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THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE CONTINENT 
 
 CLOSE OF THE FIKST SESSION OF THE THIRTY- 
 FIFTH CONGRESS. '-'■^- 
 
 /<.No., 
 
 ■, -,\ 
 
 J. H. PATTON, A.M. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 346 & 348 BROADWAY. 
 1860. 
 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S59, by 
 
 J. H. PATTON, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court of tho United States for the Southern District 
 of New York. 
 
 
 % 
 
 *C,^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Elaborate histories of the United States have been 
 ably written ; compends, or school histories, and well 
 adapted to the place they are designed to fiU, are 
 numerous. Between these compends and the works 
 extending to six or more volumes, there is room, as 
 well as necessity, for a history that shall be sufficiently 
 elaborate to trace the direct influences that have had a 
 power in moidding the character of the nation and its 
 institutions, moral and political — a volume that should 
 present as fully as is consistent with this design, those 
 events which are interesting in themselves, or charac- 
 teristic of the times and people. Such a volume the 
 author of this work has endeavored to supply. It is 
 hoped the general reader wiU find in it a succinct as 
 well as a comprehensive view of the subject, which of 
 itself is worthy the study, especially of our own coun- 
 trymen. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 While the author has availed himself of original 
 authorities, he takes pleasure in acknowledging his ob- 
 ligations, among others, to the following works : His- 
 tories of the United States, by Bancroft, Hildreth, and 
 Tucker ; Irving's Life of Washington ; C. W. Elliott's 
 History of New England ; Broadhead's History of New 
 York ; Benton's Thirty Years' View ; Abridgment of 
 Debates in Congress, by the same author; Duyckiriok's 
 Cyclopaedia of American Literature; Dr. Hawks' Con- 
 tributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the United 
 States ; Dr. Robert Baird's Rehgion in America. 
 
 New Yoke, September, 1859. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 His Discoveries, 4 Misfortunes, 5. Death, 5. Amerigo Vespucci and tlie 
 name America, 6. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ABORIGINES. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. 
 
 Soutli Sea, 11. First Voyage round the World, 11. Ponce de Leon, 12. 
 Florida, Discovery and Attempt to Settle, 12. Vasquez de Ayllon, 13. 
 Conquest of Mexico and Peru, 14. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 
 
 John Cabot discovers the American Continent, 16. His son, Sebastian, 16. 
 Voyages of Verrazzani, 17. Voyagesof Cartier, 18. Attempts at Set- 
 tlement, 20. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DE SOTO AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Lands at Tampa Bay, 23. On the Mississippi, 25. Death of De Soto, 26. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE REFORMATION AND ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE HUGUENOTS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Their Settlement destroyed, 30, 31. The Colony of St. Augustine, 32. De 
 Gourges, 34. Settlements in New France, 35. Champlain, and his 
 Success, 36. 
 
 > 
 
 I 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ENGLISH ENTEEPKISE. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 38. The Fisheries — St. John's, Newfoundland, 39. 
 Sir Walter Ealeigh, 39. Exploring Expedition — Virginia, 40. Fail- 
 ures to colonize, 41. Contest with Spain, 42. Death of Sir Walter, 43. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 London and Plymouth Companies, 46. King James' Laws, 46. The Voy- 
 age and Arrival — Jamestown, 47. John Smith; his energy, 47. His 
 Captivity, 49. Misery of the Colonists, 50. New Emigrants, 51. 
 Lord Delaware, 62. Sir Thomas Gates, 53. Pocahontas; her ■ ip- 
 ture and Marriage, 54. George Yeardlej', 55. First Legislatiie As- 
 ■ sembly, 66. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 COIONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 First Voyage to, 57. Explorations of John Smith, 58. The Church of 
 England, 69. The Puritans, 60'. Congregation of John Eoliinson, 61. 
 Pilgrims in Holland, 62. Arrangements to emigrate, 63. The Voyage, 
 65. Their prominent Men, 66. A Constitution adopted, 67. Landing 
 at Plymoutli, 08. Sufferings — Indians, 69. Weston's Men, 71. Thanks- 
 giving, 72. Democratic Government, 73. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAT. 
 
 A Company organized ; Settlement of Salem, 75. The Charter transferred, 
 76. Boston and Vicinity settled, 77. Roger Williams ; his Banish- 
 ment; he founds Providence, 78. Discussions renewed — Anne Hutchin- 
 son ; Settlement of Rhode Island, 80. The Dutch at Hartford ; Dis- 
 putes with, 81. Migrations to the Connecticut; Hoolier and Haynes, 
 82. Pequod War, 84. Rev. John Davenport; Settlement of New 
 Haven, 88. Sir Ferdinand Gorges ; New Hampshire, 89. The United 
 Colonies, 90. Educated Men ; Harvard College, Printing Press, Com- 
 mon Schools, 91. Qualiers ; Persecution of, 92. Eliot the Apostle — 
 the Mayhews, 93. Progress, 94. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VIRGINIA AND M.4HTLAND. 
 
 Slavery — Massacre by the Indians, 96. Lord Baltimore, 99. Settlement of 
 Maryland, 100. Clayborne's Rebellion, 101. Toleration — Berkeley 
 Governor of Virginia, Intolerance, 102. State of Society, 103. Aris- 
 tocratic Assembly, 104. War with the Susquehannas — Nathaniel 
 Bacon, 105. Disturbances, Obnoxious A.ssembly dissolved, 106. James- 
 town burned ; Death of B.acon, 107. Tyranny of Berkeley ; Aristo- 
 cratic Assembly; its Illiberal Acts, 108. Deplorable State of the 
 Colonv, 109. College of William and Mary, 110. Troubles in Mary- 
 land, ill. 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Hudson's Discoveries, 112. A Clwinge ^vrought, 113. The Fort on the Isle 
 of Manhattan, 114. Walloons — the first Settlers — Peter Minuits, 115. 
 The Fatroons; Van Twiller Governor, 116. Kieft his Successor, 117. 
 Difficulties with the Indians, 118. They seek Protection; their Mas- 
 sacre, 119. Peace concluded, 122. Stuyvesant Governor, 123. The 
 Swedish Settlement on the Delaware ; Pavonia, 124. New Netlierlands 
 Surrendered to England, 126. The Influence of the Dutch, 12*7. 
 Settlements in New Jersey; Scotch Presbyterians, 128. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 The Quakers, ISO. Wilham Penn ; his Education, 131. Obtains a Charter, 
 133. Lands at New Castle ; Philadelphia founded, 134. Rights of the 
 Indians, 135. German Emigrants, 136. Fletcher the Royal Governor, 
 137. New Charter granted the People — Presbyterians from Ireland 
 and Scotland, 138. Trials of Penn ; his Death — Benjamin Franklin, 139. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF THE CAKOLINAS. 
 
 The first Settlers, 141. Grants to^oyal Favorites— The " Grand Model," 
 142. Settlement at Cape Fear River — Sir John Teamans, 143. Emi- 
 grants under Sayle, 144. The Huguenots, 145. The People Independ- 
 ent, 146. Churchmen and Dissenters, 147. Rice — Manufactures pro- 
 hibited, 148. War — Failure to capture St. Augustine, 149. The Ruiu 
 of the Apalachees, 150. Rehgious Controversies, 151. Indian Wars — 
 German Emigrants, 162. The People repudiate the Authority of the 
 Proprietaries, 155. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF GEOKGIA. 
 
 Founded in Benevolence — Oglethorpe, 156. First Emigration, 157. Sa- 
 vannah — Encouragements, 158. Germans from the "W'estern Alps, 159. 
 The Moravians — Scotch Highlanders, 161. The Wesleys — Whitefield; 
 his Orphan House, 162. War with Spain ; its Cause, 163. Failure to 
 capture St. Augustine, 104. Repulse of the Spanish Invaders, 165. 
 The Colony becomes a Royal Province, 166. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Restoration, 167. The Commissioners — Progress of Trade, 168. 
 Causes of King Philip's War, 169. Death of Wamsutta, 170. State of 
 the Colony — Attack at Swanzey, 171. Phihp among the Nipmucks, 
 172. Attacks on Northfield— on Hadley, Gofle, 173. Tragedy at 
 Bloody Brook — The Narraganset Fort destroyed, 174. Philip returns 
 to Mount Hope to die, 175. Disasters of the War, 176. James II. — 
 his Intolerance, 177. The Charters in danger — Andros Governor — his 
 Illegal Measures, 178. Charter of Rhode Island taken away — Andros 
 at Hartford, 179. Andros in Jail ; the Charters resumed, 180. The 
 Men of influence, 181. 
 
Tin CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 COMMOTION IN NEW YORK — WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Leislor acting Governor of New York, 182. The Old Council refuses to 
 yield — Slougliter Governor, 183. Trial and Execution of Leisler and 
 Melbourne, 1 84. Benjamin Fletcher, Governor ; his failure at Hartford, 
 185. Yale College, 186. The Triumph of a Free Press, 187. Witch- 
 craft; beUef in, 1S8. Cotton Mather, 189. Various Persons accused 
 at Salem, 190. Stoughton as Judge, and Parris as Accuser, 191. 
 Minister Burroughs, 192. Calef's Pamphlet, 193. Mather's stand in 
 favor of Inoculation, 194. 
 
 CHAPTER SIX. 
 
 MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN NEW FRANCE 
 
 The Emigrants, 196. The Jesuits; their zeal as Teachers and Explorers, 
 197. The Chief Ahasistari, 198. The Five Nations, or Iroquois, 199. 
 Father Jogucs, 200. TheAbenakis; Dreuilottes, 201. French Settlers 
 at Oswego — Father Allouez, 202. James Marquette — The Mississippi, 
 203. La Salle, 204. His Enterprise ; his Failure and Tragical End, 206. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS; SETTLEMENT OP LOUISIANA; CAPTURE OF 
 LOUISBURG. 
 
 Mohawks hostile to the French, 208. Dover attacked ; Major Waldron, 209. 
 Schenectady burned — the inhuman Frontenac, 210. The Colonists act 
 for themselves — Invasion of Canada, 211. Heroism of Hannah Dustin, 
 212. Deerfiold taken; Eunice WiUiams, 213. D'Ibberville plants a 
 Colony on the Pascagoula, 215. Trading Posts on the IlUnois and the 
 Mississippi, 216. The Choctaws, 217. Destructionof theNiitchez, 218. 
 Attemptsto subdue the Chickasaws, 219. King George's War ; Capture 
 of Louisburg, 220. The English Ministry alarmed, 222. Jonathan 
 Edwards— The " Great Revival," 223. Princeton College, 224. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 The Valley of the Ohio— French and English Claimants, 225. Gist, the 
 Pioneer, 226. George Washington, 227. His Character — His Mission 
 to the French on the Alleghany, 229. St. Pierre's Letter unsatisfac- 
 tory, 231. Fort du Quosno built — Washington sent to defend the 
 Frontiers, 232. The first Conflict of the War— Fort Necessity, 233. 
 British Troops arrive in America, 234. Plan of Operations — General 
 Braddock, 235. The Army on th March— Captain Jack, 236. The 
 Battle of Monongahela, 238. Death and Burial of Braddock, 240. 
 Dunbar's Panic — The Effects of these Events, 241. 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — CONTINUED. 
 
 The French Acadiens — Their Industry and good Morals, 243. The'ir 
 Mournful Exile, 246. Expedition against Crown Point, 248. The 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 Englisli defeated — Death of Colonel Williams, 249. Repulse of the 
 French — Death of Dieskau — Williams College, 250. Kittauing destroy- 
 ed, 251. Montcalm acts with Energy, 253. Fort William Henrytaken. 
 254. Canada Exhausted, 255. 
 
 CHAPTER XXni. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — CONTINUED. 
 
 William Pitt, Prime Minister, 256. Lord Amherst — Plan of Operations — • 
 Louisburg captured, 257. English repulsed — Fort Frontenac captured, 
 258. Washington takes Possession of Fort Du Quesne, 259. Pitts- 
 burg, 260. The French abandon Ticonderoga, 261. Wolfe before 
 Quebec, 262. The Battle on the Heights of Abraham, 264. Deaths of 
 Wolf and Montcalm — their Memories, 265. Quebec Capitulates — 
 Cherokee War, 266. Destruction of their Crops and Villages, 268. 
 Pontiac, 269. Desolations along the Frontiers, 270. General Bouquet, 
 271. Pontiac's Death, 272. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 CHARACIEEISTICS OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 Religious Influences among the early Settlers, 273. Love of domestic Life, 
 274. Laws enjoining Morality, 275. Systems of Education ; Common 
 Schools, 276. Free Inquiry and Civil Liberty, 277. John Calvin — The 
 Anglo-Saxon Element ; the I^orman, 278. The Southerner ; the 
 Northerner — Influences in Pennsylvania, 279. In New York— Diver- 
 sity of Ancestry, 280. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 CAUSES THAT LED TO THE KEVOLUTION. 
 
 Restrictions of Trade and Manufactures — Taxes imposed by Parliament, 
 282. Writs of Assistance, 283. James Otis — Samuel Adams, 284. 
 The "Parsons'" Case in Virginia — Patrick Henry, 285. Colonel 
 Barre's Speech — The Stamp Act, 287. Excitement in the Colonies — 
 Resolutions not to use Stamps, 289. " Sons of Liberty," 290. A Call 
 for a Congress ; it Meets, 291. Self-denial of the Colonists — Pitt de- 
 fends them, 292. Stamp Act repealed — Rejoicings, 293. Dartmouth 
 College, 294. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CAUSES THAT LED TO THE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED. 
 
 The English Ministry determine to obtain a Revenue, 295. Massachusetts 
 invites to harmonious Action, 296. The Sloop Liberty — A British 
 Regiment at Boston, 297. Collision with the Citizens — Articles of As- 
 sociation proposed by Washington, 298. Tax upon Tea, 299. The 
 Gaspe captured, 300. The Resolutions not to receive the Tea, 301. 
 Tea thrown into Boston Harbor — Its Reception at other Places, 303. 
 Boston Port BiU— Aid sent to Boston, 304. Gage's Difiaculties, 305. 
 Alexander Hamilton, 306. The Old Continental Congress— The first 
 Prayer, 307. The Papers issued by the Congress, 309. Views of Pitt 
 in relation to them, 310. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Spirit of tlie people, 311. They seize Guns and Ammunition, 312 
 The Massachusetts Provincial Congress; its Measures, 313. The Re 
 straining Bill, 314. Conflicts at Lexington and Concord, 315. Vol, 
 untcers fly to Arms, and beleaguer Boston — Stark — Putnam, 317 
 Benedict Arnold — Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, 318' 
 Capture of Ticonderoga, 319. Lord Dunraore in Virginia — Henry and 
 the Independent Companies, 320. The Xews from Lexington rouses a 
 Spirit of Kesistance, 3'Jl. The Second Continental Congress, 323. Its 
 Measures, 324. Adopts the Army before Boston, and appoints Wash- 
 ington Commander-in-Chief, 325. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE WAR OP THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Battle of Bunker Hill, 328. Death of Warren — Generals Charles Lee and 
 Philip Schuyler, ,S33. State of Affairs in New York— Sir William 
 Johnson, 334. Condition of the Army, 335. Nathaniel Greene — 
 Morgan and his Riflemen, 336. Wants of the Army, 337. Expedition 
 against Canada, 338. Richard Montgomerj- — Allen's rash Adventure, 
 339. Montreal captured — Arnold's toilsome March to Quebec, 340. 
 That Place besieged, 341. Failure to Storm the Town — Death of 
 Montgomery, 342. Arnold in his Icy Fortress, 343. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 TVAR or THE BETOLUTION — CONTINUED. 
 
 Aleeting of Congress — Alarming Evils, 344. Portland burned — Efforts to 
 defend the Coast, 345. Parliament resolves to crush the Rebels, 346. 
 Henry Knox, 347. Difficulties in the Army — Provincial Prejudices, 
 
 348. Success of the Privateers — British Theatricals — -The Union Flag, 
 
 349. Affairs in New York — Rivington's Gazette, 350. Governor 
 Tryon — General Lee in the City, 351. Dunmore's Measures — Norfolk 
 burned, 352. Defeat of North Carolina Tories, 353. Cannon and 
 Powder obtained, 355. Dorchester Heights fortified — Boston evacuat- 
 ed, 356. Washington in New York, 357. Numerous Disasters — Re- 
 treat from Canada, 359. Horatio Gates, 300. A British Fleet before 
 Fort Moultrie, 361. Gloomy Prospects, 362. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 WAR OF THE EETOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The Question of Independence ; Influences in favor of, 364. The Tories — 
 Common Sense, 366. The Declaration ; its Reception Iiy the People 
 and Army, 368. Arrival of Admiral Howe, 369. His Overtures for 
 Reconciliation, 370. The American Army ; its Composition, Sectional 
 Jealousies, 371. The Chntons, 372. Battle of Long Island, 373. The 
 Masterly Retreat, 376. Incidents, 377. Howe confers with a Com- 
 mittee of Congress, 378. Nathan Hale, 879. The British at Kipp's 
 Bay, 380. New York evacuated, SSI. Conflict at White Plains, 382. 
 Loss of Fort Washington, 384. Retreat across New Jersey, 3S5. 
 Waywardness of Lee, 386. 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 ■WAR OF THE EETOLUTIOX — CONTINDED. 
 
 Discouragements — Howe's Proclamation, 3S1. Affairs on Lake Chaniplain, 
 388. Heroism of ArnolJ, 889. Capture of Lee, 390. Battle of 
 Trenton, 392. Battle of Princeton, 398. Death of Mercer, 399. 
 Washington returns to Morristown, 400. CornwaUis in his Unes at 
 Brunswick, 4ol. Putnam at Princeton, 402. Ill treatment of Ameri- 
 can Prisoners, 403. Appointment of General Officers, Muhleuburg, 
 AVayne, Conway — Medical Department, 404. The Navy, 405. Ex- 
 peditions — Peekskill — Danbury, 406. Death of Wooster — Retaliation at 
 Sag Harbor, 407. Schuyler and Gates, 408. The National Flag, 409. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 WAB OF THE REVOLUTION OONTINCED. 
 
 The Struggle excites an Interest in England and France, 410. Privateers 
 fitted out in France, 411. Munitions of War, 412. Howe's Manoeu- 
 vres, 413. Burgoyne on his Way from Canada, 414. Ticonderoga 
 captured, 415. St. Clair's Retreat, 410. Capture of General Prcscott 
 — The secret Expedition — The American Army at Germantown, 417. 
 Lafayette, 418. Pulaski and Kosciusko, 419. Aid sent to Schuyler — 
 Howe lands at Elkton, 420. Battle of Brandy wine, 421. Possession 
 taken of Philadelphia — Battle of Germantown, 424. Hessians repulsed 
 at Fort Mercer, 426. Winter Quarters at Valley Forge, 427. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 ■WAR OF THE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED. 
 
 Invasion from Canada — Appointment of General Gates, 428. Jenny 
 JlcCrea, 429. St. Leger besieges Fort Stanwix, 430. The Attempt 
 to relieve it, 431. Battle of Bennington, 432. Change of Prospect.'), 
 433. Battle of Behmus's Heights, 4.34. Ticonderoga besieged, 435. 
 BurgoyuG surrenders his Army at Saratoga, 436. The Prisoners — 
 Capture of Forts on the Hudson, 438. Schuyler, 439. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 •WAR OF THE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED 
 
 Sufferings at Valley Forge, 440. England disappointed — Conciliatory Meas- 
 ures of Parliament, 441. The War presses hard upon the American 
 People, 442. Difficulties in Congress, 443. The " Conway Cabal," 
 444. Baron Steuben, 446. Attempt to increase the Army, 447 
 Exchange of Lee ; his Treason, 448. Treaty with France — British 
 Commissioners, 449. Battle of Monmouth, 450. Misconduct of Lcc, 
 461. His death, 452. Combined attack upon Newport fails, 453. 
 Massacre at Wypming — at Cherry Valley, 454. Invasion of Georgia, 
 456. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 ■WAR OF THE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED, 
 
 Dissensions in Congress, 457. Expedition against the Indians, 458. The 
 War in the South, 459. Marauding Expeditions sent to Virginia, and 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 up the HudsoD^Tryon ravages Connecticut, 460. Wayne captures 
 Stony Point, 461. Lee surprises the Garrison at Jersey City — Com- 
 bined assault upon Savannah, 402. Daniel Boone, 463. George 
 Rogers Clarke; KaskasUia— Pioneers of Tennessee; Nashville, 464. 
 John Paul Jones, 465. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 WAR or TUE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED. 
 
 Hardships of the Soldiers, 466. British Success at the South, 4C7. Colo- 
 nel Tarleton, 468. Charleston capitulates — Defeat at Waxhaws, 469. 
 Rev. James Caldwell, 470. Maraud into Jersey, 471. French Fleet at 
 Newport- — The Partisan Leaders iu the South, 472. Gates in Com- 
 mand — Disastrous Battle of Camden, 474. Death of De Kalb, 475. 
 Sumter's Success and Defeat, 476. The Treason of Arnold — Mnior 
 Andre, 477. Movements of Cornwallis, 479. Colonel Ferguson--! ae 
 Battle of King's Mountain, 480. Tarleton repulsed, 482. Greene in 
 Command — British triumphant in the South — Affairs in Europe, 483. 
 Henry Laurens — Dangers of England; her Energy, 484. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVn. 
 
 WAR OF THE REVOLUTION — CONTINUED. 
 
 The Spirit of Revolt among the Soldiers, 486. Arnold ravages the Shores 
 of the Chesapeake, 488. Battle of the Cowpens, 489. Morgan re- 
 treats; Cornwallis pursues, 491. Greene marches South — Lee scatters 
 the Tories, 493. Battle of Guildford Court House, 494. Conflict at 
 Hobkirk's Hill, 495. The Execution of Hayne, 496. Battje of Eutaw 
 Springs, 497. Plans to capture New York, 498. Wayne's Daring at 
 James River, 499. Nation.al Finances — Robert Morris, 500. Clinton 
 deceived — Combined Armies beyond the Delaware, 501. French Fleet 
 in the Chesapeake, 602. New London burned by Arnold, 503. The 
 Attack, 504. Cornwallis Surrenders, 505. Thanksgivings, 506. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIIL 
 
 CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR — FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 British Efforts Paralyzed, 608. The States form Independent Govern- 
 ments — Indian Wars, 509. Massacre of the Christian Delawares — Bat- 
 tle of the Blue Lick, 610. Lord North — Commissioners of Peace, 511. 
 Peace concluded — Dissatisfaction in the American Army, 512. The 
 "Anonymous Address," 513. British Prisoners ; the Tories, 514. Dis- 
 bandment of the Army — Washington takes leave of his Officers, 515. 
 Resigns his Commission, 516. Shay's Rebellion, 518. Interests of the 
 States clash, 519. The Constitutional Convention, 520. The Consti- 
 tution — its Ratification, 521. The Territory North-west of the Ohio, 
 522. Ecclesiastical Organizations, 62P. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Washington's administration. 
 
 Reception and Inauguration of the President, 528. An Era in human 
 Progress, 529. The Dep.irtments of Stale organized, 530. Hamil- 
 ton's Financial Report, 631. Congress Assumes the Debts of the Na- 
 tion — Nation.il Bank, 532. Commercial Enterprise — Manufactures, 533. 
 Indian War, 534. St. Clair defeated, 536. Wayne defeats the In- 
 
CONTENTS. Xm 
 
 dians, 536. Political Parties — Jefferson, 537. Tlie French Revolution, 
 638. Genet arrives as French Minister — Xeutrality proclaimed by the 
 President — Democratic Societies, 5;.9. The Partisans of France — Re- 
 call of Genet, 540. The first Settlers of Western Pennsylvania, 5il. 
 The Whiskey Insurrection, 54'.i. Special Mission to Great Britain, 543. 
 A Treaty concluded, 544. Other Treaties, 545. Washington's Farewell 
 Address, 546. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 JOHN ADAJIS'S ADMINISTRATION'. 
 
 Serious Aspect of Relations with France, 547. Commissioners of Peace, 
 548. Tlie French Cruisers, 549. The Alien Act — War impending, 
 550. Washington Commander-in-Chief — Capture of the Frigate L'ln- 
 surgente, 551. Peace concluded — Death of Washington, 552. Eulo- 
 giums on his Character, 553. The city of Washington becomes the 
 Seat of Government, 554. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Jefferson's administration. 
 
 The President's Inaugural, 655. Purchase of Louisiana, 656. Pirates in 
 the Mediterranean, 567. Burning of the Philadelphia, 658. Tripoli 
 Bombarded, 559. Death of Hamilton, 560. Aaron Burr, 661. Oppo- 
 sition to the Navy — Gunboats, 562. The Rights of Neutrals — The un- 
 just Decrees issued by England and France, 663. Impressment of 
 American Seamen, 564. Treaty with England rejected by the Presi- 
 dent — Affair of the Chesapeake, 566. The Embargo ; its effect, 568. 
 Manufactures, 569. The Embargo repealed, 570. 
 
 CHAPTER XLH. 
 
 Madison's administration. 
 
 Condition of the Country — Erskine's Negotiations, 571. Depredations upon 
 American Commerce — The Rambouillet Decree, 573. Affair of the 
 Little Belt, 574. The Census — Indian Troubles — Tecumseh and the 
 Prophet, 576. Battle of Tippecanoe, 677. The two Parties— The 
 Twelfth Congress— Henry Clay— John C. Calhoun, 578. Threatening 
 Aspect of Foreign Relations, 679. Debates in Congress — John Ran- 
 dolph, 580. Another Embargo, 583. War declared against Great 
 Britain, 584. The Academy at West Point, 585. Riots at Baltimore, 
 586. Operations in the North-west, 587. Surrender of Hull, 588. 
 Impressment of American Seamen, 588. American Ships in English 
 Ports, 589. Failures to invade Canada, 590. 
 
 CHAPTER XLin. 
 
 Madison's administration — continced. 
 
 Vessels of the Navy, 593. The chase of the Constitution — Capture of the 
 Alert, 594. 'The Guerritre — Incidents, 595. The Macedonian — The 
 Frohc — The Java, 596. The effects of these Naval Conflicts in the 
 United States and England, 697. Plan of Operations — Harrison ad- 
 vances on Detroit, 599. General Winchester a Prisoner; Indian Bar- 
 barities — The Keutuckians fall into an Ambuscade, 600. Repulse at 
 
Xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Fort Stephenson — The los3 of the Chesapeake, 601. Perry's Victory, 
 602. Battle of the Thames — Andrew Jackson, 603. Leads an E.xpe- 
 dition; its Termination, GOo. York captured; Death of General Pike, 
 506. Failures, 607. Newark burned ; the severe Retaliation, 608. 
 Ravages on Shores of the Chesapeake — Indian War in the South, 609. 
 Jackson and others in the Field — Battle of the Great Horse Shoe, 610. 
 Captain Porter's Cruise, 611. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Madison's administration — continued. 
 
 The Thirteenth Congress; its Members — Daniel Webster, 613. Manifesto 
 of the British Government, 6] 4. Embarrassments — Commissioners of 
 Peace, 615. Jacob Brown — Winfield Scott — Wilkinson unsuccessful, 
 617. Battle of Lundy's Lane, 618. Battle on Lake Champlain, 621. 
 The British on the Shores of the Chesapeake, 623. Bladcnsburg • -.5. 
 Capture of Washington — Public Buildings burned, 626. Defence of 
 . Fort McHenry — Death of General Ross, 627. Bombardment of Ston- 
 ington — Distress in New England, 628. Debates in Congress, 629. 
 Hartford Convention, 630. 
 
 CHAPTER 5LV. 
 
 Madison's admi.sisikatiox — concluded. 
 
 Jackson enters Pensacola, 633. New Orleans defenceless — The British 
 land, 634. Jackson's Measures of Defence, 635. Battle of New Or- 
 leans, 636. The Distress of the Country— The Relief, 638. Treaty of 
 Peace, 639. Frigate President captured, 640. War with Algiers, 641. 
 Treaty with the Indians — National Bank — State of Indiana, 642. John 
 Fitch— Robert Fulton — First Steamboat, 643. 
 
 CHAPTER SLVI. 
 
 Monroe's administration. 
 
 A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government, 644. The President's 
 Tour in the Eastern States — The Colonization Society, 645. Revolu- 
 tions in the Spanish Colonies — Indian War, 646. General Jackson iu 
 the Field — Purchase of Florida, 647. The Missouri Compromise, 648. 
 The Monroe Doctrine — Financial Distress, 652. Increase of Tariff — 
 Visit of Lafayette, 653. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMs' ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Manufactures and Internal Improvements. 655. Indian Lands in Geor- 
 gia, 666. Death of the ex-Presidei-.s Thomas JeSerson and John 
 Adams, 657. Free Masonry — Protection to American Industry, 658. 
 Debates in Congress — Presidential Contest, 660. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIIL 
 
 Jackson's administration. 
 
 Appointments to Office, 661. Removal of the Indians from Georgia, 662. 
 Bank of the United States, 663. Hayne and Webster's Debate — Null'- 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 fication, 664. The Compromise Bill ; its final Passage, 667. RemovlB 
 of the Deposits, 668. Efifeet upon the Country — Indian Wars, 669. 
 Osceola — Death of Judge Marshall, 670. Indemnity for French Spolia- 
 tions, 671. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 VAN buren's administration. 
 
 Apparent Prosperity, 673. The Specie Circular — Distribution of the Sur- 
 plus Funds — Speculation, 674. The Sub-Treasury, 675. State Indebt- 
 edness, 676. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 HARRISON AND TILEE's ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Inauguration, 677. Death of Harrison ; Tyler President, 678. Bank- 
 rupt Law — The Bank Charters; their Vetoes, 679. Proposition to 
 treat with fireat Britain — Insurrection in Canada — The Caroline, 680. 
 Trial of McLeod, 681. Boundary Disputes in Maine — Ti-eaty of Wash- 
 ington, 682. Questions of Visit .and Impressment, 683. Exploring 
 Expedition, 684. Texas Colonization ; Struggles, 68.5. Siege of the 
 Alamo, 686. Davy Crockett — Goliad, Siege of — Massacre of Prisoners, 
 687. Battle of San Jacinto, 688. Houston President — Question of 
 Annexation in Congress, 689. Texas Annexed — Disturbances in Rhode 
 Island, 691. Iowa and Florida become States, 692. 
 
 CHAPTER LL 
 
 folk's ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Difficulties with Mexico, 694. General Taylor at Corpus Christi, 695. 
 Oregon Territory ; respective Claims to, 696. Settlement of Boundary, 
 
 698. Taylor marches to the Rio Grande — Thornton's Party surprised, 
 
 699. Attack on Fort Brown, 700. Battle of Palo Alto, 701. Battle 
 of Resaca de la Palma, 702. Matamoras occupied — Measures of Con- 
 gress, 704. The Volunteers — Plan of Operations — Mexico declares 
 War, 705. Capture of Monterey, 707. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 pole's ADMINISTRATION — COXTINOED. 
 
 The President hopes for Peace — Santa Anna, 710. Hostilities to be renewed, 
 712. Troops withdrawn from General Taylor — Volunteers arrive at 
 Monterey, 713. Santa Anna's Plans and Preparations, 714. Taylor 
 advances to Agua Nueva, 715. Battle of Buena Vista, 716. The Mex- 
 ican Chiefs Urrea and Romero. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 
 folk's administratio.n' — continued. 
 
 Emigration to Oregon, 732. John C. Fremont ; his Explorations, 733. 
 Difficulties with the Mexican Governor, 733. American Settlers in 
 alarm, 736. California free — Monterey on the Pacific captured, 737. 
 — Commodoi'cs Sloat and Stockton — E.xpedition of Kearney, 738. 
 Santa Fe taken; a Government organized, 739. Doniphan's Expedi- 
 
^^l CONTENTS. 
 
 t!on, Y40. El Paso taken, 742. Chihuahua occupied, 743. An Insur- 
 rection ; Its Suppressien, 744. Trial of Fremont, 745. 
 
 CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 folk's administration — concluded. 
 
 ilovement of Troops, 746. Vera Cruz invested, 747. Its Bombardment and 
 Capitulation, 748. Santa Anna's Energy, 749. Battle of Cerro Gordo 
 750. General Scott at PneWa— His Misunderstandings with the Au- 
 thorities at Washington, 751. N. P. Trist, Commissioner 752 Dis- 
 sensions in Mexico, 754. Scott's Manifesto, 755. Advance upon the 
 Capital, 756. Battle of Contreras, 767. Of Churiibusco, 758. At- 
 tempts to obtain Peace, 760. Conflict of Molino del Key, 761. The 
 C.astle of Chapultepee captured, 762. The American Army enters the 
 City, 763. Santa Anna again in the Field, 764. Treaty of Peace, 765. 
 Misunderstandings among the American Officers, 766. Conditions of the 
 Peace— Discovery of Gold in California, 7«7. The Eflects— Death 
 of John Quincy Adams, 768. Wilmot Proviso, 769. The Presidential 
 Election— Death of Mr. Polk, 770. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 TAYLOR AND FILLMORe's ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Discussion on Slavery— Wilmot Proviso, 772. The Powers of the Constitu- 
 tion ; their AppUcation in the Territories, 774. The President's Mes 
 sage ; its Recommendations, 776. Debate on the Omnibus Bill, 777 
 Death of Calhoun— Death of President Tavlor— Fillmore Inaugurated, 
 778. The Fugitive Slave Law, 779. The Mormons ; their Origin, 
 780. Troubles— Settlement in Utah, 781. A Disunion Convention, 781. 
 Lopez invades Cuba, 782. Search for Sir John FranUin— Dr. E. K. 
 Kane, 783. Death of Henry Clay ; of Daniel Webster, 784. The 
 Tripartite Treaty, 784. 
 
 CHAPTER LVL 
 
 Pierce's administration. 
 
 Purchase of the MesiUa Valley, 786. Treatv with Japan, 787. The Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska Bill; the effects of the Measure, 788. Emigrants to 
 Kansas, 789. Struggles and Conflicts, 790. James Buchanan, Presi- 
 dent, 792. The Contest continues in Kansas, 793. National Prog- 
 ress, 795. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 CHAPTEB I. 
 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 His Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death. — Amerigo Vespucci, and tlie name 
 
 America. 
 
 For nearly fifteen hundred years after the birth of our chap. 
 Saviour, the great Western Continent was unknown to ' 
 the inhabitants of the Old World. 1492. 
 
 The people of Europe had looked upon the Atlantic 
 Ocean as a boundless expanse of water, surrounding the 
 land and stretching far away they knew not whither. 
 This vast unknown, their imaginations had peopled with 
 all sorts of terrible monsters, ever ready to devour those 
 who should rashly venture among them. But the cloud 
 of mystery and superstition that hung over this world of 
 waters was now to be dispelled — a spirit of discovery was 
 awakened in Europe. 
 
 The Azores and Madeira Isles were already known. 
 Mariners, driven out by adverse winds, had discovered 
 them. Tradition told of islands stiU farther west, but as 
 yet no one had gone in search of them. The attention of 
 the people of maritime Europe was turned in the opposite 
 direction ; they wished to find a passage by water to the 
 eastern coasts of Asia. The stories told by those early 
 I 
 
2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, travellers, Sir John Mandeville and Marco Polo, had 
 
 fired their imaginations ; they believed that among those 
 
 1492. distant regions of which they wrote, so abundant in pre- 
 cious stones, diamonds, and gold, was the veritable 
 land of Ophir itself. Their intense desire to obtain the 
 treasures of India, led to a result most important in the 
 world's history — a result little anticipated, but which was 
 to have a never-ending influence upon the destinies of 
 the human family — the discovery of America. 
 
 As God had ordered, there appeared at this time a 
 remarkable man ; a man whose perseverance, no less than 
 liis genius, commands our respect. He was a native of 
 Genoa, one of the great commercial cities of Italy. He 
 had been from his childhood familiar with the sea, and 
 had visited the most distant portions of the world then 
 known. His time and talents were devoted to the study 
 of navigation, geograjihy, and astronomy. He began to 
 astonish his countrymen with strange notions about the 
 world. ■ He boldly asserted that it was round, instead of 
 flat ; that it went around the sun instead of the sun jroing 
 around it ; and moreover, that day and night were caused 
 by its revolution on its axis. These doctrines the priests 
 denounced as contrary to those of the church. He could 
 not convince these learned gentlemen by his arguments, 
 neither could they silence him by their ridicule. When 
 he ventured to assert that by sailing west, he could reach 
 the East Indies, these philosophers questioned not only 
 the soundness of his theory, but that of his intellect. For 
 years he labored to obtain the means to explore the great 
 western ocean, to prove that it was the pathway to the 
 coveted trea.sures of the East. This remarkable man was 
 Christopher Columbus. 
 
 He applied first to John the Second, king of Portugal, 
 to aid him in his enterprise, biit without success ; he then 
 applied to Henry the Seventh, king of England, with a 
 similar result. After years of delay and disappointment, 
 
COLUMBUS SAILS FROM PALOS. 3 
 
 his project having been twice rejected by the Spanish chap. 
 
 court, and he himself branded as a wild enthusiast, he sue- 
 
 ceeded Lq enlisting in its favor the benevolent Isabella, 1492. 
 Queen of Spain. She offered to pledge her private jewels 
 to obtain means to defray the expenses of the expedition. 
 Thus the blessings, which have accrued to the world from 
 the discovery of America, may be traced to the beneficence 
 of one of the noblest of women. 
 
 A little more than three hundred and fifty years ago, 
 on Friday, the 3d of August, 1492, Columbus sailed from 
 the Kttle port of Palos, in Sixain. 
 
 He confidently launched forth upon the unknown ocean. 
 His three little vessels were mere saU-boats compared 
 with the magnificent ships that now pass over the same 
 waters. He sailed on and on, day after day, and at length 
 came within the influence of the trade winds, which with- 
 ovLt intermission urged his vessels toward the west. The 
 sailors began to fear— if these winds continued, they never 
 could return. They noticed the variation of the compass ; 
 it no longer pointed to the pole, — was this mysterious, but 
 hitherto trusty friend, about to fail them ? 
 
 Ten weeks had already elapsed, and the winds were still 
 bearing them farther and farther from their homes. It is 
 true, there were many indications that land was near ; land 
 birds were seen ; land weeds, a bush with fresh berries 
 upon it, and a cane curiously carved, were found floating in 
 the water. Again and again, from those on the watch, 
 was heard the ciy of land, but as often the morning sun 
 dispelled the illusion ; they had been deceived by the 
 evening clouds that fringed the western horizon. Now, 
 the sailors terror-stricken, became mutinous, and clamored 
 to return. They thought they had sinned in venturing so 
 far from land, and as a punishment were thus lured on to 
 perish amid the dangers with which their imaginations had 
 filled the waste of waters. 
 
 Columbus alone was calm and hopeful ; in the midst 
 
4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, of all these difficulties, he preserved the courage and noble 
 
 . self-control that so dignifies his character. His confidence 
 
 1492. in the success of Ms enterprise, was not the idle dream of 
 a mere enthusiast ; it was founded in reason, it was based 
 on science. His courage was the courage of one, who, in 
 the earnest pursuit of truth, loses sight of every personal 
 consideration. He asked only for a little more time, that 
 he might prove to others the truth of what he himself so 
 firmly believed. When lo ! the following night the land 
 breeze, fragrant with the perfume of flowers, greeted them ; 
 never was it more grateful to the worn and weary sailor. 
 The ships were ordered to lie to, lest they should run upon 
 rocks. Suddenly the ever watchful eye of Columbus saw 
 a light, a moving light ! The alternations of hope and 
 fear, the visions of fame and greatness, or the higher aspi- 
 rations that may have filled his soul on that eventful night, 
 are more easily imagined than described. 
 Frid., The next morning, they saw lying before them in all 
 
 -[2 ' its luxuriant beauty an island, called by the natives Guan- 
 ahani, but renamed by Columbus, San Salvador, or Holy 
 Saviour. 
 
 With a portion of his crew he landed. Falling on 
 their knees, they offered thanksgivings to God, who had 
 crowned their labors with success. 
 
 Columbus raised a banner, and planted a cross, and 
 thus took formal possession of the land in the names of his 
 sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. The awe-stricken 
 natives watched the ceremony fiom amid the groves ; they 
 thought the white strangers were the children of the sun, 
 their great deity. Alas ! the cross did not prove to them 
 the emblem of peace and good-will ! 
 
 Columbus explored this island— one of the Bahama 
 
 group — and discovered others, now known as the West 
 
 Indies. Thus he spent three months ; then taking with 
 
 him seven of the natives, he sailed for home. On the 15th 
 
 1403. of March he arrived at Palos. From that port to the court 
 
HIS THIRD VOYAGE. 5 
 
 at Barcelona, his progress was a triumplial procession. He CEAP. 
 
 was graciously received by the King and Queen, who 
 
 appointed him Viceroy or Governor of all the countries he 1-193. 
 had or should discover. They conferred upon him and his 
 family titles of nobility, and permission to use a coat of 
 arms. The day he made his discoveiy, was the day of Ms 
 triumph ; this day was the recognition of it by his patrons 
 and by the world. His past life had been one of unremit- 
 ting toil and hope deferred ; but in the future were 
 bright prospects for himself and his family. But liis 
 title, the object of his honorable ambition, proved the 
 occasion of all his after sorrows. The honors so justly 
 conferred upon him, excited the jealousy of the Sjianish 
 nobility. 
 
 From this time his life was one continued contest with 
 his enemies. He made more voyages, and more discoveries 
 in the West Indies. On his third voyage he saw the main- 1498. 
 land at the mouth of the Orinoco. It seems never to have 
 occurred to him, that a river so large must necessarily 
 drain a vast territory. He supposed the lands he had dis- 
 covered were islands belonging to Cathay, or Farther 
 India ; from this circumstance the natives of the New ] 
 
 World were called Indians. It is more than probable ■ 
 
 Columbus died without knowing that he had found a ; 
 
 great continent. 
 
 After a few years his enemies so far prevailed, that on 
 a false accusation he was sent home in chains from the ; 
 
 island of Hispaniola. Isabella, indignant at the treat- \ 
 
 ment he had received, ordered them to be taken off, and , 
 
 all his rights and honors restored. Ferdinand promised to ; 
 
 aid her in rendering him justice, and in punishing his ene- 1 
 
 mies ; but, double-dealing and ungenerous, he did neither. ■ 
 
 To the misfortunes of Columbus was added the death of 
 Isabella, his kind and generous patroness. And now he \ 
 
 was openly maligned and persecuted. Their work was soon ' 
 
 done ; in a short time he died, worn out by disease and 
 
6 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, disappointment. His last words were : " Into thy hands, 
 
 Lord, I commend my spirit." 
 
 1506. His body was deposited in a convent in Spain. Fer- 
 
 dinand, it is said, ordered a monument to his memory. 
 The justice he had denied him in life he was willing to 
 inscribe upon his tomb, — it was to bear the inscription : 
 " Columbus has given a world to CastUe and Leon." 
 
 The body of Columbus was afterwards conveyed to 
 Hispaniola. After a lapse of almost three hundred years 
 that island passed into the hands of the'French. Gene- 
 rations had come and gone, but the Sjjanish nation re- 
 membered that Columbus had " given a world to Castile 
 and Leon ; " and they wished to retain his remains within 
 their own territories. They disinterred them, and with 
 imposing ceremonies transferred them to Havana in the 
 
 1795, island of Cuba, where they still remain. 
 
 About seven years after the first voyage of Columbus, 
 Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, visited the 
 West Indies, and also landed on the eastern coast of South 
 America. On liis return he puljlished a glowing descrip- 
 tion of the newly discovered countries. From this cir- 
 cumstance the name America was given to the New 
 "World by a German writer on Geography, who may have 
 been ignorant of the claims of Columbus. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ABORIGINES. 
 
 In the earliest ages of the world the ancient inhabit- ^^^^■ 
 
 ants of America may have come from Asia. The prox- 
 
 imity of the two continents in the vicinity of Behring's 
 Straits and the Aleutian Isles, render such an emigration 
 comparatively easy. There is reason to believe the i^eople 
 found here by Europeans, were not the original inhabit- 
 ants of the land. 
 
 Throughout the continent, more especially in the val- 
 ley of the Mississippi, are found monuments of a race 
 'more ancient, — mounds and enclosures of great extent, — 
 j;he work, not of roving savages, but of a people who lived 
 in settled habitations, it may be, as prosperous and peace- 
 ful cultivators of the soil. To build these immense 
 monuments, the materials of which were frequently 
 brought from a distance, required the labor and toU of a 
 numerous population. Perhaps in the vicinity of these 
 works, villages and cities once stood. The enclosures 
 were used either as places of defence, or for purposes of 
 worship, and perhaps for both ; the mounds evidently as 
 places of burial for kings or chiefs. 
 
 The antiquary finds here no inscriptions, which, like 
 those found on the plains of Shinar or in the valley of the 
 Nile, can unfold the mysteries of bygone centuries. He 
 finds only the scattered remnants of vessels of earthen- 
 
O HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ware, rude weapons of warfare, axes made of stone, and 
 ornaments worn only by a people rude and uncultivated. 
 
 How mucli of happiness or of misery tliis ancient people 
 experienced during those many ages, none can tell. In an 
 evil hour came some dire calamity. It may have been 
 civil war, wliich in its path spread desolation far and wide ; 
 blotted out their imperfect civilization, and drove the more 
 peaceful inhabitants further south, where they founded the 
 empires of Mexico and Peru ; while those who remained 
 degenerated into roving savages, and converted those fer- 
 tile plains into hunting-grounds. Or may we not rather 
 suppose that centuries after the first emigration, there came 
 another from the same mother of nations, Asia ; — that the 
 latter were warlike savages, who lived not by cultivating 
 the soil but by hunting ; — that these invaders drove the 
 peaceful inhabitants of that beautiful region to the far 
 south, and took possession of the conquered land as their 
 own home and hunting-ground ? 
 
 Travellers have noticed the near resemblance of the 
 aborigines of North America to the people of north- 
 eastern Asia, not only in their customs but in their 
 physical appearance. " The daring traveller Ledyard, as 
 he stood in Siberia with men of the Mongolian race before 
 him, and compared them with the Indians who had been 
 his old play-feUows and school-mates at Dartmouth, writes 
 deliberately that, 'universally and circumstantially they 
 resemble the aborigines of America.' On the Connecticut 
 and the Obi, he saw but one race." ' 
 
 More than two thousand years ago, Herodotus wrote in 
 his history, that the Scythians practised the custom of 
 scalping their enemies slain in battle ; that the warrior 
 preserved these scalps as the evidence of his bravery, and 
 used them to decorate his tent and the trappings of his 
 horse. The wonderful skill of these Scythians in han- 
 
 " Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. III., page 318. 
 
INDIANS — FOUR DIVISIONS. 9 
 
 dling the bow and arrow was proverbial in ancient times, chap. 
 
 Wlio can tell but the ancestors of the aborigines of America 
 
 came from Scythia, and brought with them their skill in 
 using the bow and arrow, and the singular custom of 
 scalping ? 
 
 Of the North American Indians there were four general 
 divisions ; thes» occupied as many separate portions of the 
 United States and Canada. The Algonquin branch, with 
 its various tribes, claimed the territory extending from the 
 north of Maine to Cape Fear, thence to the Mississippi, and 
 north of the great lakes to the vicinity of Hudson Bay ; 
 their territory completely encircled that claimed by their 
 enemies, the powerful Huron-Iroquois, whose central por- 
 tion was along the north shores of the Lakes Erie and 
 Ontario, beyond Georgian bay of Lake Huron, and almost 
 to the Ottawa river, and south of the same lakes to the 
 waters of the Ohio and the Susquehannah, and from the 
 west end of Lake Erie to Lake Champlain and the Hud- 
 son. The Mobilian branch extended from Cape Fear to 
 the south point of Florida ; west along the north shores 
 of the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi ; north as far as 
 the Tennessee river and the southern spurs of the Cum- 
 berland mountains. West of the Mississippi were the roving 
 tribes of the Dahcotahs, or Sioiix. 
 
 As the natives of these different portions of the conti- 
 nent closely resembled each other in physical constitution 
 and personal appearance, the first explorers supposed they 
 were one and the same people ; but when their languages 
 became better known, ethnologists classified them as dif- 
 ferent branches of the same great family. In earlier ages 
 they may have been one people, speaking the same lan- 
 guage ; afterward, revengeful wars, unrelentingly waged 
 for ages, separated them. Each little tribe or family wan- 
 dered alone ; as differing circumstances and necessities re- 
 quired, they added new words to the original language ; 
 thus were formed dialects, which philologists have par- 
 
10 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, tially traced, and which apparently lead to the same mother 
 
 tongue. 
 
 Their mode of living, customs, and religious belief were 
 also similar ; their houses, or wigwams, were formed of 
 poles placed in the ground, and bent toward each other at 
 the top, and covered with birch or chestnut bark ; they 
 dressed in the skins of animals ; wore as ornaments the 
 feathers of the eagle and the claws of the bear, — troiDhies 
 of their skill as hunters, — and valued more than all the 
 scalps of their enemies ; proofs of their bravery and success 
 in war. 
 
 They believed in a Great Spirit that pervaded aU 
 things ; their heaven lay away beyond the mountains of 
 the setting sun : it was a land of bright meadows and 
 crystal springs, a happy hunting-ground stocked with wild 
 animals, where the Indian hunter after death enjoyed 
 the chase, and never suffered cold, nor thirst, nor hunger 
 more. 
 
 Note. — As the several tribes of Indians come within the scope of this 
 history they will be further noticed. 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS. 
 
 South Sea. — First Voyage round the 'ft'orkl. — Ponce de Leon. — Florida, 
 Discovery and Attempt to settle. — Vasquez de Ayllon. — Conquest of 
 Mexico and Peru. 
 
 In a few years the Spaniards subdued and colonized the ^^j^^' 
 
 most important islands of the West Indies. The poor 
 
 timid natives were either murdered or reduced to slavery. 1506. 
 Unheard-of cruelties in a short time wasted, and almost 
 exterminated the entire race. 
 
 Not satisfied with the possession of these islands, the 
 Spaniards made further discoveries from time to time 
 around the Gulf of Mexico ; they explored the southern 
 part of the peninsula of Yucatan ; they planted a colony 
 on the narrow Isthmus of Darien. Until this time, no 1510. 
 settlement had been made on the Western Continent. 
 
 When in search of gold, Nunez de Balboa, the govern- 
 or of this colony, made an exploring tour into the interior, 
 he ascended a high mountain, and from its top his eyes 
 were greeted with the sight of a vast expanse of water 
 extending away to the south, as far as the eye could reach. 
 He called it the South Sea. But seven years later, Magel- 1520. 
 Ian, a Portuguese mariner in the service of Spain, passed 
 through the dangerous and stormy Straits which bear his 
 name ; and sailing out into the great field of waters, found 
 it so calm, so free from storms, that he called it the Pacific 
 or peaceful ocean. Magellan died on the voyage, but his 
 ship reached the coast of Asia, and thence returned home 
 
12 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 <^HAP. to Spain by the Cape of Good Hope, thus realizing the 
 
 vision of Columbus, that the world was a globe, and could 
 
 1512. be sailed round. 
 
 Juan Ponce de Leon, a former governor of Porto Kico, fit- 
 ted out at his own expense three ships to make a voyage 
 of discovery. He had heard from the natives of Porto Kico 
 that somewhere in the Bahama Islands, was a fountain 
 that would restore to the vigor of youth, all those who 
 should drink of its waters or bathe in its stream. This 
 absurd story many of the Spaniards believed, and none 
 more firmly than De Leon. He was an old man, and 
 anxious to renew his youthful pleasures ; with eager hopes 
 he hastened in search of the marvellous fountain. 
 
 He did not find it, but in coasting along to the west of 
 the islands, he came in sight of an imknown country. It 
 appeared to bloom with flowers, and to be covered with 
 magnificent forests. As this country was first seen on 
 Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida, 
 he named it Florida. AA^ith great difficulty he landed to 
 the north of where St. Augustine now stands, and took 
 formal possession of the country in the name of the Spanish 
 sovereign. He sailed to the south along the unknown and 
 dangerous coast, around the extreme point. Cape Florida, 
 and to the south-west among the Tortugas islands. He 
 received for his services the honor of being appointed Gov- 
 ernor of Florida by the King of Spain, — rather an expen- 
 sive honor, being based on the condition that he should 
 colonize the country. 
 
 A year or two afterward, he attempted to plant a 
 colony, but found the natives exceedingly hostUe. They 
 attacked him and his men with great fury — many were 
 killed, the rest were forced to flee to their ships, and Ponce 
 de Leon himself was mortally wounded. He had been a 
 soldier of Spain ; a companion of Columbus on his second 
 voyage ; had been governor of Porto Eico, where he had 
 oppressed the natives with great cruelty ; he had sought 
 
VASQUEZ DE AYLLON. 13 
 
 an exemption from the ills of old age ; had attempted to chap. 
 
 found a colony and gain the immortality of fame. But he 
 
 returned to Cuba to die, without planting his colony or 1512. 
 drinking of the fountain of youth. 
 
 About this time was made the first attempt to obtain 
 Indians from the Continent as slaves to work in the mines 
 and on the i)lantations of Hispaniola or St. Domingo. The 
 ignominy of this attempt belongs to a company of seven 
 men, the most distinguished of whom was Lucas Vasquez 
 de Ayllon. They went first to the Bahama Islands, from 
 these they passed to the coast of the present State of South 
 Carolina, landing at or near St. Helena Sound. 
 
 The natives of this region knew not as yet what they 
 had to fear from Europeans. They were, however, shy at 
 first, but after presents had been distributed among them, 
 they received the strangers kindly. They were invited to 
 visit the ships. Curiosity overcame their timidity, and 
 they went on board in crowds. The treacherous Spaniards 
 immediately set sail for St. Domingo, regardless of the 
 sorrows they inflicted upon the victims of their cruelty and 
 avarice. Thus far their plot was successful ; soon how- 1520. 
 ever a storm arose, and one of the ships went down with 
 all on board ; sickness and death carried off many of the 
 captives on the other vessel. Such outrages upon the na- 
 tives were common ; and instead of being condemned and 
 punished, they were commended. Vasquez went to Spain, 
 boasting of his expedition as if it had been praiseworthy. 
 As a reward, he received from the Spanish monarch a 
 commission to conquer the country. 
 
 When he had expended his fortune in preparatic^ns, he 
 set sail, and landed upon the coast. Bitter wrongs had 
 been inflicted upon the natives, and their spirit was roused. 
 They attacked him with great vigor, killed nearly all 
 his men, and forced him to give up the enterprise. It is 
 said that grief and disappointment hastened the death of 
 Yasquez. 
 
14 EISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. The Spaniards were more successful elsewhere. The 
 explorers of the west coast of the Gulf had heard of the 
 
 1520. famed empire of Mexico and its golden riches. As evi- 
 dence of the truth of these marvellous stories, they exhib- 
 ited the costly presents given them by the unsuspecting 
 natives. Under the lead of Fernando Cortez, six hun- 
 dred and seventeen adventurers invaded the empire ; and 
 though they met with the most determined resistance, in 
 the end Spanish arms and skUl 2>revailed. Defeated at 
 every point, and disheartened at the death of their em- 
 
 1521. peror, Montezuma, the Mexicans submitted, and their em- 
 1821. pire became a province of Spain. Just three hundred 
 
 years from that time, the province threw off the Spanish 
 yoke, and became a rej^ublic. 
 
 Kumor told also of the splendor and wealth of a great 
 empire lying to the south, known as Peru. Pizarro, 
 another daring adventurer, set out from Panama with only 
 one hundred foot soldiers and sixty-seven horsemen to in- 
 vade and conquer it. After enduring toU and labors 
 almost unparalleled, he succeeded ; and that empire, con- 
 taining millions of inhabitants, wealthy, and quite civilized, 
 1531. ^^^ reduced to a province. Pizarro founded Lima, which 
 became his capital. He oppressed the natives with great 
 cruelty, and accumulated unbounded wealth drawn from 
 mines of the precious metals, but after a rule of nine years 
 he fell a victim to a conspiracy. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 
 
 John Cabot discoTers the American Continent. — Enterprise of his son Se- 
 bastian. — Voyages of Verrazzani and Cartier. — Attempts at Settlement. 
 
 Whilst these discoveries, conquests, and settlements chap. 
 
 were in progress in the South, a series of discoveries was 
 
 going on in the North. Ii97. 
 
 John Cabot, a native of Venice, residing, as a merchant, 
 in Bristol, in the West of England, made ajiplication to 
 Henry VII., the reigning sovereign, for permission to go 
 en a voyage of discovery. The king gave to Cabot and 
 his three sons a patent, or commission, granting them cer- 
 tain privileges. This is said to be the most ancient state 
 paper of England relating to America. 
 
 As Henry VII. was proverbially prudent in money 
 matters, he would not aid the Cabots by sharing with 
 them the expense of the expedition, but he was careful to 
 bind them to land, on their return, at the port of Bristol, 
 and pay him one-fifth pa^t of the profits of their trade. 
 They were, in the name of the king, to take possession of 
 all the territories they shoidd discover, and to have the ex- 
 clusive privilege of trading to them. 
 
 Bristol, at this time, was the greatest commercial town 
 in the West of England, and had trained up multitudes 
 of hardy seamen. These seamen had become habituated 
 to the storms of the ocean, by battling tempests in the 
 Northern seas around Iceland, in their yearly fishing ex- 
 cursions. It is quite probable they had there heard the 
 
16 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, tradition, that at a remote period the Icelanders had dis- 
 
 covered a country to the west of their island. 
 
 1497. Cabot and his son Sebastian sailed almost due west, 
 
 and before long discovered the American continent, it is 
 supposed near the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. 
 What must have been their surprise to find, in the lati- 
 tude of England, a land dreary with snow and ice, barren 
 rocks, frowning cUfis, polar bears, and wild savages ! This 
 discovery was made more than a year before Colimibus, on 
 his third voyage, saw the South American coast, at the 
 mouth of the Orinoco. 
 
 Thus the Western continent was discovered by pri- 
 vate enterprise alone. The next year a voyage was under- 
 taken for the purposes of trade, and also to ascertain 
 if the countiy was suitable for making settlements. The 
 king now ventured to become a partner in the speculation, 
 and defrayed some of the expense. Sebastian Cabot sailed, 
 with a com^jany of three hundred men, for Labrador, and 
 landed still further north than at his first voyage. The 
 severity of the cold, though it was the commencement of 
 summer, and the barrenness of the country, deterred him 
 from remaining any length of time. He sailed to the 
 South and explored the coast, till want of provisions forced 
 him to return home. The family of the Cabots derived 
 no benefit from their discovery, as the trade to those barren 
 regions amounted to nothing. 
 
 It is a matter of regret that so httle is known of the 
 many voyages of Sebastian Cabot. Around his name there 
 lingers a pleasing interest. He is represented as being 
 veiy youthful, not more than twenty years of age, when 
 he went on his first voyage. Mild and courteous in 
 his manners ; determined in purpose, and persevering 
 in execution ; with a mind of extraordinary activity ; 
 daring in his enteqirises, but never rash or imprudent ; 
 he won the hearts of his sailors by his kindness, and 
 commanded their respect by his skill. Such was the 
 
VOYAGE OF VEKRAZZANI. 17 
 
 man who, for more than fifty years, was the foremost in chap. 
 
 maritime adventure. He explored the eastern coast of 
 
 South America ; sailed within twenty degrees of the North 1497. 
 Pole, in search of the North-Western passage ; and at dif- 
 ferent times explored the eastern coast of this continent, 
 from Hudson's straits to Albemarle sound. 
 
 The Cahots had noticed the immense shoals of fish 1524. 
 which frequented the waters around Newfoundland. The 
 Enghsh prosecuted these fisheries, but to no great extent, 
 as they continued to visit the Icelandic seas. French fish- 
 ermen, however, availed themselves of the way opened by 
 their rivals, and prosecuted them with great vigor. Plans 
 for planting colonies in those regions were often proposed 
 in France, yet nothing was done beyond the yearly visits 
 of the fii^hermen. Francis I. was finally induced to attempt 
 further explorations. For this purpose he employed Ver- 
 razzani, a native of Florence, in Italy, a navigator of some 
 celebrity, to take charge of an expedition. This was the 
 fijst voyage, for the purpose of discovery, undertaken at 
 the expense of the French government. 
 
 Verrazzani sailed south to the Madeira Isles, and thence 
 due west, in quest of new countries. On the passage he 
 battled a terrible tempest, but at length saw land in the 
 latitude of Wilmington, North Carolina. No good har- 
 bor could be found as he coasted along to the south for 
 one hundred and fifty mUes. Then turning north, he cast 
 anchor from time to time and explored the coast. The 
 surprise of the natives and that of the voyagers was mu- 
 tual ; the one wondered at the white strangers, their ships 
 and equipments ; the other at the " russet color" of the 
 simple natives ; their dress of skins set off with vaiious rude 
 ornaments and gaudy-colored feathers. The imagination 
 of the voyagers had much to do with the report they made 
 of their discoveries. The groves, they said, bloomed with 
 flowers, whose fragrance greeted them far from the shore, 
 2 
 
18 , HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, reminding them of the spices of the East ; the reddish 
 
 color of the earth was, no doubt, caused by gold. 
 
 1524. The explorers examined carefliUy the spacious harbors 
 
 of New York and Newport ; in the latter they remained 
 fifteen days. They noticed the fine personal appearance 
 of the natives, who were hospitable, but could not be in- 
 duced to trade, and appeared to be ignorant of the use of 
 iron. They continued their voyage along the then name- 
 less shores of New England to Nova Scotia, and stiU fur- 
 ther north. There the natives were hostile ; they had 
 learned, by sad experience, the craelty and treachery of 
 white men. Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese, some years 
 before, had visited their coast, stolen some of their friends, 
 and sold them into slavery. They were willing to trade 
 for instruments of iron or steel, but were very cautious, 
 fearful of being again entrapped. 
 
 After his return, Verrazzani published a narrative of 
 his voyage, giving much more information of the country 
 than had hitherto been known. On the ground of his dis- 
 coveries, France laid claim to the territory extending fi:om 
 South Carolina to Newfoundland. 
 
 1534. Ten years after, an expedition was sent, under James 
 
 Oartier, a mariner of St. Malo, to make further discoveries, 
 with the ultimate design of founding a colony. His voyage 
 was very successful ; he reached Newfoundland in twenty 
 days ; passed through the Straits of Belleisle ; sailed to the 
 south-west across a gulf and entered a bay ; which, from 
 the extreme heat of the weather, he named Des Chaleurs. 
 Coasting along still further west, he landed at the inlet 
 called Gaspe, where he took formal possession of the coun- 
 try, in the name of his sovereign. This he did by plant- 
 ing a cross, surmounted by the lilies of France, and bear- 
 ing a suitable inscription. Continuing his course still 
 further west, he entered the mouth of a great estuary, into 
 which he ascertained flowed an immense river, larger by 
 far than any river in Europe. These exjjlorations were 
 
VOYAGE OF CARTIEK. 19 
 
 made during the inorttlis of July and August. It was now chap. 
 necessary for him to return home. 
 
 His account of the climate as "hotter than that of 1534. 
 Spain," and of the country as " the fairest that can pos- 
 sibly he found ;" of its " sweet-smelling trees ;" of its 
 " strawberries, blackberries, prunes and wild corn ;" its 
 " figs, apples and other fruits," together with his descrip- 
 tion of the great gulf and noble river, excited in France 
 the most intense interest. 
 
 Immediately plans were devised to colonize the coun- 
 try. The court entered into the scheme. Some of the 
 young nobilit)'' volunteered to become colonists. By the 
 following May the arrangements were completed. Cartier, 
 " who was very religious," first conducted his company to 
 the cathedral, where they received the bishop's blessing, 
 then set sail, with high hopes of formding a State in what 
 was then called New France. 
 
 After a somewhat stormy passage, he reached the 
 northern jiart of the gulf, on the day of St. Lawrence the 1535. 
 Martyr, in honor of whom it was named — in time, the 
 name was applied to river also. 
 
 The strangers were received hospitably by the natives. 
 Cartier ascended the river in a boat to an island, on which 
 was the principal Indian settlement. It was in the mild 
 and jjleasant month of September. He ascended a hill, at 
 the foot of which lay the Indian village; he was enraj^tur- 
 ed by the magnificent scene ; the river before him evidently 
 drained a vast territory ; the natives told him " that it 
 went so far to the west, that they had never heard of any 
 man who had gone to the head of it." He named the hill 
 Mont-Keal, Eoyal-Mount ; a name since transferred to the 
 island, and to the city. 
 
 This country was in the same latitude with France ; he 
 thought its climate must be equally mild, its soil equally 
 fertile ; and that it might become the home of a happy and 
 industrious people, and this beautiful island the centre of 
 
20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, an almost unbounded commerce. He did not know that 
 
 !_ God liad sent the warm waters of the south through the 
 
 1535. Gulf Stream to the west of Europe ; that they warmed 
 the bleak west winds, and made the delightful climate of 
 his native France different from that in the same latitude 
 in North America.' 
 
 A vigorous winter dissipated his visions. His honest 
 narrative of the voyage, and of the intense coldness of the 
 cHmate, deterred his countrymen from making further 
 attempts to colonize the country. There was no gold nor 
 silver to be found — no mines of precious stones. What 
 inducement was there for them to leave their fertile and 
 beautiful France, with its mild and healthful cHmate, to 
 shiver on the banks of the St. Lawrence ? 
 1540. Thus it remained for four years. Among many who 
 
 thought it unworthy a great nation not to found a State 
 on the shores of the magnificent gulf and river of the New 
 World, was a nobleman of Picardy, Francis de la Roque, 
 lord of Eoberval. He obtained a commission from Fran- 
 cis I. to plant a colony, with full legal authority as viceroy 
 over the territories and regions on or near the Gulf and 
 Eiver of St. Lawrence. These were to be known in his- 
 tory under the ambitious name of Norimbega. 
 
 Cartier was induced by Eoberval to receive a commission 
 as chief pUot of the expedition. They did not act in con- 
 cert; both were tenacious of honor and authority, and they 
 were jealous of each other. 
 1540. Cartier sailed the following spring, passed up the river, 
 
 and built a fort near where Quebec now stands. To estab- 
 lish a prosperous colony, virtue, industry, and perseverance 
 must be found in the colonists. The first enterprise, com- 
 
 ' "The quantity of heat discharged over the Atlantic from the waters 
 of the Gulf Stream in a winter's day, would be suflScient to raise the whole 
 column of atmosphere that rests upon France and the British Isles, from the 
 freezing point to summer heat." 
 
 Maury's Physical Geography of the Sea, p. 51. 
 
ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT. 21 
 
 posed of young noblemen and amateur colonists, failed, as chap. 
 
 might have been expected. In the second attempt they '_ 
 
 went to the other extreme, — the colonists were criminals, 1542. 
 drawn from the prisons of France. 
 
 During the winter Oartier hung one of them for theft ; 
 put some in irons ; and whipped others, men and women, 
 for minor faults. In the spring, just as Roberval himself 
 arrived with a reinforcement, he slipped off to France, 
 heartily disgusted with his winter's occupation. Roberval 
 remained about a year, and then returned home, perfectly 
 willing to resign the viceroyalty of Norimbega, and retire 
 to his estates in Picardy. After a lapse of fifty years, a 
 successful attempt was made by the French to colonize the 
 same territorv. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DE SOTO AND THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 CHAP. The name Florida was given by the Spaniards to the 
 " entii-e southern portion of the United States. Their at- 
 
 1539. tempts to conquer this territory had hitherto failed. For 
 some unexplained reason, the most exaggerated stories 
 were told of the richness of the country ; there was no evi- 
 dence of their truth, yet they were implicitly believed. 
 
 The success of Cortez in conquering Mexico, and of 
 Pizarro in conquering Peru, excited the emulation of 
 Ferdinand de Soto. He had been a companion of Pizarro ; 
 had gained honor by his valor, and, in accordance with the 
 morals of the times, had accumulated an immense amount 
 of wealth by various means of extortion. Still it must be 
 said in his favor, that he was, by for, the most humane of 
 any of the Spanish officers who pUlaged Mexico and 
 Peru. Foreseeing the endless quarrels and jealousies of 
 the Spaniards in Peru, he pradently retired to Spain with 
 his ill-gotten gains. 
 
 Ambition did not permit him to remain long in retire- 
 ment. He panted for a name, for military glory, to sur- 
 pass the two conquerors of the New World. He asked 
 permission to conquer Florida, at his own expense. The 
 request was graciously granted by the Emperor, Charles V. 
 He also received an honor much more grateful to his am- 
 bition ; he was appointed Governor of Cuba, and of all the 
 countries he should conquer. 
 
THE LANDING AT TAMPA BAY. 23 
 
 The announcement that he was about to embark on chap. 
 
 this enterprise, excited in Spain the highest hopes, — hopes 
 
 of military glory and of unbounded wealth. Enthusiastic 1539. 
 men said these hopes must be realized ; there were cities 
 in the interior of Florida as rich, if not richer than those 
 of Mexico or Peru ; temples equally splendid, to be plun- 
 dered of their golden ornaments. Volunteers offered in 
 crowds, many of noble birth, and all proud to be led by so 
 renowned a chief. From these numerous applicants De 
 Soto chose six hundred men, in " the bloom of life." The 
 enthusiasm was so great, that it appeared more like a 
 holiday excursion than a military expedition. 
 
 He sailed for Cuba, where he was received with great 
 distinction. Leaving his wife to govern the island, he 
 sailed for Florida, and landed at Spiritu Santo, now Tampa 
 bay. He never harbored the thought that his enterprise 
 could fail. He sent his ships back to Cuba ; thus, in imi- 
 tation of Cortez, he deprived his followers of the means to 
 return. Volunteers in Cuba had increased his army to 
 nearly one thousand men, of whom three hundred were 
 horsemen, all well armed. Every thing was provided that 
 De Soto's foresight and experience could suggest ; amjile 
 stores of provisions, and for future supplies, a drove of 
 swine, for which Indian corn and the fruits of the forest 
 would furnish an abundance of food. The company was 
 provided with cards, that they might spend their "leisure 
 time in gaming ;" a dozen of priests, that the " festivals of 
 the church might be kept," and her ceremonies rigidly per- 
 formed ; chains for the captive Indians, and bloodhounds, 
 to track and tear them in pieces, should they attempt to 
 escape ; — incongruities of which the adventurers seemed 
 unconscious. 
 
 They now commenced their march through pathless 
 forests. The Indian guides, who had been kidnapped on 
 former invasions, soon learned that they were in search of 
 gold. Anxious to lead them as far as possible from the 
 
24 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, neighborhood of their own tribes, they humored their fan- 
 cies, and told them of regions far away, where the precious 
 
 1540. metal was abundant. In one instance they pointed to the 
 north-east, where they said the people understood the art 
 of refining it, and sent them away over the rivers and 
 plains of Georgia. It is jiossible they may have referred 
 to the gold region of North Carolina. 
 
 When one of the guides honestly confessed that he 
 knew of no such country, De Soto ordered him to be burned 
 for telling an untruth. From this time onward tho 
 guides continued to allure the Spaniards on in search of 
 a golden region, — a region they were ever approaching, but 
 never reached. 
 
 At length the men grew weaiy of wandering through 
 forests and swamps ; they looked for cities, rich and 
 splendid, they found only Indian towns, small and poor, 
 whose finest buildings were wigwams. They wished to 
 return ; but De Soto was determined to proceed, and his 
 faithful followers submitted. They pillaged the Indians 
 of their provisions, thus rendered them hostile, and many 
 conflicts ensued. They treated their captives with great 
 barbarity ; wantonly cut off their hands, burned them at 
 the stake, suffered them to be torn in pieces by the blood- 
 hounds, or chained them together with iron collars, and 
 compelled them to carry their baggage. 
 
 They moved toward the south-west, and came into the 
 neighborhood of a large walled town, named Mavilla, since 
 Mobile. It was a rude town, but it afforded a better shel- 
 ter than the forests and the open plains, and they wished 
 to occupy it. The Indians resisted, and a fierce battle 
 ensued. The Spanish cavalry gained a victory, — a victory 
 dearly bought ; the town was burned, and with it nearly 
 all their baggage. 
 
 Meantime, according to appointment, ships from Cuba 
 had arrived at Pensacola. De Soto would not confess that 
 he had thus for failed ; he would send no news until he 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 25 
 
 had rivalled Cortez in military renown. They now directed CH^P. 
 
 their course to the north-west, and spent the following win- L. 
 
 ter in the northern part of the State of Mississippi. From 1540. 
 the Indian corn in the fields they obtained food, and made 
 their winter quarters in a deserted town. When spring 
 returned, a demand was made of the Chickasaw chief to 
 furnish men to carry their baggage. The indignant chief 
 refused. The hostile Indians deceived the sentinels, and 
 in the night set fire to the village and attacked the Span- 
 iards, but after a severe contest they were repulsed. It 
 was another dear victory to the invaders ; the little 
 they had saved from the flames at Mobile was now con- 
 sumed. This company, once so " brilliant in silks and 
 glittering armor," were now scantily clothed in skins, and 
 mats made of ivy. 
 
 Again they commenced their weary wanderings, and 
 before many days found themselves on the banks of the 
 Mississippi. De Soto expressed no feelings of pleasure or 
 of admiration at the discovery of the magnificent river, 
 with its ever-flowing stream of turbid waters. Ambition 
 and avarice consume the finer feelings of the soul ; they 
 destroy the appreciation of what is noble in man and 
 beautiful in nature. De Soto was only anxious to cross 
 the river, and press on in search of cities and of gold. A 1541. 
 month elapsed before boats could be bmlt to transport the 
 horses. At length they were ready, and white men, for 
 the first time, launched forth upon the Father of Waters. 
 
 The natives on the west bank received the strangers 
 kindly, and gave them presents. The Indians of southern 
 Missouri supposed them to be superior beings — children of 
 the sun — and they brought them their blind to be restored 
 to sight. De Soto answered them, " The Lord made the 
 heavens and the earth : pray to Him only for whatsoever 
 ye need." Here they remained forty days ; sent out ex- 
 plorers further north, who reported that buffaloes were so 
 numerous in that region that corn could not be raised ; 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, that the inhabitants were few, and lived by hunting. 
 
 . They wandered two hundred miles further west ; then 
 
 154:1. turned to the south, and went nearly as far, among In- 
 dians who were an agricultural people, living in villages, 
 and subsisting upon the produce of the soil. 
 
 In this region another winter was passed. It was now 
 almost three years since De Soto had landed at Tampa 
 bay. With all his toil and suffering, he had accomi^lished 
 1542. nothing. In the spring, he descended the Wachita to 
 the Ked river, and thence once move to the Mississippi. 
 There he learned that the country, extending to the sea, 
 was a waste of swamps, where no man dwelt. 
 
 His cup of disappointment was full ; his pride, which 
 had hitherto sustained him, must confess that his enter- 
 prise had been a failure. He had set out with higher 
 hopes than any Spanish conqueror of the New World ; 
 now his faithful band was wasted by disease and death. 
 He was far from aid ; a deep gloom settled upon his spirit ; 
 his soul was agitated by a conflict of emotions ; a violent 
 fever was induced ; and when sinking rapidly, he called 
 his followers around him, they, faithful to the last, im- 
 plored him to appoint a successor ; he did so. The nest 
 day De Soto was no more. His soldiers mourned for him ; 
 the priests performed his funeral rites ; with sad hearts 
 they wrapped his body in a mantle, and, at the silent hour 
 of midnight, sunk it beneath the waters of the Mississippi. 
 
 His followers again wandered for awhile, in hopes of 
 getting to Mexico. Finally they halted upon the banks of 
 the Mississippi ; erected a forge ; struck the fetters off 
 their Indian captives, and made the iron into nails to build 
 boats ; killed their horses and swine, and dried their flesh 
 for pro\asions. When the boats were finished they 
 launched them upon the river, and floated down its 
 stream to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 1C72. After the lapse of one hundred and thirty years, the Mis- 
 
 sissippi was again visited by white men of another nation. 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE REFORMATION AND ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 From this period we find interwoven with the early his- chap. 
 tory of our country a class of persons who were not mere ^'" 
 adventurers, seekers after gold or fame — hut who sought ^g^.^- 
 here a home, where they might enjoy civil and religious 
 liberty, and who held the principles of which we see the 
 result in the institutions of the United States, so different 
 in some respects from those of any other nation. This differ- 
 ence did not spring from chance, but was the legitimate ef- 
 fect of certain influences. What has made this younger 
 member of the great family of governments to differ so much 
 from the others ? What were the principles, what the in- 
 fluences, which produced such men and women as our 
 revolutionary ancestors ? The world has never seen their 
 equals for self-denying patriotism ; for enlightened views 
 of government, of religious liberty, and of the rights of con- 
 science. 
 
 When great changes are to be introduced among the 
 nations of the earth, God orders the means to accomplish 
 them, as well as the end to be attained. He trains the 
 people for the change. He not only prepared the way for 
 the discovery of this continent, but for its colonization by 
 a Christian people. Fifty years before the first voyage of 
 Columbus, the art of printing was invented — and twenty- 
 five years after the same voyage, commenced the Reforma- 
 tion in Germany under Martin Luther. The art of print- 
 ing, by multiplying books, became the means of diffusing 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, knowledge among men, and of awakening the human mind 
 from the sleep of ages. One of the consequences of this 
 
 1517. awakening, was the Reformation. The simple trutlis of 
 the Gospel had been obscured by the teachings of men. 
 The decrees of the church had drawn a veil between the 
 throne of God and the human soul. The priesthood had 
 denied to the people the right of studying for themselves 
 the word of God. The views of the Reformers were the 
 reverse of this. They believed that God, as Lord of the 
 conscience, had given a revelation of his will to man, and 
 that it was the inherent right and privilege of every human 
 being to study that will, each one for himself They did 
 not stoj) here : they were diligent seekers for truth ; the 
 advocates of education and of free inquiry. Throwing 
 aside the traditions of men, they went directly to the 
 Bible, and taught all men to do the same. 
 
 On the continent, the Reformation began among the 
 learned men of the universities, and gradually extended to 
 the uneducated people. In England, the common people 
 were reading the Bible in their own language, long before 
 it was the privilege of any nation on the continent.* Thus 
 the English were prepared to enter into the spirit of the 
 Reformation under Luther. Soon persecutions of the Re- 
 formers arose ; with civil commotions and oppressions 
 involving all Europe in war. These troubles drove the 
 Huguenot from France and the Puritan from England, to 
 seek homes in the wilderness of the New World. 
 
 From the Bible they learned their high and holy prin- 
 ciples ; fiery trials taught them endurance. They brought 
 with them to our shores the spirit of the Reformation, the 
 recognition of civU rights and religious liberty. These 
 principles have been transmitted to us in our national 
 institutions and form of government. 
 
 * D'Aubign6's Hist, of the Keformation, Vol. Y. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE HUGUENOTS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Their settlement destroyed. — The Colony of St. Augustine. — De Gourges. 
 Settlements in New France. — Champlain and his Success. 
 
 While these contests were going on in Europe between chap 
 
 the friends of religious liberty and the Eoman Catholics, 
 
 Coligny, the high-admiral of France, a devoted Protestant, 1562. 
 conceived the idea of founding a colony in the New World, 
 to which his persecuted countrymen might flee, and enjoy 
 that which was denied them in their native land ; the 
 inestimable privilege of worshipping God according to the 
 dictates of their own conscience, enlightened by his holy 
 word. 
 
 The French government took no interest in the matter. 
 Those influences were then at work, which a few years 1573. 
 later produced their dire efiect in the massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew. Coligny, however, easily obtained a commission 
 from Charles IX. Preparations were soon made, and the 
 expedition sailed under the direction of John Ribault, a 
 worthy man, and a sincere Protestant. 
 
 They knew the character of the country and of the 
 climate in the latitude of the St. Lawrence, and they wish- 
 ed to find a region more fertile and a chmate more genial. 
 They made land in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Florida; 
 then continued further north along the coast, and landed 
 at Port Royal entrance. They were delighted with the May. 
 countiy, its fine climate, its magnificent forests, fragrant 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, witli mid flowers ; but above all with the capacious har- 
 
 bor, whicb was capable of floating the largest ships. Here 
 
 1562. it was determined to make a settlement : a fort was built 
 on an island in the harbor, and in honor of their sovereign 
 called Carolina. Leaving twenty-five men to keep pos- 
 session of the country, Eibault departed for France, with 
 the intention of returning the next year with supplies and 
 more emigrants. He found France in confusion ; civil 
 war was raging with all its attendant horrors. In vain the 
 colonists looked for reinforcements and supplies — none 
 ever came. Disheartened, they resolved to return home ; 
 they hastily built a brigantine, and with an insufficiency of 
 provisions, set sail. They came near perishing at sea by 
 famine, but were ^providentially rescued by an English bark. 
 Part of these colonists were taken to France, and part to 
 England, — there they told of the fine climate and the rich 
 soil of the country they had attempted to colonize. We 
 shall yet see the efl"ect of this information in directing 
 English enterprise. 
 
 Two years after, there was a treacherous luU in the 
 storm of civil discord in France ; Coligny again attempted 
 to found a colony. The care of this expedition was intrust- 
 ed to Laudonit^re, a man of uprightness and intelligence, 
 who had been on the former voyage. The healthfidncss of 
 the climate of Florida was represented to be wonderful : 
 it was believed, that under its genial influence, human life 
 was extended more than one-half, while the stories of the 
 wealth of the interior stiU found credence. Unfortunately 
 jjroper care was not exercised in selecting the colonists 
 from the numerous volunteers who oflered. Some were 
 chosen who were not worthy to be members of a colony 
 based on religious principles, and founded for noble pur- 
 poses. 
 
 They reached the coast of Florida, avoided Port Eoyal, 
 
 15C4. the scene of former misery, and found a suitable location 
 
 for a settlement on the banks of the river May, now called 
 
FORT CAROLINA. 31 
 
 tlie St. Johns. They offered songs of thanksgiving to God chap. 
 
 for his guiding care, and trusted to his promises for the 
 
 future. They built another fort, which like the first they 1564. 
 called CaroHna. The true character of some of the colo- June, 
 nists soon began to appear, — these had joined the enter- 
 prise with no higher motive than gain. They were muti- 
 nous, idle, and dissolute, wasting the provisions of the com- 
 pany. They robbed the Indians, who became hostile, and 
 refused to furnish the colony with provisions. 
 
 Under the pretext of avoiding famine, these fellows of 
 the baser sort asked permission of Laudoniere to go to New 
 Spain. He granted it, tliinking it a happy riddance for 
 himself and the colony. They embarked, only to become 
 pirates. The Spaniards, whom they attacked, took their 
 vessel and made most of them slaves ; the remainder es- 
 caj)ed in a boat. They knew of no safer place than Fort 
 Carolina. When they returned Laudoniere had them 
 arrested for piracy ; they were tried, and the ringleaders 
 condemned and executed ; — a sufficient evidence that 
 their conduct was detested by the better portion of the 
 colonists. 
 
 Famine now came pressing on. Month after month 
 passed away, and still there came no tidings — no supplies 
 from home. Just at this time arrived Sir John Hawkins 
 from the West Indies, where he had disposed of a cargo of 
 negroes as slaves. He was the first Englishman, it is 
 said, who had engaged in that unrighteous traffic. Though 
 hard-hearted toward the wretched Africans, he manifested 
 much sympathy for the famisliing colonists ; supplied them 
 with provisions, and gave them one of his shijjs. They 
 continued their preparations to leave for home, when sud- 
 denly the cry was raised that ships were coming into the Au^c. 
 harbor. It was Ribaidt returning with supplies and fami- 
 lies of emigrants. He was provided with domestic ani- 
 mals, seeds and implements for cultivating the soil. The 
 scene was now changed ; aU were willing to remain, and 
 
32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Tn^' *^^ ^"I*^ °^ founding a French Protestant State in the 
 
 New World was revived. 
 
 156-i. Philip II., the cniel and bigoted King of Spain, heard 
 
 that the French — French Protestants — had presumed to 
 make a settlement in Florida ! Immediately plans were laid 
 to exterminate the heretics. The king found a fit instru- 
 ment for the purpose in Pedro Melendez ; a man familiar 
 with scenes of carnage and cruelty, whose life was stained 
 with almost every crime. The king knew his desperate 
 character ; gave him permission to conquer Florida at his 
 own expense, and appointed him its governor for life, with 
 the right to name his successor. His colony was to consist 
 of not less than five hundred persons, one himdred of whom 
 should he married men. He was also to introduce the 
 sugar-cane, and five hundred negro slaves to cultivate it. 
 The expedition was soon under way. Melendez first saw the 
 land on the day consecrated to St. Augustine ; some days 
 after, sailing along the coast, he discovered a fine harbor 
 and river, to which he gave the name of that saint. From 
 the Indians he learned where the Huguenots had estab- 
 lished themselves. They were much surjarised at the ap- 
 pearance of a fleet, and they inquired of the stranger who 
 he was and why he came ; he rejilied, " I am Melendez, of 
 Sept. Spain, sent by my sovereign with strict orders to behead 
 and gibbet every Protestant in these regions ; the Cathohc 
 shall be spared, but every Protestant shall die !" The 
 French fleet, unprepared for a conflict, put to sea ; the 
 Spaniards pursued but did not overtake it. Melendez then 
 returned to St. Augustine. After a religious festival in 
 honor of the Virgin Mary, he proceeded to mark out the 
 boundaries for a town. St. Augustine is, by more than 
 forty years, the oldest town in the United States. 
 
 His determination was now to attack the Huguenots 
 by land, and carry out his cruel orders. The French sup- 
 posing the Spaniards would come by sea, set sail to meet 
 them. Melendez found the colonists unprepared and de- 
 
THE MASSACRE. 33 
 
 fenceless ; their men were nearly all on board the fleet. A chap. 
 short contest ensued : the French were overcome, and the '_ 
 
 fanatic Spaniards massacred nearly the whole number, — 1564. 
 men, women, and children ; they spared not even the aged 
 and the sick. A few were reserved as slaves, and a few 
 escaped to the woods. To show to the world upon what 
 principles he acted, Melendez placed over the dead this 
 inscription : — " I do not this as unto Frenchmen, but as 
 unto heretics." Mass was celebrated, and on the ground 
 still reeking with the blood of the innocent victims of re- 
 ligious bigotry and fanaticism, he erected a cross and 
 marked out a site for a church — the first on the soU of 
 the United States. 
 
 Among those who escaped, were Laudoniere and Le 
 Moyne, an artist, sent by Coligny to make drawings of the 
 most interesting scenery of the country ; and Challus, who 
 afterward wrote an account of the calamity. "When they 
 seemed about to perish in the forests from hunger, they 
 questioned whether they should appeal to the mercy of 
 their conquerors. " No," said Challus, " let us trust in 
 the mercy of God rather than of these men." After en- 
 during many hardships, they succeeded in reaching two 
 small French vessels which had remained in the harbor, 
 and thus escaped to France. A few of their companions, 
 who threw themselves upon the mercy of the Spaniards, 
 were instantly murdered. 
 
 While these scenes of carnage were in progress, a ter- 
 rible storm wrecked the French fleet ; some of the soldiers 
 and sailors were enabled to reach the shore, but in a des- 
 titute condition. These poor men when invited, surren- 
 dered themselves to the promised clemency of Melendez. 
 They were taken across the river in little companies ; as 
 they landed their hands were tied behind them, and they 
 driven to a convenient place, where at a given signal they 
 were all murdered. Altogether nine hundred persons 
 perished by shipwreck and violence. It is the office of 
 3 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, history to record the deeds of the past — the evil and the 
 
 good ; let the one be condemned and avoided, the other 
 
 1564. commended and imitated. May we not hope that the day 
 of fanatic zeal and religious persecution has passed away 
 forever .? 
 
 The French government was indifferent, and did not 
 avenge the wrongs of her loyal and good subjects ; but the 
 Huguenots, and the generous portion of the nation, were 
 roused to a high state of indignation at such wanton, such 
 unheard-of cruelty. This feeling found a representative 
 in Dominic de Gourges, a native of Gascony. He fitted 
 out, at his own expense, three ships, and with one hun- 
 dred and fifty men sailed for Florida. He suddenly came 
 upon the Spaniards and completely overpowered them. 
 1568. Near the scene of their former cruelty he hanged about 
 two hundred on the trees ; placing over them the inscrip- 
 tion, " I do not this as unto Spaniards and mariners, but 
 as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers !" Gourges im- 
 mediately returned to France, when the " Most Christian" 
 king set a price upon his head ; and he who had exposed 
 his life, and sacrificed his fortune to avenge the insult 
 offered to his country, was obliged to conceal himself to 
 escape the gallows. Thus perished the attemjDt of the 
 noble Coligny and the Huguenots to found a French Prot- , 
 estant State in the New World. 
 
 After the unsuccessful exjieditions of Cartier and Eo- 
 berval, French fishermen, in great numbers, continued to 
 visit the waters around Newfoundland. As the govern- 
 ment had relinquished its claim to Florida, the idea was 
 once more revived of colonizing on the shoi'es of the St. 
 Lawrence. * 
 
 1567. The Marquis de la Eoche obtained a commission for this 
 
 purpose. His colonists, like those of Eoberval, were crimi- 
 nals taken from the prisons of France : like his, this enter- 
 prise proved an utter failure. The efforts of some mer- 
 
PORT ROYAL SETTLEMENT. 35 
 
 chants, who obtained by patent a monopoly of the fur- ™j\^- 
 
 trade, also failed. 
 
 At length, a company of merchants of Kouen engaged 1603. 
 in the enterprise with more success. That success may be 
 safely attributed to Samuel Champlain, a man of compre- 
 hensive mind, of great energy of character, cautious in aU 
 his plans ; a keen observer of the habits of the Indians, 
 and an unwearied explorer of the country. 
 
 In the latter part of this same year, a patent, exclu- 
 sive in its character, was given to a Protestant, the excel- 
 lent and patriotic Sieur De Monts. The patent conferred 
 on Mm the sovereignty of the coiintry called Acadie — a 
 territory extending from Philadelphia on the south, to be- 
 yond Montreal on the north, and to the west indeiinitely. 
 It granted him a monopoly of the fur-trade and other 
 branches of commerce ; and freedom in religion to the 
 Huguenots who should become colonists. It was enjoined 
 upon all idlers, and men of no profession, and banished 
 persons to aid in founding the colony. 
 
 The expedition was soon under way in two ships. In 
 due time they entered a spacious harbor on the western 
 part of Nova Scotia, which they named Port Eoyal, since 
 Annapolis. The waters abounded in fish, and the coun- 
 try was fertile and level — advantages that induced some of 
 the emigrants to form a settlement. Others went to an 
 island at the mouth of the St. Croix, but the next spring 1607. 
 they removed to Port Boyal. This was the first perma- 
 nent French settlement in the New World ; and these 
 were the ancestors of those unfortunate Acadiens whose 
 fate, nearly a century and a half later, forms a melancholy 
 episode in American history. 
 
 Among the influences exerted upon the Indians was 
 that of the Jesuits, who, a few years afterward, were sent 
 as missionaries to the tribes between the Penobscot and 
 the Kennebec in Maine. These tribes became the allies 
 of the French, and remained so during all their contests 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, with the English. De Monts explored the coast and rivers 
 of New England as far south as Cape Cod, intending 
 
 1608. somewhere in that region to make a settlement ; but disas- 
 ter followed disaster, tiU the project was finally abandoned. 
 
 Meantime, Champlain, whose ambition was to estab- 
 lish a State, had founded Quebec, that is, it was the 
 centre of a few cultivated fields and gardens. Huguenots 
 were among the settlers ; they had taken an active part in 
 the enterprise ; but there were also others who were of the 
 Catholic faith. Soon religious disjjutes as well as commer- 
 cial jealousies arose, which retarded the progress of the 
 colony. Champlain, the soul of the enterprise, was not 
 idle ; he made many exploring expeditions, and discovered 
 
 1609. the beautiful lake which bears his name. In spite of the 
 quarrels between the Jesuits and the Huguenots, and the 
 restlessness of the Indians and disappointments of various 
 kinds, the persevering Champlain succeeded in establish- 
 
 1631. ing a French colony on the banks of the St. Lawrence. 
 For one hundred and twenty years it remained under the 
 dominion of his native France, and then passed into the 
 hands of her great rival. 
 
CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 ENGLISH ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert. — The Fisheries. — St. Johns, Newfoundland. — Sir 
 AValter Ealeigh. — Exploring Expedition. — Virginia ; failures to colo- 
 nize. — Contest with Spain. — Death of Sir Walter. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 England never reliaquislied her claims to North Amer- 
 ica ; they were based upon the discovery and explorations 1569. 
 of Sebastian Cabot. According to the received rales of 
 the times, she was right, as he was imdoubtedly the 1497. 
 first discoverer. Eor many reasons, she was not pre- 
 pared to avail herself of these claims, till nearly ninety 
 years after that discovery. This time was not passed by 
 the English sailors in maritime idleness. During the reign 
 of Henry VIII., intercourse was kept up with the fisheries 
 of Newfoundland, that school of English seamen, in wliich 
 were trained the men who gave to that nation the sujjrem- 
 acy of the ocean, — the element upon which the military 
 glory of England was to be achieved. The king cherished 
 his navy, and took commerce under his special protection. 
 The reign of Mary, of bloody memory, saw the strug- 
 gle commence between England and Spain for the suijrem- 
 acy on the ocean. She married Philip II., the most 
 powerful monarch of the age : he designed to subject the 
 English nation to himself, and its religion to the church of 
 Eome. When this became known, the Protestant spirit 
 rose in opposition. This spirit pervaded the entire people ; 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 05,4?- they exerted their energies to the utmost. Instead of sub- 
 VIII. . ■' . ... 
 mitting to the dictation of Spam, England boldly assumed 
 
 1570. the position of an antagonist. There was a marked con- 
 trast between the two nations. The navy of the one was 
 immense, that of the other was small, but brave and efE- 
 cient : the one drew her wealth from mines of gold and 
 silver in the New World — the other obtained hers by the 
 slow process of industry and economy. The one became 
 proud and indolent, luxurious and imbecile — the other 
 may have become proud, but certainly not indolent; luxu- 
 rious, but certainly not imbecile. 
 
 On her accession, Queen Elizabeth pursued the policy 
 of her father Henry VIII., towards her navy and com- 
 From merce. While some of her subjects were trading by land 
 with the east, others were on the ocean cruising against 
 the Spaniards : some were prosecuting the fisheries around 
 Newfoundland and in the seas northwest of Europe ; some 
 were exploring the western coast of America, and the east- 
 ern coast of Asia : others were groping their way among 
 the islands of the extreme north, in a vain search for the 
 north-west passage. 
 
 Explorers were still haunted with the idea that mines 
 of exhaustless wealth were yet to be found in the New 
 World. Great was the exultation when a "mineral-man" 
 of London declared that a stone brought by an English 
 sailor from the Polar regions, contained gold. England 
 was to find in the region of eternal snow mines of the pre- 
 cious metal, more prolific than Spain had found in Mexico. 
 Soon fifteen vessels set sail for this northern island, where 
 there was " ore enough to sufiice aU the gold-gluttons of 
 the world." They returned laden, not with golden ore, but 
 1578. with worthless yellow stones. 
 
 Meanwhile, the fisheries around Newfoundland had be- 
 come a certain, though a slow source of wealth. Sir 
 Humphrey Gilbert, a gentleman of distinction and of up- 
 right principles, obtained a commission from the Queen to 
 
SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 39 
 
 plant a colony in the vicinity of tliese fisheries. He ™.f^ 
 
 landed at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and there in the 
 
 presence of the fishermen of other nations, took formal Aug., 
 possession of the territory in the name of his sovereign. He 
 then passed further south, exploring the coast — but losing 
 his largest ship with all on hoard, he found it necessary to 
 sail for home. Only two vessels remained, one of which, 
 the Squirrel, was a mere boat of ten tons, used to explore 
 the shallow bays and inlets. The closing acts of Sir Hum- 
 phrey's life aSbrd proofs of his piety and nobleness of char- 
 acter. Unwilling that the humblest of his men should 
 risk more danger than himself, he chose to sail in the boat 
 rather than in the larger and safer vessel. A terrible storm 
 arose ; he sat calmly reading a book — doubtless that book 
 from which he drew consolation in times of sorrow and 
 trial. To encourage those who were in the other vessel, he 
 was heard to cry to them, " we are as near to heaven on 
 sea as on land," — the reality of this cheering thought he 
 was soon to experience. That night, those on the larger 
 vessel saw the lights of the little boat suddenly disappear. 
 
 The next attempt at colonization was made by Gilbert's 1534. 
 half-brother. Sir Walter Ealeigh, one of the noblest of that 
 age of noble spirits : gallant and courteous in his manners; 
 a scholar, a poet, a benefactor of his race ; his name should 
 ever be held in grateful remembrance by the people of this 
 countiy. He studied the art of war with Coligny, the high 
 admiral of France. When in that country, he determined 
 to plant a colony in those delightful regions from which the 
 Huguenots had been driven by the hand of violence. He 
 had learned from them of the charming climate, where 
 winter lingered only for a short time, — where the magnifi- 
 cent trees and fragrant woods bloomed during nearly all 
 the year, — where the gushing fountains, noble rivers, and 
 fertile soil invited the industrious to enjoy the fruits of 
 their labor. When Sir Walter returned home from France, 
 he found the people j)repared to enter upon schemes of 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, colonization in the south. They, too, had heard of those 
 
 " delightful regions " from the Huguenots, who at sea had 
 
 1584. heen rescued from death, and brought to England. Ka- 
 leigh without difficulty obtained a commission, granting 
 him ample powers, as proprietor of the territories he was 
 about to colonize. He iirst sent an exploring expedition, 
 consisting of two ships, under Philip Amidas and Arthur 
 Barlow, to obtain more deiinite information of the country. 
 They sailed the usual route, by the Canaries and the West 
 Indies, came first u^jou the coast of North Carolina, landed 
 upon one of the islands forming Ocracock inlet, and took 
 formal possession of the country. They partially explored 
 Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, and the islands and coast 
 in the -vdcinity, and then sailed for home. They took with 
 them two of the natives, Wanchese and Manteo ; the lat- 
 ter was afterward very useful to the colonists as an inter- 
 preter. Amidas and Barlow on their return, confirmed 
 what the Huguenots had reported of the excellence of the 
 country. They saw it in the month of July. They 
 described the unruffled ocean, dotted with beautiful islands; 
 the clearness of the atmosphere ; the luxiiriant forests 
 vocal with the songs of birds ; the vines draping the trees, 
 and the grapes hanging in clusters. This sunny land, in 
 all its virgin beauty, appeared to these natives of foggy 
 England, as the very paradise of the world. Elizabeth, 
 delighted with the description, named the country Virginia, 
 in honor of herself, as she took pride in being known as the 
 Virgin Queen. 
 April, It was not difficult now to obtain colonists ; soon a 
 
 fleet of seven vessels was equipped, containing one hun- 
 dred and eight persons, who intended to form a settle- 
 ment. Sir Eichard Grenville, a friend of Kaleigh, and a 
 man of eminence, commanded the fleet, and Kalph Lane 
 was appointed governor of the colony. After a tedious 
 voyage, they landed, in June, fifteen hundred and eighty- 
 five, on an island called Koanake, lying between Albemarle 
 
EOANOKE ABANDONED. 41 
 
 and Pamlico sounds. Before long they excited the enmity *^P- 
 
 of the Indians. On one of their exploring expeditions, a 
 
 silver cup was lost or stolen. The Indians were charged June, 
 with the theft ; perhaps they were innocent. Because it ' 
 was not restored, Grenville, with very httle prudence and 
 less justice, set fire to their village and destroyed their 
 standing corn. Little did he know the train of sorrow and 
 death he introduced by thus harshly treating the Indians 
 and making them enemies. A few weeks after the fleet 
 sailed for England, unlawfully cruising agaihst the Span- 
 ish on the voyage. Governor Lane now explored the 
 country, noticed the various productions of the soil, and 
 the general character of the inhabitants. The colonists 
 found many strange plants ; — the corn, the sweet potato, 
 the tobacco plant, were seen by them for the firsb time. 
 Lane was unfit for his station ; he became unreasonably 
 suspicious of the Indians. With professions of friendship, 
 he visited a prominent chief, and was hospitably received 
 and entertained ; this kindness he repaid by basely mur- 
 dering the chief and his followers. Men capable of such i^^q^ 
 treachery were necessarily unfit to found a Christian 
 State. Provisions now began to fail and the colonists 
 to despond. 
 
 Just at this time Sir Francis Drake, on his way home 
 from the West Indies, called to visit the colony of his 
 friend Ealeigh. Though they had been but a year in the 
 country, the colonists begged him to take them home. 
 Drake granted their request. They were scarcely out of 
 sight of land, when a ship, sent by Ealeigh, laden with 
 supphes, arrived. The colonists could not be found, and 
 the ship returned to England. In a fortnight Grenville 
 appeared with three ships ; not finding the colonists he 
 also returned home, unwisely leaving fifteen men to keep 
 possession of the territory. 
 
 Though disappointed Ealeigh did not despaii-. The 
 natural advantages of the country had failed to induce the 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CTAP. first company to remain. It was hoped, that if surrounded 
 by social and domestic ties, future colonists would learn to 
 
 15SG. look upon it as their true home. Sir Walter's second 
 company was composed of emigrants with their families, 
 who should cultivate the soil, and eventually found a State 
 for themselves and their posterity. Queen Elizabeth pro- 
 fessed to favor the enterprise, but did nothing to aid it. 
 The expedition was fitted out with all that was necessary 
 to form an agricultural settlement. Raleigh appointed 
 
 Jan Jobn White governor, with directions to form the settle- 
 
 1587. ment on the shores of Chesapeake bay. 
 
 Tliey came first to the Island of Eoanoke, there to be- 
 hold a melancholy spectacle — the bleaching bones of the 
 
 July, men whom Grenville had left. All had become a desert. 
 Doubtless they had been murdered by the Indians. Fer- 
 nando, the naval officer in command of the fleet, refused 
 to assist in exploring the shores of the Chesapeake, and 
 the colonists were compelled to remain on the Island of 
 Eoanoke. The scene of two failures was to be the witness 
 of a third. The Indians were evidently hostile. The 
 colonists becoming alarmed, urged the governor to hasten 
 
 Aug. to England and speedily bring them assistance. Previous 
 to his leaving, Mrs. Dale, his daughter, and wife of one of 
 his lieutenants, gave birth to a female child, — the first 
 child of Enghsh parentage born on the soil of the United 
 States ; it was appropriate!}^ named Virginia. 
 
 White on his return found England in a state of great 
 excitement. The Pope had excommunicated Queen Eliza- 
 beth, and had absolved her subjects from their allegiance 
 to her throne ; at the same time promising her kingdom 
 to any Catholic prince who should take possession of it. 
 The revengeful Philip, of Spain, that good son of the 
 Church, had been for three years preparing an immense 
 army and fleet, with which he intended to invade and con- 
 quer England. The fleet was boastfully named the Invin- 
 
 1588. cible Armada. The Enghsh naval commanders flocked 
 
DEATH OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 43 
 
 home from every part of the world to defend their native ™^P- 
 
 land, and to battle for the Protestant religion. English 1 
 
 seamanship and bravery completely triumphed. From 1588. 
 that hour the prestige of Spain on the ocean was gone — it 
 passed to England. It is not strange that in such exciting 
 times the poor colonists of Koanoke were overlooked or for- 
 gotten. As soon as the danger was passed, aid was sent ; 
 but it came too late : not a vestige of the colony was to be 
 found ; death had done its work, whether by the hand of 
 the savage, or by disease, none can tell. "What may have 
 been their sufferings is veiled in darkness. Eighty years 
 after, the English were told by the Indians that the Hat- 
 teras tribe had adopted the colonists into their number. 
 The probability is that they were taken prisoners and car- 
 ried far into the interior. A few years before Sir Francis 
 Drake had broken up the Spanish settlement at St. 
 Augustine. Thus, one hundred years after the first voy- 
 age of Columbus, the continent was once more in the pos- 
 session of the Eed Men. 
 
 Sir "Walter Ealeigh had now expended nearly all his 
 fortune ; yet, when he saw no prospect of ever deriving 
 benefit from his endeavors, he sent several times, at his 
 own expense, to seek for the lost colonists and to render 
 them aid. Sir "Walter's genius and perseverance prepared 
 the way for the successful settlement of Virginia ; he had 
 sown the seed, others enjoyed the harvest. The remainder 
 of his life was clouded by misfortune. On the accession 
 of James I., he was arraigned on a frivolous charge 
 of high treason ; a charge got up by his enemies, never 
 substantiated, and never believed by those who condemned 
 him. On his ti'ial he defended himself with a dignity and 
 consciousness of innocence that excited the admiration of 
 the world and put to shame his enemies. His remaining 
 property was taken from him by the king, and for thirteen 
 years he was left to languish in the Tower of London ; 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. James not yet daring to order the execution of the patriot 
 
 statesman, who was an ornament to England and the age 
 
 1588. in which he lived. After the lapse of sixteen years the 
 hour came, and Sir Walter met death on the scaffold with 
 the calmness and dignity of an innocent and Christian 
 man. 
 
CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 London and Plymoutli Companies. — King James' Laws. — The Voyage and 
 Arrival. — Jamestown. — John Smith ; his Character, Energy, Captivity, 
 and Release. — Misery of the Colonists. — ^New Emigrants. — Lord Dela- 
 ware. — Sir Thomas Gates. — Pocahontas ; her Capture and Marriage. — 
 Teardley. — First Legislative Assembly. 
 
 The bold and energetic Elizabeth was succeeded by the chap. 
 timid and pedantic James I. To sustain herself against _____ 
 the power of Spain, she had raised a strong militaiy force, 16O6. 
 both on sea and land. But James had an instinctive 
 dread of gunpowder, he was in favor of peace at all 
 hazards, even at the expense of national honor. He dis- 
 banded the greater portion of the army, and dismissed 
 many of those employed in the navy. These men, left 
 without regular employment, were easily induced to try 
 their fortunes as colonists in Virginia. They were not 
 good material, as we shall see, but they prepared the way 
 for better men, and ultimately for success. Sir Walter 
 Raleigh having sacrificed liis fortune in fruitless attempts 
 to found a colony, had induced some gentlemen to form a 
 company, and engage in the enterprise. To this com- 
 pany he had transferred his patent, with all its privileges, 
 on very liberal terms. The company manifested but little 
 energy : they had neither the enthusiasm nor the liberality 
 of Sir Walter. 
 
 England claimed the territory from Cape Fear, in North 
 Carolina, to Newfoundland, and to the West indefinitely. 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. This territory King James divided into two parts : South 
 
 . Virginia, extending from Cape Fear to the Potomac f and 
 
 1606. North Viiginia, from the mouth of the Hudson to New- 
 foundland. There were now formed two companies : one 
 known as the London Company, principally composed of 
 " noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants," residing in Lon- 
 don ; the other the Plymouth Company, composed of 
 " knights, gentlemen, and merchants," living in the West 
 of England. To the London Company James granted 
 South Virginia, to the Plymouth Company North Vir- 
 ginia. The region between the Potomac and the mouth 
 of the Hudson was to be neutral ground, on which the 
 .companies were at liberty to form settlements within 
 fifty miles of their respective boundaries. The London 
 Company was the first to send emigrants. 
 
 King James was enamored of what he called king- 
 craft. He believed that a king had a divine right to make 
 and unmake laws at his own pleasure, and was bound by 
 no obligation, — not even to keep his own word. In main- 
 taining the former of these kingly rights, James sometimes 
 found difficulty; he was more successful in exercising the 
 latter. He took upon himself the authority and labor of 
 framing laws for the colony about to sail. These laws are 
 a fair specimen of his kingcraft. They did not grant a 
 single civil privilege to the colonists, who had no vote in 
 choosing their own magistrates ; but were to be governed 
 by two councils, both appointed by the king, — one resid- 
 ing in England, the other in the colony. In religious ijiat- 
 ters, differences of opinion were forbidden ; all must con- 
 form to the rites of the church of England. The Indians 
 were to be treated kindly, and if possible, converted to 
 Christianity. 
 1607. Three ships were sent with one hundred and five emi- 
 
 grants ; of the whole number, not twenty were agricul- 
 turists or mechanics, — there was not a family nor a woman 
 in the company. The great majority were gentlemen, a 
 
SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN. 47 
 
 term then applied to those who had no regular employment, chap. 
 but S2^ent their time in idleness and dissipation. 
 
 The names of those who were to form the governing 1607. 
 council, together with their instructions, were, by order of 
 the king, foolishly sealed up in a box, there to remain until 
 they were ready to form a government. Thus when dis- 
 sensions arose on the voyage, there was no legal authority 
 to restore harmony. 
 
 Captain Newport, who commanded the expedition, 
 came first upon the coast of North Carolina, intending to 
 visit the island of Eoanoke, the scene of Raleigh's failures, 
 but a storm suddenly arose, and fortunately drove him 
 north into Chesapeake bay. The little fleet soon entered 
 a large river, and explored its stream for fifty miles — then 
 on the thhieenth of May, one thousand six hundred and May 
 seven, the members of- the colony landed, and determined ' 
 to form a settlement. The river was named James, and 
 the settlement Jamestown, in honor of the king ; while the 
 capes at the entrance of the bay, were named Charles and 
 Heniy, in honor of his sons. 
 
 In every successful enterprise, we observe the power of 
 some one leading spirit. In this case, the man worthy the 
 confidence of all, because of his knowledge, and natural 
 superiority of mind, was Captain John Smith, justly styled 
 the " Father of Virginia." Though but thirty years of 
 age, he had acquired much knowledge of the world. He 
 had travelled over the western part of Europe, and in Egypt; 
 had been a soldier in the cause of freedom in Holland ; had 
 fought against the Turks in Hungary, where he was taken 
 prisoner, and sent to Constantinoj^le as a slave. He was 
 rescued from slavery by a Turkish lady, conveyed to the 
 Crimea, where he was ill-treated ; his proud spirit resisted, 
 he slew his oppressor and escaped, wandered across the 
 continent, and returned to England just as plans were 
 maturing to colonize Virginia. He entered into the enter- 
 prise with his habitual energy. His cool courage, his 
 
48 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, knowledge of human nature, civilized and savage, — but 
 
 above all, his honesty and commou sense, fitted him for the 
 
 1607. undertaking. 
 
 The superiority of Smith excited the envy and jealousy 
 of those who expected to be named members of the coun- 
 cil, when the mysterious box should be opened. On false 
 and absurd charges he was arrested and placed in confine- 
 ment. The box was opened — the king had appointed him 
 one of the council. An effort was made to exclude him, 
 but he demanded a trial ; his accusers, unable to substan- 
 tiate their charges, withdrew them, and he took his seat. 
 Wingfield, an avaricious and unprincipled man, was chosen 
 president of the council and governor of the colony. 
 
 When these difiiculties were arranged, Newport and 
 Smith, accompanied by some twenty men, spent three 
 weeks in exploring the neighboring rivers and country. 
 They visited Powhatan, the principal Indian chief in the 
 vicinity — " a man about sixty years of age, tall, sour, and 
 athletic." His capital of twelve wigwams, was situated at 
 the falls of James river, near where Kichmond now stands. 
 His tribe seems to have been fearful and suspicious of the 
 intruding white men from the very first — impressed, it may 
 be, with a foreboding of evil to come. 
 
 Soon after, Newport sailed for home, leaving the colo- 
 June. nists in a wretched condition. Their provisions nearly all 
 spoiled, and they too idle to provide against the effects of 
 the climate — much sickness prevailed, and more than half 
 the company died before winter. To add to their distress, 
 it was discovered that Wingfield had been living upon 
 their choicest stores, and that he intended to seize the 
 remainder of their provisions, and' escape to the West 
 Indies. The council deposed him, and elected Eatchffe 
 president. The change was not for the better ; he was 
 not more honest than Wingfield, and mentally less fit 
 for the station. In this emergency the control of affairs 
 passed by tacit consent into the hands of Smith. He knew 
 
SMITH A PRISONER. 49 
 
 from the first what was needed for the colony. As it was chap. 
 
 now too late in the season to obtain food of their own rais- 
 
 ing, he had recourse to trading with the Indians for corn. 1607. 
 Toward the close of autumn, an abundance of wild fowl 
 fiirnished additional provisions. The colony thus provided Dec. 
 for, Smith further explored the neighboring rivers and 
 country. In one of these expeditions he ascended a branch 
 of the James river, and leaving the boat in care of his men, 
 took with him his Indian guide, and struck out into the 
 forest. Finding himself pursued by the Indians, he fas- 
 tened his guide to his arm as a shield against their arrows, 
 and defended himself with great bravery, but at length 
 sinking in a swamp, he was taken prisoner. His captors 
 regarded him with strange wonder ; his cool courage and 
 self-possession struck them with awe. He, aware of the 
 simplicity and inquisitiveness of the savage character, 
 showed them his pocket compass. They wondered at the 
 motion of the needle, and at the strange transparent cover, 
 which secured it from their touch. Was their captive a 
 superior being ? — was he friendly to themselves ? — how 
 should they dispose of him .^ — were questions that now per- 
 plexed them. They permitted him to send a letter to 1608. 
 Jamestown. The fact that he could impress his thoughts 
 upon paper, and send them far away, they regarded as 
 strong proof of his suiseriority. He was led from place to 
 place, to be gazed at by the wondering natives of the 
 forest. For three days they performed powwows, or religious 
 ceremonies, in order to learn from the spirit world some- 
 thing of his nature and intentions. Finally, he was sent 
 to Powhatan, to be disposed of as he should decide. The 
 Indian chief received him with a great display of savage 
 pomp, but decided that he must die. Preparations were 
 made, but the eventful life of Smith was not destined to 
 be closed by the war-club of the savage. The heart of 
 Pocahontas, a young daughter of Powhatan, a girl of ten 
 or twelve years of age, was touched with sympathy and 
 4 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. pity. She pleaded with her father for his life. She clung 
 
 tenderly to him as he bowed his head to receive the fatal 
 
 1608. stroke. Her interposition was received by the savages a^^ 
 an indication of the will of heaven, and the life of Smith 
 was spared. Her people have passed away — most of their 
 names are forgotten, bnt the name of Pocahontas, and the 
 story of her generous deed, will ever be honored and re- 
 membered. 
 
 The Indians now wished to adopt Smith into their 
 number : they strove to induce him to join them against 
 the English. He dissuaded them from an attack upon 
 Jamestown, by representing to them the wonderful effects 
 of the " big guns." After an absence of seven weeks, he 
 .Jan. '*^^s permitted to return. He had obtained much valuable 
 information of the country, of its inhabitants, their lan- 
 guage and customs. 
 
 He found the colony reduced in number to forty — in 
 want of provisions, and iu anarchy and confusion, while 
 some were making preparations to desert in the pinnace ; 
 this he prevented at the risk of his life. The famishing 
 colonists were partly sustained through the winter by the 
 generous Pocahontas, who with her companions almost 
 every day brought them baskets of corn. 
 
 In the spring, Newport returned with another com- 
 pany of emigrants ; like the first, " vagabond gentlemen," 
 idlers, and gold-hunters. These gold-hunters lighted upon 
 some earth, glittering with yellow mica ; they thought it 
 golden ore. Every thing else was neglected ; the entire 
 company engaged in loading the ships with this useless 
 earth. What a blessing to England and the colony that 
 it was not gold ! 
 
 While the people of Jamestown were thus foolishly em- 
 ployed, Smith explored the harbors and rivers of Chesa- 
 peake bay, and established friendly relations with the 
 Indians along its shores. From them he learned of the 
 Mohawks, who " made war upon all the world." On his 
 
UNWORTHY EMIGRANTS. 51 
 
 return, he was, for the first time, formally elected Presi- chap. 
 
 dent of the Council. Industry was now more wisely 
 
 directed ; but in the autumn came another company of 1608. 
 idle and useless emigrants. Smith, indignant that his 
 efforts to improve the colony should thus be frustrated, 
 wrote to the council to send him but a few husbandmen 
 and mechanics, and " diggers up of trees' roots," rather 
 than a thousand such men as had been sent. The com- 
 plaint was just. During two years they had not brought 
 under cultivation more than forty acres of land, while 
 the number of able-bodied men was more than two hun- 
 dred. The energetic arm of Smith was soon felt. The 
 first law he made and enforced was, that " He who would 
 not work should not eat ;" the second, that " Each man 
 for six days in the week should work six hours each 
 day." 
 
 In England, about this time, an unusual interest was May, 
 manifested in the colony ; subscriptions were made to its 
 stock, and the charter materially changed. The council 
 was now chosen by the stockholders of the company, in- 
 stead of being appointed by the king. Tliis councU ap- 
 pointed the governor, but he could rule with absolute 
 authority. Not a single privilege was yet granted the 
 colonist : his property, his liberty, his hfe were at the dis- 
 posal of the governor ; and he the agent of a soulless cor- 
 poration, whose only object was gain. The company had 
 expended money, but the course they themselves pursued 
 prevented their receiving a return. Instead of sending the 
 industrious and virtuous, they sent idlers and libertines ; 
 instead of farmers and mechanics, they sent gold-seekers 
 and bankrupt gentlemen. Instead of offering a reward to 
 industry they gave a premium to idleness, by making the 
 proceeds of their labor go into a common stock. 
 
 The new charter excited so great an interest in the 
 cause, that a fleet of nine ships was soon under way, con- 
 taining more than five hundred emigrants, and, for the 
 
 1609. 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, first time, domestic animals and fowls. Lord Delaware, a 
 nobleman of excellent character, was appointed governor 
 
 1609. for life. As he was not prepared to come with this com- 
 pany, he nominated Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, 
 and Newport, to act as his commissioners until his own 
 arrival. Seven of the vessels came safely, but the ship on 
 which the commissioners embarked, with another, was 
 wrecked on one of the Beiinuda islands. 
 
 This company of emigrants appears to have been worse 
 than any before. As the commissioners had failed to reach 
 the colony, these worthies refused to submit to the author- 
 ity of Smith, the acting President, contending that there 
 was no legalized government. But these men, who " would 
 rule all or ruin all," found in him a determined foe to dis- 
 order and idleness ; he compelled them to submit. Un- 
 fortunately, just at this time, he was injured by an acci- 
 dental explosion of gunpowder, and obliged to return to 
 England for surgical aid. He delegated his authority to 
 George Percy, a brother of the Duke of Northumberland. 
 And now the man who had more than once saved the 
 colony from utter ruin, bade farewell to Virginia forever ; 
 from his arduous labors he derived no benefit, but ex- 
 Oct. perienced at the hands of the comjjany the basest in- 
 gratitude. 
 
 During the administration of Smith the Indians were 
 held in check ; he inspired them with confidence and 
 respect. When the colonists " beat them, stole their 
 corn, and robbed their gardens," they complained to him, 
 and he protected their rights. After liis dei3arture, they 
 formed a plan to cut off the white men at a single blow ; 
 but Pocahontas, that good genius of the English, came at 
 night, in a driving storm, to Jamestown, revealed the plot, 
 and saved the colony. 
 
 1610. Wliat the Indians fixiled to do, vice and fiimine nearly 
 accomplished. In six months after the departure of Smith, 
 of the four hundred and ninety colonists only sixty were 
 
EMIGEANTS AND SUPPLIES. 53 
 
 living, and they would have perished in a few days had ^^ap. 
 
 they not obtained relief. Sir Thomas Gates, and those 
 
 who were wrecked with him,, found means to bmld a 1611. 
 small vessel, in which, at this crisis, they reached James ^ 
 river. They were astonished at the desolation. They 
 all determined to abandon the place and sail to New- 
 foundland, and there distribute themselves among the 
 fishermen. They dropped down the river with the tide, 
 leaving the place without a regret. What was their sur- 
 prise the next morning to meet Lord Delaware coming in 
 with more emigrants and abundance of supplies. They re- 
 turned with a favoring wind to Jamestown the same night. 
 
 From this tenth day of June, one thousand six hun- 1611. 
 dred and eleven, the colony began, under more favorable cir- 
 cumstances, to revive. Other influences moulded their 
 characters. They aclinowledged God in all their ways, 
 and their paths were directed by His providential care. 
 Under the just administration of the excellent Delaware, 
 factions were unknown ; each one was disposed to do his 
 duty. Before they commenced the labors of the day, they 
 met in their little church to implore the blessing of 
 heaven. The effects were soon visible in the order and 
 comfort of the community. They cheered their friends in 
 England : " Doubt not," said they, " God wUl raise our 
 state and build his Church in this excellent clime." In 
 about a year, failing health compelled Lord Delaware to 
 return to England. He left Percy, Smith's successor, as 
 his representative. 
 
 The next year Sir Thomas Gates arrived, with six Aug., 
 ships and three hundred emigrants ; a majority of whom ' 
 
 were of a better class, temperate and industrious in their 
 habits. A measure was now introduced which produced 
 the greatest effect on the well-being of the colony : to each 
 man was given a portion of land, which he was to culti- 
 vate for himself The good result of this was soon seen in 
 the abundance of provisions. The colony became so pros- 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, perous tliat some of the neighboring tribes of Indians 
 wished to be " called Englishmen," and to be subjects of 
 
 1612. King James. Some of the colonists, however, manifested 
 neither gratitude nor justice toward the natives. A neigh- 
 boring chief was won by the gift of a copper kettle to be- 
 tray into the hands of Captain Argall, Pocahontas, that 
 faithful friend of the colony. Argall had the meanness to 
 demand of her father a ransom. For three months the 
 indignant Powhatan did not deign to reply. Meantime 
 Pocahontas received religious instruction : her susceptible 
 heart was moved, she became a Christian and was baptized ; 
 she was the first of her race " who openly renounced her 
 country's idolatry." John Rolfe, a pious young man, of 
 " honest and discreet carriage," became interested in the 
 youthful princess ; he won her affections and asked her in 
 marriage. Powhatan was delighted. This marriage con- 
 ciliated him and his tribe, and indeed gave general satis- 
 faction, except to King James, who was greatly scandal- 
 ized that any man, but one of royal blood, should presume 
 to marry a princess. Eolfe took his wife to England, 
 where she was much caressed. She never again saw her 
 native land. Just as she was leaving England for Vir- 
 ginia she died, at the early age of twenty-two. She left 
 one son, whose posterity count it an honor to have de- 
 scended from this noble Indian girl. 
 
 Sir Thomas Dale introduced laws, by which private 
 individuals could become jiroprietors of the soil. The land- 
 holders directed their attention almost exclusively to the 
 raising of tobacco, which became so profitable an article of 
 export, that it was used as the currency of the colony. At 
 one time, the public squares and streets of Jamestown 
 were planted with tobacco, and the raising of corn so 
 much neglected, that there was danger of a famine. 
 
 IQIQ After a rule of two years, Dale resigned and returned 
 
 to England, leaving George Yeardley as deputy-governor. 
 During his administration, industry and prosperity con- 
 
HOUSE OF BURGESSES. 56 
 
 tinuecl to increase. Under the influence of a faction, chap. 
 Yeardley was superseded by the tyrannical Argall, but in 
 
 two years his vices and extortion, in connection with frauds Jan., 
 upon the company, procured his dismissal, and the people 
 once more breathed freely under the second administration 
 of the benevolent and popular Yeardley. 
 
 Although the colony liad been in existence twelve '< 
 
 years, it contained not more than six hundred persons, and 
 they appeared to have no settled intention of making the 
 country their permanent home. Efforts were still made 
 to send emigrants, twelve hundred of whom came in one 
 year, and every means were used to attach them to the 
 soil. At different times the company sent over more than 
 one hundred and fifty respectable young women, who be- 
 came wives in the colony, their husbands paying the ex- 
 pense of their passage. This was paid in tobacco, the cost 
 of each passage varying from one hundred and twenty to 
 one hundred and fifty pounds. It was deemed dishonorable 
 not to pay a debt contracted for a wife ; and to aid the 
 husbands, the government, in giving employment, preferred 
 married men. Thus surrounded by the endearments of 
 home and domestic ties, the colonists were willing to remain 
 in the New World. 
 
 Grovernor Yeardley was " commissioned by the com- 
 pany " to grant the people the right to assist in making 
 their own laws, for which purpose they could hold an 
 Assembly once a year. In July, one thousand six himdred 
 and nineteen, met the House of Burgesses, consisting of 
 twenty-two members chosen by the people. A peculiar 
 interest is attached to this first Legislative Assembly in 
 the New World. The laws enacted exhibit the spirit of 
 the people. " Forasmuche," said the Assembly, "as man's 
 affaires doe little prosper when God's service is neglected, 
 we invite Mr. Bucke, the minister, to open our sessions 
 by prayer, — that it would please God to sanctifie aU our 
 proceedinges to his ovne glory and the good of this plan- 
 tation." They passed laws against vices, and in favor of 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, industry and good order. "In detestation of idleness," 
 
 the idlep was " to be sold to a master for wages till he 
 
 1619. shewe apparent signes of amendment." Laws were made 
 against playing of dice and cards, drunkenness, and other 
 vices ; and to jjromote the " planting of come," of vines, 
 of mulberry trees, and the raising of flax and hemp. They 
 made provision " towards the erecting of the University 
 and College." This was designed for the education of 
 their own children, as well as for " the most towardly boyes 
 in witt and graces" of the " natives' children." The gov- 
 ernor and council sat with the Assembly, and took part in 
 its deliberations. It was granted that a " generall Assem- 
 bly should be held yearly once," " to ordain whatsoever 
 laws and orders would be thought good and profitable for 
 our subsistence." ' » 
 
 This right of the people to have a voice in making 
 their own laws, was rigidly maintained imtil it found its 
 full fruition in the institutions established one hundred 
 and fifty years afterward by the Kevolution. Emigration 
 from England was greatly stimulated ; in a few years the 
 population numbered nearly four thousand, while the 
 inducements to industry and general prosperity increased 
 in the same proportion. The company granted a written 
 constitution, ruider which the people could have a legisla- 
 tive assembly of their own choosing. It was necessary 
 that the laws passed by the colonial legislature should be 
 sanctioned by the company in England. As a check to 
 royal interference, no laws emanating from the court 
 could be valid, unless ratified by the House of Burgesses. 
 Thus it continued untU the dissolution of the London com- 
 pany, when King James arbitrarily took away its charter. 
 
 ' Art. IX., Vol. III., Part I. Second Series of Collections of the New 
 York Historical Society. The " Reporte" of the proceedings of thi.s " First 
 Assembly of Virginia," was discovered among the papers of the British 
 State Paper Office. All trace of it had been lost for perhaps more than two 
 centuries ; at length a search, instituted by Bancroft the historian, was suc- 
 cessful. 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 First voyages to. — Plymouth Company. — Explorations of John Smith. — The 
 Church of England. — The Puritans. — Congregation of John Robinson. — 
 " Pilgrims" in Holland. — Arrangements to emigrate. — The Voyage. — 
 A Constitution framed on board the May-Flower. — Landing at Plym- 
 outh. — Sufferings. — Indians, Treaties with. — " Weston's Men. " — 
 Thanksgiving. — Shares of the London Partners purchased. — Democratic 
 Government. 
 
 The usual route to America had been by the Canaries and chap. 
 
 the West Indies. Bartholomew Gosnold was the tirst [_ 
 
 navigator who attempted to find a shorter one, by sailing igos. 
 directly across the Atlantic. His eflfort was crowned with 
 success : after a voyage of seven weeks, he came upon the 
 coast in the vicinity of Nahant. Coasting along to the 
 soufli, he landed upon a sandy point, which he named Cape 
 Cod ; and passing round it he discovered Martha's Vine- 
 yard, and several other islands in the vicinity. While he 
 explored the coast he also traded with the natives, and 
 when he had obtained a cargo of sassafras root, which in 
 that day was much valued for its medicinal qualities, he 
 sailed for home. The voyage consumed but five weeks, 
 thus demonstrating the superiority of the new route. 
 
 Gosnold, who saw the country in the months of May 
 and June, was enraptured with its appearance — its forests 
 blooming with shrubs and flowers; its springs of pure fresh 
 water, and Uttle lakes; its beautiful islands nestling among 
 equally beautiful bays along the coast. His description, 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, together with the shortness and safety of the voyage, led 
 
 to many visits and minor discoveries by Martin Pring and 
 
 1007. others, all along the coast of New England. * 
 
 The Plymouth Company, of which mention has been 
 made, attempted to form a settlement at the mouth of the 
 Kennebec in Maine. The rigors of a severe winter, and the 
 death of their president, so discouraged the colonists, that 
 they abandoned the enterprise, and returned to England. 
 
 A few years afterward. Smith, whose valuable services 
 we have seen in Virginia, undertook to explore the coun- 
 try. He constructed a map of the eastern portion, and 
 noted the prominent features of the territory. The coun- 
 1614. try he named New England — a name confirmed by the 
 Prince of Wales, afterward Charles I. After Smith lef^ 
 for England, his associate, a cajDtain named Hunt, treacher- 
 ously enticed twenty-seven of the natives with their chief, 
 Squanto, on board his ship, then set sail. He sold these 
 victims of his avarice into slavery in Spain. A few of 
 them were purchased by some friars, who kindly taught 
 them, in order to send them back as missionaries to their 
 countrymen. Among this number was Squanto. 
 
 In this age, we are unable to appreciate fully the trials 
 and sufferings experienced by the explorers and first settlers 
 of this continent. "When we remember the fradty of the 
 vessels in wliich their voyages were made, the perils of the 
 unexplored ocean, the dangers of its unknown coasts, the 
 hostility of the wily savage, the diseases of an untried 
 climate, the labor of converting the primitive forests into 
 cultivated fields, we may well be astonished that such dif- 
 ficulties were ever overcome. 
 
 We have now to narrate the causes which led to the 
 settlement of New England. Previous to the time of 
 Henry VIII. the clergy and government of England had 
 been in religious matters the implicit subjects of the church 
 of Kome. While this may be said of the clergy it was dif- 
 ferent with great numbers of the people. The spirit of 
 
THE EXILES RETURN HOME. 59 
 
 religious trutli was pervading their minds and moulding chap. 
 
 their character. They read the Bible in their own lau- !_ 
 
 guage, discussed freely its truths, and comjDared them with 1525. 
 the doctrines and practices of the Komish church. The 
 Pope claimed to be the temporal and sj)iritual head of the 
 church, and by virtue of this claim to depose princes or 
 absolve subjects from their allegiance. Henry wished to 
 be divorced from his queen in order to marry another ; but 
 the Pope, to whom he applied, as the highest authority, 
 hesitated to dissolve the marriage. The angry king, when 
 threatened with excommunication, repudiated the Pope 
 and his authority, and declared the English church inde- 1534. 
 pendent of that of Kome. ParKament afterward confirmed 
 by law what the king in a fit of anger had done, and 
 recognized him as the head of the church in his own do- 
 minions. Thus England, by the act of her own govern- 
 ment, became Protestant. True reformation in religion 
 does not apply so much to its external form, as to its effect 
 upon the hearts and consciences of men. That portion of 
 the English people who had learned this truth from the 
 Word of God, recognized no human being as the head of his 
 church ; they received Christ alone as the Head of his own 
 church, and they refused to acknowledge the pretensions 
 of the king. For the maintenance of this belief they were i55g_ 
 persecuted through a series of years : during the reign of 
 Henry for not admitting his authority in spiritual matters ; 
 during the reign of his daughter Mary, still more fiercely, 
 for denying the authority of the church of Rome. Many 
 at the stake sealed their faith with their lives, and many 
 fled to foreign lands. 
 
 After the death of Mary the persecuting fires were ex- 
 tinguished, and the accession of Elizabeth was the signal 
 for the exiles to return home. They came back with more 
 enlightened views of the rights of conscience and of free 
 inquiry. Of these some were Presbyterians, some Con- 
 gregationaHsts, and others members of the Established 
 
60 HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CH^. Church. They demanded a more pure and spiritual wor- 
 
 ship than that of the church of England. For this they 
 
 1558. were in derision called Puritans — a name which they 
 soon made respected, even by their enemies. Elizabeth 
 was a Protestant, hut she was far from being a Puritan. 
 She wished to have a church that should reconcile all 
 parties, whose ceremonies should be a happy medium be- 
 tween the showy church of Eouie and the simple form of 
 worsliip asked for by the Puritans. She contended stren- 
 uously for her headship of the church, while the Puritan 
 rejected the presumptuous doctrine. She demanded of her 
 subjects implicit obedience to her in religious matters : 
 the Puritan took the high ground that it was his right to 
 worship God according to his own conscience. 
 
 Severe laws were passed from time to time, and they 
 were enforced with unrelenting cruelty. All were en- 
 joined to conform to certain ceremonies in worship. Those 
 who did not comply were banished ; if they returned with- 
 1603. out permission, the penalty was death. The person accused 
 was compelled to answer on oath all questions, whether per- 
 taining to himself or to his fellow-worshippers. Ministers 
 who would not comply with these laws were driven from 
 their parishes ; the members of their congregations were 
 " beset and watched night and day ;" if they were de- 
 tected in listening to their deprived ministers, or were 
 absent a certain length of time from the services of the 
 Established Church, they were fined and imprisoned, and 
 punished in various ways. To avoid the effects of such 
 intolerable laws, many bade farewell to their native land, 
 and Holland and Switzerland became the asylum of some 
 of the noblest men and women of England. 
 
 Thus the contest had raged for nearly forty years, 
 when, in the latter part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the 
 Puritans began to hope that the dark clouds of persecu- 
 tion which had so long overshadowed the land would be 
 dispelled under her successor, James I., who was edu- 
 
CONGREGATION OF JOHN KOBINSON. 61 
 
 cated in Scotland, principally imder Presbyterian influ- chap. 
 
 ence. They had reason to believe he would protect them ^ 
 
 in the exercise of their form of worship. They were grossly 1003. 
 deceived, and cruelly disappointed. "When it was for his 
 interest, James professed to be very favorable to the Kef- 
 ormation, and more especially to the Puritan form. Upon 
 one occasion, standing with his hands lifted up to heaven, 
 he " praised God that he was king of such a kirk — the 
 purest Mrk in aU the world ; " adding, " As for the kirk of 
 England, its service is an evil said mass." Such was the 
 language of James just before he became king. The mo- 
 ment he ascended the throne he threw off the mask, and 
 openly proclaimed his famous maxim, " No bishop, no 
 king." The Puritans humbly petitioned him for a redress 
 of grievances ; he treated them with the greatest con- 
 tempt. Said he to his bishops : " I wUl make them con- 
 form, or I will harry them out of the land, or else worse : 
 only hang them — that's all." 
 
 During all these years they hoped for better times, and 
 were unvriUing to separate from the church of their fathers ; 
 but suffering and persecution at length brought that hour. 
 Hitherto individuals and families had gone into exUe ; but 
 now, in the north of England, a pastor, with all his con- 
 gregation, determined to leave their homes and flee to 
 Holland, where there was already a church of Enghsh 
 exiles. This was the congregation of John Kobinson. 
 These poor people were harassed by the minions of the 
 king and clergy, and subjected to the petty annoyances 
 dictated by religious intolerance. Preparations were made 
 for them to leave. As they were about to sail, the officers 
 of the government, with the connivance of the captain of 1608. 
 the ship, came on board the vessel, and arrested the whole 
 company ; searched their persons, took possession of their 
 effects, and carried them to prison; men, women, and 
 children. In a short time most of them were released ; 
 only seven persons were brought to trial. They also 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, were liberated. The court could not convict them of 
 
 X. 
 
 crime. 
 
 1608. The members of the congregation persevered ; and soon 
 
 they engaged a Dutch captain to take them from an un- 
 frequented common. The women and children were to be 
 taken to the place of embarkation in a small boat, the 
 men to go by land. The latter reached the ship, and 
 were taken on board. The boat containing the women 
 and children was stranded, and before it could be got off 
 they were seized by a party of their enemies. The cap- 
 tain, lest he should become involved in difficulties with 
 the English authorities, sailed immediately, taking with 
 him the men, overwhelmed with grief for their defenceless 
 wives and children in the hands of their cruel oppressors. 
 The poor women and helpless children were dragged, suf- 
 fering from cold, hunger, and fear, before a magistrate, as 
 if they had been guilty of crime. They were treated very 
 harshly, but were finally permitted to join their husbands 
 and fathers in Holland. 
 
 Now they were Pilgrims indeed, strangers in a strange 
 land ; " but they hfted up their eyes to heaven, their 
 dearest country, and quieted their spirits." They re- 
 mained about a year at Amsterdam ; not satisfied, how- 
 ever, they removed to Leyden. Their integrity and in- 
 dustry, their piety and self-denial, in what they believed 
 to be the cause of truth, elicited the respect of the 
 Dutch. The government officers would have treated 
 them with marked favor, but they feared to offend King 
 James. From year to year they received accessions from 
 their brethren in England. They were still surrounded 
 by evils, which made it necessary for them again to 
 change their homes. Their labors were severe ; though 
 frugal and industrious, they obtained a support with 
 great difficulty. The desecration of the Sabbath, the 
 dissolute morals of the disbanded soldiers and sailors 
 among whom they were thrown, caused them to fear for 
 
THEY APPLY TO THE LONDON COMPANY. 63 
 
 their children. Holland could not be their permanent chap. 
 home. It dawned upon the minds of the more intelKgent, _i__ 
 that it was their duty to seek some other land. Their 1616. 
 thoughts were directed to the wilderness of the New 
 World. They express not a wish in regard to worldly 
 comfort, but a desire to consecrate all to the great cause 
 of jn'omoting Christianity. 
 
 Though they had been so harshly treated by England, 
 they loved her still, and were not willing to accept the 
 offers made them, to colonize under the protection of the 
 Dutch. They had heard of the fine climate and the set- 
 tlement of Virginia, and resolved to apply to the London 1617. 
 Company for permission to emigrate to their territory. For 
 this purpose they sent two of their number, John Carver 
 and Kobert Cushman, to confer with the company. Their 
 proposition was favorably received by the excellent Sir 
 Edwin Sandys, the secretary. Their request, signed by the 
 greater part of the congregation, was afterward sent to the 
 company. In it they made a summaiy of their principles, 
 and a statement of their motives of action. They said, " We 
 verily believe that God is with us, and will prosper us in our 
 endeavors ; we are weaned from our mother country, and 
 have learned patience in a hard and strange land. We 
 are industrious and frugal ; we are bound together by a 
 sacred bond of the Lord, whereof we make great con- igi9_ 
 science, holding ourselves to each other's good. We do not 
 wish ourselves home again ; we have nothing to hope from 
 England or Holland ; we are men who will not be easily 
 discouraged." 
 
 They were to emigrate under the sanction of the com- 
 pany ; but owing to dissensions in the company itself, the 
 plan was not carried out. At this time the king was op- 
 pressing their brethren in England more and more ; the 
 only favor the Pilgrims could obtain from him was a half 
 promise that he would not molest them in the wilds of 
 America. In truth, James wished to be freed from those 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, of his subjects who had any just notions of human rights. 
 _i__ Said he, "I would rather live hke a hermit in the forest, 
 
 1619. than be a king over such people as the pack of Puritans 
 that overrule the House of Commons !" 
 
 Tliere was yet another difficulty. The Pilgrims were 
 poor — poor indeed ; in their persecution and exile they had 
 lost their all. Upon very hard conditions they secured the 
 means to emigrate ; yet they were willing to make any 
 sacrifice could they but worship God in peace, and protect 
 the morals of their children. 
 
 A company was now formed of London merchants, who 
 agreed to furnish the money, while the emigrant was to 
 give his entire services for seven years ; these services were 
 to constitute his stock in the company. The profits were 
 to be reserved to the end of that time, then a valuation of 
 all the property held by the company was to be made, and 
 
 1620. the amount distributed to each in proportion to his in- 
 vestment. By contract, the merchant who invested ten 
 pounds received as much as the colonist who gave seven 
 years of labor. This throwing of all their labor and capital 
 into a common stock, was the result of necessity, not of 
 choice. 
 
 They purchased one ship, the Speedwell, and hired 
 another, the May-Flower, a ship of one hundred and eighty 
 tons. As these vessels could carry only a part of the con- 
 gregation, they determined to send the younger and more 
 vigorous, while the pastor, Kobinson, and the aged and in- 
 firm, were to remain at Leyden. Their ruling Elder, 
 William Brewster, who had suffered much in the cause, 
 and was respected and loved for his integrity, was to 
 conduct the emigrants. Before they left, they observed a 
 day of fasting and prayer. They " sought of God a right 
 way for themselves and their little ones." 
 
 The parting address of the venerable Eobinson gives 
 us a ghmpse of the principles in which, from year to year, 
 he had instructed them. As he addressed them for the 
 
THE EMBARKATION. 65 
 
 last time, he said : " I charge you before Grod and his holy chap. 
 
 angels, that you follow me no farther than you have seen 
 
 me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveal any thing 1620. 
 to you, he ready to receive it ; for I am" verily jiersuaded 
 the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his Holy 
 Word. I beseech you remember it is an article of your 
 church covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever 
 truth shall be made known to you from the written Word 
 of God. Take heed what you receive as truth ; examine 
 it, consider it, and compare it with other scriptures of 
 truth before you receive it ; the Christian world has not 
 yet come to the perfection of knowledge." 
 
 A number of their brethren came from Leyden to 
 Delft-Haven, where they were to embark. The night 
 before their departure was passed in rehgious inter- 
 course and prayer : as the morning dawned, they prepared 
 to go on board the ship. On the shore they all knelt, 
 and the venerable Robinson led them in prayer — they 
 heard his voice for the last time. They sailed first to 
 Southampton ; in a fortnight they left that place for their 
 distant home. It is soon discovered that the Speedwell 
 needs repairs, and they must return. After the lapse of Aug. 
 eight days of precious time, again they make the attempt, ^• 
 and still again the captain of the Speedwell asserts that his 
 ship cannot cross the Atlantic. They put back to Plym- 
 outh : they there leave the Speedwell, and those whose 
 courage failed them, and to the number of one hundred and 
 one once more commit themselves to the winds and waves, 
 trusting to the good providence of God. Sept. 
 
 Let us glance for a moment at the circumstances and ^• 
 characteristics of this company. They were bound to- 
 gether by the strong bond of religious sympathy — united 
 in interest and purpose, they expected to endure, to suffer, 
 to rejoice together for many years, even to the end of hfe. 
 
 Prominent among them was WilUam Brewster, the 
 ruling elder and lay preacher, already mentioned, who was 
 5 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to supply the place of the pastor Eobinson. He was a man 
 ' of education, of refined associations, and above all of a 
 
 1620. lovely and Christian spirit. " He laid his hand to the daily 
 tasks of life, as well as spent his soul in trying to benefit 
 his fellows — so bringing himself as near as possible to the 
 early Christian practices ; he was worthy of being the first 
 minister of New England." ' There was also the dignified 
 and benevolent John Carver, the worthy governor of this 
 band of Christian exiles, who in the cause laid down his 
 fortune, and at length his life — for he soon sank beneath 
 the hardships to which he was unused. These two were 
 comparatively old men, but most of the " Pilgrim 
 Fathers " were in the bloom and vigor of life. 
 
 William Bradford was but thirty-two, earnest, saga- 
 cious, true and steady in purpose, " a man of nerve and 
 public spirit ;" self-educated, and so ardent in the pursuit 
 of knowledge, that amidst all his trials and labors, he 
 accumulated books, and found time to read and even to 
 study them. As a farmer's boy in England, as a dyer in 
 Holland, as the governor of a small nation in the wilds of 
 America, he acted well his part. 
 
 Edward Winslow was " a gentleman born," with a 
 mind cultivated by travel and books ; gentle in manner as 
 in spirit, his soul melted at the sorrows of others. Miles 
 Standish was a soldier, fearless, but not rash ; impetuous, 
 but not vindictive : though not a member of the church, 
 he was strongly attached to its institutions and to its most 
 rigorous advocates. Winslow was twenty-six, and Stan- 
 dish thirty-six years of age. 
 IJoy_ A tedious voyage of sixty-three days brought them in 
 
 10. sight of Cape Cod. They had left their native land to 
 seek in a howling wilderness an asylum from persecution. 
 They had not the sanction of a charter from their king, 
 and they appealed to no body of men for protection : they 
 
 ' Elliott's History of New England. 
 
A CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. 67 
 
 must have a government ; they were all on an equality, chap. 
 and they now drew up a constitution, or compact, to which " 
 the men, servants and all, to the number of forty-one, sub- 1620. 
 scribed their names, and mutually pledged their obedience. 
 
 The words of this first constitution, made and adopted 
 by an entire people, plainly indicate whence its principles 
 were derived. They say, " In the name of Grod, amen : 
 we whose names are underwritten, having undertaken for 
 the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, 
 a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of 
 Virginia, do solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, 
 and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together 
 into a body politic ; and by virtue hereof, to enact such 
 just and equal laws from time to time, as shall be thought 
 most convenient for the good of the colony. Unto which 
 we promise all due submission and obedience." Thus the 
 principle of popular liberty, that laws and constitutions 
 should be framed for the benefit of the entire people, found 
 its utterance in the cabin of the May-Flower, by the act 
 of the people themselves. 
 
 John Carver was elected governor for one year. Miles 
 Standish, who had been an officer in the army sent by 
 Queen Elizabeth to aid the Dutch against the Spaniards, 
 was chosen captain. Winter was coming on — they were 
 anxious to land, but unfortunately the shallop needed 
 repairs. In the mean time Standish, Bradford, and others, 
 impatient of delay, went to seek a convenient harbor, and 
 a suitable place for a settlement. The country was covered 
 with snow ; in one place they found some baskets of corn, 
 and in another an Indian burial-ground. 
 
 In a fortnight the shallop was ready for use, and the 
 governor, Winslow, Bradford, and Standish, with others 
 and some seamen, went to explore the bay. The cold was 
 intense, freezing the spray of the sea on their clothes, luitil, 
 as they expressed it, they were made as hard as iron. They 
 landed occasionally, found graves and a few deserted wig- 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, warns, but no other evidence of human beings. On one of 
 
 these occasions they encamped at night on the shore near 
 
 1620. where the shallop was moored. The next morning as they 
 were closing their devotions, they were startled by a strange 
 cry — the war-whoop of the savage — it was accompanied by 
 a flight of arrows. At the report of their guns the Indians 
 fled. All that day was spent in seeking a safe harbor for 
 the ship. Near night a violent storm of rain and snow 
 drove them through the breakers into a cove, protected 
 from the blast by a hill. In the midst of the tempest they 
 landed, and with difficulty kindled a fire. In the morning 
 they found they were on an island at the entrance of a 
 harbor. The next day was the Sabbath ; though urged by 
 every consideration to hasten to the ship, they religiously 
 observed the day. 
 
 On the morrow, December twenty-second, one thousand 
 Dec. six hundred and twenty — a day ever to be remembered in 
 ^^- the annals of our country, the Pilgrims landed. The 
 place they named after the town in England from 
 which they last sailed. The blessings which have flowed 
 from the settlement of New England are associated with 
 the spot where they first set foot — the Kock of Plym- 
 outh. 
 
 No time was spent in idleness. A place was selected 
 for the settlement, and divided into lots for families. On 
 the third day they began to build ; their houses went up 
 but slowly ; the forest trees must first be felled and spht 
 into timbers ; the season was inclement — their strength 
 failed them : many from exposure had received into their 
 bodies the seeds of death ; many were sick, and many died. 
 At one time there were only seven of the whole company 
 not disabled by sickness. During the winter, more than 
 forty were numbered with the dead; among these were the 
 wives of Bradford and Winslow, and also Kose, the young 
 bride of Miles Standish. The benevolent Carver lost his 
 son— then he himself sunk in death, soon to be followed 
 
PRIVATIONS AND HEROISM. 69 
 
 by his broken-lieartecl widow. They were all buried but chap. 
 
 a short distance from the rock on which they had landed. 
 
 Lest the many graves should tell the Indians the story of 1621. 
 weakness and of death, the spot where they rested was |" 
 levelled and sown with grass. At length spring drew near, 
 and warm winds from the south moderated the cold. The 
 trees began to put forth their foliage, and among their 
 branches the "birds to sing pleasantly," while the sick 
 were gradually recovering. 
 
 When the May-Flower left for England, not one of 
 these heroic men and women desired to leave the land of 
 their adoption. They had now a government ; they had a 
 church covenant ; they had a constitution under which 
 their rights were secured, and each one according to his 
 indi\adual merit could be respected and honored. So dear 
 to them were these privileges, that all the privations they 
 had suffered, the sickness and death which had been in 
 their midst, the gloomy jjrospect before them, could not 
 induce them to swerve from their determination to found a 
 State, where these blessings should be the birth-right of 
 their children. 
 
 Famine pressed hard upon them, for in the autumn Nov. 
 they were joined by some new emigrants, who had come ^^■ 
 ill-provisioned ; and for the succeeding six months they 
 had only half a supjily. " I have seen men," says Wins- 
 low, " stagger by reason of faintness for want of food." 
 Their privations for two or three years were greater than 
 those of any colony planted in the coimtry. But their 
 implicit coniidence in the goodness of God was never 
 shaken. At times Indians were seen hovering around theii 
 settlement, but no communication had been held with 
 them, as they fled when approached. One day, to their 
 surprise, an Indian boldly entered their village, crying out, 
 welcome Englishmen ! welcome Englishmen ! It was 
 Samoset. He belonged to the Wampanoags, a tribe Hving 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, in the vicinity. He had learned a few English words from 
 ' the fishermen on the Penobscot. 
 
 1621. Samoset, in the name of his tribe, told the Pilgrims 
 
 to possess the land, for the year before those to whom it 
 belonged had been swept away by a pestilence. This an- 
 nouncement was a great relief to their fears. Samoset 
 soon again appeared, and with him Squanto, who, as has 
 been mentioned, had been kidnapped and sold into slavery 
 in Spain, had been freed, found his way to England, and 
 finally home. They announced that Massasoit, the grand 
 sachem of the Wampanoags, desired an interview. The 
 chief and his retinue of warriors had taken their position 
 on a neighboring hill. Squanto acted as interpreter. A 
 treaty of friendship was made between the chief and the 
 English, by which they promised to defend each other 
 when attacked by enemies. For more than fifty years, till 
 King Philip's war, this treaty was observed. The Pil- 
 grims offered to pay for the baskets of co]-n they had 
 found buried ; this they did six months afterward when 
 the owners appeared. A trade, very beneficial to the 
 colony, commenced with the Indians, who promised to seU 
 them all their furs. 
 
 Why not remember the humble services of Squanto.^ 
 The Pilgrims looked upon him as " a special instrument 
 sent of God for their good beyond their expectation." He 
 taught them how to plant corn, to put fish with it to make 
 it grow, where to find the fish and how to take them. He 
 was their interpreter and their pilot. Under his tuition 
 they soon raised corn so abundantly as to have a surplus to 
 exchange with the Indians for furs. By means of these 
 furs they obtained from England the merchandise they 
 wanted. He remained their friend till his deatli, and when 
 dying asked the governor to pray that he might go to 
 the " Englishman's God in heaven." 
 
 Massasoit desired the alliance with the Pilgrims as a 
 protection against Canonicus, the chief of the powerfiJ 
 
" WESTON'S MEN." 71 
 
 Narragansetts, who lived on the shores of the beautiful bay chap. 
 which bears their name. Canonicus was not, however, to 
 
 be deterred from exhibiting his hostility. As a challenge 1622. 
 he sent to Plymouth some arrows wrapped in the skin of 
 a rattlesnake. Bradford, who was now governor, sent 
 back the same skin filled with powder and shot. The In- 
 dians looked upon it as containing a deadly influence, to 
 be exerted against the enemies of the English. In terror 
 they sent it from tribe to tribe, none of whom dared either 
 keep or destroy it. Finally, the sMn and its contents 
 were returned to the colony. Canonicus himself, in a 
 short time, desired an alliance of peace ; evidently more 
 from fear than from good-will. 
 
 In trade the Pilgrims took no advantage of the igno- 
 rance of the Indians. They became involved in difficul- 
 ties with them, however, through the improper conduct 
 of others. 
 
 Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, who had in- 
 vested money in the enterprise of founding the Plymouth 
 Colony, now wished to engross the entire profits of the fur 
 trade with the Indians. He obtained a patent for a small 
 district, near Weymouth, on Boston harbor, and sent over 
 about sixty men, chiefly indented servants. These men 
 ill treated the Indians, stole their corn, and thus excited 
 their hostility. The savage seeks redress by murdering 
 those wiio do him wrong. The Indians did not distinguish 
 between the honesty and good-wiU of the Pilgrims, and 
 the dishonesty and evil acts of " Weston's men ;" they 
 plotted to involve all the white strangers in one common 
 ruin. Massasoit was dangerously sick ; Winslow kindly 
 visited him ; turned out of the wigwam the Indian doctors, 
 who were malnng a great noise to drive off the disease, and 
 relieved the chief by giving him medicine and quiet. The 
 grateful Massasoit revealed the plot. The people were 
 greatly alarmed ; they had heard of a terrible massacre in 
 Virginia, and they feared such would be their own expe- 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, rience. Not a moment was to be lost ; they must act in 
 
 self-defence. Captain Standish hastened with eight men 
 
 1623. to the assistance of those at Weymouth. He arrived in 
 ^' time not only to prevent the attack, but to surprise the 
 Indians themselves. In the conflict, the principal plotting 
 chief and some of his men were kiUed. This exploit 
 taught the Indians to respect the English ; many of the 
 neighboring chiefs now sought peace and alliance. When 
 the good pastor, Mr. Robinson, heard of this conflict, he 
 exclaimed, " Oh that they had converted some before they 
 killed any ! " One year saw the beginning and the end of 
 this trading establishment at Weymouth. Apprehension 
 of danger from the natives was now removed. 
 
 As thanksgiving is fast becoming a national festival, 
 the manner in which it was first instituted has a pecuhar 
 interest. In the autumn of 1623, after the fruits of the 
 harvest were gathered in. Governor Bradford sent out a 
 company for game, to furnish dainty materials for a feast. 
 God had blessed their labors, and this was to be a feast of 
 THANKS-GIVING. " So they met together and thanked 
 God with all their hearts, for the good world and the good 
 things in it." 
 
 The merchant partners in England complained of the 
 small profits derived from their investments. They began 
 to neglect the interests of the colony, and to manifest their 
 displeasure in various ways. They would not permit 
 Eobinson and his family, with the remainder of the church 
 at Leyden, to join their friends at Plymouth. They sold 
 the colonists goods at enormous prices, and sent a ship to 
 rival them in their limited fur trade. They outraged their 
 feelings by attempting to force upon them one Lyford, a 
 clergyman friendly to the Established Church. Lyford was 
 expelled from Plymouth, not on account of his rehgious 
 views, but, according to Bradford, for conduct injurious to 
 the colony and immorahty. 
 
 In time industry and frugality triumphed ; the Pil- 
 
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. 73 
 
 grims in five or six years were able to purchase the entire chap. 
 stock of those who were annoying them in this ungenerous _i__ 
 manner. The stock and the hxnd were equitably divided, Nov. 
 and the arrangement of private property fully carried out, ^^^"' 
 each one becoming the owner of a piece of land. 
 
 Though the Pilgrims had no charter, they formed a 
 government upon the most liberal principles. They had a 
 governor, who was chosen by the people, and whose power 
 was limited by a council of five. For more than eighteen 
 years the whole male population were the legislators. 1640. 
 
 They were the pioneers of religious freedom — the 
 o]3eners of an asylum in the New World, to which the 
 persecuted for religion's sake, and political opinions, have 
 been flocking from that day to this. Says Governor Brad- 
 ford, in his history of the colony : " Out of small begin- 
 nings great things have been produced, by His hand that 
 made aU things out of nothing ; and as one small candle 
 will light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone 
 to many, yea to our whole nation." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 
 
 A Company organized. — Settlement of Salcni. — The Charter transferred. — 
 Boston and Vicinity settled. — Encouragements. — Disputes. — Roger 
 Williams ; his Banishment ; he founds Providenee. — Discussions re- 
 newed. — Anne Hutchinson. — Settlement of Rhode Island. — The Dutch 
 at Hartford ; Disputes with. — Migrations to the fertile Valley of the Con- 
 necticut ; Hooker and Haynes. — Springfield. — Fort at Saybrooke. — Pe- 
 quods become hostile. — Expeditions against them ; their utter Ruin. — 
 Rev. John Davenport. — Settlement of New Haven. — Sir Ferdinand 
 Gorges. — New Hampshire. — The United Colonies. — The Providence 
 Plantations. — Educated Men. — Harvard College. — The Printing Press. — 
 Common Schools. — Grammar Schools. — Quakers; Persecution of. — Eliot 
 the Apostle. — The Mayhews. — Progress. 
 
 CHAP. Persecution raged through the reign of James, and 
 
 threatened to continue through the reign of his son and 
 
 1624. successor, Charles I. 
 
 The various accounts sent to England hy the colonists 
 at Plymouth, excited great interest, especially in the 
 minds of the Puritans. They listened to them as to a 
 voice from Heaven, calling upon them to leave their native 
 land, and join their brethren in these ends of the earth. 
 This was not wild enthusiasm, hut the calm promptings 
 of duty. 
 
 Pamphlets were published giving descriptions of the 
 land of promise ; it promised not wealth and ease, but only 
 peace and quietness. There were many who preferred 
 these, with toils and privations in the wilds of America, to 
 religious persecutions in their own land. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF SALEM. 75 
 
 The Eev. Mr. White, of Dorchester, was a controllina; chap. 
 
 XI 
 
 spirit in the enterjjrise. He was a Puritan, but not of the 1_ 
 
 Separatists from the Established Churchj as wore Eobin- 1034. 
 son and his congregation. 
 
 The Council of Plymouth had taken the place of the 1620. 
 old Plymouth Company. This council had no worthier 
 object than gain ; it granted the same region to different 
 individuals, and thus laid the foundation for endless dis- 
 putes. It sold to some gentlemen of Dorchester a belt of 
 territory, extending from three miles south of Massachu- 
 setts bay to three miles north of any part of Merrimac 1628. 
 river, and, as usual, west to the Pacific. The company 
 prepared to send a colony. The care of the enterprise 
 was intrusted to one of their number, John Endicott, a 
 man of stern character and sterling integrity. He brought 
 with him his family, and about one hundred other per- 
 sons ; they landed at Salem, and there commenced the 
 colony of Massachusetts Bay. Men of wealth and influ- Sept. 
 ence, such as Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, Saltonstall, Bel- 
 lingham, Johnson, Simon Bradstreet, William Codding- 
 ton, and others, who afterward exerted a great influence 
 in the colony, were willing to bear a part in carrying the 
 "pure gospel" to New England. The king looked upon 
 the colony about to be founded more as a trading corpo- 
 ration than as the germ of an independent nation, and he 
 willingly gave them a charter, under which they lived more 
 than fifty years. By the terms of this charter the royal ;Mar. 
 signature was not necessary to give validity to the laws 1^29. 
 made under it. 
 
 Soon another choice company, in which " no idle per- 
 sons were found," was ready to sail. The good Francis 
 Higginson accompanied them as their minister. As the 
 shores of England receded from sight, Higginson expressed 
 the feelings of the emigrants ; as from the deck of the ship 
 his eyes turned for the last time to his native land, he 
 exclaimed, " Farewell, England ! — farewell, all Christian 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, friends ! — we separate not from the church, but from its 
 
 corruptions ; — we go to spread the gospel in America." 
 
 1629. There were about two hundred in this company ; the ma- 
 ""*' jority remained at Salem, the rest went to Charlestown. 
 Privations and exposure brought sickness, and before the 
 end of a year death had laid his liand on more than half 
 their number, among whom was their pastor, Higginson. 
 When the summons came, the dying seemed only to re- 
 gret that they were not permitted to aid their brethren in 
 founding a pure church in the wilderness. 
 
 The charter contained no provision for the rights of 
 the people, it left them at the mercy of the corporation ; 
 and as long as that charter remained in England, they 
 could take no part in their own government. It was also 
 silent on the subject of their religious freedom ; at any 
 moment this might be interfered with by the king and his 
 clergy. There was only one way to be freed from such 
 undue interference. By the charter their governing coun- 
 cil could choose the place of meeting for the transaction 
 of business. It was a bold step ; but they chose, here- 
 after, to meet on the soil of the colony. This transfer of 
 the governing council and charter made its government 
 virtually independent. 
 
 The officers were to be a governor, a deputy governor, 
 and eighteen assistants. These were elected before leav- 
 1630. ing England. John Winthrop was chosen governor, and 
 Thomas Dudley deputy governor. A fleet of seventeen 
 ships set sail with the officers elect, and fifteen hundred 
 emigrants ; they arrived in June and July. Their arrival 
 was opportune, for those who had preceded them were in 
 great distress from sickness and scarcity of food. 
 
 Settlements were now made at various places around 
 the bay; Charlestown, Newtown, Dorchester, Watertown. 
 A fine spring of pure water, on the peninsula called Shaw- 
 mut, induced the governor and some other persons to settle 
 there. The position was central, and it became the capital, 
 
ENCOURAGEMENTS. 77 
 
 under the name of Boston. The change of climate and ^l^^"- 
 mode of living brought disease upon great numbers ; yet 
 
 they looked upon their sorrows as so many trials, designed 1630. 
 to make them appreciate still more the blessings which 
 the future had in store for them. As they hoped, these 
 evils gradually passed away, and prosperity smiled. 
 
 At first, the assistants could hold office for life, and 
 in addition it was their privilege to elect the governor. 
 The people became jealous of their liberties ; the dispute 
 was compromised by their electing their magistrates annu- 
 ally. They were to be chosen by the freemen of the 1631. 
 colony, of whom no one who was not a church member 
 could have a vote. This law was injudicious, though 
 enacted with the best intentions. They wished a govern- 
 ment based on purely religious principles, and they thought 
 to secure such a government by allowing none but the 
 religious to take part in it. Another change was made 
 from the purely democratic form, when all the freemen 
 met in convention and voted on the laws, to that of the 
 republican, when the people elected deputies, who were au- 
 tliorized to legislate and transact the affairs of the colony. 
 
 The colonists dealt honestly with the Indians and en- 
 deavored to preserve their good will. They "were to 
 buy their lands, and not to intrude upon, and in no respect 
 injure them ;" they also " hoped to send the gospel to the 
 poor natives." Many of the neighboring chiefs desired 
 their friendship. One came from the distant river Con- 
 necticut ; he extolled its fertile valleys and blooming 
 meadows ; he offered them land near him, because he 
 wished their protection against the brave and fiery 
 Pequods. Fraternal and Christian intercourse was held 
 from time to time with the old colony of Plymouth ; as a 
 harbinger of the future, there came from Virginia a vessel 
 laden with corn ; and the Dutch, who some years before 
 had settled at Manhattan, visited them with kindly greet- 
 ings. Thus dawned a brighter day. 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP- During this year more than three thousand persons 
 
 came from England, many of whom were men of influence, 
 
 1035. wealth, and education. Prominent among these was Hugh 
 Peters, an eloquent clergjTnan, and Harry Vane, a young 
 man of much promise, the son and heir of a privy- council- 
 lor — a fact of some importance in the eyes of the people. 
 Vane, however, was a trire Repuhhcan. The people the 
 next year unwisely elected him governor, in place of the 
 dignified and benevolent Winthrop. 
 
 The Puritans had experienced all the evils of religious 
 intolerance, but unfortunately they had not themselves 
 learned to be lenient. In the colony there was a young 
 clergyman, Roger Williams, a man of ardent temperament, 
 a clear reasoner, and very decided in his opinions. He 
 came in conflict with the magistrates as he advanced sen- 
 timents which they deemed subversive of all authority, — 
 such as that obedience to the magistrate should not be en- 
 forced — that the oath of allegiance should not be required : 
 he also denounced the law that compelled all persons to 
 attend worship, as an infringement of the rights of con- 
 science ; he said the service of the church should be sup- 
 ported by its members, and not by a tax upon all the peo- 
 ple. His principles were in advance of the age in which 
 he lived : one himdred and forty years after this time they 
 were fully carried out. He contended that the charter 
 from the king was invalid ; the Indians were the original 
 proprietors. The people repelled the aspersion as unjust, 
 because they had purchased their lands from the Indians, 
 and acknowledged their rights by making treaties with 
 them. The contest waxed warm. Williams accepted an 
 invitation to Salem : the people of that place were admon- 
 Oct., ished by the General Court to beware, lest they should 
 encourage sedition. Upon this he retired to Plymouth, — 
 there for two years he maintained his opinions unmo- 
 lested. The people of the old colony had learned the les- 
 son of toleration in their exile in Holland. 
 
WILLIAMS A WANDEREK. 79 
 
 Williams was again invited to Salem, in open defiance CiHAP. 
 
 of the authority of the General Court, the governing power 
 
 of the colony. A committee of ministers held conferences 1635. 
 and discussions with him, but without inducing him to 
 retract. As the people of Salem sustained him, the Court 
 admonished them, and pronounced the sentence of banish- 
 ment against Williams. It was not the expression of 
 opinions on the subject of conscience, or " soul-oppression," 
 as he termed it, that alarmed the Court, but the expression 
 of opinions which, if carried into effect, would, they affirmed, 
 destroy all human government. 
 
 In midwinter, Williams became a wanderer for con- 
 science' sake. He went to the sons of the forest for that 
 protection denied him by his Christian brethren. For four- 
 teen weeks he wandered ; sometimes he received the simple 
 hospitality of the natives ; sometimes Ms lodging-place was 
 a hollow-tree. At last he was received into the cabin of 
 Massasoit, at Mount Hope. He was the Indians' friend, 
 and they loved him. He thought of settling at Seekonk, 
 on Pawtucket river; that place being within the bounds of 
 the Plymouth colony, Winslow, the governor, advised him 
 to remove beyond their limits, lest it should create diffi- 
 culty with the Bay colony. Williams received this advice 
 in the sjiirit in which it was given, and removed to the 
 country of the Narragansets. With five companions in a 
 canoe, he went round to the west side of the arm of the 
 bay. Landing at a beautiful spot, he found a spring of 
 pure water. He resolved there to make a settlement. In 
 thankftilness he called the place Providence. Tradition 2636. 
 at this day points out the spring near which he built his 
 cabin. Canonicus, the chief of the Narragansets, would 
 not sell his land, but gave him a little domain " to enjoy 
 forever." 
 
 Williams here put in practice his theory of government. 
 The land was given to him, and he distributed it to his 
 followers. It was purely a government of the people. All 
 
80 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^ xf' P'o^i^*^*^^ to ol^cy the voice of the majority in temporal 
 things : in things spiritual, to obey only God. 
 
 1637. Discussions were still rife in Massachusetts on all sub- 
 jects. The men held meetings, in which they discussed 
 matters pertaining to their Hberties ; edified each other 
 with expositions of passages of Scripture, and criticized the 
 weekly sermons of their ministers. As women were not 
 allowed to speak in these meetings, Mrs. Anne Hutchin- 
 son, a woman of great eloquence and talent, thought the 
 rights of her sex were not properly respected ; she there- 
 fore held meetings for their benefit at her own house. At 
 these meetings, theological opinions were advocated, at 
 variance with those of the ministers and magistrates. The 
 Ijeoj^le became divided into two parties, and the affair soon 
 took a jiolitical turn : on the one side were arrayed Win- 
 throp and the older settlers, and with few exceptions, the 
 ministers : on the other, Governor Vane and the adherents 
 of Mrs. Hutchinson. She and her party were accustomed 
 to speak of themselves as "being under a covenant of 
 grace," and of their opponents as " being under a covenant 
 of works." These indefinite phrases irritated her opponents 
 exceedingly. They proclaimed her a desjiiser of aU spirit- 
 ual authority ; " like Roger Williams, or worse ;" and 
 darkly insinuated that she was a witch. The friends of 
 Mrs. Hutchinson spoke of api^ealing to the king; this was 
 downright treason in the eyes of their opponents, — their 
 allegiance was given to the government of the colony, not 
 to the king. A convention of ministers was held, they 
 investigated her doctrines, and declared them unsound and 
 injurious. At the ensuing election, Winthrop was chosen 
 governor; and soon after Vane left for England. Mrs. 
 Hutchinson and her followers were admonished, but with- 
 out effect ; she, with her brother-in-law John Wheelwright, 
 
 1638. and others, were exiled from the colony. How much wiser 
 it would have been had the magistrates permitted her to 
 
THE DUTCH AT HAETFORD. 81 
 
 exercise her " gift of discussing," even if she did say they chap 
 
 were " under a covenant of works !" 
 
 Eoger Williams invited the exiles to settle in his vicin- 1638. 
 ity. By his influence they obtained from Miantonomoh, 
 the nephew and prospective successor of Canonicus, a 
 beautiful island, which they named the Isle of Ehodes. 
 Here this little company of not more than twenty persons, 
 formed a settlement. William Coddington, who had been 
 a magistrate in the Bay Colony, was elected judge or ruler. 
 They, too, covenanted with each other to obey the laws 
 made by the majority, and to respect the rights of con- oct. 
 science. Mrs. Hutchinson and her family remained here 
 several years, and then removed farther west beyond New 
 Haven, into the territory of the Dutch ; there she and all 
 her family who were with her, with the exception of one 
 daughter, who was taken captive, were murdered by the 
 Indians. 1643. 
 
 The Dutch from Manhattan explored the Connecticut jgj^ 
 river six years before the landing of the Pilgrims at 
 Plymouth. They erected a fortified trading-house near 
 where Hartford now stands, but by ill-treating the In- 
 dians they excited their hostility, and lost a trade that 
 might have been valuable. 
 
 Unable to occupy the territory, and unwilling to lose 
 its advantages, they invited the Pilgrims to leave the 1627. 
 sterile soil of Plymouth and remove to the fertile vales of 
 the Connecticut, and live under their protection. The 
 invitation was not accepted ; but as the Pilgrims were 
 convinced that a change to more fertile lands was desira- 
 ble, Governor Winslow went on an exploring tour to that 
 region ; having found the soil as fertile as had been repre- i682. 
 sented he promoted emigration. 
 
 The Council of Plymouth had given a grant of Connec- 1630. 
 ticut to the Earl of Warwick, who the next year trans- 
 ferred his claim or patent to Lords Say and Brooke, John 
 6 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Hamiiden, and others. The eastern boundary of this grant 
 
 was the Narraganset river, and the western the Pacific 
 
 1G33. ocean. When the Dutch learned of this grant, they pur- 
 chased of the Indians the tract of land in the vicinity of 
 Hartford, on which stood their trading-house, and pre- 
 pared to defend their rights ; they erected a fort and 
 mounted two cannons, to prevent the English from ascend- 
 ing the river. In the latter part of the year Captain 
 William Holmes, who was sent by Governor Winslow, 
 arrived in a sloop, with a company, and prepared t(i make a 
 settlement. The Dutch commandant threatened him with 
 destruction if he should attempt to pass his fort. The 
 undaunted Holmes passed by uninjured, and put up a 
 fortified house at Windsor. He was not permitted to en- 
 joy his place in peace ; the next year the Dutch made an 
 effort to drive him away, but not succeeding they compro- 
 mised the matter by relinquishing all claim to the valley. 
 The parties agreed upon a dividing line, very nearly the 
 same as that existing at this day between the States of 
 New York and Connecticut. As the natural meadows on 
 the Connecticut would furnish much more grass and hay 
 for their cattle than the region nearer the sea-shore, many 
 of the Pilgrims determined to remove thither. 
 1635. The following autumn, a party of sixty persons, men, 
 
 women, and children, undertook the desperate Avork of 
 going through the woods and swamps from Plymouth to 
 Connecticut. The journey was laborious and the suffer- 
 ing great. When they arrived at the river the ground 
 was covered with snow, the precursor of an unusually severe 
 Nov. winter. A sloop from Plymouth, laden with provisions 
 and their household furniture, failed to reach them on 
 account of storms and ice. Their cattle all perished ; a 
 little corn obtained from the Indians, and acorns, were their 
 only food ; they barely escaped starvation. 
 
 During this year three thousand persons came to Bos- 
 ton from England. Among these was the Keverend 
 
JOURNKT THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. 83 
 
 Thomas Hooker, who has been called " The Light of the chap. 
 
 Western Churches." He was a man of great eloquence, 
 
 and of humble i)iety ; his talents, of a high order, com- 1G35 
 manded universal respect, while his modesty won him 
 ardent friends. When he was silenced for non-conformity 
 in England, great numbers of the clergy of the Established 
 Church petitioned that he might be restored. But in 
 those days to be a Non-Conformist was an iinpardonable 
 offence. 
 
 A portion of his congregation had emigrated the year 
 before. When he arrived at Boston with the remainder 
 of Ms flock, the colony was in a ferment — the Williams 
 controversy was going on ; his people were wearied with 
 the turmoil. John Haynes, who was a member of his 
 congregation in England, and who had been Governor of 
 Massachusetts, determined, with others, to remove to Con- 
 necticut. In the spring, a company, under the lead of jjar. 
 Hooker and Haynes, set out from the vicinity of Boston 1^36. 
 for the pleasant valley. They numbered about one hun- 
 dred persons, some of whom had been accustomed to the 
 luxuries of life in England. With no guide but a com- 
 pass they entered the untrodden wilderness ; toiled on foot 
 over hills and valleys ; waded through swamps and forded 
 streams. They subsisted principally on the milk of the 
 kine that they drove before them, and which browsed on 
 the tender leaves and grass. They moved but slowly. 
 Their sick they carried on litters. The trustful spirit of 
 piety and faith was present, and the silence of the forest 
 was broken for the first time by Christian songs of 
 praise. The man whose eloquence in his native land at- 
 tracted crowds of the educated and refined, now, in the 
 \vilderness, comforted and cherished the humble exiles for re- 
 ligion's sake. The first of July brought an end to their la- 
 borious journey. The greater part of the company remained 
 at Hartford ; some went up the river and founded Spring- 
 field ; some went down and joined those at Wethersfield. 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. John Winthrop, the younger, who had been sent to 
 
 England on business for the colony, returned as agent for 
 
 1636. Lords Say and Brooke. He was directed to build a fort 
 at the mouth of the Connecticut river ; it was named 
 
 1635. Saybrooke. 
 
 These settlements were now threatened with destruc- 
 tion. The valley of the river and the region adjoining 
 were more densely populated with Indians than any por- 
 tion of New England. The powerful Pequods, the most 
 warlike tribe in the country, numbered almost two thou- 
 sand warriors, and ruled over a number of smaller tribes ; 
 they inhabited the south-eastern part of Connecticut, 
 and the shore of Long Island Sound to the mouth of 
 Connecticut river, and west almost to the Hudson. 
 The Mohegans, who dwelt in the north-eastern part of 
 Connecticut, and the Narragansets, who lived around 
 Narraganset bay, were the enemies of the Pequods and 
 the friends of the English. The Pequods were jealous of 
 
 1636. the English, not merely because they had settled near 
 them, but because they were friendly to their enemies. 
 These Pequods were charged with murdering, some years 
 before, a Virginia trader, named Stone, with his crew, on 
 the Connecticut river. Stone had the reputation of being 
 intemperate and quarrelsome ; the Pequods said that he 
 had attacked them and they killed him in self-defence. 
 Captain Oldham, who was exploring the Connecticut, was 
 murdered, with his crew, by the Indians living on Block 
 Island. Captain John Endicott was sent to punish the 
 murderers. Previous to this the Pequods had sent chiefs 
 to Boston to make an alliance, and explain the difficulty 
 in relation to the Virginia trader. They promised to de- 
 liver up — so the magistrates understood them — the two 
 men who had killed him. Endicott was ordered to call, 
 on his way home from Block Island, at the Pequod town, 
 and demand the promised satisfaction. The Indians, ac- 
 cording to their custom, offered a ransom for the two men. 
 
THE PEQUOD WAR. 85 
 
 but refused to give them uji to certain death. Endicott chap. 
 
 had uo respect for their customs ; he must have blood for 
 
 blood. Angry at their refusal, he burned two of their vil- 1636. 
 lages and destroyed their corn. It was after this that the 
 Pequods began to prowl about the settlements, and pick 
 off stragglers, until they had, during the winter, killed 
 more than thirty persons. 
 
 The people in the Connecticut valley were in great 
 alarm ; they knew not at what moment nor at what point 
 the storm woirld burst. They called upon Massachusetts 
 for aid ; only twenty men were sent under Captain Un- 
 derbill. The whole community were so much absorbed in 
 discussing theological questions with Mrs. Hutchinson that 
 every other consideration was overlooked. 
 
 Although the Pequods were more warlike and more 
 numerous than any other tribe, they were not willing to 
 enter upon the war single-handed. They sent a deputa- 
 tion to Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragansets, to 
 enlist him against the common enemy. Governor Vane 
 wrote to Eoger Williams, urging him, if possible, to pre- 
 vent the alliance. Williams hastened to visit Miantono- 
 moh ; he found the Pequod chiefs already there, urging 
 their ancient enemy to join them and exterminate the 
 white intruders — the Narragansets were wavering. At the 
 risk of his life, Williams labored for three days to prevent 
 these tribes uniting their forces against the colonists. The 
 disappointed and angry Pequods threatened him with 
 death. He not only prevented the alliance, but obtained 
 the promise of the Narragansets to aid the English. Oct. 
 Meantime, he sent a messenger to Boston to warn them of 
 the impending danger. 
 
 At length the infant settlements of Connecticut in jfay 
 convention at Hartford declared war against the Pequods. if. 
 The little army of not more than eighty men, including 
 those sent from Massachusetts, assembled at Hartford : 
 the pious Hooker exhorted them, and gave the staff of com- 
 
 1637. 
 
86 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, mand to Captain John Mason, who had been a soldier in 
 
 the Netherlands. At the request of the soldiers, part of 
 
 1637. the night preceding the day they were to march was spent 
 in prayer. Stone, one of their ministers, accompanied 
 them as chaplain. They tloated down the river, and sailed 
 round the coast to Narraganset bay, intending to go across 
 the country, and attack the Pequods in their fort. As the 
 latter had a very exalted opinion of their own prowess, they 
 supposed the English were making their escaj^e, when they 
 saw them sailing past the mouth of the Pequod, now the 
 Thames river. The English landed at a harbor in the 
 bay, and religiously observed the Sabbath. On the follow- 
 May ing day they repaired to Canonicus, the old Narraganset 
 chief, but his nephew Miantonomoh hesitated to join them; 
 their numbers were so small, and the Pequods so numer- 
 ous. Two hundred warriors, however, consented to accom- 
 pany them, but as rather doubtful friends — and about 
 seventy Mohegans joined them under their chief Uncas. 
 
 Sassacus, the bold chief of the Peqiiods, was too confi- 
 dent in the strength of his two forts, and in the bravery of 
 his warriors to be cautious. His main fort, on the top of a 
 high hill, was defended by posts driven in the ground, and 
 deemed by him imjjregnable. He was yet to experience 
 an attack from the English. In the night Mason, guided 
 by an Indian deserter, approached the main fort, and halted 
 within hearing of the triumphant sliouts of the Pe- 
 quods, as they exulted over his supposed flight. Toward 
 the break of day the English moved to the attack, while 
 their Indian allies took a position to surround the fort. 
 May The coming struggle was one of life or death to aU that 
 " ' was dear to the little army: if they were defeated, all 
 hope would be lost for their families on the Connecticut. 
 The barking of a dog awoke the Indian sentinel ; he 
 rushed into the fort with the cry. The English ! the English ! 
 In a moment more, the English were through the pali- 
 sades, and fighting hand to hand with the half awakened 
 
MASSACEE OF THE TEQUODS. 87 
 
 warriors. Their numbers were overwhelming. "We must '^^^''■ 
 
 hurn them," shouted Mason, as he applied a torch to the 
 
 dry reeds which covered a wigwam — the flames spread with 1637. 
 great rapidity. All was in confusion — as the despairing 
 warriors vainly endeavored to extiugiiish the flames they 
 became targets for the English marksmen. The Narra- 
 gansets and Mohegans now joined in the conflict. More 
 than six hundred of the Pequods perished, men, women, 
 and children in one common ruin, merciless and unrelent- 
 ing : only seven escaped. In an hour's time the work was 
 done ; just then appeared the warriors, three hundred 
 strong, from the other fort. They came forth expecting 
 victory. When they perceived the ruin which had come 
 upon their friends, they raved and stamped the ground in 
 despair. Mason with a chosen band held them in check, 
 till the remainder of the army had embarked on the boats, 
 which had come round from Narraganset Bay. Then 
 they hastened home, lest there should be a sudden attack 
 upon the settlements. 
 
 In a few days Captain Stoughton arrived from Massa- Juih". 
 chusetts with one himdred men. The spirit of the Pequods 
 was broken ; they fled to the west, and were pursued with 
 untiring energy. Their villages were burnt — their corn- 
 fields destroyed — their women and children slain without 
 mercy. They took refuge in a swamp, and in desperation 
 once more made a stand : again they were overwhelmed 
 with great slaughter. Sassacus, their chief, escapied with a auo-. 
 few followers, and made his way to the Mohawks, where 
 he was afterward basely murdered by one of his own sub- 
 jects. The remainder, old and young, surrendered to the 
 victors, who disposed of them : some they gave as captives 
 of war to their enemies, the Narragansets and Mohegans; 
 and some they sent to the West Indies to be sold as slaves. 
 Their territory was declared to be conquered, and their 
 name to be blotted out. They were the foremost in that 
 mournful procession in which the Indian race, from that 
 
88 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Jay to this, have been moving on toward utter estermina- 
 tion. This terrible example of the white man's power 
 
 1637. sent a thrill of horror through the other tribes ; and for 
 more than forty years, they dared not raise an arm in de- 
 fence of the graves of their fathers. 
 
 1638. The year following, John Davenport, a celebrated cler- 
 gyman of London, arrived at Boston — with him came his 
 friend Theojjliilus Eaton, a rich merchant. They and their 
 associates had been exiled. They were cordially welcomed 
 in Massachusetts, and urgently pressed to remain in that 
 colony. They preferred to go into the wilderness rather 
 than dwell in the midst of so much controversy. Eumor 
 had told of the fine region found to the west by the pursu- 
 ers of the Pequods. Eaton, with a few men, after explor- 
 ing the coast of the Sound, spent the following winter at a 
 desirable place in that region. As soon as spring opened, 
 the company sailed from Boston ; in due time they arrived 
 at the place where Eaton had spent the winter ; there, 
 under a large tree, on the Sabbath after their arrival, 
 
 April. Davenport preached his first sermon in the wilderness. A 
 day of fasting and prayer for direction was observed, and 
 then they formed a government, pledging themselves " to 
 be governed in all things by the rules which the Scriptures 
 held forth to them." Such was the settlement of New 
 Haven, and thus was it to be governed. They purchased 
 from the Indians the right to the land — Eaton was elected 
 governor ; and to the end of his life, for more than tv^enty 
 years, he was annually chosen to that office. 
 
