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Title: The Greater Republic
A History of the United States
Author: Charles Morris
Release Date: July 18, 2010 [EBook #33000]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREATER REPUBLIC ***
Produced by Mark C. Orton, Suzanne Lybarger, Graeme Mackreth
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[Illustration: UNITED STATES SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION and
Standard Time Divisions.]
A NEW HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
The Greater Republic
EMBRACING
THE GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR COUNTRY FROM THE
EARLIEST DAYS OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT
TO THE PRESENT EVENTFUL YEAR
SHOWING HOW FROM THIRTEEN COLONIES WITH A SCATTERED POPULATION ALONG THE
ATLANTIC COAST A GREAT REPUBLIC HAS BEEN FORMED, EMBRACING
FORTY-FIVE STATES WITH 75,000,000 INHABITANTS AND VAST
COLONIAL POSSESSIONS IN TWO HEMISPHERES
By CHARLES MORRIS, LL.D.
Author of "Decisive Events in American History," "Half Hours with the
Best American Authors," "An Historical Review of Civilization," Etc.,
Etc.
Embellished With Over 300 New Engravings
ILLUSTRATING ALL THAT IS INTERESTING AND INSPIRING IN OUR HISTORY
JOHN C. WINSTON & CO.
PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO TORONTO
1899
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by
W.E. SCULL.
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
* * * * *
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Illustration]
PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION.
The late war with Spain marks a momentous epoch in the progress of our
country, whose history, stretching through the centuries of discovery,
exploration, settlement, the struggle for independence, foreign and
domestic war, lofty achievement in all departments of knowledge and
progress, is the most interesting in human annals. It is a record full
of instruction and incitement to endeavor, which must fill every
American with pride in his birthright, and with gratitude to Him who
holds the earth and the sea in the hollow of His hand.
The following pages contain a complete, accurate, and graphic history of
our country from the first visit of the Northmen, a thousand years ago,
to the opening of its new destiny, through the late struggle, resulting
in the freeing of Cuba, the wresting of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and
the Ladrones from the tyranny of the most cruel of modern nations, and
the addition of Hawaii to our domain. The Greater United States, at one
bound, assumes its place in the van of nations, and becomes the foremost
agent in civilizing and christianizing the world.
The task, long committed to England, Germany, France, Russia, and later
to Japan, must henceforth be shared with us, whose glowing future gives
promise of the crowning achievement of the ages. With a fervent trust in
a guiding Providence, and an abiding confidence in our ability, we enter
upon the new and grander career, as in obedience to the divine behest
that the Latin race must decrease and the Anglo-Saxon increase, and that
the latter, in a human sense, must be the regenerator of all who are
groping in the night of ignorance and barbarism.
It is a wonderful story that is traced in the pages that follow. A
comprehension of the present and of the promise of the future
necessitates an understanding of the past. The history of the Greater
United States, therefore, is complete, from the first glimpse, in the
early morning of October 12, 1492, of San Salvador by Columbus, through
the settlement of the colonies, their struggles for existence, the
colonial wars, the supreme contest between England and France for
mastery in the New World, the long gloom of the Revolution that brought
independence, the founding of the Republic, in 1787, the growth and
expansion of the nation, the mighty War for the Union that united the
divided house and planted it upon a rock, and the later "war for
humanity," when the perishing islands, stretching their hands to us in
helpless anguish, were gathered under the flag of freedom, there to
remain through all time to come.
There have been many leaders in this great work. Not the story of the
deeds alone, but of those who performed them is told. History,
biography, and all that is interesting and profitable to know are here
truthfully set forth, for their lesson is one whose value is beyond
measurement.
In addition to the history of that which was simply the United States, a
complete account is given of our new colonial possessions, Hawaii, Porto
Rico, the Philippines, the Ladrones, and of Cuba, the child of our
adoption. Their geography, their soil, climate, productions,
inhabitants, and capabilities are set forth with fullness and accuracy.
In conclusion, the publishers confidently claim that "The Greater
Republic" is the fullest, most interesting, reliable, and instructive
work of the kind ever offered the public.
[Illustration: "I AM READY FOR ANY SERVICE THAT I CAN GIVE MY COUNTRY"
In 1798 our Government was about to declare war against France. Congress
appointed Washington Commander-in-chief of the American Army. The
Secretary of War carried the commission in person to Mt. Vernon. The old
hero, sitting on his horse in the harvest field, accepted in the above
patriotic words.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION.
The Visits of the Northmen to the New World--The Indians and Mound
Builders--Christopher Columbus--His Discovery of America--Amerigo
Vespucci--John Cabot--_Spanish Explorers_--Balboa--His Discovery of
the Pacific--Magellan--Ponce de Leon--De Narvaez--De Soto--Menendez
--_French Explorers_--Verrazzani--Cartier--Ribault--Laudonnière--Champlain
--La Salle--_English Explorers_--Sir Hugh Willoughby--Martin
Frobisher--Sir Humphrey Gilbert--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Lost
Colony--_Dutch Explorer_--Henry Hudson 33
CHAPTER II.
SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES.
_Virginia_,--Founding of Jamestown--Captain John
Smith--Introduction of African Slavery--Indian Wars--Bacon's
Rebellion--Forms of Government--Prosperity--Education--_New
England_,--Plymouth--Massachusetts Bay Colony--Union of the
Colonies--Religious Persecution--King Philip's War--The
Witchcraft Delusion--_New Hampshire_,--_The Connecticut
Colony_,--_The New Haven Colony_,--Union of the Colonies--Indian
Wars--The Charter Oak--_Rhode Island_,--Different Forms of
Government--_New York_,--The Dutch and English Settlers--_New
Jersey_,--_Delaware_,--_Pennsylvania_,--_Maryland_,--Mason and
Dixon's Line--_The Carolinas_,--_Georgia_ 47
CHAPTER III.
THE INTERCOLONIAL WARS AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
King William's War--Queen Anne's War--King George's War--The
French and Indian War--England and France Rivals in the Old World
and the New--The Early French Settlements--The Disputed
Territory--France's Fatal Weakness--Washington's Journey Through
the Wilderness--The First Fight of the War--The War Wholly
American for Two Years--The Braddock Massacre--The Great Change
Wrought by William Pitt--Fall of Quebec--Momentous Consequences
of the Great English Victory--The Growth and Progress of the
Colonies and their Home Life 75
CHAPTER IV.
THE REVOLUTION--THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND.
Causes of the Revolution--The Stamp Act--The Boston Tea
Party--England's Unbearable Measures--The First Continental
Congress--The Boston Massacre--Lexington and Concord--The Second
Continental Congress--Battle of Bunker Hill--Assumption of
Command by Washington--British Evacuation of Boston--Disastrous
Invasion of Canada 89
CHAPTER V.
THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED). THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA.
Declaration of Independence--The American Flag--Battle of Long
Island--Washington's Retreat Through the Jerseys--Trenton and
Princeton--In Winter Quarters--Lafayette--Brandywine and
Germantown--At Valley Forge--Burgoyne's Campaign--Port Schuyler
and Bennington--Bemis Heights and Stillwater--The Conway
Cabal--Aid from France--Battle of Monmouth--Molly Pitcher--Failure
of French Aid--Massacre at Wyoming--Continental Money--Stony
Point--Treason of Arnold--Paul Jones' Great Victory 103
CHAPTER VI.
THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED).
Capture of Savannah--British Conquest of Georgia--Fall of
Charleston--Bitter Warfare in South Carolina--Battle of
Camden--Of King's Mountain--Of the Cowpens--Battle of Guilford
Court-House--Movements of Cornwallis--The Final Campaign--Peace
and Independence 131
CHAPTER VII.
ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
The Method of Government During the Revolution--Impending
Anarchy--The State Boundaries--State Cessions of Land--Shays'
Rebellion--Adoption of the Constitution--Its Leading Features--The
Ordinance of 1787--Formation of Parties--Election of the First
President and Vice-President 143
CHAPTER VIII.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON--1789-1809.
Washington--His Inauguration as First President of the United
States--Alexander Hamilton--His Success at the Head of the
Treasury Department--The Obduracy of Rhode Island--Establishment
of the United States Bank--Passage of a Tariff Bill--Establishment
of a Mint--The Plan of a Federal Judiciary--Admission of Vermont,
Kentucky, and Tennessee--Benjamin Franklin--Troubles with the Western
Indians--Their Defeat by General Wayne--Removal of the National
Capital Provided for--The Whiskey Insurrection--The Course of
"Citizen Genet"--Jay's Treaty--Re-election of Washington--Resignation
of Jefferson and Hamilton--Washington's Farewell Address--Establishment
of the United States Military Academy at West Point--The Presidential
Election of 1796--John Adams--Prosperity of the Country--Population
of the Country in 1790--Invention of the Cotton Gin--Troubles with
France--War on the Ocean--Washington Appointed Commander-in-Chief--Peace
Secured--The Alien and Sedition Laws--The Census of 1800--The
Presidential Election of 1800--The Twelfth Amendment to the
Constitution--Thomas Jefferson--Admission of Ohio--The Indiana
Territory--The Purchase of Louisiana--Its Immense Area--Abolishment of
the Slave Trade--War with Tripoli--The Lewis and Clark Expedition
--Alexander Hamilton Killed in a Duel by Aaron Burr--The First Steamboat
on the Hudson--The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic--England's
Oppressive Course Toward the United States--Outrage by the British Ship
_Leander_--The Affair of the _Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_--Passage of
the Embargo Act--The Presidential Election of 1808 153
CHAPTER IX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809-1817. THE WAR OF 1812.
James Madison--The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts--Revival
of the Latter Against England--The _Little Belt_ and the
_President_--Population of the United States in 1810--Battle of
Tippecanoe--Declaration of War Against England--Comparative
Strength of the Two Nations on the Ocean--Unpopularity of the War
in New England--Preparations Made by the Government--Cowardly
Surrender of Detroit--Presidential Election of 1812--Admission of
Louisiana and Indiana--New National Bank Chartered--Second
Attempt to Invade Canada--Battle of Queenstown Heights--Inefficiency
of the American Forces in 1812--Brilliant Work of the Navy--The
_Constitution_ and the _Guerrière_--The _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_--The
_United States_ and the _Macedonian_--The _Constitution_ and the
_Java_--Reorganization and Strengthening of the Army--Operations
in the West--Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson--American Invasion
of Ohio and Victory of the Thames--Indian Massacre at Fort Mimms--Capture
of York (Toronto)--Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett's Harbor--Failure of
the American Invasion of Canada--The _Hornet_ and _Peacock_--Capture
of the _Chesapeake_--"Don't Give Up the Ship"--Captain Decatur Blockaded
at New London--Capture of the _Argus_ by the Enemy--Cruise of the
_Essex_--The Glorious Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie--Success
of the American Arms in Canada--Battle of the Chippewa--Of Lundy's
Lane--Decisive Defeat of the Enemy's Attack on Plattsburg--Punishment
of the Creek Indians for the Massacre at Fort Mimms--Vigorous Action
by the National Government--Burning of Washington by the British--The
Hartford Convention 181
CHAPTER X.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829.
James Monroe--The "Era of Good Feeling"--The Seminole
War--Vigorous Measures of General Jackson--Admission of
Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri--The Missouri
Compromise--The Monroe Doctrine--Visit of Lafayette--Introduction
of the Use of Gas--Completion of the Erie Canal--The First "Hard
Times"--Extinction of the West Indian Pirates--Presidential
Election of 1824--John Quincy Adams--Prosperity of the Country
--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the
Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional
Action on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828 205
CHAPTER XI.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER,
1829-1845.
Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The
President's Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential
Election of 1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United
States Treasury Among the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The
Nullification Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the
Steam Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and
Friction Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the
United States in 1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism
--France and Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United
States--The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay,
and Daniel Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren
--The Panic of 1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United
States in 1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison
--His Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton
Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A
Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican
Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of
Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential
Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His
Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection 215
CHAPTER XII.
FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840.
The Origin of the "Caucus"--The Election of 1792--The First
Stormy Election--The Constitution Amended--Improvement of the
Method of Nominating Presidential Candidates--The First
Presidential Convention--Convention in Baltimore in
1832--Exciting Scenes--The Presidential Campaign of 1820--"Old
Hickory"--Andrew Jackson's Popularity--Jackson Nominated--"Old
Hickory" Defeated--The "Log-Cabin" and "Hard-Cider" Campaign of
1840--"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"--Peculiar Feature of the
Harrison Campaign 239
CHAPTER XIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845-1849.
James K. Polk--_The War with Mexico_--The First Conflict--Battle
of Resaca de la Palma--Vigorous Action of the United States
Government--General Scott's Plan of Campaign--Capture of
Monterey--An Armistice--Capture of Saltillo--Of Victoria--Of
Tampico--General Kearny's Capture of Santa Fé--Conquest of
California--Wonderful March of Colonel Doniphan--Battle of Buena
Vista--General Scott's March Toward the City of Mexico--Capture
of Vera Cruz--American Victory at Cerro Gordo--Five American
Victories in One Day--Santa Anna--Conquest of Mexico Completed--Terms
of the Treaty of Peace--The New Territory Gained--The Slavery Dispute
--The Wilmot Proviso--"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"--Adjustment of the
Oregon Boundary--Admission of Iowa and Wisconsin--The Smithsonian
Institute--Discovery of Gold in California--The Mormons--The
Presidential Election of 1848 251
CHAPTER XIV.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857.
Zachary Taylor--The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress--The
Omnibus Bill--Death of President Taylor--Millard Fillmore--Death
of the Old Leaders and Debut of the New--The Census of 1850--Surveys
for a Railway to the Pacific--Presidential Election of 1852--Franklin
Pierce--Death of Vice-President King--A Commercial Treaty Made with
Japan--Filibustering Expeditions--The Ostend Manifesto--The "Know
Nothing" Party--The Kansas-Nebraska Bill and Repeal of the Missouri
Compromise 269
CHAPTER XV.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865 THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861.
Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson
Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort
Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops
in Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of
England and France--Friendship of Russia--The States that
Composed the Southern Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big
Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia--General
George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull Run--General McClellan
Called to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--Union Disaster
at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in Missouri--Battle of Wilson's
Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure
of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The Trent Affair--Summary
of the Year's Operations 285
CHAPTER XVI.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862.
Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate
Line of Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg
Landing or Shiloh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of
Louisville--Battle of Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or
Stone River--Battle of Pea Ridge--Naval Battle Between the
_Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the Two Vessels--Capture of New
Orleans--The Advance Against Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula
Campaign--_The First Confederate Invasion of the North_--_Battle
of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous Union Repulse at
Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the War's Operations_--_The
Confederate Privateers_--_The Emancipation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks
and Bond Issues_ 301
CHAPTER XVII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863.
The Military Situation in the West--Siege and Capture of
Vicksburg--The Mississippi Opened--Battle of Chickamauga--"The
Rock of Chickamauga"--The Battle Above the Clouds--Siege of
Knoxville--General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of
the Potomac--His Plan of Campaign Against Richmond--Stonewall
Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh Corps--Critical Situation of
the Union Army--Death of Jackson--Battle of Chancellorsville--Defeat
of Hooker--The Second Confederate Invasion--Battle of Gettysburg--The
Decisive Struggle of the War--Lee's Retreat--Subsequent Movements of
Lee and Meade--Confederate Privateering--Destruction of the
_Nashville_--Failure of the Attacks on Charleston--The Military
Raids--Stuart's Narrow Escape--Stoneman's Raid--Morgan's Raid in
Indiana and Ohio 333
CHAPTER XVIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONCLUDED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONCLUDED), 1864-1865.
