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 11 
 
 Mv.iq|aMMt«mMi 
 
 AMERICAN 
 ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 I 
 
 EVERY DA 
 
 IN THE YEAfljii 
 
 PHILIP ROBERT DILLON 
 
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AMERICAN 
 ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR 
 
 Presenting Seven Hundred and Fifty Events in 
 
 United States History, from the Discovery 
 
 of America to the Present Day 
 
 BY 
 PHILIP ROBERT DILLON 
 
 The Philip R. Dillon Publishing Company 
 New York 
 
 .1 IIMlAMY 
 
• "^ ^U-fi 
 
 
 Dedicated to the Journalists of The United States 
 
 who Formulate, Primordially, the Essential 
 
 Material for the Web of 
 
 American History 
 
 Copyright, 1918, By Philip Robert Dillon 
 
 ' "^^ 
 
 .UHl'iJUK).'.. 
 Y 1 I iM] ,i V \ \h I'J 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 By WILLIAM RABENORT, PH. D. (COLUMBIA 
 UNIVERSITY) 
 
 Author of "Rabeinort's Geography" 
 
 TO find an ainexplored region in the realm of refer- 
 ence books is an unwonted achievement. Yet that 
 is what the writer of the following pages seems to 
 have dong. Makers of almanacs and compilers of calen- 
 dars have indeed made short excursions into the domain 
 of American Anniversaries but their contributions are 
 obvious and fragmentary to the point of tantalization. 
 
 In this volume the leading events of American his- 
 tory are treated comprehensively and with a degree of 
 scholarship that deserves to be called scientific. The 
 material has been gathered during years of research; the 
 selections have been made judiciously, with a discrimi- 
 nation that is as evident from the omissions as from what 
 is included. Difference of opinion there may be as to the 
 proportionate emphasis laid upon' the several events and 
 to the comparative space allotted to each. But few if 
 any readers will quarrel with the author's predilection 
 for the dramatic and romantic aspects of history nor with 
 his patriotic purpose as manifest throughout the book. 
 As to the style, which maintains the best traditions of 
 American literature as developed in the field of jour- 
 nalism there would seem to be no question as to its sober 
 eloquence nor its adequate enthusiasm where the subject 
 warrants it. The simplicity of the scheme of classifica- 
 tion approaches a stroke of genius and with the system of 
 cross references provided by the index makes the con- 
 tents of the book readily available. 
 
 The need for such a book is undeniable. The occa- 
 sional speaker in the pulpit and upon the platform; the 
 orator of the day ; aS well as those whose voices are heard 
 through the daily press will alike welcome a handy 
 volume that reminds them from day to day of the su- 
 preme moments in American history. The student who 
 
has read the history of the United States chronologically 
 will here have an opportunity to review the subject in a 
 new order, with new relations and from a fresh point of 
 view. The fact made apparent in this book that every 
 day is an anniversary often of several events of contend- 
 ing importance may well check our over-readiness to 
 declare a holiday upon any and every occasion. Indeed, 
 so widespread is the field of usefulness that spreads 
 before such a book as this that one hesitates to set limits 
 upon it. 
 
 The care of the author to clear up moot questions 
 and obscure incidents is shown throughout the book. 
 How the Declaration of Independence was signed; who 
 actually said, "Millions for defense but not a cent for 
 tribute!" to mention but two and at random. Equally 
 worthy of note are the pains taken to bring the annals 
 up to date: President Wilson's phrase, "Peace without 
 Victory" ; and the authoritative handling of the cele- 
 bration of the first Catholic mass in America are but two 
 of countless cases in point. 
 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes took delight in matching his 
 life with that of the lexicographer Samuel Johnson who 
 lived exactly a century before the genial Autocrat of the 
 Breakfast Table. "American Anniversaries" enables the 
 reader to look backward through the vista of the years 
 and from this catalog of our national treasure in men and 
 events to appraise anew the glory of our country's career. 
 
 William Rabenort. 
 New York, June 1, 1918. 
 
 NOTE 
 The various standard authorities on United States 
 History have not fully agreed upon dates and other statis- 
 tical details of a considerable number of events. The 
 dates and other statistics given in this volume are the 
 consequents of painstaking research. Corrections, or 
 any authoritative information intended to eliminate dis- 
 crepancies and fix details with permanent accuracy, will 
 be received with gratitude by 
 
 The Author. 
 
PRINCIPAL PERMANENT DATES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 Year 1914 
 
 June 28 — Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was 
 assassinated at Serajevo in Serbia. 
 
 July 23 — Austria sent ultimatum to Serbia. 
 
 July 28 — Austria declared war on Serbia. 
 
 Aug. 1 — Germany declared war on Russia and the next day 
 invaded Luxemburg, an act of war against France. 
 
 Aug. 3 — German army invaded Belgium. 
 
 Aug. A — Great Britain declared war on Germany. 
 
 Aug. 5 — President Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality 
 of the United States. 
 
 Sept. 6, 7, 8 and 9 — Battle of the Marne, a French victory re- 
 sulting in the stopping of the German invasion of 
 France and the retreat of the Germans to the River 
 Aisne in France. 
 
 Nov. S — Great Britain and France declared war on Turkey. 
 
 Dec. 24 — First German air raid on England by Zeppelin airships. 
 
 Year 1915 
 
 May 7 — Sinking of the Lusitania. 
 
 Mflv 23 — Ttalv derlarpd war, on._A.usiria. __ 
 
 )wers invaded 
 
 ERRATA 
 
 5ning to break 
 nany modified 
 
 Page 9, eleventh line— "eight years" should be 
 "eighteen months". 
 
 Page 30 (Washington)-" Appointed Commander- 
 in-chief" should read "Assumed command". 
 
 Page 57-(March 23th, Capture of Aguinaldo) 
 should read "year 1901". 
 
 Page 148-( July 1st, Battle of Gettysburg) should 
 read "Chickamauga, eleven weeks after Gettys- 
 burg." 
 
 Page 332-(Dec. 17th, first airplane flight carrying 
 a man): "Willard" should be Wilbur, and 
 "Wilbur" should be Orville. 
 
 Index :-"Germany, declaration of war against 
 
 68" should be (page) 65. 
 
 the same day 
 Dwers. 
 
 following day, 
 very available 
 es) in waters 
 ly and in the 
 
 relations with 
 
 rmany. 
 
 itria. 
 
 tish in France 
 
 Apr. 14 — Gen. Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander-in- 
 chief of the armies of the Allies. 
 
 May 27 — German offensive was shifted from the British front 
 to the Aisne and the last great drive toward Paris 
 was begun. 
 
July 15 — Peak of the German offensive in France was stopped 
 by Americans at Chateau-Thierry. This was the turn 
 of the tide. 
 
 July 18 — Allies offensive against Germans in France began in 
 the Soissons-Rheims salient." 
 
 Sept. 12 — American army began its first distinctive offensive 
 and in three days drove the Germans from the "Saint- 
 Mihiel salient," near the German boundary of Lorraine. 
 
 Sept. 30 — Bulgaria surrendered. 
 
 Oct. 30 — Turkey surrendered. 
 
 Nov. 3 — Austria surrendered. 
 
 Nov. 11 — Germany signed an armistice which was a virtual 
 surrender. 
 
 The armistice of November 11 which actually ended the 
 War was signed near Chateau de Francfort in the department of 
 Aisne, a short distance from the northern boundary of France, 
 in a railway car upon a switch near the Chateau, which railway 
 car was the temporary headquarters of Marshal Foch, the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Allies. The armistice agreement under 
 seven headings, and in thirty-seven sections, concluded with 
 the following (in French): 
 
 "This armistice has been signed the eleventh of 
 November, Nineteen Eighteen, at S o'clock a. m., French 
 time. 
 
 F. Foch, 
 R. E. Wemyss, 
 Erzberger, 
 A. Obendorff, 
 Winterfeldt, 
 \'on Salow." 
 The convention provided that hostilities should cease at 
 11 a. m., French time, on Nov. 11, 1918. 
 
 The signers, more definitely identified, were as follows: 
 
 General Ferdinand Foch, Generalissimo of the armies of the 
 
 Allies. 
 
 Admiral Sir Roslyn Wemyss, First Sea Lord of the British 
 Admiralty. 
 
 Matthias Erzberger and Count von Obendorff, representing 
 the German civil government. 
 
 General Winterfeldt and General von Salow, representing 
 the German armies in the field. 
 
 While technically the armistice was an agreement by conven- 
 tion to suspend hostilities for thirty days with the option to 
 e.xtend the period, the conditions were such as to constitute a 
 practical surrender of the German armies and navy on all fronts. 
 
 Approximately 8,000,000 lives were lost in the war. The 
 total cost measured by war appropriations by governments, and 
 recorded losses of property, was about $250,000,000,000. 
 
 The army of the United States numbered 212,000 men and 
 officers at the time of declaring war. .\t the end it numbered 
 approxmiately 3,700,000 officers and men. Of these approx- 
 imately 2,000,000 were serving in France on the date of the 
 signmg of the armistice, and 750,000 actually took part in the 
 fighting. 
 
JANUARY 
 
 January 1 (1752) — Betsy Ross (nee Elizabeth Gris- 
 com) born at Philadelphia, Pa., year 1752; died at Phila- 
 delphia, Jan. 30, 1836. She was the widow of John Ross 
 who was the nephew of Col. George Ross, one of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is claimed 
 by her descendants that she was engaged by Washington 
 to make the first American Flag showing stars and 
 stripes. This claim was first formally made by William 
 J. Candy in a paper read before the Historical Society of 
 Pennsylvania in the year 1870. (See Flag Day, June 14, 
 1777.) 
 
 Jan. 1 (1863) — The Emancipation of negro slaves 
 went into effect, in accordance with Lincoln's proclama- 
 tion, year 1863. (See Negro Emancipation, Sept. 22, 
 1862.) 
 
 Jan. 1 (1913) — Parcel Post system was inaugurated 
 in the United States, year 1913. 
 
 Jan. 2 (1776) — First American Flag bearing seven 
 red and six white stripes was raised over headquarters of 
 the American army commanded by Washington, at Cam- 
 bridge, Mass., year 1776. (See Flag Day, June 14.) 
 
 Jan. 2 (1863)— Battle of Murfreesboro (or Stone's 
 River), Tenn., year 1863. This date is the anniversary, 
 though the battle lasted from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. General 
 William S. Rosecrans (Union, 44,000 men) vs. General 
 Braxton Bragg (Confederate, 45,000 men). Union loss 
 9,500 killed and wounded; Confederate loss 9,236. The 
 Confederates captured 2,800 Union men. In a technical 
 military sense it was a drawn battJe* In its after- 
 effects it was a Union victory. 
 
 Jan. 3 (1777)— Battle of Princeton, N. J., year 1777. 
 General Washington (American, 3,000 men) vs. Colonel 
 Mawhood (British, 1,800 men). American loss 100; 
 British loss 430. A brilliant American victory. 
 
 1 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Jan. 4 (1896) — Utah was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1896. " 
 
 Jan. 5 (1608) — Capt. John Smith was captured by 
 Indians in Virginia. His life was saved by the Indian 
 Princess Pocahontas, year 1608. 
 
 Jan. 5 (1777)— "Battle of the Kegs." First use of 
 floating "mines" in American military history, year 1777. 
 The kegs were loaded with explosives and set afloat in 
 the Delaware river with intent to destroy the British 
 fleet at Philadelphia. The attempt failed; none of the 
 mines exploded. 
 
 Jan. 6 (1838) — Alfred Vail's successful telegraph in- 
 strument was completed and tested, year 1838. Three 
 miles of wire were stretched around a room to test. It is 
 the Vail receiving instrument, and not the Morse, which 
 has survived in telegraphy. 
 
 Jan. 6 (1912) — New Mexico was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1912. 
 
 FIRST NATIONAL ELECTION IN THE UNITED 
 
 STATES 
 January 7, 1789 
 
 The Constitutional convention, after the necessary 
 nine States had approved the Constitution, in 1788 re- 
 assembled and named "the second Wednesday in Jan- 
 uary, 1789," as the day upon which the States should hold 
 an election to choose "electors" who would later choose 
 the first President and Vice-President of the United 
 States. (See April 6.) 
 
 The first national election was not a popular pres- 
 idential election such as we have nowadays. Only Vir- 
 ginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey voted 
 directly for the presidential electors. Seven of the other 
 States had provided that these electors should be chosen 
 by the legislatures. The remaining two, Rhode Island 
 and North Carolina, had not yet accepted the Constitution 
 and did not at all provide for any election. The cam- 
 
 2 
 
JANUARY 
 
 paign preceding the election was a contest between the 
 "FederaUsts" and the "Anti-Federalists," the first two 
 political parties in the nation. The Federalist leaders 
 were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. 
 The Anti-Federalist leaders were Patrick Henry, Aaron 
 Burr, and Governor George Clinton of New York. Both 
 parties favored George Washington for President and the 
 contest was waged mainly to decide who should be Vice- 
 President. The chief candidates for Vice-President were 
 John Adams of the Federalists and George Clinton of the 
 Anti-Federalists. There was a deadlock in the New 
 York legislature between the Senate and the Assembly 
 of that State, and no electors were chosen, so it was that 
 New York did not participate in the election of the first 
 President of the United States. 
 
 The men of Virginia, Maryland and Georgia at this 
 election voted "viva voce," and not by ballot. They were 
 required to speak aloud the names of the candidates they 
 desired to vote for, and the clerks of election recorded the 
 voters' names and their choices in the polling book. In 
 New Jersey, the other State that voted directly, secret 
 ballots were used. 
 
 The Federalists won overwhelmingly. April 6, three 
 months later, the electors met at New York. The appor- 
 tionment of electoral votes by States was as follows : New 
 Hampshire 5, Massachusetts 10, Connecticut 7j New 
 York 8, New Jersey 6, Pennsylvania 10, Delaware 3, 
 Maryland 8, Virginia 12, North Carolina 7, South Caro- 
 lina 7, Georgia 5 — a total of 88 votes. Rhode Island had 
 been left out of the apportionment. No delegates ap- 
 peared from New York and North Carolina. Two dele- 
 gates of Maryland were absent, and there were two 
 vacancies in the Virginia delegation. The law did not 
 provide for "alternates," so the total number of electoral 
 votes cast was actually 69. 
 
 Washington received the unanimous vote for Presi- 
 dent. The following was the vote for Vice President : 
 
 ■ 3 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 John Adams of Massachusetts 34; John Jay of New- 
 York 9; Robert H. Harrison of Maryland 6; John Rut- 
 ledge of South Carolina 6; John Hancock of Massachu- 
 setts 4 ; George Clinton of New York 3 ; Samuel Hunting- 
 ton of Connecticut 2; John Milton of Georgia 2; James 
 Armstrong of Georgia 1 ; Edward Telfair of Georgia 1 ; 
 Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts 1. 
 
 John Adams therefore became first Vice President of 
 the United States. 
 
 Jan. 7 (1800)— Millard Fillmore, thirteenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, born in Cayuga County, N. Y., 
 year 1800; died at Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874. Was 
 nominated by the Whig party for Vice President in 1848 
 and elected with Zachary Taylor, the candidate for Presi- 
 dent. On the death of President Taylor, he was inaugur- 
 ated President, July 10, 1850, and served 2 years, 7 months 
 and 24 days. The chief events of his administration were 
 the passage of Henry Clay's "Omnibus Bill" (intended to 
 settle the Slavery Question) in the year 1850, the settle- 
 ment of the boundary between Texas and Mexico, the 
 second invasion of Cuba by Lopez, and the reduction of 
 letter postage to 2 cents. 
 
 Jan. 7 (1861) — Convention of seven seceding states 
 met at Jackson, Miss. First flag of the Confederacy, col- 
 loquially called "the Bonnie Blue Flag," was unfurled, 
 year 1861. 
 
 Jan. 8 (1790) — First annual Presidential message, 
 delivered in a spoken address by President Washiiagton 
 to Congress, in New York, year 1790. 
 
 Jan. 8 (1815)— Battle of New Orleans, year 1815. 
 Gen. Andrew Jackson (6,000 Americans) vs. Gen. Paken- 
 ham (10,000 British). Overwhelming American victory. 
 American loss 8 killed and 13 wounded. British loss 700 
 killed, 1,400 wounded, 500 prisoners. (See March 15, 
 Birthday of Andrew Jackson.) 
 
 Jan. 9 (1861) — Steamship Star of the West sent by 
 the Federal government from New York with supplies 
 
 4 
 
JANUARY 
 
 and re-enforcements for Fort Sumter in Charleston har- 
 bor, was fired upon by Confederate batteries at Char- 
 leston, and obliged to turn back to New York, year 1861. 
 This was actually the first military firing of the Civil 
 War. 
 
 Jan. 10 (1737)— Ethan Allen born at Litchfield, 
 Conn., year 1737; died at Burlington, Vt., in 1789. He 
 originated the usage of the word "continental" in Ameri- 
 can history. (See "Opening of the First Continental Con- 
 gress," Sept. 5, 1774.) 
 
 Jan. 10 (1870) — ^The Standard Oil Company was in- 
 corporated under the laws of the State of Ohio, at Cleve- 
 land, year 1870. The incorporators were John D. Rocke- 
 feller, Henry M. Flagler, Samuel Andrews and Stephen 
 V. Harkness (all of Cleveland), and William Rockefeller 
 of New York (a brother of John D. Rockefeller). The 
 capital stock was named as $1,000,000. John D. Rocke- 
 feller was elected president. He was the creative force 
 and ruling power in all the immense development during 
 the first thirty years of the company's existence. 
 
 Jan. 10 (1888) — Harvey process for manufacturing 
 steel armor plate patented, year 1888. 
 
 Jan. 11 (1757) — Alexander Hamilton, statesman and 
 soldier, born in the island of Nevis, West Indies, year 
 1757; died at New York, July 12, 1804. One of the most 
 brilliant statesmen of the Western Continent. He settled 
 in New York in 1772 and immediately began his public 
 career as a writer of pamphlets dealing with the great 
 political issues which culminated in the Revolution. He 
 was commissioned a captain in the Continental army in 
 1776 and immediately attracted the attention of Wash- 
 ington, who appointed him a member of his staff in 1777. 
 At this time began the rivalry with Aaron Burr which 
 lasted until his death. He was a member of the Consti- 
 tutional Convention of 1787 and was a dominating in- 
 fluence, chiefly through a series of essays which he wrote 
 — later entitled "The Federalist," published in the news- 
 
 5 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 paper The Independent Journal of New York, running 
 from October 1787 to April 1788. Washington appointed 
 him the first Secretary of the Treasury, and President 
 Adams appointed him commander-in-chief of the army in 
 1799. His rivalry with Burr reached the climax when 
 Burr challenged him to a duel. On July 11, 1804, the 
 duel was fought at Weehawken, N. J., beside the Hudson 
 River. Hamilton fell mortally wounded and died next 
 day. His body was buried in Trinity Churchyard, New 
 York, where many pause each day to contemplate the 
 monument over his grave. 
 
 Jan. 11 (1864) — The 13th Amendment to the Con- 
 stitution, abolishing slavery in the United States, was 
 offered in the United States Senate by Senator Brooks of 
 Missouri, year 1864. 
 
 Jan. "12 (1737) — ^John Hancock born at Quincy, 
 Mass., year 1737; died at Quincy, Oct 8, 1793. He was 
 president of the First Continental Congress. 
 
 Jan. 13 (1785) — Samuel Woodworth, poet, born at 
 Scituate, Mass., year 1785 ; died Dec. 9, 1842. Author of 
 "The Old Oaken Bucket." 
 
 ADOPTION OF THE FIRST WRITTEN CONSTI- 
 TUTION KNOWN TO HISTORY 
 January 14, 1639 
 
 The first written constitution framed by a people for 
 the government of themselves, in the history of the world, 
 was adopted at Hartford, Conn., on Jan. 14, 1639. This 
 first formal republic was made up of the people of the 
 three earliest towns.in the Connecticut River valley, Hart- 
 ford, Windsor and Wethersfield. The preamble was as 
 follows: „„ 
 
 I'orasmuch as it hath pleased the Almighty 
 
 God by the wise disposition of His divine provi- 
 dence so to Order and- dispose of things that we 
 the Inhabitants and residents of Windsor, Hart- 
 ford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and 
 dwelling in and upon the River of Connecticut 
 6. 
 
JANUARY 
 
 and the Lands thereunto adjoining: And well 
 knowing where a people are gathered together the 
 word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace 
 and union of such people there should be an or- 
 derly and decent Government established, accord- 
 ing to God, to order and dispose of the affayres of 
 the people at all seasons as occation shall require; 
 does therefore assotiate and conjoin ourselves to 
 be as one Publike State of Commonwealth; and 
 do, for our selves and our Successors and such as 
 shall be adjoined to us att any tyme hereafter, 
 enter into Combination and Confederation to- 
 gather, to mayntayne and presearve the liberty and 
 purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus which we 
 now profess, as also the disciplyne of the Churches, 
 which according to the truth of the said gospell is 
 now practised amongst us. As also in our Civil 
 Affaires to be guided and governed according to 
 such Lawes, Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be 
 made, ordered and decreed, as foUowCth:" 
 Then follow eleven sections, clearly instituting the 
 three great coordinate branches of republican govern- 
 ment, the executive, the legislative and the judicial. In 
 general, this constitution was a model in the minds of 
 those who framed the Constitution of the United States 
 one hundred and fifty years later. •• 
 
 Jan. 14 (1801)— The first Capitol buildings at Wash- 
 ington burned, year 1801. 
 
 Jan. 15 (1831) — First locomotive for actual use built 
 in the United States was completed at Peter Cooper's 
 iron works near Baltimore, Md., year 1831. On first trial, 
 it drew an open car in which were seated the directors of 
 the Baltimore & Ohio Ry. Co., from Baltimore to EUi- 
 cott's Mills, at the rate of 18 miles an hour. It was named 
 "Best Friend." 
 
 Jan. 15 (1865)— Fort Fisher (N. C.) captured by 
 Federals, year 1865. Union victory : Gen. Alfred H. Terry 
 
 7 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 (Union land and naval force) vs. Gen. Whiting (Con- 
 federate garrison of 2,300 men). 
 
 Jan. 16 (1826)— National Academy of Design or- 
 ganized at New York, year 1826. 
 
 Jan. 16 (1918)— Proclamation issued by Dr. Harry 
 A. Garfield, head of the Fuel Administration of the Gov- 
 ernment and indorsed by President Wilson, providing 
 that on Jan. 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 of year 1918, and on each 
 and every Monday beginning Jan. 28 and continuing up 
 to and including March 25, 1918, "no manufacturing 
 plant shall burn fuel or use power derived from fuel for 
 any purpose whatever," excepting certain classes of 
 plants engaged in producing and selling necessary food- 
 stuffs, and others that had to be operated continuously. 
 The proclamation, which came without warning, was a 
 tremendous se;nsation in the nation — more so than the 
 declaration of war against Germany. It was caused by a 
 threatened coal famine, consequent upon the extraordi- 
 narily cold and stormy winter and the so-called "break 
 down" of the railroads, which, largely because of the 
 German war, were unable to distribute normally the nec- 
 essary coal from the mines. A great outcry against Gar- 
 field was raised, but the people obeyed loyally the order, 
 and observed the dates named as national holidays up to 
 and including Monday, Feb. 11, when, mild weather hav- 
 ing come, the order was revoked. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 January 17, 1706 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was born at Boston, on Jan. 17, 
 1706; died at Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, aged eighty- 
 four years. His body was buried in the cemetery of 
 Christ Church, Philadelphia, and there his dust is now 
 lying. 
 
 His father was a maker of tallow candles and soap. 
 His mother was the daughter of Peter Folger, the Quaker 
 poet of Nantucket Island. He was sent to school at the 
 
, JANUARY 
 
 age of eight. When he was ten, he was taken from 
 school and set to work in his father's candle and soap 
 factory. He never attended again a regular school, yet he 
 became one of the best educated men in all the world's 
 history. Naturally, he did not like soap boiling, so he 
 was apprenticed to his brother to learn the trade of 
 printer, which was to his liking, and eventually he be- 
 came the most famous printer in America. He ran away 
 from his apprenticeship when he was seventeen and went 
 to Philadelphia where he opened a printing office. Later 
 he went to London, England, and remained there eight 
 years as a journeyman printer, returning to Philadelphia 
 in 1726. From this time, he steadily rose as a printer and 
 publisher. His public career began in 1736 when he was 
 made clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly. Next year 
 he became postmaster of Philadelphia. During the suc- 
 ceeding twenty years, aside from his duties as printer 
 and publisher and public official, he devoted himself to 
 scientific investigation, especially in electricity, with a 
 success that astonished the world of scholars and scien- 
 tists. In 1762 the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge 
 conferred on him the degree of LL.D. and thereafter he 
 was called "Doctor" Franklin. He was the first to 
 propose a vmion of the Colonies, in 1755. When the 
 Stamp Act controversy arose in 1765, he was sent by the 
 colonies of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Georgia and 
 New Jersey to represent them in London. He remained 
 in Europe ten years, the most striking American figure 
 on that continent. After Independence was declared, he 
 was sent as ambassador to France. His success in win- 
 ning the friendship and admiration of the French court 
 and people was amazing. Chiefly through him the alli- 
 ance with France was consummated in 1778. He re- 
 mained in France nine years. After the Revolutionary 
 War he returned home. In 1786 he was elected governor 
 of Pennsylvania. He was a leading member of the con- 
 vention that framed the Constitution of the United 
 States. 
 
 9 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES • 
 
 His biographers do not claim for him the attribute 
 of genius, but he is the supreme man of talent in Ameri- 
 can history. His life was literally an open book, for he 
 wrote in his famous "autobiography" of the intimate 
 things of his life, of his weaknesses and errors. It is 
 probably because of this frankness that he is not one of 
 the national "heroes" like Washington, Jefferson, Lin- 
 coln, men who were less talented than he, but who carried 
 the atmosphere of the mystic, and this is the first requisite 
 of an enduring character as "hero." Franklin is the man 
 of a hundred talents, a built-up man — if that description 
 conveys the idea of difference from the man of genius 
 who springs forth in a fullness, or at least in a measure of 
 extraordinary power, with apparently little experience or 
 training. He was a man of great talent in the fields of 
 abstract philosophy, concrete government, sociology, and 
 material science, and these fields envelop nearly all of 
 organized human society. 
 
 Jan. 17 (1781)— Battle of The Cowpens (S. C), year 
 1781; American victory; Gen. Daniel Morgan (1,0CX) 
 Americans) vs. Col. Tarleton (1,100 British). American 
 loss 72 killed and wounded; British loss 300 killed and 
 wounded, 450 prisoners. 
 
 Jan. 18 (1782) — Daniel Webster bom at Salisbury, 
 N. H., year 1782; died at Marshfield, Mass., Oct. 24, 1852. 
 The best known orator in American history. He and 
 Henry Clay were the leaders of the Whig Party through- 
 out its national existence, from 1834 to 1853. They both 
 died in 1852 and the party died shortly after. 
 
 Jan. 18 (1892) — Modern electric trolley system pat- 
 ented by C. J. Van de Poele, year 1892. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF ROBERT E. LEE 
 January 19, 1807 
 
 Robert Edward Lee, the chief military officer of the 
 Confederate States of America, was born in the year 
 
 10 
 
JANUARY 
 
 1807, in the .family mansion of the Lees on the Westmore- 
 land hillside of Virginia overlooking the Potomac. His 
 father was Henry Lee, famous as "Light Horse Harry" 
 of the American Revolution, the dashing dragoon and 
 brillant friend of Washington. He graduated from West 
 Point in 1829. Two years later he married Mary A. R. 
 Custis, the great granddaughter of Mrs. Custis, the 
 second wife of Washington. He served with distinction 
 in the Mexican War, being brevetted colonel for gallan- 
 try at the battle of Chapultepec. His regular rank was 
 captain at the end of that war. On March 16, 1861, less 
 than one month before the Civil War began, he was pro- 
 moted to colonel in the U. S. Army. He was, at the time, 
 looked upon as the ablest engineer in the army. 
 
 Extraordinary efforts were made by Northern states- 
 men and army officers to keep Lee on the Union side. 
 Postmaster General Blair, apparently acting for Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, immediately after the bombardment of 
 Fort Sumter, offered him the command of the Union 
 army that was to be raised. He refused. In a letter to 
 a friend he wrote, "Though opposed to secession and 
 deprecating war, I could take no part in the invasion of 
 the Southern States." Shortly after this, Virginia joined 
 the seceding States, and offered Lee the command of the 
 Virginia troops with the rank of major-general. He ac- 
 cepted. At first he was only an aide to President Davis, 
 and did not command in the first great battle, at Bull 
 Run. It was almost a year later when he was appointed 
 to command, the Army of Northern Virginia, the main 
 army of the Confederacy. He continued in command of 
 this army until he surrendered to General Grant at Ap- 
 pomattox on April 9, 1865. Though he was the foremost 
 general of the South, he was never the general-in-chief 
 of the Southern armies in the way that General Grant 
 was general-in-chief of the Northern armies, for Presi- 
 dent Davis was himself a military man, a West Point 
 gradua^te, and the actual commander-in-chief. 
 
 11 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 After the war, General Lee quietly retired to private 
 life. He accepted the presidency of Washington College 
 at Lexington, Virginia — now called Washington and 
 Lee University. He died at his home in Lexington on 
 Oct. 12, 1870, in his sixty-fourth year. His body was 
 buried beneath the chapel of the University. He was 
 marvellously loved and respected by the whole people 
 of the South. As a military commander, his only rivals 
 in American history are Washington, Grant and "Stone- 
 wall" Jackson. He revolutionized modern military 
 strategy by originating the system of long lines of 
 trenches for defense. His defense of Petersburg and 
 Richmond had been studied intensively by all the mili- 
 tary schools of Europe for fifty years prior to the great 
 German War. 
 
 Jan. 19 (1809)— Edgar Allen Poe, poet, born at 
 Boston, Mass., year 1809 ; died at Baltimore, Md., Oct. 7, 
 1849. His best known poem, "The Raven," was pub- 
 lished in 1845. 
 
 Jan. 20 (1734)— Robert Morris born, year 1734 (in 
 England), died at Philadelphia May 8, 1806. He was the 
 first great American financier, and devoted all his talents 
 to his country's cause in the American Revolution. 
 
 Jan. 21 (1824)— "Stonewall" Jackson, soldier (Gen. 
 Thomas J. Jackson), born at Clarksburg, W. Va., year 
 1824 ; shot in the night time at the battle of Chancellors- 
 ville. May 3, 1863, by his own men who fired by mistake ; 
 died near Chancellorsville, May 10, 1863. He is uni- 
 versally ranked as the ablest Confederate .commander, 
 excepting Robert E. Lee. Some military authorities say 
 he was the greatest military commander without excep- 
 tion in American history. (See Battle of Bull Run, 
 July 21.) 
 
 Jan. 22 (1895)— National Association of Manufac- 
 turers of the United States organized, at a convention in 
 Cincinnati, year 1895. Thomas P. Egan was first presi- 
 dent. 
 
 12 
 
JANUARY . 
 
 Jan. 22 (1917) — President Wilson, addressing the 
 U. S. Senate, year 1917, spoke these words : "The states- 
 men of both of the groups of nations [Quadruple Al- 
 liance and Entente allies], now arrayed against' one an- 
 other, have said, in terms that could not be misinter- 
 preted, that it was no part of the purpose they had in 
 mind to crush their antagonists. But the implications 
 of these assurances may not be equally clear to all, may 
 not be the same on both sides of the water. I think it 
 will be serviceable if I attempt to set forth what we un- 
 derstand them to be. They imply first of all that it must 
 be a peace without victory." The phrase "Peace without 
 Victory" became current throughout the world. 
 
 Jan. 23 (1845) — Act passed by Congress appointing 
 the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November to 
 be election day for members of Congress and Presi- 
 dential electors,' year 1845. 
 
 Jan. 23 (1909) — Steamship Republic, Atlantic liner, 
 was rammed and sunk by the steamship Florida, near 
 Nantucket Light Ship, year 1909. The Marconi operator. 
 Jack Binns, sent out the call "C. Q. D." (the code signal 
 then used in calling for aid) and several steamships 
 quickly answered and steamed to the spot. They saved 
 761 persons. This was the first use of wireless to save 
 lives of passengers on an ocean liner. 
 
 Jan. 24 (1838)— Samuel F. B. Morse first publicly 
 exhibited and demonstrated his code of "dots and 
 dashes," now known as the Morse alphabet code, at New 
 York University, New York, year 1838. 
 
 Jan. 24 (1848) — Gold discovered in California by 
 James Wilson Marshal at Culmua on the American river, 
 year 1848. Marshal was building a saw mill beside the 
 river when he accidentally made the discovery. He 
 profited little, and died penniless in 1855. 
 
 Jan. 25 (1787) — The United States arsenal at Spring- 
 field, Mass., was attacked by the "rebels" in Shay's Re- 
 bellion, year 1787. 
 
 13 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Jan. 25 (1830)— Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South 
 Carolina, in a tariff debate in Congress, delivered a speech 
 on -State rights and a defense of "Nullification," year 
 1830. This speech is famous as the best presentation of 
 the affirmative of "State Rights" in American history. 
 
 Jan. 26 (1830)'— Senator Daniel Webster of Massa- 
 chusetts delivered his greatest speech, on the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States in its relation to "State Rights," 
 year 1830. The speech was a reply to Senator Hayne of 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Jan. 26 (1837)— Michigan admitted into the Union, 
 year 1837. 
 
 Jan. 26 (1869)— Patent issued to Alexander L. Hol- 
 ley for "Converter" for making Bessemer steel, the first 
 in America, year 1869. 
 
 Jan. 27 (1785) — Charter granted to the University 
 of Georgia, year 1785. First State University chartered, 
 but was not opened to students until 1801. 
 
 Jan. 27 (1880) — Patent for incandescent lamp 
 granted to Thomas Alva Edison, year 1880. 
 
 Jan. 28 (1855) — Panama Railroad completed and 
 first train ran across the isthmus from ocean to ocean, 
 year 1855. 
 
 Jan. 29 (1843) — William McKinley, twenty-fifth 
 President of the United States, born at Niles, Ohio, year 
 1843. Nominated for President by the Republican party 
 and elected — electoral vote (45 States) : McKinley, 271 ; 
 W. J. Bryan (Democrat), 176. Inaugurated March 4, 
 1897. Renominated and re-elected — electoral vote (45 
 States): McKinley, 292; W. J. Bryan (Dem.), 155— 
 second inauguration March 4, 1901. The Pan-American 
 Exposition was opened at Buffalo, N. Y., May 1, 1901 
 and remained open until Nov. 1. On September 5, Presi- 
 dent McKinley attended the exposition and delivered to 
 
 14 
 
JANUARY 
 
 many thousands of visitors an address that came to be 
 regarded as the greatest speech of his career, in which 
 he outlined the future progressive poUcies of the nation. 
 Next day, Friday, September 6, he held a public recep- 
 tion in the Temple of Music of the Exposition and shook 
 hands with all who came. In the feception line was Leon 
 Czolgosz, a so-called Anarchist, who had a handkerchief 
 wrapped around his right hand, seemingly to protect a 
 wound, but in reality to conceal a revolver which he held. 
 When Czolgosz, in his turn, reached the President, at a 
 distance of three feet he fired two shots to assassinate 
 Mr. McKinley. One of the bullets penetrated the 
 stomach and lodged in the muscles of the back, and from 
 this wound, he died, on Sept. 14, at the home of John G. 
 Milburn in Buiifalo. His last words were, "It is God's 
 way. His will be done, not ours." He was buried at 
 Canton, Ohio, his home city. His murderer was tried, 
 convicted and electrocuted at Auburn, N. Y., Oct. 29, 
 1901. Aside from the assassination. President McKinley 
 will have a prominent place in American history because 
 of the Spanish War which was waged during his first 
 administration ; also because of the extraordinary liking 
 for him shown by the great mass of the nation. Perhaps 
 he was the most popular President since Washington. 
 Shortly after his death, an organization was formed to 
 perpetuate his memory. It was planned to celebrate his 
 birthday, each year, by wearing a pink carnation, and Jan- 
 uary 29 was named "Carnation Day." It is purely an un- 
 official anniversary, which is observed quietly by many 
 in all parts of the country. 
 
 The chief events of President McKinley's adminis- 
 tration were the annexation of Hawaii (1898), the 
 Spanish-American War and the acquiring of the Philip- 
 pines, Porto Rico, Wake and Guam (1898), the expedi- 
 tion under Gen. Chaffee in the Boxer Insurrection in 
 China (1900), and the Pan-American Exposition at Buf- 
 falo (1901). 
 
 15 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Jan. 29 (1861)— Kansas admitted into the Union, 
 year 1861. 
 
 Jan. 29 (1861)— John A. Dix was Secretary of the 
 Treasury in President Buchanan's administration. The 
 U. S. Revenue cutter Robert McClelland was at New 
 Orleans. Dix ordered the captain, J. G. Breshwood, to 
 sail north. The captain refused for the Civil War was 
 seen to be inevitable and the Confederates wished to 
 keep the ship. Dix, on Jan. 29, 1861, telegraphed Lieu- 
 tenant Caldwell ordering him to arrest Breshford and 
 take command of the ship. The message concluded with 
 the famous phrase, "If anyone attempts to haul down the 
 American flag, shoot him on the spot." 
 
 Jan. 30 (1835) — Attempt to assassinate President 
 Jackson, year. 1835. The President, accompanied by 
 members of his cabinet, and surrounded by members of 
 Congress, had assisted at a funeral ceremony in honor of 
 a deceased congressman, in the rotunda of the Capitol at 
 Washington. He was crossing the rotunda on his way 
 to his carriage, when a man named Richard Lawrence, a 
 house painter, stepped toward him, and at a distance of 
 eight feet leveled a pistol at him and snapped the trigger. 
 The cap exploded but the pistol was not discharged. The 
 man dropped the pistol and pulled another ; that also 
 missed fire and the assassin was knocked down and over- 
 powered. He was tried for attempted murder in April 
 of that year and adjudged insane. He stated that he be- 
 lieved the President had ruined the country, and there- 
 fore it was best to remove him, and the "powers of 
 Europe" would protect him — Lawrence. He died in an 
 asylum. 
 
 Jan. 30 (1900) — Assassination of Governor Goebel of 
 Kentucky, year 1900. 
 
 Jan. 31 (1830) — James Gillespie Blaine, born at West 
 Brownsville, Pa., year 1830; died at Washington, D. C, 
 
 16 
 
JANUARY 
 
 Jan. 27, 1893. He was the candidate of the RepubHcan 
 party for President in 1884; was defeated by Grover 
 Cleveland, candidate of the Democratic party. The elec- 
 tion was decided by the electoral vote of New York state, 
 which gave a plurality of 1,074 votes for Cleveland in the 
 popular election. This political campaign has a curious 
 interest in American history because of the phrase 
 "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" which became familiar 
 to the whole nation in that year. Rev. Samuel D. Bur- 
 chard, a Presbyterian clergyman and pastor of a congre- 
 gation in New York city, led a gathering of ministers to 
 Mr. Blaine's headquarters in New York, and, addressing 
 the Republican candidate, said: "We are Republicans, 
 and do not propose to leave our party and identify our- 
 selves with those whose antecedents have been rum, Ro- 
 manism and rebellion." Mr. Blaine did not protest 
 against this expressed sentirpent of his friend. The 
 Burchard speech was seized upon by the Democratic 
 party and alienated thousands of Roman Catholics who 
 had been friendly to Mr. Blaine. Politicians generally 
 assert that the Burchard speech defeated Blaine. 
 
 Jan. 31 (1865) — Thirteenth Amendment to the Con- 
 stitution adopted by Congress, year 1865. Its ratification 
 by twenty-seven states was announced on Dec. 18, 1865. 
 The Amendment reads: 
 
 "Section 1 — Neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude, except as a punishment for crime, 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
 shall exist within the United States, or any place 
 subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 "Section 2 — Congress shall have power to en- 
 force this article by appropriate legislation." 
 
 Jan. 31 (1917) — U. S. government received a note 
 from the German government announcing that, on the 
 coming Feb. 1, "sea traffic will be stopped with every 
 
 .17 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 available weapon and without further notice," in "barred 
 zones," around Great Britain, France, Italy and the 
 Eastern Mediterranean. This was a declaration that 
 Germany would begin again the ruthless submarine war- 
 fare against England and France, with increase of what 
 was commonly known as "frightfulness." This action of 
 the German governinent directly caused the diplomatic 
 break a few days later. 
 
 18 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 February 1 (1838) — Screw propeller for steamships 
 patented by its inventor, John Ericsson, year 1838. 
 Ericsson was a native of Sweden who came to America 
 in 1839, at the age of 35 years. He lived as an American 
 until his death in 1889. His most famous work was the 
 designing and building of the warship Monitor. (See 
 Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac, March 9.) 
 
 Feb. 2 (1819) — Treaty with Spain signed, by which 
 the United States purchased Florida for $5,000,000, year 
 1819. 
 
 Feb. 2 (1848)— Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo 
 signed by the United States and Mexico, year 1848. By 
 the terms of this treaty, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona 
 and California were formally ceded to the United States 
 upon payment of about $15,000,000. 
 
 Feb. 3 (1811) — Horace Greeley, journalist, born at 
 Amherst, N. H., year 1811; died at Pleasantville, N. Y., 
 Nov. 29, 1872. He was a Vermont farmer's son. The 
 family was very poor. The farm was sold to pay debts 
 and the elder Greeley had to work as a hired man for 
 other farmers. Horace Greeley went to the village public 
 school. That was all the school education he ever had. 
 Yet he grew to be one of the best educated men in 
 America. He became an apprentice in the trade of 
 printer when he was fifteen years old. He founded the 
 New York Tribune and for twenty years — from 1850 to 
 1870 — he was the most influential editor in America. 
 Though he was a Republican, he was nominated for 
 President by the Democratic party in 1872, in opposition 
 to President Grant. He was defeated overwhelmingly. 
 He died of brain fever, and was buried in Greenwood 
 cemetery, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 Feb. 3 (1917) — President Wilson broke diplomatic 
 relations with Germany by recalling American Ambassa- 
 
 19 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 dor James J. Gerard from Berlin and handing passports 
 to German Ambassador BernstorflE at Washington. 
 
 Feb. 4 (1824) — Congress adopted a resolution oflfer- 
 ing a ship to Marquis de Lafayette to bring him to 
 America, year 1824. He accepted and arrived at New 
 York on Aug. 15 of that year. 
 
 Feb. 4 (1861)^Convention of seven Southern states 
 met at Montgomery, Ala., to organize the government of 
 the Confederate States of America, year 1861. 
 
 Feb. 4 (1887) — The Interstate Commerce Commis- 
 sion was established, year 1887. Shelby M. Cullom of 
 Illinois was the first chairman. 
 
 Feb. 5 (1631)^Roger Williams, founder of Rhode 
 Island, arrived in America at Boston, year 1631. He was 
 the first leader of the principle of religious toleration in 
 the American colonies. 
 
 Feb. 5 (1918) — Steamship Tuscania, carrying 119 
 officers and 2,037 men of the United States army bound 
 to Europe for service in the German War, was torpedoed 
 off the north coast of Ireland by a German submarine at 
 nightfall, year 1918. The ship sank. The total loss was 
 183. This was the first troop ship carrying United States 
 soldiers that was torpedoed by the Germans. 
 
 Feb. 6 (1756) — Aaron Burr born at Newark, N. J., 
 year 1756; died at Port Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y., 
 Sept. 14, 1836; buried at Princeton, N. J. Founder of 
 what came to be known as the "political machine" in 
 American politics. A man of brilliant talent, whose 
 career stands out as a great and sad disappointment. In 
 the Presidential election of 1800, he received 73 electoral 
 votes; Jefferson received 73, and John Adams 65. The 
 House of Representatives, on the 36th ballot, elected 
 Jefferson as President, and Burr as Vice President. On 
 July 11, 1804, Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton 
 in a duel. Duelling was not thep classed by law as crim- 
 inal. He planned to establish a new empire, or else a 
 republic in Texas or Mexico. For this he was charged 
 
 20 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 with treason, tried and acquitted. But overwhelming 
 public opinion condemned him. He went to Europe, was 
 distrusted by all governments and forced to wander, and 
 was reduced to poverty. He returned to America in 
 1812, almost penniless. He settled in New York and 
 practised law there for the remainder of his life, dis- 
 trusted and feared by the public and by leading public 
 men, yet idolized by some who succumbed to his extra- 
 ordinary fascination. 
 
 Feb. 6 (1778)— The Treaty of Alliance with France 
 was signed at Paris on this date in the year 1778. The 
 American agents and signers were Benjamin Franklin, 
 Silas Deane and Arthur Lee. On the part of France, the 
 signer was Count de Vergennes, minister of foreign af- 
 fairs under King Louis XVL The American victory at 
 Saratoga in October of the preceding year was the most 
 potent influence in bringing about the treaty. (See "Sa- 
 ratoga," Oct. 7.) 
 
 Feb. 7 (1892) — Long distance telephone opened be- 
 tween New York and Chicago, year 1892. John Elbridge 
 Hudson was then president of the American Bell tele- 
 phone company. 
 
 Feb. 8 (1793) — Congress fixed the salary of the 
 President at $25,000 per annum, year 1793. 
 
 Feb. 8 (1820) — William Tecumseh Sherman, soldier, 
 born at Lancaster, Ohio, year 1820; died at New York, 
 Feb. 14, 1891. Under Grant, he was the foremost gen- 
 eral of the Union armies in the Civil War. 
 
 Feb. 8 (1861) — Congress of the Confederate States ■ 
 of America organized its government; it elected Jeffer- 
 son Davis of Mississippi provisional president, and Alex- 
 ander Stephens of Georgia provisional vice-president, 
 year 1861. The acts of the Congress were later ratified 
 by popular vote in each of the seceding states. 
 
 Feb. 9 (1773)— William Henry Harrison, ninth 
 President of the United States, born at Berkeley, Va., 
 year 1773; died at Washington, April 4, 1841, aged 68 
 
 21 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 years. He was nominated for President by the Whig 
 party in 1840, and elected. Electoral vote (26 States) : 
 Harrison, 234; Van Buren (Dem.), 48; Tames G. Birney 
 (Liberal), 11. Inaugurated Mar. 4, 1841. One month 
 later he died of pneumonia. He was colloquially known- 
 as "Tippecanoe" because of the battle at Tippecanoe, Ind., 
 in 1811, when he commanded the U. S. army that anni- 
 hilated the Indian force of Tecumseh and his brother 
 "The Prophet." 
 
 Feb. 9 (1799)-^NavaI battle between the U. S. S. 
 frigate Constellation and the French frigate Insurgente 
 near the island of Martinique, West Indies, year 1799. 
 7^.n American victory. The battle lasted about one hour and 
 fifteen minutes. The Insurgente was badly damaged and 
 surrendered. The French loss was 70 men killed and 
 wounded; the American lost 2 killed and 3 wounded. This 
 was the most important battle in the pseudo war between 
 the United States and France. 
 
 Feb. 9 (1814)— Samuel Jones Tilden born at New 
 Lebanon, Conn., year 1814; died at his country home, 
 "Greystone," near Yonkers, N. Y., Aug. 4, 1886. Was 
 nominated for President by the Democratic party in 1876. 
 Tilden received a popular plurality of 251,000 votes over 
 Hayes, the Republican candidate, in the 37 states, but the 
 electoral vote of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina 
 was claimed by both parties. Congress appointed an 
 "Electoral Commission" of fifteen members to canvass 
 the vote. This commission reported, on March 2, 1877, 
 that Mr. Hayes had received 185 electoral votes and Mr. 
 Tilden 184 electoral votes. So Mr. Hayes was inaugur- 
 ated President three days later, on March 5th. In that 
 year, March 4th fell on Sunday. (See March 4.) 
 
 Feb. 9 (1870)— Weather Bureau was established by 
 Congress, year 1870. 
 
 Feb. 10 (1763)— First treaty of Paris signed, year 
 1763. End of the Old French and Indian War (lasted 
 1754 to 1763). Canada was ceded by France to England. 
 
 22 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 o 
 
 Feb. 11 (1735) — Daniel Boone, pioneer, born in 
 Bucks County, Pa., year 1735; died at Charette, Mo., 
 Sept. 26, 1820. Leader of the pioneers who settled Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 Feb. 11 (1847) — Thomas A. Edison, inventor, born 
 at Milan, Ohio, year 1847. 
 
 Feb. 12 (1733) — Gen. James Oglethorpe and thirty- 
 five families from England, Ireland and Scotland, landed 
 from the ship Ann at the site of Savannah, and settled 
 the Colony of Georgia, year 1733. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 February 12, 1809 
 
 In 1859, at the beginning of the campaign by Mr. 
 Lincoln's friends in Illinois to nominate him for the presi- 
 dency, in response to their urging, he, Mr. Lincoln, wrote 
 a short autobiography of himself, which begins as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, 
 Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of 
 undistinguished families — second families, perhaps I 
 should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was 
 of a faihily of the name of Hanks, some of whom now 
 reside in Adams, and others in Macon counties, Illinois. 
 My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated 
 from Rockingham County, Va., to Kentucky, about 1781 
 or 2 where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, 
 not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to 
 open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
 Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsyl- 
 vania. An effort to identify them with the New England 
 family of the same name ended in nothing more definite 
 than a similarity of Christian names in both families, 
 such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solonion, Abraham and 
 the like." 
 
 Lincoln's story of his life is one of the most modest 
 autobiographies ever written by a great man. 
 
 23 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 He tells, "when I came of age, I did not know much. 
 Still, somehow I could read, write and cipher to the Rule 
 of Three ; but that was all." 
 
 He was raised to farm work, in Kentucky, until he 
 was 21 years old. Then he removed to Macon County, 
 Illinois, and continued farm work. Next year he got a 
 place as a clerk in a general country store at Salem, Illi- 
 nois. When the Black Hawk Indian war broke out he 
 was elected a captain of volunteers and went through the 
 campaign. At the end of the war, he ran for the legis- 
 lature of Illinois, but was beaten — "the only time I was 
 ever beaten by the people," he remarks. He ran again, 
 and was elected, and reelected twice — serving three terms 
 at Springfield, the capital. During the period he studied 
 law. From this time onward, he steadily rose, as a 
 lawyer and orator. He closed his autobiography with 
 the following: "If any personal description of me is 
 thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet 
 four inches, nearly ; lean in flesh, weighing on an average 
 one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with 
 coarse black hair, and gray eyes — no other marks or 
 brands recollected." 
 
 He omitted to record the important fact that he 
 married in 1842, Miss Mary Todd. Four children were 
 born, of whom only the oldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, 
 lived to maturity. 
 
 He did not consider it necessary to refer to the other 
 great fact that he was a candidate for the U. S. Senate 
 against Stephen A. Douglas, in 1858, and in this contest, 
 had met his opponent in a series of seven debates during 
 September and October, on the question of Slavery. This 
 is the most famous debating contest in our history. 
 Though Lincoln received more popular votes than Doug- 
 las— 125,430 to 121,609, he was defeated, because of pecu- 
 liarities in apportionment of the legislative districts. 
 This campaign made him the leader of the anti-slavery, 
 or rather the anti-secession cause in the nation. 
 
 24 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 He was nominated for President by the Republican 
 national convention at Chicago on May 16, 1860. The 
 Democratic party nominated Stephen A. Douglas. Two 
 other parties nominated candidates. The result was as 
 
 follows : 
 
 Popular Vote 
 
 Lincoln (Republican) 1,857,610 
 
 Douglas (Democrat) 1,365,976 
 
 Breckenridge (National Democrat 
 
 or Southern) 847,953 
 
 Bell (Constitutional Union) 590,631 
 
 Electoral Vote 
 
 Lincoln 180 
 
 Breckenridge .- -72 
 
 Bell 39. 
 
 Douglas 12 
 
 Eleven days after the election, in November, 1860, 
 South Carolina adopted the "Ordinance of Secession." 
 
 Five weeks after the inauguration of President Lin- 
 coln, on March 4, 1861, the Civil War began. 
 
 He was shot by the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, in 
 Ford's Theatre, Washington, on the evening of April 14, 
 1865, and died next morning, aged 56 years. His remains 
 were buried at Springfield, 111. 
 
 All civilized peoples of the world love him and revere 
 him as one of the greatest men that ever lived. (See 
 April 14, "Assassination"; June 3, "Jefferson Davis"; 
 Sept. 22, "Emancipation" ; Oct. 15, "Lincoln Monument" ; 
 Nov. 19, "Gettysburg Speech," and Dec. 3, "Lincoln- 
 McClellan.") 
 
 Feb. 12 (1873) — Passage by Congress of an act "de- 
 monetizing" silver, year 1873. By this act, the standard 
 silver dollar of 412^/^ grains was dropped from the list of 
 authorized coins. In its place was substituted the "trade 
 dollar" of 420 grains, for use mostly in the China trade ; 
 a total of $35,965,944 in this coin was issued from the 
 
 25 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 mints. In 1878, the coinage of the silver dollar was re- 
 sumed. 
 
 Feb. 13 (1741) — The American Magazine, the first 
 magazine published on the Western Continent, appeared 
 at Philadelphia, year 1741. Three days later Benjamin 
 Franklin brought out The General Magazine. The 
 idea was entirely Franklin's. He was preparing to issue 
 his magazine, and spoke of it unguardedly; one of his 
 hearers stole the idea and hurriedly got out a magazine 
 ahead of Franklin. The thief was well punished, for 
 The American Magazine died with its third number 
 when the proprietor was bankrupt. Franklin's magazine 
 failed after six months. 
 
 Feb. 13 (1776) — James Wilson, member of the 
 Second Continental Congress, offered in the Congress an 
 address to the people proposing and discussing political 
 separation from England, year 1776. This was the first 
 open proposal, in the Congress, of American indepen- 
 dence. The members received it coldly; it was "laid up- 
 on the table" and thus was suppressed. Two months 
 later, on April 12, North Carolina instructed its delegates 
 to vote for independence. The other Colonies followed. 
 
 Feb. 13 (1795) — University of North Carolina 
 opened to students, year 1795. This was the first State 
 university actually opened to students. The universities 
 of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Vermont and Tennessee were 
 chartered prior to the North Carolina institution, but 
 were not opened for general university students until 
 after 1795. 
 
 Feb. 14 (1778)— Flag of the United States, Stars and 
 Stripes, first seen and saluted in foreign waters at Quibe- 
 ron, Prance, year 1778. It was flown from the peak of 
 the U. S. S. Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones. 
 
 Feb. 14 (1876)— Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha 
 Gray, each on this date in the year 1876, filed in Wash- 
 ington separate applications for a patent on a speaking 
 telephone. The Bell application was filed a few hours 
 
 26 
 
FEBRUARy 
 
 earlier than the other and the patent was granted to Bell. 
 Later, Gray brought suit against Mr. Bell, alleging that 
 Gray had filed at the Patent Office a caveat prior to the 
 Bell application, in which caveat the Gray telephone was 
 described, and, from this caveat, by accident or fraud — 
 so Gray alleged — Bell received the knowledge which en- 
 abled him to perfect the Bell instrument and file his ap- 
 plication for patent ahead of Gray. Upon trial of the 
 case, the lower court dismissed the charges against Bell 
 and, in 1888, the U. S. Supreme Court confirmed the Bell 
 patent. 
 
 Feb. 14 (1912) — Arizona was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1912. 
 
 Feb. 15 (1898) — U. S. Battleship Maine was sunk in 
 the harbor of Havana, Cuba, Feb. 15, 1898, following an 
 explosion at 9:49 o'clock at night, of a submarine mine 
 outside the ship and the partial explosion of two or more 
 magazines within the ship. The ship sank to the bottom 
 of the harbor, within fifteen minutes, in 33 feet of water. 
 Of the 350 men and officers on board at the time of the 
 explosion, 250 were lost. The sinking of the Maine was 
 a proximate cause of the War with Spain. The primary 
 cause of the War was the struggle of the people of Cuba 
 for their liberty. 
 
 Feb. 16 (1862) — Surrender of Fort Donelson, Tenn., 
 by the Confederates (Gen. Floyd, 15,000 men) to a Union 
 army (Gen. Grant, 15,000 men), year 1862. The siege 
 lasted only four days. The actual surrender was made 
 by Gen. Simon B. Buckner, who assumed the command 
 relinquished by General Floyd. The number of prisoners 
 taken by Grant was 13,000. The Union loss in killed and 
 wounded and missing was 3,300; the Confederate killed 
 and wounded and missing numbered 2,000. On the morh- 
 ing of the surrender. General Buckner wrote a letter to 
 Grant proposing an armistice to discuss terms of sur- 
 render. Grant replied: "No terms except an uncondi- 
 tional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I pro- 
 
 27 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 pose to move immediately on your works." Thereafter, 
 the people of the North nick-named their general, "Un- 
 conditional Surrender Grant." 
 
 Feb. 17 (1801) — The House of Representatives 
 elected Thomas Jefferson President, year 1801. There 
 were three Candidates at the popular election in Novem- 
 ber, 1800. Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received 73 
 electoral votes, and John Adams 65. As no candidate 
 had received a majority, the election was thrown into the 
 House of Representatives, where the Adams strength 
 was given to Jefferson and he was elected on the 36th 
 ballot. (See Birthday of Thomas Jefferson, April 2 [New 
 Style, April 13] and Aaron Burr, Feb. 6.) 
 
 Feb. 18 (1861) — Jefferson Davis was inaugurated 
 President of the Confederate States of America, at Mont- 
 gomery, Ala., year 1861. 
 
 Feb. 19 (1803) — Ohio was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1803. 
 
 Feb. 19 (1878)— Phonograph patent to Thomas Alva 
 Edison, year 1878. 
 
 Feb. 20 (1829) — Joseph Jefferson, actor, born at 
 Philadelphia, year 1829; died at Palm Beach, Fla., April 
 23, 1905. His most famous characterization was "Rip Van 
 Winkle" in the play of that name, dramatized by himself 
 and Dion Boucicault from Washington Irving's tale, in 
 the year 1865. 
 
 Feb. 20 (1915)— The Panama-Pacific International 
 Exposition at San Francisco was opened, year 1915. It 
 closed on Dec. 4, 1915. The total attendance was 
 18,871,957. The profit was about $2,000,000. 
 
 Feb. 21 (1885) — Washington Monument at Wash- 
 ington, D. C, dedicated, year 1885. In that year Wash- 
 ington's birthday fell on Sunday so the dedication cere- 
 monies were set for Saturday, Feb. 21. It is a gray 
 granite obelisk, 555 feet high. The corner stone was laid 
 on July 4, 1848. 
 
 28 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 Feb. 21 (1901)— The United States Steel Corpora- 
 tion was incorporated in New Jersey, year 1901. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 February 22 (1732) 
 
 George Washington was born in a plain wooden 
 farmhouse on a farm called "Wakefield," in Westmore- 
 land County, Virginia, on Feb. 22, 1732. His father was 
 a prosperous farmer, or "planten," named Augustine. 
 His mother was Mary Ball before her marriage. George 
 was the oldest of six children, four sons and two daugh- 
 ters. He had also three half-brothers and a half-sister, 
 the children of his father's first wife. 
 
 Washington's great-grandfather, John Washington, 
 emigrated to Virginia, from England, in 1658. The 
 family was of the landed proprietor class, of the north of 
 England, probably of the gentry, though this has never 
 been proved. His mother's family, descended from Col. 
 William Ball of Kent, England, who came to Virginia in 
 1650, was indisputably aristocratic. 
 
 When George was twelve years old, his father died. 
 Hardly anything is known of his boyhood. The story of 
 the hatchet and cherry tree, and others featuring him as 
 a youth of marvellous strength and dexterousness, were 
 first told by Rev. Macon S. Weems, an Episcopal clergy- 
 man, who wrote the first "Life of Washington," which 
 was published in the year 1800. This book had a tre- 
 mendous sale. More than fifty editions were printed. 
 But the author evidently allowed his imagination full 
 sway. Competent historians nowadays regard the 
 Weems tales, including the cherry-tree story, as fictions. 
 
 It is known that he was employed by Lord Fairfax 
 as surveyor at the age of sixteen. He got his first mili- 
 tary appointment at the age of nineteen — that of adju- 
 tant of the Virginia troops with the rank of major. Two 
 years later, in 1753, he was named Commander-in-chief 
 of the Virginia forces in the French and Indian War 
 
 29 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 (see battle of Ft. Duquesne, July 9, 1755). At the end of 
 the war, in 1758, he married Martha Custis, widow of 
 David Parke Custis, and brought her to live at Mount 
 Vernon, overlooking the Potomac River. Here he lived 
 quietly for seven years, engaged in the work of his plan- 
 tation. Pie owned a large number of slaves, and became 
 wealthy. At the. passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, he 
 was aroused and entered public life. From that time 
 until his death, the biography of Washington is part of 
 the history of America! The main events in the chronol- 
 ogy of his later public life are as follows (he commanded 
 personally in the battles) : 
 
 Member of the First Continental Congress. . .Sept., 1774 
 Member of the Second Continental Congress. .May, 1775 
 Appointed Commander-in-chief of American Armies 
 
 of the Revolution July 3, 1775 
 
 Battle of Long Island Aug. 27, 1776 
 
 Battle of Harlem Sept. 16, 1776 
 
 Battle of White Plains Oct. 28, 1776 
 
 Battle of Trenton Dec. 26, 1776 
 
 Battle of Princeton Jan. 3, 1777 
 
 Battle of Brandywine Sept. 11, 1777 
 
 Battle of Germantown Oct. 4, 1777 
 
 Valley Forge Winter of 1777-1778 
 
 Battle of Monmouth June 28, 1778 
 
 Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown Oct. 19, 1781 
 
 Elected president of the Constitutional Convention 
 
 at Philadelphia May 14, 1787 
 
 Inaugurated President of the United States. Apr. 30, 1789 
 Reelected President in 1792 and reinaugurated 
 
 on March 4, 1793 
 
 Farewell address to the People of the United States 
 
 issued Sept. 17, 1796 
 
 Died at Mount Vernon, Va., at the age of 67 years, 
 
 Dec. 14, 1799 
 
 In 1783, immediately after the end of the Revolu- 
 tionary War, Congress ordered that a statue be erected 
 
 30 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 "in honor of George Washington, the illustrious Com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Armies of the United States of 
 America during the war which vindicated and secured 
 their liberty, sovereignty, and independence." Political 
 rancor, which arose after the war, prevented, for many 
 years the execution of this order of Congress. The 
 corner-stone of the great monument at Washington was 
 not laid until July 4, 1848. It was dedicated on Feb. 21, 
 1885, more than 100 years after the resolution providing 
 for it was adopted. 
 
 Forty-two painters and sculptors are recorded as 
 creators of likenesses and statues of Washington. The 
 first portrait painted, so far as is known, was by Charles 
 W. Peale, begun in 1778. The best-known statue is the 
 one by Jean Antoine Houdon, modeled early in the Revo- 
 lution. The marble statue, made later from that model, is 
 now in the Virginia State Capitol at Richmond. This is 
 the likeness copied upon the 2-cent postage stamp of the 
 United States Government. 
 
 Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, in his introduction to 
 his volume, "George Washington," writes these words: 
 
 "Behind the popular myths, behind the statuesque 
 figure of the orator and the preacher, behind the general 
 and the president and the historian, there was a strong, 
 vigorous man, in whose veins ran warm, red blood, in 
 whose heart were stormy passions and deep sympathy 
 for humanity, in whose brains were far-reaching 
 thoughts, and who was informed throughout his being 
 with a resistless will. The veil of his silence is not often 
 lifted, and never intentionally, but now and then there is 
 a glimpse behind it; and in stray sentences and in little 
 incidents strenuously gathered together; above all in the 
 right interpretation of the words and the deeds, and the 
 true history known to all men — we can surely find George 
 Washington, the noblest figure that ever stood in the 
 forefront of a nation's life." 
 
 Feb. 22 (1819) — James Russell Lowell, poet, essayist 
 31 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 and diplomat, born at Cambridge, Mass., year 1819; died 
 at Cambridge, Aug. 12, 1891. He was the first editor of 
 the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, founded in 1857,. by 
 Emerson, Holmes, Longfellow and Lowell. His best 
 known poems are "The Vision of Sir Launfal" (1845) 
 and the "Biglow Papers" (1845), a series of satiric 
 Yankee dialect poems which had an immense vogue. In 
 the prelude to the first part of "The Vision of Sir Laun- 
 fal" is the popular couplet : 
 
 "What is so rare as a day in June? . 
 
 Then, if ever, come perfect days." 
 
 Feb. 22 (1913) — Francisco Indalecio Madero, Presi- 
 dent of Mexico and deposed by revolutionists, was shot 
 by agents of the de facto government under Gen. Victo- 
 riano Huerta the provisional president. The officials ex- 
 plained that Madero was being transferred from the 
 National Palace to the penitentiary in the City of 
 Mexico, in the night time, when an attempt was made 
 by his partizans to rescue him, and, in the melee, he was 
 accidentally killed. The civilized world was shocked by 
 the manner of his death. Few believed the story told 
 by the Huerta officials. Overwhelming evidence was 
 offered to prove that he was murdered by his guards by 
 order of the high Huerta officials. The death of Madero 
 marks the beginning of the active chain of events which 
 led to the crisis of 1916, when the United States and 
 Mexico were on the brink of war. 
 
 Feb. 23 (1839) — Express business first started, year 
 1839. The first "express package carrier" was William 
 Frederick Harnden of Boston, Mass. He made his first 
 trip from Boston to New York, having only packages 
 enough to fill an ordinary valise. In a few months he 
 employed two messengers and extended his service to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Feb. 23 (1847) — Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, year 
 1847. General Zachary Taylor (5,400 Americans) vs. 
 
 32 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 General Santa Anna (20,000 Mexicans) . Complete Amer- 
 ican victory. 
 
 Feb. 24 (1779) — Capture of Vincennes, Ind., by Col. 
 George R. Clarke, year 1779, thus bringing into posses- 
 sion of the United States the great division that is now 
 Indiana and Illinois. 
 
 Feb. 24 (1855) — Court of Claims established by Con- 
 gress, year 1855. 
 
 Feb. 24 (1868) — Bill to impeach President Johnson 
 introduced in Congress by Thaddeus Stevens, Republican 
 leader of the House of Representatives and friend of the 
 negro race, year 1868. President Johnson, at the end of 
 the trial which followed, was acquitted. Stevens died in 
 August of the same year. He was buried in an humble 
 cemetery at Lancaster, Pa., which cemetery did not bar 
 negroes from interment. The' following epitaph was 
 placed upon his tombstone : "I repose in this quiet and 
 secluded spot, not from any preference for solitude, but 
 finding other cemeteries limited by charter rules as to 
 race, I have chosen it that I might be enabled to illustrate 
 in my death the principles which I have advocated 
 through a long life^ — the equality of man before his Crea- 
 tor." 
 
 Feb. 25 (1639) — First popular assembly in Mary- 
 land, chosen by the people to legislate for themselves, 
 met at St. Mary's on the Potomac, year 1639. (See 
 March 25.) 
 
 Feb. 25 (1746) — Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, sol- 
 dier and diplomat, born at Charleston, S. C, year 1746; 
 died at Charleston, Aug. 16, 1825. He served as aide to 
 Washington in the War of the Revolution, was minister 
 to France in 1796-1797, was the Federalist candidate for 
 President in 1804 and 1808. He is erroneously famous as 
 the alleged author of the phrase, "Millions for Defense 
 but Not a Cent for Tribute !" 
 
 In 1797, President John Adams sent to France three 
 special envoys — John Marshall, Charles C. Pinckney and 
 
 33 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Elbridge Gerry, to settle, if possible, the difficulties with 
 the so-called "Directory" government of France. At that 
 time Talleyrand was the minister of foreign affairs of 
 France— a notoriously unscrupulous man. The Ameri- 
 can envoys were treated with contempt at Paris. After a 
 time one of Talleyrand's agents approached them with a 
 dishonest proposition, offering to bring about a settle- 
 ment between France and the United States if the Ameri- 
 cans would agree to make a loan to the French govern- 
 ment and also secretly deliver the sum of $220,000 as a 
 douceur (in fact a bribe) to the French minister. The 
 Americans indignantly refused. Pinckney roared at Tal- 
 leyrand's agent, "No! Not a sixpence!" Marshall and 
 Pinckney returned to America, having accomplished 
 nothing. When the story of Talleyrand's duplicity be- 
 came known, a wave of wrath swept over the United 
 States. On June 18, 1798, the members of Congress gave 
 a dinner to John Marshall at O'Eller's Tavern in Phila- 
 delphia. There is a record • of sixteen formal toasts 
 offered at this dinner. Toast No. 13 was, "Millions for 
 Defense but Not a Cent for Tribute." This toast, which 
 was entirely new, turned out to be the event of the 
 dinner. It is not known who replied to it, though it is 
 likely that the speaker was Congressman Robert G. Har- 
 per of South Carolina. Late in life, General Pinckney 
 was asked if it was true that he had used the phrase in 
 replying to Talleyrand's agent at Paris. He said: "I 
 never used any such expression. Mr. Robert Goodloe 
 Harper did at a public meeting. I never did." He was 
 further asked : "Did you ever correct the report of Mr. 
 Harper's speech, General?" 
 
 "No, sir. The nation adopted the expression and I 
 always thought there would have been more ostentation 
 in denying than in submitting to the report. The nation 
 adopted it." (See New York Evening Post, year 1871.) 
 
 It is evident that Harper, in his speech, credited the 
 saying to Pinckney. It may be surmised that some un- 
 
 34 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 known member of the committee that arranged the din- 
 ner at O'Eller's Tavern, wrote the phrase for the program 
 of toasts, merely as he wrote the other fifteen sentiments, 
 and sent the copy to the printer, or to the speaker as- 
 signed to toast No. 13. He had no thought whatever of 
 the fame by error that he was to put on General Pinckney. 
 
 Feb. 25 (1781)— Bank of the United States estab- 
 lished at Philadelphia, year 1781. The first president of 
 the bank was Thomas Willing, a partner of Robert Mor- 
 ris, the financier of the Revolution. 
 
 Feb. 25 (1836) — First patent for a revolver granted 
 to Samuel Colt, inventor, year 1836. The new weapon 
 was used with great efi^ect by the Texans that same year 
 in winning their independence from Mexico. 
 
 Feb. 25 (1913) — Sixteenth Amendment to the Con- 
 stitution adopted. It reads: "The Congress shall have 
 power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever 
 source derived, without apportionment among the sev- 
 eral States, and without regard to any census or enumer- 
 ation." 
 
 Feb. 25 (1917) — Cunard steamship Laconia, 18,000 
 tons, bound from New York to Liverpool year 1917, car- 
 rying a cargo of food stuffs, cotton and war material and 
 seventy-three passengers, was torpedoed by a German 
 submarine off the southwest coast of Ireland, at 10.30 
 p. m. and sank in forty minutes. Two of the passengers 
 and four of the crew were Americans. One of the pas- 
 sengers died. All others were saved. This was the first 
 deliberate act of war by Germany against the United 
 States after the severance of diplomatic relations, and it 
 led directly to the later declaration of war by the United 
 States. 
 
 Feb. 26 (1869)— The Fifteenth Amendment to the 
 Constitution was adopted by Congress, year 1869. Vote 
 in House — 145 ayes, 44 noes. Vote in Senate — 39 ayes, 
 13 noes. The Amendment was afterwards ratified by 
 
 3S 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 thirty States. It was rejected by California, Delaware, 
 Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey and Oregon. New 
 York ratified, but rescinded the ratification in 1870. Ten- 
 nessee did not act upon it. The required three-fourths 
 having ratified, the Amendment was proclaimed on 
 March 30, 1870. It reads as follows : 
 
 "Article XV, Sec. 1. The right of the citizens 
 of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
 abridged by the United States or by any State on 
 account of race, color, or previous condition of 
 servitude. 
 
 "Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to 
 enforce the provisions of this article by approp- 
 riate legislation." 
 
 Feb. 27 (1807)— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
 poet, born at Portland, Me., year 1807; died at Cam- 
 bridge, Mass., March 24, 1882. Recognized by a majority 
 of American educators as the most popular, if not the 
 greatest of American poets of the 19th century. 
 
 Feb. 28 (1827) — Charter granted by the legislature 
 of Maryland to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, 
 the first railroad in America, year 1827. The petition 
 stated that it was proposed "to construct a double track 
 railroad between the city of Baltimore and some point on 
 the Ohio River by the most eligible and direct route." 
 One month later the company wis organized with Philip 
 Evan Thomas as president. The work of construction 
 was commenced by laying a cornerstone on July 4, 1828. 
 
 Feb. 29 (1704)— Deerfield (Mass.) massacre, year 
 1704. Three hundred French and Indians from Canada 
 surprised the New England garrison in the night, killed 
 47 of the inhabitants, burned the town, and carried away 
 120 captives through the northern wilderness. One of 
 the objects of the raid was to get possession of a bell 
 which hung over the Deerfield meeting house. This bell 
 had been shipped from France, intended for the CathoHc 
 
 36 
 
FEBRUARY 
 
 church in the little Indian village of Caughnawaga near 
 Montreal, but the ship was captured by a New England 
 privateer and taken to Boston with all its cargo. The bell 
 was sold to the Deerfield congregation, the members of 
 which did not know that it was valued as sacred by the 
 pastor of the Canadian Indian village and his flock. The 
 bell was borne to Caughnawaga where it still hangs. 
 
 37 
 
MARCH 
 
 March 1 (1780) — Bank of Pennsylvania, the first 
 bank in the United States, was chartered, year 1780. 
 
 Mar. 1 (1837) — William Dean Howells born at Mar- 
 tin's Ferry, Ohio, year 1837. The foremost American 
 novelist of the Jast half of the 19th century. He was ap- 
 pointed by President Lincoln consul to Venice, Italy, 
 where he lived from 1861 to 1865. Much of his work has 
 Italian coloring. His best known novels are : "A Fore- 
 gone Conclusion" (1874); "A Modern Instance" (1883), 
 and "The Rise of Silas Lapham" (1885). 
 
 Mar. 1 (1845) — ^Act of Congress passed and signed 
 by President Tyler, admitting Texas into the Union, 
 year 1845. 
 
 Mar. 1 (1867) — Nebraska was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1867. 
 
 Mar. 2 (1793) — Samuel Houston, pioneer, soldier 
 and statesman, born at Timber Ridge Church, Va., year 
 1793 ; died at Huntsville, Texas, July 26, 1863. He w:as 
 the leader in the rebellion of Texas against Mexico and 
 was the first president of the Republic of Texas (1836- 
 1838). He was governor of the State of Texas, 1859- 
 1861. His birthday is observed as a holiday in Texas. 
 
 MISSOURI COMPROMISE ACT PASSED BY THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AT 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 March 2, 1820 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1820, there were twenty- 
 two states in the Union. Of these, ten permitted slavery. 
 In January, 1819, a bill had been introduced to admit 
 Missouri as a State, without restrictions, as all other 
 States had been admitted after the adoption of the Con- 
 stitution. But the anti-slavery movement had grown 
 powerful in the North, and a New York congressman 
 offered an amendment to the Missouri Statehood bill 
 
 39 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 providing that "the further introduction of slavery, or in- 
 voluntary servitude be prohibited." The Southern mem- 
 bers, led by Henry Clay of Kentucky, opposed the amend- 
 ment, saying it was unconstitutional. After a stormy 
 debate, it passed the House by a vote of 97 to 56. But 
 the Senate threw out the amendment and passed the Mis- 
 souri Statehood bill without any slavery restriction. 
 Then the House, by vote, refused to concur with the 
 Senate and so the bill was lost, and Congress adjourned, 
 in 1819, without admitting Missouri. 
 
 In the political campaign which followed in autumn 
 of that year, the whole country was plunged in a discus- 
 sion of the slavery question — the first campaign in which 
 it was a nation-wide issue. 
 
 In the meantime the District of Maine, which was a 
 part of Massachusetts, applied for admission as a State. 
 When Congress met again in Dec. 1819, Henry Clay 
 argued that if Maine was to be admitted without Festric- 
 tions, so ought Missouri. But the House voted to admit 
 Maine, without. Missouri. In January, 1820, began a 
 great debate in the Senate. The Southern senators 
 wanted to admit Maine and Missouri together, without 
 restrictions. They_ agreed to an amendment conceding 
 that slavery in the future should be forever barred from 
 "all the territory ceded by France to the United States, 
 under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty- 
 six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, excepting only 
 such part thereof, as, included within the limits of the 
 State contemplated by this act" (Missouri). This amend- 
 ment passed the Senate by a vote of 34 to 10. 
 
 The House refused to concur, and passed another 
 bill admitting Missouri and prohibiting slavery in that 
 State. This was sent to the Senate, which voted it down. 
 Thus there was a deadlock between the two houses. 
 
 Finally, a joint committee, dominated by Henry 
 Clay, compromised the differences, and recommended 
 that the Senate give up its purpose to bar out Maine un- 
 
 40 
 
MARCH 
 
 less Missouri be admitted unconditionally; that the 
 House give up insisting on the exclusion of slavery from 
 Missouri; and that both houses pass the bill admitting 
 slavery to Missouri, but shutting it out from all the rest 
 of Louisiana Territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes 
 north latitude. These three propositions constitute what 
 is known as "The Missouri Compromise." The House 
 passed the bills constituting the "Compromise" Act by 
 the close vote of 90 to 87, on March 2, 1820. The Senate 
 adopted them next day almost unanimously. President 
 Monroe signed them a few days later. The new boun- 
 dary of slavery was far south of Mason and Dixon's line. 
 Maine was formally admitted on March 15, 1820, but 
 Missouri was not actually admitted until Aug. 10, 1821, 
 after her people had ratified the Act. 
 
 The Missouri Compromise Act was repealed in 1854, 
 and its repeal was one of the prime causes of the Civil 
 War. 
 
 Mar. 2 (1867) — U. S. Department of Education 
 (later changed to "Bureau") was established by Con- 
 gress, year 1867. Senator Charles Symner of Massachu- 
 setts, in the debate, strongly favored placing the head of 
 this Department in the Cabinet. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1815) — -War declared against Algiers, year 
 1815. Commodore Stephen Decatur was sent in com- 
 mand of a squadron of ten warships to attack the strong 
 Algerian naval force in the Mediterranean. The squadron 
 sailed on. May 20, captured the largest of the Algerian 
 ships on June 17 after a bloody battle, and another Al- 
 gerian ship two days later. Then the American squadron 
 appeared before Algiers prepared to bombard the city. 
 The Bey of Algiers at once gave up and signed the treaty 
 presented by Decatur, on June 30 — thus ending a short 
 war. 
 
 In April, 1816, Commodore Decatur, at a banquet in 
 Norfolk, Va., gave the following toast : "Our Country ! 
 In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always 
 be in the right ; but our country, right or wrong !" This 
 
 41 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 expression afterwards became a national slogan in the 
 United States. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1820)— Bill admitting Maine into the Union 
 passed by Congress, year 1820. Admitted March 15. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1845)— Florida was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1845. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1851)— National Soldiers' Home at Wash- 
 ington established by Congress, year 1851. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1851)— Letter postage reduced to 3 cents for 
 3,000 miles or less; over 3,000 miles double rate, year 
 1851. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1873) — Congress passed the act increasing 
 the salary of the President from $25,000 a year to $50,000 
 a year, year 1873. 
 
 Mar. 3 (1899) — First use of wireless telegraphy to 
 save life, following a marine disaster, year 1899. It was 
 the steamship R. F. Mathews that ran into the East 
 Goodwin 1( England) lightship during a fog. The accident 
 was reported to the shore by Marconi wireless, and life- 
 boats went to the rescue and saved the crews. 
 
 Mar. 4 ( 1 79 1)-» Vermont admitted into the Union, 
 year 1791. 
 
 INAUGURATION DAY 
 March 4 
 President Washington was inaugurated on this date 
 for his second term (beginning March 4, 1793), and all 
 the other presidents except four who were inaugurated 
 on March 5th because March 4th fell on Sunday: The 
 four exceptions were President Monroe (second term, 
 1821), President Taylor (1849), President Hayes (1877), 
 and President Wilson (second term, 1917). President 
 Hayes took the oath of office in a private ceremony on 
 Saturday, March 3, 1877, and was formally inaugurated 
 on the following Monday. President Wilson took the 
 oath for his second term on Sunday, March 4. The usual 
 inauguration parade took place next day. 
 
 The question as to whether, in the event of March 
 4th falling on Sunday at the beginning of a presidential 
 
 42 
 
MARCH 
 
 term, there be an interregnum of one full day in the of- 
 fice, was first brought by John Quincy Adams when he 
 was Secretary of State in Monroe's first term, and applied 
 for a dictum from the Supreme Court to guide the manner 
 of inaugurating President Monroe for his second term. 
 Chief Justice John Marshall in a letter to Secretary 
 Adams, said: 
 
 "As the Constitution only provides that the Presi- 
 dent shall take the oath it prescribes 'before he enters on 
 the execution of his office,' and as the law is silent on the 
 subject, the time seems to be in some measure at the dis- 
 cretion of that high officer. There is an obvious pro- 
 priety in taking the oath as soon as it can conveniently be 
 taken, and thereby shortening the interval in which the 
 executive power is suspended. But some interval is in- 
 evitable. . The time of the actual President will . expire, 
 and that of the President-elect commence at 12 in the 
 night of the 3rd of March. It has been usual to take the 
 oath at midday on the 4th. Thus, there has been uni- 
 formly and voluntarily an interval of twelve hours during 
 which the executive power could not be exercised. . . . 
 Undoubtedly on any pressing emergency the President 
 might take the oath in the first hour of the 4th of March. 
 ... If any circumsance should render it unfit to take the 
 oath on the 4th of March, and the public business would 
 sustain no injury by^its being deferred till the 5th, no im- 
 propriety is perceived in deferring it till the 5th. Whether 
 the fact that the 4th of March comes this year on Sunday 
 be such a circumstance may, perhaps, depend very much 
 on public opinion and feeling. . . ." 
 
 From this opinion of Chief Justice Marshall it is 
 plain that the Constitution does not prphibit the Presi- 
 dent-elect from taking the oath and entering upon his 
 duties immediately after midnight of March 3rd, even if 
 March 4th falls on Sunday. There has, from the begin- 
 ning, been a widespread popular notion that the vice- 
 president or some lower official becomes President for 
 one day ^hen Inauguration Day falls on Sunday. This 
 
 43 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 notion is wrong, as is easily seen from Justice Marshall's 
 opinion. 
 
 Mar. 4 (1907) — Act of Congress approved by Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt, appropriating "for traveling expenses of 
 the President of the United States, to be expended by him 
 at his discretion and accounted for by his certificate 
 solely, $25,000," year 1907. President Roosevelt received 
 $75,000 for salary and expenses of the last year of his ad- 
 ministration. The next Congress definitely fixed the 
 salary of the office at $75,000 a year, of which $25,000 is 
 appropriated for traveling expenses. (See March 3.) 
 
 BOSTON MASSACRE 
 March 5, 1770 
 
 In September, 1768, the British Ministry ordered two 
 regiments, the 14th and 29th, from their station at Hali- 
 fax to Boston, with the evident purpose to overawe the 
 Massachusetts Colonists who, according to Governor 
 Bernard, were on the verge of insurrection because the 
 British commissioners of customs had become unusually 
 active in collecting duties. The 29th regiment encamped 
 on Boston Common, and the 14th was quartered in Fan- 
 euil Hall. For seventeen months these two regiments 
 overawed the patriots of Boston. As was to have been 
 expected, the great mass of the people of the city grew to 
 hate the British soldiers, and openly abused them. The 
 conduct of the soldiers in such trying circumstances was 
 exceptionally good, though of course the strictest dis- 
 cipline could not prevent occasional brawls and fist fights. 
 
 In the early evening of March 5, 1770, a crowd of 
 rough boys and some older brawlers of the town got into 
 an altercation with the British sentry who paced his beat 
 before the Custom House. The roughs seemed bent on 
 starting a fight. The soldier retreated up the steps of the 
 Custom House and called for help. Captain Preston, the 
 British officer of the guard, quickly came with a file of 
 eight soldiers who stood in line with the seniry with 
 
 44 
 
MARCH 
 
 loaded muskets and faced the mob. The mob, now grown 
 large and savage, shouted coarse insults, threw icy snow- 
 balls, and pressed forward to the very muzzles of the guns 
 as if to attack. In the great noise, some one other than 
 Captain Preston did order the soldiers to fire and they 
 discharged their guns blindly at the mob. Three persons 
 were killed outright and eight wounded. On the moonlit 
 snow the blood was seen distinctly, the first blood of the 
 American Revolution. The whole tdwn arose in wild 
 confusion and a terrible street battle was imminent. But 
 the acting governor, Thomas Hutchinson, made a cool 
 and wise address, asking the people to withdraw, and the 
 British officers to send their men to their barracks, prom- 
 ising that legal justice should be done. The people dis- 
 persed. Captain Preston and the nine soldiers were ar- 
 rested, charged with murder. They were tried before a 
 Massachusetts court seven months later. John Adams 
 and Josiah Quincy defended them. All the soldiers were 
 acquitted except two who were found guilty of man- 
 slaughter, but who escaped with slight punishment. For 
 a long time American orators and writers were prone to 
 exaggerate the significance of the so-called "massacre." 
 It is now regarded as a mere unfortunate incident, in 
 which both parties were to blame. It is an error to in- 
 clude this event among the great causes of the American 
 Revolution. 
 
 Mar. 6 (1831) — Philip Henry Sheridan, soldier, lieu- 
 tenant general, born at Albany, N. Y., year 1831 ; died at 
 Nonquitt, Mass., Aug. 5, 1888. He ranks after Grant 
 and Sherman as the most successful Union general of 
 the Civil War. A romantic incident at the battle of Ce- 
 dar Creek, Va., was immortalized by James Buchanan 
 Reid in a poem entitled, "Sheridan's Ride." (See Oct. 19.) 
 
 Mar. 6 (1836) — Massacre of the Alamo, year 1836. 
 The Alamo was a mission station near San Antonio, 
 Texas, turned into a fort in the war between Texas and 
 Mexico. It was besieged by a force of Mexicans and 
 
 45 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 after two weeks was assaulted and captured. All but six 
 of the 183 defenders died fighting, including Col. James 
 Bowie and Col. William Travis. Col. David Crockett 
 was one of the six who surrendered. ■ He was killed 
 shortly afterwards by the Mexican soldiers. 
 
 Mar. 6 (1857) — Dred Scott decision delivered by 
 Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney of the U. S. Supreme 
 Court, year 1857. Dred Scott was a negro slave, owned 
 by Dr. Emerson, an army surgeon, who brought him 
 from Missouri to Rock Island, 111., and to Fort Snelling, 
 Minn., in each of which places he remained two years 
 (1834-1838) serving his master. The master took him 
 back to Missouri, and there Scott sued for his liberty, 
 claiming that he had been freed by residence in the free 
 territory north of Mason and Dixon's line. The majority 
 of the court decided that the Missouri act of 1820, pro- 
 hibiting slavery in the Louisiana territory north of 36° 
 30' (see Missouri Compromise) was unconstitutional; 
 that slavery was, in eflect, a national institution, which 
 could not be regulated by Congress, but only by State 
 legislature. Therefore, in effect, Dred Scott was held to 
 be stilL a slave, notwithstanding his four years' residence 
 north of the Mason and Dixon line. The decision was 
 overwhelmingly condemned by the people of the North. 
 The Republican leaders openly declared they would not 
 be bound by it. The event was one of the proximate 
 causes of the Civil War. Dred Scott himself wjis imme- 
 diately freed by his master, regardless of the decision. 
 
 Mar. 7 (1862)— Battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., year 1862. 
 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis (Union, 18,000 men estimated) vs. 
 Gen. Sterling Price (Confederate, 20,000 men estimated). 
 Union victory. Union loss 1,349 total. Confederate loss 
 estimated at 5,200. 
 
 Mar. 8 (1765)— Stamp Act passed by England's 
 House of Lords, year 1765. (See Boston Tea Party 
 Dec. 16.) 
 
 46 
 
MARCH 
 
 Mar. 8 (1916) — Gen. Pancho Villa, Mexican military 
 leader, with a force of several hundred Mexican bandits, 
 crossed the border into the United States at a place 
 ninety miles west of El Paso, and assaulted the border 
 U. S. army post at Columbus, New Mexico, which was 
 garrisoned by a small force of United States soldiers. 
 Seventeen Americans were killed, including some sol- 
 diers, and several buildings in the town were looted and 
 burned. The raiders were driven back into Mexico next 
 day. A week later, on March 15th, a United States expe- 
 ditionary force of 4,000 men under Gen. John J. Pershing 
 marched into Mexico in pursuit of Villa. The force pene- 
 trated 200 miles into the interior of Mexico, but failed to 
 capture the bandit leader. The Columbus raid' was the 
 proximate cause of the crisis in which President Wilson 
 called out 100,000 militia (June 18, 1916) for service in 
 an anticipated war with Mexico. The crisis passed with- 
 out war, except for the punitive operations of the force 
 under General Pershing. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE MONITOR AND THE MERRI- 
 
 MAC 
 March 9, 1862 
 
 The Confederate States of America produced the first 
 iron-clad war ship in America, in the winter of 1861-1862. 
 A wooden steam frigate, the Merrimac, was rebuilt, her 
 sides cut down to near the water's edge, and a sort of 
 house, 170 feet long and 7 feet high was built over the 
 ship; the sides of this "house" were covered with iron 
 plates 4 inches thick. A ram of cast iron, 4 feet long, was 
 bolted to the bow below the jyater-line. Inside this ar- 
 mor-plated "house" were mounted ten guns — two 7-inch 
 rifles, two 6-inch rifles, and 6 smooth-bore guns. At that 
 time, she was the most formidable war ship in the world. 
 The Confederates could not conceal their purpose to hur- 
 riedly finish this ship and send her to destroy the Fed- 
 eral fleet at Hampton Roads which interfered with sup- 
 plies intended for General Lee's army. 
 