 After the war with the Pequods was ended, the people 
 of the several settlements on the Connecticut held a con- 
 vention at Hartford, and adopted a constitution and form 
 
 1039. of government. The constitution was framed on liberal 
 principles. They agreed to " maintain the purity of the 
 gospel," and in civil affairs to be governed by the laws 
 made under their constitution. No jurisdiction was admit- 
 ted to belong to the King of England. Every one who 
 
THE SPIRIT OF THE COLONISTS. 89 
 
 took the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth was cnti- chap. 
 
 tied to vote. The governor and the other officers were to 
 
 be chosen annually by ballot. The number of their repre- 1C39. 
 sentatives to the General Assembly was to be apportioned 
 to the towns, according to the number of inhabitants. For 
 one hundred and fifty years this constitution remained in 
 force. 
 
 Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason obtained, from 
 their associates of the Council of Plymouth, a grant of 
 land, lying partly in New Hampshire and partly in Maine. i622. 
 This was named Laconia. A small number of emigrants 
 were sent over, who settled at Portsmouth, Dover, and a 
 few other places near the mouth of the Piscataqua. Wheel- 
 wright, when banished from Massachusetts, settled with 
 his fellow-exiles at Exeter. These settlements progressed 
 very slowly. Only a few trading houses were scattered 
 along the coast, and for many years they took no more 
 permanent form. These settlers were not all Puritans, 
 and were but httle united among themselves ; yet, they 
 ajjplied and were annexed to the colony of Massachusetts. 1541. 
 The General Court agreed not to insist that the freemen 
 and deputies should be church members. 
 
 In all their troubles the colonists of New England had 1639. 
 never appealed to the mother country. They felt under 
 no obligation to her ; she had driven them forth with a 
 harsh hand to take care of themselves, or to perish in the 
 wilderness. A spirit of independence pervaded their 
 minds. They had the energy and industry to sustain 
 themselves, and the courage to act in every emergency. 
 
 Kumors had reached them that unprincipled men 
 were planning to take away their charter ; that Arch- 
 bishop Laud was meditating to establish over them the 
 rule of the Church of England ; that a governor-general 
 had been ajspointed, and was on his way. 
 
 They would not recognize the right of the king even 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tJHAP. to investigate by what authority they held their charter, 
 lest it might be inferred that they were in any respect de- 
 
 1639. jjendent upon his will. For the same reason, when the 
 Long Parliament professed to be their friend, they respect- 
 fully declined any favors. When they feared an attempt 
 to place over them a royal governor, and to change their 
 colony into a royal province, they determined to defend 
 their liberties, and poor as they were, raised six hundred 
 pounds for fortifications. 
 
 1640. Twenty thousand emigrants wei-e in New England, 
 when the Puritans of the mother country, galled beyond 
 endurance by the outrages committed on their rights and 
 persons, commenced that fearful struggle, which, in its 
 throes, overturned the throne, and brought the tyrannical 
 Charles I. to the scaffold, and established the Common- 
 wealth under Cromwell. During this period emigration 
 almost entii-ely ceased. Many hastened home to England 
 to engage in the conflict, among whom were the Kev. Hugh 
 Peters and Harry Vane. They both perished on the 
 scaffold after the Eestoration. 
 
 The colonists, though unmolested by the home gov- 
 ernment, were still surrounded with dangers. They were 
 in the midst of hoStile Indians ; the French were threat- 
 ening them in the North-East, and the Dutch in the West. 
 For mutual safety and interest, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut, and New Haven, joined themselves together, 
 1643. under the title of " The United Colonies of New Eng- 
 land." Each was to be perfectly free in the management 
 of its own affairs ; while those which properly belonged to 
 the whole confederacy were to be intrusted to commis- 
 sioners — two from each colony. Church-membership was 
 the only qualification required of these commissioners. 
 The expenses of the government were to bo assessed ac- 
 cording to the number of inhabitants. The purity of the 
 gospel was also to be preserved. This confederacy, the 
 germ of " The United States of Ameeica," lasted forty 
 
THE COLLEGE AND THE PRESS. 91 
 
 years. Rhode Island was not permitted to join it because chap. 
 
 she would not acknowledge the jurisdiction of Plymouth, 
 
 The two settlements on Narraganset bay now determined 16-13. 
 to apply for an independent charter. When, for this pur- 
 pose, Eoger Williams arrived in England, he found the 
 country engaged in civil war ; the Puritans and Parlia- 
 ment on the one side and Charles I. on the other. Wil- 
 liams applied to his friend Harry Vane, and through his 
 influence obtained from the Parliament a charter, under 
 the title of " The Providence Plantations." Roger Wil- 
 liams afterwards became a Baptist, and founded the first 10,44. 
 church of that denomination in the United States. 
 
 A very great number of men of education, ministers 
 and laymen, emigrated to New England. There were of 
 ministers alone more than eighty, some of whom were equal 
 to any of their profession in tlieir native land. There was 
 an unusual amount of general intelligence among all classes 
 of the community. The Bible to them was US familiar 
 as household words. In truth, it was the inteUigent alone 
 who could appreciate the blessings for which they exiled 
 themselves. They wished to secure for their children the 
 benefits of education ; and as soon as jDOssible an effort 
 was made to found a high school and ultimately a col- 
 lege. Funds, with some books, were obtained. The place 
 selected was Newtown, but as many of the men had been 
 educated at Cambridge University, England, the name was 
 changed to Cambridge. The Reverend John Harvard left 
 the infant institution half his fortune and his library. 
 Gratitude has embalmed his memory in its name. 1638. 
 
 The next year a printing-press, the gift of some friends 11339. 
 in Holland, was established. Its first work was to print 
 a metrical version of the Psalms, which continvted for a lona: 
 time to be used in the worship of the churches in New Eng- 
 land. The following preamble explains the next law on the 
 subject of education : — " It being a chief project of that old 
 deluder Sathan to keep men from the knowledge of the 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Scriiitnres," it was determined that every child, rich and 
 
 poor alike, should have the privilege of learning to read 
 
 1647. its own language. It was enacted that every town or 
 district having fifty householders should have a common 
 school ; and that every town or district, having one hun- 
 dred families, should have a grammar-school, taught by 
 teachers competent to prepare youth for the college. All 
 the New England colonies, with the exception of Khode 
 Island, adopted the system of common schools. 
 
 There had arisen among the Puritans in England a 
 new sect, called in derision Quakers. An unfavorable re- 
 port of their doctrines and doings had reached Massa- 
 chusetts ; they were represented as denouncing all forms 
 of worship and denying all civil authority. At length two 
 1656. women of the dreaded sect appeared ; they were arrested 
 and detained until their books could be examined, and the 
 question was raised whether they themselves were not 
 witches. Their books were burnt by the liangmau, and 
 they sent back to England. Barbarous laws were made 
 to deter Quakers from coming to the colony ; but they 
 came, and were inhumanly treated and sent back. Then 
 a law was passed that if a Quaker, after being banished, 
 returned, he should be put to death. This the magis- 
 trates fondly hoped would be effectual. We may judge 
 their surprise when some of those who had been banished 
 returned. They came to call the magistrates to repent- 
 ance for their persecuting spirit. What was to be done ? 
 Must the law be enforced or repealed ? It had been passed 
 by only one majority. The vote was taken again ; one 
 majority decided that the law must be obeyed. Four of 
 the Quakers suffered the penalty of death. Severity did 
 not accomplish the end in view; their brethren flocked to 
 Massachusetts as if courting the honor of martyrdom. 
 From the first the people had been opposed to the cruel 
 law, and at their instance it was repealed. There was 
 little apology for these harsh proceedings ; the magistrates 
 
ELIOT THE APOSTLE. 9^ 
 
 could only say they acted in self-defence, in excluding ^^f^- 
 
 those who taught doctrines that would interfere with the 
 
 affairs of the colony. As soon as persecution ceased, the 1656. 
 Quakers became quiet citizens ; many of them devoted 
 themselves to teaching the Indians under the direction of 
 the missionary Eliot. 
 
 The Pui-Hans had long desired to carry the gospel to 1645. 
 the Indians. John Eliot, the devout and benevolent 
 pastor of tlie church in Koxbuiy, in addition to his pas- 
 toral labors, gave them regular instruction in Christianity. 
 He learned their language that he might preach to them ; 
 he translated the Bible, and taught them to read in 
 their own tongue its precious truths. This translation, 
 which cost him years of labor, is now valued only as a 
 literary curiosity ; it is a sealed book, no living man can 
 read it. The language has passed away with the people 
 who spoke it. 
 
 Their kind instructor induced them to cease from 
 roving, and to settle in villages ; he taught the men to 
 cultivate the soil, and the women to spin and weave 
 cloth, to supply their wants. He mingled with them as a 
 brother ; and though he met with much opposition from 
 their priests and chiefs, he led many of them in the right 
 path. His disciples loved him ; his gentleness and good- 
 ness won their hearts. 
 
 As he lived so he died, laboring for the good of others. 
 In his last days, when borne down by years and infirmi- 
 ties, he said, " My memory, my utterance fails me, but I 
 thank God my charity holds out still." Even up to the 
 day of his death, which took place when he was eighty- 
 six years of age, he continued to teach some jjoor negroes 
 and a little bhnd boy. To Minister Walton, who came to 
 see him, he said, " Brother, you are welcome, but retire to 
 your study, and pray that I may be gone." Soon after, 
 without a fear or a pang, the B23irit of this good " Apostle " 
 passed away ; his last words were " Welcome joy ! " 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Eliot was not alone in his labors. The young, the 
 
 winning, the pious Mayhew, an accomplished scholar, 
 
 1645. thought it a privilege to toil for the souls of the poor In- 
 dians who lived ujDon the islands in and around Massa- 
 chusetts hay. He took passage for England to excite 
 there an interest in his mission. He was never heard of 
 more ; the ship in which he sailed went down'in unknown 
 waters. His father, although at this time seventy years 
 of age, was moved to take his place as a teacher of the 
 Indians. There, for twenty-two years, he labored with 
 the happiest results, till 'death withdrew him from the 
 work. 
 
 Within thirty years great changes had taken place in 
 the colony. The people were prosperous : industry and 
 self-denial had wrought wonders. 
 
 Says an enthusiastic chronicler of the times : ' " The 
 Lord hath been pleased to turn all the wigwams, huts, and 
 hovels the EngHsh dwelt in at their iirst coming, into 
 orderly, fair, and well-built houses, well furnished, many 
 of them, with orchards filled with goodly fruit-trees and 
 garden flowers." The people had numerous cattle and 
 herds of sheep and swine, and plenty of poultry ; their 
 fields produced an abundance of wheat, rye, oats, barley, 
 and Indian corn ; and they could furnish fish, lumber, and 
 many commodities for export. " This poor wilderness hath 
 equalized England in food, and goes beyond it for the 
 plenty of wine, and apples, pears, quince-tarts, instead of 
 their former pumpkin pies." " Good white and wheaten 
 bread is no dainty; the poorest person in the coimtry hath 
 a house and land of his own, and bread of his own grow- 
 ing — if not some cattle." 
 
 These good things were not obtained without labor. 
 Of the thirty-two trades carried on. the most successful 
 
 ' Johnson's " WondeiMvorking Providence of Zion's Saviour in New 
 England," — as quoted by Hildreth. 
 
THE GROWTH OF BOSTON. 95 
 
 were those of coopers, tanners, shoemakers, and ship- chap. 
 
 builders. "Many fair ships and lesser vessels, barques, 
 
 and ketches were built." Thus the chronicler anticipates 1655. 
 the growth of Boston, which, " of a poor country village, 
 is become like unto a small city; its buildings beautiful 
 and large — some fairly set out with brick, tile, stone, and 
 slate, orderly placed, with comely streets, whose continual 
 enlargements presageth some sumptuous city." They 
 had their soldiers, too, and a " very gallant horse-troop," 
 each one of which had by him "powder, bidlets, and 
 match." Their enemies were graciously warned that these 
 soldiers " were all experienced in the deliverances of the 
 Lord from the mouth of the lion and the paw of the bear." 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. 
 
 Slavery. — Massacre by the Indians. — Lord Baltimore. — The Settlement of 
 Maryland. — Clayborne's Rebellion. — The Colony prosperous. — Tolera- 
 tion. — Berkeley go%-ernor of Virginia ; Trade crippled ; Intolerance. — 
 Indian War. — State of Society. — Aristocratic Assembly. — Complaints of 
 Berkeley. — War with the Susquehaunahs. — Nathaniel Bacon. — Disturb- 
 ances. — Obnoxious Assembly dissolved. — Evils corrected. — Bacon goes 
 against the Indians. — Insincerity of Berkeley. — Jamestown captured 
 and burned. — Death of Bacon. — Tyranny of Berkeley. — Aristocratic 
 Assembly ; its ilUberal Acts. — Culpepper governor. — A Series of extor- 
 tions. — Deplorable state of the Colony. — Difficulties in Maryland. 
 
 CHAP. In August of this year slavery was introduced into the 
 ^^^' colonies. A Dutch shij) entered James river, having on 
 1620 lioard twenty negroes for sale as slaves. Although the 
 Dutch continued occasionally to bring Africans to the 
 Virginia market, the number of slaves increased but slowly 
 for a third of a century. The trade was discouraged, but 
 not absolutely forbidden. 
 
 The Indians were scattered throughout the country, in 
 little villages, along the streams and in the most fertile 
 districts. The planters, who wanted these places for their 
 tobacco, took possession of them. Powhatan, the friend 
 1618. of the Enghsh, was dead ; his brother and successor, Ope- 
 chancanough, though professing friendship, was their 
 enemy : his proud spirit burned within him at the wrongs 
 of his people. Not daring to meet the Enghsh in ojien 
 conflict, he planned secretly a terrible revenge ; even their 
 entire extermination. At this time the number of colo- 
 
THE MASSACRE. 97 
 
 nists was about four thousand ; that of the Indians within chap. 
 
 sixty or a hundred miles of Jamestown, about five thou- 
 
 sand. At noon on a certain day, the Indians were to fall 1622. 
 upon every settlement, and murder all the whites. Mean- 
 wliile, Opechancanough was warmer than ever in his pro- 
 fessions; " sooner would the skies fall," said he, " than that 
 my friendship for the English should cease." On the 
 morning of the intended massacre, the Indians were in the 
 houses and at the tables of the planters, and manifested 
 more than their usual good wiU. On that morning, a con- 
 verted Indian, named Chauco, brought the news of the plot 
 to Jamestown. He had learned of it only the night before. 
 Messengers were sent in every direction to warn the people, 
 but it was too late to reach the distant settlements. 
 Throughout the extent of one hundred and forty miles, the 
 merciless savages attacked the settlers at the same moment; 
 and on the twenty-second of March, there perished within 
 one hour, three hundred and forty-seven persons, men. Mar. 
 women, and children. Some of the settlements, though 
 taken by surprise, repulsed their assailants, yet the effect 
 was terrible. Of eighty plantations, aU but eight were 
 laid waste, and the people hastened for safety to James- 
 town. Desolation reigned over the whole colony; death 
 had entered almost every family, and now famine and sick- 
 ness prevailed. Within three months the four thousand 
 colonists were reduced to twenty-five hundred ; the de- 
 crease continued, and at the end of two years not more 
 than two thousand remained of the nine thousand who had 
 emigrated to Virginia. Their misfortunes excited much 
 feeling in England. Assistance was sent ; the city of 
 London did much to relieve their pressing wants, and pri- 
 vate individuals were not backward in sending aid. Even 
 King James's sympathies were enhsted ; he had never aided 
 the colonists, but he now gave them some old muskets 
 that had been thrown aside as useless. 
 
 The planters did not fear the Indians in open conflict; 
 7 
 
98 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™AP. bvit it was necessary to guard against their secret attacks. 
 
 In their turn, they formed plans to exterminate the 
 
 1632. savages, or drive them far back into the wilderness. Expe- 
 ditions for this purpose were sent against them from time 
 to time, during the space of ten years. In time industry 
 began to revivfe, and signs of prosperity once more were 
 seen. ''''' ''^' 
 
 The LonddB!' Company was now bankrupt ; endless 
 discussions arose among the numerous stockholders. They 
 became divided into two political parties, — one favored 
 the king's prerogative ; the other, the liberty of the colo- 
 nists. These questions were freely discussed at the meet- 
 ings of the company, greatly to the annoyance of James. 
 When he found it impossible to prevent the stockholders 
 from expressing their opinions, he arbitrarily took away 
 the charter of the company. To console the colonists, he 
 announced that he had taken them under his own special 
 protection. He began to frame laws for their government — 
 laws no doubt in accordance with his peculiar notions of 
 1625. Idngcraft ; but his labors and life were suddenly ended. 
 
 Charles I., his son and successor, appeared to favor the 
 colony : it conformed to the church of England, and he did 
 not suspect its politics. More than this, he wished to 
 ingratiate himself with the colonists, for he desired the 
 monopoly of their tobacco trade. He even went so far as 
 to recognize the House of Burgesses as a legislative body, 
 and requested them to pass a law by which he alone could 
 purchase the tobacco of the colony. The House, in a dig- 
 nified and respectful manner, refused to comply with the 
 1629. royal request, as it would be injurious to their trade. 
 After the death of the liberal and high-minded Yeardley, 
 the council elected Francis West governor. Charles, 
 piqued at this independence, as well as the refusal to 
 grant him the monopoly, appointed Sir John Harvey. 
 Harvey had been a member of the colonial council, where 
 he was the willing instrument of a faction that had almost 
 
SIR GEORGE CALVERT. 99 
 
 mined the prospects of the colony. The enemy of the <^hap. 
 
 rights of the people, he was exceedingly unpopular ; he '_ 
 
 now took special care of his own interests and those of his 1G33. 
 friends, by appointing them alone to office. 
 
 The histories of Virginia and Maryland are intimately 
 connected. As has been mentioned. Captain Smith was 
 the first to explore the Chesapeake ; the trade with the 
 Indians along its shores had now become profitable. 
 Though the Potomac river was the northern boundary of 
 Virginia, the colonists had extended their trade and influ- 
 ence with the Indians on both sides, up to the head of the 
 bay. William Clayborno, a bold and restless spirit, a sur- 
 veyor of land by profession, was employed by the Governor 
 of Virginia to explore the sources of the Chesapeake. A 
 company was formed in England for the purpose of trading 
 with the Indians, who lived on both sides of the bay. 
 Clayborne, the agent of the company, obtained a license to 
 trade, and estabHshed two stations, one on Kent Island, 
 opposite Annapolis, and one at the mouth of the Susque- 
 hannah. 
 
 During the turmoil of religious parties and persecu- 
 tions in England, Sir George Calvert, afterward Lord 
 Baltimore, left the Protestant church, resigned his office 
 of Secretary of State, and professed himself a Koman 
 Catholic. This did not affect his standing with James or 
 his son Charles. Calvert manifested a strong interest in 
 the cause of colonization. He wished to found a colony to 
 which Catholics might flee to avoid persecution. He first 
 obtained permission to found a settlement on the cold and 
 barren shores of Newfoundland ; that enterprise was soon ig22. 
 abandoned. He turned to Virginia, a chme more genial ; 
 there he was met by the oaths of supremacy and alle- 
 giance, to which, as a good CathoHc, Lord Baltimore could 
 not subscribe ; Virginia could never be a peaceful asylum 
 for those of his faith. The region north of it attracted his 
 
100 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, attention, and he applied to King Charles for a jwrtion of 
 
 that territory. 
 
 1632. Charles gave him a grant of land, most of which is now 
 
 included in the State of Maryland ; it was named after 
 Henrietta Maria, the wife of the king. As a proprietary 
 Lord Baltimore deserves all praise for his liberality. The 
 colonists were to have a voice in making their own laws ; 
 they were not to he taxed without their own consent. 
 He was bold to repudiate intolerance, and politic to 
 adopt a form of government which alone could insure 
 success. He designed his colony to be an asylum for the 
 Catholic, but the Protestant was invited to share it. Just 
 as the charter was about to be issued he died. To his son 
 Cecil, under the same title, the charter was continued ; to 
 him belongs the honor of carrying into effect the inten- 
 tions of his father. 
 
 Feb., He deputed his brother, Leonard, to take charge of 
 
 the emigrants, who, to the number of two hundred, after 
 a protracted voyage, arrived safely in the Chesapeake. A 
 tribe of Indians residing on the St. Mary's, a branch of the 
 Potomac, were about to remove on account of their ene- 
 mies the Susquehanuahs ; they sold to the infant colony 
 their cultivated land and their village. The Indian 
 women taught the strangers' wives to make bread of 
 maize ; and soon the emigrants had corn-fields and 
 gardens, and obtained abundance of game in the forest. 
 A few days after their arrival, Governor Harvey, of Vir- 
 ginia, paid them a friendly visit ; it was the desire of 
 Charles that they should be welcomed by the sister colony. 
 Friendly relations were established with the neighboring- 
 Indians ; the colonists for a time obtained their necessary 
 pro visions from Virginia, but as they were industrious, the 
 fruitful earth soon rejDaid their labor. At the commence- 
 ment of the second year, the freemen of the colony held 
 their first legislative Assembly. 
 
 Clayborne was the evU genius of Maryland. His license 
 
 1632. 
 
EFFORTS TO CONVERT THE INDIANS. 101 
 
 to trade with the Indians was made void by Lord Balti- cbap. 
 
 •' XXI. 
 
 more's charter. He attempted to excite a rebellion, but 
 
 was overpowered and compelled to flee to Virginia. The 1635. 
 Governor of Maryland demanded him as a fugitive from 
 justice ; to evade the demand Harvey sent him to Eng- 
 land to be tried. This ofiended the people of Virginia, 
 who symjjathized with Clayborne ; to avenge him, they 
 impeached Harvey himself, "and thrust him out of his 
 government." The Assembly appointed commissioners 
 to prosecute the charges against him in England. The 
 commissioners met with no favor from the king : and soon, April, 
 under a new appointment, the unj^opular Harvey came 
 back as governor. 
 
 Meanwhile peace and plenty continued to be the lot 
 of Maryland. Every year the rights of the people were 
 better understood ; they acknowledged their allegiance to 
 England, and respected the rights of Lord Baltimore. 
 Their lands produced an abundance of tobacco, and com- 
 merce began to prosper. Efforts were now made to con- 
 vert some of the neighboring Indians to Christianity. 
 The priests established four stations among them, and not 
 without effect. One chief, Tayac, with his wife, was bap- 
 tized, he taking the name of Charles and she that of Mary. 
 Soon after one hundred and thirty other converts received 
 baptism, some of whom sent their children to receive a 
 Christian education under the care of the priests. But, 
 alas ! these efforts were as vain as the other attempts of 
 the times to Christianize the poor natives. The same evil 
 causes were here at work — wars and the influence of bad 
 men. It is said these grateful tribes ever after remained 
 friendly to those who endeavored to instruct them. 
 
 The persevering Clayborne returned, to mar their i645. 
 peace by another and more successful insurrection. The 
 Governor of Maryland was now, in his turn, compelled to 
 flee to Virginia. After two years of misrule, peace was 
 again restored, and all the offenders were pardoned. 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. As an interesting fact, it may be mentioned, that in 
 this year Maryland passed a law of perfect toleration to 
 
 1049. all Christian sects ; two years previous Rhode Island had 
 granted toleration to all opinions. Infidel as well as 
 Clirisiian. 
 
 During the rule of Cromwell the government of Mary- 
 land was very unsettled. The Assembly, finally, repu- 
 diated both Cromwell and Baltimore, and proclaimed the 
 authority of the people as sujareme. Scarcely was this ac- 
 complished when the restoration of Charles II. took place. 
 
 ICCO. Lord Baltimore made known to the king that his profes- 
 sions of repubUcanism were made only to obtain the favor 
 of Cromwell, and that really he was a good royahst. 
 Charles immediately restored him his proprietary rights. 
 Baltimore was not vindictive ; he proclaimed a general 
 pardon, and for almost thirty years the colony enjoyed 
 repose. 
 
 Sir Wilham Berkeley, as successor to Harvey, was ap- 
 
 1G42. pointed Governor of Virginia. The trade of the colony 
 was crippled by severe restrictions ; as England claimed 
 its trade for herself alone. Thus began a series of acts 
 and infringements on commerce by the home government, 
 which annoyed the people of the colonies, and interfered 
 with their industry and commercial prosperity for more 
 than one hundred and thirty years, when these grievances 
 
 1776. were swept away by the Eevolution. The colony was now 
 permitted for a time to take care of itself, Charles I. being 
 engaged in a contest with his subjects at home. The Vir- 
 ginians were stanch friends of the king, and the party in 
 the mother country contending against him met with no 
 favor from them. The Puritans who were living in Vir- 
 ginia, being identified with republicanism, were looked 
 upon with suspicion ; those of their number who would 
 not conform to the ceremonies of the Church of England 
 were banished. A majority of these passed over into 
 Maryland. Thus it was, the Puritan would not permit 
 
THE LOYALTY OF VIEGINIA. 103 
 
 the Episcopalian to come to New England, and the Epis- chap. 
 copalian banished the Puritan from Virginia. '_ 
 
 No peace was granted to the Indians. After a space 1644. 
 of twenty-two years, they once more made an effort to free 
 themselves from their enemies. The frontier settlements 
 were suddenly attacked, and about three hundred persons 
 killed. When resisted, the savages fled to the wilderness. 
 They were pursued with great vigor, and after a contest 
 of two years their power was completely broken. Opechan- 
 canough, their aged chief, was taken captive, and soon 
 after died in prison ; his proud spirit deeply wounded that 
 he should be gazed at by his enemies. The next year a 
 treaty was made, by which they relinquished forever the 
 fertile valleys of their fathers, and with sorrowful hearts 
 retired far into the wilderness. 
 
 After the execution of Charles I., great numbers of the 
 royalists, " good cavalier families," fled to Virginia, where 
 they were welcomed as exiled patriots. She was the last 
 of the colonies to acknowledge the authority of the Common- 
 wealth. But when commissioners were sent, who granted 
 the people all the civil rights and pri\'ileges they asked, 
 they submitted. 
 
 After the death of Cromwell, and before it was known 
 who was to rule in England, the House of Burgesses re- 
 solved, " that the supreme power will be resident in the 
 Assembly." Then Berkeley was elected governor. In 
 accepting office, he acknowledged the authority of the 
 people's representatives, saying, " I am but the servant of 
 the Assembly." We shall see how sincere was that decla- 
 ration. 
 
 When Charles II. was in exile, he was invited to come 
 and be "king of Virginia;" from this incident, it has 
 been called " The Old Dominion." This loyalty Charles 
 after his restoration repaid, by basely taking away their 
 privileges, and distributing their lands among his favorites. 
 
 The society of Virginia was pecidiar. The first settle- 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ments were made under the protection of the nobility; this 
 favored the growth of an aristocratic class of landholders. 
 
 1660. There were two other classes — the negro, who was a slave 
 for life, and the indented white man, sent from the mother 
 country to serve a certain number of years. These wlaite 
 servants were sometimes criminals, but oftener political 
 offenders. The latter, when their term of servitude ex- 
 pired, mingled with the people on an eriuality. 
 
 The Assembly held their sessions once in two years ; 
 their members were chosen by the people, and only for one 
 session. The first Assembly held after the Eestoration, 
 was composed of landholders. Berkeley now declared him- 
 self governor, not because he was elected by the people, 
 but because Charles when in exile had appointed him. 
 
 1602. The Assembly went still further, and deprived the peo- 
 
 ple of the jsrivilege of choosing their own legislators, by 
 assuming to themselves the right to be perpetual. This 
 Assembly remained thus in violation of law for fourteen 
 
 1670. years. During this usurpation, all that the people had 
 gained of civil rights for more than a third of a century, 
 this aristocratic House of Burgesses swept away. The only 
 right allowed them was that of petitioning their rulers for 
 redress of grievances — but these petitions were disregarded. 
 The Church of England was declared to be the religion of 
 the State, and all were bound by law under penalties of 
 fines and banishment, not only to attend its services, but 
 to pay a tax to support it. Governor Berkeley complained 
 of its ministers : " as of all other commodities, so of this — 
 the worst are sent us, and we have few that we can boast 
 of, since the persecutions in Cromwell's tyranny drove 
 divers worthy men hither." The cause of education was 
 neglected, and almost prohibited. The poor were pecu- 
 liarly unfortunate — " out of towns," says a chronicler of 
 the times, " every man instructs his children as best he 
 can :" — no aid was afforded them by those in authority. 
 Says the aristocratic Berkeley : " I thank God there are 
 
NATHANIEL BACON. 105 
 
 no free schools nor printing ; and I hope we ■will not have chap. 
 
 them these hundred years ! " Such was the language of 
 
 a man who was Governor of Virginia for nearly forty years. 1639. 
 The printing-press was estahhshed in Massachusetts ninety 1729. 
 years before there was one in Virginia. 
 
 The people of Maryland became involved in war with 
 the Indians. A company of Virginians, under John Wash- 1075. 
 ington, great-grandfather of George Washington, crossed 
 over the Potomac to aid them. Six chiefs of the Susque- 
 hannahs came to treat for peace, but the Virginians treach- 
 erously murdered the whole company. For this evil deed 
 the innocent were made to suffer. The Susquehannahs 
 immediately passed over into Virginia to revenge their 
 death, by killing ten persons for each chief. According to 
 their belief, until this sacrifice was made, the souls of their 
 chiefs could not be at rest in the spirit land. The people 
 cried to the governor for i^roteotion, which he was slow to 
 give ; they attributed his tardiness to his interest in the 
 far-trade. They now asked jDennission to defend them- 
 selves ; to invade the enemies' country, and drive them 
 from their hiding-places ; this was also refused. During 
 this delay, the Indians pursued their murderous work all 
 along the frontiers. 
 
 There was in the colony a young planter, not more than 
 thirty years of age, a native of England ; a lawyer by pro- 
 fession ; eloquent and winning in bis manners ; bold and 
 determined in spirit ; a true patriot ; disliked by the gov- 
 ernor, because he was a republican ; but dear to the peo- 
 ple for the same reason : such was Nathaniel Bacon. To 
 him, in their extremity, they turned. Those who had 
 volunteered to go against the Indians, asked of the gover- 
 nor a commission for Bacon to command them. Berkeley 
 obstinately refused to grant it. He would not countenance 
 such presumption on the part of the " common people." 
 The murders continued ; the volunteers waited no longer 
 on the tardy government, but set out under the command 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, of Bacon to rejael the savages. The moment they Tvere 
 
 gone, Berkeley proclaimed Bacon a traitor, and his soldiers 
 
 1676. rebels, and gave orders for them to disperse. 
 April. 
 
 The j)opulous counties on the Bay began to show signs 
 of insurrection. Their quarrel was not with the Indians, 
 but with the acts and continued existence of the House of 
 Burgesses. Bacon, meanwhile, had returned successful 
 from his expedition. The haughty old governor was forced 
 to yield ; the obnoxious Assembly was dissolved, and writs 
 issued for the election of members for another, to which 
 Bacon was returned triumphantly from Henrico county. 
 This Assembly corrected the evils of the long one. The 
 unjust taxes on the poor were removed ; the privilege of 
 voting for their legislators was restored to the people, and 
 many abuses in relation to the expenditure of the public 
 money rectiiied. The House elected Bacon commander ol 
 the army. These measures were very distasteful to Berke- 
 ley and his advisers — he would not give them his sanction. 
 Finally, however, he yielded to necessity ; and even went 
 so far as to transmit to England, his own and the council's 
 commendations of Bacon's loyalty and patriotism. 
 
 The Indians still continued their attacks upon the 
 settlements, and Bacon with a small force went to punish 
 them : again the insincere Berkeley proclaimed him a 
 traitor. Such treachery excited his indignation and that 
 of the army. No confidence could be placed in the gov- 
 ernor's word. " It vexes me to the heart," said the gal- 
 lant patriot, " that while I am hunting the wolves which 
 destroy our lambs, that I should myself be pursued like a 
 savage — the whole country is witness to our peaceable 
 behavior ; but those in authority, how have they obtained 
 their estates .^ Have they not devoured the common trea- 
 sury ? What schools of learning have they promoted 7 " 
 Such were the questions asked, and such were the senti- 
 ments that stirred the hearts of the people. They must 
 
JAMKSTOWN BURNED. 107 
 
 have their rights restored : wives urged their husbands to ™^ 
 contend for their liberties. 
 
 Berkeley with a few royalist followers and advisers, went 1676. 
 to the eastern shore of the bay. There by promises of plun- 
 der, he collected a rabble of sailors belonging to some Eng- 
 lish vessels, and a company of vagabond Indians. When the 
 rumor of the governor's intentions spread throughout the 
 land, the people with one accord met in convention at the 
 Middle Plantation, now Williamsburg, where they deliber- — 
 ated all day, even until midnight. They decided it was 
 their duty to defend themselves from the tyranny of the 
 governor. They adjoiirned, however, and went to their 
 homes, determined to be guided in their conduct by the 
 course he should pursue. They were not long in suspense, 
 for Berkeley crossed over with five ships to Jamestown, to 
 put down what he was pleased to call a rebellion. In a gept. 
 very short time the little army so successful against the 
 Indians, was gathered once more under the same leader. 
 The coniiict was short ; Berkeley's cowardly rabble broke 
 and fled ; deserting Jamestown, they went on board their 
 ships and dropped down the river. The victors entered 
 the deserted town. A council was held as to what was to 
 be done. Should they leave it as a place of defence for 
 their enemies ? It was deemed necessary to burn it. 
 Drummond and Lawrence, men prominent in the jjopular 
 movement, applied the torch to their own dwelHngs; the 
 example was followed by others, and, in a few hours, the 
 first town founded by Englishmen on this continent was in 
 ruins. A crumbling church-tower is all that now remains 
 to mark the site of old Jamestown. 
 
 The good results of this struggle were doomed to be 
 lost. Bacon suddenly fell iU of a violent fever, which 
 terminated his life in a few days. He was called a traitor Oct. 
 and a rebel by Berkeley and his royalist party, as was 
 Washington by the same party one hundred years after- 
 ward. 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. The people were now without a leader — without any 
 one to plead their cause./ Berkeley played the tyrant, 
 
 1676. ravaged the country and confiscated the property of the 
 patriots. He caused to perish on the scaflFold more than 
 twenty of the best men of Virginia. One or two incidents 
 may serve to exhibit his spirit. When Drummond (who 
 is represented as a " sober, Scotch gentleman, of good 
 repute ") was brought into his presence, " You are very 
 welcome," said he, bowing at the same time, with mock 
 civility ; " I am more glad to see you than any man in 
 Virginia ; you shall be hanged in half an hour ! " He 
 derided, in vulgar terms, a young wife who came to plead 
 for her husband, to take the blame of his offence upon 
 herself, and to offer her own life for his. 
 
 If any one dared speak disrespectfully of Berkeley 
 or his rule, he was publicly whipped. The end came at 
 last ; Berkeley left the country, and the people celebrated 
 his departure with bonfires and rejoicings. When he 
 arrived in England he found that public opinion severely 
 condemned his conduct ; and, what was more wounding 
 to his pride, even Charles, to serve whom he had stained 
 his soul with innocent blood, exclaimed, " That old fool 
 has taken away more lives in that naked land than I for 
 the death of my father ! " The names and characters of 
 Bacon and his adherents were vilified, and for a century 
 these slanders were not disproved ; the truth was not per- 
 mitted to be published. The facts, as now known, prove 
 that the men who thus opposed the tyranny of Berkeley 
 were not rebels and traitors, but worthy to be num- 
 bered among the patriots of the land. 
 
 1677. The first Assembly held after this unsuccessful strug- 
 gle was devoted to the interests of the aristocracy. All 
 the liberal laws passed by the preceding one were re- 
 pealed ; henceforth only freeholders coidd vote for mem- 
 bers of the House of Burgesses. The poor man was as 
 
CULPEPPER AND EFFINGHAM. 109 
 
 heavily taxed as the rich, but unless he was a landholder ™'^f- 
 he had no vote. 
 
 The profligate Charles gave Virginia to two of his 1678. 
 favorites — Arlington and Culpepper ; the latter soon after 
 purchased the claim of the former. The king appointed Cul- 
 pepper governor for life. He came authorized to heal diifer- 
 ences between the people and the government, but he used 1680. 
 the power for his own interest alone ; he valued Virginia 
 only in proportion to the money his rapacity could extort ; 
 even the soldiers, sent to maintain his authority, he de- 
 frauded of their wages. When he had secured to himself 
 the highest possible revenue, he sailed for England. The 
 condition of the Virginians was wretched in the extreme ; 
 the rewards of their industry went to their rapacious rulers, 
 and they, goaded to desperation, were on the point of 
 rebellion. 
 
 Kumors of these discontents reached England, and the 
 truant governor reluctantly left his pleasures to visit his 
 domain. Having the authority of the king, Culpepper 1C82. 
 caused several men of influence to be hanged as traitors. 
 The people who owned farms in the territory, given him 
 by royal grant, he now compelled to lose their estates, or 
 compromise by paying money. Charles had now another 
 favorite to provide for ; Culpepper was removed, and 1684. 
 Effingham appointed. This change was even for the 
 worse ; Eflingham was more needy and more avaricious. 
 
 On the accession of James II. what is known in his- 
 tory as Monmouth's Kebellion occurred. After its sup- 1685. 
 pression, multitudes of those implicated in it were sent to 
 Virginia and Maryland to be sold as servants for a term 
 of ten years. Many of these were men of education and 
 of good families. The House of Burgesses, to their honor 
 be it said, declared these poor men free, though the cruel 
 James had forbidden the exercise of such lenity. 
 
 So little were the claims of humanity respected at this 
 time in the West of England, that it was a common occur- 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, rence to kidnap persons of the poorer sort, and send them 
 to the colonies to be sold as servants for a term of years. 
 
 1685. These were principally brought to Virginia and Mary- 
 land, as there the planters required many laborers. The 
 trade was profitable, more so than the African slave 
 trade. 
 
 1688. After the accession of William and Mary an effort was 
 
 made to establish a college in Virginia, " to educate a do- 
 mestic succession of Church of England ministers," as well 
 as to teach the children of the Indians. The celebrated 
 Kobert Boyle made a large donation, and the king gave, 
 in addition to three other grants, outstanding quit-rents, 
 valued at about £2,000. Such was the foundation of the 
 
 1091. college of William and Mary. 
 
 The Kev. James Blair, said to be the first commissary 
 sent to the colonies by the Bishop of London, " to supply 
 / the office and jurisdiction of the bishop in the out-places 
 ^ of the diocese," was its president for fifty years. 
 
 Though William was thus moderately liberal, he was 
 by no means the representative of the true feeling of his 
 ministry ; they even looked upon this pittance as uncalled 
 for. Blair, the pious and energetic Scotchman, once urged 
 upon Seymour, the attorney-general, the importance of 
 establishing schools to educate ministers of the gospel. 
 " Consider, sir," said he, " that the people of Virginia 
 have souls to save." He was answered by a profane im- 
 precation upon their souls, and told to "make tobacco." 
 This pithy rebuft' indicated the spirit and general policy 
 of the home government ; it valued the colonies only as a 
 source of wealth. 
 
 For many years voluntary emigration to Virginia almost 
 ceased. There were no inducements, no encouragement 
 to industry, all commerce was restricted. The planters 
 were at the mercy of the English trader ; he alone was 
 permitted to buy their tobacco and to sell them merchan- 
 dise. The whole provmce was given over to the tender 
 
TROUBLES IN MARYLAND. Hi 
 
 mercies of royal favorites and extortioners, while the chap. 
 
 . . XII. 
 
 printing-press, that dread of tyrants, was still forbidden. 
 
 How dearly did loyal Virginia j^ay for the honor of being 1685. 
 named the " Old Dominion ! " 
 
 The struggles of the people of Virginia under Bacon 
 and others, had an effect on the people of Maryland. At 
 the death of Lord Baltimore, his son and heir assumed the 1675. 
 government, and ruled with justice till another revolution 
 in England brought a change. The deputy-governor hesi- 1688. 
 tated to acknowledge William and Mary. This was seized 
 upon by some restless spirits to excite discontent in the 
 minds of the people. Among other absurd stories, it was said 
 that the Catholics, who were few in number, were about to in- 
 vite the Indians to aid them in massacring the Protestants. 
 At this time the Jesuits had excited the Indians of New 
 England and Canada against the New England colonies. 
 This gave a shadow of probability to the charge. Under 
 the lead of some persons, who professed to be very zealous 
 Protestants, the deputy-governor was seized, and a con- 
 vention called, which deposed Lord Baltimore, and pro- 
 claimed the people the true sovereign. Two years after, 1691. 
 King William, taking them at their word, imjustly de- 
 prived Lord Baltimore of his property, and made the colony 
 a royal province. The people now suffered the penalty 
 for ill treating their benevolent j)roprietary. The king 
 placed over them a royal governor ; changed their laws for 
 the worse ; established the Church of England, and taxed 
 them to maintain it ; did not promote education, but pro- 
 hibited printing ; discouraged their domestic manufac- 
 tures ; and finally disfranchised the Catholics, who had 
 laid the foundation of the colony sixty years before. The 
 rights of Lord Baltimore were afterward restored to his 
 infant child, and the original form of government was 1716. 
 established. No colony experienced so many vicissitudes 
 as Maryland. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Hudson's DiscoTeries. — Indian Traffic. — Fort on the Isle of Manhattan. — 
 Walloons the first Settlers. — Peter Minuits. — The Patroons. — ^Van 
 Twiller Governor ; his Misrule. — Succeeded by Kieft. — Difficulties with 
 the Indians. — They seek Protection ; their Massacre. — Peace con- 
 cluded. — Stuyvesant Governor. — The Swedish Settlement on the Dela- 
 ware. — Pavonia. — Threatening Rumors. — New Netherland surrendered 
 to England. — New Jersey sold by the Duke of York. — The Influence of 
 the Dutch. 
 
 CHAP. When there were high hopes of discovering a north-west 
 1 passage to India, Henry Hudson was sent in search of it 
 
 1609. by a company of London merchants. He was unsuccess- 
 ful ; yet his enthusiasm was not diminished by his failure. 
 He requested to be again sent on the same errand, but the 
 merchants were unwilling to incur further exjiense. He then 
 applied to the Dutch East India Company ; the directors of 
 which, at Amsterdam, famished him with a ship, the Half- 
 Moon, with liberty to exercise his own judgment in the pro- 
 secution of the enterprise. He first sailed to the north-east, 
 away beyond the Capes of Norway, as far as the ice would 
 permit. He saw that an eifort in that direction would be 
 fruitless. He turned to the west, crossed the Atlantic, 
 and coasted along the continent till he foimd himself op- 
 posite the Capes of Virginia ; then turning to the north 
 he entered " a great bay with rivers," since known as the 
 Delaware ; still further north he passed through a narrow 
 channel, and found himself in a beautiful bay. Here he 
 
A CHANGE WROUGHT. 113 
 
 remained some days. The natives, " clothed in mantles ^!^^- 
 
 of feathers and robes of fur/' visited his ship. Their '_ 
 
 astonishment was great ; they thought it was the canoe 1609. 
 of the Great Spirit, and the white faces, so unlike them- 
 selves, were his servants. Hudson explored the bay, and 
 noticed a large stream iiowing from the north ; this, thought 
 he, leads to the Eastern Seas. That stream, called by 
 some of the native tribes the Cahohatatea, or Kiver of 
 Mountains, and by others the Shatemuc, he explored for 
 one hundred and fifty miles ; it did not lead to the 
 Eastern Seas, yet that river has immortalized the name 
 of Henry Hudson. 
 
 What a change has come over the " Kiver of Moun- 
 tains " since he threaded his way up its stream two hun- 
 dred and fifty years ago ! It has become the highway to 
 the great inland seas of a continent, upon whose bosoms 
 float the fruits of the industry of millions ; and the island 
 at its mouth the heart of a nation's commerce, whose every 
 throb is felt throughout that nation's length and breadth. 
 From the highest church-steeple,' on this Isle of Man- 
 hattan, the eye takes in a horizon containing a population 
 one-third as great as that of the thirteen colonies at the 
 time of the Declaration of Independence. There are other 
 changes which the philanthropist loves to contemplate. 
 Here are seen the humanizing influences of Christianity, 
 of civiUzation, of intelligence, and of industry, embodied 
 in institutions of learning, of science, and of benevo- 
 lence, that pour forth their charities and blessings, not 
 alone for this land but for others. 
 
 The coincidence is striking, that, nearly at the same 
 time, the representatives of three nations were penetrating 
 the wilderness and approaching each other. Champlain, 
 on behalf of France, was exi^loring the northern part of 
 New York ; John Smith, one of the pioneers of English 
 
 ' Trinity. 
 
114 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, colonization, was pu.shing liis discoveries up to the head 
 '_ waters of the Chesapeake, wliile the Half-Moon was slowly 
 
 1610. sounding her way up the Hudson. 
 
 Hudson arrived safely in England, hut he was not per- 
 mitted by the government to continue in the service of the 
 Dutch, lest they should derive advantage in trade from his 
 discoveries. However, he found means to transmit to his 
 employers at Amsterdam, an accoimt of his voyage. Once 
 more he sailed under the patronage of some English mer- 
 chants. He passed through the straits into the bay known 
 by his name; groped among a multitude of islands till late 
 in the season, and then determined to winter there, and in 
 the spring continue his search for the wished-for passage. 
 When spring came his provisions were nearly exhausted ; 
 it was impossible to prosecute his design. With tears of 
 disappointment he gave orders to turn the prow of his ves- 
 sel homeward. A day or two afterward his crew mutinied. 
 They seized him, put him, with his son and seven seamen, 
 four of whom were ill, on board the shallop, and inhumanly 
 left them to perish. " The gloomy waste of waters which 
 bears his name, is his tomb and his nioniunent." 
 
 Hudson, in his communication to his employers, 
 described the extensive region he had discovered as well 
 watered by rivers, and as lying around bays and inlets ; as 
 covered with forests abounding in the finest timber for 
 ship-building ; and as " a land as beautiful as ever man 
 trod upon." The numerous tribes of Indians who met 
 him in friendship, and the multitudes of beaver and otter, 
 gave indication also of a profitable trade. 
 
 The next year a ship was sent to trade ; the traffic was 
 profitable, and was still further prosecuted. In a few 
 years there were forts or trading houses on the river, as far 
 up as Fort Orange, since Albany. A "rude fort at the 
 1614. lower end of Manhattan island was the germ of the present 
 city of New York. The Dutch during this time were 
 
EMIGRATION ENCOURAGED. 115 
 
 busy exploring the waters from the Delaware to Cape ^^,f^- 
 
 Cod. They were as yet but a company of traders ; no '_ 
 
 emigrants had left Holland with the intention of making 1614. 
 a permanent settlement. 
 
 A company was formed, under the title of the Dutch 1621. 
 West India Company ; an association for the purpose of 
 trade only. They took possession of the territory as tem- 
 porary occupants ; if they grew rich they were indiiferent 
 as to other matters ; they had no promise of protection 
 from Holland, and as a matter of policy they were peace- 
 ful. The States-General granted them the monopoly of 
 trade from Cape May to Nova Scotia, and named the 
 entire territory New Netherland. The claims of the Eng- 
 lish, French, and Dutch thus overlapped, each other, and 
 led to " territorial disputes, national rivalries, religious 
 antipathies, and all the petty hatreds and jealousies of 
 trade." 
 
 About thirty families, Walloons or French Protestants, 
 who had fled to Holland to avoid persecution, were the 
 first to emigrate with the intention of remaining. Some 
 of these settled in the vicinity of what is now the Navy 
 Yard in Brooklyn, others went up the river to Fort ^^25. 
 Orange. 
 
 The central position of the island of Manhattan ob- 
 tained for it the honor of being chosen as the residence of 
 the agent for the company. Peter Minuits was appointed 
 such, under the title of governor, and the few cottages at 
 the south end of the island were dignified with the name of 
 New Amsterdam. The island itself belonged exclusively 
 to the company, and was purchased from the Indians for 
 about twenty-four dollars. Effort was now made to found 
 a State. Every person who should emigrate had the privi- 
 lege of owning as much land as he could jjroperly culti- 
 vate, provided it was not on lands especially claimed by 
 the company. To encourage emigration, it was ordered 
 that any member of the company who in four years should 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, induce fifty persons to settle anywhere in New Nether- 
 
 land, except on the island of Manhattan, should he recog- 
 
 1625. nised as " Patroon," or " Lord of the Manor." Under 
 this arrangement "Patroons" could purchase a tract of 
 land sixteen miles long by eight in width. They secured 
 to themselves, by purchase from the Indians, the most 
 valuable lands and places for trade. The less rich were 
 by necessity compelled to become tenants of the Patroons. 
 The people, thus deprived of that independence which is 
 essential to the progress of any community, took but little 
 interest in cultivating the soil, or in improving the 
 country. 
 
 The company, for the sake of gain, determined, even at 
 the expense of the prosperity of the colonists, to make 
 New Amsterdam the centre of the trade of New Nether- 
 land. Under the penalty of banishment the people were 
 forbidden to manufacture the most common fabrics for 
 clothing. No provision was made for the education of the 
 young, or the preaching of the gospel ; although it was 
 enjoined upon the Patroons to provide " a minister and a 
 schoolmaster," or at least a " comforter of the sick,", whose 
 duty it should be to read to the people texts of Scripture 
 and the creeds. The company also agreed, if the specu- 
 lation should prove profitable, to furnish the Patroons with 
 African slaves. 
 
 As Hudson had discovered Delaware bay and river, the 
 Dutch claimed the territory. Samuel Godyn purchased 
 from the Indians all their lands from Cape Henlopen to 
 1C29. the mouth of the Delaware river. Two years after this 
 thirty colonists arrived, fully prepared to found a settle- 
 ment. When De Vries, who was to be Patroon and com- 
 mander, came the next year, he found not a vestige of 
 the settlement ; all had perished by the hands of the 
 savages. 
 
 After the resignation of Minuits, Walter Van Twiller, 
 through the " influence of kinsmen and friends," was ap- 
 
WILLIAM KIEFT GOVERNOR. 117 
 
 pointed governor. He proved himself unfitted for tlie ^^.f.^- 
 
 station. As a clerk, he was acquainted with the mere 
 
 routine of business, but ignorant of human natm-e ; as con- 1633. 
 ceited as he was deficient in judgment and prudence, 
 he faUed to secure the respect of those he governed. 
 In his zeal for the interests of his employers, he neglected 
 the rights of the people, and was so inconsistent in the 
 management of pubhc affairs that Dominie Bogardus sent 
 him a letter of severe reproof, threatening to give him 
 "such a shake from the pulpit on the following Sunday 1638. 
 as would make him shudder." 
 
 The inefficient Van TwiUer was succeeded by WiUiam 
 Kieft. Though he had not the same defects as Van 
 TwiUer, his appointment was a most unfortunate event for 
 the colony. A bankrupt in HoUand, his portrait was 
 affixed to the gallows ; an evidence of the estimation in 
 which his character was held. Avaricious and unscrupu- 
 lous, so arbitrary in his measures that during his rule the 
 colony was in a continual turmoil, he quarrelled with the 
 Swedes on the Delaware, had difficulties with the Eng- 
 lish in New England, made the Indians his enemies, and 
 had scarcely a friend in his own colony. 
 
 The Dutch were on friendly terms with the Indians 
 during the rule of Van TwiUer. It was forbidden by law 
 to sell them fire-arms ; but the traders up the river, indif- 
 ferent to the interests of the settlers, sold them guns to 
 such an extent, that at one time more than four hundred 
 of the Mohawks, or Iroquois, were armed with muskets. 
 By this means these terrible marauders and despots of the 
 wUderness were rendered more haughty and dangerous. 
 They paid enormous prices for guns, that they might be 
 able to meet their enemies the Canadian Indians, who 
 were supplied with fire-arms by the French. Though 
 the traders did not sell guns to the tribes Uving near New 
 Amsterdam and on the river, yet they sold them rum. 
 
 Kieft pretended that the company had ordered him to 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, levy an annual tribute upon the river Indians — tlie Mo- 
 
 hegans and other clans of the Algonquin race. They re- 
 
 1638. fused to pay any tribute, saying he " was a shabby fellow 
 to come and live on their lands without being invited, and 
 then want to take away their corn for nothing." Such 
 injustice, with the partiality shown to their enemies, the 
 Mohawks, gradually alienated their feelings of friendship 
 for the Dutch. \ 
 
 An act of Kieft awoke the slumbering anger of the 
 savages. The Earitans, a tribe living on the river which 
 bears their name, were accused of stealing hogs, which 
 had been taken by some Dutch traders. Kieft did not 
 inquire into the truth of the charge, but sent soldiers to 
 punish them, who destroyed their corn and killed some of 
 their number. De Vries, who, in the mean time, had 
 planted a settlement on Staten Island, was himself a 
 friend of the Indians. The Earitans attacked tliis settle- 
 1C41. ment and killed four men. The people now urged the 
 governor to conciliate the savages, but without effect. 
 Twenty years before a chieftain had been killed by a Dutch 
 hunter in the presence of his nephew, then a little boy ; 
 that boy, now a man, according to their custom, avenged 
 the death of his uncle by murdering an innocent Dutch- 
 man. Kieft demanded that the young man should be 
 given up to him, to be punished as a murderer. The 
 tribe would not comply with the demand, but oifered to 
 pay the price of blood. The violent governor refused any 
 such compromise. 
 1G42. With his permission a meeting of the heads of fami- 
 
 lies was called. They chose twelve of their number to 
 investigate the afiiiirs of the colony. They passed very 
 soon from the Indian difficulties to other abuses ; even to 
 the despotic actions of the governor himself As the 
 " twelve men " refused to be controlled by Kieft, but per- 
 severed in expressing their opinions of his conduct, he 
 
MASSACRE OF THE INDIANS. 119 
 
 dissolved the Assembly. Thus ended the first representa- chap. 
 tive Assembly in New Netberland. L 
 
 Nearly aU the difficulties with the Indians may be 1642. 
 traced to some injustice practised upon them by the 
 whites. An instance of this kind now occurred which led 
 to direful results. A Dutchman sold a young Indian, the 
 son of a chief, brandy, and when he was intoxicated, 
 cheated and drove him away. The Indian, raging with 
 drink, and maddened by the treatment he had received, 
 went to his home, obtained his bow and arrows, returned 
 and shot the Dutchman dead. The chiefs of the murder- 
 er's tribe hastened to the governor to explain the matter, 
 and to pay the price of blood ; they wished for peace ; but 
 the governor was inexorable. He demanded the murderer ; 
 but he had fled to a neighboring tribe. " It is your own 
 fault ! " exclaimed the indignant cliiefs ; " why do you 
 seU brandy to our young men "? it makes them crazy ; — 
 your own people get drunk, and fight with knives." 
 
 Just at this time came a company of eighty Mohawks, 
 all armed with muskets, to demand tribute of the enfee- 
 bled Eiver Tribes. The latter fled to the Dutch for pro- 
 tection. Now is the time, urged the people, to obtain 
 forever the friendship of the Indians living around us, by 
 rescuing them from the rapacious Mohawks. Now is the 
 time, thought the stubborn and cruel Kieft, to extermi- 
 nate those who have fled to me for safety. 
 
 " If you murder these poor creatures who have put 
 themselves under your protection, you will involve the 
 whole colony in ruin, and their blood, and the blood of 
 your own people, wiU be required at your hands ! " urged 
 the kind-hearted De Vries. The admonition was un- 
 heeded. 
 
 The unsuspecting victims of this scheme of treachery 
 and barbarous cruelty were with the tribe of Hacken- 
 sacks, just beyond Hoboken. About the hour of mid- Feb.. 
 night the soldiers from the fort, and some freebooters from ^^^^- 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the ships in the harbor, passed over the river. Soon were 
 
 heard the shrieks of the dying Indians ; — the carnage 
 
 1643. continued, the poor victims ran to the river, to pass over 
 to their supposed friends in New Amsterdam. But they 
 were driven into the water ; the mother, who rushed to 
 save her drowning child, was pushed in, that both might 
 perish in tlie freezing flood. These were not the only 
 victims. Another company of Indians, trusting to the 
 Dutch for protection, were encamped on the island, but a 
 short distance from the fort. They were nearly all mur- 
 dered in the same manner. In the morning the returning 
 soldiers received the congratulations of Kieft. When the 
 people learned of the massacre they were filkd with hor- 
 ror at its atrocity, and exj)ressed their detestatfttti of its 
 author, and their fears that all the Indians in their neigh- 
 borhood would become their deadly enemies. The guilty 
 Kieft cowered before the storm ; it woidd have been well 
 if the only effects of his acts had been the reproaches of 
 the people. 
 
 When it became known that it was not their enemies 
 the Mohawks, but their pretended friends the Dutch, who 
 had wantonly killed their countrymen, the rage of the 
 Kiver Tribes knew no bounds. They rose as one man to 
 take revenge. Every nook and corner, every swamp and 
 thicket, became an ambush for the enraged savages. The 
 settlements itp the river were destroyed. On Long Island, 
 on Staten Island, the retribution fell ; all around Man- 
 hattan the smoke of burning dwellings arose to heaven. 
 The people at a distance from the fort were either mur- 
 dered or taken captive, especially the women and chil- 
 dren. All who could deserted their homes, and sought 
 safety in the fort at Manhattan ; many of whom after- 
 ward left for Holland. 
 
 A pleasing incident is related of Indian gratitude. 
 De Vries had, on that fearful night, rescued an Indian 
 and his wife from death. When his settlement on Staten 
 
A TEMPOEARY TRUCE. 121 
 
 Island was attacked, this Indian hastened to his country- chm>. 
 
 men who were besieging the people in the block-house, 
 
 and told them how he and his wife had been rescued. The 1643. 
 besiegers immediately told the people they would molest 
 them no more ; and they kept their word. 
 
 A temporary trace was made at Eockaway on Long Sept. 
 Island. The chiefs of a number of tribes agreed to meet 
 the messengers of the Dutch, and treat of peace. De 
 Vrics, whom the Indians knew to be their friend, went 
 with two others to the interview. When the conference 
 was opened one of the chiefs arose, having in his hand a 
 munber of little sticks; taking one, he commenced : "When 
 you first came to our shores you wanted food ; we gave 
 you our beans and our corn, and now you murder our 
 people." He took another stick : " The men whom your 
 first ships left to trade, we guarded and fed ; we gave 
 them our daughters for wives ; some of those whom you 
 murdered were of your own blood." Many sticks still re- 
 mained, but the envoys did not wish to hear a further re- 
 cital of wrongs. They proposed that they should both 
 forget the past, and now make peace forever. Peace was 
 made. It was not satisfactory to the young warriors ; they 
 thought "the bloody men," as they now called the 
 Dutch, had not paid the full price of the lives they had 
 taken ; and war broke forth again. Now the leader of 
 the Dutch was Captain John Underbill, who had had ex- 
 perience in the Pequod war in New England. For two 
 years the Indians were hunted from swamp to swamp, 
 through winter and summer ; yet they were not sub- 
 dued. They lay in ambush round the settlements, and 
 picked off the husbandman from his labor, and carried 
 into captivity his wife and children. There was no security 
 from the midnight attack; scarcely any corn was planted; 
 famine and utter ruin stared the colony in the face. 
 
 Sixteen hundred of the Indians had been killed, and the 
 number of white jDeople was so much reduced, that, besides 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, traders, there were not more than one hundred persons on 
 the Isle of Manhattan. What a ruin had been wrought 
 
 1643. by the wicked jjerverseness of one man ! 
 
 At length both jDarties became weary of war. The 
 chieftains of the tribes around New Amsterdam, and, as 
 mediators, a dejuitation from their ancient enemies the 
 Mohawks, met the deputies of the Dutch beneath the 
 open sky, on the place now known as the Battery, in New 
 York city, and there concluded a peace. 
 
 1645. Thanksgivings burst forth from the people at the 
 
 prospect of returning safety. There was no consolation 
 for Kieft ; he was justly charged by them with being the 
 cause of all their misfortunes. The company censured 
 him, and disclaimed his barbarous conduct. He was 
 without a friend in the colony. After two years, with his 
 ill-gotten gains, he sailed for his native land. The vessel 
 was wrecked on the coast of Wales, and, with many others, 
 
 164G. he was lost. 
 
 In the midst of all these difficulties there were those 
 who labored to instruct the poor heathen Indians of New 
 Netherland. Several years before the missionary Eliot 
 commenced his labors with the tribes near Boston, Mega- 
 polensis, the Dutch clergyman at Fort Orange, endeavored 
 to teach the Mohawks the truths of the gospel. He strove 
 to learn their language, that he might " speak and preach 
 to them fluently," but without much success ; their lan- 
 guage was, as he expressed it, so "heavy." The grave 
 warriors would listen respectfully when told to renounce 
 certain sins, but they would immediately ask why white 
 men committed the same. EiForts were made afterward 
 to instruct in Christianity the tribes around Manhattan, 
 but the good work was neutralized by other and evil in- 
 fluences. 
 
 The West India Company appointed Peter Stuyvesant 
 to succeed Kieft as governor. He had been accustomed 
 to military rule, and was exceedingly arbitrary in his gov- 
 
THE SWEDES ON THE DELAWARE. 123 
 
 ernment ; honest in his endeavors to fulfil his trust to the ^Mjf- 
 
 company, he also overlooked the rights of the people. He 
 
 thought their duty was to pursue their business, and pay 1646. 
 their taxes, and not trouble their brains about his man- 
 ner of government. The colony was well-nigh ruined 
 when Stuyvesant came into power ; for nearly five years 
 the dark cloud of war had been hanging over it. The In- 
 dians had been dealt with harshly and treacherously ; 
 policy as well as mercy demanded that they should be 
 treated leniently. The company desired peace with the 
 various tribes, for the success of trade depended upon 
 their good-wiU. 
 
 Although the Dutch claimed the territory from Cape 
 Cod to the Capes of Virginia, they preferred to negotiate 
 with New England, and desired that the wars between 
 their mother countries in the Old World should not dis- 
 turb the harmony of the New. 
 
 It must be confessed that the Connecticut people 
 annoyed Stuyvesant exceedingly. The absurd stories told 
 by the wily Mohegan chief, Uncas, of the Dutch con- 
 spiring with the Narragansets to cut off the English, found 
 a too ready credence ; so ready as to leave the impression 
 that such stories were rather welcome than otherwise, pro- 
 vided they furnished an excuse for encroaching upon 
 the territory of the Dutch. When accused of this con- 
 spiracy, said a sachem of the Narragansets, " I am j^oor, 
 but no present can make me an enemy of the English ! " 
 
 We have now to speak of others settling on territory 
 claimed by the Dutch. Gustavus Adolphus, the King of 
 Sweden, was induced to engage in sending a colony to the 
 New World. He wished to found an asylum to which 
 Protestants of Europe could flee. Peter Minuits, who has 
 already been mentioned, as commercial agent at New 
 Amsterdam, offered his services to lead the company of 
 emigrants. The same year that Kieft came as governor 
 to New Amsterdam, Minuits landed on the shores of the 
 
124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Delaware with a company of emigrants, about fifty in num- 
 ber. They purchased from the Indians the territory on 
 
 1638. the west side of the bay and river from Cape Henlopen 
 to the falls at Trenton. This was very nearly the soU of 
 the present State of Delaware. Nearly all this territoiy 
 had been purchased some years before by the Dutch, who 
 looked upon the Swedes as intruders. The latter built a fort 
 and a church on the site of Wilmington, and named the 
 country New Sweden. The Dutch protested, but the 
 Swedes went quietly to work, and increased from year to 
 year by accessions from their native land. For years the 
 disputes between the two colonies continued '; at length 
 Stuyvesant, obeying the orders of the company, determined 
 to make the Swedes submit to Dutch rule. The former, 
 
 1655. \j^ surrendering, were to lose none of their rights as citi- 
 zens. Thus, after an existence of seventeen years, the 
 Swedish colony passed under the sway of the Dutch. 
 Many of them became dissatisfied with the arbitrary acts 
 of their rulers, and from time to time emigrated to Vir- 
 ginia and Maryland. 
 
 What is now New Jersey was also included in the ter- 
 ritory claimed by the Dutch. They built a fort, a short 
 distance below Camden, which they named Nassau. 
 
 1623. Michael Pauw bought of the Indians Staten Island, and 
 all the land extending from Hoboken to the river Earitan. 
 He named the territory Pavonia. MeanwhUe the Swedes 
 passed over to the east side of Delaware bay, and estab- 
 lished trading-houses from Cape May to Burhngton. 
 
 Manhattan in the meanwhile was gaining numbers by 
 emigration. The stern Stuyvesant was sometimes intol- 
 erant, but the company wished the people to enjoy the 
 rights of conscience. They wished New Amsterdam to be 
 as liberal to the exile for religion's sake as was its name- 
 sake in the Old World. Every nation ia Europe had 
 here its representatives. It was remarked " that the in- 
 habitants were of different sects and nations, and that 
 
DISCONTENTS OF THE PEOPLE. 125 
 
 they spoke many different languages." The pubhc docu- ^^-^P- 
 
 ments were issued sometimes in Dutch, sometimes in Eng- 
 
 lish, and sometimes in French. Two centuries ago it was 
 prophesied that here would be centred the commerce of 1658. 
 the world. Time is realizing the prediction. To pro- 
 mote emigration the mechanic had his passage given him. 
 The poor persecuted Waldenses came from their native 
 valleys and mountains at the expense of the old city of 
 Amsterdam. Africa, too, had her representatives. Her 
 sons and daughters were brought as slaves at the charge 
 of the West India Company; and the city of Amsterdam, 
 in this case also, shared the expense and the profit. 
 
 The spirit of democracy began to pervade the minds 
 of the Dutch ; the credit of this has been given to the 
 New Englanders, who were continually enlightening them 
 on the subject of the freedom of Englishmen. This 
 annoyed Stuyvesant beyond endurance. He often ex- 
 pressed his contempt for the "wavering multitude;" he 
 despised the people, and scoffed at the idea that they 
 could govern themselves : it was their duty to work, and 
 not discuss the mysteries of government. -They had no 
 voice in the choice of their rulers, and were even forbidden 
 to hold meetings to talk of their affairs. Stuyvesant 
 finally consented to let them hold a convention of two 
 delegates from each settlement ; but as soon as these dele- 
 gates began to discuss his conduct as governor, he dis- 
 solved the convention, bluntly telling them he derived his 
 authority from the company, and not from " a few ignorant 
 subjects." When a citizen, in a case in which he thought 
 himself aggrieved, threatened to appeal to the States- 
 General of Holland, "If you do," said the angry gov- 
 ernor, "I -will make you a foot shorter than you are." 
 When the day of trial came, Stuyvesant found that by 
 such despotic measures he had lost the good-wUl of the 
 peojile of every class and nation. 
 
 Eumors were now rife that the English were about to 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, subdue New Netherland. The people for the most part 
 
 were mdifFerent ; they had now no civil rights, and to 
 
 1664. them the change might be for the better ; it was not 
 probable that it would be for the worse. The English 
 portion longed for the rights of Englishmen. Though 
 there had been war between England and Holland, the 
 people of Virginia and New England, except perhaps 
 those of Connecticut, were well-disposed toward the 
 Dutch as neighbors. 
 
 Stuyvesant was soon relieved of his troubles with the 
 people of Manhattan. Charles II.j without regard to the 
 rights of Holland, with whom he was at peace, or to the 
 rights of the peojile of Connecticut under theii- charter, 
 gave to his brother, the Duke of York, the entii-e country 
 from the Connecticut to the Delaware. The first intima- 
 tion Stuyvesant had of this intended robbery, was the pres- 
 ence of a fleet, under Richard Nicholls, sent to put in 
 execution the orders of the English king. The fleet had 
 brought to Boston the commissioners for New England, and 
 there received recruits, and sailed for New Amsterdam. 
 AH was in confusion ; Stuyvesant -wished to make resist- 
 ance, but the people were indifferent. What was to be 
 done ? The fleet was in the bay, and the recruits from 
 New England had just pitched their tents in Brooklyn : 
 Long Island was already in the hands of the enemy. 
 Nicholls sent Stuyvesant a letter requiiing him to surren- 
 der his jwst, which the valiant governor refused to do with- 
 out a struggle. A meeting of the principal inhabitants 
 was called ; they veiy properly asked for the letter which 
 the governor had received from the English admiral. They 
 wished to know the terms he offered to induce them to 
 acknowledge English authority. Eather than send the 
 letter to be read to the "wavering multitude," the angry 
 Stuyvesant tore it to pieces. Instead, therefore, of prepar- 
 ing to defend themselves against the enemy, the people 
 protested against the arbitrary conduct of the governor. 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE DUTCH. 127 
 
 At length the capitulation was made, on the condition that chap. 
 
 the people should be protected in their rights and property, J '_ 
 
 rehgion and institutions. Sept. 
 
 In a few days Fort Orange surrendered ; and in a few 
 weeks the Dutch and the Swedes on the shores of the Dela- 
 ware passed under the rule of England. Nicholls was 
 appointed governor. New Amsterdam was to be hereafter 
 known as New York, and Fort Orange as Albany. 
 
 A treaty was also made with the Mohawks : they had 
 been the friends of the Dutch, and they now became the 
 friends of the English, and remained so in all their contests, 
 both with the French, and the Colonies during the revolu- 
 tion. They served as a bulwark against incursions from 
 Canada. Their hatred of the French was intense. They 
 said, the Canada Indians never invaded their • territory 
 unaccompanied by a " skulking " Frenchman. 
 
 England and Holland were soon at war again; and sud- 
 denly a Dutch squadron anchored in the bay, and demand- 
 ed the surrender of the colony. Thus the territory became 
 New Netherland once more. 
 
 In a little more than a year peace was made, and the 
 province was restored to England. Thus after half a cen- 
 tury, the rule of the Dutch passed away, but not their 
 influence — it still remains to bless. The struggles of their 
 fathers in HoUand in the cause of civil and religious free- 
 dom, are embalmed in the history of the progress of the 
 human mind. In their princi^iles tolerant, in religion 
 Protestant, a nation of merchants and manufacturers, 
 laborious and frugal, they acquired a fame as wide as the 
 world for the noble virtue of honesty. Defenders of the 
 right, they were brave, bold, and plain spoken; they were 
 peaceful; they were justly celebrated for their moral and 
 domestic virtues : nowhere was the wife, the mother, the 
 sister more honored and cherished. Such were the ances- 
 try and such the traditions of the people just come under 
 British rule. A little more than a century elapsed, and 
 
128 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, their descendants, with scarcely an exception, took their 
 
 places with the lovers of their country in the struggle for 
 
 1664. independence. 
 
 The change of rulers was not beneficial to the people ; 
 the promises made to them were not kept ; their taxes 
 were increased ; the titles to their lands were even called 
 in question, that the rapacious governors might reaj) a har- 
 vest of fees for giving new ones. It was openly avowed by 
 the unprincipled Lovelace, the successor of NichoUs, that 
 the true way to govern was by severity ; to impose taxes so 
 
 1667. heavy that the people should have " liberty for no thought 
 but how to discharge them." When the people respect- 
 fully petitioned in relation to their grievances, their petition 
 was burned by the hangman before the town-haU in New 
 York, by order of the same Lovelace. The same species 
 of tyranny was exercised over the colonists on the Dela- 
 ware. 
 
 The Duke of York sold to Lord Berkeley, brother of Sir 
 William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, and Sir George 
 Carteret, the soil of New Jersey. They made liberal offers 
 to emigrants to settle in the territory, promising to collect 
 no rents for five years. Many families were induced to 
 come from Long Island. Their principal settlement was 
 1670. named, in honor of Carteret's wife, Elizabethtown. AU 
 went smoothly tiU pay-day came, and then those colonists 
 who had Uved under Dutch rule refused to pay. They 
 contended that they had bought their lands from the In- 
 dians, the original owners of the soil, and that Carteret had 
 no claim to rent because the king had given him a grant 
 of land which did not belong to him. Others said they 
 derived no benefit from the proprietary, and why should 
 they pay him quit-rents ? 
 
 The Duke of York had but little regard to the rights 
 
 1674. of Carteret or Berkeley; he appointed Andros, " the tyrant 
 
 of New England," governor of the colony. Berkeley, dis- 
 
SCOTCH PRESBYTERIANS IN EAST JERSEY. 129 
 
 gusted by snch treatment, sold what was called West ^^j^T- 
 
 Jersey to Edward Byllinge, an English Quaker, who in a 
 
 short time transferred his claim to William Penn and two 1674. 
 others, who afterward made an arrangement with Carteret 
 to divide the territory. Penn and his associates taking 
 West Jersey, and Carteret retaining East Jersey, the line 
 of division being drawn from the ocean, at Little Egg 
 Harbor, to the north-western corner of the province. 
 
 Epi-scopacy having been re-established in Scotland, a 
 certain portion of the Presbyterians, the Cameronians or 
 Covenanters, refused to acknowledge the authority of that 
 church, and in consequence they became the victims of a 
 severe persecution. To escape this they were induced to 
 emigrate in great numbers to East Jersey, which thus 1683. 
 became the cradle of Presbyterianism in America. The 
 original settlers of New Jersey were the Dutch, English, 
 Quakers, Puritans, from New England, and Presbyterians, 
 from Scotland, which may account for that sturdy opposi- 
 tion to royal or ecclestiastical tyranny so characteristic of 
 its inhabitants. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 The Quakers. — William Penn. — His Education. — Obtains a Charter. — Prepa- 
 rations to plant a Colony. — He lands at Newcastle. — Philadelphia. — 
 Rights of the Indians. — Settlement of Germantown. — Fletcher, the Royal 
 Governor. — New Charter granted the People. — Prosperity of the Col- 
 ony. — Trials of Penn : his Death. — Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 CHAP. We have in the course of this histoiy met with the sect 
 
 '_ known as Quakers, — a sect, perhaps, more than any other 
 
 1G50. drawn from the humhler classes of the Engh'sh people. 
 We have found them at one time few in number, despised 
 and persecuted; treated as the enemies of social order and 
 morals. They were persecuted by all the sects in turn. 
 The Puritans of New England endeavored to drive them 
 from their shores; the Churchmen of Virginia refused them 
 a resting place ; and the politic and trading Dutch, though 
 desirous for colonists, treated them harshly. 
 
 The Quakers loved and cherished the truths of the 
 Bible with as much zeal as the most devoted Puritans. As 
 non-resistants, they believed that the only evil a Christian 
 should resist, was the evil of his own heart : as followers of 
 the Prince of Peace, they were opposed to war. How much 
 blood and sorrow would be sjiared the nations, if in this 
 respect they were governed by the principles of Quakerism ! 
 We have now to speak of this despised sect as the found- 
 ers of a State, where their principles were to be applied to 
 the government of men. 
 
WILLIAM PENN. 131 
 
 George Fox, their founder, had visited the American ^^^ 
 
 colonies ; the condition of his followers touched his heart. 
 
 Was there no asylum for them in the New World ? Who 1673. 
 should furnish them the means to form for themselves a 
 settlement ? 
 
 Among the few who joined them from the higher classes 
 of English society, was one destined to exert a great influ- 
 ence on the sect, and to he admired and reverenced as a 
 benefactor of his race by the good of every age. When a loci. 
 mere youth, his heart was touched by the conversation of a 
 simjile-minded Quaker, who spoke of the peace and comfort 
 derived from the witnessing of God's Spirit with his own : 
 " the inner light," or voice of conscience. This youth was 
 William Penn, the son of Sir Wilham Penn, who was dis- 
 tinguished as a successful naval commander in the times 
 of Cromwell and Charles II. The position of his father 
 afforded him great advantages. He studied at Oxford 
 University, was then sent to the Continent to improve his 
 mind by travel and intercourse with men, and to eradicate 
 his tendency toward Quakerism. After the absence of two 
 years he returned, improved it is true, but in religion still 
 a member of that despised sect everywhere spoken against : 
 a sect, which its enemies affirmed, would destroy every 
 government. The ambitious and worldly-minded Admiral 
 was angry and disappointed. He insisted that his son 
 should renounce Quakerism. The son reflected — he loved 
 and reverenced his father ; he desired to obey and please 
 him, but could he violate his conscience ? No; he calmly 
 resigned all earthly preferment, and became an exile from 
 his father's house. A mother's love secretly relieved his 
 pressing wants. 
 
 Before long we find him in prison for his religion. 
 When the Bishop of London threatened him with im- 
 prisonment for Hfe if he did not recant, he calmly replied, 
 " Then my prison shall be my grave ! " When a clergy- 
 man, the learned StiUingfleet, was sent to convince him 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, by arguments, he referred to his prison-walls, and re- 
 
 '_ marked, " The Tower is to me the worst argument in the 
 
 16C3. world ; those who use force for religion never can be in the 
 right ! " " Kcligion," said he, on another occasion, " is my 
 crime and my innocence ; it makes me a prisoner to 
 malice, but my own freeman." At the expiration of a 
 year he was released, through the intercession of his 
 father. 
 
 Promotion in the navy, royal favor, and every worldly 
 inducement was now urged to tempt him to desert his 
 principles ; but in vain. Within a year he was arraigned 
 again for having spoken at a Quaker meeting. As he 
 pleaded his own cause, he told the court " that no power 
 on earth had the right to debar him from worshipping 
 God." The jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. The 
 court, determined to persecute, ordered them back to their 
 room ; saying, " We will have a verdict, or you shall 
 starve for it." Penn admonished them as Englishmen to 
 remember their rights. To the great annoyance of his 
 enemies, the jury, though they " received no refreshments 
 for two days and two nights," again brought in a verdict 
 of not guilty. The court fined the jury it could not 
 intimidate. Though thus acquitted, the recorder, under 
 the plea of contempt of court, fined Penn, and again re- 
 manded him to prison. As he was leaving the room, he 
 mildly remarked to the angry magistrate : " Thy religion 
 persecutes and mine forgives." His father soon afterward 
 paid the fine, and he was liberated. Ere long that father, 
 when dying, became reconciled to his son, and called him 
 to his bedside. Worldly prosperity and honor did not 
 seem so important to the admiral in his dying hour as 
 they had done in other days. " Son William," said he, 
 " if you and your friends keep to your plain way of 
 preaching and living, you will make an end to the 
 priests ! " 
 
 Weary of persecutions, Penn determined to seek in 
 
Mar. 
 4. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA PURCHASED. 133 
 
 the New World an asylum for himself and his suffering chap. 
 
 friends. There was, perhaps, no man m the kmgdom 
 
 better fitted to take the lead in colonizing a State : fa- 1680. 
 miliar, from books as well as from observation, with the 
 governments of Europe, and by personal intercourse with 
 some of the most enlightened statesmen of the age ; the 
 friend and companion of men, as eminent in science and 
 philosophy as they were in purity of morals. 
 
 His father had bequeathed him a claim of sixteen 
 thousand pounds against the government. He offered to 
 receive lands in payment. Charles II., always in want of 
 money, readily granted him territory west of the Delaware 1681. 
 river, corresponding very nearly Avith the present limits of 
 the State of Pennsylvania, — a name given it by the king. 
 The Duke of York claimed the region now known as the 1682. 
 State of Delaware ; Penn wishing to have free access to 
 the bay obtained it from him. 
 
 As proprietary he now drew up a proclamation for those 
 who were about to emigrate, as well as for the settlers April. 
 already on the Delaware. He proposed that they should 
 make their own laws, and pledged himself to interfere with 
 nothing that should be for their benefit ; saying, " I 
 propose to leave myself and successors no power of doing 
 mischief ; that the will of no one man may hinder the good 
 of a whole country." 
 
 With instructions to govern in accordance with law, 
 he sent his nephew, William Markham, as agent. He had 
 expended so much to aid his suffering brethren, that his 
 estate was now nearly exhausted. When about to sail for 
 his colony he wrote to his wife : " Live low and sparingly 
 till my debts are paid ; I desire not riches, but to owe 
 nothing ; be liberal to the poor, and kind to all." At this 
 time of embarrassment a very large sum was offered him 
 by a company of traders for the exclusive right to trade 
 between the rivers Susquehannah and Delaware. He re- 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, fused to sell sucb right, saying eacli one in his colony 
 
 should have an equal privilege to acquire property. 
 
 1682. Penn, accompanied by one hundred emigrants, landed 
 ^f- at New Castle. The Swedes, Dutch, and English ahke 
 
 welcomed him. He passed up the river to where the 
 capital of his province was yet to rise ; there, under a 
 spreading elm, he met a large number of sachems of the 
 neighboring tribes, and with them entered into a treaty. 
 No record of this treaty has been preserved, yet it re- 
 mained for fifty years in force ; neither party violating its 
 provisions. The sons of the forest received the " Quaker 
 King" as a friend, and they never had cause to regret 
 their confidence. He promised to treat them justly ; 
 a promise observed not only by himself but by the Quaker 
 settlers. During this year twenty-three ships laden with 
 emigrants arrived safely in the colony ; and they continued 
 to flock thither from year to year. 
 
 Lands, lying between the SchuylkLU and the Delaware, 
 were purchased from the Swedes : a place desirable for a 
 city, from its situation, healthy air, and sj^rings of fresh 
 water. It was to be a " greene country town, gardens 
 round each house, that it might never be burned, and 
 always be wholesome." The streets were marked out in 
 the primitive forest by blazing the trees — the walnut, the 
 spruce, the chestnut. A city for all mankind, it was sig- 
 
 1683. nificantly named PniLADELrHiA. 
 
 The new city grew very rapidly ; in three years it con- 
 tained more than six hundred houses, while the colony 
 had a population of nearly ten thousand. Well might 
 the benevolent proprietary look forward to the future in 
 cheerful hope ; he had based his government on truth and 
 justice. The rights of the Eed Men were respected ; no 
 one could wrong them without incurring the same penalty 
 as that for wronging a fellow planter. If difficulties oc- 
 curred between them and the settlers, the juries to try 
 such cases were to be composed of six Indians and six 
 
FIKST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 136 
 
 white men. In the earlier days of the colony the natives chap. 
 
 • 1 AlV. 
 
 manifested their friendshij) by bringing as jiresents the 
 
 products of the chase, wUd fowl and venison. 168.3. 
 
 . • Mar 
 
 Presently the first Assembly in Pennsylvama was con- 
 vened. Penn gave to the people a " charter of liberties," 
 a representative government, and toleration in religious 
 matters ; to prevent lawsuits, three " peace-makers" 
 were appointed for each county. Laws were made to 
 restrain vice and to promote virtue. Labor upon the Sab- 1684. 
 bath was forbidden. The confidence which the Indians had 
 in his integrity gave security to their friendship, and Penn- 
 sylvania was free from frontier wars, and more prosperous 
 and happy than any other colony. Had the Red Men been 
 treated as justly by the other colonists as by the Quakers, 
 thousands of lives would have been spared and the general 
 prosperity of the whole country promoted. 
 
 The interests of the young were not forgotten ; efforts 16O2. 
 were made for their education, and a pubhc high-school 
 chartered by Penn, was established at Philadelphia, where 
 already a printing-press, the third in the colonies, was 
 doing its work. 
 
 After Penn returned to England, the people of Dela- 
 ware, or the three lower counties, who sympathized but 
 little with the Quakers, began to be restless. They feigned 1691. 
 grievances, as a means to become independent. He yielded 
 to their request, and appointed for them a separate deputy- 
 governor. 
 
 Being the personal friend of the Duke of York, Penn 
 urged him when he became king, to relieve the oppressed; 
 and in consequence more than twelve hundred Quakers 
 were liberated, who had been imjjrisoned many years for 
 conscience' sake. His benevolence was not limited to 
 those of his own persuasion, but extended to all, both 
 Catholic and Protestant. 
 
 When the great revolution drove the arbitraiy James 
 into exile, and placed William of Orange on the throne, 1688. 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 '^xw' -Psnn was accused by his enemies of favoring the interests 
 of the exiled monarch, with whom he corresponded. This 
 
 1692. correspondence afforded no evidence of the truth of these 
 calumnies, but William lent them too ready an ear. He 
 was at a loss to conceive how Penn could be the friend of 
 James in exile, without wishing him to return to England 
 as a sovereign. These false charges, together with rumors 
 of dissensions in the colony, furnished the royal government 
 a pretext for depriving Penn of his proprietary rights. 
 
 The Quakers became divided in their sentiments; a few 
 went to the extreme of non-resistance, saying, that it was 
 inconsistent for a Quaker to engage in public affairs, either 
 as a magistrate or as a legislator. The prime leader in 
 this was George Keith. After disturbing the province be- 
 yond even Quaker endurance, he was indicted by the grand 
 jury, as a disturber of the peace and violator of the laws. 
 He was tried, and fined for using improper language ; but 
 lest it might be thought a punishment for the free expres- 
 sion of opinion, the fine was remitted. The cry of perse- 
 cution was raised ; but time proved the falsehood of the 
 charge. 
 
 The first German emigrants to Pennsylvania were 
 Quakers in their religious views — converts of Penn and 
 Barclay, who some years before had travelled on the conti- 
 nent as missionaries. These settled Germantown and the 
 vicinity. Twenty years later, the ravages of war drove 
 
 1090. many Germans from their homes on the banks of the Khine. 
 These emigrated in great numbers first to England, and 
 then to Pennsylvania. In religious views they were Ger- 
 man Reformed and Lutherans. They chose fertile dis- 
 tricts, settled together, and soon became celebrated as the 
 best farmers in America. Their numbers gradually increas- 
 ed by accessions of emigrants from home. They did not 
 assimilate with the English colonists : preserved inviolate 
 their customs, their religion, and their language, which 
 alone they permitted to be taught their children. The 
 
OPPOSITION TO ROYAL AUTHORITY. 137 
 
 isolation of a population so large, bad an important influ- '^^P- 
 
 ence upon the people of Pennsylvania, on their system of 
 
 education by common schools, on the struggle for independ- 1692. 
 ence, and since politically. 
 
 An attempt was now made to convert Pennsylvania 
 and Delaware into one royal province, over which Benja- 
 min Fletcher was appointed governor. Some of the magis- 
 trates refused to recognize bis authority, and some resigned 
 their offices. When the Assembly met, the opposition 
 became more determined. The members of this body 
 deemed the laws made under the charter received from 
 Penn as valid; neither would they legislate under any other 
 authority. The charter given by King Charles, said they, 
 is as valid as one given by King William ; and they re- 
 fused to throw a suspicion over their existing laws by 
 re-enacting them. They never noticed the governor ; with 
 Quaker coolness passed and repassed his door, and in every 
 respect ignored his jiresence. 
 
 Meanwhile, Penn had been persecuted and annoyed ; 
 he was arraigned three times on frivolous charges, which 
 were as often not sustained. He prepared once more to jggo. 
 visit his colony. Crowds of emigrants were ready to go 
 with him, when he was arrested again. Forced to go into 
 retirement, he determined to wait till time should bring 
 him justice. This delay ruined the remainder of his for- 
 tune ; death entered his family, and robbed him of his 
 wife and eldest son. Treated harshly by the world, and in 
 some instances by those whom he thought his friends, he 
 mildly persevered; never changed his views of right and 
 justice ; conscious of the purity of his motives, he serenely 
 waited for the time when his character should be vindi- 
 cated from the aspersions cast upon it. Ere long that time 
 came, the charges laid against him were proved to be false, 
 and he was restored to his proprietary rights. Igg4_ 
 
 The want of means delayed his visit to his colony, but 
 he sent Markham as his deputy. He called an Assembly; 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the people, alarmed at the recent encroachments upon 
 J '_ their chartered rights, framed for themselves a liberal 
 
 1604:. constitution. The Assembly would levy no tax until 
 this was granted. When Penn arrived, he recognized as 
 valid what the people had done. When the proposition 
 
 1700. was made to form a " constitution which would be firm 
 and lasting," he said to them, " Keep what is good in the 
 charter and frame of government, and add what may best 
 suit the common good." It was agreed to surrender the 
 old charter, and in its place frame a new constitution. 
 
 1702. The territories wished to be separate, and Delaware 
 was permitted to have her own legislature ; though the 
 governor was to be the same as that of Pennsylvania. 
 The two governments were never again united. All the 
 political privileges the people desired he cheerfully 
 granted ; they enjoyed religious liberty, and aniuially 
 elected their own magistrates. 
 
 A large emigration began about this period, and con- 
 tinued for half a century, to pour into Pennsylvania from 
 the north of Ireland and from Scotland. These were 
 principally Presbyterians. They settled in the eastern 
 and middle parts of the colony, and thence gradually ex- 
 tended their settlements west, making inroads upon the 
 forest. 
 
 When Penn returned to the colony it was his inten- 
 tion to remain, and make it the home of his children. 
 Eumors, however, reached the province that the charters 
 of all the colonies were to be taken away, and they 
 thrown upon the tender mercies of court favorites. He 
 had not only purchased his territory from Charles, but he 
 had bought the land from the Indians themselves ; he 
 was therefore the sole owner of the unoccupied soil of 
 Pennsylvania. These nimors rendered it necessary for 
 him to return to England. Having arranged the govern- 
 ment so as best to promote the interests of the people, he 
 bade farewell to the colony, for which he had spent the 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 139 
 
 better part of his life, and for which he breathed his part- chap. 
 ing blessing. 
 
 The virtues of William Penn ?aved the colony, so 1700. 
 dear to his heart, from becoming a province ruled by 
 royal governors and impoverished by tax-gatherers. His 
 enemies never could persuade the court to deprive him 
 of his property. Though in his old age so poor, on ac- 
 count of the sacrifices he had made, as to be compelled to 
 go for a season to a debtor's prison, he refused to sell his 
 estates in America unless he could secure for the people 
 the full enjoyment of their liberties. His death was as 
 peaceful as his life had been benevolent. He left three 1718. 
 sons, who were minors. For them the government was 
 administered by deputies until the Kevolution, when the 177c. 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased theu- claims for 
 more than half a million of dollars. 
 
 Six years after the death of Penn, there came to 
 Philadelphia a youth of seventeen, who was yet to exert 
 a great influence, not merely upon that colony but upon 
 the others, while his fame was to be as great in the world 
 of science. This youth was Benjamin Franklin, a 
 native of Boston, the son of a tallow-chandler ; at which 
 business, till ten years of age, he labored. But his ardent 
 mind craved something far beyond. During his leisure 
 time, and till late at night, he read and appreciated 
 all the books he could borrow, and his limited means 
 could purchase. 
 
 At twelve he was bound to his eldest brother, a print- 
 er, to learn the art. There he experienced, not the 
 kindness of a brother but the harshness of a tyrant. 
 Worn out with this oppression, the determined youth 
 sold his little library to furnish means to travel, and, 
 without giving notice to his friends, left to seek his for- 
 tune in the wide world. He travelled first to New 
 York, where he tarried but a day, and then passed on to 
 Philadelphia. There he arrived a stranger — his money 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, reduced to a single dollar ; a penny roll served him for 
 
 . '_ his first dinner. In one of the two printing-ofiices of the 
 
 1724. city he sought and obtained employment. Afterward he 
 went to London, where he spent a year and a half in the 
 same business ; then returned, but every thing that could 
 be of avaU to him he had carefully marked and treasured 
 up. In truth he never lost a moment ; nothing escaped 
 his notice, whether in the natural or political world. His 
 wonderful combination of diligence, keen observation, and 
 practical wisdom, fitted him to trace the current of 
 human affairs, as well as deduce laws from the phenomena 
 of nature. 
 
 His experiments in electricity, the discoveiy of its 
 identity with lightning, and the invention of the light- 
 nins-rod, made his name famous in the universities and 
 courts of the Old World ; while his " Poor Richard's 
 Almanac," with its aphorisms of worldly wisdom, j^ene- 
 trated every nook and corner of his native land, and by 
 its silent influence did much to inculcate the virtues of 
 industry and economy. 
 
 " The first native of America, who wrote the Eng- 
 lish language with classic taste and elegance," his influ- 
 ence was impressed upon the literature of the land. He 
 established the first American periodical magazine, con- 
 ducted a newspaper, and wrote popular pamphlets on 
 topics of public interest. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COLONIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 The first Settlers.— Grants to Royal Favorites.— The " Grand Model."— Set- 
 tlement at Cape Fear River. — Sir John Teamans. — Emigrants under 
 Sayle. — The Huguenots. — The People Independent. — Rice. — Church- 
 men and Dissenters. — Manufactures prohibited. — War between Eng- 
 land and Spain. — Failure to Capture St. Augustine. — The ruin of the 
 Appalachees. — Indian Wars. — German Emigrants. — The People repu- 
 diate the Authority of the Proprietaries. 
 
 We have now to speak of the permanent settlement of chap. 
 
 the land, which the chivalric Sir Walter Ealeigh en- 
 
 deavored to colonize ; and to wliich the noble Coligny 1622. 
 sent his countrymen to found a Protestant State, and 
 where they perished by the hand of Spanish violence. 
 That vast region, extending from the southern border of 
 Virginia to the northern border of Florida, was repre- 
 sented as a "delightsome land" by the adventurers who 
 had explored it. Thither, during the space of forty years, 
 emigrants had gone from Virginia. These were Dis- 
 senters, a term which now began to be applied to all 
 Protestants not attached to the Church of England. 
 This Church, established by law in Virginia, exercised 
 great illiberality toward those who would not conform to 
 its ceremonies ; and many Dissenters, greatly annoyed by 
 the collectors of tythes, emigrated further south. Among 
 them was a company of Presbyterians who settled on the i653. 
 Chowan. Berkeley, governor of Virginia, assumed juris- 
 diction over them by appointing one of their number. 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. William Drummond, governor. Drummond was a Scotch- 
 
 man by birth, a devoted advocate of jjopular liberty, tbe 
 
 1653. same who afterward, as has been related, returned to 
 Virginia, and was put to death by Berkeley for the part 
 he took in Bacon's attempt to vindicate the rights of the 
 1676. people. 
 
 Charles II., who gave away vast regions with as much 
 coolness as if they really belonged to him, granted to 
 eight of his favorites a charter and certain privileges, to 
 1663. repay them for their loyalty in restoring him to the throne 
 of his father. This grant was of the territory extending 
 from the present southern line of Virginia to the St. 
 Johns, in Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 Many of these proprietaries were men of influence in their 
 day. Among these were the Earl of Clarendon, who was 
 prime minister ; Sir Ashley Coojier, better known as the 
 Earl of Shaftesbury ; General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 
 who took an active part in the restoration of Charles ; Sir 
 William Berkeley, whom we have met in Virginia his- 
 tory ; and Sir George Carteret, a proprietary of New 
 Jersey. They professed to have "a pious zeal for the 
 spread of the gospel," but their conduct has led the world 
 to believe that they desired more to enrich themselves by 
 means of a vast land speculation. 
 
 The labor of framing a government for their empire in 
 the New World they intrusted to Shaftesbury, and the 
 celebrated philosopher, John Locke. Their joint produc- 
 tion by pre-eminence was named the "Grand Model" or 
 " Fundamental Constitutions." In it the right to rule 
 was assumed to belong only to those of noble blood ; and 
 therefore its principles were pronounced immortal. It 
 made provision for Earls, Barons, and Squires, in whose 
 hands, under various forms, should be the entire adminis- 
 tration of affairs ; while the people were to be attached to 
 the soil as tenants. Those who owned fifty acres of land 
 had the privilege of voting, and were termed freemen ; but 
 
THE " GRAND MODEL." 143 
 
 those who were tenants had no such privilege, neither ™ap. 
 
 could they ever rise above that station. To the freemen 
 
 an Assembly was granted, but on such conditions, that its 1663. 
 acts were under the control of the aristocracy. Every re- 
 ligion was professedly tolerated, but care was taken to 
 declare that the Church of England alone was orthodox. 
 Such was the frame of government prepared for the people 
 of the Carolinas by the united wisdom of two philosophers. 
 Had it been designed for a people living in the Middle 
 Ages, it might, at least, have had a trial ; an honor to 
 which the " Grand Model" never attained. It was 
 as easy to convert log-cabins into castles, as to make 
 the people perpetiial tenants ; they might be made 
 nobles, but never dependents. Great numbers of them had 
 left Virginia expressly to escape restraint and oj^pression ; 
 and they had very little respect for the authority of the 
 proprietaries, while they certainly did not fear and honor 
 the king. 
 
 The contest soon began. The proprietaries claimed 
 the territory because the king had given them a charter, 
 and they demanded quit-rents ; the settlers, already in 
 possession, claimed their lands because they had pur- 
 chased them from the Indians. Why should they pay 
 quit-rents ? 
 
 A few years before, a small company from New Eng- 166I. 
 land had formed a settlement on Cape Fear river. Every 
 inducement was held out to retain these settlers, and to 
 encourage others to join them. To each one was offered one 
 hundred acres of land, at a quit-rent of half a penny an 
 acre ; but the barrenness of the soil neutralized every 
 effort. Many of these colonists returned home, and the 
 distress of the remainder was so great, that contributions 
 in their behalf were taken up in New England. 
 
 Three years later quite an accession was made to this 1664. 
 settlement by a company of planters from the Barbadoes. 
 Sir John Yeamans, their leader, was appointed governor. 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. He was instructed, in order to induce others to come, to 
 
 XV. 
 '_ be "very tender" toward the New Englanders. The 
 
 166i. people did the best they could with their pine barrens, by 
 making staves and shingles ; these they sent to the West 
 Indies : a trade carried on to this day from that region. 
 It was enacted that debts contracted out of the colony 
 could not be collected from the emigrant by process of 
 law until he had been a resident five years. It thus be- 
 came a partial asylum for debtors. 
 
 1670. A company of emigrants, under the direction of Wil- 
 
 liam Sayle, was also sent by the proi^rietaries ; and to 
 superintend their own interests they appointed Joseph 
 West commercial agent. They landed first at Port 
 Royal, where the remains of the fort built by the Hugue- 
 nots, one hundred years before, were still visible. It had 
 been called Carolina, in honor of the reigning French 
 king ; the name was now retained in honor of Charles of 
 England. One of the joroprietaries, Carteret, gave his 
 name to the colony. For some reason they, before long, 
 removed to another situation further north, where they 
 formed a settlement between two rivers, which, in honor 
 of Shaftesbury, were named the Ashley and the Cooi^er. 
 A location near the harbor, and better suited for commer- 
 cial purposes, was afterward noticed. In process of time 
 a village grew up on this spot ; it is now known as the city 
 of Chakleston. 
 
 The colony continued to increase from emigration. 
 Dissenters came, hoping to enjoy the rehgious rights 
 denied them at home ; Dutch and Germans from Europe ; 
 Presbyterians from the North of Ireland as well as from 
 Scotland — the latter furnishing great numbers of " phy- 
 sicians, clergymen, lawyers, and schoolmasters;" — Church- 
 men from England, who expected their church to be 
 established in accordance with the provisions of the 
 " Grand Model ; " emigrants from New York, because of 
 the high-handed measures of the English governors ; 
 
THE HUGUENOTS. 145 
 
 and Huguenots, under the patronage of Charles II. He chap. 
 
 wished to introduce the culture of the vine and olive, the 
 
 raising of silk-worms, and ultimately the manufacture of 1670. 
 silk. Great numbers of the Huguenots, from Languedoc, 
 in the South of France, came to the Carolinas, attracted 
 by the genial climate, 
 
 A law granting toleration to the Protestants of France 
 was made by Henry IV. : this was the famous Edict of 1598. 
 Nantes, thus named from the city where it was given. 
 This law remained in force almost ninety years, when it 
 was revoked by Louis XIV. He had, as long as he 1685. 
 could enjoy it, spent his life in vice and the grossest de- 
 bauchery ; now he thought to silence the clamors of con- 
 science, that terrible enemy of wicked men, and yet win 
 heaven by converting to the Romish church his Protestant 
 subjects. Encouraged in this by the priests and the 
 wiles of an apostate woman, he let loose upon these indus- 
 trious and well-disposed people the terrors of persecution. 
 Why go into the detail of their wrongs ? — the heart 
 sickens at the remembrance. By a refinement of cruelty, 
 they were forbidden to flee from their native land, and 
 every avenue of escape was guarded by their inveterate 
 enemies. Yet, after encountering unheard-of dangers and 
 trials, many of them did escape, and more than five hun- 
 dred thousand fled to diiferent parts of the world. In the 
 New World they were everywhere welcomed by sympa- 
 thizing friends. 
 
 The Huguenots were so far superior to the Catholic 
 portion of the French nation, in intelligence and the 
 knowledge of the mechanic arts, that nearly all the manu- 
 factures of the country were in their hands. This skill 
 they carried with them, and they thus became desirable 
 citizens wherever they chose to settle. In South Carolina 
 their influence was specially felt. Their quiet and inof- 
 fensive manners won for them respect ; their integrity and 
 Industry gave them influence. Ere lona; they mingled 
 10 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, with Ihe inhabitants ; and their descendants, almost uni- 
 
 XV. ' . ' 
 
 versally, when the hour of trial came, were found on the 
 
 1670. side of justice and liberty. 
 
 The original inhabitants of the Carolinas were jjeculiar 
 in their character. Numbers of them went thither from 
 the other colonies to avoid restraint ; they refused to j^ay 
 taxes to the proprietaries or to the king, or duties on 
 trade ; they were friendly to the buccaneers or pirates, who 
 infested the Southern waters ; they warred against the In- 
 dians, to obtain captives to be sent to the West Indies and 
 sold as slaves. There were no towns in the colony ; the 
 planters were scattered along the streams and valleys. 
 There were no roads ; they travelled along paths through 
 the woods, known only by the blazed trees, or on the 
 rivers by means of row-boats. The projirietaries soon saw 
 the impossibility of inducing a people so free and fearless 
 to conform to a government under the " Grand Model." 
 
 Sir John Yeamans, who had been appointed governor, 
 
 1671. brought with him, on liis return from Barbadoes, fifty 
 families, and nearly two hundred slaves. This was the 
 commencement of negro slavery in South Carolina. The 
 slaves increased very rapidly, and in a few years so many 
 had been introduced that in number they were nearly two 
 to one of the whites. 
 
 Yeamans, "a sordid calculator," had been impover- 
 ished in England, and went abroad to improve his fortune. 
 He took special pains to guard his own interests ; for this 
 reason he was dismissed by the proprietaries. Under his 
 successor, the wise and liberal West, the colony flourished 
 for some years. He, too, was dismissed, not because he 
 favored himself but because he favored the people. 
 
 The next struggle came, when an attempt was made 
 to levy duties on the Httle trade of the colony. The people 
 considered themselves independent of the proprietaries as 
 well as of the king, and under no obligation to pay taxes 
 in any form. That there was much dissatisfaction in the 
 
DISPUTES AND PARTIES. 147 
 
 colony, may be inferred from the fact that in the chap. 
 
 space of six years it had five governors. To allay these 
 
 troubles James Colleton, a brother of one of the pro- 1671. 
 prietaries, was sent as governor. But when he attempted 
 to collect rents and taxes he met with as little success as 
 any of his predecessors : the people seized the records of 
 the province, imprisoned his secretary, and boldly defied 
 him and his authority. 
 
 Though many of the settlers left Virginia on account 
 of the want of religious privileges, they found but very few 
 ministers of the gospel in the country. Quaker preachers 
 were the first to visit the Carolinas ; afterward George 
 Fox himself carried them the truth as he believed it. The 
 people warmly welcomed the messenger of the gospel. 
 The influence of this visit was to strengthen the hearts of 
 his followers, and to make many converts. The Quakers, 
 everywhere the friends of popular rights, exerted much in- 
 fluence against the arbitrary rule of the proprietaries. 
 
 There arose a party of " Cavaliers and ill-livers," 
 whose morals were fashioned after those of the court of the 
 profligate Charles. Opposition was excited by their high- 
 handed measures, and another party sprang into existence; 
 it was composed of the Presbyterians, Quakers, and the 
 Huguenots, who had recently been admitted to the rights 
 of citizenship. The disputes were chiefly in relation to 
 rents and land tenures. 
 
 In the midst of this confusion, an upright Quaker, 
 John Arehdale, was elected governor. He assumed the 1694 
 part of mediator, and attempted, with some success, to 
 reconcile the disputants. In selecting his council he chose 
 men of all parties, and by various judicious regulations 
 partially allayed the strife. By just treatment he made 
 friends of the Indians ; he ransomed and sent home some 
 of their Indian converts, who were held by a neighboring 
 tribe as slaves, and thus conciliated the Spaniards at St. 
 Augustine. The kind act was reciprocated ; the Spaniards 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, restored to their friends some English sailors shipwrecked 
 XT. , . ° '■ 
 on their coast. 
 
 1694. The Dissenters numbered two-thirds of the population, 
 
 yet, for the sake of peace, they consented that one minister 
 of the Church of England should be maintained at the 
 public expense. Upon one occasion the Churchmen and 
 aristocracy accidentally had a majority of one in the 
 Assembly ; they manifested their gratitude for the con- 
 cession just mentioned, by depriving the Dissenters of all 
 their political privileges ; they made the Church of Eng- 
 land the established church, to be maintained at the pub- 
 lic expense, and proceeded to divide the colony into 
 parishes, to which the " Society for the Proijagatiou of 
 
 1704. the Gospel" was to appoint pastors. The aggrieved 
 people appealed to the House of Lords for redress ; and 
 the intolerant act of the Legislature was declared to be 
 null and void. The law disfranchising Dissenters was re- 
 pealed, that granting a support to the Church of England 
 remained in force till the Eevolution. 
 
 Notwithstanding these difficulties the colony pros- 
 pered, and increased in numbers from emigration. Among 
 these a company from Massachusetts formed a settlement 
 
 1698 twenty miles back of Charleston. During Archdale's ad- 
 ministration, the captain of a shij) from Madagascar gave 
 him some rice, which he distributed among the planters 
 to be sown. The experiment was successfid, and soon 
 Carolina rice was celebrated as the best in the world. 
 The fur trade with the Indians was also profitable, while 
 the forests produced their share of profit in lumber and 
 tar. 
 
 The colonists attempted to manufacture domestic 
 cloths to supply their own wants ; an enterprise they were 
 soon compelled to abandon. The manufacturers and mer- 
 chants of England complained, as they themselves wished 
 to enjoy the profits that would arise from supplying them. 
 Parliament passed an act forbidding wooUen goods to be 
 
EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. AUGUSTINE. 149 
 
 transported from one colony to another, or to any foreign ^'^ap. 
 
 port. This unrighteous law, as was designed, broke up 
 
 nearly all colonial trade and manufactures, and gave the 1699. 
 English trader and manufacturer the monopoly of both. 
 We shall see how this policy affected all the colonists. In 
 the Carolinas, they could only engage in planting, and a 
 new impulse was given to the slave trade. 
 
 War had arisen between England and Spain, and their 
 children in the New World unfortunately took up arms 
 against each other. James Moore, who was now governor 
 of Carolina, undertook an expedition against St. Augus- 
 tine. He is represented as a " needy, forward, ambitious 
 man," who was in the habit of kidnapping Indians and 
 selling them as slaves : now he hoped to plunder the 
 Spaniards at St. Augustine. He pressed some vessels into 1702. 
 his service, and set sail with a portion of the troops, and 
 sent others with the Indian allies by land. The town was 
 easily taken, but the soldiers retired to a well fortified fort, 
 and defied the besiegers. Moore must send to the island 
 of Jamaica for cannon, to enable him to take the fort. 
 Meanwhile an Indian ruimer had sped through the forest 
 to Mobile, and informed the French settlers there of what 
 was going on. They sent word to Havana. We may judge 
 the surprise of Moore, when he saw two Spanish men-of- 
 war come to rescue St. Augustine, instead of the vessel he 
 expected from Jamaica. He immediately abandoned his 
 supplies and stores, and made his way by land as best he 
 could, to Charleston. The colony, by this unwise and 
 wicked expedition, only gained a debt which pressed heavily 
 upon the people for years. 
 
 The Appalachees of Florida, under the influence of 
 Spanish priests, had become converts to Romanism ; they 
 built churches, and began to cultivate the soil and live in 
 villages. As free intercourse existed between Florida and 
 Louisiana; the English colonists professed alarm at the 
 influence the French and Spaniards might have over the 
 
150 HISTORY OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Indians of that region. This furnished an excuse for the 
 
 XV 
 
 "a 
 
 ambitiotis Moore to lead an expedition against these inoffen- 
 1V05. sire Indians, whose only crime was, that they were willing 
 to be taught religion and agriculture by Spanish priests. 
 With about fifty whites and one thousand friendly Indians, 
 he went through the wilderness, away across the State of 
 Georgia, down on the Gulf to Appalachee Bay. The first 
 intimation the Indians had of this freebooting expedition 
 was an attack upon their village, one morning at daylight. 
 The assailants met with so warm a reception, that at first 
 they were forced to retire, but not untU they had set fire 
 to a church. There happened to be in the bay a Spanish 
 ship, whose commander the next day, with a few white 
 men and four hundred Indians, made an attack on the 
 invaders, but he was defeated. The Indian villages were 
 now destroyed, the churches plundered of their plate, and 
 numbers of Indians taken captive, and removed to the banks 
 of the Altamaha, while their own country was given to the 
 Seminoles, the allies of the invaders. Thus the English 
 placed Indians friendly to themselves between the Spanish 
 and French settlements, while in virtue of this expedition 
 they claimed the soil of Georgia. More than one hundred 
 and twenty-five years afterward, the descendants of these 
 Seminoles were removed beyond the Mississipi)i. Even 
 then the ruins of churches marked the stations of the Span- 
 ish missions among the Api)alachees. 
 
 The next year brought Charleston two unexpected 
 enemies — a malignant fever, and while it was raging, a 
 squadron of Spanish and French ships to avenge the attack 
 1706. upon the Apjialachees. The people, under William Khet 
 and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, were soon ready to meet them. 
 When they landed, they were opposed at every point, and 
 driven back. A French sliip was captured ; and of the 
 eight hvmdred men who landed, more than three hundred 
 were either killed or taken prisoners. This victory was 
 looked upon as a great triumph. 
 
EELIGIOTJS CONTROVERSIKS. 151 
 
 In this conflict the Huguenots performed well their ^^^^■ 
 
 part. An unusual number of them had settled in Charles- . 
 
 ton ; here they founded a church, its forms of worship the 1693. 
 same as those to which they were accustomed at home. 
 This church still remains, the only one in the land that has 
 preserved inviolate these pristine forms. 
 
 A general effort was now made to extend the influence 
 of the Church of England in the colonies. The politic 
 WiUiam of Orange looked upon the project with a favor- 
 able eye. A " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 in foreign parts " was formed in England. Its object, the 1701. 
 conversion of the Indians, was worthy ; but at this time, 
 by means of worldly men and politicians, its influence was 
 directed to the establishment of the Church of England in 
 all the American colonies. The project everywhere met 
 with great opposition except in Virginia; there the dissent- 
 ers were few in number. This society founded many 
 churches in the colonies, which remain even to this day. 
 
 North Carohna was called the " Sanctuary of Kun- 1712. 
 aways," a " land where there was scarcely any government," 
 with a population made up of " Presbyterians, Independ- 
 ents, Quakers, and other evil-disposed persons." Such was 
 the language of royalists and tliose opposed to freedom in 
 religious opinions. The proprietaries determined to estab- 
 lish the Church of England, and maintain it at public ex- 
 pense. Those who refused to conform to this law were 
 debarred from holding ofiices of trust. The people did 
 refuse, and soon there "was but one clergyman in the 
 whole country;" and those in favor of freedom in religious 
 opinions, were stigmatized as a " rabble of profligate per- 
 sons." These tyrannies finally led to open rebellion on the 
 part of the people, who wished to govern themselves, and 
 when unmolested did it well. 
 
 Thus far North Carolina had escaped the horrors of 
 Indian warfare. There were many tribes west and south 
 of their territory. The greater part of the region now 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, occulted by the States of Greorgia and Alabama, was the 
 
 home of the Creeks or Muscogees, numbering nearly thirty 
 
 1712. thousand. 
 
 The territory of the Yamassees lay immediately west 
 of the settlement on the north bank of the Savannah. In 
 the vicinity were the Oatawbas, on the river wliich per- 
 petuates their name. West of these, a mountaineer tribe, 
 the Cherokees, roamed through the beautiful valleys of 
 the upper Tennessee, while they claimed as their hunting 
 grounds the regions north of them to the Kanawha and 
 the Ohio. 
 
 A great change had come over the powerful tribes 
 along the coast. The Hatteras tribe, which, in Ealeigh's 
 time, one hundred and twenty-five years before, numbered 
 nearly twenty thousand, was now reduced to less than one 
 hundred. Some tribes had entirely disappeared ; had 
 retired farther back into the wilderness, or become extinct. 
 Vices copied from the white man had wrought this ruin. 
 
 The Tuscaroras, a warlike tribe, whose ancestors had 
 emigrated from the north, became alarmed at the en- 
 croachments of the colonists upon their lands. They 
 determined to make an effort to regain their beautiful 
 valleys. 
 
 A company of German exiles from the Rhine had 
 come under the direction of De Graffenried. The proprieta- 
 ries assigned them lands that belonged to the Indians. 
 Lawson, the surveyor-general of the province, and Graffen- 
 ried, when on an exjiloring tour up the Neuse, were seized 
 by a party of Tuscaroras, who hurried them on, day and 
 night, to one of their villages. There several chiefs of the 
 tribe held a council, and discussed the wrongs they had 
 suffered from the English. They finally determined to 
 burn the man, who with compass and chain had marked 
 out their lands into ferms for the settlers. When Graff- 
 enried made known to them that he had been only a short 
 time in the countrv ; that he was the "chief of a differ- 
 
THE TDSCAROEAS EMIGRATE. 153 
 
 ent tribe from the English," and moreover promised to chap. 
 
 take no more of their lands, they did not jjut him to death 
 
 with Lawson. He was kept a prisoner five weeks, and I7l2. 
 then permitted to return home. During this time, the 
 Tuscaroras and their allies, the Corees, had attacked the 
 settlements on the Roanoke and Pamlico sound. The 1711. 
 carnage continued for three days, and many of the poor 
 people, who had fled from persecution at home, perished 
 by the tomahawk in the land of their adoption. 
 
 The people appealed to Virginia and to South CaroUna 1712. 
 for aid. Only a j^art of the Tuscaroras had engaged in 
 the attack. With another portion of the tribe. Spots- 
 wood, governor of Virginia, made a treaty of peace, — the 
 only assistance he could give. Governor Craven of South 
 Carolina sent to their aid a small force, and a number of 
 friendly Indians. These drove the Tuscaroras to their 
 fort, and compelled them to make peace. These same 
 troops, as they were returning home, basely violated the 
 treaty just made ; attacked some Indian towns, and seized 
 their inhabitants to sell them as slaves. The war was of 
 course renewed. The Tuscaroras, driven from one place 
 of concealment to another, and hunted for their scalps or 
 for slaves, finally abandoned their fair lands of the south ; 
 emigrated across Virginia and Pennsylvania to the home 
 of their fathers, and there, at the great council-fire of the 
 Iroquois, or Five Nations, on Oneida lake in New York, 
 were admitted into that confederacy, of which they 
 became the sixth nation. At this time, the people of 1713. 
 Pennsylvania complained of the importation of these cap- 
 tives into their colony. A law was therefore enacted, 
 forbidding the introduction of "negroes and slaves, as 
 exciting the suspicion and dissatisfaction of the Indians 
 of the province." 
 
 The war seemed to be ended, and the traders of South 
 Carolina especially, extended their traffic with the tribes 
 who lived in the region between that colony and the Mis- 
 
154 HISTOEY OF THK tJNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, sissippi. Soon after, these traders were driven from the 
 
 villages of some of the more western tribes. This was 
 
 1V13. attributed to the influence of the French of Louisiana. 
 
 The Yamassees, whom we have seen in alliance with 
 the colonists against the Tuscaroras, when they hoped to 
 obtain captives, now renewed their friendshiji with the 
 Spaniards, with whom they had been at variance, — for they 
 hated the priests, who attempted to convert them. They 
 induced the Catawbas, the Creeks and the Cherokees, 
 who had also been allies of the colonists against the 
 Tuscaroras, to join them. This alliance was likewise 
 attributed to Spanish and French influence. Governoi 
 Spotswood seems to have revealed the truth, when he wrote 
 to the " Board of Trade " in London, that " the Indians 
 never break with the English without gross provocation 
 from persons trading with them." These tribes had been 
 looked ujDon as " a tame and peaceable people," and fair 
 game for unprincipled traders. 
 1715. The savages cunningly laid their plans, and suddenly, 
 
 one morning, fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, killed 
 great numbers and took many prisoners. The people fled 
 toward the sea-shore. A swift runner hastened to Port 
 Eoyal and alarmed the inhabitants, who escaped as best 
 they could to Charleston. The Indians continued to 
 prowl around the settlements, and drove the inhabitants 
 before them, until the colony was on the verge of ruin. 
 
 The enemy received their first check from forces sent 
 from North Carolina. Governor Craven acted with his 
 usual energy, he raised a few troops and went to meet the 
 savage foe. The contest was long and severe ; in the end 
 the Indian power was broken. The Yamassees emigrated 
 to Florida, where they were welcomed with joy by the 
 Spaniards at St. Augustine. The other tribes retired fur- 
 ther into the wilderness. Yet war-parties of the Yamas- 
 sees continued, for years, to make incursions against the 
 frontier settlements, and kept them in a state of alarm. 
 
CHARTER OF THE PROPRIETARIES FORFEITED. 155 
 
 The proprietaries made no effort to protect the colo- chap. 
 
 nists or to share the expense of the war. They at length 
 
 determined, as they must defend themselves, also to man- 1715. 
 age their own affairs, and they resolved " to have no more 
 to do with the proprietaries, nor to have any regard to 
 their officers." On the other hand, the proprietaries com- 
 plained that the " people were industriously searching for 
 grounds of quarrel with them, with the view of throwing 
 off their authority." The matter was brought before Par- 
 liament, which declared the charter of the j^roprietaries to 
 be forfeited. 
 
 Francis Nicholson, who for many years had been ex- 
 perimenting as a colonial governor, and, as he said, " been 
 falsely sworn out of Virginia and lied out of Nova Scotia," 
 was appointed provisional governor. He was not an exam- 1720. 
 pie of good temper, and much less of good morals. He 
 made a treaty with the Cherokees, who were to permit 
 only Englishmen to settle on their lands ; and with the 
 Creeks, whose hunting-grounds were to extend to the 
 Savannah. He had battled against popular rights in the 
 north, now he thought best to make his path easy, and he 
 confirmed aU the laws passed by the revolutionary Assem- 
 bly. However, when he left the country he mourned over 
 the " spirit of commonwealth notions which prevailed," 
 as the result, as he said, of intercourse with the New 
 Englanders, who, at this time, were busily engaged in 
 trading with the Carohnas. 
 
 These disputes were at length ended by an act of Par- 
 liament. Seven of the proprietaries sold out their claims 
 to the government of England. The two Carolinas were 1729. 
 now separated, and a royal governor appointed for each. 
 
CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 COLONIZATION OP GEORGIA. 
 
 Founded in Benevolence. ^Oglethorpe. — First Emigration. — Savannah. — 
 Encouragements. — Germans from the Western Alps. — Augusta. — The 
 Moravians. — Scotch Highlanders. — The Wesleys. — Whitefield, his Or- 
 phan House. — War with Spain ; its Cause. — Failure to Capture St. Au- 
 gustine. Repulse of the Spanish Invaders. — The Colony becomes a 
 Royal Province. 
 
 CHAP. We have seen some colonies founded as asylums for 
 
 X V I. , 
 
 the oppressed for conscience' sake, and others the off- 
 
 1732. spring of royal grants to needy courtiers, — bankrupt in 
 fortune, and sometimes in morals, seeking in their old age 
 to retrieve the foLies of their youth. It is now a pleasure 
 to record the founding of an asylum not alone for the 
 oppressed for conscience' sake, but for the victims of un- 
 righteous law — a colony the offspring of benevolence ; the 
 benevolence of one noble-hearted man ; — one who, born 
 in affluence, devoted his wealth, his mind and his energies 
 to the great work. James Edward Oglethorpe, " the poor 
 man's friend," " a Christian gentleman of the Cavalier 
 school," had sympathy for the unfortunate who were im- 
 mured within prison walls, not for crime, but for debt. 
 He labored to have repealed the laws authorizing such 
 imprisonment, and to reform the entire prison discipline 
 of England. 
 
 His efforts did not end here ; he desired to provide in 
 America an asylum for those who were, while in their own 
 land, at the mercy of heard-hearted creditors, as well as 
 
A TRUST FOR THE POOR. 157 
 
 a place of refuge for the poor, where comfort and happi- chap. 
 
 ness might be the reward of industry and virtue. There 1. 
 
 were, at this time, in England, more than four thousand 1732. 
 men in prison for debt, with no hope of rehef Through 
 his exertions, "multitudes were restored to light and 
 freedom, who by long confinement were strangers and 
 helpless in the country of their birth." 
 
 Others became interested in his schemes of benevo- 
 lence, and a petition numerously signed by men of influ- 
 ence and family was presented to the king. They asked 
 a charter to colonize the territory south of the Savannah 
 river, then included in Carolina, with unfortunate debtors, 
 and with Protestants from the continent of Europe. A 
 grant was given by George II. of the region lying between 
 the Savannah and the Altamaha, and from their head 
 springs west to the Pacific. The territory was to be 
 known as Georgia. It was given " in trust for the poor " 
 to twenty-one trustees for the space of twenty-one years. 
 The trustees manifested their zeal by giving their services 
 without any reward. 
 
 The climate of this region was thought to be very fa- 
 vorable for the raising of silk-worms, and the cultivation 
 of the grape. Merchants, therefore, who could not be 
 otherwise influenced, were induced to favor the cause by 
 hopes of gain. The " free exercise of religion " was guar- 
 anteed to all " except papists." Under no conditions was 
 land to be granted in tracts of more than five hundred 
 acres. This was designed to enable the poor to become 
 owners of the soil, and to prevent the rich fi-om monopo- 
 lizing the best lands. 
 
 Much interest was taken in this new field of benevo- 
 lence, and donations were made by all classes of society. 
 What a transition for the poor debtor ! He was to ex- 
 change the gloomy walls of a prison for a home in that 
 delightful land, where grim poverty never would annoy 
 him more ! It was determined to take as colonists only 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the most needy and helpless, and, as far as possible, ex- 
 '_ elude those of bad morals. 
 
 1732. Thirty-five families, numbering altogether one hundred 
 and fifty persons, embarked for their new homes. While 
 others gave to the enterprise their substance and influ- 
 ence, Oglethorj)e volunteered to superintend the colony in 
 person. They took with them " a clergyman with Bibles, 
 Prayer-books, and Catechisms," and one person who was 
 skilled in the raising of silk. The company landed first 
 at Charleston ; by a vote of the Assembly, they were 
 welcomed, and presented with supplies of rice and cattle. 
 
 Oglethorpe hastened to explore the Savannah. On a 
 bluff twenty miles from its mouth he planted his colony. 
 This bluff was already in the possession of a small band 
 of Indians, from whom it was named the Yamacraw. 
 Through the efforts of Mary Musgrove, who acted as in- 
 tei'preter, the bluS" was purchased. This woman was a 
 daughter of a Uchee chief, and had been sent to school 
 in Charleston, where she had married an English trader. 
 
 1733. The colonists immediately began to build and fortify 
 their town, which they named Savannah, the Indian name 
 of the river. The town was regularly laid out, with wide 
 streets and spacious squares. A garden of some acres 
 was inclosed for a nursery of mulberry-trees to feed silk- 
 worms ; and here also experiments were made, in order to 
 introduce European fruits. 
 
 The aged chief of the little baud of Indians wished 
 protection. He presented to Oglethorpe a buffalo skin, 
 on the inside of which was painted an eagle. " The eagle," 
 said he, " signifies speed, and the buffalo strength ; the 
 English are swift as the eagle, for they have flown over 
 vast seas ; they are as strong as the buffalo, for nothing 
 can withstand them ; the feathers of the eagle are soft, 
 and signify love ; the buffalo's skin is warm, and signifies 
 protection ; therefore, I hope the English will love and 
 protect our little families." The hopes of poor old 
 
EMIGRANTS J MORAVIANS. 159 
 
 Tomochechi and his tribe were doomed to be sadly dis- P^v^P- 
 appointed. , 
 
 The genial climate delighted the colonists, and they 1733. 
 went cheerfully to work, building their houses. The 
 chiefs of the lower Creeks came and made a treaty ; they 
 acknowledged the English rule from the Savannah to the 
 St. John's, and west to the Chattahoochee, and gave 
 them permission to cultivate the lands not used by their 
 own people. Then came a messenger from the distant 
 Cherokees, pledging the friendship of his tribe. Soon 
 after came a Choctaw chief saying, " I have come a 
 great way ; I belong to a great nation ; the French are 
 among us ; we do not like them ; they build forts and 
 trade with us ; their goods are poor, and we wish to trade 
 with you." Thus the way was opened for a profitable 
 traffic with the tribes north of the gulf, and west to the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The fame of this delightful land reached Europe, and 
 penetrated even into the fastnesses of the western Alps. 
 There, long ages before the time of Luther's Reformation, 
 a pure gospel had been preached, but now a persecution 
 was raging. The sufferings of these Moravians deeply 
 enlisted the sympathies of the English people. These 
 Germans were invited by the " Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel," to emigrate to Georgia, where they 
 could be free from their persecutors, and lands were offered 
 them ; but they rejoiced more than all in the opportunity 
 given them to carry the gospel to the Indians. Money 
 was subscribed by the benevolent in England to enable 
 them to travel from Avigsburg, across the country to 
 Frankfort on the Main. Nearly one hundred set out on 
 their pilgrimage ; they took with them, in wagons, their 
 wives and children ; their Bibles and books of devotion. 
 The men as they travelled on foot beguiled the toils of their 
 journey by singing praises to God, and offering prayers for 
 his guiding hand, and his blessing on their enterprise. 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. They passed down the Main to its junction with the 
 L Rhine, and thence floated down to Eotterdam, where they 
 
 1733. were joined by two clergymen, Bolzins and Grouau. They 
 sailed to England, and were there met and encouraged by 
 a committee of the trustees, and thence to their distant 
 home across the ocean. The faith that had cheered them 
 on their native mountains, sustained them amid the 
 storms of the Atlantic ; when, during a terrible tempest, 
 the waves broke over the ship, and caused an outcry of 
 alarm from the English, they continued their devotions 
 and calmly sung on. When one of them was asked, 
 " Were you not afraid ? " "I thank God, no," was the 
 reply. " But were not your women and children afraid .'' " 
 " No, our women and children are not afraid to die." 
 
 A passage of fifty-seven days brought them to receive 
 a hearty welcome at Charleston from Oglethorpe, and in 
 
 1734. less than a week they were at their journey's end. A 
 suitable place had been chosen for their residence, they 
 founded a village a short distance above Savannah, and 
 significantly named it Ebenezer. In gratitude they raised 
 a monumental stone as a memento of the goodness of God 
 in thus bringing them to a land of rest. They were joined 
 from time to time by others from their native land. By 
 their industry and good morals they secured prosperity, 
 and also the respect of their fellow-colonists. 
 
 At the head of boat navigation on the Savannah the 
 town of Augusta was now founded. This soon became 
 an important trading post with the Indians. 
 
 Oglethorpe gave himself unweariedly to the work of 
 benefiting those he governed. The success of the enter- 
 prise may be safely attributed to his disinterested labors. 
 " He," said Governor Johnson, of South Carolina, " nobly 
 devotes all his powers to save the poor, and to rescue them 
 from their wretchedness." After the residence of a year 
 and a half he returned to England, taking with him 
 
JOHN' AND CHARLES WESLEY. 161 
 
 several Indian chiefs, and raw silk — the product of the ^^ap. 
 colony — sufficient to make a robe for the queen. 
 
 As an inducement for settlers, the trustees offered to 1734. 
 each one who should emigrate, at his own expense, 
 fifty acres of land. On these conditions came a number 
 of Moravians or United Brethren, with the intention of 
 devoting themselves to the conversion of the Indians. i735. 
 They formed a new settlement on the Ogeechee, south of 
 the Savannah. 
 
 The same benevolent spirit which had relieved poor 
 debtors in i^rison, now devised measures to ward off one 
 of the most effective causes of debt and wretchedness ; 
 and accordingly the importation of rum into the colony 
 was prohibited. The trustees also forbid negro slavery, 
 " that misfortune of other plantations." They did not 
 wish to see their province "filled with blacks, the preca- 
 rious property of a few." They looked upon it as cruel 
 and inhuman, and injurious to the " poor white settlers," 
 for whom, in trust, they held the colony. 
 
 The next year Oglethorpe returned, with more emi- 1736. 
 grants, among whom was a party of Scotch Highlanders, 
 with their minister, John McLeod. These founded a set- 
 tlement at Darien, on the Altamaha. There likewise 
 came two young men as preachers to the people, and as 
 missionaries to the Indians. These were the brothers 
 John and Charles Wesley, — men of ardent piety and zeal- 
 ous in the cause of religion, they hoped to make the 
 colony eminent for its religious character. Enthusiastic 
 in their feehngs, and perhaps a little wanting in discretion, 
 certainly in experience, they were soon involved in trouble. 
 For a time, John Wesley drew crowds of hearers ; places 
 of amusement were almost deserted. We doubt not that 
 he spoke the truth plainly, and in accordance with his 
 duty, but his austere manners and denunciation of sin 
 created him enemies. In one case, his severe exercise of 
 church discipline excited bitter feeling against himself, 
 11 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, and sympathy for the victim of his injudicious zeal. 
 
 '_ Charles Wesley was, for awhile, the secretary of Ogle- 
 
 1738. thorpe, but in some unexplained manner he gave oifence 
 to his patron ; at length an explanation took place, and a 
 reconciliation. Kind and gentle in his nature, he was 
 unfitted to endure the hardships to be encountered, and 
 to sympathize with the unpolished colonists of Georgia. 
 After a residence of less than two years, the Wesleys, dis- 
 appointed in their hopes of doing good there, left the 
 colony forever. In their native land they became the 
 founders of the denomination of Methodists, who have 
 been, in that very colony, as well as in others, among the 
 foremost in carrying the gospel to destitute settlements. 
 Thus their labors were blessed, their prayers were an- 
 swered, and their hopes realized ; but, as is often the case 
 in the ways of Infinite Wisdom, not in the form and 
 manner in which they expected. 
 
 Just as the Wesleys, on their return home, were pass- 
 ing up the channel, their friend and fellow-laborer, the 
 celebrated George Whitefield, the most eloquent preacher 
 of his day, was leaving England to join them in Georgia. 
 Whitefield had commenced preaching when a mere youth, 
 and by his wonderful eloquence drew great crowds. He 
 first preached in the prisons, and then to the poor in the 
 open fields. Now he felt it his duty to visit the colonies. 
 When he arrived in Georgia, his .sympathies were much 
 enlisted in behalf of the destitute children, left orphans. 
 He visited the Moravians at Ebenezer, where he noticed 
 their asylum for poor children, and determined, if possible, 
 to found a similar one. By his fervent zeal in the cause 
 he obtained sufficient funds in England and America. 
 The institution was founded a few miles from Savannah. 
 During his lifetime it flourished ; at his death it began to 
 languish, and finally passed out of existence. 
 
 The Spaniards were not pleased with the encroach- 
 ments of the English upon what they deemed their terri- 
 
ENGLISH TRADERS ; WAR WITH SPAIN. 163 
 
 tory, and tliey sent commissioners to protest against it, '^'^^P- 
 
 and to demand the surrender of all Georgia and part of 
 
 Carolina. When tliis was unheeded, they prepared to ex- 1738. 
 pel the invaders. There were other causes, which made 
 it evident that war would soon take place between the 
 mother countries, in which the colonies would certainly 
 become involved. 
 
 The European governments restricted the commerce 
 of their colonies so as to make them subserve their own 
 interests. Those belonging to Spain must trade only with 
 the port of Cadiz, and the merchandise shipped to them 
 was sold at enormous prices. The English traders per- 
 sisted in smuggling goods into the Spanish ports. To 
 accomplish this they resorted to various stratagems. By 
 treaty, an English vessel was permitted to come once a 
 year to Portobello and dispose of her cargo ; but this 
 vessel was followed by others ; they came in the night 
 time, and slipped in more bales to supply the place of 
 those sold, and continued to do this, till the market was 
 supplied. Sometimes, under the pretence of distress, ships 
 would run into Spanish ports, and thus dispose of their 
 cargoes. 
 
 Though Spain was rich and feeble, she was haughty 
 and cruel ; and when any of these worthies, who were 
 engaged in violating her laws, were caught, they were 
 severely dealt with. Sometimes they were imprisoned, 
 and sometimes their ears were cropped. This exasperated 
 the traders, and though justly punished, they came with 
 the assurance of ill-treated men, to ask protection from 
 their own government. They were looked upon as mar- 
 tyrs to the cause of free commerce, and merchants, in 
 defence of such men as these, did not blush to clamor for 
 war, in the face of justice and national integrity. In 
 truth, the English government connived at this clandes- 
 tine trade, and secretly rejoiced at the advantage gained 
 over her rival. By this connivance at injustice she gave 
 
164 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, her own colonies a lesson on the subject of their trade, 
 
 ' which, in less than half a century, she found, to her sur- 
 
 1738. prise, they had fully learned. 
 
 Another source of irritation to the people of South 
 Carolina, was that slaves, who ran away to Florida and 
 put themselves under Spanish protection, were not only 
 welcomed, hut given lands ; organized into military com- 
 panies, and armed at the public expense. A demand 
 made upon the authorities at St. Augustine to restore the 
 runaways, was promptly refused. Ogiethorj^e hastened to 
 
 1737. England to make preparations for the coming contest, and 
 returned in less than a year, with a regiment of six hun- 
 dred men, which he himself had raised and disciplined. 
 He was now prepared to defend the southern boundary of 
 Georgia. He renewed treaties with the Indian tribes 
 north of the Gulf from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, 
 and hoped to retain them in his interest. War was, at 
 
 ■IY39 length, declared by England against Spain, and Ogle- 
 thorpe received orders, as military commander in Georgia 
 and the Carolinas, to invade Florida. With his usual 
 energy, he hastened to Charleston to make the necessary 
 preparations. Supplies were voted and a regiment en- 
 listed ; and, joined by Indian allies, he set out to lay 
 siege to St. Augustine. He found the garrison much 
 more numerous than he expected, and the fortifications 
 stronger. After a short siege, the Indians began to desert, 
 and the Carolina regiment, enfeebled by sickness, returned 
 home. In five weeks the enterprise was abandoned. On 
 this occasion, Oglethorpe exhibited the kindness of his 
 nature ; he endured all the privations of the common sol- 
 diers. The captives taken were treated kindly, no houses 
 
 1740. were burned, and but little property destroyed. 
 
 This war had a very bad eifect upon the colony of 
 Georgia. Instead of making farmers of the settlers, it 
 made them soldiers, and their farms were neglected. The 
 Moravians, who were religiously opposed to bearing arms, 
 
July. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS INVADE GEORGIA. 165 
 
 left the colony in great numbers, and emigrated, with *^xv/'' 
 other disaffected persons, to the Carolinas. 
 
 It was ere long the turn of Georgia to he invaded. I'i'^O- 
 For this purpose, the Spaniards at Havana and St. 
 Augustine fitted out thirty-six vessels and three thousand ITiS. 
 troops. The commander, Monteano, instead of sailing 
 direct for Savannah, became entangled among the islands, 
 near the mouths of the St. Mary and the Altamaha, while 
 endeavoring to take possession of one or two insignificant 
 settlements. Oglethorpe ascertained the intention of the 
 enemy, hut as he had received no assistance from CaroUna, 
 was ill prepared to meet them. Having but eight hun- 
 dred men, he was forced to retreat from Cumberland 
 island to St. Simons, on which was the little town of 
 Frederica, the special object of the Spanish attack. 
 
 After the enemy landed he went to surprise them in 
 the night, but as he approached their lines, one of his 
 soldiers, a Frenchman, fired his gun, rushed into the ene- 
 my's camp, and gave the alarm. Oglethorpe employed 
 stratagem to throw suspicion uj)on the deserter ; he wrote 
 him a letter, in which he addressed him as a spy for the 
 EngUsh, and directed him to induce the Spaniards to 
 attack them, or at least to remain where they were until 
 the EngUsh fleet of six men-of-war, which had sailed from 
 Charleston, should reach St. Augustine, and capture it. 
 This letter he bribed a Sj)anish prisoner to carry to the 
 Frenchman. As was to be expected, it was taken imme- 
 diately to the Spanish commander, and the Frenchman 
 soon found loimself in irons. In the midst of the alarm, 
 some Carolina ships, laden with supplies for Oglethorpe, 
 appeared in the ofiing. Thinking these the veritable men- 
 of-war mentioned in the letter, the invaders determined 
 to attack and destroy Frederica, before they should sail 
 to defend St. Augustine. On the way they fell into an 
 ambuscade, and, at a place since known as the " Bloody 
 Marsh," they were signally defeated. The following night 
 
166 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 P^P- they emtarked, and sailed to defend St. Augustine from 
 the expected attack. Thus Georgia and the Carolinas 
 
 1743. were saved from ruin. 
 
 The following year Oglethorpe left the colony forever. 
 There he had spent ten years of toil and self-denial ; he 
 had for his reward no personal benefit, but the satisfaction 
 of founding a State, and of leaving it in a prosperous con- 
 dition. The form of government was changed from a 
 military to a civil rule, and the various magistrates were 
 appointed. 
 
 In time, slavery Avas gradually introduced. Slaves 
 were at first hired from the Carolinas, for a short time, 
 and then for one hundred years. The German settlers 
 were industrious and frugal, and so were the Highlanders. 
 They were opposed to the introduction of slaves. On the 
 other hand, great numbers of the English settlers were 
 idle and bankrupt from their improvidence ; " they were 
 unwilling to labor, but were clamorous for privileges to 
 which they had no right." They contended that rum was 
 essential to health in that climate, and that none but 
 slaves could cultivate the soil of Georgia ; and, in seven 
 years after the benevolent Oglethorpe left, slave ships 
 brought negroes to Savannah, direct from Africa. 
 
 1750. The trustees, when the twenty-one years for which 
 
 they were to manage the " colony for the poor " were 
 expired, resigned their trust, and Georgia became a royal 
 
 1753. province. 
 
CHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 NEW ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES 11. AND JAilES II. 
 
 The Restoration. — The Commissioners. — Progress of Trade. — Causes of 
 King Philip's War.— Death of Wamsutta.— State of the Colony. — At- 
 tack at Swanzey. — Philip among the Nipmucks. — Attacks on Northfield, 
 and on Hadley. — Goffe. — The Tragedy at Bloody Brook. — Philip among 
 the Narragansets. — Their Fort captured. — The Warriors take Revenge. 
 — Philip returns to Mount Hope to die. — Disasters of the War. — James 
 II. — The Charters in danger. — Andros Governor ; his illegal Measures ; 
 takes away the Charter of Rhode Island ; not so successful at Hart- 
 ford. — Andros in Jail. — The Charters resumed. 
 
 The first intimation of the restoration of Charles II. chap. 
 
 XVII 
 
 was brought to New England by two fugitives, WhaUey '_ 
 
 and GofFe. They came branded as regicides, for they sat 166O. 
 on the trial of Charles I. They had fled for their lives ; 
 ere long came the royal command to deliver them up to 
 their pursuers, that they might be taken back to England 
 and there punished. But royal commands and rewards 
 were of no avail, the stern republicans were not betrayed ; 
 the people gloried in protecting them. 
 
 Kumors were afloat that the governments of all the 
 colonies were to be changed, and that soon armed ships 
 might be expected in the harbor of Boston, sent to enforce 
 the royal authority. After a year's delay, it was thought 
 prudent to proclaim Charles as king. It was done ungra- 
 ciously, as all manifestations of joy were forbidden. 
 
 From time to time intelligence came of the execution 
 of many of their best friends in England ; among these 
 were Hugh Peters and Sir Harry Vane : news came also 
 
168 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, that Episcopacy was again in power, and that more than 
 
 . two thousand clergymen had been driven from their con- 
 
 1663. gregations because they would not conform. At length, 
 two agents were sent to conciliate the king, and to make 
 guarded professions of loyalty, as well as to ask permission 
 to make laws against the Quakers. 
 
 Connecticut and Khode Island had both received lib- 
 eral charters from Charles, the former obtained principally 
 through the influence of the younger Winthrop. Mean- 
 time the intolerance of Massachusetts had raised up 
 against her a host of enemies, who were continually whis- 
 pering their complaints into the royal ear. The alarm was 
 presently increased, by information that commissioners 
 had been appointed to inc[uire into the affairs of the 
 colony. To provide for the future, the charter was, for 
 safe-keeping, secretly given to a committee appointed by 
 the General Court. 
 
 When the commissioners came, they outraged the 
 prejudices of the people by having the Episcopal service 
 performed in Boston. The Puritans observed the evening 
 of Saturday as holy time ; after the Jewish custom, they 
 commenced their Sabbath at sunset. As if to annoy 
 them, the commissioners habitually spent their Saturday 
 evenings in carousals. They also took in hand to redress 
 grievances, and invited all those who had complaints to 
 make against the Massachusetts colony, to bring them to 
 their knowledge. Rhode Island came with her complaints, 
 and the Narraganset chiefs with theirs ; but the Greneral 
 Court cut the matter short, by forbidding such proceed- 
 ings, as contrary to the charter. 
 
 The laws passed by the mother country for the express 
 purpose of crippHng the trade of the colonies, could not 
 be enforced, and Boston especially attracted attention by 
 her prosperous commerce. Industry and temperance in- 
 sured the prosperity of the people, and they increased in 
 riches and in numbers ; they also found means to indulge 
 
CAUSES OF KING PHILIP'S WAR. 169 
 
 their taste, and began to embellisb tbeir villages. Massa- ^^f- 
 
 chusetts traded not only with the other colonies, but her 1 
 
 shi2is were found in every sea where commerce invited, 1663. 
 and not only England traded with her, but France and 
 Spain, Holland and Italy, were competitors for her favors. 
 
 For forty years there had been no Indian war in New 
 England ; the fate of the Pequods was not forgotten. 
 During this time the number of the Indians had not 
 diminished, while that of the colonists had greatly in- 
 creased. Their farms had extended in every direction ; 
 they gradually absorbed the best lands of the country, 
 and crowded the Indians down on the little bays and pen- 
 insulas, on the southern shore of Massachusetts and Rhode 
 Island. This policy was openly avowed, as thereby they 
 could be more easily watched. 
 
 The Wampanoags and Narragansets were especially 
 aggrieved. They could not, without great exertion, obtain 
 the means of living ; the animals which they hunted, had 
 been nearly all driven away, and they were forced to de- 
 pend upon fish, and of these they could obtain but a 
 scanty supply, and they had not learned the art of culti- 
 vating the soil, but in a very rude manner. 
 
 Massasoit, the friend who had welcomed the early 
 Pilgrims, left two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom. Years 
 before their father's death these young men went to Plym- 
 outh, where they entered into friendly relations with the 
 English, and received from them the names by which we 
 know them, Alexander and Philip. They were no ordi- 
 nary men, they seemed to have perceived from the first 
 the dangers that threatened their race. If so, they con- 
 cealed their impressions, and could never be won over to 
 the religion of the English. When Massasoit died, and 
 Wamsutta became cliief sachem of the Wampanoags, the 
 colonists, incited by Uncas, chief of the Mohegans, his 
 bitter enemy, became suspicious of him. As he reposed 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP- at his hunting lodge with eighty of his followers, he was 
 
 surprised by Winslovv, who had been sent with an armed 
 
 1671. force to bring him to the court at Plymouth. Wamsutta 
 thought not of danger ; liis arms and those of his warriors 
 were outside the lodge and easily secured. When Wins- 
 low, with his pistol at his breast, told tlie astonished chief 
 he must go with liim, his proud spirit was roused to bitter 
 indignation. His exasperation threw him into a fever so 
 violent, that he was unable to proceed far. In conse- 
 quence of his illness he was permitted to return home. 
 " He died on his way. He was carried home on the shoul- 
 ders of men, and borne to his silent grave near Mount 
 Hope, in the evening of the day, and in the prime of his 
 life, between lines of sad, quick-minded Indians, who well 
 believed him the victim of injustice and ingratitude ; for 
 his father had been the ally, not the subject of England, 
 and so was he, and the like indignity had not before been 
 put upon any sachem."* 
 
 It is natural to suppose that the untimely and tragical 
 fate of Wamsutta gave character to the latent hostility 
 that existed in the mind of his brother Philip toward the 
 English race. Soon suspicions fell upon him, and at one 
 time he was harshly treated, and compelled to give up his 
 fire-arms. A praying Indian, who lived with Philip, told 
 1675. ^]^Q colonists that the Wampanoags entertained some de- 
 signs against them. There is some doubt as to the truth 
 of this story ; however, a short time after this Indian was 
 found murdered. Suspicion fell upon three of Philip's 
 men, who were apprehended by the authorities of Plym- 
 outh, and brought to trial ; they were pronounced guilty 
 by a jury composed of English and Indians. The execu- 
 tion of these men aroused the slumbering enmity of the 
 tribe. The young warriors were clamorous for war, while 
 the old men dreaded the contest. Philip, from his supe- 
 
 * Elliott's Uist. of New England. 
 
THE WAR BEGINS AT SWANZEY. 171 
 
 rior sagacity, foresaw that an attempt to regain their chap. 
 lands would end in their own destruction. 1 
 
 The colonists could now have warded off the strife by 1675. 
 concihating the Indians. No effort was made to soothe 
 their wounded feelings, they were treated as " bloody 
 heathen," whom it was their duty, as " the chosen of the 
 Lord," to drive out of the land. Avarice, contrary to ex- 
 press law, had been for many years furnishing the savages 
 with fire-arms, and when the contest came, they were far 
 more formidable than the Pequods had been ; to conquer 
 them required a great sacrifice of the best blood of the 
 colony. 
 
 Though there were settlements more or less extending 
 from Boston to Westfield on the west, and to Northfield 
 in the Connecticut valley on the borders of Vermont, and 
 on the north to Haverhill on the Merrimac, there were 
 vast solitudes, whose secret glens and hiding-places were 
 known only to the Indians. The spirit of the tribes near 
 the settlements was broken by their contact with the 
 superior whites, but Philip had under his control seven 
 hundred brave warriors, who rejoiced in their freedom, and 
 scorned to be the subjects of any white chief beyond the 
 great waters. They not only rejected the religion of the 
 white man, but despised those tribes who had adopted it. 
 
 In prospect of the threatened war, a day of fasting 
 and prayer was observed ; as the people were returning 
 from church at Swanzey, they were suddenly attacked by 
 a company of Philip's men, and seven or eight persons June 
 killed. Philip shed tears when he heard that blood had ^'^' 
 been shed ; the dreaded ruin of his people was drawing 
 near. His tribe, single-handed, entered upon the con- 
 test ; the others were either the allies of the English or 
 indifl'erent. He scorned to desert his people, or forfeit his 
 character as a warrior, and he threw himself into the con- 
 test with the whole energy of his nature. 
 
 The war began within the bounds of the Plymouth 
 
172 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, colony ; but volunteers hastened to its aid from Massa- 
 
 XVII. "^ 
 
 chusetts. The army invaded the territory of the Wam- 
 
 1675. panoags, and in a few weeks Philip, driven from Mount 
 Hope, became a fugitive among the Nipmucks, a tribe 
 in the interior of Massachusetts. After the flight of 
 Philip and his warriors, the little army went into the 
 territory of the Narragansets, and compelled them to 
 promise neutrality, and also to deliver up the fugitive 
 Indians who should flee to them. They fondly hoped the 
 war was at an end ; but this was only its beginning. 
 
 The Nipmucks were induced to make common cause 
 July with Philip and his tribe. His warriors, partially armed 
 ^^- with muskets, prowled round the settlements, ruthlessly 
 murdered the whites, and treated their remains with sav- 
 age barbarity. The Indians were familiar with the hidden 
 paths of the wilderness ; not daring to meet the colonists 
 in open conflict, they watched for opportunities of secret 
 attack. It was not known when or where the storm 
 would burst, and the terror-stricken inhabitants along the 
 frontiers fled to the more thickly settled portions. 
 
 Superstition added her terrors. The people saw an 
 Indian bow drawn across the heavens ; a scalp appeared 
 on the face of the eclipsed moon ; troops of phantom 
 horsemen galloped through the air ; the bowlings of the 
 wolves were more than iisually fearful, and portended some 
 terrible ruin ; whizzing buUets were heard in the whist- 
 ling wind ; the northern lights glowed with an unusual 
 glare — the harbinger of the punishment of sin. They be- 
 gan to enumerate their sins ; among these were the 
 neglect of the training of children, the using of profane 
 language, the existence of tippling houses, the want of 
 respect for parents, the wearing of long and curled hair 
 by the men, the flaunting of gaudy-colored ribbons by 
 the women ; and intolerance whispered that they had 
 been too lenient to the Quakers. 
 
 The Nipmucks had fifteen hundred warriors ; with 
 
GOFFE THE KEGICIDE. 173 
 
 some of these Philip hastened to the valley of the Con- ™i)f- 
 
 necticut, and spread desolation from Springfield, through 
 
 all the settlements to the farthest town of Northfield. 1G75. 
 
 An efl'ort was made to win back the Nipmucks to Aug. 
 their old allegiance ; and Captain Hutchinson, son of 
 Anne Hutchinson, was sent with twenty men to treat 
 with them, but the whole company was waylaid and mur- 
 dered at Brookficld. That jjlace was burned ; the people 
 fled to the strongest house, which was besieged two days, 
 and finally set on fire ; but providentially a storm of rain 
 extinguished the flames, and others coming to their assist- 
 ance, the Indians were driven otf. 
 
 The enemy concerted to make their attacks on the 
 same day and hour, in difierent parts of the country. On 
 the Sabbath, which seems to have been chosen by them 
 as the day most favorable for an attack, they burned 
 Deerfield ; and, as the people were worshipi^ing in church, 
 they attacked Hadley. Suddenly there appeared a tall 
 and venerable looking man, with a white flowing beard, 
 who brandished a sword and encouraged and directed the 
 people in the battle. When the savages Avere driven off, 
 he disapjjeared ; some thought him an angel, specially 
 sent by heaven to their aid. It was Gofle, one of the reg- 
 icides of whom we have spoken. These regicides had 
 been hunted by zealous royalists from one place of refuge 
 to another ; now they were sheltered by the good minister, 
 John Davenport, of New Haven ; now by friends at Mil- 
 ford ; now they had wandered in the pathless wilderness, 
 and once they had heard the sound of their enemies' 
 horses, as in hot pursuit of them, they crossed the very 
 bridge under which they were secreted ; they had rested 
 in a cave on the top of " West Keck," New Haven, known 
 to this day as the "Judges' Cave," and at this time they 
 were living secretly in the house of minister Russell, at 
 Hadley. Thus they passed their remaining years ban- 
 ished from society and from the occupations of life. 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. A company of chosen young men, " the flower of the 
 
 1 county of Essex," eighty in number, were engaged in 
 
 1675. bringing the fruits of harvest down from the vicinity of 
 
 Deerfiekl to Hadley, where it was proposed to establish a 
 
 magazine for provisions. They fell into an ambuscade of 
 
 seven hundred warriors, and, after a desperate encounter, 
 
 nearly all perished, at the crossing of a little stream, since 
 
 called the " Bloody Brook." 
 
 Sept, Ere lonsr the flourishino; settlement of Hatfield was 
 
 18 
 
 attacked ; and the Indians in the vicinity of Springfield 
 
 were induced to take up arms ; but the people were pre- 
 Oct. pared, and repulsed them. Philip returned home, but 
 finding Mount Hope in ruins, he went among the Narra- 
 gansets. The colonists feared that he would induce them 
 to join him, and in self-defence they resolved to treat 
 them as enemies. The winter, by stripping the trees and 
 bushes of their leaves, had deprived the Indians of their 
 hiding places, and the swamps, their favorite sites for 
 forts, could be passed over when frozen. A company of 
 one thousand men set out to attack their principal fort. 
 This place of defence contained about six hundred wig- 
 wams and nearly three thousand of the tribe ; warriors 
 with their wives and children, and an. abundance of pro- 
 visions for the winter. They thought themselves secure ; 
 they had taken no part in the war. 
 
 Guided by an Indian traitor, the army marched fifteen 
 miles through a deep snow, and finally arrived at the Nar- 
 raganset fort, situated near where the village of Kingston 
 in Ehode Island now stands. Their fort, surrounded by 
 a palisade, stood in the midst of a swamp, and was almost 
 inaccessible ; it had but one entrance, the narrow passage 
 to which was along the body of a fallen tree. After a 
 severe contest of two hours, the English forced themselves 
 within the fort, and applied the torch to the frail and 
 combustible wigwams. A thousand warriors were slain, 
 and hundreds were made prisoners. Their provisions 
 
 Dec. 
 19. 
 
DEATH OF PHILIP. 175 
 
 were all destroyed, and those who escaped were left shel- ™^P- 
 
 terless in the winter storms. They were forced to dig in 
 
 the snow for nuts and acorns to sustain life, and great 1675. 
 numbers died of exposure and famine before spring. The 
 colonists suffered severely ; they lost six captains, and two 
 hundred and fifty men killed and wounded. 
 
 The surviving Narraganset warriors took vengeance ; 
 they went from place to place ; they massacred, they 
 burned, they destroyed. The settlements in their vicinity 
 were abandoned. Though Rhode Island had not joined 
 in the war, they made no distinction, and Providence was 
 almost destroyed. The now aged Eoger Williams felt 
 it his duty to act as captain, in defending the town 
 he had founded. Bands of warriors swept through and 
 through the territory of Plymouth, and the people were 
 only safe when within their forts. Towns in different 
 parts of the country were attacked at the same time ; the 
 enemy seemed to be every where. 
 
 The majority of the Indians continued to fight ; and 1676. 
 though they fought without hope, they preferred death to 
 submission. Others quarrelled among themselves, charg- 
 ing one another with being the cause of the war. At 
 length the Nipmucks submitted ; and the tribes on the Jnne. 
 Connecticut, having grown weary of the contest, would 
 shelter Philip no longer. He now appealed, but in vain, 
 to the Mohawks to take up arms. In desperation, he 
 determined to return and die at Mount Hope. When 
 one of his followers proposed to make peace, the indignant 
 chieftain struck him dead at a blow. It was soon noised 
 abroad that Philip had returned to his old home. Benja- 
 min Church, the most energetic of the English captains, 
 surprised his camp, dispersed his followers, and took pris- 
 oner his wife and little son. PhQip's spirit was now 
 crushed ; he exclaimed : " My heart breaks ; I am ready 
 to die ! " A few days after he was shot by a traitor of his Aug. 
 own tribe. His orphan boy was now to be disposed of. 
 
17G HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. He was taken to Boston ; some were in favor of putting 
 
 him to death, others of selling him into slavery. The 
 
 1676. latter prevailed, and the last prince of the Wampanoags, 
 the grandson of generous old Massasoit, who had welcomed 
 the Pilgrims, and had given them his friendship, was sent 
 to toil as a slave under the burning sun of Bermuda. 
 
 After the close of the war, renewed efforts were made 
 to convert the remaining Indians, hut without success. 
 The habits of a people are not easily changed. If those 
 who came in contact with them had set them a Christian 
 example, as did Eliot, and the "learned and gentle" 
 Mayhew, the effect might have been different. The war 
 had completely broken the power of the Indians. The 
 more bold emigrated to Canada, and avenged themselves 
 in after years, by guiding war parties of the French against 
 the English settlements. Some went to the west, and, it 
 is said, their descendants are at this day roaming over its 
 wide prairies. But the great majority lost their native 
 independence, and became still more degraded by marry- 
 ing with the negroes. At this day, a few descendants of 
 the warriors who once roved over the hills and valleys of 
 New England, may be seen lingering in the land of their 
 fathers. 
 
 For a time the effect of the war was disastrous ; 
 though it lasted but little more than a year, a dozen vil- 
 lages were in ashes, and others nearly destroyed. Of the 
 private dwellings, a tenth part had been burned, six hun- 
 dred of the men of the colony had perished in battle, not 
 to mention the women and children ruthlessly massacred. 
 Almost every family was in mourning. The expenses of 
 the war were great, and for years weighed heavily upon 
 the people, while the desolation of the settlements par- 
 alyzed their energies. 
 
 No aid came to the sufferers from England ; but be it 
 remembered, that a Non-conformist church in Dublin 
 sent them five hundred pounds. Instead of aiding them, 
 
DESPOTISM OF JAMES. 177 
 
 the spendthrift Charles devised means to extort money ^-^P- 
 
 from them by taxing their trade. This led to the estab- 
 
 lishment of a royal custom-house in Boston. To compel 1676. 
 the merchants to pay tribute, he threatened to deprive 
 them of English passes for their ships in the Mediterra- 
 nean, where, without redress, they might be robbed by 
 pirates along the Barbary coast ; and he also threatened 
 to deprive them of their trade with the southern colonies. 
 These threats had little effect upon men who had learned 
 to take care of themselves. 
 
 James II., the brother and successor of Charles, was less. 
 bigoted and stubborn ; a Catholic in disguise, he wished 
 to establish that form of rehgion, not only in England, 
 but in the colonies. The more easily to accomplish this 
 object he professed to be very tolerant, and proclaimed 
 what he termed an Indulgence, by which persecution for 
 religious opinions was henceforth to end. Tliis tolerance 
 was only a means to evade the laws, which prohibited the 
 introduction of Komish ceremonies and doctrines into the 
 Church of England. He became a bitter persecutor ; in 
 truth, to comprehend the idea of the rights of conscience 
 or of reUgious freedom, was far beyond the capacity of 
 James. That time-serving pohtician, Joseph Dudley, a 
 native of Massachusetts, who, when it was profitable, was 
 a zealous advocate of colonial rights, now became an ear- ^ggg 
 nest defender of the prerogative of the king. He was 
 aj^pointcd the royal president of Massachusetts, until a 
 governor should arrive. There could be no free press 
 under a Stuart, and Edward Kandolph was appointed its 
 censor. Eandolph disliked the people of Massachusetts 
 as cordially as they hated him. The commission of Dud- 
 ley contained no recognition of an Assembly or Represent- 
 atives of the people. James was at a loss to see the use 
 of a legislature to make laws, when his wisdom could be 
 appealed to for that purpose. Dudley, looked upon as 
 the betrayer of his country's hberties, was very unpopu- 
 12 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CSAK lar, while Eandolph took pains to have his character as 
 
 httle respected at court, hy representing him as having 
 
 1686. "his fortune to make," and wilhng to "cringe and bow 
 to any thing." 
 
 James had resolved to take away the charters of all 
 the colonies and make them royal jjrovinces. Ere long 
 came Sir Edmund Andros, as governor of all New Eng- 
 land. A fit instrument of a despot, he was authorized 
 to impose taxes, to appoint his own council, to have the 
 control of the militia, to prohibit printing, to introduce 
 Episcopacy, and to enforce the laws restricting the trade 
 of the colonies. That he might have the means to fulfil 
 his instructions, he brought two companies of soldiers — the 
 first ever stationed in "New England. As a reward for his 
 desertion of the people's rights, Dudley was appointed 
 Chief Justice, and the busy Eandolph Colonial Secretary, 
 and William Stoughton, through the influence of Dudley, 
 was named one of the council. Now followed a series of 
 measures exceedingly annoying to the people. Their 
 schools were left to languish. To assemble for delibera- 
 tion on any public matter was forbidden ; but it was 
 graciously i:(ermitted them to vote for their town officers. 
 The customs of the country were not respected. The 
 usual form of administering an oath was that of an appeal 
 to heaven by the uplifted hand ; the form now prescribed 
 was that of laying the hand on the Bible, which the Pu- 
 ritans thought idolatrous, — a relic of popery. Exorbitant 
 fees were extorted ; those who held lands were told their 
 titles were not valid, because they were obtained under a 
 charter which was now declared to be forfeited ; and when 
 an Indian deed was presented, it was decided to be " worth 
 no more than the scratch of a bear's jiaw." No person 
 could leave the colony without a ^tass from the governor. 
 No magistrate nor minister — who was deemed merely a 
 layman — could unite persons in marriage. The Episcopal 
 clergyman at Boston was the only person in all New Eng- 
 
ANDBOS AT HARTFORD. 179 
 
 land authorized to perform that ceremony. Episcopacy chap. 
 
 was now fully introduced, and the people required to fur- 
 
 nish funds to build a church for its service. A tax of the 1686. 
 same amount was levied upon each person, poor or rich ; 
 this some of the towns refused to pay. John Wise, the min- 
 ister of Ipswich, was hold to say the tax was unjust, and 
 ought not to he paid. For this he was arrested. When 
 he spoke of his privileges as an Englishman, he was told 
 the only privilege he could claim was not to be sold as a 
 slave ; with others, he was fined heavily. When it was 
 said that such proceedings woidd affect the prosperity of 
 the country, it was openly avowed that " it was not for 
 his majesty's interest that the countiy should thrive." 
 " No man coidd say that any thing was his own." 
 
 Andros now demanded of Khode Island her charter, 
 but as she did not send it, he went to Providence, and 
 breaking the seal of the colony declared its government 
 dissolved. He then went with an armed guard to Hart- ^ggp^^ 
 ford, and demanded the charter of the colony of Connec- 
 ticut. The Assembly was in session. The members 
 received him with outward resjject. The discussion of 
 the subject was protracted till evening, and when candles 
 were Hghted, the charter was brought in and laid on the 
 table. As the eager Andros reached forth his hand to 
 seize the precious document, the lights were suddenly put 
 out ; when they were relighted, the charter was gone. 
 Captain William Wads worth had slipped it away and hid 
 it in a hoUow tree. Andros, foiled and in a rage, resolved, 
 charter or no charter, the jjresent government should 
 cease, and taking the book of records of the Assembly, 
 he wrote at the end of the last record the word finis. 
 The tree in which the charter was hid stood for more than 
 a centxiry and a half, and was visited as an object of his- 1856. 
 torical interest. It was known as the Charter Oak. A 
 few years since, it was blown down in a violent storm. 
 Some time before, a lady of Hartford gathered from it an 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, acom, whicli she planted. The good citizens of that place 
 '_ obtained from her the young oak, and with appropriate 
 
 1687. ceremonies planted it on the spot where stood the parent 
 tree. 
 
 Happily the tyranny of Andros was soon to end. 
 James, in liis zeal to promote the introduction of the 
 Catholic religion, had aroused against him the entire 
 English people. They invited WilUam, Prince of Orange, 
 the husband of Mary, the eldest daughter of James, to 
 take possession of the throne. After finding that his des- 
 potic measures and insincerity had lost him his kingdom, 
 James fled, and the Prince of Orange, under the title of 
 William III., ascended his vacant throne. 
 
 1688. When the news of that great revolution, which estab- 
 ^o^- lished the constitutional rights of the English people, 
 
 reached Boston, it excited the greatest joy ; now they 
 could rid themselves of the tyrant. Andros imprisoned 
 the messenger for spreading false news. The trained 
 bands soon assembled in arms. The craven and guilty 
 governor, bewildered with fear, fled, with his servile coun- 
 cil, to a fort in the town. The aged Simon Bradstreet, 
 now more than fourscore, who was one of the original emi- 
 grants, and had been a magistrate, was urged to assume 
 the office of governor. 
 
 A declaration, said to have been written by Cotton 
 Mather, was published, maintaining the rights of the peo- 
 ple, in which they commit the enterprise to " Him who 
 hears the cry of the oppressed." Andros, in the mean 
 time, made an effort to escape ; but he and Dudley, with 
 the troublesome Kandolph, were speedily lodged in jad. 
 Many were clamorous for their punishment, but generous 
 forbearance prevailed, and they were sent to England for 
 trial. 
 
 Connecticut, paying little respect to the " Finis " of 
 Andros, now brought forth her charter from its hidden 
 place, and resumed her former government. Plymouth 
 
THE MEN OF INFLUENCE. 181 
 
 resumed the constitution framed on board the May- ™^f- 
 
 Flower, and Khode Island her charter. The people of 1 
 
 Massachusetts voted almost unanimously to resume theirs, 1688. 
 but a moderate party, consisting of the former magistrates, 
 and some of the principal inhabitants, chose rather to 
 defer it for the present ; as they hoped to obtain one 
 from William, more in accordance with their own yiews. 
 
 The patriarchs who laid the foundation of the New 
 England colonies had nearly all passed away ; their places 
 were filled by those who had not experienced the trials of 
 their fathers, but had learned of them by tradition. The 
 Puritans lived in serious times — times that made rugged 
 Christians as well as rugged soldiers. They may have 
 lacked the gentler graces that adorn those living almost 
 two centuries later, and enjoying greater privileges, when 
 the combined influence of Christianity, science, and refine- 
 ment have produced a more perfect effect. They consci- 
 entiously filled their sphere of duty in the age in which 
 they lived, and we honor their memories. 
 
 The influence of their ministers was the influence of 
 mind upon mind, enhanced by that implicit trust reposed 
 in moral worth. They were peculiarly the educated class ; 
 the people looked up to them as their spiritual instructors. 
 They were the friends of education, and wished to elevate 
 the children of their flocks by cultivating their minds, 
 and training them for usefulness in the world ; — what 
 liigher position for his children could the Puritan desire ? 
 In process of time. New England became more inviting 
 to men of education belonging to the professions of law 
 and medicine. In some respects, the great influence of 
 the ministers gradually diminished, not because of dere- 
 liction of duty on their part, but because, in temporal 
 affairs, especially, the management passed, by degrees, 
 into the hands of other men of influence. 
 
CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 COMMOTION IN NEW YORK.— WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Leisler acting Governor of New York. — The Old Council refuses to yield. — 
 Captain Ingoldsby. — Sloughter Governor. — Bitterness of Parties. — Trial 
 and Execution of Leisler and Milbourne. — Death of Sloughter. — Fletcher 
 Governor ; he goes to Connecticut.— Yale College. — The Triumph of a 
 Free Press. — Witchcraft ; belief in. — Cotton Mather. — The Goodwin 
 Children. — Various Persons accused at Salem. — Special Court. — Parris 
 as Accuser, and Stoughton as Judge. — Minister Burroughs. — Calefs 
 Pamphlet. — Revulsion in Public Sentiment. — Mather's stand in favor 
 of Inoculation. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAP. Difficulties with royal governors were by no means con- 
 
 J \ fined to New England. The people of New York were 
 
 lg90_ also in commotion, though not so much united, as the 
 Dutch had not yet cordially associated in feeling with the 
 English. 
 
 James had appointed a Catholic receiver of customs ; 
 this annoyed the Protestants, and Nicholson the governor 
 1689. was exceedingly unpopular. The military companies went 
 "°^ in a body to Jacob Leisler, a respectable and generous- 
 hearted merchant, and their senior captain, and urged 
 him to take possession of the fort and to assume the man- 
 agement of affairs. He consented. Leisler, a Presbyterian 
 and a Dutchman, was an enthusiastic admirer of the 
 Prince of Orange. The fort and public money were taken, 
 and the companies pledged themselves to hold the fort 
 "for the present Protestant power that rules in England." 
 Leisler was to act as commander-in-chief until orders 
 came from King William, to whom a letter was sent giv- 
 
LEISLER ACTING GOVERNOR. 183 
 
 ing an account of the seizure of the fort and also of the ^^ap. 
 
 money, which was to be expended in building another at 
 
 the lower part of the island, to defend the harbor. 1689. 
 
 As a large majority of the people were in favor of 
 Leisler and of the proceedings of the miHtia, Nicholson, 
 the governor, thought best to carry his complaints to 
 England. The members of his council, claiming to be 
 the true rulers of the province, went to Albany, and de- j^^a_ 
 nounced Leisler as a " rebel." 
 
 He appointed Milbourne, his son-in-law, secretarj'. 
 Afterward the people at Albany, alarmed on account of 
 an expected attack from Canada, asked aid from New 
 York ; Milbourne was jaromptly sent with a body of men 
 to their assistance. But the members of the old council 
 refused to acknowledge his authority, or to give him the 
 command of the fort. To avoid bloodshed .he returned, 
 leaving them to fight the French as they could. In their 
 extremity, the Albanians obtained assistance from Con- 
 necticut. Presently came a royal letter, directed to Dec. 
 " such as for the time being administer affairs." It con- 
 tained a commission for Nicholson as governor. As the 
 latter was on his way to England, Leisler injudiciously 
 proclaimed himself governor by virtue of the letter, and 
 still more imprudently ordered the members of the refrac- 
 tory council at Albany to be arrested. Meantime an As- 
 sembly was called to provide for the wants of the province. 
 
 The letter sent to the king remained unanswered, but 
 suddenly an English ship came into the harbor, having on iggi. 
 board a Captain Ingoldsby, and a company of soldiers J*°- 
 sent by Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had been appointed 
 governor. Encouraged by the party opijosed to Leisler, 
 Ingoldsby demanded the surrender of the fort. He was 
 asked his authority ; as he had none to show, the fort 
 was not given up. Six weeks elapsed before Sloughter 
 made his appearance ; meanwhile, a collision took place 
 between the soldiers and some of the people, and blood 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, was shed. The bitterest party spirit prevailed ; the ene- 
 
 mies of Leisler resolved on revenge ; and when he came 
 
 1691. forward to resign his trust to the regularly appointed gov- 
 ernor, he was arrested, and with Milbourne taken to prison. 
 ig ' The charge against them was the convenient one of trea- 
 son ; their enemies knew that they were as loyal as 
 themselves, but it answered their purpose. Immediately 
 a special court was called to try the prisoners. They de- 
 nied the right of a court thus constituted to try them, 
 and refused to plead, but appealed to the king. They 
 were, however, condemned, and sentenced to death by the 
 degenerate Dudley, who, driven away by the indignant 
 jDeople of Massachusetts, now appeared as Chief Justice 
 of New York. 
 
 Sloughter was unwilling to order their execution, and 
 he determined to leave the matter to the king. But their 
 blood, and it alone, could satisfy the intense hatred of 
 their enemies. To accomplish their end they took advan- 
 tage of one of the numerous failings of the governor. 
 They gave him a dinner-party ; when overcome by a free 
 indulgence in wine, they induced him to sign the death- 
 warrant of the unfortunate men. About daylight the 
 next morning, lest Sloughter should recover from his stu- 
 por and recall the warrant, Leisler and Milbourne were 
 hurried from their weeping families to the gallows. It 
 was whispered abroad, and although the rain poured in 
 torrents, the sympathizing people hastened in multitudes 
 May to the place of execution. Said Milbourne, when he saw 
 in the crowd one of their enemies, " Robert Livingston, 
 I will implead thee for this at the bar of God." The last 
 words of Leisler were : " Weep not for us, who are depart- 
 ing to our God." Said Milbourne, " I die for the king 
 and queen, and for the Protestant rehgion ; Father, into 
 thy hands I commend my spirit." When the execution 
 was over, the people rushed forward to obtain some me- 
 morial of then- friends — a lock of hair, or a piece of their 
 
 K). 
 
BENJAMIN FLETCHER AT HARTFORD. 185 
 
 clothing. This judicial murder increased the bitterness ^f^j- 
 
 of party animosity. The friends of the victims were the 
 
 advocates of popular rights, in opposition to the royalists. 1691. 
 All that could be was done in time to remedy the wrong. 
 Their estates were restored to their families, and Parlia- 
 ment reversed the attainder under the charge of treason. 
 Dudley even opposed this act of justice. Three months 
 after this tragedy, delirium tremens ended the Ufe of the 
 weak and dissolute Sloughter. It was about this time 
 that the " ancient Dutch usages " gave place to the com- 
 plete introduction of English laws. 
 
 A year had elapsed, when Benjamin Fletcher came as 1692. 
 successor to Sloughter. He was a military officer, arbi- 
 trary and avaricious. His sympatliies were with the ene- 
 mies of Leisler. As New York was on the frontiers of 1693. 
 Canada, all the colonies were expected to contribute to 
 her defence. To make this more effective, an effort was 
 made to put the militia of New Jersey and Connecticut, 
 as well as that of New York, under the command of 
 Fletcher. Accordingly, he went into Connecticut to en- 
 force his authority. To give the command of their militia 
 to the governor of another colony, was to sacrifice the 
 rights of the people under the charter. The Assembly 
 was in session at Hartford, and the militia engaged in 
 training when Fletcher arrived. He had boasted that he 
 " would not set foot out of the colony until he was obeyed." 
 When the militia were drawn up, he ordered his secretary 
 to read in their hearing his commission. When he com- 
 menced to read, the drummers began to beat. " Silence," 
 commanded Fletcher. For a moment there was sUence, 
 and the reading was renewed. " Drum ! drum ! " ordered 
 Wadsworth, the same who, some years before, hid the 
 charter. Fletcher once more ordered silence. The sturdy 
 captain, stepping up to him, significantly remarked, " If 
 I am interrupted again I wLU make daylight shine through 
 you." Fletcher thought it best to overlook the insult. 
 
186 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. and return to New York, witliout accomplishing his 
 
 threat. 
 
 1693. More than half a century before, the Kev. John 
 
 Davenport proposed to found a college in the colony of 
 Connecticut, but as Harvard would be affected by the 
 establishment of a similar institution, the project was 
 postponed. Now, the ministers of the colony met at 
 Branford, where each one laid upon the table his gift of 
 books, accompanied by the declaration, " I give these 
 books for the founding a college in this colony." Forty 
 volumes were thus contributed. How little did these good 
 men, as they made their humble offerings, anticipate the 
 importance and influence of the college of which they 
 1701. thus laid the foundation. 
 
 The following year the General Court granted a char- 
 ter. The professed object of the college was to promote 
 theological studies in particular, but afterward so modified 
 as to admit of "instructing youth in the arts and sci- 
 ences, who may be fitted for public employments, both in 
 church and civil state." For sixteen years, its sessions 
 were held at different places ; then it was permanently 
 located at New Haven. A native of the town, Elihu 
 Yale, who had acquired wealth in the East Indies, became 
 its benefactor, and in return he has been immortalized in 
 its name. 
 
 For forty years succeeding the rule of Fletcher the 
 annals of New York are comparatively barren of incident ; 
 during that time the province enjoyed the doubtful privi- 
 lege of having ten governors, nearly all of whom took 
 special care of their own interests and those of their 
 friends. The last of this number was the " violent and 
 mercenary " WilUam Cosby, who complained to the Board 
 of Trade that he could not manage the " delegates " to 
 the Assembly ; — " the example of Boston people " had so 
 much infected them. 
 
 The city of New York, at this time, contained nearly 
 
THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 187 
 
 nine thousand inlaabitants. The Weekly Journal, a paper chap. 
 
 recently established by John Peter Zenger, contained ." 
 
 articles condemning the arbitrary acts of the governor 1732. 
 and Assembly, in imposmg illegal taxes. This was the 
 first time in the colonies the newspapers had dared to 
 criticize political measures. This new enemy of arbitrary 
 power must be crushed. Governor Cosby, with the appro- 
 bation of the council, ordered the paper to be burned by 
 the sheriff, imprisoned the editor, and prosecuted him for 
 libel. Zenger employed as counsel two lawyers, and they 
 denied the authority of the court, because of the illegal 
 appointment of the Chief Justice, Delancy, by Cosby, 
 without the consent of the Council. For presenting this 
 objection their names were promptly struck from the roll 
 of practitioners. This high-handed measure intimidated 
 the other lawyers, and deterred them from acting as coun- 
 sel for the fearless editor. 1733. 
 
 On the day of trial a venerable man, a stranger to 
 nearly all present, took his seat at the bar. The trial 
 commenced, and much to the surprise of the court, the 
 stranger announced himself as counsel for the defendant. 
 It was Andrew Hamilton, the famous Quaker lawyer of 
 Philadelphia, and speaker of the Assembly of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Hamilton proposed to prove the truth of the 
 alleged libel, but Delancy, the judge, in accordance with 
 English precedents, refused to admit the plea. Then 
 Hamilton with great force appealed to the personal 
 knowledge of the jury ; — the statements in the paper 
 were notoriously true. He showed that the cause was not 
 limited to this editor alone ; a principle was involved, 
 that affected the liberty of speech and a free press through- 
 out the colonies. 
 
 In spite of the charge of the judge to the contrary, 
 the jury brought in a verdict of acquittal, which was 
 received with rapturous shouts by the people. Thus, for 
 the first time, had the press assumed to discuss, and even 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™AP: condemn political measures, and its liberty to do so was 
 
 amply vindicated. Popular sentiment manifested its grat- 
 
 1733. itude to the successful advocate, and tlie corporation of 
 New York conferred upon him the freedom of the city. 
 
 1681. We have now to relate the story of that sad delusion 
 
 so identified with the early history of the quiet and re- 
 spectable town of Salem, in Massachusetts. The belief 
 in witchcraft appears to have been almost universal in 
 the age of which we write. As Christians were in cove- 
 nant with God, so, it was believed, witches were in cove- 
 nant with the devil ; that he gave them power to torment 
 those whom they hated, by pinching them, pricking them 
 with invisible pins, pulling their hair, causing their cattle 
 and chickens to die, upsetting their carts, and by many 
 other annoyances, equally undignified and disagreeable. 
 As Christians had a sacrament or communion, witches 
 had a communion, also, at which the devil himself offici- 
 ated in the form of a " small black man." He had a book 
 in which his disciples signed their names, after which they 
 renounced their Christian baptism, and were rebaptized, 
 or " dipped " bj' himself. To their places of meeting the 
 witches usually rode through the air on broomsticks. 
 
 This delusion, absurd as it seems to us, was in that 
 age believed by learned and good men, such as Sir Matthew 
 Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England ; Kichard Baxter, 
 author of the " Saints' Kest ; " and Dr. Isaac Watts, 
 whose devotional " Psalms and Hymns " are so familiar 
 to the religious world. For this supposed crime many 
 had, at different times, been executed in Sweden, Eng- 
 land, France, and other countries of Europe. Before the 
 excitement at Salem, a few cases in the colony of Massa- 
 chusetts had been punished with death. 
 
 As the Bible made mention of witches and sorcerers, — 
 to disbelieve in their existence was counted infidelity. 
 To disprove such infidelity. Increase Mather, a celebrated 
 
COTTON MATHER. 189 
 
 clergyman of New England, published an account of the chap. 
 
 cases that had occurred there, and also a description of L 
 
 the manner in which the bewitched persons were afflicted. 1684. 
 After this publication, the first case that excited general 
 interest was that of a girl named Goodwin. She had ac- 
 cused the daughter of an Irish washenvoman of stealing 
 some article of clothing. The enraged mother disproved 
 the charge, and in addition reproved the false accuser se- 
 verely. Soon after, this girl became strangely affected ; 1688. 
 her younger brother and sister imitated her " contortions 
 and twistings." These children were sometimes dumb, 
 then deaf, then blind ; at one time they would bark like 
 dogs, at another mew like cats. A physician was called 
 in, who gravely decided that they were bewitched, as they 
 had many of the symptoms described in Mather's book. 
 The ministers became deeply interested in the subject, 
 and five of them held a day of fasting and prayer at the 
 house of the Goodwins, when lo ! the youngest child, a 
 boy of five years of age, was delivered ! As the children 
 asserted that they were bewitched by the Irish washer- 
 woman, she was arrested. The poor creature was fright- 
 ened out of her senses, if she had any, for many thought 
 she was " crazed in her intellectuals." She was, how- 
 ever, tried, convicted and hanged. 
 
 There was at this time at Boston a young clergyman, 
 an indefatigable student, remarkable for his memory and 
 for the immense amount of verbal knowledge he possessed ; 
 he was withal somewhat vain and credulous, and exceed- 
 ingly fond of the marvellous ; no theory seems to have 
 been more deeply rooted in his mind than a belief in witch- 
 craft. Such was Cotton Mather, son of Increase Mather. 
 He became deeply interested in the case of the Goodwin 
 children, and began to study the subject with renewed 
 zeal ; to do so the more perfectly, he took the girl to his 
 home. She was cunning, and soon discovered the weak 
 points of his character. She told him he was under a 
 
190 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™^^- special protection ; that devils, though they tried hard, 
 
 could not enter his study ; that they could not strike 
 
 1688. him ; the blows were warded off by an invisible, friendly 
 hand. When he prayed, or read the Bible, she would be 
 thrown into convulsions ; while at the same time, she 
 read with zest Popish or Quaker books, or the Book of 
 Common Prayer. Mather uttered prayers in a variety 
 of languages to ascertain if these wicked spirits were 
 learned. He discovered that they were skilled in Latin, 
 Greek, and Hebrew, but deficient in some Indian tongues. 
 He sincerely believed all this, and wrote a book, " a story 
 all made up of wonders," to prove the truth of witch- 
 craft ; and gave out that, hereafter, if any one should 
 deny its existence, he should consider it a personal insult. 
 Mather's book was republished in London, with an ap- 
 proving preface written by Kichard Baxter. This book 
 had its influence upon the minds of the people, and jire- 
 pared the way for the sad scenes which followed. 
 
 About four years after the cases just mentioned, two 
 young girls, one the niece and the other the daughter of 
 Samuel Parris, the minister at Salem village, now Dan- 
 vers, began to exhibit the usual signs of being bewitched. 
 They seem to have done this at first merely for mischief, 
 as they accused no one until compelled. 
 1692. Between Parris and some of the members of his con- 
 
 gregation there existed much ill-feeling. Now was the 
 time to be revenged ! And this " beginner and procurer 
 of the sore afiliction to Salem village and country," in- 
 sisted that his niece should tell who it was that bewitched 
 her, for in spite of all the efforts to " dehver " them, the 
 children continued to practise their pranks. The niece at 
 length accused Kebecca Nurse, a woman of exemplary and 
 Christian Hfe ; but one with whom Parris was at variance. 
 At his instigation she was hurried off to jail. The next 
 Sabbath he announced as his text these words : " Have I 
 not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? " Imme- 
 
TRIAL OF WITCHES AT SALEM. 191 
 
 diately Sarah Cloyce, a sister of the accused, arose and left ^vm' 
 
 the church, — in those days, no small offence. She too was 
 
 accused and sent to prison. The excitement spread, and 1092. 
 in a few weeks nearly a hundred were accused and re- 
 manded for trial. 
 