The Work Remaining to be Done--General Grant Placed in Command of
all the Union Armies--The Grand Campaign--Bank's Disastrous Red
River Expedition--How the Union Fleet was Saved--Capture of
Mobile by Admiral Farragut--The Confederate Cruisers--Destruction
of the _Alabama_ by the _Kearsarge_--Fate of the Other Confederate
Cruisers--Destruction of the _Albemarle_ by Lieutenant William B.
Cushing--Re-election of President Lincoln--Distress in the South and
Prosperity in the North--The Union Prisoners in the South--Admission
of Nevada--The Confederate Raids from Canada--Sherman's Advance to
Atlanta--Fall of Atlanta--Hood's Vain Attempt to Relieve Georgia--Superb
Success of General Thomas--"Marching Through Georgia"--Sherman's
Christmas Gift to President Lincoln--Opening of Grant's Final
Campaign--Battles in the Wilderness--Wounding of General
Longstreet and Death of Generals Stuart and Sedgwick--Grant's
Flanking Movements Against Lee--A Disastrous Repulse at Cold
Harbor--Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley--"Bottling-up"
of Butler--Explosions of the Petersburg Mine--Early's Raids--His Final
Defeat by Sheridan--Grant's Campaign--Surrender of Lee--Assassination
of President Lincoln--Death of Booth and Punishment of the
Conspirators--Surrender of Jo Johnston and Collapse of the
Southern Confederacy--Capture of Jefferson Davis--His Release and
Death--Statistics of the Civil War--A Characteristic Anecdote 367
CHAPTER XIX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT, 1865-1877.
Andrew Johnson--Reconstruction--Quarrel Between the President and
Congress--The Fenians--Execution of Maximilian--Admission of
Nebraska--Laying of the Atlantic Cable--Purchase of Alaska--Impeachment
and Acquittal of the President--Carpet-bag Rule in the South--Presidential
Election of 1868--U.S. Grant--Settlement of the _Alabama_ Claims
--Completion of the Overland Railway--The Chicago Fire--Settlement
of the Northwestern Boundary--Presidential Election of 1872--The Modoc
Troubles--Civil War in Louisiana--Admission of Colorado--Panic of
1873--Notable Deaths--Custer's Massacre--The Centennial--The
Presidential Election of 1876 the Most Perilous in the History of
the Country 407
CHAPTER XX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR, 1877-1885.
R.B. Hayes--The Telephone--Railway Strikes--Elevated
Railroads--War with the Nez Perce Indians--Remonetization of
Silver--Resumption of Specie Payments--A Strange Fishery
Award--The Yellow Fever Scourge--Presidential Election of
1878--James A. Garfield--Civil Service Reform--Assassination of
President Garfield--Chester A. Arthur--The Star Route Frauds--The
Brooklyn Bridge--The Chinese Question--The Mormons--Alaska
Exploration--The Yorktown Centennial--Attempts to Reach the North
Pole by Americans--History of the Greely Expedition 427
CHAPTER XXI.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (FIRST) AND OF HARRISON, 1885-1893.
Grover Cleveland--Completion of the Washington Monument--The
Bartholdi Statue--Death of General Grant--Death of Vice-President
Hendricks--The First Vice-President to Die in Office--George
Clinton--Elbridge Gerry--William R. King--Henry Wilson--Death of
General McClellan--Of General Hancock--His Career--The Dispute
Between Capital and Labor--Arbitration--The Anarchistic Outbreak
in Chicago--The Charleston Earthquake--Conquest of the Apaches
--Presidential Election of 1888--Benjamin Harrison--The Johnstown
Disaster--Threatened War with Chili--The Indian Uprising of 1890-91
--Admission of New States--Presidential Election of 1892 459
CHAPTER XXII.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND), 1893-1897.
Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill--The World's
Columbian Exposition at Chicago--The Hawaiian Imbroglio--The
Great Railroad Strike of 1894--Coxey's Commonweal Army--Admission
of Utah--Harnessing of Niagara--Dispute with England Over
Venezuela's Boundary--Presidential Election of 1896 487
CHAPTER XXIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND, CONCLUDED), 1893-1897.
Settling the Northwest--The Face of the Country Transformed--Clearing
Away the Forests and its Effects--Tree-planting on the Prairies--Pioneer
Life in the Seventies--The Granary of the World--The Northwestern
Farmer--Transportation and Other Industries--Business Cities and
Centres--United Public Action and its Influence--The Indian
Question--Other Elements of Population--Society and General Culture 511
CHAPTER XXIV.
ADMINISTRATION OF MCKINLEY, 1897-1901.
William McKinley--Organization of "Greater New York"--Removal of
General Grant's Remains to Morningside Park--The Klondike Gold
Excitement--Spain's Misrule in Cuba--Preliminary Events of the
Spanish-American War 527
CHAPTER XXV.
ADMINISTRATION OF MCKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
Opening Incidents--Bombardment of Matanzas--Dewey's Wonderful
Victory at Manila--Disaster to the _Winslow_ at Cardenas Bay--The
First American Loss of Life--Bombardment of San Juan, Porto
Rico--The Elusive Spanish Fleet--Bottled-up in Santiago
Harbor--Lieutenant Hobson's Daring Exploit--Second Bombardment of
Santiago and Arrival of the Army--Gallant Work of the Rough
Riders and the Regulars--Battles of San Juan and El Caney--Destruction
of Cervera's Fleet--General Shafter Reinforced in Front of Santiago
--Surrender of the City--General Miles in Porto Rico--An Easy Conquest
--Conquest of the Philippines--Peace Negotiations and Signing of the
Protocol--Its Terms--Members of the National Peace Commission--Return
of the Troops from Cuba and Porto Rico--The Peace Commission in
Paris--Conclusion of its Work--Terms of the Treaty--Ratified by
the Senate 547
CHAPTER XXVI.
ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS
The Islands of Hawaii--Their Inhabitants and Products--City of
Honolulu--History of Cuba--The Ten Years' War--The Insurrection
of 1895-98--Geography and Productions of Cuba--Its Climate--History
of Porto Rico--Its People and Productions--San Juan and Ponce--Location,
Discovery, and History of the Philippines--Insurrections of the
Filipinos--City of Manila--Commerce--Philippine Productions--Climate
and Volcanoes--Dewey at Manila--The Ladrone Islands--Conclusion 587
[Illustration: PENN'S TREATY BELT]
[Illustration: A Settler. Ruins of Jamestown. Indian Chief.]
List of Illustrations.
PAGE
Amerigo Vespucci, 33
Meeting Between the Northmen and Natives, 34
Sebastian Cabot, 35
Columbus and the Egg, 37
An Indian Council of War, 41
"The Broiling of Fish Over the Fire," 43
Indian Village Enclosed with Palisades, 44
Sir Walter Raleigh, 45
Seal of the Virginia Company, 47
Armor Worn by the Pilgrims in 1620, 52
Landing of Myles Standish, 54
Roger Williams in Banishment, 57
Primitive Mode of Grinding Corn, 60
Friends' Meeting-House, Burlington, N.J., 64
Moravian Easter Service, Bethlehem, Pa., 68
Colonial Plow--1706, 71
Ancient Horseshoes, 72
A Colonial Flax-wheel, 72
Silk-winding, 73
A Comfortier, or Chafing Dish, 73
Early Days in New England, 74
Places of Worship in New York in 1742, 75
Attack on Rioters, Springfield, Mass., in 1786, 77
Young Washington Riding a Colt, 79
Braddock's Defeat, 81
Martello Tower on the Heights of Abraham, 82
A Dutch Household as Seen in the Early Days in New York, 83
Memorial Hall, Harvard College, 85
Bible Brought Over in the _Mayflower_, 86
American Stage-coach of 1795, 87
The Old South Church, Boston, 91
Patrick Henry, 93
The Monument on Bunker Hill, 94
Nomination of Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, 96
Faneuil Hall, Boston, 97
St. Paul's Church, New York, 101
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 104
The Liberty Bell, 105
The Statue of Liberty, 107
An Old New York Mansion, 109
Washington Crossing the Delaware, 113
"Give Them Watts, Boys," 115
Washington at Valley Forge, 117
An Old Colonial House at Germantown, 120
Virginia Currency, 1670, 123
Paul Jones, 125
The _Bon Homme Richard_ and _Serapis_, 126
British Captain Surrendering Sword, 127
Escape of Benedict Arnold, 129
Tarleton's Lieutenant and the Farmer, 134
Cornwallis, 137
A Plantation Gateway, 143
Senate Chamber, 147
House of Representatives, 149
An Old Indian Farm-house, 152
Mary Ball, the Mother of Washington, 153
George Washington, 154
Inauguration of Washington, 155
Alexander Hamilton, 157
Ben Franklin in His Father's Shop, 159
Franklin's Grave, 160
Chief Justice John Jay, 163
Washington's Bedroom in which He Died, 165
Mother of Washington Receiving Lafayette, 166
John Adams, 168
The Cotton Gin, Invented in 1793, 169
Thomas Jefferson, 171
Development of Steam Navigation, 177
Robert Fulton, 178
James Madison, 182
The Arts of Peace and the Art of War, 187
Mrs. James Madison, 191
Burning of Washington, 197
Weathersford and General Jackson, 201
First Train of Cars in America, 205
James Monroe, 205
An Indian's Declaration of War, 207
John Quincy Adams, 211
"Johnny Bull," or No. 1, 213
Andrew Jackson, 216
Samuel Houston, 218
Oseola's Indignation, 221
Western Railroad in Earlier Days, 222
John C. Calhoun, 223
Henry Clay, 224
Daniel Webster, 225
Martin Van Buren, 227
William Henry Harrison, 239
John Tyler, 231
Where the First Morse Instrument was Constructed, 235
Speedwell Iron Works, Morristown, N.J. 236
Old Gates at St. Augustine, Florida, 239
A Typical Virginia Court-House, 241
The White House at Washington, D.C., 243
Old Spanish House, New Orleans, 247
The Marigny House, New Orleans, 248
James K. Polk, 251
Robert E. Lee in the Mexican War, 253
General Winfield Scott, 257
Battle of Cerro Gordo, 259
The Smithsonian Institute, 263
Gold Washing--The Sluice, 264
Gold Washing--The Cradle, 265
Great Salt Lake City, Utah, 267
Zachary Taylor, 269
Millard Fillmore, 271
Franklin Pierce, 273
Lucretia Mott, 275
Henry Ward Beecher, 276
James Buchanan, 278
Lucretia Mott Protecting Dangerfield, 279
Harper's Ferry, 281
Abraham Lincoln, 285
From Log-Cabin to the White House, 286
Jefferson Davis, 287
Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S.C., 289
A Skirmisher, 291
General George B. McClellan, 293
Statue of McClellan, Philadelphia, Pa., 295
Fortifying Richmond, 297
Breech-loading Mortar, or Howitzer, 302
A Railroad Battery, 305
Sec. Stanton's Opinion about the _Merrimac_, 309
John Ericsson, 312
Libby Prison in 1865, 315
Libby Prison in 1884, 316
Moist Weather at the Front, 319
Antietam Bridge, 325
Model of Gatling Gun, 329
U.S. Military Telegraph Wagon, 331
Admiral Porter, 334
David G. Farragut, 335
Grant After the Battle of Belmont, 337
General George H. Thomas, 341
General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson, 345
House in which Stonewall Jackson Died, 346
General Robert E. Lee, 349
General George G. Meade, 351
Cushing's Last Shot, 354
Entrance to Gettysburg Cemetery, 357
The Swamp Angel Battery, 363
Bailey's Dams on the Red River, 371
Monument of Farragut at Washington, 373
Bird's-eye View of Andersonville Prison, 383
Death of General Polk, 385
General William T. Sherman, 389
General Lee Leading the Texans' Charge, 393
General Philip H. Sheridan, 395
Lincoln Entering Richmond, 398
The Desperate Extremity of the Confederates, 403
Horace Greeley, 405
Lincoln's Grave, Springfield, Ill., 406
Andrew Johnson, 407
Log-cabin Church at Juneau, Alaska, 411
Southern Legislature Under Carpet-bag Rule, 413
Ulysses Simpson Grant, 415
Mrs. Julia Dent Grant, 415
The Burning of Chicago, 1871, 417
Section of Chicago Stock-yards, 418
Monument to General Lee, Richmond, Va., 422
General George Crook, 423
Memorial Hall of 1876, 425
Samuel J. Tilden, 426
Rutherford B. Hayes, 427
Grant at Windsor Castle, 431
Grant in Japan, 433
The Boy James Garfield and his Mother, 434
James A. Garfield, 435
The Aged Mother of President Garfield, 436
Assassination of President Garfield, 437
Memorial Tablet to President Garfield, 438
Chester Alan Arthur, 439
The Brooklyn Bridge, 440
Scene in Chinatown, San Francisco, 441
A Funeral in the Arctic Regions, 449
Grover Cleveland, 459
Tomb of General U.S. Grant, New York, 464
City Hall, Philadelphia, 467
Old Haymarket Plaza, Chicago, 471
General Crook's Apache Guide, 475
An Indian Warrior, 477
Benjamin Harrison, 479
Indian Mother and Infant, 481
Indian Agency, 484
Henry Moore Teller, 487
Model of U.S. Man-of-War, 488
Machinery Hall, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 490
Horticultural Building, World's Fair, 1893, 491
Agricultural Building, World's Fair, 1893, 491
Woman's Building, World's Fair, 1893, 492
Thomas A. Edison, 493
The Viking Ship, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 495
Art Palace, World's Fair, Chicago, 1893, 496
Government Building, World's Fair, 1893, 496
James G. Blaine, 499
A Scene of the Chicago Strike of 1894, 501
A Gold Prospecting Party, British Guiana, 505
The Venezuelan Commission, 507
William Jennings Bryan, 508
Albert Shaw, 511
A Dispute Over a Brand, 513
Sluice-gate, 517
Between the Mills, 518
Barrel-hoist and Tunnel, Washburn Mill, 518
Mossbræ, 520
Section of Chicago Stock-yards, 521
The Falls of St. Anthony, 1885, 523
Lake-shore Drive, Chicago, 525
Wm. McKinley, 527
The Obelisk, Central Park, New York, 529
John Sherman, 531
Thomas B. Reed, 533
Tomb of U.S. Grant, New York, 534
Review of the Navy and Merchant Marine on the Hudson, April 27, 1897, 535
Map of Alaska, 536
Ready for the Trail, 537
General Calixto Garcia, 539
General Maximo Gomez, 541
José Marti, 543
General Antonio Maceo, 544
The U.S. Battleship _Maine_ and her Officers, 545
Admiral George Dewey, 551
Camp Scene at Chickamauga, 555
Richmond P. Hobson, 557
Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, 559
Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, 560
Gov. Theodore Roosevelt, 561
Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, 565
Rear-Admiral John C. Watson, 567
Major-General William R. Shaffer, 570
Major-General Nelson A. Miles, 571
Major-General Joseph Wheeler, 573
Major-General Wesley Merritt, 577
Major-General Elwell S. Otis, 584
Admiral Dewey's Flagship the _Olympia_, 585
Native Grass House, Hawaii, 587
Royal Palace, Hawaii, 589
Raising of the American Flag, Honolulu, 589
Hula Dancing Girls, Hawaii, 590
Church in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, 592
Sugar Cane Plantation, Hawaiian Islands, 594
Tomb of Christopher Columbus, Havana, Cuba, 595
Indian Statue in the Prado, Havana, Cuba, 597
Daring Attack of Cuban Patriots, 599
General Maximo Gomez, 602
Sunrise Executions, Havana, 603
A Volante, Cuba, 608
Entrance to the Public Grounds, Havana, 609
A Market Girl, Porto Rico, 610
The Custom House, Ponce, Porto Rico, 612
Native Belles, Porto Rico, 614
The Market Place, Ponce, Porto Rico, 615
Filipinos of the Savage Tribes 617
Native Hunters, Philippine Islands, 618
Philippine Warriors, 622
Native Residence in the Suburbs of Manila, 624
A Typical Moro Village, Philippine Islands, 626
Bridge Over the Pasig River, 628
A Popular Street Conveyance, Manila, 631
A Wedding Procession, Philippine Islands, 633
Drying Sugar, Philippine Islands, 635
The Strange Wagons of Philippine Islands, 636
Native House and Palms, Ladrone Islands, 644
[Illustration: William Penn Esq. Proprietor of Pennsylvania 1703.]