 47 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Meanwhile the Union leaders at Washington sought 
 strenuously, in a mind bordering on panic, to evolve some 
 means of meeting the menace. They realized that the 
 new Confederate naval monster might easily destroy the 
 entire Federal fleet, and even steam into New York har- 
 bor with impunity. 
 
 There lived at New York Captain John Ericsson, a 
 Swede who had immigrated, an inventor. He planned a 
 new type of warship which he called Monitor, and of- 
 fered it to the Federal government. The plans were ac- 
 cepted and he was ordered to go ahead at once and build 
 his ship. He built the Monitor at New York, early in 
 1862. The craft was 172 feet long, 41 feet beam, and 
 drew 10 feet of water; her displacement was 776 tons. 
 The deck rose but 15 inches above the water-line. On 
 the center of the deck was a circular turret 20 feet inside 
 diameter, and 9 feet high. The turret walls were of iron, 
 8 inches thick. The turret was set on rails, and was 
 turned by an engine. Within this citadel were mounted 
 two large guns, 11-inch Dahlgren guns, each of which 
 would fire a solid shot weighing 180 pounds — the most 
 powerful guns ever mounted in a warship up to that 
 time; the charge was 15 pounds of powder. The best 
 speed of the craft was seven miles an hour. 
 
 The people of New York thought it the queerest 
 craft ever seen. Newspapers described it as "a cheese 
 box on a raft." 
 
 On March 6, 1862, the Monitor left New York har- 
 bor for Hampton Roads, Va., and not an hour too soon 
 as the event proved. Hej commander was Lieutenant 
 John L. Worden. 
 
 On the morning of March 8th, while the Monitor 
 was still far away on the ocean, the Merrimac steamed 
 from her berth at Norfolk and headed for the Federal 
 fleet at Hampton Roads. Her commander was Captain 
 Franklin Buchanan. She sank the Cumberland sloop, cap- 
 tured the frigate Congress, and was ready to destroy the 
 
 48 
 
MARCH 
 
 rest of the fleet, when darkness came. She hauled off to 
 await morning. It had been the most disastrous day in the 
 history of the U. S. Navy. 
 
 That night the Monitor arrived and anchored quietly 
 near the Federal ships to be their champion in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 Next morning, Sunday, March 9, the Monitor steamed 
 boldly to meet the oncoming Merrimac. Then followed one 
 of the most momentous naval battles in all history. The 
 Merrimac had a crew of 320 men. The Monitor had nine 
 officers and 53 men. But it was a battle of iron, and not of 
 blood. For three hours the two ships manoeuvred and fired 
 at each other. The Monitor fired a total of 41 shots. The 
 Merrimac fired many more than this, and 22 shots hit the 
 Monitor, but with little injury. Twenty of the Monitor's 
 shots left indentations in the Merrimac's armor, but no shot 
 pierced her side. However, the armor of the Merrimac was 
 strained and she began to leak. So she retired for repairs. 
 Strange to say, not one man was killed in either ship, and 
 only a few were injured. Though it was technically a drawn 
 battle, it was actually a great moral victory for the North, 
 for the little Monitor had stopped the terrible ironclad which 
 had frightened the entire North. 
 
 Mar. 10 (1849) — Patent for cut ofif and valve for 
 steam engines granted to Seth Boyden (born at Foxboro, 
 Mass., Nov. 17, 1788), the inventor, year 1849. This was 
 one of the most important of air inventions in the de- 
 velopment of the steam engine. 
 
 Mar. 11 (1794) — Act passed by Congress authorizing 
 the building of six warships, year 1794. This was the 
 founding of the U. S. Navy. 
 
 Mar. 11 (1832)- — -Twenty-one pioneers under Na- 
 thaniel Wyeth, left Bostbn for Oregon, overland, via Bal- 
 timore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Independence, 
 and the western path afterwards named "The Oregon 
 Trail," year 1832. Eight of them reached Oregon, at the 
 Columbia River on Oct. 29th of th^same year. These 
 
 49 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 were the first white settlers of the North West from the 
 East. 
 
 Mar. 12 (1789)— General Post Office established ty 
 Congress, year 1789. Samuel Osgood was appointed first 
 postmaster general. 
 
 Mar. 12 (1867)— Last of the French army in Mexico, 
 under Marshal Bazaine, numbering a total of 28,690 men, 
 embarked for Europe and left Mexico, year 1867. In this 
 the government of France under Napoleon III. which 
 had established the Mexican empire, yielded to the Mon- 
 roe Doctrine of the United States, which demanded that 
 they leave Mexico. 
 
 Mar. 13 (1884) — The system of sta;ndard time was 
 established by Congress, year 1884. An appropriation 
 was made to provide for a time ball at Washington and 
 instantaneous telegraphing of the noon hour over the 
 country. 
 
 Mar. 14 (1765)— Cotton Gin patented by Eli Whit- 
 ney, its inventor, year 1765. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF ANDREW JACKSON, SEVENTH 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 March 15, 1767 
 
 Andrew Jackson was born at Waxhaw, North Caro- 
 lina, on March 15, 1767. He died at his home, "The 
 Hermitage," near Nashville, Tenn., on June 8, 1845, aged 
 seventy-eight years. His parents had immigrated from 
 Ireland two years before the birth of the boy. Flis father 
 died a few days after the birth, leaving the widow noth- 
 ing but a few pieces of rude frontier furniture. She 
 worked hard in rough occupations to support herself and 
 three sons. Andrew got little book learning. He joined 
 the patriot army of the Revolutionary War when he was 
 but fourteen. He was taken prisoner in 1781. His 
 mother, to be near her son, volunteered to help care for 
 the American prisoners at Charleston, S. C. ; she died on 
 the journey there. . The two oldest boys had died in the 
 
 SO 
 
MARCH 
 
 war. Thus it seems young Jackson's career could hardly 
 be less promising at this time. He is said to have been 
 wild and gay, fond of horse racing and cock fighting. 
 However, he began to study law when seventeen years 
 old, and three years later was admitted to practice in 
 North Carolina. He early showed qualities of leadership. 
 He removed to Nashville, Tenn., and in 1790 was made 
 United States attorney for that district. It was then he 
 adopted the political doctrines of Thomas Jefferson. At 
 the age of _thirty years, in 1797, he was appointed U. S. 
 Senator from Tennessee. When he went to Philadelphia, 
 an uncouth frontiersman, he was ridiculed. From 1798 
 to 1804 he was" Judge of the Superior Courts of Tennes- 
 see. He resigned to become major general of the militia 
 of the State. Strange to say, the only American military 
 commander of the War of 1812 who acquired lasting fame 
 was Andrew Jackson, who had no military schooling, and 
 little school education of any kind. He subjugated the 
 great Creek Indian nation in 1814. The country hailed 
 him as a great new commander. He was made a major 
 general in the regular army, and given command of the 
 Department of the South. 
 
 A British army of 12,000 veterans commanded by 
 General Pakenham moved to capture New Orleans, and 
 then take possession of all Louisiana. Jackson collected 
 6,000 men, all pioneer woodsmen except 800 regulars, 
 built barricades of cotton bales and dug intrenchmerits to 
 defend New Orleans. On Jan. 8, 1815, the British army 
 attacked but was terribly beaten; they lost 2,600 men. 
 The American loss was 8 killed and 13 wounded. The 
 victory made Jackson the popular hero of the nation. 
 
 In 1824 he was nominated for President by the 
 "Democratic" party — a new group from the former De- 
 mocratic-Republican party of Madison and Monroe. 
 There were four candidates. Jackson received a plurality 
 of 51,000 in a total vote of 352,000, but, not having a ma- 
 jority, the election was thrown into the House of Repre- 
 
 51 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 sentatives which elected John Quincy Adams, the second 
 highest candidate. 
 
 He was again the Democratic candidate in 1828, and 
 was elected. The electoral vote was (24 States) : Jack- 
 son, T78; John Quincy Adams (National Republican), 83. 
 
 In 1832 he was renominated and overwhelmingly re- 
 elected. Electoral vote — Jackson, 219; Henry Clay (Na- 
 tional Republican), 49; John Floyd (Independent), 11; 
 William Wirt (Anti-Masonic), 7. 
 
 Jackson's administration is best known in American 
 history because of the establishment of what is known as 
 the "spoils system" in American politics. It is said, 
 though not proved, that Jackson first uttered the phrase, 
 "To the victors belong the spoils." Certainly he inaugur- 
 ated the system of giving political appointments only to 
 his friends and supporters. It is said that throughout his 
 life he acted on two maxims which he himself framed and 
 often repeated aloud — "Give up no friend to win an en- 
 emy," and "Be strong with your friends and then you 
 can defy your enemies." 
 
 The chief events of his administration were: Black 
 Hawk War (1832), Nullification Movement in South 
 Carolina (1832), Veto of the Recharter of the United 
 States Bank (1832), Seminole War (1835-1842). 
 
 Andrew Jackson is regarded as the founder of the 
 present Democratic party. Unquestionably, he was a man 
 of genius, and one of the most striking figures in Ameri- 
 can history. 
 
 Mar. IS (1781)— Battle of Guilford Court House, 
 N. C, year 1781. Gen. Nathanael Greene (American, 
 5,000 men) vs. Lord Cornwallis (British, 6,000 men). 
 British victory. American loss 400 killed and wounded, 
 and 1,000 desertions. British loss 600. Greene retreated, 
 but also Cornwallis retreated, abandoning domination of 
 North Carolina, thus, in effect, allowing an American vic- 
 tory. (See Yorktown, Oct. 19th.) 
 
 Mar. 15 (1889) — Great hurricane at Apia, Samoan 
 52 
 
MARCH 
 
 Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, wrecked U. S. warships 
 Trenton, Vandalia and Nipsic, the American squadron 
 which had been assembled under Rear Admiral Kimber- 
 ley to protect American interests in Samoa against Ger- 
 man aggression, year 1889. Fifty-one Americans — offi- 
 cers and men — perished. Two German cruisers were also 
 destroyed with nearly all their crews. 
 
 Mar. 16 (1751) — James Madison, fourth President of 
 the United States, born in King George County, Va., year 
 1751 ; died at Montpelier, Va., June 28, 1836. Candidate 
 of the Democratic-Republican party (the Jefifersonian 
 party) for President in 1808 aiid elected : Electoral vote^ 
 Madison, 122; Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist), 47; 
 George Clinton (Democratic-Republican), 6. Inaugur- 
 ated March 4, 1809. Renominated and reelected in 1812 : 
 Electoral vote — Madison, 128; De Witt Clinton (Fed- 
 eralist), 89. Served two full terms. During his second 
 administration the War of 1812 was waged. He was a 
 brilliant writer and contributed many of the political es- 
 says grouped under the title "The Federalist" which 
 powerfully influenced public opinion during the framing 
 of the Constitution in 1787-1788. 
 
 Mar. 16- (1802) — West Point Military Academy es- 
 tablished by Congress, year 1802. 
 
 Mar. 17 (1776) — British evacuated Boston, year 1776. 
 
 Mar. 17 (1898) — Holland No. p, the first submarine 
 war vessel of the American navy and the first of modern 
 submarines, made its first dive in Stateh Island Sound, 
 N. Y., year 1898. It remained under water about one 
 hour and forty minutes. . It was invented by John P. Hol- 
 land, an American. 
 
 Mar. 18 (1782) — John Caldwell Calhoun, statesman, 
 born at Ninety-Six, S. C, year 1782; died at Washington, 
 D. C, March 31, 1850. Was Vice-President of the United 
 States in the administrations of President John Quincy 
 Adams (1825-1829) and the first term of President Jack- 
 son (1829-1833). Then was elected U. S. Senator from 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 South Carolina. Was the leading advocate of "State 
 Rights" during ten years following. Was the most potent 
 influence in bringing about "Nullification." 
 
 Mar. 18 (1837) — Grover Cleveland, twenty-second 
 President of the United States, born at Caldwell, N. J., 
 year 1837, died at Princeton, N. J., June 24, 1908. When 
 governor of New York, was nominated, in 1884, by the 
 Democratic party for President and elected. Electoral 
 vote (38 States): Cleveland, 219; James G. Blaine (Re- 
 publican), 182. Inaugurated March 4, 1885. Renomi- 
 nated by the Democrats in 1888 and defeated. Electoral 
 vote (38 States): Cleveland, 168; Benjamin Harrison 
 (Republican), 233. Nominated by the Democrats a third 
 time in 1892 and elected. Electoral vote (38 States) : 
 Cleveland, 277; Harrison (Republican), 145. Inaugur- 
 ated March 4, 1893, for the term ending in 1897. Presi- 
 dent Cleveland lives in American history as one of the 
 strongest personalities among the list of Presidents. His 
 administrations were chiefly notable because of the rise of 
 the "Free Silver" issue, the financial panic of 1893, and 
 the difficulty with England regarding the boundary dis- 
 pute between Venezuela and the British colony of 
 Guiana. (See Venezuelan Message, Dec. 17, 1895.) 
 
 In his annual message to Congress, dated Dec. 6, 
 1887, which was devoted entirely to the Tariflf question, 
 he used the following sentence : "It is a condition which 
 confronts us — not a theory." This will always remain 
 one of the most trenchant sentences in American literary 
 history. 
 
 The phrase "innocuous desuetude" which attracted 
 the attention of all the English speaking world, was used 
 in a special message he sent to Congress on March 1, 
 1886, dealing with the question of the right of the Presi- 
 dent to remove Federal officeholders. Mr. Cleveland 
 strongly objected to the attitude of the Senate which, at 
 that time, claimed to have power to review and nullify 
 the act of the President removing a Federal office holder. 
 
 54 
 
MARCH 
 
 The Senate held that, under the "Tenure-of-Office" acts 
 passed by Congress in 1867 to limit the power of Presi- 
 dent Andrew Johnson — to whom Congress was bitterly 
 opposed — it could nullify the act of President Cleveland 
 removing the district attorney of the Northern District 
 of Alabama. In his message, Mr, Cleveland wrote the 
 following sarcastic paragraph: 
 
 "And so it happens that after an existence of twenty 
 years of almost innocuous desuetude these laws are 
 brought forth." 
 
 Mar. 18 (1818) — First pension act passed by Con- 
 gress, year 1818. It provided $20 a month to officers and 
 $8 a month to privates who had served nine months or 
 more in the Continental army or navy (during the War 
 of the Revolution) on proof of need. 
 
 Mar. 19 (1690) — Call issued for the first Congress of 
 American Colonies, year 1690. This call was issued by 
 the General Court of Massachusetts. It proposed that 
 the New England colonies, and New York, New Jersey, 
 Maryland and Virginia should unite on some plan to as- 
 sist each other against the French and Indians who had 
 then begun a savage or barbarous warfare in King Wil- 
 liam's War. Following this call, representatives from 
 Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New York 
 met at New York, and on May 1, signed an agreement 
 to raise an army. Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New 
 Hampshire and Rhode Island were not represented, but 
 the people of those colonies were in sympathy with the 
 movement, and did later enter into the confederation. 
 
 Mar. 19 (1860) — William Jennings Bryan, states- 
 man, born at Salem, 111., year 1860. Nominated for Presi- 
 dent by the Democratic party in 1896; defeated by Wil- 
 liam McKinley. Electoral vote— McKinley (Repub- 
 lican), 271; Bryan, 176. Again nominated for President 
 in 1900 by Democratic, Populist, and Silver Republican 
 parties. Defeated again by William McKinley : Electoral 
 vote — McKinley, 292; Bryan, 155. Nominated a third 
 
 55 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 time for President by the Democratic party, in 1908 ; de- 
 feated by William H. Taft. Electoral vote— Taft, 321; 
 Bryan, 162. 
 
 Mar. 19 (1766) — Stamp Act repealed by English 
 House of Lords, year 1766. (See "The Boston Tea 
 Party," Dec. 16, 1773.) 
 
 Mar. 19 (1898)— U. S. S. Oregon, battleship (Captain 
 Charles Edgar Clarke), began trip of 14,000 miles from 
 San Francisco to Key West, year 1898. Arrived at Key 
 West May 26, after a voyage of sixty-eight days. (See 
 Naval Battle of Santiago, July 3, 1898.) 
 
 Mar. 20 (1836) — Surrender of Col. James W. Fannin, 
 Texan leader, and 400 Texans to a Mexican force, in the 
 war between Texas and Mexico, year 1836. One week 
 later, the prisoners were by the Mexicans massacred, all 
 but twenty-six who escaped. Col. Fannin was killed. 
 
 Mar. 21 (1791) — Bank of New York incorporated, 
 year 1791. Gulian Verplank was elected first president. 
 The directors were Isaac Roosevelt, William Maxwell, 
 Thomas Randall, Daniel McCormick, Nicholas Low, Wil- 
 liam Constable, Joshua Waddington, Samuel Franklin, 
 Comfort Sands, Robert Brown, Gulian Verplank, John 
 Murray, William Edgar and Rufus King. These men 
 constituted the first capitalistic group of the metropolis. 
 
 Mar. 21 (1918) — Commencement of the great German 
 offensive known as the Battle of Picardy. This was the 
 first great battle of the German War in which American 
 troops regularly participated as battle units. 
 
 Mar. 22 (1847)— Bombardment of Vera Cruz, Mex- 
 ico, by an American army of 13,000 men and a naval force, 
 under command of Gen. Winfield Scott, year 1847. The 
 city was captured four days later. One week after the 
 capture, Gen. Scott began his march to the City of Mex- 
 ico, which he entered, after a series of fierce battles, on 
 Sept. 14, 1847, thus ending the Mexican War. 
 
 Mar. 23 (1775)— Patrick Henry delivered his greatest 
 speech to the second revolutionary convention of Vir- 
 
 S6 
 
MARCH 
 
 g-inia, at Richmond, year 1775. Fie introduced resolu- 
 tions committing the Colony to military preparedness for 
 war against Great Britain. He said, ending his speech, 
 "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, 
 give me liberty or give me death !" 
 
 Mar. 23 (1868) — Impeachment trial of President An- 
 drew Johnson, charged with high misdemeanors in office, 
 commenced, year 1868. The trial before the Senate of the 
 United States, lasted three days. The vote was — For 
 Johnson, 35 ; against him, 19. Thus he was acquitted. 
 
 Mar. 23 (1899) — Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Fi- 
 lipino rebellion against the United States, was captured 
 by a small party of soldiers under Gen. Frederick Funs- 
 ton, year 1899. The capture practically ended the re- 
 bellion. 
 
 Mar. 24 (1636) — Rhode Island (Indian name Aquid- 
 neck) purchased by William Coddington and other exiles 
 from Massachusetts from the Indian chief Miantonomo 
 for forty fathoms of white beads, year 1636. A settle- 
 ment was immediately made at Newport. 
 
 Mar. 24 (1916) — Steamship 5"M.jje.r of the London, 
 Brighton & South Coast Ry. Company fleet, crossing the 
 English Channel from Folkestone, England, to Dieppe, 
 France, and flying the French flag, was torpedoed by a 
 German submarine near the French coast and was 
 wrecked, year 1916. There were on board 325 passengers 
 and a crew of 53 men. Twenty-five of the passengers 
 were Americans. A total of eighty-six persons were 
 killed and wounded by the explosion. The ship did not 
 sink, and was towed to port. The incident brought a 
 crisis in the relations of the United States and Germany. 
 On April 18th the Government of the United States sent 
 to the German Government a "note" which was, in effect, 
 an ultimatum, including the following words : 
 
 "The government of the United States has been very 
 patient. ... It has become painfully evident to it [the 
 government] that the position which it took at the very 
 
 57 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 outset is inevitable, namely, the use of submarines for 
 the destruction of an enemy's commerce, is, of necessity, 
 because of the very character of the vessels employed 
 and the very methods of attack which their employment 
 of course involves, utterly incompatible with the prin- 
 ciples of humanity, the long established and incontrover- 
 tible rights of neutrals and the sacred immunities of 
 noncombatants. . . . Unless the Imperial Government 
 [Germany] should now immediately declare and efifect 
 an abandonment of its present methods of submarine 
 warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels, 
 the Government of the United States can have no choice 
 but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Em- 
 pire altogether." 
 
 The note was signed by "Lansing" as Secretary of 
 State. It was generally believed that it was written by 
 President Wilson. Public opinion in the United States 
 during two weeks following the despatch of this note in- 
 dorsed the action of President Wilson, and recognized, 
 the fact that war with Germany was imminent because 
 of the President's action. 
 
 On May 1, 1916, the German Government replied, 
 conceding, in efifect, the righteousness of the American 
 attitude, and stating that the following order had been 
 issued to German naval officers commanding submarines : 
 
 "In accordance with the general principles of visit 
 and search and the destruction of merchant vessels, rec- 
 ognized by international law, such vessels, both within 
 and without the area declared a naval war zone, shall not 
 be sunk without warning and without saving hurnan lives 
 unless the ships attempt to escape or offer resistance." 
 
 This reply was accepted as satisfactory, and thus war 
 between the two nations was averted for a time. 
 
 Mar." 25 (1634)— The first Roman Catholic mass in 
 Maryland was celebrated by Father Andrew White, S.J., 
 on St. Clement's Island near the mouth of the Potomac 
 River, year 1634. The worshippers were the first settlers 
 
 58 
 
MARCH 
 
 of Maryland who had arrived at Point Comfort, Va., a 
 short time before, under the leadership of Leonard Cal- 
 vert, a brother of Cecil Calvert (Lord Baltimore). There 
 were, so Lord Baltimore later wrote, "very near twenty 
 other gentlemen of very good fashion and 300 laboring 
 men." Two days later, they laid out the town or city of 
 St. Mary's on the St. Mary's River, a branch of the Roto- 
 mac, and thus the colony of Maryland was founded. This 
 date is the most distinctively Catholic anniversary in 
 American history.. The following opinion was written 
 in the year 1918, for publication in this volume, by 
 Thomas F. Meehan, associate editor of the Catholic Ency- 
 clopedia and authoritative Catholic historian : "From this 
 events — the celebration of the first Mass on St. Clement's 
 Island — follow in unbroken sequence: Public Catholic 
 worship; religious toleration; the first native-born 
 priests; the first native-born religious, men and wom*n; 
 ■the Hierarchy; Catholic education, the first schools and 
 the first college ; the first civic organization, St. Mary's 
 City." 
 
 Mar. 26 (1794) — First Embargo Act passed by Con- 
 gress, year 1794. It continued in force sixty days, during 
 which time all American commerce with foreign coun- 
 tries was stopped. The measure grew out of indignation 
 against the government of Great Britain, which, in its 
 war against France, was arbitrarily searching and confis- 
 cating American ships and cargoes bound for France. 
 
 Mar. 27 (1513) — Ponce de Leon, sailing from Porto 
 Rico in search of the miraculous island "Bimini" wherein 
 was said to be the "Fountain of Youth," discovered land 
 on Easter Sunday (Spanish Pascua de Flores), year 1513. 
 Because of the abundance of flowers, he named the land 
 Florida. 
 
 Mar. 28 (1846) — Gen. Zacha;-y Taylor, with an 
 American army of 4,000 men, crossed the Rio Grande and 
 established Fort Brown on Mexican soil, thus beginning 
 the Mexican War, year 1846. 
 
 m 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Mar. 29 (1638) — First settlement in Delaware, by 
 Swedes under Peter Minuit, at Christiana (now Wilming- 
 ton), year 1638. 
 
 Mar. 29 (1790)— John Tyler, tenth President of the 
 United States, born in Charles City County, Va., year 
 1790; died at Richmond, Va., Jan. 18, 1862. Was nomi- 
 nated for Vice-President by the Whig party in 1840 and 
 elected. Was inaugurated Vice-President on March 4, 
 1841, and on April 5 following, was inaugurated as 
 President to fill the place of President William Henry 
 Harrison who had died. Served as President until March 
 4, 1845. After the organization of the Confederacy, he 
 was elected a member of the Confederate Congress, and 
 was a member at the time of his death. The chief event 
 during his administration was the passage of the Act 
 admitting Texas into the Union. 
 
 Mar. 30 (1842) — Ether first used as an anesthetic, 
 by Dr. Charles Thomas Jackson of Boston, year 1842. 
 The discovery has been claimed for Dr. William T. G. 
 Morton who studied under Dr. Jackson. The record 
 shows that on Sept. 30, 1846, Dr. Morton administered 
 ether to a patient successfully. In 1852, the French 
 Academy of Sciences recognized Dr. Jackson as the dis- 
 coverer, and Dr. Morton as the first to apply the dis- 
 covery in surgical operations. 
 
 Mar. 30 (1867)— Alaska was ceded by Russia to the 
 United States, year 1867. The sum of $7,200,000 was paid 
 to Russia for the territory. 
 
 Mar. 31 (1854)— First treaty between United States 
 and Japan signed, year 1854. In 1852, the United States 
 sent a squadron of war ships to Japanese and Chinese 
 waters, under the command of Commodore Matthew Gal- 
 braith Perry (a brother of Oliver Hazard Perry). In 
 1853 he entered the harbor of Yokohama, Japan, with his 
 squadron and delivered to the emperor of Japan a letter 
 from President Franklin Pierce, opening the question of 
 commercial relations between the two nations. Next 
 
 60 
 
MARCH 
 
 year he returned to Yokohama, ancj negotiated the treaty 
 of peace, amity and protection to American sailors with 
 the Japanese commissioners, which he signed on behalf 
 of the Unite'd States. 
 
 Mar. 31 (1918) — At 2 o'clock in the morning of 
 Easter Sunday, year 1918, the clocks of the entire nation 
 were turned ahead one hour, making the apparent time 
 3 o'clock. The procedure was in accordance with an Act 
 of Congress intended to "save daylight" and thus con- 
 serve fuel for lighting. The Act provided that the clocks 
 should be turned back one hour on the following "last 
 Sunday in October" which was October 27, when the 
 short days made desirable a return to Standard time for 
 beginning daily work. 
 
 61 
 
APRIL 
 
 April 1 (1865)— Battle of Five Forks, Va., year 1865. 
 Gen. P. H. Sheridan (Union, 35,(X)0 men) vs. General 
 George E. Pickett (Confederate, 15,000 men). Union 
 victory. The Confederates were intrenched. The battle 
 began about 4 p. m. The Union forces rushed forward 
 on front and flank of the Confederate intrenchments and 
 overwhelmed them ; the struggle lasted less than an hour. 
 Union loss, 635 killed and wounded, 100 missing; Con- 
 federate loss, about 500 killed and wounded and 4,500 
 prisoners. This was the greatest battle of the Civil War 
 in which the attacking force was largely cavalry. Sheri- 
 dan's cavalry numbered about 20,000 men. 
 
 April 2 (1792) — United States Mint established, year 
 1792. 
 
 April 3 (1783) — Washington Irving, author, born at 
 New York, year 1783; died at his home "Sunnyside," near 
 Tarrytown, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1859. His "Life of Colum- 
 bus," "Knickerbocker's History" and "Sketch Book" are 
 best known. It was estimated that 600,000 volumes of 
 his works were sold in the United States during his life- 
 time. 
 
 April 3 (1816) — The United States Bank was char- 
 tered by act of Congress, for twenty-one years, year 1816. 
 Its capital was $35,000,000. Twenty-five directors were 
 provided for, of whom five were appointed by the Gov- 
 ernment. President Andrew Jackson, declaring that the 
 Bank fostered the growth of a capitalistic oligarchy and 
 was dangerous to a Democracy, opposed the renewal of 
 the charter, and in 1836 it went out of existence. 
 
 April 3 (1822) — Edward Everett ^ Hale, clergyman 
 (Unitarian) and author, born at Boston, year 1822; died 
 at Boston, June 10, 1909. His best-known book is "A 
 Man Without a Country." In "Ten Times One is Ten" 
 he wrote the motto of the "Lend a Hand Club" : 
 
 63 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 "Look up and not down, 
 
 Look forward and not back, 
 Look out and not in, and 
 
 Lend a Hand." 
 
 April 3 (1905) — President Roosevelt appointed the 
 Panama Canal Commission, which commenced the con- 
 struction, year 1905. The commission included Theodore 
 P. Shonts, Chairman; Charles E. Magoon, Governor of 
 the Canal Zone ; John F. Wallace, chief engineer ; M. T. 
 Endicott, rear admiral of U. S. N. ; Peter B. Hains, 
 brigadier general, U. S. A., retired; Oswald H. Ernst, col- 
 onel, U. S. A. engineers; and Benjamin M. Harrod. The 
 preliminary work was begun in May, the following 
 month. 
 
 April 4 (1609) — Henry Hudson, an English naviga- 
 tor in the service of the Dutch, sailed from Amsterdam, 
 Holland, in the little ship Half Moon (80 tons) with a 
 crew of twenty men, seeking a water passage to the 
 "western ocean" (the Pacific) through the continent 
 north of the English colony of Virginia, year 1609. He 
 entered the river which bears his name, on Sept. 12, 1609, 
 and sailed up, hoping to find a sea at its source. 
 
 April 5 (1768) — New York Chamber of Commerce 
 established, year 1768. Charter re-issued by the legis- 
 lature of New York in 1783. 
 
 April 6 — Confederate Memorial Day in Louisiana. 
 
 April 6 (1789) — George Washington chosen by Con- 
 gress (count of electoral vote) President of the United 
 States, year 1789. 
 
 April 6 (1789) — First Congress under the Copstitu- 
 tion met at New York, year 1789. It had been provided 
 by the Constitutional Convention that the Congress 
 should assemble on "the first Wednesday in March," year 
 1789. But the newly elected members of the Congress 
 were so dilatory in beginning their duties of office that it 
 was not until a month later, on April 6, that a quorum 
 
 64 
 
APRIL 
 
 had arrived at N^W York, thus making it possible to 
 count the electoral votes for President and begin the or- 
 ganization of the Government, which was done on that 
 day. 
 
 April 6 (1862)— Battle of Shiloh, Tenn. (or Pittsburg 
 Landing), year 1862. Gen. U. S. Grant (45,000 Union 
 men) vs. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston (Confederate, 
 40,000 men). A drawn battle, though the Confederates 
 retired, slowly, without pursuit. The battle began on 
 Sunday, April 6, and lasted until late next day. The Con- 
 federates were victorious on the first day. In the night 
 Union reinforcements under Gen. Lew Wallace arrived 
 and turned' the tide in favor of Grant. General Johnston 
 was killed in the first day's battle. He was regarded at 
 that time as the ablest commander of the Confederacy ; 
 on his death, the Confederate command devolved upon 
 Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard. Shiloh was one of the bloodiest 
 battles of the Civil War. The Union loss, officially re- 
 ported, was 1,700 killed, 7,495 wounded, and 3,022 cap- 
 tured — a total of 12,217. The Confederate loss was 1,728 
 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing— a total of 10,699. 
 
 April 6 (1909) — North Pole was discovered and 
 reached by Commander Robert E. Peary, U. S. N., year 
 1909. Commander Peary had been detailed by the United 
 States Navy Department for a number of years in North 
 Polar exploration. As a reward for his discovery, he 
 was promoted to be a rear admiral in the U. S. Navy. 
 
 April 6 (1917) — Resolution by Congress declaring 
 war against Germany was signed by President Wilson, 
 who also issued a proclamation of war, year 1917. The 
 day was Good Friday. The text of the Congress resolu- 
 tion was as follows : 
 
 "Whereas, The Imperial German Government 
 has committed repeated acts of war against the 
 Government and the people of the United States 
 of America: Therefore be it 
 
 "Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep- 
 65 
 
- AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 resentatives of the United States of America in 
 Congress assembled, That the state of war between 
 the United States and the Imperial German Gov- 
 ernment which has thus been thrust upon the 
 United States is hereby formally declared; and 
 that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized 
 and directed to employ the entire naval and mili- 
 tary forces of the United States and the resources 
 of the Government to carry on war against the Im- 
 perial German Government ; and to bring the con- 
 flict to a successful termination all of the resources 
 of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress 
 of the United States." 
 The Senate passed the resolution on April 4 by a vote 
 of 82 to 6. The names of the six senators who voted 
 against the resolution are : Asle J. Gronna of North Da- 
 kota, Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin, Harry Lane of 
 Oregon, George W. Norris of Nebraska, William J. Stone 
 of Missouri, and James K. Vardaman of Mississippi. 
 
 The House passed the resolution on April 6 by a 
 vote of 373 to 50. Among those who voted against it 
 was Miss Jeannette Rankin of Montana, then the first 
 and only woman representative in Congress. 
 
 April 7 (1865) — Beginning of the diplomatic corre- 
 spondence between U. S. Minister Charles Francis 
 Adams at London, and Lord John Russell, the Prime 
 Minister of England, regarding what is known as the 
 "Alabama Claims" (see June 19 for end of the Alabama). 
 The United States Government claimed that Great 
 Britain should pay for losses inflicted by the Alabama 
 and ten other Confederate cruisers on United States com- 
 merce during the Civil War, since these eleven ships were 
 fitted out or supplied in British ports, contrary to inter- 
 national usages governing neutral nations. The claims, 
 as finally presented, showed that these eleven war vessels 
 had destroyed a total of 169 merchant ships of the United 
 States, and the total damages was $19,021,428. The 
 
 66 
 
APRIL 
 
 Alabama had destroyed fifty-eight ships. The most suc- 
 cessful commerce destroyers among the others were 
 the Shenandoah (destroyed forty ships) and the Florida 
 (destroyed thirty-eight ships). After six years of con- 
 troversy over'these claims, a Joint. High Commission of 
 Arbitration was named by the two countries in 1871. 
 This tribunal met at Geneva, Switzerland, on Dec. 15, 
 1871, and continued in session until Sept. 14, 1872, upon 
 which latter date it awarded the sum of $15,500,000 in 
 favor of the United States as full payment for the claims. 
 
 April 8 (1826) — Duel between Henry Clay and Sen- 
 ator John Randolph of Virginia near Georgetown, Va., 
 year 1826. The duelists fired two shots each. Clay's 
 first bullet passed through the skirt of Randolph's coat. 
 Clay missed the second fire and Randolph fired his second 
 shot straight up in the air. The quarrel grew out of a 
 heated debate in the Senate over the appointment of rep- 
 resentatives to a congress of American republics at Pan- 
 ama. Randolph, in a speech, called the administration of 
 President John Quincy Adams a "puritanic-diplomatic- 
 black-legged administration." Clay, who was the Secre- 
 tary of State, regarded Randolph's epithetic speech as a 
 personal insult and challenged to a duel. After the affair, 
 the men became cordial friends. This was the most fa- 
 mous quarrel arising from hot language used in a debate 
 in Congress. 
 
 April 9 (1682)— Robert, Chevalier de la Salle, de- 
 scending the Mississippi, at its mouth took possession of 
 the country which he named Louisiana, for the King of 
 France, year 1682. 
 
 SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX 
 April 9, 1865 
 
 General Grant, with an army of 90,000 active fighting 
 men, late in March 1865, was preparing for the great final 
 assault upon General Lee's Confederate army within the 
 intrenchments of Richmond and Petersburg. He ordered 
 
 67 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the assault to begin in the early morning of April 3rd. 
 But in the darkness of the night of April 2nd, Lee, with 
 his entire army of about 40,000 men, abandoned the Con- 
 federate intrenchments and slipped away westward, in- 
 tending to reach Danville, 125 miles to the Southwest and 
 there join the other Confederate army under Gen. Joseph 
 E. Johnston, or, if that could not be, then to try and reach 
 the mountains 100 miles straight westward, beyond 
 Lynchburg in Virginia, where he could turn at bay and 
 prolong the war. 
 
 In the morning the Union army started in pursuit. 
 Day and night the plunging, struggling race between the 
 two armies went on, across eighty miles of Virginia fields, 
 woodlands, rivers and swamps, and, on April 8, Lee ar- 
 rived at the village of Appomattox, and it seemed human 
 endurance could carry no farther. General Sheridan with 
 the Union cayalry had swept around his left flank, cutting 
 off the retreat southward. Nevertheless, Lee took a 
 strong position and began to intrench his brigades. But 
 Lee's chief officers saw the struggle was hopeless, and 
 advised him to meet General Grant, who had written on 
 April 7th calling on him to surrender. On the morning 
 of April 9th, Grant was prepared to assault the devoted 
 Confederates. The last battle had already commenced, 
 when General Lee sent a messenger with a white flag. 
 The struggle ceased. 
 
 At half past one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, April 
 9th, General Grant and General Lee met in the house of 
 Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox, and the 
 articles of surrender were drawn and signed. The con- 
 queror was magnanimous. The Confederate private sol- 
 diers were allowed to go free to their homes, giving only 
 their word that they would not again take up arms 
 against the United States. The Confederate officers re- 
 tained their swords and horses, and were allowed to go 
 free to their homes. Next day, Lee's army, which had 
 dwindled to 25,494 men and 2,862 officers, laid down their 
 muskets, and turned over their artillery, and went away 
 
APRIL 
 
 by groups and singly, to their homes in the South. This 
 ended the Civil War, except for some desultory fighting 
 in other parts of the South during the month of April. 
 
 April 10 (1606) — King James I. of England granted 
 charters to the London Company territory in America 
 (between 34° and 38° north latitude) and to the Plymouth 
 Company territory between 41° and 45° north latitude, in- 
 cluding all the country from New York to Halifax inclu- 
 sive, year 1606. (See Forefathers' Day, Dec. 22, 1620.) 
 
 April 10 (1866) — ^The American Society for the Pre- 
 vention of Cruelty to Animals legally organized, year 
 1866. Henry Bergh of New York, founder of the Society, 
 was its first president. 
 
 April 11 (1713) — ^Treaty of Utrecht, Holland, ending 
 Queen Anne's War (War of the Spanish Succession), 
 year 1713. By this treaty the French ceded to England 
 "all of Nova Scotia formerly called Acadia" and all claims 
 to Hudson Bay and Newfoundland. 
 
 April 12 (1777) — Henry Clay, statesman, born in 
 Hanover County, Va., year 1777; died at Ashland, Ky., 
 June 29, 1852. He was nominated for President by the 
 National Republican party in 1832, and was defeated by 
 Andrew Jackson. Was nominated for President by the 
 Whig party in 1844 and was defeated by James K. Polk. 
 His constructive influence on the political life of the 
 nation during forty years, from 1811 to 1851, was greater 
 than that of any other statesman of that period. He was 
 given the soubriquets "The Great Pacifier" and "The 
 Great Compromiser." He was one of America's great 
 orators. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER 
 April 12, 1861 
 
 In the month of January, 1861, the states of Missis- 
 sippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, in 
 the order named, had seceded from the Union. South 
 
 69 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Carolina had seceded in December 1860. These seven 
 states, early in February, 1861, formed "The Confederate 
 States of America," yet war did not begin immediately. 
 In December, 1861, South Carolina, acting as an indepen- 
 dent republic, demanded that the United States give up 
 all forts, arsenals, lighthouses and other governmental 
 properties within the boundaries of South Carolina — 
 meaning, in fact, the military works in the harbor of 
 Charleston. Of these, Fort Sumter was the most im- 
 portant, but was practically ungarrisoned. President 
 Buchanan, a Southern sympathizer, was inclined to grant 
 the demand, but feared Northern public opinion. While 
 he vacillated, Major Robert Anderson, commanding the 
 U. S. garrison of Fort Moultrie, in Charleston harbor, sur- 
 prised the whole country on Dec. 26, 1860, when he 
 quietly moved his entire force of 78 men and officers 
 across the harbor and took possession of Fort Sumter 
 where he was in position to destroy Charleston. He acted 
 without any orders from his superiors. Indeed, he knew 
 that those superiors contemplated giving up the fort. 
 But he also knew that public opinion of the North would 
 support him. He was right. The whole country flamed. 
 When the six other Southern States joined South Caro- 
 lina, the Confederacy made the demand for the surrender 
 of Fort Sumter imperative, and actually besieged the 
 fort, and assembled an army at Charleston. Bloodless 
 war was thus carried on for three months, while poli- 
 tician^ on each side strove for advantage, and Buchanan 
 swayed indecisively, until the end of his term, on March 
 4, 1861. President Lincoln, immediately on taking office, 
 planned to reinforce Fort Sumter and hold it. On 
 April 9, the transport Baltic with provisions and rein- 
 forcements, convoyed by three war steamers and three 
 tugs, left New York for Charleston. News of the sailing 
 was telegraphed to Montgomery, the capital of the Con- 
 federacy. After a conference with his Cabinet, President 
 Jefferson Davis ordered General Beauregard, command- 
 
 70 
 
APRIL 
 
 ing the Confederate forces at Charleston, to demand the 
 surrender of the fort before the reheving expedition ar- 
 rived. The demand was made on April 11th. Major 
 Anderson, who was in sore straits after three months' 
 siege, replied that they would evacuate the fort at noon 
 on April 15th, if he was not attacked in the^ meantime, 
 and also if he received no further supplies nor instruc- 
 tions from his government. The answer was unsatisfac- 
 tory to the Confederates, for the relieving expedition 
 would probably arrive before April 15. General Beau- 
 regard was ordered to "reduce the fort as your judgment 
 decides to be most practicable." 
 
 At 4:30 o'clock in the morning of April 12, the 
 Confederates fired the first gun — a 12-inch mortar, 
 against the fort, and from that moment the Civil War 
 waged throughout four years. 
 
 The Confederate batteries were planted on the main- 
 land, and on several islands. They numbered 47 guns. 
 In fifteen minutes after the first shot, they were all firing. 
 The first shot fired by Major Anderson's little garrison 
 in reply was at 7 :30 a. m. 
 
 The bombardment was continued incessantly, though 
 slowly, for 40 hours, when the fort was so battered and 
 so endangered by flames within, that Anderson sur- 
 rendered. Outside the harbor, yet unable to enter, was 
 the relieving expedition. 
 
 To the astonishment of all the combatants and the 
 entire country, it was found that not one person had been 
 killed or wounded on either side during the bombard- 
 ment ! 
 
 April 12 (1860) — First "pony express" reached Car- 
 son Valley (Nevada) from St. Joseph, Mo., year 1860. 
 Time of trip, eight and one half days. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 April 13, 17.43 
 Thomas JefiFerson was born at Shadwell, Albemarle 
 County, Va., in his father's plain farmhouse, on April 13, 
 
 71 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 1743; he died in his home called "Monticello" which he 
 had built on the farm, or estate, where he was born, on 
 July 4, 1826. History has noted as a striking fact that 
 John Adams, the statesman contemporary of Jefferson 
 during forty years of active public life, died also on this 
 July 4, 1826. (See Oct. 30, 1735, Birthday of John 
 Adams.) 
 
 Jefferson's ancestors were of the same class as Wash- 
 ington's forefathers. It is remarkable that Washington's 
 father and Jefferson's father were descended from the 
 English class of small landowners, and neither boasted 
 of any relationship to the titled aristocracy of England. 
 It is also remarkable that Washington's mother and Jef- 
 ferson's mother were both "high born" — of the English 
 aristocracy. Peter Jefferson, the father, married Jane 
 Randolph, the daughter of the rich and highborn tobacco 
 lord, Isham Randolph. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson's father left an estate of 1,900 
 acres and thirty slaves which produced an annual income 
 of $2,000 — a very large sum at that time. Thomas was 
 the eldest son and heir. He had six sisters and one 
 younger brother. 
 
 He graduated from William and Mary College at 
 Williamsburg, Va., in 1762. At that time he was de- 
 scribed as a tall, raw-boned lad of nineteen, with freckled 
 face, sandy hair, bright hazel eyes, prominent chin and 
 cheek bones, big hands and feet, and strikingly perfect 
 teeth. He stood up straight as an arrow, and was a giant 
 in physical strength. This description fitted him all 
 through his life until near the end. 
 
 In 1772 he married Martha Skelton, a wealthy 
 widow. Six children were born to them. Four of these 
 died while babies ; Mary lived to the age of twenty-six ; 
 Martha, the oldest, lived to become her father's dearest 
 companion and head of his household after the death of 
 his wife in 1804. 
 
 Jefferson began the practice^of law shortly after leav- 
 ing college. He entered public life as a member of the 
 
 72 
 
APRIL 
 
 Virginia House of Burgesses in 1768, at the age of 
 twenty-five. Thereafter for forty-one years constantly 
 he served in public office or public leadership out of 
 office. 
 
 He was not an orator, but early in life was recog- 
 nized as one of the ablest publicists in America. So he 
 was selected to make the first draft of the Declaration of 
 Independence. (See July 4.) 
 
 He was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779. He 
 succeeded Dr. Franklin as Minister to France in 1785. 
 He was in Paris at the outbreak of the French Revolution 
 and sympathized heart and soul with the revolutionists. 
 It was there that he adopted the radical republican prin- 
 ciples which, later, he impressed in large degree perma- 
 nently upon the United States. He was recalled from 
 France to become the first Secretary of State. Alexander 
 Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. These two 
 men represented widely opposing principles and policies. 
 The contest between them in the early years of the 
 nation, is one of the tremendous things of American his- 
 tory. Jeflferson won the contest — or rather the decision 
 of that time, for the Hamiltonian principles continued to 
 vitally influence the American people. In 1796 he was 
 the "Republican" candidate for president and received 68 
 electoral votes. John Adams, the Federalist, received 
 71 votes and was elected. 
 
 In 1800 the Republicans had gained the ascendancy. 
 In the presidential election that year sixteen States par- 
 ticipated, with a total of 138 electoral votes. Jefferson 
 received 73 votes and Aaron Burr, also a Republican, re- 
 ceived 73. John Adams got 65. Thomas Pinckney (Fed- 
 eralist), 64, and John Jay (Federalist), 1. The tie be- 
 tween Jefferson and Burr was decided by the House of 
 Representatives in favor of Jefferson, Burr becoming 
 vice-president. 
 
 The chief events of his first administration were the 
 war with Tripoli (1801-1804), and the purchase of 
 Louisiana (1803). 
 
 73 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 In 1804 he was overwhelmingly reelected President ; 
 there were then seventeen States with a total of 176 elec- 
 toral votes. Jefferson received 162 electoral votes and 
 Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist) 14' votes. 
 
 The chief events of his second administration were 
 the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806), the capture 
 of the U. S. S. Chesapeake by the British ship Leopard 
 (1807), the sailing of Robert Fulton's steamboat, the 
 Clermont (1807), and the trial of Aaron Burr for alleged 
 treason (1807). 
 
 April 13 (1795) — James Harper, founder and senior 
 of the publishing house of Harper & Brothers (New 
 York), born at Newtown, Long Island, N. Y., year 1795; 
 died at New York, March 25, 1869. He and his brother 
 John started a small printing office in Dover Street, New 
 York, where they at first printed books to order. The 
 first work was an edition of 2,000 copies of Seneca's 
 "Morals," delivered to order in August, 1817. The im- 
 print "J. & J. Harper, Publishers" first appeared in April, 
 1818, in an edition of 500 copies of Locke's "Essay Upon 
 the Human Understanding." Two younger brothers, 
 Joseph Wesley, and Fletcher, were later admitted to 
 partnership and the firm name was changed to Harper & 
 Brothers. It is the oldest of the book publishing houses 
 that have, by process of constant existence and wide in- 
 fluence, become national institutions. 
 
 April 13 (1818)— United States Flag, as finally 
 adopted by Congress, raised over the House of Represen- 
 tatives at Washington, year 1818. (See June 14.) 
 
 April 13 (1846) — Pennsylvania Railroad Company 
 organized, year 1846. 
 
 April 13 (1869)— First patent for air brake issued to 
 George Westinghouse, year 1869. 
 
 74 
 
APRIL 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN 
 
 April 14, 1865 
 
 On the night of April 14, 1865, which was Good 
 Friday, President Lincoln with his wife and two friends 
 occupied the "President's Box" at Ford's Theatre, in 
 Washington, by special invitation. The play was "Our 
 American Cousin," a benefit performance for Miss Laura 
 Keene who was then the leading actress of the American 
 stage. For two hours they watched the play. During 
 the third act, a well-known actor named John Wilkes 
 Booth, son of Junius Brutus Booth and brother of Edwin 
 Booth, quietly opened the door of the box, came behind 
 the President who was absorbed in the play, placed the 
 muzzle of a pistol close to the back of Mr. Lincoln's head 
 and fired, at the same time shouting "Sic Semper Tyran- 
 nis." The head of the President fell forward on his 
 breast and rested ; his body remained upright, motionless 
 in the chair. The shot did not kill him instantly. He 
 died at seven o'clock in the morning next day, but he 
 never regained consciousness. Major Rathbone, the 
 guest of Mr. Lincoln, grappled with the assassin. Booth, 
 who was an athlete, threw him off and leaped from the 
 box to the stage, fourteen feet below. He rushed through 
 the actors brandishing a knife, went out into the alley at 
 the rear of the theatre where he had a horse saddled and 
 waiting, jumped upon the horse and escaped. Twelve 
 days later he was discovered in a tobacco warehouse 
 sixty miles south of Washington, by a detachment of 
 cavalry that was hunting him. He, with one of his band, 
 defied the soldiers, and for a time held them off. Their 
 commander, Col. E. J. Conger, ordered that no shot be 
 fired but that Booth must be taken alive. One of the sol- 
 diers named Boston Corbett disobeyed this order and 
 fired through a crack in the warehouse, fatally wounding 
 Booth; he died two hours later. His last words were, 
 "Tell my mother I die for my country. I did what I 
 thought was best." 
 
 75 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Seven men and one woman were arrested, charged 
 with conspiring with Booth to kill Lincoln, Andrew 
 Johnson the Vice-President, General Grant, Secretary of 
 State Seward, and Secretary of War Stanton. The 
 woman was Mary E. Surratt, a widow, aged forty-five 
 years; her house was headquarters for the conspirators. 
 The trial lasted a month. Mrs. Surratt and three of the 
 men were hanged on July 7, 1865. The other four were 
 condemned to prison for life and sent to the military 
 prison at Dry Tortugas, Florida. 
 
 Peeling in the North was intensely directed against 
 President Jefferson Davis and other Confederate officials 
 who were suspected of having knowledge of the con- 
 spiracy. Nothing was proved against them. It is the 
 universal opinion now that the Confederate government 
 officials were in no way responsible for Booth, nor would 
 they countenance in any way his plan of assassination. 
 It is the judgment of history that Booth was a half-mad 
 egotist, seeking to win a name as a world hero. 
 
 April 14 (1775) — First society for the abolition of 
 slavery organized, at Philadelphia, year 1775. Benjamin 
 Franklin was elected president and Benjamin Rush secre- 
 tary. The movement was begun by Quakers. 
 
 April 14 (1917) — House of Representatives voted a 
 war credit of $7,000,000,000 for the war against Germany. 
 Of this amount, $3,000,000,000 was to be loaned to the 
 allies ~of the United States. On April 17th, three days 
 later, the Senate voted the same amount and the Presi- 
 dent signed the act. 
 
 April 15 (1861) — President Lincoln issued first call 
 for 75,000 volunteers to put down the "rebellion" of the 
 Southern States, year 1861. 
 
 April 15 (1912)— Steamship Titanic, bound from 
 Liverpool to New York on her maiden voyage, several 
 hundred miles east of Newfoundland, at' 2:30 a. m. 
 struck an iceberg and sank, year 1912. There were lost 
 1,595 lives. Those saved numbered 745. 
 
 76 
 
APRIL 
 
 t. 
 
 April 16 (1862) — Slavery was abolished in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, by Act of Congress, year 1862. 
 
 April 17 (1861) — State Convention, composed of the 
 members of the legislature of Virginia, passed the "Or- 
 dinance of Secession" by a vote of 88 to 55, year 1861. 
 Eleven days prior to this, the convention had refused, by 
 a vote of 89 to 45, to join the seven States which had al- 
 ready organized the Confederate States of America. The 
 majority of the people of Virginia were far less desirous 
 of war than the people of the seven cotton States. The 
 leaders of th# cotton States knew their cause was weak, 
 in a military sense, without the aid of Virginia. It is 
 believed by competent historians, in North and South, 
 thg.t the decision of the Confederate leaders to fire on 
 Eprt Surnter on April 12, 1861, was made primarily to 
 influence the Virginians who were then in convention and 
 undecided. On April 15, President Lincoln called for 
 75,000 volunteers to put down "rebellion." This was the 
 act which turned Virginia to the Confederacy. 
 
 April 18 (1898) — U. S. Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives jointly declared "That the people of Cuba are 
 and of right ought to be free and independent," and fur- 
 ther empowered the President to use the "entire land and 
 naval forces of the United States" to "carry these resolu- 
 tions into effect." This constituted the declaration of 
 War against Spain, year 1898. 
 
 April 18 (1906) — Earthquake in California destroyed 
 the business section of San Francisco, year 1906. The 
 first quake was recorded at 5 :13 a. m. Fire broke out im- 
 mediately in the ruins. The total loss of life was esti- 
 mated at 4,000. The exact number was never known. 
 The total property loss was about $300,000,000 of which 
 $175,000,000 was covered by insurance. The buildings on 
 an area of 10,000 acres were almost entirely destroyed. 
 Measured by loss of lives and property, this was, up to 
 that time, the greatest disaster caused by nature elements 
 in the history of the United States. 
 
 77 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 April 18 (1847) — Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mexico, year 
 1847. Gen. Winfield Scott (American, 12,000 men) vs. 
 Gen. Santa Anna (Mexican, 10,000 men). American vic- 
 tory. Three thousand Mexicans surrendered. 
 
 BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 
 April 19, 1775 
 
 When the news of the Boston "Tea Party" reached 
 England, in January, 1775, King George III. and his min- 
 isters resolved to chastise the "rebels" of Boston. New- 
 laws were enacted by Parliament, designed to punish the 
 Colonists of Massachusetts. General Gage was appointed 
 military governor of the province, and in April, 1774, 
 sailed to Boston with four regiments. Then began the 
 last great diplomatic struggle between the British min- 
 isters and the American Colonists. In this struggle, with- 
 in the law, the American leaders were Samuel Adams, 
 John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren. They organized 
 a provisional government for Massachusetts in defiance 
 of General Gage. Day by day the crisis steadily ap- 
 proached. After nearly a year of this legal struggle, the 
 British Ministry ordered General Gage to arrest Adams 
 and Hancock and send them to England to be tried for 
 treason. When Gage received this order, in March, 1775, 
 the two American leaders were at Concord, eighteen miles 
 northwest of Boston, attending the sessions of the pro- 
 vincial congress which they had organized. On April 
 15th, they went to Lexington, twelve miles from Boston, 
 to the house of their friend Rev. Jonas Clarke. The spies 
 of General Gage reported to him and he instantly planned 
 to seize Adams and Hancock while they lay at the Clarke 
 house. 
 
 On the night of April 18th, a detachment of British 
 troops, numbering about 500, silently left Boston and 
 marched to Lexington. But Paul Revere, the trusted 
 aide of Dr. Warren, had watched on the shore opposite 
 Boston and when he knew the British had started on a 
 certain route, he rode through the moonlit night to Lex- 
 
 78 
 
APRIL 
 
 ington, rousing the Minute Men in every village and ham- 
 let and farm house. 
 
 "It was one, by the village clock 
 When he galloped into Lexington" 
 so the poet Longfellow wrote in his immortal tale of Paul 
 Revere's ride. He warned Adams and Hancock and they 
 escaped easily before the British arrived. 
 
 The advance of the British force reached Lexington 
 about sunrise. On the park or "green" in the center of 
 the village was a body of fifty American Minute Men 
 under Captain John Parker. They stood, with loaded 
 muskets in hand, but Captain Parker had ordered them 
 to refrain from firing until the British had first fired 
 upon them. 
 
 On came the British,, led by Major Pitcairn. He 
 shouted, "Disperse, ye villains!" But the Minute Men 
 stood motionless and silent. Again Pitcairn cried — "Why 
 don't you disperse?" They remained unmoved. Then 
 Pitcairn gave the command to his men — "Fire !" His men 
 hesitated, fearing the terrible consequences. He fired his 
 own pistol at the Americans — the first shot of the war, 
 and then his men fired a volley, killing eight Americans 
 and wounding ten. The American line was broken. Par- 
 ker ordered them to retire. A few fired back at the 
 British. The main British force now appeared. 
 
 But the expedition had failed in its chief purpose — 
 to capture Adams and Hancock. The minor purpose, to 
 capture military stores which the Americans had assem- 
 bled at Concord, six miles beyond Lexington, might still 
 be accomplished. So Colonel Smith, the British com- 
 mander, pushed on to Concord and arrived there at seven 
 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 And now the country was ablaze. Four hundred 
 Minute Men had assembled at Concord. The British 
 overran the town, but in the midst of this operation the 
 Minute Men dashed down and across the little bridge 
 over Concord river and put to flight 200 British regulars 
 
 79 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 who guarded the bridge. This was the first offensive of 
 the Americans in the war. 
 
 The British force began a retreat over the same road 
 they had come in the advance. Back to Lexington they 
 went and there, fortunately for them, they met 1,200 
 British regulars under Lord Percy who had come to re- 
 inforce them. The combined British force of 1,700 men, 
 after a 'short rest, turned back toward Boston, for now 
 thousands of Minute Men were on their flanks. All the 
 way, along the twelve miles, throughout all the afternoon, 
 the blood of their dead and wounded stained the road. At 
 sunset they reached Charlestown, beaten, broken and 
 panic stricken, but saved by the warships that lay in the 
 river at Charlestown. 
 
 The British loss on this day was 273 killed and ■ 
 wounded. The Americans lost 93 men. The War of the 
 Revolution had begun with an astonishing victory for the 
 Americans. 
 
 April 19 (1850) — Signing of the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty with Great Britain providing a joint occupancy of 
 the proposed ship canal through Central America from 
 Atlantic to Pacific oceans, the so-called Nicaragua Canal, 
 year 1850. The treaty was negotiated and signed by 
 John M. Clayton, the Secretary of State in President 
 Taylor's cabinet, and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer (brother 
 of Bulwer the novelist), the British Minister to the 
 United States. This treaty was annulled and superseded 
 by the Hay-Pauncefote treaty of 1902. (See Dec. 16, 
 1901.) 
 
 April 19 (1861)— Federal troops of the Sixth Massa- 
 chusetts Regiment called by President Lincoln to as- 
 semble at Washington for defense against the Confed- 
 eracy, were attacked in the streets of Baltimore by a 
 street crowd and several soldiers were wounded, year 
 1861. This was the first bloodshed of the Civil War. 
 
 April 19 (1917) — First gun fired by Americans 
 against Germans in the German war; the shot was fired 
 
 80 
 
APRIL 
 
 by the naval gun crew of the merchant steamship Mon- 
 golia of the Atlantic Transport Line at a German sub- 
 marine near the coast of Ireland. The steamship was 
 bound from New York to England. The submarine dis- 
 appeared after the shot, whether or not destroyed is not 
 known. 
 
 April 19 (1918) — Battle of Seicheprey, France, the 
 first important engagement between Americans and Ger- 
 mans in the Great War. A body of 3,000 Germans) 
 assaulted the American trenches in front of the village 
 of Seicheprey in French-Lorraine. The Gertnans claimed 
 victory, asserting that they captured 183 Americans, 
 though they retired, after twenty-four hours fighting. 
 Unofficially, the Americans claimed they inflicted heavy 
 loss on the Germans, saying that the bodies of 300 Ger- 
 mans were found lying on the ground in "No Man's 
 Land." 
 
 April 20 (1676) — "Bacon's RebelHon" began, year 
 1676. Nathaniel Bacon was a young planter of Virginia, 
 admired and trusted by the people. The people asked of 
 the aristocratic Governor Berkeley to have Bacon lead 
 them in defense of their homes against Indians who were 
 murdering the colonists. Berkeley refused, calling the 
 request a "presumption" of the "common people." The 
 volunteers set out under Bacon in defiance of the gov- 
 ernor, and he immediately proclaimed Bacon a traitor. 
 Bacon fell ill of fever and died. This was the first mili- 
 tant opposition to the English monarch's authority in 
 America. 
 
 April 20 (1837) — Legislature of Massachusetts 
 created a State Board of Education. Horace Mann was 
 the originator of the bill. He retired from political life 
 and law practice and, on June 29, 1837, was elected secre- 
 tary of the new Board at a salary of $1,000 a year. For 
 twelve years thereafter he devoted himself exclusively to 
 education, becoming the foremost man of the nation in 
 this field. (See May 4.) 
 
 81 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 April 21 (1836) — Battle of San Jacinto, Texas. Gen. 
 Sam Houston (Texan, 800 men) vs. Gen. Santa Anna 
 (Mexican, 1,600 men), year 1836. A complete Texan vic- 
 tory, achieving the independence of Texas. Gen. Santa 
 Anna and 730 of his men were captured ; 630 were killed 
 and 208 wounded. The Texan loss was two killed and 
 twenty-three wounded. The battle lasted but twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 April 22 (1889)— Indian Territory — its central sec- 
 tion — was thrown open to settlers, making the new Ter- 
 ritory of Olclahoma. Many thousands of pioneers 
 awaited the signal, and when the bugles sounded, they 
 rushed across the boundary line and occupied the new 
 public lands in a single day. 
 
 April 22 (1898) — Spanish ship Buena Ventura, a mer- 
 chantman, captured by the U. S. S. Nashville, year 1898. 
 The first shot of the Spanish War was fired in this action. 
 
 April 22 (1914) — Capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico, by 
 a U. S. naval force under command of Rear Admiral 
 Frank M. Fletcher, year 1914. The movement was di- 
 rected against dictator President Huerta of Mexico and 
 was not formally an act of war against Mexico. Vera 
 Cruz was held by Americans until Dec. 1, 1914. 
 
 April 23 (1635) — Public Latin School of Boston 
 founded, year 1635. The oldest existing school in the 
 United States. 
 
 April 23 (1791) — James Buchanan, fifteenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, born at Stony Batter, Pa., year 
 1791 ; died at Wheatland, Pa., June 1, 1868, aged 77 years. 
 He never married. In 1856 he was nominated for 
 President by the Deniocratic party and elected. Electoral 
 votes (31 States) : Buchanan, 174; John C. Fremont (Re- 
 publican), 114; Millard Fillmore (American Party or 
 "Knownothing"), 8. Inaugurated March 4, 1857. The 
 chief events of his administration were the Lecompton 
 
 82 
 
APRIL 
 
 Constitution (for Kansas) controversy (1857-1858), John 
 Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry (1859), Star of the West 
 steamship fired upon (1861), organization of the Con- 
 federate States of America at Montgomery, Ala (Feb. 4, 
 1861). His administration is generally regarded as 
 lenient toward the activities of Southern leaders who 
 planned the secession of the South. 
 
 April 23 (1813) — Stephen Arnold Douglas, states- 
 man, born at Brandon, Vt., year 1813; died at Chicago, 
 111., June 3, 1861. Became the leader of the Democratic 
 Party in the North in the years immediately prior to the 
 Civil War. Was U. S. Senator from Illinois from 1847 
 until his death. In 1858, when a candidate for reelection 
 as senator, he engaged in a series of debates with Abra- 
 ham Lincoln on the question of slavery. These debates 
 absorbingly interested the whole country, and remain in 
 literature as the most profound and moving exposition of 
 the subject in the world's history. 
 
 April 23 (1838) — Steamship Great Western first ar- 
 rived at New York from Bristol, England, and steamship 
 Sirius first arrived at New York from London, year 1838. 
 These were the two first regular Atlantic Ocean liners. 
 The Great Western made the passage in fifteen days and 
 the Sirius in seventeen days. 
 
 April 24 (1704) — First issue of the Boston News 
 Letter, the first permanent newspaper in America, year 
 1704. John Campbell, postmaster of Boston and news 
 vendor, was the founder. It was a weekly. It lived 
 seventy-two years. 
 
 April 25 (1846) — First engagement of the Mexican 
 War, at La Rosia, Mexico, year 1846. A Mexican vic- 
 tory. Captain Seth B. Thornton and fifty American cav- 
 alrymen were taken prisoners by the Mexican force. 
 
 April 25 (1917) — First war loan made to an ally of 
 83 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the United States— $200,000,000 to Great Britain, year 
 1917. 
 
 April 26 — Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama, 
 Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. The day was estab- 
 lished by Mary Ann Williams, a patriotic philanthropist 
 of Columbus, Ga., who, in a letter printed in the Colum- 
 bus^ Times on March 12, 1866, called upon her fellow- 
 citizens to observe the following April 26 as a date 
 "to wreathe the graves of our martyred dead with flowers." 
 (See Memorial Day, May 30.) 
 
 April 26 (1865) — Last great Confederate army, under 
 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered to Gen. W. T. 
 Sherman at Durham, North Carolina, year 1865. The 
 actual number of prisoners paroled (on May 1st and 2nd) 
 after surrender was 33,047 officers and men. 
 
 April 26 (1907)— Jamestown (Va.) Tercentenary 
 Exposition opened, year 1907. 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT 
 April 27, 1822 
 
 Ulysses Simpson Grant, one of the world's great sol- 
 diers, eighteenth President of the United States, was born 
 at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822; died at Mount 
 McGregor, N. Y., on July 23, 1885. He was descended 
 from Matthew Grant who came from Scotland to Dor- 
 chester, Mass., in 1630. His mother's maiden name was 
 H^annah Simpson. He graduated from West Point in 
 1843. When the Mexican War began three years later, 
 he was sent to the front and fought throughout the war 
 under Taylor and Scott in every general battle except 
 Buena Vista. His record for bravery and ability was 
 high. He ranked as captain at the end of the conflict in 
 1848. 
 
 But the army was small and promotion was slow in 
 those days. Pie had married Julia Dent. He could not 
 support his family on the paj^ of captain, so he resigned 
 from the army in 1854, and became a farmer in Missouri, 
 
 84 
 
APRIL 
 
 He used to peddle wood from his farm in the streets of 
 St. Louis. He failed as a farmer. Then he went into the 
 real estate business in St. Louis, and again failed. Finally 
 he went to Galena, 111., as a clerk in the hide and leather 
 store kept by his brothers. Here he remained quietly, 
 little known to the townpeople, until the outbreak of the 
 Civil War, in 1861. Immediately after the firing on Fort 
 Sumter he went to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, and 
 offered his services to Gov. Richard Yates. But Yates 
 was overwhelmed with applications from politicians and 
 wealthy society men. Grant had no political friends nor 
 social power to back him. The whole State was spring- 
 ing to arms. Many new regiments were being organized 
 — all untrained. Experienced officers were desperately 
 needed. Yet Yates curtly dismissed Grant saying, "There 
 is nothing for you to do." 
 
 Still he waited at Springfield, and was obliged to 
 share a small room with another man, for he had little 
 money, and after a time they set him at work in the State 
 Adjutant General's office, doing small clerical tasks and, 
 when it became known that he was a competent drill 
 master, Yates appointed him "mustering officer and aide" 
 at a salary of $3.00 a day. 
 
 He saw that his country was being badly served by 
 the politicians and bureaucrats. He wrote to Washing- 
 ton, to the Adjutant General of the U. S. Army, offering 
 his services to command a regiment. They never even 
 replied to his letter. President Lincoln, it seems, had 
 never heard of him. He was a "nobody" ! 
 
 Meanwhile George B. McClellan, who had graduated 
 from West Point three years after Grant and who had 
 also resigned from the army, was become the favorite of 
 the nation. He had great social and political prestige. 
 He was promoted from captain to major general in one 
 day, and the Washington War Department placed him 
 in command of the Department of Ohio. Grant felt that 
 McClellan would give him something to do. He went to 
 Cincinnati and twice called to see McClellan, but the 
 
 85 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 new major general evidently did not want to see the 
 modest Grant. Grant went away. He said to a friend — 
 "I guess they don't want me." 
 
 But Providence now intervened. The Twenty-first 
 Illinois Volunteers was a regiment of tough and restless 
 men who had refused to march under their regularly 
 elected colonel when they found he was only a "tin sol- 
 dier." The other "political" colonels were afraid to take 
 command of these rough men. The colonelcy went beg- 
 ging. And then Governor Yates thought of Grant. He 
 telegraphed offering him the command. Grant accepted 
 instantly. Next day he took command, and the men 
 recognized a master ; in a little while they gloried in him. 
 
 Seven weeks later he was made a brigadier general. 
 On Feb. 6, 1862, he captured Fort Henry in Tennessee 
 and then laid siege to Fort Donelson, the great strong- 
 hold of the State. The Confederate commander. General 
 Buckner, asked what terms would be oflfered him. Grant 
 replied : "No terms other than unconditional and imme- 
 diate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move im- 
 mediately upon your works." Buckner surrendered next 
 day his 15,000 men and all the North was thrilled. They 
 called him "Unconditional Surrender Grant" after that. 
 
 Disaster had befallen the other Union armies. Only 
 Grant, in the West was victorious. On July 4, 1863, 
 Vicksburg surrendered to him, and then the entire North 
 cried out demanding that he be placed in highest com- 
 mand under the President. In February, 1864, he was 
 made lieutenant general of all the Union armies. Imme- 
 diately he made his headquarters with the army of the 
 Potomac. On May 11, 1864, at Spottsylvania Court 
 House, he sent to Washington the famous dispatch: "I 
 propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." 
 He did fight it out on that line, the longest, deadliest 
 campaign of the war. The result was the surrender of 
 Lee at Appomattox, on April 9, 1865. 
 
 In 1868 he was nominated by the Republican party 
 86 
 
APRIL 
 
 for President. The election resulted in electoral votes (34 
 States voting): Grant, 294; Horatio Seymour (Demo- 
 crat), 80. The chief event of his first administration was 
 the arbitration of the Alabama claims by a tribunal at 
 Geneva, Switzerland. England paid $15,500,000. 
 
 In 1872 Grant was renominated by the Republicans 
 and reelected. The electoral vote was (37 States) : Grant, 
 286; Horace Greeley (Liberal-Republican), 47; scattering 
 among six other candidates, 19. The chief events of his 
 second administration were the Modoc Indian War 
 (1872-1873), the Sioux Indian War and Custer Massacre 
 (1876), and the opening of the Centennial Exhibition at 
 Philadelphia (1876). 
 
 He had but a moderate fortune when he retired from 
 office, and this he invested in a New York banking firm 
 called The Grant & Ward Company. The company 
 failed in 1883 and he was again practically penniless. At 
 once he began writing for magazines and preparing his 
 "Memoirs" and thus he paid his debts. 
 
 He was afflicted with cancer of the tongue. Of this 
 he died at a sanitarium near Saratoga, N. Y. His remains 
 were buried at Claremont on the bank of the Hudson 
 River, in New York City, and there was erected an im- 
 posing mausoleum which was dedicated on April 17, 
 1897. 
 
 He was a simple, great-hearted patriot. Of all our 
 presidents he was least a politician. History will always 
 know him as U. S. Grant, the Great Soldier. 
 
 April 27 (1791) — Samuel Finley Breeze Morse, ar- 
 tist, scientist and inventor, born at Charlestown, Mass., 
 year 1791 ; died at* New York, April 2, 1872. He is best 
 known as the founder of the American system of the 
 electro-magnetic telegraph. He applied for a patent on 
 his invention, Sept. 28, 1837. The system was first used 
 successfully on May 29, 1844. 
 
 April 27 (1898) — Town of Matanzas, Cuba, bom- 
 barded by a U. S. naval force of three warships, year 
 
 87 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 1898 ; the first bombardment of the Spanish War. It was 
 claimed by the Spanish that no person in Matanzas was 
 injured; they declared that but one solitary mule was 
 killed, and this was the only casualty. The incident 
 created great surprise and amusement. "The Matanzas 
 mule" has a peculiar place in American history. 
 
 April 28 (1758) — James Monroe, fifth President of 
 the United States, born in Westmoreland County, Va., 
 year 1758; died at New York, July 4, 1831. Nominated 
 for President by Democratic-Republican party in 1816 
 and elected. Electoral vote (18 States) — Monroe, 183; 
 Rufus King (Federalist), 34. Inaugurated March 4, 
 1817; after four years, was renominated and elected; 
 serving until March 4, 1825. In the second election he 
 recfived every electoral Vote but one which was cast 
 for J. Q. Adams. The period of his second administra- 
 tion was called the "Era of Good Feeling." The chief 
 events of his administration were the purchase of Florida 
 from Spain (1819), the enactment of the "Missouri 
 Compromise" (1820), and the pronouncement of the 
 "Monroe Doctrine" (See Dec. 2, 1823). 
 
 April 29 (1862) — Patent for sewing machine for 
 leather shoes, issued to the inventor, Gordon McKay, 
 year 1862. Upon this invention was built the great boot 
 and shoe industry of the United States. 
 
 April 30 (1789) — George Washington inaugurated 
 President, at New York, year 1789. 
 
 April 30 (1803) — ^Territory of Louisiana purchased 
 from France, for $15,000,000, year 1803. 
 
 April 30 (1812) — Louisiana was'admitted into the 
 Union, year 1812. 
 
 Arbor Day, a legal holiday in some States, is ob- 
 served in some formal manner in all the States and Terri- 
 tories. It is the annual tree-planting day, instituted to 
 encourage general interest in, forestry. The idea of 
 annual ceremonious tree-planting is very old, but it was 
 
APRIL 
 
 not until 1874 when the Nebraska State Board of Agri- 
 culture recommended to the people of that State that the 
 "second Wednesday in April" of each year be dedicated 
 to tree-planting, and that the day be called Arbor Day, 
 that this - idea took its present form in the United 
 States. Ohio was the second State to observe the day — 
 in 1882. Because of our different climates, the Northern 
 States observe Arbor Day on various dates in April and 
 early May. In the Southern States it is observed in 
 December, January or February. 
 
 89 
 
MAY 
 
 BATTLE OF MANILA BAY 
 May 1, 1898 
 
 War against Spain had been declared on April 18, 
 1898. The Asiatic fleet of the U. S. Navy, under com- 
 mand of Commodore George Dewey, had been lying at 
 Hong Kong in China, quietly preparing for war. Dewey 
 sailed with his fleet and crossed the China Sea 600 miles 
 to the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines. The 
 Asiatic Spanish fleet was at anchor in the Bay. The 
 Spanish government for years had been fortifying the 
 shores of the Boca Grande — the strait connecting Manila 
 Bay with the ocean, and the Spanish officials had claimed 
 that sure destruction awaited any ship which attempted 
 to pass without their permission. 
 
 In the late afternoon of April 30, the U. S. fleet 
 arrived off the Boca Grande. Dewey called a council of 
 his captains. He said to them — "I do not believe they 
 expect us to-night, therefore we will go in." 
 
 After sundown the fleet was headed for the channel. 
 The names of the fighting ships and commanders were: 
 Olympia (flagship), Capt. Charles V. Gridley; Baltimore, 
 Capt. Nehemiah M. Dyer; Raleigh, Capt. Joseph B. Cogh- 
 lan; Boston, Capt. Frank Wildes; Concord, Commander 
 Asa Walker; Petrel, Commander P. Wood. The Olympia 
 was the largest ; she was an armored cruiser, 340 ft. long, 
 and of nearly 6,000 tons displacement; she was about 
 seven times as big as the smallest fighting ship, the 
 Petrel. There were also the Nanshan and Zafiro, trans- 
 ports carrying coal, and the little revenue cutter Hugh 
 McCulloch, a dispatch boat. 
 
 The moon was high and shone clear. There were 
 fortified islands in the passage. To run by the Spanish 
 guns and over the mines was. a desperate thing to do 
 on such a night. Yet it seemed that the bright moon- 
 light had thrown the Spanish officers ofif their guard. 
 
 91 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 The American fleet steamed silently through the passage, 
 a distance of about 25 miles. Almost at the end, when 
 nearly out of range, the Spanish discovered them and 
 fired several shots which went wide. At midnight the 
 fleet was safe in the Bay, 17 miles from Manila. Dewey 
 slowly steamed on, planning to reach the city at sunrise. 
 At daylight the Spanish fleet was discovered at 
 Cavite, eight miles from Manila, under the guns of land 
 batteries. Immediately Dewey steamed to attack. At 
 5:51 a. m. on Sunday, May 1, Dewey quietly gave his 
 order to the Captain of the Olympia— "You may fire 
 when you are ready, Gridley!" Then began the battle. 
 The Spanish commander was Admiral Montojo. 
 He had eight fighting ships. They were not as power- 
 ful as the six American ships, but they were supported 
 by powerful batteries on shore which nearly equalized 
 the forces. The total tonnage of the Spanish ships was 
 13,351 against 19,098 for the American ships. The total 
 number of guns in the Spanish fleet was 110, against 
 Dewey's 137 guns. The crews of all the Spanish vessels 
 numbered 1,780, against 1,681 in Dewey's fleet. 
 
 Dewey's plan of battle kept his column in constant 
 motion, sweeping by the Spanish line and pouring in his 
 fire until out of range, then turning back to steam in the 
 opposite direction, using the other broadsides, each time 
 his line turned going a little closer to the enemy. Back 
 and forth they steamed for two hours, when it was seen 
 that three of the Spanish ships were on fire. Then, at 
 7:35 a. m. Dewey ordered, "Cease firing" and made the 
 signal to withdraw for breakfast, so the ships steamed 
 out into Manila Bay and the Americans rested and drank 
 their cofifee. Thus far, the Americans had lost but six 
 men, all wounded. The Spanish Governor General here- 
 upon made a queer mistake. He thought Dewey's break- 
 fast movement was a retreat, for whoever heard of a 
 victorious fleet stopping in the midst of a battle, after 
 fighting only two hours, to eat breakfast? So he sent 
 at once a cable message to Madrid saying — "Our fleet 
 
 92 
 
MAY 
 
 engaged the enemy in brilliant combat, protected by the 
 Cavite and Manila forts. They obliged the enemy, with 
 heavy loss, to manoeuvre repeatedly." A little later, when 
 Dewey "manoeuvred" again a less optimistic message was 
 sent to Madrid. 
 
 At 11:16 a. m. Dewey ordered the attack renewed. 
 In this second battle, the Baltimore led the way. It was 
 now the plan to go right in, get near the Spanish ships 
 and complete the destruction in a short time. The 
 Spanish offered a brave resistance. They continued the 
 battle for an hour and a half though dead and dying lay 
 thick upon their decks. One by one they sank or ran 
 ashore. At 12:30 p. m. the Spanish flag was hauled 
 down from the flagstaff on land and a white flag was 
 run up. The Spanish fleet was utterly destroyed and the 
 land batteries captured. So ended the amazing battle 
 of Manila Bay. 
 
 The American loss was six men, all wounded. 
 
 The Spanish loss was 618 killed and wounded. 
 
 Captain Gridley had been ill, yet in his weakened 
 condition he remained in the conning tower of the 
 Olympia throughout the battle. The strain brought a 
 relapse. Five weeks later he died at Kobe, in Japan. 
 
 May 1, 2, 3 (1863)— Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., 
 year 1863. Gen. Joseph Hooker (Union, 120,000 men) 
 vs. Gen. R. E. Lee (Confederate, 62,000 men). Con- 
 federate victory. Union loss, 12,197 killed and wounded 
 and 5,000 missing — total 17,197; Confederate loss, 10,266 
 killed and wounded and 2,753 missing — total 13,019. The 
 battle lasted three days. While the Confederates were 
 victorious, their cause suffered a great blow by the death 
 of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson who was accidentally shot 
 by his own men on the night of May 2. It was largely 
 through Jackson's genius for strategy that the Confed- 
 erates won, and this battle is of first rank among military 
 students throughout the world because of the splendid 
 leadership of the great Confederate who died a week 
 after the battle. 
 
 93 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 May 1 (1873)— One cent postal cards first issued by 
 the United States Government, year 1873. 
 
 May 1 (1878) — First elevated railroad train in the 
 development of municipal rapid transit in America, year 
 1878. It ran from Trinity Church, New York, to 59th 
 Street, over the newly built Sixth Avenue line, a distance 
 of four and three-quarter miles, in sixteen minutes. The 
 elevated railroad system was invented by Dr. Rufus 
 Gilbert, of New York. 
 
 May 1 (1893) — Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 
 opened, year 1893. Closed, Oct. 30, 1893. Attendance, 
 21,477,218. 
 
 May 1 (1897) — Tennessee Centennial and National 
 Exposition at Nashville, opened, year 1897. Closed 
 Oct. 1 of the same. year. The total attendance was 
 about 2,000,000. 
 
 May 1 (1901) — -Pan-American Exposition opened at 
 Buffalo, year 1901. Closed, Nov. 1, 1901. Attendance, 
 8,120,848. 
 
 May 1 (1904) — Louisiana Purchase Exposition at 
 St. Louis opened, 1904. Closed, Nov. 30, 1904. Paid 
 attendance, 12,804,616. 
 
 Second Saturday in May — -American Indian Day, 
 established by the Society of American Indians, year 
 1915. 
 
 Second Sunday in May — Mother's Day. On May 9, 
 1914, following the adoption of a resolution by Congress, 
 President Wilson issued a proclamation, saying in part: 
 "Whereas, in this the said joint resolution it is made 
 the duty of the President to request the observance of 
 the second Sunday in May as provided for in the said 
 joint resolution: Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, 
 President of the United States of America, by virtue of 
 the authority vested in me by the said joint resolution, 
 do hereby direct the Government officials to display the 
 United States flag on all Government buildings, and do 
 invite the people of the United States to display the flag 
 
 94 
 
MAY 
 
 at their homes or other suitable places on the second 
 Sunday in May, as a public expression of our love and 
 reverence for the mothers of our country." 
 
 May 2 (1863) — General "Stonewall" Jackson shot 
 by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., 
 year 1863. 
 
 May 3 (1765) — First medical school in America 
 established at Perkasie.Pa., near Philadelphia, year 1765. 
 In 1779 the rights and property of the school were trans- 
 ferred to the University of Pennsylvania by the State 
 Legislature. 
 
 May 4 (1796) — William Hickling Prescott, historian, 
 born at Salem, Mass., year 1796; died at Boston, Jan. 28, 
 1859. His best known works are "Reign of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella the Catholic," "History of the Conquest of 
 Mexico" and "History of the Conquest of Peru." He 
 has been accorded the highest rank of all American 
 historians by the consensus of European opinion. Above 
 all, he entered the field of world history and proved that 
 American literature need not be imitative, nor secondary 
 to that of England. 
 
 May 4 (1796) — -Horace Mann, educator, born at 
 Franklin, Mass., year ,1796; died at Yellow Springs, 
 Ohio, Aug. 2, 1859. He became president of Antioch 
 College, Ohio, and was the founder of the present system 
 of co-education. 
 
 May 4 (1886) — Haymarket riot and "massacre" in 
 Chicago, year 1886. This riot grew out of the strike for 
 higher wages by the employees of the McCormick 
 Reaper and Harvester Company of Chicago, beginning 
 in Feb., 1886. There was, at the time, a group of Ger- 
 man anarchists in the country, led by August Spies and 
 Louis Lingg, and this group organized the strikers and 
 sympathizers. A meeting was called for May 4 at Hay- 
 market Square. At 8 p. m. a crowd of 4,000 had gathered. 
 For two hours anarchist orators denounced capitalists 
 and law, and one speaker waved a red , flag and called 
 
 95 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 upon the people to get dynamite and blow up the houses 
 of the rich. At 10 p. m. a body of police came and their 
 captain ordered the crowd to disperse. A moment after 
 a light streamed through the air — the burning fuse of a 
 bomb, and it fell among the police. The explosion killed 
 eight policemen and wounded a number of others. The 
 police then fired upon the mob which scattered in all 
 directions leaving many wounded upon the pavement. 
 Eight anarchists were arrested and tried for murder. 
 They were August Spies, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, 
 Samuel Fielden, Albert R. Parsons, Adolph Fischer, 
 George Engel and Oscar W. Neebe. Neebe was con- 
 demned to fifteen years imprisonment. The other seven 
 were sentenced to death. Lingg committed suicide in 
 prison. The sentences of Schwab and Fielden were com- 
 muted to imprisonment for life, and in 1897 Governor 
 Altgeld of Illinois pardoned them. The four others were 
 hanged on Nov. 11, 1887. 
 
 May 4 (1918)— Third Liberty Loan closed. The 
 period for buying the bonds opened on April 6. A total 
 of $4,170,019,650 was subscribed by about 17,000,000 
 buyers. 
 
 May 5 (1864)— Battle of the Wilderness, Va., year 
 1864. Gen. U. S. Grant (Union, 100,000 men) vs. Gen. 
 R. E. Lee, (Confederate, 62,000 men). The battle was 
 indecisive. It was fought in the primeval forest, lasting 
 three days. Union loss 2,265 killed, 10,220 wounded and 
 2,902 missing— total, 15,387. Confederate loss 2,000 
 killed, 6,000 wounded, 3,400 missing— total 11,400. 
 
 May 6 (1851)— First patent for an ice-making ma- 
 chine, issued to the inventor, John Gorrie of New Or- 
 leans, La., year 1851. 
 
 May 6 (1896)— First successful flight of a heavier- 
 than-air flying machine, year 1896. The machine was the 
 Langley Aeroplane, invented by Dr. Samuel Pierrepont 
 Langley, a member of the faculty of the Smithsonian 
 Institution at Washington. The flight was made at 
 
 96 
 
MAY 
 
 Quantico on the Potomac river near Washington. There 
 was no person in the machine. The motor was started 
 and it flew 3,000 feet, remaining in the air 1 minute and 
 20 seconds, when it came to the ground. It was im- 
 mediately started again- and went 2,300 feet in one flight. 
 This experiment demonstrated the practicability of aero- 
 planes, though the great majority of scientists and the 
 vast majority of the populace continued skeptical. In 
 1898 the U. S. Government commissioned Dr. Langley 
 to build a man-carrying machine. It was finished in 
 1903, and, on Dec. 8 of that year, the first trial was made. 
 It was a failure. Because of inefficiency in the launching 
 apparatus, it fell into the water of the Potomac river and 
 the experiment was abandoned. However, a few days 
 later, on Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur Wright made his first 
 successful flight with the Wright Aeroplane. (See Dec. 
 17.) Dr. Langley, deeply wounded by the scorn of 
 scientists and public, and having no funds to perfect his 
 machine, died of a broken heart on Feb. 27, 1906. The 
 old Langley aeroplane, after lying in a Smithsonian In- 
 stitution building for eleven years, was taken, 1914, by 
 Glen H. Curtiss to Hammondsport, N. Y., where the 
 Curtiss Aeroplane Manufacturing Company had in- 
 stalled an efficient launching device, and, on May 18, 
 1914, with Mr. Curtiss in the aviator's seat, it flew suc- 
 cessfully over Lake Keuka, thus vindicating the dead 
 Dr. Langley, who is now honored as the inventor of 
 the aeroplane. 
 
 May 7 (1792) — Columbia River, Oregon, discovered 
 by Captain Gray of Boston in his ship, the Columbia, 
 year 1792. 
 
 May 7 (1915) — Steamship Lusitania, Atlantic Ocean, 
 passenger liner of the Cunard Line, bound from New 
 York to Liverpool with 1,257 (including 188 Americans) 
 passengers and a crew of 663, was torpedoed by a Ger- 
 man submarine when fifteen miles ofif the south coast 
 of Ireland at the Old Head of Kinsale, at 2:15 p. m. in 
 
 97 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 clear weather and a smooth sea, year 1915. The ship 
 sank in about twenty minutes. The total number lost was 
 1,154, of whom 79?) were passengers (102 Americans). 
 
 On the morning of May 1, the day on which the ship 
 sailed from New York, the New York morning news- 
 papers printed the following Xvarning as an advertise- 
 ment: 
 
 "Notice — Travelers intending to embark on the 
 Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war 
 exists between Germany and her allies and Great 
 Britain and her allies; that the zone of war in- 
 cludes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; 
 that in accordance with formal notice given by 
 the Imperial German Government vessels flying 
 the flag of Great Britain or of any of her allies 
 are liable to destruction in those waters, and that 
 travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great 
 Britain or of her allies do so at their own risk. 
 IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY. 
 "Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915." 
 
 May 8 (1846) — Battle of Palo Alto, Mexico, year 
 1846. Gen. Zachary Taylor (American, 2,300 men) vs. 
 Gen. Arista (Mexican, 5,100 men). American victory. 
 American loss, 4 killed and 39 wounded ; Mexican loss 
 (Arista's statement), 102 killed and 127 wounded. 
 
 May 8 (1864) — Battle of Spottsylvania Court House, 
 Va., lasting four days, year 1864. A continuation of the 
 Battle of the Wilderness. After the battle of May 5, 6 
 and 7, Gen. Lee had intrenched his army in a strong 
 position at Spottsylvania and Grant immediately at- 
 tacked him again, following his plan of hammering con- 
 stantly and wearing down the Confederate army by 
 process of attrition. The result was again indecisive. 
 Union loss, killed and wounded, 13,000, missing 1,400 — 
 total, 14,400. Confederate loss was never reported; it is 
 supposed to have been not more than 10,000. On May 11, 
 following this battle. General Grant telegraphed to 
 
 98 
 
MAY^ 
 
 Washington : "I propose to fight it out on this line if it 
 takes all summer." 
 
