I ■*: BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrs HI. Sage 1891 .A.S'0-6..p¥- i^^/¥/9^ Date Due Cornell University Library E 178.3.B63 V 1-2 American Rev^MlSm " 3 1924 028 703 365 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028703365 THE "'^^^^1^-^ '^' ^ ' ' t?fp'^.' AlERIGAN REYOLUTIOI, IfTCLUDINO ALSO THE BEAUTIES OF AMEEICAN HISTOEY. NEW YORK: DERBY & JACKSON, 119 NASSAU STREET. cinoinnat:: — H. w. derby 4 co. 1856. (ffl A :^ocy4 ^\^V.«. ^-3*Vw*V->^^v& ^-^ CONTENTS. Pf-lace, Introduction, .... Madame Shatswell and the Whig Committee, Spirit of the Yankee Boys, Generosity of John Hancock, Sergeant Smith and his White Horse, Escape of Plunket from the British, The Surgeon and -the Ghost, Sympathy of Washington, A Mistalie turned to a good Account, Gallantry of a Young Boy, . The Wounded British Officer, . Lamenting the loss of a Hat, The Stuttering Colonel, . Fighting on my own hook, . Honesty of Lii^ngston, An Uninvited Guest, . Good Feelings of Washington, . Sir Guy Carlton, Inhumanity of Tarleton, . Yankee Captain, American Air-guns, La Fayette and Cornwallisj Wit of a Negro, .... Civility of Washington, Maternal Tenderness, A Mistake on Sunday, Dr. Franklin in Congress, Magnanimity of Baron De Steuben, Patriotic School Boys, An Unnecessary Alarm, A Nobly Reply, Washington at Prayer, The End of a Farce, Attention to Orders, Prose Better than Poetry, Paga 7 9 15 17 19 19 21 24 26 27 • 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 36 37 38 38 39 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 50 51 52 54 54 55 4 CONTENTS. OrJinary Fare of Marion, .... Mr. John Edwards and Admiral Arbuthnot, The Poor Fisherman and his Schooner, Patriotism of Bishop White, Bishop White a Chaplain of Congress; Dr. Franklin's Almanac, General Prescott and the Connecticut Succotash Providential Interpositions, Death of the Baron De Kalb, Execution of.Col. Haynes, _ General Morgan, Powder and Balls, . How to save a Dinner, No Bayonets here, . Poverty of the American Army, . Mr. Robert Morris, . General Gadsden at St. Augustine, Th e Amputation of a Limb, First Prayer in Congress, Lord Stirling and the British Spy, Military Courtesy, The Brave Little Yankee, An Inconvenient Wound, The British Lion, The Stuttering Soldier, The American Sharp-shooters, The Rebel Flower, . Rare Presence of Mind, The Chevalier Duplessis Maudult, Defending an Enemy, . Mrs. Isaac Holmes, . The Frenchman and the Negro, Female Wit, .... Mrs. Jacob Motte, Mrs. Thomas Heyward, . A Rare Act of Public Munificence, Courageous Young Woman, Governor Clinton, Remarkable Incident, The Tables Turned, . Gallantry of the Gloucester Militia, Hickory Clubs, Plea. 56 57 59 61 63 .64 65 67 71 74 78 79 79 80 81 82 84 87 88 90 91 93 94 95 95 96 98 98 101 103 105 106 106 107 108 109 111 112 112 113 113 U5 " CONTENTS. 5 Col. Stark and the Clerical Soldier, .... Faee. 116 Sagacity and Courage of Col. Stark, . 118 How to cheat a Highway Robber, .... 121 Anecdotes of Sergeant Jasper 123 Washingtoa's Retaliation, 128 T^c Gun that could fire all day, .... l.'iO Barbarity of the Loyalists, .... r.i Female Patriotism, 1S2 The Home-made Soldier, . . " . 133 The British Officer and the Miller, . . • 136 A Son of Eri,n preferring a Razor to his Rations, 137. Lord Cornwallis' opinion of Sumter, 139 St. Leger and the Indians frightened. 140 An Incident of the Revolution, .... 143 Col. Brown and General Arnold, .... 150 Yankee Mistake, 152 The Mysterious Stranger, 152 George Roberts, 154 Yankee Sea Captain in London, .... 158 Acknowledgmw a Fault, the mark of a great Mind, 159 A Specimen of Hard Fighting, .... 160 Morgan at the Battle of the Cowpens, 164 Humor of Patrick Henry, ..... 166 Effects of Tea, 168 Death of Major Andre, 169 Nancy Hart, 171 Harriet Ackiand, 173 Running the Gauntlet for Stealing Tea, 176 Major Pitcairn at Lexington 178 Mrs. Burr and the burning of Fairfield, 180 Eloquence of Patrick Henry, , 184 Emily Geiger, » • 186 Captain Ross, ........ 188 Samuel Adam.'> and American Independence, 190 Baron Steuben's Wit 193 The British Parliament and the Stamp Act, 194 Repeal of the Stamp Act, 198 Royal Commission T^rn to Pieces, 200 The First Martyr of Bunker Hill, . 202 General Putnam Fighting a Duel, 203 You can spare one Man better than two. 20J American General, ... . . 