LIST OF FULL-PAGE HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
"I am ready for any service that I can give my country" _Frontispiece_
Search for the Fountain of Youth opp. 39
Pocahontas Saving the Life of John Smith opp. 49
The Marriage of Pocahontas opp. 50
Gallup's Recapture of Oldham's Boat opp. 58
William Penn, the good and wise ruler opp. 65
Notable Audience in Maryland to hear George Fox opp. 66
Hiawatha, Pounder of the Iroquois League opp. 72
Washington's First Victory opp. 80
The Battle of Bunker Hill opp. 89
The Capture of Major André opp. 128
Daring Desertion of John Campe opp. 136
The Surrender at Yorktown opp. 139
United States Capitol, Washington opp. 142
The Battle of Fallen Timbers opp. 160
Campaign Speechmaking in Earlier Days opp. 238
Fremont, the Great Pathfinder, addressing the Indians opp. 250
Battle of Resaca de la Palma opp. 256
The Blue and the Gray opp. 284
The First Battle of Bull Run, 1861 opp. 294
The Attack on Fort Donelson opp. 301
General Lee's Invasion of the North opp. 324
The Battle of Malvern Hill opp. 333
The Fatal Wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson opp. 346
Pickett's Return from his Famous Charge opp. 355
Attack on Charleston, August 23 to September 29, 1893 opp. 360
The Sinking of the "Alabama" opp. 375
Sherman's Three Scouts opp. 384
Surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Court-House, April 9, 1865 opp. 397
The Civil War Peace Conference opp. 400
The Electoral Commission, 1877 opp. 427
The Farthest North Reached by Lieutenant Lockwood on the
Greely Expedition opp. 453
The Washington Monument opp. 460
Arbitration opp. 469
The Hero of the Strike, Coal Creek, Tenn opp. 486
The Viking Ship at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago,
1893 opp. 495
Congressional Library, Washington, D.C. opp. 510
Cathedral Spires in the Garden of the Gods opp. 515
Greater New York opp. 528
President McKinley and the War Cabinet opp. 547
City of Havana, Cuba opp. 549
The U.S. Battleship "Maine" opp. 550
Map of Cuba opp. 553
The Battle of Manila, May 1, 1898 opp. 554
Americans Storming San Juan Hill opp. 560
U.S. Battleship "Oregon" opp. 565
The Surrender of Santiago, July 17, 1898 opp. 570
In the War-room at Washington opp. 576
The United States Peace Commissioners of the Spanish War opp. 580
Popular Commanders in the Filipino War opp. 586
Prominent Spaniards in 1898 opp. 595
San Juan, Porto Rico opp. 610
The Escolta, City of Manila opp. 619
The Beautiful Luneta, Manila's Fashionable Promenade and Drive opp. 620
The Shipyard and Arsenal at Cavite, Philippine Islands opp. 629
Raising the Flag on Fort San Antonio de Abad, Malate opp. 630
Scenes from the Philippine Islands opp. 639
The Mouth of the Pasig River opp. 640
Author's introduction.
The annals of the world contain no more impressive example of the birth
and growth of a nation than may be seen in the case of that which has
been aptly termed the Greater Republic, whose story from its feeble
childhood to its grand maturity it is the purpose of this work to set
forth. Three hundred years is a brief interval in the long epoch of
human history, yet within that short period the United States has
developed from a handful of hardy men and women, thinly scattered along
our Atlantic coast, into a vast and mighty country, peopled by not less
than seventy-five millions of human beings, the freest, richest, most
industrious, and most enterprising of any people upon the face of the
earth. It began as a dwarf; it has grown into a giant. It was despised
by the proud nations of Europe; it has become feared and respected by
the proudest of these nations. For a long time they have claimed the
right to settle among themselves the affairs of the world; they have now
to deal with the United States in this self-imposed duty. And it is
significant of the high moral attitude occupied by this country, that
one of the first enterprises in which it is asked to join these ancient
nations has for its end to do away with the horrors of war, and
substitute for the drawn sword in the settlement of national disputes a
great Supreme Court of arbitration.
This is but one of the lessons to be drawn from the history of the great
republic of the West. It has long been claimed that this history lacks
interest, that it is devoid of the romance which we find in that of the
Eastern world, has nothing in it of the striking and dramatic, and is
too young and new to be worth men's attention when compared with that of
the ancient nations, which has come down from the mists of prehistoric
time. Yet we think that those who read the following pages will not be
ready to admit this claim. They will find in the history of the United
States an abundance of the elements of romance. It has, besides, the
merit of being a complete and fully rounded history. We can trace it
from its birth, and put upon record the entire story of the evolution of
a nation, a fact which it would be difficult to affirm of any of the
older nations of the world.
If we go back to the origin of our country, it is to find it made up of
a singular mixture of the best people of Europe. The word best is used
here in a special sense. The settlers in this country were not the rich
and titled. They came not from that proud nobility which claims to
possess bluer blood than the common herd, but from the plain people of
Europe, from the workers, not the idlers, and this rare distinction they
have kept up until the present day. But of this class of the world's
workers, they were the best and noblest. They were men who thought for
themselves, and refused to be bound in the trammels of a State religion;
men who were ready to dare the perils of the sea and the hardships of a
barren shore for the blessings of liberty and free-thought; men of
sturdy thrift, unflinching energy, daring enterprise, the true stuff out
of which alone a nation like ours could be built.
Such was the character of the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the hardy
empire-builders of New England, of the Quakers of New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, the Catholics of Maryland, the Huguenots of the South, the
Moravians and other German Protestants, the sturdy Scotch-Irish, and the
others who sought this country as a haven of refuge for free-thought. We
cannot say the same for the Hollanders of New Amsterdam, the Swedes of
Delaware, and the English of Virginia, so far as their purpose is
concerned, yet they too proved hardy and industrious settlers, and the
Cavaliers whom the troubles in England drove to Virginia showed their
good blood by the prominent part which their descendants played in the
winning of our independence and the making of our government. While the
various peoples named took part in the settlement of the colonies, the
bulk of the settlers were of English birth, and Anglo-Saxon thrift and
energy became the foundation stones upon which our nation has been
built. Of the others, nearly the whole of them were of Teutonic origin,
while the Huguenots, whom oppression drove from France, were of the very
bone and sinew of that despot-ridden land. It may fairly be said, then,
that the founders of our nation came from the cream of the populations
of Europe, born of sturdy Teutonic stock, and comprising thrift, energy,
endurance, love of liberty, and freedom of thought to a degree never
equaled in the makers of any other nation upon the earth. They were of
solid oak in mind and frame, and the edifice they built had for its
foundation the natural rights of man, and for its super-structure that
spirit of liberty which has ever since throbbed warmly in the American
heart.
It was well for the colonies that this underlying unity of aim existed,
for aside from this they were strikingly distinct in character and
aspirations. Sparsely settled, strung at intervals along the
far-extended Atlantic coast, silhouetted against a stern background of
wilderness and mountain range, their sole bond of brotherhood was their
common aspiration for liberty, while in all other respects they were
unlike in aims and purposes. The spirit of political liberty was
strongest in the New England colonies, and these held their own against
every effort to rob them of their rights with an unflinching boldness
which is worthy of the highest praise, and which set a noble example for
the remaining colonists. Next to them in bold opposition to tyranny were
the people of the Carolinas, who sturdily resisted an effort to make
them the enslaved subjects of a land-holding nobility. In Pennsylvania
and Maryland political rights were granted by high-minded proprietors,
and in these colonies no struggle for self-government was necessary.
Only in Virginia and New York was autocratic rule established, and in
both of these it gradually yielded to the steady demand for
self-government.
On the other hand, New England, while politically the freest, was
religiously the most autocratic. The Puritans, who had crossed the ocean
in search of freedom of thought, refused to grant a similar freedom to
those who came later, and sought to found a system as intolerant as that
from which they had fled. A natural revulsion from their oppressive
measures gave rise in Rhode Island to the first government on the face
of the earth in which absolute religious liberty was established. Among
the more southern colonies, a similar freedom, so far as liberty of
Christian worship is concerned, was granted by William Penn and Lord
Baltimore. But this freedom was maintained only in Rhode Island and
Pennsylvania, religious intolerance being the rule, to a greater or less
degree, in all the other colonies; the Puritanism of New England being
replaced elsewhere by a Church of England autocracy.
The diversity in political condition, religion, and character of the
settlers tended to keep the colonies separate, while a like diversity of
commercial interests created jealousies which built up new barriers
between them. The unity that might have been looked for between these
feeble and remote communities, spread like links of a broken chain far
along an ocean coast, had these and other diverse conditions to contend
with, and they promised to develop into a series of weak and separate
nations rather than into a strong and single commonwealth.
The influences that overcame this tendency to disunion were many and
important. We can only glance at them here. They may be divided into two
classes, warlike hostility and industrial oppression. The first step
towards union was taken in 1643, when four of the New England colonies
formed a confederation for defense against the Dutch and Indians. "The
United Colonies of New England" constituted in its way a federal
republic, the prototype of that of the United States. The second step of
importance in this connection was taken in 1754, when a convention was
held at Albany to devise measures of defense against the French.
Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of colonial union, which was accepted
by the convention. But the jealousy of the colonies prevented its
adoption. They had grown into communities of some strength and with a
degree of pride in their separate freedom, and were not ready to yield
to a central authority. The British Government also opposed it, not
wishing to see the colonies gain the strength which would have come to
them from political union. As a result, the plan fell to the ground.
The next important influence tending towards union was the oppressive
policy of Great Britain. The industries and commerce of the colonies had
long been seriously restricted by the measures of the mother-country,
and after the war with France an attempt was made to tax the colonists,
though they were sternly refused representation in Parliament, the
tax-laying body. Community in oppression produced unity in feeling; the
colonies joined hands, and in 1765 a congress of their representatives
was held in New York, which appealed to the King for their just
political rights. Nine years afterwards, in 1774, a second congress was
held, brought together by much more imminent common dangers. In the
following year a third congress was convened. This continued in session
for years, its two most important acts being the Declaration of
Independence from Great Britain and the Confederation of the States, the
first form of union which the colonies adopted. This Confederation was
in no true sense a Union. The jealousies and fears of the colonies made
themselves apparent, and the central government was given so little
power that it threatened to fall to pieces of its own weight. It could
pass laws, but could not make the people obey them. It could incur
debts, but could not raise money by taxation to pay them. The States
kept nearly all the power to themselves, and each acted almost as if it
were an independent nation, while the Congress of the Confederation was
left without money and almost without authority.
This state of affairs soon grew intolerable. "We are," said Washington,
"one nation to-day, and thirteen to-morrow." Such a union it was
impossible to maintain. It was evident that the compact must give way;
that there must be one strong government or thirteen weak ones. This
last alternative frightened the States. None of them was strong enough
to hold its own against foreign governments. They must form a strong
union or leave themselves at the mercy of ambitious foes. It was this
state of affairs that led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, by
whose wisdom the National Union which has proved so solid a bond was
organized. The Constitution made by this body gave rise to the Republic
of the United States. A subsequent act, which in 1898 added a number of
distant island possessions to our Union, and vastly widened its
interests and its importance in the world's councils, made of it a
"Greater Republic," a mighty dominion whose possessions extended half
round the globe.
While the changes here briefly outlined were taking place, the country
was growing with phenomenal rapidity. From all parts of northern and
western Europe, and above all from Great Britain, new settlers were
crowding to our shores, while the descendants of the original settlers
were increasing in numbers. How many people there were here is in doubt,
but it is thought that in 1700 there were more than 200,000, in 1750
about 1,100,000, and in 1776 about 2,500,000. The first census, taken in
1790, just after the Federal Union was formed, gave a population of
nearly 4,000,000.
A people growing at this rate could not be long confined to the narrow
ocean border of the early settlements. A rich and fertile country lay
back, extending how far no one knew, and soon there was a movement to
the West, which carried the people over the mountains and into the broad
plains beyond. A war was fought with France for the possession of the
Ohio country. Boone and other bold pioneers led hardy settlers into
Kentucky and Tennessee, and George Rogers Clark descended the Ohio and
drove the British troops from the northwest territory, gaining that vast
region for the new Union.
After the War for Independence the movement westward went on with
rapidity. The first settlement in Ohio was made at Marietta in 1788;
Cincinnati was founded in 1790; in 1803 St. Louis was a little village
of log-cabins; and in 1831 the site of Chicago was occupied by a dozen
settlers gathered round Fort Dearborn. But while the cities were thus
slow in starting, the country between them was rapidly filling up, the
Indians giving way step by step as the vanguard of the great march
pressed upon them; here down the Ohio in bullet-proof boats, there
across the mountains on foot or in wagons. A great national road
stretched westward from Cumberland, Maryland, which in time reached the
Mississippi, and over whose broad and solid surface a steady stream of
emigrant wagons poured into the great West. At the same time steamboats
were beginning to run on the Eastern waters, and soon these were
carrying the increasing multitude down the Ohio and the Mississippi into
the vast Western realm. Later came the railroad to complete this phase
of our history, and provide a means of transportation by whose aid
millions could travel with ease where a bare handful had made their way
with peril and hardship of old.
Up to 1803 our national domain was bounded on the west by the
Mississippi, but in that year the vast territory of Louisiana was
purchased from France and the United States was extended to the summit
of the Rocky Mountains, its territory being more than doubled in area.
Here was a mighty domain for future settlement, across which two daring
travelers, Lewis and Clark, journeyed through tribes of Indians never
before heard of, not ending their long route until they had passed down
the broad Columbia to the waters of the Pacific.
