April 18, +1775. A month later, when General Gage offered amnesty to all the +rebels, Hancock and Adams were especially excepted.</p> + +<p>It was Samuel Adams who, perceiving that Virginia was apt to be lukewarm +in aiding a war which was to be fought mostly in the North, suggested +the appointment of Virginia's favorite son, George Washington, as +commander-in-chief of the American army, and who seconded the motion to +that effect made by John Adams. He lived to see his dream of +independence realized, and his grave in the old Granary burying ground +at Boston is one of the pilgrimage places of America.</p> + +<p><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a><span class="pagenum">page 176</span>With his name that of John Hancock is, as we have seen, +closely associated. The worldly circumstances of the two were very +different, for Samuel Adams was always poor, while John Hancock had +fallen heir to one of the greatest fortunes in New England. He was only +twenty-seven at the time, and his fortune made a fool of him, as sudden +wealth has a way of doing. It was at this time, being young and +impressionable, he met Samuel Adams, a silent and reserved man, fifteen +years his senior and regarded by his neighbors as a harmless crank. But +there was something about him which touched Hancock's imagination—and +touched his pocketbook, too, for about the first thing Adams did was to +borrow money from him.</p> + +<p>Hancock was no doubt glad to lend the money, for he had more than he +knew what to do with, and spent it in such a lavish manner that he was +soon one of the most popular men in Boston. So when one of his ships was +seized for smuggling in a cargo of wine, all his friends and employees +got together and paraded the streets, and a lot of boys and loafers +joined them, for drink was flowing freely, and pretty soon there was a +riot, and the troops were called out and fired a volley and killed five +men, and the rest of the mob decided that it was time to go home, and +went. And that was the Boston massacre about which you have heard so +much that it would almost seem to rank with that of St. Bartholomew. +But, as the Irishman remarked, the man who gets his finger pinched makes +a lot more racket than the one <a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a><span class="pagenum">page 177</span>who gets his head cut off; and +the Boston massacre, for all the hullabaloo that was raised about it, +was merely an insignificant street riot. No doubt Samuel Adams did his +full share in fanning that little spark into a conflagration!</p> + +<p>For Adams had acquired great influence over Hancock, and that vapid +young man was fond of being seen in the company of the older one. Adams +was anxious to secure Hancock for the revolutionary cause, and soon had +him so hopelessly entangled that there was no escape for him. On the +anniversary of the Boston massacre, he persuaded Hancock to deliver a +revolutionary speech, which he had himself prepared, and after that +there was a British order out for Hancock's arrest; Adams contrived that +Hancock should be one of the three delegates from Massachusetts to the +Continental Congress—John and Samuel Adams were the other two—and +Hancock was deeply impressed by the honor; at the second Congress, Adams +saw to it that his friend was chosen President. In consequence, Hancock +was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, the incident +which is the best known in his career. He signed the document in great +sprawly letters, remarking grandiloquently, as he did so, "I guess King +George can read that without spectacles," and for many years, "John +Hancock" was the synonym for a bold signature. He was afterwards +governor of Massachusetts for more than a decade, and on one occasion +attempted to snub Washington, with very poor success. His body lies in +the old Granary <a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a><span class="pagenum">page 178</span>burying-ground, only a step from that of +Samuel Adams.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>One day, while Thomas Jefferson was a student at William and Mary +College, at Williamsburg, a young friend named Patrick Henry dropped in +to see him, and announced that he had come to Williamsburg to be +admitted to the bar.</p> + +<p>"How long have you studied law?" Jefferson inquired.</p> + +<p>"Oh, for over six weeks," Henry answered.</p> + +<p>The story goes that Jefferson advised his friend to go home and study +for at least a fortnight longer; but Henry declared that the only way to +learn law was to practice it, and went ahead and took the examination, +such as it was, and passed!</p> + +<p>That was in 1760, and Patrick Henry was twenty-four years old at the +time. He had been a wild boy, cared little for books, and had failed as +a farmer and as a merchant before turning to law as a last resort. Nor +as a lawyer was he a great success, the truth being that he lacked the +industry and diligence which are essential to success in any profession; +but he had one supreme gift, that of lofty and impassioned oratory. In +1765, as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he made the +rafters ring and his auditors turn pale by his famous speech against the +stamp act; as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, he made +the only real speech of the Congress, arousing the delegates from an +attitude <a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a><span class="pagenum">page 179</span>of mutual suspicion to one of patriotic ardor for a +common cause.</p> + +<p>"Government," said he, "is dissolved. Where are your landmarks, your +boundaries of colonies? The distinctions between Virginians, +Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a +Virginian, but an American."</p> + +<p>Samuel Adams said afterwards that, but for that speech, which drew the +delegates together and made them forget their differences, the Congress +would probably have ended in a wrangle. And a year later, again in +Virginia, in defense of his resolution to arm the militia, he gave +utterance to the most famous speech of all, starting quietly with the +sentence, "Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the +illusions of hope," and ending with the tremendous cry: "I know not what +course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me +death!"</p> + +<p>That was the supreme moment of Patrick Henry's life. He did a great work +after that, as member of the Continental Congress, as commander-in-chief +of the Virginia forces, and as governor of the Commonwealth, but never +again did he come so near the stars—as, indeed, few men ever do.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>You have all heard the story of Damon and Pythias, true type of devoted +friendship, and history abounds in such examples; but sometimes it shows +a darker side, and the controlling force in two men's lives will be hate +instead of love, and the end will be shipwreck and tragedy. Such a story +we are to <a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a><span class="pagenum">page 180</span>tell briefly here of the lives of Alexander +Hamilton and Aaron Burr.</p> + +<p>They were born a year apart. Burr in 1756, at Newark, New Jersey; +Hamilton, in 1757, on the little West Indian island of Nevis. Burr was +of a distinguished ancestry, his grandfather being the famous Jonathan +Edwards; Hamilton's father was an obscure planter whose first name has +been lost to history. Burr graduated at Princeton, entered the army, +rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and resigned in 1777 to study +law, being admitted to the New York bar five years later. Hamilton was +sent to New York, entered King's, now Columbia, College, got caught in +the rising tide of Revolution, proved himself uncommonly ready with +tongue and pen, enlisted, saw the battles of Long Island, Trenton, and +Princeton, was appointed aide-de-camp to Washington and acted as his +secretary, filling the post admirably, but resigned in a fit of pique +over a fancied slight, and repaired to New York to study law. Such, in +outline, is the history of these two men until Fate threw them in each +other's way.</p> + +<p>New York City was the arena where the battle was fought. Within a few +years, Hamilton and Burr were the most famous men in the town. They +resembled each other strongly in temperament and disposition; each was +"passionate, brooking no rivalry; ambitious, faltering at no obstacle; +proud with a fiery and aggressive pride; eloquent with the quick wit, +the natural vivacity, and the lofty certainty <a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a><span class="pagenum">page 181</span>of the true +orator." They were too nearly alike to be friends; they became +instinctive enemies. Each felt that the other was in the way.</p> + +<p>For sixteen years, Burr practiced law in New York, growing steadily in +influence. For five of those years, Hamilton did the same. They were the +foremost lawyers in the city. No man could stand before them, and when +they met on opposite sides of a case, it was, indeed, a meeting of +giants. But in 1789, Washington appointed Hamilton his secretary of the +treasury, and leaving New York, Hamilton applied himself to the great +task of establishing the public credit, laying the basis for the +financial system of the nation, which endures until this day. It was a +splendid task, splendidly performed, and Hamilton emerged from it the +leader of the powerful Federal party.</p> + +<p>In 1800, two men were candidates for the presidency. One was Thomas +Jefferson and the other was Aaron Burr. Instead of being overwhelmed by +the great Virginian, Burr received an equal number of electoral votes, +and the contest was referred to Congress for decision. As a Federalist, +Burr felt that he should have Hamilton's support, but Hamilton used his +great influence against him, stigmatizing him as "a dangerous man," and +Jefferson was elected. Four years later, Burr was a candidate for +governor of New York, and again Hamilton openly, bitterly, and +successfully opposed him, again speaking of him as "a dangerous man."</p> + +<p>Smarting under the sting of this second defeat, <a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a><span class="pagenum">page 182</span>Burr sent a +note to Hamilton asking if the expression, "a dangerous man," referred +to him politically or personally. Hamilton sent a sneering reply, and +expressed himself as willing to abide by the consequences. It was +"fighting language between fighting men"—a quarrel which Hamilton had +been seeking for five years and which he had done everything in his +power to provoke—and Burr promptly sent a challenge. Hamilton as +promptly accepted it, named pistols at ten paces as the weapons, and at +seven o'clock on the morning of July 11, 1804, the two men faced each +other on the heights of Weehawken, overlooking New York bay. Both fired +at the word; Burr's bullet passed through Hamilton's body; Hamilton's +cut a twig above Burr's head. Hamilton died next day, and Burr, his +political career at an end, buried himself in the West.</p> + +<p>Three years later, he was arrested, charged with treason, for attempting +to found an independent state within the borders of the Union. He had a +wild dream of establishing a great empire to the west of the +Mississippi, and had collected arms and men for the expedition, and was +on his way down the Mississippi when he was arrested and taken back to +Richmond for trial. But his plan could not be proved to be treasonable; +indeed, his arrest was due more to the animosity which Jefferson felt +toward him, than from any other cause, and, brought to trial a year +later, he was acquitted. But his reputation was ruined, there was no +hope for him in public life, and his remaining years were spent quietly +in the practice <a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a><span class="pagenum">page 183</span>of his profession, partly abroad and partly +in New York.</p> + +<p>It has been too much the habit to picture Burr as a thoroughgoing +scoundrel who murdered an innocent man and conspired against his +country. As a matter of fact, he did neither. Of the charge of treason +he was acquitted, even at a time when public feeling ran high against +him, and in the quarrel with Hamilton, it was Hamilton who was at all +times the aggressor. Both were brilliant, accomplished and courtly +men—even, perhaps, men of genius—but Fate spread a net for their feet, +blindly they stumbled into it, and, too proud to retrace their steps, +pushed on to the tragic end.</p> + +<p>The presiding judge at Burr's trial, not the least of whose achievements +was the holding level of the scales of justice on that memorable +occasion, was the last of that great school of statesmen who had fought +for their country's independence, and who had seen the states united +under a common Constitution. John Marshall lived well into the +nineteenth century, and his great work was to interpret that +Constitution to the country, to give it the meaning which it has for us +to-day. Marshall was a Virginian, was just of age at the outbreak of the +Revolution, and served in the American army for five years, enlisting as +a private and rising to the rank of captain. At the close of the war, he +studied law, gained a prominent place in the politics of his state, drew +the attention of Washington by his unusual ability, and in 1800 was +appointed by him secretary of state. A year <a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a><span class="pagenum">page 184</span>later he was made +chief justice of the Supreme Court—an appointment little less than +inspired in its wisdom.</p> + +<p>For thirty-four years, John Marshall occupied that exalted position, +interpreting to the new country its organic law, and the decisions +handed down by him remain the standard authority on constitutional +questions. In clearness of thought, breadth of view, and strength of +logic they have never been surpassed. His service to his country was of +incalculable value, for he built for the national government a firm, +foundation which has stood unshaken through the years.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So we come to a new era in American history—an era marked by unexampled +bitterness of feeling and culminating in the great struggle for the +preservation of the Union. Across this era, three mighty giants cast +their shadows—Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.</p> + +<p>Closely and curiously intertwined were the destinies of these three men, +Clay was born in 1777; Webster and Calhoun five years later. Calhoun and +Clay were Irishmen and hated England; Webster was a Scotchman, and +Scotchmen were usually Tories. Calhoun and Clay were southerners, but +with a difference, for Calhoun was born in the very sanctum sanctorum of +the South, South Carolina, while Clay's life was spent in the border +state of Kentucky, so removed from the South that it did not secede from +the Union. Webster was a product of <a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a><span class="pagenum">page 185</span>Massachusetts. Calhoun +and Webster were, in temperament and belief, as far apart as the poles; +Clay stood between them, "the great compromiser." Calhoun and Webster +were greater than Clay, for they possessed a larger genius and a broader +culture; and Webster was a greater man than Calhoun, because he +possessed the truer vision. Calhoun died in 1850; Clay and Webster in +1852. For the forty years previous to that, these three men were in +every way the most famous and conspicuous in America. Others flashed, +meteor-like, into a brief brilliance; but these three burned steady as +the stars. They had no real rivals. And yet, though each of them was +consumed by an ambition to be President, not one was able to realize +that ambition, and their last years were embittered by defeat.</p> + +<p>As has been said, Clay was the smallest man of the three. His reputation +rests, not upon constructive statesmanship, but upon his ability as a +party leader, in which respect he has had few equals in American +history, and upon his success in proposing compromises. Born in +Virginia, and admitted to the bar in 1797, he moved the same year to +Lexington, Kentucky, where his practice brought him rapid and brilliant +success. His personality, too, won him many friends, and it was so all +his life. "To come within reach of the snare of his speech was to love +him," and even to this day Kentucky believes that no statesman ever +lived who equalled this adopted son of hers, nor doubts the entire +sincerity of his famous boast that he would rather be right than +President.</p> + +<p><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a><span class="pagenum">page 186</span>Of course he got into politics. That was his natural and +inevitable field. As early as 1806 he was sent to the Senate, and +afterwards to the House, of which he was speaker for thirteen years. +Three times was he a candidate for the presidency, defeated once by John +Quincy Adams, once by Andrew Jackson, and once, when victory seemed +almost his, by William Henry Harrison. That other great party leader, +James G. Blaine, was to meet a similar fate years later. Henry Clay +lacked the deep foresight, the prophetic intuition necessary to +statesmanship of the first rank, and some of the achievements which he +considered the greatest of his life were in reality blunders which had +afterwards to be corrected. But as a compromiser, as a rider of troubled +waters, and a pilot at a time when shipwreck seemed imminent and +unavoidable, he proved his consummate ability, and merits the gratitude +of his country.</p> + +<p>Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were leaders in the same great party, and +were, for the most part, personal friends as well as political allies. +But Webster overshadowed Clay in intellect, however he may have been +outdistanced by him in political astuteness. If Clay were the fox, +Webster was the lion. As a constitutional lawyer, he has never been +excelled; as an orator, no other American has ever equalled him. He had +in supreme degree the orator's equipment of a dominant and impressive +personality, a moving voice, an eloquent countenance, and a command of +words little less than inspired. The last sentences <a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a><span class="pagenum">page 187</span>of his +reply to Hayne have come ringing down the years, and stand unequalled as +sheer eloquence:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun + in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored + fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, + discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds or + drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and + lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, + now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high + advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, + not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, + bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is + all this worth'? nor those other words of delusion and folly, + 'Liberty first and Union afterwards'; but everywhere, spread all + over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, + as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind + under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true + American heart—Liberty <i>and</i> Union, now and forever, one and + inseparable!"</p></div> + +<p>The great audience that listened spellbound to that oration, arose and +left the Capitol like persons in a dream. Never were they to forget the +effect of that tremendous speech.</p> + +<p>But the last years of his life were ruined by his ambition to be +President. In spite of his commanding talents, or, perhaps, because of +them, he never at any time had a chance of receiving the nomination +<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a><span class="pagenum">page 188</span>of his party, and his final defeat in 1852, by Winfield Scott, +practically killed him.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="webster" id="webster"></a><img src="images/Illus-0417-1.jpg" alt="(28KB) webster" width="394" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">WEBSTER</span> +</div> +<p>Webster was the son of a New Hampshire farmer, who managed to send him +to Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1801. Four years later +he was admitted to the bar at Boston, and in 1812 he was elected to +Congress. We find him at once violently opposing the second war with +England, for which Clay was working so aggressively. For ten years after +that, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, and soon +became the foremost lawyer of New England, especially on constitutional +questions. In 1823, he was again sent to Congress; entered the Senate in +1828, and remained in public life practically until his death.</p> + +<p>It was in 1830 that he delivered the speech already referred to—perhaps +the most remarkable ever heard within the walls of the Capitol. Senator +Hayne, of South Carolina, had made a remarkable address, lasting two +days, advocating the right of a state to render null and void an +unconstitutional law of Congress—in other words, the right of secession +from the Union. Two days later, Webster rose to reply. His appearance, +always impressive, was unusually so that day; his argument, always +close-knit and logical, was the very summation of these qualities; his +words seemed edged with fire as he argued that the Constitution is +supreme, the Union indissoluble, and that no state has, or can have the +right to resist or nullify a national law. It was the greatest oration +of America's greatest orator.</p> + +<p><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a><span class="pagenum">page 189</span>Of its effect upon the people who heard it we have spoken; +throughout the country it produced a profound impression. The North felt +that a new prophet had arisen; the South, a new foeman. The great +advocate of nullification, however, was not Hayne, who would be scarcely +remembered to-day but for the fact that it was to him Webster addressed +his reply, but that formidable giant of a man, John C. Calhoun—the man +whom the South felt to be her peculiar representative on the question of +state rights, of nullification, and, at last, of slavery. His fate was +one of the saddest in American history, for the cause he fought for was +a doomed cause, and as he sank into his grave, he saw tottering down +upon him the great structure which he had devoted his whole life to +upholding.</p> + +<p>Not much is known of Calhoun's youth. He was the grandson of an Irish +immigrant who had settled in South Carolina, graduated from Yale in +1804, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and, returning to his native +state, was, in 1811, elected a member of Congress. That was the +beginning of a public career which was to last until his death.</p> + +<p>Almost from the first, he was consumed with an ambition to be President, +and perhaps would have been, but for an incident so trivial that, under +ordinary circumstances, it would have had no consequences. In 1818, as +Monroe's secretary of war, Calhoun had occasion at a cabinet meeting to +express some censure of Andrew Jackson's conduct of the Seminole war—a +censure which was deserved, since <a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a><span class="pagenum">page 190</span>Jackson had violated the +law of nations in pursuing his enemy into a foreign country. Twelve +years later, when Jackson was President and Calhoun, as Vice-President, +was in direct line of succession, so to speak, Jackson heard of +Calhoun's remarks, flew into a violent rage, came out as Calhoun's +declared enemy, and dealt the death-blow to his presidential +aspirations.</p> + +<p>Smarting from this injustice, Calhoun turned his attention to the +question of state sovereignty, and in February, 1833, South Carolina +passed the nullification ordinance to which we have already referred. +Calhoun at once resigned the vice-presidency and took his seat in the +Senate, prepared to defend the attitude of his state. But Jackson did +not wait for that. Seeing that here was an opportunity to strike his +enemy, he ordered troops to South Carolina, and threatened to hang +Calhoun as high as Haman—a threat which he very possibly would have +attempted to carry out had not hostilities been averted by the genius +for compromise of Henry Clay. From that time forward, Calhoun became the +high priest of the doctrine of state rights and the great defender of +slavery. He fought inch by inch the growing sentiment against it; he +knew it was a losing fight, and almost the last words uttered by his +dying lips were, "The South! The poor South! God knows what will become +of her!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The great triumvirate left no successors to compare with them in +prestige or power. Two survivals <a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a><span class="pagenum">page 191</span>from the war of 1812 were +still on the scene, Thomas Hart Benton and Lewis Cass. Benton was a +North Carolina man who had removed to Nashville, and at the outbreak of +the war, enlisted under Andrew Jackson, and got into a disgraceful +street fight with him, in the course of which Jackson was nearly killed. +Strange to say, that doughty old hero chose to forget the matter long +years afterwards, when Benton was in the Senate—a Union senator from +the slave state of Missouri.</p> + +<p>Cass also served through the war, but at the North; was involved in +Hull's surrender of Detroit and broke his sword in rage at the disgrace +of it; and was afterwards governor of Michigan and Jackson's secretary +of war; then, in 1848, Democratic nominee for President and defeated +because of Martin Van Buren's disaffection; finally, in 1857, Buchanan's +secretary of state, resigning, in 1860, because that shilly-shally +President could not make up his mind to send reinforcements to Bob +Anderson at Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. A man who played many +parts, filled many positions, and filled them well, Cass's name deserves +to be more widely remembered than it is.</p> + +<p>In those days, a strange, pompous and ineffective figure was flitting +across the stage, impressing men with a respect and significance which +it did not possess, its name, Stephen A. Douglas, nicknamed "The Little +Giant," but giant in little else than power to create disturbance. +Perhaps no other man ever possessed that power in quite the same +degree; <a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a><span class="pagenum">page 192</span>nor possessed in a greater degree that fascination of +personality which makes friends and gains adherents.</p> + +<p>Consumed by a gnawing desire of the presidency, beaten for the +nomination in 1852, destroying the serenity of the land two years later +by contending that Congress had no right to limit slavery in the +territories, in the vain hope of winning southern support, but finding +himself instead dubbed traitor and Judas Iscariot, receiving thirty +pieces of silver from a club of Ohio women, travelling from Boston to +Chicago "by the light of his own effigies," which yelling crowds were +burning at the stake, and finally hooted off the stage in his own city, +certainly it would seem that Douglas's public career was over forever.</p> + +<p>But he managed to live down his blunder and to regain much of his old +strength by reason of his winning personality; yet made another blunder +when he agreed to meet Abraham Lincoln in debate—and one which cost him +the presidency. For his opponent drove him into corners from which he +could find no way out except at the risk of offending the South. In +those days, one had to be either for or against slavery; there was no +middle course, and the man who attempted to find one, fell between two +stools, as Douglas himself soon learned.</p> + +<p>Last scene of all, pitted against that same Abraham Lincoln who had +greased the plank for him and shorn him of his southern support, in the +presidential contest of 1860, defeated and wounded to death by it, for +he knew that never again would he <a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a><span class="pagenum">page 193</span>be within sight of that +long-sought prize; yet rising nobly at the last to a height of purest +patriotism, declaring for the Union, pledging his support to Lincoln, +pointing the way of duty to his million followers, and destroying at a +blow the South's hope of a divided North—let us do Stephen A. Douglas, +that justice, and render him that meed of praise; for whatever the +mistakes and turnings and evasions of his career, that last great work +of his outweighed them all.</p> + +<p>A man who had a great reputation in his own day as an orator and +statesman, but whose polished periods appeal less and less to succeeding +generations was Edward Everett—an evidence, perhaps, that the head +alone can never win lasting fame. Everett was a New Englander; a Harvard +man, graduating with the highest honors; and two years later, pastor of +a Unitarian church in Boston. There his eloquence soon attracted +attention, and won him a wide reputation. At the age of twenty-one, he +was appointed professor of Greek at Harvard; and in 1824, at the age of +thirty, he was chosen to represent the Boston district in Congress. He +remained there for ten years, served four terms as governor of +Massachusetts, was ambassador to England, and then, president of Harvard +from 1846-1849; was appointed secretary of state on the death of Daniel +Webster in 1852; and finally, in the following year, was elected to the +Senate, but was soon forced to resign on account of ill-health.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, he threw himself into the project <a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a><span class="pagenum">page 194</span>to +purchase Mount Vernon by private subscription, delivered his oration on +Washington 122 times, netting more than $58,000 toward the project; +obtained another $10,000 from the <i>Public Ledger</i> by writing for it a +weekly article for the period of a year, and added $3,000 more, secured +from the readers of that paper. From that time on, he delivered various +lectures for philanthropic causes, the receipts aggregating nearly a +hundred thousand dollars. They are little read to-day because, in spite +of his erudition, polish and high attainments, Everett really had no new +message to deliver.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>With the coming of the Civil War, another triumvirate emerges to control +the destinies of the nation—Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and +William Henry Seward. Stevens and Seward had been introduced to politics +by the ineffectual and absurd anti-Masonic party, which flitted across +the stage in the early thirties. In 1851, Massachusetts rebuked Daniel +Webster for his supposed surrender to the slavery party, made in hope of +attaining the presidency, by placing Sumner in his seat in the Senate, +and retiring him to private life, where he still remained the most +commanding figure in the country.</p> + +<p>Seward was already in the Senate, had spoken in reply to Webster, and +assumed the leadership which Webster forfeited. In the House, too, was +Stevens, who soon gained prominence by a certain vitriolic force which +was in him, and these three men labored unceasingly for the defeat of +the South—indeed, <a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a><span class="pagenum">page 195</span>for more than its defeat—for payment, to +the last drop, for the sins it had committed. They were bound together +by party ties and in other ways, but most closely of all by a hatred of +slavery, which, with Stevens and Sumner, mounted at times to fanaticism +and led them into the errors always awaiting the fanatic.</p> + +<p>Thaddeus Stevens, the oldest of the three, had been born in Vermont, but +removed to Pennsylvania at the age of twenty-two, and began to practice +law there. In 1831, he was one of the moving spirits in the formation of +the anti-Masonic party, which fancied it saw, in the spread of Masonry, +a grave danger to the republic. Two years later, Stevens was chosen a +member of the Pennsylvania legislature, but his career did not really +begin until, in 1848, at the age of fifty-seven, he was elected a member +of the national House of Representatives, where he soon took his place +as the leader of the anti-slavery faction. From that time forward, he +was unceasing in his warfare against slavery, frequently going to +lengths where few cared to follow, and which would seem to indicate that +there was a trace of madness in the man. He developed an exaggerated and +sentimental regard for the negro, and grew radical and relentless toward +the South.</p> + +<p>At the close of the war, he regarded the southern states as conquered +territory, to be treated as such, and his ideas of treatment seem to +have been founded upon those of the Middle Ages. He wished to confiscate +the property of all Confederates; endeavored <a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a><span class="pagenum">page 196</span>to impeach +President Johnson, who was trying to enforce a system of reconstruction +which was at least better than that which Stevens advocated. For a time +he seemed to suffer from a very vertigo of hatred, which ate into his +soul and destroyed him. The plan of reconstruction adopted by Congress +was an embodiment of his ideas; but Johnson was acquitted of the charges +Stevens brought against him, and Stevens's poison, as it were, turned in +upon himself and killed him. His last request, that his body be buried +in an obscure private cemetery, because public cemeteries excluded +negroes, shows the man's unbalanced condition, the length to which his +ideas had led him.</p> + +<p>Charles Sumner, who was to the Senate much what Stevens was to the +House, although a larger and better-balanced man, was a typical +Bostonian and inheritor of the New England conscience, which, of course, +meant that he was opposed through and through to slavery. He was a +successful lawyer, and as his sentiments were well known, he was chosen +to succeed Webster when the latter wavered on the anti-slavery question, +and threw some pledges of assistance to the South. There was never any +doubt about Sumner's position, no sign of wavering or coquetting with +the enemy, and in 1856, he was assaulted by a southern senator and so +severely injured that three years passed before he could resume his +seat.</p> + +<p>He did so in time to oppose any compromise with slavery or the slave +power, which the threatening <a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a><span class="pagenum">page 197</span>attitude of the South had almost +scared the North into considering, and urged the immediate emancipation +of the slaves. When this had been accomplished, his first thought was to +make sure that the slaves would remain free, and he began the contest +for negro suffrage, as the only guarantee of negro freedom, which he +finally won. In the reconstruction period following the war, he was +inevitably an ally of Thaddeus Stevens, though the latter far surpassed +him in vindictiveness toward the South.</p> + +<p>Let us not forget that the South had shown itself blind to its own +interests when, as soon as reconstructed by Andrew Johnson, it had, +state by state, adopted laws virtually enslaving the black man again. +But for this fatuity, there would probably have been no such feeling of +vindictiveness at the North as soon developed there; certainly there +would have been no excuse for such severity as was afterwards exhibited. +So it is true in a sense that the South has itself to blame for the +horrors of the reconstruction period, and for the suspicion with which +its good faith toward the negro was for many years regarded. Sumner was +not a vindictive man, and in his last years, incurred a vote of censure +from his own State for offering a bill to remove the names of battles of +the Civil War from the Army Register and from the regimental colors of +the United States. He practically died in harness in 1874. Looking back +at him, one sees how much larger he looms than Stevens; one cannot but +admire his courage and honesty of purpose; his public life was a +continual <a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a><span class="pagenum">page 198</span>struggle for the right, as he saw it, and, +remembering that, his faults need not trouble us.</p> + +<p>When Sumner arrived in the Senate, he found William H. Seward, of New +York, already there. Seward, who had been admitted to the bar in 1822, +at the age of twenty-one, was carried into the New York legislature by +the anti-Masonic wave of 1830. Eight years later, he was the Whig +governor of the state, and in 1849 was sent to the Senate. There he soon +rivetted attention by his rebuke of Webster for condoning the Fugitive +Slave Law, and caught the reins of party leadership as they fell from +Webster's hands. It was then that he made his famous statement that the +war against slavery was waged under a "higher law than the +Constitution," and that the fall of slavery was inevitable.</p> + +<p>In 1856, when the newly-formed anti-slavery party, known as the +Republican, met to name a national ticket, Seward was the logical +candidate, but refused to allow his name to be considered, and the +choice fell upon that brilliant adventurer, John C. Frémont. Frémont +was, of course, defeated, and Seward continued to be the leader of +Republican thought, and the chief originator of Republican doctrine. +Indeed, he was, in a sense, the Republican party, so that, four years +later, he seemed not only the logical but the inevitable choice of the +party for President. His most formidable opponent was Abraham Lincoln, +of Illinois, who had been carefully working for the nomination, and who +was blessed with the shrewdest of campaign managers. Seward led on the +<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a><span class="pagenum">page 199</span>first ballot, and would have won but for the expert trading +already referred to in the story of Lincoln's nomination.</p> + +<p>It was natural that Lincoln should offer him the state portfolio, and +Seward accepted it. From first to last, he held true to the President, +and the services he rendered the country were second only to those of +Lincoln himself. When Lincoln was killed, an attempt was also made to +murder Seward, and was very nearly successful—so nearly that for days +Seward lingered between life and death. He recovered, however, to resume +his place in Johnson's cabinet. Over the new President he had great +influence; he had long been an advocate of mercy toward the South, and +he did much to persuade the President to the course he followed in +restoring the southern states to the Union, without reference to the +wishes of Congress. Even John Sherman pronounced the plan "wise and +judicious," but Stevens, Sumner, and their powerful coterie in Congress +violently opposed it, and Seward came in for his share of the +vituperation and bitter accusation which the plan called forth. +Johnson's defeat closed his political career, and the last years of his +life were spent in travel.</p> + +<p>The very cause of his downfall marks him as the greatest of the three, +for he placed justice above expediency, and not even the attempt upon +his life changed his feeling toward the South. Perhaps the wisdom of his +judgment was never better exemplified than in his purchase from Russia +of the great territory <a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a><span class="pagenum">page 200</span>known as Alaska, for the sum of +$7,200,000. Alaska was regarded at the time as an icy desert of no +economic value, but time has changed that estimate, and the discovery of +gold there made it one of the richest of the country's possessions.</p> + +<p>Outside of Seward, Sumner and Stevens, the most prominent public man of +the time was Salmon P. Chase, an Ohioan who had for many years taken an +important part in the anti-slavery controversy. Although sent to the +Senate in 1849 as a Democrat, he left the party on the nomination of +Pierce in 1852, when it stood committed to the support and extension of +slavery. Three years later, he was elected governor of Ohio by the +Republicans. He was Lincoln's secretary of the treasury, and financed +the country during its most trying period in a way that compelled the +admiration even of his enemies. He served afterwards as Chief Justice of +the Supreme Court, dying in 1873. He was another man whose life was +embittered by failure to attain the prize of the presidency. Three times +he tried for it, in 1860, in 1864, and in 1868, but he never came within +measurable distance of it. For he lacked the capacity for making +friends, and repelled rather than attracted by a studiously impressive +demeanor, a painful decorousness, and an unbending dignity, which was, +of course, no true dignity at all, but merely a bad imitation of it. In +a word, he lacked the saving sense of humor—the quality which endeared +Abraham Lincoln to the whole nation.</p> + +<p>Another Ohioan who loomed large in the history <a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a><span class="pagenum">page 201</span>of the time +was John Sherman, a lawyer like all the rest, a member of Congress since +1855, not at first a great opponent of slavery, but drawn into the +battle by his allegiance to the Republican party, forming an alliance +with Thaddeus Stevens, and collaborating with him in the production of +the reconstruction act. He was appointed secretary of the treasury by +President Hayes, in 1876, and his great work for the country was done in +that office, in re-establishing the credit which the Civil War had +shaken. He, also, was bitten by the presidential bacillus, and was a +candidate for the nomination at three conventions, but each time fell +short of the goal—once when he had it seemingly within his grasp. A +stern, forceful, capable man, he left his impress upon the times.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Of the men who guided the fortunes of the Confederacy, only two need be +mentioned here—Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens; for, rich as +the Confederacy was in generals, it was undeniably poor in statesmen. +The golden age of the South had departed; with John C. Calhoun passed +away the last really commanding figure among Dixie's statesmen, and from +him to Jefferson Davis is a long step downward.</p> + +<p>Davis's early life was romantic enough. Born in 1808 in Kentucky, of a +father who had served in the Revolution, appointed to the National +Military Academy by President Monroe; graduating there in 1828 and +serving through the Black Hawk war; then abruptly resigning from the +army to elope with <a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a><span class="pagenum">page 202</span>the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, +and settling near Vicksburg, Mississippi, to embark in cotton planting; +drawn irresistibly into politics and sent to Congress, but resigning to +accept command of the First Mississippi Rifles and serving with great +distinction through the war with Mexico; and, finally, in 1847, sent to +the Senate—such was Davis's history up to the time he became involved +in the maelstrom of the slavery question.</p> + +<p>From the first, he was an ardent advocate of the state-rights theory of +government, and the right of secession, and for thirteen years he +defended these theories in the Senate, gradually emerging as the most +capable advocate the South possessed. That fiery and impulsive people, +looking always for a hero to worship, found one in Jefferson Davis, and +he soon gained an immense prestige among them. On January 9, 1861, his +state seceded from the Union, and he withdrew from the Senate. Before he +reached home, he was elected commander-in-chief of the Army of the +Mississippi, and a few days later, he was chosen President of the +Confederate States.</p> + +<p>From the first, his task was a difficult one, and it grew increasingly +so as the war went on. That he performed it well, there can be no +question. He was the government, was practically dictator, for he +dominated the Confederate Congress absolutely, and its principal +business was to pass the laws which he prepared. Only toward the close +of the war did it, in a measure, free itself from this control, and, +finally, in 1865, it passed a resolution attributing <a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a><span class="pagenum">page 203</span> +Confederate disaster to Davis's incompetency as commander-in-chief, +a position which he had insisted on occupying; removing him from that +position and conferring it upon General Lee, giving the latter, at the +same time, unlimited powers in disposing of the army.</p> + +<p>But it was too late. Even Lee himself could not ward off the inevitable. +On the morning of Sunday, April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis sat in his pew +at church in the city of Richmond, when an officer handed him a +telegram. It was from Lee, and read, "Richmond must be evacuated this +evening," Lee had fought and lost the battle of Petersburg, and was in +full retreat. Davis left the church quietly, called his cabinet +together, packed up the government archives, and boarded a train for the +South. For over a month, he moved from place to place endeavoring to +escape capture, his party melting away until it comprised only his +family and a few servants; and finally, on May 9th, he was surprised and +taken by a company of Union cavalry near Irwinsville, in southern +Georgia. Davis was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe for two years—a +thoroughly senseless procedure which only served to keep open a painful +wound—and on Christmas Day, 1868, was pardoned by President Johnson.</p> + +<p>Davis's imprisonment had added immensely to his prestige. The South +forgot his blunders and short-comings, seeing in him only the martyr who +had suffered for his people, and welcomed him with a kind of hysterical +adoration, which lasted until his <a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a><span class="pagenum">page 204</span>death. The last years of +his life were passed quietly on his estate in Mississippi.</p> + +<p>When Davis was chosen President of the Confederacy, Alexander H. +Stephens was chosen Vice-President. Stephens had also had a picturesque +career. Left an orphan, without means, at the age of fifteen he had +nevertheless secured an education, and, in 1834, after two months' +study, was admitted to the Georgia bar. He at once began to win a more +than local reputation, for he was a man of unusual ability, and in 1836, +he was elected to the Legislature, though an avowed opponent of +nullification.</p> + +<p>Seven years later, he was sent to Congress, and continued to oppose the +secession movement; but he saw whither things were trending, and in 1859 +he resigned from Congress, remarking that he knew there was going to be +a smash-up and thought he would better get off while there was time. In +1860 he made a great Union speech; and it is a remarkable proof of the +hold he had upon the people of the South, that, in spite of this, and of +his well-known convictions, he was chosen Vice-President of the +Confederacy a year later. He accepted, but within a year he had +quarrelled with Jefferson Davis on the question of state rights, and in +1864, organized the Georgia Peace party. From that time on to the close +of the war, he labored to bring about a treaty of peace, but in vain.</p> + +<p>He was imprisoned for a few months after the downfall of the +Confederacy, but was soon released <a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a><span class="pagenum">page 205</span>and was prominent in the +political life of Georgia for fifteen years thereafter, being governor +of the state at the time of his death in 1883. A more contradictory, +obstinate, prickly-conscienced man never appeared in American politics.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So passed the era of the Civil War. Have we had any great statesmen +since? Some near-great ones, perhaps, but none of the very first rank. +Great men are moulded by great events, or, at least, require great +events to prove their greatness. Let us pause a moment, however, to pay +tribute to one of the most accomplished party leaders in American +history—a man almost to rank with Henry Clay—James G. Blaine.</p> + +<p>As a young editor from Maine, he had entered Congress in 1863. There he +had encountered another fiery youngster in Roscoe Conkling, and an +intense rivalry sprang up between them. They were very different in +temperament, Blaine being the more popular, Conkling the more brilliant. +Blaine had a genius for making friends and keeping them; Conkling's +quick temper and hasty tongue frequently cost him his most powerful +adherents. Three years later, this rivalry came to an open clash, in +which each denounced the other on the floor of the House in words as +stinging as parliamentary law permitted. Blaine's tirade was so bitter +that Conkling became an implacable enemy and never again spoke to him. +It was almost the story of Hamilton and Burr over again, except that the +age of duelling had passed.</p> + +<p><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a><span class="pagenum">page 206</span>That quarrel on the floor of the House was to have momentous +consequences. Blaine became speaker of the House and the most popular +and powerful man in his party, so that it seemed that nothing could +stand between him and the desire for the presidency which gnawed at his +heart, just as it had at Henry Clay's. But always in the way stood +Conkling.</p> + +<p>In 1876, at Cincinnati, Blaine was nominated by Robert G. Ingersoll in +one of the most eloquent addresses ever delivered on the floor of a +national convention, and on the first ballot fell only a few votes short +of a majority. But his enemies were at work, and on the seventh ballot, +succeeded in stampeding the convention to Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes, +however, was pledged to a single term, and Blaine was hailed as the +nominee in 1880; but when the convention assembled, there was Conkling +with a solid phalanx of over three hundred delegates for Grant. The +result was that neither Blaine nor Grant could get a majority of the +votes, and the nomination fell to Garfield. Finally, by tireless work, +Blaine laid his plans so well that he secured the nomination four years +later, only to have New York State thrown against him by Conkling and to +go down to defeat. Conkling had his revenge, and Blaine's career was +practically at an end, for he was an old and broken man.</p> + +<p>Let us add frankly that there were many within his own party who +mistrusted him—who believed him insincere, if not actually dishonest, +and refused <a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a><span class="pagenum">page 207</span>to support him. For a fourth time, in 1892, he +attempted to get the nomination, but his name had lost its wizardry, and +he was defeated by Benjamin Harrison. There are few more pitiful stories +in American politics than that of this brilliant and able man, consumed +by the desire for a great prize which seemed always within his grasp and +yet which always eluded him. For a quarter of a century, he chased this +will-o'-the-wisp, only to be led by it into a bog and left to perish +there.</p> + +<p>There are a few names on the later pages of American statesmanship which +stand for notable achievement, more especially in the line of diplomacy, +the two greatest of which are those of John Hay and Elihu Root. Both of +these men, as secretary of state, did memorable work; not the sort of +work which appeals to popular imagination, for there was nothing +spectacular about it; but quiet and effective work in the forming of +informal alliances and treaties with foreign nations, maintaining +America's position as a world power, and making her the friend of all +the world. That is the position she should occupy, since she has no +quarrel with any one; and it is with its maintenance that the +statesmanship of the present day is principally concerned.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So we close this chapter on American Statesmen. It is a tragic +chapter—tragic because of thwarted ambitions, and unfulfilled desires. +Of them all, Benjamin Franklin was the only one whose life was from +<span class="pagenum">page 208</span>first to last happy and contented, who realized his ideals and +who died in peace; and this, I think, because he asked nothing for +himself, hungered for no preferment, was consumed by no ambition, +sacrificed nothing to expediency, but accepted life with large +philosophy and never-failing humor, realizing that in serving others he +was best serving himself, and whose inward peace was manifest in his +placid and smiling countenance. Upon the rocks of ambition the greatest +of those who followed him dashed themselves to pieces.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Born at Boston, January 17, 1706; established the +<i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>, 1729; founded Philadelphia library, 1731; began +publication of "Poor Richard's Almanac," 1732; postmaster of +Philadelphia, 1737; founded American Philosophical Society and +University of Pennsylvania, 1743; demonstrated by means of a kite that +lightning is a discharge of electricity, 1752; deputy postmaster-general +for British colonies in America, 1753-74; colonial agent for +Pennsylvania in England, 1757-75; elected to second Continental +Congress, 1775; ambassador to France, 1776-85; negotiated treaty with +France, February 6, 1778; concluded treaty of peace with England, in +conjunction with Jay and Adams, September 3, 1783; returned to America, +1785; President of Pennsylvania, 1785-88; delegate to Constitutional +Convention, 1787; died at Philadelphia, April 17, 1790.</p> + +<p>ADAMS, SAMUEL. Born at Boston, September 27, 1722; delegate to first and +second Continental Congress, <a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a><span class="pagenum">page 209</span>1775-76; lieutenant-governor of +Massachusetts, 1789-94; governor of Massachusetts, 1794-97; died at +Boston, October 2, 1803.</p> + +<p>HANCOCK, JOHN. Born at Quincy, Massachusetts, January 12, 1837; +President of the Provincial Congress, 1774-75; President of Continental +Congress, 1775-77; governor of Massachusetts, 1780-85 and 1787-93; died +at Quincy, October 8, 1793.</p> + +<p>HENRY, PATRICK. Born at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia, May 20, 1736; +admitted to the bar, 1760; entered Virginia House of Burgesses, 1765; +member of Continental Congress, 1774; of Virginia Convention, 1775; +governor of Virginia, 1776-79 and 1784-86; died at Red Hill, Charlotte +County, Virginia, June 6, 1799.</p> + +<p>HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. Born in the island of Nevis, West Indies, January +11, 1757; settled in New York, 1772; entered Continental service as +captain of artillery, 1776; on Washington's staff, 1777-81; member of +Continental Congress, 1782-83; of the Constitutional Convention, 1787; +secretary of the treasury, 1789-95; appointed commander-in-chief of the +army, 1799; mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr, July 11, 1804, +and died the following day.</p> + +<p>BURR, AARON. Born at Newark, New Jersey, February 6, 1756; served with +distinction in the Canada expedition in 1775 and at Monmouth in 1778; +began practice of law in New York, 1783; United States senator, 1791-97; +Vice-President, 1801-05; killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, July 11, +1804; in 1805, conceived plan of conquering Texas and perhaps Mexico and +establishing a great empire in the South-west; <a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a><span class="pagenum">page 210</span>arrested in +Mississippi Territory, January 14, 1807; indicted for treason at +Richmond, Virginia, May 22, and acquitted, September 1, 1807; died at +Port Richmond, Staten Island, September 14, 1836.</p> + +<p>MARSHALL, JOHN. Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, September 24, 1755; +served in the Revolution; United States envoy to France, 1797-98; member +of Congress, 1799-1800; secretary of state, 1800-01; chief justice of +the United States Supreme Court, 1801-35; died at Philadelphia, July 6, +1835.</p> + +<p>CLAY, HENRY. Born in Hanover County, near Richmond, Virginia, April 12, +1777; United States senator from Kentucky, 1806-07 and 1809-11; member +of Congress, 1811-21 and 1823-25; peace commissioner at Ghent, 1814; +candidate for President, 1824; secretary of state, 1825-29; senator, +1832-42 and 1849-52; Whig candidate for President, 1832 and 1844; chief +designer of the "Missouri Compromise" of 1820, of the compromise of +1850, and of the compromise tariff of 1832-33; died at Washington, June +29, 1852.</p> + +<p>WEBSTER, DANIEL. Born at Salisbury, now Franklin, New Hampshire, January +18, 1782; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1801; admitted to the bar at +Boston, 1805; Federalist member of Congress from New Hampshire, 1813-17; +removed to Boston, 1816; member of Congress from Massachusetts, 1823-27; +Whig United States senator, 1827-41; received several electoral votes +for President, 1836, and unsuccessful candidate for Whig nomination +until death; secretary of state, 1841-43; senator, 1845-50; secretary of +state, 1850-52; died at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 24, 1852.</p> + +<p><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a><span class="pagenum">page 211</span>CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL. Born in Abbeville District, South +Carolina, March 18, 1782; graduated at Yale, 1804; admitted to the bar, +1807; member of the South Carolina general assembly, 1808-09; member of +Congress, 1811-17; secretary of war in Monroe's cabinet, 1817-24; +Vice-President, 1825-32; United States senator, 1832-43; secretary of +state under Tyler, 1844-45; re-elected to the Senate of which he +remained a member until his death, at Washington, March 31, 1850.</p> + +<p>BENTON, THOMAS HART. Born at Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, +1782; United States senator from Missouri, 1821-51; member of Congress, +1853-55; died at Washington, April 10, 1858.</p> + +<p>CASS, LEWIS. Born at Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, 1782; served in +the second war with England; governor of Michigan Territory, 1813-31; +secretary of war, 1831-36; minister to France, 1836-42; United States +senator, 1845-48; Democratic candidate for President, 1848; senator, +1849-57; secretary of state, 1857-60; died at Detroit, Michigan, June +17, 1866.</p> + +<p>DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD. Born at Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813; judge +of the Supreme Court of Illinois, 1841; member of Congress, 1843-47; +United States senator, 1847-61; Democratic candidate for President, +1860; died at Chicago, June 3, 1861.</p> + +<p>EVERETT, EDWARD. Born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 11, 1794; +professor of Greek at Harvard, 1819-25; editor the <i>North American +Review</i>, 1819-24; member of Congress, 1825-35; governor of +Massachusetts, 1836-40; minister to England, 1841-45; president of +Harvard College, 1846-49; secretary of <a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a><span class="pagenum">page 212</span>state, 1852-53; +senator, 1853-54; candidate of Constitutional Union party for +Vice-President, 1860; died at Boston, January 15, 1865.</p> + +<p>STEVENS, THADDEUS. Born in Caledonia County, Vermont, April 4, 1792; +graduated at Dartmouth College, 1814; removed to Gettysburg, +Pennsylvania, and admitted to the bar, 1816; Whig member of Congress, +1849-53; Republican member of Congress, 1859-68; proposed impeachment of +President Johnson, 1868; died at Washington, April 11, 1868.</p> + +<p>SUMNER, CHARLES. Born at Boston, January 6, 1811; graduated at Harvard, +1830; admitted to the bar, 1834; United States senator, 1851-74; +assaulted in Senate chamber by Preston Brooks, May 22, 1856; chairman of +committee on foreign affairs, 1861-71; died at Washington, March 11, +1874.</p> + +<p>SEWARD, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Florida, Orange County, New York, May 16, +1801; graduated at Union College, 1820; admitted to the bar, 1822; +member State Senate, 1830-34; Whig governor of New York, 1838-43; United +States senator, 1849-61; candidate for Republican nomination for +President, 1860; secretary of state, 1861-69; died at Auburn, New York, +October 10, 1872.</p> + +<p>CHASE, SALMON PORTLAND. Born at Cornish, New Hampshire, January 13, +1808; United States senator from Ohio, 1849-55; governor of Ohio, +1856-60; secretary of the treasury, 1861-64; chief justice of the +Supreme Court, 1864-73; died at New York City, May 7, 1873.</p> + +<p>SHERMAN, JOHN. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823; admitted to the +bar, 1844; Republican member <a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a><span class="pagenum">page 213</span>of Congress from Ohio, 1855-61; +senator, 1861-77; secretary of the treasury, 1877-81; senator, 1881-97; +secretary of state, 1897-98; candidate for presidential nomination in +1884 and 1888; died at Washington, October 22, 1900.</p> + +<p>DAVIS, JEFFERSON. Born in Christian County, Kentucky, June 3, 1808; +graduated at West Point, 1828; Democratic member of Congress from +Mississippi, 1845-46; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; United States +senator, 1847-51; secretary of war, 1853-57; senator, 1857-61; resigned +his seat, January 21, 1861; inaugurated President of the Confederacy, +February 22, 1862; arrested near Irwinsville, Georgia, May 10, 1865; +imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, 1865-67; amnestied, 1868; died +at New Orleans, December 6, 1889.</p> + +<p>STEPHENS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Born near Crawfordville, Georgia, February +11, 1812; graduated at University of Georgia, 1832; member of State +legislature, 1836; member of Congress, 1843-59; Vice-President of the +Confederacy, 1861-65; imprisoned in Fort Warren, Boston harbor, +May-October, 1865; member of Congress, 1873-82; governor of Georgia, +1883; died at Atlanta, Georgia, March 4, 1883.</p> + +<p>BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE. Born at West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, January +31, 1830; member of Congress from Maine, 1862-76; senator, 1876-81; +secretary of state, 1881 and 1889-92; unsuccessful candidate of +Republican party for President, 1884; died at Washington, January 27, +1893.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>PIONEERS</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a><span class="pagenum">page 214</span>The settlers in America did not find an unoccupied country of +which they were free to take possession, but a land in which dwelt a +savage and warlike people, who had been named Indians, because the first +voyagers supposed that it was the Indies they had discovered. The name +has clung, in spite of the attempts of scientists to fasten upon them +the name Amerinds, to distinguish them from the inhabitants of India. +Indians they will probably always remain, a standing evidence of the +confusion of thought of the early voyagers.</p> + +<p>That the Indians owned the country there can be no question; but +civilization has never stopped to consider the claims of savage peoples, +and it did not in this case. Might made right; besides, the Indians, +consisting of scattered, semi-nomadic tribes, seemed to have no use for +the great territory they occupied. Indeed, they themselves, at first, +welcomed the white-skinned newcomers; but they soon grew jealous of +encroachments which never ceased, and at last fought step by step for +their country. They were driven back, defeated, exterminated. But in the +early years, no settlement was safe, and every man was, in a sense, a +pioneer.</p> + +<p><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a><span class="pagenum">page 215</span>The French, in their eagerness for empire, allied themselves +with the Indians, supplied them with arms, and offered a bounty for +scalps; and for nearly three quarters of a century, a bitter and bloody +contest was waged, which ended only with the expulsion of the French +from the continent. Deprived of their ally, the Indians retreated beyond +the mountains, where their war parties gathered to drive back the white +invader. Those years on the frontier developed a race of men accustomed +to danger and ready for any chance; and towering head and shoulders +above them all stands the mighty figure of Daniel Boone, the most famous +of American pioneers. About him cluster legends and tales innumerable, +some true, many false; but one thing is certain; for boldness, cunning +and knowledge of woodcraft and Indian warfare he had no equal.</p> + +<p>Born in Pennsylvania, but moving at an early age to the little frontier +settlement of Holman's Ford, in North Carolina, the boy had barely +enough schooling to enable him to read and write. His real books were +the woods, and he studied them until they held no secrets from him. He +was a born hunter, a lover of the wild life of the forest, impatient of +civilization, and truly at home only in the wilderness. The cry of the +panther, the war-whoop of the Indian, were music to him; that was his +nature—to love adventure, to court danger, to welcome the thrill of the +pulse which peril brings. Understand him: he was not the man to incur +foolish risks; but he incurred necessary ones without a second thought. +He was <a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a><span class="pagenum">page 216</span>near death no doubt a hundred times, yet lived to die +in his bed. But he was at his best, he really lived, only when the +wilderness held him and when his life depended upon his care and +watchfulness.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="boone" id="boone"></a><img src="images/Illus-0418-1.jpg" alt="(32KB) boone" width="362" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">Boone</span> +</div> +<p>In 1755, Boone married and built a log cabin far up the Yadkin, where he +had no neighbors; but as the years passed, other families settled near; +the smoke of other cabins rose above the woods; his fields were bounded +by rude fences; he could scarcely stir out without encountering some +neighbor. It was too crowded for Daniel Boone; he felt the same +sensation that your nature lover feels to-day in the midst of a teeming +city—a sense of suffocation and disgust—and he finally determined to +move still further westward, and to cross the mountains into Kentucky, +concerning whose richness many stories had reached his ears. He +persuaded six men to accompany him, and on the first day of May, 1769, +set forth on the perilous journey which was to mark the beginning of his +life-work.</p> + +<p>Up to that time, the Alleghany Mountains had marked a boundary beyond +which white settlers dared not go, for to the west lay great reaches of +forest, uninhabited except for wild beasts and still wilder bands of +roving Indians. Into this forest, Boone and his companions plunged, and +after some weeks of wandering, emerged into the beautiful and fertile +country of Kentucky—a country not owned by any Indian tribe, but +visited only by wandering war- and hunting-parties from the nations +living north of the Ohio or south of the Tennessee. The <a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a><span class="pagenum">page 217</span> +party found game in abundance, especially great droves of buffalo, +and spent some months in hunting and exploring. A roving war-party +stumbled upon one of Boone's companions, and forthwith killed him; a +second soon met the same fate, and Boone himself had more than one +narrow escape. The danger grew so great, that the other members of the +party returned over the mountains, and Boone was, for a time, left +alone, as he himself put it, "without company of any fellow-creature, or +even a horse or dog."</p> + +<p>His brother joined him after a time, and the two spent the winter +together. Game furnished abundant food, and the only danger was from the +Indians, but that was an ever-present one. Sometimes they slept in +hollow trees, at other times, they changed their resting-place every +night, and after making a fire, would go off for a mile or two in the +woods to sleep. Unceasing vigilance was the price of safety. When spring +came, Boone's brother returned over the mountains, and again he was left +alone. Three months later the brother came back, bringing a party of +hunters, but no one was inclined to settle in so dangerous a locality, +the struggle to possess which was so fierce that it became known as "the +dark and bloody ground."</p> + +<p>In 1773, Boone himself started to lead a band of settlers over the +mountains, but while passing through the frowning defiles of the +Cumberland Gap, they were attacked by Indians and driven back, two of +Boone's sons being among the slain. Hunting <a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a><span class="pagenum">page 218</span>parties crossed +the mountains from time to time after that, and made great inroads on +the vast herds of game, but the Indians were in arms everywhere, and not +until they had been defeated at the battle of Point Pleasant, the +bloodiest in the history of Virginia with its Indian foe, did they sue +for peace.</p> + +<p>The coming of peace marked a new era in the development of the western +country. Some years before, a company of men headed by Richard +Henderson, had conceived the grandiose project of founding in the west a +great colony, and had purchased from the Cherokee Indians a vast tract +of land, which they named Transylvania. It included all the land between +the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, and Daniel Boone was selected to +blaze a way into the wilderness, to mark out a road, and start the first +settlement. He got a party together, crossed the mountains, and on April +1, 1775, began to build a fort on the left bank of the Kentucky river, +calling it Fort Boone, afterwards Boonesborough. Some settlers moved in, +but the outbreak of the Revolution and the consequent renewal of Indian +hostilities under encouragement from the British put a stop to +immigration.</p> + +<p>The fort, alone and unprotected in the wilderness, was soon attacked by +a great war-party, but managed to beat off the assailants. Shortly +afterwards, while leading an expedition to the Blue Licks, on the +Licking river, to secure a supply of salt, Boone became separated from +his men, and was surprised and captured by an Indian war-party. The joy +of <a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a><span class="pagenum">page 219</span>the savages at this capture may be imagined, for they had +in their hands their most intrepid foe. After being exhibited to the +British at Detroit, he was brought back to the Indian settlements north +of the Ohio, and formally adopted into an Indian family, for the savages +desired, if possible, to make this mighty hunter and warrior one of +themselves. And Boone might have really adopted Indian life, which +appealed to him in many ways, but one day he found that preparations +were on foot for another great expedition against Boonesborough. +Watching his opportunity, he managed to escape, and reached the fort in +time to warn it of the impending attack. He covered the distance, 160 +miles, in four days, eating but a single meal upon the road—a turkey +which he managed to shoot.</p> + +<p>He came to Boonesborough like one risen from the dead. The fort was at +once put into a state of defense, and endured the most savage assault +ever directed against it, the Indians numbering nearly five hundred, +while the garrison mustered but sixty-five. The siege lasted for nine +days, when the Indians, despairing of overcoming a resistance so +desperate, retired.</p> + +<p>The succeeding years were full of adventure and hair-breadth escapes, +which cannot even be mentioned here. On one occasion, Boone and his +brother, Squire, were surprised by Indians; the latter was killed and +scalped and Boone escaped with the greatest difficulty. At the battle of +Blue Licks, two years later, two sons fought at his side, one of <a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a><span class="pagenum">page 220</span> +whom was killed and the other severely wounded. But Boone seemed to +bear a charmed life. His years in the wilderness had developed in him an +almost supernatural keenness of sight and hearing; and constant peril +from the Indians had made him very careful. Whenever he went into the +woods after game or Indians, he had perpetually to keep watch to make +sure that he was not being hunted in turn. Every turkey-call might mean +a lurking savage, every cracking twig might mean an approaching foe.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, his daughter and two other girls were carried off by +Indians, and Boone, raising a small company, followed the trail of the +fugitives without resting for two days and a night; then came to where +the Indians had killed a buffalo calf and were camped around it, never +dreaming of danger. So Boone and his men crept up on them, shot down the +Indians and rescued the girls. On still another occasion, he was pursued +by Indians, who used a tracking dog to follow his trail. Boone turned, +shot the dog, and then made good his escape. Such incidents might be +related by the dozen. No wonder Boone was considered one of the most +valuable men on the frontier, and was a very tower of strength in +defending it against the Indians.</p> + +<p>The end, however, was sad enough. When Kentucky was admitted to the +Union, Boone's titles to the land he had laid out for himself were +declared to be defective; it was all taken from him, and he moved first +to Ohio, and then to Missouri, where he spent his last years. He was +hale and hearty almost <a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a><span class="pagenum">page 221</span>to the end, leading a hunting-party to +the mouth of the Kansas when he was eighty-two years old, and completely +tiring out its younger members. Nearly at the end of his life, Congress +recognized his services to his country by granting him eight hundred and +fifty acres of land in Missouri, and on this grant, the last years of +his life were spent. Chester Harding visited him just before the end and +painted a portrait of him which remains the best delineation of the +redoubtable old pioneer, whose striking face tells of the resolute will, +and unshrinking courage which made the settlement of Kentucky possible.</p> + +<p>Scarcely less prominent than Boone on the Kentucky frontier, and with a +career in many ways even more adventurous, was Simon Kenton. Born in +Virginia in 1755, he had grown to young manhood, rough and uncultivated, +and with little evidence of having been raised in a civilized community. +At the age of sixteen, he had a desperate affray with a neighbor named +William Veach, during which he caught Veach around the body, whirled him +into the air, and dashed him to the ground with such violence, that he +thought he had broken his neck. Not daring to return home or to linger +in the neighborhood, for fear his crime would be discovered and he +himself arrested and hanged, he plunged into the wilderness and made his +way westward over the mountains, changing his name to Simon Butler.</p> + +<p>The two or three years following were spent by him in roaming along the +Ohio valley, sometimes alone, sometimes with two or three companions, +and <a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a><span class="pagenum">page 222</span>always surrounded by danger. On one occasion, his camp +was surprised by Indians, and he and his companion were forced to flee +for their lives without weapons of any kind, and with no clothing but +their shirts. For six days and nights, they wandered without fire or +food, suffering from the cold, for it was the dead of winter, and so +torn and lacerated that on the last two days they covered only six +miles, most of it on hands and knees. Staggering and crawling forward, +they came out at last upon the Ohio river, and by good fortune fell in +with a hunting-party and were saved.</p> + +<p>Kenton's life was full of just such incidents. Daniel Boone found in him +a most valuable ally, incapable of fear and with a knowledge of +woodcraft surpassed only by Boone himself. Kenton was inside Boone's +fort whenever it was in danger, and on one occasion saved Boone's life. +Let us tell the story, for it is typical of the border warfare in which +both Boone and Kenton were so expert.</p> + +<p>One morning, having loaded their guns for a hunt, Kenton and two +companions were standing in the gate of Fort Boone, when two men, who +were driving in some horses from a near-by field, were fired upon by +Indians. They fled toward the fort, the Indians after them, and one of +them was overtaken and killed and was being scalped, when Kenton and his +companions ran up, killed one of the Indians and pursued the others to +the edge of the clearing. Boone, meanwhile, had heard the firing, and +came hurrying out with reinforcements, only, a moment <a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a><span class="pagenum">page 223</span>later, +to be cut off from the fort by a strong body of savages. There was +nothing to do but to cut their way back through them, and in the charge, +Boone received a ball through the leg, breaking the bone. As he fell, +the Indian leader raised his tomahawk to kill him, but Kenton, seeing +his comrade's peril, shot the Indian through the heart, and succeeded in +dragging Boone inside the fort.</p> + +<p>During the Dunmore war, Kenton ranged the Indian country as a spy, +carrying his life in his hand, and accompanied George Rogers Clark on +his famous Illinois campaign. A short time later, with one or two +others, he started on an expedition to run off some horses from the +Miami villages, and had nearly succeeded, when he was captured. The +Indians hated him more bitterly than they hated Boone himself, and they +prepared to enjoy themselves at his expense. They bound him to a wild +horse and chased the horse through the forest until their captive's face +was torn and bleeding from the lashing of the branches; they staked him +down at night so that he could not move hand or foot, and when they +reached their town, the whole population turned out to make him run the +gauntlet. The Indians formed in a double line, about six feet apart, +each armed with a heavy club, and Kenton was forced to run between them. +He had not gone far when he saw ahead of him an Indian with drawn knife, +prepared to plunge it into him as he passed. By a mighty effort, he +broke through the line, but was soon recaptured, lashed with whips, +pelted with stones, branded with <a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a><span class="pagenum">page 224</span>red-hot irons, and condemned +to be burnt at the stake.</p> + +<p>But before killing him, the Indians concluded to lend him to other towns +to have some sport with, so he was taken from town to town, compelled to +run the gauntlet at each one, and subjected to a variegated list of +tortures. Three or four times, he was tied to a stake for the final +execution, but each time the Indians decided to wait a while longer. +Finally, an Englishman got the Indians to consent to send Kenton for a +visit to Detroit, and he spent the winter there. Then, with two other +captives, and with the help of a kind-hearted Irish woman, he managed to +escape, and made his way back to Kentucky—over four hundred miles +through the Indian country, narrowly escaping death a hundred times—in +thirty-three days.</p> + +<p>There he learned that he need not have fled from Pennsylvania, that the +man with whom he had fought years before was not dead, but had +recovered. For the first time since his appearance in the west, he +assumed his real name, and was known thereafter as Simon Kenton. Soon +afterwards he returned to his old home, and brought the whole family +back with him to Kentucky. One would have thought he had had enough of +fighting, but he was with Wayne at the Fallen timbers and with William +Henry Harrison at the battle of the Thames. Sadly enough, the last years +of this old hero were passed in want. His land in Kentucky was taken +from him by speculators because he had failed to have it properly +registered, <a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a><span class="pagenum">page 225</span>and he was imprisoned for debt on the spot where +he had reared the first cabin in northern Kentucky.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1824, an old, tattered, weather-beaten figure appeared +on the streets of Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky. So strange and +wild it was that a gang of street boys gathered and ran hooting after +it. Men laughed—till suddenly, one of them, looking again, recognized +Simon Kenton. In a moment a guard of honor was formed, and the tattered +figure was conducted to the Capitol, placed in the speaker's chair, and +for the first and only time in his life, Simon Kenton received some +portion of the respect and homage to which his deeds entitled him.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Boone and Kenton, with a handful of hardy and fearless pioneers, laid +the foundations of Kentucky; but in the history of the "Old Northwest," +the country north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, one name +stands out transcendent; the name of a man as daring, as brave, as +resourceful as any on the border—George Rogers Clark. He was greater +than Boone or Kenton in that he had a wider vision; they saw only the +duties of the present; he saw the possibilities of the future, and his +exploits form one of the most thrilling chapters of American history.</p> + +<p>Clark, a Virginian by birth, started out in life as a surveyor, and +early in 1775, removed to Kentucky to follow his profession. There was, +no doubt, plenty of surveying to be done there, since the whole country +was an uncharted wilderness, but the beginning <a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a><span class="pagenum">page 226</span>of the +Revolution was accompanied by an immediate outbreak of Indian +hostilities, so serious that the very existence of the Kentucky +settlements was threatened. Soon all but two of them, Boonesborough and +Harrodsburg, had to be abandoned. Boone was, of course, in command at +his fort, and Clark, who had seen some service in Dunmore's war, became +the natural leader at Harrod's. His influence rapidly increased, and he +was chosen as a delegate to journey to Williamsburg and urge upon +Virginia the needs of the western colony, which lay within her chartered +limits.</p> + +<p>Clark set off without delay on the long and dangerous journey, reached +Williamsburg, gained an audience of Patrick Henry, the governor of +Virginia, and painted the needs of Kentucky in such colors that he soon +gained the sympathy of the impulsive and warm-hearted governor, and +together they secured from the Assembly a large gift of lead and powder +for the protection of the frontier. More than that, they succeeded in +making Virginia acknowledge her responsibility for the new colony by +constituting it the county of Kentucky. This, it may be added, put an +end forever to Henderson's dream of the independent colony of +Transylvania.</p> + +<p>Clark got his powder and ball safe to Harrodsburg just in time to repel +a desperate Indian assault; but it was evident that there would be no +safety for the Kentucky settlements so long as England controlled the +country north of the Ohio. All that region formed a part of what was +known as the Province <a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a><span class="pagenum">page 227</span>of Quebec. Here and there dotted +through it were quaint little towns of French Creoles, the most +important being Detroit, Vincennes on the Wabash, and Kaskaskia and +Kahokia on the Illinois. These French villages were ruled by British +officers commanding small bodies of regular soldiers, and keeping the +Indians in a constant state of war against their Kentucky neighbors, +furnishing them with arms and ammunition, and rewarding them for every +expedition they undertook against the Americans. They had no idea that +any band of Americans which could be mustered west of the mountains +would dare to attack them, and so were careless in their guard, and +maintained only small garrisons at the various forts.</p> + +<p>All this Clark found out by means of spies which he sent through the +country, and finally, having his plan matured, he went again to Virginia +in December, 1777, and laid before Governor Henry his whole idea, +explaining in detail why he thought it could be carried out +successfully. Henry was at once enthused with it, so daring and full of +promise he thought it, and he enlisted the aid of Thomas Jefferson. The +result was that when Clark set out on his return journey, it was with +orders not only to defend Kentucky, but to attack Kaskaskia and the +other British posts, and he carried with him £1,200 in paper money, and +an order on the commander of Fort Pitt for such boats and ammunition as +he might need.</p> + +<p>With great difficulty, Clark got together a force of <a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a><span class="pagenum">page 228</span>about a +hundred and fifty men, one of whom was Simon Kenton. He could not get +many volunteers from Kentucky because the settlers there thought they +had all they could do to defend their own forts without going out to +attack the enemy's and only a few men could be spared. In May, 1778, +this little force started down the Ohio in flat boats, and landing just +before they reached the Mississippi, marched northward against +Kaskaskia, where the British commander of the entire district had his +headquarters. Clark knew that his force was outnumbered by the garrison +and that it would be necessary to surprise the town. After a six days' +march across country, he came to the outskirts of the village on the +evening of July 4th, and found a great dance in progress in the fort. +Waiting until the revelry was at its height, Clark advanced silently, +surprised the sentries, and surrounded the fort without causing any +alarm. Then with his men posted, Clark walked forward through the open +door, and leaning against the wall, watched the dancers, as they whirled +around by the light of the flaring torches.</p> + +<p>Suddenly an Indian, after looking at him for a moment, raised the +war-whoop; the dancing ceased, but Clark, shouting at the top of his +voice to still the confusion, bade the dancers continue, asking them +only to remember that thereafter they were dancing under the flag of the +United States, instead of that of Great Britain. A few moments later, +the commandant was captured in his bed, and the investment was complete. +The other settlements in the <a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a><span class="pagenum">page 229</span>neighborhood surrendered at +once, so that the Illinois country was captured without the firing of a +gun.</p> + +<p>But when the news reached the British governor, Hamilton, at Detroit, he +at once prepared to recapture the country. He had a much larger force at +his command than Clark could possibly muster, and in the fall of the +year he advanced against Vincennes at the head of over five hundred men. +The little American garrison was unable to oppose such a force and was +compelled to surrender. Instead of pushing on against Clark at +Kaskaskia, Hamilton disbanded his Indians and sent some of his troops +back to Detroit, and prepared to spend the winter at Vincennes. He +repaired the fort, strengthened the defenses, and then sat down for the +winter, confident that when spring came, he would again be master of the +whole Illinois country.</p> + +<p>Clark, at Kaskaskia, realized that it was a question of his taking the +British or the British taking him, and that, if he waited for spring, he +would have no chance at all; so he gathered together the pick of his +men, one hundred and seventy all told, and early in February, 1779, set +out for Vincennes. The task before him was to capture a force nearly +equal to his own, protected by a strong fort well supplied for a siege.</p> + +<p>At first the journey was easy enough, for they passed across the snowy +Illinois prairies, broken occasionally by great stretches of woodland, +but when they reached the drowned lands of the Wabash, the march became +almost incredibly difficult. The ice <a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a><span class="pagenum">page 230</span>had just broken up and +everything was flooded; heavy rains set in, and when the men were not +wading through icy water, they were struggling through mud nearly +knee-deep. After twelve days of this, they came to the bank of the +Embarass river, only to find the country all under water, save one +little hillock, where they spent the night without food or fire. For +four days they waited there for the flood to retire, with practically +nothing to eat; but the rain continued and the flood increased, and +Clark, finally, in desperation, plunged into the water and called to his +men to follow. All day they waded, and toward evening reached a small +patch of dry ground, where they spent a miserable night. At sunrise +Clark started on again, through icy water waist-deep, this time with the +stern command to shoot the first laggard. Some of the men failed and +sank beneath the waves, to be rescued by the stronger ones, and by the +middle of the afternoon they had all got safe to land. By good fortune, +they captured some Indian squaws with a canoe-load of food, and had +their first meal in two days. Soon afterwards the sun came out, and they +saw before them the walls of the fort they had come to capture.</p> + +<p>The British had no suspicion of their danger, and they thought the first +patter of bullets against the palisades the usual friendly salute from +an Indian hunting party. But they were soon undeceived, and answered the +rifles with ineffective fire from their two small cannon. All night the +fight continued, and at dawn an Indian war-party, which had been +ravaging <a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a><span class="pagenum">page 231</span>the Kentucky settlements, entered the town, ignorant +that the Americans had captured it. Marching up to the fort, they +suddenly found themselves surrounded and seized. In their belts they +carried the scalps of the settlers—men, women and children—they had +slain, and, infuriated at the sight, the Americans tomahawked the +savages, one after another, before the eyes of the British.</p> + +<p>Then Clark sent to the fort a peremptory summons to surrender, adding, +that "his men were eager to avenge the murder of their relatives and +friends and would welcome an excuse to storm the fort." To the British, +it seemed a choice between surrender and massacre. They had seen the +bloody vengeance wreaked upon their Indian allies, and they had every +reason to believe that they would be dealt with in the same manner, +since it was they who had set the Indians on. Clark was himself, of +course, in desperate straits, without means for carrying on a successful +siege, but the British were far from suspecting this, and at ten o'clock +on the morning of February 25, 1779, marched out and stacked arms, while +Clark fired a salute of thirteen guns in honor of the colonies, from +whose possession the Northwest was never again to pass.</p> + +<p>For eight years longer, Clark devoted his life to protecting the border +from British and Indian invasion. The war over, he returned to Kentucky, +and took up his abode in a little log cabin on the Ohio near Louisville. +He was without means, and a horrible accident marred his last years, +for, while <a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a><span class="pagenum">page 232</span>alone in his cabin, he was stricken with +paralysis, and fell with one of his legs in the old-fashioned +fire-place. There was no one to draw him out of danger, and before the +pain brought him partially to his senses, his leg was so badly burned +that it had to be amputated. There were no anaesthetics in those days, +but while the leg was being removed, a fife and drum corps played its +hardest at the bedside, and the doughty old warrior kept time to the +music with his fingers.</p> + +<p>He lived for ten years thereafter, though his paralysis never left him. +He felt keenly the ingratitude of the Republic which he had served so +well, and which yet, in his old age, abandoned him to want, and the +story is told that, when the state of Virginia sent him a sword of +honor, he thrust it into the ground and broke it with his crutch.</p> + +<p>"I gave Virginia a sword when she needed one," he said; "but now, when I +need bread, she sends me a toy!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In the settlement of the country north of the Ohio, one man, a veteran +of the Revolution, was foremost. His name was Rufus Putnam, and he was a +cousin of that Israel Putnam, some of whose exploits we will soon +relate. He has been well called the "Father of Ohio," for he was the +founder of the first permanent white settlement made within the borders +of the state. He was born in 1738, at Sutton, Massachusetts, and his +early life was a hard and rough one. Left an orphan while still a child, +he was put to <a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a><span class="pagenum">page 233</span>work as soon as he was big enough to be of any +use, and received practically no education, although he managed to teach +himself to read and write. He earned a few pennies by watering horses +for travelers, and with this money purchased a spelling-book and +arithmetic.</p> + +<p>He served through the French war and the Revolution, rendering +distinguished service and retiring with the rank of brigadier-general; +and at its close, finding that Congress would be unable for a long time +to pay many of the soldiers for their services, he became interested in +the suggestion that payment be made in land along the Ohio river, and +offered to lead a band of settlers to their new homes. In March, 1786, +in Boston, he and some others formed the Ohio Company, and one of their +directors, Manasseh Cutler, a preacher of more than usual ability, was +selected to lay the company's plan before Congress. The result was the +famous ordinance of 1787, providing for the establishment and government +of the Northwest Territory, of which Arthur St. Clair was named +governor. Cutler also secured a large land grant for the new company, +and in the following year, Putnam started across the mountains with the +first band of emigrants.</p> + +<p>They reached the vicinity of Pittsburg after a weary journey, and there +built a boat which they named the Mayflower, and in it floated down the +river, until they reached the mouth of the Muskingum. On April 17, 1788, +they began the erection of a blockhouse, which was to be the nucleus of +the <a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a><span class="pagenum">page 234</span>new settlement, and a place of defense in case of Indian +attack. The settlement was named Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette, +the Queen of France; it prospered from the first, and in a few years was +a lively little village. There were Indian alarms at first, but General +Wayne's victory secured a lasting peace. Putnam served as a +brigadier-general in Wayne's campaign, and was one of the commissioners +who negotiated the peace treaty.</p> + +<p>He lived for many years thereafter, and remained to the last the leading +man of the settlement. He was interested in every project for the +betterment of the new Commonwealth, helped to found the Ohio University +at Athens, was one of the drafters of the state constitution, and +founded the first Bible school west of the mountains. A venerable +figure, he died in 1824, having lived to see the valley which he had +entered a wilderness settled by hundreds of thousands, and the state +which he had helped to found become one of the greatest in the Union.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>By the end of the eighteenth century, the country between the +Alleghanies and the Mississippi was fairly well known, first through the +explorations of such pioneers as Boone and Clark and Kenton, and, later +on, through the steady advance of civilization, forever throwing new +outposts westward. But beyond the great river stretched a mighty +wilderness whose character and extent were only guessed at. The United +States, of course, had little interest in it, since it belonged to +France, and since, east of the <a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a><span class="pagenum">page 235</span>river, there were millions of +acres as yet unsettled; but when, in 1803, President Jefferson purchased +it of Napoleon Bonaparte for the sum of fifteen million dollars, all +that was changed. By that purchase, the area of the United States was +more than doubled; but there were many people at the time who opposed +the purchase on the ground that the country east of the river would +never be thoroughly settled and that there would be no use whatever for +the great territory west of it. So mistaken, sometimes, is human +foresight!</p> + +<p>The President determined that this great addition to the Nation should +be explored without delay, and, securing from Congress the necessary +powers, he appointed his private secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to +head an expedition to the Pacific.</p> + +<p>Lewis was at that time twenty-nine years of age. He seems to have been +of an adventurous disposition for, despite the fact that he inherited a +fortune, he enlisted in the army as a private as soon as he was of age. +Five years later, he had risen to the rank of captain, and, attracting +the attention of President Jefferson, he was appointed his secretary. He +proved to be so capable and enterprising that the President selected him +for this dangerous and arduous task of exploration. With him was +associated Lieutenant William Clark, a brother of that hardy adventurer, +George Rogers Clark.</p> + +<p>William Clark, who was eighteen years younger than his famous brother, +had joined him in Kentucky in 1784, at the age of fourteen, and soon +became <a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a><span class="pagenum">page 236</span>acquainted with the perils of Indian warfare. He was +appointed ensign in the army four years later, and rose to the rank of +adjutant, but was compelled to resign, from the service in 1796, on +account of ill-health. He settled at the half-Spanish town of St. Louis, +and in March, 1804, was appointed by President Jefferson a second +lieutenant of artillery, with orders to join Captain Lewis in his +journey to the Pacific. Clark was really the military director of the +expedition, and his knowledge of Indian life and character had much to +do with its success.</p> + +<p>The party consisted of twenty-eight men, and in the spring of 1804, +started up the Missouri, following it until late in October, when they +camped for the winter near the present site of Bismarck, North. Dakota. +They resumed the journey early in the spring, and in May, caught their +first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. Reaching the headwaters of the +Columbia, at last, they floated down its current, and on the morning of +November 7, 1806, after a journey of a year and a half, full of every +sort of hardship and adventure, they saw ahead of them the blue expanse +of the Pacific. They spent the winter on the coast, and reached St. +Louis again in September, 1807, having traversed over nine thousand +miles of unbroken wilderness where no white man had ever before set +foot. It was largely because of this expedition that our government was +able, forty years later, to claim and maintain a title to the state of +Oregon.</p> + +<p><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a><span class="pagenum">page 237</span>Congress rewarded the members of the expedition with grants of +land, and Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri. But the strain of +the expedition to the Pacific had undermined his health; he became +subject to fits of depression, and on October 8, 1809, he put an end to +his life in a lonely cabin near Nashville, Tennessee, where he had +stopped for a night's lodging. Clark lived thirty years longer, serving +as Indian agent, governor of Missouri, and superintendent of Indian +affairs.</p> + +<p>While Lewis and Clark were struggling across the continent, another +young adventurer was conducting some explorations farther to the east. +Zebulon Pike, aged twenty-seven, a captain in the regular army, was, in +1805, appointed to lead an expedition to the source of the Mississippi. +He accomplished this, after a hard journey lasting nine months; and, a +year later, leading another expedition to the southwest, discovered a +great mountain which he named Pike's Peak, and, continuing southward, +came out on the Rio Grande. He was in Spanish territory, and was held +prisoner for a time, but was finally released upon representations from +the government at Washington. He rose steadily in the service, and in +1813, during the second war with England, led an assault upon Little +York, now Toronto. The town was captured, but the fleeing British +exploded a powder magazine, and General Pike was crushed and killed +beneath the flying fragments. He died with his head on the British flag, +which had been hauled down and brought to him.</p> + +<p><a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a><span class="pagenum">page 238</span>The next step to be recorded in the growth of the United +States is a step variously regarded as infamous or glorious—but it was +marked by one of the most heroic incidents in history, and dominated by +the picturesque and remarkable personality of Sam Houston.</p> + +<p>The purchase of Louisiana from the French brought the United States in +direct contact with Mexico, which claimed a great territory in the +southwest, and, finally, in 1819, a line between the possessions of the +two countries was agreed upon. It left Mexico in possession of the wide +stretch of country now included in the states of California, Nevada, +Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of this +country was practically unknown to Americans, and the great stretches of +arid land which comprised large portions of it were considered worthless +and uninhabitable. But a good many Americans had drifted across the +border into the fertile plains of Texas, and settled there. As time went +on, the stream of immigration increased, until there were in the country +enough American settlers to take a prominent part in the revolt of +Mexico against Spain in 1824. The revolt was successful, and the country +which had discovered the New World lost her last foothold there.</p> + +<p>The settlers in Texas, coming as they did largely from the southern +states, were naturally slave-holders, but in 1829, Mexico abolished +slavery, an action which greatly enraged them. It is startling to +reflect that a country which we consider so inferior <a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a><span class="pagenum">page 239</span>to +ourselves should have preceded us by over thirty years in this great +step forward in civilization. In other ways, the Mexican yoke was not a +pleasant one to the Texans, and within a few years, the whole country +was in a state of seething insurrection. President Jackson was eager to +annex Texas, whose value to the Union he fully recognized, and offered +Mexico five million dollars for the province, but the offer was refused. +Such was the condition of affairs when, in 1833, Sam Houston appeared +upon the scene.</p> + +<p>The story of the life of this extraordinary man reads like a fable. Born +in Virginia in 1793, he was taken to Tennessee at the age of thirteen, +and promptly began his career by running away from home and joining the +Cherokee Indians. When his family found him, he refused to return home, +and the next seven years were spent largely in the wilderness with his +savage friends. The wild life was congenial to him, and he grew up rough +and head-strong and healthy. Then the Creek war broke out, and Houston +enlisted with Andrew Jackson. One incident of that war gives a better +insight into Houston's character than volumes of description. At the +battle of the Horseshoe, where the Creeks made a desperate stand, a +barbed arrow struck Houston in the thigh and sank deep into the flesh. +He tried to pull it out and failed.</p> + +<p>"Here," he called to a comrade, "pull out this arrow."</p> + +<p>The other took hold of the shaft of the arrow and pulled with all his +might, but could not dislodge it.</p> + +<p><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a><span class="pagenum">page 240</span>"I can't get it out," he said, at last.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you can!" cried Houston, and raised his sword. "Pull it out, +or it'll be worse for you!"</p> + +<p>The soldier saw he was in earnest, and, taking hold of the arrow again, +gave it a mighty wrench. It came out, but the barbs of the arrow tore +the flesh badly. Houston, however, paused only to tie up the wound +roughly, and hurried back into the fight, though Jackson ordered him to +the rear. Before long, two bullets struck him down, and he lay between +life and death for many days.</p> + +<p>Such desperate valor was exactly after "Old Hickory's" heart, and from +that time forward, Jackson was Houston's friend and patron. In 1818, he +managed to gain admittance to the bar, and his rise was so rapid that +within five years he had been elected to Congress, and four years later +governor of Tennessee. Then came the strange catastrophe which nearly +wrecked his life.</p> + +<p>Houston was, after Andrew Jackson, the most popular man in the state. He +resembled the hero of New Orleans in many ways, being rough, rude, +hot-headed and honest—just the sort of man to appeal to the people +among whom his lot was cast. When, therefore, in January, 1829, while +governor of the state, he married Miss Eliza Allen, a member of one of +the most prominent families in it, everybody wished him well, and the +wedding was a great affair. But scarcely was the honeymoon over, when he +sent his bride back to her parents, resigned the governorship, <a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a><span class="pagenum">page 241</span> +and, refusing to give any explanation of his conduct, plunged into +the wilderness to the west.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most characteristic feature of frontier society is its +chivalry toward women, and Houston's conduct brought about his head a +perfect storm of indignation. No doubt he had many enemies who welcomed +the opportunity to wreck his fame, and who gladly added their voices to +the uproar. From the most popular man, he became the most hated, and it +would have been dangerous for him to venture back within the state's +borders. Not until after his death, did his wife give any explanation of +his conduct. She stated that he had discovered that she loved another, +and that he had deserted her so that she could secure a divorce on the +ground of abandonment. That explanation, lame as it is, is the only one +ever offered by either of the principals.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Houston had joined his old friends, the Cherokees, now living +in Arkansas Territory, and asked to be admitted to the tribe. The +Indians expressed the opinion that he should have beaten his wife +instead of abandoning her, but nevertheless adopted him, and for three +years he lived their life, dressing, fighting, hunting and drinking +precisely like any Indian. The papers, meanwhile, were filled with +surmises concerning him. No one understood why he should have exiled +himself, and it was reported that he intended to lead the Cherokees into +Texas, conquer the country and set up a government of his own. President +Jackson wrote to him, protesting against "any such chimerical, visionary +scheme," <a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a><span class="pagenum">page 242</span>which, needless to say, Houston had never +entertained. These rumors grew so annoying, that he issued a +proclamation offering a prize "To the Author of the Most Elegant, +Refined, and Ingenious Lie or Calumny" about him.</p> + +<p>The trouble culminated when Houston, having gone to Washington to plead +for his friends, the Indians, caned a member of Congress who had +slandered him on the floor of the House. He was arrested, and arraigned +before the bar of the House for "breach of privilege," and was +reprimanded by the Speaker and fined five hundred dollars—a fine which +President Jackson promptly remitted, remarking that a few more examples +of the same kind would teach Congressmen to keep civil tongues in their +heads. Houston's comment on the affair was, "I was dying out once, and, +had they taken me before a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars +for assault and battery, it would have killed me; but they gave me a +national tribunal for a theatre and it set me up again."</p> + +<p>It did "set him up" in earnest. The President, who always had a warm +place in his heart for him, helped by sending him—not, perhaps, without +some insight into the future—to Texas, to examine into the value of +that country, in case the United States should decide to buy it. What +Jackson's private instructions were can only be surmised, but, +certainly, Houston showed no hesitation or uncertainty after he reached +the scene.</p> + +<p>On December 10, 1832, he crossed into Mexican <a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a><span class="pagenum">page 243</span>territory, and +was soon at the head of the Texas insurrectionists, who had determined +to establish a government of their own, and who found in Houston a +leader after their own hearts. Armed collisions between Texans and +Mexican troops became of common occurrence, and the spirit of revolt +spread so rapidly that Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, sent an army +under General Cos to pacify the country and drive the Americans out.</p> + +<p>It was the spark in the magazine. All Texas sprang to arms under such +leaders as Houston, Austin, Travis, Bonham, Fannin, "Deaf" Smith, and +"Ben" Milam; took Goliad, where Milam lost his life heading a desperate +assault; captured Concepçion and San Antonio, until, by the middle of +December, 1836, not a Mexican soldier was left north of the Rio Grande. +But Houston, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan +forces, knew they would return, and bent every effort to organize a +disciplined army. It was a difficult thing to do with the high-tempered +and lawless elements at hand; everything was disorder and confusion, and +meanwhile came word that Santa Anna himself, at the head of an army of +six thousand men, was entering Texas.</p> + +<p>No effective opposition could be offered such an army; the San Antonio +garrison was entrapped in the old mission called The Alamo and killed to +the last man; Fannin and his force, three hundred and fifty strong, were +cornered at Goliad and brutally shot down in detachments after they had +surrendered; <a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a><span class="pagenum">page 244</span>and Santa Anna, certain that Texas had been +conquered, divided his army into columns to occupy the country. Houston +only was left, and the fate of Texas hung on his little force; he knew +he could strike but once; if he were defeated, the war for independence +would end then and there; so he watched and waited, gathering together +the stragglers, keeping them in heart, laboring like a very Hercules. +Hundreds of miles away, in Washington, old Andrew Jackson, a map of +Texas before him, followed with his finger the retreat as far as he knew +it, and paused with in on San Jacinto.</p> + +<p>"Here's the place," he said. "If Sam Houston's worth one bawbee, he'll +stand here and give 'em a fight."</p> + +<p>And so it was. It makes the pulses thrill, even yet, the story of that +twenty-first of April, 1836; how Houston destroyed the bridge behind +them, so that there could be no retreat, and then, on his great gray +horse, tried to address his men, but could only cry: "Remember The +Alamo"; how old Rusk could say not even that, but choked with a sob at +the first word, and waved his hand toward the enemy; how the solitary +fife struck up, "Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?" +while those seven hundred gaunt, starved, ragged phantoms, burning with +rage at the thought of their comrades foully slain, deployed on the open +prairie and charged the unsuspecting Mexican army. It was over in half +an hour—the enemy annihilated, 630 killed, 200 wounded, 700 +prisoners—among the prisoners Santa <a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a><span class="pagenum">page 245</span>Anna himself, begging +for mercy. And Aaron Burr, dying in New York with the vision of his +Texan empire still before him, reading, weeks later, the news of the +victory, cried out, "I was thirty years too soon!"</p> + +<p>There was never any question, after that, of Texan independence; Santa +Anna, to save a life forfeited a hundred times over, was ready to agree +to any terms. Houston was a popular hero; Texas was his child, and he +was unanimously chosen President of the new Republic. From the first, +Houston, recalling the wishes of his old leader, Andrew Jackson, sought +annexation to the United States, and the debates over the question in +Congress nearly disrupted the Union. For the North feared the effects of +such a tremendous addition to slave territory, from which three or four +states might be carved, and so destroy the balance of power between +North and South. Again, Mexico, which still dreamed of reconquering +Texas, notified the United States that annexation would be considered a +declaration of war; but Houston pressed the question with great +adroitness, it was evident that Texas really belonged in the Union, and +on March 1, 1845, Congress passed the resolution of annexation, and +Houston and Husk, the heroes of San Jacinto, were at once elected +senators.</p> + +<p>In the brief but brilliant war with Mexico which followed, which is +considered more in detail in connection with the life of Winfield Scott, +and which resulted in the securing of the great Southwest for the United +States, Houston played no part, except as <a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a><span class="pagenum">page 246</span>a member of the +Senate, where he remained until 1859, being defeated finally by a +secessionist. For, true to the precepts of Jackson, he was from the +first bitterly opposed to nullification and secession. The same year, he +was elected governor of Texas, turning a Union minority into a +triumphant majority by the wizardry of his personality. He could not +prevent secession, however, but he refused to take the oath to the +Confederate government required by the legislature and was deposed. +Martial law being established, an officer one day demanded Houston's +pass.</p> + +<p>"San Jacinto," he answered, and went on his way, nor did any dare molest +him. But he was worn out and aging fast, and the end came toward the +close of July, 1863.</p> + +<p>Reference has been made to the capture of the old mission at San Antonio +known as "The Alamo," and a brief account must be given of the +remarkable group of men who lost their lives there—David Crockett, +James Bowie, and William Barrett Travis. Crockett was perhaps the most +famous of the three, and his name is still more or less of a household +word throughout the middle West, while some of his stories have passed +into proverbs. He was the most famous rifle shot in the whole country +and the most successful hunter. Born in Tennessee soon after the +Revolutionary war, of an Irish father, he ran away from home after a few +days' schooling, knocked about the country, served through the Creek war +under Andrew Jackson, and gained so much <a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a><span class="pagenum">page 247</span>popularity by his +hunting stories, with which he held great audiences spellbound, that he +was elected to the State legislature and then to Congress, though he had +never read a newspaper. In Congress, he managed to antagonize Andrew +Jackson, not a difficult task by any means, with the result that +Jackson, who carried Tennessee in his vest pocket, effectively ended +Crockett's political career. Crockett left the state in disgust, seeking +new worlds to conquer, and hearing of the struggle in Texas, decided to +join the revolutionists.</p> + +<p>By boat and on horseback, he made his way toward the distant plains +where the Texans were waging their life and death struggle against the +Mexicans. More than one hairbreadth escape did the old hunter have from +Indians, desperadoes and wild beasts, but he finally got to the +neighborhood of San Antonio, and fell in with another adventurer, a +bee-hunter, also on his way to join the Texans. They soon learned that a +great Mexican army was marching on San Antonio, and that the defenders +of the place had gathered in the old mission called "The Alamo." There +were only a hundred and fifty of them, while the Mexican army numbered +four thousand; but they had made up their minds to hold the place, a +mere shell, utterly unable to withstand artillery, or even a regular and +well-directed assault. It was plain enough that to attempt to defend the +place against such an overwhelming force was desperate in the extreme, +but Crockett and his companion kept straight on, and were soon inside +The <a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a><span class="pagenum">page 248</span>Alamo. A few days later, Santa Anna's great army camped +around it.