 After the people had driven off Andros, Bradstreet 
 had still continued to act as governor. A new charter leoi. 
 was given, under which the governor was to he appointed 
 by the crown. Sir William Phipps, a native of New 
 England, "an illiterate man, of violent temper, with 
 more of energy than ability," was the first governor, and 
 William Stoughton the deputy-governor. These both 
 obtained their offices through the influence of Increase 
 Mather, who was then in England, acting as agent for the 
 colony. Stoughton had been the friend of Andros, and a 
 member of his council, and, like Dudley, was looked upon 
 by the people as their enemy. Of a proud and unforgiv- 
 ing temper, devoid of humane feehngs, he was self-willed 
 and selfish. The people in a recent election had slighted 
 him ; they scarcely gave him a vote for the office of 
 judge ; this deeply wounded his pride. In his opinions, 
 as to sijirits and witches, he was an implicit follower of 
 Cotton Mather, of whose church he was a member. 
 
 The new governor, bringing with him the new charter, 
 arrived at Boston on the fourteenth of May. The General 1G92. 
 Court alone had authority to appoint Special Courts ; but ^^^ 
 the governor's first official act was to apjjoint one to try 
 the witches confined in prison at Salem. The triumph 
 of Mather was complete ; he rejoiced that the warfare 
 with the spirits of darkness was now to be carried on vig- 
 orously, and he " prayed for a good issue." 
 
 The Ulegal court met, and Parris acted as prosecutor, 
 producing some witnesses and keej)ing back others. The 
 prisoners were made to stand with their arms extended, 
 lest they should torment their victims. The glance of the 
 witch's eye was terrible to the " afflicted ; " for its evU 
 
192 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, influence there was but one remedy ; tlie touch of the 
 
 accused could alone remove the charm. Abigail Williams, 
 
 1692. the niece of Parris, was told to touch one of the prisoners ; 
 she made the attempt, but desisted, screaming out, " My 
 fingers, they burn, they burn ! " She was an adept in 
 testifying ; she hud been asked to sign the devU's book by 
 the spectre of one of the accused women, and she had 
 also been permitted to see a witch's sacrament. All this 
 was accejjted by the court as true and proper evidence. 
 If a witness contradicted himself, it was explained by as- 
 suming that the evil spirit had imposed upon his brain. 
 A farmer had a servant, who suddenly became bewitched ; 
 his master whipped him, and thus exorcised the devU, 
 and had the rashness to say that he could cure any of 
 " the afllicted " by the same process. For this he soon 
 found himself and wife in prison. Eemarks made by the 
 , prisoners were often construed to their disadvantage. 
 George Burroughs, once a minister at Salem, and of whom 
 it is said Parris was envious, had expressed his disbelief in 
 witchcraft, and pronounced the whole aifair a delusion. 
 For this he was arrested as a wizard. On his trial the 
 witnesses pretended to be dumb. " Why," asked the 
 stern Stoughton of the prisoner, " are these witnesses 
 dumb ? " Burroughs believed they were perjuring them- 
 selves, and promptly answered, " The devil is in them, I 
 suppose." " Ah ! ah ! " said the exulting judge ; " how 
 is it that he is so loath to have any testimony borne against 
 you ? " This decided the case ; Burroughs was condemned. 
 From the scaffold he made an address to the people, and 
 put his enemies to shame. He did what it was believed 
 no witch could do ; he repeated the Lord's Prayer dis- 
 tinctly and perfectly. The crowd was strongly impressed 
 in his favor ; many believed him innocent, and many 
 were moved even to tears, and some seemed disposed to 
 rescue him ; but Cotton Mather appeared on horseback, 
 and harangued the crowd, maintaining that Burroughs 
 
EEVULSION IN PUBLIC OPINION. 193 
 
 was not a true minister, that lie had not been ordained, ^f^' 
 
 that the fair show he made was no proof of his innocence, 
 
 for Satan himself sometimes appeared as an angel of light. 1692. 
 
 Many of the accused confessed they were witches, and 
 by that means j^urchased their lives : and some, to make 
 their own safety doubly sure, accused others : thus the 
 delusion continued. Then, again, others who had con- 
 fessed, rei^ented that they had acknowledged themselves to 
 be what they were not, denied their confession, and died 
 with the rest. The accusations were at first made against 
 those in the humbler walks of life ; now others were ac- 
 cused. Hale, the minister at Beverlj', was a believer in 
 witchcraft, till his own wife was accused ; then he was 
 convinced it was all a delusion. 
 
 Some months elapsed before the General Court held 
 its regular session ; in the mean time twenty persons had 
 fallen victims, and fifty more were in jirison with the same 
 fate hanging over them. Now a great revulsion took 
 place in public opinion. This was brought about by a 
 citizen of Boston, Robert Calef, who wrote a pamphlet, 
 first circulated in manuscript. He exposed the manner 
 in which the trials had been conducted, as well as proved 
 the absurdity of witchcraft itself Cotton Mather, in his 
 reply, sneered at Calef as " a weaver who pretended to 
 be a merchant." Calef, not intimidated by this abuse, 
 continued to write with great effect, and presently the 
 book was published in London. Increase Mather, the 
 President of Harvard College, to avenge his son, had the 
 " weaver's " book publicly burned in the college yard. 
 
 In the first case brought before the court, the jury 
 promptly brought in a verdict of not guilty. When news 
 came to Salem of the reprieve of those under sentence, 
 the fanatical Stoughton, in a rage, left the bench, ex- 
 claiming, " Who it is that obstructs the course of justice 
 I know not ; the Lord have mercy on the country." -. 
 
 Not long after, the indignant inhabitants of Salem 1693. 
 13 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, drove Parris from their village. Many of those who had 
 
 participated in the dehision, and given their influence in 
 
 1693. favor of extreme measures, deeply repented and publicly 
 asked forgiveness of their fellow-citizens. But Cotton 
 Mather expressed no regret for the part he had taken, or 
 the influence he exerted in increasing the delusion ; his 
 vanity never would admit that he could possibly have 
 been in error. Instead of being humbled on account of 
 the sorrows he had brought upon innocent persons, he la- 
 bored to convince the world that, after all, he had not 
 been so very active in promoting the delusion. Stoughton 
 passed the remainder of his days the same cold, proud, 
 and heartless man ; nor did he ever manifest the least 
 sorrow, that on such trifling and contradictory evidence, 
 he had sentenced to death some of the best of men and 
 women. 
 
 It is a pleasure to record that, thirty years after this 
 melancholy delusion. Cotton Mather with fearless energy 
 advocated the use of inoculation for the prevention of 
 1721. small-pox. He had learned that it was successful in Tur- 
 key, in arresting or modifying that terrible disease, and 
 he persuaded Dr. Boylston to make the experiment. Ma- 
 ther stood finn, amid the clamors of the ignorant mob, who 
 even threw a lighted grenade filled with combustibles into 
 his house, and paraded the streets of Boston, with halters 
 in their hands, threatening to hang the inoculators. The 
 majority of the physicians opposed inoculation on theo- 
 logical grounds, contending, " it was presumptuous for 
 men to inflict disease on man, that being the prerogative 
 of the Most High." " It was denounced as an infusion of 
 malignity into the blood ; a species of poisoning ; an at- 
 tempt to thwart God, who had sent the small-pox as a 
 punishment for sins, and whose vengeance would thus be 
 only provoked the more." Nearly all the ministers were 
 in favor of the system, and they replied with arguments 
 drawn from medical science. An embittered war of pam- 
 
INOCULATION IN BOSTON. 195 
 
 phlets ensued. The town authorities took decided ground ^^ap. 
 
 against the innovation, wMle the General Court passed 
 
 a bill prohibiting the practice, but the Council wisely 1721. 
 refused to give it their sanction. At lengtli science and 
 common sense prevailed, and tlie inoculists completely 
 triumphed. 
 
CHAPTEK XIX. 
 
 MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN NEW FRANCE. 
 
 The Emigrants few in number. — The Jesuits ; their zeal as Teachers and 
 Explorers. — Missions among the Hurons. — Ahasistari. — The Five Na- 
 tions, or Iroquois. — Father Jogues. — The Abenakis ; Dreuilettes. — The 
 Dangers of the Missions. — French Settlers at Oswego. — James Mar- 
 quette. — The Mississippi. — La Salle ; his Enterprise ; his Failure and 
 tragical End. 
 
 CHAP. We have already given an account of the discoveries 
 
 ^^^' made in New France, and the settlements founded under 
 
 1634. ^^^ direction of Samuel Champlain. We now intend to 
 
 trace the history of these settlements and missions, from 
 
 that period till the time when the Lilies of France were 
 
 supplanted by the Banner of St. George. 
 
 The climate offered but few inducements to cultiva- 
 tors of the soil, and emigrants came but slowly ; they 
 established trading houses, rather than agricultural settle- 
 ments. To accumulate wealth their main resource was 
 in the peltries of the wilderness, and these could be ob- 
 tained only from the Indians, who roamed over the vast 
 regions west and north of the lakes. 
 
 A partial knowledge of the country had been obtained 
 from a priest, Father Le Caron, the friend and companion 
 of Champlain. He had, by groping through the woods, 
 and paddling over the waters his birch-bark canoe, pene- 
 trated far up the St. Lawrence, explored the south shore 
 of Lake Ontario, and even found his way to Lake Huron. 
 
THE JESUITS. 197 
 
 Three years before the death of Champlain, Louis ^,^^P- 
 
 XIII. gave a charter to a company, granting them the 
 
 control of the valley of the St. Lawrence and all its trib- 1634. 
 utaries. An interest was felt for the poor savages, and it 
 was resolved to convert them to the religion of Eome ; — 
 not only convert them, but make them the allies of 
 France. Worldly pohcy had as much influence as reli- 
 gious zeal. It was plain, the only way to found a French 
 empire in the New World, was by making the native 
 tribes subjects, and not by transplanting Frenchmen. 
 
 The missions to the Indians were transferred to the 
 supervision of the Jesuits. This order of priests was 
 founded expressly to counteract the influence of the 
 Keformation under Luther. As the Reformers favored 1534. 
 education and the diffusion of general intelligence, so the 
 Jesuit became the advocate of education — provided it was 
 under his own control. He resolved to rule the world by 
 influencing its rulers ; he would govern by intellectual 
 power and the force of opinion, rather than by supersti- 
 tious fears. He endeavored to turn the princii^les of the 
 Eeformation against itself. His vows enjoined upon him 
 perfect obedience to the will of his superior, — to go on 
 any mission to which he might be ordered. No clime so 
 deadly that he would not brave its danger ; no people so 
 savage that he would not attempt their conversion. 
 
 With their usual energy and zeal, the Jesuits began 
 to explore the wilds of New France, and to bring its 
 wilder inhabitants under the influence of the Catholic 
 faith. To the convert was offered the privileges of a 
 subject of France. From this sprang a social equality, 
 friendly relations were estabhshed, and intermarriages took 
 place between the traders and the Indian women. 
 
 Companies of Hurons, who dwelt on the shores of the 
 lake which bears their name, were on a trading expedition 
 to Quebec. On their return home the Jesuits Brebeuf 
 and Daniel accompanied them. They went up the Ot- 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, tawa till they came to its largest western branch, thence 
 
 '_ to its head waters, and thence across the wilderness to 
 
 1634. their villages on Georgian bay and Lake Simcoe. The faith 
 and zeal of these two men sustained them during their 
 toilsome journey of nine hundred mUes, and though their 
 feet were lacerated and their garments torn, they rejoiced 
 in their sufferings. Here in a grove they built, with their 
 own hands, a Kttle chapel, in which they celebrated the 
 ceremonies of their church. The Eed Man came to hear 
 the morning and evening prayers ; though in a language 
 which he could not understand, they seemed to him to be 
 addressed to the Great Spirit, whom he himself wor- 
 shipped. Six missions were soon established in the villages 
 around these lakes and bays. Father Brebeuf spent four 
 hours of every morning in private prayer and self-flagel- 
 lations, the rest of the day in catechizing and teaching. 
 Sometimes he would go out into the village, and as he 
 passed along would ring his little bell and thus invite the 
 grave warriors to a conference, on the mysteries of his 
 religion. Thus he labored for fifteen years. 
 
 These teachings had an influence on the susceptible 
 heart of the great Huron chief Ahasistari. He professed 
 himself a convert and was baptized. Often as he escaped 
 uninjured from the perils of battle, he thought some pow- 
 erful spirit watched over him, and now he believed that 
 the God whom the white man worshipped was that guar- 
 dian spirit. In the first fiush of his zeal he exclaimed : 
 " Let us strive to make all men Christians." 
 
 Thousands of the sons and daughters of the forest 
 listened to instruction, and the story of their willingness 
 to hear, when told in France, excited a new interest. The 
 king and queen and nobles vied with each other in mani- 
 festing their regard by giving encouragement and aid to 
 the missionaries, and by presents to the converts. A col- 
 lege, to educate men for these missions, was founded at 
 Quebec, two years before the founding of Harvard. Two 
 
THE FIVE NATIONS. 199 
 
 years afterward the Ursuline convent was founded at ^^^■ 
 
 Montreal for the education of Indian girls, and three 
 
 young nuns came from France to devote themselves to 1635. 
 that labor. They were received with demonstrations of 
 joy by the Hurons and Algonquins. Montreal was now 
 chosen as a more desirable centre for missionary operations. 
 
 The tribes most intelligent and powerful, most war- 
 like and cruel, with whom the colonists came in contact, 
 were the Mohawks, or Iroquois, as the French named 
 them. They were a confederacy consisting of five nations, 
 the Senecas, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, 
 and the Mohawks — better known to the English by the 
 latter name. This confederacy had been formed in ac- 
 cordance with the counsels of a great and wise chief, 1539. 
 Hiawatha. Their traditions tell of him as having been 
 specially guided by the Great Spirit, and that amid strains 
 of unearthly music, he ascended to heaven in a snow- 
 white canoe. They inhabited that beautiful and fertile 
 region in Central New York, where we find the lakes and 
 rivers still bearing their names. 
 
 Their territory lay on the south shore of Lake Ontario, 
 and extended to the head-waters of the streams which 
 flow into the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, and also to 
 the sources of the Ohio. These streams they used as 
 highways in their war incursions. They pushed their con- 
 quests up the lakes and down the St. Lawrence, and 
 northward almost to the frozen regions around Hudson's 
 bay. They professed to hold many of the tribes of New 
 England as tributary, and extended their influence to the 
 extreme east. They made incursions down the Ohio 
 against the Shawnees, whom they drove to the Carolinas. 
 They exercised dominion over the lUinois and the Miamis. 
 They were the inveterate enemies of the Hurons, and a 
 terror to the French settlements — especially were they 
 hostile to the missions. In vain the Jesuits strove to 
 teach them ; French influence could never penetrate 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, south of Ontario. The Mohawks closely watched the 
 
 passes of the St. Lawrence, and the intercourse hetween 
 
 1635. the missionaries stationed on the distant lakes and their 
 head-quarters at Montreal was interrupted, unless they 
 travelled the toilsome route by the Ottawa and the wil- 
 derness beyond. 
 1642. An expedition from the lakes had slipped through to 
 
 Quebec, and now it endeavored to return. As the fleet 
 approached the narrows, suddenly the Mohawks attacked 
 it ; most of the Frenchmen and Hurons made for the op- 
 posite shore. Some were taken prisoners, among whom 
 was Father Jogues. The noble Ahasistari, from his 
 hiding-place, saw his teacher was a prisoner ; he knew 
 that he would be tortured to death, and he hastened to 
 him : " My brother," said he, " I made oath to thee, that 
 I would share thy fortune, whether death or life ; here I 
 am to keep my vow." He received absolution at the 
 hands of Jogues, and met death at the stake in a manner 
 becoming a great warrior and a faithful convert. 
 
 Father Jogues was taken from place to place ; in each 
 village he was tortured and compelled to run the gauntlet. 
 His fellow-priest, Goupil, was seen to make the sign of 
 the cross on the forehead of an infant, as he secretly bap- 
 tized it. The Indians thought it a charm to kill their 
 children, and instantly a tomahawk was buried in the 
 poor priest's head. The Dutch made great efforts, but 
 in vain, to ransom Jogues, but after some months of cap- 
 tivity he made his escape to Fort Orange, where he was 
 gladly received and treated with great kindness by the 
 Dominie Megapolensis. Jogues went to France, but in a 
 few years he was again among his tormentors as a messen- 
 ger of the gosj)el ; ere long a blow from a savage ended 
 his life. A similar fate was experienced by others. Father 
 Bressani was driven from hamlet to hamlet, sometimes 
 scourged by all tlie inhabitants, and tortured in eveiy pos- 
 
INDIAN MISSIONS. 201 
 
 Bible form which savage ingenuity could invent, — yet he •^^^P- 
 survived, and was at last ransomed by the Dutch. 
 
 The Abenakis of Maine sent messengers to Montreal 1642. 
 asking missionaries. They were granted, and Father 
 Dreuilettes made his way across the wilderness to the 
 Penobscot, and a few miles above its mouth established a 
 mission. The Indians came to him in great numbers. 
 He became as one of themselves, he hunted, he fished, he 
 taught among them, and won their confidence. He gave 
 a favorable report of the place, and the disposition of the 
 tribes, and a permanent Jesuit mission was there estab- 
 lished. On one occasion Father Dreuilettes visited the 
 Apostle Eliot at Koxbury. The noble and benevolent 
 work in which they were engaged, served in the minds of 
 these good men to soften the asperities existing between 
 the Catholic and the Puritan, and they bid each other 
 God speed. 
 
 At this time there were sixty or seventy devoted mis- 1646. 
 sionaries among the tribes extending from Lake Superior 
 to Nova Scotia. But they did not elevate the character 
 of the Indian ; he never learned to till the soil, nor to 
 dwell in a fixed abode ; he was still a rover in the mde, 
 free forest, living by the chase. The Abenakis, like the 
 Hurons, were wilUng to receive religious instructions ; they 
 learned to chant matins and vespers, they loved those 
 who taught them. It is not for us to say how many of 
 them received into their hearts a new faith. 
 
 The continued incursions of the ferocious Mohawks 
 kept these missions in peril. Suddenly one morning they 
 attacked the mission of St. Joseph on Lake Simcoe, 
 founded, as we have seen, by Brebeuf and Daniel. The 
 time chosen was when the warriors were on a hunting ex- 
 cursion, and the helpless old men, women, and children 
 fell victims to savage treachery. The aged priest Daniel, 
 at the first war-cry, hastened to give absolution to all the i648. 
 converts he could reach, and then calmly advanced from 
 
202 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the chapel ia the face of the murderers. He fell pierced 
 
 with many arrows. These marauding expeditions broke 
 
 1648. uj) nearly all the missions in Upper Canada. The Hu- 
 rons were scattered, and their country became a hunting- 
 ground for their inveterate enemies. 
 
 Many of the Huron converts were taken prisoners and 
 adopted into the tribes of the Five Nations. Some years 
 1661. after, when a treaty was made between those nations and 
 the French, the presence of these converts excited hopes 
 that they would receive Jesuit teachers. A mission was 
 established among the Onondagas, and Oswego, their prin- 
 cipal village, was chosen for the station. In a year or 
 two missionaries were laboring among the other tribes of 
 the confederacy. But the French, who had an eye to se- 
 curing that fertile region, sent fifty colonists, who began 
 a settlement at the mouth of the Oswego. The jealousy 
 of the Indians was excited ; they compelled the colonists 
 to leave their country, and with them drove away the 
 missionaries. Thus ended the attempts of the French to 
 possess the soil of New York. 
 
 The zeal of the Jesuits was not diminished by these 
 untoward misfortunes ; they still continued to prosecute 
 their labors among the tribes who would receive them. 
 Away beyond Lake Superior one of their number lost his 
 way in the woods and perished, and the wild Sioux kept 
 his cassock as an amulet. Into that same region the un- 
 daunted Father AUouez penetrated ; there, at the largest 
 town of the Chippewas, he found a council of the chiefs 
 of many different tribes. They were debating whether 
 they should take up arms against the powerful and war- 
 like Sioux. He exhorted them to peace, and urged them 
 1666. ^^ P^'^ i"^ alliance with the French against the Iroquois ; 
 he also promised them trade, and the protection of the 
 great king of the French. Then he heard for the first 
 time of the land of the lUinois, where there were no trees, 
 but vast plains covered with long grass, on which grazed 
 
JAMES MARQUETTE. 203 
 
 innumerable herds of buffalo and deer. He heard of the ^I^^P- 
 
 wild rice, and of the fertile lands which produced an 
 
 abundance of maize, and of regions where copper was ob- 1669. 
 tained, — the mines so famous in our own day. He learned, 
 too, of the great river yet farther west, which flowed 
 toward the south, whither, his informants could not tell. 
 After a sojourn of two years AUouez returned to Quebec, 
 to implore aid in establishing missions in that hopeful 
 field. He stayed only to make known his request ; in two 
 days, he was on his way back to his field of labor, accom- 
 panied by only one companion. 
 
 The next year came from France another company of 
 priests, among whom was James Marquette, who repaired 
 immediately to the missions on the distant lakes. Ac- 
 companied by a priest named Joliet, and five French 
 boatmen, with some Indians as guides and interpreters, 
 Marquette set out to find the great river, of which he had 
 heard so much. The company passed up the Fox river 
 in two birch-bark canoes ; they carried them across the 
 portage to the banks of the Wisconsin, down which they 
 floated, tni at length their eyes were gratified by the sight 
 of the " Father of Waters." 1670. 
 
 They coast along its shores, Uned with primeval for- 
 ests, swarming with all kinds of game ; the prairies redo- 
 lent with wild flowers ; — all around them is a waste of 
 grandeur and of beauty. After floating one hundred and 
 eighty miles they meet with signs of human beings. They 
 land, and find, a few miles distant, an Indian village ; here 
 they are welcomed by a people who speak the language 
 of their guides. They are told that the great river ex- 
 tends to the far south, where the heat is deadly, and that 
 the great monsters of the river destroy both men and 
 canoes. 
 
 Nothing daunted they pass on, and ere long they reach 
 the place where the turbid and rapid Missouri plunges 
 into the tranquil and clear Mississippi. " When I return," 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^^. says Marquette, " I will ascend that river and pass beyond 
 
 its head-waters and proclaim the gospel." Further on 
 
 1670. they see a stream flowing from the north-east ; — it is the 
 Ohio, of which the Iroquois have told them. We can 
 imagine Marquette, noticing the fertility of the soil, 
 looking with awe upon the dark and impenetrable forests, 
 and hoping that in future ages these shores would be the 
 homes of many millions of civilized and Christian men. 
 
 As they went on they approached a warmer climate ; 
 and now they were sure that the great river flowed into 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and not into that of California, as 
 had been supposed. They met with Indians who showed 
 them tools of European manufacture ; obtained either 
 from the English of Virginia or from the Spaniards fur- 
 ther south. It was deemed prudent to return, as they 
 might fall into tlie hands of the latter, and thus be de- 
 prived of the privilege of making known their discovery. 
 At the mouth of the Arkansas they began the toilsome 
 labor of paddling their canoes up the stream down which 
 they had so easily floated. They reached the mouth of the 
 Illinois ; thinking it would lead them to the lakes, they 
 jjassed up that river to its head-waters, and thence across 
 to Lake Michigan. 
 
 Joliet immediately set out to cany the news of the 
 discovery to Quebec. Marquette was desirous to liegin 
 his work, and he chose to remain in the humble station of 
 a missionary in the wilderness. One day he retired to his 
 private devotions, at a simple altar he had erected in a 
 grove. An hour afterward he was found kneeUng beside 
 it ; his prayers and his labors for the good of the poor In- 
 dian were ended ; — in that hour of quiet retirement his 
 spirit had passed away. 
 
 Among the adventurers who came to Canada to seek 
 their fortunes, was Eobert Cavalier de la Salle, a young 
 man who had been educated as a Jesuit, but had re- 
 nounced the order. A large domain at the outlet of Lake 
 
ENTEEPRISE OF LA SALLE — LOUISIANA. 205 
 
 Ontario was granted him on condition that he would main- chap. 
 
 tain Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. But his main olDJect '_ 
 
 was to obtain the entire trade of the Iroquois. The news 1675. 
 of the discovery of the great river inflamed his ardent mind 
 with a desire to make settlements on its banks, and thus 
 secure its vast vaUey for his king. Leaving his lands and 
 his herds, he sailed for France, and there obtained a favora- i677. 
 ble grant of privileges. He returned, passed up to Lake 
 Erie, at the foot of which he built a vessel of sixty tons, in 
 which, with a company of sailors, hunters, and priests, he 
 passed through the straits to the upper lakes, and an- 
 chored in Green Bay. There, lading his ship with a cargo jg^g 
 of precious furs, he sent her to Niagara, with orders to Aug. 
 return as soon as possible with suppUes. Meanwhile he 
 passed over into the valley of the Illinois, and on a bluff 
 by the river side, near where Peoria now stands, built a 
 fort, and waited for his shij) ; but he waited in vain ; she 
 was wrecked on the voyage. 
 
 After three years of toils, wanderings in the wilder- 
 ness, and voyages to France, during which he experienced 
 disappointments that would have broken the spirit of an 
 ordinary man, we find him once more on the banks of the 
 Illinois. Now he built a barge, on board of which, with 1682. 
 his companions, he floated down to the Mississippi, and ■'^P'"'' 
 thence to the Gulf. Thus were his hopes, after so much 
 toil and sacrifice, realized. He had triumphantly traced 
 the mighty stream to its mouth. He remained only to 
 take possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, 
 Louis XIV., in honor of whom he named it Louisiana. 
 
 La Salle returned to Quebec, and immediately sailed 
 for France. He desired to carry into efiiect his great de- 
 sign of planting a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. 
 The enterprise was looked upon with favor by both the 
 French people and the king. He was furnished with an 
 armed frigate and three other vessels, and two hundred i684. 
 and eighty persons to form a colony. One hundred of 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, these were soldiers ; of the remainder, some were volun- 
 1 teers, some mechanics, and some priests. Unfortunately, 
 
 1684. the command of the ships was given to Beaujeu, a man 
 as ignorant as he was self-willed and conceited. After 
 surmounting many difficulties, they entered the Gulf of 
 Mexico, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi. La 
 
 1685. Salle soon discovered the error, but the stubborn Beaujeu, 
 deaf to reason, sailed on directly west, till fortunately ar- 
 rested by the eastern shore of Texas. La Salle deter- 
 mined to disembark and seek by land the mouth of the 
 great river. The careless pUot ran the store-ship on the 
 breakers ; suddenly a stonn arose, and very little was saved 
 of the abundance which Louis had provided for the enter- 
 prise. It is said that he gave more to aid this one colony 
 than the English sovereigns combined gave to all theirs in 
 North America. 
 
 As the ships were about to leave them on that desolate 
 shore, many became discouraged, and returned home. 
 The waters in the vicinity abounded in fish, and the for- 
 ests in game, and with a mild climate and productive soil, 
 there was no danger from starvation. A fort was built in 
 a suitable place ; the trees of a grove three miles distant 
 furnished the material, which they dragged across the 
 prairie. La Salle explored the surrounding country, but 
 sought in vain for the Mississippi. On his return to the 
 fort, he was grieved to find his colony reduced to forty per- 
 sons, and they disheartened and mutinous. He did not 
 despair ; he would yet accomjilish the darling object of his 
 ambition ; he would thread his way through the wilder- 
 ness to Canada, and induce colonists to join him. With 
 1687. a company of sixteen men he commenced the journey ; 
 they travelled two months across the prairies west of the 
 Mississippi ; but the hopes that had cheered his heart 
 amidst hardsliips and disappointments were never to be 
 realized. Two of his men, watching their opportunity, 
 murdered him. Thus perished Eobert Cavalier de la 
 
DEATH OF LA SALLE. 207 
 
 Salle, assassinated in the -wilderness by his own country- chap. 
 
 men. He was the first to fully appreciate the importance L 
 
 of securing to France the two great valleys of this conti- 1687. 
 nent. His name will ever be associated with his unsuc- 
 cessful enterprise, and his tragical fate will ever excite a 
 feeling of sympathy. Ketribution was not long delayed ; 
 his murderers, grasping at spoils, became involved in a 
 quarrel with their companions, and both i^erished by the 
 hand of violence. 
 
 The remainder of the company came upon a tributary 
 of the Mississippi, down which they passed to its mouth, 
 where their eyes were greeted by a cross, and the arms of 
 France engraved upon a tree. This had been done by 
 Tonti, a friend of La Salle, who had descended from the 
 Illinois, but in despair of seeing him had returned. The 
 colony of Texas perished without leaving a memento of its 
 existence. 
 
CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS; SETTLEMENT OP LOUISIANA ; CAPTURE 
 OF LOUISBURG. 
 
 Mohawks hostile to the French. — Dover attacked ; Major Waldron. — Sche- 
 nectady captured and burned. — The inhuman Fronteuac.^Tlie Colonists 
 act for themselves. — Invasion of Canada. — Settlements in Maine aban- 
 doned. — Heroism of Hannah Dustin. — Deerfield taken ; Eunice Wil- 
 liams. — D'lbberville plants a Colony on the Pascagoula. — Trading Posts 
 on the lUinois and the Mississippi. — The Choctaws ; the Natchez ; at- 
 tempts to subdue the Chickasaws. — King George's War. — Capture of 
 Louisburg. — The English Ministry alarmed. — Jonathan Edwards. — The 
 " Great Revival." — Princeton College. 
 
 CHAP. Peace had continued for some time between the Five Na- 
 
 XX 
 
 tions and the French, but now the former were suspicious 
 
 1685. of the expeditions of La Salle. James II. had instructed 
 Dongan, the Catholic governor of New York, to conciliate 
 the French, to influence the Mohawks to receive Jesuit 
 missionaries, and to quietly introduce the Catholic rehgion 
 into the colony. But Dongan felt more interest in the 
 fur trade, which the French seemed to be monopolizing, 
 than in Jesuit missions among the Mohawks, and he 
 rather encouraged the latter in their hostility. An act of 
 treachery increased this feeling. Some of their chiefs, 
 who were enticed to enter Fort Frontenac, were seized and 
 forcibly carried to France, and there made slaves. 
 
 When the indignant people of England drove the 
 
 bigoted James from his throne and invited William of 
 
 1688. Orange to fill it, Louis XIV. took up the quarrel in behalf 
 
 of James, or of legitimacy, as he termed it. He believed 
 
DOVER BURNKD MAJOR WALDRON. 209 
 
 in the divine right of kings to rule, and denied the right chap. 
 
 of a j^eople to change their form of government. Louis 
 
 had for years greatly abused his power, and all Europe had 1688. 
 suffered from his rapacity. Religious feeling exerted its 
 influence in giving character to the war, and Protestant 
 Holland joined heart and hand with Protestant England 
 in opposing Catholic France. 
 
 Though the colonies were thus involved in war by the 
 mother countries, they had different ends in view. The 
 New Englanders had an eye to the fisheries and the pro- 
 tection of their northern frontiers ; the French wished to 
 extend their influence over the valleys of the St. Lawrence 
 and the Mississij)pi, and to monopolize the fisheries as well 
 as the fur-trade. The latter object could be obtained only 
 by the aid of the Indians, and they were untiring in their 
 efforts to make them friends. They could never conciliate 
 the Mohawks, nor iuduce them to join in an invasion of 
 New York. On the contraiy, fifteen hundred of them 
 suddenly appeared before Montreal, and in a few days cap- 
 tured that place, and committed horrible outrages upon 
 the people. 
 
 Thus stood matters when Frontenac, for the second 1689. 
 time, appeared as governor of New France. To make the 
 savages respect him as a warrior, he set on foot a series of 
 incursions against the English colonies. The eastern In- 
 dians were incited to attack Dover in New Hampshire ; — 
 incited by the French, and also by a cherished desire for 
 revenge. There, at the head of the garrison, was that 
 Major Waldron who, thirteen years before, during King 
 Philip's war, had treacherously seized two hundred of 
 their friends, who came to him to treat of peace. He had 
 proposed to these unsuspecting Indians a mock fight by 
 way of entertainment ; when their guns were all discharged 
 he made them prisoners and sent them to Boston. Some 
 of them were hanged, and others sold into slavery. The 
 Indians in their turn employed stratagem and treachery. 
 14 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Two squaws came to Dover ; they asked of the aged 
 Waldron, now fourscore, a night's lodging. In the night 
 
 1689. they arose, unbarred the gates, and let in their friends, 
 who lay in ambush. Their hour for vengeance had come ; 
 they made the pangs of death as bitter as possible to the 
 brave old Waldron ; his white hairs claimed from them no 
 pity. In derision, they placed him in a chair on a table, 
 and scored his body with gashes equal in number to theii- 
 friends he had betrayed ; they jeeringly asked him, " Who 
 will judge Indians now ? Who will hang our brothers ? 
 WiU the pale-faced Waldron give us life for life ? " ' 
 They burned all the houses, murdered nearly half the in- 
 habitants, and carried the remainder into captivity. 
 
 This was only the beginning of a series of horrors 
 inflicted upon the frontier towns. The inhabitants of 
 Schenectady, as they slept in fancied sccuritj', were star- 
 tled at midnight by the terrible war-whoop of the savage, 
 — the harbinger of untold horrors. The enemy found easy 
 
 1690. access, as the gates of the palisades were open. The 
 ^^- houses were set on fire, more than sixty persons were 
 
 killed, and many helpless women and children were carried 
 into captivity. A few escajjed and fled half clad through 
 the snow to Albany. This attack was made by a party 
 of French and Indians from Montreal, who had toiled for 
 twenty-two days through the snows of winter, breaking 
 the track with snow-shoes, and using, when they could, 
 the frozen streams as a pathway. At Salmon Falls, on 
 the Piscataqua, and at Casco, similar scenes were enacted. 
 Such were the means the inhuman Frontenac, now 
 almost fourscore, took to inspire terror in the minds of the 
 English colonists, and to acquire the name of a great war- 
 rior among the Indians, — they would follow none but a 
 successful leader. Among the early Jesuit missionaries 
 who taught the Indians of New France, there were un- 
 
 >New England History, C. W. ElUott. 
 
EXPEDITIONS AGAINST CANADA. 211 
 
 donbtedly many good men. The priests of that generation chap. 
 
 had passed away, and others had taken their places ; 
 
 these incited the recently converted savage, not to prac- 1690. 
 tise Christian charity and love, hut to pillage and murder 
 the heretical EngUsh colonist. 
 
 King William was husy in maintaining his own cause 
 in England, and left the colonists to defend themselves. 
 Massachusetts proposed that they should combine, and re- 
 move the cause of their trouble by conquering Canada. 
 Commissioners from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
 York met to deliberate on what course to pursue. They 
 resolved to invade that province from New York, by way 
 of Lake Champlain, and from Massachusetts by way of the 
 St. Lawrence. The expedition from New York failed. 
 Colonel Peter Schuyler led the advance with a company 
 of Mohawks, but the ever-watchful Frontenac was pre- 
 pared ; his Indian allies flocked in crowds to aid him in 
 defending Montreal. The Mohawks were repulsed and 
 could not recover their position, as the army sent to sup- 
 port them was compelled to stop short ; the small-pos 
 broke out among the soldiers, and they were in want of 
 provisions. 
 
 Meantime, the fleet of thirty-two vessels, and two 
 thousand men, which had sailed from Boston, was endeav- 
 oring to find its way up the St. Lawrence. It was under 
 the command of Sir William Phipps, to whose incompe- 
 tency may be attributed the failure of the enterprise. An 
 Indian runner cut across the woods from Piscataqua, and 
 in twelve days brought the news of the intended attack 
 to the French. Frontenac hastened to Quebec, where he 
 arrived three days before the fleet. When it came in 
 sight he was prepared to make a vigorous defence. A 
 party landed, but after some skirmishing the enterprise 
 was abandoned. While returning, the men suffered much 
 from sickness, and storms disabled the fleet. The disap- 
 pointment of the people of Massachusetts was veiy great ; 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, many lives liad been lost, and the colony was laden with 
 
 ^' debt. 
 
 1690. The Eastern Indians, in the mean time, were held in 
 
 check by Captain Church, celebrated in King Pliilip's 
 war. At one time, he so far forgot himself as to put to 
 death his prisoners, some of whom were women and chil- 
 dren. Such cruelty was inexcusable ; and it was avenged 
 by the savages with tenfold fury. Nearly all the settle- 
 ments of what is now Maine were destroyed or abandoned. 
 The enemy were continually prowling around the Hxrms, 
 watching an opportunity to shoot the men at their work. 
 All went anned, and even the women learned to handle 
 eifectively the musket and the rifle. It was a great in- 
 ducement for the Indians to go on these marauding expe- 
 ditions, because they could sell for slaves to the French 
 of Canada the women and chUdrcu they took prisoners. 
 
 Peace was at length made with the Abenakis, or East- 
 ern Indians, and there was a luU in the storm of desola- 
 tion. It lasted but a year, the Indians broke the treaty. 
 They were incited to this by their teachers, two Jesuits, 
 Thury and Bigot, who even took pride in their atrocious 
 work. 
 
 1694. Heroic deeds were performed by men and women. A 
 
 small band of Indians attacked the house of a farmei 
 named Dustin, near Haverhill. When in the fields he 
 heard the war-whoop and the cry of distress. He hastened 
 to the rescue, met liis children, and threw himself be- 
 tween them and their pursuers, whom he held at bay by 
 well-directed shots till the children were in a place of 
 safety. His house was burned ; a child only a few days 
 old was dashed against a tree, and his wife, Hannah Dus- 
 tin, and her nurse, were carried away captive. A toilsome 
 march brought them to an island in the Merrimac, just 
 above Concord, where their captors lived. There Mrs. 
 Dustin, with the nurse and a boy, also a captive, planned 
 an escape. She wished revenge, as well as to be secure 
 
DEEKFIELD DESTROYED EUNICE WILLIAMS. 213 
 
 from pursuit. The Indians, twelve in number, were asleep. <^hap. 
 
 She arose, assigned to each of her companions whom to 
 
 strike ; their hands were steady and their hearts firm ; 1694. 
 they struck for their lives. Ten Indians were kUled, one 
 woman was wounded, and a child was purposely saved. 
 The heroic woman wished to preserve a trophy of the deed, 
 and she scalped the dead. Then in a canoe the three 
 floated down the Merrimac to Haverhill, much to the 
 astonishment of their friends, who had given them up for 
 lost. Such were the toils and sufferings, and such the 
 heroism of the mothers in those days. 
 
 The friendly Mohawks had intimated to the inhabi- 
 tants of Deerfield, in the vaUey of the Connecticut, that 
 the enemy was plotting their destmction. The anxiety 
 of the people was very great, and they resolved during the 
 winter to keep a strict watch ; sentinels were placed every 
 night. 
 
 On an intensely cold night in February a company of 1704. 
 two hundred Frenchmen, and one hundred and forty In- 
 dians, lay in ambush, waiting a favorable moment to 
 spring upon their victims. Under the command of Hertel 
 de RouviUe, they had come all the way from Canada, on 
 the crust of a deep snow, with the aid of snow-shoes. The 
 sentinels, unconscious of danger, retired at dawn of day. 
 The snow had drifted as liigh as the palisades, thus ena- 
 bling the party to pass within the inclosure, which con- 
 sisted of twenty acres. The terrible war-cry startled the 
 inhabitants, the houses were set on fire, and forty-seven 
 persons were ruthlessly murdered ; one hundred and 
 twelve were taken captive, among whom were the minister 
 WOliams, his wife, and five children. No pen can de- 
 scribe the sufierings of the captives on that dreary winter's 
 march, driven, as they were, by relentless Frenchmen and 
 savages. Eunice WiUiams, the wife, drew consolation 
 from her Bible, which she was permitted to read when 
 the party stopped for the night. Her strength soon faded ; 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. her husband cheered her by pointing her to the " house 
 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." " The 
 
 1704. mother's heart rose to her lips, as she commended her five 
 captive children, under God, to their father's care, and 
 then one blow of the tomahawk ended her sorrows." This 
 family, with the exception of one daughter, seven years of 
 age, were aftei-ward ransomed, and returned home. 
 
 Many years after tliis, there appeared at Deei-field a 
 white woman wearing the Indian garb ; she was the lost 
 daughter of Eunice "Williams, and now a Catholic, and 
 the wife of an Indian chief No entreaties could influence 
 her to remain with her civilized relatives ; she chose to re- 
 turn and end her days w'itli her own children. 
 
 Humanity shudders at the recital of the horrors that 
 marked those days of savage warfare. Some of the Indians 
 eyen refused to engage any more in thus murdering the 
 English colonists ; but the infamous Hertel, with the ap- 
 probation of Vaudreuil, then governor of Canada, induced 
 a party to accompany him on a foray. Why repeat the 
 story of the fiendish work, by which the little village of 
 Haverhill, containing about thirty log-cabins, was burned, 
 and all the inhabitants either murdered or taken captive. 
 1708. u jjy heart swells with indignation," wrote Colonel Peter 
 Schuyler, of New York, to Vaudreuil, " when I think that 
 a war between Christian princes, is degenerating into a 
 savage and a boundless butchery ; I hold it my duty to- 
 ward God and my neighbor, to prevent, if possible, these 
 barbarous and heathen cruelties." This reproof was un- 
 heeded ; the cruelties continued. 
 
 Under the feelings excited by such outrages, can we 
 think it strange that the colonists resolved to hunt the 
 Indians like wild beasts, and offered a bounty for their 
 scalijs ? or that the hostility against the French Jesuit 
 should have thrown suspicion upon the Catholic of Mary- 
 land, who about this time was disfranchised ? or that even 
 
LEMOINE d'IBBERVILLE. 215 
 
 in liberal Ehode Island, he should have been deprived chap. 
 
 of the privilege of becoming a freeman ? '_ 
 
 With renewed energy the French began to press for- 1708. 
 ward their great design of uniting, by means of trading 
 posts and missions, the region of the Lakes and the valley 
 of the Mississippi. The Spaniards had possession of the 
 territory on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 whUe they claimed the entire regions lying around that 
 expanse of water. 
 
 The energetic mind of Lemoine d'Ibberville conceived 
 a plan for planting a colony at the mouth of the Missis- 
 sippi. He was a native of Canada, and had, on many 
 occasions, distinguished himself by his talents and great 
 courage. Hopes were entertained of his success. The 
 expedition, consisting of four vessels and nearly two hun- 
 dred colonists, among whom were some women and chil- 
 dren, sailed from Canada for the mouth of the Mississippi. i690. 
 D'Ibberville entered the Gulf and approached the north 
 shore, landed at the mouth of the river Pascagoula, and 
 with two barges and forty-eight men went to seek the 
 great river. He found it by following uj) a current of 
 muddy waters, in which were many floating trees. He 
 passed up the stream to the mouth of Red River, where 
 he was surprised to receive a letter dated fourteen years 
 before. It was from Tonti ; he had left it with the In- 
 dians for La SaUe ; they had preserved it carefully, and 
 gave it to the first Frenchman who visited them. 
 
 As the shores of the Mississipj)i in that region are 
 marshy, it was thought best to form a settlement on the 
 Gulf at the mouth of the Pascagoula. This was the first 
 colony planted ■wdthin the limits of the present State of 
 Mississippi. D'IbbervUle sailed for France to obtain sup- 
 plies and more colonists, leaving one of his brothers, Sau- 
 ville, to act as governor, and the other, Bienville, to 
 engage in exploring the countiy and river. 
 
 Some fifty mUes up the Mississippi Bienville met an 
 
216 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. English ship sent on the same errand. Seventy years 
 
 before, Charles I. had given to Sir Eobert Heath a grant 
 
 1630. of Carolina, which as iisual was to extend to the Pacific. 
 This wortliless grant Coxe, a London physician, had pur- 
 chased, and to him belonged this vessel. 
 
 From the time of La Salle the Jesuits had been busy 
 ingratiating themselves with the tribes along the shores of 
 the Mississippi, and under their direction trading posts 
 were established, at various points, to the mouth of the 
 Illinois, and up that river to the Lakes. 
 1700. The following year D'Ibbervillo returned with two 
 
 ships and sixty colonists, and the aged Tonti liad just ar- 
 rived from the Illinois. Avaihng himself of his counsel, 
 D'Ibberville ascended the river four hundred miles, and on 
 a bluff buUt a fort, which, in honor of the Duchess of 
 Pontchartrain, was called Eosalie. These settlements lan- 
 guished for twenty years ; the colonists were mere hire- 
 lings, imfitted for their work. The whole number of 
 emigrants for ten years did not exceed two hundred per- 
 sons. Instead of cultivating the soil, and making their 
 homes comfortable, many went to the far west seeking for 
 gold, and others to the north-west on the same errand, 
 while fevers and other diseases were doing the work of 
 death. Meantime Mobile became the centre of French 
 influence in the south. 
 
 Once more a special effort was made to occupy the 
 territory, and a monopoly of trade was granted to Arthur 
 1714. Crozart, who was to send every year two ships laden with 
 merchandise and emigrants, and also a cargo of slaves from 
 Africa. The French government was to appropriate an- 
 nually about ten thousand dollars to defray the expense 
 of forts and necessary protection. 
 
 A trading house was established up the Ked Kiver at 
 Natchitoches, and one up the Alabama near the site of 
 Montgomery ; Fort Kosalie became a centre of trade, and 
 
FOUNDING OF NEW ORLEANS. 217 
 
 the germ of tlie present city of Natchez — the oldest town chap. 
 on the Mississippi. . 
 
 Bienville put the convicts to work on a cane-brake to 1718. 
 remove the trees and shrubs " from a savage and desert 
 place," and built a few huts. Such were the feeble begin- 
 nings of New Orleans, which it was prophesied would 
 yet become " a rich city, the metropolis of a great colony." 
 Still the colony did not prosper ; instead of obtaining 
 their supplies from that fruitful region, they were depend- 
 ent on France and St. Domingo. Labor was irksome to 
 the convicts and vagabonds, and the overflowings of the 
 river, and the unhealthiness of the climate retarded prog- 
 ress. The chief hope for labor was based on the impor- 
 tation of negroes from Africa. 
 
 Some German settlers, who, a few years before, had 
 been induced by one Law, a great stock-jobbing and land 
 speculator, to emigrate to the banks of the Arkansas, de- 
 cided to remove. A tract of land, lying twenty miles 
 above New Orleans, known now as the " German coast," 
 was given them. Their settlement was in contrast with 1722. 
 the others. They were industrious, and cultivated their 
 farms, raised vegetables, rice, and other provisions ; also 
 tobacco and indigo. The fig and the orange were now 
 introduced. The lUinois region had been settled by emi- 
 grants from Canada, who raised wheat and sent flour to 
 the colonists below. The priests meanwhile were not idle 
 in teaching the Indians, and a convent was founded at 
 New Orleans for the education of girls. As the colonists 
 had not energy enough to protect themselves, a thousand 
 soldiers were sent from France for that purpose. 1724 
 
 The Choctaws, the alHes of the French, occupied the 
 region between the lower Mississippi and the Alabama. 
 The principal village of the Natchez tribe was on the 
 bluff where now stands the city of that name. They 
 were not a numerous people, unlike the tribes among 
 whom they dwelt, in their language as well as in their 
 
218 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, religion. Like the Peruvians, tliey were worshippers of 
 
 L_ the sun, and in their great wigwam they kept an undying 
 
 1724. fire. Their principal chief professed to be a descendant 
 of the sun. They became justly alarmed at the encroach- 
 ments of the French, who having Fort Eosalie, demanded 
 the soil on which stood their principal village, for a farm. 
 They suddenly fell upon the white intruders and kiUed 
 two hundred of their number, and took captive their women 
 and children. The negro slaves joined the Indians. Their 
 principal chief, the Grreat Sun, had the heads of the 
 French officers slain in the battle arranged around liim, 
 1730. that he might smoke his pipe in triumph ; — liis triumph 
 was short. A company, consisting of French and Choc- 
 taws, under Le Suer, came up from New Orleans, and 
 surprised them while they were yet celebrating their vic- 
 tory. The Great Sun and four hundred of his people were 
 taken captive and sent to St. Domingo as slaves. Some 
 of the Natchez escaped and fled to the Chickasaws, and 
 some fled beyond the Mississippi ; theh land passed into 
 the hand of strangers, and soon, they as a people were 
 unknown. 
 
 The territory of the brave Chickasaws, almost sur- 
 rounding that of the Natchez, extended north to the Ohio, 
 and east to the land of the Cherokees. They were the 
 enemies of the French, whose boats, trading from Canada 
 and Illinois to New Orleans, they were accustomed to 
 plunder. English traders from Carolina were careful to 
 increase this enmity toward their rivals. 
 1735. Two expeditions were set on foot to chastise these bold 
 
 marauders. Bienville came up from the south with a 
 fleet of boats and canoes, and a force of twelve hundred 
 Choctaws ; he paddled up the Tombecbce as far as he 
 could, and then hastened across the country to surprise 
 one of their fortified places. D'Artaguette hastened down 
 from the Illinois country, of which he was governor, with 
 fifty Frenchmen and a thousand Indians, to attack an- 
 
EXPEDITION AGAINST LODISBURG. 219 
 
 other of tteir strongholds. The Chickasaws were too ^SA^- 
 
 vigilant to be thus surprised. They repulsed Bienville, 
 
 dispersed the forces of D'Artaguette, took him prisoner, 1735. 
 and burned him at the stake. Once more an attempt was May 
 made with all the force the French could bring to crush 
 this warhke tribe, but in vain ; the patriotic Chickasaws 
 successfully defended their country against the foreign foe. 1740. 
 
 These reverses did not deter the persevering French 
 from establishing trading houses south of Lake Eric, and 
 down the Alleghany to the Ohio, and thence to the Mis- 
 sissippi. The people of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
 Virginia became alarmed at these encroachments on their 
 territory. The Iroquois professed to have conquered all 
 the valley of the Ohio, and they claimed a vast region to 
 the north-west as their hunting grounds. Commissioners 
 from the above colonies met the envoys of the Iroquois at 1745. 
 Lancaster, and purchased from them for £400 all their ^"'7- 
 claim to the regions which they professed to own between 
 the Blue Eidge and the Alleghany mountains. 
 
 The colonies had enjoyed nearly thirty years of com- 
 parative freedom from French and Indian incursions, when 
 they were involved in what is known as King George's ^^44 
 War. 
 
 The first intimation of hostilities was an attack upon 
 the fort at Canso, in which the garrison was captured and 
 carried to Louisburg. Louisburg was the great strong- 
 hold of the French on this continent ; the centre from 
 which privateering expeditions were fitted out, that had 
 nearly destroyed the commerce as weU as the fisheries of 
 New England. To prevent these depredations, and the 
 inroads to which the French incited their Indian allies. 
 Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, proposed to the Gen- 
 eral Court to take Louisburg. No aid was expected from 
 the mother country — she was too much engaged at home ; 
 but the other colonies were invited to enlist in the com- 
 mon cause. New Jersey and Pennsylvania agreed to 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, furnish money, but declined to send men ; New York 
 
 L furnished money and some cannon ; Connecticut offered 
 
 1744. five hundred men ; Ehode Island and New Hampshire 
 each furnished a regiment. Massachusetts proposed the 
 expedition, was the most interested in its success, bore 
 the greater jiart of the exjjense, and furnished the greater 
 portion of the men and vessels. The fishermen, especially 
 those of Marblehead, entered upon the enterprise with 
 alacrity. Their fisheries had been almost ruined and they 
 thrown out of employment, by the continued forays from 
 Louisburg. Farmers, mechanics, and lumbermen volun- 
 teered in great numbers. Here were citizen soldiers, 
 without a single man whose knowledge of military tactics 
 went beyond bush-fighting with the Indians, and all 
 equally ignorant of the proper means to be used in redu- 
 cing a fortified place. A wealthy merchant, William Pep- 
 pereU, of Maine, was elected commander. The artillery 
 was under the direction of Gridley, the same who, thirty 
 years afterward, held a similar position in an American 
 army under very different circumstances. The enthusiasm 
 was great, and what was lacking in means and skill, was 
 supplied by zeal. A strong Protestant sentiment was 
 mingled with the enterprise, and Whitefield, then on liis 
 third tour of preaching in the colonies, was urged to fur- 
 nish a motto for a banner. He promptly suggested, " Nil 
 desperandum, Christo duce," — "Nothing is to be despaired 
 of when Christ is leader." He also preached to them an 
 inspiriting sermon, and they sailed, like the Crusaders of 
 old, confident of success. 
 jY4g In April the fleet arrived at Canso, hut owing to the 
 
 ice, could not enter the harbor of Louisburg. Intelligence 
 of the expedition had been sent to England, and Admiral 
 Warren, who commanded on the West India station, was 
 invited to join in the enterprise. He declined for want of 
 explicit orders, but afterward receiving permission, be 
 hastened to join them with four men-of-war. 
 
LOmSBTIEG CAPTUEED. 221 
 
 The whole armament was now put in motion for Lou- chap. 
 
 ishurg. That stronghold had walls forty feet thick, thirty 
 
 feet high, and surrounded by a ditch eighty feet wide, 1V45. 
 with protecting forts around it, manned by nearly two 
 hundred and fifty cannon, small and great, and garrisoned 
 by sixteen hundred men. 
 
 As the fleet approached, the French came down to the 
 beach to oppose their landing, but in a moment the " whale 
 boats," fiUed with armed men, were " flying like eagles" 
 to the shore. Their opposers, panic-stricken, fled ; and 
 the following night the soldiers of the royal battery, one 
 of the outside forts, sjiiked their cannon and retreated to 
 the town. The deserted fort was immediately taken pos- 
 session of, and the gunsmiths went to work to bore out 
 the spikes. The next day a detachment marched round 
 the town, giving it three cheers as they passed, and took 
 up a position that completely enclosed the place on the 
 land side, while the fleet did the same toward the ocean. 
 They threw up batteries, dragged their cannon over a 
 morass, and brought them to bear upon the fortress. 
 
 These amateur soldiers soon became accustomed to 
 encamping in the open air, and sleeping in the woods, as 
 weU as to the cannon-balls sent among them by the be- 
 sieged. They not only prevented ships from entering the 
 harbor, but found means to decoy into the midst of their 
 fleet and capture a man-of-war of sixty-four guns, laden 
 with stores for the fort. This loss so much disheartened 
 the garrison that, after a siege of seven weeks, Louisburg ^^^ 
 surrendered. The news of this success sent a thrill of 
 joy throughout the colonies. It was the greatest feat 
 of the war, and was accomplished by undiscipUned volun- 
 teers. 
 
 France resolved, at any cost, to recover her stronghold, 
 and also to desolate the English colonies. The fleet sent 
 for the purpose was disabled by storms, while pestilence 
 wasted the men. The commander, the Duke d'Anville, 
 
222 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, suddenly died, and his successor, a short time after, com- 
 ^^' mitted suicide. The next year, the fleet sent for the same 
 1746. purpose was forced to strike its colors to an English squad- 
 ron under Admirals Anson and Warren. 
 
 Though thus successful, the frontier settlements still 
 suffered greatly, and in self-defence the old project was 
 revived of conquering Canada. The government of Eng- 
 land required all the colonies, as far south as Virginia, to 
 furnish men and means. Eight thousand men were raised, 
 of which number Massachusetts furnished nearly one-half 
 The British ministry suddenly changed their mind, and 
 the enterprise was abandoned. Soon after, the treaty of 
 Aix la Chapelle was concluded, by which all places taken 
 by either party during the war were to be restored. Thus 
 Louisburg, the capture of which was so gratifying to the 
 colonists, and so significant of their daring spirit, passed 
 1748. again into the hands of the French. 
 
 The ministry did not relish the ardor and independ- 
 ence of the colonists, who appeared to have, according to 
 Admiral Warren, " the highest notions of the rights and 
 liberties of Englishmen ; and, indeed, as almost levellers." 
 It was in truth the foreshadowing of their complete inde- 
 pendence of the mother country, and measures were taken 
 by her to make them more subservient. They were for- 
 bidden to have any manufactures, to trade to any place 
 out of the British dominions, while no other nation than 
 the English were permitted to trade with them. " These 
 oppressions," says an intelligent traveller of that day, 
 " may make, within thirty or iifty years, the colonies en- 
 tirely independent of England." 
 
 For many years there had been a marked decline in 
 religion in New England. A peculiar union of church 
 and state had led to a sort of compromise between the 
 two, known as the " Half-way covenant," by which per- 
 sons who had been baptized, but without pretensions to 
 
JONATHAN EDWAEDS. THE GREAT REVIVAL. 223 
 
 personal piety, were admitted to the full privileges of '^^^■ 
 church members. 
 
 In the midst of this declension a rehgious "Awaken- 1735. 
 ing," better known as the " Great Revival," commenced 
 at Northampton, in Massachusetts, imder the preaching 
 of Jonathan Edwards, a young man remarkable for his 
 intellectual endowments. His sermons were doctrinal and 
 strongly Calvinistic. His religious character had been 
 early developed. At thirteen he entered Yale College ; 
 thoughtftil beyond his years, a metaphysician by nature, 
 at that early age he was enraptured with the perusal of 
 Locke on the " Understanding." Secluded from the world 
 by the love of study, he penetrated far into the mysteries 
 of the workings of the human mind. 
 
 Edwards drew from the Bible the knowledge of the 
 true relation between the church and the world. The 
 contest was long and strenuous, but the lines were clearly 
 drawn, and from that day to this the distinction is marked 
 and appreciated. " He repudiated the system of the Half- 
 way covenant," and proclaimed the old doctrines of " the 
 sole right of the sanctified to enjoy the privileges of church 
 members, and of salvation by faith alone." As the influ- 
 ence of the state in religious matters thus began to fade 
 away, a closer spiritual relation of men to men, not as 
 members of a commonwealth alone, but as members of a 
 great brotherhood, gained in importance. 
 
 Parties sprang into existence ; those who favored a 
 more spiritual life in religion were stigmatized as " New 
 Lights," while the steady conservatives were known as 
 the " Old Lights." So bitter was the feeling that in Con- 
 necticut the civil authority was invoked, and severe laws 1742 
 were enacted against the New Lights. The controversy 
 was so warm that Edwards was driven from his congrega- 
 tion — at that time, "the largest Protestant society in the 
 world." He went as a missionary to the Housatonic In- 
 dians at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. There in the forest. 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, amid toils and privations, he wrote his far-famed treatise 
 
 on the " Freedom of the Will," which has exerted so 
 
 1750. much influence in the theological world, while the writer 
 was the first American that obtained a European reputa- 
 tion as an author. 
 1740. During this ijeriod Whitcfield came, by invitation, to 
 
 New England. He had been preaching in the south with 
 unexampled success. At intervals, for more than thirty 
 years, he preached the gospel from colony to colony. " Hun- 
 dreds of thousands heard the highest evangelical truths 
 uttered with an eloquence probably never equalled." The 
 influence of the awakening spread tdl all the colonies 
 were visited by the same blessings, especially the Presby- 
 terians of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and 
 in a less degree in the more southern colonies. These 
 influences were not limited to that age, for similar revivals 
 have continued to our own times. 
 
 The Baptists, hitherto but few in number, received a 
 new impulse, as many of the New Light churches adopted 
 their views ; and the preaching of Whitefield prepared 
 the way for the success of the Methodists. 
 
 The revival created a want for ministers of the gospel, 
 to supply which, the Kev. WiUiam Tennent established 
 an academy at Neshaminy ; an institution where young 
 men professing the rehgious fervor that characterized those 
 prominent in the revival, could be prepared for the sacred 
 ofiice. This was the germ of Princeton College. 
 
 This religious sentiment met with little sympathy 
 from the authorities of the colony, and with difficulty a 
 1746. charter was obtained. The institution was named Nassau 
 Hall, in honor of the great Protestant hero, WLUiam III. 
 It was first located at Elizabethtown, then at Newark, 
 1757. and finally at Princeton. Its success was unexampled ; 
 in ten years the number of students increased from eight 
 to ninety. 
 
CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 The Valley of the Ohio. — French and English Claimants. — Gist the Pioneer. 
 — George Washington ; his Character ; his Mission to the French on 
 the Alleghany. — Returns to Wilhamsburg. — St. Pierre's Letter uns.atis- 
 factory. — Virginians driven from the Ohio. — Fort Du Qucsne built. — 
 Washington sent to defend the Frontiers. — Conflict at Fort Necessity. — 
 The Fort abandoned. — British Troops arrive in America. — Plan of oper- 
 ations. — General Braddock ; his qualifications. — The Army marches 
 from Wills' Creek. — Obstinacy of Braddock. — Arrival on the Mononga- 
 hela. — The Battle. — Defeat. — Death and Burial of Braddock. — Dun- 
 bar's Panic. — The Frontiers left unprotected. 
 
 Scarcely an Englisli colonist had yet settled in tlie val- chap. 
 
 ley of the Ohio. The traders who visited the Indians in 
 
 that region, told marvellous stories of the fertility of the 1749. 
 soil, and the desirableness of the climate. It was pro- 
 posed to found a colony west of the Alleghany mountains. 
 The governor of Virginia received royal instructions to 
 grant the " Ohio Company " five hundred thousand acres 
 of land lying between the rivers Monongahela and Kana- 
 wha, and on the Ohio. The company engaged to send one 
 hundred families ; to induce them to emigrate they offered 
 them freedom from quit-rents for ten years. 
 
 Meantime, the French sent three hundred men to ex- 
 pel the English traders and take possession of the valley. 
 They also sent agents, who passed through the territory 
 north of the Ohio river, and at various points nailed on 
 the trees plates of lead, on which were inscribed the arms 
 of France. This they were careful to do in the presence 
 15 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, of the Indians, who suspected they intended to take away 
 
 their lands. When the English came and made surveys 
 
 1749. on the soutli side of the Ohio, they asked them the puz- 
 zling question : " If the French take possession of the 
 north side of the Ohio, and the English of the south, 
 where is the Indian's land ? " 
 
 At Wills' Creek, now Cumberland, Maryland, one of 
 the easiest passes over the mountains commenced. Here 
 the Ohio Company established a place of deposit to sup- 
 ply Indian traders with goods. They also wished to 
 explore the Ohio river to the great falls ; to ascertain the 
 location of the best lands, and whether the Indians were 
 friendly or unfriendly. They employed for this dangerous 
 and difficult task the celebrated trader and pioneer Chris- 
 topher Gist, who crossed the mountains and came upon 
 the Alleghany river, at a village occupied by a few Dela- 
 ware Indians. Thence he passed down to Logstown, a 
 sort of head-quarters for traders, situated some miles 
 below the junction of that river and the Monongahela. 
 Here dwelt a renowned chief of the western tribes, Tana- 
 charison, or half-king, as he was called, because he ac- 
 knowledged a sort of allegiance to the Mohawks. " You 
 are come to settle the Indian lands," said the resident 
 trader, whose suspicions were roused ; " you will never go 
 home safe." G-ist traversed the region of the Muskingum 
 and of the Scioto, then crossed the Ohio, and passed up 
 the Cuttawa or Kentucky to its very springs. He gave a 
 glowing account of the beauty and fertility of the region 
 he had visited. It was covered with trees of immense 
 size, the wild cherry, the ash, the black walnut, and the 
 sugar maple, the two latter giving indubitable proof of the 
 fertility of the soil ; a land abounding in never-failing 
 springs and rivulets, forests interspersed with small mead- 
 ows, covered with long grass and white clover, on which 
 fed herds of elk, deer, and buffalo, while the wild turkey 
 and other game promised abundance to the hunter and 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 227 
 
 pioneer. Such was the primitive character of the territory ^I^^P- 
 since known as the State of Ohio. 
 
 He ascertained that French emissaries were visiting 1749. 
 all the western trihes, to induce them to take up arms 
 against the English ; that the Indians looked upon both 
 as intraders, and though willing to trade with both, were 
 unwilling that either should occupy their lands. The 
 French saw that if the English obtained a foothold on the 
 Ohio, they would cut off the commimication between the 
 Lakes and the Mississippi. The final struggle for the 
 supremacy in the valley was near at hand. 
 
 While the English, by invitation of the Indians, were 
 approaching from the south, to build a fort at the head of 
 the Ohio, the French were approaching the same point 
 from the north. The latter had built war vessels at Fron- 
 tenac to give them the command of Lake Ontario ; they 
 had strengthened themselves by treaties with the most 
 powerful tribes, the Shawnees and the Delawares ; they 
 had repaired Fort Niagara, at the foot of Lake Erie, and 
 at this time had not less than sixty fortified and well gar- 
 risoned posts between Montreal and New Orleans. They 
 had also built a fort at Presque Isle, now Erie, one on 
 French Creek, on the site of Waterford, and another at 
 the junction of that creek with the Alleghany, now the 
 village of Franklin. 
 
 Dinwiddle, governor of Virginia, resolved to send a 
 messenger to remonstrate with the French for intruding 
 on Enghsh territory. Where coidd he find a man of en- 
 ergy and prudence to trust in this laborious and perilous 
 undertaking ? His attention was directed to a mere 
 youth, in his twenty-second year, a surveyor, who, in the 
 duties of his profession, had become somewhat familiar I'i'SS. 
 with the privations of forest hfe. That young man was 22. 
 George Washington. He was a native of Westmoreland 
 county, Virginia. The death of his father left him an 
 orphan when eleven years of age. The wealthy Virginia 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, planters of those days were accustomed to send their 
 
 XXI 
 
 L sons to England to complete their education, and thus 
 
 1749. had Lawrence, his half-brother, fourteen years older than 
 himself, been educated. No such privilege was in store 
 for George. His father's death may have interfered with 
 such plans : be that as it may, he was sent to the com- 
 mon school in the neighborhood, and there taught only 
 the simplest branches of an English education — to spell, 
 to read, to write, to cipher. When older, he went for some 
 time to an academy of a somewhat higher grade, where he 
 devoted his time particularly to the study of mathematics. 
 
 Though his school advantages were so limited, it was 
 his inestimable privilege to liave a mother endowed with 
 good sense, united to decision of character and Christian 
 principle, — she insjiired love, she enforced obedience. 
 From her he inherited an ardent, impulsive temper — from 
 her he received its antidote ; she taught him to hold it in 
 subjection. 
 
 The early life of George Washington furnishes an ex- 
 ample worthy the imitation of the youth of his country. 
 We are told of his love of truth, of his generous and noble 
 acts, that he won the confidence of his schoolmates, and 
 received from them that respect which virtue alone can 
 secure. 
 
 He was systematic and diligent in all liis studies. 
 There may yet be seen, iu the hbrary at Mount Vernon, 
 the book in which he drew his first exercises in surveying ; 
 every diagram made with the utmost care. Thus was 
 foreshadowed in the youth what was fully developed in 
 the man. At the early age of sixteen, we find him in the 
 woods on the fi-ontiers of Virginia, performing his duties 
 as a surveyor ; making his measurements with so much 
 accuracy that to this day they are relied upon. 
 
 We must not suppose that the studious and sedate 
 youth, with his rules for governing his " conversation and 
 conduct " carefully written out, and as carefully observed. 
 
I 
 
 THE FORMATION OF HIS CHARACTER. 229 
 
 was destitute of boyish feelings. He had his youthful ^"^^P- 
 
 sports and enjoynaents ; he could exhibit feats of strength , 
 
 and skill ; could ride a horse or throw a stone with any 1749. 
 boy, and was so far military in his tastes as occasionally to 
 drill his school-fellows during recess. 
 
 His brother Lawrence had spent some time in the Eng- 
 lish navy, and George had often heard of the excitements 
 of the seaman's lii'e, and had boyish longings for adven- 
 tures on the ocean. Circumstances seemed to favor his 
 wishes. When fourteen, it was decided that he should 
 enter the navy. The man-of-war on which he was to go 
 as a midshipman was lying in the Potomac ; his baggage 
 was ready, but when the parting hour came the mother's 
 heart faded. Though deeply disappointed, George yielded 
 to her wish, and relinquished his anticipated pleasure. 
 
 Though Washington was born and spent his youth in 
 the wilds of Virginia, there were many refining influences 
 brought to bear upon the formation of his character. He 
 was intimate for years in the Fairfax family, who brought 
 with them to their western home the refinement and cul- 
 ture of the English aristocracy of that day. Neither 
 must we overlook the benign influence exerted over him 
 by his educated and benevolent brother Lawrence, who, 
 up to the time of his death, watched over his young 
 brother with a father's care, as well as a brother's love. 
 
 The influence of Christian princijile governing the im- 
 pulses of a noble nature, was the secret of the moral 
 excellence, the dignified integrity, unaffected candor, and 
 sterHng worth, which shone forth in the character of 
 Washington, — a name so much blended with the liberties 
 of his country, and so much cherished and honored by the 
 friends of humanity in every clime. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddle gave his youthful messenger a 
 letter for the French commandant on the Ohio, iu which 
 he demanded of him his reasons for invading the territory 
 of England. The very day on which Wasliington re- 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ceived bis credenticals, (October 30,) be left Williamsburg 
 for Wincbester, tben a frontier town of Virginia. By tbe 
 
 1753. middle of November bis jjreparations were completed. 
 Witb a company consisting of tbe intrepid Gist, wbo 
 acted as guide, two interpreters, and four otbers, be set 
 out from Wills' Creek. A. journey of nine days, tbrougb 
 solitudes and mountain passes, and across streams swollen 
 by recent rains, brougbt tbem to wbere tbe Monongabela, 
 tbat river " so deep and still," meets tbe " swift running 
 Allegbany." Wasbington explored tbe neigbborbood, and 
 remarks in bis journal : " Tbe land at tbe Fork is 
 extremely well situated for a fort, as it bas absolute 
 command of botb rivers." Tbus tbougbt tbe Frencb en- 
 gineers, wbo afterward on tbat very spot built Fort Du 
 Quesne. 
 
 Sbingis, cbief sacbem of tbe Delawares, wbo afterward 
 took up arms against tbe Englisb, accompanied bim to 
 Logstown. Here, by bis instructions, Wasbington was to 
 confer witb tbe Indian cbiefs : be summoned tbem to a 
 grand talk. Tbey would not commit tbemselves ; tbey 
 bad beard tbat tbe Frencb were coming witb a strong 
 force to drive tbe Engbsb out of tbe land. But lie in- 
 duced tbree of tbem to accompany bim to tbe station of 
 tbe Frencb commandant ; among tbese was tbe HaU- 
 King. 
 
 Wben be arrived at Venango, or Franklin, tbe officer 
 in command referred bim to tbe Cbevalier St. Pierre, 
 general oificer at tbe next post. Meanwbile be was 
 treated witb politeness, and invited by tbe Frencb officers 
 to a supper. Tbe wine passed freely, and tbe talka- 
 tive Frencbmen began to boast of tbeir plans ; tbey 
 would " take possession of tbe Obio ; tbe Englisb could 
 raise two men for tbeir one, but tbey were too slow and 
 dilatory." Tbe sober and cautious Wasbington marked 
 well tbeir words. Tbe tbree cbiefs bad promised well ; 
 tbey would give back tbe speecb belts to tbe Frencb • 
 
I 
 
 THE VIRGINIANS DEIVEN FKOM THE OHIO. 231 
 
 they were' friends to the English. But when plied with chap. 
 
 drink, and hailed by the French as " Indian brothers," 
 
 they wavered for a time. 1753. 
 
 Washington obtained an interview with St. Pierre, 
 "an ancient and silver-haired chevalier, courteous but 
 ceremonious," and after some delay received an answer to 
 his desjjatches, and hastened homeward. As the pack- 
 horses were disabled, he left them and the baggage, and 
 with Gist for his only companion struck out into the wil- 
 derness. The cold was intense, the snow was falling, and 
 freezing as it fell. Wrapped in Indian blankets, with 
 their guns in their hands and knapsacks on their backs, 
 and a compass to guide them, they pushed on toward the 
 Alleghany river, which they hoped to cross on the ice. 
 Their journey through the patliless wild was marked by 
 some mishaps and hairbreadth escapes. Their lives were 
 endangered by a false guide, and Washington in endeav- 
 oring to force his way tlu'ough the ice in the river, came 
 near perishing ; but, on the sixteenth of January, they 1754. 
 arrived safely at Williamsburg. 
 
 The answer of St. Pierre was courteous but indefinite. 
 He referred the matter to the Marquis Du Quesne, the 
 governor of Canada. It was clear, however, that he did 
 not intend to retire from the valley of the Ohio. This 
 was still more evident from the preparations of boats, ar- 
 tillery, and military stores, which Washington noticed up 
 the Alleghany, waiting for the spring flootl, when they 
 would be taken to their place of destination. 
 
 The following spring the Ohio Company sent between 
 thirty and forty men to build a fort at the head of the 
 Ohio. The French were on the. alert ; a company of sol- 
 diers floated down the Alleghany, who surprised and sur- 
 rounded them at their work. They must surrender in an 
 hour's time or defend themselves against a thousand men. 
 They were glad to leave their unfinished fort and return 
 
232 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to Virginia. The French took immediate possession, 
 
 finished it, and named it Dii Quesne. 
 
 1754. At the early age of nineteen Washington had been 
 
 appointed Adjntant-General of the northern district of 
 Virginia, an office which he filled to the entire satisfaction 
 of his countrymen. Now he received the commission of 
 lieutenant-colonel, with orders to protect the frontiers. 
 He was also offered the command of the expedition against 
 the French at Fort Du Quesne. This he declined on ac- 
 count of his youth ; the command was then conferred 
 ujion Colonel Fry, who shortly after fell ill, and it virtu- 
 ally passed into the hands of Washington. His little 
 army was ill provided with tents and military stores, and 
 poorly clad. They moved on very slowly. It was not 
 easy with a train of artillery to pass through the forests. 
 climb mountains, and ford swollen rivers. Washington 
 pushed on with a detachment for the junction of the Eed- 
 stone and Monongahela. There, on the spot now known 
 as Brownsville, he hoped to maintain his position untU 
 the main force should come up, and then they would float 
 down the river in flat-boats to Fort Du Quesne, 
 
 On the ninth of May this detachment arrived at a 
 place called the Little Meadows. Here they met traders, 
 who informed them that the French were in great force at 
 Du Quesne, and that a portion of them had set out on a 
 secret expedition. There was but little doubt as to its 
 object. Presently came an Indian runner ; he had seen 
 the tracks of the Frenchmen ; they were near. The Half- 
 King with forty warriors was also in the neighborhood. 
 On a dark and stormy night, Washington and forty of his 
 men groped their way to his camp, which they reached 
 about daylight. This faithful ally put a couple of runners 
 upon the enemy's tracks ; they rejiorted that the French 
 were encamped in a deep glen, where they had put up 
 temporary cabins. 
 
 Washington arranged his company in two divisions, and 
 
SURRENDER OF FORT NECESSITY. 233 
 
 SO effectually surprised them that few of their number ™^P- 
 
 escajied. Among the slain was the youthful De Jumon- 
 
 viUe, the leader of the party. Here was shed the first 1754. 
 blood in that seven years' struggle, in which the French 
 power on this continent was broken. As no reinforce- 
 ments were sent, Washington was greatly disappointed ; 
 he could not maintain the advantage he had gained. He 
 heard that a numerous force was on its way to attack him. 
 In a letter to his friend Colonel Fairfax he writes : " The 
 motives that have led me here are pure and noble. I had 
 no view of acquisition, but that of honor by serving 
 faithfully my king and country." 
 
 He built a fort at the Great Meadows, which, from 
 the fact of famine pressing upon them, he named Fort 
 Necessity. It is a fact worthy of mention, that at this 
 encampment public prayer was daily observed, and con- 
 ducted by the youthful commander himself. 
 
 Soon five hundred French and many hundred Indians 
 appeared on the hills in sight of the fort. He drew out 
 his men for battle, but the enemy declined the contest. 
 Then he withdrew them within the inclosure, giving them 
 directions to fire only when an enemy was in sight. This 
 irregular fighting continued throughout the day. The 
 rain poured in torrents, and rendered useless many of 
 their muskets. At night the French desired a parley ; 
 suspecting stratagem to introduce a spy, Washington at 
 first refused, but at length consented. Much of the night 
 was spent in negotiation ; finally, the Virginians were 
 allowed to leave the fort with the honors of war, and their 
 equipments and stores, except artillery. The next morn- 
 ing the youthful hero led out his men. The Indians im- July 
 mediately began to plunder ; Washington, seeing this, ^• 
 ordered every thing to be destroyed that the soldiers could 
 not carry. The loss of the Virginia regiment, which 
 numbered about three hundred, was nearly fifty ; the loss 
 of the enemy was greater. After much toil and suffering, 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 C2AP. from want of provisions, tlicy arrived at Cumberland. 
 
 Thus ended the first military expedition of Washington. 
 
 1754. Although unsuccessful, he displayed so much prudence 
 and judgment that the people were impressed by his 
 merits, and which the House of Burgesses acknowledged 
 by a vote of thanks. 
 
 He was, however, soon after annoyed and mortified by 
 the course pursued by the narrow-minded Dinwiddle, who, 
 unwilling to promote the provincial officers, dissolved the 
 Virginia regiments, and formed them into independent 
 comijanies, in which there should be no officer of higher 
 rank than that of captain. With a dignity and self-respect 
 worthy of his character, Washington withdrew from the 
 army. When Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, was ap- 
 pointed commander-in-chief by the king, he invited him, 
 through a friend, to join it again under the title of colonel, 
 but really with no higher authority than that of captain. 
 He declined the offer, writing in reply, " If you think me 
 capable of holding a commission that has neither rank 
 nor emolument annexed to it, you must maintain a very 
 contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me more 
 empty than the commission itself. " He was still further 
 mortified by Dinwiddle's refusal to give up the French 
 prisoners, according to the articles of capitulation at Fort 
 Necessity. 
 
 While these contests were in progress in the valley of 
 the Ohio, the French and English nations were ostensibly 
 at peace. Each, desirous of deceiving the other, professed 
 to hope that this Httle collision would not interrupt their 
 harmony ; the French still continued to send ships to 
 America laden with soldiers ; and the English matured 
 plans to drive them away. 
 
 Matters took a more decided form ; war was not de- 
 clared, but open hostilities commenced, and England, for 
 the first time, sent an army to aid the colonists. 
 
GENERAL BKADDOCK THE EXPEDITION. 235 
 
 Four expeditions were decided ujjon : one to capture *^^P- 
 
 the French posts near the head of the Bay of Fundy, and 
 
 expel the French from ACadie ; another against Crown 1754. 
 Point, to be led by William Johnson, Indian agent among 
 the Mohawks ; the third, against Niagara and Frontenac, 
 was to be intrusted to Shirley, Governor of Massachusetts ; 
 the fourth against Fort Du Quesne ; the latter the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, General Edward Braddock, was to lead 
 in person. 
 
 The struggle was about to commence in earnest ; 
 British troops had arrived, and the colonies responded with 
 51 good will to the caU of the mother country for levies of 
 soldiers. 
 
 General Braddock was perfect in the theoiy and prac- 
 tice of mere military training ; he had been in the 
 '' Guards " many years, where he had drilled and drilled, 
 but had never seen actual service. With the conceited 
 assurance of inexperience, he believed the excellencies 
 of the soldier were alone found in the British regular — 
 the perfection of military skill in British officers. To 
 these qualifications he added a most supercilious con- 
 temjDt for the provincial soldiers and their officers. 
 
 He was to lead in person the force against Fort Du 
 Quesne. Of the difficulties of marching an army over ^755^ 
 mountains, and through an unbroken wilderness, he was 
 blindly ignorant. He was unwilling to hear advice, or 
 even receive information on the subject ; and when Wash- 
 ington, whom he had invited to act as one of his aids, 
 suggested that " if the march was to be regulated by the 
 slow movements of the train, it would be tedious, very 
 tedious indeed," he made no reply, but smiled at the sim- 
 plicity of the young man, who knew so little about the 
 movements of a regular army. Afterward, Benjamin 
 Franklin ventured to direct his attention to the danger of 
 Indian ambuscades. To his suggestion Braddock rejalied : 
 " The Indians are no doubt formidable to raw Americans, 
 
236 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, but upon the king's regulars, and disciplined troops, it is, 
 
 L sir, impossible they should make any impression." 
 
 1755. The army assembled at Wills' Creek, to which place 
 
 Braddock came in his coach, and surrounded by his staff, 
 " cursing the road very heartily " — its roughness had brok- 
 en his coach, and ruffled his temper. He refused to em- 
 ploy Indians as scouts on the march, or to protect the 
 Pennsylvanians, who were making a road for the passage 
 of the army ; hooted at the suggestion of Washington to 
 take as little baggage as possible, and to employ pack- 
 horses instead of wagons. The English officers could 
 give up neither their cumbrous baggage nor their lux- 
 uries, neither could the general dispense with " his 
 two good cooks, who could make an excellent ragout out 
 of a pair of boots, had they but materials to toss them 
 up with." 
 June. After a month's delay, the army commenced its march. 
 
 The difficulties of dragging heavily laden wagons and 
 artillery over roads filled with stumps of trees and rocks, 
 brought the general partially to his senses, and he inquired 
 of Washington what was the best to be done. From 
 recent accounts it was known that the garrison at Fort 
 Du Quosne was small, and he advised that a division of 
 light armed troops should be hurried forward to take pos- 
 session of the place, before reinforcements could arrive 
 from Canada. Accordingly, twelve hundred choice men 
 were detached from the main body and pushed forward, 
 taking with them ten field-pieces, and pack-horses to carry 
 their baggage. The main division was left under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Dunbar, with orders to move on as fast 
 as possible. 
 
 The general persisted in refusing to employ either In- 
 dians or backwoodsmen as scouts. There was a celebrated 
 hunter, known all along the frontiers as Captain Jack. 
 Hfi was " the terror of the Indians." He had been their 
 prisoner, had lived years among them, and was familiar 
 
THE ARMY AT THE MONONGAHELA. 237 
 
 witli their habits. Afterward he cleared for himself a ^^^.P- 
 
 piece of land, built his cabin, and, happy in his forest life, . 
 
 cultivated his ground and amused himself by hunting and 1755. 
 fishing. On his return home on a certain evening he found 
 his wife and chUdren murdered, and his cabin in ashes. 
 From that hour ho devoted his life to defend the frontiers, 
 and to avenge himself upon the destroyers of his worldly 
 happiness. He offered his services and those of his band 
 to act as scouts, and seek the Indians in their lurking- 
 places. Braddock received him very coldly, and declined 
 the offer, saying that he "had experienced troops upon 
 whom he could rely for all purposes." 
 
 Even the advance division moved very slowly, not 
 more than three or four mUes a day. Says Washington 
 in a letter, " Instead of pushing on with vigor, without 
 regarding a Uttle rough road, they halt to level every 
 mole-hill and to erect a bridge over every brook." A 
 month's slow march through the woods brought the army 
 to the east bank of the Monongahela, about fifteen mUes 
 above Fort Du Quesne. Only the very day before the pro- 
 posed attack on that fort, Washington, who had been 
 detained by a fit of sickness, was able to join them. As July 9. 
 the hills came down to the water's edge, it was necessary 
 to cross the river directly opposite to the camp, and five 
 miles below, at another ford, recross to the east side. 
 Colonel Gage — he, who, twenty years afterward, com- 
 manded a British army in Boston — crossed before daylight, 
 and with his detachment moved rapidly to the second 
 ford ; then recrossiug, took position to protect the passage 
 of the main force. Washington ventured once more to 
 suggest that the Virginia Rangers, consisting of three hun- 
 dred men, should be thrown in advance. This proposition 
 received an angry reply from Braddock, and, as if to make 
 the rebuke more conspicuous, the Virginians and other 
 provincials were placed as a rear-guard. At sunrise the 
 remainder of the army was in motion. Their equipments 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, were in the most perfect order ; their muskets were hur- 
 
 . L nished, and charged with fresh cartridges, and in high 
 
 1755. sjiirits they moved along, with bayonets fixed, colors flying, 
 and drums beating. 
 
 About two o'clock in the afternoon, after recrossing the 
 river, as the army was moving along a narrow road, not 
 more than twelve feet wide, with scarcely a scout in front 
 or on the flanks, the engineer, who was marking the way, 
 suddenly cried out " French and Indians." Scarcely was 
 the alarm given, before rapid firing was heard in front, 
 accompanied by most terrific yells. The army was in a 
 broad ravine, covered with low shrubs, with moderately 
 rising ground in front and on both sides. On this eleva- 
 tion among the trees were the French and Indians, in\-isi- 
 ble to the English, but from their hiding-places able to see 
 every movement of the soldiers in the ravine, and to take 
 deliberate aim. The regulars were thrown into confusion ; 
 the sight of their companions shot down beside them by 
 an invisible enemy, together with the unearthly yells of 
 the savages, sent a thrill of horror through their souls. 
 They were ordered to charge bayonet up the hiU, but no 
 orders could induce them to leave the line. The enemy 
 had been sent to occupy this very position, bixt had arrived 
 too late ; now they were spreading all along both sides of 
 the ravine. The English soldiers lost all control, and fired 
 at random into the woods, wherever they saw the smoke 
 of an enemy's gun. The advance party fell back upon 
 the second division, and threw it into still greater confu- 
 sion. At this moment Colonel Burton came up with a 
 reinforcement, eight hundred strong, but just as they had 
 formed to face the enemy, down upon them rushed the 
 two foremost divisions pell-mell ; all were crowded to- 
 gether in inextricable confusion, and their officers were 
 nearly all slain or wounded. Now came Braddock liim- 
 self. He ordered the colors to advance, and the respective 
 
THE BATTLE. 239 
 
 regiments to separate and form in ranks — but in vain. No ™^P- 
 orders were obeyed. 
 
 In a few minutes after the battle commenced the Vir- 1755. 
 ginia Eangers were behind trees, and rapidly picking off 
 the Indians ; but unfortunately many of these brave men 
 fell victims to the random shots of the regulars. Wash- 
 ington entreated Braddock to permit his soldiers to pro- 
 tect themselves, as the Virginians had done ; but he 
 refused, and still persisted in striving to form them into 
 platoons, and when any sheltered themselves behind trees, 
 he called them cowards and struck them with the flat of 
 his sword. Thus, through his obstinacy, these unfortu- 
 nate men became targets for the enemy. The officers ex- 
 hibited the greatest bravery, and many of them fell, as 
 they were the special objects of the sharpshooters. Two 
 of the aids, Morris and Orme, were severely wounded, 
 and their duties devolved upon Washington. His expo- 
 sure was great, as he passed often from one part of the 
 field to another ; yet he gave his orders with calmness 
 and judgment. When sent to bring up the artillery, he 
 found the Indians surrounding it. Sir Peter Halket, the 
 commander, kUled, and the men paralyzed with fear. He 
 encouraged them, leaped from his horse, pointed a field- 
 piece and discharged it. It was useless ; the men deserted 
 the guns. For three hours the desperate fight lasted. 
 During this time Braddock was in the centre of the con- 
 flict, trying, in his ivay, to regain the field. His officers 
 had nearly aU fallen, and his slain soldiers covered the 
 ground ; still he would not permit the remainder to adopt 
 the Indian mode of fighting. 
 
 Five horses were shot under him, and finally he him- 
 self was mortally wounded. As he was falling from his 
 horse Captain Stewart, of the Virginia Guards, caught 
 him in his arms. As they bore him out of danger, he 
 begged to be left to die upon the field of his misfortune. 
 All was now abandoned. The fall of the general saved 
 
240 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the army from entire destruction. The soldiers were now 
 
 '_ at liberty to save themselves as best they could. " The 
 
 1V55. regulars fled like sheep before hounds." The Virginia 
 Kangers threw themselves in the rear, and for some time 
 held the enemy in check. The wagoners mounted their 
 team-horses and fled ; all hurried to the ford, fiercely pur- 
 sued by the Indians. The love of plunder restrained the 
 pursuers, and after the fugitives had recrossed the river 
 they were not molested. 
 
 Washington rode all that night and the next day to 
 Dunbar's camp to obtain wagons to transport the wounded, 
 and soldiers to guard them. When he had obtained these 
 he hastened back to meet the fugitives. 
 
 Braddock was stUl able to issue orders, and seems to 
 have had a faint hope that he might hold out till he 
 could receive reinforcements. He was carried by the sol- 
 diers, being unable to mount a horse ; — at length, the 
 fugitives arrived at Fort Necessitj'. The wounded gen- 
 eral appeared to be heart-broken. He scarcely spoke ; as 
 if reflecting on his past confidence in his troops, he would 
 occasionally ejaculate, " Who would have thought it ? " 
 Tradition tells of his softened feelings toward those whom 
 he had treated harshly ; of his gratitude to Captain Stew- 
 art for his care and kindness ; of his apology to Washing- 
 ton for the manner in which he had received his advice. 
 On the night of the thirteenth of July he died. The next 
 morning, before the break of day, he was buried as secretly 
 as possible, lest the Indians, who were hovering around, 
 should find his grave and violate it. The chaplain was 
 among the wounded, and Washington read the funeral 
 service. Near the national road, a mile west of Fort 
 Necessity, may be seen a rude pile of stones — the work 
 of some friendly hand, — it marks the grave of Braddock. 
 " His dauntless conduct on the field of battle shows lum 
 to have been a man of spirit. His melancholy end, too, 
 disarms censure of its asperity. Whatever may have been 
 
THE FRONTIERS LEFT EXPOSED. 2M. 
 
 Ms faults and errors, he, in a manner expiated tliem by ^^^■ 
 
 the hardest lot that can bcftiU a brave soldier ambitious '_ 
 
 of renown, — an unhonored grave in a strange laud, a 1755. 
 memory clouded by misfortime, and a name ever coupled 
 with defeat." ' 
 
 The frightened Dunbar, though he had under liis com- 
 mand fifteen hundred effective men, — enough, if properly 
 led, to have regained the field, — broke up his camp, de- 
 stroyed his stores, and retreated with aU speed ; only when 
 he had arrived safely in Philadelphia did he breathe freely. 
 His failure of duty left the frontiers exposed to the im-oads 
 of the savages. 
 
 Of eighty-sis ofiicers, twenty-six had perished, and 
 thirty-six were wounded. Among the latter was Captain 
 Horatio Gates, who, twenty-five years later, was conspicu- 
 ous as a major-general in the struggle for independence. 
 Of the soldiers, more than seven liundred were either 
 kUled or wounded. The gallant Virginia Rangers had 
 perished in great numbers, for upon them had fallen the 
 brunt of the battle. When it became known that there 
 were only two hundred and twenty-five French, and about 
 six hundred and fifty Indians in the battle, the disgrace 
 was deeply felt, that this handful of men, sent merely to 
 hold the English in check, should have defeated a well- 
 equipped and discipUned army of nearly twice their own 
 number. 
 
 The religious sentiments of the colonists were greatly 
 shocked at the profanity. Sabbath-breaking, and almost 
 every form of vice and wickedness common in this boastful 
 army. So certain were the expectations of victory, that 
 preparations were made to celebrate it. 
 
 It is proper to notice the effect of these events upon the 
 minds of the colonists. With them the name of the Brit- 
 ish regulars had lost its prestige — they were not invincible. 
 
 ' WasliiDgton Irving. 
 16 
 
242 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. In addition, the hauglitiness of the British officers had 
 inflicted wounds destined never to be healed. The atten- 
 
 1755. tion of the people was directed especially to Washington. 
 In a letter to his brother Augustine he says : "By the 
 all-powerful dispensation of Providence, I have been pro- 
 tected beyond all human probability or expectation ; for 
 I had four bullets through my coat, two horses shot under 
 me, yet escapied unhurt, though death was levelling my 
 companions on every side around me." 
 
 The wonderful manner in which he had been preserved 
 in that day of peril, excited universal attention. No 
 doubt the Kev. Samuel Davies, one of the most celebrated 
 clergymen of the day, expressed the common sentiment, 
 when, in a sermon preached soon after Braddock's defeat, 
 he referred to him as " that heroic youth, Colonel Wash- 
 ington, whom I cannot hut hope Providence has hitherto 
 preserved in so signal a manner for some important ser- 
 vice to his country." Washington was never wounded in 
 battle ; he was shielded by the same protecting hand. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR— CONTINUED. 
 
 The French Acadiens ; their simple Manners, Industry, and good Morals. — 
 Expulsion from their Homes, and mournful Exile. — Expedition against 
 Crown Point. — Baron DiesUau. — English defeated. — Death of Colonel 
 Williams. — Attack on Johnson's Camp repulsed. — Death of Dieskau. — 
 Williams College. — Indian Ravages on the Frontiers of Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania. — Kittanning destroyed. — Lord Loudon Commander-in- 
 chief. — His tardiness and arbitrary Measures. — Montcalm acts with 
 Energy ; captures Fort Ontario, then Fort William Henry. — Exhausted 
 condition of Canada. 
 
 In the mean time other expeditions were undertaken ^vf? 
 
 against the French. For this purpose Massachusetts . 
 
 alone raised eight thousand soldiers, almost one-fifth part 1755. 
 of her ahle-bodied men. A portion of Acadie or Nova 
 Scotia was still in the hands of the French. It consisted 
 of the isthmus on the northern part, which was defended 
 by two insignificant forts. For forty years, since the peace 
 of Utrecht, the peninsula had been under British rule, 
 and now the whole territory was completely subdued. 
 These forts, with scarcely any resistance, fell into the June 
 hands of the English. Sixteen years before the Pilgrims ^^• 
 landed at Plymouth this French colony was established 
 on the Peninsula of Acadie. It was the oldest perma- 
 nent French settlement in North America. For one 
 hundred and fifty years the Acadiens had been gradually 
 clearing and improving their lands, and enjoying the com- 
 forts of rural hfe. At first their chief sources of wealth 
 had been the fisheries and the fur-trade ; but these had 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 \'\tf ' S^^'^^ually given way to agriculture. Their social inter- 
 
 course was governed by a high tone of morals. Their 
 
 1755. differences, but few in number, were settled by the arbi- 
 tration of their old men. Seldom did they go with com- 
 plaints to their English rulers. Early marriages were 
 encouraged, and when a young man came of age, his 
 neighbors built him a house, and aided him for one year, 
 and the wife's friends aided her with gifts. Their fields 
 were fertile, and industry made them productive. Their 
 meadows, which now were covered with flocks of sheep 
 and herds of cattle, they had, by means of dikes, redeemed 
 from the great flow of the tide. Their little cottages dot- 
 ted the landscape. In their domestic industry each family 
 provided for its own wants, and clothed its members with 
 cloth and linen made from the wool of their flocks, or from 
 the flax of their fields. 
 
 As Catholics, they were happy in the exercise of their 
 religion ; though they belonged to the diocese of Quebec, 
 they were not brought into close relation with the people 
 of Canada. They knew but little of what was passing 
 beyond the Hmits of their own neighborhood. Independ- 
 ent of the world, they had its comforts, but not its luxu- 
 ries. They now numbered about seventeen thousand 
 inhabitants, and up to this time their English rulers had 
 left them undisturbed in their seclusion. 
 
 A dark cloud was hanging over this scene of rural 
 simplicity and comfort. As they were excused from bear- 
 ing arms against France by the terms of their surrender, 
 the Acadiens were known as " French neutrals ;" neither 
 had they been required to take the usual oaths of allegi- 
 ance ; they had promised submission to English au- 
 thority, to bo neutral in times of war with France, and it 
 was understood they were to enjoy their religion. This 
 oath was one which, as good Frenchmen and good Catho- 
 lics, they could not take ; it required them to bear arms 
 against their own brethren in Canada, and it might in- 
 
THE OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE. 24S 
 
 volve the interests of their religion. " Better," urged ™ap. 
 
 the priests, "surrender your meadows to the sea, and 
 
 your houses to the flames, than at the peril of your souls 1755. 
 take the oath of allegiance to the British government." 
 But it was now to be exacted. " They possess the best- 
 and largest tract of land in this province," writes Law- 
 rence, Lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, to Lord Hali- 
 fax ; " if they refuse the oaths, it would be mucli better 
 that they were away." This " largest and best tract " 
 seems to have been coveted by their English rulers ; they 
 undoubtedly were suspicious of the Acadiens as CathoUcs, 
 and it is true some of their more ardent young men be- 
 longed, as volunteers, to the garrisons of the recently 
 captured forts ; but as this simple-minded people had 
 neither the will nor the power to aid the enemies of Eng- 
 land, we cannot suppose that this suspicion alone induced 
 the British to visit upon them a severity so unparalleled. 
 The question of allegiance was, however, to be pressed to 
 the utmost ; if they refused to take the oath, the titles to 
 their lands were to be null and void. The' haughty con- 
 duct of the British officers sent to enforce these orders 
 was to them a harbinger of sorrow. Their property was 
 wantonly taken for the public service, and " they not to 
 be bargained with for payment ; " if they did not bring 
 wood at the proper time, " the soldiers might take their 
 houses for fuel." Their guns were taken, and their boats 
 seized, under the pretence that they intended to carry 
 provisions to the French. The English insisted upon 
 treating this people, so faithful to their country and their 
 religion, as lawless rebels. Wearied by these oppressions, 
 their deputies j)romised allegiance ; they declared that 
 their consciences would not permit them to rebel against 
 their rulers, and they humbly asked that their arms and 
 boats might be restored. " The memorial is highly arro- 
 gant, insidious, and insulting," said the haughty Law- 
 rence ; " guns do not belong to you by law, for you are 
 
or THE rsrrsD states. 
 
 CHAP. Bflraan Cathabc&~ After conadnitioii vhk the T^'>ple. 
 
 tfe dqpsties offaed to sv»r iraeoaditKnalh'. Thru thev 
 
 17^. veie told, as tlier had onee lelosed, now they ^Ktold not 
 be panutted to swear. 
 
 A c^uDitT, as unexpected as ix was dieadfal, was at 
 Tuad. 6t pr«Tclamatkgu " tbe c4d men, and toob^ men, 
 as wdl as all lads orer ten jears c^ age." were eaDed upon 
 to asHfHp, OB a certain dar. the fifih of September, at 
 cezfam poets is their respective d^tncts, to hear the 
 Stj:- - wi^es of the Irii^." The call was obejed. At Giasd 
 Pk iTfinr mtsn than fiiwr handled nnsr ~ - ' j and nn- 
 au a cd nw acad boys came together. T^ gathered 
 
 into the c^mch, its dooss w«e ekeed. and Window, tbe 
 r, annoaneed to them the de - Brit- 
 
 They woetobe banL . -. .: fn.rn 
 
 ' nathe |mwinee ; fion the fidds thev had cultiva-oi. 
 
 firant ike pleasuit homes whae tbev had spent ta-cir 
 
 T0«&. Tk^ B^tt not ^a%nte to lands oSerEd ibem 
 
 amwij fiiends in Csaada, lest they dhotild add strength 
 
 to the WieaA. Ther were to he diiv»i forth as teggais 
 
 mmaa^ liiar taatuBS^ apeo^cf a stiu^ lai^ni^ and 
 
 flf a difiaent wJB^am. Hict woe retained as ■paBomexs, 
 
 tffl the d^ whi^ were to hear &em awar were ready. 
 
 As soon as poe^ife, their wrre and little children weie 
 
 also saaed. On the dar of embnlxtion. the voong men 
 
 lad l«TTs were fiisi oxdoed on hoard the ^bip ; as their 
 
 pmeBts and fiaoids vae not allowed to go with th«a, 
 
 lief relosed. Jearii^ that if thos s^aiated, ther m%ht 
 
 meet again — a ^oo^ ther eoold not hear. Bat 
 
 and ^tfieaties wiae tedees : diivsi hr the har- 
 
 eaet, dier weie marched fioaa ^ chmdi to the di^ 
 
 wUeh was a mik distant ; tfcetr war was fined wi& we^p- 
 
 Bg fiiods, mo&as^ and asters, who payed for tdesangs 
 
 , and ther demedres wept andfsayedani 
 
 fimntod peahas as fltey passed akag. Thea 
 
 Ae same maimu tie ftdtee weie dnr^ on hoaid 
 
- xm. 
 
 ta dipi ImB. 
 
 » 
 
 « 
 
 
 coiBpeUed bf ; 
 
 yoBay was - ^ 
 
 and hs dmn^ io the peaanf s c . r=. " P:-; 
 
 - as if in iHxkras - 
 
 -5 : vkiie all ais . 
 
 BSerHjoiqdfaDetoGea^ F 
 ' to week tj'.iiii Wwtn tme to 
 in &e 
 raestda^hetefeof sanov. 3kov 
 vife or knabaBd, b(^ tini|yii'> ai 
 emck. o tha^ fwte fiv tkeir 
 tkdr poieat& Wk^ asr m a&cr jfmis a- 
 . A7 BUt dii«i^ c£, SoBBflf ihuM. iL 
 
 4 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, could endure their banishment no longer. They obtained 
 
 boats, and coasted along the shore toward home ; but, 
 
 1755. alas ! when almost at the end of their perilous voyage, 
 they were ordered away. Some wandered to Louisiana, 
 where lands on the river above New Orleans, still known 
 as the Acadien coast, were assigned them. 
 
 This work of wanton cruelty was done by men, who un- 
 blushingly congratulated the approving king that the work 
 of desolation had been so eifectively accomplished — a work, 
 which, for its treachery and cowardly cruelty, deserves the 
 reprobation of every human breast. " I know not that the 
 annals of the human race keep the record of sorrows so 
 wantonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial, as fell upon 
 the French inhabitants of Acadie. The hand of the Eng- 
 lish official seemed under a spell with regard to them, 
 and was never uplifted but to curse them." ' 
 
 The expedition against Crown Point, on Lake Cham- 
 plain, had been intrusted to General William Johnson. 
 His troops were drawn principally from Massachusetts and 
 Connecticut ; a regiment from New Hampshire joined 
 them at Albany. At the head of boat navigation on the 
 Hudson, a fort was built which, in honor of thoir com- 
 mander, whom they reverenced as " a bravo and virtuous 
 man," the soldiers named Fort Lyman. But when John- 
 son assumed the command he ungenerously changed the 
 name to Fort Edward. Leaving a garrison in this fort, 
 Johnson moved with about five thousand men to the head 
 of Lake George, and there formed a camp, intending to 
 descend into Lake Champlain. Hendrick, the celebrated 
 Mohawk chief, with his warriors, were among these troops. 
 Israel Putnam, too, was there, as a' captain, and John 
 Stark as a lieutenant, each taking lessons in warfare. 
 
 The French were not idle ; the district of Montreal 
 made the most strenuous exertions to meet the invading foe. 
 
 ' Bancroft. 
 
THE ENGLISH FALL INTO AN AMBUSCADE. 349 
 
 All the men who were able to bear arms were called into chap. 
 
 active service ; so that to gather in the harvest, their , 
 
 places were supplied by men from other districts. The 1755. 
 energetic Baron Dieskau resolved, by a bold attack, to 
 terrify the invaders. Taking with him two hundred reg- 
 ulars, and about twelve hundred Canadians and Indians, 
 he set out to cajiture Fort Edward ; but as he drew near, 
 the Indians heard that it was defended by cannon, which 
 they greatly dreaded, and they refused to advance. He 
 now changed his plan, and resolved to attack Johnson's 
 camp, which was supposed to be without cannon. 
 
 Meantime scouts had reported to Johnson, that they 
 had seen roads made througli the woods in the direction 
 of Fort Edward. Not knowing the movements of Dieskau, 
 a detachment of a thousand men, under Colonel Ephraim 
 Williams, of Massachusetts, and two hundred Mohawks, 
 under Hendrick, marched to relieve that post. The 
 French had information of their ajjproach, and placed 
 themselves in ambush. They were concealed among the 
 thick bushes of a swamp, on the one side, and rocks and 
 trees on the other. The English recklessly marched into 
 the defile. They were vigorously attacked, and thrown Sept. 
 into confusion. Hendrick was almost instantly killed, and ^• 
 in a short time Williams fell also. The detachment com- 
 menced to retreat, occasionally halting to check their pur- 
 suers. The firing was heard in the camp ; as the sound 
 drew nearer and nearer, it was evident the detachment 
 was retreating. The drums beat to arms, trees were 
 hastily felled and thrown together to form a breastwork, 
 upon which was placed a few cannon, just arrived from 
 the Hudson. Scarcely were these preparations made, 
 when the panting fugitives appeared in sight, hotly pur- 
 sued by the French and Indians. Intending to enter the 
 camp with the fugitives, Dieskau urged forward his men 
 with the greatest impetuosity. The moment the fugitives 
 were past the muzzles of the cannon, they opened with 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, a tremendous shower of grape, whicli scattered the terrified 
 
 '_ Indians and checked the Canadians, but the regulars 
 
 1755. pushed on. A determined contest ensued, which lasted five 
 hours, until the regulars were nearly all slain, while the 
 Indians and Canadians did but little execution ; they re- 
 mained at a respectful distance among the trees. At 
 length the enemy began to retreat, and the Americans 
 leaped over the breastwork and pursued them with great 
 vigor. That same evening, after the pursuit had ceased, 
 as the French were retreating, they were suddenly attack- 
 ed with great spirit by the New Hampshire regiment, 
 which was on its way from Fort Edward. They were so 
 panic-stricken by this new assault, that they abandoned 
 every thing, and fled for their lives. 
 
 Dieskau had been wounded once or twice at the com- 
 mencement of the battle, but he never left his post ; two 
 of his soldiers generously attempted to carry him out of 
 danger, but when in the act one of them received his death 
 wound ; he urged the other to flee. In the midst of flying 
 bullets he calmly seated himself on the stump of a neigh- 
 boring tree. He was taken prisoner, kindly treated, and 
 sent to England, where he died. 
 
 Johnson was slightly wounded at the commencement 
 of the battle, and prudently retired from danger. To 
 General Lyman belongs the honor of the victory, yet John- 
 son, in his report of the battle, did not even mention his 
 name. Johnson, for his exertions on that day, was made 
 a baronet, and received from royal favor a gift of twenty- 
 five thousand dollars. He had friends at court, but Lyman 
 was unknown. 
 
 Colonel Ephraim Williams, who feU in this battle, 
 while passing through Albany had taken the precaution 
 to make his will, in which he bequeathed property to 
 found a free school in western Massachusetts. That school 
 has since grown into Williams College — a monument 
 
INDIAN VILLAGE OF KITTANNING DESTROYED. 251 
 
 more honorable than one of granite, one fraught with chap. 
 
 blessings to future generations. 
 
 Johnson, instead of pushing on to take advantage of the 1735. 
 victory, loitered in his camp, and iinaUy built and garrison- 
 ed a useless wooden fort, which he named William Henry. 
 
 As has been mentioned, the retreat of Dunbar left the 
 frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania subject to the hor- 
 rors of savage warfare. Washington was intrusted with 
 their defence, but so few men had he at his command, 
 and they so scattered, as to aiford but little protection. 
 The distant settlers of Virginia were driven in, and the 
 beautiful valley of the Shenandoah became almost a deso- 
 lation. Governor Dinwiddie, as an apology for not furnish- 
 ing more soldiers, wrote : " We dare not part with any 
 of our white men to any distance, as we must have a 
 watchful eye over our negro slaves." In one of his letters, 
 Washington says : " The supplicating tears of women 
 and moving petitions of the men, melt me into such 
 deadly sorrow, that for the people's ease, I could offer 
 myself a willing sacrifice to the treacherous enemy." 
 
 The village of Kittanning, twenty or thirty miles up 
 the Alleghany, above Fort Du Quesne, was the head-quar- 
 ters of a notable Indian chief, known as Captain Jacobs. 
 Incited by the French, he and his bands made many mur- 
 derous incursions against the settlements of Pennsylvania. 
 His associate was the Delaware chief Shingis. Benjamin 
 Franklin, who had been appointed colonel by the governor, 
 had organized the Pennsylvania militia to protect the 
 frontiers, and after his resignation, Colonel John Arm- 
 strong, afterward a major-general in the Revolutionary 
 war, was chosen in his place. He resolved to destroy these 
 Indians and their village. Three hundred Pennsylvanians 
 volunteered for the enterprise. In the latter part of Sep- 
 tember they set out on horseback, across the mountains, 
 and in a few days came into the vicinity of Kittanning, at 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, night. They heard the savages carousing and yelling ; 
 
 '_ they left their horses, approached the village, and arranged 
 
 1756. the order of attack. The night was warm, the Indians 
 ^^P'" soon hegan to separate, some to sleep in the corn-fields 
 near by, and some in wigwams. As day began to dawn, 
 the Americans surrounded the party, and, at a given sig- 
 nal, rushed to the attack. The Indians were taken by 
 surprise, but soon the voice of Jacobs was heard loud 
 above the din, cheering on his warriors, and shouting, 
 "We are men, we will not be prisoners." The wigwams 
 were set on fire, and warriors were heard singing their 
 death-song in the midst of the flames. Jacobs attempted 
 to break through the surrounding foe, but his career was 
 cut short by a rifle-ball. This nest of savage murderers 
 was entirely broken up ; the survivors went further west, 
 and for a season the frontiers had peace. 
 
 Lord Loudon was appointed a sort of viceroy of all the 
 colonies. He sent General Abercrombie as his lieutenant, 
 having suspended Governor Shirley, and ordered him to 
 June, repair to England. Abercrombie arrived in June, and 
 brought with him several British regiments. It was con- 
 fidently expected that something important would now be 
 done. These royal gentlemen had an army of seven thou- 
 sand men at Albany, but, as the Frenchmen had said, 
 they were " slow and dilatory," — they spent the summer 
 in adjusting the rank of the officers. The soldiers of the 
 colonies, though they had, by their indomitable courage, 
 saved the remnant of the British army on the banks of 
 the Monongahela ; though, at Lake George, they had 
 driven the enemy before them, and had defended their 
 soil and maintained the honor of the English name, yet 
 they were not permitted to elect their own officers, and if 
 they were appointed by the colonial governors, those of 
 the same rank by royal appointment took the precedence. 
 These were the petty annoyances dictated by little minds, 
 that aided so much in alienating the colonists from the 
 
FORTS ONTARIO AND 'WILLIAM HENRY CAPTURED. 253 
 
 mother country, and in the end leading them to independ- chap 
 ence. 
 
 While the English were thus trifling, Montcalm, the 1756. 
 successor of Dieskau, was acting. With five thousand 
 Frenchmen, Canadians, and Indians, he darted across the 
 lake, and suddenly presented himself at the gates of Fort 
 Ontario, at the mouth of the Oswego. He met with a 
 vigorous resistance ; not until they had lost all hope of 
 receiving aid, and their brave commander. Colonel Mercer, 
 was killed, did the garrison surrender. An immense ^„g_ 
 amount of military stores fell into the hands of Montcahn ; 14- 
 he sent the captured flags to adorn the churches of Can- 
 ada, and to please the Iroquois, who promised neutrality, 
 he demolished the fort. Though it was known that this 
 important post was threatened, yet no means were 
 taken to relieve it. Thus Loudon planned and counter- 
 planned, accomplished nothing, and then withdrew from 
 his arduous labors into winter-quarters. He demanded 
 free quarters for his officers of the citizens of Albany, 
 New York, and Philadelpliia. As the demand was " con- 
 traiy to the laws of England and the liberties of America," 
 they refused to accede to it. He threatened to bring his 
 soldiers and compel them to submit to the outrage. The 
 citizens, in their weakness, raised subscriptions to support 
 for the winter those who had wasted the resources of the 
 country. Thus a military chief invaded, not merely the 
 political rights of the peojile, but the sanctities of their 
 domestic life. 
 
 Montcalm was undisturbed in making preparations to 
 capture Fort William Henry, before which he aj^peared, 1757. 
 the next year, with a large French and Indian force. The 
 garrison numbered aboirt three thousand men, under 
 Colonel Monroe, a brave officer, who, when summoned to 
 surrender, indignantly refused, and immediately sent to 
 General Webbe, at Fort Edward, fifteen miles distant, for 
 aid. He could have reheved Monroe, for he had four 
 
254 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, thousand men at his disposal, but when Putnam obtained 
 
 permission to go to the aid of the fort, and had proceeded 
 
 1T57. some miles with his rangers, Webbe recalled him. Then 
 he sent a letter to Monroe advising him to surrender. This 
 letter fell into the hands of Montcalm, who was on the 
 point of raising the siege, but he now sent the letter to 
 Monroe, with another demand to surrender. The brave 
 veteran would not capitulate, but held out till half his 
 guns were rendered useless. Montcalm was too brave and 
 generous not to appreciate nobleness in others, and he 
 granted him the privilege of marching out with the honors 
 "^' of war. The only pledge he asked, was that the soldiers 
 shoidd not engage in war against the French for eighteen 
 months. They were to retain their private property, and 
 Canadian and Indian prisoners were to be restored. 
 
 Montcalm held a council of the Indians, who consented 
 to the terms of the treaty, though they were sadly dis- 
 appointed in their hopes of plunder. He refused them 
 rum, and thus he could restrain them ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, the night after the surrender they obtained it 
 from the English. In the morning they were frantic from 
 the effects of intoxication, and when the garrison were 
 leaving their camp, they fell upon the stragglers. The 
 French officers did all they could to restrain them, and 
 some were even wounded in their exertions to save the 
 English soldiers from savage violence. Montcalm, in his 
 agony, cried, " Kill me, but spare the English ; they are 
 under my protection." Instead of an orderly retreat to 
 Fort Edward, it was a flight. 
 
 Thus the French, with a population in Canada, not 
 one-twentieth part as great as that of the English colo- 
 nies, seemed triumphant everywhere. Was it strange 
 that the colonists began to lose their respect for those sent 
 to protect them from their enemies — especially for the 
 officers ? They believed the interference of the home gov- 
 ernment hindered the advancement of their cause, while 
 
CANADA EXHAUSTED. 255 
 
 the majority of the royalist governors seemed to be actu- ™A?- 
 
 ated by no worthier motive than that of promoting their '_ 
 
 own interests. 1757. 
 
 Though the French were thns victorious, and pos- 
 sessed the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, 
 and apparently all the continent, except a little strip 
 along the Atlantic coast, yet Canada was exhausted. The 
 struggle was virtually over. Her men had been drawn to 
 the battle-field, whUe their farms were left untilled, and 
 now famine was beginning to press ujjon the people. Their 
 cattle and sheep were destroyed, and horse-flesh was made 
 to supply the place of beef ; no aid could come from 
 France, as nearly aU intercourse was cut off by the ever- 
 present British craisers. The French owed their success, 
 not to their own strength, but to the imbecility of the 
 English commanders. 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, CONTINUED. 
 
 William Pitt, Prime Minister. — Lord Amherst, Commander-in-chief. — Plan 
 of Operations. — Louisburg captured. — Abercrombie on Lake George ; 
 Repulse and Retreat. — Bradstreet captures Fort Froutenac. — Expedi- 
 tion against Fort Du Quesne. — Colonel Grant. — Washington takes pos- 
 se.ssion of the Fort ; resigns his Commission. — Ticonderoga abandoned ; 
 the French retire to Canada. — Wolfe appears before Quebec. — Exer- 
 tions of Montcalm. — The British on the Heights of Abraham. — The 
 Battle. — Deaths of Wolfe and Montcalm ; their Memories. — Quebec ca- 
 pitulates. — The Cherokee War. — Destruction of their Crops and Villa- 
 ges ; their Revenge. — Pontiac ; his Character and Plans. — Desolations 
 along the Frontiers. — General Bouquet. — Pontiac's Death. 
 
 *^^^j The people of England were not indiiferent spectators of 
 
 these failures ; they noticed the feeble manner in which 
 
 1757. the war was conducted, and attributed the want of success 
 to the inefficiency of those in command. 
 
 Through their influence William Pitt, one of them- 
 selves, not of the aristocracy, was called to the head of 
 affairs. He appreciated the character and patriotism of 
 the colonists. Instead of devising measures that would 
 impoverish them, he, at once, assumed the expenses of the 
 war ; announced that the money they had already spent 
 for that purpose, should be refunded, and that for the fu- 
 ture such expenses would be borne by the home govern- 
 ment ; also arms and clothing should be furnished the 
 soldiers who would enlist. This act of justice brought 
 into the field fifty thousand men — a number greater than 
 that of the entire male population of Canada at that 
 time. 
 
PLAN OF OPERATIONS. 257 
 
 Lord Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in- ^f^.- 
 
 chief of the British army. He had for his Heutenant the 
 
 young and talented James Wolfe, who, although but 1757. 
 thirty-one years of age, had spent eighteen of those years 
 in the army, where, by his noble bearing, he had won for 
 himself the admiration of both friends and foes. 
 
 According to the general plan, Amherst himself was 
 to head the expedition against Louisburg and Quebec ; 
 while General Forbes was to cajiture Fort Du Quesne and 
 take possession of the valley of the Ohio, and Abercrombie 
 to take Ticonderog'a, the French stronghold on Lake 
 Champlain. With Abercrombie was associated Lord 
 Howe, who was characterized as the soul of the enterprise. June, 
 
 On the 8th of June, Amherst landed with his forces ^ 
 near the city of Louisburg. Under the cover of a fire 
 fi-om the ships Wolfe led the first division. He forbade a 
 gun to be fired, urged on the rowers, and in the face of 
 the enemy leaped into the water, and followed by his men 
 waded to the shore. The French deserted their outposts, 
 and retired to the fortress in the town. After a bombard- 
 ment of fifty days, when the French shipping in the harbor 
 was destroyed, and all hopes of receiving assistance at an 
 end, the fortress surrendered. At the same time were given Jqj^ 
 up the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, five 27. 
 thousand prisoners, and an immense amount of military 
 stores. 
 
 Abercrombie and Lord Howe advanced against Ticon- 
 deroga. Their army, which amounted to seven thousand 
 English and nine thousand Americans, assembled at the 
 head of Lake George. They passed in flat-boats down 
 to the foot of the lake, where they disembarked and hur- 
 ried on toward Ticonderoga ; but through the ignorance 
 of their guide, missed their way, and the advance fell jy,, 
 into an ambuscade of a French scouting party. The ene- 6." 
 my was soon put to flight, but Lord Howe fell at the head 
 17 
 
268 HISTOBT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP of his men. His death threw a gloom over the camp — the 
 
 soldiers had confidence in no other leader. Their fore- 
 
 1758. hodings were soon realized. The British engineer recon- 
 noitred the French works, and reported them as weak ; 
 but Stark, who knew their strength, affirmed they were 
 strong and well furnished. Abercrombie believed his en- 
 gineer, and without waiting for his artillery, he ordered an 
 attack. His soldiers performed prodigies of valor, but 
 were forced to retire, with a loss of two thousand of their 
 number. In this battle was wounded Charles Lee, then 
 a captain, and afterward a major-general in the Revolu- 
 tionary army. The indefatigable Montcalm had disposed 
 his small army to the very best advantage, and was pres- 
 ent wherever he was specially needed. Abercrombie or- 
 dered his men to attempt an impossibility, but judiciously 
 kept himself out of danger. The English army was yet 
 four to one of the French, and could have conquered with 
 the aid of the cannon which had been brought up, yet 
 Abercrombie hastily retreated. As Montcalm's troops 
 were few and exhausted, he did not attempt to pursue him. 
 The monotony of disasters was disturbed by Colonel 
 Bradstreet, of New York, who, after much solicitation, 
 obtained pei-mission to go against Fort Frontenac, which, 
 from its position at the foot of Lake Ontario, commanded 
 that lake and the St. Lawrence. It was a central point 
 for trading with the Indians ; a great magazine which 
 supplied all the posts on the ujDper lakes and Ohio with 
 military stores. With twenty-seven hundred men, all 
 Americans, principally from New York and Massachu- 
 setts, Bradstreet jsassed rapidly and secretly to Oswego, 
 and thence across the lake in open boats, and landed 
 Aug. within a mile of the fort. The majority of the garrison, 
 ^^- terrified at the sudden appearance of enemies, fled ; the 
 next day the remainder surrendered. There was found 
 an immense amount of military stores, some of them des- 
 tined for Fort Du Quesne, and a fleet of nine armed ves- 
 
THE HIGHLANDEBS ROUTED. 2S9 
 
 sels, which held the command of the lake. The fort was ^^P- 
 
 razed to its foundation, two of the vessels were laden with 
 
 stores and brought to Oswego ; the remaining stores and 1758. 
 ships were destroyed. 
 
 The troops raised in Pennsylvania for the expedition 
 under General Forbes against Fort Du Quesne were as- 
 sembled at Raystown, on the Juniata. Washington was 
 at Cumberland, with the Virginia regiment. His plan 
 was to march directly upon the fort by the road which 
 Braddock had made. This common-sense plan was re- 
 jected, and the suggestions of some land speculators 
 adopted, and Forbes ordered a new road to be cut through 
 the wilderness further north. 
 
 General Bouquet with the advance passed over the 
 Laurel Hill, and established a post at Loyal Hanna. 
 Without permission he despatched Major Grant with 
 eight hundred Highlanders and a company of Virginians 
 to reconnoitre in the vicinity of Fort Du Quesne. Grant Sept, 
 was permitted to approach unmolested, though the French 
 knew from their scouts of all his movements. As he 
 drew near, he sent a party to take a plan of the fort, and 
 placed Major Lewis with the Virginians to guard the bag- 
 gage, as if they were not to be trusted in the contest. 
 Not a gun was fired from the fort. Grant self-compla- 
 cently attributed this to the dread his regulars had in- 
 spired. All this time the Indians lay quietly in ambush, 
 waiting for the signal to commence the attack. Presently 
 out rushed the garrison, and attacked the Highlanders in 
 front, while in a moment the fearful war-whooj) arose on 
 both flanks. Terrified at the unusual contest, they were 
 thrown into confusion ; their bewildered officers began to 
 manoeuvre them as if in the open field. Major Lewis 
 with some of his party hastened to the rescue, and there 
 fought hand to hand with the savages. The detachment, 
 overpowered by numbers, was completely routed, and 
 
 15. 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Grant and Lewis were both made prisoners. The fugi- 
 
 '_ tives soon reached the place where they left the baggage. 
 
 1758. Captain Bullit hastily formed a barricade with the wag- 
 ons, behind which he waited the approach of the pursuers. 
 When they were within a few yards, the Virginians poured 
 in a fire so direct and deadly as to check them. They 
 soon rallied and again ajjproached. This time, Captain 
 Bullit and his men advanced, as if to surrender, but when 
 within eight yards he again poured in an effective fire, and 
 immediately charged bayonet. The pursuers were so as- 
 tonished at the suddenness and manner of attack that 
 they fled in dismay, while the Virginians retreated with 
 all speed. 
 
 When the news of this disaster reached the main 
 army, it well-nigh ruined the whole enterprise ; as a coun- 
 cil of war decided to give up the attempt for that year, 
 as it was now November, and there were yet fifty miles of 
 unbroken forest between them and the fort. Just then 
 some prisoners were brought in, from whom the defence- 
 less condition of the fort was learned. Wasliington was 
 given the command of a division with which to jiush for- 
 ward. In a few days they arrived in the neighborhood of 
 Du Quesne. Instead of meeting with a vigorous resist- 
 ance, they were surprised to learn that the place had been 
 abandoned the day before. The French commander had 
 blown up his magazines, burned every building that would 
 burn, and with his company gone on board of flat-boats 
 
 jfov. and floated down the Ohio. On the twenty-fifth of No- 
 25. vember, Washington marched into the deserted fort, and 
 jjlanted the English colors. An impulse of grateful feel- 
 ing changed the name to Fort Pitt — since Pittsburg, in 
 honor of the illustrious man — the first of English states- 
 men, who appreciated the character of the American colo- 
 nists, and who was willing to do them justice. Situated 
 at the head of the Ohio, in a region celebrated for its agri- 
 cultural and mineral wealth, and settled by a moral and 
 
PLAN OF OPERATIONS AGAINST CANADA. 261 
 
 industrious population, it has far exceeded in importance chap. 
 any other acquisition made during the war. A fit monu- . — _ 
 ment to the memory of the " Great Commoner," 1758. 
 
 The object of the campaign thus secured, Washington, 
 leaving two Virginia regiments to garrison the fort, re- 
 signed his commission, and retired to private life. In the 
 mean time he had been elected a member of the House of 
 Burgesses. A few months afterward, on the opening of 
 the session, the House, by vote, resolved to receive the 
 youthful champion with some befitting manifestation of 
 its regard. Accordingly, when he took his seat as a mem- 
 ber, the Speaker addressed him, giving him thanks for the 
 military services he had rendered his country. Taken by 
 surprise, Washington rose to reply, but words were want- 
 .ing ; he faltered and blushed. " Sit down, Mr. Washing- 
 ton," kindly said the Speaker ; " your modesty equals 
 your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language 
 I possess." 
 
 This year closed with great advantages to the English. 
 The cunning Indians — still true to the winning side — be- 
 gan to desert the French, and to form treaties of peace or 
 neutrality with their enemies. The comprehensive mind 
 of Pitt was devising plans to crush the French power in 
 America. He promi)tly paid all the expenses incurred by 
 the colonists during the past year, and they with alacrity 
 entered into his schemes. Wolfe was to ascend the St. 
 Lawrence ; Amherst was to advance by way of Lake Cham- 
 plain, and capture Montreal, and then join Wolfe before 
 Quebec ; whUe General Prideaux was to capture Fort Ni- 
 agara, and then to pass down Lake Ontario to Montreal. 
 
 As Amherst advanced against Ticonderoga, the French 1759. 
 abandoned that post, and the others as he approached ; " ^' 
 he wasted his time in fortifying the places deserted by the 
 enemy, as if they who were so exhausted as to be scarcely 
 able to get out of his way, would ever return ! Though 
 General Prideaux was unfortunately killed by the burst- 
 
262 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ino; of a OTn, yet Sir William Johnson, on whom the com- 
 
 XXIII. O O J J ! 
 
 mand devolved, took Niagara ; and thus the chain which 
 
 1759. joined the French forts of Canada, with those of the val- 
 ley of the Mississijipi, was broken forever. 
 June The fleet and troojis designed against Quebec, assem- 
 
 ^'' bled at Louisburg. In the latter part of June the arma- 
 ment arrived at the Isle of Orleans, upon which the troops 
 immediately landed. The rock on which stood the citadel 
 of St. Louis, could be seen to the west looming up more 
 than three hundred feet, bidding defiance to the invaders. 
 In the rear were the Heights of Abraham, a plain extend- 
 ing for miles, while all along the shore the high cliifs 
 seemed to be an impregnable defence. 
 
 To meet this force, Montcalm had only a few enfeebled 
 battalions and Canadian militia. The Indians held them- 
 selves aloof. The English fleet consisted of twenty-two 
 ships of the line, and as many frigates. As master of one 
 of these ships was Captain James Cook, afterward cele- 
 brated as the discoverer of the many isles of the Pacific. 
 Under Wolfe were four young and ardent commanders, 
 Kobert Monckton, afterward governor of New York ; 
 George Townshend, and James Murray, and also Colonel 
 Howe, afterward Sir William, who for a time commanded 
 the British army in the American Revolution. 
 
 Quebec, situated on a peninsula between the St. Law- 
 rence and the river St. Charles, was defended on three 
 sides by these rivers, leaving only the west exposed. The 
 lower town was on the beach, while the Tipper was on the 
 clifl' two hundred feet above. The high cliffs of the nortli 
 shore of the St. Lawrence were deemed a sufficient de- 
 fence. It was thought impossible for an army to scale 
 them. Below on the St. Lawrence, between the St. 
 Charles and the Montmorenci rivers, was Montcalm's 
 camp, guarded by many floating batteries and ships of 
 war. But the naval superiority of the English soon ren- 
 dered them masters on the water. 
 
THE EESOLVE TO SCALE THE HEIGHTS. 263 
 
 The French troops were driven from Point Levi, di- ™ap- 
 
 rectly opposite Quebec, and Wolfe erected batteries on 
 
 that spot, and began to bombard the lower town, which 1759. 
 was soon reduced to ashes ; but owing to the distance, the 
 fortress and the upper town could not be injured. Wolfe 
 then passed over to the north side of the river, below the 
 Montmorenci, intending to pass that stream, and force 
 Montcalm to a battle. 
 
 When this design was carried into effect, the first 
 division, consisting of the grenadiers, rashly rushed on to 
 storm the French lines before the second division could 
 come up to sujiport them. They were repulsed, with a 
 loss of nearly five hundred men. Diversions were also 
 made above the town to induce the enemy to come into 
 the open field, but without success. Montcalm merely 
 sent De Bougainville with fifteen hundred men to guard 
 against these attacks. 
 
 The repulse at Montmorenci occasioned the sensitive July- 
 Wolfe much suffering. He looked for the tardy Amherst, 
 but in vain ! No tidings came from him, and it seemed 
 as if the enterprise, the first under his own command, 
 was about to fail. He was thrown into a violent fever by 
 his anxiety. As a last resort, it was resolved, in a coun- 
 cil held around his bed, to scale the Heights of Abraham. 
 In order to do this, the French must be deceived. There- 
 fore Captain Cook was sent to take soundings and place 
 buoys opposite Montcalm's cam^J, as if that was to be the 
 special object of attack. Meantime, the shore for many 
 miles above the town, was carefully examined. At one 
 place was found a little indentation in the bank, from 
 which a path wound up the clifl', — there they determined 
 to make the attempt. This is now known as Wolfe's Cove. 
 The troops were put on shipboard and suddenly sailed up 
 the river, as if intending to pass beyond the French lines 
 and there land. At night the ships lay to, and the troops, 
 in boats, dropped down with the tide to Wolfe's Cove, fol- 
 
264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, lowed by the slnps designed to cover their landing, if neces- 
 
 _i \ sary. As they passed, a French sentinel hailed them with 
 
 1759. the inquiry, " Who goes there .^ " " La France," answer- 
 ed a captain. " What regiment ? " " The Queen's "—that 
 being one of the regiments up the river with BougainviUe. 
 The sentinel was deceived. They passed on to the Cove, 
 and quietly landing began to grojie their way up the cliff, 
 clinging to the shrubs and rocks for support. In the 
 morning the entire army was on the Heights of Abraham, 
 ready for battle. 
 a^ ^ Montcalm was thimderstruck, when he heard the news. 
 
 ■I "It must surely be," said he, "a small party come to 
 pillage, and then retire." More correct information re- 
 vealed to him the whole truth. There was no time to be 
 lost. He sent immediately for the detachment of Bou- 
 gainville, which was tifteen miles up the river. The 
 Indians and Canadians advanced first, and subjected the 
 English to an irregular, and galling fire. Wolfe ordered 
 his men to reserve their fire for the French regulars, who 
 were rapidly approaching. When they were within forty 
 yards, the English poured upon them a stream of musket- 
 ry, aided by grape-shot from a few guns dragged up the 
 cliff by the sailors. It was a fierce conflict. The respect- 
 ive commanders were opposite to each other. Wolfe, al- 
 though wounded twice, continued to give his orders with 
 clearness ; but as he advanced with the grenadiers, who 
 were to make their final charge with the bayonet, he re- 
 ceived a ball in the breast. He knew the wound was 
 mortal, and when falling said to the officer nearest to 
 him : " Let not my brave fellows see me fall." He was 
 carried to the rear ; when asked if he would have a sur- 
 geon, he answered : " It is needless ; it is all over with 
 me." As his life was fast ebbing, the cry was raised — 
 " Sec, they run ! they run ! " " Who run ! " asked the 
 dying man. " The enemy, sir," was the answer. " Do 
 they i-un already ? " he asked with evident surprise. Sum- 
 
WOLFE AND MONTCALM. 265 
 
 moning his failing energies, " Go one of you, to Colonel ^^^j^- 
 
 Burton," said he ; " tell him to march Webb's regiment 1 
 
 with all speed down to Charles river, to cut off the retreat 1759. 
 by the bridge." Then turning upon his side, he mur- ^^' 
 mured, " Now God be praised, I die happy." These were 
 the last words of the young hero, in whom were centred 
 the hopes of his soldiers and of his country. Monckton 
 was severely wounded, and the command devolved upon 
 Townshend, who, content with being master of the field, 
 called the troops from the pursuit. Just at the close of 
 the battle Bougainville a^^peared with his division ; but 
 the contest was declined. 
 
 There is a peculiar interest attached to the name and 
 character of Wolfe. A mind sensitive in its emotions and 
 vigorous in its thoughts, animated his feeble body. He 
 maintained a love for the quieter paths of literature, even 
 amid the excitements of the camp. On the clear star- 
 light night preceding the battle, as the boat in which he 
 was seated with his officers was silently floating down the 
 St. Lawrence, he recited to them that classic poem, 
 Gray's " Elegy in a Country Church-yard ; " then just 
 published. Death seems to have already cast his dark 
 shadow upon him, and doubtless many of the finer pas- 
 sages of the poem were in accordance with his subdued and 
 melancholy emotions. Then for a time the aspirations 
 of the man of feeling and poetic taste triumphed over the 
 sterner ambition of the warrior, and at its close he ex- 
 claimed : " I would rather be the author of that poem 
 than to take Quebec to-morrow." 
 
 The brave and generous Montcalm was mortally 
 wounded near the close of the battle. When carried into 
 the city, the surgeon informed him that he could survive 
 only a few hours. " So much the better," he calmly re- 
 plied, " I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 
 When asked his advice about defending the city, he an- 
 
1827. 
 
 266 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 x'xTn ^^^^"^"^^ • " "^0 yo^^^' keeping I commend the honor of 
 France. I will neither give orders nor interfere any fur- 
 
 1759. ther ; I have business of greater moment to attend to ; 
 my time is short ; I shall pass tliis night with God, and 
 prejiare myself for death." He then wrote a letter to the 
 English commander, commending to his favor the French 
 prisoners. The next morning he died. That generation 
 passed away, and with it the animosity which existed be- 
 tween the conquerors and the conquered. The united 
 people of another generation erected a granite monument, 
 on which they inscribed the names of Montcalm and 
 Wolfe. 
 
 Sept. Five days after the battle Quebec surrendered. There 
 
 were great rejoicings both in America and England. 
 Praises were lavished upon Pitt. He in Parhament re- 
 plied, " I will aim to serve my country, but the more a 
 man is versed in business, the more he finds the hand of 
 Providence everywhere." The next year an attempt was 
 made by the French to recover Quebec, but it failed. An 
 overwhelming force was brought against Montreal. Re- 
 sistance was vain, and Vaudreuil, the governor, surren- 
 dered all the French stations on the Lakes. The troops 
 were to be sent home, and the Canadians, protected in 
 their property, were to enjoy their religious privileges. 
 Thus passed away the French j^ower in Canada. Depend- 
 ents upon the mother countiy, the inhabitants had never 
 exercised the right of self-government ; they lacked the 
 energy essential to success as an independent people. 
 They have assimilated but little with their conquerors. 
 They stiU preserve that gay simplicity of manners, so 
 characteristic of their nation, and an ardent attachment 
 to the church of their fathers. 
 
 Meantime disturbances had occurred on the south- 
 west. The Cherokees had always been the friends of the 
 Enghsh, and had undertaken to protect the frontiers south 
 of the Potomac, yet for this their warriors, Avhen about to 
 
WAR WITH THE CHEROKEES. 267 
 
 return home, received no reward from the government — chap. 
 
 not even supplies of food for their journey. What the '. 
 
 State ftiiled to do was done by Washington and his offi- 1758. 
 cers, who supplied their wants. The next year more 
 Cherokees joined the expedition under Forbes against 
 Fort Du Quesne. As they were returning home along 
 the western borders of Virginia, to avoid starvation they 
 helped themselves to what they wanted. This led to 
 quarrels with the backwoodsmen, who killed and scalped 
 some of their number. When this was told in the land 
 of the Cherokees, it caused sorrow, indignation, and alarm ; 
 the women, relatives of those who were slain, poured forth 
 deep and bitter wailings for the dead ; the young warriors, 
 indignant, armed themselves for revenge ; the old men 
 cautioned and counselled, and did all in their power to 
 prevent war, but in vain ; two white men fell victims to the 
 rage of the young warriors. Tiftoe and five other chieftains 
 went to Charleston to beg for peace, and to heal differ- 
 ences. The governor, the haughty and arbitrary Lyttle- 
 ton, demanded that the young men who, according to the Oct. 
 ideas of the sons of the forest, had vindicated the honor '-'^^' 
 of their nation, " should be delivered vip or put to death 
 in their own land." This, the Cherokees thought, would 
 only add fuel to the flame already kindled. The legislature v 
 
 decided unanimously that there was no cause for war. 
 News came from the frontier that aU was peaceful ; 
 " there were no bad talks." The obstinate governor per- 
 sisted in his demand, and created more disturbance. Then 
 he told the chiefs who wished for peace to come to him 
 and hold a talk, and promised them safe conduct to and 
 from Charleston. Trusting to his word, the great warrior 
 Oconostata came with thirty others. But Lyttleton must 
 obtain for himself the glory of a successful expedition 
 against the Cherokees. He called out the militia in spite 
 of the remonstrances of the people, of the legislature, and 
 of his own council, and basely retained as prisoners, those 
 
268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, who had trusted his word. He marched into the country 
 
 of the Cherokees, forced a treaty from a feeble old chief, 
 
 1759. who had no authority to make one, and then returned in 
 fancied triumph. Oconostata and a few others were lib- 
 erated. The remainder Lyttleton ordered to be kept pris- 
 oners at Fort Prince George till twenty-four warriors 
 should be given up to him. Oconostata made an attempt 
 to liberate his friends. In this efibrt a white man was 
 killed ; then, in revenge, the garrison murdered the pris- 
 oners. Now the rage of the Cherokees knew no bounds. 
 They exclaimed : " The spirits of our murdered brothers 
 are flying around us screaming for vengeance." The leg- 
 islature strongly condemned the perfidious conduct of 
 Lyttleton, and asserted their " birth-rights as British 
 subjects," and affirmed that he had " violated their un- 
 doubted privileges." Yet this very man received the 
 highest commendations from the " Board of Trade." 
 
 The Cherokees, driven to desperation by such treat- 
 ment, called to their aid the Muscogees, and sent to 
 Louisiana for military supplies. The Carolinians applied 
 to General Amherst, who sent them twelve hundred 
 l7(;o_ men, principally Highlanders, under General Montgomery. 
 They, with the Carolinians, pressed forward, by forced 
 marches, into the land of the Cherokees. Why give the 
 details of desolated settlements .^ Village after village 
 was destroyed, and fertile valleys laid waste. On the 
 upper Savannah was the beautiful vale of Keowee, " the 
 delight of the Cherokees." They had become so far civil- 
 ized as to build comfortable houses, and to surround them 
 with cultivated fields. Suddenly appeared the invaders. 
 The great majority of the Indians, after an attempt at 
 . defence, fled, and from the distant mountain-tops saw the 
 enemy burning their houses and destroying their crops. 
 " I cannot help pitying them a little," writes Colonel 
 Grant ; " their villages are agreeably situated, their houses 
 
PONTIAC. 269 
 
 neatly built. There were everywhere astonishing maga- ^haP- 
 zines of corn, which were all consumed." 
 
 After this dash at the Oherokees, Montgomery imme- 1760. 
 diately returned to the north, as ordered by Amherst. 
 The Indians were not subdued, but enraged ; thoy con- 
 tinued to ravage the back settlements of the Carolinas. 
 
 Immediately after the surrender of Canada, all the 1V63. 
 French stations on the lakes were occupied by the con- 
 querors, and the little stockade posts throughout all that 
 region, and in the valley of the Ohio, were garrisoned by 
 a few men, in many instances not exceeding twenty. The 
 French, either as traders or as religious teachers, had won 
 the confidence and the affection of the Indians, by a 
 friendly intercourse extending through more than half a 
 century. Was it strange that the contrast appeared 
 great to them, between these friends and companions and 
 the domineering English soldiers, who insulted their priests 
 and vilified their religion ? The French had prohibited 
 the trade in rum, but the English introduced the traffic, 
 and the demoralization of the Indians commenced. The 
 capture of Fort Du Quesne was the signal for a torrent 
 of emigration, which poured over the mountains into the 
 vaUeys of the Monongahela and Alleghany. The Indians 
 feared the pale-faces would drive them from their homes. 
 
 Adopted into the tribe of the Ottawas, was a Catawba, 
 who had been brought from the South as a prisoner, but 
 who had, by his genius and bravery, risen to be a chief He 
 had the most unbounded influence over his own and other 
 tribes, and was styled " the king and lord of all the coun- 
 try of the north-west." " How dare you come to visit my 
 country without my leave ? " demanded he of the first Eng- 
 lish officer who came to take possession of the French forts. 
 Such was Pontiac, the Philip of the north-west, who, in 
 the war which bears his name, made the last great strug- 
 gle for the independence of the Ked Man. This master 
 spirit planned, and partially executed, one of the most 
 
270 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, comprehensive schemes ever conceived by Indian sagacity 
 to expel the invaders, and maintain his own authority as 
 
 17C3. " king and lord " of aU tliat region. He induced the Del- 
 awares, the Shawnees, the Senecas, the Miamis, and many 
 lesser tribes, who roamed over the vast region in the basin 
 of the upper lakes, in the valley of the Ohio, and a portion 
 of that of the Mississippi, to join in the conspiracy. He 
 sent a prophet through the land to proclaim that the 
 Great Spirit had revealed to him, " that if the English 
 were permitted to dwell in their midst, then the white 
 man's diseases and poisons would utterly destroy them." 
 This conspiracy was more than a year in foi-ming, yet it 
 was kept a jirofound secret. 
 
 Detroit had the largest garrison, was the great centre 
 for the trade of the upper lakes, and most important in 
 its influence. Here the French were numerous ; they 
 tilled their farms, as well as engaged in the traffic of furs. 
 Pontiac desired to obtain possession of the fort. He inti- 
 mated that he was coming with his warriors to have a 
 "talk" with his English brothers. Meantime, Gladwin, 
 the commander, had learned of the conspiracy. Finding 
 that the plot was discovered, Pontiac threw off the mask, 
 and boldly attacked the fort, but without success. This 
 was the commencement of a series of sui-prises ; the In- 
 dians, in the short space of three weeks, captured every 
 station west of Niagara, except Detroit and Pittsburg. 
 The soldiers of the garrisons were nearly all put to death, 
 more than one hundred traders were murdered and scalped 
 in the wilderness, and more than five hundred families, 
 /after losing hundreds of their members, were driven from 
 their homes on the frontiers. A lai-ge force from several 
 tribes concentrated around Pittsburg, the most important 
 post in the valley of tlie Ohio ; yet the brave garrison 
 could not be caught by their wiles, nor conquered by their 
 arms. Their ravages, in the mean while, extended to all 
 
INDIANS DEFEATED PITTSBTTKG EELIEVED. 271 
 
 the settlements and posts on the head-waters of the Ohio, ctap. 
 
 and on the lakes to the region between the Mississippi . 1 
 
 and the Ohio. 1763. 
 
 General Bouquet was sent from Eastern Pennsylvania 
 to relieve Fort Ligonier, just at the western foot of the 
 mountains, and Pittsburg. His army consisted of not 
 more than five hundred effective men, principally Scotch 
 Highlanders. They had with them a train of wagons, 
 drawn by oxen, and pack-horses laden with miUtary stores 
 and necessary provisions, and a drove of beef cattle. 
 Passing through a region desolated by the savages, they 
 saw the remains of burnt cabins, and the harvests stand- 
 ing uncut in the fields. 
 
 When he arrived at Ligonier, Bouquet could learn 
 nothing from the west, as all intercourse had been cut off. 
 Leaving there his wagons and cattle, he pushed forward 
 to ascertain the fate of Pittsburg. The Indians besieging 
 that place, heard of his approach, and they resolved to 
 place themselves in ambush, and defeat his army. As 
 soon as the battle began, the Highlanders dashed at them 
 with the bayonet, and the Indians fled ; but wlien the 
 pursuit slackened they rallied, and were again repulsed. 
 At length, the number of the savages increased so much 
 that they completely surrounded the Highlanders, who, 
 during the night, encamped on the ridge of a hill. In the 
 morning they could not advance, for their wounded men 
 and baggage would fall into the hands of the enemy. 
 Placing two companies in ambush, Bouquet began to re- 
 treat, and immediately, with exulting yells, the Indians 
 rushed on in pursuit, but when they came to the right 
 point, those in ambush charged them on both sides, and 
 those retreating wheeled and charged also. Panic-stricken 
 by the suddenness of the attack, the savages broke and 
 fled. The division then moved on to Pittsburg. From 
 that day the valley of the Ohio was free from Indian vio- 
 
272 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, lence. The stream of emigration began again to pour 
 
 over the mountains. The tribes, disheartened, began to 
 
 1764. make treaties and promise peace. Pontiac would make 
 
 no treaty, nor acknowledge himself a friend of the English. 
 
 He left his home and tribe and went to the countiy of the 
 
 Illinois, where he perished by the hand of an assassin, who 
 
 was hired for the purpose. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 Religious Influences among the earlier Settlers. — The later Emigrants ; their 
 Influence. — Love of domestic Life. — Laws enjoining Morality. — Sys- 
 tems of Education ; Common Schools.— John Calvin.— The Southerner ; 
 the Northerner. — The Anglo-Saxon Element ; the Norman. — Influences 
 in Pennsylvania ; in New Yoii. — Diversity of Ancestry. 
 
 The conquest of Canada had removed appreliensions of chap. 
 
 war with France, or of incursions by the Indians. The '_ 
 
 colonists naturally turned to their own affairs. They 176O. 
 were poor and in debt ; a seven years' war had been within 
 their borders ; their men had been drawn from the labor 
 of industry to the battle-field. Yet that war, with its 
 evils, had conferred benefits. It had made known to them 
 their strength, and success had given them confidence. 
 
 Before relating the events that led to the Eevolution, 
 let us take a rapid survey of the people, who were soon to 
 take their place among the nations of the earth. 
 
 From the first they were an intelligent and a religious 
 people. They were untrammelled in the exercise of their 
 religion, and its spirit moulded public sentiment in aU 
 the colonies, whether settled by the Puritan or the Church- 
 man, by the Dutch Calvinist or the Quaker, by the 
 Huguenot or the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian. The two 
 latter were of more recent emigration ; they did not di- 
 minish the high tone of morals already sustained by the 
 earlier settlers. 
 
 18 
 
274 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 t:nAP. The Huguenots came in small companies, and seldom 
 
 [ settled together in large numbers, but mingled with the 
 
 1760. colonists, and conformed more and more to their customs, 
 and, in time, became identified with them in interests. 
 Calvinists in doctrine, they generally united with either 
 the Episcopal or Presbyterian churches, and by their piety 
 and industrious habits exerted an influence that amply 
 repaid the genuine hospitality with which they were every- 
 where received. 
 
 The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians displayed the indomi- 
 table energy and perseverance of their ancestors, with the 
 same morality and love of their church. Even those who 
 took post on the outskirts of civilization along the western 
 frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North 
 Carolina, had their pastor, and trained their children in 
 Bible truth, in the catechism, obedience to parents, — 
 a wholesome doctrine practically enforced by all the colo- 
 nists, — and reverence for the Sabbath and its sacred duties. 
 They were a people decided iu their character. They 
 emigrated from their native land to enjoy civil and relig- 
 ious privileges, but they had also an eye to the improve- 
 ment of their temporal affairs. 
 
 The endearments of home and of the domestic fireside 
 had charms for the colonists of every creed. The educa- 
 tion of their cliildren was deemed a religious duty, while 
 around their households clustered the comforts and many 
 of the refinements of the times. The example of their 
 ancestors, who had sought in the wilderness an asylum, 
 where they might enjoy their religion, had not been in 
 vain ; a traditionary religious spirit had come down from 
 those earlier days, and now pervaded the minds of the 
 people. 
 
 Though there was neither perfect uniformity in their 
 forms of worship, nor in their interpretation of religious 
 doctrines, yet one sentiment was sacred in the eyes of all — 
 a reverence for the day of Holy Kest. The influences 
 
LAWS ENJOINING MORALITY. 275 
 
 connected with the Sabbath, and impressed from week to ^^• 
 
 week, penetrated their inner life, and like an all-pervading 1 
 
 moral antiseptic preserved, in its purity, the religious 1760. 
 character of the entire people. 
 
 The laws of a people may be taken as the embodiment 
 of their sentiments. Those enacted by our forefathers 
 may excite a smile, yet they show that they were no time- 
 servers — that they were conscientious and in earnest. 
 
 In New England the laws noticed those who dressed 
 more richly than their wealth would justify ; they would 
 not permit the man who defrauded his creditors to live in 
 luxury ; those who did not vote, or would not serve when 
 elected to office, they fined for their want of patriotism ; 
 they forbade " drinking of healths as a bad habit ; " they 
 prohibited the wearing of embroidered garments and laces ; 
 they discouraged the use of " ribbons and great boots ; " 
 sleeves must reach to the wrist, and not be more than 
 half an ell wide ; no one under twenty years of age was 
 allowed to use tobacco, unless prescribed by a physician ; 
 those who used it publicly were fined a sixpence ; all per- 
 sons were restrained from " swimming in the waters on 
 the Sabbath-day, or unreasonably walking in the fields or 
 streets." 
 
 In Virginia we see the same spirit. In every settle- 
 ment there was to be "a house for the worship of God." 
 Divine service was to be in accordance with the canons of 
 the Church of England. Absence from church was pun- 
 ished by a fine ; the wardens were sworn to report cases 
 of " drunkenness, swearing, and other vices." The drunk- 
 ards were fined, the swearers also, at the rate of " a shil- 
 ling an oath ; " slanderers and tale-bearers were punished ; 
 travelling or shooting on the Sabbath forbidden. The 
 minister was not to addict himself •' to excess in drinking 
 or riot, nor play cards or dice, but to hear or read the 
 Holy Scriptures, catechize the children, and visit the 
 sick." The wardens were bound to report the masters 
 
276 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™^P. and mistresses " who neglected to catechize the ignorant 
 
 persons under their charge." In the Carolinas laws of a 
 
 1760. similar character were enacted ; and, in Pennsylvania, 
 against " stage plays, playing of cards, dice, May-games, 
 masques, and revels." 
 
 Although, at the time of which we write, many of 
 these, and similar laws had become obsolete, yet the influ- 
 ences which dictated them had, for one hundred and fifty 
 years, been forming the character of the colonists. Hedged 
 in on the one side by the ocean, and on the other by 
 a howling wilderness filled with hostile savages, they 
 acquired a certain energy of character, the result of 
 watchfulness, and an individuality, which to this day dis- 
 tinguishes their descendants. 
 
 While emigrants were flocking to the colonies, these 
 
 influences were somewhat disturbed, but for three-quarters 
 
 1688. of a century — since the great revolution in England had 
 
 restrained the hand of oppression — emigration had been 
 
 gradually diminishing. 
 
 Thus uninfluenced from without, the political and re- 
 ligious principles with which they were imbued had time 
 to produce their fruit. A national sentiment, a oneness 
 of feeling among the people, grew into vigorous being. 
 The common schools of New England had exerted their 
 undivided influence for almost three generations ; the 
 youth left them with that conscious self-reliance which 
 springs spontaneously in the intelligent mind — a pledge 
 of success in things great as well as small. These schools, 
 no doubt, gave an impulse to female education. In the 
 earlier days of New England the women were taught to 
 read, but very few to write. "The legal papers executed 
 in the first century (of the colony) by well-to-do women, 
 were mostly signed by a mark, ( X ) ". ' The custom of 
 
 ' Elliott's History of New England, vol. i. p. 428. 
 
EDUCATION FREE INQUIRY AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 277 
 
 settling in townships or villages made it easy to support ™j^- 
 common schools. 
 
 In the middle colonies, especially Pennsylvania and 1760. 
 New York, a system of general education had not been 
 introduced ; the diversity of sects prevented. In the 
 South, except partially in Maryland, common schools were 
 not adopted. The owners of slaves usually held large 
 tracts of the best lands, while the less wealthy were com- 
 pelled to retire to the outskirts of the settlements, where 
 they could obtain farms. The population was thus so 
 much scattered, that generally children could not be con- 
 centrated at particular places in sufficient numbers to 
 sustain schools. Those who, for want of means, could not 
 employ private teachers, taught their own children as best 
 they could. Among this class, from year to year, there 
 was but little increase in general intelligence. The 
 wealthy employed private instructors, or sent their chil- 
 dren abroad. As the nation increased in knowledge, the 
 people cherished the right to exercise free thought and 
 free speech. 
 
 Our ancestors lived not for themselves alone. With 
 the prophet's vision, and the patriot's hope, they looked 
 forward to the day, when all this continent would be un- 
 der the influence of their descendants, and they a Chris- 
 tian people. Was it strange they were self-denying and 
 in earnest, in endeavoring to spread the blessings of 
 education and religion, as the greatest boon they could 
 transmit to their posterity .^ Thus they labored to found 
 institutions of learning ; they encouraged the free ex- 
 pression of opinion. From the religious freedom of con- 
 science, which they proclaimed as the doctrine of the 
 Bible, the transition was easy to pohtical freedom. The 
 advocate of free inq^uiry became the advocate of civil lib- 
 erty, and the same stroke which broke the chain binding 
 the word of God to the interpretation of the church, shat- 
 tered the fetters binding the political slave. 
 
278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. '. Mucli of this sentiment may be traced to the influence 
 
 exerted by the opinions of one man, John Calvin. " We 
 
 17G0. boast of our common schools, Calvin was the father of 
 popular education, the inventor of free schools. The pil- 
 grims of PljTQOutli were Calvinists ; the best influence of 
 South Carolina came from the Calvinists of France. Wil- 
 liam Penn was the disciple of the Huguenots ; the ships 
 from Holland that first brought colonists to Manhattan 
 were filled with Calvinists. He that will not honor the 
 memoiy and respect the influence of Calvin, knows but 
 little of the origin of American liberty. He bequeathed 
 to the world a republican spirit in religion, witb the kin- 
 dred principles of republican liberty." ' 
 
 There were slight differences of character between the 
 people of the several colonies. In the eastern, the diffi- 
 cidties arising from a sterile soil had made the people 
 industrious and frugal. There, labor was always honorable, 
 and when the day came " which tried men's souls," great 
 numbers of the prominent men came from the ranks of 
 manual labor. The Anglo-Saxon element greatly pre- 
 dominated among the colonists of New England. As 
 simple in manners as rigid in morals, a truly democratic 
 s\nnt and love of liberty pervaded their minds, and hence 
 political constitutions of whose benefits all were partici- 
 pants. The Norman element jDrevaUcd more in the South, 
 especially in Virginia. Here the wealthy colonists were 
 more aristocratic in spirit and feeling ; were more refined 
 and elegant in manners. This aristocratic spirit was fos- 
 tered, in time, by the system of slavery, while the dis- 
 tinctions in society arising from the possession of wealth 
 were greatly increased. In all the southern colonies, the 
 mildness of the climate, the labor of slaves, and the ready 
 sale of their tobacco, rice, and indigo, made the acquisition 
 of wealth comparatively easy. The planter, " having 
 
 o 
 
 ' Bancroft's Miscellanies, pp. 405-6. 
 
INFLUENCES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 279 
 
 more leisure, was more given to pleasures and amuse- ™|^- 
 
 ments — to the sports of tlie turf, the cock-pit, the chase, 
 
 and the gaming-table. His social habits often made him 1760. 
 profuse, and plunged him in debt to the English or Scotch 
 merchant, who sold his exported products and furnished 
 him his foreign supplies. He was often improvident, and 
 sometimes not punctual in his pecuniary engagements." ' 
 The planters were hospitable. Living upon isolated plan- 
 tations, they were in a measure deprived of social inter- 
 course ; but when opportunity served, they enjoyed it 
 with a relish. As the. Southerner was hospitable, so the 
 Northerner was charitable. From the hard earnings of the 
 farmer, of the mechanic, of the merchant, of the seafaring 
 man, funds were cheerfully given to support schools, to 
 endow colleges, or to sustain the ordinances of the gospel. 
 In the South, colleges were principally endowed by royal 
 grants. 
 
 In Pennsylvania was felt the benign influence of the 
 disciples of George Fox, and its benevolent founder. The 
 friends of suifering humanity, the enemies of war, the 
 opponents of classes and ranks in society founded on mere 
 birth, they recognized merit wherever found. There the 
 human mind was untrammelled — conscious of a right de- 
 rived from a higher authority than conventional law ; 
 there public posts were open to all — no tests intervened 
 as a barrier. At this time the ardent aspirations of Ben- 
 jamin Franklin in the pursuit of science received the 
 sympathy of the people. In Philadelphia he was the 
 means of founding an academy and free school, which grew 
 into a university. Here was founded the first medical col- 
 lege in the colonies, the first public library, and the first 
 hospital. Here, Bartram, the botanist, founded the first 
 botanic garden ; and here was formed the American Phil- 
 osophical Society. Here lived Godfrey, the inventor of 
 the quadrant, which bears the name of Hadley. 
 
 'Tucker's History of the United States, vol. i, p. 97. 
 
280 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP In New York, " the key of Canada and the lakes," 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 were blended many elements of character. Here com- 
 
 1760. merce began to prevail, and here the arbitrary laws of the 
 Board of Trade were vigorously opposed, and so often 
 eluded, that Holland derived more benefit from the trade 
 than England herself It cost nearly as much as the 
 amount of the import duties to maintain the cruisers and 
 the " Commissioners of Customs.'' The " Dutch Kepub- 
 licans " had been for nearly a century pupils in the school 
 where the " rights of Enghshmen " were taught ; they 
 profited so much by the instruction, that they paid very 
 little attention to the king's prerogative, and thought 
 their own Legislature quite as respectable as the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 Although the great majority of the Americans were 
 the descendants of EngUshmen, yet there were represent- 
 atives from Scotland, from Ireland, from Wales, from 
 France, from Holland, from Germany, from Sweden, and 
 from Denmark. In religion, there were Churchmen and 
 Dissenters, Quakers and Catholics. Though they differed 
 in many minor points, and indulged in those little ani- 
 mosities wliich unfortunately too often arise between peo- 
 ple of difierent nations and religions, yet they cherished a 
 sympathy for each other. They were aU attached to the 
 mother country — the South, perhaps, more than the North; 
 the former had not experienced so severely the iron hand 
 of royal rule. Some strong external pressure was required 
 to bind them more closely together, if ever they were to 
 become an independent nation. That external pressure 
 was not long wanting. 
 
CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Restrictions of Trade and Manufactures. — Taxes imposed by Parliament. — 
 Writs of Assistance. — James Otis. — Samuel Adams. — The "Parsons'" 
 Case in Virginia. — Patrick Henry. — A Stamp Tax threatened. — Colonel 
 Barre's Speech.— The Stamp Act. — Excitement in the Colonies. — Henry 
 in the House of Burgesses. — Resolutions not to use Stamps. — " Sons 
 of Liberty." — A Call for a Congress ; it meets, and the Colonial As- 
 semblies approve its Measures. — Merchants refuse to purchase English 
 Merchandise.— Self-denial of the Colonists. — Pitt defends them. — 
 Franklin at the Bar of the House of Commons. — Stamp Act repealed. — 
 Rejoicings. — Dartmouth College. 
 
 The industrious habits of the colonists were no less wor- *^^' 
 
 thy of notice than their moral traits. The contest with 
 
 the mother country had its origin in her attempts to de- 1750. 
 prive them, by means of unjust laws, of the fruits of their 
 labor. For one hundred years she had been imposing 
 restrictions on their trade and domestic manufactures. 
 They were treated as dependants, and inferiors who 
 occupied " settlements estabhshed in distant parts of the 
 world for the benefit of trade." They could purchase 
 from England alone, and only to her market could they 
 send their products. That English merchants might 
 grow rich at their expense, the products of Europe and 
 Asia were first to be landed in England, and then re- 
 shipped to America in British vessels. The only trade 
 not thus taxed, was that of negroes, they being shipped 
 directly from Africa — a trade against which all the colo- 
 nies earnestly, but in vain, protested. Even the trees 
 
282 HISTOEY OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, in the forest suitable for masts were claimed by tbe 
 king, and marked by his " Surveyor-General of Woods." 
 
 1750. " Rolling mills, forges, or tilt-hammers for making iron," 
 were prohibited as " nuisances." The House of Commons 
 said " that the erection of manufactories in the colonies 
 tended to lessen their dei^endency upon Great Britain ; " 
 and the English ship-carpenters comjalained " that their 
 trade was hurt, and their workmen emigrated, since so 
 many vessels were built in New England." The hatter, 
 because he coidd obtain his fur from the Indians without 
 sending to England, was not permitted to sell hats out of 
 his own colony. No manufacturer was permitted to have 
 more than two apprentices. The government was unwil- 
 ling that the colonists should make for themselves a single 
 article which the English could supply. 
 
 These measures aroused a spirit of opposition, more 
 especially among the frugal and industrious inhabitants 
 of New England, whose manufactures, fisheries, and trade 
 were almost ruined. There the people mutually agreed 
 to buy of British manufacturers only what was absolutely 
 necessary ; rather than pay the English merchant exorbi- 
 tant prices, they would deprive themselves of every luxury. 
 Families determined to make their own linens and wool- 
 lens, and to abstain from eating mutton, and preserve the 
 sheep to furnish wool. It became fashionable, as well as 
 honorable, to wear homespun. Associations were formed 
 to promote domestic manufactures. On the anniversary' 
 of one of these, more than three hundred young women 
 met on Boston Common, and devoted the day to spinning 
 flax. The graduating class of Harvard College, not to be 
 outdone in patriotism, made it a point on Commencement 
 Day to be clad in homespun. Eestrictions on trade did not 
 affect the interests of the people of the South so much, 
 as England could not dispense with their tobacco, rice, 
 and indigo, and they had scarcely any manufactories. 
 
 1763. Before the close of the French war, it was intimated 
 
WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. 283 
 
 that England intended to tax the colonies, and make ^^^P- 
 
 them hear a portion of the burdens brought upon herself 
 
 by the mismanagement of her officials. Many plans were 1763. 
 discussed and laid aside. Meantime the colonists denied 
 the right of Parhament to tax them without granting 
 them, in some form, representation in the government ; 
 they claimed a voice in the disposal of their money. They 
 looked back upon their history, and were unable to dis- 
 cover the obligations they owed the king. They loved to 
 think of Old England as the " home " of their fathers ; 
 they rejoiced in her glories and successes, and never 
 dreamed of separating from her, until driven to that re- 
 solve by oppression. Yet visions of greatness, and it may 
 be of independence, were floating through the minds of 
 the far-seeing. John Adams, when a youth, had already 
 written : " It looks likely to me, for if we can remove the 
 turbulent Gallicks, our people, according to the exactest 
 computations, will in another century become more nu- 
 merous than England itself. Should this be the case, 
 since we have, I may say, aU the naval stores of the nation 
 in our hands, it will be easy to obtain the mastery of the 
 seas ; and then the united force of all Europe will not be 
 able to subdue us." ' 
 
 A special efibrt was now made to enforce the naviga- 
 tion laws, and to prevent the colonists from trading with 
 other nations. This policy woidd have converted the en- 
 tire people into a nation of smugglers and law-breakers, 
 but for the strong religious influences felt throughout the 
 laud. 
 
 To enforce these laws. Parliament gave authority for 
 using general search warrants, or " Writs of Assistance." i7qi_ 
 These Writs authorized any sheriff or officer of the 
 customs to enter a store or private dwelling, and search 
 for foreign merchandise, which he suspected had not paid 
 
 'Life and Writings, vol. i. p. 23. 
 
284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cn^- duty. The quiet of the domestic fireside was no longer 
 
 to be held sacred. These Writs, first used in Massa- 
 
 1761. chusetts, caused great excitement and opiDosition. Their 
 legality was soon brought to the test in a court of justice. 
 On this occasion the eloquent James Otis sounded the 
 note of alarm. He was the Advocate for the Admiralty, 
 whose duty it was to argue in favor of the Writs ; but he 
 resigned, in order to plead the cause of the people. The 
 royahst lawyer contended that the power of Parliament 
 was supreme, and that good subjects ought to submit to 
 its every enactment. In reply, Otis exclaimed : " To my 
 Feb. (lying day, I will oppose, with all the power and faculties 
 God has given me, all such instruments of slavery, on the 
 one hand, and villany on the other." His stirring elo- 
 quence gave an impulse to public opinion, which aroused 
 opposition to other acts of Parliament. " Then and 
 there," says John Adams, " was the first opposition to 
 arbitrary acts of Great Britain. Then and there Ameri- 
 can Independence was born." The writs were scarcely 
 ever enforced after this trial. 
 
 Of the leading men of the times, none had greater in- 
 fluence than Samuel Adams — in his private life, the 
 devout Christian ; in his public life, the incorruptible 
 patriot. lu him the spirit of the old Puritans seemed to 
 linger : mild in manners, living from choice in retire- 
 ment, incapable of an emotion of fear, when duty called 
 him to a post of danger. Learned in constitutional law, 
 he never went beyond its limits. Through his influence 
 Boston expressed her opinions, saying, " We claim Brit- 
 ish rights, not by charter only — we are born to them. If 
 we are taxed without our consent, our property is taken 
 without our consent, and then we are no more freemen, 
 but slaves." And she invited all the colonies to join in 
 obtaining redress. The same note of alarm was sounded 
 in Virginia, in New York, in Connecticut, and in the 
 Carolinas. Thinking minds saw in the future the coming 
 
Dec. 
 
 THE king's PREKOGATIVE PATRICK HENRY. 285 
 
 contest ; that the English ministry would persist in their chap. 
 
 unjust treatment, until, in self-defence, they had driven J 
 
 the whole American peojjle to open rebellion. " They 17C1. 
 wish to make us dependent, but they will make us inde- 
 pendent ; these oppressions will lead us to unite and thus 
 secure our liberty." Thus wrote Richard Henry Lee, of 
 Virginia. " Oh ! poor New England," exclaimed the elo- 
 quent George Whitefield, "there is a deep-laid plot 
 against your liberties ; your golden days are ended." 
 
 The first collision in Virginia between the prerogative 1T63. 
 of the king and the authority of the legislature occurred 
 in a county court. Tobacco was the legalized currency 
 of the colony. Occasionally, untoward events, such as 
 war, or failure of the crop, made payments in tobacco very 
 burdensome. The legislature passed a law, authorizing 
 debtors to pay their piiblic dues in money, at the rate of 
 twopence a pound for the tobacco due. The clergymen 
 of the established church refused to acquiesce in the law ; 
 they had a fixed salary of a certain number of pounds of 
 tobacco a year. At their instance, Sherlock, the Bishop 
 of London, used his influence and persuaded the king to 
 refuse his signature to this law. " The rights of the cler- 
 gy and the authority of the king must stand or fall 
 together," said the Bishop. The law was therefore null 
 and void. 
 
 To test it, a clergyman named Maury brought a suit 
 to recover damages, or the diiference between twopence 
 per pound and the higher price for which tobacco was 
 selling. It became the cause of the people on the one 
 side, and the cause of the clergy and of the king's pre- 
 rogative on the other. The people engaged a young man 
 of twenty-seven to plead against " the parsons." 
 
 That young man was Patrick Henry. He belonged 
 not to the aristocracy, and was obscure and unknown. 
 On this occasion, that rare and wonderful gift of eloquence, 
 which has made us so familiar with his name, was first 
 
286 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, displayed. He possessed a charm of voice and tone that 
 
 fascinated his hearers ; a grasp of thought, a vividness of 
 
 1763. conception, and withal a power that allured into sympathy 
 with his own sentiments the emotions of his audience. 
 For this he was indebted to nature, not to education ; for, 
 when a boy, he broke away from the restraints of school 
 and the drudgery of book-learning, and lounged idly by 
 some solitary brookside vfith hook and line, or in more 
 active moods dashed away into the woods to enjoy the ex- 
 citements of the chase. He learned a little of Latin, of 
 Greek not more than the letters, and as little of mathe- 
 matics. At eighteen he married, engaged in trade, and 
 failed ; tried farming with as little success ; then read 
 law six weeks, and was admitted to the bar. Yet the 
 mind of this young man had not been idle ; he lived in a 
 world of deep thought ; he studied men. He was now to 
 appear for the first time as an advocate. 
 
 The whole colony was interested in the trial, and the 
 court-room was crowded with anxious spectators. Maury 
 made objections to the jury; he thought them of "the 
 vulgar herd," " dissenters," and " New Lights." " They 
 are honest men," rejoined Henry. The court overruled 
 the insulting objections, and the jury M'ere sworn. 
 
 The case was plainly against him, but Henry con- 
 tended the law was valid, and enacted by competent au- 
 thority ; he fell back upon the natural right of Virginia 
 to make her own laws, independently of the king and par- 
 liament. He proved the justness of the law ; he sketched 
 the character of a good king, as the father of his people, 
 but who, when he annuls good laws becomes a tyrant, and 
 forfeits all right to obedience. At this doctrine, so new, 
 so daring, the audience seemed to stand aghast. " He 
 has spoken treason," exclaimed the opposing counsel. A 
 few joined in the cry of Treason ! treason ! Yet the jury 
 brought in a verdict for the " parsons " of a penny dam- 
 ages. 
 
THE STAMP ACT. 287 
 
 Henry denied the right of the king to aid in making cbap. 
 
 laws for the colonies. His argument ajiplied not only to 
 
 Virginia, but to the continent. The sentiment spread 1763. 
 from colony to colony. 
 
 Parliament assumed the right to tax the Americans, 
 and paid no attention to their protests, but characterized 
 them as " absurd," " insolent," " mad." "When they ex- 
 postulated with Grenville, the Prime Minister, he warned 
 them that in a contest with England they would gain 
 nothing. The taxes must be levied at all events ; and 
 he graciously asked if there was any form in which they 
 would rather pay them than by means of the threatened 
 stamps. These were to be affixed to all documents used 
 in trade, and for them a certain impost duty was charged. 
 Only the English merchants whose interests were involved 
 in the American trade, appear to have sympathized with 
 the colonists. Franklin, who was then in London as agent 
 for the Assembly of Pennsylvania, wrote home : " Every 
 man in England regards himself as a piece of a sovereign 
 over America, seems to jostle himself into the throne 
 with the king, and talks of our subjects in the colonies." 
 
 The Stamp Act did not pass without a struggle. Dur- 
 ing these discussions. Colonel Barre, who, in the war 
 against the French, was the friend and companion of 
 Wolfe, charged the members of the House of Commons 
 with being; ignorant of the true state of the colonies. 
 When Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, asked the question, " Will our American chil- 
 dren, planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence, 
 and protected by our arms, grudge to contribute their mite 
 to relieve us from our burdens ? " Barre indignantly re- 
 plied : " They planted by your care ! No, your oppres- 
 sions planted them in America. They fled from your 
 tyranny to an uncultivated, inhospitable country ; where 
 they exposed themselves to almost every hardship, and to 
 the cruelties of the savage foe. They nourished by your 
 
 1765. 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, indulgence ! They grew by your neglect ; your care for 
 
 them was to send persons to rule them ; deputies of dep- 
 
 1765. uties, to some members of this house, sent to spy out their 
 liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon 
 them ; men who have caused the blood of those sons of 
 liberty to recoil within them. They protected by your 
 arms ! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence. 
 Amidst their constant and laborious industry they have 
 defended a country whose frontiers were drenched in blood, 
 while its interior settlements yielded all their httle savings 
 to your emoluments. I speak the genuine sentiments of 
 my heart. They are a people as truly loyal as any sub- 
 jects of the king ; they are jealous of their liberties, and 
 will vindicate them, if ever they should be violated." 
 
 But very few of the members of the house were thus 
 liberal in their sentiments. The great majority looked 
 upon the colonies as subservient to the rule of the mother 
 country. It was the express intention of the ministry 
 " to be very tender in taxing them, beginning with small 
 duties and taxes," and advancing as they foimd them 
 willing to bear it. 
 
 The House of Commons, on March 22d, passed the 
 Stamp Act by a majority of nine to one ; ten days after- 
 ward it passed the House of Lords almost unanimously. 
 The king was ill ; mystery whispered of some unusual 
 disease. When George III. signed the Stamp Act, he 
 was not a responsible being — he was insane. 
 
 This act declared that every written agreement be- 
 tween persons in trade, to be valid, must have affixed to 
 it one of these stamps. Their price was in proportion to 
 the importance of the writing ; the lowest a shilling, and 
 thence increasing indefinitely. Truly this " was to take 
 money without an equivalent." All business must be 
 thus taxed, or suspended. 
 
 In order to enforce this act. Parliament, two months 
 afterward, authorized the ministry to send as many troops 
 
KESOLUTIONS OF THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. 289 
 
 as they saw iiroper to America. For these soldiers the ^^'^• 
 
 colonies were required to find " quarters, fuel, cider or 
 
 rum, candles, and other necessaries." 1765. 
 
 The news of the passage of these arbitrary laws threw 
 the people into a ferment. They became acquainted with 
 each other's views ; the subject was discussed in the news- 
 papers, was noticed in the pulpits, and became the en- 
 grossing topic of conversation in social intercourse. In 
 the Virginia Assembly, Patrick Henry introduced resolu- 
 tions declaring that the people of Virginia were only bound 
 to pay taxes imposed by their own Legislature, and any 
 person who maintained the contrary should be deemed an 
 enemy of the colony. An exciting debate followed, in 
 which the wonderful power of Henry in describing the 
 tyranny of the British government swayed the majority 
 of the members. In the midst of one of his bursts of 
 eloquence he exclaimed : " Cfesar had his Brutus, Charles 
 I. his Cromwell, and George III." — "Treason! trea- May. 
 son ! " shouted the Speaker, and a few others joined him 
 in the cry. Henry fixed his eye upon the Speaker, and 
 in the tone and emphasis peculiar to himself, continued, 
 " may profit by their example. If that be treason, make 
 the most of it." The resolutions passed, but the next 
 morning, in Henry's absence, the timid in the Assembly 
 rescinded the last, and modified the others. The governor 
 immediately dissolved the house for this free expression of 
 opinion. Meantime, a manuscript copy of the resolutions 
 was on its way to Philadelphia, where they were speedily 
 printed and sent throughout the country. They raised 
 the drooping spirits of the people, who determined to neu- 
 tralize the law — they would never use the stamps. 
 
 The Legislature of Massachusetts resolved that the 
 courts should conduct their business without their use. 
 Golden, the royalist governor of New York, thought 
 " that the presence of a battalion would prevent mis- 
 chief ; " but the council suggested, " it would be more 
 19 
 
290 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 C^^- safe for the government to show a confidence in the peo- 
 
 pie." " I will cram the stamps down their throats with 
 
 1765. my sword," said an officer. The churchmen preached 
 obedience to the king — the " Lord's anointed." William 
 Livingston answered, " The peoisle are the ' Lord's anoint- 
 ed,' though named ' mob and rabble ' — the people are the 
 darling of Providence." 
 
 Colonel Barre, in his famous speech, characterized 
 those in America who opposed British oppression, as 
 " Sons of Liberty." He read them rightly ; Sons of Lib- 
 erty they were, and destined to be free ; they felt it ; they 
 adopted the name, it became the watchword under which 
 they rallied. Associations called by this name sprang up 
 as if by magic, and in a few weeks spread from Massachu- 
 setts to Maryland. They would neither use stamps nor 
 permit the distributers to remain in office. 
 
 One morning the famous Liberty Tree in Boston was 
 found decorated with the effigies of some of the friends of 
 the English ministry. The mob compelled Oliver, the 
 secretary of the colony, who had been appointed stamp 
 distributer, to resign, and promise that he would not aid 
 
 Aug. in their distribution. They also attacked the houses of 
 some of the other officials. The patriots protested against 
 these lawless proceedings. Five hundred Connecticut 
 farmers came into Wethersfield and compelled Jared 
 Ingersol, the stamp officer for that colony, to resign, and 
 then take off his hat and give three cheers for " Liberty, 
 Property, and no stamps." Such was the feeling, and 
 
 Nov. such the result, that when the day came, on which the 
 law was to go into effect, not one stamp officer could be 
 found — all had resigned. 
 
 June. The General Court of Massachusetts issued a circular 
 
 in June, inviting all the colonies to send delegates to a 
 convention or Congress, to be held at New York, on the 
 first Tuesday of the following October. Accordingly, on 
 
THE CONGRESS IN SESSION. . 291 
 
 the day named delegates from nine of the colonies met at chm>. 
 the place appointed. 
 
 The idea of a union of the colonies dates as far back 1765. 
 as the days of William Penn, who was the first to suggest 
 it ; but now the question was discussed by the various 
 committees of correspondence. At a convention which 
 met at Albany eleven years before this, Benjamin Frank- 
 lin had proposed a plan of union. This was adopted and 
 laid before the Assemblies of the colonies, and the Board 
 of Trade, for ratification. It met with a singular fate. 
 The AssembUes rejected it, because it was too aristocratic, 
 and the Board of Trade because it was too democratic. 
 
 The Congress met and spent three weeks in delibera- Ot., 
 tion. They drew up a Declaration of Eights, a Memorial 
 to both Houses of ParKameut, and a Petition to the king. 
 They claimed the right of being taxed only by their own 
 representatives, premising, that because of the distance, 
 and for other reasons, they could not be represented in the 
 House of Commons, but in their own Assemblies. These 
 documents were signed by nearly all the delegates, and 
 transmitted to England. The colonial Assemblies, at 
 their earliest days of meeting, gave to these proceedings 
 of the Congress their cordial approval. Thus the Union 
 was consummated, by which the colonies " became as a 
 bundle of sticks which could neither be bent nor broken." 
 While the Congress was in session, a ship with stamps on 
 board made its appearance in the bay. Placards were 
 posted throughout the city, threatening those who should 
 attempt to use them. " I am resolved to have the stamps 
 distributed," said Colden, the governor. " Let us see 
 who will dare to put the act into execution," said the 
 Sons of Liberty. 
 
 On the last day of October all the royal governors, 
 except the governor of Pihode Island, took the oath to 
 carry into execution the Stamp Act. On the next day the 
 law was to go into effect. But not a stamp was to be 
 
292 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, seen ; instead, in every colony the bells were tolled, and 
 
 the flags lowered to half-mast — indications that the pas- 
 
 1V65. sage of this act was regarded as " the funeral of liberty." 
 The merchants of New York, Boston, and Philadel- 
 phia, agreed to send no orders to England for merchan- 
 dise, to countermand those already sent, and to receive no 
 goods on commission till the act was repealed. They were 
 sustained by the people, who pledged themselves not to use 
 the products of English manufacturers, but to encourage 
 their own. Circulars were sent throughout the land in- 
 viting to harmonious action ; these were responded to 
 with a hearty good-will. Luxuries were dispensed with, 
 and homespun was more honorable than ever. 
 
 The infatuated ministry, in view of this opposition, 
 resolved to modify, not to repeal the law. It would de- 
 tract from their dignity, to comply with the request of the 
 colonists. " Sooner," said one of them, " than make our 
 colonies our allies, I would wish to see them returned to 
 their primitive deserts." 
 1766. Infirm health had compelled Pitt to retire from active 
 
 life. " My resolution is taken," said he, " and if I can 
 crawl or be carried to London, I will deliver my inind and 
 heart upon the state of America." When accused by 
 Grenville of exciting sedition, " Sir," said he in replj^, 
 " I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in 
 America. Sorry I am to have the liberty of speech in 
 this house imputed as a crime. But the imputation will 
 not deter me ; it is a liberty I mean to exercise. The 
 gentleman tells us that America is obstinate ; that Amer- 
 ica is almost in rebellion. I rejoice that America has re- 
 sisted." The sentiment startled the house ; he continued : 
 " If they had submitted, they would have voluntarily be- 
 come slaves. They have been driven to madness by injus- 
 tice. My opinion is, that the Stamp Act should be repealed, 
 absolutely, totally, immediately." The celebrated Edmund 
 
THE STAMP ACT REPEALED — REJOICINGS. 293 
 
 Burke, then a young man rising into notice, advocated the chap. 
 
 , ' . , • ° ° ' XXV. 
 
 repeal with great eloquence. 
 
 The House of Commons wished to inquire still further 1TG6. 
 of the temper of the Americans before taking the vote. 
 They accordingly called witnesses to their bar, among 
 whom was Benjamin Franklin. His knowledge was the 
 most perfect, and his testimony had the greatest effect 
 upon their minds. He said the colonists could not pay 
 for the stamps for want of gold and silver ; that they had 
 borne more than their share of expense in the last war, and 
 that they were laboring under debts contracted by it ; 
 that they would soon supply themselves with domestic 
 manufactures ; that they had been well disposed toward 
 the mother country, but recent laws were lessening their 
 affection, and soon all commerce would be broken up, un- 
 less those laws were repealed ; and finally, that they never 
 would submit to taxes imposed by those who had no au- 
 thority. The vote was taken, and the Stamp Act was Mar. 
 repealed ; not because it was unjust, but because it could 
 not be enforced. The people of the English commercial 
 cities manifested their joy ; bonfires were lighted, the ships 
 displayed their gayest colors, and the city of London itself 
 was illuminated. Expresses were sent to the seaports, 
 that the news might reach America as soon as possible. 
 
 The rejoicings in the colonies were equally as great. 
 In Boston, the bell nearest to the Liberty Tree was the 
 first to ring ; soon gay flags and banners were flying from 
 the shipping, from private dwellings, and from the steeples 
 of the meeting-houses. Amidst the joy, the unfortunate 
 were not forgotten, and those immured in the debtor's 
 prison, were released by the contributions of their friends. 
 The ministers, from their pulpits, offered thanksgiving in 
 the name of the whole people, and the associations against 
 importing merchandise from England were dissolved. 
 New York, Virginia, and Maryland, each voted a statue 
 to Pitt, who became more than ever a popular idol. 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. In the midst of these troubles the cause of education 
 
 and religion was not forgotten. The Kev. Eleazar Whee- 
 
 IVGG. lock established at Lebanon, in Connecticut, a school to 
 educate Indian boys, and train them as teachers for their 
 own race. Success attended the effort. A grant of forty- 
 four thousand acres of land induced him to remove the 
 school to Hanover, New Hamjashire. Under the name of 
 Dartmouth, a charter as a college was granted it, by 
 Wentworth, the governor. The Earl of Dartmouth, a 
 Methodist, a friend of John Wesley, aided it, was one of 
 its trustees, and took charge of the funds contributed for 
 it in England — hence the name. 
 
 The establishment of this institution was one of the 
 effects of the Great Revival. In the midst of the native 
 forest of pines the work was commenced. The principal 
 and his students dwelt in log-cabins, built by their own 
 hands. 
 
 irco. 
 
CHAPTEK XXVI. 
 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The English Ministry determine to obtain a Revenue. — llassachusetts invites 
 to harmonious Action. — The Romney and the Sloop Liberty. — A Brit- 
 ish Regiment at Boston. — Collision with the Citizens. — Articles of Asso- 
 ciation proposed by Washington. — The Tax upon Tea. — Whigs and 
 Tories. — The Gaspo captured. — The King's Maxim. — The Resolutions 
 not to receive the Tea. — Tea thrown into Boston Harbor. — Its Recep- 
 tion at other Places. — More oppressive Laws passed by Parliament. — 
 Aid sent to Boston. — Gage's Difficulties. — Alexander Hamilton. — The 
 Old Continental Congress. — The Organization ; the first Prayer. — The 
 " Declaration of Rights." — The " American Association." — The Papers 
 issued by the Congress. — The Views of Pitt in relation to them. 
 