From time to time new domains were added to the great republic. In 1819
Florida was purchased from Spain. In 1845 Texas was added to the Union.
In 1846 the Oregon country was made part of the United States. In 1848,
as a result of the Mexican War, an immense tract extending from Texas
to the Pacific was acquired, and the land of gold became part of the
republic. In 1853 another tract was purchased from Mexico, and the
domain of the United States, as it existed at the beginning of the Civil
War, was completed. It constituted a great section of the North American
continent, extending across it from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
north and south from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a fertile,
well-watered, and prolific land, capable of becoming the nursery of one
of the greatest nations on the earth. Beginning, at the close of the
Revolution, with an area of 827,844 square miles, it now embraced
3,026,484 square miles of territory, having increased within a century
to nearly four times its original size.
In 1867 a new step was taken, in the addition to this country of a
region of land separated from its immediate domain. This was the
territory of Alaska, of more than 577,000 square miles in extent, and
whose natural wealth has made it a far more valuable acquisition than
was originally dreamed of. In 1898 the Greater Republic, as it at
present exists, was completed by the acquisition of the island of Porto
Rico in the West Indies, and the Hawaiian and Philippine Island groups
in the Pacific Ocean. These, while adding not greatly to our territory,
may prove to possess a value in their products fully justifying their
acquisition. At present, however, their value is political rather than
industrial, as bringing the United States into new and important
relations with the other great nations of the earth.
The growth of population in this country is shown strikingly in the
remarkable development of its cities. In 1790 the three largest cities
were not larger than many of our minor cities to-day. Philadelphia had
forty-two thousand population, New York thirty-three thousand, and
Boston eighteen thousand. Charleston and Baltimore were still smaller,
and Savannah was quite small. There were only five cities with over ten
thousand population. Of inland towns, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with
something over six thousand population, was the largest. In 1890, one
hundred years afterwards, New York and Philadelphia had over one million
each, and Chicago, a city not sixty years old, shared with them this
honor. As for cities surpassing those of a century before, they were
hundreds in number. A similar great growth has taken place in the
States. From the original thirteen, hugging closely the Atlantic coast,
we now possess forty-five, crossing the continent from ocean to ocean,
and have besides a vast territorial area.
The thirteen original States, sparsely peopled, poor and struggling for
existence, have expanded into a great galaxy of States, rich, powerful,
and prosperous, with grand cities, flourishing rural communities,
measureless resources, and an enterprise which no difficulty can baffle
and no hardship can check. Our territory could support hundreds of
millions of population, and still be much less crowded than some of the
countries of Europe. Its products include those of every zone; hundreds
of thousands of square miles of its soil are of virgin richness; its
mineral wealth is so great that its precious metals have affected the
monetary standards of the world, and its vast mineral and agricultural
wealth is as yet only partly developed. Vast as has been the production
of gold in California, its annual output is of less value than that of
wheat. In wheat, corn, and cotton, indeed, the product of this country
is simply stupendous; while, in addition to its gold and silver, it is a
mighty storehouse of coal, iron, copper, lead, petroleum, and many other
products of nature that are of high value to mankind.
In its progress towards its present condition, our country has been
markedly successful in two great fields of human effort, in war and in
peace. A brief preliminary statement of its success in the first of
these, and of the causes of its several wars, may be desirable here, as
introductory to their more extended consideration in the body of the
work. The early colonists had three enemies to contend with: the
original inhabitants of the land, the Spanish settlers in the South, and
the French in the North and West. Its dealings with the aborigines has
been one continuous series of conflicts, the red man being driven back
step by step until to-day he holds but a small fraction of his once
great territory. Yet the Indians are probably as numerous to-day as they
were originally, and are certainly better off in their present peaceful
and partly civilized condition than they were in their former savage and
warlike state.
The Spaniards were never numerous in this country, and were forced to
retire after a few conflicts of no special importance. Such was not the
case with the French, who were numerous and aggressive, and with whom
the colonists were at war on four successive occasions, the last being
that fierce conflict in which it was decided whether the Anglo-Saxon or
the French race should be dominant in this country. The famous battle on
the Plains of Abraham settled the question, and with the fall of Quebec
the power of France in America fell never to rise again.
A direct and almost an immediate consequence of this struggle for
dominion was the struggle for liberty between the colonists and the
mother-country. The oppressive measures of Great Britain led to a war of
seven years' duration, in which more clearly and decisively than ever
before the colonists showed their warlike spirit and political genius,
and whose outcome was the independence of this country. At its
conclusion the United States stepped into line with the nations of the
world, a free community, with a mission to fulfill and a destiny to
accomplish--a mission and a destiny which are still in process of
development, and whose final outcome no man can foresee.
The next series of events in the history of our wars arose from the
mighty struggle in Europe between France and Great Britain and the
piratical activity of the Barbary States. The latter were forced to
respect the power of the United States by several naval demonstrations
and conflicts; and a naval war with France, in which our ships were
strikingly successful, induced that country to show us greater respect.
But the wrongs which we suffered from Great Britain were not to be so
easily settled, and led to a war of three years' continuance, in which
the honors were fairly divided on land, but in which our sailors
surprised the world by their prowess in naval conflict. The proud boast
that "Britannia rules the waves" lost its pertinence after our two
striking victories on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, and our remarkable
success in a dozen conflicts at sea. Alike in this war and in the
Revolution the United States showed that skill and courage in naval
warfare which has recently been repeated in the Spanish War.
The wars of which we have spoken had a warrant for their being. They
were largely unavoidable results of existing conditions. This cannot
justly be said of the next struggle upon which the United States
entered, the Mexican War, since this was a politician's war pure and
simple, one which could easily have been avoided, and which was entered
into with the avowed purpose of acquiring territory. In this it
succeeded, the country gaining a great and highly valuable tract, whose
wealth in the precious metals is unsurpassed by any equal section of the
earth, and which is still richer in agricultural than in mineral wealth.
The next conflict that arose was the most vital and important of all our
wars, with the exception of that by which we gained our independence.
The Constitution of 1787 did not succeed in forming a perfect Union
between the States. An element of dissension was left, a "rift within
the lute," then seemingly small and unimportant, but destined to grow to
dangerous proportions. This was the slavery question, disposed of in the
Constitution by a compromise, which, like every compromise with evil,
failed in its purpose. The question continued to exist. It grew
threatening, portentous, and finally overshadowed the whole political
domain. Every effort to settle it peacefully only added to the strain;
the union between the States weakened as this mighty hammer of discord
struck down their combining links; finally the bonds yielded, the
slavery question thrust itself like a great wedge between, and a mighty
struggle began to decide whether the Union should stand or fall. With
the events of this struggle we are not here concerned. They are told at
length in their special place. All that we shall here say is this: While
the war was fought for the preservation of the Union, it was clearly
perceived that this union could never be stable while the disorganizing
element remained, and the war led inevitably to the abolition of
slavery, the apple of discord which had been thrown between the States.
The greatness of the result was adequate to the greatness of the
conflict. With the end of the Civil War, for the first time in their
history, an actual and stable Union was established between the States.
We have one more war to record, the brief but important struggle of
1898, entered into by the United States under the double impulse of
indignation against the barbarous destruction of the _Maine_ and of
sympathy for the starving and oppressed people of Cuba. It yielded
results undreamed of in its origin. Not only was Cuba wrested from the
feeble and inhuman hands of Spain, but new possessions in the oceans of
the east and west were added to the United States, and for the first
time this country took its predestined place among the nations engaged
in shaping the destiny of the world, rose to imperial dignity in the
estimation of the rulers of Europe, and fairly won that title of the
GREATER REPUBLIC which this work is written to commemorate.
Such has been the record of this country in war. Its record in peace has
been marked by as steady a career of victory, and with results
stupendous almost beyond the conception of man, when we consider that
the most of them have been achieved within little more than a century.
During the colonial period the energies of the American people were
confined largely to agriculture, Great Britain sternly prohibiting any
progress in manufacture and any important development of commerce. It
need hardly be said that the restless and active spirit of the colonists
chafed under these restrictions, and that the attempt to clip the
expanding wings of the American eagle had as much to do with bringing on
the war of the Revolution as had Great Britain's futile efforts at
taxation. The genius of a great people cannot thus be cribbed and
confined, and American enterprise was bound to find a way or carve
itself a way through the barriers raised by British avarice and tyranny.
It was after the Revolution that the progress of this country first
fairly began. The fetters which bound its hands thrown off, it entered
upon a career of prosperity which broadened with the years, and extended
until not only the whole continent but the whole world felt its
influence and was embraced by its results. Manufacture, no longer held
in check, sprang up and spread with marvelous rapidity. Commerce, now
gaining access to all seas and all lands, expanded with equal speed.
Enterprise everywhere made itself manifest, and invention began its long
and wonderful career.
In fact, freedom was barely won before our inventors were actively at
work. Before the Constitution was formed John Fitch was experimenting
with his steamboat on the Delaware, and Oliver Evans was seeking to move
wagons by steam in the streets of Philadelphia. Not many years elapsed
before both were successful, and Eli Whitney with his cotton-gin had set
free the leading industry of the South and enabled it to begin that
remarkable career which proved so momentous in American history, since
to it we owe the Civil War with all its great results.
With the opening of the nineteenth century the development of the
industries and of the inventive faculty of the Americans went on with
enhanced rapidity. The century was but a few years old when Fulton, with
his improved steamboat, solved the question of inland water
transportation. By the end of the first quarter of the century this was
solved in another way by the completion of the Erie Canal, the longest
and hitherto the most valuable of artificial water-ways. The railroad
locomotive, though invented in England, was prefigured when Oliver
Evans' steam road-wagon ran sturdily through the streets of
Philadelphia. To the same inventor we owe another triumph of American
genius, the grain elevator, which the development of agriculture has
rendered of incomparable value. The railroad, though not native here,
has had here its greatest development, and with its more than one
hundred and eighty thousand miles of length has no rival in any country
upon the earth. To it may be added the Morse system of telegraphy, the
telephone and phonograph, the electric light and electric motor, and all
that wonderful series of inventions in electrical science which has been
due to American genius.
We cannot begin to name the multitude of inventions in the mechanical
industries which have raised manufacture from an art to a science and
filled the world with the multitude of its products. It will suffice to
name among them the steam hammer, the sewing machine, the cylinder
printing-press, the type-setting machine, the rubber vulcanizer, and the
innumerable improvements in steam engines and labor-saving apparatus of
all kinds. These manufacturing expedients have been equaled in number
and importance by those applied to agriculture, including machines for
plowing, reaping, sowing the seed, threshing the grain, cutting the
grass, and a hundred other valuable processes, which have fairly
revolutionized the art of tilling the earth, and enabled our farmers to
feed not only our own population but to send millions of bushels of
grain annually abroad.
In truth, we have entered here upon an interminable field, so full of
triumphs of invention and ingenuity, and so stupendous in its results,
as to form one of the chief marvels of this wonderful century, and to
place our nation, in the field of human industry and mechanical
achievement, foremost among the nations of the world. Its triumphs have
not been confined to manufacture and agriculture; it has been as active
in commerce, and now stands first in the bulk of its exports and
imports. In every other direction of industry it has been as active, as
in fisheries, in forestry, in great works of engineering, in vast mining
operations; and from the seas, the earth, the mountain sides, our
laborers are wresting annually from nature a stupendous return in
wealth.
Our progress in the industries has been aided and inspired by an equal
progress in educational facilities, and the intellectual development of
our people has kept pace with their material advance. The United States
spends more money for the education of its youth than any other country
in the world, and among her institutions the school-house and the
college stand most prominent. While the lower education has been
abundantly attended to, the higher education has been by no means
neglected, and amply endowed colleges and universities are found in
every State and in almost every city of the land. In addition to the
school-house, libraries are multiplying with rapidity, art galleries and
museums of science are rising everywhere, temples to music and the drama
are found in all our cities, the press is turning out books and
newspapers with almost abnormal energy, and in everything calculated to
enhance the intelligence of the people the United States has no
superior, if any equal, among the nations of the earth.
It may seem unnecessary to tell the people of the United States the
story of their growth. The greatness to which this nation has attained
is too evident to need to be put in words. It has, in fact, been made
evident in two great and a multitude of smaller exhibitions in which the
marvels of American progress have been shown, either by themselves or in
contrast with those of foreign lands. The first of these, the Centennial
Exposition of 1876, had a double effect: it opened our eyes at once to
our triumphs and our deficiencies, to the particulars in which we
excelled and those in which we were inferior to foreign peoples. In the
next great exhibition, that at Chicago in 1893, we had the satisfaction
to perceive, not only that we had made great progress in our points of
superiority, but had worked nobly and heartily to overcome our defects,
and were able to show ourselves the equal of Europe in almost every
field of human thought and skill. In architecture a vision of beauty was
shown such as the world had never before seen, and in the general domain
of art the United States no longer had need to be ashamed of what it had
to show.
And now, having briefly summed up the steps of progress of the United
States, I may close with some consideration of the problem which we
confront in our new position as the Greater Republic, the lord of
islands spread widely over the seas. Down to the year 1898 this country
held a position of isolation, so far as its political interests were
concerned. Although the sails of its merchant ships whitened every sea
and its commerce extended to all lands, its boundaries were confined to
the North American continent, its political activities largely to
American interests. Jealous of any intrusion by foreign nations upon
this hemisphere, it warned them off, while still in its feeble youth, by
the stern words of the Monroe doctrine, and has since shown France and
England, by decisive measures, that this doctrine is more than an empty
form of words.
Such was our position at the beginning of 1898. At the opening of 1899
we had entered into new relations with the world. The conclusion of the
war with Spain had left in our hands the island of Porto Rico in the
West Indies and the great group of the Philippines in the waters of
Asia, while the Hawaiian Islands had became ours by peaceful annexation.
What shall we do with them? is the question that follows. We have taken
hold of them in a way in which it is impossible, without defeat and
disgrace, to let go. Whatever the ethics of the question, the Philippine
problem has assumed a shape which admits of but one solution. These
islands will inevitably become ours, to hold, to develop, to control,
and to give their people an opportunity to attain civilization,
prosperity, and political manumission which they have never yet
possessed. That they will be a material benefit to us is doubtful. That
they will give us a new position among the nations of the earth is
beyond doubt. We have entered formally into that Eastern question which
in the years to come promises to be the leading question before the
world, and which can no longer be settled by the nations of Europe as an
affair of their own, with which the United States has no concern.
This new position taken by the United States promises to be succeeded by
new alliances, a grand union of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, which will give
them a dominant position among the powers of the world. In truth, it may
not cease with the union of the Anglo-Saxons. The ambition and vast
designs of Russia are forcing the other nations to combine for
protection, and a close alliance of all the Teutonic peoples is
possible, combined to resist the Slavic outgrowth, and eventually
perhaps to place the destinies of the world in the hands of these two
great races, the Teutonic and the Slavic.
All this may be looking overfar into the future. All that can be said
now is that our new possessions have placed upon us new duties and new
responsibilities, and may effectually break that policy of political
isolation which we have so long maintained, and throw us into the
caldron of world politics to take our part in shaping the future of the
uncivilized races. For this we are surely strong enough, enterprising
enough, and moral enough; and whatever our record, it is not likely to
be one of defeat, of injustice and oppression, or of forgetfulness of
the duty of nations and the rights of man.