</p> + +<p>In command of The Alamo garrison was Colonel Travis, a young man of +twenty-five; an Alabaman, admitted to the bar there, but driven out of +his native state by financial troubles, and casting in his lot with the +Texas revolutionists, among whom he soon acquired considerable +influence. The third of the trio, Colonel Bowie, was a native of +Georgia, but had settled in Louisiana, where, nine years before, he had +been a participant in a celebrated affray. Two gentlemen, becoming +involved in a quarrel, decided to settle it in approved fashion by a +duel, and, accompanied by their friends, among whom was Bowie, adjourned +to a convenient place and took a shot at each other without doing any +damage. They were about to declare honor satisfied and to shake hands, +when a dispute arose among their friends, and before it was over, +fifteen were killed and six were badly injured. Bowie distinguished +himself by stabbing a man to death with a knife made from a large file. +The weapon was afterwards sent to Philadelphia and there fashioned into +the deadly knife which has ever since been known by his name. The +prospect of trouble in Texas naturally attracted him, he was made +colonel of militia there, and dispatched to The Alamo with a small force +by General Houston early in 1836.</p> + +<p>Here, then, in this old and crumbling Spanish mission, toward the end of +February, were gathered a hundred and fifty Texans, a wild and +undisciplined <a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a><span class="pagenum">page 249</span>band, impatient of restraint or control, but +men of iron courage and the best shots on the border, with Travis in +command; while without was the army of Santa Anna. On February 24th, +Travis, in a letter asking for reinforcements, announced the siege and +added that he would never surrender or retreat. Early in March, +thirty-two men from Gonzales, knowing they were going to well-nigh +certain death, made their way into the fort, raising its garrison to +180.</p> + +<p>Santa Anna demanded unconditional surrender, and Travis answered with a +cannon-shot; whereat, on the morning of the sixth of March, the Mexican +army stormed the fort from all sides, swarmed in through breaches and +over the walls, which the Texans were too few to man, and a desperate +hand-to-hand conflict followed. To and fro between the shattered walls +the fight reeled, each tall Texan the centre of a group of foes, +fighting with a wild and desperate courage; but the odds were too great, +and one by one they fell, thrust through with bayonets or riddled by +bullets. Colonel Travis fell, and so did Bowie, sick and weak from a +wasting disease, but rising from his bed, and dying fighting with his +great knife red with the blood of his foes. At last a single man stood +at bay. It was Davy Crockett.</p> + +<p>Wounded in a dozen places, ringed about by the bodies of the men he had +slain, he stood facing his foes, his back against a wall, knife in hand, +daring them to come on. No one dared to run in upon that old lion. So +they held him there with their <a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a><span class="pagenum">page 250</span>lances, while, the musketeers +loaded their carbines and shot him down. Not a man of the garrison was +left alive, but each of them had avenged himself four times over, for +the Mexican loss was over five hundred. So ended one of the most heroic +events in American history. "Thermopylae had its messengers of death; The +Alamo had none."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>One more era remains to be recorded, that in which the United States +confirmed its hold upon the Pacific coast, and here again the story is +that of the lives of three men—Marcus Whitman, John Augustus Sutter, +and John Charles Frémont. It was Whitman who brought home to the Nation +the value of Oregon by a spectacular ride from ocean to ocean; it was +Sutter who led the way for an American invasion of California, and who +gave impetus to that invasion by the discovery of gold; and it was +Frémont who led the revolution there against the Mexicans, and who +secured the country's independence.</p> + +<p>The explorations of Lewis and Clark, early in the century, had made the +country along the Columbia river known to the East in a dim way, but it +was so distant and so inaccessible that it excited little interest. Just +before the second war with England, John Jacob Astor had attempted to +carry out a far-reaching plan for the development of the country and the +securing of its great fur trade, but the outbreak of the war had stopped +all efforts in that direction, and Astor never took them up again. +<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a><span class="pagenum">page 251</span>Meanwhile through Canada, the Hudson Bay Company, a great +English concern engaged in the fur trade, had extended its stations to +the Pacific coast, and was quietly taking possession of the country.</p> + +<p>In 1834, the American board of missions, learning of the need for a +missionary among the Oregon Indians, appointed Marcus Whitman to the +work. Whitman was at that time thirty-two years of age and was just +about to be married. His betrothed agreed to accompany him on his +perilous mission, and, after great difficulty, he secured an associate +in the person of Rev. H.H. Spalding, also just married. What a bridal +trip that was! At Pittsburg, George Catlin, who knew the western Indians +better than any living man, having spent years among them, warned them +of the folly of attempting to take women across the plains; at +Cincinnati, they were greeted by William Moody, only forty-five years of +age and yet the first white man born there; at the frontier town of St. +Louis, they joined a hunting expedition up the Missouri, and by June 6, +1836, were at Laramie.</p> + +<p>A month later, they crossed the Great Divide by the South Pass, +"discovered," six years later, by Frémont; and toward the end of July, +they came to the great mountain rendezvous of traders and trappers high +in the mountains near Fort Hall. Some of those men had not seen a white +woman for a quarter of a century. You can imagine, then, what a +sensation the arrival of Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding occasioned, and +with what warmth they <a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a><span class="pagenum">page 252</span>were welcomed. Ten days they tarried +there, then pressed on westward, and on September 2, 1836, after a +journey of thirty-five hundred miles, the gates of Fort Walla-Walla, on +the lower Columbia, opened to receive them, and the conquest of Oregon +began.</p> + +<p>Fort Walla-Walla belonged to the Hudson Bay Company, which had +undisputed control of the rich Oregon fur trade, and which was +determined to retain it at any cost. So the difficulties of the Oregon +trail were invariably exaggerated, and immigration from the states +systematically discouraged. Nevertheless, in the years following +Whitman's arrival, other parties of missionaries and settlers worked +their way into the country, until, in 1842, their number reached about a +hundred and fifty. The Hudson Bay Company realized that neither England +nor America had a clear title to the region, and that its population +must, in the end, determine its nationality. Consequently it bent every +effort to hurry English settlers into the country. In October, 1842, +Whitman was dining with a company of Englishmen at Walla-Walla, when a +messenger arrived with news of the approach of a large body of settlers +from Canada. A shout arose: "Hurrah for Oregon! America is too late! +We've got the country!" And Whitman, at a glance, saw through the plan.</p> + +<p>Twenty-four hours later, he had started to ride across the continent to +carry the news to Washington. He had caught the import of the news, had +grasped its consequences, and he was determined that <a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a><span class="pagenum">page 253</span>Oregon, +with its great forests and broad prairies, its mighty rivers, and its +unparalleled richness, should be saved for the Union. If the Nation only +knew the value of the prize, England would never be permitted to carry +it off. His wife and friends protested against the desperate +venture—four thousand miles on horseback—for it would soon be the dead +of winter, with snow hiding the trail and filling the passes, with +streams ice-blocked and winter-swollen, and last but not least, with the +Blackfoot Indians on the warpath. But he would listen to none of this: +his duty, as he conceived it, lay clear before him; he was determined to +set out at once. Amos Lovejoy volunteered to accompany him, a busy night +was spent in preparation, and the next day they were off,</p> + +<p>No diary of that remarkable journey was kept by Dr. Whitman, but most of +its incidents are known. Terribly severe weather was encountered almost +at the start, for ten days they were snowed up in the mountains, and +long before the journey ended, were reduced to rations of dog and mule +meat. But they struggled on, more than once losing the way and giving +themselves up for lost, and on March 3, 1843, just five months from +Walla-Walla, Whitman entered Washington.</p> + +<p>His spectacular ride rivetted public attention upon the far western +country, and the information which he gave concerning it opened the +Nation's eyes to its value. When he returned, later in the year, to the +banks of the Columbia, he took back with him <a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a><span class="pagenum">page 254</span>a train of two +hundred wagons and a thousand settlers—a veritable army of occupation +which the British could not match. Three years later, so steadily did +the tide continue which Whitman had started, the American population had +risen to over ten thousand, there was never any further real uncertainty +as to whom Oregon belonged, and the treaty of 1846 settled the question +for all time.</p> + +<p>The new territory was soon to be the scene of a terrible tragedy. The +white man had brought new diseases into it, measles, fevers, and even, +smallpox; they spread rapidly among the Indians, aggravated by their +imprudence and ignorance of proper treatment, and many died. The Indians +became convinced that the missionaries were to blame, and it is claimed, +too, that the emissaries of the Hudson Bay Company urged them on. +However that may have been, on the twenty-ninth of November, 1847, the +Indians fell upon the missionaries and killed fifteen, of them, among +the dead being Marcus Whitman and his wife. So ended the life of the man +who saved Oregon, and of the woman who was the first of her sex to cross +the continent.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, far to the south, a drama scarcely less thrilling was +enacting, its chief personage being John Augustus Sutter. Sutter was a +Swiss and had received a military education and served in the Swiss +Guard before coming to America in 1834. He settled first at St. Louis +and then at Santa Fé, where he gained considerable experience as a +trader. Finally, in 1838, he decided to cross the Rockies, and after +<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a><span class="pagenum">page 255</span>trading for a time in a little schooner up and down the coast, +was wrecked in San Francisco Bay. He made his way inland, and founded +the first white settlement in the country on the site of what is now +Sacramento. Here, in 1841, he built a fort, having secured a large grant +of land from the Mexican Government, and set up what was really a little +empire in the wilderness, over which he reigned supreme. And here, three +years later, down from the snow-filled and tempest-swept passes of the +Rockies, came a party of starving and frost-bitten scarecrows, the +exploring expedition headed by John Charles Frémont, of whom we shall +speak presently.</p> + +<p>The rest of Sutter's history is soon told. In 1848, when Mexico ceded +California to the United States, he was the owner of a vast domain, over +which thousands of head of cattle wandered. A few years later, he was +practically a ruined man—ruined by gold. On the eighteenth day of +January, 1848, one of his men named Marshall, brought to Sutter a lump +of yellow metal which he had uncovered while digging a mill-race. There +could be no doubt of it—it was gold! News of the great discovery soon +got about; there was a great rush for this new Eldorado; Sutter's land +was overrun with gold-seekers, who cared nothing for his rights, and +when he attempted to defend his titles in the courts, they were declared +invalid, and his land was taken from him. To crown his disasters, his +homestead was destroyed by fire; finding himself ruined, without land +and without money, he gave up the struggle in despair <a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a><span class="pagenum">page 256</span>and +returned east, passing his last years in poverty in a little town in +Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Frémont, meantime, had done a great work for California. The son of a +Frenchman, showing an early aptitude for mathematics, he had secured an +appointment to the United States engineering corps, and, after various +minor expeditions in which he had acquitted himself well, was put in +charge of an expedition for the exploration of the Rocky Mountains. He +was fortunate at the start in securing the services as guide and +interpreter of that famous hunter and plainsman, Kit Carson, whose life +had been passed on the prairies, who knew more Indians and Indian +dialects than any other white man, and who was, to his generation, what +Davy Crockett was to an earlier one. To Carson a great share of the +expedition's success was no doubt due, and it was so successful that in +the following year, Frémont was leading another over the country between +the Rockies and the Pacific. This one was almost lost in the mountains, +and came near perishing of cold and hunger, but, finally, in March, +1844, managed to struggle through to Sutter's Fort.</p> + +<p>Frémont found California in a state of unrest amounting almost to +insurrection against Mexican rule, and as the number of white settlers +increased, this feeling grew, until Mexico, becoming alarmed, sent an +armed force to occupy the country. The show of force was the one thing +needed to fire the magazine; the settlers sprang to arms as one man, +and, under Frémont's leadership, defeated the Mexicans <a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a><span class="pagenum">page 257</span>and +drove them southward across the border. Soon afterwards, General Kearny +marched in from the east, from his remarkable and bloodless conquest of +New Mexico, with a force sufficient to render it certain that California +would never again be taken by the Mexicans.</p> + +<p>On the fourth of July, 1849, Frémont was chosen governor of the new +territory, and in the following year, arranged the treaty by which +California passed permanently to the United States. The new state was +quick to reward him and sent him to the Senate, where he gained +sufficient prominence to receive the nomination of the anti-slavery +party for the presidency in 1856. He never had any chance of election, +for the reform party had not yet sufficient strength, and was defeated +by Buchanan. He served with some distinction in the Civil War, gaining +considerable notoriety, while in charge of the Western Department in +1861, by issuing a proclamation freeing the slaves of secessionists in +Missouri. The proclamation drew forth some laudatory verses from John G. +Whittier, but was promptly countermanded by President Lincoln. Soon +afterwards, Frémont became involved in personal disputes with his +superior officers, was relieved from active service, and the remainder +of his life was spent in private enterprises.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Fremont's "pathfinding" virtually completed the exploration of the +country. A few secluded nooks and corners became known only as the tide +of immigration crept into them; but in its general features, <span class="pagenum">page 258</span> +the great continent, on whose eastern shore the white man was +fighting for a foothold two centuries before, was known from ocean to +ocean. It had been conquered and occupied by a dominant race, and won +for civilization.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>BOONE, DANIEL. Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1735; +settled at Holman's Ford, North Carolina, 1748; explored Kentucky, +1769-70; founded Boonesborough, 1775; moved to Missouri, 1795; died at +Charette, Missouri, September 26, 1820.</p> + +<p>KENTON, SIMON, Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, April 3, 1755; fled to +the West, 1771; ranged western country as a spy, 1776-78; with George +Rogers Clark's expedition, 1778; commanded a battalion of Kentucky +volunteers under Wayne, 1793-94; brigadier-general of Ohio militia, +1805; at battle of the Thames, 1813; died in Logan County, Ohio, April +29, 1836.</p> + +<p>CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS. Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, +1752; settled in Kentucky, 1775; major of militia, 1776; sent as +delegate to Virginia, 1776; second journey to Virginia, 1777; started on +Illinois expedition, June 24, 1778; captured Kaskaskia, July 4, 1778; +captured Vincennes, February 24, 1779; defeated Miami Indians and +destroyed villages, 1782; died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 18, +1818.</p> + +<p>PUTNAM, RUFUS. Born in Sutton, Massachusetts, April 9, 1738; served in +campaigns against the French, 1757-60; superintended defenses of New +York City, 1776; superintended construction of fortifications at <a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a><span class="pagenum">page 259</span> +West Point, 1778; promoted to brigadier-general, January 7, 1783; +founded Marietta, Ohio, April 7, 1788; judge of Supreme Court of +Northwest Territory, 1789; served as brigadier-general under Wayne, +1792-93; member of Ohio Constitutional Convention, 1803; formed first +Bible society west of the Alleghanies, 1812; died at Marietta, Ohio, May +1, 1824.</p> + +<p>LEWIS, MERIWETHER. Born near Charlottesville, Virginia, August 18, 1774; +entered United States army, 1795; promoted captain, 1800; private +secretary to President Jefferson, 1801-03; explored country west of +Mississippi, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1808; killed +himself near Nashville, Tennessee, October 8, 1809.</p> + +<p>CLARK, WILLIAM. Born in Virginia, August 1, 1770; removed to Kentucky, +1774; lieutenant of infantry, March 7, 1792; resigned from service, +July, 1796; removed to St. Louis, 1796; accompanied Meriwether Lewis on +western explorations, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1813-21; +superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1822-38; died at St. Louis, September +1, 1838.</p> + +<p>PIKE, ZEBULON MONTGOMERY. Born at Lamberton, New Jersey, January 5, +1779; entered United States army, 1799; captain, 1806; conducted +exploring expeditions in Louisiana Territory, 1805-07; major, 1808; +colonel, 1812; brigadier-general, March 12, 1813; died in assault on +York (now Toronto), Canada, April 27, 1813.</p> + +<p>HOUSTON, SAMUEL. Born near Lexington, Virginia, March 2, 1793; served in +war of 1812; member of Congress from Tennessee, 1823-27; governor of +Tennessee, <a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a><span class="pagenum">page 260</span>1827-29; defeated Mexicans at San Jacinto, April, +1836; President of Texas, 1836-38 and 1841-44; United States senator +from Texas, 1845-59; governor of Texas, 1859-61; died at Huntersville, +Texas, July 25, 1863.</p> + +<p>CROCKETT, DAVID. Born at Limestone, Tennessee, August 17, 1786; member +of Congress, 1827-33; served in Texan war, 1835-36; killed at The Alamo, +San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, March 6, 1836.</p> + +<p>BOWIE, JAMES. Born in Burke County, Georgia, about 1790; notorious in +duel of 1827; went to Texas, 1835; made colonel of Texan army, 1835; +killed at the Alamo, March 6, 1836.</p> + +<p>TRAVIS, WILLIAM BARRETT. Born in Conecuh County, Alabama, 1811; admitted +to the bar, 1830; went to Texas, 1832; killed at the Alamo, March 6, +1836.</p> + +<p>WHITMAN, MARCUS. Born in Rushville, Ontario County, New York, September +4, 1802; appointed missionary to Oregon, 1834; reached Fort Walla Walla, +September 2, 1836; started on ride across continent, October 3, 1842; +reached Washington, March 3, 1843; took great train of emigrants back to +Oregon, 1843; killed by Indians at Waülatpu, Oregon, November 29, 1847.</p> + +<p>SUTTER, JOHN AUGUSTUS. Born in Kandern, Baden, February 15, 1803; +graduated at military college at Berne, Switzerland, 1823; served in +Swiss Guard through Spanish campaign, 1823-24; emigrated to America and +settled at St. Louis, 1834; crossed Rocky Mountains, 1838; settled in +California, 1839; built fort on present site of Sacramento, 1841; gold +discovered on <a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a><span class="pagenum">page 261</span>his ranch, January 18, 1848; homestead burned, +1864; removed to Litiz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1873; died at +Washington, D.C., June 17, 1880.</p> + +<p>FRÉMONT, JOHN CHARLES. Born at Savannah, Georgia, January 21, 1813; +explored South Pass, Rocky Mountains, 1842; Pacific Slope, 1843-45; took +part in conquest of California, 1846-47; United States senator from +California, 1850-51; Republican candidate for presidency, 1856; Federal +Commander of Department of the West, 1861; governor of Arizona, 1878-82; +died at New York City, July 13, 1890.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>GREAT SOLDIERS</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a><span class="pagenum">page 262</span>We have seen how the great crises in our country's history +have produced great men to deal with them. We shall see now how great +wars produce great soldiers. The Revolution produced them; the Civil War +produced them. The second war with England, and the war with Spain +failed to produce them because they were too quickly ended, and without +desperate need. They served, however, to pierce certain gold-laced +bubbles which had been strutting about the stage pretending to be great +and impressing many people with their greatness; but which were, in +reality, great only in self-conceit, and in that colossal! So did the +Revolution and the Civil War, at first, and costly work it was until the +last of them had vanished, to be replaced by men who knew how to fight; +for it seems one of the axioms of history that the fiercer your soldier +is in peace, the more useless he is on a battlefield. The war with +Mexico, by a fortunate chance, found a few good fighters ready at hand, +and so was pushed through in the most brilliant way. One trembles to +think how the Revolution might have begun—and ended!—but for the fact +that Washington, experienced in warfare and disdaining gold lace and +empty boasts, was, by a <a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a><span class="pagenum">page 263</span>fortunate chance, chosen +commander-in-chief. That choice is our greatest debt to John and Samuel +Adams.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Early in the eighteenth century, there lived in the old historic town of +Salem, Massachusetts, Joseph Putnam and his wife, Elizabeth. They +already had nine children, and, in 1718, a tenth was born to them and +they named him Israel, which means a soldier of God. His career was +destined to be one of the most romantic and adventurous in American +history, but none of his brothers or sisters managed to get into the +lime-light of fame.</p> + +<p>Israel himself started in tamely enough as a farmer, having bought a +tract of five hundred acres down in Connecticut. Wild animals had been +pretty well exterminated by that time, but one old she-wolf still had +her den not far from Putnam's farm, and one night she came out and +amused herself by killing sixty or seventy of his fine sheep. When +Putnam found them stretched upon the ground next morning, a great rage +seized him; he swore that that wolf should never have the chance to do +such another night's work; he tracked her to her cave, and descending +without hesitation into the dark and narrow entrance, shot straight +between the eyes he saw gleaming at him through the darkness, and +dragged the carcass out into the daylight. That incident gives some idea +of Israel Putnam's temper, and what desperate things he was capable of +doing when his blood was up.</p> + +<p><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a><span class="pagenum">page 264</span>That was in 1735, and twenty years elapsed before he again +appeared upon the page of history. But in 1755 began the great war with +France, and for the next ten years, Putnam's life was fairly crowded +with incident. Connecticut furnished a thousand men to resist the +expected French invasion, and Putnam was put in command of a company +with the rank of captain. His company acted as rangers, and for two +years did remarkable service in harassing the enemy and in warning the +settlers against lurking bands of Indians, set on by the French. On more +than one occasion, he saved his life by the closest margin. He was +absolutely fearless, and this, together with a clear head and quick eye, +carried him safely through peril after peril, any one of which would +have proved the death of a man less resolute.</p> + +<p>He saved a party of soldiers from the Indians by steering them in a +bateau safely down the dangerous rapids of the Hudson; he saved Fort +Edward from destruction by fire at the imminent risk of his life, +working undaunted although the flames were threatening, every moment, to +explode the magazine; a year later, captured by the Indians, who feared +and hated him, he was bound to a stake, after some preliminary tortures, +and a pile of fagots heaped about him and set on fire. The flames were +searing his flesh, when a French officer happened to come up and rescued +him. These are but three incidents out of a dozen such. He seemed to +bear a charmed life, and any of his men would willingly have died for +him. In 1765, when he returned home after ten <a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a><span class="pagenum">page 265</span>years of +continuous campaigning, it was with the rank of colonel, and a +reputation for daring and resourcefulness second to none in New England.</p> + +<p>Ten years of quiet followed, and Israel Putnam was fifty-seven years of +age—an age when most men consider their life work done. On the +afternoon of April 20, 1775, he was engaged in hauling some stones from +a field with a team of oxen, when he heard galloping hoofbeats down the +road, and looking up, saw a courier riding up full speed. The courier +paused only long enough to shout the tidings of the fight at Concord, +and then spurred on again. Putnam, leaving his oxen where they stood, +threw himself upon horseback, without waiting to don his uniform, and at +sunrise next day, galloped into Cambridge, having travelled nearly a +hundred miles! Verily there were giants in those days!</p> + +<p>He was placed in command of the Connecticut forces with the rank of +brigadier-general, and soon afterwards was one of four major-generals +appointed by the Congress for the Continental army. For four years +thereafter he took a conspicuous part in the war, bearing himself always +with characteristic gallantry. But the machine had been worn out by +excessive exertion; in 1779 he was stricken with paralysis, and the last +years of his life were passed quietly at home. For sheer, extravagant +daring, which paused at no obstacle and trembled at no peril, he has, +perhaps, never had his equal among American soldiers.</p> + +<p>Not far from West Greenwich, Connecticut, there <a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a><span class="pagenum">page 266</span>is a steep +and rocky bluff, the scene of one of Putnam's most extraordinary feats, +performed only a short time before he was stricken down. An expedition, +fifteen hundred strong, had been sent by the British against West +Greenwich, and Putnam rallied a company to oppose the invaders, but his +little force was soon routed and dispersed, and sought to escape across +country with the British in hot pursuit. Putnam, prominent as the leader +of the Americans, was hard pressed, and his horse, weary from a long +march, was failing; his capture seemed certain, for the enemy gained +upon him rapidly; when suddenly, he turned his horse down the steep +bluff at his side, reached the bottom in safety by some miracle, and +rode away in triumph, leaving his astonished and baffled pursuers at the +top, for not one dared follow him!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>I have spoken of how the test of war winnows the wheat from the chaff. +This was so in those days as in these, and, as an amusing proof of it, +one has only to glance over the names of the generals appointed by the +Congress at the same time as Putnam. Artemas Ward, Seth Pomeroy, William +Heath, Joseph Spencer, David Wooster, John Thomas, John Sullivan—what +cursory student of American history knows anything of them? Four others +are better remembered—Richard Montgomery, for the gallant and hopeless +assault upon Quebec in which he lost his life; Charles Lee for +disobeying Washington's orders at the battle of Monmouth and provoking +<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a><span class="pagenum">page 267</span>the great Virginian to an historic outburst of rage; Nathanael +Greene for his masterly conduct of the war in the South; Horatio Gates, +first for a victory over Burgoyne which he did very little to bring +about, and second for his ill-starred attempt to supplant Washington as +commander-in-chief.</p> + +<p>Let us pause for a glance at Gates. Born in England, he had seen service +in the British army, and had been badly wounded at Braddock's defeat, +but managed to escape from the field. He resigned from the army, after +that, and settled in Virginia, where his supposed military prowess won +him the appointment of brigadier-general at the outbreak of the +Revolution. He secured command of the Northern army, which had gathered +to resist the great force which was marching south from Canada under +John Burgoyne. He found the field already prepared by General Schuyler, +a much more able officer. Stark had defeated and captured a strong +detachment at Bennington, and Herkimer had won the bloody battle of +Oriskany; the British army was hemmed in by a constantly-increasing +force of Americans, and was able to drag along only a mile a day; +Burgoyne and his men were disheartened and apprehensive of the future, +while the Americans were exultant and confident of victory. In such +circumstances, on September 19, 1777, was fought the first battle of +Bemis Heights, a bloody and inconclusive struggle, supported wholly by +the division of Benedict Arnold, who behaved so gallantly that Gates, +who had not even ridden on the field of battle, was consumed with <a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a><span class="pagenum">page 268</span> +jealousy, took Arnold's division away from him, and did not mention +him in the dispatches describing the battle.</p> + +<p>The eve of the second battle found the most successful and popular +general in the American army without a command. Gates, deeming victory +certain, thought it safe to insult Arnold, and banished him to his tent; +but on October 7th, when the second struggle was in progress, Arnold, +seeing the tide of battle going against his men, threw himself upon his +horse and dashed into the conflict. In a frenzy of rage, he dressed the +lines, rallied his men, who cheered like mad when they saw him again at +their head, and led a charge which sent the British reeling back. He +pursued the fleeing enemy to their entrenchments, and dashed forward to +storm them, but, in the very sally-port, horse and rider fell +together—the horse dead, the rider with a shattered leg. That ended the +battle which he had virtually conducted in the most gallant manner +imaginable. Had he died then, he would have been a national hero—but +another fate awaited him!</p> + +<p>Gates had not been on the field. He had remained in his tent, ready to +ride away in case of defeat. He had ordered all the baggage wagons +loaded, ready to retreat, for he was by no means the kind of general who +burns his bridges behind him. His jealousy of Arnold mounted to fever +heat, but that hero, lying grievously wounded in his tent, was for the +moment beyond reach of his envy.</p> + +<p>Burgoyne attempted to retreat, but found it was <a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a><span class="pagenum">page 269</span>too late. +Surrounded and hemmed in on every side, he turned and turned for six +days seeking vainly for some way out; but there was no escaping, the +American army was growing in numbers and confidence daily, and his own +supplies were running short. Pride and ambition yielded at last to stern +necessity and he surrendered.</p> + +<p>Gates, believing himself a second Alexander, became so inflated with +conceit that he did not even send a report of the surrender to +Washington, but communicated it direct to the Congress, over the head of +his commander-in-chief. Weak and envious, he entered heart and soul into +the plot to supplant Washington in supreme command; but his real +incompetency was soon apparent, for, at the battle of Camden, making +blunder after blunder, he sent his army to disastrous defeat, and was +recalled by the Congress, his northern laurels, as had been predicted, +changed to southern willows. So blundering had been his conduct of the +only campaign that he had managed that his military career ended then +and there, and the remainder of his life was spent upon his estate in +Virginia.</p> + +<p>No doubt his petty and ignoble spirit rejoiced at the downfall of the +brilliant man who had won for him his victories over Burgoyne. Let us +speak of him for a moment. In remembering Arnold the traitor, we are apt +to forget Arnold the general. There is, of course, no excuse for +treason, and yet Arnold had without doubt suffered grave injustice. He +was by nature rash to recklessness, at home on <a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a><span class="pagenum">page 270</span>the +battlefield and delighting in danger, with a real genius for the +management of a battle and a personality whose charm won him the +absolute devotion of his men. But he was also proud and selfish, and +these qualities caused his ruin.</p> + +<p>Let us do him justice. Two days after the battle of Concord, he had +marched into Cambridge at the head of a company of militia which he had +collected at New Haven; it was he who suggested the expedition against +Ticonderoga and who marched into the fortress side by side with Ethan +Allen; it was he who led an expedition against Quebec, accomplishing one +of the most remarkable marches in history, and, after a brilliant +campaign, retreated only before overwhelming numbers; on Lake Champlain +he engaged in a naval battle, one of the most desperate ever fought by +an American fleet, which turned back a British invasion and delayed +Burgoyne's advance for a year; while visiting his home at New Haven, a +British force invaded Connecticut, and Arnold, raising a force of +volunteers, drove them back to their ships and nearly captured them; +then, rejoining the northern army, he rendered the most gallant service, +turned Saint Leger back from Oriskany and won virtually unaided the two +battles of Saratoga, which resulted in Burgoyne's surrender.</p> + +<p>It will be seen from this that, to the end of 1777, no man in the +American army had rendered his country more signal service. Indeed, +there was none who even remotely approached Arnold in glory of +achievement. But from the first he had been the victim <a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a><span class="pagenum">page 271</span>of +petty persecution, and of circumstances which kept from him the credit +rightly due him; and a cabal against him in the Congress prevented his +receiving his proper rank in the service. We have seen how Gates made no +reference to him in reporting the brilliant victory at Saratoga; and the +same thing had happened to him again and again. His close friendship +with Washington caused the latter's enemies to do him all the harm they +could, and Arnold, disgusted at his country's ingratitude, gradually +drifted into Tory sentiments. He married the daughter of a Tory, +associated largely with Tories during a winter at Philadelphia, and at +last resolved to end the war, as he thought, in favor of England by +delivering the line of the Hudson to the British. The result of this +would be to divide the colonies in two and to render effective +co-operation almost impossible.</p> + +<p>So he sought and obtained command of West Point in order to carry out +this purpose, began his preparations, and had all his plans laid, when +the merest accident revealed the plot to Washington. Arnold escaped by +fleeing to a British man-of-war in the river, and after a short service +against his country, marked by a raid along the Virginia shore, he +sailed for England, where his last years were spent in poverty and +embittered by remorse. His last great act of treachery blotted out the +brilliant achievements which had gone before, and his name lives only as +that of the most infamous traitor in American history.</p> + +<p><a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a><span class="pagenum">page 272</span>Of the great names which come down to us from the Revolution, +the one which seems most admirable after that of Washington himself is +that of Nathanael Greene, not so much because of his military skill, +although that was of the highest order, as because of his pure +patriotism, his lack of selfishness, and his utter devotion to the cause +for which he fought. He was with Washington at Trenton, Princeton, and +Monmouth, and did much to save the army of the battle of the Brandywine. +After Gates's terrible defeat at Camden, he was put in command of the +army of the South, and conducted the most brilliant campaign of the war, +defeating the notorious Sir Guy Tarleton, and forcing Cornwallis north +into Virginia, where he was to be entrapped at Yorktown, and ending the +war which had devastated the South by capturing Charleston. After +Washington, he was perhaps the greatest general the war produced; +certainly he was the purest patriot, and his name should never be +forgotten by a grateful country.</p> + +<p>Linked forever with Greene in the annals of southern warfare, are three +men—Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and "Light Horse Harry" Lee—three +true knights and Christian gentlemen, worthy of all honor. The first of +these, indeed, may fairly be called the Bayard of American history, the +cavalier without fear and without reproach. Born in South Carolina in +1732, he had seen some service in the Cherokee war, and at once, upon +news of the fight at Lexington, raised a regiment and played an +important <a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a><span class="pagenum">page 273</span>part in driving the British from Charleston in +1776—a victory so decisive that the southern states were freed from +attack for over two years.</p> + +<p>After the crushing defeat of Gates at Camden Marion's little band was +the only patriot force in South Carolina, but he harassed the British so +effectively that he soon became genuinely feared. No one ever knew where +he would attack, for the swiftness of his movements seemed almost +superhuman. No hardship disturbed him; he endured heat and cold with +indifference; his food was of the simplest. Every school-boy knows the +story of how, inviting a British officer to dinner, he sat down +tranquilly before a log on which were a few baked potatoes, which formed +the whole meal, and how the Englishman went away with the conviction +that such a foe as that could never be conquered. No instance of +rapacity or cruelty was ever charged against him, nor did he ever injure +any woman or child.</p> + +<p>As a partisan leader, Sumter was second only to Marion, and for two +years the patriot fortunes in the South were in their hands. Together +they joined Greene when he took charge of the southern army, and proved +invaluable allies. Sumter lived to the great age of ninety-eight, and +was the last surviving general officer of the Revolution. He was, too, +the last survivor of the Braddock expedition, which he had accompanied +at the age of twenty-one, and which had been cut to pieces on the +Monongahela twenty years before the battle of Lexington was fought.</p> + +<p>"Light Horse Harry" Lee, whose "Legion" won <a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a><span class="pagenum">page 274</span>such fame in the +early years of the Revolution and whose services with Greene in the +South were of the most brilliant character, also lived well into the +nineteenth century. It was he who, in 1799, appointed by Congress to +deliver an address in commemoration of Washington, uttered the famous +phrase, "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his +countrymen." His son, Robert Edward Lee, was destined to become perhaps +the greatest general in our history.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So passed the era of the Revolution, and for thirty years the new +country was called upon to face no foreign foe; but pressing upon her +frontier was an enemy strong and cruel, who knew not the meaning of the +word "peace." Set on by the British during the Revolution, the Indians +continued their warfare long after peace had been declared. In the +wilderness north of the Ohio they had their villages, from which they +issued time after time to attack the white settlements to the south and +east. No one knew when or where they would strike, and every village and +hamlet along the frontier was liable to attack at any time. The farmer +tilling his fields was shot from ambush; the hunter found himself +hunted; children were carried away to captivity, and women, looking up +from their household work, found an Indian on the threshold.</p> + +<p>The land which the Indians held was so beautiful and fertile that +settlers ventured into it, despite the deadly peril, and in 1787, the +Northwest Territory was formed by Congress, and General Arthur <a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a><span class="pagenum">page 275</span> +St. Clair appointed its governor. A Scotchman, brave but impulsive, +with a good military training, St. Clair had made an unfortunate record +in the Revolution. Put in command of the defenses of Ticonderoga in the +summer of 1777, to hold it against the advancing British army under +Burgoyne, he had permitted the enemy to secure possession of a position +which commanded the fort, and he was forced to abandon it. The British +started in hot pursuit, and several actions took place in which the +Americans lost their baggage and a number of men. St. Clair had really +been placed in an impossible position, but his forced abandonment of the +fort impressed the public very unfavorably. He still had the confidence +of Washington, who assigned him to the important task of governing the +new Northwest Territory, and subduing the Indians who overran it. With +Braddock's bitter experience still vividly before him, Washington warned +St. Clair to beware of a surprise in any expedition he might lead +against the Indians, and the events which followed showed how badly that +warning was needed.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1791, St. Clair collected a large force at Fort +Washington, on the site of the present city of Cincinnati, and prepared +to advance against the Miami Indians. He had fourteen hundred men, but +he himself was suffering with gout and had to be conveyed most of the +way in a hammock. By the beginning of November, the army had reached the +neighborhood of the Miami villages, and there, on the morning of the +fourth, was surprised, routed and <a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a><span class="pagenum">page 276</span>cut to pieces. Less than +five hundred escaped from the field, the Indians spreading along the +road and shooting down the crazed fugitives at leisure. St. Clair's +military reputation had received its death blow, but Washington, with +wonderful forbearance, permitted him to retain the governorship of the +Territory, from which he was removed by Jefferson in 1802. He lived +sixteen years longer, poor and destitute, having used his own fortune to +defray the expenses of his troops in the Revolution—a debt which, to +the lasting disgrace of the government, it neglected to cancel. He grew +old and feeble, and was thrown from a wagon, one day, and killed. Upon +the little stone which marks his grave is this inscription: "The earthly +remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this +humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one +due from his country."</p> + +<p>The task which proved St. Clair's ruin was to be accomplished by another +survivor of the Revolution—"Mad" Anthony Wayne; "Mad" because of his +fury in battle, the fierceness of his charge, and his recklessness of +danger—attributes which he shared with Benedict Arnold. He was thirty +years of age at the opening of the Revolution, handsome, full of fire, +and hungering for glory. He was to win his full share of it, and to +prove himself, next to Washington and Greene, the best general in the +army.</p> + +<p>His favorite weapon was the bayonet, and he drilled his troops in the +use of it until they were able to withstand the shock of the renowned +British <a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a><span class="pagenum">page 277</span>infantry, who have always prided themselves on their +prowess with cold steel. His first service was with Arnold in Canada; he +was with Washington at the Brandywine; and at Germantown, hurling his +troops upon the Hessians, he drove them back at the point of the +bayonet, and retreated only under orders when the general attack failed. +At Monmouth, it was he and his men who, standing firm as a rock, +repulsed the first fierce bayonet charge of the British guards and +grenadiers.</p> + +<p>So it is not remarkable that, when Washington found an unusually +hazardous piece of work in hand, he should have selected Wayne to carry +it through. The British held a strong fort called Stony Point, which +commanded the Hudson and which Washington was anxious to capture. It was +impossible to besiege it, since British frigates held the river, and it +was so strong that an open assault could never carry it. It stood on a +rocky promontory, surrounded on three sides by water and connected with +the land only by a narrow, swampy neck. The only chance to take the +place was by a night attack, and Wayne eagerly welcomed the opportunity +to try it.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of July 15, 1779, Wayne, at the head of about thirteen +hundred men, started for the fort. He arrived near it after nightfall, +and dividing his force into three columns, moved forward to the attack. +He relied wholly upon the bayonet, and not a musket was loaded. The +advance was soon discovered by the British sentries, and a heavy fire +opened upon the Americans, but they pressed forward, <a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a><span class="pagenum">page 278</span>swarmed +up the long, sloping embankment of the fort, and in a moment were over +the walls.</p> + +<p>A bullet struck Wayne in the head, and he staggered and fell. Two of his +officers caught him up and started to take him to the rear, but he +struggled to his feet.</p> + +<p>"No, no," he cried, "I'm going in at the head of my men! Take me in at +the head of my men!"</p> + +<p>And at the head of his men he was carried into the fort.</p> + +<p>For a few moments, the bayonets flashed and played, then the British +broke and ran, and the fort was won. No night attack was ever delivered +with greater skill and boldness.</p> + +<p>Wayne soon recovered from his wound, and took an active part in driving +Cornwallis into the trap at Yorktown. Then he had retired from the army, +expecting to spend the remainder of his life in peace; but Washington, +remembering the man, knew that he was the one above all others to teach +the Ohio Indians a lesson, and called him to the work. Wayne accepted +the task, and five thousand men were placed under his command and +started westward over the mountains.</p> + +<p>He spent the winter in organizing and drilling his forces on the bank of +the Ohio where Cincinnati now stands, but which was then merely a fort +and huddle of houses. He made the most careful preparations for the +expedition, and early in the spring, he commenced his march northward +into the Indian country. The savages gathered to repulse him at <a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a><span class="pagenum">page 279</span> +a spot on the Maumee where, years before, a tornado had cut a wide +swath through the forest, rendering it all but impenetrable. Here, on +the twentieth of August, 1794, he advanced against the enemy, and, +throwing his troops into the "Fallen Timbers," in which the Indians were +ambushed, routed them out, cut them down, and administered a defeat so +crushing that they could not rally from it, and their whole country was +laid waste with fire and sword. Wayne did his work well, burning their +villages, and destroying their crops, so that they would have no means +of sustenance during the coming winter. Thoroughly cowed by this +treatment, the Indians sued for peace, and at Greenville, nearly a year +later, Wayne made a treaty in which twelve tribes took part. It marked +the beginning of a lasting peace, which opened the "Old Northwest" to +the white settler.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No soldier of the Revolution, with the exception of Washington, was +elevated to the presidency, nor did any of them attain an exalted place +in the councils of the Nation. Statecraft and military genius rarely go +hand in hand, and it was not until 1828 that a man whose reputation had +been made chiefly on the battlefield was sent to the White House. Andrew +Jackson was the only soldier, with one exception, who came out of the +War of 1812 with any great reputation, and it is only fair to add that +his victory at New Orleans was due more to the rashness of the British +in advancing to a frontal attack against <a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a><span class="pagenum">page 280</span>a force of +entrenched sharpshooters than to any remarkable generalship on the +American side.</p> + +<p>The war with Mexico found two able generals ready to hand, and laid the +foundations of the reputations of many more. "Old Rough and Ready" +Zachary Taylor, who commanded during the campaign which ended with the +brilliant victory at Buena Vista, had been tested in the fire of +frontier warfare, and won the presidency in 1848; and Franklin Pierce, +who commanded one of the divisions which captured the City of Mexico, +won the same prize four years later. It was in this war that Grant, Lee, +Johnston, Davis, Meade, Hooker, Thomas, Sherman, and a score of others +who were to win fame fifteen years later, got their baptism of fire. +Their history belongs to the period of the Civil War and will be told +there; but the chief military glory of the war with Mexico centres about +a man who divided the honors of the War of 1812 with Andrew Jackson but +who failed to achieve the presidency, and whose usefulness had ended +before the Civil War began—Winfield Scott.</p> + +<p>A Virginian, born in 1786, Scott entered the army at an early age, and +had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the opening of the second +war with England. Two years later, he was made a brigadier-general, and +commanded at the fierce and successful battles of Chippewa and Lundy's +Lane. At the close of the war, he was made a major-general, and received +the thanks of Congress for his services. In 1841, he became +commander-in-chief of the armies <a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a><span class="pagenum">page 281</span>of the United States; but, +at the opening of the war with Mexico, President Polk, actuated by +partisan jealousy, kept Scott in Washington and assigned Zachary Taylor +to the command of the armies in the field. Scott had already an enviable +reputation, and had been an aspirant for the presidency, and Polk feared +that a few victories would make him an invincible candidate. Perhaps he +was afraid that Scott would develop into another Andrew Jackson.</p> + +<p>However, it was impossible to keep the commander-in-chief of the army +inactive while a great war was in progress, and early in 1847, he was +sent to the front, and on March 9 began one of the most successful and +brilliant military campaigns in history. Landing before Vera Cruz, he +captured that city after a bombardment of twenty days, and, gathering +his army together, started on an overland march for the capital of +Mexico. Santa Anna, with a great force, awaited him in a strong position +at Cerro Gordo, but Scott seized the key of it in a lofty height +commanding the Mexican position, and soon won a decisive victory. The +American army swept on like a tidal wave, and city after city fell +before it, until, on the twentieth of August, it reached the city of the +Montezumas. An armistice delayed the advance until September 7, but on +that day offensive operations were begun. Great fortifications strongly +manned guarded the town, but they were carried one after another by +assault, and on September 14, General Scott marched at the head of his +army through the city gates. The war was ended—a war in which the +Americans had not lost a single battle, <a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a><span class="pagenum">page 282</span>and had gained a vast +empire.</p> + +<p>General Scott came out of the war with a tremendous reputation; but he +lacked personal magnetism. A certain stateliness and dignity kept people +at a distance, and, together with an exacting discipline, won him the +sobriquet of "Old Fuss and Feathers." In 1852, he was the candidate of +the Whig party for President; but the party was falling to pieces, he +himself had no great personal following, and he was defeated by the +Democratic candidate, one of his own generals, Franklin Pierce. He +remained in command of the army until the outbreak of the Civil War. Age +and infirmities prevented his taking the field, and after the disastrous +defeat at Bull Run, he resigned the command. General Scott was renowned +for his striking physique, more majestic, perhaps, even than that of +Washington. He has, indeed, been called the most imposing general in +history.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>With General Scott ends another era of our history, and we come to a +consideration of the soldiers made famous by the greatest war of the +nineteenth century—the civil conflict which threatened, for a time, to +disrupt the Union. It was a war waged on both sides with desperate +courage and tenacity, and it developed a number of commanders not, +perhaps, of the very first rank, but standing high in the second.</p> + +<p>The first real success of the war was won by <a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a><span class="pagenum">page 283</span>George B. +McClellan. A graduate of West Point, veteran of the war with Mexico, and +military observer of the war in the Crimea, he had resigned from the +army in 1857 to engage in the railroad business, with headquarters at +Cincinnati. At the opening of the war, he was commissioned +major-general, and put in command of the Department of Ohio. His first +work was to clear western Virginia of Confederates, which he did in a +series of successful skirmishes, lasting but a few weeks. He lost only +eight men, while the Confederates lost sixteen hundred, besides over a +thousand taken prisoners. The achievement was of the first importance, +since it saved for the Union the western section of Virginia which, a +year later, was admitted as a separate state. It is worth remembering +that in this campaign, McClellan's opponent was no less a personage than +Robert E. Lee.</p> + +<p>The success was the greater as contrasted with the disaster at Bull Run, +and in August, 1861, McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the +Potomac, gathered about Washington and still discouraged and +disorganized from that defeat and rout. His military training had been +of the most thorough description, especially upon the technical side, +and no better man could have been found for the task of whipping that +great army into shape. He soon proved his fitness for the work, and four +months later, he had under him a trained and disciplined force, the +equal of any that ever trod American soil. He forged the instrument +which, in the end, a stronger man than <a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a><span class="pagenum">page 284</span>he was to use. Let +that always be remembered to his credit.</p> + +<p>He had become a sort of popular hero, idolized by his soldiers, for he +possessed in greater degree than any other commander at the North that +personal magnetism which wins men. But it was soon evident that he +lacked those qualities of aggressiveness, energy, and initiative +essential to a great commander; that he was unduly cautious. He seems to +have habitually over-estimated the strength of the enemy and +under-estimated his own. With this habit of mind, it was certain that he +would never suffer a great defeat; but it was also probable that he +would never win a great victory, and a great victory was just what the +North hungered for to wipe out the disgrace of Bull Run. Not for eight +months was he ready to begin the campaign against Richmond, and it ended +in heavy loss and final retreat, partly because of McClellan's +incapacity and partly because of ignorant interference with his plans on +the part of politicians at Washington. For it must be remembered that +McClellan was a Democrat, and soon became the natural leader of that +party at the North—a fact which seemed little less than treason to many +of the political managers at the Capital.</p> + +<p>One great and successful battle he fought, however, at Antietam, +checking Lee's attempt to invade the North and sending him in full +retreat back to Virginia, but his failure to pursue the retreating army +exasperated the President, and he was removed <a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a><span class="pagenum">page 285</span>from command of +the army on November 7, 1862. This closed his career as a soldier. In +the light of succeeding events, it cannot be doubted that his removal +was a serious mistake. All in all, he was the ablest commander the Army +of the Potomac ever had; he was a growing man; a little more experience +in the field would probably have cured him of over-timidity, and made +him a great soldier. General Grant summed the matter up admirably when +he said, "The test applied to him would be terrible to any man, being +made a major-general at the beginning of the war. If he did not succeed, +it was because the conditions of success were so trying. If he had +fought his way along and up, I have no reason to suppose that he would +not have won as high distinction as any of us." In 1864, McClellan was +the nominee of the Democratic party for the presidency, but received +only twenty-one electoral votes.</p> + +<p>The command of the Army of the Potomac passed to Ambrose E. Burnside, +who had won some successes early in the war, but who had protested his +unfitness for a great command, and who was soon to prove it. He led the +army after Lee, found him entrenched on the heights back of +Fredericksburg, and hurled division after division against an +impregnable position, until twelve thousand men lay dead and wounded on +the field. Burnside, half-crazed with anguish at his fatal mistake, +offered his resignation, which was at once accepted.</p> + +<p>"Fighting Joe" Hooker succeeded him, and was <a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a><span class="pagenum">page 286</span>soon to +demonstrate that he, too, was unfitted for the great task. Early in May, +believing Lee's army to be in retreat, he attacked it at +Chancellorsville, only to be defeated with a loss of seventeen thousand +men. At the beginning of the battle, Hooker had enjoyed every advantage +of position, and his army outnumbered Lee's; but he sacrificed his +position, with unaccountable stupidity, moving from a high position to a +lower one, provoking the protest from Meade that, if the army could not +hold the top of a hill, it certainly could not hold the bottom of it; +and he seemed unable to use his men to advantage, holding one division +in idleness while another was being cut to pieces.</p> + +<p>It is, perhaps, sufficient comment upon the folly of dismissing +McClellan to point out that within seven months of his retirement, the +Army of the Potomac, which had been the finest fighting-machine in +existence on the continent, had lost thirty thousand men on the field +and thousands more by desertion, and had been converted from a confident +and well-disciplined force into a discouraged and disorganized rabble.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Meanwhile a new star had arisen in the West in the person of U.S. +Grant—"Unconditional Surrender" Grant, as he was called, after his +capture of Fort Donelson—the event which riveted the eyes of the Nation +upon him and which marked the beginning of his meteor-like advancement. +We have already spoken of Grant as President, and of his unfitness +for <a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a><span class="pagenum">page 287</span>that high office. There are also many who dispute his +ability as a commander, who point out that his army always outnumbered +that opposed to him, and who claim that his victories were won by brute +force and not by military skill. That there is some truth in this nobody +can deny, and yet his campaign against Vicksburg was one of the most +brilliant in this or any other war. It might be added, too, that it +takes something more than preponderance of numbers to win a battle—as +Hooker showed at Chancellorsville—and that Grant did win a great many.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="grant" id="grant"></a><img src="images/Illus-0419-1.jpg" alt="(35KB) grant" width="382" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">GRANT</span> +</div> +<p>The truth about Grant is that he was utterly lacking in that personal +magnetism which made McClellan, Sheridan and "Stonewall" Jackson +idolized by their men, and which is essential to a great commander. He +was cold, reserved, and silent, repelled rather than attracted. He +succeeded mainly because he was determined to succeed, and hung on with +bull-dog tenacity until he had worn his opponent out. Not till then did +he stop to take stock of his own injuries. "I propose to fight it out on +this line, if it takes all summer," was a characteristic utterance.</p> + +<p>The honors of Union victories were fairly divided with Grant by William +Tecumseh Sherman, a man who, as a general, was greater in some respects +than his chief. Sherman was an Ohioan, and, after graduating from West +Point and serving in California during the war with Mexico, resigned +from the army to seek more lucrative employment. He was given <a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a><span class="pagenum">page 288</span> +a regiment when the war opened, and his advance was rapid. He first +showed his real worth at the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded a +division and by superb fighting, saved Grant's reputation.</p> + +<p>Grant had collected an army of forty thousand men at Pittsburg Landing, +an obscure stopping-place in southern Tennessee for Mississippi boats, +and though he knew that the Confederates were gathering at Corinth, +twenty miles away, he left his army entirely exposed, throwing up not a +single breastwork, never dreaming that the enemy would dare attack him. +Nevertheless, they did attack, while Grant himself was miles away from +his army, and by the end of the first day's fighting, had succeeded in +pushing the Union forces back upon the river, in a cramped and dangerous +position. The action was resumed next day, and the Confederates forced +to retire, which they did in good order. That the Union army was not +disastrously defeated was due largely to the superb leadership of +Sherman, who had three horses shot under him and was twice wounded, but +whose demeanor was so cool and inspiring that his raw troops, not +realizing their peril, were filled with confidence and fought like +veterans.</p> + +<p>Sherman's fame increased rapidly after that. When Grant departed for the +East to take command of the Army of the Potomac, he planned for Sherman +a campaign against Atlanta, Georgia—a campaign which Sherman carried +out in the most masterly manner, marching into Atlanta in triumph on +September 2, 1864. The campaign had cost him <a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a><span class="pagenum">page 289</span>thirty-two +thousand men, but the Confederate loss had been much heavier, and in +Atlanta the Confederacy lost one of its citadels. It was especially +valuable because of the great machine shops located there, and these +Sherman proceeded to destroy before starting on his famous "march to the +sea."</p> + +<p>This, the most spectacular movement of the whole war, was planned by +Sherman, who secured Grant's permission to carry it out, and the start +was made on the fifteenth of November. The army marched by four roads, +as nearly parallel as could be found, starting at seven o'clock every +morning and covering fifteen miles every day. All railroads and other +property that might aid the Confederates were destroyed, the soldiers +were allowed to forage freely, and in consequence a swath of destruction +sixty miles wide and three hundred miles long was cut right across the +Confederacy. A locust would have had difficulty in finding anything to +eat after the army had passed. It encountered no effective resistance, +and by the middle of December, came within sight of the sea.</p> + +<p>On December 21, Sherman entered Savannah, and wired Lincoln that he +presented him the city as a Christmas gift. Then he turned northward to +join Grant, taking Columbia, Fayetteville, Goldsboro and Raleigh, and +destroying Confederate arsenals, foundries, railroads and public works +of all descriptions. Lee had surrendered four days before Sherman +marched into Raleigh, and the next day a flag of truce from General +Joseph E. Johnston <a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a><span class="pagenum">page 290</span>opened negotiations for the surrender of +his army.</p> + +<p>This, the virtual close of the Civil War, ended Sherman's career in the +field. In 1866, he was made lieutenant-general, and three years later +succeeded Grant as commander-in-chief of the army, retiring from the +service in 1884, at the age of sixty-four.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been the relative merits of Grant and Sherman as +commanders, there can be no question as to the greatest cavalry leader +in the Union armies, and one of the greatest in any army, Philip Henry +Sheridan. Above any cavalry leader, North or South, except "Stonewall" +Jackson, Sheridan possessed the power of rousing his men to the utmost +pitch of enthusiastic devotion; young, dashing and intrepid himself, his +men were ready to follow him anywhere—and it was usually to victory +that he led them.</p> + +<p>Sheridan was a West Pointer, graduating in 1853, and was appointed +captain at the outbreak of the war. It was not until May of 1862 that he +found his real place as colonel of cavalry, and not until the first days +of the following year that he had the opportunity to distinguish +himself. Then, at the battle of Murfreesboro, he broke through the +advancing Confederate line which was crumpling up the right of the Union +army, and turned the tide of battle from defeat to victory. As a reward, +he was appointed major-general of volunteers. In April, 1864, he became +commander of the cavalry corps of <a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a><span class="pagenum">page 291</span>the Army of the Potomac, +and three months later made his famous raid along the valley of the +Shenandoah.</p> + +<p>Entering the valley with an army of forty thousand men, Sheridan swept +Early and a Confederate force out of it, and then, to render impossible +any Confederate raids thereafter with the valley as a base, rode from +end to end of it, destroying everything that would support an army. +Early, meanwhile, had been reinforced, and, one misty morning, fell upon +the Federals while they lay encamped at Cedar Creek. The surprise was +complete, and in a short time the Union army was in full flight. +Sheridan had been called to Washington, and on the morning of the battle +was at Winchester, some twenty miles away. In the early dawn, he heard +the rumble of the cannonade, and, springing to horse, galloped to the +battlefield, to meet his men retreating.</p> + +<p>"Face about, boys! face about!" he shouted, riding up and down the +lines; and his men saw him, and burst into a cheer, and reformed their +lines, and, catching his spirit of victory, led by their loved +commander, fell upon Early, routed him and practically destroyed his +army. Perhaps nowhere else in history is there an instance such as +this—of a general meeting his army in full retreat, stopping the panic, +facing them about, and leading them to victory.</p> + +<p>In the last campaign against Richmond, Sheridan's services were of +inestimable value; it was he who <a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a><span class="pagenum">page 292</span>defeated a great Confederate +force at the brilliant battle of Five Forks; it was he who got in front +of Lee's retreating army and cornered it at Appomattox. He had his full +share of honors, succeeding Sherman as general-in-chief of the army in +1883, and receiving the rank of general from Congress, just before his +death five years later. Grant, Sherman and Sheridan are the only men in +the country's history who have held this highest of military titles.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>After these three men, George H. Thomas was the most prominent commander +on the Union side; notable, too, from the fact that he was a Virginian, +and was considered a traitor by his native state for his adherence to +the Union cause, just as poor old Winfield Scott had been. He had made +something of a name for himself before the Civil War opened, +distinguishing himself in the war with Mexico and winning brevets for +gallantry at the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. He won a decisive +victory at Mill Springs early in 1862, and saved the army from rout at +Murfreesboro by his heroic holding of the centre. But his most famous +exploit was the defence of Horseshoe ridge, against overwhelming odds, +at the battle of Chickamauga.</p> + +<p>The Union right wing had been routed, and the Confederates, certain of a +great victory, turned against the left wing, twenty-five thousand +strong, under command of Thomas. They swarmed up the slope on which +Thomas had taken his position, only to be hurled back with heavy loss. +Again and again <a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a><span class="pagenum">page 293</span>they charged, sixty thousand of them, but +Thomas stood like a rock against which the Confederates dashed +themselves in vain. For six hours that terrific fighting continued, +until nearly half of Thomas's men lay dead or wounded, but night found +him still master of the position, saving the Union army from +destruction. Ever afterwards Thomas was known as "The Rock of +Chickamauga."</p> + +<p>In the following year, he again distinguished himself by defeating Hood +at Nashville, in one of the most brilliant battles of the war. The +defeat was the most decisive by either side in a general engagement, the +Confederate army losing half its numbers, and being so routed and +demoralized that it could not rally and was practically destroyed. +Thomas's plan of battle is studied to this day in the military schools +of Europe, and has been compared with that of Napoleon at Austerlitz.</p> + +<p>After Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas, there is a wide gap. No other +commanders on the Union side measured up to them, although there were +many of great ability. McPherson, Buell, Sumner, Hancock, Meade, +Rosecrans, Kilpatrick, Pope—all had their hours of triumph, but none of +them developed into what could be called a great commander. Whether from +inherent weakness, or from lack of opportunity for development, all +stopped short of greatness. It is worth noting that every famous +general, Union or Confederate, and most of the merely prominent ones, +were graduates of West Point and had received their baptism of fire in +<a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a><span class="pagenum">page 294</span>Mexico, the only exception being Sheridan, who did not +graduate from West Point until after the war with Mexico was over.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Turning now to the Confederate side, we find here, too, four supremely +able commanders, the first of whom, Robert E. Lee, is believed by many +to be the greatest in our country's history. No doubt some of the renown +which attaches to Lee's name is due to his desperate championship of a +lost cause, and to the love which the people of the South bore, and +still bear, him because of his singularly sweet and unselfish character. +But, sentiment aside, and looking at him only as a soldier, he must be +given a place in the front rank of our greatest captains. There are not +more than two or three to rank with him—certainly there is none to rank +ahead of him.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="lee" id="lee"></a><img src="images/Illus-0420-1.jpg" alt="(30KB) lee" width="373" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">LEE</span> +</div> + +<p>Robert Edward Lee was a son of that famous "Light Horse Harry" Lee to +whose exploits during the Revolution we have already referred. He was +born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, entered West Point at +the age of eighteen, and graduated four years later, second in his +class. His father had died ten years before, and his mother lived only +long enough to welcome him home from the Academy. He was at once +assigned to the engineer corps of the army, distinguished himself in the +war with Mexico and served as superintendent of West Point from 1852 to +1855.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, at the age of twenty-four, he had married <a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a><span class="pagenum">page 295</span>Mary +Randolph, daughter of Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, and +great-grand-daughter of George Washington's wife. Miss Custis was a +great heiress, and in time the estate of Arlington, situated on the +heights across the Potomac from Washington, became hers and her +husband's, but he nevertheless continued in the service. The marriage +was a happy and fortunate one in every way, and Lee's home life was +throughout a source of help and inspiration to him.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1859, while home on leave, he was ordered to assist in +capturing John Brown, who had taken Harper's Ferry. At the head of a +company of marines, he took Brown prisoner and, protecting him from a +mob which would have lynched him, handed him over to the authorities. +Two years later came the great trial of his life, when he was called +upon to decide between North and South, between Virginia and the Union.</p> + +<p>Lee was not a believer in slavery; he had never owned slaves, and when +Custis died in 1859, Lee had carried out the dead man's desire that all +the slaves at Arlington should be freed. Neither was he a believer in +secession; but, on the other hand, he questioned the North's right to +invade and coerce the seceding states, and when Virginia joined them, +and made him commander-in-chief of her army, he accepted the trust. +Shortly before, at the instance of his fellow-Virginian, General Scott, +he had been offered command of the Union army, but declined it, stating +that, though opposed to secession and <a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a><span class="pagenum">page 296</span>deprecating war, he +could take no part in an invasion of the southern states.</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, the southern press, which was to end by idolizing him, +began by abusing him. His first campaign was in western Virginia and was +a woeful failure, due partly to the splendid way in which McClellan, on +the Union side, managed it, and partly to blunders on the Confederate +side for which Lee was in no way responsible; but the result was that +that section of the state was lost to the Confederacy forever, and Lee +got the blame. Even his friends feared that he had been over-rated, and +he was sent away from the field of active hostilities to the far South, +where he was assigned to command Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. He +accepted the assignment without comment, and went to work immediately +fortifying the coast, to such good purpose that his reputation was soon +again firmly established. Early in 1862, he was recalled to Richmond to +assist in its defense. He found his beautiful estate on the heights +opposite Washington confiscated, his family exiled, his fortune gone.</p> + +<p>General Joseph E. Johnston was in command of the forces at Richmond, and +was preparing to meet McClellan, who was slowly advancing up the +peninsula. But Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, on May +31, and on the following day, Lee assumed command of the army. He got it +well in hand at once, sent Stuart on a raid around McClellan's lines, +and gradually forced the Union army away from Richmond, until the +capital of the Confederacy <a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a><span class="pagenum">page 297</span>was no longer in danger. Flushed +with success, Lee threw his army to the northeast against Pope, routed +him, crossed the Potomac into Maryland, threatened Washington, and +carried the war with a vengeance into the enemy's country. A more +complete reversal of conditions could not be imagined; a month before, +he had been engaged in a seemingly desperate effort to save Richmond; +now he had started upon an invasion of the North which promised serious +results.</p> + +<p>But things did not turn out as he expected. The inhabitants of Maryland +did not rally to him, McClellan was soon after him with a great army, +and on September 17, overtook him at Antietam, and fought a desperate +battle; from which Lee, overwhelmed by an army half again as large as +his own, was forced to withdraw defeated, though in good order, and +recross the Potomac into Virginia. Three months later, he got his +revenge in full measure at Fredericksburg, routing Burnside with fearful +loss, and early in May of the following year scored heavily again by +defeating Hooker at Chancellorsville. The last victory was a +dearly-bought one, for it cost the life of that most famous of all +American cavalry leaders, "Stonewall" Jackson, of whom we shall speak +hereafter.</p> + +<p>That was the culmination of Lee's career, for two months after +Chancellorsville, having started on another great invasion of the North, +on the fourth day of July, 1863, he was forced to retire from the fierce +battle of Gettysburg with his army seriously crippled <a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a><span class="pagenum">page 298</span>and +with all hope of invading the North at an end. He was on the defensive, +after that, with Grant's great army gradually closing in upon him and +drawing nearer and nearer to Richmond. That he was able to prolong this +struggle for nearly two years, especially considering the exhausted +state of the South, was remarkable to the last degree, eloquent +testimony to the high order of his leadership. Toward the last, his men +were in rags and practically starving, but there was no murmuring so +long as their beloved "Marse Robert" was with them.</p> + +<p>On the ninth day of April, 1865, six days after the fall of Richmond, +Lee found himself surrounded at Appomattox Courthouse by a vastly +superior force under General Grant. To have fought would have meant a +useless waste of human life. Lee chose the braver and harder course, and +surrendered. He knew that there could be but one end to the struggle, +and he was brave enough to admit defeat. On that occasion, Grant rose to +the full stature of a hero. He treated his conquered foe with every +courtesy; granted terms whose liberality was afterwards sharply +criticised by the clique in control of Congress, but which Grant +insisted should be carried out to the letter; sent the rations of his +own army to the starving Confederates, and permitted them to retain +their horses in order that they might get home, and have some means of +earning a livelihood.</p> + +<p>When Lee rode back to his army, it was to be surrounded by his ragged +soldiers, who could not believe that the end had come, who were ready to +keep <a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a><span class="pagenum">page 299</span>on fighting, and who broke down and sobbed like +children when they learned the truth. The next day, he issued an address +to his army, a dignified and worthy composition, which is still +treasured in many a southern home; and then, mounting his faithful +horse, Traveller, which had carried him through the war, he rode slowly +away to Richmond. He was greeted everywhere with the wildest enthusiasm, +and found himself then, as he has ever since remained, the idol and +chosen hero of the southern people, who saw in him a unique and splendid +embodiment of valor and virtue, second only to the first and greatest of +all Virginians, and even surpassing him in the subtle qualities of the +heart.</p> + +<p>As has been said, his fortune was gone, and it was necessary for him to +earn a living. The opportunity soon came in the offer of the presidency +of Washington College, at Lexington, where the remainder of his days +were spent in honored quiet. Those five years of warfare, with their +hardships and exposures, had brought on rheumatism of the heart, and the +end came on October 12, 1870. He died dreaming of battle, and his last +words were, "Tell Hill he <i>must</i> come up!"</p> + +<p>Next to Lee in the hearts of the Southern soldiers was Thomas Jonathan +Jackson, better known by the sobriquet of "Stonewall," which General Bee +gave him during the first battle of Bull Run. Driven back by the Union +onset, the Confederate left had retreated a mile or more, when it +reached the plateau where Jackson and his brigade were stationed. <a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a><span class="pagenum">page 300</span> +The brigade never wavered, but stood fast and held the position.</p> + +<p>"See there!" shouted General Bee, "Jackson is standing like a stone +wall. Rally on the Virginians!"</p> + +<p>Rally they did, and Jackson was ever thereafter known as "Stonewall."</p> + +<p>It was a good name, as representing not only his qualities of physical +courage, but also his qualities of moral courage. There was something +rock-like and immovable about him, even in his everyday affairs, and so +"Stonewall" he remained.</p> + +<p>In some respects Stonewall Jackson was the most remarkable man whom the +war made famous. A graduate of West Point, he had served through the +Mexican war, and then, finding the army not to his liking, had resigned +from the service to accept a professorship at the Virginia Military +Institute. He made few friends, for he was of a silent and reserved +disposition, and besides, he conducted a Sunday school for colored +children. It is a fact worth noting that neither of the two great +leaders of the Confederate armies believed in slavery, the one thing +which they were fighting to defend. So Jackson's neighbors merely +thought him queer, and left him to himself; certainly, none suspected +that he was a genius.</p> + +<p>Yet a genius he was, and proved it. Enlisting as soon as the war began, +and distinguishing himself, as we have seen, by holding back the Union +charge at Bull Run, he was made a major-general after <a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a><span class="pagenum">page 301</span>that +battle, and a year later probably saved Richmond from capture by +preventing the armies of Banks and McDowell from operating with +McClellan, making one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war, +overwhelming both his antagonists, and, leaving them stunned behind him, +hastening to Richmond to assist Lee, arriving just in time to turn the +tide of battle at Gaines Mills.</p> + +<p>As soon as McClellan had been beaten back from Richmond, Jackson +returned to the Shenandoah valley, defeated Banks at Cedar Run, seized +Pope's depot at Manassas, and held him on the ground until Lee came up, +when Pope was defeated at the second battle of Bull Run. Two weeks +later, Jackson captured Harper's Ferry, with thirteen thousand +prisoners, seventy cannon, and a great quantity of stores; commanded the +left wing of the Confederate army at Antietam, against which the corps +of Hooker, Mansfield and Sumner hurled themselves in vain; and at +Fredericksburg commanded the right wing, which repelled the attack of +Franklin's division.</p> + +<p>These remarkable successes had established Jackson's reputation as a +commander of unusual merit; he was promoted to lieutenant-general, and +Lee came to rely upon him more and more. He had, too, by a certain high +courage and charm of character, won the complete devotion of his men; to +say that they loved him, that any one of them would have laid down his +life for him, is but the simple truth. No other leader in the whole war, +with the exception of Lee, who dwelt in a region high and apart, was +idolized <a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a><span class="pagenum">page 302</span>as he was. But his career was nearly ended, and, by +the bitter irony of fate, he was to be killed by the very men who loved +him.</p> + +<p>On the second day of May, 1863, Lee sent him on a long flanking movement +around Hooker's army at Chancellorsville. Emerging from the woods +towards evening, he surprised and routed Howard's corps, and between +eight and nine o'clock rode forward with a small party beyond his own +lines to reconnoitre the enemy's position. As he turned to ride back, +his party was mistaken for Federal cavalrymen and a volley poured into +it by a Confederate outpost. Several of the party were killed, and +Jackson received three wounds. They were not in themselves fatal, but +pneumonia followed, and death came eight days later.</p> + +<p>There was none to fill his place—it was as though Lee had lost his +right arm. The result of the war would have been in no way different had +he lived, but his death was an incalculable loss to the Confederacy. It +was Lee's opinion that he would have won the battle of Gettysburg had he +had Jackson with him, and this is more than probable, so evenly did +victory and defeat hang in the balance there. But, even then, the North +would have been far from conquered, and its superior resources and +larger armies must have won in the end. Perhaps, after all, Jackson's +death was, in a way, a blessing, since it shortened a struggle which, in +any event, could have had but one result.</p> + +<p>Another heavy loss which the Confederacy suffered <a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a><span class="pagenum">page 303</span>even +earlier in the war was that of Albert Sidney Johnston, killed at the +battle of Shiloh. Jefferson Davis said the cause of the South was lost +when Johnston fell, but this was, of course, only a manner of speaking, +for Johnston could not have saved it. Johnston had an adventurous career +and saw a great deal of fighting before the Civil War began. Graduating +at West Point in 1826, he served as chief of staff to General Atkinson +during the Black Hawk war, and then, joining the Texan revolutionists, +served first as a private and then as commander of the Texan army. He +commanded a regiment in the war with Mexico, and in 1857, led a +successful expedition against the rebellious Mormons in Utah.</p> + +<p>His training, then, and an experience greater than any other commander +in the Civil War started out with, fitted him for brilliant work from +the very first. At the outbreak of the war, he was put by the +Confederate government in command of the departments of Kentucky and +Tennessee, and on April 6, 1862, swept down upon Grant's unprotected +army at Shiloh. That battle might have ended in a disastrous defeat for +the North but for the accident which deprived the Confederates of their +commander. About the middle of the afternoon, while leading his men +forward to the attack which was pressing the Federals back upon the +river, he was struck by a bullet which severed an artery in the thigh. +The wound was not a fatal, nor even a very serious one, and his life +could have been saved had it been given <a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a><span class="pagenum">page 304</span>immediate attention. +But Johnston, carried away by the prospect of impending victory and the +excitement of the fight, continued in the saddle cheering on his men, +his life-blood pulsing away unheeded, until he sank unconscious into the +arms of one of his officers. He was lifted to the ground and a surgeon +hastily summoned. But it was too late.</p> + +<p>Johnston's death left the command of the army to General Pierre +Beauregard, who had had the somewhat dubious honor of firing the first +shot of the war against Fort Sumter and of capturing the little garrison +which defended it. Beauregard was a West Point man, standing high in his +class, and his work, previous to the war, was largely in the engineer +corps. When the war began, he was superintendent of the academy at West +Point, but resigned at once to join the South. After the capture of +Sumter, he was ordered to Virginia and was in practical command at the +first battle of Bull Run, which resulted in the rout of the Union +forces. After that, he was sent to Tennessee, as second in command to +Albert Sidney Johnston, and he succeeded to the command of the army on +Johnston's death at Shiloh.</p> + +<p>The first day's fighting at Shiloh had resulted in a Confederate +victory, but Beauregard was not able to maintain this advantage on the +second day, and was finally compelled to draw off his forces. Grant +pursued him, and Beauregard was forced to retreat far to the south +before he was safe from capture. Two years later, he attempted to stop +Sherman on his march to the sea, but was unable to do so, and, <a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a><span class="pagenum">page 305</span> +joining forces with Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered, to Sherman a +few days after Appomattox.</p> + +<p>Joseph E. Johnston had been a classmate of Lee at West Point, and had +seen much service before the Civil War began. He was aide-de-camp to +General Scott in the Black Hawk war; and in the war with the Florida +Indians, was brevetted for gallantry in rescuing the force he commanded +from an ambush into which it had been lured, the fight being so +desperate that, besides being wounded, no less than thirty bullets +penetrated his clothes. In the war with Mexico he was thrice brevetted +for gallantry, and was seriously wounded at Cerro Gordo and again at +Chapultepec. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was +quartermaster-general of the United States army, resigning that position +to take service with the South.</p> + +<p>When McDowell advanced against Beauregard at Bull Run, Johnston, who was +at Winchester, hastened with his army to the scene of battle, and this +reinforcement, which McDowell had endeavored vainly to prevent, won the +day for the Confederates. He remained in command at Richmond, opposing +McClellan's advance up the peninsula, but was badly wounded at the +battle of Seven Pines, and was incapacitated for duty for several +months, Lee succeeding him in command of the army.</p> + +<p>Johnston was never again to gain any great victories, for he had in some +way incurred the ill-will of Jefferson Davis, and was placed in one +impossible position after another, sent to meet an enemy which <a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a><span class="pagenum">page 306</span> +always outnumbered him, and refused the assistance which he should +have had. The last of these tasks was that of stopping Sherman's march +to the sea, but Sherman had sixty thousand men to his seventeen +thousand, and a battle was out of the question.</p> + +<p>After Lee's surrender, Davis fled south to Greensboro, where Johnston +found him and advised that, since the war had been decided against them, +it was their duty to end it without delay, as its further continuance +could accomplish nothing and would be mere murder. To this Davis +reluctantly agreed, and Johnston thereupon sought Sherman and made terms +of surrender for his army and Beauregard's. The terms which Sherman +granted were rejected by Congress as too liberal, and another agreement +was drawn up, similar to the one which had been signed between Grant and +Lee. It is worth remarking that the Union generals in the field were +disposed to treat their fallen foes with greater charity and kindness +than the politicians in Congress, who had never seen a battlefield, and +who were concerned, not with succoring a needy brother, but with +wringing every possible advantage from the situation.</p> + +<p>To two other southern commanders we must give passing mention before +turning from this period of our history. First of these is James +Longstreet, who had the reputation of being the hardest fighter in the +Confederate service, whose men were devoted to him, and called him +affectionately "Old Pete." The army always felt secure when "Old Pete" +was with it; and, indeed, he did not seem to know how to <a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a><span class="pagenum">page 307</span> +retreat. He held the Confederate right at Bull Run, and the left at +Fredericksburg; he saved Jackson from defeat by Pope, at the second +battle of Bull Run; he was on the right at Gettysburg, and tried to +dissuade Lee from the disastrous charge of the third day which resulted +in Confederate defeat; he held the left at Chickamauga, did brilliant +service in the Wilderness, and was included in the surrender at +Appomattox. A sturdy and indomitable man, the Confederacy had good +reason to be proud of him.</p> + +<p>The second is J.E.B. Stuart, as a cavalry leader second only to +Jackson, and Sheridan, but with his reputation shadowed by a fatal +mistake. He was a past master of the sudden and daring raid, and on more +than one occasion carried consternation into the enemy's camp by a +brilliant dash through it. One of his most successful raids was made +around McClellan's army on the peninsula, shaking its sense of security +and threatening its communications. On another occasion, he dashed into +Pope's camp, captured his official correspondence and personal effects +and made prisoners of several officers of his staff, Pope himself +escaping only because he happened to be away from headquarters. The one +shadow upon his military career, referred to above, was his absence from +the field of Gettysburg.</p> + +<p>He was directed to take a position on the right of the Confederate army, +but started away on a raid in the rear of the Federals, not expecting a +battle to be fought at once, and he did not get back to the main army +until the battle of Gettysburg had been lost. <a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a><span class="pagenum">page 308</span>The absence of +cavalry was a severe handicap to the Confederate army, and Lee always +attributed his defeat to Stuart's absence; but Stuart maintained that he +had acted under orders, and that the mistake was not his. He was killed +in a fight with Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern, Virginia, a short +time later.</p> + +<p>And here we must end the story of the great soldiers of the Confederacy. +There were many others who fought well and bravely—Bragg, A.P. Hill, +Magruder, Pemberton—but none of them attained the dimensions of a +national figure. Weighing the merits of the leaders of the two armies, +they would seem to be pretty evenly balanced. This was natural enough, +since all of them had had practically the same training and experience, +and, during the war, the same opportunities. Lee, Jackson and Johnston +were fairly matched by Grant, Sheridan and Sherman.</p> + +<p>The Southern leaders, perhaps, showed more dash and vim than the +Northern ones, for they waged a more desperate fight; but both sides +fought with the highest valor, and if the war did not have for the North +the poignant meaning it had for the South, it was because practically +all of its battles were fought on southern soil, and the southern people +saw their fair land devastated. In no instance did the North suffer any +such burning humiliation as that inflicted on the South by Sherman in +his march to the sea; at the close of the war, despite its sacrifice of +blood and treasure, the North was more prosperous <a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a><span class="pagenum">page 309</span>than it had +been at the beginning, while the South lay prostrate and ruined. So to +the North the war has receded into the vista of memory, while to the +South it is a wound not yet wholly healed.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>There have been no great American soldiers since the Civil War—at +least, there has been no chance for them to prove their greatness, for +there is only one test of a soldier and that is the battlefield. When +George A. Custer was ambushed and his command wiped out by the Sioux in +1876, a wave of sorrow went over the land for the dashing, fair-haired +leader and his devoted men; yet the very fact that he had led his men +into a trap clouded such military reputation as he had gained during the +last years of the war.</p> + +<p>The war with Spain was too brief to make any reputations, though it was +long enough to ruin several. The man who gained most glory in that +conflict was "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, veteran of Shiloh, of Murfreesboro, +of Chickamauga, dashing like a gnat against Sherman's flanks, and +annoying him mightily on that march to the sea; a southerner of the +southerners, and yet with a great patriotism which sent him to the front +in 1898, and a hard experience which enabled him to save the day at +Santiago, when the general in command lay in a hammock far to the rear.</p> + +<p>Let us pause, too, for mention of Nelson A. Miles, who had volunteered +at the opening of the Civil War, fought in every battle of the Army of +the <a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a><span class="pagenum">page 310</span>Potomac up to the surrender at Appomattox, been thrice +wounded and as many times brevetted for gallantry; the conqueror of the +Cheyenne, Comanche and Sioux Indians in the years following the war; and +finally attaining the rank of commander-in-chief of the army of the +United States; to find himself, as Winfield Scott had done, at odds +politically with the head of the War Department and with the President, +and kept at home when a war was raging. For the same reason as Scott had +been, perhaps, since some of his admirers had talked of him for the +presidency. He was released, at last, to command the expedition against +Porto Rico, which resulted in the complete and speedy subjugation of +that island. A careful and intelligent, if not a brilliant soldier, he +is, perhaps, the most eminent figure which the years since the great +rebellion have developed.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Looking back over the military history of the country since its +beginning, it is evident that America has produced no soldier of +commanding genius—no soldier, for instance, to rank with Napoleon, who, +at his prime, seemed able to compel victory; or with Frederick the +Great, that past master of the art of war. Yet it should be remembered +that both these men were soldiers all their lives, and that they stand +practically unmatched in modern history. Of the next rank—the rank of +Wellington and Von Moltke—we have, at least, three, Washington, Lee, +and Grant; while to match such impetuous and fiery <span class="pagenum">page 311</span>leaders as +Ney, and Lannes, and Soult, we have Harry Lee, Marion, Sheridan, +Jackson, and Albert Sidney Johnston. So America has no reason to blush +for her military achievements—more especially since her history has +been one of peace, save for fifteen years out of the one hundred and +thirty-three of her existence.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p>PUTNAM ISRAEL. Born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7, 1718; served in +French and Indian war, 1755-62; in Pontiac's war, 1764; one of the +commanding officers at battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775; +major-general in Continental army, 1775; took part in siege of Boston, +1775-76; commanded at defeat on Long Island, August 27, 1776; commanded +in high-lands of the Hudson, 1777; served in Connecticut, 1778-79; +disabled by a stroke of paralysis, 1779; died at Brooklyn, Connecticut, +May 19, 1790.</p> + +<p>GATES, HORATIO. Born at Maldon, England, in. 1728; served as captain +under Braddock, 1755; settled in Berkeley County, Virginia; +adjutant-general in Continental army, 1775; succeeded Schuyler as +commander in the North, 1777; received Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, +1777; President of the Board of War and Ordnance, November, 1777; +appointed to command in the South, 1780; totally defeated by Cornwallis +at Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 1780; succeeded by General Greene; +died at New York City, April 10, 1806.</p> + +<p>ARNOLD, BENEDICT. Born at Norwich, Connecticut, January 14, 1741; +commissioned colonel, 1775; took <a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a><span class="pagenum">page 312</span>part in capture of +Ticonderoga, 1775; commanded expedition against Quebec, 1775; made +brigadier-general and commanded at a naval battle on Lake Champlain, +1776; decided the second battle of Saratoga, 1777; appointed commander +of Philadelphia, 1778; tried by court-martial and reprimanded by +Washington, 1780; appointed commander of West Point, 1780; treason +discovered by Washington, September 23, 1780; conducted British +expeditions against Virginia and Connecticut, 1781; died at London, June +14, 1801.</p> + +<p>GREENE, NATHANAEL. Born at Warwick, Rhode Island, May 24, 1742; +distinguished himself at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown, +and succeeded Gates in command of the southern army, 1780; conducted +retreat from the Catawba to the Dan, 1781; won victories of Guildford +Court House and Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near Savannah, Georgia, June +19, 1786.</p> + +<p>MARION, FRANCIS. Born at Winyaw, South Carolina, 1732; a partisan leader +in South Carolina, 1780-82; served at Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near +Eutaw, South Carolina, February 27, 1795.</p> + +<p>SUMTER, THOMAS. Born in Virginia in 1734; in Braddock campaign, 1755; +lieutenant-colonel of regiment of South Carolina riflemen, 1776; +defeated Tories at Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780; defeated by Tarleton at +Fishing Creek, August 18, 1780; defeated Tarleton at Blackstock Hill, +November 20, 1780; member of Congress from South Carolina, 1789-93; +senator, 1801-09; minister to Brazil, 1809-11; died near Camden, South +Carolina, June 1, 1832.</p> + +<p><a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a><span class="pagenum">page 313</span>LEE, HENRY. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 29, +1756; distinguished in Revolution as commander of "Lee's Legion"; +governor of Virginia, 1792-95; member of Congress, 1799-1801; died at +Cumberland Island, Georgia, March 25, 1818.</p> + +<p>ST. CLAIR, ARTHUR. Born at Thurso, Scotland, 1734; served at Louisburg +and at Quebec, 1758; resigned from British army and settled in Ligonier +valley, Pennsylvania, 1764; appointed colonel, January 3, 1776; +brigadier-general, August 9, 1776; organized New Jersey militia and +participated in battles of Trenton and Princeton; major-general, +February 19, 1777; succeeded Gates in command at Ticonderoga, and +abandoned fort at approach of Burgoyne's army, July, 1777; +court-martialed in consequence, 1778, and acquitted "with the highest +honor"; succeeded Arnold in command of West Point, 1780; before Yorktown +at surrender of Cornwallis, and in South till close of war; delegate to +Continental Congress, 1785-87; governor of Northwest Territory, +1789-1802; defeated by Indians near Miami villages, November 4, 1791; +died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818.</p> + +<p>WAYNE, ANTHONY. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745; +member of Pennsylvania legislature, 1774; colonel of Pennsylvania troops +in Canada, 1776; brigadier-general, 1777; served at Brandywine, +Germantown, and Monmouth; stormed Stony Point, July 15, 1779; commanded +at Green Spring, 1781; served at Yorktown; member of Congress from +Georgia, 1791-92; appointed major-general and commander-in-chief of the +army, 1792; won the battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794; negotiated treaty +of <a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a><span class="pagenum">page 314</span>Greenville, 1795; died at Erie, Pennsylvania, December 15, +1796.</p> + +<p>SCOTT, WINFIELD. Born near Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1786; admitted +to the bar, 1806; entered United States army as captain, 1808; served in +war of 1812, distinguishing himself at Queenstown Heights, Chippewa and +Lundy's Lane; brigadier-general and brevet major-general, 1814; served +against Seminoles and Creeks, 1835-37; major-general and +commander-in-chief of the army, 1841; appointed to chief command in +Mexico, 1847; took Vera Cruz, won battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, +Churubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec and entered City of Mexico, +September 14, 1847; unsuccessful Whig candidate for President, 1852; +retired from active service, 1861; died at West Point, New York, May 29, +1866.</p> + +<p>MCLELLAN, GEORGE BRINTON. Born at Philadelphia, December 3, 1826; +graduated at West Point, 1846; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; sent to +Europe to observe Crimean war, 1855-56; in railroad business, 1857-61; +major-general of volunteers, April, 1861; cleared West Virginia of +Confederates, June and July, 1861; commander Department of the Potomac, +August, 1861; organized Army of the Potomac and conducted Peninsula +campaign, 1861-62; superseded by Burnside, November 7, 1862; Democratic +candidate for President, 1864; governor of New Jersey, 1878-81; died at +Orange, New Jersey, October 29, 1885.</p> + +<p>BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT. Born at Liberty, Indiana, May 23, 1824; +captured Roanoke Island and Newbern, February-March, 1862; fought at +Antietam, September 17, 1862; commanded Army of the Potomac, <a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a><span class="pagenum">page 315</span> +November 7, 1862-January 26, 1863; defeated at Fredericksburg, +December, 1862; governor of Rhode Island, 1867-69; senator, 1875-81; +died at Bristol, Rhode Island, September 13, 1881.</p> + +<p>HOOKER, JOSEPH. Born at Hadley, Massachusetts, November 13, 1814; +graduated at West Point, 1837; served as captain in Mexican war; +brigadier-general, 1861; corps commander at South Mountain, Antietam, +and Fredericksburg; commander of Army of the Potomac, January 25, 1863; +defeated by Lee at Chancellorsville, May 2-3, 1863; relieved of command, +June 27, 1863; served in Chattanooga campaign and with Sherman; died at +Garden City, New York, October 31, 1879.</p> + +<p>SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, February 8, 1820; +graduated at West Point, 1840; served in California during Mexican war; +colonel in Union army, 1861; brigadier-general, 1861; was at Bull Run +and Shiloh, and made major-general of volunteers, May 1, 1862; served at +Chattanooga and Vicksburg, won battles of Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw +Mountain, and Peachtree Creek; made major-general in regular army, +August 12, 1864; occupied Atlanta, September 2, 1864; started on march +to the sea, November 12, 1864; entered Savannah, December 21, 1864; +received surrender of Johnston's army, April 26, 1865; +lieutenant-general, 1866; general and commander of the army, 1869; +retired, 1884; died at New York City, February 14, 1891.</p> + +<p>SHERIDAN, PHILIP HENRY. Born at Albany, New York, March 6, 1831; +graduated at West Point, 1853; captain, 1861; colonel of cavalry, 1862; +at Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; <a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a><span class="pagenum">page 316</span> +commander of cavalry corps of Army of the Potomac, April, 1864; at +Wilderness, Hawe's Shop and Trevellian; won victories of Winchester, +Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and devastated Shenandoah Valley, 1864; +major-general, November 8, 1864; commanded at Five Forks, March 31, +April 1, 1865; took leading part in pursuit of Lee; lieutenant-general, +1867; succeeded Sherman as Commander-in-chief, 1883; general, 1888; died +at Nonquith, Massachusetts, August 5, 1888.</p> + +<p>THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY. Born in Southampton County, Virginia, July 31, +1816; graduated at West Point, 1840; served in Seminole and Mexican +wars; brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861; at Mill Springs, +Perryville and Murfreesboro; became famous for his defense of Union +position at Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863; with Sherman in Georgia, +1864; defeated Hood at Nashville, December 15-16, 1864; died at San +Francisco, March 28, 1870.</p> + +<p>LEE, ROBERT EDWARD. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 19, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served with distinction in Mexican +war; superintendent of West Point Academy, 1852-55; commanded forces +which captured John Brown, 1859; resigned commission in United States +Army, April, 1861; appointed major-general of Virginia forces, April, +1861; commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, June 3, 1862; +commanded in Seven Days' Battles, Manassas campaign, at Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, 1863; against +Grant at Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, 1864-65; +surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, April 9, 1865; president of +Washington College, <a name="page_317" id="page_317"></a><span class="pagenum">page 317</span>Lexington, Virginia, 1865-70; died at +Lexington, Virginia, October 12, 1870.</p> + +<p>JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN. Born at Clarksburg, West Virginia, January 21, +1824; graduated at West Point, 1846; served through Mexican war and +resigned from army, 1851; professor of philosophy and artillery tactics +Virginia Military Institute, 1851-61; joined Confederate army at opening +of Civil War; brigadier-general at Bull Run, July 21, 1861; +major-general, November, 1861; at Winchester, Cross Keys, Gaines's Mill, +Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Harper's Ferry, Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; mortally wounded by his own men at +Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863; died at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May +10, 1863.</p> + +<p>JOHNSTON, ALBERT SIDNEY. Born at Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, +February 3, 1803; graduated at West Point, 1826; served in Black Hawk +war, 1832; resigned from army, 1834; enlisted as private in Texan army, +1836; succeeded Felix Houston as commander of Texan army, 1837; +secretary of war for Republic of Texas, 1838-40; served in Mexican war, +1846-47; commanded successful expedition against revolted Mormons in +Utah, 1857; appointed commander of Department of Kentucky and Tennessee +in Confederate service, 1861; attacked Grant's army at Shiloh, April 6, +1862, and killed there while leading his men.</p> + +<p>BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT. Born near New Orleans, May 23, 1818; +graduated at West Point, 1838; served with distinction in Mexican war; +superintendent of West Point Academy, 1860-61; resigned to accept +appointment as brigadier-general in Confederate army, 1861; bombarded +and captured Fort Sumter, <a name="page_318" id="page_318"></a><span class="pagenum">page 318</span>April 12-14, 1861; commanded at +battle of Bull Bun, July 21, 1861; general, 1861; assumed command of +army at Shiloh on death of Johnston, April 6, 1862; surrendered to +Sherman, 1865; president of New Orleans and Jackson Railroad Company, +1865-70; adjutant-general of Louisiana, 1878; died at New Orleans, +February 20, 1893.</p> + +<p>JOHNSTON, JOSEPH ECCLESTON. Born near Farmville, Virginia, February 3, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; took part in +battle of Bull Run, opposed McClellan in Peninsular campaign, fought +battles of Resaca and Dallas against Sherman, and surrendered to Sherman +at Durham Station, North Carolina, April 26, 1865; member of Congress, +1876-78; United States Commissioner of Railways, 1885-89; died at +Washington, D.C., March 21, 1891.</p> + +<p>LONGSTREET, JAMES. Born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, January +8, 1821; graduated at West Point, 1842; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; promoted +major-general, 1861; was present at second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, +Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville and the Wilderness; United States +minister to Turkey, 1880-81; United States Commissioner of Pacific +Railroads, 1897; died January 2, 1904.</p> + +<p>STUART, JAMES EWELL BROWN. Born in Patrick County, Virginia, February 6, +1833; graduated at West Point, 1854; entered Confederate service, 1861, +and became leading cavalry officer in Army of Northern Virginia; at Bull +Run, Peninsula, Manassas Junction, <a name="page_319" id="page_319"></a><span class="pagenum">page 319</span>Antietam, Fredericksburg +and Chancellorsville; mortally wounded at battle of Yellow Tavern, and +died at Richmond, May 12, 1864.</p> + +<p>WHEELER, JOSEPH. Born in Augusta, Georgia, September 10, 1836; graduated +at West Point, 1859; entered Confederate army as colonel; at Shiloh, +Green River, Perryville; brigadier-general, 1862; major-general, 1863; +at Murfreesboro, commanded cavalry at Chickamauga, fought Sherman almost +daily on the march to the sea; included in Johnston's surrender, April +26, 1865; member of Congress, from Alabama, 1881-99; appointed +major-general of volunteers, U.S.A., May 4, 1898; in command of cavalry +at Las Guasimas and before Santiago; in Philippine Islands, 1899-1900; +died at Brooklyn, New York, January 25, 1906.</p> + +<p>MILES, NELSON APPLETON. Born at Westminster, Massachusetts, August 8, +1839; entered Union army as volunteer, 1861, attaining rank of +major-general of volunteers; enlisted in regular army at close of war, +rising grade by grade to major-general, and commander-in-chief, +1895-1903; conducted campaigns against Geronimo and Natchez, 1886; in +command of United States troops at Chicago strike, 1884; +lieutenant-general, June 6, 1900; retired, August 8, 1903.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>GREAT SAILORS</h3> + + +<p><a name="page_320" id="page_320"></a><span class="pagenum">page 320</span>We have said that America has produced no soldier of +commanding genius, but her sailors outrank the world. Even Great +Britain, mighty seafaring nation as she has been, cannot, in the last +hundred and fifty years, show any brighter galaxy of stars. Just why it +would be difficult to say. Perhaps America inherited from England the +traditions of that race of heroes who made the age of Elizabeth, so +memorable on the ocean, and who started their country on her career as +mistress of the seas—Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Gilbert, and +Howard of Effingham.</p> + +<p>Surely in direct descent from these daring adventurers was that earliest +of America's naval commanders, John Paul Jones, well called the "Founder +of the American Navy." He it was who first carried the Stars and Stripes +into foreign waters, and who made Europe to see that a new nation had +arisen, in the west. He it was who first scouted the tradition of +England's invincibility on the sea, and carried the war into her very +ports. He it was who proved that American valor yielded no whit to +British valor—who, when Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, asked <a name="page_321" id="page_321"></a><span class="pagenum">page 321</span> +if he had struck his colors, shouted back that he had not yet begun +to fight, although his ship had been shot to pieces and was sinking; but +who thereupon did begin, and to such good purpose that he captured his +adversary and got his crew aboard her as his own ship sank. Truly a +remarkable man and one worth looking at closely.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the eighteenth century, there lived in the county of +Kirkcudbright, Scotland, a poor gardener named John Paul. He had a large +family, and finding it no small task to feed so many mouths, accepted +the offer of a distant relative named William Jones to adopt his oldest +son, William, named in honor of that same relative. Jones owned a +plantation in Virginia, and thither the boy accompanied him, being known +thereafter as William Paul Jones. None of John Paul's numerous children, +however, would have figured on the pages of history but for the youngest +son, born in 1747, and named after his father, John Paul.