 May 9 (1793) — Government of France known as the 
 Directorate, at war with Great Britain, issued a decree, 
 directing that all vessels of neutral countries carrying 
 supplies of ammunition or provisions to an enemy's port 
 (meaning Great Britain) be seized, year 1793. The de- 
 cree was a serious blow to the commerce between the 
 United States and Great Britain. It marked the com- 
 mencement of the controversy between the United 
 States and France which brought the two countries to 
 the verge of war in 1798. It was followed by a similar 
 act by Great Britain directed against the commerce of 
 neutral nations. (See June 8.) 
 
 May 9 (1800) — John Brown (of Osawatomie), born 
 at Torrington, Conn., year 1800; was executed by hang- 
 ing at Charles Town, Va., Dec. 2, 1859, for alleged treason 
 to the United States. He was the most famous advocate 
 of the abolition of slavery — except Lincoln — in the his- 
 tory of the United States. On Oct. 16, 1859, at the head 
 of sixteen men, he raided Harper's Ferry in Virginia and 
 released many slaves and then established himself in the 
 U. S. arsenal of the town and there was besieged by a 
 force of several hundred militiamen of Virginia and 
 Maryland. Most of his men were killed or wounded. He 
 was finally captured, after several hours of battle, by a 
 company under Col. Robert E. Lee. A few weeks later 
 he was tried at Charles Town by a Virginia court and 
 sentenced to death. His death thrilled the whole North, 
 and was one of the important events leading to the Civil 
 War. 
 
 May 9 (1816) — American Bible Society was founded, 
 year 1816. Elias Boudinot of Philadelphia, scholar, 
 lawyer and statesman, was the first president. 
 
 May 9 (1846) — ^Battle of Resaca de la Palma, 
 Mexico, year 1846. A continuation of the Battle of Palo 
 Alto. A complete American victory. American loss, 39 
 
 99 
 
AMERICAN .ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 killed, 83 wounded. Mexican loss (Arista's report), 160 
 killed, 227 wounded, 159 missing. General Taylor esti- 
 mated that the Mexicans lost 1,000 in the two battles. 
 
 May 10 — Confederate Memorial day in North and 
 South Carolina. (See Memorial Day, May 30.) 
 
 May 10 (1775)— Capture of Ticonderoga by Col. 
 Ethan Allen and a company of Vermont militia known 
 as "Green Mountain Boys," year 1775. The British 
 officer asked Allen by what authority he demanded the 
 surrender of the fort. He replied: "In the name of the 
 Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." This is 
 the origin of the word "continental" in American history. 
 (See Meeting of First Continental Congress, Sept. 5, 
 1774.) 
 
 May 10 (1775) — Openin'g of the Second Continental 
 Congress at Philadelphia, year 1775. This was the Con- 
 gress that adopted the Declaration of Independence and 
 managed the Revolutionary War. It lasted until Oct. 
 21, 1788, more than thirteen years. Its sessions were 
 opened at the following times and places : May 10, 1775, 
 Philadelphia; Dec. 20, 1776, Baltimore; March 4, 1777, 
 Philadelphia; Sept. 27, 1777, Lancaster, Pa.; Sept. 30, 
 1777, York, Pa. ; July 2, 1778, Philadelphia (this session 
 continued for five years at Philadelphia) ; June 30, 1783, 
 Princeton, N. J.; Nov. 26, 1783, Annapolis, Md.; Nov. 1, 
 1784, Trenton, N. J.; Jan. 11, 1785, New York. During 
 the next three years, the Congress met annually on the 
 first Monday in November, at New York. The last ses- 
 sion adjourned sine die, on Oct. 21, 1788. The first Na- 
 tional Congress, which succeeded the Continental Con- 
 gress, met at New York and elected a speaker and presi- 
 dent of the Senate on April 6, 1789. 
 
 May 10 (1859)— Gold discovered in Colorado by 
 John H. Gregory, a government teamster, on the banks 
 of Clear Creek, year 1859. 
 
 May 10 (1864)— "Bloody Angle" a salient of General 
 Lee's Confederate line at the Battle of Spottsylvania 
 
 100 
 
MAY 
 
 which was assaulted by a part of General Grant's Union 
 army under General Hancock. It is asserted that the 
 fiercest fighting of the Civil War, lasting twenty hours 
 and ending at midnight of the third day of the battle, 
 took place for the possession of this salient or "angle." 
 The dead were piled in heaps and the trenches ran blood. 
 Hence the descriptive name "Bloody Angle." The 
 Union assault was unsuccessful. (See May 8.) 
 
 May 10 (1865) — Jeflferson Davis, President of the 
 Confederate States of America, was captured by a de- 
 tachment of Union cavalrymen under Lieut. Col. Prit- 
 chard of Gen. James H. Wilson's command, near Irwins- 
 ville, Ga., year 1865. 
 
 May 10 (1876) — Centennial Exposition at Philadel- 
 phia opened by President Grant, year 1876. Closed Oct. 
 19 of the same year. 
 
 May 11 (1647) — Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch governor, 
 arrived in New Amsterdam, (New York), year 1647. 
 
 May 11 (1858) — Minnesota was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1858. 
 
 May 12 (1621) — First marriage ceremony performed 
 in Plymouth colony, year 1621. Gov. Edward Winslow's 
 wife (nee Elizabeth Barker) whom he had married in 
 Holland in 1618, died March 24, 1621. Seven weeks later 
 he married Susanna, the widow of William White, whose 
 husband had died on Feb. 21, eleven weeks before. It 
 had been a winter of great suffering; one-half of the 
 entire colony had died in the period of five months be- 
 tween the Landing at Plymouth and the day of this mar- 
 riage. (See Forefather's Day, Dec. 22, and Thanksgiving 
 Day.) 
 
 May 13 (1607) — Beginning of the first English 
 settlement 'in America, at Jamestown, year 1607. Cap- 
 tain John Smith was the leader and his colony numbered 
 105 persons, all men. They were mostly broken down 
 "gentlemen." Only twenty were agriculturists or me- 
 chanics. 
 
 101 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 May 13 (1783)— Society of Cincinnati organized, 
 year 1783. A few weeks before the disbandment of the 
 Continental army at Newburg, N. Y., a number of officers 
 under the leadership of Gen. Henry Knox met at the 
 headquarters of Baron Steuben, near Fishkill Landing 
 on the Hudson, and formed the society. Washington 
 was elected its first president. Its membership was 
 limited to commissioned- military officers. Its avowed 
 purpose was to promote friendship among its members 
 and their descendants, and provide benevolent aid. From 
 the beginning, the society aroused bitter opposition. It 
 was charged that its members sought to establish an 
 aristocracy. 
 
 May 13 (1846) — War against Mexico declared (after 
 hostilities had begun), year 1846. (See Mar. 28.) 
 
 May 14 (1787) — Convention met to draft the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, at Philadelphia, year 1787. 
 Washington was unanimously chosen president of the 
 convention. The sessions were continued daily for four 
 months, when the draft was completed and submitted 
 to the several States. 
 
 May 15 (1602) — Cape Cod discovered by Bartholo- 
 mew Gosnold, English navigator, year 1602. He had 
 sailed from England on March 26 with twenty colonists, 
 and had made landfall at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, after a 
 voyage of seven weeks. He and four others went ashore 
 at Cape Cod and were the first white men to set foot on 
 the soil of New England (excepting possibly the Norse- 
 men). He established his colony on an island at the 
 mouth of Buzzard's Bay, which island is now called No 
 Man's Land. The settlement was abandoned after a few 
 ■ weeks and the colonists returned to England. 
 
 May 15 (1918) — First regular aero mail service in 
 the world inaugurated by the U. S. Government, year 
 1918, between New York and Washington. The time of 
 flight from New York to Washington was 3 hours and 
 20 minutes including 6 minutes stop for relaying at Phila- 
 
 102 
 
MAY 
 
 delphia. At the same time air planes in relays from 
 Washington to New York flew the distance in 4 hours 
 and 47 minutes — including a stop in Maryland because 
 of an accident. The fastest railroad train record between 
 the two cities at that time was 5 hours. The aero postage 
 was 24 cents an ounce. 
 
 May 16 (1863) — ^Clement Laird Valandigham, of 
 Ohio, member of Congress and foremost of the Northern 
 men who sympathized with the Southern cause during 
 the Civil War, was arrested and charged with treason 
 to the United States, year 1863. It was shown before the 
 military court which tried him, that he had delivered a 
 public speech in which he denounced the war as "cruel 
 and unnecessary." He was convicted and sentenced to 
 imprisonment, but President Lincoln commuted the sen- 
 tence to deportation beyond the lines. The Confederates 
 would not receive him, and he became a wanderer, a 
 man without a country. His friends, who were bitterly 
 called "Copperheads" in the North, nofhinated him for 
 Governor of Ohio. He was overwhelmingly defeated. 
 He returned quietly to his home in Ohio in 1864. 
 
 May 17 (1864) — Postoffice money order system 
 established by Congress, year 1864. 
 
 May 18 (1824) — Machine for making nails patented, 
 year 1824. 
 
 May 18 (1899) — Peace Day. Opening of the Inter- 
 national Peace Conference at The Hague, Holland, which 
 established the permanent Court of Arbitration for the 
 settlement of issues between and among nations, year 
 1899. The conference was first proposed by the Czar 
 of Russia. 
 
 May 18 (1917) — Conscription Act of Congress to 
 provide by selective draft an army for the war against 
 Germany, signed by President Wilson, who also issued 
 a proclamation appointing the forthcoming June 5 the 
 national day of registration for the draft, year 1917. 
 May 19 (1643) — Four colonies, Massachusetts Bay, 
 103 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven formed a con- 
 federation under the title "The United Colonies of New 
 England," year 1643. This was the first confederation in 
 America, and the prototype of the United States. 
 
 May 19 (1780)— The "Dark Day" in New England, 
 year 1780. So-called because a mysterious darkness 
 overspread all New England, beginning at 10 o'clock in 
 the morning and continuing until dawn of next day. 
 Generally there were no clouds, yet candles had to be 
 lighted in all houses and out-door work was suspended. 
 Hundreds of thousands attributed the phenomenon to 
 supernatural influences. Astronomers and other scien- 
 tists have never satisfactorily explained it. Astronomical 
 records show no eclipse of the sun on that day. 
 
 May 20 (1506) — Christopher Columbus died at Val- 
 ladolid, Spain, year 1506. (See Discovery of America, 
 Oct. 12, 1492). 
 
 May 20 (1881) — The Revised New Testament was 
 published simultaneously in England, America and Aus- 
 tralia, year 1881. On that day, approximately 1,000,000 
 copies were sold. 
 
 May 21 (1881) — The American Association of the 
 Red Cross was founded and a constitution adopted at a 
 meeting held at Washington, D. C, year 1881. Miss 
 Clara Barton was elected president. She was the Ameri- 
 can leader in the Red Cross movement and was unques- 
 tionably the founder of the American Association. 
 
 The idea of the Red Cross was first put in form by 
 Henri Dunant of Switzerland, in a book entitled, "A 
 Souvenir of Solferino," published about the year 1860. 
 The book described the terrible conditions of wounded 
 men left upon the battle-field of Solferino (June 24, 1859) 
 in the war for Italian independence against Austria. Du- 
 nant advocated more humane and extensive appliances 
 in aid of wounded soldiers. His book, and lectures fol- 
 lowing it, resulted in the organization of The Inter- 
 national Committee of the Red Cross at a conference in 
 
 104 
 
MAY 
 
 Geneva which opened on Oct. 26, 1863 and lasted four 
 days. Fourteen governments were represented and sev- 
 eral philanthropic societies. In August of the next year 
 — 1864 — the Committee at Geneva formulated "The In- 
 ternational Red Cross Treaty — For the Amelioration of 
 the Condition of Wounded Soldiers in Armies at the 
 Field." France was the first nation to adopt the articles 
 of the Convention of Geneva — so the formulating body 
 was called — on Sept. 22, 1864. Of the other great powers, 
 Italy adopted them on Dec. 4, 1864; Great Britain, Feb. 
 18, 1865; Prussia, June 22, 1865; Austria, July 21, 1866; 
 Russia, May 22, 1867; The United States (Senate rati- 
 fied), March 16, 1882; Japan, June 5, 1886. 
 
 The United States was the thirty-second nation to 
 adopt the articles — eighteen years after France. The 
 official action of the United States Government was due 
 largely to the force and enthusiasm of Clara Barton ex- 
 erted to that purpose. The supineness of American gov- 
 ernment officialdom during so many years when the Red 
 Cross of Europe had become the great symbol of humani- 
 tarianism in that continent, is a cause for regret approach- 
 ing shame in the heart of every true citizen of this nation. 
 The story of how the International Committee urged the 
 United States Government to adopt the Articles of the 
 Geneva Convention, and of how the matter was buried 
 by Washington bureaucrats, and of how Clara Barton 
 persisted and finally won, is told by Miss Barton herself 
 in her book, "The Red Cross," published in 1898. She 
 gives the largest degree of credit to James G. Blaine, 
 Secretary of State in President Garfield's cabinet, for 
 finally bringing about the adoption of the Red Cross 
 treaty by the United States. 
 
 Miss Clara Barton was born in a small country house 
 — a story and a half — at Oxford, Mass., on Christmas 
 Day, year 1821 ; she died at Washington, D. C, April 12, 
 1912, at the age of ninety years. Her father, Captain 
 Stephen Barton, was a soldier. The family adopted the 
 
 105 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Universalist creed. According to Eppler's "Life of 
 Clara Barton," in 1824, at the age of three years, she was 
 carried to school by her brother — probably to be admired 
 as the school baby. At eleven years she was the nurse 
 of her brother David. She began her work for sick and 
 wounded soldiers during the Civil War. She went to the 
 battle-fields of the Franco-Prussian War (1870) where 
 she worked with the International Red Cross. Though 
 far advanced in years, she went to Cuba in the Spanish- 
 American War (1898) as the field commander of the 
 American Red Cross. On June 16, 1904, she resigned the 
 presidency, having held the office continuously for 
 twenty-three years — since the founding. Her career pro- 
 foundly affected the social life of this nation, and no 
 woman in all American history ranks higher in the minds 
 and hearts of the citizenry of the United States. 
 
 May 21 (1902) — The United States army and public 
 administration officers retired from Cuba, turning over 
 the government to the newly elected Cuban government, 
 year 1902. 
 
 May 22 (1865) — Last bloodshed in battle of the Civil 
 War, year 1865. A man named Bordunix and two other 
 Virginians under him, scorning their fellow Confederates 
 who had quit before the advance of Gen. Stoneman's 
 Federal cavalry after the surrender of Gen.- Lee, defied 
 a force of 500 Federals at Floyd Court House, Va. The 
 three men marched boldly to meet the Federals, who 
 were amazed. Suddenly they deployed into a clump of 
 bushes and fired, wounding two Union men. Quickly 
 they delivered another volley, wounding others of the 
 astonished Federals, and then retreated. The Federals 
 did not fire upon them, but pursued for six miles through 
 rough country to take them alive, while the three kept 
 up the battle. At last they took a position in a grave- 
 yard and delivered a final volley. Then the order was 
 given the Federals to fire, and 300 muskets were dis- 
 charged, riddling to instant death the three last mus- 
 
 106 
 
MAY 
 
 keteers of the Confederacy. They were buried in the 
 graveyard where they fell. 
 
 May 23 (1872) — First National Convention of Work- 
 ingmen as a political party or ,group, at New York, 
 nominated for President Gen. U. S. Grant and for Vice- 
 President Henry Wilson, year 1872. These were the 
 regular Republican candidates. 
 
 May 24 (1819) — Steamship Savannah sailed from Sav- 
 annah, Ga., for Liverpool, the first steamship to cross the 
 Atlantic, year 1819. The ocean passage was made in 
 twenty-two days. It was a little craft of 350 tons, with 
 a 90 horse-power engine; the fuel was pitch pine wood. 
 It was rigged as a sailing vessel with three masts and 
 square yards. It was built at Elizabethport, N. J., by a 
 syndicate of which William Scarborough of Savannah 
 was the chief. 
 
 May 24 (1844) — First public demonstration of the 
 magnetic telegraph, year 1844. Samuel F. B. Morse, the 
 inventor, sent from Baltimore a message over the newly 
 constructed line to Washington. The message, a quota- 
 tion from the Bible, was, "What hath God wrought?" 
 (From the Bible, Numbers XXIII, 23.) It was received 
 by Alfred Vail, and returned at once. Prior to this, on 
 May 1, 1844, during the period of private experimenta- 
 tion, a message had been sent from Baltimore announcing 
 the nomination of Henry Clay as the candidate of the 
 Whig party for president. On May 29, a message was 
 sent announcing the nomination of Jas. K. Polk by the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 May 24 (1861)— Col. E. Elmer Ellsworth, of the New 
 York Fire Zouaves — a Federal regiment of the Civil War, 
 was shot dead while pulling down a Confederate flag 
 which was flying over the Marshal House in Alexandria, 
 Va., by the hotel proprietor, J. W. Jackson, year 1861. 
 One of Ellsworth's men instantly killed Jackson in re- 
 taliation. 
 
 May 24 (1875)— The American Bankers' Association 
 107 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 was founded by seventeen banking men, representing 
 eleven cities, who met at Barnum's Hotel, Broadway, 
 New York. The first convention was held at Saratoga, 
 N. Y., July 20, 21, 22, year 1875, with 300 present. Chas. 
 B. Hall, cashier of the Boston National Bank was elected 
 first President. The association came into existence as 
 a result of the great financial panic of 1873. 
 
 May 24 (1883) — New York and Brooklyn Bridge — 
 the first bridge between the two cities, was dedicated and 
 opened, year 1883. The construction was commenced 
 on Jan. 3, 1870. The cost was approximately $20,000,000. 
 
 May 25 (1803) — Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and 
 
 . philosopher, born at Boston, year 1803 ; died at Concord, 
 
 Mass., April 27, 1882. He is ranked among the great 
 
 philosophic writers of the world, and is supremely the 
 
 highest in rank in America. 
 
 May 26 (1836)— First "gag rule" adopted by the 
 House of Representatives at Washington, year 1836. It 
 read : "Resolved, that all petitions, memorials, resolu- 
 tions, propositions, or papers relating in any way to the 
 subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, shall, with- 
 out either being printed or referred, be laid upon the 
 table." The resolution was ostensibly adopted "for the 
 purpose of arresting agitation and restoring tranquility 
 to the public mind." In plain fact, it was intended to 
 suppress the discussion of the slavery question and it in- 
 evitably failed. 
 
 May 26 (1865)— Gen. E. Kirby Smith, Confederate 
 general, surrendered the last army of the Confederacy, 
 numbering 18,000, to Gen. E. R. Canby (Union), near 
 Brazos, Texas, year 1865. 
 
 May 27 (1794) — ^Cornelius Vanderbilt, financier, 
 ("Commodore" Vanderbilt) born near Stapleton, Staten 
 Island, N. Y., year 1794; died at New York, Jan. 4, 1877. 
 He was the first of the old Dutch family of that name 
 to achieve success as a financier and was the founder 
 of the present great fortune of the Vanderbilt family. 
 
 108 
 
MAY 
 
 He was the son of a Dutch farmer. He began business 
 at the age of sixteen years, carrying farm produce and 
 passengers in a small ferry boat from Staten Island to 
 New York. His chief accomplishment was the organiza- 
 tion of the New York Central and Hudson River Ry. 
 Of the capital stock of $150,000,000 at the beginning, he 
 owned 51 per cent. At his death, his wealth was estimated 
 at $100,000,000. 
 
 May 28 (1798) — Congress authorized President John 
 Adams, in case of an actual declaration of war or invasion 
 by an enemy, to enlist 10,000 men in a provisional army, 
 year 1798. At that time, war with France was imminent. 
 Ex-President Washington, then in retirement at Mount 
 Vernon, was appointed lieutenant-general of this army, 
 and, on June 17, accepted the commission. But a declara- 
 tion of war was avoided and the difficulties settled with 
 no bloodshed except in two naval engagements. (See 
 Feb. 9, Feb. 25, and Oct. 19.) 
 
 May 29 (1848) — Wisconsin admitted into the Union, 
 year 1848. 
 
 May 29 (1856) — First Republican State convention in 
 Illinois met at Bloomington. Abraham Lincoln, one of 
 the delegates, was the favorite for the nomination for 
 governor, but he suggested that William H. Bissell be 
 nominated and this was done. Lincoln addressed the 
 convention for one hour, holding the delegates spell- 
 bound. It is said the reporters were so enthralled that 
 they forgot to take notes and so this great speech by Lin- 
 coln, known as the "Lost Speech," was never reported. 
 
 MEMORIAL DAY 
 May 30 
 
 On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, commander- 
 in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a 
 general order to the comrades of the organization. The 
 opening sentence was as follows : "The 30th of May, 
 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with 
 
 109 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades 
 who died in defense of their country during the late re- 
 bellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, 
 village and hamlet churchyard of the land." A follow- 
 ing paragraph explained : "It is the purpose of the Com- 
 mander-in-chief to inaugurate this observance with the 
 hope that it will be kept up from year to year while a 
 survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his 
 departed comrades." 
 
 The order by General Logan originated the formal 
 celebration of the day in the Northern States. The word 
 "memorial" was not used in the order. By common con- 
 sent the festival was called "Decoration Day." After a 
 few years, in the early '70's, the leaders of the G. A. R. 
 decided that the title "Decoration Day" did not express 
 the real purpose of the services which had come to mark 
 the observance of the day, and they changed the title to 
 "Memorial Day" and it has ever since been officially 
 known by that title. However, the vast majority of 
 people outside the membership of the G. A. R. clung to 
 the title "Decoration Day," and even now it is probable 
 that a majority of the people prefer this title. 
 
 General Logan did not claim that he conceived the 
 idea of Decoration Day. It is a matter of record that on 
 June 9, 1865, one month after the surrender at Appomat- 
 tox, the women of Richmond, Va., went to Hollywood 
 Cemetery, leading a large body of men who marched 
 there, and they placed flowers upon the graves of Con- 
 federate soldiers, and also upon the graves of Union sol- 
 diers. It is a common tradition in the South that 
 Southern women, at each springtime, strewed flowers 
 upon the battlefields above the dust of soldiers. Con- 
 federate and Union alike. 
 
 In the states of Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mis- 
 sissippi, April 26 is the annual "Decoration Day." North 
 and South Carolina both designate May 10. In the Gulf 
 States, the season of flowers is at its height in the last 
 
 110 
 
MAY 
 
 week of April, and therefore Decoration Day is observed 
 a month earlier than in the North. 
 
 May 30 (1901) — Hall of Fame for Great Americans 
 formally opened, 1901. It is a building on the grounds 
 of New York University, provided by funds given by 
 Helen M. Gould. Names of Great Americans are selected 
 by a jury of 100. A bronze tablet bearing the name of 
 each person selected, is placed in the Hall. 
 
 May 31 (1775)— Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, year 1775. It is alleged that Col. Adam Alex- 
 ander, early in May, 1775, called upon the people of 
 Mecklenburg County, N. C, to appoint delegates to a 
 convention which would devise ways and means to aid 
 their bre.thren in Massachusetts. The convention met at 
 Charlotte, N. C, on May 19, 1775. The Declaration of 
 Independence, it is alleged, was adopted by this conven- 
 tion after nearly two weeks, thus antedating the Decla- 
 ration of Thomas Jefferson and his associates by more 
 than a year. But the fact and date of the so-called Meck- 
 lenburg Declaration have not been proved to the satis- 
 faction of all competent historians. The controversy has 
 lasted from the time of the Second Continental Congress, 
 and probably never will be decided. 
 
 May 31 (1819) — Walt (Walter) Whitman, some- 
 times called "the Good Gray Poet," born at West Hills, 
 Long Island, N. Y. ; died at Camden, N. J., March 26, 
 1892. An extreme cultured group of literary critics in 
 America and Europe assert that he was the greatest poet 
 America had produced up to the end of the last century. 
 The rationalistic critics generally admit his genius but 
 deny his rank as a poet. His best known work was 
 "Leaves of Grass" (published in 1855), a series of poems 
 dealing with moral, social and political problems of Amer- 
 ican life, in irregular rhythm or prose rhythm form, which 
 form is commonly known as vers libre or "free verse." He 
 was the first great writer of the English speaking peoples 
 to use this form. Ralph Waldo Emerson said of this 
 
 111 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 book: "I find incomparable things said incomparably." 
 George Saintsbury in his "History of English Prosody," 
 writing about American poets, expresses this opinion: 
 "After Poe . . . the poet of genius, and Longfellow, the 
 poet of exceptional and wide-ranging talent, . . . there 
 is an unusual aptness in Walt Whitman, another poet of 
 genius who devotes himself to formal, as to other, revolt. 
 . . . From Whitman's actual experiments it is clear that 
 had he chosen, and taken the trouble, he could have 
 written beautiful verse proper." 
 
 May 31 (1862) — Battle of Fair Oaks, Va. (or Seven 
 Pines), year 1862. The advance guard of the Union 
 army of the Potomac, numbering about 10,000 men under 
 Gen. Silas Casey, was attacked by about 15,000 Con- 
 federates under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Gen. James 
 Longstreet, a few miles east of Richmond. The sanguin- 
 ary struggle lasted all day and part of June 1st. Casey 
 was reinforced by 5,000, and, at the end, the Confed- 
 erates retired to their intrenchments at Richmond, leav- 
 ing the Federals master of the field — a technical Union 
 victory. Each side lost about 7,000 men in killed, 
 wounded and missing. Considering the numbers en- 
 gaged, this was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil 
 War. 
 
 May 31 (1889)— Johnstown, Pa., Flood, year 1889. 
 Long continued rain caused the Connemaugh river, in 
 Pennsylvania, to rise and break the dam eighteen miles 
 above Johnstown. The enormous mass of water rushed 
 down the valley as fast as a swift railroad train, and 
 destroyed the lives of 2,142 persons in the low lying 
 section of Johnstown. The value of property destroyed 
 was officially estimated at $9,674,155. 
 
 May 31 (1913) — Seventeenth Amendment to the 
 Constitution adopted. It reads in part: "The Senate of 
 the United States shall be composed of two senators from 
 each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years." 
 Prior to the adoption of this amendment, United States 
 Senators had been selected by the Legislatures, and not 
 by popular vote. 
 
 112 
 
JUNE 
 
 June 1 (1792) — Kentucky was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1792. . 
 
 June 1 (1796) — Tennessee was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1796. 
 
 June 1 (1813)— Battle between the U. S. S. Chesa- 
 peake and H. M. S. Shannon, year 1813 (War of 1812). 
 Captain Philip Broke of the British frigate sent a chal- 
 lenge to Captain James Lawrence of the American 
 frigate lying in Boston harbor to come out on the high 
 sea and fight. Lawrence sailed out on June 1st, before 
 the challenge was delivered. The duel was fought in 
 Massachusetts Bay, about 18 miles east of Boston light 
 house. The two ships were well matched as to size, ar- 
 mament and sailing power. The crew of the British ship 
 was superior in character and discipline. The battle be- 
 gan about 6 p. m. and lasted only 15 minutes, when the 
 Chesapeake, her rigging shot away, her captain mortally 
 wounded and the British crew boarding her, surrend- 
 ered. Captain Lawrence, lying below decks and dying, 
 whispered his last words to his men near him, "Don't 
 give up the ship !" The phrase became a battle cry of the 
 nation. The American crew, numbering 340 men, lost 47 
 killed and 99 wounded. Of the British crew of 330 men, 
 24 were killed and 83 wounded. 
 
 June 1 (1864) — Battle of Cold Harbor, Va., year 
 1864. Gen. U. S. Grant (Union, 65,000 men) vs. Gen. R. 
 E. Lee (Confederate, 35,000 men in intrenchments). Con- 
 federate victory. The battle lasted until 1 p. m. of June 
 3rd. At noon of the last day the Union forces delivered 
 their most determined assault ; it was repulsed with great 
 loss; it is estimated that 6,000 Union men fell killed or 
 wounded in twenty minutes, while the Confederates lost 
 less than 1,000 in the same time. The Union troops were 
 withdrawn, and Grant made a new plan to take Rich- 
 mond. The Union loss in the three days' battle was re- 
 
 113 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 ported as 1,769 killed, 8,411 wounded and 1,537 missing — 
 total 11,717. The Confederate loss was not reported; it 
 was estimated at 3,500. 
 
 June 1 (1898) — Trans-Mississippi International Ex- 
 position opened at Omaha, Nebr., year 1898. The total 
 attendance was 2,613,508. 
 
 June 2 (1851) — The Maine Law, an act "to prohibit 
 drinking houses and tippling shops" was approved by the 
 Governor, William G. Crosby, year 1851. Thus Maine 
 was the first "prohibition" State in the Union. 
 
 June 2 (1862) — Gen. Robert E. Lee took command 
 of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, near 
 Richmond, year 1862. He relieved Gen. Joseph E. John- 
 ston who had been wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks 
 (or Seven Pines), May 31, 1862. Lee continued in com- 
 mand of this army throughout the Civil War, until April 
 9, 1865. He was never actual commander-in-chief of the 
 Confederate forces. (See Birthday of Jeiiferson Davis, 
 June 3.) 
 
 BIRTHDAY OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, PRESIDENT 
 
 OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES 
 
 OF AMERICA 
 
 June 3, 1808 
 
 Jefferson Davis was born in Todd County, Ky., 
 June 3, 1808, less than a year before the birth of Abraham 
 Lincoln and at a place but a short distance from Lincoln's 
 birthplace in the same State. He was descended from 
 Scotch-Irish and Welsh ancestry. His father, Samuel 
 Davis, was one of the border pioneers. He was the 
 youngest of nine children. 
 
 The early parallel between the lives of Davis and 
 Lincoln has furnished a subject for speculation to many 
 writers. Lincoln moved north to Indiana and later to 
 Illinois where slavery was fprbidden. Davis moved 
 south to Mississippi where slavery was raccepted as a 
 divine institution. If Lincoln had been taken south by 
 
 114 
 
JUNE 
 
 his parents, and if the father of Davis had gone north, 
 would Lincoln have become a slave holder and would 
 Davis have become an abolitionist? 
 
 There was a striking likeness in the physical appear- 
 ance of LiiiGoln and Davis when they both came to man- 
 hood. Davis was over six feet tall, spare, with irregular 
 features, high cheek bones, high forehead, and blue gray 
 eyes. His limbs were long and loose like Lincoln's. But 
 physical training changed Davis. His father became rich, 
 and sent young Davis to Transylvania College at Lexing- 
 ton, Ky. While there he received the appointment as 
 cadet to West Point. He graduated from the military 
 academy in 1828, ranking twentieth in a class of thirty- 
 three — about as high as U. S. Grant who graduated fif- 
 teen years later. 
 
 Carl Schurz writes that Davis went home from West 
 Point "every inch" an aristocrat, which pleased his 
 family. 
 
 He served for seven years as a lieutenant in the 
 United States Army, in the Northwest against the In- 
 dians, and in the Black Hawk War. There is a tradition 
 that, in the war, he met and talked with Lincoln, who 
 was a volunteer officer. 
 
 In 1835 he resigned his commission and became a 
 cotton planter in Mississippi. He married the daughter 
 of Col. Zachary Taylor (who later became President), a 
 romantic elopement and marriage, which interested the 
 whole country. The pair were both stricken with the 
 fever of the Gulf country and the bride died a few months 
 after her wedding. The husband recovered slowly. He 
 never regained good health. 
 
 He began his public career in 1843, when he was 
 elected to the legislature of his State. Two years later 
 he was elected to Congress. Then came the Mexican 
 War and he joined the army of his father-in-law. General 
 Taylor, as colonel of a Mississippi regiment. He cov- 
 ered himself and his State with glory. He was acclaimed 
 "the hero of Buena Vista," where he was wounded. 
 
 115 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 He was elected United States Senator from Missis- 
 sippi in 1847. At the death of John C. Calhoun in 1850, 
 he succeeded to the leadership of the South in Congress. 
 President Pierce appointed him Secretary of War in 1853. 
 He dominated the Pierce administration. The South 
 looked upon him as its candidate for the Presidency of 
 the United States to succeed Buchanan. But in the later 
 50's there came to the fore another Democrat, Senator 
 Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, who had little in common 
 with the slave holders of the South. These two men di- 
 vided the Democratic party into Northern Democrats and 
 Southern Democrats, and because of this division, Lin- 
 coln was elected President in 1860. 
 
 Davis did not believe, like Lincoln, that the masses 
 were fitted to govern the United States. He had been a 
 sincere Union man as long as government was ordered 
 by the intellectual and wealthy interests of the South. 
 When Lincoln's election smashed the old regime, he ac- 
 cepted Secession as the only alternative for his section 
 and class. On Feb. 18, 1861, he was chosen president of 
 the provisional government of the Confederate States of 
 America, organized at Montgomery, Ala. In 1862, he 
 was regularly elected for a term of six years. He kept 
 his residence at Richmond, Va., during the four years of 
 war. 
 
 After the surrender at Appomattox, in April, 1865, 
 he endeavored to escape. He was captured by Federal 
 cavalrymen at Irwinsville, Ga., on May 10, 1865. He was 
 charged with conspiring to assassinate President Lincoln. 
 He easily disproved the charge, and now no thinking man 
 believes he had anything to do with the assassination. 
 But he was kept a prisoner at Fortress Monroe for two 
 years under the general charge of treason, while Lee was 
 entirely free, having the sympathy and even admiration 
 of millions in the North. Davis alone was made the 
 scapegoat. Yet he remained a proud man, unreconciled. 
 Pie was urged to ask for pardon. He refused, preferring 
 to go to the scaffold rather than admit he had done 
 
 116 
 
JUNE 
 
 wrong.. And finally, on May 4, 1867, he was set free upon 
 the same conditions as the soldiers of Lee's army. 
 
 He went to live in Canada where his wife had made 
 a home, near Montreal. The climate was too severe and 
 after a short time he removed to Cuba, and in 1868 sailed 
 for England where he was received as a hero. In 1869 
 he returned and settled at Memphis, Tenn., as president 
 of a life insurance company. There he lived until 1874 
 when the company failed and he was left almost penni- 
 less. For four years more he strove in commercial ven- 
 tures without success. Finally, in 1878, broken in health, 
 he retired to "Beauvoir" in Mississippi on the Gulf coast, 
 a home which was given him by a southern woman, Mrs. 
 Sarah R. Dorsey, and there he lived until the end, and 
 wrote his monumental literary work, "The Rise and Fall 
 of the Confederate Government." 
 
 He died at New Orleans on Dec. 6, 1889, aged eighty- 
 one years. His body was taken to Richmond and buried 
 •in Hollywood Cemetery and over it a monument was 
 erected, and now it is a shrine where thousands from 
 South and North go each year, in homage or pity for the 
 big, lone sad man who excluded himself from citizenship 
 in the United States, who died a man without a country. 
 
 Gen. James Harrison Wilson, one of the most bril- 
 liant and able military leaders of the North, who studied 
 Jefferson Davis at close range after his capture, said to 
 the writer of this book forty-seven years after the end of 
 the Civil War : 
 
 "Davis was the greatest man of the Confederacy. He 
 got out of it all that was possible. He ran the machine 
 tQ its utmost capacity, and when it broke down it was 
 like the 'One Hoss Shay.' Perhaps, if Davis had been in 
 Lincoln's place, the story of the war would have been 
 different. The people of the North wanted victories right 
 at the beginning, and I think Davis could have given them 
 victories, for he knew the men and he knew military 
 science. There was no man in America with wider and 
 more thorough military knowledge." 
 
 117 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 June 3 (1898)— U. S. S. Merrimac, a collier, was 
 sunk in the channel at the entrance of the harbor of San- 
 tiago, Cuba (Spanish War) by Lieut. Richmond Pearson 
 Hobson and eight volunteer companions from the Ameri- 
 can fleet, to block the passage and prevent the Spanish 
 squadron from escaping, year 1898. (See Naval Battle of 
 Santiago, July 3, 1898.) 
 
 June 4 (1863) — General Lee's Army (Confederate, 
 75,000 men) left the encampment south of the Rappa- 
 hannock River near Fredericksburg, Va., and began its 
 march of invasion of the North, year 1863. A month 
 later, at Gettysburg, the invasion was stopped and 
 thrown back. (See Battle of Gettysburg, July 1.) 
 
 June 4 (1915)— The Directors of the Ford Motor 
 Company on this "date, year 1915, increased the capital 
 stock from $2,000,000 to $100,000,000. The date marks 
 the public recognition of Henry Ford, inventor, as one of 
 the foremost captains of industry of the world. The 
 Ford Motor Company was organized on June 16, 1903. 
 
 June 5 (1851)— First chapter of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" 
 appeared in the National Era, a weekly anti-slavery paper 
 published at Washington, D. C., edited by Dr. Gamaliel 
 Bailey, assisted by John G. Whittier, year 1851. The 
 serial continued in this publication and ended in the issue 
 of April 1, 1852. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author, re- 
 ceived $300 for the serial. On March 30, 1852, it was 
 issued in book form. Not less' than 3,000,000 copies have 
 been sold. It has been translated into nineteen languages. 
 
 June 5 (1917)— First registration day for all males in 
 the country between the ages of 21 and 30 years inclusive, 
 year 1917. The registration produced a list of nearly 
 10,000,000 men who constituted the class from which the 
 first draft of 678,000 under the conscription act of May 18, 
 1917, was taken. 
 
 June 6 (1865) — The French government rescinded its 
 recognition of the Confederacy as belligerents, year 1865. 
 The British had rescinded four days prior to this. Almost 
 
 118 
 
JUNE 
 
 at the beginning of the Civil War, France and England 
 recognized the Confederates as belligerents and, influ- 
 enced by Louis Napoleon, Emperor of the French, were 
 on the point of recognizing their independence. They re- 
 frained from the latter act, chiefly because of the grim 
 warnings of President Lincoln. 
 
 June 6 (1866) — President Johnson issued a proclama- 
 tion forbidding the Fenian Brotherhood, a secret revolu- 
 tionary society aiming to free Ireland from British rule, 
 to organize and arm in the territory of the United States 
 with intent to invade Canada, year 1866. A few days 
 prior to this proclamation, a body of 1,500 Fenians, in- 
 cluding many ex-Union soldiers of Irish birth or descent, 
 had assembled" at Niagara Falls and crossed into Canada 
 near Fort Erie, on June 1st. Next day, in a skirmish at 
 Ridgeway, Ontario, with the Canadian militia, they were 
 defeated and driven across the Niagara River into the 
 United States where 700 of them were arrested by the 
 United States authorities. In spite of the President's 
 proclamation, another body of 1,000 Fenians attacked St. 
 Armand, Quebec, on June 9th; they were defeated and 
 dispersed. Those who had been made captives by the 
 United States authorities were imprisoned a short term 
 and then let go without other punishment. The Fenian 
 agitation continued for several years, though without 
 armed conflict, until 1870. On May 24th of that year 
 President Grant issued a proclamation forbidding them 
 to invade Canada. Nevertheless, two days- later, a body 
 of 500 did raid from Fairfield, Vt., into Canada, but were 
 quickly driven back. That was the last actual military 
 effort of the Brotherhood in the United States. 
 
 June 7 (1769) — Daniel Boone, with five other hunters 
 from North Carolina, reached Red River, Kentucky, the 
 first white explorers of the country named "The Dark and 
 Bloody Ground" by the Indians, year 1769. 
 
 June 7 (1776) — Resolution presented in the Second 
 Continental Congress by Richard Henry Lee declaring 
 
 119 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 "that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
 free and independent states," year 1776. (See "Indepen- 
 dence Day, July 4.) 
 
 June 8 (1793) — British "Orders in Council" affecting 
 American commerce, year 1793. The British government 
 ordered the commanders of British ships-of-war to stop 
 all vessels from neutral countries carrying supplies to 
 France, and to compel such ships to enter British ports. 
 Great Britain was then at war with France. This act 
 caused intense indignation in America. By a curious turn 
 of affairs, the French, in reprisal, later ordered their war 
 ships to stop neutral vessels bound to the British Isles 
 with supplies, and offended the United States more than 
 Great Britain had done. Because of these acts by Eng- 
 land and France, American commerce was deeply injured 
 during the succeeding seven years, and the United States 
 was brought to the verge of war with France. (See John 
 Adams, Oct. 30 and May 9, and Charles C. Pinckney, 
 Feb. 23.) 
 
 June 8 (1845) — Andrew Jackson, seventh President 
 of the United States, died at his home, the "Hermitage," 
 near Nashville, Tenn., year 1845. (See Birthday of An- 
 drew Jackson, March 15.) 
 
 June 9 (1791) — John Howard Payne, dramatist, 
 author of the song, "Home Sweet Home," born at New 
 York, year 1791 ; died at Tunis, in Africa, April 10, 1852. 
 While living in London and Paris (1812-1813) he wrote 
 the libretto of the melodramatic opera, "Clari, or the Maid 
 of Milan," in which was the song "Home Sweet Home." 
 The music was written by Sir Henry Bishop, an English 
 composer. In 1841 Payne was appointed American consul 
 at Tunis. He held the office until his death. In 1883 his 
 ashes were brought to America and buried at Washing- 
 ton, D. C. 
 
 June 10 (1861)— Battle of Big Bethel (or Great 
 Bethel), year 1861. First engagement of the Civil War on 
 the soil of Virginia. A Union force of 3,500 men, includ- 
 
 120 
 
JUNE 
 
 ing the whole or part of five New York and one Massa- 
 chusetts regiments and a detachment of U. S. artillery, 
 was sent by Gen. B. F. Butler from Fortress Monroe to 
 capture a Confederate battery eight miles distant. The 
 force divided, marching by different roads. At that time 
 there were many varieties of soldiers' uniforms and flags, 
 each regiment being clothed as its officers and tradition 
 saw fit. So it was that when one part of this force saw 
 another approaching upon another road, not recognizing 
 the uniform nor flag, and thinking the oncomers were ene- 
 mies, fired, killing their Federal friends. The mistake was 
 soon discovered, but the whole force was demoralized by 
 the blunder, and, after a weak show of attacking the Con- 
 federate position, retreated, with a loss of 18 killed and 53 
 wounded. The incident is important in history, because 
 it showed the immediate necessity of one uniform for all 
 Union soldiers. 
 
 June 10 (1869) — Legislature of the territory of Wyo- 
 ming passed an act granting to women the right to vote 
 and to hold office, year 1869. This act was approved 
 Dec. 10, 1869. It was the first act in any State or terri- 
 tory giving women the same rights of suffrage as men. 
 In 1890, when Wyoming was admitted as a State, women 
 suffrage was specifically provided in the constitution. 
 
 June 11 (1859) — "Comstock Lode" of silver, in Ne- 
 vada, discovered by Penrod Comstock & Co., year 1859. 
 
 June 11 (1891)— "Whaleback" Steamship Charles W. 
 Wetmore left Duluth, Minn., with a cargo of grain for 
 Liverpool, England. It was the first "whaleback" to cross 
 the Atlantic; year 1891. 
 
 June 12 (1775) — First naval engagement of the 
 American Revolution, year 1775. Jeremiah O'Brien, com- 
 manding the American sloop Amity, with a small crew 
 including his brother John, attacked and captured the 
 British schooner Margaretta, off Machias, Maine. The 
 prisoners were marched overland to Cambridge, Mass., 
 and delivered to General Washington. The O'Briens re- 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 ceived the formal thanks of the Massachusetts provincial 
 congress. 
 
 June 13 (1778) — France declared war against Eng- 
 land in aid of the American colonies, year 1778. (See 
 Yorktown, Oct. 19, 1781.) 
 
 June 14 (1811) — Harriet Beecher Stowe, author, 
 born at Litchfield, Conn., year 1811; died at Hartford, 
 Conn., July 1, 1896. She was the daughter of Dr. Lyman 
 Beecher. She was married to Rev. Calvin Ellis Stowe of 
 Hartford. She is known to all the civilized world as the 
 author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It is asserted by 
 authorities that this has been the most widely read book 
 in all Christendom, excepting only the Bible. (See 
 June 5.) 
 
 June 14 (1834) — Diving Suit with brass helmet pat- 
 ented by Leonard Norcross (born at Redfield, Me., June 
 17, 1798), the inventor, year 1834. 
 
 FLAG DAY— ADOPTION OF THE STARS AND 
 STRIPES BY THE SECOND CONTI- 
 NENTAL CONGRESS 
 June 14, 1777 
 
 At the beginning of the American Revolution when 
 Washington took command of the American army that 
 was besieging Boston, shortly after the Battle of Bunker 
 Hill (June 17, 1775), the united Colonies had no official 
 flag — except the English flag, a red field with a blue can- 
 ton field crossed with the red and white crosses of St. 
 George and St. Andrew (the "canton" is the top quarter 
 nearest the stafif, usually called the "union" and collo- 
 quially the "jack") . The Colonies had not yet formally 
 separated from England, and theoretically still recog- 
 nized the English flag as a symbol of their sovereign. In 
 actual practice, without any orders from Congress, most 
 of the various soldier divisions from the several Colonies 
 each carried a flag of their own which was different from 
 all the others. 
 
 122 
 
JUNE 
 
 Washington realized that it was desirable to have 
 one flag over all the divisions of his army — an official 
 flag. But, for political reasons, he delayed the adoption 
 of an official military American flag until six months 
 after he had taken command. Then, on Jan. 2, 1776, he 
 raised over his headquarters at Cambridge, Mass., a new 
 flag with thirteen stripes, yet retaining the exact canton 
 of the English flag. This he did without any formal act 
 of Congress. The new flag at once became the Flag of 
 the United Colonies. The English called it "the Rebel- 
 lious Stripes." Six months after this Cambridge Flag 
 was raised. Congress adopted the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. There was no longer any political reason why 
 the English "union" should be kept in the American flag. 
 In fact, even before the Declaration of Independence, as 
 the Betsy Ross story tells, the "Starry Flag" or "Con- 
 stellation Flag" had been contemplated by Washington. 
 
 At the beginning of the Revolution there lived in 
 Philadelphia a young widow named Elizabeth Ross, who 
 kept an upholstery shop in Arch street; she had a large 
 circle of friends in the city, and the family of her deceased 
 husband, John Ross, was among the socially prominent. 
 She was called "Betsy" Ross by her friends. The legend 
 of the making of the stars and stripes comes almost en- 
 tirely from what she related, by word of mouth, to mem- 
 bers of her own and her husband's family; her descend- 
 ants repeated the story with every evidence of sincerity, 
 several making affidavits. According to this story, a 
 committee consisting of Gen. George Washington, 
 Robert Morris and Colonel Ross — the last named being 
 an uncle of Mrs. Ross's deceased husband, visited her 
 shop in June, 1776, and asked if she could make a flag. 
 She said she could, and thereupon they showed her a 
 rough design of an ensign like the Cambridge flag, ex- 
 cept that the canton had thirteen stars instead of the 
 crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. The stars were 
 six-pointed and were scattered rather irregularly over the 
 blue field. 
 
 123 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Mrs. Ross, so it is told, suggested that the stars 
 should be five pointed, as they would look better than the 
 six-pointed. General Washington agreed, but said that 
 he thought five-pointed stars were harder to make ; where- 
 upon Mrs. Ross took her scissors and a piece of cloth and 
 cut a five-pointed star with one single clip of the scissors, 
 doing it so easily and prettily that he was instantly con- 
 vinced, and then and there changed the design of the stars 
 to the five-pointed model. 
 
 She also suggested that the stars would look better 
 if arranged in a circle, and this suggestion was also 
 adopted. The committee then went away, leaving the 
 corrected design with Mrs. Ross, and she shortly after- 
 ward completed a sample flag which was sent to General 
 Washington — probably at his headquarters in New York 
 before the coming of the British fleet and army which 
 captured the city. 
 
 Washington and the other members of the committee 
 approved this flag, and recommended to Congress that it 
 be adopted. But Congress did not adopt it until nearly 
 a year after Mrs. Ross had sewed her sample flag. 
 
 It has been objected by writers who do not believe 
 the Betsy Ross story, that it is unsupported by evidence 
 outside the Ross family and that it is improbable that 
 Congress would wait a whole year to adopt a flag which 
 was so strongly recommended by two such powerful men 
 as General Washington and Robert Morris. However, 
 the story has never been disproved, and it has been gen- 
 erally accepted throughout the nation. Doubtless, the 
 romantic strain in our people seeks for such stories, of 
 which kind there are too few in our authentic histories, 
 and so the masses of our people will hold faith in Betsy 
 Ross as the woman who pieced and sewed our first 
 national flag. 
 
 On June 14, 1777, John Adams, in pursuance of the 
 report of a committee, introduced in the Continental Con- 
 gress at Philadelphia the following resolution which was 
 passed unanimously: 
 
 124 
 
JUNE 
 
 "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United 
 
 States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and 
 
 white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a 
 
 blue field, representing a new constellation." 
 
 Even after this there was delay in promulgating the 
 
 action of Congress. The public announcement to the 
 
 nation was made on September 3, 1777. 
 
 Throughout the month of June, 1777, Washington's 
 Army Headquarters were at Middlebrook Heights, near 
 Bound Brook, New Jersey. To this place came a courier 
 riding swiftly from Philadelphia on the evening of June 14, 
 with news of the action of Congress, and next morning, 
 according to all evidence scrupulously weighed in late 
 years by the State of New Jersey, the new national flag 
 was raised before the commander-in-chief over his head- 
 quarters and formally designated the new flag of the 
 Republic. This historic spot on Middlebrook Heights is 
 now a shrine of the Americai; people. 
 
 In 1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and the 
 next year Kentucky was admitted, thus making fifteen 
 States in the Union. On May 1, 1795, Congress, with 
 short-sighted judgment, enacted a law providing that the 
 flag "be fifteen stripes." This was the national ensign 
 for twenty-three years; it was this flag that waved over 
 Ft. McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star- 
 Spangled Banner." 
 
 Finally, on March 4, 1818, Congress enacted the law 
 which fixes the form of the flag for all time. The act is 
 as follows : 
 
 An Act to Establish the Flag of the United 
 States. 
 
 "Sec. 1. Be it enacted," etc., "That from and 
 after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the 
 United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alter- 
 nate red and white; that the Union have twenty 
 stars, white in a blue field. 
 
 "Sec. 2. Be it further enacted. That on the 
 125 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 admission of every new State into the Union, one 
 Star be added to the Union of the flag; and that 
 such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July 
 next succeeding such admission. 
 (The Act was approved by President Monroe on 
 April 4, 1818.) 
 
 With the admission of Arizona and New Mexico as 
 States in 1912 and the addition of two stars, the flag 
 showed forty-eight stars representing forty-eight States, 
 including all the contiguous continental territory of the 
 United States. 
 
 June 15 (1752) — Benjamin Franklin demonstrated 
 the identity of electricity and "lightning" by the use of a 
 boy's kite, year 1752. The kite was made of a large silk 
 handkerchief, the perpendicular "stick" being a piece of 
 iron wire. The string was of hemp, except at the hand 
 end, which was silk. An iron key was fastened to the 
 hemp above the silk. The place selected for the experi- 
 ment was the corner of Race and Eighth Streets, Phila- 
 delphia. The day was sultry. Storm clouds gathered 
 and the kite was sent up. A thunder cloud enveloped the 
 kite. The hempen string stiffened and bristled. Franklin 
 touched the key with his knuckles and a spark flashed. 
 Again and again he drew the spark, and thus the discov- 
 ery was made. 
 
 June 15 (1836) — Arkansas was admitted into- the 
 Union, year 1836. 
 
 June 15 (1844) — First patent to Charles Goodyear for 
 a process for making rubber fabrics, year 1844. 
 
 June 15 (1846) — Oregon Boundary treaty signed at 
 Washington by Great Britain and the United States, es- 
 tablishing the boundary line between the British North 
 American possessions and the North Western territories 
 of the U. S. at 49° parallel of latitude ; year 1846. For 
 many years the boundary question had been in dispute, 
 the Americans claiming the territory as far north as 54° 
 40', while the British claimed the whole of Oregon. The 
 
 126 
 
JUNE 
 
 entire nation was aroused over the question in 1844 and 
 President Polk was elected, chiefly because he proposed 
 to forcibly assert American rights to the territory claimed. 
 The hot heads, supporting Polk, originated the slogan, 
 "Fifty- Four Forty or Fight !" In the spring of 1846, the 
 two nations were on the verge of war, when the matter 
 was settled by the treaty, which was a compromise. 
 
 June 15 (1917) — First Liberty Loan flotation of 
 $2,000,000,000 in bonds at 3i^% closed. More than 
 4,000,000 persons subscribed a total of $3,035,226,850. 
 The time period for subscriptions began on May 2, 1917 
 and lasted six weeks. 
 
 June 16 (1864) — General assault by the Union army 
 under General Grant against the Confederate army under 
 General Lee intrenched at Petersburg, Va., year 1864. 
 This active offensive lasted two days and failed. The 
 Union loss was about 10,000. Then Grant began a regular 
 siege with constant attacks on the Confederate line of 
 trenches which extended along a front of 40 miles. In 
 two months, the Union army lost 70,000 men killed, 
 wounded and prisoners, yet failed to drive Lee from his 
 position. The Confederate loss was about 40,000, includ- 
 ing 15,000 prisoners. Active attacks against Petersburg 
 ceased in November, 1864, and during the following win- 
 ter both armies lay quietly facing each other while great 
 campaigns were waged in Georgia, Tennessee and the 
 Carolinas. In March, 1865, Grant began the last great 
 offensive against Lee which resulted in the surrender at 
 Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. The siege of 
 Petersburg marked an epoch in military science. It was 
 the first great illustration of defense by an entire large 
 afmy in trenches, and furnished the basis of modern mili- 
 tary strategy in Europe. 
 
 BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 
 June 17, 1775 
 
 Beginning with the battle of Lexington, on April 
 19th, the militant commencement of the Revolutionary 
 
 127 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 War, the Americans of New England mobilized and with- 
 in a month there were gathered 16,000 men about Boston 
 on the landward sides. The gathering was nominally an 
 "army," though the British called it a "mob." In truth 
 it had little discipline, no military chest, no hospitals, and 
 not even the simplest routine practices ; there was no roll 
 call. It did not have a regular commander-in-chief. Gen. 
 Artemus Ward, who commanded the Massachusetts con- 
 tingent, was, by informal consent, allowed to suggest 
 things somewhat as a commander. 
 
 The British under General Gage, who had been re- 
 inforced by fresh troops from England under General 
 Howe, and by other troops, from Canada numbered a 
 total of 10,000 in Boston. Twenty-five British war vessels 
 lay in the seaward harbor and the Charles River. 
 
 The town was strongly fortified. But across the 
 Charles River, on the north side, was the Charlestown 
 Peninsula, about a mile and a quarter long and three 
 quarters of a mile wide, rising from the water edge and 
 culminating in two hills with a plateau between them. 
 The summit of the westerly hill called Bunker Hill, the 
 nearer one to the American army, was 110 feet above sea 
 level. The other hill called "the Heights" at the time and 
 later "Breed's Hill" was 62 feet high. The newly arrived 
 officers from England quickly saw that if the Americans 
 occupied and fortified these hills, they would be able, with 
 artillery, to drive the British out of Boston, compel them 
 to take the ships. Gage prepared to occupy the hills. 
 
 But the Americans got news of the intended move- 
 ment and planned to forestall the British. In the dark- 
 ness of early night of Friday, June 16th, a picked body 
 of 1,200 Americans under Col. William Prescott, with 
 picks and spades muskets and a small supply of powder, 
 silently left the main body at Cambridge, crossed the 
 Neck of the peninsula and marched to Bunker Hill. Pres- 
 cott had been ordered to fortify only this hill, which was 
 near the Neck and from which he could retreat easily. 
 
 128 
 
JUNE 
 
 But he saw, with sure military judgment, that he could 
 not hold Bunker Hill unless he went farther and fortified 
 Breed's Hill, so he took the greater hazard, a desperate 
 enterprise, and at midnight began throwing up an earth- 
 work intrenchment, a redoubt, on Breed's Hill. Silently 
 his men worked until dawn, undiscovered by the ,near 
 British upon the war ships in the river, until the morning 
 light showed the astonished British that the Americans 
 were there above them less than half a mile ^way and 
 fortified. 
 
 Immediately the warships opened a bombardment. 
 Yet the Americans continued under this fire for hours, 
 strengthening their works. Fresh American troops under 
 General Putnam came in the morning and took position 
 upon Bunker Hill behind a rail fence backed with stones, 
 to the left and backward of the Breed's Hill fortification. 
 Of artillery, Prescott had but two small field pieces. 
 
 The British commander in Boston saw that he had 
 been outmanoeuvred. If he waited and allowed the 
 Americans to mount siege guns, he might be driven out 
 of Boston. He held a council of war. The surest way 
 to beat Prescott was to send warships to all sides of the 
 Peninsula and thus cut the, Americans off from the Neck. 
 But that would take time, and if Prescott could get heavy 
 guns planted he might inflict terrible damage on the 
 British position before he could be captured. It was re- 
 solved to go straight across the river and assault the 
 Americans at once. 
 
 At noon 4,000 British infantry crossed in barges and 
 landed at the extreme northeastern point of the Penin- 
 sula, beyond the range of the American muskets. Two 
 hours were spent in preparing artillery. At 3 o'clock, 
 they moved in two parties, the one under General Pigot 
 against the redoubt upon Breed's Hill, and the other un- 
 der General Howe against the rail fence upon Bunker 
 Hill. 
 
 Prescott had commanded his men to save their pow- 
 der. The Americans were ordered to "aim at the hand- 
 
 129 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 some coats and pick off the commanders" and the sub- 
 ordinate officers were ordered to wait until they could see 
 "the whites of their eyes" before giving the order to fire. 
 
 The British came on steadily to the forty-five yard 
 line, when Prescott gave the order "Fire." The redoubt 
 blazed. The whole front rank of Pigot's brigade fell. 
 Substitutes from rear rank stepped forward. Another 
 blaze from American muskets and British dead heaped 
 the grounci. Pigot ordered a retreat. 
 
 Howe's brigade met the same fate at the rail fence 
 and he was compelled to retreat. 
 
 Now there was a pause in the battle. Had the Ameri- 
 cans been reinforced at this time, the victory would have 
 been assured. But no help came. 
 
 The British officers rallied their battalions at. the 
 foot of the heights. The town of Charlestown, having 
 200 houses, was set on fire with the purpose of blinding 
 the Americans with smoke. Coincidentally, the wind 
 changed and blew the smoke away from them. 
 
 A second time the British swept up the two hills 
 and again the Americans waited for "the whites of their 
 eyes," and again that deadly fire made a butchery of 
 British and Hessians. The Hessians piled their dead to 
 make protection and from these ghastly breastworks 
 poured their fire against the Americans. But panic seized 
 them, and a second time they retreated down the heights. 
 Then came another pause. And still no reinforcements 
 for Prescott's men. 
 
 The British held a council of war. Most of the offi- 
 cers declared it was useless to renew the attack. But 
 General Howe knew the disastrous effect of admitting 
 defeat, and reminded the others that unless the Ameri- 
 cans were driven from Charlestown Heights, the British 
 army would be forced to give up Boston. So it was de- 
 cided to make a third attempt. 
 
 Little did the British generals know how weak had 
 grown the American force. The little band in the re- 
 
 130 
 
JUNE 
 
 doubt had been reduced to 200 active nien, and they ex- 
 hausted by ceaseless work for nearly 24 hours with little 
 to eat or drink under a hot sun, and their powder almost 
 gone. Yet Prescott accepted the challenge a third time. 
 
 Now the British discovered what they should have 
 seen before — that there was a gap of 700 feet between 
 the north end of the redoubt and the south end of the 
 rail fence. At this point they planned to break through. 
 Reinforcements came to them. Up the hills they charged 
 a third time. The American volleys staggered them, but 
 bravely they went on, with fixed bayonets. All gone, was 
 the American powder. At the ridge of the redoubt a 
 deadly hand to hand conflict lasted a few minutes. Pres- 
 cott saw the hopelessness of further struggle and ordered 
 retreat. The British allowed the Americans, from re- 
 doubt and rail fence, to go unpursued for they, too, were 
 exhausted. So the Americans retired with little further 
 loss to Cambridge. 
 
 The British loss in killed and wounded was 1,054, 
 about a fourth of their whole force engaged. The Ameri- 
 cans lost 449, a fourth of their number. 
 
 Few bloodier battles than this, considering the num- 
 bers engaged, have been fought in all the world's history, 
 nor was American and British bravery ever more con- 
 vincingly proved. 
 
 Technically, the result of the battle was a British 
 military victory. The Americans gained in morale and 
 prestige the effects of a victory. 
 
 June 18 (1798)— First of the four "Alien and Sedi- 
 tion Acts" of Congress passed regulating naturalization 
 of aliens, year 1798. The second Act was passed seven 
 days later; it ernpowered the President to order out of 
 the country dangerous aliens or imprison them. A week 
 later the third Act was passed which empowered the 
 Presideat, in case of war, to remove or detain all male 
 subjects of the hostile nation resident in the United * 
 States. The fourth Act was called the "Sedition Act," 
 
 131 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 passed on July 14, 1798; it provided for the punishment 
 of all persons conspiring against any measure of govern- 
 ment, impeding the operation of any U. S. law, or utter- 
 ing any malicious statement against U. S. officials. At 
 the time of the passage of these Acts, war with France 
 was imminent. They were drawn narrowly and auto- 
 cratically. After the crisis passed, a reaction set in which 
 caused the repeal of the Acts and brought about the 
 downfall of the Fe4eralist Party which had' passed them. 
 Nevertheless the principles embodied in these Acts are 
 firmly fixed in our governmental system, and have been 
 set forth more liberally in later Acts. Especially is this 
 true of the Alien Enemies x^ct of July 6, 1798, which is 
 now substantially the law of the land. 
 
 June 18 (1812) — War declared against England, year 
 1812. 
 
 June 18 (1916)— President Wilson called out 100,000 
 militia for service in an expected war with Mexico. This 
 number constituted practically the entire militia of all the 
 United States. 
 
 June 19 (1863) — West Virginia was admitted into 
 the Union, year 1863. 
 
 June 19 (1864)— Naval battle between the U. S. S. 
 Kearsarge and the C. S. S. Alabama, year 1864. The 
 Alabama was a small fast cruiser (1,016 tons) fitted out 
 at Liverpool, England, in 1862, by agents of the Confed- 
 erate States, for service against the commerce of the 
 United States. She roamed the seas during two years of 
 the Civil War, under command of Capt. Raphael Semmes, 
 capturing and destroying many merchant ships and mil- 
 lions of dollars value of cargoes. Finally, while she lay 
 in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, the U. S. S. Kearsarge 
 (1,031 tons) which had been pursuing her for more 
 than a year, arrived outside the harbor, and Capt. John 
 A. Winslow waited outside the three mile limit, watching 
 'day and night from June 14 to June 19, when at last the 
 Confederate ship, on a beautiful Sunday morning, came 
 
 132 
 
JUNE 
 
 out and accepted the challenge to battle. The two ships 
 were nearly perfectly matched. The Kearsarge had 7 
 guns and a crew of 163 men; the Alabama had 8 guns 
 and a crew of 149 men ; the Kearsarge had a slight advan- 
 tage in weight of projectiles. The , battle was fought 
 about seven miles from shore. It lasted about two hours, 
 when the Alabama sank, without - surrendering. Captain 
 Semmes and forty-one of his crew were picked Hip out of 
 the sea by an English yacht — the Deerhound — which 
 made off and landed them in England. (See Alabama 
 Claims, April 7.) 
 
 June 19 (1867) — Maximilian of Austria, emperor of 
 Mexico, who had been placed upon the throne by a 
 French and Austrian army, was executed by shooting, at 
 Queretaro, Mexico, year 1867. He was the last monarch 
 in the Western continent. 
 
 June 20 (1542) — Fernando de Soto, Spanish noble- 
 man, discoverer of the Mississippi river, died of fever on 
 the bank of the river in Arkansas, year 1542. His com- 
 panions, a small band, wrapped the body in his mantle, 
 encased it in a tree trunk, and committed it to the jvaters 
 of the great river. 
 
 June 21 (1788) — Constitution of the United States 
 ratified by the State of New Hampshire, the ninth State, 
 thus putting it in force throughout the Nation. (See 
 Dec. 7.) 
 
 June 21 (1834)— First patent to Cyrus H. McCor- 
 mick for an agricultural machine called a "reaper" to per- 
 form the work hitherto done by men for thousands of 
 years with a scythe and "cradle," year 1834. The first 
 experiments were made on the McCormick home farm at 
 Walnut Grove, Rockbridge County, Va. 
 
 June 21 (1912) — National Republican Convention, at 
 Chicago, re-nominated William H. Taft for President, 
 after a bitter contest with the followers of ex-President 
 Roosevelt, who was supported for the nomination by a 
 majority of the delegates from the so-called Republican 
 
 133 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 States. The deciding votes for Taft were cast by the 
 delegates from Southern States which had been over- 
 whelmingly Democratic during the whole life time of the 
 Republican party. The apparently excessive power of 
 Southern delegates in Republican national conventions 
 had been a troublous factor in that party since "recon- 
 struction" after the Civil War. The rule for apportion- 
 ment of delegates among the States of the Union was 
 based on the provision of the Constitution which appor- 
 tions members of Congress according to population. Of 
 course, the negroes were counted in the census, but, in 
 the South, the negroes, for peculiar reasons, cast only a 
 very small number of the votes they were entitled to 
 under the Constitution. So it was that the Southern 
 States had a much larger representation in Congress and 
 in the National Republican convention, upon the basis of 
 votes cast at general elections, than any other section of 
 the country. The nomination of Mr. Taft by this element 
 of Southern delegates resulted in a split in the Repub- 
 lican party. Immediately after the convention, the Na- 
 tional Progressive Party sprung up and a majority of the 
 Republicans joined it. It nominated Colonel Roosevelt 
 for President. In the election that followed the Progres- 
 sives carried California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minne- 
 sota, South Dakota and Washington. The Republicans 
 carried only two States, Utah and Vermont. The Demo- 
 crats carried all the others. (See Aug.. 5 and Oct. 27.) 
 
 June 22 (1807)— British war ship Leopard (50 guns), 
 carrying out orders from the British government to 
 search American ships suspected of having on board de- 
 serters from the British navy, stopped the U. S. S. 
 Chesapeake (36 gun frigate) forty miles east of the Capes 
 of Chesapeake Bay, and demanded to search the Chesa- 
 peake for three alleged known deserters, year 1807. Cap- 
 tain Barron of the Chesapeake refused to allow the 
 search and continued to sail on. Whereupon the British 
 ship fired a shot across the Chesapeake's bows, as a 
 
 134 
 
JUNE 
 
 summons to heave to. The American captain continued 
 on his course, ignoring the shot. Then the Leopard 
 delivered several broadsides, damaging the Chesapeake's 
 hull and rigging. The Chesapeake fired only one shot in 
 defense, and then surrendered. The British boarded her, 
 took off the three suspected deserters, and sailed away. 
 The Chesapeake returned to Hampton Roads. Captain 
 Barron was court-martialed for neglect of duty in failing 
 to "'clear his ship for action." He was found guilty and 
 suspended from the service for five years. This naval 
 incident was one of the direct causes of the War of 1812. 
 June 22 (1884)— Lieut. Adolphus W. Greeley and 
 six companions, survivors of the Greeley Arctic Expedi- 
 tion which had sailed in 1881 and was lost, were found 
 by a search party from the squadron of relief ships com- 
 posed of the Bear, Thetis and Alert that had been sent 
 by the U. S. Government under the command of Capt. 
 Winfield S. Schley, year 1884. The Greeley party had 
 numbered twenty-five men. All but the survivors had 
 died of exposure and starvation. They were found near 
 Cape Sabine, across the water westward from northern 
 Greenland. It was reported that no one of the party 
 would have been found alive, had the relief been delayed 
 forty-eight hours. 
 
 June 22 (1898) — American army of 16,000 men un- 
 der Gen. William R. Shafter, which had left Key West 
 in a fleet of transports on June 14, disembarked on the 
 soil of Cuba at Daiquiri, near Santiago de Cuba, year 
 1898, in the Spanish War. 
 
 June 23 (1683) — William Penn signed his famous 
 treaty of peace and friendship with the Indians, at a spot 
 beside the Delaware river, now within the boundaries of 
 Philadelphia, year 1683. 
 
 June 23 (1868) — First successful typewriter in the 
 world patented by three associates of Milwaukee, Wis., 
 C. Latham Sholes, printer and editor; Samuel W. Soule, 
 a printer; and Carlos Glidden, a capitalist, year 1868. 
 
 135 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Later, Sholes and James Densmore of Meadville, Pa., 
 continued the development of this machine, which, in 
 time, became the Remington Typewriter. Densmore 
 made a contract with E. Remington & Sons, gun manu- 
 facturers of Ilion, N. Y., in 1873 and thereafter the ma- 
 chine was called by the name of the manufacturers. 
 
 June 24 (1497) — ^John Cabot and his son Sebastian, 
 Venetian navigators in the service of England, discovered 
 the North American continent at a point in Labrador, on 
 St. John's Day, year 1497. 
 
 June 25 (1876) — Custer Massacre (Battle of Big 
 Horn, Mont.), year 1876. Gen. George A. Custer, in com- 
 mand of the U. S. forces in the Sioux Indian war of 1874- 
 1877, with 277 cavalrymen, attacked the confederated 
 Indian encampment on the Little Big Horn River, com- 
 manded by the Indian chief Sitting Bull. Through a 
 fatal mistake, he was not supported by the other divisions 
 of his force ; his troop was surrounded by an overwhelm- 
 ing force of Indians, and, after three hours' battle, every 
 man of the 278 was slain. In 1879 the battle ground was 
 made a national cemetery. 
 
 June 26 (1862)— Battle of Mechanicsville, Va. The 
 first of the seven days' battles near Richmond in the 
 Peninsula Campaign of 1862 which was planned by the 
 Federal leaders to capture the Confederate capital, Rich- 
 mond. The Peninsula Campaign was so named because 
 the military operations took place on the peninsula 
 formed by the York and the James rivers in Virginia, 
 both emptying into Chesapeake Bay. It began on April 1, 
 1862, when the advance of the Army of the Potomac 
 (58,000 men under Gen. George B. McClellan) besieged 
 15,000 Confederates in Yorktown. The Confederates 
 evacuated Yorktown next day and retired toward Rich- 
 mond. The Federal army advanced during the next 
 seven weeks, to the very gates of Ri-chmond (to within 
 five miles of the Confederate intrenchments). The prin- 
 
 136 
 
JUNE 
 
 cipal battles fought in the course of this advance were at 
 Williamsburg on May 5, and Fair Oaks on May 31- 
 June 1. In the meantime, McClellan had received re- 
 inforcements increasing his, army to 115,000 men, while 
 the Confederate army under Lee, defending Richmond, 
 numbered 80,000. The climax of the campaign was 
 reached on June 25 when "Stonewall" Jackson completed 
 a splendid strategic movement with his corps of 25,000 
 men and joined Lee, increasing the Confederate army to 
 105,000, while an army of 40,000 Union men under Gen. 
 McDowell was kept from joining McClellan. At once 
 McClellan began the retreat and Lee flung his whole 
 united force at the Union army. In the seven days, be- 
 ginning June 26 and ending July 1, seven separate battles 
 were fought, in each of which the larger part of both 
 armies was engaged. These battles are named in history 
 as follows : Mechanicsville, June 26 ; Gaines Mill, June 
 27.; Savage's Station, June 29; Glendale (or Frayser's 
 Farm), June 30; White Oak Swamp, June 30; Malvern 
 Hill, July 1. From Mechanicsville to Malvern Hill the 
 Union army retreated a distance of twenty miles, and all 
 these battles except the last and possibly the first were, 
 in effect, Confederate victories. At Malvern Hill, Mc- 
 Clellan turned at bay and in a battle that lasted until 
 9 o'clock at night, stopped the Confederate pursuit and 
 remained master of the field; thus Malvern Hill is 
 claimed by Federal historians as a Union victory, al- 
 though next day, McClellan retreated seven miles farther, 
 to Harrison's Landing, without pursuit. On June 8, Lee 
 with his army went back to Richmond, and so ended the 
 campaign, the most disastrous to the Union cause of all 
 the campaigns of the Civil War. The Union and Con- 
 federate losses in the seven days battles were about equal 
 — 18,000 in each army, including killed, wounded and 
 missing. 
 
 June 26 (1917) — First troops of the American army 
 for war against Germany arrived in France, year 1917. 
 
 137 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 June 27 (1689)— Sir Edmund Andros, royal governor 
 of New England, was impeached by the colonial House of 
 Deputies at Boston and sent to England, year 1689. This 
 was the first impeachment of a high government officer 
 in America. 
 
 June 27 (1844)— Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, 
 Mormon leaders, were assassinated in jail, at Carthage, 
 111., year 1844. 
 
 June 28 (1776)— Battle of Fort Moultrie, S. C, year 
 1776. The fort was built of palmetto logs, on Sullivan's 
 Island in the Harbor of Charleston. It was attacked by a 
 British fleet under Sir Peter Parker and was defended so 
 well by Col. William Moultrie and 435 Americans that 
 the fleet was badly damaged and withdrew. This action 
 delivered Charleston from British attack for nearly three 
 years. 
 
 June 28 (1778)— Battle of Monmouth, N. J., year 
 1778. General Washington (American, 11,000 men) Vs. 
 Sir Henry Clinton (British, 8,000 men). Washington had 
 planned to strike a mortal blow at the British army of 
 17,000 which had abandoned Philadelphia and was march- 
 ing across New Jersey to New York. Through the 
 treachery of the American general, Charles Lee, Wash- 
 ington's plans were not carried out, and the battle was 
 going disastrously against the Americans until Washing- 
 ton himself, on the field rallied them, when the British 
 retired and continued their march in safety. In effect, it 
 was an American victory, though Washington failed to 
 injure the British seriously. The American loss was 229 
 killed and wounded. The British lost 400 killed and 
 wounded. Molly Pitcher, the wife of an American artil- 
 leryman, saw her husband fall wounded, and immediately 
 took his place at the gun and continued in the battle until 
 the end. (See Oct. 13.) 
 
 June 28 (1860) — Steamship Great Eastern arrived at 
 New York from Liverpool on her first trip across the At- 
 lantic, year 1860. She was the prototype of the great 
 
 138 
 
JUNE 
 
 ocean liners of to-day. She was 692 ft. in length, 83 ft. 
 beam, 28 ft. draught, and of 24,000 tons displacement. 
 She was fitted to carry 5,000 passengers. She was char- 
 tered to carry the first Atlantic cable in 1865 — which 
 broke, and the second in 1866. She carried the French 
 Atlantic cable, in 1869. 
 
 June 29 (1767) — British parliament enacted laws 
 levying import duties on glass, red and white lead, 
 painters' colors, paper and tea, received at seaports of the 
 American colonies. These are known as the "Townshend 
 Acts." (See Boston Tea Party, Dec. 16.) 
 
 June 30 (1834) — Indian Territory established by Act 
 of Congress, year 1834. 
 
 139 
 
JULY 
 
 BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 
 July 1, 2, and 3, 1863 
 
 The Union Army of the Potomac was terribly de- 
 feated by the Confederate army under General Lee in two 
 great battles, at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862, and 
 five months later, on May 1, 2 and 3, 1863, at Chancellors- 
 ville, Va. Immediately after the latter battle. General 
 Lee, yielding to the demand of the Southern people, pre- 
 pared to invade the Northern States, capture Philadel- 
 phia, and perhaps New York. 
 
 In the first week of June, Lee's army, numbering 
 about 75,000 men, left its encampment near Fredericks- 
 burg and marched west to the Shenandoah Valley and 
 then north through this valley, crossing the Potomac 
 River, thence northward through western Maryland into 
 Pennsylvania. By this bold movement, he had swept 
 around the Union Army of the Potomac which under 
 Gen. Joseph Hooker guarded Washington. Lee left this 
 army far to the southward. Indeed, if the Union com- 
 manders desired, they could have then marched South 
 and captured Richmond, but on the other hand, in that 
 event Lee could turn back and capture Washington. So 
 the Union Army followed Lee northward to protect Bal- 
 timore, Philadelphia and New York. A decisive battle 
 between the two armies was inevitable and both com- 
 manders manoeuvered to get the advantage of posttion. 
 General Hooker, who had been criticised for apparent 
 dilatoriness, resigned, and on June 28, Gen. George G. 
 Meade was appointed to succeed him in the command. 
 The Union Army counted about 90,000 men. 
 
 Before either army had taken position for battle, and 
 while the two main bodies were more than twenty-five 
 miles apart, the advance or scouting forces of the two 
 armies came togethet near Gettysburg, Pa., in the fore- 
 noon of Wednesday, July 1. 
 
 141 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Lee's advance was moving to take position upon the 
 hills at Gettysburg, not knowing that Meade's advance 
 force had already taken possession of the roads leading 
 to those hills. So the first clash was a surprise to both 
 armies. The Confederate advance attacked the Union 
 advance on comparatively level ground west of Gettys- 
 burg. Reinforcements came steadily to both sides. After 
 six hours' fighting, the Union forces retreated a short 
 distance to Cemetery Hill, a strong position, and the first 
 day's battle ended. The total number of Union troops 
 engaged on this day was 18,000. The Confederates had 
 about 25,000 in their final advance in the afternoon. The 
 Confederate loss was about 2,500. The Union loss was 
 not reported, but was very heavy. General Reynolds, an 
 able and popular Union leader, was killed. 
 
 Cemetery Hill, just outside the town of Gettysburg, 
 forms one of a number of hills and ridges which run to- 
 gether making a line from a birdseye view in the form of 
 a fishhook. The names of the dififerent hills in this line, 
 beginning at the head or eye of the fishhook, are in order, 
 Round Top, Little Round Top, Cemetery Ridge, Cem- 
 etery Hill, all in the "shank" of the hook; East Cemetery 
 Hill and Gulp's Hill in the bend and Power's Hill at the 
 point. From the eye to the point of this line is about five 
 miles. 
 
 Parallel to the shank of the fishhook line and west 
 of it on the side away from the bend and point, is a high 
 ridge about four miles in length, called Seminary Ridge 
 because a Lutheran seminary was established at one end 
 of it. Between this ridge and the shank of the fishhook 
 line is a valley through which ran the entire length, the 
 pike road to Emmetsburg, Md. At the north end of the 
 valley was the town of Gettysburg — then a small town. 
 
 On the night of July 1 and early morning of the 2nd, 
 almost the entire Confederate army arrived and took po- 
 sition on Seminary Ridge. General Lee was personally 
 in command. At the same time. General Meade had been 
 hurrying forward his various corps, and one by one they 
 
 142 
 
JULY 
 
 arrived and took position in the fishhook line. In the 
 forenoon of July 2, the entire Union army was in position. 
 
 Before the battle of the second .day began, Lee had 
 extended his line so as to lap the bend and point of 
 Meade's line. Thus he also formed a fishhook line, about 
 seven miles in total length. In this position, Meade had 
 the advantage, for he had the inner and shorter line; The 
 two armies were about a mile apart, separated by a valley. 
 
 In more definite detail, the positions of the two 
 armies were as follows : The lines of both, facing each 
 other, extended north and south, both bending to the east 
 at the north end, and about a mile of distance across a 
 valley separating them. Lee's right wing was com- 
 manded by General Longstreet; opposed to him on 
 Meade's left was General Sickles with General Sykes in 
 reserve; Meade's left covered Little Round Top, Round 
 Top, and one part of Cemetery Ridge. Lee's center was 
 under General Hill and opposed to him was Meade's sub- 
 ordinates General Hancock and General Howard ; 
 Meade's center covered part of Cemetery Ridge, Cemetery 
 Hill and East Cemetery Hill. Lee's left wing was com- 
 manded by General Ewall ; opposed to him was General 
 Slocum, commanding Meade's right wing, which covered 
 the bend and point of the fishhook — -Gulp's Hill and 
 Power's Hill. 
 
 General Longstreet, after the war, wrote that he ad- 
 vised General Lee against a frontal attack, since Meade's 
 position was a strong one and the Union forces were 
 numerically superior. Longstreet proposed a movement 
 of the whole Confederate army around Meade's left, thus 
 cutting Meade off from Washington and compelling the 
 Federals to fight an offensive battle where they would 
 not have such a strong position as that of the fishhook 
 line at Gettysburg. According to General Longstreet, 
 Lee replied: 
 
 "No. The enemy is there, and I am going to attack 
 him there." 
 
 143 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 At half past three o'clock in the afternoon of July 2, 
 Lee ordered Longstreet to advance against Meade's left 
 wing. At the same time Ewall opened a cannonade 
 against Meade's right wing to stop reinforcements that 
 might go to Meade's left. 
 
 Longstreet, at 4 p. m. began his attack on Sickles, 
 who had, contrary to orders, moved forward into the 
 valley at a place called the Peach Orchard. At the same 
 time Hood's Confederate division swept around the Union 
 left with intent to gain the heights of Little Round Top 
 and Round Top, and then roll up the entire left and cen- 
 ter of Meade's army. The movement partially succeeded. 
 A fearful struggle ensued for the possession of the 
 heights. The ground was rough, rocks and trees every- 
 where breaking the surface ; it was a soldiers' battle, man 
 against man, with little need of officers to direct the 
 firing. Foot by foot the Confederates fought their way 
 upward. But Meade saw the danger and rushed rein- 
 forcements barely in time from his reserves at the center 
 and left. Meanwhile Longstreet had overwhelmed 
 Sickles and driven him back past his original position. 
 The whole Union left was in retreat, though fighting des- 
 perately. Now the Confederates, widening their attack, 
 pushed on to th^ base of Cemetery Hill and threw them- 
 selves against the center commanded by Hancock with 
 Meade upon the battlefield near him. The Union center 
 held, and thus the Union army was saved. The Confed- 
 erate attack was thrown back as twilight dimmed the 
 hills, and they withdrew a short distance, having beaten 
 Sickles at Peach Orchard, but failing to capture Round 
 Top and Little Round Top, nor any part of Cemetery 
 Ridge. 
 
 At the bend of the fishhook, Ewall had attacked 
 Slocum and his men had pressed up the northern slope of 
 Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill in the face of murderous 
 fire. The struggle here lasted until 10 o'clock at night 
 when both sides were compelled by exhaustion to desist. 
 
 144 
 
JULY 
 
 The Confederates held a portion of the Federal lines all 
 night — a great advantage. 
 
 In this battle of the second day, 33,000 men fell 
 killed or wounded. It was the bloodiest day of the Civil 
 War. The Union loss was greater than that of the Con- 
 federates. 
 
 General Sickles, whose forward movement without 
 orders was afterwards the cause of a long controversy, 
 was wounded and his leg- was amputated on the field of 
 battle. 
 
 Early in the morning of the third day, July 3, the ad- 
 vantage seemed to lie with the Confederates. They were 
 determined and confident. Lee felt that he had been vic- 
 torious in the second day's battle. On the other hand, 
 Meade seemed to lack confidence, and was of a mind to 
 retreat to another position which he believed stronger 
 than the one he held. But his officers did not agree with 
 him. A council of war was held, and it was decided to 
 stand at Gettysburg against the coming third attack of 
 the Confederates. It was estimated that there were but 
 58,000 men in the Union Army effective for the third 
 day's battle, out of 90,000 that were efifective on the morn- 
 ing of the second day. The Confederates had about 
 45,000 efifective men left. 
 
 The battle of the third day was begun at daylight by 
 Meade, who opened with artillery to drive back the Con- 
 federates who had won a lodgment on Gulp's Hill, in the 
 bend of the fishhook, the day before. If the Confederates 
 could go further and capture the Federal lines on Gulp's 
 Hill, they would be in position to roll up Meade's right 
 and, in all probability, would be able to win the battle. 
 But they could not do it. They charged up the hill in 
 desperate effort to take the Union artillery, and, after 
 four hours' struggle among rocks and trees, retired, at 
 11 o'clock in the forenoon. It is held by some military 
 critics that Lee made a fatal mistake in failing to send 
 20,000 men in the night to reinforce the Confederate di- 
 vision that had won a lodgment on Gulp's Hill, ready to 
 
 145 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 strike their heaviest blow at Meade's right and get to his 
 rear, while Longstreet would strike the center from the 
 front. Such a movement was made by "Stonewall" Jack- 
 son at Chancellorsville, and it won that battle for Lee. 
 It was not attempted at Gettysburg. 
 
 Now Lee, having attacked both wings of Meade's 
 army without success, resolved to launch a final grand 
 assault against the center. He ordered Longstreet, with 
 15,000 men, to attack Cemetery Ridge where General Han- 
 cock was in command. Longstreet, after the war, wrote 
 that he had tried to dissuade Lee from making this at- 
 tack, saying to Lee, "There was never a body of 15,000 
 men who could make this attack successfully." Accord- 
 ing to Longstreet, Lee received the objections with im- 
 patience, and so he, Longstreet, went on and obeyed 
 orders. 
 
 The Confederate attacking force was formed some- 
 what as a wedge, with General Pickett's division of fresh 
 troops at the point. At one o'clock in the afternoon the 
 Confederates began a cannonade from 115 guns on Semi- 
 nary Ridge directed against the Union center on Ceme- 
 tery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, a sort of barrage fire to 
 prepare the way for Pickett's charge. The Union bat- 
 teries, counting eighty guns, replied, and for an hour was 
 fought the greatest artillery duel of the war. Curious to 
 say, the firing on both sides was ineffective. 
 
 At 2 o'clock Lee gave the command for Longstreet's 
 assault. Out of the woods on Seminary Ridge, three quar- 
 ters of a mile across the valley from Cemetery Ridge, 
 marched Pickett's splendid division of 4,900 Confederates, 
 General Pickett riding before them as gaily as if on holi- 
 day parade. Behind him, in wide line, his five brigades 
 of Virginians and Georgians swung forward steadily, a 
 matchless battle array. They were in plain sight of nearly 
 the whole Union army. Steadily adown the hill they 
 went with elastic step, steady across the valley, as perfect 
 a line as when on parade. Grape shot and canister from 
 
 146 
 
JULY 
 
 guns in front rained upon them and the batteries on 
 Round Top enfiladed them, but not once did they falter in 
 that advance of half a mile, and silently "closed up" when 
 the shot ploughed their ranks, while comrades behind 
 and enemies in front cried out in admiration of such dis- 
 ciplined bravery. 
 
 THE "FISHHOOK LINE" AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 
 ^ la^ ROUND T 
 
 s 
 
 Ktlp^rRicK 
 
 !f POWERS 
 HIU 
 DOUBUDAy 2 
 
 1st. Corpse WW Reserve 
 
 # 
 
 TOP 
 
 ROUND TOP 
 
 ClWFEDERATE 
 Uniou ^hb 
 
 Con.HismTioe *■ 
 
 Diagram of Third Day's Battle following the Description by 
 General Abner Doubleday 
 
 At the foot of Cemetery Ridge they paused to concen- 
 trate while the fire of five times their number was poured 
 on them from above. And then, with fixed bayonets, 
 obeying Pickett's order "Charge!" they rushed up the hill 
 
 147 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 into the blaze of very hell fire, they swept the front of the 
 Union line and planted the Confederate flag upon the 
 crest of Cemetery Ridge. They had accomplished their 
 part. They had immortalized themselves in the grandest 
 battle charge in all the annals of war to that time. Alas 
 for Pickett and his heroes ! Where were those other di- 
 visions that were to support him? Far back, faltering 
 before the awful storm of iron and lead; they came on, 
 but slowly, too slowly. 
 
 And up there on the heights of Cemetery Ridge were 
 Union heroes no less battle inspired than Pickett's men. 
 They were of Vermont, New York and Ohio. They 
 closed in front and flank upon the devoted Confederate 
 legion which had nearly pierced the Union army. Hand 
 to hand they battled. The Confederates could go no fur- 
 ther. They had done all that mortal men could do. They 
 were flung back down the hill. In a few minutes 2,000 of 
 Pickett's division fell killed or wounded, and a thousand 
 were prisoners. The whole of Longstreet's command re- 
 tired to their line upon Seminary Ridge. Lee had failed. 
 
 Thus ended, at 6:30 p. m., the Battle of Gettysburg, 
 with both armies in the same positions they occupied on 
 the morning of the second day. Judged by strictly mili- 
 tary rules, it was a drawn battle. 
 
 Judged by results, it was a great victory for the 
 Union cause. The wave of Confederates that went up to 
 the crest of Cemetery Ridge was the high tide of the Con- 
 federate States of America. Thereafter it receded, until 
 the end at Appomattox — excepting one spasmodic burst 
 forward at Chickamauga, five months after Gettysburg. 
 
 Lee rested a day on Seminary Ridge, and then, on 
 July 5, began his retreat to Virginia. 
 
 The loss of the Union army in the three days was 
 3,072 killed, 14,497 wounded, and 5,334 captured or miss- 
 ing—a total of 22,903. 
 
 The Confederate loss was 2,592 killed, 12,709 
 wounded, and 5,110 captured or missing— a total of 20,411. 
 