 Lord Grenville, the head of the ministry, was dismissed, ^y}' 
 
 and the Marquis of Kockingham took his place. This 
 
 ministry soon gave way, and another was appointed by 1V66. 
 the king, at the head of which was placed Pitt, who, in 
 the mean time, had been created Earl of Chatham. 
 
 The following year, during Pitt's absence, Charles 
 Townshend, his Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced 
 that he intended, at all risks, to derive a revenue from ^J^^"* 
 America, by imposing a duty upon certain articles, which 
 the colonists received from abroad, such as wine, oil, 
 paints, glass, paper, and lead colors, and especially upon 
 tea, as they obtained it cheaper from Dutch smugglers 
 than the English themselves. It was suggested to him 
 to withdraw the army, and there would be no need of a 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 CHAP. tax. " I will hear nothing on the subject," said he ; " it 
 
 '_ is absolutely necessary to keep an army there." 
 
 1767. ^^^'^ colonists were startled by this news. They now 
 
 remembered the fatal reservation in the repeal of the 
 Stamp Act, that Parliament had the absolute right to tax 
 them. " We will form a universal combination to eat 
 nothing, to drink nothing, and wear nothing, imported 
 from England," passed as a watchword from one colony 
 to anothei-, and very soon the non-imjjortation associations 
 were again in vigor. " Courage, Americans ; liberty, relig- 
 ion, and science are on the wing to these shores. The 
 finger of God points out a mighty empire to your sons," 
 said one of the lawyers of New York. " Send over an 
 army and fleet, and reduce the dogs to reason," wrote one 
 of the royal governors to the ministry. 
 
 Suddenly the Komney, a man-of-war, appeared in the 
 harbor of Boston. The question soon arose. Why is a 
 vessel of war sent to our harbor ? The people had resisted 
 no law ; they had only respectfully petitioned for redress, 
 and resolved to dispense with the use of British goods. 
 Since the arrival of the Romney, the haughty manner of 
 the Commissioners of Customs toward the people had be- 
 come intolerable. The Eomuey frequently impressed the 
 New England seamen as they came into the harbor. One 
 man thus impressed was forcibly rescued by his compan- 
 ions. These and similar outrages excited the bitterest 
 animosity between the royal officials and the people. 
 
 The Massachusetts Assembly issued a circular to the 
 other Colonial Assemblies, inviting to harmonious action 
 in obtaining redress. A few months afterward the minis- 
 17G8. try sent peremptory orders to the Assembly to rescind 
 June, their circular. Through the influence of Otis and Samuel 
 Adams, the Assembly refused to comply with the arbitrary 
 demand, but instead intimated that Parliament ought to 
 repeal their offensive laws. Meantime the other Colonial 
 Assemblies received the circular favorably, and also en- 
 
A BRITISH REGIMENT STATIONED IN BOSTON. 297 
 
 couraged Massachusetts in her resistance to tyranny and chap. 
 injustice. 1 
 
 At this crisis, under the pretence that she liad made 1768. 
 a false entry, the sloop Liberty, belonging to John Han- 
 cock, one of the prominent leaders, was seized, and towed 
 under the guns of the Komney. She was laden with Ma- 
 deira wine, on which duties were demanded. The news 
 soon spread, and a crowd collected, the more violent of 
 whom attacked the houses of the Commissioners of Cus- 
 toms, who were forced to fly for safety to Castle William 
 in the harbor. Of these outbreaks of a few ignorant per- 
 sons, the most exaggerated accounts were sent to Eng- 
 land, and there it was resolved to send more soldiers, and 
 make Massachusetts submit as a conquered countiy. Ven- 
 geance was to be especially taken on " the insolent town 
 of Boston." As the Parliament had determined to send 
 troops to the colonies, Bernard, the governor, requested 
 Colonel Gage to bring a regiment from Halifax to Boston. 
 On a quiet Sabbath, these troops were landed under the ggpt. 
 cover of the guns of their vessels, their colors flyings 
 drums beating, and bayonets fixed, as if they had taken 
 possession of an enemy's town. . Neither the leaders of 
 the people, nor the people themselves, were intimidated 
 by this military demonstration. According to law, troops 
 could be lodged in Boston, only when the barracks at the 
 forts in the harbor were full. The Assembly refused the 
 soldiers quarters, and the food and other necessaries which 
 had been demanded. The royalists gravely thought the 
 Bostonians " had come within a hair's-breadth of commit- 
 ting treason." Gage wrote, " It is of no use to argue in 
 this country, where every man studies law." He would 
 enforce obedience mthout delay. 
 
 Boston was held as a conquered town ; sentinels were 
 placed at the corners of the streets, and citizens, when 
 passing to their ordinary business, were challenged ; even 
 the sacred hours of the Sabbath were not free from the 
 
298 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, din of drums. A collision finally took place, between a 
 
 citizen and a soldier. This led to an afi'ray between the 
 
 1770. soldiers and some rope-makers. A few evenings afterward 
 2'^'' a sentinel was assaulted ; soldiers were sent to his aid, 
 and they were stoned by the mob. At length a soldier 
 fired upon their assailants ; immediately six of his com- 
 panions fired also. Three persons were killed and five 
 wounded. The town was thrown into a state of great ex- 
 citement ; in an hour's time the alarm bells had brought 
 thousands into the streets. The multitude was pacified, 
 only for the time, by the assurance of Hutchinson, who 
 was now governor, that in the morning justice should be 
 done. The next morning the people demanded that the 
 troops should be removed from the town to Castle Wil- 
 liam ; and that Captain Preston, who, it was said, had 
 commanded his soldiers to fire, should be tried for murder. 
 Both these requisitions were complied with. Captain 
 Preston and six of his men were arraigned for trial. John 
 Adams and Josiah Quincy, both j^opular leaders, volun- 
 teered to defend them. They were acquitted by the jury 
 of murder, but two of the soldiers were found guilty of 
 manslaughter. 
 
 The result of this trial had a good effect in England. 
 Contrary to the slanders of their enemies, it showed that 
 the Bostonians, in the midst of popular excitement, were 
 actuated by principles of justice. Those citizens who had 
 been thus killed were regarded in the colonies as martyrs 
 of liberty. 
 
 The Virginia Assembly passed resolutions as "bad as 
 those of Massachusetts." The next day, the governor, 
 Lord Boutetourte, dissolved the house for passing " the 
 jrrgg abominable resolves." The members immediately held a 
 May. meeting, at which Washington presented the resolutions, 
 drawn up by himself and his friend George Mason. They 
 were a draft of articles of association, not to import from 
 Great Britain merchandise that was taxed. " Such was 
 
THE KING INSISTS ON TAXING TEA. 299 
 
 their zeal against the slave-trade, they made a special ^^^• 
 
 covenant with one another not to import any slaves, nor 
 
 purchase any imported." To these resolutions were signed 1769. 
 the names of Patrick Henry, Washington, Jeiferson, Rich- 
 ard Henry Lee, and, indeed, of all the members of the 
 Assembly. Then they were sent throughout the colony 
 for the signature of every man in it. 
 
 The non-importation associations produced their effect, ^^^^q^ 
 and Lord North, who was now prime minister, proposed 
 to remove all the duties except that on tea. That was 
 retained at the express command of the king, whose maxim 
 was, " that there should be always one tax, at least, to 
 keep up the right of taxing." This removed part of the 
 difficulty, for which the colonists were thankful ; but they 
 were stiU united in their determination not to import tea. 
 For these concessions they were indebted to the clamors 
 of those English merchants whose trade had been injured. 
 For a year there was an apparent lull in the storm of 
 popular feeling. 
 
 Governor Hutchinson issued a proclamation for a day 
 of thanksgiving ; this he required the ministers to read 
 from their pulpits on the following Sabbath. He thought 
 to entrap them, by inserting a clause acknowledging grat- 
 itude, " that civU and religious liberty were continued," 
 and " trade encouraged." But he sadly mistook the men. 
 The ministers, with the exception of one, whose church 
 the governor himself attended, refused to read the proc- 
 lamation, but, on the contrary, agreed to " implore of Al- 
 mighty God the restoration of lost liberties." 
 
 The contest had continued so long that party lines 
 began to be drawn. Those who favored the demands of 
 the people, were called Whigs ; those who sympathized 
 with the government, were called Tories. These terms 
 had been long in use in England, the fonner to designate 
 the opposers of royalty ; the latter its supporters. 
 
 Scarcely a colony was exempt from outrages commit- 
 
Jan. 
 
 300 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^P- ted by those representing the royal authority. In New 
 
 York tlie jiteople, on what is now the Park, then known as 
 
 1770. the Fields, erected a liberty-pole. They were accustomed 
 to assemble there and discuss the affairs of the colony. 
 On a certain night, a party of the soldiers stationed in 
 the fort cut down the pole. The people retaliated, and 
 frequent quarrels and collisions occurred. Though these 
 disturbances were not so violent as those in Massachusetts, 
 they had the effect of exciting in the people intense hatred 
 of the soldiers, as the tools of tyranny. 
 
 An armed vessel, the Gaspe, engaged in the revenue 
 service, took her position in Narraganset Bay, and in an 
 insidting and arbitrary manner enforced the customs. 
 Sometimes she wantoidy compelled the passing vessels 
 and market boats to lower their colors as a token of re- 
 spect ; sometimes landed companies on the neighboring 
 islands, and carried off hogs and sheep, and other provi- 
 sions. The Heutenant in command was appealed to for his 
 authority in thus acting. He referred the committee to 
 the admiral, stationed at Boston. The admiral haughtily 
 answered : " The lieutenant is fulfilling his duty ; if any 
 persons rescue a vessel from him, I will hang them as 
 pirates." The bold sailors and citizens matured their 
 1772. plans and executed them. The Providence packet, of a 
 light draught and a fast sailer, was passing up the bay. 
 The Gaspc hailed. The packet paid no attention, but 
 passed on. Immediately the Graspe gave chase. The 
 packet designedly ran into shoal water near the shore ; 
 the Gaspe followed, and was soon aground, — the tide go- 
 ing out, left her fast. The following night a company of 
 men went down in boats, boarded her, made prisoners of 
 the crew, and burned the vessel. A large reward was 
 offered for the perpetrators of this bold act ; though well 
 known, not one was betrayed. 
 
 The warehouses of the East India Company were filled 
 with the " pernicious weed," and the company proposed 
 
 June 
 10, 
 
A TAX IMPOSED ON TEA. 301 
 
 to pay all its duties in England, and then export it at ™ap- 
 
 their own risk. This would remove the difHculty, as there 
 
 •would then be no collections of the duty in American 1T72. 
 ports. But the king was unwilling to sacrijice his maxim, 
 and Lord North seems to have been incapable of compre- 
 hending, that the Americans refused to pay the duty on 
 tea, not because it was great or small, but because they 
 looked upon a tax thus imposed as unjust. He therefore 
 virtually proposed to the company to pay three-fourths of 
 the duty in England ; to save the king's maxim, the gov- 
 ernment would coUect the other fourth, or three pence on 
 a pound, in America. It was suggested to North, that 
 the Americans would not purchase the tea on those con- 
 ditions. He rephed : " It is to no purpose the making 
 objections, for the king will have it so. The king means 
 to try the question with the Americans." ^''"i'3- 
 
 Meantime public opinion in the colonies was becoming 
 more and more enlightened, and more and more decided. 
 " We must have a convention of all the colonies," said 
 Samuel Adams. And he sent forth circulars inviting 
 them to assert their rights, when there was a prospect of 
 success. He saw clearly that the king and Parliament 
 were resolved to see whether the Americans would or 
 would not acknowledge their supremacy. 
 
 When the conditions became known on which tea was 
 to be imported, the people took measures to prevent its 
 being either landed or sold. In Philadelphia they held a 
 meeting, and requested those to whom the tea was con- 
 signed " to resign their appointments." They also de- 
 nounced " as an enemy to his country," " whosoever shall 
 aid or abet in unloading, receiving, or vending the tea." 
 Similar meetings were held in Charleston and New York, 
 and similar resolutions were passed. 
 
 A ship, making a quick passage, arrived at Boston, 
 with intelligence that several vessels laden with tea had 
 sailed. Five thousand men immediately assembled to de- 
 
302 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™^P- liberate on the course to be pursued. On motion of 
 
 . Samuel Adams, they unanimously resolved to send the 
 
 1773. tea back. " The only way to get rid of it," shouted 
 " 3 ■ some one in the crowd, " is to throw it overboard." Those 
 to whom the tea had been consigned were invited to meet 
 at Liberty Tree, and resign their appointments. Two of 
 the consignees were sons of Governor Hutchinson, who, at 
 that time, was peculiarly odious on account of his double- 
 dealing. This had been brought to light by a number of 
 his letters to jjersons in England. These letters had 
 fallen into the hands of Dr. Franklin, who sent them to 
 the Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly. They dis- 
 closed the fact, that nearly all the harsh measures directed 
 against the colony, had been suggested by Hutchinson. 
 
 According to law, a ship must unload within twenty 
 days, or be seized for non-payment of duties. 
 
 Presently a shij) laden with tea came into the harbor. 
 By order of the committee, it was moored at a certain 
 wharf, and a comjiany of twenty-five men volunteered to 
 guard it. The owner promised to take the cargo back, if 
 the governor would give his permit. Meantime came two 
 other vessels ; they were ordered to anchor beside the first. 
 The committee waited again upon the consignees, but 
 their answer was unsatisfactory. When the committee 
 made their report to the meeting, not a word was said ; 
 the assemblage silently broke up. The consignees were 
 '^S'^- terribly alarmed. That silence was ominous. Hutchin- 
 son's two sons fled to tlie fort, to the protection of the 
 regulars. The father went quietly out of town. His ob- 
 ject was to gain time tiU the twenty days should ex- 
 pire ; then the ships would pass into the hands of the 
 Commissioners of Customs, and the tea would be safe for 
 his sons. 
 
 Another meeting of the people was protracted till after 
 dark ; on the morrow the twentieth day would expire, 
 and the tea would be placed beyond their reach. At 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 303 
 
 leno-th the owner of the vessel returned from his mission chap. 
 
 . , XaVI. 
 
 to the governor, and reported that he would not give the 
 
 permit for the ships to leave the port. " This meeting," 1773. 
 announced Samuel Adams, " can do nothing more to save 
 the country." 
 
 Immediately a shout, somewhat hke a war-whoop, 
 arose from a hand of forty or fifty " very dark complex- 
 ioned men, dressed like Mohawks," who were around the 
 door. This band moved hastily down to the wharf where 
 lay the tea ships. Placing a guard to protect them from r*«c. 
 spies, they went on board and took out three hundred and 
 forty-two chests, broke them open, and poured the tea 
 into the water. In silence the crowd on shore witnessed 
 the affair ; when the work was accomplished, they quietly 
 retired to their homes. Paul Kevere set out immediately 
 to carry the news to New York and Philadelphia.' 
 
 At New York, a tea ship was sent back with her j^^^ 
 cargo ; the captain was escorted out of the city by the 25. 
 Committee of Vigilance, with banners flying and a band 
 playing God save the king. Eighteen chests of tea, found 
 concealed on board another vessel, were thrown into the 
 dock. In Charleston tea was permitted to be landed, 
 but was stowed in damp cellars, where it spoiled. The 
 captain of the vessel bound for Philadelphia, when four 
 miles below the city, learned that the citizens would not 
 permit him to land his cargo ; he prudently returned to 
 England. At Annapohs, a ship and its cargo were both 
 burned ; the owner, to allay the excitement, himself ap- 
 plying the torch. 
 
 Meantime the various committees of correspondence 
 were making preparations to hold a congress composed of 
 representatives from aU the colonies. Yet they said, 
 and no doubt honestly, that " their old good-will and 
 affection for the parent country were not totally lost." 
 "If she returned to her former moderation and good hu- 
 mor, their affection would revive." 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. When it became known in England that the auda- 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 cious colonists would not even permit the tea to be lauded, 
 
 1774. the king and ministry determined to make their power 
 felt ; and especially to make an examj^le of Boston. Ac- 
 cordingly a bill was introduced and passed in Parliament, 
 four to one, to close her port to all commerce, and to 
 transfer the seat of government to Salem. Thougb her 
 June, citizens offered remuneration for the tea destroyed, yet 
 Massachusetts must be punished ; made an example, to 
 deter other outbreaks. Parliament immediately passed a 
 series of laws which violated her charter and took away 
 her privileges. The Port Bill, it was complacently prophe- 
 sied, will make Boston submit ; she will yet come as a 
 penitent, and promise obedience to British laws. 
 
 Parliament went still further, and passed other laws ; 
 one for quartering soldiers, at the people's expense, on all 
 the colonies, and another in connection with it, by which 
 officers, who, in enforcing this particular law, should com- 
 mit acts of violence, were to be taken to England, and 
 tried there for the offence. This clause would encourage 
 ai'bitrary acts, and render military and official insolence 
 still more intolerable. To these was added another law, 
 known as the Quebec act ; it granted unusual concessions 
 to the Catholics of Canada — a stroke of policy, if war 
 should occur between the colonies and the mother countiy. 
 This act revived much of the old Protestant feeling latent 
 in the minds of the people. These laws, opposed by many 
 in Parliament as unnecessary and tyrannical, excited in 
 America a deep feeling of indignation against the English 
 government. 
 
 Everywhere Boston met with sympathy. The town of 
 Salem refused to accept the proffered boon of becoming 
 the seat of government at the expense of her neighbor, 
 and Marblehead offered her port, free of charge, to the 
 merchants of Boston. In that city great distress was ex- 
 perienced ; multitudes, who depended upon the daily 
 
BOSTON MEETS WITH SYMPATHY. 30§ 
 
 labor they obtained from commerce, were out of employ- chap. 
 
 ment, and their families suffered. The different colonies '_ 
 
 sent to their aid provisions and money ; these were accom- 1774. 
 panied by words of encouragement, to stand firm in the 
 righteous cause. The ordinary necessaries of life came 
 from their neighbors of New England. " The patriotic 
 and generous people " of South Carolina sent them two 
 hundred barrels of rice, and jjromised eight hundred more, 
 but urged them " not to pay for an ounce of the tea." 
 In North Carolina "two thousand pounds were raised by 
 subscription " and sent. Virginia and Maryland vied 
 with each other in the good work. Washington presided 
 at a meeting of sympathizers, and subscribed himself fifty 
 pounds ; and even the farmers on the western frontiers of 
 the Old Dominion sent one hundred and thirty-seven bar- 
 rels of flour. 
 
 These patriots were determined " that the men of 
 Boston, who were deprived of their daily labor, should not 
 lose their daily bread, nor be compelled to change their 
 residence for want." ' 
 
 Even the citizens of Quebec, French and English, by 
 joint effort sent them more than a thousand bushels of 
 wheat, while in London itself one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars were subscribed for their benefit. Notwith- 
 standing all this distress no riot or outbreak occurred 
 among the people. 
 
 General Gage was now Commander-in-chief of the 
 British army in America, and had been recently appointed 
 governor, in place of Hutchinson. He was sadly at a loss 
 how to manage the Bostonians. If they would only vio- 
 late the law, he could exercise his civil as well as his mili- 
 tary authority. They held meetings, from time to time, 
 and freely discussed their pubhc affairs. They were under 
 
 ' Bancroft, vol. vii, p. 7.1. 
 20 
 
306 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xYv'r' ^^^® control of leaders who never lost their self-possession, 
 
 nor transcended their constitutional rights. The govern- 
 
 1774. ment, thinking to avoid the evil, forbade them to hold such 
 meetings, after a certain day. They evaded the law " by 
 convoking the meetings before that day, and heejiinf] lliem 
 alive." " Faneuil Hall was at times unable to hold them, 
 and they swarmed from that revolutionary hive into Old 
 South Church. The Liberty Tree became a rallying 
 place for any popular movement, and a flag hoisted on it 
 was saluted by all processions as the emblem of the popu- 
 lar cause." ' 
 
 During this time, the people throughout the colonies 
 held conventions and chose delegates to the General Con- 
 gress about to meet at Philadelphia. One of these meet- 
 ings, held in the " Fields " in New York, was addressed 
 by a youth of seventeen. The stripling charmed his hear- 
 ers by his fervor, as he grappled with the question and 
 presented with clearness the main points at issue. When 
 he closed, a whisper ran through the crowd, " It is a col- 
 legian." The youth was Alexander Hamilton, a native 
 of St. Kitts, of Scotch and French descent, his mother a 
 Huguenot. The son combined the caution of the Scot 
 with the vivacity of the Gaul. At an early age he lost 
 his mother, whose memory he cherished with the greatest 
 devotion. "A father's care he seems never to have 
 known." At the age of twelve he was thrown upon the 
 world to depend upon his own resources. He came to 
 Boston, and thence to New York, where he found means 
 to enter King's, since Columbia College. He had been 
 known to the people simply as the West Indian, who 
 walked under the trees in the college green, and uncon- 
 scious of the observation of others, talked to himself 
 Henceforth a brilliant mind and untiring energies were to 
 be consecrated to the welfare of the land that had adopted 
 the orphan. 
 
 ' Washington Irving. 
 
THE OLD CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 3iE^ 
 
 When the time came for the meeting of the G-eneral ^^P- 
 
 Congress, known as the Old Continental Congress, fifty- '_ 
 
 five delegates assembled in the Carpenters' Hall, in the 1V74. 
 city of Philadelphia. Every colony was represented, ex- g^ " 
 cept Georgia. Martin, the royalist governor, had prevented 
 delegates from being chosen. 
 
 Here for the first time assembled the most eminent 
 men of the colonies. They held in their hands, under the 
 G-reat Disposer of all things, the destinies of a people num- 
 bering nearly three millions. Here were names now sacred 
 in the memories of Americans. George Washington, 
 Patrick Henry, Kichard Henry Lee, Edward and John 
 Eutledge, Gadsden, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger 
 Sherman, Philip Livingston, John Jay, William Living- 
 ston, Dr. Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, a 
 Scotch Presbyterian minister, who had come over some 
 years before, but was said to be " as high a son of liberty 
 as any man in America," and others of lesser note, but 
 no less patriotism. They had corresponded with each 
 other, and exchanged views on the subject of their coun- 
 try's wrongs ; they had sympathized as brethren, though 
 many of them were to each other personally unknown. It 
 was a momentous crisis, and they felt the responsibility 
 of their position. 
 
 The House was organized by electing the aged Peyton 
 Eandolph, of Virginia, Speaker, and Charles Thomson, of 
 Pennsylvania, Secretary. A native of Ireland, when a 
 youth he came to America. He was principal of the 
 Quaker High School in Philadelphia, and was proverbial 
 for his truth and honesty. 
 
 It was suggested that it would be becoming to open 
 their sessions with prayer. This proposition was thought 
 by some to be inexpedient, since perhaps the delegates 
 could not all join in the same form of worship. At length 
 Samuel Adams, who was a strict CongregationaHst, arose 
 and said : " I wUl willingly join in prayer with any gen- 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CUM', tleman of piety and virtue, whatever may he his cloth, 
 
 provided he is a friend of his country." On his motion, 
 
 1774. the Rev. Mr. Duche, a popular Episcopal clergyman, of 
 Philadelphia, was invited to officiate as chaplain. Mr. 
 Duch6 accepted the invitation. A rumor, in the mean 
 time, reached Philadelphia that General Gage had bom- 
 barded Boston. When the Congress assembled the next 
 morning, anxiety and sympathy were depicted on every 
 countenance. The rumor, though it proved to be false, 
 excited feelings of brotherhood, hitherto unknown. 
 
 The chaplain read the thirty-fifth psalm, and then, 
 carried away by his emotions, burst forth into an extem- 
 porary prayer to the Lord of Hosts to be their heliDcr. 
 " It seemed," says John Adams, in a letter to his wife, 
 " as if Heaven had ordained that psalm to be read on that 
 morning. He j)i"ayed, in language eloquent and sublime, 
 for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston. It 
 has had an excellent effect uj^on everybody here." 
 
 When, the prayer was closed, a long and death-like 
 silence ensued, as if each one hesitated " to open a busi- 
 ness so momentous." At length Patrick Henry slowly 
 arose, faltering at first, " as if borne down by the weight 
 of his subject ; " but the fires of his wonted eloquence be- 
 gan to glow, as he recited the colonial wrongs already 
 endured, and foretold those yet to come. " Eising, as he 
 advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and glowing 
 at length with all the majesty and expectation of the 
 occasion, his speech seemed more than that of mortal 
 man." He inspired the entire Congress with his liberal 
 sentiments ; they found a response in every heart when 
 he exclaimed : " British oppression has efi"aced the boun- 
 daries of the several colonies ; the distinctions between 
 Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Eng- 
 landers,*are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an 
 American." When he closed, the members were not 
 
THE PAPERS ISSUED BY CONGRESS. 
 
 3@$ 
 
 merely astonished at his matchless eloquence, but the ^^f- 
 importance of the subject had overwhelmed them. 
 
 1774. 
 
 The Congress appointed a committee, which drew up 
 a "Declaration of Rights." In this they enumerated 
 their natural rights to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and 
 property ; as British subjects, they claimed to participate 
 in making their own laws ; in imposing their own taxes ; 
 the right of trial by jury in the vicinage ; of holding pub- 
 lic meetings, and of petitioning for redress of grievances. 
 They protested against a standing army in the colonies 
 without their consent, and against eleven acts passed since 
 the accession of George III., as violating the rights of the 
 colonies. It was added, " To these grievous acts and 
 measures Americans cannot submit." 
 
 To obtain redress they resolved to enter upon peacea- 
 ble measures. They agreed to form an "American Asso- 
 ciation," in whose articles they pledged themselves not to 
 trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, nor with 
 those engaged in the slave-trade — wliich was especially 
 denounced — not to use British goods or tea, and not to 
 trade with any colony which would refuse to join the asso- 
 ciation. Committees were to be appointed in the various 
 districts to see that these articles were strictly carried into 
 effect. 
 
 Elaborate papers were also issued, in which the views 
 of the Congress were set forth still more fully. A petition 
 to the king was written by John Dickinson, of Pennsylva- 
 nia ; he also wrote an Address to the people of Canada. 
 The Memorial to the people of the colonies was written 
 by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and the Address to 
 the people of Great Britain by John Jay, of New York. 
 
 Every measure was carefully discussed, and though on 
 some points there was much diversity of opinion, yet, as 
 Congress sat with closed doors, only the results of these 
 discussions went forth to the country, embodied in resolu- 
 
310 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. tions, and siguecl by the members. These papers attracted 
 
 the attention of thinking men in England. Said Chat- 
 
 1774. ham, " When your lordsliij)S look at the papers trans- 
 mitted to us from America ; when you consider their 
 decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect 
 their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, 
 I must avow, and I have studied the master states of the 
 world, I know not the peoi^le, or senate, who, for solidity 
 of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, 
 under such a complication of difficult circumstances, can 
 stand in preference to the delegates of America assembled 
 in General Congress at Philadelphia. The histories of 
 Greece and Kome give us nothing equal to it, and all 
 attempts to impose servitude upon such a mighty conti- 
 nental nation, must be vain." 
 
CHAPTEK XXVII. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 The Spirit of tlie People. — Gage alarmed. — The People seize Guns and Am- 
 munition. — The Massachusetts Provincial Congress ; its Measures. — 
 Parliament passes the Restraining Bill. — Conflicts at Lexington and 
 Concord. — Volunteers flv to Arms, and beleaguer Boston. — Stark. — 
 Putnam. — Benedict Arnold. — Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain 
 Boys. — Capture of Ticonderoga. — Lord Dunmore in Virginia. — Patrick 
 Henry and the Independent Companies. — The News from Lexington 
 rouses a Spirit of Resistance. — The second Continental Congress ; it 
 takes decisive Measures ; adopts the Army before Boston, and ap- 
 points Washington Commander-in-chief. 
 
 Whilk Congress was yet in session, affairs began to wear SSyf; 
 
 a serious aspect in and around Boston. The people were 
 
 practising military exercises. Every village and district IVTI. 
 had its company of minute-men — men pledged to each 
 other to be ready for action at a minute's warning. Eng- 
 land soon furnished them an occasion. The ministiy pro- 
 hibited the exportation of military stores to America, and 
 sent secret orders to the royal governors, to seize all the 
 arms and gunpowder in the magazines. Gage complied 
 with these orders. When it became known that he had 
 secretly sent a company of soldiers by night, who had 
 seized the powder in the arsenal at Charlestown, and con- 
 veyed it to Castle William, the minute-men assembled at 
 once. Their eagerness to go to the governor and compel 
 him to restore it to the arsenal could scarcely be restrained. 
 Ere long various rumors were rife in the country — that 
 Boston was to be attacked ; that the fleet was bombarding 
 
312 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, it J that the soldiers were shooting down the citizens in its 
 
 streets. Thousands of the sturdy yeomanry of Massa- 
 
 1774. chusetts and Connecticut credited these rumors ; they 
 left their farms and theh- shops, and hastened to the res- 
 cue. Before they had advanced far they learned that the 
 rejjorts were untrue. General Gage was alarmed by this 
 significant movement ; he did not apprehend its full im- 
 port, neither did he rightly discern the signs of the times, 
 nor read the sjiirit of the people ; he was a soldier, and 
 understood the power that lies in soldiers and fortifications, 
 hut knew nothing of the power of free principles. He 
 determined to fortify the nect which connects Boston with 
 the mainland, and place there a regiment, to cut off all 
 communication between the people in the country and 
 those in the town. 
 1774. Intelligence of these proceedings spread rapidly through 
 ^^"- the land. The people took possession of the arsenal at 
 Charlestown, from which the powder had been removed. 
 At Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, a company, led by 
 John Sullivan, afterward a major-general, captured the 
 fort, and carried off one hundred barrels of powder and 
 some cannon. At Newport, in the absence of the men-of- 
 war, forty-four pieces of artillery were seized and conveyed 
 to Providence. In Connecticut, the Assembly enjoined 
 upon the towns to lay in a double supply of ammunition, 
 to mount their cannon, and to train the militia frequently. 
 This spirit .was not confined to New England, but pre- 
 vailed in the middle and southern colonies, where the peo- 
 ple took energetic measures to put themselves in a posture 
 of defence. 
 
 In the midst of this commotion. Gage, thinking to 
 conciHate, summoned the Massachusetts Assembly to 
 Oct. meet at Salem ; but, alarmed at the spirit manifested at 
 ^' the town meetings in the jji-ovince, he countermanded the 
 order. The Assembly, however, met ; and as no one ap- 
 peared to administer the oaths, and open the session, the 
 
MASSACHUSETTS ADOPTS DECIDED MEASURES. 313 
 
 members adiourned to Concord, and there oraranized as a Sl^p 
 •' . XXVIL 
 Provincial Congress. They elected John Hancock Presi- 
 
 dent, and Benjamin Lincoln Secretary. Lincoln was a 1TT4. 
 
 farmer, and afterward became an efficient major-general 
 
 in the revolutionary army. This was the first provincial 
 
 Assembly organized independently of royal authority. 
 
 They sent an address to Gage, in which they com- 
 plained of the recent acts of Parliament ; of his own high- 
 handed measures ; of his fortifying Boston Neck, and 
 requested him to desist ; at the same time they protested 
 their loyalty to the king, and their desire for peace and 
 order. Gage replied that he was acting in self-defence, 
 and admonished them to desist from their own unlawful 
 proceedings. 
 
 The Assembly disregarded the admonition, went quiet- 
 ly to work, appointed two committees, one of safety, and 
 the other of supplies, — the former was empowered to 
 call out the minute-men, when it was necessary, and the 
 latter to supply them with provisions of all kinds. They 
 then appointed two general officers — Artemas Ward, one 
 of the judges of the court, and Seth Pomeroy, a veteran 
 of threescore and ten, who had seen service in the French 
 war. They resolved to enlist twelve thousand minute- 
 men, and invited the other New England colonies to in- 
 crease the number to twenty thousand. The note of alarm 
 was everywhere heard ; preparations for defence were 
 eveiywhere apparent. In Virginia the militia companies 
 burnished their arms and practised their exercises. Wash- 
 ington, their highest military authority, was invited, and 
 often visited different parts of the country, to inspect these 
 volunteers on their review days. 
 
 The attention of all was now turned to the new Par- 1775. 
 liament about to assemble. To some extent, a change '^^"• 
 had come over the minds of many of the English people ; 
 the religious sympathies of the Dissenters were specially 
 enlisted in favor of the colonists. The papers issued by 
 
314 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the Continental Congress had been published and circu- 
 
 lated extensively in England, by the exertions of Franklin 
 
 1775. and others. Their plain, unvarnished statements of facts, 
 and their claim for the colonists to enjoy British as well 
 as natural rights, had elicited sympathy. 
 
 Chatham, though much enfeebled, hiu-ried up to Lon- 
 don to plead once more for American rights. He brought 
 in a bill, which he hoped would remove the difficulties ; 
 but the House spurned every scheme of reconciliation 
 short of absolute submission on the part of the colonists. 
 Lord North, urged on by his colleagues in the ministry, 
 whom he had not strength of will to resist, went further 
 than ever. The Boston Port Bill had not accomijlished 
 its design ; and now he introduced what was termed the 
 New England Restraining Bill, which deprived the people 
 of those colonies of the privilege of fishing on the banks 
 of Newfoundland. He declared Massachusetts was in 
 rebellion, and the other colonies, by their associations, 
 were aiding and abetting her. Parliament pledged itself 
 to aid the king in maintaining his authority. 
 Mar. The next month came intelligence to England, that 
 
 the Colonial Assemblies had not only approved the reso- 
 lutions of the Continental Congress, but had determined 
 to support them. To punish them for this audacity, Par- 
 liament passed a second Restraining Act, to apply to all 
 the colonies except New York, Delaware, and North Car- 
 olina. The object of this mark of favor signally failed ; 
 these colonies could not be bribed to desert their sisters. 
 
 General Gage had learned, by means of spies, that at 
 Concord, eighteen miles from Boston, the patriots had 
 collected ammunition and military stores. These he de- 
 termined to destroy. His preparations were made with 
 the greatest secrecy ; but the Sons of Liberty were vigi- 
 lant. Dr. Warren, one of the committee of safety, noticed 
 the unusual stir ; the collection of boats at certain points ; 
 
LEXINGTON. 315 
 
 that the light infantry and grenadiers were taken oS duty. S^^Jl- 
 
 He sent information of what he had seen and suspected 
 
 to John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were at Lex- 1775. 
 ington. It was rightly surmised that Concord was the 
 ohject of the intended expedition. It was to leave Boston 
 on the night of the eighteenth of April ; on that day ^g 
 Gage issued orders forhidding any one to leave the town 
 after dark. Again the vigilance of Warren had antici- 
 pated him. Before his order could go into effect, Paid 
 Revere and William Dawes, two swift and trusty messen- 
 gers, were on the way to the country, by different routes. 
 A lantern held out from the steeple of the North Church — 
 the concerted signal to the jjatriots in Charlestown — 
 warned them that something unusual was going on. Mes- 
 sengers from that place hurried to rouse the country. 
 
 About ten o'clock, under cover of the darkness, eight 
 or nine hundred men, light infantry and grenadiers, em- 
 barked and crossed to Cambridge, and thence, with as 
 little noise as possible, took up their line of march. To 
 their surprise they heard in advance of them the tolling 
 of bells, and the firing of alarm guns ; evidently they 
 were discovered. Lieutenant-colonel Smith sent back to 
 Gage for reinforcements, and also ordered Major Pitcairn 
 to press forward, and seize the two bridges at Concord. 
 Pitcairn advanced rapidly and arrested every person he 
 met or overtook, but a countryman, who evaded him, 
 spurred on to Lexington, and gave the alarm. At dawn 
 of day Pitcairn's division reached that place. Seventy 
 or eighty minute-men, with some other persons, were on 
 the green. They were uncertain as to the object of the 
 British. It was thought they wished to arrest Hancock ^J 
 and Adams, both of whom had left the place. Pitcairn 
 ordered his men to halt and load their muskets ; then 
 riding up he cried out, — " Disperse, you rebels." " Down 
 with your arms, you villains, and disperse," was echoed 
 by his officers. Confusion ensued ; random shots were 
 
316 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP fij-ecl on both sides ; then, by a volley from the British, 
 
 seven men were killed and nine wounded. The Ameri- 
 
 1775. cans dispersed, and the British soldiers gave three cheers 
 for their victory ! By whom the first shot was fired is 
 uncertain. Each party charged it upon the other. Be 
 that as it may, here was commenced the eight years' war 
 of the revolution. 
 
 Presently Colonel Smith came up, and in half an hour 
 the entire body moved on toward Concord, six mUes dis- 
 tant. Information of the firing at Lexington had already 
 reached that place. The minute-men were assembled on 
 the green near the church. About seven o'clock the ene- 
 my appeared, in two divisions. The minute-men retreated 
 across a bridge to the top of a neighboring hUl. The 
 British placed a strong guard at the bridge, and spent 
 two hours in destroying what stores they could find, as the 
 greater part had been concealed, and pUlaging some private 
 dwellings. Meantime the little company on the hill in- 
 creased rapidly, and soon it numbered about four hundred 
 and fifty. They advanced upon the guard, who fired upon 
 them, and skirmishing commenced. As the British began 
 to retreat they were followed by an irregular and galling 
 fire from behind trees, and fences, and houses. In vain 
 they sent flanking-parties to free themselves from their 
 assailants, who were increasing every minute ; the nimble 
 yeomanry would retire before these parties, only to appear 
 at a more favorable point. Colonel Smith was severely 
 wounded, and many of his men killed. He had consumed 
 more than two hours in retreating to Lexington ; there, 
 fortunately for him. Lord Percy, who insultingly had 
 marched out of Boston to the tune of Yankee Doodle, 
 met him with a thousand men and two field-pieces. The 
 fainting and exhausted troops were received in a hollow 
 square, where they rested, while the fresh soldiers kept the 
 indomitable " rebels " at bay with their field-pieces. 
 
 WhUe the enemy were thus halting, General Heath, 
 
THE HASTY RETREAT VOLUNTEERS FLY TO ARMS. 317 
 
 wliom the Massachusetts Provmcial Congress had ap- J^hap. 
 
 pointed to command the minute-men, came upon the 
 
 ground, and also Dr. Warren. They directed the Ameri- 1775. 
 cans, whose attacks were now more in concert, but still 
 irregular. The British set fire to dwellings in Lexington, 
 then renewed their retreat, pDlaging and burning as they 
 went. The Americans, greatly exasperated, harassed them 
 at every step. Lord Percy's condition became very criti- 
 cal. The country was roused ; new assailants poured in 
 from every side ; every moment he was more and more 
 encumbered by the number of the wounded, while his am- 
 munition was nearly exhausted. Had he been delayed an 
 hour longer, his retreat would have been cut off by a pow- 
 erful force from Marblehead and Salem. " If the retreat," 
 writes Washington, " had not been as precipitate as it 
 was — and God knows it could not well have been more 
 so — ^the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been 
 totally cut off." In this affair, about eighty of the Ameri- 
 cans were killed or wounded, and of the British nearly 
 three hundred. 
 
 Intelligence of this conflict spread rapidly through the 
 country ; couriers hastened from colony to colony. In 
 New England, volunteers flew to arms, and in ten days 
 an irregular army completely blockaded the British in 
 Boston, by a line of encampments, that extended from 
 Koxbury to beyond Charlestown — a distance of nine miles. 
 The fire of other days glowed in the breasts of the old 
 campaigners of the French war, — none were more ready 
 than they. John Stark, whom we have seen leading his 
 men in that war, waited not for invitation nor commission ; 
 in ten minutes after he heard the news he was on his way. 
 Israel Putnam, another name associated with deeds of 
 daring in French and Indian warfare, was laboring in his 
 field when the courier passed along. He left the work, 
 mounted a horse, roused his neighbors, and, without 
 changing his clothes, hastened to Boston. Putnam was 
 
318 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxvn ^ iiative of Salem, Massachusetts, but for many years a 
 
 . resident of Connecticut. Though now almost sixty years 
 
 1775. of age, he was buoyant in spirits as a boy, impulsive and 
 frank as he was fearless, and too generous to suspect 
 others of guile. 
 
 At this crisis, the Massachusetts Congress took ener- 
 getic measures. A regiment of artillery was formed, the 
 command of which was given to the aged Gridley, who, 
 thirty years before, commanded the artillery at the taking 
 of Louisburg. In the other colonies, the people were not 
 inactive ; they seized arms and ammunition wherever 
 found, repudiated the royal authority, and each for itself 
 called a Provincial Congress. 
 
 It was suggested to the Massachusetts Committee of 
 Safety to seize the two posts, Ticonderoga and Crown 
 Point, on Lake Champlain, and thus secure the " key of 
 Canada," as well as the cannon and other military stores 
 there deposited. Benedict Arnold, who commanded a 
 company in the camp before Boston, entered into the proj- 
 ect with great ardor, Arnold was a man of impulsive 
 temper, petulant, headstrong, and reckless of danger ; he 
 thirsted for an opportunity to distinguish himself The 
 Committee gave him the commission of colonel, with au- 
 thority to raise men and accomplish the object. He 
 learned that others were engaged in the same enterprise, 
 and without waiting to enlist men, he set out immediately 
 for Vermont. There he met the redoubtable Ethan Al- 
 len — an original character — who from his very singulari- 
 ties exerted a great influence over his companions. When 
 he harangued them, as he often did, " his style, though a 
 singular compound of local barbarisms, and scriptural 
 phrases, and oriental wildness, was highly animated and 
 forcible." The territory now known as the State of Ver- 
 mont, was claimed at this time by both New York and 
 New Hampshire ; but the inhabitants preferred to live 
 
CAPTUKE OF TICONDEROGA. 319 
 
 under the rule of the latter, and formed comhinations to ^^^j^- 
 
 resist the authority of New York. Allen was the leader 
 
 of " the G-reen Mountain Boys," an association formed 1775. 
 for this 2:)nrpose. 
 
 These Green Mountain Boys, numbering about two 
 hundred and seventy, with ^llen at their head, were al- 
 ready on their way to Ticonderoga. Within a few miles 
 of the head of Lake Champlain, Arnold overtook them. 
 By virtue of his commission as colonel, he ordered Allen 
 to surrender the command into his hands. Allen refused, 
 nor would his men march under any other leader. It was 
 finally arranged that Arnold should go as a volunteer, re- 
 taining the rank of colonel without the command. The 
 following night the party reached Shoreham, a point on 
 the lake opposite Ticonderoga. At dawn of day, as they May 
 had but few boats, only eighty-three men with Arnold 
 and Allen had crossed over. 
 
 They could delay no longer, lest they should be dis- 
 covered, and Allen jjroposed to move on at once to the 
 fort. Guided by a boy of the neighborhood, a brisk run 
 up the hill soon brought them to the entrance. They 
 secured the two sentinels, one of whom they compelled to 
 show the way to the quarters of Captain Delaplace, the 
 commandant. The vigorous knocks of Allen at his door 
 soon roused him. When he appeared, half-awake and 
 half-dressed, Allen flourished his sword, and called upon 
 him to surrender the fort. The commandant stammered 
 out, " By whose authority do you act ? " " In the name 
 of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," 
 thundered Allen. This was a demonstration not to be 
 resisted. The cheers of Allen's men had already roused 
 the garrison, all of whom were taken prisoners. 
 
 Two days later Seth Warner, Allen's lieutenant, with 
 a detachment, took Crown Point. Arnold then obtained 
 boats, pushed on, and cajitured St. John's in the Sorel. 
 Altogether, sixty prisoners were taken, and what was far 
 
320 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, more imiiortaut, two hundred cannons and a large supply 
 
 of gunpowder. 
 
 1775. 
 
 Two days after tlie affaii- at Lexington, Lord Dunmore, 
 governor of Virginia, sent a company of marines, wlio, in 
 April the night, entered the capital, Williamsburg, and carried 
 ^^- off from the pubhc arsenal about twenty barrels of powder, 
 and conveyed them on board an armed schooner lying in 
 James river. When the inhabitants learned the fact the 
 next morning, they were greatly exasperated. Numbers 
 flew to arms with the intention of recovering the powder. 
 By the persuasions of the leading citizens, and of the 
 councU, they were restrained from acts of violence. 
 
 The Council, however, addressed a remonstrance to 
 the governor, who promised, verbally, to restore the j^ow- 
 der when it should be needed. The people deemed his 
 answer unsatisfactory. When intelligence came of the 
 conflict at Concord, it flashed upon their mmds tliat the 
 seizure of the powder and munitions of war in the colonics 
 was concerted by the royal governors, in accordance with 
 instructions from the ministry. 
 2 ^ Patrick Henry invited the independent companies of 
 
 the county of Hanover to meet him at a certain place on 
 the second of May. They, seven hundred strong, obeyed 
 the call. He made known why they were called together ; 
 spoke of the fight at Concord, and the occasion of it. 
 Then, at their head, he marched towards Williamsburg, 
 determined either to have the powder returned, or its 
 value in money. On their way a messenger from the 
 frightened governor met them, and tendered the money 
 for the full value of the powder. The money was after- 
 ward sent to Congress. 
 
 The companies now disbanded, with the understanding 
 that when called upon, they were to be ready to march at 
 a minute's warning. Thus did Virginia emulate Massa- 
 chusetts. 
 
THE PEOPLE RISE IN OPPOSITION. 321 
 
 Dunmore, in the mean while, fled with his family on chap. 
 
 ' .' . ■' XXVII. 
 
 board a man-of-war, and thence issued one of his harmless 
 
 proclamations, in which he declared " a certain Patrick 1775. 
 Henry and his associates to he in rebellion.'' 
 
 A few days before he had said, " The whole country 
 can easily be made a solitude ; " and he threatened to 
 declare freedom to the slaves, arm them, and lay Wil- 
 Kamsburg in ashes ! 
 
 As the news from Lexington and Concord reached the 
 various portions of the colonies the people rose in opposi- 
 tion. The whigs were indignant at the outrage, and the 
 royalists censured Gage for his rash and harsh measures. 
 
 In New York, the Sons of Liberty, with Eobert Sears, 
 the sturdy mechanic, at their head, seized eighty thousand 
 pounds of flour, which was on board of sloops ready to be 
 taken to Boston for the king's troops ; they shut up the 
 custom-house, and forbade vessels to leave the harbor for 
 any colony or 2)ort which acknowledged British authority ; 
 they secured the arms and ammunition belonging to the 
 city, while the volunteers turned out and paraded the 
 streets. The General Committee was dilatory ; another 
 was chosen to act with more energy. An association was 
 formed whose members pledged themselves, "under all 
 ties of religion, honor, and love of country, to submit to 
 committees and to Congress, to withhold supplies from 
 the British troops, and, at the risk of lives and fortunes, 
 to repel every attempt at enforcing taxation by Parlia- 
 ment." 
 
 Similar was the spirit manifested in the Jerseys. In 
 Philadelphia, thousands of the citizens assembled and 
 resolved, " To associate for the purpose of defending with 
 arms, their lives, their property, and liberty." Thomas 
 Mifflin, the warlike young Quaker, urged them in his 
 speech, " not to be bold in declarations and cold in action." 
 Military companies were formed in the neighboring coun- 
 21 
 
322 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxvFi *'^^' ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ™ *^^ *^'*'^' ^^° armed themselves and 
 daily jjractised their exercises. 
 
 1775. In Maiyland, Eden, the royalist governor, in order to 
 
 conciliate, gave up to the people the arms and ammunition 
 
 of the jiroviuce. 
 
 In Charleston, the peoijle at once distributed the 
 twelve hundred stand of arms which they seized in the 
 royal arsenal, while the Provincial Congress, with Henry 
 Laurens, a Huguenot by descent, as their president, de- 
 clared themselves *' ready to sacrifice their hves and for- 
 tunes to secure freedom and safety." The officers of the 
 militia threw uj5 their commissions from the governor, and 
 declared themselves ready to submit to the authority of 
 Congress. Kegiments of infantry and rangers were imme- 
 diately raised. 
 
 Georgia, which had hitherto been lukewarm, now took 
 decided ground. The people broke into the royal maga- 
 zine, from which they took all the powder, live hundred 
 pounds. The committee wrote words of encouragement 
 and commendation to the people of Massachusetts, and 
 sent them rice and specie. 
 
 In North Carolina, as the news passed from place to 
 place, it awakened the spirit of resistance to tyranny. 
 The highlands along her western frontier were settled by 
 Presbyterians of Scotch-Irish descent, " who were said to 
 possess the impulsiveness of the Irishman with the dogged 
 resolution of the Covenanter." A county convention was 
 in session when the courier arrived. Fired with indigna- 
 tion, the delegates resolved to throw off " the authority 
 of the king and Parliament." Ephraim Brevard, " trained 
 in the college at Princeton," and afterward a martyr in 
 the cause, embodied their sentiments in resolutions, which 
 declared ; " All laws and commissions, confirmed by or 
 derived from the authority of the king and Parliament to 
 be annulled and vacated." To maintain their rights, they 
 also determined to form nine mihtary companies, and to 
 
 May. 
 
I 
 
 THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 323 
 
 frame laws for the internal government of the country, yxvff 
 
 This was the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
 
 pendence. 1775. 
 
 Such was the spirit that pervaded the minds of the 
 entire people. Throughout the land free principles had 
 laid the train-i— the spark was applied at Lexington. 
 
 On the tenth of May the second Continental Congress May 
 commenced its session at Philadelphia. They organized 
 without changing the officers of the year before. In a 
 few days, however, Peyton Randolph resigned the presi- 
 dency to return to Virginia and preside over the Assembly, 
 which had been called by the governor. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was sent to supply his place as a 
 delegate, and John Hancock was elected president. Har- 
 rison, of Virginia, in conducting him to the chair, said : 
 " We wiU show Britain how much we value her pro- 
 scriptions." For it was well known that Hancock and 
 Samuel Adams were deemed rebels too great to be par- 
 doned. 
 
 Dr. Franklin had returned only a few days before from 
 England, where he had been for some years in the capacity 
 of agent for some of the colonies. There his enlightened 
 statesmanship and far-seeing judgment had won the re- 
 spect of liberal-minded Englishmen. He was at once 
 chosen a delegate. Also, in addition to the members of 
 the first Congress, appeared George Clinton and Robert R. 
 Livingston, from New York. 
 
 The members were encouraged, for the measures of the 
 first Congress had been approved by the assemblies of all 
 the colonies. 
 
 The first General Congress met to protest and peti- 
 tion ; the second to assume authority and take decisive 
 measures. Then the door was open for reconciHation with 
 the mother country, now it was almost closed. The face 
 of affairs was changed ; blood had been wantonly shed, 
 
S24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, and a beleaguering host of rustic soldiery were besieging 
 the enemy. 
 
 1775. Congress was imbued with the spirit of the time. In 
 
 committee of the whole reports were called for on the 
 state of the country. These disposed of, they passed to 
 other matters ; reviewed the events of the last year ; inves- 
 tigated the causes which led to the conflicts at Lexington 
 and Concord. The timid proposed to memorialize Parlia- 
 ment once more. No ! argued John Adams, and many 
 others ; it is useless, we have been spurned from the 
 throne, and our petitions treated with contempt ; such a 
 memorial would embarrass our proceedings, and have no 
 influence upon Parliament. Yet another petition was, in 
 form, voted to the king, and wliile they denied any inten- 
 tion to cast oif their allegiance, they proceeded to put the 
 colonies in a posture of defence. 
 
 They formed a " Federal Union," by whose provisions 
 each colony was to manage its own internal concerns ; but 
 all measures pertaining to the whole community, such as 
 treaties of peace or alliance, the regulation of commerce, 
 or declaration of war, came under the jurisdiction of Con- 
 gress. They recognized Him who holds in his hands the 
 destinies of nations. They issued a proclamation for a 
 day of solemn fasting and prayer. 
 
 Congress now assumed the authority of the central 
 power of the nation. They forbade persons, under any 
 circumstances, to furnish provisions to the British navy or 
 troops ; took measures to enlist an army and to build 
 fortifications, and to procure arms and ammunition. To 
 defray expenses, they issued " Bills of Credit," amount- 
 ing to two millions of dollars, for whose redemption they 
 pledged the faith of the " United Colonies." In accord- 
 ance with the request of the Provincial Congress of Massa- 
 chusetts, they adopted the volunteers in the camp before 
 Boston, as the continental army. It remained to appoint 
 a Commander-in-chief On this subject there were diver- 
 
WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 325 
 
 sities of opinion. Some tlionglit a New England army ^;HAP- 
 
 would prefer a New England commander ; others strove . 
 
 to appoint a commander acceptable to aU sections of the 1775. 
 country. The members of Congress acknowledged the 
 military talents of Washington, and appreciated his Ub- 
 eral views as a statesman. As chairman of the committee 
 on military affairs, he had suggested the majority of the 
 rules for the army, and of the measures for defence. At 
 this time came intimations in a private letter from Dr. 
 Warren to Samuel Adams, that many leading men in 
 Massachusetts desired his appointment as commander-in- 
 chief 
 
 Patrick Henry, when asked, on his return home from 
 the first Congress, who of the members was the greatest 
 man, had replied, " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rut- 
 ledge, of South Carolina, is, by far, the greatest orator ; 
 but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment. 
 Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man 
 on that floor." 
 
 John Adams took occasion to point out what, under 
 the present circumstances, should be the qualifications of 
 a commander-in-chief, and closed by remarking, that they 
 knew a man who had these qualifications — " a member of 
 this house from Virginia." He alluded to Washington. 
 A few days after, the army was regularly adopted, and 
 the salary of the commander-in-chief fixed at five hundred 
 dollars a month. That arranged, Mr. Johnson, of Maiy- 
 land, nominated Washington for the ofiice. The election 
 was by ballot, and he was unanimously chosen. The next June 
 day the president of Congress formally announced to him ■'^' 
 his election. Washington rose in his seat and briefly ex- 
 pressed his gratitude for the unexpected honor, and his 
 devotion to the cause. Then he added, " I beg it may 
 be remembered by every gentleman in this room, that I 
 this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not 
 
326 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP think myself equal to the command I am honored 
 
 with." Kefusing any pay, he continued, " I will keep an 
 
 1775. exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, 
 they will discharge, and that is all I desire." Con- 
 gress resolved " to maintain and assist, and adhere to 
 him with their lives and fortunes in the defence of 
 American liberty." 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVIII. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE KEVOLUTION 
 
 Battle of Bunker Ilill. — Death of Warren. — Washington on his way to join 
 the Army. — Generals Charles Lee and Schuyler. — State of Affairs in 
 New York. — Sir AVilliam Johnson.- — The Condition of the Army. — ^Na- 
 thaniel Greene. — Morgan and his Riflemen. — Wants of the Army. — 
 Difficulties on Lake Champlain. — Expedition against Canada. — Richard 
 Montgomery. — Allen's rash Adventure. — Montreal captured. — Arnold's 
 toilsome March to Quebec. — That Place besieged. — Failure to storm 
 the Town. — Death of Montgomery. — Arnold in his Icy-Fortress. 
 
 Foe two months the armies in and around Boston had 
 watched each other. General Gage, in the mean time, xjy^ 
 
 had received large reinforcements. These were led hy 
 
 three commanders of reputation : Generals Howe, Bur- -^^''^^■ 
 goyne, and Henry Clinton. We may judge of the sur- 25. 
 prise of these generals to find the king's regulars " hemmed 
 in hy what they termed a rustic rout, with calico frocks 
 and fowling-pieces." " What ! " exclaimed Burgoyne, 
 " ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king's troops 
 shut up ! Well, let vis get in, and we'U soon find elbow- 
 room." This vain boast was followed by no decided move- 
 ment. Gage merely sent forth a proclamation, declared 
 the province under martial law, and offered pardon to aU 
 the rebels who should return to their allegiance, except 
 Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These " rebels " were 
 placed beyond the pale of the king's mercy. 
 
 The patriot soldiers, numbering about fifteen thou- 
 sand, had come from their various towns, in independent 
 companies, under their own leaders ; their friends in their 
 
328 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 <"HAP. respective towns supplied them with provisions. The 
 
 '. Massachusetts troops were under General Ward ; John 
 
 1775. Stark led the New Hampshire volunteers ; Putnam com- 
 manded those from Connecticut, and Nathaniel Greene 
 the regiment from Khode Island. The artillery, consisting 
 of nine pieces, was under the control of the venerable 
 Colonel Gridley. The great majority of the soldiers were 
 clad in their homespun working clothes ; some had rifles 
 and some had fowling-pieces. The British greatly exas- 
 perated them by taunts and acts expressive of contempt. 
 Opposed to the motley group of patriot soldiers, was a well- 
 disciplined army of ten thousand men, under experienced 
 commanders. 
 
 It was rumored that Gage intended to seize and 
 fortify Bunker's Hill and Dorchester Heights — the one 
 lying north and the other south of the town. In order to 
 prevent this, some of the patriots proposed that they 
 should take possession of the hiU themselves. The more 
 cautious were oiDposed to the enterprise, as extremely 
 hazardous ; it might provoke a general action, and they 
 were deficient in ammunition and guns. But the fearless 
 Putnam felt confident, with proper intrenchments, the 
 patriots could not fail of success. " The Americans," 
 said he, " are never afraid of their heads, they only think 
 of their legs ; shelter them, and they will fight forever." 
 It was reported that the enemy intended to seize Bunker 
 Hill on the night of the eighteenth of June, and therefore 
 J not a moment was to be lost. On the evening of Friday 
 16. the sixteenth, a company of about twelve hundred men, 
 with their arms, and provisions for twenty-four hours, as- 
 sembled on the common at Cambridge. Very few of them 
 knew where they were going, bixt all knew that it was 
 into danger. Prayer Avas offered by President Langdon, 
 of Harvard College. About nine o'clock they commenced 
 their march, under the command of Colonel Wilham 
 Prescott, a veteran of the French war ; one in whom the 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 329 
 
 soldiers had implicit confidence. Charlestown Neck was ^^P; 
 strongly guarded, but they passed over it in safety, and .' 
 
 were soon on the ground. Bunker HiU was designated in 1775. 
 the orders, hut Breed's Hill, as it had a better command 
 of the harbor, was fortified instead. The ground was 
 speedily marked out, and about midnight the men com- 
 menced their labors. Early daylight revealed to the aston- 
 ished eyes of the British sailors in the harbor the strong 
 redoubt that had sprung up so suddenly on the hill-top, 
 and the Americans still busy at their work. Without 
 waiting for orders, the sloop-of-war Lively opened her 
 guns upon them ; a floating battery and other ships did 
 the same. The firing roused the people of Boston. Gage, 
 through his spy-glass, noticed Prescott, who was on the 
 parapet inspecting the works. " Who is that officer in 
 command," ho asked ; " will he fight .^ " " He is an old 
 soldier, and will fight to the last drop of his blood," replied 
 one who knew Prescott well. " The works must be car- 
 ried," remarked Gage. An hour later the plan of attack 
 was decided ujion by a council of war. 
 
 From the heights the Americans saw and heard the 
 bustle of preparation. Repeated messages were sent to 
 General Ward for the promised reinforcements. Putnam 
 hurried to Cambridge to urge the demand in person. 
 Ward hesitated lest he should weaken the main division. 
 It was eleven o'clock before Stark and Eeed, with their 
 regiments, were ordered to the relief of Prescott, and the 
 wearied soldiers, who had been laboring all night at the 
 redoubt. 
 
 About noon, twenty-eight barges filled with soldiers, 
 under the command of Generals Howe and Pigott, left 
 Boston. The ships kept up an incessant cannonade to 
 cover their landing. General Howe discovered that the 
 works were stronger than he anticipated, and he sent to 
 General Gage for reinforcements ; his men, while waiting, 
 were regaled with refreshments and " grog." Meantime 
 
330 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the Americans strengthened their works, and formed a 
 
 . . rustic breastwork ; to do this, they jjulled up a post-and- 
 
 1775. rail fence, placed it behind a stone fence, and filled the 
 space between with new-mown grass. This extended 
 down the side of the hill north of the redoubt to a swamp. 
 Now they were cheered by the sight of Stark, who ap- 
 peared with five hundred men. As he marched leisurely 
 along, some one suggested a rapid movement. The vet- 
 eran replied, " One fresh man in action is worth ten tired 
 ones ; " and he moved quietly on. A part of his force 
 halted with Putnam at Bunker Hill, and a part joined 
 Knowlton behind the fence breastwork. About two 
 o'clock. Dr. Warren, who had recently been appointed 
 major-general, but had not received his commission, ar- 
 rived. He came, as did Pomeroy, to serve in the ranks. 
 When Putnam pointed him to the redoubt, and said, 
 " There you will be under cover," " Don't think," replied 
 Warren, "' that I seek a place of safety — where will the 
 attack be the hottest ? " Still pointing to the same spot 
 Putnam answered : " That is the enemy's object ; if that 
 can be maintained the day is ours." When Warren en- 
 tered tlie redoubt, the soldiers received him with hearty 
 cheers. Prescott ofi'ered him the command, which he 
 gracefully declined, saying : " I shall be happy to learn 
 from a soldier of your experience." 
 
 The day was clear and bright : the British, in their 
 brilliant uniforms, presented a fine appearance. Thou- 
 sands watched every movement from the house-tops in 
 Boston and from the neighboring liills. Fathers, husbands, 
 sons, and brothers were to meet the enemy, for the first 
 time, in a regular battle. The expedition had commenced 
 with prayer on Cambridge green, and now minister Mc- 
 Clintock, of New Hampshire, was passing among the men 
 praying and exhorting them to stand firm. 
 
 About half-past two o'clock, the British, confident of 
 an easy victory, advanced ; one division, under General 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 331 
 
 Pigott, marched up the hill to storm the redoubt in front, chap. 
 
 while the other, under General Howe, advanced against the 
 
 fence breastwork, in order to gain the rear and cut off the I'^TS. 
 retreat. The redoubt was commanded by Prescott. Stark, 
 Knowlton, and Eeed, with some of the New Hampshire 
 and Connecticut men, were at the fence. As he saw the 
 enemy advancing, Prescott, with liis usual presence of 
 mind, jjassed among his men and encouraged them. " The 
 redcoats," said he, " will never reach the redoubt, if you 
 will but withhold your fire till I give the order, and be 
 careful not to shoot over their heads." The impetuous 
 Putnam, who seems to have had no special command, was 
 everywhere. " Wait till you see the whites of their eyes, 
 aim at their waistbands, pick off the handsome coats, 
 steady my lads," were his directions as he rode along the 
 lines. " Wait for orders and fire low," was the policy 
 that controlled the movements on Bunker HUl. 
 
 The British, as they advanced, kept up an incessant 
 discharge of musketry. Not a soimd issued from the 
 Americans. When Pigott's division came within forty 
 paces, those in the redoubt levelled their gims for a mo- 
 ment, then Prescott gave the word : " Fire ! " Whole 
 ranks were cut down. The enemy fell back, but urged on 
 by their officers, again advanced. The Americans allowed 
 them to come nearer than before, but received them more 
 warmly. The carnage was dreadful ; Pigott himself or- 
 dered a retreat. At the same moment Howe's division 
 was also retreating. The brave band who guarded the 
 fence, had allowed him to advance within thirty paces, 
 then had poured in their reserved fire with deadly effect. 
 Both divisions retired down the hill to the shore. Gage 
 had threatened that he would burn the town of Charles- 
 town if the Ameiicans should occupy the heights. The 
 threat was now carried into execution, by bombs thrown 
 from the sliips and Cojjp's Hill. The conflagration added 
 new horrors to the scene. 
 
332 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ??vui The British resolved upon a second attack. This 
 
 JLa. V ill. t • 1 
 
 — - — . proved a counterpart of the first. By volleys discharged 
 1775. at the right moment, and with rmerring aim, their whole 
 force was driven back. Their officers labored to check 
 them, even urged them on with their swords, but in vain ; 
 they retreated to the shore. " If we drive them back once 
 more," exclaimed Prescott, " they cannot rally again." 
 " We are ready for the redcoats again," was the response 
 from the redoubt. 
 
 General Clinton watched the movements from Copp's 
 Hill. He witnessed the repulse of the " king's regulars " 
 with astonishment ; he hastened over as a volunteer with 
 reinforcements. Some officers were oj^posed to another 
 attack ; they thought it little short of butchery to lead 
 men in the face of such sharp-shooting. Now they learned 
 that the ammunition of the Americans was nearly ex- 
 hausted. They resolved to carry the redoubt at the point 
 of the bayonet. The attack was to be specially directed 
 against an open space which they had noticed between 
 the breastwork and the fortified fence. The Americans 
 used what little powder they had with great effect ; they 
 could pour in but a single volley upon the enemy ; but 
 by this a number of British officers were slain. The Brit- 
 ish, however, advanced with fixed bayonets, and assailed 
 the redoubt on three sides. The first who appeared on 
 the parapet, as he ciied out, " The day is ours," was shot 
 down. Now followed a desperate encounter ; those Amer- 
 icans who had not bayonets fought with stones and the 
 butts of their muskets. It was imiDossible to maintain the 
 ground ; Prescott gave the word, and they commenced an 
 orderly retreat. The aged Pomeroy clubbed his musket 
 and retreated with his face to the enemy. Stark, Knowl- 
 ton, and Eeed, kept their position at the fence tUl their 
 companions had left the redoubt and passed down the 
 hill, and thus prevented the enemy from cutting off the 
 retreat ; then they slowly retired. 
 
CHARLES LEE — PHILIP SCHUYLER. 333 
 
 About three thousand British were engaged in this chap. 
 
 battle, and about fifteen hundred Americans. The British ; 
 
 lost more than one thousand men, an unusual proportion 1775. 
 of whom were officers, among whom was Major Pitcairn, 
 of Lexington memory ; while the Americans lost but four 
 hundred and fifty, but among these was Dr. Warren. He 
 was one of the last to leave the redoubt ; he had scarcely 
 passed beyond it when he fell. On the morning of that 
 day he had expressed himself willing, if necessary, to die 
 for his countiy. — That country has embalmed his name as 
 one of the bravest and noblest of her sons. 
 
 The raw militia had met the British " regulars," and 
 had proved themselves their equals ; they left the field 
 only when destitute of ammunition. 
 
 The British ministry was not satisfied with this vic- 
 tory, nor were the Americans discouraged by this defeat. 
 When the news of the battle reached England, G-eneral 
 Gage was at once recalled. When Washington learned 
 of it fi'om the courier who was hastening to Congress with 
 the news, he exclaimed : " The liberties of the countiy 
 are safe ! " 
 
 This famous battle took place on the seventeenth of 
 June ; on the twenty-first Washington, accompanied by 
 Generals Lee and Schuyler, left Philadelphia to join the 
 army as Commander-in-chief General Charles Lee was 
 an Englishman by birth ; a soldier by profession, he had 
 been engaged in campaigns in various parts of Europe, 
 and in the French war. Frank in disposition, but sar- 
 castic in manner, and evidently soured by disappointmentj 
 he had resigned the British service, and for some reason 
 indulged in feelings of bitter animosity to the English 
 name. His connection with their cause was counted of 
 great consequence by the Americans. 
 
 General Philip Schuyler was a native of New York, 
 of Dutch descent. As a man of wealth, position, educa- 
 tion, and well-known integrity, he had great influence in 
 
334 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ™j^- that province. He had some experience, also, in military 
 
 affairs ; during the French war, when a youth of two and 
 
 1775. twenty, he campaigned with Sir William Johnson and his 
 Mohawks. Though in his native province the rich and 
 influential were generally loyalists, from the beginning of 
 tlie troubles Schuyler ardently espoused the cause of the 
 colonists. He was versed in civil affairs, having been a 
 member of the New York General Assembly, and i-ecently 
 a delegate to Congress, where his practical good sense had 
 attracted attention. At this time, danger was appre- 
 hended from the Mohawks, who lived in the northern and 
 central parts of New York. It was feared that, influenced 
 by the Johnson family, they would rally against the colo- 
 nists. Sir William Johnson, of whom we have spoken, 
 the ancestor of this family, was of Scotch-Irish descent, a 
 man of vigorous mind but of coarse associations ; he had 
 acquired great influence over the Indians by adopting 
 their customs, had married an Indian wife, sister of Brandt, 
 the chief, afterward so famous. For nearly thirty years 
 he was agent for the Five Nations ; he became rich by 
 trafiic, and lived in his castle on the Mohawk river, in 
 baronial style, with Scotch Highlanders as tenants. Sir 
 William was dead, but his son and heir, John Johnson, 
 and his son-in-law, Guy Johnson, were suspected of tam- 
 permg with the Mohawks. No one knew the state of 
 affairs in New York better than Schuyler ; he was ac- 
 quainted with the tory aristocracy ; he understood the 
 Johnsons, and to him Washington intrusted the charge 
 of that province. 
 
 As a singular incident it may be noted, that as Wash- 
 ington approached New York by way of New Jersey, the 
 ship on board of which was the royalist governor Tryon, 
 who was just returning from England, came into the har- 
 bor. The committee appointed to do the honors was 
 somewhat perplexed. Fortunately their principles were 
 not tested : these two men, the one the representative of 
 
CONDITION OF THE ARMY. 335 
 
 the Continental Congress, the other of the king, did not ™-^^ 
 
 reach the city at the same time. The escort that received '. 
 
 Washington, were at leisure, a few hours later, to render 1T75. 
 to Governor Tryon the same honor. 
 
 The Commander-in-chief was met at Springfield by 
 the committee of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, 
 and escorted to the camp. The greatest enthusiasm pre- 
 vailed ; the soldiers everywhere greeted him with hearty 
 cheers. Such a welcome, while it gratified his feelings, 
 was calculated to increase his sense of responsibility. A 
 great work was before him — a work not yet begun ; he 
 was to bring order out of confusion ; to lead on tlie cause 
 of freedom to a successful issue. In his letters written 
 about this time, he expresses a calm trust in a Divine 
 Providence, that wisely orders all things. 
 
 A personal survey of the army revealed more perfectly 
 the difficulties to be overcome. It numbered about four- 
 teen thousand men ; to be effective, it must be increased 
 to twenty or thirty thousand. The trooj)8 were unorgan- 
 ized and undisciplined, without uniforms, poorly clad, and 
 imperfectly armed. To discipline these volunteers would 
 be no easy task ; they could not be subjected to strict 
 military rule. Even among this noble band of patriot 
 officers, were jealousies to be soothed, and prejudices to 
 be regarded. Some felt that they had been overlooked or 
 underrated in the appointments made by Congress. 
 
 A council of war resolved to maintain the present line 
 of works, to capture the British, or drive them out of 
 Boston. Washington chose for his head-quarters a cen- 
 tral position at Cambridge ; here were stationed Major- 
 general Putnam and Brigadier-general Heath. General 
 Artemas Ward was stationed with the right wins at Rox- 
 bury, and General Charles Lee commanded the left on 
 Prospect Hill. Under Lee were the Brigadier-generals 
 Greene and SuUivan, and under Ward the Generals 
 
336 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. Spencer and Thomas. Of this number, Greene merits 
 
 special notice. His father a farmer, miller, and anchor 
 
 1775. snaith, as well as occasionally a Quaker preacher, endeavored 
 to train his son in his own faith. The son's tastes were 
 decidedly military. Of a genial disposition, he was fond 
 of social amusements, but never at the expense of things 
 more important. He cultivated his mind by reading the 
 best English authors of the time on science and history ; 
 to do this he snatched the moments from daily toil. Indus- 
 trious and strictly temperate, his perceptions were clear, 
 and his love of order almost a passion. With zest he read 
 books on military tactics, and before he had laid aside the 
 Quaker costume, he took lessons in the science of military 
 drill, by watching the exercises and manoeuvres of the 
 British troops on parade on Boston Common. Their order 
 and precision had a charm for the embryo general. None 
 took a deeper interest than he in the questions that agi- 
 tated the country, and he was more than once chosen by 
 the people to represent them in the Colonial Legislature. 
 The army was now joined by some companies of rifle- 
 men, mostly Scotch and Irish ; baclcwoodsmen of Penn- 
 sylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, enUsted by ordei-s of 
 Congress. They had marched six hundred miles in twenty 
 days. If their peculiar dress, the hunting-shirt, and their 
 motto, " Liberty or Death," worn on their head-band, 
 their robust appearance, their stature, scarcely one of 
 them being less than six feet, excited admiration, much 
 more did their feats of sharp-shooting. " When advanc- 
 ing at a quick step," it was said, " they could hit a mark 
 of seven inches diameter at a distance of two hundred and 
 fifty yards." Their leader, Daniel Morgan, was a native 
 of New Jersey, though brought up on the frontiers of 
 Virginia. When a youth, his education had been neglect- 
 ed ; he could scarcely read or write ; vmpolished in his 
 manners, generous in his impulses, honorable in his own 
 feelings, he instinctively scorned meanness or duphcity in 
 
THE INFORMATION LAID BEFORE CONGRESS. 337 
 
 others. In his twentieth year, as a wagoner, he took his chap. 
 
 xxvin 
 first lessons in warfare in Braddock's unfortunate cam- '. 
 
 paign. His character adapted itself to emergencies. When 1775. 
 
 left to act in responsible situations, his good sense was 
 
 never at fault ; wherever placed, he performed well his 
 
 part. 
 
 As soon as he obtained the requisite information, 
 Washington laid before Congress the state of the army, 
 with suggestions as to the best means to furnish it with 
 provisions, munitions, and men. He also suggested that 
 diversities of uniform had a tendency to encourage sec- 
 tional feelings, and recommended Congress to provide, at 
 least ten thousand hunting-shirts, adding, " I know noth- 
 ing in a speculative view more trivial, yet which, if put 
 in practice, would have a happier tendency to unite the 
 men, and abolish those provincial distinctions that lead to 
 jealousy and dissatisfaction." This was the origin of the 
 peculiar uniform of American soldiers. A few days after 
 this report was sent to Congress, it was discovered that, 
 by mistake, a false return of the powder in the camp had 
 been made — the supply was nearly exhausted. This dis- 
 covery crippled every movement, and left the Americans 
 at the mercy of the enemy, should they be attacked. Their 
 only safety lay in silence and inaction. Messengers were 
 hurried in every direction to collect and send to the camp 
 all the powder that could be obtained. In about a fort- 
 night they procured a small supply. 
 
 We now turn to affairs in New York, where, it will be 
 remembered, Schuyler had command. After their brave 
 exploits on Lake Champlain, Arnold and Allen both claim- 
 ed authority over the captured forts — the former referred 
 to Massachusetts, the latter to Connecticut, to confirm 
 their respective claims. As these forts belonged to New 
 York, AUen wrote to the Congress of that province for 
 supplies of men and money to defend them. But the 
 whole matter was, at length, referred to the Continental 
 22 
 
338 HISTORY OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAR Congress, whicli decided that New York should have the 
 
 charge of the forts, and authorized it to call upon New 
 
 1T75. England for aid in their defence. The call was made upon 
 Connecticut, in answer to which Colonel Hinman, with a 
 thousand men, was sent to join Arnold. Allen's Green 
 Mountain Boys were by this time disbanded, as their term 
 of enlistment had expired. These war sjsirits, Arnold and 
 Allen, had urged upon the Continental Congress to fur- 
 nish them means to invade Canada. Allen, in company 
 with Seth Warner, went in person to that body for au- 
 thority to raise a new regiment. It was granted, and the 
 New York Congress was recommended to receive this 
 regiment of their ancient enemies into the regular army. 
 They were to choose their own leader. For some reason 
 Warner was chosen, and Allen entirely neglected ; but 
 not to be baffled when a fight was on hand, he joined the 
 army as a volunteer. Arnold claimed the entire authority 
 at Ticonderoga, after the departure of Allen, and difficul- 
 ties arose between him and Hinman. A committee sent 
 from the Congress of Massachusetts to inquire into the 
 matter, decided that the command belonged to Hinman. 
 Arnold swore he would not be second, disbanded liis men, 
 threw up his commission, and hurried to Cambridge. 
 
 Congress was, at first, opposed to the invasion of Can- 
 ada, and even thought of dismanthng the forts on Lake 
 Champlain. Eecent intelligence that the authorities of 
 that jjrovince were making preparations to recapture the 
 forts and to regain the command of the lake, induced 
 them to determine upon its invasion in self-defence. 
 Schuyler learned that seven hundred of the king's troops 
 were in Canada ; that Guy Johnson, with three hundred 
 tenants and Indians, was at Montreal ; that St. John's 
 was fortified, and war-vessels were building there, and al- 
 most ready to pass by the Sorel into the lake. Yet he 
 was encouraged by rumors that some of the inhabitants 
 were disaffected, and might be induced to join against the 
 
INVASION OF CANADA — RICHARD MONTGOMERY. 339 
 
 mother countiy ; if so, the British would be deprived of a ^sap 
 
 valuable recruiting station. Two expeditions against '. 
 
 Canada were determined upon, one by way of Lake Cham- 1775. 
 jilain, the other by the rivers Kennebec and Chaudiere. 
 The former under Schuyler ; the latter was intrasted to 
 Arnold, who was in the camp chafed and disappointed, 
 but ready for any daring enterprise that promised dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 Operations were to commence by way of the lake, 
 where were assembled the New York troops, and some 
 from New England. Schuyler was ably seconded by 
 Brigadier-general Richard Montgomery. Montgomery was 
 a native of Ireland ; had, wlien a youth, been the com- 
 panion of Wolfe in the French war. He resigned the 
 British service, and remaining in America, settled in New 
 York, where he married. A man of education and refine- 
 ment, his generous sentiments led him to espouse ardently 
 the cause of popular rights. 
 
 General Schuyler passed from Ticonderoga down the 
 lake, and took possession of the Isle aux Noix, in the Sorel 
 river. This position commanded the entrance into Lake 
 Champlain. He then made an attempt on St. John's, ^^P'- 
 but finding it more strongly garrisoned than had been 
 represented, he retired to the Isle aux Noix, with the in- 
 tention of fortifying that imjjortant post, but severe sick- 
 ness compelled him to return to Albany. The command 
 devolved upon Montgomery. Schuyler was soon able to 
 send him supplies and ammunition, and also reinforce- 
 ments under General Wooster. 
 
 Ethan Allen, as usual, without orders, went on one of 
 his rash expeditions. Witli only eighty-three men, he 
 attempted to take Montreal, was overpowered, and taken Sept. 
 prisoner with his men. He himself was sent in irons to ^■^• 
 England, to be tried as a rebel. Here closed the connec- 
 tion of this daring leader of the Green Mountain Boys, 
 with the war of the Revolution. He was not tried, but 
 
340 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, liberated ; then returned liomCj but from some dissatis- 
 
 faction took no further part in the struggle. 
 
 17T5. Montgomery sent a detachment which took Fort 
 
 Chambly, a few miles further down the river, thus placing 
 troops between St. John's and Canada. Sir Guy Carle- 
 ton, the governor of that province, made exertions, but 
 without success, to raise a force for the reUef of St. John's. 
 But when on his way he was repulsed at the passage of 
 the St. Lawrence by Colonel Seth Warner ; another party 
 going up the Sorel on the same errand was also driven 
 g ^ ■ back. The garrison at St. John's jiresently surrendered, 
 and immediately the energetic Montgomery pushed on to 
 Montreal, which submitted at the first summons, while 
 Carleton with a few followers fled down the river to Que- 
 bec. This was a very seasonable capture for the Ameri- 
 cans, as it supplied them with woollen clothes, of which 
 necessaries they were in great need. 
 
 Montgomery made great exertions in the midst of dis- 
 couragements, arising from insubordination, desertions, 
 and the lateness of the season, to push on and join Arnold 
 Sept. before Quebec. Two months before this time, that leader 
 had left the camp before Boston with eleven hundred men, 
 among whom were three companies of riflemen, under 
 Morgan, to pass up the Kennebec, and thence across the 
 wilderness to Quebec, there to unite with the force from 
 New York. Aaron Burr, then a youth of twenty, accom- 
 panied this expedition as a volunteer. It was a perilous 
 undertaking. The journey was one of intense suffering 
 and incessant toil. Six weeks they spent in dragging 
 their boats up the river, and carrying the baggage around 
 rapids ; they cut their way through thickets and briars, 
 forded streams, climbed mountains, breasted storms, and 
 were so much in want of food that they devoured their 
 dogs, and even their moccasins. Their number was re- 
 duced to about six hundred effective men ; one entire divi- 
 sion had returned home with the sick and disabled. In a 
 
QUEBEC BESIEGED. 341 
 
 forlorn condition the remainder suddenly appeared at chap. 
 
 Point Levi, opposite Quebec. The inhabitants were as- 
 
 tonished at the apparition, and could Arnold have crossed 1775. 
 immediately, he might have taken the town ; but he was g 
 unable to do so for want of boats. In a few days came 
 Carleton from Montreal ; he put the town in a state of 
 defense, and increased his force to twelve hundred men, 
 by enlisting traders, sailors, and others. 
 
 Although two armed vessels were on the watch, Ar- 
 nold managed to cross the St. Lawrence, clambered up 
 the Heights of Abraham, by the same rugged path that 
 Wolfe had used, and boldly challenged the garrison to 
 battle. The contest was declined. It was useless for him 
 to attempt to besiege the town without cannon, so he 
 moved twenty miles up the river, where he met Mont- 
 gomery. The toilsome march through the wilderness 
 nearly stripped Arnold's men of their clothes ; the wool- 
 lens obtained at Montreal were to them also an acceptable 
 protection against the rigors of a Canada winter. 
 
 Their united force amounted to only nine himdred 
 men. With these, Montgomery, who assumed the com- 
 mand, advanced to Quebec. The flag he sent to demand 
 a surrender was fired upon. A battery must be built ; 
 the ordinary material was not at hand, but ingenuity sup- 
 j)lied its place. Gabions were filled with snow and ice, 
 over which water was poured, and a Canada winter soon 
 rendered them solid, but no ingenuity could render the 
 ice otherwise than brittle — every shot from the town shat- 
 tered it in piece.". It was now found that their cannon 
 were too small. They could not batter the walls, and it 
 was as fraitless to attempt to scale them. Some other 
 plan must be adopted. 
 
 It was determined to make a sudden attack on the 
 lower town. Montgomery, with one division, was to ad- 
 vance upon the south side, while Arnold was to make an 
 attempt upon the north. At the same time, feint move- 
 
342 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxrar ^®°^^ ^^^^ *'° ^^ made against the upper town, and signal 
 
 rockets fired from the different points to distract and 
 
 1775. divert the attention of the enemy. On the thirty-first of 
 31 ■ December a Winding snow-storm favored their enterprise. 
 At two o'clock on the morning of that day they were on 
 the march. The feint that was to cover the movement of 
 Montgomery was successful. Undiscovered he descended 
 from the Heights of Abraham, passing safely around Cape 
 Diamond to the defile that led to the town. The pass, at 
 all times difficult, was now obstructed by ice and drifting 
 snow. It was defended by barriers guarded by Canadian 
 militia. Taken by surprise, they fled from the picket. 
 Montgomery passed the first barrier unopposed. As he 
 stepped beyond it, sanguine and exultant with hope, he 
 exclaimed : " Push on, my brave boys ; Quebec is ours ! " 
 Just then, a single gun loaded with grape-shot was fired 
 from a battery ; he fell, and by his side his aids and many 
 others, who had answered to his cheering call. The sol- 
 diers, disheartened at the fall of their brave leader, were 
 willing to abandon the town, under the lead of Quarter- 
 master Campbell, leaving the bodies of the slain Mont- 
 gomery, Cheeseman, and MacPherson where they fell. 
 
 By some neglect, no feint movement was made to 
 cover the march of Arnold. He was harassed by a flank- 
 ing fire as he pushed on to the entrance of the town. His 
 leg being shattered by a ball, he was imable to lead his 
 men against the battery. Morgan assumed the command, 
 and with his riflemen stormed it, and captured the men. 
 At daylight ho reached the second batteiy, which was also 
 carried ; but now the forces of the British were concen- 
 trated at this point. Morgan's party made a brave resist- 
 ance, but were overpowered by numbers, and comj^elled 
 to surrender. He himself was the last to submit. When 
 called upon by the British soldiers to deliver up his sword, 
 he refused, planted himself against a wall, and defied them 
 to take it. They threatened to shoot him ; his men expos- 
 
MORGAN AND HIS MEN PRISONERS. 343 
 
 tulated. At length he saw a man — a priest he knew him i'.^^- 
 
 to he from his dress ; to him he gave it, saying : "I will 
 
 give my sword to you, hut not a scoundrel of those cow- 1775. 
 ards shall take it out of my hands." The bravery of 
 Morgan and his men was appreciated by Carleton ; as 
 prisoners, they were treated with special kindness. 
 
 Arnold now retired about three miles up the river, 
 and there in a camp whose ramparts were formed of frozen 
 snow and of ice, he blockaded Quebec through the winter. 
 Here we leave him for the present. 
 
 Montgomery was at first buried at Quebec. When 
 nearly half a century had passed away, New York remem- 
 bered her adopted son. She transferred his remains to her 
 metropolis, and with appropriate honors reinterred them 1818. 
 in St. Paul's church-yard. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ■WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Meeting of Congress ; alarming Evils require its Attention. — British Cruis- 
 ers. — Portland burned. — Efforts to defend the Coast. — Congress acts 
 with Energy. — Parliament resolves to crush the Rebels. — Henry Knox. — 
 Difficulties in the Army. — Provincial Prejudices. — Success of the Priva- 
 teers. — British Theatricals. — The Union Flag. — Affairs in New Tork. — 
 Rivington'a Gazette. — Governor Tryon. — General Lee in the City. — The 
 Johnsons. — Dunmore's Measures in Virginia ; Norfolk burned. — Defeat 
 of North Carolina Tories. — Lee at the South. — Cannon and Powder ob- 
 tained. — Dorchester Heights fortified. — Boston Evacuated. — Washing- 
 ton in New York. — British and German Troops in Canada. — Numerous 
 Disasters. — The Retreat from Canada. — Horatio Gates. — A British Fleet 
 before Fort Moultrie. — Gloomy Prospects. 
 
 CHAP. When the Continental Congress reassembled, delegates 
 
 XXIX / o 
 
 '_ from Georgia took their seats, for the first time, and the 
 
 1775. style was assumed of The Thirteen United Colonies. 
 bept. During the session, a delegate from beyond the moun- 
 
 Oct. tains presented himself as the representative of the colony 
 of Transylvania, the germ of the present State of Ken- 
 tucky, (settled by those bold pioneers, Boone, Harrod, 
 and Henderson), but the delegate of the fourteenth colony 
 was rejected, on the ground that Virginia claimed the 
 territory. 
 
 Alarming evils required the prompt attention of Con- 
 gress. The army was almost destitute of ammunition 
 and military stores ; the coast, to a great extent, unpro- 
 tected ; British cruisers hovered on the shores of New 
 England ; demanded of the inhabitants suppHes ; burned 
 
POBTLAND BURNED PLANS OF DEFENCE. 345 
 
 and pillaged the towns. The notorious Captain Wallace ^^^• 
 
 was stationed in Narragansett Bay ; Stonington and Bris- 
 
 tol had been bombarded, and Newport was threatened ITTS. 
 with destruction. The British Admiral, Graves, it was ^ " 
 said, had issued orders to burn all the rebel towns from 
 Halifax to Boston. This was no idle rumor. At Fal- 
 mouth, now Portland, in Maine, the destruction began. 
 This patriotic little town had, some time before, resolutely 18. 
 repulsed Lieutenant Mowatt of the British navy. One 
 evening he ajjpeared with several vessels in the harbor, 
 prepared to mete out the punishment due for such rebel- 
 lion. He informed the inliabitants of his intention, and 
 allowed them two hours " to remove the human species 
 out of the town." A further respite until nine o'clock 
 next morning was with difficulty obtained. The people 
 removed during the night ; then, by means of bombs and 
 carcasses, this flourishing village of five hundred houses 
 was laid in ashes. The other towns assumed a posture 
 of defence, and avoided a similar ruin. 
 
 The colonies separately took measures to defend their 
 coasts against such attacks. Already Maiyland, Virginia, 
 and South CaroUna had appointed Naval Boards, and 
 equipped armed vessels. The British ships had been 
 driven from the harbor at Charleston ; a powder-ship had 
 been captured by a South Carolina vessel. Washington 
 had sent cruisers into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Mas- 
 sachusetts Bay, to intercept supplies intended for the 
 enemy. One of these, the schooner Lee, commanded by 
 Captain Manly, deserves particular mention. She did 
 the country good service. Khode Island, Massachusetts, 
 and Connecticut, now equipped a few small vessels. Al- 
 though a few harbors were thus defended, the force that 
 protected the coast was still insufficient. 
 
 Congress applied themselves vigorously to remedy 
 these evils. They forwarded some of the powder seized by 
 
346 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the South Carolinians to the camp ; ai^pointed a secret 
 
 .^ committee to import it from the West Indies ; took meas- 
 
 1775. ures to establish mills for its mamifacture, and founderies 
 °^' for the making of cannon. They licensed privateers, and 
 ordered gun-boats to be prepared for the defence of the 
 harbors ; appointed a Naval Committee, which was au- 
 thorized to build thirteen frigates ; but, alas ! want of 
 funds interfered sadly with the accomplishment of these 
 proposed measures. 
 Dec. In this Naval Committee we recognize the germ of 
 
 13. 
 
 o'- 
 
 the Navy Department. About this time a secret com- 
 mittee was authorized to open a private correspondence 
 with the friends of the cause in England, Ireland, and 
 elsewhere ; this grew into the State Department. Thus 
 was the Continental Congress gradually laying the foun- 
 dation of the present government of the United States. 
 
 Parliament, in the mean time, took measures to crush 
 the " rebels ; " enacted laws against them, cruel in the 
 extreme ; gave orders to treat them in warfare not as 
 equals, but as criminals, who should be thankful to escape 
 the gallows. The ministry proclaimed aU shijjs trading 
 to the colonies lawful prizes ; and the crews of all cap- 
 tured colonial trading vessels virtually slaves ; these were 
 doomed to serve in the royal navy as marines. Parlia- 
 ment also voted to increase their army in America to 
 forty thousand men — of this number twenty-five thousand 
 Nov. had yet to be raised. They could not be obtained in 
 Grreat Britain ; men would not enlist. Lord Howe had 
 written to the ministry that Catholic Irish soldiers could 
 not be trusted, and suggested the employment of German 
 troops. Negotiations were accordingly commenced with 
 two of the little German principalities, Brunswick and 
 Hesse Cassel ; and the English monarch hired seventeen 
 thousand Germans, or Hessians, to aid him in subduing 
 the descendants of Enghshmen in America. In vain did 
 
HENRY KNOX COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS. 347 
 
 the best and most humane in Parliament oppose these chap. 
 
 measures. There was in England an honorable minority, 
 
 who felt for the cause of the colonists. Burke and Barre ITTS. 
 stood firm ; Conway and the Duke of Grafton resigned 
 their offices, and joined the opposition ; Lord Effingham 
 and the son of Pitt threw up their commissions in the 
 army, rather than take part in the unnatural struggle. 
 The mercantile interests of the country, and especially 
 the Corporation of London, were opposed to the measures 
 of Parliament. Intelligence of them aroused the Ameri- 
 cans to greater exertions, and deepened their hostility to 
 the mother country. 
 
 Since the battle of Bunker HiU, the armies in and 
 aroimd Boston had been inactive — the British from choice, 
 the Americans from want of ammunition. Washington 
 was anxious to be ready, when the bay should be frozen 
 to pass over to the town on the ice. But he must have 
 powder and ordnance. 
 
 Henry Knox, a bookseller of Boston, had entered with 
 great zeal into the cause of his country. He had an in- 
 tuitive skiU in the use of artillery, which he first displayed 
 on Bunker Hill, and afterward in planning the defences 
 of the camp. His aptness and energy attracted the atten- 
 tion of Washington. Knox jiroposed to go to Ticonde- 
 roga and Crown Point, and bring from those places the 
 cannon and powder that could be spared. Washington aj)- 
 proved the suggestion, wrote to Schuyler at Albany to give 
 his assistance, and to Congress, recommending Knox as col- 
 onel of a regiment of artillery. Knox immediately set out. 
 
 Other difficulties surrounded the army. The soldiers 
 had enlisted but for one year, their terms would expire 
 before the first of January. In anticipation of this, a 
 committee of the Continental Congress, consisting of Doc- 
 tor Franklin, Colonel Harrison, of Virginia, and Thomas 
 Lynch, of Carolina, met at Cambridge, with committees 
 
348 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, from the New England colonies, to reorganize the army, 
 
 and to devise means to increase it to thirty-two thousand. 
 
 1775. The committees were in favor of an attack upon Bos- 
 
 ton as soon as practicable. Their plans were well laid, 
 but how could they be carried out ? The soldiers were 
 unwilling to re-enlist ; the zeal of the patriot army had 
 begun to flag ; winter was coming on ; they were ill-fitted 
 to endure its hardships ; their fuel was scanty and their 
 clothing poor ; their families needed their presence ; the 
 attractions of home presented a delightful contrast to the 
 privations of a winter campaign. Their jjatriotism was 
 not extinct, but they were weary and discouraged. Says 
 Washington, in a letter : " The desire of retiring into a 
 chimney-corner seized the troojjs as soon as their terms 
 expired." 
 
 Those who were willing to re-enhst, would do so only 
 on certain conditions. They must know under what offi- 
 cers they were to be placed. Provincial prejudices had 
 their effect ; the men of one colony hesitated to serve 
 with those of another, or imder officers not of their own 
 choosing. It is pleasing to record one instance of high- 
 minded patriotism — doubtless there were many. Colonel 
 Asa Whitcombe, a worthy and experienced officer, was 
 not reappointed on account of his advanced age. His men 
 took offence, and refused to re-enhst. The colonel set 
 them an example by enlisting himself as a private soldier. 
 A younger officer immediately resigned the command of 
 his regiment that Whitcombe might be appointed, which 
 was done. 
 
 On the first of December, some days before their terms 
 expired, a portion of the Connecticut troops began to re- 
 turn home ; they were unwilKng even to remain in camp 
 till their places could be supphed. Their arms were re- 
 tained at an assessed value. 
 
 In the midst of this gloom, the privateers did good 
 service. The camp was thrown into ecstasies by the 
 
DESECBATIONS — THE UNION FLAG. 349 
 
 arrival of a long train of wagons laden with military stores, ^f^- 
 
 The brave Captain Manly had cai^tured off Cape Ann a 1 
 
 brigantine laden with guns, mortars, and working tools, 1775. 
 designed for the British army. Among the cannon thus 
 obtained was an immense mortar. This was deemed so 
 great a prize, that in the joy of the moment, it was pro- 
 posed to give it a name. " Old Putnam mounted it, 
 dashed on it a bottle of rum, and gave it the name of 
 Congress." 
 
 The blockade of the British was so stringent, that they 
 began to suffer seriously for fuel and fresh provisions : 
 they could obtain none from the land side, while the coast 
 was closely watched. Abundant suppUes were sent from 
 England, but these were often wrecked or captured. Some 
 of the poorer houses were taken down to supply fuel, and 
 many of the poorer people sent out of the town, in order 
 to lessen the demand for provisions. 
 
 To the grief of the patriot inhabitants, the Old South 
 Church, that time-honored and sacred edifice, was con- 
 verted into a riding-school for Burgoyne's light-horse, and 
 the pastor's library used to kindle fires. In retaliation, 
 the soldiers converted the Episcopal church at Cambridge 
 into barracks, and melted the leaden pipes of the organ 
 into bullets. The British officers beguiled their time by 
 getting up balls and theatricals. Among the plays per- 
 formed was one, written by General Burgoyne, caricatur- 
 ing the American army and its officers. 
 
 On the first of January the Union Flag was unfurled, 1776. 
 for the first time, over the camp at Cambridge. It was 
 emblematic of the state of the country. The EngUsh 
 cross retained in one corner, intimated a still existing 
 relation with the mother country, while the thirteen 
 stripes of red and white that represented the thirteen 
 colonies, now united for self-government and resistance to 
 
350 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CS-^P- oppression, were broacUy significant of the New Kepublic 
 
 that was to grow out of this union. 
 
 1776. The year opened drearily for the patriots. There were 
 
 less than ten thousand men in the camp, among whom 
 Tere many undisciplined recruits, and many without arms, 
 whe people were impatient,— why not capture or drive 
 the enemy out of Boston ? they asked on all sides. The 
 situation of AVashington was painful in the extreme : he 
 could not publish his reasons, lest the enemy should learn 
 his weakness. Under these circumstances, he writes thus 
 to a confidential friend : " We are now left with a good 
 deal less than half-raised regiments, and about five thou- 
 sand militia. * "•••" * If I shall be able to rise superior to 
 these, and many other difiiculties, which might be enu- 
 merated, I shall most religiously believe that the finger of 
 Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies.'' 
 
 About this time, ships commanded by Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton left the harbor of Boston on a secret expedition. It 
 was justly surmised that he was bound for New York. 
 We turn once more to the state of affairs in that province. 
 
 As has been said, much of the wealth and influence 
 of New York was on the side of the Tories. Eichmond 
 and Queen's counties had refused to send delegates to the 
 Provincial Congress. Governor Tryon, who had retired 
 to a British man-of-war in the harbor, kept up a corre- 
 spondence with the friends of the royal cause in the city. 
 There was published the most influential Tory journal in 
 the country, " Piivington's Gazette" — "a thorn in the 
 side of the patriots." Many who were opposed to this 
 journal were unwilling to adopt violent measures ; the 
 committee of safety refused to interfere with it. Colonel 
 Isaac Sears, one of the boldest and most energetic of the 
 New York Sons of Liberty, collected, in Connecticut, 
 about a hundred horsemen, dashed into the city, broke the 
 press and carried away the types to New Haven. 
 
GENERAL LEE IN NEW YORK. 351 
 
 The possession of New York, as it was " the key to ^^|^- 
 
 the whole continent, a passage to Canada, to the great 
 
 Lakes, and to all the Indian nations," was all-important 1776. 
 to the patriots. It was determined to place troops there. 
 Sears, seconded by the authority of Governor Trumbull, 
 proceeded to form regiments in Connecticut. Washington 
 ordered General Charles Lee to take command of these 
 regiments, and proceed with them to New York, put that 
 city in a state of defence, call in aid from New Jersey to 
 disarm the Tories on Long Island and elsewhere — duties 
 which Lee proceeded forthwith to perform. Governor 
 Tryon threatened to bombard the city if he entered it 
 with the Connecticut troops. The people were greatly 
 alarmed. The Provincial Congress requested Lee not to 
 advance for the present. He was determined to push on 
 with a sufficient number of troojjs to secure the city, and 
 threatened in his turn, " if they make a pretext of my 
 presence to. fire on the town, the first house set on flames 
 by their guns shall be the funeral-pile of some of their best 
 friends." He entered the city on Sunday, February fourth, Feb. 
 and encamped on the spot where the City Hall now stands, *• 
 then a suburb known as " The Fields." 
 
 The threats and counter-threats had wrought up the 
 feelings of the people to a state of intense excitement. 
 During the day this was greatly increased ; cannon were 
 heard from the Narrows. Sir Henry Clinton was entering 
 the harbor. Many of the inhabitants hastened from the 
 city ; on the afternoon of that Sabbath day, Kingsbridge 
 was thronged with peojile and wagons, on their way to the 
 country. But these fears were soon relieved. Clinton 
 gave notice that he came merely to pay a visit to his • 
 " friend Tryon." He remained but a short time, then 
 sailed away to North Carolina. His mysterious expedition 
 and his " whimsical civility " to his " friend Tryon " gave 
 rise to much speculation ; though, as he had but few 
 
352 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, troops, his movements had, as yet, created but little alarm. 
 Lee now proceeded to put the city in a state of defence. 
 
 1776. 
 
 Serious difficulties threatened the interior of the prov- 
 ince. Guy Johnson had retired to Canada ; Sir John 
 Johnson had fortified his " Hall," and gathered about him 
 his Highlanders and Mohawks. Schuyler proceeded to 
 JiiQ- disarm and disband this dangerous company. Sir John 
 gave his parole not to take up arms against America. A 
 few months afterward he was suspected of breaking his 
 word ; to avoid arrest, he fled to Canada, where he re- 
 ceived a colonel's commission, and organized the regi- 
 ments called the " Koyal Greens," afterward so renowned 
 for deeds of cruelty. 
 
 During this winter, Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, 
 who, like Tryon, had taken refuge in one of the king's 
 
 June, ships, had been engaged in intrigues against the colonists. 
 
 Dec. He sent a vessel to Boston with supplies, which, however, 
 was captured. In a letter found on board, he had invited 
 General Howe to transfer the seat of war to the South ; 
 he also landed at Norfolk, carried off a printing j^ress, pub- 
 lished a proclamation that promised freedom to the slaves 
 or indented white servants of the patriots, who would join 
 his cause. With a force thus collected he took possession 
 of the town. Fugitive slaves and others began to flock 
 to his banner. Virginia raised new regiments to dislodge 
 him, and oppose strong movements that were making in 
 
 Jan., his favor. The second regiment, under Woodford, took 
 
 1776. possession of the narrow neck which connects Norfolk with 
 the mainland, and compelled Dunmore to re-embark. 
 Soon after he returned, bombarded the town, and landed 
 a party who burned a portion of it to the ground. The 
 jjatriots burned the remainder lest it should aflbrd shelter 
 to its enemies. Thus perished the principal shipping port 
 of Virginia, her largest and richest town. 
 
TORIES DEFEATED — CHARLESTON THREATENED. 353 
 
 The British were secretly planning an invasion of the ™/P- 
 
 South. Governor Martin, of North Carolina, who, like 1 
 
 many of the royal governors of that day, carried on opera- 1776. 
 tions from on board a ship, was stirring np the Tories of 
 that province, many of whom were Highlanders. He 
 hoped to gather a land force to co-operate with Sir Peter 
 Parker, who was on his way from Ireland with a fleet of 
 ten ships, on board of which were seven regiments. The 
 movements of Sir Henry Clinton could now be accounted 
 for. He had left Boston to take command of the land forces 
 in this intended invasion : he stopped to confer on the sub- 
 ject with Tryon, who had been governor of North Carolina. 
 
 Martin had commissioned two prominent Scotchmen, 
 McDonald and McLeod — both recent emigrants, and offi- 
 cers of the British army. General McDonald enlisted 
 some fifteen hundred men, and marched for the coast, but 
 the North Carolina patriots were on the alert. He was 
 intercepted at Moore's Creek Bridge, sixteen miles from Feb. 
 Wilmington. Colonel McLeod was kiUed ; McDonald 
 and eight hundred and fifty loyalists were taken prisoners. 
 He and his officers were sent away to the north. 
 
 This defeat, wliich at the first glance may appear of 
 little consequence, was important in its bearing ; it inter- 
 fered for a time with the plans of Clinton and Martin. 
 This delay was most valuable to the patriots ; they had 
 time to collect forces and mature ^ilans for defence. Gen- 
 eral Lee was appointed by Congress to take command of 
 the southern army and to watch Clinton, who was hover- 
 ing on the coast in expectation of the British squadron. 
 After long delays it arrived at the mouth of Cape Fear May. 
 Eiver. Congress learned from intercepted letters that 
 Charleston was to be attacked. There, at the first alarm, 
 six thousand men, from Virginia and the Carolinas, had 
 assembled. The indefatigable Lee reached the city just 
 as Clinton appeared in the harbor. Had the enemy at- 
 tacked that place at once, they might have taken it with 
 23 
 
354 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^.SAP. ease. It was, wrote Lee, " perfectly defenceless." The 
 
 opjDortunity was not imjiroved, and both parties began to 
 
 1776. fortify and prepare for a contest. Here we leave them for 
 
 "V*® the present, and return to the camp before Boston. 
 
 During the month of January there was little im- 
 provement in the state of the army. On the tenth of 
 February Washington writes : " Without men, without 
 arms, without ammunition, little is to be done." The 
 patriots had looked hojDcfully toward Canada, only to be 
 disappointed. Montgomery had fallen ; Morgan and his 
 brave band were prisoners ; the remnant of the shattered 
 forces that lingered with Arnold in his icy fortress before 
 the walls of Quebec, could accomplish nothing. The 
 whole line of the Atlantic coast was threatened ; and in 
 view of these circumstances Washington was anxious to 
 strike a decisive blow, that should encourage the despond- 
 ing and revive popular enthusiasm. In truth, the state 
 of public feeling demanded such a course. Congress had 
 Dec, authorized him to push the attack upon Boston, to the 
 ''^- destruction of the town, should it be necessary. John 
 Hancock, who had large possessions there, said : " Do it, 
 and may God crown your attempt with success." When 
 the bay became frozen, Washington was impatient to cross 
 over on the ice ; again and again he proposed an attack, 
 but a council of war as often decided that the force was 
 still too weak, the ammunition too scant. Meanwhile, 
 Putnam was actively engaged in constructing works on 
 the neighboring heights. Many of the labors conducted 
 * by the brave old general had to be attended to in the night- 
 time, to avoid the fire from the enemy's ships. Toward 
 spring, aifairs began to wear a brighter aspect. Ten new 
 regiments of militia were enlisted ; the great want that 
 paralyzed every effort — jDowder — was supplied from various 
 quarters ; some was obtained from New York, some from 
 Bermuda : the Connecticut mills were also in operation. 
 
DORCHESTER HEIGHTS TO BE FORTIFIED. 355 
 
 Now, to the great joy of the camp, Knox returned -with chap. 
 
 his long train of sledges laden with ammunition, and can- 
 
 non of various kinds. With the joy was mingled admira- 1776. 
 tion for the energy displayed. He had travelled more 
 than four hundred miles, over frozen streams and through 
 a wilderness obstructed by the snows of winter. The dull 
 monotony of inaction gave way to bustle and excitement. 
 All was now ready for active operations. The heights 
 that commanded the town must be seized and fortified. 
 Putnam had already fortified Lechmere Point, on the 
 north ; there he had mounted his famous " Congress : " 
 that point had only to be supplied with more large cannon 
 and with powder. Now the main object was to secure 
 Dorchester Heights, which commanded the town on the 
 south, and also the harbor. This would conipel the enemy 
 to leave the town, or bring on a general engagement : 
 plans were laid accordingly. 
 
 To divert the attention of the enemy while prepara- 
 tions were in progress, Boston was to be bombarded, and 
 cannonaded from different points. Should the Americans 
 attain the heights, and the enemy attempt to dislodge 
 them, Putnam, with four thousand picked men, was pre- 
 pared to cross Charles river and attack the north part of 
 the town. 
 
 Washington, deeply impressed with the importance of 
 the coming struggle, issued orders forbidding " all playing 
 at cards or other games of chance," adding, " In this time 
 of public distress, men may find enough to do in the ser- 
 vice of God and their country, without abandoning them- 
 selves to vice and immorality." He also warned the troops, 
 " If any man in action shall presume to skulk, hide him- 
 self, or retreat from the enemy without orders, he will be 
 instantly shot down as an example of cowardice." 
 
 The fourth of March was fixed upon for the enterprise. 4^ ' 
 On the evening of that day, the detachment under Gen- 
 eral Thomas, designed to occupy the heights, moved as 
 
356 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 <^HAP. quietly as possible. In the advance were eight hundred 
 
 men ; then came the carts with the intrenching tools ; 
 
 1776. then twelve hundred more men, and in the rear were three 
 hundred wagons laden with bales of hay and bundles of 
 fagots to be used in making the breastwork. They reached 
 the heights about eight o'clock ; amid the roar of artillery 
 — for the enemy were returning the fire directed against 
 them with great spirit — the noise of the wagons and the 
 necessary bustle of the movement had been imheard. 
 Though the earth was frozen eighteen inches deej), they 
 threw up an embankment, and used their hay and other 
 material to great advantage. During that night of labor, 
 the Commander-in-chief was drawn by his interest to the 
 spot. In the morning the fortification appeared very 
 formidable. General Howe, as he examined it through 
 the mist, exclaimed : " The rebels have done more work 
 in one night than my whole army would have done in a 
 month." The patriots, at this crisis, watched the move- 
 ments of the enemy with intense interest. A cannonade 
 was opened upon the heights, but without much effect. 
 Howe did not attempt to storm the works. A night 
 attack was resolved upon, but a furious stonn arose, the 
 ships of war could render no service, nor could the boats 
 land in the heavy surf. Before the storm was over, the 
 Americans were too strong to be assaulted. A council of 
 war advised Howe to evacuate the town, as both it and 
 the shipping were exposed to a destructive bombardment. 
 To insure the safety of his army during the embarkation, 
 Howe appealed to the fears of the inhabitants ; he inti- 
 mated he would burn the town if his troops were fired 
 upon. A deputation of citizens made this known, in an 
 informal manner to Washington, and the British were 
 suffered to depart unmolested. 
 
 Eleven days were employed in the embarkation. About 
 fifteen hundred loyaUsts made ready to leave with the 
 departing army ; thus was the good city of Boston purged 
 
WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK. 357 
 
 of its Tory population. Authorized by Howe, the British ^ap. 
 
 demanded of the inhabitants all the linen and woollen 
 
 goods ; salt, molasses, and other necessaries were destroyed. 1776. 
 Crean Brush, a New York Tory, who was commissioned to 
 take charge of the goods that were seized, took advantage 
 of his authority, and broke open and pillaged stores and 
 private houses, as did some of the soldiers. The embarka- 
 tion was hastened, at the last, by a false alarm that the 
 Americans were about to assault the town. 
 
 On the next Monday, March eighteenth, Washington jjjj^ 
 entered the city. He was received with joy by the remain- 18. 
 ing inhabitants. After a siege of ten months Boston was 
 again free ; above it waved the Union flag of thirteen 
 stripes. The British fleet, consisting of one hundred and 
 fifty vessels, lay for some days in Nantasket roads, and 
 then bore away. Washington feared its destination was 
 New York. As soon as possible he hastened thither with 
 the main body of the army. Five regiments remained at 
 Boston with General Ward. Soon afterward he resigned, 
 but served the cause in the Massachusetts council and in 
 Congress. 
 
 The land rejoiced greatly at this success. On motion 
 of John Adams, Congress gave Washington a unanimous 
 vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in 
 commemoration of the event. 
 
 The expenses of the war were so great, that just before ^^^• 
 this Congress had been obliged to issue four additional 
 millions of continental paper. A financial committee had 
 been appointed, and now an auditor-general and assistants April. 
 were to act under this committee ; this assumed the form 
 of a Treasury Department. Two months later Congress 
 established a War Ofiice, and appointed a committee of 
 five members to superintend its operations. To act as 
 chairman of this committee, John Adams resigned the 
 office of chief justice of Massachusetts. 
 
358 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Washington reached New York on the thirteenth of 
 
 April ; there he found much to be done. The Heights 
 
 1776. of Long Island, Kingsbridge, the main avenue from the 
 city by land, were at best but imperfectly guarded, and 
 many prominent points on the river and Sound were en- 
 tirely undefended. 
 
 Governor Tryon and the British ships in the harbor 
 were in constant communication with the Tories in the 
 city. To guard against these dangers, external and inter- 
 nal, Washington had but eight thousand effective men. 
 General Greene was sent with one division to fortify what 
 is now Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, as they com- 
 manded New York. He was also to make himself familiar 
 with the surrounding country. Urged by the commander- 
 in-chief, the committee of safety were induced to prohibit 
 all intercourse with Governor Tryon. Any such inter- 
 course, if discovered, was to be severely j^unished. But 
 Tryon, aided by spies and agents, continued his efforts in 
 the king's cause. A conspiracy, to which he had insti- 
 gated the Tories, was fortunately discovered. Some of 
 these may have been true loyalists, but there were othere 
 basely won by the promise of reward. In low taverns and 
 drinking-saloons the patriot soldiers were tampered with. 
 The mayor of the city was arrested, as well as some of 
 Washington's body-guard, charged with being concerned 
 in the plot. One of the guard, Thomas Hickey, a deserter 
 from the British army, was hanged, " for mutiny, sedition, 
 and treachery." This example alarmed the Tories, and 
 
 June we hear of no more plots. 
 28. 
 
 For the first time Washington learned of the measures 
 
 M^y of the British Parliament. The hired Hessian and Ger- 
 17. 
 
 man troops were landing in Canada. New apprehensions 
 
 were awakened for the army in that province. Great 
 
 efforts were made to reinforce it ; regiments were sent 
 
 under Sullivan and Thompson. Early in the spring Gen- 
 
AMERICAN TROOPS DRIVEN OUT OF CANADA. 359 
 
 eral Wooster had joined Arnold, and taken the command chap. 
 at Quebec. But it was not easy for Arnold to act m con- 
 
 cert ^vith a superior officer ; as usual, he had difficulty 1776. 
 with Wooster, and retired to Montreal. Soon after Woos- 
 ter was recalled, and Thomas, now a major-general, was 
 appointed to the northern army. General Carleton was 
 strongly reinforced, and Thomas was compelled to make 
 a hasty retreat from before Quebec — so hasty, that the 
 baggage, the artillery, and even the sick were left behind. 
 The noble humanity of Carleton deserves to be recorded. 
 He sought out the sick, many of whom had hid from him 
 in terror, conveyed them to the general hospitals, and prom- 
 ised that on their recovery they should be permitted to 
 return home. Thomas hastened to the Sorel, where, on June. 
 the second of June, he died of the small-pox, which pre- 
 vailed greatly in the army. Though the army once more 
 changed its commander, there was no change in its pros- 
 pects ; they continued to be of the gloomiest character. 
 Carleton came pressing on with a force of thirteen thou- 
 sand men. General Thompson, with a portion of the 
 American troops, was defeated at Three Eivers ; and he, 
 with his officers and many of his men, were taken prison- 
 ers. Those who escaped joined Sullivan on the Sorel. 
 
 Arnold had been equally unfortunate at Montreal. He 
 stationed a detachment of four hundred men at a point 
 called The Cedars, about forty miles above that place, in 
 order to intercept the stores sent to the enemy. As this 
 post was threatened with an attack, it was shamefully 
 surrendered by Colonel Butterworth, without a blow. A 
 reinforcement sent to their aid was also taken prisoners. 
 Arnold now joined Sullivan. A council of war decided 
 upon a retreat, and the wreck of the army passed out of 
 Canada, followed by a strong British force. 
 
 The army was in a deplorable condition when it reached 
 Crown Point. To use the words of John Adams, it was 
 " defeated, discontented, dispirited, diseased, no clothes, 
 
360 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, beds, blankets, nor medicines ; no victuals but salt pork 
 
 '. and flour." Thus ended this invasion, famous for its 
 
 1776. daring exploits and numerous disasters. 
 
 Congress approved of Sullivan's prudent retreat ; they 
 did not, however, confirm him in the authority that had 
 devolved upon him on the death of General Thomas. 
 They appointed Major-general Gates to the command, 
 and awarded Sullivan a vote of thanks — an honor as un- 
 satisfactory to him as it was empty in itself Sullivan 
 was deeply wounded, as was General Schuyler, for Gates 
 claimed the command, not only of the forces on Lake 
 Champlain, but of the whole northern army. 
 
 Horatio Gates, like Lee, was of foreign birth ; like 
 him, lie was a disappointed man. Of his very early life 
 little is known. He served in America under Braddock, 
 in the West Indies under Monckton ; but as he did not 
 receive from his native England the honors which he 
 thought his due, he sold his commission in the British 
 army, and retired to Virginia, where he renewed his ac- 
 quaintance with Washington, and with his former asso- 
 ciate. General Lee. Gates was ambitious, and the revo- 
 lution opened a path to distinction. As an office-seeker 
 he had, it is said, learned to " flatter and accommodate 
 himself to the humors of others." He could be " the boon 
 companion of gentlemen, and ' hail fellow well met ' with 
 the vulgar." He ingratiated himself with the New Eng- 
 landers, with whom, for some reason, Schuyler was un- 
 popular. Through their influence, it is thought, Gates 
 obtained what he aimed at — promotion. The enemies of 
 Schuyler advanced serious charges against him ; attribu- 
 ted to him the failure of the Canada expedition, and even 
 hinted at treason. There is an instinct common to noble 
 minds by which they discern truth in others. Washington 
 never doubted the integrity of Schuyler, nor did Congress 
 sustain Gates in his claim to supersede him. The appoint- 
 
BRITISH FLEET BEFOEE FORT MOULTRIE. 361 
 
 ment of the latter, they said, referred only to the forces ^^|^ 
 
 while in Canada ; elsewhere he was subordinate to Schuy- 
 
 ler. The difficulty was passed over, as the result of a 1776. 
 mistake, and the rival commanders assumed the appear- 
 ance of satisfaction. 
 
 We now return to Charleston, where we left both par- 
 ties preparing for a contest. On the fate of Sullivan's 
 Island, the key to the harbor, the result seemed to depend. 
 One party was making ready to attack, the other to de- 
 fend it. On the south-west point of this island was a fort 
 commanded by Colonel William Moultrie. Fort Moultrie 
 was constructed of logs of palmetto, a wood soft and 
 spongy ; cannon-baUs could not splinter it. Lee, not 
 familiar with the palmetto, thought it madness to attempt 
 to defend so fragile a fort ; he contemptuously styled it 
 the " Slaughter-pen." This important post was threat- 
 ened by sea and land. Before it lay the British fleet 
 under Sir Peter Parker. Sir Henry Clinton, with two 
 thousand men, had taken possession of Long Island, wliich 
 lay to the east of Sullivan's Island, and was separated 
 from it only by a narrow creek. Here he was erecting 
 batteries to cover his passage across the creek, to assault 
 the fort when the fire of the ships should make a breach. 
 To oppose him the Americans stationed a force under 
 Colonel Thompson on the opposite side of the creek. Lee 
 took his position on a point of the mainland north of the 
 island, where he stood ready, at any moment, to aid either 
 Thompson or Moultrie. 
 
 The strength of the fort was now to be tested. On 
 the twenty-eighth of June the formidable fleet of Parker 
 advanced and commenced a " most furious fire," which 
 was returned ^vith great spirit. The firing had but little 
 effect upon the low wooden fort, while the ships of the 
 enemy were almost torn in pieces. In the midst of the 
 terrific roar of artilleiy the Americans stood bravely to 
 
 June 
 28. 
 
362 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. their guns ; some of them remained at their posts even 
 after they had lost a limb. For ten hours the battle 
 
 1T76. raged without intermission. Then Sir Peter drew off his 
 ships. Among the slain was Lord Campbell, ex-governor 
 of the province, who fought as a volunteer on board the 
 admiral's ship. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton made repeated attempts to reach 
 Sullivan's Island, but was as often foiled by the batteries 
 of Thompson. Several of the ships ran aground ; one, 
 the Acteon, was set on fire with her guns loaded and colors 
 flying, and then abandoned. The Americans, determined 
 to secure a trophy, boarded the burning vessel, fired her 
 guns at the retreating enemy, took possession of her colors, 
 loaded three boats with stores, and departed in safety, 
 before she blew up. Among the many heroic incidents 
 connected with this battle, one is related of Sergeant Jas- 
 per. The flag-staff was cut by a ball, and the flag fell 
 outside the fort. Jasper immediately leaped down, and, 
 amid the " iron hail," picked up the flag, tied it to a pole, 
 deliberately placed it on the parapet, and then returned 
 to his companions at the guns. Governor Eutledge appre- 
 ciated the heroic deed ; a few days after he presented his 
 own sword to Jasper, and offered him a lieutenant's com- 
 mission. He accepted the sword, but modestly declined pro- 
 motion, on the ground that he could neither read nor write. 
 
 June O'l ^^6 ^^^J ^^J ^^^^ this battle took place at the 
 
 28. South, a British fleet of forty vessels entered the harbor 
 of New York. On board was General Howe, and with 
 him the late garrison of Boston. Since the evacuation of 
 that place he had been at Halifax awaiting the arrival of 
 his brother. Admiral Howe. He landed his forces on 
 Staten Island, where he was received with demonstrations 
 of joy by the Tories. Clouds of deeper darkness were gath- 
 ering around New York. The Admiral with more forces 
 might be expected at any moment ; the crisis so long 
 dreaded was at hand. The American soldiers were ordered 
 
I 
 
 A CRISIS AT HAND. 363 
 
 to be each, day at their alarm posts, and to he in readiness ™^P- 
 
 for instant action. Orders to the same effect were sent '_ 
 
 up the river. Kumors of disaffection in that quarter 1776. 
 added the fear of treachery to the general alarm. Such 
 was the state of things ; — the northern army defeated and 
 broken, the fleet of Sir Heniy Clinton on its way from the 
 South, Admiral Howe on his way from England, the har- 
 bor of New York fiUed with the enemy's ships, — when an 
 event took place, most important in American history. 
 The colonies declared themselves independent of all foreign 
 authority, and took their place among the nations of the 
 earth. 
 
CHAPTEK XXX. 
 
 WAR OP THE REVOLUTION-CONTINUED. 
 
 The Question of Indepentlcnce ; Influences in liwor of. — The Tories. — 
 " Common Sense." — The Declaration ; its Reception by the People and 
 Army. — Arrival of Admiral Howe. — His Overtures for Reconciliation. — 
 The American Army ; its Composition. — Sectional Jealousies. — The 
 Forts on the Hudson. — The Clintons. — Battle of Long Island. — The 
 Masterly Retreat. — Incidents. — Camp on Harlem Heights. — Howe con- 
 fers with a Committee of Congress. — Nathan Hale. — The British at 
 Kipp's Bay. — New York evacuated. Conflict at White Plains. — The 
 Retreat across New Jersey. — Waywardness of Lee. 
 
 CHAP. The alienation between the colonies and the mother coun- 
 
 try began at the close of the French war. It was not the 
 
 177C. result of any one cause, but of many ; the change of feel- 
 ing was not instantaneous, but gradual. As the struggle 
 took a more decided form, many, who were determined in 
 their resistance to oppression, were unwilling to cast off 
 their allegiance to the land to wliich their fathers still 
 gave the endearing name of " home." There were, how- 
 ever, among the true Sons of Liberty a few who had seen 
 the end from the beginning. Such men as Samuel Adams 
 and Patrick Henry foresaw the haughty obstinacy of the 
 British ministry, and foretold the result. " Independent 
 we are and independent we will be," said Adams ; and 
 Henry exclaimed, in the Virginia Assembly : " We must 
 fight ! An appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all 
 that is left us ! " 
 
 What had long been felt by the few, now flashed upon 
 
THE QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE. 365 
 
 the minds of the many, that they could never enjoy their ^,^^- 
 
 rights hut as a self-governing nation. Would the op- '_ 
 
 pressions of the home government justify separation, which 1776. 
 ■would involve all the horrors of a protracted and doubtftil 
 war ? This question became the subject of discussion in 
 the Provincial Assemblies, and among the people them- 
 selves. 
 
 It was not arbitrary and unjust laws alone, nor the 
 refusal of political rights, that had estranged the American 
 people. Keligious views had their influence in moulding 
 public sentiment in favor of independence. Long-con- 
 tinued and persistent efforts to establish the Episcopal 
 church in New England, had roused the latent hostility 
 of the Congregationalists — they would not submit to Eng- 
 lish control in matters of religion. The Presbyterians of 
 the middle and southern colonies, derived, as they were, 
 from the dissenting Scottish church, had a traditionaiy 
 feeling of opposition to the same influence. Both pastors 
 and people were stanch Whigs, and went hand in hand 
 with the ministers and people of New England. Even in 
 Virginia, where the Episcopal church was established by 
 law, and where the majority of the people were its advo- 
 cates, the attempt to place over them a bishop was de- 
 nounced by the House of Burgesses as a " pernicious pro- 
 ject." Though strenuous churchmen, they were jealous 
 of external influences, and repudiated the control of the 
 mother church. On the contrary, the Episcopal clergy, 
 great numbers of whom were Englishmen by birth, from 
 their associations were inclined to favor the royal author- 
 ity. Nor should we judge them harshly ; they acted in 
 accordance with their views of the intimate connection of 
 church and state. These views influenced the members 
 of that church more in the northern than in the southern 
 colonies, and great numbers of them faithfully adhered to 
 the " Lord's anointed," as they termed the king. 
 
 The peace-loving Quakers, numerous in Pennsylvania, 
 
366 HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pHAP. New Jersey, and Delaware, opposed war as wrong in itself. 
 
 The Moravians held similar views. These grieved over 
 
 1776. the violation of their rights, yet they hoped by pacific 
 measures to obtain justice. 
 
 There were others who, though not opposed to war, 
 believed it to be wrong to rise in opjjosition to the rule of 
 the mother country. There were also the timid, who 
 deemed it madness to resist a power so colossal. There 
 were the low and grovelling, who sought only an opportu- 
 nity to plunder ; the time-serving and the avaricious, who, 
 for the gain they might acquire as contractors for the 
 British army, or by furnishing provisions for prisoners, 
 joined the enemies of their country. 
 
 The evacuation of Boston strengthened the already 
 strong feeling in favor of independence so prevalent in 
 New England. In the South, the recent risings of the 
 Tories in North Carolina, the ravages of Dunmore in Vir- 
 ginia, and the attack upon Charleston, served still more 
 to alienate the affections of the people ; while their suc- 
 cess in repelling the invasion gave them assurance. For 
 many reasons they wished to be independent. Then they 
 could form treaties with other nations, and the brand of 
 rebel, so repugnant to an honorable mind, would be re- 
 moved. In truth, Congress had already taken the ground 
 of an independent government by offering free trade to 
 other nations, in all merchandise except that of British 
 manufacture, and slaves, — the latter traffic they had pro- 
 hibited some months before. 
 
 About the first of the year, a pamphlet was issued in 
 Philadelphia, under the title of " Common Sense," which 
 had a great influence upon the public mind. Its author, 
 Thomas Paine, an Englishman, had been in the country 
 but a few months. In a style adapted to convince the 
 popular mind, he exposed the folly of delaying any longer 
 a formal separation from the mother country. The pam- 
 phlet had a very great circulation, and a proportionate 
 
THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 367 
 
 influence in deciding the timid and wavering in favor of chap. 
 independence. 
 
 1776. 
 
 On the seventh of June, Kichaid Henry Lee intro- 
 duced a resolution into Congress, declaring, " That the 
 United Colonies are and ought to be free and independent 
 States, and that their political connection with Great 
 Britain is and ought to he dissolved." Upon this resolution 
 sprang up an animated discussion. It was opposed, prin- 
 cipally, on the ground that it was premature. Some of 
 the best and strongest advocates of colonial rights spoke 
 and voted against the motion, which passed only by a 
 bare majority of seven States to six. Some of the dele- 
 gates had not received instructions from their constituents 
 on the subject, and others were instructed to vote against 
 it. Its consideration was prudently deferred until there 
 was a prospect of greater unanimity. Accordingly on the 
 eleventh a committee, consisting of Doctor Franklin, John 
 Adams, Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Koger Sherman, 
 of Connecticut, and Kobert R. Livingston, of New York, 
 was appointed to prepare a Declaration. To give oppor- 
 tunity for union of opinion, the consideration of the sub- 
 ject was postponed to the first of July. At the same time 
 two other committees were appointed ; one to draw up a 
 plan for uniting all the colonies, the other to devise meas- 
 ures to form foreign alliances. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth the committee reported the dec- June. 
 laration to the house. It was drawn by Jefferson, and 
 contained a gracefidly written summary of the sentiments 
 of the people and Congress. After a few verbal altera- 
 tions suggested by Adams and Franklin, it was approved 
 by the committee. The house, however, struck out a few 
 passages. One of these reflected severely upon the British 
 government ; another denounced the slave-trade ; another 
 censured the king for his attempts to prevent, by the re- 
 fusal of his signature^ the enactment of laws designed to 
 
368 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP- prohibit that traffic. They were unwilling to offend the 
 
 fiiends of the colonies in Britain, and feared lest these 
 
 1V76. strong expressions might prevent the declaration from 
 receiving a unanimous vote. The vote was taken by 
 States ; the delegates were not unanimous, but there were 
 a sufficient number to give the vote of aU the colonies, 
 New York alone excepted, which was given in a few days. 
 The announcement was delayed till the declaration should 
 receive a few amendments, and then, on July the fourth, 
 4. it was formally adopted, and the thirteen colonies became 
 The Thirteen United States of America. 
 
 The bell of the State House, in which Congress held 
 its sessions, has upon it the inscription : " Proclaim lib- 
 erty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants 
 thereof" — words taken from the Bible. Congress sat with 
 closed doors, but it was known far and wide, that the 
 subject of independence was under discussion. Crowds 
 assembled outside the Hall, and waited anxiously to 
 learn the result. At mid-day the appointed signal was 
 given. The beU was struck, and to its tones responded 
 the joyous shouts of midtitudes. The friends of liberty 
 and independence breathed more freely ; the declara- 
 tion was made ; the hesitancy of indecision was over, 
 and the spirit of determination arose. It was published ; 
 it was read to the army ; the soldiers received it with 
 shouts of exultation and pledges to defend its prin- 
 ciples ; it was announced in the papers ; from the pulpits, 
 and everywhere the Whigs hailed it with joy. Hopes of 
 reconciliation, which had so much paralyzed measures of 
 defence, were at an end ; there was now no neutral ground. 
 The timid though honest friends of their country, who had 
 so long hesitated, generally sided with liberty. The Tories 
 were in a sad condition ; the great majority of them were 
 wealthy, and had hoped that the difficulties would yet be 
 arranged. Laws j)assed by the new State authorities had 
 rendered them liable to fines and imprisonments, and theii 
 
ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL HOWE — HIS CIRCULAR. 369 
 
 property to confiscation. They endured many outrages, "^^^P- 
 
 and were subjected to " tarrings and featherings " innu- 
 
 merahle, by self-constituted vigilance committees. Con- 1770. 
 gross, to prevent these outrages, gave the supervision of 
 Tories to committees of inspection. The most obnoxious 
 were fain to emigrate, and the committee admonished or 
 restrained the others within certain limits. 
 
 The soldiers in New York manifested their zeal by 
 taking a leaden statue of King George, which stood in the 
 Bowling Green, and running it into bullets, to be used in 
 the cause of independence. To impress upon their minds 
 a sense of the dignity of their iDOsition, as well as to re- 
 prove this irregularity, Washington, in the orders, the fol- 
 lowing day, referred to the subject. " The general hopes 
 and trusts," said he, " that every officer and soldier will 
 endeavor so to live and act, as becomes a Christian soldier 
 defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country." 
 
 A few days after the public Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, the booming of cannon from the British vessels in 
 the harbor of New York announced the arrival of Admiral 
 Howe. To his brother and himself had been committed 
 the general control of American affairs. 
 
 Before he proceeded to hostilities, the admiral ad- 
 dressed a circular to the i3eople ; he oifered them pardon 
 if they would cease to be rebels, lay down their arms, and 
 trust the king's mercy. As soon as this circular reached 
 Congress, that body caused it to be pubKshed in all the 
 newspapers, that the people might see that Britain would 
 grant nothing, and accept no concession short of absolute 
 submission. " They must fight or be slaves." 
 
 Howe also attempted to open a correspondence with 
 Washington. As Parhament refused to acknowledge 
 titles conferred by Congress, his letters were addressed, 
 first to Mr. George Washington, then to George Wash- 
 ington, Esquire, &c., &c., hoping that the &c.'s would 
 24 
 
370 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, remove the difficulty ; but the Commander-in-chief, justly 
 
 tenacious of the dignity of his office, and of the honor of 
 
 1776. his country, politely hut firmly refused to receive them. 
 The messenger exj)ressed his regret that the correspond- 
 ence could not be opened. His lordship, he said, wished 
 for peace ; he was vested with great powers. Washington 
 replied that he understood Lord Howe had power to grant 
 pardons ; the Americans had defended their rights ; they 
 had committed no crime, and needed no jjardon. 
 
 The Admiral was disappointed, he really desired peace. 
 The reception he had met with had encoiiraged his hopes ; 
 he had received loyal addresses from the Tories of New 
 Jersey, Long and Staten Islands ; Governor Tryon had 
 assured him there were many others, secret friends of 
 England, who might be induced to join him. But, to 
 his surprise, his circular, from which he had hoped much, 
 produced little or no efiect. He was now convinced that 
 nothing could be accomplished except by force of arms. 
 MeanwhUe his army, now on Staten Island, received 
 many accessions ; Sir Henry Clinton had arrived, and 
 more Hessian troops had landed. His whole force was 
 about thirty-five thousand. 
 
 As it had become more and more evident that New 
 York was to be the theatre of the war, further prepara- 
 tions had been made to defend the city and neighborhood. 
 Pennsylvania had sent four continental regiments, com- 
 manded respectively by Colonels St. Clair, Shee, Anthony 
 Wayne, and Magaw ; three provincial battalions, under 
 Colonels Miles, Cadwallader, and Atlee, and rifle regi- 
 ments, under Colonels Hand and Allen. These were all 
 commanded by Brigadier-general Mifflin, of that State. 
 
 Virginia sent troops imder Major Leitch, and from 
 
 Maryland came the brave company known as Smallwood's 
 
 regiment, who afterward distinguished themselves in many 
 
 ■ conflicts, while from Delaware came a regiment under 
 
 Colonel Hazlet. In addition to these, Pennsylvania, 
 
JEALOUSIES AMONG THE TROOPS. 3I5EJ 
 
 Maryland, and Delaware, furnished troops to form what *^^^- 
 
 was called " a flying camp," a sort of reserve, stationed 
 
 in New Jersey, in a favorable position, and ready to act 1776. 
 in emergencies. This was under Brigadier-general Mercer. 
 
 In the troops thus drawn together from different parts 
 of the country, there were marked differences in appear- 
 ance and discipline. The New England officers were most 
 of them farmers and mechanics — brave, honorable, but 
 plain men. Their soldiers were men of the same stamp ; 
 in many cases their intimates and associates in private 
 life. Their intercourse with each other was less formal 
 than was consistent with strict military discipline. They 
 met not as mere soldiers, but as a band of brethren, united 
 in a cause in which each had a personal interest. With 
 the portion of the army drawn from the other States, the 
 case was different ; with them, there was a marked dis- 
 tinction between the officers and soldiers. The officers were 
 brave and honorable also, but city bred — " gentlemen," 
 as they called themselves — and from wealthy families, 
 while the " common soldiers, for the most part, were a 
 very inferior set." Sectional jealousies arose. The Mary- 
 landers, in " scarlet and buff," looked down upon the 
 rustic soldiery in "homespun," whUe the officers of the 
 other ijrovinces were inclined to despise their associates 
 from New England. These jealousies became so great an 
 evil, that Washington strongly reprobated them in general 
 orders. 
 
 As the British were masters of the bay of New York, 
 it was feared they would surround the American army in 
 the city, and take ijossession of the Hudson, that great 
 liighway to the interior. To prevent this. General Mifflin 
 was sent with the Pennsylvania troops to guard the forts 
 at the north end of the island. One of these stood just 
 below, the other just above Kingsbridge, the only avenue 
 to the mainland ; they were known as Forts Washington 
 and Independence. On the west side of the Hudson, 
 
372 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 <^IAP. nearly opposite Fort Washington, stood Fort Lee. Near 
 the entrance to the Higlilands, and just opposite the well- 
 
 1776. known promontory of Antliony's Nose, was Fort Mont- 
 gomery. Six miles higher up the river was Fort Consti- 
 tution. 
 
 The posts last named were under the command of 
 Colonel James Clinton. His brother George commanded 
 the militia of Ulster and Orange counties. These brothers 
 were of Irish descent, natives of New York, and their 
 ancestors were identified with the early settlements on 
 the Hudson. They had been soldiers from their youth — 
 like many of the Kevolutionary officers — they had been 
 trained in the French war, in which one of them had 
 served as a captain at twenty, and the other as a lieuten- 
 ant at seventeen years of age. The elder, James, had 
 also served under Montgomery at the capture of Montreal, 
 while George had been active in the service of his country 
 as a member of the New York Legislature, and as a dele- 
 gate to the Continental Congress. 
 
 In spite of obstructions thrown across the channel, two 
 British vessels, the Phoenix and the Kose, passed up the 
 Hudson. The latter was commanded by the notorious 
 Captain Wallace, who had pillaged the shores of Rhode 
 Island. They passed the forts unharmed, and gallantly 
 returned the fire from Fort Washington. As they boldly 
 pushed their way up the river, their appearance created 
 great alarm. Signal guns were heard from the forts, and 
 July false rumors increased the general excitement. The sturdy 
 yeomanry left their harvests uncut in their fields, and has- 
 tened to join the forces under Clinton to defend the passes 
 of the Highlands. These fears were in a great measure 
 groimdless. The vessels quietly anchored here and there, 
 while their boats took soundings ; but the event proved the 
 inefficiency of the defences at the mouth of the Hudson. 
 
 The Americans, from the Jersey shore and the city, 
 
22. 
 
 THE BKITISH LAND ON LONG ISLAND. 3f3 
 
 continued to watch, with intense interest, the movements chap. 
 
 of the enemy on Staten Island. A spy reported that they '_ 
 
 were ahout to land on Long Island, with twenty thousand 1776. 
 men, and take possession of the Heights, which com- 
 manded New York ; he had heard the orders read, and 
 the conversation of the oiScers in the camp. The next An 
 day the roar of artillery was heard from Long Island, and 
 soon the news reached the city that the enemy had landed 
 at Gravesend Bay. 
 
 General Greene had thrown up a line of intrenchments 
 and redoubts across the neck of the peninsula upon which 
 stood the village of Brooklyn. He had made himself ac- 
 quainted with the ground in the neighborhood, and nearly 
 completed his plans for defence, when he was suddenly 
 taken ill with a raging fever. He was still unable to be 
 at his post, and Sullivan held the temporary command. 
 
 Between the American intrenchments and Gravesend 
 Bay lay a range of thickly-wooded hills, that stretched 
 across the island from south-west to north-east. Over 
 and around these hills were three roads : one along the 
 shore passed around their south-western base ; another 
 crossed over their centre toward Flatbush ; while a third, 
 which was near the north-east extremity of the range, 
 passed over them from the village of Bedford to Jamaica. 
 
 Nine thousand of the British had already landed at 
 Gravesend, imder the command of Sir Henry Clinton and 
 his associates, the Earls of Cornwallis and Percy, and Gen- 
 erals Grant and Erskine. Colonel Hand, who was sta- 
 tioned there, retired on their approach to a position that 
 commanded the central or Flatbush road. The British 
 continued to land more forces secretly in the night time, 
 but for several days nothing occurred, except skirmishing 
 between the enemy and the troops at the outposts, along 
 the wooded hills. 
 
 At the first alarm, the Commander-in-chief had hast- 
 ened to send to the aid of Sullivan a reinforcement of six 
 
24. 
 
 374 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, battalions, — all he could well spare. He exhorted these 
 
 soldiers to be cool, and not to fire too soon. They aj)- 
 
 1776. peared in high spirits, though most of them were going 
 
 into battle for the first time. 
 Aug. On the twenty-fourth, "Washington, somewhat relieved 
 
 from his apprehensions with regard to the city, crossed 
 over to Brooklyn to inspect the lines. He was pained to 
 observe a great want of system among the officers, and of 
 discipline among the soldiers. A strong redoubt had been 
 thrown up at the central pass, but the plans for defence 
 were imperfect, and afiairs in much confusion. 
 
 On his return, he appointed General Putnam to the 
 command, with orders to remedy these evils. The " brave 
 old man " hastened with joy to the post of danger. 
 
 From day to day the number of tents on Staten Island 
 became gradually less, and one by one ships dropped 
 silently down to the narrows. Washington became con- 
 vinced that the British designed to attack the lines at 
 Brooklyn. He sent over further reinforcements, among 
 wliich was Haslet's Delaware regiment— troops whose sol- 
 dierly bearing and discipline had won his special regard. 
 
 He proceeded in person to aid Putnam with his coun- 
 sel. On the evening of the twenty-sixth he returned to 
 New York, perplexed and depressed, for a dark cloud of 
 uncertainty and danger hung over the future. 
 
 His fears were soon realized. On that very evening 
 the British proceeded to carry out their plan of attack. 
 By this plan. Sir Henry Clinton was to march along by- 
 paths across to the eastern or Jamaica road, to seize the 
 pass in the Bedford hills, thence proceed onward, and turn 
 the left flank of the Americans ; General Grant was to 
 pass along the shore-road, and attack them on the right, 
 while General De Heister, with his Hessians, was to 
 threaten the central pass, where Colonel Hand was sta- 
 tioned with his riflemen. 
 
 At nine o'clock, Sir Henry, guided by a Long Island 
 
I 
 
 BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 375 
 
 Tory, commenced his march toward the eastern road ; char 
 
 XXX 
 
 about midnight, Colonel Grant's division moved in an op- 1 
 
 posite direction, along the western or shore-road. Colonel 1776. 
 Atlee, who was stationed there with a small company of 
 militia, was driven back from point to point. News of 
 Grant's approach soon reached General Putnam. Lord 
 Stirhng, with Smallwood's and Haslet's regiments, were 
 sent to the relief of Colonel Atlee. About daylight they 
 came w]) witli him, and soon the front of the approaching 
 enemy appeared in view. 
 
 Presently the redoubt at the central pass was cannon- 
 aded from Flatbush. This firing attracted the attention 
 of Sullivan, who went to the relief of Colonel Hand. 
 
 Thus the object of the British was in part accom- 
 plished. The attention of the Americans was diverted, 
 their troops were scattered beyond the lines ; silently and 
 rapidly the forces of Clinton were moving on to cut off 27.' 
 their return. He had found the eastern pass unguarded, 
 and continued his march undiscovered, and now signal- 
 guns announced that he was close upon the American 
 lines. The Hessians advanced at once upon the redoubt. 
 Colonel Grant pushed on. Sullivan and Stirling both 
 perceived their danger, and endeavored to retreat, but in 
 vain. The enemy had gained their rear ; they were com- 
 pletely entrapped and hemmed in. It is true, a portion 
 of Stirling's troops escaped by fording a creek ; the re- 
 mainder, most of whom were of Smallwood's regiment, ' 
 took a brave but desperate stand. A scene of carnage 
 ensued ; more than two hundred and fifty of them were 
 slain within sight of the lines. Some of these were most 
 cruelly and wantonly bayoneted by the merciless Hessians. 
 At length Stirling sought De Heister and surrendered. 
 Sullivan's forces were driven back and forth by the two 
 divisions of the enemy, and treated in a like barbarous 
 manner ; some were taken prisoners, among whom was 
 Sullivan himself ; others fought their way back to the 
 
376 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, lines. Some portion of this conflict took place amid the 
 
 XXX. 
 
 _!__ hills now embraced in the beautiful cemeteiy of Green- 
 1776. wood. 
 
 Washington reached the spot just in time to witness 
 the catastrophe. As from the lines he saw his brave 
 troops surrounded and cruelly slaughtered — toirched to 
 the heart with deep and humane sorrow, he wrung his 
 hands and exclaimed : " Good God ! what brave fellows 
 I must lose this day ! " 
 
 The loss of the Americans in this battle was very se- 
 vere ; of the five thousand engaged, nearly two thousand 
 were slain or taken j^risoners, while out of sixteen thou- 
 sand the British lost but about four hundred. They made 
 no assault on the American lines, but encamped directly 
 in front of them, and prepared to carry them by regular 
 api^roaches. 
 
 Although reinforced the next day, by Mifilin's and 
 Glover's regiments, the Americans had still a very inferior 
 force. On the morning of the twenty-ninth, as General 
 MiiSin, with Adjutant-general Reed and Colonel Grayson, 
 was inspecting the outposts at Eed Hook, a light breeze, 
 that dispersed the fog for a moment, revealed to them the 
 enemy's fleet. They were justly alarmed ; the unusual 
 stir among the boats convinced them that some great 
 movement was on foot. It was probable the enemy in- 
 tended to pass up the bay and surround them. They hast- 
 ened to Washington, who summoned a council of war, 
 and it was decided that the army should that night be 
 secretly withdrawn from the island. It was a hazardous 
 enterprise, and much was to be done ; boats weie to be 
 collected, and preparations for the removal of nine thou- 
 sand men were to be made, in the face of the enemy, rap- 
 idly, and yet so silently and cautiously, as not to awaken 
 the slightest suspicion. It was already noon, but the or- 
 ders were issued, and all the boats around Manhattan 
 Island were impressed and in readiness at eight o'clock 
 
THE RETEEAT INCIDENTS. 377 
 
 that evening. And at the silent midnight hour the regi- chap 
 
 ments, one by one, began to march to the ferry, and in 
 
 boats manned by Glover's regiment, most of whom were 1770. 
 Marblehead fishermen, they were borne to the city. By 
 eight o'clock the entire army, with their military stores, 
 cattle, horses, and carts, were safely landed. 
 
 Several incidents occurred, which have a peculiar in- 
 terest as connected with this famous retreat. General 
 MifHin, who was stationed nearest to the enemy's lines, 
 was to remain at his post until the others had embarked. 
 Colonel Scammell, who was sent to hasten forward a par- 
 ticular regiment, mistook his orders, and sent on MiiHin 
 with his whole covering party ; and great was the conster- 
 nation of the Commander-in-chief when they joined the 
 others at the ferry. " This is a dreadful mistake, General 
 Mifflin," said he, " and unless the troops can regain the 
 lines before their absence is discovered by the enemy, the 
 most disastrous consequences are to be apprehended." 
 They returned to their post with all expedition. " This 
 was a trying business to young soldiers," says one of their 
 number, " it was, nevertheless, strictly complied with, and 
 we remained not less than an hour in the lines before we 
 received the second order to abandon them." ' 
 
 A story is told of a woman, wife of a suspected Tory, 
 who lived near the ferry. She sent her negro servant to 
 the British with news that the Americans were retreating. 
 He reached the Hessian outposts in safety, but they did 
 not understand his language, and detained him a close 
 prisoner till morning. Then an English officer, who exam- 
 ined him, learned the truth, but it was too late. The 
 British did not reach the ferry tiU the last boat was be- 
 yond musket shot. It was an August morning ; but for Aug. 
 a dense fog, the boats which left after daylight must have 
 been discovered. The safe retreat of the patriot army 
 
 ' Graydon's Memoirs. 
 
378 HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^^' was by many attributed to a peculiar Providence. It was 
 
 a trust in this Providence, a calm assurance of ultimate 
 
 1776. success under its guiding care, that strengthened the 
 hearts of the patriots in their darkest hour of trial. 
 
 A few days after this retreat, Admiral Howe, who 
 hoped the Americans would now accept peace on his 
 terms, sent General Sidlivan on parole with a letter to 
 Congress. He invited them to send, in an informal man- 
 ner, a committee to confer with him on some measures of 
 reconciliation. He would receive them as private gentle- 
 men, as the ministry would not acknowledge the legal ex- 
 istence of Congress. Accordingly, John Adams, Doctor 
 Franklin, and Edward Kutledge, held a conference with 
 him at a house on Staten Island, opposite Amboy. 
 
 Doctor Franklin and Lord Howe had often conversed 
 together in England on the present difficulties. His lord- 
 ship made known the terms on which peace could be ob- 
 tained. These terms were unconditional submission. When 
 told that the Congress and people would treat on no other 
 basis than that " of a free and independent nation," ho 
 expressed regret, that he should be compelled to dis- 
 tress the Americans. Doctor Franklin reciprocated his 
 good will, but quietly remarked, " The Americans will 
 endeavor to lessen the pain you may feel, by taking good 
 care of themselves." Thus ended the much talked-of in- 
 terview. The result was good. The people were strength- 
 ened in the belief that England had no terms to offer, 
 which would lead them to regret the course they had 
 adopted. 
 
 The British, now in possession of Long Island, ex- 
 tended their lines along the East River, and stationed in 
 them a large number of Hessian troops, of whom reinforce- 
 ments had come within a few days. The defeat at Brook- 
 lyn had a very disheartening effect on the minds of the 
 militia, great numbers of whom deserted, and soon Wash- 
 
DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS NATHAN HALE. 379 
 
 ington's army was less than twenty thousand men, and on <<g^- 
 many of these little dependence conld be placed. The 
 
 question soon arose, Should New York be defended to the 1776. 
 last, or should it be evacuated ? Some proposed to burn 
 it to the ground, as " two-thirds of the property belonged 
 to Tories," rather than it should furnish comfortable win- 
 ter-quarters for the enemy. Congress decided that the 
 city should not be burned. 
 
 The sick and wounded, in the meanwhile, were trans- 
 ferred to Orange, in New Jersey, and most of the military 
 stores were removed to Dobbs' Ferry, that the garrison 
 might be unencumbered should they be obliged to make a 
 hasty retreat. It was decided by a council of war that 
 Putnam, with five thousand troops, should remain to gar- 
 rison New York, while General Heath, with the main body, 
 was to fortify the heights in the neighborhood of Kings- 
 bridge, where, presently, Washington transferred his head- 
 quarters. 
 
 Washington was anxious to learn the designs of the ene- 
 my on Long Island. At the suggestion of Colonel Knowl- 
 ton, Nathan Hale volunteered to go on the perilous errand. 
 Hale was a native of Connecticut, a graduate of Yale Col- 
 lege, had thoughts of studying for the ministry, and at the 
 commencement of the war was a teacher of youth. After 
 the battle of Lexington, he hastened to Boston to join the 
 army, in which he served as a lieutenant. On one occa- 
 sion, to induce his men to continue their term of enlist- 
 ment, he offered them his own pay. Soon after he received 
 from Congress the commission of captain. 
 
 He passed to the island, obtained the knowledge de- 
 sired, notes of which he took in Latin. As he was return- 
 ing he fell in with a party of the enemy, was recognized 
 by a Toiy relative, seized and taken to Howe's head- 
 quarters, and, without much ceremony, was ordered to be 
 executed the next morning. 
 
 The provost-marshal, named Cunningham, treated 
 
380 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 f|H^P- him with great brutality, denied him a Bible, tore up the 
 letter he had written to his mother, giving as a reason, 
 
 1776. " that the rebels should never know they had a man who 
 could die with such firmness." The last words of Hale 
 were : " I only regret that I have but one life to lose for 
 my country." 
 
 The entire British fleet was within cannon-shot of the 
 city, and some of their vessels had jjassed up the Hudson 
 and East rivers. They had landed troops on the islands 
 at the mouth of Harlem river, and there erected a bat- 
 tery. Soon British and Hessians, under Clinton and Colo- 
 nel Donop, crossed over from the camp on Long Island 
 to Kipp's Bay, three miles above the city. Washington 
 heard the cannonading in that quarter, and, as he was on 
 the way to learn the cause, met the militia, who, on the 
 first apjproach of the enemy had fled in sad confusion, fol- 
 lowed by two brigades of Connecticut troops, who that 
 very morning had been sent to support them. He strove 
 to rally them, but in vain ; neither entreaties nor com- 
 mands had any eifect upon these panic-stricken soldiers. 
 Mortified and indignant at their cowardice, he dashed his 
 hat upon the ground, and exclaimed : " Are these the 
 men with whom I am to defend America ? " The enemy 
 in pursuit were now not more than eighty yards from him, 
 but in his excitement he forgot his own safety, and had 
 
 „ not an attendant seized the bridle of his horse and hurried 
 15.' him from the field, he must have fallen into their hands. 
 AVashington ordered General Heath to secure Harlem 
 Heights, and sent an express order to Putnam to evacuate 
 the city, and retire to those heights with all speed ; for he 
 feared that the enemy would extend their lines across the 
 island from Kipp's Bay, and cut oif his retreat. Fortu- 
 nately the British did not pursue their advantage. Put- 
 nam retreated along the west side of the island by the 
 Bloomingdale road. His line, encumbered with women and 
 children, was exposed to the fire of the ships lying in the 
 
A SUCCESSFUL SKIRMISH. 381 
 
 Hudson. He ordered, encouraged, and aided, and by his ^^A;^- 
 
 extraordinary exertions, it is said, saved iiis corps from 
 
 entire destruction. However, liis heavy artillery and tliree 1776. 
 hundred men fell into the hands of the enemy 
 
 Now the British had possession of the city, and the 
 main body of the Americans was encamped on the northern 
 portion of the island, across which they threw a double 
 row of lines, about four and a half mUes below Kings- 
 bridge. Two miles above these Hnes, was Fort Washing- 
 ton, and a few miles below them were the British Unes, 
 extending also from river to river. 
 
 On the sixteenth the enemy made an attack upon the Sept. 
 American advanced posts, but were repulsed and driven 
 off by Virginia and Connecticut troops, but their com- 
 manders, Major Leitch, and the brave Colonel Knowlton, 
 one of the heroes of Bunker Hill, both fell in this en- 
 counter. The spirits of the soldiers, depressed by repeated 
 defeats and disasters, were somewhat revived by this suc- 
 cessful skirmish. 
 
 The armies watched each other for some weeks. Many 
 were sick in the American camp ; "it was impossible to 
 find proper hospitals ; and they lay about in almost every 
 barn, stable, shed, and even under the fences and bushee." 
 
 Sir WUliam Howe now began to collect forces at 
 Throg's Neck, a peninsula in the Sound about nine miles 
 from the American camp. Tliis peninsula was separated 
 from the mainland by a narrow creek and a marsh, which 
 was overflowed at high tide. By means of the bridge and 
 fords, Howe hoped to pass over to the mainland and gain 
 the rear of the Americans, and cut off their communica- 
 tion with New England, whence they received most of 
 their supplies. His plans, though well laid, were defeated. 
 General Heath was on the alert ; he was joined by Colonel 
 WilKam Prescott, who commanded at Bunker Hill, and 
 by Hand with his riflemen, and others ; every pass was 
 guarded, and the planks of the bridge removed. Howe, 
 
382 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, witli his usual caution, waited six clays for reinforcements. 
 
 By this time General Lee, now more a favorite than ever, 
 
 1776. had returned from his successful campaign at the South, 
 and Sullivan, Stirling, and Morgan had been restored to 
 the army by exchange. While Howe thus delayed, it was 
 decided, in a council of war, that every American jJost on 
 New York island, excepting Fort Washington, should be 
 abandoned. This plan was promptly executed. The 
 army, in four divisions, commanded by Generals Lee, 
 Heath, Sullivan, and Lincoln, withdrew across Kings- 
 „ bridge, and gradually concentrated their forces in a forti- 
 23. tied camp near the village of White Plains. 
 
 Still hoping to gain their rear, Howe moved on toward 
 New Kochelle, where he was reinforced by light-horse 
 troops, and Hessians under General Kuyphausen, who 
 had recently arrived from Europe. He advanced upon 
 the camp. Scarcely had the Americans intrenched them- 
 selves at White Plains, when a rumor of his approach 
 reached them. On the twenty-eighth, as Washington, 
 accompanied by his general officers, was reconnoitring the 
 heights in the neighborhood, the alarm was given that the 
 enemy had driven in the picket-guards, and were within 
 the camp. When he reached headquarters he found the 
 army ah-eady posted in order of battle. The enemy did 
 not advance upon them ; they turned their attention to a 
 height known as Chatterton's Hill, which lay a little south 
 of the camp, and was separated from it by the river Bronx. 
 This height was occupied by sixteen hundred men under 
 General McDougall, and the attack was made at this 
 point. After a feeble resistance, the militia fled, but 
 Hazlet's and Smallwood's regiments, so famous on Long 
 Island, made a brave stand, and repeatedly repulsed the 
 enemy ; but, at length, overpowered by numbers, they 
 retreated across the bridge to the camj). This battle of 
 
A NIGHT OF LABOK THREATENED DANGERS. 383 
 
 White Plains was a sjiirited encounter, in wliicli each of f'HAP 
 the ijarties lost about four hundred men. '_ 
 
 The British took possession of the hill, and began to 1776. 
 intrench themselves ; and now, for the third time, the 
 " armies lay looking at each other ; " they were within 
 long cannon-shot. 
 
 Could the undisciplined, war-worn, and disheartened 
 Americans hope to escape from a force so well equipped 
 and so i)owerful ? That night was to them an anxious 
 one. It was passed in severe labor ; they doubled their in- 
 trenchments and threw up redoubts. Some of these were 
 hastily constructed of stalks of corn, pulled up from a neigh- 
 boring field, with the earth clinging to the roots. These 
 piled with the roots outward, presented an appeai'ance so 
 formidable, that Howe, deceived as to their strength, did 
 not attack them, but ordered up reinforcements. 
 
 Howe's cautious conduct of the war has been severely 
 criticised, and various reasons have been assigned, but it 
 has never been satisfactorily exjDlained ; whatever his 
 reasons may have been, his delay at this time cost him 
 another golden opportunity. Washington withdrew his 
 army in the night-time to the heights of North Castle, a 
 strong position, about five miles distant. His enemy had j^^^ 
 again eluded him, and Howe retired with his forces to 4. 
 Dobb's Ferry, on the Hudson. 
 
 This movement awakened new fears ; — did he intend 
 to pass down the river to Fort Washington, or to cross 
 into New Jersey ? " He must attempt something," 
 writes Washington, "on account of his reputation, for 
 what has he done yet with his great army ? " 
 
 To meet the threatened dangers a new disposition was 
 made of the American forces. Lee, with a portion, was to 
 remain at North Castle ; Putnam, with another, was to 
 guard the west side of the Hudson ; Heath, the guardian 
 of the passes of the Highlands, was to encamp at Pecks- 
 kill ; while General Greene commanded at Fort Lee, and 
 
384 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 pE^. Colonel Magaw, with the Pennsylvania troops, occupied 
 
 Fort Washington. 
 
 1776. With respect to maintaining Fort Washington, there 
 
 was a diversity of opinion, as neither that fort nor the ob- 
 structions across the channel had prevented the passage 
 of vessels up the Hudson. Washington, with Lee, Eeed, 
 and others, was in favor of withdrawing the troops at once. 
 He addressed a letter to Greene, in which he advised this 
 course, but left the matter to his discretion. Greene and 
 Magaw, who were both on the spot, and knew the condi- 
 tion of the fort, decided that it could be maintained, and 
 made preparations accordingly. This was, as the result 
 proved, an injudicious decision. The post was compara- 
 tively useless ; it was accessible on three sides from the 
 water ; the fort was very small, and would not contain 
 more than a thousand men, the lines were very extensive, 
 and the garrison insufficient to man them. 
 
 Washington visited the posts along the river. When 
 he arrived at Fort Lee,_he was greatly disajjpointed to find 
 that the troops had not been withdrawn from Fort Wash- 
 ington ; and, before he could make a personal examina- 
 tion, the fort was invested. It was attacked on all sides. 
 The garrison, after a brave resistance, which cost the ene- 
 my four hundred men, was driven from the outer lines, 
 and crowded into the fort, where they were unable to fight 
 to advantage, and were exposed to the shells of the enemy. 
 Further resistance was impossible, and Colonel Magaw 
 surrendered all his troops, two thousand in number. Dur- 
 ing this action, the troops of Cadwallader especially dis- 
 tinguished themselves. Of the officers. Colonel Baxter, 
 of Pennsylvania, fell while cheering on his men. 
 -^g^■ From the New Jersey shore, the Commander-in-chief 
 
 witnessed a portion of the battle, and again he saw some 
 of his brave troops bayoneted by the merciless Hessians, 
 and wept, it is said, " with the tenderness of a chUd." 
 It was resolved to abandon Fort Lee, but before it 
 
THE HETREAT. 385 
 
 was fully accomplished, Cornwallis, with a force six thou- f^^? 
 
 sand strong, crossed the Hvidson to the foot of the rocky 
 
 cliffs known as the Palisades. The force sent down from 1776. 
 North Castle was encamped at Hackensack, which lay be- 
 tween the river of that name and the Hudson, and Wash- 
 ington saw at once that the object of the enemy was to 
 form a hne across the country, and hem them in between 
 the rivers. To avoid this he retreated, with all his forces, 
 including the garrison of Fort Lee, to secure the bridge 
 over the Hackensack, thence across the Passaic to the 
 neighborhood of Newark. This retreat was made in such 
 haste that nearly all the artillery was abandoned, the tents 
 left standing, and the fires burning. That night the 
 enemy found shelter in the tents of the deserted camp. 
 
 From Newark, the army moved on across the Earitan 
 to Brunswick, thence to Princeton, where they left twelve 
 hundred men, under Lord Stirling, to check the enemy, 
 while the main body proceeded to Trenton, and thence be- 
 yond the Delaware. The enemy pressed so closely upon 
 them, that the advance of Cornwallis entered Newark at 
 one end, as their rear-guard passed out at the other, and 
 often during this march, " the American rear-guard, em- 
 ployed in pulling up bridges, was within sight and shot of 
 the British pioneers, sent forward to rebuild them." 
 
 Thus less than four thousand men — a mere shadow 
 of an army — poorly clad, with a scant supply of blankets, 
 without tents, and enfeebled for want of wholesome food, 
 evaded, by an orderly retreat, a well appointed force that 
 far outnumbered them, well fed, well clothed, well disci- 
 plined, and flushed with victory. When the enemy reached 
 the Delaware, they were unable to cross over, not a boat 
 was to be found ; Washington had taken the precaution to 
 have them all secured for a distance of seventy miles, and 
 transferred to the west side. Thus ended this famous re- 
 treat, remarkable for the manner in which it was con- 
 ducted, and the circumstances under which it took place. 
 25 
 
386 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^\\x ComwalKs was anxious to procure boats and push on 
 
 to Philadelphia, but Howe decided to wait till the river 
 
 1776. should be frozen. Meanwhile, the Hessians were stationed 
 
 along the eastern bank for some miles above and below 
 
 Trenton. 
 
 During his harassed march, Washington had sent re- 
 peated and urgent orders to Lee to hasten to his aid with 
 reinforcements. Notwithstanding the emergency, which 
 he well knew, Lee lingered for two or three weeks on the 
 east side of the Hudson, and when actually on the march, 
 proceeded so slowly, that he did not reach Morristown 
 until the eleventh of December. 
 
 Lee had a high opinion of his own military abilities, 
 and evidently desired an independent command. The 
 deference which the Americans had paid to his judgment, 
 and the importance they attached to his presence in the 
 army, had flattered his natural self-conceit ; his success 
 at the South, and the correctness of his views in relation 
 to Fort Washington, had strengthened his influence over 
 them, and now, in this time of depression and discourage- 
 ment, he hoped by some brilliant exploit to retrieve the 
 fortunes of the army, and gain more glory to himself In 
 this mood he writes : "I am going into the Jerseys for 
 the salvation of America." And again : "I am in hopes 
 to reconquer, if I may so express myself, the Jerseys ; 
 it was really in the hands of the enemy before my arri- 
 val." While he pondered over these vain projects, ho dis- 
 regarded the authority of the Commander-in-chief, and, 
 to say the least, subjected him to cruel inconvenience. 
 We have no reason to believe that Lee was imtrue to the 
 cause he had embraced, but his wayward conduct, at this 
 time and afterward, has diminished the grateful respect 
 with which Americans would have cherished his memory. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Discouragements. — Eifects of Howe's Proclamation. — Aifairs on LakeCham- 
 plaiii. — Heroism of Arnold. — Carleton retires to Canada. — Capture of 
 Lee. — Troops from the Northern Army. — Battle of Trenton. — Battle 
 of Princeton. — Death of Mercer. — Washington retires to Morristown. — 
 CornwalUs in his Lines .at Brunswick. — Encouragements. — Putnam at 
 Princeton. — Ill-treatment of American Prisoners ; their Exchange un- 
 der Negotiation. — Appointment of General Officers. — Muhlenburg. — 
 Wayne. — Conway. — Medical Department. — The Navy. — Marauding Ex- 
 peditions. — Peekskill. — Danbury. — Death of Wooster. — RetaUation at 
 Sag Harbor.- — Efforts to recruit the Army. — Schuyler and Gates. — The 
 National Flag. 
 
 As tlie news of this retreat went abroad, the friends of the chap. 
 cause were discouraged. What remained of the army was '_ 
 
 fast wasting away ; their enlistments were about to ex- 1776. 
 pire, and the militia, especially that of New Jersey, re- 
 fused to take the field in behalf of a ruined enterprise. 
 Many thought the States could not maintain their inde- 
 pendence ; but there were a few who, confident in the 
 justice of their cause, were firm and undaunted. Among 
 these was Washington. In a conversation with General 
 Mercer he remarked : " That even if driven beyond the 
 AUeghanies, he would stand to the last for the hberties of 
 his country." 
 
 Howe felt certain the game was his own ; he had only 
 to bide his time. He sent forth another proclamation, in 
 
388 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxia' ^^^''^ ^® called upon all insurgents to disband, and Con- 
 gress to lay down tlieir usurped authority ; and offered 
 
 1776. pardon to all who should accept the terms within sixty 
 days. Many persons, most of whom were wealthy, com- 
 plied. Among these were two of the delegates from Penn- 
 sylvania to the late Continental Congress, and the presi- 
 dent of the New Jersey Convention which had sanctioned 
 the Declaration of Inde^iendence, and others who had 
 taken an active part in favor of the Kevolution. For ten 
 days after the proclamation was issued, from two to three 
 hundred came every day to take the required oath. 
 
 The movements of the enemy, and the effect produced 
 by the proclamation, caused great excitement in Phila- 
 delphia. Putnam, who had been sent to command there, 
 advised that, during this season of peril. Congress should 
 _ hold its sessions elsewhere, and it adjourned to meet again 
 12. at Baltimore. 
 
 At this time a reinforcement of seven regiments was 
 on its way from Canada. We now return to the forces on 
 Lake Champlain, where we left Schuyler and Gates in a 
 sort of joint command. 
 
 The army driven out of Canada, broken, diseased, and 
 dispirited, rested first at Crown Point, and then at Ticon- 
 deroga. During his retreat, SuUivan wisely secured or 
 destroyed all the boats on Lake Champlain. Its shores 
 "were an unbroken wilderness ; thus the British were una- 
 ble to follow up their pursuit by land or by water. 
 
 Sir Guy Carleton, flushed with victory, and full of 
 ardor, determined to overcome all obstacles and push his 
 victory to the utmost. He would obtain the command 
 of the Lakes Champlain and George, and by that means 
 subdue northern New York, and then proceed to take 
 possession of Albany, where he hoped to take up his win- 
 ter-quarters. From that point, he hoped, by means of 
 the Hudson, to co-operate with the Howes at New York, 
 to cut off the communication between New England and 
 
HEROISM OF ARNOLD. 
 
 389 
 
 the states west and south. This he helieved would bring ™ap. 
 
 the contest to a speedy close, and secure to himself a share 
 
 of the honors of the victory. He exerted himself with so 1V76. 
 much energy and success, that at the end of three months 
 he had a well-equipped fleet. The frames of five large 
 vessels, that had been brought from England, were put 
 together at St. John's on the Sorel. These, with twenty 
 smaller craft, and some armed boats, which had been 
 dragged up the rapids of that river, were now launched 
 u^wn the lake. 
 
 The Americans were not idle. General Gates author- 
 ized Arnold, who was somewhat of a seaman, to fit out 
 and command a flotilla. Arnold threw himself into the 
 enterprise with all the energy of his nature, and soon was 
 master of a force, in vessels and men, nearly half as large 
 as that of Carle ton. He moved his little fleet across a 
 narrow strait between Valcour Island and the mainland, 
 in such a position that the whole force of the enemy could 
 not be made to bear upon him at one time ; there he awaited 
 the contest. As Carleton, with a favorable wind, swept 
 briskly up the lake, he passed the island behind which 
 Arnold's flotilla lay snugly anchored, before he observed 
 it. The wind was such that the larger ships could not 
 beat up the strait, but the smaller vessels advanced, and 
 a desperate encounter ensued, which was continued until 
 evening came on. Then Carleton arranged his squadron 
 so as to intercept Arnold's escape, and awaited the morn- 
 ing ; when, if his larger vessels could be made to bear, he 
 felt certain of the prize. The night proved dark and 
 cloudy ; favored by this circumstance^ Arnold slipped by 
 the enemy, and at daylight was some miles on his way to 
 Crown Point. But as most of his vessels were in bad con- 
 dition, they could make but little headway ; only six 
 reached that place in safety, two were sunk, and the oth- „ 
 ers were overtaken by Carleton a few miles from the Point, 6. 
 
390 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 9™.?- where one was captured witli the crew. Arnold fought 
 XXXI. ^ , o 
 
 desperately, until his galley, the Congress, was cut to 
 
 1770. jjieces, and one-third of her crew killed. Determined that 
 his flag should not be struck, he ordered his vessels to be 
 grounded and set on fire. When this was done, he, with 
 his men, leaped out and waded to the shore, and by well- 
 directed rifle-shots kept the enemy at bay tUl the vessels 
 were consumed, and with them the still waving flag ; then 
 giving a triumphant cheer, they moved ofl' through the 
 woods to Crown Point, where they found the remnant of 
 the fleet. They stayed only to destroy the houses and the 
 stores at the fort, and then embarked for Ticonderoga. 
 Before the enemy arrived, Gates, who commanded at that 
 post, had so strengthened his position that Carleton decid- 
 ed not to attack it, but to rethe to Canada, and postpone 
 his wintering in Albany to some future day. 
 
 As the forts on the Lakes were safe for the present, 
 General Schuyler detached the seven regiments, of which 
 we have spoken, to the relief of Washington. When Lee 
 learned that three of these regiments were at Peekskill, 
 he ordered them to join him at Morristown. The remain- 
 ing four, under General Gates, were passing through 
 northern New Jersey toward Trenton. 
 
 Gates was detained by a severe snow-storm, and un- 
 certain as to the exact position of the army, he sent for- 
 ward Major Wilkinson with a letter to Washington, 
 stating his position, and asking what route he should take 
 to the camp. Wilkinson learned that Wasliington had 
 crossed the Delaware ; and as General Lee, the second in 
 command, was at Morristown, he made his way thither. 
 Just at this time, Lee with a small guard was quartered, 
 for the night, at a tavern at Baskenridge, three miles from 
 his army, which was left under the command of Sullivan. 
 Here he was joined by Wilkinson, on the morning of the 
 Dec. thirteenth of December. Lee took his breakfast in a 
 leisurely manner, discussed the news, and had just finished 
 
 13. 
 
CAPTURE OF LEE. 391 
 
 a letter to General Gates, when, much to his surprise, the <^nAP. 
 
 house was surrounded by a party of British dragoons. He 
 
 had not dreamed that an enemy was near, and his guards 1770. 
 were off duty. But a Tory of the neighborhood had 
 learned the evening before where he intended to lodge and 
 ' breakfast, and had, during the night, ridden eighteen 
 miles to Brunswick, to inform the enemy, and to pilot 
 tliem to the spot. For a few moments all was confusion. 
 The dragoons were calling for the General, and the Gen- 
 eral was calling for the guards, who were scattered in all 
 directions. " The scene was soon closed. General Lee, 
 without a hat, clad in a blanket-coat and slippers, was 
 mounted on a horse that stood at the door, and borne off 
 in triumph to the British army at Brunswick." 
 
 Had Lee, by some fortunate accident, succeeded in re- 
 trieving the fortunes of the army, imsuccessful under 
 Washington, it is probable that the wishes of the people 
 might have turned toward him as commander-in-chief. 
 For men are too apt to judge of those who live in the same 
 age with themselves, merely by their success ; and too 
 often they yield to what is self-confident and assuming, 
 the honor and respect due to sober judgment and high 
 moral j^rinciples. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Lee's success would have 
 proved most unfortunate for the country, for he had nei- 
 ther the judgment nor the principle necessary to guide it 
 safely through the approaching crisis. 
 
 After the capture of Lee, the troops under SuUivan 
 moved on at once to join the Commander-in-chief. Gen- 
 eral Gates, who had left his regiments at Morristown, 
 reached the camp on the same day. As Washington had 
 now a force of about six thousand men fit for service, he 
 was anxious to strike a blow, that should revive the cour- 
 age of the army and the people, before the disbandment 
 of those troops, whose terms of enlistments were about to 
 
392 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 .™AP. expire. The prospect of success was doubtful, but he felt 
 that, under the circumstances, inaction would ruin the 
 
 1776. cause, and defeat could do no more. 
 
 Howe was in New York ; Cornwallis, who was on the 
 eve of embarldng for England, was there also. The Brit- 
 ish forces in New Jersey, though strong, were much scat- 
 tered. The Hessians, who were in the advance, were 
 carelessly cantoned at different points along the eastern 
 bank of the Delaware. Colonel Douop was stationed at 
 Burlington, and his forces were quartered above and be- 
 low that point. Colonel Kahl, who had distinguished 
 himself at White Plains and Fort Washington, was at 
 Trenton, with a force of fifteen hundred men. Tliis brave 
 but careless commander took his ease, enjoyed his music 
 and bath, and when it was proposed to throw up works 
 upon which to mount cannon, in readiness against an 
 assault, said, merrily : " Pooh ! pooh ! an assault by 
 the rebels ! Let them come ; we'll at them with the 
 bayonet." The Hessians were a terror to the people ; 
 they plundered indiscriminately Whig and Tory. The 
 American soldiers hated them intensely for their savage 
 bayonetings on the battle-field, and were eager to avenge 
 the outrages inflicted upon their friends and countrymen. 
 
 Washington proposed to cross the river and surprise 
 the Hessians at different points. A council of war was 
 held, and Christmas night was fixed upon for the enter- 
 prise. By the plan proposed, Washington himself was to 
 cross nine miles above Trenton, and march down upon 
 that place. Colonel Ewing, with the Pennsylvania mili- 
 tia, was to cross a mile below the town, and secure the 
 bridge over Assunpink creek, at the south side of it, and 
 thus cut off the enemy's retreat. Adjutant-general Reed 
 and Colonel Cadwallader, who were stationed at Bristol, 
 nearly opposite Burlington, were to cross below that place 
 
BATTLE OF TRENTON. 393 
 
 and advance against Count Donop's division. The attacks ^,5v?" 
 
 were to be simultaneous, and five o'clock on the morning 
 
 of the twenty-sixth was the hour agreed upon. 1776. 
 
 Just after sunset, on Christmas night, the division un- 
 der Washington, twenty-four hundred in number, began 
 to pass over. With this division was a train of twenty 
 field-jDieces, under the command of Colonel Knox. The 
 river was filled with floating ice, and the weather was in- 
 tensely cold. The boats were guided by Colonel Grlover, 
 and his regiment of Marblehead fishermen, the same who 
 had guided the boats on the memorable retreat from Long 
 Island. The night was extremely dark and tempestuous, 
 and the floating ice and strong wind drove them out of 
 their course again and again. 
 
 Washington had hoped to be on the march by mid- 
 night, but hour after hour passed, and it was four o'clock 
 before the artillery was landed, and the trooj^s ready to 
 move on. They marched in two divisions, one led by 
 Washington, (with whom were Generals Greene, Stirling, 
 Mercer, and Stephen,) by a circuitous route to the north 
 of the town, while the other, under Sullivan, with whom 
 was Colonel John Stark, with his New Hampshire band, 
 was to advance by a direct road along the river, to the 
 west and south side. Sullivan was to halt at a certain 
 point to allow time for the main division to make the 
 circuit. 
 
 It was eight o'clock before this division reached the 
 immediate neighborhood of Trenton ; they had struggled 
 through a terrible storm of hail and snow ; it had impeded Dec. 
 their march, but it had also aided to conceal their move- 
 ments from the enemy. Washington, who had pushed on 
 with the advance, asked of a man who was chopping wood 
 by the road-side the way to the Hessian picket. He an- 
 swered grufily, " I don't know," and went on with his 
 work. " You may tell," said Captain Forrest, of the ar- 
 tillery, " for that is General Washington." " God bless 
 
394 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxxT' ^^^ prosper you ! " exclaimed the man, raising his hands 
 
 to heaven, " the picket is in that house, and the sentry 
 
 1776. stands near that tree." 
 
 In a few minutes the jjicket-guards were driven in. 
 Late as it was, the Hessians were completely surprised. 
 According to their custom, they had indulged freely in the 
 festivities of Christmas, and were resting thoughtless of 
 danger, when the drums suddenly beat to arms. All was 
 confusion. At the first alarm. Colonel Kahl, who learned 
 from the lieutenant of the picket-guard that a large force 
 was advancing to surround him, endeavored to rally his 
 panic-stricken troops. He seems to have meditated a re- 
 treat to Princeton ; he had, in fact, passed out of the 
 town, but the ambition of the soldier triumphed in his 
 breast ; how could he fly before the rebels he had de- 
 spised ? He rashly returned to the charge. By this time 
 Washington had gained the main street, and opened a 
 battery of six field-pieces, which swept it from end to end. 
 As Eahl advanced, at the head of his grenadiers, he fell 
 mortally wounded. At the fall of their leader his soldiers 
 attempted to retreat, but they were intercepted by Colonel 
 Hand, with his Pennsylvania riflemen ; and, hemmed in 
 on all sides, they grounded their arms and surrendered at 
 discretion. 
 
 Stark, with his detachment, had assaulted the south 
 side of the town, and the firing in that quarter had added 
 to the general confusion. A party of British Hght-horse, 
 and five hundred Hessians stationed there " took headlong 
 flight, by the bridge across the Assunpink," and thus 
 escaped and joined Donop at Bordentowu. Had Colonel 
 Ewing been able to cross, according to the arrangement, 
 their escape would have been prevented. 
 
 The Americans took one thousand prisoners, of whom 
 thirty-two were officers ; of their own number, only two 
 were killed, and two were frozen to death on the march. 
 Several were wounded, among whom was James Monroe, 
 
I 
 
 PLANS TO DBIVE THE ENEMY OUT OF JERSEY. 395 
 
 afterward President of the United States, who was at this ^^P- 
 time a lieutenant in the army. 
 
 The attack designed by Eeed and Cadwallader, like 1776. 
 that of Colonel Ewing, was prevented by the ice, which 
 made it impossible for them to embark their cannon. 
 Thus the success was incomplete, and Washington at 
 Trenton, encumbered by his prisoners, with a strong force 
 of the enemy below him, under Count Donop, and another 
 in his rear at Princeton, prudently resolved to recross the 
 Delaware. 
 
 Before he left the town, he, with General Greene, visit- 
 ed Colonel Eahl, who survived until the evening of the 
 day after the battle. The dying Colonel remembered his 
 grenadiers, and during this visit he commended them to 
 the consideration of Washington. Kahl lies buried in the 
 grave-yard of the Presbyterian church in Trenton. 
 
 When Washington had disposed of his prisoners, and 
 allowed his troops a little time to recruit, he resolved to 
 return and follow up his success, before the enthusiasm it 
 liad awakened had time to cool. Meantime, he had re- 
 ceived from Eeed and Cadwallader, who had crossed on 
 the twenty-seventh, the encouraging news that all the Deo. 
 Hessian posts on the liver were deserted ; that Count 
 Donop had retreated with all haste to Brunswick, with a 
 portion of his forces, while the remainder had made their 
 way to Princeton. 
 
 " A fair opportunity is now offered," writes Washing- 
 ton at this time, " to drive the enemy out of New Jersey," 
 and he formed his plans accordingly. The American 
 forces, now no longer needed to guard the Delaware, were 
 gradually concentrating at Trenton. Parties were sent to 
 harass the retreating enemy, and General Heath was or- 
 dered to make a demonstration from the Highlands, as if 
 he intended to attack New York. The New England 
 regiments, whose terms were about to expire, were induced 
 by a bounty of ten dollars and the persuasions of their 
 
396 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^.^^P- officers to remain six weeks longer. Men of standing and 
 
 influence were sent abroad to rouse the militia of New 
 
 1776. Jersey to avenge the outrages inflicted upon the people 
 by the Hessians. Matters began to wear a brighter aspect, 
 and hope and enthusiasm were revived. 
 
 At this crisis, Washington received the highest mark 
 of confidence in the gift of the people — Congress investal 
 him with unlimited mflitaiy authority for six months. 
 The letter of the committee which conveyed to him this 
 resolution closed with these words : " Happy is it for this 
 country that the general of their forces can safely be in- 
 trusted with the most unlimited power, and neither jjer- 
 sonal security, liberty, nor property be in the least endan- 
 gered thereby." ' 
 
 Nothing could exceed the astonishment of Howe when 
 he learned that his Hessians, veterans in war, had fled 
 before the miUtia. Cornwallis was hurried back to resume 
 liis command in the Jerseys. 
 
 Washington, anxious to ascertain the movements and 
 designs of the enemy, sent forward Colonel Keed, who 
 was well acquainted with the country, to reconnoitre. 
 With Keed were six young horsemen, members of the 
 "Philadelphia City Troop," full of fire and zeal, but who 
 had never seen active service. No reward could induce 
 the terror-stricken people to approach Princeton and bring 
 them information. Nothing daunted, the party dashed 
 on till they were in view "of the top of the college building, 
 when tliey observed a British dragoon passing from a barn 
 to a farm-house. SupjDOsing him to be a marauder, they 
 determined to capture him, and obtain the desired infor- 
 mation. Presently they saw another, and another. They 
 charged at once and surrounded the house, " and twelve 
 dragoons, weU armed, ■with their pieces loaded, and hav- 
 
 ' Correspondence of the ReToIution rol. iv. p. 652. 
 
BOTH ARMIES ON THE BANKS OF ASSUNPINK CREEK. 397 
 
 ing the advantage of the house, surrendered to seven ^^f- 
 horsemen, six of whom had never seen an enemy before, 
 
 '^O 
 
 and, almost in sight of the British army, were brought 1776. 
 into the American camp at Trenton, on the same even- 
 ing." ' The sergeant of the dragoons alone escaped. The 
 information obtained from these prisoners was most im- 
 portant. Cornwallis, with a body of picked troops, had 
 joined Colonel Grant the day before at Princeton, and they 
 were ready to march the next day upon Trenton, with a 
 strong force of seven or eight thousand men. 
 
 2. 
 
 In anticipation of an attack, Washington arranged 
 his men, in number about sis thousand, in a favorable 
 position on the east bank of Assunpink creek. As the 
 enemy approached, on the second of January, their ad- Jan. 
 vance was harassed, and so effectually held in check, by 
 forces sent forward under General Greene and Colonel 
 Hand, that they did not reach Trenton till near sunset. 
 The fords and bridge over the creek were carefully guarded 
 and defended by the American batteries. Cornwallis made 
 repeated attempts to cross, but was as often repulsed ; at 
 each repulse a shout ran along the American lines. Think- 
 ing that the struggle might be a desperate one, the British 
 commander concluded to defer it tiU the next day, and 
 retired with the boast that he would " bag the fox in the 
 morning." Both armies kindled their camp-fires, and 
 once more they rested in sight of each other. 
 
 Never had the prospect of the Americans been so 
 gloomy, The officers gathered at the quarters of General 
 Mercer to hold a council of war ; to retreat was impossi- 
 ble ; behind them was the Delaware, filled with floating 
 ice. Who could propose an expedient that would relieve 
 them from the present dilemma ? Such an expedient, 
 one of the boldest and best conceived of the whole war, 
 
 ' Life of Colonel Reed, p. 369. 
 