20S 1* .6 CONTENTS. Looking forward to the GaIlows> . Patriotism of Geii. Nelson, Benedict Arnold, a Traitor, Generosity of an American Lieutenant, . Colonel Small, Benevolence of Colonel Wm. Washington, Fidelity to an Enemy, Patriotism of Benjamin West, . The Rimaways become Captors, . The British afraid of a Log of Wood, An Example of Fortitude, . Deception of Tarleton, .... Col. Owen Roberts, Mr. John Adams, Situation of the American Army, Meeting an Emergency, . . _ . Religious Feeling of the Revolution, General Putnam's Entrance into the Army, A Fable, by Samuel Adams, Noble conduct of the Earl of Effingham, . De Kalb's account of his Family, General Marion's Address to his Soldiers, Rev. Thomas Allen, .... An American Soldier Benedict Arnold, the Traitor, Gen. Andrew Pickens General Stuart, La J'ayette and an old Soldier, Red Jacket, .... The Retort Courteous, " . The Best Road in America, British Ingratitude, » . . Mrs. McKay and Colonel Brown, Yankee Indignation, Magnanimity of M. De Bouille, . Faie, 207 209 211 212 213 214 UU 215 216 217 217 218 219 220 223 223 225 229 230 231 232 235 237 238 239 240 , 243 244 245 246 246 247 , 250 S51 252 PREFACE. The following Anecdotes were principally selected by a youth of twelve years of age. Having had constant ac- cess to a library well supplied with books on History and Biography, he early acquired a taste fqj reading such works ; and the present small volume is one of the results of such an attention to this species of literature. The selection was made at intervals between hours of devotion to elementary and classical study ; and may hence be viewed as having been rather an amusement, than a laboi of painful toil and research. The utility of compilations like the present is too well known to require particular commendation. They are always read with avidity, if well made ; being usually preferred to the most fascinating kinds of fiction ; and what is far more important, they are among the most jeneficial books to be found. They almost invariably cre- ate a taste for reading history and biography. Good an- ecdotes in these literary regions are analogous to the pre- cious stones found in the bosom of the earth ; which, though sparsely scattered, will long be sought with the mcst cheerful and untiring assiduity. A single case of success may cheer on the fond and enthusiastic votary of these deeply hid treasures, even for months, amidst noth wg but the mere rubbish that contains them. So it is with persons in reading history and biography 8 PREFACE. they press forward, without apparent wearisomeness, through the more dull and uninteresting details, that they may here and there gather up these choice fragments. Nor is this all ; by successive gleanings of such frag- ments, a desire will be created to examine the frames in which the pictures are enclosed ; in other words, to know more of the characters of the individuals — and of the times — and of the historical events with which they are connected. It is believed, that the reading of a work like the prese^, will usually lead young persons espe- cially, to the study of larger and more systematic pro- ductions on all kindred subjects. And, it may be added, that the brief and sententious re- mark, which commonly characterizes a good anecdote, will furnish a better index to the distinctive peculiarities of the individual that utters it, than "a. whole essay of dull and didactic description ; it will cast a gleam of light on all his mental delineations not to be found otherwise, save in familiar personal acquaintance. This of itself would give value to the present effort to benefit the public, suffi- cient to balance all the labor it occasioned. J. L. BLAKE. INTRODUCTION. The Araerican Revolution shouU always be contem- plated in reference to the great moral interests of the civil- ized world. There are important analogies between the physical and the social organiziticns of our globe. Thesiy analogies may not at once be apparent, in ali tl.eir rela- tions, to the superficial observer. But to the eye of the philosopher, their delineations are deeply and distinctl" marked. They cannot be misapprehended ; and they give a satisfactory solution to phenomena, that wo.iltf otherwise remain inexplicable mysteries. The remark has a thousand times been made, that to human apprehension, the organizations of the world, both physical and social, embrace a compound of good and ■ evil. The proportions appear to vary under different cir- cumstances, and to the ken of different individuals, as they may be severally constituted or predisposed. In each, after a due course of operation, certain develop- ments are the necessary result. From these develop- ments the philosopher becomes confirmed in a faith that he adopted as a matter of hypothesis ; and from them likewise the Christian becomes confirmed in his faith, which had been received from Divine Revelation. These observations ars suggested as preliminary tr- ^ very brief exposition of the moral results of the Amer.