 148 
 
JULY 
 
 July 1 (1862)— Battle of Malvern Hill, Va., year 
 1862. Gen. McClellan (Union) vs. Gen. Lee (Confed- 
 erate). The Union army was in a strong position on high 
 ground, and awaited the attack of the Confederates. The 
 latter, who had steadily driven back McClellan's army 
 during the preceding six days and felt contempt for that 
 army, charged forward with confidence and even care- 
 lessness against the Federal position. The attack was re- 
 pulsed with great loss to the Confederates. Nicolay and 
 Hay, in "Abraham Lincoln," wrote: "The defeat and 
 consequent demoralization of the Confederate forces sur- 
 passed anything seen in the war, and it might have been 
 completed by a vigorous offensive on the morning of 
 the 2nd." This assertion is probably an exaggeration, 
 but there is no doubt that McClellan was given a splen- 
 did opportunity, by this victory, to deliver a counter at- 
 tack in the morning with a good chance of driving back 
 Lee's army to Richmond and even completing the cap- 
 ture of the Confederate capital. Instead of this, Mc- 
 Clellan retreated in the morning, and thus evoked a storm 
 of criticism that had been gathering against him which 
 ' eventually destroyed his reputation as a capable com- 
 mander of large armies in war. (See June 26.) 
 
 July 1 (1898) — Battles of San Juan and El Caney, 
 Cuba (Spanish War), year 1898. Both ended with 
 American victory. San Juan Heights rises just outside 
 the city of Santiago de Cuba, on the eastward. It wa? 
 strongly fortified and held by a force of about 1,200 
 Spaniards under General Linares. Two miles northeast 
 of San Juan Heights lies the village of EI Caney. It was 
 naturally a fortress, and had been garrisoned by 550 
 Spaniards. 
 
 General Shafter, on July 1, began his final advance 
 against Santiago. He sent General Lawton's division of 
 6,650 men against El Caney, and the divisions of General 
 Wheeler and General Kent, numbering 8,400 men, against 
 San Juan. The small Spanish garrison of El Caney re- 
 
 149 
 
. AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 sisted heroically for eight hours, and retired to Santiago 
 when half their number had fallen. The American loss 
 was 81 killed and 360 wounded. The attack at San Juan 
 succeeded in much shorter time. Among the regiments 
 that charged up the hillside (Kettle Hill) was the one 
 commanded by Lieut. Col. Theodore Roosevelt who 
 wrote the history of this regiment in which he tells: 
 "Wood and I were speedily commissioned as Colonel and 
 Lieutenant Colonel of the First United States Volunteer 
 Cavalry. This was the official title of the regiment, but 
 for some reason or other the public promptly christened 
 us the 'Rough Riders.' At first we fought against the 
 use of the term, but to no purpose ; and when finally the 
 Generals of Division and Brigade began to write in for- 
 mal communications about our regiment as the 'Rough 
 Riders' we adopted the term ourselves." This famous 
 regiment mustered 583 men at San Juan. Wood was 
 given command of a brigade before Santiago and Roose- 
 velt then took entire command. He was conspicuously 
 active during the battle which lasted about five hours. 
 His regiment lost 15 killed and 73 wounded. 
 
 The total Spanish loss was about 350 killed, 
 wounded and prisoners. The total American loss was 
 135 killed and 958 wounded (including the few casualties 
 of July 2 and 3). Thus it is impressed on us that San 
 Juan was a bloody battle. 
 
 « The capture of San Juan Heights and El Caney com- 
 pelled the Spanish fleet to leave the harbor of Santiago 
 (see Naval Battle of Santiago, July 3), and forced the 
 surrender of the city of Santiago on July 17. (See Oct. 27.) 
 
 July 2 (1881) — Assassination of President James A. 
 Garfield, year 1881. Shortly after the inauguration of 
 President Garfield on March 4, 1881, an obscure lawyer 
 named Charles J. Guiteau of Chicago applied to be ap- 
 pointed U. S. consul at Marseilles, France. He went to 
 Washington to urge his application. He had little poli- 
 tical influence and his character was not such as might 
 
 ISO 
 
JULY 
 
 qualify him for such an important post without strong 
 poHtical backing. The President, properly, dismissed his 
 application. At that time, there was a bitter factional 
 quarrel among Republican party leaders. Senator Ros- 
 coe Conkling especially opposed Garfield, and the news- 
 papers printed many fierce recriminations by the ad' 
 herents of each faction. Guiteau, filled with disappoint- 
 ment and also moved by the newspaper attacks on the 
 President, planned to kill him. The President, about to 
 go upon a journey, entered the waiting room of the Balti- 
 more and Potomac Railroad (later the Pennsylvania Ry.) 
 station at Washington accompanied by a few friends. 
 Guiteau had awaited the moment. Unsuspected, he ap- 
 proached Mr. Garfield from behind, drew a revolver and 
 fired two shots, one of which entered the back, broke a 
 rib and lodged deep in the body. The President was 
 carried back to the White House and there lay for ten 
 weeks, death hovering every moment at his bed. On 
 Sept. 6, he was carried to a special train which conveyed 
 him to Elberon, N. J., beside the Atlantic sea shore. 
 There he rallied for a week, and then blood poisoning set 
 in. He died peacefully on Sept. 19, 1881. Guiteau was 
 tried for murder in the Supreme Court of the District of 
 Columbia. He pleaded insanity and the trial lasted more 
 than two months. On Jan. 25,- 1882, the jury, after one 
 hour's deliberation, found him guilty of murder. He was 
 sentenced to death, and was hanged in the District of Co- 
 lumbia jail on June 30, 1882. (See Nov, 19.) 
 
 July 3 (1778) — Massacre at Wyoming, Pa., year 1778. 
 A force of Indians and border rangers in the service of 
 England, numbering 600 men, fell upon the settlers of the 
 valley of the Wyoming river in northern Pennsylvania 
 who numbered about 3,000. The settlers made a defense 
 with a force of 300 but were overwhelmed by an ambus- 
 cade of Indians. Two hundred and twenty-five scalps 
 were taken by the Indians in half an hour. The British 
 lost two whites killed and eight Indians wounded. Next 
 
 ISl 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 day the entire valley was ravaged: 1,000 houses were 
 burned, many of the women and children were killed; the 
 majority escaped and fled eastward to refuge in other 
 settlements. The massacre remains in history as the 
 worst blot on the military honor of the British in America. 
 July 3 (1890)— Idaho admitted into the Union, year 
 1890. 
 
 NAVAL BATTLE OF SANTIAGO 
 July 3, 1898 
 
 War against Spain was declared on April 18, 1898. 
 The McKinley administration, feeling that war was com- 
 ing, had begun the mobilization of naval forces in Jan- 
 uary, and now when the declaration of war was formally 
 made, there was in the harbor of Key West, Florida, the 
 most powerful fleet that the United States had ever pro- 
 duced and assembled. Captain William T. Sampson, an 
 officer who had led the ship mechanism and ordnance im- 
 provement of the navy for fifteen years, was promoted to 
 rear admiral and placed in command of this fleet. 
 
 At the same time, the Spanish admiralty was keenly 
 active. • Spain possessed some of the newest and finest 
 warships in the world. In expectation of war, the Spanish 
 government sent to the Cape Verde Islands a fleet composed 
 of four, armored cruisers and three destroyers. Of these, 
 the Infanta Maria Teresa, the Viscaya, and the Almirante 
 Oquendo were sister ships of 6,890 tons each. They were 
 of the latest type, each with armor 12 inches thick, and 
 each carried two 11-inch guns in turrets and ten 5.5-inch 
 rifles in broadsides, besides smaller rapid fire guns. They 
 had been tested for speed and had shown 20 knots (about 
 22y2 miles) an hour. By reason of their potential swift- 
 ness,, these ships were regarded with grave anxiety by the 
 American authorities. They could easily run away from 
 the American battleships, and there were but two ar- 
 mored cruisers in the American fleet, the New York and 
 the Brooklyn, that matched them in speed, armor and 
 guns. The fourth cruiser of the Spanish fleet was the 
 
 1S2 
 
JULY 
 
 Christobal Colon of 6,840 tons, with 6 inches of armor, 
 and a battery of ten 6-inch guns and six 4.7-inch guns. 
 Though not as powerful in armament as the other three 
 ships, she was the newest and swiftest of the Spanish 
 Navy. Also there were the three destroyers, newest type, 
 the Pluton and Terror of 400 tons and the Furor of 370 
 tons. This fleet was commanded by Admiral P. Gervera 
 on board the Infanta Maria Teresa. 
 
 By reason of its high speed and armament, this 
 Spanish fleet might select its own battle conditions and 
 deliver a heavy blow upon the United States coast or fleet 
 before forces could be concentrated to successfully 
 grapple with it. After war was declared, the power, 
 ferociousness and mystery of this fleet were constantly 
 impressed upon the American public by the newspapers, 
 and with much exaggeration, so that the whole country 
 was on the tiptoe of nervous excitement, haying no 
 knowledge of where the first blow would be struck by the 
 Spanish. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Americans had established a com- 
 plete blockade of the Island of Cuba to prevent commu- 
 nications between the Spanish forces in the Island and 
 the government authorities of Spain. 
 
 On April 30, Admiral Cervera's fleet steamed from 
 the Cape Verde Islands, bound westward. For three 
 weeks the United States waited in tense anxiety, not 
 knowing yvhere the mysterious enemy would first strike, 
 whether at Boston, New York, the Chesapeake, Key 
 West, or at the lone U. S. S. Oregon which was out upon 
 the South Atlantic rushing northward, in the trip from 
 San Francisco to Key West. 
 
 On May 11, Cervera's squadron was sighted off the 
 Island of Martinique in the West Indies. The American 
 warships at once steamed from Key West in search of 
 battle. 
 
 At this time, Santiago, the second city of Cuba, on 
 the south coast of the Island, situated on a fine harbor, 
 
 153 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 was occupied by a Spanish force of 12,000 men under 
 General Toral. It was strongly fortified. An army of 
 about 5,000 Cuban insurgents under General Garcia, 
 fighting against Spain, lay outside the city, technically 
 besieging it, but of course unable to capture it. Of all 
 possible movements, it was least expected that Cervera's 
 fleet would go to Santiago and allow itself to be "bottled 
 up." Yet, to the astonishment of the Americans, that 
 is just what the Spanish admiral did. On May 19th, 
 the Spanish fleet dropped anchor in Santiago harbor. 
 
 It was not until May 29 that a portion of the Amer- 
 ican fleet, under Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, 
 arrived off Santiago and discovered the Spanish ships 
 inside the harbor. At once the whole American fleet 
 was sent to blockade Santiago harbor with Admiral 
 Sampson in command. He had twelve ships in his fleet, 
 as follows: 
 
 Iowa, 1st class battleship; 11,340 tons; commander, Capt. 
 Robley D. Evans. 
 
 Massachusetts, 1st class battleship; 10,288 tons;, com- 
 mander, Capt. John Francis Higginson. 
 
 Indiana, 1st class battleship; 10,288 tons; commander, 
 Capt. Henry C. Taylor. 
 
 Oregon, 1st class battleship; 10,288 tons; commander, 
 Capt. Charles Edgar Clark. 
 
 Texas, 2nd class battleship; 6,315 tons; commander, Capt. 
 John Woodward Philip. • 
 
 New York, armored cruiser; 8,200 tons flagship; com- 
 manders, Admiral W. T. Sampson, Capt. French E. 
 Chadwick. 
 
 Brooklyn, armored cruiser; 9,214 tons; commanders. Com- 
 modore Winfield S. Schley (second in command of 
 fleet), Capt. Francis A. Cook. 
 
 Glauc ester, converted yacht; 786 tons; commander, Lieut. 
 
 Richard Wainwright. 
 Vixen, converted yacht; 806 tons; commander, Lieut. 
 
 Alexander Sharp, Jr. 
 
 154 
 
JULY 
 
 Hist, converted yacht ; 472 tons ; commander, Lieut. Lucien 
 Young. 
 
 Ericsson, . torpedo boat ; 120 tons ; commander, Lieut. • 
 Nathaniel R. Usher. 
 
 Suwanee, converted yacht; commander, Lieut. Com. Daniel 
 Delehanty. 
 
 (The Massachusetts and Suwanee did not take part in the 
 battle of July 3.) 
 
 These ships were placed in line, forming an arc, to 
 completely close the mouth of the harbor, at a distance 
 of six miles by day and four miles by night. For a whole 
 month, night and day, they kept ceaseless watch, waiting 
 for the moment when the Spanish ships would have to 
 come out or surrender at anchor. 
 
 Meanwhile, an American land force of 16,000 men 
 under General Shafter was transported from Florida and 
 landed near Santiago, to aid in the capture of the Spanish 
 fleet and the city of Santiago. It disembarked on June 
 22-24. On July 1, Shafter's army assaulted and carried 
 the outlying Spanish earthworks and other fortifications 
 at El Caney and San Juan. The fighting was desperate, 
 and though the Americans were victorious, Shafter 
 seemed to think his army was in great peril. General 
 Shafter himself was ill. He sent word to Admiral Samp- 
 son — "I urge you to make effort immediately to force 
 the entrance to avoid future losses among my men." 
 Strange to say, at this very moment, the Spanish officers 
 were in council planning to escape out of the harbor with 
 the Spanish fleet. It was, indeed, an extraordinary situa- 
 tion, the Spanish believing that 50,000 Americans were 
 outside Santiago and fearing the capture of the city and 
 the Spanish ships by Shafter's army, while Shafter was 
 in fear that his army would be destroyed unless Sampson 
 went into the harbor and fought the Spanish ships. The 
 American army had been sent to Santiago primarily to 
 assist the navy in capturing Cervera's ships, but here was 
 the army's general asking the navy admiral to save him 
 
 155 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 from destruction! So a council of war was necessary 
 between the army and navy commanders. 
 
 Sunday morning, July 3, 1898, a soft tropical day, 
 the battleship Massachusetts and the little Suwanee left 
 the line to go to Guantanamo for coal. It was the custom 
 to send away the ships in turn for coal. Later, at nine 
 o'clock, Admiral Sampson in the New York steamed 
 away to hold his conference with General Shafter. The 
 New York was accompanied by the Ericsson. Every 
 captain in the fleet had exact orders telling him what 
 to do if the Spanish ships came out while Sampson was 
 absent. Now came the climax in this amazing campaign 
 of cross purposes. Cervera knew nothing of Sampson's 
 plan to confer with Shafter, and Sampson knew nothing 
 of Cervera's plan to dash out of the harbor on this Sun- 
 day morning. But it so happened that Sampson left the 
 line at almost the same minute that Cervera left his 
 anchorage in the harbor. When the New 'York had 
 steamed but half a dozen mi'les to the eastward, the first 
 of the Spanish ships was seen coming out. Instantly, 
 the New York was turned back and the signal was 
 hoisted — "Close in towards the harbor and attack vessels," 
 and the New York raced back to engage in the battle. 
 She was too late. 
 
 It was Cervera's plan to rush straight at the 
 Brooklyn, the fastest ship in the American line, sink her 
 if possible, and then run away to the westward. Out 
 came the Spanish ships under full steam, Cervera in the 
 Infanta Maria Teresa leading. They turned westward at 
 the mouth of the harbor. The Brooklyn was in the best 
 position to head them off. But Schley believed it best 
 to keep away for a time and he made a loop to seaward, 
 losing some distance, but still keeping a good position 
 to beat them in the race down the coast. The leading 
 Spanish ship did not get within three-quarters of a mile 
 of the Brooklyn. The Iowa kept nearer to the flying 
 Spaniards and poured in a terrible fire. All the other 
 
 156 
 
JULY 
 
 ships followed, firing with astonishing effect. In half an 
 hour the Infanta Maria Teresa and the Almirante Oquendo 
 were in flames and headed for the shore. At a quarter 
 past 10 o'clock the Teresa was a burning wreck upon 
 the beach, six miles from the mouth of the harbor. The 
 Oquendo was also a riddled wreck, beached half a mile 
 further west. 
 
 Now the Viscaya and the Christobal Colon passed 
 through a gap in the American line at the west and 
 seemed like to escape. But the Brooklyn, Texas and 
 Oregon kept on in chase, and at a quarter past 11 o'clock 
 the Viscaya went ashore and was wrecked, twenty miles 
 west of Morro at the mouth of the harbor. 
 
 The Christobal Colon remained uninjured, the fastest 
 of the Spanish fleet. She had hugged the shore inside of 
 her consorts. She was six miles away from her pursuers 
 and ahead of them. Then came the most dramatic race 
 in the history of the United States Navy. The Brooklyn 
 and Oregon, their guns silent, steamed under terrific 
 pressure. Slowly they gained. After an hour and a half 
 of this terrible race, the Oregon opened fire again; and 
 the 13-inch shell dropped in the sea beyond the Colon. 
 But a few minutes more and the exact range would be 
 found and the fleeing Spaniard would be torn to pieces. 
 The 8-inch shells of the Brooklyn dropped around the 
 Colon. The Spanish captain, hopeless, before his ship 
 was fairly hit, hauled down his flag, turned his ship 
 northward toward land, ran full upon a ledge of rocks 
 and hung there helpless, some fifty miles west of Santiago. 
 Thus ended the battle. 
 
 The Spanish destroyers Furor and Pluton, early in 
 the fight, coming out of the harbor last, had been pounced 
 upon by the Gloucester, and after one of the most brilliant 
 engagements in American naval history, lasting only twenty 
 minutes, the Furor was beached and the Pluton sunk. 
 
 The story is told that when the Vizcaya went ashore, 
 a burning and riddled wreck, the men of the Texas set 
 
 157 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 up a cheer, but instantly Captain Philip — known and 
 loved in all the Navy Service as a chivalrous Christian 
 gentleman — ^raised his hand and cried dut to them, 
 "Don't cheer, boys! The poor devils are dying!" and a 
 solemn hush fell upon all that ship's company. 
 
 The whole time of the battle was 3 hours and 50 
 minutes. 
 
 Admiral Sampson reported to the Navy Department 
 at Washington — "Our loss was one man killed and one 
 wounded, both on the Brooklyn." The total Spanish 
 loss was 350 killed, 160 wounded, and 1774 prisoners. 
 
 In all the history of the world, no such disparity 
 in losses by naval combatant forces was ever recorded 
 in any other battle. The destruction of the Spanish fleet 
 at Santiago was a mortal blow to Spain's power in the 
 Western Continent. On July 26 the Spanish government 
 asked for terms of peace. On Aug. 12, Spain accepted 
 the American proposals. The treaty of peace was signed 
 on Dec. 10, 1898. 
 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 July 4, 1776 
 On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, 
 in the second Continental Congress, at Philadelphia, 
 offered the following resolution: 
 
 "Resolved, That these united colonies are, and 
 
 of right ought to be, free and independent states; 
 
 that they are absolved from allegiance to the 
 
 British Crown, and that all political connection 
 
 between them and the state of Great Britain is, 
 
 and of right ought to be, totally dissolved." 
 
 After a debate lasting several days, this resolution 
 
 was laid on the table, and a committee of five was elected 
 
 to get up a formal declaration which would be submitted 
 
 to the Congress when the Lee resolution would again 
 
 be taken up. The five were, in the order of their election, 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, 
 
 Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. 
 
 158 
 
JULY 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was then a Httle past thirty-three 
 years of age. His ability as a thinker and writer was 
 well-known. The committee met immediately after ap- 
 pointment. Jefferson suggested that Adams should draw 
 up the Declaration. Adams objected, saying: "You can 
 write ten times better than I can." The others agreed 
 that Jefferson ought to make the first draft, and he con- 
 sented. 
 
 At some time in the following three weeks, Jeffer- 
 son wrote the paper. We are led to believe he did it 
 at one sitting, or one day, or night. 
 
 Many years later he remarked : "Whether I had 
 gathered my ideas from reading or reflection, I do not 
 know. I only know that I turned" to neither book nor 
 pamphlet while writing it." The original draft in Jeffer- 
 son's handwriting is preserved at Washington. It is 
 written upon four large sheets — about foolscap size. 
 
 The committee made a few insignifieant changes 
 and adopted it on June 28, 1776. On that day it was 
 reported to Congress. It was laid. over. On the follow- 
 ing Monday, July 1, the Lee resolution was taken up 
 and debated further. Next day, July 2, it was voted on 
 and passed, three delegates voting against it ; these three 
 were Humphries and Willing of Pennsylvania and Read 
 of Delaware. This -was actually the first declaration of 
 independence. John Adams, writing next day to his wife, 
 said: "The second day of July, 1776, will be celebrated 
 by succeeding generations as the great anniversary fes- 
 tival." No doubt other leaders of the Congress regarded 
 the adoption of the Lee resolution as of greater im- 
 portance than the formal declaration which Jefferson 
 had drawn up. However, the people judged otherwise. 
 
 Immediately after the passage of the Lee resolution, 
 the declaration reported by the Jefferson committee was 
 taken up. There were many objections to specific parts 
 of it, and some important passages were stricken out. 
 Georgia and South Carolina opposed the part reprobating 
 
 159 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 slavery, and it was crossed out. Others objected to the 
 censure of the people of England ; they wanted to confine 
 the censure to the King of England, and this was done. 
 It is said that Jefferson was wrathy with' impatience at 
 seeing his paper so mutilated, and Franklin comforted 
 him, saying: "I have made it a rule to avoid becoming 
 the draftsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body." 
 Had the debate been at a different season of the year, 
 the Declaration of Independence might have been ma- 
 terially different. Jefferson afterwards wrote: 
 
 "But the weather was oppressively warm and the 
 room occupied by the deputies was hard by a stable, 
 whence hungry flies swarmed thick and fierce, alighting 
 on the legs of the delegates and biting hard through their 
 silk stockings." 
 
 Fortunately for the world, the hot weather and the 
 uncomfortable room where Congress was in session had 
 a strong tendency to stop the flow of oratory, particu- 
 larly from the smaller minded politicians, of whom there 
 were several that might have gone on indefinitely object- 
 ing. And so, on July 4, 1776, the immortal Declaration 
 was finally passed with comparatively few changes from 
 the original draft. 
 
 The vote was unanimous; New York did not vote 
 officially, because there was some question as to whether 
 the delegates from that State had been legally elected, 
 but the New York delegation present signified their ap- 
 proval as individuals. 
 
 The title adopted, was, as Jefiferson had written it: 
 "Declaration by the Representatives of the United States 
 of America in General Congress Assembled." 
 
 There is little, if any, solid historical evidence to 
 prove the widespread popular belief that the people of 
 Philadelphia gave vent to spasms of joy immediately 
 after the adoption of the Declaration. A few copies of 
 the Declaration were written out that day and sent to 
 the several State assemblies then in session, but the gen- 
 
 160 
 
JULY 
 
 eral public, even of Philadelphia, had to wait until July 
 6, when the Pennsylvania Evening Post printed the paper 
 in full. It was after this that the joyous celebration took 
 place throughout the colonies. 
 
 The most widespread error in the popular mind, and 
 perhaps the most inexcusable, is the belief that the dele- 
 gates, immediately after adopting the Declaration, went 
 forward to the desk of the president of the Congress and 
 wrote their names then and there, signing it. The simple 
 facts are as follows: 
 
 The first "fair copy" -made by Mr. Jefferson after 
 the original rough draft had been adopted by the com- 
 mittee, was the copy used in the debate. It was, of 
 course, mutilated in the debate. The secretaries and 
 assistants made several copies of the Declaration as it 
 was finally adopted, and these j?iay have been signed by 
 the president and secretary of the Congress. It is likely 
 that they were signed by these two officials, but there 
 ,is no certainty of such signing, nor any other signing. 
 On July 15, Congress ordered that the document be 
 "fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style 
 of 'The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United 
 States of America,' and that the same, when engrossed, 
 be signed by every member of Congress." It was on 
 August 2, nearly a month after the adoption of the 
 Declaration, that most of the members wrote their sig- 
 natures upon the parchment. 
 
 The act of signing was evidently not regarded as 
 very important, at that time; it does not appear that the 
 members knew that this one act of signing was to make 
 even the most silent of them famous for all time. Seven 
 who were members on that Fourth of July and voted 
 for the Declaration did not sign at all. These seven 
 were Clinton, Alsop, R. Livingston, Wisner, Willing, 
 Humphries and Rogers. Between July 4th and August 
 2nd, several new members had been elected. The follow- 
 ing seven, who signed, were not members on July 4th, 
 
 161 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 and, of course, did not vote for the Declaration : Thorn- 
 ton, Williams, Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Ross. 
 
 The present day British liberal point of view is per- 
 haps best expressed in a comparatively late history en- 
 titled "The American Revolution," by Sir George Otto 
 Trevelyan, a British writer and thinker of high standing. 
 Indirectly he classes the Declaration with certain great 
 literary productions of a certain sort. He writes : 
 
 "The wiser world has recognized that there are cer- 
 tain productions which stand in a class apart. To that 
 class belong Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury, and the 
 Declaration of William of Orange, and President Lin- 
 coln's discourse in the Cemetery at Gettysburg. The ex- 
 cellence of such pieces is to be judged, not by the ordinary 
 rules of criticism, but by the character and extent of the 
 response they evoked froiji the nation to which they were 
 addressed. The people (said Samuel Adams) seemed to 
 recognize the resolution of Congress as if it were a de- 
 cree promulgated from heaven. The Declaration of In- 
 dependence went straight to their hearts, because they 
 found it their own conceptions, put into words which 
 few or none of them were capable of writing. Jefferson 
 had 'poured the soul of the continent' into his manifesto; 
 and therefore (as a Congressman, who had signed it, joy- 
 fully exclaimed) 'produced a glorious effect and made 
 the colonies all alive.' " 
 
 July 4 (1789) — First protective tariff act passed by 
 Congress, year 1789. Specific duties were placed on 
 spirits and fermented liquors, tea, coffee, sugar and a 
 few other articles. Ad-valorem duties averaging 8j4 per 
 cent, were placed on the other imports. This tariff was 
 constructed largely by James Madison. 
 
 July 4 (1804)— Nathaniel Hawthorne, author, born 
 at Salem, Mass., July 4, 1804; died at Plymouth, N. H., 
 May 18, 1864; was buried in Sleepy Hollow cemetery at 
 Concord, Mass. One of the rarest, subtlest, strongest 
 and kindest literary geniuses of the Western Continent 
 
 162 
 
JULY 
 
 and recognized throughout the world as America's great- 
 est romance writer. His best known works are : "Twice 
 Told Tales" (1837), "Mosses From an Old Manse" 
 (1846), "The Scarlet Letter" (1850), "The House of the 
 Seven Gables" (1851) and "The Marble Faun" (1860). 
 He was the companion of President Franklin Pierce, and 
 while on a journey with the President, stopping over 
 night, at an inn, he died in his sleep. 
 
 July 4 (1826) — Stephen Collins Foster, song com- 
 poser, born at Pittsburgh, Pa., year 1826; died at New 
 York, Jan. 13, 1864. His most famous songs are "Old 
 Folks at Home" (1850), "Old Kentucky Home" (1855), 
 "Massa's in the Cold, Cold Ground" (1856), and "Old 
 Black Joe" (1861). He wrote . altogether about 125 
 songs, both words and music. He died poor. 
 
 July 4 (1836) — United States Patent Bureau estab- 
 lished, year 1836. The institution was directly due to 
 Senator John Ruggles of Massachusetts. He was called 
 '"the father of the patent office." 
 
 July 4 (1863) — Vicksburg, Miss., surrendered, year 
 1863. General Grant (Union, 71,000 men) vs. Gen. J. C. 
 Pemberton (Confederate, 30,000 men). The entire Con- 
 federate force was surrendered and paroled, after a siege 
 which began in completeness, on May 19 and lasted forty- 
 five days. During the siege and the preliminary battles 
 of Port Gibson (May 1 — 4), Champion's Hills (May 16) 
 and Big Black River (May 17), the Union loss was offi- 
 cially reported as 9,855 men, of whom 1,223 were killed. 
 The total Confederate loss in the same time was about 
 8,000 killed and wounded and 35,000 taken prisoners. 
 The surrender of Vicksburg gave to the Union cause 
 complete control of the Mississippi River. Delivered on 
 the day after the battle of Gettysburg, it was a mortal 
 blow to the Confederacy. This victory, largely planned 
 and executed by General Grant, immediately made him 
 the foremost Union commander. 
 
 July 5 (1801) — David Glasgow Farragut, first admiral 
 163 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 of the United States Navy, born at Campbell's Station, 
 Tenn., year 1801; died at Portsmouth, N. H., Aug. 14, 
 1870; was buried in Woodlawn cemetery. New York. He 
 was the chief ofiScer of the Federal navy in the Civil 
 War. His most conspicuous single service was the plan- 
 ning and executing the destruction of the Confederate 
 fleet at the battle of Mobile Bay (Aug. 5, 1864). 
 
 July 5 (1810) — Phineas Taylor Barnum, founder of 
 the modern travelling rrienagerie and circus, born at 
 Bethel, Conn., year 1810; died at Bridgeport, Conn., 
 April 7, 1891. He brought Jenny Lind, the great Swedish 
 prima donna to America in 1850. 
 
 July 6 (1747) — John Paul Jones, naval officer, born 
 at Kirkbean, Scotland, 1747; died at Paris, France, July 
 18, 1792. The most famous naval commander of the 
 American Revolution. (See Sept. 23, battle of Bonhomme 
 Richard and Serapis.) In 1788 he retired from the 
 American service and was made a rear admiral in the 
 Russian navy. He served one campaign against the 
 Turks, and died soon after. British writers for a century 
 called him a "pirate" and an "adventurer" but he retains 
 the respect and admiration of professional military and 
 naval men the world over. The coffin containing the 
 body was discovered in the old St. Louis Cemetery at 
 Paris by U. S. Ambassador Porter on April 14, 1905, 
 where it had lain since his death in 1792. The remains 
 were brought from France to the United States in the 
 U. S. S. Brooklyn and temporarily placed in a brick 
 mausoleum on the grounds of the Naval Academy at 
 Annapolis, Md., on July 26, 1905. On April 24, 1906, 
 with solemn ceremonial, participated in by the President 
 and naval representatives of the United States and 
 France and thousands of citizens from all parts of the 
 country, the metallic coffin was placed in a crypt in Ban- 
 croft Hall of the Naval Academy, there to lie until the 
 completion of the chapel in which it would rest — so it 
 was intended, throughout future ages of the Republic. 
 
 164 
 
JULY 
 
 July 6 (1854) — The present Republican party was 
 founded, year 1854. A mass convention of Whigs and 
 "Free Soilers," the call for which was signed by more 
 than 10,000 voters of Michigan, met at Jackson in that 
 State, organized a new political party with the title 
 "Republican Party" and adopted an anti-slavery plat- 
 form. Two years later the party held its first national 
 convention and nominated John C. Fremont for Presi- 
 dent. He was defeated by James Buchanan. 
 
 July 6 (1898) — Joint resolution of Senate and House 
 of Representatives providing for the annexation of 
 Hawaii, passed, year 1898. 
 
 July 7 (1865) — Mary E. Surratt and three others, 
 convicted of complicity in the assassination of President 
 Lincoln were hanged at Washington, year 1865. (See 
 assassination of President Lincoln, April 14, 1865.) 
 
 July 7 (1894) — Conflict between Illinois militia and 
 striking railway workmen, the climax of a great railway 
 strike; one killed and twenty-nine wounded, year 1894. 
 
 July 8 (1775) — Second. Continental Congress adopted 
 the second petition to the King, year 1775. (See May 10.) 
 
 July 8 (1894) — President Cleveland declared martial 
 law in Chicago, despite the protest of Governor Altgeld 
 of Illinois, who asserted that the State of Illinois was 
 competent to deal with the strike disorders in Chicago 
 and that the interference of the Federal government was 
 unconstitutional, year 1894. Federal troops were posted 
 in Chicago and U. S. army officers were ordered to safe- 
 guard the trains carrying U. S. mail. This was the first 
 contest of this kind between Federal and State authority. 
 (See Birthday of Andrew Jackson, March 15, and "Nulli- 
 fication," Nov. 19.) 
 
 July 9 (1755) — Battle of the Monongahela (or Fort 
 Duquesne, now Pittsburgh), commonly known as Brad- 
 dock's Defeat, year 1755. Maj.-Gen. Edward Braddock, 
 commander-in-chief of the British forces in America in 
 the French and Indian War, having a force of 1,200 
 
 165 
 
American anniversaries 
 
 British regulars and 1,000 colonial militia, was disas- 
 trously defeated by a force of 200 French and 600 In- 
 dians who took position in a wood and fired with deadly 
 effect upon the advancing army of Braddock. Braddock 
 fell mortally wounded, and fifty of his officers and 700 
 soldiers were killed. The others retreated in panic. 
 George Washington was serving as an aide to Braddock 
 with the rank of militia-colonel. He had strongly ad- 
 vised Braddock to adopt the French and Indian tactics 
 and fire from hidden and sheltered positions as they did, 
 but Braddock treated the advice with contempt, and ad- 
 vanced as if he were upon an open plain in Flanders. 
 It was entirely owing to Washington that the panic- 
 stricken force was saved from utter destruction. This 
 battle marked Washington as a military leader, and 
 directly led to his appointment as commander-in-chief 
 in the Revolution, twenty-one years later. 
 
 July 9 (1916) — The German submarine Deutschland 
 with a cargo of merchandise, arrived in Chesapeake Bay, 
 after a voyage of sixteen days from the island of Heligo- 
 land near the coast of Germany, year 1916. This was 
 the first submarine to make the voyage from Europe to 
 America in time of war through an enemy fleet, and the 
 first merchant submarine in history to cross the Atlantic. 
 The boat was 315 ft. long and 31 feet beam. She pro- 
 ceeded to Baltimore, where her cargo was unloaded. On 
 Aug. 1 she left Baltimore on her return trip laden with 
 a valuable cargo of rubber and metal, and again passed 
 safely through the blockading fleets of England and 
 France, arriving at the mouth of the Weser River, Ger- 
 many, on Aug. 23. 
 
 July 10 (1821) — Flag of Spain was furled and the 
 flag of United States hoisted in its place at St. Augustine, 
 Fla., year 1821. The purchase of Florida had been made 
 more than two years prior. (See Oct. 20.) 
 
 July 10 (1890) — Wyoming adn^itted into the Union, 
 year 1890. Its constitution provided that women should 
 
 166 
 
JULY 
 
 vote and hold offices equally privileged with men. It 
 was the first state to grant women suffrage as a consti- 
 tutional right. 
 
 July 10 (1896) — William Jennings Bryan at the Na- 
 tional Convention of the Democratic Party at Chicago, 
 in 1896, in the course of debate on a plank of the proposed 
 party platform dealing with the "Silver Question," de- 
 livered a speech in which he uttered these sentences: 
 "You shall not crush down upon the brow of labor this 
 crown of thorns! You shall not crucify mankind upon 
 a cross of gold !" Bryan had not been an open candidate 
 for the nomination for President, but this speech so im- 
 pressed the convention (numbering about 1,000 dele- 
 gates) that he was nominated. (See March 19.) 
 
 July 11 (1767) — ^John Quincy Adams, sixth President 
 of the United States, born at Braintree, Mass., (the son 
 of John Adams, second President of the United States), 
 year 1767; died at Washington, D. C, Feb. 23, 1848. 
 Nominated for President by a group of Democratic-Re- 
 publicans (not a regular party) in 1824. The election 
 resulted in the following count pf electoral votes (24 
 States) : Andrew Jackson 99; J. Q. Adams 84; William 
 C. Crawford 41 ; Henry Clay 37. No candidate having 
 received a majority, the election was decided by the 
 House of Representatives and Adams was chosen on the 
 first ballot. He was inaugurated March 4, 1825, and 
 served four years. He was a scholarly man and a brilliant 
 orator. In his later life he came to be known as the "Old 
 Man Eloquent." During his administration, the first 
 railroads were begun. 
 
 July 11 (1804) — Duel between Alexander Hamilton 
 and Aaron Burr in the early morning, upon the heights 
 above the Hudson River at Weehawken, N. J., a spot 
 across the river from the western end of 42nd Street, 
 New York (Manhattan), year 1804. Hamilton fell mor- 
 tally wounded. (See Jan. 11 and Feb. 6.) 
 
 July 12 (1812) — Gen. William Hull, commanding an 
 167 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 army of the United States, began the invasion of Canada 
 at Sandwich, near Detroit, year 1812. The expedition 
 was a sorry failure. (See Battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10.) 
 July 13 (1787) — Congress passed the first act pro- 
 viding for the government of territory outside the 
 original thirteen colonies, year 1787. This act was en- 
 titled "An ordinance for the government of the Western 
 territory." Under it, the Northwest Territory was or- 
 ganized. 
 
 July 13 (1863)— Civil War Draft Riots in New York 
 City commenced, year 1863. The rioting lasted day and 
 night during four days. About 1,000 persons were killed 
 and millions worth of property destroyed. A part of the 
 populace, led by men who opposed the administration of 
 President Lincoln and sympathized with the Confed- 
 eracy, organized a violent opposition to the law of con- 
 scription or "draft" which compelled all men citizens, 
 chosen by lot from the whole list of eligible citizens, to 
 serve as soldiers in the Union armies, unless regularly 
 excused. It was provided that any man chosen might 
 pay $300 for a substitute, and thus avoid the service. Of 
 course, poor men could not hire a substitute, and this 
 was the prime' cause of the riots. The opposition to the 
 law failed and the Union armies (and also the Confed- 
 erate armies) were recruited almost wholly by conscrip- 
 tion during the last twenty months of the Civil War. 
 
 July 13 (1866) — Steamship Great Eastern steamed 
 from Valentia, Ireland, with the first successful Atlantic 
 cable on board (it weighed 4,000 tons), year 1866. Leav- 
 ing the European end at Valentia, she steamed westward, 
 the cable being constantly uncoiled and dropped to the 
 bottom of the Atlantic, and on July 27, after fourteen 
 days, she safely entered the harbor of Heart's Content, 
 Newfoundland, where the American end was secured. 
 The length of this cable is 2,300 miles. The success of 
 the project was largely due to Cyrus W. Field of New 
 York. 
 
 168 
 
JULY 
 
 July 14 (1853) — First international industrial expo- 
 sition or "world's fair" in America opened in Crystal 
 Palace, New York (on the site now called Bryant Park 
 at Sixth Avenue and 42nd St.), year 1853. It was formally 
 opened by President Franklin Pierce. 
 
 July 15 (1870) — Act of Congress passed readmitting 
 Georgia, the last of the eleven States of the Confederacy, 
 into the Union. This Act completed what is known as 
 "Reconstruction." 
 
 July 15 (1870) — Act of Congress reducing the United 
 States Army to a peace footing — 25,000 men. This was 
 the final act bearing upon the militarism of the Civil War. 
 
 July 15 (1918)— Battle of Chateau-Thierry, France, 
 year 1918. A German force, on this date, in the last great 
 German offensive of the war, crossed the Marne rivers at 
 and near this town, fifty miles E. by N. of Paris, thrusting 
 toward Paris. A short distance south of the Marne they 
 were met and stopped by an American force, largely of 
 the U. S. Marine Corps, and were thrown back across the 
 river. Chateau-Thierry marks the high tide of German 
 success. Thereafter the German cause receded until the 
 end. 
 
 July 16 (1779)— Capture of Stony Point (N. Y.), 
 year 1779. The British had fortified this high hill which 
 juts into the Hudson River below West Point. Wash- 
 Tngton planned to take it by surprise and he selected Gen. 
 Anthony Wayne and 1,200 picked men for the enterprise. 
 The British garrison numbered about 600. To insure 
 silence, the Americans carried no gunpowder, but only 
 bayonets fixed on their muskets for arms. At twenty 
 minutes past midnight, the American force advanced 
 swiftly and silently against two sides of the hill. The 
 British garrison was aroused and poured musketry and 
 grape shot into the darkness, but to no avail. In a few 
 minutes the Americans had stormed into the fort and 
 .overwhelmed the garrison. The British loss was 543 
 made prisoners and 60 killed and wounded. The affair 
 
 169 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 is regarded by historians as the most brilliant military- 
 action of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 July 17 (1790) — Act of Congress establishing the 
 District of Columbia as the seat of government of the 
 United States signed by President Washington, year 
 1790. 
 
 July 17 (1898)— Spanish army of 24,000 men com- 
 manded by General Toral, occupying the city of 
 Santiago, Cuba, and outlying districts, was formally sur- 
 rendered to General Shafter who commanded the Ameri- 
 can army that besieged Santiago, year 1898. The Ameri- 
 can advance on Santiago began on July 1 with the battles 
 of El Caney and San Juan. 
 
 July 18 (1864) — Horace Greeley received a letter 
 (year 1864) from George N. Sanders of Kentucky, writ- 
 ten from Canada, stating that he, Sanders, together with 
 Clement C. Clay of Alabama and James P. Holcombe of 
 Virginia, as representatives of the Confederate States of 
 America, would go to Washington (from Canada) if they 
 would be accorded protection, and open negotiations for 
 the purpose of ending the Civil War. Greeley consulted 
 President Lincoln, and the President requested him to 
 go to Niagara Falls and personally meet the Confederate 
 mediators. Greeley did so, but the conference came to 
 nothing, for Sanders and his associates did not have full 
 credentials from the Confederate government. The war 
 continued nine months longer. This was one of the im- 
 portant incidents of the Civil War. Greeley in a letter 
 to President Lincoln, during this episode, wrote: "I know 
 that nine-tenths of the American people. North and 
 South, are anxious for peace — peace on almost any terms 
 — and are utterly sick of human slaughter and devasta- 
 tion." Greeley, who was the leader of the radical anti- 
 slavery element of the North, had proposed to settle the 
 slavery question by paying the slave States $400,000,000 
 for their slaves, who were to be liberated in that way. 
 
 July 19 (1848)— First Woman's Rights convention in 
 the United States met at Seneca Falls, N. Y., year 1848. 
 
 170 
 
JULY 
 
 It lasted two days. Lucretia Mott, a Quaker leader, was 
 the leading spirit, seconded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 
 a woman extraordinarily gifted as an orator. This date 
 is properly the great anniversary of Women's Suffrage in 
 America. The movement was formally initiated as a 
 national question at this convention. 
 
 July 20 (1847)— "The Bivouac of the Dead," poem, 
 was first read by its author, Col. Theodore O'Hara of 
 Danville, Ky., at Frankfort, Ky., year 1847. The occasion 
 was the burial of the remains of Kentucky soldiers who 
 fell upon the battlefield of Buena Vista, Mexico, in Feb- 
 ruary 1847, that had been taken up and brought home to 
 the cemetery in the capital of their native State. 
 
 July 20 (1861) — Congress of the Confederate States 
 of America met at Richmond, Va., the new capital, hav- 
 ing removed from Montgomery, Ala., year 1861. Howell 
 Cobb was president of the congress. 
 
 BATTLE OF BULL RUN 
 July 21, 1861 
 
 In July, 1861, three months after the beginning of the 
 Civil War, a Confederate army of 22,000 men under Gen. 
 P. G. T. Beauregard was encamped along the southwest 
 bank of Bull Run, near its source, a little river which 
 rises thirty-five miles west of Washington, in Virginia, 
 and empties into the Potomac below Washington. This 
 army was holding Manasses, an important railway junc- 
 tion. Another Confederate army of 11,000 men under 
 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was farther west, over the moun- 
 tains in the Shenandoah Valley at Winchester, about 
 fifty miles away. Railway trains could carry this latter' 
 army almost the entire distance to Manasses. 
 
 Opposing Johnston's army at Winchester was a Union 
 army of 14,000 men under General Robert Patterson, 
 which would have to march the distance to Manasses if 
 it became necessary to concentrate the Union forces at 
 Manasses, for the Confederates held the railroad. As it 
 
 171 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 turned out later, Johnston's Confederates were able to 
 quickly join their comrades before the battle near Man- 
 asses, while Patterson's men did not go to the aid of the 
 Union forces at Bull Run. The event of the battle was 
 largely due to this fact. 
 
 At Washington was assembled a Union army of' 
 55,000 men under Gen. Irwin McDowell. In numbers it 
 was the greatest army ever organized in America up to 
 that time. But in fact, it was badly organized, badly sup- 
 plied, and the men were mostly militia. of little training, 
 and lacking the hardy readiness of the volunteers of earlier 
 years. Notwithstanding, the civilian popular leaders of 
 the North, notably Horace Greeley, demanded that this 
 army go out and fight at once and put down the Rebel- 
 lion. They believed the war could be ended within four 
 months after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. 
 
 At last Lincoln yielded, and ordered McDowell to 
 start an offensive. On July 16, McDowell began his 
 march to Manasses, a distance of thirty miles, with 35,000 
 men. His soldiers carried three-days rations in their knap- 
 sacks. They marched under a hot sun over dusty roads. 
 Most of the men wore their ordinary civilian shoes in 
 which they had left home, and many of the officers wore 
 fashionable calfskin boots, nice looking in parades 
 through city streets, but useless in war. The War De- 
 partment had no equipment of proper marching shoes. 
 As a result, McDowell's entire army was footsore at the 
 end of the first day's march, and a large number were 
 actually lame. Nevertheless the march was resumed next 
 morning and at nightfall the army arrived near Manasses 
 and took position, out of cannon range, facing the Con- 
 federates who were on the opposite side of Bull Run. 
 Here they rested. 
 
 Meanwhile, Johnston was outwitting Patterson. On 
 July 18, Johnston quietly left Winchester with 8,000 men, 
 took train and joined Beauregard on Saturday, July 20. 
 As a mask, 3,000 Confederates remained at Winchester, 
 holding Patterson's army. The 3,000 followed Johnston a 
 
 172 
 
JULY 
 
 day later. But Patterson's Union army did not march 
 after them. Johnston assumed command of the united 
 Confederate army. 
 
 Through coincident misconceptions, McDowell 
 planned to whip, Beauregard before Johnston arrived, and 
 at the same time Johnston and Beauregard schemed to 
 strike McDowell's left wing and whip him before Patter- 
 son could arrive — for the Confederates supposed that Pat- 
 terson, of course, would hurry and join McDowell. And 
 both sides prepared to attack early in the morning of Sun- 
 day, July 21. Each army numbered about 30,000 effective 
 men. 
 
 There was but one bridge over Bull Run — a stone 
 bridge on the Warrington turnpike. In the six miles of 
 Confederate front there were half a dozen fords through 
 which soldiers might wade through the river. 
 
 McDowell, using fine strategy, planned a feint attack 
 at the stone bridge, while the flower of his army, 12,000 
 men under Generals Hunter and Heintzelman, left at mid- 
 night of Saturday and marched circuitously far up Bull 
 Run, to cross at an unguarded ford and then sweep down 
 on the Confederate left flank. At the same time, Johnston 
 had a strong body ready to cross and attack McDowell's 
 left flank at a point eight miles from where Hunter and 
 Heintzelman would cross. 
 
 McDowell got the start. His troops crossed Bull 
 Run in the early morning, before Johnston's men began 
 their movement. The Confederate commanders were in- 
 tent on their own movement, with eyes fixed eastward, 
 when they were startled by the booming of cannon far to 
 the northwest and in their rear. Instantly they changed 
 plan and ordered their brigades to face northward to meet 
 the enemy that had surprised them. 
 
 On came the 12,000 Federals under Hunter. Like 
 chaff the Confederate left was swept away. The Federals 
 seemed likely to crumble up the whole Confederate line. 
 But just then a man rose up among the Confederates to 
 save their army and immortalize his name — Gen. Thomas 
 
 173 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 J. Jackson. His brigade of five regiments, 3,000 men, was 
 from the mountains of Virginia, most of them of Scotch- 
 Irish ancestry. Jackson had been ordered to the Warring- 
 ton stone bridge in anticipation of a strong Federal at- 
 tempt to cross there. He heard the battle sounds on his 
 left. Without waiting for orders he turned his men to- 
 ward the new battle and swiftly they pressed up the hill — 
 the famous Henry Hill, and at the top, on a plateau, Jack- 
 son formed his men to meet the Federal advance which 
 was on the high ground over across a valley and coming 
 to seize that hill which was the strongest position of the 
 battlefield. His men settled down low and silent to await 
 the Federal charge. At this moment, another Confederate 
 officer, General Bee, whose brigade was broken and flee- 
 ing, stood and watched with admiration that line of 3,000 
 men. Then he turned and galloped to the disorderly mass 
 of his own companies and shouted, "Look ! There is Jack- 
 son standing like a stone wall ! Rally behind the Vir- 
 ginians." From that moment the stern, silent commander 
 of those Virginians, perhaps the most perfect soldier of 
 America, was known as "Stonewall" Jackson. 
 
 The triumphant Federals' advanced adown the slope 
 to the valley, and stopped. Above them upon the Henry 
 Hill they saw that gray line of Jackson's men. It was the 
 hour of noon and they had been marching and fighting 
 twelve hours. They were tired. Their officers were con- 
 fident of victory. Indeed, the news had already been sent 
 to Washington that a great Union victory had been won. 
 So they decided to rest. They lay down, there in the val- 
 ley, and rested two and a half hours. Maybe that was a 
 mistake, for Johnston, during that two hours and a half 
 strove desperately to retrieve the battle. Brigades were 
 moved up to the right and left of Jackson. Every minute 
 the new Confederate position grew stronger. 
 
 At 2 :30 o'clock in the afternoon 'the Federal advance 
 was resumed. They charged up the hill. No fiercer 
 struggle than this one at the Henry Hill is recorded in the 
 history of the Civil War. "Stonewall" Jackson ordered : 
 
 174 
 
JULY 
 
 "Reserve your fire till they come within fifty yards, then 
 fire and give them the bayonet, and when you charge, yell 
 like furies." 
 
 Then for the first tinie in. that war was heard the 
 "rebel yell," when 1,900 of Jackson's men sprang forward 
 with bayonets. Backward down the hill went the Fed- 
 eral brigade. But again they stormed up, again and again. 
 And then, when the battle was still in the balance, the 
 rest of Johnston's army from Winchester came upon the 
 field — 3,000 men. Suddenly General Early's brigade of 
 Confederates, fresh and strong, burst out of the woods 
 in the rear of the Federal right, a dire surprise to the 
 exhausFed Union men. Instantly panic began with the 
 cry, "Johnston's army has come. We are beaten 1" With 
 fearful swiftness the cry rolled through the Union masses. 
 Thus the battle suddenly ended. 
 
 Backward by road and wood path, across fields and 
 ditches, the Federals retreated, each minute terror and 
 disorganizatfon smashing the army that had so nearly 
 won a victory. Many ran at full speed ; others staggered 
 desperately; all went over Bull Run in rout and all that 
 night thousands kept on retreating in terror, though no 
 enemy pursued. Back they fled to the intrenchments at 
 Arlington and Alexandria. 
 
 The name Bull Run marks the most disastrous de- 
 feat the military forces of the United States ever suffered. 
 
 The Union loss was 481 men killed, 1,011 wounded 
 and 1,460 prisoners. 
 
 The Confederates reported a loss of 387 killed and 
 1,582 wounded. 
 
 As the story of Bull Run is told, even to-day in cities 
 and towns of the South, they say truly, "It was 'Stone- 
 wall' Jackson's fight !" 
 
 July 22 (1890) — Patent for color photography 
 granted to Frederick E. Ives (born at Litchfield, Conn., 
 Feb. 17, 1856), the inventor, year 1890. 
 
 175 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 July 23 (1885)— U. S. Grant died at Mount Mc- 
 Gregor, near Saratoga, N. Y., year 1885. (See Birthday 
 of U. S. Grant, April 27.) 
 
 July 24 (1847) — Brigham Young, leading a company 
 of Mormons numbering 143 men, two women and two 
 children, entered Great Salt Lake valley and founded 
 Utah at Salt Lake City, year 1847. The anniversary is 
 celebrated in Utah as "Pioneer's Day," a legal holiday. 
 
 July 24 (1896) — First national convention of the 
 People's Party ("Populists") at St. Louis, Mo., year 1896. 
 William J. Bryan was nominated for President and 
 Thomas E. Watson of Georgia for Vice-President. 
 
 July 25 (1814)— Battle of Lundy's Lane (near Ni- 
 agara Falls on the Canadian side), year 1814. Gen. Jacob 
 Brown (American, 3,000 men) vs. Gen. Sir George Gor- 
 don Drummond (British, 4,500 men). A drawn battle; 
 victory was claimed by both sides. The advantage later 
 went to the British who took possession oj. the battle- 
 field. American loss 852 killed, wounded and missing. 
 British loss, 878. Excepting the Battle of New Orleans, 
 this was the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812. 
 
 July 25 (1891) — Smokeless powder first used by the 
 War Department of the United States, year 1891. The 
 occasion was an experiment at the gun proving grounds 
 of Sandy Hook, N. J. 
 
 July 26 (1758)— Louisburg, a French fortress upon 
 the Island of Cape Breton, Can., captured by a land force 
 of 12,000 men (New England militia and British regu- 
 lars) and a fleet of forty ships, after a siege of fifty days, 
 year 1758 (French and Indian War). The French garri- 
 son lost 1,500 men, killed and wounded and 5,000 were 
 made prisoners. The British commander was General 
 Sir Jeflfrey Amherst aided by Gen. James Wolfe. The 
 capture of this fortress gave to England all the region of 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence and it has since remained in her 
 possession. After the capture of the fortress, 6,000 
 
 176 
 
JULY 
 
 French settlers, called "Acadians," were forcibly taken 
 from their homes and transported to the various English 
 colonies, along the entire Atlantic coast and their lands 
 given to English settlers. This dispersal of these people 
 was the theme of Longfellow's poem "Evangeline." 
 
 July 26 (1759)— Ticonderoga, N. Y., a strong French 
 fortress, abandoned to the British, year 1759. 
 
 July 27 (1915) — First direct wireless telegraph com- 
 munication between the United States and Japan estab- 
 lished, year 1915. 
 
 July 28 (1862) — First official railway mail car trial, 
 year 1862. The scheme was invented by William A. 
 Davis, postmaster of St. Joseph, Mo. The first mail car 
 was improvised out of an ordinary baggage coach ; pigeon 
 holes and baggage pouches were arranged in it. The 
 run was from Hannibal, Mo., to St. Joseph on the Hanni- 
 bal & St. Joseph Ry. It was an immediate success and 
 the idea was at once adopted for all trunk railroads. 
 Montgomery Blair of Missouri was at that time post- 
 master general in President Lincoln's cabinet. 
 
 July 29 (1868) — Fourteenth Amendment to the Con- 
 stitution proclaimed by President Johnson, year 1868. 
 It is known as the "Reconstruction Anfendment." It had 
 been ratified by twenty-three Northern States. It was 
 rejected by Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and ten 
 Confederate States. California did not take any action. 
 Subsequently, under pressure by the "reconstruction" 
 State administrations, the ten Southern States ratified, 
 thus giving more than the required three-fourths in favor 
 of the amendment. 
 
 July 30 (1619) — Twenty-two "burgesses" elected 
 from the settlements of Virginia, met in the church at 
 Jamestown,. Va., and drew up a code of laws for the 
 colony of Virginia, year 1619. This was the first colonial 
 legislative assembly in America. 
 
 177 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 July 31 (1667)— Treaty of Breda, Holland, signed by 
 representatives of England, France, Holland and Den- 
 mark, year 1667. Acadia (Nova Scotia) was given to 
 France, and Newr York and New Jersey were confirmed 
 to England. 
 
 .-'.{. iin.. 
 
 178 
 
AUGUST 
 
 August 1 (1790) — First National census was begun, 
 year 1790. 
 
 Aug. 1 (1873) — First cable street car in the world 
 operated at San Francisco, year 1873. The inventor of 
 the cable system was Andrew Hallidie. The system was 
 introduced in Chicago !n 1881, New York and Phila- 
 delphia in 1883, London in 1884. 
 
 Aug. 1 (1876) — Colorado was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1876. 
 
 Aug. 2 (1858) — The Lecompton Constitution — so 
 named from a town in Kansas where the pro-slavery 
 party met in 1857 and drew up the document, was rejected 
 by the people of Kansas at a special election, year 1858. 
 This constitution contained a clause which provided that 
 "the rights of property in slaves now in the Territory 
 shall in no manner be interfered with." The verdict of 
 the people at this election was ignored by President 
 Buchanan and the Democratic majority in Congress, who 
 so hastened the outbreak of the Civil War. 
 
 Aug. 3 (1492) — Christopher Columbus sailed from 
 Palos, Spain, on his first voyage to America, year 1492. 
 (See Discovery of America, Oct. 12.) 
 
 Aug. 4 (1759) — Crown Point, N. Y., strong French 
 fortress, abandoned to British under Gen. Amherst, year 
 1759. 
 
 Aug. 4 (1781) — Isaac Hayne hanged by order of the 
 British commandant Lord Rawdon at Charleston, S. C, 
 year 1781. He was a prominent citizen of South Caro- 
 lina. He had served in the American army at the siege 
 of Charleston in May 1780 and was taken prisoner by 
 the British. He signed a paper declaring that he would 
 not again take up arms against Great Britain, stipulating 
 that he should not be called to bear arms in support of 
 Great Britain in the war. Later, he was summoned to 
 
 179 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Charleston to join the British army. . Instead, he joined 
 the American army, believing that his parole agreement 
 had been violated by the British. Thereupon the British 
 made extraordinary efforts to capture him and did so. 
 He was condemned and executed without even a formal 
 show of trial. The incident aroused fierce indignation 
 among the Americans of the South and directly contrib- 
 uted to the ultimate defeat of the British in the Caro- 
 linas, later in that year, 1781. 
 
 Aug. 5 (1864)— Battle of Mobile Bay, year 1864. 
 Admiral Farragut in command of the Union fleet of 
 twenty-one wooden vessels and four ironclads (moni- 
 tors), attacked the two strong forts Fort Morgan and 
 Fort Gaines that guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay, 
 ran through the channel which had been planted with 
 torpedo mines, and engaged and destroyed the Confed- 
 erate naval force of four ships inside. The battle was 
 one of the most romantic in American history. Farragut 
 had himself lashed to the shrouds (rigging) of his flag- 
 ship Hartford, exposed to a storm of iron from the forts. 
 The U. S. S. Brooklyn, directly in front of the Hartford, 
 stopped. Farragut signalled, "What's the matter?" The 
 answer came, "Tell the admiral there is a heavy line of 
 torpedoes ahead." Farragut shouted, "D — n the tor- 
 pedoes ! D — n the torpedoes ! Go ahead. Captain Dray- 
 ton ! Four Bells !" and the Hartford, taking the lead, 
 steamed at full speed ahead over the torpedoes, which 
 did not harm her. The chief Confederate vessel was the 
 iron clad ram Tennessee, commanded by Admiral Frank 
 Buchanan. This ship boldly went forward and attacked 
 the Union fleet aided only by three small gunboats. At 
 one time, the Tennessee was alone surrounded by seven 
 Union ships, three of them ramming her, yet she con- 
 tinued the battle, until utterly disabled, when she sur- 
 rendered. The defease of this vessel by the Confederates 
 was one of the most glorious in the history of American 
 wars. The first gun in the battle was fired at 6 :47 a. m. 
 
 180 
 
AUGUST 
 
 The Confederate flagship Tennessee surrendered at 10 
 a. m. The Union loss was 52 killed and 170 wounded. 
 The Confederate loss was 12 killed, 20 wounded and 280 
 taken prisoners. 
 
 Aug. 6 (1777) — Battle of Oriskany, the strangest 
 and bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War. A force 
 of British, Canadians and Indians under Colonel St. Leger 
 laid siege to Fort Stanwix (near what is now Rome, 
 N. Y.) on Aug. 3, 1777. Eight hundred American settlers 
 under Gen. Nicholas Herkimer marched to relieve the 
 fort. St. Leger sent a strong detachment of British 
 regulars and Mohawk Indians to cut them off. The 
 British force prepared an ambuscade at Oriskany, near 
 what is now Utica, and Herkimer's men marched into it. 
 The Indians suddenly burst upon the Americans. Man 
 to man they fought in the woods, a veritable butchery. 
 An August thunder storm broke above the battle. The 
 sky was -black as night, lightning ripped sky and forest, 
 rain fell in torrents and wet the muskets and powder, yet 
 the battle mad humans did not cease, but closed together 
 with knives, bayonets, hatchets and clubs in the climax of 
 this infernal fight, until the Indians, disheartened by the 
 great numbers of their own dead, fled in all directions. 
 The Tories immediately retreated and rejoined St. 
 Leger's main body. Herkimer's force had lost an appall- 
 ing number and was in no condition to pursue. It is esti- 
 mated that 500 men fell in this battle, more than a quar- 
 ter of the total engaged, and it lasted but two hours. 
 General Herkimer was wounded and died a few days 
 later. (See Saratoga, Oct. 7, 1777.) 
 
 Aug. 6 (1812) — Surrender of Detroit by Gen. Wil- 
 liam Hull (American, 800 men) to Gen. Sir Isaac Brock 
 (British, 730 whites and 600 Indians), year 1812. Gen. 
 Hull after his release by the British, eight months later, 
 was courtraartialed by the American military authorities, 
 found guilty of cowardice and tieglect of duty and sen- 
 tenced to be shot. President Madison moderated the 
 
 181 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 sentence and Hull was allowed to go free, being dis- 
 missed from the army. After many years, he was par- 
 tially exonerated. It is now believed by fair minded 
 historians that a great injustice was done him, and that 
 Detroit was surrendered because of misunderstandings 
 for which he was not entirely to blame. 
 
 Aug. 7 (1742) — Gen. Nathanael Greene, American 
 soldier of the Revolution, born at Patowomut, Rhode 
 Island, year 1742 ; died at or near Savannah, Ga., in 1786 
 His burial place was unknown for a century, and then 
 was discovered at Savannah, where his tomb is now a 
 shrine of American history. His father was a Quaker 
 preacher. He is generally regarded as the ablest military 
 officer of the Revolution under Washington. (See York- 
 town, Oct. 19.) 
 
 Aug. 7 (1789)— U. S. Department of War and De- 
 partment of the Navy organized by Congress, year 1789. 
 
 Aug. 7 (1791) — George Hammond, first minister of 
 Great Britain to the United States, was appointed, year 
 1791. 
 
 Aug. 7 (1912) — First national convention of the 
 Progressive Party, at Chicago, nominated Theodore 
 Roosevelt for President and Hiram Johnson of California 
 for Vice-President. 
 
 Aug. 8 (1829) — First Locomotive run in the United 
 States, year 1829. It was named "The Stourbridge Lion" 
 and was one of four built in England and shipped to 
 America for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Ry. Co. 
 The trial was at Honesdale, Pa. The rails were made of 
 timber. Horatio Allen, civil engineer, alone in the loco- 
 motive, ran it three miles through the Pennsylvania 
 woods. 
 
 Aug. 8 (1846)— "Wilmot Proviso" adopted by the 
 House of Representatives at Washington, year 1846. 
 While the war with Mexico was waging, it was proposed 
 in Congress that President Polk be authorized to expend 
 
 182 
 
AUGUST 
 
 $3,000,000 for the purchase of territory from Mexico, 
 thereby ending the war. While this bill was pending, 
 David Wilmot, a congressman from Pennsylvania, moved 
 the following amendment to the Mexican purchase bill : 
 "That, as an express and fundamental condition to the 
 acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico 
 by the United States, neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory." 
 This amendment became known as the "Wilmot Pro- 
 viso." It failed to pass the Senate. It aroused the coun- 
 try and, in 1848, became the basic plank in the platform 
 of the newly organized Free Soil Party. The Republican 
 party, at its first national convention in 1856, also adopted 
 the Wilmot principle. 
 
 Aug; 8 (1854) — Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson 
 under the firm name of Smith & Wesson, patented the 
 breech-loading metallic cartridge and center fire, year 
 1854. At first the metallic cartridge was used only in 
 pistols and the Civil War (1861-1865) was fought on both 
 sides almost entirely with muzzle-loading rifles* and 
 paper cartridges. 
 
 Aug. 9 (1642) — First commencement of Harvard 
 College, year 1642. A class of nine was graduated. 
 Henry Dunster was the first president. The General 
 Court of Massachusetts in December, 1636, took the first 
 steps toward founding a school or college for the colony. 
 In 1637 it was decided to locate the institution at New- 
 town (Cambridge). In 1638, Rev. John Harvard, a non- 
 conformist minister, had lately arrived in Massachusetts. 
 His health failing and feeling death approaching, he be- 
 queathed half his estate — about $3,700 — to the erection 
 of a college building, and his library of 320 volumes to be 
 placed in it. He died Sept. 26, 1638. Immediately, from 
 his bequest, the college building was begun and the first 
 class entered in December of the same year. Also that 
 same year, the General Court organized the institution 
 and named it "Harvard College." 
 
 183 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Aug. 10 (1821)— Missouri was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1821. 
 
 Aug. 10 (1846) — Smithsonian Institution at Wash- 
 ington, founded, year 1846. The .founder was James 
 Smithson, an Englishman, who bequeathed his pi-operty 
 amounting to $575,000 in the event of his nephew dying 
 childless, to the United States "for the purpose of found- 
 ing an institution at Washington to be called the Smith- 
 sonian institution for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 
 edge among men." The bequest was accepted by Con- 
 gress in 1836. The property was secured, after a suit in 
 chancery, in 1838. 
 
 Aug. 10 (1861)— Battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo., year 
 1861. Most important battle of the Civil War in Mis- 
 souri. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon (Union, 5,000 men) vs. Gen. 
 Sterling Price and Gen. Ben McCulloch (Confederate, 
 10,000 men). A drawn battle. The Union force later 
 retreated. Gen. Lyon was killed. Union loss, 223 killed, 
 1,011 wounded, 1,460 missing — total 2,694. Confederate 
 loss estimated at 1,800. 
 
 Aug. 11 (1833) — Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer, 
 orator and lecturer, born at Dresden, N. Y., year 1833; 
 died at New York, July 21, 1899. He is best known as a 
 religious agnostic. His first lecture, "Some Mistakes of 
 Moses," a criticism of the Old Testament, aroused im- 
 mense interest throughout the country in the decade 
 1880-1890. 
 
 Aug. 12 (1676)— Death of "King" Philip, chief of the 
 Indian tribe of Wampanoags, and end of the first great 
 war of a confederacy of Indians against the white settlers 
 of New England. He was shot by a renegade Indian of 
 his own tribe at Mount Hope, R. I., year 1676. He was 
 the most conspicuous Indian in the history of New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Aug. 12 (1851)— Patents granted on the same day 
 to two inventors of sewing machines, Isaac M. Singer 
 
 184 
 
AUGUST 
 
 and Allen Benjamin Wilson, year 1851. These machines 
 are known as the "Singer" and the "Wheeler & Wilson." 
 
 Aug. 12 (1892) — First patent for wireless telephone, 
 issued to the inventor, Reginald A. Fessendon, year 1892. 
 
 Aug. 12 (1898) — Hawaii formally annexed to the 
 United States, year 1898. 
 
 Aug. 12 (1898) — Protocol signed ending hostilities 
 between the United States and Spain, year 1898. 
 
 Aug. 13 (1890)— The People's Party (Populists) 
 held its first State convention, in Kansas, 1890. 
 
 Aug. 13 (1898) — City of Manila, Philippine Islands, 
 surrendered by the Spanish captain general to the Ameri- 
 can army commanded by Gen. Wesley M. Merritt after 
 an assault by the land force and a bombardment by the 
 American fleet under Admiral Dewey, year 1898. The 
 American land force numbered 8,500 men. The Spanish 
 garrison numbered 13,000. This was the last military 
 action of the Spanish War. On Aug. 16, General Merritt 
 received a cablegram from President McKinley announc- 
 ing the cessation of hostilities. 
 
 Aug. 14 (1900) — An international army of 30,000 
 men composed of divisions from the United States, Great 
 Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, after a 
 march of 100 miles from Tientsin entered Peking, the 
 capital of China and saved the lives of 800 foreigners 
 (Europeans, Americans and Japanese) and 2,200 Chinese 
 converts to Christianity who had been besieged for forty- 
 five days by a Chinese army of "Boxer" rebels, year 
 1900. The American division numbered 6,000 men, under 
 Gen. Adna R. Chaffee. The "Boxers" were a Chinese 
 secret society organized to exterminate all foreigners in 
 China and abolish all foreign influence in Chinese 'terri- 
 tory. The expedition resulted in the crushing of the 
 Boxer movement. China was forced to open the door to 
 all civilized nations upon practically the same conditions 
 that then obtained among the nations of Europe and 
 America. 
 
 185 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Aug. 15 (1893) — Bering Sea controversy with Great 
 Britain was ended by the court of arbitration which met 
 at Paris, France, year 1893. The dispute began in 1886, 
 when Canadian seal hunters in their ships intercepted 
 the seals as they made their annual migration to their 
 breeding grounds on the Pribylov Islands, Alaska. This 
 practice grew, and the killing of the seals for their furs 
 was so ruthlessly carried on that the extinction of the 
 species was threatened. Finally, after much diplomatic 
 correspondence the two governments each selected com- 
 missioners of arbitration. John W. Foster argued the 
 case for the United States. The court denied that the 
 United States had a right to close the sea against other, 
 nations, but it adopted regulations forbidding the killing 
 of seals within fifty miles of the Pribylov Islands, and 
 forbade killing of seals in all the outside sea during the 
 annual period. May 1 to July 31. The incident is chiefly 
 significant because it illustrates the first important 
 triumph of the principle of arbitration of national dis- 
 putes. 
 
 Aug. 15 (1914) — Panama Canal opened, year 1914. 
 Two days prior to this, on Aug. 13, the steamship Chris- 
 tohal, commanded by Captain Skillings, in the service of 
 the U. S. government, passed through the canal, in both 
 directions, on a testing trip. This was the first actual 
 passage of a large steamship. On Aug. 15 the canal was 
 opened to the world. The first passage after the declared 
 opening was made by the steamship Ancon of the Pan- 
 ama Railroad service. On board were Col. George W. 
 Goethals, the governor of the Canal Zone, President 
 Belisario Porras of the Republic of Panama, and other 
 officials. The Ancon was commanded by Capt. G. E. 
 Sukeforth. The time of the passage, from Christobal at 
 the Atlantic end to Balboa at the Pacific end, was nine 
 hours. The cost of the canal proper, exclusive of forti- 
 fications, civil government and payments to the Republic 
 of Panama, was approximately $357,000,000. The work 
 
 186 
 
AUGUST 
 
 was begun in May, 1905, and continued incessantly nine 
 years. (See April 3.) 
 
 Aug. 16 (1777) — Battle of Bennington, Vt., year 
 1777. (See Saratoga, Oct. 7.) 
 
 Aug. 16 (1780)— Battle of Camden, S. C, year 1780. 
 Overwhelming British victory over Americans. Lord 
 Cornwallis (British, 2,100 men) vs. Gen. Horatio Gates 
 (American, 3,000 men). British loss, 500 in iiilled and 
 wounded; American loss in killed and wounded is not 
 known. The American army was practically destroyed as 
 an organization, only about 100 continentals, retreating 
 in military order, being left of the 3,000. The rest, those 
 not killed nor badly wounded, fled in all directions and 
 hid in swamps and underwood. General Gates rode three 
 days and nights, 200 miles, almost alone, to Hillsborough, 
 N. C. He had been the rival and enemy of Washington, 
 and the commander of the Americans at Saratoga. This 
 disaster branded him for all time as an incompetent mili- 
 tary commander. (See Saratoga, Oct. 7.) 
 
 THE CLERMONT, FIRST SUCCESSFUL STEAM- 
 BOAT IN THE WORLD, SAILED ON 
 HER FIRST TRIP 
 Aug. 17, 1807 
 
 History and the common impulse of intelligent 
 people throughout the world, credit the first successful 
 steamboat to Robert Fulton. He was born on a farm at 
 Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pa., in 1765! His 
 parents were middle class people, with small income. It 
 is said that the country schoolmaster, a Quaker, despaired 
 of the boy Fulton, who seemed to care little for books but 
 found problems for himself that the master knew nothing 
 of, nor did any books propound nor solve them. The 
 country folk called him a "wool gatherer" meaning a 
 dreamer. 
 
 As a small boy he experimented strangely with 
 metals and chemicals especially quicksilver. He early 
 
 187 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 displayed a talent for drawing. At fourteen years he 
 painted signs for the village shops. Also he developed 
 his bent for mechanical drawing. At Lancaster, Pa., near 
 his home, lived William Henry, who, in 1763, constructed 
 a machine for propelling boats by steam, which was tried 
 on Conestoga Creek, a small stream that flows by Lan- 
 caster. Here came frequently John Fitch, another pio- 
 neer in steamboat invention, to visit Henry. Together 
 they talked of the coming steamboat, and together they 
 experimented on Conestoga Creek. The boy Fulton 
 witnessed one of these experiments, and his imagination 
 was set on fire. Thereafter, the great purpose glowed in 
 him. It has been said truly that William Henry built the 
 first steamboat, John Fitch improved on it, and Robert 
 Fulton improved on both, carrying forward their ideas 
 and merging them with his own, thus bringing forth the 
 practical steamboat, in place of the crude inventions of 
 the other two that had failed in practice. 
 
 Fulton did not spring forth a full fledged inventor as 
 a boy. At the age of seventeen he left Lancaster and 
 went to Philadelphia to seek his fortune as a painter of 
 portraits and miniatures. He had a tendency to the "de- 
 cline" as tuberculosis was commonly called. To im- 
 prove his health he went on a voyage to England at the 
 age of twenty. In London, he applied himself to art, as 
 his profession, and gained recognition. Perhaps, if he 
 had given his whole soul to it, he would now be known 
 as a great painter. But the steamboat never ceased to 
 call him. He gave but half his time or less, to his art. 
 The balance was filled with modelling and experimenting 
 in steam navigation. He published, in 1796, "A Treatise 
 on Canal Navigation by Robert Fulton, Civil Engineer." 
 Thereafter, his life opened largely and the subsequent ten 
 years hold one of the most romantic stories of struggle in 
 all biographical literature. 
 
 Robert R. Livingston of New York was appointed 
 minister plenipotentiary to France in 1801. He had been 
 
 188 
 
AUGUST 
 
 mterested in the problem of steam navigation for many 
 years. He met Fulton in Paris and the two formed a 
 partnership. In 1802 Fulton designed and built a steam- 
 boat on the river Seine and offered to sell it to the French 
 government. Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul ind 
 practically dictator of France, ordered his scientific ad- 
 visers to examine and test the new contrivance. They 
 were what is called "old fogeys" and reported against 
 Fulton, though the test was pronounced successful by 
 other competent French engineers. Napoleon dismissed 
 Fulton and his steamboat. Years afterwards, when Na- 
 poleon was a prisoner at St. Helena he saw a steamship 
 for the first time. Then he remembered Robert Fulton 
 and realized the enormity of the mistake made by his 
 advisers. Had he accepted Fulton's project, he might 
 have conquered England. 
 
 Fulton and Livingston, after the French refusal, im- 
 mediately began upon the project of building a boat to 
 run between J^ew York and Albany on the Hudson River. 
 
 On August 6, 1803, Fulton asked Boulton H. Watt 
 of Birmingham, England, to build him an engine and ship 
 it to New York. But the British government officials, 
 fearing that Napoleon was behind the scheme, refused 
 permission to let the engine be exported. The matter 
 was held up more than two years, until they were con- 
 vinced that their great enemy, Bonaparte, had nothing to 
 do with it. 
 
 In September 1806, Fulton returned to America, 
 after an absence of twenty years, and at once began the 
 building of his boat at New York in the ship yard of 
 Charles Brownne, at Corlear Hook on the East River, a 
 short distance from the Battery. When the keel was 
 laid, he decided io name her Clermont, which was the 
 name of Chancellor Livingston's country home on the 
 Hudson. Fulton himself described the Clermont as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "My first steamboat on the Hudson's River was 150 
 189 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 feet long-, 13 feet wide, drawing 2 feet of water, bow and 
 stern 10 degrees ; she displaced 36.4 cubic feet, equal 100 
 tons of water; her bow presented 26 feet, to the water, 
 plus and minus the resistance of 1 foot running 4 miles 
 am hour." 
 
 This was a curiously technical description. In fact, 
 the Clermont was a little craft, of less displacement than 
 the Mayflower of the Pilgrims. The cost of construc- 
 tion and machinery was about $10,000. 
 
 The scheme was the talk of the town, for Living- 
 ston was one of the leaders of what was then patrician 
 society. The public generally condemned the project as 
 foolish and the sailor labor interests were bitterly op- 
 posed to it and even incited violence to destroy the boat 
 before she was launched. 
 
 A month before the boat was completed the funds 
 were exhausted. There was imperative need of $1,000. 
 Fulton went about the city pleading with his friends and 
 with financiers to let him have the money. Finally one 
 capitalist agreed to let him have $100 on condition that 
 he get others to subscribe the balance of $900. He did 
 find others, but all the subscribers made him promise 
 that he would keep their names secret, as they feared that 
 all men of substance and brains would scornfully laugh 
 at them for being fools to engage in such a hare-brained 
 scheme ! 
 
 At length the boat was ready and was brought like 
 a canal boat around into the Hudson River, to a wharf 
 near the foot of West 10th Street, in what was then called 
 Greenwich Village. 
 
 On Monday, August 17, 1807, at one o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the lines were cast oflf and Fulton gave the 
 signal to his Scotch engineer. The boat moved a short 
 distance and stopped. She became immovable. A great 
 crowd had gathered beside the river, most of them derid- 
 ing Fulton and his boat. When the boat stopped, they 
 said with satisfied contempt, "I, told you so.-" On board 
 
 190 
 
AUGUST 
 
 were forty of the relatives and intimate friends of Fulton 
 and Livingston and even these despaired. But Fulton 
 addressed them, asking that .they suspend judgment for 
 half an hour while he examined the machinery. He found 
 that a part of the engine had been wrongly adjusted. He 
 quickly corrected it, and again gave the word to the en- 
 gineer. This time the paddle wheels moved and con- 
 tinued to turn. The boat went on. The crowd on the 
 river bank changed its mind and set up a tremendous 
 cheeriilg. And so the Clermont sailed, or rather steamed. 
 Up the Hudson she went at a speed of four and a half 
 miles an hour, her creaking machinery and belching 
 smokestack spreading consternation and even supersti- 
 tious fear among the people of all the Hudson valley, for 
 the news traveled more swiftly than the boat and the 
 people rushed to the river banks and distant hill tops to 
 see the wonderful new craft. One man ran home and 
 told his wife that he had seen "the Devil on his way to 
 Albany in a saw mill." 
 
 The Clermont arrived at Albany after thirty-two 
 hours running time, for the distance of 150 miles. She 
 returned to New York arriving on the following Friday, 
 August 21st. Thus was steamboat navigation estab- 
 lished for all the world, and the 17th of August was 
 made one of the most important of American anniver- 
 saries. 
 
 Aug. 17 (1858) — First Atlantic cable message sent 
 from America to Europe, year 1858. The message was 
 sent from Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, to Valentia, Ire- 
 land. The words were : "Europe and America are united 
 by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth 
 peace and good-will towards men." This first cable con- 
 tinued to work for a short time; 129 messages (average 
 11 words each) were sent from England to America, and 
 271 from America to England. After eighteen days, on 
 Sept. 4th, signals became unintelligible. The enterprise 
 was a failure. Eight years later a successful cable was 
 laid. (See July 13.) 
 
 191 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Aug. 18 (1587)— Virginia Dare born, at Roanoke 
 Island, N. C, year 1587, the first child of English parents 
 born in America. Her father was William Dare. Her 
 mother was Eleanor, the daughter of John White, the 
 English governor of the second agricultural colony sent 
 by Sir Walter Raleigh to the Carolinas. Gov. White 
 sailed back to England for supplies, leaving at Roanoke 
 eighty-nine men, seventeen women and two children — 
 including Virginia Dare and her parents. When White 
 returned, two years later, the entire American colony had 
 disappeared. It js supposed that they amalgamated with 
 the Indians of the Hatteras tribe. 
 
 Aug. 19 (1692) — Five women were hanged at Salem, 
 Mass., convicted by a special court of the crime of 
 "Witchcraft," year 1692. During the delusion of witch- 
 craft among the people of Massachusetts in the year 
 1692, especially in Salem, nineteen persons were hanged, 
 one was "pressed" to death — a horrible punishment — 150 
 were imprisoned, and 200 others were denounced to the 
 court but not arrested. The phobia lasted throughout the 
 spring and summer of that year, and then there was a 
 return to common sense and punishment for the alleged 
 crime of witchcraft stopped. 
 
 Aug. 19 (1812)— Battle between U. S. S. Constitu- 
 tion (55 guns, 468 men, commanded by Captain Isaac 
 Hull) and His [British] Majesty's Ship Guerriere (49 
 guns, 263 men, commanded by Captain James Richard 
 Dacres) in the Atlantic Ocean oiif the coast of Nova 
 Scotia, year 1812. The battle lasted 40 minutes. The 
 Guerriere, dismasted and a total wreck, surrendered. 
 Two days later she was blown up. The American loss 
 was 7 killed and 14 wounded; British loss 15 killed, 78 
 wounded and 170 taken prisoners. This was the first 
 battle between American and British frigates in the War 
 of 1812. The result thrilled the United States and the 
 news of the victory was received in Europe as a sensa- 
 tional event. The Constitution ranks as the most famous 
 
 192 
 
AUGUST 
 
 ship of the United States Navy during all its history. 
 (See Naval Battle of Santiago — the Oregon.) She was 
 one of two sister ships {Constitution and United States), 
 sailing frigates of 1,576 tons, launched in September, 1797. 
 Her original cost was $302,719; she was built at Boston. 
 In 1830, the Navy Department condemned the ship and 
 ordered that she be sold in whole or broken up and her 
 timbers disposed of. Oliver Wendell Holmes then wrote 
 a poem of three stanzas, entitled, "Old Ironsides," a pro- 
 test, which aroused the whole nation. The first stanza 
 reads : 
 
 "Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! 
 
 Long has it waved on high. 
 And many an eye has danced to see 
 
 That banner in the sky. 
 Beneath it rang the battle-shout. 
 
 And burst the cannon's roar; 
 The meteor of the ocean air 
 
 Shall sweep the clouds no more." 
 
 The old ship was saved. She was again commis- 
 sioned as a school ship. When the construction of the 
 new steel navy was begun, in the 80's, the Constitution 
 was sent to Boston, near her birth place, and there she 
 lies now, one of the precious possessions of the American 
 people. : ' p | \\\W\ 
 
 •Aug. 19 (1847)— Battle of Contreras, Mex., year 1847. 
 Lasted throughout night and part of next early morning. 
 American victory. Gen. Scott (American, 3,000 men) vs. 
 Gen. Valencia (Mexican, 4,000 men). American loss — 
 100 killed and wounded. Mexican loss — 700 killed and 
 wounded and 813 prisoners. 
 
 Aug. 20 (1833) — Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third 
 - President of the United States, born at North Bend, O., 
 year 1833; died at Indianapolis, Ind., Mar. 13, 1901. Was 
 nominated for President by the Republican Party in 1888 
 and elected. Electoral vote (38 States) : Harrison, 233 ; 
 Cleveland, 182. Inaugurated on March 4, 1889; served 
 
 193 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 four years. The chief events of his administration were 
 the arbitration of the Bering Sea difficulties with Eng- 
 land, the first Pan-American Congress (at Washington, 
 1892), the opening of Oklahoma for settlement (1889), 
 and the Homestead (Pa.) labor troubles (1892). 
 
 Aug. 20 (1847) — Battle of Churubusco, Mex., year 
 1847. American victory. General Scott (American, 
 8,000 men) vs. General Santa Anna (Mexican, 20,000 men 
 estimated by Americans). American loss, 100 killed and 
 ,800 wounded. Mexican loss, 4,000 killed and wounded 
 and 3,000 taken prisoners. 
 
 Aug. 21 (1856) — Charter Oak, at Hartford, Conn., 
 blown down in a wind storni, year 1856. It was more 
 than 200 years old at its death. It was 25 feet in circum- 
 ference at its base. In 1687, King James II. sent Andros, 
 his governor, to America with orders to take away the 
 charters of the several colonies. The charter of Connec- 
 ticut, the most liberal of all the colonial charters, was 
 secreted in a cavity of the oak tree at Hartford for more 
 than a year, from 1687 to 1688, when King James was 
 dethroned, and thus the charter was saved. 
 
 WINNING OF THE "SQUADRON CUP," NOW 
 
 CALLED THE "AMERICA CUP," BY THE 
 
 YACHT "AMERICA" IN THE WATERS 
 
 AROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT, 
 
 ENGLAND 
 
 Aug. 22, 1851 
 
 The first of the modern international industrial ex- 
 hibitions or "world's fairs" was held in Hyde Park, Lon- 
 don, in 1851. As England was called "the mistress of 
 the seas," naturally it was planned to give the shipping 
 industry a prominent place at the great exhibition. Yacht 
 racing was to be an auxiliary feature. 
 
 In those days, "pilot boats" had grown to be an im- 
 portant part of shipping in England and her colonies, and 
 in America. Especially at New York, the pilot boat had 
 
 194 
 
AUGUST 
 
 been developed into a striking sail craft, sturdy and 
 swift. These boats carried the pilots who steered ships 
 in and out of New York harbor. They cruised outside 
 of New York in the transatlantic shipping track, with 
 their companies of pilots, who, in the open sea, were 
 taken on and off the ships bound in and out from New 
 York. They carried usually but three sails — jib, foresail 
 and mainsail on two masts. .Sometimes they carried a 
 gaff topsail. They combined the two essential qualities 
 of strength and speed, and though small in size, they 
 cruised in the ocean summer and winter, often remaining 
 at sea for an unbroken period of twenty-five days. 
 
 The officials of the British exposition suggested to 
 New York yachtsmen that a pilot boat be sent to Eng- 
 land to compete in the yacht contests. The Americans, 
 under the leadership of Commodore John C. Stevens, ac- 
 cepted and, in the spring of 1851, a new pilot boat de- 
 signed by George Steers, was built at the shipyard of 
 William H. Brown, New York, and launched on May 3, 
 1851. Her measurements were as follows: Length over 
 all, 101 ft. 9 in.; length load water line, 90 ft. 3 in.; 
 breadth extreme, 23 ft. ; draft extreme, 1 1 ft. The foremast 
 was 79 ft. 6 in. long, the mainmast 81 ft., and the bowsprit 
 31 ft.; the main boom was 58 ft. She was rated 170 tons 
 by measurement. Her cost was $30,000. She was named 
 America. 
 
 On June 21, 1851, the America sailed for Havre, 
 France, with a crew of ten including captain and mate. 
 The designer George Steers, his brother and his nephew 
 were passengers. After a voyage of twenty-one days, 
 she arrived at Havre in good shape. Commodore 
 Stevens and other members of the syndicate that had 
 built her, awaited her at Havre. After three weeks she 
 sailed across the English channel and dropped anchor 
 among the fleet of English yachts in the Solent — the 
 strait that divides the Isle of Wight from the mainland 
 of England. Then, as now, the waters about the Isle of 
 
 195 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Wight, famous for beauty and variety of wind and wave, 
 included the favorite sailing courses for British yachts- 
 men. ' I? i 
 Several months before, at the time of the launching 
 of the America the Royal Yacht Squadron of England 
 had announced a contest for the date August 22, 1851, 
 open to yachts of all nations, the prize to be a cup costing 
 100 guineas, to be given to the yacht first across the 
 finish line, with no allowance for rig, and no restrictions. 
 It was in fact a free-fqr-all. It was not intended to be 
 the chief event of the season, for there was the annual 
 race for the "Queen's Cup" which was regarded generally 
 as the "Derby" of yachting. Besides, w,hen the contest 
 was announced its promoters had no thought of the 
 America, nor did the owners of the American yacht know 
 anything about it when their yacht was launched. But 
 when the America arrived at the Isle of Wight, Stevens 
 decided to enter this contest for what was called col- 
 loquially "the Squadron Cup." Immediately, this contest 
 became the chief event of the season. 
 
 The course was approximately a circle of 62 statute 
 miles. The yachts were to start eastward at a point 
 north of Cowes, and sail completely around the Isle of 
 
 Wight. 
 
 Fourteen British yachts and one American were en- 
 tered for the race. They ranged in size from a three- 
 masted schooner of 392 tons to a cutter of 47 tons. There 
 were seven schooners, three of them larger than the 
 America and three about equal in size. The remaining 
 eight were cutters, one of which was larger than the 
 America, and the others very much smaller. 
 
 August 22, 1851, fell on Friday — an unlucky day, so 
 British and American sailors have believed for centuries. 
 However, it does not appear that Commodore Stevens 
 had any fear of ill luck when the America took her place 
 in line on that Friday morning, nor, for that matter did 
 the British yachtsmen, so far as is known. But the out- 
 
 196 
 
AUGUST 
 
 come surely did give new life to the old superstition in 
 England. 
 
 The starting gun was fired at 9:55 a. m. A good 
 breeze was blowing. Seven miles from the start, 
 America was fifth. Half way of the course, America led 
 by a mile with Aurora, the smallest of the cutters, 
 second. 
 
 At the Needles, the extreme west point of the Is- 
 land, America led Aurora by half a dozen miles; the 
 others were strung out miles behind. At this point, the 
 wind almost died and the race became nearly a ^'drifting" 
 match through the Solent to the finish. The America 
 crossed the finish line first at 8 :34 in the evening while 
 a band played "Yankee Doodle." The Aurora was 
 second at 8:58 p. m. The third and fourth finished 
 about an hour later and the fifth at 1 :20 a. m. next 
 morning. The records for the others were not given. 
 
 A great number of vessels, including steamers with 
 spectators, had followed the race and were waiting at 
 the finish to acclaim the winner. The royal steam yacht 
 Victoria and Albert came out to meet the contests. Queen 
 Victoria was on board and saw the Yankee victory. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the America was hard pressed 
 at the end of the race. Had Aurora been given the time 
 allowance as regularly provided by the rules, America 
 would have won by less than two minutes. However, 
 the conditions definitely waived all time allowance and 
 so it stands that America won by 24 minutes over her 
 nearest rival. The British, true to their splendid tradi- 
 tions as sportsmen, gave full measure of glory to Com- 
 modore Stevens and his associates. The Squadron Cup 
 was delivered to the winners, and has ever since re- 
 mained in possession of the New York Yacht Club. It 
 has been called the "America Cup" ever since the 
 America won it. 
 