398 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^P- bad crossed the mind of the Commander-in-chief. He 
 
 judged that the main division of the British forces was 
 
 1777. with Oornwallis ; that Princeton and Brunswick, where 
 their stores were deposited, could be but imperfectly 
 guarded. He proposed to march by a circuitous and 
 obscure road, around the left flank of the enemy, to 
 Princeton, capture the forces there, and then push on and 
 seize the stores at Brunswick. The plan was accepted at 
 once, and the officers entered into it with alacrity. The 
 stores were sent down the river to Burlington, and various 
 stratagems were resorted to to deceive the enemy. Small 
 parties were left behind, some to be noisily employed in 
 digging trenches within hearing of their sentinels ; others 
 to relieve the guards and replenish the camp-fires, and 
 preserve all the appearance of a regular encampment ; at 
 daylight these were to hasten after the army. 
 
 About midnight the Americans began their silent 
 march. The road over which they moved was new and 
 rough, and at sunrise they were still three miles from 
 Princeton. Here they halted, and formed into two divi- 
 sions, one of which, under Washington, was to proceed 
 by a cross-cut to the town, while the other, under General 
 Mercer, was to gain the main road, and destroy the bridge, 
 when they had passed over, to prevent the approach of 
 Oornwallis. 
 
 Three British regiments had passed the night at 
 Jan. Princeton, and two of them were already on their march 
 to join the forces at Trenton. Colonel Mawhood, com- 
 mander of the foremost, when about two miles from the 
 town, caught sight of Mercer's division. Believing it a 
 party of Americans who had been driven from Trenton, he 
 sent back a messenger to Princeton to hurry on the other 
 regiments, that they might surroimd them, and cut off 
 their retreat. Presently Mercer espied the British, and 
 now both parties rushed to gain a favorable position on a 
 rising ground. The Americans were successful, and with 
 
BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 399 
 
 their rifles opened a severe fire upon the enemy, who re- ^.^-^P- 
 
 turned it vigorously. Almost at the first fire Mercer's ^ 
 
 horse was shot under him, and the second officer in com- 1777. 
 mand fell mortally wounded. The enemy took advantage 
 of the confusion that followed the fall of the leaders, and 
 rushed on with the bayonet. The Americans, who were 
 without bayonets, unable to withstand the charge, gave 
 way. As Mercer, now on foot, endeavored to rally them, 
 he was struck down, bayoneted, and left on the field ap- 
 parently dead. 
 
 As his men retreated in confusion, a body of Pennsyl- 
 vania militia, which Washington had sent to their aid, 
 appeared in sight. Mawhood instantly checked his pur- 
 suit of the fugitives, and opened upon these fresh troops a 
 heavy fire of artillery, which brought them to a stand. 
 
 Convinced by the continued firing that the conflict 
 was serious, AVashingtou spurred on in advance of his 
 division, and just at this crisis had reached a rising ground 
 near by, from which he witnessed the scene. He saw the 
 scattered forces of Mercer, the hesitation of the militia ; 
 every thing was at stake. He dashed forward in the face 
 of Mawhood's artillery, exposed both to the fire of the 
 enemy and the random shots of his own soldiers, and 
 waving his hat called upon the faltering and broken forces 
 to follow him. Insi^ired by his voice and example, they 
 rallied at once and returned to the charge. At this mo- 
 ment a Virginia regiment emerged from a neighboring 
 wood, and with loud cheers engaged in the conflict ; while 
 the American artillery, now within range, began to shower 
 grape-shot upon the enemy. The fight was desperate, 
 but the field was won. Mawhood, who, a few minutes 
 before, had felt certain of victory, now with great difficulty 
 forced his way back to the main road, and retreated with 
 all haste toward Trenton. 
 
 The second regiment was attacked by the brigade un- 
 der St. Clair ; broken and scattered, it fled across the 
 
400 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, fields towards New Brunswick. Alarmed at the general 
 
 rout, a part of the third regiment fled in the same direc- 
 
 1777.' tion, -while another portion took refuge in the college 
 building. The American artillery was immediately brought 
 to bear upon it, and they soon surrendered. 
 
 The British loss in this battle was about one hundred 
 slain, and three hundred prisoners, while the Americans 
 lost but few ; among these was the brave Colonel Haslet. 
 Mercer, who was left on the field for dead, was after the 
 battle discovered by Colonel Armstrong, still alive, but 
 suffering greatly from his wounds, and exposure to the 
 cold. He was borne to a neighboring farm-house, where, 
 after a few days, he expired. As a soldier, he was brave ; 
 as a man of sterling merit, he was worthy the respect of 
 his adopted countrymen, for, like Montgomery, he was of 
 foreign birth, and like him, he has won an hohorable name 
 among the heroes of the Kevolution. 
 
 Washington, eager to secure the stores so necessary 
 for his army, pushed on some distance toward Brunswick. 
 A little reflection convinced him that his troops, in their 
 exhausted condition, could not reach there before they 
 would be overtaken. They had been a night and a day 
 without rest ; they were thinly clad, and some of them 
 were barefoot. He stopped and held a consultation with 
 his officers on horseback. They decided that it was inju- 
 dicious to proceed. Grieved and disappointed, that they 
 were unable to reap the advantage of their recent success, 
 they turned their steps toward Morristown. 
 
 When morning revealed to the enemy on the banks of 
 the Assunpink the deserted camp of the Americans, Corn- 
 wallis was greatly at a loss to divine to what covert the 
 " fox " had fled. Soon the booming of cannon at Prince- 
 ton gave him the desired information. His thoughts 
 turned at once to the stores at Brunswick : he must save 
 
THE BRITISH CONFINED TO THEIR CAMP. 401 
 
 them from the hands of his enemy. His march back to ™^' 
 
 Princeton was nnich impeded. The Americans had not 
 
 forgotten to throw obstacles in his way. He found the 1777. 
 bridge over Stony Creek, a few miles from the town, bro- 
 ken down, and the party of Americans left for that pur- 
 pose stUl in sight. Impatient of delay he urged on his 
 soldiers, who, although the waters were breast high, dashed 
 across the stream. Believing that Washington was in 
 full march for Brunswick, he halted not at Princeton, but 
 hurried on in pursuit with so much eagerness, that he did 
 not observe that the Americans had diverged from the 
 road. 
 
 The American army retreated to a strong position at 
 Morristown. There the soldiers provided themselves huts, 
 and remained until the last of May. 
 
 For six months after the battle of Princeton no enter- 
 prise of importance was undertaken by either party. 
 
 The yeomanry of New Jersey were now thoroughly 
 roused to preserve their State from further depredations. 
 They warmly seconded the efforts of Washington, and 
 greatly aided the detachments from the army, who were 
 on the alert to cut off the foraging parties of the enemy ; 
 and so effectually did they harass them, that they scarcely 
 ventured out of sight of their camp. Thus unable to ob- 
 tain provisions for his army, Cornwallis gradually with- 
 drew within his lines, at Brunswick and Amboy, that he 
 might be in communication with New York by water, 
 whence alone he could draw his suppKes. Thus those 
 who, a few weeks before, were in possession of nearly all 
 New Jersey, were now able to retain scarcely more of her 
 soil than was sufficient for a camp. 
 
 The success that had crowned the American arms at 
 Trenton and Princeton cheered the hearts and revived the 
 hopes of the patriots ; but they knew well that the enemy 
 was checked, not conquered ; that the struggle must be 
 renewed, and the result was still doubtful. 
 26 
 
402 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 x^^' Washington had established his head-quarters at Mor- 
 
 ristown, while the right wing of his army, under Putnam, 
 
 1777. was stationed at Princeton, and the left was in the High- 
 lands, under General Heath. Along this extended line, 
 at convenient distances, were established cantonments. 
 Though weak in numbers, the army was so judiciously 
 posted that the enemy, deceived by its apparent strength, 
 hesitated to attack it. 
 
 Putnam, who had with him but a few hundred men, 
 resorted to stratagem to hide his weakness. A British 
 officer, who lay mortally wounded at Princeton, desired 
 the presence of a military comrade in his -last moments. 
 The kind-hearted general could not deny the request ; he 
 sent a flag to Bnmswick in quest of the friend, who en- 
 tered Princeton after dark. Every unoccupied house was 
 carefiilly hghted, lights gleamed in all the college windows, 
 and the Old General marched and countermarched his 
 scanty forces to such eifect, that the British soldier, on 
 his return to the camp, reported them as at least five 
 thousand strong. 
 
 The winter at Morristown was a season of comparative 
 quiet, during which the Commander-in-chief was engaged 
 in earnest efforts to improve the state of his army. The 
 evil etfects of the system of short enlistments adopted by 
 Congress, and rejieatedly protested against by Washing- 
 ton, were severely felt at this juncture. The terms of 
 great numbers were about to expire, and new recruits 
 came in but slowly. To guard against the ravages of 
 small-pox, which at times had been fatally prevalent in 
 the army, these were inoculated as fast as they came in. 
 
 The exchange of prisoners had become a subject of 
 negotiation. At first the British refused to exchange on 
 equal terms, on the plea that the Americans were rebels, 
 but Howe, -nho had at this time about five thousand on 
 his hands, opened a correspondence with Washington on 
 the subject. Now the Americans in their turn objected 
 
I 
 
 SUFFEEINGS OF AMERICAN PRISONERS. 403 
 
 to an exchange. Their captured countrymen had been chap. 
 
 left to the tender mercies of the New York Tories, crowded '_ 
 
 into warehouses, which had been converted into prisons, 1777. 
 or into loathsome hulks anchored in the bay ; fed with 
 impure food, and left to languish in filth and nakedness. 
 Thrilling tales are told of the suiferings of those confined 
 in the sugar-house, and on board the Jersey, a prison- 
 ship. More than ten thousand wretched American pris- 
 oners died during the war, and were buried without cere- 
 mony in shallow graves at Brooklyn, on Long Island. Of 
 those who survived, scarcely one ever fully recovered from 
 the efiects of these hardships. 
 
 Washington refused to recruit the British army by an 
 exchange of well-fed and hale Hessian and British prison- 
 ers, for emaciated and diseased Americans, whose terms 
 of enlistment had expired, and who were scarcely able, 
 from very weakness, to return to their homes. His policy 
 was sanctioned by Congress — a severe jiolicy, but author- 
 ized by the necessities of the times. 
 
 To supply the want of field-ofiicei-s. Congress com- Feb. 
 missioned five major-generals : Stirling, St. Clair, Mifilin, ^^• 
 Stephen, and Lincoln. The latter we have seen as the 
 secretary of the first Provincial Congress of Massachu- 
 setts. He was afterward the efiicient commander of the 
 militia of that State, and now he was promoted over the 
 heads of all the brigadiers. In these appointments, Ar- 
 nold, whose meritorious conduct on the battle-field, as 
 well as his seniority as a brigadier, entitled him to promo- 
 tion, was entirely overlooked. He complained bitterly of 
 tliis injustice ; the wound rankled in his proud breast ; 
 from this hour, till he found consolation in revenge, he 
 seems to have brooded over the disrespect shown him by 
 his countrymen. 
 
 Eighteen brigadier-generals were also commissioned, 
 among whom were Glover, the leader of the Marblehead 
 fishermen; George Clinton, of New York, the sturdy 
 
404 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, guardian of the Highlands, and afterward Vice-President ; 
 
 Woodford and Muhlenburg, of Virginia — the latter an 
 
 1777. Episcopal clergyman, who at the commencement of hos- 
 tilities had " laid aside the surplice to put on a uniform," 
 raised a company of soldiers, and who continued in the 
 army till the close of the war — and Hand and Anthony 
 Wayne, of Pennsylvania. Wayne was by nature a sol- 
 dier ; even in his school-days he turned the heads of his 
 companions by telhng them stories of battles and sieges, 
 and drilled them in making and capturing mud forts. In 
 later years he was so distinguished for his daring, that he 
 became known in the army by the appellation of " Mad 
 Anthony." 
 
 An Irish adventurer named Conway, who professed to 
 have served for thirty years in the French army, and to 
 be thoroughly skilled in the science of war, was also com- 
 missioned. He proved, however, more famous for intrigues 
 than for military genius or coiirage. 
 
 Congress also authorized the enlistment of four regi- 
 ments of cavalry. The quartermaster's department was 
 more perfectly arranged, and General Mifflin was placed 
 at its head. 
 
 The hospital department was also reorganized, and 
 placed under the charge of Doctor Shijipen, of the Medi- 
 cal College at Philadelphia. His principal assistant was 
 Doctor Craik, the friend and companion of Washington in 
 his expeditions against Fort Du Quesne. 
 
 Doctor Push, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence, and afterward celebrated in his profession, 
 was appointed surgeon-general. The office of adjutant- 
 general, resigned by Colonel Keed, was given to Timothy 
 Pickering, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Nor was the navy neglected. Of the vessels authorized 
 to be built, several frigates had been finished and equipped, 
 but the want of funds prevented the completion of the 
 remainder, for the Continental money began to depreciate, 
 
MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS — DANBURY BURNED. 405 
 
 and loans could not be obtained. The entire American CHAP. 
 
 fleet, under Admiral Hopkins, was at this time blockaded '_ 
 
 at Providence. But privateers, especially from New Eng- 1777. 
 land, were eager in pursuit of British vessels trading to 
 the West Indies, of which they captured nearly three 
 hundred and fifty, whose cargoes were worth five millions 
 of dollars. A profitalile trade, principally by way of the 
 West Indies, was also opened with France, Spain, and 
 Holland, but it was attended by great risks, and a large 
 numlier of American vessels thus engaged fell into the 
 hands of British cruisers. 
 
 In the spring, while Washington still remained at 
 Morristown, the British commenced a series of marauding 
 expeditions. A strong party was sent up the Hudson to 
 seize the military stores at Peekskill. General McDou- 
 gall, finding it impossible to defend them against a force 
 BO superior, burned them, and retired with his men to the 
 Mils in the vicinity. As General Heath had been trans- 
 ferred to the command in Massachusetts, Washington sent 
 Putnam to command in the Highlands. 
 
 A month later Oornwallis made an attack on a corps April 
 imder General Lincoln, stationed at Boundbrook, a few 13. 
 miles from Brunswick. The militia, to whom the duty 
 was intrusted, imjoerfectly guarded the camp. Lincoln 
 with difficulty extricated himself, after losing a few men 
 and some cannon. 
 
 Presently a fleet of twenty-six sail was seen proceed- 
 ing up the Sound ; anxious eyes watched it from the shore. 
 It was the intriguing Tryon, now a major-general, in com- 
 mand of a body of Tories, two thousand strong, who was 
 on his way to destroy the military stores collected at Dan- 
 bury, Connecticut. He landed on the beach between 
 Fairfield and Norwalk, on the afternoon of the twenty- 
 fifth, and immediately commenced his march. April. 
 
406 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^P- The alarm spread ; General Silliman, of the Con- 
 
 necticut mihtia, called out his men, and sent expresses in 
 
 1777. every direction. Arnold, who had been sent by Washing- 
 ton, some months before, to prepare defences at Provi- 
 dence, and obtain recruits, happened to be in New Haven 
 when the express arrived with the intelligence of the in- 
 road. He hastened with some volunteers to join Generals 
 Wooster and Silliman, whose forces amounted to about 
 six hundred militia ; and the whole company moved after 
 the marauders. 
 
 Tryon, who had marched all night, reached Danbury 
 on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth. He commenced at 
 once to destroy the magazines of stores. Although the 
 inhabitants had abandoned their homes at his approach, 
 he permitted his soldiers to burn almost every house in 
 the village. By morning the work of destruction was 
 complete. The militia were approaching, and the ma- 
 rauders were compelled to run the gauntlet to their ships, 
 twenty miles distant. 
 
 The Americans were separated into two divisions, one 
 under Wooster, the other under Arnold ; while the former 
 was to harass the enemy in the rear, the latter was to 
 make a stand at a convenient point in advance and ob- 
 struct their jirogress. 
 
 The brave Wooster, though sixty-eight years of age, 
 led forward his men with great spirit. When they, im- 
 used to war, faltered in the face of the enemy's musketry 
 and artillery, he rode to the front and cheered them. 
 " Come on, my boys," cried he, " never mind such random 
 shots." At that moment a musket-ball pierced his side, 
 and he fell froni his horse mortally wounded. His soldiers 
 now retreated in confusion. 
 
 Arnold had made a stand at Ridgefield, two miles be- 
 yond the spot where Wooster fell, and while the enemy 
 was delayed by this skirmishing, he had thrown up a bar- 
 ricade or breastwork. He acted with his usual daring, 
 
DEATH OF GENERAL WOOSTEE. 407 
 
 but, after a spirited resistance, his little force was over- chap. 
 
 powered by numbers and driven back. As be was bring- 
 
 ing off the rear-guard bis horse was shot under him ; IVTV. 
 before he could disengage himself from the struggling ani- 
 mal, a Tory rushed up with a fixed bayonet, and cried 
 out, " You are my prisoner." " Not yet," replied Arnold, 
 as he coolly levelled his pistol and shot him dead. He then 
 escaped, rallied liis men, and renewed the attack. 
 
 The determined resistance of the militia retarded the 
 British so much, that they were forced to encamp for the 
 night. The next day they were greeted with the same -A^Pf'l 
 galling fire from behind trees, fences, and houses, which 
 continued uutil they came v\itliin range of the guns of 
 their ships. They speeddy embarked, fain to escape the 
 rifles of the exasperated yeomanry. 
 
 Greueral Wooster was conveyed to Danbury, where he 
 died surrounded by his family. His loss was greatly de- 
 plored by the patriots. A neat monument in the ceme- 
 tery of that place now marks his grave. 
 
 When Congress learned of the gallant conduct of Ar- 
 nold, they commissioned him a major-general, and pre- 
 sented him with a horse richly caparisoned. Yet even 
 this tardy acknowledgment of his military merit was 
 marred, — the date of his commission still left him below 
 his proper rank. He seemed to feel this second slight 
 more keenly than the first. 
 
 The Americans resolved to retaliate in kind, and Colo- 
 nel Keturn Jonathan Meigs, of Connecticut, with one 
 hundred and seventy men, passed over the Sound to the 
 east end of Long Island. They carried their boats, during 
 the night, fifteen miles across the neck, launched them Mav 
 on the bay, jDassed over to Sag Harbor, and destroyed a 
 great amount of provisions and forage, collected there for 
 the British. In addition, they burned twelve vessels. 
 
408 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 *^:^AP. took ninety piisoners, and returned without losing a man, 
 having passed over ninety miles in twenty-five hours. 
 
 1777. Though strenuous efforts were made to obtain recniits, 
 
 the smallness of the American army still continued ; want 
 of funds crijipled every measure. At the instance of 
 Washington, Congress declared that those redemptioners 
 or indented servants who enlisted in the army should, by 
 that act, become freemen ; and bounties in land were 
 offered the Hessians to induce them to desert. 
 
 Meanwhile General Schuyler labored with great zeal 
 in the northern department. But his feelings were se- 
 verely tried by the aspersions which his enemies cast upon 
 his character, and conduct of aifairs. In the autumn of 
 1776 he wrote : " I am so sincerely tired of abuse, that I 
 will let my enemies arrive at the completion of their wishes 
 as soon as I shall have been tried ; and attempt to serve 
 my injured country in some other way, where envy and 
 detraction will have no temptation to follow me." But 
 Congress would not accept his resignation. During the 
 winter he made repeated ajjpeals to the Commander-in- 
 chief for reinforcements and suj^plies, which, for want of 
 means, could not be sent. There were but six or seven 
 hundred men at Ticonderoga ; Carleton, he thought, 
 might cross Lake Champlain on the ice and attack them ; 
 if successful, he might follow out his original plan and 
 jDUsh on to Albany. As the abuse of which Schuyler com- 
 plained was continued, early in April he proceeded to 
 Philadelphia, and demanded of Congress a committee to 
 inquire into his conduct. Meantime General Gates had 
 been ordered to take command at Ticonderoga. 
 
 Schuyler's patriotism was not an impulse, not a matter 
 of mere words, nor did injustice rouse in his breast, as in 
 that of Arnold, the dark spirit of revenge. However, the 
 committee reported in his favor ; and, with his character 
 and conduct fully vindicated, he returned to the charge 
 of the Northern Department. The ambitious Gates was 
 
NATIONAL FLAG. 409 
 
 deeply chagrined and disappointed ; lie had flattered him- chap. 
 
 self that Schuyler would never resume his command, and '_ 
 
 regarded himself as virtually his successor. Professing to 1777. 
 he aggrieved, he hastened to Philadelphia to seek redress 
 at the hands of Congress. 
 
 The want of a national flag was greatly felt, especially 
 in the marine service. Congress adopted the " Union 
 Flag," with its thirteen stripes, but displaced the " Cross 
 of St. George," and substituted for it thirteen stars ; to ■^™^- 
 which one star has since been added for each additional 
 State. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The Struggle excites an Interest in England and France. — Baron De Kalb. — 
 Privateers fitted out in France. — Negotiations for Munitions of War. — 
 Howe's Manoeuvres. — Burgoyne on his Way from Canada. — Ticonde- 
 roga Captured. — St. Clair's Retreat to Fort Edward. — Efforts to arrest 
 the Progress of Burgoyne. — Capture of General Prescott. — The secret 
 E-Kpedition. — The British Fleet puts to sea. — The American Army at 
 Germantown. — La Fayette. — Pulaski and Kosciuslio. — Aid sent to 
 Schuyler. — Howe lands at Elkton. — Battle of Brandy wine. — Possession 
 taken of Philadelphia. — Battle of Germantown. — Hessians repulsed at 
 Fort Mercer. — Winter Quarters at Valley Forge. 
 
 CHAP "^^^ unfortunate result of the battle of Long Island ; the 
 XXXII. loss of New York and Fort Washington ; and the retreat 
 acrcss New Jersey, were all significant of the weakness of 
 the patriot army. Intelligence of these disasters disheart- 
 ened the friends of the cause in Europe. Edmund Burke, 
 their firm friend, remarked that, although the Americans 
 had accomphshed wonders, yet the overpowering forces to 
 be brought against them in the following campaign, must 
 completely crush their hopes of Independence. Said he : 
 " An army that is obliged, at all tunes, and in all situa- 
 tions, to decline an engagement, may delay their ruin, but 
 can never defend their country." 
 
 The intelligent portion of the people of France were 
 not indifferent spectators of this struggle ; it was watched 
 with intense interest by her merchants, her manufacturers. 
 
 1777. 
 
FKIENDS OF THE CAUSE IN EUROPE ENCOURAGED. 411 
 
 her statesmen. From the day on whicli Canada was wrested chap. 
 
 '' XXXII. 
 
 from her, France had ardently hoped that her proud rival 
 
 might in turn lose her own American colonies. Ten years 1Y77. 
 before the commencement of hostilities, Choiseul, the en- 
 lightened statesman and prime minister of Louis XV., sent 
 an agent through the colonies, to ascertain the feelings of 
 the people. That agent was Baron De Kalb, the sam 
 who afterward so nobly served the cause in the American 
 army. He was indefatigable in " collecting pamphlets, 
 newspapers, and sermons," which he sent to his employer. 
 Choiseul gathered from them the proofs that the British 
 king and ministry, by their blindness and injustice, were 
 fast alienating the good will of their colonists ; and he 
 hoped by offering them, without restriction, the commerce 
 of France, to alienate them more and more. Thus the 
 minds of the French people and government were pre- 
 pared to afford aid, but not under the present aspect of 
 affairs. 
 
 Early in the spring, intelHgence reached Europe, that 
 the American army, which was supposed to be broken 
 beyond recovery, had suddenly rallied, boldly attacked, 
 and driven the invaders out of New Jersey. It was 
 scarcely thought possible. How could a handful of iU- 
 disciplined, ill-armed yeomanry, so destitute of clothes 
 that some of them froze to death while on duty, and oth- 
 ers stained the snow with the blood that flowed from their 
 naked feet, meet and defeat a regular army ? Surely, 
 men who would thus cheerfully suffer, deserved independ- 
 ence ! A thrill of enthusiasm was excited in their favor. 
 They were regarded as a nation of heroes, and Washing- 
 ton, because of his prudence and skill, was extolled as the 
 American Fabius. 
 
 With the connivance of the government, American 
 privateers were secretly fitted out, and even permitted to 
 Bell their prizes in French ports, in spite of the protests 
 
412 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP of the British ainbasf3ador. The government itself secretly 
 
 sent arms and military stores for the American army. 
 
 1777. This was done by means of a fictitious trading-house, 
 known as " Hortales and Company." These supplies were 
 to he paid for in tobacco, sent by the way of the West 
 Indies. Soon after the battle of Lexington, secret nego- 
 tiations on the subject had been entered upon in London 
 by Beaumarchais, an agent of the French court, and Ar- 
 thur Lee, who for some years had resided in that city as 
 a barrister. The latter was a brother of Richard Henry 
 Lee, of Virginia, for which colony he had acted as agent 
 in England. The Secret Committee of Congress, in the 
 mean time, sent Silas Deane to Paris, as an agent to obtain 
 supplies. Though Deane appeared in that city simply as 
 a merchant, he became an object of suspicion, and was 
 closely watched by British spies. Beaumarchais now made 
 arrangements with him to send three ships laden with 
 military stores to the United States. Unfortunately two 
 of these ships were captured by British cruisers ; the third, 
 however, arrived opportunely to furnish some of the regi- 
 April. ments recently enhsted at Morristown. 
 
 Three months after the Declaration of Independence, 
 Doctor Franklin was sent to join Deane in France, and 
 thither, Lee was also directed to repair. To these com- 
 missioners Congress delegated authority to make a treaty 
 of alliance with the French court. They were admitted 
 to private interviews by Vergennes, Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, and encouraged, but the government was not yet 
 prepared to make an open declaration of its true senti- 
 ments. 
 
 The British ministry, by means of spies, obtained in- 
 formation of some of these proceedings. They immedi- 
 ately issued letters of marque and reprisal against the 
 Americans, while Parliament cheeifully voted supplies 
 ^^^- and men to prosecute the war. 
 
HOWE'S movements — NEWS FROM THE NORTH. 413 
 
 As the sirring advanced, the enemy's movements were ^^^P- 
 
 watched with anxious interest. That he might obseiTe 
 
 them to better advantage, Washington, on the twenty- 1777. 
 eighth of May, removed his camp to the heights of Middle- 
 brook, a strong and central position. Early in June, Sir May. 
 William Howe, who had received large reinforcements, 
 and suj^plies of tents and camp equipage, established his 
 head-quarters at Brunswick, about ten miles distant. 
 He commenced a series of manceuvi-es, and made a 
 feint movement toward Philadelphia, in the hope of draw- 
 ing Washington from the heights into the open plain, 
 where British discipline might prevail ; the latter was 
 too cautious to be thus entraj^ped, and Howe, foiled in his 
 attempt, retraced his steps to Brunswick. Presently he 
 evacuated that place, and hastened with all speed toward 
 Amboy. W^ashington sent an advance party in pursuit, 
 but suspecting tliis move was also a feint, he followed 
 slowly with the main body. The suspicion was just ; 
 Howe suddenly wheeled, and by a rapid movement en- 
 deavored to turn the Americans' left, in order to gain the 
 passes and heights in their rear, but Washington saw his 
 object in time to gain his stronghold. Unable to bring 
 on an engagement, Howe in a few days withdrew his forces 
 
 to Staten Island. Jui^e 
 
 20. 
 Just before this time, important news had been received 
 
 from the North. Burgoyne, who had succeeded Sir Guy 
 
 Carleton, was about to advance by way of Lake Cham- 
 
 jilain, while a detachment under General St. Leger and 
 
 Sir John Johnson, was to make its way by Oswego to the 
 
 Mohawk river. On the very day that the British left 
 
 New Jersey, further intelligence came from St. Glair that 
 
 the enemy's fleet was actually approaching Ticonderoga, 
 
 where he was in command. 
 
 The force under Burgoyne was not precisely known ; 
 
 it was, however, thought to be small, but in truth he had 
 
 a finely equipped army of nearly ten thousand men, four- 
 
414 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, fifths of whom were regulars, British and Hessian ; the 
 
 remainder Canadians and Indians. It was furnished with 
 
 1777. one of the finest parks of field-artillery, under the com- 
 mand of General Phillij)s, who had acquired his great 
 reputation as an artillery officer in the wars of Germany. 
 He was also ably supj^orted by the second in command. 
 General Fraser, an officer of great merit, and who was 
 characterized as the soul of the army. The Hessians 
 were imder Baron Keidesel. 
 
 Near Crown Point, Burgoyne met the chiefs of the 
 Six Nations in councU, and induced four hundred of their 
 Juno, warriors to join him. A few days later he issued a bom- 
 bastic proclamation, in which he threatened to punish the 
 patriots who would not immediately submit, and to let 
 loose upon them the Indians. 
 
 St. Clair, who had but three thousand men, wrote to 
 General Schuyler at Albany, that he could not defend 
 Ticonderoga unless he had reinforcements, ending his let- 
 ter by saying : " Every thing will be done that is practi- 
 cable to frustrate the enemy's designs ; but what can be 
 expected from troops iU-armed, naked, and unaccoutred ? " 
 StiU unaware of the force of the enemy, he trusted in his 
 position, and that he could hold out for some time. 
 
 There was an abrupt hill on the edge of the narrow 
 channel which connects Lakes Champlain and George. 
 This hill commanded Fort Ticonderoga, and also Fort 
 Independence, on the east side of Champlain. It was 
 thought by St. Clair, and others, to be absolutely inac- 
 cessible for artillery. But the " wily Phillips," acting on 
 the principle that " where a goat can go, a man may go ; 
 and where a man can go, artillery may be drawn up," 
 suddenly appeared on this hill-top. For three days he 
 had been at work taking his cannon up the height, and in 
 twenty-four hours he would be ready to " rain iron haU " 
 on both the forts, from his Fort Defiance. 
 
 The Americans must now evacuate the forts, or be 
 
 I 
 
6. 
 
 burgoyne's advance — ST. clair's retreat. 415 
 
 made prisoners. St. Clair chose the former. He could chap. 
 
 onlj- escape in the night, and his preparations must be , 
 
 made in the face of the enemy. The two hundred bateaux 1777. 
 were to be laden with stores, the women, the sick and 
 wounded, and sent up South Kiver. St. Clair, with the 
 main body, was to pass to Fort Independence, and with 
 its garrison march through the woods to Skeenesborough, 
 now Whitehall. With the greatest secrecy and speed, 
 the arrangements were made ; the boats, concealed by the July 
 deep shadows of the mountains, were under way ; the 
 main body had passed over the drawbridge to Independ- 
 ence, and was on its march, and the rear division was just 
 leaving Ticonderoga, when suddenly, about four o'clock in 
 the morning, the whole heavens were lighted up ; a house 
 on mount Independence was on fire, and its light revealed 
 the Americans in full retreat. Alarm guns and beating 
 of drums aroused the British. General Fraser was soon 
 in motion with his division, the abandoned forts were 
 taken possession of, and by daylight measures concerted 
 to pursue the fugitives both by land and water. Fraser 
 was to pursue St. Clair with his division, and General 
 Eeidesel to follow with his Hessians, while Burgoyne him- 
 self sailed in his ships to overtake the American flotilla. 
 On the afternoon of the next day, the flotilla reached 
 Wliitehall ; but scarcely were they landed, when the roar- 
 ing of artillery told that the British gunboats had over- 
 taken the rear-guard of galleys. Presently, fugitives from 
 these brought intelligence that the British frigates had 
 landed Indians, who were coming to cut off their retreat. 
 Every thing was abandoned, and set on fire ; all took to 
 flight toward Fort Anne, at . which place, after a most 
 harassing night-march, they arrived. The enemy appeared 
 the same day, but were held in check by sharp skirmish- 
 ing. The Americans thought this the vanguard of Bur- 
 goyne's army, and they set Fort Anne on fire, and retreated 
 
416 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. sixteen miles further to Fort Edward, where General 
 
 Schuyler had just arrived with reinforcements. 
 
 1777. General St. Clair continued his retreat, and at night 
 
 arrived at Castleton ; his rear-guard, contrary to his ex- 
 press orders, stopped six miles short of that place. The 
 next morning, the guard was startled by an attack from 
 Frascr's division, which had marched nearly all night. At 
 tlie first onset a regiment of militia fled, but the regiments 
 of Warner and Francis made a spirited resistance ; yet 
 they were compelled to yield to superior numbers, and 
 make the best retreat they could. St. Clair, in the mean 
 time, jiushed on through the woods ; after seven days, he 
 appeared at Fort Edward, with his soldiers wearied and 
 haggard from toil and exposure. 
 
 Schuyler sent at once a strong force to put obstructions 
 in Wood Creek ; to fell trees and break down the bridges 
 on the road from Fort Anne to Fort Edward. This being 
 the only road across that rough and thickly wooded coun- 
 try, it took Burgoyne three weeks to remove these obstruc- 
 tions and arrive at Fort Edward. The British hailed 
 with shouts of exultation the Hudson ; the object of their 
 toil. It would be easy, they thought, to force their way 
 .July to Albany, in which place Burgoyne boasted he would eat 
 ■ his Christmas dinner. 
 
 Schuyler now retreated to Saratoga. In these reverses 
 the loss of military stores, artiller}^, and ammunition was 
 immense, and the intelligence spread -consternation through 
 the country. The American army under Schuyler con- 
 sisted of only about five thousand men, the majority of 
 whom were militia ; many were without arms, while there 
 was a deficiency of ammunition and provisions. 
 
 Just at this time, a daring and successful adventure 
 mortified the enemy, and afi'orded no little triumph to 
 American enterprise. The commanding officer at New- 
 port, General Prescott, famous for the arbitrary and con- 
 
A BRITISH FLEET PUTS TO SEA. 417 
 
 temptuous manner in which he treated the "rebels," ^^jl- 
 
 oifered a reward for the capture of Arnold, who rephed to ! 
 
 the insult by oifering half the sum for the capture of 1777. 
 Prescott. It was ascertained, by means of spies, that the 
 latter was lodging at a certain house in the outskirts of 
 the town. On a dark night a company of select men, 
 
 with Colonel Barton at their head, crossed Narraganset J"ly 
 
 . .13 
 
 Bay, in whale-boats, threading their way through the Brit- 
 ish fleet. They secured the sentinel at the door, burst 
 into the house, and seized Prescott, who was in bed. The 
 astonished General only asked if he might put on his 
 clothes. "Very few and very quick," replied Barton. 
 He returned with his prisoner across the bay without being 
 discovered. This was a counterpart to the captvire of Lee, 
 for whom Prescott was afterward exchanged. 
 
 The uncertainty as to the designs of the enemy was 
 perplexing. Washington learned from spies in New York 
 that Howe was preparing for an expedition by water, but 
 its destination was a profound secret. Burgoyne was evi- 
 dently jjressing on toward the South, to obtain possession 
 of the Hudson. Did Howe intend to move up that river to 
 co-operate with him, and thus cut off the communication 
 between New England and the other States ; to make an at- 
 tack on Boston, and thus employ the militia of those States 
 ' at home, and prevent their joining Schuyler, or to endeavor 
 to reach Philadelphia by water ? were questions difficult 
 to answer. In the midst of these speculations as to its des- 
 tination, the British fleet, on board of which were about 
 eighteen thousand men, under the command of Howe, 
 passed out through the Narrows, and bore away. Intelli- 
 gence came in the course of ten days that it was seen off 
 Cape May, and Washington moved the army across the Jnlv 
 Delaware to Germantown, a few miles from Philadelphia. 
 Presently it was ascertained that the fleet had sailed 
 to the eastward. Was it to return to New York, or had 
 27 
 
 30. 
 
418 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 \xxn' ^^ sailed for Boston ? Till the designs of the enemy were 
 
 . more definitely known, the army was held in readiness to 
 
 1777. marcli at a moment's notice. 
 
 While waiting for time to unravel these mysterious 
 movements of Sir William, Washington visited Philadel- 
 phia to consult with Congress, and to give directions for 
 the further construction of fortifications on the Delaware, 
 to prevent the enemy from ascending to the city. Some 
 months before, Arnold, after refusing the command in the 
 Highlands, offered him by Washington to soothe his 
 wounded feelings, had accepted that in Pliiladelphia, and 
 with the aid of General Mifflin, had already partially con- 
 structed defences. 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester, the brother of the king of 
 England, at a dinner given him by French officers in the 
 town of Mentz, had told the story, and the cause of the 
 rebellion then going on in America. A youth of nineteen 
 belonging to one of the noble families of France was a 
 listener. For the first time, he heard of the Declaration 
 of Independence, and the full particulars of the struggle 
 for liberty then in progress in the colonies beyond the At- 
 lantic. His generous sympathies were enlisted ; he could 
 appreciate the nobleness of their cause, and his soul was 
 fired with the desire to fly to their aid. Though happily 
 married, and blest with wealth, high social position, and 
 domestic joys, he was willing to leave them all, and risk 
 his life in the cause of freedom. This young man was 
 the Marquis De Lafayette. 
 
 Though the French government was not prepared to 
 take a decided stand, while the issue seemed doubtful, yet 
 this consideration, instead of checking, inflamed his ardor. 
 " Now I see a chance for usefulness, which I had not an- 
 ticipated. I have money ; I will purchase a ship, which 
 will convey to America myself, my comjjanions, and the 
 freight for Congress." Such were his words ; and he se- 
 
LAFAYETTE — THE FOREIGN OFFICERS. 419 
 
 cretly purchased a vessel, whicli Deane loaded witli military ™^P- 
 
 stores, and accompanied by eleven officers, among whom 
 
 was the Baron De Kalb, he sailed directly for the United 17VT. 
 States. He landed on the coast of South Carolina, and 
 proceeded at once to Philadelphia, to have an interview 
 with Congress. The number of foreign officers who were 
 applicants for employment in the army was so great, that 
 Congress found difficulty in disposing of them. Deane had 
 been authorized to engage a few competent officers, but 
 he seems to have accepted all who applied ; and many 
 came as adventurers, and " even some who brought high 
 recommendations, were remarkable for nothing but extrav- 
 agant self-conceit, and boundless demands for rank, com- 
 mand, and pay." ' 
 
 But the earnest disinterestedness of Lafayette capti- 
 vated all hearts. Though he oflered to serve as a volun- 
 teer without pay. Congress commissioned him a major- 
 general, but without any special command. A few days 
 after this Washington and Lafayette met — names to be 
 ever linked in the annals of freedom. Congress also ac- Ang. 
 cepted the services of Count Pulaski, already famous for 
 his patriotic defence of his native Poland. His fellow- 
 countryman, Thaddeus Kosciusko — a youth of twenty- 
 one — afterward equally celebrated in fighting, though un- 
 successfully, for the liberties of the same Poland, was 
 already with General Schuyler, acting in the capacity of 
 engineer. 
 
 It was now ascertained that Sir Henry Clinton, whom 
 Howe had left in command in New York, had a force 
 sufficient, not merely to penetrate lip the Hudson and co- 
 operate with Burgoyne, but to send detachments and 
 create a diversion in favor of Howe in the vicinity of Phil- 
 adelphia. 
 
 Just at this time came urgent appeals from Schuyler, 
 
 ' Hildreth, vol. iii. p. 194. 
 
420 HISTORY OF THE UNITKD STATES. 
 
 CHAP, and Washington detached to his aid two brigades from 
 
 the Highlands, and soon after Colonel Morgan with his 
 
 1777. riflemen, to counteract the Indians, of whom the militia 
 had a great dread. He had already sent Arnold, who 
 would be of special service in that region — the scene of 
 some of his brilliant exploits. Now he directed General 
 Lincoln, who was in Mssachusetts, to repair thither with a 
 portion of the militia of that State, and sent an express to 
 Putnam to hold himself in readiness to repel any attack 
 from Clinton, and prevent his forming a junction with Bur- 
 goyne. We will now leave the affairs in the North till we 
 have disposed of those connected with Howe's expedition. 
 
 In the midst of uncertainty, Washington was about to 
 issue orders for the army at Germantown to move toward 
 New York, when an express brought him the intelligence 
 that the British fleet had passed into the Chesapeake. 
 The mystery was easily explained. Howe had learned of 
 the obstructions in the Delaware, and he now designed to 
 land his troops at the head of the Chesapeake, and march 
 thence to Philadelphia, while the fleet should return, and 
 in concert with the land forces, reduce the forts on the 
 Delaware. After being delayed some weeks by adverse 
 winds, his army was now landed at Elkton, about sixty- 
 miles from Philadelphia. His first demonstration was to 
 issue another of his famous proclamations ; again he offered 
 pardon to those rebels who would submit, and promised 
 Aug protection to those persons who would remain peaceably 
 25. at home. 
 
 The main body o^ the American army was still at 
 Germantown, where the militia, that had been called out, 
 had assembled. Washington was sadly deficient in men 
 and means to meet the British in open conflict ; and there 
 were no hills in the region, which he coidd occupy. He 
 had only eleven thousand effective men ; there was none 
 of that enthusiasm which was then bringing the militia in 
 
BATTLE OF BEANDYWINE, 421 
 
 thousands to repel Burgoyne. The Quakers of Delaware E^^,- 
 
 and Pennsylvania were at best but lukewarm in the cause, 
 
 while the Germans wished to be neutral, and to avoid the 1Y77. 
 expense. 
 
 Washington concentrated his army in the vicinity of 
 Wilmington, but after examining the country resolved to 
 fall back beyond the Brandywine creek, which was every- 
 where fordable. The main road to Philadelphia crossed 
 the creek at Chadd's Ford. This, it was thought, would 
 be the main point of attack. A hQl overlooking the ford 
 had been intrenched, and there Wayne was stationed with 
 the artillery. The right wing was commanded by Sulli- 
 van, who had just arrived with three thousand men from 
 Jersey ; his division extended two miles up the creek. 
 The left wing, under General Armstrong — the same who 
 destroyed the Indian town of Kittaning — extended a mile 
 below ; while General Greene, with the reserve, was sta- 
 tioned in the rear of the centre on the hills. 
 
 In the morning, the enemy, in heavy column, was Sept. 
 descried moving toward Chadd's Ford. This division ^^• 
 could be only partially seen, because of intervening woods, 
 but it appeared to be the main body of the enemy. Skir- 
 mishing soon commenced between the riflemen and the 
 enemy, who made several attempts to cross the ford, but 
 were as often repulsed. 
 
 Near mid-day a note from Sullivan stated he had heard 
 that Howe, with a large body of troops, was passing up 
 another road, with the intention of reaching the upper 
 fords of the creek, and then turning the right flank of the 
 Americans. AVashington sent a company to reconnoitre. 
 In the mean time, he determined to throw his entire force 
 on the enemy immediately in his front, and rout them be- 
 fore they could obtain assistance from the division march- 
 ing the other road ; his orders were given for bofh wings 
 to co-operate. This would have been a skilful move, and. 
 
422 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, in all probability, have secured the defeat of Knyphausen, 
 
 who, with his Hessians, was in front. 
 
 ITVT. At the moment Sullivan was complying with the order, 
 
 unfortunately Major Spicer came from the ujiper fords, 
 and reported that there was no enemy in that quarter. 
 This information was transmitted to the Commander-in- 
 chief, who, in consequence, countermanded the former 
 order, till he could receive further information. After 
 waiting some time, a patriot of the neighborhood, with his 
 horse in a foam, dashed into the presence of Washington, 
 and declared that Howe was really passing the fords, and 
 rapidly gaining the rear of the American army. Wash- 
 ington replied, that he had just heard there was no enemy 
 in that quarter. " You are mistaken, general," exclaim- 
 ed the excited countryman ; " my life for it, you are mis- 
 taken." And tracing the course of the roads in the sand, 
 he showed him the position. All doubts were removed in 
 a few minutes, by the return of the party sent to recon- 
 noitre with intelligence that a large body of the enemy 
 was fast gaining their rear. 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, led by Tory guides, had marched a 
 circuit of seventeen miles, and Knyphausen was merely 
 waiting at Chadd's Ford for that circuit to be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Sullivan was ordered to oppose Cornwallis, and Greene, 
 with the reserve, to give aid where it might be needed. 
 Sullivan made a vigorous resistance, but was forced to fall 
 back to a piece of woods, in which the British became 
 entangled. The Americans rallied on a hill, and there 
 made a still firmer resistance, but were at length com- 
 pelled to fall back. Greene was now ordered to move to 
 their support, which he did with such rapidity, that his 
 men marched, or rather ran, five miles in less than an 
 hour. Such was the skilful disposition of his soldiers, 
 that they not only checked the enemy, but opened their 
 ranks and let the retreating Americans pass through. This 
 
AMERICANS EETREAT TO GERMANTOWN. 423 
 
 brave conduct of the reserve saved Wayne's division from ™^J- 
 
 a complete rout. He had stubbornly withstood the Hes- 
 
 sians at the Ford, but when he saw the forces under Sul- 1777. 
 livan retreating, unable to cope with half the British 
 army, he gradually, and in order, fell back. The Hessians 
 were not disi)osed to press upon their determined foe. 
 Thus ended the battle of Brandywine. The Americans 
 were driven from the field, but the soldiers were not aware 
 that they had suffered a defeat ; they thought they had 
 received only a check. Though some of the militia gave 
 way at once, the great majority fought bravely, met the 
 enemy in deadly conflict with the bayonet, and forced 
 them back ; but, at last, numbers prevailed. 
 
 Lafayette behaved with great bravery and prudence ; 
 he had leaped from his horse to rally the troops, when he 
 was severely wounded in the leg. Count Pulaski also dis- 
 tinguished himself greatly — riding up within pistol-shot 
 of the enemy to reconnoitre. Congress promoted him to 
 the rank of brigadier-general, and gave him the command 
 of the horse. 
 
 Sir William Howe loved repose, and he did not press 
 his advantage, but remained two days encamped near the 
 field of battle. 
 
 During this time, the Americans retreated, first to 
 Chester, and on the twelfth safely crossed the Schuylkill, 
 and thence proceeded to Germantown ; there Washington 
 let them repose a day or two. They were in good spirits, 
 he prepared to meet the enemy again, and with this inten- 
 tion crossed the river. About twenty-five miles from Sept. 
 Philadelphia the two armies met, but a furious storm pre- 
 vented a conflict. The rain so much injured the a»ms and 
 ammunition that Washington deemed it prudent once 
 more to recross the river, and retire to Pott's Grove, about 
 thirty miles from Philadelphia. General Wayne was de- 
 tached, in the meanwhile, with fifteen hundred men, to 
 secretly gain the rear of the British army, and cut off their 
 
424 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, taggage ; but a Tory carried information of the enter- 
 
 prise, and Wayne himself was surprised, and after the loss 
 
 1777. of three hundred men forced to retreat. 
 20' When it seemed certain that the city must fall into 
 
 the hands of the British, the military stores were removed, 
 and a contribution levied upon the inhabitants for blank- 
 ets, clothes, shoes, and other necessaries for the army 
 during the approaching winter. 
 
 It was a time of great danger, and Congress again 
 clothed Washington with absolute power, first for sixty 
 days, and soon after for double that period. This done, 
 that body adjourned, first to Lancaster, and then in a few 
 days to York, beyond the f^usquehanna. 
 
 Howe, by a night march, was enabled to pass the 
 Schuylkill ; he then pushed on a detachment which took 
 Sent possession of Philadelphia, while the main body of his 
 22. army halted at Germantown. 
 
 Though the city was in the hands of the enemy, the 
 Americans still held possession of the forts on the lower 
 Delaware. 
 
 With much exertion, Admiral Howe had brought the 
 fleet round from the Chesapeake, and anchored it below 
 the forts. Fort Mifflin was situated on a low mud island, 
 at the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware. 
 Directly opposite, at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, was 
 Fort Mercer. These were furnished with heavy cannon. 
 Heavy timbers framed together, with beams projecting, 
 and armed with iron spikes, were sunk in the river by 
 means of weights ; in addition to these obstructions, were 
 floating batteries above. 
 
 -'o 
 
 Washington having learned, from intercepted letters, 
 that a detachment had left Germantown to aid the fleet 
 in an attack on these forts, resolved to surprise the re- 
 mainder. After a night's march of fourteen miles, he 
 entered Germantown at sunrise. A dense fog concealed 
 
BATTLE OF GEEMANTOWN. 425 
 
 the outskirts of the town, and he was unable to learn the ™^P- 
 
 precise position of the enemy, or that of his own troops. ' 
 
 The British, taken by surprise and thrown into confusion, 1777. 
 gave way on aU sides. The Americans, instead of pur- 
 suing their advantage, lingered to attack a strong stone 
 house, in which a few of the enemy had taken refuge, 
 when an unaccountable panic seized them : the complete Oet. 
 victory within their grasp was lost. The enemy now ral- ■*• 
 lied and attacked in their turn ; but the Americans re- 
 treated without loss, and carried off all their cannon and 
 their wounded. 
 
 Washington, in writing to Congress, says : " Every 
 account confirms the opinion I at first entertained, that 
 our troops retreated at the instant when victory was de- 
 claring herself in our favor." And such is the testimony 
 of many oflicers in their letters to their friends. 
 
 The effect of the bold attack upon Germantown was 
 soon perceptible, in the spirit of the Americans. One 
 writes : " Though we gave away a complete victory, we 
 have learnt this valuable truth, that we are able to beat 
 them by vigorous exertions, and that we are far superior 
 in point of swiftness ; we are in high spirits." Again we 
 find expressions of confidence of a different character. An 
 oflicer writes : " For my own part, I am so fully convinced 
 of the justice of the cause in which we are contending, 
 and that Providence, in its own good time, wUl succeed 
 and bless it, that were I to see twelve of the United 
 States overrun by our cruel invaders, I should stiU believe 
 the thirteenth would not only save itself, but also work 
 out the deliverance of the others." 
 
 Howe immediately withdrew his troops from German- 
 town. He must either obtain possession of the forts, that 
 his fleet might come up, or evacuate the city for want of 
 provisions. The Americans, on the other hand, resolved 
 to defend the forts to the last extremity. Howe sent 
 Count Donop, with twelve hundred picked men, grena- 
 
426 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^P. diers, to make an assault on Fort Mercer, while the men- 
 
 of-war should open on Fort Mifflin and the floating bat- 
 
 1777. teries. The outworks of Fort Mercer were not fully com- 
 22 ' pleted, -flihen Count Donop suddenly appeared. Colonel 
 Christopher Greene ordered the men — ^four hundred Ehode 
 Island Continentals — to keep out of sight as much as 
 possible. To deceive the enemy, he made a short stand 
 at the outer works, and then retreated rapidly to the inner 
 redoubt. The enemy advanced in two columns ; the 
 Americans received them with a brisk fire, and then re- 
 treated in haste. The Hessians thought the day their 
 own, and with shouts of triumph rushed to storm the inner 
 redoubt. They were met by an overwhelming discharge 
 of grape-shot and musketry, and completely repulsed, with 
 the loss of four hundred men ; the Americans lost but 
 eight slain and twenty-nine wounded. After the battle, 
 as an American officer was passing among the slain, a 
 voice called out : " Whoever you are, draw me hence." 
 It was Count Donop. A few days afterward, when he 
 felt his end approaching, he lamented his condition. " I 
 die," said he, " the victim of my ambition, and of the 
 avarice of my sovereign." 
 
 Fort Mifflin was commanded by Colonel Samuel Smith, 
 of Maryland. In their attack uj)on it, the British lost 
 two men-of-war — one of which was blown up, the other 
 burned. 
 
 Meantime the enemy received reinforcements from 
 New York, and were able to take possession of another 
 island, on which they erected batteries, and opened an 
 incessant fire uijon Fort Mifflin. After a most undaimted 
 defence, both forts were abandoned, and the enemy left to 
 °q' remove the obstructions in the river at their leisure. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth, Washington retired to White 
 Marsh, fourteen miles from Philadelphia. Before going 
 into winter-quarters, Howe thought to surprise his camp. 
 A Quaker lady, Mrs. Darrah, overheard some British 
 
5. 
 
 WINTER QUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE. 427 
 
 officers speaking of the intended expedition ; she imme- chap. 
 
 diately gave Washington information of what was going 
 
 on. Preparations were made to give the British a warm 1777. 
 reception. A company was sent to harass them on their 
 night-march. Finding themselves discovered, they hesi- 
 tated to press on. The next day, Howe labored to draw Dec. 
 Washington into the plain, where British discipline might 
 be successful. When he saw the effort was useless, he 
 retired to Philadelphia. 
 
 Congress now summoned the nulitia to repair to the 
 main army. A few days after Howe's withdrawal from 
 Gcrmantown, Washington also retired to winter-quarters 
 at Valley Forge, a rugged hollow on the Schuylkill, about 
 twenty miles from Philadelphia. He could thus protect 
 the Congress at York, as well as his stores at Reading. 
 
 We now turn to relate events — most important in 
 their influence — which, during the last few months, had 
 transpired in the North. 
 
CHAPTEK XXXIII. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Tlie Invasion from Canada. — Appointment of General Gates. — Burgoyne's 
 Advance. — Jenny McCrea. — St. Leger besieges Fort Stanwis. — The 
 Attempt to relieve it. — St. Leger retreats. — Battle of Bennington. — 
 Change of Prospects. — Battle of Bchnius's Heights. — Ticonderoga be- 
 sieged. — Burgoyne surrenders his Army at Saratoga. — The Prisoners.- 
 Capture of Forts on the Hudson.— Schuyler. 
 
 COAP. The unlooked for loss of Ticonderoga, with the disasters 
 " that so rapidly followed, startled the people of the north- 
 
 1777. ern States more than any event of the war. So little 
 did Congress appreciate the diiSculties under which Schuy- 
 ler and his officers labored, that they attributed these 
 misfortunes to their incapacity. John Adams, then Presi- 
 dent of the Board of War, gave expression to this feel- 
 ing when he wrote : " We shall never be able to defend a 
 post till we shoot a general." In the excitement of the 
 moment. Congress ordered all the northern generals to be 
 recalled, and an inquiry instituted into their conduct. 
 The northern army would thus be without officers ; but, 
 on a representation to this effect, Washington obtained 
 a suspension of the injudicious order. Clamors against 
 Schuyler were renewed with greater violence than ever. 
 In truth, many members of Congress were influenced by 
 an unreasonable prejudice, which had been excited in New 
 England against him. When Washington, whose confi- 
 dence in Schuyler was unshaken, declined to make any 
 
buegoyne's proclamation — JENNY m'crea. 429 
 
 change in the Northern Department, " Congress made the chap. 
 
 nomination ; the Eastern influence prevailed, and Gates . 
 
 received the appointment, so long the object of his aspi- 1777. 
 rations, if not intrigues." ' 
 
 The correspondence between Washington and Schuy- 
 ler makes known the plan upon which they agreed to repel 
 the invaders. This was to keep bodies of men on their 
 flank and rear, intercept their supplies, and cut off the 
 detachments sent from the main army. We shall see how 
 completely this plan succeeded. 
 
 Confident of subduing the " rebels," Burgoyne, on his 
 arrival at Fort Edward, issued a second proclamation, in 
 which he called upon the people to appoint deputies to 
 meet in convention at Castleton, and take measures to 
 re-establish the royal authority. To counteract this, 
 Schuyler issued a proclamation, threatening to punish 
 those as traitors who in this manner should aid the enemy. 
 Burgoyne's proclamation had no effect ; the hardy yeo- 
 manry were too patriotic. The whole northern portion of 
 the country was deeply moved, and the mihtia rallied 
 to arms. 
 
 The Indians of Burgoyne's army prowled about the 
 country, murdering and scalping. A beautiful girl, Jenny 
 McCrea, the daughter of a Scotch Presbyterian clergy- 
 man, of New Jersey, who died before the war, was visiting 
 a friend in the vicinity of Fort Edward. Her family were 
 Whigs ; she was, however, betrothed to a young man, 
 David Jones, a Tory, who had gone to Canada some time 
 before, and was now a lieutenant in Burgoyne's army. 
 When Fort Edward was about to be abandoned, her 
 brother urged her to leave with the families of the neigh- 
 borhood, who were going out of danger to Albany. She 
 lingered ; she hoped, perhaps, to see her lover, but as 
 
 ' Washington Irving. 
 
430 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, danger drew nearer she prepared to comply ■with her 
 
 ' brother's request. 
 
 1777. At the moment of leaving, a band of Indians, sent by 
 
 Burgoync to harass the Americans, burst into the house, 
 and carried her off a captive. Anxious for her safety, she 
 promised her captors a reward, if tliey would take her to 
 the British camp. On the way, the Indians quarrelled as 
 to who should have the promised reward, and one of them 
 in a rage killed the poor girl, and carried off her scalp. 
 This murder sent a thrill of horror throughout the land. 
 The people remembered the murders of former days, when 
 the Indians were urged on by French influence ; and now 
 they asked, Must those scenes be re-enacted by the savage 
 hirelings of England, our mother country ? And they 
 flocked in thousands to repel such an enemy. Thus " the 
 blood of this unfortunate girl was not shed in vain. Ar- 
 mies sprang up from it. Her name passed as a note of 
 alarm along the banks of the Hudson ; it was a raUying- 
 ing word among the green mountains of Vermont, and 
 brought down aU her hardy yeomanry." ' 
 
 St. Leger had passed up the Oswego, and was besieg- 
 ing Fort Stanwix, or Schuyler. This fort was on the 
 Aug. Mohawk, at the carrying-place to Lake Oneida. With 
 St. Leger was Sir John Johnson, with his Koyal Greens, 
 and his savage retainers, the Mohawks, under the cele- 
 brated chief, Brant. This Brant had been a pupil in 
 Wheelock's school — since Dartmouth College — establish- 
 ed for the education of Indians and others. The fort was 
 held by two New York regiments, under Colonels Ganse- 
 voort and Willet. General Herkimer raised the militia 
 of the neighborhood, and went to relieve the fort. But 
 owing to the impatience of his men, he fell into an ambus- 
 cade of Tories and Indians. Johnson's Greens were Tories 
 from this vicinity, and neighbor met neighbor in deadly 
 
 ' Washington Irving. 
 
 3. 
 
DEATH OF HEKKIMER RETKEAT OF ST. LEGER. 431 
 
 conflict. It was one of the most desperate encounters of ™^p. 
 the war ; quarter was neither given nor asked. There ' 
 
 were instances, when all was over, where the death-grasp 1777. 
 still held the knife plunged into a neighbor's heart. It 
 seems as if the fight had been presided over by demons. 
 The brave old Herkimer was mortally wounded, but lean- 
 ing against a tree, he continued to encourage his men, tiU 
 a successful sortie from the fort compelled the enemy to 
 defend their own camp. The Americans retreated, taking 
 with them their worthy commander, who died a few days 
 after. 
 
 The fort was still in a precarious condition, and must 
 be relieved. When intelligence of this came to the army, 
 Arnold volunteered to march to its aid. To frighten the 
 Indians he employed stratagem. He sent in advance the 
 most exaggerated stories of the number of his men, and 
 proclaimed that Burgoyne had been totally defeated. As 
 anticipated, the Indians deserted in great numbers. The 
 panic became so great, that two days before Arnold arrived 
 at the fort, St. Leger had retreated, leaving his tents 
 standing. 22. 
 
 General Schuyler now moved from Saratoga down to 
 the mouth of the Mohawk, and there intrenched himself. 
 The British had the full command of Lake George ; but, 
 with all their exertions, they were nearly out of provisions. 
 The distance from the upper end of that lake to the Hud- 
 son was only eighteen miles, but so effectively had the 
 draft-cattle and horses been removed, that it seemed al- 
 most impossible to transport their baggage. 
 
 To obtain horses for a company of dismounted German 
 dragoons, and seize stores collected at Bennington, Ver- 
 mont, Burgoyne sent a detachment of Indians and Tories, 
 and five hundred Germans, under Lieutenant-colonel 
 Baum. He had been told that the grain and provisions 
 deposited in that place were but poorly guarded. He was 
 
432 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^AP. also made to believe that five to one of the people were 
 
 royaKsts. 
 
 1777. It was soon noised abroad that the enemy were on the 
 
 way, and the Green Mountain Boys began to assemble. 
 Colonel Stark having been slighted, as he thought, at the 
 recent appointment of officers by Congress, had withdrawn 
 from the Continental army. He was invited to take com- 
 mand of the assembling yeomanry ; he accepted the invi- 
 tation with joy. Expresses were sent in every direction 
 to warn the people to drive off their cattle and horses, and 
 conceal their grain and wagons, and also to Manchester, 
 for Seth Warner to hasten to Bennington with his regi- 
 ment. 
 
 When Baum — who moved very slowly, his men stop- 
 ping in the woods every few minutes to dress their lines — 
 14. was within six miles of Bennington, he heard of Stark's 
 approach ; he halted, began to intrench, and sent to Bur- 
 goyne for reinforcements. Colonel Breyman was sent to 
 his aid, with five hundred Hessians and two field-pieces. 
 A severe storm prevented Stark from making an attack, 
 and also retarded the march of Breyman and Warner. 
 During the night the Berkshire miUtia joined Stark. An 
 incident may show the spirit of the times : " Among these 
 mihtia was a belligerent jjarson, full of fight, Allen by 
 name, possibly of the bellicose family of the hero of Ticon- 
 deroga." ' " General," cried he, " the people of Berksliire 
 have been often called out to no purpose ; if you don't 
 give them a chance to fight now they wUl never turn out 
 again." " You would not turn out now, while it is dark 
 and raining, would you .? " demanded Stark. " Not just 
 now," was the rei3ly. " Well, if the Lord should once 
 more give us sunshine, and I don't give you fighting 
 enough," rejoined the veteran, " I'll never ask you to turn 
 
 out again." 
 
 ' Irving. 
 
BATTLE OF BENNINGTON CHANGE OF PKOSPECTS. 433 
 
 The next mominsr the sun did shine, and Stark drew £5,™ 
 
 ■^o 
 
 xxxiir. 
 out his forces. When he came in sight of the enemy, 
 
 turning to his men he exclaimed : " There are the red- 1777. 
 coats ! We must beat to-day, or Molly Stark's a widow." ^gf' 
 The attack was made in both rear and front at the same 
 time. The Indians and Tories generally fled to the woods. 
 Baum defended his lines with great determination, and 
 his field-pieces were well manned, but after two hours' 
 fighting, the works were stormed. The Americans had 
 no artillery, but they rushed up within a few yards of the 
 enemy's cannon, the better to take aim at the gunners. 
 At length Baum fell mortally wounded, and his men sur- 
 rendered. 
 
 Scarcely was the battle ended, when Breyman appeared 
 on the one side, and Warner, who had marched all night 
 in the rain, on the other. The fighting was renewed, and 
 continued till night. Favored by the darkness, Breyman 
 left his artillery and made the best of his way back to 
 Burgoyne. About two hundred of the enemy were slain, 
 and six hundred taken prisoners. A thousand stand of 
 arms and four pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the 
 Americans, who had but fourteen killed and forty wounded. 
 
 What a change a few weeks had produced in the pros- 
 pects of the two main armies ! To the American, the 
 militia were flocking, the brigades from the Highlands had 
 arrived, and Morgan with that terror of the Indians, his 
 riflemen, five hundred strong. Disasters, in the mean 
 while, crowded upon Burgoyne. The side enterprises of 
 St. Leger and Baum had failed ; the New Hampshire and 
 Massachusetts troops were pressing on toward Ticonderoga 
 to cut off his supplies and intercourse with Canada. The 
 Indians, in great numbers, were deserting. They had 
 taken umbrage because their atrocities were to be hereafter 
 restrained. Burgoyne was a gentleman, humane and cul- 
 tivated ; he abhorred these outrages, and, to his honor be 
 it said, preferred that the savages shoidd leave his army, 
 28 
 
Sept. 
 
 434 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^P. rather than they should remain and he unrestrained. The 
 
 ' disgrace of employing them belongs to his government at 
 
 1777. home, not to him. 
 
 It was at tliis juncture that Gates arrived to take 
 command. He found the army in high spirits, nearly six 
 thousand in number, and increasing every day. Schuyler 
 met him with his usual highminded courtesy, explained 
 fuUy the condition of the two armies, and offered him all 
 the assistance he could give, hy his counsel or otherwise. 
 So little could Gates appreciate such generous impulses, 
 that, a few days after, when he called his first council of 
 war, he omitted to invite Schuyler. 
 
 Leaving the islands at the mouth of the Mohawk, 
 Gates moved xip the river and took position on Behmus's 
 Heights — a ridge of hills extending close to the river-bank 
 and lying just south of Saratoga. There he intrenched 
 his army by strong batteries on the right and left. 
 
 Burgoyne had thrown a bridge of boats over the Hud- 
 son, and led over tlie English portion of his army to Sara- 
 toga, while the Hessians remained on the eastern side. 
 Both divisions moved slowly down the river. There were 
 deep ravines and woods between the two armies, and knolls 
 covered with dense forests ; also, in one place, a cleared 
 field. On the nineteenth it was announced that the 
 enemy were in motion toward the American left. Here 
 Arnold commanded, while Gates took charge of the right. 
 It was the intention of the British to draw the Americans 
 in that direction, and then to make an assault on their 
 centre, when thus weakened, and cut their way through 
 to Albany. Gates designed to wait the attack in his 
 camp, but Arnold wished to hold the enemy in check, and 
 not permit them to turn the American left. After much 
 solicitation, he obtained permission from Gates to send 
 Morgan with his riflemen to check the enemy. The rifle- 
 men soon met, and put to flight the advance-guard, but 
 pursuing them with two much ardor they came upon a 
 
BATTLK OF BEHMUS'S HEIGHTS. 435 
 
 strong column, and were themselves forced to fall back in ^^ap . 
 
 confusion. Arnold now came to their aid with other regi- 
 
 ments, and soon he was contending almost hand to hand 1777. 
 with the entire British right wing. He sent repeatedly 
 to Gates for reinforcements, which the latter refused to 
 send, and excused himself on the ground that he would 
 thus weaken his own wing ; and Arnold, with only three 
 thousand men, was left for four hours to sustain the attack. 
 The severest conflict was around, and in the open field. 
 The Americans were posted on the one side in a dense ' ^^ " 
 wood, whei'e cannon could not be used ; the British on 
 the opposite side in a thin pine grove, where they could 
 use their artillery. When the British would move into 
 the field, the American riflemen would drive them back, 
 and when the Americans became the pursuers, the British 
 would sweep their ranks with their cannon. A dozen 
 times this field was lost and won. The riflemen repeat- 
 edly took possession of the British artillery, but the rough- 
 ness of the ground would not permit them to secure the 
 guns ; and before they could turn them, they themselves 
 were driven ofi" at the point of the bayonet. Night ended 
 the contest ; the Americans withdrew to their camp, and 
 the British remained on the field of battle. The latter 
 lost more than five hundred, while the Americans lost 
 less than three hundred. They looked upon the result as 
 a triumph ; they had accomplished all they intended, and 
 the enemy had failed in their designs. 
 
 Two days before the battle of Behmus's Heights, a 
 detachment of Lincoln's militia, under Colonel Brown, 
 had seized the posts at the outlet of Lake George ; also a 
 fleet of bateaux laden with jjrovisions for Burgoyne's ar- 
 my, and three hundred prisoners. The same party united 
 with another, and laid siege to Ticonderoga. 
 
 Burgoyne's intercourse with Canada was thus cut off ; 
 his provisions were fast diminishing, and his horses were 
 dying for want of forage. At this moment of darkness 
 
436 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP came a gleam of light — a note from Sir Henry Clinton — 
 
 informing him that in a few days he would make an effort 
 
 1777. to ascend the Hudson. In hopes of maintaining his posi- 
 tion until Clinton could reheve him, Burgoyne began to 
 fortify his camp. For nearly three weeks the two armies 
 watched each other. Almost every day advanced parties 
 skirmished, but as Gates was deficient in ammunition, he 
 hesitated to attack. 
 
 Meantime there was trouble in the American camp. 
 The soldiers attributed the success of the late battle to 
 generalship of Arnold. But for some reason, jealousy 
 perhaps, Gates removed him from his command. 
 
 Hearing nothing ftirther from CHnton, Burgoyne re- 
 solved to risk a battle, and cut his way through the oppos- 
 ing force. He therefore sent a detachment of fifteen 
 hundred picked men to take position within a mile of the 
 Oct. American lines. A New Hampshire brigade attacked 
 this division furiously, and Morgan, with his riflemen, 
 managed to cut them off from their camp. 
 
 Arnold was in his tent, brooding over the treatment 
 he had received, and had almost resolved to leave the 
 army. Suddenly he heard the noise of battle ; his ruhng 
 jjassion was instantly on fire. Mounting his horse, he rode 
 with all speed to the scene of conflict. Gates, who saw 
 him as he dashed away, exclaimed : " He will do some 
 rash tiling," and sent after him orders, by Major Wilkin- 
 son, to return ; but in vain, — Arnold heard only the roar 
 of battle. He rushed into the thickest of the fight, cheered 
 on the men, who answered him with shouts of recognition. 
 To those looking on, he seemed insane. By his exertions 
 the British lines were broken again and again, but as often 
 General Frazer would rally his men and renew the conflict. 
 Presently Frazer fell mortally wounded by one of Morgan's 
 riflemen. The whole line gave way, abandoned their can- 
 non, and with the greatest effort regained their camp. In 
 
buegoyne's surrender. 437 
 
 spite of a shower of grape and musketry, the Americans ^hap 
 
 rushed headlong to the assault. Ai'nold rode directly into 
 
 a sally-port, where his horse was shot under him, and he 1777. 
 himself was severely wounded — a ball had shattered his 
 leg. His men now fell back. A regiment of Massachu- 
 setts men, more fortunate, forced their way through the 
 German intrenchments, and maintained their position for 
 the night, and secured a large amount of ammunition. 
 
 The Americans slept on their arms, intending to renew 
 the contest in the morning. But when morning came, 
 Burgoyne's army, drawn up in order of battle, appeared 
 on the heights in the rear. During the night, he had 
 abandoned his sick and wounded, and skilfully led off his 
 men. The next day he retreated to Saratoga, six miles 
 distant, It was to cover this retreat that he ordered Gen- 
 eral Schuyler's mansion and extensive saw mills to be 
 burned. That he might continue his retreat, he sent a 
 party to repair the bridges toward Fort Edward, but they 
 found the way occupied by the Americans, who had taken 
 nearly all the boats laden with provisions for his army. 
 All the passes by which he could extricate himself were 
 in the hands of his enemy ; cannon-balls and bullets fell 
 almost every moment in his camp. He had oidy three 
 days' provisions ; liis effective force was reduced to four 
 thousand men, and they were dispirited, worn out with 
 hunser and fatigue. Not a word had he heard from Clin- 
 ton, while the American army, already twelve thousand 
 strong, was increasing daily. 
 
 ■ Burgoyne now called a councd of war, which resolved 
 to open negotiations with General Gates. Having heard 
 that CUnton, a few days previous, had succeeded in taking Oct, 
 two of the forts on the Hudson, and that he might possi- 
 bly reach Albany, Gates was disposed to make liberal 
 terms. The conditions of the surrender were : That the 
 British army should march out with the honors of war ; 
 that the soldiers should be taken to Boston, and thence 
 
 13. 
 
438 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 \xxui *° England ; and they were not to serve against the 
 
 United States until exchanged. The number of prisoners 
 
 1777. was about six thousand ; the arms, artillery, and military 
 stores were immense. The German regiments saved their 
 colors ; they took them off their staves, and concealed 
 them among the baggage of the Baroness de Eiedcsel.' 
 The British garrison of Ticonderoga evacuated that place 
 and retired to Canada. 
 
 Congress refused to ratify the terms under which Bur- 
 goyne surrendered. His soldiers, if taken to England, 
 would doubtless be placed in garrison, while those thus 
 relieved would be sent to reinforce Clinton at New York. 
 Only Burgoyne himself, with two attendants, was per- 
 mitted to proceed to England, while the soldiers were 
 retained as prisoners. The following year they were 
 marched to Charlottesville, in Virginia, where they were 
 quartered in log huts, and where the greater number of 
 them remained till the close of the war. 
 
 As has been already stated, the garrisons in the High- 
 lands were much weakened, by sending detachments both 
 to the North and to the South. Sir Hemy Clinton had 
 received the long expected reinforcements from England, 
 and he now proposed to force his way up the Hudson, in 
 order to unite with Burgoyne. On the day before that 
 general's last battle, Clinton attacked and captured the 
 Oct. Forts Montgomery and Clinton. Though the New York 
 militia turned out well, the forts could not be maintained. 
 Governor George Chnton commanded. He sent to Put- 
 nam for aid, which he would have received had not the 
 messenger turned traitor, and deserted to the enemy. 
 Under the directions of Governor Tryon, Kingston, or 
 Esopus, was burned. When these marauders heard that 
 
 ' This lady accompanied her husband, Baron de Kiedesel, during this 
 campaign. She has left a thrilling narrative of the trying scenes at Sara- 
 toga. 
 
SCHTTTLER A MEMBER OF CONGRESS. 439 
 
 Burgoyne had surrendered, they retreated, setting fire to chap. 
 
 every house within reach. This was about the very time 
 
 that Burgoyne and his army were receiving liberal terms 1777. 
 of capitulation. 
 
 General Gates, in transmitting his report of the sur- 
 render, did not send it to the Commander-in-cliief, as was 
 his duty, and as courtesy required, but sent it directly to 
 Congress. The soldiers in the army attributed the success 
 of the battles at Saratoga to the skilful management of 
 Arnold and Morgan. Gates did not even mention their 
 names in his full dispatches to Congress. 
 
 Soon after, General Schuyler insisted that his manage- 
 ment of the Northern Department, previous to the ap- 
 pointment of Gates, should be investigated. 
 
 A Court of Inquiry was instituted, and he was not 
 only acquitted of the charge of mismanagement of any 
 kind, but with the highest honor. Though strongly urged 
 by Congress to remain in the army, he declined. He had 
 too much self-respect to continue in a position where he 
 could be made a victim of unfriendly prejudice, yet too 
 patriotic to relinquish his country's cause. Soon after he 
 took his seat as a member of Congress. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIV. 
 
 WAR OF THE KEVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Sufferings at Valley Forge. — England disappointed ; conciliatory measures 
 of Parliament. — The War presses hard upon the American People. — 
 Difficulties and Jealousies in Congress. — The " Conway Cabal." — Baron 
 Steuben. — Attempt to increase the Army. — Congress in Want of 
 Funds. — Exchange of Lee ; his Treason. — Treaty with France. — ^En- 
 couragements. — British Commissioners. — Philadelphia evacuated. — Bat- 
 tle of Monmouth. — Misconduct of Lee. — The French Fleet. — Combined 
 attack upon Newport fails. — Marauding Expeditions. — A British Fleet. — 
 Massacre at Wyoming and Cherry Valley. — Invasion of Georgia. 
 
 ^^AP. The surrender of Burgoyne revived the hopes of the 
 
 — Whigs, and sent dismay into the ranks of the Tories. 
 
 1778. The American soldiers suffered intensely in their nide 
 huts at Valley Forge. For days at a time without meat, 
 and again without bread ; no medicines for the sick, nor 
 comfortable lodgings. Many of the soldiers were so defi- 
 cient in clothes that they could not lie down, lest they 
 should freeze to death, but were forced to sit round their 
 camp-fires. 
 
 These were the men, few of whose names have ever 
 reached us, but who clung to their country's cause in this 
 hour of suifering, and who, in the day of battle, poured 
 out their life's blood. They were, for the most part, the 
 intelligent yeomanry of the land ; from the farm, from the 
 workshop, from the merchant's store ; supporters of their 
 own families, or sustainers of orphan brothers and sisters. 
 What a contrast with the common soldiers of the invading 
 
THE FRIENDS OF AMEKICA IN PARLIAMENT. 441 
 
 army ! They were, in part, tlie enlisted rabble of tlie chap. 
 
 British Isles. In their bosoms there was not a throb of '. 
 
 generous feeling, nor with them was it a question in what 1T78. 
 cause, or on what field they fought ; and yet in the same 
 army were others, even more degraded, drawn from " the 
 shambles of petty German despots." 
 
 The king and ministry were sanguine their plans, so 
 wisely' laid, would be successfally carried out ; that at the 
 end of the campaign the American army would be broken 
 and scattered ; that they would have a line of posts ex- 
 tending from Lake Champlain to the Bay of New York. 
 Instead of the realization of these hopes, intelligence came 
 that Burgojme had surrendered his entire army. The 
 sensation produced in England was great indeed. Kumora 
 stole into the country, that France, their ancient enemy, 
 was about to aid the Americans ; that Holland was about 
 to loan them money. England's pride was touched. 
 Should she, who had made all Europe tremble, be baffled 
 in her elforts to subdue her revolted colonists ? A new 
 spirit was awakened ; many of the large commercial towns 
 offered to raise regiments to supply the places of those 
 surrendered at Saratoga, and present them to the king. 
 Yet there were others, moved by compassion, and it may 
 be by sympathy for the cause, who liberally subscribed 
 money to relieve the wants of the American prisoners in 
 England, whom the government had left to suffer for the 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 These sentiments had their effect on Parliament, and 
 when it assembled, the friends of America renewed their 
 assaults upon the policy of the king. They, from the first, 
 had opposed the war as unjust, and had opposed the en- 
 listing of Hessians ; but more especially did they denounce 
 the inhuman policy of employing savages to murder and 
 scalp their brethren beyond the Atlantic. There were 
 other causes of complaint. The merchants clamored for 
 
442 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 S^X- redress ; the American trade was broken up ; debts could 
 
 not be collected ; especially were they aggrieved that 
 
 1V78. the slave-trade had been reduced four-fifths. American 
 cruisers had already seized nearly six hundred of their 
 vessels. These cruisers swarmed to such an extent, even 
 in the British seas, that it became necessary to convoy by 
 armed ships merchant vessels from one port of the king- 
 dom to another. More than twenty thousand men had 
 perished in the war ; more than a hundred millions of 
 dollars had been expended ; their expectations had been 
 greatly raised, but as yet nothing was gained. 
 
 Lord North was constrained to bring in two bills, by 
 which the king hoped to reconcile his American subjects. 
 On this occasion, the former declared in the House that 
 he himself had always been opposed to taxing the colonies. 
 The king, in truth, was the prime mover and sustainer of 
 the measure. One of these bills exem^jtcd the Americans 
 from taxation, the other appointed commissioners to nego- 
 tiate with them, for the purpose of restoring the royal 
 authority. Thus was yielded, but ungraciously, the whole 
 ground of the contest. 
 
 The moment the French government heard of the 
 passage of these bills, it proposed to acknowledge the In- 
 dependence of the United States, and to make with them 
 a treaty offensive and defensive. That the belligerents 
 should fight and weaken each other, France was willing, 
 but rather than they should become reconciled, she de- 
 clared for the Americans. 
 
 Though the war had cost England much, it had cost 
 the Americans more. In many portions of the country, 
 their ruthless invaders had laid waste their cultivated 
 fields ; in other portions they were unsown, because the 
 husbandmen were in the army ; property was wasting 
 away ; debts were accumulating, with no prospect of pay- 
 ment. The bills of credit issued by Congress were almost 
 
THE EMBARRASSMENTS OP CONGRESS. 443 
 
 worthless. As with individuals, so with the State ; both char 
 
 were bankrupt. On the sea-board, foreign commerce, the 
 
 coasting trade, and the fisheries, were carried on at such 1778. 
 risks, as to be almost annihilated. Nine hundred vessels 
 had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The loss of life 
 had been great ; not so many had perished on the field of 
 battle, but disease, the deficiency of necessary comforts in 
 hospitals, the want of clothes and of wholesome food, had 
 as eifectively done the work of death. Multitudes died 
 miserably, either in the jails and loathsome prison-ships 
 of the enemy, or contracted diseases which clung to them 
 through life. These calamities, instead of depressing the 
 patriots, roused their indignant spirits to more determina- 
 tion. They would listen to no terms of reconciliation 
 with England, short of absolute independence. 
 
 Congress was embarrassed more and more. That no- 
 ble spirit of conciliation and mutual forbearance, which 
 distinguished the members of the Old Congress, was not 
 so prominent. Many of the ablest members had retired 
 to take part in the recently organized governments of their 
 own States, or to attend to their private affairs, lest their 
 families should come to want ; and some had been sent 
 on foreign missions, and some were in the army. 
 
 There were other difiiculties ; jealousies between north- 
 ern and southern men still existed in the army, and jeal- 
 ousies between American officers and some of those of 
 foreign birth. Congress, now numbering not more than 
 twenty or thirty members, manifested an undue prejudice 
 against the army, because the officers and soldiers earnestly 
 urged that their wants should be supplied. Washington 
 protested against this spirit, and showed the unreasona- 
 bleness of such a prejudice. After remarking that in other 
 countries the army was looked upon with suspicion in time 
 of peace, he adds : " It is our jjolicy to be prejudiced 
 against them (the troops) in time of war ; though they 
 
444 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, are citizens, having all the ties and interests of citizens." 
 '. In violation of military usage, and contrary to his advice, 
 
 1778. Congress made several promotions in the army, which not 
 only sli< 
 officers. 
 
 only slighted hut wronged some of its hest and bravest 
 
 While Washington labored at Valley Forge to keep 
 the army together, and to prevent its disbanding from 
 sheer necessity, a few were intriguing to remove him from 
 the command. Some members of Congress, a few officers, 
 and perhaps some others, joined in what was known as the 
 " Conway Cabal," a name derived from the Irish adven- 
 turer, already mentioned, who, if not the prime mover in 
 the plot, was a pliant tool of others. The whole truth on 
 the subject can never be fully known, as each actor ever 
 after desired to conceal the part he had taken in the aifair. 
 By means of anonymous letters, underhand appeals, de- 
 signed to seduce the officers of the army, and other dis- 
 honorable measures, the attempt was made to defame 
 Washington ; to draw invidious comparisons between his 
 military successes and those of Gates ; and to destroy 
 that confidence which the people and soldiers reposed in 
 his integrity. They dared not attack him openly, but by 
 these means they hoped to disgust him with his office, and 
 induce him to resign ; and General Gates, their hero, 
 would receive the appointment of Commander-in-chief 
 Thus the intrigue was carried on for months. General 
 Mifflin and Gates himself were prominent in the scheme, 
 but their efforts to win over Lafoyette signally failed. 
 Anonymous letters were sent to Henry Laurens, President 
 of Congress, and to Patrick Henry, then Governor of Vir- 
 ginia ; but these high-minded men forwarded them at 
 once to the Commander-in-chief Washington himself, 
 though he knew, to some extent, of the existence of these 
 plots, never publicly noticed them, nor turned aside a mo- 
 ment from his great work. He was only anxious lest the 
 
iT^Ta 
 
 THE CONWAY CABAL. 445 
 
 enemy should learn of these dissensions. But when it ™^^ 
 
 was proposed in Congress to appoint Conway inspector of ! 
 
 the ai-my, he remonstrated, and in writing to Eichard 1 
 Henry Lee, then a member, he says : " General Conway's 
 merit as an officer, and his importance in this army, exist 
 more in his own imagination than in reality." Yet Con- 
 gress, under the influence of the Cabal, appointed Con- 
 way " Inspector of the Armies of the United States ! " 
 — with the rank of major-general. 
 
 Ere long intelligence of these intrigues stole abroad. 
 So great was the indignation which burst forth from the 
 officers and soldiers, from the Legislatures of the States, 
 and from the people themselves, that the Cabal cowered 
 before it. 
 
 The effect of this abortive attempt to remove Wash- 
 ington from the chief command was only to strengthen his 
 hold on the confidence of the nation. The invidious com- 
 parisons made between his successes and those of Gates, 
 were unjust, but that some persons should be influenced 
 by them is not strange. " The Washington of that day 
 was not Washington as we know him, tried and proved 
 by twenty years of the most disinterested and most suc- 
 cessful public services." The capture of Burgoyne at 
 Saratoga was due to his plan of defence, as concerted with 
 Schuyler, and not to General Gates. In his effort to save 
 Philadelphia, he was surrounded with almost insurmount- 
 able difficulties. His army, ill-equipped and imperfectly 
 disciplined, was smaller than that of Howe's ; the scene 
 of operation was in a region filled with Tories, who gave 
 every facility to the British. He says himself : " Had the 
 same spirit pervaded the people of this and the neighbor- 
 ing States, as the States of New York and New England, 
 we might have had General Howe nearly in the same sit- 
 uation of General Burgoyne." 
 
 We may here anticipate. Conway found his position 
 
446 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^P- unenviable, and he sent to Congress a note complaining 
 
 that he had been ill-treated, and intimated that he would 
 
 1778. resign because he was ordered to the Northern Depart- 
 ment. His self-complacency never doubted but he would 
 be urged to remain as " Inspector." But Congress, 
 ashamed of having ever appointed him, interpreted it as 
 a resignation, and gladly accepted it. No explanation of 
 Conway, though urged in person, could induce them to 
 change their decision. Some time afterward he was 
 wounded in a duel with General Cadwallader, who had 
 charged him with cowardice at the battle of Germantown, 
 and also of derogatory remarks in relation to the Com- 
 mander-in-chief. When he thought himself near death, 
 Conway wrote to Washington : " You are in my eyes the 
 great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, ven- 
 eration, and esteem of these States, whose liberties you 
 have asserted by your virtues." He recovered from his 
 wound, and soon after he left the country. 
 
 During the winter at Valley Forge, every effort was 
 made to increase the army, and make it more efScient. 
 To accomplish this end. Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer 
 of great merit as a disciplinarian, was ai^pointed Inspector, 
 with the rank of major-general. Congress called upon all 
 the States, except Georgia and South Carolina, for their 
 quotas of men to the continental army. These States 
 were excused, except for local defence, in consideration of 
 their large slave population. Several independent bodies 
 of horse were raised by Count Pulaski and Henry Lee, 
 who, because of his success and genius as a commander 
 of light-horse, was known in the army as Light-Horse 
 Hany. 
 
 Baron Steuben soon infused his own spirit into the 
 officers and men. He was prompt, and they obeyed him 
 with alacrity. The tactics were taught by 'system, and 
 the result was very gratifying. Congress designed to raise 
 
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 447 
 
 the army to sixty thousand, but it really never reached ^^ap. 
 
 more than half that number. Many of the more expe- '. 
 
 rienced officers were compelled by necessity to resign ; 1778. 
 their families were dependent upon them, and they re- 
 ceived scarcely any pay. These resignations were unfor- 
 tunate. Washington appealed to Congress in behalf of 
 the officers, and also of the soldiers. That body promised 
 half pay for seven years to those officers who should serve 
 to the end of the war, and to the soldiers thus serving a 
 gratuity of eighty dollars. But the treasury was empty ; 
 new bills of credit were issued, and the several States were 
 called upon to levy taxes for the public expenses ; but 
 the States were poor, and some of them were negligent. 
 Their bills of credit continued to lose their value ; and to 
 increase the evil, the British and Tories flooded the coun- 
 try with counterfeits. The depreciation became so great, 
 that a pair of boots cost more than seven hundred dollars in 
 some of these bills of credit. Yet it shows the patriotism 
 of the great mass of the people, that at this time of despond- 
 ency and distress, the British, with their promises of gold 
 and protection, could induce only three thousand five hun- 
 dred Tories to enlist in their army. 
 
 The office of quartermaster had been held during the 
 last campaign by Mifflin ; but he was seldom at his post, 
 and the department was in great confusion. Many diffi- 
 culties had grown out of this neglect ; the army was irreg- 
 ularly supplied with provisions and forage, whUe the 
 country people suifered much on account of the demands 
 made upon them for provisions by unauthorized foraging 
 parties. At the urgent request of Washington, Congress 
 appointed General Greene quartermaster. He assumed 
 the duties of the office, so irksome to him, for one year, 
 but without compensation. THic system with which 
 Greene performed all his duties was soon apparent ; the 
 army was regularly furnished with provisions and ammu- 
 
448 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CH^P- nition, so that it could be ready to march at a few min- 
 
 utes notice. 
 
 1778. 
 
 General Lee was returned to the army in exchange for 
 
 ^ General Prescott. Lee was as selfish as he was destitute 
 of the true nobleness of a man of honor. In a document 
 in his own handwriting, written when a prisoner in New 
 York, dated " March 29, 1777," and endorsed by Lord 
 and Sir WUliam Howe as " Mr. Lee's plan," may be found 
 the evidence of his willingness to ruin the cause of Ameri- 
 can Independence. In this elaborate plan, he urged with 
 great earnestness upon the British ministry to send a 
 large force ; part of which to take position at Alexandria, 
 on the Potomac, and part at Annapolis, on the Chesa- 
 peake. Thus to separate the Northern and Southern colo- 
 nies, and prevent them from aiding each other, while to 
 oppose Burgoyne's advance would require all the force 
 that New England could raise. He was willing to forfeit 
 his life, if the measure did not speedily terminate the war 
 and dissolve the " Congress Government." 
 
 For some reason the ministry did not adopt Lee's sug- 
 gestion, and the document was filed away among British 
 state papers, to bear testimony to the dishonesty of the 
 author three-quarters of a century after his death." 
 
 In the Spring, Sir William Howe, after complaining 
 that his government did not furnish him a sufiiciency of 
 men and supplies, resigned his command, and Sir Heniy 
 Cliaton was appointed his successor. With the exception 
 of foraging parties, the British, as yet, made no military 
 May movements. About this time came intelligence of the 
 passage of Lord North's conciliatory bills, and that the 
 commissioners would soon be on their way to open nego- 
 tiations. The substance gf these bills was circulated very 
 extensively by zealous Tories. Congress ordered them to 
 
 ' " Treason of General Charles Lee," (a forthcoming work,) by Professor 
 George H. Moore. 
 
TREATY WITH FEANCE — BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 449 
 
 be printed in the newspapers, accompanied by a severe ^hap. 
 criticism, furnished by a committee of the House. 
 
 Presently came the news that France had acknow- Ij^S. 
 ledged the independence of the States, and had entered 30.' 
 into a treaty with them of commerce and defence. The 
 hght had dawned upon the American cause ! A thrill of 
 joy went throughout the land. 
 
 The treaty between the United States and France Mar 
 produced a great sensation in England. It is madness to 
 protract the war ! said the friends of America. Let us 
 acknowledge the independence of the States, and obtain 
 their good wUl by liberal terms of commerce, lest our great 
 rival win them to herself But no ! the idea was scouted ; 
 the war must be prosecuted, blood must still flow. 
 
 In June came the commissioners to treat under Lord 
 North's conciliatory bills. They were the Earl of Carhsle, 
 William Eden, brother of the late governor of Maryland, 
 and George Johnstone, formerly governor of Florida, and 
 who had been a friend of the Americans in Parliament. 
 
 The commissioners sent their proposals to Congress, 
 but that body refused to treat, until the independence of 
 the States was acknowledged, and the British troops with- 
 drawn. As the commissioners could not grant these de- 
 mands, negotiations were not commenced. Some of the 
 commissioners indirectly resorted to bribery, and by means 
 of a loyalist lady of Philadelpliia, made propositions to 
 General Joseph Keed, of ten thousand pounds, and any 
 office in the colonies he might choose, if he would aid the 
 object of the mission. To which offer he made this mem- 
 orable reply : " I am not worth purchasing, but such as I 
 am, the king of England is not rich enough to buy me." 
 
 When it was known that a French fleet was expected 
 on the coast, the British hastened to evacuate Philadel- 
 phia, and retreat to New York. Most of the stores, to- is. 
 gether with the sick and wounded, were sent round by 
 29 
 
450 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, water, while the army, twelve thousand strong, took up 
 
 . its line of march across New Jersey. Washington was 
 
 1778. soon in pursuit. The weather was excessively warm, and 
 the heavily armed British moved very slowly. The Ameri- 
 cans soon came up. A council of war was held, and the 
 question discussed, whether to attack the enemy and 
 bring on a general engagement, or merely harass them on 
 their march. Washington, with Greene and Lafayette, 
 was in favor of the former manner of attack, and Lee, 
 for some reason, strenuously advocated the latter. When 
 it was decided to bring on a general engagement, Lee, as 
 his advice had not been taken, declined to take any com- 
 mand in the affair. 
 
 Washington therefore sent Lafayette forward with two 
 thousand men, to take position on the hills, and thus 
 crowd Sir Henry Clinton off into the plain. The next 
 morning Lee had changed his mind, and asked to be given 
 a command. Washington sent him forward with two 
 brigades, and when he came up with Lafayette, being of 
 superior rank, he assumed the command of the entire ad- 
 vance division. 
 
 The British encamped near Monmouth Court-house. 
 There were morasses and groves of woods in the vicinity, 
 a difficult place in which to manceuvre troops. 
 
 When Lee advanced, he found a force of apparently 
 about two thousand on the march, but a portion of the 
 woods obstructed a fuU view. He made his arrangements 
 to cut off this force, and sent word of his movements to 
 Washington. But when he came upon the division, he 
 found it much stronger than he anticipated — in truth, 
 Clinton had thrown this strong force of German and Brit- 
 ish there, for the express purpose of giving the Americans 
 a severe check. 
 
 The battle had scarcely begun, before occurred a misap- 
 prehension of orders. The Americans began to retreat, and 
 Lee, in the hurry of the moment, forgot to send word of 
 
 June 
 28. 
 
BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 451 
 
 the movement to Washington, who was advancing with ™^f^ 
 
 the main body to his support. The retreat had passed 
 
 into ahnost a flight. When Washington met the troops 1778. 
 he inquired why they were retreating. The reply was, 
 they did not know, but tliey had received the order. Sus- 
 liecting that this movement was designed to mar tlae plan 
 of attack, he spurred on, and presently met Lee, of whom 
 he demanded, in a stern manner : " What is the meaning 
 of all this, sir ?" Lee, disconcerted, hesitated for a mo- 
 ment to reply, and was asked again. He then began to 
 explain, that the confusion had arisen from disobedience 
 of orders ; and, moreover, he did not wish to meet the 
 whole British army. Washington rejoined, " that he un- 
 derstood it was a mere covering party," adding : " I am 
 very sorry that you undertook the command imless you 
 meant to fight the enemy." Lee replied, that he did not 
 think it prudent to bring on a general engagement. 
 " Whatever your opinion may have been," replied Wash- 
 ington, disdainfully, " I expect my orders to be obeyed." 
 This conversation took but a moment. 
 
 Wasliington hastily formed the men on a rising ground. 
 The enemy came up in force, and other divisions of the 
 Americans also mingled in the conflict. Night ended the 
 battle. The Americans slept upon their arms, exjjecting 
 to renew the contest in the morning. But Clinton skil- 
 fully drew off his army during the night, and at daylight 
 was far on his way. Washington did not attempt to pur- 
 sue, as the weather was intolerably warm, and the march 
 through a sandy region, destitute of water. The Ameri- 
 cans lost altogether about two hundred, many of them on 
 account of the extreme heat : the British about three 
 hundred in the battle, and on the march two thousand 
 Hessians deserted. 
 
 After refreshing his men, Washington marched across 
 New Jersey, passed the Hudson, and took position at White 
 Plains, to be ready to co-operate with the French fleet 
 
452 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 c^jP. in an attack upon New York. Lord Howe had scarcely 
 
 left the Delaware when Count D'Estaing appeared with a 
 
 IVVS. squadron. While at sea, D'Estaing communicated with 
 Washington by letter. Finding that the British had 
 evacuated Philadelphia, he put to sea, and soon anchored 
 oilf Sandy Hook. 
 
 The day after the battle, Lee wrote a note, disre- 
 spectful in its tone, to Washington, who replied ; and this 
 produced another note from Lee, still more offensive, de- 
 manding a court of inquiry, and in the mean time inti- 
 mating that he should retire from the army. The court 
 found him guilty of disobedience of orders and disrespect 
 to the Commander-in-chief, and sentenced him to be sus- 
 pended for one year from the army. He retired to his 
 estate in Virginia, and there beguiled his leisure in writing 
 scurrilous letters concerning the army and its commander. 
 When his sentence of suspension was about to expire, he, 
 for some fancied neglect, wrote an insolent letter to Con- 
 gress. That body immediately dismissed him from the 
 army. Thus ended the military career of Genei'al Charles 
 Lee. A few years afterward he died in Philadelphia. His 
 life had been that of the soldier ; and in the delirium of 
 death he murmured, " Stand by me, my brave grena- 
 diers ! " 
 
 The French fleet brought Monsieur Gerard as ambas- 
 sador to the United States, and also Silas Deane, Doctor 
 Franklin, and Arthur Lee, with whom, on the part of the 
 United States, the treaty had been made. 
 
 Howe ran his ships within the bay of New York, and 
 as the large vessels of the French could not pass the bar 
 at Sandy Hook, the combined attack upon the city was 
 abandoned. Instead, it was resolved to make an attack 
 upon Newport, on the island of Khode Island. This was 
 a British stronghold and depot, and garrisoned by sbc 
 thousand men, under General Pigot. The brutality of 
 these British troops had excited against them the bitterest 
 
THE FAILURE AT NEWPORT. 453 
 
 hatred, and when called upon by General SulKvan, who ^hap. 
 
 was in command, thousands of the militia of the surround- , 
 
 ing country flocked to avenge their wrongs. John Han- 1778. 
 cock, on this occasion, led the Massachusetts militia, as 
 general. D'Estaing sailed to Newport, where he arrived a 
 week before the force sent by Washington under Greene 
 and Lafayette. This imavoidable delay ruined the enter- 
 prise. When the Americans appeared, the British guard 
 left the works on the north end of the island, and retired 
 to their inner lines. The Americans immediately passed ^S- 
 over and occupied the abandoned works. The very day 
 of this occupancy. Lord Howe appeared with a fleet, and 
 D'Estaing went out to give him battle. They both ma- 
 noeuvred their fleets to obtain the advantage of position, 
 when a terrible storm arose and separated them. 12. 
 
 In the mean time, the Americans moved near the ene- 
 my's works, and commenced to cannonade them, expect- 
 ing that the French fleet would soon return to their aid. 
 D'Estaing did return, but instead of landing the foiir -"• 
 thousand troops on board, he set sail for Boston to refit 
 his vessels, which the late storm had shattered. 
 
 The Americans now abandoned their lines, and by 
 night retreated, repulsing the division of the enemy sent 
 in pursuit. It was time, for the British were strongly 
 reinforced from Nev*^ York by four thousand troops, under 
 Clinton himself 
 
 To deceive the enemy, and escape safely from the 
 island, Sullivan sent a party to occupy a hill in sight of 
 the British lines. The party began to throw up intrench- 
 ments, and in the evening pitched their tents ; but as 
 soon as it was night, they silently decamped, and in the 
 morning were all safely on the main land. 
 
 A great clamor arose because D'Estaing failed to co- 
 operate with the Americans at Newjiort. Subsequent 
 investigation seemed to justify him ; at least, Congress 
 passed a resolution ajiproving his conduct. This may, 
 
454 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. liQwever, have been mere policy, as Congress was unwil- 
 
 ling to offend the French by passing a vote of censure. 
 
 1778. The war degenerated into marauding expeditions 
 
 against defenceless villages. The first object of this bar- 
 barity was the island of Martha's Vineyard, whose inhabi- 
 tants were stripped of every thing the robbers could carry 
 off. The towns of New Bedford and Fair Haven were 
 
 Sojit. wantonly burned, and also seventy vessels in their ports. 
 Scenes of cruelty were enacted in New Jersey, where an 
 Oct. American regiment of horse was cut to jjieces, Tind a com- 
 pany of infantry, when crying for quarter, was butchered 
 with the bayonet without mercy. 
 
 When it was certainly known that a French fleet had 
 sailed to the United States, the English ministry sent 
 Admiral Byron in pursuit. He appeared off Boston har- 
 bor while the French were refitting, but did not dare at- 
 tack them, and the French were unwilling to come out of 
 their place of security. Lord Howe resigned his command 
 into the hands of Admiral Byron. At length a storm 
 arose which scattered the English fleet ; then the French 
 Nov. slipped out of the harbor, and sailed to the West Indies. 
 On the same day, five thousand British troops sailed from 
 New York for the same destination. Three weeks after, 
 another expedition of three thousand sailed for Georgia ; 
 yet the British army remaining was far more numerous 
 than the forces under Washington. 
 
 1. 
 
 -"&" 
 
 During the summer, one of the most atrocious outra- 
 ges which disgraced the war, was committed upon the 
 settlement of Wyoming, situated in a beautiful valley on 
 the Susquehanna. There had been previously much con- 
 tention among the inhabitants, some of whom were Tories. 
 These had been seized, and sent out of the settlement ; 
 July, they took their revenge with more than savage ferocity. 
 After the defeat of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler, Fort 
 Niagara became the head-quarters of Tories and Indians ; 
 
DESTRUCTION OF WYOMING. 455 
 
 at that place was planned tlie murderous expedition, ^^ar 
 
 The party was guided by Tories who had lived in the val- '. 
 
 ley. The chief leader in this expedition was John Butler, 1778. 
 a Tory notorious for his cruelty. His force, about eleven 
 hundred, was composed of his Eangers, Johnson's Greens, 
 and Mohawks. There were block-houses in the settle- 
 ment ; to these the people fled in times of danger. Nearly 
 all the able-bodied men were absent in the army under 
 Washington. There were left only the women and chil- 
 dren, the aged and infirm. Suddenly the savage enemy 
 appeared at various points in the valley, and commenced 
 murdering the husbandmen in the fields, and burning the 
 houses. It had been rumored that such an attack was 
 meditated, and a small force had already been dispatched 
 by Washington to defend the settlement. They had 
 themselves, under Zebidon Butler, (no relation of John 
 Butler), about three hundred and fifty men. Unfortunate- 
 ly, Butler did not wait the arrival of the reinforcement, 
 but sallied forth to restrain the ravaging of the country. 
 Intelligence of this intended attack was conveyed to the en- 
 emy, and they were fully prepared. The fight began, and 
 the Tories were forced to give way, but the Indians passed 
 round a swamp toward the rear. Butler, seeing this move- 
 ment, ordered his men to fall back, lest they should be 
 surrounded. This order was mistaken for one to retreat ; 
 all was thrown into confusion, and a portion, panic-strick- 
 en, fled. They were pursued by the Tories and Indians 
 with unrelenting fury. The whole valley was desolated. 
 Those of the people who escaped, fled to the mountains, 
 and there women and children perished by hundreds, 
 while some, after incredible sufferings, reached the settle- 
 ments. 
 
 A month later, similar scenes were witnessed at Cherry 
 Valley, in New York. The Tories and Indians were 
 equally a^ cruel as at the Wyoming massacre. The peo- Aug. 
 pie were either murdered or carried into captivity. All 
 
456 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 C^P- the region of the upper Susc[uehamia, the Delaware, and 
 
 the Mohawk, was at the mercy of the savages. 
 
 1778. Jq the latter part of November, Clinton sent Colonel 
 
 Campbell, with two thousand men, to invade Georgia. 
 He landed three miles below Savannah, the capital, on the 
 twenty-ninth of December. 
 
 General Robert Howe, who was in command, could 
 make but little resistance. He and his men behaved no- 
 bly, but a negro guiding the British by a path through a 
 swamp, they gained the rear of the Americans, who were 
 now thrown into confusion and defeated. The town of 
 Savannah fell into the hands of the victors. 
 
 General Prevost, who commanded in East Florida, 
 was ordered by CUnton to pass across to Savannah, and 
 there join Campbell and assume the command. On his 
 march, Prevost took Suubury, a fort of some importance. 
 Arriving at Savannah, he sent Campbell to take possession 
 of Augusta. Thus was Georgia subdued, in the space of 
 a few weeks. The British now transferred their active 
 operations to the South, which became the principal thea- 
 tre of the war till its close. 
 
 General Benjamin Lincoln, who had been appointed 
 to take command of the Southern Department, arrived 
 about this time. The delegates from South Carolina and 
 Georgia had soUcited his appointment. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 ■R'AR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Dissensions in Congress. — Expedition against the Indians. — Tlie War in the 
 South. — Augusta reoccupied. — Charleston threatened. — Marauding Ex- 
 peditions sent to Virginia, and up the Hudson. — Tryon ravages Con- 
 necticut. — Capture of Stony Point by Wayne. — Lee surprises the Gar- 
 rison at Jersey City. — Combined assault upon Savannah. — Daniel 
 Boone ; Kentucky. — George Rogers Clarke ; Kaskaskia. — ^Pioneers of 
 Tennessee ; Nashville. — John Paul Jones. 
 
 The American army was distributed, at the end of the (-.g^p 
 year, in a series of cantonments, which extended from the xxxv. 
 east end of Long Island Sound to the Delaware ; thus .^^n 
 effectually enclosing the British forces. The head-quarters 
 were in a central position at Middlebrook, New Jersey. 
 The British were so strong at New York and Newport, 
 that to attack them with success was hopeless. The 
 French fleet had been of no practical use to the Ameri- 
 cans, and now Count D'Estaing took with him his land 
 troops to the West Indies. 
 
 Four years had passed since the war commenced ; the 
 finances of the country were still in a wretched condition. 
 The enemy held important places, and were watching for 
 opportunities to pillage. In the South, the Tories were 
 specially active. Yet there were other elements at work, 
 more injurious to the cause than even these. 
 
 Congress was filled with dissensions. The prospect 
 
458 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^AP. of assistance from France caused many to relax their 
 
 efforts, as though the war was virtually ended. Wash- 
 
 1779. ington wrote, at the beginning of the year : " Our affairs 
 are in a more distressed, ruinous, and deplorable condition 
 than they have been since the commencement of the war." 
 A large majority of Congress was carried away with the 
 scheme of joining with the French in an expedition against 
 Canada. But when the matter was laid before the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, at a glance he saw the difficulties of the 
 undertaking, and, with the comprehensive views of the 
 true statesman, pointed out the disadvantages of having, 
 on this continent, a power different in nation, in religion, 
 and in customs from the Americans. Moreover, he desired 
 the people of the United States to be as little under obli- 
 gations as possible to other nations. 
 
 For the ensuing campaign, it was evident the British 
 intended to confine themselves to pillaging expeditions, 
 and to cripple the Union in the South. Washington now 
 recommended an expedition against the Indians, to punish 
 them for their outrages at Wyoming and other places. It 
 was to be conducted on their own plan — to invade and 
 lay waste their territory. 
 
 In April a body of troops suddenly invaded and deso- 
 lated the territory of the Onondagas. The principal ex- 
 pedition, under Sullivan, went against the Senecas, to 
 revenge their attack on Wyoming. With five thousand 
 men he penetrated their country, met them under Brant, 
 with their worthy alHes, the Tories, Johnson and Butler, 
 at Newtown, now Elmira, and completely routed them. 
 Without giving them time to recover from their panic, 
 SulUvan pursued them into the valley of the Genesee, and 
 in a few weeks destroyed more than forty of their villages, 
 all their cornfields, gardens, and orchards. It was a ter- 
 rible vengeance ; but the only means to' prevent their 
 depredations on the settlements. 
 
 Aug. 
 29. 
 
I 
 
 CHARLESTON THREATENED. 459 
 
 Want of food compelled the Indians and Tories to chap. 
 
 XXXV". 
 
 emigrate to Canada, yet they soon after renewed their \ '. 
 
 depredations, and continued them, with their usual fero- 1779. 
 city, till the end of the war. In the mean while, another 
 successful expedition was conducted against the Indian 
 towns on the Alleghany, above Pittsburg. 
 
 As in the North, so in the South, the British entered 
 into alliances with the Indians — there they induced the 
 Creeks to join them. The Tories desolated the upper part 
 of Georgia ; but as they drew near Augiista, Colonel 
 Pickens suddenly attacked and routed them. Seventy- 
 five were made prisoners and condemned to death, as trai- 
 tors ; however, only five were executed. Feb. 
 
 The next mouth, General Lincoln sent General Ashe, 
 with two thousand men, to drive Campbell from Augusta. 
 Campbell, hearing of his approach, retreated in haste, and 
 Ashe pursued, but was himself surprised, some days after, 
 and his entire force dispersed. The British now reoccupied 
 Augusta, and opened a communication with the Chero- 
 kees and the South Carolina Tories. 
 
 While Lincoln recruited liis army, Prevost marched 
 slowly in the direction of Charleston ; and Lincoln has- 
 tened to the aid of that city. The inhabitants were 
 indefatigable in their exertions to give the foe a warm 
 reception. They threw iip intrenchments across the neck May. 
 of the peninsula, on which their city stood. Presently, 
 Prevost arrived and summoned them to surrender, but 
 they boldly refused. 
 
 He prepared to enter upon a regular siege, but hearing 
 of the approach of Lincoln, he first ravaged the planta- 
 tions in the vicinity, carried off an immense amount of 
 plunder, and three or four thousand slaves, and then re- 
 treated toward Savannah, by way of the islands along the 
 coast. As the hot season approached, hostilities ceased. Jnie- 
 
 While these events were in progress in the South, 
 Clinton was fulfilling his instructions from the ministry to 
 
4. 
 
 460 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP- send out iDlundering expeditions. One of these, under 
 
 General Mathews, he sent from New York, with twenty- 
 
 1779. five hundred men, into Virginia. The fleet entered the 
 g^^ Chesapeake, the troops landed, and plundered the towns 
 of Portsmouth and Norfolk. A little higher up, at Gos- 
 port, was established a navy-yard by the State ; there 
 thejf burned one hundred and thirty merchant ships, and 
 several war-vessels on the stocks. The facilities afforded 
 the enemy by the rivers to pass from point to point, and 
 the danger of the slaves rising, prevented much resistance. 
 When these soldiers returned, Chnton went up the 
 Hudson, against the posts Verplanck's and Stony Points. 
 These forts protected King's Ferry, a very important 
 crossing-place, on the main road from the eastern to the 
 middle States. The works at Stony Point — not yet fin- 
 ished — were abandoned ; and the garrison at Verplanck's 
 Point were forced to surrender. 
 
 The next expedition, of twenty-five hundred men, was 
 under Tryon, whose barbarities, on such occasions, have 
 justly rendered his name infamous. Tryon plundered 
 New Haven, and burned Faii-field and Norwalk. In the 
 •Tuly course of a few days, he burned two hundred and twenty- 
 five private dwellings, half as many barns and stores, and 
 five places of worship. Many of the inhabitants were 
 murdered, or subjected to the brutal passions of the sol- 
 diers. This " journeyman of desolation," so insensible to 
 the promptings of humanity, contemplated these outrages 
 with pleasure, and afterward even claimed for himself the 
 honor of having exercised mercy, because he did not burn 
 every dwelling on the coast of New England. 
 
 Clinton had been grossly deceived by the Tories, who 
 assured him that the principal inhabitants of Connecticut 
 were so much dissatisfied because their homes were not 
 protected by the American army, that they were about to 
 withdraw from the cause, and put themselves under Brit- 
 
CAPTUEE OF STONY POINT. 461 
 
 ish protection. And it was thought a few more such chap. 
 expeditions would accomplish this result. 
 
 Washington now devised a plan to recapture Stony 1779. 
 Point. The fort was so situated, that to surprise it seemed 
 an impossibility. He proposed to General Wayne — " Mad 
 Anthony " — to undertake the desperate enterprise. The 
 proposal was accepted with delight. Washington himself, 
 accompanied by Wayne, carefully reconnoitred the Point. 
 The attempt was to be made at the hour of midnight. 
 Every precaution to secure success was taken, even the 
 dogs of the neighborhood were privately destroyed. A 
 negro, who was in the habit of visiting the fort to sell 
 fruit, and also as a spy for the Americans, was to act as 
 guide. July 
 
 The men, with fixed bayonets, and, to remove the pos- 1*^- 
 sibUity of discovery, with unloaded muskets, approached 
 in two divisions, at the appointed hour. The negro, 
 accompanied by two soldiers, disguised as farmers, ap- 
 proached the outer sentinel, and gave the countersign. 
 The sentinel was seized and gagged, and the second 
 treated in the same manner ; at the third, the alarm was 
 given, but the impetuosity of the Americans was so great, 
 that in a few minutes the two divisions from the opposite 
 sides of the fort met in the centre. They took more than 
 five hundred prisoners. This was one of the most brilliant 
 exploits of the war. How great was the contrast between 
 the humanity of Wayne and the savage cruelty of the 
 British in their midnight attacks with the bayonet ! Sted- 
 man, the British historian, records that " the conduct of 
 the Americans upon this occasion was highly meritorious, 
 for they would have been fully justified in putting the 
 garrison to the sword ; not one man of which was put to 
 death but in fair combat." When Clinton heard of the 
 taking of Stony Point, he hastily recalled Tryon, who was 
 about to move against Now London. 
 
 The exploit of Wayne was speedily followed by another 
 
462 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, daring adventure by Light Horse Harry. He had learned 
 
 '. by reconnoitring, and by means of spies, the exact condi- 
 
 1779. tion of the garrison at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City, 
 
 opposite New York. Thinking themselves secure from 
 
 attack, because of their nearness to the main army, the 
 
 officers, as well as men, were careless. Lee asked permis- 
 
 -'^''S- sion to strike a blow within " cannon-shot of New York." 
 18 
 
 Washington directed liim "to surprise the fort, bring off 
 
 the garrison immediately, and effect a retreat," and not 
 to linger, lest he should himself be overpowered. About 
 two o'clock in the morning they made themselves masters 
 of the fort, and secured one hundred and fifty prisoners, 
 with a loss to themselves of only two men. Soon alarm 
 guns roused the garrison in New York, and Lee com- 
 menced his retreat. The exploit redounded much to his 
 credit, and that of his company of horse. In compliment; 
 Congress voted Wayne, as well as Lee, a gold medal. 
 
 An effort was again made to take Savannah. Count 
 D'Estaing appeared with his fleet from the West Indies, 
 and General Lincoln marched to aid in the siege. Several 
 North Carolina regiments had been sent by the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, and the militia turned out well. Prevost 
 made every exertion to defend himself But D'Estaing 
 soon grew impatient ; he must return to the West Indies 
 lest the British fleet might accom23lish some enterprise of 
 importance. The siege must be either abandoned, or the 
 Oct, town taken by assault. The latter was resolved upon ; 
 9- and it was undertaken with great disadvantages staring 
 the assailants in the face. After they had carried some 
 of the outworks, the Americans were forced to retire. 
 Count Pulaski, when gallantly leading his men, was mor- 
 tally wounded. The French, who were at the post of the 
 greatest danger, were also repulsed, and D'Estaing him- 
 self was wounded. Lincoln now retreated to Charleston, 
 disbanded the militia, and the Count sailed to the West 
 Indies. Thus, for the second time, the French, under the 
 
KXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH — DANIEL BOONE. 463 
 
 same officer, failed to co-operate efficiently with the cbap . 
 
 Americans. Very great dissatisfaction was excited at this 
 
 throughout the country. 1779. 
 
 Clinton obeyed his instructions from home, evacuated 
 Newport, and concentrated his main force at New York, 
 which place he thought in danger of a combined attack 
 from the Americans and French. In truth, Washington, 
 in expectation of such aid, had called out the militia for 
 that iiurpose, but when he heard that the French had 
 sailed for the West Indies, he dismissed them, and went 
 into winter-quarters near Morristown, New Jersey. 25 ' 
 
 When the coast was clear, Clinton sent seven thou- 
 sand men by sea to Savannah, and soon after sailed him- 
 self with two thousand more, leaving a powerful garrison 
 in New York, under the command of Knyphausen. ^J'°- 
 
 Some years before the commencement of the war, 
 Daniel Boone, the bold hunter and pioneer, had visited 
 the region of Kentucky. Attracted by the fertility of the 
 soil, the beauty of the forests, and the mildness of the 
 chmate, in connection with others, he formed a settlement 
 on the Kentucky river. Thither Boone took his wife and 
 daughters, the first white women in that region. There, l'^'^^- 
 during the war, these bold pioneers were in perils, fighting 
 the Indians and levelling the forests. Harrod, another bold 
 backwoodsman, founded Harrod sburg. The territory on 
 the lower Kentucky, had been purchased of the Cherokees. 
 Though Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, denounced 
 the purchase as illegal, yet in spite of his i3roclamation, 
 and the hostility of the Indians, the people, in numbers, 
 emigrated to that delightful region. 
 
 The Indians at the West were becoming hostile under 
 the influence of British emissaries. The principal actor 
 in this was Hamilton, the commandant at Detroit, against 
 which place Congress resolved to send an expedition. 
 
464 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. While this was under consideration, George Rogers Clarke, 
 
 an adventurous Virginian, set out from Pittsburg on an 
 
 1779. expedition against Kaskaskia, an old French town on the 
 Mississippi. Clarke, though a backwoodsman of Ken- 
 tucky, acted under the authority of Virginia. With two 
 hundred men he floated in boats down the Ohio to the 
 Falls, and there, on an island, thirteen famUies, his follow- 
 ers, made a settlement. Joined by some Kentuckians, he 
 proceeded down the river, to near its mouth. Then hiding 
 his canoes, the company struck through the woods to Kas- 
 kaskia. This town was claimed by the English since the 
 surrender of Canada. The inhabitants were at once con- 
 ciliated, when they heard of the alliance between the 
 United States and France, and when they saw their relig- 
 1778. ion respected and their property protected. Clarke also 
 ° ^' entered into friendly relations with the Spaniards west of 
 the Mississippi, at St. Louis. When he returned to the 
 Falls, he budt a stockade fort on the south side of the 
 Ohio ; this was the germ of the present city of Louisville. 
 Virginia claimed the region north of the Ohio, as con- 
 quered territory, erected it into the county of Ilhnois, and 
 made arrangements to keep possession of it. 
 
 Other bold pioneers were, about the same time, pene- 
 trating the wilderness further south. James Robertson, 
 from North Carolina, who, eleven years before, led emi- 
 grants to settle on the head-waters of the Tennessee, now, 
 May. with a company, crossed over into the vaUey of the Cum- 
 berland. They passed down that river till they found a 
 desirable location, a bluff on its south shore. The com- 
 pany altogether amounted to nearly fifty persons. There, 
 in the midst of the primeval forest, more than a hundred 
 miles fi-om the nearest settlement, they cleared some land 
 and planted corn. Three of their number remained to 
 guard the growing crop, and the others returned to bring 
 their famUies. Emigration now began : one j^arty set out 
 through the wilderness, driving their cattle before them ; 
 
NASHVILLE — JOHN PAUL JONES. 465 
 
 another, with the women and children, went on board of chap. 
 
 ' XXXV. 
 
 boats, on the head-waters of the Tennessee. They were 
 
 to pass down that river to its mouth, thence find their 1T79. 
 way up the Cumberland to the chosen spot. A laborious 
 journey of more than six months brought them to their 
 anxious friends. The settlement increased with great 
 rapidity, notwithstanding the hostility of the Indians. 
 Such were the beginnings of the now prosperous and 
 beautiful city of Nashville. 
 
 Congress, from time to time, made efforts to increase 
 the continental navy, but many of the vessels had been 
 lost. The privateers had aroused the ire and the vigUance 
 of the entire British navy. Yet some American cruisers, 
 fitted out in France, fearlessly sailed in quest of the enemy. 
 The most distinguished of these commanders was John 
 Paul Jones, a native of Scotland, but who had been 
 brought to Virginia in childhood. He was one of the first 
 officers commissioned by Congress for the navy. Jones, in 
 command of the Kanger, of eighteen guns, spread terror 
 around England, and even made a descent on the coast of 
 Scotland. 
 
 A small squadron of five French and American ships 
 were fitted out at L'Orient, and placed under his com- 
 mand, to cruise in the British seas. Off the coast of 
 Scotland, he met with a fleet of merchantmen, convoyed 
 by a frigate and another armed vessel. It was night, and g^pj 
 the battle, the most desperate in the annals of naval war- 23. 
 fare, lasted three hours. Jones lashed his flag-ship, the 
 Kichard, to the British frigate Serapis, and thus, muzzle 
 to muzzle, they poured into each other their broadsides. 
 At length, both the English ships surrendered. Jones' 
 flag-ship was so damaged, that in a few hours it went to 
 the bottom. 
 
 30 
 
CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Hardships of tlie Soldiers. — British Success at the South.— Colonel Tarle- 
 ton. — Charleston capitulates. — Defeat at Wa.xhaws.— Rev. James Cald- 
 well. — Maraud into Jersey. — Fleet at Newport. — The South unsubdued ; 
 her partisan Leaders. — Gates sent to take Command. — Disastrous Bat- 
 tle of Camden. — Death of De Kalb. — Sumter's Success and Defeat. — 
 Treason of Arnold. — Major xVndre. — Movements of Cornwallis. — Colonel 
 Ferguson. — Battle of King's Mountain. — Tarleton repulsed. — General 
 Greene in Command. — Rancorous Spirit between the Whigs and To- 
 ries. — British triumphant. — Aifairs in Europe. — Henry Laurens. — Dan- 
 gers of England ; her Energy. 
 
 CHAP. This winter, like the preceding, witnessed the hardships 
 
 YYTVT • • • 
 
 '_ ; of the soldiers, who were often in great straits for pro- 
 
 1780. visions, and other necessaries. The depreciation of the 
 currency continued ; Congress was in debt, without money 
 and without credit. To preserve the soldiers from starva- 
 tion, Washington was under, to him, the jjainfiil necessity 
 of levying contributions ujjon the people of the surround- 
 ing country. Jersey was drained almost to exhaustion ; 
 but her patriotism rose in proportion to her sacrifices ; at 
 one time, when deep snows cut oif supplies from a dis- 
 tance, the subsistence of the whole army devolved upon 
 her. " The women met together to knit and sew for the 
 soldiery," and the farmers hastened to the camp with 
 provisions, " stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets." 
 
 A committee sent by Congress to inquire into the con- 
 May, dition of afiairs at Morristown, reported : " That the army 
 was five months unpaid ; that it seldom had more than 
 
BRITISH SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH. 467 
 
 six days' provisions in advance, and was, on several occa- chap. 
 
 sions, for sundry successive days, without meat ; was des- '. 
 
 titute of forage ; that the medical department had neither 1780. 
 sugar, tea, chocolate, wine, nor spirits." No other prin- 
 ciple than true patriotism could have held men together 
 in the midst of privations and sufferings such as these. 
 In preparation for the ensuing campaign. Congress made 
 great exertions to increase the army ; large hounties were 
 offered, yet recruits came in slowly. 
 
 The winter was exceedingly severe. The waters around 
 New York were frozen, communication with the sea was 
 cut off, so that the garrison and the citizens suffered for 
 provisions. Kuyphausen was alarmed lest the Americans 
 should pass on the ice and attack the city ; his ships of 
 war were frozen fast, and no longer useful to defend it. 
 He transferred the seamen to the shore, and formed them 
 into companies, and placed the entire male population 
 under arms. But his apprehensions were groundless, as 
 Washington was too deficient in men and means to make 
 a successful attack upon the garrison. 
 
 In the South, the British were very successful. When 
 Clinton arrived at Savannah, he immediately went Nortlx 
 for the purpose of hlockading Charleston. General Lin- j^^ 
 coin made every exertion to fortify the city. Four thou- 
 sand of its militia enrolled themselves ; but the assistance 
 received from the surrounding country numbered only two 
 hundred men. South Carolina had represented to Con- 
 gress her utter inability to defend lierself, " by reason of 
 the great number of citizens necessary to remain at home 
 to prevent insurrection among the negroes, and their de- 
 sertion to the enemy." The only hope of Charleston lay 
 in the regiments then on their march from Virginia and 
 North Carolina. These regiments increased Lincoln's 
 
468 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, force to seven thousand, only two thousand of whom were 
 
 . continentals. 
 
 1780. The British occupied so much time in their approach, 
 
 that an opportunity was given to fortify the harbor and 
 city. It was of no avail ; the superior English fleet passed 
 by Fort Moultrie without receiving much damage, though 
 four years before the same fort had repulsed a similar at- 
 tempt. The channel, at this time, was deeper, and the 
 vessels could pass. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton had lost nearly all his horses on the 
 voyage ; but he had with hioi Lieutenant-colonel Ban- 
 astre Tarleton, a native of Liverpool. Let us take a 
 glance at the colonel, who figures so largely in these south- 
 ern campaigns. He was at this time only twenty-six 
 years of age. He is described as short of stature, broad 
 shouldered and muscular, of swarthy complexion, with a 
 countenance lighted up by small, keen black eyes, the 
 embodiment of ardent, prompt energy, and indomitable 
 perseverance, that never pursued without overtaking ; 
 always in front of his men ; as insensible to weariness as he 
 was to fear. To be scrupuloiis was not one of his virtues. 
 He soon, from friends or enemies, by money or by force, 
 obtained horses for his dragoons. 
 April Thirty miles from Charleston, at Monk's Corner, Gen- 
 
 eral Huger and Colonel William "Washington had two 
 regiments of continental cavalry to guard the jjasses to 
 the north country. On a dark night, Tarleton, guided by 
 a negro, pounced upon them with his dragoons, and scat- 
 tered them. Huger and Washington escaped, with some 
 of their officers and men, but Tarleton took a hundred 
 prisoners, and four hundred wagons laden with stores. 
 Fort Moultrie surrendered, and soon after another division 
 of American cavalry was almost annihilated by Tarleton, 
 and Charleston was now completely invested. 
 
 As the defences of the town continued to fail in suc- 
 cession, Lincoln thought to abandon the place, and force 
 
CHAELESTON CAPITULATES. 469 
 
 his way through the enemy ; but the superiority of the ^^AP. 
 
 besiegers in niimber and position rendered that impossible. '. 
 
 The British fleet was ready to pour ruiu upon the devoted 1780. 
 town. Clinton had thrown up intrenchments across the 
 neck, and at this crisis CornwalKs arrived from New York 
 with three thousand fresh troops. ^I'"' 
 
 On the ninth of May commenced a terrible cannonade 
 from two hundred cannons. All night long bombshells 
 poured upon the town, which at one time was on fire in 
 five different places. The morning dawned, but no hope 
 dawned for the besieged. Their guns were nearly all dis- 
 mounted, their works in ruins, the soldiers exhausted by 
 fatigue. The fleet moved to a position much nearer. The 
 following night an offer to capitulate was sent to Clinton. 
 Negotiations commenced, which resulted in the surrender 
 of the garrison 'as prisoners of war ; the militia were to 
 be dismissed on their parole, not to engage again in the 
 war ; with the promise, that so long as they kept their 
 parole, their persons and property should be secure. The 
 whole number of prisoners was about six thousand. May 
 
 This was an irreparable loss to the patriots. Immedi- 
 ately after Clinton sent off three expeditions ; one to 
 intercept Colonel Beaufort, who was apjiroaching with a 
 Virginia regiment to the aid of Charleston ; a second to- 
 ward Augusta, and the third toward Camden. He also 
 issued a proclamation, threatening terrible punishments 
 on those who would not submit. This was soon after fol- 
 lowed by another, which offered pardon to all those who 
 would return to their allegiance, and assist in restoring 
 the royal authority. 
 
 When Beaufort heard of the loss of Charleston he 
 commenced to retreat ; but there was no escaping Tarle- 
 ton, who made a forced march of one hundred and five 
 miles in fifty-four hours. He surprised Beaufort at Wax- 
 haw's, on the boundary of North Carolina, and scattered 
 his men, giving them no quarter, but treating them in the 
 
4*70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xIxv't' ^°^* cruel and barbarous manner. This act has left a 
 
 stain upon his reputation. 
 
 1780. The other detachments passed through the country, 
 
 meeting with no resistance, as the people felt it would be 
 useless to attack them. In a short time another procla- 
 mation was issued, calling upon all, except those actually 
 taken in arms, to renounce their parole, and take the oath 
 of allegiance. During this time, the negroes in great 
 numbers deserted their masters and fled to the British. 
 
 June. South Carolina thus conquered, Clinton returned to New 
 York, leaving Cornwallis to hold the country in subjection. 
 
 Incidents show the spirit of the times. The Kev. 
 James Caldwell, a Presbyterian clergyman, was pastor of 
 a church at Elizabethtown. He had excited the ire of 
 the Tories and British by his ardent appeals in the cause 
 of his country. When he preached he would lay his pis- 
 tols beside him : his eloquence stirred the people, with 
 whom his popularity was unbounded. His church, a sort 
 of rallying point, had been used by the American soldiers 
 as a shelter, while its bell gave the alarm when the enemy 
 approached. The Tories called him a "frantic priest," 
 and " rebel firebrand ; " but the people spoke of him as 
 " a rousing gospel preacher." During the winter a ma- 
 rauding company of the British and Tories from New 
 York burned the church, and Caldwell removed his family 
 to Connecticut Farms. 
 June After Knyphausen heard of the capture of Charleston, 
 
 ^- thinldng that event would have an influence upon the 
 people of Jersey, he set out on au expedition, landing at 
 Elizabethtown, and penetrated as far as Connecticut 
 Farms. He met, at every step, with the most determined 
 opposition ; but, nevertheless, the village was sacked and 
 burned. Mrs. Caldwell, in the midst of the terror and 
 confusion, retired to a room in the rear of the parsonage, 
 and knelt in prayer, having by the hand one of her chil- 
 
THE MURDER OF MRS. CALDWELL. 471 
 
 dren. Presently some one fired through the window, and ^^^P- 
 
 she fell dead, pierced hy two balls. The church and par- '. 
 
 sonage were both burned. Knyphausen, harassed by the 1780. 
 mihtia, made an inglorious retreat. 
 
 Meantime, the atrocious murder of Mrs. Caldwell rous- 
 ed a spirit of revenge, unprecedented iu its influence. 
 She was highly connected and universally beloved ; the 
 murder was thought to have been designed. Caldwell 
 preached more " rousing " sermons than ever. Three 
 weeks later, Washington moved some of his forces toward 
 the Highlands, and Knyphausen once more landed in Jer- 
 sey, and pushed on toward Springfield, hoping to gain the 
 passes beyond Morristown ; but alarm-guns spread the 
 news of his approach, and General Greene, who had been 
 left in command, was on the alert. Knyphausen found 
 as much opposition as on the other occasion. The Jersey 
 regiment, commanded by Dayton, and of which Caldwell 
 was chaplain, was engaged in the battle. The soldiers 
 were in want of wadding, and the chaplain galloped to 
 the Presbyterian church, and brought a quantity of Watts' 
 psalm and hymn books and distributed them for the pur- 
 pose among the soldiers. " Now," cried he, " put Watts 
 into them, boys ! "' The Americans increasing, Knyp- 
 hausen, after burning the village of Springfield, efiected 
 another inglorious retreat. 
 
 The Baron De Kalb was sent, soon after the surrender 
 of Lincoln, to take command of the army South, and all 
 the continental troops south of Pennsylvania were detach- 
 ed for that service. In the midst of these discourage- 
 ments, Lafayette returned from his visit to France. He 
 brought intelligence that a French fleet, with an army on 
 board, had sailed to America, and also there might be 
 
 ■ Washington Irving. 
 
 March 
 
472 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 x?rn! ®^P^<^t^*l soon a supply of arms and clothing from the 
 
 same source. 
 
 1780. The several States were now urged to send forward 
 
 then- quotas of men and provisions, to enable the army to 
 co-operate with the French. In the camp there was al- 
 most a famine ; a Connecticut regiment was on the point 
 of marching home, where they could obtain provisions. 
 Congress was laboring to borrow money in Holland in 
 order to supply these wants. 
 
 A French fleet, consisting of seven shijss of the line, 
 and also frigates and transports, at length appeared at 
 ' " ^' Newport. This was the first division, consisting of six 
 thousand land troops. To avoid disputes that might arise 
 from military etiquette. Count Eochambeau, their com- 
 mander, was instructed to put himself under the command 
 of Washington. The expected supplies of arms and 
 clothing did not arrive, and for the want of them, the 
 American army could not co-operate in an attack upon 
 New York. 
 
 The French fleet was followed by one from England, 
 of equal strength, and now Clinton, trusting to his supe- 
 rior naval force, made preparations to attack the French 
 at Newport ; but as he and Admiral Arbuthnot could not 
 agree as to the plan, the project was abandoned. The 
 British, instead, blockaded the French. News came, not 
 long after, that the second division designed for the Uni- 
 ted States was blockaded at Brest by another British 
 squadron. Thus, for the third time, the Americans were 
 disapi)ointed in their hopes of aid from the French fleet, 
 and, instead, the militia of New England was called out 
 to defend it at Newport. 
 
 In the South was the quietness that reigns in a con- 
 quered country ; but the unsubdued spirit of the patriots 
 was soon aroused by their partisan leaders, — Sumter, 
 Clarke, Pickens, and Francis Marion, the latter a Hugue- 
 not by descent, and who had served against the Cherokees 
 
GATES ASSUMES THE COMMAND. 473 
 
 at the close of tlie French war. These leaders, v/ith their chap. 
 
 hands, generally horsemen, scoured the country, and im- , 
 
 proved every opportunity to malce a dash at parties of 1780. 
 British or Tories. At first they were almost destitute of 
 arms ; these their ingenuity partially suppHed by con- 
 verting scythes and knives fastened to poles into lances ; 
 wood saws into broadswords, while the women cheerfully 
 gave their pewter dishes to be melted into bullets ; from 
 nitre found in caverns in the mountains, and charcoal 
 burned upon their hearths, they made their powder. So 
 efiectually did they conduct this irregular warfare, that 
 ere long foraging parties of the enemy dared not venture 
 far from the main army. If these patriots were repulsed 
 in one place, they would suddenly appear in another, as 
 vigorous as ever. While Sumter — characterized by Corn- 
 wallis, as the South Carolina " Game Cock " — with his 
 band, was on the Catawba, Marion — known as the " Swamp 
 Fox " — was issuing, " with his ragged followers," from the 
 swamps aloug the Lower Peedee, 
 
 Congress now resolved to send Greneral Gates to take 
 command of the southern army. Great expectations were 
 raised when it was known that the conqueror of Burgoyne 
 was about to assume the command. But General Charles 
 Lee remarked, " That his northern laurels would soon be 
 changed into southern willows." 
 
 -"o^ 
 
 De Kalb, with the regiments under his command, re- 
 tarded by want of provisions, moved slowly south. His 
 soldiers could only by great exertion obtain their necessary 
 supplies in the barren region through ■vyhich they passed. 
 Because of this want, he was forced to halt three weeks 
 on Deep River, one of the upper tributaries of Cape Fear 
 Eiver ; there Gates overtook him, and assumed the com- 
 mand. Contrary to the advice of De Kalb and liis offi- 
 cers, who recommended a circuitous route through the 
 fertile and friendly county of Mecklenburg, Gates imme- 
 
474 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, diately gave orders to march direct on Camden. He said 
 
 the wagons coming from the north, and laden with pro- 
 
 1780. visions, would overtake them in two days. They marched 
 through a region of pine barrens interspersed with swamps, 
 and almost destitute of inhabitants. Their only food was 
 green corn, unripe apples and peaches, and such lean wild 
 cattle as chance threw in their way. The wagons never 
 overtook them, hut disease did, and the suffering soldiers 
 were greatly enfeebled. After a toilsome march of nearly 
 Aug. three weeks, he encamped at Clermont, about twelve 
 miles from Camden. His army had increased almost daily, 
 princijjally from North Carolina and Virginia, and now 
 numbered nearly four thousand, of whom two-thirds were 
 continentals. 
 
 Lord Eawdon, when he heard of the approach of Gates, 
 retreated and concentrated his forces at Camden, at which 
 place Cornwallis had just arrived from Charleston to take 
 command. 
 
 Gates made a move the following night to take a po- 
 sition nearer Camden, and Cornwallis made a similar move 
 to surprise Gates. The advance guards met in the woods ; 
 after some skirmishing, both armies halted till morning. 
 Aug. With the dawn, the battle commenced. The British 
 rushed on with fixed bayonets against the centre of the 
 American army, where the militia were posted ; they fled 
 immediately, throwing down their arms lest they should 
 be encumbered in their headlong flight. Gates himself 
 and Governor CasweU were both carried off the field by 
 the torrent of fugitives. The continentals stood their 
 ground firmly, until their brave commander, De Kalb, 
 ■who had received eleven wounds, fell exhausted — then 
 they also gave way. 
 
 The American army was completely routed, scattered 
 in small parties, and in all directions. Their loss, in slain 
 and prisoners, was nearly eighteen hundred, besides all 
 their baggage and artillery. The road was strewed with 
 
 16. 
 
DEFEAT AT CAMDEN DEATH OF DE KALB. 475 
 
 the dead and wounded, the work of the British cavalry, chap 
 
 whicli the impetuous Tarleton urged on in pursuit of the 
 
 fugitives for twenty-eight miles. I'iBO. 
 
 Certain of victory. Gates imprudently made no ar- 
 rangements for a retreat, or the preservation of his stores, 
 hut instead, he met with the most disastrous defeat ever 
 experienced hy an American army. Truly, his northern 
 laurels had degenerated into southern willows ! A few 
 days after the battle, he arrived with about two hundred 
 followers at Charlotte, in North Carolina. 
 
 De Kalb was found by the British on the field still 
 alive ; his aide-de-camp, De Buysson, would not leave 
 him, but generously suffered himself to be taken prisoner. 
 The Baron lingered for a few days. His last moments 
 were employed in dictating a letter to the officers and men 
 of his division, expressing for them his warmest aflection. 
 
 Some days before the late battle, Sumter fell upon a 
 convoy of supplies approaching Camden for the British, 
 and took two hundred prisoners. When Cornwallis heard 
 of it, he sent Tarleton in pursuit, who rode so hard, that 
 half his men and horses broke down. When he arrived 
 on the Catawba, Sumter had reason to think himself be- 
 yond pursuit, and halted to refresh his men, when he was 
 completely taken by surprise, his company routed, and 
 his prisoners rescued. Thus, within three months, two 
 American armies had been defeated, and scattered in 
 every direction. 
 
 Gates continued to retreat toward the North, having 
 now about a thousand men. Maryland and Virginia made 
 great exertions to recruit the army, but with httle suc- 
 cess. 
 
 CornwalUs, instead of conciliating the people hy clem- 
 ency, excited them to intense hostihty by cruelty. Of the 
 prisoners taken at Sumter's defeat, there were some who 
 had given their parole not to engage in the war ; a por- 
 tion of these were hanged upon the spot. There was 
 
476 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ciiAP. more revenge and hatred exhibited in the South by the 
 Whigs and Tories against each other, than in any other 
 
 1T80. section of the States. The severity of CornwalHs, how- 
 ever, did not deter the patriots from action. Marion was 
 still in the field, and the untiring Sumter soon collected 
 another force, with which he harassed the enemy. 
 
 Washington wished to strike a decisive blow, and he 
 invited Kochambeau, who was commanding the French 
 troops at Newport, to meet him at Hartford, to devise a 
 plan of attack upon New York. After consultation, it 
 was found that the French naval force was insufficient to 
 cope with the British fleet at New York. Accordingly, 
 the French Admiral on the West India station was invited 
 to co-operate ; and, until he coidd be heard from, the en- 
 terprise was postponed. 
 
 While Washington was thus absent from head-quar- 
 ters, a nefarious plot, which had been in train for some 
 months, came to light. One of the bravest officers of the 
 American army was about to tarnish his fair name as a 
 patriot, and bring uj)on it the scorn and contempt of aU 
 honorable men. It was discovered that Arnold had prom- 
 ised to betray into the hands of the enemy the important 
 fortress of West Point. The wounds he had received at 
 the battle of Behmus's Heights had unfitted him for ac- 
 tive service, and he was placed in command at Philadel- 
 . phia. There he lived in a very extravagant style ; in- 
 volved himself in debts, to pay which he engaged in pri- 
 vateering and mercantile speculations, most of which 
 were unsuccessful. He was accused of using the pubUc 
 funds, and condemned by a court-martial to receive a 
 reprimand from the Commander-in-chief, who performed 
 the unpleasant duty as delicately as possible. Yet Arnold 
 felt the disgrace, and determined to be revenged. WhUe 
 in Philadelphia he married into a Tory famUy, which 
 opened a way to an intercourse with British officers. His 
 
TREASON OF ARNOLD MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 477 
 
 merits as an officer were great, but Congress evidently ™^P- 
 
 took into consideration his private character. The mem- 
 
 bers from Connecticut knew him well. He was prover- 1780. 
 bially dishonest in his dealings, disregarded the rights of 
 others, indifferent as to what men thought of his integrity, 
 and to those under him cruel and tyrannical. In conse- 
 quence of these inexcusable faults many distrusted him. 
 The question has been raised, Why did Washington trust 
 Arnold ? Evidently, because he knew him only as an 
 efficient and brave officer. It is not probable any person 
 took the liberty of whispering to the Commander-in-chief 
 the defects of Arnold's private character. We know that 
 during his whole life, Washington was governed by the 
 principle of appointing to office none but honest men. 
 
 In the midst of his troubles, Arnold's selfishness be- 
 came superior to his patriotism, and he opened a corre- 
 spondence with Sir Henry Clinton, under the signature of 
 Gustavus. For months this continued, when he made 
 himself known. In the mean time, he applied to Wash- -^ug- 
 ington and obtained the command of West Point, with 
 the full intention of betraying that important post. 
 
 In the British army was a young man of pleasing ad- 
 dress ; accomplished in mental acquirements, and as 
 amiable as he was brave. Disappointed in love, he had 
 joined the army and made fame the object of his ambi- 
 tion ; as capable of planning the amusements for a ball or 
 a masquerade as of fulfilling the duties of his office — that 
 of adjutant-general. He won many friends, and with Sir 
 Henry Clinton was a special favorite. It devolved upon 
 this young man. Major John Andre, to answer the letters 
 of " Gustavus." Tliis he did under the feigned name of 
 " John Anderson." When Arnold revealed his true char- 
 acter, Andre volunteered to go up the Hudson on board 
 the sloop-of-war Vulture, to have an interview with him, 
 and make the final arrangements for carrying out the 
 treachery. 
 
478 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 C^^. The Vulture came to anchor a short distance below 
 
 the American Unes. Thence a flag was sent to Arnold, 
 
 1780. giving him the information. In the evening the latter 
 '21. " sent a boat to bring Andre ashore. The night passed, 
 however, before their plans were arranged, and Andre was 
 compelled, though veiy unwillingly, to pass the next day 
 within the American lines. During the day the Vulture 
 attracted the attention of some American gunners, who 
 began to fire upon her, and she dropped down the stream. 
 For some imexplained reason, the man who had brought 
 Andre ashore refused to take him back to the sloop, and 
 he was forced to return to New York by land. He changed 
 his uniform for a citizen's dress, and with a pass from Ar- 
 nold, under the name of John Anderson, set out. Passing 
 to the east side of the river, he travelled on unmolested 
 until he came in the vicinity of Tarrytown. There he 
 was arrested by three young men, John Paulding, David 
 Williams, and Isaac Van Wart. They asked him some 
 questions, and he, supposing them Tories, did not pro- 
 duce his pass, but said he was " from below," meaning 
 New York, and that he was a British ofiicer, travelling on 
 important business. When lie found his mistake, he 
 offered them his watch, his purse, and any amount of 
 money, if they would let him pass. Their patriotism was 
 not to be seduced. Paulding declared that if he would 
 give ten thousand guineas he should not stir a step. In 
 searching his person, they found in his boots papers of a 
 Sept. suspicious character. They brought him to Colonel Jami- 
 son, the commanding officer on the lines at Peekskill. He 
 recognized the handwriting as that of Arnold. The paper 
 contained a description of West Point, and an account of 
 its garrison. But he could not believe that his superior 
 officer was guilty of treason, and had it not been for the 
 protests of Major Talmadge, the second in command, he 
 would have sent the prisoner to Arnold ; as it was, he 
 sent him a letter giving an account of the arrest, and of 
 
TRIAL OF ANDRE HIS EXECUTION. 479 
 
 the papers found upon liis person. The papers he sent chap. 
 by express to Washington, now on his way from Hartford. " 
 
 The letter came to Arnold while he was breakfasting 1780. 
 with some officers, who had just returned from that place. 
 Concealing his emotions, he rose from the table, called his 
 wife out of the room, briefly told her he was a ruined man 
 and must flee for his life. She fell insensible at his feet. 
 He directed the messenger to attend to her, returned to 
 the breakfast-room, excused himself on the plea that he 
 must hasten to the fort to receive the Commander-in- 
 chief Then seizing the messenger's horse, which stood 
 ready saddled, he rode with all speed to the river, sprang 
 into his boat, and ordered the men to row to the Vulture. 
 Thence he wrote to Washington, begging him to protect 
 his wife, who, he protested, was innocent of any partici- 
 pation in what he had done. 
 
 When Andre heard that Arnold was safe, he wrote to 
 Washington, confessing the whole affair. He was imme- 
 diately brought to trial under the charge of being within 
 the American lines, as a spy. Though cautioned to say g^ ^ 
 nothing to criminate himself, he confessed the whole, and 29. 
 on his own confession he was found guilty. The commis- 
 sion to try him was presided over by General Greene. 
 Lafayette and Steiiben were also members of it. Andre 
 protested that he had been induced to enter the American 
 lines by the misrepresentations of Arnold. Clinton made 
 every effort to save his favorite. The amiableness of An- 
 dre's private character enlisted much sympathy in his 
 behalf. And Washington wished, if possible, to spare 
 him ; but a higher duty forbid it. Inexorable martial law 
 denied him his last request, that he might be shot as a 
 soldier, and not hanged as a spy. 
 
 Oct. 
 2 
 
 Cornwallis at length commenced his march toward 
 
 North CaroUna. His army was in three divisions ; one Sept. 
 of which, under Colonel Patrick Ferguson, was to move 
 
480 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to the west near the mountains, to intimidate the Whigs, 
 
 . and enroll the numerous Tories said to be in that region. 
 
 1780. The cavalry, and a portion of the light troops, under Tarle- 
 ton, were to move up the Catawba, while the main body, 
 under Cornwallis himself, was to take the route by way 
 of Charlotte, Salisbury, and Hillsborough, through the 
 region in wliich the Whigs were very numerous. This 
 was with the expectation of forming a juncture with 
 troops sent to the lower Chesapeake from New York. As 
 soon as the British army began its march, the Whigs 
 sprang into fictivity, and harassed them ; scarcely did an 
 express sent from any division of the army escape being 
 shot or taken. Cornwallis declared Charlotte " the hor- 
 net's nest of North Carolina." 
 
 Ferguson, the son of a Scotch judge of eminence, had 
 entered the army from the love of military life, had seen 
 service in Germany, and was deemed by Cornwallis an 
 excellent officer. He excelled in the use of the rifle, and 
 in training others to the use of that weajion. He was 
 generous and humane ; in any enterprise persevering and 
 cool. Over his company of light-infantry regulars he had 
 control, and restrained them from deeds of violence ; but 
 he was joined by a rabble of desperadoes and rancorous 
 Tories. As they passed through the country, these Tories 
 committed outrages upon the inhabitants. He met with 
 scarcely any opposition. But information of these out- 
 rages and of his approach had spread rapidly throughout 
 the region. Little did Ferguson think that at this time, 
 when he neither saw nor heard of an enemy — ^for all his 
 expresses were cut off — that from the distant hills and 
 valleys of the Clinch and the Holston, and from the eastern 
 spurs of the mountains, companies of mounted backwoods- 
 men — their only baggage a knapsack and blanket, their 
 only weapon a rifle — were passing silently through the 
 forests to a place of rendezvous in his front. The most 
 formidable of these were from Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 
BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN. 481 
 
 under Colonels Sevier and Shelby, — afterward first gov- ^hap 
 
 ernors of tliose States. 
 
 Kumors stole into his camp that these half-farmers 1780. 
 and graziers and half-hunters were assembling ; but he 
 scouted the idea that they could ojipose him ; though, 
 when he received more correct information, he began to 
 retreat as rapidly as possible. He had not bepn long on 
 his way when this motley host, thi-ee thousand strong, 
 came together. They held a council ; they were not to 
 be baffled ; about nine hundred mounted their fleetest 
 horses and started in pursuit. They rode for thirty-six 
 hours, part of the time through a drenching rain, dis- 
 mounting but once. Ferguson was astonished at their 
 perseverance. He pushed for a strong position on King's 
 Mountain, near the Catawba. This mountahi rises almost 
 like a cone ; its top was sparsely covered with taU forest 
 trees, while at the base they were more dense. On the 
 level space on the top he arranged his men, saying, with 
 
 an oath, that the " rebels " could not drive him from his 
 
 ... ' Oct. 
 
 position. g^ 
 
 The backwoodsmen approached, reconnoitred, held a 
 
 council, then dismounted to attack the enemy in three 
 
 divisions — in front, and on the right and left flanks. The 
 
 battle soon commenced, the Americans crept up the sides 
 
 of the mountain, and with deliberate aim poured in their 
 
 deadly bullets. Ferguson, on a white charger, rode round 
 
 and round the crest of the hUl, and cheered his men. No 
 
 impression was made on the assailants. He ordered the 
 
 regulars to charge bayonet, and they drove the left division 
 
 down the side of the mountain — for the backwoodsmen 
 
 had no bayonets. Presently the regulars were taken in 
 
 flank, and they retreated to the toj), where, by this time, 
 
 the second division had clambered up. This they drove 
 
 back also ; but before the regulars, now almost exhausted, 
 
 could regain their position, the third division was on the 
 
 plain. Thus it was, as often as a division retired before 
 
 31 
 
482 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP tlie bayonet, another gave relief. Ferguson passed from 
 
 point to point, and cheered and ralHed his men ; bnt sud- 
 
 1790. denly his white charger was seen dashing down the moun- 
 tain-side without a rider : he had fallen by a rifle-baU. 
 The animating spirit was gone ; the British and Tories 
 grounded their arms and surrendered at discretion. Three 
 hundred h^d been killed or wounded, and more than eight 
 hundred were made prisoners. The backwoodsmen lost 
 but twenty slain and a somewhat larger number wounded. 
 Ten of the Tories, who had been especially cruel toward 
 their countrymen, were hanged upon the spot. 
 
 The backwoodsmen disbanded and returned home ; 
 their victory had revived the drooping sj)irits of the south- 
 ern patriots. The battle of King's Mountain bore the 
 same relation to CornwaUis, that the battle of Bennington 
 did to Burgoyne ; and both were won by the undisciplined 
 yeomanry. 
 
 When CornwaUis heard of the defeat of Ferguson he 
 retreated from Salisbury to Winnsborough, in South Car- 
 olina. In one portion of the country Marion appeared, 
 but Tarleton forced him to retreat to the swamps. Then 
 the active Sumter appeared in force again, and rejiulsed a 
 detachment sent against him. Tarleton went in pursuit, 
 but Sumter learned of his approach, and began to retreat 
 rapidly, while Tarleton pressed on with his usual ^dgor. 
 Sumter chose an advantageous position ; Tarleton attacked 
 him, but was repulsed, and in turn forced to retreat. Sum- 
 ter was severely wounded ; he was compelled to retire for 
 some months ; his band, in the mean time, separated. 
 
 Gates now advanced South to Charlotte. Here he 
 was overtaken by G-reene, who, on the suggestion of 
 Washington, had been appointed by Congress to the com- 
 mand of the southern army. Congress had also ordered 
 an inquiry into the conduct of Gates. 
 
 Greene found the remnants of the army in a miserable 
 
CIVIL WAR IN THE SOUTH THE ARMED NEUTEALITT. 483 
 
 condition, without pay, without necessaries, and their chap. 
 
 XX XVT 
 
 clothes in rags. To increase the army, divisions were sent ! 
 
 from the North. Morgan with a regiment, Lee's body of 1780. 
 horse, and some companies of artillery, were with Gates 
 when Greene arrived. 
 
 During this time, a civil war, almost savage in its 
 character, was raging all over the Carolinas. Little par- 
 ties of Whigs and Tories fought with each other whenever 
 they met ; they ravaged each others' neighborhoods, and 
 plundered the people of their furniture, and even of their 
 clothes. 
 
 The year was about to end, with the British power 
 triumphant in the three southern States. In Georgia the 
 royal government was re-established, while the important 
 points held in the Carolinas gave the enemy almost the 
 entire control of those States. The numerous Tories were 
 exultant, while the whole country was nearly exhausted 
 by the long continuance of the war. 
 
 During the summer of this year, it was thought Eng- 
 land would find abundant employment for her armies 
 and navy nearer home. Because she had the power, by 
 means of a vast navy, she assumed the right to board the 
 ships of any neutral nation, and to search for merchandise 
 contraband of war — a practice as arbitrary and arrogant 
 as it was unjust and injurious. Queen Catharine, of Rus- 
 sia, would submit no longer to the imposition. She pro- 
 posed to enter into a combination, known as the "Armed 
 Neutrality," with Denmark and Sweden, to enforce the 
 policy that "Free ships make free goods." That, in time 
 of war, ships of neutral nations coiUd carry merchandise 
 without liability to seizure by the belligerent powers. The 
 British ministry hesitated to enlist the whole maritime 
 world against their commerce, that was already suffering " 
 much. Holland gave indications that she was willing, 
 not only to join the "armed neutrality," but to enter into 
 a commercial treaty with the United States. This inten- 
 
484 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, tion became known by the capture of a correspondence on 
 
 the subject. The vessel on board of which Henry Laurens, 
 
 1780. the American Minister to Holland, had sailed, was cap- 
 tured by an English frigate. Laurens threw the pajjers 
 overboard, but an English sailor leaped into the water and 
 recovered them. 
 
 Laurens was descended from one of the many Hugue- 
 not families that sought an asylum in South Carolina ; 
 nor did he belie the nobleness of bis ancestry. He was 
 taken to England and confined a close j^risoner in the 
 Tower of London, on a charge of high treason, j^lied with 
 inducements to desert his country's cause, but without 
 avail. He stood firm, and was finally liberated, to pro- 
 ceed to Paris, there to aid in negotiating a treaty with 
 England herself, on behalf of his country, which had fought 
 its way to independence. 
 
 The British ministiy demanded that this correspond- 
 ence should be disavowed, but the States-General, with 
 their usual coolness, gave an evasive answer. England 
 declared war immediately, and her fleet exhibited their 
 thirst for plunder by entering at once on a foray against 
 the commerce of Holland throughout the world. 
 
 England now had reason to be alarmed at surrounding 
 dangers. Spain joined France, and their combined fleets 
 far outnumbered hers in the West Indies. Holland de- 
 clared war against her, while nearer home there was dan- 
 ger. Eighty thousand Irishmen had volunteered to repel 
 a threatened invasion from France ; but now these volun- 
 teers, with arms in their hands, were clamoring against 
 the oppression that England exercised over their industry 
 and commerce, and threatened to follow the example of 
 the American colonies in not using British manufactures ; 
 and, what was still more ominous, demanded that the 
 Irish Parliament should be independent of English con- 
 trol. The whole world was affected by these struggles. 
 Spain sent her ships to prey upon English commerce, and 
 
THE EKEKGT OF ENGLAND. 485 
 
 an army to besiege the English garrison at Gibraltar, chap. 
 
 . . . . . XXXVI 
 
 France had armies against lier in America and in India — ^' 
 
 both aiding rebellious subjects. To meet these over- 1T80. 
 
 whelming jjowers, England put forth gigantic efforts. We 
 
 must admire the indomitable spirit, that steady energy, 
 
 with which she repelled her enemies, and held the world 
 
 at bay. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXVII. 
 
 WAR OF THE REVOLUTION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The Spirit of ReTolt among tbe Soldiers. — Arnold ravages the Sliores of tlie 
 Cliesapealie. — Battle of the Cowpcns. — Morgan retreats ; Cornwallis 
 pur.su;s. — Greene marches South. — Lee scatters the Tories. — Battle of 
 Guildford Court House. — Conflict at Hobkirk's Hill. — The Execution of 
 Hayne. — Battle of Eutaw Springs. — Plans to Capture New York. — 
 Wayne's Daring at the James River.- — National Finances. — Robert Mor- 
 ris. — French and American Armies on the Hudson. — Clinton deceived. — 
 Combined Armies beyond the Delaware. — French Fleet in the Ches- 
 apeake.— Cornwalhs in the Toils. — The Attack ; Surrender of the Brit- 
 ish Army and Navy. — Thanksgivings. 
 
 CHAP. The last year of the struggle for Independence opened. 
 
 '_ as had all the others, with exhibitions of distress among 
 
 1781. the soldiers. The regiments of the Pennsylvania line, en- 
 camped for the winter near Morristown, grew impatient 
 at the indifference of Congress to their necessities. In 
 truth, that body was more or less distracted by factions, 
 and made no sjiecial efforts to relieve the wants of the 
 soldiers. Thirteen hundred of these men, indignant at 
 Jan. guQ]j neglect, broke out in open revolt, and under the 
 command of their sergeants, marched off toward Philadel- 
 phia, to lay their complaints before Congress. 
 
 General Wayne, to prevent their pillaging, sent after 
 them provisions ; he himself soon followed, and urged 
 them to return to their duty. The sergeants, at his in- 
 stance, proposed to send a deputation to Congress, and 
 to the Pennsylvania Assembly, but the soldiers refused to 
 
REVOLTS IN THE ARMY. 487 
 
 entertain the proposition, and persisted in going them- ^^E-jj 
 
 selves. Though thus mutinous, they scorned the thought 
 
 of turning '' Arnolds," as they expressed it, but promptly 1781. 
 arrested as spies two Tory emissaries sent by Sir Henry 
 Clinton to tamper with their fidelity. These emissaries 
 were soon after hanged. Wayne in his zeal placed him- 
 self before the mutineers and cocked his pistols. In an 
 instant their bayonets were at his breast. They besought 
 him not to fire, saying : " We love, we respect you, but 
 you are a dead man if you fire. Do not mistake us ; we 
 are not going to the enemy ; were they now to come out 
 you would sec us fight under your orders, with as much 
 resolution and alacrity as ever." 
 
 Intelligence of this revolt excited great alarm in Phila- 
 delphia. Congress sent a committee, which was accom- 
 panied by Eeed, the President of Pennsylvania, to meet 
 the insurgents and induce them to return to their duty. 
 The committee proposed to relieve their present wants, to 
 give them certificates for the remainder of their pay, and 
 to indemnify them for the loss they had sustained by the 
 depreciation of the continental money. Permission was 
 also given to those who had served three years to with- 
 draw from the army. On these conditions the soldiers 
 returned to the ranks. When offered a reward for deliv- 
 ering up the British emissaries sent to corrupt them, they 
 refused it, saying : " We ask no reward for doing our 
 duty to our country." 
 
 The discontent spread. Three weeks after this affair, 
 the New Jersey line also revolted ; but that was sup- 
 pressed by a strong hand in a few days. So much discon- 
 tent in the army spread consternation throughout the 
 country ; not, however, without a salutary effect. The 
 patriots were awakened to make greater exertions to pro- 
 vide for the necessities of the soldiers. Their self-denials, 
 labors, and sufferings had been too long overlooked. 
 
 Urgent demands were now sent to all the States, 
 
488 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxxvn especially those of New England, to furnish the army 
 
 with the proper necessaries. To encourage enlistments, 
 
 1781 some of the States promised to provide for the families of 
 the soldiers, and Congress endeavored to obtain a foreign 
 loan. 
 
 Arnold, as the reward of his treachery, received fifty 
 thousand dollars, and the commission of brigadier-general 
 in the British army. Lost to shame, he put forth a 
 " Proclamation to the officers and soldiers of the Continen- 
 tal Army." He contrasted their privations and want of 
 pay with the comforts and full pay of the British soldiers, 
 and offered every man who should desert to the royal 
 cause, fifteen dollars as a bounty, and full pay thereafter. 
 The " proclamation" had no other effect than to increase 
 the detestation in which the soldiers held the traitor. 
 
 Clinton sent Arnold with sixteen hundred men, British 
 and Tories, to ravage the coasts of Virginia. Thomas 
 Jefferson, who was then governor, called out the militia 
 Jan. to defend Richmond ; but only about two hundred men 
 could be raised, and with great difficulty most of the pub- 
 lic stores were removed. After Arnold had taken pos- 
 session of the town, he jiroposed to spare it, if permitted 
 to bring up the ships and load them with the tobacco 
 found in the place. Jefferson promptly rejected the prop- 
 osition. Arnold destroyed a great amount of private 
 property, burned the public buildings, and some private 
 dwellings. He then dropped down the river, landing oc- 
 casionally to burn and destroy. 
 
 Baron Steuben, who was at this time in Virginia en- 
 listing soldiers for Greene's army, had not an adequate 
 force to rejjel the invaders. Washington sent to his aid 
 Lafayette, with twelve hundred men, principally from 
 New England and Jersey. They hoped to capture Ar- 
 nold. On the same errand, two French ships of war con- 
 trived to enter the Chesapeake. Soon after, the whole 
 
BATTLE OF THE COWPENS. 489 
 
 French fleet, with troops on board, sailed from Newport S^.^^,-, 
 
 for the same place. A British fleet followed from New ' 
 
 York, and an indecisive engagement took place between 1781. 
 them ofl" the entrance to the bay. The French fleet, 
 worsted in the fight, returned to Newport, while the Brit- 
 ish entered the bay and reinforced Arnold with two thou- ' 
 sand men, under General Phillips, who had recently been 
 exchanged for General Lincoln. Phillips assumed the 
 command, much to the satisfaction of the British officers, 
 who disliked to serve under the traitor. 
 
 Thus, for the fourth time, the French fleet fafled to 
 co-operate with the American land-forces; in consequence 
 of which Lafayette was compelled to halt on his way at 
 Annapolis. 
 
 Phillips, having now a superior force, sent detach- Mar. 
 ments up the rivers and ravaged their shores. One of the 
 vessels sailed up the Potomac as as far as Mount Vernon. 
 The manager of the estate saved the houses from being 
 burned by furnishing supplies. Washington reproved 
 him in a letter, saying, he " would prefer the buildings 
 should be burned, than to save them by the pernicious 
 practice of furnishing suppUes to the enemy." 
 
 Cornwallis, who was at Winnsborough, detached Tarle- 
 ton, with about a thousand troops, cavalry and light- 
 infantry, to cut off Morgan's division, which was in the 
 region between the Broad and Catawba rivers. When 
 Morgan heard of Tarleton's approach, he retired toward 
 the Broad River, intending to cross it. Tarleton pursued 
 with his usual rapidity. Morgan saw that he must be 
 overtaken ; he halted, refreshed his men, and prepared for 
 the conflict. He chose his ground at a place known as 
 " The Cowpens," about thirty miles west of King's Moun- 
 tain, and thus named because herds of cattle were pas- 
 tured in that portion of the Thickety mountains. The '^^^■ 
 two armies were about equal in numbers. More than half 
 of Morgan's were North and South Carohna militia, under 
 
490 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxxvn ^'^■'•^^^l Pickens. Morgan disjiosed his men to the best 
 
 advantage ; the Continentals on a woody hill, and the 
 
 1781. militia in a line by themselves. He was deficient in cav- 
 alry, but placed what he had under Colonel Washington, 
 as a reserve. The British and Tories, though fatigued by 
 their last night's march, were confident of victory ; they 
 rushed on with shouts. The militia stood their groimd, 
 delivered their fire, but quailing before the bayonet, they 
 broke and fled. In pursuing the fugitives, the enemy 
 almost passed by the Continentals, who, to avoid being 
 taken in flank, fell back in order. This movement the 
 British mistook for a retreat, and they commenced a vig- 
 orous pursuit, but when they approached within thirty 
 yards, the Continentals suddenly wheeled, poured in a 
 deadly volley, then charged bayonet, completely routed 
 them, and captured their colors and cannon. Mean time 
 the British cavalry, under Tarletou himself, continued the 
 pursuit of the militia. While thus rushing on in con- 
 fusion, the American cavalry attacked them in flank, and 
 routed them also. These two repulses occurred almost at 
 the same time, but in difi'erent parts of the field. The 
 enemy were routed beyond recovery, and the Americans 
 pursued them vigorously. The fiery Tarleton, accompa- 
 nied by a few followers, barely escaped capture. Of his 
 eleven hundred men he lost six hundred, while Morgan's 
 loss was less than eighty. 
 
 When Cornwallis, who was only twenty-five miles dis- 
 tant, heard of Tarleton's defeat, he at once determined 
 upon his course. He thought that Morgan, encumbered 
 with prisoners and spoils, would linger for some time near 
 the scene of his victory. He therefore destroyed his bag- 
 gage, converted his entire army into light troops, and with 
 all his force set out in pursuit. His object was twofold ; 
 to rescue the prisoners, and crush Morgan before he coidd 
 cross the Catawba and unite his force with that of Gen- 
 eral Greene. 
 
THE RETEEAT AND THE PURSUIT. 491 
 
 Morgan was too watchful to be thus caught. He knew ^^^^.-j 
 
 Cornwallis would pursue Mm, and he left his wounded 
 
 under a flag of truce, and hurried on to the Catawba, and 1781. 
 crossed over. Two hours had scarcely elajoscd before the 
 British vanguard appeared on the opposite bank. A sud- 
 den rise in the river detained Cornwallis two days ; in 
 the mean time Morgan sent off his prisoners, and refreshed 
 his men. 
 
 When Greene heard of Morgan's victory, he put his 
 troops in motion, and two days after the passage of the 
 Catawba joined him and assumed the command. He was 
 not yet able to meet the enemy, and the retreat was con- 
 tinued toward the Yadldn, the ujjper course of the Peedee. 
 His encumbered army could move but slowly ; just as his 
 rear-guard was embarking on the river, the British van Feb. 
 came up. A skirmish ensued, in which the Americans ^' 
 lost a few baggage wagons. To-morrow, thought Corn- 
 wallis, I shall secure the prize ; and he halted for the 
 night to rest his weary soldiers. The rain had j^oured in 
 torrents, and in the morning the river was so much swollen, 
 that his army could not ford it, and Greene had secured 
 all the boats on the other side. The latter, though here 
 joined by other divisions, dared not risk a battle with his 
 unrelenting pursuers. He called out the militia in the 
 neighborhood to check the enemy at the fords, and hur- 
 ried on to cross the river Dan into Virginia, whence alone 
 he could receive recruits and supplies. General Morgan, 
 on account of iUness, now withdrew from the army, and 
 Greene left Colonel Otho H. Williams, with some light- 
 armed troops, to keep the pursuers in check. 
 
 As soon as possible Cornwallis crossed the Yadkin ; 
 if the Americans could get beyond the Dan they would 
 be safe, and he strained every nerve to cut them off. He 
 supposed they coidd not cross at the lower ferries for want 
 of boats, and that they must go higher up the stream, 
 where it could be forded. With this impression he pushed 
 
492 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 YXYvn ^°^ *^^ upper fords, and Colonel Williams kept up liis 
 
 . delusion by manoeuvring before liim in that direction. 
 
 1T81. But the judicious Greene, anticipating the movement, had 
 taken measures to collect boats at the lower ferries, and 
 sent forward Kosciusko to throw up breastworks to defend 
 them. He now urged on his weary soldiers, at the rate 
 of thirty miles a day, reached the ferries, and carried over 
 his main body, and the baggage. Meanwhile, when they 
 had sufficiently retarded the pursuers, by breaking down 
 bridges and carrying off provisions, the light-troops, as if 
 for the night, kindled their camp-fires in sight of the foe ; 
 ^®"' then dashed off, and by a rapid march of forty miles, 
 reached the ferries and passed over. In a few hours, the 
 van of the British appeared on the opposite bank. Corn- 
 wallis, in his movement toward the upper fords, had gone 
 twenty-five miles out of his way. After a chase of more 
 than two hundred miles, the object of his pursuit lay in 
 sight, but the waters between could not be forded, nor 
 could boats be obtained. As the two armies rested in 
 sight of each other, how different were their emotions ! 
 The one overflowing with gratitude, the other chafed with 
 disappointment. 
 
 The half-clad Americans liad toiled for nearly four 
 weeks over roads partially frozen, through drenching rains, 
 without tents at night ; multitudes were without shoes, 
 and in this instance, as in many others during the war, 
 their way could be tracked in bloody foot-prints. Twice 
 had the waters, through which they had safely passed, 
 risen and become impassable to their pursuers, and again 
 a river swollen by recent rains lay between them. Was 
 it strange, that those who were accustomed to notice the 
 workings cf Providence, believed that He who orders all 
 things, had specially interposed His arm for the salvation 
 of the patriots .^ 
 
 After resting his soldiers — who, if they were compelled 
 to march rapidly, were comfortably clad — CornwalUs com- 
 
2 
 
 GREENE MARCHES IN PURSUIT THE TORIES DEFEATED. 493 
 
 menced to move slowly back. He and his officers were chap. 
 
 XXXYII. 
 
 greatly mortified at their want of success ; tliey had made 
 
 great sacrifices in destroying their private stores, that 1781. 
 when thus freed from encumbrances, they could overtake 
 the Americans and completely disperse them. A few 
 days later, he took post at Hillsborough, whence he issued 
 another of his famous proclamations. 
 
 General Greene refreshed his troops, of whom he wrote 
 to Washington, that they were "■ in good spirits, notwith- 
 standing their sufferings and excessive fatigue." He then 
 repassed the Dan, and boldly marched in pursuit, to en- 
 courage the Whigs of the Carolinas, and prevent the To- 
 ries from rising. 
 
 It was rumored that Tarleton was enlisting and organ- 
 izing great numbers of Tories in the district between the 
 Haw and Deep rivers. General Greene sent Colonels Mar. 
 Lee and Pickens, with their cavalry, against him. On 
 their way they met three or four hundred mounted Tories, 
 who mistook their men for Tarleton's, and came riding 
 up, shouting " Long live the king ! " It was for them a 
 sad mistake. The Americans made no reply, but sur- 
 rounded them, and without mercy cut tliem to jjieces. 
 Another exhibition of that deadly rancor that prevailed in 
 the South between the Whigs and the royalists. This 
 check taught the Tories caution, and materially dimin- 
 ished their eidistments. Many others, on their way to 
 the British camjj, when they heard of this conflict, re- 
 turned to their homes. 
 
 Cornwallis, almost destitute of supplies, changed his Feb. 
 position, and moved further South. Greene cautiously 
 followed, not daring, from very weakness, to risk an en- 
 gagement with the enemy's veterans, except when they 
 were in small parties. As for himself, he was so watchful 
 against surprise, that he never remained more than one 
 day in the same place, and never communicated to any 
 one beforehand where he expected to encamp. 
 
 26. 
 
494 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Fresh troops, in the mean time, were gradually joining 
 
 [ him from Virginia and Maryland, and when his force 
 
 1781. amounted to four thousand, he left his baggage seventeen 
 miles in the rear, and approached the enemy to give them 
 battle. It was in the vicinity of Guilford Court House. 
 15_' He drew his army up in two lines ; the militia, in whom 
 he had little confidence, as they were apt to give way at 
 the first charge, he placed behind a fence, and stationed 
 sentries in the rear, with orders to shoot the first man 
 who should run. The battle was fought in a region cov- 
 ered with thick woods, with cleared fields interspersed. 
 The North Carolina militia could not withstand the shock 
 of the British charge, but threw down their arms and fled. 
 The Virginia militia, under Colonel Stevens, stood their 
 ground, and for a time kept up a destructive fire ; but 
 they too were compelled to yield to the bayonet. Now 
 the enemy pressed on in pursuit, but presently Colonel 
 Warshington charged them with bis horse, and drove them 
 back. Then again the British artillery opened upon the 
 American pursirers, and they in turn were checked. 
 Greene depended much on his Continentals, but one of 
 the newly-raised Maryland regiments gave way before a 
 battalion led by Colonel Stewart. The battalion was 
 presently checked by Colonel Washington's cavalry, and 
 the brave Stewart was himself slain. It was impossible 
 to retrieve what the North Carolina militia had lost, and 
 Greene ordered a retreat, which he conducted with his 
 usual skill. 
 
 Though Greene retreated from the field, Cornwallis 
 was unable to pursue. More than a thousand of the mili- 
 tia deserted and returned home, and Greene's army was 
 soon as weak as ever. This has been thought one of the 
 severest battles of the whole war. " The wounded of both , 
 armies lay scattered over a wide space. There were no 
 houses nor tents to receive them. The night that followed 
 the battle was dark and tempestuous ; horrid shrieks re- 
 
CONFLICT AT HOBKIRK'S HILL. 495 
 
 sounded through the woods ; many expired before morn- i'^.f P-. 
 ing. Such is war ! " 
 
 Cornwallis's army was so broken by this' battle, and 1781. 
 weakened by desertions and sickness, that it numbered 
 but about fourteen hundred men. He was compelled to 
 abandon his position, and fall back to Wilmington, near 
 the seaboard. After recruiting his men, Greene boldly 
 marched into South Carolina, and advanced rapidly upon 
 Camden, where Lord Eawdon with a small force held April 
 command. That central position was connected, on the 
 one hand, with Charleston, and on the other with the 
 strong forts of Ninety-Six and Augusta. Between these 
 important points, there were several smaller posts. Lee 
 and Marion were sent, with their cavalry, to attack 
 some of these. Greene himself advanced within two 
 miles of the British lines, and encamped at Hobkirk's 
 Hill, near a swamp which covered his left. Eawdon 
 thought to surprise the Americans, made a circuit of the 
 swamp, and came suddenly upon the camp ; but the sur- 
 prise was only partial. Greene promptly formed his line. 
 In moving along a narrow passage, the British were ex- 
 posed to a severe fire, and the American infantry were 
 about to attack them in flank, while the horse, under 
 Colonel Washington, moved to charge them in the rear. 
 Eawdon brought up his reserve to counteract this move- April 
 ment. A regiment of Continentals, in the American ^^^ 
 centre, and upon whom Greene depended very much, 
 unexpectedly gave way, and thus threw the army into 
 confusion, and a retreat was ordered. 
 
 The loss on each side was nearly equal ; the Americans, 
 however, brought off their cannon, and checked the i^ursuit. 
 In the mean while several fortified places belonging to the 
 British fell into the hands of Lee and Marion, thus breaking 
 up the communication between Charleston and the interior. 
 
 Eawdon abandoned Camden, and retreated to Monk's 
 Corner, in the vicinity of Charleston. 
 
18, 
 
 496 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Greene marclied against the strong post of Ninety-Six, 
 
 but after besieging it for some time, be heard that Kawdon 
 
 1781. bad been reinforced, and was tben hastening to relieve it. 
 After making a vigorous attempt to take the place by 
 assault, he raised the siege and retreated across the Sa- 
 Jnne luda. The heat had now become excessive, and both 
 armies retired from active operations : the American on 
 the hills of the Santee, and the British on the Congaree. 
 The British had lost in the space of seven months the 
 greater part of South Carolina, and were now restricted to 
 the region between the Santee and the Lower Savannah. 
 The partisan warfare continued, although the main armies 
 were at rest. 
 
 The British resolved to execute as traitors those who 
 had given their parole not to engage in the war or had re- 
 ceived a protection, if they should be taken prisoners with 
 arms in their bands. A distinguished citizen of Charleston, 
 Colonel Isaac Hayne, had been taken prisoner at the cap- 
 ture of that city, but owing to family afflictions — a sick 
 and dying wife and helpless children — he gave his parole 
 to remain neutral, and was promised protection. In vio- 
 lation of this pledge, he was soon after ordered to take up 
 arms against his counti-ymcn. He refused ; but instead 
 deemed himself justified in again joining the American 
 army. 
 
 He was again taken prisoner, and now condemned to 
 die as a traitor. The inhabitants of Charleston, Whig and 
 Tory, petitioned for his pardon, yet Kawdon refused, and 
 Hayne was hanged. His execution was looked upon as 
 contrary to military rule, cruel and unjust. In the minds 
 of the Whigs the bitterest animosity was excited. Greene 
 threatened to retaliate. The American soldiers were with 
 difficulty restrained from putting to death the British offi- 
 cers Avhom they took prisoners. 
 
 When the heat of the weather somewhat abated, 
 Greene moved from the hills up the Wateree to Camden, 
 
BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 497 
 
 and thence across the Congaree and down it to the vicinity ^^^^: 
 
 of Eutaw Springs. The British, now under Colonel Stuart, 
 
 retired before him ; but the Americans surprised a large 1Y81. 
 foraging party and took a number of j^risoners. The re- 
 mainder escaped and joined their main force, which im- 
 mediately drew up in order of battle. Though the attack 
 was made with great ardor, the enemy withstood it with 
 determined bravery. The contest raged most fiercely 
 around the artillery, which changed hands several times. 
 The British left at length gave way, and the Americans 
 pursued, but presently the fugitives took possession of a 
 large stone house, surrounded by a picketed garden. From 
 this place they could not be immediately dislodged. A Sept. 
 British battalion, which had successfully resisted a charge ^• 
 of the Americans, suddenly appeared at the rear of the 
 assailants. The latter, disconcerted by this movement, 
 and thrown into confusion, began to retreat. 
 
 The force of each army was about two thousand. The 
 loss of the British was seven hundred, and that of the 
 Americans about five hundred. 
 
 The victory was claimed by both parties, but the ad- 
 vantage was certainly on the side of the Americans. 
 Colonel Stuart, the British commander, thought it pru- 
 dent to fall back to the vicinity of Charleston. Greene re- 
 tired again to the hills of Santee to refresh his men, who were 
 wretchedly off for necessaries, being barefooted and half- 
 clad, out of hospital stores, and nearly out of ammunition. 
 
 Greene's military talents had been severely tested 
 during this campaign ; he was as successful in attacking 
 as he was in avoiding his enemies. In no instance was he 
 really equal to them in force and equipments ; but he 
 never fought a battle that did not result more to his ad- 
 vantage than to that of the enemy. Their very victories 
 were to them as injurious as ordinary defeats. It is not 
 strange that he was the favorite officer of the Commander- 
 in-chief 
 
 32 
 
ilay. 
 
 498 HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 xxxvii. While these events were in progress in the South, a series 
 
 of important operations were also in train in the North. 
 
 1781. Tj^gj-e were two objects, one of which might be attained : 
 New York might be taken, as its garrison had been much 
 weakened by sending detachments to the South; or Corn- 
 wallis might be captured in Virginia. But neither of 
 these could be accomplished without the aid of a French 
 army as well as fleet. While the matter was under con- 
 sideration, a frigate arrived from France bringing the 
 Count De Barras, who was to command the French fleet 
 at Newport, and also the cheering news that twenty ships 
 of the line, under the Count de Grasse, with land forces on 
 board, were shortly to sail for the West Indies, and that 
 a portion of this fleet and forces might be expected on 
 the coast of the United States in the course of a few 
 months. Washington and the Count de Rochambeau had 
 an interview at Weathersfield, Connecticut, to devise a 
 plan of operations. They determined to make an attack 
 upon New York. The French army was soon to be 
 put in motion to form a junction with the American on 
 the Hudson, and a frigate was despatched to inform the 
 Count de Grasse of the plan, and to invite his coopera 
 tion. 
 
 Chnton, suspecting the designs against New York, be- 
 came alarmed, and ordered Cornwallis, who was at Wil- 
 liamsburg, Virginia, to send him a reinforcement of troops. 
 To comply with this order, the latter marched toward Ports- 
 mouth. Lafayette and Steuben cautiously followed. Their 
 men numbered about four thousand ; the army of Corn- 
 wallis was much more numerous and better appointed. 
 Lafayette intended to attack the rear-guard of the British 
 6. when the main body had passed James Eiver. Cornwallis 
 suspected the design, and laid his plans to entrap the 
 Marquis. He sent over a portion of his troops with the 
 pack-horses, and so arranged them as to make a great dis- 
 play ; then threw in the way of the Americans a negro 
 
DARING ATTACK BY WAYNE. 499 
 
 and a dragoon, wlio pretended to be deserters, and they yy^ yjy 
 
 announced tliat the main body of the British army had . 
 
 passed the river. Lafayette immediately detached Wayne l'^81. 
 with a body of riflemen and dragoons to commence 
 the attack, while he himself should advance to his sup- 
 port. 
 
 Wayne moved forward, forced a picket, which de- 
 signedly gave way, but presently he found himself close 
 upon the main body of the enemy. In a moment he saw 
 that he had been deceived. Wayne's daring nature de- 
 cided his course : he at once ordered a charge to be 
 sounded ; his men, horse and foot, caught his spirit, and 
 with shouts, as if sure of victory, they dashed against the 
 enemy with great impetuosity, gallantly continued the 
 fight for a short time, and then as rapidly retreated. The 
 ruse succeeded admhably. CornwaUis, astounded at the 
 boldness and vigor of the attack, hesitated to pursue, 
 thinking the movement was designed to lead him into an 
 ambuscade. This delay enabled Lafayette to extricate 
 himself from his dangerous position. 
 
 Comwallis now crossed the river, but whUe the detach- 
 ment designed for New York was embarking, a second com- 
 munication was received from Clinton. He now announced 
 the arrival of reinforcements of Hessians from Europe, and 
 also directed CornwaUis to retain all his force, and choose 
 some central position in Virginia, and there fortify himself. 
 In accordance with this command, the latter chose the 
 towns of Gloucester and Yorktown, situated opposite each 
 other on York Eivcr. Here, with an army of eight thou- 
 sand effective men, he threw up strong intrenchments, 
 and also moored in the harbor a number of frigates and 
 other vessels of war. 
 
 The financial affairs of the country continued in a de- 
 plorable condition. Congress hoped to remedy the evil by 
 
500 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 jom^^i appointing ca single superintendent of finance, instead of 
 
 the committee to whom it had hitherto been intrusted. 
 
 1781. Eobert Morris, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia, one 
 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, received 
 the appointment. He accepted the office only on the ex- 
 press condition, that all transactions should be in sjjecie 
 value. The results vindicated the wisdom of the choice ; the 
 genius in furnishing the " sinews of war " was as efficient 
 as that disjilayed by others in the field. At his instance 
 Congress established the Bank of North America, with a 
 capital of two millions of dollars, and to continue in force 
 for ten years. The bank was pledged to redeem its notes 
 in specie on presentation. This feature of the institution 
 at once secured the confidence of the public, and the 
 wealthy invested in it their funds. Operating by means 
 of the bank, Morris raised the credit of Congress higher 
 than it ever stood before ; and he was also enabled, in a 
 great measure, to furnish supplies for the army and pay 
 for the soldiers. Whenever public means failed he pledged 
 his own credit. 
 
 Washington, on his return from the interview with 
 Eochambeau, addressed letters to the authorities of New 
 Jersey and New England, urging them in this emergency 
 to furnish provisions and their quotas of men. But they 
 were dilatory and unable to comply, and he had but five 
 thousand effective men at Peekskill, and they would have 
 been destitute of provisions, had it not been for the energy 
 of Morris. 
 