CHARLES MORRIS.
JULY, 1899.
CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION.
The Visits of the Northmen to the New World--The Indians and Mound
Builders--Christopher Columbus--His Discovery of America--Amerigo
Vespucci--John Cabot--_Spanish Explorers_--Balboa--His Discovery of the
Pacific--Magellan--Ponce de Leon--De Narvaez--De Soto--Menendez--_French
Explorers_--Verrazzani--Cartier--Ribault--Laudonnière--Champlain--La
Salle--_English Explorers_--Sir Hugh Willoughby--Martin Frobisher--Sir
Humphrey Gilbert--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Lost Colony--_Dutch
Explorer_--Henry Hudson.
THE NORTHMEN.
It has been established beyond question that the first white visitors to
the New World were Northmen, as the inhabitants of Norway and Sweden
were called. They were bold and hardy sailors, who ventured further out
upon the unknown sea than any other people. It was about the year 1000
that Biorn, who was driven far from his course by a tempest, sighted the
northern part of the continent. Other adventurers followed him and
planted a few settlements, which, however, lasted but a few years.
Snorri, son of one of these settlers, was the first child born of
European parents on this side of the Atlantic. Soon all traces of these
early discoverers vanished, and the New World lay slumbering in
loneliness for nearly five hundred years.
[Illustration: AMERIGO VESPUCCI.]
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
Nevertheless, the country was peopled with savages, who lived by hunting
and fishing and were scattered over the vast area from the Pacific to
the Atlantic and from the Arctic zone to the southernmost point of South
America. No one knows where these people came from; but it is probable
that at a remote period they crossed Bering Strait, from Asia, which was
the birthplace of man, and gradually spread over the continents to the
south. There are found scattered over many parts of our country immense
mounds of earth, which were the work of the Mound Builders. These people
were long believed to have been a race that preceded the Indians, and
were distinct from them, but the best authorities now agree that they
were the Indians themselves, who constructed these enormous
burial-places and were engaged in the work as late as the fifteenth
century. It is strange that they attained a fair degree of civilization.
They builded cities, wove cotton, labored in the fields, worked gold,
silver, and copper, and formed regular governments, only to give way in
time to the barbarism of their descendants, who, though a contrary
impression prevails, are more numerous to-day than at the time of the
discovery of America.
[Illustration: MEETING BETWEEN THE NORTHMEN AND NATIVES.]
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS.
The real discoverer of America was Christopher Columbus, an Italian,
born in Genoa, about 1435. He was trained to the sea from early boyhood,
and formed the belief, which nothing could shake, that the earth was
round, and that by sailing westward a navigator would reach the coast of
eastern Asia. The mistake of Columbus was in supposing the earth much
smaller than it is, and of never suspecting that a continent lay between
his home and Asia.
He was too poor to fit out an expedition himself, and the kings and
rulers to whom he applied for help laughed him to scorn. He persevered
for years, and finally King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were
won over to his views. They and some wealthy friends of Columbus
furnished the needed funds, and on August 3, 1492, he sailed from Palos,
Spain, in command of three small vessels, the _Santa Maria_, the
_Pinta_, and the _Nina_.
As the voyage progressed, the sailors became terrified and several times
were on the point of mutiny; but Columbus by threats and promises held
them to their work, and on Friday, October 12, 1492, land was sighted.
He was rowed ashore and took possession of the new country in the name
of Ferdinand and Isabella. While it is not known with certainty where he
landed, it was probably Watling Island, one of the Bahamas. He named it
San Salvador, and, believing it to be a part of India, called the
natives _Indians_, by which name they will always be known. He afterward
visited Cuba and Haiti, and returned to Palos on the 15th of March,
1493.
Columbus was received with the highest honors, and, as the news of his
great discovery spread, it caused a profound sensation throughout
Europe. He made three other voyages, but did not add greatly to his
discoveries. He died, neglected and in poverty, May 20, 1506, without
suspecting the grandeur of his work, which marked an era in the history
of the world.
OTHER DISCOVERERS.
Another famous Italian navigator and friend of Columbus was Amerigo
Vespucci, who, fired by the success of the great navigator, made several
voyages westward. He claimed to have seen South America in May, 1497,
which, if true, made him the first man to look upon the American
continent. Late investigations tend to show that Vespucci was correct in
his claim. At any rate, his was the honor of having the country named
for him.
[Illustration: SEBASTIAN CABOT.]
John Cabot, also an Italian, but sailing under the flag of England,
discovered the continent of North America, in the spring of 1497. A year
later, Sebastian, son of John, explored the coast from Nova Scotia as
far south as Cape Hatteras. It was the work of the elder Cabot that gave
England a valid claim to the northern continent.
From what has been stated, it will be seen that Spain, now decrepit and
decayed, was one of the most powerful of all nations four hundred years
ago. Other leading powers were England, France, and Holland, and all of
them soon began a scramble for new lands on the other side of the
Atlantic. Spain, having been the first, had a great advantage, and she
was wise enough to use all the means at her command. We will first trace
the explorations made by that nation.
In 1513, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, a lawless rogue, hid himself in a cask
on board of a vessel in order to escape his creditors, and was not
discovered by the angry captain until so far from land that he could not
be taken back again. As it turned out, this was a fortunate thing for
the captain and crew, for Balboa was a good sailor, and when the ship
was wrecked on the coast of Darien he led the men through many dangers
to an Indian village, where they were saved from starvation. Balboa had
been in the country before and acquired a knowledge of it, which now
proved helpful.
The story of Spain in America is one long, frightful record of massacre,
cruelty, greed, and rapine. Ferocious by nature, her explorers had not
sufficient sense to see that it was to their interest to treat the
Indians justly. These people, although armed only with bows and arrows,
at which the Spaniards laughed, still outnumbered them a thousandfold
and could crush them by the simple force of numbers. Besides, they were
always provided with food, which they were eager to give to their
pale-faced brothers, who were often unable to obtain it, but whose
vicious nature would not permit them to be manly and just.
Moreover, the Spaniards were crazy after gold, which they believed
existed in many places in prodigious quantities. The sight of the yellow
ornaments worn by the natives fired their cupidity, and they inquired
eagerly in the sign language where the precious metal could be found.
One of the Indians replied that six days' travel westward would bring
them to the shores of a great sea, where gold was as plentiful as the
pebbles on the beach.
[Illustration: CARAVELS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. (After an engraving
published in 1584.)]
DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC.
This information, as may be believed, set the Spaniards wild, and,
engaging a number of the natives as guides, they plunged into the hot,
steaming forests, and pressed on until one day they came to the base of
a mountain, from the top of which the guides said the great sea could be
seen. Balboa made his men stay where they were while he climbed to the
crest of the mountain alone. This was on the 26th of September, 1513,
and, as Balboa looked off to the westward, his eyes rested upon the
Pacific Ocean, the mightiest body of water on the globe.
He had made a grand discovery, and one which led to the conquest of
Mexico and Peru and the colonization of the western coast of our
country. Spain sent her armed expeditions thither, and in time they
overran the sections named, their footprints marked everywhere by fire
and blood. Many remains exist to-day in the Southwest of the early
visits of those rapacious adventurers, during the first half of the
sixteenth century. In Santa Fé, New Mexico, is a building made of adobe
or sun-dried clay which was built in 1582.
THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE.
In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan coasted South America to the strait named in
his honor, and, passing through it, entered upon the vast body of water
discovered six years before by Balboa. Magellan gave it the name of
Pacific Ocean, and, sailing westward, discovered the Philippine Islands,
which have lately acquired such importance in our history. There
Magellan died. Several of his ships were lost, but one of them succeeded
in reaching Spain after an absence of two years. This was the first
circumnavigation of the globe and demonstrated the grandeur of the
discovery made by Columbus.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS AND THE EGG.
At a dinner the Spanish courtiers, jealous of Columbus, said anyone
could discover the Indies. When, at Columbus' request, they failed to
make an egg stand on its end, he showed them how to do it by flattening
the end of it. "Anyone could do that," remarked a courtier. "So anyone
can discover the Indies, after I have shown the way."]
One of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage was Ponce de
Leon. He was well on in years, and became deeply interested in a story
told by the Indians of a wonderful land to the north of Cuba, where
there was a marvelous spring, which would bring back youth to any who
drank from its waters. De Leon set out to hunt for the land and
discovered it in Florida on Easter Sunday, in 1513. He drank to
repletion again and again from the springs he found, but without
restoring his youth, and he was killed by Indians in 1521, while trying
to form a settlement on the coast.
De Narvaez visited Florida, in 1528, in charge of a large expedition,
with the intention of marching into the interior, but the Spaniards were
so brutal to the Indians that they fought them step by step, until only
four wretched beings were left alive. They lived a long time with the
natives, but gradually worked their way across the continent to
California, where they found some of their countrymen, who took care of
them.
DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
One of the best-equipped expeditions ever sent out was that of Hernando
de Soto, which landed at Tampa Bay in May, 1539. Although the intention
was to penetrate far into the interior, the Spaniards had no sooner set
foot on land than they began their outrages against the Indians, who, as
in the case of De Narvaez, turned upon them and slew large numbers. The
explorers, however, pushed on and passed over a large section of
country, though the precise course taken is not known. In the summer of
1541 they crossed the present State of Mississippi and thus discovered
the Father of Waters. Three years were spent in wandering through the
South, during which one-third of the number were killed or died and all
the property destroyed. Losing heart at last, De Soto turned about, in
May, 1542, and started for the sea with the intention of returning home.
He was worn and weakened from fever, and he expired on the 21st of the
month. Fearful that the news of his death would incite the Indians to
attack them, his survivors wrapped the body in blankets, weighted it
with stones, and at midnight rowed stealthily out into the river and let
it sink from sight. There was something fitting in the fact that the
Mississippi should prove the last resting-place of its discoverer.
Pedro Menendez was one of the most execrable miscreants that ever lived.
He arrived off the coast of Florida with a large expedition and at the
mouth of the St. John's saw a number of ships flying the flag of France.
He furiously attacked them and drove them to sea. Then he returned to a
fine harbor which he had discovered and began the town of St. Augustine.
This was in 1565, and St. Augustine is, therefore, the oldest settlement
within the present limits of the United States, excluding those founded
in some of our colonial possessions.
Let us now turn attention to the French explorations. France in those
days was a spirited rival of Spain, and, in 1524, she sent out a fleet
of four vessels under the command of Verrazzani, who, strange as it may
seem, was also an Italian. Two months later, with only a single ship
remaining, he sighted the mainland of America, it is believed near North
Carolina, from which point he coasted northward along New England. He
gave the name of New France to all the countries he visited, but his
account of his explorations is so vague that it is uncertain what lands
he saw. Verrazzani, however, seems to have been the first navigator who
formed a correct idea of the size of the globe.
[Illustration: SEARCH FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BY PONCE DE LEON.]
In 1534 Jacques Cartier, with two ships, entered the mouth of the St.
Lawrence. He was so impressed by the desolation of the shores of
Newfoundland that he declared his belief that it was the land to which
God had banished Cain. Nevertheless, he took possession of the country
in the name of France and then returned home.
Cartier visited the country the following year with a larger expedition
and sailed up the St. Lawrence to the sites of Quebec and Montreal. He
was not successful in his attempts to found colonies, but his discovery
gave France a title to the immense region which she held with a firm
grasp for more than a hundred years.
Failing to establish colonies in the North, France now directed her
efforts to the south. The Huguenots suffered so much persecution in the
Old World that they sought a home in the New. Captain John Ribault,
sailing from Havre with two ships, sighted Florida on the last day of
April, 1562. The Indians were friendly and the explorers were charmed
with the country. Ribault took possession of it in the name of France
and gave French names to various places. Finally he dropped anchor in
the harbor of Port Royal and began founding a settlement.
All were in good spirits and wished to remain, but Ribault sailed for
France, leaving thirty men behind. After a time they quarreled and
rigged up a worthless boat with which they set sail for home. All would
have perished, had they not been picked up by an English vessel, which
humanely landed the feeblest on the coast of France, while the strong
men were taken to England as prisoners of war.
It was the intention of Ribault to return to America, but civil war was
raging in France, and for a time he was prevented. In April, 1564, three
more ships set sail to repeat the attempt at colonization. They were
under the command of Captain Laudonnière, who had been a member of the
former expedition. He began a settlement at what is now known as St.
John's Bluff. The friendly Indians helped and all promised well, but
unfortunately the colonists became dissatisfied and rebelled against the
strict rule of Laudonnière. Some of the men stole two small vessels and
set sail for the West Indies on a piratical expedition. Laudonnière
hurriedly prepared two larger vessels to pursue them. When they were
ready, the malcontents stole them and followed their comrades. Three of
the buccaneers were captured by the Spanish, while the pilot of the
fourth, who had been pressed into service, steered the vessel back to
the colony before the rogues suspected what he was doing. Laudonnière
made them prisoners and hanged the ringleaders.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN COUNCIL OF WAR.]
At the time when utter ruin impended, Ribault arrived with seven ships
and plenty of supplies. It was at this juncture, when everything
promised well, that Menendez, the Spanish miscreant, as already stated,
appeared with his powerful fleet and attacked the French ships. Three
were up the river, and the four, being no match for the Spaniards,
escaped by putting to sea. Menendez landed men and supplies further
south, learning which Ribault prepared to attack them. Before he could
do so, a violent tempest scattered his ships. By a laborious march
through swamps and thickets, amid a driving storm, Menendez descended
like a cyclone upon the unprotected French and massacred them all,
including the women and children. Another force of French, under solemn
promise of protection, surrendered, but they, too, were put to death.
They were afterwards avenged by an expedition from France.
Samuel de Champlain proved himself one of the greatest of French
explorers. He left the banks of the St. Lawrence at the beginning of the
seventeenth century, and discovered the lake which bears his name. His
numerous excellent maps added much to the knowledge of the country.
Joining De Monts, another explorer, he founded the colony of Port Royal
in Nova Scotia in 1605. This settlement, afterward named Annapolis, was
the first permanent French colony planted in America. Quebec was founded
by Champlain in 1608.
The greatest French explorer, however, was Sieur de la Salle, who was
hardly twenty-three years old when he first visited Canada in 1666.
Leading an expedition westward, he fell ill while in the country of the
Seneca Indians and was forced to part with his companions near the head
of Lake Ontario. When he regained his strength he pressed on to the Ohio
River, down which he descended to the falls opposite the present city of
Louisville. Returning to France, he was made a nobleman and appointed
governor of the country around Fort Frontenac, which he had planted on
the shore of Lake Ontario. He demolished the fort and erected a much
stronger one, built four small vessels, and established a thriving trade
with the Indians.
In August, 1679, La Salle launched a vessel at the port of Niagara, with
which he sailed the length of Lake Erie, across Lakes St. Clair, Huron,
and Michigan to Green Bay. He then sent back his vessel for supplies and
crossed the lake in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph, where he
built a fort. He visited the Indian tribes in the neighborhood and made
treaties with the chiefs.
On the present site of Peoria, he erected a fort in 1680. Then, sending
Father Hennepin to explore the country to the northward, La Salle made
the entire journey of several hundred miles, alone and on foot, to Fort
Frontenac, where he learned that the vessel he had sent back for
supplies was lost.