</p> + +<p>Little John Paul had a short childhood, for as soon as he could handle a +line, he was put to work with the fishermen on Solway Firth to help earn +a living for the family. By the time that he was twelve years old, he +was a first-class sailor, and had developed a love for the sea and a +disregard of its perils which never left him. Securing his father's +consent, he shipped as apprentice for a voyage to Virginia, and visited +his brother, who was managing his adopted father's estate near +Fredericksburg. The old planter took a great fancy to the boy, and +offered <a name="page_322" id="page_322"></a><span class="pagenum">page 322</span>to adopt him also, but young John Paul preferred the +adventurous life of the ocean to humdrum existence on a Virginia +plantation. For the next fifteen years, he followed the sea, studying +navigation and naval history, French and Spanish, and fitting himself in +every way for high rank in his profession.</p> + +<p>On the seventeenth of April, 1773, John Paul anchored his brig, the Two +Friends, in the Rappahannock just below his brother's plantation, and +rowed to shore to pay him a visit. He found him breathing his last. He +died childless, and John Paul found himself heir to the estate, which +was a considerable one. Resigning command of his vessel, he settled down +to the life of a Virginia planter, adding to his name the last name of +his family's benefactor, and being known thereafter as John Paul Jones.</p> + +<p>Events were at this time hurrying forward toward war with Great Britain; +Virginia was in a ferment, and Paul Jones was soon caught up by this +tide of patriotism. When, in 1775, the Congress decided to "equip a navy +for the defence of American liberty," Jones at once offered his +services, and was made a senior first lieutenant. It is amusing to run +over the names of those first officers of the American navy. As was the +case with the first generals, out of the whole list only two names live +with any lustre—Paul Jones and Nicholas Biddle.</p> + +<p>Paul Jones was the first of these officers to receive his commission, +John Hancock handing it to him in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, +shortly after <a name="page_323" id="page_323"></a><span class="pagenum">page 323</span>noon on December 22, 1775. Immediately +afterwards, the new lieutenant, accompanied by a distinguished party, +including Hancock and Thomas Jefferson, proceeded to the Chestnut street +wharf, where the Alfred, the first American man-of-war was lying moored. +Captain Saltonstall, who was to command the ship, had not yet arrived +from Boston, and at Hancock's direction, Lieutenant Jones took command, +and ran up the first American flag ever shown from the masthead of a +man-of-war. It was not the Stars and Stripes, which had not yet been +adopted as the flag of the United States, but a flag showing a +rattlesnake coiled at the foot of a pine-tree, with the words, "Don't +tread on me."</p> + +<p>Three other small vessels were soon placed in commission, and the +squadron started out on its first cruise on February 17, 1776. Through +the inexperience and incompetency of the officers, the cruise was a +complete failure, and resulted in the dismissal of "Commander-in-Chief" +Ezekial Hopkins, and the retirement of Jones's immediate superior, +Captain Dudley Saltonstall. It was a striking example of how the first +blast of battle winnows the wheat from the chaff, and its best result +was to give Paul Jones a command of his own. Never thereafter was he +forced to serve under an imbecile superior, but was always, to the end +of his career, the ranking officer on his station.</p> + +<p>His first command was a small one, the sloop-of-war Providence, with +fourteen guns and 107 men, but in six weeks he had captured sixteen +prizes, of <a name="page_324" id="page_324"></a><span class="pagenum">page 324</span>which eight were manned and sent to port, and +eight destroyed at sea; was twice chased by frigates, escaping capture +only by the most brilliant manoeuvring; and made two descents on the +coast of Nova Scotia, releasing some American prisoners, capturing arms +and ammunition, dispersing a force of Tories, and destroying a number of +fishing smacks; and finally reached port again with a crew of +forty-seven, all the rest having been told off to man his prizes.</p> + +<p>Work of so brilliant a description won instant recognition, especially +as contrasted with the failure of the first cruise, and Jones was +promoted to a captaincy, and the Alfred, a ship mounting twenty-eight +guns, added to his command. A cruise of thirty-three days in these two +vessels resulted in seven prizes, two of them armed transports loaded +with supplies for the British army.</p> + +<p>Fired by these successes, Jones's great ambition was for a cruise along +the coast of England. He argued that the time had come when the American +flag should be shown in European waters, and that the moral effect of a +descent upon the English coast would be tremendous. It would have this +further advantage, that England was expecting no such attack, that her +ports would be found unprepared for it, and that great damage to her +shipping could probably be done. Lafayette, who had become a warm friend +of the daring captain, heartily approved the plan, and on June 14, 1777, +the Congress passed the following resolution:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><a name="page_325" id="page_325"></a><span class="pagenum">page 325</span><i>Resolved</i>, That the Flag of the Thirteen United States + of America be Thirteen Stripes, Alternate Red and White; that the + Union be Thirteen Stars in a Blue Field, Representing a New + Constellation.</p> + +<p> <i>Resolved</i>, That Captain John Paul Jones be Appointed to Command + the Ship Ranger.</p></div> + +<p>That these two acts should have been joined in one resolution seems a +remarkable coincidence. "The flag and I are twins," Jones used to say; +"we cannot be parted in life or death"; and it was this flag he carried +with him when he sailed from Portsmouth in the dawn of the first day of +November, 1777. Something else he carried, too—dispatches which had +been placed in his hands only a few hours before, telling of Burgoyne's +surrender. "I will spread the news in France in thirty days," Jones +promised, as his ship cast loose, and he actually did land at Nantes +thirty-one days later. The news he brought decided France in favor of an +alliance with the United States, and the Treaty of Alliance was signed +two months later.</p> + +<p>Jones, meanwhile, had overhauled and refitted his ship, and on the tenth +of April, set sail from Brest, intending to make a complete circuit of +the British Isles. Entering the Irish Sea, he spread terror along its +shores, where his coming was like a bolt from the blue, engaged and +captured the British ship-of-war Drake, took a number of prizes, and +sailed into Brest again after an absence of twenty-eight days.</p> + +<p>It has been the fashion in some quarters to call <a name="page_326" id="page_326"></a><span class="pagenum">page 326</span>Jones a +pirate, but it is difficult to see any argument for such a +characterization of him. He sailed under the flag of the United States, +held a commission from the United States, and attacked an enemy with +whom the United States was at war. There is no hint of piracy about +that; but Jones came to be a sort of bogeyman to the coast towns of the +British Isles, who never knew when to expect an attack from him, and no +name was too hard for their frightened inhabitants to apply to him.</p> + +<p>But it was some time before Jones was able to strike another blow. He +realized that he must have a more effective squadron for his second +cruise, and more than a year was spent in getting it together. Finally, +on August 14, 1779, he got to sea again with a squadron of four +vessels—not a very effective one, but the best that could be had. The +flagship was an unwieldy old Indiaman which Jones had named the Bon +Homme Richard, in honor of his good friend, Benjamin Franklin, whose +Poor Richard was almost as famous in France as in America. The other +three ships were commanded by Frenchmen, and all the crews were of the +most motley description. On September 23, the squadron sighted a great +fleet of English merchantmen, under convoy of the Serapis, a powerful +frigate mounting forty-four guns, and the Countess of Scarborough, +mounting twenty-eight. Jones signalled his squadron to give chase and +himself closed with the Serapis.</p> + +<p>Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, was very willing for the contest, since +his ship was greatly superior <a name="page_327" id="page_327"></a><span class="pagenum">page 327</span>to Jones's old boat in fighting +qualities; but Jones succeeded in depriving the Serapis of some of this +advantage by running his vessel into her and lashing fast. So close did +they lie that their yardarms interlocked, and their rigging was soon so +fouled that Jones could not have got away, even had he wished to do so. +For three hours the ships lay there, side by side, pouring broadsides +into each other; their decks were soon covered with dead and wounded; +two of the Richard's guns burst and her main battery was silenced, but +Jones kept fighting on, for a time with so few guns that the captain of +the Serapis thought he had surrendered.</p> + +<p>"Have you struck?" he shouted, through his trumpet.</p> + +<p>"No," Jones shouted back, "I have not yet begun to fight!"</p> + +<p>The Serapis was on fire and the Richard was sinking, but at this +juncture, one of the men of the Richard crept out along a yardarm, and +dropped a hand grenade down a hatchway of the Serapis. It wrought +fearful havoc, and Pearson struck his flag.</p> + +<p>It was time, for the Richard was on fire in two places, all her +main-deck guns were dismounted, and she was sinking fast. She was kept +afloat with great difficulty until morning, giving Jones time to place +his wounded on the Serapis, and to save such of her fittings as could be +removed. The Pallas, another of Jones's ships, had captured the +Scarborough, and with these prizes, Jones put back to France. He was +welcomed with great enthusiasm there, received <a name="page_328" id="page_328"></a><span class="pagenum">page 328</span>the thanks of +the Congress, and was designated to command the ship-of-the-line then +building. But he fought no more battles under the Stars and Stripes. +After a brief service with Russia, he returned to Paris, broken in +health, and died there in 1792. His body was only recently brought to +this country and interred with national honors at Annapolis.</p> + +<p>We have said that there was only one other naval commander of the +Revolution whose name shines with any lustre to-day—Nicholas Biddle. +His career was a brief and brilliant one. Born in Philadelphia, he had +gone to sea at the age of thirteen, was cast away on a desert island, +was rescued, and enlisted in the English navy, but returned to America +as soon as revolution threatened. He was given command of a little brig +called the Andrea Doria, took a number of prizes, and made so good a +record that in 1776 he was appointed to command the new frigate, +Randolph. Using Charleston, South Carolina, as his base, he captured +four prizes within a few days, but on his second cruise, fell in with a +British sixty-four, the Yarmouth. After a sharp action of twenty +minutes, fire got into the magazine of the Randolph, in some way, and +she blew up, only four of her crew of 310 escaping. The blow was a heavy +one to the American navy, for Biddle was its best commander, next to +Jones, and the Randolph was its best ship. Luckily the French alliance +placed the French fleet at the disposal of the colonies—or Cornwallis +would never have been captured at Yorktown.</p> + +<p><a name="page_329" id="page_329"></a><span class="pagenum">page 329</span>It is one of our polite fictions that the United States has +always been victorious in war; but, as a matter of fact, we were not +victorious in the second war with England, and, when the treaty of peace +came to be signed, abandoned practically all the contentions which war +had been declared to maintain. On land, the war was, for the most part, +a series of costly blunders, beginning with the surrender of Detroit, +and closing with the sack of Washington, and had England had her hands +free of Napoleon, the result for us might have been very serious. The +only considerable and decisive victory won by American arms was that of +Andrew Jackson at New Orleans—a battle fought after the treaty of peace +had been signed.</p> + +<p>But on the ocean there was a different story—a series of brilliant +victories which, while they did not seriously cripple the great English +navy, caused Canning to declare in Parliament that "the sacred spell of +the invincibility of the British navy is broken." The heaviest blow was +struck to British commerce, no less than sixteen hundred English +merchantmen falling victims to privateers and ships-of-war.</p> + +<p>The group of men who commanded the American vessels was a most +remarkable one, and their fighting qualities were worthy in every way of +John Paul Jones. First blood was drawn by David Porter, illustrious +scion of a family which gave five generations to brilliant service in +the navy. On August 13, 1812, Porter, with the Essex, engaged in a +sharp <a name="page_330" id="page_330"></a><span class="pagenum">page 330</span>battle with the British ship Alert, which, after an +action of eight minutes, surrendered in a sinking condition. He had seen +hard service before that, had been twice impressed by British vessels +and twice escaped, had fought French and pirates, and spent some time in +a prison in Tripoli.</p> + +<p>After his capture of the Alert, he went on a cruise in the Pacific, +destroying the English whale fisheries there, capturing booty valued at +two and a half million dollars, and taking four hundred prisoners. So +great was the damage he inflicted, that a British squadron was fitted +out and sent to the Pacific to capture him, found him in a partially +disabled condition in the harbor of Valparaiso, and, disregarding the +neutrality of the port, sailed in and attacked him. The engagement +lasted two hours and a half, the Essex finally surrendering when reduced +to a helpless wreck. On the Essex at the time was a midshipman aged +twelve years, who got his first taste of fighting there, and whose name +was destined to become, after that of Paul Jones, the most famous in +American naval history—David Glasgow Farragut.</p> + +<p>Less than a week after Porter's victory over the Alert, another and much +more important one was won by Captain Isaac Hull in the frigate +Constitution—"Old Ironsides"—the most famous ship-of-war the navy has +ever possessed. Isaac Hull was a nephew of General William Hull, who, on +August 16, 1812, surrendered Detroit and his entire army to the British +without striking a blow. Three days later, Isaac Hull, having sailed +from Boston without <a name="page_331" id="page_331"></a><span class="pagenum">page 331</span>orders, in his anxiety to meet the enemy +and for fear the command of the Constitution would be given to some one +else—a breach of discipline for which he would probably have been +court-martialled and shot, had the cruise ended disastrously—fell in +with the powerful British frigate Guerrière. Inscribed across the +Guerrière's mainsail in huge red letters were the words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>All who meet me have a care, + I am England's Guerrière.</p></div> + +<p>She was a powerful vessel, but neither the vessel nor the menace +frightened Hull, and he sailed straight for her, holding his fire until +he was within fifty yards, when he let fly a broadside and then another, +which sent two of her masts by the board, and the third soon followed, +leaving her unmanageable. Within a very few minutes, under Hull's raking +fire, she was reduced to a "perfect wreck"—so perfect, in fact, that +she had to be blown up and sunk, as there was no chance of getting her +back to port. The Constitution was practically uninjured, and Hull +sailed back to Boston, with his ship crowded with British prisoners. He +was welcomed with the wildest enthusiasm, banquets were given in his +honor, swords voted him by state legislatures, New York ordered a +portrait painted of him, and Congress gave him a gold medal. The War +Department discreetly permitted his disobedience of orders to drop out +of sight.</p> + +<p><a name="page_332" id="page_332"></a><span class="pagenum">page 332</span>Hull's victory was not the result of accident, but of long and +careful training. He had begun his sea career in the merchant service at +the age of fourteen, was a captain at the age of twenty, and entered the +navy in 1798. He soon gained a high reputation for seamanship, and his +genius for handling a ship under all conditions was one of the most +important factors in his success. He saved his ship on one occasion, +when she was becalmed and practically surrounded by a powerful British +fleet, by "kedging"—in other words, sending a row-boat out with an +anchor, which was dropped as far ahead as the boat could take it, and +the ship pulled up to it by means of the windlass. As soon as the +British saw him doing this, they tried it too, but Hull managed to get +away from them by almost superhuman exertions. He served in the navy for +many years after his memorable victory over the Guerrière, but never +achieved another so notable.</p> + +<p>The second capture of a British frigate in the war of 1812 was made by +Stephen Decatur, who had distinguished himself years before by an +exploit which Lord Nelson called "the most daring act of the age." +Decatur, who possessed in unusual degree the dash and brilliance so +valuable in a naval commander, came naturally by his love of the sea, +for his grandfather had been an officer in the French navy, and his +father was a captain in the navy of the United States.</p> + +<p>Entering the service at the age of eighteen, his first cruise was in the +frigate, United States, which <a name="page_333" id="page_333"></a><span class="pagenum">page 333</span>he was afterwards to command. +He rose steadily in the service and got his first command six years +later, being given the sixteen-gun brig Argus, and sent with Commodore +Preble to assist in subduing the Barbary corsairs.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to-day to realize that there was a time when the United +States paid tribute to anybody, more especially to a power so +insignificant as the Barbary States. Yet such was the fact. Lying along +the north coast of Africa were the half-civilized states of Morocco, +Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, and most of their income was from piracy. +All merchantmen were their prey; they divided the loot and sold the +crews into slavery. Many nations, to secure immunity from these +outrages, paid a stated sum yearly to these powers, and the United +States was one of them.</p> + +<p>Why the nations did not join together and wipe the pirates out of +existence is difficult to understand, but so it was. On one occasion, +Congress actually revoked an order for some new ships for the navy, and +used the appropriation to buy off the Barbary powers. The fund was known +as the "Mediterranean Fund," and was intrusted to the secretary of state +to expend as might be necessary. But after a while, the Barbary powers +became so outrageous in their demands, that it occurred to the State +Department that there might be another way of dealing with them, and a +squadron under Commodore Preble was sent to the Mediterranean for the +purpose.</p> + +<p>Shortly before he reached there, the U.S. frigate <a name="page_334" id="page_334"></a><span class="pagenum">page 334</span> +Philadelphia, commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had gone upon a reef +just outside the harbor of Tripoli and had been surrounded and captured, +with all her crew, by the Tripolitan gunboats. The Tripolitans got her +off the rocks, towed her into the harbor, and anchored her close under +the guns of their forts. They also strengthened her batteries, and +prepared her for a cruise, which could not but have been disastrous to +our shipping. It was evident that she must be destroyed before she got +out of the harbor, and Stephen Decatur volunteered to lead a party into +the harbor on this desperate mission. Commodore Preble hesitated to +accept Decatur's offer, for he knew how greatly against success the odds +were, but finally, in January, 1804, he told him to go ahead.</p> + +<p>A small vessel known as a ketch had recently been captured from the +Tripolitans, and Decatur selected this in which to make the venture. He +took seventy men from his own vessel, and, on the night of February 15, +sailed boldly into the harbor of Tripoli. Let us pause for a minute to +consider the odds against him. First there was the Philadelphia with her +forty guns double-shotted and ready to fire; half a gunshot away was the +Bashaw's castle, the mole and crown batteries, while within range were +ten other batteries, mounting, all told, a hundred and fifteen guns. +Between the Philadelphia and the shore lay a number of Tripolitan +cruisers, galleys and gunboats. Into this hornet's nest, Decatur steered +his little vessel of sixty tons, carrying <a name="page_335" id="page_335"></a><span class="pagenum">page 335</span>four small guns, +and having a crew of only seventy men.</p> + +<p>The Tripolitans saw the vessel entering the harbor, but supposed it to +be one of their own until it was alongside the Philadelphia. Then there +was a cry of "Americanos!" and a rush to quarters, but it was too late, +for Decatur and his men swarmed up the side and over the rail of the +Philadelphia, and charged the dismayed and panic-stricken Tripolitans. +There was a short and desperate struggle, and five minutes later, the +ship was cleared of the enemy.</p> + +<p>It was manifestly impossible to get the Philadelphia out of the harbor, +so Decatur gave the order to burn her. Combustibles had been prepared in +advance, and in a moment, flames began to break out in all parts of the +ship. Then the order was given to return to the ketch, the cable was +cut, the sweeps got out, and the ketch drew rapidly away from the +burning vessel. The sounds of the mêlée had awakened the troops on +shore, and, as the harbor was lighted by the flames from the +Philadelphia, the shore batteries opened upon the little vessel, but +without doing her any serious damage, and Decatur got safely out of the +harbor and back to the fleet without losing a man.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards his life was saved by one of those acts of heroism +which stir the blood. In a general attack upon the Tripolitan gunboats, +Decatur laid his ship alongside one of the enemy, grappled with her and +boarded. Decatur was the first over the side and a desperate +hand-to-hand combat <a name="page_336" id="page_336"></a><span class="pagenum">page 336</span>followed. The pirate captain, a gigantic +fellow, soon met Decatur face to face, and stood on tiptoe to deal him a +tremendous blow with his scimitar. Decatur rushed in under the swinging +sword, grappled with him, and they fell to the deck together, when +another Tripolitan raised his scimitar to deal the American a fatal +blow. A young sailor named Reuben James, himself with both arms disabled +from sword cuts, seeing his beloved captain's peril, interposed his own +head beneath the descending sword and received a wound which marked him +for life. An instant later, Decatur's crew rallied to him, killed the +pirate captain and drove the remainder of his crew over the side into +the sea.</p> + +<p>At the outbreak of the war of 1812, Decatur was given command of the +United States, and on the morning of October 25, overhauled the British +frigate Macedonian near the Canary Islands. Seventeen minutes later, the +Macedonian, with a third of her crew dead, hauled down her colors. +Decatur had lost only twelve men killed and wounded, and placing a crew +aboard his prize, got her safely to New York. This victory was soon +followed by disaster, for, securing command of the President, a frigate +mounting forty-four guns, he attempted to get past the British blockade +of New York harbor, but ran into a squadron of the enemy, and, after a +running fight lasting thirty hours, was overhauled by a superior force +and compelled to surrender. Decatur was taken captive to Bermuda, but +was soon parolled, and, after commanding a squadron in the <a name="page_337" id="page_337"></a><span class="pagenum">page 337</span> +Mediterranean, built himself a house at Washington, expecting to +spend the remainder of his days there in honorable retirement.</p> + +<p>But it was not to be. In 1816, Decatur, while a member of the board of +navy commissioners, had occasion to censure Commodore James Barron. +Barron considered himself insulted, and a long correspondence followed, +which finally resulted in Barron challenging Decatur to fight a duel. +Under the code of honor then in vogue, Decatur could do nothing but +accept, and the meeting took place at Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, +1820. At the word "fire," Barron fell wounded in the hip, where Decatur +had said he would shoot him, while Decatur himself received a wound in +the abdomen from which he died that night. He was, all in all, one of +the most brilliant and efficient men the navy ever boasted; and he will +be remembered, too, for his immortal toast: "My country: may she be +always right; but, right or wrong, my country!"</p> + +<p>Closely associated with Decatur in some of his exploits was William +Bainbridge, as handsome, impetuous and daring a sailor as ever trod a +deck. Bainbridge, who was five years younger than Decatur, began his +seafaring career at the age of sixteen, and three years later was in +command of a merchantman. He entered the navy at its reorganization in +1798, and two years later was appointed to command the George +Washington, a ship of twenty-eight guns.</p> + +<p>Bainbridge's first duty was to carry a tribute of <a name="page_338" id="page_338"></a><span class="pagenum">page 338</span>half a +million dollars to the Dey of Algiers, according to the arrangement made +by the Secretary of State which we have already mentioned. The errand +was a hateful one to Bainbridge, as it would have been to any American +sailorman; but he was in the navy to obey orders, and in September, +1800, he reached Algiers and anchored in the harbor and delivered the +tribute. But when he had done this, the Dey sent word that he had a +cargo of slaves and wild beasts for the Sultan of Turkey at +Constantinople, and that Bainbridge must take them, or his ship would be +taken from him and he and his crew sold into slavery.</p> + +<p>There was nothing to do but consent, since the ship was wholly in the +Dey's power, so to Constantinople Bainbridge sailed her. When a boat was +sent ashore there to announce her arrival, the Turks were greatly +astonished, for they had never heard of a nation called the United +States, and did not know that there was a great continent on the other +side of the world. It makes us feel less self-important, sometimes, when +we stop to consider that about one half the human race, even at the +present day, have no idea of our existence.</p> + +<p>Well, Bainbridge delivered his cargo, and then sailed back to Algiers +with orders from the Sultan to the Dey. He delivered these to the Dey, +and in accordance with them, the Dey immediately declared war on France, +and notified all the French in Algiers that if they had not left his +dominions within forty-eight hours, they would be sold into slavery. +There <a name="page_339" id="page_339"></a><span class="pagenum">page 339</span>was no French ship in the harbor, and it looked, for a +time, as though, the French would not be able to get away, but as soon +as he learned of their predicament, Bainbridge gathered them together +and took them over to Spain—an act for which he received the personal +thanks of Napoleon Bonaparte.</p> + +<p>Bainbridge was, of course, glad to get away from Algiers, but he had by +no means seen the last of the Barbary pirates. Returning to the United +States, he was given command of the Philadelphia, and sent back to the +Mediterranean with Commodore Preble's squadron to give the pirates a +lesson. The Philadelphia went on ahead to Tripoli and began a vigorous +blockade of that port, but, in chasing a Tripolitan vessel which was +trying to enter the harbor, ran hard and fast on an uncharted reef, and +keeled over so far that her guns were useless. The Tripolitans were not +long in discovering her predicament, swarmed out of the harbor in their +gunboats, and soon had the American vessel at their mercy.</p> + +<p>With what bitterness of spirit Bainbridge hauled down his flag may be +imagined. He and his men were taken ashore and imprisoned and their +vessel was got off the reef and towed into the harbor. From the window +of their prison, the Americans could see her riding at anchor, flying +the flag of Tripoli, and the sight did not render their imprisonment +more pleasant. But one night, they heard shots in the harbor, and, +looking out, beheld the Philadelphia in flames, and the little ketch +bearing Decatur and his men fading rapidly away through the darkness +toward <a name="page_340" id="page_340"></a><span class="pagenum">page 340</span>the harbor mouth. Six months later, they watched the +American assault upon the harbor, but their hearts fell when the +American squadron finally gave up the attempt and withdrew. It was not +until the following year that peace was made, and Bainbridge and his men +released, after a captivity of nineteen months. Never since that time +has the United States paid tribute to any nation.</p> + +<p>When the second war with England began, President Madison and his +advisers thought it foolhardy to attempt to oppose Great Britain on the +ocean, for she had the strongest fleet of any nation in the world, and +so decided to confine the war entirely to land. It was Bainbridge who +brought about a change of this unwise policy by impassioned pleading, to +the everlasting glory of the American navy. Hull resigned the +Constitution to him, after his victory over the Guerrière—it was really +for fear that Bainbridge would get command of the ship that Hull had +sailed from Boston without orders—and Bainbridge sailed for the South +Atlantic, and captured the British frigate Java, after a terrific fight, +in which he was himself seriously wounded. This was his last fight, +though the years which followed saw him in many important commands. For +sheer romance and adventure, his career has seldom been excelled.</p> + +<p>Another hero of the war of 1812, whose name is associated with a deed of +imperishable gallantry, was James Lawrence. He had entered the navy as +midshipman in 1798, at the age of eighteen, and served <a name="page_341" id="page_341"></a><span class="pagenum">page 341</span>in the +war against Tripoli, first under Hull and then under Decatur, and +accompanied the latter on the expedition which destroyed the +Philadelphia. But the deed by which he is best remembered is his fight +with the British frigate Shannon. In the spring of 1813, he was assigned +to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, a vessel hated by the whole +navy because of the bad luck which seemed to pursue her. Lawrence +accepted the command reluctantly, and proceeded to Boston, where she was +lying, to prepare her for a voyage.</p> + +<p>A crew was secured with great difficulty, most of them being foreigners, +and his officers were all young and inexperienced. What the crew and +officers alike needed was a practice cruise to put them in shape to meet +the enemy, and Lawrence knew this better than anybody, but when the +British frigate Shannon appeared outside the harbor with a challenge for +a battle, Lawrence, feeling that to refuse would be dishonorable, +hoisted anchor and sailed out to meet her.</p> + +<p>The Shannon was one of the finest frigates in the English navy, manned +by an experienced crew, and commanded by Philip Broke, one of the best +officers serving under the Union Jack. The ships ranged up together and +broadsides were delivered with terrible effect. Lawrence was wounded in +the leg, but kept the deck. Then the ships fouled, and Lawrence called +for boarders, but his crew, frightened at the desperate nature of the +conflict, did not respond, and a moment later he fell, shot through the +body. <a name="page_342" id="page_342"></a><span class="pagenum">page 342</span>As he was borne below, he kept shouting, "Don't give up +the ship! Fight her till she strikes or sinks! Don't give up the ship!" +his voice growing weaker and weaker as his life ebbed away.</p> + +<p>The battle was soon over, after that, for the British boarded, the +Chesapeake's foreign crew threw down their arms, and the triumphant +enemy hauled down the Chesapeake's flag. A few days later, the two ships +sailed into the harbor of Halifax, Lawrence's body, wrapped in his +ship's flag, lying in state on the quarter-deck. He was buried with +military honors, first at Halifax, and then at New York, where Hull, +Stewart and Bainbridge were among those who carried the pall. His cry, +"Don't give up the ship!" was to be the motto of another battle, far to +the west, where Great Britain experienced the greatest defeat of the +war.</p> + +<p>Before describing it, however, let us speak briefly of four other +valiant men, whose deeds redounded to the honor of their country—Edward +Preble, Charles Stewart, Johnston Blakeley, and Thomas Macdonough. It +was said of Preble that he had the worst temper and the best heart in +the world. At sixteen years of age he ran away to sea, and two years +later, he actually saw a sea-serpent, a hundred and fifty feet in length +and as big around as a barrel, and got close enough to fire at it. He +saw service in the Revolution, and in 1803, was appointed to command the +expedition against the Barbary corsairs, of which we have already +spoken, and which resulted in bringing those pirates to their <a name="page_343" id="page_343"></a><span class="pagenum">page 343</span> +knees. The trials of that expedition ruined his health, and he +survived it but a few years.</p> + +<p>To Charles Stewart belongs the remarkable exploit of engaging and +capturing two British ships at the same time. Enlisting in 1798, he was +with Preble at Tripoli, and was given command of the Constitution, after +Bainbridge's successful cruise in her, and started out in search of +adventure on December 17, 1814. Two months later, off the Madeira +Islands he sighted two British ships-of-war and at once gave chase. He +overhauled them at nightfall, and, running between them, gave them +broadside after broadside, until both struck their colors. They were the +Cyane and the Levant. Stewart got back to New York the middle of May to +find out that peace had been declared over a month before his encounter +with the British ships.</p> + +<p>He was received with enthusiasm, and "Old Ironsides" got the reputation +of being invincible. Her career had, indeed, been remarkable. She had +done splendid work before Tripoli, escaped twice from British squadrons +and seven times run the blockade through strong British fleets; she had +captured three frigates and a sloop-of-war, besides many merchantmen, +and had taken more than eleven hundred prisoners. From all of these +engagements she had emerged practically unscathed, and in none of them +had she lost more than nine men. Stewart was the last survivor of the +great captains of 1812, living until 1869, having been carried on the +navy list for seventy-one years.</p> + +<p><a name="page_344" id="page_344"></a><span class="pagenum">page 344</span>Johnston Blakeley was a South Carolinian, and won renown by a +remarkable cruise in the Wasp. The Wasp was a stout and speedy sloop, +carrying twenty-two guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy men, and +in 1814 she sailed from the United States, and headed for the English +Channel, to carry the war into the enemy's country, after the fashion of +Paul Jones. The Channel, of course, was traversed constantly by English +fleets and squadrons and single ships-of-war, and here the Wasp sailed +up and down, capturing and destroying merchantmen, and, by the skill and +vigilance of her crew and commander, escaping an encounter with any +frigate or ship-of-the-line.</p> + +<p>But one June morning, while chasing two merchantmen, she sighted the +British brig Reindeer, and at once prepared for action. The Reindeer +accepted the challenge, and after some broadsides had been exchanged, +the ships fouled and the British boarded. A desperate struggle followed, +in which the English commander was killed. Then the boarders were driven +back, and the Americans boarded in their turn, and in a minute had the +Reindeer in their possession. Her colors were hauled down, she was set +afire, and the Wasp continued her cruise.</p> + +<p>Late one September afternoon, British ships of war appeared all around +her, and selecting one which seemed isolated from the others, Captain +Blakeley decided to try to run alongside and sink her after nightfall. +She was the eighteen-gun brig Avon, a bigger ship than the Wasp, but +Blakeley ran alongside, <a name="page_345" id="page_345"></a><span class="pagenum">page 345</span>discharged his broadsides, and soon +had the Avon in a sinking condition. She struck her flag, but before +Blakeley could secure his prize, two other British ships came up and he +was forced to flee.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, he encountered a convoy of ships bearing arms and +munitions to Wellington's army, under the care of a great three-decker. +Blakeley sailed boldly in, and, evading the three-decker's movements, +actually cut out and captured one of the transports and made his escape. +Then she sailed for home, and that was the last ever heard of the Wasp. +She never again appeared, and her fate has never been determined. But +when she sank, if sink she did, there went to the bottom one of the +gallantest ships and bravest captains in the American navy.</p> + +<p>All of the battles which we have thus far described were fought on salt +water, but two great victories were won on inland waters, and of one of +these Thomas Macdonough was the hero. He had entered the navy in 1800, +at the age of seventeen, served before Tripoli, and accompanied Decatur +on the expedition which burned the Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the +second war with England, he was sent to Lake Champlain, and set about +the building of a fleet to repel the expected British invasion from +Canada. The British were also busy at the other end of the lake, and on +September 9, 1814, Macdonough sailed his fleet of fourteen boats, ten of +which were small gunboats, and the largest of which, the Saratoga, was +merely a corvette, into Plattsburg Bay, and anchored there.</p> + +<p><a name="page_346" id="page_346"></a><span class="pagenum">page 346</span>The abdication of Napoleon had enabled England to turn her +undivided attention to America, and one great force was sent against New +Orleans, while another was concentrated in Canada, for the purpose of +invading New York by way of Lake Champlain. On this latter enterprise, a +force of twelve thousand regulars started from Montreal early in August, +while the British naval force on the lake was augmented to nineteen +vessels. On September 11, this fleet got under way, and, certain of +victory, sailed into Plattsburg Bay and attacked Macdonough. A terrific +battle followed, in which the Saratoga had every gun on one side +disabled and had to wear around under fire in order to use those on the +other side. But three hours later, every British flag had been struck, +and the land force, seeing their navy defeated, retreated hastily to +Canada. So riddled were both squadrons that in neither of them did a +mast remain upon which sail could be made.</p> + +<p>But the greatest victory of the war, the one which had the most +important and far-reaching consequences, had been won a year before, far +to the west, on the blue waters of Lake Erie, by Oliver Hazard Perry, at +that time only twenty-eight years of age. Perry came of a seafaring +stock, for his father was a captain in the navy, and the boy's first +voyage was made with him in 1799. At the outbreak of the war of 1812, he +was in command of a division of gunboats at Newport, but finding that, +owing to the British blockade, there was little chance of his seeing +active service in that position, he asked <a name="page_347" id="page_347"></a><span class="pagenum">page 347</span>to be sent to the +Great Lakes, whose possession we were preparing to dispute with England.</p> + +<p>The importance of this mission can hardly be overestimated. By the +capture of Detroit, earlier in the war, the English had obtained +undisputed control of Lake Erie, and were in position to carry out their +plan of extending the Dominion of Canada along the Ohio and Mississippi +rivers down to the Gulf, and so shutting in the United States upon the +West. To Perry was assigned the task of stopping this project, and of +regaining control of the lake.</p> + +<p>He arrived at Lake Erie in the spring of 1813, and proceeded at once to +build the fleet which was to sail under the Stars and Stripes. He showed +the utmost skill and energy in doing this, and by the middle of July, in +spite of many difficulties, had nine vessels ready to meet the +enemy—two brigs and two gunboats which he had built, and five small +boats which were brought up from the Niagara river. On the third of +August, he sailed out to meet the British, his ships being manned by a +motley crew of "blacks, soldiers, and boys."</p> + +<p>The flagship had been named the Lawrence, after the heroic commander of +the Chesapeake. Luckily the English were not ready for battle, and Perry +had a month in which to drill his men before the enemy sailed out to +meet him. At last, on the morning of Saturday, September 10, 1813, the +British fleet was seen approaching, and Perry formed his ships in line +of battle.</p> + +<p>The British squadron consisted of six vessels, <a name="page_348" id="page_348"></a><span class="pagenum">page 348</span>mounting 63 +guns, and manned by 502 men. The American ships mounted 54 guns, with +490 men. Although of smaller total weight than the American guns, the +British guns were longer and would carry farther, and so were much more +effective. The British crews, too, were better disciplined, a large +number of the men being from the royal navy, and the squadron was +commanded by Robert Heriot, a man of much experience, who had fought +under Nelson at Trafalgar.</p> + +<p>The American shore was lined with an anxious crowd, who appreciated the +great issues which hung upon the battle. Perry, calling his men aft, +produced a blue banner bearing in white letters the last words of the +man after whom the Lawrence was named: "Don't give up the ship!"</p> + +<p>"Shall I hoist it, boys?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir!" they shouted, and the bunting was run up to the +main-royal masthead. Then a hush fell upon the water as the two fleets +drew together. A few minutes before noon the engagement began, Perry +heading straight for the flagship of the enemy, and drawing the fire of +practically the whole British squadron by running ahead of the other +ships, which, owing to the light breeze, could not get within range. For +two hours, he fought against these hopeless odds, and almost without +support, until his ship was reduced to a wreck and only one of her guns +could be worked, while of her crew of 103, only twenty were left on +their feet. Every nook and corner of the brig was occupied by some +<a name="page_349" id="page_349"></a><span class="pagenum">page 349</span>wounded and dying wretch seeking vainly to find shelter from +the British fire. Even the cockpit, where the wounded were carried for +treatment, was not safe, for some of the men were killed while under the +surgeon's hands. No fewer than six cannon balls passed through the +cockpit, while two went through the magazine, which, by some miracle, +did not explode. The ship was so disabled, at last, that it drifted out +of action, and Perry, taking his pennant and the blue flag bearing the +words "Don't give up the ship!" under his arm, got into a boat with four +seamen, and started for the Niagara, his other brig.</p> + +<p>The British saw the little boat dancing over the waves, and after a +moment of dazed astonishment at a manoeuvre unheard of in naval warfare +and daring almost to madness, concentrated their fire on it. One cannon +ball penetrated the boat, but Perry, stripping off his coat, stuffed it +into the hole and so kept the boat afloat until the Niagara was reached. +Clambering on board, Perry ran up his flags, reformed his line, closed +with the enemy, raked them, engaged them at close quarters, where their +long guns gave them no advantage, and conducted an onslaught so terrific +that, twenty minutes later, the entire British squadron had hauled down +their flags.</p> + +<p>Perry at once rowed back to the Lawrence, and upon her splintered and +bloodstained deck, received the surrender of the British officers. Then, +using his cap for a desk, he wrote with a pencil on the back of an old +letter the famous message announcing the victory: "We have met the enemy +and they are <a name="page_350" id="page_350"></a><span class="pagenum">page 350</span>ours—two ships, two brigs, two schooners and +one sloop." More than that was ours, for the victory, and the prompt +advance of General Harrison which followed it, compelled the British to +evacuate Detroit and Michigan, and to abandon forever the attempt to +annex the West to Canada. Half a century later, when the great Erie +canal was opened, the guns of Perry's fleet, placed at ten-mile +intervals along its banks, announced the departure of the first fleet of +boats from Buffalo, carrying the news to New York City, a distance of +360 miles, in an hour and twenty minutes.</p> + +<p>Perry lived only six years longer, dying while still a young man, in the +saddest possible manner. In June, 1819, he was given command of a +squadron designed to protect American trade in South American waters, +and while ascending the Orinoco, contracted the yellow fever, and died a +few days later. He was buried at Trinidad, but some years afterwards, a +ship-of-war brought him home, and he sleeps at Newport, Rhode Island, +near the spot where he was born.</p> + +<p>So ends the story of that group of naval commanders, who dealt so +surprising and terrific a blow at the tradition of English supremacy on +the ocean.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The brother of the victor of Lake Erie, Matthew Calbraith Perry, must +also be mentioned here, for his was a unique achievement—the peaceful +conquest of a great Eastern empire. Born in 1794, and educated in the +best traditions of the navy, he was <a name="page_351" id="page_351"></a><span class="pagenum">page 351</span>selected to command the +expedition which, in 1853, was ordered to visit Japan, that strange +nation of the Orient which, up to that time, had kept her ports closed +to foreign commerce. Perry's conduct of this delicate mission was +notable in the extreme, and its result was the signing of a treaty +between Japan and the United States which has long been regarded as one +of the greatest diplomatic triumphs of the age.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In the spring of 1861, a captain of the United States navy was living at +Norfolk, Va., his home, the home of his wife's family, and the home of +his closest friends. Excitement ran high, for it was as yet an open +question whether or not the great state of Virginia would join her +sisters farther south and renounce her allegiance to the Union. It was a +time of searching of hearts, and this man of sixty years was brought +face to face with the bitterest moment of his life. He must choose +between his country and his state; between his flag and the love and +respect of his relatives and friends.</p> + +<p>In the end, the flag won. It was the flag he had taken his boyish oath +to honor; on more than one occasion, he had seen the haughtiest colors +on the ocean bow with respect before it; he had seen men, writhing in +the agony of death, expend their last breath to defend it. It had +wrapped itself about his heart, and meant more to him than home or +friends or kindred. So the flag won.</p> + +<p>On the seventeenth day of April, 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union. +The day following, our <a name="page_352" id="page_352"></a><span class="pagenum">page 352</span>gray-haired captain, expressing the +opinion that secession was not the will of the majority of the people, +but that the state had been dragooned out of the Union by a coterie of +politicians, was told that he could no longer live in Norfolk.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he answered, "I can live somewhere else."</p> + +<p>He went home and told his wife that the time had come when she must +choose whether she would remain with her own kinsfolk or follow him. Her +choice was made on the instant, and within two hours, David Glasgow +Farragut, his wife and their only son, were on a steamer headed for the +North. A few days later, he offered his services to the Union.</p> + +<p>Before going forward with him upon his great career, let us cast a +glance over his boyhood—such a boyhood as falls to the lot of not one +in a million. Born in 1801, of a father who had served in the Revolution +and who was afterwards to become a friend and companion of Andrew +Jackson, his childhood was passed amid the dangers and alarms of the +Tennessee frontier. In 1808 occurred the incident which paved the way +for his entrance into the navy. While fishing on Lake Pontchartrain, his +father fell in with a boat in which was lying an old man prostrated by +the heat of the sun. Farragut took him at once to his own home, where he +was tenderly cared for, but he died a few days later. The sufferer was +David Porter, father of Captain Porter of the Essex, at that time in +charge of the naval station at New Orleans.</p> + +<p><a name="page_353" id="page_353"></a><span class="pagenum">page 353</span>Captain Porter was informed of the accident to his father, and +hastened to the home of the Farraguts. He felt deeply their kindness, +and as some slight return, offered to adopt one of the Farragut +children, take him North with him, and do what he could for his +advancement. Young David promptly said that he would go, the +arrangements were concluded, and the boy of seven accompanied his new +protector to Washington. He spent two years at school there, and then, +on December 17, 1810, at the age of nine, received an appointment as +midshipman in the United States navy. Two years later, he accompanied +Porter in the Essex on that memorable trip around Cape Horn.</p> + +<p>Porter took so many prizes in the South Pacific that his supply of older +officers ran out, and twelve-year old David Farragut was appointed +prize-master of one of them, with orders to take her to Valparaiso. When +Farragut gave his first order, her skipper, a hot-tempered old sea-dog, +flew into a rage, and declaring that he had "no idea of trusting himself +with a blamed nutshell," rushed below for his pistols. The +twelve-year-old commander shouted after him that, if he came on deck +again, he would be thrown overboard, and thenceforth was master of the +ship. He was back on the Essex again when she was attacked in Valparaiso +harbor by a British squadron, and got his baptism of fire in one of the +hardest-fought naval battles in history.</p> + +<p>From that time until the outbreak of the Civil War, his life was spent +in the most active service, and <a name="page_354" id="page_354"></a><span class="pagenum">page 354</span>he rose to the rank of +captain. As has been seen, he cast in his lot with the North, and asked +for active duty at once, but it was not until eight months later that +the summons came. When it did come, it was of a nature to fill him with +the most unbounded enthusiasm. The national government had determined to +attempt to send a fleet past the formidable forts at the mouth of the +Mississippi, for the purpose of capturing New Orleans. Farragut was sent +for, shown the list of vessels which were preparing for the expedition, +and asked if he thought it could succeed. He answered that he would +undertake to do it with two-thirds the number, and when he was told that +he was to command the expedition, his delight knew no bounds. He felt +that his chance had come. On the second of February, 1862, he sailed out +of Hampton Roads with a squadron of seventeen vessels, and turned his +prow to the south.</p> + +<p>The task which had been set him was one to give the stoutest heart +pause. Twenty miles above the mouth of the Mississippi were two +formidable forts and a number of water batteries, with combined +armaments greatly superior to those of Farragut's fleet. A great barrier +of logs stretched across the river, while farther up lay a Confederate +fleet of fifteen vessels, one of which was an ironclad ram. A strong +force of Confederate sharpshooters was stationed along either bank, and +a number of fire-rafts were ready to be lighted and sent down against +the Union fleet. It was against these obstacles that Farragut, after a +week of preliminary attack, started <a name="page_355" id="page_355"></a><span class="pagenum">page 355</span>up the river in his +wooden vessels at three o'clock in the morning of April 24, 1862.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Confederates descried the advancing fleet, they lighted +great fires along the banks and opened a terrific cannonade. Blazing +fire-rafts threw a lurid glare against the sky. The fleet, pausing a few +minutes to discharge their broadsides into the forts, steamed on up the +river; Farragut's flagship grounded under the guns of Fort St. Philip, +and a fireship, blazing a hundred feet in the air, floated against her +and set her on fire, but the flames were extinguished, the flagship +backed off, and headed again up the stream. Before the coming of dawn, +the entire fleet, with the exception of three small boats, had passed +the forts and were grappling with the Confederate squadron above. Of +this, short work was made. Some of the enemy's vessels were driven +ashore, some were run down, others were riddled with shot—and the +proudest city of the South lay at Farragut's mercy.</p> + +<p>On the first day of May, the United States troops under General Butler, +marched into the city, and Farragut, glad to be relieved of an +unpleasant task, proceeded up the river, ran by the batteries at +Vicksburg, assisted at the reduction of Port Hudson, and finally sailed +for New York in his flagship, the Hartford, arriving there in August, +1863. He had already been commissioned rear-admiral, and he was given a +most enthusiastic reception, for his passage of the Mississippi was +recognized as an extraordinary feat. An examination of his ship showed +that she <a name="page_356" id="page_356"></a><span class="pagenum">page 356</span>had been struck 240 times by shot and shell in her +nineteen months of service.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the surrender of New Orleans, Farragut had desired to +proceed against the port of Mobile, Alabama, which was so strongly +fortified that all attempts to close it had been in vain, and which was +the only important port left open to the Confederates. But the +government decided that Mobile could wait a while, and sent him, +instead, to open the Mississippi. That task accomplished, the time had +come for him to attempt the greatest of his career—greater, even, than +his capture of New Orleans, and much more hazardous. In the spring of +1864, he was in the Gulf, preparing for the great enterprise.</p> + +<p>Mobile harbor was defended by works so strong and well-placed that it +was considered well-nigh impregnable. The Confederates had realized the +importance of keeping this, their last port, open, so that they could +communicate with the outer world, and had spared no pains to render it +so strong that they believed no attack could subdue it. Two great forts, +armed with heavy and effective artillery, guarded the entrance; the +winding channel was filled with torpedoes, and in the inner harbor was a +fleet of gunboats, and, most powerful of all, the big, ironclad ram, +Tennessee. In charge of the Tennessee was the same man who had guided +the Merrimac on her fatal visit to Hampton Roads, Franklin Buchanan, but +the Tennessee was a much more powerful vessel than the Merrimac had ever +been, and <a name="page_357" id="page_357"></a><span class="pagenum">page 357</span>it was thought that nothing afloat could stand +against her.</p> + +<p>It was this position, then, which, at daybreak of August 5, 1864, +Farragut sailed in to assault. His fleet consisted of four ironclad +monitors, and fourteen wooden vessels, and his preparations were made +most carefully, for he fully realized the gravity of the task before +him. He himself was in his old flagship, the Hartford, and mounting into +the rigging to be above the smoke, he was lashed fast there, so that he +would not fall to the deck, in case a bullet struck him. The thought of +that brave old leader taking that exposed position so that he might +handle his fleet more ably will always be a thrilling one—and the event +proved how wise he was in choosing it.</p> + +<p>The word was given, and, at half past six in the morning, the monitors +took their stations, while the wooden ships formed in column, the plan +being for the monitors, with their iron sides, to steam in between the +wooden ships and the forts, and so protect them as much as possible. The +light vessels were lashed each to the left of one of the heavier ones, +so that each pair of ships was given a double chance to escape, should +one be rendered helpless by a shot in the boiler, or in some other vital +portion of her machinery. The Brooklyn was at the head of the column, +while the Hartford came second, and the others followed. In this order, +the fleet advanced to the attack.</p> + +<p>There was an unwonted stillness on the ships as <a name="page_358" id="page_358"></a><span class="pagenum">page 358</span>they swung in +towards the harbor mouth, for every man felt within him a vague unrest +caused by one awful and mysterious peril, the torpedoes. For the forts, +the gunboats, even the great ironclad, the men cared nothing—they had +met such perils before—but lurking beneath the water was a horror not +to be guarded against. They knew that these deadly mines were scattered +along the channel through which they must make their way, and that any +moment might be the end of some proud vessel.</p> + +<p>The ships were all in fighting trim, with spars housed and canvas +furled, and decks spread with sawdust so that they would not grow +slippery with the blood which was soon to flow. As the fleet came within +range of the forts, a terrific cannonade began, in which the Confederate +ships, stationed just inside the harbor, soon joined. One of them was +the great ram, Tennessee, and the commander of the leading monitor, the +Tecumseh, noted her and determined to give her battle. So he swung his +ship toward her and ordered full steam ahead; but an instant later, +there came a sudden dull roar, an uplifting of the water, the boat +quivered from stem to stern, and then plunged, bow first, beneath the +waves.</p> + +<p>Farragut, from his lofty station, saw the Tecumseh disappear, and then +saw the Brooklyn, the ship ahead of him in the battle line, stop and +begin to back. It was an awful moment—the crisis of the fight and of +Farragut's career as well. The ships were halted in a narrow channel, +right beneath the forts; a few <a name="page_359" id="page_359"></a><span class="pagenum">page 359</span>moments' delay meant that they +would be blown out of the water.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter there?" he roared.</p> + +<p>"Torpedoes!" came the cry from the Brooklyn's deck, for her captain had +perceived a line of little buoys stretching right across her path.</p> + +<p>"Damn the torpedoes!" shouted the admiral. "Go ahead, Captain Drayton," +he continued, addressing his own captain. "Four bells!" and the +Hartford, swinging aside, cleared the Brooklyn and took the lead.</p> + +<p>On went the flagship across the line of torpedoes, which could be heard +knocking against her bottom as she passed, but not one of them exploded, +and a moment later, one of the most daring feats in naval history had +been accomplished. Farragut had seen, instantly, that the risk must be +taken, and so he took it.</p> + +<p>The remainder of the fleet followed the flagship, the forts were passed, +and the battle virtually won. The Confederate fleet, and especially the +great ram, was still to be reckoned with, but before proceeding to that +portion of the task, Farragut steamed up the harbor and served breakfast +to his men. Just as this was finished, the Tennessee attacked, and put +up a desperate fight, but finally became unmanageable and was forced to +surrender.</p> + +<p>So ended the battle of Mobile Bay. It left Farragut's fame secure as one +of the greatest sea-captains of all time; great in daring, in skill, in +foresight, and with a coolness and presence of mind which no <a name="page_360" id="page_360"></a><span class="pagenum">page 360</span> +peril could shake. Congress created for him the grade of admiral, +before unknown in the United States navy, and the whole country joined +in honoring him.</p> + +<p>Swinging to and fro with the ebb and flow of the tide at the entrance of +Mobile Bay, is a buoy which marks the spot of a deed of purest heroism. +A few fathoms below that buoy lies the monitor Tecumseh, sunk by a +torpedo at the beginning of the battle, as we have seen, and the buoy +commemorates, not the sinking of the ship, but the self-sacrifice of her +commander, Tunis Augustus Craven.</p> + +<p>Craven had entered the navy at the age of sixteen and had seen much +service and distinguished himself in many ways before he was given +command of the Tecumseh and ordered to join Farragut's squadron. On the +morning of the attack, he was given the post of honor at the head of the +column, and determined to come to close quarters with the Tennessee, if +he could. But fate intervened, when his quarry was almost within reach. +Craven had stationed himself in the little pilot-house beside the pilot, +the better to direct the movements of his ship, and when he and the +pilot felt that sudden shock and saw the Tecumseh sinking, both of them +sprang for the narrow opening leading from the pilot-house to the turret +chamber below. They reached the opening at the same instant; it was so +small that only one could pass at a time, and Craven, with a greatness +of soul found only in heroes, drew back, saying quietly, "After you, +pilot."</p> + +<p><a name="page_361" id="page_361"></a><span class="pagenum">page 361</span>"There was nothing after me," said the pilot afterwards, "for +when I reached the last round of the ladder, the vessel seemed to drop +from under me."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At the outbreak of the Civil War, the commerce of the United States was +the next to the largest in the world. The North destroyed southern +commerce by capturing or blockading southern ports, while the South +retaliated by fitting out a large number of commerce-destroyers, to +range the seas and take what prizes they could—a plan which had been +adopted by America in both wars with England, and which is the only +resource of a power whose navy is greatly inferior to that of its +antagonist.</p> + +<p>The bright particular star of the Confederate service was Raphael +Semmes, who had been trained in the United States navy, and who, first +in the Sumter and afterwards in the Alabama, captured a total of +seventy-seven prizes, nearly all of which he destroyed. To his capture, +the United States devoted some of its best ships, but it was not until +the summer of 1864, that he was finally cornered.</p> + +<p>On Sunday, June 12, 1864, the United States sloop-of-war Kearsarge lay +at anchor off the sleepy town of Flushing, Holland. Her commander, John +Ancrum Winslow, had served in the navy of the United States for +thirty-seven years, and had done good work off Vera Cruz in the war with +Mexico, but the crowning achievement of his life was at hand. As his +ship lay swinging idly at her anchor, a boat put off to her, a messenger +jumped aboard, and three <a name="page_362" id="page_362"></a><span class="pagenum">page 362</span>minutes later a gun was fired, +recalling instantly every member of the ship's company ashore. The +message was from our minister to France and stated that the long-sought +Alabama had arrived at Cherbourg. For nearly two years, Winslow had been +searching for that scourge of American shipping, but Semmes had always +eluded him, so it may well be believed that Winslow lost no time in +getting under way. On Tuesday morning, he reached Cherbourg, and +breathed a great sigh of relief as he saw, beyond the breakwater, the +flag of the Alabama. He took his station off the port, and kept a close +lookout for fear his enemy would again elude him. But the precaution was +unnecessary, for Semmes had decided to offer battle.</p> + +<p>Four days passed, however, with the Kearsarge keeping grim guard. Then, +on Sunday morning, June 19, as the crew of the Kearsarge was at divine +service, the officer of the deck reported a steamer at the harbor-mouth. +A moment later, the lookout shouted, "She's coming, and heading straight +for us!" Captain Winslow, putting aside his prayer-book, seized the +trumpet, ordered the decks cleared for action, and put his ship about +and bore down on the Alabama.</p> + +<p>The two vessels were remarkably well-matched, but the engagement was +decisive evidence of the superior qualities of northern marksmanship. It +was, in fact, an exhibition of that magnificent gunnery which was so +evident in the war of 1812, and which was to be shown again in the war +with <a name="page_363" id="page_363"></a><span class="pagenum">page 363</span>Spain. Nearly all of the 173 shots fired by the +Kearsarge took effect, while of the 370 fired by the Alabama, only 28 +reached their target. As a result, at the end of an hour and a half, the +Alabama was sinking, while the Kearsarge was practically uninjured and +had lost only three men. Hauling down her flag, the Alabama tried to run +in shore, but suddenly, settling by the stern, lifted her bow high in +the air and plunged to the bottom of the sea. So ended the career of the +Alabama. Winslow received the usual rewards of promotion and the thanks +of Congress, and passed the remainder of his life unadventurously in the +navy service.</p> + +<p>One other battle remains to be recorded—in some respects the most +important in history, because it revolutionized the construction of +battleships, and suddenly rendered all the existing navies of the world +practically useless.</p> + +<p>On the eighth day of March, 1862, a powerful squadron of Union vessels +lay at anchor in Hampton Roads, consisting of the Congress, the +Cumberland, the St. Lawrence, the Roanoke, and the Minnesota. It was a +beautiful spring morning, and the tall ships rocked lazily at their +anchors, while their crews occupied themselves with routine duties. +Shortly before noon, a strange object was seen approaching down the +Elizabeth river. To the Union officers, it looked like the roof of a +large barn belching forth smoke. In reality, it was the Confederate +ironclad, Merrimac, under command of Captain Franklin Buchanan.</p> + +<p><a name="page_364" id="page_364"></a><span class="pagenum">page 364</span>Buchanan had, in his day, been one of the most distinguished +officers in the United States navy. He had entered the service in 1815, +as midshipman, and won rapid promotion. In 1845, he was selected by the +secretary of the navy to organize the naval academy at Annapolis, and +was its first commandant. He commanded the Germantown at the capture of +Vera Cruz, and the Susquehanna, the flagship of Commodore Perry's famous +expedition to Japan. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commandant +of the Washington navy-yard, and, being himself a Baltimore man, +resigned from the service after the attack made in Baltimore on the +Massachusetts troops passing through there. Finding that his state did +not secede, he withdrew his resignation and asked to be restored, but +for some reason, the secretary of the navy, Gideon Welles, refused this +request, and Buchanan was fairly driven into the enemy's service.</p> + +<p>The Confederacy was glad to get him, gave him the rank of captain and +put him in charge of the work at the Norfolk, Virginia, navy-yard. The +most important business going forward there was the reconstruction of +the United States frigate, Merrimac. This consisted in building above +her berth-deck sloping bulwarks seven feet high, covered with four +inches of iron, and pierced for ten guns. To her bow, about two feet +under water, a cast-iron ram was attached, and on the eighth of March, +she cast loose from her moorings and started down the river. She was +scarcely complete, her crew had never been drilled, she had never fired +a gun, nor <a name="page_365" id="page_365"></a><span class="pagenum">page 365</span>had her engines made a single revolution, while +the ship itself was merely a bold experiment, which had never made a +trial trip. Yet Buchanan, on reaching Hampton Roads, headed straight for +the Union fleet.</p> + +<p>There, as soon as the identity of the stranger was discovered, hurried +preparations for battle were made. Decks were cleared, magazines opened, +and guns loaded, and as soon as the Merrimac was in range, the Union +ships and shore batteries opened upon her, but such projectiles as +struck her, glanced harmlessly from her iron mail. Not until she was +quite near the Cumberland did the Merrimac return the fire. Then she +opened her bow-port and sent a seven-inch shell through the Cumberland's +quarter. The Cumberland answered with a broadside which would have blown +any wooden vessel out of the water, but which affected the Merrimac not +at all. Buchanan had determined to test the power of his ram, and +keeping on at full speed, crashed into the Cumberland's side. Then he +backed out, leaving a yawning chasm, through which the water poured into +the doomed ship. She settled rapidly and sank with a roar, her crew +firing her guns to the last moment.</p> + +<p>The Merrimac then turned her attention to the Congress, with such deadly +effect that that vessel was forced to surrender after an hour's +fighting, in which she was repeatedly hulled and set on fire. Most of +her crew escaped to the shore, and the Confederates completed her +destruction by firing hot <a name="page_366" id="page_366"></a><span class="pagenum">page 366</span>shot into her. Evening was at hand +by this time, and the Merrimac withdrew, intending to destroy the other +ships in the harbor next morning.</p> + +<p>So ended the most disastrous day in the history of the United States +navy. Two ships were lost, and over three hundred men killed or wounded. +On the Merrimac, two had been killed and eight wounded, but the vessel +herself, though she had been the target for more than a hundred heavy +guns, was practically uninjured and as dangerous as ever.</p> + +<p>Among the wounded was Captain Buchanan, who was forced to relinquish the +command of the Merrimac. For his gallantry, he was thanked by the +Confederate Congress, and promoted to full admiral and senior officer of +the Confederate navy. As soon as he recovered from his wound, he was +placed in charge of the naval defenses of Mobile, Alabama, and there +superintended the construction of the ram Tennessee, which he commanded +during the action with Farragut two years later. His handling of the +vessel was daring almost to madness, but she became disabled and was +forced to surrender. Buchanan was taken prisoner, and never again took +part in any naval action.</p> + +<p>Let us return to Hampton Roads.</p> + +<p>The news of the disaster to the Union fleet spread gloom and +consternation throughout the North, and corresponding rejoicing +throughout the South. The remaining ships in Hampton Roads plainly lay +at the Merrimac's mercy, and after they had been destroyed, there was +nothing to prevent her steaming <a name="page_367" id="page_367"></a><span class="pagenum">page 367</span>up the Potomac and attacking +Washington. It seemed as if nothing but a miracle could save the country +from awful disaster.</p> + +<p>And that miracle was at hand.</p> + +<p>Among the coincidences of history, none is more remarkable than the +arrival at Hampton Roads on the night of March 8, 1862, of the strange +and freakish-looking craft known as the Monitor. Proposed to the Navy +Department in the preceding fall by John Ericsson, in spite of sneers +and doubts, a contract was given him in October to construct a vessel +after his design. The form of the Monitor is too well known to need +description—"a cheese-box on a raft," the name given her in derision, +describes her as well as anything. She was launched on the last day of +January, and three weeks later was handed over to the Government, but it +was not until the fourth of March that her guns were mounted, two +powerful rifled cannon. At the request of Ericsson, she was named the +Monitor, and this name came afterwards to be adopted to describe the +class of ships of which she was the first. So dangerous was service in +her considered, that volunteers were called for, and Lieutenant John +Lorimer Worden was given command of her.</p> + +<p>Worden had entered the navy twenty-seven years before, and at the +opening of the Civil War, had delivered the orders from the secretary of +the navy which saved Fort Pickens, in the harbor of Pensacola, to the +Union. Attempting to return North overland, he was arrested and held as +a prisoner <a name="page_368" id="page_368"></a><span class="pagenum">page 368</span>seven months, being exchanged just in time to +enable him to procure command of the Monitor. Rumors of the construction +of the Merrimac had reached the North, and two days after her guns were +aboard, the Monitor left New York harbor for Hampton Roads. Just after +she passed Sandy Hook, orders recalling her were received there, +fortunately too late to be delivered. By such slight threads do the +events of history depend.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Captain Worden was making such progress southward as he could +with his unwieldy and dangerous craft, which had been designed only for +the smooth waters of rivers and harbors and which was wholly unable to +cope with the boisterous Atlantic. There was a brisk wind, and the +vessel was soon in imminent danger of foundering. The waves broke over +her smoke-stack and poured down into her fires, so that steam could not +be kept up; the blowers which ventilated the ship would not work, and +she became filled with gas which rendered some of her crew unconscious. +Undoubtedly she would have gone to the bottom very shortly had not the +wind moderated. Even then, it was almost a miracle that she should win +through, but win through she did, and at four o'clock on the afternoon +of Saturday, March 8, as she was passing Cape Henry, Captain Worden +heard the distant booming of guns. As darkness came, he saw far ahead +the glare of the burning Congress.</p> + +<p>About midnight, the little vessel crept up beside the Minnesota and +anchored. Her crew were completely <a name="page_369" id="page_369"></a><span class="pagenum">page 369</span>exhausted. For fifty +hours, they had fought to keep their ship afloat, and on the morrow they +must be prepared to meet a formidable foe. All that night they worked +with their vessel, making such repairs as they could. At eight o'clock +next morning, the Merrimac appeared, and the Monitor started to meet +her.</p> + +<p>Amazed at sight of what appeared to be an iron turret sliding over the +water toward him, the commander of the Merrimac swung toward this tiny +antagonist, intending to destroy her before proceeding to the work in +hand. Captain Worden had taken his station in the pilot-house, and +reserved his fire until within short range. Then, slowly circling about +his unwieldy foe, he fired shot after shot, which, while they did not +disable her, prevented her from destroying the Union ships in the +harbor. Finding the Monitor apparently invulnerable, and with her +machinery giving trouble, the Merrimac at last withdrew to Norfolk.</p> + +<p>That the battle was a victory for the Monitor cannot be questioned; she +had prevented the destruction of the Union ships, and this she continued +to do, until, in the following May, the Confederates, finding themselves +compelled to abandon Norfolk, set the Merrimac on fire and blew her up. +Six months later, the Monitor met a tragic fate, foundering in a storm +off Cape Hatteras, a portion of her crew going down with her.</p> + +<p>Honors were showered upon Worden for his gallant work. He was given +command of the monitor <a name="page_370" id="page_370"></a><span class="pagenum">page 370</span>Montauk, and later on destroyed the +Confederate privateer Nashville. After the war, he was promoted to +rear-admiral, and remained in the service until 1886.</p> + +<p>There were others in the war whose deeds brought glory to themselves and +to the navy—Lieutenant William B. Cushing, who destroyed the +Confederate ram Albemarle in Plymouth harbor, a deed comparable with the +burning of the Philadelphia early in the century; David Dixon Porter, +whose work on the Mississippi was second only to Farragut's, who four +times received the thanks of Congress, and who, in the end, became +admiral of the navy; Charles Stuart Boggs, who, in the sloop-of-war +Varuna, sank five Confederate vessels in the river below New Orleans, +before he was himself sunk—but none of them, and, indeed, none of those +whose exploits we have given, measured up to the stature of Farragut, +one of the greatest commanders of all time, and, all things considered, +the very greatest in the history of America.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Thirty years and more passed after that epoch-making contest between the +Monitor and the Merrimac before the world witnessed another battle to +the death between ironclads. Theoretically, wood had long since been +displaced by iron, iron by steel, and steel by specially-forged +armor-plate, battleship designers struggling always to build a vessel +which could withstand modern projectiles. But as to the actual results +in warfare, there was nothing but <a name="page_371" id="page_371"></a><span class="pagenum">page 371</span>theory to go upon until +that first day of May, 1898, when George Dewey steamed into the harbor +of Manila, at the head of his squadron, and opened fire upon the Spanish +fleet.</p> + +<p>Dewey had received his training under the best of masters, Farragut. +Graduating from Annapolis in 1858, he served as lieutenant on the +Mississippi, when that vessel, as part of Farragut's fleet, ran past the +forts below New Orleans. A short time later, in trying to pass the +Confederate batteries at Port Hudson, the Mississippi ran hard and fast +aground. Half an hour was spent, under a terrific fire, in trying to get +her off; then Dewey, after spiking her guns, assisted in scuttling her +and escaped with her captain in a small boat. He saw other active +service, and got his first command in 1870. He was commissioned +commodore in 1896, and on January 1, 1898, took command of the Asiatic +squadron.</p> + +<p>Few people in the world beside himself suspected, even in the dimmest +manner, the task which lay before him; but with a rare sagacity, he had +foreseen that, in the event of war with Spain, the far East would be the +scene of operations of the first importance. He thereupon applied for +the command of the Asiatic squadron, and his application was granted. +Dewey proceeded immediately to Hong Kong, and began to concentrate his +forces there and to get them into first-class condition. He spent much +of his time studying the charts of the Pacific, and his officers noticed +that the maps of the Philippine Islands soon became worn and marked. On +Tuesday, April 26, <a name="page_372" id="page_372"></a><span class="pagenum">page 372</span>came the explanation of all this in a +cablegram stating that war had been declared between the United States +and Spain, and ordering Dewey to proceed at once to the Philippine +Islands and capture or destroy the Spanish fleet which was stationed +there.</p> + +<p>Early the next afternoon, the squadron started on its six hundred mile +journey. What lay at the end of it, no one on the fleet knew. Of the +Spanish force, Dewey knew only that twenty-three Spanish war vessels +were somewhere in the Philippines; he knew, too, that they were probably +at Manila, and that the defenses of the harbor were of the strongest +description. But he remembered one of Farragut's sayings, "The closer +you get to your enemy, the harder you can strike," and he lost no time +in getting under way.</p> +<div class="figright"><a name="dewey" id="dewey"></a><img src="images/Illus-0421-1.jpg" alt="(20KB) dewey" width="383" height="500" /> +<br /><span class="caption">DEWEY</span> +</div> +<p>Dewey's squadron consisted of seven vessels, of which one was a revenue +cutter, and two colliers. He was many thousands of miles from the +nearest base of supplies and to fail would mean that he would have to +surrender. So, on that momentous voyage, he drilled and drilled his men, +until their discipline was perfect. On April 30, land was sighted, and +precautions were redoubled, since the enemy might be encountered at any +moment. Careful search failed to reveal the Spaniards in Subig Bay, and +at six o'clock in the evening, Dewey announced to his officers that he +had determined to force Manila Bay that night. At nine o'clock the fleet +was off the bay, all lights were extinguished save one at the stern of +each ship to serve as a guide <a name="page_373" id="page_373"></a><span class="pagenum">page 373</span>for the one following, and +even that light was carefully screened on both sides so that it could +not be seen from the shore. Then the fleet headed for the harbor mouth.</p> + +<p>What the defenses of the channel were, no one knew. It was reported to +be full of torpedoes. But perhaps Dewey remembered Farragut at Mobile +Bay. At any rate, he did not hesitate, but kept straight on, and the +fleet had almost passed the harbor mouth, before its presence was +discovered. Then the shore batteries opened, but without effect, and the +entire squadron passed safely into the harbor. Then followed long hours +of waiting for the dawn, and at five o'clock came the signal, "Prepare +for action," for the Spanish fleet had been sighted at anchor far down +the harbor.</p> + +<p>Fifteen minutes later, the Spaniards opened fire, but Dewey went +silently on toward his goal. Suddenly, a short distance away, there was +a dull explosion, and a great mass of water and mud sprang into the air. +A mine had been exploded; the fleet had entered the mine fields. Now, if +ever, it would be blown into eternity, but there was no pause in the +progress of that silent line of battle. From the bridge of the Olympia, +the most exposed position in the squadron, Dewey watched the progress of +his ships. In the conning tower, eagerly awaiting the word to fire, was +Captain Gridley. At last, with a final glance at the shore, Dewey bent +over the rail.</p> + +<p>"You may fire when ready, Gridley," he said, quietly.</p> + +<p><a name="page_374" id="page_374"></a><span class="pagenum">page 374</span>Ready! Surely that was satire on Dewey's part, for just one +second later the bridge under his feet leaped like a springboard as the +great gun beneath it gave the signal. Scarcely had the shell left the +muzzle when an answering roar came from the other ships. The battle had +begun, the Spanish ships were riddled with a shower of bursting shells, +their crews cut to pieces, and the ships themselves set on fire. The +guns of the American squadron roared with clocklike regularity, while +the firing from the Spanish ships steadily decreased. Two hours of this +work, and the smoke hung so heavy over the water that it was difficult +to distinguish the enemy's ships.</p> + +<p>"What time is it, Rees?" asked Dewey, of his executive officer.</p> + +<p>"Seven forty-five, sir."</p> + +<p>"Breakfast time," said Dewey, with a queer smile. "Run up the signals, +'Cease firing,' and 'Follow me.'"</p> + +<p>Again it was a lesson from Farragut, and Dewey, steaming back down the +harbor, signalled "Let the men go to breakfast." His captains, coming +aboard the Olympia, gave a series of reports unique in naval history. +Not a man had been killed, not a gun disabled, not a ship seriously +injured. Three hours were devoted to cooling off and cleaning the guns, +getting up more ammunition, and breakfast was leisurely eaten.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, across the bay, on the riddled and sinking Spanish ships the +wildest confusion reigned. At eleven o'clock, the American fleet was +seen again <a name="page_375" id="page_375"></a><span class="pagenum">page 375</span>approaching, and a few minutes later, that +terrible storm of fire recommenced. There was practically no reply. +Three of the Spanish ships were on fire, and their magazines exploded +one after another with a mighty roar; a broadside from the Baltimore +sank a fourth; a shell from the Raleigh exploded the magazine of a +fifth, and so, one by one, the Spanish ships were blown to pieces, until +not one remained. An hour later, the shore batteries had been silenced, +and Dewey hoisted the signal, "Cease firing."</p> + +<p>So ended the greatest naval battle since Trafalgar—a battle which +riveted the attention of the world, and brought home to Europe a +realization of the fact that here was a new world-power to be reckoned +with. With six ships, carrying 1,668 men and fifty-three guns, Dewey had +destroyed the Spanish squadron of nine ships, carrying 1,875 men and +forty-two guns; not an American had been killed, and only six wounded, +while the Spanish loss was 618 killed and wounded; and not an American +vessel had been injured. And, in addition to destroying the Spanish +fleet, a series of powerful shore batteries had been silenced, and the +way prepared for the American occupation of the Philippines. Dewey's +place as one of the great commanders of history was secure.</p> + +<p>News of the victory created the wildest excitement and enthusiasm in the +United States. Dewey became a popular hero, and when he returned from +the Philippines, was welcomed with triumphal honors, which recalled the +great days of the Roman empire. He was commissioned admiral of the +navy, <a name="page_376" id="page_376"></a><span class="pagenum">page 376</span>a rank which had been created for Farragut, and which +has been held by only two men besides him.</p> + +<p>Another great American naval victory marked the brief war with +Spain—the destruction of Admiral Cervera's powerful fleet as it tried +to escape from the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, on the third day of July, +1898—a victory which made the Independence Day which followed one long +to be remembered in the United States. There, as at Manila, the entire +Spanish fleet was destroyed, without a single American vessel being +seriously injured, and with a loss of only one killed and one wounded on +the American side. But the victory at Santiago was the victory of no one +man. The ranking officer, William Thomas Sampson, was miles away when +the engagement began. The next in rank, Winfield Scott Schley, so +conducted himself that he was brought before a court of inquiry. The +battle was really fought and won by the commanders of the various +ships—Robley D. Evans, John W. Philip, Charles E. Clark, Henry C. +Taylor, Richard Wainwright—by the very simple procedure of getting as +close to the enemy as they could, and hammering him as hard as their +guns would let them. One and all, they behaved with the utmost +gallantry. But most remarkable of all in the history of the navy from +first to last has been the superb work of the "men behind the guns," +whose marksmanship has been the despair and envy of the world.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="page_377" id="page_377"></a>SUMMARY</h2> + + +<p><span class="pagenum">page 377</span>JONES, JOHN PAUL. Born at Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, +Scotland, July 6, 1747; settled in Virginia, 1773; appointed first +lieutenant in American navy, 1775; commanded Ranger and cruised in the +Irish sea, 1777-78; sailed from France in Bon Homme Richard, August 14, +1779; fought Serapis, September 23, 1779; resigned from American +service, entered the French and later the Russian navy, served under +Potemkin in the Black Sea with rank of rear-admiral; returned to Paris, +1790; died there, July 18, 1792.</p> + +<p>BIDDLE, NICHOLAS. Born at Philadelphia, September 10, 1750; captain in +American navy, 1775; appointed to command the Randolph, June 6, 1776; +killed when ship blew up in fight with Yarmouth, March 7, 1778.</p> + +<p>PORTER, DAVID. Born at Boston, February 1, 1780; entered navy, 1798; +served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; commander of the Essex in war of +1812; defeated and taken prisoner in Valparaiso harbor, March 28, 1814; +resigned, 1826; commander of Mexican naval forces, 1826-29; United +States minister to Turkey, 1831-43; died at Pera, Constantinople, March +3, 1843.</p> + +<p>HULL, ISAAC. Born at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1773; entered navy, +1798; served in war with Tripoli, 1801-03; sailed from Boston in command +of the Constitution, August 2, 1812; defeated Guerrière, August 19, +1812; remained in navy till end of life; died at Philadelphia, February +13, 1843.</p> + +<p>DECATUR, STEPHEN. Born at Sinnepuxent, Maryland, January 5, 1779; +entered navy, 1798; burned frigate Philadelphia in harbor of Tripoli, +February 16, <a name="page_378" id="page_378"></a><span class="pagenum">page 378</span>1804; commanded frigate United States in war of +1812; captured British frigate, Macedonian, October 25, 1812; captured +by British fleet, January 15, 1815; killed in a duel with James Barron, +near Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, 1820.</p> + +<p>BAINBRIDGE, WILLIAM. Born at Princeton, New Jersey, May 7, 1774; +lieutenant-commandant in quasi-naval-war with France, 1798; commanded +Philadelphia in Tripolitan war; captured by Tripolitans, November 1, +1804; commander of Constitution in war of 1812; captured British frigate +Java, December 29, 1812; served in navy till death at Philadelphia, July +28, 1833.</p> + +<p>LAWRENCE, JAMES. Born at Burlington, New Jersey, October 1, 1781; +entered navy, 1798; served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; sailed from +Boston in the Chesapeake, and defeated by British frigate Shannon, June +1, 1813; died at sea from wound received in battle, June 6, 1813.</p> + +<p>PREBLE, EDWARD. Born at Falmouth (now Portland), Maine, August 15, 1761; +served as midshipman during Revolution; commissioned lieutenant, +February 9, 1798; captain, May 15, 1799; commanded squadron operating +against Barbary States, 18O3-O4; died at Portland, Maine, August 25, +1807.</p> + +<p>STEWART, CHARLES. Born at Philadelphia, July 28, 1778; lieutenant in +United States navy, March 9, 1798; served in war with Tripoli; captain, +April 22, 1806; commanded Constitution, 1813-14, capturing many prizes; +remained in navy till death, rising to rank of rear-admiral; died at +Bordentown, New Jersey, November 6, 1869.</p> + +<p><a name="page_379" id="page_379"></a><span class="pagenum">page 379</span>BLAKELEY, JOHNSTON. Born near Seaford, County Down, Ireland, +October, 1781; brought to America, 1783; entered navy as midshipman, +February 5, 1800; lieutenant, February 10, 1807; master commander, July +24, 1813; sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the Wasp, May 1, +1814; captured Reindeer, sunk Avon, captured Atalanta; the Wasp was +spoken by a Swedish ship, October 9, 1814, and never seen again.</p> + +<p>MACDONOUGH, THOMAS. Born in Newcastle County, Delaware, December 23, +1783; entered the navy as midshipman, 1800; served in war against +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; master commander, 1813; defeated British +squadron under Downie on Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814; died at +sea, November 16, 1825.</p> + +<p>PERRY, OLIVER HAZARD. Born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, +1785; entered navy as midshipman, April 7, 1799; served in war with +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; ordered to Lake Erie, February 17, 1813; +reached Erie, March 27, 1813; defeated British fleet, September 10, +1813; assisted in defense of Baltimore, 1814; commanded Java and John +Adams; died at Port Spain, Island of Trinidad, August 23, 1819.</p> + +<p>PERRY, MATTHEW CALBRAITH. Born at Newport, Rhode Island, April 10, 1794; +entered navy as midshipman, 1809; lieutenant, February 27, 1813; saw +distinguished service in many ships and many waters; master-commandant, +January 7, 1833; captain, March 15, 1837; commodore, June 12, 1841; +commanded fleet at capture of Vera Cruz, 1844; organized and commanded +expedition to Japan, delivering President's letter to the Mikado, July +14, 1853, and signing treaty, March 31, 1854; died in New York City, +March 4, 1858.</p> + +<p><a name="page_380" id="page_380"></a><span class="pagenum">page 380</span>FARRAGUT, DAVID GLASGOW. Born at Campbell's Station, +Tennessee, July 5, 1801; adopted by David Porter and given commission as +midshipman, 1810; served under Porter in the Essex, 1813-14; lieutenant, +1821; commander, 1841; captain, 1855; appointed commander of squadron to +reduce New Orleans, January, 1862; passed the forts below New Orleans on +the night of April 23-24, 1862; compelled surrender of city, April 25, +1862; passed batteries at Vicksburg, June 28, 1862; rear-admiral, July +16, 1862; fought battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864; vice-admiral, +1864; admiral, 1866; died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 14, 1870.</p> + +<p>CRAVEN, TUNIS AUGUSTUS MACDONOUGH. Born at Portsmouth, Hew Hampshire, +January 11, 1813; entered navy as midshipman, 1829; served in various +ships and in coast survey; commander, April, 1861; given command of +monitor Tecumseh, with post of honor in battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, +1864; struck torpedo and sank almost instantly, carrying down Craven and +almost everyone else on board.</p> + +<p>SEMMES, RAPHAEL. Born in Charles County, Maryland, September 27, 1809; +midshipman in navy, 1826; lieutenant, 1837; at siege of Vera Cruz, 1847; +commander in Confederate navy, April 4, 1861; took command of Alabama, +August, 1863; Alabama destroyed by Kearsarge, June 19, 1864; guarded +water approaches to Richmond, 1865; after war, engaged in practice of +law until his death at Mobile, Alabama, August 30, 1877.</p> + +<p>WINSLOW, JOHN ANCRUM. Born at Wilmington, North Carolina, November 19, +1811; entered navy as midshipman, 1827; lieutenant, 1839; commander, +<a name="page_381" id="page_381"></a><span class="pagenum">page 381</span>1855; captain, 1862; commanded Kearsarge on special service in +pursuit of Alabama, 1863-64; sank Alabama, June 19, 1864; rear-admiral, +1870; died at Boston, Massachusetts, September 29, 1873.</p> + +<p>BUCHANAN, FRANKLIN. Born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 17, 1800; +entered navy as midshipman, 1815; lieutenant, 1825; master-commandant, +1841; organized naval academy at Annapolis, 1845; at siege of Vera Cruz, +1847; commanded flagship in Perry's Japan expedition, 1852; captain, +1855; commandant Washington navy yard, 1859; entered Confederate +service, September, 1861; commanded Merrimac in Hampton Roads and +Tennessee in Mobile Bay; died in Talbot County, Maryland, May 11, 1874.</p> + +<p>WORDEN, JOHN LORIMER. Born in Westchester County, New York, March 12, +1818; entered navy, 1840; lieutenant, 1846; taken prisoner while +returning North from Fort Pickens, 1861; released after seven months' +captivity, and appointed to the Monitor; met Merrimac in Hampton Roads, +March 9, 1862; received thanks of Congress and commissioned commander, +July, 1862; captain, February, 1863; commodore, 1868; superintendent of +naval academy, 1870-74; rear-admiral, 1872; retired, 1886; died at +Washington, October 18, 1897.</p> + +<p>DEWEY, GEORGE. Born at Montpelier, Vermont, December 26, 1837; entered +naval academy, 1854; graduated, 1858; with Farragut on Mississippi, +1862; commander, 1872; captain, 1884; commodore, 1896; fought battle of +Manila Bay, May 1, 1898; thanked by Congress and promoted rear-admiral, +1898; admiral, 1899.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="index"><p><span class="pagenum">page 382</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Adams, John, <a href='#page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#page_89'>89-92</a>, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#page_263'>263</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Adams, John Quincy, <a href='#page_98'>98-100</a>, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#page_186'>186</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Adams, Samuel, <a href='#page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#page_175'>175-178</a>, <a href='#page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#page_208'>208-209</a>, <a href='#page_263'>263</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Allen, Eliza, <a href='#page_240'>240-241</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Allen, Ethan, <a href='#page_270'>270</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Anderson, Robert, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Arnold, Benedict, <a href='#page_267'>267-271</a>, <a href='#page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311-312</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Arthur, Chester Alan, <a href='#page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#page_166'>166-167</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Astor, John Jacob, <a href='#page_250'>250</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Atkinson, Henry, <a href='#page_303'>303</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Austin, Moses, <a href='#page_243'>243</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Bainbridge, William, <a href='#page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#page_337'>337-340</a>, <a href='#page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#page_378'>378</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Banks, Nathaniel P., <a href='#page_301'>301</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Barnes, James, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Barron, James, <a href='#page_337'>337</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Beauregard, Pierre, <a href='#page_304'>304-305</a>, <a href='#page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#page_317'>317-318</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Bee, Bernard E., <a href='#page_299'>299</a>, <a href='#page_300'>300</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Benton, Jesse, <a href='#page_104'>104</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Benton, Thomas Hart, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Berkeley, Lord, <a href='#page_62'>62</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Biddle, Nicholas, <a href='#page_322'>322</a>, <a href='#page_328'>328</a>, <a href='#page_377'>377</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Blaine, James G., <a href='#page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#page_205'>205-207</a>, <a href='#page_213'>213</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Blakeley, Johnston, <a href='#page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#page_344'>344-345</a>, <a href='#page_379'>379</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Boggs, Charles Stuart, <a href='#page_370'>370</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Boone, Daniel, <a href='#page_215'>215-221</a>, <a href='#page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#page_258'>258</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Boone, Squire, <a href='#page_219'>219</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Booth, John Wilkes, <a href='#page_141'>141-142</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Bowie, James, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#page_246'>246-250</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Braddock, Edward, <a href='#page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Bradford, William, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_54'>54-57</a>, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Bragg, Braxton, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Breckenridge, John C., <a href='#page_138'>138</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Broke, Philip, <a href='#page_341'>341</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Brooks, Preston, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Brown, John, <a href='#page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Bryan, William Jennings, <a href='#page_160'>160-161</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Buchanan, Franklin, <a href='#page_356'>356</a>, <a href='#page_363'>363-366</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Buchanan, James, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_121'>121-123</a>, <a href='#page_127'>127-128</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#page_257'>257</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Buell, Don Carlos, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Burgoyne, John, <a href='#page_267'>267-269</a>, <a href='#page_270'>270</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#page_325'>325</a>.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">page 383</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Burnside, Ambrose E., <a href='#page_285'>285</a>, <a href='#page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#page_314'>314-315</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Burr, Aaron, <a href='#page_179'>179-183</a>, <a href='#page_205'>205</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209-210</a>, <a href='#page_245'>245</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Butler, Benjamin, <a href='#page_355'>355</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Butler, Simon; see Kenton, Simon.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Byllinge, Edward, <a href='#page_62'>62</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Cabot, John, <a href='#page_36'>36-37</a>, <a href='#page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#page_70'>70</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cabot, Sebastian, <a href='#page_36'>36-37</a>, <a href='#page_70'>70</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Calhoun, John Caldwell, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#page_184'>184-190</a>, <a href='#page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Carson, Kit, <a href='#page_265'>265</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Carteret, Sir George, <a href='#page_62'>62</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cartier, Jacques, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#page_72'>72</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Carver, Jonathan, <a href='#page_55'>55</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cass, Lewis, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Catlin, George, <a href='#page_251'>251</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Champlain, Samuel, <a href='#page_49'>49-51</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Chase, Salmon Portland, <a href='#page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Clark, Charles E., <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Clark, George Rogers, <a href='#page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#page_225'>225-232</a>, <a href='#page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#page_235'>235</a>, <a href='#page_258'>258</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Clark, William, <a href='#page_235'>235-237</a>, <a href='#page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Clay, Henry, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#page_184'>184-190</a>, <a href='#page_205'>205</a>, <a href='#page_206'>206</a>, +<a href='#page_210'>210</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cleveland, Grover, <a href='#page_154'>154-159</a>, <a href='#page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#page_167'>167</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Columbus, Bartholomew, <a href='#page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Columbus, Christopher, <a href='#page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#page_25'>25-36</a>, <a href='#page_54'>54</a>, <a href='#page_69'>69-70</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Columbus, Diego, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Conkling, Roscoe, <a href='#page_205'>205-206</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cornwallis, Charles, <a href='#page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_278'>278</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>, <a href='#page_328'>328</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_72'>72</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Craven, Tunis Augustus Macdonough, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#page_360'>360-361</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Crockett, David, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#page_246'>246-250</a>, <a href='#page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cushing, William B., <a href='#page_370'>370</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Custer, George A., <a href='#page_309'>309</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Custis, Mrs. Martha, <a href='#page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#page_123'>123</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Custis, Mary Randolph, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Custis, Washington Parke, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Cutler, Manasseh, <a href='#page_233'>233</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Davis, Jefferson, <a href='#page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#page_201'>201-204</a>, <a href='#page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_303'>303</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>, <a href='#page_306'>306</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Decatur, Stephen, <a href='#page_332'>332-337</a>, <a href='#page_339'>339</a>, <a href='#page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#page_377'>377-378</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Delaware, Thomas West, Lord, <a href='#page_48'>48</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">De Leon, Juan Ponce, <a href='#page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_71'>71</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Dewey, George, <a href='#page_370'>370-376</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Dinwiddie, Robert, <a href='#page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#page_81'>81</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Douglas, Stephen A., <a href='#page_133'>133-136</a>, <a href='#page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191-193</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Drake, Sir Francis, <a href='#page_38'>38-39</a>, <a href='#page_72'>72</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Early, Jubal Anderson, <a href='#page_291'>291</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Edwards, Jonathan, <a href='#page_180'>180</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Ericsson, John, <a href='#page_367'>367</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Evans, Robley D., <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Everett, Edward, <a href='#page_193'>193-194</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211-212</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, <a href='#page_78'>78</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Fairfax, William, <a href='#page_78'>78</a>.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">page 384</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Fannin, James W., <a href='#page_243'>243</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Farragut, David Glasgow, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_330'>330</a>, <a href='#page_351'>351-360</a>, <a href='#page_366'>366</a>, <a href='#page_370'>370</a>, +<a href='#page_371'>371-372</a>, <a href='#page_373'>373</a>, <a href='#page_374'>374</a>, <a href='#page_376'>376</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Ferdinand of Aragon, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#page_35'>35</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Fillmore, Millard, <a href='#page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#page_127'>127</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Fiske, John, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Ford, Paul Leicester, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Franklin, Benjamin, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_169'>169-174</a>, <a href='#page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#page_325'>325</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Franklin, William Buel, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Frémont, John C., <a href='#page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#page_251'>251</a>, <a href='#page_255'>255-257</a>, <a href='#page_261'>261</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Gage, Thomas, <a href='#page_175'>175</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Garfield, James Abram, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152-153</a>, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#page_206'>206</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Gates, Horatio, <a href='#page_267'>267-269</a>, <a href='#page_271'>271</a>, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, <a href='#page_42'>42</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Gorman, Arthur P., <a href='#page_157'>157</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Grant, Ulysses Simpson, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#page_148'>148-150</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#page_153'>153</a>, <a href='#page_165'>165-166</a>, +<a href='#page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_285'>285</a>, <a href='#page_286'>286-288</a>, <a href='#page_289'>289</a>, <a href='#page_290'>290</a>, <a href='#page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#page_303'>303</a>, <a href='#page_304'>304</a>, <a href='#page_306'>306</a>, +<a href='#page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#page_310'>310</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#page_317'>317</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Greeley, Horace, <a href='#page_139'>139</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Greene, Nathanael, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Gridley, Charles Vernon, <a href='#page_373'>373</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Guiteau, Charles J., <a href='#page_152'>152-153</a>, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Hale, Nathan, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hamilton, Alexander, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#page_179'>179-183</a>, <a href='#page_205'>205</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hamilton, Henry, <a href='#page_229'>229</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hancock, John, <a href='#page_175'>175-178</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_322'>322</a>, <a href='#page_323'>323</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hancock, Winfield Scott, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hanks, Nancy, <a href='#page_129'>129-130</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hanna, Mark, <a href='#page_161'>161</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Harding, Chester, <a href='#page_221'>221</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Harrison, Benjamin, <a href='#page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#page_159'>159-160</a>, <a href='#page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#page_207'>207</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Harrison, William Henry, <a href='#page_114'>114-115</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#page_224'>224</a>, <a href='#page_350'>350</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hay, John, <a href='#page_207'>207</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_151'>151-152</a>, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#page_206'>206</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hayne, Robert Young, <a href='#page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#page_189'>189</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Heath, William, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Henderson, Richard, <a href='#page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#page_226'>226</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Henry, Patrick, <a href='#page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#page_178'>178-179</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#page_227'>227</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Heriot, Robert, <a href='#page_348'>348</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Herkimer, Nicholas, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hill, A.P., <a href='#page_299'>299</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hood, John Bell, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hooker, Joseph, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_285'>285-286</a>, <a href='#page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#page_315'>315</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hopkins, Ezekial, <a href='#page_323'>323</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Houston, Felix, <a href='#page_317'>317</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Houston, Sam, <a href='#page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#page_238'>238-246</a>, <a href='#page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259-260</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Howard, Oliver Otis, <a href='#page_302'>302</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hubbard, Elbert, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hudson, Henry, <a href='#page_39'>39-40</a>, <a href='#page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#page_72'>72-73</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hulburt, Archer Butler, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hull, Isaac, <a href='#page_330'>330-332</a>, <a href='#page_340'>340</a>, <a href='#page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#page_377'>377</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Hull, William, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#page_330'>330</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p><span class="pagenum">page 385</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Ingersoll, Robert G., <a href='#page_206'>206</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Isabella of Castile, <a href='#page_29'>29</a>, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#page_35'>35</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Jackson, Andrew, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#page_101'>101-113</a>, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#page_125'>125-126</a>, +<a href='#page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#page_156'>156</a>, <a href='#page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#page_239'>239</a>, <a href='#page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#page_242'>242</a>, <a href='#page_244'>244</a>, +<a href='#page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#page_246'>246</a>, <a href='#page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#page_279'>279</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#page_329'>329</a>, <a href='#page_352'>352</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jackson, Thomas Jonathan, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#page_290'>290</a>, <a href='#page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#page_299'>299-302</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>, +<a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_317'>317</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">James, Reuben, <a href='#page_335'>335-336</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jay, John, <a href='#page_208'>208</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jefferson, Thomas, <a href='#page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#page_92'>92-95</a>, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#page_155'>155</a>, +<a href='#page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#page_235'>235</a>, <a href='#page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#page_323'>323</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">John II., King of Portugal, <a href='#page_28'>28</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Johnson, Andrew, <a href='#page_143'>143-148</a>, <a href='#page_165'>165</a>, <a href='#page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Johnston, Albert Sidney, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_302'>302-304</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Johnston, Joseph E., <a href='#page_289'>289-290</a>, <a href='#page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305-306</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#page_319'>319</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Joliet, Louis, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73-74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jones, John Paul, <a href='#page_320'>320-328</a>, <a href='#page_329'>329</a>, <a href='#page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#page_377'>377</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jones, William, <a href='#page_321'>321</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Jones, William Paul, <a href='#page_321'>321</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Kearny, Stephen Watts, <a href='#page_257'>257</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Kenton, Simon, <a href='#page_221'>221-225</a>, <a href='#page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#page_258'>258</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Kilpatrick, Hugh Judson, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">King, Rufus, <a href='#page_97'>97</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">La Salle, Robert Cavalier, <a href='#page_51'>51-54</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#page_79'>79</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lawrence, James, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#page_340'>340-342</a>, <a href='#page_347'>347</a>, <a href='#page_378'>378</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lee, Charles, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lee, "Light Horse Harry," <a href='#page_272'>272-274</a>, <a href='#page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lee, Robert Edward, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_283'>283</a>, <a href='#page_284'>284</a>, +<a href='#page_285'>285</a>, <a href='#page_286'>286</a>, <a href='#page_289'>289</a>, <a href='#page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#page_294'>294-299</a>, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#page_302'>302</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>, <a href='#page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#page_310'>310</a>, +<a href='#page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316-317</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lewis, Meriwether, <a href='#page_235'>235-237</a>, <a href='#page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lincoln, Abraham, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#page_129'>129-143</a>, <a href='#page_144'>144</a>, <a href='#page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#page_146'>146</a>, +<a href='#page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164-165</a>, <a href='#page_192'>192</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#page_198'>198-199</a>, <a href='#page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#page_289'>289</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lincoln, Thomas, <a href='#page_129'>129-131</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lodge, Henry Cabot, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Longstreet, James, <a href='#page_306'>306-307</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lovejoy, Amos, <a href='#page_253'>253</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lowell, James Russell, <a href='#page_143'>143</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Lummis, Charles F., <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">McCardle, Eliza, <a href='#page_144'>144-145</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Maclay, Edward Stanton, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">McClellan, George B., <a href='#page_282'>282-286</a>, <a href='#page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307</a>, +<a href='#page_314'>314</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Macdonough, Thomas, <a href='#page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#page_345'>345-346</a>, <a href='#page_379'>379</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">McDowell, Irwin, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">McKinley, William, <a href='#page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#page_161'>161-163</a>, <a href='#page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#page_168'>168</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">McPherson, James Birdseye, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Madison, James, <a href='#page_95'>95-97</a>, <a href='#page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#page_340'>340</a>.