 Beginning with the year 1870, when the first of the 
 matches for the "America Cup" was sailed in American 
 
 .197 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 waters, down to the year 1914 when Sir Thomas Lipton 
 challenged for the fourth time, twelve matches were 
 sailed. Of the challenging yachts six represented Eng- 
 lish Yacht Clubs, three Irish, two Canadian, and one 
 Scotch. The races were all sailed over the course of the 
 New York Yacht Club in New York Harbor and New 
 York Lower Bay. All were won by the American de- 
 fenders. 
 
 Aug. 23 (1785) — Oliver Hazard Perry, naval officer, 
 born at South Kingston, R. I., year 1785; died at Port 
 of Spaing Trinidad, West Indies, Aug. 23, 1819. His 
 remains were brought to Newport, R. I., where they now 
 lie beneath a monument. (See Sept. 10, Battle of Lake 
 Erie, Sept. 10.) 
 
 Aug. 23 (1890) — ^U. S. S. Baltimore sailed from New 
 York for Sweden, carrying the remains of Capt. John 
 Ericsson, the great inventor, to their last resting place in 
 his native land, year 1890. He had died March 8, 1889. 
 His greatest service to the United States was the inven- 
 tion and construction of the ship Monitor which saved the 
 navy of the United States. (See March 9.) 
 
 Aug. 23 (1893)— The United States Senate ruled 
 that when a State legislature has the opportunity to 
 elect a U. S. Senator and fails to do so, an appointment 
 by the governor is void, year 1893. The question arose 
 when the legislatures of Wyoming, Montana and Wash- 
 ington, deadlocked over political differences, adjourned 
 their sessions of the preceding winter without electing 
 each a U. S. Senator for the six years' term beginning 
 March 4, 1893. The governors of these States there- 
 upon each appointed a man to serve, but the U. S. Senate 
 would not admit them. Thus there were three vacancies 
 in the Senate during the session of 1893-1894. 
 
 Aug. 24 (1818)— Foundation of the Central struc- 
 ture of the present Capitol at Washington was finished, 
 year 1818. The old Capitol had only the two wings 
 connected by a covered wooden bridge. The bridge was 
 
 198 
 
AUGUST 
 
 destroyed and both wings badly damaged by the British 
 who set fire to the buildings in 1814. Congress, in 1817, 
 voted to restore the wings and build the new central 
 structure. This central structure with its dome, was 
 completed in 1829. The two great marble extension 
 wings, in which the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives meet were begun in 1851 and completed for occu- 
 pation in 1859. The old dome, made of wood and brick, 
 was torn away in 1855 and the present dome was com- 
 pleted in 1864. The great statue of the Goddess of 
 Freedom, which rests upon the dome, was designed by 
 Thomas Crawford, father of F. Marion Crawford, the 
 novelist, in 1855. The architect of the first two separate 
 buildings which constituted the old Capitol was Benja- 
 min H. Latrobe of Richmond, Va. The architect of the 
 original central structure and dome was Charles Bull- 
 finch of Boston, who also supervised the restoration of 
 the old wings after the fire of the War of 1812. T. U. 
 Walter of Philadelphia designed the marble extensions 
 and the present dome. The total cost of the present 
 Capitol, including the approaches and terraces, was ap- 
 proximately $16,000,000. The majority. of architectural 
 authorities in America and Europe have pronounced it 
 the greatest and noblest building in the whole world. 
 
 Aug. 25 (1862) — Secretary of War Stanton, of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln's cabinet, ordered the military governor of 
 the coast islands of South Carolina to enlist 5,000 volun- 
 teers of "African descent" to serve in the Union armies 
 during the Civil War, year 1862. Prior to this, during 
 the first sixteen months of the War, the Union leaders 
 enlisted no negro soldiers. 
 
 Aug. 26 (1791) — ^First patents for steamboats issued 
 simultaneously to Nathan Read, James Rumsey, John 
 Fitch and John Stevens, year 1791. (See voyage of the 
 Clermont Aug. 17, 1807.) 
 
 Aug. 26 (1843) — Thurber typewriter, the first prac- 
 tical (except as to speed) typewriter invented in America, 
 
 199 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 patented by Charles Thurber of Worcester, Mass., year 
 1843. 
 
 Aug. 27 (1776)— Battle of Long Island, year 1776. 
 British victory. Gen. Sir William Howe (British, 20,000 
 men) vs. General Washington, (American, 8,000 men). 
 British loss, 63 killed, 271 wounded and 22 taken prison- 
 ers ; American loss, 300 killed and wounded and 700 taken 
 prisoners. The battle was fought on the ground that is 
 now included in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York 
 City. The British had come with an army and a large 
 fleet to capture New York. The Americans were crude 
 militia and the defense was nearly hopeless against the 
 overwhelming British and Hessian force of trained men. 
 In the early morning of Aug. 29, two days later, under 
 cover of a fog, Washington effected a masterly retreat 
 from Long Island with his entire army, crossing the East 
 River and marching through northern Manhattan 
 • (through wha't is now Central Park and upper Broad- 
 way, New York) to the heights beside the Harlem River, 
 now known as Washington Heights. This retreat was 
 momentous in saving the American cause. The British 
 occupied New York and kept it until the end of the war. 
 
 , Aug. 28 (1565) — Pedro Menendez, Spanish explorer, 
 discovered a bay and river in Florida which he named 
 St. Augustine, because the day was St. Augustine's Day 
 in the Catholic church calendar, year 1565. 
 
 Aug. 28 (1859) — Petroleum was discovered at Wat- 
 son's Flats, Pa., near the headwaters of the Allegheny 
 River in Northwestern Pennsylvania, by Edwin L. 
 Drake, who bored the first oil well, year 1859. Before 
 the end of the year, the firm Bowditch & Drake bored 
 through the rock at Titusville, Pa., struck oil at a depth 
 of 70 ft^ and pumped 1,000 gallons a day from the well. 
 This was the beginning of the petroleum industry. 
 
 Aug. 29 (1809)— Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet, 
 essayist and physician, born at Cambridge, Mass., year 
 1809; died at Boston, Oct. 7, 1894. His best known work 
 
 200 
 
AUGUST 
 
 is "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," in which is 
 included rhany of his poems. His best known poems are 
 "The Chambered Nautilus" and "The Wonderful One- 
 Hoss Shay." He wrote a number of works on medicine; 
 also two novels, "Elsie Venner" and "The Guardian 
 Angel." 
 
 Aug. 29 (1916) — Act of Congress approved: "An 
 Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the Army 
 for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1917." It contained 
 the following provision : "The President, in time of war, 
 is empowered, through the Secretary of War, to take pos- 
 session and assume control of any system or systems of 
 transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the 
 same, to the exclusion as far as may be necessary of 
 other than war traffic thereon, for the transfer or trans- 
 portation of troops, war material and equipment, and for 
 such other purposes connected with the emergency as 
 may be needful if desirable." (See Dec. 8, 1917, the tak- 
 ing over the railroads by the government.) 
 
 Aug. 30 (1890) — Congress passed an act providing 
 for the inspection, by the Department of Agriculture, of 
 salted pork and bacon for export, and of imported cattle 
 and foods and drinks, and authorized the President to 
 enforce retaliation against foreign nations that dis- 
 criminated against the United States, year 1890. At that 
 time, there was an outcry in Europe against American 
 meat, particularly against hogs infected with trichinosis. 
 Several of the European nations prohibited the importa- 
 tion of American pork. Within a year after the passage 
 of the act, these nations removed the restrictions. This 
 was the beginning of effective national pure food legis- 
 lation by Congress. 
 
 Aug. 30 (1890) — Congress enacted a law providing 
 for the endowment of colleges of agriculture and me- 
 chanics' arts, year 1890. The money was to come from 
 the sale of public lands. Each State and Territory was 
 to receive $15,000 the first year, and this sum was to be 
 
 201 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 increased annually until $25,000 was reached; this last 
 named sum is now the permanent annual donation by 
 the national government. 
 
 Aug. 31 (1864) — Gen. George B. McClellan nomina- 
 ted for President by the Democratic National Convention 
 at Chicago, and George H. Pendleton nominated for 
 Vice-President, year 1864. McClellan had been regarded 
 as a martyr by a large element in the North opposed to 
 President Lincoln and sympathetic toward the Southern 
 States. The convention adopted a platform declaring 
 that the Civil War was a failure and demanded that 
 "immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities." 
 In the election which followed, twenty-five states par- 
 ticipated. The popular vote was : Lincoln, 2,216,067 ; 
 McClellan, 1,808,725. Lincoln's plurality, 407,342. Lin- 
 coln received 212 electoral votes and McClellan 21. In 
 New York, Lincoln had a plurality of only 6,700 in a total 
 of 730,000 votes. It has been estimated that a change 
 of less than 3 per cent, of the vote in New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois would have elected 
 McClellan and the Confederate States would have ob- 
 tained a compromise, instead of being forced to an abject 
 surrender. (See Dec. 3.) 
 
 Aug. 31 (1886)— Earthquake destroyed $5,000,000 of 
 property at Charleston, S. C, and many lives were lost, 
 year 1886. The shock was felt throughout twenty States. 
 
 202 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Septen*ea: 1 (1851) — Execution of Narciso Lopez, 
 Spanish-American soldier who organized, in the United 
 States, a fillibustering expedition to free Cuba from 
 Spain, year 1851. He landed at Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 
 the province of Pinar Del Rio, west of Havana, on Aug. 
 12, with 450 men. Next day he was attacked by a 
 Spanish force of 1,300 and defeated them. He then re- 
 treated to the interior, expecting the Cubans to rise and 
 join in the revolution. But they did not, and his follow- 
 ers were forced to scatter through the mountains. Lopez 
 fell into the hands of the Spanish, was taken to Havana, 
 tried for high treason and condemned to death by gar- 
 rote. He was the leader of the Cuban party that favored 
 annexation to the United States. 
 
 Sept. 2 (1789)^Department of the Treasury of 
 the United States government organized, year 1789. 
 Alexander Hamilton was appointed secretary. 
 
 FIRST MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER 
 Labor Day 
 
 The inauguration of this holiday was brought about 
 directly by the Knights of Labor, the first of the great 
 national labor organizations of America. The Knights 
 of Labor grew out of a secret union of garment cutters 
 organized in Philadelphia in 1869 under the leadership 
 of Uriah S. Stevens. In 1871 this society of garment 
 workers was formally reorganized as Local Assembly 
 No. 1 of the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. A 
 ritual, somewhat after Masonic traditions, was adopted. 
 Secrecy was strictly enjoined. Even the name of the 
 order was kept from outsiders. It spread from Phila- 
 delphia throughout Pennsylvania in a short time. It 
 especially appealed to the mine workers. Its growth 
 from 1875 to 1885 was so extraordinary as to attract the 
 
 203 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 attention of the whole civilized world. In 1885 its mem- 
 bership was estimated at 500,000. 
 
 In 1881, the title of the order was foiwially made 
 public and also its declaration of principles. This dec- 
 laration was an exhaustive radical platform, intended to 
 clearly point the way to a solution of the "Labor Ques- 
 tion." As a matter of fact, this platform contains nearly 
 every radical principle and the outline of nearly every 
 radical policy which the "radicals" of all the dominant 
 political parties of the United States later adopted and 
 enacted into laws. 
 
 Undoubtedly, this labor society was the most hu- 
 manitarian and idealistic of all strictly labor organiza- 
 tions of the Nineteenth century. It strove to amalgamate 
 all workers, skilled and unskilled. It strove to make 
 educators of the highly skilled for the benefit of the low- 
 lier ones. But it was found to be subversive of the most 
 essential principles of Trade Unionism, as such unionism 
 then existed. Trade classes and castes found irksome 
 the complete amalgamation with those of lower caste — 
 so to speak. The highly skilled failed to become edu- 
 cators of their lowlier brethren. So a split in the Knights 
 of Labor came at the annual convention at Richmond, 
 Va., in 1887. Samuel Gompers and others withdrew and 
 organized the American Federation, of Labor, which 
 recognized the nearly complete independence of eacli 
 trade or union, and only bound all together for the at- 
 tainment of certain ends in which all were obviously 
 and selfishly interested. The "Federation idea spread 
 even more rapidly than the idea of the Knights, and 
 eventually the Federation became the dominant national 
 expression of what is called Labor Interests in the 
 United States. 
 
 The following is an excerpt from "Labor Day, Its 
 History and Significance," written by T. V. Powderly, 
 formerly Grand Master Workman of the Knights of 
 Labor : 
 
 204 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 "When the General Assembly was opened on Sept. 5 
 [at New York City in 1882], a communication was read 
 from the secretary of the New York Central Unipn, 
 Matthew McGuire, inviting the members of the body to 
 review the parade from the grand stand at Union Square. 
 A recess was taken in order to comply with the request 
 of the Central Labor Union, and the members of the 
 Assembly witnessed the first Labor Day parade. During 
 the time that various organizations wflre passing the 
 grand stand at Union Square, Robert Price, of Lona- 
 coning, Md., turned to General Worthy Foreman of the 
 Knights of Labor, Richard Griffiths, and said: 'This is 
 Labor Day in earnest. Uncle Dick.' Whether this was 
 the first time the term had been used is not known, but 
 the event was afterwards referred to as the 'Labor Day 
 parade.' In 1883 the organizations of New York paraded 
 on the first Monday in September. When, in 1884, the 
 Central Labor Union of New York had the question of 
 parading up for discussion, George K. Lloyd, a Knight 
 of Labor, offered a resolution declaring the first Monday 
 in September to be Labor Day. The resolution was 
 adopted and steps were at once taken to have the Legis- 
 lature enact a law making the first Monday in September 
 a legal holiday, to be known as Labor Day. The agita- 
 tion, begun in New York, extended to other States with 
 most gratifying results." 
 
 The first State to make Labor Day a legal holiday 
 was Oregon, on Feb. -21, 1887. Colorado followed on 
 March 15, then New Jersey on April 15, New York on 
 May 6, and Massachusetts on May 11 — all in the year 
 1887; so this year 1887 is memorable to organized labor. 
 All the other States have followed the lead of the first 
 five, and the first Monday in September is practically 
 a national holiday. 
 
 Sept. 2 (1864) — Atlanta, Ga., a vital stronghold of 
 the Confederacy, was captured by a Union Army, after 
 a campaign and siege lasting four months, year 1864. 
 
 205 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 The Union force (including the Army of the Cumber- 
 land, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the 
 Oliio) numbered 100,000 men and was commanded by 
 Gen. William T. Sherman. The Confederate army of 
 75,000 men was commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, 
 until July 17, 1864, when he was superseded and Gen. 
 John Bell Hood placed in command. The actual siege 
 lasted thirty-six days. The Confederates evacuated the 
 city on .Sept. 2, retreating in good order. During the 
 siege, the Confederates made four sorties, known as the 
 battles of Peach Tree Creek (July 20), Atlanta (July 22), 
 Ezra Chapel (July 28) and Jonesboro (Aug. 31). The 
 Union loss in campaign and siege, from May 5 to Sept. 2, 
 was 5,284 killed, 26,129 wounded and 5,786 missing — 
 total 37,199. The Confederate loss was not reported, 
 except 12,983 taken prisoners. Northern authorities 
 estimate the total Confederate loss at 30,000 men. 
 
 Sept. 3 (1783)— Treaty of Versailles (France) be- 
 tween Great Britain and the United States, ending the 
 American Revolution, year 1783. Actual hostilities had 
 ceased upon the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
 Oct. 19, 1781. Early in the following spring, 1782, the 
 British ministry sent Richard Oswald to Paris to confer 
 with Dr.. Benjamin FrankUn and the other American 
 plenipotentiaries and also with the French ministers, 
 relative to the terms of the treaty of peace. For a whole 
 year, the negotiations were carried on before the pre- 
 liminary agreement was made. On April 19, 1783, the 
 cessation of hostilities was formerly proclaimed, but the 
 three governments did not finally agree until Sept. 9 of 
 that year — nearly two years after the Yorktown sur- 
 render. The treaty was signed by David Hartley for 
 Great Britain, and by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin 
 and John Jay (in the order of their names) for the United 
 States. The treaty between England and France was 
 embodied in a separate document. 
 
 Sept. 4 (1882)— First electric Hghting plant started 
 206 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 for commercial uses, year 1882. The dynamo was in- 
 stalled by Thomas A. Edison in a house at 227 Pearl 
 Street, New York. 
 
 Sept. 4 (1886) — A band of Apache Indians, under 
 their chief Geronimo, whp had waged a fierce war 
 for a year against the United States citizens in Texas, 
 New Mexico and Arizona, surrendered to a cavalry force 
 under Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles, year 1886. 
 
 MEETING OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL 
 
 CONGRESS 
 
 SqJtember 5, 1774 
 
 The American Union actually came into existence 
 when the delegates from eleven colonies met in a con- 
 ference or "congress" at Philadelphia, on Sept. 5, 1774. 
 Delegates from North Carolina, the twelfth colony, 
 joined the body a few days later. Georgia did not send 
 any delegates. 
 
 This meeting of delegates, after a time, became 
 known as the "First Continental Congress." The word 
 "Continental," used to identify this first congress of the 
 British colonies in the mainland of North Amierica south ■ 
 of Canada, is a popular American euphemism, dignified 
 by more'^than a century of use. As an Americanism, 
 it was and is practically unknown in the continent of 
 Europe. It Kad little, if any official sanction. The 
 word was stretched to cover other features of the Amer- 
 ican Revolution — "Continental Money," "Continentals" 
 (soldiers). 
 
 This usage of the word is derived from the General 
 Court of Massachusetts, and not from Virginia as a 
 number of historians and encyclopedists have asserted 
 in error. The Massachusetts Assembly, in 1774, called 
 a "Meeting of Committees from the Several Colonies on 
 this Continent." North Carolina referred to the "Colo- 
 nies of North America, in General Congress." Virginia 
 called it a "General Congress of Deputies." The other 
 
 207 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 colonies called it variously: "General Congress," "Con- 
 gress," "Congress of Deputies," "Congress of Commis- 
 sioners." Only Massachusetts used the word "continent." 
 Of course "Continental" was an exaggeration. 
 Canada did not join, nor were the French or Spanish 
 colonies invited, nor Mexico, nor any part of Central 
 America. Nevertheless, it was a very useful word. It 
 served, in England, to distinguish the Philadelphia con- 
 gress from the "provincial congress" which latter was 
 the legislative body of Massachusetts. At first, the 
 American army about Boston, in April and May, 1775, 
 was called with some formality, "the Provincial Army" 
 to distinguish it from "the Ministerial Army" com- 
 manded by the British governor. General Gage; a little 
 later, when Washington took command, "Continental" 
 was substituted for "Provincial." 
 
 The honor of actually fixing the word "Continental" 
 in American history belongs to Ethan Allen, the "Robin 
 Hood" of the Green Mountains. He commanded a body 
 of "Green Mountain Boys" in the first important ro- 
 mantic expedition of the War of the Revolution. At the 
 head of eighty-three of these adventurers, he surprised 
 Fort Ticonderoga at daybreak on May 9, 1775. (See 
 May 9.) Allen led the way silently into the fort, right 
 up to the door of the quarters of the British commandant, 
 Captain Delaplace. He struck the door and demanded 
 the surrender of the fort. The commandant jumped out 
 of bed and cried out in astonishment: "By whose au- 
 thority do you act?" 
 
 "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Con- 
 tinental Congress!" delivered Allen grandiloquently, 
 with a flourish of his sword. He was much given to 
 quoting Scripture and had a gift of saying sonorous 
 things. He relished the rolling sonorousness of "Con- 
 tinental." And at once the word flew through the new 
 nation. 
 
 The total number of delegates selected for the First 
 208 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Continental Congress was fifty-seven. According to the 
 Journal of the Proceedings of Congress, kept by the 
 secretary, all the delegates presented themselves, except 
 one — ^James Bowdoin of Massachusetts. 
 
 The Assembly of Pennsylvania offered the Pennsyl- 
 vania State House at Philadelphia for the sessions of 
 the Congress. The carpenters of Philadelphia also offered 
 the hall of their guild. It had so happened that the car- 
 penters of Boston, a little while prior to this time, had 
 refused to construct barracks for the British army which 
 was being assembled at Boston, though they were in 
 distress for want of employment; their sturdiness had 
 gained the warm sympathy of rich and poor in all the 
 colonies. So it was that the delegates at Philadelphia 
 decided to honor the mechanics of that city and also of 
 Boston by meeting in the Carpenter's Hall. The meeting 
 room was 54 feet square. 
 
 On the morning of the Sth of September, the dele- 
 gates walked in a body to Carpenter's Hall and sat in 
 the first meeting. Peyton Randolph of Virginia was 
 chosen president and Charles Thompson of Philadelphia, 
 who was not a delegate, was made secretary. 
 
 In the very first debate, Patrick Henry made a speech 
 in which he said: "The distinctions between Virginians, 
 Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are 
 no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American!" 
 Since that speech, Patrick Henry has been popularly 
 credited with making the classification "American" to 
 distinguish the people of the United States. 
 
 The list of members included the ablest men in 
 America, It is an amazing list, because of the sheer 
 power of mind and the transcendental quality of its en- 
 semble. Its intellectual output was greater than that of 
 the second Congress, which adopted the Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
 On Oct. 9, a. little more than a month following the 
 opening, George Washington, who was a delegate, wrote 
 
 209 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 in a letter: "I am satisfied that no such thing [as inde- 
 pendence] is desired by any thinking man in all North 
 America; on the contrary, that it is the wish of the 
 warmest advocates for liberty that peace and tranquility, 
 on constitutional grounds, may be restored and the 
 horrors of civil discord prevented." 
 
 About the same time John Adams wrote in a letter : 
 "If it is the secret hope of many, as I suspect it is, that 
 the congress will advise to offensive measures, they will 
 be mistaken. . . . Their [the delegates] opinions are 
 fixed against hostilities and rupture, except they should 
 become absolutely necessary; and this necessity they do 
 not yet see." 
 
 Thus it appears that the moderates were in a 
 majority, and did not entirely approve of Samuel Adams 
 and Patrick Henry who were the radical leaders and 
 who desired at once a final break with England. 
 
 On Oct. 8, after some opposition by the extreme 
 conservatives the following resolution was adopted: 
 
 "Resolved, That the Congress approves the opposi- 
 tion of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay to the 
 execution of the late acts of Parliament ; and if the same 
 shall be attempted to be carried into execution by force, 
 in such case all Americans ought to support them in 
 their opposition." 
 
 This was the most important act of the Congress; 
 it was the first act of defiance- by the united colonies. 
 
 A number of state papers were put forth by the Con- 
 gress, setting forth the American position. Letters were 
 addressed to the "People of Great Britain," "To the In- 
 habitants of the Several British- American Colonies," 
 "To the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec," "To 
 the King's Most Excellent Majesty." These papers 
 served to demonstrate to the civilized world the wisdom 
 and intellectual force of the American leaders, and they 
 succeeded in winning the respect of the leading states- 
 men of Europe. 
 
 210 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 The Congress adjourned on Oct. 26, after having 
 actually met on thirty-five days. Before adjournment, 
 the date May 10, 1775, was fixed for the next meeting. 
 
 In America the Congress became a de facto govern- 
 ment, and this was because of the sheer force of intellect 
 of its members. The delegates were without legal au- 
 thority. They could not bind any colony by their action 
 nor could they punish disobedience or disregard of their 
 suggestions. Yet it came about that they exercised the 
 authority of a sovereign government, believing, no doubt, 
 that their acts would later be ratified formally by the 
 several colonies. It may be assumed that they were 
 conscious of the fact that the Congress included the 
 natural leaders of America, by virtue of their intellect 
 and popularity, and these men might well, in the absence 
 of authorized government, assume the authority of gov- 
 ernment, not as dictators, but as pure democratic repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 Sept 5 (1781) — Naval Battle of Lynnhaven Bay, the 
 most important naval action of the Revolutionary War, 
 year 1781. Admiral de Grasse (French, fleet of 24 ships 
 of war) vs. Admiral Graves (English, fleet of 19 ships). 
 Technically indecisive, but in efifect a French victory^ 
 which vitally influenced the outcome of the war. Admiral 
 de Grasse, following the advice of Washington, had sailed 
 from the West Indies, outwitted the English naval com- 
 manders, and arrived at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 
 August 30 with 24 ships (some say 27 ships). He an- 
 chored in Lynnhaven Bay, a roadstead of the Virginia 
 coast near Jamestown. Five days later Admiral Graves 
 with his English fleet of 19 ships appeared and headed in 
 to attack at once the French. At this time there was 
 upon the sea a second French fleet of seven large ships 
 under Admiral de B arras carrying from Newport the 
 siege guns that Washington was to use against Corn- 
 wallis. The great object of the English admiral was to 
 - prevent this second fleet from entering the Chesapeake, 
 
 211 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 or from joining de Grasse. So Admiral Graves sailed 
 boldly against de Grasse to beat him before de Barras 
 arrived. De Grasse accepted the challenge, slipped his 
 cables and stood directly out to meet the incoming 
 English; he knew that he was superior in force to the 
 English. The battle began about 4 p. m., within sight of 
 the Virginia coast, and lasted until sunset. The firing 
 was at long range. The French lost 21 ofificers and 200 
 men killed and wounded. The English loss was 336 men 
 killed and wounded, and three ships — the Terrible, 74 
 guns, and the Iris and the Richmond, each of 40 guns. 
 Several other ships in both fleets were damaged. Thus 
 it is seen that the engagement was very heavy for long 
 range. 
 
 During the succeeding five days de Grasse manoeuv- 
 ered with success, drawing the English fleet away from 
 the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and de Barras slipped 
 in with his fleet. Then de Grasse returned to Chesapeake 
 Bay, knowing that he had command of the American sea 
 board for the time, and the siege of Yorktown was pressed 
 with consummate strategy and energy. Admiral Graves 
 was obliged to sail back to New York for repairs. Be- 
 fore he could return to the Chesapeake, Cornwallis had 
 surrendered. It is one of the curiosities of American 
 history that none of the first rank historians, excepting 
 Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, has given proper historic value 
 to the Battle of Lynnhaven Bay. Bancroft covers the 
 whole afifair in these few words : "The action began at 
 four o'clock in the afternoon and continued till about 
 sunset. The British sustained so great a loss that, after 
 remaining five days in sight of the French, they returned 
 to New York." 
 
 J. J. Jusserand, ambassador of France to the United 
 States, in his book "With Americans of Past and Present 
 Days," published in 1916, writes: "It can be truly said 
 that no single man risked nor did more for the United 
 States than de Grasse, the single one of the leaders to 
 
 212 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 whom no memorial has been dedicated." It is assumed 
 that Ambassador Jusserand referred to the French 
 "leaders," including Lafayette. 
 
 The French, with good reason, have celebrated this 
 battle and the resulting surrender at Yorktown as a 
 French victory, with very little credit to the Americans 
 — excepting Washington. (See Yorktown, Oct. 19.) 
 
 Sept. 5 (1813)— Naval battk between the U. S. S. 
 Enterprise (sailing sloop of war, 16 guns, 103 men) and 
 His British Majesty's Ship Boxer (sailing sloop of war, 
 14 guns, 100 men), of? the coast of Maine, year 1813. 
 An American victory. The Boxer was cut to pieces and 
 surrendered after 40 minutes. American loss, 2 killed 
 and 12 wounded. British loss, 4 killed, 21 wounded and 
 75 taken prisoners. 
 
 Sept. 5 (1905)— Treaty of Portsmouth, N. H., ending 
 the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) signed, year 1905. 
 The peace conference between the plenipotentiaries of 
 Russia and Japan which resulted in the treaty, was 
 directly brought about by President Roosevelt. For this 
 service, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 
 in 1906. 
 
 Sept. 6 (1757)— Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves 
 Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, born at 
 Chavagnac, province of Auvergne, France, year 1757. 
 Purchased a vessel and sailed on April 26, 1777, for 
 America with eleven other French officers to join the 
 American army in the Revolutionary War. Served with 
 military success until the end of the war and contributed 
 great influence in prevailing on France to aid the Amer- 
 icans. Returned to France and was one of the chief 
 figures during the first three years of the French Revolu- 
 tion. Was obliged to fiy from France in 1792, was im- 
 prisoned for five years by the Austrians. Was liberated 
 by Napoleon. Returned to France in 1799 and lived on 
 his estate during the remainder of his life. In 1824-1825 
 he visited the United States and was received with high- 
 
 213 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 est honor by the nation. Congress voted him a grant 
 of $200,000 and a township of land. He died in Paris, 
 May 20, 1834. His eldest son was named George Wash- 
 ington Lafay£tte. 
 
 Sept. 6 (1901) — President William McKinley was 
 shot by an assassin at Buffalo, year 1901. (See Jan. 29.) . 
 Sept. 7 (1630) — Boston settled by John Winthrop 
 and a colony of Puritatis who had come from England 
 to Salem and Charlestown, Mass., a year before, year 
 1630. 
 
 Sept. 7 (1816) — The Frontenac, first steamboat on 
 the Great Lakes, was launched at Ernestown, Canada, 
 on Lake Ontario, year 1816. She was 170 feet length 
 of deck, stern wheeler, of 700 tons, and cost $75,000. 
 She carried passengers from Kingston to Niagara during 
 ten years. 
 
 Sept. 7 (1917) — Manufacture of whiskey from grain 
 ceased in all the United States, under the Food Control 
 Act of Congress adopted seven months prior. 
 
 Sept. 8 (1565) — St. Augustine, Fla., founded by Don 
 Pedro Menendez, year 1565. It was the first permanent 
 settlement in what is now the United States. 
 
 Sept. 8 (1781) — Battle of Eutaw Springs, South 
 Carolina, year 1781. Last battle of the Revolutionary 
 War excepting the siege of Yorktown. A drawn battle, 
 but in effect, an American victory. Gen. Nathanael 
 Greene (American, 1,600 effective men) vs. Lieut. Col. 
 Sir John Stuart (British, 2,000 effective men). At first 
 the Americans were successful, driving the British from 
 the field and capturing the British camp in which the 
 half starved American militia broke discipline and made 
 merry, eating, drinking and plundering. But the British 
 rallied, taking position in and around a brick house. 
 Greene ordered a charge. The British held their position 
 and poured a terrible fire. The Americans were driven 
 back, losing one-third of their number. Thus the British 
 claimed the victory. The American loss was 554 killed, 
 
 214 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 wounded and missing. The British lost a total of 800 
 including prisoners. That night the British retreated 
 toward Charleston, pursued by Greene's cavalry. They 
 abandoned all the South except the city of Charleston, 
 until peace was declared. 
 
 Sept. 8 (1847)— Battle of Molino Del Rey, Mexico, 
 year 1847. A dubious American victory. General Wil- 
 liam Jenkins. Wqrth (American, 3,500 men) ys. General 
 Santa Anna (Mexican, 10,000 men). This was the most 
 strongly contested battle of the Mexican War. Amer- 
 icans succeeded in destroying an old cannon foundry of 
 the Mexicans, which was the object of their attack. But 
 in the end, they were obliged to fall back. It was the 
 only battle of the war in' which the Mexicans inflicted 
 severe loss on the Americans and it was heralded 
 throughout Mexico as a great Mexican victory. The 
 American loss was 116 killed and 671 wounded. The 
 Mexican loss was 3,000 including 800 taken prisoners. 
 
 Sept. 9 (1664) — Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch 
 governor of New Amsterdam, signed the articles of sur- 
 render of the colony to Colonel Nichols, the English 
 commander, year 1664. An English fleet had arrived in 
 the bay on Aug. 30, and was ready to bombard the town. 
 The English immediately changed the name to New 
 York,' naming the city in honor of the Duke of York 
 (brother of King Charles II.), who was at the head of 
 the English navy and who later became King James II. 
 
 Sept. 9 (1850) — California was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1850. 
 
 BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 
 
 September 10, 1813 
 
 The administration of President Madison, at the 
 beginning of the War of 1812, realized the strategic im- 
 portance of controlling Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. In 
 1812, a small fleet was constructed on Lake Ontario and 
 
 215 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 a brilliant naval campaign was carried on, under Captain 
 Isaac Chauncey, to wrest control of that lake from the 
 British. 
 
 But the Americans had no vessels on Lake Erie 
 while the British had three ships, a brig and two schoon- 
 ers carrying a total of 72 guns — an overwhelming force 
 under the existing conditions. The surrender of Detroit 
 (see August 6, 1812) brought home ^o the American 
 government the imminence of catastrophe when the 
 victori.ous veterans of Wellington, after the defeat of 
 Napoleon in 1813, would come to America and sweep 
 westward through Canada, over Lake Erie, and through 
 all the Mississippi Valley. The first thing to do was to 
 build a fleet on Lake Erie. 
 
 At this time an officer of the little United States 
 Navy, Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, twenty- 
 seven years old, was in command of a fleet of so-called, 
 "gun boats" lying in the harbor of Newport, R. I. He 
 was born at South Kingston, R. I., Aug. 23, 1785. In 
 the General Navy Register, his record of rank is given 
 thus: Midshipman, April 7, 1799; Lieutenant, Jan. 15, 
 1807; Commander (old style "master commandant") 
 Aug. 28, 1812; Captain, Sept. 10, 1813. 
 
 In February, 1813, he was ordered to the Great 
 Lakes. On March 16, he arrived at Erie — then called 
 Presque Isle. 
 
 Here was a spacious harbor and fine anchorage for 
 ships, except that there was a bar at the entrance, on which 
 there was less than seven feet of water. This bar, of 
 course, prevented the large British ships from getting into 
 the harbor, and that was the reason why the Americans 
 had established a small shipyard there before Perry arrived. 
 
 Already two brigs— "sister ships," afterwards named 
 Niagara and Lawrence, were being built of white oak, black 
 oak and pine, newly cut from the nearby forests. They 
 were each 110 ft. over all and 29 ft. beam planned for a 
 displacement tonnage of 480 each. Peny, by amazing 
 
 216 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 energy and strategy, in four months completed the two 
 vessels, brought other smaller craft from the Niagara River 
 at Buffalo, and on August 5, 1813, took to the open lake 
 with a fleet of ten vessels prepared to give battle to the 
 British. The latter retired to the upper end of the lake 
 near Detroit. 
 
 In the meantime, the American army of 1,500 men 
 under Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was at Fort Meigs, near 
 what is now Toledo. The British army of 2,000 men under 
 Colonel Proctor and the Indian Chief Tecumseh was at 
 Maiden in Canada, near Detroit. Perry and Harrison con- 
 ferred, late in August, and it was resolved to make a com- 
 bined army and navy attack on Maiden. 
 
 The British naval force was commanded by Capt. 
 Robert Heriot Barclay, a brave officer who had fought 
 under Nelson at Trafalgar. Capt. Barclay did not wait 
 for the American attack, but himself took the offensive. 
 Growing short of provisions, and his new ship the Detroit 
 being ready, he felt compelled to fight at once in order to 
 regain control of the Lake though his force was inferior 
 to Perry's. He put out from Maiden^ to seek the American 
 fleet which was at anchor in Put-in-Bay, a fine harbor in ' 
 ■Bass Island, the largest of a group about forty miles from 
 Detroit. 
 
 At sunrise on Saturday morning, Sept. 10, the Amer- 
 ican lookout reported the British fleet fifteen miles away. 
 At once Perry prepared for action and at 9 o'clock in the 
 morning the American squadron got under way, the wind 
 favoring, while the British lay to, awaiting the attack. 
 
 Immediately on leaving the harbor, Perry hoisted a 
 special battle flag of blue muslin to the mainmast of his 
 flagship, the Lawrence. The flag bore the inscription in 
 white: "Don't give up the ship," the dying words of Cap- 
 tain Lawrence of the ill-fated Chesapeake in the famous 
 battle with the Shannon. (See June 1, 1813.) 
 
 The British had six vessels, of which the Detroit, a 
 ship of 490 tons, was the largest. The total tonnage of the 
 
 217 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 fleet was 1,460. The crews numbered 440 men. They had 
 a total of 64 guns to throw 459 pounds of metal in broad- 
 sides. 
 
 Perry had nine vessels of which the Lawrence and 
 Niagara, rigged as brigs, were the largest, each about equal 
 to the Detroit. Six of his vessels were small schooners, the 
 largest of 112 tons and the others all less than 100 tons. 
 
 The total American ship tonnage was 1,671. The total 
 number of effective men, 416. The fleet carried 54 guns, 
 able to throw 936 pounds of metal in broadside. 
 
 The Americans had overestimated the strength of the 
 British. In fact, Perry's fleet was greatly superior in weight 
 of metal, but not so in ship units nor men, and was. un- 
 doubtedly inferior in the technical qualities of the crews. 
 
 After two and a half hours sailing, the Americans 
 reached a distance of about a mile from the British line, 
 which was formed in the open lake within sight of West 
 Sister Island. Perry's squadron sailed obliquely against 
 this line, his vessels in a somewhat straggling line. His 
 luck was with him at the beginning. He had "the weather 
 gage," the wind abaft the port beam of his vessels. Thus 
 he could advance against any part of the British line, but 
 the British ships could not advance directly against the 
 American vessels. 
 
 The first shot was fired from the British flagship, the 
 Detroit, at 11 :45 a. m. In ten minutes the battle became 
 general, every vessel being engaged. The firing was at a 
 distance ranging from 1,000 to 3,500 feet. As the Lawrence 
 and Niagara were very much superior to the enemy in car- 
 ronades — short range guns. Perry desired to quickly get in 
 short range, and the Lawrence was worked close to the 
 British line, but the Niagara was badly handled by her com- 
 mander. Master Commandant Elliot, and was kept far away 
 contrary to Perry's design. Thus it was that the Lawrence 
 was exposed to a terrible fire from the long range guns of 
 the largest British ships before she could bring her short 
 guns to bear. But Perry worked his ship down to close 
 
 218 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 range, and bearing the brunt of the fire from the British 
 fleet, for more than two hours he fought the battle in the 
 Lawrence until she was torn almost to pieces, and all the 
 while the Niagara kept away firing only her long range 
 guns. Each side concentrated its fire on the large ships of 
 the enemy. The British on the Lawrence, and the Amer- 
 icans on the Detroit and Queen Charlotte. 
 
 The carnage on the Lawrence was unparalleled in naval 
 warfare; more than four-fifths of her effective officers and 
 men were killed or disabled by wounds. But also the 
 Detroit had suffered fearfully Eind was ajmost dismantled, 
 and the Queen Charlotte's commander and many of her 
 crew had been killed. Of all the large ships on both sides, 
 only the Niagara was still strong and comparatively un- 
 harmed in this direful battle. Yet, the British had the 
 upper hand, and, if the Lawrence could be captured or 
 sunk, they might gain a complete victory. So the British 
 fire to the last was concentrated with all possible fury on 
 the Lawrence. 
 
 At this moment, when Perry stood in the midst of 
 his dead and dying upon the deck, and it seemed to his 
 few remaining officers and men of the Lawrence that all 
 was lost, he grasped with the intuition of a master strate- 
 gist the desperate condition of the British fleet, notwith- 
 standing his own ship was as a dead hulk. Swiftly he 
 called a few men to man a small boat. He entered the 
 boat and was rowed over the water to the Niagara while 
 showers of musket balls fell harmlessly around him. He 
 climbed the side of the Niagara and took command of 
 her. He turned to look at his old flagship, and just then 
 the flag of the Lawrence was hauled down in surrender 
 to save useless mutilation of dead and dying on her decks. 
 The British ceased firing at the Lawrence and gave three 
 cheers, many of them believing they had won the battle. 
 
 And now came one of the most astonishing reversals 
 of battle fortune in all the history of the United States. 
 At 2 :45 p. m. Perry, with a freshened breeze on his port 
 
 219 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 quarter, signalled all his ships to advance, and he, in the 
 Niagara, bore down first to break the British line. 
 Straight on he went and poured his broadsides, both port 
 and starboard, into five of the British ships. The 
 Niagara's fire was terribly effective. The two largest 
 British ships ran afoul of each other and lay helpless. 
 
 In fifteen minutes after Perry began his attack in the 
 Niagara, the British flagship surrendered. Immediately 
 three others gave up. The two last tried to escape but 
 were overhauled and captured. 
 
 And, at the last, there was a dramatic scene never to 
 be forgotten in American history. Perry jumped into a 
 small boat and was rowed back to the Lawrence which 
 had drifted away out of the battle zone. There he stood 
 on the quarter deck, among his dear dead comrades, and 
 there came the British officers one by one, stepping care- 
 fully over the bodies of the slain, to deliver their swords 
 to the American commander. 
 
 Then he wrote with pencil on the back of an old let- 
 ter resting it upon the top of his cap, the immortal dis- 
 patch to General Harrison: 
 
 "We have met the enemy and they are ours; 
 two ships, two brigs, a schooner and a sloop." 
 
 The American loss was 27 killed and 96 wounded, of 
 whom three died. The British loss was 41 killed and 94 
 wounded. Of the crew of the Lawrence, 22 were killed 
 and 61 wounded — a total of 83 out of a crew of 105 effec- 
 tives. - 
 
 The heroism of the British in the battle was as great 
 as that of the Americans. They were beaten only by 
 superior force and fortune, and the genius of Perry. 
 
 Perry's victory changed in a day the whole course of 
 the war west of the Alleghenies. Measured by things 
 directly dependent upon the outcome of the contest, the 
 Battle of Lake Erie was the most important of all the 
 naval and military events of the War of 1812. 
 
 Sept. 10 (1846)— Patent for the first sewing machine 
 220 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 in the world issued to Elias Howe of Boston, year 1846. 
 The journeymen tailors of Boston fiercely opposed the 
 invention, fearing that it would destroy their means of 
 livelihood. 
 
 Sept. 11 (1609) — Henry Hudson in the little ship 
 Half Moon discovered and entered the river which was 
 given his name, year 1609. 
 
 Sept 11 (1777) — Battle of Brandywine, Pa., year 
 1777. British victory. General Howe (British, 17,000 
 men) vs. General Washington (American, 11,000 men). 
 The battle was fought to save Philadelphia from the 
 British. Washington had but a forlorn hope of victory. 
 His army was badly defeated. British loss, 600 killed 
 and wounded. American loss, 1,200 killed, wounded and 
 taken prisoners. In this battle the British showed their 
 best strategy and tactics of the whole war. This was 
 the first battle in which the new Flag of the United 
 States — the Stars and Stripes, was carried as the official 
 standard of the American army. 
 
 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN 
 Sept. 11, 1814 
 
 The outcome of the Battle of Lake Champlain, in the 
 year 1814, was a vital American victory. The contestants 
 were Master Commander (Commodore) Thomas Mac- 
 donough (American, 14 small vessels, total 2,244 tons, 86 
 guns, 882 men) vs. Capt. (Acting Commodore) George 
 Downie (British, 16 small vessels, total 2,402 tons, 92 
 guns, 937 men). 
 
 On the western bank of Lake Champlain at Platts- 
 burg was a British army of 11,000 men, bent southward, 
 in a drive which had for its object the wedging apart of 
 New England and the middle States and the capture of 
 New York. The plan was, in essence, the same as that 
 which had been entrusted to Burgoyne in the Revolu- 
 tionary War and which had disastrously failed. To meet 
 this advance, the Americans had a land force of 2,000 
 troops under 'Gen. Alexander Macomb, and the naval 
 
 221 
 
AMERICAN ANNII/ERSAKIES 
 
 force under Commodore Macdonough — a regular officer 
 28 years old. The British hastily constructed a fleet 
 equal to the American, for' they believed it would be im- 
 practicable to advance with their army while the Ameri- 
 cans held control of the lake. 
 
 The American fleet was anchored in Cumberland 
 Bay at Plattsburg when the British fleet sailed in and 
 began the attack on the morning of Sept. 11, the day 
 being Sunday. There followed a fierce battle lasting two 
 and one* half hours. The British commander was killed 
 and the British fleet defeated. After the battle, Commo- 
 dore Macdonough sent the following message to the 
 Secretary of the Navy: "Sir: The Almighty has been 
 pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Champlain 
 in the capture of one frigate, one brig and two sloops of 
 war of the enemy." This message has more of the quality 
 of reverential modesty than that sent by Perry after the 
 Battle of Lake Erie, though the Perry message is more to 
 the liking of the American people. Several of the smaller 
 craft of the British fleet, propelled by oars, fled and es- 
 caped. The American loss in killed and wounded was 
 112; the British loss was 200. • 
 
 After the battle, the British land force retreated pre- 
 cipitately back to Canada and the menace of British in- 
 vasion was permanently lifted. 
 
 Naval officers and other historians naturally discuss 
 this battle and the Battle of Lake Erie as the two great 
 naval battles of the War of 1812. Colonel Theodore 
 Roosevelt writes that the Battle of Lake Champlain was 
 "the greatest naval battle of the war." 
 
 Admiral A. T. Mahan in "Sea Power in Its Relation 
 to the War of 1812" declares : "The Battle of Lake Cham- 
 plain more nearly than any other incident of the War of 
 1812 merits the word "decisive' — decisive not merely in 
 relation to immediate military results, but in relation to 
 political questions involved in the pending negotiations 
 for peace." 
 
 222 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Hisforian John B. McMaster in his "History of the 
 People of the United States" asserts : "The fight in Platts- 
 burg Bay was undoubtedly the greatest naval battle of 
 the war, and the victory stamped Macdonough as the 
 ablest sea captain our country produced down to the 
 Revolution." 
 
 Despite these opinions by men of high authority, the 
 author of this volume holds to the conviction that the 
 Battle of Lake Erie was the greater event, and so holds 
 the mass of the American people. (See Battle of Lake 
 Erie, Sept. 10, 1813.) 
 
 Sept. 11 (1857) — Mountain Meadows (Utah) mas- 
 sacre, year 1857. A party of emigrants known as "the 
 Arkansas Company" travelling westward to California in 
 wagons, while passing through Utah were attacked by 
 Indians under the direction of Mormons and all were 
 killed except a few children. It was charged that the 
 massacre was planned by the heads of the Mormon 
 Church. Twenty years after (March 23, 1877), Bishop 
 John D. Lee of the Mormon Church, who confessed the 
 murder, was executed by shooting, on the ground of the 
 massacre. 
 
 Sept. 12 (1826)— Abduction of William Morgan from 
 Canandaigua, N. Y., year 1826. Morgan was a Freemason 
 who had announced his intention to publish a book ex- 
 posing what he alleged to be the secrets of Freemasonry. 
 He was seized at night by a small party of unknown men 
 and driven away in a carriage and never again was seen 
 or heard from by his friends. The abduction was blamed 
 on the Masonic fraternity, though withbut any material 
 proof. An anti-Masonic wave spread over the country. 
 The National Anti-Masonic political party was created, 
 which, on Sept. 26, 1832, "met in convention at Philadel- 
 phia, having 112 delegates, and nominated William Wirt 
 of Virginia for President. He received 25,000 votes in a 
 total of 1,250,000. The party soon after disappeared. 
 
 Sept. 12 (1860) — William W^alker, adventurer and 
 223 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 most famous of American filibusterers, was shot after a 
 trial by courtmartial, at Truxillo, Honduras, Central 
 America, year 1860. He was born at Nashville, Tenn., in 
 1824. Was a physician, journalist, lawyer and military 
 leader. During seven years, from 1853 to 1860, he or- 
 ganized filibustering expeditions aiming at the conquest 
 of Sonora (Mexico), Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Hon- 
 duras, presumably with intent to annex these countries to 
 the United States. He made himself president of Nica- 
 ragua in 1856 and was recognized by President Buchanan. 
 He was driven out the next year. Finally, in 1860, he 
 set out from New Orleans with a small band of adven- 
 turers to create a revolution in Honduras. He and his 
 band were captured by a British man-o'-war and deliv- 
 ered to the Honduras authorities, who quickly court- 
 martialed and sentenced him to death. The Walker epi- 
 sode is one of the most interesting in American history. 
 He was an agent of the powerful secret political society 
 called "Knights of the Golden Circle" that planned to 
 extend slavery by conquering Mexico and Central 
 America. 
 
 Sept. 13 (1759)— Battle of the Plains of Abraham 
 (Quebec), year 1759. Gen. James Wolfe (English, 8,000 
 men vs. Marquis de Montcalm (French, 7,500 men, Ca- 
 nadians and Indians). The most decisive victory gained 
 by the English over the French during the long struggle 
 between the two nations for supremacy in America. Eng- 
 lish loss, 600 killed and wounded ; French loss, 500 killed 
 and 1,000 (including wounded) made prisoners. Wolfe 
 and Montcalm both fell mortally wounded at nearly the 
 same moment. Wolfe died on the battlefield. Montcalm 
 died next day. Five days after the battle (on Sept. 18) 
 Quebec, the strongest fortress in America, was surren- 
 dered to the English and all Canada came under British 
 dominion. 
 
 Sept. 13 (1847)— Battle of Chapultepec (Mexico), 
 the last battle of* the Mexican War, year 1847. General 
 
 224 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Scott (American, 4,000 men) vs. General Santa Anna 
 (Mexican, 4,000 men). American victory. The Castle 
 of Chapultepec was the last fortress defending the city of 
 Mexico. It was captured after a furious bombardment 
 and assault by the Ajnericans. American loss — total 143. 
 Mexican loss — total 1,800. 
 
 Sept. 14 (1752) — Great Britain began the use of the 
 Gregorian Calendar, substituting it for the system known 
 as the Julian Calendar, year 1752. The British Parlia- 
 ment ordered that the day following Sept. 2, 1752, should 
 be Sept. 14, 1752. Accordiifg to this calendar, which is 
 how used by all European and American nations except- 
 ing the Greek Catholic (Russian) and Mohammedan ec- 
 clesiastical systems, there are no dates Sept. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 
 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of 'the year 1752 in English or 
 American history. (See Dec. 11.) 
 
 "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" WRITTEN BY 
 FRANCIS SCOTT KEY 
 
 Sept. 14, 1814 
 
 In August, 1814, the great British, offensive of the 
 War of 1812 was begun. Three widely separate. drives 
 or expeditions had been planned by the British Ministry 
 to be carried on simultaneously in this offensive. An 
 army was to drive south from Canada to New York cut- 
 ting off the New England States from the rest of the 
 Union (see Battle of Lake Champlain, Sept. 11). An- 
 other army was to ascend the Mississippi River (see 
 Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8). A fleet was to take pos- 
 session of Delaware and Chesapeake bays, carrying an 
 army of 4,000 men which was to capture Washington 
 and Baltimore, thus aiding, by diversion, the other two 
 drives. 
 
 This naval expedition succeeded in greater degree 
 than either of the two others. The British fleet carried 
 the British land force up Chesapeake Bay to the Patux- 
 ent River where it was landed. It then marched forty 
 
 225 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 miles to Washington and captured that city. (See Aug. 
 24.) It so happened that the British forces, in retiring 
 from Washington, had taken, as a prisoner, one Dr. Wil- 
 liam Beane, a non-combatant, of Upper Marlboro, Md., 
 who was charged with some vague offense. At this time, 
 among the officials of the administration of President 
 Madison, was the District Attorney at Washington, 
 Francis Scott Key, thirty-four years old, the son of a 
 soldier of the Revolution; a modest, cultured man, by 
 right of brains and character one of the leading men of 
 the State of Maryland. Key was a neighbor and friend 
 of Dr. Beane. He put forth all his energy to obtain the 
 release of his friend. He obtained permission from the 
 President to go to the British admiral, under a flag of 
 truce. He hurried to Baltimore, and with an American 
 regular military officer bearing the flag of truce, and a 
 small party of friends, set sail in the little cartel ship 
 Minden down Chesapeake Bay in search of the British 
 fleet. Obviously, he did not know that the British were 
 just then moving to attack Baltimore. 
 
 They found the British fleet at the mouth of the Pot- 
 omac. Admiral Cochrane received them courteously and 
 listened to the eloquent pleading of Key in behalf of Dr. 
 Beane. The British admiral, a typical gentleman of the 
 British navy, impressed by the arguments of Attorney 
 Key, at once freed Dr. Beane, but, by right of recognized 
 rules of war, detained him and also Key and the others 
 on board the Minden. For the British were about to 
 proceed to the attack on Baltimore, and naturally would 
 not allow Key and his party to sail away and carry to 
 Baltimore advance information about the contemplated 
 movement of the British fleet and army. So the little ship 
 Minden was assigned to a rear position under the guns of 
 the British men o' war, and thus the Minden sailed, to- 
 j^ether with sixteen British warships, for Baltimore, a 
 lnin(h"cd miles away. 
 
 The chief military defense of Baltimore was Fort 
 226 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 McHenry, built of brick, stone and earth, overlooking the 
 harbor. It was garrisoned by a force of about 1,000 sailor 
 men o' warsmen, regulars and volunteers. Also the cit- 
 izens of Baltimore had organized to protect their city. 
 They formed the bulk of a defense force of 14,000 men 
 under Gen. Samuel Smith. 
 
 On Sept. 12, the land force which had captured 
 Washington and returned to the fleet, was landed near 
 Baltimore, and marched to attack the city on the land- 
 ward side, while the fleet would attack Fort McHenry 
 from the water front. In the first skirmish, Gen. Robert 
 Ross, the British commander of the land force, was killed, 
 but the force pushed on to a line three miles from the 
 city and there stopped to await the destruction of Fort 
 McHenry by the fleet. 
 
 At sunrise on Sept. 13 the bombardment by the fleet 
 commenced. No fortress nor other military defense on 
 the. western continent had ever before been attacked by 
 sixteen warships simultaneously firing 18 and 24 pound 
 shot and shell^the latter called "bombs" by unmilitary 
 people; the guns from which these projectiles were fired, 
 were the newest and heaviest of that time. Therefore, in 
 any list of great naval bombardments of the world, this 
 attack on Fort McHenry should be placed among the 
 very first. It was of immense interest to the naval con- 
 structors of the world. 
 
 All day and night the ships fired steadily at the 
 fortress, delivering a total of 1,700 projectiles, of which 
 about 400 struck the walls of the fortification or fell with- 
 in the inclosure, killing but four Americans and wound- 
 ing twenty-four. 
 
 This, then, was the momentous spectacle that Fran- 
 cis Scott Key witnessed from the deck of the little cartel 
 ship Minden in the rear, of the British squadron. He was 
 in danger only from occasional shots from the Fort. In 
 the bright sunlight, he could see every fold of the Ameri- 
 can flag, waving and shimmering in the soft September 
 
 227 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 breeze, above the ramparts of the fortress. The British 
 hoped and Key feared, each moment of the early hours, 
 that the fortress would fall and the white flag of sur- 
 render be hoisted in its place. Yet the day marched on, 
 timing the battle explosions, through forenoon and after- 
 noon. The setting sun glinted its last rays on the Stars 
 and Stripes still proudly waving aloft, and the poet on 
 the Minden saw with swelled heart yearning the long 
 kiss of dying sunlight upon the flag he loved. 
 
 Nightfall brought no cessation of the conflict. The 
 British ships increased their fire. They frequently ex- 
 changed signals with their flagship by red glaring rockets. 
 Now was the feverish vigil for Key. He walked the deck 
 with the American flag-of-truce officer J. S. Skinner, his 
 single companion. They watched every shell streaking 
 its fuse light through the darkness, and they listened for 
 the explosion; if it did not explode, they were thankful. 
 When the signal rockets lighted the fleet about them, 
 they strained their eyes, in vain, to catch an instant 
 glimpse of the fortress and the flag. But Key knew, for 
 "The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
 Gave proof through the night that our flag was 
 still there" 
 It was as if the words were spoken there and then in the 
 darkness by the spirit of battle. The poet heard and re- 
 peated them. Then was conceived the first stanza of the 
 poem "The Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 In a little silence between gun thunders. Key and his 
 companion heard the soft music of midnight bells — eight 
 bells on each of the warships. The British ceased not 
 firing. One, two, three o'clock sounded from the same 
 bells through the darkness, with no let up of the battle. 
 And then, a little later, there was a long stillness. Here 
 is what Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, brother-in-law of 
 Key, wrote, saying it was the stbry told him by the poet 
 immediately after the bombardment: 
 
 "It [the cannonading] suddenly ceased some time 
 228 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 before day ; and, as they had no communication with any 
 of the enemy's ships, they did not know whether the fort 
 had surrendered or the attack upon it had been aban- 
 doned. They paced the deck the residue of the night in 
 painful suspense, watching with intense anxiety for the 
 return of day, and looking every few minutes at their 
 watches to see how long they must wait for it; and, as 
 soon as it dawned, and before it was light enough to see 
 objects at a distance, their glasses were turned to the 
 fort, uncertain whether they should see the Stars and 
 Stripes or the flag of the enemy." 
 
 A few moments of misty searching with their glasses, 
 and then a beam of morning showed the Flag — the flag 
 of their hearts. "Our flag is still there !" cried Key, 
 loosening the pent up emotion of the night now ended. 
 For the greatest naval bombardment directed against the 
 American flag had failed. "Blessed vigil ! That its prayers 
 were not in vain !" exclaims Henry Watterson ; "glorious 
 vigil ! that it gave us the 'Star Spangled Banner !' " 
 
 On that 14th of September, 1814, there upon the deck 
 of the Minden, while awaiting the order for the final re- 
 lease of the Americans, Francis Scott Key wrote a rough 
 draft of the stanzas of his poem and song, upon the back 
 of the sheets of a letter he happened to have in his pocket. 
 Later in the day came the message from the British ad- 
 miral, that he and his party were free to go ashore. From 
 British officers he learned that the whole land and sea at- 
 tack on Baltimore had failed, and that the British army 
 and fleet were withdrawing. 
 
 He finished the poem in the small boat which was 
 rowed to the shore on that day, and that same evening 
 he wrote out a clear copy at his hotel in Baltimore. Next 
 day he showed it to his kinsman. Judge Nicholson, who 
 was delighted with it and immediately sent it to the office 
 of the Baltimore American newspaper where it was put 
 in type and published in the next issue of the American, 
 on Sept. 21, under the title "Defense of Fort McHenry." 
 
 229 
 
AMERICAN ANNTVEKSARIES 
 
 The poet stipulated that his name be not printed as 
 author, and so it was printed anonymously. 
 
 It is said that copies were struck oflf in hand bill form 
 under the title, "Bombardment of Fort McHenry." The 
 most probable story tells that the song was first sung in a 
 little tavern kept by the Widow Berling, near the Holli- 
 day Street Theater, where, one morning shortly after the 
 bombardment, there gathered a number of volunteer offi- 
 cers of the American army of defense. One of them, 
 Captain Benjamin Edess, was a master printer and had 
 brought a copy of the song which he had just printed on 
 his press; He read it aloud to the assembly, and stated 
 that the old air, "To Anacreon in Heaven," which was 
 quite well known in America, had been adapted to it by 
 the author. One of the group was Ferdinand Durand, a 
 recognized vocalist who had sung in the nearby theater. 
 DUrand, like most of the others, was familiar with the old 
 tune. Whereupon, says Col. John L. Warner in a paper 
 read before the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1867, 
 "Ferdinand Durand mounted an old rush bottomed chair 
 and sang this admirable song for the first time in our 
 Union, the chorus of each verse being reechoed by those 
 present with infinite harmony of voices. It was sung sev- 
 eral times that morning." 
 
 Louis C. Elson, in "The National Music of America," 
 convincingly traces the melody to an English drinking 
 song, composed by Dr. Samuel Arnold, composer to His 
 Majesty's Chapel, at some time between 1770 and 1775, or 
 by John Stafford Smith who, it is claimed by some, tran- 
 scribed it from an old French tune. At any rate, the air 
 was put to a set of verses attributed to Ralph Tomlinson, 
 president of the Anacreonic Society of London, "a wild 
 Bacchanalian club" which held its meetings at the "Crown 
 and Anchor" tavern in the Strand, London, at the time of 
 the beginning of the American Revolution. It may be 
 doubted that the London club was a "wild Bacchanalian" 
 body. Its members were certainly men of high culture 
 
 230 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 as is proved by the music and words of "Anacreon in 
 Heaven." 
 
 Sept. 14 (1847) — City of Mexico captured by the 
 American army under Gen. Winfield Scott, year 1847. 
 Scott's campaign against the city began on Aug. 7, 1847, 
 and lasted 38 days, during which time his army advanced 
 60 miles and fought four important battles, all American 
 victories. His army numbered 11,000 men. The Mexi- 
 can army opposed to him numbered about 20,000 men 
 under General Santa Anna. The American loss in the 
 campaign was 2,700 killed and wounded. The Mexican 
 loss was 7,000 killed and wounded, and 3,730 taken pris- 
 oners. The capture of the city ended the military oper- 
 ations of the war. 
 
 Sept. 14 (1901)— President McKinley died, at Buf- 
 falo, N. Y., from the wound inflicted by the assassin 
 Leon Czolgosz, year 1901. (See Jan. 29.) 
 
 Sept. 15 (1789) — ^James Fenimore Cooper, author, 
 born at Burlington, N. J., year 1789; died Sept. 14, 1851. 
 He was the greatest of the early novelists of America. 
 His first novel, "Precaution," was published in 1810. It 
 was a failure. His second, "The Spy," published in 1821, 
 was a great success. Immediately he began the 
 "Leatherstocking Tales" of which "The Pioneer" was 
 first. He wrote altogether sixty-seven books, about half 
 of them novels. The best known are "The Spy" (1821), 
 "The Pilot" (1823), "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826), 
 "The Red Rover" (1828), and "The Deerslayer" (1841). 
 
 Sept. 15 (1840) — Patent for a knitting machine is- 
 sued to the inventor, Isaac Wixan Lamb of Salem, Mass., 
 year 1840. 
 
 Sept. 15 (185.7)— William Howard Taft, twenty- 
 seventh President of the United States, born at Cincin- 
 nati, O., year 1857. Nominated by the Republican party 
 for President ^m 1908 and elected. Electoral vote (48 
 States) : Taft, 321 ; William J. Bryan (Democrat), 162. 
 Inaugurated March 4, 1909, and served four years. Re- 
 
 231 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 nominated in 1912 and defeated. Electoral vote: Taft, 8; 
 Wilson, 435 ; Roosevelt, 88. The chief events of his ad- • 
 ministration were the Supreme Court decisions declaring 
 the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco 
 Company unlawful combinations (1911), the Sixteenth 
 and Seventeenth Amendments to the Constitution 
 (1913), Parcels Post system inaugurated (Jan. 1, 1913), 
 and wireless telegraphic communication with Europe es- 
 tabUshed (March 22, 1913). 
 
 Sept. 15 (1895) — Patent for gasolene automobiles in 
 America issued to George B. Selden, year 1895. This is 
 the chief basic patent of the^American automobile. 
 
 Sept. 16 (1776)— Battle of Harlem. A portion of 
 Washington's army from the high land in upper Man- 
 hattan (now Washington Heights in New York) at- 
 tacked the advance of the British army in the low lands 
 just north of what is now Central Park, New York. The 
 Americans were led by Col. George Clinton and were 
 reinforced by Generals Greene and Putnam. The British 
 were commanded by Colonel Leslie. After a desperate 
 engagement lasting two hours and raging up the hill 
 sides and over the ground now the site of Columbia Uni- 
 versity, the Americans retired safely to their position 
 above the Harlem valley. The number of engaged was 
 about 1,500 on each side. The American loss was 60 
 killed and woundedj including Colonel Knowlton who 
 was killed; the British loss was 70 killed and 210 
 wounded. The battle is important because it revived the 
 spirits of the American troops which, had sunk to lowest 
 depths following their defeat in the Battle of Long Island 
 two weeks before. 
 
 Sept. 16 (1786)— Act establishing a United States 
 Mint for the coinage of money, passed by the twelfth ses- 
 sion of the Continental Congress, year 1786. 
 
 Sept. 16 (1823) — Francis Parkman, author, born at 
 Boston, year 1823 ; died near Boston, Nov. 8, 1893. Recog- 
 nized by scholars as the greatest American historian deal- 
 
 232 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 ing with the settlement of the West and Canada. His 
 best knowiv. work is "The California and Oregon Trail" 
 (1849). His other works are "The Conspiracy of Pon- 
 tiac" (1851), "The Pioneers of France in the New World" 
 (1865), "The Jesuits in North America" (1867), "The 
 Old Regime in Canada" (1874), and "Montcalm and 
 Wolfe" (1884). 
 
 Sept. 16 (1893)— The Cherokee "Strip," a portion of 
 territory of Oklahoma comprising 6,000,000 acres was 
 thrown open to the public for free settlement, year 1893. 
 When the signal was given, 100,000 persons rushed over 
 the border line seeking sites for homes. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE 
 PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 September 17, 1796 
 
 It is know£ that Washington, during his first term 
 as president, had prepared, with the assistance of James 
 Madison, a farewell address to be published on his retire- 
 ment, as he had planned, at the end of his first term, on 
 March 4, 1793. But the First War of the Nations, start- 
 ing with the French Revolution in 1789, had involved 
 nearly all Europe, and the United States was imminently 
 liable to be dragged into the conflict; with this in mind, 
 the people overwhelmingly besought Washington to re- 
 main at the head of the new nation, and so he was re- 
 elected to a second term. He allowed the farewell ad- 
 dress to rest until May, 1796, when he sent the paper, in 
 its rough state, to Alexander Hamilton who was then his 
 closest adviser and recognized as the foremost publicist in 
 America. Washington wrote, in his letter to Hamilton, 
 referring to the address : 
 
 "If you should think it best to throw the whole into 
 a different form, let me request, notwithstanding, that my 
 draft be returned to me (along with yours) with such 
 amendments and corrections as to render it as perfect as 
 the formation is susceptible of; curtailed, if too verbose, 
 
 233 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 and relieved of all tautology not necessary to enforce the 
 idea in the original or quoted part. My wish is that the 
 whole may appear in plain style ; and be handed the pub- 
 lic in an honest, unaffected, simple garb." 
 
 He had his wish. We do not know how much he was 
 indebted to the two literary masters, Madison and Hamil- 
 ton. The American people will always believe that the 
 Farewell Address is Washington's very own — the soul 
 and manner of it. Washington Irving writes : 
 
 "The whole came under the supervision of Washing- 
 ton ; and the instrument, as submitted to the press, was in 
 his handwriting, with many ultimate corrections and al- 
 terations. Washington had no pride of authorship ; his 
 object was always to effect the purpose in hand, and for 
 that he occasionally invoked assistance, to insure a plain 
 and clear exposition of- his thoughts and intentions. The 
 address certainly breathes his spirit throughout, is in per- 
 fect accordance with his words and actions, and 'in an 
 honest, unaffected, simple garb,' embodies the system of 
 policy on which he had acted throughout his administra- 
 tion. It was published in September in a Philadelphia 
 paper called the Daily Advertiser." 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, in his book "George Washington" 
 wrote as one who felt thrillingly the human greatness of 
 his predecessor: 
 
 "On the 17th day of September, 1796, he published to 
 the people a farewell address, quick with the solemn elo- 
 quence men had come to expect from him. 'It was de- 
 signed.' he said, 'in a more special manner for the yeo- 
 manry of the country,' and spoke the advice he hoped they 
 might take to heart. 'Twas a noble document. No 
 thoughtful man could read it without emotion knowing 
 how it spoke in all its solemn sentences the great charac- 
 ter of the man whose career was ended." 
 
 The Farewell Address contains about 2,100 words, 
 wJiich can be printed in one and three quarters columns 
 of the average daily newspaper. It is found in every pub- 
 
 234 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 lie library of the country and in text books supplied to 
 nearly every public school. 
 
 Sept. 17 (1862)— Battle of Antietam, Md. (or Sharps- 
 burg as it is called by Confederate historians), year 1862. 
 Gen. Geo. B. McClellan (Union, 87,000 men) vs. Gen. 
 Robert E. Lee (Confederate, 40,000 men). The battle be- 
 gan at 4 p. m. on Sept. 16 with preliminary skirmishing. 
 The night of the 16th was spent quietly. • The great strug- 
 gle began about 6:30 o'clock in the morning of Sept. 17, 
 and lasted incessantly all day until darkness of evening. 
 Tactically it was a drawn battle. The Confederates held 
 most of the ground upon which they fought, for 24 hours 
 after the battle, and then retired in good order, unpur- 
 sued. On the other hand, the results were advantageous 
 to the Union cause. Lee's invasion of the North was 
 stopped, and he was forced back, into Virginia. The 
 Union loss was 2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded and 1,043 miss- 
 ing, total 12,469. The Confederate loss was never re- 
 ported; it may be fairly estimated at 11,000. Antietam 
 (the second day) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil 
 War, except Gettysburg. 
 
 Sept. 18 (1793)— Corner stone of the National Capi- 
 tol at Washington was laid by President Washington, 
 year 1793. The architectural design was the creation of 
 Dr. William Thornton, an English physician and amateur 
 draftsman. Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, 
 favored the plans of Stephen Hallet, a French architect, 
 but Washington decided in favor of Thornton. 
 
 Sept. 18 (1895)— Atlanta Exposition (Cotton State 
 and International Exposition) opened, year 1895; closed 
 Dec. 31, 1895. 
 
 Sept. 19 (1777)— Battle of Stillwater, N. Y. Gen. 
 Benedict Arnold (American, 3,000 men) vs. Gen. John 
 Burgoyne (British, 4,000 men). Tactically a drawn 
 battle, but the Americans gained an enormous advantage 
 by withstanding Burgoyne's advance. The losses on each 
 side were about equal — 550 each. (See Saratoga, Oct. 7.) 
 
 235 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Sept. 19 (1859)— Song "Dixie" first sung by Dan 
 Emmett, a "black face" minstrel actor, the composer of 
 the melody and words, at the theatre of Bryant's Min- 
 strels, No. 472 Broadway, N. Y., year 1859. Emmett died 
 at Youngstown, O., his native town, on June 28, 1904-. 
 
 Sept. 19 (1863) — Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., year 
 1863. Gen. William Clarke Rosecrans (Union, 55,000 
 men) vs. Gen. Braxton Bragg (Confederate, 60,000 men). 
 Confederate victory. The battle lasted two days — Sept. 
 19-20. Union loss 1,644 killed, 9,262 wounded, 4,955 miss- 
 ing — total 15,861. Confederate loss, total 18,000. The 
 Union army was saved from complete rout by Gen. Geo. 
 Henry Thomas and his corps. Thomas was afterwards 
 given the soubriquet "The Rock of Chickamauga." 
 
 Sept. 19 (1873)— Failure of the banking firm of Jay 
 Cook & Co., of Philadelphia, agents of the U. S. Govern- 
 ment and the leading banking firm of the country during 
 the period following the Civil War, year 1873. This 
 failure precipitated the financial panic of 1873. 
 
 Sept. 19 (1881)— President Garfield died at Elberon, 
 N. J., from the bullet wound inflicted by the assassin 
 Charles J. Guiteau, year 1881. (See July 2.) 
 
 Sept. 20 (1848) — First meeting of the American As- 
 sociation for the Advancement of Science, held at Phila- 
 delphia, year 1848. 
 
 Sept. 20 (1862)— Revolving turret for battleships 
 patented by Theodoije Ruggles Timby (born at Dover, 
 N. Y., April 5, 1822), the inventor, year 1862. Ericsson 
 used the model of this turret in building the Monitor, the 
 first turret battleship of the world. It is popularly be- 
 lieved that Ericsson designed the turret, as well as the 
 rest of the Monitor. This is a mistake. Ericsson did not 
 claim that he invented the turret. (See Battle of the Moni- 
 tor and Merrimac, March 9, 1862.) 
 
 Sept. 21 (1784)— First issue of The American Daily 
 Advertiser of Philadelphia, the first daily newspaper in 
 the United States, year 1784. 
 
 236 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Sept. 21 (1846) — American army under Gen. Zachary 
 Taylor made the first attempt to carry by storm the de- 
 fenses of the city of Monterey, Mex., fighting through the 
 streets from house to house, year 1846. The attempt 
 failed. American loss 394, killed and wounded. Mexican 
 loss about the same. 
 
 Sept. 22 (1776)-;-Nathan Hale hanged as a spy by the 
 British in New York, year 1776. He was twenty-one 
 .years old and a captain in the American army under 
 Washington. He volunteered to enter the British camps 
 on Long Island and Manhattan and get certain military 
 information which Washington needed. He disguised 
 himself as a "loyalist" schoolmaster and visited all the 
 British camps, making drawings of the fortifications. 
 He was about to return to the American camp when he 
 was arrested and searched ; in his shoes were found docu- 
 ments which convicted him. He was hanged in New 
 York at sunrise next day. His last words were, "I regret 
 that I have but one life to lose for my country." 
 
 Sept. 22 (1827) — Joseph Smith, founder of Mor- 
 monism (the church of Latter Day Saints), claimed that 
 an angel delivered to him the golden plates of the Book 
 of Mormon, at Manchester, N. Y., on this date, year 1827. 
 
 NEGRO EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IS- 
 SUED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN 
 
 Sept. 22, 1862 
 
 While "Secession" was the direct cause of the Civil 
 War, the great underlying cause was negro slavery. In 
 the North, for many years, there had been a body strongly 
 opposed to slavery and this body had grown to be a ma- 
 jority of the people of the North when the War began. 
 The most fanatical of this body, called "Abolitionists," 
 expected that Lincoln would proclaim the freedom of all 
 slaves immediately on becoming President. But Presi- 
 dent Lincoln did not do so. He regarded the preservation 
 of the Union as of prime importance, and the abolition of 
 
 237 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 slavery as secondary. He resisted the radical faction of 
 the Republican party, led by Horace Greeley, who de- 
 manded negro emancipation right at the beginning of the 
 War. As a matter of. fact the powerful conservative fac- 
 tion of the party was opposed to emancipation, and even 
 the moderates were not for it, except as a diplomatic and 
 military measure which might help'to win the War. It 
 was as a war measure that Mr. Lincoln in the summer of 
 1862, sixteen months after the war began, when the Union 
 armies were being defeated, first submitted to his cabinet 
 an emancipation proclamation which he had drafted all 
 alone. The date of this cabinet meeting was July 22, 1862. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, unlike the cabinets of most of 
 our presidents, was made up of strong men each of whom 
 had taken a leading part in politics, and who had differed 
 widely from each other and from Mr. Lincoln himself. 
 The Secretary of State, William H. Seward, had been the 
 rival of Lincoln for the Presidential nomination. Seward 
 was a conservative. He at first impulsively opposed the 
 proclamation. Of the seven cabinet members, only Secre- 
 tary of War Stanton and Attorney General Bates at once 
 gave their approval. 
 
 The President then quietly told them that he had de- 
 cided to issue the proclamation, that he had not called 
 them together to ask their advice, but only to get sug- 
 gestions as to the subject matter of the proclamation. 
 Thereupon Seward changed his mind partly. According 
 to Mr. Lincoln himself as reported by F. B. Carpenter in 
 the book "Six Months at the White House," Mr. Seward 
 said, "Mr. President, I approve of the proclamation but I 
 question the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The 
 depression of the public mind, consequent upon our re- 
 peated reverses, is so great that I fear the effect of so im- 
 portant a step. It may be viewed as a last measure of an 
 exhausted Government, a cry for help ; the Government 
 stretching forth for the hands of Ethiopia, instead of 
 Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the Government. 
 
 238 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 Now, while I approve of the measure, I suggest, sir, that 
 you postpone its issue until you can give it to the country 
 by military success, instead of issuing it as would be the 
 case now, upon the greatest disasters of the war." 
 
 Concerning this suggestion of Seward's, Mr. Lincoln 
 afterwards said to artist Carpenter, "The wisdom of the 
 view of the Secretary of War struck me with very great 
 force. It was an aspect of the case that, in all my thought 
 upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The result 
 was that I put the draft of the Proclamation aside, as you 
 do your sketch for a picture, waiting for victory." 
 
 The victory that President Lincoln looked for came 
 two months later — the Battle of Antietam, on September 
 17, 1862. In truth, Antietam was not indisputably a 
 victory for the North. But General McClellan, the Union 
 commander in the battle, telegraphed to the President at 
 the end of the battle, "Our victory is complete. The en- 
 emy is driven back into Virginia. Maryland and Penn- 
 sylvania are now safe." Nevertheless, Lee retreated in 
 good order and within the next nine months inflicted two 
 terrible defeats on the Union Army of the Potomac — at 
 Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. However, the re- 
 sult at Antietam was construed by the people of the North 
 as a great victory, and thus the juncture was opportune 
 for the Proclamation. 
 
 On Sept. 22, five days after the battle, the President 
 issued the preliminary or monitory Proclamation of 
 Emancipation. This proclamation did not emancipate 
 the slaves, but was a warning that if the States of the 
 Confederacy or any one of them continued in rebellion, 
 then on Jan. 1, 1863, the slaves in such States or State 
 would be set free. The warning was unheeded. 
 
 On the following January 1, 1863, President Lincoln 
 issued the proclamation actually emancipating the slaves, 
 and this second proclamation is really the Emancipation 
 Proclamation. But the people of the North knew that the 
 "warning" would not be heeded by the Southern States, 
 
 239 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 and so accepted the first proclamation as the de facto 
 Emancipation Proclamation. So Sept. 22 has been, since 
 then, generally observed as "Emancipation Day." 
 
 The proclamation freed approximately 3,000,000 
 slaves in the States of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, 
 Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
 Texas, Virginia (part) and Louisiana (part). 
 
 The proclamation did not interfere with slavery in 
 the border States nor in Delaware and part of Louisiana, 
 where there were 831,780 slaves, distributed in the fol- 
 lowing States: Delaware, Kentucy, Maryland, Missouri, 
 Tennessee, Louisiana (part), West Virginia (part). 
 These slaves were emancipated by the Thirteenth 
 Amendment to the Constitution. (See Dec. 18, 1865.) 
 
 Sept. 23 (1779)— Naval battle between the U. S. S. 
 Bonhomme Richard (Captain Paul Jones, 42 guns, 304 
 men) and the British frigate Serapis (Captain Richard 
 Pearsoij, SO guns, 320 men), year 1779. The most famous 
 American naval victory of the Revolutionary War. The 
 battle was fought in the North Sea, within sight of Eng- 
 land's coast at Flamborough Head. The Serapis and a 
 smaller ship, the Countess of Scarborough, 22 guns, were 
 convoying a fleet of merchant ships from the Baltic, to 
 protect them from the little American squadron of Paul 
 Jones, then boldly cruising near the British Isles. Jones 
 had three ships when the battle began — the Bonhomme 
 Richard (flagship), the Pallas (30 guns) and the Alliance 
 (32 guns), all French ships manned by American and 
 French crews; the Alliance was the only one built as a 
 warship. The battle began at 7 p. m. in darkness, an hour 
 after sunset. One hour later the moon rose. The strug- 
 gle between the two large ships lasted three and a half 
 hours, almost incessantly, most of the time they being 
 lashed side by side, their yards and rigging tangled. After 
 an hour and a half of the battle, there was a short lull. 
 The English Captain hailed the American, "Have you 
 struck?" Jones shouted back, "I have not yet begun to 
 
 240 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 fight !", and immediately his gunners began again. Finally 
 at 10:30 p. m. the Serapis surrendered. The American 
 loss in the flagship was 49 killed and 67 wounded. The 
 British loss in the Serapis was 49 killed, 68 wounded, and 
 203 taken prisoners. The Bonhomme Richard was so 
 badly damaged she sank in the open sea two days later. 
 The Serapis was a new ship, and Jones transferred his 
 flag and crew to her. The Countess of Scarborough sur- 
 rendered to the Pallas after two hours of battle. The 
 Alliance (Captain Landais) treacherously fired on the 
 Bonhomme Richard during the battle; she was of no as- 
 sistance to Jones, except that the English captain feared 
 he would be overwhelmed by two ships and this hastened 
 his surrender. This victory enormously increased the 
 prestige of the United States in Europe. (See July 6.) 
 
 Sept. 23 (1780)— Major John Andre, aged 29 years, 
 British military officer, negotiating with Gen. Benedict 
 Arnold for the traitorous surrender of West Point for- 
 tress to the British, was captured at Tarrytown, N. Y., by 
 three American militiamen, John Paulding, Isaac Van 
 Wert and David Williams, year 1780. The West Point 
 complot was thus proved and exposed. Andre was tried 
 and condemned as a spy. He was hanged, at Tappan, 
 N. Y., on Oct. 2. In 1821, his remains were taken to 
 England and placed in Westminster Abbey. He is 'hon- 
 ored in England as a hero, as Nathan Hale, the American 
 spy, is revered in America. 
 
 Sept. 23 (1845) — First base ball club in America or- 
 ganized at New York, year 1845. The rules provided that 
 the first team scoring 21 runs should win the game. The 
 committee on organization was composed of Alexander J. 
 Cartwright (chairman), Duncan F. Curry, E. R. Dupuig- 
 nac, Jr., W. H. Tucker and W. R. Wheaton. Shortly 
 afterward the club was named the Knickerbocker Base- 
 ball Club of New York. The first game ever played be- 
 tween two organized base ball nines was at Hoboken, 
 
 241 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 N. J., between the Knickerbockers and the New York 
 Nine, in1846. The New York Nine won, 21 to 1. 
 
 Sept. 23 (1846) — Successful storming of Monterey, 
 Mex., by the American army, year 1846. Gen. Zachary 
 Taylor (American, 2,800 men) vs. General Ampudia 
 (Mexican, 5,000 men). The city was surrendered to the 
 Americans on Sept. 25. During the siege, the Americans 
 lost 500 in killed and wounded. The Mexican loss is not 
 known; it was probably 1,000. Monterey is notable as 
 one of the only two cities on the Western continent in 
 which two regular armies, one of them of the United 
 States, fought a battle in the streets and houses. The 
 other was Quebec. (See Dec. 31.) The struggle has been 
 thrillingly pictured by Charles Fenno Hol?man in his 
 poem, "Monterey." 
 
 Sept. 24 (1755) — ^John Marshall, jurist, born in Fau- 
 quier County, Va., year 1755; died at Philadelphia, Pa., 
 July 6, 1835. The most famous lawyer and master of 
 jurisprudence in American history. He was appointed 
 chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court by President 
 John Adams in 1800, and served thirty-five years. 
 
 Sept. 24 (1869)— "Black Friday," year 1869. A day 
 of financial misfortune in New York because of the gold 
 panic of 1869. Also the name has been given to Friday, 
 Sept. 18, 1873 in the financial panic of that year. 
 
 Sept. 25 (1690) — Puhlick Occurrences, the first news- 
 paper printed in America, issued by Benjamin Harris 
 of Boston, year 1690. The printer was Richard Pierce. 
 It contained an excellent synopsis of Colonial news. It 
 contained no editorials nor did it attack any person nor 
 political party, nor did it attempt to propagate any poli- 
 tical nor social doctrine, yet it was immediately sup- 
 pressed by the Colonial legislative body, and only one 
 issue was published. (See April 20.) 
 
 Sept. 25 (1775)— Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonde- 
 roga, at the head of a free lance expedition to capture 
 Montreal, with 100 men crossed the St. Lawrence River 
 
 242 
 
SEPTEMBER 
 
 and was attacked and captured by a force of 500 British 
 and Indians at Long Point near Montreal, year 1775. He 
 was harshly treated by his captors, was bound hand and 
 foot in irons and sent to England; where he was kept in 
 prison in Pendennis Castle for seven weeks. He was 
 then sent to Halifax and remained a prisoner until the 
 spring of 1778 when he was exchanged and returned to 
 his home in Vermont. He died at Burlington, Vt., Feb. 
 13, 1789. He was born Jan. 10, 1737. 
 
 Sept. 26 (1531) — Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish 
 pioneer- in America, discovered the Pacific Ocean, year 
 1531. He had settled near Darien on the isthmus. With 
 100 men, he set out westward on Sept. 1, to explore the 
 distant mountains and the country beyond. On Sept. 
 26th they reached the summit of a mountain on the isth- 
 mus of Darien (Panama) and beheld the great ocean be- 
 neath them. They descended the mountain on the 
 western side, and after three days' march reached the 
 ocean at a place which Balboa named Gulf of San Miguel 
 — a name it still bears. The name "Pacific" was later 
 given by Fernando Magellan, who discovered the Strait 
 of Magellan and sailed across the ocean to the Philip- 
 pines in 1521. 
 
 Sept. 26 (1831) — Anti-Masonic party national con- 
 vention met at Baltimore with 112 delegates, year 1831. 
 The convention nominated William Wirt of Virginia for 
 President and Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania for Vice- 
 President. This was the first and only convention of that 
 party, (See Sept. 12.) 
 
 Sept. 27 (1777) — British army under General Howe 
 entered Philadelphia, year 1777. The British held the 
 city until June 17, 1778, on which day the army of 17,000 
 men under Sir Henry Clinton evacuated it and set out on 
 the march back to New York. 
 
 Sept. 27 (1777) — The Continental Congress met at 
 Lancaster, Pa., year 1777. The members had retreated 
 from Philadelphia when the British army under General 
 
 243 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Howe was about to enter that city. Lancaster is about 
 65 miles west of Philadelphia. 
 
 Sept. 27 (1854) — Sinking of the steamship Arctic of 
 the Collins Line (American, subsidized by U. S. Gov.), 
 with 300 persons, in the Atlantic ocean 1,000 miles from 
 the coast of Ireland, year 1854. She was bound from 
 Liverpool to New York. This was the first great disaster 
 to an Atlantic ocean liner. 
 
 Sept. 28 (1850) — Passage of an Act of Congress abol- 
 ishing flogging in the U. S. Navy and in merchant ships 
 of the United States, year 1850. 
 
 Sept. 29 (1806)— Gen. Zebulon M. Pike, at the Indian 
 village of the Pawnees (in Kansas) caused the Spanish 
 flag to be lowered and the United States flag to be raised, 
 year 1806. This was the official act of possession of the 
 couijtry west of Missouri under the Louisiana Purchase 
 Act of 1803. 
 
 Sept. 29 (1915) — First telephone message across the 
 continent, from New York to Mare Island, Cal., year 
 1915. 
 
 Sept. 30 (1777)— The Continental Congress, after a 
 two days' session at Lancaster, Pa., met at York, Pa., year 
 1777. The British army under Howe had captured Phila- 
 delphia the day before and the Congress moved twenty 
 miles farther west, from Lancaster, for safety. 
 
 244 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 October 1 (1800)— Spanish government by secret 
 treaty of St. Ildefonso, ceded Louisiana to France, year 
 1800. Thirty-eight years prior to this (Nov. 3, 1762) the 
 King of France, Louis XV, had ceded to Spain all of 
 Louisiana and the territory had remained in possession of 
 Spain during these years. When Napoleon Bonaparte 
 became first consul of France, he desired to establish a 
 colonial empire in America, and he easily obtained the 
 retrocession of Louisiana. He changed his mind shortly 
 after, and sold the territory to the' United States in 1803. 
 
 Oct. 2 (1780) — Major Andre hanged as a spy. (See 
 Sept. 23.) 
 
 Oct. 2 (1889) — ^The first Pan-American Conference 
 opened at Washington, year 1889. It was originated and 
 planned by James G. Blaine, Secretary of State under 
 President Harrison. Ten republics of the two continents 
 signed an arbitration treaty. 
 
 Oct. 3 (1775) — Conviction of Dr. Benjamin Church, 
 surgeon general of the American army of the Revolution 
 surrounding Boston, after courtmartial, on a charge of 
 treason, year 1775. He was sentenced to life imprison- 
 ment. Next year he was permitted to sail for the West 
 Indies ; the ship in which he sailed was lost at sea. This 
 was the first conviction for treason in the American 
 Colonies. The evidence showed that Church was in cor- 
 respondence with General Gage, the British commander, 
 and that he was giving secret information of Washing- 
 ton's army to the British. 
 
 Oct. 3 (1800) — George Bancroft, historian and secre- 
 tary of the Navy, born at Worcester, Mass., year 1800; 
 died at Washington, D. C, Jan. 17, 1891. In 1830 he be- 
 gan the work of writing his "History of the United 
 States." The first volume was published in 1834. There- 
 after, during nearly fifty years he devoted himself to the 
 
 24S 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 writing of his great work, and, incidentally or for recrea- 
 tion, to politics and public service. The twelfth and last 
 volume of the History was published in 1882, bringing it 
 down to the adoption of the Constitution and the in- 
 auguration of President Washington in 1789. The last 
 revised edition was issued in 1884, in six volumes ; this is 
 the edition now found in nearly all libraries. The His- 
 tory is recognized in America and Europe as one of the 
 greatest historical works in the English language. 
 
 Oct. 3 (1862)— Battle of Corinth, Miss., year 1862. 
 Gen. W. S. Rosecrans (Union, 25,000 men) vs. Gen. Earl 
 Van Dorn and Gen. Sterling Price (Confederate, 35,000 
 men), Union victory. Corinth, held by a Union force, 
 was a great depot of supplies. The Confederates at- 
 tacked with intent to capture the supplies, but did not 
 succeed. Union loss, 315 killed, 2,000 wounded and miss- 
 ing; Confederates admitted a loss of 4,500 including 
 2,200 made prisoners. 
 