With a new party he made his way to the fort planted on the Illinois
River, but found it had been broken up and all the white men were gone.
Thence La Salle went down the Mississippi to its mouth, where he set up
a column with the French arms and proclaimed the country the possession
of the king of France. He was welcomed back to his native land, and when
he proposed to his ruler to conquer the fine mining country in the
Southwest, the offer was promptly accepted and he was made commandant.
He set out with four ships and about 300 persons.
But the good fortune that had marked the career of La Salle up to this
point now set the other way, and disaster and ruin overtook him. His men
were mostly adventurers and vagabonds, and the officer in command of the
ships was an enemy of the explorer. The two quarreled and the vessels
had gone some distance beyond the mouth of the Mississippi before La
Salle discovered the blunder. He appealed to the captain to return, but
he refused and anchored off Matagorda Bay. Then the captain decided that
it was necessary to go home for supplies, and sailing away he left La
Salle with only one small vessel which had been presented to him by the
king.
The undaunted explorer erected a fort and began cultivating the soil.
The Indians, who had not forgotten the cruelty of the Spaniards, were
hostile and continually annoyed the settlers, several of whom were
killed. Disease carried away others until only forty were left.
Selecting a few, La Salle started for the Illinois country, but had not
gone far when he was treacherously shot by one of his men. The Spaniards
who had entered the country to drive out the French made prisoners of
those that remained.
[Illustration: (From the original drawing made by John White in 1585. By
permission of the British Museum.)]
THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS.
Next in order is an account of the English explorations. Going back to
May, 1553, we find that Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from London in that
month with three ships. At that time, and for many years afterward, the
belief was general that by sailing to the northwest a shorter route to
India could be found, and such was the errand that led the English
navigator upon his eventful voyage.
For two years not the slightest news was heard of Sir Hugh Willoughby.
Then some Russian fishermen, who were in one of the harbors of Lapland,
observed two ships drifting helplessly in the ice. They rowed out to the
wrecks, and climbing aboard of one entered the cabin where they came
upon an impressive sight. Seated at a table was Sir Hugh Willoughby,
with his journal open and his pen in hand, as if he had just ceased
writing. He had been frozen to death months before. Here and there about
him were stretched the bodies of his crews, all of whom had succumbed to
the awful temperature of the far North.
The third ship was nowhere in sight, and it was believed that she had
been crushed in the ice and sunk, but news eventually arrived that she
had succeeded in reaching Archangel, whence the crew made their way
overland to Moscow. A result of this involuntary journey was that it
opened a new channel for profitable trade.
Still the _ignis fatuus_ of a shorter route to India tantalized the
early navigators. The belief was general that the coveted route lay
north of our continent. In 1576 Martin Frobisher started on the vain
hunt with three small vessels. He bumped helplessly about in the ice,
but repeated the effort twice, and on one of his voyages entered the
strait that bears his name. The region visited by him is valueless to
the world, and his explorations, therefore, were of no practical benefit
to anyone.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in June, 1583, sailed for America with an
important expedition which gave every promise of success. In his case,
however, disaster overtook him earlier than others. He was hardly out of
sight of land when his most important vessel deserted and went back to
port. The men were a sorry lot, and at Newfoundland he sent another ship
home with the sick and the mutineers. Of the three vessels remaining,
the largest was wrecked and all but fifteen drowned. Sir Humphrey was on
the smallest boat on his way home, when one dark night it foundered,
carrying down all on board.
[Illustration: INDIAN VILLAGE ENCLOSED WITH PALISADES. (From the
original drawing in the British Museum, made by John White in 1585.)]
The famous Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Gilbert, and a great
favorite at the court of Queen Elizabeth, was deeply interested in the
plans of his relative, and in April, 1584, sent out two well-equipped
vessels for the purpose of colonization. They brought back a glowing
report and Raleigh was knighted by the pleased queen, who gave him the
privilege of naming the new country. He called it Virginia, in honor of
the virgin Queen Elizabeth.
A large expedition sailed for the new country in the spring of 1585 and
a fort was built on Roanoke Island. But the Englishmen were as greedy
for gold as the Spaniards, and, instead of cultivating the land, they
spent their time groping for the precious metal. This was suicidal,
because the Indians were violently hostile, and would not bring forward
any food for the invaders. All must have perished miserably but for the
arrival of Sir Francis Drake, who carried the survivors back to England.
It is worth recording that this stay in America resulted in the
Englishmen learning the use of tobacco, which they introduced into their
own country. Sir Walter Raleigh became a great smoker, and the incident
is familiar of his servant, who, seeing his master smoking a pipe, was
terrified at the belief that he was on fire and dashed a mug of ale over
him to put out the flames.
Much more useful knowledge was that gained of maize or Indian corn, the
potato, and sassafras. They attracted favorable attention in England,
and were gradually introduced to other countries in Europe, where the
amount raised is very large.
THE LOST COLONY.
A strange and romantic interest attaches to the colony which Sir Walter
Raleigh sent out in 1587. It numbered 300 men and women and was in
charge of John White. While resting at Roanoke, the daughter of Governor
White, the wife of Ananias Dare, had a daughter born to her. She was
given the name of "Virginia," and was the first child of English
parentage born within the present limits of the United States.
[Illustration: SIR WALTER RALEIGH.]
These settlers were as quarrelsome as many of their predecessors and got
on ill together. Governor White sailed for England for more immigrants
and supplies, but when he reached that country he found the internal
troubles so serious that he was kept away from America for three years.
When finally he returned to Virginia, he was unable to find a member of
the colony. On one of the trees was the word "CROATAN" cut in the bark,
which seemed to indicate that the settlers had removed to a settlement
of that name; but, though long and continuous search was made and many
of the articles belonging to the settlers were recognized, not a person
could be discovered. Sir Walter Raleigh sent several expeditions with
orders to use every effort to clear up the mystery, but it was never
solved. The story of the "Lost Colony" has led to a great deal of
investigation and surmise. Two theories have supporters. The most
probable is that all the settlers were massacred by Indians. Another is
that they were adopted by the red men and intermarried among them. In
support of this supposition is the fact that a long time afterward many
members of the adjoining tribes showed unmistakable signs of mixed
blood. There were so-called Indians with blonde hair, blue eyes, and
light complexion--characteristics never seen among those belonging to
the genuine American race.
Holland's explorations in America were less important than those of any
of her rivals. The thrifty Dutchmen were more anxious to secure trade
than to find new countries, and seemed content to allow others to spend
wealth and precious lives in penetrating to the interior of the New
World and in planting settlements, which almost invariably succumbed to
disaster.
Early in the seventeenth century a company of English merchants sent out
a skillful navigator named Henry Hudson to hunt for the elusive
northwest passage. He took with him only eleven men, one of whom was his
son. He made a brave effort to succeed, ploughing his way through the
frozen regions until he passed the 80th degree of latitude, which was
the furthest point then attained by man. But, within less than ten
degrees of the pole, he was forced by the ice to turn back.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER.
Hudson's reputation as a skillful navigator led the wealthy corporation
known as the Dutch East India Company to seek his services. He was
placed in command of a small vessel called the _Half Moon_ and ordered
to sail to the northeast instead of the northwest. He did as directed,
but his experience was similar to his previous one, and, being compelled
to withdraw, he headed westward. Sighting Cape Cod, he named it New
Holland, unaware that it had already been named by Champlain. He
continued southward to Chesapeake Bay, where he learned that the English
had planted a settlement. Turning northward, he entered Delaware Bay,
but was displeased with the shallow water and sailed again northward. On
September 3, 1609, he dropped anchor opposite Sandy Hook.
Hudson now began ascending the magnificent river which bears his name.
At the end of ten days he had reached a point opposite the present site
of Albany. The Indians were friendly and curious. Many of them put out
in their canoes and were made welcome on board the little Dutch vessel,
which was a source of constant wonderment to them, for they had never
seen anything of the kind before.
Descending the stream, Hudson made his way to Dartmouth, England, from
which point he sent an account of his discovery to Holland. That country
lost no time in claiming sovereignty over the new territory, the claim
being so valid that no other nation could legitimately dispute it.
Hudson's achievement added to his fame, and he was once more sent in
search of the northwest passage. He entered the bay and strait which
bear his name, and passed a winter in that terrible region. In the
following spring his crew mutinied, and, placing the navigator, his son,
and several members in an open boat, set them adrift, and none of them
was ever heard of again.
[Illustration: Seal of The Virginia Company.]
CHAPTER II.
SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES.
_Virginia_,--Founding of Jamestown--Captain John Smith--Introduction of
African Slavery--Indian Wars--Bacon's Rebellion--Forms of
Government--Prosperity--Education--_New England_,--Plymouth--Massachusetts
Bay Colony--Union of the Colonies--Religious Persecution--King Philip's
War--The Witchcraft Delusion--_New Hampshire_,--_The Connecticut Colony_,
--_The New Haven Colony_,--Union of the Colonies--Indian Wars--The Charter
Oak--_Rhode Island_,--Different Forms of Government--_New York_,--The
Dutch and English Settlers--_New Jersey_,--_Delaware_,--_Pennsylvania_,
--_Maryland_,--Mason and Dixon's Line--_The Carolinas_--_Georgia_.
At the opening of the seventeenth century there was not a single English
settlement on this side of the Atlantic. It has been shown that the
French succeeded in planting colonies in Canada, that of De Monts, in
1605, in Acadia (the French name of Nova Scotia), proving successful,
while Champlain founded Quebec three years later. St. Augustine,
Florida, was founded by the Spanish in 1565, but it has played an
insignificant part in our history. England was the mother of the
colonies, from which the original thirteen States sprang, and we are
vastly more indebted to her than to all other nations combined.
THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT.
In the year 1606, when James I. was king of England, he gave a charter
or patent to a number of gentlemen, which made them the owners of all
that part of America lying between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth
degrees of north latitude. The men who received this gift associated
themselves together under the name of the London Company, and in the
same year sent out three vessels, carrying 105 men, but no women or
children. A storm drove them out of their course, and, in the month of
May, they entered the mouth of a broad river, which they named the
James in honor of their king. They sailed up stream for fifty miles,
and, on the 13th of May, 1607, began the settlement of Jamestown, which
was the first English colony successfully planted in America. Everything
looked promising, but the trouble was that the men did not wish to work,
and, instead of cultivating the soil, spent their time in hunting for
gold which did not exist anywhere near them. They were careless in their
manner of living and a great many fell ill and died. They must have
perished before long had they not been wise enough to elect Captain John
Smith president or ruler of the colony.
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND HIS ADVENTURES.
This man is one of the most interesting characters in the early history
of our country. He was a great boaster, and most of his associates did
not like him. He had been a wanderer in many parts of the world, and had
any number of stories to tell of his wonderful adventures. Probably some
of those stories were true and many fiction. Be that as it may, he was
an energetic and brave man, and the very one to save the perishing
settlers. He made every man work, and none wrought harder than himself.
As a consequence matters began to mend at once.
Obeying his orders in London, Captain Smith, when it seemed prudent to
do so, spent much of his time in exploring the streams that flowed into
the James. It must not be forgotten that it was still believed in Europe
that America formed a part of Asia, and that no one needed to penetrate
far into the interior to reach that country.
On one of these voyages Captain Smith was taken prisoner by the Indians,
who led him before their chief Powhatan. The chief decided that he must
be put to death, and, with his hands tied together, he was placed on the
ground, with his head resting on two big stones. Then one of the
warriors stepped forward to dash out his brains with a club. At that
moment Pocahontas, the young daughter of the chief, ran forward, and,
throwing her arms around the head of Smith, begged her father to spare
his life. The chief consented, and the prisoner was set free and
returned to Jamestown. Such is the story which Captain Smith told after
the death of Pocahontas in England, which she had visited with her
husband, an Englishman named Rolfe, and it can never be known whether
the incident was true or not. Some years later Smith was so badly
injured by the explosion of gunpowder that he had to return to England
for treatment. There he died in 1631. His invaluable services in this
country have led historians to regard him as the saviour of the Virginia
colony.
[Illustration: POCAHONTAS SAVING THE LIFE OF JOHN SMITH.]
The most woeful blow that was struck the American colonies was in
August, 1619, when a Dutch ship sailed up the James and sold twenty
negroes, kidnapped in Africa, to the colonists as slaves. It was thus
that African slavery was introduced into this country, bringing in its
train more sorrow, suffering, desolation, and death than pen can
describe or imagination conceive. The institution became legal in all
the colonies, and the ships of New England, as well as those of old
England, were actively engaged for many years in the slave trade.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS.]
WARS WITH THE INDIANS.
The marriage of Pocahontas to one of the settlers made her father a firm
friend of the whites as long as he lived. At his death, his brother
Opechankano succeeded him. He hated intensely the invaders of the
hunting grounds, and began plotting to exterminate them. On the 22d of
March, 1622, he made such a sudden and furious assault upon the
plantations, as the farms were called, along the James that 400 people
were killed in one day. The settlers rallied, slew many of the Indians
and drove the remainder far back in the woods, but by the time this was
accomplished half of the 4,000 settlers were dead and the eighty
plantations were reduced to eight.
Opechankano was not crushed, and for more than twenty years he busied
himself in perfecting his plans for a greater and more frightful
massacre. It was in April, 1644, that he struck his second blow, killing
between three and four hundred of the settlers. Once more the Virginians
renewed the war of extermination, and pressed it mercilessly until the
Indians sued for peace, gave a large tract of land to their conquerors,
and retired still further into the wilderness. It is worth noting that
at the time of this last massacre Opechankano was nearly a hundred years
old.
BACON'S REBELLION.
Sir William Berkeley was the most bigoted ruler Virginia ever had. In
one of his messages, he thanked God that there were no free schools or
printing in his province. He was very tyrannous, and, having friends in
the assembly, they prevented the election of any new members from 1666
to 1676. The taxes became intolerable, and trade fell into the hands of
a few individuals. Not only that, but the governor disbanded the troops
which had gathered for protection against the Indians, who renewed their
attacks on the exposed plantations.
This was more than the people could stand, and they rose in rebellion
under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon, a popular young planter, who
had lost several members of his family through the attacks of the
Indians. Berkeley was cowed for a time, but the arrival of some ships
from England enabled him to take the field against Bacon. During the
civil war, Jamestown was burned to the ground and never rebuilt. Bacon
pressed his resistance so vigorously that his success seemed certain,
when unfortunately he fell ill and died. Left without a leader, the
rebellion crumbled to pieces. The exultant Berkeley punished the
leading rebels without mercy. He hanged twenty-two, and was so ferocious
that the king lost patience and ordered him to return to England. "The
old fool!" he exclaimed; "he has taken away more lives in that naked
country than I did for the murder of my father."
PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY.
Colonial Virginia underwent several changes in its form of government. A
"Great Charter" was granted to it in 1613 by the London Company. This
permitted the settlers to make their own laws. The House of Burgesses,
which was called together at Jamestown by Governor Yeardley, July 30,
1619, was the first legislative body that ever met in this country. King
James was dissatisfied with the tendency of things, and in 1624 he took
away the charter and granted a new one, which allowed the colony to
elect the members of the House of Burgesses, while the king appointed
the council and their governor. This made Virginia a royal province,
which she remained until the Revolution.