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">page 386</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Magellan, Ferdinand, <a href='#page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#page_71'>71</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Magruder, John Bankhead, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Mansfield, Joseph King Fenno, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marchena, Juan Perez de, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marion, Francis, <a href='#page_272'>272-273</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marquette, Jacques, <a href='#page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marshall, Humphrey, <a href='#page_166'>166</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marshall, James Wilson, <a href='#page_255'>255</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Marshall, John, <a href='#page_183'>183-184</a>, <a href='#page_210'>210</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Meade, George G., <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_286'>286</a>, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Milam, Benjamin R., <a href='#page_243'>243</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Miles, Nelson A., <a href='#page_309'>309-310</a>, <a href='#page_319'>319</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Minuit, Peter, <a href='#page_59'>59</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Monroe, James, <a href='#page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#page_97'>97-98</a>, <a href='#page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Montgomery, Richard, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Moody, William, <a href='#page_251'>251</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Morris, Robert, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Newport, Christopher, <a href='#page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#page_46'>46</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Nicolet, Jean, <a href='#page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Oglethorpe, James, <a href='#page_66'>66-69</a>, <a href='#page_75'>75</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Ortiz, Juan, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Pakenham, Edward Michael, <a href='#page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#page_108'>108</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Parker, Theodore, <a href='#page_23'>23</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Parkman, Francis, <a href='#page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Paul, John, <a href='#page_321'>321</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Paul, John; see Jones, John Paul.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Paul, William, <a href='#page_321'>321</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pearson, Richard, <a href='#page_320'>320</a>, <a href='#page_326'>326</a>, <a href='#page_327'>327</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pemberton, John Clifford, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Penn, William, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_62'>62-66</a>, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Perry, Matthew Calbraith, <a href='#page_350'>350-351</a>, <a href='#page_364'>364</a>, <a href='#page_379'>379</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Perry, Oliver Hazard, <a href='#page_346'>346-350</a>, <a href='#page_379'>379</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Philip, John W., <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Philip, King, <a href='#page_41'>41</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pierce, Benjamin, <a href='#page_119'>119</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pierce, Franklin Scott, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_119'>119-121</a>, <a href='#page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_282'>282</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pike, Zebulon, <a href='#page_237'>237</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pocahontas, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#page_46'>46</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Polk, James Knox, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_116'>116-117</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126-127</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pomeroy, Seth, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Pope, John, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Porter, David, <a href='#page_352'>352</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Porter, David, jr., <a href='#page_329'>329-330</a>, <a href='#page_345'>345</a>, <a href='#page_352'>352-353</a>, <a href='#page_377'>377</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Porter, David Dixon, <a href='#page_370'>370</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Powhatan, The, <a href='#page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Preble, Edward, <a href='#page_333'>333</a>, <a href='#page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#page_339'>339</a>, <a href='#page_342'>342-343</a>, <a href='#page_378'>378</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Putnam, Elizabeth, <a href='#page_263'>263</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Putnam, Israel, <a href='#page_232'>232</a>, <a href='#page_263'>263-266</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Putnam, Joseph, <a href='#page_263'>263</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Putnam, Rufus, <a href='#page_232'>232-234</a>, <a href='#page_258'>258-259</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Raleigh, Sir Walter, <a href='#page_42'>42-43</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Reed, Deborah, <a href='#page_171'>171-172</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Revere, Paul, <a href='#page_175'>175</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Rolfe, John, <a href='#page_46'>46</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Roosevelt, Theodore, <a href='#page_162'>162-163</a>, <a href='#page_167'>167-168</a>.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">page 387</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Root, Elihu, <a href='#page_207'>207</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Rosecrans, William Starke, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Rusk, Thomas Jefferson, <a href='#page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#page_245'>245</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">St. Clair, Arthur, <a href='#page_233'>233</a>, <a href='#page_274'>274-276</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">St. Leger, Barry, <a href='#page_270'>270</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Saltonstall, Dudley, <a href='#page_323'>323</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sampson, William Thomas, <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Santa Anna, <a href='#page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Santangel, Luis de, <a href='#page_30'>30</a>, <a href='#page_31'>31</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Schley, Winfield Scott, <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Schuyler, Philip John, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Scott, Winfield, <a href='#page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280-282</a>, <a href='#page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>, +<a href='#page_310'>310</a>, <a href='#page_314'>314</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Scudder, Horace E., <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Semmes, Raphael, <a href='#page_361'>361-363</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Seward, William H., <a href='#page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194-200</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Shaw, Robert Gould, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sheridan, Philip Henry, <a href='#page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#page_290'>290-292</a>, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#page_311'>311</a>, +<a href='#page_315'>315-316</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sherman, John, <a href='#page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#page_200'>200-201</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212-213</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sherman, William Tecumseh, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_287'>287-290</a>, <a href='#page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_304'>304</a>, <a href='#page_305'>305</a>, +<a href='#page_306'>306</a>, <a href='#page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#page_309'>309</a>, <a href='#page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#page_319'>319</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Skelton, Martha, <a href='#page_93'>93</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Smith, John, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_43'>43-49</a>, <a href='#page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#page_76'>76</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Soto, Hernando de, <a href='#page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#page_72'>72</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Spalding, H.H., <a href='#page_251'>251</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Spencer, Joseph, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stark, John, <a href='#page_267'>267</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stephens, Alexander H., <a href='#page_201'>201-205</a>, <a href='#page_213'>213</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stevens, Thaddeus, <a href='#page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194-200</a>, <a href='#page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stewart, Charles, <a href='#page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#page_378'>378</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stuart, J.E.B., <a href='#page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#page_307'>307-308</a>, <a href='#page_318'>318-319</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Stuyvesant, Peter, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_60'>60-62</a>, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sullivan, John, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sumner, Charles, <a href='#page_194'>194-200</a>, <a href='#page_212'>212</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sumner, Edwin Vose, <a href='#page_293'>293</a>, <a href='#page_301'>301</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sumter, Thomas, <a href='#page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#page_272'>272-273</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Sutter, John Augustus, <a href='#page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#page_254'>254-256</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260-261</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Taft, William Howard, <a href='#page_163'>163</a>, <a href='#page_168'>168</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Tarleton, Guy, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Taylor, Henry C., <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Taylor, Zachary, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_114'>114</a>, <a href='#page_118'>118-119</a>, <a href='#page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#page_148'>148</a>, <a href='#page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_281'>281</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Tecumseh, <a href='#page_115'>115</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Thomas, George H., <a href='#page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#page_292'>292-293</a>, <a href='#page_316'>316</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Thomas, John, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Tilden, Samuel J., <a href='#page_151'>151</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Todd, Dolly Payne, <a href='#page_96'>96</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Todd, Mary, <a href='#page_132'>132</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Toscanelli, Paolo del Pozzo, <a href='#page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#page_32'>32</a>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">page 388</span></p> +<p class="hanging">Travis, William Barrett, <a href='#page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#page_246'>246-250</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Tyler, John, <a href='#page_115'>115-116</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#page_211'>211</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Van Buren, Martin, <a href='#page_113'>113-114</a>, <a href='#page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#page_191'>191</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Veach, William, <a href='#page_221'>221</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Vespucci, Amerigo, <a href='#page_37'>37</a>, <a href='#page_71'>71</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">Wainwright, Richard, <a href='#page_376'>376</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Ward, Artemus, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Washington, Augustine, <a href='#page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#page_78'>78</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Washington, George, <a href='#page_14'>14</a>, <a href='#page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#page_76'>76-89</a>, <a href='#page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#page_92'>92</a>, +<a href='#page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#page_123'>123-124</a>, <a href='#page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#page_164'>164</a>, <a href='#page_174'>174</a>, <a href='#page_175'>175</a>, <a href='#page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#page_181'>181</a>, +<a href='#page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#page_209'>209</a>, <a href='#page_262'>262</a>, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#page_269'>269</a>, <a href='#page_271'>271</a>, <a href='#page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#page_278'>278</a>, +<a href='#page_279'>279</a>, <a href='#page_282'>282</a>, <a href='#page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#page_310'>310</a>, <a href='#page_312'>312</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Washington, Lawrence, <a href='#page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#page_83'>83</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Wayne, Anthony, <a href='#page_224'>224</a>, <a href='#page_234'>234</a>, <a href='#page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#page_276'>276-279</a>, <a href='#page_313'>313-314</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Webster, Daniel, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#page_184'>184-190</a>, <a href='#page_193'>193</a>, <a href='#page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#page_210'>210</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Welles, Gideon, <a href='#page_364'>364</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Wesley, Charles, <a href='#page_68'>68</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Wheeler, Joseph, <a href='#page_309'>309</a>, <a href='#page_319'>319</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Whitfield, George, <a href='#page_69'>69</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Whitman, Marcus, <a href='#page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#page_250'>250-254</a>, <a href='#page_260'>260</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Whittier, John G., <a href='#page_257'>257</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Williams, Roger, <a href='#page_57'>57-59</a>, <a href='#page_74'>74</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Wilson, Woodrow, <a href='#page_21'>21</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Winslow, John Ancrum, <a href='#page_361'>361-363</a>, <a href='#page_380'>380-381</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Wooster, David, <a href='#page_266'>266</a>.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Worden, John Lorimer, <a href='#page_367'>367-370</a>, <a href='#page_381'>381</a>.</p> + + +<br /><p class="hanging">York, Duke of, <a href='#page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#page_64'>64</a>.</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Men of Action, by Burton E. 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Stevenson + +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: American Men of Action + +Author: Burton E. Stevenson + +Release Date: August 10, 2005 [EBook #16508] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Gundry and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +AMERICAN +MEN OF ACTION + + +BY + + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + +AUTHOR OF "A GUIDE TO BIOGRAPHY--MEN OF MIND," +"A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA," ETC.; COMPILER OF +"DAYS AND DEEDS--POETRY," "DAYS AND +DEEDS--PROSE," ETC. + + +GARDEN CITY NEW YORK: + +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY + +1913 + + + * * * * * + + +COPYRIGHT, 1909, 1910, BY + +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY + + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON] + + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I.--A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY + +II.--THE BEGINNERS + + Summary to Chapter II + +III.--WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN + + Summary to Chapter III + +IV--LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS + + Summary to Chapter IV + +V--STATESMEN + + Summary to Chapter V + +VI.--PIONEERS + + Summary to Chapter VI + +VII.--GREAT SOLDIERS + + Summary to Chapter VII + +VIII.--GREAT SAILORS + + Summary to Chapter VIII + +INDEX + + + * * * * * + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Washington _Frontispiece_ + +Columbus + +Jefferson + +Jackson + +Lincoln + +Cleveland + +Franklin + +Webster + +Boone + +Grant + +Lee + +Dewey + + + * * * * * + + + + +AMERICAN MEN OF ACTION + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A TALK ABOUT BIOGRAPHY + + +No doubt most of you think biography dull reading. You would much rather +sit down with a good story. But have you ever thought what a story is? +It is nothing but a bit of make-believe biography. + +Let us see, in the first place, just what biography means. It is formed +from two Greek words, "bios," meaning life, and "graphein," meaning to +write: life-writing. In other words, a biography is the story of the +life of some individual. Now what the novelist does is to write the +biographies of the people of his story; not usually from the cradle to +the grave, but for that crucial period of their careers which marked +some great success or failure; and he tries to make them so life-like +and natural that we will half-believe they are real people, and that the +things he tells about really happened. Sometimes, to accomplish this, he +even takes the place of one of his own characters, and tells the story +in the first person, as Dickens does in "David Copperfield." That is +called autobiography, which is merely a third Greek word, "autos," +meaning self, added to the others. An automobile, for instance, is a +self-moving vehicle. So autobiography is the biography of oneself. The +great aim of the novelist is, by any means within his power, to make his +tale seem true, and the truer it is--the truer to human nature and the +facts of life--the greater is his triumph. + +Now why is it that everyone likes to read these make-believe +biographies? Because we are all interested in what other people are +doing and thinking, and because a good story tells in an entertaining +way about life-like people, into whom the story-teller has breathed +something of his own personality. Then how does it come that so few of +us care to read the biographies of real people, which ought to be all +the more interesting because they are true instead of make-believe? +Well, in the first place, because most of us have never tried to read +biography in the right way, and so think it tiresome and uninteresting. +Haven't you, more than once, made up your mind that you wouldn't like a +thing, just from the look of it, without ever having tasted it? You know +the old proverb, "One man's food is another man's poison." It isn't a +true proverb--indeed, few proverbs are true--because we are all built +alike, and no man's food will poison any other man; although the other +man may think so, and may really show all the symptoms of poisoning, +just because he has made up his mind to. + +Most of you approach biography in that way. You look through the book, +and you see it isn't divided up into dialogue, as a story is, and there +are no illustrations, only pictures of crabbed-looking people, and so +you decide that you are not going to like it, and consequently you don't +like it, no matter how likeable it is. + +It isn't wholly your fault that you have acquired this feeling. +Strangely enough, most biographies give no such impression of reality as +good fiction does. John Ridd, for instance, is more alive for most of us +than Thomas Jefferson--the one is a flesh-and-blood personality, while +the other is merely a name. This is because the average biographer +apparently does not comprehend that his first duty is to make his +subject seem alive, or lacks the art to do it; and so produces merely a +lay-figure, draped with the clothing of the period. And usually he +misses the point and fails miserably because he concerns himself with +the mere doing of deeds, and not with that greatest of all things, the +development of character. + +All great biographies are written with insight and imagination, as well +as with truth; that is, the biographer tries, in the first place, to +find out not only what his subject did, but what he thought; he tries to +realize him thoroughly, and then, reconstructing the scenes through +which he moved, interprets him for us. He endeavors to give us the +rounded impression of a human being--of a man who really walked and +talked and loved and hated--so that we may feel that we knew him. But +most biographies are seemingly written about statues on pedestals, and +not good statues at that. + +I am hoping to see the rise, some day, of a new school of biography, +which will not hesitate to discard the inessential, which will disdain +to glorify its subject, whose first duty it will be to strip away the +falsehoods of tradition and to show us the real man, not hiding his +imperfections and yet giving them no more prominence than they really +bore in his life; which will realize that to the man nothing was of +importance except the growth of his spirit, and that to us nothing else +concerning him is of any moment; which will show him to us illumined, as +it were, from within, and which will count any other sort of +life-history as vain and worthless. What we need is biography by X-ray, +and not by tallow candle. + +Until that time comes, dear reader, you yourself must supply the X-ray +of insight. If you can learn to do that, you will find history and +biography the most interesting of studies. Biography is, of course, the +basis of all history, since history is merely the record of man's +failures and successes; and, read thus, it is a wonderful and inspiring +thing, for the successes so overtop the failures, the good so out-weighs +the bad. By the touchstone of imagination, even badly written biography +may be colored and vitalized. Try it--try to see the man you are reading +about as an actual human being; make him come out of the pages of the +book and stand before you; give him a personality. Watch for his humors, +his mistakes, his failings--be sure he had them, however exalted he may +have been--they will help to make him human. The spectacle of +Washington, riding forward in a towering rage at the battle of +Monmouth, has done more to make him real for us than any other incident +in his life. So the picture that Franklin gives of his landing at +Philadelphia and walking up Market street in the early morning, a loaf +of bread under either arm, brings him right home to us; though this +simple, kindly, and humorous philosopher is one of the realest figures +on the pages of history. We love Andrew Jackson for his irascible +wrong-headedness, Farragut for his burst of wrath in Mobile harbor, +Lincoln for his homely wisdom. + +I have said that, read as the record of man's failures and successes, +history is an inspiring thing. Perhaps of the history of no country is +this so true as of that of ours. By far the larger part of our great men +have started at the very bottom of the ladder, in poverty and obscurity, +and have fought their way up round by round against all the forces of +society. Nowhere else have inherited wealth and inherited position +counted for so little as in America. Again, we have had no wars of greed +or ambition, unless the war with Mexico could be so called. We have, at +least, had no tyrants--instead, we have witnessed the spectacle, unique +in history, of a great general winning his country's freedom, and then +disbanding his army and retiring to his farm. "The Cincinnatus of the +West," Byron called him; and John Richard Green adds, "No nobler figure +ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life." He has emerged from the +mists of tradition, from the sanctimonious wrappings in which the early +biographers disguised him, has softened and broadened into the most +human of men, and has won our love as well as our veneration. + +George Washington was the founder. Beside his name, two others stand +out, serene and dominant: Christopher Columbus, the discoverer; Abraham +Lincoln, the preserver. And yet, neither Columbus, nor Washington, nor +Lincoln was what we call a genius--a genius, that is, in the sense in +which Shakespeare or Napoleon or Galileo was a genius. But they combined +in singular degree those three characteristics without which no man may +be truly great: sincerity and courage and singleness of purpose. + +It is not without a certain awe that we contemplate these men--men like +ourselves, let us always remember, but, in many ways, how different! Not +different in that they were infallible or above temptation; not +different in that they never made mistakes; but different in that they +each of them possessed an inward vision of the true and the eternal, +while most of us grope blindly amid the false and trivial. What that +vision was, and with what high faith and complete devotion they followed +it, we shall see in the story of their lives. + +This is the basic difference between great men and little ones--the +little ones are concerned solely with to-day; the great ones think only +of the future. They have gained that largeness of vision and of +understanding which perceives the pettiness of everyday affairs and +which disregards them for greater things. They live in the world, +indeed, but in a world modified and colored by the divine ferment within +them. There are some who claim that America has never produced a genius +of the first order, or, at most, but two; however that may be, she has +produced, as has no other country, men with great hearts and seeing eyes +and devoted souls who have spent themselves for their country and their +race. + +One hears, sometimes, a grumbler complaining of the defects of a +republic; yet, certainly, in these United States, the republican form of +government, established with no little fear and uncertainty by the +Fathers, has, with all its defects, received triumphant vindication. +Nowhere more triumphant than in the men it has produced, the story of +whose lives is the story of its history. + +There are two kinds of greatness--greatness of deed and greatness of +thought. The first kind is shown in the lives of such men as Columbus +and Washington and Farragut, who translated thought into action and who +_did_ great things. The second kind is the greatness of authors and +artists and scientists, who write great books, or paint great pictures +or make great discoveries, and this sort of greatness will be considered +in a future volume; for all there has been room for in this one is the +story of the lives of America's great "men of action." And even of them, +only a sketch in broad outline has been possible in space so limited; +but this little book is merely a guide-post, as it were, pointing toward +the road leading to the city where these great men dwell--the City of +American Biography. + +It is a city peopled with heroes. There are Travis and Crockett and +Bowie, who held The Alamo until they all were slain; there is Craven, +who stepped aside that his pilot might escape from his sinking ship; +there is Lawrence, whose last words are still ringing down the years; +there is Nathan Hale, immortalized by his lofty bearing beneath the +scaffold; there is Robert Gould Shaw, who led a forlorn hope at the head +of a despised race;--even to name them is to review those great events +in American history which bring proud tears to the eyes of every lover +of his country. + +Of all this we shall tell, as simply as may be, giving the story of our +country's history and development in terms of its great men. So far as +possible, the text has been kept free of dates, because great men are of +all time, and, compared with the deeds themselves, their dates are of +minor importance. But a summary at the end of each chapter gives, for +purposes of convenient reference, the principal dates in the lives of +the men whose achievements are considered in it. + + * * * * * + +In the preparation of these thumb-nail sketches, the present writer +makes no pretense of original investigation. He has taken his material +wherever he could find it, making sure only that it was accurate, and +his sole purpose has been to give, in as few words as possible, a +correct impression of the man and what he did. From the facts as given, +however, he has drawn his own conclusions, with some of which, no doubt, +many people will disagree. But he has tried to paint the men truly, in a +few strokes, as they appeared to him, without seeking to conceal their +weaknesses, but at the same time without magnifying them--remembering +always that they were men, subject to mistakes and errors, to be honored +for such true vision as they possessed; remarkable, many of them, for +heroism and high devotion, and worthy a lasting place in the grateful +memory of their country. + +The passage of years has a way of diminishing the stature of men thought +great, and often of increasing that of men thought little. Few American +statesmen, for example, loom as large to-day as they appeared to their +contemporaries. Looking back at them, we perceive that, for the most +part, they wasted their days in fighting wind-mills, or in doing things +which had afterwards to be undone. Only through the vista of the years +do we get a true perspective, just as only from a distance can we see +which peaks of the mountain-range loom highest. But even the mist of +years cannot dim essential heroism and nobility of achievement. Indeed, +it enhances them; the voyage of Columbus seems to us a far greater thing +than his contemporaries thought it; Washington is for us a more +venerable figure than he was for the new-born Union; and Lincoln is just +coming into his own as a leader among men. + +Every boy and girl ought to try to gain as true and clear an idea as +possible of their country's history, and of the men who made that +history. It is a pleasant study, and grows more and more fascinating as +one proceeds with it. The great pleasure in reading is to understand +every word, and so to catch the writer's thought completely. Knowledge +always gives pleasure in just that way--by a wider understanding. +Indeed, that is the principal aim of education: to enable the individual +to get the most out of life by broadening his horizon, so that he sees +more and understands more than he could do if he remained ignorant. And +since you are an American, you will need especially to understand your +country. You will be quite unable to grasp the meaning of the references +to her story which are made every day in conversation, in newspapers, in +books and magazines, unless you know that story; and you will also be +unable properly to fulfil your duties as a citizen of this Republic +unless you know it. + +For the earliest years, and, more especially, for the story of the +deadly struggle between French and English for the possession of the +continent, the books to read above all others are those of Francis +Parkman. He has clothed history with romantic fascination, and no one +who has not read him can have any adequate idea of the glowing and +life-like way in which those Frenchmen and Spaniards and Englishmen work +out their destinies in his pages. The story of Columbus and of the early +explorers will be found in John Fiske's "Discovery of America," a book +written simply and interestingly, but without Parkman's insight and +wizardry of style--which, indeed, no other American historian can equal. +A little book by Charles F. Lummis, called "The Spanish Pioneers," also +gives a vivid picture of those early explorers. The story of John Smith +and William Bradford and Peter Stuyvesant and William Penn will also be +found in Fiske's histories dealing with Virginia and New England and the +Dutch and Quaker colonies. Almost any boy or girl will find them +interesting, for they are written with care, in simple language, and not +without an engaging humor. + +There are so many biographies of Washington that it is difficult to +choose among them. Perhaps the most interesting are those by Woodrow +Wilson, Horace E. Scudder, Paul Leicester Ford, and Henry Cabot +Lodge--all well-written and with an effort to give a true impression of +the man. Of the other Presidents, no better biographies exist than those +in the "American Statesmen" series, where, of course, the lives of the +principal statesmen are also to be found. Not all of them, nor, perhaps, +even most of them are worth reading by the average boy or girl. There is +no especial reason why the life of any man should be studied in detail +after he has ceased to be a factor in history. Of the Presidents, +Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln are still vital to the life +of to-day, and of the statesmen there are a few, like Franklin, +Hamilton, Webster, Calhoun and Clay, whose influence is still felt in +our national life, but the remainder are negligible, except that you +must, of course, be familiar in a broad way with their characters and +achievements to understand your country's story. + +History is the best place to learn the stories of the pioneers, soldiers +and sailors. Archer Butler Hulburt has a little book, "Pilots of the +Republic," which tells about some of the pioneers; John Fiske wrote a +short history of "The War of Independence," which will tell you all you +need know about the soldiers of the Revolution, with the exception of +Washington; and you can learn about the battles of the Civil War from +any good history of the United States. There is a series called the +"Great Commanders Series," which tells the story, in detail, of the +lives of American commanders on land and sea, but there is no reason why +you should read any of them, with the exception of Lee, Farragut, and +possibly Grant, though you will find the lives of Taylor and "Stonewall" +Jackson interesting in themselves. For the sailors, with the exception +of Farragut, Barnes's "Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors" will suffice; +though every boy will enjoy reading Maclay's "History of the American +Navy," where the story of our great sea-fights is told better than it +has ever been told before. + +These books may be found in almost any public library, and on the +shelves there, too, you will probably find Elbert Hubbard's "Little +Journeys," which give flashlight portraits of statesmen and soldiers and +many other people, vivid and interesting, but sometimes distorted, as +flashlights have a way of being. + +Perhaps the librarian will permit you to look over the shelves where the +biographies and works dealing with American history are kept. Don't be +over-awed by the number of volumes, because there are scores and scores +which are of no importance to you. Theodore Parker had a wrong idea +about reading, for once upon a time he undertook to read all the books +in a library, beginning at the first one and proceeding along shelf +after shelf. He never finished the task, of course, because he found +out, after a while, that there are many books which are not worth +reading, and many more which are of value only to specialists in certain +departments of knowledge. No man can "know it all." But every man should +know one thing well, and have a general knowledge of the rest. + +For instance, none but an astronomer need know the mathematics of the +science, but all of us should know the principal facts concerning the +universe and the solar system, and it is a pleasure to us to recognize +the different constellations as we gaze up at the heavens on a cloudless +night. None but a lawyer need spend his time reading law-books, but most +of us want to know the broad principles upon which justice is +administered. No one but an economist need bother with the abstract +theories of political economy, but if we are to be good citizens, we +must have a knowledge of its foundations, so that we may weigh +intelligently the solutions of public problems which different parties +offer. + +So if you are permitted to look along the shelves of the public library, +you will have no concern with the great majority of the books you see +there; but here and there one will catch your eye which interests you, +and these are the ones for you to read. You have no idea how the habit +of right reading will grow upon you, and what a delightful and valuable +habit it will prove to be. Like any other good habit, it takes pains at +first to establish, an effort of will and self-control. But that very +effort helps in the forming of character, and the habit of right reading +is perhaps the best and most far-reaching in its effects that any boy or +girl can form. I hope that this little volume, and the other books which +I have mentioned, will help you to form it. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BEGINNERS + + +Nearly five hundred years ago, there lived, in the beautiful old Italian +city of Genoa, a poor wool-comber named Dominico Colombo, and about +1446, a son was born to him and to his wife, Susanna, and in due time +christened Christoforo. + +The world into which the child was born was very different to the one in +which we live. Europe was known, and northern Africa, and western Asia; +but to the east stretched the fabulous country of the Grand Khan, +Cathay, Cipango, and farthest Ind; while to the west rolled the Sea of +Darkness, peopled with unimaginable terrors. + +Of the youth of Christopher Columbus, as we call him, little is known. +No doubt it was much like other boyhoods, and one likes to picture him, +in such hours of leisure as he had, strolling about the streets of +Genoa, listening to the talk, staring in at the shop-windows, or +watching the busy life in the harbor. That the latter had a strong +attraction for him there can be no doubt, for though he followed his +father's trade till early manhood, he finally found his real vocation as +a seaman. It was on the ocean that true romance dwelt, for it led to +strange lands and peoples, and no one knew what wonders and mysteries +lay behind each horizon. It was there, too, high courage was developed +and endurance, for it was there that men did battle hand to hand with +nature's mightiest forces. It was the one career of the age which called +to the bold and adventurous spirit. What training Columbus received or +what voyages he made we know not; but when, at about the age of thirty, +he steps into the light of history, it is as a man with a wide and +thorough knowledge of both the theory and practice of seamanship; a man, +too, of keen mind and indomitable will, and with a mighty purpose +brooding in his heart. + +It was natural enough that his eyes should turn to Portugal, for +Portugal was the greatest sea-faring nation of the age. Her sailors had +discovered the Madeira Islands, and crept little by little down the +coast of Africa, rounding this headland and that, searching always for a +passage to India, which they knew lay somewhere to the east, until, at +last, they had sailed triumphantly around the Cape of Good Hope. It is +worth remarking that Columbus's brother, Bartholomew, of whom we hear so +little, but who did so much for his brother's fame, was a member of that +expedition, and Columbus himself must have gathered no little +inspiration from it. + +So to Lisbon Columbus went, and his ardent spirit found a great stimulus +in the adventurous atmosphere of that bustling city. He went to work as +a map-maker, marrying the daughter of one of the captains of Prince +Henry the Navigator, from whom he secured a great variety of maps, +charts and memoranda. His business kept him in close touch with both +mariners and astronomers, so that he was acquainted with every +development of both discovery and theory. In more than one mind the +conviction was growing up that the eastern shore of Asia could be +reached by sailing westward from Europe--a conviction springing +naturally enough from the belief that the earth was round, which was +steadily gaining wider and wider acceptance. In fact, a Florentine +astronomer named Toscanelli furnished Columbus with a map showing how +this voyage could be accomplished, and Columbus afterwards used this map +in determining his route. + +That the idea was not original with Columbus takes nothing from his +fame; his greatness lies in being the first fully to grasp its meaning, +fully to believe it, fully to devote his life to it. For the last +measure of a man's devotion to an idea is his willingness to stake his +life upon it, as Columbus staked his. The idea possessed him; there was +room in him only for a dogged determination to realize it, to trample +down such obstacles as might arise to keep him from his goal. And +obstacles enough there were, for many years of waiting and +disappointment lay before him--years during which, a shabby and +melancholy figure, laughed at and scorned, mocked by the very children +in the streets, he "begged his way from court to court, to offer to +princes the discovery of a world." And here again was his true +greatness--that he did not despair, that his spirit remained unbroken +and his high heart still capable of hope. + +Yet let us not idealize him too much. The eagerness to reach the Indies +was wholly because of the riches which they possessed. The spice trade +was especially coveted, and tradition told of golden cities of fabulous +wealth and beauty which lay in the country to the east. The great motive +behind all the early voyages was hope of gain, and Columbus had his full +share of it. Yet there grew up within him, in time, something more than +this--a love of the project for its own sake--though to the very last, a +little overbalanced, perhaps, by his great idea, he insisted upon the +rewards and honors which must be his in case of success. + +With his route well-outlined and his plans carefully matured, Columbus +turned naturally to the King of Portugal, John II., as a man interested +in all nautical enterprise, and especially interested in finding a route +to the Indies. That crafty monarch listened to Columbus attentively and +was evidently impressed, for he took possession of the maps and plans +which Columbus had prepared, under pretense of examining them while +considering the project, placed them in the hands of one of his own +captains and dispatched him secretly to try the route. That captain, +whose name has been lost to history, must afterwards have been chagrined +enough at the manner in which he missed immortal fame, for, after +sailing a few days to the westward, he turned back and reported to his +royal master that the thing could not be done. His was not the heart +for such an enterprise. + +Columbus, learning of the king's treachery, left the court in disgust, +and sending his brother, Bartholomew, to lay the plan before the King of +England, himself proceeded to Spain, whose rulers, Ferdinand and +Isabella, were perhaps the most enlightened of the age. Of Bartholomew's +adventures in England little is known. One thing alone is +certain--England missed the great opportunity just as Portugal had. And +for long years it seemed that, in Spain, Columbus would have no better +fortune. The Spanish monarchs listened to him with interest--as who +would not?--and appointed a council of astronomers and map-makers to +examine the project and to pass upon its feasibility. This council, not +without the connivance of the king and queen, who were absorbed in war +with the Moors, and who, at the same time, did not wish the plan to be +taken elsewhere, kept Columbus waiting for six years, alternating +between hope and despair, and finally reported that the project was +"vain and impossible of execution." + +Indignant at thought of the years he had wasted, Columbus determined to +proceed to Paris, to seek an audience of the King of France. His wife +was dead, and he started for Palos, with his little son, Diego, +intending to leave the boy with his wife's sister there, while he +himself journeyed on to Paris. Trudging wearily across the country, they +came one night to the convent of La Rabida, and Columbus stopped to ask +for a crust of bread and cup of water for the child. The prior, Juan +Perez de Marchena, struck by his noble bearing, entered into +conversation with him and was soon so interested that he invited the +travellers in. + +Marchena had been Isabella's confessor, and still had great influence +with her. After carefully considering the project which Columbus laid +before him, he went to the queen in person and implored her to +reconsider it. His plea was successful, and Columbus was again summoned +to appear at court, a small sum of money being sent him so that he need +not appear in rags. The Spanish monarchs received him well, but when +they found that he demanded the title of admiral at once, and, in case +of success, the title of viceroy, together with a tenth part of all +profits resulting from either trade or conquest, they abruptly broke off +the negotiations, and Columbus, mounting a mule which had been given +him, started a second time for Paris. He had proceeded four or five +miles, in what sadness and turmoil of spirit may be imagined, when a +royal messenger, riding furiously, overtook him and bade him return. His +terms had been accepted. + +This is what had happened: In despair at the departure of Columbus, Luis +de Santangel, receiver of the revenues of Aragon, and one of the few +converts to his theories, had obtained an audience of the queen, and +pointed out to her, with impassioned eloquence, the glory which Spain +would win should Columbus be successful. The queen's patriotic ardor +was enkindled, and when Ferdinand still hesitated, she cried, "I +undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile. I will pledge my +jewels to raise the money that is needed!" Santangel assured her that he +himself was ready to provide the money, and advanced seventeen thousand +florins from the coffers of Aragon, so that Ferdinand paid for the +expedition, after all. + +It is in no way strange that the demands of Columbus should have been +thought excessive; indeed, the wonderful thing is that they should, +under any circumstances, have been agreed to. Here was a man, to all +appearances a penniless adventurer, asking for honors, dignities and +rewards which any grandee of Spain might have envied him. That they +should have been granted was due to the impulsive sympathy of Isabella +and the indifference of her royal consort, who said neither yes nor no; +though, in the light of subsequent events, it is not improbable that the +thought may have crossed his mind that royal favor may always be +withdrawn, and that the hand which gives may also take away. + +But though Columbus had triumphed in this particular, his trials were by +no means at an end. The little port of Palos was commanded by royal +order to furnish the new Admiral with two small vessels known as +caravels. This was soon done, but no sailors were willing to embark on +such a voyage, the maddest in all history. Only by the most extreme +measures, by impressment and the release of criminals willing to +accompany the expedition in order to get out of jail, were crews +finally provided. A third small vessel was secured, and on the morning +of Friday, August 3, 1492, this tiny fleet of three boats, the Santa +Maria, the Pinta and the Nina, whose combined crews numbered less than +ninety men, sailed out from Palos on the grandest voyage the world has +ever known. + +The shore was lined with people weeping and wringing their hands for the +relatives and friends whom they were sure they should never see again, +and most of the sailors were certain that they were bidding farewell +forever to their native land. Even at the present day, few men would +care to undertake such a voyage in such ships. The two little caravels, +Nina and Pinta, were decked only at stern and prow. The Santa Maria was +but little larger, her length being only about sixty feet, and all three +of the vessels were old, leaky, and in need of frequent repairs. + +The map which Toscanelli had given Columbus years before showed Japan +lying directly west of the Canaries, so to the Canaries Columbus steered +his fleet, and then set forth westward into the unknown. By a fortunate +chance, it was the very best route he could have chosen, for he came at +once into the region of the trade winds, which, blowing steadily from +the east, drove the vessels westward day after day over a smooth sea. +But this very thing, favorable as it was, added greatly to the terror of +the men. How were they to get back to Spain, with the wind always +against them? What was the meaning of a sea as smooth as their own +Guadalquiver? They implored Columbus to turn back; but to turn back was +the last thing in his thoughts. An opportune storm helped to reassure +his men by proving that the wind did not always blow from the east and +that the sea was not always calm. + +But there were soon other causes of alarm. The compass varied strangely, +and what hope for them was there if this, their only guide, proved +faithless? They ran into vast meadows of floating seaweed, the Sargasso +Sea, and it seemed certain that the ships would soon be so entangled +that they could move neither backward nor forward. Still Columbus pushed +steadily on, and his men's terror and angry discontent deepened until +they were on the verge of mutiny; various plots were hatched and it was +evident that affairs would soon reach a crisis. + +One can guess the Admiral's thoughts as he paced the poop of his ship on +that last night, pausing from time to time to strain his eyes into the +darkness. Picture him to yourself--a tall and imposing figure, clad in +that gray habit of the Franciscan missionary he liked to wear; the face +stern and lined with care, the eyes gray and piercing, the high nose and +long chin telling of a mighty will, the cheeks ruddy and freckled from +life in the open, the white hair falling about his shoulders. Picture +him standing there, a memorable figure, whose hour of triumph was at +hand. He knew the desperate condition of things--none better; he knew +that his men were for the most part criminals and cowards; at any +moment they might rise and make him prisoner or throw him overboard. +Well, until that moment, he would hold his ship's prow to the west! For +twenty years he had labored to get this chance; he would rather die than +fail. + +And then, suddenly, far ahead, he saw a light moving low along the +horizon. It disappeared, reappeared, and then vanished altogether. The +lookout had also seen it, and soon after, as the moon rose, a gun from +the Pinta, which was in the lead, announced that land had been sighted. +It was soon plainly visible to everyone, a low beach gleaming white in +the moonlight, and the ships hove-to until daybreak. + +In the early dawn of the twelfth day of October, 1492, the boats were +lowered, and Columbus and a large part of his company went ashore, wild +with exultation. They found themselves on a small island, and Columbus +named it San Salvador. It was one of the Bahamas, but which one is not +certainly known. Columbus, of course, believed himself near the coast of +Asia, and spent two months in searching for Japan, discovering a number +of islands, but no trace of the land of gold and spices which he sought. +One of his ships was wrecked and the captain of the third sailed away to +search for gold on his own account, so that it was in the little Nina +alone that Columbus at last set sail for Spain. + +[Illustration: COLUMBUS] + +It was no longer a summer sea through which the tiny vessel ploughed her +way, but a sea swept by savage hurricanes. More than once it seemed +that the ship must founder, but by some miracle it kept afloat, and +on March 15, 1493, sailed again into the port of Palos. The great +navigator was received with triumphal honors by Ferdinand and Isabella, +and invited to sit in their presence while he told the wonderful story +of his discoveries. + +Wonderful indeed! Yet what a dizziness would have seized that audience +could they have guessed the truth! Could they have guessed that the +proud kingdom of Spain was but an insignificant patch compared with the +vast continent Columbus had discovered and upon which a score of nations +were to dwell. + +The life-work of the great navigator practically ended on the day he +told his story to the court of Spain, for, though he led three other +expeditions across the ocean, the discoveries they made were of no great +importance. Not a trace did he find of that golden country, which he +sought so eagerly, and at last, broken in health and fortune, in +disfavor at court, stripped of the rewards and dignities which had been +promised him, he died in a little house at Valladolid on the twentieth +of May, 1506. He believed to the last that it was the Indies he had +discovered, never dreaming that he had given a new continent to the +world. + +Yet is his fame secure, for the task which he accomplished was unique, +never to be repeated. He had robbed the Sea of Darkness of its terrors, +and while those who followed him had need of courage and resolution, it +was no longer into the unknown that they sailed forth. They knew that +there was no danger of sailing over the edge and dropping off into +space; they knew that there were no dragons, nor monsters, nor other +blood-curdling terrors to be encountered, but that the other side of the +world was much like the side they lived on. That was Columbus's great +achievement. To cross the Atlantic, perilous as the voyage was, was +after all a little thing; but actually to _start_--to surmount the wall +of bigotry and ignorance which, for centuries, had shut the west away +from the east, to surmount that wall and throw it down by a faith which +rose superior to human belief and incredulity and terror of the +unknown--there was the miracle! + + * * * * * + +Many there were to follow, each contributing his mite toward the task of +defining the new continent. Perhaps you have seen a photographic +negative slowly take shape in the acid bath--the sharp out-lines first, +then, bit by bit, the detail. Just so did America grow beneath the gaze +of Europe, though two centuries and more were to elapse before it stood +out upon the map clean-cut and definite from border to border. + +First to follow Columbus, and the first white men since the vikings to +set foot on the North American continent, which Columbus himself had +never seen, were John and Sebastian Cabot, Italians like their +predecessor, but in the service of the King of England and with an +English ship and an English crew prophetic of the race which was, in +time, to wrest the supremacy of the continent from the other nations of +Europe. They explored the coast from Newfoundland as far south, perhaps, +as Chesapeake Bay, and upon their discoveries rested the English claim +to North America, though they themselves are little more than faint and +ill-defined shadows upon the page of history, so little do we know of +them. + +And just as the New World was eventually to be dominated by a nation +other than that which first took possession of it, so was it to be named +after a man other than its discoverer: an inconsiderable adventurer +named Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, who accompanied three or four +Spanish expeditions as astronomer or pilot, but who had no part in any +real discovery in the New World. He wrote a number of letters describing +the voyages which he claimed to have made, and one of these was printed +in a pamphlet which had a wide circulation, so that Vespucci's name came +to be connected in the public mind with the new land in the west much +more prominently than that of any other man. In 1502, in a little book +dealing with the new discoveries, the suggestion was made that there was +nothing "rightly to hinder us from calling it [the New World] Amerige or +America, i.e., the land of Americus," and America it was +thenceforward--one of the great injustices of history. Since it had to +be so, let us be thankful that it was Vespucci's first name which was +selected, and not his last one. + +Meanwhile, the Spaniards had pushed their way across the Caribbean and +explored the shores of the gulf, finding at last in Mexico a land of +gold. World-worn, disease-racked Ponce de Leon, conqueror and governor +of Porto Rico, struggled through the everglades of Florida, seeking the +fountain of eternal youth, and getting his death-wound there instead. +Ferdinand Magellan, man of iron if there ever was one, seeking a western +passage to the Moluccas, skirted the coast of South America, wintered +amid the snows of Patagonia, worked his way through the strait which +bears his name, and held on westward across the Pacific, making the +first circumnavigation of the globe, a feat so startling in audacity +that there is none in our day to compare with it, except, perhaps, a +journey to another planet. Magellan himself never again saw Europe, +meeting his death in a fight with the natives of the Philippines, but +one of his ships, with eighteen men, struggled south along the coast of +Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and so home. + +Half a century was to elapse before the feat was repeated--this time by +that slave-trader, pirate, and doughty scourge of the Spaniard, Sir +Francis Drake, who, following in Magellan's wake, and pausing only long +enough to harry the Spanish settlements in Chili and Peru and capture a +Spanish treasureship, held northward along the coast as far as southern +Oregon, and then turned westward across the Pacific, around the Cape of +Good Hope, and home again, where Elizabeth, in spite of Spanish +protests, was waiting to reward him with a touch of sword to shoulder. +The Muse of History smiles ironically when she records that Drake's +principal discovery in the New World was that of the potato, which he +introduced into England. + +Not until Drake's voyage was completed was the vast extent of the North +American continent even suspected, although its interior had been +explored in many directions. Hernando de Soto, with an experience gained +with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and succeeding Ponce de Leon in +the governorship of Florida, marched with a great expedition through +what is now South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, and came out, at +last, upon the Mississippi, only to find burial beneath its waters, +while the tattered remnant of his force staggered back to Mexico. + +Francisco de Coronado, marching northward from Mexico, in search of the +fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, found only the squalid villages of the +Zuni Indians, after stumbling on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and +marching as far north as the southern line of Kansas. Jacques Cartier, +following another will-o'-the-wisp to the north, and searching for the +storied city of Norembega, supposed to exist somewhere in the wilderness +south of Cape Breton, found it not, indeed, but laid the foundations for +the great empire which France was to establish along the St. Lawrence. + +And Henry Hudson, in the little Half-Moon, chartered by a company of +thrifty Dutchmen to search for the northwest passage, blundered instead +upon the mighty river which bears his name, explored it as far north as +the present city of Albany, and paved the way for that picturesque +Dutch settlement which grew into the greatest city of the New World. He +did more than that, for, persevering in the search and sailing far to +the north, he came, at last, into the great bay also named for him, +where tragic fate lay waiting. For there, in that icy fastness of the +north, his mutinous crew bound him, set him adrift in a small boat, and +sailed away and left him. + +So, by the beginning of the seventeenth century, the New World was +fairly well defined upon the maps which the map-makers were always +industriously drawing; and so were the spheres of influence where each +nation was to be for a time paramount; the Spaniards in the Gulf of +Mexico, the Dutch along the Hudson, the French on the St. Lawrence, and +the English on the long coast to the south. But in all the leagues and +leagues from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf, nowhere had the white man as +yet succeeded in gaining a permanent foothold. + + * * * * * + +Although the continent of North America had been discovered by John +Cabot in 1497, nearly a century elapsed before England made any serious +attempt to take possession of it. Cabot's voyages had created little +impression, for he had returned from them empty-handed; instead of +finding the passage to the Indies which he sought, he had discovered +nothing but an inconvenient and apparently worthless barrier stretching +across the way, and for many years the great continent was regarded only +in that light, and such explorations as were made were with the one +object of getting through it or around it. In fact, as late as 1787, +opinion in Europe was divided as to whether the discovery of the New +World had been a blessing or a curse. + +But Spain had been working industriously. The honor of giving America to +the world was hers, and she followed that first discovery by centuries +of such pioneering as the world had never seen. Her explorers overran +Mexico and Peru, discovered the Mississippi, the Pacific, carved their +way up into the interior of the continent, looked down upon the wonders +of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, founded settlements up and down the +land from Kansas to Chili--yes, and did more than that. They opened the +first churches, set up the first presses, printed the first books, wrote +the first histories, drew the first accurate maps. They established +schools among the Indians, sent missionaries to them, translated the +Bible into twelve Indian dialects, made thousands of converts, and +established an Indian policy as humane and enlightened--once Spanish +supremacy was recognized--as any in the world. The savages with whom +Spain had to contend were the deadliest, the most cruel, that Europeans +ever encountered--no more resembling the warriors of King Philip and the +Powhatan than a house-cat resembles a panther. They conquered them +without extermination, and converted them to Christianity! An amazing +feat, and one which disposes for all time of that old, outworn legend +that the Spain of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was a +moribund and degenerate nation. + +But a change was at hand. The world moved, and Spain, chained to an +outworn superstition, did not move with it. The treasure she drew from +Mexico and Peru she poured out to prop the tottering pillars of church +despotism; and the end came when, in 1588, Elizabeth's doughty captains +wiped out the "invincible" armada, and dethroned Spain for all time from +her position as mistress of the seas. + +It was then that English eyes turned toward the New World and that +projects of colonization were set afoot in earnest; and the one great +dominant hero of that early movement was Sir Walter Raleigh. He had +accompanied his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on a voyage to the +New World ten years earlier, and after Gilbert's tragic death, took over +the patent for land in America which Gilbert held. It is worth noting +that this patent provided in the plainest terms that such colonies as +might be planted in America should be self-governing in the fullest +sense--a provision also included in the patent granted to the company +which afterwards succeeded in gaining and maintaining a foothold on the +James. + +Raleigh spent nearly a million dollars in endeavoring to establish a +colony on Roanoke Island--a colony which absolutely disappeared, and +whose fate was never certainly discovered; and it was not until the +Virgin Queen, after whom all that portion of the country had been named, +was dead, and Raleigh himself, shorn of his estates, was a prisoner in +the Tower under charge of treason, that a new charter was given to an +association of influential men known as the Virginia Company, which was +destined to have permanent results. On New Year's Day, 1607, an +expedition of three ships, carrying, besides their crews, one hundred +and five colonists, started on the voyage across the ocean, under +command of Captain Christopher Newport. Among Newport's company was a +scarred and weather-beaten soldier, who was soon to assume control of +events through sheer fitness for the task, and who bore that commonest +of all English names, John Smith. + +But John Smith's career had been anything but common. Born in +Lincolnshire in 1579, and early left an orphan, he had gone to the +Netherlands while still in his teens, and had spent three years there +fighting against the Spaniards. A year or two later, he had embarked +with a company of Catholic pilgrims for the Levant, intent on fighting +against the Turk, but a storm arose which all attributed to the presence +of the Huguenot heretic on board, and he was forthwith flung into the +sea. Whether the storm thereupon abated, history does not state, but +Smith managed to swim to a small island, from which he was rescued next +day. Journeying across Europe to Styria, he entered the service of +Emperor Rudolph II., and spent two or three years fighting against the +Turks, accomplishing feats so surprising that one would be inclined to +class them with those of Baron Munchausen, were they not, for the most +part, well authenticated. He was captured, at last, but managed to +escape, and made his way across the Styrian desert, through Russia, +Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and finally back to England, just in time to +meet Captain Newport, and arrange to sail with him for Virginia. + +It is not remarkable that a man tried by such experiences should, from +the first, have taken a prominent part in the enterprise. An unwelcome +part in the beginning, for scarcely had the voyage begun, when he was +accused of plotting mutiny, arrested and kept in irons until the ships +reached Virginia. Late in April, the fleet entered Hampton Roads, and +proceeding up the river, which was forthwith named the James, came at +last on May 13th, to a low peninsula which seemed suited for a +settlement. The next day they set to work building a fort, which they +called Fort James, but the settlement soon came to be known as +Jamestown. + +Once the fort was finished, Captain Newport sailed back to England for +supplies, and the little settlement was soon in desperate straits for +food. Within three months, half of the colonists were in their graves, +and bitter feuds arose among the survivors. These were for the most part +"gentlemen adventurers," who had accompanied the expedition in the hope +of finding gold, and who were wholly unfitted to cope with the +conditions in which they found themselves. Of all of them, Smith was by +far the most competent, and he did valiant service in trading with the +Indians for corn and in conducting a number of expeditions in search of +game. + +It was while on one of these, in December, 1607, that that incident of +his career occurred which is all that a great many people know of +Captain John Smith. With two companions, he was paddling in a canoe up +the Chickahominy, when the party was attacked by Indians. Smith's two +companions were killed, and he himself saved his life only by exhibiting +his compass and doing other things to astonish and impress the savages. + +He was finally taken captive to the Powhatan, the ruler of the tribe, +and, according to Smith's story, a long debate ensued among the Indians +as to his fate. Presently two large stones were laid before the chief, +and Smith was dragged to them and his head forced down upon them, but +even as one of the warriors raised his club to dash out the captive's +brains, the Powhatan's daughter, a child of thirteen named Pocahontas, +threw herself upon him, shielding his head with hers, and claimed him +for her own, after the Indian custom. Smith was thereupon released, +adopted into the tribe, and sent back to Jamestown, where he arrived on +the eighth of January, 1608. + +From the Indian standpoint, there was nothing especially unusual about +this procedure, for any member of the tribe was privileged to claim a +captive, if he wished. A century before, Ortiz, a member of De Soto's +expedition, had been captured by the Indians and saved in precisely the +same way, and many instances of the kind occurred in the years which +followed. But to the captive, it partook of the very essence of +romance; he had only the dimmest idea of what was really happening, and +his account of it, written many years later, was of the most sentimental +kind. Many doubts have been cast on the story, and historians seem +hopelessly divided about it, as they are about many other incidents of +Smith's life. Certain it is, however, that Pocahontas afterwards +befriended the colony on more than one occasion; and was finally +converted, married to a planter named John Rolfe, and taken to England, +where, among the artificialities of court life, she soon sickened and +died. + +On the very day that Smith reached Jamestown with his Indian escort, the +supply ship sent out by Captain Newport also arrived, bringing 120 new +colonists. Of the original 105, only thirty-eight were left alive. But +Smith's enemies were yet in the ascendancy, and he spent the summer of +1608 in exploration, leaving the colony to its own devices. When he +returned to it in September, he found it reduced and disheartened. His +brave and cheery presence acted as a tonic, and at last the colonists, +appreciating him at his true value, elected him president. He put new +life into everyone, and when, soon afterwards, Newport arrived again +from England with fresh supplies, he found the colony in fairly good +shape. + +But the members of the Virginia Company were growing impatient at the +failure of the venture to bring any returns, and they sent out +instructions by Newport demanding that either a lump of gold be sent +back to England or that the way to the South Sea be discovered. Smith +said plainly that the instructions were ridiculous, and wrote an answer +to them in blunt soldier English. Then, turning his hand in earnest to +the government of the disorderly rabble under him, he instituted an iron +discipline, whipped the laggards into line, and by the end of April had +some twenty houses built, thirty or forty acres of ground broken up and +planted, nets and weirs arranged for fishing, a new fortress under way, +and various small manufactures begun. A great handicap was the system, +by which all property was held in common, so that the drones shared +equally with the workers, but Smith took care that there should be few +drones. There can be no doubt that his sheer will power kept the colony +together, but his credit with the company was undermined by enemies in +England, nor did his own blunt letter help matters. The company was +re-organized on a larger scale, a new governor appointed, new colonists +started on the way; and, finally, in 1609, Smith was so seriously +wounded by the explosion of a bag of gun-powder, that he gave up the +struggle and returned to England. + +Instant disaster followed. When he left the colony, it numbered five +hundred souls; when the next supply ship reached it in May, 1610, it +consisted of sixty scarecrows, mere wrecks of human beings. The rest had +starved to death--or been eaten by their companions! There was a hasty +consultation, and it was decided that Virginia must be abandoned. On +Thursday, June 7, 1610, the cabins were stripped of such things as were +of value, and the whole company went on shipboard and started down the +river--only to meet, next day, in Hampton Roads, a new expedition headed +by the new governor, Lord Delaware, himself! By this slight thread of +coincidence was the fate of Virginia determined. + +The ship put about at once, and on the following Sunday morning, Lord +Delaware stepped ashore at Jamestown, and, falling to his knees, thanked +God that he had been in time to save Virginia. He proceeded at once to +place the colony upon a new and sounder basis, and it was never again in +danger of extinction, though Jamestown itself was finally abandoned as +unsuited to a settlement on account of its malarious atmosphere. But +Virginia itself grew apace into one of the greatest of England's +colonies in America. + +John Smith himself never returned to Virginia. In 1614, he explored the +coast south of the Penobscot, giving it the name it still bears, New +England. A year later, while on another expedition, he was captured by +the French and forced to serve against the Spaniards. Broken in health +and fortune, he spent his remaining years in London, dying there in +1631. There is a portrait of him, showing him as a handsome, bearded +man, with nose and mouth bespeaking will and spirit--just such a man as +one would imagine this gallant soldier of fortune to have been. + +While the English, under the guiding hand of John Smith, were fighting +desperately to maintain themselves upon the James, the French were +struggling to the same purpose and no less desperately along the St. +Lawrence. We have seen how Jacques Cartier explored and named that +region, but civil and religious wars in France put an end to plans of +colonization for half a century, and it was not until 1603 that Samuel +Champlain, the founder of New France, and one of the noblest characters +in American history, embarked for the New World. + +Samuel Champlain was born at Brouage about 1567, the son of a sea-faring +father, and his early years were spent upon the sea. He served in the +army of the Fourth Henry, and after the peace with Spain, made a voyage +to Mexico. Upon his return to France in 1603, he found a fleet preparing +to sail to Canada, and at once joined it. Some explorations were made of +the St. Lawrence, but the fleet returned to France within the year, +without accomplishing anything in the way of colonization. Another +expedition in the following year saw the founding of Port Royal, while +Champlain made a careful exploration of the New England coast, but he +found nothing that attracted him as did the mighty river to the north. +Thither, in 1608, he went, and sailing up the river to a point where a +mighty promontory rears its head, disembarked and erected the first rude +huts of the city which he called by the Indian name of Quebec, or "The +Narrows." A wooden wall was built, mounting a few small cannon and +loopholed for musketry, and the conquest of Canada had begun. A +magnificent cargo of furs was dispatched to France, and Champlain and +twenty-eight men were left to winter at Quebec. When spring came, only +nine were left alive, but reinforcements and supplies soon arrived, and +Champlain arranged to proceed into the interior and explore the country. + +The resources at his disposal were small, he could not hope to assemble +a great expedition; so he determined to make the venture with only a few +men and little baggage, relying upon the friendship of the Indians, +instead of seeking to conquer them, as the Spaniards had always done. +Champlain had from the first treated the Indians well, and it was this +necessity of gaining their friendship that determined the policy which +France pursued--the policy of making friends of the Indians, entering +into an alliance with them, and helping them fight their battles. +Champlain opened operations by joining an Algonquin war-party against +the Iroquois, and assisting at their defeat--starting, at the same time, +a blood feud with that powerful tribe which endured as long as the +French held Canada. In the course of this expedition, he discovered the +beautiful lake which bears his name. + +He went back to France for a time, after that, and on his next return to +Canada, in 1611, began building a town at the foot of a rock which had +been named Mont Royal, since corrupted to Montreal. Succeeding years +were spent in further explorations, which carried him across Lake +Ontario, and in plans for the conversion of the Indians, to which the +aid of the Jesuits was summoned. Missions were established, and the +intrepid priests pushed their way farther and farther into the +wilderness. To this work, Champlain gave more and more of his thought in +the last years of his life, which ended on Christmas day, 1635. + +Among the young men whom Champlain set to work among the Indians was +Jean Nicolet. The year before his death, Champlain sent him on an +exploring expedition to the west, in the course of which he visited Lake +Michigan and perhaps Lake Superior. Following in his footsteps, the +Jesuits gradually established missions as far west as the Wisconsin +River, and, finally, in 1670, at Sault Ste. Marie, the French formally +took possession of the whole Northwest. + +It was at about this time there appeared upon the scene another of those +picturesque and formidable figures, in which this period of American +history so abounds--Robert Cavalier La Salle. La Salle was at that time +only twenty years of age. He had reached Canada four years earlier and +had devoted himself for three years to the study of the Indian +languages, in order to fit himself for the career of western exploration +which he contemplated. One day he was visited by a party of Senecas, who +told him of a river, which they called the Ohio, so great that many +months were required to traverse it. From their description, La Salle +concluded that it must fall into the Gulf of California, and so form the +long-sought passage to China. He determined to explore it, and after +surmounting innumerable obstacles, actually did reach it, and descend it +as far as the spot where the city of Louisville now stands, afterwards +exploring the Illinois and the country south of the Great lakes, as well +as the lakes themselves. + +Fired by La Salle's report of his discoveries, two other Frenchmen, +Louis Joliet, a native of Quebec, who had already led an expedition in +search of the copper mines of Lake Superior, and Jacques Marquette, a +Jesuit priest and accomplished linguist, started on a still greater +journey. With five companions and two birchbark canoes, they headed down +the Wisconsin river, and on June 17, 1673, glided out upon the blue +waters of the Mississippi. A fortnight later, they reached a little +village called Peoria, where the Indians received them well, and +continuing down the river, passed the Missouri, the Ohio, and finally, +having gone far enough to convince themselves that the river emptied +into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Gulf of California, they turned +about and reached Green Bay again in September, having paddled more than +2,500 miles. Marquette, shattered in health, remained at Green Bay, +while Joliet pushed on to Montreal to tell of his discoveries. Marquette +rallied sufficiently at the end of a year to attempt a mission among the +Illinois Indians, where death found him in the spring of 1675. Joliet +spent his last years in a vain endeavor to persuade the government of +France to undertake on a grand scale the development of the rich lands +along the Mississippi. + +But the story which Joliet took back with him to Quebec fired anew the +ambition of La Salle. He conceived New France as a great empire in the +wilderness, and he determined to descend the mighty river to its mouth +and establish a city there which would hold the river for France against +all comers. Such occupation would, according to French doctrine, give +France an indisputable right to the whole territory which the river and +its tributaries drained, and La Salle's plan was to establish a chain of +forts stretching from Lake Erie to the Gulf, to build up around these +great cities, and so to lay the foundations for the mightiest empire in +history. We may well stand amazed before a plan so ambitious, and before +the determination with which this great Frenchman set about its +accomplishment. + +To most men, such a scheme seemed but the dream of an enthusiast; but La +Salle was in deadly earnest, and for eight years he labored to perfect +the details of the plan. At last, on April 9, 1682, he planted the flag +of France at the mouth of the Mississippi, naming the country Louisiana +in honor of his royal master, whose property it was solemnly declared to +be. That done, the intrepid explorer hastened back to France; a fleet +was fitted out and attempted to sail directly to the mouth of the great +river, but missed it; the ships were wrecked on the coast of Texas, and +La Salle was shot from ambush by two of his own followers while +searching on foot for the river. + +So ended La Salle's part in the accomplishment of a plan which, +grandiose as it was, reached a sort of realization--for a great French +city near the mouth of the river _was_ built and a thin chain of forts +connecting it with Canada, where the French power remained unbroken for +three quarters of a century longer; while not until the beginning of the +nineteenth century, when the royal line of Louis had been succeeded by a +soldier of fortune from Corsica, did the great territory which La Salle +had named Louisiana pass from French possession. + + * * * * * + +On the nineteenth day of November, 1620, fourteen years after the +settlement of Jamestown and twelve after the settlement of Quebec, a +storm-beaten vessel of 120 tons burthen crept into the lee of Cape Cod +and dropped anchor in that welcome refuge. The vessel was the Mayflower, +and she had just completed the most famous voyage in American history, +after that of Columbus. The colonists she carried, about a hundred in +number, Separatists from the Church of England, have come down through +history as the "Pilgrim Fathers." Among them was one destined to rule +the fortunes of the colony for more than a quarter of a century. His +name was William Bradford, and he was at that time thirty years of age. + +Bradford was born in 1590 at Austerfield, in Yorkshire, England, and at +the age of sixteen, joined a company of Puritans or Separatists, which +met for a time at the little town of Scrooby, but, being threatened with +persecution, resolved to remove to Holland. Most of the congregation got +away without interference, but Bradford and a few others were arrested +and spent several months in prison. As soon as he was released, he +joined the colony in Amsterdam, and afterwards, in 1609, removed with it +to Leyden. But the newcomers found themselves out of sympathy with Dutch +customs and habits of thought, and after long debate, determined to +remove to America and found a colony of their own. A patent was +obtained, the Mayflower chartered, the congregation put aboard, and the +voyage begun on the fifth day of September, 1620. + +The colonists expected to settle somewhere near the mouth of the Hudson, +but, whether by accident or design, their captain brought up off Cape +Cod, and it was decided to land there. After some days' search, a +suitable site for a settlement was found, work was begun on houses and +fortifications, and the place was named New Plymouth. + +Jonathan Carver had been chosen the first governor and guided the colony +through the horrors of that first winter; the story of Jamestown was +repeated, and by the coming of spring, more than half the colonists were +dead. Among them was Carver himself, and William Bradford was at once +chosen to succeed him. There can be no doubt that it was to Bradford's +wise head and strong hand the colony owed its quick rally, and its +escape from the prolonged misery which makes horrible the early history +of Virginia. He seems to have possessed a temper resolute, but +magnanimous and patient to an unusual degree, together with a religion +sincere and devoted, yet neither intolerant nor austere. What results +can be accomplished by a combination of qualities at once so rare and so +admirable is shown by the work which William Bradford did at Plymouth, +over which he ruled almost continuously until his death, thirty-seven +years later. + +Bradford's success lay first in his courage in doing away with the +pernicious system by which all the property was held in common. In doing +this, he violated the rules of his company, but he saw that utter +failure lay the other way. He divided the colony's land among the +several families, in proportion to their number, and compelled each +family to shift for itself. The communal system had nearly wrecked +Jamestown and would have wrecked Plymouth had not Bradford had the +courage to disregard all precedent and make each family its own +provider. Years afterwards, in commenting on the results of this +revolutionary change, he wrote, "Any general want or suffering hath not +been among them since to this day." + +And, indeed, this was true. Under Bradford's guidance, the little colony +increased steadily in wealth and numbers, and became the sure forerunner +of the great Puritan migration of 1630, which founded the colony of +Massachusetts, into which the older colony of Plymouth was finally +absorbed. Of Bradford himself, little more remains to be told. The +establishment of Plymouth Plantation was his life work. He was a far +bigger man than most of his contemporaries, with a broader outlook upon +life and deeper resources within himself. One of these was a literary +culture which fairly sets him apart as the first American man of +letters. He wrote an entertaining history of his colony, as well as a +number of philosophical and theological works, all marked with a style +and finish noteworthy for their day. + + * * * * * + +The government of the colony of Massachusetts presented, for over half a +century, the most perfect union of church and state ever witnessed in +America. The secular arm was ever ready to support the religious, and to +compel every resident of the colony to walk in the strait and narrow way +of Puritanism. This was a task easy enough at first, but growing more +and more difficult as the character of the settlers became more diverse, +until, finally, it had to be abandoned altogether. + +One of the first and most formidable of all those who dared array +themselves against this bulwark of Puritanism was Roger Williams. He was +the son of a merchant tailor of London, had developed into a precocious +boy, had shown a leaning toward Puritan doctrines, and had ended by +out-Puritaning the Puritans. This was principally apparent in an +intolerance of compromise which led him to remarkable extremes. He +refused to conform to the use of the common prayer, and so cut himself +off from all chance of preferment; he renounced a property of some +thousands of pounds rather than take the oath required by law; and at +last was forced to flee the country, reaching Massachusetts in 1631. + +He was, of course, soon at war with the constituted authorities over +questions of doctrine, and at last it was decided to get rid of him by +sending him back to England. He was at Salem at the time, and hearing +that a warrant had been despatched from Boston for him, he promptly took +to the woods, and, making his way with a few followers to Narragansett +Bay, broke ground for a settlement which he named Providence. It was the +beginning of the first state in the world which took no cognizance +whatever of religious belief, so long as it did not interfere with civil +peace. He was soon joined by more adherents, and a few years later, he +obtained from the king a charter for the colony of Rhode Island. + +Almost from the moment of his landing in America, Williams had +interested himself greatly in the welfare of the Indians. The principal +cause of his expulsion from Massachusetts was his contention that the +land belonged to the Indians and not to the King of England, who +therefore had no right to give it away, so that the colony's charter was +invalid. His town of Providence was built on land which the Indians had +given him, and he soon acquired considerable influence among them. He +learned to speak their language with great facility, translated the +Bible into their tongue, and on more than one occasion saved New England +from the horrors of an Indian war. But, despite his lofty character, it +is impossible at this day, to regard Williams with any degree of +sympathy or liking, or to think of him except as a trouble-maker over +trifles. Intolerance, happily, is fading from the world, and with it +that useless scrupulosity of behavior, which accomplishes no good, but +whose principal result is to make uncomfortable all who come in contact +with it. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, just to the south of Rhode Island, a prosperous little +settlement had been established, which was soon to grow into the most +commercially important on the continent. We have seen how Henry Hudson, +in 1609, in a vessel chartered by the Dutch West India Company, entered +the Hudson river and explored it for some hundred and fifty miles. The +Dutch claimed the region as the result of that voyage, and during the +next few years, Dutch traders visited it regularly and did a lively +business in furs; but no attempt was made at colonization until 1624, +although small trading-posts had existed at various points along the +river for ten years previously. + +All of this country was included in the patent granted the Virginia +Company, and it was for the mouth of the Hudson that the Pilgrims had +sailed in the Mayflower. The charge has since been made that their +captain had been bribed by the thrifty Dutch to land them somewhere +else, and at any cost, to keep them away from the neighborhood of the +Dutch trading-posts. From whatever cause, this was certainly done, and +many years were to elapse before there came another English invasion. + +In 1626, Peter Minuit, director for the Dutch West India Company, +purchased Manhattan Island from the Indians, giving for it trinkets and +merchandise to the value of $24, and founding New Amsterdam as the +central trading depot. From the first, the settlement was a cosmopolitan +one, just as it is to-day, and in 1643, it was said that eighteen +languages were spoken there. + +The most notable figure in this prosperous and growing colony was that +of Peter Stuyvesant, an altogether picturesque and gallant personality. +Born in Holland in 1602, he had entered the army at an early age, and, +as governor of Curacao, lost a leg in battle. In 1646, he was appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, and reached New Amsterdam in the +spring of the following year. So much powder was burned in firing +salutes to welcome him that there was scarcely any left. His speech of +greeting was brief and to the point. + +"I shall govern you," he said, "as a father his children, for the +advantage of the chartered West India Company, and these burghers, and +this land." + +And he proceeded to do it, having in mind the old adage that to spare +the rod is to spoil the child. There was never any doubt in Stuyvesant's +mind that the first business of a ruler is to rule, and popular +government seemed to him the merest idiocy. "A valiant, weather-beaten, +mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited +old governor"--the adjectives describe him well; a sufficiently imposing +figure, with his slashed hose and velvet jacket and tall cane and +silver-banded wooden leg, he ruled the colony for twenty years with a +rod of iron, fortifying it, enlarging it, settling its boundaries, +keeping the Indians over-awed, the veriest dictator this continent ever +saw, until, one August day in 1664, an English fleet sailed up the bay +and summoned the city to surrender. + +Stuyvesant set his men to work repairing the fortifications, and was for +holding out, but the town was really defenseless against the frigates, +which had only to sail up the river and bombard it from either side; his +people were disaffected and to some extent not sorry to be delivered +from his rule; the terms offered by the English were favorable, and +though Stuyvesant swore he never would surrender, a white flag was +finally run up over the ramparts of Fort Amsterdam. The city was at once +renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York, to whom it had been +granted; and the hard-headed old governor spent the remaining years of +his life very comfortably on his great farm, the Bouwerie, just outside +the city limits. + +This conquest, bloodless and easy as it was, was fraught with momentous +consequences. It brought New England into closer relations with Maryland +and Virginia by creating a link between them, binding them together; it +gave England command of the spot designed by nature to be the commercial +and military centre of the Atlantic sea-board, and confirmed a +possession of it that was never thereafter seriously disturbed, until +the colonies themselves disputed it. Had New Amsterdam remained Dutch, +dividing, as it did, New England from the South, there would never have +been any question of revolution or independence. The flash of that +little white flag on that September day, decided the fate of the +continent. + + * * * * * + +The Duke of York, being of a generous disposition and having many claims +upon him, used a portion of the great territory granted him in America +to reward his friends, and thereby laid the foundation for another great +commonwealth with a unique history. New Jersey was given jointly to Sir +George Carteret and Lord Berkeley, and in 1673, Lord Berkeley sold his +share, illy-defined as the "southwestern part," to a Quaker named Edward +Byllinge. Byllinge soon became insolvent, and his property was taken +over by William Penn and two others, as trustees, and the seeds sown for +one of the most interesting experiments in history. + +There are few figures on the page of history more admirable, +self-poised, and clear-sighted than this quiet man. He was born in +London in 1644, the son of a distinguished father, and apparently +destined for the usual career at the court of England. But while at +Oxford, young Penn astonished everybody and scandalized his relatives by +joining the Society of Friends, or Quakers, founded by George Fox only a +short time before. His family at once removed him from Oxford and sent +him to Paris, in the hope that amid the gayeties of the French capital +he would forget his Quaker notions, but he was far from doing so. He +returned home after a time, and his father threatened to shut him up in +the Tower of London, but he retorted that for him the Tower was the +worst argument in the world. We get some amusing glimpses of the +contention in his household. + +"You may 'thee' and 'thou' other folk as much as you like," his angry +father told him, "but don't you dare to 'thee' and 'thou' the King, or +the Duke of York, or me." + +The Quakers insisted upon the use of "thee" and "thou," alleging that +the use of the plural "you" was not only absurd, but a form of flattery, +and this manner of address has been persisted in by them to this day. +Penn, of course, continued to use them, much to his father's +indignation, and even went so far as to wear his hat in the king's +presence, an act of audacity which only amused that merry monarch. The +story goes that the king, seeing young Penn covered, removed his own +hat, remarking jestingly, "Wherever I am, it is customary for only one +to be covered"; a neat reproof, as well as a lesson in manners which +would have made any other young man's ears tingle, but Penn calmly +enough replied, "Keep thy hat on, Friend Charles." + +After his father's death, in 1670, Penn found himself heir to a great +estate, and began to devote himself entirely to the defense and +explanation of Quakerism. Again and again, he was thrown into prison and +kept there for months on end, but gradually he began to win for the +Friends a certain degree of respect and consideration, perhaps as much +because of his high social station, gallant bearing and magnetic +personality, as because of any of his arguments. In 1677, he made a sort +of missionary tour of Europe, returning to England to set actively +afloat the project for Quaker colonization in America which he had long +been turning over in his mind. + +Three years, however, passed before he could secure from the Duke of +York a release of all his powers of sovereignty over West Jersey, but +this was finally accomplished, and soon afterwards he secured from the +crown a charter for a great strip of country in that region. Penn named +this region "Sylvania," or "Woodland," but when the King came to approve +the charter, he wrote the name "Penn" before "Sylvania," and when Penn +protested, assured him laughingly that the name was given the country +not in his honor but in that of his father, and so it stood. + +Penn had been allowed a free hand in shaping the policy of his colony, +and forthwith proclaimed such a government as existed nowhere else on +earth. Absolute freedom of conscience was guaranteed to everyone; it was +declared that governments exist for the sake of the governed, that to +reform a criminal is more important than to punish him, that the death +penalty should be inflicted only for murder or high treason, and that +every man had a right to vote and to hold office. All of which are such +matters of course to-day that we can scarcely realize how revolutionary +they were two centuries ago. + +To all who should come to his colony, Penn offered land at the rate of +forty shillings for a hundred acres, and the experiment, denounced at +first as visionary and certain of failure, was so successful that within +a year, more than three thousand persons had sailed to settle along the +Delaware. In the summer of 1682, Penn himself sailed for the New World, +and late in the following autumn, at a spot just above the junction of +the Schuylkill and Delaware, laid out a city as square and level as a +checker-board, and named it Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. +Before taking possession of the land, he concluded a treaty with the +Delaware Indians, to whom it belonged, "the only treaty," as Voltaire +says, "between savages and Christians that was never sworn to and never +broken." Penn's stately and distinguished bearing, his affability and +kindness of heart, made a deep impression upon the Indians; they always +remembered him with trust and affection; and seventy years elapsed +before Pennsylvania tasted the horrors of Indian warfare. + +The growth of the new city was phenomenal. Settlers came so fast that +cabins could not be built for them, and many of them lived for a time in +caves along the river. The remainder of Penn's life was spent for the +most part in England, where his interests demanded his presence, but he +built a handsome residence in the city which he had founded and lived +there at intervals until his death. + +No consideration, however brief, of his life and work can be complete +without some reference to the remarkable effect the establishment of his +colony had on emigration to America. Pennsylvania gave a refuge and home +to the most intelligent and progressive peoples of Europe, chafing under +the religious restrictions which, at home, they could not escape. The +Mennonites, the Dunkers, and the Palatines were among these, but by far +the most important were the so-called Scotch-Irish--Scotchmen who, a +century before, had been sent to Ireland by the English government, in +the hope of establishing there a Protestant population which would, in +time, come to outnumber and control the native Irish. The Scotch were +Presbyterians, of course, and finding the Irish environment distasteful, +began, about 1720, to come to America in such numbers that, fifty years +later, they formed a sixth part of our entire population. Nearly all of +them settled in Western Pennsylvania, from which a steady stream flowed +ever southward and westward, furnishing the hardy pioneers of Kentucky +and Tennessee, and forming the main strength of American democracy. We +shall see, in the chapters which follow, how many of the men eminent in +the country's history, traced their descent from this stock. + + * * * * * + +One more interesting experiment in colonization, conceived and carried +out by a man of unusual personality, remains to be recorded. James +Oglethorpe, born in 1689, for forty years led the usual life of the +wealthy English gentleman--first the army, then a period of quiet +country life, and finally parliament. There, however, he took a place +apart, almost at once, by his interest in prison reform. The condition +of the English prisons of the day was indescribably foul and loathsome, +and as horror after horror was unearthed by his investigations, a great +project began to take shape in his mind. This was nothing less than the +founding in America of a colony where prisoners for debt should be +encouraged to settle, and where they should be given means to make a new +start in life. For in those days, a man who could not pay his debts was +cast into prison and kept there, frequently in the greatest misery, as +though that helped matters any. + +In 1732, Oglethorpe succeeded in securing a charter for such a colony, +which he named Georgia, in honor of the King. Trustees were appointed, +the support of influential men secured, and on November 16, 1732, the +first shipload of emigrants left England. Oglethorpe himself accompanied +them. He had undertaken to establish the colony on the condition that he +receive no recompense, and was authorized to act as colonial governor. + +Charleston, South Carolina, was reached about the middle of January, +and, after some exploration, Oglethorpe selected as the site of the +first settlement a bluff on the rich delta lands of the Savannah. +Thither the emigrants proceeded, and at once began to build the town, +which was named Savannah after the river flowing at its feet. Oglethorpe +himself was indefatigable. He concluded a treaty with the Indians, +provided for the defense of the colony against the Spaniards, who held +Florida, and, most important of all, welcomed a colony of Jews, who had +come from London at their own expense, and who soon became as valuable +as any of Savannah's citizens. Probably never before in history had a +Christian community welcomed a party of this unfortunate race, which had +been despised and persecuted from one end of Europe to the other, which +could call no country home, nor invoke the protection of any government. + +A year later, another strange band of pilgrims was welcomed--Protestants +driven out of the Tyrolese valleys of Austria. A ship had been sent for +them, and Oglethorpe gave them permission to select a home in any part +of the province, and sent his carpenters to assist them in building +their houses. Georgia owes much of her greatness to these sturdy people, +whose love of independence was to find another vent in the Revolution. + +As soon as these new arrivals were comfortably settled and provided for, +Oglethorpe proceeded to London, where he secured the passage of laws +prohibiting slavery and the importation of liquor into the colony, and +not until his connection with it ended were slaves brought in. When he +returned to Georgia, it was with two vessels, and over three hundred +colonists--Scotchmen, Salzburgers and Moravians, the sturdiest people of +the Old World. Oglethorpe welcomed them all, and it was this mixture of +races which served to give Georgia her curious cosmopolitan population. +Another important arrival was Charles Wesley, who came out as a +missionary, and who acted for a time as the Governor's secretary. He was +succeeded by the famous George Whitfield, who labored there until his +death in 1770. + +Oglethorpe's public career ended in 1754, when, having returned to +England, he failed of election to parliament. His remaining years were +spent in retirement. That he was an extraordinary man cannot be +gainsaid, and the plan, so far in advance of his age, which he conceived +and carried through to success, forms one of the most interesting +experiments in colonization ever attempted anywhere. + + * * * * * + +This, then, is the story in briefest outline of the men who discovered +America and who fought for a foothold on her borders. Most of them, it +will be noted, undertook the struggle not for commercial ends nor from +the love of adventure, but in order to establish for themselves a home +where they would be free in matters of the spirit. The traces of that +purpose may be found on almost every page of American history and do +much to render it the inspiring thing it is. We shall see how many of +the great men who loom large in these pages traced their descent from +those hardy pioneers for whom no sacrifice seemed too great provided it +secured for them + + "Freedom to worship God." + + + + +SUMMARY + + +COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. Born at Genoa, Italy, probably in 1446; removed +to Portugal about 1473; laid plan to reach the Indies before John II. +of Portugal, 1484; appeared at court of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1485; +Spanish monarchs agreed to his demands, April 17, 1492; sailed from +Palos, August 3, 1492; discovered West Indies, October 12, 1492; +returned to Palos, March 15, 1493; embarked on second voyage with 17 +vessels and 1,500 men, September 25, 1493; discovered Dominica, Porto +Rico, Jamaica, and returned to Spain, March, 1496; started on third +voyage, May 30, 1498; discovered Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco; +recalled to Santo Domingo by disorders and finally arrested and sent +back to Spain in chains, October, 1500; released and started on fourth +voyage in March, 1502; discovered Honduras, but was wrecked on Jamaica, +and reached Spain again after terrible sufferings, November 7, 1504; +passed his remaining days in poverty and died at Valladolid, May 20, +1506. + +CABOT, JOHN. Born at Genoa, date unknown; became citizen of Venice, +1476; removed to Bristol, England, and in 1495 secured from Henry VII. a +patent for the discovery, at his own expense, of unknown lands in the +eastern, western, or northern seas; sailed from Bristol, May, 1497; +discovered coast of Newfoundland and returned to England in August, +1497; date of death unknown. + +CABOT, SEBASTIAN. Son of John Cabot, born probably at Venice, 1477; +accompanied his father's expedition, 1497; commanded an English +expedition in search of a northwest passage, 1517; removed to Spain and +made grand pilot of Castile, 1518; sailed in command of a Spanish +expedition, April 3, 1526; skirted coast of South America, discovered +the Uruguay and Parana, and reached Spain again in 1530; returned to +England, 1546; died at London, 1557. + +VESPUCCI, AMERIGO. Born at Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451; removed to +Spain, 1495; claimed to have accompanied four expeditions as astronomer +in 1497, 1499, 1501 and 1503, during which some explorations were made +of the coasts of both North and South America; died at Seville, February +22, 1512. + +PONCE DE LEON, JUAN. Born in Aragon about 1460; accompanied the second +voyage of Columbus, 1493; conquered Porto Rico and appointed governor, +1510; heard story from Indians of an island to the north named Bimini, +on which was a fountain giving eternal youth to all who drank of its +waters, and sailed in search of it, March, 1513; discovered the mainland +and landed on April 8, Pascua Florida, or Easter Sunday, taking +possession of the country for the King of Spain and calling it Florida, +in honor of the day; returned to Porto Rico, September, 1513; sailed +with a large number of colonists to settle Florida, March, 1521; +attacked by Indians and forced to retreat, he himself being wounded by +an Indian arrow and dying from the effects of the wound a short time +later. + +MAGALHAES, FERNAO DE; generally known as Ferdinand Magellan. Born in +Portugal about 1480; sailed from Spain to find a western passage to the +Moluccas, September 20, 1519; reached the Brazilian coast, explored Rio +de la Plata, wintered on Patagonian coast, passed through Strait of +Magellan and reached the Pacific, November 28, 1520; crossed the Pacific +and discovered the Philippines, March 16, 1521; killed in a fight with +the natives, April 27, 1521. + +DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS. Born in Devonshire, England, about 1540; fitted out +a freebooting expedition and attacked the Spanish settlements in the +West Indies, 1572, capturing Porto Bello, Cartagena, and other towns and +taking an immense treasure; sailed again from England, December, 1577, +circumnavigating the globe and reaching home again September, 1580, +where he was met by Queen Elizabeth and knighted on his ship; ravaged +the West Indies and Spanish Main, 1585, and the coast of Spain, 1587; +commanded a division of the fleet defeating the Spanish Armada, July, +1588; died off Porto Bello, 1596. + +SOTO, HERNANDO DE. Born in Spain, 1500; took prominent part in conquest +of Peru, 1532-1536; appointed governor of Porto Rico and Florida, 1537; +landed at Tampa Bay, May 25, 1539; discovered the Mississippi, May, +1541; died of malarial fever and buried in the Mississippi, June, 1542. + +CORONADO, FRANCISCO VASQUEZ DE. Born at Salamanca about 1500; reached +Mexico in 1539, and in 1540, headed an expedition in search of Cibola +and the Seven Cities supposed to have been founded seven centuries +before by some Spanish bishops fleeing from the Moors; penetrated to +what is now New Mexico and perhaps to Kansas, reaching Mexico again with +only a remnant of his force; date of death unknown. + +CARTIER, JACQUES. Born at St. Malo, France, December 31, 1494; made +three voyages to Canada, 1534-1542; exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +and sailing up the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal; died after 1552. + +HUDSON, HENRY. Date and place of birth unknown; sailed in service of +Dutch East India Company to find a northwest passage, March 25, 1609; +sighted Nova Scotia and explored coast as far south as Chesapeake Bay; +explored Hudson river, September, 1609; sailed again to find a northwest +passage, 1610; entered Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, where he wintered; +set adrift in open boat, with eight companions, by mutinous crew, June +23, 1611; never seen again. + +SMITH, CAPTAIN JOHN. Born in Lincolnshire, England, in January, 1579; +served in Netherlands and against Turks, sailed for Virginia with +Christopher Newport, December 19, 1606; chosen president of colony, +September 10, 1608; returned to London in autumn of 1609; explored New +England coast, 1614; created admiral of New England, 1617; spent +remainder of life in vain endeavor to secure financial support for a +colony in New England; died at London, June 21, 1632. + +CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE. Born at Brouage, France, 1567; explored Canada and +New England, 1603-1607; founded Quebec, 1608; discovered Lake Champlain, +1609; died at Quebec, December 25, 1635. + +NICOLET, JEAN. Place and date of both birth and death unknown. + +LA SALLE, ROBERT CAVALIER, SIEUR DE. Born at Rouen, November 22, 1643; +came to Canada, 1666; set out on tour of western exploration, +discovering Ohio river, 1669; descended the Mississippi to its mouth, +1681; led a band of colonists from France, 1685; missed mouth of river, +and murdered by his own men while seeking it, March 20, 1687. + +JOLIET, LOUIS. Born at Quebec, September 21, 1645; commissioned to +explore Mississippi river, by Frontenac, governor of New France, 1672; +explored Fox, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Illinois rivers, 1673; died +May, 1700. + +MARQUETTE, JACQUES. Born at Laon, France, 1637; accompanied Joliet in +1673; died near Lake Michigan, May 18, 1675. + +BRADFORD, WILLIAM. Born at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, 1590; +governor of Plymouth colony, 1621-1657 (except in 1633-1634, 1636, 1638, +1644); died at Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 9, 1657. + +WILLIAMS, ROGER. Born in Wales about 1600; reached Massachusetts, 1631; +pastor at Plymouth and Salem, 1631-1635; ordered to leave colony and +fled from Salem, January, 1636; founded Providence, June, 1636; went to +England and obtained charter for Rhode Island colony, 1644; president of +colony until death, April, 1684. + +STUYVESANT, PETER. Born in Holland, 1602; served in West Indies, for a +time governor of Curacao, and returned to Holland in 1644; appointed +director-general of New Netherlands, 1646; reached New Amsterdam, 1647; +surrendered colony to the English, September, 1664; died at New York, +August, 1682. + +PENN, WILLIAM. Born at London, October 14, 1644; became preacher of +Friends, 1668; part proprietor of West Jersey, 1675; received grant of +Pennsylvania, 1681; founded Philadelphia, 1682; returned to England, +1684; deprived of government of colony on charge of treason, 1692, but +restored to it in 1694; visited Pennsylvania, 1699-1701; died at +Ruscombe, Berks, England, July 30, 1718. + +OGLETHORPE, JAMES EDWARD. Born at London, December 21, 1696; projected +colony of Georgia for insolvent debtors and persecuted Protestants, and +conducted expedition for its settlement, 1733; returned to England, +1743; died at Cranham Hall, Essex, England, 1785. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WASHINGTON TO LINCOLN + + +Near the left bank of the Potomac river, in the northwestern +part of Westmoreland county, Virginia, there stood, in the year 1732, a +little cabin, where lived a planter by the name of Augustine Washington. +It was a lonely spot, for the nearest neighbor was miles away, but the +little family, consisting of father, mother, and two boys, Lawrence and +Augustine, were kept busy enough wresting a living from the soil. Here, +on the twenty-second day of February, a third son was born, and in due +time christened George. + +Just a century had elapsed since John Smith had died in London, but in +that time the colony which he had founded and which had been more than +once so near extinction, had grown to be the greatest in America. Half a +million people were settled along her bays and rivers, engaged, for the +most part, in the culture of tobacco, for which the colony had long been +famous and which was the basis of her wealth. Her boundaries were still +indefinite, for though, by, the king's charter, the colony was supposed +to stretch clear across the continent to the Pacific, the country beyond +the Blue Ridge mountains was still a wilderness where the Indian and the +wild beast held undisputed sway. Even in Virginia proper, there were few +towns and no cities, Williamsburg, the capital, having less than two +hundred houses; but each planter lived on his own estate, very much +after the fashion of the feudal lords of the Middle Ages, generous, +hospitable, and kind-hearted, fond of the creature-comforts, proud of +his women and of his horses, and satisfied with himself. + +It was into this world that George Washington was born. While he was +still a baby, his father moved to a place he purchased on the banks of +the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, and here the boy's childhood +was spent. His father died when he was only eleven years old, but his +mother was a vigorous and capable woman, from whom her son inherited not +a little of his sturdy character. He developed into a tall, strong, +athletic youth, and many stories are told of his prowess. He could jump +twenty feet; on one occasion he threw a stone across the Rappahannock, +and on another, standing beneath the famous Natural Bridge, threw a +stone against its great arch, two hundred feet above his head. He grew +to be over six feet in height and finely proportioned--altogether a +handsome and capable fellow, who soon commanded respect. + +At that time, surveying was a very important occupation, since so much +of the colony remained to be laid out, and George began to study to be a +surveyor, an occupation which appealed to him especially because it was +of the open air. He was soon to get a very important commission. + +When Augustine Washington died, he bequeathed to his elder son, +Lawrence, an estate on the Potomac called Hunting Creek. Near by lay the +magnificent estate of Belvoir, owned by the wealthy William Fairfax, and +Lawrence Washington had the good fortune to win the heart and hand of +Fairfax's daughter. With the money his bride brought him, he was able to +build for himself a very handsome dwelling on his estate, whose name he +changed to Mount Vernon, in honor of the English admiral with whom he +had seen some service. George, of course, was a frequent visitor at +Belvoir, meeting other members of the Fairfax family, among them Thomas, +sixth Lord Fairfax, who finally engaged him to survey a great estate +which had been granted him by the king on the slope of the Blue Ridge +mountains. + +George Washington was only sixteen years of age when he started out on +this errand into what was then the wilderness. It was a tremendous task +which he had undertaken, for the estate comprised nearly a fifth of the +present state, but he did it so well that, on Lord Fairfax's +recommendation, he was at once appointed a public surveyor, and may +fairly be said to have commenced his public career. His brother soon +afterwards secured for him the appointment as adjutant-general for the +district in which he lived, so that it became his duty to attend to the +organization and equipment of the district militia. This was the +beginning of his military service and of his study of military +science. He was at that time eighteen years of age. + +That was the end of his boyhood. You will notice that I have said +nothing about his being a marvel of goodness or of wisdom--nothing, for +instance, about a cherry tree. That fable, and a hundred others like it, +were the invention of a man who wrote a life of Washington half a +century after his death, and who managed so to enwrap him with +disguises, that it is only recently we have been able to strip them all +away and see the man as he really was. Washington's boyhood was much +like any other. He was a strong, vigorous, manly fellow; he got into +scrapes, just as any healthy boy does; he grew up straight and handsome, +ready to play his part in the world, and he was called upon to play it +much earlier than most boys are. We shall see what account he gave of +himself. + +When George was twenty years old, his brother Lawrence died and made him +his executor. From that time forward, Mount Vernon was his home, and in +the end passed into his possession. But he was not long to enjoy the +pleasant life there, for a year later, he was called upon to perform an +important and hazardous mission. + +We have seen how La Salle dreamed of a great French empire, stretching +from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi. This was already +becoming a reality, for the governor of Canada had sent troops to occupy +the Ohio valley, and to build such forts as might be needed to hold it. +This was bringing the French altogether too close for comfort. +As long as they were content to remain in the Illinois country, nothing +much was thought of it, for that was far away; but here they were now +right at Virginia's back door, and there was no telling when they would +try to force it open and enter. So Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, +determined to dispatch a commissioner to the officer-in-command of the +French, to summon him to leave English territory. The commissioner was +also to try to kill two birds with one stone and form an alliance with +the Indians, so that, if it came to fighting, the Indians would be with +the English. No more delicate and dangerous mission could well be +conceived, and after careful consideration, the governor selected George +Washington to undertake it. + +On October 30, 1753, Washington left Williamsburg, with a journey of +more than a thousand miles before him. How that journey was +accomplished, what perils he faced, what difficulties he overcame, how, +on more than one occasion his life hung by a thread--all this he has +told, briefly and modestly, in the journal which he kept of the +expedition. Three months from the time he started, he was back again in +Williamsburg, having faced his first great responsibility, and done his +work absolutely well. He had shown a cool courage that nothing could +shake, a fine patience, and a penetration and perception which nothing +could escape. He was the hero of the hour in the little Virginia +capital; the whole colony perceived that here was a man to be depended +upon. + +He had found the French very active along the Ohio, preparing +to build forts and hold the country, and laughing at Dinwiddie's summons +to vacate it. This news caused Virginia to put a military force in the +field at once, and dispatch it to the west, with Washington in virtual +command. It was hoped to build a strong fort at the junction of the +Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which would prevent the French getting +to the Ohio, since all travel in that wilderness must be by water. On +May 28, 1754, while hastening forward to secure this position, +Washington's little force encountered a party of French, and the first +shots were exchanged of the great contest which, twelve years later, was +to result in the expulsion of the French from the continent. It was +Washington who gave the word to fire, little foreseeing what history he +was making. + +"I heard the bullets whistle," he wrote home to his mother, "and believe +me, there is something charming in the sound"--a bit of bravado which +shows that Washington had not yet quite outgrown his boyhood. No doubt +the bullets sounded much less charmingly five weeks later when he and +his men, brought to bay in a rude fortification which he named Fort +Necessity, were surrounded by a superior force of French and Indians, +and, after an all-day fight, compelled to surrender. It is worth +remarking that this bitter defeat--the first reverse which Washington +suffered--occurred on the third day of July, 1754. Twenty-one years from +that day, he was to draw his sword at the head of an American army. + +Washington made his way back to Virginia with the news of his +failure. The French had occupied the vantage ground he was aiming at and +at once proceeded to erect a fort there, which they named Duquesne. Aid +was asked from England to repel these invaders, and early in 1755, a +great force under Major-General Edward Braddock advanced against the +enemy. Washington served as aide-de-camp to the general, whose ideas of +warfare had been gained on the battlefields of Europe, and who could not +understand that these ideas did not apply to warfare in a wilderness. In +consequence, when only a few miles from the fort, he was attacked by a +force of French and Indians, his army all but annihilated and he himself +wounded so severely that he died a few days later. During that fierce +battle, Washington seemed to bear a charmed life. Four bullets tore +through his coat and two horses were shot under him, but he received not +a scratch, and did effective work in rallying the Virginia militia to +cover the retreat. Three years later, he had the satisfaction of +marching into Fort Duquesne with an English force, which banished the +French for all time from the valley of the Ohio. + +That victory ended the war for a time, and Washington returned to +Virginia to marry a charming and wealthy widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, and +to take the seat in the House of Burgesses to which he had just been +elected. He served there for fifteen years, living the life of the +typical Virginia planter on his estate of Mount Vernon, which had passed +into his possession through the death of his brother's only +child. He had become one of the most important men of the colony, whose +opinion was respected and whose influence was very great. + +During all this period, the feeling against England was growing more and +more bitter. Let us be candid about it. The expulsion of the French from +the continent had freed the colonies from the danger of French +aggression and from the feeling that they needed the aid of the mother +country. That they should have been taxed to help defray the great +expense of this war against the French seems reasonable enough, but +there happened to be in power in England, at the time, a few obstinate +and bull-headed statesmen, serving under an obstinate and ignorant king, +and they handled the question of taxation with so little tact and +delicacy that, among them, they managed to rouse the anger of the +colonies to the boiling point. + +For the colonists, let us remember, were of the same obstinate and +bull-headed stock, and it was soon evident that the only way to settle +the difference was to fight it out. But the impartial historian must +write it down that the colonies had much more to thank England for than +to complain about, and that at first, the idea of a war for independence +was not a popular one. As it went on, and the Tories were run out of the +country or won over, as battle and bloodshed aroused men's passions, +then it gradually gained ground; but throughout, the members of the +Continental Congress, led by John and Samuel Adams, were ahead +of public opinion. + +As we have said, it soon became apparent that there was going to be a +fight, and independent companies were formed all over Virginia, and +started industriously to drilling. Washington, by this time the most +conspicuous man in the colony, was chosen commander-in-chief; and when, +at the gathering of the second Continental Congress at Philadelphia, +came news of the fight at Lexington and Concord, the army before Boston +was formally adopted by the Congress as an American army, and Washington +was unanimously chosen to command it. I wonder if any one foresaw that +day, even in the dimmest fashion, what immortality of fame was to come +to that tall, quiet, dignified man? + +That was on the 15th day of June, 1775, and Washington left immediately +for Boston to take command of the American forces. All along the route, +the people turned out to welcome him and bid him Godspeed. Delegations +escorted him from one town to the next, and at last, on the afternoon of +July 2d, he rode into Cambridge, where, the next day, in the shadow of a +great elm on Cambridge Common, he took command of his army, and began +the six years' struggle which resulted in the establishment of the +independence of the United States of America. + +His first task was to drive the British from Boston, and he had +accomplished it by the following March. Then came a long period of +reverses and disappointments, during which his little army, +outnumbered, but not outgeneraled, was driven from Long +Island, from New York, and finally across New Jersey, taking refuge on +the south bank of the Delaware. There he gathered it together, and on +Christmas night, 1776, while the enemy were feasting and celebrating in +their quarters at Trenton, he ferried his army back across the +ice-blocked river, fell upon the British, administered a stinging +defeat, and never paused until he had driven them from New Jersey. That +brilliant campaign effectually stifled the opposition which he had had +to fight in the Congress, and resulted in his being given full power +over the army, and over all parts of the country which the army +occupied. + +One more terrible ordeal awaited him--the winter of 1777-1778 spent at +Valley Forge, where the army, without the merest necessities of life, +melted away from desertion and disease, until, at one time, it consisted +of less than two thousand effective men. The next spring saw the +turning-point, for France allied herself with the United States; the +British were forced to evacuate Philadelphia and were driven back across +New Jersey to New York; and, finally, by one of the most brilliant +marches in history, Washington transferred his whole army from the +Hudson to the Potomac, and trapped Cornwallis and his army of seven +thousand men at Yorktown. Cornwallis tried desperately to free himself, +but to no avail, and on October 19, 1781, he surrendered his entire +force. + +There is a pretty legend that, as Cornwallis delivered up his sword, a +cheer started through the American lines, but that Washington +stilled it on the instant, remarking, "Let posterity cheer for us." +Whether the legend be true or not, posterity _has_ cheered, for that +brilliant victory really ended the war, although two years passed before +peace was declared and the independence of the United States +acknowledged by the King of England. + +Long before this, everybody knew what the end would be, and there was +much discussion as to how the new country should be governed. A great +many people were dissatisfied with the Congress, and it was suggested to +Washington that there would be a more stable government if he would +consent himself to be King or Dictator, or whatever title he might wish, +and that the army, which had won the independence of the country, would +support him. Washington's response was prompt and decisive. + +"Let me conjure you," he wrote, "if you have any regard for your +country, concern for yourself, or respect for me, to banish these +thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any +one else, a sentiment of like nature." + +It was perhaps the first time in the history of the world that men had +witnessed the like. Soon afterwards, the army was disbanded, and +Washington, proceeding to Annapolis, where the Congress was in session, +resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. There are some who +consider that the greatest scene in history--the hero sheathing his +sword "after a life of spotless honor, a purity unreproached, a courage +indomitable, and a consummate victory." + +A private citizen again, Washington returned quietly to his +estate at Mount Vernon. But he could not remain there--the country +needed him too badly, and his great work was yet to do. For let us +remember that his great work was not the leading of the American army to +victory, not the securing of independence, but the establishment of this +Republic. More than of any other man was this the work of Washington. He +saw the feeble Confederation breaking to pieces, now that the stress of +danger was removed; he beheld the warring interests and petty jealousies +of statesmen who yet remained colonial; but he was determined that out +of these thirteen jarring colonies should come a nation; and when the +convention to form a constitution met at Philadelphia, he presided over +it, and it was his commanding will which brought a constitution out of a +turmoil of selfish interests, through difficulties and past obstacles +which would have discouraged any other man. + +And, the Constitution once adopted, all men turned to Washington to +start the new Nation on her great voyage. Remember, there was no +government, only some written pages saying that a government was to be; +it was Washington who converted that idea into a reality, who brought +that government into existence. It was a venture new to history; a +Republic founded upon principles which, however admirable in the +abstract, had been declared impossible to embody in the life of a +nation. And yet, eight years later, when Washington retired from the +presidency, he left behind him an effective government, with an +established revenue, a high credit, a strong judiciary, a vigorous +foreign policy, and an army which had repressed insurrections, and which +already showed the beginnings of a truly national spirit. + +At the end of his second term as President, the country demanded that he +accept a third; the country, without Washington at the head of it, +seemed to many people like a ship on a dangerous sea without a pilot. +But he had guided her past the greatest dangers, and he refused a third +term, setting a precedent which no man in the country's history has been +strong enough to disregard. In March, 1797, he was back again at Mount +Vernon, a private citizen. + +He looked forward to and hoped for long years of quiet, but it was not +to be. On December 12, 1799, he was caught by a rain and sleet storm, +while riding over his farm, and returned to the house chilled through. +An illness followed, which developed into pneumonia, and three days +later he was dead. + +He was buried at Mount Vernon, which has become one of the great shrines +of America, and rightly so. For no man, at once so august and so +lovable, has graced American history. Indeed, he stands among the +greatest men of all history. There are few men with such a record of +achievement, and fewer still who, at the end of a life so crowded and +cast in such troubled places, can show a fame so free from spot, a +character so unselfish and so pure. + +We know Washington to-day as well as it is possible to know any man. We +know him far better than the people of his own household knew +him. Behind the silent and reserved man, of courteous and serious +manner, which his world knew, we perceive the great nature, the warm +heart and the mighty will. We have his letters, his journals, his +account-books, and there remains no corner of his life hidden from us. +There is none that needs to be. Think what that means--not a single +corner of his life that needs to be shadowed or passed over in silence! +And the more we study it, the more we are impressed by it, and the +greater grows our love and veneration for the man of whom were uttered +the immortal words, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the +hearts of his countrymen"--words whose truth grows more apparent with +every passing year. + + * * * * * + +It is one of the maxims of history that great events produce great men, +and the struggle for independence abundantly proved this. Never again in +the country's history did it possess such a group of statesmen as during +its first years, the only other period at all comparable with it being +that which culminated in the Civil War. It was inevitable that these men +should assume the guidance of the newly-launched ship of state, and +Washington had, in every way possible, availed himself of their +assistance. Alexander Hamilton had been his secretary of the treasury, +Thomas Jefferson his secretary of state, and James Monroe his minister +to France. The first man to succeed him in the presidency, however, was +none of these, but John Adams of Massachusetts. His election +was not uncontested, as Washington's had been; in fact, he was elected +by a majority of only three, Jefferson receiving 68 electoral votes to +his 71. + +Let us pause for a moment to see how this contest originated, for it was +the beginning of the party government which has endured to the present +day, and which is considered by many people to be essential to the +administration of the Republic. When Washington was elected there were, +strictly speaking, no parties; but there was a body of men who had +favored the adoption of the Constitution, and another, scarcely less +influential, who had opposed it. The former were called Federals, as +favoring a federation of the several states, and the latter were called +Anti-Federals, as opposing it. + +One point of difference always leads to others, wider and wider apart, +as the rain-drop, shattered on the summit of the Great Divide, flows one +half to the Atlantic the other half to the Pacific. So, after the +adoption of the Constitution, there was never any serious question of +abrogating it, but two views arose as to its interpretation. The +Federals, in their endeavor to strengthen the national government, +favored the liberal view, which was that anything the Constitution did +not expressly forbid was permitted; while the Anti-Federals, anxious to +preserve all the power possible to the several states, favored the +strict view, which was that unless the Constitution expressly permitted +a thing, it could not be done. As there were many, many points upon +which the Constitution was silent--its framers being mere human beings +and not all-wise intelligences--it will be seen that these +interpretations were as different as black and white. It was this +divergence, combined with another as to whether, in joining the Union, +the several states had surrendered their sovereignty, which has +persisted as the fundamental difference between the Republican and +Democratic parties to the present day. + +Adams was a Federalist, and his choice as the candidate of that party +was due to the fact that Hamilton, its leader, was too unpopular with +the people at large to stand any chance of election, more especially +against such a man as Jefferson, who would be his opponent. With +Hamilton out of the way, the place plainly belonged to Adams by right of +succession, and he was nominated. He was aided by the fact that he had +served as Vice-President during both of Washington's administrations, +and it was felt that he would be much more likely to carry out the +policies of his distinguished predecessor than Jefferson, who had been +opposed to Washington on many public questions. Even at that, as has +been said, he won by a majority of only three votes. + +In a general way Adams did continue Washington's policies, even +retaining his cabinet. But, while his attitude on national questions +was, in the main, a wise one, he was so unwise and undignified in minor +things, so consumed by petty jealousies, envies and contentions, that he +made enemies instead of friends, and when, four years later, he was +again the Federal candidate, he was easily beaten by Jefferson, and +retired from the White House a soured and disappointed man, +fleeing from the capital by night in order that he might not have to +witness the inauguration of his successor. To such depths had he been +brought by colossal egotism. In his earlier years, he had done +distinguished service as a member of the Continental Congress, but his +prestige never recovered from the effect of his conduct during his term +as President, and his last years were passed in retirement. By a +singular coincidence, he and Jefferson died upon the same day, July 4, +1826. + +Thomas Jefferson, whose influence is perhaps more generally acknowledged +in the life of the Republic of to-day than that of any other man of his +time, and whose name, Washington's apart, is oftenest on men's lips, was +born in Virginia in 1743, graduated from William and Mary College, +studied law, and took a prominent part in the agitation preceding the +Revolution. Early in his life, owing to various influences, he began +forming those ideas of simplicity and equality which had such an +influence over his later life, and over the great party of which he was +the founder. His temperament was what we call "artistic"; that is, he +loved books and music and architecture, and the things which make for +what we call culture. And yet, with all that, he soon grew wise and +skillful in the world's affairs, possessing an industry and insight +which assured his speedy success as a lawyer, despite an impediment of +speech which prevented him from being an effective orator. + +He had the good fortune to marry happily, finding a comrade and +helpmate, as well as a wife, in beautiful Martha Skelton, with +whom he rode away to his estate at Monticello when he was twenty-seven. +She saw him write the Declaration of Independence, saw him war-governor +of Virginia, and second only to Washington in the respect and affection +of the people of that great commonwealth; and then she died. The shock +of her death left Jefferson a stricken man; he secluded himself from the +public, and declared that his life was at an end. + +Washington, however, eight years later, persuaded him to accept a place +in his cabinet as secretary of state. Within a year he had definitely +taken his place as the head of the Anti-Federalist, or Republican party, +and laid the foundations of what afterwards became known as the +Democratic party. His trust in the people had grown and deepened, his +heart had grown more tender with the coming of affliction, and it was +his theory that in a democracy, the people should control public policy +by imposing their wishes upon their rulers, who were answerable to +them--a theory which is now accepted, in appearance, at least, by all +political parties, but which the Federalist leaders of that time +thoroughly detested. Jefferson seems to have felt, too, that the +tendency of those early years was too greatly toward an aristocracy, +which the landed gentry of Virginia were only too willing to provide, +and when, at last, he was chosen for the presidency, he set the country +such an example of simplicity and moderation that there was never again +any chance of its running into that danger. + +Everyone has read the story of how, on the day of his +inauguration, he rode on horseback to the capitol, clad in studiously +plain clothes and without attendants, tied his horse to the fence, and +walked unannounced into the Senate chamber. This careful avoidance of +display marked his whole official career, running sometimes, indeed, +into an ostentation of simplicity whose good taste might be questioned. +But of Jefferson's entire sincerity there can be no doubt. Inconsistent +as he sometimes was--as every man is--his purposes and policies all +tended steadily toward the betterment of humanity; and the great mass of +the people who to this day revere his memory, "pay a just debt of +gratitude to a friend who not only served them, as many have done, but +who honored and respected them, as very few have done." + +Perhaps the greatest single act of his administration was the purchase +from France of the vast territory known as Louisiana, which included the +state now bearing that name, and the wide, untrodden, wilderness west of +the Mississippi, paying for it the sum of fifteen million dollars--a +rate of a fraction of a cent an acre. The purchase aroused the bitterest +opposition, but Jefferson seems to have had a clearer vision than most +men of what the future of America was to be. He served for two terms, +refusing a third nomination which he was besought to accept, and +retiring to private life on March 4, 1809, after a nearly continuous +public service of forty-four years. The remainder of his life was spent +quietly at his home at Monticello, where men flocked for a +guidance which never failed them. The cause to which his last years were +devoted was characteristic of the man--the establishment of a common +school system in Virginia, and the founding of the University of +Virginia, which still bears the imprint of his mind. + +[Illustration: JEFFERSON] + +Jefferson is one of the few men whose portrait, as preserved for us, +shows us the man as we imagine him to be. No one can look at that lofty +and noble countenance, with its calm and wide-set eyes, its firm yet +tender mouth, its expression of complete serenity, without realizing +that here was a man placed above the weakness and pettiness and meanness +of the world, on a pinnacle of his own, strong in spirit, wise in +judgment, and almost prophetic in vision. + +The presidency descended, by an overwhelming majority, to one of +Jefferson's stanch friends and supporters, for whom he had paved the +way--James Madison, also a Virginian, who had been his secretary of +state for eight years, and who was himself to serve two terms, during +which the influence of the "Sage of Monticello" was paramount. The great +crisis which Madison had to face was the second war with England, a war +brought on by British aggression on the high seas, and bitterly opposed, +especially in New England. The war, characterized by blunders on land +and brilliant successes on the ocean, really resulted without victory to +either side, and, indeed, was very nearly a defeat for America; but in +the end, it enabled us to regain possession of the posts which +England had persisted in occupying along the western boundary, and +banished forever any fear that she might, at any time in the future, +attempt to reassert her sovereignty over the United States. + +Madison was also fortunate in his wife, the beautiful and brilliant +Dolly Payne Todd, who played so prominent a part in the social life of +the time, and who, when the British were marching into Washington to +sack that city, managed to save some of the treasures of the White House +from the invaders. It is difficult for us to realize, at this distant +day, that our beautiful capital was once in the enemy's hands, given +over to the flames; that was one of the great disgraces of the War of +1812; for the only force which rallied to the defense of the city was a +few regiments of untrained militia, which could not stand for a minute +before the British regulars, but ran away at the first fire. + +Madison and his wife, however, soon came back to the White House from +which they had been driven, and remained there four years longer, until +the close of his second term, in 1817. For nearly a score of years +thereafter, they lived a happy and tranquil life on their estate, +Montpelier. + +It is somewhat difficult to estimate Madison. He stood on a sort of +middle ground between Jefferson and Hamilton. Earlier in his career, +Hamilton influenced him deeply in regard to the adoption of the +Constitution, of which he has been called the father. But, at a later +date, Jefferson's influence became uppermost, and Madison +swung over to the extreme of the state rights view, and drew the +resolutions of the Virginia legislature declaring the Alien and Sedition +laws "utterly null and void and of no effect," so that he has also been +called the "Father of Nullification." However unstable his opinions may +have been, there is no questioning his patriotism or the purity of his +motives. + +Again the presidential tradition was to remain unbroken, for Madison's +successor was James Monroe, his secretary of state, a Virginian and a +Democrat. The preponderance of the Democratic party was never more in +evidence, for while he received 183 electoral votes, Rufus King, the +Federalist candidate, received only 34. This, however, was as nothing to +the great personal triumph he achieved four years later, when, as a +candidate for re-election, only one vote was cast against him, and that +by a man who voted as he did because he did not wish to see a second +President chosen with the unanimity which had honored Washington. + +Monroe is principally remembered to-day from a "doctrine" enunciated by +him and known by his name, which remains a vital portion of American +policy. It was in 1823 that he declared that the United States would +consider any attempt of a European power to establish itself in this +hemisphere as dangerous to her peace and safety, and as the +manifestation of an unfriendly disposition. The language is cautious and +diplomatic, but what it means in plain English is that the United States +will resist by force any attempt of a European power to +conquer and colonize any portion of the three Americas--in other words, +that this country will safeguard the independence of all her neighbors. +This principle has come to be regarded as a basic one in the foreign +relations of the United States, and while no European power has formally +acknowledged it, more than one have had to bow before it. It is +interesting to know that the enunciation of such a "doctrine" was +recommended by Thomas Jefferson, and that Jefferson was Monroe's +constant adviser throughout his career. + +Monroe retired from the presidency in 1825, and the seven remaining +years of his life were passed principally on his estate in Virginia. +Jefferson said of him, "He is a man whose soul might be turned wrong +side outwards, without discovering a blemish to the world,"--an estimate +which was, of course, colored by a warm personal friendship, but which +was echoed by many others of his contemporaries. Certain it is that few +men have ever so won the affection and esteem of the nation, and his +administration was known as the "era of good feeling." He is scarcely +appreciated to-day at his true worth, principally because he does not +measure up in genius to the great men who preceded him. + +At striking variance with the practical unanimity of Monroe's election +was that of John Quincy Adams, his successor. Over a quarter of a +century had elapsed since a northern man had been chosen to the +presidency. That man, strangely enough, was the father of the +present candidate, but had retired from office after one acrimonious +term, discredited and disappointed. Since then, the government of the +country had been in the hands of Virginians. Now came John Quincy Adams, +calling himself a Democrat, but really inheriting the principles of his +father, and the contest which ensued for the presidency was +unprecedented in the history of the country. + +Adams's principal opponent was Andrew Jackson, a mighty man of whom we +shall soon have occasion to speak, and so close was the contest that the +electoral college was not able to make a choice. So, as provided by the +Constitution, it was carried to the House of Representatives, and there, +through the influence of Henry Clay, who was unfriendly to Jackson, +Adams was chosen by a small majority. An administration which began in +bitterness, continued bitter and turbulent. Men's passions were aroused, +and four years later Adams repeated the fate of his father, in being +overwhelmingly defeated. + +But the most remarkable portion of his story is yet to come. Before that +time, it had been the custom, as we have seen, for the ex-President to +spend the remaining years of his life in dignified retirement; but the +year after Adams left the White House, he was elected to the House of +Representatives, and was returned regularly every two years until his +death, which occurred upon its floor. He did much excellent work there, +and was conspicuous in more than one memorable scene, but he is chiefly +remembered for his battle for the right of petition. No more +persistent fight was ever made by a man in a parliamentary body and some +reference must be made to it here. + +Soon after he took his seat in Congress, the movement against slavery +was begun, and one fruit of it was the appearance of petitions for the +abolition of slavery in the House of Representatives. A few were +presented by Mr. Adams, and then more and more, as they were sent in to +him, and finally the southern representatives became so aroused, that +they succeeded in passing what was known as the "gag rule," which +prevented the reception of these petitions by the House. Adams protested +against this rule as an invasion of his constitutional rights, and from +that time forward, amid the bitterest opposition, addressed his whole +force toward the vindication of the right of petition. On every petition +day, he would offer, in constantly increasing numbers, petitions which +came to him from all parts of the country for the abolition of slavery. +The southern representatives were driven almost to madness, but Adams +kept doggedly on his way, and every year renewed his motion to strike +out the gag rule. As constant dripping will wear away a stone, so his +persistence wore away opposition, or, rather, the sentiment of the +country was gradually changing, and at last, on December 3, 1844, his +motion prevailed, and the great battle which he had fought practically +alone was won. Four years later he fell, stricken with paralysis, at his +place in the House. + +It is worth pausing to remark that, of the six men who, up to +this time, had held the presidency, four were from Virginia and two from +Massachusetts; that, in every instance, the Virginians had been +re-elected and had administered the affairs of the country to the +satisfaction of the people, while both the Massachusetts men had been +retired from office at the end of a single term, and after turbulent and +violent administrations. All of them were what may fairly be called +patricians, men of birth and breeding; they were the possessors of a +certain culture and refinement, were descended from well-known families, +and there seemed every reason to believe that the administration of the +country would be continued in the hands of such men. For what other +class of men was fitted to direct it? Then, suddenly, the people spoke, +and selected for their ruler a man from among themselves, a man whose +college was the backwoods, whose opinions were prejudices rather than +convictions, and yet who was, withal, perhaps the greatest popular idol +this country will ever see; whose very blunders endeared him to the +people, because they knew his heart was right. + + * * * * * + +On the fifteenth day of March, 1767, in a little log cabin on the upper +Catawba river, almost on the border-line between North and South +Carolina--so near it, in fact, that no one knows certainly in which +state it stood--a boy was born and christened Andrew Jackson. His father +had died a few days before--one of those sturdy Scotch-Irish whom we +have seen emigrating to America in such numbers in search of +a land of freedom. The boy grew up in the rude backwoods settlement, +rough, boisterous, unlettered; at the age of fourteen, riding with +Sumter in the guerrilla warfare waged throughout the state against the +British, and then, captured and wounded on head and hand by a +sabre-stroke whose mark he bore till his dying day, a prisoner in the +filthy Camden prison-pen, sick of the small-pox, and coming out of it, +at last, more dead than alive. + +His mother nursed him back to life, and then started for Charleston to +see what could be done for the prisoners rotting in the British +prison-ships in the harbor, only herself to catch the prison-fever, and +to be buried in a grave which her son was never able to discover. + +Young Jackson, sobered by this and other experiences, applied himself +with some diligence to his books, taught school for a time, studied law, +and at the age of twenty was admitted to the bar, for which the standard +was by no means high. To the west, the new state of Tennessee was in +process of organization--an unpeopled wilderness for the most part--and +early in the year 1788, Jackson secured the appointment as public +prosecutor in the new state. It is not probable he had much competition, +for the position was one calling for desperate courage, as well as for +endurance to withstand the privations of back-woods life, and the +pecuniary reward was small. In the fall of 1788, he proceeded to +Nashville with a wagon train which came within an ace of being +annihilated by Indians before it reached its destination. + +Jackson found his new position exactly suited to his peculiar genius. +His personal recklessness made him the terror of criminals; he possessed +the precise qualifications for success before backwoods juries and for +personal popularity among the rough people who were his clients, with +whom usually might was right. At the end of three or four years, he +practically monopolized the law business of the district; and he soon +became by far the most popular man in it, despite a hot-headed +disposition which made him many enemies, which involved him in +numberless quarrels, and which resulted in his fighting at least one +duel, in which he killed his opponent and was himself dangerously +wounded. + +It was inevitable, of course, that he should enter politics, and equally +inevitable that he should be successful there. Eight years after his +arrival from Carolina, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected to +represent his state in Congress, and covered the eight hundred miles to +Philadelphia on horseback. From the House, he was appointed to serve in +the Senate, resigned from it to accept an election as Judge of the +Supreme Court of Tennessee, was chosen major-general of the Tennessee +militia, and so began that military career which was to have a +remarkable culmination. + +On the 25th of June, 1812, apprised of the outbreak of the second war +with England, Jackson offered to the President his own services and +those of the twenty-five hundred militia men of his district. +The offer was at once accepted, and Jackson, getting his troops +together, proceeded down the river to New Orleans. But jealousies at +headquarters intervened, he was informed that New Orleans was in no +present danger, his force was disbanded and left to get back home as +best it could. Jackson, wild with rage, pledged his own resources to +furnish this transportation, but was afterwards reimbursed by the +government. + +It was while he was getting his men back home again that Jackson +received the nickname of "Old Hickory," which clung to him all the rest +of his life, and which was really a good description of him. The story +also illustrates how it was that his men came to idolize him, and why it +was that he appealed so strongly to the common people. Jackson had three +good horses, on that weary journey, but instead of riding one of them +himself, he loaned all three to sick men who were unable to walk, and +himself trudged along at the head of his men. + +"The general is tough, isn't he?" one of them remarked, glancing at the +tall, sturdy figure. + +"Tough!" echoed another. "I should say he is--as tough as hickory!" + +Jackson was lying in bed with a bullet in his shoulder, which he had +received in an affray with Jesse Benton, and also, no doubt, nursing his +chagrin over his treatment by the War Department, when news came of a +great Indian uprising in Alabama. The Creeks had gone on the warpath and +had opened proceedings by capturing Fort Mims, at the junction of the +Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, on August 30, 1813, and massacring over +five hundred people who had taken refuge there. Alabama was almost +abandoned by the whites, and Georgia and Tennessee at once rushed to her +relief by voting men and money to put down the Indians. + +Jackson forgot wound and chagrin and took the field as soon as he was +able to stir. He at once quarrelled with the other officers; but his men +believed in him, though lack of food and the expiring of the short term +of enlistment created so much insubordination that, on one occasion, he +had to use half his army to prevent the other half from marching home. +His energy was remarkable; he pushed forward into the Creek country, cut +the Indians to pieces at Horseshoe Bend, and drove the survivors into +Florida. At the end of seven months, the war was over, and the Creeks +had been so punished that there was never any further need to fear them. + +The campaign had another result--it established Jackson's reputation as +a fighter, and soon afterwards he was appointed a major-general in the +army of the United States, and was given command of the Department of +the South. The pendulum had swung the other way, with a vengeance! But +Jackson rose magnificently to this increased responsibility. He +discovered that the English were in force at Pensacola, which was in +Florida and therefore on Spanish territory; but he did not hesitate. He +marched against the place with an army of three thousand, stormed the +town, captured it, blew up the forts, which the Spaniards hastily +surrendered, and so made it untenable as an English base. Perhaps no +other exploit of his career was so audacious, or so well carried out. +Pensacola subdued, he hastened to New Orleans, which was in the gravest +danger. + +The overthrow of Napoleon and his banishment to Elba had given England a +breathing-space, and the veteran troops which had been with Wellington +in Spain were left free for use against the Americans. A great +expedition was at once organized to attack and capture New Orleans, and +at its head was placed General Pakenham, the brilliant commander of the +column which had delivered the fatal blow at Salamanca. A fleet of fifty +vessels, manned by the best sailors of England, was got ready, ten +thousand men put aboard, and in December, a week after Jackson's arrival +at New Orleans, this great fleet anchored off the broad lagoons of the +Mississippi delta. Seventeen thousand men, in all, counting the sailors, +who could, of course, be employed in land operations; and a mighty +equipment of artillery, for which the guns of the fleet could also be +used. The few American gunboats were overpowered, and Pakenham proceeded +leisurely to land his force for the advance against the city, which it +seemed that nothing could save. On December 23d, his advance-guard of +two thousand men was but ten miles below New Orleans. + +On the afternoon of that very day, the vanguard of Jackson's +Tennesseans marched into New Orleans, clad in hunting-shirts of +buckskin or homespun, wearing coonskin caps, and carrying on their +shoulders the long rifles they knew how to use so well. They had made +one of the most remarkable marches in history, in their eagerness to +meet the enemy, and Jackson at once hurried them forward for a night +attack. It was delivered with the greatest fury, and the British were so +roughly handled that they were forced to halt until the main body of the +army came up. + +When they did advance, they found that Jackson had made good use of the +delay. With the first light of the dawn which followed the battle, he +had commenced throwing up a rude breastwork, one end resting on the +river, the other on a swamp, and by nightfall, it was nearly done. Mud +and logs had been used, and bales of cotton, until it formed a fairly +strong position. The British were hurrying forward reinforcements, and +little did either side suspect that on that very day, at Ghent, +thousands of miles away, a treaty of peace had been signed between the +United States and England, and that the blood they were about to spill +would be spilled uselessly. + +In a day or two, the British had got up their artillery, and tried to +batter down the breastworks, but without success; then, Pakenham, +forgetting Bunker Hill, determined to try a frontal assault. He had no +doubt of victory, for he had three times as many men as Jackson; troops, +too, seasoned by victories won over the most renowned marshals of +Napoleon. At Toulouse they had driven Marshal Soult from a position +infinitely stronger than this rude breastworks; time after time +they had charged and carried fortifications, manned by the best +soldiers in Europe. What chance, then, had this little force of +backwoodsmen, commanded by an ignorant and untrained general? So +Pakenham ordered that the assault should take place on the morning of +January 8th. + +From the bustle and stir in the British camp, the Americans knew that +something unusual was afoot, and long before dawn, the riflemen were +awake, had their breakfast, and then took their places behind the mud +walls, their rifles ready. At last the sun rose, the fog lifted, and +disclosed the splendid and gleaming lines of the British infantry, ready +for the advance. As soon as the air was clear, Pakenham gave the word, +and the columns moved steadily forward. From the American breastworks +not a rifle cracked. Half the distance was covered, three-fourths; and +then, as one man, those sturdy riflemen rose and fired, line upon line. +Under that terrible fire, the British column broke and paused, then +surged forward again, almost to the foot of the breastworks. But not a +man lived to mount them. No column could stand under such a fire, and +the British broke and ran. + +Mad with rage, Pakenham rallied his men and placed himself at their +head. Again came the word to charge, and again that gleaming column +rushed forward, only to be again met by that deadly hail of lead. +Pakenham, mortally wounded, reeled and fell from his saddle, officer +after officer was picked off by those unequalled marksmen, the field was +covered with dead and dying. Even the British saw, at last, the folly of +the movement, and retired sullenly to their lines. For a week they lay +there; then, abandoning their heavy artillery, they marched back to +their ships and sailed for England. The men who had conquered the +conquerors of Europe had themselves met defeat. + +The battle had lasted less than half an hour, but the British left +behind them no less than twenty-six hundred men--seven hundred killed, +fourteen hundred wounded, five hundred prisoners. The American loss was +eight killed and thirteen wounded. + +News of this brilliant victory brought sudden joy to a depressed people, +for elsewhere on land the war had been waged disgracefully enough, and +Jackson's name was on everyone's lips. His journey to Washington was a +kind of triumphal march, and his popularity grew by leaps and bounds. +People journeyed scores of miles to see him, for there was a strange +fascination about the rugged old fighter which few could resist, and +already his friends were urging him as a candidate for the presidency. +There could be no doubt that he was the people's choice, and at last, in +the campaign of 1823, he was formally placed in nomination, his chief +opponent being John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts. The result of that +contest has already been told. Jackson received more electoral votes +than any other candidate, but not enough to elect, and the contest was +decided by the House of Representatives. On that occasion, Henry Clay +came nearer committing political suicide than ever again in his life, +for he threw his influence against Jackson, and lost a portion of +his popularity which he never recovered. + +Jackson bided his time, and spent the four years following in careful +preparation for the next contest. So well did he build his fences that, +when the electoral vote was cast, he received the overwhelming majority +of 178 votes to 83 for Adams. + +Never before had the city of Washington seen such an inauguration as +took place on the fourth of March following. It seemed as though the +whole population of the country had assembled there to see the old +fighter take the oath of office. Daniel Webster wrote of it, "I never +saw such a crowd here before. Persons came five hundred miles to see +General Jackson and really seem to think that our country is rescued +from some dreadful danger." As, perhaps, it was. + +Jackson began his administration with characteristic vigor. It was he +who first put into practice the principle, "To the victors belong the +spoils." There was about him no academic courtesy, and he proceeded at +once to displace many Federal officeholders and to replace them with his +own adherents. The Senate tried for a time to stem the tide, but was +forced to give it up. There was no withstanding that fierce and dominant +personality. Jackson was more nearly a dictator than any President had +ever been before him, or than any will ever be again. His great +popularity seemed rather to increase than to diminish, and in 1832, he +received no less than 219 electoral votes. + +[Illustration: JACKSON] + +Let us do him justice. Prejudiced and ignorant and +wrong-headed as he was, he was a pure patriot, laboring for his +country's good. Nothing proves this more strongly than his attitude on +the nullification question, in other words, the right of a state to +refuse to obey a law of the United States, and to withdraw from the +Union, should it so desire. This is not the place to go into the +constitutional argument on this question. It is, of course, all but +certain that the original thirteen states had no idea, when they +ratified the Constitution, that they were entering an alliance from +which they would forever be powerless to withdraw; and the right of +withdrawal had been asserted in New England more than once. South +Carolina was the hot-bed of nullification sentiment, arising partly from +the growing anti-slavery feeling at the North, and partly because of the +enactment of a tariff law which was felt to be unjust, and on October +25, 1832, the South Carolina legislature passed an ordinance asserting +that, since the state had entered the Union of its free will, it could +withdraw from it at any time and resume the sovereign and independent +position which it had held at the close of the Revolution, and that it +would do so should there be any attempt to enforce the tariff laws +within the state. + +Jackson's attitude on this question was already well known. At a banquet +celebrating Jefferson's birthday, two years before, at which Calhoun and +others had given toasts and made addresses in favor of nullification, +Jackson had startled his audience by rising, glass in hand, +and giving the toast, "Our Federal Union--it must be preserved!" That +toast had fallen like a bombshell among the ranks of the nullifiers, and +had electrified the whole Nation. Since then, he had become a stronger +nationalist than ever; besides, he was always ready for a fight, and +whenever he saw a head had the true Irishman's impulse to hit it. So he +responded to the South Carolina nullification ordinance by sending two +men-of-war to Charleston harbor and collecting a force of United States +troops along the Carolina border. "I consider the power to annul a law +of the United States, assumed by one state, incompatible with the +existence of the Union," he wrote; and when a South Carolina +congressman, about to go home, asked the President if he had any +commands for his friends in that state, Jackson retorted: + +"Yes, I have; please give my compliments to my friends in your state, +and say to them that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in +opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I +can lay my hands on, engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first +tree I can reach." + +Whether or not this message was delivered history does not say, but the +whole Nation arose in wrath behind its President, state after state +denounced nullification and disunion, and the South Carolina ordinance +was finally repealed. So the storm passed for the moment. It left +Jackson more of a popular hero than ever; it was as though he had won +another battle of New Orleans. One cannot but wonder what would have +happened had he been acting as President, instead of Buchanan, in those +trying years after 1856. + +He retired from the presidency broken in health and fortune, for however +well he took care of the interests of his friends, he was always +careless about his own. The last eight years of his life were spent at +his Tennessee estate, The Hermitage. The end came in 1845, but his name +has remained as a kind of watchword among the common people--a synonym +for rugged honesty, and bluff sincerity. His career is, all in all, by +far the most remarkable of any man who ever held the high office of +President--with one possible exception, that of Abraham Lincoln. + + * * * * * + +Jackson was one of the most perfect political manipulators and +machine-builders this country ever saw, and he had so perfected his +machine at the close of his second term that he was able to name as his +successor and the heir of his policies, Martin Van Buren, of New York, a +man who had been one of Jackson's most valued lieutenants from the +first, an astute politician, but not remarkable in any way, nor able to +impress himself upon the country. He announced at his inauguration that +it was his intention, to tread in the footsteps of his "illustrious +predecessor," but none for a moment imagined that he was big enough to +fill Jackson's shoes. Indeed, Jackson, was by far the most important +figure at the inauguration. + +Van Buren's term as President witnessed nothing more +momentous than the great panic of 1837, which he faced with a calmness +and clear-sightedness surprising even to his friends, but which +nevertheless assisted a collection of malcontents, under the leadership +of Henry Clay, calling themselves National Republicans or Whigs, to +defeat him for re-election. There was really no valid reason why he +should have been re-elected; he had little claim, upon the country, but +was for the most part, merely a clever politician, the first to attain +the presidency. His life had been marked by an orderly advance from +local to state, and then to national offices--an advance obtained not +because he stood for any great principle, but because he knew how to +make friends and build his political fences. + +His nomination and election to the presidency was in no sense an +accident, as was Taylor's, Pierce's, Hayes's and Garfield's, but was +carefully prearranged and thoroughly understood. Yet let us do him the +justice to add that his public services were, in some respects, of a +high order, and that he was not wholly unworthy of the last great honor +paid him. He was a candidate for the nomination in 1844, but was +defeated by James K. Polk; and four years later, secured the nomination, +but was defeated at the polls by Zachary Taylor. That ended his +political career. + +In the campaign against him of 1840, the Whigs were fortunate in having +for their candidate William Henry Harrison, a man of immense personal +popularity, resembling Jackson in that his reputation had been made as +an Indian fighter in the West, where he had defeated Tecumseh at the +battle of Tippecanoe, and by a successful campaign in the war of 1812. +Since then, he had been living quietly on his farm in Ohio, with no +expectation of anything but passing his remaining years in quiet, for he +was nearly seventy years of age. But Clay, with a sort of prophetic +insight, picked him out as the Whig leader, and "Tippecanoe and Tyler +Too" became the rallying cry of a remarkable campaign, which swept the +country from end to end and effectually swamped Van Buren. It was too +strenuous for a man as old as Harrison, and he died at the White House +within a month of taking the oath of office. + +The "Tyler Too" was John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President, and +who assumed the office of President upon Harrison's death. His accession +was little less than a bomb-shell to the party which had nominated him +and secured his election. For he was a Virginian, a follower of Calhoun +and an ardent pro-slavery man, while the Whigs were first, last and all +the time anti-slavery. He had been placed on the ticket with Harrison, +who was strongly anti-slavery, in the hope of securing the votes of some +disaffected Democrats, but to see him President was the last thing the +Whigs desired. The result was that he soon became involved in a bitter +quarrel with Clay and the other leaders of the party, which effectually; +killed any chance of renomination he may have had. He became the mark +for perhaps the most unrestrained abuse ever aimed at a +holder of the presidency. + +It was largely unmerited, for Tyler was a capable man, had seen service +in Congress and as governor of his state; but he was dry and +uninspiring, and not big enough for the presidency, into which he could +never have come except by accident. His administration was marked by few +important events except the annexation of Texas, which will be dealt +with more particularly when we come to consider the lives of Sam Houston +and the other men who brought the annexation about. He retired to +private life at the close of his term, appearing briefly twenty years +later as a member of a "congress" which endeavored to prevent the war +between the states, and afterwards as a member of the Confederate +Congress, in which he served until his death. + +Clay secured the Whig nomination for himself, in the campaign of 1844, +and his opponent on the Democratic ticket was James Knox Polk, a native +of North Carolina, but afterwards removing to Tennessee. He had been a +member of Congress for fourteen years, and governor of Tennessee for +three, and was a consistent exponent of Democratic principles. Two great +questions were before the country: the annexation of Texas and the right +to Oregon. Polk was for the immediate annexation of Texas and for the +acquisition of Oregon up to 54 deg. 40" north latitude, regardless of Great +Britain's claims, and "Fifty-four forty or fight!" became one of the +battle-cries of the campaign. Clay, inveterate trimmer and +compromiser that he was, professed to be for the annexation of Texas, +provided it could be accomplished without war with Mexico, which was +arrant nonsense, since Mexico had given notice that she would consider +annexation an act of war. The result of Clay's attitude, and of a +widespread distrust of his policies, was that Polk was elected by a +large majority. + +His administration was destined to be a brilliant one, for Texas was at +once annexed, and the brief war with Mexico which followed, one of the +most successful ever waged by any country, carried the southwestern +boundary of the United States to the Rio Grande, and added New Mexico +and California to the national domain, while a treaty with England +secured for the country the present great state of Oregon, although here +Polk receded from his position and accepted a compromise which confined +Oregon below the forty-ninth parallel. But even this was something of a +triumph. With that triumph, the name of Marcus Whitman is most closely +associated, through a brilliant but rather useless feat of his, of which +we shall speak later on. Polk seems to have been an able and +conscientious man, without any pretensions to genius--just a good, +average man, like any one of ten thousand other Americans. He refused a +renomination because of ill-health, and died soon after retiring from +office. + +The Democratic party had by this time become hopelessly disrupted over +the slavery question, which had become more and more acute. The great +strength of the state rights party had always been in the +South, and southern statesmen had always opposed any aggression on the +part of the national government. The North, on the other hand, had +always leaned more or less toward a strong centralization of power. So +it followed that while the Democratic party was paramount in the South, +its opponents, by whatever name known, found their main strength in the +North. + +Yet, even in the North, there was a strong Democratic element, and, but +for the intrusion of the slavery question, the party would have +controlled the government for many years to come. But the North was +gradually coming to feel that the slavery question was more important +than the more abstract one of national aggression; the more so since, by +insisting upon the enforcement of such measures as the Fugitive Slave +Law, the South was, as it were, keeping open and bleeding a wound which +might to some extent have healed. In 1848 the split came, and the +Democratic party put two candidates in the field, Lewis Cass for the +South, and Martin Van Buren for the North. + +The Whig Party, taking advantage of the knowledge gained in previous +campaigns, looked around for a famous general, and managed to agree upon +Zachary Taylor, who had made an exceedingly brilliant record in the war +with Mexico. He was sixty-five years old at the time, a sturdy giant of +a man, reared on the frontier, hardened by years of Indian warfare, +whose nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" was not a bad description. He +caught the popular fancy, for he possessed those qualities +which appeal to the plain people, and this, assisted by the division in +the ranks of his opponents, won him a majority of the electoral votes. +He took the oath of office on March 4, 1849, but, after sixteen months +of troubled administration, died suddenly on July 9, 1850. + +Millard Fillmore, who had been elected Vice-President, at once took the +oath of office as chief executive. He was a New York man, a lawyer, had +been a member of Congress, and, as Vice-President, had presided over the +bitter slavery debates in the Senate. His sympathies were supposed to be +anti-slavery, yet he signed the Fugitive Slave Law, when it was placed +before him, much to the chagrin of many people who had voted for him. He +signed his own political death-warrant at the same time, for, at the +Whig National Convention in 1852, he was defeated for the nomination for +President, after a long struggle, by General Winfield Scott, another +veteran of the Mexican war. Four years later, Fillmore, having managed +to regain, the confidence of his party, secured the Whig nomination +unanimously, but was defeated at the polls, and spent the remaining +years of his life quietly at his home in Buffalo. + +Against General Scott, the Democrats nominated Franklin Scott Pierce, +the nomination being in the nature of an accident, though Pierce was in +every way a worthy candidate. His family record begins with his father, +Benjamin Pierce, who, as a lad of seventeen, stirred by the tidings of +the fight at Lexington, left his home in Chelmsford, musket +on shoulder, to join the patriot army before Boston. He settled in New +Hampshire after the Revolution, and his son Franklin was born there in +1804. He followed the usual course of lawyer, congressman and senator, +and served throughout the war with Mexico, rising to the rank of +brigadier-general, and securing a reputation second only to that of +Scott and Taylor. + +At the Democratic convention of 1852, Pierce was not a candidate for the +nomination, and did not know that any one intended to mention his name, +or even thought of him in that connection. But the convention was unable +to agree on a candidate, and on the fourth day and thirty-third ballot, +some delegate cast his vote for General Franklin Pierce, of New +Hampshire. The name attracted attention, Pierce's career had been +distinguished and above reproach, other delegates voted for him, until, +on the forty-ninth ballot, he was declared the unanimous choice of the +convention. His election was overwhelming, as he carried twenty-seven +states out of thirty-one. + +Once in the presidential chair, however, this popularity gradually +slipped away from him. He found himself in an impossible position, +between two fires, for the slavery question was dividing the country +more and more and there seemed no possible way to reconcile the warring +sections. Pierce, perhaps, made the mistake of trying to placate both, +instead of taking his stand firmly with one or the other; and the +consequence was that at the convention of 1856, he received a few votes +from courtesy, but was never seriously in the running, which resulted in +the nomination of James Buchanan. Pierce returned to his home in New +Hampshire, to find his friends and neighbors estranged from him by his +supposed pro-slavery views, which had yet not been radical enough to win +him the friendship of the South; but time changed all that, and his last +years were spent in honored and opulent retirement. + +James Buchanan was, like Andrew Jackson, of Scotch-Irish descent, but +there the resemblance between the two ended, for Buchanan had little of +Jackson's tremendous positiveness and strength of character. His +disposition was always to compromise, while Jackson's was to fight. Now +compromise is often a very admirable thing, but where it shows itself to +be impossible and leaves fighting the only resource, the wise man puts +all thought of it behind him and prepares for battle. Which is precisely +what Buchanan did not do. He had been a lawyer and congressman, minister +to Russia, senator, secretary of state and minister to England, and so +had the widest possible political acquaintanceship; he was a man of +somewhat unusual culture; but, alas! he found that something more than +culture was needed to guide him in the troublous times amid which he +fell. I have often thought that Buchanan's greatest handicap was his +wide friendship, which often made it almost impossible to say no, +however much he may have wished to do so. An unknown backwoodsman, like +Andrew Jackson, with no favors to return and no friendships to be +remembered, could have acted far more effectively. + +Buchanan's opponent for the presidency was John C. Fremont, and there +was a great stir and bustle among the people who were supposed to +support him, but Buchanan won easily, and at once found himself in the +midst of the most perplexing difficulties. Kansas was in a state of +civil war; two days after his inauguration the Supreme Court handed down +the famous Dred Scott decision, declaring the right of any slave-holder +to take his slaves as property into any territory; while the young +Republican party was siding openly with the abolitionists, and, a very +firebrand in a powder-house, in 1859, John Brown seized Harper's Ferry, +Virginia, and attempted to start a slave insurrection. Now a slave +insurrection was the one thing which the South feared more than any +other--it was the terror which was ever present. And so John Brown's mad +attempt excited a degree of hysteria almost unbelievable. + +Small wonder that Buchanan was soon at his wits' ends. His sympathies +were with the slave-holders; he doubted his right to coerce a seceding +state; his friendships were largely with southern statesmen--and yet, to +his credit be it stated, on January 8, 1860, after secession had become +a thing assured, he seems suddenly to have seen his duty clearly, and in +a special message, declared his intention to collect the revenues and +protect public property in all the states, and to use force +if necessary. Taken all in all, his attitude in those trying days was a +creditable one--as creditable as could be expected from any average man. +What the time needed was a genius, and fortunately one rose to the +occasion. Buchanan, harried and despondent, must have breathed a deep +sigh of relief when he surrendered the helm to the man who had been +chosen to succeed him--the man, by some extraordinary chance, in all the +land best fitted to steer the ship of state to safety--the man who was +to be the dominant figure of the century in American history. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +WASHINGTON, GEORGE. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22 +(old style, February 11), 1732; sent on a mission to the French beyond +the Alleghenies, 1753-54; appointed lieutenant-colonel, 1754; defeated +by the French at Fort Necessity, July 3, 1754; aide-de-camp to Braddock, +1755; commanded on the frontier, 1755-57; led the advance-guard for the +reduction of Fort Duquesne, 1758; married Martha Custis, January 9, +1759; delegate to Continental Congress, 1774-75; appointed +commander-in-chief of the continental forces, June 15, 1775; assumed +command of the army, July 3, 1775; compelled evacuation of Boston, March +17, 1776; defeated at battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776; defeated +at White Plains, October 28, 1776; surprised the British at Trenton, +December 26, 1776; won the battle of Princeton, January, 1777; defeated +at Brandywine and Germantown in 1777; at Valley Forge, during the winter +of 1777-78; won the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778; captured +Yorktown and the army of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781; resigned his +commission as commander-in-chief, December 23, 1783; president of the +Constitutional Convention, 1787; unanimously elected President of the +United States, January, 1789; inaugurated at New York, April 30, 1789; +unanimously re-elected, 1793; issued farewell address to the people, +September, 1796; retired to Mount Vernon, March, 1797; died there, +December 14, 1799. + +ADAMS, JOHN. Born at Braintree, now Quincy, Massachusetts, October 30, +1735; graduated at Harvard, 1755; studied law, took a leading part in +opposing Stamp Act, was counsel for the British soldiers charged with +murder in connection with the "Boston massacre" in 1770, and became a +leader of the patriot party; member of Revolutionary Congress of +Massachusetts, 1774; delegate to first and second Continental Congress, +1774-75; commissioner to France, 1777; negotiated treaties with the +Netherlands, Great Britain and Prussia, 1782-83; minister to London, +1785-88; Federal Vice-President, 1789-97; President, 1797-1801; defeated +for re-election and retired to Quincy, 1801; died there, July 4, 1886. + +JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April +2, 1743; member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1769-75, and +1776-78, and of the Continental Congress, 1775-76; drafted Declaration +of Independence, 1776; governor of Virginia, 1779-81; member of +Congress, 1783-84; minister to France, 1784-89; secretary of state, +1789-93; Vice-President, 1797-1801; President, 1801-09; died at +Monticello, Albemarle County, Virginia, July 4, 1826. + +MADISON, JAMES. Born at Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751; +graduated at Princeton, 1771; delegate to Congress, 1780-83, and to the +Constitutional Convention, 1787; member of Congress, 1789-97; secretary +of state, 1801-09; President, 1809-1817; died at Montpelier, Orange +County, Virginia, June 28, 1836. + +MONROE, JAMES. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758; +member of Virginia assembly, 1782; member of Congress, 1783-86; United +States senator, 1790-94; minister to France, 1794-96; governor of +Virginia, 1799-1802; minister to Great Britain, 1803-07; secretary of +state, 1811-17; President, 1817-25, an administration, known as "the era +of good feeling"; died at New York City, July 4, 1831. + +ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY. Born at Braintree, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767; +graduated at Harvard, 1788; admitted to the bar, 1791; minister to the +Netherlands, 1794-97; and to Prussia, 1797-1801; United States senator, +1803-08; minister to Russia, 1809-14; minister to England, 1815-17; +secretary of state, 1817-25; President, 1825-29; member of Congress, +1831-48; died at Washington, February 23, 1848. + +JACKSON, ANDREW. Born at the Waxham settlement, North Carolina (?), +March 15, 1767; member of Congress, 1796-97; United States senator, +1797-98; justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1798-1804; defeated +the Creeks at Talladega, 1813, and at Horseshoe Bend, 1814; captured +Pensacola from the English, 1814; won the battle of New Orleans, January +8, 1815; commanded against the Seminoles, 1817-18; governor of Florida, +1821; United States senator, 1823-25; defeated for President by J.Q. +Adams, 1824; President, 1829-37; died at the Hermitage, near +Nashville, Tennessee, June 8, 1845. + +VAN BUREN, MARTIN. Born at Kinderhook, New York, December 5, 1782; +admitted to the bar, 1803; entered New York State Senate, 1812; United +States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29; secretary of +state, 1829-31; Vice-President, 1833-37; President, 1837-41; defeated +for President, 1840, 1844, 1848; died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862. + +HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Berkeley, Charles City County, +Virginia, February 9, 1773; governor of Indiana Territory, 1801-13; won +victory of Tippecanoe, 1811, and of the Thames, 1813; member of +Congress, 1816-19; United States senator, 1825-28; minister to Colombia, +1828-29; defeated for Presidency, 1836; elected President in the +"log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign, 1840; inaugurated, March 4, 1841; +died at Washington, April 4, 1841. + +TYLER, JOHN. Born at Greenway, Charles City County, Virginia, March 29, +1790; admitted to the bar, 1809; member of Virginia legislature, +1811-16; member of Congress, 1816-21; governor of Virginia, 1825-27; +United States senator, 1827-36; elected Vice-President, 1840, and +succeeded to Presidency on the death of General Harrison, April 4, 1841; +president of the peace convention of 1861, favored secession and served +as member of the Confederate provisional Congress; died at Richmond, +Virginia, January 18, 1862. + +POLK, JAMES KNOX. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, November +2, 1795; admitted to the bar, 1820; member of Congress, +1825-39; speaker of the House of Representatives, 1835-39; governor of +Tennessee, 1839-41; President, 1845-49; died at Nashville, Tennessee, +June 15, 1849. + +TAYLOR, ZACHARY. Born in Orange County, Virginia, September 24, 1784; +entered the army as first lieutenant, 1808; served in War of 1812, +attaining rank of major; served in Black Hawk's war, 1832, with rank of +colonel; defeated Seminole Indians, 1837; commander-in-chief of Florida, +1838; took command of the army in Texas, 1845; won battle of Palo Alto, +May 8, 1846, and that of Reseca de la Palma, May 9, 1846; captured +Matamoras, May 18, and Monterey, September 24, 1846; defeated Santa Anna +at Buena Vista, February 22-23, 1847; appointed major-general, June 29, +1846; elected President, 1848; inaugurated, March 4, 1849; died at +Washington, July 9, 1850. + +FILLMORE, MILLARD. Born at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, January +7, 1800; admitted to the bar, 1823; member of New York State +legislature, 1829-31; member of Congress, 1833-35, 1837-43; elected +Vice-President, 1848, and succeeded to presidency on the death of +Taylor, July 9, 1850; died at Buffalo, New York, March 8, 1874. + +PIERCE, FRANKLIN. Born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, +1804; member of Congress, 1833-37; United States senator, 1837-42; +served with distinction in Mexican war; President, 1853-57; died at +Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, 1869. + +BUCHANAN, JAMES. Born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, +April 22, 1791; member of Congress, 1821-31; minister to +Russia, 1831-33; United States senator, 1833-45; secretary of state, +1845-49; minister to Great Britain, 1853-56; President, 1857-61; died at +Wheatland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1868. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LINCOLN AND HIS SUCCESSORS + + +And so we have come down through the years to Abraham Lincoln--that +patient and gentle man whose memory ranks with Washington's as America's +priceless heritage. A blessing and an inspiration--a mystery, too; an +enigma among men, lonely and impressive; not fully understood nor +understandable to the depths of that great heart of his; not fully +explainable, for what strange power was it lifted that ignorant, +ill-bred, uncouth, backwoods boy to a station among the stars? + +Seldom has any man who started so low mounted so high. Abraham Lincoln's +early life was of the most miserable description. His father, Thomas +Lincoln, was a worthless rover; his mother, Nancy Hanks, was of a "poor +white" Virginia family with an unenviable record. His birthplace was a +squalid log cabin in Washington County, Kentucky. His surroundings were +such as are commonly encountered in a coarse, low, ignorant, +poverty-stricken family. His father was at the very bottom of the social +scale, so ignorant he could scarcely write his name. His mother +inherited the shiftlessness and carelessness which is part and parcel of +"poor white." These things are incontestable, they must be looked in +the face. And yet, in spite of them, in spite of such a handicap as few +other great men even approximated, Abraham Lincoln emerged to be the +leader of a race. + +In 1816, Thomas Lincoln decided he would remove to Indiana. Abraham was +at that time seven years old, and for a year after the removal, the +family lived in what was called a "half-faced camp," fourteen feet +square--that is to say, a covered shed of three sides, the fourth side +being open to the weather. Then the family achieved the luxury of a +cabin, but a cabin without floor or door or window. Amid this +wretchedness, Lincoln's mother died, and was laid away in a rough coffin +of slabs at the edge of the little clearing. Three months later, a +passing preacher read the funeral service above the grave. + +Thomas Lincoln soon married again and, strangely enough, made a wise +choice, for his new wife not only possessed furniture enough to fill a +four-horse wagon, but, what was of more importance, was endowed with a +thrifty and industrious temperament. That she should have consented to +marry the ne'er-do-well is a mystery; perhaps he was not without his +redeeming virtues, after all. She made him put a floor and windows in +his cabin, and she was a better mother to his children than their real +one had ever been. For the first time, young Abraham got some idea of +the comforts and decencies of life, and, as his step-mother put it, +"began to look a little human." He was not an attractive object, even at +best, for he was lanky and clumsy, with great hands and feet, and a +skin prematurely wrinkled and shrivelled. By the time he was seventeen, +he was six feet tall, and he soon added two more inches to his stature. +Needless to say, his clothes never caught up with him, but were always +too small. + +His schooling was of the most meagre description; in fact, in his whole +life, he went to school less than one year. Yet there soon awakened +within the boy a trace of unusual spirit. He actually liked to read. He +saw few books, but such as he could lay his hands on, he read over and +over. That one fact alone set him apart at once from the other boys of +his class. To them reading was an irksome labor. + +All this reading had its effect. He acquired a vocabulary. That is to +say, instead of the few hundred words which were all the other boys knew +by which to express their thoughts, he soon had twice as many; besides +that, he soon got a reputation as a wit and story-teller, and his +command of words made him fond of speechmaking. He resembled most boys +in liking to "show off." He had learned, too, that there were comforts +in the world which he need never look for in his father's house, and so, +as soon as he was of age, he left that unattractive dwelling-place and +struck out for himself, making a livelihood in various ways--by +splitting rails, running a river boat, managing a store, enlisting for +the Black Hawk war--doing anything, in a word, that came to hand and +would serve to put a little money in his pocket. He came to know a great +many people and so, in 1832, he proclaimed himself a candidate for the +state legislature for Sangamon County, Illinois, where he had made his +home for some years. No doubt to most people, his candidacy must have +seemed in the nature of a joke, and though he stumped the county +thoroughly and entertained the crowds with his stories and flashes of +wit, he was defeated at the polls. + +That episode ended, he returned to store-keeping; but he had come to see +that the law was the surest road to political preferment, and so he +spent such leisure as he had in study, and in 1836 was admitted to the +bar. As has been remarked before, the requirements for admission were +anything but prohibitory, most lawyers sharing the oft-quoted opinion of +Patrick Henry that the only way to learn law was to practise it. Lincoln +decided to establish himself at Springfield, opened an office there, and +for the next twenty years, practised law with considerable success, +riding from one court to another, and gradually extending his circle of +acquaintances. He even became prosperous enough to marry, and in 1842, +after a courtship of the most peculiar description, married a Miss Mary +Todd--a young woman somewhat above him in social station, and possessed +of a sharp tongue and uncertain temper which often tried him severely. + +It was inevitable, of course, that he should become interested again in +politics, and he threw in his fortunes with the Whig Party, serving two +or three terms in the state legislature and one in Congress. All of this +did much to temper and chasten his native coarseness and uncouthness, +but he was still just an average lawyer and politician, with no evidence +of greatness about him, and many evidences of commonness. Then, +suddenly, in 1858, he stood forth as a national figure, in a contest +with one of the most noteworthy men in public life, Stephen A. Douglas. + +Douglas was an aggressive, tireless and brilliant political leader, the +acknowledged head of the Democratic party, and had represented Illinois +in the Senate for many years. He had a great ambition to be President, +had missed the nomination in 1852 and 1856, but was determined to secure +it in 1860, and was carefully building to that end. His term as senator +expired in 1858, and his re-election seemed essential to his success. Of +his re-election he had no doubt, for Illinois had always been a +Democratic state, though it was becoming somewhat divided in opinion. +The southern part was largely pro-slavery, but the northern part, +including the rapidly-growing city of Chicago, was inclined the other +way. This division of opinion made Douglas's part an increasingly +difficult one, for pro-slave and anti-slave sentiment were as +irreconcilable as fire and water. + +Lincoln, meanwhile, had been active in the formation of the new +Republican party in the state, had made a number of strong speeches, +and, on June 16, 1858, the Republican convention resolved that: "Hon. +Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States senator +to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. +Douglas's term of office." A month later, Lincoln challenged Douglas to +a series of joint debates. Douglas at once accepted, never doubting his +ability to overwhelm his obscure opponent, and the famous duel began +which was to rivet national attention and give Lincoln a national +prominence. + +The challenge on Lincoln's part was a piece of superb generalship. In +such a contest, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Whatever +the result, the fact that he had crossed swords with so renowned a man +as Stephen A. Douglas would give him a kind of reflected glory. But in +addition to that, he had the better side of the question. His course was +simple; he was seeking the support of anti-slavery people; Douglas's +task was much more complex, for he wished to offend neither northern nor +southern Democrats, and he soon found himself offending both. To carry +water on both shoulders is always a risky thing to attempt, and Douglas +soon found himself fettered by the awkward position he was forced to +maintain; while Lincoln, free from any such handicap, could strike with +all his strength. + +His stand from the first was a bold one--so bold that many of his +followers regarded it with consternation and disapproval. In his speech +accepting the nomination, he had said, "I believe this government cannot +endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all one +thing or all the other," and he pursued this line of argument in the +debates alleging that the purpose of the pro-slavery men was to make +slavery perpetual and universal, and pointing to recent history in +proof of the assertion. When asked by Douglas whether he considered the +negro his equal, he answered: "In the right to eat the bread which his +own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the +equal of every living man." He was not an abolitionist, and declared +more than once that he had "no purpose, directly or indirectly, to +interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it +exists," that he had "no lawful right to do so," but only to prohibit it +in "any new country which is not already cursed with the actual presence +of the evil." + +Even so skillful a debater as Douglas soon found himself hard put to it +to answer Lincoln's arguments, without offending one or the other of the +powerful factions whose support he must have to reach the presidency. At +the beginning, his experience and adroitness gave him an advantage, +which, however, Lincoln's earnestness and directness soon overcame. Tens +of thousands of people gathered to hear the debates, they were printed +from end to end of the country, and Lincoln loomed larger than ever +before the nation; but so far as the immediate result was concerned, +Douglas was the victor, for the election gave him a majority of the +legislature, and he was chosen to succeed himself in the Senate. + +Yet more than once he must have regretted that he had consented to cross +swords with his lank opponent, for he had been forced into many an +awkward corner. There is a popular tradition that the presidential +nomination came to Lincoln unsought; but this is anything but true. On +the contrary, in those debates with Douglas, he was consciously laying +the foundation for his candidacy two years later. He used every effort +to drive Douglas to admissions and statements which would tell against +him in a presidential campaign, while he himself took a position which +would insure his popularity with the Republican party. So his defeat at +the time was of no great moment to him. + +He had gained an entrance to the national arena, and he took care to +remain before the public. He made speeches in Ohio, in Kansas, and even +in New York and throughout New England, everywhere making a powerful +impression. To disunion and secession he referred only once or twice, +for he perceived a truth which, even yet, some of us are reluctant to +admit: that every nation has a right to maintain by force, if it can, +its own integrity, and that a portion of a nation may sometimes be +justified in struggling for independent national existence. The whole +justification of such a struggle lies in whether its cause and basis is +right or wrong. So, beneath the question of disunion, was the question +as to whether slavery was right or wrong. On this question, of course, +northern opinion was practically all one way, while even in the South +there were many enemies of the institution. The world was outgrowing +what was really a survival of the dark ages. + +When the campaign for the presidential nomination opened in the winter +of 1859-1860, Lincoln was early in the field and did everything possible +to win support. He secured the Illinois delegates without difficulty, +and when the national convention met at Chicago, in May, the contest +soon narrowed down to one between Lincoln and William H. Seward. Let it +be said, at once, that Seward deserved the nomination, if high service +and party loyalty and distinguished ability counted for anything, and it +looked for a time as though he were going to get it, for on the first +ballot he received 71 more votes than Lincoln. But in the course of his +public career he had made enemies who were anxious for his defeat, his +campaign managers were too confident or too clumsy to take advantage of +opportunity; Lincoln's friends were busy, and by some expert trading, of +which, be it said in justice to Lincoln, he himself was ignorant, +succeeded in securing for him a majority of the votes on the third +ballot. + +So, blindly and almost by chance, was the nomination secured of the one +man fitted to meet the crisis. The only other event in American history +to be compared with it in sheer wisdom was the selection of Washington +to head the Revolutionary army--a selection made primarily, not because +of Washington's fitness for the task, but to heal sectional differences +and win the support of the South to a war waged largely in the North. + +The nomination, so curiously made, was received with anything but +enthusiasm by the country at large. "Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter," +might appeal to some, but there was a general doubt whether, after all, +rail-splitting, however honorable in itself, was the best training for +a President. However, the anti-slavery feeling was a tie that bound +together people of the most diverse opinions about other things, and a +spirited canvass was made, greatly assisted by the final and suicidal +split in the ranks of the Democracy, which placed in nomination two men, +Lincoln's old antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, representing the northern +or moderate element of the party, and John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, +representing the southern, or extreme pro-slavery element. And this was +just the corner into which Lincoln had hoped, all along, to drive his +opponents. Had the party been united, he would have been hopelessly +defeated, for in the election which followed, he received only a little +more than one third of the popular vote; but this was sufficient to give +him the northern states, with 180 electoral votes. But let us remember +that, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was the choice for President of very much +less than half the people of the country. + +The succeeding four months witnessed the peculiar spectacle of the South +leisurely completing its arrangements for secession, and perfecting its +civil and military organization, while the North, under a discredited +ruler of whom it could not rid itself until March 4th, was unable to +make any counter-preparation or to do anything to prevent the diversion +of a large portion of the arms and munitions of the country into the +southern states. It gave the southern leaders, too, opportunity to work +upon the feelings of their people, more than half of whom, in the fall +of 1860, were opposed to disunion. It should not be forgotten that, +however fully the South came afterwards to acquiesce in the policy of +secession, it was, in its inception, a plan of the politicians, +undertaken, to a great extent, for purposes of self-aggrandizement. They +controlled the conventions which, in every case except that of Texas, +decided whether or not the state should secede. "We can make better +terms out of the Union than in it," was a favorite argument, and many of +them dreamed of the establishment of a great slave empire, in which they +would play the leading parts. + +To the southern leaders, then, the election of Lincoln was the striking +of the appointed hour for rebellion. South Carolina led the way, +declaring, on December 17, 1860, that the "Union now subsisting between +South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of +America, is hereby dissolved." Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, +Louisiana and Texas followed. Opinion at the North was divided as to the +proper course to follow. Horace Greeley, in the New York _Tribune_, +said that the South had as good a right to secede from the Union as the +colonies had to secede from Great Britain, and, as Greeley afterwards +observed, the _Tribune_ had plenty of company in these sentiments. +Meanwhile the Southern Confederacy had been formed, Jefferson Davis +elected President, and steps taken at once for the organization of an +army. + +Everyone was waiting anxiously for the inauguration of the new +President--waiting to see what his course would be. They were not left +long in doubt. His inaugural address was earnest and direct. He said, +"The union of these States is perpetual. No State upon its own mere +motion can lawfully get out of the Union. I shall take care that the +laws of the Union are faithfully executed in all the States." It was, in +effect, a declaration of war, and was so received by the South. Whether +or not it was the constitutional attitude need not concern us now. + +The story of Lincoln's life for the next five years is the story of the +Civil War. How Lincoln grew and broadened in those fateful years, how he +won men by his deep humanity, his complete understanding, his ready +sympathy; how, once having undertaken the task of conquering rebellion, +he never faltered nor turned back despite the awful sacrifices which the +conflict demanded; all this has passed into the commonplaces of history. +No man ever had a harder task, and no other man could have accomplished +it so well. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN] + +The emancipation of the slaves, which has loomed so large in history, +was in reality, merely an incident, a war measure, taken to weaken the +enemy and justifiable, perhaps, only on that ground; the preliminary +proclamation, indeed, proposed to liberate the slaves only in such +states as were in rebellion on the following first of January. Nor did +emancipation create any great popular enthusiasm. The congressional +elections which followed it showed a great reaction against +anti-slavery. The Democrats carried Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, +Illinois. For a time the administration was fighting for its life, +and won by an alarmingly small margin. + +Before the year had elapsed, however, there was a great reversal in +public opinion, and at the succeeding election, Lincoln received 212 out +of 233 electoral votes. The end of the Confederacy was by this time in +sight. A month after his second inauguration, Richmond fell, and five +days later, Lee surrendered his army to General Grant. Lincoln at once +paid a visit to Richmond and then returned to Washington for the last +act of the drama. + +The fourteenth of April was Good Friday, and the President arranged to +take a small party to Ford's theatre to witness a performance of a farce +comedy called "Our American Cousin." The President entered his box about +nine o'clock and was given a tumultuous reception. Then the play went +forward quietly, until suddenly the audience was startled by a pistol +shot, followed by a woman's scream. At the same instant, a man was seen +to leap from the President's box to the stage. Pausing only to wave a +dagger which he carried in his hand and to shout, "Sic semper tyrannis!" +the man disappeared behind the scenes. Amid the confusion, no efficient +pursuit was made. The President had been shot through the head, the +bullet passing through the brain. Unconsciousness, of course, came +instantly, and death followed in a few hours. + +Eleven days later, the murderer, an actor by the name of John Wilkes +Booth, was surrounded in a barn where he had taken refuge; he refused to +come out, and the barn was set on fire. Soon afterwards, the assassin +was brought forth with a bullet at the base of his brain, whether fired +by himself or one of the besieging soldiers was never certainly known. + +It is startling to contemplate the fearful responsibility which Booth +assumed when he fired that shot. So far from benefiting the South, he +did it incalculable harm, for the North was thoroughly aroused by the +deed. Thousands and thousands flocked to see the dead President as he +lay in state at the Capitol, and in the larger cities in which his +funeral procession paused on its way to his home in Springfield. The +whole country was in mourning, as for its father; business was +practically suspended, and the people seemed stunned by the great +calamity. That so gentle a man should have been murdered wakened, deep +down in the heart of the North, a fierce resentment; the feelings of +kindliness for a vanquished foe were, for the moment, swept away in +anger; and the North turned upon the South with stern face and shining +eyes. The wild and foolish assassin brought down upon the heads of his +own people such a wrath as the great conflict had not awakened. We shall +see how bitter was the retribution. + +Not then so fully as now was Lincoln's greatness understood. He has come +to personify for us the triumphs and glories, the sadness and the +pathos, of the great struggle which he guided. His final martyrdom seems +almost a fitting crown for his achievements. It has, without doubt, done +much to secure him the exalted niche which he occupies in the hearts of +the American people, whom, in a way, he died to save. Had he lived +through the troubled period of Reconstruction which followed, he might +have emerged with a fame less clear and shining; and yet the hand which +guided the country through four years of Civil War, was without doubt +the one best fitted to save it from the misery and disgrace which lay in +store for it. But speculations as to what might have been are vain and +idle. What was, we know; and above the clouds of conflict, Lincoln's +figure looms, serene and venerable. Two of his own utterances reveal him +as the words of no other man can--his address on the battlefield of +Gettysburg, and his address at his second inauguration--but two months +after he was laid to rest, James Russell Lowell, at the services in +commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of Harvard College, +paid him one of the most eloquent tributes ever paid any man, concluding +with the words: + +"Great captains, with their guns and drums; + Disturb our judgment for the hour, +But at last silence comes; + These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, +Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man; +Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame; + New birth of our new soil, the first American." + +On the ticket with Lincoln, the Republicans had placed, as a sop to such +pro-slavery sentiment as still existed at the North, a southerner and +state rights Democrat named Andrew Johnson. By one of those singular +chances of history, Johnson's origin and early years had been very much +like Lincoln's. He, too, was born of a "poor white" family; first seeing +the light in North Carolina about six weeks before Abraham Lincoln +opened his eyes in that rude log cabin in Kentucky. His condition was, +if anything, even more hopeless and degraded than Lincoln's, and if any +one had prophesied that these two ignorant and poverty-stricken children +would one day rise, side by side, to the greatest position in the +Republic, he would have been regarded, and justly, as a hopeless madman. +But not even to a madman did any such wild idea occur. "Poor whites" +were despised throughout the South, even by the slaves; if there was, in +the whole United States, any law of caste, it was against these ignorant +and shiftless people; and Andrew Johnson, at the age of fifteen, was +little better than a young savage. He had never gone to school, he had +never seen a book. But one day, he heard a man reading aloud, and the +wonder of it quickened a new purpose within him. He induced a friend to +teach him the alphabet, and then, borrowing the book, he laboriously +taught himself to read. So there was something more than "poor white" in +him, after all. + +By the time he was eighteen, he had had enough of his shiftless +surroundings, and struck out for himself, journeyed across the mountains +to Greenville, Tennessee, met there a girl of sixteen named Eliza +McCardle, and, with youth's sublime improvidence, married her! As it +happened, he did well, for his wife had a fair education, and night +after night taught him patiently, until he could read fairly well and +write a little. I like to think of that family group, so different from +most, and to admire that girl-wife teaching her husband the rudiments of +education. + +Already, as a result of his lowly birth and the class prejudice he +everywhere encountered, young Johnson had conceived that hatred of the +ruling class at the South which was to influence his after life so +deeply. He had a certain rude eloquence which appealed to the lower +classes of the people, and, in 1835, succeeded in gaining an election to +the state legislature. He nursed his political prospects carefully, and +eight years later, was sent to Congress. He was afterwards twice +governor of Tennessee. + +It has been said that secession was, in the beginning, a policy of the +ruling class in the South and not of the people. It is not surprising, +then, that Johnson should have arrayed himself against it, and fought it +with all his might. This position made him so prominent, that on March +4, 1862, Lincoln appointed him military-governor of Tennessee--a +position which was exactly to Johnson's taste and which he filled well. +In this position, he seemed the embodiment of the Union element of the +South, and at their national convention in 1864, the Republicans decided +that the President's policy of reconstruction for the South would be +greatly aided by the presence of a southern man on the ticket, and +Johnson was thereupon chosen for the office of Vice-President. On the +same day that Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time, Johnson took +the oath of office in the Senate chamber, and delivered a speech which +created a sensation. He declared, in effect, that Tennessee had never +been out of the Union, that she was electing representatives who would +soon mingle with their brothers from the North at Washington, and that +she was entitled to every privilege which the northern states enjoyed. + +Three hours after the death of the President, Andrew Johnson took the +oath of office as his successor, but he was regarded with suspicion at +both North and South--at the North, because he was believed to be at +heart pro-slavery; at the South because of his well-known animosity +toward the aristocratic and ruling class. He was also known to be +stubborn, high-tempered and intemperate, and he and Congress were soon +at sword's point. Johnson was of the opinion that the question of +suffrage for the negroes should be left to the several states; a +majority of Congress were determined to exact this for their own +protection. This was embodied in the so-called Civil Rights Bill, +conferring citizenship upon colored men. It was promptly vetoed by the +President, and was passed over his veto; soon afterwards the fourteenth +amendment was passed, conferring the suffrage upon all citizens of the +United States without regard to color or previous condition of +servitude. It also was vetoed, and passed over the veto. Johnson was +hailed as a traitor by Republicans, and the campaign against him +culminated in his impeachment by Congress early in 1868. The trial +which followed was the most bitter in the history of the Senate, but +Andrew Johnson was acquitted by the failure of the prosecution to secure +the two-thirds vote necessary for conviction by a single vote, +thirty-five senators voting for conviction and nineteen for acquittal. + +Johnson's friends were jubilant, but his power had vanished. The seceded +states one by one came back into the Union in accordance with the +Reconstruction act which Johnson had vetoed. He failed of the nomination +on the Democratic ticket, and after the inauguration of his successor, +at once returned to his old home in Tennessee. There he attempted to +secure the nomination for United States senator, but his influence was +gone and he was defeated. So ended his public life. + +It has been rather the fashion to picture Johnson, as an intemperate and +bull-headed ignoramus, but such a characterization is far from fair. But +for Lincoln's assassination, some such policy of reconstruction as +Johnson advocated would probably have been carried out, instead of the +policy of fanatics like Thaddeus Stevens, which left the South a prey to +the carpet-bagger and the ignorant negro for over a decade. Johnson +himself might have accomplished more if he had been of a less violent +disposition; but he was ignorant of diplomacy, incapable of compromise, +and so was worsted in the fight. However we may disagree with his policy +and dislike his character, let us at least not forget that picture of +the "poor white" boy teaching himself to read; and that other of the +girl-wife patiently instructing him in the rudiments of writing. + + * * * * * + +A successful war inevitably gives to its commanders a tremendous popular +prestige. We have seen how the battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson +a national hero, how William Henry Harrison loomed large after the +battle of Tippecanoe, and how Zachary Taylor was chosen President as a +result of his victories in Mexico. The country was now to undergo +another period of military domination, longer lived than those others, +as the Civil War was greater than them--a period from which it has even +yet not fully recovered. + +In 1868, the Republican party nominated unanimously for President the +general who had pushed the war to a successful finish, and who had +received Lee's surrender, Ulysses Simpson Grant, and he was elected by +an overwhelming majority. For the first time in the history of the +country, a man had been elected President without regard to his +qualifications for the office, for even Jackson had had many years' +experience in public affairs. Of such qualifications, Grant had very +few. He was egotistical, a poor judge of men, without experience in +statesmanship, and unwilling to submit to guidance. As a result, his +administration was marked by inefficiency and extravagance, and ended in +a swirl of scandal. + +Born in Ohio in 1822, and graduated at West Point, he had served through +the war with Mexico, resigned from the army, remained in obscurity for +six years, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to support +himself in civil life, and entered the army again at the outbreak of the +Civil War. From the first he was successful more than any other of the +Union generals, not so much because of military genius as from a certain +tenacity of purpose with which he fairly wore out the enemy. But a +people discouraged by reverses were not disposed to inquire too closely +into the reason of his victories, and early in 1864, after a brilliant +campaign along the Mississippi, he had been appointed commander-in-chief +of the Union army, and began that series of operations against Richmond +which cost the North so dear, but which resulted in the fall of the +capital of the Confederacy and in Lee's surrender. + +A bearded, square-jawed, silent man, he caught the public fancy by two +messages, the one of "Unconditional surrender," with which he had +answered the demand for terms on the part of the Confederates whom he +had entrapped in Fort Donelson; the other, the famous: "I propose to +fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," with which he +started his campaign in the Wilderness. Both were characteristic, and if +Grant had retired from public life at the close of the Civil War, or had +been content to remain commander-in-chief of the army of the United +States, his fame would probably have been brighter than it is to-day. + +His training, such as it was, had been wholly military and his inaugural +address showed his profound ignorance of the work which lay before +him--an ignorance all the more profound and unreachable because of his +serene unconsciousness of it. He fell at once an easy prey to political +demagogues, and before the close of his first administration, +demoralization was widespread throughout the government. A large portion +of the Republican party, realizing his unfitness for the office, opposed +his renomination, and when they saw his nomination was inevitable, broke +away and named a ticket of their own, but Grant's victory was a sweeping +one. + +With this stamp of public approval, the boodlers became bolder and great +scandals followed, involving many members of Congress and even some +members of the cabinet, but not the President himself, of whose personal +honesty there was never any doubt, and in 1873, came the worst panic the +country had ever experienced. A political reaction followed, and in 1874 +the Democrats carried the country, gaining the House of Representatives +by a majority of nearly a hundred. + +Following his retirement from office in 1877, Grant made a tour of the +world, returning in 1879, to be again a candidate for the presidency, +and coming very near to getting the nomination. It was characteristic of +the man's egotism that, even yet, he did not realize his unfitness for +the office, but thought himself great enough to disregard the precedent +which Washington had established. He lived five years longer, the last +years of his life rendered miserable by cancer of the throat, which +finally killed him. + +In the summer of 1876, the Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, +at that time Governor of Ohio, as their candidate for President--a +nomination which was a surprise to the country, which had confidently +expected that of James G. Blaine. Hayes was by no means a national +figure, although he had served in the Union army, had been in Congress, +and, as has been said, was governor of Ohio at the time of his +nomination. Nor was he a man of more than very ordinary ability, +upright, honest, and mediocre. The Democratic candidate was Samuel J. +Tilden, a political star of the first magnitude, and the contest which +followed was unprecedented in American history. + +Tilden received a popular majority of half a million votes, and 184 +electoral votes, out of the 185 necessary to elect, without counting the +votes from Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, all of which he had +carried on the face of the returns. The Republicans disputed the vote in +these states, however, and by the inexorable use of party machinery and +carpet-bag government, declared Hayes elected. For a time, so manifest +was the partisan bias of this decision, the country seemed on the verge +of another Civil War, but Tilden led in wiser council, and Hayes was +permitted to take his seat. It is the only instance in a national +election where the will of the people at the polls has been defied and +overridden. + +Hayes was a sincere and honest man, and he felt keenly the cloud which +the manner of his election cast over his administration. He was never +popular with his party, and no doubt he felt that the debt he owed it +for getting him his seat was a doubtful one. His administration was +noteworthy principally because he destroyed the last vestiges of +carpet-bag government in the South, and left the southern states to work +out their own destiny unhampered. He was not even considered for a +renomination, and spent the remainder of his life quietly in his Ohio +home. + +Hayes's successor was another so-called "dark horse," that is, a man of +minor importance, whose nomination, was due to the fact that the party +leaders could not agree upon any of the more prominent candidates. They +were Grant, Blaine and John Sherman, and after thirty-five ballots, it +was evident that a "dark horse" must be found. The choice fell upon +James Abram Garfield, who was not prominent enough to have made any +enemies, and who was as astonished as was the country at large when it +heard the news. + +Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831, in a little log cabin and to a +position in the world not greatly different to Lincoln's. While laboring +at various rough trades, he succeeded in preparing himself for college, +worked his way through, got into politics, served through the Civil War, +and later for eighteen years in Congress, where he made a creditable but +by no means brilliant record. He was elected President by a small +majority, and enraged the many enemies of James G. Blaine by selecting +that astute politician as his secretary of state. One of these, a +rattle-brained New Yorker named Charles J. Guiteau, approached the +President on July 2, 1881, as he was waiting at a railroad station in +Washington, about to start on a journey, and shot him through the body. +Death followed, after a painful struggle, two months later. + +Obscure, in a sense, as Garfield had been, the man who succeeded him was +immeasurably more so. Chester Alan Arthur was a successful New York +lawyer, who had