 Oct. 4 (1777) — Battle of Germantown, Pa., year 
 1777. A tactical British victory, though the effect was to 
 inspire the Americans. Gen. Washington (American, 
 12,000 men) vs. Gen. Howe (British, 16,000 men). 
 Washington attacked the British army which was in- 
 trenched at Germantown, just outside Philadelphia. The 
 battle began in the early morning and, for a time, it 
 seemed as if Washington would inflict a disaster on the 
 British. But a fog came on, mistakes occurred among 
 the Americans and the British reformed. At 8:30 a. m. 
 Washington ordered a retreat. The British did not 
 pursue. The battle had far reaching effects. It com- 
 pelled the British commander to hold himself in defen- 
 sive lines at Philadelphia, and made it impossible for him 
 to send aid to General Burgoyne who, therefore, sur- 
 rendered at Saratoga two weeks later. 
 
 Oct. 4 (1822)— Rutherford Birchard Hayes, nine- 
 teenth President of the United States, born near Dela- 
 ware, O., year 1822; died at Fremont, O., Jan. 17, 1893. 
 
 246 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Nominated for President by the Republican party in 
 1876. Electoral vote (38 States) — Hayes, 185 ; Samuel 
 J. Tilden (Democrat) 184. This result was announced 
 on March 2, 1877, after a post-election contest over the 
 votes of Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida, which 
 had been given to Hayes by the election boards in these 
 states, but contested by the Democrats, who charged 
 fraud against these election boards. The dispute was 
 referred to an Electoral Commission of 15 members, 
 which decided, by a partisan vote of 8 to 7 in each case, 
 in favor of General Hayes. The episode caused intense 
 excitement throughout the nation, and, at times during 
 the controversy, civil war was imminent. President 
 Hayes was inaugurated on Monday, March 5, 1877, and 
 served four years. The chief events of his administra- 
 tion were the ending of "Carpet Bag" governments in 
 the Southern states, the establishment of the Universal 
 Postal Union (1878) and the introduction of the present 
 system of electric lighting (1878). (See March 4, In- 
 augiiration Day.) 
 
 Oct. 5 (1813)— Battle of the Thames River (in west- 
 ern Ontario, Canada), year 1813. American victory. Gen. 
 William Henry Harrison (American, 3,200 men) vs. Gen. 
 Henry A. Proctor (British, 700 white men and 1,200 In- 
 dians). The American army had invaded Canada. The 
 Indians were commanded by Tecumseh, the brilliant and 
 brave chief of the Shawnees of Ohio. He was killed in 
 this battle. It is a tradition in Kentucky that he was 
 shot by Col. Richard M. Johnson, the Kentucky cavalry 
 leader. The battle lasted only fifteen minutes. American 
 loss, 45 killed and wounded; British loss, 44 killed and 
 wounded and 600 prisoners. After the death of Tecum- 
 seh the Indians fled and were never again organized 
 against the United States in the War of 1812. 
 
 Oct. 5 (1830) — Chester Alan Arthur, twenty-first 
 President of the United States, born at Fairfield, Vt., 
 year 1830; died at New York City, Nov. 18, 1886. Nomi- 
 
 247 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 nated for Vice-President by the Republican party in 
 1886 and elected. On the death of President Garfield he 
 became President; was inaugurated on Sept. 20, 1881, and 
 served until March 4, 1885. The chief events of his ad- 
 ministration were the Yprktown Centennial (1881), the 
 Atlanta Exposition (1881), the New Orleans Exposition 
 (1884), the reduction of letter postage to 2 ^ents (1883), 
 the adoption of Standard Time (1883) and the industrial 
 development of natural gas. 
 
 Oct. 5 (1881) — First International Cotton Exposi- 
 tion in the United States opened at Atlanta, Ga., year 
 1881. 
 
 Oct. 6 (1683)^German Day in Pennsylvania and 
 generally observed by German religious organizations in 
 America as an important anniversary. On this date, in 
 the year 1683, thirteen German families from Crefeld, in 
 the Rhine province of Prussia, members of the Protestant 
 religious sect, known as Mennonites, which, with all 
 other forms of worship except Catholic, Lutheran and 
 Reformed, had been outlawed in Prussia, arrived in 
 Philadelphia. These were the first German immigrants 
 to America. They came in a small ship called the 
 Concord, popularly referred to as "the German May- 
 flower." Their leader, a young lawyer of Frankfort, 
 Germany, named Daniel Pastorius, preceded them six 
 weeks to make arrangements. The names of the male 
 heads of the thirteen families were: Dirck, Abraham and 
 Hermann Op den Graff (probably three brothers), Len- 
 ert Arets, Tuners Kunders, Reinert Tisen, Wilhelm 
 Strepers, Jan Lensen, Peter Keurlis, Jan Simens, Johann 
 Bleikers, Abraham Tunes and Jan Lucken. They settled 
 upon a tract of land six miles north of Philadelphia, 
 which they called Germantown; it is still called by that 
 name, though now a part of the city of Philadelphia. 
 The date Oct. 6, 1683 is "old style" (see Dec. 11), but the 
 Pennsylvania Germans have clung to it, in spite of the 
 Gregorian calendar, and unlike the New England people 
 
 248 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 who changed the old style date of the Landing of Ply- 
 mouth to Dec. 22, the "new style" date. 
 
 SARATOGA 
 
 October 7, 1777 
 
 The date is that of the Battle of Bemis Heights which directly 
 resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga ten days 
 later. It is this anniversary, and not that of the actual surrender, 
 which is celebrated as the great event of the Saratoga Campaign. 
 
 Lord George Germaine, a member of the British 
 Ministry of King George III., was practically in entire 
 charge of the war waged by the King against the Amer- 
 ican colonies. In the third year of the War he planned 
 the movement of a British army from Canada southward 
 by way of Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson 
 River, intending to drive a wedge through the Colonial 
 confederation, and thus separate New England from the 
 rest of the colonies. 
 
 Gen. John Burgoyne, an able commander and veteran 
 of the late war in Portugal, with about 8,000 men, was 
 to march south from Canada and capture Albany. At 
 that city he was to be joined by a force under Gen. Sir 
 William Howe which would come up the Hudson River 
 from New York. A third expedition under Colonel St. 
 Leger, was to go up the St. Lawrence River and Lake 
 Ontario to Oswego, where it would be joined by a strong 
 force of Tories and Mohawk Indians under Sir John 
 Johnson and Col. John Butler; this united force was to 
 march eastward and capture Fort Stanwix, the American 
 stronghold in central New York, near what is now the 
 city of Rome. After capturing this fort, St. Leger was 
 to push on eastward to the Hudson, thus cutting the 
 Colony of New York east and west, while the other two 
 expeditions would cut it north and south. 
 
 Sir Edward Creasy, in his great book "The Fifteen 
 Decisive Battles of the World," wrote of this plan: 
 "Without doubt, the plan was ably formed ; and had the 
 execution been equal to the ingenuity of the design, the 
 reconquest or resubmission of the Thirteen United States 
 
 249 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 must in all human probability have followed, and the in- 
 dependence which they had proclaimed in 1776 would 
 have been extinguished before it existed a second year." 
 
 Burgoyne, with 4,135 British regulars, 3,116 German 
 soldiers from Brunswick, 148 Canadian militia and 503 
 Indians, began his invasion in June, 1777. He reached 
 the American fortification Fort Ticonderoga, at the 
 southern end of Lake Champlain on July 1 and out- 
 generaled the American commandant, General St. Clair, 
 who abandoned the fort without a battle and retreated 
 with his 3,000 men about 65 miles south to Fort Edward- 
 on the upper Hudson River, where he joined the main 
 body of the American Army of the North under Gen. 
 Philip Schuyler. The abandonment of Fort Ticonderoga 
 without a struggle caused a depression in all the Colo- 
 nies, and exalted the British correspondingly. The 
 British Ministry, on receiving the news, concluded that 
 the whole American confederation was collapsing. Bur- 
 goyne wrote to them: "The Americans have no men 
 of military science." He reckoned without George Wash- 
 ington. At the very least, the outcome was to prove 
 that the British commanders knew less of progressive 
 military science than their American opponents. 
 
 At this time, on July 1, Schuyler's army numbered 
 only 5,000 men, mostly undisciplined militia. Though 
 they could not face Burgoyne's army of veterans in battle 
 they could well wage another kind of war. Obviously 
 it was good policy to delay the march of Burgoyne. With 
 splendid energy directed by Schuyler, they used axe and 
 crowbar removing bridges and felling trees, making a 
 jungle of the country through which Burgoyne had to 
 pass southward. So well did they effect this purpose of 
 delaying the invasion that Burgoyne was a whole month 
 advancing sixty-five miles from Ticonderoga to Fort 
 Edward. The British Ministry had not anticipated such 
 a delay, which was, in fact, disastrous. Nor had they 
 looked for the rising of the country people of the neigh- 
 borhoods. 
 
 250 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Burgoyne was a humane and upright gentleman, 
 but he could not control the murderous instincts of his 
 Indian allies, and these latter by their acts, aroused the 
 resentment and dormant patriotism of the people of the 
 countryside. The result was that the hereto peaceful 
 men of northern New York and western New England 
 flocked to the American army of Schuyler, and, at the end 
 of July, this army had grown to 9,000 men, and hung 
 invisibly on the flanks of Burgoyne's army in guerilla 
 fashion, stopping his food supplies from the surrounding 
 country. Thus Burgoyne faced the unlooked for danger 
 of starvation. 
 
 When the British army reached Fort Edward, 
 Schuyler retreated farther south, twenty miles to Still- 
 water, on the Hudson, but still kept up constantly his 
 pressure on the British flanks. Burgoyne found no safe 
 refuge at Fort Edward. Yet he was compelled to rest 
 there. 
 
 Now, in the second week of August, came news to 
 Burgoyne of disaster to the British expedition that was 
 to have cut the colony of New York east and west — 
 from Oswego to Albany. This expedition, under Colonel 
 St. Leger, had moved from Oswego, a force of 1,700 men 
 and had reached their first objective. Fort Stanwix. 
 
 The garrison of 800 Americans under Col. Peter 
 Ganseyoort refused to surrender and siege was laid. But 
 the patriots of central New York were aroused. Gen. 
 Nicholas Herkimer led 800 men to relieve the fort. At 
 Oriskany (near Utica), eight miles from the fort, they 
 were attacked by a strong detachment sent by St. Leger. 
 Then, on Aug. 6, 1777, ensued the Battle of Oriskany, 
 the strangest and bloodiest contest of the Revolution. 
 (See Aug. 6, Battle of Oriskany.) The Indians fled, and 
 the British retreated. St. Leger continued the siege of 
 Ft. Stanwix, but the battle of Oriskany had so thrilled 
 the Americans of Schuyler's army and depressed the 
 Loyalists of New York, that, on Aug. 22, when St. 
 Leger's force heard that 1,200 Americans under Gen. 
 
 251 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES- 
 
 Benedict Arnold were advancing against them they were 
 struck with panic and took to flight in pandemonium. 
 Very few reached safety far away at Oswego. Thus 
 was destroyed one of the forces in Lord George Ger- 
 maine's plan. 
 
 About the same time, another disaster befell the 
 British. It became absolutely necessary for Burgoyne 
 to get horses for his artillery and food for his men at 
 once. Hearing that the Americans had gathered stores 
 of food at Bennington, in Vermont, about sixty miles 
 from Fort Edward, on Aug. 13, he sent a detachment of 
 500 Germans and 100 Indians under Lieut. Colonel Baum 
 to seize these stores. But the men of Vermont aroused, 
 and 2,000 of them, led by Col. John Starke, fell upon 
 Baum before he reached Bennington and after a battle 
 of two hours, captured the entire force, except the Indians 
 who ran away. At the end of this first battle, another 
 force of 500 Germans under Colonel Breyman, sent to 
 reinforce Baum, arrived near the battlefield. The Amer- 
 icans attacked this new force, which bravely fought a 
 retreating battle from hill to hill all day until nightfall, 
 when a remnant of seventy escaped and reached Bur- 
 goyne's camp. (See Aug. 16, Battle of Bennington.) 
 
 The battles of Oriskany and Bennington electrified 
 the whole country. Americans who had been neutral 
 came rushing to join Schuyler's army at Stillwater. On 
 Aug. 20, his force had grown to 17,000 men and he 
 planned with high hope to capture Burgoyne's army. 
 
 In the meantime, Burgoyne, at Fort Edward, long- 
 ingly expected the help that was to come to him from 
 Howe's British army at New York. It did not come. 
 Howe, instead of taking his army up the Hudson to ex- 
 tricate Burgoyne, sailed with 18,000 men to Chesapeake 
 Bay and up that water to its head, where he disembarked 
 and marched to capture Philadelphia. He did capture 
 Philadelphia, but it was a costly victory, for Washington 
 held him there and -he could not go to Burgoyne's aid 
 nor send any succor. (See Oct. 4, Battle of Germantown.) 
 
 252 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 At last Burgoyne faced a crisis. He could no longer 
 stop at Fort Edward. He must advance to Albany or 
 retreat to Canada. If he retreated, he would save his 
 army, but he would leave the victorious American army 
 to fall upon Howe when the latter came to Albany, for 
 Burgoyne still believed that Howe was coming to Albany. 
 Burgoyne resolved to advance and fight Schuyler, and 
 if need be, to offer himself and his own army as a sacrifice, 
 that a greater disaster might not befall Howe. No more 
 chivalrous spirit was ever shown by a military com- 
 mander, and even to-day, the heartstrings of Englishmen 
 are tugged with anguish to think how brave Burgoyne 
 and his brave officers and men were given up in what 
 they regard as the most wasteful sacrifice in England's 
 history up to the Great War of. the Nations. 
 
 On Sept. 13, Burgoyne crossed the Hudson and ad- 
 vanced south towards the American army, which lay in 
 a strongly fortified position on Bemis Heights in the 
 township of Stillwater. 
 
 Just at this time Schuyler, who had organized the 
 American army, conducted a masterly campaign and was 
 prepared to deal the final blow to Burgoyne, was removed 
 from the chief command by Congress and in his place 
 was appointed Gen. Horatio Gates, an incompetent. (See 
 Aug. 16, 1780, Battle of Camden.) 
 
 Political intrigue had gripped the American Con- 
 gress. Personal ambition of military men allied with 
 sordidly selfish politicians was able to command, in large 
 degree, the administration of public affairs. Gates was 
 appointed through these politicians, and against the 
 wishes of Washington. 
 
 On Sept. 19th was fought the battle of Freeman's 
 Farm, between the right wing of Burgoyne's army, num- 
 bering 4,000 men, and the left wing of the American army 
 under Gen. Benedict Arnold, numbering 3,000 men. 
 Gates did not want to fight, but Arnold implored per- 
 mission to take Morgan's riflemen and Dearborn's in- 
 
 253 
 
- AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 fantry and go forward to meet the British attack. Finally 
 Gates consented. The battle was, in effect, an American 
 victory, in which the bravery and ability of Arnold was 
 the chief factor, though the British remained in posses- 
 sion of the battlefield and Arnold retired to the lines on 
 Bemis Heights. Next morning, Arnold pleaded with 
 Gates to renew the battle, believing that Burgoyne's 
 army could be destroyed at once, before the relief ex- 
 pedition which Sir Henry Clinton had started from New 
 York could arrive. Gates would not move. Gates and 
 Arnold quarreled bitterly. Arnold was the friend of 
 Washington and Schuyler. Gates told him to go back to 
 Washington's army. Arnold, in a rage, asked for a pass; 
 Gates promptly made out the pass. But the general 
 officers of the army united in signing a letter to Arnold 
 asking him to remain. He did remain, but sat alone in 
 his tent, proud and angry, with.no command, waiting 
 for the final battle to begin. 
 
 Burgoyne after waiting eighteen days for the relief 
 expedition, made a desperate effort to break through the 
 American army which outnumbered him three to one, on 
 Oct. 7, 1777. This was the Battle of Bemis Heights. 
 
 Burgoyne sent forward General Fraser with 1,500 
 picked men, of superb fighting quality, to turn the Amer- 
 ican left. The redoubtable General Morgan with his 
 American riflemen suddenly attacked the right of this 
 British force while the New England regulars with 3,000 
 New York militia delivered their fire in front. The 
 British were overwhelmed by numbers and their whole 
 line broken. General Fraser attempted to form a second 
 line a little further back. At this moment, Arnold watch- 
 ing from the heights, without any authority from Gates 
 sprang upon his horse and galloped to the center of the 
 action. The soldiers greeted him with cheers. He led 
 them in a furious charge against Fraser's half formed 
 line. The British retreated slowly. Arnold rushed to 
 another part of the field and led another charge, against 
 
 254 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 the Canadians, and forced them back. Then he galloped 
 away to still another charge against the German con- 
 tingent and routed it. He was the incarnation of battle 
 fervor and everywhere he went throughout all the battle- 
 field, he inspired the Americans. The British right wing 
 was crushed. The whole British army was facing utter 
 disaster. And then, as the sun went down, Arnold fell, 
 wounded by a bullet fired by a wounded German soldier ; 
 the bullet fractured his leg and killed his horse. As he 
 fell, an American soldier rushed at the German to bayonet 
 him. Arnold cried out: "For God's sake, don't hurt him ! 
 He's a fine fellow." Dr. John Fiske, the great historian 
 writes:. "The poor German was saved and it has been 
 well said that this was the hour when Benedict Arnold 
 should have died." 
 
 Arnold's fall and the deepening.twilight stopped the 
 battle. It was a decisive American victory — the most 
 important single battle victory of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 Next day Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga. Gates 
 followed him, but did not attack him, though the Amer- 
 ican army had grown to 20,000 men. 
 
 Nine days after the Battle of Bemis Heights, on 
 October 16, 1777, Burgoyne signed articles of capitula- 
 tion, and, on October 17, he surrendered his entire army 
 of 5,790 men to General Gates. British historians call 
 the surrender "the Convention of Saratoga." 
 
 It was the decisive event of the Revolution. Because 
 of it, France made an alliance with the United States, and 
 because of this alliance, the American purpose of the war 
 was consummated. 
 
 Arnold was the hero of Saratoga. Could we forget 
 his later treason, what admiration we must feel for his 
 patriotism, bravery and talent at Freeman's Farm and 
 Bemis Heights! 
 
 Oct. 7 (1765)— The Anti-Stamp Act Congress, the 
 first Congress of the American colonies, met at New 
 York, year -1765. Nine colonies were represented ; New 
 
 255 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 York, Virginia, North Carolina and New Hampshire 
 were not represented. 
 
 Oct. 7 (1780)— Battle of King's Mountain. In the 
 Revolutionary War a British force under Lord Corn- 
 wallis had subjugated North and South Carolina and 
 Georgia, in the summer of 1780. Only a few small bands 
 of American horsemen were left of the American forces 
 that had opposed Cornwallis. A British detachment of 
 1,125 men had been posted in the foothills of the Alleghe- 
 nies — in the western part of North Carolina, to keep the 
 patriot militia from rising. They occupied a strong 
 position on top of King's Mountain. Apparently, they 
 did not fear attack from the people who lived in the 
 mountains, for these had hitherto taken hardly any part 
 in the War. But, on the morning of Oct. 7, 1780, a force 
 of 1,500 mountaineers and backwoodsmen from south- 
 western Virginia, western North Carolina and the coun- 
 try farther west, suddenly surrounded King's Mountain. 
 These Americans had been educated in the use of fire- 
 arms since early boyhood. A hardy race, descended from 
 Scotch Covenanters^, French Huguenots and English 
 sea rovers. They had six commanders, each dubbed 
 "colonel" : James Williams of South Carolina, William 
 Campbell of Virginia, Benjamin Cleveland and Charles 
 McDowell of North Carolina, and Isaac Shelby and John 
 Sevier from the far country that was to be Tennessee and 
 Kentucky. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of Oct. 7 they 
 advanced in three separate battalions, up three sides of 
 the mountain. Campbell" and Shelby had the post of 
 honor. The British fired and then charged down upon 
 Campbell's men with bayonet. Just then McDowell and 
 Sevier poured in their fire from the right flank. The 
 British turned to drive down these new antagonists, and 
 the third battalion under Williams and Cleveland at- 
 tacked them in the rear. The British were entrapped 
 under the fire of the most deadly marksmen in America. 
 The battle continued for an hour when Major Ferguson, 
 the brave British commander fell, instantly killed, and 
 
 256 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 then his subordinates surrendered. The British lost 389 
 killed and wounded, 20 missing, and 716 taken prisoners. 
 The American loss was 28 killed (including Colonel 
 Williams) and 60 wounded. The victory of King's 
 Mountain was one of the decisive events of the war. It 
 came when the American cause was at its lowest ebb, 
 after a,series of disasters through two and a half years. 
 It roused again the whole nation and thenceforth the 
 Revolution went forward without a reverse to the final 
 military success at Yorktown one year later. 
 
 Oct. 7 (1853) — ^James Whitcomb Riley, poet, born at 
 Greenfield, Ind., year 1853 ; died at Indianapolis, Ind., 
 July 22, 1916. Known as "The Hoosier Poet." He was 
 the greatest and most popular American dialect poet. His 
 best known poems are "The Old Swimmin' Hole" (1883), 
 "The Name of Old Glory," "Little Orphant Annie," and 
 "An Old Sweetheart of Mine.^ In 1916, his birthday 
 was celebrated as a holiday by proclamation of the gover- 
 nor of Indiana. 
 
 Oct. 8 (4862)— Battle of Perryville, Ky., year 1862. 
 Union victory. Gen. D. C. Buell (Union, 58,000 men) 
 vs. Gen. Braxton Bragg (Confederate, 35,000 men). 
 Union loss, 916 killed, 2,943 wounded and 1,189 missing 
 — total 5,048. The Confederates reported 2,500 in killed, 
 wounded and missing. The Confederates retreated in 
 good order during the night, leaving a number of their 
 dead and wounded on the field. 
 
 Oct. 9 (1701) — Charter for "a college in Connecticut" 
 (Yale), granted by the General Assembly of Connecticut, 
 year 1701. The "college" was started at Saybrook, Conn. 
 There was but one student for the first six months, Jacob 
 Hemmingway. Then seven others entered and a tutor 
 was chosen. In 1716 it was decided to move the insti- 
 tution to New Haven. At this time a rich merchant 
 named Elihii Yale, who was born in Boston, had lived 
 his boyhood in New Haven and was now in retirement 
 in England, was urged by Cotton Mather of Boston to 
 
 257 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 become the patron of the new college at New Haven 
 which "might wear the name of Yale College." He sent 
 a cargo of presents "for the benefit of the collegiate school 
 at New Haven" in 1718. The cargo included rare books, 
 a portrait of George I., and goods from the East Indies 
 which brought $2,800 at a sale in Boston. This sum was 
 used in building the first structure of the college in 1718. 
 Thereupon the trustees named the institution "Yale 
 College." 
 
 Oct. 9 (1779) — Assault upon Savannah, Ga., year 
 1779. British victory. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln and Count 
 d'Estaing (1,000 Americans and 3,500 French) vs. Gen. 
 Augustine Prevost (British, 1,500 men). The British 
 had fortified Savannah by walls and intrenchments. The 
 Americans and French had commenced a regular siege 
 on Sept. 16. The assault on Oct. 9 was a furious battle 
 lasting 55 minutes. The Americans and French were re- 
 pulsed, losing a total of 900 men killed and wounded — 
 a bloody disaster. Count Pulaski, an able Polish noble- 
 man serving in the American army, was killed. The 
 British loss was but 55 killed and wounded. After the 
 battle, the French sailed away to the West Indies and 
 the Americans retreated to South Carolina, leaving the 
 British in undisputed possession of Georgia. 
 
 Oct. 9 (1832) — The Camden and Amboy Railroad in 
 New Jersey, was opened to traffic, year 1832. This was 
 the first railroad to use the T rail, which was invented by 
 the president of the railroad company, Robert L. Stevens. 
 
 Oct 9 (1871)— Great fire in Chicago, year 1871. It 
 began in the night of Oct. 8 and raged about forty hours 
 before it was controlled. It destroyed 17,430 buildings 
 and 250 lives were lost. Three and one half square miles, 
 or more exactly, 2,124 acres, in the heart of the city, was 
 the extent of territory burned over. Nearly 100,000 people 
 were made homeless. The total loss was appro.ximately 
 $195,000,000. It is a popular tradition that one "Mrs. 
 O'Leary," an humble dairy woman, was milking her cow 
 
 2S8 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 by the light of a kerosene lamp in a stable in DeKoven 
 street, near the corner of Jefferson street, on the west 
 side of the city, a section of shanty habitations, on the 
 night of Oct. 8. The cow — so the story goes — in a sudden 
 tantrum, kicked the lamp which was set upon a box or 
 upon the floor, and broke it in pieces; the spilled oil in- 
 stantly blazed to the walls and dry fodder of the barn and 
 thus started the great fire. This story has never been 
 authenticated beyond doubt. 
 
 Oct. 9 (1915)— Fire Prevention Day, instituted in 
 •1915. The idea came from the fire insurance companies of 
 the country. 
 
 Oct. 10 (1845)— United States Naval Academy at 
 Annapolis, Md., opened, year 1845. It was established 
 chiefly through the efforts of George Bancroft, the his- 
 torian, who was then secretary of the navy. 
 
 Oct. 11 (1811) — First steam ferry in the world estab- 
 lished by John Stevens, the inventor, year 1811. The boat 
 was operated in the Hudson River, between New York 
 and Hoboken, N. J. 
 
 Oct. 11 (1823) — New York Clearing House Associa- 
 tion began operations, year 1823. It was the first banking 
 institution of the kind in America. Its organization was 
 due directly to Thomas Tileson, agent of packet ship 
 companies and later a prominent banker. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 
 October 12, 1492 
 
 At 2 o'clock in the morning of Friday, Oct. 12, 1492, 
 a sailor named Rodrigo Triana, in the little ship Pinta, 
 keyed to tensest watchfulness by the chance of winning 
 a reward of 10,000 marivedos (about $100), cried, "La 
 Tierra!" which means "Land!" and pointed in the dark- 
 ness to a new shore five miles distant where dark trees 
 rose above the water. That sailor was the first European 
 in connected history to set eyes upon the land of America. 
 
 Probably the sailor was given a reward for his watch- 
 fulness, but there was much doubt as to whether he was 
 
 259 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 entitled to the honor of first actually seeing the land. He 
 saw a dark shadow against the lighter night sky. On the 
 night before, the night of Oct. 11, Admiral Christopher 
 Columbus, standing upon the poop deck of his flagship 
 the Santa Maria, saw a light moving as if a torch was 
 being borne by a man upon the shore, two leagues away. 
 The Admiral called his officers and pointed out the light. 
 It disappeared. In a few moments it reappeared. They 
 knew, then, .that the Great Discovery was accomplished. 
 And so Christopher Columbus was acclaimed the actual 
 as well as the constructive discoverer of America. 
 
 Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in the year 1436. 
 His parents were of the working class. His father was a 
 wool comber, or weaver. When he was a boy in Genoa, 
 he heard much talk of adventures by sea, for Genoa was 
 then a powerful republic, its citizens engaged in trade, 
 mostly with the Indies and cities of the Mediterranean. 
 His imagination was early fired by these stories. He 
 showed such strong interest in ships and sea voyaging 
 that his parents sent him to the University of Pavia and 
 there he studied geometry, geography, astronomy and 
 navigation. He was an extraordinary scholar. He began 
 his sea life at the age of fourteen years, in the Genoese 
 navy, and eventually rose to the command of a ship in 
 this service. It was a hazardous service, for pirates 
 swarmed in the Mediterranean. Also Genoa was dt war 
 with Venice. When Columbus was about the age of 
 thirty-four years, his vessel was destroyed in a desperate 
 battle with the fleet of Venice, off the coast of Portugal. 
 He was thrown into the sea. He seized a floating oar and 
 reached the coast two leagues distant. He remained in 
 that land, Portugal, and took up his residence at Lisbon, 
 where he began the profession of map making, for Por- 
 tugal was then the leading maritime nation of Europe, 
 and Portuguese seamen were constantly making discov- 
 eries of new lands in the Atlantic and along the northwest 
 coast of Africa, and there was much need of maps. 
 
 In a short time Columbus established himself in high 
 260 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 rank as a scholar and scientist. At the age of thirty-eight, 
 he married Philippa Perestrelo, the daughter of a noble- 
 man, and went with her to live in the little island of Porto 
 Santo, one of the Azores, where his father-in-law was gov- 
 ernor. In this little island, 300 miles out in the Atlantic 
 from Portugal, he conceived the design of sailing west- 
 ward and thus reach the east coast of the Indies. He was 
 not the first who thought of this, but he was the first who 
 worked out a practical navigation scheme to accomplish 
 it. For centuries, trade with India and Cathay (China) 
 had been carried on by crossing the continent of Asia, 
 mostly by caravans. It was held by advanced scientists 
 that the earth was round, and it was known that Cathay, 
 and the great island of Cipango (Japan) were washed by 
 a great sea. But no scientist had ventured to estimate 
 the distance around the earth. In this, Columbus was 
 the first. His estimate was far wrong. After years of 
 study, he believed that the ocean which washed the 
 eastern shore of Cipango (Japan) was the same ocean 
 which washed the west coast of Portugal. He finally 
 convinced himself that, by sailing due west 2,500 miles 
 from the Canary Islands, he would reach the island of 
 Cipango. He was nearly right in his estimate of the sea 
 distance to land, but the land he would reach by that 
 route would be Florida, and not Japan ! 
 
 He began, in 1474, to interest the government of 
 Portugal in his scheme. He had to have ships, and ships 
 cost money. There was no wealthy man, nor group of 
 private individuals who would invest the necessary 
 amount in such a hazardous enterprise. In truth, the 
 amount needed was small, comparatively — far less than 
 the amount spent by a single yacht club nowadays in 
 building a yacht to contest for the America Cup. Never- 
 theless, there was no way to carry out the project but by 
 making it a government venture. 
 
 For ten years Columbus strove to interest the gov- 
 ernment of Portugal, against the stupidity of courtiers 
 
 261 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 and the jealousy of the "wise" men — scholars— of King 
 John II. He was open and honest with them, fully ex- 
 plaining his plans. At last they were convinced, but, in- 
 stead of trusting in him and backing him, the ignorant 
 and wicked Portuguese courtiers stole his idea and plans 
 and secretly fitted out an expedition of their own, to get 
 for themselves all the honor and wealth that would result 
 from the discoverey. The stupid thieves did not know 
 that the great heart and soul of Columbus were needed 
 for such a voyage. Their expedition was a failure. When 
 their ship got out on the vast deep west of the Azores, 
 the officers and crew were stricken with- fright. The 
 pilots ran the ship back to Portugal and then slunk away. 
 
 When Columbus learned of this dishonesty, he left 
 Portugal in indignation and went to Spain, in 1484. He 
 began over again the work of interesting a government. 
 He entered the military service of Ferdinand of Aragon 
 and Isabella of Castile, the joint sovereigns of Spain, who 
 had consolidated their realms by marriage. Time and 
 again he tried to gain an audience with Ferdinand, but 
 was treated with contempt. But Isabella was a woman 
 of fine imagination, far dififerent in temperament from her 
 saturnine husband. To her Columbus turned, and his 
 petition roused her interest. Still, she would not herself 
 decide, but turned the matter over to her confessor, who 
 was skeptical, but who called together the learned men 
 of the kingdom in 1486 to consider the matter. The ma- 
 jority were against the scheme, saying it was visionary. 
 So it was dropped. Yet Columbus did not give up hope, 
 but for five years more perseveringly strove to interest 
 Isabella. At last, in 1491, wearied with disappointment, 
 and after seventeen years' continuous eiTort to move the 
 souls of the sovereigns of Portugal and Spain, he resolved 
 to go to Paris and lay his plans before Charles VIII., the 
 king of France. 
 
 The story is told that he and his little son were 
 wearily approaching the Port of Palos, at the close of a 
 day in October, 1491, and stopped at a Franciscan monas- 
 
 262 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 tery to ask for refreshments. The prior, Father Juan 
 Perez de Marchena, was struck with the noble bearing 
 and eloquence of Columbus, and grew strongly interested 
 in his plan. He sent for Martin Alonzo Pinzon and other 
 navigators of Palos and other scientific men to confer 
 with Columbus. They were convinced. Pinzon offered 
 to furnish a ship and command it for the expedition. 
 Father Perez had formerly been Queen Isabella's con- 
 fessor. He urged Columbus to remain, while he wrote 
 to the Queen asking that Columbus be given an interview 
 with her. The Queen consented. At last Columbus was 
 given the audience he had striven for during seven years. 
 But Ferdinand was coldly skeptical. Isabella was deeply 
 impressed. Yet again she referred the matter to her con- 
 fessor and he again opposed Columbus, and Isabella 
 would not decide. Wounded and disheartened, Columbus 
 left the court and began again his journey to France. 
 Then Providence intervened. 
 
 The treasurer of Aragon, Luis de Santangel, who 
 warmly supported Columbus, hearing that the negotia- 
 tions had been broken off, rushed into the Queen's rooms 
 and reproached her for throwing away the golden oppor- 
 tunity to immortalize her name. Others of the court sec- 
 onded Santangel. She was convinced. Impulsively she 
 ordered a courier to ride swiftly and bring back Colum- 
 bus. He returned with the courier. 
 
 Yet even now Ferdinand objected that the war 
 against the Moors had left little in the treasury and this 
 could not be spared. Thereupon Isabella arose above her 
 husband and declared she alone would undertake the fit- 
 ting out of the expedition on behalf of her crown of Cas- 
 tile. She publicly announced that she would pledge the 
 crown jewels, if necessary, to supply the money needed. 
 Ferdinand then joined with her, and the terms of agree- 
 ment with Columbus were made and the formal paper 
 signed, on April 17, 1492. At once preparations began 
 for the voyage. 
 
 The Pinzons of Palos were the earliest among the 
 263 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 seafaring friends of Columbus, so it was decided to fit out 
 the expedition at Palos. Three vessels were secured, a 
 carrack — similar in build to what is known as a galleon — 
 and two smaller vessels called caravels. The carrack was 
 named Santa Maria. She was 63 feet in length and 20 
 feet in beam, of 150 tons displacement. She was rigged 
 with three masts, two square sails on the mainmast, one 
 square sail on the foremast, and a triangular sail on the 
 mizzenmast. The other two vessels were named respec- 
 tively Nina and Pinta, with two masts each. The Santa 
 Maria was smaller than the little Mayflower which later 
 brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth. 
 
 At that time, the unit of financial measurement in 
 Spain was the maravedi. Historians differ widely on the 
 value of the maravedi expressed in modern money. Tak- 
 ing the statement of historian John Fiske that 276^ ma- 
 ravedis equalled a dollar in the time of Columbus, but that 
 an ounce of silver then was worth four ounces to-day in 
 U. S. coin, we can assume that the maravedi was worth a 
 little more than one cent in U. S. coin of to-day, or 92 in 
 a dollar. On this basis, the following table includes the 
 total of contributions from all sources to the expense of 
 the expedition: 
 
 Queen Isabella, from Castile Treasury 
 
 (1,140,000 maravedis) $12,390 
 
 Queen Isabella, loan from Santangel the 
 treasurer (1,000,000 maravedis) 10,870 
 
 Columbus (through his friends) (500,000 
 maravedis) 5,435 
 
 Other sources including contribution levied 
 in the town of Palos (1,340,000 mara- 
 vedis) 13,478 
 
 Total $42,173 
 
 The preparations lasted three months. A remarkable 
 crew was got together — some pirates, some prisoners for 
 debt who were let out of jail for the voyage, other crimi- 
 nals also released for the adventure, and a few law-abid- 
 
 264 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 ing mariners who had full trust in their Admiral. Alto- 
 gether, including officers and men, there were ninety per- 
 sons in the three ships. 
 
 On Aug. 3, 1492, they sailed, with little ado and few 
 God Speeds, from Palos for the Canary Islands. This 
 short preliminary voyage, over a route well known, tested 
 somewhat the character of the crew. Columbus found 
 them even worse than he had anticipated. But he reached 
 the Canaries, repaired his ships, and again sailed, from the 
 island of Gomera, on Sept. 6, 1492, out into the vast un- 
 known deep where no man had gone before. 
 
 The story of this voyage is fully told by Columbus in 
 his diary or log, one of the great documents of the world. 
 It is a story which every -American should read. Its 
 climax is exceeded by only one other recorded event in 
 human history — the coming of Jesus. 
 
 At 10 o'clock at night of Oct. 11, 1492, Columbus, 
 standing upon the "castle" of the poop deck of the Santa 
 Maria, beheld a small light glimmering and knew land 
 was near. Four hours later, the sailor Rodrigo de Triana 
 cried out, "La Tierra !" as was told at the beginning of 
 this article. Immediately a g^n was fired on the Pinta 
 and the ships came to anchor, to await the day. At sun- 
 rise they went on shore. Columbus kneeled upon the 
 ground and all his men, and gave thanks to God. He soon 
 found that the land was an island, and he named it San 
 Salvador. It was one of a group which is now known as 
 the Bahamas, southeast of Florida. Strange to say, we 
 do not now know, with certainty, which one of the many 
 islands in this group is San Salvador. The majority 
 opinion is that Columbus landed on what the English 
 later called Cat Island, so called now. 
 
 The total distance sailed by Columbus from the 
 Canaries to the island discovered on Oct. 12, 1492, was, 
 according to his own report, figured by dead reckoning, 
 about 3,220 knots or geographical miles. The time of the 
 passage was 35 days. The average daily run was 92 miles. 
 A very good passage, as modern sailor men would say. 
 
 26S 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Even nowadays, a sailing ship, following the route of Co- 
 lumbus through the Sargasso Sea, would be credited with 
 a fast performance if it made the passage in eighteen days. 
 Probably the average trans-Atlantic sailing ship passage 
 over this route during the past 400 years is not less than 
 25 days. 
 
 As time goes by, more and more we of America look 
 upon Columbus as our very own, the first of all Ameri- 
 cans, who stamped his personality upon the continent, 
 and lives with us, always, in marvellous harmony with 
 the spirit of our institutions. 
 
 Oct. 12 (1710) — Jonathan Trumbull, clergyman, mer- 
 chant, lawyer and statesman; born at Lebanon, Conn., 
 year 1710; died at Lebanon, Aug. 17, 1785. He was a 
 close friend of Washington, who habitually spoke of him 
 as "Brother Jonathan" and, during the Revolution, when 
 a military council was being held, would often call upon 
 him with the phrase, "Let us hear what Brother Jonathan 
 has to say." This phrase became popular throughout the 
 new nation and Governor Trumbull came to be recog- 
 nized as the typical American. In time, the character 
 "Brother Jonathan" was used by Europeans, as well as 
 witty Americans, to personify the United States. During 
 the War of 1812, the facetious name, "Uncle Sam" was 
 first used to designate the government of the United 
 States. The story goes that Samuel Wilson — known to 
 his neighbors as "Uncle Sam," was a government inspec- 
 tor of beef at Troy, N. Y., where he passed upon the sup- 
 plies for the American army then operating near Lake 
 Champlain. A contractor, named Elbert Anderson, sell- 
 ing beef to the war department, marked the barrels, "E. 
 A.", his initials, and added "U. S." for "United States." 
 But the workmen under Wilson who handled the barrels 
 did not know what "U. S." stood for. One of them sug- 
 gested "Uncle Sam," their superior and this was accepted. 
 The story spread and it so delighted the wits that it 
 quickly became a colloquial name for the government. 
 
 266 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 But it was many years before it supplanted "Brother 
 Jonathan" and even now many Europeans, including lead- 
 ing cartoon artists, prefer the older soubriquet. 
 
 Oct. 13 (1744)— "Molly Pitcher," heroine of the 
 American Revolution, born at Carlisle, Pa., year 1744. 
 She was the daughter of John George Ludwig, a German 
 settler. Her right name was Mary Ludwig. In 1769 she 
 was married to John Hays, a barber. When the Revolu- 
 tionary War began, in 1775, Hays was given rate as a 
 gunner in the continental artillery. "Molly" followed 
 him in the army — a common custom of the wives of pri- 
 vate soldiers in those days. She laundered for the officers. 
 At the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778) she carried 
 water from a spring to the soldiers in action. Her hus- 
 band, the gunner in charge of a cannon, was shot down, 
 but not killed, in a charge by the British. There was no 
 one near who was competent to load, aim and fire the 
 cannon, so she dropped her pail — or mayhap her pitcher, 
 seized a rammer, and continued loading and firing the 
 gun until the end of the battle. General Washington 
 commissioned her a sergeant — the first woman military 
 officer in America. It is said she served eight years in 
 the army. After the war she was retired as an officer 
 on half pay. She was married to Sergeant George 
 McCauley, a worthless man, after the death of her first 
 husband. She died at Carlisle, Pa., on Jan. 22, 1823, aged 
 79 years. It is not known how she came to have the 
 name "Pitcher." 
 
 Oct. 13 (1792) — Corner stone of the President's house 
 — the "White House" at Washington — laid, year 1792. 
 
 Oct. 14 (1644) — William Penn, founder of Pennsylr. 
 vania, born in London, England, year 1644 ; died at Rus- 
 combe, Berkshire, England, July 30, 1718. He was thirty- 
 eight years old when he came to America, in 1682. He 
 went back to England in 1684 and engaged in affairs of 
 State. He returned to America in 1699 and lived in Phila- 
 delphia and at Pennsbury Manor near Bristol, Pa., for two 
 
 267 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 years, when he returned to England where he remained 
 until his death. He was married twice and had four sons. 
 He is chiefly famous because of his humanitarianism 
 which was most strikingly shown in his dealings with the 
 Indians. He was a Quaker, and it is said that never a 
 drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by the Indians in all 
 their wars against the white men of the English colonies 
 during 100 years. No treaty made by Penn with the 
 Indians was ever broken. 
 
 Oct. 15 (1874) — Great monument to Abraham Lin- 
 coln at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, 111., dedicated, 
 year 1874. In the crypt of this monument his remains are 
 lying. 
 
 Oct. 16 (1859) — John Brown's insurrection. He cap- 
 tured Harper's Ferry, Va., and forcibly freed many slaves, 
 year 1859. He was taken prisoner, condemned to death, 
 and was hanged by officials of the State of Virginia. (See 
 May 9.) 
 
 Oct. 16 (1891) — A mob in the streets of Valparaiso, 
 Chile, attacked eight of the crew of the U. S. S. Baltimore, 
 year 1891. Two American sailors died from wounds. The 
 incident occurred during a revolution in Chile. Captain 
 Robley D. Evans was later sent in the U. S. S. Yorktown 
 to protect American interests and with only his little ship, 
 defied the entire navy of Chile. Because of this, he was 
 given the soubriquet, "Fighting Bob Evans." 
 
 Oct. 17 (1683)— "The Charter of Liberties and Priv- 
 ileges," also called "Dongan's Charter," was framed by a 
 general assembly of free holders of the province of New 
 York, year 1683. This assembly was called together by 
 Thomas Dongan, the English governor, an able and broad 
 minded man. The charter was drawn by Mayor Nicholas 
 Bayard of the City of New York and Recorder James 
 Graham. It was strikingly liberal for that time. It was 
 submitted to the Duke of York, the proprietor of the 
 Colony, who signed it, but did not get the confirmation of 
 the King, then Charles II. When the Duke himself be- 
 
 268 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 came King James II., in 1685, he also withheld confirma- 
 tion, believing that the charter was too liberal. But Don- 
 gan persisted and finally, in 1686, King James did con- 
 firm it. The plan and government of the present city of 
 New York is based upon this charter. 
 
 Oct. 17 (1777) — Surrender of the British army com- 
 manded by Gen. John Burgoyne to the American army 
 commanded by Gen. Horatio Gates, year 1777. (See 
 Saratoga, Oct. 7.) 
 
 Oct. 18 (1748)— Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (France) 
 between England and France, year 1748. This ended 
 what is known as King George's War, or the War of the 
 Austrian Succession. It began in April, 1744 and lasted 
 four and one-half years. It was waged in Europe and 
 America. The chief military event in America was the 
 capture of the fortress of Louisburg by the English and 
 colonists. By the treaty, this fortress was restored to the 
 French, and the boundaries of French and English terri- 
 tory remained the same as at the beginning of the war. 
 In effect, so far as America was concerned, the war was 
 a draw. 
 
 Oct. 18 (1854)— Ostend Manifesto, year 1854. The 
 slavery leaders in the United States, who had controlled 
 the government for many years, strongly desired to an- 
 nex Cuba to the United States and perpetuate slavery in 
 the island. In President Polk's administration (1845- 
 1849), they had oflfered $100,000,000 to Spain as a pur- 
 chase price for the island, but the offer was refused. They 
 then organized filibustering expeditions designed to 
 arouse the Cubans and bring about a revolution, which 
 was to end in annexation. This idea became attractive 
 to many Northern leaders. In August, 1854, President 
 Pierce ordered Minister Buchanan at London, Minister 
 Mason at Paris and Minister Soule at Madrfd to meet at 
 Ostend, in Belgium, and confer about gaining Cuba. 
 These three ministers did meet and draw up a paper, 
 known as a "manifesto," which was published. It de- 
 
 269 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 clared that the Union could not be secure "as long as 
 Cuba is not embraced within its boundaries" and also that 
 unless annexed, Cuba would "be Africanized and become 
 a second San Domingo" and would seriously "endanger" 
 the Union. The declaration was received with astonish- 
 ment by the Northern people and by Europe. It was 
 fiercely denounced. But the Democratic party platforms 
 of 1856 and 1860 affirmed the Ostend doctrine and favored 
 the "acquisition of Cuba." After the Civil War, the ques- 
 tion ceased to be an issue. 
 
 Oct. 18 (1867) — Alaska formally transferred by 
 Russia to the possession of the United States, year 1867. 
 The treaty providing for the purchase of the territory for 
 $7,200,000 had been ratified by the U. S. Senate on May 
 20, 1867. 
 
 Oct. 18 (1892) — Long Distance telephone was opened 
 between New York and Chicago, year 1892. 
 
 SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS AND HIS 
 ARMY AT YORKTOWN 
 
 October 19, 1781 
 
 Of all the British commanders in America during the 
 Revolutionary War, Lord Cornwallis was the especial pet 
 of the British ministry. He was, indeed, the- most active 
 of the British generals, and, it may be said, the most bril- 
 liant — if that word be allowed, in some degree, to describe 
 any of the commanders of King George IIL in that war. 
 Certainly Cornwallis had shown marked ability in his 
 compaign of 1780 when he almost completely subdued the 
 American forces and the authority of the American Con- 
 gress in the South, in the Carolinas and Georgia. But 
 later, in the winter of 1780-1781, the American power was 
 restored under Gen. Nathanael Greene, and it is an open 
 question whether Cornwallis or Greene was the greater 
 commander. American historians are apt to rank Greene 
 as the abler general, and, it is conceded even by the 
 British, Greene was the ablest American general under 
 
 270 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Washington. It is true that Greene recovered the Caro- 
 linas from Cornwallis, though the latter was never de- 
 feated decisively in any general pitched battle of that cam- 
 paign. However, judged by results, Greene was undeni- 
 ably the victor. Cornwallis, seeing that the people of the 
 Carolinas were steadily rising against him, and believing 
 that his force was not strong enough to destroy Greene's 
 army and resubjugate those colonies, devised a new plan. 
 He proposed to the British ministry early in 1781 that the 
 war be carried into Virginia — which had not, during six 
 years, seen any major military movement. Cornwallis 
 suggested that Virginia might easily be conquered, and 
 thus the favorite military principle of the Ministry, the 
 "wedge drive," would be successfully put in practice. 
 Notwithstanding that Burgoyne's wedge drive from 
 Canada toward New York had failed, the Ministry still 
 held that the war would be won by driving a wedge, or 
 wedges, through the Colonies. So Cornwallis was allowed 
 to have his way, though his superior. Sir Henry Clinton 
 at New York, disapproved of the plan. That is to say, the 
 Ministry overruled their commander-in-chief, Sir Henry 
 Clinton, and practically gave Cornwallis an independent 
 command, to carry out his idea of "wedging" through Vir- 
 ginia. Naturally, Sir Henry Clinton was not pleased, nor 
 did he have a high opinion of Cornwallis. This fact may 
 have had an important bearing on the sequel. 
 
 In M'ay, 1781, Cornwallis abandoned the Carolinas 
 and marched with his army, numbering' about 7,500 men, 
 to Virginia. He hoped to surprise and capture the small 
 American army of 1,500 men there under Lafayette. But 
 Lafayette, by shrewd manoeuvering escaped, and further- 
 more, in a campaign around the vicinity of the James 
 River, held Cornwallis in the country near Jamestown. 
 The British army, in the middle of June, was at Williams- 
 burg. 
 
 Now the British campaign got into a mess of inco- 
 herence. Cornwallis, between June 11 and June 19, re- 
 ceived three letters from Sir Henry Clinton, ordering that 
 
 271 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 3,000 men be sent to New York, which city, so Clinton 
 feared, was about to be attacked by the combined Ameri- 
 can and French forces under Washington. While Corn- 
 wallis was on his march to the sea to carry out this order, 
 he received another letter telling him to send the, 3,000 
 men to Philadelphia. Before he could start them, another 
 letter came ordering that the 3,000 men be hurried to New 
 York. Cornwallis did hurry, but before the troops could 
 sail, on July 11 and 15 came the sixth and seventh letters 
 directing him to keep all his troops in Virginia, and to 
 take position at Old Point Comfort and wait for the Eng- 
 lish fleet which was to be sent to Hampton Roads. We 
 shall now see why Clinton had fallen into a seeming letter 
 writing mania. 
 
 At this time the main American army, under Wash- 
 ington, was at Newburgh on the Hudson; it numbered 
 about 8,000 men. Count Rochambeau with his 6,000 
 French troops was at Newport where he had been tied 
 up for months. From the beginning of the year, Wash- 
 ington had scanned the continent, hour by hour, seeking 
 an opening for a stroke that would end the war. At last, 
 on May 22, he received news from France that the new 
 French fleet under Count de Grasse was about to be sent 
 to the West Indies and thence to the United States coast, 
 to cooperate with Washington and Rochambeau, and all 
 general movements of the French were to be directed by 
 Washington. This was the best news he had received 
 since the treaty between France and the United States 
 had been signed two years before. 
 
 At once Washington set out and met Rochambeau 
 at Wethersfield, Conn., and together they planned the last 
 great campaign of the war. They let it be known that 
 they were to make an attack on New York when the 
 French fleet arrived. This news was carried by spies to 
 Sir Henry Clinton, just as Washington had foreseen. 
 But Washington prevailed on the French minister, Lu- 
 zerne, to write a letter to de Grasse urging him to bring 
 troops as well as ships from the West Indies, and to stop 
 
 272 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 on his way north and enter Chesapeake Bay, where, it 
 was explained, he, de Grasse, "might find an opportunity 
 for an important stroke." It may be well believed that 
 the real objective of the campaign was known only to two 
 men — Washington ahd Rochambeau. Washington had 
 established an astonishingly efficient express service 
 throughout the States. He received daily full reports of 
 the operations of the British army in far away Virginia. 
 He planned to capture that army. But with marvellous 
 adroitness he concealed his purpose from the British com- 
 mander-in-chief at New York and thus prevented the re- 
 inforcement of Cornwallis. 
 
 The French army under Rochambeau left Newport 
 and marched to join Washington. The two forces were 
 united at Dobbs Ferry on the Hudson, a few miles north 
 of New York, on July 6. The French numbered 4,756 
 men; the Americans about 6,000. Clinton held New 
 York with 14,000 effectives in fortified lines. 
 
 Washington made much show of deadly determina- 
 tion to attack New York, apd kept Clinton in a kind of 
 nightmare, during which he, Clinton, wrote his batch of 
 letters to Cornwallis; but the American commander had 
 no intent to move until he heard from de Grasse. On 
 Aug. 14 came the letter from de Grasse, written from 
 Haiti in the West Indies. It stated clearly that the 
 French fleet of 29 ships, would bring 3,200 soldiers and 
 siege artillery directly to Chesapeake Bay, prepared for 
 instant operations. Instantly Washington decided to 
 march his army to the Chesapeake and meet de Grasse 
 there. His express from Lafayette had told him that 
 Cornwallis, had changed his first plan to take position 
 at Old Point Comfort, and was then settling down at 
 Yorktown instead. 
 
 From Dobbs Ferry to Yorktown is 4<X) miles. The 
 allied army began the march on Aug. 19, 1781, crossing 
 the Hudson and going beside the Hackensack River to 
 Newark and New Brunswick, keeping Clinton in his 
 usual alarm by a feint attack on Staten Island. They 
 
 273 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 pushed on across New Jersey, on through Philadelphia 
 and straight south to the northermost water of Chesa- 
 peake Bay called Head of Elk in Maryland. Two thou- 
 sand men were left in the lines at Dobbs Ferry to keep 
 up the pretense of a contemplated attack on New York. 
 
 On Sept. 2, fourteen days after Washington left 
 Dobbs Ferry, Clinton wrote to Cornwallis : "By intelli- 
 gence which I have this day received, it would seem that 
 Mr. Washington is moving an army southward, with an 
 appearance of haste, and gives out that he expects the 
 cooperation of a considerable French fleet." On that 
 day the major part of Washington's army was south of 
 Philadelphia, 115 miles from Dobbs Ferry, and Sir Henry 
 Clinton had just discovered that he need not fear an 
 attack in the next hour from his terrible ubiquitous 
 enemy ! 
 
 The allies reached Head of Elk on Sept. 8 and rested, 
 awaiting news from de Grasse. 
 
 Meanwhile, on Aug. 30, de Grasse had entered Chesa- 
 peake Bay and three days Jater the French troops were 
 landed and joined Lafayette at Williamsburg, On that 
 same day, the British fleet under Admiral Graves arrived 
 off the Chesapeake capes and discovered the French fleet 
 inside. Immediately after landing his troops, de Grasse 
 sailed boldly out to Yorktown with all his fleet to meet 
 the British fleet. A sea battle between the two fleets took 
 place just outside the Chesapeake capes, lasting two hours. 
 (See Sept. 5, Battle of Lynnhaven Bay.) The British 
 lost two ships and suffered damage to other ships. The 
 total loss of men in the two fleets was about 550. The 
 British withdrew, manoeuvered for five days, and then 
 sailed back to New York for repairs. Judged by results, 
 this sea battle was a victory for the French, and the most 
 vital naval battle of the Revolutionary War. Had the 
 British won, de Grasse would have been driven away, 
 Cornwallis would have been safe under the guns of the 
 British ships, Washington would have gone back to New 
 York with his army, and probably the Revolution would 
 
 274 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 have failed. As it was, de Grasse held control of the 
 Chesapeake seaboard, and swiftly Washington's plan was 
 consummated. There came to aid de Grasse a French 
 squadron of seven ships and a train of siege guns from 
 Newport. AVith the arrival of this squadron under De 
 Barras, the British were riendered altogether inferior in 
 sea power on the Western Atlantic, for the first time in 
 many years. This fact had a tremendous bearing on the 
 outcome of the American Revolution. 
 
 The French sent transports up the Chesapeake to 
 carry Washington's army to the neighborhood of York- 
 town. From the day that the allies laid siege to York- 
 town, on Sept. 28, 1781, the story of the final act of the 
 Revolution went forward with the sureness of fate. No 
 prisoner, upon the day" of his sentence, was more fatally 
 bent to his end than was Cornwallis bent to the catas- 
 trophe on the day that Washington laid siege to York- 
 town. 
 
 There were 5,645 Continentals and 3,200 new militia 
 in the American corps of the allied army. The French 
 numbered 7,800, making approximately 16,600 men under 
 Washington. The Americans were organized into three 
 brigades under General Lincoln, General Lafayette, and 
 General Steuben. The French had two brigades under 
 General Rochambeau and General Saint-Simon. The 
 allies enveloped Yorktown in a semi-circle, both ends 
 resting on the York River. The American troops oc- 
 cupied the right quadj-ant of the line, and the French the 
 left. In the center between them was Washington's 
 headquarters and nearby was Rochambeau's head- 
 quarters. The French fleet, lying below, commanded the 
 York River. 
 
 Did Cornwallis realize his desperate position as soon 
 as the allies surrounded him? Apparently not. He kept 
 faith in the British navy. He believed that the British 
 fleet would come back and drive away the French. Sir 
 Henry Clinton sent him word that he would sail with 
 4,000 men from New York to aid him as soon as the 
 
 275 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 British admiral could furnish a convoy. Alas for Corn- 
 wallis! The British admiral was delayed at New York, 
 repairing his ships, until it was too late. 
 
 Day and night for three weeks Washington gripped 
 with strangle hold the doomed British army. Cornwallis 
 resisted desperately. Battles were fought in which hero- 
 ism was the common attribute of both sides. In vain 
 Cornwallis looked for Sir Henry Clinton's aid, as Bur- 
 goyne had looked for aid from Howe. On the night of 
 Oct. 16, Cornwallis made his last efifort to escape. He 
 had barely started to cross the river when a storm arose 
 which sank or dispersed most of his boats. Then, at 
 last, when his ammunition was exhausted, his defence 
 works battered to pieces, and a drum fire of artillery was 
 destroying or demoralizing his men, he surrendered, on 
 Oct. 19, 1781, with all his army numbering 8,077 in all. 
 
 The British loss during the siege was 156 killed and 
 326 wounded. The allies lost 75 killed and 199 wounded, 
 of whom two-thirds were French. 
 
 Five days later, on Oct. 24, Sir Henry Clinton arrived 
 off the Chesapeake capes with the British fleet of thirty- 
 five ships, and 7,000 of his best men to reinforce Corn- 
 wallis. There he heard the news, and straight back to 
 New York he went. 
 
 When the news of the surrender reached London, 
 on Nov. 25, the prime minister. Lord North, threw up 
 his arms wildly crying: "O God! it is all over! it is all 
 over ! it is all over !" 
 
 And so it was. The surrender of Cornwallis ended 
 the War, actually, though peace was not formally de- 
 clared until Sept. 3, 1783, nearly two years later. 
 
 Yorktown was essentially a French victory, except 
 that it was planned and altogether guided by George 
 Washington. 
 
 Oct. 19 (1864)— Battle of Cedar Creek, Va., year 
 1864. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan (Union, 25,000 men) vs. 
 Gen. Jubal Anderson Early (Confederate, 18,000 men). 
 
 276 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Union victory. Sheridan was temporarily absent, at 
 Winchester, eighteen miles away, and General Wright 
 was in command of the Union army, when the Confed- 
 erates delivered a well planned surprising attack at dawn 
 and swept back the Federals. The whole Union army 
 was in retreat at 9 a. m. In the meantime Sheridan, 
 alone with a few aides at Winchester, had heard the 
 booming of guns, and, after a time, realized that a gen- 
 eral battle was on. He mounted his black horse and 
 galloped twelve miles when he met the first fugitives of 
 his army. He shouted to them: "Face the other way, 
 boys ! We're going back to our camp 1 We're going to 
 lick them out of their boots." He dashed along the lines, 
 cheering and reforming them. A wave of courage and 
 confidence carried through the whole Union army. It 
 turned and advanced against the hitherto victorious Con- 
 federates and gained a signal victory. Early retreated 
 and Sheridan occupied his old camp, and thereafter con- 
 trolled the valley of the Shenandoah. The Union loss in 
 the battle was 569 killed, 3,425 wounded and 1,770 miss- 
 ing (prisoners). The Confederate loss was about 1,800 
 killed and wounded and 1,000 taken prisoners. 
 
 The poet, James Buchanan Read has immortalized 
 the main incident of this battle in his stirring poem, 
 "Sheridan's Ride." 
 
 Oct. 19 (1918)— Fourth Liberty Loan of $6,000,000,000 
 at A}^% closed, year 1918. It was .over-subscribed. Ap- 
 proximately 22,000,000 persons and corporations bought 
 the bonds during a period of three weeks, beginning Sep- 
 tember 28th. This was the latgest single government 
 loan in the history of the world. 
 
 Oct. 20 (1774)— The "American Association," the 
 first of the national organizations bearing that title was 
 formed at Philadelphia by fifty-two members of the First 
 Continental Congress, who pledged themselves to non- 
 consumption and non-intercourse with Great Britain, 
 Ireland and the British West Indies, and also denounced 
 the foreign slave trade, year 1774. 
 
 277 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Oct. 20 (1820) — Spain ratified a treaty, ceding Florida 
 to the United States, year 1820. 
 
 Oct. 20 (1860) — Prince of Wales (afterwards King 
 Edward VII. of England) sailed home from Portland, 
 Me., after one month visiting eight principal cities of 
 the U. S. 
 
 Oct. 21 (1788) — Fourteenth and last session of the 
 Continental Congress adjourned at New York, year 1788. 
 The next Congress was elected under the new constitu- 
 tion and met at New York, April 6, 1789. 
 
 Oct. 21 (1879) — First incandescent light produced 
 by Thomas A. Edison, year 1879. 
 
 Oct. 22 (1774)— The First Continental Congress 
 despatched a letter to the colonial assemblies of St. 
 John's and Nova .Scotia, Canada, and Georgia and 
 Florida, urging them to send representatives to the Con- 
 tinental Congress, year 1774. Four days later a special 
 address was sent "To the Inhabitants of the Province of 
 Quebec." Assemblies of these colonies did not respond 
 and did not join in the Revolution (see First Continental 
 Congress). 
 
 Oct. 22 (1836) — Samuel Houston elected first presi- 
 dent of the Republic of Texas, year 1836. (See March 2.) 
 
 Oct. 22 (1915) — First message by wireless telephone 
 sent across the Atlantic Ocean, year 1915. It was sent 
 from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's 
 tower at Arlington, Va., to the Eififel Tower at Paris, 
 France. 
 
 Oct. 23 (1819)— First boat on the Erie Canal made 
 a passage from Rome to Utica, N. Y., year 1819. (See 
 Oct. 26.) 
 
 Oct. 24 (1683) — First German immigrants to Amer- 
 ica began to lay -out Germantown, Pa., (now a part of 
 Philadelphia), the first German settlement in America, 
 year 1683. (See Oct. 6.) 
 
 278 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Oct. 24 (1835) — Riotous Democratic county conven- 
 tion held in Tammany Hall, New York, on the evening 
 of this date, year 1835. A reform faction got control of 
 the convention, seating their chairman against the phys- 
 ical opposition of the Tammany faction. The latter then 
 Wfithdrew from the hall and' turned out the gas lights, 
 leaving the triumphant faction in darkness, whereupon 
 the reformers, who had brought with them a supply of 
 candles and new style sulphur matches known as "loco 
 foco" matches, went on with the business of the conven- 
 tion by candle light. The next day, the Whig news- 
 papers ridiculed the affair and dubbed the reformers "The 
 Loco-Focos." These reformers organized the first "Equal 
 Rights Party," but the Whig newspapers sarcastically 
 included the whole Democratic Party under the ridicu- 
 lous heading "The Loco-Focos" and the term spread 
 throughout the country. It was generally used by the 
 Whigs to stigmatize the Democratic party in the closing 
 years of President Jackson's administration and through- 
 out President Van Buren's administration. 
 
 Oct, 24 (1872) — "Epizootic," a strange disease which 
 affected the horses throughout the country, broke out in 
 New York, year 1872. 
 
 Oct. 25 (1888)— Publication of a letter written by 
 Lord Sackville West, jninister of Great Britain to the 
 United States, to Charles F. Murchison of Pomona, Cal., 
 advising the latter how to vote in the presidential elec- 
 tion then approaching, year 1888. Murchison was a na- 
 turalized Englishman. He had written to the rninister 
 asking whether he ought to vote for Cleveland or Harri- 
 son. The minister advised him to vote for the Demo- 
 cratic candidate, because, he said, the Democratic party 
 was favorable to England. Probably through political 
 chicanery, this letter was published and used in the cam- 
 paign against Cleveland, the Democratic candidate. It 
 aroused much ill-feeling throughout the country. The 
 administration of President Cleveland, then in power, 
 
 279 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 immediately refused to recognize Lord Sackville West, 
 and requested the English government to recall him on 
 the ground that he had interfered in the political afifairs 
 of the United States, a friendly nation. After the elec- 
 tion, in which Cleveland was defeated, the British min- 
 ister was recalled. It is now generally believed that he 
 was the victim of a trap purposely set to influence the 
 election. This is the only instance in our history of 
 known interference by a British minister or ambassador 
 in the domestic politics of the United States. 
 
 Oct. 26 (1825) — The Erie Canal was opened through- 
 out from Lake Erie to the Hudson River with telegraphic 
 discharge of cannon at short intervals along its entire 
 length, year 1825. The canal was begun at Rome, N. Y., 
 on July 4, 1817. The cost of construction was $7,602,000. 
 
 Oct. 27 (1659) — William Robinson and Marmaduke 
 Stevenson, banished from New Hampshire on the charge 
 of being Quakers, were executed for returning to the 
 colony, year 1659. 
 
 Oct. 27 (1682) — William Penn first landed in Amer- 
 ica, at Newcastle, Del., year 1682. His agent. Sir Wil- 
 liam Markham, had arrived before him in America on 
 June 21, 1681, and had selected the site and laid out 
 Philadelphia before the end of that year. 
 
 Oct. 27 (1858)— Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth 
 President of the United States, born at New York, year 
 1858. Was nominated by the Republican Party for Vice- 
 President in 1900 and elected. On the death of President 
 McKinley, Sept. 14, 1901, he became President and served 
 the remainder of the term, 3 years, 3 months and 13 days. 
 He was nominated for President by the Republicans in 
 1904 and elected; Electoral vote (45 States) — Roose- 
 velt, 336; Alton B. Parker (Democrat) 140. He served 
 the full four years of this term, making a total of 7 years, 
 3 months and 13 days consecutive service as President. 
 He was not a candidate for renomination at the end of 
 his second term. In 1912 he was nominated for Presi- 
 
 280 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 dent by the Progressive Party (see June 21), was de- 
 feated: Electoral vote (48 States) — Wilson (Democrat), 
 435; Roosevelt, 88; Taft (Republican), 8. The popular 
 vote in this election was — Wilson, 6,293,019; Roosevelt, 
 4,119,507; Taft, 3,484,956. 
 
 The chief events of President Roosevelt's adminis- 
 trations were the planning and building of the Panama 
 Canal (1905-1914, see April 3 and Aug. 15), the Treaty 
 of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War (1905), 
 the financial panic of 1907, and the rise of so-called "Pro- 
 gressivism," a politico-social movement primarily for the 
 betterment of workingmen and workingwomen, and in 
 its larger intent a protest against reactionary interpreta- 
 tions of the Constitution of the United States in all ques- 
 tions involving questions of "property rights" as against 
 "human rights." 
 
 By common consent and impulse, the people of the 
 United States, after the end of his second term as Presi- 
 dent, entitled him "The Colonel" in everyday allusions 
 to him. His legitimate military title was "general." 
 
 He ^as nominated by President McKinley to be 
 colonel by brevet for "gallantry in battle. La Guasima, 
 Cuba, June 24, 1898," and to be brigadier-general by 
 brevet "for gallantry in battle, Santiago de Cuba, July 1, 
 1898." Both ranks were conferred by the 55th Congress. 
 (See Battle of San Juan, July 1.) 
 
 During the extraordinary excitement of the political 
 campaign of 1912, Colonel Roosevelt was shot by an in- 
 sane assassin named John Schrank, at Milwaukee, Wis., 
 Oct. 14. He recovered and delivered a public speech six- 
 teen days later. (See Oct. 14.) 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt wrote and published fifteen books, 
 history, essays, and narratives of travel, prior to the end 
 of his second term as President. The best known of 
 these are "Winning of the West" (1889); "History of 
 the Naval War of 1812" (1882) ; "Ranch Life and Hunt- 
 ing Trail" (1888), and "The Strenuous Life" (1900). 
 
 281 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Oct. 27 (1904) — First New York subway (electric 
 railway) opened to traffic. The system was built by 
 John B. McDonald, contractor. The contract was award- 
 ed on Jan. 15, 1900 and shortly after in that year the 
 work was commenced. In 1908, the extensions of the 
 original system were completed, making a total of 26 
 miles of which about 15 miles were actually underground. 
 The total cost of the original subway was $50,000,000, to 
 which was added $25,000,000 for equipment. In May, 
 1913, contracts were signed for a new system, providing 
 for 45 miles of new subway. 
 
 Oct. 27 (1917) — Second Liberty Loan flotation of 
 bonds at 4 per cent, for the war against Germany closed, 
 year 1917; 9,500,000 persons subscribed $4,617,532,300. 
 Bonds were issued for $3,808,766,150. 
 
 Oct. 28 (1776)— Battle of White Plains, N. Y., year 
 1776. This engagement between a part of Washington's 
 army numbering 1,400, and a part of General Howe's 
 British army numbering 4,000, was fought for the pos- 
 session of Chatterton Hill near the village of White 
 Plains, 25 miles north of what is now GraiW Central 
 Station in New York. The British drove the Americans 
 from the hill. The British loss was 229 killed and 
 wounded. The Americans lost about 100. It was but a 
 skirmish, yet it had great efifect on the campaign which 
 lasted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 16, during which time Howe, 
 with 13,000 men, manoeuvered in the hilly country just 
 north of New York against Washington, who, with 13,000 
 men, held strong positions in those hills near White 
 Plains. The British campaign was a failure, except that, 
 on Nov. 16, they captured Fort Washington (on Wash- 
 ington Heights, now within the city of New York) with 
 its garrison of 2,500 Americans after a desperate resis- 
 tance in which the British lost 850 men and the Amer- 
 icans, 150 killed and wounded. Washington then re- 
 treated into New Jersey, and five weeks later gained the 
 brilliant victory of Trenton. 
 
 282 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 Oct. 28 (1886) — Bartholdi's colossal statue of "Lib- 
 erty Enlightening the World," presented by France to 
 the United States and placed on Bedloe's Island in New 
 York harbor, was unveiled, year 1886. The oration was 
 delivered by Chauncey M. Depew.- The statue is 151 ft. 
 high and stands upon a granite pedestal 155 ft. high — 
 a total height of 306 ft. 
 
 Oct. 29 (1701)— Charter of the City of Philadelphia 
 granted by William Penn, year 1701. 
 
 Oct. 29 (1893) — Carter Henry Harrison, mayor of 
 Chicago, assassinated by a disappointed office seeker, 
 year 1893. 
 
 Oct. 30 (1697)— Treaty of Ryswick (Holland) be- 
 tween England and France, ending King William's War, 
 the first intercolonial war in America, year 1697. The 
 war was begun in 1690, because James H. of England was 
 deposed and William of Orange was made joint sovereign 
 with his wife, Mary. The king of France took up the 
 cause of the deposed King James. The chief military 
 event of the war in America was the English expedition 
 of 2,000 men from Massachusetts, led by Sir William 
 Phipps against Quebec. It returned without attacking 
 the fortress. In this war the Indians, who were on the 
 side of the French, committed many bloody outrages up- 
 on the English colonists of New York and New England. 
 The war was the cause of the first Congress of colonial 
 representatives in America, which met in 1690. (See 
 March 19.) 
 
 Oct. 30 (1735) — John Adams, second President of 
 the United States, born at Qutncy, Mass., year 1735 ; died 
 at Quincy, July 4, 1826 — on the same day that Thomas 
 Jefferson died. He was a leader of the movement for 
 American independence, though not a radical as was his 
 relative Samuel Adams, the earliest chief leader. He 
 graduated from Harvard College in 1755, studied law, was 
 admitted to the bar of Massachusetts in 1758, and became 
 the leading lawyer of the Colonies before Independence. 
 
 .283 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 He achieved his first national prominence through ar- 
 ticles written in opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765 and 
 published in the Boston Gazette. In the First and Second 
 Continental congresses he was a leader and was one of the 
 committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. In 1783 he was one of the commissioners who 
 signed the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War. 
 He was sent, in 1785, as the first Minister to England. In 
 1789 he was elected Vice-President, Washington being 
 elected President. Washington having declined a third 
 term, Adams was nominated by the largest group of his 
 party, the Federalists, in 1796, for President. The elec- 
 toral vote was (16 States) : Adams, 71 ; JeflFerson (Demo- 
 cratic-Republican), 68; Thomas Pinckney (Federalist), 
 59; Aaron Burr (Republican), 30; Samuel Adams (Re- 
 publican), 15; Oliver Ellsworth (Independent), 11; 
 George Clinton (Republican), 7; John Jay (Federalist), 
 5; James Iredell (Federalist), 3; George Washington, S. 
 Johnson and John Henry (all Federalists), 2 Sach; 
 Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist), 1. John Adams was 
 elected President and Thomas JeflFerson Vice-President. 
 He was inaugurated March 4, 1797 and served four years. 
 During almost the entire period of his administration the 
 nation was on the verge of war with France, which coun- 
 try was then governed by the Executive Directory that 
 followed the "Reign of Terror" (1793-1794) and was suc- 
 ceeded by the consulate of Napoleon Bonaparte. Though 
 there was no formal declaration of war, hostilities did ac- 
 tually commence and one important naval battle was 
 fought (see Feb. 9 concerning the Constellation and In- 
 surgente). The difficulties were terminated by a treaty 
 at Paris on Sept. 30, 1800. A powerful section of Adam's 
 own party, led by Alexander Hamilton, was for an open 
 break and war with France. Adams steadily adhered to 
 a policy of conciliation, while advocating military pre- 
 paredness, and this policy he carried out to the eventual 
 peace treaty. But his conduct of the aflfair made him un- 
 
 284 
 
OCTOBER 
 
 popular with his party which was dominated by Hamil- 
 ton, and also the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) alienated 
 other elements of the voting population, and so he was 
 defeated for reelection to the Presidency. 
 
 Oct. 31 (1765) — Sons of Liberty organized, in a small 
 room of a distillery in Hanover Square, Boston, year 
 1765. This was the most famous secret patriotic society 
 in American history. In the beginning, its prime purpose 
 was to oppose the enforcement of the Stamp Act passed 
 by the English parliament. The title of the society was a 
 quotation from the speech of Col. Isaac Barre in Parlia- 
 ment, on Feb. 6, 1765, when, replying to Charles Towns- 
 hend on behalf of the American colonists, he denounced 
 the English government for sending to America as gov- 
 ernment officials "men whose behavior on many oc- 
 casions had caused the blood of those sons of Lib- 
 erty to recoil within them." The organizers were 
 mostly young men, fiery and adventurous. Paul Revere 
 was one of them and later, at the beginning of the 
 Revolution, became their leader. Doubtless, the pseudo- 
 Indians who threw the tea into Boston Harbor (see 
 Boston Tea Party) were selected members of the society. 
 John Adams writes in his diary: "Jan. 15, 1766. Spent 
 the evening with the Sons of Liberty at their own 
 apartment in Hanover Square, near the Tree of Liberty. 
 It is a counting room, in Chase & Speakman's distillery ; a 
 very small room it is. There were present John Avery, 
 a distiller of liberal education; John Smith the brazier; 
 Thomas Chase, distiller; Joseph Fields, master of a ves- 
 sel; Henry Bass; George Trott, jeweller; and Henry 
 Willes. I was very cordially and respectfully treated by 
 all present. We had punch, wine, and pipes and tobacco, 
 biscuit and cheese. They chose a committee to make 
 preparations for grand rejoicings upon the arrival of the 
 news of the repeal of the Stamp Act." 
 
 Oct. 31 (1873) — American steamship Virginius, 
 which had sailed from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in command 
 
 285 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 of Captain Joseph Fry, an ex-United States naval officer, 
 and a crew of 149 men, laden with war supplies for the 
 insurgents of Cuba who were waging a war of rebellion 
 against Spain, was captured by a Spanish warship in the 
 Carribean Sea, year 1873. Captain Fry and his crew were 
 taken to Santiago de Cuba, tried by court martial and con- 
 demned to death. On Nov. 6, Captain Fry and 52 of his 
 men were shot. The lives of 93 others were saved by the 
 captain of the British warship Niobe who arrived in the 
 nick of time to interfere. Of those who were executed, 
 30 were Americans and 6 were British subjects. The ship 
 was surrendered to the United States Government and in 
 December sailed for New York. Off Cape Fear she 
 sprang a leak and sank; her new crew were saved. The 
 incident is known in history as the "Virginius Affair." It 
 aroused intense excitement in the United States and 
 many prominent hot heads demanded war with Spain. 
 The matter was settled by diplomacy. Spain had a tech- 
 nical, justification for the acts of her officers. Neverthe- 
 less, the Spanish government surrendered the ship, and 
 offered reparation. This was accepted as an apology and 
 the matter was dropped. 
 
 Oct. 31 (1864) — Nevada was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1864. 
 
 2S6 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 November 1 (1765) — Stamp Act passed by the Eng- 
 lish parliament as a form of taxation of the English col- 
 onies in America, went into force, year 1765. (See Boston 
 Tea Party, Dec. 16, and March 22.) 
 
 Nov. 2 (1795) — James K. Polk, eleventh President of 
 the United States, born in Mecklenburg County, N. C, 
 year 1795; died at Nashville, Tenn., June 15, 1849. Nomi- 
 nated for President by the Democratic party in 1844 and 
 elected. Electoral vote — (26 States): Polk, 170; Henry 
 Clay (Whig), 105. Inaugurated on March 4, 1845. Served 
 four years. During his administration the Mexican War 
 was waged. 
 
 Nov. 2 (1880) — State of Kansas voted on and adopted 
 an amendment to the State Constitution, as follows : "The 
 manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors shall be for- 
 ever prohibited in the State, except for medical, scien- 
 tific and mechanical purposes." The vote on this amend- 
 ment was 92,302 for, and 84,304 against. 
 
 Nov. 2 (1889) — North Dakota and South Dakota ad- 
 mitted into the Union, year 1889. 
 
 Nov. 3 (1783) — The Continental Army of the Ameri- 
 can Revolution was disbanded, all except a small force 
 under General Knox which remained at West Point, year 
 1783. The West Point detachment was discharged when 
 the British evacuated New York, on Nov. 25, 1783. The 
 following are the quotas of men furnished by the thir- 
 teen States during the war, from April 19, 1775, to Nov- 
 3, 1783: 
 
 New Hampshire 12,947 
 
 Massachusetts 67,907 
 
 Rhode Island 5,908 
 
 Connecticut 31,939 
 
 New York 17,781 
 
 287 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 New Jersey 10,726 
 
 Pennsylvania 25,678 
 
 Delaware 2,386 
 
 Maryland 13,912 
 
 Virginia 26,678 
 
 North Carolina 7,263 
 
 South Carolina 6,417 
 
 Georgia 2,679 
 
 • ————— 
 
 Total 232,221 
 
 Nov. 3 (1794) — William Cullen Bryant, poet and 
 editor, born at Cummington, Mass., year 1794; died at 
 New York, June 12, 1878. His poem "Thanatopsis" is 
 regarded by many cultured people as the greatest short 
 poem ever produced by any American poet. He became 
 the editor and part owner of the New York Evening Post 
 in 1829, and remained its editorial chief for fifty years, 
 until his death. 
 
 Nov. 4 (1862)— The Catling Gun, the first rapid fire 
 machine gun in modern ballistics, patented by Richard 
 Jordan Catling, year 1862. Notwithstanding the tremen-^ 
 dous power of this gun in battle, it was very little used in 
 the Civil War. At that time, the war department of the 
 U. S. Government was extremely conservative and rarely 
 adopted a new idea, and so the soldiers were armed with 
 old fashioned muzzle-loading rifles and the cannon were 
 of the old fashinoned muzzle-loading sort. 
 
 Nov. 5 (1892)— The "Geary Act" prohibiting the im- 
 migration of Chinese to the United States, became a law, 
 year 1892. The agitation against Chinese had begun in 
 California before 1860. In 1879, Congress passed the 
 first Chinese restriction act. In 1882, 1884 and 1888 other 
 laws were passed further limiting immigration. The 
 Geary Act, named from Congressman Geary of Cali- 
 fornia, was the most drastic of all. 
 
 Nov. 5 (1912) — Woman suffrage was adopted at gen- 
 288 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 eral elections in the States of Kansas, Oregon and Ari- 
 zona, year 1912. 
 
 Nov. 6 (1793)— First of the British "Orders in Coun- 
 cil" during the French Directorate and Napoleonic wars, 
 against the commerce of neutral nations with France, 
 year 1793. British ships of war were ordered to stop all 
 ships laden with supplies for France or French colonies, 
 and bring them into a British port for trial before, a 
 British admiralty court. (See May 9.) Between the ar- 
 bitrary acts of the French and British governments, 
 American foreign commerce, for a time, was nearly de- 
 stroyed. (See March 26.) 
 
 Nov. 6 (1873) — Captain Fry and 52 men of the crew 
 of the Virginius were executed by shooting at Santiago, 
 Cuba, year 1873. (See Oct. 31.) 
 
 Nov. 6 (1903) — Republic of Panama recognized as 
 an independent power by the U. S. Government, year 
 1903. 
 
 Nov. 6 (1917) — New York State, at a general elec- 
 tion, adopted woman suffrage by a vote of 646,000 to 
 555,000. On the same day, Ohio rejected a woman's suf- 
 frage amendment to its constitution by a majority of 
 136,000, year 1917. 
 
 Nov. 7 (1805) — ^The Lewis and Clark exploring ex- 
 pedition reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the 
 Columbia River, year 1805. The expedition was sent out 
 by the government in President Jefferson's administra- 
 tion to explore the continent west to the Pacific. The 
 party consisted of Capt. Meriwether Lewis, Lieut. Wil- 
 liam Clark and thirty-four other men. They left Wash- 
 ington on July 5, 1803 and followed a route leading to 
 St. Louis, to the headwaters of the Missouri, to the head- 
 waters of the Columbia and down that stream to the 
 Pacific. The route travelled was over 4,000 miles. 
 
 Nov. 7 (1811)— Battle of Tippecanoe, Ind., year 1811. 
 Gen. William Henry Harrison (American, 1,200 men) vs. 
 an army of Indians of the Indian confederacy organized 
 
 289 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 by Tecumseh and his brother "The Prophet." The 
 Prophet commanded in this battle. It resulted in a com- 
 plete victory for the whites. 
 
 Nov. 7 (1837) — Elijah P. Lovejoy, editor and printer 
 of an anti-slavery newspaper at Alton, 111., was shot while 
 defending his printing press against a pro-slavery mob, 
 year 1837. He was the first so-called martyr to the 
 "abolition" cause. 
 
 Nov. 8 (1861)— The Trent affair, year 1861. James 
 M. Mason of Virginia, Minister of the Confederate States 
 of America to Great Britain, and John Slidell of Lou- 
 isiana, the Confederate Minister to France, embarked on 
 the British mail steamship Trent at Havana, bound for 
 England. A United States warship, the San Jacinto, com- 
 manded by Captain Charles Wilkes, had been sent to the 
 West Indies to stop, if possible, the sailing of these two 
 Confederate envoys. The Trent sailed, with Mason and 
 Slidell on board, on Nov. 7. Next day, in the Bahama 
 Channel, 240 miles from Havana, the San Jacinto sig- 
 nalled to stop the British ship. The latter ignored the 
 signals and the San Jacinto fired a shot across her bow, 
 whereupon the Trent stopped, and Captain Wilkes de- 
 manded that the two Confederates be given up as pris- 
 oners of war. The British captain complied, but formally 
 protested, saying the proceeding was contrary to inter- 
 national law. Mason and Slidell were taken to Boston. 
 Captain Wilkes became a popular hero in the North, and 
 was thanked by Congress. However, an anti-climax fol- 
 lowed. The British government demanded a formal apol- 
 ogy and the release of the prisoners. As a matter of fact, 
 the United States had obviously blundered. They had 
 done the very thing which they had formerly charged 
 against Great Britain and which was a prime cause of the 
 War of 1812. Sn, after some diplomatic exchanges, th'e 
 United States formally acknowledged that the seizure of 
 the two Confederates was illegal, and they were released. 
 They sailed for P2ngland, unobstructed, on Jan. 1, 1862. 
 
 290 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 Nov. 8 (1889)^Montana was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1889. 
 
 Nov. 9 (1872)— Great fire in Boston, year 1872. Over 
 800 buildings were destroyed. The loss was $80,000,000. 
 
 Nov. 9 (1889) — Beginning of the free delivery of mail 
 in all cities and towns of 5,000 or more inhabitants, year 
 1889. 
 
 Nov. 10 (1635) — Saybrook, the first English settle- 
 ment in Connecticut, founded by colonists from Massa- 
 chusetts, year 1635. 
 
 Nov. 11 (1620) — Cape Cod "Compact" signed on 
 board the Mayflozver lying in the harbor of Provincetown, 
 year 1620. (See Forefather's Day, Dec. 22.) 
 
 Nov. 11 (1778) — Cherry Valley (N. Y.) massacre, 
 year 1778. Immediately after the massacre at Wyo- 
 ming (see July 3), a regiment of Continental troops of 
 Pennsylvania swiftly moved against the Indians and 
 Loyalists who had perpetrated the crime at Wyoming, 
 and destroyed the Indian village of Unadilla at the head- 
 waters of the Susquehanna in New York. In revenge for 
 this, the Indians and Loyalists under Brant and Butler 
 attacked the pioneer village of Cherry Valley during a 
 sleet storm on Nov. 11, murdered thirty-two, mostly 
 women and children, and led away as captives forty others 
 half naked through the darkness and the cold. 
 
 Nov. 11 (1887) — Four of the Chicago anarchists im- 
 plicated in the Haymarket massacre at Chicago were 
 hanged, year 1887. (See May 4.) 
 
 Nov. 11 (1889) — Washington admitted into the 
 Union, year 1889. 
 
 Nov. 12 (1775) — Montreal surrendered to the Ameri- 
 can army under Gen. Richard Montgomery, year 1775. 
 This small army of 1,000 Americans, increased by a small 
 number of Canadians who had joined the Revolution, in- 
 vaded Canada in September, 1775, and laid siege to the 
 defenses of Chambly on the east side of the River oppo- 
 site Montreal and to St. John's, a fort thirty miles to the 
 
 291 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 southeast. Chambly surrendered on Oct. 18, and St. . 
 John's on Nov. 3 — the latter after a siege of fifty days. 
 Then Montreal was evacuated by the British, who re- 
 treated down the river to Quebec. (See Dec. 31.) 
 
 Nov. 12 (1823)— "Home, Sweet Home" first sung be- 
 fore the public, year 1823. The occasion was the New 
 York production of the opera, or musical melodrama, 
 "Clari, the Maid of Milan," the libretto of which was 
 written by John Howard Payne; the famous song is the 
 chief feature of this opera. The music was written by 
 Sir Henry Rowley Bishop, an English composer. 
 
 Nov. 13 (1833) — Edwin Booth, tragedian, born at Bel 
 Air, Md., year 1833 ; died at New York on June 7, 1893. 
 Generally regarded as the greatest American actor. He 
 won lasting fame chiefly by his impersonations of "Ham- 
 let" and "Richelieu." 
 
 Nov. 14 (1840) — Treaty of commerce between Great 
 Britain and the Republic of Texas signed, year 1840. The 
 Texans had gained their independence from Mexico in 
 1836. (See April 21.) 
 
 Nov. 15 (1763) — Mason and Dixon arrived at Phila- 
 delphia from England to survey the boundary between 
 Pennsylvania and Maryland, year 1763. Charles Mason 
 and Jeremiah Dixon were noted astronomers of London. 
 At that time there was a long standing dispute, between 
 the heirs of William Penn and Lord Baltimore over the 
 boundary line dividing the Colonies of Pennsylvania and 
 Maryland. The contestants agreed to let Mason and 
 Dixon survey and mark the line for a distance of 260 
 miles. They began at the eastern end and followed west- 
 ertly the parallel of latitude 39° 43' 26.3" N. They placed 
 a stone at the end of every fifth mile; the stones were 
 brought from England, where they had been hewn and 
 marked with the coat of arms of William Penn on one 
 side and those of Lord Baltimore on the other. At the 
 end of each intermediate mile was placed a stone marked 
 P on one side and M on the other. During four years the 
 
 292 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 astronomers worked and then, after completing the mark- 
 ing of 224 miles, mostly through wilderness, in Nov. 1767 
 they were stopped by the hostility of Indians. They re- 
 turned to England in 1768. Mason came back to America 
 and died in Philadelphia in 1787. The survey of the last 
 36 miles was completed by Col. Alexander McLean of 
 Philadelphia in 1782. By common consent, Mason and 
 Dixon's line was accepted by the people of the United 
 States, until the Civil War, as the boundary between slave 
 and free territory in the original thirteen States. In the 
 early disputes over the admission of States west of the 
 Allegheny mountains, the Southern leaders insisted on 
 extending westward the Mason and Dixon line as the 
 northern boundary of slave territory. The Northern 
 leaders opposed this and finally the parallel 36° 30' was 
 made the dividing line ; this line is the southern boundary 
 of Kansas, Colorado, and Utah. (See Missouri Compro- 
 mise, March 2.) 
 
 Nov. 15 (1777) — ^Articles of Confederation of the 
 United States, the first written constitution of the nation, 
 adopted by the Continental Congress, year 1777. A cir- 
 cular was immediately sent to each of the thirteen States, 
 urging them to ratify this constitution. They did so, dur- 
 ing the next year, all except Delaware and Maryland. 
 Delaware ratified in 1779. Maryland held out until March 
 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation stood as the fun- 
 damental written law of the country until 1789, when it 
 was superseded by the present Constitution. 
 