 The French army had remained inactive eleven months 
 at Newport ; it now moved to join Washington in the 
 July- Highlands. Information was received from the Count de 
 Grrasse that he would shortly sail with a large fleet for the 
 United States. Washington and Eochambeau hastened 
 their preparations to cooperate with him uj^on his arrival 
 in the proposed attack on New York. An intercepted 
 letter gave CHnton the knowledge of these movements, and 
 
CLINTON DECEIVED. THE AKMY ON THE MARCH. 501 
 
 he was soon on the alert to defend the city. The British chap. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 posts on Manhattan Island were reconnoitred by the Amer- ' 
 
 icans, the combined armies were encamped at Dobbs' Ferry 1781. 
 and on the Greenburg hills, waiting for reinforcements and 
 the Count de Grasse. Presently came a frigate from the 
 Count to Newport with the intelligence that he intended Aug. 
 to sail for the Chesapeake. This information disconcerted 
 all their plans ; now they must direct their forces against 
 Cornwallis. To accomplish this effectively Clinton must 
 be deceived and Cornwallis kept in ignorance. To " mis- 
 guide and bewUder" Sir Henry, a space for a large en- 
 campment was marked out in New Jersey, near Staten 
 Island ; boats were collected ; ovens were built as if pre- 
 paring for the sustenance of a large army ; pioneers were 
 sent to clear roads toward King's Bridge, and pains were 
 taken to keep the American soldiers ignorant of their own 
 destination. 
 
 General Lincoln was sent with the first division of the 
 army across the Jerseys ; he was followed by the French. 
 Wagons were in company to carry the packs of the soldiers, 
 to enable them to move with more rapidity. Washington 
 sent orders to Lafayette, who was yet in Virginia, to take 
 a position to prevent Cornwallis retreating to North Caro- 
 lina ; to retain Wayne with his Pennsylvanians, and to 
 communicate with General Greene. He also wrote to the 
 Count de Grasse, who would soon be in the Chesapeake. 
 
 Thus were the plans skilfully laid by which the con- 
 test was brought to a happy issue. When the Northern 
 soldiers arrived in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and found 
 that they were really going against Cornwallis, they mani- 
 fested some discontent in prospect of the long southern 
 march in the month of August. At this critical moment, 
 John Laurens, son of Henry Laurens, President of Con- 
 gress, arrived from France, whither he had been sent to 
 obtain aid ; he brought with him a large supply of clothing, 
 ammunition, and arms ; and what was just then very 
 
502 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, much wanted, half a million of dollars. By means of this, 
 
 and with the aid of Morris, the soldiers received a portion 
 
 1781. of their pay in cash. Their good humor was restored, and 
 they cheerfully marched on. 
 
 De Barras, who commanded the French fleet at New- 
 Aug. port, suddenly put to sea. Clinton at once divined the 
 object was to unite, in the Chesapeake, with another 
 French fleet from the West Indies ; and he sent Admiral 
 Graves to j^revent the junction. The admiral was aston- 
 ished to find De Grasse, with twenty-five sail of the line, 
 anchored within the Capes. De Grasse ran out to sea, as 
 if to give the British battle, but really to divert their at- 
 Sept. tention until De Barras could enter the Bay. For five 
 days the hostile fleets mauceuvred and skirmished. Mean- 
 while De Barras appeared and passed within the Capes, 
 and immediately De Grasse followed. Graves now re- 
 turned to New York. 
 
 Until the main body of the combined armies was be- 
 yond the Delaware, Clinton sujijDOsed the movement was a 
 •^spt- ruse to draw him out to fight in the open fields. Corn- 
 wallis himself was as much deceived ; thinking he would 
 have Lafayette only to contend with, he wrote to Clinton 
 that he could spare him twelve hundred men to aid in de- 
 fending New York. Not until he was fairly in the toils, 
 when the French fleet had anchored within the Capes, did 
 he apprehend his danger. 
 
 Thinking that jjerhaps a portion of the American army 
 might be sent back to defend New England, Clinton sent 
 Arnold with a force, composed principally of Tories and 
 Hessians, on a marauding expedition into Connecticut. 
 But Washington was not to be diverted from his high pur- 
 pose. While he and De Kochambcau are pushing on to- 
 ward the head of the Chesapeake, let us turn aside to 
 to speak of this maraud, which closes the career of the 
 traitor in his own country. 
 
NEW LONDON BURNED BY ARNOLD. 503 
 
 New London was tlie first to be plundered and iLJiuned, ..P-HAP. 
 
 and there Arnold destroyed an immense amount of prop- 
 
 erty. Fort Griswold, commanded by Colonel William 1781. 
 Ledyard — brother of the celebrated traveller — was situated 
 on the opposite shore of the river. This was assaulted, 
 and after an obstinate resistance, in which the British lost 
 two hundred men and their two highest officers, it was 
 carried. When the enemy entered, the Americans laid 
 down their arms, but the massacre continued. Major 
 Bromfield, a New Jersey tory, by the death of the two 
 higher oiBcers, became the leader of the assailants. Tra- 
 dition tells that when he entered the fort he inquired who 
 commanded, and that Colonel Ledyard came forward, say- 
 ing, " I did, sir ; but you do now ; " at the same time Sept. 
 handing him his sword : that Bromfield took the sword 
 and plunged it into Ledyard's breast. This was the sig- 
 nal for indiscriminate slaughter, and more than sixty of 
 the yeomanry of Connecticut were massacred in cold blood. 
 The militia began to collect in great numbers from the 
 neighboring towns. Arnold dared not meet his enraged 
 countrymen, and he hastily re-embarked. These outrages 
 were committed almost in sight of his birthplace. Thus 
 closed " a career of ambition without virtue, of glory ter- 
 minated with crime, and of depravity ending in infamy 
 and ruin." 
 
 The combined armies arrived at Elkton, where they g j. 
 found transports sent by Lafayette and De Grasse to con- 27. 
 vey them to the scene of action. Previously De Grasse 
 had landed three thousand troops under the marquis St. 
 Simon, to unite with the forces under Lafayette, Steuben, 
 and Wayne. 
 
 As had. been anticipated, Cornwallis endeavored to 
 force his way to the Carohnas, but the youthful marquis, 
 whom some months before he had characterized as a " boy," 
 was on the alert. He then sent off expresses with urgent 
 
504 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 x'vvv^'r ^PP®^^'' to Clinton to send him aid. In the mean time he 
 
 was indefatigable in strengthening his fortifications. 
 
 1781. The combined forces, French and American, were 
 
 about twelve thousand, besides the Virginia militia called 
 out bj' Gorernor Nelson, who, as the State treasury was 
 empty, pledged his own property as security to obtain a 
 loan of money to defray the expenses. The Governor 
 was a resident of Yorktown, and when the cannonade 
 was about to commence, he was asked where the attack 
 would be most effective : "He pointed to a large, hand- 
 some house on a rising ground as the 23robable head-quar- 
 ters of the enemy. It proved to be his own." 
 
 The plan of operations were speedily arranged, and the 
 allies began to press the siege with great vigor. Their 
 lines were within six hundred yards of the enemy's works, 
 which they completely surrounded. General Washington 
 himself put the match to the first gun. The heavy ord- 
 nance brought by De Barras was soon thundering at the 
 fortifications. The British outworks were very strong, 
 and beyond these were thrown up redoubts to hinder the 
 approach of the assailants. The cannonade continued for 
 four days ; the enemy's outworks were greatly damaged 
 and guns dismounted, while a forty-four gun shiji and 
 other vessels were burned by means of red-hot shot thrown 
 by the French. Cornwalhs withdrew his men from the 
 outworks, but the redoubts remained. Two of these were 
 to be stormed ; one assigned to the French, the other to 
 ^''}- the Americans. The assault was made about eight o'clock 
 in the evening. The Americans, under Alexander Ham- 
 ilton, were the first to enter ; they scrambled over the 
 parapet without regard to order, and carried the redoubt 
 at the point of the bayonet. The French captured theirs, 
 but according to rule, and they suffered more than the 
 Americans in their headlong attack. The emulation ex- 
 hibited by both parties was generous and nolile. From 
 
 14. 
 
SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. 505 
 
 these captured redoubts a hundred heavy cannon poured ^^^^j 
 
 in an incessant storm of balls. Cornwallis, as he saw his 
 
 works one by one crumbling to pieces, his guns disabled, 1781. 
 his ammunition failing, determined to make a desperate 
 sally and check the besiegers. The British soldiers, a 
 little before daybreak, suddenly rushed out, and carried 
 two batteries, but scarcely had they obtained possession 
 of them, before the French in turn furiously charged, and 
 drove them back to their own intrenchments. But one 
 avenue of escape was left ; — they must cross the river to Oct. 
 Gloucester, cut a way through the opposing force, and by 
 forced marches reach New York. CornwaUis resolved to 
 abandon his sick and wounded and baggage, and make the 
 desperate attempt. Boats were collected, and in the night 
 a portion of the troops crossed over ; the second division 
 was embarking, when suddenly the sky was overcast, and 
 a storm of wind and rain arrested the movement. It was 
 now daylight. The first division with difficulty recrossed 
 to Yorktown, as on the river they were subjected to the 
 fire of the American batteries. Despairing of assistance 
 from Clinton, and unwilling to risk the eff'ect of an assault 
 upon his shattered works, or to wantonly throw away the 
 lives of his soldiers, he sent to Washington an offer to sur- 
 render. The terms were arranged, and on the 19th of *^g'* 
 October, in the presence of thousands of patriots assembled 
 from the neighboring country, Cornwallis surrendered seven 
 thousand men as prisoners of war to Washington, as com- 
 mander-in-chief of the combined army, and the shipping, 
 seamen, and naval stores to the Count de Grasse. 
 
 At Charleston, when Lincoln capitulated, the Ameri- 
 cans were not permitted to march out with their colors fiy- 
 ing, as had been granted to Burgoyne, but with their colors 
 cased. It was thought proper to deny them the courtesy 
 granted at Saratoga, and the British soldiers were directed 
 to march out with their colors cased ; and Lincoln was 
 deputed by Washington to receive the sword of Cornwallis. 
 
506 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Washington sent one of his aids to carry the joyful 
 
 news to the Congress at Philadelj^hia. He reached the 
 
 1781. city at midnight. Soon the old State-house bell, that 
 five years before signaUzed to the people that the Declara- 
 tion of Independence was made, now awoke the slumbering 
 city to hear the watchmen cry, " Cornwallis is taken ! 
 Cornwallis is taken ! " The inhabitants by thousands 
 rushed into the streets to congratulate each other. Con- 
 gress met the nest morning and proceeded in a body to a 
 church, and there publicly oflered thanks to Almighty God 
 for the special favor He had manifested to their struggHng 
 country, then issued a proclamation appointing a day for 
 national thanksgiving and prayer, " in acknowledgment of 
 the signal interposition of Divine Providence." Through- 
 out the whole land arose the voice of thanksgiving from 
 the families of the patriots, from the pulpits, from the 
 army. Never did a nation rejoice more. The clouds of 
 uncertainty and doubt were dispelled ; the patriots were 
 exultant in the prospect of peace and of the established 
 freedom of their country. Their intelligence enabled them 
 to appreciate the blessings for which they had so long 
 struggled. 
 
 If the battle of Bunker Hill, or the evacuation of Bos- 
 ton, had led to a reconciliation with the mother country, 
 how different had been their feelings. Then an affection, 
 a reverence for England would have lingered, only to re- 
 tard the progress of the Colonists — at best but half-forgiven 
 rebels — and hold them subordinate to her, not so much in 
 political dependence as formerly, but sufficient to stifle that 
 sentiment of nationality, so essential to the proper develop- 
 ment of their character and of the resources of the country. 
 We have seen how long it took illiberal laws, en- 
 forced in a tyrannical manner, to alienate their affections. 
 It now required a seven years' struggle of war, outrage 
 and suffering, dangers and privations, to induce a pervad- 
 ing national sentiment, rouse the energies of the peojile 
 
THE CONTINENTAL SOLBIEES. 507 
 
 give tliem confidence, and lead them to sympathize with S3^^:, 
 
 each other. 
 
 Congress voted thanks to Washington, to the Counts 1781. 
 De Eochambeau and De Grasse, and to the army gener- 
 ally. Eulogies were showered upon the Commander-in- 
 chief ; — the spontaneous out^jourings of a grateful people, 
 who, during the darkest hours of the contest, had in him 
 unbounded confidence. 
 
 Yorktown was now a name to be honored even beyond 
 those of Bunker Hill and Saratoga. How much was involved 
 in that surrender ! The long struggle was virtually ended. 
 It had been a contest not for power, not for aggrandize- 
 ment, but for a great truth and principle, which had been 
 overshadowed by authority and pressed down by arbitrary 
 rule. Said Lafayette to Napoleon, when he sneered at 
 the smallness of the armies engaged in the American 
 Eevolution : " It was the grandest of causes, won by the 
 skirmishes of sentinels and outposts," It is true that the 
 number who fell on the battle-fields was comparatively 
 small. The names of but few of these have come down to 
 us ; they were written only on the hearts of friends and 
 relatives who mourned their loss. Scarcely was there a 
 family but had a precious record ; the cherished memory 
 of some one who had thus sacrificed his life. 
 
 Note. — The number of soldiers furnished by each State to the Con- 
 tinental army, during the war, may he seen by the following table : 
 
 Massachusetts, . 
 
 . 67,907 
 
 North Carolina, . 
 
 . 7,263 
 
 Connecticut, . 
 
 31,939 
 
 South Carolina, 
 
 6,417 
 
 Virginia, 
 
 . 20,678 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 
 . 5,908 
 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 25,678 
 
 Georgia, . 
 
 2,679 
 
 New York, 
 
 . 17,781 
 
 Delaware, . 
 
 . 2,386 
 
 Maryland, 
 New Hampsliire, 
 
 13,912 
 
 . 12,497 
 
 
 
 
 231,791 
 
 New Jersey, . 
 
 10,726 
 
 
 
CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR— FORMATION OP THE CONSTI- 
 TUTION. 
 
 British Efforts Paralyzed. — The States form Independent Governments. — 
 Indian Wars. — Massacre of the Christian DelaTvares. — Battle of the Blue 
 Lick. — Carlcton supersedes Clinton. — Commissioners of Peace. — The 
 common Distress. — Dissatisfaction in the Army. — The " Anonymous 
 Address." — Peace concluded. — British Prisoners ; the Tories. — Disband- 
 ment of the American Army. — Washington takes leave of his Officers. 
 — Resigns his Commission. — Shay's Rebellion. — Interests of the States 
 clash. — The Constitutional Convention. — The Constitution ratified by 
 the States. — The Territory North-west of the Ohio. — Ecclesiastical Or- 
 ganizations. 
 
 Yxxvnr ^^ *^® ^^^^ ^^^ *^^* Comwallls surrendered, Clinton 
 
 sailed to his aid with seven thousand men. When off the 
 
 1781. entrance to the Chesapeake, he learned, to his astonish- 
 ment, that all was lost. As the British fleet was much 
 inferior to that of the French, he hastily returned to New 
 York. 
 
 Washington requested Count de Grasse to cooperate 
 with General Greene in an attack upon Charleston, but 
 De Grasse pleaded the necessity of his presence in the 
 West Indies, and excused himself. The Americans now 
 returned to their old quarters on the Hudson. The French 
 army wintered at Williamsburg in Virginia, while the 
 British prisoners were marched to Winchester. 
 
 The capture of Cornwallis paralyzed the efforts of the 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS — BOEDER WARFARE. 509 
 
 British and Tories. In the South they evacuated all the ^™ap-^ 
 
 posts in their possession, except Savannah and Charleston ; 
 
 before the latter place Greene soon appeared, and disposed 1781. 
 his forces so as to confine them closely to the town. In 
 the North, the only place held by the enemy was New 
 York. 
 
 Washington never for a moment relaxed his watchfiil- 
 ness, hut urged upon Congress and the States to prepare 
 for a vigorous campaign the next year. But so impover- 
 ished had the country become, that to raise men and money 
 seemed almost impossible, while the prospect of peace 
 furnished excuses for delay. 
 
 The several States now took measures to form inde- 
 pendent governments, or to strengthen or modify those 
 akeady in existence. Some of these had been hastily 
 formed, and, consequently, were more or less defective. 
 The custom was introduced of sending delegates to con- 
 ventions called for the purpose of framing constitutions, 
 which were submitted to the people for their approval or 
 rejection. The common law of England was adopted, and 
 made the basis in the administration of justice in the 
 courts. 
 
 A cruel border warfare was still continued by incur- 
 sions of Indians against the back settlements of Pennsyl- 
 vania and Virginia, and against the frontiers of New York, 
 by Indians and Tories. 
 
 Many of the Delaware Indians, under the influence of 
 Moravian teachers, had become Christian, and so far im- 
 bibed the principles of their instructors as to be opposed 
 to war. Some of these, nearly twenty years before, had 
 emigrated from the banks of the Susquehanna and settled 
 on the Muskingum, where they had three flourishing vil- 
 lages, surrounded by corn-fields. The hostile Indians 
 from the lakes, in their incursions against the frontiers 
 of Pennsylvania and Virginia, robbed these Delawares of 
 
510 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ("BAP. their provisions. The Delawares became objects of sus- 
 
 '. picion to both the hostile Indians and the whites. The 
 
 1781. former accused them of revealing their plans, the latter of 
 conniving at the incursions of their enemies, and the hostile 
 Indians compelled them to emigrate to the vicinity of San- 
 dusky. 
 
 In the mean time, murders had been committed by the 
 Shawanese in the vicinity of Pittsburg. A company of 
 eighty or ninety back^voodsmen volunteered, under a Colo- 
 nel Williamson, to take revenge on the supposed murderers 
 — the Christian Delawares — a portion of whom had re- 
 turned to their old home to gather their corn. The expe- 
 dition reached the vUlages on the Muskingum, collected 
 the victims, it would seem, under the pretence of friend- 
 ship, then barbarously and in cold blood murdered about 
 1782 ninety of these inoilensive creatures, — men, women, and 
 children. 
 
 This success excited to other invasions, and four hun- 
 dred and eighty men, under Colonels Williamson and 
 Crawford, marched from Western Pennsylvania to surprise 
 the remnants of the Christian Indians at Sandusky, and 
 also to attack the village of the hostile Wyandottes. The 
 June Indians learned of their apj)roach, waited for them in am- 
 6- bush, and defeated them ; took many prisoners, among 
 whom were Crawford, his son, and son-in-law. These three 
 they burned at the stake. 
 
 About the same time, a large body of the Indians 
 north of the Ohio, led by the infamous Simon Girty, a 
 toiy refugee, invaded Kentucky. They were met by the 
 Kentuckians, under Colonels Boone, Todd, and Triggs, at 
 the Big Blue Lick, when a bloody and desperate encounter 
 ensued. But overwhelmed by numbers, nearly one-half 
 the Kentuckians were either killed or taken prisoners. 
 
 After the capture at Yorktown no battle occurred be- 
 tween the main armies, and but one or two skirmishes. 
 "^" In one of these, in the vicinity of Charleston, the yoimger 
 
PEOPLE OF ENGLAND DESIRE TO CLOSE THE WAR. 511 
 
 Laurens was slain — a young man of great promise, wlio chap. 
 was universally lamented. 
 
 Among the Englisli people at large the desire to close 1782. 
 the war had greatly increased. With them it had ever 
 been impopular ; they were unwilling that their brethren 
 beyond the Atlantic should be deprived of the rights which 
 they themselves so much valued. The intelligence of the sur- 
 render of Cornwallis created among them stronger opposi- 
 tion than ever to the harsh measures of the Government. 
 Yet the war party — the King and Ministry, and the majority 
 of the aristocracy — -were vmwilling to yield to the pressure 
 of public opinion. They were thunderstruck at this unex- 
 pected disaster. Says a British writer: "Lord North re- 
 ceived the intelligence of the capture of Cornwallis as he 
 would have done a cannon-ball in his breast ; he paced the 
 room, and throwing his arms wildly about, kept exclaiming, 
 ' God ! it is all over ; it is all over ! ' " For twelve years he 
 had been prime minister. The pliant servant of the King, 
 he had ever been in favor of prosecuting the war, but now 
 the voice of the English people compelled him to resign. 
 
 Sir Guy Carleton, whom we have seen winning the re- 
 spect of the Americans, by his upright and honorable con- 
 duct when Governor of Canada, was appointed to succeed 
 Sir Henry Clinton. Li the following May he arrived at 
 New York, empowered to make propositions for peace. He 
 immediately addressed a letter to Washington, proposing 
 a cessation of hostilities, and also issued orders, in which 
 he forbade the marauding incursions of the Indians and 
 Tories on the frontiers of Western New York. 
 
 Congress appointed five commissioners to conclude a 
 treaty with Great Britain. These were : John Adams, 
 Doctor Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, who, lately 
 released from his confinement in the Tower, was yet in 
 London, and Thomas Jefferson ; — the latter, however, de- 
 clined to serve. They met at Paris two British Commis- 
 sioners, who had been authorized to treat with "certain 
 
512 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 CHAP colonies" named in their instructions. The American 
 Commissioners refused to enter upon negotiations, unless 
 
 1782. in the name of the " United States of America ; " — they 
 claimed the right to he recognized a power among the 
 nations. This right was acknowledged by Britain, and on 
 the 30th of November the parties signed a preliminary 
 treaty, which Congress ratified the following April. Ne- 
 gotiations continued, and the final treaty was signed on 
 
 1783. the 3d of September following. France and England in 
 the mean time likewise concluded a treaty of peace. The 
 American Commissioners also negotiated treaties of com- 
 merce with Spain and Holland. 
 
 Though the war was ended, the American people had 
 numberless difficulties with which to contend. The army, 
 that through the many trials of the contest had remained 
 faithful, was in a deplorable condition. The half-pay for 
 life, which, three years before, Congress had promised to 
 the oSicers, proved to be only a promise. Washington 
 wrote confidentially to the Secretary of War in behalf of 
 those about to be discharged from the service : ' " I cannot 
 heli^ fearing the result, when I see such a number of men 
 about to be turned on the world, soured by penury, in- 
 volved in debts, without one farthing to carry them home, 
 after having spent the flower of their days, and many of 
 them their jiatrimonies, in establishing the freedom and 
 independence of their country, and having suffered every 
 thing which human nature is capable of enduring on this 
 side of death. You may rely upon it, the patience and long 
 sufi'erance of this army are almost exhausted, and there 
 never was so great a spirit of discontent as at this instant." 
 Mar. At this crisis an address, plausibly written, was privately 
 circulated in the camp. It suggested to the officers and 
 men the propriety of taking upon themselves to redress 
 their grievances ; that they should intimidate Congress 
 and compel it to pay their just demands. 
 
THE ANONYMOUS ADDEESSES. 513 
 
 The address seems to liave been the embodied senti- chap. 
 
 YYVyTTT 
 
 ments of some half dozen officers, although written by 
 
 Captain Armstrong, the son of General Armstrong of 1783. 
 Pennsylvania. A call was issued for a meeting of the 
 officers, but the next morning, in the regular orders for the 
 day, Washington took occasion to disapprove of the meet- 
 ing as a violation of discipline. He also named a day for 
 the ofi&cers to assemble and hear the report of a committee 
 of their number who had been sent to lay their demands 
 before Congress. The next day a second anonymous ad- 
 dress was issued, but somewhat more moderate in tone 
 than the first. The ofiicers met according to appoint- 
 ment, and Gates, being second in command, was made 
 chairman of the meeting. Washington presently came in, 
 made them a soothing address, appealed to their patriotism 
 and to their own fair fame in toiling for their country, and 
 now were they wilUng to tarnish their name or distrust 
 their country's justice ? He pledged his word to use his 
 influence with Congress to fulfil its promises. He then 
 withdrew. The meeting passed resolutions which con- 
 demned in severe terms the spirit of the anonymous ad- 
 dress. 
 
 Congress soon after resolved to accede to the proposi- 
 tion of the officers, and change the promise of half pay for 
 life, to that of full pay for five years. And also to advance 
 to the soldiers full pay for four months. 
 
 This was not the only instance in which the influence 
 of Washington arrested plots designed to ruin the prospects 
 of the young republic. The condition of the country was 
 so desperate that many feared the States could not form a 
 permanent government. At the suggestion of officers 
 who thus thought, Lewis Nicola, a foreigner, a colonel in 
 the Pennsylvania line, wrote Washington an elaborate 
 letter, in which he discussed the expediency of estabhsh- 
 ing a monarchy, and finally offered him the crown. Wash- 
 ington indignantly condemned the scheme. Said he : "I 
 33 
 
514 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP cannot conceive what I have done during my whole life, 
 
 which coiild cause any one to imagine that I could enter- 
 
 1783. tain such a proposition for a moment." 
 
 When these facts became known, it was not strange 
 that the people feared a standing army. 
 
 Intelligence came at length of the signing of the treaty 
 between the United States and Great Britain. Congress 
 issued a proclamation giving the information to the nation. 
 April On the 19th of April, precisely eight years from the battle 
 of Lexington, the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in 
 the camp at Newburg. 
 
 The soldiers of BurgojTie and CornwaUis were yet pris- 
 oners, and had been marched to New York in order to be sent 
 home. A general exchange of prisoners now took place. 
 The prospects of the Tories were dreary indeed. The se- 
 vere laws enacted against them were still in force, and now 
 several thousand of them had assembled at New York, and 
 were compelled to leave the country. The majority of 
 them were wealthy. During the war many of them had 
 held offices in the British service, and some had grown rich 
 as merchants, landowners, and sutlers for the British army ; 
 others, the unscrupulous, by privateering. Those who 
 lived in the North emigrated to Canada and Nova Scotia, 
 while those of the South went chiefly to the West India 
 Islands. 
 
 A clause was inserted in the treaty which prohibited 
 the carrj'ing away of the slaves, large numbers of whom 
 had fled to the British army during the campaigns in the 
 Carolinas and Virginia. 
 
 Carleton refused to comply with the demand, on the 
 ground that it woidd be highly dishonorable to deUver 
 them up since they had sought protection under the Brit- 
 ish flag. To secure their safety, he sent them away among 
 the very first, while at the same time he kept an accurate 
 
DISBANDMENT OF THE ARMY. 515 
 
 list of their number, leaving to future negotiation indem- f'HAP. 
 nity lor their loss. 
 
 These negroes, now liberated, were first taken to Nova 1783. 
 Scotia ; afterward, a large number of them emigrated to 
 Sierra Leone : " Their descendants, as merchants and 
 traders, now constitute the wealthiest and most intelligent 
 population of that African colony." 
 
 Before the disbandment of the army, Washington ad- 
 dressed a letter to the Governors of the several States, June, 
 urging them to guard against the prejudices of one part of 
 the countiy against another ; to encourage union among 
 the States, and to make provision for the jjublic debt. 
 
 On the 3d of November the army was disbanded, ^^ov. 
 These patriot soldiers returned to their homes, to mingle 
 with their fellow-citizens, and enjoy the blessings which 
 their valor liad obtained for themselves and their posterity. 
 From that day the title of revolutionary soldier has been a 
 title of honor. 
 
 Before the officers of the army finally separated, they 
 formed a society known as the Cincinnati — a name de- 
 rived from the celebrated farmer-patriot of Kome. The 
 association was to be perpetuated chiefly through the 
 eldest male descendants of the original members. But as 
 this feature, in the eyes of many, seemed to favor an 
 hereditary aristocracy, it was stricken out ; still the so- 
 ciety continued to be to some parties an object of jealousy. 
 
 As soon as preparations could be made, the British 
 evacuated the few places occupied by their troops ; New 
 York on the 25th of November, and Charleston in the fol- Nov. 
 lowing month. General Knox, with a small body of troops, 
 and accompanied by Governor George CUuton and the 
 State officers, entered New York as the British were leaving, 
 
 A few days after, the officers of the army assembled at 
 a public house to bid farewell to their beloved commander. Deo. 
 Presently Washington entered ; his emotions were too 
 strong to be concealed. After a moment's pause he said : 
 
516 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave 
 ajla V III , 
 of you ; I most devoutly v?isb that your latter days may 
 
 1763. be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been 
 glorious and honorable." He then added: "I cannot 
 come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged 
 if each of you will come and take my hand." General 
 Knox, being the nearest, turned to him. Washington, 
 affected even to tears, grasped his band and embraced him. 
 In the same affectionate manner be took leave of each 
 succeeding officer : " The tear of manly sensibility was in 
 every eye ; not a word was spoken to interrupt the digni- 
 fied silence and the tenderness of the scene. Leaving the 
 room, he passed through the corps of light infantry, to the 
 barge which was to convey him across the river. The 
 whole company followed in mute and solemn procession, 
 with dejected countenances, testifying to feehngs of de- 
 licious melancholy, which no language can describe. Hav- 
 ing entered the barge, he turned to the company, and, 
 waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They paid him 
 the same affectionate compliment." ' 
 
 On his way to Annapolis, where Congress was in 
 session, he left with the controller at Philadelphia an ac- 
 curate account of his esiienses during the war ; they 
 amounted to sixty-four thousand dollars. These accounts 
 were in his own handwriting, and kept in the most perfect 
 manner ; every charge made was accompanied by a men- 
 tion of the occasion and object. 
 
 In an interview with Congress, he made a short ad- 
 dress. Said he : " The successful termination of the war 
 has verified the most sanguine expectations ; and my 
 ■pgj, gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the as- 
 25. sistance I have received from my countrymen, increases 
 with every review of the momentous contest." Then 
 recommending to the favorable notice of Congress the 
 
 ' Judge Marshall. 
 
■WASHINGTON RESIGNS HIS COMMISSION. 517 
 
 officers of Lis staff, and expressing his obligations to the „^^4Sv 
 
 army in general, he continued : " I consider it as an in- 
 
 dispensable duty to close this last act of my official life, by 1V83. 
 commending the interests of our dearest country to the 
 protection of Almighty God, and those who have the 
 superintendence of them, to his holy keeping." 
 
 " Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire 
 from the great theatre of action, and, bidding an affection- 
 ate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I 
 have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take 
 my leave of all the employments of public life." 
 
 The President of Congress, General Mifflin, who, in 
 the darkest hour of the revolution, had favored the Con- 
 way Cabal, repUed : " Sir, the United States, in congress 
 assembled, receive with emotions too affecting for utter- 
 ance, the solemn resignation of the authorities under which 
 you have led their troops with success through a perilous 
 and doubtful war. We join with you in commending the 
 interests of our dearest country to the protection of Al- 
 miglity God ; and for you, we address to Him our earnest 
 prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all 
 His care ; that your days may be as happy as they have 
 been illustrious ; and that he will finally give you that 
 reward which this world cannot give." Washington 
 hastened to Mount Vernon, which he had not visited for 
 eight years, except for a few hours while on his way against 
 Cornwallis. 
 
 Independence was at last attained, but at immense 1784. 
 sacrifices. The calamities of war were visible in the ruins 
 of burned towns, in the ravaged countiy, in the prostration 
 of industry, and in the accumulation of debts. These 
 amounted to one hundred and seventy millions of dollars — 
 a sum enormous in proportion to the resources of the 
 country — two-thirds of this debt had been contracted by 
 Congress, and the remainder by the individual States. 
 
518 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 mvni These were evils, but there were still greater whicli 
 
 came home to the domestic hearth. Frequently the mem- 
 
 1784. bers of families had taken different sides, some were Whigs 
 and some were Tories ; and that remorseless rancor which 
 so often prevails in times of civil discord, extended through- 
 out the land. It is pleasant to record, that in the course 
 of a few years, a forgiving spirit among the people led to 
 the repeal of the severe laws enacted against the Tories, 
 and very great numbers of them repented of their mis- 
 guided loyalty and returned to their native land. 
 
 On the conclusion of peace the English merchants, 
 alive to their interests, flooded the States with manufac- 
 tured goods at very reduced prices. This operation ruined 
 the domestic manufactures, which the non-importation 
 association, and necessities of the war had created and 
 cherished, drained the country of its specie, and involved 
 the merchants and people in debt. Tliis jjoverty was fol- 
 lowed by discontent, which prevailed more or less, and 
 excited disturbances in several of the States. 
 
 1786. In Massachusetts a thousand men assembled at Wor- 
 Dec. 
 
 25.' cester, under the leadership) of Daniel Shays, and forced 
 
 the Supreme Court to adjourn, to prevent its issuing writs 
 for the collection of debts. 
 
 Governor Bowdoin called out the militia, which was 
 put under the command of General Lincoln, who in a few 
 
 1787. ''^c^^^s suppressed the outbreak. It was evident, however, 
 Jan. that there was among the people a strong feeling of sym- 
 pathy witb the insurgents, for the vast majority of them- 
 selves labored under similar grievances. 
 
 This distress was overruled for good. It was the 
 means of bringing all the States to view witb favor a union 
 under the same constitution, and thus form a government 
 which should have power to act for the good of the whole 
 country. 
 
 The States made trial of independent governments, 
 
CLASHING INTERESTS — RIVAL PORTS. 519 
 
 but after au experiment of three or four years the result ^^^J^j 
 
 proved unsatisfactory. This was especially the case in re- 
 
 lation to the subjects of legislation which concerned the 1787. 
 whole country ; such as the regulation of commerce, the 
 common defence, the adjustment of controversies between 
 one State and another, and making of treaties with other 
 nations. 
 
 These difficulties were increasing — many interests 
 clashed. Some of the States passed laws which con- 
 flicted with those of their sisters ; since the close of the 
 war, commerce had increased very rapidly, but American 
 merchants were stiU excluded by the British from the 
 West India trade. They complained to Congress, but 
 the States had not yet conceded authority to that body, 
 to regulate commerce or to legislate for the whole country. 
 
 Some States had good harbors, and imported merchan- 
 dise upon which duties were imposed at the expense of 
 their neighbors ; and ports competed with each other by 
 lowering the rate of imports. Thus there were rival ports 
 on the Delaware ; and Maryland and Virginia competed 
 with each other for the trade of the Chesapeake, while 
 New Jersey and Connecticut were laid under contribution 
 by their neighbors of New York and Massachusetts. No 
 State could protect itself by retaliation against the restric- 
 tions of foreign countries, as the attempt would throw its 
 own trade into the hands of a sister rival. 
 
 Efforts were made to obviate these evUs, and those 
 States bordering on the waters of the Chesapeake and 
 Potomac sent delegates to a convention held at Alexan- 
 dria, to establish a uniform tariff of duties on the mer- 
 chandise brought into their ports. This led to corre- 
 spondence between the prominent men of the country and 
 the legislatures. Another convention was held at An- 
 napolis, to which there were rejjresentatives from only five 
 States ; finally, the people elected delegates to meet in 
 
520 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP Convention in Philadeljjliia, to revise the Articles of Con- 
 
 federation. 
 
 1787. On the 14th of May, the memhers of the Convention 
 
 met in the State House, in Philadel^jhia, in the same hall 
 where the Declaration of Independence was made. Wash- 
 ington, who, since the war, had lived in retirement at 
 Mount Vernon, appeared as a delegate. He was imani- 
 mously chosen President of the Convention. 
 
 The Convention resolved to sit with closed doors ; not 
 even a transcript of their minutes was i^ermitted to be 
 made public. The articles of the old confederation, found 
 to be very defective, were thrown aside, and the Conven- 
 tion addressed itself to framing an indej^endent con- 
 stitution. 
 
 There were present about fifty delegates, representa- 
 tives from eleven different States, all of whom had the 
 confidence of their fellow-citizens, and were distinguished 
 for their intellectual and moral worth and experience in 
 public affairs. Some had been members of the Stamp 
 Act Congress in 1765, some of the Continental Congress 
 in 1774, and some were also among the signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence. Conspicuous was the 
 venerable Dr. Franklin, now in his eightieth year, who, 
 thirty years before, at a convention at Albany, had pro- 
 posed a plan of union for the colonies. 
 
 The various disturbances in different parts of the land 
 had shaken the faith of many in the power of the mul- 
 titude to govern themselves. Said Elbridge Gerry, in the 
 Convention : " All the evils we experience flow from an 
 excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but 
 are under the dupes of pretended patriots ; they are daily 
 misled into the most baleful measures of opinions." 
 
 It was necessary to have a central government, which 
 could give security to all the States, and at the same time 
 not conflict in its powers with their rights. 
 
 It was found very difficult to arrange satisfactorily the 
 
THE CONSTITUTION COMPLETED. 521 
 
 representation in the two branches of the proposed govern- i^'^jj 
 
 ment. The smaller States were alarmed, lest their rights . " 
 
 would be infringed vipon by the overwhelming majoritj- of 178T. 
 members coming from the larger ones. This difficulty 
 was removed by constituting the Senate, in which the 
 States were represented equally without reference to their 
 population ; each being entitled to two members, while in 
 the House of Representatives the States were to be repre- 
 sented in proportion to their population. 
 
 After four months of labor, during which every article 
 was thoroughly discussed, the Constitution was finished 
 and signed by all the members present, with the exception 
 of three ; Gerry, of Massachusetts, George Mason and 
 Edmund Eandolph, of Virginia. This result was not ob- 
 tained without much discussion ; at one time, so adverse 
 were opinions that it was apprehended the Convention 
 would dissolve, leaving its work unfinished. It was then 
 that Franldin proposed they should choose a chaplain to 
 open their sessions by prayer. Said he : "I have lived a 
 long time ; and the longer I live the more convincing 
 proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of 
 men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without 
 his notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without 
 his aid .? " 
 
 The Convention presented the Constitution thus 
 framed to Congress, and that body submitted it to the 
 people of the States for their approval or rejection. 
 
 It was a document of compromises ; probably not a 
 member of the Convention was perfectly satisfied with it. 
 There were three prominent compromises ; the first, the 
 equal representation in the Senate, a concession to the 
 smaller States ; the second, that in the enumeration of 
 the inhabitants three-fifths of the slaves were to be in- 
 cluded in determining the ratio of representation in the 
 lower house of Congress ; a concession to the slaveholders ; 
 
522 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP and the third, permission, till 1808, to the States of 
 
 A A J^ y 1 1 1 ^_^ 
 
 , Georgia and South Carolina, to receive slaves imported 
 
 1787. from Africa, as the delegates from those two States re- 
 fused to sign the Constitution except on that condition. 
 The great desire to secure the moral power of a unanimous 
 vote of the memhers of the Convention in favor of their 
 own work, alone obtained this concession. 
 
 In less than a year after the Constitution was submitted 
 to the people, it was adopted by all the States, except 
 North CaroUna and Khode Island, and by them in less 
 than two years. 
 
 This ratification of the Constitution was not brought 
 about without a struggle. The subject was discussed in 
 conventions and in the legislatures, and in the newspapers. 
 The States were for a time unwilling to resign any of their 
 sovereignty to a Federal or Central go\ernment. 
 
 Many elaborate essays, collectively known as the 
 Federalist, were written by Alexander Hamilton, Jay, 
 and Madison, in favor of its adoption. These essays had 
 an immense influence upon the leading minds of the 
 country ; and these in turn greatly influenced the popular 
 will. 
 
 It shows the practical wisdom of those who framed the 
 Constitution, that in the appHcation of its jirinciples for 
 almost three quarters of a century, it has been fmiud 
 necessary to change or modify only very few of its ar- 
 ticles. 
 
 While the Convention which framed the Constitution 
 was in session in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress in 
 July New York passed a bill " for the government of the Terri- 
 tory north-west of the Ohio." T hat region had been ceded to 
 the United States by the States of Massachusetts, Connec- 
 ticut, New York and Virginia. In this bill were introduced 
 provisions securing the exercise of religious freedom, and 
 for the encouragement of schools, and also the proviso that 
 " there shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary seiTitude 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL OKGANIZATIONS. " 523 
 
 in said territoiy, otherwise than in punishment for crime." ^s^. 
 
 AAA V Al i 
 
 The region south of the Ohio was to be afterward regu- 
 
 lated. Three years before Thomas Jefferson had intro- 1784. 
 duced a bill, and urged its passage with all his influence, 
 to exclude slavery not only from the territory then held 
 by the United States, but from all which should thereafter 
 be ceded to Congress by the respective States. This bid 
 failed by only a few votes. 
 
 The people, though thus engaged in moulding their 
 political institutions, did not neglect to conform their sys- 
 tems of ecclesiastical government to the new order of 
 things. The Eevolution had changed the relation of the 
 rehgious denominations to the State. In New England. 
 Congregationalism was the established religion, and every 
 citizen was required to aid in the support of some church. 
 In all the southern colonies the Episcopal Church was 
 equally favored, and partially so in New York and New 
 Jersey. Only in Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, and Dela- 
 ware, were all the Protestant sects on an equality, as to 
 their religious rights. 
 
 The Episcopal Church was more disorganized than any 
 other. It had hitherto been attached to the diocese of 
 the Bishop of London, but now that authority was not 
 recognized. 
 
 As yet there was no American bishop, and no means 
 to obtain the consecration of any clergyman to that office, 
 except by English bishops. Accordingly the Keverend 
 Samuel Seabury, of Connecticut, at the request of the 
 Episcopalians of that State, visited England to obtain or- 
 dination as a bishop. But the English bishops were pre- 
 vented by law of Parliament from raising any one to that 
 dignity, who did not take the oaths of allegiance, and ac- 
 knowledge the King as head of the Church. Seabury then 
 applied to the non-juring bishops of the Episcopal Church 
 of Scotland, by whom he was ordained. Some Episco- 
 
524 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 CHAP, palians, however, were not satisfied witii an ordination at 
 
 the hands of the Scottish bishops. 
 
 1787. 
 
 A convention of delegates, from several States, met 
 and formed a constitution for the " Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States of America." After some 
 revision this constitution was ado^ited by conventions in 
 the separate States. Titles were changed in order to con- 
 form to republicanism ; such as " Lord Bishop," and aU 
 such as were " descriptive of temporal jiower and prece- 
 dency." The Liturgy for the same reason was modified. 
 A friendly letter was addressed to the English bishops, re- 
 questing at their hands ordination of American bishops. 
 An Act of Parliament gave the desired authority, and 
 William White, of Philadelphia, Samuel Provost, of New 
 York, and James Madison, of Virginia, were thus ordained. 
 Soon after these ordinations, a General Convention ratified 
 the constitution, and the organization of the E^jiscopal 
 Church in the United States was complete. 
 
 About this time came Thomas Coke, as superintend- 
 ent or bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
 had been an able laborer with Wesley, by whom he was 
 ordained to that office. This sect sjiread very rapidly, 
 especially in the south ; in that section of the country 
 were a great many vacant piarishes, which belonged to 
 the Episcopal Church, numbers of whose clergymen left 
 the country during the troubles of the Revolution. At 
 this time the denomination did not number more than 
 ninety preachers, and fifteen thousand members. 
 
 The institutions of the Congregational and Presby- 
 terian Churches required no change to adapt them to the 
 new order of things. 
 
 The Presbyterians took measures to organize their 
 
 1788. Church government on a national basis. Four Synods 
 
 were formed out of the Synod of New York and Pliiladel- 
 
 phia. A General Assembly, composed of delegates from 
 
THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 525 
 
 all the Presbyteries of tke land, was authorized to meet j3cxvni 
 annually. 
 
 Soon after the treaty of peace with England, the 1788. 
 Pope's Nuncio at Paris made overtures to Congress, 
 through Doctor Franklin, on the subject of appointing a 
 Vicar Apostolic or bishop for the United States. On the 
 ground that the subject was purely spiritual, and there- 
 fore beyond its jurisdiction, Congress refused to take any 
 part in the matter. The Pope then appointed as his vicar 
 apostolic, John CarroU, a brother of Charles Carroll, of 
 CarroUton ; the same was afterward raised to the dignity 
 of Archbishop of the Catholic Church in the United 
 States. 
 
 Almost immediately after the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence the Presbytery of Hanover, in Virginia, address- 
 ed a memorial to the House of Assembly, in which they 
 petitioned for the separation of church and state. They 177C. 
 preferred that the gospel should be supported by the free 
 gifts of its friends ; they asked no aid from the civil 
 power to maintain their own chixrches, and were unwilling 
 that any denomination should thus be favored. The 
 movement thus commenced was ardently seconded by the 
 Baptists and Quakers, who petitioned the Assembly to 
 the same effect. These petitions were met by counter- 
 memorials from the Episcopalians and Methodists, who 
 urged in behalf of the Establishment, that it was a system 
 which " possessed the nature of a vested right, and ought 
 to be maintained inviolate." 
 
 The separation of church and state soon became a 
 prominent question in Virginia. Jeiferson took an im- 
 portant part in the animated contest, but the most effective 
 was the united influence of those who first opposed the 
 establishment, and who never relaxed their efforts till the 
 churches were declared independent of the civil j30wer, and 
 every colonial law interfering with the religious rights of 
 the people was swept away. 
 
526 HISTORT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 vvvvTi^ '^^^ example thus set by Virginia was not without its 
 
 A X ^ V I I I . 
 
 influence ; the union of church and state was dissolved 
 
 1788. in the other States soon after the close of the Revolution, 
 except in Connecticut and Massachusetts, where the sys- 
 tem was retained many years longer.' 
 
 ' Hildreth, Vol. III. Dr. Hawks' Contributions to Ecclesiastical History 
 of the U. S. Dr. Baird's Religion in America. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIX. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Eeceptiou and Inauguration of the President. — An Era in human pro- 
 gress. — The Departments of State organized. — Hamilton's Financial 
 Report. — Congress Assumes the Debts of the Nation. — Tlie National 
 Banlc. — Commercial Enterprise. — Manufactures. — Indian War. — Har- 
 mer's Repulse. — St. Clair defeated. — Wayne defeats the Indians. — Po- 
 litical Parties. — Jefferson. — The French Revolution. — Genet arrives as 
 French Minister. — War between France and England. — Neutrality pro- 
 claimed by the President. — Partisans of France. — Arrogant proceed- 
 ings of Genet. — The Whiskey Insurrection. — Special Mission to Great 
 Britain. — A Treaty concluded. — Its Ratification. — Other Treaties. — 
 Washington's Farewell Address. — The Policy of the Government 
 established. 
 
 Whkn two-thirds of the States had adopted the Fed- chap. 
 
 eral Constitution, it became the law of the land. The 
 
 Continental Congress — that body so remarkable in its 1789. 
 origin, in what it had accompHshed, and now about to 
 pass out of existence — ordaiued that the new government 
 should go into operation on the 4th of March, and also 
 designated the city of New York as the place where the 
 National Congress should hold its sessions. The same au- 
 thority also named the time for electing the President and 
 Vice-President, according to the manner prescribed in the 
 Constitution. 
 
 The hearts of the American people were turned to 
 one man. George Washington was unanimously chosen 
 the first President of the Kepubhc. John Adams received 
 the nest highest number of votes, and was elected Vice- 
 
528 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. President. Charles Thompson, the old Secretary of Con- 
 
 . gress, was sent to Mount Vernon to inform Washington 
 
 1789. of his election, and another messenger to Boston, to inform 
 Adams of his. The latter had just returned from a resi- 
 dence of nine years in Europe, where he had been engaged 
 in public business ; he immediately set out to enter upon 
 the duties of his office. As a mark of respect, he was 
 escorted by a troop of horse through Massachusetts and 
 Connecticut, and was met at the New York State line, 
 and in a similar manner attended to the city. 
 
 Washington wished to travel to New York in as 
 private a manner as possible. But enthusiasm and re- 
 spect, drew the people in crowds to see and honor him. 
 The authorities of the States through which he passed, 
 vied with each other in testifying their regard. The most 
 graceful recejition, and no doubt to him the most grateful, 
 was the one he received at Trenton. As he came to the 
 bridge, over which, twelve years before, on the eve of the 
 battle of Princeton, he retreated with his weary and dis- 
 heartened soldiers, he found it spanned by a triumphal 
 arch bearing the inscription : " The Defender of the 
 Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters." Here 
 were assembled a company of matrons and young girls, 
 dressed in white, with baskets of flowers in their hands. 
 As he approached they began to sing an appropriate ode, 
 written for the occasion. At the close of the line, " strew 
 your hero's way with flowers," they suited the action to 
 the sentiment by strewing the flowers before him. At 
 Elizabethport he was met by a committee of both Houses 
 of Congress, and the heads of departments, and received 
 on board a barge, magnificently decorated, and manned 
 by thirteen pilots in appropriate uniforms. The barge 
 was accompanied by a numerous cortege of boats filled 
 with citizens. Welcomed to the city, amidst the salutes 
 of artillery from the ships in the harbor, American as well 
 as foreign, and from the battery, he was conducted to 
 
INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 529 
 
 the house prepared for his reception, by Governor George ^^■ 
 
 Clinton, the State oflScers, and a uumerovis concourse of 
 
 people. ^'^^- 
 
 On the morning of the 30th of April, at 9 o'clock, the 
 churches were opened for religious services and prayer. A 
 httle after the hour of noon, on the balcony of the Federal 
 Hall, on the site of the present Custom House, in the 
 presence of a vast concourse of people in the streets, the 
 oath of office was administered to the President elect, by April. 
 Kobert K. Livingston, Chancellor of New York. At the 
 close of the ceremony the Chancellor exclaimed : " Long 
 live George Washington, President of the United States ! " 
 The assembled multitude responded to the sentiment. 
 
 The members of both Houses returned to the Senate 
 chamber, where the President delivered an inaugural ad- 
 dress, replete with wisdom and with sentiments designed 
 to harmonize the discordant opinions which prevailed, and 
 with renewed expressions of gratitude to Heaven for the 
 favor granted the people of America, in all their struggles. 
 Then he closed by announcing that he woiild receive no 
 remuneration for his services, only asking that his ex- 
 penses might be paid. The members of Congress, ac- 
 companied by the President, then went in procession to 
 St. Paul's church, where, led by Bishop Provost, the 
 Chaplain of the Senate, they implored the blessing of the 
 King of nations upon the government just inaugurated. 
 
 The youthful nation was about to assume the powers 
 of self-government, under circumstances never before wit- 
 nessed in the history of man ; to throw otf the useless 
 in forms and systems, retain what was valuable, and com- 
 mence a new era in human progress. The pcojjle them- 
 selves established their own government ; its Constitution 
 was framed to secure their own welfare, and not to make 
 the State great at their expense. They had learned this 
 of their fathers. In Enghsh history all the great advances 
 in securing the enjoyment of human rights, from the day 
 34 
 
530 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 vvux "^"^ ^^licli Magna Chartta was given to the Declaration of 
 
 Independence, had tended to protect the rights of the 
 
 1789. subject — the individual man — and now this principle, un- 
 trammelled by clogging forms, was to be carried out. The 
 individual man was to be pre-eminent ; the State only his 
 instrument, the mere machine of his own contriving, de- 
 signed and moulded from time to time to protect his civil 
 and religious privileges. In the great empires of the Old 
 World, the empire was every tiling ; the people nothing. 
 Now the people were to be every thing ; henceforth tliey were 
 to be the fountain of power and influence. Ancient Greece 
 and Rome had their civilization, their literature, their 
 art, their liberty ; but they failed ; they had no elevating 
 principle like Christianity to permeate and influence the 
 people, penetrate their inmost life, and dignify the hum- 
 blest by bringing into exercise the noblest attributes of 
 their nature. A Christianized civilization ; the recog- 
 nition of man's dearest rights ; an open field for individual 
 enterprise ; attachment to institutions under whose ample 
 shield protection was secured to all, were so many pledges 
 of the ultimate success of a people thus governed. 
 
 The new government had before it a diflScult task to 
 arrange the various departments of State ; to obtain 
 revenue, and pay ofi' the national debt. Three executive 
 departments were created, the presiding officers of which 
 were styled secretaries — the Treasury, War, including 
 that of the Navy, and Foreign Affairs. These secretaries, 
 the President, with the concurrence of the Senate, could 
 appoint to oflice, or dismiss from the same. They were 
 to constitute his cabinet or council ; and when requested 
 by him, were bound to give in writing their oiiinious on 
 the subject under discussion. A judiciary for the nation 
 was estabhshed, under the title of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States, having subordinate Circuit and District 
 courts. Washington nominated Alexander Hamilton, 
 Secretary of the Treasury ; General Knox, Secretary of 
 
THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIRST CONGRESS. 531 
 
 War ; Thomas Jefferson, Secretary for Foreign Affairs ; chap. 
 
 John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, and Edmund —1 '. 
 
 Eandolph, Attorney-General. 1789. 
 
 The first session of Congress, a laborious one of sis 
 months, was spent in organizing the government. It 
 shows the spirit of the times, that before they adjourned 
 Congress passed a resolution, requesting the President to 
 recommend a " day of public thanksgiving and prayer, in 
 acknowledgment of the many signal favors of Almighty 
 God, and especially his affording the people an oppor- 
 tunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government 
 for their safety and happiness." 
 
 In January, the second session of the First Congress 1790. 
 commenced. The President, instead of sending a written 
 message, as is now the custom, made to both Houses, as- 
 sembled in the Senate chamber, an address. He directed 
 their attention to the public defence ; to the encourage- 
 ment of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and litera- 
 ture ; to the enactment of naturalization laws, and espe- 
 cially to the payment of the national debt. These various 
 heads of business were referred to committees. During 
 this session the' official intercourse between the heads of 
 departments and the Houses of Congress took the form of 
 written communications. 
 
 Hamilton made his celebrated financial report, in which 
 he recommended certain measures for obtaining revenue 
 to defray the current expenses of the Government and pay 
 off the national debt. This debt was in the form of cer- 
 tificates or notes of obligation to pay for value received. 
 During the war they had been issued by the States as 
 well as by Congress, to persons who furnished supplies to 
 the army, and for other services. Congress assumed these 
 debts, and also the foreign debt. The expenses of two 
 distinct governments — the Federal and that of the separate 
 States — were to be borne. The revenue could be derived 
 only from taxes on property. As the control of commerce 
 
532 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, had been transferred to Congress by the States, it was 
 
 fitting that the revenue derived from the tax or duty levied 
 
 1790. on imported merchandise should be appropriated to the 
 support of the Federal Government, while that arising 
 from real estate and other sources, shoidd be assigned to 
 the use of the States. Hamilton proposed, and the gov- 
 ernment adopted the system of indirect taxation by rais- 
 ing revenue from the duties thus imposed ; and to meet a 
 certain deficiency at the time, an excise, or tax on the 
 manufacture of domestic spirits. 
 
 Near the close of this session, Congress, after much dis- 
 cussion, passed a bill to locate the seat of the General 
 Government on the banks of the Potomac, and authorized 
 the President to select the spot within certain limits, and 
 to make arrangements for the erection of suitable build- 
 ings. Until these should be ready for occupation, its ses- 
 sions were to be held in Philadelphia, at which place, ac- 
 P^c. cordingly, the second Congress began its first session. 
 
 The President congratulated the members on the in- 
 creasing prosperity of the country, and the unexjiected 
 success in obtaining revenue. On the recommendation of 
 Hamilton, Congress gave a charter for twenty years for a 
 National Bank, with the privilege to establish branches in 
 any of the States. The capital of the Bank was ten mil- 
 lions, of which the government took two millions, and in- 
 dividuals the remainder. The Bank was as beneficial to 
 the government as it was to the commercial interests of 
 the country. Its bills were payable in gold or silver when 
 presented at its counters. This feature had a decided 
 eifect ; it raised the credit of the General Government, 
 and inspired confidence in the commercial world. The 
 first census, just taken, showed the population of the States 
 to be almost four millions. 
 
 By assuming the debts contracted by the States in 
 the defence of their common liberties. Congress had simply 
 performed an act of justice ; provision was made to pay 
 
1792. 
 
 COMMERCIAL ENTEHPRISE — DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 533 
 
 the iiitoiedt, and also in time to liquidate the debts them- 9^^ 
 
 selves. The duties imposed upon imports to raise revenue, 
 
 had also a beneficial effect upon the struggling manufac- 1790. 
 tures of the country. The mutual confidence between the 
 States and the Federal Gfovernment, produced a like in- 
 fluence upon the minds of the peojile ; their industiy was 
 encouraged, and their commerce extended. American 
 merchantmen were seen on almost every sea ; some sailed 
 to the uorth-west coast of the continent, where, in ex- 
 change for trinkets, they obtained furs ; these they barter- 
 ed for cargoes in China, and these again they sold at home 
 at an immense profit ; while others were as busily employ- 
 ed in the trade to the East and West Indies, and to Eu- 
 rope. About this time Captain Gray, of Boston, returned 
 from a voyage around the world — the first ever made by 
 an American. On his second voyage he discovered, and 
 to a certain extent, explored the Columbia river. 
 
 Though the Revolution broke the fetters with which 
 English cupidity had bound the domestic manufactures 
 of the colonies, still there were innumerable difficulties in 
 the way. A coarse fabric, known as linsey-woolsey, and 
 dyed in various colors, derived from the bark of trees in 
 the forest, c&mprised almost entirely the extent of domes- 
 tic cloths. At the town of Beverly, in Massachusetts, was 
 established the first factory for making cotton cloth. " The 1788. 
 patriotic adventurers" were not very successful in their 
 enterprise, though they had macliines that could " card 
 forty pounds of cotton in a day, and spin sixty threads at 
 a time." Newburjioort has the honor of having the first 
 factory for making woollen cloths, and two years later an ,^g, 
 establishment for printing calico. These crude efforts 
 were not very successful, but they were the harbingers of 
 future triumphs. 
 
 Sir Richard Arkwright improved upon a machine in- 
 vented by a poor man named Highs, who called it a 
 " Jenny," in honor of his daughter, and who, amid many 
 
534 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 C^^P- discouragements, and the jeers of his ignorant neighbors, 
 
 contrived to ajjin a dozen threads of cotton at a time. 
 
 1T94. He turned his machine by hand ; Arkwright arranged it 
 to be driven by water-power. Samuel Slater, " the father 
 of American manufactures," a native of Derbyshire, an 
 apprentice of Arkwright's partner, made himself familiar, 
 not merely with the use of the machine, but with the 
 construction of the machines themselves. The British 
 government did every thing in its power to retain the 
 knowledge of the invention within the kingdom. Slater 
 resolved to emigrate to America, and there introduce this 
 art of spinning cotton. He landed at New York, but not 
 meeting with encouragement, he went to Khode Island, 
 
 1T90. and at Pawtucket put in operation sixty-two spindles on 
 the Arkwright principle. Sixteen years later he was join- 
 ed by his brother, John Slater, who brought with him the 
 recent improvements in the art. 
 
 In the valley of the Ohio, Indian troubles were on the 
 increase. The British neglected to give up the Western 
 posts according to the treaty, but retained them with their 
 small garrisons. The Indians became restless, and oc- 
 casionally made incursions against the frontier settlements, 
 especially those in Kentucky. It was surmised that 
 
 Oct. British emissaries had excited them to these outrages. 
 
 The year previous they had repulsed General Harmer, 
 who had been sent against them, and this success increas- 
 ed their boldness. General St. Clair, now Governor of the 
 North-west Territory, was appointed to the command of 
 another expedition against them. In the mean time vol- 
 unteers from Kentucky made desultory expeditions into 
 the wilderness north of the Ohio. They attacked all the 
 Indians they met, friendly or unfriendly, but the latter 
 generally kept out of their way ; to burn empty wigwams, 
 and destroy cornfields, only exasperated the savages more 
 
 1791. and more. 
 
INDIAN WAR ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT. 535 
 
 It was the middle of September before St. Clair, witb §hap. 
 
 an army of about two tlioiisand men, began his march 
 
 from Fort Washington, the little stockade fort on the site 1791. 
 of the present city of Cincinnati. It was his object to 
 open a way, and establish a line of posts from the Ohio to 
 the Maumee, and there build and garrison a strong fort, 
 as a check upon the marauding Indians. Two of these 
 posts he had already established. The militia who joined 
 the army from Kentucky, were insubordinate, and, as the 
 army could move but very slowly in cutting its way 
 through the wilderness, they grew impatient, and finally 
 numbers of them returned home. The Chickasaw warriors 
 also deserted, and his force was reduced to fourteen hundred Nov. 
 men. When he reached the head-waters of the Wabash, 
 his army was surprised by Little Turtle, a celebrated 
 Miami chief, and the Indians, who had hitherto contrived 
 to keep out of sight. The militia fled immediately, and 
 threw the regulars into confusion, who could not regain 
 their order, nor sustain the attack. St. Clair was in his 
 tent prostrated by illness and not able to mount his horse, 
 and when Colonel Butler fell, the army commenced its 
 retreat, or rather flight, abandoning every thing. For- 
 tunately, i^lunder had more attractions for the savages 
 than pursuit of the fugitives. The remnant of the army 
 returned to Fort Washington, and the whole frontier was 
 again defenceless. St. Clair resigned his command, and 
 the President appointed General Wayne, whom we have 
 seen so daring in the battles of the Eevolution, to lead 
 the next expedition ; for the sake of connection the ac- 
 count of this wiU be given here. 
 
 An attempt was made to negotiate a peace, but with- 
 out success ; in the mean while Wayne was at Fort 
 Washington, earnestly engaged in recruiting and organ- 1794. 
 izing his army. With his usual energy he pushed his 
 forces rapidly forward to the scene of St. Clair's defeat, ju,,^.. 
 and there built a fort which he named Kecovery. This 
 
536 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAR fort the Indians besieged for two days, but were at length 
 driven off. Six weeks after he suddenly marched to the 
 
 1794. Maumee. The Indians were taken by suri^rise. They 
 took position amidst some fallen timber, prostrated by a 
 hurricane, in order to avoid the cavalry, of which they had 
 a great fear. Wayne ordered the infantry to charge with 
 
 Aug. the bayonet through the timber. The Indians were im- 
 ■" ■ mediately routed, and scattered in all directions. The 
 fertile valleys of the neighborhood were covered with 
 cornfields ; these fields of grain were destroyed uj) to the 
 very gates of the British fort, which Wayne could scarcely 
 restrain his army from attacking. Thus, in a campaign 
 of ninety days, he had marched three hundred miles, the 
 greater part of the road cut by the army, had completely 
 broken the Indian power, destroyed their provisions for 
 the next winter, and established a full garrisoned fort in 
 
 Nov. the midst of their country. He now returned to Green- 
 ville, on the Miami, to winter-quarters. 
 
 The following summer eleven hundred warriors, repre- 
 sentatives from the western tribes, met Wayne at that 
 
 -^"?- place and made a treaty which secured peace to the fron- 
 tier. Their friends the British were about to evacuate the 
 western posts, and they found it more to their advantage 
 to submit. They ceded at this time nearly all the terri- 
 tory of what is now the State of Ohio, for which they were 
 paid. For twenty years the Indians had made incursions 
 into Kentucky, and during that time they had carried 
 oflF a great number of cajitives. By this treaty all these 
 captives were to be restored to their friends. It was a 
 moving spectacle to see parents endeavoring to find their 
 children, who, years before, had been taken from their 
 homes, some of them had forgotten their native language, 
 some preferred to stay with their savage captors rather 
 than return to civilized life. Many husbands and wives 
 who had been separated for years, were restored to each 
 other. 
 
CONFLICT OF OPINIONS JEFFERSON. 537 
 
 The conflict of opinions, in regard to the adoption of ^n|j^ 
 
 the Constitution, had created two parties ; the Federal- 
 
 ist and the Anti-Federahst : the one, the administration 1792. 
 and its friends ; the other, those opposed to its poHcy. As 
 the Constitution became more and more popular, opposi- 
 tion was specially made to Hamilton's management of the 
 financial afi'airs of the government. Time has proved the 
 wisdom of his policy, which has continued, in the main, 
 to he that of the government from that day to this. 
 
 " He was made Secretary of the Treasury ; and how 
 he fulfilled the duties of such a place, at such a time, the 
 whole country perceived with delight, and the whole world 
 saw with admiration. He smote the rock of the national 
 resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. 
 He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it 
 sprang upon its feet." ' 
 
 In this opposition Jefferson, the Secretary of State, per- 
 formed a secret but active part. Having been some years 
 in France, as American Minister, he had returned home 
 thoroughly imbued with French politics. He disliked 
 Adams almost as much as he did Hamilton, and he seems 
 to have been haunted with the idea that these two mem- 
 bers of the cabinet were, in disguise, either monarchists or 
 aristocrats ; that they were devising plans to change the 
 republican form of the government ; and that Washing- 
 ton was misled by them. He noticed and recorded every 
 remark which seemed to him suspicious, made by these 
 gentlemen, when in the hours of unreserved social inter- 
 course. While ostensibly the friend of Washington and 
 his administration, he was in communication with the op- 
 position, and diffusing his ojjinions in his private corre- 
 spondence. Measures, which at one time he himself had 
 approved, he now feared might have lurking in them some 
 latent principle which might lead to the establishment of 
 
 ' Daniel Webster. 
 
1789. 
 
 538 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CUAR a monarcliy. His party thought it exjaedient to repudiate 
 
 '. the name, Anti-Federalists, and assume that of Eepubli- 
 
 1793. CAN, at tlie same time piroclaiming they were the only 
 true friends of the people. An incessant warfare com- 
 menced against the policy of the government, accompanied 
 with scurrilous abuse of the President. 
 
 The assumption of the State debts ; the national 
 bank ; the manner of raising the revenue ; the funding 
 system, by which jirovision was made to pay the interest 
 on the national debt, were, in the eyes of the opposition, 
 so many cunningly-devised plans to create friends among 
 the rich, and in the end subvert the liberties of the country. 
 The public interest demanded it, and after much so- 
 licitation from the leading members of the government, 
 Washington consented to serve for a second term. He 
 was unanimously chosen. Adams was re-elected Vice- 
 President ; he receiving seventy-seven electoral votes, and 
 George Clinton, of New York, fifty. 
 
 Two months and a half after the first inauguration of 
 Washington as President, a bloody revolution broke out 
 in France. The people of the United States looked with 
 much interest upon the French people struggling for 
 liberty. But it was soon evident that the state of the 
 nation's morals, political as well as private, forbade the 
 success of the French republic. The remembrance of the 
 alliance with France, by which they had received aid in 
 the time of need, elicited the sympathy of the American 
 people. The republican party wished to form an alliance 
 with the new Kepublic, while Washington, and the ma- 
 jority of his cabinet, as well as the more judicious states- 
 men, were in favor of neutrality. The unheard-of cruel- 
 ties, which, in the name of liberty, had been practised in 
 France for a year or two, had cooled the zeal of many. 
 One party had succeeded by guillotining the leaders of its 
 rival ; the amiable Louis, who had aided the Americans 
 
NEUTRALITY PROCLAIMED CITIZEN GENET. 539 
 
 in their struggle for liberty, had been murdered by his ^^^,^ 
 subjects ; and Lafayette was forced to flee. Strange that 
 
 such " excesses and horrible butcheries " found apologists 1^93 
 
 in the United States. 
 
 While the public mind was thus divided, came Ed- 
 mond Charles Genet or " Citizen Genet " as he was 
 styled, as minister of the French Republic. He brought 
 the intelligence that France had declared war against 
 England. Now the opposition, urged on by their hatred 
 to the latter power, wished to enter into an alliance with 
 France, and thus involve the country in war. But Wash- 
 ington and his cabinet, in spite of these clamors, promptly 
 proclaimed neutrality as the policy of the United States, 
 and also warned the jjeople not to commit acts inconsist- 
 ent with the proclamation of neutrality, nor with the 
 strictest impartiality towards the belligerents. The wis- 
 dom of the Government saved the country from a mul- 
 titude of evils. 
 
 Genet took advantage of the sympathy manifested for 
 France by a jjortion of the American jaeople, and began 
 to fit out privateers against English commerce. This 
 was an insult to the dignity of the government, and a 
 violation of the proclaimed neutrality. But the parti- 
 sans of France were determined tliat the country shoidd be 
 committed to an alliance with the great sister Eepublic 
 in the old world. 
 
 About this time numerous societies, modelled after the 
 famous Jacobin clubs in Paris, began to be formed in 
 various parts of the Union. The more ultra assumed the 
 title of Democratic, while others preferred to call them- 
 selves Democratic Republican. They made strenuous 
 efforts to influence the public mind in favor of French 
 politics, and drive the government from its determination 
 not to interfere in the quarrels of Europe. The President 
 and his policy were assailed in terms of unmeasured abuse. 
 The principal organ of this abuse was the Gazette news- 
 
 April. 
 
540 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, paper, edited by Philip Freneau, who at this time was em- 
 
 '. ployed by Jeiferson as translating clerk. 
 
 1793. The Kepublican newspapers continued to accuse the 
 
 President and his cabinet of being enemies of France, the 
 only friend of the United States, and of being friends of 
 England, the bitter enemy of American liberties. 
 
 Genet mistook the clamors of a few for the sentiments 
 of the majority of the peoj^le. He now had the audacity 
 to authorize the French consuls in the ports of the United 
 States to receive and sell prizes taken from the English, 
 with whom we were at peace. He had also other projects 
 in view, one to raise men in the Carolinas and Georgia and 
 wrest Florida from Spain, another to raise men in Ken- 
 tucky and make an attack on Louisiana. 
 
 In his correspondence with the government he became 
 more and more insolent, imputed improper motives to its 
 members, tiU finally the President transmitted his letters 
 to Gouverneur Morris, American minister at Paris, with 
 directions to lay them before the Executive Council — and 
 request his recall. 
 
 When Genet received the information of this pro- 
 cedure he was thunderstruck. He charged Jefferson with 
 insincerity, as " having an official language and a lan- 
 guage confidential." 
 
 Though sympathizing with France in her struggles 
 for liberty, but not in her atrocious excesses, the great 
 majority of the people, when informed of the true state of 
 the case, began to hold meetings and express theu- appro- 
 bation of the measures adopted by the President, to 
 prevent his country from being embroiled in European 
 quarrels. 
 
 In due time Morris presented the request that Genet 
 should be recalled ; but another change had occurred in 
 France. The management of affairs had passed into the 
 hands of the Jacobins ; the Keign of Terror had com- 
 menced. Genet was unceremoniously recalled, and Mr. 
 
 1794. 
 
FIRST SETTLEUS OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. 54J 
 
 Faucliet aj^pointed in bis place. Genet did not return chap. 
 home, but became a citizen of the United States. ! 
 
 Through much toil and danger had the fertile valleys From 
 of the Monongahela and its tributaries been settled. The 1708 
 pioneers were principally Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, from to 
 eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia. Their trials were as '^'^^^^ 
 great as those of the early colonists. At first their 
 families lived in blockhouses or forts, through fear of the 
 Indians, while they, as they cleared the forest or tilled the 
 soil, were always armed ; they even carried their rifles in 
 their hands when on the Sabbath they assembled in the 
 grove, or the rude log church, to hear the Gospel. The 
 untrodden mountains lay between them and the settle- 
 ments on the Atlantic slojje. Across these mountains the 
 only road was a bridle-path ; the only conveyance a pack- 
 horse. Iron and salt could only be obtained as these 
 pack-horses carried them across the mountains. Salt was 
 worth eight dollars a bushel ; and often twenty bushels 
 of wheat were given in exchange for one of salt. Their 
 fertile fields i^roduced an abundance of grain, especially 
 wheat, from which they distUled the famed Monongahela 
 whiskey, while their orchards were laden with apples and 
 peaches from which they made brandies. To find a mar- 
 ket for these, almost their only product, they must take 
 a long and dangerous journey in flat-boats down the Ohio 
 and the Mississippi to New Orleans, and thence by ship to 
 the eastern markets. 
 
 The tax levied upon the manufacture of domestio 
 spirits was ojjposed by many. It was no doubt looked 
 upon as unequal, as it was appropriated to the support of 
 the Federal government, while the tax itself fell upon 
 •only a small portion of the community. But nowhere 
 was it so persistently resisted as by these settlers of the 
 four western counties of Pennsylvania. They rose in open 
 rebellion ; not only refused to pay the tax, but drove off 
 the officers appointed to collect it. This opposition was 
 
1. 
 
 542 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 2?^K; not confined to obscure persons, but some of the most in- 
 
 '. fluential encouraged the multitude to resist the law ; but 
 
 1794. their ministers, to a man, exerted all their influence in favor 
 of obedience. The more violent leaders openly boasted 
 they would not only resist the law, but separate from 
 Pennsylvania, and form a new State. They professed to 
 have very little regard for the Federal government, and 
 took encouragement from the same party that sustained 
 Genet. To discover those who sent information of their 
 high-handed measures to the government, these rebels 
 robbed the mail ; they scoffed at the jJi'oclamation of the 
 Governor of the State and also at that of the President. 
 Aug. Tlius matters continued for nearly two years. It shows 
 the excitement which prevailed, that at one time with 
 only three days' notice, there assembled on Braddock's 
 Field nearly seven thousand armed meq. They had for 
 their motto " Liberty and no excise." The assemblage 
 passed many resolutions, indicating an intention to resort 
 to further acts of violence. 
 
 This meeting was presided over by Colonel Edward 
 Cook, one of the judges of Fayette county, who had taken 
 an active part in resisting the enforcement of the law. Its 
 secretary was Albert Gallatin, from the same county, a 
 native of Switzerland, who had been in the country but a 
 few years ; a young man of superior education ; an ardent 
 sympathizer with the French school of politics ; a violent 
 opposer of the excise law. He had risen rapidly in popu- 
 lar favor, had been a member of the Legislature of the 
 State, and also of a Convention to amend its Constitution. 
 
 Governor Miiflin wished to try the effect of a circular 
 addressed to the insurgents, before calling out the militia. 
 The circular was unheeded. The President issued a proc- 
 lamation ordering the rebels to desist from their illegal 
 proceedings ; at the same time he called out the militia, 
 who resjjonded promptly to the call. 
 
 The leaders soon found that, after all, the Federal 
 
THE WHISKKY INSURRECTION — MISSION TO ENGLAND. 543 
 
 authority had the power and was determined to enforce char 
 
 the law. The leaders became anxious to screen the people 
 
 from the anger of the government, and themselves from 1794. 
 the anger of the people. ■^°^' 
 
 Only when the militia, which had crossed the moun- 
 tains, in two divisions, formed a juncture at Union .Town, 
 did the insurgents submit. A few arrests were made ; the 
 most active leaders had fled the country. Thus ended 
 " The Whiskey Insurrection." The vigor and energy dis- 
 played by the Federal government in putting down the 
 insurgents added strength to its authority. 
 
 The belligerents in Europe, though professing friend- 
 ship, had but little regard to the rights of Americans. 
 While France was detaining their ships in her ports, Eng- 
 land was issuing orders to her navy to seize and detain all 
 vessels freighted with French goods, or laden with pro- 
 visions for any French colony. These measures would ruin 
 American commerce. Congress passed a resolution which 
 forbid any trading vessel to leave an American port for 
 sixty days. This was designed to annoy the British, by 
 not furnishing provisions for their navy, — yet it operated 
 just as much against the French, through whose par- 
 ticular friends the bill was passed. 
 
 A war with England was impending. To avert 
 such a calamity, and to arrange the difficulties existing April, 
 between the two countries, Washington resolved to send a 
 special ambassador to the Court of St. James. 
 
 To this important mission he nominated the patriotic 
 and pure-minded Chief Justice Jay. Jay was of Huguenot 
 descent ; as to his revolutionary services second only to 
 the President himself ; of the highest reputation as a 
 jurist ; his integrity, learning and disinterestedness had 
 won him universal respect. In addition, there was a 
 propriety in the selection that conciliated all minds, for 
 he was one of the commissioners who had negotiated the 
 
544 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, first treaty with Great Britain. It would be a very diffi- 
 
 . cult task to obtain all that the American people thought 
 
 1791- they had a right to ask. There were many assumptions 
 of power which England would be unwUling to yield. To 
 negotiate under such circumstances required much skill 
 and judgment. 
 
 On his arrival in England, Jay was treated with great 
 courtesy and respect, and a disj)osition was manifested to 
 amicably arrange the difficulties which had arisen between 
 the two countries. 
 
 Both parties had their complaints to make. The one, 
 that the Western posts had not been given up according 
 to the treaty ; that their neutral rights were not resjaected ; 
 that compensation had not been given for the slaves car- 
 ried off at the close of the war ; that their merchants 
 were excluded from the West India trade, and that 
 British sailors, who by adoption had become Americans, 
 were impressed and forcibly taken out of American ships. 
 
 The other, that debts contracted with English mer- 
 chants prior to the Eevolution could not be collected ; 
 that the property of Tories had not been accounted for. A 
 treaty was finally concluded, not such as Jay wished, nor 
 as justice demanded, but the best that could be obtained 
 under the circumstances. 
 
 The Western posts were to be given up in two years ; 
 the West India trade was granted on certain conditions, 
 while free admission was given to British ports in Europe 
 and in the East Indies, but no compensation could be ob- 
 tained for the negroes. On the other hand, provision was 
 made for the collection of the debts com2)lained of. 
 
 A great clamor was raised against the treaty, which 
 was grossly misrepresented. One party contended that 
 its ratification would produce war with France, the other 
 that its rejection would lead to a war with England. There 
 were stormy debates on the subject in Congress, and in 
 some of the State Legislatures. But when the difliculties 
 
DEPEEDATIONS ON COMMEKCE — ALGEEINE PIRATES. 545 
 
 that stood in the way of obtaining more desirable con- chap. 
 
 XXXIX 
 ditions became known, and when the character of the '. '. 
 
 treaty itself was understood, the more intelligent and con- 1V95. 
 
 servative portion of the people, were in fiivor of accepting 
 
 it. After a fortnight's debate in secret session the Senate 
 
 advised its ratification, and thus was secured peace for 
 
 some years ; under the circumstances, a very important 
 
 gain. 
 
 Treaties were also negotiated with Spain, in which the 
 boundaries between the United States, Louisiana, and 
 Florida were more definitely settled. The free navigation 
 of the Mississippi was also secured to both parties, and 
 the Americans were granted for three years the privilege 
 of making New Orleans a place of deposit for their trade. 
 
 American commerce, deriving its main resources in the 
 New England States, had increased very rapidly; the 
 trade to the Mediterranean was, however, much hindered by 
 depredations committed upon it by Algerine pirates. 
 Whether to purchase an exemption from these annoy- 
 ances, as Europe had been in the habit of, or to send a fleet 
 and punish the marauders, was a difficult question to 
 answer. It was thought better, for the present, to re- 
 deem the American sailors held as slaves by these bar- Sept. 
 barians. On this occasion a bill was passed to build six ^' 
 frigates ; this was the foundation of the Navy of the 
 United States. The following year a treaty was made 
 with the Dey of Algiers, and the captives released on the 
 payment of a heavy ransom — nearly a million of dollars 
 were paid for this purpose. This money expended in 
 fitting out an armament, and thoroughly chastising the 
 pirates, would have been better policy, — as was proved 
 some years afterwards. 
 
 Three more States — Vermont, Kentucky, and Ten- 1T96. 
 nessee — were admitted into the Union during the adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 As Washington was unwilling to serve another term, 
 35 
 
546 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, the two parties arrayed their forces for a trial of strens:th. 
 XXXIX. I - o 
 '. The Federahsts nominated John Adams for President and 
 
 1796. the Kepublicans Thomas Jefferson. The parties were 
 very nearly equally divided. Adams received two more 
 
 1797. votes than Jefferson, and was declared to be elected 
 President, and the latter Vice-President. 
 
 Before retiring from public life Washington published 
 a farewell address to the people of the United States. 
 They responded to it with respect and affection ; the out- 
 burst of a nation's gratitude. It was a truly paternal ad- 
 dress, warning the nation against party strife and sectional 
 jealousies, advising the policy of impartial neutrality 
 toward other nations when at war with each other, and as 
 a safeguard to liberty, the preservation of the Union and 
 the Constitution. 
 
 Thus ended the eight years of Washington's adminis- 
 tration. When it commenced all was unsettled. Now 
 the government was established. In that short time it 
 had been severely tested. 
 
 The general policy of his administration became the 
 fixed pohcy of the government of the United States. The 
 most enduring monument of his integrity and wisdom ; 
 of his patriotic and Christian principles. Strange as it 
 may seem, the annals of unscrupulous political warfare 
 do not furnish a parallel to the scurrilous slanders that 
 were heaped upon him, not only during his administration, 
 but at its close. Such were the disreputable means used 
 to induce the United States to become the ally of France, 
 and to join in a -war against the hated England. 
 
CHAPTEK XL. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Serious Aspect of Relations with Fiance. — Commissioners of Peace. — ^The 
 Frencli Cruisers. — The Alien Act. — War impending. — Washington, 
 Commander-in-Chief. — Capture of the Frigate L'Insurgente. — Peace 
 concluded. — Death of Washington. — Eulogiums on his Character. — 
 The cit}' of Washington becomes the Seat of Government. 
 
 The policy of the new administration was like that of ^Sf^- 
 the preceding, the cabinet officers of which were retained. 
 
 The new President was not more influenced by love for 1797. 
 England than by admiration for France. He had no ex- 
 pectation that the latter country would establish a gov- 
 ernment upon just and righteous princijjles. He expressed 
 a " determination to maintain peace and inviolate faith 
 with all nations, and neutrality and impartiality with the 
 belligerent powers of Europe." 
 
 In the mean time relations with France assumed a 
 serious aspect. Nothing would satisfy that power but a 
 willingness on the part of the United States to be used 
 as a dependent. While the French partisans were clam- 
 oring for such an alliance, the Directory exhibited their 
 good will by issuing orders to seize and retain all Ameri- 
 can vessels having on board English manufactured goods. 
 
 Washington had recalled Monroe from the French 
 Mission, and in his place sent Charles C. Pinckney. The 
 latter sent his credentials to the Minister of Foreign 
 Aifairs, but a few days after Monroe was notified that a 
 
548 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, minister would not be received from the United States 
 
 , until grievances were redressed ; but Monroe himself was 
 
 1797. complimented for his devotion to the French cause ; un- 
 der the circumstances, a compliment somewhat equivocal. 
 
 Pinckney was treated with studied neglect, bordering 
 on insult ; finally he demanded his passports and depart- 
 ed for Holland. During this time French privateers and 
 cruisers were capturing American merchantmen and treat- 
 ing their crews as prisoners of war. Some of the priva- 
 teers were commanded by renegade Americans, who 
 gloried in sailing under the colors of the " Great Republic." 
 
 France also stimulated Holland and Spain to complain 
 of the partiality of Jay's treaty with Great Britain ; and 
 was also suspected of an intention to rob Spain of Louisi- 
 ana and Florida. With overpowering successes, and un- 
 scrupulous political morals, she was making rapid strides 
 toward becoming the great power of the world. 
 
 Still more alarming was the fact that there existed in 
 the United States a large party that opposed the neutral 
 policy of the government, and openly favored an alliance 
 with the " Terrible Republic." 
 May. The President called a special session of Congress, and 
 
 laid before it a statement of the relations with France. 
 When it became known that in their representative the 
 United States had been deliberately insulted ; and that 
 French aggressions on American commerce were increas- 
 ing, the enthusiasm of the partisans of France somewhat 
 declined. 
 
 Two special commissioners were appointed to proceed 
 to Paris, and, if joossible, adjust the existing difficulties. 
 John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry were selected for this 
 mission. The former, who was a Federalist, became after- 
 ward Chief Justice of the United States ; the latter, a 
 Republican in sentiment, one of the signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence, became afterward Vice- 
 President. They were authorized to conclude a treaty ; 
 
Oct. 
 
 TALLEYRAND AND THE AMERICAN ENVOYS. 549 
 
 one that should not conflict with treaties existing with *^|^P- 
 
 other nations ; and to insist upon the right of the United 
 
 States to remain neutral. 1T98. 
 
 The envoys joined Pinckney in Paris, and imme- 
 diately made known to the Minister of Foreign Affairs 
 the object of their mission. This mmistcr was no less a 
 personage than the celebrated Talleyrand, who some years 
 before had been an exile in the United States, where, 
 not receiving the attention which he thought he deserved, 
 had returned home in no very complacent humor. At 
 first he refused an audience to the commissioners, but 
 soon after sent irresponsible jiersons to make them propo- 
 sitions, which, if found convenient, he could easily disa- 
 vow. Thus for several months they were the victims of 
 diplomatic trickery. 
 
 Meanwhile French cruisers captured American vessels, 
 and French courts confiscated their cargoes, and imprison- 
 ed their crews. Finally the commissioners were given to 
 understand, if they would advance a little money for the 
 special benefit of Talleyrand and his worthy friends, and 
 also pledge the United States to make France a loan, that 
 negotiations would be commenced in earnest. This 
 proposition was indignantly refused. Marshall and Pinck- 
 ney were immediately ordered to leave the country, and 
 Grerry, whose party at home sym2)athized with France, 
 was invited to remain and negotiate a treaty. It was by 
 such insults and injuries, that France hoped to intimi- 
 date the United States, and make them as dependent on 
 her boasted magnanimity, as she had already made Spain. 
 The disrespect offered the commissioners excited great in- 
 dignation in the minds of the American people. Strange 
 as it may seem, the opposition insisted that France was 
 not to blame, but their own government, in faithfully en- 
 forcing its policy of neutrality. At length the corre- 
 spondence between Talleyrand's agents and the commis- 
 sioners was published. The French party offered no more 
 
550 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, apologies. The spirit of the insulted people was aroused. 
 The reply of Pinekney to the corrupt emissaries of Tal- 
 
 1798. leyrand — "Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute/' 
 was echoed throughout the land. Addresses to the Presi- 
 dent, approving his measures, began to pour in from all 
 parts of the nation. The French party soon dwindled to 
 a small minority. The only hope Jefferson cherished was 
 that Congress would adjourn. "To separate Congress 
 now," wrote he, " wiU be withdrawing the fire from a boiling 
 pot." 
 
 A large number of French exiles — it was thought 
 nearly thirty thousand — were, at this time, in the country. 
 Some of these acted as spies, at least so thought the gov- 
 ernment ; some had tampered with the peojole of Ken- 
 tucky to induce them to join in an expedition against 
 Louisiana, then belonging to Spain, and some jjlanned a 
 similar expedition against Florida. Thus did they abuse 
 the hospitality tendered them by endeavoring to create 
 divisions among the people, and opposition to the policy 
 of the government. 
 
 Under these circumstances Congress passed what was 
 termed the " Alien Act," to continue in force two years, 
 
 July, by which the President was authorized to order out of the 
 country aliens, who, by their plots might endanger the 
 interests of the government in case of war. The law was 
 never enforced, but nevertheless a large number of these 
 exiles left the country. 
 
 Presently Marshall returned, and confinned all that 
 had been reported of the demands of the French Eepub- 
 lic. The President sent in a message to Congress, which 
 contained a statement of the embarrassing relations exist- 
 ing between the two countries. Preparations were made 
 for war. It was resolved to raise and equip an army ; to 
 fortify important jiosts on the sea-coast ; to jsrepare a 
 naval armament, and to capture French armed vessels, 
 but not to molest merchantmen. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 COMMISSIONERS OF PEACE — THE TREATY. 551 
 
 The people came forward with alacrity to assist. *^^^P- 
 
 Money was subscribed liberally, esjiecially iu the seaboard 
 
 towns, to equip a navy. The frigates so bug building 1798. 
 were just finished ; and the Constitution, the United 
 States, and the Constellation, the germ of our present navy, 
 were fitted for sea. 
 
 Washington was nominated as Lieutenant-General 
 and Commander-in-Chief of the army — a nomination 
 unanimously confirmed by the Senate. He heartily ap- 
 proved the measures of the President, and condemned 
 those of France, saying that the administration ought to 
 inspire universal satisfaction, and added, " we can with pure 
 hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and 
 may tmst the final result to that kind Providence which 
 has hitherto and so often signally favored the people of 
 the United States." 
 
 When it was seen that the United States would not 
 submit to insult, but were preparing to repel it by force, 
 the Dhectory made overtures for peace. This intimation 
 came from Murray, the American Minister at Holland, to 
 whom Talleyrand had cosimunicated the proposition. 
 The President accordingly nominated two commissioners, 
 Oliver Ellsworth and W. E. Davie, who were to join Mur- 
 ray in Paris. 
 
 President Adams took the ground that they should 
 not enter France, unless assurance was given that they 
 would be received in a " manner befitting the Commission- 
 ers of an independent nation." 
 
 On their arrival in France they found Bonaparte at 
 the head of affairs, and the cunning and politic Talley- 
 rand still in office. Negotiations commenced, and in due 
 time a treaty was concluded, which in its provisions ad- 
 justed nearly all the matters of dispute. Sept. 
 
 The fleet which had been fitted out to protect Ameii- 
 can commerce from French depredations had not been 
 idle. More than three hundred private vessels had been 
 
552 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, licensed to cany arms and to defend themselves from the 
 
 common enemy. But the incident which gave the great- 
 
 1799. est satisfaction to the country was the capture of the 
 French frigate L'Insurgente, by the Constellation, imder 
 Feb. Captain Truxton. The two vessels were about equal in 
 their complement of men and guns. After a severe con- 
 test of an hour and a quarter, the L'Insurgente strack 
 her colors, having lost in men twenty to one of her an- 
 tagonist. This was the first time that an American 
 armed vessel had met one of another nation on equal 
 terms. As a presage of future triumphs it was most 
 grateful to the people. 
 
 Ere long intelligence came of the conclusion of peace. 
 The army was disbanded, but the defences along the coast 
 were stiU maintained, and also it was resolved to keep the 
 navy afloat. 
 
 But before it was known in America that the Com- 
 missioners of peace had been kindly received, an event oc- 
 curred which cast a gloom over the nation, and for a season 
 silenced the clamors of party spirit — the death of Wash- 
 ington. In riding about his farm he was exposed to a 
 cold rain. The following morning he complained of a sore 
 throat, an inflammation of the windpipe followed, which 
 speedily produced death. With calm resignation he ex- 
 
 ^f"- pressed his willingness to die. 
 14. 
 
 A joint committee of both Houses of Congress reported 
 
 resolutions recommending to the people of the United 
 States, out of respect for his memory, to wear badges of 
 mourning for thirty days, and also that his approaching 
 birth-day be celebrated " by suitable eulogies, orations, 
 and discourses, or by public prayers." Thus did the 
 people honor him " who was first in war, first in peace, 
 and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 
 
 The oration before both houses of Congress, was pro- 
 nounced by Colonel Henry Lee, whom we have seen as 
 the intimate though youthful friend of Washington. In 
 
DEATH OF WASHINGTON. 553 
 
 accordance with the above recommendation, his birth-day chap. 
 
 was celebrated throughout the land ; the most emment 
 
 in the nation delighted to honor his memory. Nor was 1799. 
 his name honored only in his native land. When the 
 news reached Europe it eUcited emotions of sadness and 
 tokens of respect. The great British fleet of sixty ships 
 of the line, under the command of Lord Bridport, and at 
 the time lying in the English channel, lowered their flags 
 to half mast. In his orders of the day to the French 
 army, Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, paid a 
 tribute to his memory, and afterward caused a funeral 
 oration to be delivered before the civil and military au- 
 thorities, and the standards of the army to be draped in 
 mourning for ten days. 
 
 Such were the pubhc tokens of respect. But he had 
 a higher honor — a place in the affections of the good and 
 humane in jirivate life more than any man of any age ; 
 he never received an office in the gift of the people, or at 
 the hands of their representatives, that was not unani- 
 mously given. To him alone has gone forth that heartfelt 
 respect, that reverence and gratitude which can be embodied 
 only in the endearing title, the Father of his country. 
 
 Says an eminent British statesman and scholar, (Lord 
 John Kussell,) " To George Washington nearly alone in 
 modern times has it been given to accomplish a wonder- 
 ful revolution, and yet to remain to all future times the 
 theme of a people's gratitude, and an example of virtuous 
 and beneficent power." " His intellectual, like his moral 
 qualities, were never brought out to dis2}lay his own talent 
 or enhance his own glory. They were forthcoming as oc- 
 casion required, or the voice of the country called for 
 them ; largeness of combination, quickness of decision, 
 fortitude in adversity, sympathy with his officers, the 
 burst of impetuous courage, were the natural emanations 
 of this great and magnanimous soul." ' 
 
 ' Life and Times of James Fox, Vol. 1, pp. 366 and 254 
 
554 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. rjij^g administration of Adams, now drawing to its close, 
 was in its policy like that of Washington. During these 
 
 1799. twelve years, there was much opposition, but that policy 
 in the main has remained unchanged from that day to 
 this. To be free from the turmoU of European politics was 
 wisdom, but to carry it out required the calm determina- 
 tion of Washington, as well as the impulsive energy of 
 Adams, " who was not the man to quail " when he thought 
 duty called. 
 
 During the summer the seat of the Federal Govern- 
 
 1800. ment was removed to the City of Washington, then " a 
 little village in the midst of the woods," in the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 The struggle for political power was renewed with 
 great vigor, and in the bitterness of party spirit. The 
 Federahsts nominated Adams and Charles C. Pinckney for 
 President, while the Eepublicans nominated for the same 
 office, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. When the 
 electors came to cast their votes it was found that Adams 
 had sixty-five, Pinckney sixty-four, and Jefferson and 
 Burr had each seventy-three. In accordance with the 
 provisions of the Constitution, it became necessary for the 
 House of Kepresentatives to make the choice. After 
 
 1801. thirty-six ballotings, during seven days, Jefferson was 
 17." chosen President, and Burr Vice-President. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The President's Inaugural. — Purchase of Louisiana. — The Pirates of the 
 Mediterranean. — Captain Baiubridge. — The Burning of the Philadel- 
 phia. — Tripoli Bombarded. — Death of Hamilton. — Aaron Burr. — Oppo- 
 sitiou to the Navy. — Gunboats. — Right of Neutrals infringed upon. — 
 The unjust Decrees issued by England and France. — American Mer- 
 chants demand the Right to defend themselves. — Impressment of 
 American Seamen. — Treaty with England rejected by the President. — 
 Affair of the Chesapeake. — The Embargo ; its eflect. — Public feeUng on 
 the subject. — Manufactures. —Embargo repealed. 
 
 On entering npon office Jefferson found the country in a chap. 
 prosperous condition. The revenue was abundant for ^^^" 
 current expenses ; the stability of the government had in- jgQj 
 spired the industrial interests with confidence, commerce 
 had increased beyond aU precedent, and was pressing on 
 to still higher triumphs. 
 
 The prosiject of a general peace in Europe also gave as- 
 surance that American ships would no longer be subjected 
 to unlawful seizures under the pretense that they carried 
 cargoes contraband of war. The census just taken had 
 shown the popiilation to be, within a few hundreds, double 
 what it was at the commencement of the revolution. The 
 total population being 5,319,762. The number of mem- 
 bers of the House of Representatives was 141. 
 
 The new President professed to deprecate party spirit : 
 and wished to be recognized as a " moderate republican," 
 jDroclaiming as " brethren of the same principles, we are 
 
556 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, called by different names, we are all Kepublicans, we are 
 
 all Federalists." But in a veiy sbort time he began to 
 
 1802. remove those from office, who were not of his own political 
 ojiinions. The bitterness of ]3arty spirit was not allayed 
 by this policy. 
 
 Immigrants had been pouring into the region North- 
 west of the Ohio. In one year twenty thousand persons 
 had passed into that territory to find homes. The people 
 of the eastern portion, presented themselves at the door 
 of Congress, asking permission to be admitted as a State. 
 The request was granted, and the State of Ohio, with a 
 population of seventy thousand, became a member of the 
 April. Union. 
 
 The Spanish Grovemor of Louisiana, in violation of an 
 existing treaty — that of 1795 — refused permission to the 
 traders on the Mississippi to deposit their produce at New 
 Orleans. This act, so injurious to their commei-ce, caused 
 a great commotion among the people beyond the moun- 
 tains. The government was called uj)on to redress these 
 grievances ; the Western people must have the privilege 
 of freely navigating the Mississippi, or they would seize 
 New Orleans, and drive the Spaniards from the territory. 
 At this crisis intimations came from Paris that Spain, by 
 a secret treat}-, had ceded Louisiana to France. Bona- 
 parte's vision of restoring the French power on this con- 
 tinent had become somewhat dim, especially as the over- 
 powering fleet of Great Britain would seize and occupy 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, whenever it was known to 
 belong to France. To avoid this contingency, he was 
 willing to sell the entire territory of Louisiana to the 
 United States. Accordingly Robert E. Livingston, 
 American Minister at. Paris, commenced negotiations, 
 which resulted in the purchase of that region for fifteen 
 1803 millions of dollars. The rights and privileges of Ameri- 
 ""so. can citizens were guaranteed to the inhabitants of the 
 purchased territoiy. 
 
ALGERINE PIRATES BAINBRIDGE. 557 
 
 When the sale was completed, Bonaparte is said to '^■^a''. 
 
 have exclaimed : — " This accession of territory strengthens L 
 
 forever the power of the United States ; — I have just 1803. 
 given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later 
 humble her pride." 
 
 In the midst of the turmoil of wars in Europe, the 
 pirates of the Mediterranean had renewed their depreda- Sept. 
 tions upon American commerce. Captain Bainbridge in 
 command of the frigate George Washington was sent to 
 Algiers with the usual tribute. The Dey ordered him to 
 carry some presents and his ambassador to Constantinople. 
 Bainbridge at first refused. The Dey was highly indignant, 
 " You pay me tribute," said he, " by which you become 
 my slaves, and therefore I have the right to order you as I 
 think proper." However, as he was exposed to the guns 
 of the castle and batteries, and learning that Eughsh, 
 French, and Spanish ships of war had submitted to similar 
 impositions, Bainbridge thought it more prudent to com- 
 ply with the arrogant demand, hoping at some future time 
 to avenge the indignity thus offered his country's flag. In 
 closing his report to the Navy Department, he wrote, " I 
 
 hope I will never again be sent to Algiers with tribute unless , „„„ 
 ^ ... 1803. 
 
 I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." 
 
 As these depredations continued, and, while the tribute 
 became more and more onerous, a squadron, under Com- 
 modore Preble, was sent to capture the pirates and block- 
 ade the harbor of Tripoli. Tlie frigate Philadelphia, 
 commanded by Bainbridge, when chasing an Algerine 
 cruiser, ran upon a sunken rock near the shore. Wliile 
 thus disabled, Tripolitan gun-boats captured her after a 
 contest, which lasted an entire day. Bainbridge and his 
 crew of three hundred men, were made prisoners, and 
 treated as slaves, for whom an exorbitant ransom was de- 
 manded. 
 
 Finding means, however, to communicate with the 
 American sc[uadron, he suggested the possibility of burn- 
 
558 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ing the Pliiladeli^hia, as she lay moored under the guns 
 
 of the castle. Lieutenant Decatur volunteered to act on 
 
 1804. the suggestion. A small TripoHtan trader had been cap- 
 tured a few days before. This vessel, now named the 
 Intrepid, was selected for the enterprise. With a crew 
 of seventy-six chosen men — all volunteers — Decatur sail- 
 ed on his perilous imdertaking. Combustibles were pre- 
 pared in bundles, and to each man was assigned his par- 
 ticular duty. 
 1804. Passing into the harbor, they approached the Phila- 
 
 delphia about midnight. When hailed, the interpreter 
 answered they were traders, who had lost their anchor in 
 the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the 
 frigate till morning. The request was granted, and the 
 Intrepid slipped alongside. Suddenly the Turks noticed 
 that she had her anchors, and gave the alarm, shouting 
 Feb. " Americanos." In a moment more, Decatur and his 
 brave companions clambered up one side of the vessel, 
 while the panic-stricken Turks, after slight resistance, as 
 rapidly passed over the other into the water. The fag- 
 gots were handed up, and carried to every part of the 
 ship, and in thirty minutes she was on fire from stem to 
 stern. So dry had the vessel and the rigging become in 
 that warm climate, that with difficulty the Americans 
 escaped the flames. When clear of the frigate cheers of 
 triumph told that the daring attempt had been success- 
 ful. The flames soon lighted up the harbor ; the castle 
 opened with its guns upon the Intrepid, which, urged on 
 by the rowers, was rapidly passing out of danger. Soon 
 the guns of the burning frigate began to explode and 
 throw their shot in aU directions. This was one of the 
 boldest enterprises ever undertaken by our naval heroes. 
 
 The squadron continued to blockade the harbor of 
 Tripoli, and during the following summer bombarded the 
 town. The contest was severe, and there was much hand- 
 to-hand fighting on board gun-boats. Intelligence came 
 
HAMILTON — BURK. 559 
 
 that otlier vessels were on their way, and a further attack ™^P- 
 
 was postponed. Before the arrival of this reinforcement 
 
 the Bashaw came to terms, and desired to make peace ; 1804. 
 other causes aided in hastening this event. He had 
 driven his elder hrother, Hamet, into exile, and usurped 
 his throne. Captain William Eaton, American Consul 
 at Tunis, concerted measures with the exiled brother to 
 drive the usurper from Tripoli. With four hundred troops, 
 only nine of whom were Americans, Eaton and Hamet 
 marched a thousand miles across the Libyan desert, and 
 suddenly appeared before Deme, which place, with the aid 
 of the American fleet, they captured in a few days. The 
 Bashaw sent troops against the invaders ; these troops 
 were also defeated, then to save himself he made proposals 
 to negotiate. Peace was concluded by Lear, the American 1805. 
 consul at Tripoli, but not on as favorable terms as justice "^"i"® 
 demanded. After an exchange of prisoners, man for man, 
 there still remained two hundred Americans ; for these a 
 heavy ransom was paid. Thus conceding the point in 
 dispute, that the Bashaw had a right to receive ransoms 
 for prisoners taken by his pirates. 
 
 Jefferson was re-elected President, and, instead of 
 Burr, George Clinton, of New York, Vice-President. 
 Burr's intrigues had become known to both parties, and 
 he experienced the just fate of the insincere — he was sus- ' 
 pected by all, and trusted by none. Rejected by his own 
 State, his political prospects ruined, and overwhelmed by 
 debts, the result of unsuccessful speculations, his cold and 
 unrelenting spirit panted for revenge. He looked upon 
 the influence of Alexander Hamilton, as one cause of his 
 political failure. To retrieve his political fortunes Burr 
 was willing to risk his own hfe, if he could but kill the 
 man whose patriotism and integrity ho well knew, and 
 whose influence he dreaded. He laid his plans to force 
 Hamilton into a duel. They met on. the banks of the 
 Hudson, opposite New York, Hamilton previously de- i805. 
 
560 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, daring that to fight a duel was contrary to his judgment 
 and his sense of moral duty ; that he wished Burr no ill, 
 
 1804. and should make no effort to ijijure him. Burr took de- 
 liberate aim, and Hamiltou was mortally wounded ; as he 
 fell his own pistol went off accidentally. When the sur- 
 
 July geon approached he said, " Doctor, this is a mortal 
 ^^- wound." In twenty-four hours he was no more. Thus 
 fell one of the brightest intellects, and purest, self-sac- 
 rificing patriots of the country — a victim to an unchristian 
 custom, the relic of a barbarous age. His loss to the 
 country was second only to that of Washington. 
 
 The most imposing funeral ceremony the city ever 
 saw revealed the depth of feeling in the public mind. 
 Presently the correspondence between the parties was 
 published ; this made known the designing manner in 
 which Hamilton had been entrapped, and the disclosure 
 produced in the public mind stUl greater indignation 
 against Burr. The coroner's jury brought in a verdict of 
 wilful murder against him. Fearful of violence he was 
 fain to conceal himself for a few days in New York, and 
 then to flee to Philadelphia, and finally to Georgia, untU, 
 as he expressed it, " the storm would blow over." 
 
 The sacrifice of a man so eminent, merely to ajipease 
 the honor of a consummate villain, turned the minds of 
 ' the people more directly to the moral turjjitude, as well 
 as the absurdity of the custom of duelling. Public opinion 
 on this subject became, henceforth, embodied in laws, 
 wliich banished the custom from some of the States, and 
 will, it may be hoped, eventually banish it from aU the 
 others. 
 
 The remaining history of Aaron Burr may be told in 
 a few words. His intriguing and restless nature impelled 
 
 1805. -^^"^ ^^ other enterprises. The year following the death 
 of Hamilton he went west. That section of the country 
 contained many turbulent spirits, and had, moreover, 
 manifested much dissatisfaction with the G-eneral Govern. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS OF BURK — HIS DEATH. 561 
 
 ment. It was thouglit Burr had some designs for his own ™^P- 
 
 aggrandizement ; either to seize upon New Orleans and 
 
 draw off the people of the valley of the Mississippi from 1805. 
 their allegiance to the Union, or to make a foray into 
 Mexico, overturn the existing government, and put him- 
 self at the head of the one he should establish. His mys- 
 terious movements from place to place, and the hints 
 concerning his projects, which he threw out to those 
 whom he wished to enlist, excited the suspicion of the 
 federal government. After being permitted to plan and 
 counter-plan for a year or more, he was finally arrested 
 and brought to trial. But so cunningly had he managed 
 the affair, that no decisive ^jroof could be obtained of his 
 designs. After a prolonged trial, he was acquitted of the 
 
 charge of treason against the United States. ^-S^J' 
 
 ° Feb. 
 
 Though acquitted by the jury, public opinion treat- 
 ed liim as guilty. Turned upon the world a penniless 
 wanderer, suspected everywhere, even in foreign lands, 
 whei-e he lived iu the greatest poverty, a pensioner upon 
 the pittance doled out by a few friends. Ordered out of 
 England as a French spy, and treated in France as a 
 British emissary ; finally, he returned home, to find his 
 family ties all broken, his daughter, an only and beloved 
 child, having, under trying circumstances, recently perish- 
 ed at sea. 
 
 He made no advances to renew former friendships or 
 acquaintance, and would gladly have shunned the public 
 gaze, but he was compelled in his old age to resume the 
 practice of the law as a means of support. With a ban 
 resting upon him, he went down in loneliness to the 
 grave, in his eighty-first year — a melancholy instance of isse. 
 prostituted talents. 
 
 The country continued to be very prosperous ; the 
 public expences were lessened, and the finances were 
 leaving every year an increasing surplus ; the belligerents 
 36 
 
562 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 f'HAP. in Europe had not yet interfered muclx with American 
 commerce, the great source of the federal revenue. The 
 
 1805. facilities for making money exchanges aft'ordod hy the 
 banks had a beneficial effect upon the internal trade of 
 the country. The exportation of domestic produce had 
 tripled in value since the adoption of the Constitution, 
 amounting to forty-tAvo millions. There was also a rapidly- 
 increasing, and immensely profitable trade in the import 
 and export of foreign merchandise, exclusively for the 
 supply of foreign nations. Internal improvements were 
 not overlooked, and companies were formed for the con- 
 struction of roads and bridges, and others for insurance. 
 
 Washington and Adams, in their administrations, 
 both endeavored to place the force of the country on a 
 footing to command the respect of other nations. Hence 
 they strongly urged the creation of a navy to protect 
 American commerce, and the policy of fortifying impor- 
 tant places along the coast. But Jefferson looked upon 
 this as a useless expense. He would prefer to have the 
 public ships hauled out of harm's way into harbors ; in- 
 stead of prosecuting trade upon the ocean, where a cruiser 
 of one of the belligerents might occasionally search a ves- 
 sel for goods contraband of war, he would lay an embargo, 
 and cut off all trade. Harbor fortifications were subjected 
 to the same policy, falsely named economical ; gun-boats 
 were to take the place of other defences. Even the frames 
 of the six ships of the line, commenced by the previous 
 administration, were cut up to make gun -boats. 
 
 For more than six years not a single vessel was added 
 to the navy, though there were indications that war might 
 speedily occur. The hostility in Congress to that branch 
 of the service was confined principally to the southern 
 members. It was avowed that in case of war it would be 
 good policy to abandon the harbors and sea-coast, and 
 retire into the interior ; that it would be better to give 
 up commerce altogether than protect it by a navy. 
 
ENGLISH AND FRENCH DECREES. 563 
 
 The war between France and England had driven chap. 
 from the ocean all the merchant vessels of those nations. L 
 
 This trade passed into the hands of neutrals, the United 1S06. 
 States securing much the largest share. 
 
 The cruisers of the belligerent powers continued to in- 
 fringe upon the rights of the neutrals. The battle of 
 Trafalgar annihilated the fleets of Spain and France. 
 The dread of French cruisers had passed away ; and the 
 British merchants began to complain of the vast profits 
 made by the Americans in the neutral trade, whose emol- 
 uments they wished to secure to themselves. It was 
 suspected that the vast amount of property carried by the 
 Americans did not belong to them, but that it was taken 
 to a neutral port merely to acquire a neutral character, 
 and then transhipped to the ports belonging to those na- 
 tions which were at war, — a charge no doubt true in many 
 instances. On this ground American vessels were seized 
 and condemned. 
 
 The English government passed a decree which de- 
 clared the coast of Europe from the mouth of the river Elbe 
 to Brest, to be in a state of blockade ; — thus forbidding 
 neutrals to trade withiu these prescribed limits. Napo- May. 
 leon, unable to contend with England upon the ocean, 
 now issued the famous Berlin decree, which declared the 
 coast of Great Britain to be in a state of blockade. In 
 addition, he prohibited all trade in EngHsh merchandise. '^"^^ 
 Two mouths later, Great Britain forbade all trade with 
 France whatever. Thus these two nations wantonly dis- 
 regarded the interests and rights of the commerce of the 
 world. Both French and British cruisers, now cajDtured 
 American trading ships, and the commerce which extend- 
 ed to every sea, gradually dwindled down to a coasting 
 trade. Owing to the government's policy — fondly cher- 
 ished as the very essence of economy — the commerce 
 of the nation was left to the tender mercies of ocean 
 despots ; there was no navy to give it protection, except 
 
564 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, a few redoubtable gun-boats, that lay in the harbors, 
 
 patiently waiting for the audacious cruisers to come within 
 
 1806. their range. 
 
 The condemnation of vessels taken by foreign cruisers, 
 and the forfeiture of their cargoes to the amount of mil- 
 lions, caused an intense excitement among American mer 
 chants. In all the seaport towns, especially, meetings were 
 held to express the views of the people, and petitions ask- 
 ing protection, poured into Congress. These petitions only 
 produced a recommendation of the President to that body 
 to build more gun-boats. Is it strange the policy, which 
 neglected the mercantile interests of the country, should 
 be contrasted with the profusion in which money was 
 spent to purchase territory, and to hquidate Indian 
 claims ? Said one party, it is folly to provide a navy, 
 which, in case of war, will fall into the hands of the 
 British. The hardy seamen answered, give us the men- 
 of-war well armed, and we will see that they do not fall 
 into the hands of the enemy. Will not the same energy 
 and spirit, which has extended American commerce to 
 the ends of the earth, defend its interests, and maintain 
 the honor of the country ? In John Adams' adminis- 
 tration, Congress brought to terms the French cruisers on 
 American commerce ; it gave the merchants liberty to 
 protect themselves, and they did it, — why not grant the 
 same permission now ? 
 
 To these complaints were added others equally as seri- 
 ous. The British government maintained the doctrine that 
 no subject could expatriate himself, or transfer his alle- 
 giance to another country. The United States govern- 
 ment maintained the reverse, and welcomed emigrants 
 from other nations, and as adopted citizens afforded them 
 protection. The commanders of British men-of-war were 
 accustomed to board American merchant vessels, on the 
 high seas, and search for deserters, as they termed those 
 
THE IMPRESSMENT COMMISSIONERS OF PEACE. 565 
 
 English or Irish sailors, who had thus entered the Ameri- chap. 
 can service. 
 
 I 
 
 In these impressments great numbers of native born 1806. 
 Americans were forcibly seized and consigned to the slavery 
 of a British man-of-war. These high-handed measures, 
 executed in an arrogant manner by the English officers, 
 produced throughout the land a feeling of bitter hostility 
 to England. The English government gave as an apology 
 for these impressments, that in her present struggle she 
 needed all her seamen, and if permission were given, they 
 nearly all would desert, and enter American ships. Eng- 
 land herself was to blame for this want of patriotism in 
 her seamen. The iron hand of unfeeling rule had driven 
 these men from her service ; her cruel press-gangs had 
 crushed out their love of home. They had been seized 
 when uniDrotected and hurried on board men-of-war, where 
 brutal severities had obliterated their nobler feelings. Thus 
 wantonly treated, the English seaman deserted whenever 
 he had the opportunity. 
 
 Events were evidently tending toward a war, to avoid 
 which the President sent William Piuckney, as joint com- 
 missioner with James Monroe, who was already minister April. 
 at the court of St. James. The English commissioners 
 manifested a great desire not to impress American sea- 
 men, but to redress, as speedily as possible, any mistake 
 of that character. They urged, that to relinquish the 
 right of search for deserters, would be ruinous to the Eng- 
 lish navy in time of war. Suggesting, also, that stringent 
 laws should be made by both nations, to prevent seamen 
 from passing from the service of the one to the other. The 
 prejudices of the EngUsh people would not permit, at 
 least for the present, any formal relinquishment of the 
 right of impressment ; the commissioners further promised, 
 that strict orders should be issued to the naval com- 
 manders not to abuse the right. 
 
 With the understanding that the question of impress- 
 
566 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, ments was still open, and subject to future adjustment, 
 a treaty for ten j-ears was negotiated between the two 
 
 1807. countries. This treaty was more advantageous, upon the 
 ^^' wbole, to the United States, than the one negotiated by 
 Jay, and was certainly better than the existing irritating 
 relations of the two governments. France at this time, 
 by virtue of the Berlin decree, continued to seize and con- 
 fiscate American property, while Great Britain was anx- 
 ious to be on as good terms with the United States as 
 her situation would permit. Yet the President, and 
 
 Mar. Madison, his Secretary of State, arbitrarily rejected the 
 treaty, without either consulting the rest of the cabinet, 
 or the Senate which was in session. The plea given for 
 this extraordinary act was, that the treaty was not satis- 
 fiictory on the impressment question. The rejection of 
 the treaty left the relations of the two countries in a worse 
 condition than ever, even endangering their peace. Wash- 
 ington and his cabinet, in ratifying the Jay treaty, secured 
 to the country thirteen years of peace and unexpected 
 prosperity ; the rejection of this treaty was succeeded by 
 four years of ruinous evils, which residted in plunging the 
 nation into a war. Though the English government itself 
 was disposed to conciliate, and friendly in its expressions, 
 yet its naval commanders were exceedingly insolent in 
 their intercourse with the Americans. The inability of 
 the navy to maintain the nation's honor, tempted these 
 unscrupulous commanders to insult its flag. Thus far 
 they had confined their visits to merchantmen, presently 
 they went a step farther. 
 
 The United States frigate Chesapeake, of thirty-eight 
 gims, had enlisted four men who, it was said, were de- 
 serters from the British ship-of-war Melampus. It was 
 afterward proved that only one of them was an English- 
 man. Strict orders had been issued by the government 
 to the recruiting officers not to enlist British subjects, 
 knowing them to be such. 
 
I 
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE FRIGATE CHESAPEAKE. 567 
 
 Several English men-of-war were, at this time, lying <^H/^P- 
 
 in Cbesaiieake Bay ; of the number was the frigate 
 
 Leopard, of fifty guns. When it was known that the 1807. 
 Chesapeake was about to put to sea, the Leopard passed 
 out a few hours before, and when some miles from the 
 coast, she neared and hailed the Chesapeake, under the 
 pretense of sending despatches to Europe. A lieutenant 
 came on board with a demand for the English seamen. Jmn^' 
 Commodore Barron refused the demand, on the ground 
 there were no such men on board. This refusal brought 
 a broadside from the Leopard, which killed three men and 
 wounded eighteen others. As the attack was entirely 
 unexpected, and Barron iinprej^ared, he struck his colors, 
 after firing a single gun. The four men were taken from 
 the Chesai^eake, and the Leo2)ard passed on to Halifax, 
 while the Chesapeake returned to Norfolk, her crew deeply 
 mortified and thirsting for revenge. 
 
 The indignation of the whole people was intense. The 
 insults of impressing men from merchantmen were as 
 nothing, compared with firing into a national vessel. 
 The President immediately issued a proclamation, in which jyjy 
 he complained of the outrage, and ordered the British 
 men-of-war out of the American waters, but as he had 
 not the power to enforce the order it was disobeyed, and 
 the people were enjoined not to have intercourse with the 
 British vessels. He also called a special session of Con- 
 gress, and a messenger was sent to England, with instruc- 
 tions to the American minister to demand satisfaction for 
 the outrage. But a fast-saihng vessel had already left 
 Halifax with the intelligence. The British government 
 immediately disavowed the act, and sent, soon after, a 
 special messenger to arrange the difficulty. 
 
 In the mean whde France and England vied with each 
 other in issuing and enforcing decrees, which, in their 
 effect, would ruin all neutral commerce. English orders 
 in council required any vessel bound to a port in France Nov. 
 
 9 
 
568 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to toucli at some English port, and there ohtain a license 
 
 to proceed on the voyage. Any vessel that did not com- 
 
 1807. i^ly with this despotic decree was forbidden to export 
 French merchandise, unless the cargo was first brought to 
 an EngUsh port and paid duties before it was shipped to 
 Dec. a neutral country. A month later Bonaparte retaliated 
 by another decree, dated at Milan, by which every vessel 
 that complied with the British decree, was declared to be 
 forfeited. Thus American commerce was preyed upon by 
 both parties. 
 
 As a scheme of retaliation, and to bring the belliger- 
 ents to terms, Congress, on the recommendation of the 
 Dec. President, laid an embargo, which prohibited American 
 commerce with France and England. A measure lauded 
 by its advocates as the only means to save to their country 
 American seamen and cargoes, and at the same time 
 compel France and England to rejjcal their offensive de- 
 ^''^- crees. The effect, however, was just the reverse. Bona- 
 parte was delighted with the embargo, because it dimin- 
 ished just so much of England's income, her means to 
 carry on the war against himself ; on the other hand. 
 Great Britain was not dependent on American produce, 
 the trade to Spain and Portugal, and their colonies, had 
 both been recently opened to her merchants, who were 
 very willing that their enterprising rivals should remain 
 at home to experiment on political theories. The em- 
 bargo itself was exceedingly unpopular in the United 
 States. The intelligent portion of the people was un- 
 able to see what benefit could be derived fl-om their 
 ships rotting in the ports, their seamen out of employ- 
 ment, the industry of the country prostrated, and the 
 millions of surplus property now worthless for want of a 
 market. 
 
 Some years before Jefferson had expressed the senti- 
 ment that the United States " should practise neither 
 commerce nor navigation, but stand with respect to Eu- 
 
OPPOSITION TO THE EMBAEGO. 569 
 
 rope precisely on the footing of China." Had the people chap. 
 
 submitted implicitly to the embargo, the system of non- 
 
 intercourse with other nations would have been complete ; 1807. 
 as it was, on the recommendation of the Executive, Con- 
 gress found it necessary to pass stringent laws to enforce 
 its observance. The President was authorized to call out 
 the miHtia and employ ships as revenue cutters to prevent 
 cargoes of American produce leaving the country. When 
 it became known that this enforcing act had really become 
 a law, public feeling, in many places, could be no longer 
 restrained. Many of the papers announced its passage in 
 mourning columns, under the motto, " Liberty is dead." 
 General Lincoln, of revolutionary memory, resigned the 
 collectorship of the port of Boston rather than enforce the 
 law ; and great numbers of custom-house officers in other 
 places did the same. In the agricultural portions of the 
 country, the effect of the embargo was not so immediate 
 as in the commercial. The planters and farmers, implicitly 
 trusting in the wisdom of the Executive, stored up their 
 cotton, tobacco and grain, hoping for a market when the 
 belligerents would be pleased to rejieal their hostile 
 decrees. 
 
 Some good grew out of this evil. The tens of thou- 
 sands thrown out of employment by the effect of the em- 
 bargo and kindred measures, were compelled by the iron 
 hand of necessity to seek a livelihood by other means, and 
 their attention was somewhat directed to domestic manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Opposition to the embargo still continued ; in Con- 
 gress violent debates were held from day to day upon the 
 exciting topic. At length even the planters and farmers 
 began to waver in their faith, and to see as well as the 
 New Englanders that it was a futile measure ; that in- 
 stead of bringing the French and English to terms it was 
 the subject of their ridicule, while it was becoming more 
 and more ruinous to the nation. 
 
570 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Madison, who had been elected President, plainly in- 
 timated his wish that the obnoxious measure should, in 
 
 ISOT. some way, be got rid of; and three days before the close 
 of Jefferson's term the arbitrary act, forced upon the 
 country without a moment's warning, and which brought 
 ruin upon thousands in loss of property and of employ- 
 ment, was, to the joy of the nation, repealed. 
 
 Thus drew to a close Jefferson's administration. Non- 
 importation acts, so effective in colonial times, were futile 
 under other circumstances — a fact which the advocates of 
 the non-intercourse theory were some time in learning. 
 There was as much diversity in estimating Jefferson's 
 character as there was in relation to his iDohcy. His ad- 
 mirers lauded him as the embodiment of political wisdom 
 and republican simplicity. An enthusiastic believer in 
 the power of the masses to govern themselves, he was an 
 advocate for the rights of humanity, not merely in name 
 but in sincerity, and as such deserves to be held in 
 honor. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Condition of the Country. — Erskine's Negotiation. — Depredations upon 
 American Commerce. — Bonaparte's RambouUlet Decree. — Affair of 
 the Little Belt. — The Census. — Indian Troubles. — Tecumseh and the 
 Prophet.— Battle of Tippecanoe.— The two Parties.— The Twelfth Con- 
 gress. — Henry Clay. — John C. Calhoun. — Threatening Aspect of For- 
 eign Relations. — John Randolph. — Debates in Congress. — Another Em- 
 bargo. — War declared against Great Britain. — Opposition to the War. 
 — Riots at Baltimore. — Operations iu the North-west. — Surrender of 
 Hull. — Impressment of American Seamen. — Failures to invade Canada. 
 
 The incoming administration was virtually pledged ^^f' 
 to continue the foreign policy of its predecessor, thougli 
 
 that policy had not yet accomplished what its sanguioe 1809. 
 friends anticipated. The prediction of the Federalists — 
 the conservative jiarty of those days — that such measures 
 would lead to a war with England, seemed to he near its 
 fulfilment. The prospect was gloomy indeed. The 
 nation was totally unjjrepared for such an event. Neither 
 army nor navy to command respect ; no munitions of war 
 worthy the name ; the defences of the seaboard almost 
 worthless ; the revenue, owing to the embargo and non- 
 intercourse acts, much diminished and diminishing more 
 and more. The President and his cabinet desired to re- 
 lieve the country of these pressing evils. 
 
 To accomplish this end, negotiations were commenced 
 with Erskine, the resident British Minister. The youth- 
 ful Erskine was a generous and noble-hearted man ; a 
 
572 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, -warm friend of the United States, unused to tlie tricks of 
 diplomacy, he really wished to act generously for the in- 
 
 1809. terests of both nations, and not selfishly for his own. He 
 knew that Britain would derive great advantage from the 
 renewal of trade with the United States, and hoped that 
 the latter might he induced to take sides in the present 
 struggle against France. 
 
 In accordance with the spirit of certain instructions, 
 Erskine thought himself authorized to offer " a suitable 
 lirovision for the widows and orphans of those who were 
 killed on board the Chesapeake," and to announce the 
 conditional repeal of the Orders in Council as far as they 
 applied to the commerce of the United States. This re- 
 peal was to take place on the tenth of the following June. 
 
 1810. The President, on this assurance, issued a proclamation, 
 giving permission for a renewal of commercial intercourse 
 
 April- -^vith Great Britain. The news was hailed with joy 
 througliout the land. In a few weeks more than a thou- 
 sand ships, laden with American produce, were on their 
 way to foreign markets. This gleam of sunshine was soon 
 obscured. Four months after the President issued another 
 
 Aug. proclamation ; he now recalled the previous one, and again 
 established non-intercourse between the two countries. 
 
 The British ministry had disavowed the provisional 
 arrangement made by Erskine, giving as one reason that 
 he had gone beyond his instructions. In the communica- 
 tion accepting Erskine's offer to pi'ovide for the sufferers 
 in the Chesapeake afiair, the provision was spoken of as 
 an " act of justice comporting with what was due from his 
 Britannic majesty to his own honor." This uncourteous 
 remark gave offence, and furnished another pretext for 
 breaking off the negotiation. 
 
 The failure of this arrangement, which had promised 
 so much, greatly mortified the President and his cabinet, 
 and as greatly wounded the self-respect of the nation. 
 In consequence of this feeling, Jackson, the special envoy, 
 
MERCHANTS ASK PERMISSION TO ARM THEIR SHIPS. 573 
 
 sent soon after by England, was not very graciously re- ™Ap 
 
 ceived. Negotiations were, however, commenced with. 
 
 him, but after exchanging angry notes for some months, 1810. 
 all diplomatic intercourse was suspended between the two 
 countries. 
 
 American commerce had now less protection than 
 ever. In the desperate conflict going on in Europe it was 
 impossible to obtain redress from any of the belligerents. 
 The ocean swarmed with French and English cruisers, 
 while Danish privateers infested the northern seas. They 
 all enjoyed a rich harvest in plundering American mer- 
 chantmen, under the convenient pretence that they car- 
 ried goods contraband of war. Great numbers of ships 
 thus pillaged were burned at sea to destroy all traces of 
 the robbery. Willing to trust to their own genius to 
 escape capture, the American merchants asked permission 
 to arm their ships in self-defence. Congress denied the 
 request, on the ground that such a state of affairs would 
 be war ! The people, however, thought there was little 
 to choose between actual war and a system of active legal- 
 ized piracy. Even the planters and farmers, finding on 
 their hands a vast amount of produce, for which a market 
 was denied, were now inclined to strengthen the navy, 
 that it might protect commerce, or if necessaiy make an 
 irruption into Canada, and by that means compel Great 
 Britain to repeal her odious decrees. 
 
 France in the mean time was committing greater out- 
 rages on American commerce than even England. Bo- 
 naparte issued a decree, the Kambouillet, by which any 
 American vessel that entered a French port or a port of 
 any country under French control, was declared liable to Mar 
 confiscation. It shows the deUberate design of tliis pi- 
 ratical decree, that it was not promulgated till six weeks 
 after its date. The first intimation American merchants 
 received of its existence, was the seizure of one hundred 
 and thirty-two of their shijDS, in French ports. These 
 
574 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, -^vere soon after sold with their cargoes, and the money, 
 
 amounting to eight milHons of dollars, placed in the 
 
 1810. French treasury. Exjjostulations against such high-handed 
 measures were treated with contempt and insult. The 
 French minister of foreign affairs even charged the United 
 States " with a want of honor, energy, and just political 
 views," in not defending themselves. Bonaparte's great 
 object was to drive them into a war with England, and 
 thus exclude from her American produce. With this in- 
 tention he pretended he would revoke the Berhn and Milan 
 decrees, on condition the United States would make their 
 rights respected, or in other words, go to war with Eng- 
 land. At this time the only port iu Europe really open 
 to American commerce was that of Archangel in Kussia. 
 There American ships, after running the gauntlet between 
 French and Danish cruisers, landed their cargoes of 
 merchandise, which were theuce smuggled into France 
 and Germany. 
 
 Ere long Bonaparte's want of money mastered his 
 hatred of England, and he unblushingly became the viola- 
 tor of his own decrees, and sold to the Americans, at enor- 
 mous prices, licenses which gave them permission to in- 
 troduce their products into French ports. 
 
 None felt the national insult given in the Chesapeake 
 affair so deeply as the naval officers. They were anx- 
 iously watching for an opportunity to retaliate. 
 
 The frigate President, Captain Rodgers, was cruising off 
 the capes of Delaware, when a strange sloop-of-war gave 
 chase, but when within a few miles, her signals not being 
 answered, she stood to the southAvard. The President 
 now iu turn gave chase, and in the twilight of the evening 
 came within hailing distance. Eodgers hailed, but was 
 answered by the same question ; another hail was given 
 with a similar result. The stranger fired a gun, which 
 was repUed to by one from the President. These were 
 
TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET. 575' 
 
 succeeded by broadsides from both vessels. The action chap. 
 
 lasted about twenty minutes, when the stranger was com- , 
 
 pletely disabled. Rodgers hailed again, and now was 1810. 
 answered that the vessel was his Majesty's sloop-of-war ^^ 
 Little Belt. The disparity in the injury done to the re- 
 spective vessels was quite remarkable. The Little Belt 
 had more than thirty of her crew killed and wounded, 
 while the President was scarcely injured, and had only one 
 person slightly wounded. The affair created much ex- 
 citement in both nations, and served to increase that 
 alienation of feehng which had been so long in existence. 
 The statements of the commanding officers differed very 
 much as to the commencement of the encounter, but as 
 each government accepted the testimony of its own officers, 
 the matter was jjermitted to drop. 
 
 The census just taken, showed the following result: — 
 the ratio of representation was fixed at thh-ty-five thou- 
 sand : 
 
 Free Whites. Slaves. All others. Totals. Ecps. 
 
 5,862.093. 1,191,364. 186,446. 7,239,903. 182. 
 
 Events of serious interest were occurring on the western 
 frontier. Numbers of Indian tribes from time to time had 
 ceded their lands and moved farther west. But the in- 
 satiable white man still pressed on ; his cultivated fields 
 still encroached upon the Indian's hunting-grounds, and 
 game was fast disappearing. When is this grasping at 
 land to end ? asked the savages of each other. Two 
 brothers, twins, of the Shawnee tribe, resolved to free 
 their brethren from the aggressions of the settlers. 
 Their plans were well laid, and showed an intimate knowl- 
 edge of the secret of influence. The one, Tecumseh, 
 was to play the warrior's part, the other Elskwatawa, 
 more commonly known as the Prophet, appealed to their 
 superstitions ; he professed to be a wonderful medicine- 
 man, and in communication with the Great Spirit. 
 
 Tecumseh travelled from tribe to tribe, all along the 
 
576 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^XLU ^^^^^^^'^y f''om north of the great lakes to the Grulf of 
 
 , Mexico, and by his eloquence endeavored to unite them 
 
 1811. in a universal conspiracy against the common enemy. 
 He knew the attempt to expel the invaders would he 
 vain, hut he hoped his people would unite as one man, 
 and refuse to sell them any more of their lands. To ac- 
 comphsh their purpose the Indians must he independent ; 
 they must dispense with the few comforts they received 
 from the white man, and they must spurn the religion 
 which missionaries had been laboring to teach them. The 
 Prophet fulfilled his part ; he awed his simple auditors 
 with imposing powwows ; the Great Spirit had given him 
 marvellous powers. He could at a word make pumpkins, 
 as large as wigwams, spring out of the earth ; or ears of 
 corn, each large enough to feed a dozen men ; he appealed 
 to then' reverence for the customs of their ancestors, and 
 sneered at their degradation in being the slave of the 
 white man's whiskey, or fire-water, as he significantly 
 called it. He must be obeyed— they must throw aside 
 the blanket and dress in skins ; instead of the gun they 
 must use the ancient bow and arrow ; and the iron toma- 
 hawk must give place to the stone hatchet of their fathers ; 
 but above all, they must discard the religion of the white 
 man ; it was the rejection of their ancient rehgion, which 
 made the Great Spirit so angry. 
 
 Alarm spread along the frontier settlements. The 
 Miamis had sold a portion of their lands on both sides of 
 the "Wabash. Tecumseh was absent at the time, but 
 protested afterward, contending that as all the lands be- 
 longed equally to all the Indians, no tribe had a right to 
 sell a portion of them without the consent of the others. 
 
 General William Henry Harrison, the Governor of the 
 Territory of Indiana, held a conference with Tecumseh, 
 who at the time professed to be friendly, but bis conduct 
 afterward excited suspicion. Lest the Indians should 
 imexpectedly commence hostilities, Harrison marched to 
 
BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 577 
 
 the town lately established by the Prophet, at the junction ^,?{^P- 
 
 of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. Messengers sent 
 
 by the Prophet met the army a few miles from the town. 1811. 
 Though Indians were hovering around the army on its 
 march, yet efforts to hold a conference with them had thus 
 far been unsuccessful. The messengers expressed great 
 surprise that the Americans should ajiproach their town, 
 since the Prophet and his people were very desirous of 
 peace. Harrison assured them that he had no intention 
 to engage in hostilities, unless they themselves should 
 attack him, and he invited the Prophet and his chiefs to 
 an interview the next day. The messengers departed ap- 
 parently pleased with the proposal, and on their part 
 promised full compliance. 
 
 Knowing the Indian character, Harrison suspected 
 treachery, and encamped with great caution ; his men, 
 placed in a hollow square, slept upon their arms. The 
 next morning, about four o'clock, the Indians suddenly 
 attacked the camj), but failed to break the line. For Nov. 
 three hours the contest was very severe. The Indians 
 would advance with great impetuosity, and then retreat 
 to renew the effort. These movements were regulated by 
 signals given by rattling deers' hoofs. When daylight 
 appeared, the mounted men charged, and the savages fled 
 in great haste. The next day the Prophet's town was 
 found to be deserted. Tecumseh himself was not present 
 at the battle of Tippecanoe. 
 
 The belligerents of Europe still continued their ag- 
 gressions upon American commerce. Kecent intelligence 
 from France indicated but little prospect of obtaining re- 
 dress for present grievances, while the impressment ques- 
 tion made the affairs with Great Britain still more com- 
 plicated. Differences of opinion prevailed, as to the best 
 means of obtaining justice for these foreign aggressions. 
 The people of New England, and the merchants of the 
 37 
 
578 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, commercial cities and seaports of the other States, felt 
 
 1 especially aggrieved by the pohcy of the national govern- 
 
 1811. ment. The embargo and non-importation acts had ruined 
 their commerce, and brought distress upon tens of thou- 
 sands. Upon them, almost alone, had fallen the evils 
 resulting from these political experiments. The people 
 of the West, and of the interior of the Atlantic States, 
 were in favor of hostilities ; their territory would he exempt 
 from invasion, and they had no seaport towns to suffer 
 from bombardment. Thus there were really two parties, 
 the one in favor of obtaining redress by peaceful measures, 
 the other by resorting to war. 
 
 In view of these threatening indications, the Presi- 
 dent, by proclamation, convened the twelfth Congress a 
 Nov. month earlier than the usual time of meeting. This 
 ■*• Congress and the one succeeding are no less remarkable 
 for the measures they introduced than for the unusual 
 number of their members, who afterward filled a large 
 space in the history of the country. It was a transition 
 period. The patriots of the revolution, now venerable 
 with age, were fast passing away from the councils of the 
 nation, wliile their places were fiUed by more youthful 
 members. Heretofore the leaders in Congress had been 
 moderate in their measures, and were unwilling, unless 
 for the best of reasons, to plunge the nation into a war. 
 
 As a member of the House of Kepresentatives, appeared 
 Henry Clay, of Kentucky. The son of a Baptist clergy- 
 man of Virginia, he had been left at an early age a penni- 
 less orphan. Struggling through many trials, his native 
 eloquence had now placed him in the foremost rank of his 
 country's orators. Ardent and generous, bland and yet 
 imperious, as captivating in social life as he was frank in 
 his public acts, he was destined to wield a mighty in- 
 fluence in the coimcils of the nation. John C. Calhoun, 
 of South Carolina, was also a member ; the close student 
 and ardent theorist, dealing in first principles, he was 
 
THREATENING ASPECT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. 579 
 
 logical and eloquent. His style more suited to forensic ™-^^- 
 debates than to popular assemblies. 
 
 The President, in his message, directed the attention 1811. 
 of Congress to the threatening aspect of Foreign Relations. 
 This led to animated debates, in which the policy of peace 
 or war ; the defences of the country ; the preliminary 
 measures in case of a declaration of hostilities, came up 
 for discussion. The speeches of the members may be 
 taken as the exponents of the opinions of their constitu- 
 ents. The people of the West were especially clamorous 
 for war. The recent outbreak of the Indians, on the 
 western frontiers, was confidently attributed to the in- 
 fluence of British emissaries. This charge, though based 
 upon surmises, served to increase the prejudice against 
 England, and gave renewed life to the hatred of her pro- 
 duced by the Revolution. 
 
 Finally, the Committee of Foreign Relations, in their 
 report to the House, recommended, in the words of the 
 President, " That the United States be immediately put Dec. 
 into an armor and attitude demanded by the crisis ; 
 that an additional force of ten thousand regulars be 
 raised ; that the President be authorized to accept the 
 sen'ices of fifty thousand volunteers ; and also that the 
 vessels of the navy worthy of repair be fitted up and put 
 in commission." Two separate resolutions were oifered ; 
 one authorized the merchants to arm in self-defence, and 
 the other, as a preliminary to war, to lay an embargo for 
 ninety days. After an animated discussion these were 
 both rejected. 
 
 Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, avowed that the report 
 of the Committee was designed to prepare the public mind 
 for war. " We are pledged," said he, " to France to con- 
 tinue our restrictions against Great Britain ; we have tied 
 the Gordian knot ; we cannot untie it ; we can cut it 
 with the sword." " Though our restrictive system 
 operates unequally, we must maintain it," He also advo- 
 
Dec. 
 
 6'8D HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, cated the invasion and conquest of Canada, and the re- 
 
 caption of her inbaliitants as members of the confederacy, 
 
 1811. in order to preserve the equilibrium of the government. 
 " When Louisiana," said he, " will be fully peopled, the 
 Northern States will lose their power ; they will be at the 
 discretion of others ; they can be depressed at pleasure." 
 Therefore he was not only in favor of admitting Canada, 
 but also Florida. 
 
 John Kandolph, of Virginia, in that sarcastic manner 
 peculiar to himself, characterized the embargo and non- 
 importation acts as most impolitic and ruinous measures 
 — they had " knocked down the price of cotton to seven 
 cents and tobacco to nothing," while they had increased 
 the price of every article of first necessity three or four 
 hundred per cent. This is the condition into which we 
 have brought ourselves by our want of wisdom. But is 
 war the true remedy ; who wiU profit by it "^ Speculators, 
 commissioners and contractors. Who must suffer by it .? 
 The people. It is their blood, their taxes, that must 
 flow to support it. Will you plimge the nation into war, 
 because you have passed a foolish and ruinous law, and 
 are ashamed to repeal it ? 
 
 He indignantly repelled the charge of British attach- 
 ment made against those who were not willing to rush 
 into war with England. " Strange," said he, " that we 
 have no objection to any other people or government, 
 civilized or savage ; we find no difficulty in maintaining 
 relations of peace and amity with the Autocrat of aU the 
 Russias ; with the Dey of Algiers and his divan of 
 pirates, or Little Turtle of the Miamis, barbarians and 
 savages, Turks and infidels of every clime and color, with 
 them we can trade and treat. But name England, and 
 all our antipathies are up in arms against her ; against 
 those whose blood runs in our veins, in common with 
 whom we claim Shakspeare and Mdton, Newton and 
 Locke, Sidney and Chatham, as brethren. Her form of 
 
DEBATES IN CONGRESS HENRY CLAY. 581 
 
 government, the freest on earth, except our own, and ^^J*- 
 
 from which every valuable principle of our institutions has 
 
 been borrowed. There are honest prejudices growing out 1811. 
 of the Revolution. But by whom had they been suppress- 
 ed when they ran counter to the interests of his country ? 
 By Washington. By whom are they most keenly felt ? 
 By those who have fled to this abused country since the 
 breaking out of the French revolution, and who have set 
 themselves up as political teachers." This was in allusion 
 to the editors of nearly aU the papers in favor of war, who 
 were foreigners — " these are the patriots who scruple not 
 to brand with the epithet of Tory, those men by whose 
 blood your liberties have been cemented." 
 
 Henry Clay urged, in reply, that the only means left 
 to obtain the recognition of oui national rights was to 
 fight for them. A war would produce the repeal of the 
 Orders in Council, and give us commerce and character ; 
 the nation by this mongrel peace would not only lose its 
 commerce, but its honor. If we yield one point, presently 
 another will be demanded ; our only safety is to defend 
 the nation's rights ; — even if the seaboard should be sub- 
 dued, yet the energy of the West would save the liberties 
 of the country. Shall we bear the cuffs and scoffs of Sept. 
 British arrogance, because we fear French subjugation ? ^' 
 Who ever learned, in the school of base submission, the 
 lessons of noble freedom, and courage, and independence \" 
 
 On the other side of the House, it was admitted that 
 causes for war existed, but were they sufficient to justify 
 the government of the United States in rushing impre- 
 pared into a contest with the most powerful nation on 
 earth ? This was the question to be decided by Congress. 
 " What are we to gain by war ? " asked Sheffey of Vir- 
 ginia. " Shall we throw away a trade of thirty-two millions 
 with Great Britain for two with France ? Peace is our 
 policy ; we are now the most prosperous and happy 
 people on earth. This is more to lis, than all the Orders 
 
582 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, in Council or the trade with France. We cannot bring 
 
 XLII- ^ . . . . ° 
 
 Great Britain to terms by embargo and non-importation 
 
 1811. acts ; neither can we starve the workl by refusing to ex- 
 port our surjjhis grain. Our revenue is low enough now, 
 in time of war it wiU be almost nothing. We should be 
 willing to fight for the rights of impressed native-born 
 Americans, but not for the right to harbor deserters from 
 the British service." — " Is this embargo a preparation for 
 war ? " asked Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. " We have 
 no information that England intends war. It is her 
 policy to continue commerce with us, not to destroy it. 
 But we are told that the object is to protect our merchants. 
 Heaven help them from embargo protection ! The mer- 
 chants have petitioned — not for embargo — not for com- 
 mercial embarrassment and annihilation — but for pro- 
 tection." 
 
 1812. While these debates were in progress in the House, the 
 same general subject was under discussion in the Senate. 
 In both Houses an unusual number of southern members 
 were now in favor of making the navy more efficient. It 
 was urged that the only way to bring Great Britain to 
 terms was by harassing her commerce on the ocean. To 
 do this a fleet was needed. "Create afleet of thirty frigates," 
 said Lloyd, of Massachusetts, " and New England alone 
 will officer it in five weeks." " How can we contend with 
 the most colossal power the world ever saw, except by our 
 navy, scattered over the ocean, requiring ten times as 
 many British vessels to watch them ? Adopt this policy, 
 and soon the English people would ask their government, 
 Why this war upon our trade ? why violate the rights of 
 Americans .^' For whose benefit is this war ? Soon you 
 wiU force the people of the United States to become their 
 
 ' "They (the Orders in Council) were grievously unjust to neutrals, and 
 it is now (1860) gener.illy allowed that they were contrary to the law of na- 
 tions, and to our own municipal laws." — Lord Chief Justice Campbell, in 
 his Lives of the Chancellors, vol vii. p. 218. 
 
THE PEESIDENT RECOMMENDS WAR. 583 
 
 own manufacturers ; you will stimulate them to become ™^l'- 
 a naval power, which one day may dispute with you the 
 
 supremacy of the ocean." " In a short time the English 1812. 
 government would be compelled to repeal its odious de- 
 crees." " To protect commerce is to aid agriculture, to 
 benefit the northern as well as the middle and southern 
 States. Moreover, it is essential to the preservation of 
 the Union ; the commercial States will not endure that 
 their rights should be systematically trampled upon from 
 year to year, and they denied the defence which the God 
 of nature has given them." 
 
 The discussions of these five months bad a great influ- 
 ence upon the public mind. Though unwilling to use 
 harsher measures than to authorize the merchants to de- 
 fend themselves by arming their ships, the President sent 
 a special message to Congress recommending an embargo 
 for sixty days. The bill was amended by substituting 
 ninety for sixty, in which form it passed, debate being cut April 
 short by the rule of the previous question. 
 
 One month and a half later, intelligence from France 
 made known that Bonaparte, in violation of his word, had 
 declared the obnoxious decrees of Berlin and Milan hence- 
 forth the settled policy of the Empire. Thus the Emperor June. 
 had entrapped the President. But England was as much 
 in the wrong as France, and if so, why not declare war 
 against both ? — It was openly avowed in Parliament that 
 the offensive decrees and blockades must be maintained, 
 or France coidd receive raw material from the United 
 States ; continue her manufactures, and thus obtain the 
 means to carry on the war. Great Britain also wished to 
 secure for her own people the monopoly of commerce, as 
 well as that of manufacturing for the world. 
 
 The President finally sent another message to Congress, 
 in which he recapitulated the wrongs inflicted by England 
 in her impressments and violations of the rights of neutrals. 
 This was plainly a war message, and in accordance with 
 
584 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, that view, a bill was drawn up declaring war against 
 
 Great Britain. It was passed by a strictly party vote : — 
 
 1812. in the House 79 to 49, in the Senate 19 to 13. 
 June rpj^g people were far from being unanimous in their 
 
 approbation of the declaration of war. The minority of 
 the Lower House of Congress jrablished an address to 
 their constituents, in which the views of those opposed to 
 the war found expression. After a review of the contro- 
 versy between the United States and the belligerents, they 
 contend there was etpial cause for hostihties against both 
 England and France ; that it was unreasonable to exj)ect 
 the full recognition of neutrals' rights while the desperate 
 conflict in Eurojie was in progress ; that conflict would 
 soon end, and then the cause for war on our part would be 
 removed. The Address says, " The effect of the British 
 orders of blockade, is to deprive us of the commerce of 
 France and her dependencies, while they leave open to us 
 the commerce of all the rest of the world ; the former 
 worth yearly about six millions and a half, and the latter 
 worth thirty-eight millions. Shall the latter be sacrificed 
 for the former ? A nation like the United States, happy 
 in its great local relations ; removed from that bloody 
 theatre of Europe, with a maritime border opening vast 
 fields of enterprise ; with territorial possessions exceeding 
 every real want ; its firesides safe ; its altars undefiled ; 
 from invasion nothing to fear ; from acq[uisition nothing 
 to hope, how shall such a nation look to Heaven for its 
 smiles, while throwing away as though they were worth- 
 less, all the blessings and joys which peace and such a 
 distinguished lot include ? But how will war upon the 
 land protect commerce ? How are our mariners to be 
 benefited by a war which exposes those who are free, 
 without promising release to those who are impressed ? 
 But it is said that war is demanded by honor. If honor 
 demands a war with England, what opiate lulls that 
 honor to sleep over the wrongs done us by France ? " 
 
THE EMBARRASSMENTS OF CONGRESS. 585 
 
 Such was the diversity of opinion as to the expediency ^:^^f- 
 
 of engaging in war, especially when the country, in every 
 
 respect, was so unprepared. The oj^ponents of the measure 1812. 
 were assailed as unpatriotic, which they retorted by charg- 
 ing the advocates of war with subserviency to the policy 
 of France. 
 
 It was easier for Congress to declare war, than to ob- 
 tain the means to prosecute it. The treasury was almost 
 empty, the non-importation acts, and embargoes, had 
 nearly ruined the revenue ; the army was very limited in 
 number, and very deficient in officers of experience ; while 
 the navy was wanting in ships and munitions. Congress 
 passed a bill to enlist twenty-five thousand men as regu- 
 lars, and authorized the President to accept the services 
 of fifty thousand volunteers. 
 
 In appointing officers for the army, recourse was 
 had, almost exclusively, to those who had served in the 
 Kevolution ; but the most prominent of these had passed 
 away, and the remainder, with but one or two exceptions, 
 had been engaged in civil affairs for thirty years ; and 
 men competent to drill the recruits were not to be found. 
 To remedy this want, Congress, now for the first time, 
 made provision for the constant and liberal instruction of 
 two hundred and fifty cadets in the military art, by estab- 
 lishing professorships in the Academy at West Point. 
 Here was another instance of the foresight of Washing- 
 ton. He had, during his administration, urged upon Con- 
 gress to establish and maintain a school ia which military 
 tactics should be taught to officers, who in turn could 
 easily drill the militia. The wise policy of the measure 
 was amply shown in the rapidity with which the American 
 volunteers were drilled and made efficient soldiers in the 
 late Mexican war. But for the present the nation suffered i846. 
 severely from false economy in not founding the Academy 
 when first proposed. 
 
 The first exhibition of the war spirit and the party 
 
586 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, feeling whicli existed was an attempt to stifle the freedom of 
 
 the press. The editor of a paper in Baltimore, Alexander 
 
 1812. Hanson, o. grandson of a president of the continental con- 
 gress, had spoken in moderate terms in condemnation of the 
 June declaration of war. A few days after, the mob, headed by 
 ■ a Frenchman, destroyed his press and compelled him to 
 fly for his life. Eeceiving no protection in his rights, as 
 the magistrates connived at the outrage, Hanson and some 
 twenty others thought it their duty to vindicate the 
 liberty of the press. Among this number was General 
 Henry Lee, — the chivahic Light Horse Harry of the Kjv- 
 olution, — the intimate friend of Washington, his eulo- 
 gist by apjDointment of Congress, afterward Governor of 
 Virginia, and General Lingan, also a worthy officer of the 
 Eevolution. They determined to defend the office of the 
 pajier. The mob ajipeared and stoned the house ; the 
 magistrates meanwhile made no effort to quell the riot. 
 Thus the rabble raged during the night ; in their attempts 
 to force their way into the house, one of the ringleaders 
 was shot. General Lingan was killed outright, and some 
 of the other defenders of the office were most shamefully 
 mangled and abused. General Lee was maimed for life. 
 The leaders of the riot were never punished, though 
 afterwards brought to trial, — a mere farce, — the district 
 attorney even expressing his regret that all the defenders 
 of the office had not been kiUed. 
 
 General William Hull, who had served with some dis- 
 tinction in the Eevolution, and now Governor of Michigan 
 Territory, was appointed commander of the forces in that 
 region. The Territory contained about five thousand in- 
 habitants, mostly of French origin. He received orders to 
 invade Canada, the ardent friends of the war complacently 
 thinking the inhabitants of that British province would 
 cheerfully put themselves under the protection of the 
 stars and stripes. Hull, however, found himself in a short 
 time surrounded by a superior force of British and In- 
 
GENERAL HULL SURRENDERS HIS ARMY. 587 
 
 dians ; the enemy also held possession of Lake Erie, and chap. 
 had easy couimunication with the rest of Canada, while '_ 
 
 between Hull's army and the settlements, intervened a 1812. 
 vast and unbroken forest of two hundred miles. He 
 urged upon the government to secure the command of the 
 Lake before any attempt should he made at invasion, and 
 also to furnish him not less than three thousand well pro- 
 visioned troops. But he was told that he must content 
 himself with two thousand men, while nothing could be 
 done to secure the control of the Lake. 
 
 When Hull arrived at Detroit, then a village of some July 
 eight hundred inhabitants, he had but eighteen hundred 
 men, of whom the greater part were militia ; there he re- 
 ceived orders to invade Canada immediately. But by a 
 strange blunder, the intelligence of the declaration of war, 
 designed for Hull, and franked by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, fell into the hands of the British. They availed 
 themselves of the information, and immediately seized Mack- 
 inaw ; the first intimation the garrison of that distant post 
 received of the declaration of war. In a short time Hull 
 himself was surrounded, and his communications cut off. 
 
 The British general Proctor came up the Lake with 
 reinforcements, whilst the British Fur Company enhsted 
 their employees and excited the Indians. To open a road 
 and obtain supplies, HuU sent out a detachment, but it 
 fell into an ambuscade and was defeated. He now fortified 
 himself, and to open communications to the river Kaisin, 
 sent another detachment under Colonels McArthur and 
 Cass ; they became bewildered in a swamp, and were forced Au". 
 to find their way back to the camp. 14:. 
 
 Presently General Brock, governor of Lower Canada, 
 arrived at Maiden with more reinforcements. He passed 
 over the river and summoned Hull to surrender, who re- 
 fused, and an attack was made upon his position, both 
 from the British vessels and batteries. Brock landed and 
 approached with seven hundred and fifty regulars, and as 
 
588 HISTORY OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, many Indians. Hull had but eight hundred men, and, 
 
 . . threatened with destruction, as he imagined, by an over- 
 
 1812. whelming force, he surrendered his army and all Michigan 
 Aug. at the same time. 
 
 ^^- Great indignation was expressed at this failure. The 
 
 difficulties of Hull's position were very great, and perhaps, 
 while no one doubted his personal courage, he may have 
 wanted that sternness of soul so necessary to a successful 
 commander. Those in authority screened themselves, by 
 maldng the unfortunate general the scape-goat for their 
 blunders, in sending liim with a force and means so inade- 
 quate. When brought to trial, two years afterward, he 
 urged in defence, that all the inhabitants of the territory 
 would have been exposed to certain massacre had he at- 
 temj^ted further resistance. The court, however, found 
 him guilty of cowardice, and sentenced him to be shot ; 
 but in consideration of his revolutionary services, the Presi- 
 dent granted him a pardon. His papers, since published, 
 have revealed the insurmountable difficulties that sur- 
 rounded him. 
 
 It is remarkable that one of the causes of the war, was 
 removed within four days after its declaration. France 
 unconditionally repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees, 
 then Great Britain repealed her Orders in Council, which 
 had been based on the French decrees. The impressment 
 question still remained unsettled. Nearly six thousand 
 cases of alleged impressment were on record in the State 
 Department at Washington. It was admitted on the 
 floor of the House of Commons, that there were probably 
 sixteen hundred native-born Americans held in bondage 
 in the British navy. Of these several hundred had already 
 been liberated, and a willingness was expressed to dis- 
 charge the remainder, as soon as their nationality was 
 fully known. But the British naval officers complained 
 that the plea of American citizenship was very much 
 abused ; by forged documents, or by certificates, originally 
 
AMERICAN SHIPS IN ENGLISH POETS. 589 
 
 genuine, but transferred from one seaman to another as oc- chap. 
 
 casion required. The English government, moreover, was so L 
 
 trammelled by forms that very seldom could the impressed 1812. 
 sailor obtain redress ; all such cases must be brought be- 
 fore the Court of Admiralty in London, to reach which 
 was almost impossible. 
 
 This, after all, was to be a war to protect personal free- 
 dom ; to obtain security from the visits to our ships of 
 British press-gangs, led by insolent officers, and as such 
 took hold of the sympathies of the American people. 
 But Britain said, pass a law prohibiting our seamen from 
 enlisting in your service, and we will not search your 
 ships. The reply was, the flag of the United States must 
 shield those seeking its protection. This sentiment ap- 
 peared to England very like an effort to seduce her sea- 
 men from their allegiance. 
 
 When intelligence of the declaration of war reached 
 England, the government acted generously in relation to 
 the American vessels in its ports. Instead of being con- Aug. 
 fiscated as in France, these ships were permitted sis. 
 weeks to load and unload, and in addition were furnished 
 with protections against capture by English cruisers on 
 their way home. Yet these very vessels and their car- 
 goes were liable to confiscation, when they should arrive 
 in their own land, and that by a law of Congress ! 
 
 As one of the causes of the war had been removed, 
 Foster, the British Minister at Washington, proposed a 
 cessation of hostilities until another effort should be made 
 to arrange the impressment question. This proposal was 
 not accepted by the American government. Not until 
 all hope of reconciliation was passed, did the English au- 
 thorities issue letters of marque and reprisal against 
 American commerce ; and they stiU continued to grant 
 licenses and protection to American vessels carrying flour 
 to Spain for the use of the British armies in that country. 
 
 Hull's surrender threw a shadow over the prospect of 
 
590 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, conquering Canada. Strenuous efforts were made to in- 
 
 J L crease the army on the frontiers of New York. Major 
 
 1812. General Dearborn, who, when a youth, had served in the 
 Kevolution, and had been Secretary of War, under Jeffer- 
 son, had under his command, in the vicinity of Lake Cham- 
 plain, five thousand troops, three thousand of whom were 
 regulars ; and two thousand militia were stationed at 
 different points on the St. Lawrence, east of Sackett's 
 Harbor, while another army, miscellaneous in character, 
 being composed of regulars, volunteers and militia, was 
 stationed at different points from the village of Buffalo to 
 Fort Niagara. The latter troops were under the com- 
 mand of General Van Rensselaer. 
 
 To insure success the Americans must have the con- 
 trol of the Lakes Erie and Ontario ; on the latter they 
 had already a little sloop-of-war, of sixteen guns, and 
 manned by a regular crew. Captain Chauncey, of the 
 Sept. navy yard at New York, was appointed to the command 
 of the Lakes. He purchased some merchant vessels, and 
 fitted them out with guns and other equipments, brought 
 from Albany, at an immense amount of labor. He soon 
 however swept the Lake of British shijis, which took 
 refuge in Kingston harbor ; the Frontenac of the times of 
 French rule in that quarter. Lieutenant Elliot, in the 
 mean time, was sent to equip a fleet on Lake Erie. By 
 a daring exploit he cut out from under the guns of Fort 
 Oct, Erie, two British armed vessels, which had just come 
 9- down the Lake from Detroit. 
 
 The invasion of Canada commenced by an attempt to 
 obtain possession of Queenstown, on Niagara river. Owing 
 to a deficiency of boats, only about six hundred men, 
 partly regulars and partly militia, passed over. Colonel 
 S. Van Rensselaer, who commanded the militia, became 
 separated from his men, and Colonel Christie, who com- 
 manded the regulars, failed on account of the rapidity of 
 the current to reach the shore. Those who landed were 
 
DEATH OF GENEEAL BKOCK AMERICAN PRISONERS. 591 
 
 immediately attacked with great vigor. Eensselaer soon <^ap. 
 
 fell, wonnded, but he ordered Captains Ogilvie and Wool 
 
 to storm the battery, wliich they did in fine style, 1812. 
 driving the British into a strong stone house, from which 
 they could not be dislodged. General Brock, the same 
 to whom Hull surrendered a few months before, was Oct. 
 in command. Suddenly he headed a sortie from this 
 house, which was promjitly repulsed, and he himself 
 slain. 
 
 During this time, a space of five or six hours, the 
 Americans were striving to pass the river, but only five 
 or six hundred succeeded. Suddenly a band of Indians 
 emerged from the woods, and joined in the fray ; these 
 were soon put to flight by Lieutenant Winfield Scott, 
 who, with a company of regulars, volunteered for the pur- 
 pose. The want of boats, and the want of system, had 
 prevented a suitable number of Americans from passing 
 over. In the mean while General Sheafe was advancing 
 from Fort George, with reinforcements for the British. 
 This intelligence, together with the sight of the wounded, 
 who were brought in boats to the American side, somewhat 
 cooled the ardor of the militia, and they refused to pass 
 the river to aid their countrymen. Their wits were also 
 sharpened, and they suddenly discovered that their com- 
 mander had no constitutional authority to lead them into 
 Canada. The result was, that those who had gone over, 
 about one thousand in number, were compelled to surren- 
 der themselves prisoners of war. General Van Eensselaer, 
 mortified at the want of spirit manifested «n the occasion, 
 resigned his command in disgust. 
 
 InefSciency reigned in triumph all along the frontier. 
 An expedition against Detroit, under the command of 
 Harrison, was abandoned for want of means. The volun- 
 teers from Kentucky, as well as others, became mutinous 
 and refused to advance. One failure followed another in 
 rapid succession. The officers were quarrelling among 
 
592 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, themselves, chargiDg each other with cowardice, and 
 1 fighting bloodless duels, while the soldiers deserted in 
 
 1812. bands, and those who remained were insubordinate. 
 These ftxilures were unsparingly ridiculed in the news- 
 papers opposed to the war, undertaken as it was without 
 sufficient preparation. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEB XLIIl. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The Vessels of the Navy. — The chase of the Constitution. — Capture of the 
 Alert. — The Guerriire. — Incidents. — The Macedonian. — The Frolic. — 
 The Java.— The effects of these Naval Conflicts in the United States 
 and England. — Plan of Operations. — Harrison advances on Detroit. — 
 General Winchester a Prisoner; Indian Barbarities. — The Kentuckians 
 fall into an Ambuscade. — Repulse at Fort Stephen.son. — The loss of the 
 Chesapeake. — Perry's Victory. — Battle of the Thames. — Andrew Jack- 
 son. — Leads an Expedition ; its Termination. — York captured ; Death 
 of General Pike. — Wilkinson transferred to the North. — Another at- 
 tempt to conquer Canada. — Fort George destroyed; Newark burned. — 
 The severe Retaliation. —The American Coast blockaded.— Ravages on 
 the Shores of Chesapeake Bay. — Indian War in the South. — Jackson 
 and others in the Field. — Battle at the Great Horse Shoe. — Captain 
 Porter's Cruise. 
 
 While the disasters recorded iu the last chapter were chap. 
 in progress, the despised little navy had won laurels, by a ^^"^' 
 
 series of yictories as unexpected as they were glorious. ;i8i2. 
 When the war commenced, the whole navy of the United 
 States in commission, consisted of only three first-class 
 frigates ; the President, the Constitution, and the United 
 States ; of the second class two, the Congress and the 
 Essex ; the Wasp and Hornet, sloops-of-war ; and the 
 brigs Argus, Syren, NautUus, Enterprise, and Vixen. 
 The second class frigates Chesapeake, Constellation, and 
 John Adams, were undergoing repairs. The fleet was 
 ordered to assemble at New York to be in readiness to 
 defend harbors, and not to venture to sea, lest it should 
 38 
 
594 HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, fall in the hands of the enemy ; a result which had been 
 predicted again and again. Owing to the urgent remon- 
 
 1812. strances of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge, the intention 
 of thus withdrawing the navy was abandoned. Within a 
 few hours after the declaration of war was known in New 
 York, a portion of the fleet was passing out to sea, in 
 search of the enemy. This prompt movement was made 
 for the double purpose of avoiding the orders, which the 
 ofl&cers suspected were on the way from Washington, to 
 detain them in the harbor, and to make a dash at the 
 Jamaica fleet, said to be passing under convoy off the coast. 
 When two days out, they chased and exchanged shots 
 with the British frigate Behadera, which, however, escaped 
 and carried the news of the commencement of hostilities 
 to HaUfax. The Americans continued the pursuit of the 
 Jamaica fleet, even to the entrance of the British Channel, 
 but without overtaking it. 
 
 Meanwhile a British squadron issued from Halifax, to 
 cruise off the port of New York. The Constitution, better 
 known as Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Isaac 
 HuU, in endeavoring to enter that port fell in with this 
 fleet, and was chased by all its vessels for four days — the 
 most remarkable chase on record. The unexampled skill 
 with which she was managed, ehcited universal admha- 
 
 July. tion. Every nautical device was exhausted ; such as 
 during a calm carrying out anchors and dropping them, 
 and then pulling the ship up ; in the mean while, when 
 opportunity served, exchanging shots with her adversaries. 
 Finally she escaped into Boston. Orders from Washing- 
 ton were sent to Captain Hull to remain there ; but he 
 anticipated them, and put to sea before they arrived. 
 
 The Essex was the first to capture a prize — a trans- 
 port filled with soldiers — and shortly after, the British 
 sloop-of-war Alert. The latter mistook the Essex for a 
 merchantman, and came on expecting an easy victory, but 
 
CAPTURE OF THE GUEERIERE INCIDENTS. 595 
 
 found herself so severely handled, that in a few minutes ^^;^^- 
 she was fain to strike her colors. 
 
 19. 
 
 Off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, Captain Hull fell 1812. 
 in with the British frigate Guerriere, one of the fleet 
 which had recently chased him. The Guerriere was on 
 the look-out for " Yankee craft ; " on one of her flags was 
 the inscription, Not the Little Belt. Courting the combat, 
 she shortened sail, and at long range opened upon the 
 approaching Constitution ; the latter did not fire a gun, 
 but manoeuvred to obtain a desirable position. Thus an 
 hour and a half was consumed. When the Constitution 
 secured her position, she poured in her broadsides with 
 such rapidity and efi'ect, that the enemy struck his colors 
 in thirty minutes. So completely was the Guerriere cut 
 to pieces, that it was impossible to bring her into port, 
 and Hull ordered her to be burned. The Guerriere had ^}IS- 
 seventy-nine killed and wounded, while the Constitution 
 had only seven, and was ready for action the next day. 
 In connection with this encounter may be related two in- 
 cidents, which show the spirit on board the respective 
 ships. When the Constitution came within cannon-shot, 
 the opening fire from the Guerriere killed two men. The 
 men were impatient to avenge their companions, and 
 Lieutenant Morris came on deck, and asked, " Can we re- 
 turn the fire, sir ? " " No, sir," calmly repHed Hull. Soon 
 after, Morris came again, and reported that another man 
 was slain, and asked again, " Shall we return the fire?" 
 " No, sir," was still the reply. For the third time, Morris 
 soon appeared : " Can we fire now ? " Hull, pausing a mo- 
 ment to survey the position of the ships, replied, " Yes, sir, 
 you may /re now." The order was promptly obeyed, and 
 Hull, with his eye intently fixed upon the enemy, ex- 
 claimed, when he saw the efiect, " That ship is ours ! " 
 
 On board the Guerriere were ten impressed Americans. 
 They refused to fight against their countrymen, and were 
 ordered below. One of them was afterward called upon 
 
596 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, deck, and asked by Captain Dacres if he knew the char- 
 
 acter of the approaching shijD. He answered she was a 
 
 1812. frigate. As she drew nearer, and merely manoeuvred, and 
 made no reply with her guns, Dacres, somewhat puzzled, 
 inquired again, " What does she mean ? Do you think she is 
 going to strike without firing a gun ? " "I guess not, sir," 
 replied the American ; " she will get the position she 
 wants, and you will then learn her intentions ; with your 
 permission, sir, I will step below." 
 
 The United States, Captain Decatur, when cruising 
 oif the Azores, gave chase to a British frigate, which 
 proved to be the Macedonian. A running fight com- 
 Oct. menced, which terminated by the Macedonian striking her 
 ^^- colors, after losing one hundred out of her three hundred 
 men, while the United States lost only five men and seven 
 wounded. The other ships made several prizes on their 
 cruise. The Argus escaped by superior seamanship, after 
 being chased three days by six vessels, and took and 
 manned a prize during the chase. The Wasp, Captain 
 Jones, met the British brig Frolic, acting as a convoy for 
 six merchantmen ; to protect them she shortened sail and 
 offered battle. The Wasp watched her opportunity, 
 Oct. raked her antagonist, and then immediately boarded. The 
 boarders found the deck of the Frolic covered with the 
 slain, and only one man imhurt, who was calmly standing 
 at the wheel, and one or two wounded officers, who threw 
 down their swords. Not twenty of the crew were unhurt. 
 The Wasp had only five killed and as many wounded. 
 But before she could make sail, the Poictiers seventy-four 
 came up, and took both vessels. 
 
 Hull resigned the command of the Constitution, and 
 Bainbridge was appointed in his place. Ofl" the coast of 
 Brazil the Constitution gave chase to a British frigate, 
 the Java. The fight began at the distance of a mile, and 
 was continued with great spirit, each manoeuvring to get 
 the advantage. At length they approached so closely as 
 
EFFECTS PEODUCED BY THE NAVAL VICTORIES. 597 
 
 to fight yard-arm and yard-arm. The Java's masts *^3/\^j 
 
 were shot away, and her fire silenced. The Constitution 
 
 drew off to repair her rigging, and then approached to 1813. 
 renew the conflict, which the Java prevented by striking 
 her flag. Nearly half of her men, numbering four hun- 
 dred, were killed or wounded, while the Constitution had 
 only nine killed and twenty-live wounded ; among the '^^^^ 
 latter was her commander. There being no friendly port 
 in that part of the world to which he could take his prize, 
 Bainbridge ordered her to be set on fire and blown up. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive the exultation with which 
 these victories were hailed in the United States. The 
 very great disparity in the losses sustained by the respect- 
 ive combatants had excited surprise in both nations. 
 The English loss of men in killed and wounded, compared 
 with that of the Americans, was as eight to one. There 
 could be no doubt but the ships of the latter had been 
 better managed and better fought. The English people, 
 we learn from the newspapers of the day, were deeply mor- 
 tified at the loss of their frigates. One of the papers asked, 
 " Shall England, the mistress of the seas and dictator of 
 the maritime law of nations, be driven from her proud 
 eminence by a piece of striped bunting flying at the mast- 
 heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of 
 bastards and outlaws ? " Some were thus abusive, but 
 others were more respectful, and even found consolation in 
 the fact that the Americans were the descendants of 
 Englishmen. Says the London Times : " We witnessed 
 the gloom which that event (the capture of the Guerri^re) 
 cast over high and honorable minds ; it is not merely that 
 an English frigate has been taken after a brave resistance, 
 but it has been by a new enemy." And apprehensions 
 were expressed that their maritime superiority was about 
 to be challenged, if not taken away, by this new rival, 
 which had so suddenly sprung into existence. " The 
 mourning for this last most affecting event, (the capture 
 
598 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, of the Java,) can never be laid aside till the honor 
 
 of the British flag shall be redeemed, by establishing 
 
 1813. the same triumjjhant superiority over the Americans 
 that we have heretofore had over all the nations that tra- 
 verse the seas. Five hundred British vessels and three 
 frigates have been captured in seven months by the 
 Americans. Can the Enghsh people hear this unmoved ? 
 Down to this moment not an American frigate has struck 
 her flag. They insult and laugh at us ; they leave their 
 ports when they please ; and return when it suits their 
 convenience ; they traverse the Atlantic ; they beset the 
 West India Islands ; they advance to the very chops of 
 the Channel ; they parade along the coast of South 
 America ; nothing chases, nothing intercepts, nothing 
 engages them, but yields to them a triumph." 
 
 To account for these unexampled victories, some said 
 the American frigates were Seventy-fours in disguise ; 
 others that their guns were heavier than those of their op- 
 ponents. The latter supposition may have been true to 
 some extent. But national self-complacency found more 
 consolation in the conjecture, that the spirit of the Ameri- 
 can navy ought to be imputed to the few runaway British 
 sailors enlisted in it ! 
 
 The American privateers maintained the honor of the 
 nation as much as the regular navy. Much more would 
 have been accomplished, but the majority of the mer- 
 chants were loth to send privateers to prey upon the prop- 
 erty of their commercial friends and correspondents. As 
 it was, more than three hundred prizes were taken, three 
 thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of merchandise. 
 
 Changes were made in the President's cabinet. Gen- 
 eral John Armstrong — the author of the famous Anony- 
 mous Address, at the close of the Eevolution — was ap- 
 pointed Secretary of War in place of William Eustis, of 
 Massachusetts, resigned. James Monroe still remained 
 
THE ARMIES — THE DISASTER AT THE RAISIN. 599 
 
 at the head of the State Department, and Albert Galla- chap. 
 
 tin at that of the Treasury, an office which he held under 
 
 Jefferson. * 1813. 
 
 The surrender of Hull aroused the warlike spirit of the 
 West, and volunteers presented themselves in great num- 
 bers. The Americans were divided into three armies. 
 That of the west, at the head of Lake Erie, under General 
 Hariison ; that of the centre, between Lakes Erie and 
 Ontario, under General Dearborn, and that of the north 
 in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, under General Wade 
 Hampton. A similar arrangement was made by the 
 British. Sir George Prevost was in chief command of 
 the forces in Canada, General Proctor commanded the 
 troops stationed near Detroit, and General Sheafe those 
 in the neighborhood of Montreal and the Sorel river. 
 
 To recover what Hull had lost, Harrison moved toward 
 Detroit and Maiden ; meantime General Winchester ad- 
 vanced with eight hundred volunteers, chiefly young men 
 from Kentucky. That State swarmed with soldiers, 
 drawn from every rank in society. As he drew near the 
 Maumce Eapids, Winchester learned that a body of Brit- 
 ish and Indians was in possession of Frenchtown, on the 
 river Eaisin. He sent a detachment, which routed the 
 enemy, and maintained its position until he himself came 
 up. When General Proctor learned of the approach of 
 Winchester, he hastened across the lake on the ice from 
 Maiden, with fifteen hundred British and Indians, to cut 
 him off, before Harrison could give aid. The attack was Jan. 
 made on the American camp before daylight. In the 
 midst of the confusion Winchester was taken prisoner. 
 Proctor promised him security for the safety of his men, 
 and thus induced him to surrender them as prisoners. 
 Fearing the approach of Harrison, Proctor retreated as 
 rapidly as possible to Maiden, and in violation of his 
 pledges, he left the wounded Americans. 
 
 The Indians turned back and murdered great numbers 
 
 22. 
 
600 HISTOKT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 XLm' '^^ them, and carried the remainder to Detroit ; for some 
 
 of these they demanded enormous ransoms, and others 
 
 1813. they reserved for tortures. The conduct of Proctor, in 
 thus breaking his word, and violating the principles of 
 common humanity, excited against the enemy the bitterest 
 feelings of revenge. " Eemember the Eaisin ! " became 
 the war-cry of the Kentuckians. 
 
 Harrison advanced to the rapids, and there established 
 a post, which iu honor of the Governor of Ohio, he named 
 Fort Meigs. There he was besieged, in the course of a 
 few months, by a large force of British and their Indian 
 allies. Learning that G-encral Green Clay, of Kentucky, 
 was descending the Maumee with twelve hundred men in 
 boats, Harrison sent orders for half the men to land and 
 seize the enemy's batteries on the north side of the river, 
 spike their guns, and then come to the Fort, whence a 
 sortie was to be made against the main batteries on the 
 south side. The first order was fulfilled, and the British 
 routed ; but instead of hastening to the Fort, the Ken- 
 tuckians became unmanageable, and pursued a few In- 
 dians, who led them into an ambuscade prepared by the 
 cunning Tecumseh. They were in turn routed by the 
 Indians and a detachment of British soldiers, and of the 
 Kentuckians only about one hundred and fifty escaped. 
 Nevertheless Proctor was alarmed ; the force of the Ameri- 
 cans was unknown, and as the Indians began to desert, 
 ^ay- he comu^enced a hurried retreat across the lake to Maiden. 
 Two months after. Proctor again appeared before Fort 
 Meigs, now under the command of Clay. Not able to 
 take it, and having learned that Fort Steiihenson, on the 
 Sandusky, had a small garrison. Proctor left Tecumseh 
 with his Indians to besiege Fort Meigs, while he himself 
 went against Fort Stephenson. This fort had a garrison 
 of only one hundred and sixty young men, commanded 
 by Major George Croghan, a youth in his twenty-second 
 year. When summoned to surrender, he repUed that he 
 
 ( 
 
THE LOSS OF THE CHESAPEAKE. 601 
 
 should defend the fort till the last man was buried in its chap. 
 
 ruins. The siege commenced, and when a breach was 
 
 made, the British regulars, at the word of their Colonel, 1813. 
 who cried out, " Come on, give the Yankees no quarter," 
 rushed to the assault. As they crowded into the ditch, 
 the only cannon in the fort opened from a masked port 
 hole. The gun was loaded with a double charge of musket "^' 
 balls ; the effect was terrific, the enemy fled in confusion, 
 and abandoned the siege. The Indians at the first repulse 
 deserted, as usual. 
 
 Meanwhile there had been other conflicts at sea. 
 Captain James Lawrence, in command of the Hornet, had 
 captured the Peacock oif the coast of South America. Feb, 
 The ships were equal in size and equipments. Tire action 
 lasted but fifteen minutes. The Peacock raised signals of 
 distress, for she was sinking rapidly, and in sjDite of the 
 efforts of both crews she went down, carrying with her 
 some of her own men and three of the Hornet's. On his 
 return, Lawrence was appointed to the command of the 
 frigate Chesapeake, then in Boston harbor, undergoing 
 repairs and enlisting a crew. 
 
 The British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, had ap- 
 peared off the harbor as if oflering a challenge. The im- 
 petuous Lawrence put to sea, notwithstanding the de- 
 ficiency of his crew, some of whom were much dissatisfied 
 on account of back arrearages of prize money of a former 
 cruise. The ship was also deficient in officers, the first 
 lieutenant being unable from illness to go on board. The 
 contest was witnessed by thousands from the hills and J™^' 
 house tops. When the ships met, the Chesapeake be- 
 came entangled with the Shannon in such a manner as to 
 be exposed to a raking fire. Lawrence, mortally wounded 
 at the commencement of the battle, was carried below. 
 This created confusion for a few minutes, and Broke 
 noticing that the fire had slackened, promptly gave orders 
 to board, leading the men himself. The American 
 
602 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 XLm' ^°^i"<i^'"s ^^^ just Leen called, and but few of them were 
 yet upon deck ; after a hand to hand fight, the Chesa- 
 
 1813. peake's color.s were hauled down. The captor sailed im- 
 mediately to Halifixx. There Captain Lawrence died. 
 He was buried with military honors and marks of respect. 
 Afterward his remains were removed to New York. His 
 last command, " Don't give up the ship," has become the 
 watchword in the American navy. 
 
 The rejoicings in England over the capture of the 
 Chesapeake Avere so great as to become highly compH- 
 mentary to the Americans, to whom they were as gratify- 
 ing as if the Shannon had been captured. It was an un- 
 equivocal evidence of the respect that the navy had inspired. 
 The same spirit which had done so much honor to the 
 nation on the ocean, displayed itself on the lakes. The 
 random incursions of undisciplined volunteers accom- 
 pKshed nothing until the control of the lakes was secured. 
 A youthful lieutenant in the United States navy, Oliver 
 Hazard Perry, a native of Newport, Ehode Island, volun- 
 teered for that service. Comnaodore Chauncey appointed 
 him to the command of the fleet on Lake Erie. After 
 much labor, Perry built and fitted out at the port of Erie, 
 nine vessels of various sizes, from one carrying twenty- 
 five guns down to those which carried only one. The 
 American fleet had altogether fifty-five guns ; the British 
 had six vessels carrying sixty-three guns. The number 
 of men was about five hundred in each fleet. Owing to 
 the direction of the wind at the commencement of the 
 battle. Perry's flag ship, the Lawrence, was exposed to the 
 concentrated fire of the enemy's entire fleet, and in a short 
 time she was made a complete wreck. As the wind in- 
 creased, the remaining ships were enabled to come up. 
 Leaping into a boat, and in the midst of flying balls, 
 Perry now transferred his flag, which bore the motto 
 " Don't give up the ship," to the next largest vessel, the 
 Niagara. When passing through the enemy's line he 
 
BATTLE OF THE THAMES — DEATH OF TECUMSEH. 603 
 
 poured in broadsides, right and left, within pistol-shot. The chap. 
 
 other American vessels closed, and in less than an hour 
 
 every British ship had surrendered. Tlie hero announced 1813. 
 the result to General Harrison, in the memorable despatch, 
 " We have met the enemy and they are ours." 
 
 Harrison hastened to profit by the victory, and to lead ]y. ' 
 his men against Detroit and Maiden. The fleet carried a 
 portion of the troops across the lake, but they found 
 Maiden deserted. Proctor and Tecumseh had destroyed 
 their military stores, and taken with them the horses and 
 cattle in the neighborhood, and were now in full retreat 
 toward the Moravian town, on the Thames. At Detroit 
 Harrison was unexpectedly reinforced by about thirty-five 
 hundred mounted Kentucldans, under the venerable Grov- 
 emor Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, and 
 Colonel Richard M. Johnson. The pursuit now com- 
 menced in earnest. After a forced march of sixty miles, 
 they overtook the enemy. A desperate encounter took 
 place ; nearly all Proctor's men were either taken or slain, Oct. 
 he himself barely escaping with about two hundred dra- 
 goons. The Indians fought furiously when cheered on by 
 Tecumseh, but when he fell, it is said by a pistol ball 
 fired by Colonel Johnson himself, they broke and fled. 
 With the life of the great savage planner ended Indian 
 hostilities in that part of the frontier. The Kentucldans 
 returned home in triumph. Leaxdng Colonel Lewis Cass, 
 who was soon after appointed Governor of Michigan, to 
 garrison Detroit with his brigade, Harrison embarked with 
 thirteen hundred regulars for Bufialo, to assist in the 
 cherished project of conquering Canada. 
 
 Military enthusiasm was not confined to Kentucky 
 and the region north of the Ohio. In answer to a call to 
 defend New Orleans, volunteers in great numbers assembled 
 at Nashville, Tennessee. General Andrew Jackson was 
 their chosen commander. 
 
 5. 
 
604 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Jackson was a native of South Carolina, of Scotcli- 
 
 Irish descent ; left fatherless at an early age : — ^his mother 
 
 1813. the descendant of a Scotch Covenanter, a woman of 
 great energy, and of a daring spirit, but softened and sub- 
 dued by religious principle and humane sympathy. From 
 her he inherited a hatred of oppression, and an indomi- 
 table will that never failed to triumph. At the age of 
 thirteen — in Eevolutionary times — he began his career un- 
 der General Sumter at the skirmish of Hanging Kock. 
 ITSO. His eldest brother had already fallen in battle, and here, in 
 company with the brother next in age, he fought vaUantly. 
 Their home broken up and pillaged, the mother and her 
 two sons became exiles from their own fireside. Soon 
 after the sons, through the plottings of Tories, were made 
 prisoners. The next day a British officer ordered Andrew 
 to clean his boots, but the young hero indignantly refused 
 to perform the menial ser™e, and steadily persisted, 
 though his life was threatened and the officer struck him 
 with the flat of his sword. 
 
 The heroic mother at length obtained the exchange of 
 her sons, but only in a short time to follow to the grave 
 the elder, who died of small-pox, which both the brothers 
 had contracted during their captivity. 
 
 The next year the mother, with some other ladies, 
 travelled more than one hundred miles to minister to the 
 wants of the unfortunate patriots, her neighbors, who were 
 confined as j)risoners on board of loathsome prison ships 
 in the harbor of Charleston. Enfeebled by her labors of 
 love, she contracted the fever then raging among the 
 prisoners and speedily passed away. Thus at the age of 
 fifteen Jackson was left without a relative in his native 
 land. Scarcely has it ever fallen to the lot of a youth to 
 experience a series of such harrowing misfortunes. Though 
 young in years these trials had their efi'ect ; they gave him 
 the maturity of manhood ; they strengthened the decision 
 of character, which so marked his life. To his friends 
 
JACKSON'S EXPEDITION TO NATCHEZ. 605 
 
 CHAP. 
 XLIII. 
 
 generous to a fault, yet lie never suffered his will to be 
 
 successfully resisted ; not from stubbornness — that strong- 
 
 hold of little minds — but from his impression of right. 1796. 
 
 He early emigrated to Tennessee, then a territory, and 
 was the first representative from that State in the House. 
 He was then described by a contemporary, " as having 
 been a tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with long 
 locks of hair hanging over his face, and a cue down his 
 back tied in an eel-skin ; his dress singular, his manners 
 and deportment that of a rough backwoodsman. No eye 
 among his associates was prophetic enough, under that 
 rude aspect, to recognize or imagine the future General 
 and President.' 
 
 New Orleans was almost defenceless ; the same mis- 1813. 
 taken economy we have seen elsewhere, had been exercised 
 here. There were only sixteen hundred men in the gar- 
 rison, scarcely any ammunition, and no means of con- 
 veyance. Though without authority from the War De- 
 partment, General Wilkinson — the same who in the days 
 of the Revolution was one of the aids of General Gates, — 
 had taken measures to survey all the water passages to 
 the Gulf, and partially repair their fortifications. 
 