-i' 10 INTRODUCTION. Revolution. Human warfare, especially in its more bar- barous forms, is terrifying, even to the imaeination. It can be justified only by the necessity for it, and the con- seq 'snces flowing from its existence. We look upon it in tfie abstract, as we do upon the most frightful convul- sions of nature. Here the elements are thrown into vio- lent agitation ; the earth inwardly moves as if in agony ; the winds howl ; the clouds blacken ; the tempest rages ; the lightning darts its flashes through the regions of space ; we shrink back in terror at the threatening danger and the overwhelming grandeur of the scene ; but how soon does all become quiet and beautiful ! How soon does the whole become an impressive lesson in making, known to us the wisdom and goodness of the Deity, be- yond what could be known from the ordinary course of nature ! How illustrative is this of what we witness in the dis- orders of society ! We cannot reflect upon human suf- V fering with an unmoved heart. The view of a slaughtered army ; the dying groans of the wounded ; the tears and distress of the wife made a widow, and the mother made childless, in the progress of a civil war like that to which we are alluding, does verily overpower the stoutest minds, and cause a kind of paralysis to come over the social af- fections. But we know, after all, these desolaLons are usually succeeded by exhibitions of kirdnes? and social virtue, and general prosperity, that would not otherwise have come into existence. Observation will satisfy every one that such is the fact. And philosophy may teach us, that amid all these evils a redeeming spirit will introduce ANECDOTES. MADAME SIIATSWELL AND THE WHIG COMMITTEE. At the time of the war of the revolution, the lady of the manor, Ipswich, Massachusetts, was a descendant of iSimon Bradstreet, one of the early governors of the province, whom Mather calls the " Nestor of New England." Her husband was a stanch whig, a leader of one of the classes into which the town was divided ; and though the good lady coincided fully in his political sentiments, she did not much like the infringement upon domestic lux- urjes which many of the patriotic resolutions of the meetings contemplated. In short, Madame Shatswell loved her cup of tea, and as a large store haTl been provided for family use before the tax, she saw no harm in using it as usual upon the table. There were in those days, as there are now, certain busybodies who kindly take upon themselves the oversight of their neighbors' affairs, and through them the news of the treason spread over the town. A committee from the people immediately called at the house to protest 16 ANECDOTES OF THE BEVOLUTION. against the drinking of tea. Some months pass- ed away, and one sabbath, Madame Shats- well's daughter, a bright-eyed, coquettish dam- sel, appeared at church in a new bcnnet. This was a new cause of excitement, and the committee came again to administer reproof. The lady satisfied them again, however S and they, finding that the hat contained no treason to the people's cause, again departed. Two years of the war had now passed away, and meanwhile the daughter, Jeanette, had found a lover. It was the beginning of win- ter ; the army had just gone into winter quar- ters ; and the young suitor was daily expect- ed home. Wishing to appear well in his eyes, the maiden had spun and woven with her own hands a new linen dress, from flax raised upon the homestead ; and some old ribands long laid aside, having been washed and iron- ed to trim it withal, the damsel appeared in it at church the Sunday after her lover's arrival. Here was fresh cause of alarm, and forthwith on Monday morning came the officious com- mitter, to rem