 Nov. 15 (1806) — Pike's Peak discovered by Zebulon 
 Montgomery Pike, year 1806. Lieut. Pike, of the U. S. 
 Army, was appointed in 1806 to conduct exploring ex- 
 peditions to the country of the Arkansas and Red rivers 
 in the newly acquired territory of Louisiana. After 
 reaching the peak which bears his name, with twenty-two 
 men he pushed on southwest and reached the Rio Grande 
 River, at what is now the northern boundary of New 
 Mexico, in February 1807. He mistook the Rio Grande 
 
 293 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 (or Rio del Norte) for the Red River and did not know 
 he was in Spanish territory. He and his party were ar- 
 rested by a force of 100 Spanish soldiers and taken to 
 Santa Fe. The Spaniards suspected that the United 
 States had designs on their territory. But, after a long 
 examination, Pike proved his innocence and was released, 
 in July, 1807. In 1810 he published an account of his ex- 
 pedition which aroused great enthusiasm among many 
 thousands of adventurous pioneers, and "Pike's Peak" be- 
 came a common expression in every family of the land. 
 
 Nov. 16 (1776)— Capture of Fort Washington, N. Y., 
 by the British, year 1776. (See Oct. 28.) 
 
 Nov. 16 (1864) — Sherman's March through Georgia, 
 began, year 1864. Gen. W. T. Sherman's combmed force 
 of three Union armies had captured Atlanta. It w^as 
 planned by Grant, Lincoln and Sherman to send a Union 
 army across the State of Georgia to Savannah, splitting 
 the Confederacy and destroying the great source of sup- 
 plies of the Confederate armies. A Confederate army un- 
 der General Hood was north of Atlanta. General Thomas 
 with his Union army was left to deal with this force. 
 Nicolay and Hay, in "Abraham Lincoln," wrote: "Pre- 
 cisely at seven o'clock on the morning of the 16th of No- 
 vember the great army [60,000 Union veterans] started 
 on its march from Atlanta. A band struck up the anthem, 
 'John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave'; the 
 soldiers caught up the refrain, and, to the swelling chorus 
 of 'Glory Hallelujah,' the great march was begun. The 
 month that followed will always remain to those sixty 
 thousand men the most romantic and inspiring memory 
 of their lives." 
 
 The army marched in four divisions, taking four par- 
 allel routes, each division of about 15,000 men. They 
 marched 15 miles each day. They lived on the country 
 through which they passed, taking food wherever they 
 found it, often by force. They met with very little armed 
 Opposition. They denuded a zone sixty miles wide 
 
 294 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 through the entire State. Thousands of negroes left the 
 plantations and followed. Railroads, machine shops, 
 clothing factories, and all instruments for making war 
 material were destroyed. Though there was little blood 
 shed during the whole of this extraordinary military 
 movement, it was impossible to restrain all of the soldiers 
 from deeds of ruthlessness, and so it was that great 
 misery was inflicted on many thousands of the people of 
 Georgia. Because of this, the most intense bitterness of 
 the whole war was aroused against Sherman and his men 
 among the Southern people — a bitterness which has out- 
 lasted all the memories of other campaigns and conflicts 
 of the great struggle. Yet, in the opinion of military 
 authorities and statesmen of Europe, the great march was 
 a military necessity, consummated with a minimum of 
 suffering to the non-combatant inhabitants of Georgia, 
 and far less cruel in its course than any of the great in- 
 vasions of history, ancient or modern. On Dec. 21, 1864, 
 General Sherman and his staff rode into the city of Sa- 
 vannah, which had been evacuated by the Confederates, 
 and thus the March to the Sea was successfully accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Nov. 16 (1907) — Oklahoma was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1907. 
 
 Nov. 17 (1800) — Congress met the first time in the 
 newly erected Capitol at Washington, year 1800. It was 
 the second session of the Seventh Congress. Nathaniel 
 Macon of South Carolina was speaker of the House. 
 
 Nov. 18 (1883) — The national system of Standard 
 Time was inaugurated, year 1883. 
 
 Nov. 18 (1905)— Treaty with the Republic of Pan- 
 ama relating to the construction and maintenance of the 
 Panama Canal was signed at Washington, year 1905. 
 The signers were John Hay for the United States and 
 P. Bunau Varilla for the Republic of Panama. The first 
 article reads: "The United States guarantees and will 
 maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama." 
 
 295 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 The principal article (Article II) provides that the Re- 
 public of Panama grants to the United States "in per- 
 petuity, the use, occupation and control of a zone of land, 
 and land under water for the construction, maintenance, 
 operation and sanitation and protection of said Canal 
 of the width of ten miles, extending to the distance of ten 
 miles on each side of the center route of the canal to be 
 constructed." The U. S. agreed to pay the sum of 
 $10,000,000 for this grant and other privileges, and also 
 an annual payment of $250,000, beginning with the year 
 1912. 
 
 Nov. 19 (1831)— James A. Garfield, twentieth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, born at Orange, Cuyahoga 
 County, O., year 1831 ; died at Elberon, N. J., Sept. 19, 
 1881. Nominated for President by the Republican party 
 in 1880 and elected. Electoral vote (38 States) : Garfield, 
 369; Winfield S. Hancock (Democratic), 155. Inaugu- 
 rated March 4, 1881. Served six months and fifteen days 
 until his death (see July 2). During the short period of 
 his active administration (4 months and 28 days)., the 
 chief events were the publication of the Revised New 
 Testament (May 20), the completion of the Brooklyn 
 Bridge (May 24) and the declaration made (June 24, 
 1881) to European governments that any movement by 
 them to jointly guarantee the neutrality of the Panama 
 Canal would be regarded as unwarrantable interference 
 by the United States. (See July 2.) 
 
 Nov. 19 (1832) — Nullification Convention met at Co- 
 lumbia, S. C, year 1832. It was composed of delegates 
 from the legislative districts of South Carolina, to con- 
 sider the tariff acts passed by Congress at Washington. 
 As a result of this convention, the legislature of South 
 Carolina passed what is known as the Nullification Or- 
 dinance, declaring the tariff acts. of Congress null and 
 void, and pledging that the people of South Carolina 
 would secede from the Union apd organize a separate 
 government if the Federal Government attempted to en- 
 
 296 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 force the tariff acts in that State. This was the first ex- 
 treme practical application of the doctrine of State 
 sovereignty. Nevertheless, President Jackson did en- 
 force the Congress law, and sent troops to Charleston and 
 Augusta to protect the U. S. officials. Civil War was 
 irriminent. Then Henry Clay, in Congress, offered a com- 
 promise bill, which provided for a gradual reduction of 
 the obnoxious duties, and the crisis passed without blood- 
 shed. (See Birthday of Andrew Jackson, March 15.) 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG 
 November 19, 1863 
 
 The Battle of Gettysburg ended at sunset on July 3, 
 1863. That night and next day the Confederate army 
 spent in preparation for retreat back to Virginia. They 
 hurriedly buried their dead and cared for their wounded 
 so far as they could. On the morning of July 5, Lee's 
 army marched away from that battle field, where 2,600 
 Confederate soldiers died. Then it was that Gov. An- 
 drew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania ordered the State mili- 
 tary authorities at and near Gettysburg to assume the 
 duty of interring the dead left unburied by both armies, 
 and of caring for the wounded. Union men and Confed- 
 erates — approximating 20,000 in number left at Gettys- 
 burg. 
 
 The foremost citizen of the town of Gettysburg was 
 David. Wills and he was appointed the special agent of 
 the Governor and at once assumed command. He quickly 
 found that in the haste of wholesale burial of the dead by 
 the armies, many bodies had been but partially covered, 
 many graves were unmarked, and many of the markings 
 on the small headboards had been already obliterated by 
 the rain storm which had come immediately after the 
 battle. There came to him the project of bringing to- 
 gether, in a national cemetery, the remains of the soldier 
 dead now scattered throughout all the great battlefield. 
 
 The idea appealed deeply to the governors of the 
 States whose soldiers had taken part in the battle. There 
 
 297. 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 were seventeen of these States, Northern States, and tjieir 
 governors agreed to cooperate in the plan of Mr. Wills. 
 The State of Pennsylvania purchased a plot of seventeen 
 acres embracing the highest point of Cemetery Hill and 
 overlooking the entire battlefield. The cemetery grounds 
 were laid out and the work of ordering the landscape was 
 rapidly pushed during the months of August, September 
 and October of that year. The commission in charge of 
 the work planned a ceremony «f dedication, which was to 
 take place on Nov. 19, when the cemetery would be com- 
 pleted. The chief feature of this dedication ceremony 
 was to be an oration to be delivered by Edward Everett, 
 one of the foremost scholars and orators of America, who 
 had been U. S. Senator from Massachusetts and had held 
 other high places in government. Incidentally, President 
 Lincoln was invited to be present. The letter of invita- 
 tion to Mr. Lincoln contained this sentence: "It is the 
 desire that after the oration, you, as Chief Executive of 
 the nation, formally set apart these grounds to their 
 sacred use by a few appropriate remarks." It is plain 
 that Mr. Lincoln was not expected to say anything of 
 much importance, but only to be present in his official 
 capacity, and thus give appropriate eclat to the dedication. 
 The "few appropriate remarks" which he was invited to 
 deliver were such, no doubt, as the senders of the invita- 
 tion had heard many times from the lips of conventional 
 officials of all kinds who formally spoke, in routine man- 
 ner, the final words at routine dedic.ations. The point is 
 that the commission did not expect, and probably did not 
 want Lincoln the man, nor the Lincoln mind to express 
 anything unusual, but only Lincoln the President who 
 would bring his staff and give the prestige of the Presi- 
 dential office. It was assumed that the official orator. 
 Senator Everett, would say all that any mortal man could 
 be expected to say. No one, seemingly, believed that 
 there would be anything left for Lincoln to say after 
 Senator Everett finished. 
 
 John G. Nicolay, Mr. Lincoln's private secretary, 
 298 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 gives the most authoritative account of the preparation 
 of Mr. Lincoln's address. He wrote (in an article pub- 
 lished in the Century Magazine, issue of February, 1894) ; 
 
 "Mr. Lincoln had a little more than two weeks in 
 which to prepare the remarks he might intend to make. 
 It was a time when he was extremely busy, not alone with 
 complicated military affairs in the various armies, but 
 also with considerations of his annual message to Con- 
 gress, which was to meet early in December. There was 
 even great uncertainty whether he could take enough time 
 from his pressing official duties to go to Gettysburg at 
 all. Up to the 17th of November, only two days before 
 the ceremonies, no definite arrangements for the journey 
 had been made." Further on, Mr. Nicolay continued: - 
 
 "There is no definite record of when Mr. Lincoln 
 wrote the first sentence of his proposed address. He 
 probably followed his usual habit in such matters, using 
 great deliberation in arranging his thoughts, and molding 
 his phrases mentally, waiting to reduce them to writing 
 until they had taken satisfactory form." 
 
 At noon on Nov. 18, a special train left Washington 
 for Gettysburg, bearing President Lincoln, four members 
 of his cabinet, the French and Italian Ministers and sev- 
 eral other foreign attaches, his secretary. Colonel Nicolay, 
 and the assistant secretary. Col. John Hay. The story 
 has been told and is widely believed that Mr. Lincoln, 
 seated in a car of this train, jotted down the Gettysburg 
 speech on the back of an old envelope, or other sheet of 
 paper, but there seems to be no good authority for the 
 story ; it is like the Washington "cherry tree" tale. 
 
 On arriving at Gettysburg, Mr. Lincoln went to the 
 home of Mr. Wills where he remained that night. During 
 the evening, Mr. Lincoln asked his host, "Mr. Wills, what 
 do you expect from me to-morrow?" Mr. Wills replied: 
 "A brief address, Mr. President." 
 
 Colonel Nicolay relates definitely : "It was after the 
 breakfast hour on the morning of the 19th that the writer, 
 Mr. Lincoln's" private secretary, went to the upper room 
 
 299 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 in the house Of Mr. Wills, which Mr. Lincoln occupied, to 
 report for duty, and remained with the President while he 
 finished writing the Gettysburg address, during the short 
 leisure he could utilize for this purpose before being called 
 to Jake his place in the procession, which was announced 
 on the program to move promptly at ten o'clock." 
 
 The day was bright and serene. The procession 
 moved out of the town and took the road to the new 
 cemetery, the President and the three members of his offi- 
 cial retinue riding horses. They reached the little wooden 
 platform for the speakers at eleven o'clock . The orator of 
 the day, Mr. Everett, got there half an hour later, and 
 there was a further delay of half an hour in bringing up 
 the military bodies and arranging them and the civilian 
 spectators, so that all might hear the oration by Mr. 
 Everett. It should be kept in mind, by all who strive to 
 grasp the whole of this marvellous event in American his- 
 tory, that it was Mr. Everett who was the central figure, 
 the "star" of the program, and President Lincoln was 
 there merely to lend the color of the Presidential office 
 and say only a few perfunctory words; it was a very 
 minor part that was assigned to Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 At about noon, Mr. Everett began his oration, and 
 splendidly did he deliver it. It was one of the most mas- 
 terly orations in American history — many believe it was 
 the equal at least of any by Daniel Webster. He had been 
 constantly occupied for weeks in preparing it. For two 
 hours he held the assembled multitude in rapt attention. 
 When he finished, a great storm of applause burst from 
 the thousands. Then the Maryland Musical Association 
 sang a hymn, " 'Tis Holy Ground" which had been com- 
 posed for the occasion, and at the last President Lincoln 
 arose to conclude the ceremonies. The crowd had nearly 
 exhausted its energy and emotion in listening to Mr. 
 Everett. Probably they were physically and mentally 
 tired. They did not expect new words, new thoughts, 
 new emotions. What could Lincoln say that had not 
 already been said by Everett? 
 
 300 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 The President, holding in his hand the two pages of 
 manuscript which he had written, part with pen and part 
 with pencil, spoke these words : 
 
 "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers 
 brought forth on this continent a new nation, con- 
 ceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition 
 that all men are created equal. Now we are en- 
 gaged in a great civil war, testing whether that 
 nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedi- 
 cated, can long endure. We are met on a great 
 battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate 
 a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for 
 those who here gave their lives that that nation 
 might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that 
 we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can- 
 not dedicate — we cannot consecrate^ — we cannot 
 hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and 
 dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far 
 above our poor power to add or detract. The world 
 will little note, nor long remember what we say 
 here, but it can never forget what they did here. 
 It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here 
 to the unfinished work which they who fought here 
 have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us 
 to be here dedicated to the great task remaining 
 before us — that from these honored dead we take 
 increased devotion to that cause for which they 
 gave the last full measure of devotion — that we 
 here highly resolve that these dead shall not have 
 died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall 
 have a new birth of freedom — and that government 
 of the people, by the people, for the people, shall 
 not perish from the earth." 
 
 That was all. A speech of 267 words, delivered in a 
 measure of three minutes of time. 
 
 There was applause when he ended. But the bulk of 
 evidence convinces that, in that audience, there was very 
 
 301 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 little genuine appreciation of the divine source and powei 
 of the speech. Mr. Lincoln himself felt that he had failed 
 to hold them. He said to a friend, "The people are dis- 
 appointed." 
 
 It is humanly probable that he spent many hours in 
 preparing the speech, and that he intended it to be just 
 what it was — the nation's concentrated thought of the 
 hour. Momentarily, after the delivery, he had the eense 
 of failure. But later came the triumph. 
 
 The next morning, Everett's oration, in whole or 
 part, and Lincoln's speech, were printed in all the leading 
 daily newspapers of the North. Millions of hearts leaped 
 at the first reading of the Lincoln speech. Forgotten was 
 the Everett oration. Lincoln had spoken a message from 
 the God-head, to the people of the North. And the foreign 
 newspaper correspondents cabled it to Europe. It made 
 a profound impression in the British Isles. It was trans- 
 lated at once into all the chief continental languages and 
 it thrilled especially the educated. 
 
 And so it was written in everlasting letters of gold 
 upon the tablets of the world's civilization. Wherever 
 men battle and die for their country, wherever men aspire 
 to political liberty, wherever men and women teach chil- 
 dren the duties of coming citizenship, and wherever 
 English literature lives and is studied, there is heard and 
 read the Gettysburg speech. 
 
 Nov. 20 (1620)— Peregrine White, the first native 
 American child (a girl) of the Pilgrims, born on board 
 the Mayflower at Provincetown, Mass., year 1620. 
 
 Nov. 20 (1780) — Lemuel Haynes, a mulatto, the first 
 negro clergyman in the United States, was licensed to 
 preach, year 1780. He was born at West Hartford, Conn., 
 in 1753. He served as soldier in the Revolution. He be- 
 came a servant in the home of Rev. Daniel Farrand, the 
 Congregational minister at Granville, Conn., who taught 
 him Latin and Greek. In 1785 he was formally ordained 
 a Congregational minister at Litchfield, Conn. He had. 
 
 302 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 two years before, married Elizabeth Babbot of Hartford, 
 a white woman. The church members of his first parish, 
 at Torrington, Conn., showed a prejudice toward his race 
 and he resigned, after preaching two years. He imme- 
 diately was called to a church at Rutland, Vt., where he 
 ministered during eighteen years, to a congregation of 
 whites, with little, if any, opposition on account of his 
 color. Later he was in charge of parishes at Manchester, 
 Vt, and Granville, N. Y., until his death in 1833. His 
 life is one of the most striking illustrations of the attitude 
 of the people of New England during the first half cen- 
 tury of the nation, toward the negro race. 
 
 Nov. 21 (1806) — "Berlin Decree" issued by Napo- 
 leon I. from his 'imperial camp at Berlin," declaring the 
 British Isles in a state of blockade, and forbidding all 
 trade or correspondence with England, year 1806. But 
 he had hardly a warship afloat at the time to enforce his 
 decree. His action was in retaliation for the British 
 Order in Council of May 16, 1806, which declared a block- 
 ade of the entire western European coast from the river 
 Elbe in Germany to Brest in France. This order could 
 not be enforced, and therefore the blockade is known as a 
 "paper blockade." The acts of both England and France 
 were in violation of theretofore recognized international 
 law. The commerce of the United States suffered more 
 than any other neutral nation from these arbitrary acts. 
 The War of 1812 with England was hastened by attempts 
 to enforce these acts. 
 
 Nov. 22 (1897) — Published returns of yellow fever 
 epidemic from southern Mississippi showed 4,286 cases of 
 which 446 were fatal, year 1897. This was the last great 
 epidemic of yellow fever in the United States. 
 
 Nov. 23 (180^) — Franklin Pierce, fourteenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, born at Hillsborough, N. H., 
 year 1804; died at Concord, N. H., Oct. 8, 1869. Nomi- 
 nated for President by the Democratic party in 1852 and 
 elected. Electoral vote (31 States) : Pierce, 254; Winfield 
 
 303 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Scott (Whig), 42. Inaugurated March 4, 1853. Served 
 four years. The chief events of his administration were 
 the founding of the Know-Nothing Party (1853), the 
 passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which included the 
 repeal of the "Missouri Compromise" (1854), the treaty 
 with Japan (1854), and the Ostend Manifesto (1854). 
 
 Nov. 23 (1837) — Patent for the Crompton loom for 
 cloth-weaving issued to William Crompton, of Taunton, 
 Mass., year 1837. By this machine, it became possible to 
 weave intricate patterns in cotton fabrics by machinery, 
 instead of by hand as formerly. 
 
 Nov. 23 (1863) — Battle of Chattanooga began, year 
 1863. General Grant (60,000 Union men) vs. Gen. Brax- 
 ton Bragg (40,000 Confederates intrenched). The battle 
 lasted three days and included three separate battles, viz. : 
 Orchard Knob (Nov. 23), Lookout Mountain (Nov. 24), 
 and Missionary Ridge (Nov. 25). The Union forces were 
 victorious in all the battles, the Confederates being driven 
 from all their positions and Bragg's entire army retreat- 
 ing. The total Union loss during the three days was 757 
 killed, 4,529 wounded and 330 missing — total 5,616. The 
 Confederate loss, including prisoners, was about 8,000. In 
 the battle of the first day — Orchard Knob, just outside 
 Chattanooga — the Union troops were commanded by 
 Generals Sherman and Thomas. 
 
 Nov. 23 (1877) — Fisheries commission, appointed 
 under the treaty of Washington (year 1854) to arbitrate 
 the differences between the United States and. Great 
 Britain, awarded $5,500,000 to be paid by the United 
 States for the fisheries privileges in the Newfoundland 
 waters, year 1877. 
 
 Nov. 24 (1784)— Zachary Taylor, twelfth President 
 of the United States, born in Orange f ounty, Va., year 
 1784; died at Washington, D. C, July 9, 1850; buried near 
 Louisville, Ky. Because of. his successful generalship in 
 the Mexican War, he was nominated for President by the 
 Whig party in 1848 and elected. Electoral vote (30 
 
 304 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 States) : Taylor, 163; Lewis Cass (Democratic), 127. In- 
 augurated March 4, 1849. Served 1 year, 4 months and 
 6 days, until his death. The chief events of his adminis- 
 tration were the rush of emigrants, the "Forty-Niners," 
 to the gold fields of California, and the debate on Henry 
 Clay's "Omnibus Bill" which was passed after his death. 
 
 Nov. 24 (1863) — Battle of Lookout Mountain (sec- 
 ond day of Battle of Chattanooga), year 1863. Gen. 
 Joseph Hooker (13,000 Union men) vs. Gen. Stevenson 
 (Confederate, 12,000 men). The Union troops stormed 
 up the mountain, and came to a hand to hand conflict 
 with the Confederates at the summit, above the clouds. 
 The Confederates retreated to Missionary Ridge, being 
 partially concealed by the clouds. This battle is memor- 
 able for the valor of the Union troops and the strange 
 conditions of the battlefield. 
 
 Nov. 25 (1758)— A British colonial force of 7,000 
 men under General Forbes (British officer) captured 
 Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) which was evacuated 
 by the French garrison of 500 men, year 1758 (French 
 and Indian War). The Virginia troops in this expedi- 
 tion were commanded by Washington. Thus the English 
 finally secured that which was withheld from them by 
 Braddock's defeat in 1755. (See July 9.) 
 
 Nov. 25 (1783) — Evacuation Day. On this day in 
 1783, the British army evacuated New York, the last 
 military position which they held in the United States. 
 They had held the city of New York during seven years 
 and two months of the Revolutionary War, from the 
 day after the Battle of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776. When 
 the British army, under Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, was em- 
 barked, ready to sail away, General KnOx and the small 
 part of the American army not already disbanded 
 marched in from the north and took possession. On De- 
 cember 4, at Fraunce's Tavern in Broad Street, Wash- 
 ington met his generals and personally bade goodbye to 
 each of them before leaving for his home at Mt. Vernon. 
 
 305 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Each year Evacuation Day is celebrated in New York 
 by the Old Guard, a military organization which marches 
 down Broadway from 59th Street to the Battery, follow- 
 ing the route of Knox and his little detachment of victors. 
 
 Nov. 25 (1863)— Battle of Missionary Ridge (third 
 day of the Battle of Chattanooga), year 1863. General 
 Sherman (40,000 Union men) vs. General Bragg (35,000 
 Confederates). The Confederate army was making its 
 last stand in the Battle of Chattanooga, and had concen- 
 trated upon Missionary Ridge. A large part of the Union 
 force, under the personal command of Sherman, met with 
 strong resistance. Another part of the army composed 
 of veterans of the Army of the Cumberland, at 4 o'clock 
 in the afternoon, suddenly became filled with uncontroll- 
 able enthusiasm and spontaneously sprang forward with- 
 out orders from the commander and swept upward, wildly 
 cheering. They climbed a thousand yards over rocks and 
 crags in the face of a terrible fire from the Confederate 
 batteries and intrenchments. Their spirit spread to the 
 whole Union army right and left, which moved irresist- 
 ibly upward, and, when it reached the top, the Confed- 
 erates retreated without any further struggle and the 
 Battle of Chattanooga was ended — won by the Union 
 armies. It is said that General Grant, from his position 
 upon Orchard Knob, watched this unplanned movement 
 of the Union troops, and, turning to General Thomas 
 near him asked intensely, "By whose order is this?", 
 for it was the soldiers of Thomas who were rushing up 
 the mountain. Thomas replied, with a curious smile, "By 
 their own, I fancy." It is believed that Thomas had sug- 
 gested the movement to his officers before the battle be- 
 gan. The Battle of Missionary Ridge is deprecated by 
 the Confederates as the only important battle of the war 
 in which they failed to display their normal bravery. 
 
 Nov. 25 — Labor Day in Louisiana. 
 
 306 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 THANKSGIVING DAY 
 Last Thursday in November 
 
 All peoples in all times have and have had a regular 
 thanksgiving day, recurring annually, devoted to the ex- 
 pression of appreciation of the gifts that come from nature 
 and from which men live. Thanksgiving is the one uni- 
 versal festival of the human race. 
 
 The Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans had each year 
 a harvest feast. The Saxons of England, about the year 
 800, regularly established the Harvest Home festival, 
 which has come down to our time as the autumnal thanks- 
 giving feast of England. It came about in England, as in 
 all the Christian countries of Europe, that the harvest 
 celebration retained, as salient features, old folk customs 
 that originated in heathen or pagan times, and these were 
 tolerated by the Church before the Reformation. Cal- 
 vinism revolted against these "superstitions." The Pil- 
 grims, in England and in Holland, would have nothing 
 to do with such Harvest Home usages. However, in 
 Holland they found that the Dutch national thanksgiv- 
 ing festival celebrated annually on Oct. 3 in commemora- 
 tion of the delivery of the Dutch people from the tyranny 
 of their Spanish rulers, was in keeping with Puritan 
 religious principles. The Dutch, on this day, went to 
 church and thanked God for their deliverance from the 
 enemy, and then returned home to eat their favorite his- 
 toric dish, a stew of meat and vegetables which was 
 actually Spanish hodge-podge, or hutch-putch as they 
 called it. 
 
 The first winter at Plymouth was a dreadful time for 
 the colonists who came to America in the Mayflower. 
 Ere the spring of 1621, more than half their number had 
 died, and the hand of God seemed against them. Yet 
 those who lived lost not their faith and hope. They 
 planted Indian corn, wheat and barley. A perfect sum- 
 mer followed and the harvest was abundant — far beyond 
 their early expectations. What more natural than the 
 
 m7 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 exuberant impulse to celebrate this first harvest by a 
 Thanksgiving- after the manner of the Dutch? 
 
 Edward Winslow^, one of the leaders of the Plymouth 
 colony, wrote a letter to England in late 1621, which is 
 printed in "Mourt's Relation" ; the following is a part of 
 the letter : 
 
 "Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor 
 sent foure men on fowling, so that we might after 
 a more special manner rejoice together, after we 
 had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure 
 in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little 
 help beside, served the company almost a week, at 
 which time amongst other recreations, we exer- 
 cised our Armes, many of the Indeans coming 
 amongst us, and among the rest their 'great king 
 Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three 
 days we entertained and feasted, and they went 
 out and killed five Deere which they brought to 
 the Plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and 
 upon the Captaine [Myles Standish], and others." 
 
 This was the first harvest feast in America. 
 
 Two years later there was another Thanksgiving, 
 which more directly established the character of the feast 
 as it has come down to us — for we have no undisputed 
 record of a religious service in the first Thanksgiving. 
 William Bradford, in his "History of Plimouth Planta- 
 tion," tells that in May, 1623, there commenced a drouth 
 which lasted until the middle of July "without any rains 
 and with great heat (for the most part) insomuch as the 
 corn began to wither away. . . . Upon which they sett a 
 parte a solemne day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by 
 humble and fervente prayer, in this great distress. And 
 he was pleased to give them a gracious and speedy an- 
 swer, both to their own and the Indeans admiration, that 
 lived among them." Bradford goes on to describe the 
 bountiful rain that fell in the evening of that day which 
 had been set apart for prayer. Well, indeed, might they 
 
 308 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 regard "it as a direct answer to their petitions, and well 
 might the Indians be profoundly impressed by the power 
 and goodness of the God of the Plymouth white men. 
 "For which mercie (in time convenient) they also sett 
 aparte a day of thanksgiving" — so says Bradford. 
 
 The date of this second Thanksgiving was July 30, 
 and its chief feature was the religious service. We have 
 no record of a bounteous dinner after the service, but it is 
 altogether probable that the colonists did eat a festival 
 dinner on that date. Therefore, most American religious 
 writers, and some other historians, name this festival of 
 1623 the first American Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 There is good reason to believe that the Church of 
 Plymouth from this time forward, celebrated annually a 
 Thanksgiving day, and usually in the autumn, but there 
 is no written proof of it. In 1668, the first harvest 
 Thanksgiving proclamation was issued by the civil 
 authorities of Plymouth. The day named was Novem- 
 ber 25. 
 
 Duriiig the Revolutionary War, the Continental Con- 
 gress appointed, at various times, days upon which the 
 people of all the nation should give thanks to God for 
 victory. There was a total of eight such days in seven 
 years. 
 
 The first Presidential proclamation appointing a day 
 of Thanksgiving was issued by Washington on Oct. 3, 
 1789, immediately after his election. It reads, in part, as 
 follows : 
 
 "Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign 
 Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, 
 to be devoted by the people of the United States 
 to the service of that great and glorious Being, 
 Who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that 
 was, that is, or that will be ; that we may then all 
 unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble 
 thanks for His kind care and protection of the 
 people of this country. . . ; and, in general, for all 
 309 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the great and various favours, which He has been 
 pleased to confer upon us. . . ." 
 
 But Washington did not establish Thanksgiving as 
 a national civic festival to be celebrated annually. It is 
 a curious fact in our history that Thanksgiving Day, from 
 early Colonial times down to the years shortly before the 
 Civil War, was essentially a New England festival. The 
 people of the South, among whom were few Puritans, 
 looked upon the festival as almost wholly a Puritan 
 church feast. They, in the South, followed the traditions 
 of the Episcopalian and Catholic churches, which re- 
 garded Christmas as the great festival of thanksgiving. 
 The early New E;iglanders had little respect for Christ- 
 mas. Furthermore, during the long controversy over the 
 slavery question, beginning at the very organization of 
 the nation. New England and the South grew farther and 
 farther apart, religiously and politically. And so the 
 Southerners refused to celebrate Thanksgiving. 
 
 In 1857, Governor Wise of Virginia issued the first 
 proclamation in the South, calling upon the people of his 
 State to observe Thanksgiving Day. Only a minority in 
 Virginia followed him. Next year, the governors of seven 
 other Southern States issued Thanksgiving proclama- 
 tions, and thus the day was established in the South — 
 but only for a short period. Soon came the Civil War, and 
 the South, at least, had little thought of an autumnal 
 thanksgiving. Besides, all things of New England, at 
 this time, were anathema in the South. 
 
 In the autumn of 1864 the tide of war had set 
 strongly against the Southern Confederacy. On Oct. 20 
 of that year President Lincoln issued a proclamation, of 
 which the following is the main part : 
 
 "A Proclamation" 
 
 "It has pleased almighty God to prolong our 
 
 national life another year, defending us with His 
 
 guardian care against unfriendly designs from 
 
 abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many 
 
 310 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our 
 own household. 
 
 "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, do hereby appoint and 
 set apart the last Thursday of November next as a 
 day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow- 
 citizens, wherever they may be, as a day of thanks- 
 giving and praise to almighty God, the benefi- 
 cent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do 
 further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid 
 that on that day they do reverendly humble them- 
 selves in the dust, and from thence offer up peni- 
 tent and fervent prayers and supplications to the 
 great Disposer of events for a return of the ines- 
 timable blessings of peace, union and harmony 
 throughout the land which it has pleased Him to 
 assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our 
 posterity throughout all generations." 
 
 It will be noted that Mr. Lincoln followed the style 
 of Washington in his proclamation. Lincoln had in- 
 formally announced his intention to establish Thanksgiv- 
 ing as an annual national holiday. He died in April of 
 the next' year. Yet his wish has been carried out. Each 
 of his successors as President has issued a Thanksgiving 
 proclamation every year, appointing the day first speci- 
 fically set by Lincoln — the "last Thursday in November." 
 
 About the year 1882, when the bitterness between _ 
 North and South was appreciably healing, leading broad- 
 minded Southerners again advocated the celebration of 
 Thanksgiving Day. It grew in favor, in Dixie, year by 
 year, until it is now as firmly established as Christmas, 
 though not as popular as the latter festival. 
 
 The following is part of the Thanksgiving proclama- 
 tion issued by President Wilson on Nov. 8, 1917 — the 
 first proclamation in time of war since the Lincoln proc- 
 lamation. The closing paragraph is typical of the procla- 
 mations of all the Presidents since Lincoln : 
 
 311 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 "It has long been the custom of our people to 
 turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise 
 and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many 
 blessings and mercies to us as a Nation. That cus- 
 tom we can follow now, even in the midst of the 
 tragedy of a world shaken by war and immeasur- 
 able disaster, in the midst of sorrow and great peril, 
 because even midst the darkness that has gathered 
 about us we can see the great blessings God has 
 bestowed upon us; blessings that are better than 
 mere peace of mind and prosperity of enterprise. . . 
 
 "Wherefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President 
 of the United States of America, do hereby desig- 
 nate Thursday, the 29th day of November next, as 
 a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the 
 people throughout the land to cease upon that day 
 from their ordinary occupations and in their sev- 
 eral homes and places of worship to render thanks 
 to God, the Great Ruler of nations." 
 
 Nov. 26 (1832) — The first street railway in America" 
 began operation, year 1832. It was the New York and 
 Harlem road. The first car was invented and constructed 
 by John Stephenson of New York. It was pulled by one 
 horse and ran from the City Hall in New York to 14th 
 street, a distance of about a mile and three quarters. 
 
 Nov. 27 (1904) — Signing of an arbitration treaty be- 
 tween the United States and Germany, year 1904. 
 
 Nov. 28 (1785)— Treaty of Hopewell, S. C., with the 
 Cherokees Indians, year 1785. This was the first treaty 
 with Indians made by the United States. It was nego- 
 tiated and signed by Joseph Martin of Virginia, a pioneer 
 and Indian fighter, on behalf of the United States. 
 
 Nov. 29 (1847)— Marcus Whitman, pioneer and 
 leader in the colonization of Oregon, was massacred by 
 Indians at Waulatpu, Ore., together with his wife, two 
 adopted children and ten other settlers, year 1847. The 
 
 312 
 
NOVEMBER 
 
 incident aroused a storm of religious bitterness through- 
 out the nation. The murder was the climax of a dispute 
 between the Catholic missionaries of Oregon and the 
 newly arrived Protestant colonists. This dispute was 
 taken up by Indians against the Protestants, as a pretext 
 for the satisfaction of their savage appetites. 
 
 Nov. 29 (1760) — Detroit surrendered by French to 
 the English at the end of the French and Indian war, 
 year 1760. 
 
 Nov. 30 (1835)— Samuel Larighorne Clemens ("Mark 
 Twain"), author and lecturer, born in Florida, Monroe 
 County, Mo., year 1835 ; died at his home at Redding, 
 Conn., April 21, 1910. The greatest of American literary 
 humorists. When a young man, he became a pilot on the 
 Mississippi River, where the leadsman in sounding the 
 depth of water in which the steamboat was moving, 
 would cry out, "mark twain !", "mark three !", etc., mean- 
 ing two fathoms, three fathoms, etc. Clemens began his 
 literary career as city editor of the Virginia City (Nev.) 
 Enterprise in 1862, and, in reporting the proceedings of 
 the Nevada legislature, signed the pen name "Mark 
 Twain." Later, in his books, he used the same pseudo- 
 nym, and finally became universally known by that name. 
 His b,est known books are "The Jumping Frog and other 
 sketches" (1867), "The Innocents Abroad" (1869), "Ad- 
 ventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "Adventures of 
 Huckleberry Finn" (1885). 
 
 Nov. 30 (1864)— Battle of Franklin, Tenn., year 
 1864. Gen. John B. Hood (Confederate, 45,000 men) vs. 
 Gen. John McAllister Schofield (Union, 22,000 men). 
 Gen. Hood, <after the capture of Atlanta by the Union 
 armies, moved northwestward in Tennessee, where Gen- 
 eral Thomas was in command. The army of Thomas 
 was to be concentrated at Nashville. A large part of this 
 army, under General Schofield, was moving to join the 
 main body at Nashville. Hood quickly planned to destroy 
 this force under Schofield before it could reach Nashville. 
 
 313 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Schofield's force, anticipating the danger, was intrenched 
 at Franklin, 30 miles south of Nashville, on the Harpeth 
 River. Here, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the Con- 
 federate army was thrown at Schofield's force in one of 
 the fiercest and bloodiest assaults of the Civil War. The 
 Union force repelled the assault, and that night Schofield 
 safely crossed the river and marched on to join Thomas 
 at Nashville. The Union loss in the battle was 189 killed, 
 1,033 wounded and 1,104 missing — total 2,326. The Con- 
 federate loss was given by Hood at "about 4,500"; Gen- 
 eral Thomas estimated it at 6,252 — ^all killed and wounded 
 except 700. 
 
 314 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 December 1 (1816) — Baltimore, Md., was lighted by 
 gas, the first municipality in America to use this illumi- 
 nant, year 1816. 
 
 Dec. 1 (1842)— Hanging of Midshipman Philip 
 Spencer, Boatswain Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha 
 Small from the yard arm of the U. S. S. Somers^ a brig 
 of war, at sea in West Indian waters, year 1842. The 
 three were convicted by court martial of conspiring to 
 organize a mutiny, murder the officers, and turn the ship 
 into a pirate cruiser. This is the only instance of punish- 
 ment by death for mutiny in the history of the United 
 States Navy. 
 
 Dec. 1 (1866) — Patent for a typewriter called the 
 "Pterotype" issued to John Pratt, a native of South Caro- 
 lina who had gone to England during the Civil War and 
 there produced his machine, year 1-866. This machine 
 was first recognized in England and was the prototype of 
 the English typewriters. It had a limited sale. It is 
 claimed that Christopher L. Sholes, the inventor of the 
 American typewriter (1867) that later became the Rem- 
 ington, was indebted to the "Pterotype" for his most 
 valuable ideas. 
 
 THE "MONROE DOCTRINE" 
 December 2, 1823 
 
 This so-called doctrine was contained in a message 
 by President Monroe to the Eighteenth Congress on the 
 second day of its first session, Dec. 2, 1823. This message 
 dealt with a number of subjects, foreign and domestic, 
 as is usual in the annual messages of Presidents. The 
 recent revolutions in South America and the organiza- 
 tions of the republics of Argentine, Chile, and Colombia 
 in what had been Spanish territory, and the unconcealed 
 sympathy of European governments with Spain in her 
 wars with her South American colonies had brought 
 
 315 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 home to the people of the United States the question of 
 national policy in the event that these European nations 
 would, with military and naval forces, aid Spain to re- 
 conquer her lost provinces, or hold any others on this 
 continent now in her possession. Also, the Russian gov- 
 ernment had pushed its way into Alaska and was estab- 
 lishing itself on this continent. Therefore, President 
 Monroe wrote the following in his annual message : 
 
 "In the wars of the European powers in matters re- 
 lating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor 
 does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when 
 our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we 
 resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With 
 the movements in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, 
 more immediately connected, and by causes which must 
 be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. 
 The political system of the allied powers is essentially 
 different in this respect from that of America. This dif- 
 ference proceeds from that which exists in their respec- 
 tive governments. And to the defense of our own, which 
 has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and trea- 
 sure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlight- 
 ened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unex- 
 ampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, 
 therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations exist- 
 ing between the United States and those powers, to 
 declare that we should consider any attempt on their part 
 to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere 
 as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing 
 colonies or dependencies of any European power we have 
 not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the gov- 
 ernments who have declared their independence and 
 maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great 
 consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we 
 could not view any interposition for the purpose of op- 
 pressing them, or controlling in any other manner their 
 destiny, by any European power, in any other light than 
 
 316 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards 
 the United States." 
 
 This declaration was enthusiastically indorsed by the 
 people of this nation. It has ever since remained as the 
 •perfect expression of an unwavering policy of the govern- 
 ment of the United States. 
 
 Dec. 2 (1856) — First patent for a device to arrange 
 a railway car seat as a sleeping couch, issued to Theodore 
 T. Woodruff, the inventor, year 1856. The idea was 
 developed by Webster Wagner on the New York Central 
 Ry. in 1858 and by George M. Pullman in 1859. "■ 
 
 Dec. 2 (1859) — John Brown of Ossawatomie, aboli- 
 tionist leader, was hanged at Charles Town, Va., year 
 1859. (See May 9.) 
 
 Dec. 2 (1863) — First ground broken for the construc- 
 tion of the Union Pacific Railway, the first transconti- 
 nental railway, year 1863. The ceremony took place at 
 Omaha, Neb. George Francis Train of Boston, one of 
 the chief promoters of the enterprise, dug the first shovel 
 full of earth. 
 
 Dec. 3 (1750) — First opera sung in America, year 
 1750. It was the "Beggar's Opera" by John Gay and was 
 produced at New York. 
 
 Dec. 3 (1818) — Illinois was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1818. 
 
 Dec. 3 (1826) — George Brinton McClellan, soldier, 
 born at Philadelphia, Pa., year 1826; died at West 
 Orange, N. J., Oct. 29, 1885 ; buried^ at Trenton, N. J. 
 Graduated from West Point in 1846. Served throughout 
 the Mexican War. Reached the rank of captain in 1855 
 and, in 1857, resigned from the army. In 1859 became 
 president of the St. Louis, Missouri and Cincinnati Ry. 
 At the outbreak of the Civil War was commissioned 
 major general of Ohio volunteers. A month later was 
 made major general of the U. S. Army, and five months 
 after was given command of all the armies of the United 
 States. His rise from captain to commander-in-chief was 
 
 317 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the most extraordinary in the military history of the 
 United States. (See Birthday of U. S. Grant, April 27.) 
 Was defeated by Gen. R. E. Lee in the Peninsula cam- 
 paign of 1862. (See June 26 and July 1.) Was removed 
 from command Aug. 3, 1862. Was restored one month • 
 later and 'on Sept. 14, fought the drawn battle of Antie- 
 tam against Lee. On Nov. 5, 1862 he was again removed 
 from command, and retired permanently. In 1864, he 
 was nominated by the Democratic party for President. 
 Was defeated. Electoral vote (25 States) : Lincoln, 212; 
 McClellafi, 21. In 1878, was elected Governor of New 
 Jersey. His popularity among the Union soldiers was 
 extraordinary. As an engineer and military organizer his 
 reputation remains very high. As a military strategist 
 he is outranked by a number in both Union and Confed- 
 erate armies, though he has had many enthusiastic eulo- 
 gists among military authorities, who assert that he was 
 the victim of political enmities and jealousies. 
 
 Dec. 3 (1833)- — The American Anti-Slavery Society 
 organized at a convention held in the house of Evan 
 Lewis, a Quaker, at Philadelphia, year 1833. Between 
 sixty and seventy delegates were present. Beriah Green, 
 an independent clergyman of Ohio, was elected the first 
 president. The poet John G. Whittier, and Lewis Tappan 
 were the secretaries. Next day, Dec. 4, they adopted a 
 "Declaration of Sentiments" which was written by Wil- 
 liam Lloyd Garrison who was the leading spirit of the 
 movement. This "Declaration" marks the time when 
 "Slavery" became a national political question at issue in 
 the United States. 
 
 Dec. 4 (1783)— Washington bade farewell to his offi- 
 cers at the end of the Revolution, in Fraunce's Tavern, 
 New York, year 1783. The building is preserved by the 
 Daughters of the American Revolution. 
 
 Dec. 5 (1782)— Martin Van Buren, eighth President 
 of the United States, born at Kinderhook, N. Y., year 
 1782; died at Kinderhook on July 24, 1862. Was nomi- 
 
 318 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 nated for President by the Democratic party in 1836 and 
 elected. Electoral vote (26 States): Van Buren, 170; 
 William Henry Harrison (Whig), 73. Inaugurated 
 March 4, 1837; served four years. The chief events of 
 his administration were the Seminole War (1835-1842), 
 the invention of the magnetic telegraph (1837), the 
 "Patriot War" (1837-1838) in Canada, and the financial 
 panic of 1837. 
 
 Dec 6 (1864) — President Lincoln issued his fourth 
 and last annual message to Congress. 
 
 Dec. 7 (1787) — The Constitution of the United States 
 was ratified by Delaware and without amendments, year 
 1787. This was the first State to ratify. The other 
 States ratified as follows: Pennsylvania, Dec. 12, 1787; 
 New Jersey, Dec. 18, 1787; Georgia, Jan. 2, 1788; Connec- 
 ticut, Jan. 9, 1788; Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788; Mary- 
 land, April 28, 1788; South Carolina, May 23, 1788; New 
 Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia, June 25, 1788; New 
 York, July 26, 1788; North Carolina, Nov. 21, 1789; 
 Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. The Constitution became 
 operative when nine States had ratified, that is on June 
 21, 1788 when New Hampshire passed the act of rati- 
 fication. 
 
 Dec. 7 (1894) — A Convention regulating Chinese im- 
 migration was ratified by the United States and China, 
 year 1894. By the terms of this convention, the "coming, 
 except under conditions hereinafter specified, of Chinese 
 laborers to the United States shall be absolutely pro- 
 hibited." 
 
 It was provided that the prohibition would not apply 
 to "officials, teachers, students, merchants or travellers 
 for curiosity or pleasure, but not laborers." All these 
 named classes might come and reside in the United 
 States. Also it was provided that any Chinese laborer 
 then residing in the United States and registered, if he 
 had a wife, child or parent in the United States, or owned 
 $1,000 worth of property or owed that amount of debt, 
 
 . 319 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Slered or abrogated upor. formal noUce by or.e of the 
 nations. (See November 5.) 
 
 Dec. 7 (1917)— Congress declared war against 
 Austria-Hungary, nine months after the declaration of 
 war against Germany (see April 6, 1917). For reasons 
 of state, Congress did not at this time declare war against 
 Turkey and Bulgaria, the other two members of the Cen- 
 tral European alliance. « 
 
 Dec. 8 (1801) — -.First written Presidential Message 
 read to Congress, year 1801. It was sent by President 
 Jefiferson to the Seventh Congress, which met at Wash- 
 ington on Dec. 7, 1801. Prior to this, it had been the 
 custom, inaugurated by Washington, for the President to 
 appear in person before Congress and speak his message, 
 reading from manuscript if he so desired. Presidents 
 Washington and John Adams were good speakers, and 
 liked to go ceremoniously in person to the hall where the 
 Congress awaited them. Besides, it was the custom for 
 the King of England to appear personally before the Par- 
 liament and deliver his "Speech" at the opening of that 
 legislative body. But Jefferson was a poor speaker. Also 
 he was an intense republican, opposed to all forms of 
 monarchical ceremony, and he regarded this ceremony of 
 the "speech" to Congress as a relic of the old regime. 
 So he sent his first annual message by a quiet, business- 
 *like messenger, and with it K^ sent a verbal announce- 
 ment that no "reply" was expected. Here is Jefferson's 
 letter to tlic president of the Senate: 
 
 ".•^ir: — The circumstances under which we 
 /ind ourseh'cs at this place rendering inconvenient 
 the mode /leretcifore practised of making', by per- 
 sonal .-u/dress. the first communications between 
 the lc,!.;is/atr\-e and e.vecuti\e branches, I have 
 adopted that by message, as used on all ^^bsequp... 
 occasions through the session. In doing tJijs 
 
 320 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 have had principal regard to the convenience of 
 the legislature, to the economy of their time, to 
 their relief from the embarrassment of immediate 
 answers on subjects not yet fully before them, and 
 to the benefits thence resulting to the public affairs. 
 Trusting that a procedure founded on these mo- 
 tives jvill meet their approbation, I beg leave 
 through you, sir, to communicate the inclosed copy 
 with the documents accompanying it, to the honor- 
 able the Senate, and pray you to accept for your- 
 self and them, the homage of my high regard and 
 consideration." (Copied from Randall's "Life of 
 Thomas Jefferson.") 
 
 The custom of written presidential messages re- 
 mained unbroken for more than a century, until President 
 Wilson, in 1913, revived the Washingtonian form and ap- 
 peared in person before Congress to read his annual mes- 
 sage, i 
 
 Dec. 8 (1837)— Wendell Phillips delivered his first 
 "abolition" speech at Boston in Faneuil Hall, protesting 
 against the murder of Elijah P. Lovejoy at Alton, 111., 
 year 1837. 
 
 Dec. 9 (1792) — First formal cremation of a human 
 body in America, year 1792. The body was that of Henry 
 Laurens, a leading statesman of the Colonies and one of 
 the commissioners who signed the treaty of Paris ending 
 the Revolutionary War. In his will he provided the fol- 
 lowing: "I solemnly enjoin it on my son, as an indis- 
 pensable duty, that as soon as he conveniently can, after 
 my decease, he cause my body to be wrapped in twelve 
 yards of tow cloth and burned until it be entirely con- 
 sumed; and then, collecting my bones, deposit them 
 wherever he may think proper." Colonel Laurens died 
 at his plantation near Charleston, N. C, on Dec. 8, 1792, 
 and there he was cremated. 
 
 Dec. 10 (1817) — Mississippi was admitted into the 
 Union, year 1817. 
 
 321 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Dec. 10 (1898) — Treaty of peace between the United 
 States and Spain signed at Paris, France, year 1898, end- 
 ing the Spanish War. 
 
 Dec. 11 (1620) — The Pilgrims landed on this date in 
 the Julian Calendar year 1620. This calendar was at that 
 time used in England, though the new corrected system 
 had been protnulgated by Pope Gregory m 1582. The 
 Gregorian Calendar was not adopted in England until 
 1752. In that year, the dates between Sept. 2 and Sept. 
 14 were omitted — eleven days. The Julian Calendar is 
 usually referred to as "Old Style" and the Gregorian 
 Calendar as "New Style" by historians who write of the 
 period between 1582 and 1751. The early reports of Ply- 
 mouth plantation give the date Dec. 11 as the day of the 
 landing. When the reform was adopted, and eleven days 
 left off, the date of the landing was called Dec. 22 which 
 is the date now celebrated as Forefathers' Day. (See 
 Sept. 14.) 
 
 Dec. 11 (1816) — Indiana was admitted into th^ 
 Union, year 1816. 
 
 Dec. 12 (1831) — First national party convention met 
 to nominate a candidate for President and adopt a plat- 
 form, year 1831. It was the convention of the National 
 Republican party — later called the Whig party. It nomi- 
 nated Henry Clay for President to be voted for in Nov. 
 1832. Prior to this convention, party candidates for 
 President had been regularly nominated by caucuses of 
 Congressmen. The system was called "the Congressional 
 Caucus." 
 
 Dec. 12 (1901)— First signal by wireless telegraph 
 across the Atlantic, year 1901. It was the letter "S," sent 
 by Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the Marconi sys- 
 tem of wireless telegraphy, from England to Newfound- 
 land. 
 
 Dec. 13 (1862)— Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., year 
 1862. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside (Union, 100,000 men) 
 vs. Gen. R. E. Lee (Confederate, 78,000 men). A Con- 
 
 322 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 federate victory. The Confederate army was strongly 
 posted upon the heights overlooking the Rappahannock 
 River at Fredericksburg. The town lies beside the river 
 on the southwest bank at the foot of these heights. The 
 Union Army of the Potomac had moved southward to at- 
 tack Lee's army and had come to the river side opposite 
 Fredericksburg. Shortly before this General McClellan 
 had been relieved from the command of the Union Army 
 and General Burnside had been promoted to command in 
 his place. It is said that Burnside did not want to attack 
 Lee at this time and place for the chances of a Union vic- 
 tory were small ; but the people of the North had grown 
 impatient because of the dilatory movements of McClel- 
 lan and the great Army of the Potomac during the three 
 months following the Battle of Antietam, and so over- 
 whelming public opinion demanded that the army fight 
 a battle at once, regardless of the military situation. 
 Burnside yielded to this clamor. On the morning of the 
 12th the Union army began to cross the river on five pon- 
 toon bridges in the face of artillery fire, and succeeded in 
 occupying the town of Fredericksburg that day. Next 
 morning, the entire line of 100,000 men swept upward 
 against the Confederate batteries and rifle pits. A terrible 
 struggle ensued. Again and again the Union divisions 
 charged up the hills and were hurled back, until the early 
 winter darkness ended the bloody conflict. The Union 
 army held the town of Fredericksburg, but had not suc- 
 ceeded in driving the Confederates from their position 
 upon the heights. Next morning, Dec. 14, Burnside re- 
 treated, recrossing the river, back to his encampment on 
 the northeast bank, and the Fredericksburg campaign 
 ended — one of the most disastrous of the Civil War to 
 the Union cause. The Union loss was 1,180 killed, 9,028 
 wounded and 2,145 missing — total 12,353. The Confed- 
 erate total was 4,300. On Jan. 25, 1863, six weeks after 
 this battle, General Burnside was removed from com- 
 mand of the Army of the Potomac and was succeeded 
 by Gen. Joseph Hooker. 
 
 323 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Dec. 14 (1719) — First number of the Boston Gazette 
 issued, year 1719. This was the second newspaper estab- 
 lished in America. (See April 24.) Its proprietor and 
 editor was Thomas Campbell, a Scotsman, the son of 
 Duncan Campbell who organized the postal system of 
 America and was postmaster of Boston. 
 
 Dec. 14 (1799) — George Washington died at his 
 home at Mt. Vernon, Va., year 1799, aged sixty-seven 
 years. (See Washington's Birthday, Feb. 22.) 
 
 Dec. 14 (1819) — Alabama admitted into the Union, 
 year 1819. 
 
 Dec. 15 (1790) — First lecture op law delivered in the 
 new law school of the University of Pennsylvania, the 
 first law school in America, year 1790. The lecturer was 
 Dr. John Ewing. President Washington and his entire 
 cabinet, the members of both houses of Congress and of 
 the Pennsylvania legislature were present at the lecture. 
 
 Dec. 15 (1814)— The "Hartford Convention" met (at 
 Hartford, Conn.), year 1814. It was composed of twenty- 
 six delegates appointed by the legislatures of Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New 
 Hampshire — all Federalists in politics. Its sessions were 
 held in secret. It adjourned on Jan. 5, 1815 and published 
 a report protesting against the war with England which 
 was then being waged. It recommended that the powers 
 of Congress to declare war and lay embargos be re- 
 stricted. It was bitterly attacked by leaders in the 
 Eastern and Western States and territories, who charged 
 that the New England group were traitors. Its recom- 
 mendations were coldly received. 
 
 Dec. 15 (1864)— Battle of Nashville, Tenn., year 
 1864. Gen. George H. Thomas (Union, 55,000 men) vs. 
 Gen. John B. Hood (Confederate, 44,000 men). The 
 battle lasted two days (Dec. 15 and 16). It resulted in a 
 corpplete Union victory. On the morning of the 15th, 
 Thomas, who had waited long in spite of the impatient 
 orders of General Grant, moved suddenly in fog and rain 
 
 324 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 against Hood whose army was strongly posted upon the 
 hills south of Nashville. The Confederates resisted des- 
 perately during two days of continuous battle, and then 
 broke. Their retreat soon became a rout through the 
 rain soaked country of southern Tennessee, across 
 swollen rivers and creeks, into Mississippi where, at Tu- 
 pelo, on Jan. 13, 1865, General Hood, having only a 
 ragged remnant of the splendid army' which faced 
 Thomas at Nashville, asked to be relieved of command. 
 Excepting the Petersburg campaign which ended at Ap- 
 pomattox, the Battle of Nashville was the most disastrous 
 defeat in a technical military sense, which the Confed- 
 eracy suffered in the Civil War. The Union loss was 400 
 killed and 1,740 wounded. The total Confederate loss, in 
 battle and retreat, was about 15,000, including prisoners; 
 but the Confederates also lost thousands who left the 
 ranks and went to their homes, never again to join an 
 army against the United States. The battle is also no- 
 table because breech-loading rifles were used for the first 
 time by a large section of the Union army, instead of the 
 muzzle loaders ; these rifles were a great factor in the 
 battle. The result made General Thomas a national hero, 
 and history has awarded him rank among the Union offi- 
 cers at least equal to Sherman as a commander, and sec- 
 ond only to Grant. 
 
 BOSTON TEA PARTY 
 December 16, 1773 
 The Boston Tea Party, so-called in that idiomatic 
 language which springs from the genius of the American' 
 people, was the first deliberately militant act of the 
 American Revolution. It marked the end of peaceful 
 legalistic opposition of the Colonies to the principle as- 
 serted by King George HI. of England that the colonists 
 might be taxed by a legislative or executive body in 
 which they had not. and could not have direct personal 
 representation. 
 
 King George HI. came to the throne of England in 
 325 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 1760. Unlike his two predecessors who quietly allowed 
 Parliament and ministers to govern, he was ambitious to 
 personally rule the nation. He used methods like those 
 of later political bosses to control Parliament. Corrup- 
 tion and fraud in the conduct of elections and among the 
 office holders were accepted by the people generally as 
 necessary matters of fact. Ancient boroughs, with no 
 population at all but only the manor of some nobleman, 
 sent members to Parliament, while such cities as Bir- 
 mingham and Leeds, rapidly growing great, had no rep- 
 resentation. The Parliament was practically owned by 
 the king and a few families of aristocrats. Public opinion, 
 as the term is understood in our time, did not exist in 
 England then. There were no newspapers, and pam- 
 phlets and books were scarce. The population was 
 largely rural and ignorant, and this element was almost 
 completely dominated by the country squires, the 
 "junker" class, who were small minded and not better 
 educated than the average English mechanic of to-day. 
 In the city of London and in a few other large cities, 
 there was an active element of free, outspoken citizenry, 
 composed mostly of tradesmen and journeymen, who 
 were quick to resent the assumption of new authority 
 by the aristocratic class. Aside from this progressive 
 citizenry, the mass of the population exerted practically 
 no influence upon King nor Parliament. Thus it is plain 
 that the people of England — speaking truly of a nation — 
 had nothing to do with the quarrel about American taxa- 
 tion which resulted in American independence. 
 
 The English treasury had been drained by the Seven 
 Years' War in Europe and the French and Indian War 
 in America, both of which ended in 1763. King George 
 needed money. The people of England were taxed to 
 the limit. Still more money was needed, and the King 
 resolved to tax the American colonists. Parliament 
 passed the Stamp Act in 1765. The Colonies resisted its 
 enforcement so strenuously that it was repealed in 1766. 
 (See March 19, 1766.) But the King insisted that he and 
 
 326 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 his Parliament had a right to tax the Colonies, and, 
 though the Stamp Act proved inexpedient, it was good in 
 principle. The King and the aristocratic class had been 
 stung to fury by the victory for liberalism in the repeal 
 of the Stamp Act. They resolved to establish the prin- 
 ciple that the Colonists must pay taxes to the Crown, 
 even though they be not represented in Parliament. In 
 1767, Parliament passed what is known as "the Towns- 
 hend Acts" — so called because they were devised by 
 Charles Townshend, one of the King's ministers. They 
 provided for customs duties at American seaports on 
 wine, oil, fruits, glass, paper, lead, coloring for paints, 
 and tea, which articles were being shipped from the con- 
 tinental countries of Europe to America. The revenue 
 thus obtained was to go to the King. 
 
 Again the Colonies resisted. But the King de- 
 termined that he would not be beaten as he had been 
 beaten by the repeal of the Stamp Act. He sent two 
 regiments of troops to Boston, in Oct. 1768, to overawe 
 the people of Massachusetts, and to aid his revenue col- 
 lectors. This display of military force only increased the 
 American opposition to the tax collectors of the King. 
 It led to the so-called Boston Massacre. (See March 5, 
 1770.) The revenue collectors failed. The amount col- 
 lected in the American colonies was insignificant during 
 two years. The London merchants and journeymen who 
 had suffered much because of the stopping of trade with 
 the Colonies due to the Townshend Acts began to protest 
 against the King's methods. There grew up in Parlia- 
 ment a small liberal group opposed to arbitrary govern- 
 ment by the King. The King found it expedient to repeal 
 the Townshend Acts — in April, 1770 — all except the duty 
 on tea. This tax he resolved to hold to the last, to save 
 the pride and vanity of the English oligarchy, even 
 though it might not bring a shilling of revenue. 
 
 So the tax on tea was allowed to stand, but it was a 
 dead letter for three years. The question was revived in 
 the autumn of 1773. The East India Company, the fore- 
 
 327 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 most commercial corporation of England, had 17,000,000 
 pounds of tea stored in the warehouses in England, await- 
 ing a market. The Colonists, at this time, were buying 
 their tea mostly from Holland, and getting it smuggled 
 into the Colonies. The English Ministry wanted to help 
 the East India Company. They devised a scheme where- 
 by the Company's tea could be sold in the Colonies 
 cheaper than the tea smuggled from Holland. The King 
 and Ministry also calculated the opportunity was now 
 good to establish thieir principle of taxation. 
 
 But, in the eight years following the passage of the 
 Stamp Act, the colonists had organized and had estab- 
 lished what approximated de facto government, inde- 
 pendent of the Crown. Each colony had established what 
 was called Committees of Correspondence. These Com- 
 mittees were, in fact, legislative and executive bodies 
 disguised to avoid an open break with th^ King's govern- 
 ment. When the news of the new scheme to send tea to 
 the Colonies and collect the duty became known in 
 America, the Committees of Correspondence instantly 
 planned resistance ; they held that the duty on tea, though 
 small, was in principle a violation of their rights, as much 
 so as the Stamp Act. They resolved that no tea should 
 be landed in America. They planned to use only peace- 
 ful, legal means, up to the last extremity. 
 
 Late in October, 1773, ships laden with tea set sail 
 from England, bound for Boston, New York, Phila- 
 delphia and Charleston. 
 
 The ship Dartmouth, first of the tea fleet, arrived in 
 Boston Harbor on Nov. 28. The Boston Committee of 
 Correspondence notified Rotch, the captain of the ship, 
 that it would be "at his peril" if he tried to land the tea. 
 For two weeks a legal battle waged between the King's 
 revenue officers and the representatives of the Committee 
 of Correspondence. The captain of the Dartmouth hav- 
 ing a wholesome fear of the Colonists, promised to take 
 the tea back to England. But the King's revenue offi- 
 cers, aided by the King's governor of the province, 
 
 328 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 warned him that he must land the tea within twenty 
 days after arrival of the ship, according to the customs 
 law, else they would take possession and land it them- 
 selves. The twenty days' time limit would expire at the 
 end of Dec. 16. In the meantime, two other ships laden 
 with tea arrived. 
 
 On Dec. 11, the Committee summoned Rotch and 
 asked him why he had not sailed back to England. He 
 answered that he could not go without a clearance. They 
 ordered him to apply at once for a clearance. The cus- 
 toms collector refused to give him a clearance unless the 
 tea should be first landed. Also the governor stationed 
 two warships at the harbor entrance to prevent the Dart- 
 mouth going out. Since the collector of customs would 
 not give a clearance, the ship could not get out except 
 by special pass from the governor. 
 
 December 16 came, the last day of the twenty, and 
 still the Dartmouth and the two other ships lay at the 
 wharf. A great mass meeting of 7,(XX) people gathered 
 in the Old South Meeting House and the nearby streets, 
 in the forenoon of this day. Governor Hutchinson, know- 
 ing that the pass would be demanded of him, had gone 
 away to his country home at Milton, thus to foil the 
 Committee. But the Committee, in "deadly earnest, or- 
 dered Captain Rotch to go to Milton and get the pass. 
 Rotch obeyed, knowing he was in grave peril. 
 
 For hours the meeting awaited his return, meanwhile 
 discussing plans of action in case the governor refused. 
 At one point, John Rowe, a prominent citizen, spoke up, 
 "Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water?" 
 Quick applause burst out at the suggestion. It was not 
 the first time that many had heard it. It is said that a 
 plan to throw the tea overboard had been carefully pre- 
 pared, in every detail, in the back room of the Boston 
 Gazette newspaper, by a few of the leaders. 
 
 The day waned, and darkness came. The church 
 was lighted with candles. They waited, 7,000 men, grow- 
 ing silent — waited for the return of Rotch. Would he 
 
 329 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 comeback? If not, what would they do? So questioned, 
 silently for the most, that mass waiting in the shadow 
 trembling candle light and in the moonlit streets outside. 
 For, rising oift of their souls with the passing moments 
 was the conviction that lightning and the storm was near 
 upon them. 
 
 The strain was broken, by a resolution, unanimously 
 adopted, that, come what may, the tea should not be 
 landed. An hour later, about six o'clock, Rotch arrived. 
 He reported that the governor would not give him a pass. 
 There was a profound stillness. Then Samuel Adams 
 arose, and spoke clearly: 
 
 "This meeting can do nothing more to save the 
 country!" 
 
 It was the signal which the Sons of Liberty, a secret 
 society, awaited and expected. Fifty of them, disguised 
 as Indians of the Narragansett tribe, known only to the 
 leaders, had gathered silently in a band on the porch of 
 the church. At the last syllable of Adams' announce- 
 ment, the band gave forth the Indian war whoop and in- 
 stantly marched toward Griffin's wharf followed by thou- 
 sands. In disciplined order they posted guards, and 
 swiftly boarded the three ships. The moon gave them 
 light upon the decks, and lanterns were carried in the 
 ship's holds. Those on deck drew their tomahawks. 
 They spoke a jargon sounding like the Indian language 
 which they had invented. Each of them carried two 
 pistols to be used to the death if the ships should be de- 
 fended by armed men. But there was no resistance. The 
 boxes of tea were lifted from the holds to the decks, 
 smashed open with tomahawks, and the contents poured 
 into the sea water of the harbor. A total of 342 chests 
 were destroyed. When all was over, the pseudo-Indians 
 disappeared. The great crowd melted quietly away. 
 Thus was accomplished the first act of armed force, de- 
 finitely planned against King George and the English 
 oligarchy, in the American Revolution. In the morning 
 after, Paul Revere was galloping westward to New York 
 
 330 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 and Philadelphia with the news that Boston had acted, 
 and the drama of the Revolution was on. 
 
 Dec. 16 (1835)— Great fire in New York, year 1835. 
 Six hundred houses in the heart of the city were de- 
 stroyed. The loss was $20,000,000. 
 
 Dec. 16 (1884)— World's Industrial and Cotton Cen- 
 tennial Exposition opened at New Orleans, year 1884. 
 Closed Oct. 31, 1885. 
 
 Dec. 16 (1900)— The Hay-Pauncefote treaty, drafted 
 by Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambas- 
 sador Lord Pauncefote, designed to be substituted for 
 the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 defining the relations 
 of the United States and Great Britain in the matter of 
 the Panama or the Nicaraguan Canal, was ratified by the 
 United States Senate, year 1900. Ratifications between 
 the two governments were exchanged on Feb. 21, 1902 
 and the treaty was proclaimed Feb. 22, 1902. (See April 
 19, 1850, Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.) 
 
 Dec. 17 (1895) — President Cleveland sent to Con- 
 gress his "Venezuelan Message," bearing upon the quar- 
 rel between Great Britain and Venezuela over the boun- 
 dary line between the latter country and British Guiana, 
 and incidentally involving the United States because of 
 the Monroe Doctrine. The Cleveland administration 
 suspected that Great Britain was trying to extend her ter- 
 ritory at the expense of Venezuela. The following pas- 
 sage in the message gave it great significance at the time : 
 "It will, in my opinion, be the duty of the 
 United States to resist by every means in its power 
 as a willful aggression upon its rights and interests 
 the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands or 
 the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any 
 territory which after investigation we have deter- 
 mined of right belongs to Venezuela." 
 The message caused intense excitement in all three 
 countries and, for a time, the countries were on the brink 
 of war. Eventually common sense prevailed, and, on 
 
 331 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Feb. 2, 1897, Great Britain and Venezuela signed, at 
 Washington, an arbitration treaty. On Oct. 3, 1899, the 
 matter was settled by the report of the Arbitration Trib- 
 unal. 
 
 Dec. 17 (1903) — First successful flight of an aeroplane 
 carrying a man, year 1903. It was made by Willard 
 Wright of Dayton, O., at Kittyhawk, N. C, near the sea, 
 a lonely section where he and his brother Wilbur had 
 gone to experiment, far from the curious eyes of the 
 public. 
 
 Dec. 17 (1917) — House of Representatives, by a vote 
 of 242 to 128, adopted a resolution for an amendment to 
 the Constitution prohibiting the liquor traffic, year 1917. 
 The Senate had adopted the resolution on the preceding 
 Aug. 1, by a vote of 65 to 20. 
 
 Dec. 18. (1865) — Thirteenth amendment to the Con- 
 stitution, abolishing slavery, went into force, year 1865. 
 (See Jan. 31.) 
 
 Dec. 19 (1776)— "The Crisis," a pamphlet written by 
 Thomas Paine, which profoundly affected public opinion 
 in the American Colonies early in the American Revolu- 
 tion, was first placed in the book shops of Philadelphia 
 for sale, and in the hands of street news vendors of that 
 city, year 1776. (See Independence Day, July 4.) 
 
 Dec. 20 (1860) — South Carolina seceded from the 
 Union, the first of the Confederate States of America, 
 year 1860. 
 
 Dec. 21 (1630) — Cambridge, Mass., was founded, 
 year 1630. 
 
 Dec. 21 (1864)— Gen. W. T. Sherman and staff rode 
 into the city of Savannah, Ga., and took possession, thus 
 successfully completing what is known as the "March to 
 the Sea" across the State of Georgia in the Civil War. 
 Sherman's army of 60,000 Union men remained in en- 
 campments outside the city. The Confederates evacuated 
 Savannah the day before. (See Nov. 16.) 
 
 332 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 \ Dec. 21 (1866) — Indian massacre of U. S. troops at 
 Fort Philip Kearney, Wyo., year 1866. Three officers 
 and ninety men were killed and scalped. 
 
 Dec. 21 (1900)— The U. S. Philippine Commission 
 ordered that all laws of the Philippine Islands be printed 
 in English, thus making that language the official 
 language. Three hundred and thirty years before this 
 Spain had captured Manila, thus completing the conquest 
 of the Islands *nd Spanish had been the official language 
 during these centuries. 
 
 FOREFATHERS' DAY— ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 
 LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH 
 
 December 22, 1620 
 
 The story of the Pilgrims properly begins about the 
 year 1565 when Queen Elizabeth of England, who had 
 newly established the Church of England, issued a proc- 
 lamation declaring that strict conformity to the tenets 
 and ritualism of that church would be enforced. This 
 was the beginning of militant coercion directed against 
 the radical or democratic Protestants who refused to join 
 the Anglican church established by the Queen. The co- 
 ercion had the effect of bringing into existence a religio- 
 politico party of protest, composed of fearless, or fanatical 
 or extremely progressive Puritans who separated from 
 the moderate Puritans — as the first dissenters from the 
 Established Church were called. This new religious 
 party of extremists began about 1580, and were called 
 "Brownists" at first because their first clergyman was 
 named Robert Brown. They themselves adopted the 
 word "Separatist" to describe their cult, indicating that 
 they had "separated" from the Church of England, and 
 also had "separated" from the great body of Puritan 
 Protestants. These Separatists were detested by the 
 Church of England, by the Roman Catholics, and by the 
 moderate Puritans. Indeed, they were looked upon as 
 pariahs by the overwhelming mass of the people of Eng- 
 
 333 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 land, led, of course, by the officers of the privileged 
 classes. They were persecuted during twenty-three years 
 by the government of Queen Elizabeth, and, after her 
 death, her successor James I. continued the persecution, 
 'resolved to bring them into conformity with the Estab- 
 lished Church, or else exterminate them. At the time 
 when King James succeeded to the throne in 1603, there 
 were about 20,000 Separatists in England. 
 
 At this time there lived, at a littj^ hamlet called 
 Scrooby in the county of Nottingham in the north of 
 England, a young man of exceptional talent and educa- 
 tion named William Brewster. He had been educated at 
 Cambridge University and had served as secretary to 
 William Davidson, Elizabeth's Puritan secretary ot state. 
 He had returned to his father's house at Scrooby — which 
 was an old inn, with an intimate knowledge of the Eng- 
 lish court and of government officialdom. He was ap- 
 pointed, in 1594, postmaster at Scrooby, with a salary 
 and fees amounting to an equivalent of $6,500 a year of 
 present-day money. He was an advanced Puritan and 
 entirely in sympathy with the Separatist movement. He 
 quickly formed a little band of Separatists who lived in 
 Scrooby and the neighboring villages. They had no reg- 
 ular church organization, but met at Brewster's inn for 
 religious conferences. For nineteen years, in secrecy, 
 Brewster was the chief financial supporter of the Sepa- 
 ratist cause in the north of England. 
 
 Among those who joined the little band at Scrooby, 
 about the year 1605, was a boy of sixteen named William 
 Bradford, of good yeoman family and gentle education, 
 who, many years after, wrote "The History of Plimouth 
 Plantation" which is practically the only record of the 
 Pilgrim emigration. 
 
 At last, in the year 1608, persecution having become 
 so bitter that they could no longer exist as a community, 
 the Scrooby band, about 100 in number, escaped to Hol- 
 land and settled in the city of Leyden. Here they re- 
 mained twelve years, peacefully practising their religion, 
 
 334 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 yet at the same time carrying on a propaganda for the 
 conversion of the people of England to their religious and 
 political ideals. William Brewster, officially made "elder" 
 of the congregation, was the leader of this propaganda. 
 He, in partnership with William Brewer who had con- 
 siderable-wealth, established a printing concern and pub- 
 lished pamphlets and books which were smuggled into 
 England. Brewster himself set the type and operated the 
 printing press. Another type setter was Edward Wins- 
 low. William Bradford, who later became the historian, 
 practised the trade of "fustian worker" or cloth maker. 
 
 But the printing press of the Leyden congregation 
 gave great offense to King James and his henchmen. 
 After a time, the English government succeeded in hav- 
 ing the Dutch government suppress the press, and it was 
 turned over to the University of Leyden together with 
 the type, in 1618. At this time, there broke out the poli- 
 tico-religious contest between the Calvinists and the Ar- 
 minians of the Dutch Republic. Also war with Spain 
 was imminent. What with this turmoil, and their print- 
 ing press being taken from them, the conviction was 
 forced on them that they must seek another home. After 
 a long debate among themselves, they resolved to go to 
 America. They addressed a memorial to King James, in 
 1619, praying to be allowed to settle in Virginia. The 
 King turned their petition over to his ecclesiastical ad- 
 visers, who indirectly told the Leyden congregation that 
 no "Brownists" were wanted in Virginia. Then they ap- 
 pealed to the Dutch, asking that they be allowed to settle 
 in New Netherlands [New York]. But the Dutch feared 
 to offend King James and so ignored the request. Mean- 
 while, there had been organized in London a company of 
 capitalists called "The Merchant Adventurers of London" 
 whose purpose was to colonize America and receive divi- 
 dends from the colonists who were assisted by the corpo- 
 ration. The London merchants cared nothing about the 
 religious controversy between the King and the Separa- 
 tists. They looked upon the men of the Leyden congre- 
 
 335 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 . gation as good material for colonization purposes, who 
 would return rich dividends to the corporation. The cor- 
 poration devised a scheme to get a patent from the King 
 for the colonization of the country which Captain John 
 Smith — he claimed — had called New England. Being 
 men of influence, the London Merchant Adventurers did 
 get the patent, and, in March, 1620, signed an agreement 
 with the representatives of the congregation at Leyden 
 by which the latter were to settle in New England, and 
 the corporation was to finance part of the expedition. 
 Brewster was again the leader in this transaction, and he 
 supervised most of the preparations for the voyage. Also, 
 it was through his powerful personal friends that the 
 King finally consented to let them go. 
 
 They bought, in Holland, a little two-masted ship of 
 60 tons, a "pinnace," which they named Speedwell and 
 which they intended to use for the passage to England, 
 and later in America for fishing. Also they hired, at 
 London, a larger ship which was named Mayflower, of 
 180 tons. She was approximately 97 feet in length over 
 all, and 20 feet in width, with three masts ; her deck was 
 open to the sky amidships, and had a covered forecastle, 
 and a cabin at the stern where the women and some of 
 the men could be sheltered. 
 
 Only a part of the congregation — perhaps less than 
 one half — signified their willingness to go in the first 
 voyage. When the time came to embark in Holland, 
 there were about 100 persons ready to go in the Speed- 
 well, and twenty more in England were to join them at 
 Southampton. 
 
 The word "Pilgrims," applied in a titular way to the 
 first colonists of Plymouth, was first used in a written 
 record by William Bradford, in his "History of Plimouth 
 Plantation." Writing in the year 1630, he described the 
 departure from Holland: "So they left that goodly and 
 pleasant citie [Leyden], which had been their resting 
 place near 12 years; but they knew they were PIL- 
 GRIMES, and looked not much on those things, but lift 
 
 336 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and 
 quieted their spirits." It is probable that he used the 
 term in the same way as St. Paul had used it in his 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, "These all died in faith, not 
 having received the promises, but having seen them 
 afar ofif, and were pursuaded of them, and embraced 
 them, and confessed that they were strangers and 
 pilgrims on the earth." We know that the eleventh 
 chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews was a favorite 
 in the church of Leyden. The word "PILGRIMES" 
 seems to have been lettered in capitals by Bradford in 
 his manuscript. Whether this^as because he wished 
 to merely emphasize the word, or whether he had in mind 
 that it might be used as a term to distinctly identify the 
 congregation of Leyden, we do not know. There is no 
 other evidence to show that they were called "Pilgrims," 
 either by themselves or others. Certainly the general 
 public of England continued to call them "Brownists," 
 "Separatists," "Independents," but not "Pilgrims." It 
 was not until a hundred years after the landing at Ply- 
 mouth that the title "Pilgrims" was generally used in 
 referring to them. 
 
 Early in August, 1620, they sailed in the Speedwell 
 from Delfshaven, Holland, across the North Sea and 
 through the English Channel, to Southampton, where 
 they found the Mayflower awaiting them with the rest of 
 the company. Of those who joined them at Southamp- 
 ton, one was named John Alden, a cooper, who was hired 
 to take care of the barrels and casks on board. The law 
 compelled them to take a cooper with them. Alden not 
 being one of the Pilgrims, but only a hired man, was left 
 to his own liking, whether to remain in America as a 
 colonist or return with the ship to England. He met, at 
 Southampton, Priscilla Mullins, the young daughter of 
 William Mullins of the Leyden Church, and the meeting 
 gave to, America its earliest historic love story. 
 
 On Aug. 16, the two ships Mayflower and Speedwell 
 put to sea, with about 120 colonists, and sailed westward. 
 
 337 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 After seventy .miles, the Speedwell began to leak, so they 
 put into the port of Dartmouth, where the smaller ship 
 was repaired, and again they sailed westward. But when 
 they were out in the ocean westward of Ireland, the 
 master of the Speedwell complained again that his ship 
 was unseaworthy, so they put back and entered the har- 
 bor of Plymouth in the south of England. Here they 
 decided to abandon the Speedwell and all go in the May- 
 flower. But all could not find quarters in the Mayflower, 
 so those who were most discouraged, some twenty in 
 number, were put ashore at Plymouth and remained. At 
 last, on Sept. 16, 1620, tEe Mayflower put out from Ply- 
 mouth harbor, with 102 persons exclusive of the sailor 
 crew and officers. 
 
 William Bradford has written the only authoritative 
 account of the voyage of the Mayflower. He put it all in 
 about 750 words — a little more than would fill the space 
 of, one half column of a standard size newspaper. We 
 feel a hunger, when reading Bradford, to know more 
 of the romance and awe and comedy and tragedy of 
 this amazing voyage. He tells us that they enjoyed 
 fair winds and weather "for a season," and then encoun- 
 tered cross winds and many fierce storms which shook 
 the ship. Of incidents that make the web of history we 
 have but a starveling few. The sailors muttered and 
 were for returning to England. A beam of the ship 
 buckled and was braced back into place with "a great iron 
 scru" — in fact a jack-screw which one of the passengers 
 had brought from Holland. A swearing young sailor 
 who laughed and sneered at them died, "Thus his curses 
 light on his own head ; and it was astpnishment to all his 
 fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of GOD 
 upon him" ; John Howland, a lusty young man, fell over- 
 board and was providentially hauled back on board. Not 
 until the end of his book, when making a list of the pas- 
 sengers, did Bradford think to mention that a son was 
 born to Giles Hopkins and his wife Constantia, in the 
 Mayflower at sea, and this child was named Oc'eanus 
 
 338 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 Hopkins. He concludes his account of the voyage with 
 these words : 
 
 "In all this viage, ther died but one of the pas- 
 sengers, which was William Butten, a youth, serv- 
 ant to Samuel Fuller, when they drew near the 
 coast. But to omite other things, that I may be 
 breefe, after long beating at sea they fell with that 
 land which is called Cape Cod ; the which being 
 made and certainly known to be it, they were not 
 a little joyful." 
 The landfall of Cape Cod was made on Nov. 19, 1620. 
 After a consultation, they bore away to the southward, 
 intending to sail farther west to the Hudson River, but 
 they got among shoals and breakers and thought them- 
 selves in great danger, so they turned back to Cape Cod, 
 and, Nov. 21, the Mayflozver rounded the northernmost 
 point of the Cape and dropped anchor in what is now 
 Cape Cod Harbor, at Provincetown. 
 
 The distance, as a steamship makes the course, frorn 
 Plymouth, England, to Cape Cod Harbor is 2,750 knots 
 or geographical miles. Counting the day of departure 
 and the day of arrival, the voyage of the Mayflower 
 was of sixty-seven days' duration. Compare this with 
 the first voyage of Columbus, which, for nearly the same 
 distance, from Canary Islands to San Salvador, took 
 thirty-five days. 
 
 Now, winter being nearly upon them, and the master 
 of the ship being impatient to sail back to England, the 
 Pilgrim leaders resolved to find a place of habitation as 
 quickly as possible, on the land of Cape Cod or near it. 
 But first of all they wisely organized a government for 
 their colony. On the very day when the Mayflower 
 anchored, they drew up and signed the famous paper 
 known as "The Cape Cod Compact," a short constitution 
 providing a form of government. The authors of this 
 priceless document were probably Brewster, Bradford, 
 Winslow and Carver. Immediately after signing it, they 
 chose John Carver as governor for one year. 
 
 339 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 Next day they began the exploration of the inside 
 coast of Cape Cod. The manner in which they went 
 ashore and scoured the land of Cape Cod for a whole 
 month, seeking a proper place to- land and build houses, 
 is vividly told in "Mourt's Relation or Journal." The 
 exploring party used a small boat, or "shallop," which 
 they rowed and sailed along the coast. In the third 
 voyage of this shallop, there were in the' boat the follow- 
 ing named men: Captain Myles Standish, Governor 
 Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Til- 
 ley, Edward Tilley, John Rowland, Richard Warren, 
 Stephan Hopkins and Edward Dotey — all of the Pilgrim 
 company, and two sailors in their employ named John 
 Allerton and Thomas English; also there were of the 
 regular Mayflower seamen, two of the master's mates 
 named Master John Clarke and Master Robert Coppin, 
 and the Master Gunner of the ship, and three other sailors 
 whose names are unknown — a total of eighteen men in 
 the shallop. 
 
 On Monday, Dec. 22, the shallop entered the water 
 which they later called Plymouth Bay. In Mourt's Rela- 
 tion the story of the landing is told in these little para- 
 graphs : 
 
 "We sounded the harbor; and found it a very 
 
 good harbor for our shipping. We march also into 
 
 the land; and found divers corn fields and little 
 
 running brooks. A place very good for situation. 
 
 "So we returned to our ship again, with good 
 
 news to the rest of our people; which did much 
 
 comfort their hearts." 
 
 This is all we have, of authoritative written record, 
 
 to prove the landing at Plymouth. The story of the large 
 
 flat boulder rising above the water's edge at the foot of a 
 
 hill, which is known to all the world as Plymouth Rock, 
 
 upon whic^ stepped the men of the Mayflower's shallop 
 
 when they came ashore at Plymouth, is entirely one of 
 
 tradition. In all likelihood it is a true story. But the 
 
 present written record of Plymouth Rock dates from the 
 
 340 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 year 1741, one hundred and twenty-one years after the 
 landing, when Thomas Faunae, the son of Elder Thomas 
 Faunce who came to Plymouth in 1623, came back to 
 Plymouth, and before many witnesses, identified the 
 Rock about which he had played throughout all his boy- 
 hood days, and he told the story as it had been told to 
 him by his father and others of that immortal company 
 who had landed there on Dec. 22, 1620, the day which 
 shall be known as Forefathers' Day while civilization 
 lasts in the First Republic of the Western World. 
 
 Dec. 22 (1781) — Marquis de Lafayette, following the 
 surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and after four and 
 a half years of service in the American army under Wash- 
 ington, sailed from Boston in the U. S. S. Alliance, return- 
 ing to his native land, year 1781. 
 
 Dec. 22 (1807) — Congress passed an Embargo Act 
 prohibiting all foreign commerce, forbidding vessels to 
 sail from American ports, year 1807. It was directed 
 against both England and France. It was repealed on 
 March 1, 1809. On Jan. 9, 1808, a second and more 
 stringent act was passed. This was commonly and satiri- 
 cally called the "O Grab Me" Act— spelling "Embargo" 
 backward. 
 
 Dec. 23 (1862) — President Jefferson Davis of the 
 Confederacy proclaimed Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, the 
 Union commander whose force had captured New Or- 
 leans (May 1, 1862), "an outlaw and common enemy of 
 mankind," and directed that if captured he "be imme- 
 diately executed by hanging," year 1862. This extraor- 
 dinary proclamation, the only one of its kind during the 
 Civil War, was the outcome of the frenzied bitterness 
 among the Southern leaders caused by Butler's restric- 
 tive methods in the rhilitary government of New Orleans 
 and other captured districts of Louisiana. The most 
 famous (or "infamous," as the Southern people charac- 
 terized it) of his measures was "General Order No. 28," 
 issued May 18, 1862, This ^was directed against the 
 
 341 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 women of New Orleans. Butler had a total of^ 2,500 
 Union men, holding a city of 150,000 population bitterly- 
 hostile to him and his soldiers. The women especially 
 showed exaggerated scorn of the Northern soldiers. But- 
 ler's order read, in part : 
 
 "As the officers and soldiers of the United States 
 have been subject to repeated insults from the women 
 (calling themselves ladies) in return for the most scru- 
 pulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is 
 ordered that hereafter when any female shall, by word, 
 gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any 
 officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be re- 
 garded and held liable to be treated as a woman" — of no 
 character. 
 
 To an intensely sensitive people like those of New 
 Orleans, this was a mortal insult, and was so regarded 
 by all the Southern leaders. General Butler was the only 
 man identified with the Union cause who committed an 
 unpardonable crime, according to the code of the South. 
 He was a man of great will force, and he wrote to the 
 mayor of New Orleans, saying : 
 
 "There can be no room for misunderstanding of 
 Gen. Order No. 28. No lady will take any notice of a 
 strange gentleman, and a fortiori of a stranger, in such 
 form as to attract attention. If obeyed, it will protect 
 the true and modest woman from all insult." 
 
 Butler asserted that the order effectively stopped the 
 flouting of his men. Luckily for him, he was not cap- 
 tured by the Confederates, but served in high command 
 until the end of the war, well trusted by Lincoln and 
 Grant. No single incident of the Civil War aroused such 
 widespread passionate resentment in the South as this 
 New Orleans affair, and the name of-"Ben Butler" is still 
 anathema in Louisiana. 
 
 Dec. 24 (1814)— Treaty of Ghent (Belgium) between 
 the United States and England, ending the War of 1812, 
 was signed, year 1814. The American commissioners 
 
 342 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 who signed it were John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, 
 James A. Bayard, Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell. By 
 this treaty the northern boundary of the United States, 
 excepting at the Pacific northwest, was permanently es- 
 tablished. Curiously, the treaty was silent on the ques- 
 tions which had caused the war, viz., the impressment of 
 seamen and the searching of merchant ships at sea. But 
 these questions had been settled, in effect, by the defeat 
 of Napoleon and the pacification of Europe in 1813. 
 
 Dec. 25 (1867) — General amnesty and pardon for all 
 acts against the United States during the Civil War was 
 proclaimed by President Johnson, year 1867. 
 
 Dec. 26 (1776)— Battle of Trenton, N. J., year 1776. 
 General Washington (American, 2,000 men) vs. Col. Jo- 
 han Gotlieb Rail (Hessian, 1,500 men). A complete 
 American victory. Immediately after the White Plains 
 campaign of the Revolutionary War (1776) Washingfton 
 retreated to New Jersey, followed by the British under 
 Howe. Washington's army of 13,000 was soon reduced 
 to 6,000 because of short term enlistments. Also, at this 
 time, traitors and intriguers like General Lee and Gen- 
 eral Gates sought by villainous means to have him re- 
 moved from command ; they gave him no aid in this crit- 
 ical time, and so the British easily overran all of New 
 Jersey and openly asserted that the war was practically 
 ended and American independence quashed. They estab- 
 lished posts at Trenton, Pennington, Bordentown and 
 Burlington, intending, at their leisure, to cross into Penn- 
 sylvania and capture Philadelphia. Washington had re- 
 treated across the Delaware River to protect Phila- 
 delphia. To arouse the new nation from its depression, 
 he planned an extraordinary movement. Knowing the 
 character of the Hessian troops in the service of Eng- 
 land, and believing that the garrison of Trenton, 1,250 
 men, would celebrate Christmas in their accustomed man- 
 ner, eating and drinking and carousing, and thus render 
 themselves unfit to fight if surprised, he silently crossed 
 
 343 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the Delaware River in boats after midnight of Christmas 
 night, the coldest night of that year, with 2,000 men, and 
 at early morning fell upon the debauched Hessians from 
 all sides. The battle lasted thirty-five minutes. Colonel 
 Rail was mortally wounded. Seventeen Hessians were 
 killed, seventy-eight wounded, and 946 were taken pris- 
 oners. Only 292 escaped. Marvellously, not a single 
 American was killed or wounded ! The Americans cap- 
 tured 1,200 muskets and six brass cannon of which they 
 were in sore need. This victory electrified America, 
 changed the whole current of war, and was a vital factor 
 in securing American independence. 
 