 This expedition from Tennessee had a singular termi- 
 nation. The infantry, in number sixteen hundred, floated 
 in flat-boats down the Cumberland, the Ohio and the 
 Mississippi to Natchez, where they were joined by four 
 hundred horsemen, who had marched across the country. 
 Armstrong, the Secretary of War, sent orders to Jackson, Feb. 
 who had been refused a commission in the regular army, 
 to disband his men at Natchez, and deliver his military 
 stores to General Wilkinson. To implicitly obey orders 
 which he did not approve was not one of the virtues of 
 Andrew Jackson. Suspecting that this order was a pre- 
 text to get rid of the volunteers without paying their 
 
 ' nildretb, vol. iv., p. 692. 
 
606 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fjHAP. wages, he positively refused to obey. Indignant at tlie 
 
 wrong done the men, he unceremoniously drove out of the 
 
 1813. camp the United States recruiting officers, who had come, 
 hoping to induce those volunteers to enlist in the regular 
 army, who had not the funds to return home. On his own 
 responsibility, Jackson provided conveyances for the sick, 
 and marched the whole force back to Nashville, and there 
 -*^P^'^ disbanded them. The War Department overlooked the in- 
 subordination, and quietly paid the bill. 
 
 The military operations on the northern frontier con- 
 tinued as unimportant, as they were inefficient in bringing 
 Great Britain to terms. To secure the control of Lake 
 Ontario it was necessary to destroy or capture the ships 
 and military stores at York, now Toronto, then the capi- 
 April. tal of Upper Canada, and the head-quarters of General 
 Sheafe. When the spring opened. Commodore Chauncey 
 sailed with sixteen hundred men on board his fleet. They 
 landed a short distance from the town. Lieutenant Scott, 
 who had recently been exchanged, leading the van. General 
 Pike led the troops to the assault. The retreating British 
 fired a magazine, which exploded with tremendous power, 
 overwhelmed the advancing Americans, and killed and 
 wounded more than two hundred of their number, among 
 whom was the gallant Pike, who died the next day. The 
 town surrendered, and the contents of another magazine 
 were transferred to Sackett's Harbor. 
 
 Just before the Americans embarked, a little one 
 story building, known as the Parliament House, was 
 burned. The British attributed the act to them, but 
 General Dearborn and his officers beheved it was set on 
 fire by the disaffected Canadians, as they had threatened 
 to burn it. 
 
 Major Grafton certified that no American could have 
 committed the deed without his knowledge, as he had the 
 command of the patrol in the vicinity of the House. The 
 
PRIVATE RESENTMENTS — ANOTHER FAILURE. 607 
 
 Canadian Chief Justice of the district, in a communication, ^^^P- 
 
 spoke of the humane conduct of the Americans, " which 
 
 entitled them to the gratitude of the people of York." 1813. 
 Yet retaliation, for the burning of this building, was the 
 excuse offered afterward for the wanton destruction and 
 jnllaging of the juiblic buildings at Washington. 
 
 During the summer occurred a number of failures, all 
 traceable to the inefficiency of the commanders. Finally 
 certain members of Congress informally requested the 
 President, through secretary Monroe, to recall Dearborn 
 from the command. Accordingly Wilkinson was trans- 
 ferred from New Orleans to the northern frontier. General 
 Wade Hampton, recently in command at Norfolk, was also 
 ajjpointed to the command of a division ; but as he and 
 Wilkinson were not on friendly terms, he accejited the 
 office only on condition that he should not be placed 
 under the command of the latter. That patriotism which 
 would overlook private resentment for the good of the 
 country must be sacrificed to the personal enmities of these 
 gentlemen. Hoping to remove the difficulty, Armstrong, 
 the Secretary of War, suddenly appeared on the ground, 
 and assumed the chief command himself ; but he and 
 Willdnson could not agree on a ]Aan of operations. After May. 
 refusing to accept the proffered resignation of Wilkinson, 
 who did not relish the uncalled-for interference, the Secre- 
 tary returned to his more appropriate duties at Washington. 
 
 Another futile attempt was made to conquer Canada. 
 General Wilkinson moved his army from Sackett's Har- 
 bor, toward Montreal ; in the mean time General Hamp- 
 ton was advancing up from Lake Champlain. The two 
 American armies if united would number twelve thousand 
 men, while the whole British force was about two thou- 
 sand, and these mostly militia. Wilkinson wrote to 
 Hampton, in Armstrong's name, to join him at St. Eegis, 
 but instead of co-operating, Hampton replied that he had 
 given up the expedition and was already on his return to 
 
608 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, winter-quarters. Under these circumstances, Wilkinsou 
 found it necessary to retreat, as the season would be too 
 
 1813. far advanced before he could obtain the provisions and 
 23^" aid which Hampton had failed to supply. During the 
 previous summer there had been on the lake, as well as on 
 its shores, several expeditions as unimportant in them- 
 selves as they were trifling in their results. 
 
 When General Harrison, who soon after resigned his 
 commission, retired, he left a General McClure in com- 
 mand at the head of Lake Ontario. Presently McClure 
 found himself with only a few regular troops, as the militia 
 under his command were returning home ; their term of 
 enlistments had expired. Not prepared to resist the ad- 
 vancing Britisli, he was forced to retire across the river to 
 the American side. Before leaving he destroyed Fort 
 George, and set on tire the village of Newark, lest the 
 enemy, as he said, should find comfortable winter-quarters. 
 McClure gave as his excuse for thus burning the homes, 
 and turning four hundred iuoifensive people, men, women, 
 and children, out into the winter's storms, that he thought 
 he was justified by the orders of the War Department. 
 In truth there was no excuse for the cruel and wanton 
 
 Dec. act. Evil begets evU. Ten days after, the enemy passed 
 
 "" ■ over to the American side, surprised Fort Niagara, and 
 put the garrison to the sword. Then commenced the 
 retaliation for the burning of Newark. They burned 
 Lewistown, Youngstown, Manchester, Black Eock, and 
 Buffalo, and indeed every house that could be reached 
 from Lake Ontario to Erie. Prevost issued immediately 
 after a proclamation, in which he stated that these rav- 
 ages were provoked by the burning of Newark, and if the 
 Americans would hereafter refrain from such outrages, he 
 should conduct the war on humane and civUized principles. 
 During the summer the whole American coast was 
 
 June, blockaded by the overwhelming force of the British fleet. 
 The Hornet, the frigates United States and Macedonian, 
 
BRITISH ARMED VESSELS IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 609 
 
 were shut up in the harbor of New London. The harbor c".pAP. 
 
 of New York, the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, the 
 
 harbors of Charleston and Savannah, the mouth of the 1813. 
 Mississippi, were all blockaded. In the Chesapeake alone 
 there were more than twenty British armed vessels, on 
 board of which were three or fiuir thousand land troops. 
 These frequently landed and pillaged the towns, and in 
 some instances committed outrages upon the inhabitants, 
 especially at Hampton, a small village on James river. 
 The infamy of conducting these marauding expeditions 
 belongs to Vice-Admiral Cockburn, whose conduct was 
 more in accordance with the brutality of a savage, than 
 with the humanity of an officer of a Christian nation. 
 These marauders were well characterized by the term, 
 " Water Winnebagoes." 
 
 The war was not confined to the northern frontier. 
 The untiring Tecumseh had visited the Creeks the pre- 
 vious year, and inspired them, especially their young war- 
 riors, with his views. The Creeks occupied the greater 
 portion of what is now the State of Alabama, and a por- 
 tion of south-western Georgia. Numbers of the tribe had 
 become partially civilized, living upon the products of 
 their fields and their herds. The nation was divided in 
 opinion. The intelligent and wealthy jjortion were in 
 favor of jjeace, while the ignorant and poor were in favor 
 of war. The one j)arty saw in a war with the United 
 States, the utter ruin of their nation ; the other a return 
 to their ancient customs, and a perfect independence of 
 the white man. The settlers blindly neglected the re- 
 peated warnings given of these hostile intentions. When 
 suddenly Wetherford, a celebrated half-breed chief, sur- 
 rounded Fort Mimms, on the lower Alabama, and put to 
 death nearly three hundred persons, men, women, and 
 children. The South was speedOy roused, and soon about 
 seven thousand volunteers were on their march in four 
 39 
 
610 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, divisions, to penetrate the enemy's country, from as many 
 points, and to meet in the centre. 
 
 1813. General Jackson, with his recent Natchez volunteers, 
 ®''' moved from Nashville ; from East Tennessee, another 
 
 division, under General Cocke ; one from Georgia, and 
 
 1814. one from the Mississippi Territory. In addition the 
 lower Creeks took up arms against their brethren ; and 
 also Cherokees and Choctaws joined in the expedition. A 
 series of attacks commenced upon the savage enemy. 
 The Creeks were defeated in every conflict ; cut down 
 without mercy, their warriors disdaining to ask for then- 
 lives. The divisions penetrated the country from different 
 points, and drove them from place to jDlace. In this last 
 struggle for their homes they were overwhelmed, hut not 
 conquered. Thus the war continued for some months, 
 when the greater portion of the volunteers returned home. 
 Jackson was compelled to suspend offensive operations 
 tiU reinforcements should arrive. At length they came, 
 and he went in pursuit of the enemy. On a peninsula 
 formed by a peculiar bend in the Tallapoosa river, known as 
 Emuchfau, or the Horse-shoe, the Indians made their last 
 stand. They fortified the neck of the peninsula, as much 
 as their rude materials would permit. Thither they trans- 
 ferred their wives and children, in whose defence they 
 resolved to die, and there in gloomy silence they awaited 
 the attack. 
 
 j£j^^ The assault was made on the breastwork, which, after 
 
 28. five hours' fighting, was carried. Nearly six hundred of 
 the warriors perished, and the women and children were 
 taken prisoners. Thus, after a campaign of six months, 
 the power of the Creeks was broken, and with it 
 their spirit was crushed. The warriors who were yet 
 living, began to give themselves up to the conquerors. A 
 noble-looking chief suddenly^ at the hour of midnight, pre- 
 sented himself to Jackson. " I fought at Fort Mimms ; 
 I fought the army of Georgia," said he ; "I did you all 
 
« 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. 611 
 
 the harm I could. Had I been supported as I was prom- chap. 
 
 ised, I would have done more. But my warriors are kiU- '_ 
 
 ed, and I can fight no longer ; I look back with sorrow 1814. 
 that I have brought ruin upon my nation. I am now in 
 your power, do with me as you please ; I too am a war- 
 rior." Such were the words of Wetherford, the destroyer 
 of Fort Mimms. Jackson could appreciate the man who 
 would fight for his country ; though the volunteers mur- 
 mured, he spared the life of the chief. The General, so 
 stern in the performance of duty, was not devoid of 
 humane sympathy. When walking on the field of battle 
 his attention was arrested by the wail of an Indian babe. 
 He himself was a childless man, yet his heart was touched. 
 Ordering the infant to be brought to the camp, he asked 
 the Indian women to take care of it. " Its mother is 
 dead, let it die too," was their reply. The General took 
 the child himself, carried it to his home, 'and reared it in 
 his own family. 
 
 The Essex, Captain Porter, passed round Cape Horn, 1813. 
 expecting to meet the Constitution in the Pacific ; but she, 
 as has already been noted, returned home after the capture 
 of the Java. When he arrived at Valparaiso, Porter was 
 gratified to be received as a friend. Chili had thrown off 
 her allegiance to SjDain, and was no longer an ally of 
 England. Learning there that the viceroy of Peru had, 
 in expectation of war between Spain and the United 
 States, authorized cruisers against American whalers, he 
 put to sea in order to chastise these cruisers, one of whom 
 he captured and disarmed. He then went in pursuit of 
 the British whalers, who were all armed, and carried com- 
 missions from their own government to capture American 
 whaling vessels. In a few months he captured twelve of 
 these whalers. Hearing that the British frigate Phoebe 
 had been sent in pursuit of him, he returned early in the 
 year to Valparaiso, in search of the enemy. Soon the 
 
612 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Phoebe appeared, accompanied by the sloop-of-war Cherub. 
 
 . In guns and men, the Phccbe was a full match for the 
 
 1813. Essex. The two hostile vessels took their position off the 
 harbor. Porter determined to avoid the unequal contest 
 by escaping to sea ; but, when passing out of the harbor, 
 a sudden squall carried away his main-topmast, and as 
 he could not return to jiort, he was at the mercy of the 
 Phoebe and Cherub. After an encounter, perhaps the 
 most desperate of any naval engagement during the war, 
 Ma,._ he was forced to surrender ; but he did not strike until 
 
 1811- he had lost the unusual number of fifty-eight killed, and 
 sixty-six wounded. In giving an account of the affair to 
 the Secretary of the Navy, he wrote : " We have been 
 unfortunate, but not disgraced." 
 
CHAPTEE XLIV. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The Thirteenth Congress; its Members. — Daniel Webster. — Manifesto of 
 the British Government. — Embarrassments. — Commissioners of Peace 
 appointed. — Britain offers to negotiate. — Jacob Brown. — Winfield 
 Scott. — E. W. Ripley. — Wilkinson unsuccessful ; his Misfortunes. — 
 Capture of Fort Erie. — Battle of Lundy's Lane. — Its effect. — British 
 repulsed at Fort Erie ; their Batteries captured. — Battle on Lake 
 Champlain. ^British marauding E.xpeditions on the Shores of the 
 Chesapeake. — Bladensburg. — Capture of Washington. — The Public 
 Buildings burned. — Defence of Fort McHenry. — Death of General 
 Ross. — Bombardment of Stonington. — Distress in New England. — De- 
 bates in Congress. — Embargo and Non-importation Act repealed. — 
 Hartford Convention. 
 
 The thirteenth Congress, in obedience to the call of ^?^^- 
 
 the President, met in special session, some months before . 
 
 the usual time. The last census had increased the num- 1813. 
 ber of Representatives in the House to 182. Of the 24^ 
 present members a greater proportion than in the last 
 Congress were oi^posed to the war, and, indeed, its own 
 advocates on that subject were by no means harmonious 
 among themselves. 
 
 In this Congress, as well as in the last, appeared many 
 new men, whose influence was afterward greatly felt, not 
 only in their respective States, but in moulding the future 
 policy of the nation itself. Among these were John Forsyth 
 of Georgia, William Gaston of North Carolina, John 
 McLean of Ohio, and Daniel Webster of New Hamp- 
 shire, who now commenced that career so marked in our 
 
614 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, national councils. Born on the frontiers of that State, his 
 
 privileges were limited. The quiet, thoughtful boy, fond 
 
 1813. of books, read all within his reach. His fxther, a man of 
 strong sense and sterling integrity ; his mother, a woman 
 of more than ordinary intellect and force of character ; to 
 their judicious guidance may be traced the best elements 
 of his education. The father noticed his expanding in- 
 tellect, the calm power of mind that intuitively grasped 
 thoughts far beyond his years. His resolution was taken ; 
 though very limited in means, he must educate his son. 
 At length he informed Daniel of his determination to 
 send him to college. At this first intimation that the 
 dreams which had been floating before his imagination 
 were to be realized, the boy's emotions were too deep for 
 utterance ; he threw himself upon his father's neck and 
 wept for joy. 
 
 In Congress stirring debates ensued. Not only was 
 the policy of the war severely criticized, but the manner in 
 which it had been conducted. Its advocates were sur- 
 rounded with difficulties ; the means to carry it on were 
 exhausted ; the revenue derived from commerce had 
 dwindled to one million, with a prospect of still greater 
 reduction ; enormous bounties were offered to obtain re- 
 cruits for the army, but very few enlisted. The clashing 
 of opinions on the subject had arrayed the people definitely 
 on one side or the other. 
 Jan. The British government issued to the world a mani- 
 
 festo, in which certain charges industriously circulated in 
 the United States were utterly denied — such as that 
 they had instigated the Indians to hostilities, or that 
 they had endeavored to seduce the people of the Eastern 
 States from the Union ; but on the contrary, they protested 
 that the English peojile were actuated by a spirit of for- 
 bearance, and wore truly desirous to be at peace and 
 amity with the people of the United States. As to the 
 question of search, they were unwilling to give up the 
 
THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 615 
 
 rio;lit to recover their desertino- seamen, unless tlie United SHaf. 
 
 ° . . XLI\. 
 
 States would remove the necessity for impressments, by 
 
 enacting laws forbidding British sailors to enlist in the 1813. 
 American service. This document had a great effect in 
 influencing the minds of the people in England, as well 
 as upon those in the United States. 
 
 The disasters of the last camijaign, and the want of 
 money, a sufficiency of which could not be obtained by 
 loans, were not as embarrassing to the government, as the 
 opposition to the war which prevailed in the New Eng- 
 land States. The Legislature of Massachusetts sent a 
 remonstrance to Congress. They denounced the war as 
 unreasonable, for Great Britain had repealed the obnoxious 
 Orders in Council, and also offered to negotiate in relation 
 to imjjressments. Undue influences in the councils of the 
 nation had led to measures opposed to their interests, and 
 had brought ruin upon them by war. It was a duty to 
 their constituents to make this remonstrance. They ap- 
 pealed to the Searcher of hearts for the purity of their 
 motives, and their devotion to their country. 
 
 The people of New England complained that for the 
 last twelve years, their influence in the national govern- 
 ment had not been in proportion to their population, in- 
 telligence and wealth, — that their best and ablest men 
 had been designedly excluded from positions of influence 
 in the councils of the nation. 
 
 In less than a year after the declaration of war, Presi- ^.^j. 
 dent Madison, influenced by an offer of mediation on the 
 part of Kussia, ajipointed Albert Gallatin, his Secretary of 
 the Treasury, and James A. Bayard, commissioners to nego- 
 tiate a peace. They were to act in concert with John 
 Quincy Adams, then minister at the court of St. Peters- 
 burg. The offered mediation by Eussia was decKned by 
 England ; and nothing was accomplished by the com- 
 missioners. Nearly a year afterward, the British govern- 
 ment made a direct overture to treat of peace, either at 
 
Jan. 
 li. 
 
 616 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. London or at Gottenburg in Sweden. This offer was 
 
 made in the face of the ultimate downfall of Bonaparte, 
 
 1814. who had just been defeated at the battle of Leipsic. The 
 President gladly accepted the offer, though he complained 
 that the English government had rejected the mediation 
 of Russia, which had been offered three several times. 
 Accordingly, Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell, recently 
 minister to England, were appointed additional commis- 
 sioners of peace. In a month's time, they had received 
 their instructions, and were on their way to Europe. 
 
 These instructions took decided ground on the im- 
 pressment question. " That degrading practice must cease," 
 said they. " Our flag must protect the crew, or the United 
 States cannot consider themselves an independent nation." 
 Yet the promise was quietly made to enact a law for- 
 bidding the enlistment of British sailors, either in the 
 United States navy or in the mercantile service. Still 
 more, the commissioners were privately authorized " to go 
 further, to prevent a possibility of failure." It will be re- 
 membered that this was the very law or assurance in 
 effect, that Britain asked of Congress, at the commence- 
 ment of the war. 
 
 Engrossed with the affairs of Europe, England as yet 
 could spare but few men or ships for the American 
 war. Bonaparte having abdicated and retired to Elba, 
 she had on her hands a large veteran army unemployed. 
 Of this army, fourteen thousand soldiers were sent to 
 Canada, while other portions were sent to different places 
 in the United States. This acquisition changed the face 
 of affairs on the northern frontier. 
 
 The failures in that quarter, had thrown the adminis- 
 tration at Washington into despair. The soldiers had 
 but little confidence in officers, who were continually 
 quarrelling with each other, and never acting in concert, 
 and this favorite measure was about to be given up, from 
 sheer want of proper persons to lead the enterprise. New 
 
NEW MEN ON THE STAGE. 617 
 
 men were coming on tlie stage. The most promising of |^^^- 
 
 these was Colonel Jacob Brown, a Pennsylvanian by birth, 
 
 a Quaker by descent, who, when a school teacher in the 1S14. 
 city of New York, attracted the attention of Hamilton, 
 who made him his military secretary in the army of 1798. 
 Brown subsequently removed to the northern part of New 
 York State, and there, in his defence of Ogdensburg, as 
 well as on other occasions, exhibited military talents of a 
 high order. There was another youthful hero, destined to 
 fill an honorable space in the military annals of bis country. 
 Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, originally bred for 
 the bar ; he also belonged to the ai'my of '98. At the 
 commencement of the war he raised and commanded a 
 company of volunteers. To these may be added Eleazar 
 W. Ripley, of Maine, who possessed talents of a high order. 
 
 These young and enthusiastic officers believed that if 
 the Americans were drilled, and led by commanders in 
 whom they had confidence, they would meet the British 
 regulars without fear for the result. Owing to their 
 solicitations, another invasion of Canada was planned. 
 Nothing, however, was gained by the effort, except the 
 verification of their theory. 
 
 Early in the spring, Wilkinson, who had been iU for 
 months, moved with four thousand men, from winter 
 quarters, to repel a British detachment. His progress was 
 arrested near La Colle, at a stone mill, held as an outpost. 
 The single heavy cannon brought to batter down the mill, 
 sunk in the mire. An unusual thaw commencing, flooded 
 the whole country, and opened Lake Champlain, of which 
 the British had control. The Americans were fain to re- 
 tire from the danger as soon as possible. Wilkinson was 
 so much abused and ridiculed on account of this faUure, 
 that he indignantly resigned, and demanded an inquiry 
 into his conduct by a court-martial. 
 
 One year from that time, he was honorably acquitted 
 by the court. But the government, which he had faith- 
 
 Mar. 
 
618 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, fully served for forty years, on the reduction of the army 
 
 . . after the war, dismissed him from its service. Thus in 
 
 1814. his old age he experienced the hardship of being turned 
 upon the world without a competency. The State of 
 Maryland came forward, and generously granted him a 
 pension. 
 
 When spring further opened, a concentration of forces 
 on both sides resulted in a series of movements and counter- 
 movements accomplishing nothing of importance. The 
 first point resolved upon, was to seize Burlington Heights, 
 at the head of Lake Ontario, before aid could come from 
 York. In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey was to get 
 the command of the lake. 
 
 Having obtained permission from the government, 
 General Brown, with thirty-five hundred men, some reg- 
 ulars and some volunteers, passed in the night from 
 Buffalo to Canada, presented himself in the morning be- 
 fore Fort Erie, and summoned the garrison to surrender. 
 In the course of the day, the fort complied. 
 2. The British General Eiall, with an army equal in 
 
 number to that of Brown, was stationed behind the Chip- 
 pewa, distant fifteen miles. Colonel Scott, the next da}', 
 led the advance against the enemy, whose outposts he 
 drove in ; the remainder of the army came up at midnight. 
 Brown here gave an indication of what he expected of his 
 officers ; he cashiered one of their number for untimely re- 
 treating in a skirmish. On the following day, Eiall left 
 his intrenchments and crossed the Chippewa. The volun- 
 teers could not resist the attack, but fled, leaving Scott's 
 brigade exposed. The latter charged the advancing enemy 
 with the bayonet, and forced them to retreat ; as they 
 passed the bridge they destroyed it. KiaU immediately 
 abandoned his camp and Queeustown, and leaving a strong 
 force in Fort George, retreated to a favorable position 
 twelve miles distant. The British loss in these engagements 
 was about five hundred, the American about three hundred. 
 
THE BATTLE OF LUNDT'S LANE. 619 
 
 This first victory, after a fair trial of strength, was very chap. 
 gratifying to the Americans, privates as well as officers. 
 
 24. 
 
 Brown took possession of Queenstown, but found he had 1814. 
 not the proper cannon to successfully attack Fort George, 
 and that the fleet could not co-operate. After maintain- July 
 ing his position three weeks, he fell back to the Chippewa. 
 The British were not idle. On the very day that 
 Brown reached the Chippewa, General Drummond ar- 
 rived from York at Fort George, with large reinforce- 
 ments. To prevent them from sending a detachment to 
 destroy his stores at Schlosser, Brown made an advance 
 upon the enemy. Scott led his brigade, accompanied by 
 the artillery commanded by Towson. General Kiall was 
 advancing in force in an opposite direction, intending on 
 the following morning to attack the Americans. About 
 sunset, when directly opposite the falls of Niagara, these 
 parties unexpectedly met. The British took position on 
 a rising ground, and there placed their artillery, consisting 
 of seven pieces. These began to play upon Scott's bri- 
 gade, while, because of their position on the hill, balls 
 from Towson's guns could scarcely reach them. The loss 
 of the Americans was great, yet they maintained their 
 position, expecting Brown with the main army. When it 
 was quite dark, he arrived. One of Scott's regiments under 
 Major Jessup drove the Canadian militia before them, and, 
 gaining the rear of the enemy, captured a number of 
 prisoners, among whom was General Kiall himself, who 
 having been wounded, was retiring. It was seen that the 
 key of the position was the park of artillery on the hill. 
 Said Eipley to Colonel James Miller : " Can you take that 
 battery ? " " I'll try, sir," was the prompt reply. Then 
 silently leading his regiment, which was partially concealed 
 by the fence of a churchyard, along which they passed, 
 Miller rushed upon the artillerists, and drove them from 
 their guns at the point of the bayonet. Presently General 
 Drummond advanced in the darkness to recover the 
 
620 HISTOET OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 XLiv' ^^^^ ' ^^* ^^ ™^° quailed before the terrible fire whicli 
 
 they encountered. He rallied them again ; and again 
 
 1814-. they were forced from the hill. With the energy of des- 
 peration, for the third time they advanced, and were 
 again met with a resistance equally obstinate, — the op- 
 posing forces fighting hand to hand with the bayonet. It 
 ^^^j was now midnight. The British sullenly retired. The 
 25. Americans had maintained their ground, supplying their 
 own exhausted ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of 
 their slain foes. The men were almost perishing with 
 hunger, thirst and fatigue. They had marched during the 
 day fifteen miles, and contended with the enemy five 
 hours. Exhausted, they sank upon the ground. The 
 silence was broken only by the groans of the wounded and 
 dying, and the roar of the mighty cataract, whose moan- 
 ing tones was a fit requiem for the dead on that field of 
 blood. 
 
 The Americans at length retired to their camp, not 
 having horses or any means to carry off the guns which 
 they had captured. The scouts of the enemy soon dis- 
 covered that they had retired, and a strong detachment 
 was sent to reoccupy the hill and recover their artillery. 
 
 Such was the midnight battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's 
 Lane. The Americans lost nearly seven hundred and 
 fifty men — and the British nearly nine hundred ; an un- 
 precedented loss, when comjDared with the number en- 
 gaged. Brown and Scott were both wounded ; as well as 
 nearly all the regimental ofiicers. The next morning there 
 were but sixteen hundred effective men in the American 
 camp. It was now seen that the Americans, when prop- 
 erly led, could and would fight. They had met the vete- 
 rans who fought under WelHngton in Spain, and repulsed 
 them in three desjjerate encounters. This battle stood out 
 in bold relief, when compared with the imbecility hitherto 
 so characteristic of the campaigns on the northern fron- 
 
15. 
 
 BRITISH EEPULSED — BATTLE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 621 
 
 tier. It acquired a national interest, as important in its ™;'^^- 
 effect as the first naval victories. 
 
 Tlie American army fell back to Fort Erie, tlie com- 1814. 
 mand of wliich Brown intrusted to Colonel Edmund P. 
 Gaines. In the course of a fortnight, Drummond ad- 
 vanced with four thousand men, and after bombarding 
 the fort, attempted at midnight to carry it by assault. 
 The British, in the face of a destructive fire, charged 
 again and again, even within a few feet of the intrench- An 
 meuts. They were finally forced to retire, after sustain- 
 ing a loss of nearly a thousand men — the Americans not 
 losing a hundred. In a few weeks the energetic Brown, 
 now partially recovered from his wounds, assumed the 
 command. He determined to make a dash at the enemy's 
 batteries, which were two miles in advance of their camp. 
 The time, mid-day, was well chosen. Rushing out from Sept. 
 the fort, before assistance could come from the British 
 camp, he stormed the batteries, fired the magazines, 
 spiked the guns, captured four hundred prisoners, and re- 
 turned to the fort, leaving six hundred of the enemy 
 killed and wounded. But this brilliant exploit cost him 
 nearly three hundred men. Drummond immediately 
 raised the siege and retreated beyond the Chippewa. 
 
 Stirring events occurred on another part of the frontier. 
 The little navy on Lake Champlain emulated the deeds 
 of the one on Lake Erie just a year before. General 
 Prevost, himself, marched from Canada with twelve 
 thousand veteran troops to invade the State of New York 
 — the town of Plattsburg was the special object of attack. 
 There on the south bank of the Saranac, General Macomb 
 was intrenched with an army of three thousand men, 
 many of whom were invaUds. The main body of the 
 American forces was under General Izard, at Sackett's 
 Harbor. Macomb called upon the mihtia of Vermont and ^^P'- 
 New York for aid ; three thousand of whom nobly re- 
 sponded, as did their fathers thirty-seven years before, 
 
622 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, when Burgoyne was moving in the same direction, and for 
 
 the same purpose. Commodore Macdonough, after lahor- 
 
 1814. ing incessantly, had at last equipped a fleet. It consisted 
 of a ship, the Saratoga, of twenty-sis guns, a brig of 
 twenty guns, an armed schooner, and a sloop, besides 
 some gun-boats, in all eighty-six guns and eight hundred 
 and fifty-six men. The British soon ajjpeared, and be- 
 gan to prepare batteries in order to assault Macomb's 
 position. It was useless to force the Saranac, unless the 
 command of the lake was secured. Captain Downie had 
 a fleet of one ship of thirty-seven guns, a brig of twenty- 
 foui', two sloops each of eleven, and a number of gun- 
 boats, in all ninety-five guns and one thousand men. 
 Macdonough moored his fleet across the entrance of Platts- 
 burg Bay. A strange scene was witnessed on board the 
 Saratoga. As the British fleet drew near, Macdonough 
 knelt in prayer in the presence of his men, and implored the 
 blessing of Heaven upon his country, and especially upon 
 those about to engage with him in the coming conflict. 
 
 Downie stood directly into the harbor, reserving his 
 fire for a close action, but his largest vessel became so 
 disabled that he was obliged to cast anchor a quarter of a 
 , ?'■ mile from the American Une. During this time one of 
 
 11. 
 
 o 
 
 his sloops was so cut up as to become unmanageable, and 
 drifting within reach, was secured, while the other sloop 
 for a similar cause drifted ashore. All the guns on one 
 side of Macdonough's largest ship were disabled, but he 
 managed to wind her round, and presented a whole side 
 and guns to her antagonist. Downie attempted the same 
 manoeuvre, but failing he struck his flag ; the entire fleet 
 was captured with the exception of a few gun-boats. 
 
 When the battle began on the lake, Prevost advanced 
 to storm Macomb's position ; he delayed the main attack 
 till a detachment could cross the river above, but before 
 that was accomplished, the fleet had surrendered. The 
 following night, in the midst of a raging storm, the enemy, 
 
THE BRITISH FLEET IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 623 
 
 stricken with a sudden panic, commenced their retreat, chap. 
 
 abandoned their sick and wounded, and the greater part of 
 
 their stores. Thus again the navy of the hxke had given 1814. 
 a decisive blow. 
 
 Their great number of vessels enabled the British still 
 to blockade the ports of the United States, and effectually 
 prevent their shijis of war from getting to sea. The Wasp 
 was their only one afloat. She was known to have lately 
 captured the British sloop-of-war Avon, and subsequently 
 three other prizes. All trace of her was now lost ; she 
 had gone down, carrying with her the only American flag 
 which waved on the ocean from a national vessel. Chesa- 
 peake Bay became the favorite rendezvous for the British 
 fleet ; its shores atfording great facilities for marauding 
 expeditions. As a defence, the gun-boats were of no ser- 
 vice, except to make a bold front till the enemy came 
 near, and then to run up the creeks, out of harm's way. 
 
 In the waters of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, 
 there were now sixty ships of war under the command of 
 Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane. On board this fleet 
 was a land force of five thousand troops, under General 
 Robert Koss. The greatest alarm prevailed in that region 
 in consequence of a proclamation, signed by Cochrane, 
 which promised to persons desirous of emigrating from the 
 United States, employment in the British army and navy, 
 or transportation as '^frct settlers" to the West India 
 Islands, or to Canada. StiU more alarming was the July 
 rumor, based on the proposition of some British ofiicers, ^• 
 that the enemy were about to seize the peninsula between 
 the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and there form and 
 drill an army of runaway slaves. 
 
 General Winder, who was appointed to the command 
 in the emergency, was authorized to call out fifteen thou- 
 sand militia from the neighboring States. This he pro- 
 posed to do some weeks before the enemy appeared, and 
 
624 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 <Lrv ' ^"^ place them in a central position, that they might be 
 
 able to march to the defence of either Washington, Balti- 
 
 1814. more, or Annai^olis, as the case might require. This ju- 
 dicious plan was not adopted. Armstrong, the Secretary 
 of War, opposed it on the ground that with an emj)ty 
 treasury it would be unjustifiable to incur the exijense ; 
 and, moreover, he was of the opinion that Washington 
 would not be attacked by an enemy who were without 
 horses or cannon, and that Baltimore could defend itself 
 President Madison seems to have been at a loss what to 
 do or advise. In the midst of these discussions the enemy 
 appeared, one portion of their fleet coming up the bay, 
 and another up the Potomac. 
 
 At this late liour word was sent, not by express, but 
 by the tardy mail, to the authorities of Pennsylvania and 
 Virginia, asking them to forward their requisition of 
 militia. It was now impossible for them to reach the 
 scene of action. In the mean time at Benedict, on the 
 Patuxent, about fifty miles from Washington, General 
 2^S" Boss landed five thousand troops, without meeting the 
 least ojiposition from the militia of the neighborhood. 
 He commenced his march toward the capital, moving 
 very slowly, not more than ten miles a day, the marines, 
 for want of horses, dragging their field-j^ieces, only three 
 or four. The soldiers were enervated from the effects of 
 their voyage, and from the excessive heat of the weather. 
 A few spirited troops could have easily checked them. A 
 company of armed and trained negroes marched in front, 
 cautiously exjjloring the country, and receiving from run- 
 away slaves information of the Americans. The soul of 
 the enterprise was the notorious Cockburn, who had been 
 for a year engaged in pillaging that region. The planters 
 ■were so much alarmed for their own safety, lest the slaves, 
 much more numerous than their masters, should rise in 
 insurrection and join the enemy, that they permitted the 
 invaders to advance for four days without making the least 
 
BATTLE OF BLADENSBURG. 625 
 
 opposition. They might have been delayed on their ^^ap. 
 
 march much longer, if trees had been felled at certain 
 
 points where the roads crossed swamps, or if the numerous 1814. 
 bridges on the route had been broken down. 
 
 Commodore Barney, who was in command of the 
 flotilla of gun-boats, ran them up the Patuxent as far as 
 jjossible, then set them on fire, and marched with five 
 hundred marines to join the militia concentrating in the 
 vicinity of Bladensburg. Here he was put in command -'^"^• 
 of some heavy guns brought from the navy yard. The 
 President himself, accompanied by his cabinet, visited the 
 camp, where all was in confusion. The divisions of 
 militia were stationed by General Winder in such posi- 
 tions as to support each other, but these had been changed 
 by self-constituted officers, who accompanied the Presi- 
 dent. It was ascertained that the enemy was moving 
 toward Bladensburg. Kumor had magnified their num- 
 ber to ten thousand ; all veterans. The discreet militia 
 began to retreat, some with permission and some without. 
 On learning this General Winder sent orders for them to 
 make a stand at the bridge and fight. The village was 
 abandoned, and on the other side of the east branch of 
 the Potomac the marines and militia were arranged. 
 Barney had placed his men in a position to sweep the 
 road with the guns. About the middle of the afternoon 
 the enemy appeared, but so excessive had been the heat, 
 that they were completely exhausted. When Ross re- 
 connoitred the militia stationed on the rising ground, he 
 was somewhat alarmed at their formidable appearance. 
 But he had gone too far to retreat ; the order was given 
 to move forward. His alarm was of short continuance. 
 A few Congreve rockets put the Maryland militia to flight ; 
 the riflemen followed ; the artiUery, after firing not more 
 than twice, rapidly retreated ; then the Baltimore regi- 
 ment, on which some hopes were placed, fled also, carry- 
 ing with them the President and his cabinet. The 24.' 
 40 
 
626 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 '^HAP. British now moved slowly on until they were checked hy 
 
 the guns manned by the marines under Barney. Find- 
 
 1814. ing it impossible to force the 23osition of the marines and 
 sailors In front, detachments filed by the right and left 
 and passed up ravines. At the head of one was stationed 
 the Annapolis regiment, which fled at the first fire. At 
 the head of the other ravine were placed some regulars 
 and militia ; they also showed their discretion by getting 
 out of harm's way as soon as possible. The sailors and 
 marines, thus deserted, and in danger of being surrounded, 
 retired, their guns and wounded companions falling into 
 the hands of the enemy. Owing to the vigorous fire of 
 the marines, the British lost a large number of men, and 
 others died from fatigue and heat, and it was absolutely 
 necessary to wait some hours before they could march on 
 Washington. Thus ended the battle of Bladensburg, — 
 in one respect the most famous in American annals. 
 
 In the cool of the evening the British advanced into 
 Washington, which they found almost entirely deserted 
 by its male inhabitants. The enemy proceeded to dis- 
 grace themselves by fulfilling the instructions which Ad- 
 miral Cochrane had previously officially announced, 
 which were "to destroy and lay waste all towns and dis- 
 tricts of the United States found accessible to the attack 
 of British armaments." They burned the capitol, and with 
 it the Congressional Library, and the buildings used for 
 the Treasury and State Departments, in revenge, as it was 
 said, for the Parliament House at York. Many important 
 Aug. papers were lost, but the most valuable had been removed 
 ^^- some days before. Mrs. Madison had left the President's 
 mansion, taking with her the plate and valuables, and also a 
 portrait of Washington — which was taken from the frame 
 and rolled up. The mansion was pillaged and set on fire, 
 as were some private dwellings, and stores were also plun- 
 dered. A complete destruction followed at the navy 
 yard. 
 
GENERAL EOSS SLAIN DEFENCE OF FORT M'HENRY. 627 
 
 In the midst of a hostile country, General Eoss, with ™^- 
 
 a handful of exhausted men, was ill at ease. Perhaps he 
 
 had read of Concord and Lexington, and was alarmed 1814. 
 lest " the indignant citizen soldieiy " would turn out and 
 harass him on his retreat. Early the following night he 
 kindled the camp fires, and leaving behind him the sick 
 and wounded, he commenced a stealthy retreat to his 
 shijis. His alarm was needless ; in a march of four days 
 not the least opposition did he experience. Four days 
 after the taking of the capital, the British frigates, passing 
 by Fort Washington, which ofiered but little resistance, 
 came up the Potomac and anchored opposite Alexandria, ^g"' 
 which town saved itself from a bombardment by paying 
 an enormous tribute. 
 
 When his men were refreshed. General Ross moved 
 with the fleet up the Chesapeake, toward Baltimore. The 
 militia of Maryland by this time had assembled for the 
 defence of the city, and also several companies of volun- 
 teers had arrived from Pennsylvania. The enemy, eight 
 
 thousand strong, landed at North Point, at the mouth of Sept. 
 
 .12 
 the Patapsco. The land forces commenced their march, 
 
 and the fleet to ascend the river, intending to capture 
 Forf- McHenry, situated two miles below the city. An 
 advance party of Americans were thrown forward. In a 
 skirmish with this party. General Ross was killed, yet the 
 invaders pressed on; the militia, after a spirited encounter, 
 retired in good order. The next morning the enemy ad- 
 vanced, yet hesitatingly, as the neighboring hills were 
 covered with soldiers, field works and artillery, which al- 
 together made a formidable appearance. They were un- 
 der the veteran General Samuel Smith, the same who so 
 gallantly defended Fort Miiflin in the Revolution. The 
 British hesitated to commence the attack without the co- 
 operation of the fleet, which was then busily engaged in 
 bombarding Fort McHenry, but without much success, 
 as the fort was replying with great spirit. When it was 
 
628 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. ascertained that the fleet could not pass the fort, the in- 
 
 vaders silently retired in the night and re-embarked. 
 
 1814. It was amid the excitement of this cannonade that 
 
 Francis Key composed the popular song of the " Star 
 Spangled Banner." He had gone to ask the release of 
 certain prisoners, and had been detained during the at- 
 tack on board the British fleet. 
 
 From Eastport in Maine to Sandy Hook, the whole 
 Eastern coast was liahle to these marauding expeditions. 
 One of the most serious of these, was the bombardment 
 of Stonington in Connecticut, which continued for four 
 days, but after throwing shells and rockets, and several 
 attempts to land, the enemy retired. They were repelled 
 in every instance hy the sturdy militia. Field works, 
 garrisoned by the yeomanry of the country, were thrown 
 up at all points along the coast likely to be an object of 
 Aug. attack. This was done by the State authorities, the na- 
 tional government being so completely enfeebled, as to 
 be unable to afi'ord the least aid to any of the States. 
 
 The people of New England, with very few exceptions, 
 continued to complain of their grievances. Their dis- 
 tress was great ; the embargo, enforced hy severe penalties, 
 ruined their fisheries and their coasting trade, and had 
 deprived them of many of the necessaries of life. They 
 looked upon these restrictions as " more odious and un- 
 feelincr than the Boston Port Bill, which roused the colo- 
 nies to independence ; a gross and palpable violation of the 
 principles of the Constitution, not to he submitted to with- 
 out a pusillanimous surrender of their rights and liberties." 
 
 Petitions poured in to the legislature of Massachusetts, 
 asking it to take measures to redress these grievances. A 
 committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported 
 Feb. in terms expressive of the general sentiment of the pe- 
 titioners. They believed that the war, so fertile in failures, 
 and so threatening as to its results, was uncalled for and 
 
DEBATES IN CONGRESS — DANIEL WEBSTER. 629 
 
 wrong in principle. They saw in the future the people ™f^- 
 
 impoverished, deprived of their comforts, and their hopes 
 
 blasted. And the committee recommended a conventiou 1814. 
 of delegates from the commercial States, to obtain amend- 
 ments to the constitution that would secure them against 
 such evils. 
 
 These manifestations of discontent had their effect, 
 and the President himself proposed the abandonment of 
 the restrictive system, not only the embargo, but the non- 
 importation act. In order to encourage domestic manu- Mar. 
 factures, instead of the latter he recommended that for 
 three years after the close of the war double duties be 
 imposed upon imported goods, and that the exportation 
 of specie be prohibited. 
 
 The advocates of the war in Congress, annoyed at the 
 failures of the last two years, attributed their want of 
 success to the influence of those opposed to the war ; in- 
 stead of acknowledging their own imprudence, in thus 
 rushing, without preparation, into hostilities, or ceasing to 
 be infatuated with the idea of conquering Canada. In 
 the discussion on a bill to procure enlistments for the 
 army, Daniel Webster in reply to these charges, no 
 doubt expressed the general sentiment of those opposed 
 to the war. In those sections of the country where the 
 population was most numerous, the war was unpopular 
 because of its impolicy ; — it was no detraction from their 
 patriotism that they did not join heart and hand in 
 measures which they deemed the extreme of folly. He 
 continued, — " Give up your futile projects of invasion. 
 Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. 
 Establish perfect safety and defence there by adequate 
 force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in 
 security. Having performed this work of beneficence and 
 mercy on your inland border, turn and look with the eye 
 of justice and compassion on your vast population along 
 the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take 
 
630 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, measures for that end before another sun sets upon you. 
 With all the war of the enemy upon your commerce, if 
 
 1814 you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, you 
 would still have some commerce. That commerce would 
 give you some revenue. Apply that revenue to the aug- 
 mentation of your navy. Let it no longer be said, that 
 not one ship of force, built by your hands since the war, 
 yet floats upon the ocean. If the war must continue, go 
 to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for mari- 
 time rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can 
 be defended. Thither, every indication of your fortxme 
 points you. There the united wishes and exertions of 
 the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions, 
 acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's edge. They 
 are lost in attachment to the national character, on the 
 element where that character is made resjjectable. In 
 time you may be able to redress injuries in the place 
 where they may be ofi'ered ; and, if need be, to accompany 
 your own flag throughout the world with the protection 
 of your own cannon." 
 
 The embargo and non-importation act were repealed, 
 while action on the other recommendations of the Presi- 
 dent was postponed. 
 
 The delegates to the convention recommended by the 
 legislature of Massachusetts, met upon the appointed day 
 
 Dec. at Hartford. In accordance with the sentiments express- 
 ed in the call for the convention, the members were en- 
 joined not to propose measures " repugnant to their obli- 
 gations, as members of the Union." They met in a time 
 of trial and distress to confer with each other on the best 
 means to relievo the country of a ruinous war, and secure 
 the blessings of a permanent peace. The Convention, 
 consisting of but twenty-six members, sat with closed 
 doors. After a session of twenty days it adjourned, and, 
 as the result of their deliberations, published an address 
 to the people. The address disappointed the more violent 
 
THE HAETFORD CONVENTION. 631 
 
 opponents of the war, who thought the occasion demanded chap. 
 more decided measures. The President and his cabinet 
 
 had been much alarmed ; in the Convention, they imagin- 1814. 
 ed lurked some terrible plot of treason ; they breathed 
 more freely when they read this address and the resolutions. 
 
 After recapitidating the evils which the war had 
 brought upon the people whom they represented, they ex- 
 pressed their sentiments upon other wrongs ; such as the 
 enlistment of minors and apprentices ; the national gov- 
 ernment assuming to command the State militia ; and 
 especially the proposed system of conscription for both 
 army and navy. " Strange propositions for a government 
 professedly waging war to protect its seamen from im- 
 pressment ! " " The conscription of the father with the 
 seduction of the son, renders complete the power of the 
 national executive over the male population of the coun- 
 try, thus destroying the most important relations of 
 society." 
 
 " A free constitution administered by great and in- 
 comparable statesmen realized the fondest hopes of liberty 
 and independence, under Washington and his measures. 
 The arts flourished, the comforts of life were universally 
 diffused, nothing remained but to rcaj) the advantages 
 and cherish the resources flowing from this policy." 
 
 " Our object is to strengthen and jierpetuate the union 
 of these States, by removing the causes of jealousies." 
 
 In furtherance of these views they proposed amend- 
 ments to the Constitution ; among others, to equalize the 
 representation in the lower House of Congress, by basing it 
 on free population ; against embargoes and non-intercourse 
 laws ; to make the President ineligible for a second term. 
 These amendments were never adopted by the States. 
 The existence of the Convention showed the intense feel- 
 ing on the subject of the war and its consequences, and 
 its deliberations exhibit no other spirit than that of wish- 
 ing to redress grievances by constitutional means. 
 
632 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Shortly after the adjournment of the Convention, the 
 legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut, viewing 
 
 1814. the law of Congress which authorized the enlistment of 
 minors and apprentices, as a violation of their rights and 
 unconstitutional, passed laws that subjected the recruiting 
 officers to fine and imprisonment ; and required the State 
 judges to release any such minor or apprentice on ajipli- 
 cation of the parent or guardian. Fortunately the war 
 was soon after brought to a close, and the necessity for 
 enlistments under this oppressive and demoralizing law, 
 was removed. 
 
 
CHAPTEK XLV. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION— CONCLUDED. 
 
 Jackson enters Pensacola. — New Orleans defenceless.- — The British land. — 
 Jackson's Measures of Defence. — Battle of New Orleans. — The Distress 
 of the Country and Embarrassment of the Government. — The Relief. — 
 Treaty of Peace. — The Frigate President captured.— Successes at Sea. 
 — War with Algiers. — Treaty with that Power.— Treaty with the In- 
 dians. — Financial Disorders. — State of Indiana. — John Fitch. — Robert 
 Fulton. — First Steamboat. 
 
 When arranging affairs with the Creeks, General chap. 
 Jackson learned that the Spaniards at Pensacola had 
 
 welcomed the hostUe Indians, and also that a British 1814. 
 man-of-war had furnished them with arms. Intelhgence 
 of this was sent to Washington, whence orders were trans- 
 mitted to Jackson to seize Pensacola. That these orders 
 were six months on the way, may illustrate the efficiency 
 with which the War Department was conducted. Mean- 
 time some British men-of-war arrived in the harbor, from 
 which a Colonel Nichols landed men and began to enlist 
 the Creeks. Jackson now sent urgent appeals to his 
 favorite Tennessee mounted men to hasten to his aid. 
 The British soon after attacked Fort Bowyer on the east 
 shore of Mobile Bay. The fort was defended by one 
 hundred and thirty men, under Major Lawrence. The 
 vigorous defence soon repulsed the enemy, one of whose 
 ships blew up and the rest were fiiin to depart. This 
 success encouraged the people of Louisiana and Missis- 
 sippi in their efforts to defend New Orleans themselves, 
 
634 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CT^. without depending upon the General Government. Jack- 
 son wrote repeatedly to Washington for orders and re- 
 
 1814. ceived none, but when the three thousand Tennesseans, 
 under General Coffee, arrived, he took the responsibility 
 to enter Pensacola and demand that the British should 
 
 ^ov leave the place. He also intimated in emphatic terms to 
 the Spanish governor, that he would hold him responsible 
 for permitting the British to occupy his territory, for the 
 purpose of encouraging the Creeks in their hostility. The 
 British immediately blew up a fort which they had erected 
 seven miles below the town, and took to their ships. 
 8. Confident that the enemy designed to direct their 
 
 efforts against New Orleans, Jackson sent in advance 
 General Coffee to some point on the Mississippi, with the 
 mounted men, while he himself followed, as soon as cir- 
 cumstances would permit. The defences of New Orleans 
 were in a deplorable condition ; since Wilkinson left, 
 nothing further had been done to repair them. The city 
 contained nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, not one- 
 half of whom were whites. Tliese were principally of 
 French origin, and others of foreign birth, none of whom 
 were ardently attached to the United States. Jackson 
 hastened to the point of danger. He availed himself of 
 every possible aid ; he released the convicts in the prisons, 
 and enrolled them for the occasion ; accepted the offered 
 services of Lafitte, the head of the Baratarian buccaneers. 
 He also issued an address to " the noble-hearted, gener- 
 ous, free men of color," to enroll themselves for the de- 
 fence of their country. To this call, under an act of the 
 Louisiana Legislature, they heartily responded. 
 
 While he was thus unprepared, the British fleet cast 
 anchor off the entrance of Lake Borgne. It had on board 
 twelve thousand land troops, besides four thousand sailors 
 and marines. These troops had recently been under the 
 Duke of WelHngton, in the Peninsular war, and were 
 commanded by able and experienced generals ; Sir Ed- 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
Jackson's preparations — conflicts. 635 
 
 ward Packingham, a brotlier-in-law of the Duke of Wei- chm'. 
 
 lington, Gibbs, Keene, and Lambert. Three days later, . 
 
 after a severe contest, they captured the euthe American ISU. 
 flotilla on Lake Borgne. 
 
 The Louisiana militia were immediately called out, 
 but they were ill supislied with arms. Some months pre- 
 vious, Jackson, anticipating this very emergency, had 
 urged upon the War Department at Washington to send 
 a supply of arms from the arsenal at Pittsburg. The 
 government agent, unwilling to pay the usual freight on 
 the only steamboat then running to New Orleans, shipped 
 the arms on board keel boats. Thus twenty-five cents on 
 a hundred pounds of freight were saved by the govern- 
 ment, and Jackson received the muskets after the battle ! 
 
 General Coffee had reached Baton Eouge, at which 
 place he received orders to hasten with all speed to the 
 scene of action. With eight hundred of his best mounted 
 men — aU unerring marksmen, armed with rifles and toma- 
 hawks — lie made the extraordinary march of one hundred 
 and fifty miles in two days. Thus, by similar exertions, 
 in the space of a fortnight, Jackson had five thousand 
 
 men, four-fifths of whom were militia. Other difficulties Dec. 
 
 . . 20. 
 
 presented themselves. Owing to the want of co-operation 
 
 on the part of the legislature, and the necessities of the 
 
 times, he proclaimed martial law. 
 
 The enemy landed two thousand light armed troops, 
 under General Keene. Jackson marched to meet them 
 with the regulars, and Coffee's men dismounted. Soon 
 after dark the battle began ; the enemy were driven from 
 one point to another, till finally they found protection ^J'°- 
 behind a levee. Good service was done in tliis conflict 
 by the armed schooner Carolina, which ran in near the 
 shore, and with her guns swept their ranks. This success- 
 ful repulse of the invaders greatly encouraged the Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 The next day Jackson took a position on solid ground 
 
636 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, nearly a mile in treadth ; the river protecting one flank, 
 and a swamp the other. Though strongly reinforced, the 
 
 1815. British made no attempt the following day to retrieve 
 what they had lost, being deterred by the reports of 
 prisoners, who greatly exaggerated the strength of Jack- 
 fion's force. This delay was profitably occupied in 
 strengthening the defences ; bales of cotton were used as 
 a rampart, and the ditch was extended to the swamp. 
 Five days after the enemy advanced and drove in the 
 American outposts, and when within half a mile of the 
 ramparts opened with artillery and Congreve rockets. 
 Yet Jackson replied with so much vigor, with his five 
 heavy gxins, that after a cannonade of seven hours the 
 enemy withdrew, having suffered considerable loss. 
 
 "Within three days after this repulse, they made 
 •Jan. another attack with much heavier artillery. Their move- 
 ments were concealed by a dense fog, and the intimation 
 of their approach was given only by their cannon balls 
 crashing through the American camp, but Jackson had 
 so strengthened his works, that the British — their guns 
 dismounted and silenced — were again compelled to retire ; 
 but it was to make preparations for a grand assault. 
 
 Presently twenty-two hundred Kentucky riflemen 
 
 Jan. arrived ; of whom unfortunately one-half were without 
 
 arms, and could not be supplied. These Jackson placed 
 
 to throw up a second line of intrenchments in the rear of 
 
 the first line. 
 
 When prepared, the British moved to the assault, 
 under the cover of a battery of six eighteen-pounders, 
 which had been erected the previous night. The main 
 Jan. column was led by Packenham in person, intending to 
 storm the centre, one column moved along the river and 
 carried a redoubt, another, led by Gibbs and Keene, ad- 
 vanced along the edge of the swamp. 
 
 As the advancing columns came within range, the 
 American artillery opened upon them with deadly effect, 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 637 
 
 yet they filled up their ranks and moved steadily on. ^^,^- 
 
 Presently they readied the range of the Kentucky and 
 
 Tennessee rifles, they poured in a continuous stream of 1815. 
 luierring bullets. The heads of the columns faltered. 
 While endeavoring to rally them, Packenham fell ; Keene 
 and Gibbs were both wounded, the latter mortally. The 
 command then devolved on General Lambert, who made 
 two more unsuccessful attempts to storm the works, but 
 was forced to retire, leaving on the field two thousand 
 men killed and wounded. Jackson had taken the pre- 
 caution to send General Morgan across the river to throw 
 up intrenchments directly opposite his own. The night 
 previous to the battle, Packenham sent a detachment 
 under Colonel Thornton, who drove Morgan from his 
 position, but when the main body was defeated he took 
 to his boats and hastily retreated. 
 
 In this battle the Americans lost seven men killed and 
 as many wounded. 
 
 Taking eveiy precaution to guard against surprise, 
 Lambert gradually feU back to the first landing place, 
 and then, in the course of twenty days, re-embarked. 
 
 Thus virtually ended the war of 1812. The only 
 battles well fought on land, were those directed by new 
 men called into active service by the war itself. The 
 victories at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans were gained 
 by soldiers who had been trained but a short time, but 
 they were under commanders in whom they had implicit 
 confidence. 
 
 Though these successful events were transpiring in 
 that distant region, yet on the Atlantic coast, and at 
 Washington, it was the gloomiest period of the war. 
 Atfairs were almost desperate. The treasuiy exhausted, 
 the national credit gone, the terrible law of conscrijjtion, 
 like an ominous cloud hanging over the people, civil dis- 
 cord seemingly ready to spring up between the States ; 
 
638 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 So^' ^^^ coasts of South Carolina and Georgia yet subject to 
 
 . the marauding exiieditions of the infamous Cockburn, 
 
 1815. while the inhabitants were crying in vain to the General 
 Government for assistance. Nothing favorable had yet 
 been heard from the commissioners of peace at Ghent, 
 nor even from New Orleans. It was known that a very 
 large force of British veterans was in the vicinity of that 
 place, and that Jackson was very ill-prepared to meet them. 
 As a gleam of sunshine in intense darkness, a rumor, 
 by way of Canada, jaroclaimed that peace had been con- 
 cluded ; at the same time came another from the south- 
 west that the enemy had been defeated. While all were 
 tremblingly anxious for the truth of these rumors, late of 
 a Saturday night, a British sloop-of-war, the Favorite, 
 commissioned for the purpose, arrived at New York, 
 ^'^^- bringing tlie treaty of jDcace, already ratified by the 
 British government. The cry of peace ! peace ! ran 
 through the city. As if by one impulse the houses were 
 illuminated, and the citizens, without distinction of party, 
 thronged the streets to congratulate each other. In 
 the midst of their own rejoicings they did not forget their 
 brethren who were yet ignorant of the welcome news, and 
 messengers were sent in every direction. In thirty-two 
 hours, the express with the tidings reached Boston. 
 There the excitement was almost unbounded. The 
 people assembled in crowds to hear the news, which had 
 so unexpectedly brought relief to their distresses. The 
 bells rang their merriest peal, and the schools received a 
 holiday. Flags and streamers were soon disj^layed on the 
 vessels which had lain so long idle at the wharf Before 
 night, carpenters and riggers were at work, sailors were 
 engaged, cargoes were passing on board ; Boston was her- 
 self again in commercial activity. The reception of the 
 news was followed by similar rejoicings all along the coast, 
 and throughout the country. To add still more to the 
 happiness, as well as the gratification of the nation, in a 
 
THANKSGIVINGS — THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT CAPTURED. 639 
 
 few days was confirmed the rumor of the total defeat of ™£^- 
 the British before New Orleans. 
 
 The Senate unanimously ratified the treaty within 1815. 
 thirty hours after it was laid before them. The President 
 sjieedily issued a proclamation, announcing the fact, that 
 once more peace reigned throughout the land. A day for Feb. 
 thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing, was ob- 
 served by the nation. 
 
 The treaty provided for the mutual restoration of all 
 places taken during the war ; also for determining the 
 northern boundary, and other matters of minor importance 
 were amicably arranged. But not a word was said on the 
 impressment question, for the settlement of which the 
 war had ostensibly been continued after the first two 
 months. Both parties seem to have been heartily tired 
 of fighting ; though Great Britain wished to restrain 
 what she thought an alarming grasping spirit in the New 
 Kepublic, as e\'idenced in the acquisition of Louisiana and 
 the attempts on Canada. 
 
 A few days after the ratification of the treaty, the 
 President recommended to Congress the passage of a law 
 to guard against incidents which, during the periods of war 
 in Europe, might tend to interrupt peace, enjoining that 
 " American vessels be navigated exclusively by American 
 seamen, either natives or such as are already naturalized," 
 thus endeavoring to gain by legislation what could not be 
 obtained by war. Yet one object had been secured — we 
 hear no more of the impressment of American seamen. 
 
 Previous to the announcement of peace, the command- 
 ers of some of the national vessels determined to evade the 
 blockading enemy and escape to sea. Commodore De- Jan. 
 catur, on board the frigate President, commanding the ^^• 
 sloops Hornet and Peacock to follow, attempted to evade 
 the blockade of the port of New York. Passing out in 
 the night, after being imfortunately aground for some 
 
640 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, hours, in the morning he fell in with the British squadron, 
 1 by whom he was chased. One of the enemy, the frigate 
 
 1815. Endymion, commenced an engagement, hut after a run- 
 ning fight, she was effectually disabled, and fain to haul 
 off. The President unfortunately was also crijjpled, and 
 the other British vessels coming up, Decatur was com- 
 pelled to strike his colors. 
 
 A few days after, the Hornet and Peacock avoided the 
 blockade, and proceeded to their rendezvous, off the Cape 
 of Good Hope. On her way the Hornet, Captain Biddle, 
 
 Miir. fell in with and captured the British brig Penguin. The 
 latter was made a complete wreck, and as such was set on 
 fire. The Peacock joined her consort, and in company 
 they sailed to the Indian Ocean. The Hornet was soon 
 after chased by a British seventy-four, and in order to 
 escape, she was compelled to throw her guns and nearly 
 all her armament overboard, in which condition she re- 
 turned to New York. The Peacock, Captain Warring- 
 
 june ton, continued on to the East Indies, where she captured 
 
 30. the cruiser Nautilus. 
 
 The Constitution, Captain Stewart, also evaded the 
 blockade off Boston harlior. On a moonlight night she 
 fell in with two war vessels off' the port of Lisbon. They 
 prepared to engage, but the Constitution manoeuvred to 
 keep the wind at about an equal distance from her an- 
 
 Feb. tagonists. Captain Stewart, seizing a favorable ojjpor- 
 20- tunity, directed aU his force upon the vessel nearest, 
 which almost immediately struck ; then he captured the 
 other in a similar manner. The prizes proved to be the 
 British sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant. These captures 
 were all made after the articles of peace were signed. 
 
 Soon after the commencement of the war with Britain, 
 the Dey of Algiers, thinking the Americans would have 
 no means of punishing him, renewed his old practice of 
 piracy. Pretending to be dissatisfied with the presents 
 he had received from the American government, he dis- 
 
COMMODORE DECATUK HUMBLES THE DET OF ALGIERS. 641 
 
 missed Lear, the consul, threatening to reduce him and chap. 
 
 his family, and all the Americans in Algiers, to slavery, a J 1 
 
 fate which Lear escaped by paying a large ransom. Some 1815. 
 American vessels were afterward seized by the pirates, and 
 their crews reduced to slavery. 
 
 Two months after the conclusion of peace, an Ameri- 
 can squadron, under Decatur, consisting of three large 
 frigates and seven other vessels of war, sailed for the 
 Mediterranean. Six weeks later, Bainbridge followed Mav. 
 with the Independence, the new seventy-four, accompanied 
 by other war vessels ; on the way he was also joined by 
 the Congress frigate. But before his arrival in the Medi- 
 terranean, the energetic Decatur had brought the Dey 
 to terms. On the second day after passing through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar, he fell in with the largest frigate of 
 the Dey under his high Admiral, on a cruise for Ameri- 
 can merchantmen. After a fight of less than thirty 
 minutes the Algerine was captured ; two days after 
 another cruiser shared a similar fate. When the squadron 
 appeared before Algiers, the intelligence of these disasters, 
 by which he had lost his best ship, and six hundred men, 
 had greatly humbled the Dey. To escape a worse pun- 
 ishment, he gladly submitted to the indignity of signing, 
 on Decatur's quarter-deck, a humiliating treaty. He Jnno 
 bound liimself to make indemnities for his extortions ; to 
 surrender all his prisoners without ransom, and to re- 
 aounce all claim for tribute from the American govern- 
 ment, as well as his barbaroi;s practice of piracy and re- 
 ducing prisoners to slavery. 
 
 Decatur proceeded immediately to Tunis and Tripoli, 
 where he demanded and received indemnity for some 
 American vessels, at whose captures, in their harbors, by 
 the English, they had connived. Thus, in a few weeks, 
 these barbarians were taught a lesson which they have not 
 yet forgotten. When Bainbridge arrived, he found all 
 the difiicidties arranged. The united navy, consisting of 
 41 
 
642 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^W^- fourteen vessels, visited tlie principal ports of the Medi- 
 
 terranean. Their victories over the mistress of the ocean, 
 
 1815. secured them treatment manifesting high respect. 
 
 The autumn following the close of the war, a great 
 
 council of the North-western Indian trihes was held, at 
 
 which they made peace with each other. Afterward they 
 
 all made peace with the United States. Thus apprehen- 
 
 Sept. sions of future Indian hostilities were removed. 
 
 The war left the finances of the country in a very 
 confused state. The banks in existence, exceiat those in 
 New England, were unable to redeem their notes in specie, 
 and confidence in their promises to pay was wanting. The 
 national debt, in consequence of the war, was known to be 
 more than one hundred millions of doUars. In order to 
 remove some of the burdens resting upon the people, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, A. J. Dallas, proposed to remit 
 some of the internal taxes, which had been levied during 
 the last few years. Instead of which he advised the im- 
 position of duties on imports, not merely to secure a revenue, 
 but also to protect the manufactures which had sprung 
 into existence during the war. The President likewise, in 
 liis annual message, urged the adoption of such a poHcy. 
 
 To aid in rectifying the financial disorders in the 
 1817. country, Congress chartered, for twenty years, a National 
 ^j"*- Bank, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars. It 
 commenced oi^erations at Philadelj^hia, and, in connection 
 with its branches in other States, afforded the people a uni- 
 form currency redeemable at all times with gold and silver. 
 
 A bill designed to compel the local banks to paj- 
 specie was passed, ordering that aU dues to the government 
 should be paid in gold and silver, or " in treasury notes, 
 notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of banks 
 payable and paid on demand in specie." 
 
 The Territory of Indiana having adopted a constitu- 
 Sept. tion, presented herself for admission into the Union, and 
 was received. 
 
FITCH — FULTON THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 643 
 
 JoLn Fitch, an uneducated watchmaker of Philadel- C|i^- 
 
 phia, conceived the design of propelling boats by steam. 
 
 He applied to Congress for assistance, but, unfortunately, 1785. 
 was refused ; then, with a similar result, he applied to the 
 Spanish authorities of Louisiana. Some years later he 
 found means to construct a boat, and to make a trial trip 
 on the Delaware. The boat went at the rate of eight 
 miles an hour, but unfortunately the boiler exploded. One 
 disaster followed another, and poor John Fitch died, the 
 victim of disappointment, but full of faith that others 
 would yet perfect his invention : he desired to be buried 
 on the banks of the Ohio, that boats propelled by steam 
 might pass near his last resting place. In less than 
 twenty years after his death the steamer Clermont passed 
 up the Hudson from New York to Albany. 1807, 
 
 The Clermont was the work of Kobert Fulton, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, once a pupil of West, the painter. He 
 had a decided turn for mechanics, and had studied the sub- 
 ject many years in Europe, where he received pecuniary 
 aid and encouragement from Robert E. Livingston, then 
 American minister at Paris. 
 
 To American enterprise is due the honor of launching 
 the first steamboat and the first Ocean steamer — the 
 Savannah — that crossed the Atlantic. She left New York, 1818. 
 went to Savannah, and thence to Europe, where she was 
 an object of great interest. Twenty years later the -^P^il 
 British steamer Great Western came to New York in 
 fourteen days. 
 
 Madison's Administration, so full of important events, 
 drew to a close. James Monroe, also from Virginia, had 
 been elected his successor, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of 
 New York, Vice-President. The latter had been Governor 
 of that State, and in that capacity been most efficient 
 in aiding the country in the war just closed. At one time 
 he sustained the garrison of the city by his own private 
 credit. 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government. — The President's Tour 
 in the Eastern States. — The Colonization Society. — Revolutions in the 
 Spanish Colonies. — Indian War ; the Semiuolcs. — General Jackson in 
 the Field. — Purchase of Florida. — The Missouri Compromise. — Manu- 
 factures. — Increase of Tariff. — Visit of Lafayette. 
 
 CHAP. Since the close of the war, party distinctions were fast 
 
 J ^ losing their influence. In the minds of the great majority 
 
 1817. of the people, names were giving place to ideas. The na- 
 tion was prepared for the quiet revival of the leading prin- 
 ciples of Washington's administration. The people had 
 not in so many words thus formally decided; — ^but to return 
 to the policy of the earher days of the Grovemment seemed 
 the only means to remedy existing evils, and to guard 
 against their recurrence in the future. This may be said 
 in relation to the revenue as arising from commerce, the 
 finances, the policy toward foreign nations, and in the 
 means of national defence both by sea and land. 
 Mar. ipjjg jjg^ President in his inaugural fuUy indorsed these 
 
 doctrines, and they were echoed and re-echoed tlu-oughout 
 the land as the true policy, while some of the old Eepub- 
 licans characterized them as being veritable Federalism 
 under another name. The President pointed to th6 ex- 
 perience of the nation in the last struggle, and unhesi- 
 tatingly advised not only fortifications on the coast with 
 garrisons, but a navy strong enough to maintain the dig- 
 
THE president's TOUR COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 645 
 
 nity and neutrality of the United States, as well as pro- chap. 
 
 tect commerce ; he also recommended that a knowledge 
 
 of naval and military science should be kept up. In ad- 1817. 
 dition, that domestic manufactures be protected by im- 
 posts on foreign merchandise, and also, internal improve- • 
 ments be aided by the national government, if such ex- 
 penditure was in accordance with the spirit of the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 Though professing to be much gratified that the party 
 spirit lately so rampant was allayed, the President took 
 good care to appoint none but his most devoted adherents 
 to the offices within his gift. John Quincy Adams was 
 recalled from the court of St. James to become Secretary 
 of State. The other members of his cabinet were Wil- 
 Ham H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ; 
 Crowningshield of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; 
 John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, and William Wirt, 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 The President, some months after his inauguration, 
 made a tour through the Eastern States. The sentiments 
 of his address had become diffused, and prepared the way 
 for his receiving a warm reception in the Federal town of 
 Boston, and throughout New England generally. It was 
 enthusiastically proclaimed that the people were once 
 more to be harmonious in their views of national policy. 
 
 During the following session of Congress the American 
 Colonization Society was formed at Washington. It was 
 designed to provide a home beyond the limits of the 
 United States for the free people of color who should de- 
 sire to emigrate. The condition of these people in the 
 slaveholding States, as well as the laws in some of the 
 others, that forbade their settling within their borders, led 
 to the formation of the Society. The enterprise was 
 ardently advocated by Henry Clay, Judge Washington, 
 John Eandolph, and other southern statesmen. This So- 
 
646 HISTOBT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 XLVi ^^^^y established the uow flourishing Colony of Liberia on 
 the west coast of Africa. 
 
 1817. 
 
 The influence of the Kevolution had not been without 
 efi'ect upon other nations. The Spanish colonies of South 
 America threw ofi" their allegiance to the mother country, 
 and declared themselves independent. Under the pre- 
 tence of having commissions from these new Eepublics, 
 a company of adventurers, jjrincipally drawn from Charles- 
 ton and Savannah, seized Amelia Island, ofl' the harbor 
 of St. Augustine. These worthies soon began to smuggle 
 merchandise and slaves into the United States. Yet, as 
 a cloak to their deeds, they proclaimed they were block- 
 ading the port of St. Augustine. A similar haunt for 
 buccaneers had existed for some time at Galveston in 
 Texas. Both these establishments were broken up by 
 order of the United States Government. 
 
 The condition of the South American republics excited 
 great sympathy in the minds of the people. Some were 
 advocates for giving them aid, while others were anxious 
 that Congress should, at least, acknowledge their independ- 
 ence. In defiance of the President's proclamation to the 
 contrary, cruisers, bearing the flag of these Republics, were 
 fitted out in some of the ports of the United States to 
 prey upon Spanish commerce. 
 
 These difficulties, combined with other causes, led to 
 a new Indian war in the South. Numbers of Seminoles, 
 refugee Creeks, and runaway negroes, living in the Span- 
 ish Territory, south of Flint river, began to pillage the 
 Georgia settlements north of that river. General Gaines, 
 who was in command at the nearest fort, demanded that 
 these murderers and robbers should be given up. The 
 Indians refused, on the ground that they were not the ag- 
 gressors. Soon after a collision occurred, in which several 
 Nov. Indians were killed. Their death was terribly revenged 
 ^•^^ upon the people on board a boat ascending the Apalachi- 
 
 5 
 i 
 
I 
 
 JACKSON SUBDUES THE INDIANS — PURCHASE OF FLORIDA. 647 
 
 cola, with sui:)plies for Fort Scott. More than forty per- ^^^^■ 
 
 sons, consisting of men, women, and children, were mas- 
 
 sacred. The War Department ordered General Jackson 1817. 
 to invade the Indian Territory, and "hring the war to a 
 speedy and effectual close." In three mouths he was on 
 the ground, with an army composed of Georgians and 
 Tennesseeans. He moved to the vicinity of where Talla- 
 hassee now stands ; the savages made little resistance, hut 
 abandoned their towns, and their cattle and grain. With 
 his usual energy, Jackson pressed on, and, without cere- 
 mony, seized St. Mark's, on Appalachee Bay, the only Mar. 
 Spanish fort in that part of Florida, on the ground that 
 its officers were aiding and abetting the Indians in their 
 hostilities to the United States. One of the American 
 armed vessels on the coast hoisted British colors, and two 
 of the hostile Creek cliiefs were decoyed on board. These 
 chiefs Jackson unceremoniously hanged. On one of the April, 
 incursions against the enemy, two British subjects, Robert 
 C. Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, traders among 
 the Indians, were taken prisoners. These two men were 
 put on trial for their lives before a court-martial, on the 
 charge of aiding the Indians. They were found guilty 
 and sentenced to death, and immediately executed. The 
 measure was much censured as unnecessary and unwar- 
 ranted. Notwithstanding the protest of the Spanish 
 governor against his invasion of Florida, Jackson soon ap- 
 peared before Pensacola, which place surrendered. The 
 governor in the mean time fled to a fort further down the Mnj-. 
 bay, and finally to Havana. 
 
 These arbitrary proceedings were protested against by 
 Don Onis, the Spanish Minister at Washington. The 
 matter however was not pressed, as negotiations were soon 
 after entered upon to jDurchase the territory in dispute. 
 
 American citizens had claims amounting to five mil- 
 lions of dollars against the Spanish government. Don 
 Onis received instructions from home, that authorized 
 
648 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, him to cede Florida to tlie United States for these claims. 
 
 The purchase was thus made, the American Government 
 
 1821. assuming the debt. Two years later Spain ratified the 
 Treaty. Florida was then organized as a Territory, and 
 General Jackson was appointed its first Governor. 
 
 The American people have never been indifferent to 
 the political as well as the moral aspects of slavery. 
 From the adoption of the Constitution till the time of 
 which we write, the conscience and the sympathy of the 
 religious portion of the nation, both North and South, 
 found their expression on the subject in memorials ad- 
 dressed to their ecclesiastical assemblies, whose resolutions 
 in reply condemned the system. 
 
 1787. The Continental Congress legislated specially on the 
 
 subject in adopting the ordinance by which the region 
 north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi was conse- 
 
 1790. crated to freedom. During the second session of the First 
 Congress, petitions were presented to that body, praying 
 it to take measures to free the nation of the system. The 
 committee to whom these memorials were referred, re- 
 ported that Congress was not authorized by the Constitu- 
 tion to interfere with slavery as existing in the individual 
 States. In accordance with this view, that body has ever 
 acted, when disposing of the numerous memorials on the 
 subject that have, from time to time, been presented to it. 
 The Northern States, for a quarter of a century, had 
 been gradually freeing themselves of the institution, or 
 making jn-ovisiou to that effect, while in the Southern 
 States a different sentiment had been on the increase. 
 The acquisition of Louisiana had given to them a vast 
 region in which .slave labor was profitable, especially in 
 the cultivation of cotton. These antagonist opinions 
 were suddenly brought into collision, and a strong sectional 
 
 \?^,^' feeling was elicited. 
 
 r CO. 
 
 16. The territory of Missouri asked permission to form a 
 
 
DEBATES ON THE EESTEICTION OF SLAVERY. 649 
 
 constitution, preparatory to her admission into the Union S^^^- 
 as a State. When the question was before tlie House of 
 
 Kepresentatives, James W. Tallmadge, a member from 1819. 
 New York, proposed to insert a clause, prohibiting the 
 further introduction of slaves into the territory, and also 
 another clause granting freedom to the children of slaves 
 already there, when they should attain the age of twenty- 
 five years. 
 
 After a spirited debate both these propositions were 
 adopted. The day following the passage of this bill came . 
 up a similar one to organize the Territory of Arkansas. 
 This bill, after a strenuous effort to insert similar clauses, 
 was finally passed without any restriction as to slavery. 
 
 The States admitted into the Union, since the adop- 
 tion of the Constitution, had happened to come in alter- 
 nately as non-slaveholding, and as slaveholding — Vermont 
 and Kentucky ; Tennessee and Ohio ; Louisiana and In- 
 diana ; Mississippi and Illinois. As Alabama had ap- 
 plied for admission as a slave State, it was urged that 
 Missouri should be admitted as free. This proposition 
 soon lost its force by the application of Maine, the north- 
 eastern part of Massachusetts, presenting herself to be 
 admitted as a free State. Here was an offset to Alabama, 
 leaving Missouri to make the next slave State. 
 
 In the consideration of these bills the subject of 
 slavery restriction in the territories came up for discussion. 
 The members from the Southern States insisted that any 
 restriction upon Missouri would violate the pledge given 
 to the inhabitants of Louisiana, at the time of its pur- 
 chase, that they should enjoy " all the privileges of citi- 
 zens of the United States ; " that such a restriction 
 would eventually interfere with State rights ; that the 
 citizens of slaveholding States had the right to take their 
 property into the territories of the Union. It was urged 
 that it would be an act of humanity and a blessing to 
 the poor slave, whose lot was so hard in the old exhausted 
 
650 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^•^P- States, to transfer him to the fertile plains of the west ; 
 . that this would only he the diffusion of the system, but 
 
 1819. not its extension, as the number of slaves would not be 
 increased thereby ; and that the i^rohibition of slavery 
 would diminish emigration from the South into the ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 To these arguments it was replied : it was true that 
 Congress was forbidden by the Constitution to interfere 
 with slavery in the original thirteen States, but that this 
 did not apply to the territories. They were the property 
 of the Union, and Congress had the control of their or- 
 ganization. Would Congress be justified in spreading 
 over them an institution which even its advocates on the 
 floor of the house had again and again deplored as an evil ? 
 
 It was contended that slave labor and free labor could 
 not coexist on the same soil ; and should the introduction 
 of a few thousands of slaves exclude millions of freemen 
 from the territories ? ' 
 
 The debate was conducted with great animation, 
 mingled with much bitterness, and threats to dissolve the 
 Union. The intense excitement was not limited to the 
 National Legislature ; it extended throughout the country, 
 and it was by no means diminished by the speeches made 
 on the subject on the floor of Congress, nor by the fact, 
 which the discussion revealed, that during the previous 
 year more than fourteen thousand slaves had been smug- 
 gled into the United States, from Africa and the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The legislatures of some of the Northern States ex- 
 pressed their wish that slavery should not go beyond the 
 Mississippi, while the people held conventions and me- 
 morialized Congress. Opposite views were as strongly 
 expressed by some of the Southern States. Thus the 
 country was agitated for nearly two years, and the difii- 
 
 ' The Debates in Congress, Nilcs's Register, Vols 16, IV, and 18. 
 
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 651 
 
 ciUty was still unsettled. When the bill came before the chap. 
 Senate, Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois moved as an amend- 
 
 ment, a clause forbidding the introduction of slavery into 1820. 
 the Louisiana Territory north of thirty-six degrees and 
 thirty minutes north latitude, and west of the proposed 
 State of Missouri. This was the line of the famous Mis- 
 souri Compromise. The House, however, would not at 
 first agree to this arrangement ; but finally, through means 
 of a committee of conference, Maine was admitted, and 
 Missouri, on these conditions, after she should adopt a 
 constitution. 
 
 The following year, when the constitution of Missouri 
 was presented to Congress, it was found to contain a 
 clause that prohibited free people of color from settling in 
 the State. Though this clause " was adopted for the 
 sake of peace — for the sake of internal tranquillity — and to 
 prevent the agitation of the slave question," ■ yet it was 
 viewed far difi'erently in Congress, and was the occasion 
 of opening the restriction question with all its bitterness. 
 The insertion of the offensive clause, under the circum- 
 stances, seemed to manifest as little regard for the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, as respect for the opinions of 
 those opposed to the extension of slavery. The citizens 
 of any one State were, by the Constitution, entitled to 
 the privileges of citizens in the other States. Free people 
 of color were thus recognized in some of the States, but 
 by this clause they were deprived of their rights. Another 
 committee of conference, of which Henry Clay was the 
 prime mover, was appointed by the Senate and House of 
 Kepresentatives. The difficulty was again compromised 
 by which Missouri was to be admitted on the express con- 
 dition that she would expunge the obnoxious clause, and 
 then the President was authorized to admit her by procla- 
 mation. The Missouri Legislature complied, and the fact 
 
 ' Benton's Thii-ty Years' View, Vol. i. p. 8. 
 
652 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, -was communicated to the President, who proclaimed her 
 admission to the family of States. Thus the slavery agi- 
 
 1821. tation was allayed for a time, but the same question, 
 "^" under different phases, has returned again and again, and 
 will no doubt continue thus to do till the conscience of 
 the nation is fully satisfied on the subject — for questions 
 involving the moral and political relations of so many mil- 
 lions cannot be lightly passed over. 
 
 A new interest was awakened in behalf of the South 
 American Eepublics. Great efforts had been made by 
 Henry Clay, during their struggle, to induce Congress to 
 acknowledge their independence, but it was then thought 
 
 Mar. premature ; now the bill was passed. The next year the 
 "''' President declared in his message that " as a principle the 
 American Continents, by the free and independent posi- 
 tion which they have assumed and maintained, are hence- 
 forth not to be considered as subjects for future coloniza- 
 tion by any Etirojiean power." This has since been 
 known as the Monroe Doctrine, though its authorship, it 
 would seem, belongs rather to his Secretary of State, John 
 Quincy Adams. 
 
 Great financial distress j^revailed during this period 
 throughout the land. The immense amount of foreign, 
 especially English, merchandise sent, at reduced prices, 
 into the country, paralyzed its industry. These goods 
 were thus sent for the express purpose of ruining the 
 American manufactures, called into existence by the 
 necessities of the war — an object which they effectually 
 accomplished. The distress of the people, reacted upon 
 the general government. "When they refused to buy, be- 
 cause unable to jiay, the importations fell off, and as a 
 consequence, the revenue was so diminished that the 
 government, from necessity, resorted to loans in order to 
 obtain means of defraying its current expenses. The 
 general distress was not a little increased by the measures 
 of the National Bank. Indeed no confidence could be 
 
THE VISIT OF LAFATETTE. 653 
 
 placed in the banks except those of New England, which ^^:^,^- 
 
 redeemed their notes in specie when presented, whUe 
 
 those in other parts of the Union became bankrupt. The 1824. 
 density of the population of the New England States 
 enabled them to engage with advantage in manufactures, 
 and also in shipping, and the coasting trade, which was 
 especially profitable. For these reasons they withstood 
 the financial crisis, whUe the agricultural and manufactur- 
 ing interests of the other States were overwhelmed. 
 
 The country, by its own innate energy, began to re- 
 cover from these financial difficulties. As a means to 
 accomjjlish that desirable object, an increase of tariff was 
 imjiosed on imported merchandise, thus to protect do- 
 mestic industry from undue foreign comjietition, to create 
 a diversity of pursuits, and develop the resources of the 
 nation. 
 
 Congress also manifested its sense of justice by mak- 
 ing provision for the wants of the surviving ofiicers and 1818. 
 soldiers of the Kevolution, and for the widows and orphans 
 of those deceased. 
 
 The last year of Monroe's administration was signal- 
 ized by an event highly gratifying to the people, an event 
 linking the past with the present, the days of conflict and 
 trial with the days of peace and prosperity. The vener- 
 able Lafayette came to the United States, the invited 
 guest of the nation. Around every fireside tradition had '' 
 fondly cherished his memory, and the people loved him as 
 the noble and generous stranger who, in the days of their 
 fathers, had sacrificed his fortune and shed his blood in 
 their country's cause. They vied with each other in do- 
 ing him honor. His journey from State to State was one 
 continued triumphal 2)rocession; compared with this sponta- 
 neous expression of a nation's gratitude, how insignificant 
 the proudest triumph of Roman consul or emperor ! The 
 vessel designated to carry him home was the new frigate 
 Brandywine, a name — given by the new President, John 
 
654 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Quincy Adams — that conveyed a delicate compliment, as 
 
 on the banks of that little stream he was wounded in his 
 
 1825. first battle in the cause of American freedom. The 
 American people wished to manifest still further their 
 sense of obligation, and Congress conferred upon him two 
 hundred thousand dollars and a township of land. 
 
 When the time came to choose a successor to Monroe — 
 now in his second term — four candidates were put in 
 nomination ; John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, General 
 Jackson, and William H. Crawford. No one of the can- 
 didates received a majority of the popular vote, and the 
 election devolved upon the House of Kepresentatives, by 
 whom Adams was chosen. John C. Calhoun had been 
 chosen Vice-President by the popular vote. 
 
 This election gave the death-blow to the custom of 
 nominating candidates for the Presidency by a caucus 
 held by certain members of Congress. Previous to this, 
 for twenty-four successive years, the candidates had been 
 thus nominated, and consequently chosen from a single 
 State. 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 JOHN QUIXCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Manufactures and Internal ImproTements. — Indian Lands in Georgia. — 
 Death of the ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. — Free 
 Masonry. — Protection to American Industry. — Debates in Congress. — 
 Presidential Contest. 
 
 The new President invited able and experienced men to ^^^: 
 
 form his cabinet, at the head of which was Henry Clay, 
 
 as Secretary of State. This administration was one of 1825. 
 remarkable prosperity ; the nation was gradually advanc- 
 ing in wealth and happiness, gaining strength at home, 
 and securing more and more of the respect of nations 
 abroad. Every branch of industry was increasing in pros- 
 perity ; agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. 
 
 Numerous companies had been formed for the purpose 
 of making iron nails, and also for the manufacture of 1815. 
 broadcloths, though the latter were soon involved in ruin 
 by " a deluge of English cloths." In those days fine wool 
 was worth a dollar and a half a pound, while badly made 
 broadcloth cost from eight to twelve dollars a yard. 
 
 The wars of Europe opened a wide field for enterprise 
 in the carrying trade. American genius and art produced 
 the style of ship known as the clipper. These far out- 
 stripped aU others in sailing ; they made rapid voyages, 
 and, what was important in those days, they were able 
 very often to evade the French and English cruisers. At 
 first, the United States had but little of their own products 
 

 656 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to send to the old world, but presently Eli Whitney in- 
 vented the cotton-gin, by ■which the seed was separated 
 
 1793. from the cotton, and that gradually became the most im- 
 portant article of export. 
 
 The great National Road — the work of the General 
 Government — extending across the Alleghany Mountains, 
 from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, on the Ohio, 
 and to be continued to the Mississippi, had just been 
 
 1820. completed, at an expense of one million seven hundred 
 thousand dollars. It was commenced in Jefferson's ad- 
 ministration, and had been fourteen years in building. 
 Its beneficial effects upon the country were very great, in 
 thus connecting the valley of the Ohio with the seaboard. 
 A still more important work was also finished — the 
 
 1825. Erie Canal, uniting the Hudson and the waters of the 
 great lakes. It was the work of the State of New York, 
 and was completed after a labor of eight years. The pro- 
 ject was at first deemed visionary and impracticable ; 
 but owing principally to the energy of De Witt Clinton, 
 privately, as well as a member of the Legislature and as 
 Governor, the work was carried through. The completion 
 and success of these improvements encouraged the con- 
 struction of others in various parts of the Union — one, 
 
 1832. the Ohio Canal, from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. The 
 first railway was the Quincy, in Massachusetts, designed 
 
 1827. to transport granite to the sea-shore. The first locomo- 
 tive used in the United States was on the Hudson and 
 
 1832. Mohawk Railroad. 
 
 A difficult question arose in relation to the removal of 
 the Creeks and the Cherokees, from their lands in Georgia 
 and Alabama, to the region beyond the Mississippi. 
 Georgia claimed jurisdiction over the Indians within her 
 territory. Originally claiming the region west of her 
 1802. boundary, she ceded it to the United States, on condition 
 that the latter should, by purchase, extinguish the title 
 
 "1 
 
 1 
 
I 
 
 DEATH OF EX-PKESIDENTS JEFFEESON AND ADAMS. 657 
 
 of the Indian lauds reserved within her own limits. The chap. 
 
 national government promised to fulfil its part of the 
 
 agreement " as early as the same conld he peaceably oh- 1825. 
 tained on reasonable terms." Twenty-five years had 
 passed, and these titles had not been purchased. The 
 Indians were not willing to sell their territory. However, 
 a treaty had been recently made by some of the chiefs, 
 who ceded the lands, but the great majority of the Indians 
 declared these chiefs had no authority to sell the property 
 of the nation. Thus, according to the original contract, 
 the national government could not extinguish the Indian 
 titles. 
 
 The government cancelled this treaty, but the State 
 of Georgia determined to enforce it. The latter sent sur- 
 veyors into the Indian country, to divide the lands into 
 portions suitable for farms, before distributing them by 
 lottery to the citizens of the State. The Federal govern- 
 ment took the part of the poor Indians, and the President 
 proclaimed that he would euforce the laws committed to 
 his trust, while Troup, the bellicose Governor of Georgia, 
 wrote to the Secretary of War : "From the first decisive 
 act of hostility, you will be considered and treated as a 
 public enemy." The matter for the present was adjusted 
 by the Creeks consenting to dispose of their lands, and to 
 emigrate. Kather than be thus harassed they were will- 
 ing to remove from their happy homes, and give up their 
 hopes of civilization. 
 
 This year was marked by the deaths of two dis- 
 tinguished men, whose names are identified with the 
 history of the government — John Adams and Thomas 
 Jefferson. Both were men of liberal education, and both 
 chose the profession of the law ; both had been consistent 
 and strenuous advocates of national independence, and 
 were upon the committee which proposed that famous 
 declaration. The one drew it up, and the other was its 
 most efficient supporter ; both signed it ; both had been 
 42 
 
658 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 XLvfi *^° foreign missions ; both were first Vice-Presidents, and 
 then became Presidents. " They ended their earthly 
 
 1826. career at the same time and in the same way ; in the 
 regular course of nature, in the rejDose and tranquillity of 
 retirement, in the bosoms of their families, on the soil 
 which their labors had contributed to make free," and 
 within a few hours of each other, on the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of American independence. 
 
 A certain William Morgan, of Western New York, a 
 member of the society of Free Masons, suddenly disap- 
 peared, he having been seized and forcibly carried ofi". 
 
 Sept. He liad proposed to publish a book revealing the secrets 
 of the order, some of whose members were charged with his 
 murder. The affair created a great excitement, which led 
 to the formation of a political party, whose avowed object 
 was to exclude Free Masons from office. In several of 
 the States the party polled a large number of votes, but 
 in a year or two it disappeared. 
 
 The manufacturing interests were still laboring to sus- 
 tain themselves against foreign competition. The senti- 
 ment prevailed, especially in the northern States and in 
 some of the southern, that measures should be taken to 
 protect the industry of the nation. In accordance with 
 this view, a convention of delegates from twenty-two 
 
 y , States of the Union assembled at Harrisburg, in Pennsyl- 
 
 1827. vania. Four of the slave States did not send delegates. 
 
 The Convention memorialized Congress to grant pro- 
 tection to American industry ; to impose a tariff on im- 
 ported goods, sufficiently high to shield American pro- 
 ducers of the same articles from the ruinous effects of 
 foreign competition ; and they also asked that this policy 
 should be fixed, and thus give stabihty to the enterprise 
 of the country. Capital would not be invested in domes- 
 tic manufactures, if they were liable at any time to be 
 ruined either by the combination of foreign competitors 
 
THE TARIFF DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 659 
 
 or by change of policy at home. The people of New chap. 
 
 England had comiilained of these changes. Their climate '_ 
 
 and soil forbade their becoming rivals of their sister States 1828. 
 in agriculture, and their industry had been turned into 
 other channels, especially those of commerce and the 
 fisheries. Upon them had fallen nearly all the losses 
 inflicted by the cruisers of France and England, and yet 
 they had been more discouraged and had suffered more 
 loss by the embargoes and other restrictions of their own 
 government. During this period, the central position of 
 New York had been gradually drawing to herself much of 
 the commerce and shipping that once belonged to Boston. 
 A territory so extensive, and climates so diverse, brought 
 into existence many kinds of industry that were liable to 
 be injured or ruined by foreign competition. At first 
 New England was opposed to the policy of protection, 
 and the Middle and Southern States were in its favor. 
 Now this was reversed. New England had been forced 
 to adapt her industry to the change of national policy, 
 while the South had changed her views. 
 
 Said Webster, when this bill was under discussion in 
 Congress : " New England held back and labored to re- 
 strain the General Government from the adoption of this 
 policy, but when it was adopted she then adapted herself 
 to it, and turned herself to manufactures, but now just as 
 she is successful, another change is to be brought about, 
 and she set adrift in another direction." 
 
 The South, on the other hand, expected to reap the 
 harvest, not merely from the exports of the raw material, 
 but also a due share of the profits arising from manu- 
 factures. She was disappointed in seeing northern towns 
 becoming cities, and southern cities decaying ; the North 
 a money lender, the South a borrower. Before the Revo- 
 lution she was pre-eminently the richest part of the 
 colonies, a position which she fully expected to retain 
 after that period. Hers were the only exports fiom the 
 
660 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, land ; the North was dependent upon commerce and fish- 
 
 eries ; both precarious. Since the Kevolution, the South 
 
 1828. had exported more in vah;e than three times all that the 
 mines of Mexico had produced for the same period, yet 
 she did not prosper. This effect she attributed to the 
 protective tariffs of the National Government. She failed 
 to notice that this decline began before these tariffs were 
 May imposed. Other causes aided in the result.' A bill 
 passed Congress, imposing higher duties upon cottons and 
 woollens, and also other foreign articles, which would come 
 into competition with those of domestic origin. The dis- 
 satisfaction felt in South Carolina led, two years after, to 
 the open avowal on her part, of the doctrine of nullifica- 
 tion and secession, based upon the ground that the act 
 was unconstitutional. 
 
 The contest for the office of President was between 
 Adams and General Jackson. The '' era of good feeling" 
 had passed away, and party lines were stringently drawn. 
 The spirit of the contest was more violent than ever be- 
 fore ; and the whole nation seemed moved to its very 
 centre. The denunciation of the candidates and their 
 principles was, on both sides, unjust, unreasonable and 
 disgraceful. The choice fell upon Jackson as President, 
 and Calhoun as Vice-President. The election over, the 
 excitement calmed down. This fact, as usual, was ad- 
 duced as an evidence of the stabihty of our institutions, 
 and of the willingness of the people to submit to the will 
 of the majority. Yet who does not lament such exhi- 
 bitions of party strife, or their demoralizing effects .'' 
 
 The nation had never been in a condition so pros- 
 perous as at this time. The national debt was much 
 diminished, and a surplus of more than five millions 
 of dollars was in the public treasury. The blessings 
 of peace had been showered upon the land, and it was 
 rejoicing in prosperity and abundance — the rewards of 
 active industry. 
 
 ' Benton's Thirty Years' View, Chap, xxxiv., Vol. i. 
 
CHAPTEE XLVIII. 
 
 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Appointments to OiJice. — Removal of the Indians from Georgia. — Bank of 
 the United States. — Hayne and Webster's Debate. — NulUfication. — The 
 Compromise Bill ; its final Passage. — Removal of the Deposits. — 
 Effect upon the Country. — Indian Wars. — Black Hawk ; Osceola. — In- 
 demnity for French Spoliations. 
 
 The new President nominated the members of his cabi- chap. 
 
 XLVIII 
 net, at the head of which he placed Martin Van Buren ; ; 
 
 as Secretary of State. Tlie Postmaster-General was now 1829. 
 for the first time admitted as a Cabinet Officer. 
 
 The President professed to take the Constitution as 
 the chart by which he should be governed in fulfilling the 
 duties of his office ; rather, it woidd seem, as he himself 
 understood it, than as expounded by the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. His vigorous arm was immediately 
 exerted in favor of his political friends, and this gave to 
 his administration a decided partisan character. The 
 former Presidents, during a period of forty-four years, had 
 removed sixty-four persons from office ; during his rule 
 of eight years, Jackson removed six hundred and ninety, 
 and put in their places his political friends. These sweep- 
 ing removals secured ardent partisans, as well as produced 
 bitter opponents ; but regardless of either friend or foe, 
 the President pursued the course he had marked out, with 
 liis wonted determination. 
 
662 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 v^m^T During his administration, an unusual number of ex- 
 
 citing questions came up for consideration, and the many 
 
 1829. interests thus involved affected the people in every State 
 in the Union. The first important measure, was the re- 
 moval of the Cherokee Indians from the State of Georgia. 
 They had been protected by the General Government, 
 under Adams. The Supreme Court of the United States 
 had decided in their favor, and against the action of the 
 State ; but that decision had little influence with the 
 President. He did not rebuke the State, when she be- 
 gan to drive them from their homes, and to distribute 
 their lands, many of them cultivated farms, among her 
 own citizens. He sent General Scott with trooj^s to re- 
 move them, and his kindness and persuasions induced 
 them to migrate peacefully ; yet with lamentations, they 
 1883. took leave of " the beloved land." 
 
 Their sacrifices as a people were very great, not only 
 in the loss of property, but in the check given to their 
 industrial and moral progress. The self-denying labors 
 of missionaries and teachers had enabled them to advance 
 rapidly toward a Christianized civilization. They derived 
 their sustenance from their own cultivated fiields ; they 
 clothed themselves almost entirely with the fiibrics which 
 their women sjiun and wove ; they lived in settled habi- 
 tations, some of wood and some of brick ; they made 
 provision for the education of their children — five hun- 
 dred of whom were in schools — besides endowing a Na- 
 tional Academy for the youth further advanced. They 
 also established a newspaper, printed partly in English, 
 and partly in their own language. " We hope," said 
 they, "that with God's blessing the time will soon come 
 when the words war-whoop and scalping-knife will be 
 heard no more." 
 
 Two of their missionaries, the Rev. S. A. Worcester 
 and Dr. Ehsur Butler, were ruthlessly imprisoned in the 
 penitentiary by the authority of the State of Georgia, 
 
 \ 
 
UNITED STATES BANK — FOOX'S RESOLUTION. 663 
 
 though they acted in accordance with the law of the land, chap. 
 
 as interi:)reted by the Supreme Court of the United States, . 
 
 in refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the State. 1829. 
 
 Chief Justice Marshall, in pronouncing the opinion of 
 the court, declared the act of the State to be " repugnant to 
 the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States ; 
 and therefore void, and ought to be reversed and annulled," 
 and the prisoners discharged. Yet these men obtained 
 no redress on their appeal to the General Government, 
 either for themselves or the Indians. 
 
 When at length liberated from prison, the missionaries 
 accompanied the Indians to their distant homes beyond 
 the Mississippi, there to labor for their good. 
 
 The President, in his first message to Congress, inti- 
 mated his hostility to the Bank of the United States, and 
 his design of refusing his signature to any bill renewing its 
 charter. 
 
 However, when the stockholders of the Bank applied 
 to Congress, a bill to renew its charter passed both Houses, 
 and the President refused to sign it. He gave, as a reason, 
 his opinion that Congress had no constitutional authority 
 to charter such an institution, and moreover he deemed it 
 inexpedient to continue the Bank. 
 
 As the bill could not obtain the requisite two-thirds 
 vote to become a law, the Bank was forced to close its 
 affairs, when its charter should expire. 183G. 
 
 Senator Foot, of Connecticut, submitted a resolution of 
 inquiry as to the disposal of the public lands. The de- 1830. 
 bate on the resolution took a wide range, in the course of 
 which the young and brilliant Senator, Robert Y. Hayne, 
 of South Carolina, avowed the opinion that any State had 
 a right, as a sovereign power, to declare null and void any 
 act of Congress, which that State deemed unconstitutional. 
 This was the first time that the doctrine of nullijication 
 
664 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, had been openly maintained in the councils of the nation — 
 
 the sentiments rather of Calhoun the Vice-President than 
 
 1832. of the speaker himself: a doctrine based upon the as- 
 sumption that the National Government was a compact 
 between the States, and that any of them coidd at pleas- 
 ure recede from the Union. 
 
 Daniel Webster at once pointed out the injurious re- 
 sults to the Union if these principiles were acted upon. 
 
 This debate, continued for several days, and not only from 
 the masterly manner in which it was conducted, but from 
 the influence it exerted upon the minds of the American 
 people, was one of the most important that ever occurred 
 in the Halls of Congress. Webster clearly exposed the 
 fallacy of the argument adduced to prove that the Na- 
 tional Government was a compact of sovereign, independ- 
 ent States ; or that any of them were at liberty to with- 
 draw from the Union, without the consent of the others. On 
 the contrary, he urged that the Constitution was the work of 
 the people themselves, not as members of each independent 
 State, but as members of all the States ; and that the 
 Supreme Court was the tribunal authorized to decide in 
 cases of conflict between the States and the General 
 Government. Says the venerable Chancellor Kent in 
 reference to the discussion, and especially Webster's 
 speech : " It turned the attention of the public to the 
 great doctrines of national rights and national union. 
 Constitutional law was rescued from the archives of our 
 tribunals and the libraries of our lawyers, placed under 
 the eye, and submitted to the judgment of the American 
 people." And heartily did they respond to the sentiment 
 that the " Union must be preserved." The importance 
 of the sidDJect awakened an intense interest in the nation, 
 and the reports of the discussion were read and commented 
 upon by millions. This debate really settled the question 
 of nulhficatiou ; and its influence upon the public mind 
 
REVISION OF THE TAEIFF — NULLIFICATION. 665 
 
 created a moral power wliich gave a death-blow to the char 
 
 dangerous design then in existence. 
 
 1832. 
 
 Congress, in revising the tariff, instead of diminishing, 
 increased the duties on many articles. This gave still July- 
 greater offence to the cotton-growing States, who com- 
 plained, that they in consequence paid exorbitant prices, 
 especially for cottons and woollens. The question be- 
 came in some respects a sectional one. The North on the 
 one hand had accommodated her industry to manufac- 
 tures ; she had acquired skill, and was imwilling to sac- 
 rifice this and also an immense amount of invested 
 capital. She thought it unjust that her interests should 
 be injured, if not ruined, by a change of the policy under 
 which she had been compelled to turn her attention to 
 that particular sphere of industry. On the other hand, 
 the South, pointing to her exhausted fields, especially in 
 the Atlantic States, and their diminution of population, 
 exclaimed : See what the tariff has done ! Says McDuf&e 
 of South Carolina, on the floor of Congress : " Look, sir, at 
 the present aspect of the Southern States. In no part of 
 Europe will you see the same indications of decay. De- 
 serted vUlages, houses falling to ruin, impoverished lands 
 thrown out of cultivation." The reason that the South 
 did not derive benefit from the imposition of a tariff was 
 admitted by Hayne himself " The slaves," said he in 
 the Senate, " are too improvident, too incapable of minute, 
 constant, delicate attention, and the persevering industry 
 which is essential to the success of manufacturing estab- 
 lishments." Similar sentiments were expressed by other 
 members of Congress. 
 
 The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina 
 were the most opposed to the measure, but only the latter 
 took the responsibility of openly resisting the collection 
 of duties imposed by this law of Congress. She published 
 an ordinance to that effect, and denied the authority of 
 
666 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 linn *^^ General Groverninent to enforce what she deemed an 
 
 unconstitutional law. 
 
 1833. The President immediately issued a proclamation, 
 
 moderate in its language but determined in tone. In 
 plain terms he expressed his views upon the subject, and 
 intimated that he would vindicate the power intrusted to 
 his hands. He appealed " to the understanding and 
 patriotism of the people of the State, and warned them 
 of the consequences that must inevitably result from 
 obeying the dictates of the convention," which had ad- 
 vised resistance to the law. 
 
 Previous to this, Calhoun had resigned the vice-presi- 
 dency, and now appeared in the Senate in the place of 
 Hayne, who had retired to take the office of Governor of 
 South Carolina, and who now replied to the President by 
 .j^" a counter proclamation. He warned the people of the 
 State against " the dangerous and pernicious doctrines " 
 in that document, and called upon them to disregard 
 " those vain menaces " of military force, " to be fully pre- 
 pared to sustain the dignity and protect the liberties of 
 the State, if need be, with their lives and fortunes." 
 
 Nothing daunted. South Carolina j^i'oclaimed herself 
 hostile to the Union, and resolved to maintain her rights 
 as a Sovereign State, by organizing troops and providing 
 munitions of war. Meantime her Legislature passed laws 
 which forbade the collection of United States revenue 
 within her boundaries ; and intimated that if an attempt 
 was made by the General Government to enforce the col- 
 lection of such duties, she would exercise her right to 
 secede from the Union, and " forthwith proceed to organ- 
 ize a separate government." The attitude of the State 
 was imjiosing and resolute. But the President was 
 equally as decided in his measures to enforce the laws. 
 Soon a national vessel, with troops on board, appeared in 
 the harbor of Charleston ; they came to aid the officers 
 in the collection of the revenue. The State receded from 
 
Mar. 
 3. 
 
 THE COMPROMISE BILL — ITS FINAL PASSAGE. 667 
 
 her defiant position, and the storm calmed down ; the ™ar 
 
 famous Tariff Compromise, just passed by Congress, fur- '. 
 
 nished a convenient reason for that act of prudence. 1833. 
 
 Henry Clay was the principal author of the measure, 
 and to him belongs the honor of introducing it into the 
 Senate. The Compromise consisted in gradually dimin- 
 ishing for ten years the imposts, till they should arrive at 
 a uniform rate of twenty per cent. — the revenue standard 
 for which the opponents of the tariff contended. 
 
 The secret history of the final passage of that Com- 
 promise bill in the Senate is singular. Its opponents 
 had denounced the principle of protection to American 
 industry, as unconstitutional. In order to prevent op- 
 position to the bill on that ground, after it had become a 
 law, it was necessary that those opposing it should be 
 induced to vote for it ; to vote, not only for the bill as a 
 whole, but for its separate articles. The crisis was near. 
 The President had determined to enforce the law ; he 
 scouted the idea of compromise, and stood ready to arrest 
 the leaders, especially Calhoun, and bring him to trial for 
 treason. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, privately gave 
 the parties to understand that he should move to lay the 
 bill on the table, where it should lie, unless the nuUifiers 
 should one and all give it their individual support. He 
 assured them that there was a sufficient number of 
 senators (whose names he refused to give), to prevent its 
 passage, if this condition was not complied with. The 
 amendments to the bill had all passed but the last ; the 
 one which embodied the principle of home valuation. 
 This Calhoun and his friends opposed with great vehe- 
 mence. Clayton moved to lay the bill on the table, and 
 no persuasion could induce him to withdraw the motion. 
 The opponents of the measure withdrew from the hall for 
 a few minutes, to consult. One of their number presently 
 returned and requested Clayton to withdraw his motion, 
 to give time to consider the amendment. He consented, 
 
668 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. with the understanding that, if necessary, he would re- 
 
 new it. That night, consultations were held by the 
 
 1833. Southern members. The next day, when the hill was 
 under consideration, it was intimated that it could be 
 passed without the aid of Calhoun's vote. But Clayton 
 was inflexible — his vote must he given for the bill, or 
 ' .p' nothing would he secured by it. It was the last day of 
 the session — another Congress would not meet for months. 
 It was a solemn hour. If the imi^ending collision be- 
 tween the State and the Government should occur, who 
 could tell what would be the result ? How could South 
 Carolina be extricated from the difficulties of her position ? 
 Calhoun remained to the last, his friends one by one 
 voting for the amendment. After making a few remarks 
 on the conditions upon which he should act, he also voted 
 for the amendment, and afterward for the bill as a whole.' 
 On the fourth of March, General Jackson entered 
 upon his second term of office, with Martin Van Buren, of 
 New York, as Vice-President. The principal opposing 
 candidate was Henry Clay. 
 
 According to its charter, the Bank of the United 
 States was the legal depository of the public funds. The 
 Secretary of the Treasury only, with the sanction of 
 Congress, had authority to remove them. By resolution, 
 Congress had expressed the opinion that the public 
 moneys were safe in the keeping of the Bank. The 
 President thought differently. When Congress was not 
 in session, he made known to the Cabinet his intention to 
 remove the public funds from the custody of the Bank, 
 and to transfer them to certain State Banks. The 
 majority of the Cabinet were opposed to the measure. 
 As he could not reach the money except through the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, William J. Duane, he directed 
 
 ■ Thirty Years' View, Vol. i. Chap. Ixxxv. 
 
EEMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS — INDIAN WARS. 669 
 
 him to remove the deposits ; but the Secretary viewing chap. 
 
 the measure as " unnecessary, unwise, arbitrary, and un- 
 
 just," refused. The President immediately dismissed 1833. 
 him from office, and appointed Koger B. Taney, tlie 
 present Chief Justice, in his place, who hastened to issue 
 an order to the collectors, forbidding them to deposit the Oct. 
 public moneys in the Bank of the United States. The 
 intention being to withdraw the funds already in its pos- 
 session, as they should be needed in defraying the current 
 expenses of the government. 
 
 The measure spread distrust through the whole mer- 
 cantile community, and destroyed that confidence which 
 is essential to the success of business transactions. The 
 notes of the Bank were at par throughout the Union, but 
 now the whole system of exchange was thrown into con- 
 fusion. Universal distress prevailed. The wages of daily 
 laborers were especially depressed. Memorials from all 
 parts of the country poured into Congress, asking it to 
 adopt measures that would give relief. After a time, the 
 State banks endeavored to relieve the monetary distress 
 by liberal loans. These loans, in turn, were the occasion 
 of exciting a spirit of speculation that produced still 
 greater evils. 
 
 The Administration was not exempt from Indian 
 troubles. Some of the north-western tribes, led by Black 
 Hawk, a chief of the Sac nation, made incursions against 1332. 
 the frontier settlements of Illinois. The government sent 
 troops, under General Atkinson, who soon, with the aid 
 of the militia, drove the savages beyond the Mississippi. 
 In one of the skirmishes, Black Hawk himself was cap- 
 tured. To impress him with the greatness of the nation, 
 he was first taken to Washington, and then to visit the 
 princii^al eastern cities. 
 
 Two years afterward an attempt was made by the 
 government to remove the Seminole Indians beyond the 
 
670 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Jp^P- Mississippi Eiver. They refused to emigrate, and another 
 
 Indian war was the consequence. Skulking through the 
 
 1834. swamjjs and woods of Florida, the savages would suddenly 
 dash into the settlements to murder and destroy. Many 
 valuable lives were thus lost. Among these were Major 
 Dade, and more than a hundred men, who all perished 
 by falling into an ambuscade. On the same day, the 
 United States' agent, Mr. Wiley Thompson, and five of 
 his friends were killed and scalped by Osceola, the leading 
 chief of the Seminoles. The year before, Thompson had 
 injudiciously offended the savage, by confining him in 
 irons for a day. Though ho feigned friendship, his iiroud 
 spirit thirsted to revenge the insult. The Creeks joined 
 the Seminoles, and attacked several villages, both in 
 Georgia and Alabama. The unhealthy vapors of the 
 swamps, the bites of poisonous snakes and insects, inflict- 
 ed intense sufferings upon the troops. It was impossible 
 to subdue the Indians, who, after their attacks upon the 
 Whites, would retreat to their hiding-places in the swamps. 
 Led by Osceola, the war, or rather skirmishing, continued 
 for years ; the troops were bafSed again and again. At 
 length his own policy, of making treaties only to break 
 them, was practised upon himself One day he appeared 
 under a flag of truce at the American camp. General 
 
 1837. Jessup, who was in command, immediately made him 
 prisoner, with all his followers. Osceola was sent to 
 Charleston, and while there confined in Fort Moultrie, a 
 fever terminated his eventful life. 
 
 Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the 
 
 184:2. United States, was sent to succeed Jessup. Taylor, by 
 great exertions, brought the war to a close, but not tUl 
 it had lasted altogether seven years, and cost the nation 
 
 1836. many lives, and thirty millions of dollars. 
 
 During this administration, died John Marshall, one 
 of the most remarkable men of the time, at the age of 
 four-score. He had served in the army of the Revolution, 
 
CLAIMS AGAINST FRANCE SETTLED. 671 
 
 and won the esteem of Washington ; had been a memher ^f^^ 
 
 of the House of Eepresentatives, Secretaiy of State, 1 
 
 Secretary of War, and Minister to France. President John 1836. 
 Adams nominated him Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court, over which for thirty-five years he presided " with 
 native dignity and unpretending grace." His solidity of 
 judgment, his reasoning powers, his acute and picnetrating 
 mind, were remarkable, and none the less striking were the 
 purity of his Christian life and his simplicity of manner. 
 
 The maxim of foreign policy acted upon by the Presi- 
 dent was "to ask nothing but what was right, and to 
 submit to notliing that was wrong." American merchants 
 had claims, amounting to five millions of dollars, against 
 the French government. They had remained unsettled 
 for twenty years. These indemnities were for " unlawful 
 seizures, captures, and destruction of vessels and cargoes," 
 during the wars of Napoleon. The government of Louis 
 Philippe acknowledged their justice, and by treaty en- 
 gaged to pay them. But the Chamber of Deputies, at 
 different times during three years, refused to appropriate 
 the money. The President sent a message to Congress, 
 recommending reprisals upon French property if the treaty 
 was not complied with. The French Chambers took 
 ofience at the tone of the message, and although Congress 
 had not acted upon its suggestions, they refused to pay 
 the money unless the obnoxious proposal was withdrawn. 
 This brought another message, in which the President re- 
 viewed the difliculties existing between the governments. 
 Said he : " Come what may, the explanation which 
 France demands can never be accorded ; and no arma- 
 ment (alluding to a French fleet then on our coast), 
 however jjowetful and imposing, will, I trust, deter us 
 from discharging the high duties which we owe to our 
 constituents, to our national character, and to the world." 
 He suggested to Congress to prohibit the entrance of 
 
672 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. French imports into our ports, and the interdiction of 
 
 XLVllI. • 1 • 
 
 all commercial intercourse. 
 
 1830. At this time Great Britain oifered her mediation. The 
 
 offer was accepted by both parties. In the mean time 
 the Chamber of Deputies apjjropriated the money to 
 satisfy the claims and fulfil the treaty. 
 
 Equally successful was the President in arranging 
 other difficulties of long standing ; claims for similar 
 seizures and spoUations against Spain, Naples and Den- 
 mark. Also treaties of commerce and friendship were ne- 
 gotiated with Kussia, and the Ottoman Empire — the 
 first American treaty with the latter power. 
 
 Two States, Arkansas and Michigan, were added to 
 the Union ; the original thirteen had now doubled. 
 
 After a spirited contest, Martin Van Buren, of New 
 jfov. York, was elected Pre.sident by the peojile, and Richard 
 M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President, not by the elec- 
 toral vote, but by the Senate. 
 
 General Jackson's administration will ever be memo- 
 rable for its measures ; and none the less for the custom 
 then introduced, and unfortunately, with rare exceptions, 
 still continued, of removing persons from office for pohtical 
 purposes, and filling their places with partisans. 
 
 The nation was greatly agitated by the conflicts grow- 
 ing out of the diversity of opinion on the jDolicy of the 
 President and his adherents. But energy and determina- 
 tion enabled him to carry his points in defiance of opposi- 
 tion and established usages. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Apparent Prosperity. — The Specie Circular. — The Surplus Funds. — Sus- 
 pension of Specie Payments. — Speculation. — Special Session of Con- 
 gress. — The Sub-Treasury. — State Indebtedness. 
 
 T HE last year of Jackson's administration appeared to chap. 
 
 be one of very great national prosperity. The public '_ 
 
 debt had been cancelled two years before, and there were 1837. 
 nearly forty millions of dollars of surplus. This pros- 
 perity was fallacious in the extreme. 
 
 The State Banks, called in derision the " Pets," with 
 whom the deposits had been placed, loaned money freely, 
 with the expectation that they should continue to have 
 the use of the public funds until they were called for by 
 the Government. That time seemed to be distant, as its 
 revenue was greater than its current expenses. 
 
 Other banks sprang into existence, until the number 
 amounted, throughout the land, to seven hundred and fifty. 
 These institutions had very little gold or silver in their 
 vaults, as a means to redeem the notes with which they 
 flooded the country, giving a fictitious value to every thing 
 that was bought or sold. They rivalled each other in af- 
 fording facilities for the wildest schemes of speculation. 
 
 The public lands became an object of this speculation, 
 until the sales amounted to millions in a month. Two 
 acts — the one of the late President ; the other of Con- 
 43 
 
672 HISTOET OF THK UNITED STATES. 
 
 Tmu -^I'^^ch imports into our ports, and the interdiction of 
 
 all commercial intercourse. 
 
 1836. At this time Great Britain offered her mediation. The 
 
 offer was accepted by both parties. In the mean time 
 the Chamber of Deputies appropriated the money to 
 satisfy the claims and fulfil the treaty. 
 
 Equally successful was the President in arranging 
 other difficulties of long standing ; claims for similar 
 seizures and spoHations against Spain, Naples and Den- 
 mark. Also treaties of commerce and friendship were ne- 
 gotiated with Kussia, and the Ottoman Emjsire — the 
 first American treaty with the latter power. 
 
 Two States, Arkansas and Michigan, were added to 
 the Union ; the original thirteen had now doubled. 
 
 After a spirited contest, Martin Van Buren, of New 
 ig-Qv. York, was elected President by the people, and Richard 
 M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President, not by the elec- 
 toral vote, but by the Senate. 
 
 General Jackson's administration will ever be memo- 
 rable for its measures ; and none the less for the custom 
 then introduced, and unfortunately, with rare exceptions, 
 still continued, of removing persons from office for political 
 purposes, and filling their places with partisans. 
 
 The nation was greatly agitated by the confficts grow- 
 ing out of the diversity of opinion on the policy of the 
 President and his adherents. But energy and determina- 
 tion enabled him to carry his points in defiance of opposi- 
 tion and established usages. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Apparent Prosperity. — The Specie Circular. — The Surplus Funds. — Sus- 
 pension of Specie Payments. — Speculation. — Special Session of Con- 
 gress. — The Sub-Treasury. — State Indebtedness. 
 
 T HE last year of Jackson's administration appeared to chap. 
 
 aLIX. 
 
 be one of very great national prosperity. The public 
 debt had been cancelled two years before, and there were 1837 
 nearly forty millions of dollars of surplus. This pros- 
 perity was fallacious in the extreme. 
 
 The State Banks, called in derision the " Pets," with 
 whom the deposits had been placed, loaned money freely, 
 with the expectation that they should continue to have 
 the use of the public funds until they were called for by 
 the Government. That time seemed to be distant, as its 
 revenue was greater than its current expenses. 
 
 Other banks sprang into existence, until the number 
 amounted, throughout the land, to seven hundred and fifty. 
 These institutions had very little gold or silver in their 
 vaults, as a means to redeem the notes with which they 
 flooded the country, giving a fictitious value to every thing 
 that was bought or sold. They rivalled each other in af- 
 fording facilities for the wildest schemes of speculation. 
 
 The public lands became an object of this speculation, 
 until the sales amounted to millions in a month. Two 
 acts — the one of the late President ; the other of Con- 
 43 
 
674 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, gress — combined to hasten the crisis. President Jackson, 
 
 in oraer to restrain the undue sales of the public lands, 
 
 1837. had issued, through the Treasury Department, an order 
 known as the Specie Circular, requiring the collectors 
 at the offices to receive only gold and silver in payments 
 1830. ^'5'' I'^nd. Six months later, Congress passed a law to dis- 
 tribute among the States the government funds, on de- 
 posit in the banks. They were thus forced to call in their 
 loans to meet this demand, while the Specie Circular 
 arrested the circulation of their notes, and brought them 
 back to their counters, to be exchanged for gold and silver. 
 Witliin six months after this distribution was ordered, the 
 business of the whole country was prostrated : all im- 
 provements ceased, and twenty thousand laboring men 
 were, within a few weeks, thrown out of employment in 
 New York City alone, where the failures amounted to one 
 hundred millions of dollars, while those of New Orleans 
 was as great in proportion, being twenty-seven millions. 
 May. A few weeks later, the banks of New York City suspended 
 specie payment ; an example which the other banks of 
 the country hastened to follow. 
 
 Previous to the suspension of payments, a large and 
 respectable committee of merchants of New York visited 
 Washington, to lay before the new President the state of 
 the country. Similar representations went from almost 
 every section of the land. The President denied the re- 
 quest of the committee to rescind the Specie Circular, but 
 proposed to call a Special Session of Congress, on the first 
 Monday of the following September. 
 
 The extent to which speculation raged seems almost 
 fabulous. The compromise tariff had nearly run its course, 
 and the duty arrived at its minimum ; foreign merchandise 
 was imported in unheard-of quantities, thus ruining do- 
 mestic industry ; internal improvements, because of the 
 facility in obtaining loans, were projected to an extent 
 almost without limit ; the pubhc lands were bought by 
 
SPECULATION THE GOVEKNMENT EMBARRASSED. G75 
 
 the millions of acres, and cities and villages were miilti- chap. 
 
 XLIX 
 
 plied on paper by hundreds ; and stranger still, the sites '_ 
 
 of these prospective cities, divided into lots, were fre- 1837. 
 quently made the basis of money transactions. 
 
 A few months before, the General Government was 
 free from debt, and had a surplus of forty millions. Now 
 the sui-phis had been given to the States ; the importers 
 had neither gold nor silver to jiay duties, and the Govern- 
 ment itself was deprived of the means to defray its cur- 
 rent expenses. 
 
 When Congress assembled, the President made no Sept. 
 suggestion as to the manner in which the commercial em- 
 barrassments of the country might be relieved, on the 
 ground that the General Government was unauthorized 
 by the Constitution to afford such relief. He was there- 
 fore in favor of the people taking care of themselves. The 
 message contained, however, two recommendations ; one 
 the issue of Treasury notes, to relieve the Government's 
 own embarrassments, the other an Independent Treasury 
 for the public funds. The object of the latter was to 
 avoid the liability of loss by depositing the piiblic moneys 
 in banks. These treasuries were to be located at suitable 
 places ; the siib-treasurers to be ai^pointed by the Presi- 
 dent, and to give bonds for the proper fulfilment of their 
 duties. 
 
 The measure was opposed, lest the withdrawal of so 
 much gold and silver from circulation would injure com- 
 mercial operations. The bill failed in the House, though 
 it passed the Senate. Three years later it was estab- 
 lished ; the next year repealed — then re-enacted, five 
 years after, and is still the law of the land. 
 
 The Legislatures of many of the States became imbued 
 with the spirit of speculation, and as a means to obtain 
 loans, issued State stocks to the amount of one hundred 
 miUions. This was done under the laudable pretext of 
 developing their resources, by internal improvements. 
 
676 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Eight of the States failed to pay the interest on these 
 
 loans or stocks. In time they recovered from the shock, 
 
 1838. and hut one of them, Mississippi, and one territory, Florida, 
 repudiated their debt and defied their creditors. These 
 loans were principally obtained in Europe, ■where, on the 
 subject of these failures to pay, great indignation was ex- 
 pressed. The whole nation was dishonored ; — two years 
 later, when the National Government wished to obtain a 
 loan, her agents could not induce a capitalist in all 
 Europe to risk a dollar in such investment. 
 
 As the administration of Van Buren drew to a close, 
 the financial condition of the country did not much im- 
 prove. However, his party nominated him, as well as Vice- 
 President Johnson, for a second term. The opposing can- 
 didate was WilHam Henry Harrison, of Ohio, whom we 
 have seen as a popular general of the north-west during 
 
 1812. the last war, as well as filling many civil offices with 
 honor to himself and profit to the country. On the same 
 ticket was John Tyler of Virginia, as the candidate for 
 
 1840. Vice-President. Harrison was elected by a very large 
 majority. The commercial disasters of the country were 
 generally attributed to the interference of the Government 
 with the currency ; this belief had caused a great revul- 
 sion in the public mind. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEK L. 
 
 HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Inauguration. — -Death of Ilatrison. — Tyler President. — Sub-Treasury 
 Act repealed. — Bankrupt Law. — The Bank Charters ; their Vetoes. — 
 Proposition to treat with Great Britain. — Insurrection in Canada. — The 
 Caroline. — Trial of McLcod. — Boundary Disputes in Maine. — Lord 
 Ashburton. — Treaty of Washington. — Questions of Visit and Impress- 
 ment. — E.xploring Expedition. — Texas Colonization ; struggles. — Inde- 
 peudence. — Siege of Goliad and the Alamo. — D.avy Crocket. — Massacre 
 of Prisoners. — Battle of San Jacinto. — Houston President. — Question 
 of Annexation in Congress. — Texas Annexed. — Disturbances in Rhode 
 Island. — Iowa and Florida become States. 
 
 An immense concourse of people, many of them from chap. 
 distant parts of the Union, assembled at Washington to 
 
 witness the inauguration of General Harrison. His ad- 1841. 
 dress on that occasion was replete with wisdom ; liberal ^'"' 
 and generous, and patriotic in its tone ; a transcript of 
 the sincerity of his own heart. His selection of officers to 
 compose his Cabinet was unanimously confirmed by the 
 Senate ; at its head was Daniel Webster, as Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 The certainty of a change of policy in the measures 
 of the General Government inspired confidence in the 
 commercial world, and the nation, made wiser by adver- 
 sity, began to hope. But the expectations of the Presi- 
 dent's friends were doomed to be sadly disappointed. His 
 first official act was to issue a proclamation, calling a 
 special session of Congress, to meet on the 31st of the 
 
678 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, following May, to take into consideration the condition of 
 the countrj'. Before that daj- arrived, the President was 
 
 1841. no more. Suddenly taken ill, all human remedies failed 
 ^" ■ to give relief, and he expired, just one month after his 
 inauguration, in his sixty-ninth year. For the first time, 
 death had removed the Chief Magistrate of the Union 
 when in office. The loss came home to the hearts of the 
 people. Throughout the length and breadth of the land 
 they vied with each other in doing honor to his memory. 
 Since the death of Washington, the nation had not 
 mourned a loss with such imposing ceremonies. This deep 
 and pervading sentiment of sorrow was the tribute due the 
 memory of a good man ; one who had served his country 
 with most scrupulous integrity for more than forty years ; 
 whose whole life, public and private, was without reproach. 
 Though in pubUc office the greater part of his life, his 
 salaries had passed away in charities and hospitalities ; 
 to his house the humblest of the land as well as the most 
 exalted, had been welcomed ; the poor man's friend, he 
 himself died poor. At its very first session after his 
 death. Congress, " out of consideration of his expenses in 
 removing to the seat of government, and the limited 
 means which he had left behind," granted his widow one 
 year's presidential salary — twenty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 The Vice-President became the President, according 
 to the provisions of the Constitution. He retained the 
 Cabinet of his predecessor, giving them assurances of his 
 ^"y respect. Congress convened for the extra session at the 
 time designated. One of its first measures was to repeal 
 the Sub-Treasury act of the last administration. To 
 this regulation for the keeping of the public funds much 
 of the pressure in the money market was attributed. 
 
 The failures in the mercantile world had brought ruin 
 
THE NATIONAL BANK THE VETOES. 679 
 
 upon thousands of upright and enteri^rising men. They CHAI'. 
 
 had become hopelessly bankrupt, in many instances, by 
 
 circumstances beyond their control ; involved in debts, 1842. 
 which would forever crush their energies without bene- 
 fitting their creditors, themselves, or the country. To 
 relieve persons thus insolvent, Congress passed a general 
 bankrupt law. The effect of the measure was beneficial, 
 and when tlie necessity for its existence had passed away, 
 it was repealed. 
 
 One of the issues involved in the last presidential 
 election, was the policy of establishing a United States 
 Bank or " Financial Agent," which should facilitate mer- 
 cantile exchanges throughout the Union. The result of 
 the election had shown that the majority of the people 
 were in favor of such an institution. In compliance with 
 this exi}ression of the popular will, both Houses of Con- 
 gress passed a bill chartering such a National Bank. 
 Contrary to expectation, the President refused to give it his 
 signature. Another bill was passed, modified in its pro- 
 visions to accord with his own suggestions. This he also 
 refused to sign. These successive vetoes raised a terrible 
 storm of indignation against their author, though when 
 nominated he was known to be opposed to the United 
 States Bank. The great party, by whose votes he held 
 his high position, charged him with double dealing ; with 
 betraying the trust thoy had committed to his hands. 
 The members of his cabinet immediately resigned their 
 places, and gave to the country their reasons for so doing. 
 Daniel Webster alone remained, lest the public interests 
 would suffer by his withdrawal before the completion of 
 certain negotiations upon which he was then engaged. 
 
 Between the United States government and that of 
 Great Britain two important questions of controversy re- 
 mained unadjusted. One growing out of certain revolu- 
 
682 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, collisions were prevented only by the conciliatory and ju- 
 
 dicious policy of General Scott, who was sent by the 
 
 1840. President to maintain the peace. 
 
 These disputes so long unsettled, very greatly dis- 
 turbed the harmony existing between the two nations. 
 The correspondence between their governments shows that 
 at this time the controversy had assumed a serious and 
 delicate character, and that it required the exercise of 
 great wisdom, and a mutual conciliatory spirit to prevent 
 actnal war. 
 
 When negotiations commenced, commissioners from 
 the States of Maine and Massachusetts were invited to 
 Washington, that they might be consulted on the subject. 
 The treaty was soon concluded. The United States ob- 
 tained the navigation of the river St. John's to its mouth, 
 and the very important military position — Rouse's Point, 
 at the outlet of Lake Champlain. In exchange for these 
 were given a small territory of swamps, heath, and rocks, 
 and barren mountains, covered with snow the greater part 
 of the year. A territory valuable to Great Britain only 
 because it enabled her to make a direct road from the 
 province of New Brunswick to the St. Lawrence. Both 
 nations were benefited by the arrangement, and the vexa- 
 tious question of more than half a century's standing was 
 amicably settled. 
 
 Another article provided for the mutual rendition of 
 fugitives from justice ; but only those who had committed 
 acts which would be deemed criminal in the country 
 where they had taken refuge. This important measure 
 has given general satisfaction to both the contracting 
 parties, and has served since as a model for similar treaties 
 between some of the European i3owers. The two govern- 
 ments also agreed to maintain each a certain number of 
 armed vessels on the coast of Africa to aid in suppressing 
 the slave-trade. 
 
 After the treaty was concluded two important sub- 
 
THE QUESTIONS OF SEARCH AND IMPRESSMENT. 683 
 
 jects unexpectedly came up for discussion. One was the chap. 
 
 right assumed by British cruisers to visit, and if necessary 
 
 search, merchant vessels belonging to other nations. In a 1843. 
 letter to the American minister at London, and designed 
 for the English secretary of Foreign Affairs, Webster de- 
 nied the " right," and sustained his opinions against its 
 exercise by arguments that have not yet been invalidated. 
 
 The other subject was the imjjressment of seamen by 
 British cruisers from American merchant vessels. In a 
 letter to Lord Ashburton the Secretary of State assumed 
 that it did not comport with the self-respect of the United 
 States to enter into stipulations in relation to the right 
 of impressment ; as if for a moment the existence of such 
 a right could be admitted. On the contrary-that the ex- 
 ercise of impressment should be deemed au aggression and 
 repelled as such. In an able and conciliatory discussion 
 he pointed out the inconsistency of such a right with the 
 laws of nations. Yet in the happiest language expressed 
 the desire that for the welfare of both countries, all occa- 
 sions of irritation should be removed. He announced as 
 the basis of the policy of the United States: "Every 
 merchant-vessel on the high seas is rightfully considered 
 as a part of the territory of the country to which it be- 
 longs ; " that " in every regularly documented American 
 merchant-vessel the crew who navigate it will find their 
 protection in the flag which is over them," and that " the 
 American Government, then, is prepared to say that the 
 practice of impressing seamen from American vessels can- 
 not hereafter be allowed to take place." ' In the same just 
 and conciliatory spirit was the reply of Lord Ashburton. 
 
 An apology was impliedly given for the invasion of 
 the territory of the United States in the " affair of the 
 Caroline." The negotiators conferred informally upon the 
 subject of the northern boundary of Oregon, but for the 
 
 ' The Works of Daniel Webster, vol. vi. p. 325. 
 
684 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, present agreed to postpone its settlement. The treaty of 
 
 Washington marks an important era in our history : — the 
 
 1842. time when the United States took that position among 
 the nations, to which they were entitled by their power 
 and influence. Four years after, Webster said on the 
 floor of the Senate : — " I am willing to appeal to the 
 public men of the age, whether, in 1842, and in the city 
 of Washington, something was not done for the suppres- 
 sion of crime, for the true exposition of public law, for the 
 freedom and security of commerce on the ocean, and for 
 the peace of the world ? " 
 
 The government had not been forgetfid of the ad- 
 vancement of science. It sent out an exploring expedi- 
 183.8. tion, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United 
 States navy, accompanied by a corps of scientific men, to 
 make discoveries in the Antarctic and Pacific oceans. 
 After four years it returned bringing the results of inves- 
 l8-i2. tigations in Natural History, not valuable to our own 
 country alone, but to the world. It sailed ninety thousand 
 miles, seventeen hundred of which were along the coast 
 of a great Antarctic Continent never seen before by civil- 
 ized man. 
 
 The four years of this administration was a period 
 fruitful in measures, destined, in their remote consequences, 
 to have a varied and almost unlimited influence upon the 
 nation. A more important question never came before 
 the Houses of Congress, than when the young Republic 
 of Texas j)resented herself at their doors, and asked to be 
 annexed to the Union. She came offering a fertile ter- 
 ritory almost sufficient in extent to make five such States 
 as Pennsylvania or New York. The " annexation," led to 
 the Mexican war, and that in turn to the acquisition of 
 California. 
 
 The region known as Texas had been claimed, but on 
 doubtful grounds, as a part of the already purchased ter- 
 
MOSES AUSTIN — IMMIGRATION TO TEXAS. 685 
 
 ritory of Louisiana. This claim was, however, waived, and chap. 
 
 when Florida was obtained Texas was tacitly admitted to 
 
 belong to Spain, and when Mexico revolted from the 1842. 
 mother country, she became one of the confederated States 
 wliich formed the Mexican republic. 
 
 The American who originated the plan of colonizing 
 Texas, was Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connec- 
 ticut. He was engaged in working the lead mines in 
 upper Louisiana, when, in his explorations, he became 
 acquainted with the fertile soil and delightful climate of 
 Texas. The Spanish Government encouraged immigra- 
 tion to that part of the Mexican territory, and it gave 
 Austin large grants of land, on condition that he would 1813. 
 introduce as colonists three hundred Catholic families 
 from Louisiana. Within a month after these arrange- 
 ments were completed, Austin himself died, but appointed 
 his son Stephen F. Austin to superintend the planting of 
 the colony according to the agreement with the Spanish 
 government. To his energy and perseverance may be 
 ^ attributed the success of the enterprise. 
 
 Little was known at Mexico of what was in progress 
 in that remote region. The Americans, attracted by the 
 liberal grants of land and the fine climate, were pouring 
 in. In a few years they numbered twenty thousand, very ^gao. 
 few of whom were Catholics, nor did they aU come from 
 Louisiana, but from the other Southern and Western 
 States. 
 
 Meantime in Mexico other great changes were in jirog- 
 ress. First came the revolution by which she declared 1821. 
 herself no longer under the jurisdiction of Spain. This 
 was succeeded by a confederation of States. In that un- 
 happy country one revolution succeeded another in rapid 
 succession, tiU finally, Santa Anna, overthrowing the ex- 
 isting republic, made himself dictator and tyrant of the 
 people. During this time the Texans did not revolt, nor 
 
686 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, (lid they acquiesce. They ftirmed a constitution, and 
 sent Austin to Mexico to ask admission into the con- 
 
 1835. federacy of the republic as a State. This request was de- 
 nied, and their messenger thrown into prison. Still Texas 
 retained her State officers, and asked that her rights might 
 be respected ; when an armed Mexican vessel appeared 
 off the coast, and proclaimed that her ports were block- 
 aded ; near the same time a Mexican army appeared on 
 her western borders, with the intention of arresting her 
 State officers, and disarming the inhabitants. It was 
 much easier to demand the Texan rifles than to get them. 
 
 Sept. The attem^Dt was made at a place named Gonzales, where 
 ^^- the Mexicans met with a severe repulse. The Texans, 
 though few in number, flew to arms throughout the entire 
 country, and in a few months drove the invaders from 
 their soil, and captured and garrisoned the strong forts of 
 the Goliad and the mission house of Alamo. Thus they 
 manfully resisted the designs of Santa Anna to make 
 them submit to his usurped authority, and the struggle 
 commenced for their rights, their liberties and their lives. 
 There were no bonds of sympathy between the Texans 
 and Mexicans : neither in religion nor in customs, nor in 
 form of government. The Texan despised the Mexican, 
 and the Mexican hated and feared the Texan. 
 
 1836. Six months after these reverses Santa Anna invaded 
 Texas with a numerous army. The character of the war 
 he intended to wage may be inferred from his cruel orders 
 to shoot every prisoner taken. The Alamo was invested 
 by Santa Anna himself The garrison numbered only 
 one hundred and eighty men, while their enemies were as 
 sixteen to their one. When summoned to surrender, they, 
 knowing the treacherous character of the Mexican Chief, 
 reflised. The latter immediately raised the blood-red flag, 
 to indicate that he would give no quarter. After repulsing 
 the besiegers several times, the Texans, worn out with 
 
 6. watchings and labors, were overcome, and when calling for 
 
DAVY CROCKET PRISONERS MURDERED. 687 
 
 qxiarter the survivors — only seven — were mercilessly chap. 
 butchered. 
 
 Here, surrounded by the bodies of Mexicans who had 1836. 
 fallen by his hand, perished the eccentric Davy Crocket. 
 Born on the frontiers of Tennessee, his only education was 
 that received during two months in a common school. 
 Though singular in his mental characteristics, his strong 
 common sense and undaunted spirit, won him the respect 
 of his fellow-citizens, and they sent him several times to 
 represent them in Congress. When he heard of the strug- 
 gle in which the people of Texas were engaged, he hastened 
 to their aid, and with untiring energy devoted himself to 
 their cause. 
 
 At Groliad the little garrison defended themselves with 
 unexampled bravery ; not until their resources failed, 
 their ammunition exhausted, and famine was staring them 
 in the face, did they accept the terms offered by the Mexi- 
 can in command, and surrendered. Their hves were to 
 be sjiared, and they aided to leave the countiy. Other 
 small parties of Texans in diiferent places had been sur- 
 prised and taken prisoners. The following night a courier 
 arrived from Santa Anna, bringing orders to put the 
 prisoners to death the next morning. 
 
 They were marched in little companies outside the 
 town, and there shot ; those attemjtting to escape were 
 cut down by the cavalrj-. The wounded prisoners were 
 then murdered in the same cruel manner ; among the 
 wounded who thus suffered, was Colonel Fanning, their 
 commander. Thus perished three hundred and thirty 
 men, the last words of some of whom were cheers for the 
 liberty of Texas. 
 
 A Texan physician, Dr. Grant, was among the 
 prisoners, but his life was spared on condition that he 
 would attend the wounded Mexican soldiers. He was 
 also promised that he should have a passport to leave the 
 country as soon as they needed his services no more. He 
 
688 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, faithfully jjerformed his part, but when the soldiers were 
 
 cured, he was tied upon a wild horse, and told to take " his 
 
 1836. passport and start for home." The cords were cut, and 
 the frightened animal rushed to the woods, where, some 
 time after, the mangled body of the poor man was found. 
 Santa Anna, with an army of seven thousand men, 
 moved on toward the San Jacinto river. General Samuel 
 Houston had only seven hundred and fifty men, their 
 only weapons rifles, pistols and bowie-knives ; in their 
 element when fighting, they were impatient to attack the 
 enemy. The advance division, consisting of fifteen hun- 
 dred men, under the command of Santa Anna himself, 
 was the fiower of the Mexican army. The Mexicans 
 were well posted, and their front, before which was an 
 open grassy space, was carefully fortified. Houston had 
 great difiiculty in restraining his men. At three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, when Santa Anna and his oflicers were en- 
 joying a sleejj, and their men engaged in playing cards, 
 Houston passed information along the line that the only 
 bridge by which the enemy could escape was cut down, 
 with the order to move rapidly to the attack. The sur- 
 prise was complete. In twenty minutes their position 
 was forced, and the panic stricken Mexicans leaving every 
 thing, fled in confusion. More than six hundred were 
 slain, and altogether more than eight hundred taken 
 prisoners. The following day a Mexican was found skulk- 
 ing in the grass. He asked to be led to head-quarters. 
 When brought to the Oak under which were the Texan 
 head-quarters, he made himself known as Santa Anna. 
 He complimented Houston on the renown he had acquired 
 in " conquering the Napoleon of the West." Such was 
 AprU tlie battle of San Jacinto; the number engaged were corn- 
 el- paratively few, yet it virtually ended the contest. Santa 
 Anna, at the request of Houston, ordered the Mexican 
 anny to retire from the Territory of Texas. He also ac- 
 
TEXAS INDEPENDENT — QUESTION OF ANNEXATION. 689 
 
 kiiowledged tlie independence of Texas, but the Mexican chap. 
 Congress refused to ratify bis act. 
 
 A month previous to this battle, a convention of dele- 1836. 
 gates met at a place named Washington, and declared gi" 
 themselves independent of Mexico. Tlie convention then 
 proceeded to form a Constitution, which in due time was 
 adopted by the people. Six months later Houston was 
 inaugurated President of the Republic of Texas ; and its 
 first Congress assembled." " ' 
 
 When its people threw off their allegiance to Mexico, 
 they naturally turned to more congenial associations ; 
 they desired to annex themselves to the United States. 
 
 One of the last official acts of General Jackson had 
 been to sign a bill recognizing their independence, and 
 now the question of their annexation became the absorbing 
 topic of political discussion in the United States, in 
 every section of which many opposed the measure only 
 on the ground that it would incur a war with Mexico, 
 whose government still persisted in fruitless efforts to re- 
 duce the Texans to obedience. The interminable ques- 
 tion of slavery, as usual, was involved in the controversy. 
 The South was almost unanimously in favor of annexa- 1344. 
 tion. The genial climate, the fertile soil, and the varied 
 productions of Texas, were so many pledges that slave 
 labor would there be profitable. A strong jiarty in the 
 North was opposed to the measure, lest it should perpetu- 
 ate that institution, while one in the South was devising 
 plans to preserve the balance of power existing between 
 the States in the Senate. 
 
 The subject of annexation, with its varied conse- 
 quences, was warmly discussed in both Houses of Con- 
 gress, in the newspapers, and in the assemblies of the 
 people. 
 
 Calhoun gave his views by saying : " There were 
 
 ' Toakum's Hist, of Texas. 
 44 
 
690 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, powerful reasons wliy Texas stould be a part of this 
 
 , Union. The Southern States, owning a slave population, 
 
 1844. were deeply interested in preventing that country from 
 having power to annoy them." Said Webster : " That 
 while I hold to all the original arrangements and compro- 
 mises under which the Constitution under which we now 
 live was adopted, I never could, and never can, persuade 
 myself to be in favor of the admission of other States into 
 the Union, as slave States, with the inequalities which 
 were allowed and accorded by the Constitution to the 
 slaveholding States then in existence." 
 
 Under the auspices of Calhoun, who was now Secre- 
 taiy of State, a treaty was secretly made with Texas, by 
 which she was to be admitted into the Union. But the 
 Senate immediately rejected it by a vote more than two 
 to one, on the ground that to carry out its provisions 
 would involve the country in a war with Mexico. This 
 rejection was the signal for raising a great clamor through- 
 out the land. Annexation was made a prominent issue 
 in the pending presidential election — the Democratic party 
 in favor of the measure, and the Whigs opposed. To in- 
 fluence the credulous, it was boldly asserted that England 
 was negotiating with Texas to buy her slaves, free them, 
 and, having quieted Mexico, to take the republic under 
 her special protection. This story General Houston said 
 was a pure fabrication ; yet it served a purpose. In cer- 
 tain portions of the South conventions were held, in which 
 the sentiment " Texas, or Disunion," was openly advocated. 
 The threats of secession and uniting with Texas, unless 
 she was admitted to the Union, had but little effect, 
 however, upon the great mass of the people. 
 
 The following year it was proposed to receive Texas 
 by a joint resolution of Congress. The House of Repre- 
 sentatives passed a bill to that eifect, but the Senate 
 added an amendment, appointing commissioners to nego- 
 
THE JOINT RESOLUTIONS — TEXAS ANNEXED. 691 
 
 tiate with Mexico on the subject. Thus manifesting a chap. 
 
 desire to respect the rights of Mexico as a nation with 
 
 whom we were at peace, and at least make an effort to 1844. 
 obtain the annexation with her consent, and also the 
 settlement of boundaries. 
 
 By a clause in the resolutions the President was 
 authorized to adopt either plan. The joint resolutions 
 were passed on Saturday, the 2d of March ; Tyler would 
 leave office two days later. The President elect, James 
 K. Polk, liad intimated that if the question came before 
 him he should adojit the Senate's plan, by which it was 
 hoped an amicable arrangement could be made with 
 Mexico.' The retiring President, and his Secretary of 
 State, chose to adopt the mode of annexation proposed in 
 the House resolutions. A messenger was sent on Sunday 
 night the 3d, to carry the proposition with aU speed to 
 the Legislature of Texas. 
 
 The opposition to annexing slaveholding territory to the 
 Union was so great that Texas came in by comjjromise. 
 Provision was made that four additional States might be 
 formed out of the Territory when it should become suffi- 
 ciently populous. Those States lying north of the parallel 
 of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude — the 
 Missouri Compromise line — were to be free States ; those 
 south of the line, to " be admitted into the Union with or 
 without slavery as the jjeople of each State asking admission 
 may desire." To the original State, the right was accorded 
 to prevent any State being formed out of her territory, by 
 refusing her consent to the measure. Texas acceded to 1845. 
 the loroposition, and thus became one of the United States, ^"'y 
 Her population now amounted to two hundred thousand. 
 
 For nearly two hundred years the jDeople of Ehode 
 Island had lived under the charter granted by Charles II. 
 According to that instrument only those owning a certain 
 
 ' Benton's Thii-ty Years' View, Chap, cxlviii., Vol. ii. 
 
692 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, amount of property could vote. The desire to change 
 this provision gave rise to two jjarties, the " Suffrage," 
 
 1845. and " The Law and Order ; " each determined to secure 
 to their own party the administration of affairs, and each 
 elected State officers. Thomas W. Dorr, elected gov- 
 ernor by the Suffrage party, took possession of the State 
 arsenal ; the militia were called out Ly the other party, 
 
 1843. and he was compelled to flee. In a second attempt liis 
 May . 
 
 ly party was overpowered by United States troops, and he 
 
 himself arrested, brought to trial, convicted of treason, 
 and sentenced to imprisonment for life ; but sometime 
 afterward he was jjardoned. A free constitution was in 
 the mean time adopted by the people, under which they 
 are now living. 
 
 Almost the last official act of President Tyler was to 
 sign the bill for the admission of Iowa and Florida into 
 the Union. " Two States, which seem to have but few 
 things in common to put them together — one the oldest, 
 the other the newest territory — one in the extreme north- 
 west of the Union, the other in the extreme south-east — 
 one the land of evergreens and perpetual flowers, the other 
 the climate of long and rigorous winter — one maintaining, 
 the other repulsing slavery." 
 
CHAPTEE LI. 
 
 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Presidential Canvass. — Difficulties with Mexico. — General Taylor at 
 Corpus Christi. — Oregon Territory ; respective Claims to. — Settlement 
 of Boundary. — Taylor marches to the Rio Grande. — Thornton's Party 
 surprised. — Attack on Fort Brown. — Battle of Palo Alto ; of Resaca 
 de la Palma. — ilatamoras occupied. — Measures of Congress. — The 
 Volunteers. — Plan of Operations. — Mexico declares War. — General 
 Wool. — General Worth. — The Capture of Monterey. 
 
 On the 4tli of March, James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, chap. 
 ' ' 'LI. 
 
 was inaugurated President, and George Mifflin Dallas, of 
 Pennsylvania, Vice-President ; James Buchanan was ap- 1845. 
 pointed Secretary of State. 
 
 The canvass had been one of unusual interest and 
 spirit. The candidates of the Whig party were Henry 
 Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. The questions in- 
 volved were the admission of Texas, and the settlement 
 of the boundary line on the north-west, between the 
 British possessions and Oregon. The latter — for the 
 Whigs were also in favor of its settlement — thrown in by 
 the successful party. 
 
 The result of the election was assumed to be the ex- 
 pression of the will of the people in relation to the ad- 
 mission of Texas, which measure, as we have seen, the 
 expiring administration had already consummated. We 
 have now to record the events, the consequences in part 
 of that measure. 
 
 Though France and England, as well as the United 
 
694 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. States, acknowledged the indeijendence of Texas, Mexico 
 
 still claimed the territory, and threatened to maintain 
 
 1845. her claim hy force of arms. In accordance with this 
 sentiment, two days after the inauguration of the new 
 President, General Almonte, the Mexican minister at 
 Washington, formally protested against the "joint reso- 
 lutions" of Congress, then demanded his passports and 
 left the country. 
 
 There were other points of dispute hetween the two 
 governments. American merchants residing in Mexico, 
 complained that their property had heen approjn-iated by 
 that government ; that their shijjs, trading along the 
 shores of the G-ulf, had been plundered, and they could 
 obtain no redress. The United States government again 
 and again remonstrated against these outrages. The 
 Mexican government, poverty-stricken and distracted by 
 broils, was almost in a state of anarchy ; each party as it 
 came into power repudiated the engagements made by its 
 predecessor. 
 1831. A treaty had been signed by which redress for these 
 grievances was promised ; the promise was not fulfilled, 
 and the aggressions continued. Nine years later the 
 Mexican government again acknowledged the justness of 
 these demands, which now amounted to six millions of 
 dollars, and pledged itself to pay them in twenty instal- 
 ments, of three hundred thousand dollars each. Three of 
 these had been paid, when the annexation of Texas took 
 place, and, in consequence of that event, Mexico refused 
 further compliance with the treaty. 
 
 Even if Mexico gave her consent for the annexation 
 of Texas, another question arose : What was the western 
 boundary of that territory ; the Nueces or the Rio 
 Grande ? Both parties claimed the region lying between 
 these two rivers. The Legislature of Texas, alarmed at 
 the warlike attitude assumed by Mexico, requested the 
 United States government to protect their territory. Ac- 
 
TAYLOR AT CORPUS CHRISTI THE OREGON QUESTION. 695 
 
 cordingly the President sent General Zachary Taylor, -with chap. 
 fifteen hundred men, called the " Army of Occupation," 
 
 " to take position in the countiy between the Nueces and 1845. 
 the Kio Grande, and to repel any invasion of the Texan 
 territory." General Taylor formed his camp at Corpus 
 Christi, a small village at the mouth of the Nueces. There Sept. 
 he remained till the following spring. Also a portion of 
 the Home squadron, under Commodore Conner, was sent 
 into the Gulf to co-operate with the army. Both " were 
 ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico un- 
 less she declared war, or was herself the aggressor by 
 striking the first blow." ' 
 
 Though Mexico, in her weakness and distraction, had 
 temjjorized and recently rejected an American minister, 
 yet it was understood that she was now willing to receive 
 one, and accordingly he had been sent. It was plain that 
 upon the pending negotiations war or peace between the 
 two republics depended. Meanwhile it was known that 
 Mexico was marshalling her forces for a conflict. 
 
 The unsettled question in relation to the boundary of 
 Oregon now engaged the attention of the President and 
 his Secretary of State. Great Britain was from the first 
 desirous to arrange the difficulty, though, as has been 
 stated, the subject was passed over in the negotiations of 
 the Washington treaty. 
 
 A few months after the ratification of that treaty, Mr. 
 Henry S. Fox, the British minister at Washington, ad- l^^^' 
 dressed a note to Daniel Webster, Secretary of State 
 under Mr. Tyler, in which note he proposed to take up 
 the subject of the Oregon boundary. The proposal was 
 accepted, but for some reason negotiations were not com- 
 menced. Two years later. Sir Eichard Packenham, then 
 British minister at Washington, renewed the proposition 
 
 ' President's Message, Dec. 1845. 
 
696 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, to Mr. Upshur, Secretaiy of State. It was accei^ted, but 
 
 a few days after Upshur lost his life by the lamentable 
 
 1844. explosion on board the Princeton. Six months later 
 
 ■ Packenham again brought the matter to the notice of 
 
 Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of State. The proj)osition 
 
 was promptly accepted, and the next day named for 
 
 taking up the subject. 
 
 The claims of the respective parties may be briefly 
 noticed. The region known as Oregon lay between the par- 
 allels of forty-two and fifty-four degrees and forty minutes 
 north latitude, the Kocky Mtmntains on the east, and the 
 
 1819. Pacific Ocean on the west. By the Florida Treaty, Spain 
 had ceded to the United States all her territory north of 
 the parallel first mentioned ; commencing at the sources of 
 the Arkansas and thence to the Pacific, and Mexico, hav- 
 ing thrown off the yoke of Spain, since confirmed by treaty 
 
 1828. the validity of the same boundary. The parallel of fifty- 
 four degrees forty minutes was agreed upon by the United 
 States, Great Britain, and Kussia, as the southern bound- 
 
 1^1^' ary of the jiossessions of the latter power. 
 
 The American claim was based upon the cession of 
 Spain, who was really the first discoverer ; the discovery of 
 
 1792. Captain Gray, already mentioned ; the explorations of Lewis 
 and Clarke, sent by the government of the United States ; 
 and the settlement established at the mouth of the Colum- 
 bia Eiver, by John Jacob Astor of New York. Lewis and 
 
 J^Qg' Clarke, during Jeflerson's administration, crossed the 
 Bocky Mountains, came upon the southern main branch 
 of the Columbia, and exploied that river to its mouth. 
 The British claim was also based on discovery, and 
 
 1800. actual settlement founded by the North-West Company, 
 on Eraser's Kiver, and also another on the head-waters of 
 the north branch of the Columbia. 
 
 1844. Calhoun came directly to the point, and proposed as 
 
 the boundary the continuation of the forty-ninth degree 
 
 1811. 
 
I 
 
 THE OREGON BOUNDARY SETTLED. 697 
 
 of north latitude to the Pacific. This line had already chap. 
 
 been agreed upon between the United States and Great 
 
 Britain by the treaty made at London, as the boundary 1844. 
 of their respective territories from the Lake of the Woods isis. 
 to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Packenham, 
 unwilling to accept that line, proposed to foUow the forty- 
 ninth degree from the mountains — some three hundred 
 miles — until it should strike the north branch of the Co- 
 lumbia river, and thence down that stream to the ocean. 
 The American Secretary declined this, and as the British 
 minister had no further instructions, the consideration of 
 the subject was postponed. 
 
 Meantime the Presidential canvass was in progress, 
 and " all of Oregon or none " became one of the watch- 
 words of the Democratic party. So long as these senti- 
 ments were proclaimed by partisan leaders and newspapers, 
 they were harmless ; but when the new President, in his 
 inaugural address, asserted that our title to " Oregon Ter- 
 ritory " " was clear and indisputable," and moreover inti- 
 mated that it was his intention to maintain it by arms, 
 the question assumed a far different aspect. 
 
 The position thus officially taken, when the subject 
 of the boundary was under negotiation, took the British 
 Government by surprise, especially since hitherto each 
 party had courteously recognized the other's claim to a 
 portion of the territory. Four months passed. Meantime 
 the good feeling existing between the two governments 
 was seriously disturbed ; England did not again offer to 
 negotiate. A mere partisan watchword was in danger of 
 involving both nations in war. At length the President 
 himself, directed the Secretary of State to reopen nego- 
 tiations by offering as the boundary the forty-ninth par- 
 allel ; but the projiosition was not accepted by the British 
 minister. 
 
 To prepare the way for further negotiation, the Presi- 
 
698 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, (lent tlicu recommended that the joint occupation of the 
 territory should he abrogated, hy giving the twelve 
 
 1844. months' notice, according to a provision in the treaties of 
 1818 and 1828. Congress voted to give the notice. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel expressed in Parliament his regret 
 that the last offer of the American Secretary had not been 
 accepted, and soon after the British minister, Packenham, 
 communicated to the Secretary of State the information 
 that his government would accept the parallel of forty- 
 nine, as recently offered. 
 
 The case admitted of no delay. The President was 
 anxious to relieve himself of the responsibility of acting on 
 the proposition. ii the suggestion of Senator Benton, of 
 Missouri, he, following the example of Washington, con- 
 sulted the Senate on the propriety of accepting this last 
 proposition, pledging himself to be guided by their decision. 
 That body decided to accept it, " and gave the President 
 a faithful support against himself, against his cabinet, and 
 against his peculiar friends." 
 
 Presently the treaty was sent into the Senate, when, 
 after a spirited debate for two days, it was ratified.' By 
 this treaty, the parallel of forty-nine degrees North lati- 
 tude was agreed upon as the boundary to the middle of 
 the channel between Vancouver's Island and the Con- 
 tinent, and thence southerly through the middle of the 
 Straits of Fuca to the ocean : — also the navigation of the 
 Columbia Eiver, and its main northern branch, was left 
 free to both parties. 
 
 1846. We left General Taylor at Corpus Christi, on the west 
 
 bank of the Nueces. He now received orders from Wash- 
 
 Feb. ington, to move to the Eio Grande, and establish a fortified 
 camp and fort on the bank opposite the town of Mata- 
 moras, as in the vicinity of that place Mexican troops 
 were assembling in great numbers, with the intention, it 
 
 ' Benton's Thirty Tears' View, Vol. ii. Chaps. 156-7-8-9. 
 
MEXICO THREATENS WAR — THORNTON'S PARTY SURPRISED. 699 
 
 was said, of invading Texas. Leaving the main portion chap. 
 of his stores under a guard at Point Isabel, he marched to 
 
 the Kio Grande, and, within cannon shot of Matamoras, 1840. 
 estabHshed a camp and built a fort. These movements 
 called forth from Mexico strongprotests and threats of 
 war. 
 
 When the dispute between the two Kepublics began, 
 Herrera was President of Mexico. He was desirous of 
 arranging the difficulties by negotiation ; but the war 
 spirit prevailed, and at a recent election the Mexican 
 peoijle chose for President, Paredes, an uncompromising 
 enemy of peace. When he assumed office he sent a large 
 force under General Ampudia, to whom he gave orders to 
 drive the Americans beyond the Nueces. That officer 
 soon after sent a communication to General Taylor, in 
 which he warned him of his danger in thus provoking the 
 auger of " the magnanimous Mexican nation," and de- 
 manded that he should " break up his camp and retire 
 beyond the Nueces " within twenty-four hours. Taylor 
 replied that he should maintain his position, and carry 
 out the instructions of his government, which alone was 
 responsible for his presence on the Eio Grande. He con- 
 tinued to strengthen his fortification, and to closely watch 
 the movements of the Mexicans. Ampudia was at a loss 
 how to act ; both commanders were unwilling to light the 
 flame of war. 
 
 Paredes, dissatisfied with Ampudia, sent General Arista 
 to supersede him. The latter immediately ordered de- 
 tachments of Mexican soldiers to occupy j^ositions between 
 Point Isabel and the American camp, thus cutting oif 
 communication with their stores. 
 
 General Taylor had sent Captain Thornton with a 
 party of sixty dragoons to reconnoitre ; the party was 
 surprised, sixteen of their number killed, the remainder 
 captured. Thornton alone escaped. Here was shed the . .. 
 first blood in the Mexican war. 24. 
 
700 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. j^ fe-^v clays later, Captain Walker, the celebrated 
 
 Texan ranger, who with a select company was engaged 
 
 ISiG. in keeping up tlxe communication with Point Isabel, came 
 into camp with information that a large force of Mexicans 
 was threatening the latter place. Leaving Major Brown 
 with three hundred men to defend the fort, Taylor hastened 
 to the aid of Point Isabel, which place, after a march of 
 twenty-one miles, he reached without ojjposition. 
 
 The Mexicans self-complacently attributed this move- 
 ment to fear, and they immediately made preparations to 
 attack the fort. Taylor had concerted with Major Brown 
 that if the latter should be surrounded or hard i^ressed, 
 he should, at certain intervals, fire heavy signal guns. 
 jlay The Mexicans opened with a tremendous cannonade 
 
 3. from a battery at Matamoras, while a large force took 
 position in the rear of the fort, and began to throw up in- 
 trenchments. The little garrison defended themselves 
 with great bravery, and not until Major Brown fell mor- 
 tally wounded, did the next in command. Captain Haw- 
 kins, begin to fire the signal guns. 
 
 The cautious Taylor first put Point Isabel in a state 
 of defence, and then set out with a provision train guarded 
 by two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight men to re- 
 lieve Fort Brown — thus afterward named in honor of its 
 commander. The little army was truly in peril ; an 
 overwhelming force of the enemy — three to its one — had 
 taken a strong position to intercept its march. The 
 booming of signal guns still continued, and Taylor ar- 
 dently pressed on with the determination to cut his way 
 through. Presently he came in sight of the enemy, posted 
 Ma\' in front of a chaparral — in which were their reserves — 
 ^' near a small stream, the Palo Alto. The train was im- 
 mediately closed up, and the soldiers refreshed themselves 
 from the stream, and filled their canteens. As soon as 
 the exact position of the Mexicans was ascertained, the 
 American line was formed. Major Einggold's battery was 
 
BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 701 
 
 placed on the right, and Duncan's on the left, while the chap. 
 
 eighteen-pouuders were in the centre on the main road. 
 
 The Mexicans commenced the action with their artillery, 1846. 
 but at too great distance to reach the American line. The 
 latter moved slowly and silently up till within suitable 
 range, then the artillery opened, and displayed great skill 
 in the rapidity as well as in the accuracy with which each 
 gun was handled. The eighteen-pouuders riddled the 
 Mexican centre through and through, while Duncan 
 scarcely noticed their artillery, but poured an incessant 
 stream of balls upon their infantry. Presently the long 
 grass in front was set on fire, by the wadding from the 
 guns, and the smoke obscured the position of the Mexicans. 
 The American batteries groped their way for three-fourths 
 of an hour through the burning grass, and when the 
 smoke cleared away, they found themselves within range 
 of the enemy ; in another moment they opened their guns 
 with renewed vigor. At this crisis night came on ; the 
 contest had continued for five hours, and was a conflict of 
 artillery alone. The only instance when an effort was 
 made to change the form of the battle, was when the 
 Mexican cavalry endeavored to turn the American flank; 
 but the infantiy, with bayonets fixed stood firm and 
 awaited the shock ; as the cavalry hesitated to make the 
 onset, a discharge from the American artillery decided 
 them to wheel and rapidly leave the field. 
 
 Such was the first battle in the Mexican war ; a pre- 
 sage of those which were to follow. The enemy lost four 
 hundred men, while the Americans had only nine killed 
 and forty-four wounded ; but among the former was Major 
 Einggold, universally lamented, both as an efficient 
 officer and a Christian gentleman. As his ofiicers ofiered 
 him assistance, he said : " Leave me alone, you are wanted 
 forward." To him was due much of the credit for that 
 perfection of drill and rapidity of movement which the 
 American Flying Artillery exhibited on battle-fields 
 
702 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, during this war. The Mexicans manifested here no want 
 
 of courage ; they stood for four or five hours under these 
 
 1846. murderous discharges of grape. 
 
 The Americans encamped on the spot, and at three 
 o'clock the next morning were on their march toward 
 Fort Brown. Meantime the Mexicans, leaving their dead 
 unburied, had disappeared ; but on the afternoon of that 
 day they were discovered posted in a strong position be- 
 yond a ravine, known as the Dry Kiver of Palms or Kesaca 
 de la Palma. They had been reinforced during the night, 
 and now numbered seven thousand men. Their right 
 and left were protected by dense brush and chaparral, 
 while their artillery, placed behind a breastwork and 
 beyond the ravine, swept the road for some distance. 
 May General Taylor placed his artillery on the road in the 
 
 centre, and ordered divisions on the right and left to 
 grojie their way through the chaparral and ferret out with 
 the bayonet the Mexican sharpshooters, who were swarm- 
 ing in the brush which protected them. 
 
 No order could be observed ; the officers became 
 separated from the men ; each soldier acted for himself, 
 as he broke his way through the chaparral and probed for 
 the Mexicans. The sliar]! twang of the rifle, the duU 
 sound of the musket, the deep mutterings of the cannon, 
 the shriU cries of the Mexicans, so in contrast with the 
 vigorous shouts of the Americans, produced a tremendous 
 uproar. The right and left had gradually forced their 
 way through the chaparral almost to the ravine, but the 
 Mexican battery, handled with great coolness and execu- 
 tion, stUl swept the road at every discharge, and held the 
 centre in check. That battery, the key of the Mexican 
 position, must be taken. General Taylor turned to 
 Captain May, of the dragoons, and pointing to the battery, 
 said : " You must take it." The captain wheeled his 
 horse and shouted to his troops, " Men, we must take that 
 
BATTLE OF KESACA DE LA PALMA. 703 
 
 battery !" Just then Lieutenant Ridgely suggested to chap. 
 
 May to wait until he -would draw the Mexican fire. The 
 
 moment a portion of their guns were fired, the bugle was 1846. 
 heard high above the din, to sound a charge. The atten- 
 tion of the combatants was arrested, all eyes were turned 
 towai-d the road, along which dashed the horsemen, led 
 by their gallant leader. A cloud of dust soon hid them 
 from view ; a discharge of the Mexican guns swept away 
 one-third of their number, but in a moment more, the 
 clashing sabres and the trampling' of men under the horses' 
 feet, proclaimed that the battery was taken. The Mexi- 
 can cannoneers were paralyzed at the sudden appearance 
 of the approaching foe, and before they could recover, the 
 dragoons were iipon them. May, with liis own hands, 
 captured General La Vega, the commander, who was in 
 the act of applying a match to a gun. The dragoons 
 then charged directly through the Mexican centre. 
 
 A shout of triumph arose from the American lines, the 
 infantry pressed on and took possession of the guns, from 
 which the dragoons had driven the men. The entire 
 Mexican force, panic-stricken at the sudden onset, broke and 
 fled in confusion to the nearest point of the Eio Grande ; 
 in their haste to pass over which, numbers of them were 
 drowned. 
 
 It was a complete victory. General Arista fled, and 
 without a companion, leaving his private papers, as well 
 as his public correspondence. All the Mexican artillery, 
 two thousand stand of arms, and six hundred mules, fell 
 into the hands of the Americans. The latter lost one 
 hundred and twenty- two, and the Mexicans twelve hun- 
 dred. 
 
 We may well imagine the emotions with which the 
 little garrison, exhausted by the exertions of six days' in- 
 cessant bombardment, listened to the sound of the battle, 
 as it drew nearer and nearer ; first was heard the cannon, 
 then the musketry ; then the smoke could be seen floating 
 
704 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAi' above the distant trees ; now Mexicans here and there 
 ___ appeared in full flight ; presently the victorious American 
 1846. cavaliy came in sight, and the men mounted the ramparts 
 and shouted a welcome. 
 
 General Taylor advanced to Fort Brown, then in a 
 few days crossed the Rio Grande, and took possession of 
 „ Matamoras. The Mexicans had withdrawn the previous 
 18. evening and were in full march toward Monterey. The 
 American commander took pains not to change or inter- 
 fere with the municipal laws of the town ; the people 
 enjoyed their civil and religious j^rivileges. They were 
 paid good prices for provisions, which they furnished in 
 abundance ; yet there was evidently in their hearts a 
 deep-toned feeling of hatred toward the invaders. 
 
 Meanwhile intelligence of the capture of Captain 
 Thornton's reconnoitring party had reached the United 
 States, and the rumor that Mexican soldiers, in over- 
 powering numbers, were between the Nueces and the Rio 
 Grande. 
 
 The President immediately sent a special message to 
 Congress, in which he announced that " war existed by 
 May the act of Mexico ; " but surely it was an " act " of self- 
 defence on the part of the Mexicans, and made so by the 
 advance of an American army ujjon disputed soil, that had 
 been in their possession and that of their fathers' fathers. 
 
 The President called upon Congress to recognize the 
 war, to appropriate the necessary funds to carry it on, and 
 to authorize him to call upon the country for volunteers. 
 Congress, anxious to rescue the army from danger, ap- 
 propriated ten millions of dollars, and empowered the 
 President to accept the services of fifty thousand volun- 
 teers ; one-half of whom to be mustered into the army, 
 and the other half kept as a reserve. War was not for- 
 mally declared, yet the war spirit aroused was unprece- 
 dented. Throughout the land public meetings were held, 
 
 11 
 
PLAN OF OPERATIONS MEXICO DECLARES WAR. 705 
 
 and in a few weeks two hundred tliousand volunteers had *^^|P- 
 
 ofi'ered their services to rescue the gallant little army 
 
 from its perils, and, if necessary, to prosecute the war. 1846. 
 Notwithstanding these warlike indications, great diversity 
 of opinion prevailed among the people, hoth as to the 
 justness of the war, or the expediency of appealing to 
 that terrible arbiter, when all the results demanded might 
 be obtained by negotiation. 
 
 On the suggestions of Major-General Scott, a plan of 
 operations, remarkably comprehensive in its outlines, was 
 resolved upon by the government. A powerful fleet was 
 to sail round Cape Horn, and to attack the Mexican ports 
 on the Pacific coast in concert with a force, styled the 
 "Army of the West," which was to assemble at Fort 
 Leavenworth, on the Missouri, then to cross the great 
 plains and the Rocky Mountains, and in its progress re- 
 duce the northern provinces of Mexico. Another force, 
 " The Army of the Centre," was to penetrate to the heart 
 of the Republic by way of Texas, and if deemed best, co- 
 operate with the force under Taylor, known, as we have 
 said, as the " Army of Occupation." The latter part of 
 the plan was afterward modified, and the country was 
 penetrated by way of Vera Cruz. 
 
 The api^rehensions of the people for the safety of their 
 little army, gave way to a feeling of exultation, when the 
 news reached them that it had met and repelled its 
 numerous assailants. The war spuit was not diminished 
 but rather increased by this success. Congress manifested 
 its gratification by conferring upon Taylor the commission 
 of Major-General by brevet. 30. 
 
 , On the other hand the Mexican people and govern- 
 ment were aroused, and on the intelligence of these dis- 
 asters, war was formally declared against the United May 
 States, and the government commenced to prepare for the ^^• 
 contest. 
 
 45 
 
706 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^hi^' Greneral John E. Wool, a native of New York, who 
 
 had seen service in the war of 1812, and distinguished 
 
 1S46. himself at Queenstown Heights, was commissioned to 
 drill the volunteers. By the most untiring diligence he 
 had, in the short space of six weeks, inspected and taken 
 into the service twelve thousand men, nine thousand of 
 whom were hurried off to reinforce General Taylor, while 
 the remainder marched under his own command to San 
 Antonio, in Texas, there to be in readiness to act accord- 
 iug to circumstances. 
 
 General Taylor remained three months at Matamoras, 
 his operations restricted for want of men, but as soon as 
 reinforcements reached him, he prepared to advance into 
 the country, in accordance with orders received from 
 Washington. He sent in advance General William J. 
 Worth, with the first division toward Monterey, the 
 capital city of New Leon. Worth took his first lessons 
 in warfare in 1812. From love of military life, when a 
 mere youth he enlisted as a common soldier, but his ready 
 talents attracted the attention of Colonel, now General 
 Scott, and from that day his promotion began. A fort- 
 Aug. night later, leaving General Twiggs in command at Mata- 
 moras, Taylor himself moved with the main division, — 
 more than six thousand men, — and the entire army en- 
 9^ ' camped within three miles of the doomed city. 
 
 Monterey was an old city built by the Spaniards nearly 
 three centuries ago. In a fertile valley, hedged in by 
 high mountains, it could be approached only in two direc- 
 tions ; from the north-east toward Matamoras, and from 
 the west by a road, which passed through a rocky gorge, 
 toward Saltillo. The city, nearly two miles in length by 
 one in breadth, had three large plazas or squares ; the 
 houses, built in the old Spanish style, were one story 
 high, with strong walls of masonry rising three or four 
 
MONTEREY AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS. 707 
 
 feet above their flat roofs. The city itself was fortified hy chap. 
 massive walls, and on its ramparts were forty-two pieces 
 
 of heavy artiUeiy, while from the mountain tops, north of 1846. 
 the town, the Americans could see that the flat roofs of 
 the stone houses were converted into places of defence, 
 and bristled with musketry, and that the streets were 
 rendered impassable by numerous barricades. On the one 
 side, on a hill, stood the Bishop's Palace, a massive stone 
 building, strongly fortified, on the other were redoubts 
 weU manned, in the rear was the river San Juan, south 
 of which towered abrupt mountains. Such was the ap- 
 pearance and strength of Monterey, garrisoned as it was 
 by ten thousand troops, nearly all regulars, under the 
 command of General Ampudia. It was now to be assailed 
 by an army of less than seven thousand men. 
 
 Ten days elapsed before the vicinity of the town 
 could be thoroughly reconnoitred. In the afternoon. 
 General Worth was ordered, with six hundred and fifty Jg ' 
 men, to find his way around the hill occupied by the 
 Bishop's Palace, gain the Saltillo road, and carry the 
 works in that direction, wlule a diversion would be made 
 against the centre and left of the town, by batteries 
 erected during the night. The impetuous Worth, by great 
 exertions, accomplished his purpose, by opening a new road 
 over the mountains. In one instance he came to a small 
 stream in a deep gully, the bridge over which had been 
 broken down. A neighboring field furnished the material ; 
 his men soon filled the chasm, and passed over on a com- 
 stalk-bridge. 
 
 The next morning the batteries erected the night be- 
 fore opened upon the enemy, who replied with a hearty 
 good will. At length, after hard fighting, one of the Mexi- 
 can works of great strength, situated in the lower part of 
 the town, was captured. The brigade under General Sept. 
 Quitman, of the Mississippi Volunteers, " carried the work 
 
 20. 
 
708 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP in handsome style, as well as the strong building in its 
 
 rear." General Butler had also entered the town on the 
 
 1846. right ; both of these positions were maintained. 
 
 While these operations were in progress, General 
 
 Worth succeeded in gaining the SaltUlo road, and thus 
 
 cut oif the enemy's communication with the west. He 
 
 carried, in succession, the heights south of the river and 
 
 road, and immediately turned the guns uj)on the Bishop's 
 
 Palace. 
 
 During the night, the Mexicans evacuated their works 
 
 in the lower town ; but the next day they kept up a i^ig- 
 
 orous fire from the Citadel. The following morning at 
 
 dawn of day, in the midst of a fog and drizzling rain. 
 
 Worth stormed the crest overlooking the Bishop's Palace, 
 
 Sept. and at noon, the Palace itself fell into the hands of the 
 23 . 
 
 Americans. Yet the city, with its fortified houses, was 
 
 far from being taken. " Our trooj^s advanced from house 
 to house, and from square to square, until they reached a 
 street but one square in the rear of the principal plaza, 
 in and near which the enemy's force was mostly concen- 
 trated.'" The Americans obtained the plaza, then forced 
 the houses on either side, and, by means of crowbars, tore 
 down the walls, ascended to the roofs, then drew up one 
 or two field-pieces, and drove the enemy from point to point 
 till the city capitulated. 
 
 The carnage was terrible. The shouts of the com- 
 batants, mingled with the wail of suffering women and 
 children, presented a scene so heart-rending that even the 
 demon of war might be supposed to turn from it in horror. 
 
 The Mexicans had effectually barricaded their streets, 
 but these were almost undisturbed, while the invaders 
 burrowed from house to house. The conflict continued 
 for almost four days, in which the Mexicans fought 
 desperately from behind their barricades on the house- 
 
 ' Gen. Taylor's Report. 
 
CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 709 
 
 tops, where they did not hesitate to meet the invaders of ^^^P- 
 their hearthstones hand to hand. 
 
 The following morning Ampudia surrendered the town 1846. 
 and garrison. The Mexican soldiers were permitted to 24.' 
 march out with the honors of war. 
 
 General Taylor was assured that those in authority 
 at the city of Mexico were desirous of peace. In conse- 
 quence of these representations, and also of his want of 
 provisions, he agreed to a cessation of hostilities for eight 
 weeks, if his government should sanction the measure. 
 
 He now left General Worth in command of the city, 
 and retired with the main force of the army to Walnut 
 Springs, about three miles distant, and there encamped. 
 
CHAPTEE LII. 
 
 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 
 
 The President hopes for Peace. — Santa Anna. — Hostilities to be renewed. — 
 Troops withdrawn from General Taylor. — Letter from General Scott. — 
 Volunteers arrive at Monterey. — Despatches intercepted. — Santa 
 Anna's Plans and Preparations. — Taylor advances to Agua Kueva. — 
 Battle of Buena Vista. — Its Consequences. 
 
 CHAP. Those in power at Washington had hoped, indeed, it was 
 . confidently predicted, that the war woxild be ended within 
 
 184:6. "ninety" or " one hundred and twenty days" from its 
 commencement, and a peace conchided, that " should give 
 indemnity for the past and security for the future." These 
 desirable ends were to be attained by treaty, through the 
 means of that incomparable patriot, Santa Anna, then 
 an exile in Havana, who jiromised, for a certain considera- 
 tion, if restored to authority in Mexico, to exert his influ- 
 ence in favor of peace. A secret messenger from Wash- 
 ington had made to the " illustrious exile " overtures to 
 this eifect, about the time that General Taylor was or- 
 dered to the Kio Grande ; the special act which led to hos- 
 tilities.' 
 
 In his next annual message the President gives some 
 
 l)ec. information on this subject. " Santa Anna," said that docu- 
 ment, " had expressed his regret that he had subverted 
 the Federal Constitution of his country," and " that he 
 
 ' Benton's " Thirty Years' View," Vol. ii. pp. 561 and 681-2. 
 
SANTA ANNA AND HIS PROFESSIONS. 711 
 
 was now in favor of its restoration." He was also opposed ^f(i^- 
 
 to a monarchy, or "European interference in the affairs 
 
 of his country." The President cherished the hope that 1846. 
 the exiled chief would " see the ruinous consequences to 
 Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it woidd 
 be his interest to favor peace ; " and further the Message 
 said, that Paredes, then President of Mexico, was " a sol- 
 dier by profession, and a monarcliist in principle ; " the 
 sworn enemy of the United States, and urgent to prosecute 
 the war. Santa Anna, on the contrary, was in favor of 
 peace, and only wanted a few millions of dollars to bring 
 about that object so dear to his patriotism ; hence the 
 hopes that the war would be brought to a close in three or 
 four months. It was with this expectation that the Presi- 
 dent, in a special message, asked of Congress an appropria- -'^"?- 
 tion of two millions of dollars " in order to restore peace, 
 and to advance a portion of the consideration money, for 
 any cession of territory " which Mexico might make. It 
 was also in accordance with this arrangement, that, on the 
 very day Congress, at his suggestion, recognized the " ex- May 
 istence of the war," he issued an order to Commodore 
 Connor, who was in command of the fleet in the Gulf, to 
 permit Santa Anna and his suite to return to Mexico. 
 The latter availed himself of this j^assport to land at Aug. 
 Vera Cruz. ^• 
 
 President Polk had been duped. Santa Anna never 
 intended to fulfil his }}romise, except so far as to forward 
 his own selfish ends. Instead of endeavoring to conciliate 
 the hostile countries and obtain peace, he devoted all 
 his energies to arouse the war spirit of his countrymen ; 
 called upon them to rally under his banner and save their 
 nationality ; issued flaming manifestos expressing the 
 most intense hatred of the people of the United States, 
 and his righteous indignation at the wrongs imposed on 
 his country by the " perfidious Yankees." 
 
712 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Ln^' "^^^ extravagant jDrofessions of patriotism were not 
 
 without effect ; his countrymen deposed Paredes, and 
 
 1846. elected him President. Though they had been unfortu- 
 nate in the field, their spirits revived, and in a few months 
 he had an army of twenty thousand men concentrated at 
 San Luis Potosi. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Meanwhile Greneral Wool had marched from San 
 Sept. Antonio. His indefatigable labors had converted the vol- 
 unteers under his care into well-drilled soldiers. Part of 
 their way was through a region but thinly inhabited and 
 without roads, and across a desert in which they suffered 
 much for water. A laborious march of six weeks brought 
 him to Monclova, seventy miles from Monterey — here he 
 learned of the capture of the latter place. It was now 
 arranged that he should take position in a fertile dis- 
 trict in the province of Durango, that would enable him 
 to obtain supplies for his own men, and the army under 
 General Taylor. The inhabitants cheerfully furnished 
 provisions, for which they were joaid promptly, and in 
 truth received more favor than they had recently ex- 
 perienced at the hands of their own rulers, as General 
 Wool kept his men under strict discipline and scru]iulously 
 protected the persons and property of the Mexicans. 
 
 The cessation of hostilities, by orders from Washing- 
 ton, ceased on the 13th of November. Two days later 
 Nov. General Worth took possession of Saltillo, the capital of 
 Coahuila, and General Taylor himself, leaving a garrison 
 in Monterey under General Butler, marched toward the 
 coast in order to attack Tampico, but as that place had 
 Dec. already surrendered to Commodore Connor, he took pos- 
 ^^- session of Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas. 
 
 The United States government now prepared to in- 
 vade Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. Just as General 
 Taylor was ready to commence active operations. Gen- 
 eral Scott was about to sail for that place with the 
 
TBOOPS WITHDRAWN FROM TAYLOR'S ARMY. 713 
 
 intention of capturing it, and then, if 2:ieace could not be ^^A^- 
 obtained, to march upon the city of Mexico itself 
 
 To cany out the plan of operations, it was necessary 1846. 
 to increase the force under General Scott's immediate 
 control. Troops in sufficient numbers could not be drawn 
 from the United States, and a portion of Taylor's army 
 was ordered to join him before Vera Cruz. He thus in a 
 private letter expresses his generous sympathies with the 
 latter : " My dear General," says he, " I shall be obliged 
 to take from you most of the gallant officers and men 
 whom you have so long and so nobly commanded. I am 
 afraid that I shall, by imperious necessity — the approach 
 of the yellow fever on the Gulf coast — reduce you, for a 
 time, to remain on the defensive. This will be infinitely 
 painful to you, and, for that reason, distressing to me. 
 But I rely upon your patriotism to submit to the tempo- 
 rary sacrifice with cheerfulness. No man can better afford 
 to do so. Kecent victories place you on that high emi- 
 nence." 
 
 General Taylor, though deeply disappointed, at once 
 complied with the orders of the government, and detached 
 Generals Worth and Quitman with their divisions and the 
 greater part of the volunteers brought by General Wool : 
 in truth, the flower of his army. These troops were speedily 
 on their march from Saltillo toward the Gulf coast. Thus 
 Taylor was left with a very small force. During the month 
 of January, and a part of February, reinforcements of 1847. 
 volunteers arrived from the United States, increasing his 
 army to about six thousand; but after garrisoning Monte- 
 rey and Saltillo, he had only four thousand seven hundred 
 effective men, of whom only sis hundred were regulars. 
 