dabbled in politics and held some minor appointive +offices, his selection as Vice-President being due to the desire of the +Republican managers to throw a sop to the Empire State. His +administration, however, while marked by no great or stirring event, was +for the most part wise and conservative, but James G. Blaine had by this +time secured complete control of the party, and Arthur had no chance for +the nomination for President. He died of apoplexy within two years of +his retirement. + + * * * * * + +The Republican party had been supreme in the national government for a +quarter of a century, and there seemed no reason to doubt that Blaine, +its candidate in the campaign of 1884, would at last realize his +consuming ambition to be elected President. He had an immense personal +prestige, he had outlived the taint of corruption attached to him during +the administration of Grant, and he had for years been preparing and +strengthening himself for this contest. So he entered it confidently. + +But a new issue had arisen--that of the protective tariff, which, +originally a war revenue measure, had been formally adopted as a +principle of Republicanism, which was hailed by its adherents as a new +and brilliant economic device for enriching everybody at nobody's +expense, and which had really enriched a few at the expense of the many. +The Democrats, with considerable hesitation and ambiguity, pronounced +against it, arraigned the Republican party for corruption, and named as +their nominee Grover Cleveland, of New York. + +Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837, the son of a clergyman whose +early death threw him upon his own resources. He started west in search +of employment, stopped at Buffalo, and afterwards made it his home. He +studied law while working as a clerk and copyist, was admitted to the +bar in 1859, and in the late seventies was elected mayor of Buffalo on a +reform ticket. Almost at once, the country's eyes were fastened upon +him. Elected as a reform mayor, he continued to be one after his +induction into office. He actually seemed to think that the promises and +pledges made by him during his campaign were still binding upon him, and +astounded the politicians by proceeding to carry those promises out. So +scathing were the veto messages he sent in, one after another, to a +corrupt council, that they awakened admiration and respect even among +his opponents. The messages, written in the plainest of plain English, +aroused the people of the city to the way in which they had been robbed +by dishonest officials, they rallied behind him, and his reputation was +made. In 1882, his party wanted a reform candidate for governor, and +they naturally turned to Cleveland, and he was elected by a plurality of +two hundred thousand. + +He found the same condition of things on a larger scale at Albany as at +Buffalo--a corrupt machine paying political debts with public money--and +here, again, he showed the same astonishing regard for pre-election +pledges, the same belief in his famous declaration that "a public office +is a public trust," and bill after bill was vetoed, while the people +applauded. And with every veto came a message stating its reasons in +language which did not mince words and which all could understand. He +showed himself not only to be entirely beyond the control of the +political machine of his own party, but also to possess remarkable moral +courage, and he became naturally and inevitably the Democratic candidate +for President, since the Democratic platform was in the main an +arraignment of Republican corruption and moral decay. The campaign which +followed was a bitter one; but Blaine had estranged a large portion of +his party, he made a number of bad blunders, and Cleveland was elected. +The old party founded by Jefferson, which, beginning with Jefferson's +administration, had ruled the country uninterruptedly for forty years, +was returned to power, and on an issue which would have delighted +Jefferson's heart. + +Much to the dismay and disappointment of the politicians, the new +President made no clean sweep of Republican officeholders. He took the +unheard-of ground that, in the public service, as in any other, good +work merited advancement, no matter what the politics of the individual +might be. He made some changes, as a matter of course, but he was from +the first sturdily in favor of civil service reform. It is worth +remarking that a Democratic President was the first to take a decided +stand against the principle of "to the victors belong the spoils," first +put into practice by another Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, over +fifty years before. + +His stand, too, on the pension question was startling in its audacity. +The shadow of the Civil War still hung over the country; the soldiers +who had served in that war had formed themselves into a great, +semi-political organization, known as the Grand Army of the Republic, +and worked unceasingly for increased pensions, which Congress had found +itself unable to refuse. More than that, the members of Congress were in +the habit of passing hundreds of special bills, giving pensions to men +whose claims had been rejected by the pension department, as not coming +within the law. Cleveland took the stand that, unless the soldier had +been disabled by the war, he had no just claim to government support, +and he vetoed scores of private pension bills, many of which were shown +to be fraudulent. + +In other ways, his remarkable strength of personality soon became +apparent, and his determination to do what he thought his duty, +regardless of consequences. His message of December, 1887, fairly +startled the country. It was devoted entirely to a denunciation of the +high tariff laws, a subject on which the Democratic leaders had deemed +it prudent to maintain a discreet silence since the preceding election, +and which many of them hoped would be forgotten by the public. But +Cleveland's message brought the question squarely to the front, and made +it the one issue of the campaign which followed. Cleveland would have +been elected but for the traitorous conduct of the leaders in New York, +who had never forgiven him for the way in which, as governor, he had +scourged them. New York State was lost to him, and his opponent, +Benjamin Harrison, was elected, although his popular vote fell below +that of Cleveland by over a hundred thousand. + +But Cleveland had his revenge four years later, when, in spite of the +protests of the leaders from his own state of New York, he was again +nominated on a platform denouncing the tariff, and defeated Harrison by +an overwhelming majority. And now came one of those strange instances of +party perfidy and party suicide, of which the country has just witnessed +a second example. In accordance with the platform pledges, a bill to +lower the tariff was at once framed in the House and adopted; but the +Senate, although Democratic in complexion, so altered it that it fell +far short of carrying out the party pledges. The leader in the Senate +was Arthur P. Gorman, of Maryland, and to him chiefly was due this act +of treachery. The President refused to sign the bill, and it became a +law without his signature. There can be little question that it was the +failure of the Democratic party to fulfil its pledges at that critical +time which led to its subsequent disruption and defeat. + +Twice more did Cleveland startle the country with his extraordinary +decision of character. In the summer of 1894, a great railroad strike, +centering at Chicago, occasioned an outbreak of violence, which the +governor of Illinois did nothing to quell. The President, therefore, +declaring that the rioters had no right to interfere with the United +States mails, ordered national troops to the scene to maintain order. A +year later, when the British Government, involved in a boundary dispute +with Venezuela, declared that it did not accept the Monroe Doctrine and +would not submit the dispute to arbitration, the President sent a +message to Congress, declaring that the Monroe Doctrine must be upheld +at whatever cost. The country was thrilled from end to end, the +President's course approved, and Great Britain at last consented to +arbitration. + +[Illustration: CLEVELAND] + +And yet, when Cleveland left the presidential chair for the second time, +he had entirely lost control of and sympathy with his own party. He had +shown little tact in his dealings with the party leaders. He seemed to +forget that, after all, these leaders had certain rights and privileges +which should be respected; he sometimes blundered through very anxiety +to be right. You have heard some men called so upright that they leaned +over backward--well, that, occasionally, was Cleveland's fault. He +was subjected to such a storm of abuse as no other ex-President ever had +to endure. That he felt it keenly there can be no question; but in the +years which followed, his sturdy and unassailable character came to be +recognized and appreciated, and his death, in the summer of 1908, was +the occasion of deep and widespread sorrow. + + * * * * * + +We have told how, in 1888, Cleveland was defeated for the presidency by +Benjamin Harrison. Harrison was a grandson of the old warrior of +Tippecanoe, William Henry Harrison, the successful candidate of the Whig +party forty-eight years before. He was an able but not brilliant man, +had served through the Civil War, and was afterwards elected senator +from Indiana, to which state he had removed from Ohio at an early age. +The platform on which he was elected pledged the party to the protective +tariff principle, and a high tariff measure, known as the McKinley Bill, +was passed, raising duties to a point higher than had ever before been +known in the history of the United States. + +The Dependent Pension Bill, which Cleveland had vetoed, and which gave a +pension to every Union soldier who was from any cause unable to earn a +living, was also passed. But these policies did not appeal to the +public; besides which, Harrison, although a man of integrity and +ability, was popular with neither the rank nor file of his party, +through a total lack of personal magnetism, and though he received the +nomination, Cleveland easily defeated him. The remainder of his life +was passed quietly at his Indiana home. + + * * * * * + +We have seen how Cleveland's independence and want of tact estranged him +from his party, and the party itself was soon to run upon virtual +shipwreck, under the guidance of strange leaders. A word must be said, +in this place, of the extraordinary man who led it three times to +defeat. + +When the Democratic national convention met in Chicago in 1896, one of +the delegates from Nebraska was a brilliant and eloquent lawyer named +William Jennings Bryan. He had gained some prominence in his state, and +had served in Congress for four years, but he was practically unknown +when he arose before the convention and made a free-silver speech which +fairly carried the delegates off their feet. Good oratory is rare at any +time; its power can hardly be overestimated, especially in swaying a +crowd; and Bryan was one of the greatest orators that ever addressed a +convention. + +His nomination for the Presidency followed, and the result was the +practical dismemberment of the Democratic party. For Bryan was a +Populist, as far as possible removed from the fundamental principles of +Democracy, advocating strange socialistic measures; and the conservative +element of the party regarded him and his theories with such distrust +that it put another ticket in the field, and he was badly beaten. Twice +more he led the party in presidential campaigns, each time being +defeated more decisively than the last. His engaging personality, his +ready oratory, and his supreme gifts as a politician won for him a vast +number of devoted friends, who believed, and who still believe, in him +absolutely; but the country at large, apparently, will have none of him. + + * * * * * + +The Republican nominee in 1896 was William McKinley, of Ohio, best known +as the framer of the McKinley tariff bill. Born in Ohio in 1843, he had +served through the Civil War, had been a member of Congress and twice +governor of Ohio. He was a thorough party man, and modified his former +views on the silver question to conform with the platform on which he +was nominated; his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, was one of the most +astute politicians the country had ever produced, and raised a campaign +fund of unprecedented magnitude; all of which, combined with the +disintegration of the Democratic party, gave McKinley a notable victory. + +The great event of his first administration was the war with Spain, +undertaken to free Cuba, into which McKinley, be it said to his credit, +was driven unwillingly by public clamor, cunningly fostered by a portion +of the press. Its close saw the purchase of the Philippines, and the +entrance of the United States upon a colonial policy believed by many to +be wholly contrary to the spirit of its founders. + +There was never any question of McKinley's renomination, for his +prestige and personal popularity were immense, and his victory was +again decisive. He had broadened rapidly, had gained in statesmanship, +had acquired a truer insight into the country's needs, and was now +freed, to a great extent, from party obligations. Great hopes were built +upon his second administration, and they would no doubt have been +fulfilled, in part at least; but a few months after his inauguration, he +was shot through the body by an irresponsible anarchist while holding a +public reception at Buffalo, and died within the week. The years which +have elapsed since his death enable us to view him more calmly than was +possible while he lived, and the country has come to recognize in him an +honest and well-meaning man, of more than ordinary ability, who might +have risen to true statesmanship and won for himself a high place in the +country's history had he been spared. + +On the ticket with McKinley, a young New Yorker named Theodore Roosevelt +had been elected Vice-President. Roosevelt had long been prominent in +his native state as an enthusiastic reformer, had made a sensational +record in the war with Spain, and, on his return home, had been elected +governor by popular clamor, rather than by the will of the politicians, +to whom his rough-and-ready methods were extremely repugnant. So when +the national convention was about to be held, they conceived the great +idea of removing him from state politics and putting him on the shelf, +so to speak, by electing him Vice-President, and the plan was carried +out in spite of Roosevelt's protests. Alas for the politicians! It was +with a sort of poetic justice that he took the oath as President on the +day of McKinley's death, September 14, 1901, while they were still +rubbing their eyes and wondering what had happened. + +His evident honesty of purpose, combined with an impulsive and energetic +temperament, which led him into various indiscretions, soon made him a +popular hero. He was a sort of Andrew Jackson over again, and in 1904, +he was sent back to the presidency by an overwhelming majority. For a +time he was, indeed, the central figure of the republic. His energy was +remarkable; he had a hand in everything; but many people, after a time, +grew weary of so tumultuous and strenuous a life, and drew away from +him, while still more were estranged by the undignified and violent +controversies in which he became entangled. It is too soon, however, to +attempt to give a true estimate of him. Indeed, he is as yet only in +mid-career; and what his years to come will accomplish cannot be even +guessed. + +Despite his controversies with the leaders of his party, he retained +sufficient power to dictate the nomination of his successor, William +Howard Taft, an experienced jurist and administrator, who is but just +entering upon his work as these lines are written, but to whom the +American people are looking hopefully for a wise and moderate +administration. + + * * * * * + +So stands the history of the rulers of the nation. As one looks back at +them, one perceives a certain rhythmical rise and fall of merit and +attainment, which may roughly be represented thus: + +[Illustration] + +Washington freed us from the power of England; Lincoln freed us from the +power of slavery; the third man in this great trio will be he who will +solve the vast economic problems which are the overshadowing issues of +our day. Will he be a Democrat or Republican--or of some new party yet +to be born? In any event, let us hope that Fate will not long withhold +him! + + + + +SUMMARY + + +LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809; +served in Black Hawk war, 1832; admitted to the bar, 1836; began +practice of law at Springfield, Illinois, 1837; Whig member Illinois +legislature, 1834-42; member of Congress, 1847-49; Republican candidate +for United States senator and held series of debates with Stephen A. +Douglas, 1858; elected President, 1860; inaugurated, March 4, 1861; +re-elected President, 1864; began second term, March 4, 1865; entered +Richmond with Federal army, April 4, 1865; shot by John Wilkes Booth, at +Ford's Theatre, Washington, April 14, 1865, and died the following day. + +JOHNSON, ANDREW. Born at Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808; +member of Congress from Tennessee, 1843-53; governor of Tennessee, +1853-57; United States senator, 1857-62; military governor of Tennessee, +1862-64; inaugurated Vice-President, March 4, 1865; succeeded Lincoln as +President, April 15, 1865; impeached by Congress for high crimes and +misdemeanors, but acquitted after a trial lasting from March 23 to May +26, 1868; United States senator from Tennessee, 1875; died in Carter +County, Tennessee, July 31, 1875. + +GRANT, ULYSSES SIMPSON. Born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, +April 27, 1822; graduated at West Point, 1843; served through Mexican +war, 1846-48; left the army in 1854, and settled in St. Louis; removed +to Galena, Illinois, 1860; appointed colonel, June 17, 1861; +brigadier-general, August 7, 1861; captured Fort Donelson, February 16, +1862; promoted to major-general of volunteers and made commander of the +Army of the District of West Tennessee, March, 1862; gained battle of +Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862; captured Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, and made +major-general in the regular army; won battle of Chattanooga, November +23-25, 1863; made lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of American +armies, March, 1864; took up his headquarters with the Army of the +Potomac, fought battles of Wilderness, and received Lee's surrender at +Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865; made general, July 25, 1866; +elected President, 1868, and re-elected, 1872; made tour of the world, +1877-79; unsuccessful candidate for nomination for presidency, 1880; +made general on the retired list, March 4, 1885; died at Mount McGregor, +New York, July 23, 1885. + +HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD. Born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822; +served in the Union army during the Civil War, being brevetted +major-general of volunteers in 1864; member of Congress from Ohio, +1865-67; governor of Ohio, 1868-72 and 1876; Republican candidate for +President, 1876; declared elected by the Electoral Commission, March 2, +1877, and served, 1877-81; died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893. + +GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM. Born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November +19, 1831; instructor in and later president of Hiram College, Ohio, +1856-61; joined the Union army as lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, +1861; defeated General Humphrey Marshall at the battle of Middle Creek, +January 10, 1862; promoted brigadier-general, 1862; promoted +major-general, 1863; member of Congress, 1863-80; elected United States +senator, 1880; elected President, 1880; inaugurated, March 4, 1881; shot +in Washington by Guiteau, July 2, 1881; died at Elberon, New Jersey, +September 19, 1881. + +ARTHUR, CHESTER ALAN. Born at Fairfield, Vermont, October 5, 1830; +graduated at Union College, 1848; taught school and practiced law in New +York City; inspector-general of New York troops, 1862; collector of the +port of New York, 1871-78; elected Vice-President, 1880; succeeded +Garfield as President, September 20, 1881, serving to March 4, 1885; +defeated for Republican nomination, 1884; died at New York, November +18, 1886. + +CLEVELAND, GROVER. Born at Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, +1837; studied law at Buffalo, New York, and admitted to the bar, 1859; +assistant district attorney of Erie County, 1863-66; sheriff of Erie +County, 1871-74; Democratic mayor of Buffalo, 1882; governor of New +York, 1883-84; elected President, 1884; served as President, 1885-89; +advocated a reduction of the tariff in his message to Congress in +December, 1887; defeated for re-election, 1888; re-elected President, +1892; served, 1893-97; died at Princeton, New Jersey, June 24, 1908. + +HARRISON, BENJAMIN. Born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833; graduated +at Miami University, 1852; studied law and practiced at Indianapolis; +served in Civil War and was brevetted brigadier-general; United States +senator, 1881-87; elected President, 1888; defeated for re-election, +1892; died at Indianapolis, March 13, 1901. + +MCKINLEY, WILLIAM. Born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, +1844; served in the Civil War, attaining the rank of major; member of +Congress, 1877-91; elected governor of Ohio, 1891; re-elected, 1893; +elected President, 1896; re-elected, 1900; shot by an assassin at +Buffalo, New York, and died there, September 14, 1901. + +ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Born at New York City, October 27, 1858; graduated +at Harvard, 1880; New York state assemblyman, 1882-84; resided on North +Dakota ranch, 1884-86; national Civil Service Commissioner, 1889-95; +president New York Police Board, 1895-97; assistant secretary of the +navy, 1897-98; resigned to organize regiment of Rough Riders and served +through war with Spain; governor of New York, 1899-1900; elected +Vice-President, 1900; succeeded to presidency on death of McKinley, +September 14, 1901; elected President, 1904; retired from presidency, +March 4, 1909. + +TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD. Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, September 15, 1857; +graduated at Yale, 1878; admitted to bar, 1880; judge Superior Court, +1887-90; solicitor-general of the United States, 1890-92; United States +circuit judge, 1892-1900; President Philippine Commission, 1900-04; +secretary of war, 1904-08; elected President, 1908; inaugurated, March +4, 1909. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER V + +STATESMEN + + +If one were asked to name the most remarkable all-around genius this +country has produced, the answer would be Benjamin Franklin--whose life +was perhaps the fullest, happiest and most useful ever lived in America. +There are half a dozen chapters of this series in which he might +rightfully find a place, and in which, indeed, it will be necessary to +refer to him, for he was an inventor, a scientist, a man of letters, a +philanthropist, a man of affairs, a reformer, and a great many other +things besides. But first and greatest of all, he was a benign, +humorous, kind-hearted philosopher, who devoted the greater portion of +his life to the service of his country and of humanity. + +Benjamin Franklin was born at Boston in 1706, the fifteenth of a family +of seventeen children. His father was a soap-boiler, and was kept pretty +busy providing for his family, none of whom, with the exception of +Benjamin, ever attained any especial distinction; this being one of +those mysteries of nature, which no one has ever been able to explain, +and yet which happens so often--the production of an eagle in a brood of +common barnyard fowls--a miracle, however, which never happens except +when the barnyard fowls are of the human species. Benjamin himself, at +first, was only an ugly duckling in no way remarkable. + +At the age of ten, he was apprenticed to his brother, who was a printer, +and needed a boy to do the dirty work around the office, and thought +there was no need of paying good money to an outsider, when it might +just as well be kept in the family. So Benjamin went to work sweeping +out, and washing up the dirty presses, and making himself generally +useful during the day; but--and here is the first gleam of the eagle's +feather--instead of going to bed with the sun as most boys did, he sat +up most of the night reading such books and papers as he was able to get +hold of at the office, or himself writing short articles for the paper +which his brother published. These he slipped unsigned under the front +door of the office, so that his brother would not suspect they came from +him; for no man is a prophet to his own family, and these contributions +would have promptly gone into the waste basket had his brother suspected +their source. As it was, however, they were printed, and not until +Benjamin revealed their authorship did his brother discover how bad they +were. + +After he had served in the printing office for seven years, Benjamin +came to the conclusion that his family would never appreciate him at his +real worth. He was like most boys in this, differing from them only in +being right. So he sold some of his books, and without saying anything +to his father or brother, who would probably have reasoned him out of +his purpose with a cowhide whip, he hid himself on board a boat bound +for New York. Arrived there, he soon discovered that printers and +budding geniuses were in no great demand, and so proceeded on to +Philadelphia, partly on foot and partly by water. + +Everyone knows the story of how he landed there, with only a few pennies +in his pocket, but with a sublime confidence in his ability to make +more; how he proceeded to the nearest bakeshop, asked for three pennies' +worth of bread, and when he was given three loaves, took them rather +than reveal his ignorance by confessing that he really wanted only one +loaf, and walked up Market street, with a loaf under each arm, and +eating the third. He has told the story in his inimitable way in his +autobiography, a work which gives him high place among American men of +letters. Small wonder that red-cheeked Deborah Reed smiled at him from +the door of her father's house--but Franklin saw the smile and +remembered it, and though it brought them both distress enough at first, +he asked Deborah to be his wife, six years later, and she consented, and +a good wife she made him. Years afterward, when he was Ambassador to +France and the pet of the French court, the centre of perhaps the most +brilliant and witty circle in Europe, the talk, one day, chanced to turn +upon tailors, of whom the company expressed the utmost detestation. +Franklin listened with a quiet smile, which some one at last observed. + +"Don't you agree," he was asked, "that tailors are a conscienceless and +extortionate class?" + +"No," he answered, still smiling; "how could I? You see, I'm in love +with mine." + +And he told proudly and with shining eyes how the clothes he wore had +been spun into thread and woven into cloth and cut out and fitted and +sewed together by his wife's own hands; and it was no doubt Deborah he +had in mind when he said: "God bless all good women who help men to do +their work." + +The young adventurer had no difficulty in finding employment as a +printer, for printers were in demand in that Quaker city. He prospered +from the first, and at the age of twenty-four, had a little business of +his own, and was editing the _Pennsylvania Gazette_. Two years later, he +began the publication of an almanac purporting to be written by one +Richard Saunders, and which soon won an immense reputation as "Poor +Richard's Almanac." As an almanac, it did not differ much from others, +but, in addition to the usual information about the tides and changes of +the moon and seasons of the year, it contained a wealth of wise and +witty sayings, many of which have passed into proverbs and are in common +use to-day. Here are a few of them: + + Virtue and a trade are a child's best portions. + + Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble. + + The way to be safe is never to be secure. + + When you are good to others, you are best to yourself. + + Well done is better than well said. + + God helps them that help themselves. + + Wish not so much to live long as to live well. + + He that won't be counselled can't be helped. + +That he was a philosopher in deed as well as in word was soon to be +proved, for, at the age of forty-two, he did the wisest thing a man can +do, but for which very few have courage. He had won an established +position in the world and as much wealth as he felt he needed, so he +sold his business, intending to devote the remainder of his life to +science, of which he had always been passionately fond. Already he had +founded the Philadelphia Library and the American Philosophical Society, +had invented the Franklin stove, and served as postmaster of +Philadelphia, and a few years later, he established the institution +which is now the University of Pennsylvania. It was at about this time +that, by experimenting with a kite, he proved lightning to be a +discharge of electricity, and suggested the use of lightning rods. + +[Illustration: FRANKLIN] + +But his scientific studies were destined to be interrupted, for his +country called him, and the remainder of his life was passed in her +service, first as agent in London for Pennsylvania, where he did +everything possible to avert the Revolution; then as a member of the +Continental Congress, and one of the committee of five which drew up the +Declaration of Independence; then as ambassador to France, where, +practically unaided, he succeeded in effecting the alliance between the +two countries which secured the independence of the colonies; and +finally as President of Pennsylvania and a member of the Constitutional +Convention. His last public act was to petition Congress to abolish +slavery in the United States. If one were asked to name the three men +who did most to secure the independence of their country, they would be +George Washington, who fought her battles, Robert Morris, who financed +them, and Benjamin Franklin, who secured the aid of France. When Thomas +Jefferson, who had been selected as minister to France, appeared at the +court of Louis XVI, he presented his papers to the Comte de Vergennes. + +"You replace Mr. Franklin?" inquired the nobleman, glancing at the +papers. + +"No, monsieur," Jefferson replied, "I succeed him. No one could replace +him." + +And that answer had more truth than wit. + +Honors came to Franklin such as no other American has ever received, but +he remained from first to last the same quiet, deep-hearted, and +unselfish man, whose chief motive was the promotion of human welfare. He +had his faults and made his mistakes; but time has sloughed them all +away, and there are few sources of inspiration which can compare with +the study of his life. + + * * * * * + +No family has loomed larger in American affairs than the Adams family of +Massachusetts. John Adams, President himself and living to see his own +son President--an experience which, probably no other man will ever +enjoy--had a second cousin who played a much more important part than he +did in securing the independence of the United States. His name was +Samuel Adams, and when he graduated from Harvard in 1740, at the age of +eighteen, his thesis discussed the question, "Whether it be lawful to +resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be +preserved," and answered it in the affirmative. + +Samuel Adams was a silent, stern and deeply religious man, something of +a dreamer, a bad manager and constantly in debt; but he was perhaps the +first in America to conceive the idea of absolute independence from +Great Britain, and he worked for this end unceasingly and to good +purpose. The wealthy John Hancock was one of his converts, and it was +partly to warn these two of the troops sent out to capture them that +Paul Revere took that famous ride to Lexington on the night of April 18, +1775. A month later, when General Gage offered amnesty to all the +rebels, Hancock and Adams were especially excepted. + +It was Samuel Adams who, perceiving that Virginia was apt to be lukewarm +in aiding a war which was to be fought mostly in the North, suggested +the appointment of Virginia's favorite son, George Washington, as +commander-in-chief of the American army, and who seconded the motion to +that effect made by John Adams. He lived to see his dream of +independence realized, and his grave in the old Granary burying ground +at Boston is one of the pilgrimage places of America. + +With his name that of John Hancock is, as we have seen, closely +associated. The worldly circumstances of the two were very different, +for Samuel Adams was always poor, while John Hancock had fallen heir to +one of the greatest fortunes in New England. He was only twenty-seven at +the time, and his fortune made a fool of him, as sudden wealth has a way +of doing. It was at this time, being young and impressionable, he met +Samuel Adams, a silent and reserved man, fifteen years his senior and +regarded by his neighbors as a harmless crank. But there was something +about him which touched Hancock's imagination--and touched his +pocketbook, too, for about the first thing Adams did was to borrow money +from him. + +Hancock was no doubt glad to lend the money, for he had more than he +knew what to do with, and spent it in such a lavish manner that he was +soon one of the most popular men in Boston. So when one of his ships was +seized for smuggling in a cargo of wine, all his friends and employees +got together and paraded the streets, and a lot of boys and loafers +joined them, for drink was flowing freely, and pretty soon there was a +riot, and the troops were called out and fired a volley and killed five +men, and the rest of the mob decided that it was time to go home, and +went. And that was the Boston massacre about which you have heard so +much that it would almost seem to rank with that of St. Bartholomew. +But, as the Irishman remarked, the man who gets his finger pinched makes +a lot more racket than the one who gets his head cut off; and the Boston +massacre, for all the hullabaloo that was raised about it, was merely +an insignificant street riot. No doubt Samuel Adams did his full share +in fanning that little spark into a conflagration! + +For Adams had acquired great influence over Hancock, and that vapid +young man was fond of being seen in the company of the older one. Adams +was anxious to secure Hancock for the revolutionary cause, and soon had +him so hopelessly entangled that there was no escape for him. On the +anniversary of the Boston massacre, he persuaded Hancock to deliver a +revolutionary speech, which he had himself prepared, and after that +there was a British order out for Hancock's arrest; Adams contrived that +Hancock should be one of the three delegates from Massachusetts to the +Continental Congress--John and Samuel Adams were the other two--and +Hancock was deeply impressed by the honor; at the second Congress, Adams +saw to it that his friend was chosen President. In consequence, Hancock +was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, the incident +which is the best known in his career. He signed the document in great +sprawly letters, remarking grandiloquently, as he did so, "I guess King +George can read that without spectacles," and for many years, "John +Hancock" was the synonym for a bold signature. He was afterwards +governor of Massachusetts for more than a decade, and on one occasion +attempted to snub Washington, with very poor success. His body lies in +the old Granary burying-ground, only a step from that of Samuel Adams. + + * * * * * + +One day, while Thomas Jefferson was a student at William and Mary +College, at Williamsburg, a young friend named Patrick Henry dropped in +to see him, and announced that he had come to Williamsburg to be +admitted to the bar. + +"How long have you studied law?" Jefferson inquired. + +"Oh, for over six weeks," Henry answered. + +The story goes that Jefferson advised his friend to go home and study +for at least a fortnight longer; but Henry declared that the only way to +learn law was to practice it, and went ahead and took the examination, +such as it was, and passed! + +That was in 1760, and Patrick Henry was twenty-four years old at the +time. He had been a wild boy, cared little for books, and had failed as +a farmer and as a merchant before turning to law as a last resort. Nor +as a lawyer was he a great success, the truth being that he lacked the +industry and diligence which are essential to success in any profession; +but he had one supreme gift, that of lofty and impassioned oratory. In +1765, as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he made the +rafters ring and his auditors turn pale by his famous speech against the +stamp act; as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, he made +the only real speech of the Congress, arousing the delegates from an +attitude of mutual suspicion to one of patriotic ardor for a common +cause. + +"Government," said he, "is dissolved. Where are your landmarks, your +boundaries of colonies? The distinctions between Virginians, +Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a +Virginian, but an American." + +Samuel Adams said afterwards that, but for that speech, which drew the +delegates together and made them forget their differences, the Congress +would probably have ended in a wrangle. And a year later, again in +Virginia, in defense of his resolution to arm the militia, he gave +utterance to the most famous speech of all, starting quietly with the +sentence, "Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the +illusions of hope," and ending with the tremendous cry: "I know not what +course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me +death!" + +That was the supreme moment of Patrick Henry's life. He did a great work +after that, as member of the Continental Congress, as commander-in-chief +of the Virginia forces, and as governor of the Commonwealth, but never +again did he come so near the stars--as, indeed, few men ever do. + + * * * * * + +You have all heard the story of Damon and Pythias, true type of devoted +friendship, and history abounds in such examples; but sometimes it shows +a darker side, and the controlling force in two men's lives will be hate +instead of love, and the end will be shipwreck and tragedy. Such a story +we are to tell briefly here of the lives of Alexander Hamilton and +Aaron Burr. + +They were born a year apart. Burr in 1756, at Newark, New Jersey; +Hamilton, in 1757, on the little West Indian island of Nevis. Burr was +of a distinguished ancestry, his grandfather being the famous Jonathan +Edwards; Hamilton's father was an obscure planter whose first name has +been lost to history. Burr graduated at Princeton, entered the army, +rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and resigned in 1777 to study +law, being admitted to the New York bar five years later. Hamilton was +sent to New York, entered King's, now Columbia, College, got caught in +the rising tide of Revolution, proved himself uncommonly ready with +tongue and pen, enlisted, saw the battles of Long Island, Trenton, and +Princeton, was appointed aide-de-camp to Washington and acted as his +secretary, filling the post admirably, but resigned in a fit of pique +over a fancied slight, and repaired to New York to study law. Such, in +outline, is the history of these two men until Fate threw them in each +other's way. + +New York City was the arena where the battle was fought. Within a few +years, Hamilton and Burr were the most famous men in the town. They +resembled each other strongly in temperament and disposition; each was +"passionate, brooking no rivalry; ambitious, faltering at no obstacle; +proud with a fiery and aggressive pride; eloquent with the quick wit, +the natural vivacity, and the lofty certainty of the true orator." They +were too nearly alike to be friends; they became instinctive enemies. +Each felt that the other was in the way. + +For sixteen years, Burr practiced law in New York, growing steadily in +influence. For five of those years, Hamilton did the same. They were the +foremost lawyers in the city. No man could stand before them, and when +they met on opposite sides of a case, it was, indeed, a meeting of +giants. But in 1789, Washington appointed Hamilton his secretary of the +treasury, and leaving New York, Hamilton applied himself to the great +task of establishing the public credit, laying the basis for the +financial system of the nation, which endures until this day. It was a +splendid task, splendidly performed, and Hamilton emerged from it the +leader of the powerful Federal party. + +In 1800, two men were candidates for the presidency. One was Thomas +Jefferson and the other was Aaron Burr. Instead of being overwhelmed by +the great Virginian, Burr received an equal number of electoral votes, +and the contest was referred to Congress for decision. As a Federalist, +Burr felt that he should have Hamilton's support, but Hamilton used his +great influence against him, stigmatizing him as "a dangerous man," and +Jefferson was elected. Four years later, Burr was a candidate for +governor of New York, and again Hamilton openly, bitterly, and +successfully opposed him, again speaking of him as "a dangerous man." + +Smarting under the sting of this second defeat, Burr sent a note to +Hamilton asking if the expression, "a dangerous man," referred to him +politically or personally. Hamilton sent a sneering reply, and expressed +himself as willing to abide by the consequences. It was "fighting +language between fighting men"--a quarrel which Hamilton had been +seeking for five years and which he had done everything in his power to +provoke--and Burr promptly sent a challenge. Hamilton as promptly +accepted it, named pistols at ten paces as the weapons, and at seven +o'clock on the morning of July 11, 1804, the two men faced each other on +the heights of Weehawken, overlooking New York bay. Both fired at the +word; Burr's bullet passed through Hamilton's body; Hamilton's cut a +twig above Burr's head. Hamilton died next day, and Burr, his political +career at an end, buried himself in the West. + +Three years later, he was arrested, charged with treason, for attempting +to found an independent state within the borders of the Union. He had a +wild dream of establishing a great empire to the west of the +Mississippi, and had collected arms and men for the expedition, and was +on his way down the Mississippi when he was arrested and taken back to +Richmond for trial. But his plan could not be proved to be treasonable; +indeed, his arrest was due more to the animosity which Jefferson felt +toward him, than from any other cause, and, brought to trial a year +later, he was acquitted. But his reputation was ruined, there was no +hope for him in public life, and his remaining years were spent quietly +in the practice of his profession, partly abroad and partly in New +York. + +It has been too much the habit to picture Burr as a thoroughgoing +scoundrel who murdered an innocent man and conspired against his +country. As a matter of fact, he did neither. Of the charge of treason +he was acquitted, even at a time when public feeling ran high against +him, and in the quarrel with Hamilton, it was Hamilton who was at all +times the aggressor. Both were brilliant, accomplished and courtly +men--even, perhaps, men of genius--but Fate spread a net for their feet, +blindly they stumbled into it, and, too proud to retrace their steps, +pushed on to the tragic end. + +The presiding judge at Burr's trial, not the least of whose achievements +was the holding level of the scales of justice on that memorable +occasion, was the last of that great school of statesmen who had fought +for their country's independence, and who had seen the states united +under a common Constitution. John Marshall lived well into the +nineteenth century, and his great work was to interpret that +Constitution to the country, to give it the meaning which it has for us +to-day. Marshall was a Virginian, was just of age at the outbreak of the +Revolution, and served in the American army for five years, enlisting as +a private and rising to the rank of captain. At the close of the war, he +studied law, gained a prominent place in the politics of his state, drew +the attention of Washington by his unusual ability, and in 1800 was +appointed by him secretary of state. A year later he was made chief +justice of the Supreme Court--an appointment little less than inspired +in its wisdom. + +For thirty-four years, John Marshall occupied that exalted position, +interpreting to the new country its organic law, and the decisions +handed down by him remain the standard authority on constitutional +questions. In clearness of thought, breadth of view, and strength of +logic they have never been surpassed. His service to his country was of +incalculable value, for he built for the national government a firm, +foundation which has stood unshaken through the years. + + * * * * * + +So we come to a new era in American history--an era marked by unexampled +bitterness of feeling and culminating in the great struggle for the +preservation of the Union. Across this era, three mighty giants cast +their shadows--Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. + +Closely and curiously intertwined were the destinies of these three men, +Clay was born in 1777; Webster and Calhoun five years later. Calhoun and +Clay were Irishmen and hated England; Webster was a Scotchman, and +Scotchmen were usually Tories. Calhoun and Clay were southerners, but +with a difference, for Calhoun was born in the very sanctum sanctorum of +the South, South Carolina, while Clay's life was spent in the border +state of Kentucky, so removed from the South that it did not secede from +the Union. Webster was a product of Massachusetts. Calhoun and Webster +were, in temperament and belief, as far apart as the poles; Clay stood +between them, "the great compromiser." Calhoun and Webster were greater +than Clay, for they possessed a larger genius and a broader culture; and +Webster was a greater man than Calhoun, because he possessed the truer +vision. Calhoun died in 1850; Clay and Webster in 1852. For the forty +years previous to that, these three men were in every way the most +famous and conspicuous in America. Others flashed, meteor-like, into a +brief brilliance; but these three burned steady as the stars. They had +no real rivals. And yet, though each of them was consumed by an ambition +to be President, not one was able to realize that ambition, and their +last years were embittered by defeat. + +As has been said, Clay was the smallest man of the three. His reputation +rests, not upon constructive statesmanship, but upon his ability as a +party leader, in which respect he has had few equals in American +history, and upon his success in proposing compromises. Born in +Virginia, and admitted to the bar in 1797, he moved the same year to +Lexington, Kentucky, where his practice brought him rapid and brilliant +success. His personality, too, won him many friends, and it was so all +his life. "To come within reach of the snare of his speech was to love +him," and even to this day Kentucky believes that no statesman ever +lived who equalled this adopted son of hers, nor doubts the entire +sincerity of his famous boast that he would rather be right than +President. + +Of course he got into politics. That was his natural and inevitable +field. As early as 1806 he was sent to the Senate, and afterwards to the +House, of which he was speaker for thirteen years. Three times was he a +candidate for the presidency, defeated once by John Quincy Adams, once +by Andrew Jackson, and once, when victory seemed almost his, by William +Henry Harrison. That other great party leader, James G. Blaine, was to +meet a similar fate years later. Henry Clay lacked the deep foresight, +the prophetic intuition necessary to statesmanship of the first rank, +and some of the achievements which he considered the greatest of his +life were in reality blunders which had afterwards to be corrected. But +as a compromiser, as a rider of troubled waters, and a pilot at a time +when shipwreck seemed imminent and unavoidable, he proved his consummate +ability, and merits the gratitude of his country. + +Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were leaders in the same great party, and +were, for the most part, personal friends as well as political allies. +But Webster overshadowed Clay in intellect, however he may have been +outdistanced by him in political astuteness. If Clay were the fox, +Webster was the lion. As a constitutional lawyer, he has never been +excelled; as an orator, no other American has ever equalled him. He had +in supreme degree the orator's equipment of a dominant and impressive +personality, a moving voice, an eloquent countenance, and a command of +words little less than inspired. The last sentences of his reply to +Hayne have come ringing down the years, and stand unequalled as sheer +eloquence: + + "When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun + in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored + fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, + discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds or + drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and + lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, + now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high + advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, + not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, + bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is + all this worth'? nor those other words of delusion and folly, + 'Liberty first and Union afterwards'; but everywhere, spread all + over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, + as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind + under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true + American heart--Liberty _and_ Union, now and forever, one and + inseparable!" + +The great audience that listened spellbound to that oration, arose and +left the Capitol like persons in a dream. Never were they to forget the +effect of that tremendous speech. + +But the last years of his life were ruined by his ambition to be +President. In spite of his commanding talents, or, perhaps, because of +them, he never at any time had a chance of receiving the nomination of +his party, and his final defeat in 1852, by Winfield Scott, practically +killed him. + +[Illustration: WEBSTER] + +Webster was the son of a New Hampshire farmer, who managed to send him +to Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1801. Four years later +he was admitted to the bar at Boston, and in 1812 he was elected to +Congress. We find him at once violently opposing the second war with +England, for which Clay was working so aggressively. For ten years after +that, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, and soon +became the foremost lawyer of New England, especially on constitutional +questions. In 1823, he was again sent to Congress; entered the Senate in +1828, and remained in public life practically until his death. + +It was in 1830 that he delivered the speech already referred to--perhaps +the most remarkable ever heard within the walls of the Capitol. Senator +Hayne, of South Carolina, had made a remarkable address, lasting two +days, advocating the right of a state to render null and void an +unconstitutional law of Congress--in other words, the right of secession +from the Union. Two days later, Webster rose to reply. His appearance, +always impressive, was unusually so that day; his argument, always +close-knit and logical, was the very summation of these qualities; his +words seemed edged with fire as he argued that the Constitution is +supreme, the Union indissoluble, and that no state has, or can have the +right to resist or nullify a national law. It was the greatest oration +of America's greatest orator. + +Of its effect upon the people who heard it we have spoken; throughout +the country it produced a profound impression. The North felt that a new +prophet had arisen; the South, a new foeman. The great advocate of +nullification, however, was not Hayne, who would be scarcely remembered +to-day but for the fact that it was to him Webster addressed his reply, +but that formidable giant of a man, John C. Calhoun--the man whom the +South felt to be her peculiar representative on the question of state +rights, of nullification, and, at last, of slavery. His fate was one of +the saddest in American history, for the cause he fought for was a +doomed cause, and as he sank into his grave, he saw tottering down upon +him the great structure which he had devoted his whole life to +upholding. + +Not much is known of Calhoun's youth. He was the grandson of an Irish +immigrant who had settled in South Carolina, graduated from Yale in +1804, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and, returning to his native +state, was, in 1811, elected a member of Congress. That was the +beginning of a public career which was to last until his death. + +Almost from the first, he was consumed with an ambition to be President, +and perhaps would have been, but for an incident so trivial that, under +ordinary circumstances, it would have had no consequences. In 1818, as +Monroe's secretary of war, Calhoun had occasion at a cabinet meeting to +express some censure of Andrew Jackson's conduct of the Seminole war--a +censure which was deserved, since Jackson had violated the law of +nations in pursuing his enemy into a foreign country. Twelve years +later, when Jackson was President and Calhoun, as Vice-President, was in +direct line of succession, so to speak, Jackson heard of Calhoun's +remarks, flew into a violent rage, came out as Calhoun's declared enemy, +and dealt the death-blow to his presidential aspirations. + +Smarting from this injustice, Calhoun turned his attention to the +question of state sovereignty, and in February, 1833, South Carolina +passed the nullification ordinance to which we have already referred. +Calhoun at once resigned the vice-presidency and took his seat in the +Senate, prepared to defend the attitude of his state. But Jackson did +not wait for that. Seeing that here was an opportunity to strike his +enemy, he ordered troops to South Carolina, and threatened to hang +Calhoun as high as Haman--a threat which he very possibly would have +attempted to carry out had not hostilities been averted by the genius +for compromise of Henry Clay. From that time forward, Calhoun became the +high priest of the doctrine of state rights and the great defender of +slavery. He fought inch by inch the growing sentiment against it; he +knew it was a losing fight, and almost the last words uttered by his +dying lips were, "The South! The poor South! God knows what will become +of her!" + + * * * * * + +The great triumvirate left no successors to compare with them in +prestige or power. Two survivals from the war of 1812 were still on the +scene, Thomas Hart Benton and Lewis Cass. Benton was a North Carolina +man who had removed to Nashville, and at the outbreak of the war, +enlisted under Andrew Jackson, and got into a disgraceful street fight +with him, in the course of which Jackson was nearly killed. Strange to +say, that doughty old hero chose to forget the matter long years +afterwards, when Benton was in the Senate--a Union senator from the +slave state of Missouri. + +Cass also served through the war, but at the North; was involved in +Hull's surrender of Detroit and broke his sword in rage at the disgrace +of it; and was afterwards governor of Michigan and Jackson's secretary +of war; then, in 1848, Democratic nominee for President and defeated +because of Martin Van Buren's disaffection; finally, in 1857, Buchanan's +secretary of state, resigning, in 1860, because that shilly-shally +President could not make up his mind to send reinforcements to Bob +Anderson at Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. A man who played many +parts, filled many positions, and filled them well, Cass's name deserves +to be more widely remembered than it is. + +In those days, a strange, pompous and ineffective figure was flitting +across the stage, impressing men with a respect and significance which +it did not possess, its name, Stephen A. Douglas, nicknamed "The Little +Giant," but giant in little else than power to create disturbance. +Perhaps no other man ever possessed that power in quite the same degree; +nor possessed in a greater degree that fascination of personality which +makes friends and gains adherents. + +Consumed by a gnawing desire of the presidency, beaten for the +nomination in 1852, destroying the serenity of the land two years later +by contending that Congress had no right to limit slavery in the +territories, in the vain hope of winning southern support, but finding +himself instead dubbed traitor and Judas Iscariot, receiving thirty +pieces of silver from a club of Ohio women, travelling from Boston to +Chicago "by the light of his own effigies," which yelling crowds were +burning at the stake, and finally hooted off the stage in his own city, +certainly it would seem that Douglas's public career was over forever. + +But he managed to live down his blunder and to regain much of his old +strength by reason of his winning personality; yet made another blunder +when he agreed to meet Abraham Lincoln in debate--and one which cost him +the presidency. For his opponent drove him into corners from which he +could find no way out except at the risk of offending the South. In +those days, one had to be either for or against slavery; there was no +middle course, and the man who attempted to find one, fell between two +stools, as Douglas himself soon learned. + +Last scene of all, pitted against that same Abraham Lincoln who had +greased the plank for him and shorn him of his southern support, in the +presidential contest of 1860, defeated and wounded to death by it, for +he knew that never again would he be within sight of that long-sought +prize; yet rising nobly at the last to a height of purest patriotism, +declaring for the Union, pledging his support to Lincoln, pointing the +way of duty to his million followers, and destroying at a blow the +South's hope of a divided North--let us do Stephen A. Douglas, that +justice, and render him that meed of praise; for whatever the mistakes +and turnings and evasions of his career, that last great work of his +outweighed them all. + +A man who had a great reputation in his own day as an orator and +statesman, but whose polished periods appeal less and less to succeeding +generations was Edward Everett--an evidence, perhaps, that the head +alone can never win lasting fame. Everett was a New Englander; a Harvard +man, graduating with the highest honors; and two years later, pastor of +a Unitarian church in Boston. There his eloquence soon attracted +attention, and won him a wide reputation. At the age of twenty-one, he +was appointed professor of Greek at Harvard; and in 1824, at the age of +thirty, he was chosen to represent the Boston district in Congress. He +remained there for ten years, served four terms as governor of +Massachusetts, was ambassador to England, and then, president of Harvard +from 1846-1849; was appointed secretary of state on the death of Daniel +Webster in 1852; and finally, in the following year, was elected to the +Senate, but was soon forced to resign on account of ill-health. + +Soon afterwards, he threw himself into the project to purchase Mount +Vernon by private subscription, delivered his oration on Washington 122 +times, netting more than $58,000 toward the project; obtained another +$10,000 from the _Public Ledger_ by writing for it a weekly article for +the period of a year, and added $3,000 more, secured from the readers of +that paper. From that time on, he delivered various lectures for +philanthropic causes, the receipts aggregating nearly a hundred thousand +dollars. They are little read to-day because, in spite of his erudition, +polish and high attainments, Everett really had no new message to +deliver. + + * * * * * + +With the coming of the Civil War, another triumvirate emerges to control +the destinies of the nation--Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and +William Henry Seward. Stevens and Seward had been introduced to politics +by the ineffectual and absurd anti-Masonic party, which flitted across +the stage in the early thirties. In 1851, Massachusetts rebuked Daniel +Webster for his supposed surrender to the slavery party, made in hope of +attaining the presidency, by placing Sumner in his seat in the Senate, +and retiring him to private life, where he still remained the most +commanding figure in the country. + +Seward was already in the Senate, had spoken in reply to Webster, and +assumed the leadership which Webster forfeited. In the House, too, was +Stevens, who soon gained prominence by a certain vitriolic force which +was in him, and these three men labored unceasingly for the defeat of +the South--indeed, for more than its defeat--for payment, to the last +drop, for the sins it had committed. They were bound together by party +ties and in other ways, but most closely of all by a hatred of slavery, +which, with Stevens and Sumner, mounted at times to fanaticism and led +them into the errors always awaiting the fanatic. + +Thaddeus Stevens, the oldest of the three, had been born in Vermont, but +removed to Pennsylvania at the age of twenty-two, and began to practice +law there. In 1831, he was one of the moving spirits in the formation of +the anti-Masonic party, which fancied it saw, in the spread of Masonry, +a grave danger to the republic. Two years later, Stevens was chosen a +member of the Pennsylvania legislature, but his career did not really +begin until, in 1848, at the age of fifty-seven, he was elected a member +of the national House of Representatives, where he soon took his place +as the leader of the anti-slavery faction. From that time forward, he +was unceasing in his warfare against slavery, frequently going to +lengths where few cared to follow, and which would seem to indicate that +there was a trace of madness in the man. He developed an exaggerated and +sentimental regard for the negro, and grew radical and relentless toward +the South. + +At the close of the war, he regarded the southern states as conquered +territory, to be treated as such, and his ideas of treatment seem to +have been founded upon those of the Middle Ages. He wished to confiscate +the property of all Confederates; endeavored to impeach President +Johnson, who was trying to enforce a system of reconstruction which was +at least better than that which Stevens advocated. For a time he seemed +to suffer from a very vertigo of hatred, which ate into his soul and +destroyed him. The plan of reconstruction adopted by Congress was an +embodiment of his ideas; but Johnson was acquitted of the charges +Stevens brought against him, and Stevens's poison, as it were, turned in +upon himself and killed him. His last request, that his body be buried +in an obscure private cemetery, because public cemeteries excluded +negroes, shows the man's unbalanced condition, the length to which his +ideas had led him. + +Charles Sumner, who was to the Senate much what Stevens was to the +House, although a larger and better-balanced man, was a typical +Bostonian and inheritor of the New England conscience, which, of course, +meant that he was opposed through and through to slavery. He was a +successful lawyer, and as his sentiments were well known, he was chosen +to succeed Webster when the latter wavered on the anti-slavery question, +and threw some pledges of assistance to the South. There was never any +doubt about Sumner's position, no sign of wavering or coquetting with +the enemy, and in 1856, he was assaulted by a southern senator and so +severely injured that three years passed before he could resume his +seat. + +He did so in time to oppose any compromise with slavery or the slave +power, which the threatening attitude of the South had almost scared the +North into considering, and urged the immediate emancipation of the +slaves. When this had been accomplished, his first thought was to make +sure that the slaves would remain free, and he began the contest for +negro suffrage, as the only guarantee of negro freedom, which he finally +won. In the reconstruction period following the war, he was inevitably +an ally of Thaddeus Stevens, though the latter far surpassed him in +vindictiveness toward the South. + +Let us not forget that the South had shown itself blind to its own +interests when, as soon as reconstructed by Andrew Johnson, it had, +state by state, adopted laws virtually enslaving the black man again. +But for this fatuity, there would probably have been no such feeling of +vindictiveness at the North as soon developed there; certainly there +would have been no excuse for such severity as was afterwards exhibited. +So it is true in a sense that the South has itself to blame for the +horrors of the reconstruction period, and for the suspicion with which +its good faith toward the negro was for many years regarded. Sumner was +not a vindictive man, and in his last years, incurred a vote of censure +from his own State for offering a bill to remove the names of battles of +the Civil War from the Army Register and from the regimental colors of +the United States. He practically died in harness in 1874. Looking back +at him, one sees how much larger he looms than Stevens; one cannot but +admire his courage and honesty of purpose; his public life was a +continual struggle for the right, as he saw it, and, remembering that, +his faults need not trouble us. + +When Sumner arrived in the Senate, he found William H. Seward, of New +York, already there. Seward, who had been admitted to the bar in 1822, +at the age of twenty-one, was carried into the New York legislature by +the anti-Masonic wave of 1830. Eight years later, he was the Whig +governor of the state, and in 1849 was sent to the Senate. There he soon +rivetted attention by his rebuke of Webster for condoning the Fugitive +Slave Law, and caught the reins of party leadership as they fell from +Webster's hands. It was then that he made his famous statement that the +war against slavery was waged under a "higher law than the +Constitution," and that the fall of slavery was inevitable. + +In 1856, when the newly-formed anti-slavery party, known as the +Republican, met to name a national ticket, Seward was the logical +candidate, but refused to allow his name to be considered, and the +choice fell upon that brilliant adventurer, John C. Fremont. Fremont +was, of course, defeated, and Seward continued to be the leader of +Republican thought, and the chief originator of Republican doctrine. +Indeed, he was, in a sense, the Republican party, so that, four years +later, he seemed not only the logical but the inevitable choice of the +party for President. His most formidable opponent was Abraham Lincoln, +of Illinois, who had been carefully working for the nomination, and who +was blessed with the shrewdest of campaign managers. Seward led on the +first ballot, and would have won but for the expert trading already +referred to in the story of Lincoln's nomination. + +It was natural that Lincoln should offer him the state portfolio, and +Seward accepted it. From first to last, he held true to the President, +and the services he rendered the country were second only to those of +Lincoln himself. When Lincoln was killed, an attempt was also made to +murder Seward, and was very nearly successful--so nearly that for days +Seward lingered between life and death. He recovered, however, to resume +his place in Johnson's cabinet. Over the new President he had great +influence; he had long been an advocate of mercy toward the South, and +he did much to persuade the President to the course he followed in +restoring the southern states to the Union, without reference to the +wishes of Congress. Even John Sherman pronounced the plan "wise and +judicious," but Stevens, Sumner, and their powerful coterie in Congress +violently opposed it, and Seward came in for his share of the +vituperation and bitter accusation which the plan called forth. +Johnson's defeat closed his political career, and the last years of his +life were spent in travel. + +The very cause of his downfall marks him as the greatest of the three, +for he placed justice above expediency, and not even the attempt upon +his life changed his feeling toward the South. Perhaps the wisdom of his +judgment was never better exemplified than in his purchase from Russia +of the great territory known as Alaska, for the sum of $7,200,000. +Alaska was regarded at the time as an icy desert of no economic value, +but time has changed that estimate, and the discovery of gold there made +it one of the richest of the country's possessions. + +Outside of Seward, Sumner and Stevens, the most prominent public man of +the time was Salmon P. Chase, an Ohioan who had for many years taken an +important part in the anti-slavery controversy. Although sent to the +Senate in 1849 as a Democrat, he left the party on the nomination of +Pierce in 1852, when it stood committed to the support and extension of +slavery. Three years later, he was elected governor of Ohio by the +Republicans. He was Lincoln's secretary of the treasury, and financed +the country during its most trying period in a way that compelled the +admiration even of his enemies. He served afterwards as Chief Justice of +the Supreme Court, dying in 1873. He was another man whose life was +embittered by failure to attain the prize of the presidency. Three times +he tried for it, in 1860, in 1864, and in 1868, but he never came within +measurable distance of it. For he lacked the capacity for making +friends, and repelled rather than attracted by a studiously impressive +demeanor, a painful decorousness, and an unbending dignity, which was, +of course, no true dignity at all, but merely a bad imitation of it. In +a word, he lacked the saving sense of humor--the quality which endeared +Abraham Lincoln to the whole nation. + +Another Ohioan who loomed large in the history of the time was John +Sherman, a lawyer like all the rest, a member of Congress since 1855, +not at first a great opponent of slavery, but drawn into the battle by +his allegiance to the Republican party, forming an alliance with +Thaddeus Stevens, and collaborating with him in the production of the +reconstruction act. He was appointed secretary of the treasury by +President Hayes, in 1876, and his great work for the country was done in +that office, in re-establishing the credit which the Civil War had +shaken. He, also, was bitten by the presidential bacillus, and was a +candidate for the nomination at three conventions, but each time fell +short of the goal--once when he had it seemingly within his grasp. A +stern, forceful, capable man, he left his impress upon the times. + + * * * * * + +Of the men who guided the fortunes of the Confederacy, only two need be +mentioned here--Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens; for, rich as +the Confederacy was in generals, it was undeniably poor in statesmen. +The golden age of the South had departed; with John C. Calhoun passed +away the last really commanding figure among Dixie's statesmen, and from +him to Jefferson Davis is a long step downward. + +Davis's early life was romantic enough. Born in 1808 in Kentucky, of a +father who had served in the Revolution, appointed to the National +Military Academy by President Monroe; graduating there in 1828 and +serving through the Black Hawk war; then abruptly resigning from the +army to elope with the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, and settling +near Vicksburg, Mississippi, to embark in cotton planting; drawn +irresistibly into politics and sent to Congress, but resigning to accept +command of the First Mississippi Rifles and serving with great +distinction through the war with Mexico; and, finally, in 1847, sent to +the Senate--such was Davis's history up to the time he became involved +in the maelstrom of the slavery question. + +From the first, he was an ardent advocate of the state-rights theory of +government, and the right of secession, and for thirteen years he +defended these theories in the Senate, gradually emerging as the most +capable advocate the South possessed. That fiery and impulsive people, +looking always for a hero to worship, found one in Jefferson Davis, and +he soon gained an immense prestige among them. On January 9, 1861, his +state seceded from the Union, and he withdrew from the Senate. Before he +reached home, he was elected commander-in-chief of the Army of the +Mississippi, and a few days later, he was chosen President of the +Confederate States. + +From the first, his task was a difficult one, and it grew increasingly +so as the war went on. That he performed it well, there can be no +question. He was the government, was practically dictator, for he +dominated the Confederate Congress absolutely, and its principal +business was to pass the laws which he prepared. Only toward the close +of the war did it, in a measure, free itself from this control, and, +finally, in 1865, it passed a resolution attributing Confederate +disaster to Davis's incompetency as commander-in-chief, a position which +he had insisted on occupying; removing him from that position and +conferring it upon General Lee, giving the latter, at the same time, +unlimited powers in disposing of the army. + +But it was too late. Even Lee himself could not ward off the inevitable. +On the morning of Sunday, April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis sat in his pew +at church in the city of Richmond, when an officer handed him a +telegram. It was from Lee, and read, "Richmond must be evacuated this +evening," Lee had fought and lost the battle of Petersburg, and was in +full retreat. Davis left the church quietly, called his cabinet +together, packed up the government archives, and boarded a train for the +South. For over a month, he moved from place to place endeavoring to +escape capture, his party melting away until it comprised only his +family and a few servants; and finally, on May 9th, he was surprised and +taken by a company of Union cavalry near Irwinsville, in southern +Georgia. Davis was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe for two years--a +thoroughly senseless procedure which only served to keep open a painful +wound--and on Christmas Day, 1868, was pardoned by President Johnson. + +Davis's imprisonment had added immensely to his prestige. The South +forgot his blunders and short-comings, seeing in him only the martyr who +had suffered for his people, and welcomed him with a kind of hysterical +adoration, which lasted until his death. The last years of his life were +passed quietly on his estate in Mississippi. + +When Davis was chosen President of the Confederacy, Alexander H. +Stephens was chosen Vice-President. Stephens had also had a picturesque +career. Left an orphan, without means, at the age of fifteen he had +nevertheless secured an education, and, in 1834, after two months' +study, was admitted to the Georgia bar. He at once began to win a more +than local reputation, for he was a man of unusual ability, and in 1836, +he was elected to the Legislature, though an avowed opponent of +nullification. + +Seven years later, he was sent to Congress, and continued to oppose the +secession movement; but he saw whither things were trending, and in 1859 +he resigned from Congress, remarking that he knew there was going to be +a smash-up and thought he would better get off while there was time. In +1860 he made a great Union speech; and it is a remarkable proof of the +hold he had upon the people of the South, that, in spite of this, and of +his well-known convictions, he was chosen Vice-President of the +Confederacy a year later. He accepted, but within a year he had +quarrelled with Jefferson Davis on the question of state rights, and in +1864, organized the Georgia Peace party. From that time on to the close +of the war, he labored to bring about a treaty of peace, but in vain. + +He was imprisoned for a few months after the downfall of the +Confederacy, but was soon released and was prominent in the political +life of Georgia for fifteen years thereafter, being governor of the +state at the time of his death in 1883. A more contradictory, obstinate, +prickly-conscienced man never appeared in American politics. + + * * * * * + +So passed the era of the Civil War. Have we had any great statesmen +since? Some near-great ones, perhaps, but none of the very first rank. +Great men are moulded by great events, or, at least, require great +events to prove their greatness. Let us pause a moment, however, to pay +tribute to one of the most accomplished party leaders in American +history--a man almost to rank with Henry Clay--James G. Blaine. + +As a young editor from Maine, he had entered Congress in 1863. There he +had encountered another fiery youngster in Roscoe Conkling, and an +intense rivalry sprang up between them. They were very different in +temperament, Blaine being the more popular, Conkling the more brilliant. +Blaine had a genius for making friends and keeping them; Conkling's +quick temper and hasty tongue frequently cost him his most powerful +adherents. Three years later, this rivalry came to an open clash, in +which each denounced the other on the floor of the House in words as +stinging as parliamentary law permitted. Blaine's tirade was so bitter +that Conkling became an implacable enemy and never again spoke to him. +It was almost the story of Hamilton and Burr over again, except that the +age of duelling had passed. + +That quarrel on the floor of the House was to have momentous +consequences. Blaine became speaker of the House and the most popular +and powerful man in his party, so that it seemed that nothing could +stand between him and the desire for the presidency which gnawed at his +heart, just as it had at Henry Clay's. But always in the way stood +Conkling. + +In 1876, at Cincinnati, Blaine was nominated by Robert G. Ingersoll in +one of the most eloquent addresses ever delivered on the floor of a +national convention, and on the first ballot fell only a few votes short +of a majority. But his enemies were at work, and on the seventh ballot, +succeeded in stampeding the convention to Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes, +however, was pledged to a single term, and Blaine was hailed as the +nominee in 1880; but when the convention assembled, there was Conkling +with a solid phalanx of over three hundred delegates for Grant. The +result was that neither Blaine nor Grant could get a majority of the +votes, and the nomination fell to Garfield. Finally, by tireless work, +Blaine laid his plans so well that he secured the nomination four years +later, only to have New York State thrown against him by Conkling and to +go down to defeat. Conkling had his revenge, and Blaine's career was +practically at an end, for he was an old and broken man. + +Let us add frankly that there were many within his own party who +mistrusted him--who believed him insincere, if not actually dishonest, +and refused to support him. For a fourth time, in 1892, he attempted to +get the nomination, but his name had lost its wizardry, and he was +defeated by Benjamin Harrison. There are few more pitiful stories in +American politics than that of this brilliant and able man, consumed by +the desire for a great prize which seemed always within his grasp and +yet which always eluded him. For a quarter of a century, he chased this +will-o'-the-wisp, only to be led by it into a bog and left to perish +there. + +There are a few names on the later pages of American statesmanship which +stand for notable achievement, more especially in the line of diplomacy, +the two greatest of which are those of John Hay and Elihu Root. Both of +these men, as secretary of state, did memorable work; not the sort of +work which appeals to popular imagination, for there was nothing +spectacular about it; but quiet and effective work in the forming of +informal alliances and treaties with foreign nations, maintaining +America's position as a world power, and making her the friend of all +the world. That is the position she should occupy, since she has no +quarrel with any one; and it is with its maintenance that the +statesmanship of the present day is principally concerned. + + * * * * * + +So we close this chapter on American Statesmen. It is a tragic +chapter--tragic because of thwarted ambitions, and unfulfilled desires. +Of them all, Benjamin Franklin was the only one whose life was from +first to last happy and contented, who realized his ideals and who died +in peace; and this, I think, because he asked nothing for himself, +hungered for no preferment, was consumed by no ambition, sacrificed +nothing to expediency, but accepted life with large philosophy and +never-failing humor, realizing that in serving others he was best +serving himself, and whose inward peace was manifest in his placid and +smiling countenance. Upon the rocks of ambition the greatest of those +who followed him dashed themselves to pieces. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Born at Boston, January 17, 1706; established the +_Pennsylvania Gazette_, 1729; founded Philadelphia library, 1731; began +publication of "Poor Richard's Almanac," 1732; postmaster of +Philadelphia, 1737; founded American Philosophical Society and +University of Pennsylvania, 1743; demonstrated by means of a kite that +lightning is a discharge of electricity, 1752; deputy postmaster-general +for British colonies in America, 1753-74; colonial agent for +Pennsylvania in England, 1757-75; elected to second Continental +Congress, 1775; ambassador to France, 1776-85; negotiated treaty with +France, February 6, 1778; concluded treaty of peace with England, in +conjunction with Jay and Adams, September 3, 1783; returned to America, +1785; President of Pennsylvania, 1785-88; delegate to Constitutional +Convention, 1787; died at Philadelphia, April 17, 1790. + +ADAMS, SAMUEL. Born at Boston, September 27, 1722; delegate to first and +second Continental Congress, 1775-76; lieutenant-governor of +Massachusetts, 1789-94; governor of Massachusetts, 1794-97; died at +Boston, October 2, 1803. + +HANCOCK, JOHN. Born at Quincy, Massachusetts, January 12, 1837; +President of the Provincial Congress, 1774-75; President of Continental +Congress, 1775-77; governor of Massachusetts, 1780-85 and 1787-93; died +at Quincy, October 8, 1793. + +HENRY, PATRICK. Born at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia, May 20, 1736; +admitted to the bar, 1760; entered Virginia House of Burgesses, 1765; +member of Continental Congress, 1774; of Virginia Convention, 1775; +governor of Virginia, 1776-79 and 1784-86; died at Red Hill, Charlotte +County, Virginia, June 6, 1799. + +HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. Born in the island of Nevis, West Indies, January +11, 1757; settled in New York, 1772; entered Continental service as +captain of artillery, 1776; on Washington's staff, 1777-81; member of +Continental Congress, 1782-83; of the Constitutional Convention, 1787; +secretary of the treasury, 1789-95; appointed commander-in-chief of the +army, 1799; mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr, July 11, 1804, +and died the following day. + +BURR, AARON. Born at Newark, New Jersey, February 6, 1756; served with +distinction in the Canada expedition in 1775 and at Monmouth in 1778; +began practice of law in New York, 1783; United States senator, 1791-97; +Vice-President, 1801-05; killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, July 11, +1804; in 1805, conceived plan of conquering Texas and perhaps Mexico and +establishing a great empire in the South-west; arrested in Mississippi +Territory, January 14, 1807; indicted for treason at Richmond, +Virginia, May 22, and acquitted, September 1, 1807; died at Port +Richmond, Staten Island, September 14, 1836. + +MARSHALL, JOHN. Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, September 24, 1755; +served in the Revolution; United States envoy to France, 1797-98; member +of Congress, 1799-1800; secretary of state, 1800-01; chief justice of +the United States Supreme Court, 1801-35; died at Philadelphia, July 6, +1835. + +CLAY, HENRY. Born in Hanover County, near Richmond, Virginia, April 12, +1777; United States senator from Kentucky, 1806-07 and 1809-11; member +of Congress, 1811-21 and 1823-25; peace commissioner at Ghent, 1814; +candidate for President, 1824; secretary of state, 1825-29; senator, +1832-42 and 1849-52; Whig candidate for President, 1832 and 1844; chief +designer of the "Missouri Compromise" of 1820, of the compromise of +1850, and of the compromise tariff of 1832-33; died at Washington, June +29, 1852. + +WEBSTER, DANIEL. Born at Salisbury, now Franklin, New Hampshire, January +18, 1782; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1801; admitted to the bar at +Boston, 1805; Federalist member of Congress from New Hampshire, 1813-17; +removed to Boston, 1816; member of Congress from Massachusetts, 1823-27; +Whig United States senator, 1827-41; received several electoral votes +for President, 1836, and unsuccessful candidate for Whig nomination +until death; secretary of state, 1841-43; senator, 1845-50; secretary of +state, 1850-52; died at Marshfield, Massachusetts, October 24, 1852. + +CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL. Born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, +March 18, 1782; graduated at Yale, 1804; admitted to the bar, 1807; +member of the South Carolina general assembly, 1808-09; member of +Congress, 1811-17; secretary of war in Monroe's cabinet, 1817-24; +Vice-President, 1825-32; United States senator, 1832-43; secretary of +state under Tyler, 1844-45; re-elected to the Senate of which he +remained a member until his death, at Washington, March 31, 1850. + +BENTON, THOMAS HART. Born at Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, +1782; United States senator from Missouri, 1821-51; member of Congress, +1853-55; died at Washington, April 10, 1858. + +CASS, LEWIS. Born at Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, 1782; served in +the second war with England; governor of Michigan Territory, 1813-31; +secretary of war, 1831-36; minister to France, 1836-42; United States +senator, 1845-48; Democratic candidate for President, 1848; senator, +1849-57; secretary of state, 1857-60; died at Detroit, Michigan, June +17, 1866. + +DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD. Born at Brandon, Vermont, April 23, 1813; judge +of the Supreme Court of Illinois, 1841; member of Congress, 1843-47; +United States senator, 1847-61; Democratic candidate for President, +1860; died at Chicago, June 3, 1861. + +EVERETT, EDWARD. Born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 11, 1794; +professor of Greek at Harvard, 1819-25; editor the _North American +Review_, 1819-24; member of Congress, 1825-35; governor of +Massachusetts, 1836-40; minister to England, 1841-45; president of +Harvard College, 1846-49; secretary of state, 1852-53; senator, 1853-54; +candidate of Constitutional Union party for Vice-President, 1860; died +at Boston, January 15, 1865. + +STEVENS, THADDEUS. Born in Caledonia County, Vermont, April 4, 1792; +graduated at Dartmouth College, 1814; removed to Gettysburg, +Pennsylvania, and admitted to the bar, 1816; Whig member of Congress, +1849-53; Republican member of Congress, 1859-68; proposed impeachment of +President Johnson, 1868; died at Washington, April 11, 1868. + +SUMNER, CHARLES. Born at Boston, January 6, 1811; graduated at Harvard, +1830; admitted to the bar, 1834; United States senator, 1851-74; +assaulted in Senate chamber by Preston Brooks, May 22, 1856; chairman of +committee on foreign affairs, 1861-71; died at Washington, March 11, +1874. + +SEWARD, WILLIAM HENRY. Born at Florida, Orange County, New York, May 16, +1801; graduated at Union College, 1820; admitted to the bar, 1822; +member State Senate, 1830-34; Whig governor of New York, 1838-43; United +States senator, 1849-61; candidate for Republican nomination for +President, 1860; secretary of state, 1861-69; died at Auburn, New York, +October 10, 1872. + +CHASE, SALMON PORTLAND. Born at Cornish, New Hampshire, January 13, +1808; United States senator from Ohio, 1849-55; governor of Ohio, +1856-60; secretary of the treasury, 1861-64; chief justice of the +Supreme Court, 1864-73; died at New York City, May 7, 1873. + +SHERMAN, JOHN. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823; admitted to the +bar, 1844; Republican member of Congress from Ohio, 1855-61; senator, +1861-77; secretary of the treasury, 1877-81; senator, 1881-97; +secretary of state, 1897-98; candidate for presidential nomination in +1884 and 1888; died at Washington, October 22, 1900. + +DAVIS, JEFFERSON. Born in Christian County, Kentucky, June 3, 1808; +graduated at West Point, 1828; Democratic member of Congress from +Mississippi, 1845-46; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; United States +senator, 1847-51; secretary of war, 1853-57; senator, 1857-61; resigned +his seat, January 21, 1861; inaugurated President of the Confederacy, +February 22, 1862; arrested near Irwinsville, Georgia, May 10, 1865; +imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, 1865-67; amnestied, 1868; died +at New Orleans, December 6, 1889. + +STEPHENS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Born near Crawfordville, Georgia, February +11, 1812; graduated at University of Georgia, 1832; member of State +legislature, 1836; member of Congress, 1843-59; Vice-President of the +Confederacy, 1861-65; imprisoned in Fort Warren, Boston harbor, +May-October, 1865; member of Congress, 1873-82; governor of Georgia, +1883; died at Atlanta, Georgia, March 4, 1883. + +BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE. Born at West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, January +31, 1830; member of Congress from Maine, 1862-76; senator, 1876-81; +secretary of state, 1881 and 1889-92; unsuccessful candidate of +Republican party for President, 1884; died at Washington, January 27, +1893. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PIONEERS + + +The settlers in America did not find an unoccupied country of which they +were free to take possession, but a land in which dwelt a savage and +warlike people, who had been named Indians, because the first voyagers +supposed that it was the Indies they had discovered. The name has clung, +in spite of the attempts of scientists to fasten upon them the name +Amerinds, to distinguish them from the inhabitants of India. Indians +they will probably always remain, a standing evidence of the confusion +of thought of the early voyagers. + +That the Indians owned the country there can be no question; but +civilization has never stopped to consider the claims of savage peoples, +and it did not in this case. Might made right; besides, the Indians, +consisting of scattered, semi-nomadic tribes, seemed to have no use for +the great territory they occupied. Indeed, they themselves, at first, +welcomed the white-skinned newcomers; but they soon grew jealous of +encroachments which never ceased, and at last fought step by step for +their country. They were driven back, defeated, exterminated. But in the +early years, no settlement was safe, and every man was, in a sense, a +pioneer. + +The French, in their eagerness for empire, allied themselves with the +Indians, supplied them with arms, and offered a bounty for scalps; and +for nearly three quarters of a century, a bitter and bloody contest was +waged, which ended only with the expulsion of the French from the +continent. Deprived of their ally, the Indians retreated beyond the +mountains, where their war parties gathered to drive back the white +invader. Those years on the frontier developed a race of men accustomed +to danger and ready for any chance; and towering head and shoulders +above them all stands the mighty figure of Daniel Boone, the most famous +of American pioneers. About him cluster legends and tales innumerable, +some true, many false; but one thing is certain; for boldness, cunning +and knowledge of woodcraft and Indian warfare he had no equal. + +Born in Pennsylvania, but moving at an early age to the little frontier +settlement of Holman's Ford, in North Carolina, the boy had barely +enough schooling to enable him to read and write. His real books were +the woods, and he studied them until they held no secrets from him. He +was a born hunter, a lover of the wild life of the forest, impatient of +civilization, and truly at home only in the wilderness. The cry of the +panther, the war-whoop of the Indian, were music to him; that was his +nature--to love adventure, to court danger, to welcome the thrill of the +pulse which peril brings. Understand him: he was not the man to incur +foolish risks; but he incurred necessary ones without a second thought. +He was near death no doubt a hundred times, yet lived to die in his +bed. But he was at his best, he really lived, only when the wilderness +held him and when his life depended upon his care and watchfulness. + +[Illustration: Boone] + +In 1755, Boone married and built a log cabin far up the Yadkin, where he +had no neighbors; but as the years passed, other families settled near; +the smoke of other cabins rose above the woods; his fields were bounded +by rude fences; he could scarcely stir out without encountering some +neighbor. It was too crowded for Daniel Boone; he felt the same +sensation that your nature lover feels to-day in the midst of a teeming +city--a sense of suffocation and disgust--and he finally determined to +move still further westward, and to cross the mountains into Kentucky, +concerning whose richness many stories had reached his ears. He +persuaded six men to accompany him, and on the first day of May, 1769, +set forth on the perilous journey which was to mark the beginning of his +life-work. + +Up to that time, the Alleghany Mountains had marked a boundary beyond +which white settlers dared not go, for to the west lay great reaches of +forest, uninhabited except for wild beasts and still wilder bands of +roving Indians. Into this forest, Boone and his companions plunged, and +after some weeks of wandering, emerged into the beautiful and fertile +country of Kentucky--a country not owned by any Indian tribe, but +visited only by wandering war- and hunting-parties from the nations +living north of the Ohio or south of the Tennessee. The party found +game in abundance, especially great droves of buffalo, and spent some +months in hunting and exploring. A roving war-party stumbled upon one of +Boone's companions, and forthwith killed him; a second soon met the same +fate, and Boone himself had more than one narrow escape. The danger grew +so great, that the other members of the party returned over the +mountains, and Boone was, for a time, left alone, as he himself put it, +"without company of any fellow-creature, or even a horse or dog." + +His brother joined him after a time, and the two spent the winter +together. Game furnished abundant food, and the only danger was from the +Indians, but that was an ever-present one. Sometimes they slept in +hollow trees, at other times, they changed their resting-place every +night, and after making a fire, would go off for a mile or two in the +woods to sleep. Unceasing vigilance was the price of safety. When spring +came, Boone's brother returned over the mountains, and again he was left +alone. Three months later the brother came back, bringing a party of +hunters, but no one was inclined to settle in so dangerous a locality, +the struggle to possess which was so fierce that it became known as "the +dark and bloody ground." + +In 1773, Boone himself started to lead a band of settlers over the +mountains, but while passing through the frowning defiles of the +Cumberland Gap, they were attacked by Indians and driven back, two of +Boone's sons being among the slain. Hunting parties crossed the +mountains from time to time after that, and made great inroads on the +vast herds of game, but the Indians were in arms everywhere, and not +until they had been defeated at the battle of Point Pleasant, the +bloodiest in the history of Virginia with its Indian foe, did they sue +for peace. + +The coming of peace marked a new era in the development of the western +country. Some years before, a company of men headed by Richard +Henderson, had conceived the grandiose project of founding in the west a +great colony, and had purchased from the Cherokee Indians a vast tract +of land, which they named Transylvania. It included all the land between +the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, and Daniel Boone was selected to +blaze a way into the wilderness, to mark out a road, and start the first +settlement. He got a party together, crossed the mountains, and on April +1, 1775, began to build a fort on the left bank of the Kentucky river, +calling it Fort Boone, afterwards Boonesborough. Some settlers moved in, +but the outbreak of the Revolution and the consequent renewal of Indian +hostilities under encouragement from the British put a stop to +immigration. + +The fort, alone and unprotected in the wilderness, was soon attacked by +a great war-party, but managed to beat off the assailants. Shortly +afterwards, while leading an expedition to the Blue Licks, on the +Licking river, to secure a supply of salt, Boone became separated from +his men, and was surprised and captured by an Indian war-party. The joy +of the savages at this capture may be imagined, for they had in their +hands their most intrepid foe. After being exhibited to the British at +Detroit, he was brought back to the Indian settlements north of the +Ohio, and formally adopted into an Indian family, for the savages +desired, if possible, to make this mighty hunter and warrior one of +themselves. And Boone might have really adopted Indian life, which +appealed to him in many ways, but one day he found that preparations +were on foot for another great expedition against Boonesborough. +Watching his opportunity, he managed to escape, and reached the fort in +time to warn it of the impending attack. He covered the distance, 160 +miles, in four days, eating but a single meal upon the road--a turkey +which he managed to shoot. + +He came to Boonesborough like one risen from the dead. The fort was at +once put into a state of defense, and endured the most savage assault +ever directed against it, the Indians numbering nearly five hundred, +while the garrison mustered but sixty-five. The siege lasted for nine +days, when the Indians, despairing of overcoming a resistance so +desperate, retired. + +The succeeding years were full of adventure and hair-breadth escapes, +which cannot even be mentioned here. On one occasion, Boone and his +brother, Squire, were surprised by Indians; the latter was killed and +scalped and Boone escaped with the greatest difficulty. At the battle of +Blue Licks, two years later, two sons fought at his side, one of whom +was killed and the other severely wounded. But Boone seemed to bear a +charmed life. His years in the wilderness had developed in him an +almost supernatural keenness of sight and hearing; and constant peril +from the Indians had made him very careful. Whenever he went into the +woods after game or Indians, he had perpetually to keep watch to make +sure that he was not being hunted in turn. Every turkey-call might mean +a lurking savage, every cracking twig might mean an approaching foe. + +On one occasion, his daughter and two other girls were carried off by +Indians, and Boone, raising a small company, followed the trail of the +fugitives without resting for two days and a night; then came to where +the Indians had killed a buffalo calf and were camped around it, never +dreaming of danger. So Boone and his men crept up on them, shot down the +Indians and rescued the girls. On still another occasion, he was pursued +by Indians, who used a tracking dog to follow his trail. Boone turned, +shot the dog, and then made good his escape. Such incidents might be +related by the dozen. No wonder Boone was considered one of the most +valuable men on the frontier, and was a very tower of strength in +defending it against the Indians. + +The end, however, was sad enough. When Kentucky was admitted to the +Union, Boone's titles to the land he had laid out for himself were +declared to be defective; it was all taken from him, and he moved first +to Ohio, and then to Missouri, where he spent his last years. He was +hale and hearty almost to the end, leading a hunting-party to the mouth +of the Kansas when he was eighty-two years old, and completely tiring +out its younger members. Nearly at the end of his life, Congress +recognized his services to his country by granting him eight hundred and +fifty acres of land in Missouri, and on this grant, the last years of +his life were spent. Chester Harding visited him just before the end and +painted a portrait of him which remains the best delineation of the +redoubtable old pioneer, whose striking face tells of the resolute will, +and unshrinking courage which made the settlement of Kentucky possible. + +Scarcely less prominent than Boone on the Kentucky frontier, and with a +career in many ways even more adventurous, was Simon Kenton. Born in +Virginia in 1755, he had grown to young manhood, rough and uncultivated, +and with little evidence of having been raised in a civilized community. +At the age of sixteen, he had a desperate affray with a neighbor named +William Veach, during which he caught Veach around the body, whirled him +into the air, and dashed him to the ground with such violence, that he +thought he had broken his neck. Not daring to return home or to linger +in the neighborhood, for fear his crime would be discovered and he +himself arrested and hanged, he plunged into the wilderness and made his +way westward over the mountains, changing his name to Simon Butler. + +The two or three years following were spent by him in roaming along the +Ohio valley, sometimes alone, sometimes with two or three companions, +and always surrounded by danger. On one occasion, his camp was surprised +by Indians, and he and his companion were forced to flee for their +lives without weapons of any kind, and with no clothing but their +shirts. For six days and nights, they wandered without fire or food, +suffering from the cold, for it was the dead of winter, and so torn and +lacerated that on the last two days they covered only six miles, most of +it on hands and knees. Staggering and crawling forward, they came out at +last upon the Ohio river, and by good fortune fell in with a +hunting-party and were saved. + +Kenton's life was full of just such incidents. Daniel Boone found in him +a most valuable ally, incapable of fear and with a knowledge of +woodcraft surpassed only by Boone himself. Kenton was inside Boone's +fort whenever it was in danger, and on one occasion saved Boone's life. +Let us tell the story, for it is typical of the border warfare in which +both Boone and Kenton were so expert. + +One morning, having loaded their guns for a hunt, Kenton and two +companions were standing in the gate of Fort Boone, when two men, who +were driving in some horses from a near-by field, were fired upon by +Indians. They fled toward the fort, the Indians after them, and one of +them was overtaken and killed and was being scalped, when Kenton and his +companions ran up, killed one of the Indians and pursued the others to +the edge of the clearing. Boone, meanwhile, had heard the firing, and +came hurrying out with reinforcements, only, a moment later, to be cut +off from the fort by a strong body of savages. There was nothing to do +but to cut their way back through them, and in the charge, Boone +received a ball through the leg, breaking the bone. As he fell, the +Indian leader raised his tomahawk to kill him, but Kenton, seeing his +comrade's peril, shot the Indian through the heart, and succeeded in +dragging Boone inside the fort. + +During the Dunmore war, Kenton ranged the Indian country as a spy, +carrying his life in his hand, and accompanied George Rogers Clark on +his famous Illinois campaign. A short time later, with one or two +others, he started on an expedition to run off some horses from the +Miami villages, and had nearly succeeded, when he was captured. The +Indians hated him more bitterly than they hated Boone himself, and they +prepared to enjoy themselves at his expense. They bound him to a wild +horse and chased the horse through the forest until their captive's face +was torn and bleeding from the lashing of the branches; they staked him +down at night so that he could not move hand or foot, and when they +reached their town, the whole population turned out to make him run the +gauntlet. The Indians formed in a double line, about six feet apart, +each armed with a heavy club, and Kenton was forced to run between them. +He had not gone far when he saw ahead of him an Indian with drawn knife, +prepared to plunge it into him as he passed. By a mighty effort, he +broke through the line, but was soon recaptured, lashed with whips, +pelted with stones, branded with red-hot irons, and condemned to be +burnt at the stake. + +But before killing him, the Indians concluded to lend him to other towns +to have some sport with, so he was taken from town to town, compelled to +run the gauntlet at each one, and subjected to a variegated list of +tortures. Three or four times, he was tied to a stake for the final +execution, but each time the Indians decided to wait a while longer. +Finally, an Englishman got the Indians to consent to send Kenton for a +visit to Detroit, and he spent the winter there. Then, with two other +captives, and with the help of a kind-hearted Irish woman, he managed to +escape, and made his way back to Kentucky--over four hundred miles +through the Indian country, narrowly escaping death a hundred times--in +thirty-three days. + +There he learned that he need not have fled from Pennsylvania, that the +man with whom he had fought years before was not dead, but had +recovered. For the first time since his appearance in the west, he +assumed his real name, and was known thereafter as Simon Kenton. Soon +afterwards he returned to his old home, and brought the whole family +back with him to Kentucky. One would have thought he had had enough of +fighting, but he was with Wayne at the Fallen timbers and with William +Henry Harrison at the battle of the Thames. Sadly enough, the last years +of this old hero were passed in want. His land in Kentucky was taken +from him by speculators because he had failed to have it properly +registered, and he was imprisoned for debt on the spot where he had +reared the first cabin in northern Kentucky. + +In the spring of 1824, an old, tattered, weather-beaten figure appeared +on the streets of Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky. So strange and +wild it was that a gang of street boys gathered and ran hooting after +it. Men laughed--till suddenly, one of them, looking again, recognized +Simon Kenton. In a moment a guard of honor was formed, and the tattered +figure was conducted to the Capitol, placed in the speaker's chair, and +for the first and only time in his life, Simon Kenton received some +portion of the respect and homage to which his deeds entitled him. + + * * * * * + +Boone and Kenton, with a handful of hardy and fearless pioneers, laid +the foundations of Kentucky; but in the history of the "Old Northwest," +the country north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, one name +stands out transcendent; the name of a man as daring, as brave, as +resourceful as any on the border--George Rogers Clark. He was greater +than Boone or Kenton in that he had a wider vision; they saw only the +duties of the present; he saw the possibilities of the future, and his +exploits form one of the most thrilling chapters of American history. + +Clark, a Virginian by birth, started out in life as a surveyor, and +early in 1775, removed to Kentucky to follow his profession. There was, +no doubt, plenty of surveying to be done there, since the whole country +was an uncharted wilderness, but the beginning of the Revolution was +accompanied by an immediate outbreak of Indian hostilities, so serious +that the very existence of the Kentucky settlements was threatened. +Soon all but two of them, Boonesborough and Harrodsburg, had to be +abandoned. Boone was, of course, in command at his fort, and Clark, who +had seen some service in Dunmore's war, became the natural leader at +Harrod's. His influence rapidly increased, and he was chosen as a +delegate to journey to Williamsburg and urge upon Virginia the needs of +the western colony, which lay within her chartered limits. + +Clark set off without delay on the long and dangerous journey, reached +Williamsburg, gained an audience of Patrick Henry, the governor of +Virginia, and painted the needs of Kentucky in such colors that he soon +gained the sympathy of the impulsive and warm-hearted governor, and +together they secured from the Assembly a large gift of lead and powder +for the protection of the frontier. More than that, they succeeded in +making Virginia acknowledge her responsibility for the new colony by +constituting it the county of Kentucky. This, it may be added, put an +end forever to Henderson's dream of the independent colony of +Transylvania. + +Clark got his powder and ball safe to Harrodsburg just in time to repel +a desperate Indian assault; but it was evident that there would be no +safety for the Kentucky settlements so long as England controlled the +country north of the Ohio. All that region formed a part of what was +known as the Province of Quebec. Here and there dotted through it were +quaint little towns of French Creoles, the most important being +Detroit, Vincennes on the Wabash, and Kaskaskia and Kahokia on the +Illinois. These French villages were ruled by British officers +commanding small bodies of regular soldiers, and keeping the Indians in +a constant state of war against their Kentucky neighbors, furnishing +them with arms and ammunition, and rewarding them for every expedition +they undertook against the Americans. They had no idea that any band of +Americans which could be mustered west of the mountains would dare to +attack them, and so were careless in their guard, and maintained only +small garrisons at the various forts. + +All this Clark found out by means of spies which he sent through the +country, and finally, having his plan matured, he went again to Virginia +in December, 1777, and laid before Governor Henry his whole idea, +explaining in detail why he thought it could be carried out +successfully. Henry was at once enthused with it, so daring and full of +promise he thought it, and he enlisted the aid of Thomas Jefferson. The +result was that when Clark set out on his return journey, it was with +orders not only to defend Kentucky, but to attack Kaskaskia and the +other British posts, and he carried with him L1,200 in paper money, and +an order on the commander of Fort Pitt for such boats and ammunition as +he might need. + +With great difficulty, Clark got together a force of about a hundred and +fifty men, one of whom was Simon Kenton. He could not get many +volunteers from Kentucky because the settlers there thought they had +all they could do to defend their own forts without going out to attack +the enemy's and only a few men could be spared. In May, 1778, this +little force started down the Ohio in flat boats, and landing just +before they reached the Mississippi, marched northward against +Kaskaskia, where the British commander of the entire district had his +headquarters. Clark knew that his force was outnumbered by the garrison +and that it would be necessary to surprise the town. After a six days' +march across country, he came to the outskirts of the village on the +evening of July 4th, and found a great dance in progress in the fort. +Waiting until the revelry was at its height, Clark advanced silently, +surprised the sentries, and surrounded the fort without causing any +alarm. Then with his men posted, Clark walked forward through the open +door, and leaning against the wall, watched the dancers, as they whirled +around by the light of the flaring torches. + +Suddenly an Indian, after looking at him for a moment, raised the +war-whoop; the dancing ceased, but Clark, shouting at the top of his +voice to still the confusion, bade the dancers continue, asking them +only to remember that thereafter they were dancing under the flag of the +United States, instead of that of Great Britain. A few moments later, +the commandant was captured in his bed, and the investment was complete. +The other settlements in the neighborhood surrendered at once, so that +the Illinois country was captured without the firing of a gun. + +But when the news reached the British governor, Hamilton, at Detroit, he +at once prepared to recapture the country. He had a much larger force at +his command than Clark could possibly muster, and in the fall of the +year he advanced against Vincennes at the head of over five hundred men. +The little American garrison was unable to oppose such a force and was +compelled to surrender. Instead of pushing on against Clark at +Kaskaskia, Hamilton disbanded his Indians and sent some of his troops +back to Detroit, and prepared to spend the winter at Vincennes. He +repaired the fort, strengthened the defenses, and then sat down for the +winter, confident that when spring came, he would again be master of the +whole Illinois country. + +Clark, at Kaskaskia, realized that it was a question of his taking the +British or the British taking him, and that, if he waited for spring, he +would have no chance at all; so he gathered together the pick of his +men, one hundred and seventy all told, and early in February, 1779, set +out for Vincennes. The task before him was to capture a force nearly +equal to his own, protected by a strong fort well supplied for a siege. + +At first the journey was easy enough, for they passed across the snowy +Illinois prairies, broken occasionally by great stretches of woodland, +but when they reached the drowned lands of the Wabash, the march became +almost incredibly difficult. The ice had just broken up and everything +was flooded; heavy rains set in, and when the men were not wading +through icy water, they were struggling through mud nearly knee-deep. +After twelve days of this, they came to the bank of the Embarass river, +only to find the country all under water, save one little hillock, where +they spent the night without food or fire. For four days they waited +there for the flood to retire, with practically nothing to eat; but the +rain continued and the flood increased, and Clark, finally, in +desperation, plunged into the water and called to his men to follow. All +day they waded, and toward evening reached a small patch of dry ground, +where they spent a miserable night. At sunrise Clark started on again, +through icy water waist-deep, this time with the stern command to shoot +the first laggard. Some of the men failed and sank beneath the waves, to +be rescued by the stronger ones, and by the middle of the afternoon they +had all got safe to land. By good fortune, they captured some Indian +squaws with a canoe-load of food, and had their first meal in two days. +Soon afterwards the sun came out, and they saw before them the walls of +the fort they had come to capture. + +The British had no suspicion of their danger, and they thought the first +patter of bullets against the palisades the usual friendly salute from +an Indian hunting party. But they were soon undeceived, and answered the +rifles with ineffective fire from their two small cannon. All night the +fight continued, and at dawn an Indian war-party, which had been +ravaging the Kentucky settlements, entered the town, ignorant that the +Americans had captured it. Marching up to the fort, they suddenly found +themselves surrounded and seized. In their belts they carried the scalps +of the settlers--men, women and children--they had slain, and, +infuriated at the sight, the Americans tomahawked the savages, one after +another, before the eyes of the British. + +Then Clark sent to the fort a peremptory summons to surrender, adding, +that "his men were eager to avenge the murder of their relatives and +friends and would welcome an excuse to storm the fort." To the British, +it seemed a choice between surrender and massacre. They had seen the +bloody vengeance wreaked upon their Indian allies, and they had every +reason to believe that they would be dealt with in the same manner, +since it was they who had set the Indians on. Clark was himself, of +course, in desperate straits, without means for carrying on a successful +siege, but the British were far from suspecting this, and at ten o'clock +on the morning of February 25, 1779, marched out and stacked arms, while +Clark fired a salute of thirteen guns in honor of the colonies, from +whose possession the Northwest was never again to pass. + +For eight years longer, Clark devoted his life to protecting the border +from British and Indian invasion. The war over, he returned to Kentucky, +and took up his abode in a little log cabin on the Ohio near Louisville. +He was without means, and a horrible accident marred his last years, +for, while alone in his cabin, he was stricken with paralysis, and fell +with one of his legs in the old-fashioned fire-place. There was no one +to draw him out of danger, and before the pain brought him partially to +his senses, his leg was so badly burned that it had to be amputated. +There were no anaesthetics in those days, but while the leg was being +removed, a fife and drum corps played its hardest at the bedside, and +the doughty old warrior kept time to the music with his fingers. + +He lived for ten years