 Dec. 26 (1837) — George Dewey, admiral of the U. S. 
 Navy, born at Montpelier, Vt., year 1837 ; died at Wash- 
 ington, D. C, Jan. 16, 1917. (See Battle of Manila Bay, 
 May 1.) 
 
 Dec. 27 (1832)— John C. Calhoun, Vice-President of 
 the United States in the first administration of President 
 Jackson, resigned, year 1832. This is the only resigna- 
 tion of the office in our history. He was at variance with 
 the policies of President Jackson. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1810) — Machine for making wrought iron 
 nails, patented by the inventor, Seth Boyden of Foxboro, 
 Mass., year 1810. Prior to this invention, nails had been 
 made by hand, with forge and hammer. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1835)— Gen. Alexander R. Thompson, sent 
 by President Jackson to insist on the execution of the 
 treaty of 1834 with the Seminole Indians, was massacred 
 with others of his force, by a party of Seminoles under 
 Chief Osceola, at Fort King, 60 miles southwest of St. 
 Augustine, Fla., year 1835. This was the beginning of 
 the Seminole War which lasted seven years. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1846) — Iowa was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1846. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1856)— Woodrow Wilson (Thomas Wood- 
 row Wilson), twenty-eighth President of the United 
 States, born at Staunton, Va., year 1856. Graduated from 
 
 344 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 Princeton University in 1879. Practised law at Atlanta, 
 Ga., for one year, 1882-1883. He then devoted himself to 
 historical research, jurisprudence and political science. 
 Was chosen president of Princeton University in 1902, 
 being the first layman (non-clerical) to hold the place. 
 Was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1910. Nomi- 
 nated by the Democratic party for President in 1912 and 
 elected. Electoral vote (48 States) : Wilson, 435 ; Roose- 
 velt (Progressive), 88; Taft (Republican), 8. Inaugu- 
 rated March 4, 1913. The chief events of his first admin- 
 istration were : Agreement with the United States of Co- 
 lombia concerning recognition of the independence of the 
 Republic of Panama, the United States of America to pay 
 $25,000,000 to Colombia (1914) ; opening of the Panama 
 Canal (1914) ; Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Fran- 
 cisco (1915) ; sinking of the Lusitania (l^^lay 7, 1915) and 
 consequent diplomatic controversy with Germany over 
 the main question of submarine warfare; quasi-war with 
 Mexican bandits led by Villa which involved a diplomatic 
 contest with the de facto Mexican government headed by 
 Carranza (1916). Was renominated by the Democratic 
 party for President in 1916 and reelected. Popular vote 
 (48 States): Wilson, 9,129,269; Charles E. Hughes (Re- 
 publican), 8,547,328 ; Allan J. Benson (Socialist), 590,579. 
 Electoral vote: Wilson, 277; Hughes, 254. Was inaugu- 
 rated for the second term on March 5, 1917. 
 
 Prior to his election as President of the United 
 States, he wrote eleven books — essays, biographies, and 
 histories. His best known literary work is the "History 
 of the American .People" (published in 1912 in five vol- 
 umes), an accomplishment which would have entitled 
 him to very high rank in literature and the science of gov- 
 ernment even had he not written, later, the State paper§ 
 which influenced the thought of the whole civilized world. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1890) — Battle of Wounded Knee, S. D., year 
 1890. Gen. Nelson A. Miles (900 men U. S. cavalry) vs. 
 3,000 Sioux Indians commanded by Chief Big Foot. Of 
 
 345 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 the Indians, 200 were killed and many wounded. They 
 fled,. and next day, near White Clay. Creek made another 
 stand, and were again dispersed with heavy loss to them, 
 while eight U. S. soldiers were killed. A few skirmishes 
 occurred during the succeeding two weeks. On Jan. 21, 
 1891, the Indians surrendered, and thus ended the last 
 Indian war. 
 
 Dec. 28 (1917) — At noon of Friday, this date, year 
 1917, the United States Government took possession and 
 assumed control of the railroads of the country. The act 
 was accomplished by a proclamation of President Wilson 
 who had been authorized to do so under various acts of 
 Congress. (See Aug. 29, 1916; April, 6, 1917, and Dec. 
 7, 1917.) 
 
 Dec. 29 (1808) — Andrew Johnson, seventeenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, born at Raleigh, N. C, year 
 1808; died at Carter's Depot, Tenn., July 31, 1875. Nomi- 
 nated for Vice-President by the Republican party in 1864 
 and elected (on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln). On the 
 death of Lincoln, April 15, 1865, he became President and 
 served 3 years, 10 months and 20 days. As a result of po- 
 litical antagonism, he was accused of a series of mis- 
 demeanors in office, was impeached and tried before the 
 Senate and Supreme Court. The trial lasted from March 
 30, 1868, to May 26 following. Johnson was acquitted by a 
 vote of 35 to 19. James G. Blaine, in "Twenty Years in 
 Congress," wrote : "The sober reflection of later years has 
 persuaded many who favored impeachment that it was 
 not justifiable on the charges made." This is the only 
 impeachment of a President in the history of the United 
 States. The other chief events of his administration were 
 the Reconstruction Acts, providing for government of the 
 seceded Southern States (1867) and the purchase of 
 Alaska (1867). 
 
 Dec. 29 (1845) — Texas was admitted into the Union, 
 year 1845. 
 
 Dec. 30 (1760) — King George III. succeeded to the 
 346 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 throne of England, year 1760. (See Boston Tea Party, 
 Dec. 16.) 
 
 Dec. 30 (1853)— Treaty for the Gadsden Purchase, 
 signed, year 1853., It is so called because Gen. James 
 Gadsden, U. S. Minister to Mexico, negotiated the pur- 
 chase by the United States from Mexico of a strip of land 
 500 miles long and- 120 piles wide at its widest, including 
 an area of 45,535 square miles, now forming part of Ari- 
 zona and New Mexico. The purchase price ^^as 
 $10,000,000. 
 
 Dec. 31 (1775) — Assault on Quebec and death of 
 Montgomery, year 1775. This was the climax of the 
 American invasion of Canada in the Revolutionary War. 
 Gen. Richard Montgomery commanded the little army of 
 1,000 Americans and 200 Canadians. His chief officer was 
 Col. Benedict Arnold. The enlistment term of the New 
 England men would expire on Dec. 31, and after that 
 Montgomery's army would be so reduced in numbers 
 that a successful attack on Quebec would be altogether 
 hopeless.- The city was defended by 1,800 British reg- 
 ulars, Anglo-Canadians and French-Canadians, com- 
 manded by Gen. Sir Guy Carleton. Montgomery resolved 
 upon the desperate adventure of an assault before the 
 New England men left his army. He divided his force in 
 two, giving Arnold command of one part. He hoped to 
 surprise the garrison, and so, in a blinding snowstorm, 
 at two o'clock in the morning on the last day of the year, 
 the two divisions moved against different sides of the 
 fortress, up the rocky heights, by narrow paths, obliged 
 to go Indian file. But the garrison was alert and the 
 Americans were seeli when they reached the open in front 
 of the barriers. Montgomery, at the head of his column, 
 with only sixty men near him, cried, "Men of New York, 
 you will not fear to follow where your .general leads ! 
 Push on, brave boys ! Quebec is ours !" He rushed for- 
 ward. It was heroic madness ! A British battery belched 
 grape shot when the little band of heroes was almost up- 
 
 347 
 
AMERICAN ANNIVERSARIES 
 
 on the guns. Montgomery fell dead, and ten of his fol- 
 lowers. The others had no heart left and retreated. 
 Meanwhile, on the other side of the town, Arnold and his 
 men had plunged headlong in the blizzard and had car- 
 ried the first barricade where Arnold was wounded in the 
 leg and had to be carried off. Captain Daniel Morgan 
 assumed the command and his men pressed forward, 
 through the barricades right into the city. But in the 
 darkness, they knew not where to go. They were sur- 
 rounded and after a resistance of four hours, they sur- 
 rendered. The American loss was sixty killed and 
 wounded and 350 prisoners. The British loss was very 
 small. Montgomery's exploits had made him famous 
 even in Europe. His death immortalized him. No 
 normal American can read the story of Quebec without 
 feeling the thrill of pride and tears. 
 
 His body was buried at Quebec. After forty-two 
 years, in 1818, the remains were moved to New York and 
 placed in St. Paul's Chapel, a few feet from Broadway, 
 where hundreds of thousands each day may look upon 
 the tablet which the State of New York erected to his 
 memory. 
 
 HISTORY AND DEMOCRACY 
 
 From the Introduction to "Democracy in America" (French) 
 By De Tocqueville, 
 
 American translation published in 1838 
 
 "In perusing the pages of our history, we shall scarcely 
 meet a single great event, in the lapse of seven hundred 
 years, which has not turned to the advantage of equality. 
 * * * The various occurrences of national existence have 
 everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all 
 men have aided it by their exertions : those who have in- 
 tentionally labored in its cause, and those who have served 
 it unwittingly; those who have fought for it, and those 
 who have declared themselves its opponents, — have all been 
 driven along the same track, have all labored to one end, 
 
 348 
 
DECEMBER 
 
 some ignorantly and some unwillingly; all have been blind 
 instruments in the hands of God. * * * It is not necessary 
 that God Himself should speak in order to disclose to us 
 the vmquestionable signs of His will; we can discern them 
 in the habitual course of nature, and in the invariable ten- 
 dency of events. * * * jf ^^hg ^len of our time were led by 
 attentive observation and by sincere reflection, to acknowl- 
 edge that the gradual and progressive development of social 
 equality is at once the past and future of their history, this 
 solitary truth would confer the sacred character of a divine 
 decree upon the change. To attempt to check democracy 
 would be in that case to resist the will of God." 
 
 349 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Abolitionists". 237 
 
 Abolition Party 278 
 
 Acadia 69, 177, 178 
 
 Adams, John, 283, 4, 28, 45, 109, 
 
 124, 158, 206, 210, 242, 284, 
 
 320 
 Adams, John Quincy, 167, 43, 
 
 52, 53, 88, 343 
 
 Adams, Samuel 78, 210, 283, 284 
 
 Aero mail service 102 
 
 Agriculture, De[)t. of 201 
 
 Aguinaldo, Emilio 57 
 
 Air brake, first patent for 74 
 
 Airplane 96, 332 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of 269 
 
 Alabama Claims 66, 87 
 
 Alabama, C. S. S. cruiser. . .66, 132 
 
 Alabama, State of 69, 84, 324 
 
 Alamo, massacre of 45 
 
 Alaska 60, 270, 316 
 
 Alden, John 337 
 
 Alexander, Adam Ill 
 
 Algiers, war declared against. . 41 
 
 Alien and Sedition Acts. . . .131, 285 
 
 Allen, Ethan 5, 100, 208, 242 
 
 Allen, Horatio 182 
 
 Allerton, John 34p 
 
 Alsop, John 161 
 
 Altgeld, John P 165 
 
 "America Cup" 197 
 
 America, discovery of 259 
 
 "American Association," The.. 277 
 
 American, Baltimore newspaper. 229 
 'American Daily Advertiser, first 
 
 issue 236 
 
 "American," first used as name. 209 
 
 American Tobacco Company... 232 
 
 Amherst, Jeffrey 176 
 
 Amity vs. Margaretta, battle. . . . 121 
 
 Ampudia, Pedro de 242 
 
 Anacreonic Society of London. . 230 
 
 Anderson, Robert 70 
 
 Andre, John 241, 245 
 
 Andrews, Samuel 5 
 
 Andros, Edmund 138,194 
 
 Ann, ship 23 
 
 Antietam, battle of 235, 239 
 
 Apia, hurricane at 52 
 
 Appomattox, surrender at 67 
 
 Arbitration Tribunal 332 
 
 Arbor Day 88 
 
 Arctic Expedition 135 
 
 Arctic, sinking of steamship.... 244 
 
 Arista. Mariano 98 
 
 Arista s report 99 
 
 Arizona, State of... 19, 27, 126, 289 
 
 "Arkansas Company" 223 
 
 Arkansas, State of 126 
 
 Armstrong, James 4 
 
 Army, ministerial 208 
 
 Army of U. S., peace footing.. 169 
 
 Army, provincial 208 
 
 Arnold, Benedict, 241, 252, 253, 
 
 255, 347 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Arnold, Samuel 230 
 
 Arthur, Chester A. 247 
 
 Atlanta, battle of. 206 
 
 Atlanta, capture of 205 
 
 Atlantic Cable 139, 168, 191 
 
 Automobiles, gasolene, patent is- 
 sued 232 
 
 Avery, John 285 
 
 "Bacon's Rebellion" 81 
 
 Bailey, Gamaliel 118 
 
 Balboa, Vasco Nunez de 243 
 
 Ball, William 29 
 
 Baltic, transport 70 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. . . 36 
 
 Baltimore, Lord 59, 292 
 
 Baltimore, U. S. warship, 91, 
 198, 268 
 
 Bancroft, George 245, 212, 259 
 
 Bankers' Association, The Amer- 
 ican 107 
 
 Bank of New York 56 
 
 Bank of Pennsylvania 39 
 
 Bank of the United States 35 
 
 Barclay, Robert Heriot 217 
 
 Barker, Elizabeth 101 
 
 Barnum, Phineas Taylor 164 
 
 Barras, Count Louis de, 211, 
 212, 275 
 
 Barre, Isaac 285 
 
 Bartholdi, Frederick Auguste, 
 
 French sculptor 283 
 
 Barton, Clara 105 
 
 Barton, Stephen 105 
 
 Baseball club, first in America. . 241 
 
 Bass, Henry 285 
 
 Bates, Edward 238 
 
 Battles in city streets 242 
 
 Baum, Friedrich 252 
 
 Bayard, James A 343 
 
 Bayard, Nicholas 268 
 
 Bazaine, Marshal 50 
 
 Beane, William 226 
 
 Beauregard, P.G. T 65, 70, 171 
 
 "Beauvoir," Miss 117 
 
 Bee, Bernard E 174 
 
 Beecher, Lyman 122 
 
 "Beggar's Opera," 317 
 
 Bell, Alexander Graham 26 
 
 Bell, John 25 
 
 Bemis Heights, battle of 249, 254 
 
 Bennington, battle of 187, 252 
 
 Benson, Allan J 345 
 
 Berph, Henry 69 
 
 Bering Sea controversy. .. .186, 194 
 
 Berkeley, Gov 81 
 
 "Berlin Decree" 303 
 
 Berlins, Widow 230 
 
 Bernstorff, Count Johann von,. 20 
 
 Bible Society, American 99 
 
 Big Bethel, battle of 120 
 
 Big Black River, battle of 163 
 
 Binns, Jack 13 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Birney, James G 22 
 
 Bishop, Henry Rowley 292 
 
 "Bivouac of the Dead" 171 
 
 "Black Friday" 242 
 
 Black Hawk War 24, 52 
 
 Blaine, James Gillespie, 16, 54, 
 
 105, 245, 346 
 
 Blair, Francis P 11 
 
 Blair, Montgomery 177 
 
 "Bloody Angle" 100 
 
 Bombardment, first great naval. 227 
 
 Bonaparte, Napoleon 189, 245 
 
 Bonhomme, Richard^ vs. Serapis, 
 
 battle 240 
 
 Bonnie Blue Flag, The 4 
 
 Boone, Daniel 23, 119 
 
 Boot and shoe industry 88 
 
 Booth, Edwin 292, 75 
 
 Booth, John Wilkes 75 
 
 Booth, Junius Brutus — 75 
 
 Bordunix, Confederate soldier. • 106 
 Boston evacuated by British.... 53 
 
 Boston fire 291 
 
 Boston massacre 44, 327 
 
 Boston News Letter '. . . 83 
 
 Boston settled 214 
 
 Boston Tea Party 78, 325 
 
 Boston, U. S. warship 91 
 
 Boucicault, Dion 28 
 
 Boudinot, Elias 99 
 
 Bowdoin, James 209 
 
 Bowie, James 46 
 
 Boyden, Seth 49, 344 
 
 Braddock, Edward 165 
 
 Bradford, William, 308, 334, 
 
 339, 340 
 
 Bragg, Braxton 1, 257, 306 
 
 Brandywine, battle of 30, 221 
 
 Brant, Joseph ("Thayendane- 
 
 gea," Indian chief) 291 
 
 Breckenridge, J. C 25 
 
 Breda, treaty of 178 
 
 Brewster, William 334, 339 
 
 Breyman, Col 252 
 
 Bridge, N. Y. and Brooklyn, 
 
 opening of 108 
 
 British American Colonies 210 
 
 British "Orders in Council"... 289 
 
 Broke, Philip 113 
 
 Brooklyn, U. S. warship 156, 164 
 
 Brooks, Senator 6 
 
 "Brother Jonathan" 266 
 
 Brown, Jacob 176 
 
 Brown, John 99, 82, 268, 317 
 
 Brown, Robert 56 
 
 "Brownists" ■ 335 
 
 Bryan, William Jennings, 55, 14, 
 
 167, 176, 231 
 
 Bryant, William Cullen 288 
 
 Buchanan, Franklin 48 
 
 Buchanan, James.. 82, 179, 224, 269 
 
 Buckner, Simon B 27, 86 
 
 Buell, D. C 257 
 
 Buena Ventura, Spanish ship... 82 
 
 Buena Vista, battle of 32 
 
 Bullfinch, Charles 199 
 
 Bull Run, battle of 171 
 
 Bulwer, Henry Lytton 80 
 
 Bunker Hill, battle of 127 
 
 Burchard, Samuel D 17 
 
 Burgoyne, John 249, 269 
 
 Burnside, Ambrose E 322 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Burr, Aaron.. 20, 3, 28, 74, 167, 284 
 
 Butler, B. F 121, 341 
 
 Butler, John 249, 291 
 
 Butler, William 339 
 
 Cable street car, first 179 
 
 Cabot, John 136 
 
 Cabot, Sebastian 136 
 
 Calendar, Gregorian, the, 225, 
 248, 322 
 
 Calendar, Julian, the 322 
 
 Calhoun, John Caldwell, 53, 116, . 
 
 344 
 California, State of, 19, 36, 134, 
 
 177, 215 
 
 Cambridge, Mass., founding of. 332 
 Camden and Amboy Railroad, 
 
 opening of 258 
 
 Camden, battle of 187 
 
 Campbell, Thomas 324 
 
 Campbell, William 256 
 
 Canada, ceded by France to 
 
 England 22 
 
 Candy, William J 1 
 
 Cape Cod, discovery of 102 
 
 Capitol at Washington 7, 198 
 
 Carleton, Guy 305, 347 
 
 Carpenter, F. B 238 
 
 Carpenter's Hall 209 
 
 "Carijet Bag" governments 247 
 
 Cartridge, metallic, patent grant- 
 ed 183 
 
 Cartwright, Alexander J 241 
 
 Carver, John 339, 340 
 
 Casey, Silas 112 
 
 Cass, Lewis 305 
 
 Cathay (China) 261 
 
 Cavalry battle 63 
 
 Cedar Creek, battle of 276 
 
 Census, first national 179 
 
 Centennial Exhibition 87 
 
 Centennial, Yorktown 248 
 
 Cerro Gordo, battle of 78 
 
 Cervera, Admiral P 153 
 
 Chadwick, French E 154 
 
 Chaffee, Adna R 15, 185 
 
 Champion's Hills, battle of 163 
 
 Chancellorsville, battle of 93 
 
 Chapultepec, battle of 224 
 
 Charleston, earthquake 202 
 
 Charter Oak, Hartford, Conn.. . 194 
 "Charter of Liberties and Pri- 
 vileges" 268 
 
 Chase, Thomas 285 
 
 Chateau-Thierry, battle of 169 
 
 Chattanooga, battle of 304 
 
 Cherokee "Strip," The 233 
 
 Cherry Valley (N. Y.) mas- 
 sacre 291 
 
 Chesapeake vs. Shannon, bat- 
 tle 113, 217 
 
 Chicago fire 258 
 
 Chickamauga, battle of 236 
 
 Chief Big Foot 345 
 
 China, Boxer Rebellion 185 
 
 Chinese immigration, regulating 
 
 of 319 
 
 Church, Benjamin 245 
 
 Churubusco, battle of 194 
 
 Cincinnati, Society of 102 
 
INDEX 
 
 Cipango (Japan) 261 
 
 Civil War Amnesty 343 
 
 Civil War Battles: 
 
 Fort Sumter, Apr. 12, 1861. 
 Big Betliel, June 10, 1861. 
 , Bull Run, July 21, 1861. 
 , Wilson's Creek, Aug. 10, 1861. 
 Fort Henry, Feb. 6, 1862. 
 Fort Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862. 
 Pea Ridge, Mar. 7, 1862. 
 Monitor vs. Merrimac, Mar. 9, 
 
 1862. 
 Shiloh, Apr. 6, 1862. 
 Williamsburg, May S, 1862. 
 Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862. 
 Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862. 
 Gaines Mill, June 27, 1862. 
 Savage's Station, June 29, 
 
 1862. 
 Glendale, June 30, 1862. 
 White Oak Swamp, June 30, 
 
 1862. 
 Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862. 
 Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. 
 Corinth, Oct. 3, 1862. 
 Perryville, Oct. 8, 1862. 
 Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. 
 Murfreesboro, Jan. 2, 1863. 
 Chancellorsville, May 1, 2, 3, 
 
 1863. 
 Port Gibson, May 1, 2, 3, 4, 
 
 1863. 
 Champion's Hills, May 16, 
 
 1863. 
 Big Black River, May 17, 
 
 1863. 
 Gettysburg, July 1, 2, 3, 1863. 
 Vicksburg surrendered, July 4, 
 
 1863. 
 Chickamauga, Sept. 19, 1863. 
 Chattanooga, Nov. 23, 1863. 
 Orchard Knob, Nov. 23, 1863. 
 Lookout Mountain, Nov. 24, 
 
 1863. 
 Missionary Ridge, Nov. 25, 
 
 1863. 
 Wilderness, May 5, 1864. 
 Spottsylvania Court House, 
 
 May 8, 1864. 
 Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 
 Petersburg assaulted, June 16, 
 
 1864. 
 Kearsarge vs. Alabama, June 
 
 19, 1864. 
 Peace Tree Creek, July 20, 
 
 1864. 
 Atlanta, July 22, 1864. 
 Ezra Chapel, July 28, 1864. 
 Mobile Bay, Aug. 5, 1864. 
 Jonesboro, Aug. 31, 1864. 
 Atlanta captured, Sept. 2, 
 
 1864. 
 Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864. 
 Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864. 
 Nashville, Dec. 15, 1864. 
 Fort Fisher captured, Jan. 15, 
 
 1865. 
 Five Forks, Apr. 1, 1865. 
 Appomattox surrendered, Apr. 
 
 9, 1865. 
 Surrender of Johnston's Army, 
 Apr. 26, 1865. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ■ Surrender of E. Kirby Smith, 
 May 26, 1865. 
 
 Civil War, beginning , . . . . 69 
 
 Civil War, end of . . . , 68 
 
 Civil War, first bloodshed 80 
 
 Civil War, Greeley's Diplomacy, 
 
 "Anxious for Peace"... 170 
 
 Civil War, last bloodshed 106 
 
 Civil War, surrender of Johns- 
 ton's army 84 
 
 Civil War, surrender of last 
 
 army 108 
 
 Clark, William 289 
 
 Clarke, Charles Edgar ..56, 154 
 
 Clarke, George R 33 
 
 Clarke, John 340 
 
 Clarke, Jonas 78 
 
 Clay, Clement C. 170 
 
 Clay, Henry,. 69, 40, 52, 67, 107, 
 167, 287, 297, 322, 343 
 
 Qayton-Bulwer Treaty 80, 331 
 
 Clayton, John M 80 
 
 Clearing House Association, New 
 
 York, start of 259 
 
 Clemens, Samuel Langhorne. . . 313 
 
 Clermont, steamboat 74, 187, 189 
 
 Cleveland, Benjamin 256 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, 54, 165, 193, 
 279, 331 
 
 Clinton, De Witt 53 
 
 Clinton, George, 3, 4, 53, 161, 
 
 232, 284 
 Clinton, Henry, 138, 243, 271, 
 
 272, 274, 275, 276 
 Clocks of nation turned ahead.. 61 
 Cloth weaving, Crompton loom. . 304 
 
 Clymer, George 162 
 
 Cobb, Howell 171 
 
 Cochrane, Thomas 226 
 
 Coddington, William 57 
 
 Coghlan, Joseph B 91 
 
 Cold Harbor, battle of 113 
 
 "Colonel," The (Theo. Roose- 
 velt) : 281 
 
 Colorado, State of 179, 205 
 
 Colt, Samuel : 35 
 
 Columbia River, disqovery of . . . 97 
 Columbus, Christopher, 260, 104, 
 
 179, 265 
 Committees of Correspondence. 328 
 
 "Compact," Cape Cod 291, 339 
 
 "Compromiser," "The Great".. 69 
 "Comstock Lode," silver, dis- 
 covery of 121 
 
 Concord, battle of 79 
 
 Concord (Germzn Mayflower) . , 91 
 
 Concord, U. S. warship 248 
 
 "Condition . . . not a Theory". 54 
 Confederate States of America, 
 4, 20, 28, 47, 60, 70, 118, 171 
 
 Confederation, Articles of 293 
 
 Confederation, first in America. 104 
 
 Conger, E. J 75 
 
 Congress, Anti-Stamp Act 255 
 
 Congress, first meeting at new 
 
 Capitol 295 
 
 Congress, first of American 
 
 Colonies 55, 283 
 
 Congress, first under Constitu- 
 tion 64 
 
 Congress, U. S. warship 48 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Congress of the Confederate 
 
 States of America 21 
 
 "Congressional Caucus," "The" 322 
 
 Connecticut, State of 291, 324 
 
 Conscription Act of Congress, 
 
 signing of 103 
 
 Conscription, registration for.. 118 
 
 Constable, William 56 
 
 Constellation vs. Insurgents, bat- 
 tle 22 
 
 Constitution, thirteenth amend- 
 ment to 17, 332 
 
 Constitution, fourteenth - amend- 
 ment to 177 
 
 Constitution, fifteenth amend- 
 ment to 35 
 
 Constitution, sixteenth amend- 
 ment to 35 
 
 Constitution, seventeenth amend- 
 ment to 112 
 
 Constitution of Connecticut, old- 
 est written in history.. 6 
 
 Constitution of the United 
 
 States : 133 
 
 Constitution of the - United 
 
 States, ratification of '.-. . 319 
 
 Constitution, U. S. S 192, 193 
 
 Constitution vs. Guerri^re, bat- 
 tle 192 
 
 Constitutional convention at 
 
 Philadelphia 30, 102 
 
 Continental Army 287 
 
 Continental Congress, first, 30, 
 
 207, 278 
 Continental Congress, second, 
 
 30, 100, 165, 243, 244 
 Continental Congress, last ses- 
 sion 278 
 
 "Continental Congress," "Great 
 
 Jehovah and the" 208 
 
 "Continental," origin of word, 
 5, 100, 207 
 
 Contreras, battle of 193 
 
 Cooke & Co., Jay 236 
 
 Cook, Francis A 154 
 
 Cooper, James Fenimore. . . . . . . 231 
 
 ''Copperheads" 103, 
 
 Copp;n, Robert 340 
 
 Corinth, battle of 246 
 
 Cornwallis Lord, 30, 52, 206, 
 256, 270, 274, 276 
 
 Cotton Gin, patent for 50 
 
 Court of Claims, established by 
 
 Congress 33 
 
 Cowpens, battle of the 10 
 
 Crawford, F. Marioa% 199 
 
 Crawford, Thomas •.. 199 
 
 Crawford, William C 167 
 
 Creasy, Edward 249 
 
 Creek Indian War 51 
 
 Cremation, first formal 321 
 
 "Crisis," "^The" 332 
 
 Crockett, David 46 
 
 Crompton, William 304 
 
 Cromwell, Samuel 315 
 
 Crosby, William G 114 
 
 "Cross of Gold" 167 
 
 "Crown of Thorns" 167 
 
 Crown Point, abandoned to Brit- 
 ish 179 
 
 Cruelty to animals, society for 
 prevention organized .^ . . ; . . . 69 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Crystal Palace 169 
 
 Cuba, slavery leaders desired to 
 
 - annex 269 
 
 Cuba, U. S. Army retired from. 106 
 
 Cumberland, U. S. warship 48 
 
 Curry, Duncan F 241- 
 
 Gurtin, Andrew G. 297 
 
 Curtis, Samuel R 46 
 
 Curtiss, Glen H 97 
 
 Custer, George A 136 
 
 Custer massacre 87, 136 
 
 Custis, Martha . . ........ 30 
 
 Custis, Mary A. R...... .... n 
 
 Czolgosz, Leon 15, 231 
 
 Dacres, James Richard 192 
 
 Dahlgren guns > 48 
 
 Doily Advertiser, Philadelphia 
 
 ^_ paper 234 
 
 D n the torpedoes! Go 
 
 ahead" 180 
 
 Dare, Virginia 192 
 
 "Dark and Bloody Ground," the 119 
 'Dark Day," in New England.. 104 
 
 Dartmouth, ship 328 
 
 'Davidson, William 334 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 114, 21, 28, 70, 
 
 76, 101, 341 » ' 
 
 Davis, William A 177 
 
 Deane, Silas 21 
 
 Dearborn, Henry 253 
 
 Decatur, Stephen 41 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 
 
 Mecklenburg Ill 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 
 
 The 158 
 
 "Decoration Day" 110 
 
 Deerfield massacre :'...- "36 
 
 Deerhound, English yacht. ..... 133 
 
 Delaplace, Captain . . .^ 208 
 
 Delaware, State, of. .36, 60, 177, 293 
 
 Delehantjr, Daniel 155 
 
 Democratic party 51, 202 
 
 Democratic-Republican party, 51, 
 
 88, 167 
 
 Densmore, James 136 
 
 Dent, Julia 84 
 
 Design, National Academy of... 8 
 
 De Soto, Fernando 133 
 
 Detroit, British warship 217 
 
 Detroit, surrender of.. 181, 216, 313 
 Deutschland, German submarine 166 
 
 Dewey, George 344, 91 
 
 District of Columbia , 170 
 
 Diving suit with . brass helmet, 
 
 patented 122 
 
 Dix, John A 16 
 
 "Dixie," first sung 236 
 
 Dixon, Jeremiah 292 
 
 "Dongan's Charter" 268 
 
 Dongan, Thomas 268 
 
 "Don't give up the shipl"..113, 217 
 
 Dorsey, Sarah R 117 
 
 Dotey, Edward 340 
 
 Doubleday, Abner 147 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A...;.. 83, 24, 25 
 
 Downie, George 221 
 
 Draft Riots, Civil War 168 
 
 Drake, Edwin L 200 
 
 Drayton, Percival 180 
 
 "Drives," military 225 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Drummond, George Gordon.... 176 
 Duel — Burr vs. Hamilton. .. .5, 167 
 
 Duel — Clay vs. Randolph 67 
 
 Dunant, Henri 104 
 
 Dupuignac, E. R., Jr 241 
 
 Durand, Ferdinand 230 
 
 Dyer, Nehemiah M 91 
 
 Early, Jubal 17S, 276 
 
 Earthquake, California 77 
 
 Earthquake, Charleston 202 
 
 East India Company, The 327 
 
 Edgar, William 56 
 
 Edison, Thomas Alva, 23, 14, 28, 
 
 207, 278 
 Education, Mass. State Board of 81 
 Education, U. S. Department 
 
 of 41 
 
 Egan, Thomas P. 12 
 
 El Caney, battle of 149 
 
 Election Day 13 
 
 Election, First National 2 
 
 Electoral Votes in First National 
 
 Election 3 
 
 Electricity, Benj. Franklin iden- 
 tified 126 
 
 Electric Lighting plant, first 
 
 started ...M 206 
 
 Elevated railroad, first 94 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen 334 
 
 Elliott, Jesse Duncan 218 
 
 Ellmaker, Amos 243 
 
 Ellsworth, E. Elmer 107 
 
 Ellsworth, Oliver 284 
 
 Elson, Louis C 230 
 
 Emancipation of negroes 1, 237 
 
 Embargo Act 59 
 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 108, 111 
 
 Emmett, Dan 236 
 
 Endicott, M. T 64 
 
 Engel, George 96 
 
 England, in re Confederacy. ... 118 
 England, "Orders in Council".. 120 
 England, war declared against. . 132 
 English language in Philippine 
 
 Islands 333 
 
 English, Thomas 340 
 
 Enterprise vs. Boxer, battle.... 213 
 "Epizootic," disease of horses. . 279 
 
 "Equal Rights Party" 279 
 
 "Era of Good Feeling" 88 
 
 Ericsson, John 19, 48, 236 
 
 Ericsson, U. S. torpedo boat... 155 
 Erie Canal, complete opening of 280 
 
 Erie Canal, first boat on 278 
 
 Ernst, Oswald H 64 
 
 Estaing, Charles Hector, Comte * 
 
 d' 258 
 
 Ether, first used as anesthetic. . 60 
 
 Eutaw Springs, battle of 214 
 
 Evacuatjion Day, New York.... 305 
 
 "Evangeline" 177 
 
 Evans, Robley D 154,268 
 
 Evening Post, New York 34, 288 
 
 Everett, Edward 298, 300 
 
 Ewall, R. S 143 
 
 Ewing, John 324 
 
 Exposition, Atlanta 235, 248 
 
 Exposition, Centennial 101 
 
 Exposition, Columbian 94 
 
 Exposition, first industrial 169 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Exposition, first international 
 
 cotton • ■ • • 248 
 
 Exposition, Hyde Park, London. 194 
 Exposition, Louisiana Purchase. 94 
 
 Exposition, New Orleans 248 
 
 Exposition, Panama-Pacific In- 
 ternational 28, 34S 
 
 Exposition, Pan-American ...IS, 94 
 
 Exposition, Tercentenary 84 
 
 Exposition, Trans-Mississippi In- 
 ternational 11* 
 
 Exposition, World's Industrial 
 
 and Cotton Centennial 331 
 
 Express business, start of 32 
 
 Ezra Chapel, battle of 206 
 
 "Face the other way, boys! 
 
 We're going back" 277 
 
 Fairfax, Lord 29 
 
 Fair Oaks, battle of 112 
 
 Fannin, James W 56 
 
 Farragut, David Glasgow 163 
 
 Farrand, Daniel 302 
 
 Faunce, Thomas 341 
 
 "Federalist," "The" 5, 53 
 
 Federation of Labor, organ- 
 ization 204 
 
 Fenian Brotherhood 119 
 
 Ferdinand of Aragon: 262 
 
 Ferguson, Major 256 
 
 Fessendon, Reginald A 185 
 
 Field, Cyrus W. 168 
 
 Fielden, Samuel 96 
 
 Fields, Joseph 285 
 
 "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" 127 
 
 "Fight," "I have not yet begun 
 
 to" 240 
 
 "Fight it out on this line" 86 
 
 Fillmore, Millard 4 
 
 Fire Prevention Day, institution 
 
 of _. . 259 
 
 "Fire when you are ready. Grid- 
 ley" 92 
 
 Fischer, Adolph 96 
 
 Fisheries, controversy with Great 
 
 Britain 304 
 
 "Fishhook Line" at Gettysburg. 142 
 
 Fiske, John 255, 264 
 
 Fitch, John 188, 199 
 
 Five Forks, battle of 63 
 
 "Flag," "If anyone attempts to 
 
 haul down" 16 
 
 Flag of the United States, 122, 
 1, 26, 74, 221 
 
 Flagler, Henry M 5 
 
 Fletcher, Frank M 82 
 
 Flogging, abolishment in U. S. 
 
 Navy 244 
 
 Florida, commerce destroyer. . . 67 
 Florida, State of, 19, 42, 59, 69, 
 84, 88, 166, 247, 278 
 
 Florida, Steamship 13 
 
 Floyd, John 52 
 
 Floyd, John B 27 
 
 Food, first act regulating 201 
 
 Forbes, Gen 305 
 
 Ford, Henry 118 
 
 Ford Motor Company 118 
 
 Forefathers' Day 333 
 
 Fort Donelson 27, 86 
 
 Fort Duquesne 305 
 
 Fort Duquesne, battle of 165 
 
1 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Fort Fisher captured 7 
 
 Fort Henry 86 
 
 Fort McHenry 226, 229 
 
 Fort Moultrie, battle of 138 
 
 Fort Moultrie (Civil War) 70 
 
 Fort Philip Kearney 333 
 
 Fort Stanwix 251 
 
 FoTt Sumter, bombardment of .69, 77 
 
 Fort Washington, captured 294 
 
 Foster, John W 186 
 
 Foster, Stephen Collins 163 
 
 "Fountain of Youth," Ponce de 
 
 Leon's search for 59 
 
 France, decree stopping neutral 
 
 commerce 120 
 
 France (Directorate), Decree 
 
 against contraband commerce. 99 
 
 France, in re Confederacy 118 
 
 France, Treaty of Alliance with 21 
 France^ war against England. . 122 
 
 Franklin, battle of 313 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 8, 21, 26, 
 
 73, 76, 126, 158, 206 
 
 Franklin, Samuel 56 
 
 Fraser, Simon 254 
 
 Fraunce's Tavern 318 
 
 Fredericksburg, battle of 322 
 
 Freeman's Farm, battle of 253 
 
 "Free Silver" 54 
 
 "Free Soilers" 165 
 
 Free Soil Party 183 
 
 Fremont, John C 82, 165 
 
 French and Indian War, 22, 165, 
 
 176, 224, 313, 326 
 
 French Army in Mexico 50 
 
 ProntenaCj steamboat 214 
 
 Fry, Joseph 286, 289 
 
 Fuel, government administration 
 
 of 8 
 
 Fuller, Samuel 339 
 
 Fulton, Robert 187 
 
 Funston, Frederick 57 
 
 Gadsden, James 347 
 
 Gadsden Purchase, treaty for the 347 
 
 Gage, Thomas .» 78, 128 
 
 "Gag rule," first adopted by 
 
 House of Representatives.... 108 
 
 Gaines Mill, battle of 137 
 
 Gallatin, Albert 343 
 
 Gansevoort, Peter 251 
 
 Garfield, Harry A 8 
 
 Garfield, James A 296, 150, 236 
 
 Garrison, William Lloyd 318 
 
 Gates, Horatio 187, 235, 253 
 
 Gatling Gun, patent granted .... 288 
 
 Gatling, Richard Jordan 288 
 
 Gazette, Boston 284, 324 
 
 "Geary Act," The 288 
 
 Georgia, State of 69, 84, 169 
 
 Georgia, University of 14, 26 
 
 Gerard, James J'. 20 
 
 Germaine, George ' 249 
 
 (jerman Day in Pennsylvania . . 248 
 German immigrants, first to 
 
 America 278 
 
 Germantown, battle of.. 30, 246, 252 
 German War, first act against 
 
 United States 35 
 
 German War, first American 
 
 troops in France 137 
 
 German War, first gi*n fired. ... 80 
 
 German War Loan, first to Allies 83 
 Germany and the United States 
 
 arbitration treaty 312 
 
 Germany, announcements and 
 
 expressions by 17 
 
 Germany, declaration of war 
 
 against 68 
 
 Germany, diplomatic contro- 
 versy 57 
 
 Germany, first war credit against 76 
 
 Geronimo;' Indian chief 207 
 
 Gerry, Elbridge 34 
 
 Gettysburg, battle of 141 
 
 Gettysburg, Lincoln's Address at 297 
 
 Ghent, treaty of 342 
 
 Gilbert, Rufus 94 
 
 Glendale (or Frayser's Farm), 
 
 battle of 137 
 
 Glidden, Carlos 135 
 
 Gloucester, U. S. warship. .154, 157 
 
 Goebel, William 16' 
 
 Goethals, George W 186- 
 
 Gold discovered in California. , 13 
 Gold discovered in Colorado. . . . 100' 
 
 (jompers, Samuel 204 
 
 "Good Gray Poet," The Ill 
 
 Goodyear, Charles 126. 
 
 Gorrie, John 96 
 
 Gosnold, Bartholomew 102: 
 
 Gould, Helen M Ill 
 
 Graham, James 268: 
 
 Grand Army of the Republic. 109' 
 
 Grant, Matthew 84- 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S., 84, 27, 65, 68, 
 
 76, 86, 96, 98, 101, 107, 113, 
 
 127, 163, 176, 306 
 Grasse, Compte Francois Joseph 
 
 Paul de (Marquis de Grasse- 
 
 Tilly) 211, 212, 272, 273, 274 
 
 Graves, Thomas 211 
 
 Gray, Elisha 26' 
 
 Gray, Robert 97 
 
 Great Britain, first minister to 
 
 United States 182' 
 
 Great Eastern, Steamship. . .138, 168 
 
 Great Western, Steamship 83 
 
 Greeley, Adolphus W 135 
 
 Greeley, Horace 19, 87, 170 
 
 Green, Beriah 318. 
 
 Greene, Nathanael, 182, 52, 214, 270' 
 
 "Green Mountain Boys" 208 
 
 Gregory, John H.... 100' 
 
 Gridley, Charles V 91 
 
 Griffiths, Richard 205 
 
 Gronna, Asle J 66 
 
 Guadaloupe Hidalgo, treaty of . . 19 
 
 GuerrUre, British warship 192 
 
 Guilford Court House, battle of. 52 
 Guiteau, Charles J 150, 236 
 
 Hains, Peter B 64 
 
 Hale, Edward Everett 63 
 
 Hale, Nathan 237, 241 
 
 Half Moon, ship 64, 221 
 
 Hall, Charles B 108 
 
 Hallidie, Andrew 179' 
 
 Hall of Fame, opening of Ill 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 5, 3, 20, 
 73, 167, 233, 284 
 
 Hammond, George 182 
 
 Hancock, John 6, 4, 78 
 
 Hancock, W. S 101, 143, 296 
 
INDEX- 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hanging of Isaac Hayne. 179 
 
 Hanging of Major Andre 241 
 
 Hanging of Mary %. Surratt.76, 165 
 
 Hanging of Nathan Hale 237 
 
 Hanging of Navy mutineers, 
 
 Spe'ncer, CromwfeU and Small. 315 
 Hanging of Salem "Witches".. 192 
 
 HarkhesS;' Stephen V ^ 5 
 
 Harlem, battle of 30, 232 
 
 Harnden, William Frederick... 32 
 
 Harper, Fletcher 74 
 
 Harper, James 74 
 
 Harper, John . . . . ^ 74 
 
 Harper, Joseph Wesley 74 
 
 Harper, Robert G 34 
 
 Harrison, Benjamin. .. .193, 54, '279 
 
 Harrison, Carter Henry 283 
 
 Harrison, Robert H ^ . . . . 4 
 
 Harrison, William Henry, 21, 
 
 60,217,220,247,319 
 
 Harrod, Benjamin M. 64 
 
 "Hartford Convention," The... 324 
 
 Hartford, U. S. warship 180 
 
 Hartley, David 206 
 
 Harvard College, first com- 
 
 , mencement 183 
 
 Harvard, John , 183 
 
 Hawaii annexation to U. S., 165^ 185 
 
 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 162 
 
 Hay, John 295, 299, 331 
 
 Hayes, Rutherford B....246, 22, 42 
 Haymarket riot and ^'massacre," 
 
 Chicago 95, 291 
 
 Hayne, Isaac 179 
 
 Hayne, Robert Y 14 
 
 Haynes, Lemuel 302 
 
 Hay-Pauncefote treaty 80, 331 
 
 Hays, John 267 
 
 Heintzelman, S. P 173 
 
 Hemmingway, Jacob 257 
 
 Henry, John 284 
 
 Henry, Patrick 3, 56, 209 
 
 Henry, William 188 
 
 Herkimer, Nicholas 181, 251 
 
 Higgihson, John Francis 154 
 
 Hill, A. P 143 
 
 Hist, U. S. warship 155 
 
 Hobson, Richmond Pearson.... 118 
 
 Hoffman, Charles Fenno 242 
 
 Holcombe, James P. 170 
 
 Holley, Alexander L 14 
 
 Holmes, Oliver Wendell. . .200, 193 
 
 "Home, Sweet Home" 120, 292 
 
 Hood, John Bell 206, 313, 324 
 
 Hooker, Joseph 93, 141, 323 
 
 Hopewell, S. C. treaty 312 
 
 Hopkins, piles 338 
 
 Hopkins, Oceanus '. 339 
 
 Hopkins, Stephen 340 
 
 Houdon, Jean Antoine 31 
 
 Houston, Samuel 39, 82, 278 
 
 Howard, O. 143 
 
 Howe, William, 129, 130, 221, 
 
 243, 246, 249, 282 
 
 Howells, William Dean 39 
 
 Howland, John 338, 340 
 
 Hudson, Henry 64, 221 
 
 Hudson, John Elbridge 21 
 
 Huerta, Victoriano 32, 82 
 
 Hughes, Charles E 345 
 
 Hull, Isaac 192 
 
 Hull, William 167, 181 
 
 Humphries, Charles 159, 161 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hunter, David .•• 173 
 
 Huntingdon, Samuel .......... 4 
 
 Hutchinson, Thomas 45, 329 
 
 Ice - making machine, patent is- 
 sued T • .?§ 
 
 Idaho,' State of 152 
 
 Illinois, State of 317 
 
 Impeachment, first 138 
 
 Inauguration Day 42 
 
 Incandescent lamp, patent is- 
 sued. 14 
 
 Incandescent light, first 278 
 
 Indiana, State of .- 322 
 
 Indiana, U. S. warship. 154 
 
 Indian Day, American, estab- 
 lished 94 
 
 Indians, Apache 207 
 
 Indian Territory .■ 82, 139 
 
 Indian War, Sioux 136 
 
 Ingersoll, Robert Green 184 
 
 "Innocuous Desuetude" . . S4 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commis- 
 
 - sion, establishment nf 20 
 
 Iowa, State of ; 344 
 
 Iowa, U. S. warship 154, 156 
 
 Iredell, James 284 
 
 Irving, Washington 63, 28, 234 
 
 Isabella of Castile 262 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 50, 4, 16, 63, 
 120, 167, 279, 297, 344 , 
 
 Jackson, Charles Thomas 60 
 
 Jackson, J. W 107 
 
 Jackson, Thomas J., ("Stone- 
 wall")- •■•■• -12, 93, 95, 137, 174 
 
 Jamestown, Va 101, 177 
 
 Japan, first treaty with United 
 
 States 60 
 
 Jay, John 3, 4, 206, 284 
 
 Jefferson, Joseph 28 
 
 Jefferson, Martha 72 
 
 Jefferson, Mary i 72 
 
 Jefferson, Peter 72 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Jl, 28, 51, 
 
 158, 283, 28.4, 320 
 Johnson, Andrew, 346, 33, 57, 
 76, 119 
 
 Johnson, Hiram . — 182 
 
 Johnson, John 249 
 
 Johnson, Richard M 247 
 
 Johnson, S 284 
 
 Johnston, Albert Sidney 65 
 
 Johnston, Joseph E., 68, 84, 112, 
 114, 171, 206 
 
 Johnstown Flood 112 
 
 Joint High Commission of Arbi- 
 tration 67 
 
 Jonesboro, battle of 206 
 
 Jones, John Paul 164, 26, 240 
 
 Jusserand, J. J 212 
 
 Kansas-Nebraska Act 304 
 
 Kansas, State of 16, 287, 289 
 
 Kearsarge vs. Alabama, battle. . . 132 
 
 Keene, Laura 75 
 
 Kegs, battle of the 2 
 
 Kent, Jacob F 149 
 
 Kentucky, State of, 36, 113, 
 125, 177 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGS 
 
 Key, Francis Scott:.. 226 
 
 Kimberley, Rear Admiral 53 
 
 King Edward VII 278 
 
 King George III 78, 325, 346 
 
 King George's War 269 
 
 King James 1 69, 334 
 
 King James II 194, 215, 269 
 
 ICing John II 262 
 
 "King" Philip, Indian 184 
 
 King, Rufus , 56, 88 
 
 King^s, Mountain, battle of 256 
 
 King William's War., 283 
 
 Knights of Labor 203 
 
 "Knijhts of the Golden Circle". 224 
 Knittmg machine, patent issued. 231 
 
 Knowlton, Thomas 232 
 
 "Knownothing" party 82 
 
 Knox, Henry 102, 305 
 
 Labor Day, inauguration of. . . . 203 
 
 Labor Day in Louisiana 306 
 
 LaconiOf Cunard steamship 35 
 
 Lafayette, Marquis de, 213, 20, 
 271, 273, 275, 341 
 
 La FoUette, Robert M 66^ 
 
 Lake Champlain, battle of 221 
 
 Lake Erie, battle of 215 
 
 Landais, Capt. . , 241 
 
 Lane, Harry 66 
 
 Langley, Samuel Fierrepont. . . 96 
 
 Lansing, Robert 58 
 
 La Salle, Chevalier de 67 
 
 Latrobe, Benjamin H 199 
 
 Laurens, Henry 321 
 
 Law, first lecture on 324 
 
 Lawrence, 0. H. Perry's flag- 
 ship 216 
 
 Lawrence, James 113, 217 
 
 Lawrence, Richard 16 
 
 Lawton, Henry W 149 
 
 Lecompton Constitution .82, 179 
 
 Lee, Arthur 21 
 
 Lee, Charles 138 
 
 Lee, Henry 11 
 
 Lee, John D 223 
 
 Lee, Richard Henry 119, 158 
 
 Lee, Robert E., 10, 68, 93, 96, 
 98, 99, 113, 114, 118, 127, 137, 
 141, 146, 235, 239, 318, 322 
 
 Legislative Assembly, first 177 
 
 "Lend a Hand" 63 
 
 Leopard vs. Chesapeake, battle, 
 74, 134 
 
 Leslie, Col 232 
 
 Lewis and Clark, Expedition of, 
 74, 289 
 
 Lewis, Evan 318 
 
 Lewis, Meriwether 289 
 
 Lexington, battle of 78 
 
 Liberty Loan, first 127 
 
 Liberty Loan, second 282 
 
 Liberty Loan, third 96 
 
 Liberty Loan, fourth 277 
 
 "Liberty — or death" 57 
 
 Linares, Gen 149 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 23, 1, 25, 39, 
 70, 75, 76, 77, 83, 103, 114, 
 lis, 119, 202, 237, 310 
 
 Lincoln, Benjamin 4, 258, 275 
 
 Lincoln, Robert Todd 24 
 
 Lincoln's "Lost Speech" 109 
 
 Lind, Jenny 164 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lingg, Louis . . » 95 
 
 Lipton, Thomas 198 
 
 Livingston, Robert R..158, 161, 188 
 
 Lloyd, George K 205 
 
 "LocoFoco" party 279 
 
 Locomotive, first built in United 
 
 • States ....■.:....... 7, 182 
 
 Lodge, Henry Cabot 31 
 
 Logan, John A. . .' 109 
 
 London Company 69 
 
 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 
 
 36, 79, 177 
 Long Island, battle Of.. 30, 200, 232 
 
 Longstreet, James 112, 143, 146 
 
 Lookout Mountain, battle of, 304, 
 
 305 
 
 Lopez, Narciso 203 
 
 Louisburg, surrender of 176 
 
 Louisiana, State of, 69, 73, 88, 
 
 245, 247 
 
 Lovejoy, Elijah P 321 
 
 Low, Nicholas 56 
 
 Lowell, James Russell 31 
 
 Ludwig, Mary 267 
 
 Lundy s Lane, battle of 176 
 
 Lusitania torpedoed 97, 345 
 
 Luzerne, Anne Caesar de la, 
 
 French minister 272 
 
 Lynnhaven Bay, battle of. .211, 274 
 Lyon, Nathaniel 184 
 
 Macdonough, Thomas 221 
 
 Macomb, Alexander 221 
 
 Macon, Nathaniel 295 
 
 Madero, Francisco Indalecio ... 32 
 Madison, James, 53, 3, 162, 181, 
 
 226 
 Magazine, Atlantic Monthly.,, 32 
 Magazine, The American.: .... 26 
 
 Magazine, ' The General 26 
 
 Magellan, Fernando 243 
 
 Magoon, Charles E 64 
 
 Mahan, Alfred T 212, 222 
 
 Mail, free delivery, beginning of 291 
 
 Maine Law 114 
 
 Maine, State of 40, 41, 42 
 
 Maine, U. S. warship 27 
 
 Malvern Hill, battle of 137, 149 
 
 Manila Bay, battle of 91 
 
 Manila, surrender of 185 
 
 Mann, Horace 95, 81 
 
 Manufacturers, National Asso- 
 ciation of 12 
 
 March through Georgia, Sher- 
 man's 294 
 
 "March to the Sea" 332 
 
 Marconi, Guglielmo 322 
 
 Marine Corps, United States. . 169 
 
 Markham, William 280 
 
 "Mark Twain," (Samuel L. 
 
 Clemens) 313 
 
 Marriage, first at Plymouth.... 101 
 
 Marshal, James Wilson 13 
 
 Marshall, John 242, 33, 43 
 
 Martin, Joseph 312 
 
 Maryland, first assembly 33 
 
 Maryland, State of, 36, 59, 177, 
 
 293 
 Mason and Dixon's line, 41, 46, 
 292 
 
 Mason, Charles 292 
 
 Mason, James M 290 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Masonic, anti, party ..223, 243 
 
 Mason, John Y 269 
 
 Massachusetts Assembly 207 
 
 Massachusetts, State of 205, 324 
 
 Massachusetts, U. S. warship, 
 
 154, 155, 156 
 
 Massasoyt, Indian chief 308 
 
 Matanzas, bombardment of 87 
 
 "Matanzas mule," The 88 
 
 Mather, Cotton 257 
 
 Mathews, R. F., steamship 42 
 
 Mawhood, Col 1 
 
 Maximilian of Austria 133 
 
 Maxwell, William 56 
 
 Mayflower, Pilgrim's ship 336 
 
 McClellan, George B., 317, 85, 
 
 136, 202, 235, 239 
 
 McCormicIc, Cyrus H 133 
 
 McCormick, Daniel 56 
 
 McCulloch, Ben 184 
 
 McCulloch, Hugh, U. S. revenue 
 
 cutter 91 
 
 McDonald, John B 282 
 
 McDowell, Charles 256 
 
 McDowell, Irwin 1 72 
 
 McGuire, Matthew 205 
 
 McKinley, William, 14, 55, 185, 
 
 214, 231, 280, 281 
 
 McLean, Alexander 293 
 
 McLean, Wilmer 68 
 
 McMaster, John B 223 
 
 Meade, George G 141 
 
 Mechanics' arts, colleges of.... 201 
 
 Mechanicsville, battle of 136 
 
 Memorial Day, (National) 109 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 Alabama 84 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 Florida 84 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 Georgia 84 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 Louisiana 64 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 Mississippi 84 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 North Carolina 100 
 
 Memorial Day, Confederate, 
 
 South Carolina 100 
 
 Menendez, Pedro 200, 214 
 
 "Merchant Adventures of Lon- 
 
 , don" 335 
 
 Merrimac, C. S. warship 47 
 
 Merrimac, U. S. Navy collier... 118 
 
 Merritt, Wesley M 185 
 
 Mexican War 56, 59, 83 
 
 Mexican War Battles: 
 
 Palo Alto— May 8, 1846 
 Resaca de la Palma — May 9, 
 
 1846 
 Monterey — Sept. 21, 23, 1846 
 Buena Vista — Feb 23, 1847 
 Bombardment of Vera Cruz — 
 
 Mar. 22, 1847 
 Cerro Gordo — Apr. 18, 1847 
 Contreras — Aug. 19, 1847 
 Churubusco — Aug. 20, 1847 
 Molino del Rey — Sept. 8, 1847 
 Chapultepec — Sept. 13, 1847 
 City of Mexico captured — 
 
 Sept. 14, 1847 
 
 Mexico, militia called out against 132 
 
 Mexico, war -declared against. . 102 
 
 Michigan, State of 14, 134 
 
 Milburn, John G 15 
 
 Miles, Nelson Appleton 207, 345 
 
 "Millions for Defense, but not 
 
 a Cent for Tribute!" 33 
 
 Milton, John 4 
 
 Minden, Xartel ship 226 
 
 Minnesota, State of 101, 134 
 
 Mint, U. S 63, 232 
 
 Minuit, Peter 60 
 
 Minute men 79 
 
 Missionary Ridge, battle of, 304, 
 306 
 
 Mississippi River 70, 133 
 
 Mississippi, State of 69, 84, 321 
 
 Missouri Compromise Act, 39, 
 46, 88 
 
 Missouri, State of 40, 41, 184 
 
 "Mistakes of Moses" 184 
 
 Mobile Bay, battle of 180 
 
 Modoc Indian War 87 
 
 Molino Del Rey, battle of 215 
 
 Mongolia, steamship 81- 
 
 Monitor, U, S. warship 48, 236 
 
 Monitor vs. Merrimac, battle — 47 
 Monmouth, battle of. . . .30, 138, 267 
 Monongahela, battle of the.... 165 
 
 "Monroe Doctrine" 50, 88, 315 
 
 Monroe, James 88, 42 
 
 Montana, State of 291 
 
 Montcalm, Marquis de 224 
 
 Monterey, battle of 237, 242 
 
 Montgomery, Richard 291, 347 
 
 "Monticello" 72 
 
 Montojo, Admiral 92 
 
 Montreal surrendered 291 
 
 Monument — Liberty enlighten- 
 ing the world 283 
 
 Monument to Lincoln at Spring- 
 field, 111 268 
 
 Monument, Washington 28, 31 
 
 Morgan, Daniel 10, 253, 254 
 
 Morgan, William 223 
 
 Mormonism 138, 176, 223, 237 
 
 Morris, Robert 12, 35, 123 
 
 Morse alphabet code, first pub- 
 lic demonstration 13 
 
 Morse, Samuel Finley Breeze, 
 87, 13 
 
 Morton, William T. G 60 
 
 "Mother's Day" 94 
 
 Mott, Lucretia 171 
 
 Moultrie, William 138 
 
 Mountain Meadows massacre... 223 
 
 Mount Vernon, Va 30 
 
 "Mourt's Relation" 308, 340 
 
 Mullins, Prisciila 337 
 
 Murchison, Charles F 279 
 
 Murfreesboro, battle of 1 
 
 Murray, John 56 
 
 Mutiny on U. S. S. Somers 315 
 
 Nails, machine for making. .103, 344 
 
 Nashville, battle of 324 
 
 Nashville, U. S. warship 82 
 
 National Era 118 
 
 National Republican Party 69 
 
 Naval Academy, U. S., at An- 
 napolis opened 359 
 
 Navy Department organized 182 
 
 Navy, first engagement of Revo- 
 lution 121 
 
INDEX 
 
 Navy of the United States, 
 
 founding of 49 
 
 Nebraska, State of 39 
 
 Neebe, Oscar W 96 
 
 Negro soldiers 199 
 
 Nevada, State of 286 
 
 New Amsterdam 215 
 
 New Hampshire, State of.. 256, 324 
 
 New Jersey, State of. ..36, 178, 205 
 
 New Mexico, State of 2, 19, 126 
 
 New Orleans, battle of 4, 51 
 
 New Orleans — Gen. Butler's 
 
 "Order No. 28" 341 
 
 Newport, purchase of 57 
 
 Newspaper, first daily 236 
 
 Newspaper, first in America . . . 242 
 
 "New Style" calendar 322 
 
 New Testament, Revised, pub- 
 lished 104 
 
 New York Central and Hudson 
 
 River Ry 109 
 
 New York Chamber of Com- 
 merce 64 
 
 New York City, fire 331 
 
 New York City, taken from 
 
 Dutch 215 
 
 New York/ State of, 36, 178, 205, 
 
 255, 289 
 
 New York, U. S. warship. . .154, 156 
 
 New York University Ill 
 
 Niagara, Perry's flagship 216 
 
 Nicaraguan Canal 331 
 
 Nichols, Richard 215 
 
 Nicolay, John G 298, 299 
 
 Nina, Columbus's ship 264 
 
 Nipsic, U. S. warship 53 
 
 Nobel Peace Prize 213 
 
 Norcross, I^onard 122 
 
 Norris, George W 66 
 
 North Carolina, State of, 26, 
 
 207, 256 
 
 North Carolina, University of . . 26 
 
 North Dakota, State of 287 
 
 North, Lord 276 
 
 North Pole, discovery of ...... . 68 
 
 Northwest Territory 168 
 
 Nova Scotia 69, 178 
 
 Nullification 14, 52, 54, 296 
 
 O'Brien, Jeremiah 121 
 
 Oglethorpe, James 23 
 
 "O Grab Me" act 341 
 
 O'Hara, Theodore 171 
 
 Ohio, State of 28, 289 
 
 Oklahoma 82, 194, 233, 295 
 
 "Old Man Eloquent" 167 
 
 "Old Oaken Bucket," "The"... 6 
 
 "Old Style" calendar 248, 322 
 
 O'Leary, Mrs 258 
 
 0/3un*io, U. S. flagship 91 
 
 Omnibus Bill 4, 305 
 
 Opera, first sung in America... 317 
 
 Orchard Knob, battle of 304 
 
 "Ordinance of Secession" 25 
 
 Oregon Boundary Treaty 126 
 
 Oregon, State of. 36, 205, 289 
 
 "Oregon Trail," The 49 
 
 Oregon, U. S. warship 56, 153 
 
 Oriskany, battle of 181,251 
 
 Osgood, Samuel 50 
 
 Ostend Manifesto 269 
 
 Oswald, Richard 206 
 
 PACK 
 
 "Our country — right or wrong" 41 
 "Our flag is still there" 229 
 
 Pacific Ocean, discovery of. . . . 243 
 
 Paine, Thomas 332 
 
 Pakenham, Edward 4, 51 
 
 Palo Alto, battle of 98 
 
 Panama Canal Comnnssion .... 64 
 Panama Canal, opening of. 186, 345 
 Panama Canal, plans for build- 
 ing 281 
 
 Panama Railroad completed. ... 14 
 Panama, Republic of, 186, 289, 
 
 295, 345 
 Pan-American Congress, first, 
 194, 245 
 
 Panic of 1869 242 
 
 Panic of 1873 236, 242 
 
 Parcel Post 1, 232 
 
 Paris, treaty of 22 
 
 Parker, Alton B 280 
 
 Parker, John 79 
 
 Parker, Peter 138 
 
 Parkman, Francis 232 
 
 Parsons, Albert R 96 
 
 Pastorius, Daniel 248 
 
 Patent Bureau, U. S. established 163 
 
 "Patriot War," The 319 
 
 Patterson, Robert 171 
 
 Paulding, John 241 
 
 Fauncefote, Lord 331 
 
 Payne, John Howard 120, 292 
 
 Peace Day 103 
 
 "Peace without victory" 13 
 
 Peach Tree Creek, battle of 206 
 
 Peale, Charles W 31 
 
 Pea Ridge, battle of 46 
 
 Pearson, Richard 240, 242 
 
 Peary, Robert E 68 
 
 Peking, march to 185 
 
 Pemberton, J. C 163 
 
 Pendleton, George H 202 
 
 Peninsula Campaign 136 
 
 Penn, William, 267, 135, 280, 
 283, 292 
 
 Pennsylvania Evening Post 161 
 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Company 
 
 organized 74 
 
 Pennsylvania, State of 134, 298 
 
 Pennsylvania, University of. '26, 95 
 Pension act, first passed by con- 
 gress 55 
 
 People's Party 176, 185 
 
 Percy, Lord 80 
 
 Perestrelo, Philippa 261 
 
 Perez de Marchena, Juan 263 
 
 Perry, Matthew Galbraith 60 
 
 Perry, Oliver Hazard.. 198, 60, 216 
 
 Perryville, battle, of 257 
 
 Pershing, John J.° 47 
 
 Petersburg assaulted 127 
 
 Petrel, U. S. S 91 
 
 Petroleum, discovery of 200 
 
 Philadelphia captured by Brit- 
 ish 243 
 
 Philadelphia, charter of city 
 
 granted 283 
 
 Philadelphia, City of 252 
 
 Philip, John Woodward 154, 158 
 
 Phillips, Wendell 321 
 
 Phonograph, patent issued 28 
 
 Photography, color, patent 
 granted 175 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Picardy, battle of 56 
 
 Pickett, George E ...63, 14^6 
 
 Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. 147 
 Pierce, Fr^nkfin, 303, 60, 163, 
 169, 269 . 
 
 Pizot, Robert ... 129 
 
 Pike's Peak, discovery of 293 
 
 Pike,' Zebulon M 244, 293 
 
 Pilgrims, The,... 19,0, 322, J33, 336 
 
 "Pilot boats" .■ 194 
 
 Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 
 : 33, 53, 74, iM 
 
 PincknCT, Thomas 284 
 
 Pinta, Columbus's ship 259, 264 
 
 Pinzofi, Martin- Alonzo 263" 
 
 Pitcairn, Maj or . ." '.,..,... 79 
 
 Pitcher, Molly 267,138 
 
 Plains of Abraham, battle of 
 
 the 224 
 
 Play, "Our American Cousin" . . 75 
 "Plymouth Plantation," History 
 
 of 336 
 
 Pocahontas, Indian Princess... 2 
 
 Poe, Edgar Allen 12 
 
 Poele, C. J. Van de 10 
 
 Political Party, first convention. 322 
 
 Polk, James K 2S7, .69, 107 
 
 Ponce de Leon...^ 59 
 
 "Pony Express," first 71 
 
 "Populists'' .■ 176, 185 
 
 Porras, Belisario 186 
 
 Porter, Horace , 164 
 
 Port Gibson, battle of 163 
 
 Portsmouth, treaty of 213, 281 
 
 Postage, reduction of letter 42 
 
 Postal cards, one cent, first 
 
 issued . , 94 
 
 Post Office, General, established 
 
 by Congress 50 
 
 Post . Office mpiiey order sys- 
 
 . teni established 103 
 
 Powderly, T. V 204 
 
 Powder, smokeless, first use of. 176 
 
 Pratt, John 315 
 
 Prescott, William 128, 130 
 
 Prescott, William Hickling 95 
 
 Presidential Message, First An- 
 nual 4 
 
 Presidential Message, first writ- 
 
 „ten 320 
 
 President of United States, sal- 
 
 „ary 21, 42, 44 
 
 Preston, Captain 44 
 
 Prevost, Augustine 258 
 
 Price, Robert 205 
 
 Price, Sterling 46, 184, 246 
 
 Princeton, battle of 1, 30 
 
 Pritchard, Benjamin D 101 
 
 Proctor, Henry A 247 
 
 Progressive Party 134, 182, 281 
 
 Prohibition of Liquor, 114, 287. 
 332 
 
 "Prophet," The 22, 290 
 
 Pubhck Occurrences, first news- 
 paper in America 242 
 
 Publishing, business of 74 
 
 Pulaski, Count Casimir 258 
 
 Pullman, George M 317 
 
 Putnam, Israel 129, 232 
 
 Quebec, assault on 347 
 
 Quebec, Province of 210 
 
 Quincy, .Tosiah 45 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Railroads/Government operation 
 
 of 201, 346 
 
 Railway mail, first trial 177 
 
 Rileigh, V. S. ship 91 
 
 Rail, Johan Gotlieb 343 
 
 Randall, Thomas r. — 56 
 
 Randolph, Isham - . — 72 
 
 Randolph, Jane 72 
 
 Randolph, John 67 
 
 Randolph, Peyton 209 
 
 Ranger, U. S. warship 26 
 
 Rankin, Jeannette 66 
 
 Rathbone, Henry R 75 
 
 Rawdon, Lord 179 
 
 Read, George 159 
 
 Read, James Buchanan 277 
 
 Read, Nathan 199 
 
 Reaper, agricultural, patent for. 133 
 
 "Rebellious Stripes," The 123 
 
 "Rebel yell" 175 
 
 "Reconstruction" 169 
 
 "Reconstruction Amendment".. 177 
 
 Red Cross, founding of 104 
 
 Republican Party. .73, 165, 183, 231 
 Republican Party, Taft vs. 
 
 Roosevelt 133 
 
 Republic, steamship 13 
 
 Resaca de la Palma, battle of . . 99 
 
 Revere, Paul 78, 285, 330 
 
 Revolutionary War Battles: 
 
 Lexington, Apr. 19, 1775. 
 Capture of Ticonderoga, May 
 
 10, 1775. 
 Amity vs. Margaretta, June 
 
 12, 1775. 
 Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 
 Montreal surrendered, Nov. 
 
 12, 1775. 
 Assault on Quebec, Dec. 31, 
 
 1775. 
 Fort Moultrie, June 28, 1776. 
 Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776. 
 Harlem, Sept. 16, 1776. 
 White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776. 
 Capture of Fort Washington, 
 
 Nov. 16, 1776. 
 Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776. 
 Princeton, Jan. 3. 1777. 
 Oriskany, Aug. 6, 1777. 
 Bennington, Aug. 16, 1777. 
 Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777. 
 Stillwater (Freeman's Farm), 
 
 Sept 19, 1777. 
 Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777. 
 Bemis Heights, Oct. 7, 1777. 
 Convention of Saratoga, Oct. 
 
 17, 1777. 
 Monmouth, June 28, 1778. 
 Stony Point, July 16, 1779. 
 Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis, • 
 
 Sept. 23, 1779. 
 Assault on Savannah, Oct. 9, 
 
 1779. 
 Camden, Aug. 16, 1780. 
 King's Mountain, Oct. 7, 1780. 
 The Cowpens, Jan. 17, 1781. 
 Guilford Court House, Mar. 
 
 15, 1781. 
 Lynnhaven Bay, Sept. 5, 1781. 
 Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781. 
 Surrender of Cornwallis, Oct. 
 
 19, 1781. 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Revolutionary War, end of 206 
 
 Revolver, first patent granted.. 35 
 
 Reynolds, John F 142 
 
 Rhode Island, State of. ..20, 57, 324 
 
 Ridgeway, Ont. 119 
 
 Rifles, muzzle-loading '. . . . 183 
 
 Riley, James Whitcomb. ....... 257 
 
 "Rip Van Winkle" . 28 
 
 Robinson, William 280 
 
 Rochambeau, Comte de (Jean 
 
 Baptiste Donatien de Vi- 
 
 meure) 272,273 
 
 Rockefeller, John D 5 
 
 Rockefeller, William , 5 
 
 "Rock of Chicfcamauga," The.. 236 
 
 Rogers, John 161 
 
 Roman Catholic, first mass..... 58 
 
 Roosevelt, Isaac 56 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, 280, 44, 64; 
 
 133, 150, 182, 213, 222, 232, 
 
 281, 345 
 
 Rosecrans, William S 1 ; 246 
 
 Ross, "Betsy" 1, 123 
 
 Ross, George 1, 123, 162 
 
 Ross, Robert 162,227 
 
 Rotch, Captain 328 
 
 "Rough Riders" 150 
 
 Rubber fabrics, patent granted. . 126 
 
 Ruggles, John 163 
 
 "Rum, Romarusm and Rebellion" 17 
 
 Rumsey, James '. 199 
 
 Rush, Benjamin 76, 162 
 
 Russell,. Jonathan 343 
 
 Russo-Japanese War 213 
 
 Rutledge, John 4 
 
 Ryswick (Holland) treaty of... 283 
 
 Sackville West affair 279 ' 
 
 St Augustine, Fla. 200, 214 
 
 St. Clair, Arthur 250 
 
 St. Clement's Island 58 
 
 St. Ildefonso, treaty of 245 
 
 St. Leger, Barry 181, 249 
 
 Saintsbury, George 112 
 
 Saint-Simon, Marquis de 275 
 
 Sampson, W. T 154 
 
 Sanders, George N 170 
 
 Sands^ Comfort 56 
 
 San Francisco, earthquake and 
 
 fire 77 
 
 San Jacinto, battle of 82 
 
 San Jacinto, U. S. warship .... 290 
 
 San Juan, battle of 149 
 
 San Salvador, discovery of 265 
 
 Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 
 33, 78, 82, 194, 215, 225, 231 
 Santa Maria, Columbus's flag- 
 ship 260, 264, 265 
 
 Santangel, Louis de ^.... 263 
 
 Santiago de Cuba 149, 170 
 
 Santiago, naval battle of 152 
 
 Saratoga, campaign 249 
 
 Saratoga, the Convention of. . . . 255 
 
 Sargasso Sea 266 
 
 Savage's Station, battle of 137 
 
 Savannah, assault upon. 258 
 
 Savannah, first steamship to 
 
 cross Atlantic 107 
 
 Scarborough, William 107 
 
 Schley, Winfield S 154 
 
 Schofield, John McAllister 313 
 
 : • PAGE 
 
 School, Public Latin of Boston 
 
 founded . . ; 82 
 
 Schrank, John ^ < 281 
 
 Schuyler, Philip „ , . , 250 
 
 Schwab, Michael ................ :96 
 
 Science, American Ass'n for 
 
 Advancement of ;,. . 236 
 
 Scott, Dred 46 
 
 Scott, Winfield, 56, 193, 194, 
 
 225, 231, 304 
 
 "Secession" 237 
 
 Seicheprey, France, battle of. . . 81 
 
 Selden, George B 232 
 
 Seminole War. 52, 319, 344 
 
 Semmes, Raphael 132 
 
 Seven Pines, battle, of 112 
 
 Seven Years' War.. 326 
 
 Sevier, John — .256 
 
 Seward, William H ....76, 238 
 
 Sewing machine, patents granted, 
 
 184, 220 
 
 Seymour, Horatio 87 
 
 Shaffer, William R. . . .135, 149; 155 
 
 Sharp, Alexander, Jr 154 
 
 Shay's Rebellion 13 
 
 Shelby, Isaac , 256 
 
 Shenandoah, commerce destroyer 67 
 Sheridan, Philip Henry, 45, 63, 
 
 68, 276 
 
 "Sheridan's Ride" . . . .' 45 
 
 Sherman, R6ger 158 
 
 Sherman, William Tecumseh, 21, 
 
 84, 206, 294, 306, 332 
 
 Shiloh, battle of 65 
 
 Sholes, C. Latham 135, 315 
 
 Shonts, Theodore P 64 
 
 Sickles, Daniel E 143, 145 
 
 Silver, demonetization of 25 
 
 "Silver Question" 167 
 
 Simpson, Hannah , . 84 
 
 Singer, Isaac M 184 
 
 Sioux Indian War 87 
 
 Sirius, steamship .83 
 
 Skelton, Martha 72 
 
 Skinner, J. S 228 
 
 Slavery abolished in D. C 77 
 
 Slavery, American Anti-Society 
 
 organized 318 
 
 Slavery, Emancipation 240 
 
 Slavery, first anti-society - 76 
 
 Sleeping car, first, patent issued. 317 
 
 Slidell, John 290 
 
 Slocum, H. W 143 
 
 Small, Elisha 315 
 
 Smith, Captain John, 2, 101, 
 
 285, 336. 
 
 Smith, E. Kirby 108 
 
 Smith, Francis 79 
 
 Smith, Horace 183 
 
 Smith, Hyrum 138 
 
 Smith, James 162 
 
 Smith, John 285 
 
 Smith, Joseph 138, 237 
 
 Smith, Samuel 227 
 
 Smithsonian Institute, founding 
 
 of 184 
 
 Smithson, James "184 
 
 Soldiers Home, Nat'l, estab- 
 lished at Washington 42 
 
 Sons of Liberty, organization of, 
 
 285 
 
 Soule, Pierre 269 
 
 Soule, Samuel W 135 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 South Carolina, State o£...247, 332 
 
 South Dakota, State of 134, 287 
 
 Spain and tlie United States, 
 
 Treaty of Peace 322 
 
 Spain, war declared against.... 77 
 
 Spanish flag in Kansas 244 
 
 Speedwell, Pilgrim's ship 336 
 
 Spencer, Philip 315 
 
 Spies, August 95 
 
 Spoils, "to the victors belong".. 52 
 Spottsylvania Court House, bat- 
 tle of 98 
 
 Stamp Act 46, 56, 287 
 
 Standard Oil Company, The, 5, 
 232 
 
 Standard Time 50, 248, 295 
 
 Standish, Myles 308, 340 
 
 Stanton, Edwin M 76, 199, 238 
 
 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 171 
 
 Starke, John 252 
 
 Star of the West, steamship, 4, 
 
 82 
 "Star-Spangled Banner," "The" 225 
 
 "State Rights" 14, 54 
 
 Steamboat, first on Great Lakes. 214 
 
 Steamboat, iirst successful 187 
 
 Steam engines, cut off and valve, 
 
 patent granted 49 
 
 Steam ferry, first in world es- 
 tablished 259 
 
 Steamship, first Atlantic dis- 
 aster 244 
 
 Steamship, first to cross Atlantic 83 
 Steel Armor Plate, Harvey Pro- 
 cess 5 
 
 Steel, Bessemer "Converter"... 14 
 Steel Corporation, U. S. incor- 
 porated in N. J 29 
 
 Steers, George 195 
 
 Stephens, Alexander 21 
 
 Stephenson, John 312 
 
 Steuben, Baron von 275 
 
 Stevens, John 199, 259 
 
 Stevens, John C 195 
 
 Stevenson, Marmaduke 280 
 
 Stevens, Robert L 258 
 
 Stevens, Thaddeus 33 
 
 Stevens, Uriah S 203 
 
 Stewart, Alvan 278 
 
 Stillwater, battle of 235 
 
 Stoneman, George 106 
 
 "Stone Wall, Jackson standing 
 
 like a" 174 
 
 Stone, William J 66 
 
 Stony Point, battle of 169 
 
 "Stourbridge Lion," The 182 
 
 Stowe, Calvin Ellis 122 
 
 Stowe, Harriet Beecher 122, 118 
 
 Street railway, first in America. 312 
 Strike, Labor, at Homestead, Pa. 194 
 Strike of railway workingmen. . 165 
 
 Stuart, John 214 
 
 Stuyvesant, Peter 101, 215 
 
 Submarine, first crossed Atlantic 166 
 
 Submarine, Holland No. 9 53 
 
 Submarine war 58 
 
 Subway, opening of first New 
 
 York : 282 
 
 Sumner, Charles 41 
 
 Surratt, Mary E 76, 165 
 
 Surrender of Cornwallis 270 
 
 Surrender of Manila 185 
 
 Surrender of Santiago 170 
 
 Sussex, steamship, sunk 57 
 
 Sykes, George 143 
 
 Taft, William H., 231, 56, 133, 
 
 .281, 345 
 Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince ... 34 
 
 Taney, Roger Brooke 46, 228 
 
 Tappan, Lewis 318 
 
 Tanif, first protective act .. 162 
 
 Tarleton, Banastre 10 
 
 Taylor, George 162 
 
 Taylor, Henry C 154 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, 304, 32, 42, 59, 
 
 98, 99, 115, 237, 242 
 "Tear her tattered ensign down" 193 
 Tecumseh, Indian chief, 22, 217, 
 
 247, 290 
 Telegraph, electro-magnetic, 2, 
 
 87, 107 
 
 Telegraph, wireless 177, 232 
 
 Telephone, first message across 
 
 Atlantic ocean 278 
 
 Telephone, first message across 
 
 continent 244 
 
 Telephone, long distance. .. .21, 270 
 Telephone, wireless, patent grant- 
 ed 185 
 
 Telfair, Edward 4 
 
 Tennessee, Confederate warship 180 
 
 Tennessee, State of 113 
 
 Tennessee, University of 26 
 
 Territory, first outside original 
 
 thirteen states 168 
 
 Terry, Alfred H 7 
 
 Texas, State of, 19, 39, 60, 69, 
 
 278, 292, 346 
 
 Texas, U. S. warship 154, 157 
 
 Thames River, battle of 247 
 
 "Thanatopsis" 288 
 
 Thanksgiving Day 307 
 
 Thomas, George Henry, 236, 294, 
 
 306, 324 • 
 
 Thomas, Philip Evan 36 
 
 Thompson, Alexander R 344 
 
 Thompson, Charles 209 
 
 Thompson massacre 344 
 
 Thornton, Matthew 162 
 
 Thornton, Seth B 83 
 
 Thurber, Charles 200 
 
 Ticonderoga, Fort 100, 177, 250 
 
 Tilden, Samuel Jones 22, 247 
 
 Tileson, Thomas 259 
 
 Tilley, Edward 340 
 
 Tilley, John 340 
 
 Timby, Theodore Ruggles 236 
 
 Time, Daylight-saving 61 
 
 Tippecanoe, battle of. 289 
 
 Titanic, steamship sunk 76 
 
 Todd, Mary 24 
 
 Tomlinson, Ralph 230 
 
 Toral, Gen 154, 170 
 
 "Townshend Acts" 139, 327 
 
 Townshend, Charles 327 
 
 "Trade Dollar" 25 
 
 Trade Unionism 204 
 
 T-rail, first use of by railroad. . . 258 
 
 Train, George Francis 317 
 
 Travis, William 46 
 
 Treasury of U. S. Government, 
 
 organized 203 
 
 Trenches in war, first 127 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Trent affair 290 
 
 Trenton, battleof 30, 343 
 
 Trenton, U. S. warship 53 
 
 Triana, Rodrigo 259 
 
 Tribune. New York 19 
 
 Tripoli, war with 73 
 
 Trolley, electric system patented 10 
 
 Trott, George 285 
 
 Trumbull, Jonathan 266 
 
 Tucker, W. H 241 
 
 Turrets, revolving, patent grant- 
 ed ... 236 
 
 Tuscania. steamship, torpedoed. 20 
 
 Tyler, John 60, 39 
 
 Typewriter, first successful 135 
 
 Typewriter, Pterotype 315 
 
 Typewriter, Remington 136 
 
 Typewriter, Thurber 199 
 
 "Uncle Sam," origin of name . . 266 
 
 "Uncle Tom's Cabin" 118, 122 
 
 "Unconditional and immedTate 
 
 surrender" 27 
 
 Uniforms of soldiers 121 
 
 Union Pacific Railway 317 
 
 United States Bank 52, 63 
 
 United States Senate 198 
 
 Universal Postal Union, estab- 
 lishment of 247 
 
 University, first state 14 
 
 Usher, Nathaniel R 155 
 
 Utah, State of 2, 176 
 
 Utrecht, treaty of 69 
 
 Vail, Alfred 2 
 
 Valandigham, Clement Laird. . . 103 
 
 Valencia, Gen 193 
 
 Valley Forge 30 
 
 Valparaiso (Chile) affair 268 
 
 Van Buren, Martin. ... 318, 22, 279 
 
 Vandalia, U. S. warship 53 
 
 Vanderbilt, Cornelius 108 
 
 Van Dorn, Earl 246 
 
 Van Wert, Isaac , 241 
 
 Vardeman, James K 66 
 
 Varilla, P. Bunau 295 
 
 "Venezuelan Message" 331 
 
 Vera Cruz, bombardment of . . . . 56 
 
 Vera Cruz, capture of 82 
 
 Vermont, State of 42, 125, 324 
 
 Vermont, University of 26 
 
 Verplank, Gulian 56 
 
 Versailles^ treaty of. 206 , 
 
 Vice-President, resignation of 
 
 the office 344 
 
 Vicksburg, surrender of 86, 163 
 
 Victoria, Queen 197 
 
 Villa, Pancho 47 
 
 Vincennes, capture of 33 
 
 Virginia, "Ordinance of Seces- 
 sion" ■. . 77 
 
 Virginia, State of 177, 207, 256 
 
 Virginius (steamship) affair.... 285 
 Vixen, U. S. warship 1 54 
 
 Waddington, Joshua 56 
 
 Wagner,_ Webster 317 
 
 Wainwright, Richard 154 
 
 "Wakefield" 29 
 
 Walker, Asa 91 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Walker, William 223 
 
 Wallace, John F 64 
 
 Wallace, Lew 65 
 
 Walter, T. U 199 
 
 War against Austria-Hungary . . 320 
 
 War Department organized 182 
 
 Warner, John L 230 
 
 War of 1812, Battles: 
 
 Surrender of Detroit, Aug. 6, 
 
 1812. 
 Constitution vs. Guerridre, 
 
 Aug. 19, 1812. 
 Chesapeake vs. Shannon, June 
 
 1, 1813. 
 Enterprise vs. Boxer, Sept. 5, 
 
 1813. 
 Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813. 
 Thames River, Oct. 5, 1813. 
 Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814. 
 Lake Champlain, Sept. 11, 
 
 1814. 
 New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815. 
 
 War of 1812, causes 135 
 
 War of the Austrian Succession 269 
 
 Warren, Joseph 78 
 
 Warren, Richard 340 
 
 War with Spain, Battles: 
 
 Manila Bay, May 1, 1898. 
 
 San Juan, July 1, 1898. 
 
 El Caney, July 1, 1898. 
 
 Naval Battle of Santiago, July 
 3, 1898. 
 
 Surrender of Santiago, July 
 17, 1898. 
 
 Surrender of Manilla, Aug. 
 13, 1898. 
 War with Spain, Protocol signed 185 
 Washington, George, 29, 1, 3, 
 
 42, 64, 88, 102, 109, 121, 123. 
 
 138, 200, 209, 221, 234, 246, 
 
 267, 272, 276, 282, 284, 309, 
 
 318, 320, 324, 343 
 
 Washington, John 29 
 
 Washington s farewell address, 
 
 30, 233 
 
 Washington, State of 134, 291 
 
 Watson, Thomas E 176 
 
 Watt, Boulton H 189 
 
 Wayne, Anthony 169 
 
 Weather Bureau, established by 
 
 Congress 22 
 
 Webster, Daniel 10, 14 
 
 Weems, Macon S 29 
 
 "We have met the enemy and 
 
 they are ours" 220 
 
 Wesson, Daniel B 183 
 
 Westinghouse, George 74 
 
 West Point 53, 241 
 
 West, Sackville 279 
 
 West Virginia, State of 132 
 
 "Whaleback" Steamship Charles 
 
 W. Wetmore 121 
 
 Wheaton, W. R 241 
 
 Wheeler, Joseph 149 
 
 Whig Party 165 
 
 Whiskey, manufacture ceased. .. 214 
 
 White, Andrew 58 
 
 "White House," cornerstone laid 267 
 
 White, John i 192 
 
 White Oak Swamp, battle of 137 
 
 White, Peregrine 302 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 White Plains, battle of 30, 282 
 
 "Whites of their eyes" 130 
 
 White, Susanna 101 
 
 Whiting, Gen 8 
 
 Whitman, Marcus 312 
 
 Whitman massacre 312 
 
 Whitman, Walt Ill 
 
 Whitney, Eli 50 
 
 Whittier, John G 118, 318 
 
 Wilderness, battle of the. i 96 
 
 Wildes, Frank 91 
 
 Wilkes, Charles 290 
 
 Willes, Henry 285 
 
 William and Mary College 72 
 
 Williams, David 241 
 
 Williams, James 256 
 
 Williams, Mary Ann. 84 
 
 Williams, Roger 20 
 
 Williams, William 162 
 
 Willing, Thomas 35, 159, 161 
 
 Wills, David 297 
 
 Wilmot, David 183 
 
 "Wilmot Proviso" 182 
 
 Wilson, Allen Benjamin 185 
 
 Wilson, Henry 107 
 
 Wilson, James 26 
 
 Wilson, James H 101, 117 
 
 Wilson, Samuel 266 
 
 Wilson's Creek, battle of 184 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow, 344, 13, 19, 
 
 42, 58, 68, 94, 132, 232, 234, 
 
 281, 311, 321 
 Winslow, Edward, 101, 308, 335, 
 
 339, 340 
 
 Winslow, John A 132 
 
 Winthrop, John 214 
 
 Wireless telegraph, first signal 
 
 across Atlantic 322 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wireless telegraphy, first use of. 42 
 
 Wirt, William 52, 223, 243 
 
 Wisconsin, State of.. 109 
 
 Wise, Henry A 310 
 
 Wisner, Henry 161 
 
 "Witchcraft," Salem 192 
 
 Wolfe, James 176, 224 
 
 Woman s Rights convention, 
 
 first 170 
 
 Woman suffrage 171, 288, 289 
 
 Women, right to hold office 121 
 
 Wood, Leonard 150 
 
 Wood, P 91 
 
 Woodruff, Theodore T. 317 
 
 Woodworth, Samuel 6 
 
 Worden, John L. 48 
 
 Workingmen, first national con- 
 vention 107 
 
 Worth, William Jenkins 215 
 
 Wounded Knee, battle of 345 
 
 Wright, Horatio G 277 
 
 Wright, Wilbur 97 
 
 Wright.TVillard 332 
 
 Wyeth, Nathaniel 49 
 
 Wyoming, Pa., massacre 151, 291 
 
 Wyoming, State of 121, 166 
 
 Yacht America, winning cup... 194 
 Yale College, charter granted. . . 257 
 
 Yale, Elihu 257 
 
 Yates, Richard 85 
 
 Yellow fever epidemic in United 
 
 States M3 
 
 York, Duke of 215, 268 
 
 Yorktown, surrender at 270 
 
 Yorktown, V. S. warship 268 
 
 Young, Brigham 176 
 
 Young, Lucien 155 
 

 lii! 
 
 ■I'i'i 
 
 ..■■-iiiffi,'. 
 
 i I