 General Scott sent Lieutenant Eichey and a guard 
 of men with a despatch to General Taylor. The Lieu- 
 tenant imprudently left his men, went near a Mexican 
 village, was lassoed, dragged from his horse and murdered, 
 
714 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, and Lis despatches sent to Santa Anna. From these the 
 Mexican chief learned the plan for invading his country. 
 
 1847. He promptly decided upon his course of action — a ju- 
 dicious one. Trusting that the strength of Vera Cruz, 
 and of the Castle San Juan d'Ulloa, would lony; resist the 
 enemy, and even if they both should be captured, that the 
 fortified places along the road would still retard the ad- 
 vance of the Americans upon the capital, he deter- 
 mined to direct aU his force against Taylor, who was now 
 weakened by the loss of the greater part of his army. 
 
 Santa Anna's difficulties were almost insurmountable. 
 The city of Mexico was in confusion, torn by factions. He 
 took most extraordinary and illegal measures to enlist 
 men and obtain the means for their support; raised money 
 by forced loans ; made the church property contribute its 
 share of the public expense ; the Priests protested and 
 appealed to the superstitions of the people ; he immediately 
 seized one of their number, the most factious, and threw 
 him into prison, and the rest were intimidated. Thus, 
 for nearly four months, he exercised an arbitrary, energetic, 
 and iron rule. With a well-organized army of twenty- 
 
 jjjy three thousand men, and twenty pieces of artillery, he com- 
 
 26. menced his march for San Luis Potosi in the direction of 
 Saltillo, and within sixty miles south of that jalace he 
 halted and prepared for battle. 
 
 Kumors reached General Wool that Santa Anna was 
 approaching Saltillo. Major Borland was sent \sith thirty 
 dragoons to reconnoitre ; he was joined on his way by 
 Major Gaines and Captain Cassius M. Clay, with another 
 company of thirty-five men. No enemy appeared, and 
 they pushed on during the day, and carelessly encamped 
 for the night, but, in the morning, found themselves 
 surrounded by one thousand horsemen under the Mexican 
 General Minon. They were taken prisoners, and Santa 
 Anna sent them, as the first fruits of the campaign, to be 
 paraded through the streets of the city of Mexico. 
 
TAYLOR AT SALTILLO — M'CULLOCK'S ADVENTURE. 715 
 
 General Taylor now advanced from Monterey, and *^^|^^- 
 
 esta,blislied his head-quarters at Saltillo. Leaving there 
 
 his stores, he made a rapid march to Agua Nueva, eighteen 1847. 
 miles in advance, on the road to San Luis Potosi, thus to 
 secure the southern extremity of the defile through the 
 Sierra Nevada, rather than the northern one at Monterey. Feb. 
 At the former point the Mexicans must fight or starve, be- 
 cause of the barrenness of the country in their rear ; wliile, 
 had he remained at Monterey, Santa Anna could have had 
 his head-quarters at SaltiUo, and drawn his supplies from 
 that comparatively fertile district. 
 
 Scouts reported that General Minon with a large body 
 of cavalry was to the left of Agua Nueva, and that the 
 American position could be turned. Companies of dra- 
 goons from time to time were sent in difierent directions 
 to reconnoitre. They at length learned from a " Mexican, 
 dressed as a peon," that Santa Anna had arrived in the 
 neighborhood with twenty thousand men, and that he in- 
 tended to attack the Americans the next morning. 
 
 The clouds of dust toward the east, and the signal 
 fires that ])lazed upon the tops of the distant hiUs, seemed 
 to confirm the report. But that daring Texan ranger, 
 Major McCuUoch, was not satisfied ; and, accompanied by 
 some dozen volunteers, he determined to ascertain the 
 truth of the "peon's" stoiy. They pushed on across a 
 desert of thirty-six miles to Encarnacion, where they ar- 
 rived at midnight, and found the enemy in force. Send- 
 ins back all his men, save one, McCulloch entered their 
 lines, and, undetected, went from point to point, obtained 
 more correct information of their numbers, then passed 
 out, and escaped to Agua Nueva. 
 
 On the reception of this intelhgence, Taylor, leaving 
 a small guard as an outpost, retired up the valley in 
 expectation that Santa Anna in hot haste would pursue 
 him, while he himself should await his approach at a 
 point, which, in passing, he had already noticed. The con- 
 jecture was correct. 
 
716 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 *^Ln^' Santa Anna knew well the position of the Americans. 
 He thought they would not retreat, and he resolved to 
 
 1847. surprise them. But between him and Agua Neuva there 
 intervened fifty miles, the last thirty-six of which were 
 across a desert. His soldiers were each supplied with 
 water and provisions ; in the morning the march com- 
 menced, and at noon they entered the desert ; in the 
 night they halted for a while to refresh, and at dawn they 
 were to attack the unsuspecting foe. The march was 
 rapid and secret ; the silence of the desert was not dis- 
 turbed — not a signal was used, not a drum beat. After 
 so much toil he was sadly disajipointed ; his enemy had 
 disajipeared. He firmly believed the Americans were in 
 full flight, in order to avoid a battle. Some days before 
 he had sent General Minon with his cavalry across the 
 mountains, to their rear, and he now hoped that Minon 
 would be able to hold the fugitives in check until he 
 himself could come up with his full force. He halted only 
 to refresh his wearied soldiers, and then pursued with all 
 his vigor. 
 
 The ground chosen by General Taylor on which to 
 make a stand, was the pass — since so famous — known 
 among the Mexicans as La Angosturas, or the Narrows. 
 It was at the north end of a valley, about twelve miles 
 long, and formed by mountains on either side. Here an 
 ascent rises to a jilateau, a little more than a mile wide, 
 on each side of which rugged mountains, inaccessible to 
 artillery or cavalry, rise from two to three thousand feet. 
 Numerous ravines or deep gullies, formed by the torrents 
 rushing from the mountains during the rainy season, 
 rendered the surface in front and on the sides very un- 
 even. Neither flank coidd be turned except by light troops 
 clambering up the mountains. The plateau was some- 
 what rough, with here and there open and smooth places, 
 as well as clumps of thorny chaparral. The road through 
 
22. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AMERICANS. 717 
 
 the defile passes much nearer to the west thau to the ™^^- 
 
 east side of the Narrows. On this pLiteau, one mile 
 
 south of the hacienda or plantation known as Buena Vista, 1847. 
 the American army awaited the approach of the Mexicans. 
 
 Early the following morning clouds of dust, extending 
 far down the valley to the south, made known that the 
 Mexican army was near and in motion. Soon after, its 
 cavalry came in sight and halted for the infantry and 
 artillery to come up. 
 
 The long roll of the drum called the Americans to 
 arms ; they obeyed the call with hearty cheers. It was 
 the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and on the Feb. 
 impulse his name was adopted as their watchword. They 
 were placed under peculiar circumstances. A few months 
 before, they were quietly engaged in the avocations of 
 civil life ; enthusiasm had induced them to volunteer, and 
 now they were on foreign soil, far from their homes. 
 With the exception of a few hundreds, they were all for 
 the first time going into battle, with the prospect that to 
 them defeat would be certain ruin ; they were about to 
 meet an army, in its numbers nearly five to one of their 
 own. In the unequal contest, their only hope was in 
 their own bravery, and in the skill of their commander. 
 
 The cautions Taylor had gone to SaltiUo, six miles 
 distant, to superintend in person the defences designed to 
 secure the stores from capture. General Wool was left 
 in temporary command at the Narrows, and he directed 
 the arrangements of the troops. 
 
 Captain Washington's battery was placed to command 
 the road or pass, the key to the position of the army. 
 Colonel Hardin's First Illinois regiment was on a ridge to 
 the left of the pass, and Colonel McKee's Second Ken- 
 tucky on another ridge in their rear. To the left beyond 
 these was posted the Second Illinois, under Colonel Bis- 
 seU, while still further in the same direction, under the 
 mountain, were stationed Colonels YeU and Humphrey 
 
718 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Marshall, with the Arkansas and Kentucky volunteers. 
 The remainder of the army, including Lane's Indiana 
 
 184:7. brigade ; the Mississippi riflemen, Colonel Jefferson 
 Davis ; two squadrons of dragoons, and Sherman and 
 Bragg's batteries of flying artillery, were placed in reserve 
 on the rear of the plateau. 
 
 During the morning, and beyond the range of the 
 American artillery, the main body of the Mexicans was 
 also arranged in order of battle. Their right, a battery 
 of sixteen-pounders, rested on the base of the mountains. 
 These guns were manned by the San Patricio regiment, 
 composed of Irish and German deserters from the Ameri- 
 can army. Two divisions, Pacheco's and Lombardini's, 
 extended in the rear of this battery ; guns, twelve and 
 eight-pounders, were posted to the left, and a battalion 
 occupied a hill in advance of the main line, directly op- 
 posite the pass. Their cavalry was stationed in the rear 
 of either flank, and to be unencumbered, the baggage of 
 the whole army was left many miles in the rear. 
 
 About noon a Mexican officer brought a note to 
 General Taylor. In pompous terms Santa Anna sum- 
 moned him to surrender at discretion, and trust himself 
 to be treated " with the consideration belonging to the 
 Mexican character." In a brief and courteous note the 
 American commander declined the proposal. 
 
 Santa Anna noticed that the mountains to the east, 
 beyond the American left, were unguarded, and he sent 
 General Ampudia, with light troops, around a spur to 
 ascend them from the south side. The movement was 
 observed, and Colonel Marshall dismounted his own rifle- 
 men and those of the Indiana battalion, and commenced 
 to ascend to the crest of the ridge. As the lines gradually 
 approached each other, skirmishing began. The Mexicans 
 kept up a continuous roar of musketry, while the Ameri- 
 
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA SKIRMISHING. 719 
 
 cans lay amono; the rocks, wliencc could be heard the chap. 
 ■^ " . . ' LII. 
 sharp crack of their rifles. 
 
 The Mexican batteries occasionally threw a shot, but 1847. 
 the Americans on the plateau remained silent ; they 
 wished a closer conflict. They were not idle, however, 
 but threw up temporary works to protect "Washington's 
 battery in front, and also to the right of the pass close up 
 to the base of the mountain. Thus passed the afternoon, 
 with only severe skirmishing on the mountain sides. 
 When night came on the Americans were recalled to the 
 plain. The Mexicans remained in jiosition, and the night 
 passed without any important demonstration ou either 
 side. 
 
 General Minon had passed through the defile, Palo- 
 mas Adentro, and in the afternoon appeared with his 
 numerous cavalry upon the plains north of Saltillo. Here 
 Santa Anna sent him orders to remain, and be in readi- 
 ness to fall upon the American forces, which he promised 
 to either capture or put to flight the next morning. 
 
 The appearance of Minon caused no little anxiety, and 
 General Taylor, after night-fall, hastened to Saltillo with 
 aid, to assure himself that any attack upon the stores 
 would be repelled. 
 
 During the night Ampudia was reinforced ; and at 
 dawn he renewed the attack, and stretched his line farther 
 to the right ; but Colonel Marshall, with a portion of the 
 Illinois volunteers, maintained his jDOsition, though pressed Feb. 
 by superior numbers. 
 
 Soon after sunrise, movements in the Mexican ranks 
 indicated that a grand attack was in contemplation. 
 Their strength was nearly all thrown toward the Ameri- 
 can left, where, owing to the smallness of their number 
 and the extent of the ground, the troops were placed at 
 greater intervals. The San Patricio battery was also 
 brought forward and placed on the ridge in front of the 
 
 23. 
 
720 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, plateau, wliile three powerful columns of attack were 
 
 arranged — columns composed of the best soldiers of the 
 
 1847. army, and led by its most experienced leaders. As the 
 foremost column advanced, General Lane ordered Captain 
 O'Brien to hold them in check with his guns, and the 
 Second Indiana regiment to support him. O'Brien's shot 
 ploughed through their ranks from front to rear, yet the 
 Mexicans crowded on till the head of the column was 
 literally broken, and thrown into confusion, and refused 
 to advance. Lane now ordered O'Brien to move forward 
 fifty yards nearer the enemy. The Indiana regiment fol- 
 lowed, but came within range of a Mexican battery, which 
 opened upon their flank. They were ordered to retreat 
 from the face of such overpowering numbers ; the retreat 
 unfortunately soon became a flight, which extended quite 
 beyond the enemy's guns. Now upon O'Brien's artillery 
 was concentrated the entire fire of the Mexican battery 
 and Pacheco's column. His horses were soon disabled ; 
 not a man of his company but was either killed or wound- 
 ed ; he was forced to fall back and leave to the enemy one 
 of his guns as a trophy — a trophy which they seemed to 
 appreciate very highly. 
 
 These forces now advanced and formed a juncture with 
 the division of Lombardini ; the entire body then moved 
 against the plateau, and opened a heavy fire ujjon the 
 Second Illinois regiment under Colonel Bissell. Four 
 companies of Arkansas volunteers had been directed to 
 dismount and gain the plateau. They reached it in the 
 midst of this conflict, but they soon became panic-stricken 
 and fled. The Illinoians, now unsupported, slowly fell 
 back. While this was in jjrogress, a portion of the Ken- 
 tuckians were forced back, and Ampudia, with his light 
 troops, came down the mountain and completely turned 
 the American left. The third heavy column, under Mora 
 y VillamU, pressed on against Washington's battery on the 
 road. He waited till they came within close range, then 
 
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA — WHOLE COMPANIES BETKEAT. 721 
 
 poured in his shot with surprising rapidity and terrible *^^;'^P- 
 
 effect ; the head of the column melted away before the 
 
 storm, the whole mass was thrown into confusion, swayed 1847. 
 from side to side, then broke and fled, leaving the plain 
 covered with a multitude of slain and wounded. 
 
 Just as the three columns of the enemy had failed to 
 force the American centre on the plateau, General Taylor, 
 accompanied by fresh troops, arrived upon the field ; his 
 presence was needed. He brought with him every avail- 
 able man that could be si:)ared from Saltillo. They were 
 Colonel May's dragoons, a portion of the Mississippi rifle- 
 men, and of the Arkansas cavalry. 
 
 The natural advantages of the position had been lost ; 
 success depended alone upon the bravery of the troops ; 
 many of the officers had fallen, and whole companies of 
 the volunteers, both infantry and horse, had left the field, 
 and were in disastrous retreat toward Buena Vista, in 
 spite of the efforts of General Wool and Colonel Davis, 
 and other officers to restrain them. 
 
 The Mexican infantry, supported by their fine cavalry, 
 right and left, which made shock after shock, continued 
 to press on. By great exertions Davis rallied the majority 
 of his regiment, and a part of the Second Indiana ; they 
 advanced at a quick stej), but silent until within rifle 
 shot ; then gave the approaching foe a destructive fire. 
 The Mexicans did not slacken their pace till they came 
 almost to the edge of the last ravine between them and 
 their enemy, when they halted. The Americans came up 
 to the opposite edge ; thus for a while the two forces con- 
 fronted each other and fired across the ravine. Presently 
 a sliuut along the American line rose high and clear above 
 the din ; they delivered their fire, dashed into the ravine, 
 lingered a moment to reload, then rose upon the opposite 
 crest, in the face of the enemy, and with defiant shouts 
 urged home their fire more fearfully than ever. The 
 46 
 
722 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^HAP. Mexicans, apparently astounded at the apparition which 
 
 was sending death through their ranks, wavered for a few 
 
 1847. minutes, and then in utter confusion rolled back upon the 
 column which was advancing to their support. 
 
 Scarcely was Colonel Davis free from this when he 
 was assailed by a force coming in another direction. A 
 thousand lancers who had not been engaged approached 
 along the broad ridge ; they were well supported by in- 
 fantry. To meet this new enemy Davis, was aided by the 
 Second and Third Indiana regiments. He extended his 
 line across the ridge, stationed Ca^Dtain Sherman on his 
 left, and placed his men in the form of the letter V, the 
 opening toward the approaching lancers. They com- 
 menced to advance at a gallop as if to charge their way 
 through the centre. But as they drew near they gradually 
 slackened their pace ; they expected the Americans would 
 fire, and then they would ride them down before they 
 could reload their pieces. The latter fired not a gun, but 
 awaited their approach. At length the lancers came to a 
 walk- at the opening of the angle. The silence seemed to 
 fill them with awe ; they were within eighty yards of a 
 thousand marksmen, every one of whom could take de- 
 liberate aim. At the word, every musket and rifle was 
 poised — a moment intervened — then went forth the mes- 
 sengers of death. The entire front ranks of the lancers 
 were riddled, not a ball appeared to have failed of its 
 errand. This was followed by grape and cannister from 
 Sherman's battery. The dead and wounded men and 
 horses made a barricade of struggling life, over which they 
 could not pass. Even at this time, their overpowering 
 numbers, had it not been for this obstruction, might have 
 enabled them to break through the line and gain the road 
 in the rear of the plateau, and thus have modified or 
 changed the fortune of the day. But those in the rear 
 were appalled at the destruction of their companions, and 
 the whole mass fled headlong from the field. As in every 
 
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA TORREJON'S REPULSE. 723 
 
 other instance the Americans, for want of numbers and chap. 
 
 cavalry, could not pursue them, and the fugitives passed 
 
 south of the plateau to be re-formed for another attack. ISiT. 
 
 Meantime a squadron of cavalry under Torrejon skirted 
 the mountain base to the left, and penetrated to Buena 
 Vista, whither the commands of Marshall and Yell had 
 retired. General Taylor sent all the cavalry he could 
 spare, under Colonel May, to reinforce that point. Tor- 
 rejon fell back on his approach, and May returned to the 
 plateau. Then Torrejon advanced again : this time the 
 volunteers received him with a scattering fire ; but the 
 Mexicans, confident in numbers, rode on rapidly toward the 
 hacienda ; there they were held in check by a portion of 
 the two battalions. It was here that Colonel Yell, as he 
 made a charge, was killed at the head of his men. Tor- 
 rejon himself was wounded, and Colonel May made his 
 ajipearance again, this time with two field-pieces, and the 
 Mexicans sejDarated into two divisions and retreated out 
 of danger. 
 
 On the plateau the battle had raged in one continuous 
 cannonade : the Mexicans had on the ridge in front, a 
 battery of eighteen and twenty-four pounders, principally 
 manned by the San Patricio regiment, yet they could not 
 silence the American guns. At this point there was a 
 temporary lull in the storm. 
 
 But on the east side of the valley, to the rear of the 
 plateau, a severe conflict was in progress. One of the 
 Mexican divisions retreating from Buena Vista, had united 
 with a large force sent by Santa Anna to make its way on 
 the extreme left round to the American rear. 
 
 Colonel May with his dragoons and a portion of the 
 Illinoians and Indianians was engaged in the unequal con- 
 test. General Taylor sent to his aid a portion of the ar- 
 tillery and the dragoons, with some of the volunteer 
 cavaliy. 
 
724 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. They soon accomplished the object by cutting off the 
 
 retreat of the Mexicans who had passed so far beyond the 
 
 1847. American left. They were driven against the base of the 
 mountain and thrown into inextricable confiision. Bra<rfr 
 advanced within close canister range, and with their 
 wonted rapidity his guns played upon them : the shot 
 tore and crashed through the bewildered multitude, and 
 those next the mountain endeavored to escape by clam- 
 bering up its sides. The whole force, about five thousand, 
 became utterly helpless, while the wounded and dying 
 were increasing at a fearful rate : the horses frantic with 
 pain and terror added to the confusion. A few minutes 
 more and they must have lain down their arms ; at this 
 crisis, as if to stay the arm of death, a white flag was 
 seen approaching from Greneral Taylor's position. When 
 it came near the artillery ceased to fire. 
 
 Three Mexican officers had appeared as if for a parley; 
 they professed to bear a message from the Mexican chief. 
 When brought into the presence of General Taylor they 
 wished to know " what he wanted." The reply was the 
 surrender of the Mexican army. They asked time for 
 consideration ; the trick was not suspected, and the re- 
 quest was granted. A messenger bearing a white- flag 
 was hastened with orders to Caj^tain Bragg to cease firing, 
 as the Mexicans were about to lay down their arms. 
 
 General Wool was deputed to accompany the officers 
 to Santa Anna, who took care not to be seen. As Wool 
 perceived that the Mexicans continued to fire, though the 
 Americans had ceased, he declared the conference at an 
 end, and returned to his own army. 
 
 Meanwliile, under the protection of the flag of peace, 
 the body of Mexicans in trouble stealthily crept along the 
 base of the mountain out of danger, and joined their main 
 army south of the plateau. Thus, whether designed or 
 not, Santa Anna had extricated his soldiers, and had also 
 learned from his spies — the Mexican officers — the small 
 
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA — THE LAST ATTACK. 725 
 
 number of American troops — only three regiments of in- ^^^P- 
 
 fantry and three guns — on the plateau, and that their 
 
 main portion was far to the left, whither they had driven 1847. 
 the Mexican right wing. Shielding his men from sight 
 by ravines and spurs of the mountain, he had for hours 
 been concentrating all his strength for a final assault 
 upon the American central position at the pass. At 
 several points he had met with partial success ; but in 
 the main his plans had been frustrated by the indomi- 
 table courage, rapid movements, and hard fighting of his 
 opponents. 
 
 Having concentrated his forces, he now brought his re- 
 serve into action, aided by the troops of the right wing 
 which had just been rescued from peril. The whole force — 
 twelve thousand strong — the front regiments composed of 
 veterans, with General Perez at their head, moved up the 
 ascent from the valley. The scattered companies (Illi- 
 nois and Kentucky volunteers) in advance of the line were 
 taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of the enemy 
 in such numbers ; the enemy, which an hour or two be- 
 fore they had seen in utter confusion, retreating from the 
 field. The multitude, pouring in volley after voUey of 
 musketry, pressed on and compelled these companies to 
 retire toward the lines. O'Brien was left almost alone 
 with his artillery, yet for a time he maintained his place. 
 His shot buried themselves in the ranks of the approach- 
 ing enemy ; but the mass closed up the gaps and steadily 
 came nearer and nearer. For round shot he substituted 
 canister, and they were checked for a time ; but it was their 
 last struggle to secure the field. Trusting to numbers 
 and heedless of death, the mass again moved on. Pres- 
 ently there was not an infantry soldier to support the 
 guns, nor a horse to draw them; still the gunners stood to 
 their places, and retreated only as their pieces recoiled. 
 At length overtaken, every officer or gunner either killed 
 
726 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, or wounded, O'Brien himself among tlie latter, tbey aban- 
 doned them to the enemy. 
 
 1847. Meanwhile the companies of volunteers took refuge in 
 
 a deeji ravine to the right of the pass. The Mexicans 
 lined its crest and kept upon them a continuous volley of 
 musketry, to which they could scarcely reply, while their 
 cavalry dashed forward to the mouth of the ravine to cut 
 off their retreat. Fortunately the route of the cavalry 
 brought them within range of Washington's battery at 
 the pass. His guns were immediately brought to bear 
 upon them ; they recoiled, relinquished their object, and 
 began to retreat, while, by throwing shot over the heads 
 of the volunteers who were now moving out, he harassed 
 them exceedingly. The Mexican infantry, now unop- 
 posed, descended into the ravine, and cruelly murdered 
 every wounded man they could find. 
 
 It was in this desperate encounter that Colonels 
 Hardin, McKee, and Henry Clay, junior, (son of the dis- 
 tinguished statesman,) and great numbers of brave and 
 generous men were slain. 
 
 The crisis of the conflict was near. O'Brien overcome 
 there was no one to oppose ; and, encouraged by their suc- 
 cess, the Mexicans pushed on with unusual vigor. At 
 the commencement of this last attack the Americans were 
 more or less scattered over the plateau and on the ex- 
 tremes of the field ; but the heavy roar of the battle made 
 known that the issue of the day was about to be deter- 
 mined, and they hastened, of their own accord, to the post 
 of danger. 
 
 It was an hour of intense anxiety to General Taylor, 
 as he saw this unexpected host advance in such order and 
 with such determination. The battle had already lasted 
 eight hours ; the toil of so many rapid movements over 
 the rough field had wearied his men, while the approach- 
 ing enemy's force was fresh, and in number four to one 
 
THE BATTLK OF BUENA VISTA THE KESTTLT 72T 
 
 of his own. Was it possible to hold them iu check till ^^^P- 
 
 his own troops could come up ? He sent messenger after 
 
 messenger to urge them on. In one direction could be 1847. 
 seen Bragg, and in another Sherman, driving with whip 
 and spur the jaded horses attached to their batteries ; 
 while in the distance to the left of the pass, could be seen 
 the Mississippians and Indianians, under their officers 
 Davis and Lane, rapidly advancing, now in sight and now 
 disappearing as they crossed the deep ravines. 
 
 Bragg was the first to come up. As he drew near he sent 
 to ask for infantry to support his guns ; but Taylor could 
 only send him word that not a man could be had ; he 
 must fight to the death. The Mexicans were rushing on, 
 and before he could unlimber his guns they were within a 
 few yards of their muzzles ; but his men seemed to be in- 
 spired with an energy beyond human, and with a rapidity 
 greater than ever, discharge followed discharge. The 
 enemy faltered, as if waiting for them to cease but for a 
 moment, that they might rush forward and capture them. 
 No such moment was granted ; they still hesitated, and 
 were thrown into confusion. By this time Sherman came 
 up and opened with his wonted effect ; in a few minutes 
 more Washington's battery at the pass moved forward 
 and did the same. Davis and Lane had just closed with 
 the enemy's right flank and commenced to pour in their 
 fire. The Mexicans recoiled on all sides ; they could not 
 carry the pass ; hope seemed to desert every breast, and 
 pell-mell they rushed from the field. 
 
 Thus ended the battle of Buena Vista. It had lasted 
 ten hours ; had been a series of encounters, in different 
 parts of the field, each one severe in itself, but indecisive 
 in result. Never- before had an American army contend- 
 ed with such odds, and under disadvantages so great. It 
 was won by the superior handUng of the flying artillery, 
 which thinned and broke the foremost ranks of the enemy 
 before they could bring their superior numbers to bear. 
 
"728 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. When repulsed, they invariably fell back out of danger, to 
 . be again re-formed for another attack, while the Ameri- 
 
 1847. cans, for want of cavaliy and sufficient numbers, could 
 not pursue and disperse them beyond the power of rally- 
 ing. On the part of the latter the day was one of un- 
 remitting toil ; their fewness of numbers, the extent of 
 the field, the roughness of the ground, and the numerous 
 attacks, forced them to be continually in rapid and 
 laborious motion. Grcneral Taylor was in the midst of 
 flying balls for eight hours, only one of which passed 
 through his coat. He was ably seconded by his officers, not 
 one of whom swerved from a post of danger nor neglected a 
 duty — especially could this be said of General Wool, who 
 seemed to be at every point where he was specially needed. 
 The superior skill with which the American guns were 
 handled was due to the exertions of the West Point 
 officers, who spared no eifort to infuse into the ranks their 
 own spirit of discipdine ; and equal honor is due to the 
 volunteers, who, with but few exceptions, cheerfully sub- 
 mitted to the requisite drudgery of drill. 
 
 The Mexicans hoped to win the battle by musketry 
 and charges of cavalry ; their heavy guns they did not 
 bring upon the field, but placed them in battery in front 
 of the pass. 
 
 The influence of tliis battle was more important than 
 any one of the war. It destroyed that fictitious prestige 
 which Santa Anna had obtained over his countrymen by 
 his vain boastings and unsparing censure of their j^re- 
 vious commanders, and it greatly increased their dread 
 of the invader's artillery ; henceforth they met them only 
 from behind defences, and avoided them in the open field. 
 
 Night closed in. The Americans took every precau- 
 tion to repel the attack which was expected the next 
 morning. Strong pickets were posted to prevent the 
 enemy from passing round to the right or left. The troops 
 
SANTA anna's RETREAT. 729 
 
 having been supplied with their rations, remained on the ^¥^^- 
 
 field for the night. Fresh companies were brought from 
 
 the rear to supply the place of those who took charge of 1847. 
 the wounded, who were carried in wagons to Saltillo. 
 The loss of the day had been two hundred and sixty-seven 
 killed, and four hundred and fifty-six wounded. Fel). 
 
 The morning dawned, but not a Mexican could be 
 seen. Santa Anna had retreated, leaving his wounded to 
 their fote, and his dead unburied. More than two thou- 
 sand of his men, including many officers of high rank, lay 
 scattered over the field. 
 
 Scouts hurried on to reconnoitre ; in an hour or two 
 they returned with information that he was far on his way 
 toward Agua Nueva. General Taylor and his staff im- 
 mediately moved on in the same direction, but sent in 
 advance Major Bliss, with a proposition to Santa Anna 
 for an exchange of prisoners, and a request that he would 
 send for his wounded, as well as another assurance that 
 the American government was desirous of peace. An ex- 
 change of prisoners took place, but as Santa Anna pro- 
 fessed to have no means to remove his wounded, he left 
 them to be cared for by the Americans ; as to the propo- 
 sition for peace he replied, in his usual style of bravado, 
 that he should prosecute the war until the invaders had 
 left his country. 
 
 The Mexican soldiers were in a truly deplorable con- 
 dition ; they were without hospital supplies, and almost 
 literally without food, and no means to obtain it — a desert 
 before them, and a victorious enemy in their rear. Santa 
 Anna urged on his retreat toward San Luis Potosi, 
 whence one month before he had set out sure of victory ; 
 desertions had now reduced his great army to a mere 
 remnant, and that discouraged by defeat, while confidence 
 in his generalship was gone. In addition, signs of another 
 revolution were appearing in the city of Mexico, by which 
 his enemies might triumph. 
 
730 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. General Taylor advanced to Agua Nueva ; thence two 
 
 . days later he detached Colonel Belknap, with the dra- 
 
 1847. goons and a regiment of infantry — transported in wagons 
 o^ across the desert — to surprise the rear guard of the Mexi- 
 can army at Encarnacion. The feat was successfully ac- 
 compUshed. All along the way from the battle-field were 
 found multitudes of poor Mexican soldiers, left by their 
 heartless companions to die of their wounds, hunger, and 
 fatigue. As soon as possible the humane Taylor sent 
 them provisions, and had those that could be removed 
 conveyed to SaltiUo and placed under the care of the 
 American surgeons. 
 
 While these operations were in 23rogress, the two 
 Mexican generals, Urrea and Eomero, with their corps of 
 cavalry, had appeared on the line of communication be- 
 tween Saltillo and the Kio Grande. They had captured 
 some wagons, tahen some prisoners, and spread alarm all 
 along the line. A sufficient force was now sent to chastise 
 them, but they rapidly retreated out of danger by the 
 pass of Tula, leaving the valley of the Eio Grande to the 
 Americans. 
 
 General Taylor, by easy stages, retraced his steps, 
 and encamped once more at the Walnut Springs, near 
 30. Monterey. 
 
 Whilst the line of communication was broken, vague 
 rumors reached the United States, first, that Santa Anna 
 was approaching Monterey with a large army, then, that 
 the American army had been overpowered. These ap- 
 prehensions were greatly increased by a volunteer Colonel 
 at Camargo, who, in his alarm, sent an urgent appeal for 
 fifty thousand men to be sent immediately to the seat of 
 war. Presently came intelhgence of the battle of Buena 
 Vista ; and the intense anxiety of the peojile was 
 changed to admiration for the men who, under such try- 
 ing circumstances, had maintained the honor of their 
 
 Mar. 
 
GENERAL TAYLOR'S RECEPTION. 731 
 
 country. Gen. Taylor, of whom so little had been known C'aAP. 
 
 before the commencement of this war, rose higher and 
 
 higher in public estimation. Some months later, when 1847. 
 he returned to the United States, he was received with 
 demonstrations of the highest respect. 
 
CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 POLK'S ADMINISTRATION— CONTINUED. 
 
 Emigration to Oregon. — John C. Fremont ; his Explorations ; his diffi- 
 culties with the Mexican Governor. — American Settlers in alarm. — 
 California free from Mexican Kulc. — Monterey on the Pacific captured. 
 — Commodores Sloat and Stockton. — Kearney's Expedition. — Santa 
 F6 taken ; a Government organized. — Doniphan's Expedition. — Various 
 Conflicts. — Chihuahua occupied. — An Insurrection ; its Suppression. — 
 Trial of Fremont. 
 
 ^Lm' '^^^ importance of securing Oregon by settlement had 
 
 especially attracted the attention of the people of the 
 
 1842. Western States. The stories of hunters, and the glowing 
 descri2)tions given in the newspapers of that distant region, 
 imbued the minds of the adventurous with an enthusiasm 
 as ardent as that which glowed in the breasts of the earlier 
 explorers and settlers of this country two and a half 
 centuries before. A thousand emigrants, consisting of 
 men, their wives and children, driving before them theii* 
 flocks and herds, their only weapon the trusty rifle — alike 
 to protect from savage violence and to procure sustenance 
 from the wandering droves of buffalo and deer — set out 
 from the confines of Missouri. They passed up the long 
 eastern slope of the Eocky Mountains, over them through 
 the South Pass, thence to Lewis' Eiver and down it to the 
 Columbia, on whose shores they found a resting place, 
 after a toilsome journey of sis months, through an un- 
 trodden moimtainous region. 
 
 These emigrants were followed the nest year by 
 
COLONY ON THE COLUMBIA — FREMONT. V33 
 
 another company, consisting of two thousand, who passed chap. 
 over the same route. 
 
 These enterprising settlers, with the few who had pre- 1843. 
 ceded them, labored under many difficulties, as the United 
 States government did not exercise the jurisdiction which 
 it claimed over the territory. A bill introduced into the 
 Senate, granted lands to actual settlers, and made pro- 
 vision to maintain their rights as citizens by extending 
 over them the laws of the territory of Iowa. Though this 
 bill passed only the Senate, it gave encouragement to 
 those i^ersons who desired to emigrate to the banks of the 
 Columbia. A colony thus planted by private enterprise, 
 and thus slightly encouraged by the government, became 
 the germ of another State, (Oregon) now added to the 1859- 
 Union. 
 
 It was in connection with this awakened spirit of 
 emigration that Colonel John C. Fremont, then a lieu- 
 tenant, made his first exploring expedition. He was a 
 young man, once friendless and unknown, but had risen 
 by his own talents and industry, and on the recommenda- 
 tion of Poinsett, then Secretary of War, had been ap- 
 pointed in the Topographical Engineers by President Jack- 
 son. Fremont solicited and obtained permission from the 
 government to explore the Rocky Mountains and their 
 passes, but at this time with special reference to the 
 South Pass and its vicinity. In six months he retmned ; 
 he had accurately determined the location of that Pass, 
 which now became a fixed point in the path of emigration 
 to Oregon. 
 
 Soon after his return, Fremont again asked for orders 
 to prosecute stiU further explorations in that distant 
 region. They were given ; but after his preparations 
 were made, and he and liis party had reached the frontiers 
 of Missouri, the government countermanded his orders, on 
 
734 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, flie singular iilea that he had armed his party, in addition 
 LIII. . . . . 
 to their rifles, with a small mountain howitzer. But for- 
 
 1813. tunately for science and the country, the letter containing 
 the order came to Mrs. Fremont, whom he had requested 
 to examine his letters and forward only those he ought to 
 receive. She deemed the government countermand one 
 hat he ought not to receive, and Fremont knew nothing 
 of its existence until he returned from his eventful tour. 
 On his return he was received with honor, his conduct ap- 
 proved, and on the recommendation of the Secretary of 
 War, William Wilkins, the brevet of captain was con- 
 ferred upon him by President Tyler. 
 
 He had received special orders to survey the route of 
 travel from the frontiers of Missouri to the tide-waters 
 of the Columbia. This was accomplished by the first of 
 November, after six months' labor, though often he diverged 
 from the main route to make useful observations. He now 
 resolved to return immediately, and when on the way to ex- 
 plore the vast territory which must lie between the route 
 he had passed over and the Pacific. To pass through this 
 region in midwinter was no easy matter. Soon deep 
 snows appeared on the highlands, and the party descended 
 into the valley, now known as the Great Basin, out of 
 wliich flows no stream. On the west, the mountains 
 loomed up with their snowy tops ; every thing was strange ; 
 the Indians, terrified at the approach of white men, fled : 
 a desert appeared, and with it the vision of starvation 
 and death. No place could they find, as they had hoped, 
 where they might winter and derive their sustenance from 
 hunting the animals of the forest. They passed down to 
 the latitude of San Francisco, as found by astronomical 
 observations ; but between them and that place, the 
 nearest point where they could obtain aid from civilized 
 man, rose mountains, their snowy tops piercing the clouds ; 
 their sides frowning precijiices thousands of feet high. No 
 Indian would act as a guide through their passes. The 
 
THE RESULTS OF THE EXPLORATION. 735 
 
 whole party, by excessive toil and want of food, were re- ^^,ff- 
 
 duced to skeletons, both men and horses. Finally they 
 
 " crawled over the Sierra Nevada," and arrived at the 1843. 
 head- waters of the Sacramento. " In this eventful ex- 
 ploration, all the great features of the western slope of 
 our continent were brought to light — the Great Salt Lake, 
 the Utah Lake, the Little Salt Lake — at all which places, 
 then desert, the Mormons now are ; the Sierra Nevada, 
 then solitary in the snow, now crowded with Americans, 
 digging gold from its banks ; the beautiful valleys of the 
 Saci-amento and San Joaquin, then alive with wild horses, 
 elk, deer, and wild fowls, now smiling with American 
 cultivation. The Great Basin itself, and its contents ; 
 the Three Parks ; the approximation of the great rivers 
 which, rising together in the central region of the Rocky 
 Mountains, go off east and west towards the rising and 
 the setting sun, — all these, and other strange features of 
 a new region, more Asiatic than American, were brought 
 to light, and revealed to public view in the results of this 
 exploration." ' 
 
 In May, Fremont set out on his third expedition to 1845. 
 explore still further the Great West. There were now 
 indications that war would soon result between Mexico 
 and the United States. But to avoid exciting the sus- 
 picions of the Mexicans, he obtained permission from 
 General De Castro, commandant at Monterey on the 
 Pacific, to pass the following winter in the uninhabitable 
 portion of the vaUey of the San Joaquin. But before 
 long, De Castro professed to believe that his object was 
 not scientific exploration, but to excite a rebellion among 
 the American settlers, and he undertook to either drive 
 him out of the country or capture the whole party. A 
 messenger, secretly sent by the United States consul at 
 
 ' Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. ii. Chap. 134. 
 
736 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tjHAP. Monterey, Mr. Larkin, suddenly api^eared in Ms camjj and 
 informed Lim of these unfriendly designs. Fremont im- 
 
 1845. diately cbose a strong position on a mountain, raised the 
 American flag, and he and his sixty determined followers 
 resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. After 
 waiting four days, as De Castro hesitated to attack his 
 camj), he came down from the moimtain and set out for 
 Oregon through the region of the Tlamath lakes. 
 
 1846. During the former part of May he was overtaken by a 
 United States officer. Lieutenant GiUespie, who brought 
 a letter of introduction from James Buchanan, Secretary 
 of State, and verbal instractions to the effect that he 
 should counteract any foreign scheme on California, and 
 conciliate the good will of the inhabitants toward the 
 United States. 
 
 Fremont was now on the confines of Oregon, but at 
 once he turned back to California. When he arrived in 
 the valley of the Sacramento, he found the whole com- 
 munity in a state of great excitement. Among the 
 Mexicans two projects were in contemplation : one to 
 massacre the American settlers ; the other to place Cali- 
 fornia under British protection, and thus shield them- 
 selves against the arms of the United States in case of a 
 war with Mexico. 
 
 A deputation from the American settlers hastened to 
 lay before him a statement of these facts ; and, in addition, 
 that the Indians had been incited against them ; that 
 General Do Castro was on his march to attack them, and 
 also that a British fleet was daily expected upon the 
 coast. 
 
 Though the countries were at peace when he left home, 
 the approach of De Castro with a hostile army demanded 
 decisive measures, and Fremont accepted the trust in 
 self-defence. The American settlers flocked to his camp, 
 brought their horses, their ammunition, their provisions, 
 
COMMODORE SLOAT CAPTURES MONTEREY. 737 
 
 and submitted cheerfully to the strictness of military dis- ™ap. 
 cipline. 
 
 In one month's time, after a few conflicts, Mexican 1846. 
 rule was at an end in northern California. The flag of j°® 
 independence was raised, its device a grizzly hear — indi- , _ 
 cative of indomitable courage — while General Do Castro 4." 
 was retreating, and all other schemes completely prostated. 
 
 Commodore Sloat, commanding on the Pacific, received 
 directions from the Secretary of the Navy, George Ban- 
 croft. " If you ascertain with certainty," said the Sec- 
 retary, " that Mexico has declared war against the United 
 States, you will at once possess yourself of the port of San 
 Francisco, and blockade or occupy such other ports as 
 your force may permit." 
 
 The commodore was at Mazatlan, and a British 
 squadron, under Admiral Seymour, was there also. The 
 former, from certain indications, suspected he was watched; 
 if so, he determined tofoU the admiral. Accordingly, he 
 weighed anchor and sailed west as if going to the Sand- 
 wich Islands, Seymour followed, but in the night Sloat 
 tacked and ran uj) the coast to Monterey, while Seymour 
 continued on to the islands. Sloat arrived at Monterey 
 and offered the usual civilities to the town ; they were 
 dechned on a frivolous excuse. It was evident that his 
 presence was not agreeable. Five days later he heard of 
 the movements of Fremont and the settlers, and he at 
 once took possession of the town. Then he sent a cou- 
 rier to the latter, who hastened with his mounted men to j„]y 
 join the commodore. They were mutually astonished on 7. 
 finding that neither of them had acted under direct or- 
 ders from their own government. The flag of independ- 
 ent California was now supplanted by the colors of the 
 United States. 
 
 Commodore Stockton in a few days came into the har- 
 bor, to whom Sloat turned over the command, as he himself July 
 intended to return home. The next day came Admiral 
 47 
 
738 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Seymour in his flag-ship. He saw with surprise the 
 
 L American flag floating over the town, the American 
 
 1846. riflemen encamped near by, and an American fleet in the 
 jY^" harbor. • One month later Stockton and Fremont took 
 possession of Los Angeles, the capital of Upper California. 
 California had been for some time in a half revolu- 
 tionary state. The inhabitants were dissatisfied with 
 Mexican rule. Some wished to join the United States, 
 and some to seek the protection of Great Britain. The 
 conciliatory course pursued by Fremont did much in 
 winning the Californians to the American standard. 
 
 In the latter part of July the " Army of the West," 
 under Colonel Kearney, consisting of eighteen hundred 
 men, was concentrated near Bent's Fort on the Arkansas. 
 The Secretary of War, William L. Marcy, had given him 
 instructions to take possession of New Mexico and Upper 
 California, to establish therein temporary civil govern- 
 ments, to make known to the inhabitants the designs of 
 the United States to provide them with free government, 
 and that they would be called upon to elect representa- 
 tives to their own territorial Legislatures. 
 
 The expedition moved rapidly toward Santa Fe, the 
 capital of New Mexico. The population of that province 
 was miscellaneous in its character ; Indians, New Mexi- 
 cans, (a mixture of Spanish and Indian,) some American 
 settlers, and a few of Spanish blood. The mass of the 
 population was half-civilized, by whom honor and moral- 
 ity were reckoned of little worth. They were cowardly, 
 treacherous and cruel ; ignorant and superstitious. The 
 Indians, for the most part, held the idolatrous notions of 
 the ancient Aztecs, and were so debased that a slight 
 reward would insure the committal of almost any crime. 
 
 The governor, Armigo, a bad man and a bad ruler, 
 made an eifort to meet the invaders. He assembled about 
 four thousand men, of all grades, and, with six field-pieces, 
 
KEARNEY ENTERS SANTA FE. 739 
 
 took position in a mountain gorge some fifteen miles in chap. 
 advance of Santa Fe ; but for some reason, best known to 
 
 himself, be abandoned bis strong post and rapidly retreated 1846. 
 southward, carrying off bis own property, and leaving tbe 
 people and tbe public interests to take care of themselves. 
 
 Kearney entered Santa Fc and was courteously received Aug. 
 by the lieutenant governor. Vigil. The following day 
 the people assembled in the plaza and had made known 
 to them the designs of the United States government. 
 The majority professed themselves pleased with the change. 
 In a few days the chiefs of the Pueblo Indians also gave 
 in their adhesion to the new order of things. 
 
 Kearney erected and garrisoned a fort, and in the 
 meanwhile made an excursion one hundred and fifty miles 
 to the south to meet a force which a false rumor said was 
 marching against him. On his return he established a 
 government, at the head of which he placed Charles Bent, 
 a worthy citizen of the territory, as governor. After 
 pledging himself to protect the inhabitants against the 
 inroads of the Eutaw and Navajoe Indians, he set out for 
 California. His company consisted of only three hun- 
 dred dragoons, but on the route, when near the river 
 Grila, he met a messenger — the celebrated guide and pio- 
 neer Kit Carson — who brought intelligence of what had 
 recently taken place in CaHfornia under Stockton and 
 Fremont. He now sent back two companies of dragoons 
 imder Major Sumner, and continued on himself with the 
 remamder. 
 
 Thus, within three months after the orders had been 
 issued at Washington, a force had been organized ; a 
 march of a thousand miles accomplished ; and territory 
 subdued, and a new government established on appa- 
 rently a stable foundation. A half-civilized and vicious 
 population are not fit subjects for self-government, and 
 this in a short time proved a failure. Had Kearney re- 
 mained to preserve discipline, that result might have 
 
740 
 
 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Liii' ^^"^^ different, or at least delayed. The town was filled 
 
 with gambliug-houses, and grog-shops, and haunts of 
 
 18-16. every vice, while the free manners of the volunteers ex- 
 cited against themselves the hatred of the inhabitants, 
 who laid their plans for revenge, and only waited an op- 
 portunity to carry them into effect. 
 
 Colonel Kearney gave directions to Colonel Doniphan, 
 whom he left at Santa Fe, to enter the country of the 
 Navajoe Indians, living on the waters of the Gulf of 
 Nov. California, and induce them to make peace. Donijjhan, 
 with a thousand Missouri volunteers, in three divisions 
 and by as many routes, entered the territory of the hostile 
 tribe, and obtained from them a treaty, by which they 
 agreed to refrain from depredations upon the people of 
 New Mexico. This march, so remarkable, was made in the 
 winter, across mountains covered with snow, and through 
 an unknown region inhabited by barbarous tribes. Doni- 
 jihan delayed but a short time in negotiating with the 
 Indians, then he passed on to the south-east to meet Gen- 
 eral Wool at Chihuahua. 
 
 The absence of so many men with Doniphan afforded 
 the looked-for opportunity to commence an insurrection 
 in New Mexico. The plot was deep laid and kept a pro- 
 ^^'^'^- found secret. Suddenly Governor Bent was murdered, 
 14.' with five other officers of the territory, some of whom 
 were Mexicans, at Taos, fifty miles north of Santa Fe. 
 The same day witnessed the murder of many others in 
 the upper vaUey of the Eio Grande. 
 
 Colonel Price, of the Missouri mounted volunteers, was 
 
 at Santa Fe with the main force, while detachments were 
 
 scattered over the country grazing their horses on the 
 
 plains. With only three hundred and fifty men, Price 
 
 , hastened to meet the insurgents, in the valley of Taos. 
 
 23. They, numbering about fifteen hundred, took position in a 
 
DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION. 741 
 
 pass of tlie road through the highlands. Price routed '^^j|'='- 
 
 them and continued his march up the valley ; but the 
 
 insurgents made a stand at another pass, still stronger by 18-47. 
 nature, so narrow that three men could scarcely march 
 abreast, while it was protected by rugged mountains 
 covered with cedars growing in the crevices of the rocks. 
 An advance party clambered up through the cedars, and 
 the terrified Mexicans took to flight. 
 
 Their principal place of defence was taken in a few 
 days, and the rebellion suppressed. Peace was promised 
 only on the condition that the ringleaders should be given 
 up ; this was complied with, and several of them were 
 hanged at San Fernando : a hard fate for those who 
 were fighting against the invaders of their country. 
 
 Colonel Doniphan, accompanied by a large number of 
 merchant wagons, crossed without loss a region destitute 
 of water or grass — a desert ninety miles in extent, known 
 as the Jornada del Muerto, or Journey of Death — the 
 road marked by the graves of former travellers and the 
 bones of beasts of burden. In one instance his men and 
 animals nearly gave out from thirst, when providentially 
 a rain reheved them ; a remarkable occurrence in itself, 
 as at that season of the year rain seldom falls in that 
 region. 
 
 He learned that the Mexicans, under General Her- 
 redia, who commanded in the North-western Department, 
 were awaiting his approach ; nothing daunted he dashed 
 on. His force, including merchants, numbered but eight 
 hundred and fifty-six efiective men, nearly all back- 
 woodsmen ; all mounted, armed with rifles, and good 
 marksmen ; irntrammelled by discipline, each one fought 
 as he listed. Near Brazito, in the valley of the Eio 
 Grande, they dismounted and were scattered seeking 
 
 wood and water, when the scouts brought word that the ^^^''• 
 
 Dec. 
 Mexicans were approaching. The alarm was sounded ; 26. 
 
742 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 CHAP, all flew to arms, and amid a din of shouts fell into ranks 
 as best they could. The Mexicans — more than twelve 
 
 1846. hundred strong, and with a piece of artillery — drew near ; 
 an officer bearing a black flag made his appearance, and 
 in a magniloquent speech, declaring that no quarter would 
 be given, summoned the Missourians to surrender. Doni- 
 phan's answer was characteristic and defiant. 
 
 The Mexican cavalry extended far to the right and 
 left, while the infantry, firing volleys of musketry, ad- 
 vanced in front. Presently they came within rifle range, 
 and the backwoodsmen threw away scarcely a shot. The 
 whole body of the enemy broke and fled — they lost nearly 
 two hundred men, killed and wounded, in a few minutes. 
 Only seven Americans were wounded. 
 
 Two days later Doniphan entered the beautiful vil- 
 lage of El Paso, " where a neat cultivation, a comfort- 
 able people, fields, orchards, and vineyards, and a 
 hospitable reception, ofi'ered the rest and refreshment 
 which toils, and dangers, and victory had won." There 
 
 1847. he waited till artillery could join him from Santa Fe, and 
 •^^^- then commenced his march upon Cliihuahua. 
 
 The Mexicans kejat out of the way ; but after a march 
 of nineteen days it was ascertained that they had taken 
 position at a pass of the Sacramento, a small branch of 
 the Eio Grande. Here General Herredia made a stand 
 with a force of four thousand men, protected by intrench- 
 ments across the pass, and on the neighboring hiUs, but 
 defences were of little avail against men who never 
 hesitated to attack an enemy. Doniphan suddenly 
 diverted his route from the main road, forced his way . 
 round to the flank of their advance, and before the Mexi- 
 cans could bring their guns to bear, he was in full j^lay 
 upon them with his own artillery. Their cavalry as well 
 as artillery, fell back and retired across the river. Now 
 the intrenchments were to be forced ; this was done in 
 true backwoods style. Each man rushed on and fought 
 
DONIPHAN TAKES POSSESSION OF CHIHUAHUA. 743 
 
 on his own resiwnsibility ; some rode along the entrench- ^^j'^J'- 
 
 ments seeking a place to enter, while others dismounted 
 
 and crept up to pick off their defenders. The Mexicans 1847. 
 fled from the presence of their assailants, who leaped over 28. 
 the works and secured every place within reach. Mean- 
 while a party of mounted volunteers crossed the river to 
 storm, on horseback, a battery which crowned the hill on 
 the opposite side. This singular engagement cost the 
 Mexicans three hundred killed and a greater number 
 wounded, while the Missourians lost but one killed, one 
 mortally wounded, and a few disabled. The enemy, com- 
 pletely routed, abandoned every thing ; the ofiScers fled 
 toward the south, and the common soldiers to the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 The following day Doniphan, without opposition, 
 entered Chihuahua — a city of nearly thirty thousand in- 
 habitants — raised the American flag on its citadel, and, in 
 the name of his government, took possession of the pro- Mar. 
 vince. He was in a very perilous situation, with only a 
 thousand men, from among whom almost every vestige 
 of discipline had vanished. In this city were many 
 American merchants, most of whom were wealthy. 
 Doniphan's measures were prudent and just, and they 
 conciliated the inhabitants. 
 
 On the 27th of April he set out for Saltillo, where he April. 
 arrived in a month without opposition, except from a few 
 Indians. From Saltillo he marched to Matamoras ; and 
 as the term of his men was about to expire, they were 
 taken to New Orleans and there discharged. 
 
 The most remarkable expedition on record. They had 
 passed over nearly five thousand miles, three thousand of 
 which was a march through an unknown and hostile 
 countiy swarming with foes. They returned in one year ; 
 no body of troops had ever in so short a time passed over 
 so much space or surmounted so many obstacles. 
 
 Fremont was the military commandant of California, 
 
744 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 *^Lm' ^^^^^^ ^ commission from Commodore Stockton. Soon 
 after the Commodore sailed from San Francisco to Mon- 
 
 1847. terey, and thence to San Diego. The recently established 
 "=■ government was j^laced in peril ; a deep laid plot was in 
 train, and only a favorable opportunity was wanting to 
 commence the insurrection. Fremont, by a rapid and 
 secret march of one hundred and fifty miles, surprised 
 and captured the main leader of the insurgents, Don J. 
 Pico, who had been a prisoner, and had violated his 
 parole. A court martial sentenced him to death. Fre- 
 mont remitted the sentence, and thus won Pico's influence 
 and aid in tranquilizing the country. He also endeavored 
 to conciliate the inhabitants, and made no attack upon 
 the hostile parties, which hovered around his march. He 
 came up with the main Mexican force, under Don An- 
 dreas Pico, brother of the one whom he had just pardoned. 
 He sent them a summons to surrender, and they agreed 
 to deliver up their artillery and promised to return to 
 their homes. They were not required to take the oath of 
 allegiance, until a treaty of peace should be concluded 
 between the United States and Mexico. 
 
 Dec. Commodore Stockton now learned of the approach of 
 
 General Kearney. The latter had experienced great 
 difficulties on his march ; attacked by the enemy, he was 
 placed in desperate circumstances at San Pasqual ; his 
 provisions gone, his horses dead, his mules disabled, and 
 most of his men sick, while the enemy in great numbers 
 completely surrounded his camp and held possession of all 
 the roads. Three brave men — Kit Carson, Lieutenant 
 Beales, of the Navy, and an Indian — volunteered to find 
 their way to San Diego, thirty miles distant, and inform 
 Commodore Stockton of Kearney's peril. The Commo- 
 dore promptly sent assistance, at whose appearance the 
 enemy retired and Kearney was enabled to reach San 
 
 Jmi- Diego. 
 8. A month later took place the battle at the river San 
 
INSURRECTION QUELLED. 745 
 
 Gabriel. Then General Flores, chief of the insurgents, ^^^f?- 
 
 sent a flag of truce, proposing a cessation of hostilities in 
 
 California, and to let the sovereignty of the territory be 1848. 
 determined by the result of the war between the United 
 States and Mexico. Stockton refused to accede to the 
 request, and continued his march. Another flag of truce 
 came in. Now it was ofiered to surrender the town of 
 Los Angeles, if the rights of the people and their property 
 should be preserved. On these conditions the capital of 
 Ui^per CaUfornia was surrendered a second time, and the 
 possession of the country more firmly established than 
 before the insurrection. 
 
 Difficulties now arose among the officers in relation to 
 the question who should be governor. But recent orders 
 from Washington relieved Stockton of his civil functions, Mar. 
 which devolved upon General Kearney as he happened to 
 be on the ground. In truth, the civil government was 
 only in name beyond the range of the American cannon. 
 
 Fremont, however, refused to recognize the authority 
 of Kearney, and was brought to trial charged with diso- 
 bedience of orders and mutiny. The court found him 
 guilty and sentenced him to be dismissed from the ser- 
 vice. The President did not approve of all the findings 
 of the court ; but, because of " the peculiar circumstances 
 of the case and his previous meritorious and valuable ser- 
 vices," remitted the sentence and restored him to his rank 
 in the army. Fremont would not accept the clemency 
 of the President, and thus admit that the proceedings of 
 the court were just ; he at once resigned his commission. 
 In a few weeks he set out at his own expense on his fourth 
 tour of exploration in the Kocky Mountains. 
 
Il 
 
 CHAPTEE LIV. 
 
 POLK'S ADMINISTEATION— CONCLUDED. 
 
 Movement of Troops. — Vera Cruz invested. — Its Bombardment and Capitu- 
 lation. — Santa Anna's Energy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — General Scott 
 at Puebla. — His Misunderstandings with the Authorities at Washing- 
 ton. — Commissioner Trist. — Dissensions in Mexico. — Scott's Manifesto. 
 — Ecinforcements. — Advance upon the Capital. — El Penon turned. — 
 Battle of Gontreras ; of Cherubusco. — Attempts to obtain Peace. — 
 Conflict of Molino del Rev. — The Castle of Chapultcpec captured. — ^The 
 American Army enters the City. — Santa Anna again in the Field ; dis- 
 missed from the Mexican Service. — Treaty of Peace. — Its Conditions. — 
 Evacuation of Mexico. — Misunderstanding among the American Officers. 
 — Discovery of Gold in California. — Tlie Effects. — Death of John 
 Quincy Adams. — The Wilmot Proviso. — The Presidential Election. 
 
 CHAP. While these events were in progress, plans were formed 
 '_ and partially executed to invade Mexico from the east ; 
 
 1846. to secure Vera Cruz, the best harbor on the coast, and 
 then, if peace could not be obtained, to march upon the 
 capital itself 
 
 Numerous delays imj^eded oj)erations, and it was near 
 the end of November before General Scott left Washing- 
 ton for the seat of war. The quarter-master. General 
 Jessup, was already at New Orleans preparing transports 
 for the troops ; and communications were held with Com- 
 modore Connor in relation to the co-operation of the fleet. 
 The troops, as already mentioned, drawn from Taylor's 
 command, were speedily concentrated at convenient points 
 on the coast, but the want of transports prevented their 
 embarkation. The place of rendezvous was at the island 
 
VERA CRTJZ INVESTED. 747 
 
 of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north *^,hap 
 
 of Vera Cruz. At length the transports were ready, the 
 
 troops, about twelve thousand strong, embarked, and, on 1847. 
 the morning of the 9th of March, began to land near 
 Vera Cruz. No enemy appeared to dispute the move- 
 ment. 
 
 That city contained about fifteen thousand inhabitants. 
 It was protected on its land side by numerous defences, 
 while on the side of the Gulf, upon a reef, stood the 
 Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, garrisoned by a thousand 
 men, who manned one hundred and twenty-eight heavy 
 guns ; the strongest fortification on the continent, with 
 the exception of Quebec. 
 
 The next morning General Worth was ordered to com- 
 mence the hne of investment, which extended nearly six 
 miles. The Mexicans appeared to oppose, but a few 
 shots from the cannon dispersed them. The weather was 
 excessively hot and sultry, and the march through the 
 deep sand laborious and tedious. 
 
 The Governor of the State of Vera Cruz now issued a 
 proclamation, calling upon the inhabitants of the town to 
 defend themselves, while he should retire to harass the 
 invaders and cut off their supplies. He soon appeared 
 among the sand hills, but after a short skirmish, he 
 thought it prudent to keep out of sight. The cannonad- 
 ing from the town and castle was incessant, but without 
 much execution, owing to the distance. The men kept 
 close in their trenches and did not reply. The munitions 
 which had recently arrived were now landed, and the 
 Americans were ready to commence the bombardment. 
 General Scott summoned the city to surrender, stipulating, 
 in order to save the lives and property of the inhabitants, 
 that no batteries should be placed in the town to attack 
 the Castle, unless the latter fired upon the Americans. 
 General Morales, the c«nmander of both the city and 
 castle refused to comply with the summons. 
 
748 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^?AF -^t 4 o'clock in the aftomoon the bombardment com- 
 
 menced. The Mexicans replied with every gun and 
 
 1847. mortar that could be brought to bear from the city and 
 22/ castle. Some of the smaller American vessels crept near 
 and with their heavy guns added to the uproar ; thus 
 through the night the contest lasted. Other guns were 
 brought, and other batteries erected within a thousand 
 yards of the devoted city. They were hidden behind the 
 chaparral ; this was cleared away, and revealed to the 
 besieged a new foe — the battery of Paixhan guns. Their 
 astonishment was great ; ujoon this new enemy who had 
 dared to take position so near, they resolutely directed all 
 their force for many hours. They fired rapidly and with 
 precision, but failed to silence this battery. 
 
 How terrific was this storm ! Twenty-one heavy 
 guns pouring forth an incessant stream of balls and shells ; 
 the heavy shot broke through the solid walls and crashed 
 through the houses, while the shells, still more terrible, 
 scattered ruin and death in the streets, and burned every 
 building that would burn. With scarcely any intermis- 
 sion, for four days this horrid work continued. The in- 
 habitants, to be out of range, left their homes, and help- 
 lessly crowded upon the mole at the north part of the 
 town, but ere long the balls began to come nearer and 
 nearer. For twelve days the town had been invested, and 
 its provisions were now nearly exhausted. The foreign 
 residents implored their consuls to aid them. The latter 
 obtained permission of Morales to send a flag of truce to 
 General Scott. They asked a cessation of hostilities till 
 the foreigners, with their families, and the Mexican 
 women and children could leave the place. The request 
 was properly refused, on the ground that permission had 
 once been offered the foreign residents to leave the town, 
 and that the petition to receive attention must come 
 from the Mexican governor. * 
 
 The American batteries re-opened as soon as the flag 
 
VERA CRUZ CAPITULATES — MARCH ON JALAPA. 749 
 
 entered' tlie city, and continued diiring the night. At chap. 
 
 break of day another flag was seen approaching. The 
 
 firing ceased. Negotiations commenced, and were ter- 1847. 
 minated by the surrender of Vera Cruz, the Castle, the 
 armaments and stores of each, and the soldiers as prison- 
 ers of war. These terms were agreed to by General Scott 
 and Commodore Perry, who was in command of the 
 squadron. The soldiers were to march out, with the 
 honors of war, lay down their arms and be dismissed on Mar. 
 their parole. The inhabitants were guaranteed in their ''"'• 
 civU and rehgious rights. 
 
 General Worth was appointed governor of Vera Cruz. -'^P'''^ 
 The advance division, under General Twiggs, soon com- 
 menced the march for the city of Mexico by way of Jalapa. 
 The whole army amounted to only eight thousand five 
 hundred men, but there preceded them an influence, that 
 threw a shadow of despondency over the minds of the 
 Mexicans. 
 
 Santa Anna had been very active since his defeat at 
 Buena Vista, (which he labored hard to prove to his 
 countrymen was not a defeat at all ; he only retreated for 
 want of provisions,) in collecting another army, and he 
 had already arrived with twelve thousand men at Cerro 
 Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern edge of the Cor- 
 dilleras. In the midst of revolutions and distractions, he 
 marched to this, the first of the " Thermopylaes," which 
 he promised his countrymen to defend. Within two 
 months after a disastrous defeat, without money, without 
 the prestige of success, he had quelled an insurrection and 
 established his own power, raised an army, portions of 
 which had marched from three hundred to six hundred 
 miles ; had constructed the fortifications at Cerro Gordo, 
 and made a ditch twelve miles long to supply the camp 
 with water. 
 
750 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. The positions of the Mexicans wore reconnoitred, and 
 the attack commenced by the division under General 
 
 1847. Twiggs, sent to turn their position. Presently the whole 
 ^Q^ front was assailed. The Americans seized another hill, 
 El Telegrapho, up the sides of which they dragged heavy 
 cannon, and began to play upon the defences of Cerro 
 Gordo. The Mexicans replied with great vigor. During 
 this mutual cannonade, Colonel Harney led his men rapidly 
 down into the valley between the hills, and began to ascend 
 the slope toward the defences on the top. The declivity 
 was steep and rugged, and soon the entire fire of the battery 
 was directed against these new assailants, but fortunately 
 the balls for the most part passed over their heads. But 
 without wavering they pressed up, carried one breastwork 
 after another, until they presented themselves at the last, 
 the strongest on the summit. Santa Anna, a short hour 
 before, had ordered General Vasqucz to defend this post 
 to the last extremity, and he bravely stood his ground, 
 and feU while encouraging his men ; confusion ensued, 
 and the struggle was soon ended. The Americans poured 
 in a stream of balls, forced their way through the breast- 
 work, and then charged with the bayonet. The garrison 
 fled down the western slope in the direction of Jalapa. 
 Twiggs had jjassed round the hiU, their retreat was cut off 
 and they made prisoners. At this moment Santa Anna 
 returned. He was enraged beyond bounds at seeing the 
 discomfiture of his troops in a position which he was cer- 
 tain could have been maintained. He ordered General 
 Canalize to charge up the hill and re-capture Cerro Gordo ; 
 the latter absolutely refused to obey, but led off his 
 cavalry. Then Santa Anna mounted a mule taken from 
 his carriage, and fled, leaving as trophies to his enemies 
 his travelling equipage and his private papers. 
 
 The Mexican army was annihilated and scattered in 
 all directions ; they had lost more than a thousand men, 
 lolled and wounded, three thousand prisoners, five 
 
THE VOLUNTEERS BETURN HOME. 751 
 
 generals, all their artillery and military stores. This was chap. 
 
 not obtained without a severe loss to the invaders, who, 
 
 in their rash and headlong charges in the face of batteries, 1847. 
 and well protected musketeers, had lost four hundred and 
 thirty-one, killed and wounded, of whom tloirty-three were 
 officers. 
 
 Possession was taken of Jalapa, three days later of "Y"' 
 Perote, a stronghold on the summit of the Cordilleras, 
 which was abandoned almost without a struggle, and 
 then of the city of Puebla — containing eighty thousand 
 inhabitants. At the latter city General Scott established -^ 
 his head-quarters. 15. 
 
 The volunteers' term of enlistments would expire in 
 one month. They refused to re-enlist, but urged that 
 they should be permitted to return to the United States, 
 and there be disbanded, rather than on the soil of Mexico. 
 They greatly dreaded the vomito, or yellow fever, as the 
 season in which it was most severe was near at hand. 
 Though they had no claims to be thus dismissed. General 
 Scott indulged them, as it would be impossible to secure 
 the capital, if the volunteers insisted on returning home 
 at the end of their term of enlistments. Thus situated 
 he was forced to remain inactive three months, till re-in- j^^„^ 
 forcements arrived from the United States. 15 
 
 During this interval several circumstances occurred 
 which embarrassed the General-in-Chief's movements as 
 well as disturbed his equanimity. First was the effort 
 made, as he thought, to degrade him from his position in 
 the army. This was to be accomplished by appointing 
 over him a Lieutenant-General, a rank never held in the 
 service except by Washington. The measure failed to 
 pass the Senate. The same end was apparently aimed at 
 in another measure by which jiower was given the Presi- 
 dent to appoint officers to any position in the army, 
 without regard to their previous rank. 
 
752 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Instead of money to buy provisions, came an order 
 
 from tlie Secretary of War to authorize the collection of 
 
 1847. duties levied on merchandise entering the Mexican ports. 
 In the same communication was another order to levy 
 contributions upon the Mexican people. This Scott ab- 
 solutely refused to obey, as General Taylor had also done, 
 giving as a reason the poverty of that part of the country. 
 Says Scott in a letter to the Secretary : " If it is expected 
 at Washington, as is now apprehended, that this army is 
 to support itself by forced contributions upon the country, 
 we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and starve 
 ourselves ; for it is certain they would sooner remove or 
 destroy the products of their farms, than allow them to 
 fall into our hands without compensation. Not a ration 
 for man or horse would be brought in except by the 
 bayonet, wliich would oblige the troops to spread them- 
 selves out many leagues to the right and left in search of 
 subsistence, and stop all military operations." ' And he 
 continued to buy provisions for the army at the regular 
 prices of the country, and thus did much to allay a rising 
 feeling of hatred toward the Americans. 
 
 The Secretary had given as a reason for this order, 
 that the Mexican people thus laid under contribution, 
 and compelled to bear the expenses of the war, would soon 
 become willing to conclude a treaty of peace. This might 
 apply to the public revenues, and that part of the order 
 the General took measures to have complied with. 
 
 Other difficulties arose. After the capture of Vera 
 Cruz General Scott suggested to the President the send- 
 ing of commissioners to head-quarters to treat for jjeace, 
 should an opportunity occur. For this important duty, 
 tbe president appointed Mr. N. P. Trist, whose qualifica- 
 tions were that he had been Consul at Havana, could 
 
 ' Gen. Scott's letter to the Sec. of War, as quoted by Ripley, Vol. ii., p. 95. 
 
INSTKUCTIONS OF COMMISSIONER TEIST. 753 
 
 speak Spanish and professed to understand the Mexican ^.^-^P- 
 
 character, his skill as a diplomatist could be inferred only 
 
 from the fact that he was "Chief Clerk" in the State 1847. 
 Department. Having in his possession the draft of a 
 treaty fully drawn out at the department of State, he left 
 Washington and arrived at Vera Cruz. He also bore a May. 
 despatch from the Secretary of State, Mr. Buchanan, to 
 the Mexican Minister of Foreign Kelations. The plan of 
 the treaty and his instructions he was directed to make 
 known confidentially both to General Scott and Commo- 
 dore Perry. The Secretary of War, Mr. Marcy, wrote to 
 the G-eneral-in- Chief, informing him of the mission, but in 
 general terms, and directed him to suspend active mili- 
 tary ojierations till further orders, unless he was attacked. 
 
 Instead of making known to General Scott the designs 
 of his mission as directed, Mr. Trist sent a short note to 
 head-quarters from Vera Cruz, and transmitted the sealed 
 despatch to be forwarded to the Mexican Minister, and 
 the letter from Secretary Marcy ; the latter could not be 
 understood without the explanations which Mr. Trist 
 alone could give. The general could only see in this an 
 underhand attempt to degrade him by making him in 
 some way subordinate to the " Chief Clerk." However, 
 in a few days he wrote to Mr. Trist, what he knew of the 
 vievvs of the Mexican people and government in relation 
 to a treaty of peace, to which at present they were op- 
 posed. In conclusion, he remarked, that the suspension of 
 hostilities belonged properly to the military commander 
 on the field, and not to a Secretary of War a thousand 
 miles distant. 
 
 In reply Trist gave full explanation of his mission, but 
 in disrespectful and arrogant terms, assumed to be the 
 aide-de-camp of the President, and in that capacity to 
 order the General-in-Chief. ' This correspondence led to 
 
 ' Ripley's War with Mexico, Vol. ii., pp. 100, HI. 
 48 
 
754 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, much harsh feeling and retarded the advancement of the 
 
 cause. At length explanations in relation to the com- 
 
 1847. missioner of peace came to the general from the authori- 
 ties at Washington. The Secretary of State severely- 
 censured Mr. Trist " for his presuming to command the 
 General-in-Chief." 
 
 Santa Anna fled from Cerro Gordo to Orizaba, where 
 he remained some time to organize bands of guerillas to 
 harass the American trains, which would be on their 
 way from Vera Cruz. Aftenvard he returned to Mexico 
 to find his popularity on the wane. For a time the Mexi- 
 cans were paralyzed with consternation. Their army on 
 which they had deiiended so much had been totally routed 
 at Cerro Gordo. The invincible enemy was pressing on ; 
 not a barrier intervened between them and the capital. 
 The city was filled with factions ; the national councils 
 were divided ; ambitious men forgot their patriotism in 
 their desire for self-aggrandizement. The treasury was 
 bankrupt, its only resource forced loans. Yet in the face 
 of all these difficulties, Santa Anna did succeed in raising 
 an army of twenty-five thousand men with sixty pieces of 
 artillery, and in having the city fortified. After all he 
 was the best commander the nation could afibrd, and the 
 soldiers once more put themselves under his direction, to 
 repel the invaders of their country and their sacred homes. 
 They did not flock to his standard from a prestige of vic- 
 tory, for even when his boasts were still ringing in their 
 ears, he had been ignominiously defeated ; nor were they 
 induced by the confidence reposed in the integrity of a 
 great and good man, to whom, as if to a superior being, 
 the multitude turn in times of great peril ; but from sheer 
 necessity. 
 
 Santa Anna understood the Mexican character. By 
 intrigue and the exercise of a vigorous arm, he seized 
 property, and imprisoned or banished his opponents ; by pre- 
 
PROCLAMATION TO THE MEXICAN PEOPLE. 755 
 
 tending to be desirons of peace lie gained time, and dis- ™'^^- 
 
 honestly entered upon negotiations ; offered himself to be 
 
 bribed, and was accepted. His plans were cunningly de- 1847. 
 vised : if they succeeded, the glory would all redound to 
 his name ; if they foiled, the censure could be thrown 
 upon others. 
 
 Thus he employed the three' months that General 
 Scott was forced to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. 
 Had the volunteers consented to remain in the service six 
 months longer, in all probability the capture of Mexico 
 and a treaty of peace would have ended the campaign, 
 and the blood spared which was shed in such profusion in 
 the subsequent conflicts. 
 
 When at Jalapa General Scott issued a proclamation April 
 to the people of Mexico. This manifesto, in its tone and ^^' 
 spirit, was well adapted to the state of affairs of the 
 country, in showing that the true policy of the Mexican 
 people was to conclude a treaty on the liberal terms 
 offered by the government of the United States. The 
 proclamation was issued at the instance of several Mexi- 
 can gentlemen of influence, one of whom composed it in 
 original Spanish, as it was dictated by the general. It 
 was well received by the people in the country ; but 
 Santa Anna captured a courier, who was bearing copies 
 of it to the capital. He at once discovered by the style 
 that it was not a translation, and he proclaimed with his 
 usual virtuous indignation, that it was the production of 
 some Mexican traitor, and thus neutralized its eflects on 
 the people of the city. 
 
 At this time, he had by secret agents intimated to 
 Mr. Trist that he was desirous of peace, and plainly that 
 money would be still more acceptable : if a million of 
 dollars were placed at his disposal something might be 
 done. That this proposition might be considered, a re- j^ 
 conciliation took place between the general and the com- 25. 
 
756 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, missioner ; as neither could well act without the other. 
 
 General Pillow, who had just arrived at Puebla, was also 
 
 1847. admitted to these conferences. He was a particular 
 friend of the President, and, owing to the " informal and 
 confidential request " sent from Washington, this partici- 
 pation was granted. Communications were continued 
 with Santa Anna, hut with no more important result 
 than that the latter received ten thousand dollars of the 
 secret serv-ice money at the disposal of General Scott. 
 
 As might have been anticipated, it was soon seen that 
 Santa Anna's only object was to obtain money and gain 
 time, and General Scott made preimrations to advance 
 upon the city as soon as the reinforcements under Briga- 
 dier-General Franklin Pierce woidd arrive from Vera 
 Cruz. Meantime, the way to the city had been thorouglily 
 reconnoitred, and General Worth sent forward with the 
 first division. The whole army consisted of not more 
 than ten thousand men, as great numbers had been left in 
 the hospitals at Perote. 
 
 The region through which they marched was a high 
 table land beautiful in the extreme, well watered, inter- 
 spersed with valleys and mountains, whose slopes were 
 covered with the richest verdure, while in the distance 
 their snow-capped summits gUttered in the bright sun- 
 shine of August. Almost from the same spot where more 
 than three hundred years before Cortez and his followers 
 viewed the distant temples of the city of Montezuma, the 
 Americans hailed with cheers the city of Mexico. 
 
 The passes on the direct route had been well fortified, 
 and were well garrisoned in the confident expectation 
 that their positions could not be turned. The strongest 
 of these was El Penon, to capture which the American 
 engineers stated would require the loss of three thousand 
 lives. General Scott was proverbially carefid of the lives 
 of his soldiers; the sacrifice must be avoided. The vicinity 
 of the city was reconnoitred in the most daring manner ; 
 
EL PENON TURNED — BATTLE OF CONTRERAS. 757 
 
 and it was discovered that the defences south and west ™^- 
 were not so strongly fortified. 
 
 The general diverted his course to the left and turned 1847. 
 El Penon on the south side, and luider the direction of 
 skilful engineers crossed chasms and ravines deemed im- 
 passable, and therefore hut imperfectly guarded. General 
 Twiggs led the advance, and encamped at Chalco on the 
 lake of the same name. Worth followed, took the lead, 
 and with his division halted at the town of San Augus- Aug. 
 tin, about eight miles from the city. In his front was ^'' 
 the strong fortress of San Antonio, now the head-quarters 
 of Santa Anna, who left El Penon, when he found that 
 the Americans were on their march round to the south 
 side of the city. North-west of San Antonio and four 
 miles from the city was the village of Churubusco, ren- 
 dered strong by a series of intrenchments. Not far to 
 the west of the village of San Augustin was the fortified 
 camp of Contreras, which contained six thousand men ; in 
 the rear between the camp and the city were placed twelve 
 thousand men in reserve. The whole number of Mexi- 
 cans in these various defences was about thirty-five 
 thousand, with nearly one hundred pieces of artillery of 
 various sizes. 
 
 General Persifer F. Smith projoosed to attack the 
 camp at Contreras, which was under the command of 
 General Valencia. The night had been one of cold rain 
 and storm and intense darkness, except when enlivened 
 by the fitful glare of the lightning. At three o'clock j^^„ 
 in the morning, the expedition set out ; the soldiers, lest 19- 
 they should become sejiarated on the march, were directed 
 to take hold of each other — at sunrise the conflict com- 
 menced. The Mexicans were but partially surprised, 
 still the impetuous attack efiectually routed them ; three 
 thousand of their number were made prisoners, eighty 
 officers and thirty-five i^ieces of artillery. Among the 
 latter were two pieces taken at Buena Vista, now recap- 
 
758 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 *^HAP. tured by a portion of the regiment to which they originally 
 
 . belonged. Thus commenced this eventful day — severer 
 
 1847. conflicts were yet to come. 
 
 Generals Shields and Pierce had, during the night, 
 thrown their divisions between Santa Anna and Contreras. 
 The fugitives from the latter place had fled to Churu- 
 busco, and there fresh troops had also arrived from the 
 city ; it seemed from the preparations, that here a des- 
 perate defence was to be made. 
 
 A convent, a very strong stone building, was well for- 
 tified and pierced for muskets and cannon, also the head 
 of the bridge over the river was well defended. 
 
 In an hour or two General Scott arrived ; as he rode 
 along through the army he was received with hearty cheers. 
 The morning's success had filled the soldiers with en- 
 thusiasm, and they hoped on that day to end the war. 
 
 Santa Anna himself was busily engaged in arranging 
 his men beyond the Churubusco Kiver — whose banks were 
 lined with the maguey plant, which shielded nearly all his 
 force from view. 
 
 The rain of the previous night Imd flooded the low- 
 lands in the vicinity ; the fortifications were masked by 
 trees and fields of corn ; the latter flooded, and every 
 part well known to the enemy, whose guns were so ar- 
 ranged as to sweep them perfectly. When the Americans 
 commenced the attack, their oflicers, in the face of these 
 batteries, would advance and reconnoitre the ground, then 
 the men would march up to that point, the officers would 
 again advance, and the same process be repeated. During 
 this time the cannon balls from the unseen enemy came 
 crashing through the corn, the men and officers fell rapidly, 
 yet as if impelled by some all powerful influence, they 
 moved steadily on imtil the works of Churubusco were in 
 their hands. 
 
 General Scott sent round to the other side a division 
 under General Pillow ; they waded through the mud and 
 
BATTLE OF CHURUBDSCO. 759 
 
 water, in some instances waist deejD, before they could *^^jy^- 
 
 reach the enemy. Several companies were entirely broken 
 
 up, Captain Taylor's artillery men were cut up, his horses 1847. 
 killed, when suddenly the Mexicans rushed out of the 
 convent to charge ; but at this moment a company of 
 American infantry came up and repulsed the assailants. 
 
 The ground was intersected by causeways, and it was 
 impossible to preserve military order ; also owing to their 
 ignorance of the position of the enemy, as well as their 
 own, the Americans were constantly in danger of firing 
 upon their own friends. The battle raged in evei-y direc- 
 tion. General Worth carried San Antonio, and General 
 Twiggs another fortress. The Mexicans fought bravely, 
 they were more than three to one of their foes, and they 
 made every efibrt to repel them. 
 
 For two hours the battle had raged. The smoke 
 completely enshrouded the position of the Mexicans. 
 The roar of their twenty thousand muskets seemed to 
 drown the noise of the artillery, and to render the din of 
 the conflict peculiarly terrific. 
 
 The Americans could but feci their way through the 
 corn, and across causeways and ditches, ignorant at what 
 moment they might come upon concealed batteries. At 
 length a party were enabled to cross the river Ghurubusco, 
 and presented themselves in the rear of the enemy, at the 
 same moment Worth's division emerged from the corn- 
 fields in their front ; those in the rear rushed across 
 ditches and over the parapets and carried the works, 
 while the Mexicans at the head of the bridge abandoned 
 it ; their guns were immediately seized and turned upon 
 them. Both divisions pressed forward with the bayonet, 
 the Mexicans recoiled in confusion, and finally fled ; the 
 dragoons pursuing them to the very gates of the city. 
 
 The victory was won, but it had cost the Americans 
 dear ; a thousand had fallen or been disabled, among 
 these were seventy-six officers. The coolness, the in- 
 
760 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Li^' "iomitable courage and perseverance of both men and 
 
 officers were never better displajed. The ground was 
 
 1847. unknown, and they were thrown upon their own resources ; 
 there was no wavering ; each one performed his part, and 
 adapted himself to the emergency. In no battle did the 
 Mexicans fight better ; they struggled hard, and the num- 
 ber of their slain and wounded and missing — nearly seven 
 thousand — testifies that they were brave. 
 
 Santa Anna fled to the city. The night after the 
 battle several persons connected with the British embassy 
 in Mexico appeared at the American head-quarters, and 
 informed General Scott that the Mexican authorities were 
 disposed to conclude a peace, and advised that the capital 
 should not be assaulted, lest the members of the govern- 
 ment should be dispersed, and leave no acknowledged 
 authority to enter upon negotiations. 
 
 A flag of truce came the next day and presented the 
 request for hostilities to cease preparatory to negotiating 
 a treaty. In accordance with this request, and the repre- 
 sentations made the previous evening, Mr. Trist went 
 to the capital and presented his conditions of peace — the 
 same drawn up at Washington. After protracted delays, 
 evidently designed to gain time, the Mexican, commis- 
 sioners announced that they would not accede to these 
 conditions, and in turn they proposed others, which they 
 well knew would not be acceptable. 
 Sept. Mr. Trist returned with this intelligence, and also that 
 
 contrary to the terms of the armistice, Santa Anna was 
 fortifying the city, and in other respects had violated his 
 pledges. 
 
 Indignant at the continued treachery. General Scott 
 now ordered the army to march upon the capital. 
 
 On the way were two strong positions : the one Molino 
 
 del Eey, (the King's Mill,) a foundry, where, it was said, 
 
 the bells of the churches were being rapidly converted into 
 
 near by was the strong castle of Chapultepec, 
 
 5. 
 
CAPTURE OF MOLIXO DEL RET. 761 
 
 which could not be turned, but must be taken, before the f'HAP. 
 city could be reached. 
 
 It was resolved to capture Molino del Key ; and at 1847. 
 three in the morning General Worth sent forward the g^ ' 
 dillerent corps of his division to commence the attack at 
 dawn of day. While it was yet dark, the two twenty- 
 four pounders opened and sent their balls through the 
 walls of masonry. There was no reply, and it was thought 
 the Mexicans had abandoned the building. Instead, they 
 had changed their position during the night, and now had 
 their guns in readiness to pour grape and round shot upon 
 the flank of the advancing Americans. From the mani- 
 fest preparations, it is thought, Santa Anna, who was on 
 the ground, knew of the intended attack. His advantages 
 in number and position were great, and when his guns 
 opened, their eflect was terrible. In a few minutes the 
 front of the American advance was cut down ; of fourteen 
 officers, eleven were either killed or wounded, and a like 
 proportion of the men. The company was forced to fall 
 back, and the Mexicans, as usual, with savage ferocity, 
 rushed out and murdered all the wounded they could find. 
 
 Worth ordered forward other companies, and these 
 were seconded by another brigade, who vigorously attacked 
 the Mexican flank. Though exposed to a cross fire wliich 
 did fearful execution, these all fought desperately ; it would 
 seem that the idea of retreating from the face of such 
 overwhelming odds, never occurred to them ; they held on 
 and steadily advanced. 
 
 Presently General Leon himself headed a strong sortie 
 from the Molino del Rey, but it was driven back; Leon 
 was mortally wounded, and several officers of high rank 
 were slain. The attack was continued in a desultoiy 
 manner, the assaOants sought in various ways to gain 
 access to the enemy ; they crept along the sides and fired 
 into the apertures, climbed to the top of the building and 
 tore down the walls with their hands or pried the stones 
 
762 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^5v^' ^°°^*^ ^^^^ ^^^'^^ bayonets. At length they broke through 
 
 . the southern gate, and rushing in with loud shouts engaged 
 
 1847. in close combat. The Mexicans did not yield, but con- 
 tinued to fire upon them, from the building into the 
 courtyards. The Americans burst open door after door, 
 reached the roof, and with the bayonet met the enemy 
 hand to hand. In a few minutes the north-west gate was 
 in like manner forced. A portion of the Mexicans held 
 out a white flag in token of surrender, while others made 
 their way to Chapultepec. 
 
 This has been deemed the hardest contested conflict 
 of the entire war. The enemy were in numbers three to 
 one, and in a strong position. After the commencement 
 of the attack, the Americans had scarcely any aid from 
 their heavy cannon, but were forced to depend upon their 
 rifles and muskets. Still they carried the place, and 
 captured eight hundred prisoners, and lost themselves 
 seven hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded, of 
 whom fifty-nine were ofiicers — nearly one-fourth of the 
 whole number engaged in the battle. The loss of so many 
 brave men shed a gloom over the entire army. 
 
 The Castle of Chapultepec stood on a high and preci- 
 pitous hUl, very steep and rocky, on the south side toward 
 the Americans ; on the west the slope was more gradual, 
 but covered with dense woods and rough with rocks. 
 Here, shielded by these, was a large force of Mexicans. 
 
 At the earliest dawn the full force of the American 
 cannon was concentrated upon the walls of the castle, 
 Sept. and at the west side, storming parties were waiting anx- 
 iously for a breach to be made, by which they might 
 carry it by assault. They groped their way from tree to 
 tree and rock to rock, driving the Mexicans before them, 
 when suddenly, on the crest of the hill, the whole force 
 came out on the open space in the presence of ram- 
 parts frowning with cannon and musketry. They ap- 
 
 13. 
 
CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN. 763 
 
 proachecl cautiously, returning only a few shots, but still ^^j^- 
 drawing nearer and nearer. Presently an ensign bearing 
 
 the standard of his regiment, rushed forward to the ram- 1847. 
 part, a shout arose, and a few followed with ladders, 
 placed them against the wall and with a cheer bounded 
 over. The Mexicans, taken by surprise, stood but a few 
 minutes, then scrambled over the side and down the 
 precipitous rocks out of danger. This was the only in- 
 stance during the war where the Americans so far forgot 
 themselves as not to cease their fire at the submission of 
 the foe, and even now it continued only for a few minutes. 
 Their provocations had been great. Only a few days be- 
 fore, as on every other occasion, they had seen their 
 wounded companions, found on the field of battle, barba- 
 rously murdered by the Mexicans. The exulting shouts, 
 the disregard of discipline, which continued for an hour, 
 only manifested the deep emotions which prevailed. 
 
 The castle was a mass of ruins ; so eflective had been 
 the shots and shells, that it was battered to pieces. Here 
 had been the national military school, and here the young 
 students had bravely stood their ground. All of their 
 number, who were not slain, were taken prisoners, with the 
 aged General Bravo their commander. 
 
 While the conflict was in progress General Quitman 
 was engaged in capturing the defences thrown over the 
 causeways which led through a marsh — a lake in the days 
 of Cortez — to the city. They were taken in succession ; 
 each one gave more or less resistance. At nightfall the 
 Mexicans were driven within the city, and the Americans 
 held two of its gates. 
 
 At midnight commissioners came with propositions of 
 peace, and to surrender the city ; they stated that Santa 
 Anna was marching out with his army. General Scott 
 refused to listen again to terms of accommodation ; when 
 his kindness of feeling had prompted him to oifer them 
 peace, he had been grossly deceived. The following morn- 
 
764 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Liv^' ^°^' ^^*'^ ^^'^ thousand men, he marched into the city, 
 
 drew up his army upon the great plaza, and hoisted the 
 
 18i7. stars and stripes over the National Palace. 
 j^_' For several days the troops were occasionally fired 
 
 upon from windows and the tops of houses ; the work, it 
 was said, of convicts, two thousand of whom had just heen 
 liberated ; but stringent measures were taken to insure 
 safety. 
 
 Santa Anna, with three or four thousand troops, had 
 gone toward Puebla. He devolved his authority upon 
 Pena y Pena, the President of the Supreme Court of 
 Justice. The other prominent Mexicans went in different 
 directions. 
 
 Colonel Childs had been left in command at Puebla 
 with a small garrison, only five hundred men, to protect 
 eighteen hundred sick and disabled American soldiers. 
 The Mexicans, encouraged by false reports of success at 
 the capital, made frequent desultory attacks upon the 
 garrison, but by great exertions Colonel Childs held them 
 Sept. at bay for nine days, when Santa Anna, with a remnant 
 — some four or five thousand — of his discomfited army, 
 appeared, and in a pompous manner summoned Childs to 
 surrender. The summons was disregarded. The Mexi- 
 can chief blockaded the town for seven days and then 
 marched to intercept a train, on its way from Vera Cruz. 
 General Lane was in command of this convoy — troops from 
 Taylor's army, composed of Indiana and Ohio volunteers. 
 
 Santa Anna took position at Huamantla, a town some 
 miles north of the main pass El Pinal, intending to attack 
 the Americans when they should become entangled in the 
 defile. But Lane was not thus to be entrajjped. He at 
 once set out, surprised Santa Anna himself, and compelled 
 him, after some loss, to abandon the town. The train 
 „ unmolested moved on the following day to Puebla, and 
 8. the garrison, after a month's siege_. was relieved. 
 
TREATY OF PEACE CONCLUDED. 765 
 
 Within ten days it was ascertained that Santa Anna ^?A^- 
 
 was concentrating another force at Alixo. Lane, by a 
 
 forced march, suddenly fell ujion them, and dispersed 1847. 
 them beyond recovery. Almost immediately after his 
 failure to prevent the capture of the city of Mexico, Santa 
 Anna resigned the presidency of the republic, but still 
 retained his office as commander-in-chief of the Mexican 
 armies. Now he was mortified to receive a note from 
 Senor Kosa, the Minister of War, informing him that his 
 services were no longer required by the government, which 
 had just been inaiigurated. He took the hint, and was 
 soon on his way to the Gulf Coast, thence to the West 
 Indies to be ere long again engaged in intrigues to disturb 
 his unfortunate country 
 
 In a few weeks after the capture of the city of Mexico, 
 the seat of government was removed to Queretaro. Soon 
 after members for a new Congress were elected, and that 
 body commenced its session. At the town of Guadalupe 
 Hidalgo, commissioners and Mr. Trist were negotiating a 
 treaty of peace. It was concluded on the 2d of February, jg^g^ 
 and now it only remained to be ratified by the authorities 
 at Washington to formally close the war, which, from the ^^^ 
 battle of Palo Alto to the capture of the city of Mexico, 1846 
 had lasted one year and five months. Sept. 
 
 In this brief period, armies, of their own free will, had -^g^'y^ 
 flocked to the standard of their country ; had been organ- 
 ized, had marched into a foreign land, dissimilar to their 
 own in climate and in feature, some across deserts and 
 through districts infected with direful disease, others in 
 mid-winter passed over untrodden mountains, covered 
 with snow, and then in turn over arid plains, and met 
 the enemy in conflict many hundreds of miles from their 
 homes, while fleets were fitted out, which swept round 
 Cape Horn, and were in time to perform their part. The 
 rapidity with which cannon were manufactured and mu- 
 
766 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, nitions of war prepared and transported to the scene of 
 
 L action, was astonishing. 
 
 1847. 
 
 During the time of the occupation of the city of 
 Mexico, difficulties arose between some of the officers of 
 the army. From misunderstandings hasty charges were 
 made, and recriminations followed. Two of the officers, 
 Pillow and Worth, made charges against the General-in- 
 Chief, and he ordered them under arrest for insubordina- 
 tion. They appealed to the War Department, and made 
 representations, in consequence of which the venerable 
 commander, who had been a worthy leader from Lundy's 
 Lane to Mexico, was superseded by an order from Wash- 
 ington, and the temporary command given to another. 
 Subsequently the charges were virtually withdrawn, and 
 they resumed their respective ranks. It is not expedient 
 to go into detail ; let the matter sink into oblivion. But 
 never before — and may it never be again — in the history 
 of the country, when its interests were so deeply involved, 
 did the terms of " party," democrat or whig, of "friends" 
 or " opponents " of the " administration," have so much 
 influence. 
 
 Certainly, in truth it has been said, that those who 
 served their country well in this war fared badly. Taylor, 
 who was victorious from Palo Alto to Bueua Vista, was 
 quarrelled with ; Scott, who marched triumphant from 
 Vera Cruz to Mexico, was superseded ; Fremont, who 
 secured California, was court-martialled, and Trist, who 
 made the treaty, which secured the objects of the war, 
 was recalled and dismissed. 
 
 The war had been an unceasing source of disappoint- 
 ment to those whose measures brought it on. Santa 
 Anna, who was to have been a harbinger of peace, had to 
 be beaten from point to point, and not until he was 
 finally driven from power did those of his countrymen, 
 who were in favor of an amicable arrangement, dare to act. 
 
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA 767 
 
 When the commissioners, appointed by the President ™^- 
 
 to supersede Trist, arrived at Mexico, they found the treaty 
 
 negotiated and signed by the parties. In substance it was 1848. 
 the same that had been prepared by the Cabinet. When 
 brought to Washington it was at once laid before the 
 Senate, and after a short discussion ratified. The Presi- 
 dent by proclamation, on the 4th of July, 1848, made 
 known to the nation that the war was at an end, and a 
 satisfactory treaty had been concluded. 
 
 New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the 
 United States, and the lower Rio Grande, from its mouth 
 to El Paso, was taken as the boundary of Texas. Mexico 
 was to receive fifteen millions of dollars ; the claims of 
 American citizens against her — amoimting to three and a 
 quarter millions of dollars — were assumed by the United 
 States. In a few months not an American soldier was on 
 Mexican soil. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1845, the annexation of Texas 
 was consummated ; and thus within three years a territory 
 four times as large as France, had been added to the 
 United States — regions hitherto imperfectly known, but 
 having in store the elements of great wealth. 
 
 At the very time that the commissioners were nego- 
 tiating the treaty, a laborer engaged at work upon a miU- 
 race belonging to Captain Sutter, on one of the tributaries 
 of the Sacramento river, noticed in the sand some shining 
 particles. They proved to be gold. By the time the 
 treaty was ratified rumors of the discovery reached the 
 United States. The excitement produced was unprece- 
 dented. In a short time thousands were on their way to 
 the land of gold. Every means of conveyance was called 
 into requisition, from the emigrant's pack-horse and wagon, 
 to the sailing-vessel and the steam-ship. Some went in 
 caravans over the plains and the Rocky Mountains ; 
 some crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and found their 
 way up the Pacific coast ; others took ship and passed 
 
768 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^?^^^- round Cape Horn. The sufferings of the great majority 
 of these adventiirers were intense ; hundreds of them met 
 
 184:8. untimely deaths on the way, or by disease, privations, and 
 improvidence, when they reached their journey's end. 
 The ferment extended throughout the civilized world. 
 Multitudes of gold-seekers were soon on their way from 
 the diflerent countries of Europe and South America, and 
 even distant China sent her thousands. The tide of im- 
 migration was directed to San Feancisco, which, from a 
 miserable village of a few huts, soon became a city of fifteen 
 
 1859. thousand inhabitants, now to have more than five times 
 that number, and to be the great entrepot of the Pacific. 
 The influence of this discovery of gold mines, has been 
 incalculable in its efl'ects, not merely upon the United 
 States, but has extended to other nations. " It touched 
 the nerves of industry throughout the world," infused new 
 life into commerce, and awakened a spirit of adventure and 
 individual exertion never before known. 
 
 Feb. On the 21st of February, the venerable John Quincy 
 
 ^^" Adams, when in his seat in the House of Representatives, 
 was struck by jiaralysis. Two days later he expired. His 
 last words were, " This is the last of earth : — I am con- 
 tent." Born in revolutionary times : " The cradle hymns 
 of the child were the songs of liberty." He had associated 
 with the fathers of the republic, and was the rejiresenta- 
 tive of the memories of that heroic age. For more than 
 sixty years he had been constantly engaged in public 
 affairs. At the age of fourteen, private secretary to 
 Francis Dana, American minister to Russia ; at twenty- 
 seven appointed minister to Holland by Washington, 
 who styled him " the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." 
 Afterward successively, United States Senator ; profes- 
 sor in Harvard College ; minister to Russia ; one of the 
 negotiators of the treaty of Ghent ; Secretary of State 
 under Monroe ; President, and then member of the House 
 till Ms death, at the age of fourscore. Old in years but 
 
THE WILMOT PROVISO. 769 
 
 buoyant in spirit, he never lagged behind his age ; but ™-^P- 
 
 with careful eye watched the jirogress of his country, and 
 
 sympathized with its youthful energies. 1848. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Polk was drawing to a 
 close. Its great event had been the Mexican war, the 
 train for which was laid under his predecessor. The 
 tariif of 1842, under which the industry of the country 
 had rapidly recovered from its prostration, after an ex- 
 istence of four years was so modified, as to afford less pro- 1846. 
 taction to American manufactures. 
 
 David Wilmot, a member of the House from Penn- 
 sylvania, introduced a proposition into Congress, since 
 known as the " Wilmot Proviso," by which slavery should 
 be prohibited in all territory obtained by treaty. The 
 " Proviso " did not become a law, but the subject of 
 slavery was once more brought up for discussion. jyj 
 
 The Democratic convention met at Baltimore to nomi- 1- 
 nate a candidate for the office of President. Two sets of 
 delegates appeared from New York, both claiming to be 
 the true representatives of the Democracy of that State. 
 
 No compromise could reconcile the parties, and the con- 
 vention solved the difficulty by excluding both from its 
 deliberations. It then proceeded to nominate Senator 
 Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and General 
 William 0. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. 
 
 The delegates representing the Whig party, and those 
 opposed to the measures of the administration, met at 
 Philadelphia, and nominated General Zachary Taylor for 
 President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice- 
 President. J^°^ 
 
 One portion of the Democracy of New York accepted 
 the nominations of the Baltimore convention ; another 
 portion rejected them. The latter called a convention, 
 at Buffalo of those who were opposed to the extension of 
 slavery into free territory. They adopted a platform in 
 49 
 
 1. 
 
770 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CH^P- favor of " Free Soil," and nominated ex-president Van 
 
 , Buren for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams 
 
 1848. (son of John Quincy Adams) for the Vice-Presidency. 
 * "^' A spirited canvass followed, and the candidates of 
 
 the Whig party were elected. 
 
 During the last year of this administration, Wisconsin 
 was admitted into the Union as a State, and Minnesota 
 organized as a Territory. 
 
 A new Department, that of the Interior, was created 
 by Congress, to relieve the Secretary of the Treasury of 
 part of his duties. 
 
 On the fifth of March, the fourth occurring on the 
 Sabbath, the new President was inducted into office. 
 
 Mr. Polk, broken down in health, retired to his home 
 in Nashville, Tennessee, where in a few months he was 
 June, numbered with the dead. A man of exemplary char- 
 acter ; he was lamented by the people. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER LV. 
 
 TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Discussion on Slavery. — Wilmot Proviso. — The Powers of tlie Constitution ; 
 their Application in the Territories. — Thirty-first Congress. — President's 
 Message ; its Recommendations. — Debate on the Omnibus Bill. — Deatli 
 of Calhoun. — Death of President Taylor. — Fillmore Inaugurated. — 
 The Fugitive Slave Law. — The Mormons ; their Origin ; Troubles ; 
 Settlement in Utah. — A Disunion Convention. — Lopez invades Cuba. — 
 The Search for Sir John Franklin. — Dr. E. K. Kane. — Death of Henry 
 Clay ; of Daniel Webster. — The Tripartite Treaty. — Presidential 
 Election. 
 
 General Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia ; but chap. 
 
 wlien he was very young, his father removed to Kentucky, 
 
 and on the frontiers of that State he spent his youth as a 1849. 
 farmer. At the age of twenty-four he received a com- 
 mission in the army from President Jefferson, and en- i808. 
 tered upon a career more congenial to his tastes than cul- 
 tivating the soil. For forty years he was in the military 
 service of his country ; his sphere of duty was on the 
 frontiers ; and thus situated he had never even voted 
 at an election. Honest and frank, blest with common 
 sense and firmness of purpose, he was withal unselfish 
 and patriotic, and uncontaminated with political intrigues. 
 His inaugural address on taking the ofiice of President, 
 was brief, and confined to a declaration of general prin- 
 ciples. His cabinet, at the head of which was John 
 M. Clayton of Delaware, was at once confirmed by the 
 Senate. 
 
772 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. The question of slavery had appeared under different 
 
 phases. For twelve years after the passage of the Mis- 
 
 1820. souri Compromise, the subject had not been agitated in 
 Congress, but now attention was drawn to it by the jire- 
 sentation of memorials, praying that body to abolish the 
 slave-trade and slavery in the District of Columbia. 
 Meantime others, who looked upon the system as an evil 
 to be remedied at all hazards, sent through the mail to 
 1832. the South jrablications, addressed to the slave-owners 
 themselves, and designed to influence them in favor of 
 emancipation ; but there were others who sent papers 
 that contained engravings by no means calculated to 
 make the slave contented with his lot. The fear was 
 great lest the latter might become the occasion of insur- 
 rections and blood-shed. President Jackson recommended 
 
 1835. to Congress to pass a law prohibiting the use of the mail 
 for the circulation of " incendiary publications." But the 
 bill to that effect did not become a law. The excitement 
 was great, both North and South : in the former sometimes 
 developing itself in violent measures against the abolition- 
 ists ; in the latter, some broke into the post-offices and 
 destroyed the obnoxious papers, and others raised the cry 
 of disunion, while, so embittered, had the feeling become 
 
 1836. Jq Congress, that for a time memorials on the subject 
 would not be received. 
 
 Now the slavery agitation was a legacy left by the 
 previous administration — a question which overshadowed 
 all others, and almost exclusively engaged the attention 
 1846. of Congress and the nation. Three years before the Wil- 
 mot Proviso had initiated the discussion, which was fast 
 acquiring a tone of bitterness hitherto unknown. The 
 contents of the newspapers showed that the question had 
 penetrated into every nook and corner of the land — in 
 social circles and in the retirement of the fireside — all 
 were alive to the importance of the subject at issue ; the 
 
DISCUSSION ON THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY. 773 
 
 emotions of a nation swayed in the storm of clashing chap. 
 opinions. 
 
 1849. 
 
 The annexation of Texas and the consequent war with 
 Mexico, came to be looked upon as designed to further 
 the interests of slavery, and to commit the nation to the 
 policy of extending that system. Those opposed to such 
 measures endeavored to counteract them by means of the 
 Proviso, but that had failed to receive the sanction of 
 Congress. With the exception of Texas proper, it was 
 uncertain whether the newly-acquired territories would 
 admit slavery ; the indications were that they would re- 
 ject it. And this feature of the controversy gave rise to 
 another question ; how to introduce the system into free 
 territory. Would Congress subvert the law of Mexico, 
 which had long since prohibited human bondage within 
 her limits ? That body never at any time had interfered 
 with slavery as existing in the States, neither had it 
 directly legislated it into free territory : the policy had 
 rather been not to interfere with the inhabitants in de- 
 ciding the question for themselves. 
 
 The last Congress, absorbed in the turmoil of the dis- 
 cussion, had dissolved without providing governments for 
 the territories. To remedy this evil. President Taylor in- 
 structed the Federal officers in these territories to en- 
 courage the people to organize temporary governments for 
 themselves. 
 
 President Polk in his last message had recommended 
 that the Missouri Compromise line of thirty-six degrees 
 thirty minutes north latitude, be extended to the Pacific, 
 and thus leave the territory south of that line liable to be 
 made slaveholding. Motions to that effect failed in Con- 
 gress. That line had been adopted for tlie Louisiana 
 territory alone, which was slave, and it made one side free, 
 but if it was produced to the Pacific it would pass through 
 free territory, and therefore make one side slave. 
 
774 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Tlie advocates of the system contended that they had 
 a right to go into any of the territories and take with them 
 
 1819. their property, meaning slaves. That was admitted, hut 
 only under the laws of Congress, which so far protected 
 such property, but it was denied that the slaveholder 
 could carry with him the municipal law of the State from 
 which he emigrated, any more than the emigrant from a 
 free State could take 'n'ith him its peculiar laws. 
 
 The same object was sought by attempting to " ex- 
 tend the constitution of the United States to the terri- 
 tories," and this under the form of an amendment attached 
 to the general appropriation bill, providing a temporary 
 government for the ceded territories, and extending to 
 them certain acts of Congress. The proposition elicited 
 a discussion in which Calhoun and Webster each took 
 part. The former argued that the Constitution recog- 
 nized slavery ; that it was the supreme law of the land ; 
 therefore it was superior to every law in opposition to 
 slavery, not only overriding any territorial law to that 
 effect, but even superior to any law of Congress designed 
 to abolish it ; and that the property of the South, mean- 
 ing slaves, would thus be protected by the Constitution 
 in the territories into which Calhoim ojoenly avowed his 
 intention to thus carry the institution of slavery. " The 
 Constitution," said he, " pronounces itself to be the su- 
 preme law of the land ; " the States as well as the Ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 Mr. Webster replied that the Constitution was made 
 for the States and not for the Territories ; that Congress 
 governed the latter independently of the Constitution, 
 and often contrary to it, and was constantly doing things 
 in the Territories that it could not do in the States ; and 
 that the Constitution could not operate of itself in the 
 Territories. " When new territory has been acquired," 
 said he, " it has always been subject to the laws of Con- 
 
THE POWERS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 715 
 
 gress, to such laws as Congress thought proper to pass for chap. 
 
 its immediate government and preparatory state in which 
 
 it was to remain until it was ready to come into the 1849. 
 Union as one of the family of States." He quoted the 
 Constitution itself, which declares that " it and the laws 
 of Congress passed under it shall he the supreme law o 
 the land." Thus it required a definite law of Congress 
 to estahhsh slavery in the Territories under the Constitu- 
 tion, as shown by the words of that instrument itself 
 
 The amendment failed in both houses ; hut it became 
 the germ of another doctrine, that the Constitution of the 
 United States, independently of an act of Congress, but 
 in spite of it, not only goes of itself to the territories but 
 carries with it a shield protecting slavery. 
 
 During this session of Congress meetings were held at 
 Washington, attended by a majority of the members of 
 Congress from the slave-holding States, to take into con- 
 sideration the measures best adapted to secure southern 
 rights. 
 
 They published an Address to the people of the South. 
 It was drawn uj) by Calhoun, and by no means was it 
 conciliatory in its tone and sentiments, and for that 
 reason it failed to enlist in its favor all the delegates from 
 the South. In truth it became a party measure. Only 
 forty members, all from the slaveholding States, signed 
 their names to the Address : of these, thirty-eight belonged 
 to the Democratic party. 
 
 This manifesto was soon followed by a Southern Con- 
 vention to dissolve the Union. The Legislatures of two 
 of the States, South Carohna and Mississippi, issued a 
 call for a " Southern Congress," to frame a government 
 for a " United States South." 
 
 The agitation was not limited to the South ; the 
 North was as busdy engaged in canvassing the exciting 
 question, and both parties were summoning their energies 
 for the conflict in the new Congress about to meet. 
 
776 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. The thirty-first Congress, called a month earlier than 
 LV. •' o 5 
 
 the usual time, met in its first session. Parties were 
 
 1849. nearly e(|ually divided. The House spent three weeks, 
 g**^' and balloted sixty times for a speaker, and only succeeded 
 hy changing the rule by which a majority of the whole is 
 required to elect, to that of a plurality. Mr. C. HoweU 
 Cobb, of Georgia, was elected ; his competitor was Mr. 
 Kobert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts. 
 
 The first and only annual message of President Taylor 
 was sent iu. He saw the difficulties which lay in his 
 path. The bitterness of piarty had been increased by 
 sectional feelings. The President felt the responsibility 
 of his position ; but he fearlessly yet temperately gave his 
 views, and plainly intimated that he should not shrink 
 from his duty to the Union itself ; deprecated sectional 
 controversies, and referred to Washington in confirmation 
 of this sentiment. 
 
 The points at issue were various, and he recommended 
 a plan to settle each. As California, whose population 
 had increased so rapidly, had framed a Constitution, he 
 advised that she should be at once admitted into the 
 Union ; that New Mexico and Utah should be organized 
 as territories, and when they were prepared to come into 
 the Union as States, be permitted to decide the question 
 of slavery for themselves ; and that the dispute between 
 Texas and New Mexico, in relation to their boundaries, 
 should be settled by the judicial authority of the United 
 States. 
 
 Early in the session Henry Clay moved in the Senate 
 a series of resolutions designed to settle these disputes by 
 a compromise. A committee of thirteen was appointed, 
 to whom these resolutions and the various plans which 
 had been proposed were referred. In due time Mr. Clay, 
 as chairman, reported. The spirit of the resolutions was 
 combined in one measure, which, from its character and 
 the dissimilar objects it was designed to accomplish, was 
 
DISCUSSION ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. 777 
 
 styled the Omnilms Bill. It proposed the admission of chap. 
 
 California ; the organization, without mention of slavery, 
 
 of the territories of New Mexico and Utah ; the arrange- 1849. 
 ment of the Texas boundary, by paying the latter ten 
 millions of dollars ; the abolition of the slave trade in the 
 District of Columbia, and the enactment of a more 
 stringent fugitive slave law. 
 
 Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, insisted that 1850. 
 the bill was not equal in its provisions, because the South 
 gained nothing by the measure ; and he urged that the 
 Missouri line of compromise should be extended to the 
 Pacific, " with the specific recognition of the right to hold 
 slaves in the Territory below that line." 
 
 To tliis Clay replied, that " no earthly power could 
 induce him to vote for a specific measure for the introduc- 
 tion of slavery where it had not existed, either north or 
 south of that line." " I am unwilling," continued he, 
 " that the posterity of the present inhabitants of Califor- 
 nia and of New Mexico should reproach us for doing just 
 what we reproach Grreat Britain for doing to us." " If 
 the citizens of those Territories come here with Constitu- 
 tions establishing slavery, I am for admitting them into 
 the Union ; but then it will be their own work and not 
 ours, and their posterity will have to reproach them and 
 not us." 
 
 Calhoun, now near to death, in a speech read by a 
 friend, urged that if the Union would be preserved, it 
 must be by an equal number of slave and free States, to 
 maintain the number of senators equal in the Senate. 
 
 " The incurabiUty of the evil," said Senator Benton, 
 of Missouri, " is the greatest objection." " It is a ques- 
 tion of races, involving consequences which go to the 
 destruction of one or the other ; this was seen fifty years 
 ago, and the wisdom of Virginia balked at it then. It 
 seems to be above human reason. But there is a wisdom 
 
July, 
 
 778 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, above human ! and to that we must look. In the mean- 
 
 JjV. , 
 
 , time not extend the evil." 
 
 1849. Soon after this occurred the death of John C. Calhoun. 
 
 He first entered Congress in 1811, and during almost 
 forty years had filled various ofiices in the service of his 
 country. A man of primitive tastes and simple manners, 
 uniting the kindliest of feelings with unflinching integrity, 
 and devotion to duty. The latter portion of his public 
 career was marked by the most strenuous advocacy of 
 gi_' States' rights and Southern institutions. 
 
 A few months later President Taylor was also num- 
 bered with the dead. He suddenly became iU with a 
 violent fever, which terminated his life in a few days, after 
 he had held oflice sixteen months. He had shown him- 
 self equal to the emergency ; and his death was a public 
 calamity indeed. Though elected by one party, his policy 
 and acts were approved by all, and the whole nation 
 mourned his loss. 
 
 MILLARD FILLMOEE. 
 
 The Vice-President, on the 10th of July, took the 
 oath, and was inaugurated as President. It was done 
 without show or parade ; merely a joint committee of 
 three from each House of Congress, and the members of 
 the cabinet, attended him. The oath was administered 
 by the venerable William Cranch, Chief Justice of the 
 Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, who, appointed 
 by John Adams, had held the office for fifty years. Not 
 an unnecessary word was spoken ; the ceremony was one 
 of deep solemnity. 
 
 The first official act of Mr. Fillmore was to call upon 
 Congress to take suitable measures for the funeral of the 
 late President, " who had been so recently raised by the 
 unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority 
 
ADMISSION OF CALIFORNIA. 779 
 
 in the government." An impressive funeral service was *^?y^- 
 
 performed, and eulogies pronounced upon him by many of 
 
 the leading statesmen of the country. The Cabinet re- 1850. 
 signed, and the President nominated another, at the head 
 of which was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. 
 
 Four months had nearly elapsed since Henry Clay 
 reported his Compromise BUI. Its provisions had been 
 thoroughly discussed by the members of both Houses. It 
 was then taken up article by article and passed — the last 
 the Fugitive Slave law. The similar law which had been Sept. 
 
 • ... 1 ft 
 
 enacted in 1787, as part of tlie ordinance prohibiting 
 slavery in the Territory north-west of the Ohio, and also 
 a law to the same effect passed during Washington's ad- 
 ministration, were thought to be defective, and a new one i793_ 
 was framed. 
 
 The Supreme Court of the United States held the 
 opinion that justices of the peace in the respective States, 
 were not called upon to enforce the law for the rendition 
 of slaves. Since the agitation of the slavery question in 
 Congress, a dislike to enforcing that law had greatly in- 
 creased in the free States. The feeling reached the 
 Legislatures and some of them, by law, prohibited the use 
 of their jails for the confinement of fugitive slaves, and 
 the justices of the peace refused to act on the subject. 
 To obviate the latter difficulty the present bill provided 
 for the appointment of United States' commissioners, 
 before whom such cases could be tried. 
 
 When the vote on the reception of CaUfornia was 
 taken, and she admitted to the Union, her senators, Wm. 
 M. Gwin and John C. Fremont, wlio had been in waiting, 
 immediately took their seats. 
 
 The vast region known as Utah, was in the possession 
 of the Indians and the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, a 
 religious sect. It was founded by Joseph Smith, a native 
 of Vermont, but at that time a resident of Central New i827. 
 
780 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATKS. 
 
 CHAP. York ; illiterate and superstitious, cunning and unprin- 
 
 cipled ; when a youth he loved to dupe liis companions ; 
 
 1850. at the age of fifteen he pretended that he had seen visions ; 
 and at twenty-two that he had received a direct revelation 
 from heaven ; that he had been directed to a certain hill, 
 where he would find golden plates, covered with Egyptian 
 characters, which he alone, as a prophet, was empowered 
 to decipher. This was the famous " Book of Mormon." 
 It professed to give a new system of religion, and to 
 chronicle events^ which occurred on this continent long an- 
 terior to the Christian era. 
 
 It is said a man named Spaulding, when laboring 
 under ill health wrote the story to alleviate his hours of 
 ennui ; after his death the manuscript fell into the hands 
 of Smith, who unscrupulously used it to deceive his fel- 
 low-men. 
 
 His system of polygamy led to gross immoralities ; 
 and the vicious, as well as the ignorant, some of whom 
 may have been honest, became his disciples. In five 
 
 1S33. years he had twelve hundred followers. At this time the 
 whole sect removed to Jackson county, Missouri. As 
 they professed to be the true saints, by virtue of which 
 they were to become the inheritors of the western country, 
 they became objects of distrust to the Missourians. The 
 militia were called out, but the Mormons avoided a con- 
 
 184:0. flict by crossing the river to Illinois. 
 
 They prepared to make that State their home. On a 
 blutf, overlooking the Mississippi, they founded a city, 
 Nauvoo, and erected an imposing temple. Thefts and 
 robberies were numerous in the vicinity, and these crimes 
 were attributed to the Mormons, some of whom were 
 arrested. The saints, it was said, controlled the courts, for 
 the prisoners were speedily liberated. An intense excite- 
 ment was produced in the country by these proceedings. 
 At length the Prophet himself, and a brother, were ar- 
 rested and thrown into prison in the town of Carthage. 
 
SALT LAKE CITY — DISUNION CONVENTION. 781 
 
 A mob collected a few clays after, and in the melee the ^^^^• 
 
 brothers were slain. The spirit aroused against them was 
 
 so violent that the Mormons could find safety alone in 1844. 
 flight, and the following year they sold their possessions, 
 left their beautiful city, which contained ten thousand in- 
 habitants, and under chosen elders emigrated away across \ 
 the plains and over the Eocky Mountains, and finally j 
 found a resting place in the Great Basin. As they were 
 now upon the soil of Mexico, they hoped their troubles 
 were at an end. They significantly called their new 
 home, Deseret — the land of the Honey Bee. To recruit 
 their numbers they sent missionaries to every quarter of 
 the globe ; that these zealous apostles have met with 
 astonishing success in obtaining proselytes, is a sad 
 reflection. 
 
 Meantime they labored with great zeal in founding a 
 city on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It is on ground 
 four thousand three hundred feet above the level of the , 
 
 ocean, and planned on a large scale ; its streets eight I 
 
 rods wide, and every house surrounded by a garden. 
 
 Presently came the war with Mexico, and the ceding 
 of all that region to the United States. The Mormons 
 were the first to organize themselves as a territory under 
 the name of Deseret, but Congress saw proper to change 
 the name to Utah. President Fillmore appointed Brigham 
 Young, one of their elders, the first governor. 1850. 
 
 After the passage of the Compromise Bill, the agita- 
 tion by no means ceased in the south. The design of 
 seceding from the Union was openly avowed. A Disunion 
 Convention met at Nashville, Tennessee. It invited the 
 assembling of a " Southern Congress," but the legislatures 
 of only two States responded to the call — South Carolina , 
 
 and Mississippi. The former elected their quota of repre- 
 sentatives to the Congress. The great mass of the people 
 were moved but little by these appeals, and the country 
 
782 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, breatlied more freely in the confident belief that the vexed 
 
 question was really at rest. 
 
 1850. In no previous discussion of the subject did the great 
 
 majority of the people of the Union manifest so much 
 interest, not because it had become more important, but 
 a great change had been wrought, since, thirty years be- 
 fore, the country was agitated by the discussions, which 
 led to the enactment of the Missouri Compromise. The 
 number of newspapers had increased at an unprecedented 
 rate, and with them the facilities for publishing general 
 intelligence and reporting the debates in Congress, and 
 now was added the telegraph, which seemed almost to 
 bring the ears of the nation to the Halls of Legislation. 
 Yet in a still greater proportion had the numbers of in- 
 telligent readers increased, millions of whom became 
 familiar with the question and the principles involved, 
 and watched with increasing interest every new phase the 
 subject assumed. This may account for the earnestness 
 which characterized this conflict of opinions ; the mass of 
 the people read and judged for themselves. The philan- 
 thropist may not dread the response of their hearts ; — they 
 may be slow to act, but they are untrammelled by pledges 
 and uninfluenced by political aspirations. 
 
 About the commencement of Taylor's administration, 
 General Lopez, a Spaniard, endeavored to create a revo- 
 lution in Cuba. He represented that the j^eople of that 
 island were anxious and prepared to throw ofl' the yoke of 
 the mother country ; and by this means he persuaded large 
 numbers of adventurous spirits in the United States to 
 engage in the enterprise. The pretext was to aid the 
 Cubans ; but the real object was to secure the annexation 
 of the island to the United States. President Taylor 
 promptly issued a proclamation forbidding citizens of the 
 Union to engage in the expedition. The warning was 
 unheeded, and a company of six hundred men, under the 
 
 ■f 
 
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN DR. E. K. KANE. 783 
 
 lead of Lopez, eluded the United States' authorities, and chap. 
 
 landed at Cardenas. But not meeting with sympathy 
 
 from the people whom they professed to have come to 1850. 
 liberate, they re-embarked, and sailed for Key West, ^Y. 
 Florida, barely escaping capture on the way by a Spanish 
 steam-vessel of war. 
 
 The following year the attempt was renewed. A party 
 of four hundred and eighty men landed on the island, but 
 were almost immediately overpowered and captured. 
 Lopez and a number of his deluded followers were put to 
 death by the Spanish authorities at Havana. 
 
 In 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England in 
 quest of the long sought for north-west passage. No tid- 
 ings had ever been received from him, and the several 
 efforts to send him aid had been unsuccessful. The sym- 
 pathies of the humane were enlisted in behalf of the daring 
 navigator. Mr. Henry Grinnell, a noble-hearted New 
 York merchant, fitted out, at his own expense, an expedi- 
 tion which, under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, 
 of the United States' navy, sailed for the Arctic regions 
 in May, 1850. With De Haven went Dr. E. K. Kane, 
 in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist. The search 
 was unsuccessful, and the vessels returned. 
 
 The United States' Government now sent another 1851. 
 expedition on the same errand of mercy in connection 
 with Mr. Grinnell. The control of this was given to Dr. 
 Kane, whose scientific attainments were of a high order, 
 and whose prudence and indomitable energy excited high 
 hopes of the success of the enterprise. The search was 
 fruitless ; the results of the discoveries made have been 
 embodied and given to the world. Sir John has no doubt 
 long since perished, while his unknown friend. Dr. Kane, 
 broken down in health because of his labors and privations, 
 has also closed his life. 
 
 Two of our greatest statesmen, with whose names for 
 a third of a century are associated some of the most im- 
 
784 
 
 EISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAF. portant measures of the government, jDassed away. Henry 
 
 Clay and Daniel Webster : The one at Washington, the 
 
 1852. other at his home at Marshliekl. 
 
 28. No two men were more endeared to the American 
 
 Oct. people. Henry Clay, by his generous frankness, and 
 nobleness of character won their love. Daniel Webster 
 in his mighty intellect towered above his peers, and com- 
 manded their respect ; of him they were proud. 
 
 Spain became alarmed at the attempts of lawless ad- 
 venturers striving to wrest Cuba from her hands. France 
 and England sympathized with her, and projjosed to the 
 United States to join with them in a " tripartite treaty," 
 in which each should disclaim any intention of seizing 
 upon that island, but, on the contrary, should guarantee 
 its iDOSsession to Spain. A correspondence to this effect 
 had already commenced, and to the proposal Edward 
 Everett, who since the death of Webster was Secretary of 
 State, replied in the negative. " The President," said he, 
 " does not covet the acquisition of Cuba for the United 
 Stateg." Yet he " could not see with indifference that 
 island fall into the possession of any other European Gov- 
 ernment than Spain." It was shown that this was a 
 question peculiarly American, from the situation of the 
 island itself ; its proximity to our shores ; its commanding 
 the approach to the Gulf of Mexico, and to the entrance 
 to the Mississippi, which with its tributaries forms the 
 largest system of internal water-communication in the 
 world, and also its ability to interfere with the passage to 
 California by the Isthmus route. It was another state- 
 ment of the celebrated Monroe doctrine, that the United 
 States did not recognize European interference in ques- 
 tions purely American. 
 
 For President the Whigs nominated General Scott, 
 and the Democrats, Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire. 
 
DEATH OF WILLIAM E. KING. 785 
 
 The latter was elected, in connection with William E. ^^^^• 
 
 King, of Alabama, as Vice-President. Mr. King had been L 
 
 United States' Senator from that State — with the ex- 1852. 
 ception of four years, when he was American minister at 
 the court of France — since 1819, compelled by declining 
 health he went to Cuba, when he took the oath of office. 
 Then he returned home, not to enter upon the duties of 
 the Vice-Presidency, but to die. 
 
 50 
 
CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Purchase of the Mesilla Valley. — Treaty with Japan. — The Kansas-Ne- 
 braska Bill. — The effects of the Measure. — Emigrants to Kansas.— 
 Struggles and Conflicts. — James Buchanan, President. — The Contest 
 continues in Kansas. — National Progress. 
 
 LVI." The new President inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
 
 was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of Bowdoin 
 
 1853. QoUege, and by profession a lawyer. He had served in 
 the legislature of his native State, two teiins in the House 
 of Representatives at Washington and nearly a term in 
 the Senate of the United States. William L. Marcy, of 
 New York, was appointed Secretary of State. 
 
 Owing to the incorrectness of the maps used when the 
 treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was made, a dispute arose as 
 to the proper boundaries between New Mexico and the 
 Mexican province of Cliihuahua. Both parties claimed 
 the Mesilla Valley, said to be fertile, but more important 
 for affording facilities for a road to California. Santa 
 Jan- Anna, who was again President of the republic of Mexico, 
 and intent, as usual, on driving a bargain, took possession 
 of the territory in dispute. The United States obtained 
 the valley, and the free navigation of the Gulf of Cali- 
 fornia and of the river Colorado, to the American boun- 
 dary by paying the Mexican government ten millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 8. 
 
TREATY WITH JAPAN THE NEBRASKA BILL. 787 
 
 The acquisition of California made the importance of chap. 
 
 commercial treaties with the nations of eastern Asia more 
 
 and more apparent. During Fillmore's term, Commodore 1853. 
 Perry, brother of the hero of Lake Erie, was sent with 
 a squadron to open communication with the empire of 
 Japan. The inhabitants of those islands from time im- 
 memorial had excluded foreigners. The authorities were 
 greatly astonished at the boldness of the Commodore, 
 when he appeared with his steamers — the first that ever 
 floated on those waters — in the Bay of Jeddo. He was 
 ordered to depart ; but he declined and insisted on seeing 
 the proper authorities, and making known to them the 
 object of his friendly visit. At length a Japanese officer 
 appeared, who promised to lay the matter before the em- 
 peror. The 14th of July was the day named to receive 
 the letter from the President. 
 
 The Commodore, escorted by a company of marines, 
 landed. He was received with the pomp of an oriental 
 pageant, and an answer to the letter promised the following 
 spring. The answer was received and a treaty concluded. 
 The merchants of the United States obtained permission 
 to trade in two specified ports — Simodi and Hakodadi — 
 and also for the residence of American citizens and con- 
 suls at the ports, as well as to visit without molestation 
 in the interior, ten or twelve miles. April. 
 
 The measure that will render the administration of 
 Pierce famous, was the bill to organize the territories of 
 Nebraska and Kansas. This was an immense region — 
 extending from the confines of Missouri, Iowa and Min- 
 nesota to the east of the Eocky Mountains, and from 
 thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, to the 
 British possessions. This vast territory was a part of the 
 Louisiana Purchase, from which, by the Missouri Com- 
 promise, the system of slavery had been excluded. 
 
 In part this region had been assigned to the various 
 
788 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^^j^- tribes of Indians, who years before, to make wa}' for set- 
 tiers, bad removed from their lands north-west of the 
 
 1853. Ohio. The white settlers who had gone to that region 
 vdshed that the Indian tribes should be extinguished, and 
 a territorial government established. 
 
 In accordance with this wish Senator Stephen A. 
 j^jj Douglas, of Illinois, proposed a bill in the United States' 
 
 1854. Senate, to organize this region into two territories, to be 
 known as Kansas and Nebraska. This bill contained a 
 clause repealing the Missouri Comj^romise, under the plea 
 that it " was inconsistent with the principle of non-in- 
 tervention by Congress with slavery in the States and 
 Territories, as recognized by the compromise measures of 
 1850 ; " " it being the true intent of the act to leave the 
 people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to 
 the Constitution of the United States." 
 
 The iieople were taken by surprise. The question, 
 so destructive to national harmony, and which it was 
 hoped had been settled forever, had assumed a new form. 
 The Missouri Compromise had been deemed a sacred com- 
 pact between the south and the north, and as such, for 
 the third of a century, had received the sanction of all 
 parties. The irritations caused by the fiery discussions 
 in Congress four years previous were by no means yet 
 healed. A deep-toned feeling was excited, especially in 
 the northern States. 
 
 It was just fifty years since the purchase of the ter- 
 ritory, and up to this time nearly all its benefits had been 
 enjoyed by those who held slaves. Meantime emigrants 
 from the free States had been compelled, from their un- 
 wilKngness to come in contact with slavery, to seek their 
 homes and farms north of Missouri, and forego the ad- 
 vantages of the genial climate found in the latitude of 
 that State. 
 
 These free laborers, as well as those who intended to 
 
EMIGEANTS TO KANSAS. 7SS 
 
 seek homes in the west, complamed that this region, ™^'^- 
 
 guaranteed to them by the Missouri Compromise, should 
 
 be rendered liable to be made slaveholding. Conventions 1854. 
 were held and petitions poured into both Houses of Con- 
 gress, imploring those bodies not to disturb the tranq^uillity 
 of the country, nor violate the compact so long held 
 sacred. The South did not participate so much in this 
 feeling. 
 
 In reply to these remonstrances it was said, the prin- 
 ciple of " Squatter or Popular Sovereignty," would obviate 
 all difficulty ; by this principle the people of the territory 
 would be free in their political action, and when they 
 came to form their state constitutions, and ask admission 
 into the Union, they could exercise this right and adopt 
 or reject slavery. With this interpretation the bill jjassed 
 Congress, after nearly four months' discussion, was signed 
 by the President, and became the law of the land. May. 
 
 Now came the struggle to secure the new State by 
 sending emigrants, whose votes were to decide the ques- 
 tion. Two years before, and not with reference to a con- 
 tingency of this kind, the Legislature of Massachusetts 
 incorporated a company known as " The Emigrants' Aid 
 Society." This association had been inactive, but now its 
 aid was invoked, and numbers were assisted to emigrate 
 to Kansas. Similar societies were formed in other north- 
 ern States. The emigrants from the free States went to 
 remain and improve their claims, and found homes for 
 their families. Emigrants came also from the Southern 
 States, but with the exception of those who came from 
 Missouri only a limited number have remained in the ter- 
 ritory to improve their claims. 
 
 Conflicting opinions soon produced political parties 
 known as Pro-Slavery and Free-State, and the practical 
 application of the doctrine of " popular sovereignty " was 
 
790 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, appealed to, to test whicli party had the majority, and 
 
 according to true democracy should rule. 
 
 1854. The first territorial election was held to choose a dele- 
 
 °^' gate to Congress, and four months later — a census in the 
 
 Mar. meantime having been taken and the territory divided 
 into districts — another election was held to choose members 
 to the Territorial Legislature. In both of these elections, 
 the pro-slavery party claimed that they had chosen their 
 candidates, but the free-state men repudiated the elec- 
 tion as fraudulent ; giving as a reason that the polls were 
 controlled by armed men from Missouri. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature assembled at Pawnee and 
 
 J"ly immediately adjourned to the Shawnee ]\Iission, near the 
 Missouri State line. They passed a series of laws, to 
 which Governor Eeeder refused his signature, on the 
 ground that the Legislature, by the organic act, could not 
 change the place of meeting appointed by himself. These 
 laws were however passed by a two-thirds vote. 
 
 The Free State men held conventions, denied the le- 
 gality of the legislature, and refused to obey the laws en- 
 acted by it, and made arrangements to choose delegates 
 to a Convention to form a Constitution. In due time this 
 
 Oct. Convention assembled at Topeka, framed a Constitution 
 rejecting slavery, and ordered it to be submitted to the 
 vote of the peojjle, who ratified it. One month later the 
 people chose State officers and members for a State Legis- 
 lature. Soon after Governor Reeder was removed from 
 
 j5 ■ his office by the President. 
 
 During these ten months confusion reigned in the 
 Territory. Outrages of almost every kind were com- 
 mitted, robberies, murders, illegal arrests and property 
 destroyed, most of which belonged to the Free State 
 settlers. 
 
 Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, who had recently been ap- 
 pointed Governor, now appeared and assumed office. He 
 
 ffi 
 
CONGRESS APPOINTS A COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION. 791 
 
 declared himself in favor of the laws enacted at the Shaw- ™^- 
 
 nee Mission. 
 
 The government, under the Free-State Constitution, 1855. 
 was organized, and the contest took the form of civil war. -^^ 
 
 4. ' 
 
 At the opening of the session of Congress, the delegate Dec. 
 from Kansas, chosen as related above, ajipeared and de- ■^^^^• 
 manded his seat. After a spicy discussion the House refused 
 the demand, but appointed a committee to proceed to the 
 Territory and summon witnesses in relation t» the recent 
 elections. In a month's time the committee had arrived Mar. 
 in Kansas, and commenced the investigation. Their ^^• 
 report sustained the charge that those elections had been 
 carried by fraud. 
 
 The summer of 1856 was signalized by the commission 
 of many outrages, committed in different parts of the Ter- 
 ritory. The Free-State men armed themselves, and 
 determined to defend their rights. Several conflicts en- 
 sued and many lives were lost. Presently Shannon 
 received notice of his removal from office, and John W. 
 Geary, of Pennsylvania, soon appeared as his successor. 
 The new governor honestly labored to restore harmony. 
 He ordered " all bodies of men combined, armed, and 
 equipped with munitions of war, without authority of the 
 government, instantly to disband, and quit the territory." 
 Upon this the companies of Free-State men nearly all 
 disbanded, but it was only partially obeyed by the other 
 party, who had concentrated a force of more than two 
 thousand men. The Governor, with the dragoons, threw Sept. 
 himself between them and the town of Lawrence and pre- 
 vented another conflict. 
 
 The presidential canvass was now in progress. The 
 main question at issue — the extension of slavery into the 
 Territories or its limitation to the States wherein it 
 already existed. 
 
 15. 
 
Nov. 
 1856. 
 
 792 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^Lvf" Within a few years political issues had somewhat 
 
 changed. A party known as American, had arisen ; their 
 
 1853. main principle opposition to foreign influence, and their 
 motto, " Americans should rule America." The follow- 
 ing year they were successful in most of the state elections. 
 Meantime arose another party, composed principally of 
 Whigs and Democrats, who were opposed to the extension 
 of slavery into free territory. They were known as Re- 
 publicans. On the other hand the Democrats announced 
 themselves trilling to let slavery go into the territories if 
 the inhabitants thereof desired it. The latter party 
 nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania ; the Re- 
 publicans, John C. Fremont, of California, and the 
 Americans, ex-president Fillmore. 
 
 The canvass was one of more than usual spirit. The 
 passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill had even added new 
 interest to the main question at issue. It had taken deep 
 hold of the minds of the people ; and they never before 
 gave such evidence of their independence, and repudiation 
 of mere party ties. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was elected President, and John 0. 
 Breckenridge, of Kentucky, Vice-President. 
 
 The House of Representatives at Washington passed 
 a bill, declaring the acts of the Territorial Legislature of 
 Kansas nvdl and void, both on the ground that its enact- 
 ments " were cruel and oppressive," and that " the said 
 legislature was not elected by the legal voters of Kansas, 
 but was forced upon them by non-residents in violation of 
 
 ^^^- the organic act of the territory." This bill failed to pass 
 
 1857. the Senate. 
 
 On the 4th of March, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated 
 President. He was educated for the legal profession. 
 At the age of twenty-three he served as a member of the 
 Legislature of his native State. He was afterward a 
 
LECOMPTON CONVENTION. 793 
 
 memter of the House of Kepresentatives ten years ; then c^p. 
 
 Minister to Russia — sent by General Jackson — then a 
 
 member of the Senate of the United States ; then Secre- 1857. 
 tary of State, under President Polt, and then Minister to 
 Great Britain. Senator Lewis Cass was appointed Secre- 
 tary of State, by the new President. 
 
 Under the auspices of the Territorial Legislature of 
 Kansas an election was ordered for delegates to a conven- 
 tion for the purpose of framing a constitution, but under 
 conditions to secure a pro-slavery majority of delegates. 
 The Free State men, for the reasons already given, as 
 well as others, refused to take part in the election. It 
 was held, however, and a pro-slavery delegation chosen. June. 
 Meanwhile the other party published an address to the 
 people of the United States, in which they set forth the 
 wrongs they had endured, and to which they were still 
 subject. 
 
 Soon after Governor Geary resigned, and the President 
 appointed Robt. J. Walker, of Mississippi. The new 
 Governor endeavored to remedy these evils, and promised 
 the people of the territoiy a free expression of their wishes 
 at the polls. 
 
 Owing to the influence of Governor Walker the Free 
 State men consented to vote at the coming election for a 
 delegate to Congress, and members for a Territorial Legis- 
 lature. They, by a vote more than two to one, chose their 
 candidates. Oct. 
 
 Shortly after this election, the delegates chosen as we 
 have seen, met in convention at Lecompton, and speedily 
 framed a constitution. It contained a provision adopting 
 slavery, and this provision alone, the convention submitted 
 to the people of Kansas to ratify or reject. Connected 
 with this was a clause which made it necessary for those 
 who were challeuged at the polls "to take an oath to 
 support the constitution if adopted," before they were 
 
794 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^^^- permitted to deposit their vote. This was followed by a 
 proviso that the constitution could not be amended before 
 
 1857. the year 1864, and then only by the concurrence of two- 
 thirds of the members of both Houses of the Legislature, 
 and " a majority of all the citizens of the State." 
 
 The Free State men refused to vote on the ratification 
 of this constitution, as they denied the authority that 
 framed it ; but it received some votes, and was declared 
 adopted, and sent as such to Congress. There the discus- 
 sion on the subject was as bitter as ever. It was denied 
 that the people of Kansas were fairly treated in not 
 having the opportunity to vote upon the adoption of the 
 entire constitution as implied by the doctrine of " Popular 
 Sovereignty," said to be the essence of the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska bill. 
 April Finally, a biU was passed to submit the constitution 
 
 to the people of Kansas, but on two conditions ; one, that 
 if they failed to ratify it, they would not be j^ermitted to 
 enter the Union until they had a population of ninety- 
 three thousand ; the other, if th6y did ratify it, they should 
 receive certain of the public lands for State purposes. 
 In the face of these strange conditions the people of 
 
 1858. Kansas, on the 2d of August, rejected the constitution 
 by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 As was expedient and proper, we have given a sum- 
 mary of the facts of this strange contest in Kansas. The 
 events are of too recent occurrence to enter upon the 
 causes or analyze the motives of the prominent movers in 
 the affair. 
 
COKCLDSION. 795 
 
 CHAP. 
 CONCLUSION'. LVI. 
 
 This Government, founded on the recognition of the 1859. 
 civil and religious rights of man, may be regarded as an 
 experiment now in process of trial. It is natural that 
 under such a government the people should make progress 
 in religion, in literature, in science, and in those me- 
 chanical arts and inventions that promote the comfort 
 and advancement of mankind. 
 
 Let us take a rapid glance at the progress made by 
 this youthful nation in the short life of seventy years. 
 Since the first census, (1790,) the number of inhabitants 1789 
 has increased more than sixfold, now amounting to at 
 least twenty-six millions. In the same period foreign 
 commerce has increased in value tenfold, from twenty to i859. 
 two hundred millions of dollars, while the internal trade 
 has reached five hundred millions. In connection with 
 this has been a steady increase in the facQities for com- 
 munication and transport, first by means of steamboats, igoy. 
 which now abound upon our rivers and great lakes ; by 
 means of canals connecting the lakes with the Atlantic 
 and with the Ohio, and railroads, extending to all parts 
 of the land, and which have increased to an aggregate ^327. 
 length of more than thirty thousand miles, in operation or 
 in process of construction. 
 
 A steady progress has also been made in agriculture, 
 in which a greater number is engaged than in any other 
 employment, as farmers in the Northern, and planters in 
 the Southern States. As an agricultural product, Indian 
 corn stands first in value — three hundred millions of dol- Census, 
 lars ; wheat, one hundred ; cotton, ninety-eight, and hay, ■^^"*'- 
 ninety-six millions ; and so on, through the Ust of crops. 
 
 The inventive genius of the people has been active in 
 securing the powers of nature in adding to the comforts 
 of human life. In implements for cultivating the soil 
 there have been innumerable improvements, from the 
 
796 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^vn' ^™P^^ ^06 to t^® steam-plougli, and from the primitive 
 
 sickle to the reaping-machine. As striking have been the 
 
 improvements in the steam engine, in ship building, in 
 printing presses ; by means of one invented by Eichard 
 M. Hoe, many thousand impressions can be taken in an 
 hour. 
 
 Prof Samuel F. B. Morse, a native of Massachusetts, 
 then a resident of New York city, in whose university his 
 
 1844. experiments were first made, gave to the world the Elec- 
 tric Telegraph. It is vain to conjecture the benefit that 
 wUl accrue to the human family from this invention ; 
 may it be a harbinger of peace — a link to unite the nations 
 in one common union. 
 
 We have seen the character of the first settlers of this 
 land ; their intelligence, their zeal in founding institutions 
 imbued with the spirit of civil and rehgious liberty. The 
 
 1819. time came to welcome another immigration. In 1819 
 Congress first directed the collectors of ports to take cog- 
 nizance of the foreigners who arrived in the country, and 
 make returns of the same to the Secretary of State. That 
 
 1854. immigration, subject to great fluctuations, in one year 
 amounted to three hundred and seventy-two thousand. 
 Of these the majority had no higher skill than to engage 
 in the simplest forms of manual labor. They aided im- 
 mensely in the development of the coimtry. Without 
 their toil our canals would never have been dug nor our 
 railroads built, nor the improvements in our towns and 
 cities. They have received the recompense of then- daily 
 labor, yet as a nation we acknowledge to them our ob- 
 ligations. 
 
 The cheap lands of the Great West ofi'ered induce- 
 ments to the enterprising in the older States to emigrate, 
 and while they levelled the forests and brought the wilder- 
 ness under cultivation, the industry of the older States 
 was stimulated, and by means of manufactures and com- 
 merce they supplied their wants. Thus could be seen a 
 
 ♦!' 
 
COMMON SCHOOLS — THE PKESS. 797 
 
 vast array of peaceful warriors, their front extending from c^^- 
 
 south to north, nearly a thousand miles, marching west, 
 
 and subduing the fertile valleys by the axe and plough- 
 share ; advance parties have taken position on the shores 
 of the Pacific, while a line of posts keep up communica- 
 tion with the main force. 
 
 The youth of the land have not been forgotten. Pub- igss. 
 lie schools, having their origin in Massachusetts, have 
 become the heritage of nearly all the States. At con- 
 venient points. Congress has set apart of the public lands, 
 nearly fifty millions of acres, for the special support of the 
 common schools in the new States and territories. The 
 older States, in the mean time, have been making laud- 
 able exertions to increase their school funds. The num- 
 ber of pupils in academies, and in the common and private 
 schools, is more than three millions and a half ; and in 
 colleges, theological seminaries, medical and law schools, 
 the students number nearly twenty thousand. 
 
 In no respect has the mental energy of the nation 
 manifested itself so much as in the encouragement given 
 to the public press. The common schools taught the 
 youth to read ; the innate desire of acquiring knowledge 
 was fostered, and the fascinating newsjDaper, as it statedly 
 enters the domestic circle, reflects the world and records 
 the progress of the age. Here " we meet with the 
 speculations of wisdom and science, the efiusions of senti- 
 ment, the sallies of wit." By this means the most retired 
 can be brought into sympathy with the world, whether in 
 in its wars and desolations, or in its glorious yearnings 
 after excellence, peace, and happiness. 
 
 At the commencement of the Revolution there were 
 but tliirty-five newspapers, and they of a very limited 
 circulation ; now there are nearly three thousand. The 
 important questions of the time are discussed in their 
 columns, and upon these questions the nation acts, and 
 thence they pass into history. If the issues of the press 
 
798 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CH^. are kept pure, the blessing in all its greatness far trans- 
 
 cends mortal ken. Public opinion has been termed a 
 
 tyrant ; but it is a tyrant, that, if vicious, can be made vir- 
 tuous ; can be reformed, if not, dethroned. Let the virtue 
 and the intelligence of the nation see to it that it is a 
 righteous tyrant, and submission to its iron rule becomes 
 a blessing. 
 
 In intimate connection with this intellectual progress 
 is the increase of public libraries. These are as diversified 
 as the wants of the people. There is the village or Sun- 
 day school libraiy, with its few hundred volumes ; the 
 social or circulating libraries, containing much of the 
 current literature of the day. An important feature was 
 introduced at the formation of the public Hbrary in New 
 York city, bearing the name of its founder, John Jacob 
 Astor, and since increased by his son. It is designed to 
 furnish standard works on the varied subjects of useful 
 human knowledge — an armory for the j^ractical student, 
 through whom the influence is to reach those who cannot 
 personally avail themselves of its treasures. 
 
 In art we have those who have exhibited evidence of 
 genius that may yet give the nation a name honored 
 among those eminent in painting and sculpture. Her 
 sons have not been surrounded by models from great 
 masters to awaken in early life the slumbering genius, nor 
 have they been encouraged by a traditionary reverence 
 among the people for such manifestations of talent. It 
 has been in the face of these disadvantages that they 
 have reached their present high i:)Osition, not by passing 
 through a training, laborious and preparatory, but almost 
 at a bound. 
 
 A nation may glory in her great men, but it is the 
 great body of the people we rejoice to see associating 
 themselves for purposes of doing good or for self-improve- 
 ment. Such an association is the Temperance movement, 
 which has had an immense influence for good upon the 
 
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY — CHARITIES. 799 
 
 nation. The moral phase of the subject has taken deep chap. 
 
 hold of the minds and conscience of the people, and in 
 
 the end the cause must prevaU- There is also no more 
 cheering signs of the times, than the people themselves 
 becoming more and more acquainted with their civil rights 
 and duties, and in their demanding virtue and political 
 integrity in those who serve them in a public capacity, 
 and when there is a dereliction of duty, their appealing 
 promptly to the ballot box. 
 
 Governments had hitherto interfered more or less with 
 the liberty of conscience ; they assumed that in some way 
 they were responsible for the salvation of the souls of their 
 subjects. Free inquiry and a kaowledge of the truths of 
 the Bible, and the separation of church and state, shifted 
 that responsibility to the individual himself, and it also 
 became his recognized duty to support schools of learning 
 and sustain religious institutions. This change in the 
 minds of the people commenced in the Great Awakening 
 under Jonathan Edwards. To this principle of individual 
 responsibility may be traced the voluntary sujiport, and 
 the existence of the various benevolent operations of the 
 day, in which all the religious denominations participate. 
 These in their efforts are not limited to the destitute 
 portions of our own country, but in foreign lands also may 
 be found the devoted teacher of Christianity and its 
 humanizing civilization, supported and encouraged by the 
 enlightened benevolence of his own countrymen. The 
 same principle produces fruits in founding asylums for the 
 purpose ^f relieving human suffering and distress, or 
 smoothing the pathway of the unfortunate. The men of 
 wealth more fully appreciate their responsibility, and the 
 mental energy exercised in its accumulation, has been 
 consecrated to doing good. Millions have thus been be- 
 queathed to aid or to found institutions of learning, that 
 the youth may be secured to virtue and intelligence — a 
 
800 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAj. blessed influence that will increase in power from age to 
 
 '- age. 
 
 We inherit the English language and its glorious as- 
 sociations — the language of a free gospel, free speech, and 
 a free press. Its literature, imbued with the iDrinciples 
 of liberty, civil and reKgious, belongs to us ; we claim the 
 worthies of the mother country whose writings have done 
 so much to promote sound learning, a chaste literature 
 and a pure morality, with no less gratitude and pride than 
 we do those of our own land. The commerce of the world 
 is in the hands of those speaking the English language ; 
 on the coasts of Asia, of Africa, in Australia, in the Isles 
 of the Pacific, it has taken foothold — may it be the means 
 of disseminating truth and carrying to the ends of the 
 earth the blessings of Christianity. 
 
 The ultimate success of this Government, and the 
 stability of its institutions, its progress in all that can 
 make a nation honored, depend upon its adherence to the 
 principles laid down by our fixthers. Let the part we are 
 to perform in the world be not the subjugation of others 
 to our sway by physical force, but the noble, the mag- 
 nificent destiny, that has never fallen to any people, to 
 subdue by the diifusion of a Christianized civilization. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 18 A»>rl .1860 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abenakis, 201 ; war with, 212. 
 
 Abercrombie, Geuoral, 257. 
 
 Abolition, 772. 
 
 Aborigines, 7-10. 
 
 Acadie, French, 35. 
 
 Acadieiis, 35 ; expatriation, 243-248. 
 
 Academy, West Point, 585 ; ofticcrfl, 728. 
 
 Adams, John, 283, 298, 308, 324, 511 ; Vice 
 
 President, 527; President, 547-554; 
 
 death, 657. 
 Adams, John Qiiincj-, 615 ; Preeident, 
 
 655-660; death, 768. 
 Adams, 3amiiel, 284, 296, 307. 
 Ahasistari, 198, 200. 
 Alamo, the, 686. 
 Alien Act, 550. 
 Algonquins, 9, 199. 
 Allen, Etlian, 318, 338, 339. 
 Allouez, 202. 
 
 Amherst, Lord Jeffrey, 257, 261. 
 Ampudia, General, 699, 707, 719. 
 Andre, Major, 477-479. 
 Andros, Sir Edmund, 178, 179. 
 Annapolis Convention, 519. 
 Appalachees, 149. 
 Archdale, John, 147. 
 Arista, General, 699, 703. 
 Arkwrietht, Sir Richard, 533. 
 Armed Neutrality, 483. 
 Armstrong, Gen. John, 251, 421. 
 Armstrong, Gen. John, jr., 513 ; Sec. of 
 
 War, 598, 607. 
 Arnold, Benedict, 318, 338, 342, 389, 403, 
 
 406 ; Behmus' Heights, 434 ; treason, 
 
 476-479, 488, 503. 
 Ashburton, Lord, 680, 683. 
 Assembly, Legislative, the first, 55. 
 Associations, non-importation, 282, 296, 
 
 298, 309. 
 Astor Library, 798. 
 Augustine, St., 32, 149, 164, 646. 
 Austin, Moses, 685. 
 Ayllon, Vasquez do, 13. 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel, 105-107. 
 Bainbrldge, Captain, 557, 596. 
 Balboa, Nufiez de, 11. 
 Baltimore, Lord, 99, 100. 
 Bancroft, George, 56, 278, 737. 
 Bank of North America, 500. 
 
 United States, 532, 642, 663. 
 Barre, Colonel, 287. 
 Bartram, 279. 
 Beauraarchais, 412. 
 Bennington, battle, 431. 
 
 51 
 
 Benton, Thomas H., 698. 
 
 Berkeley, Sir William, 102, 103, 104-108. 
 
 Bills of eredit, 442. 
 
 Bladeimlrarg, battle, 625. 
 
 Blair, Rev. James, 110. 
 
 Blue Liek, battle, 510. 
 
 Board of Trade, 164. 
 
 Bonaparte's decrees afi'ecting American 
 commerce, 56.'!, 673, 583. 
 
 Boone, Daniel, 463, 510. 
 
 Boston, 77, 95 ; Port Bill, 304 ; evacuated, 
 356. 
 
 Bouquet, General, 271. 
 
 Boylston, Dr., 194. 
 
 Braddock, General, 235-240. 
 
 Bradford, William, 66, 71, 73. 
 
 Bradstreet, Siraon, 75. 
 
 Colonel, 258. 
 
 Brandywine, battle, 420. 
 
 Brant, Indian chief, 430. 
 
 Bragg, Captain, 727. 
 
 Brewster, William, 64, 65. 
 
 Brock, General, 587. 
 
 Brown, Gener.al Jacob, 617, 618. 
 
 Buchanan, James, 693, 736, 754 : Presi- 
 dent, 792. 
 
 Buena Vista, battle, 716-728. 
 
 Bnftalo burned, 608. 
 
 Bunker Hill, battle, 328. 
 
 Burgoyne, General, 327, 413 ; surrenders. 
 437. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, 293, 410, 429. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, 554, 559-561. 
 
 Burroughs, George, 192. 
 
 Cabot, John, 15. 
 
 Sebastien, 16, 17. 
 Calef, Robert, 193. 
 Caldwell, Rev. James, 470. 
 Calhoun, John C, 678 ; V. President, 654, 
 
 664,666; Sec. of St.ate, 690, 696, 774; 
 
 death, 778. 
 Calvin, John, 278. 
 Cam.den, battle, 474. 
 Canada, invasion of, 590, 618. 
 Carleton, Sir Guv, 340, 359, 388, 611. 
 Canonicus, 71, 79", SO. 
 Carolina, 30, 141. 
 Caroline affair, 681. 
 Caron, Father le, 196. 
 Carroll, John, bishop, 525. 
 Cartier, James, 18-21. 
 Carver, John, 63, 67. 
 Cass, Lewis, 5S7, 769. 
 Catawbas, 163. 
 
802 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Catholic Church, 525. 
 
 Cerro Gordo, battle, 750. 
 
 Champlain, Samuel, 35, 36. 
 
 Chapultepec taken, 762, 
 
 Charities, 799. 
 
 Charters, colonial, 46, 51, 91. 133, U2, 157, 
 
 168. 
 Charleston, 144, 150 ; taken 469. 
 Chauncey, Captaio, 590. 
 Cherokees, 152 ; war witli, 266, 656 ; re- 
 moval of, 662. 
 Chesapeake, aflair of, 566 ; capture of, 601. 
 Chickasaws, 25, 218. 
 Chihuahua taken, 743. 
 Chippewa, battle, 618. 
 Choctaws, 159, 217. 
 
 Church of England, 59, 104, 111, 141, 151. 
 Episcopal, 178, 179. 
 and State, separation of, 525. 
 Congregational, 524. 
 Churnbusco, battle, 758. 
 Cincinnati Society, 515. 
 Claims against France, 671. 
 Clarke, George Rogers, 464. 
 Clarke and Lewis's explorations, 696. 
 Clay, Gen. Green, 600. 
 Clay Henry, 678, 581, 616, 651, 776 ; death, 
 
 784. 
 Clayborne, William, 99, 101. 
 Clayton, John M., 667, 771. 
 Clinton, Do Witt, 656. 
 
 George, 325, 372, 515, 529; Vice 
 Pres., 559. 
 Clinton, 8ir Henry, 327, 332, 353, 438, 448, 
 
 453, 460, 463, 468, 498, 508. 
 Coddington, William, 81. 
 Coke, Thomas, bishop, 524. 
 Coligny, 29, 34. 
 
 Colleges, 91, 110, 186, 224, 250, 279, 294. 
 Colonization Society, 645. 
 Columbus, Christopher, 2-6. 
 Common sense, 366. 
 Common schools, 91, 276. 
 Commerce, increase of, 561. 
 Commissioners, British, 449. 
 
 of peace, 511-615. 
 of customs, 302, 616. 
 Company, London, 46, 98. 
 Plymouth, 58, 75. 
 Dutch E. India, 114. 
 Compromises, constitutional, 521. 
 Missouri, 648-651. 
 of Texas, 1832, 667. 
 of 1850, 779. 
 Concord aud Lexington, battle, 314. 
 Congress, 8tamp Act, 291. 
 
 old Continental, 307. 
 
 the second '* 323. 
 
 Provincial, Mass., 313. 
 
 Connecticut colony, 81 ; emigration to, 88, 
 
 168. 
 Constitution, federal, 521. 
 
 powers of in the ter- 
 ritories, 774, 775. 
 Constitutions, colonial, 56, 67, 88. 
 Conway Cabal, 444. 
 Cooper, Sir Ashley, 142. 
 Cortez, 12. 
 Cornwallis Lord, 373, 385, 397, 474, 490 ; at 
 
 Yorktown, 498, 505. 
 Cowpens, battle, 489, 
 Craven, Governor, 153. 
 Creek-3, 152, 154, 159, 609, 656. 
 Crockett, Davy, 687. 
 Crown Point, 248, 323. 
 Cruisers, French and English, 573. 
 American, 345, 465. 
 
 Culpepper, 109. 
 
 Dahcotahs or Sioux, 9, 202. 
 
 Dallas, George M., 693. 
 
 Danburv burned, 406. 
 
 Daniel, "Fatlier, 197, 201. 
 
 Dartmouth College, 294. 
 
 Davenport. Rev, John, 88. 
 
 Davis, Jeflerson, 718, 722 ; senator, 777. 
 
 Deane yilas, 412. < 
 
 Dearborn, General Henry, 590, 607. 
 
 Decatur, Stephen, 558, 641. 
 
 Declaration of rights, 291, 309. 
 
 independence, Mechlcnburg, 
 
 322. 
 Declaration of Independence by Congress, 
 
 368. 
 of war opposed, 584. 
 Decrees affecting American commerce, 
 
 563, 568, 573. 
 Delaware, Lord, 53. 
 
 Delawares, Christian, massacre of, 509, 
 D'Estaing, Count, 452, 453, 462. 
 Deposits, removal of, 668. 
 De Vries, 116, 118-120. 
 Deseret, 781. 
 
 Dictatorship, Washington, 396, 424. 
 Dieskau, 249, 250. 
 Dinwiddle, Gov., 227, 259, 251. 
 Dissenters, 141, 144, 148, 313. 
 Disunion convention, 781. 
 Donop, Count, 380, 426. 
 Doniphan's Expedition, 741. 
 Durr, Thomas W., 692. 
 Dover destroyed, 209. 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 41, 43. 
 Dreuilettes, Father, 201. 
 Druramond, William, 107, 108, 142. 
 Dudley, Thomas, 75, 76. 
 
 Joseph, 177, 180, 184. 
 Duch6, Rev. Jacob, 308. 
 Dunbar, Colonel, 236, 241. 
 Dunmore, Lord, 320, 352. 
 Dustin, Hannah, 212. 
 Duties imposed, 295, 
 
 Ecclesiastical organizations, 523-526. 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 223, 799. 
 
 Eliot. John, 9'3. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 60. 
 
 Embargo, under Washington, 540. 
 
 Jefferson, 568. 
 
 Madison, 583. 
 Endicott, John, 75, 84. 
 English enterprise, 37. 
 language, 800. 
 Enterprise, American, 533. 
 •Episcopal church, 523. 
 Era in human progress, 529. 
 Erskine's negotiation, 571. 
 Eutaw Springs, battle, 497. 
 Exploring Expedition, 684. 
 
 Federal Union, 324. 
 
 Federalist, the, 522. 
 
 Federalist and anti-Federalist, 537. 
 
 Ferguson, Colonel, 479. 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, 778, 792. 
 
 Financial disorders, 642, 652. 
 
 Fitch, John, 643. 
 
 Fletcher, Benjamin, 137, 185, 287. 
 
 Florida, 12, 22 ; purchased, 648, a State, 69Z 
 
 Foot's resolutions, debate, 663. 
 
 Fort Frontenac, 227. 
 
 Niagara, 227. 
 
 Du Quesne, 232, 260. 
 
 Necessity, 233. 
 
 Edward, 243. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 803 
 
 Fort Williain Henry, 253. 
 France, relations witli, 547-562. 
 Franklin. Benjamin, 139, 235, 251, 279, 293, 
 
 323, 378, 412, 611, 621. 
 Franklin, Sir John, 783. 
 Free Masonry, 658. 
 
 Fremont, Jolin C, 733, 735, 744, 745, 792. 
 Frcnoau, Philip, 540. 
 Frolic, tiie, taken, 896. 
 Fronteuac, 209. 
 Fugitive slave law, 779. 
 Fulton, Robert, 643. 
 
 Gage, General, 237, 297, 305, 313, 328, 333. 
 
 Gallatin, Albert, 642, 699, 615. 
 
 Gaepe, revenue vessel, 300. 
 
 Gates, Horatio, 241 ; sketch, 360, 389, 434, 
 in the south, 473. 
 
 Georgia, 166-166, 446 ; subdued, 4S3 ; In- 
 dian lands in, 656, 662. 
 
 Genet's miesion, 539, 640. 
 
 Gerinantown, battle, 424. 
 
 Germans in the colonies, 152, 136, 169, 217. 
 
 Gerry, Elbridge, 620, 548. 
 
 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 38. 
 
 Gist, Christopher, 226, 231. 
 
 Glover, Colonel, 376, 377. 
 
 Goffe, 167, 173. 
 
 Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 89. 
 
 Gosnotd, Bartholomew, 57. 
 
 Gourges, Dominic de, 34. 
 
 Graftenried do, 162. 
 
 Grand Model, the, 142. 
 
 Grant, Colonel, 259, 268. 
 Dr., 687. 
 
 Grasae, Count de, 498, 502, 605, 608. 
 
 Green Mountain Bovs, 319. 
 
 Greene, Nathaniel, General, 336, 358, 421, 
 447 ; in the south, 482, 491, 494. 
 
 Gridley, Colonel, 318, 328. 
 
 Grundy, Felix, 579. 
 
 Guerri^re captured, 596. 
 
 Gunboats, Jeflersou'e, 562, 664. 
 
 Hale, Nathan, 379. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 306, 604, 630, 631, 
 637 ; death, 660. 
 
 Hamilton, Andrew, 187, 
 
 Hancock, John, 297, 313,323, 354, 453. 
 
 Hand, Colonel, 373, 397. 
 
 Hanson, Alexander, 686. 
 
 Harmer, General, 534. 
 
 Harrison, William Henry, 676, 699; Presi- 
 dent, 677. 
 
 Harrisburg Convention, 668. 
 
 Hartford " 630. 
 
 Harvard College, 91 
 
 Harvey, Sir John, 98, 101. 
 
 Haslet, Colonel, 374, 400. 
 
 Hawkins, Sir John, 31. 
 
 Hayne, Isaac, 496. 
 
 Robert Y.,663. 
 
 Haynes, John, 83. 
 
 Heath, General, 316, 379, 380. 
 
 Heieter de. General, 374. 
 
 Henry VIII., 58. 
 
 Patrick, 285, 289, 308, 320. 
 
 Herkimer, General, 430, 431. 
 
 Hessians, hired, 346, 415. 
 
 Hiawatha, 199. 
 
 Hobkirk's Hill, battle, 495. 
 
 Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 83, 85. 
 
 Horse-shoe, battle, 610. 
 
 Houston, Samuel, 688, 689. 
 
 Howe, Admiral, the, 369, 424, 452, 464. 
 
 Sir William, 262, 327, 369, 378, 381, 
 413, 420, 422, 423, 448. 
 
 Howe, Robert, General, 466. 
 
 Hudson, Henry, 112-114. 
 
 Huguenots in the south, 29-34 ; in Canada, 
 
 36, 146. 
 Hull, Isaac, Captain, 595. 
 
 William, General, 686, 687. 
 Hurons, 197, 199, 202. 
 Hutchinson, Anne, 80, 81. 
 
 Governor, 299, 302. 
 
 D'Ibberville, Lemoine, 215, 216. 
 Impressment, British, 664, 683, 688, 683. 
 Incidents, 103, 108, 120, 168, 334, 377, 695, 611. 
 Indented servants, 104, 110, 408. 
 Independence, question of, 364, 368. 
 Indians, divisions of, 9 ; see names of 
 
 tribes. 
 Indians, efforts to convert, 93, 101, 122, 
 
 176, 662. 
 Indiana, State, 642. 
 Indigo, 282. 
 
 Individual responsibility, 799. 
 Influence, men of, 181. 
 
 of the Dutch, 127. 
 Influences, religious, 273-276, 365, 799. 
 Inoculation, 194. 
 Internal improvements, 666. 
 Iowa a State, 692. 
 Isabella, Queen, 3, 5. 
 
 Jack, Captain, 236. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 603, 610, 633, 647 ; Presi- 
 dent, 661-672. 
 
 James I., 45, 46, 81, 63, 97. 
 li., 177, 208. 
 
 Jamestown, 47 ; burned, 107. 
 
 Jasper, Sergeant, 362. 
 
 Java, tlie, taken, 596. 
 
 Jay, .John, 309, 611; Chief Justice, 631; 
 Mission, 543. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 323. 367, 523; Sec. of 
 State, 531, 637 ; V. P. 646 ; President, 
 665-670 ; death, 667. 
 
 Jesuits, 35, 197, 202, 212. 
 
 Jogues, Father, 200. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, 235, 248, 334. 
 John, 362, 430. 
 Colonel Rich. M., 603, V. P. 672. 
 
 Joliet, Father, 203. 
 
 Jones, John Paul, 466. 
 
 Kalb, Baron de, 411, 419, 471, 475. 
 
 Kane, Dr. B. K., 783. 
 
 Kansas, affairs in, 790. 
 
 Kearney^ General, 768. 
 
 Kieft, William, 117-122. 
 
 King's Mountain, battle, 481. 
 
 Kittanning destroyed, 251. 
 
 Knowlton, Colonel, 330, 381. 
 
 Knox, Henry, 347, 355, 393, 615 ; Sec. of 
 
 War, 630. 
 Knyphausen, General, 422, 470. 
 Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 419, 492. 
 
 Lafayette, Marquis de, 418, 450, 503 ; visit 
 
 of, 653. 
 Lake Champlain, action on, 622. 
 Erie " 619. 
 
 Lane, James H., Gen., 718, 764. 
 
 Ralph, 40, 41. 
 La Salle, 204-206. 
 Laurens, Henry, 322, 484, 511. 
 Lawrence, James, Captain, 601. 
 Lecompton Convention, 793. 
 Ledyard, the traveller, 8. 
 
 Colonel, 603. 
 Lee, Arthur, 412. 
 
804 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lee, Chai-Ics, General, 258, 333, 351, 386, 
 390; treaeon, 448 ; death, 452. 
 
 General Henry, 446, 482, 493, 662, 586. 
 
 Richard Henry, 285, 307, 309, 367. 
 Leisler Jacol), 182-186. 
 Leon, Juan Ponce de, 12. 
 Levant and Cyane captured, 640. 
 Lexin^on and Concord, battle, 314. 
 Libraries, 798. 
 Lincoln, Beii.jamin, General. 313, 435, 456, 
 
 459, 462, 467, 601, 669. 
 L'lnenrgeute, frigate, captured, 552 
 Little Belt, afl'air of, 575. 
 Livingston, Robert K., 823, 367, 656, 643. 
 
 William, 290, 307. 
 Lloyd, Senator, 582. 
 Locke, John, 142. 
 Long Island, battle, 373-377. 
 Lopez, General, 782. 
 Louisburg taken, 220 ; again, 257. 
 Loudon, Lord, 252,' 256. 
 Louisiana, 205 ; purchased, 666. 
 Lyman, Genera], 248. 
 Lyttleton, Lord, 267. 
 
 Madison, James, 622 ; Sec. of State, 666 • 
 
 President, 671, 579, 683, 698, 615, 624! 
 
 629, 639, 643. 
 Macedonian taken, 696. 
 Macdonough, Commodore, 622. 
 Magazine, first American, 140. 
 ilagaw. Colonel, 3S4. 
 Manifesto of the British government, 614. 
 Manufactures, colonial, restrictions on, 
 
 148, 168, 282. 
 Manufactures, domestic, 633, 665, 658, 769 
 Marcy, William L., 738, 762, 753. 
 Marion, General Francis, 472, 495. 
 Marquette, James, 203, 204. 
 Marshall, John, 548, 550, 663 ; death, 670. 
 
 Colonel Humphrey, 717. 
 Maryland, 100, 102 ; troubles. 111, 277. 
 Mason, George, 298, 621. 
 Mason, Captain John, 86, 87. 
 Massachusetts, 74, 90, 168, 220, 615, 628, 
 
 632. ''!.., 
 
 Massasoit, 70, 71, 176. 
 Matamoras occupied, 704. 
 Mather, Cotton, 189-194. 
 
 Increase, 188. 
 May, Colonel, 702, 723. 
 Mayhew, Thomas, 94. 
 Mechlenburg declaration. 322. 
 Meg.apolensis, Dnniine, 122, 200. 
 Meigs, Colonel, 407, 600. 
 McCrea, Jcnnv, 429. 
 McCulloch, Major, 715. 
 McHe]iry, Fort, defended, 627. 
 Melendez, Pedro, 32, 33. 
 Mercer, General Hugh, 371, .398. 
 
 Fort, defended, 426. 
 Mesilla Valley purchased, 7S6. 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, 162, 624 
 Mifflin, Thomas, 321, 370, 617 ; Gov., 542. 
 Miantonomoh, 85, 86. 
 Minuits, Peter, 115, 123. 
 Mississippi, 25, 203. 
 Missions, Jesuit, 35, 198, 201, 202, 208. 
 
 Spanish, 149. 
 Missouri Compromise, 648-661. 
 Mobilian tribes, 9. 
 Mohawks, or Huron-Iroquois, 9, 117, 119, 
 
 199, 208, 334, 414. 
 Mohegans, 84, 118, 121. 
 Monongahela, battle, 237. 
 
 first settlers on, 541. 
 Molino del Rey, battle, 760. 
 
 Monmouth, battle, 450. 
 
 Monroe, James, 394, 647, 665 ; Sec. of 
 
 State, 607 ; President, 644-654. 
 Monroe doctrine, 652. 
 Monterey c.-iptured, 706. 
 Montcalm, 253. 264, 268 ; death, 265. 
 Montgomery, Richard, 339, 342. 
 Monts, Sieur de, 35. 
 Morality, laws enioining, 66, 136, 275. 
 .Moravians, 169, 161, 164, 609. 
 Morgan, Daniel, 336, 342, 420, 434, 489 
 Mormons, 771^781. 
 Morris, Gouvernenr, 540. 
 
 Robert, 600. 
 Morse, Samuel F. B., 796. 
 Moultrie, Fort, 361. 
 Muhlenburg, Colonel, 404. 
 
 Narragansets, 169, 174. 
 Nashville, 465. 
 Natchez, 217, 218. 
 National Bank, 532. 
 
 debts assumed, 632. 
 Bank, 642. 
 flag, 409. 
 NaT.al eflbrts, 345, 346. 
 Navy, the, 404, 646, 693. 
 
 department of, 530. 
 Nebraska bill, 787. 
 Nelson, Governor, 604. 
 Newark burned, 608. 
 New Amsterdam, 115, 124. 
 
 York city, 113, 114, 674. 
 
 York province, 127. 
 
 Netherland, 115, 126. 
 
 Sweden, 124. 
 
 Jersey, 128. 
 
 Haven, 88. 
 
 France, 196. 
 
 Orleans, 217 ; battle, 635. 
 
 London burned, 603. 
 
 Lights 223, 286. 
 Nicholson, Francis, 155, 182, 
 Nipmucks, 172, 176. 
 Norfolk burned, 362. 
 North, Lord, 299, 301, 442, 611. 
 Nullification, 666. 
 
 O'Brien, Captain, 720, 725. 
 Oglethorpe, 166-166. 
 Ohio Company, 225. 
 
 State of," 666. 
 Old Lights, 223. 
 Opechancanongh, 96, 97, 103. 
 Orders in Council, 681, 688. 
 Ordinance of 1787, 522. 
 Oregon, boundary, 695-698. 
 
 emigration to, 732 ; State of, 733. 
 Otis, James, 284, 296. 
 
 Packenham, General, 635, 637. 
 
 Palu Alto, battle, 700. 
 
 Parker, Sir Peter, 361. 
 
 Parliament, measures of, 346. 
 
 Parris, Samuel, 190-194. 
 
 Patroons, 116. 
 
 Penn, William, 131-139, 291. 
 
 Pennsylvania, 133 ; settlers, German, 136 ; 
 
 Presbyterian, 138 ; Western, 641. 
 Pepperell, William, 220. 
 Pequods, war with, 84-88. 
 Perry, Commodore, 787. 
 
 O. H., 602. 
 Philadelphia, 134 ; taken, 424. 
 Philip's, King, war, 169-176. 
 Phillips, General, 414. 489. 
 Phipps, Sir William, 191, 211. 
 
 1 
 
INDEX. 
 
 805 
 
 Pierce, Franklin, "56, 786. 
 
 Pilerims in Holland, 62-64. 
 
 Pilgrim Fathers, 66. 
 
 Piackiiey. Cliarles C, 547. 
 
 Pitcairn, Major, 315, 333. 
 
 Pitt, William, 256, 292, 310. 
 
 Pittsburg, 260, 270. 
 
 Pizarro, 14. 
 
 Pocahontas, 49, 52, 64. 
 
 Polk, James K., 091 ; President, 693, 704, 
 
 710. 
 Pontiac, 269-272. 
 Porter, Captain, 611. 
 Portland burned, 345. 
 Powhatan, 48, 49. 
 Prejudices, sectional, 348, 371. 
 Presbyterians, 129, 138, 141, 147, 151, 274, 
 
 624, 541. 
 President, frigate, taken, 640. 
 Prescott, Colonel William, 328, 381. 
 
 General, capture of, 416. 
 Press, the, 91, 105, 135, 177, 797. 
 
 liberty of, vindicated, 187. 
 Preston, Captain, 298. 
 Princeton, battle, 397. 
 Prisoners of "war. 402, 514. 
 Prevost, Sir George, 599, 621. 
 Provost, Bishop, 629. 
 Pulaski, Count, 419, 423, 462. 
 Puritans, 60, 102, 168. 
 Putnam, Israel, 248, 317, 330, 374, 402. 
 
 Quakers, 92, 130, 136, 147, 279. 
 Quebec Act, 304. 
 
 founded, 36, 262, 266, 341. 
 Queenstown attacked, 590. 
 Quincy, Josiah, 298. 
 
 Josiah, jr., 582. 
 Quitman, John, 'General, 707. 
 
 Kaisin River, battle, 599. 
 
 Rahl, Colonel, 392, 394. 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 39, 41 ; death, 43. 
 
 Randolph, Edmund, 521, 531. 
 
 .John. 580. 
 Rawdon, Lord, 495, 496. 
 Reed, Adjutant. general, 392, 396. 
 Reformation, the, 27, 28. 
 Republics, South American, 646. 
 Republican parties, 538, 792. 
 Repudiation, 676. 
 Resaca de la Falma, battle, 702. 
 Revere, Paul, 303, 315. 
 Revival, great, 223. 
 Revolt of soldiers, 486. 
 Revolution, war of, 311-512. 
 
 French, 538. 
 Rhode Island, 81, 91, 92, 168, 691 
 Rice, 148. 
 
 Ringgold, Major, 701. 
 Riots at Baltimore, 586. 
 Rivington'fl Gazette, 350. 
 Roberval, Lord of, 20, 21. 
 Robertson, James, 464. 
 Robinson, Rev. John, 61, 64. 
 Rochambeau, Count de, 472, 500. 
 Rodgers, Captain, 574. 
 Ross, General Robert, 623, 627. 
 Russell, Lord .John, 553. 
 Rutledge, Edward, 378. 
 
 Sabbath, the, 135, 241, 275. 
 
 Samoset, 70. 
 
 Santa Anna, 685, 6S8, 710, 714, 716-728, 
 
 749, 754, 764. 
 Santa Fo taken, 739. 
 San Jacinto, battle, 688. 
 
 Saratoga, the surrender, 437. 
 SassacuB, 86, 87. 
 Savannah, 158, 462. 
 Sayle, William, 144. 
 Schenectady burned, 210. 
 Schools, 91, 104, 135, 276, 278, 797. 
 Schuyler, Peter, 214. 
 
 General Philip, 333, 337, 339, 
 
 360, 408, 416, 428, 431. 
 Scott, Lieutenant-General Winfield, 591, 
 
 617, 662 ; Mexican War, 705, 713, 746, 
 
 755. 
 Sears, Robert, 321, 350. 
 Seminoles, 150 ; war with, 646, 670. 
 Shawnees, 199, 227. 
 Shay's rebellion, 518. 
 Sherlock, Bishop, 285. 
 Sherman, Roger, 367. 
 Shingi9, 230, 251. 
 Silk culture, 167, 161. 
 Sioux or Dahcotahs, 9, 202. 
 Slater, Samuel, 634. 
 Slave law, fugitive, 779. 
 
 representation, 621, 631. 
 trade, 309,'366, 367, 622, 682. 
 Slavery in the colonies, 96, 126, 146, 161, 
 
 166, 278, 281. 
 Slavery in the territories, 522, (>49, 773, 
 
 775, 777, 788. 
 Slavery discussion on, 772, 778. 
 Slaves in British army, 514. 
 Slonghter, Colonel Henry, 183, 184. 
 Smith, John, 47-52, 58. 
 
 Joseph, 779. 
 Smugglers, English, 163. 
 Society for propogating the Gospel in 
 
 foreign parts, 151, 159. 
 Soto, de, 22-26. 
 Sons of Liberty, 290, 321. 
 Squanto, 58, 70, 
 St. Clair, General, 403, 414-416 ; defeat, 
 
 535. 
 St. Leger, General, 430. 
 Specie Circular, 674. 
 Speculation, 673, 674, 676. 
 Stamp Act, 288, 293. 
 Standish, Miles, 66, 72. 
 Stark, John, 248, 317, 330, 393 ; Bennington, 
 
 432. 
 State Department, 346. 
 Stephenson, Fort, defended, 600. 
 Steuben, Baron de, 446, 498. 
 Stirling, Lord, General, 375. 
 Stockton, Commodore, 737. 
 Stonington bombarded, 628. 
 Stony Point, taken, 461. 
 Stoughton, Williiim, 178, 191-194. 
 Stuyvesant Peter, 122-126. 
 Susquehannas, 100, 105. 
 Sub-Treasury, 675. 
 Sullivan, John, General, 312, 358, 373, 391. 
 
 421, 453, 458. 
 Sumter, General, 472. 
 
 Talleyrand, 549. 
 Taney, Roger B., 669. 
 
 TariUs, 632, 642, 653, 659, 660, 665, 667, 769. 
 Tarleton, Colonel, 468, 489. 
 Taxes, parliamentary, 283, 287, 296. 
 Taylor, Zachary, 570 -.Mexican war, 695, 
 699, 702, 706, 721 ; President, 771, 778. 
 Tea taxed, 295, 301 ; destroyed, 303. 
 Tecumseh, 675, 600, 603. 
 Telegraph, the, 796. 
 Temperance Movement, 798. 
 Tennent, Rev. William, 224. 
 Territory, North-west, 522. 
 
806 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TexaB annexation, 684-691 
 
 Thames, battle, 603. 
 
 Thanksgiving day, 72 
 
 Thomas, General, 338, 355, 359. 
 
 i norason, Charles, 307 
 Ticonderoga taken, 319, and 415. 
 
 lippecanoe, battle, 677 
 
 1 deration, 102. 
 Tompkins, Daniel D., 643 
 Tones, 299, 614, 618 
 
 i77,'28T''"' "° ■ ««'"'="0''S, 146, 168, 
 
 Treasury Department, 367, 630. 
 
 JrcatieswithKngland, 612; Jay's 644 at 
 
 Tr»i?/"="'\?l' ■■" Washin4ton^82 ■ 
 Ireaties with Spain, 645, 648 
 
 Algiers, 645, 641. 
 
 Mexico, 767. 
 
 Japan, 787. 
 
 Ottoman empire, 672 
 T>„„. I „, Indians, 636, 642. 
 Trenton, battle, 392. 
 
 T^!!!;^ ^■' <=°"°iissioner, 762, 760, 767 
 Irjon, Governor, 350, 406, 460 
 1 uscaroras, 162, 153 
 Tyler, John, 678-692 
 
 Uncas, 86, 123, 169. 
 United colonics of New England 90 
 Thirteen, 344. 
 States, 368 
 
 Union Flag, 349. 
 
 Valley Forge, 440. 
 Van Buren, Martin, 673-676 
 Vane, Harry, 78, 80, 167. ' 
 Vaudreuil, 214, 266. 
 Vera Cruz taken, 747. 
 Verrazzaui, 17, is. 
 Vespucci, Ameriio, 6. 
 Virginia, 40, 45, 96. 
 Volunteers ; Mexican War, 705. 
 
 Waldron, M.ajor ''09 
 
 Walker, Robert J., 793 
 
 WaUoous, first settlers on Long Island 
 
 Wampanoags, 169, 172. 
 Wamsutta, death of, 170 
 Warren, Dr. Joseph, 314, S33. 
 War declared against England, 584 
 
 Department, 357. 
 Wars with England, 684-64" 
 
 Wars, Ki,]?,"S''C°'fir°' "'' '''' "*■ 
 
 Wars of the Revolution, 311-612 
 
 with Tripoli, 657. 
 
 King William's, 208 
 Washington, Fort, taken, 384 
 
 "S- on 9^°'''^'"' ^■""'h. 227-229, 230. 
 ^X:' i'' ■^°" commauder-in-chief 32^; 
 337, 356 380, 383, 3S5, 392-398, iS 42^^ 
 
 617, 620; President, 627-846; death 
 Washington, John, 106. 
 
 Colonel William, 490, 495 
 w„™ . .City pillaged, 626. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 613, 629, 664 ; Sec of 
 , State, 680, 774 ; de.ath, 784 ' "^ 
 
 ' w!!'hh''°}'"u'"^ Charles, 161, 162. 
 
 Wetherford, the chief, 609, 610 
 
 W heelock. Rev. E , "94 
 
 Whigs, 209. 
 
 Whiskey Insurrection, 641-543 
 
 Wliitefleld, George, 162, 220 221 
 
 White Plains, b.attle, 382 ' 
 
 Whitney, Eli, 656. 
 
 Wilkinson, James, General, 390, 605, 607, 
 
 William III., 136, 180. 
 Wilhams, Eunice, 213. 
 
 Colonel E., 249, 250 
 O. H.,491.' 
 wi . J^°ei^''' '*• '8. 85, 91, 175 
 Wilmot Proviso, 772. 
 Winchester, General, 699 
 Winder, General, 623-625 
 Wiuslow, Edward, 66, 69, 71 79 
 Wintbrop, John, 76. ' ' • 
 iir- T. John, jr., 168. 
 Wise, Rev. John, 179 
 Witchcraft, Salem, 188-194. 
 Witherspoon, Dr. 307. 
 Wolfe, James, 257, 263-265 
 Wool, John E., 691, 7067717 710 700 
 Wooster, General, 339, 406 
 
 %1 '"'""="° "J- ™6, 709, 713, 749, 757 
 Writs of Assistance, 283 
 Wyoming, ruin of, 464 ; revenged, 458. 
 
 Tamasees, 152, 154. 
 Yeamans, gir John, 143, 146 
 Yeardley, George, 56, 98 
 1 ork, taken, 606. 
 Vorktown, siege of, 503-505 
 
 Zenger, John Peter, 187. 
 
 65 
 
 \9 
 

 
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