thereafter, though his paralysis never left him. +He felt keenly the ingratitude of the Republic which he had served so +well, and which yet, in his old age, abandoned him to want, and the +story is told that, when the state of Virginia sent him a sword of +honor, he thrust it into the ground and broke it with his crutch. + +"I gave Virginia a sword when she needed one," he said; "but now, when I +need bread, she sends me a toy!" + + * * * * * + +In the settlement of the country north of the Ohio, one man, a veteran +of the Revolution, was foremost. His name was Rufus Putnam, and he was a +cousin of that Israel Putnam, some of whose exploits we will soon +relate. He has been well called the "Father of Ohio," for he was the +founder of the first permanent white settlement made within the borders +of the state. He was born in 1738, at Sutton, Massachusetts, and his +early life was a hard and rough one. Left an orphan while still a child, +he was put to work as soon as he was big enough to be of any use, and +received practically no education, although he managed to teach himself +to read and write. He earned a few pennies by watering horses for +travelers, and with this money purchased a spelling-book and arithmetic. + +He served through the French war and the Revolution, rendering +distinguished service and retiring with the rank of brigadier-general; +and at its close, finding that Congress would be unable for a long time +to pay many of the soldiers for their services, he became interested in +the suggestion that payment be made in land along the Ohio river, and +offered to lead a band of settlers to their new homes. In March, 1786, +in Boston, he and some others formed the Ohio Company, and one of their +directors, Manasseh Cutler, a preacher of more than usual ability, was +selected to lay the company's plan before Congress. The result was the +famous ordinance of 1787, providing for the establishment and government +of the Northwest Territory, of which Arthur St. Clair was named +governor. Cutler also secured a large land grant for the new company, +and in the following year, Putnam started across the mountains with the +first band of emigrants. + +They reached the vicinity of Pittsburg after a weary journey, and there +built a boat which they named the Mayflower, and in it floated down the +river, until they reached the mouth of the Muskingum. On April 17, 1788, +they began the erection of a blockhouse, which was to be the nucleus of +the new settlement, and a place of defense in case of Indian attack. The +settlement was named Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette, the Queen +of France; it prospered from the first, and in a few years was a lively +little village. There were Indian alarms at first, but General Wayne's +victory secured a lasting peace. Putnam served as a brigadier-general in +Wayne's campaign, and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the +peace treaty. + +He lived for many years thereafter, and remained to the last the leading +man of the settlement. He was interested in every project for the +betterment of the new Commonwealth, helped to found the Ohio University +at Athens, was one of the drafters of the state constitution, and +founded the first Bible school west of the mountains. A venerable +figure, he died in 1824, having lived to see the valley which he had +entered a wilderness settled by hundreds of thousands, and the state +which he had helped to found become one of the greatest in the Union. + + * * * * * + +By the end of the eighteenth century, the country between the +Alleghanies and the Mississippi was fairly well known, first through the +explorations of such pioneers as Boone and Clark and Kenton, and, later +on, through the steady advance of civilization, forever throwing new +outposts westward. But beyond the great river stretched a mighty +wilderness whose character and extent were only guessed at. The United +States, of course, had little interest in it, since it belonged to +France, and since, east of the river, there were millions of acres as +yet unsettled; but when, in 1803, President Jefferson purchased it of +Napoleon Bonaparte for the sum of fifteen million dollars, all that was +changed. By that purchase, the area of the United States was more than +doubled; but there were many people at the time who opposed the purchase +on the ground that the country east of the river would never be +thoroughly settled and that there would be no use whatever for the great +territory west of it. So mistaken, sometimes, is human foresight! + +The President determined that this great addition to the Nation should +be explored without delay, and, securing from Congress the necessary +powers, he appointed his private secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to +head an expedition to the Pacific. + +Lewis was at that time twenty-nine years of age. He seems to have been +of an adventurous disposition for, despite the fact that he inherited a +fortune, he enlisted in the army as a private as soon as he was of age. +Five years later, he had risen to the rank of captain, and, attracting +the attention of President Jefferson, he was appointed his secretary. He +proved to be so capable and enterprising that the President selected him +for this dangerous and arduous task of exploration. With him was +associated Lieutenant William Clark, a brother of that hardy adventurer, +George Rogers Clark. + +William Clark, who was eighteen years younger than his famous brother, +had joined him in Kentucky in 1784, at the age of fourteen, and soon +became acquainted with the perils of Indian warfare. He was appointed +ensign in the army four years later, and rose to the rank of adjutant, +but was compelled to resign, from the service in 1796, on account of +ill-health. He settled at the half-Spanish town of St. Louis, and in +March, 1804, was appointed by President Jefferson a second lieutenant of +artillery, with orders to join Captain Lewis in his journey to the +Pacific. Clark was really the military director of the expedition, and +his knowledge of Indian life and character had much to do with its +success. + +The party consisted of twenty-eight men, and in the spring of 1804, +started up the Missouri, following it until late in October, when they +camped for the winter near the present site of Bismarck, North. Dakota. +They resumed the journey early in the spring, and in May, caught their +first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. Reaching the headwaters of the +Columbia, at last, they floated down its current, and on the morning of +November 7, 1806, after a journey of a year and a half, full of every +sort of hardship and adventure, they saw ahead of them the blue expanse +of the Pacific. They spent the winter on the coast, and reached St. +Louis again in September, 1807, having traversed over nine thousand +miles of unbroken wilderness where no white man had ever before set +foot. It was largely because of this expedition that our government was +able, forty years later, to claim and maintain a title to the state of +Oregon. + +Congress rewarded the members of the expedition with grants of land, +and Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri. But the strain of the +expedition to the Pacific had undermined his health; he became subject +to fits of depression, and on October 8, 1809, he put an end to his life +in a lonely cabin near Nashville, Tennessee, where he had stopped for a +night's lodging. Clark lived thirty years longer, serving as Indian +agent, governor of Missouri, and superintendent of Indian affairs. + +While Lewis and Clark were struggling across the continent, another +young adventurer was conducting some explorations farther to the east. +Zebulon Pike, aged twenty-seven, a captain in the regular army, was, in +1805, appointed to lead an expedition to the source of the Mississippi. +He accomplished this, after a hard journey lasting nine months; and, a +year later, leading another expedition to the southwest, discovered a +great mountain which he named Pike's Peak, and, continuing southward, +came out on the Rio Grande. He was in Spanish territory, and was held +prisoner for a time, but was finally released upon representations from +the government at Washington. He rose steadily in the service, and in +1813, during the second war with England, led an assault upon Little +York, now Toronto. The town was captured, but the fleeing British +exploded a powder magazine, and General Pike was crushed and killed +beneath the flying fragments. He died with his head on the British flag, +which had been hauled down and brought to him. + +The next step to be recorded in the growth of the United States is a +step variously regarded as infamous or glorious--but it was marked by +one of the most heroic incidents in history, and dominated by the +picturesque and remarkable personality of Sam Houston. + +The purchase of Louisiana from the French brought the United States in +direct contact with Mexico, which claimed a great territory in the +southwest, and, finally, in 1819, a line between the possessions of the +two countries was agreed upon. It left Mexico in possession of the wide +stretch of country now included in the states of California, Nevada, +Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of this +country was practically unknown to Americans, and the great stretches of +arid land which comprised large portions of it were considered worthless +and uninhabitable. But a good many Americans had drifted across the +border into the fertile plains of Texas, and settled there. As time went +on, the stream of immigration increased, until there were in the country +enough American settlers to take a prominent part in the revolt of +Mexico against Spain in 1824. The revolt was successful, and the country +which had discovered the New World lost her last foothold there. + +The settlers in Texas, coming as they did largely from the southern +states, were naturally slave-holders, but in 1829, Mexico abolished +slavery, an action which greatly enraged them. It is startling to +reflect that a country which we consider so inferior to ourselves should +have preceded us by over thirty years in this great step forward in +civilization. In other ways, the Mexican yoke was not a pleasant one to +the Texans, and within a few years, the whole country was in a state of +seething insurrection. President Jackson was eager to annex Texas, whose +value to the Union he fully recognized, and offered Mexico five million +dollars for the province, but the offer was refused. Such was the +condition of affairs when, in 1833, Sam Houston appeared upon the scene. + +The story of the life of this extraordinary man reads like a fable. Born +in Virginia in 1793, he was taken to Tennessee at the age of thirteen, +and promptly began his career by running away from home and joining the +Cherokee Indians. When his family found him, he refused to return home, +and the next seven years were spent largely in the wilderness with his +savage friends. The wild life was congenial to him, and he grew up rough +and head-strong and healthy. Then the Creek war broke out, and Houston +enlisted with Andrew Jackson. One incident of that war gives a better +insight into Houston's character than volumes of description. At the +battle of the Horseshoe, where the Creeks made a desperate stand, a +barbed arrow struck Houston in the thigh and sank deep into the flesh. +He tried to pull it out and failed. + +"Here," he called to a comrade, "pull out this arrow." + +The other took hold of the shaft of the arrow and pulled with all his +might, but could not dislodge it. + +"I can't get it out," he said, at last. + +"Oh, yes, you can!" cried Houston, and raised his sword. "Pull it out, +or it'll be worse for you!" + +The soldier saw he was in earnest, and, taking hold of the arrow again, +gave it a mighty wrench. It came out, but the barbs of the arrow tore +the flesh badly. Houston, however, paused only to tie up the wound +roughly, and hurried back into the fight, though Jackson ordered him to +the rear. Before long, two bullets struck him down, and he lay between +life and death for many days. + +Such desperate valor was exactly after "Old Hickory's" heart, and from +that time forward, Jackson was Houston's friend and patron. In 1818, he +managed to gain admittance to the bar, and his rise was so rapid that +within five years he had been elected to Congress, and four years later +governor of Tennessee. Then came the strange catastrophe which nearly +wrecked his life. + +Houston was, after Andrew Jackson, the most popular man in the state. He +resembled the hero of New Orleans in many ways, being rough, rude, +hot-headed and honest--just the sort of man to appeal to the people +among whom his lot was cast. When, therefore, in January, 1829, while +governor of the state, he married Miss Eliza Allen, a member of one of +the most prominent families in it, everybody wished him well, and the +wedding was a great affair. But scarcely was the honeymoon over, when he +sent his bride back to her parents, resigned the governorship, and, +refusing to give any explanation of his conduct, plunged into the +wilderness to the west. + +Perhaps the most characteristic feature of frontier society is its +chivalry toward women, and Houston's conduct brought about his head a +perfect storm of indignation. No doubt he had many enemies who welcomed +the opportunity to wreck his fame, and who gladly added their voices to +the uproar. From the most popular man, he became the most hated, and it +would have been dangerous for him to venture back within the state's +borders. Not until after his death, did his wife give any explanation of +his conduct. She stated that he had discovered that she loved another, +and that he had deserted her so that she could secure a divorce on the +ground of abandonment. That explanation, lame as it is, is the only one +ever offered by either of the principals. + +Meanwhile, Houston had joined his old friends, the Cherokees, now living +in Arkansas Territory, and asked to be admitted to the tribe. The +Indians expressed the opinion that he should have beaten his wife +instead of abandoning her, but nevertheless adopted him, and for three +years he lived their life, dressing, fighting, hunting and drinking +precisely like any Indian. The papers, meanwhile, were filled with +surmises concerning him. No one understood why he should have exiled +himself, and it was reported that he intended to lead the Cherokees into +Texas, conquer the country and set up a government of his own. President +Jackson wrote to him, protesting against "any such chimerical, visionary +scheme," which, needless to say, Houston had never entertained. These +rumors grew so annoying, that he issued a proclamation offering a prize +"To the Author of the Most Elegant, Refined, and Ingenious Lie or +Calumny" about him. + +The trouble culminated when Houston, having gone to Washington to plead +for his friends, the Indians, caned a member of Congress who had +slandered him on the floor of the House. He was arrested, and arraigned +before the bar of the House for "breach of privilege," and was +reprimanded by the Speaker and fined five hundred dollars--a fine which +President Jackson promptly remitted, remarking that a few more examples +of the same kind would teach Congressmen to keep civil tongues in their +heads. Houston's comment on the affair was, "I was dying out once, and, +had they taken me before a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars +for assault and battery, it would have killed me; but they gave me a +national tribunal for a theatre and it set me up again." + +It did "set him up" in earnest. The President, who always had a warm +place in his heart for him, helped by sending him--not, perhaps, without +some insight into the future--to Texas, to examine into the value of +that country, in case the United States should decide to buy it. What +Jackson's private instructions were can only be surmised, but, +certainly, Houston showed no hesitation or uncertainty after he reached +the scene. + +On December 10, 1832, he crossed into Mexican territory, and was soon at +the head of the Texas insurrectionists, who had determined to establish +a government of their own, and who found in Houston a leader after their +own hearts. Armed collisions between Texans and Mexican troops became +of common occurrence, and the spirit of revolt spread so rapidly that +Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, sent an army under General Cos to pacify +the country and drive the Americans out. + +It was the spark in the magazine. All Texas sprang to arms under such +leaders as Houston, Austin, Travis, Bonham, Fannin, "Deaf" Smith, and +"Ben" Milam; took Goliad, where Milam lost his life heading a desperate +assault; captured Concepcion and San Antonio, until, by the middle of +December, 1836, not a Mexican soldier was left north of the Rio Grande. +But Houston, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan +forces, knew they would return, and bent every effort to organize a +disciplined army. It was a difficult thing to do with the high-tempered +and lawless elements at hand; everything was disorder and confusion, and +meanwhile came word that Santa Anna himself, at the head of an army of +six thousand men, was entering Texas. + +No effective opposition could be offered such an army; the San Antonio +garrison was entrapped in the old mission called The Alamo and killed to +the last man; Fannin and his force, three hundred and fifty strong, were +cornered at Goliad and brutally shot down in detachments after they had +surrendered; and Santa Anna, certain that Texas had been conquered, +divided his army into columns to occupy the country. Houston only was +left, and the fate of Texas hung on his little force; he knew he could +strike but once; if he were defeated, the war for independence would +end then and there; so he watched and waited, gathering together the +stragglers, keeping them in heart, laboring like a very Hercules. +Hundreds of miles away, in Washington, old Andrew Jackson, a map of +Texas before him, followed with his finger the retreat as far as he knew +it, and paused with in on San Jacinto. + +"Here's the place," he said. "If Sam Houston's worth one bawbee, he'll +stand here and give 'em a fight." + +And so it was. It makes the pulses thrill, even yet, the story of that +twenty-first of April, 1836; how Houston destroyed the bridge behind +them, so that there could be no retreat, and then, on his great gray +horse, tried to address his men, but could only cry: "Remember The +Alamo"; how old Rusk could say not even that, but choked with a sob at +the first word, and waved his hand toward the enemy; how the solitary +fife struck up, "Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?" +while those seven hundred gaunt, starved, ragged phantoms, burning with +rage at the thought of their comrades foully slain, deployed on the open +prairie and charged the unsuspecting Mexican army. It was over in half +an hour--the enemy annihilated, 630 killed, 200 wounded, 700 +prisoners--among the prisoners Santa Anna himself, begging for mercy. +And Aaron Burr, dying in New York with the vision of his Texan empire +still before him, reading, weeks later, the news of the victory, cried +out, "I was thirty years too soon!" + +There was never any question, after that, of Texan independence; Santa +Anna, to save a life forfeited a hundred times over, was ready to agree +to any terms. Houston was a popular hero; Texas was his child, and he +was unanimously chosen President of the new Republic. From the first, +Houston, recalling the wishes of his old leader, Andrew Jackson, sought +annexation to the United States, and the debates over the question in +Congress nearly disrupted the Union. For the North feared the effects of +such a tremendous addition to slave territory, from which three or four +states might be carved, and so destroy the balance of power between +North and South. Again, Mexico, which still dreamed of reconquering +Texas, notified the United States that annexation would be considered a +declaration of war; but Houston pressed the question with great +adroitness, it was evident that Texas really belonged in the Union, and +on March 1, 1845, Congress passed the resolution of annexation, and +Houston and Husk, the heroes of San Jacinto, were at once elected +senators. + +In the brief but brilliant war with Mexico which followed, which is +considered more in detail in connection with the life of Winfield Scott, +and which resulted in the securing of the great Southwest for the United +States, Houston played no part, except as a member of the Senate, where +he remained until 1859, being defeated finally by a secessionist. For, +true to the precepts of Jackson, he was from the first bitterly opposed +to nullification and secession. The same year, he was elected governor +of Texas, turning a Union minority into a triumphant majority by the +wizardry of his personality. He could not prevent secession, however, +but he refused to take the oath to the Confederate government required +by the legislature and was deposed. Martial law being established, an +officer one day demanded Houston's pass. + +"San Jacinto," he answered, and went on his way, nor did any dare molest +him. But he was worn out and aging fast, and the end came toward the +close of July, 1863. + +Reference has been made to the capture of the old mission at San Antonio +known as "The Alamo," and a brief account must be given of the +remarkable group of men who lost their lives there--David Crockett, +James Bowie, and William Barrett Travis. Crockett was perhaps the most +famous of the three, and his name is still more or less of a household +word throughout the middle West, while some of his stories have passed +into proverbs. He was the most famous rifle shot in the whole country +and the most successful hunter. Born in Tennessee soon after the +Revolutionary war, of an Irish father, he ran away from home after a few +days' schooling, knocked about the country, served through the Creek war +under Andrew Jackson, and gained so much popularity by his hunting +stories, with which he held great audiences spellbound, that he was +elected to the State legislature and then to Congress, though he had +never read a newspaper. In Congress, he managed to antagonize Andrew +Jackson, not a difficult task by any means, with the result that +Jackson, who carried Tennessee in his vest pocket, effectively ended +Crockett's political career. Crockett left the state in disgust, seeking +new worlds to conquer, and hearing of the struggle in Texas, decided to +join the revolutionists. + +By boat and on horseback, he made his way toward the distant plains +where the Texans were waging their life and death struggle against the +Mexicans. More than one hairbreadth escape did the old hunter have from +Indians, desperadoes and wild beasts, but he finally got to the +neighborhood of San Antonio, and fell in with another adventurer, a +bee-hunter, also on his way to join the Texans. They soon learned that a +great Mexican army was marching on San Antonio, and that the defenders +of the place had gathered in the old mission called "The Alamo." There +were only a hundred and fifty of them, while the Mexican army numbered +four thousand; but they had made up their minds to hold the place, a +mere shell, utterly unable to withstand artillery, or even a regular and +well-directed assault. It was plain enough that to attempt to defend the +place against such an overwhelming force was desperate in the extreme, +but Crockett and his companion kept straight on, and were soon inside +The Alamo. A few days later, Santa Anna's great army camped around it. + +In command of The Alamo garrison was Colonel Travis, a young man of +twenty-five; an Alabaman, admitted to the bar there, but driven out of +his native state by financial troubles, and casting in his lot with the +Texas revolutionists, among whom he soon acquired considerable +influence. The third of the trio, Colonel Bowie, was a native of +Georgia, but had settled in Louisiana, where, nine years before, he had +been a participant in a celebrated affray. Two gentlemen, becoming +involved in a quarrel, decided to settle it in approved fashion by a +duel, and, accompanied by their friends, among whom was Bowie, adjourned +to a convenient place and took a shot at each other without doing any +damage. They were about to declare honor satisfied and to shake hands, +when a dispute arose among their friends, and before it was over, +fifteen were killed and six were badly injured. Bowie distinguished +himself by stabbing a man to death with a knife made from a large file. +The weapon was afterwards sent to Philadelphia and there fashioned into +the deadly knife which has ever since been known by his name. The +prospect of trouble in Texas naturally attracted him, he was made +colonel of militia there, and dispatched to The Alamo with a small force +by General Houston early in 1836. + +Here, then, in this old and crumbling Spanish mission, toward the end of +February, were gathered a hundred and fifty Texans, a wild and +undisciplined band, impatient of restraint or control, but men of iron +courage and the best shots on the border, with Travis in command; while +without was the army of Santa Anna. On February 24th, Travis, in a +letter asking for reinforcements, announced the siege and added that he +would never surrender or retreat. Early in March, thirty-two men from +Gonzales, knowing they were going to well-nigh certain death, made their +way into the fort, raising its garrison to 180. + +Santa Anna demanded unconditional surrender, and Travis answered with a +cannon-shot; whereat, on the morning of the sixth of March, the Mexican +army stormed the fort from all sides, swarmed in through breaches and +over the walls, which the Texans were too few to man, and a desperate +hand-to-hand conflict followed. To and fro between the shattered walls +the fight reeled, each tall Texan the centre of a group of foes, +fighting with a wild and desperate courage; but the odds were too great, +and one by one they fell, thrust through with bayonets or riddled by +bullets. Colonel Travis fell, and so did Bowie, sick and weak from a +wasting disease, but rising from his bed, and dying fighting with his +great knife red with the blood of his foes. At last a single man stood +at bay. It was Davy Crockett. + +Wounded in a dozen places, ringed about by the bodies of the men he had +slain, he stood facing his foes, his back against a wall, knife in hand, +daring them to come on. No one dared to run in upon that old lion. So +they held him there with their lances, while, the musketeers loaded +their carbines and shot him down. Not a man of the garrison was left +alive, but each of them had avenged himself four times over, for the +Mexican loss was over five hundred. So ended one of the most heroic +events in American history. "Thermopylae had its messengers of death; The +Alamo had none." + + * * * * * + +One more era remains to be recorded, that in which the United States +confirmed its hold upon the Pacific coast, and here again the story is +that of the lives of three men--Marcus Whitman, John Augustus Sutter, +and John Charles Fremont. It was Whitman who brought home to the Nation +the value of Oregon by a spectacular ride from ocean to ocean; it was +Sutter who led the way for an American invasion of California, and who +gave impetus to that invasion by the discovery of gold; and it was +Fremont who led the revolution there against the Mexicans, and who +secured the country's independence. + +The explorations of Lewis and Clark, early in the century, had made the +country along the Columbia river known to the East in a dim way, but it +was so distant and so inaccessible that it excited little interest. Just +before the second war with England, John Jacob Astor had attempted to +carry out a far-reaching plan for the development of the country and the +securing of its great fur trade, but the outbreak of the war had stopped +all efforts in that direction, and Astor never took them up again. +Meanwhile through Canada, the Hudson Bay Company, a great English +concern engaged in the fur trade, had extended its stations to the +Pacific coast, and was quietly taking possession of the country. + +In 1834, the American board of missions, learning of the need for a +missionary among the Oregon Indians, appointed Marcus Whitman to the +work. Whitman was at that time thirty-two years of age and was just +about to be married. His betrothed agreed to accompany him on his +perilous mission, and, after great difficulty, he secured an associate +in the person of Rev. H.H. Spalding, also just married. What a bridal +trip that was! At Pittsburg, George Catlin, who knew the western Indians +better than any living man, having spent years among them, warned them +of the folly of attempting to take women across the plains; at +Cincinnati, they were greeted by William Moody, only forty-five years of +age and yet the first white man born there; at the frontier town of St. +Louis, they joined a hunting expedition up the Missouri, and by June 6, +1836, were at Laramie. + +A month later, they crossed the Great Divide by the South Pass, +"discovered," six years later, by Fremont; and toward the end of July, +they came to the great mountain rendezvous of traders and trappers high +in the mountains near Fort Hall. Some of those men had not seen a white +woman for a quarter of a century. You can imagine, then, what a +sensation the arrival of Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding occasioned, and +with what warmth they were welcomed. Ten days they tarried there, then +pressed on westward, and on September 2, 1836, after a journey of +thirty-five hundred miles, the gates of Fort Walla-Walla, on the lower +Columbia, opened to receive them, and the conquest of Oregon began. + +Fort Walla-Walla belonged to the Hudson Bay Company, which had +undisputed control of the rich Oregon fur trade, and which was +determined to retain it at any cost. So the difficulties of the Oregon +trail were invariably exaggerated, and immigration from the states +systematically discouraged. Nevertheless, in the years following +Whitman's arrival, other parties of missionaries and settlers worked +their way into the country, until, in 1842, their number reached about a +hundred and fifty. The Hudson Bay Company realized that neither England +nor America had a clear title to the region, and that its population +must, in the end, determine its nationality. Consequently it bent every +effort to hurry English settlers into the country. In October, 1842, +Whitman was dining with a company of Englishmen at Walla-Walla, when a +messenger arrived with news of the approach of a large body of settlers +from Canada. A shout arose: "Hurrah for Oregon! America is too late! +We've got the country!" And Whitman, at a glance, saw through the plan. + +Twenty-four hours later, he had started to ride across the continent to +carry the news to Washington. He had caught the import of the news, had +grasped its consequences, and he was determined that Oregon, with its +great forests and broad prairies, its mighty rivers, and its +unparalleled richness, should be saved for the Union. If the Nation only +knew the value of the prize, England would never be permitted to carry +it off. His wife and friends protested against the desperate +venture--four thousand miles on horseback--for it would soon be the dead +of winter, with snow hiding the trail and filling the passes, with +streams ice-blocked and winter-swollen, and last but not least, with the +Blackfoot Indians on the warpath. But he would listen to none of this: +his duty, as he conceived it, lay clear before him; he was determined to +set out at once. Amos Lovejoy volunteered to accompany him, a busy night +was spent in preparation, and the next day they were off. + +No diary of that remarkable journey was kept by Dr. Whitman, but most of +its incidents are known. Terribly severe weather was encountered almost +at the start, for ten days they were snowed up in the mountains, and +long before the journey ended, were reduced to rations of dog and mule +meat. But they struggled on, more than once losing the way and giving +themselves up for lost, and on March 3, 1843, just five months from +Walla-Walla, Whitman entered Washington. + +His spectacular ride rivetted public attention upon the far western +country, and the information which he gave concerning it opened the +Nation's eyes to its value. When he returned, later in the year, to the +banks of the Columbia, he took back with him a train of two hundred +wagons and a thousand settlers--a veritable army of occupation which the +British could not match. Three years later, so steadily did the tide +continue which Whitman had started, the American population had risen +to over ten thousand, there was never any further real uncertainty as to +whom Oregon belonged, and the treaty of 1846 settled the question for +all time. + +The new territory was soon to be the scene of a terrible tragedy. The +white man had brought new diseases into it, measles, fevers, and even, +smallpox; they spread rapidly among the Indians, aggravated by their +imprudence and ignorance of proper treatment, and many died. The Indians +became convinced that the missionaries were to blame, and it is claimed, +too, that the emissaries of the Hudson Bay Company urged them on. +However that may have been, on the twenty-ninth of November, 1847, the +Indians fell upon the missionaries and killed fifteen, of them, among +the dead being Marcus Whitman and his wife. So ended the life of the man +who saved Oregon, and of the woman who was the first of her sex to cross +the continent. + +Meanwhile, far to the south, a drama scarcely less thrilling was +enacting, its chief personage being John Augustus Sutter. Sutter was a +Swiss and had received a military education and served in the Swiss +Guard before coming to America in 1834. He settled first at St. Louis +and then at Santa Fe, where he gained considerable experience as a +trader. Finally, in 1838, he decided to cross the Rockies, and after +trading for a time in a little schooner up and down the coast, was +wrecked in San Francisco Bay. He made his way inland, and founded the +first white settlement in the country on the site of what is now +Sacramento. Here, in 1841, he built a fort, having secured a large grant +of land from the Mexican Government, and set up what was really a little +empire in the wilderness, over which he reigned supreme. And here, three +years later, down from the snow-filled and tempest-swept passes of the +Rockies, came a party of starving and frost-bitten scarecrows, the +exploring expedition headed by John Charles Fremont, of whom we shall +speak presently. + +The rest of Sutter's history is soon told. In 1848, when Mexico ceded +California to the United States, he was the owner of a vast domain, over +which thousands of head of cattle wandered. A few years later, he was +practically a ruined man--ruined by gold. On the eighteenth day of +January, 1848, one of his men named Marshall, brought to Sutter a lump +of yellow metal which he had uncovered while digging a mill-race. There +could be no doubt of it--it was gold! News of the great discovery soon +got about; there was a great rush for this new Eldorado; Sutter's land +was overrun with gold-seekers, who cared nothing for his rights, and +when he attempted to defend his titles in the courts, they were declared +invalid, and his land was taken from him. To crown his disasters, his +homestead was destroyed by fire; finding himself ruined, without land +and without money, he gave up the struggle in despair and returned east, +passing his last years in poverty in a little town in Pennsylvania. + +Fremont, meantime, had done a great work for California. The son of a +Frenchman, showing an early aptitude for mathematics, he had secured an +appointment to the United States engineering corps, and, after various +minor expeditions in which he had acquitted himself well, was put in +charge of an expedition for the exploration of the Rocky Mountains. He +was fortunate at the start in securing the services as guide and +interpreter of that famous hunter and plainsman, Kit Carson, whose life +had been passed on the prairies, who knew more Indians and Indian +dialects than any other white man, and who was, to his generation, what +Davy Crockett was to an earlier one. To Carson a great share of the +expedition's success was no doubt due, and it was so successful that in +the following year, Fremont was leading another over the country between +the Rockies and the Pacific. This one was almost lost in the mountains, +and came near perishing of cold and hunger, but, finally, in March, +1844, managed to struggle through to Sutter's Fort. + +Fremont found California in a state of unrest amounting almost to +insurrection against Mexican rule, and as the number of white settlers +increased, this feeling grew, until Mexico, becoming alarmed, sent an +armed force to occupy the country. The show of force was the one thing +needed to fire the magazine; the settlers sprang to arms as one man, +and, under Fremont's leadership, defeated the Mexicans and drove them +southward across the border. Soon afterwards, General Kearny marched in +from the east, from his remarkable and bloodless conquest of New Mexico, +with a force sufficient to render it certain that California would +never again be taken by the Mexicans. + +On the fourth of July, 1849, Fremont was chosen governor of the new +territory, and in the following year, arranged the treaty by which +California passed permanently to the United States. The new state was +quick to reward him and sent him to the Senate, where he gained +sufficient prominence to receive the nomination of the anti-slavery +party for the presidency in 1856. He never had any chance of election, +for the reform party had not yet sufficient strength, and was defeated +by Buchanan. He served with some distinction in the Civil War, gaining +considerable notoriety, while in charge of the Western Department in +1861, by issuing a proclamation freeing the slaves of secessionists in +Missouri. The proclamation drew forth some laudatory verses from John G. +Whittier, but was promptly countermanded by President Lincoln. Soon +afterwards, Fremont became involved in personal disputes with his +superior officers, was relieved from active service, and the remainder +of his life was spent in private enterprises. + + * * * * * + +Fremont's "pathfinding" virtually completed the exploration of the +country. A few secluded nooks and corners became known only as the tide +of immigration crept into them; but in its general features, the great +continent, on whose eastern shore the white man was fighting for a +foothold two centuries before, was known from ocean to ocean. It had +been conquered and occupied by a dominant race, and won for +civilization. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +BOONE, DANIEL. Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1735; +settled at Holman's Ford, North Carolina, 1748; explored Kentucky, +1769-70; founded Boonesborough, 1775; moved to Missouri, 1795; died at +Charette, Missouri, September 26, 1820. + +KENTON, SIMON, Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, April 3, 1755; fled to +the West, 1771; ranged western country as a spy, 1776-78; with George +Rogers Clark's expedition, 1778; commanded a battalion of Kentucky +volunteers under Wayne, 1793-94; brigadier-general of Ohio militia, +1805; at battle of the Thames, 1813; died in Logan County, Ohio, April +29, 1836. + +CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS. Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, +1752; settled in Kentucky, 1775; major of militia, 1776; sent as +delegate to Virginia, 1776; second journey to Virginia, 1777; started on +Illinois expedition, June 24, 1778; captured Kaskaskia, July 4, 1778; +captured Vincennes, February 24, 1779; defeated Miami Indians and +destroyed villages, 1782; died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 18, +1818. + +PUTNAM, RUFUS. Born in Sutton, Massachusetts, April 9, 1738; served in +campaigns against the French, 1757-60; superintended defenses of New +York City, 1776; superintended construction of fortifications at West +Point, 1778; promoted to brigadier-general, January 7, 1783; founded +Marietta, Ohio, April 7, 1788; judge of Supreme Court of Northwest +Territory, 1789; served as brigadier-general under Wayne, 1792-93; +member of Ohio Constitutional Convention, 1803; formed first Bible +society west of the Alleghanies, 1812; died at Marietta, Ohio, May 1, +1824. + +LEWIS, MERIWETHER. Born near Charlottesville, Virginia, August 18, 1774; +entered United States army, 1795; promoted captain, 1800; private +secretary to President Jefferson, 1801-03; explored country west of +Mississippi, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1808; killed +himself near Nashville, Tennessee, October 8, 1809. + +CLARK, WILLIAM. Born in Virginia, August 1, 1770; removed to Kentucky, +1774; lieutenant of infantry, March 7, 1792; resigned from service, +July, 1796; removed to St. Louis, 1796; accompanied Meriwether Lewis on +western explorations, 1804-06; governor of Missouri Territory, 1813-21; +superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1822-38; died at St. Louis, September +1, 1838. + +PIKE, ZEBULON MONTGOMERY. Born at Lamberton, New Jersey, January 5, +1779; entered United States army, 1799; captain, 1806; conducted +exploring expeditions in Louisiana Territory, 1805-07; major, 1808; +colonel, 1812; brigadier-general, March 12, 1813; died in assault on +York (now Toronto), Canada, April 27, 1813. + +HOUSTON, SAMUEL. Born near Lexington, Virginia, March 2, 1793; served in +war of 1812; member of Congress from Tennessee, 1823-27; governor of +Tennessee, 1827-29; defeated Mexicans at San Jacinto, April, 1836; +President of Texas, 1836-38 and 1841-44; United States senator from +Texas, 1845-59; governor of Texas, 1859-61; died at Huntersville, Texas, +July 25, 1863. + +CROCKETT, DAVID. Born at Limestone, Tennessee, August 17, 1786; member +of Congress, 1827-33; served in Texan war, 1835-36; killed at The Alamo, +San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, March 6, 1836. + +BOWIE, JAMES. Born in Burke County, Georgia, about 1790; notorious in +duel of 1827; went to Texas, 1835; made colonel of Texan army, 1835; +killed at the Alamo, March 6, 1836. + +TRAVIS, WILLIAM BARRETT. Born in Conecuh County, Alabama, 1811; admitted +to the bar, 1830; went to Texas, 1832; killed at the Alamo, March 6, +1836. + +WHITMAN, MARCUS. Born in Rushville, Ontario County, New York, September +4, 1802; appointed missionary to Oregon, 1834; reached Fort Walla Walla, +September 2, 1836; started on ride across continent, October 3, 1842; +reached Washington, March 3, 1843; took great train of emigrants back to +Oregon, 1843; killed by Indians at Wauelatpu, Oregon, November 29, 1847. + +SUTTER, JOHN AUGUSTUS. Born in Kandern, Baden, February 15, 1803; +graduated at military college at Berne, Switzerland, 1823; served in +Swiss Guard through Spanish campaign, 1823-24; emigrated to America and +settled at St. Louis, 1834; crossed Rocky Mountains, 1838; settled in +California, 1839; built fort on present site of Sacramento, 1841; gold +discovered on his ranch, January 18, 1848; homestead burned, 1864; +removed to Litiz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1873; died at +Washington, D.C., June 17, 1880. + +FREMONT, JOHN CHARLES. Born at Savannah, Georgia, January 21, 1813; +explored South Pass, Rocky Mountains, 1842; Pacific Slope, 1843-45; +took part in conquest of California, 1846-47; United States senator from +California, 1850-51; Republican candidate for presidency, 1856; Federal +Commander of Department of the West, 1861; governor of Arizona, 1878-82; +died at New York City, July 13, 1890. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GREAT SOLDIERS + + +We have seen how the great crises in our country's history have produced +great men to deal with them. We shall see now how great wars produce +great soldiers. The Revolution produced them; the Civil War produced +them. The second war with England, and the war with Spain failed to +produce them because they were too quickly ended, and without desperate +need. They served, however, to pierce certain gold-laced bubbles which +had been strutting about the stage pretending to be great and impressing +many people with their greatness; but which were, in reality, great only +in self-conceit, and in that colossal! So did the Revolution and the +Civil War, at first, and costly work it was until the last of them had +vanished, to be replaced by men who knew how to fight; for it seems one +of the axioms of history that the fiercer your soldier is in peace, the +more useless he is on a battlefield. The war with Mexico, by a fortunate +chance, found a few good fighters ready at hand, and so was pushed +through in the most brilliant way. One trembles to think how the +Revolution might have begun--and ended!--but for the fact that +Washington, experienced in warfare and disdaining gold lace and empty +boasts, was, by a fortunate chance, chosen commander-in-chief. That +choice is our greatest debt to John and Samuel Adams. + + * * * * * + +Early in the eighteenth century, there lived in the old historic town of +Salem, Massachusetts, Joseph Putnam and his wife, Elizabeth. They +already had nine children, and, in 1718, a tenth was born to them and +they named him Israel, which means a soldier of God. His career was +destined to be one of the most romantic and adventurous in American +history, but none of his brothers or sisters managed to get into the +lime-light of fame. + +Israel himself started in tamely enough as a farmer, having bought a +tract of five hundred acres down in Connecticut. Wild animals had been +pretty well exterminated by that time, but one old she-wolf still had +her den not far from Putnam's farm, and one night she came out and +amused herself by killing sixty or seventy of his fine sheep. When +Putnam found them stretched upon the ground next morning, a great rage +seized him; he swore that that wolf should never have the chance to do +such another night's work; he tracked her to her cave, and descending +without hesitation into the dark and narrow entrance, shot straight +between the eyes he saw gleaming at him through the darkness, and +dragged the carcass out into the daylight. That incident gives some idea +of Israel Putnam's temper, and what desperate things he was capable of +doing when his blood was up. + +That was in 1735, and twenty years elapsed before he again appeared upon +the page of history. But in 1755 began the great war with France, and +for the next ten years, Putnam's life was fairly crowded with incident. +Connecticut furnished a thousand men to resist the expected French +invasion, and Putnam was put in command of a company with the rank of +captain. His company acted as rangers, and for two years did remarkable +service in harassing the enemy and in warning the settlers against +lurking bands of Indians, set on by the French. On more than one +occasion, he saved his life by the closest margin. He was absolutely +fearless, and this, together with a clear head and quick eye, carried +him safely through peril after peril, any one of which would have proved +the death of a man less resolute. + +He saved a party of soldiers from the Indians by steering them in a +bateau safely down the dangerous rapids of the Hudson; he saved Fort +Edward from destruction by fire at the imminent risk of his life, +working undaunted although the flames were threatening, every moment, to +explode the magazine; a year later, captured by the Indians, who feared +and hated him, he was bound to a stake, after some preliminary tortures, +and a pile of fagots heaped about him and set on fire. The flames were +searing his flesh, when a French officer happened to come up and rescued +him. These are but three incidents out of a dozen such. He seemed to +bear a charmed life, and any of his men would willingly have died for +him. In 1765, when he returned home after ten years of continuous +campaigning, it was with the rank of colonel, and a reputation for +daring and resourcefulness second to none in New England. + +Ten years of quiet followed, and Israel Putnam was fifty-seven years of +age--an age when most men consider their life work done. On the +afternoon of April 20, 1775, he was engaged in hauling some stones from +a field with a team of oxen, when he heard galloping hoofbeats down the +road, and looking up, saw a courier riding up full speed. The courier +paused only long enough to shout the tidings of the fight at Concord, +and then spurred on again. Putnam, leaving his oxen where they stood, +threw himself upon horseback, without waiting to don his uniform, and at +sunrise next day, galloped into Cambridge, having travelled nearly a +hundred miles! Verily there were giants in those days! + +He was placed in command of the Connecticut forces with the rank of +brigadier-general, and soon afterwards was one of four major-generals +appointed by the Congress for the Continental army. For four years +thereafter he took a conspicuous part in the war, bearing himself always +with characteristic gallantry. But the machine had been worn out by +excessive exertion; in 1779 he was stricken with paralysis, and the last +years of his life were passed quietly at home. For sheer, extravagant +daring, which paused at no obstacle and trembled at no peril, he has, +perhaps, never had his equal among American soldiers. + +Not far from West Greenwich, Connecticut, there is a steep and rocky +bluff, the scene of one of Putnam's most extraordinary feats, performed +only a short time before he was stricken down. An expedition, fifteen +hundred strong, had been sent by the British against West Greenwich, and +Putnam rallied a company to oppose the invaders, but his little force +was soon routed and dispersed, and sought to escape across country with +the British in hot pursuit. Putnam, prominent as the leader of the +Americans, was hard pressed, and his horse, weary from a long march, was +failing; his capture seemed certain, for the enemy gained upon him +rapidly; when suddenly, he turned his horse down the steep bluff at his +side, reached the bottom in safety by some miracle, and rode away in +triumph, leaving his astonished and baffled pursuers at the top, for not +one dared follow him! + + * * * * * + +I have spoken of how the test of war winnows the wheat from the chaff. +This was so in those days as in these, and, as an amusing proof of it, +one has only to glance over the names of the generals appointed by the +Congress at the same time as Putnam. Artemas Ward, Seth Pomeroy, William +Heath, Joseph Spencer, David Wooster, John Thomas, John Sullivan--what +cursory student of American history knows anything of them? Four others +are better remembered--Richard Montgomery, for the gallant and hopeless +assault upon Quebec in which he lost his life; Charles Lee for +disobeying Washington's orders at the battle of Monmouth and provoking +the great Virginian to an historic outburst of rage; Nathanael Greene +for his masterly conduct of the war in the South; Horatio Gates, first +for a victory over Burgoyne which he did very little to bring about, and +second for his ill-starred attempt to supplant Washington as +commander-in-chief. + +Let us pause for a glance at Gates. Born in England, he had seen service +in the British army, and had been badly wounded at Braddock's defeat, +but managed to escape from the field. He resigned from the army, after +that, and settled in Virginia, where his supposed military prowess won +him the appointment of brigadier-general at the outbreak of the +Revolution. He secured command of the Northern army, which had gathered +to resist the great force which was marching south from Canada under +John Burgoyne. He found the field already prepared by General Schuyler, +a much more able officer. Stark had defeated and captured a strong +detachment at Bennington, and Herkimer had won the bloody battle of +Oriskany; the British army was hemmed in by a constantly-increasing +force of Americans, and was able to drag along only a mile a day; +Burgoyne and his men were disheartened and apprehensive of the future, +while the Americans were exultant and confident of victory. In such +circumstances, on September 19, 1777, was fought the first battle of +Bemis Heights, a bloody and inconclusive struggle, supported wholly by +the division of Benedict Arnold, who behaved so gallantly that Gates, +who had not even ridden on the field of battle, was consumed with +jealousy, took Arnold's division away from him, and did not mention him +in the dispatches describing the battle. + +The eve of the second battle found the most successful and popular +general in the American army without a command. Gates, deeming victory +certain, thought it safe to insult Arnold, and banished him to his tent; +but on October 7th, when the second struggle was in progress, Arnold, +seeing the tide of battle going against his men, threw himself upon his +horse and dashed into the conflict. In a frenzy of rage, he dressed the +lines, rallied his men, who cheered like mad when they saw him again at +their head, and led a charge which sent the British reeling back. He +pursued the fleeing enemy to their entrenchments, and dashed forward to +storm them, but, in the very sally-port, horse and rider fell +together--the horse dead, the rider with a shattered leg. That ended the +battle which he had virtually conducted in the most gallant manner +imaginable. Had he died then, he would have been a national hero--but +another fate awaited him! + +Gates had not been on the field. He had remained in his tent, ready to +ride away in case of defeat. He had ordered all the baggage wagons +loaded, ready to retreat, for he was by no means the kind of general who +burns his bridges behind him. His jealousy of Arnold mounted to fever +heat, but that hero, lying grievously wounded in his tent, was for the +moment beyond reach of his envy. + +Burgoyne attempted to retreat, but found it was too late. Surrounded +and hemmed in on every side, he turned and turned for six days seeking +vainly for some way out; but there was no escaping, the American army +was growing in numbers and confidence daily, and his own supplies were +running short. Pride and ambition yielded at last to stern necessity and +he surrendered. + +Gates, believing himself a second Alexander, became so inflated with +conceit that he did not even send a report of the surrender to +Washington, but communicated it direct to the Congress, over the head of +his commander-in-chief. Weak and envious, he entered heart and soul into +the plot to supplant Washington in supreme command; but his real +incompetency was soon apparent, for, at the battle of Camden, making +blunder after blunder, he sent his army to disastrous defeat, and was +recalled by the Congress, his northern laurels, as had been predicted, +changed to southern willows. So blundering had been his conduct of the +only campaign that he had managed that his military career ended then +and there, and the remainder of his life was spent upon his estate in +Virginia. + +No doubt his petty and ignoble spirit rejoiced at the downfall of the +brilliant man who had won for him his victories over Burgoyne. Let us +speak of him for a moment. In remembering Arnold the traitor, we are apt +to forget Arnold the general. There is, of course, no excuse for +treason, and yet Arnold had without doubt suffered grave injustice. He +was by nature rash to recklessness, at home on the battlefield and +delighting in danger, with a real genius for the management of a battle +and a personality whose charm won him the absolute devotion of his men. +But he was also proud and selfish, and these qualities caused his ruin. + +Let us do him justice. Two days after the battle of Concord, he had +marched into Cambridge at the head of a company of militia which he had +collected at New Haven; it was he who suggested the expedition against +Ticonderoga and who marched into the fortress side by side with Ethan +Allen; it was he who led an expedition against Quebec, accomplishing one +of the most remarkable marches in history, and, after a brilliant +campaign, retreated only before overwhelming numbers; on Lake Champlain +he engaged in a naval battle, one of the most desperate ever fought by +an American fleet, which turned back a British invasion and delayed +Burgoyne's advance for a year; while visiting his home at New Haven, a +British force invaded Connecticut, and Arnold, raising a force of +volunteers, drove them back to their ships and nearly captured them; +then, rejoining the northern army, he rendered the most gallant service, +turned Saint Leger back from Oriskany and won virtually unaided the two +battles of Saratoga, which resulted in Burgoyne's surrender. + +It will be seen from this that, to the end of 1777, no man in the +American army had rendered his country more signal service. Indeed, +there was none who even remotely approached Arnold in glory of +achievement. But from the first he had been the victim of petty +persecution, and of circumstances which kept from him the credit rightly +due him; and a cabal against him in the Congress prevented his receiving +his proper rank in the service. We have seen how Gates made no reference +to him in reporting the brilliant victory at Saratoga; and the same +thing had happened to him again and again. His close friendship with +Washington caused the latter's enemies to do him all the harm they +could, and Arnold, disgusted at his country's ingratitude, gradually +drifted into Tory sentiments. He married the daughter of a Tory, +associated largely with Tories during a winter at Philadelphia, and at +last resolved to end the war, as he thought, in favor of England by +delivering the line of the Hudson to the British. The result of this +would be to divide the colonies in two and to render effective +co-operation almost impossible. + +So he sought and obtained command of West Point in order to carry out +this purpose, began his preparations, and had all his plans laid, when +the merest accident revealed the plot to Washington. Arnold escaped by +fleeing to a British man-of-war in the river, and after a short service +against his country, marked by a raid along the Virginia shore, he +sailed for England, where his last years were spent in poverty and +embittered by remorse. His last great act of treachery blotted out the +brilliant achievements which had gone before, and his name lives only as +that of the most infamous traitor in American history. + +Of the great names which come down to us from the Revolution, the one +which seems most admirable after that of Washington himself is that of +Nathanael Greene, not so much because of his military skill, although +that was of the highest order, as because of his pure patriotism, his +lack of selfishness, and his utter devotion to the cause for which he +fought. He was with Washington at Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth, and +did much to save the army of the battle of the Brandywine. After Gates's +terrible defeat at Camden, he was put in command of the army of the +South, and conducted the most brilliant campaign of the war, defeating +the notorious Sir Guy Tarleton, and forcing Cornwallis north into +Virginia, where he was to be entrapped at Yorktown, and ending the war +which had devastated the South by capturing Charleston. After +Washington, he was perhaps the greatest general the war produced; +certainly he was the purest patriot, and his name should never be +forgotten by a grateful country. + +Linked forever with Greene in the annals of southern warfare, are three +men--Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and "Light Horse Harry" Lee--three +true knights and Christian gentlemen, worthy of all honor. The first of +these, indeed, may fairly be called the Bayard of American history, the +cavalier without fear and without reproach. Born in South Carolina in +1732, he had seen some service in the Cherokee war, and at once, upon +news of the fight at Lexington, raised a regiment and played an +important part in driving the British from Charleston in 1776--a +victory so decisive that the southern states were freed from attack for +over two years. + +After the crushing defeat of Gates at Camden Marion's little band was +the only patriot force in South Carolina, but he harassed the British so +effectively that he soon became genuinely feared. No one ever knew where +he would attack, for the swiftness of his movements seemed almost +superhuman. No hardship disturbed him; he endured heat and cold with +indifference; his food was of the simplest. Every school-boy knows the +story of how, inviting a British officer to dinner, he sat down +tranquilly before a log on which were a few baked potatoes, which formed +the whole meal, and how the Englishman went away with the conviction +that such a foe as that could never be conquered. No instance of +rapacity or cruelty was ever charged against him, nor did he ever injure +any woman or child. + +As a partisan leader, Sumter was second only to Marion, and for two +years the patriot fortunes in the South were in their hands. Together +they joined Greene when he took charge of the southern army, and proved +invaluable allies. Sumter lived to the great age of ninety-eight, and +was the last surviving general officer of the Revolution. He was, too, +the last survivor of the Braddock expedition, which he had accompanied +at the age of twenty-one, and which had been cut to pieces on the +Monongahela twenty years before the battle of Lexington was fought. + +"Light Horse Harry" Lee, whose "Legion" won such fame in the early +years of the Revolution and whose services with Greene in the South were +of the most brilliant character, also lived well into the nineteenth +century. It was he who, in 1799, appointed by Congress to deliver an +address in commemoration of Washington, uttered the famous phrase, +"First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." +His son, Robert Edward Lee, was destined to become perhaps the greatest +general in our history. + + * * * * * + +So passed the era of the Revolution, and for thirty years the new +country was called upon to face no foreign foe; but pressing upon her +frontier was an enemy strong and cruel, who knew not the meaning of the +word "peace." Set on by the British during the Revolution, the Indians +continued their warfare long after peace had been declared. In the +wilderness north of the Ohio they had their villages, from which they +issued time after time to attack the white settlements to the south and +east. No one knew when or where they would strike, and every village and +hamlet along the frontier was liable to attack at any time. The farmer +tilling his fields was shot from ambush; the hunter found himself +hunted; children were carried away to captivity, and women, looking up +from their household work, found an Indian on the threshold. + +The land which the Indians held was so beautiful and fertile that +settlers ventured into it, despite the deadly peril, and in 1787, the +Northwest Territory was formed by Congress, and General Arthur St. +Clair appointed its governor. A Scotchman, brave but impulsive, with a +good military training, St. Clair had made an unfortunate record in the +Revolution. Put in command of the defenses of Ticonderoga in the summer +of 1777, to hold it against the advancing British army under Burgoyne, +he had permitted the enemy to secure possession of a position which +commanded the fort, and he was forced to abandon it. The British started +in hot pursuit, and several actions took place in which the Americans +lost their baggage and a number of men. St. Clair had really been placed +in an impossible position, but his forced abandonment of the fort +impressed the public very unfavorably. He still had the confidence of +Washington, who assigned him to the important task of governing the new +Northwest Territory, and subduing the Indians who overran it. With +Braddock's bitter experience still vividly before him, Washington warned +St. Clair to beware of a surprise in any expedition he might lead +against the Indians, and the events which followed showed how badly that +warning was needed. + +In the fall of 1791, St. Clair collected a large force at Fort +Washington, on the site of the present city of Cincinnati, and prepared +to advance against the Miami Indians. He had fourteen hundred men, but +he himself was suffering with gout and had to be conveyed most of the +way in a hammock. By the beginning of November, the army had reached the +neighborhood of the Miami villages, and there, on the morning of the +fourth, was surprised, routed and cut to pieces. Less than five hundred +escaped from the field, the Indians spreading along the road and +shooting down the crazed fugitives at leisure. St. Clair's military +reputation had received its death blow, but Washington, with wonderful +forbearance, permitted him to retain the governorship of the Territory, +from which he was removed by Jefferson in 1802. He lived sixteen years +longer, poor and destitute, having used his own fortune to defray the +expenses of his troops in the Revolution--a debt which, to the lasting +disgrace of the government, it neglected to cancel. He grew old and +feeble, and was thrown from a wagon, one day, and killed. Upon the +little stone which marks his grave is this inscription: "The earthly +remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this +humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one +due from his country." + +The task which proved St. Clair's ruin was to be accomplished by another +survivor of the Revolution--"Mad" Anthony Wayne; "Mad" because of his +fury in battle, the fierceness of his charge, and his recklessness of +danger--attributes which he shared with Benedict Arnold. He was thirty +years of age at the opening of the Revolution, handsome, full of fire, +and hungering for glory. He was to win his full share of it, and to +prove himself, next to Washington and Greene, the best general in the +army. + +His favorite weapon was the bayonet, and he drilled his troops in the +use of it until they were able to withstand the shock of the renowned +British infantry, who have always prided themselves on their prowess +with cold steel. His first service was with Arnold in Canada; he was +with Washington at the Brandywine; and at Germantown, hurling his troops +upon the Hessians, he drove them back at the point of the bayonet, and +retreated only under orders when the general attack failed. At Monmouth, +it was he and his men who, standing firm as a rock, repulsed the first +fierce bayonet charge of the British guards and grenadiers. + +So it is not remarkable that, when Washington found an unusually +hazardous piece of work in hand, he should have selected Wayne to carry +it through. The British held a strong fort called Stony Point, which +commanded the Hudson and which Washington was anxious to capture. It was +impossible to besiege it, since British frigates held the river, and it +was so strong that an open assault could never carry it. It stood on a +rocky promontory, surrounded on three sides by water and connected with +the land only by a narrow, swampy neck. The only chance to take the +place was by a night attack, and Wayne eagerly welcomed the opportunity +to try it. + +On the afternoon of July 15, 1779, Wayne, at the head of about thirteen +hundred men, started for the fort. He arrived near it after nightfall, +and dividing his force into three columns, moved forward to the attack. +He relied wholly upon the bayonet, and not a musket was loaded. The +advance was soon discovered by the British sentries, and a heavy fire +opened upon the Americans, but they pressed forward, swarmed up the +long, sloping embankment of the fort, and in a moment were over the +walls. + +A bullet struck Wayne in the head, and he staggered and fell. Two of his +officers caught him up and started to take him to the rear, but he +struggled to his feet. + +"No, no," he cried, "I'm going in at the head of my men! Take me in at +the head of my men!" + +And at the head of his men he was carried into the fort. + +For a few moments, the bayonets flashed and played, then the British +broke and ran, and the fort was won. No night attack was ever delivered +with greater skill and boldness. + +Wayne soon recovered from his wound, and took an active part in driving +Cornwallis into the trap at Yorktown. Then he had retired from the army, +expecting to spend the remainder of his life in peace; but Washington, +remembering the man, knew that he was the one above all others to teach +the Ohio Indians a lesson, and called him to the work. Wayne accepted +the task, and five thousand men were placed under his command and +started westward over the mountains. + +He spent the winter in organizing and drilling his forces on the bank of +the Ohio where Cincinnati now stands, but which was then merely a fort +and huddle of houses. He made the most careful preparations for the +expedition, and early in the spring, he commenced his march northward +into the Indian country. The savages gathered to repulse him at a spot +on the Maumee where, years before, a tornado had cut a wide swath +through the forest, rendering it all but impenetrable. Here, on the +twentieth of August, 1794, he advanced against the enemy, and, throwing +his troops into the "Fallen Timbers," in which the Indians were +ambushed, routed them out, cut them down, and administered a defeat so +crushing that they could not rally from it, and their whole country was +laid waste with fire and sword. Wayne did his work well, burning their +villages, and destroying their crops, so that they would have no means +of sustenance during the coming winter. Thoroughly cowed by this +treatment, the Indians sued for peace, and at Greenville, nearly a year +later, Wayne made a treaty in which twelve tribes took part. It marked +the beginning of a lasting peace, which opened the "Old Northwest" to +the white settler. + + * * * * * + +No soldier of the Revolution, with the exception of Washington, was +elevated to the presidency, nor did any of them attain an exalted place +in the councils of the Nation. Statecraft and military genius rarely go +hand in hand, and it was not until 1828 that a man whose reputation had +been made chiefly on the battlefield was sent to the White House. Andrew +Jackson was the only soldier, with one exception, who came out of the +War of 1812 with any great reputation, and it is only fair to add that +his victory at New Orleans was due more to the rashness of the British +in advancing to a frontal attack against a force of entrenched +sharpshooters than to any remarkable generalship on the American side. + +The war with Mexico found two able generals ready to hand, and laid the +foundations of the reputations of many more. "Old Rough and Ready" +Zachary Taylor, who commanded during the campaign which ended with the +brilliant victory at Buena Vista, had been tested in the fire of +frontier warfare, and won the presidency in 1848; and Franklin Pierce, +who commanded one of the divisions which captured the City of Mexico, +won the same prize four years later. It was in this war that Grant, Lee, +Johnston, Davis, Meade, Hooker, Thomas, Sherman, and a score of others +who were to win fame fifteen years later, got their baptism of fire. +Their history belongs to the period of the Civil War and will be told +there; but the chief military glory of the war with Mexico centres about +a man who divided the honors of the War of 1812 with Andrew Jackson but +who failed to achieve the presidency, and whose usefulness had ended +before the Civil War began--Winfield Scott. + +A Virginian, born in 1786, Scott entered the army at an early age, and +had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the opening of the second +war with England. Two years later, he was made a brigadier-general, and +commanded at the fierce and successful battles of Chippewa and Lundy's +Lane. At the close of the war, he was made a major-general, and received +the thanks of Congress for his services. In 1841, he became +commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States; but, at the +opening of the war with Mexico, President Polk, actuated by partisan +jealousy, kept Scott in Washington and assigned Zachary Taylor to the +command of the armies in the field. Scott had already an enviable +reputation, and had been an aspirant for the presidency, and Polk feared +that a few victories would make him an invincible candidate. Perhaps he +was afraid that Scott would develop into another Andrew Jackson. + +However, it was impossible to keep the commander-in-chief of the army +inactive while a great war was in progress, and early in 1847, he was +sent to the front, and on March 9 began one of the most successful and +brilliant military campaigns in history. Landing before Vera Cruz, he +captured that city after a bombardment of twenty days, and, gathering +his army together, started on an overland march for the capital of +Mexico. Santa Anna, with a great force, awaited him in a strong position +at Cerro Gordo, but Scott seized the key of it in a lofty height +commanding the Mexican position, and soon won a decisive victory. The +American army swept on like a tidal wave, and city after city fell +before it, until, on the twentieth of August, it reached the city of the +Montezumas. An armistice delayed the advance until September 7, but on +that day offensive operations were begun. Great fortifications strongly +manned guarded the town, but they were carried one after another by +assault, and on September 14, General Scott marched at the head of his +army through the city gates. The war was ended--a war in which the +Americans had not lost a single battle, and had gained a vast empire. + +General Scott came out of the war with a tremendous reputation; but he +lacked personal magnetism. A certain stateliness and dignity kept people +at a distance, and, together with an exacting discipline, won him the +sobriquet of "Old Fuss and Feathers." In 1852, he was the candidate of +the Whig party for President; but the party was falling to pieces, he +himself had no great personal following, and he was defeated by the +Democratic candidate, one of his own generals, Franklin Pierce. He +remained in command of the army until the outbreak of the Civil War. Age +and infirmities prevented his taking the field, and after the disastrous +defeat at Bull Run, he resigned the command. General Scott was renowned +for his striking physique, more majestic, perhaps, even than that of +Washington. He has, indeed, been called the most imposing general in +history. + + * * * * * + +With General Scott ends another era of our history, and we come to a +consideration of the soldiers made famous by the greatest war of the +nineteenth century--the civil conflict which threatened, for a time, to +disrupt the Union. It was a war waged on both sides with desperate +courage and tenacity, and it developed a number of commanders not, +perhaps, of the very first rank, but standing high in the second. + +The first real success of the war was won by George B. McClellan. A +graduate of West Point, veteran of the war with Mexico, and military +observer of the war in the Crimea, he had resigned from the army in 1857 +to engage in the railroad business, with headquarters at Cincinnati. At +the opening of the war, he was commissioned major-general, and put in +command of the Department of Ohio. His first work was to clear western +Virginia of Confederates, which he did in a series of successful +skirmishes, lasting but a few weeks. He lost only eight men, while the +Confederates lost sixteen hundred, besides over a thousand taken +prisoners. The achievement was of the first importance, since it saved +for the Union the western section of Virginia which, a year later, was +admitted as a separate state. It is worth remembering that in this +campaign, McClellan's opponent was no less a personage than Robert E. +Lee. + +The success was the greater as contrasted with the disaster at Bull Run, +and in August, 1861, McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the +Potomac, gathered about Washington and still discouraged and +disorganized from that defeat and rout. His military training had been +of the most thorough description, especially upon the technical side, +and no better man could have been found for the task of whipping that +great army into shape. He soon proved his fitness for the work, and four +months later, he had under him a trained and disciplined force, the +equal of any that ever trod American soil. He forged the instrument +which, in the end, a stronger man than he was to use. Let that always +be remembered to his credit. + +He had become a sort of popular hero, idolized by his soldiers, for he +possessed in greater degree than any other commander at the North that +personal magnetism which wins men. But it was soon evident that he +lacked those qualities of aggressiveness, energy, and initiative +essential to a great commander; that he was unduly cautious. He seems to +have habitually over-estimated the strength of the enemy and +under-estimated his own. With this habit of mind, it was certain that he +would never suffer a great defeat; but it was also probable that he +would never win a great victory, and a great victory was just what the +North hungered for to wipe out the disgrace of Bull Run. Not for eight +months was he ready to begin the campaign against Richmond, and it ended +in heavy loss and final retreat, partly because of McClellan's +incapacity and partly because of ignorant interference with his plans on +the part of politicians at Washington. For it must be remembered that +McClellan was a Democrat, and soon became the natural leader of that +party at the North--a fact which seemed little less than treason to many +of the political managers at the Capital. + +One great and successful battle he fought, however, at Antietam, +checking Lee's attempt to invade the North and sending him in full +retreat back to Virginia, but his failure to pursue the retreating army +exasperated the President, and he was removed from command of the army +on November 7, 1862. This closed his career as a soldier. In the light +of succeeding events, it cannot be doubted that his removal was a +serious mistake. All in all, he was the ablest commander the Army of the +Potomac ever had; he was a growing man; a little more experience in the +field would probably have cured him of over-timidity, and made him a +great soldier. General Grant summed the matter up admirably when he +said, "The test applied to him would be terrible to any man, being made +a major-general at the beginning of the war. If he did not succeed, it +was because the conditions of success were so trying. If he had fought +his way along and up, I have no reason to suppose that he would not have +won as high distinction as any of us." In 1864, McClellan was the +nominee of the Democratic party for the presidency, but received only +twenty-one electoral votes. + +The command of the Army of the Potomac passed to Ambrose E. Burnside, +who had won some successes early in the war, but who had protested his +unfitness for a great command, and who was soon to prove it. He led the +army after Lee, found him entrenched on the heights back of +Fredericksburg, and hurled division after division against an +impregnable position, until twelve thousand men lay dead and wounded on +the field. Burnside, half-crazed with anguish at his fatal mistake, +offered his resignation, which was at once accepted. + +"Fighting Joe" Hooker succeeded him, and was soon to demonstrate that +he, too, was unfitted for the great task. Early in May, believing Lee's +army to be in retreat, he attacked it at Chancellorsville, only to be +defeated with a loss of seventeen thousand men. At the beginning of the +battle, Hooker had enjoyed every advantage of position, and his army +outnumbered Lee's; but he sacrificed his position, with unaccountable +stupidity, moving from a high position to a lower one, provoking the +protest from Meade that, if the army could not hold the top of a hill, +it certainly could not hold the bottom of it; and he seemed unable to +use his men to advantage, holding one division in idleness while another +was being cut to pieces. + +It is, perhaps, sufficient comment upon the folly of dismissing +McClellan to point out that within seven months of his retirement, the +Army of the Potomac, which had been the finest fighting-machine in +existence on the continent, had lost thirty thousand men on the field +and thousands more by desertion, and had been converted from a confident +and well-disciplined force into a discouraged and disorganized rabble. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile a new star had arisen in the West in the person of U.S. +Grant--"Unconditional Surrender" Grant, as he was called, after his +capture of Fort Donelson--the event which riveted the eyes of the Nation +upon him and which marked the beginning of his meteor-like advancement. +We have already spoken of Grant as President, and of his unfitness +for that high office. There are also many who dispute his ability as +a commander, who point out that his army always outnumbered that opposed +to him, and who claim that his victories were won by brute force and not +by military skill. That there is some truth in this nobody can deny, and +yet his campaign against Vicksburg was one of the most brilliant in this +or any other war. It might be added, too, that it takes something more +than preponderance of numbers to win a battle--as Hooker showed at +Chancellorsville--and that Grant did win a great many. + +[Illustration: GRANT] + +The truth about Grant is that he was utterly lacking in that personal +magnetism which made McClellan, Sheridan and "Stonewall" Jackson +idolized by their men, and which is essential to a great commander. He +was cold, reserved, and silent, repelled rather than attracted. He +succeeded mainly because he was determined to succeed, and hung on with +bull-dog tenacity until he had worn his opponent out. Not till then did +he stop to take stock of his own injuries. "I propose to fight it out on +this line, if it takes all summer," was a characteristic utterance. + +The honors of Union victories were fairly divided with Grant by William +Tecumseh Sherman, a man who, as a general, was greater in some respects +than his chief. Sherman was an Ohioan, and, after graduating from West +Point and serving in California during the war with Mexico, resigned +from the army to seek more lucrative employment. He was given a +regiment when the war opened, and his advance was rapid. He first showed +his real worth at the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded a division +and by superb fighting, saved Grant's reputation. + +Grant had collected an army of forty thousand men at Pittsburg Landing, +an obscure stopping-place in southern Tennessee for Mississippi boats, +and though he knew that the Confederates were gathering at Corinth, +twenty miles away, he left his army entirely exposed, throwing up not a +single breastwork, never dreaming that the enemy would dare attack him. +Nevertheless, they did attack, while Grant himself was miles away from +his army, and by the end of the first day's fighting, had succeeded in +pushing the Union forces back upon the river, in a cramped and dangerous +position. The action was resumed next day, and the Confederates forced +to retire, which they did in good order. That the Union army was not +disastrously defeated was due largely to the superb leadership of +Sherman, who had three horses shot under him and was twice wounded, but +whose demeanor was so cool and inspiring that his raw troops, not +realizing their peril, were filled with confidence and fought like +veterans. + +Sherman's fame increased rapidly after that. When Grant departed for the +East to take command of the Army of the Potomac, he planned for Sherman +a campaign against Atlanta, Georgia--a campaign which Sherman carried +out in the most masterly manner, marching into Atlanta in triumph on +September 2, 1864. The campaign had cost him thirty-two thousand men, +but the Confederate loss had been much heavier, and in Atlanta the +Confederacy lost one of its citadels. It was especially valuable because +of the great machine shops located there, and these Sherman proceeded to +destroy before starting on his famous "march to the sea." + +This, the most spectacular movement of the whole war, was planned by +Sherman, who secured Grant's permission to carry it out, and the start +was made on the fifteenth of November. The army marched by four roads, +as nearly parallel as could be found, starting at seven o'clock every +morning and covering fifteen miles every day. All railroads and other +property that might aid the Confederates were destroyed, the soldiers +were allowed to forage freely, and in consequence a swath of destruction +sixty miles wide and three hundred miles long was cut right across the +Confederacy. A locust would have had difficulty in finding anything to +eat after the army had passed. It encountered no effective resistance, +and by the middle of December, came within sight of the sea. + +On December 21, Sherman entered Savannah, and wired Lincoln that he +presented him the city as a Christmas gift. Then he turned northward to +join Grant, taking Columbia, Fayetteville, Goldsboro and Raleigh, and +destroying Confederate arsenals, foundries, railroads and public works +of all descriptions. Lee had surrendered four days before Sherman +marched into Raleigh, and the next day a flag of truce from General +Joseph E. Johnston opened negotiations for the surrender of his army. + +This, the virtual close of the Civil War, ended Sherman's career in the +field. In 1866, he was made lieutenant-general, and three years later +succeeded Grant as commander-in-chief of the army, retiring from the +service in 1884, at the age of sixty-four. + +Whatever may have been the relative merits of Grant and Sherman as +commanders, there can be no question as to the greatest cavalry leader +in the Union armies, and one of the greatest in any army, Philip Henry +Sheridan. Above any cavalry leader, North or South, except "Stonewall" +Jackson, Sheridan possessed the power of rousing his men to the utmost +pitch of enthusiastic devotion; young, dashing and intrepid himself, his +men were ready to follow him anywhere--and it was usually to victory +that he led them. + +Sheridan was a West Pointer, graduating in 1853, and was appointed +captain at the outbreak of the war. It was not until May of 1862 that he +found his real place as colonel of cavalry, and not until the first days +of the following year that he had the opportunity to distinguish +himself. Then, at the battle of Murfreesboro, he broke through the +advancing Confederate line which was crumpling up the right of the Union +army, and turned the tide of battle from defeat to victory. As a reward, +he was appointed major-general of volunteers. In April, 1864, he became +commander of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, and three +months later made his famous raid along the valley of the Shenandoah. + +Entering the valley with an army of forty thousand men, Sheridan swept +Early and a Confederate force out of it, and then, to render impossible +any Confederate raids thereafter with the valley as a base, rode from +end to end of it, destroying everything that would support an army. +Early, meanwhile, had been reinforced, and, one misty morning, fell upon +the Federals while they lay encamped at Cedar Creek. The surprise was +complete, and in a short time the Union army was in full flight. +Sheridan had been called to Washington, and on the morning of the battle +was at Winchester, some twenty miles away. In the early dawn, he heard +the rumble of the cannonade, and, springing to horse, galloped to the +battlefield, to meet his men retreating. + +"Face about, boys! face about!" he shouted, riding up and down the +lines; and his men saw him, and burst into a cheer, and reformed their +lines, and, catching his spirit of victory, led by their loved +commander, fell upon Early, routed him and practically destroyed his +army. Perhaps nowhere else in history is there an instance such as +this--of a general meeting his army in full retreat, stopping the panic, +facing them about, and leading them to victory. + +In the last campaign against Richmond, Sheridan's services were of +inestimable value; it was he who defeated a great Confederate force at +the brilliant battle of Five Forks; it was he who got in front of Lee's +retreating army and cornered it at Appomattox. He had his full share of +honors, succeeding Sherman as general-in-chief of the army in 1883, and +receiving the rank of general from Congress, just before his death five +years later. Grant, Sherman and Sheridan are the only men in the +country's history who have held this highest of military titles. + + * * * * * + +After these three men, George H. Thomas was the most prominent commander +on the Union side; notable, too, from the fact that he was a Virginian, +and was considered a traitor by his native state for his adherence to +the Union cause, just as poor old Winfield Scott had been. He had made +something of a name for himself before the Civil War opened, +distinguishing himself in the war with Mexico and winning brevets for +gallantry at the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. He won a decisive +victory at Mill Springs early in 1862, and saved the army from rout at +Murfreesboro by his heroic holding of the centre. But his most famous +exploit was the defence of Horseshoe ridge, against overwhelming odds, +at the battle of Chickamauga. + +The Union right wing had been routed, and the Confederates, certain of a +great victory, turned against the left wing, twenty-five thousand +strong, under command of Thomas. They swarmed up the slope on which +Thomas had taken his position, only to be hurled back with heavy loss. +Again and again they charged, sixty thousand of them, but Thomas stood +like a rock against which the Confederates dashed themselves in vain. +For six hours that terrific fighting continued, until nearly half of +Thomas's men lay dead or wounded, but night found him still master of +the position, saving the Union army from destruction. Ever afterwards +Thomas was known as "The Rock of Chickamauga." + +In the following year, he again distinguished himself by defeating Hood +at Nashville, in one of the most brilliant battles of the war. The +defeat was the most decisive by either side in a general engagement, the +Confederate army losing half its numbers, and being so routed and +demoralized that it could not rally and was practically destroyed. +Thomas's plan of battle is studied to this day in the military schools +of Europe, and has been compared with that of Napoleon at Austerlitz. + +After Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas, there is a wide gap. No other +commanders on the Union side measured up to them, although there were +many of great ability. McPherson, Buell, Sumner, Hancock, Meade, +Rosecrans, Kilpatrick, Pope--all had their hours of triumph, but none of +them developed into what could be called a great commander. Whether from +inherent weakness, or from lack of opportunity for development, all +stopped short of greatness. It is worth noting that every famous +general, Union or Confederate, and most of the merely prominent ones, +were graduates of West Point and had received their baptism of fire in +Mexico, the only exception being Sheridan, who did not graduate from +West Point until after the war with Mexico was over. + + * * * * * + +Turning now to the Confederate side, we find here, too, four supremely +able commanders, the first of whom, Robert E. Lee, is believed by many +to be the greatest in our country's history. No doubt some of the renown +which attaches to Lee's name is due to his desperate championship of a +lost cause, and to the love which the people of the South bore, and +still bear, him because of his singularly sweet and unselfish character. +But, sentiment aside, and looking at him only as a soldier, he must be +given a place in the front rank of our greatest captains. There are not +more than two or three to rank with him--certainly there is none to rank +ahead of him. + +Robert Edward Lee was a son of that famous "Light Horse Harry" Lee to +whose exploits during the Revolution we have already referred. He was +born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, entered West Point at +the age of eighteen, and graduated four years later, second in his +class. His father had died ten years before, and his mother lived only +long enough to welcome him home from the Academy. He was at once +assigned to the engineer corps of the army, distinguished himself in the +war with Mexico and served as superintendent of West Point from 1852 to +1855. + +Meanwhile, at the age of twenty-four, he had married Mary Randolph, +daughter of Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, and +great-grand-daughter of George Washington's wife. Miss Custis was a +great heiress, and in time the estate of Arlington, situated on the +heights across the Potomac from Washington, became hers and her +husband's, but he nevertheless continued in the service. The marriage +was a happy and fortunate one in every way, and Lee's home life was +throughout a source of help and inspiration to him. + +In the autumn of 1859, while home on leave, he was ordered to assist in +capturing John Brown, who had taken Harper's Ferry. At the head of a +company of marines, he took Brown prisoner and, protecting him from a +mob which would have lynched him, handed him over to the authorities. +Two years later came the great trial of his life, when he was called +upon to decide between North and South, between Virginia and the Union. + +Lee was not a believer in slavery; he had never owned slaves, and when +Custis died in 1859, Lee had carried out the dead man's desire that all +the slaves at Arlington should be freed. Neither was he a believer in +secession; but, on the other hand, he questioned the North's right to +invade and coerce the seceding states, and when Virginia joined them, +and made him commander-in-chief of her army, he accepted the trust. +Shortly before, at the instance of his fellow-Virginian, General Scott, +he had been offered command of the Union army, but declined it, stating +that, though opposed to secession and deprecating war, he could take no +part in an invasion of the southern states. + +Curiously enough, the southern press, which was to end by idolizing him, +began by abusing him. His first campaign was in western Virginia and was +a woeful failure, due partly to the splendid way in which McClellan, on +the Union side, managed it, and partly to blunders on the Confederate +side for which Lee was in no way responsible; but the result was that +that section of the state was lost to the Confederacy forever, and Lee +got the blame. Even his friends feared that he had been over-rated, and +he was sent away from the field of active hostilities to the far South, +where he was assigned to command Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. He +accepted the assignment without comment, and went to work immediately +fortifying the coast, to such good purpose that his reputation was soon +again firmly established. Early in 1862, he was recalled to Richmond to +assist in its defense. He found his beautiful estate on the heights +opposite Washington confiscated, his family exiled, his fortune gone. + +General Joseph E. Johnston was in command of the forces at Richmond, and +was preparing to meet McClellan, who was slowly advancing up the +peninsula. But Johnston was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, on May +31, and on the following day, Lee assumed command of the army. He got it +well in hand at once, sent Stuart on a raid around McClellan's lines, +and gradually forced the Union army away from Richmond, until the +capital of the Confederacy was no longer in danger. Flushed with +success, Lee threw his army to the northeast against Pope, routed him, +crossed the Potomac into Maryland, threatened Washington, and carried +the war with a vengeance into the enemy's country. A more complete +reversal of conditions could not be imagined; a month before, he had +been engaged in a seemingly desperate effort to save Richmond; now he +had started upon an invasion of the North which promised serious +results. + +But things did not turn out as he expected. The inhabitants of Maryland +did not rally to him, McClellan was soon after him with a great army, +and on September 17, overtook him at Antietam, and fought a desperate +battle; from which Lee, overwhelmed by an army half again as large as +his own, was forced to withdraw defeated, though in good order, and +recross the Potomac into Virginia. Three months later, he got his +revenge in full measure at Fredericksburg, routing Burnside with fearful +loss, and early in May of the following year scored heavily again by +defeating Hooker at Chancellorsville. The last victory was a +dearly-bought one, for it cost the life of that most famous of all +American cavalry leaders, "Stonewall" Jackson, of whom we shall speak +hereafter. + +That was the culmination of Lee's career, for two months after +Chancellorsville, having started on another great invasion of the North, +on the fourth day of July, 1863, he was forced to retire from the fierce +battle of Gettysburg with his army seriously crippled and with all hope +of invading the North at an end. He was on the defensive, after that, +with Grant's great army gradually closing in upon him and drawing nearer +and nearer to Richmond. That he was able to prolong this struggle for +nearly two years, especially considering the exhausted state of the +South, was remarkable to the last degree, eloquent testimony to the high +order of his leadership. Toward the last, his men were in rags and +practically starving, but there was no murmuring so long as their +beloved "Marse Robert" was with them. + +On the ninth day of April, 1865, six days after the fall of Richmond, +Lee found himself surrounded at Appomattox Courthouse by a vastly +superior force under General Grant. To have fought would have meant a +useless waste of human life. Lee chose the braver and harder course, and +surrendered. He knew that there could be but one end to the struggle, +and he was brave enough to admit defeat. On that occasion, Grant rose to +the full stature of a hero. He treated his conquered foe with every +courtesy; granted terms whose liberality was afterwards sharply +criticised by the clique in control of Congress, but which Grant +insisted should be carried out to the letter; sent the rations of his +own army to the starving Confederates, and permitted them to retain +their horses in order that they might get home, and have some means of +earning a livelihood. + +[Illustration: LEE] + +When Lee rode back to his army, it was to be surrounded by his ragged +soldiers, who could not believe that the end had come, who were ready to +keep on fighting, and who broke down and sobbed like children when +they learned the truth. The next day, he issued an address to his army, +a dignified and worthy composition, which is still treasured in many a +southern home; and then, mounting his faithful horse, Traveller, which +had carried him through the war, he rode slowly away to Richmond. He was +greeted everywhere with the wildest enthusiasm, and found himself then, +as he has ever since remained, the idol and chosen hero of the southern +people, who saw in him a unique and splendid embodiment of valor and +virtue, second only to the first and greatest of all Virginians, and +even surpassing him in the subtle qualities of the heart. + +As has been said, his fortune was gone, and it was necessary for him to +earn a living. The opportunity soon came in the offer of the presidency +of Washington College, at Lexington, where the remainder of his days +were spent in honored quiet. Those five years of warfare, with their +hardships and exposures, had brought on rheumatism of the heart, and the +end came on October 12, 1870. He died dreaming of battle, and his last +words were, "Tell Hill he _must_ come up!" + +Next to Lee in the hearts of the Southern soldiers was Thomas Jonathan +Jackson, better known by the sobriquet of "Stonewall," which General Bee +gave him during the first battle of Bull Run. Driven back by the Union +onset, the Confederate left had retreated a mile or more, when it +reached the plateau where Jackson and his brigade were stationed. The +brigade never wavered, but stood fast and held the position. + +"See there!" shouted General Bee, "Jackson is standing like a stone +wall. Rally on the Virginians!" + +Rally they did, and Jackson was ever thereafter known as "Stonewall." + +It was a good name, as representing not only his qualities of physical +courage, but also his qualities of moral courage. There was something +rock-like and immovable about him, even in his everyday affairs, and so +"Stonewall" he remained. + +In some respects Stonewall Jackson was the most remarkable man whom the +war made famous. A graduate of West Point, he had served through the +Mexican war, and then, finding the army not to his liking, had resigned +from the service to accept a professorship at the Virginia Military +Institute. He made few friends, for he was of a silent and reserved +disposition, and besides, he conducted a Sunday school for colored +children. It is a fact worth noting that neither of the two great +leaders of the Confederate armies believed in slavery, the one thing +which they were fighting to defend. So Jackson's neighbors merely +thought him queer, and left him to himself; certainly, none suspected +that he was a genius. + +Yet a genius he was, and proved it. Enlisting as soon as the war began, +and distinguishing himself, as we have seen, by holding back the Union +charge at Bull Run, he was made a major-general after that battle, and +a year later probably saved Richmond from capture by preventing the +armies of Banks and McDowell from operating with McClellan, making one +of the most brilliant campaigns of the war, overwhelming both his +antagonists, and, leaving them stunned behind him, hastening to Richmond +to assist Lee, arriving just in time to turn the tide of battle at +Gaines Mills. + +As soon as McClellan had been beaten back from Richmond, Jackson +returned to the Shenandoah valley, defeated Banks at Cedar Run, seized +Pope's depot at Manassas, and held him on the ground until Lee came up, +when Pope was defeated at the second battle of Bull Run. Two weeks +later, Jackson captured Harper's Ferry, with thirteen thousand +prisoners, seventy cannon, and a great quantity of stores; commanded the +left wing of the Confederate army at Antietam, against which the corps +of Hooker, Mansfield and Sumner hurled themselves in vain; and at +Fredericksburg commanded the right wing, which repelled the attack of +Franklin's division. + +These remarkable successes had established Jackson's reputation as a +commander of unusual merit; he was promoted to lieutenant-general, and +Lee came to rely upon him more and more. He had, too, by a certain high +courage and charm of character, won the complete devotion of his men; to +say that they loved him, that any one of them would have laid down his +life for him, is but the simple truth. No other leader in the whole war, +with the exception of Lee, who dwelt in a region high and apart, was +idolized as he was. But his career was nearly ended, and, by the bitter +irony of fate, he was to be killed by the very men who loved him. + +On the second day of May, 1863, Lee sent him on a long flanking movement +around Hooker's army at Chancellorsville. Emerging from the woods +towards evening, he surprised and routed Howard's corps, and between +eight and nine o'clock rode forward with a small party beyond his own +lines to reconnoitre the enemy's position. As he turned to ride back, +his party was mistaken for Federal cavalrymen and a volley poured into +it by a Confederate outpost. Several of the party were killed, and +Jackson received three wounds. They were not in themselves fatal, but +pneumonia followed, and death came eight days later. + +There was none to fill his place--it was as though Lee had lost his +right arm. The result of the war would have been in no way different had +he lived, but his death was an incalculable loss to the Confederacy. It +was Lee's opinion that he would have won the battle of Gettysburg had he +had Jackson with him, and this is more than probable, so evenly did +victory and defeat hang in the balance there. But, even then, the North +would have been far from conquered, and its superior resources and +larger armies must have won in the end. Perhaps, after all, Jackson's +death was, in a way, a blessing, since it shortened a struggle which, in +any event, could have had but one result. + +Another heavy loss which the Confederacy suffered even earlier in the +war was that of Albert Sidney Johnston, killed at the battle of Shiloh. +Jefferson Davis said the cause of the South was lost when Johnston fell, +but this was, of course, only a manner of speaking, for Johnston could +not have saved it. Johnston had an adventurous career and saw a great +deal of fighting before the Civil War began. Graduating at West Point in +1826, he served as chief of staff to General Atkinson during the Black +Hawk war, and then, joining the Texan revolutionists, served first as a +private and then as commander of the Texan army. He commanded a regiment +in the war with Mexico, and in 1857, led a successful expedition against +the rebellious Mormons in Utah. + +His training, then, and an experience greater than any other commander +in the Civil War started out with, fitted him for brilliant work from +the very first. At the outbreak of the war, he was put by the +Confederate government in command of the departments of Kentucky and +Tennessee, and on April 6, 1862, swept down upon Grant's unprotected +army at Shiloh. That battle might have ended in a disastrous defeat for +the North but for the accident which deprived the Confederates of their +commander. About the middle of the afternoon, while leading his men +forward to the attack which was pressing the Federals back upon the +river, he was struck by a bullet which severed an artery in the thigh. +The wound was not a fatal, nor even a very serious one, and his life +could have been saved had it been given immediate attention. But +Johnston, carried away by the prospect of impending victory and the +excitement of the fight, continued in the saddle cheering on his men, +his life-blood pulsing away unheeded, until he sank unconscious into the +arms of one of his officers. He was lifted to the ground and a surgeon +hastily summoned. But it was too late. + +Johnston's death left the command of the army to General Pierre +Beauregard, who had had the somewhat dubious honor of firing the first +shot of the war against Fort Sumter and of capturing the little garrison +which defended it. Beauregard was a West Point man, standing high in his +class, and his work, previous to the war, was largely in the engineer +corps. When the war began, he was superintendent of the academy at West +Point, but resigned at once to join the South. After the capture of +Sumter, he was ordered to Virginia and was in practical command at the +first battle of Bull Run, which resulted in the rout of the Union +forces. After that, he was sent to Tennessee, as second in command to +Albert Sidney Johnston, and he succeeded to the command of the army on +Johnston's death at Shiloh. + +The first day's fighting at Shiloh had resulted in a Confederate +victory, but Beauregard was not able to maintain this advantage on the +second day, and was finally compelled to draw off his forces. Grant +pursued him, and Beauregard was forced to retreat far to the south +before he was safe from capture. Two years later, he attempted to stop +Sherman on his march to the sea, but was unable to do so, and, joining +forces with Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered, to Sherman a few days after +Appomattox. + +Joseph E. Johnston had been a classmate of Lee at West Point, and had +seen much service before the Civil War began. He was aide-de-camp to +General Scott in the Black Hawk war; and in the war with the Florida +Indians, was brevetted for gallantry in rescuing the force he commanded +from an ambush into which it had been lured, the fight being so +desperate that, besides being wounded, no less than thirty bullets +penetrated his clothes. In the war with Mexico he was thrice brevetted +for gallantry, and was seriously wounded at Cerro Gordo and again at +Chapultepec. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was +quartermaster-general of the United States army, resigning that position +to take service with the South. + +When McDowell advanced against Beauregard at Bull Run, Johnston, who was +at Winchester, hastened with his army to the scene of battle, and this +reinforcement, which McDowell had endeavored vainly to prevent, won the +day for the Confederates. He remained in command at Richmond, opposing +McClellan's advance up the peninsula, but was badly wounded at the +battle of Seven Pines, and was incapacitated for duty for several +months, Lee succeeding him in command of the army. + +Johnston was never again to gain any great victories, for he had in some +way incurred the ill-will of Jefferson Davis, and was placed in one +impossible position after another, sent to meet an enemy which always +outnumbered him, and refused the assistance which he should have had. +The last of these tasks was that of stopping Sherman's march to the sea, +but Sherman had sixty thousand men to his seventeen thousand, and a +battle was out of the question. + +After Lee's surrender, Davis fled south to Greensboro, where Johnston +found him and advised that, since the war had been decided against them, +it was their duty to end it without delay, as its further continuance +could accomplish nothing and would be mere murder. To this Davis +reluctantly agreed, and Johnston thereupon sought Sherman and made terms +of surrender for his army and Beauregard's. The terms which Sherman +granted were rejected by Congress as too liberal, and another agreement +was drawn up, similar to the one which had been signed between Grant and +Lee. It is worth remarking that the Union generals in the field were +disposed to treat their fallen foes with greater charity and kindness +than the politicians in Congress, who had never seen a battlefield, and +who were concerned, not with succoring a needy brother, but with +wringing every possible advantage from the situation. + +To two other southern commanders we must give passing mention before +turning from this period of our history. First of these is James +Longstreet, who had the reputation of being the hardest fighter in the +Confederate service, whose men were devoted to him, and called him +affectionately "Old Pete." The army always felt secure when "Old Pete" +was with it; and, indeed, he did not seem to know how to retreat. He +held the Confederate right at Bull Run, and the left at Fredericksburg; +he saved Jackson from defeat by Pope, at the second battle of Bull Run; +he was on the right at Gettysburg, and tried to dissuade Lee from the +disastrous charge of the third day which resulted in Confederate defeat; +he held the left at Chickamauga, did brilliant service in the +Wilderness, and was included in the surrender at Appomattox. A sturdy +and indomitable man, the Confederacy had good reason to be proud of him. + +The second is J.E.B. Stuart, as a cavalry leader second only to +Jackson, and Sheridan, but with his reputation shadowed by a fatal +mistake. He was a past master of the sudden and daring raid, and on more +than one occasion carried consternation into the enemy's camp by a +brilliant dash through it. One of his most successful raids was made +around McClellan's army on the peninsula, shaking its sense of security +and threatening its communications. On another occasion, he dashed into +Pope's camp, captured his official correspondence and personal effects +and made prisoners of several officers of his staff, Pope himself +escaping only because he happened to be away from headquarters. The one +shadow upon his military career, referred to above, was his absence from +the field of Gettysburg. + +He was directed to take a position on the right of the Confederate army, +but started away on a raid in the rear of the Federals, not expecting a +battle to be fought at once, and he did not get back to the main army +until the battle of Gettysburg had been lost. The absence of cavalry +was a severe handicap to the Confederate army, and Lee always attributed +his defeat to Stuart's absence; but Stuart maintained that he had acted +under orders, and that the mistake was not his. He was killed in a fight +with Sheridan's cavalry at Yellow Tavern, Virginia, a short time later. + +And here we must end the story of the great soldiers of the Confederacy. +There were many others who fought well and bravely--Bragg, A.P. Hill, +Magruder, Pemberton--but none of them attained the dimensions of a +national figure. Weighing the merits of the leaders of the two armies, +they would seem to be pretty evenly balanced. This was natural enough, +since all of them had had practically the same training and experience, +and, during the war, the same opportunities. Lee, Jackson and Johnston +were fairly matched by Grant, Sheridan and Sherman. + +The Southern leaders, perhaps, showed more dash and vim than the +Northern ones, for they waged a more desperate fight; but both sides +fought with the highest valor, and if the war did not have for the North +the poignant meaning it had for the South, it was because practically +all of its battles were fought on southern soil, and the southern people +saw their fair land devastated. In no instance did the North suffer any +such burning humiliation as that inflicted on the South by Sherman in +his march to the sea; at the close of the war, despite its sacrifice of +blood and treasure, the North was more prosperous than it had been at +the beginning, while the South lay prostrate and ruined. So to the North +the war has receded into the vista of memory, while to the South it is a +wound not yet wholly healed. + + * * * * * + +There have been no great American soldiers since the Civil War--at +least, there has been no chance for them to prove their greatness, for +there is only one test of a soldier and that is the battlefield. When +George A. Custer was ambushed and his command wiped out by the Sioux in +1876, a wave of sorrow went over the land for the dashing, fair-haired +leader and his devoted men; yet the very fact that he had led his men +into a trap clouded such military reputation as he had gained during the +last years of the war. + +The war with Spain was too brief to make any reputations, though it was +long enough to ruin several. The man who gained most glory in that +conflict was "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, veteran of Shiloh, of Murfreesboro, +of Chickamauga, dashing like a gnat against Sherman's flanks, and +annoying him mightily on that march to the sea; a southerner of the +southerners, and yet with a great patriotism which sent him to the front +in 1898, and a hard experience which enabled him to save the day at +Santiago, when the general in command lay in a hammock far to the rear. + +Let us pause, too, for mention of Nelson A. Miles, who had volunteered +at the opening of the Civil War, fought in every battle of the Army of +the Potomac up to the surrender at Appomattox, been thrice wounded and +as many times brevetted for gallantry; the conqueror of the Cheyenne, +Comanche and Sioux Indians in the years following the war; and finally +attaining the rank of commander-in-chief of the army of the United +States; to find himself, as Winfield Scott had done, at odds politically +with the head of the War Department and with the President, and kept at +home when a war was raging. For the same reason as Scott had been, +perhaps, since some of his admirers had talked of him for the +presidency. He was released, at last, to command the expedition against +Porto Rico, which resulted in the complete and speedy subjugation of +that island. A careful and intelligent, if not a brilliant soldier, he +is, perhaps, the most eminent figure which the years since the great +rebellion have developed. + + * * * * * + +Looking back over the military history of the country since its +beginning, it is evident that America has produced no soldier of +commanding genius--no soldier, for instance, to rank with Napoleon, who, +at his prime, seemed able to compel victory; or with Frederick the +Great, that past master of the art of war. Yet it should be remembered +that both these men were soldiers all their lives, and that they stand +practically unmatched in modern history. Of the next rank--the rank of +Wellington and Von Moltke--we have, at least, three, Washington, Lee, +and Grant; while to match such impetuous and fiery leaders as Ney, and +Lannes, and Soult, we have Harry Lee, Marion, Sheridan, Jackson, and +Albert Sidney Johnston. So America has no reason to blush for her +military achievements--more especially since her history has been one of +peace, save for fifteen years out of the one hundred and thirty-three of +her existence. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +PUTNAM ISRAEL. Born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7, 1718; served in +French and Indian war, 1755-62; in Pontiac's war, 1764; one of the +commanding officers at battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775; +major-general in Continental army, 1775; took part in siege of Boston, +1775-76; commanded at defeat on Long Island, August 27, 1776; commanded +in high-lands of the Hudson, 1777; served in Connecticut, 1778-79; +disabled by a stroke of paralysis, 1779; died at Brooklyn, Connecticut, +May 19, 1790. + +GATES, HORATIO. Born at Maldon, England, in. 1728; served as captain +under Braddock, 1755; settled in Berkeley County, Virginia; +adjutant-general in Continental army, 1775; succeeded Schuyler as +commander in the North, 1777; received Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, +1777; President of the Board of War and Ordnance, November, 1777; +appointed to command in the South, 1780; totally defeated by Cornwallis +at Camden, South Carolina, August 16, 1780; succeeded by General Greene; +died at New York City, April 10, 1806. + +ARNOLD, BENEDICT. Born at Norwich, Connecticut, January 14, 1741; +commissioned colonel, 1775; took part in capture of Ticonderoga, 1775; +commanded expedition against Quebec, 1775; made brigadier-general and +commanded at a naval battle on Lake Champlain, 1776; decided the second +battle of Saratoga, 1777; appointed commander of Philadelphia, 1778; +tried by court-martial and reprimanded by Washington, 1780; appointed +commander of West Point, 1780; treason discovered by Washington, +September 23, 1780; conducted British expeditions against Virginia and +Connecticut, 1781; died at London, June 14, 1801. + +GREENE, NATHANAEL. Born at Warwick, Rhode Island, May 24, 1742; +distinguished himself at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown, +and succeeded Gates in command of the southern army, 1780; conducted +retreat from the Catawba to the Dan, 1781; won victories of Guildford +Court House and Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near Savannah, Georgia, June +19, 1786. + +MARION, FRANCIS. Born at Winyaw, South Carolina, 1732; a partisan leader +in South Carolina, 1780-82; served at Eutaw Springs, 1781; died near +Eutaw, South Carolina, February 27, 1795. + +SUMTER, THOMAS. Born in Virginia in 1734; in Braddock campaign, 1755; +lieutenant-colonel of regiment of South Carolina riflemen, 1776; +defeated Tories at Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780; defeated by Tarleton at +Fishing Creek, August 18, 1780; defeated Tarleton at Blackstock Hill, +November 20, 1780; member of Congress from South Carolina, 1789-93; +senator, 1801-09; minister to Brazil, 1809-11; died near Camden, South +Carolina, June 1, 1832. + +LEE, HENRY. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 29, 1756; +distinguished in Revolution as commander of "Lee's Legion"; governor of +Virginia, 1792-95; member of Congress, 1799-1801; died at Cumberland +Island, Georgia, March 25, 1818. + +ST. CLAIR, ARTHUR. Born at Thurso, Scotland, 1734; served at Louisburg +and at Quebec, 1758; resigned from British army and settled in Ligonier +valley, Pennsylvania, 1764; appointed colonel, January 3, 1776; +brigadier-general, August 9, 1776; organized New Jersey militia and +participated in battles of Trenton and Princeton; major-general, +February 19, 1777; succeeded Gates in command at Ticonderoga, and +abandoned fort at approach of Burgoyne's army, July, 1777; +court-martialed in consequence, 1778, and acquitted "with the highest +honor"; succeeded Arnold in command of West Point, 1780; before Yorktown +at surrender of Cornwallis, and in South till close of war; delegate to +Continental Congress, 1785-87; governor of Northwest Territory, +1789-1802; defeated by Indians near Miami villages, November 4, 1791; +died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818. + +WAYNE, ANTHONY. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745; +member of Pennsylvania legislature, 1774; colonel of Pennsylvania troops +in Canada, 1776; brigadier-general, 1777; served at Brandywine, +Germantown, and Monmouth; stormed Stony Point, July 15, 1779; commanded +at Green Spring, 1781; served at Yorktown; member of Congress from +Georgia, 1791-92; appointed major-general and commander-in-chief of the +army, 1792; won the battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794; negotiated treaty +of Greenville, 1795; died at Erie, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1796. + +SCOTT, WINFIELD. Born near Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1786; admitted +to the bar, 1806; entered United States army as captain, 1808; served in +war of 1812, distinguishing himself at Queenstown Heights, Chippewa and +Lundy's Lane; brigadier-general and brevet major-general, 1814; served +against Seminoles and Creeks, 1835-37; major-general and +commander-in-chief of the army, 1841; appointed to chief command in +Mexico, 1847; took Vera Cruz, won battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, +Churubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec and entered City of Mexico, +September 14, 1847; unsuccessful Whig candidate for President, 1852; +retired from active service, 1861; died at West Point, New York, May 29, +1866. + +MCLELLAN, GEORGE BRINTON. Born at Philadelphia, December 3, 1826; +graduated at West Point, 1846; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; sent to +Europe to observe Crimean war, 1855-56; in railroad business, 1857-61; +major-general of volunteers, April, 1861; cleared West Virginia of +Confederates, June and July, 1861; commander Department of the Potomac, +August, 1861; organized Army of the Potomac and conducted Peninsula +campaign, 1861-62; superseded by Burnside, November 7, 1862; Democratic +candidate for President, 1864; governor of New Jersey, 1878-81; died at +Orange, New Jersey, October 29, 1885. + +BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT. Born at Liberty, Indiana, May 23, 1824; +captured Roanoke Island and Newbern, February-March, 1862; fought at +Antietam, September 17, 1862; commanded Army of the Potomac, November +7, 1862-January 26, 1863; defeated at Fredericksburg, December, 1862; +governor of Rhode Island, 1867-69; senator, 1875-81; died at Bristol, +Rhode Island, September 13, 1881. + +HOOKER, JOSEPH. Born at Hadley, Massachusetts, November 13, 1814; +graduated at West Point, 1837; served as captain in Mexican war; +brigadier-general, 1861; corps commander at South Mountain, Antietam, +and Fredericksburg; commander of Army of the Potomac, January 25, 1863; +defeated by Lee at Chancellorsville, May 2-3, 1863; relieved of command, +June 27, 1863; served in Chattanooga campaign and with Sherman; died at +Garden City, New York, October 31, 1879. + +SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH. Born at Lancaster, Ohio, February 8, 1820; +graduated at West Point, 1840; served in California during Mexican war; +colonel in Union army, 1861; brigadier-general, 1861; was at Bull Run +and Shiloh, and made major-general of volunteers, May 1, 1862; served at +Chattanooga and Vicksburg, won battles of Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw +Mountain, and Peachtree Creek; made major-general in regular army, +August 12, 1864; occupied Atlanta, September 2, 1864; started on march +to the sea, November 12, 1864; entered Savannah, December 21, 1864; +received surrender of Johnston's army, April 26, 1865; +lieutenant-general, 1866; general and commander of the army, 1869; +retired, 1884; died at New York City, February 14, 1891. + +SHERIDAN, PHILIP HENRY. Born at Albany, New York, March 6, 1831; +graduated at West Point, 1853; captain, 1861; colonel of cavalry, 1862; +at Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; commander +of cavalry corps of Army of the Potomac, April, 1864; at Wilderness, +Hawe's Shop and Trevellian; won victories of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, +Cedar Creek, and devastated Shenandoah Valley, 1864; major-general, +November 8, 1864; commanded at Five Forks, March 31, April 1, 1865; took +leading part in pursuit of Lee; lieutenant-general, 1867; succeeded +Sherman as Commander-in-chief, 1883; general, 1888; died at Nonquith, +Massachusetts, August 5, 1888. + +THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY. Born in Southampton County, Virginia, July 31, +1816; graduated at West Point, 1840; served in Seminole and Mexican +wars; brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861; at Mill Springs, +Perryville and Murfreesboro; became famous for his defense of Union +position at Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863; with Sherman in Georgia, +1864; defeated Hood at Nashville, December 15-16, 1864; died at San +Francisco, March 28, 1870. + +LEE, ROBERT EDWARD. Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, January 19, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served with distinction in Mexican +war; superintendent of West Point Academy, 1852-55; commanded forces +which captured John Brown, 1859; resigned commission in United States +Army, April, 1861; appointed major-general of Virginia forces, April, +1861; commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, June 3, 1862; +commanded in Seven Days' Battles, Manassas campaign, at Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, 1863; against +Grant at Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, 1864-65; +surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, April 9, 1865; president of +Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, 1865-70; died at Lexington, +Virginia, October 12, 1870. + +JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN. Born at Clarksburg, West Virginia, January 21, +1824; graduated at West Point, 1846; served through Mexican war and +resigned from army, 1851; professor of philosophy and artillery tactics +Virginia Military Institute, 1851-61; joined Confederate army at opening +of Civil War; brigadier-general at Bull Run, July 21, 1861; +major-general, November, 1861; at Winchester, Cross Keys, Gaines's Mill, +Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Harper's Ferry, Antietam and +Fredericksburg, 1862; mortally wounded by his own men at +Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863; died at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May +10, 1863. + +JOHNSTON, ALBERT SIDNEY. Born at Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, +February 3, 1803; graduated at West Point, 1826; served in Black Hawk +war, 1832; resigned from army, 1834; enlisted as private in Texan army, +1836; succeeded Felix Houston as commander of Texan army, 1837; +secretary of war for Republic of Texas, 1838-40; served in Mexican war, +1846-47; commanded successful expedition against revolted Mormons in +Utah, 1857; appointed commander of Department of Kentucky and Tennessee +in Confederate service, 1861; attacked Grant's army at Shiloh, April 6, +1862, and killed there while leading his men. + +BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT. Born near New Orleans, May 23, 1818; +graduated at West Point, 1838; served with distinction in Mexican war; +superintendent of West Point Academy, 1860-61; resigned to accept +appointment as brigadier-general in Confederate army, 1861; bombarded +and captured Fort Sumter, April 12-14, 1861; commanded at battle of Bull +Bun, July 21, 1861; general, 1861; assumed command of army at Shiloh on +death of Johnston, April 6, 1862; surrendered to Sherman, 1865; +president of New Orleans and Jackson Railroad Company, 1865-70; +adjutant-general of Louisiana, 1878; died at New Orleans, February 20, +1893. + +JOHNSTON, JOSEPH ECCLESTON. Born near Farmville, Virginia, February 3, +1807; graduated at West Point, 1829; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; took part in +battle of Bull Run, opposed McClellan in Peninsular campaign, fought +battles of Resaca and Dallas against Sherman, and surrendered to Sherman +at Durham Station, North Carolina, April 26, 1865; member of Congress, +1876-78; United States Commissioner of Railways, 1885-89; died at +Washington, D.C., March 21, 1891. + +LONGSTREET, JAMES. Born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, January +8, 1821; graduated at West Point, 1842; served in Mexican war, 1846-47; +entered Confederate service as brigadier-general, 1861; promoted +major-general, 1861; was present at second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, +Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville and the Wilderness; United States +minister to Turkey, 1880-81; United States Commissioner of Pacific +Railroads, 1897; died January 2, 1904. + +STUART, JAMES EWELL BROWN. Born in Patrick County, Virginia, February 6, +1833; graduated at West Point, 1854; entered Confederate service, 1861, +and became leading cavalry officer in Army of Northern Virginia; at Bull +Run, Peninsula, Manassas Junction, Antietam, Fredericksburg and +Chancellorsville; mortally wounded at battle of Yellow Tavern, and died +at Richmond, May 12, 1864. + +WHEELER, JOSEPH. Born in Augusta, Georgia, September 10, 1836; graduated +at West Point, 1859; entered Confederate army as colonel; at Shiloh, +Green River, Perryville; brigadier-general, 1862; major-general, 1863; +at Murfreesboro, commanded cavalry at Chickamauga, fought Sherman almost +daily on the march to the sea; included in Johnston's surrender, April +26, 1865; member of Congress, from Alabama, 1881-99; appointed +major-general of volunteers, U.S.A., May 4, 1898; in command of cavalry +at Las Guasimas and before Santiago; in Philippine Islands, 1899-1900; +died at Brooklyn, New York, January 25, 1906. + +MILES, NELSON APPLETON. Born at Westminster, Massachusetts, August 8, +1839; entered Union army as volunteer, 1861, attaining rank of +major-general of volunteers; enlisted in regular army at close of war, +rising grade by grade to major-general, and commander-in-chief, +1895-1903; conducted campaigns against Geronimo and Natchez, 1886; in +command of United States troops at Chicago strike, 1884; +lieutenant-general, June 6, 1900; retired, August 8, 1903. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GREAT SAILORS + + +We have said that America has produced no soldier of commanding genius, +but her sailors outrank the world. Even Great Britain, mighty seafaring +nation as she has been, cannot, in the last hundred and fifty years, +show any brighter galaxy of stars. Just why it would be difficult to +say. Perhaps America inherited from England the traditions of that race +of heroes who made the age of Elizabeth, so memorable on the ocean, and +who started their country on her career as mistress of the +seas--Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Gilbert, and Howard of +Effingham. + +Surely in direct descent from these daring adventurers was that earliest +of America's naval commanders, John Paul Jones, well called the "Founder +of the American Navy." He it was who first carried the Stars and Stripes +into foreign waters, and who made Europe to see that a new nation had +arisen, in the west. He it was who first scouted the tradition of +England's invincibility on the sea, and carried the war into her very +ports. He it was who proved that American valor yielded no whit to +British valor--who, when Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, asked if he +had struck his colors, shouted back that he had not yet begun to fight, +although his ship had been shot to pieces and was sinking; but who +thereupon did begin, and to such good purpose that he captured his +adversary and got his crew aboard her as his own ship sank. Truly a +remarkable man and one worth looking at closely. + +In the middle of the eighteenth century, there lived in the county of +Kirkcudbright, Scotland, a poor gardener named John Paul. He had a large +family, and finding it no small task to feed so many mouths, accepted +the offer of a distant relative named William Jones to adopt his oldest +son, William, named in honor of that same relative. Jones owned a +plantation in Virginia, and thither the boy accompanied him, being known +thereafter as William Paul Jones. None of John Paul's numerous children, +however, would have figured on the pages of history but for the youngest +son, born in 1747, and named after his father, John Paul. + +Little John Paul had a short childhood, for as soon as he could handle a +line, he was put to work with the fishermen on Solway Firth to help earn +a living for the family. By the time that he was twelve years old, he +was a first-class sailor, and had developed a love for the sea and a +disregard of its perils which never left him. Securing his father's +consent, he shipped as apprentice for a voyage to Virginia, and visited +his brother, who was managing his adopted father's estate near +Fredericksburg. The old planter took a great fancy to the boy, and +offered to adopt him also, but young John Paul preferred the +adventurous life of the ocean to humdrum existence on a Virginia +plantation. For the next fifteen years, he followed the sea, studying +navigation and naval history, French and Spanish, and fitting himself in +every way for high rank in his profession. + +On the seventeenth of April, 1773, John Paul anchored his brig, the Two +Friends, in the Rappahannock just below his brother's plantation, and +rowed to shore to pay him a visit. He found him breathing his last. He +died childless, and John Paul found himself heir to the estate, which +was a considerable one. Resigning command of his vessel, he settled down +to the life of a Virginia planter, adding to his name the last name of +his family's benefactor, and being known thereafter as John Paul Jones. + +Events were at this time hurrying forward toward war with Great Britain; +Virginia was in a ferment, and Paul Jones was soon caught up by this +tide of patriotism. When, in 1775, the Congress decided to "equip a navy +for the defence of American liberty," Jones at once offered his +services, and was made a senior first lieutenant. It is amusing to run +over the names of those first officers of the American navy. As was the +case with the first generals, out of the whole list only two names live +with any lustre--Paul Jones and Nicholas Biddle. + +Paul Jones was the first of these officers to receive his commission, +John Hancock handing it to him in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, +shortly after noon on December 22, 1775. Immediately afterwards, the +new lieutenant, accompanied by a distinguished party, including Hancock +and Thomas Jefferson, proceeded to the Chestnut street wharf, where the +Alfred, the first American man-of-war was lying moored. Captain +Saltonstall, who was to command the ship, had not yet arrived from +Boston, and at Hancock's direction, Lieutenant Jones took command, and +ran up the first American flag ever shown from the masthead of a +man-of-war. It was not the Stars and Stripes, which had not yet been +adopted as the flag of the United States, but a flag showing a +rattlesnake coiled at the foot of a pine-tree, with the words, "Don't +tread on me." + +Three other small vessels were soon placed in commission, and the +squadron started out on its first cruise on February 17, 1776. Through +the inexperience and incompetency of the officers, the cruise was a +complete failure, and resulted in the dismissal of "Commander-in-Chief" +Ezekial Hopkins, and the retirement of Jones's immediate superior, +Captain Dudley Saltonstall. It was a striking example of how the first +blast of battle winnows the wheat from the chaff, and its best result +was to give Paul Jones a command of his own. Never thereafter was he +forced to serve under an imbecile superior, but was always, to the end +of his career, the ranking officer on his station. + +His first command was a small one, the sloop-of-war Providence, with +fourteen guns and 107 men, but in six weeks he had captured sixteen +prizes, of which eight were manned and sent to port, and eight +destroyed at sea; was twice chased by frigates, escaping capture only by +the most brilliant manoeuvring; and made two descents on the coast of +Nova Scotia, releasing some American prisoners, capturing arms and +ammunition, dispersing a force of Tories, and destroying a number of +fishing smacks; and finally reached port again with a crew of +forty-seven, all the rest having been told off to man his prizes. + +Work of so brilliant a description won instant recognition, especially +as contrasted with the failure of the first cruise, and Jones was +promoted to a captaincy, and the Alfred, a ship mounting twenty-eight +guns, added to his command. A cruise of thirty-three days in these two +vessels resulted in seven prizes, two of them armed transports loaded +with supplies for the British army. + +Fired by these successes, Jones's great ambition was for a cruise along +the coast of England. He argued that the time had come when the American +flag should be shown in European waters, and that the moral effect of a +descent upon the English coast would be tremendous. It would have this +further advantage, that England was expecting no such attack, that her +ports would be found unprepared for it, and that great damage to her +shipping could probably be done. Lafayette, who had become a warm friend +of the daring captain, heartily approved the plan, and on June 14, 1777, +the Congress passed the following resolution: + + _Resolved_, That the Flag of the Thirteen United States of America + be Thirteen Stripes, Alternate Red and White; that the Union be + Thirteen Stars in a Blue Field, Representing a New Constellation. + + _Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be Appointed to Command + the Ship Ranger. + +That these two acts should have been joined in one resolution seems a +remarkable coincidence. "The flag and I are twins," Jones used to say; +"we cannot be parted in life or death"; and it was this flag he carried +with him when he sailed from Portsmouth in the dawn of the first day of +November, 1777. Something else he carried, too--dispatches which had +been placed in his hands only a few hours before, telling of Burgoyne's +surrender. "I will spread the news in France in thirty days," Jones +promised, as his ship cast loose, and he actually did land at Nantes +thirty-one days later. The news he brought decided France in favor of an +alliance with the United States, and the Treaty of Alliance was signed +two months later. + +Jones, meanwhile, had overhauled and refitted his ship, and on the tenth +of April, set sail from Brest, intending to make a complete circuit of +the British Isles. Entering the Irish Sea, he spread terror along its +shores, where his coming was like a bolt from the blue, engaged and +captured the British ship-of-war Drake, took a number of prizes, and +sailed into Brest again after an absence of twenty-eight days. + +It has been the fashion in some quarters to call Jones a pirate, but it +is difficult to see any argument for such a characterization of him. He +sailed under the flag of the United States, held a commission from the +United States, and attacked an enemy with whom the United States was at +war. There is no hint of piracy about that; but Jones came to be a sort +of bogeyman to the coast towns of the British Isles, who never knew when +to expect an attack from him, and no name was too hard for their +frightened inhabitants to apply to him. + +But it was some time before Jones was able to strike another blow. He +realized that he must have a more effective squadron for his second +cruise, and more than a year was spent in getting it together. Finally, +on August 14, 1779, he got to sea again with a squadron of four +vessels--not a very effective one, but the best that could be had. The +flagship was an unwieldy old Indiaman which Jones had named the Bon +Homme Richard, in honor of his good friend, Benjamin Franklin, whose +Poor Richard was almost as famous in France as in America. The other +three ships were commanded by Frenchmen, and all the crews were of the +most motley description. On September 23, the squadron sighted a great +fleet of English merchantmen, under convoy of the Serapis, a powerful +frigate mounting forty-four guns, and the Countess of Scarborough, +mounting twenty-eight. Jones signalled his squadron to give chase and +himself closed with the Serapis. + +Captain Pearson, of the Serapis, was very willing for the contest, since +his ship was greatly superior to Jones's old boat in fighting +qualities; but Jones succeeded in depriving the Serapis of some of this +advantage by running his vessel into her and lashing fast. So close did +they lie that their yardarms interlocked, and their rigging was soon so +fouled that Jones could not have got away, even had he wished to do so. +For three hours the ships lay there, side by side, pouring broadsides +into each other; their decks were soon covered with dead and wounded; +two of the Richard's guns burst and her main battery was silenced, but +Jones kept fighting on, for a time with so few guns that the captain of +the Serapis thought he had surrendered. + +"Have you struck?" he shouted, through his trumpet. + +"No," Jones shouted back, "I have not yet begun to fight!" + +The Serapis was on fire and the Richard was sinking, but at this +juncture, one of the men of the Richard crept out along a yardarm, and +dropped a hand grenade down a hatchway of the Serapis. It wrought +fearful havoc, and Pearson struck his flag. + +It was time, for the Richard was on fire in two places, all her +main-deck guns were dismounted, and she was sinking fast. She was kept +afloat with great difficulty until morning, giving Jones time to place +his wounded on the Serapis, and to save such of her fittings as could be +removed. The Pallas, another of Jones's ships, had captured the +Scarborough, and with these prizes, Jones put back to France. He was +welcomed with great enthusiasm there, received the thanks of the +Congress, and was designated to command the ship-of-the-line then +building. But he fought no more battles under the Stars and Stripes. +After a brief service with Russia, he returned to Paris, broken in +health, and died there in 1792. His body was only recently brought to +this country and interred with national honors at Annapolis. + +We have said that there was only one other naval commander of the +Revolution whose name shines with any lustre to-day--Nicholas Biddle. +His career was a brief and brilliant one. Born in Philadelphia, he had +gone to sea at the age of thirteen, was cast away on a desert island, +was rescued, and enlisted in the English navy, but returned to America +as soon as revolution threatened. He was given command of a little brig +called the Andrea Doria, took a number of prizes, and made so good a +record that in 1776 he was appointed to command the new frigate, +Randolph. Using Charleston, South Carolina, as his base, he captured +four prizes within a few days, but on his second cruise, fell in with a +British sixty-four, the Yarmouth. After a sharp action of twenty +minutes, fire got into the magazine of the Randolph, in some way, and +she blew up, only four of her crew of 310 escaping. The blow was a heavy +one to the American navy, for Biddle was its best commander, next to +Jones, and the Randolph was its best ship. Luckily the French alliance +placed the French fleet at the disposal of the colonies--or Cornwallis +would never have been captured at Yorktown. + +It is one of our polite fictions that the United States has always been +victorious in war; but, as a matter of fact, we were not victorious in +the second war with England, and, when the treaty of peace came to be +signed, abandoned practically all the contentions which war had been +declared to maintain. On land, the war was, for the most part, a series +of costly blunders, beginning with the surrender of Detroit, and closing +with the sack of Washington, and had England had her hands free of +Napoleon, the result for us might have been very serious. The only +considerable and decisive victory won by American arms was that of +Andrew Jackson at New Orleans--a battle fought after the treaty of peace +had been signed. + +But on the ocean there was a different story--a series of brilliant +victories which, while they did not seriously cripple the great English +navy, caused Canning to declare in Parliament that "the sacred spell of +the invincibility of the British navy is broken." The heaviest blow was +struck to British commerce, no less than sixteen hundred English +merchantmen falling victims to privateers and ships-of-war. + +The group of men who commanded the American vessels was a most +remarkable one, and their fighting qualities were worthy in every way of +John Paul Jones. First blood was drawn by David Porter, illustrious +scion of a family which gave five generations to brilliant service in +the navy. On August 13, 1812, Porter, with the Essex, engaged in a +sharp battle with the British ship Alert, which, after an action of +eight minutes, surrendered in a sinking condition. He had seen hard +service before that, had been twice impressed by British vessels and +twice escaped, had fought French and pirates, and spent some time in a +prison in Tripoli. + +After his capture of the Alert, he went on a cruise in the Pacific, +destroying the English whale fisheries there, capturing booty valued at +two and a half million dollars, and taking four hundred prisoners. So +great was the damage he inflicted, that a British squadron was fitted +out and sent to the Pacific to capture him, found him in a partially +disabled condition in the harbor of Valparaiso, and, disregarding the +neutrality of the port, sailed in and attacked him. The engagement +lasted two hours and a half, the Essex finally surrendering when reduced +to a helpless wreck. On the Essex at the time was a midshipman aged +twelve years, who got his first taste of fighting there, and whose name +was destined to become, after that of Paul Jones, the most famous in +American naval history--David Glasgow Farragut. + +Less than a week after Porter's victory over the Alert, another and much +more important one was won by Captain Isaac Hull in the frigate +Constitution--"Old Ironsides"--the most famous ship-of-war the navy has +ever possessed. Isaac Hull was a nephew of General William Hull, who, on +August 16, 1812, surrendered Detroit and his entire army to the British +without striking a blow. Three days later, Isaac Hull, having sailed +from Boston without orders, in his anxiety to meet the enemy and for +fear the command of the Constitution would be given to some one else--a +breach of discipline for which he would probably have been +court-martialled and shot, had the cruise ended disastrously--fell in +with the powerful British frigate Guerriere. Inscribed across the +Guerriere's mainsail in huge red letters were the words: + + All who meet me have a care, + I am England's Guerriere. + +She was a powerful vessel, but neither the vessel nor the menace +frightened Hull, and he sailed straight for her, holding his fire until +he was within fifty yards, when he let fly a broadside and then another, +which sent two of her masts by the board, and the third soon followed, +leaving her unmanageable. Within a very few minutes, under Hull's raking +fire, she was reduced to a "perfect wreck"--so perfect, in fact, that +she had to be blown up and sunk, as there was no chance of getting her +back to port. The Constitution was practically uninjured, and Hull +sailed back to Boston, with his ship crowded with British prisoners. He +was welcomed with the wildest enthusiasm, banquets were given in his +honor, swords voted him by state legislatures, New York ordered a +portrait painted of him, and Congress gave him a gold medal. The War +Department discreetly permitted his disobedience of orders to drop out +of sight. + +Hull's victory was not the result of accident, but of long and careful +training. He had begun his sea career in the merchant service at the age +of fourteen, was a captain at the age of twenty, and entered the navy in +1798. He soon gained a high reputation for seamanship, and his genius +for handling a ship under all conditions was one of the most important +factors in his success. He saved his ship on one occasion, when she was +becalmed and practically surrounded by a powerful British fleet, by +"kedging"--in other words, sending a row-boat out with an anchor, which +was dropped as far ahead as the boat could take it, and the ship pulled +up to it by means of the windlass. As soon as the British saw him doing +this, they tried it too, but Hull managed to get away from them by +almost superhuman exertions. He served in the navy for many years after +his memorable victory over the Guerriere, but never achieved another so +notable. + +The second capture of a British frigate in the war of 1812 was made by +Stephen Decatur, who had distinguished himself years before by an +exploit which Lord Nelson called "the most daring act of the age." +Decatur, who possessed in unusual degree the dash and brilliance so +valuable in a naval commander, came naturally by his love of the sea, +for his grandfather had been an officer in the French navy, and his +father was a captain in the navy of the United States. + +Entering the service at the age of eighteen, his first cruise was in the +frigate, United States, which he was afterwards to command. He rose +steadily in the service and got his first command six years later, being +given the sixteen-gun brig Argus, and sent with Commodore Preble to +assist in subduing the Barbary corsairs. + +It is difficult to-day to realize that there was a time when the United +States paid tribute to anybody, more especially to a power so +insignificant as the Barbary States. Yet such was the fact. Lying along +the north coast of Africa were the half-civilized states of Morocco, +Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, and most of their income was from piracy. +All merchantmen were their prey; they divided the loot and sold the +crews into slavery. Many nations, to secure immunity from these +outrages, paid a stated sum yearly to these powers, and the United +States was one of them. + +Why the nations did not join together and wipe the pirates out of +existence is difficult to understand, but so it was. On one occasion, +Congress actually revoked an order for some new ships for the navy, and +used the appropriation to buy off the Barbary powers. The fund was known +as the "Mediterranean Fund," and was intrusted to the secretary of state +to expend as might be necessary. But after a while, the Barbary powers +became so outrageous in their demands, that it occurred to the State +Department that there might be another way of dealing with them, and a +squadron under Commodore Preble was sent to the Mediterranean for the +purpose. + +Shortly before he reached there, the U.S. frigate Philadelphia, +commanded by Captain Bainbridge, had gone upon a reef just outside the +harbor of Tripoli and had been surrounded and captured, with all her +crew, by the Tripolitan gunboats. The Tripolitans got her off the rocks, +towed her into the harbor, and anchored her close under the guns of +their forts. They also strengthened her batteries, and prepared her for +a cruise, which could not but have been disastrous to our shipping. It +was evident that she must be destroyed before she got out of the harbor, +and Stephen Decatur volunteered to lead a party into the harbor on this +desperate mission. Commodore Preble hesitated to accept Decatur's offer, +for he knew how greatly against success the odds were, but finally, in +January, 1804, he told him to go ahead. + +A small vessel known as a ketch had recently been captured from the +Tripolitans, and Decatur selected this in which to make the venture. He +took seventy men from his own vessel, and, on the night of February 15, +sailed boldly into the harbor of Tripoli. Let us pause for a minute to +consider the odds against him. First there was the Philadelphia with her +forty guns double-shotted and ready to fire; half a gunshot away was the +Bashaw's castle, the mole and crown batteries, while within range were +ten other batteries, mounting, all told, a hundred and fifteen guns. +Between the Philadelphia and the shore lay a number of Tripolitan +cruisers, galleys and gunboats. Into this hornet's nest, Decatur steered +his little vessel of sixty tons, carrying four small guns, and having a +crew of only seventy men. + +The Tripolitans saw the vessel entering the harbor, but supposed it to +be one of their own until it was alongside the Philadelphia. Then there +was a cry of "Americanos!" and a rush to quarters, but it was too late, +for Decatur and his men swarmed up the side and over the rail of the +Philadelphia, and charged the dismayed and panic-stricken Tripolitans. +There was a short and desperate struggle, and five minutes later, the +ship was cleared of the enemy. + +It was manifestly impossible to get the Philadelphia out of the harbor, +so Decatur gave the order to burn her. Combustibles had been prepared in +advance, and in a moment, flames began to break out in all parts of the +ship. Then the order was given to return to the ketch, the cable was +cut, the sweeps got out, and the ketch drew rapidly away from the +burning vessel. The sounds of the melee had awakened the troops on +shore, and, as the harbor was lighted by the flames from the +Philadelphia, the shore batteries opened upon the little vessel, but +without doing her any serious damage, and Decatur got safely out of the +harbor and back to the fleet without losing a man. + +Shortly afterwards his life was saved by one of those acts of heroism +which stir the blood. In a general attack upon the Tripolitan gunboats, +Decatur laid his ship alongside one of the enemy, grappled with her and +boarded. Decatur was the first over the side and a desperate +hand-to-hand combat followed. The pirate captain, a gigantic fellow, +soon met Decatur face to face, and stood on tiptoe to deal him a +tremendous blow with his scimitar. Decatur rushed in under the swinging +sword, grappled with him, and they fell to the deck together, when +another Tripolitan raised his scimitar to deal the American a fatal +blow. A young sailor named Reuben James, himself with both arms disabled +from sword cuts, seeing his beloved captain's peril, interposed his own +head beneath the descending sword and received a wound which marked him +for life. An instant later, Decatur's crew rallied to him, killed the +pirate captain and drove the remainder of his crew over the side into +the sea. + +At the outbreak of the war of 1812, Decatur was given command of the +United States, and on the morning of October 25, overhauled the British +frigate Macedonian near the Canary Islands. Seventeen minutes later, the +Macedonian, with a third of her crew dead, hauled down her colors. +Decatur had lost only twelve men killed and wounded, and placing a crew +aboard his prize, got her safely to New York. This victory was soon +followed by disaster, for, securing command of the President, a frigate +mounting forty-four guns, he attempted to get past the British blockade +of New York harbor, but ran into a squadron of the enemy, and, after a +running fight lasting thirty hours, was overhauled by a superior force +and compelled to surrender. Decatur was taken captive to Bermuda, but +was soon parolled, and, after commanding a squadron in the +Mediterranean, built himself a house at Washington, expecting to spend +the remainder of his days there in honorable retirement. + +But it was not to be. In 1816, Decatur, while a member of the board of +navy commissioners, had occasion to censure Commodore James Barron. +Barron considered himself insulted, and a long correspondence followed, +which finally resulted in Barron challenging Decatur to fight a duel. +Under the code of honor then in vogue, Decatur could do nothing but +accept, and the meeting took place at Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, +1820. At the word "fire," Barron fell wounded in the hip, where Decatur +had said he would shoot him, while Decatur himself received a wound in +the abdomen from which he died that night. He was, all in all, one of +the most brilliant and efficient men the navy ever boasted; and he will +be remembered, too, for his immortal toast: "My country: may she be +always right; but, right or wrong, my country!" + +Closely associated with Decatur in some of his exploits was William +Bainbridge, as handsome, impetuous and daring a sailor as ever trod a +deck. Bainbridge, who was five years younger than Decatur, began his +seafaring career at the age of sixteen, and three years later was in +command of a merchantman. He entered the navy at its reorganization in +1798, and two years later was appointed to command the George +Washington, a ship of twenty-eight guns. + +Bainbridge's first duty was to carry a tribute of half a million +dollars to the Dey of Algiers, according to the arrangement made by the +Secretary of State which we have already mentioned. The errand was a +hateful one to Bainbridge, as it would have been to any American +sailorman; but he was in the navy to obey orders, and in September, +1800, he reached Algiers and anchored in the harbor and delivered the +tribute. But when he had done this, the Dey sent word that he had a +cargo of slaves and wild beasts for the Sultan of Turkey at +Constantinople, and that Bainbridge must take them, or his ship would be +taken from him and he and his crew sold into slavery. + +There was nothing to do but consent, since the ship was wholly in the +Dey's power, so to Constantinople Bainbridge sailed her. When a boat was +sent ashore there to announce her arrival, the Turks were greatly +astonished, for they had never heard of a nation called the United +States, and did not know that there was a great continent on the other +side of the world. It makes us feel less self-important, sometimes, when +we stop to consider that about one half the human race, even at the +present day, have no idea of our existence. + +Well, Bainbridge delivered his cargo, and then sailed back to Algiers +with orders from the Sultan to the Dey. He delivered these to the Dey, +and in accordance with them, the Dey immediately declared war on France, +and notified all the French in Algiers that if they had not left his +dominions within forty-eight hours, they would be sold into slavery. +There was no French ship in the harbor, and it looked, for a time, as +though, the French would not be able to get away, but as soon as he +learned of their predicament, Bainbridge gathered them together and took +them over to Spain--an act for which he received the personal thanks of +Napoleon Bonaparte. + +Bainbridge was, of course, glad to get away from Algiers, but he had by +no means seen the last of the Barbary pirates. Returning to the United +States, he was given command of the Philadelphia, and sent back to the +Mediterranean with Commodore Preble's squadron to give the pirates a +lesson. The Philadelphia went on ahead to Tripoli and began a vigorous +blockade of that port, but, in chasing a Tripolitan vessel which was +trying to enter the harbor, ran hard and fast on an uncharted reef, and +keeled over so far that her guns were useless. The Tripolitans were not +long in discovering her predicament, swarmed out of the harbor in their +gunboats, and soon had the American vessel at their mercy. + +With what bitterness of spirit Bainbridge hauled down his flag may be +imagined. He and his men were taken ashore and imprisoned and their +vessel was got off the reef and towed into the harbor. From the window +of their prison, the Americans could see her riding at anchor, flying +the flag of Tripoli, and the sight did not render their imprisonment +more pleasant. But one night, they heard shots in the harbor, and, +looking out, beheld the Philadelphia in flames, and the little ketch +bearing Decatur and his men fading rapidly away through the darkness +toward the harbor mouth. Six months later, they watched the American +assault upon the harbor, but their hearts fell when the American +squadron finally gave up the attempt and withdrew. It was not until the +following year that peace was made, and Bainbridge and his men released, +after a captivity of nineteen months. Never since that time has the +United States paid tribute to any nation. + +When the second war with England began, President Madison and his +advisers thought it foolhardy to attempt to oppose Great Britain on the +ocean, for she had the strongest fleet of any nation in the world, and +so decided to confine the war entirely to land. It was Bainbridge who +brought about a change of this unwise policy by impassioned pleading, to +the everlasting glory of the American navy. Hull resigned the +Constitution to him, after his victory over the Guerriere--it was really +for fear that Bainbridge would get command of the ship that Hull had +sailed from Boston without orders--and Bainbridge sailed for the South +Atlantic, and captured the British frigate Java, after a terrific fight, +in which he was himself seriously wounded. This was his last fight, +though the years which followed saw him in many important commands. For +sheer romance and adventure, his career has seldom been excelled. + +Another hero of the war of 1812, whose name is associated with a deed of +imperishable gallantry, was James Lawrence. He had entered the navy as +midshipman in 1798, at the age of eighteen, and served in the war +against Tripoli, first under Hull and then under Decatur, and +accompanied the latter on the expedition which destroyed the +Philadelphia. But the deed by which he is best remembered is his fight +with the British frigate Shannon. In the spring of 1813, he was assigned +to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, a vessel hated by the whole +navy because of the bad luck which seemed to pursue her. Lawrence +accepted the command reluctantly, and proceeded to Boston, where she was +lying, to prepare her for a voyage. + +A crew was secured with great difficulty, most of them being foreigners, +and his officers were all young and inexperienced. What the crew and +officers alike needed was a practice cruise to put them in shape to meet +the enemy, and Lawrence knew this better than anybody, but when the +British frigate Shannon appeared outside the harbor with a challenge for +a battle, Lawrence, feeling that to refuse would be dishonorable, +hoisted anchor and sailed out to meet her. + +The Shannon was one of the finest frigates in the English navy, manned +by an experienced crew, and commanded by Philip Broke, one of the best +officers serving under the Union Jack. The ships ranged up together and +broadsides were delivered with terrible effect. Lawrence was wounded in +the leg, but kept the deck. Then the ships fouled, and Lawrence called +for boarders, but his crew, frightened at the desperate nature of the +conflict, did not respond, and a moment later he fell, shot through the +body. As he was borne below, he kept shouting, "Don't give up the ship! +Fight her till she strikes or sinks! Don't give up the ship!" his voice +growing weaker and weaker as his life ebbed away. + +The battle was soon over, after that, for the British boarded, the +Chesapeake's foreign crew threw down their arms, and the triumphant +enemy hauled down the Chesapeake's flag. A few days later, the two ships +sailed into the harbor of Halifax, Lawrence's body, wrapped in his +ship's flag, lying in state on the quarter-deck. He was buried with +military honors, first at Halifax, and then at New York, where Hull, +Stewart and Bainbridge were among those who carried the pall. His cry, +"Don't give up the ship!" was to be the motto of another battle, far to +the west, where Great Britain experienced the greatest defeat of the +war. + +Before describing it, however, let us speak briefly of four other +valiant men, whose deeds redounded to the honor of their country--Edward +Preble, Charles Stewart, Johnston Blakeley, and Thomas Macdonough. It +was said of Preble that he had the worst temper and the best heart in +the world. At sixteen years of age he ran away to sea, and two years +later, he actually saw a sea-serpent, a hundred and fifty feet in length +and as big around as a barrel, and got close enough to fire at it. He +saw service in the Revolution, and in 1803, was appointed to command the +expedition against the Barbary corsairs, of which we have already +spoken, and which resulted in bringing those pirates to their knees. +The trials of that expedition ruined his health, and he survived it but +a few years. + +To Charles Stewart belongs the remarkable exploit of engaging and +capturing two British ships at the same time. Enlisting in 1798, he was +with Preble at Tripoli, and was given command of the Constitution, after +Bainbridge's successful cruise in her, and started out in search of +adventure on December 17, 1814. Two months later, off the Madeira +Islands he sighted two British ships-of-war and at once gave chase. He +overhauled them at nightfall, and, running between them, gave them +broadside after broadside, until both struck their colors. They were the +Cyane and the Levant. Stewart got back to New York the middle of May to +find out that peace had been declared over a month before his encounter +with the British ships. + +He was received with enthusiasm, and "Old Ironsides" got the reputation +of being invincible. Her career had, indeed, been remarkable. She had +done splendid work before Tripoli, escaped twice from British squadrons +and seven times run the blockade through strong British fleets; she had +captured three frigates and a sloop-of-war, besides many merchantmen, +and had taken more than eleven hundred prisoners. From all of these +engagements she had emerged practically unscathed, and in none of them +had she lost more than nine men. Stewart was the last survivor of the +great captains of 1812, living until 1869, having been carried on the +navy list for seventy-one years. + +Johnston Blakeley was a South Carolinian, and won renown by a remarkable +cruise in the Wasp. The Wasp was a stout and speedy sloop, carrying +twenty-two guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy men, and in 1814 +she sailed from the United States, and headed for the English Channel, +to carry the war into the enemy's country, after the fashion of Paul +Jones. The Channel, of course, was traversed constantly by English +fleets and squadrons and single ships-of-war, and here the Wasp sailed +up and down, capturing and destroying merchantmen, and, by the skill and +vigilance of her crew and commander, escaping an encounter with any +frigate or ship-of-the-line. + +But one June morning, while chasing two merchantmen, she sighted the +British brig Reindeer, and at once prepared for action. The Reindeer +accepted the challenge, and after some broadsides had been exchanged, +the ships fouled and the British boarded. A desperate struggle followed, +in which the English commander was killed. Then the boarders were driven +back, and the Americans boarded in their turn, and in a minute had the +Reindeer in their possession. Her colors were hauled down, she was set +afire, and the Wasp continued her cruise. + +Late one September afternoon, British ships of war appeared all around +her, and selecting one which seemed isolated from the others, Captain +Blakeley decided to try to run alongside and sink her after nightfall. +She was the eighteen-gun brig Avon, a bigger ship than the Wasp, but +Blakeley ran alongside, discharged his broadsides, and soon had the +Avon in a sinking condition. She struck her flag, but before Blakeley +could secure his prize, two other British ships came up and he was +forced to flee. + +Soon afterwards, he encountered a convoy of ships bearing arms and +munitions to Wellington's army, under the care of a great three-decker. +Blakeley sailed boldly in, and, evading the three-decker's movements, +actually cut out and captured one of the transports and made his escape. +Then she sailed for home, and that was the last ever heard of the Wasp. +She never again appeared, and her fate has never been determined. But +when she sank, if sink she did, there went to the bottom one of the +gallantest ships and bravest captains in the American navy. + +All of the battles which we have thus far described were fought on salt +water, but two great victories were won on inland waters, and of one of +these Thomas Macdonough was the hero. He had entered the navy in 1800, +at the age of seventeen, served before Tripoli, and accompanied Decatur +on the expedition which burned the Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the +second war with England, he was sent to Lake Champlain, and set about +the building of a fleet to repel the expected British invasion from +Canada. The British were also busy at the other end of the lake, and on +September 9, 1814, Macdonough sailed his fleet of fourteen boats, ten of +which were small gunboats, and the largest of which, the Saratoga, was +merely a corvette, into Plattsburg Bay, and anchored there. + +The abdication of Napoleon had enabled England to turn her undivided +attention to America, and one great force was sent against New Orleans, +while another was concentrated in Canada, for the purpose of invading +New York by way of Lake Champlain. On this latter enterprise, a force of +twelve thousand regulars started from Montreal early in August, while +the British naval force on the lake was augmented to nineteen vessels. +On September 11, this fleet got under way, and, certain of victory, +sailed into Plattsburg Bay and attacked Macdonough. A terrific battle +followed, in which the Saratoga had every gun on one side disabled and +had to wear around under fire in order to use those on the other side. +But three hours later, every British flag had been struck, and the land +force, seeing their navy defeated, retreated hastily to Canada. So +riddled were both squadrons that in neither of them did a mast remain +upon which sail could be made. + +But the greatest victory of the war, the one which had the most +important and far-reaching consequences, had been won a year before, far +to the west, on the blue waters of Lake Erie, by Oliver Hazard Perry, at +that time only twenty-eight years of age. Perry came of a seafaring +stock, for his father was a captain in the navy, and the boy's first +voyage was made with him in 1799. At the outbreak of the war of 1812, he +was in command of a division of gunboats at Newport, but finding that, +owing to the British blockade, there was little chance of his seeing +active service in that position, he asked to be sent to the Great +Lakes, whose possession we were preparing to dispute with England. + +The importance of this mission can hardly be overestimated. By the +capture of Detroit, earlier in the war, the English had obtained +undisputed control of Lake Erie, and were in position to carry out their +plan of extending the Dominion of Canada along the Ohio and Mississippi +rivers down to the Gulf, and so shutting in the United States upon the +West. To Perry was assigned the task of stopping this project, and of +regaining control of the lake. + +He arrived at Lake Erie in the spring of 1813, and proceeded at once to +build the fleet which was to sail under the Stars and Stripes. He showed +the utmost skill and energy in doing this, and by the middle of July, in +spite of many difficulties, had nine vessels ready to meet the +enemy--two brigs and two gunboats which he had built, and five small +boats which were brought up from the Niagara river. On the third of +August, he sailed out to meet the British, his ships being manned by a +motley crew of "blacks, soldiers, and boys." + +The flagship had been named the Lawrence, after the heroic commander of +the Chesapeake. Luckily the English were not ready for battle, and Perry +had a month in which to drill his men before the enemy sailed out to +meet him. At last, on the morning of Saturday, September 10, 1813, the +British fleet was seen approaching, and Perry formed his ships in line +of battle. + +The British squadron consisted of six vessels, mounting 63 guns, and +manned by 502 men. The American ships mounted 54 guns, with 490 men. +Although of smaller total weight than the American guns, the British +guns were longer and would carry farther, and so were much more +effective. The British crews, too, were better disciplined, a large +number of the men being from the royal navy, and the squadron was +commanded by Robert Heriot, a man of much experience, who had fought +under Nelson at Trafalgar. + +The American shore was lined with an anxious crowd, who appreciated the +great issues which hung upon the battle. Perry, calling his men aft, +produced a blue banner bearing in white letters the last words of the +man after whom the Lawrence was named: "Don't give up the ship!" + +"Shall I hoist it, boys?" he asked. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" they shouted, and the bunting was run up to the +main-royal masthead. Then a hush fell upon the water as the two fleets +drew together. A few minutes before noon the engagement began, Perry +heading straight for the flagship of the enemy, and drawing the fire of +practically the whole British squadron by running ahead of the other +ships, which, owing to the light breeze, could not get within range. For +two hours, he fought against these hopeless odds, and almost without +support, until his ship was reduced to a wreck and only one of her guns +could be worked, while of her crew of 103, only twenty were left on +their feet. Every nook and corner of the brig was occupied by some +wounded and dying wretch seeking vainly to find shelter from the British +fire. Even the cockpit, where the wounded were carried for treatment, +was not safe, for some of the men were killed while under the surgeon's +hands. No fewer than six cannon balls passed through the cockpit, while +two went through the magazine, which, by some miracle, did not explode. +The ship was so disabled, at last, that it drifted out of action, and +Perry, taking his pennant and the blue flag bearing the words "Don't +give up the ship!" under his arm, got into a boat with four seamen, and +started for the Niagara, his other brig. + +The British saw the little boat dancing over the waves, and after a +moment of dazed astonishment at a manoeuvre unheard of in naval warfare +and daring almost to madness, concentrated their fire on it. One cannon +ball penetrated the boat, but Perry, stripping off his coat, stuffed it +into the hole and so kept the boat afloat until the Niagara was reached. +Clambering on board, Perry ran up his flags, reformed his line, closed +with the enemy, raked them, engaged them at close quarters, where their +long guns gave them no advantage, and conducted an onslaught so terrific +that, twenty minutes later, the entire British squadron had hauled down +their flags. + +Perry at once rowed back to the Lawrence, and upon her splintered and +bloodstained deck, received the surrender of the British officers. Then, +using his cap for a desk, he wrote with a pencil on the back of an old +letter the famous message announcing the victory: "We have met the enemy +and they are ours--two ships, two brigs, two schooners and one sloop." +More than that was ours, for the victory, and the prompt advance of +General Harrison which followed it, compelled the British to evacuate +Detroit and Michigan, and to abandon forever the attempt to annex the +West to Canada. Half a century later, when the great Erie canal was +opened, the guns of Perry's fleet, placed at ten-mile intervals along +its banks, announced the departure of the first fleet of boats from +Buffalo, carrying the news to New York City, a distance of 360 miles, in +an hour and twenty minutes. + +Perry lived only six years longer, dying while still a young man, in the +saddest possible manner. In June, 1819, he was given command of a +squadron designed to protect American trade in South American waters, +and while ascending the Orinoco, contracted the yellow fever, and died a +few days later. He was buried at Trinidad, but some years afterwards, a +ship-of-war brought him home, and he sleeps at Newport, Rhode Island, +near the spot where he was born. + +So ends the story of that group of naval commanders, who dealt so +surprising and terrific a blow at the tradition of English supremacy on +the ocean. + + * * * * * + +The brother of the victor of Lake Erie, Matthew Calbraith Perry, must +also be mentioned here, for his was a unique achievement--the peaceful +conquest of a great Eastern empire. Born in 1794, and educated in the +best traditions of the navy, he was selected to command the expedition +which, in 1853, was ordered to visit Japan, that strange nation of the +Orient which, up to that time, had kept her ports closed to foreign +commerce. Perry's conduct of this delicate mission was notable in the +extreme, and its result was the signing of a treaty between Japan and +the United States which has long been regarded as one of the greatest +diplomatic triumphs of the age. + + * * * * * + +In the spring of 1861, a captain of the United States navy was living at +Norfolk, Va., his home, the home of his wife's family, and the home of +his closest friends. Excitement ran high, for it was as yet an open +question whether or not the great state of Virginia would join her +sisters farther south and renounce her allegiance to the Union. It was a +time of searching of hearts, and this man of sixty years was brought +face to face with the bitterest moment of his life. He must choose +between his country and his state; between his flag and the love and +respect of his relatives and friends. + +In the end, the flag won. It was the flag he had taken his boyish oath +to honor; on more than one occasion, he had seen the haughtiest colors +on the ocean bow with respect before it; he had seen men, writhing in +the agony of death, expend their last breath to defend it. It had +wrapped itself about his heart, and meant more to him than home or +friends or kindred. So the flag won. + +On the seventeenth day of April, 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union. +The day following, our gray-haired captain, expressing the opinion that +secession was not the will of the majority of the people, but that the +state had been dragooned out of the Union by a coterie of politicians, +was told that he could no longer live in Norfolk. + +"Very well," he answered, "I can live somewhere else." + +He went home and told his wife that the time had come when she must +choose whether she would remain with her own kinsfolk or follow him. Her +choice was made on the instant, and within two hours, David Glasgow +Farragut, his wife and their only son, were on a steamer headed for the +North. A few days later, he offered his services to the Union. + +Before going forward with him upon his great career, let us cast a +glance over his boyhood--such a boyhood as falls to the lot of not one +in a million. Born in 1801, of a father who had served in the Revolution +and who was afterwards to become a friend and companion of Andrew +Jackson, his childhood was passed amid the dangers and alarms of the +Tennessee frontier. In 1808 occurred the incident which paved the way +for his entrance into the navy. While fishing on Lake Pontchartrain, his +father fell in with a boat in which was lying an old man prostrated by +the heat of the sun. Farragut took him at once to his own home, where he +was tenderly cared for, but he died a few days later. The sufferer was +David Porter, father of Captain Porter of the Essex, at that time in +charge of the naval station at New Orleans. + +Captain Porter was informed of the accident to his father, and hastened +to the home of the Farraguts. He felt deeply their kindness, and as some +slight return, offered to adopt one of the Farragut children, take him +North with him, and do what he could for his advancement. Young David +promptly said that he would go, the arrangements were concluded, and the +boy of seven accompanied his new protector to Washington. He spent two +years at school there, and then, on December 17, 1810, at the age of +nine, received an appointment as midshipman in the United States navy. +Two years later, he accompanied Porter in the Essex on that memorable +trip around Cape Horn. + +Porter took so many prizes in the South Pacific that his supply of older +officers ran out, and twelve-year old David Farragut was appointed +prize-master of one of them, with orders to take her to Valparaiso. When +Farragut gave his first order, her skipper, a hot-tempered old sea-dog, +flew into a rage, and declaring that he had "no idea of trusting himself +with a blamed nutshell," rushed below for his pistols. The +twelve-year-old commander shouted after him that, if he came on deck +again, he would be thrown overboard, and thenceforth was master of the +ship. He was back on the Essex again when she was attacked in Valparaiso +harbor by a British squadron, and got his baptism of fire in one of the +hardest-fought naval battles in history. + +From that time until the outbreak of the Civil War, his life was spent +in the most active service, and he rose to the rank of captain. As has +been seen, he cast in his lot with the North, and asked for active duty +at once, but it was not until eight months later that the summons came. +When it did come, it was of a nature to fill him with the most unbounded +enthusiasm. The national government had determined to attempt to send a +fleet past the formidable forts at the mouth of the Mississippi, for the +purpose of capturing New Orleans. Farragut was sent for, shown the list +of vessels which were preparing for the expedition, and asked if he +thought it could succeed. He answered that he would undertake to do it +with two-thirds the number, and when he was told that he was to command +the expedition, his delight knew no bounds. He felt that his chance had +come. On the second of February, 1862, he sailed out of Hampton Roads +with a squadron of seventeen vessels, and turned his prow to the south. + +The task which had been set him was one to give the stoutest heart +pause. Twenty miles above the mouth of the Mississippi were two +formidable forts and a number of water batteries, with combined +armaments greatly superior to those of Farragut's fleet. A great barrier +of logs stretched across the river, while farther up lay a Confederate +fleet of fifteen vessels, one of which was an ironclad ram. A strong +force of Confederate sharpshooters was stationed along either bank, and +a number of fire-rafts were ready to be lighted and sent down against +the Union fleet. It was against these obstacles that Farragut, after a +week of preliminary attack, started up the river in his wooden vessels +at three o'clock in the morning of April 24, 1862. + +As soon as the Confederates descried the advancing fleet, they lighted +great fires along the banks and opened a terrific cannonade. Blazing +fire-rafts threw a lurid glare against the sky. The fleet, pausing a few +minutes to discharge their broadsides into the forts, steamed on up the +river; Farragut's flagship grounded under the guns of Fort St. Philip, +and a fireship, blazing a hundred feet in the air, floated against her +and set her on fire, but the flames were extinguished, the flagship +backed off, and headed again up the stream. Before the coming of dawn, +the entire fleet, with the exception of three small boats, had passed +the forts and were grappling with the Confederate squadron above. Of +this, short work was made. Some of the enemy's vessels were driven +ashore, some were run down, others were riddled with shot--and the +proudest city of the South lay at Farragut's mercy. + +On the first day of May, the United States troops under General Butler, +marched into the city, and Farragut, glad to be relieved of an +unpleasant task, proceeded up the river, ran by the batteries at +Vicksburg, assisted at the reduction of Port Hudson, and finally sailed +for New York in his flagship, the Hartford, arriving there in August, +1863. He had already been commissioned rear-admiral, and he was given a +most enthusiastic reception, for his passage of the Mississippi was +recognized as an extraordinary feat. An examination of his ship showed +that she had been struck 240 times by shot and shell in her nineteen +months of service. + +Immediately after the surrender of New Orleans, Farragut had desired to +proceed against the port of Mobile, Alabama, which was so strongly +fortified that all attempts to close it had been in vain, and which was +the only important port left open to the Confederates. But the +government decided that Mobile could wait a while, and sent him, +instead, to open the Mississippi. That task accomplished, the time had +come for him to attempt the greatest of his career--greater, even, than +his capture of New Orleans, and much more hazardous. In the spring of +1864, he was in the Gulf, preparing for the great enterprise. + +Mobile harbor was defended by works so strong and well-placed that it +was considered well-nigh impregnable. The Confederates had realized the +importance of keeping this, their last port, open, so that they could +communicate with the outer world, and had spared no pains to render it +so strong that they believed no attack could subdue it. Two great forts, +armed with heavy and effective artillery, guarded the entrance; the +winding channel was filled with torpedoes, and in the inner harbor was a +fleet of gunboats, and, most powerful of all, the big, ironclad ram, +Tennessee. In charge of the Tennessee was the same man who had guided +the Merrimac on her fatal visit to Hampton Roads, Franklin Buchanan, but +the Tennessee was a much more powerful vessel than the Merrimac had ever +been, and it was thought that nothing afloat could stand against her. + +It was this position, then, which, at daybreak of August 5, 1864, +Farragut sailed in to assault. His fleet consisted of four ironclad +monitors, and fourteen wooden vessels, and his preparations were made +most carefully, for he fully realized the gravity of the task before +him. He himself was in his old flagship, the Hartford, and mounting into +the rigging to be above the smoke, he was lashed fast there, so that he +would not fall to the deck, in case a bullet struck him. The thought of +that brave old leader taking that exposed position so that he might +handle his fleet more ably will always be a thrilling one--and the event +proved how wise he was in choosing it. + +The word was given, and, at half past six in the morning, the monitors +took their stations, while the wooden ships formed in column, the plan +being for the monitors, with their iron sides, to steam in between the +wooden ships and the forts, and so protect them as much as possible. The +light vessels were lashed each to the left of one of the heavier ones, +so that each pair of ships was given a double chance to escape, should +one be rendered helpless by a shot in the boiler, or in some other vital +portion of her machinery. The Brooklyn was at the head of the column, +while the Hartford came second, and the others followed. In this order, +the fleet advanced to the attack. + +There was an unwonted stillness on the ships as they swung in towards +the harbor mouth, for every man felt within him a vague unrest caused by +one awful and mysterious peril, the torpedoes. For the forts, the +gunboats, even the great ironclad, the men cared nothing--they had met +such perils before--but lurking beneath the water was a horror not to be +guarded against. They knew that these deadly mines were scattered along +the channel through which they must make their way, and that any moment +might be the end of some proud vessel. + +The ships were all in fighting trim, with spars housed and canvas +furled, and decks spread with sawdust so that they would not grow +slippery with the blood which was soon to flow. As the fleet came within +range of the forts, a terrific cannonade began, in which the Confederate +ships, stationed just inside the harbor, soon joined. One of them was +the great ram, Tennessee, and the commander of the leading monitor, the +Tecumseh, noted her and determined to give her battle. So he swung his +ship toward her and ordered full steam ahead; but an instant later, +there came a sudden dull roar, an uplifting of the water, the boat +quivered from stem to stern, and then plunged, bow first, beneath the +waves. + +Farragut, from his lofty station, saw the Tecumseh disappear, and then +saw the Brooklyn, the ship ahead of him in the battle line, stop and +begin to back. It was an awful moment--the crisis of the fight and of +Farragut's career as well. The ships were halted in a narrow channel, +right beneath the forts; a few moments' delay meant that they would be +blown out of the water. + +"What's the matter there?" he roared. + +"Torpedoes!" came the cry from the Brooklyn's deck, for her captain had +perceived a line of little buoys stretching right across her path. + +"Damn the torpedoes!" shouted the admiral. "Go ahead, Captain Drayton," +he continued, addressing his own captain. "Four bells!" and the +Hartford, swinging aside, cleared the Brooklyn and took the lead. + +On went the flagship across the line of torpedoes, which could be heard +knocking against her bottom as she passed, but not one of them exploded, +and a moment later, one of the most daring feats in naval history had +been accomplished. Farragut had seen, instantly, that the risk must be +taken, and so he took it. + +The remainder of the fleet followed the flagship, the forts were passed, +and the battle virtually won. The Confederate fleet, and especially the +great ram, was still to be reckoned with, but before proceeding to that +portion of the task, Farragut steamed up the harbor and served breakfast +to his men. Just as this was finished, the Tennessee attacked, and put +up a desperate fight, but finally became unmanageable and was forced to +surrender. + +So ended the battle of Mobile Bay. It left Farragut's fame secure as one +of the greatest sea-captains of all time; great in daring, in skill, in +foresight, and with a coolness and presence of mind which no peril +could shake. Congress created for him the grade of admiral, before +unknown in the United States navy, and the whole country joined in +honoring him. + +Swinging to and fro with the ebb and flow of the tide at the entrance of +Mobile Bay, is a buoy which marks the spot of a deed of purest heroism. +A few fathoms below that buoy lies the monitor Tecumseh, sunk by a +torpedo at the beginning of the battle, as we have seen, and the buoy +commemorates, not the sinking of the ship, but the self-sacrifice of her +commander, Tunis Augustus Craven. + +Craven had entered the navy at the age of sixteen and had seen much +service and distinguished himself in many ways before he was given +command of the Tecumseh and ordered to join Farragut's squadron. On the +morning of the attack, he was given the post of honor at the head of the +column, and determined to come to close quarters with the Tennessee, if +he could. But fate intervened, when his quarry was almost within reach. +Craven had stationed himself in the little pilot-house beside the pilot, +the better to direct the movements of his ship, and when he and the +pilot felt that sudden shock and saw the Tecumseh sinking, both of them +sprang for the narrow opening leading from the pilot-house to the turret +chamber below. They reached the opening at the same instant; it was so +small that only one could pass at a time, and Craven, with a greatness +of soul found only in heroes, drew back, saying quietly, "After you, +pilot." + +"There was nothing after me," said the pilot afterwards, "for when I +reached the last round of the ladder, the vessel seemed to drop from +under me." + + * * * * * + +At the outbreak of the Civil War, the commerce of the United States was +the next to the largest in the world. The North destroyed southern +commerce by capturing or blockading southern ports, while the South +retaliated by fitting out a large number of commerce-destroyers, to +range the seas and take what prizes they could--a plan which had been +adopted by America in both wars with England, and which is the only +resource of a power whose navy is greatly inferior to that of its +antagonist. + +The bright particular star of the Confederate service was Raphael +Semmes, who had been trained in the United States navy, and who, first +in the Sumter and afterwards in the Alabama, captured a total of +seventy-seven prizes, nearly all of which he destroyed. To his capture, +the United States devoted some of its best ships, but it was not until +the summer of 1864, that he was finally cornered. + +On Sunday, June 12, 1864, the United States sloop-of-war Kearsarge lay +at anchor off the sleepy town of Flushing, Holland. Her commander, John +Ancrum Winslow, had served in the navy of the United States for +thirty-seven years, and had done good work off Vera Cruz in the war with +Mexico, but the crowning achievement of his life was at hand. As his +ship lay swinging idly at her anchor, a boat put off to her, a messenger +jumped aboard, and three minutes later a gun was fired, recalling +instantly every member of the ship's company ashore. The message was +from our minister to France and stated that the long-sought Alabama had +arrived at Cherbourg. For nearly two years, Winslow had been searching +for that scourge of American shipping, but Semmes had always eluded him, +so it may well be believed that Winslow lost no time in getting under +way. On Tuesday morning, he reached Cherbourg, and breathed a great sigh +of relief as he saw, beyond the breakwater, the flag of the Alabama. He +took his station off the port, and kept a close lookout for fear his +enemy would again elude him. But the precaution was unnecessary, for +Semmes had decided to offer battle. + +Four days passed, however, with the Kearsarge keeping grim guard. Then, +on Sunday morning, June 19, as the crew of the Kearsarge was at divine +service, the officer of the deck reported a steamer at the harbor-mouth. +A moment later, the lookout shouted, "She's coming, and heading straight +for us!" Captain Winslow, putting aside his prayer-book, seized the +trumpet, ordered the decks cleared for action, and put his ship about +and bore down on the Alabama. + +The two vessels were remarkably well-matched, but the engagement was +decisive evidence of the superior qualities of northern marksmanship. It +was, in fact, an exhibition of that magnificent gunnery which was so +evident in the war of 1812, and which was to be shown again in the war +with Spain. Nearly all of the 173 shots fired by the Kearsarge took +effect, while of the 370 fired by the Alabama, only 28 reached their +target. As a result, at the end of an hour and a half, the Alabama was +sinking, while the Kearsarge was practically uninjured and had lost only +three men. Hauling down her flag, the Alabama tried to run in shore, but +suddenly, settling by the stern, lifted her bow high in the air and +plunged to the bottom of the sea. So ended the career of the Alabama. +Winslow received the usual rewards of promotion and the thanks of +Congress, and passed the remainder of his life unadventurously in the +navy service. + +One other battle remains to be recorded--in some respects the most +important in history, because it revolutionized the construction of +battleships, and suddenly rendered all the existing navies of the world +practically useless. + +On the eighth day of March, 1862, a powerful squadron of Union vessels +lay at anchor in Hampton Roads, consisting of the Congress, the +Cumberland, the St. Lawrence, the Roanoke, and the Minnesota. It was a +beautiful spring morning, and the tall ships rocked lazily at their +anchors, while their crews occupied themselves with routine duties. +Shortly before noon, a strange object was seen approaching down the +Elizabeth river. To the Union officers, it looked like the roof of a +large barn belching forth smoke. In reality, it was the Confederate +ironclad, Merrimac, under command of Captain Franklin Buchanan. + +Buchanan had, in his day, been one of the most distinguished officers in +the United States navy. He had entered the service in 1815, as +midshipman, and won rapid promotion. In 1845, he was selected by the +secretary of the navy to organize the naval academy at Annapolis, and +was its first commandant. He commanded the Germantown at the capture of +Vera Cruz, and the Susquehanna, the flagship of Commodore Perry's famous +expedition to Japan. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commandant +of the Washington navy-yard, and, being himself a Baltimore man, +resigned from the service after the attack made in Baltimore on the +Massachusetts troops passing through there. Finding that his state did +not secede, he withdrew his resignation and asked to be restored, but +for some reason, the secretary of the navy, Gideon Welles, refused this +request, and Buchanan was fairly driven into the enemy's service. + +The Confederacy was glad to get him, gave him the rank of captain and +put him in charge of the work at the Norfolk, Virginia, navy-yard. The +most important business going forward there was the reconstruction of +the United States frigate, Merrimac. This consisted in building above +her berth-deck sloping bulwarks seven feet high, covered with four +inches of iron, and pierced for ten guns. To her bow, about two feet +under water, a cast-iron ram was attached, and on the eighth of March, +she cast loose from her moorings and started down the river. She was +scarcely complete, her crew had never been drilled, she had never fired +a gun, nor had her engines made a single revolution, while the ship +itself was merely a bold experiment, which had never made a trial trip. +Yet Buchanan, on reaching Hampton Roads, headed straight for the Union +fleet. + +There, as soon as the identity of the stranger was discovered, hurried +preparations for battle were made. Decks were cleared, magazines opened, +and guns loaded, and as soon as the Merrimac was in range, the Union +ships and shore batteries opened upon her, but such projectiles as +struck her, glanced harmlessly from her iron mail. Not until she was +quite near the Cumberland did the Merrimac return the fire. Then she +opened her bow-port and sent a seven-inch shell through the Cumberland's +quarter. The Cumberland answered with a broadside which would have blown +any wooden vessel out of the water, but which affected the Merrimac not +at all. Buchanan had determined to test the power of his ram, and +keeping on at full speed, crashed into the Cumberland's side. Then he +backed out, leaving a yawning chasm, through which the water poured into +the doomed ship. She settled rapidly and sank with a roar, her crew +firing her guns to the last moment. + +The Merrimac then turned her attention to the Congress, with such deadly +effect that that vessel was forced to surrender after an hour's +fighting, in which she was repeatedly hulled and set on fire. Most of +her crew escaped to the shore, and the Confederates completed her +destruction by firing hot shot into her. Evening was at hand by this +time, and the Merrimac withdrew, intending to destroy the other ships in +the harbor next morning. + +So ended the most disastrous day in the history of the United States +navy. Two ships were lost, and over three hundred men killed or wounded. +On the Merrimac, two had been killed and eight wounded, but the vessel +herself, though she had been the target for more than a hundred heavy +guns, was practically uninjured and as dangerous as ever. + +Among the wounded was Captain Buchanan, who was forced to relinquish the +command of the Merrimac. For his gallantry, he was thanked by the +Confederate Congress, and promoted to full admiral and senior officer of +the Confederate navy. As soon as he recovered from his wound, he was +placed in charge of the naval defenses of Mobile, Alabama, and there +superintended the construction of the ram Tennessee, which he commanded +during the action with Farragut two years later. His handling of the +vessel was daring almost to madness, but she became disabled and was +forced to surrender. Buchanan was taken prisoner, and never again took +part in any naval action. + +Let us return to Hampton Roads. + +The news of the disaster to the Union fleet spread gloom and +consternation throughout the North, and corresponding rejoicing +throughout the South. The remaining ships in Hampton Roads plainly lay +at the Merrimac's mercy, and after they had been destroyed, there was +nothing to prevent her steaming up the Potomac and attacking +Washington. It seemed as if nothing but a miracle could save the country +from awful disaster. + +And that miracle was at hand. + +Among the coincidences of history, none is more remarkable than the +arrival at Hampton Roads on the night of March 8, 1862, of the strange +and freakish-looking craft known as the Monitor. Proposed to the Navy +Department in the preceding fall by John Ericsson, in spite of sneers +and doubts, a contract was given him in October to construct a vessel +after his design. The form of the Monitor is too well known to need +description--"a cheese-box on a raft," the name given her in derision, +describes her as well as anything. She was launched on the last day of +January, and three weeks later was handed over to the Government, but it +was not until the fourth of March that her guns were mounted, two +powerful rifled cannon. At the request of Ericsson, she was named the +Monitor, and this name came afterwards to be adopted to describe the +class of ships of which she was the first. So dangerous was service in +her considered, that volunteers were called for, and Lieutenant John +Lorimer Worden was given command of her. + +Worden had entered the navy twenty-seven years before, and at the +opening of the Civil War, had delivered the orders from the secretary of +the navy which saved Fort Pickens, in the harbor of Pensacola, to the +Union. Attempting to return North overland, he was arrested and held as +a prisoner seven months, being exchanged just in time to enable him to +procure command of the Monitor. Rumors of the construction of the +Merrimac had reached the North, and two days after her guns were aboard, +the Monitor left New York harbor for Hampton Roads. Just after she +passed Sandy Hook, orders recalling her were received there, fortunately +too late to be delivered. By such slight threads do the events of +history depend. + +Meanwhile, Captain Worden was making such progress southward as he could +with his unwieldy and dangerous craft, which had been designed only for +the smooth waters of rivers and harbors and which was wholly unable to +cope with the boisterous Atlantic. There was a brisk wind, and the +vessel was soon in imminent danger of foundering. The waves broke over +her smoke-stack and poured down into her fires, so that steam could not +be kept up; the blowers which ventilated the ship would not work, and +she became filled with gas which rendered some of her crew unconscious. +Undoubtedly she would have gone to the bottom very shortly had not the +wind moderated. Even then, it was almost a miracle that she should win +through, but win through she did, and at four o'clock on the afternoon +of Saturday, March 8, as she was passing Cape Henry, Captain Worden +heard the distant booming of guns. As darkness came, he saw far ahead +the glare of the burning Congress. + +About midnight, the little vessel crept up beside the Minnesota and +anchored. Her crew were completely exhausted. For fifty hours, they had +fought to keep their ship afloat, and on the morrow they must be +prepared to meet a formidable foe. All that night they worked with their +vessel, making such repairs as they could. At eight o'clock next +morning, the Merrimac appeared, and the Monitor started to meet her. + +Amazed at sight of what appeared to be an iron turret sliding over the +water toward him, the commander of the Merrimac swung toward this tiny +antagonist, intending to destroy her before proceeding to the work in +hand. Captain Worden had taken his station in the pilot-house, and +reserved his fire until within short range. Then, slowly circling about +his unwieldy foe, he fired shot after shot, which, while they did not +disable her, prevented her from destroying the Union ships in the +harbor. Finding the Monitor apparently invulnerable, and with her +machinery giving trouble, the Merrimac at last withdrew to Norfolk. + +That the battle was a victory for the Monitor cannot be questioned; she +had prevented the destruction of the Union ships, and this she continued +to do, until, in the following May, the Confederates, finding themselves +compelled to abandon Norfolk, set the Merrimac on fire and blew her up. +Six months later, the Monitor met a tragic fate, foundering in a storm +off Cape Hatteras, a portion of her crew going down with her. + +Honors were showered upon Worden for his gallant work. He was given +command of the monitor Montauk, and later on destroyed the Confederate +privateer Nashville. After the war, he was promoted to rear-admiral, and +remained in the service until 1886. + +There were others in the war whose deeds brought glory to themselves and +to the navy--Lieutenant William B. Cushing, who destroyed the +Confederate ram Albemarle in Plymouth harbor, a deed comparable with the +burning of the Philadelphia early in the century; David Dixon Porter, +whose work on the Mississippi was second only to Farragut's, who four +times received the thanks of Congress, and who, in the end, became +admiral of the navy; Charles Stuart Boggs, who, in the sloop-of-war +Varuna, sank five Confederate vessels in the river below New Orleans, +before he was himself sunk--but none of them, and, indeed, none of those +whose exploits we have given, measured up to the stature of Farragut, +one of the greatest commanders of all time, and, all things considered, +the very greatest in the history of America. + + * * * * * + +Thirty years and more passed after that epoch-making contest between the +Monitor and the Merrimac before the world witnessed another battle to +the death between ironclads. Theoretically, wood had long since been +displaced by iron, iron by steel, and steel by specially-forged +armor-plate, battleship designers struggling always to build a vessel +which could withstand modern projectiles. But as to the actual results +in warfare, there was nothing but theory to go upon until that first +day of May, 1898, when George Dewey steamed into the harbor of Manila, +at the head of his squadron, and opened fire upon the Spanish fleet. + +Dewey had received his training under the best of masters, Farragut. +Graduating from Annapolis in 1858, he served as lieutenant on the +Mississippi, when that vessel, as part of Farragut's fleet, ran past the +forts below New Orleans. A short time later, in trying to pass the +Confederate batteries at Port Hudson, the Mississippi ran hard and fast +aground. Half an hour was spent, under a terrific fire, in trying to get +her off; then Dewey, after spiking her guns, assisted in scuttling her +and escaped with her captain in a small boat. He saw other active +service, and got his first command in 1870. He was commissioned +commodore in 1896, and on January 1, 1898, took command of the Asiatic +squadron. + +Few people in the world beside himself suspected, even in the dimmest +manner, the task which lay before him; but with a rare sagacity, he had +foreseen that, in the event of war with Spain, the far East would be the +scene of operations of the first importance. He thereupon applied for +the command of the Asiatic squadron, and his application was granted. +Dewey proceeded immediately to Hong Kong, and began to concentrate his +forces there and to get them into first-class condition. He spent much +of his time studying the charts of the Pacific, and his officers noticed +that the maps of the Philippine Islands soon became worn and marked. On +Tuesday, April 26, came the explanation of all this in a cablegram +stating that war had been declared between the United States and Spain, +and ordering Dewey to proceed at once to the Philippine Islands and +capture or destroy the Spanish fleet which was stationed there. + +Early the next afternoon, the squadron started on its six hundred mile +journey. What lay at the end of it, no one on the fleet knew. Of the +Spanish force, Dewey knew only that twenty-three Spanish war vessels +were somewhere in the Philippines; he knew, too, that they were probably +at Manila, and that the defenses of the harbor were of the strongest +description. But he remembered one of Farragut's sayings, "The closer +you get to your enemy, the harder you can strike," and he lost no time +in getting under way. + +[Illustration: DEWEY] + +Dewey's squadron consisted of seven vessels, of which one was a revenue +cutter, and two colliers. He was many thousands of miles from the +nearest base of supplies and to fail would mean that he would have to +surrender. So, on that momentous voyage, he drilled and drilled his men, +until their discipline was perfect. On April 30, land was sighted, and +precautions were redoubled, since the enemy might be encountered at any +moment. Careful search failed to reveal the Spaniards in Subig Bay, and +at six o'clock in the evening, Dewey announced to his officers that he +had determined to force Manila Bay that night. At nine o'clock the fleet +was off the bay, all lights were extinguished save one at the stern of +each ship to serve as a guide for the one following, and even that +light was carefully screened on both sides so that it could not be seen +from the shore. Then the fleet headed for the harbor mouth. + +What the defenses of the channel were, no one knew. It was reported to +be full of torpedoes. But perhaps Dewey remembered Farragut at Mobile +Bay. At any rate, he did not hesitate, but kept straight on, and the +fleet had almost passed the harbor mouth, before its presence was +discovered. Then the shore batteries opened, but without effect, and the +entire squadron passed safely into the harbor. Then followed long hours +of waiting for the dawn, and at five o'clock came the signal, "Prepare +for action," for the Spanish fleet had been sighted at anchor far down +the harbor. + +Fifteen minutes later, the Spaniards opened fire, but Dewey went +silently on toward his goal. Suddenly, a short distance away, there was +a dull explosion, and a great mass of water and mud sprang into the air. +A mine had been exploded; the fleet had entered the mine fields. Now, if +ever, it would be blown into eternity, but there was no pause in the +progress of that silent line of battle. From the bridge of the Olympia, +the most exposed position in the squadron, Dewey watched the progress of +his ships. In the conning tower, eagerly awaiting the word to fire, was +Captain Gridley. At last, with a final glance at the shore, Dewey bent +over the rail. + +"You may fire when ready, Gridley," he said, quietly. + +Ready! Surely that was satire on Dewey's part, for just one second later +the bridge under his feet leaped like a springboard as the great gun +beneath it gave the signal. Scarcely had the shell left the muzzle when +an answering roar came from the other ships. The battle had begun, the +Spanish ships were riddled with a shower of bursting shells, their crews +cut to pieces, and the ships themselves set on fire. The guns of the +American squadron roared with clocklike regularity, while the firing +from the Spanish ships steadily decreased. Two hours of this work, and +the smoke hung so heavy over the water that it was difficult to +distinguish the enemy's ships. + +"What time is it, Rees?" asked Dewey, of his executive officer. + +"Seven forty-five, sir." + +"Breakfast time," said Dewey, with a queer smile. "Run up the signals, +'Cease firing,' and 'Follow me.'" + +Again it was a lesson from Farragut, and Dewey, steaming back down the +harbor, signalled "Let the men go to breakfast." His captains, coming +aboard the Olympia, gave a series of reports unique in naval history. +Not a man had been killed, not a gun disabled, not a ship seriously +injured. Three hours were devoted to cooling off and cleaning the guns, +getting up more ammunition, and breakfast was leisurely eaten. + +Meanwhile, across the bay, on the riddled and sinking Spanish ships the +wildest confusion reigned. At eleven o'clock, the American fleet was +seen again approaching, and a few minutes later, that terrible storm of +fire recommenced. There was practically no reply. Three of the Spanish +ships were on fire, and their magazines exploded one after another with +a mighty roar; a broadside from the Baltimore sank a fourth; a shell +from the Raleigh exploded the magazine of a fifth, and so, one by one, +the Spanish ships were blown to pieces, until not one remained. An hour +later, the shore batteries had been silenced, and Dewey hoisted the +signal, "Cease firing." + +So ended the greatest naval battle since Trafalgar--a battle which +riveted the attention of the world, and brought home to Europe a +realization of the fact that here was a new world-power to be reckoned +with. With six ships, carrying 1,668 men and fifty-three guns, Dewey had +destroyed the Spanish squadron of nine ships, carrying 1,875 men and +forty-two guns; not an American had been killed, and only six wounded, +while the Spanish loss was 618 killed and wounded; and not an American +vessel had been injured. And, in addition to destroying the Spanish +fleet, a series of powerful shore batteries had been silenced, and the +way prepared for the American occupation of the Philippines. Dewey's +place as one of the great commanders of history was secure. + +News of the victory created the wildest excitement and enthusiasm in the +United States. Dewey became a popular hero, and when he returned from +the Philippines, was welcomed with triumphal honors, which recalled the +great days of the Roman empire. He was commissioned admiral of the +navy, a rank which had been created for Farragut, and which has been +held by only two men besides him. + +Another great American naval victory marked the brief war with +Spain--the destruction of Admiral Cervera's powerful fleet as it tried +to escape from the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, on the third day of July, +1898--a victory which made the Independence Day which followed one long +to be remembered in the United States. There, as at Manila, the entire +Spanish fleet was destroyed, without a single American vessel being +seriously injured, and with a loss of only one killed and one wounded on +the American side. But the victory at Santiago was the victory of no one +man. The ranking officer, William Thomas Sampson, was miles away when +the engagement began. The next in rank, Winfield Scott Schley, so +conducted himself that he was brought before a court of inquiry. The +battle was really fought and won by the commanders of the various +ships--Robley D. Evans, John W. Philip, Charles E. Clark, Henry C. +Taylor, Richard Wainwright--by the very simple procedure of getting as +close to the enemy as they could, and hammering him as hard as their +guns would let them. One and all, they behaved with the utmost +gallantry. But most remarkable of all in the history of the navy from +first to last has been the superb work of the "men behind the guns," +whose marksmanship has been the despair and envy of the world. + + + + +SUMMARY + + +JONES, JOHN PAUL. Born at Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, July +6, 1747; settled in Virginia, 1773; appointed first lieutenant in +American navy, 1775; commanded Ranger and cruised in the Irish sea, +1777-78; sailed from France in Bon Homme Richard, August 14, 1779; +fought Serapis, September 23, 1779; resigned from American service, +entered the French and later the Russian navy, served under Potemkin in +the Black Sea with rank of rear-admiral; returned to Paris, 1790; died +there, July 18, 1792. + +BIDDLE, NICHOLAS. Born at Philadelphia, September 10, 1750; captain in +American navy, 1775; appointed to command the Randolph, June 6, 1776; +killed when ship blew up in fight with Yarmouth, March 7, 1778. + +PORTER, DAVID. Born at Boston, February 1, 1780; entered navy, 1798; +served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; commander of the Essex in war of +1812; defeated and taken prisoner in Valparaiso harbor, March 28, 1814; +resigned, 1826; commander of Mexican naval forces, 1826-29; United +States minister to Turkey, 1831-43; died at Pera, Constantinople, March +3, 1843. + +HULL, ISAAC. Born at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1773; entered navy, +1798; served in war with Tripoli, 1801-03; sailed from Boston in command +of the Constitution, August 2, 1812; defeated Guerriere, August 19, +1812; remained in navy till end of life; died at Philadelphia, February +13, 1843. + +DECATUR, STEPHEN. Born at Sinnepuxent, Maryland, January 5, 1779; +entered navy, 1798; burned frigate Philadelphia in harbor of Tripoli, +February 16, 1804; commanded frigate United States in war of 1812; +captured British frigate, Macedonian, October 25, 1812; captured by +British fleet, January 15, 1815; killed in a duel with James Barron, +near Bladensburg, Maryland, March 22, 1820. + +BAINBRIDGE, WILLIAM. Born at Princeton, New Jersey, May 7, 1774; +lieutenant-commandant in quasi-naval-war with France, 1798; commanded +Philadelphia in Tripolitan war; captured by Tripolitans, November 1, +1804; commander of Constitution in war of 1812; captured British frigate +Java, December 29, 1812; served in navy till death at Philadelphia, July +28, 1833. + +LAWRENCE, JAMES. Born at Burlington, New Jersey, October 1, 1781; +entered navy, 1798; served in Tripolitan war, 1801-03; sailed from +Boston in the Chesapeake, and defeated by British frigate Shannon, June +1, 1813; died at sea from wound received in battle, June 6, 1813. + +PREBLE, EDWARD. Born at Falmouth (now Portland), Maine, August 15, 1761; +served as midshipman during Revolution; commissioned lieutenant, +February 9, 1798; captain, May 15, 1799; commanded squadron operating +against Barbary States, 18O3-O4; died at Portland, Maine, August 25, +1807. + +STEWART, CHARLES. Born at Philadelphia, July 28, 1778; lieutenant in +United States navy, March 9, 1798; served in war with Tripoli; captain, +April 22, 1806; commanded Constitution, 1813-14, capturing many prizes; +remained in navy till death, rising to rank of rear-admiral; died at +Bordentown, New Jersey, November 6, 1869. + +BLAKELEY, JOHNSTON. Born near Seaford, County Down, Ireland, October, +1781; brought to America, 1783; entered navy as midshipman, February 5, +1800; lieutenant, February 10, 1807; master commander, July 24, 1813; +sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the Wasp, May 1, 1814; +captured Reindeer, sunk Avon, captured Atalanta; the Wasp was spoken by +a Swedish ship, October 9, 1814, and never seen again. + +MACDONOUGH, THOMAS. Born in Newcastle County, Delaware, December 23, +1783; entered the navy as midshipman, 1800; served in war against +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; master commander, 1813; defeated British +squadron under Downie on Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814; died at +sea, November 16, 1825. + +PERRY, OLIVER HAZARD. Born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, +1785; entered navy as midshipman, April 7, 1799; served in war with +Tripoli; lieutenant, 1807; ordered to Lake Erie, February 17, 1813; +reached Erie, March 27, 1813; defeated British fleet, September 10, +1813; assisted in defense of Baltimore, 1814; commanded Java and John +Adams; died at Port Spain, Island of Trinidad, August 23, 1819. + +PERRY, MATTHEW CALBRAITH. Born at Newport, Rhode Island, April 10, 1794; +entered navy as midshipman, 1809; lieutenant, February 27, 1813; saw +distinguished service in many ships and many waters; master-commandant, +January 7, 1833; captain, March 15, 1837; commodore, June 12, 1841; +commanded fleet at capture of Vera Cruz, 1844; organized and commanded +expedition to Japan, delivering President's letter to the Mikado, July +14, 1853, and signing treaty, March 31, 1854; died in New York City, +March 4, 1858. + +FARRAGUT, DAVID GLASGOW. Born at Campbell's Station, Tennessee, July 5, +1801; adopted by David Porter and given commission as midshipman, 1810; +served under Porter in the Essex, 1813-14; lieutenant, 1821; commander, +1841; captain, 1855; appointed commander of squadron to reduce New +Orleans, January, 1862; passed the forts below New Orleans on the night +of April 23-24, 1862; compelled surrender of city, April 25, 1862; +passed batteries at Vicksburg, June 28, 1862; rear-admiral, July 16, +1862; fought battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864; vice-admiral, 1864; +admiral, 1866; died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 14, 1870. + +CRAVEN, TUNIS AUGUSTUS MACDONOUGH. Born at Portsmouth, Hew Hampshire, +January 11, 1813; entered navy as midshipman, 1829; served in various +ships and in coast survey; commander, April, 1861; given command of +monitor Tecumseh, with post of honor in battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, +1864; struck torpedo and sank almost instantly, carrying down Craven and +almost everyone else on board. + +SEMMES, RAPHAEL. Born in Charles County, Maryland, September 27, 1809; +midshipman in navy, 1826; lieutenant, 1837; at siege of Vera Cruz, 1847; +commander in Confederate navy, April 4, 1861; took command of Alabama, +August, 1863; Alabama destroyed by Kearsarge, June 19, 1864; guarded +water approaches to Richmond, 1865; after war, engaged in practice of +law until his death at Mobile, Alabama, August 30, 1877. + +WINSLOW, JOHN ANCRUM. Born at Wilmington, North Carolina, November 19, +1811; entered navy as midshipman, 1827; lieutenant, 1839; commander, +1855; captain, 1862; commanded Kearsarge on special service in pursuit +of Alabama, 1863-64; sank Alabama, June 19, 1864; rear-admiral, 1870; +died at Boston, Massachusetts, September 29, 1873. + +BUCHANAN, FRANKLIN. Born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 17, 1800; +entered navy as midshipman, 1815; lieutenant, 1825; master-commandant, +1841; organized naval academy at Annapolis, 1845; at siege of Vera Cruz, +1847; commanded flagship in Perry's Japan expedition, 1852; captain, +1855; commandant Washington navy yard, 1859; entered Confederate +service, September, 1861; commanded Merrimac in Hampton Roads and +Tennessee in Mobile Bay; died in Talbot County, Maryland, May 11, 1874. + +WORDEN, JOHN LORIMER. Born in Westchester County, New York, March 12, +1818; entered navy, 1840; lieutenant, 1846; taken prisoner while +returning North from Fort Pickens, 1861; released after seven months' +captivity, and appointed to the Monitor; met Merrimac in Hampton Roads, +March 9, 1862; received thanks of Congress and commissioned commander, +July, 1862; captain, February, 1863; commodore, 1868; superintendent of +naval academy, 1870-74; rear-admiral, 1872; retired, 1886; died at +Washington, October 18, 1897. + +DEWEY, GEORGE. Born at Montpelier, Vermont, December 26, 1837; entered +naval academy, 1854; graduated, 1858; with Farragut on Mississippi, +1862; commander, 1872; captain, 1884; commodore, 1896; fought battle of +Manila Bay, May 1, 1898; thanked by Congress and promoted rear-admiral, +1898; admiral, 1899. + + + * * * * * + + + + + +INDEX + + +Adams, John, 84, 89-92, 124, 174, 175, 177, 208, 263. + +Adams, John Quincy, 98-100, 109, 110, 125, 186. + +Adams, Samuel, 84, 175-178, 179, 208-209, 263. + +Allen, Eliza, 240-241. + +Allen, Ethan, 270. + +Anderson, Robert, 191. + +Arnold, Benedict, 267-271, 276, 277, 311-312, 313. + +Arthur, Chester Alan, 153, 166-167. + +Astor, John Jacob, 250. + +Atkinson, Henry, 303. + +Austin, Moses, 243. + + +Bainbridge, William, 334, 337-340, 342, 343, 378. + +Banks, Nathaniel P., 301. + +Barnes, James, 22. + +Barron, James, 337. + +Beauregard, Pierre, 304-305, 306, 317-318. + +Bee, Bernard E., 299, 300. + +Benton, Jesse, 104. + +Benton, Thomas Hart, 191, 211. + +Berkeley, Lord, 62. + +Biddle, Nicholas, 322, 328, 377. + +Blaine, James G., 151, 152, 153, 155, 186, 205-207, 213. + +Blakeley, Johnston, 342, 344-345, 379. + +Boggs, Charles Stuart, 370. + +Boone, Daniel, 215-221, 222, 223, 225, 226, 234, 258. + +Boone, Squire, 219. + +Booth, John Wilkes, 141-142, 164. + +Bowie, James, 18, 246-250, 260. + +Braddock, Edward, 82, 123, 267, 273, 275, 311. + +Bradford, William, 21, 54-57, 74. + +Bragg, Braxton, 308. + +Breckenridge, John C., 138. + +Broke, Philip, 341. + +Brooks, Preston, 212. + +Brown, John, 122, 295, 316. + +Bryan, William Jennings, 160-161. + +Buchanan, Franklin, 356, 363-366, 381. + +Buchanan, James, 113, 121-123, 127-128, 191, 257. + +Buell, Don Carlos, 293. + +Burgoyne, John, 267-269, 270, 275, 311, 313, 325. + +Burnside, Ambrose E., 285, 297, 314-315. + +Burr, Aaron, 179-183, 205, 209-210, 245. + +Butler, Benjamin, 355. + +Butler, Simon; see Kenton, Simon. + +Byllinge, Edward, 62. + + +Cabot, John, 36-37, 40, 70. + +Cabot, Sebastian, 36-37, 70. + +Calhoun, John Caldwell, 21, 111, 115, 184-190, 201, 211. + +Carson, Kit, 265. + +Carteret, Sir George, 62. + +Cartier, Jacques, 39, 49, 72. + +Carver, Jonathan, 55. + +Cass, Lewis, 118, 191, 211. + +Catlin, George, 251. + +Champlain, Samuel, 49-51, 73. + +Chase, Salmon Portland, 200, 212. + +Clark, Charles E., 376. + +Clark, George Rogers, 223, 225-232, 234, 235, 258. + +Clark, William, 235-237, 250, 259. + +Clay, Henry, 22, 99, 109, 114, 115, 116, 117, 184-190, 205, 206, + 210. + +Cleveland, Grover, 154-159, 160, 164, 167. + +Columbus, Bartholomew, 26, 29. + +Columbus, Christopher, 16, 17, 19, 20, 25-36, 54, 69-70. + +Columbus, Diego, 29. + +Conkling, Roscoe, 205-206. + +Cornwallis, Charles, 85, 124, 272, 278, 311, 313, 328. + +Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, 39, 72. + +Craven, Tunis Augustus Macdonough, 18, 360-361, 380. + +Crockett, David, 18, 246-250, 256, 260. + +Cushing, William B., 370. + +Custer, George A., 309. + +Custis, Mrs. Martha, 82, 123. + +Custis, Mary Randolph, 295. + +Custis, Washington Parke, 295. + +Cutler, Manasseh, 233. + + +Davis, Jefferson, 139, 201-204, 213, 280, 303, 305, 306. + +Decatur, Stephen, 332-337, 339, 341, 377-378. + +Delaware, Thomas West, Lord, 48. + +De Leon, Juan Ponce, 38, 39, 71. + +Dewey, George, 370-376, 381. + +Dinwiddie, Robert, 80, 81. + +Douglas, Stephen A., 133-136, 138, 164, 191-193, 211. + +Drake, Sir Francis, 38-39, 72. + + +Early, Jubal Anderson, 291. + +Edwards, Jonathan, 180. + +Ericsson, John, 367. + +Evans, Robley D., 376. + +Everett, Edward, 193-194, 211-212. + + +Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, 78. + +Fairfax, William, 78. + +Fannin, James W., 243. + +Farragut, David Glasgow, 15, 17, 22, 330, 351-360, 366, 370, + 371-372, 373, 374, 376, 380, 381. + +Ferdinand of Aragon, 29, 31, 35. + +Fillmore, Millard, 119, 127. + +Fiske, John, 21, 22. + +Ford, Paul Leicester, 21. + +Franklin, Benjamin, 15, 21, 169-174, 207, 208, 325. + +Franklin, William Buel, 301. + +Fremont, John C., 122, 198, 250, 251, 255-257, 261. + + +Gage, Thomas, 175. + +Garfield, James Abram, 114, 152-153, 166, 206. + +Gates, Horatio, 267-269, 271, 272, 311, 312, 313. + +Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 42. + +Gorman, Arthur P., 157. + +Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 22, 141, 148-150, 152, 153, 165-166, 206, + 280, 285, 286-288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 298, 303, 304, 306, 308, + 310, 316, 317. + +Greeley, Horace, 139. + +Greene, Nathanael, 267, 272, 273, 276, 311, 312. + +Gridley, Charles Vernon, 373. + +Guiteau, Charles J., 152-153, 166. + + +Hale, Nathan, 18. + +Hamilton, Alexander, 21, 89, 91, 96, 179-183, 205, 209. + +Hamilton, Henry, 229. + +Hancock, John, 175-178, 209, 322, 323. + +Hancock, Winfield Scott, 293. + +Hanks, Nancy, 129-130. + +Hanna, Mark, 161. + +Harding, Chester, 221. + +Harrison, Benjamin, 157, 159-160, 167, 207. + +Harrison, William Henry, 114-115, 126, 148, 159, 186, 224, 350. + +Hay, John, 207. + +Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 114, 151-152, 166, 201, 206. + +Hayne, Robert Young, 187, 188, 189. + +Heath, William, 266. + +Henderson, Richard, 218, 226. + +Henry, Patrick, 132, 178-179, 209, 226, 227. + +Heriot, Robert, 348. + +Herkimer, Nicholas, 267. + +Hill, A.P., 299, 308. + +Hood, John Bell, 293, 316. + +Hooker, Joseph, 280, 285-286, 287, 297, 301, 315. + +Hopkins, Ezekial, 323. + +Houston, Felix, 317. + +Houston, Sam, 116, 238-246, 248, 259-260. + +Howard, Oliver Otis, 302. + +Hubbard, Elbert, 22. + +Hudson, Henry, 39-40, 59, 72-73. + +Hulburt, Archer Butler, 22. + +Hull, Isaac, 330-332, 340, 341, 377. + +Hull, William, 191, 330. + + +Ingersoll, Robert G., 206. + +Isabella of Castile, 29, 30, 31, 35. + + +Jackson, Andrew, 15, 21, 99, 101-113, 114, 121, 122, 125-126, 148, + 156, 163, 164, 186, 189, 190, 191, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, + 245, 246, 247, 279, 280, 281, 329, 352. + +Jackson, Thomas Jonathan, 22, 287, 290, 297, 299-302, 307, 308, + 311, 317. + +James, Reuben, 335-336. + +Jay, John, 208. + +Jefferson, Thomas, 13, 21, 89, 90, 91, 92-95, 96, 98, 124, 155, + 174, 178, 181, 227, 235, 236, 259, 276, 323. + +John II., King of Portugal, 28. + +Johnson, Andrew, 143-148, 165, 196, 197, 199, 203, 212. + +Johnston, Albert Sidney, 280, 302-304, 311, 317, 318. + +Johnston, Joseph E., 289-290, 296, 305-306, 308, 315, 318, 319. + +Joliet, Louis, 52, 73-74. + +Jones, John Paul, 320-328, 329, 344, 377. + +Jones, William, 321. + +Jones, William Paul, 321. + + +Kearny, Stephen Watts, 257. + +Kenton, Simon, 221-225, 228, 234, 258. + +Kilpatrick, Hugh Judson, 293. + +King, Rufus, 97. + + +La Salle, Robert Cavalier, 51-54, 73, 79. + +Lawrence, James, 18, 340-342, 347, 378. + +Lee, Charles, 266. + +Lee, "Light Horse Harry," 272-274, 294, 311, 313. + +Lee, Robert Edward, 22, 141, 148, 149, 203, 274, 280, 283, 284, + 285, 286, 289, 292, 294-299, 301, 302, 305, 306, 307, 308, + 310, 315, 316-317. + +Lewis, Meriwether, 235-237, 250, 259. + +Lincoln, Abraham, 15, 16, 19, 21, 113, 129-143, 144, 145, 146, + 147, 152, 164-165, 192, 193, 198-199, 200, 257, 289. + +Lincoln, Thomas, 129-131. + +Lodge, Henry Cabot, 21. + +Longstreet, James, 306-307, 318. + +Lovejoy, Amos, 253. + +Lowell, James Russell, 143. + +Lummis, Charles F., 21. + + +McCardle, Eliza, 144-145. + +Maclay, Edward Stanton, 22. + +McClellan, George B., 282-286, 287, 296, 297, 301, 305, 307, + 314, 318. + +Macdonough, Thomas, 342, 345-346, 379. + +McDowell, Irwin, 301, 305. + +McKinley, William, 159, 161-163, 167, 168. + +McPherson, James Birdseye, 293. + +Madison, James, 95-97, 125, 340. + +Magellan, Ferdinand, 38, 71. + +Magruder, John Bankhead, 308. + +Mansfield, Joseph King Fenno, 301. + +Marchena, Juan Perez de, 30. + +Marion, Francis, 272-273, 311, 312. + +Marquette, Jacques, 52, 74. + +Marshall, Humphrey, 166. + +Marshall, James Wilson, 255. + +Marshall, John, 183-184, 210. + +Meade, George G., 280, 286, 293. + +Milam, Benjamin R., 243. + +Miles, Nelson A., 309-310, 319. + +Minuit, Peter, 59. + +Monroe, James, 89, 97-98, 125, 158, 189, 201, 211. + +Montgomery, Richard, 266. + +Moody, William, 251. + +Morris, Robert, 174. + + +Newport, Christopher, 43, 44, 46. + +Nicolet, Jean, 51, 73. + + +Oglethorpe, James, 66-69, 75. + +Ortiz, Juan, 45. + + +Pakenham, Edward Michael, 106, 107, 108. + +Parker, Theodore, 23. + +Parkman, Francis, 20, 21. + +Paul, John, 321. + +Paul, John; see Jones, John Paul. + +Paul, William, 321. + +Pearson, Richard, 320, 326, 327. + +Pemberton, John Clifford, 308. + +Penn, William, 21, 62-66, 74. + +Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 350-351, 364, 379, 381. + +Perry, Oliver Hazard, 346-350, 379. + +Philip, John W., 376. + +Philip, King, 41. + +Pierce, Benjamin, 119. + +Pierce, Franklin Scott, 114, 119-121, 127, 200, 280, 282. + +Pike, Zebulon, 237, 259. + +Pocahontas, 45, 46. + +Polk, James Knox, 114, 116-117, 126-127, 281. + +Pomeroy, Seth, 266. + +Pope, John, 293, 297, 301, 307. + +Porter, David, 352. + +Porter, David, jr., 329-330, 345, 352-353, 377, 380. + +Porter, David Dixon, 370. + +Powhatan, The, 41, 45. + +Preble, Edward, 333, 334, 339, 342-343, 378. + +Putnam, Elizabeth, 263. + +Putnam, Israel, 232, 263-266, 311. + +Putnam, Joseph, 263. + +Putnam, Rufus, 232-234, 258-259. + + +Raleigh, Sir Walter, 42-43. + +Reed, Deborah, 171-172. + +Revere, Paul, 175. + +Rolfe, John, 46. + +Roosevelt, Theodore, 162-163, 167-168. + +Root, Elihu, 207. + +Rosecrans, William Starke, 293. + +Rusk, Thomas Jefferson, 244, 245. + + +St. Clair, Arthur, 233, 274-276, 313. + +St. Leger, Barry, 270. + +Saltonstall, Dudley, 323. + +Sampson, William Thomas, 376. + +Santa Anna, 127, 243, 244, 245, 248, 249, 281. + +Santangel, Luis de, 30, 31. + +Schley, Winfield Scott, 376. + +Schuyler, Philip John, 267, 311. + +Scott, Winfield, 119, 120, 188, 245, 280-282, 292, 295, 305, + 310, 314. + +Scudder, Horace E., 21. + +Semmes, Raphael, 361-363, 380. + +Seward, William H., 137, 194-200, 212. + +Shaw, Robert Gould, 18. + +Sheridan, Philip Henry, 287, 290-292, 293, 294, 307, 308, 311, + 315-316. + +Sherman, John, 152, 199, 200-201, 212-213. + +Sherman, William Tecumseh, 280, 287-290, 292, 293, 304, 305, + 306, 308, 309, 315, 316, 318, 319. + +Skelton, Martha, 93. + +Smith, John, 21, 43-49, 73, 76. + +Soto, Hernando de, 39, 45, 72. + +Spalding, H.H., 251. + +Spencer, Joseph, 266. + +Stark, John, 267. + +Stephens, Alexander H., 201-205, 213. + +Stevens, Thaddeus, 147, 194-200, 201, 212. + +Stewart, Charles, 342, 343, 378. + +Stuart, J.E.B., 296, 307-308, 318-319. + +Stuyvesant, Peter, 21, 60-62, 74. + +Sullivan, John, 266. + +Sumner, Charles, 194-200, 212. + +Sumner, Edwin Vose, 293, 301. + +Sumter, Thomas, 102, 272-273, 312. + +Sutter, John Augustus, 250, 254-256, 260-261. + + +Taft, William Howard, 163, 168. + +Tarleton, Guy, 272, 312. + +Taylor, Henry C., 376. + +Taylor, Zachary, 22, 114, 118-119, 120, 127, 148, 202, 280, 281. + +Tecumseh, 115. + +Thomas, George H., 280, 292-293, 316. + +Thomas, John, 266. + +Tilden, Samuel J., 151. + +Todd, Dolly Payne, 96. + +Todd, Mary, 132. + +Toscanelli, Paolo del Pozzo, 27, 32. + +Travis, William Barrett, 18, 243, 246-250, 260. + +Tyler, John, 115-116, 126, 211. + + +Van Buren, Martin, 113-114, 115, 118, 126, 191. + +Veach, William, 221. + +Vespucci, Amerigo, 37, 71. + + +Wainwright, Richard, 376. + +Ward, Artemus, 266. + +Washington, Augustine, 76, 77, 78. + +Washington, George, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 76-89, 90, 92, 93, + 97, 123-124, 129, 137, 150, 164, 174, 175, 177, 180, 181, 183, + 194, 209, 262, 266, 269, 271, 272, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, + 282, 295, 310, 312. + +Washington, Lawrence, 76, 78, 79, 83. + +Wayne, Anthony, 224, 234, 258, 259, 276-279, 313-314. + +Webster, Daniel, 21, 110, 184-190, 193, 194, 198, 210. + +Welles, Gideon, 364. + +Wesley, Charles, 68. + +Wheeler, Joseph, 309, 319. + +Whitfield, George, 69. + +Whitman, Marcus, 117, 250-254, 260. + +Whittier, John G., 257. + +Williams, Roger, 57-59, 74. + +Wilson, Woodrow, 21. + +Winslow, John Ancrum, 361-363, 380-381. + +Wooster, David, 266. + +Worden, John Lorimer, 367-370, 381. + + +York, Duke of, 61, 62, 63, 64. + + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's American Men of Action, by Burton E. 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