[Illustration: ARMOR WORN BY THE PILGRIMS IN 1620.]
Virginia became very prosperous. Immense quantities of tobacco were
raised and sent to England and Holland, where it became widely popular.
Its cultivation was so profitable in the colony that for a time little
else was cultivated. It was planted even along the streets of Jamestown
and became the money of the province. Everything was paid for in so many
pounds of tobacco. The population steadily increased, and in 1715 was
95,000, which was the same as that of Massachusetts. A half-century
later, Virginia was the richest and most important of the thirteen
colonies. The people lived mostly on large plantations, for land was
plentiful and the Indians gave no further trouble. Most of the
inhabitants were members of the Church of England, and their assemblies
passed severe laws against the entrance of people of other religious
beliefs into the colony. It required the furnace blasts of the
Revolution to purify Virginia and some other provinces of this spirit of
intolerance.
Education was neglected or confined to the rich who could send their
children to England to be educated. Some of the early schools were
destroyed by Indians, but William and Mary College, founded in 1692, was
the second college in the United States. It was never a very strong
institution.
THE "OLD DOMINION."
It is worth recording how Virginia received the name of the "Old
Dominion." She remained loyal to Charles I. throughout the civil war in
England which ended in the beheading of the king. She was true also to
Charles II. when he was a fugitive and declared an outlaw. While in
exile, he sent Governor Berkeley his commission as Governor of Virginia,
and that ruler was immensely pleased. The king, to show his appreciation
of the loyalty of his colony, made public declaration that Virginia
added a fifth country to his kingdom, making it consist of England,
Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia, and he devised as an addition
to the motto of the English coat of arms, "_En dat Virginia quintam_"
("Lo! Virginia gives the fifth"). While Cromwell was turning things
topsy-turvy in England, a great many of the best families among the
Royalists emigrated to Virginia, where they were received with open arms
by Governor Berkeley and the owners of the plantations. From this arose
the name "Old Dominion," which is often applied to Virginia.
THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH.
During the early days of Virginia there was bitter persecution in
England of those whose religious views differed from the Church of
England. This cruelty drove many people to other countries, and because
of their wanderings they were called "Pilgrims." Those who remained
members of the English church and used their efforts to purify it of
what they believed to be loose and pernicious doctrines were nicknamed
"Puritans." Those who withdrew from the membership of the church were
termed "Separatists" or "Independents." This distinction is often
confounded by writers and readers.
One hundred and two Pilgrims, all Separatists, who had fled to Holland,
did not like the country, and decided to make their homes in the New
World, where they could worship God as their consciences dictated. They
sailed in the _Mayflower_, and, after a long and stormy passage, landed
at Plymouth, Massachusetts, December 21, 1620, in the midst of a
blinding snowstorm.
The Pilgrims were hardy, industrious, and God-fearing, and were prepared
to face every kind of danger and suffering without murmur. They were
severely austere in their morals and conduct, and, when writhing in the
pangs of starvation, maintained their faith unshaken in the wisdom and
goodness of their Heavenly Father. All these admirable qualities were
needed during the awful winter, which was one of the severest ever known
in New England. They built log-houses, using oiled paper instead of
glass for the windows, and in the spring were able to buy corn of the
Indians, who pitied their sufferings, for in the space of a few weeks
one-half of the Pilgrims had died. At one time there were but seven well
persons in the colony. Among those who passed away was John Carver, the
first governor.
[Illustration: LANDING OF MYLES STANDISH.]
The survivors held their ground with grim heroism, and by-and-by other
immigrants arrived, and the growth and prosperity, though slow, was
certain. It had no charter, but was governed by an agreement which had
been drawn up and signed in the cabin of the _Mayflower_, about the time
the bleak coast of New England was sighted. For sixty years after the
settlement of Plymouth, its history was uneventful. It was never very
large, but the real work which it accomplished was in bringing
thousands of other colonists to follow it to New England, who were
opponents of the Established Church, and who gave to that section of our
country a distinctive character of its own.
MYLES STANDISH.
It is an interesting coincidence that while Virginia had her Captain
John Smith, Plymouth possessed a character quite similar in the person
of Captain Myles Standish. He was the military leader of the colony,
with a courage that was absolutely fearless. He has been described as a
very small man, with a "long, yellow beard," and a temper as inflammable
as gunpowder. Nothing would rouse his anger sooner than to hear any slur
upon his stature. A big, hulking Indian, belonging to a party much
larger than Standish's, once looked down upon the diminutive Englishman,
and, with a curl of his lip, referred to him as too small to fight. The
next day, in a fight that arose with the chiefs, Standish killed the
insulting Indian with his own knife. All readers are familiar with the
beautiful poem of Longfellow, which tells how Standish employed John
Alden to woo Priscilla, the "loveliest maid of Plymouth," for him, and
he did it with such success that Alden won her for himself.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony included the part of the present State of
Massachusetts from the neighborhood of Boston northward. It was founded
by Puritans, who, it will be remembered, had not separated wholly from
the Church of England, but opposed many of its ceremonies. In the civil
war with England they sided with the Parliament and were subjected to
the same persecution as the Separatists. In 1628 a number of wealthy
Puritans bought the territory from the Council of Plymouth, and,
receiving a charter the following year from Charles I., sent small
colonies across the Atlantic. Then the company itself followed, taking
with it the charter and officers, thus gaining a colony in America that
was wholly independent of England. Salem and some other small
settlements had previously been made.
The colony was one of the most important that ever settled in this
country. Its leaders were not only of the best character, but were
wealthy, wise, and far-seeing. A large number arrived in 1630, and
founded Boston, Cambridge, Lynn, and other towns. Although they suffered
many privations, they were not so harsh as those of Plymouth, and the
colony prospered. During the ten years succeeding 1630, 20,000 people
settled in Massachusetts, and in 1692 the two colonies united under the
name of Massachusetts.
It would seem that since these people had fled to America to escape
religious persecution, they would have been tolerant of the views of
those among them, but such unhappily was not the case. The most
important part of their work was the building of churches and the
establishment of religious instruction. The minister was the most
important man in the colony, and no one was allowed to vote unless a
member of the church. A reproof in church was considered the most
disgraceful penalty that could be visited upon a wrong-doer. The sermons
were two, three, and sometimes four hours long, and the business of one
of the officers was to watch those overcome by drowsiness and wake them
up, sometimes quite sharply.
[Illustration: KING PHILIP'S WAR--DEATH OF THE KING.]
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.
Roger Williams, a Baptist preacher, told the Puritans, as the people
came generally to be called, that they did wrong to take the land from
the Indians without paying for it, and that a person was answerable to
God alone for his belief. These charges were answered by the banishment
of Williams from the colony. All the Baptists were expelled in 1635.
Shortly afterward, Anne Hutchinson boldly preached the doctrine of
Antinomianism, which declares that a man is not saved by the help of
good works, but by divine grace alone. In other words, no matter how
wickedly he lives, his salvation is wholly independent of it. She went
to Rhode Island and afterward to New Netherland, where she was killed in
one of the attacks of the Indians upon the Dutch settlements.
[Illustration: ROGER WILLIAMS IN BANISHMENT.]
The Quakers greatly annoyed the New England colonists. They persisted in
rising in the Puritan meetings and disputing with ministers. Many were
fined, whipped, imprisoned, and banished, but in the face of warnings
they returned. As a consequence, four were put to death. Then a reaction
set in and the persecution ceased.
The most formidable war in which the early colonies of New England were
involved was with King Philip, who was the son of Massasoit, a firm
friend of the settlers until his death. Philip was one of the great
Indians of history. Like many of his people he saw with anger the growth
of the white men, who in time would drive him and his warriors from
their hunting grounds. Realizing the magnitude of the work of
exterminating all the settlers, he visited the different tribes and used
every effort to unite them in a war against the invaders. He was partly
successful, and, with the allies secured, King Philip began the war by
attacking a party of settlers at Swansea, on Sunday, June 24, 1675,
while they were on their way to church. Several whites were killed, when
the Indians hurried off to the Connecticut Valley to continue their
dreadful work.
All understood their peril, and flew to arms. Every man carried his
musket to church, and they were stacked outside the door, while a
sentinel paced up and down. More than once the long sermon was
interrupted by the crack of the red men's guns and their wild whoops, as
they swarmed out of the woods. Springing down from the pulpit, the
minister was among the foremost in beating the heathen back, and, when
quiet was restored, probably he resumed and finished his sermon.
The war was prosecuted furiously on both sides. In the depth of winter,
when the snow lay several feet on the ground, John Winslow led 1,500 men
against the Narragansett stronghold, which was in the heart of a great
swamp, and was one of the most powerful fortifications ever erected by
the red men on this continent. In the terrible fight, 200 white men and
nearly 1,000 Indians were killed. Finally, Philip was run down in a
swamp near his old home on Mount Hope, not far from the present city of
Bristol, Rhode Island. While stealing out of his hiding-place, he was
confronted by a white soldier and a friendly Indian. The gun of the
former missed fire, whereupon the Indian leveled his musket and shot the
Wampanoag leader dead. The war ended a few months later. During its
continuance, six hundred white men were killed and many more wounded;
thirteen towns were destroyed and five hundred buildings burned, but the
Indian power in southern New England was shattered forever.
THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION.
One of the most fearful delusions recorded in history is that of the
general belief in witchcraft which prevailed in Europe down to the
seventeenth century. Its baleful shadow all too soon fell upon New
England. Massachusetts and Connecticut made laws against witchcraft and
hanged a number of persons on the charge of being witches. In 1692 the
town of Salem went crazy over the belief that the diabolical spirits
were at work among them. Two little girls, who were simpletons that
ought to have been spanked and put to bed, declared with bulging eyes
that different persons had taken the form of a black cat and pinched,
scratched, and bitten them. The people, including the great preacher
Cotton Mather, believed this stuff, and the supposed wizards and witches
were punished with fearful severity. Suspicion in many cases meant
death; evil men disposed of their creditors and enemies by charging them
with witchcraft; families were divided and the gentlest and most
irreproachable of women suffered disgraceful death. Everybody, including
ministers and judges, lost their wits. The magistrates crowded the
jails, until twenty had been put to death and fifty-five tortured before
the craze subsided. Then it became clear that no one, no matter what his
station, was safe, and the delusion, which forms one of the blackest
pages in New England, passed away.
[Illustration: GALLUP'S RECAPTURE OF OLDHAM'S BOAT
Which had been taken by the Indians from the Puritan exiles in 1636.
"Steer straight for the vessel," cried Gallup, and stationing himself at
the bow he opened fire on the Indians. Every time his gun flashed some
one was hit. This incident was the beginning of the Pequot War.]
SETTLEMENT OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.
New Hampshire was the name of John Mason's share of a territory granted
to him and Sir Fernando Gorges by the Council of Plymouth in 1622. This
grant included all the land between the Merrimac and Kennebec Rivers.
The first settlement was made in 1623, at New and at Little Harbor, near
Portsmouth. In 1629 the proprietors divided their grants, the country
west of the Piscataqua being taken by Mason, who named it New Hampshire,
while Gorges, who owned the eastern section, called it Maine.
The settlements were weak and their growth tardy. In 1641 New Hampshire
placed itself under the protection of Massachusetts, but the king
separated them in 1679, and made New Hampshire a royal colony. In 1688
it again joined Massachusetts, and three years later was set off once
more by the king, after which it remained a royal colony until the
Revolution.
THE CONNECTICUT COLONY.
The Connecticut colony included all of the present State of Connecticut,
excepting a few townships on the shore of Long Island Sound. It came
into the possession of the Earl of Warwick in 1630, and the following
year he transferred it to Lords Say, Brooke, and others. The Dutch
claimed the territory and erected a fort on the Connecticut River to
keep out the English. The latter, however, paid no attention to them,
and a number of Massachusetts traders settled at Windsor in 1633.
Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, was settled in 1635. A great
many emigrants came from Massachusetts in 1636, the principal leader
being Thomas Hooker. They founded Weathersfield, Windsor, and Hartford,
and in 1639 adopted the name of the Connecticut colony and drew up a
written constitution, the first ever framed by a body of men for their
own government. Other settlements were made and Saybrook united with
them.
The most eventful incident in the history of Connecticut was the war
with the Pequot Indians, who were a powerful tribe in the eastern part
of the State. They tried to persuade the Narragansetts to join them, but
Roger Williams, who lived among them, persuaded Canonicus, their chief,
to refuse. Then the Pequots committed the fatal mistake of going to war
alone. The settlers, fully roused to their danger, assailed the Pequot
stronghold with fury, one summer morning in 1637, and killed all their
enemies, sparing neither women nor children. Thus a leading tribe of
Indians were blotted out in one day.
THE NEW HAVEN COLONY.
The New Haven colony comprised the townships already referred to as
lying on Long Island Sound. It was settled in 1638 by a company of
English immigrants, who were sufficiently wise and just to buy the lands
of the Indians. Other towns were settled, and in 1639 the group took the
name of the New Haven colony. Neither of the colonies had a charter, and
there was much rivalry in the efforts to absorb the towns as they were
settled. The majority preferred to join the Connecticut colony, for the
other, like Massachusetts, would permit no one not a member of church to
vote or hold office.
[Illustration: PRIMITIVE MODE OF GRINDING CORN.]
THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT.
What is known in the history of England as the Commonwealth,
established by Cromwell, came to an end in 1660. Charles II. ascended
the throne, and Winthrop, governor of the Connecticut colony, which had
now grown to be the stronger of the two, went to England to secure a
charter. It was granted to him in 1662, and covered the territory
occupied by both colonies, who were permitted to elect their assembly,
their governor, and to rule themselves. New Haven, after deliberating
over the question, reluctantly accepted the charter, and in 1665 the two
were united under the name of the Colony of Connecticut.
Everything was going along smoothly, when, in 1687, Governor Andros came
down with a company of soldiers from Boston and ordered the people to
surrender their charter. He was acting under the orders of the king, who
did not fancy the independence with which the colony was conducting
matters. Andros confronted the assembly, which were called together in
Hartford. They begged that he would not enforce his demands. He
consented to listen to their arguments, though there was not the
slightest probability of it producing any effect upon him.
THE CHARTER OAK.
The talk continued until dark, when the candles were lighted. Suddenly,
at a signal, all were blown out. When they were re-lighted, the charter,
which had been lying on the table in plain sight, was nowhere to be
found. Captain Wadsworth had slipped out during the interval of darkness
and hidden the paper in the hollow of an oak. Then he returned and took
his place among the members, looking the most innocent of all. Andros
fumed and raved and informed the assembly that their trick would avail
them nothing, since their charter government was at an end. He went back
to Boston, to be turned out of office two years later, when the precious
charter was brought from its hiding-place.
No effort was spared to preserve the historical "Charter Oak," that had
thus been made famous. It was supported and propped in every part that
showed signs of weakness, and held up its head until 1856, when a
terrific storm brought it to the ground, shattered to fragments, all of
which were carefully gathered and preserved by those fortunate enough to
obtain them.
The early division of the colonies was long marked by the fact that
Hartford and New Haven served as the two capitals of the State until
1873, when Hartford became the sole capital.
SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND.
It has been stated that when Roger Williams was banished from
Massachusetts he took refuge among the Narragansett Indians, who
occupied the country at the head of Narragansett Bay. Canonicus, the
chief, held the good man in high esteem, and presented him with a large
tract of land, which the devout Williams named "Providence" in
remembrance of the manner in which he believed God had directed him
thither. Settlers from Massachusetts followed him, and all were
hospitably received and kindly treated. The fullest religious liberty
was allowed, and even when Anne Hutchinson visited Williams, he treated
her like a sister. Williams obtained a charter in 1644 from the
Parliament and it was confirmed in 1654. The new one granted by Charles
II. in 1663 united all the colonies into one, under the name Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations. This is still the legal name of the
State, which retains its two capitals, Providence and Newport, the
Legislature meeting alternately in each. The charter of Charles II.
suited the people so well that it remained in force until 1842, when
Thomas Dorr headed a rebellion, as related hereafter, which resulted in
the establishment of a new charter.
The existence of Rhode Island was threatened by the claim of Connecticut
to all the land on the west to the shore of Narragansett Bay, while
Plymouth insisted that the land on the east to the shore of the same bay
belonged to her. Rhode Island stoutly resisted, and succeeded in 1741
and 1752 in fixing her boundaries as they are to-day, which make her the
smallest State in the Union.
SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK.
It has been shown that Holland was more anxious to secure trade than
territory. Soon after the discovery of the Hudson, by Captain Henry
Hudson, the Dutch traders sent vessels to Manhattan Island, now
constituting the city of New York, and began bartering with the Indians.
In 1621 Holland granted the territory from Delaware Bay to the
Connecticut River to the Dutch West India Company. The name given to the
territory was New Netherland, while the settlement, which grew in time
into the metropolis of America, was called New Amsterdam. The whole
island was bought from the Indians for sixty guilders, equal to about
twenty-four dollars, a price which is considerably less than would be
demanded to-day for the site of Greater New York.
New Netherland was governed successively by Peter Minuet, Walter Van
Twiller, William Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant, who were sent out by the
Dutch West India Company, and whose rule extended from 1626 to 1664. Of
these, Stuyvesant was by far the ablest, and he made a strong impression
on the social and political life of New Netherland. He was severe and
stubborn, however, and many of the Dutchmen found his rule so onerous
that they were rather pleased than otherwise, when the English, in 1664,
claimed the territory by right of discovery and sent out a fleet which
compelled Stuyvesant to surrender the town. The doughty old governor
stamped about New Amsterdam with his wooden leg, calling upon his
countrymen to rally and drive back the rascals, but little or no heed
was paid to his appeals.
Charles II. had granted the territory to his brother the Duke of York,
who soon after ascended the throne, thus making the colony, which
included that of New Jersey, a royal one. The Connecticut people had
settled a large part of Rhode Island, which they claimed, but the duke
was too powerful to be resisted, and Long Island became a part of New
York, as the city and province were named.
In 1673, while at war with England, Holland sent a fleet which
recaptured New York, but it was given back to England, upon the signing
of a treaty in 1674. The manner in which New Netherland was settled by
the Dutch was quite different from that of New England. Wealthy men,
termed "patroons," were granted immense tracts of laud and brought over
settlers, whose situation was much like that of the serfs of Russia.
Traces of the patroon system remained long after the Revolution, and, in
1846, caused the "Anti-Rent War," which resulted in the death of a
number of people.
The province of New York suffered greatly from misrule. The people were
not permitted to elect their own assembly until 1683, and two years
later, when the Duke of York became king, he took away the privilege.
William and Mary, however, restored it in 1691, and it remained to the
Revolution.
As a proof of the bad governorship of New York, it may be said that
there is good reason to believe that one of its rulers was interested
with the pirates who infested the coast, while another, who refused to
sign the death-warrant of two persons who had committed no serious
crime, was made drunk and then persuaded to sign the fatal paper. When
he became sober, he was horrified to find that both had been executed.
WILLIAM KIDD, THE PIRATE.
The piracy alluded to became such a scandalous blight that strenuous
measures were taken to crush it. In 1697 Captain William Kidd, a New
York shipmaster and a brave and skillful navigator, was sent to assist
in the work. After he had cruised for a while in distant waters, he
turned pirate himself. He had the effrontery to return home three years
later, believing his friends would protect him; but, though they would
have been willing enough to do so, they dared not. He was arrested,
tried in England, convicted, and hanged. Piracy was finally driven from
the American waters in 1720.
In 1740 New York was thrown into a panic by the report that the negroes
had formed a plot to burn the town. It is scarcely possible that any
such plot existed, but before the scare had passed away four whites and
eighteen negroes were hanged, and, dreadful as it may sound, fourteen
negroes were burned at the stake. In addition, nearly a hundred were
driven out of the colony.
The fine harbor and noble river emptying into it gave New York such
advantages that, by 1750, it had become one of the most important
cities on the coast, though its population was less than that of
Philadelphia. At the time named, its inhabitants numbered about 12,000,
which was less than that of Philadelphia. The province itself contained
90,000 inhabitants. The chief towns were New York, Albany, and Kingston.
Brooklyn, which attained vast proportions within the following century,
was merely a ferry station.
SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY.
New Jersey, as has been stated, was originally a part of New Netherland.
As early as 1618, the Dutch erected a trading post at Bergen. All now
included in the State was granted, in 1664, by the Duke of York to Lord
John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Carteret was once governor of the
island of Jersey in the English Channel, and gave the name to the new
province. In the year mentioned, the first English settlement was made
at Elizabethtown, now known as Elizabeth.
[Illustration: THE FIRST FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, BURLINGTON, NEW
JERSEY.]
In 1674, the province was divided into East and West Jersey, a
distinction which is preserved to some extent to the present day.
Berkeley, who owned West Jersey, sold it to a number of Quakers, some of
whom settled near Burlington. Carteret sold his part to William Penn and
eleven other Quakers. The various changes of ownership caused much
trouble with the land titles. In 1702, all the proprietors surrendered
their rights to the crown and New Jersey became a royal colony. The same
governor ruled New York and New Jersey, though those in the latter
elected their own assembly. A complete separation from New York took
place in 1738, and New Jersey remained a royal province until the
Revolution. Its location averted all troubles with the Indians. Newark,
the principal city, was settled in 1666, by emigrants from Connecticut.
Burlington, founded in 1677, was one of the capitals and Perth Amboy the
other.
[Illustration: WILLIAM PENN, THE GOOD AND WISE RULER.]
EARLY SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE.
In 1638, a number of Swedes formed the settlement of Christina on the
Delaware, near Wilmington. They bought the land from the Indians and
named it New Sweden. A second settlement, that of Chester, was made just
below the site of Philadelphia in 1643, and was the first in the present
State of Pennsylvania. The fiery Governor Stuyvesant of New
Netherland looked upon these attempts as impudent invasions of his
territory, and, filled with anger, hurried down to Delaware and captured
both. It was a matter of no moment to the thrifty Swedes, who kept on
the even tenor of their way and throve under the new government as well
as under the old. A further account of the settlement of Delaware will
be given in our history of that of Pennsylvania.
[Illustration: NOTABLE AUDIENCE IN MARYLAND TO HEAR GEORGE FOX, THE
FOUNDER OF THE "SOCIETY OF FRIENDS" OR QUAKERS.]
SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE.
The peace-loving Quakers were among those who suffered persecution in
England for conscience sake. William Penn was the son of Admiral Penn,
who disliked the Quakers and had been a valiant officer for the English
government. When he died, the crown owed him a large sum of money, which
William offered to liquidate in return for a grant of the land now known
as the State of Pennsylvania. The king willingly agreed to this, and the
Duke of York, who had a strong liking for Penn, added the present State
of Delaware to the grant, in which, as has been stated, the Swedes had
made a number of settlements.
William Penn was one of the best and wisest rulers that had to do with
the settlement of our country. The king, more as a piece of pleasantry
than otherwise, insisted upon naming the province "Pennsylvania," in
honor of the proprietor, much to the good man's dismay. He offered the
royal secretary a liberal fee to omit the first part of the name from
the charter, but it was not done. No rule could have been more kindly.
Absolute freedom of conscience was permitted; in all trials by jury of
an Indian, one-half of the jury were to be composed of Indians, and,
although Penn was induced to permit the punishment of death for treason
and murder, to be provided for in the code, no man was ever executed
while Penn had anything to do with the province.
His first act, after his arrival in 1682, was characteristic. He called
the Indian chiefs together, under a great spreading elm at Shackamaxon,
and paid them for the land that was already his by royal grant. In
addition, he made the red men many presents and signed a treaty, which
neither party broke for sixty years. It has been truly said that this
was the only treaty not sworn to which was kept inviolate by both
parties.
Penn himself laid out the city of Philadelphia in 1683. A year later, it
had a population of 7,000, and in three years more its population
increased faster than that of New York in half a century. Delaware, then
called the "Three Lower Counties," was given a separate government at
the request of the people in 1703. They were allowed their own deputy
governor, but Pennsylvania and Delaware continued substantially under
one government until the Revolution.
The good ruler met with many misfortunes. In 1692, the province was
taken from him, because of his friendship to James II., but restored
soon afterward. In 1699, when he made his second visit, he found the
people had in a great measure grown away from him, and were unwilling
that he should exercise his former supervision. While absent, a
dishonest steward robbed him of nearly all his property in England; and,
failing in health and mind, he died in 1718. His sons became
proprietors, but the people grew more and more discontented with the
payment of rents. To end the disputes and quarrels, the State abolished
the rents during the Revolution, paying the proprietors the sum of
$650,000 for the extinguishment of their rights.
PHILADELPHIA.
Philadelphia was prosperous from the first. New York City did not catch
up to it until after the year 1810. It was early noted, as it has been
since, for its cleanliness, fine buildings, and the attention it gave to
education. It had a printing press in 1686, and three years later a
public high school. In the year 1749, the present University of
Pennsylvania was founded as a school, becoming a college in 1755, and a
university in 1779. Many of the names of streets, such as Walnut,
Chestnut, Pine, Mulberry, and others, were given to it when the city was
laid out.
[Illustration: MORAVIAN EASTER SERVICE, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.]
The settlement of the province was confined for a long time to the
eastern section. No population was more varied. The Scotch and Irish
were mainly in the central portion, the Dutch and Germans in the east
and northeast, and the English in the southeastern part of the colony.
There are hundreds of people to-day in Pennsylvania, whose ancestors for
several generations have been born there, who are unable to speak or
understand a word of English.
Maryland is the next colony in order of settlement. The Roman Catholics
were among those who suffered persecution in England, and Maryland was
founded as a place of refuge for them. Among the most prominent of the
English Catholics was Sir George Calvert, known as Lord Baltimore. His
first attempt to found a colony was in Newfoundland, but the rigorous
climate compelled him to give it up. He decided that the most favorable
place was that portion of Virginia lying east of the Potomac. Virginia
had its eye already upon the section, and was preparing to settle it,
when Charles I., without consulting her, granted the territory to Lord
Baltimore. Before he could use the patent, he died, and the charter was
made to his son, Cecil Calvert, in 1632. He named it Maryland in
compliment to the queen, Henrietta Maria.
Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, began the settlement of
Maryland at St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac. He took with him
200 immigrants and made friends with the Indians, whom he treated with
justice and kindness. Annapolis was founded in 1683 and Baltimore in
1729.
Despite the wisdom and liberality of Calvert's rule, the colony met with
much trouble, because of Virginia's claim to the territory occupied by
the newcomers. William Clayborne of Virginia had established a trading
post in Maryland and refused to leave, but he was driven out, whereupon
he appealed to the king, insisting that the Catholics were intruders
upon domain to which they had no right. The king decided in favor of
Lord Baltimore. Clayborne however, would not assent, and, returning to
Maryland in 1645, he incited a rebellion which was pressed so vigorously
that Calvert was forced to flee. He gathered enough followers to drive
Clayborne out in turn. The Catholics then established a liberal
government and passed the famous "Toleration Act," which allowed
everybody to worship God as he saw fit. Many persons in the other
colonies, who were suffering persecution, made their homes in Maryland.
After a time, the Protestants gained a majority in the assembly and made
laws which were very oppressive to the Catholics. The strife degenerated
into civil war, which lasted for a number of years. The proprietor in
1691 was a supporter of James II., because of which the new king,
William, took away his colony and appointed the governors himself. The
proprietor's rights were restored in 1716 to the fourth Lord Baltimore.
The Calverts became extinct in 1771, and the people of Maryland assumed
proprietorship five years later. Comparative tranquillity reigned until
the breaking out of the Revolution.
An interesting occurrence during this tranquil period was the arrival
from England of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends or
Quakers. In the assemblage which gathered on the shores of the
Chesapeake to listen to his preaching were members of the Legislature,
the leading men of the province, Indian sachems and their families, with
their great chief at their head.
The disputed boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was fixed in
1767, by two surveyors named Mason and Dixon. This boundary became
famous in after years as the dividing line between the free and slave
States.
Charles II., in 1663 and 1665, granted the land between Florida and
Virginia to eight proprietors. The country had been named Carolina in
honor of their king, Charles IX. (Latin, _Carolus_), and since Charles
II. was King of England the name was retained, though he was not the
ruler meant thus to be honored. The country was comparatively
uninhabited after the failure of the French colony, except by a few
Virginians, who made a settlement on the northern shore of Albemarle
Sound.
THE CAROLINAS.
For twenty years the proprietors tried to establish upon American soil
one of the most absurd forms of government ever conceived. The land was
to be granted to nobles, known as barons, landgraves, and caziques,
while the rest of the people were not to be allowed to hold any land,
but were to be bought and sold with the soil, like so many cattle. The
settlers ridiculed and defied the fantastical scheme, which had to be
abandoned. It was the work of John Locke, the famous philosopher, who at
one time was secretary of Lord Cooper, one of the proprietors.
The first settlement of the Carteret colony was made in 1670, on the
banks of the Ashley, but in 1680 it was removed to the present site of
Charleston. The colonies remained united for about seventy years, when
it became apparent that the territory was too large to be well governed
by one assembly and a single governor. In 1729, the present division was
made, and the rights of government and seven-eighths of the land were
returned to the crown.
The soil and climate were so favorable that thousands of immigrants were
attracted thither. Among them were numerous Huguenots or French
Protestants, whose intelligence, thrift, and morality placed them among
the very best settlers found anywhere in our country. Newbern was
settled by a colony of Swiss in 1711, and there was a large influx of
Scotch after their rebellion of 1740, England giving them permission to
leave Scotland. Scotch immigrants settled Fayetteville in 1746.
There were occasional troubles with the Indians, the most important of
which was the war with the Tuscaroras, in 1711. This tribe was utterly
defeated and driven northward into New York, where they joined the
Iroquois or Five Nations. The union of the Tuscaroras caused the
Iroquois to be known afterward as the Six Nations.
The Carolinas were afflicted with some of the worst governors
conceivable, interspersed now and then with excellent ones. Often there
was sturdy resistance, and in 1677 one of the governors, who attempted
to enforce the Navigation Act, was deposed and imprisoned. In 1688,
another was driven out of the colony. The population was widely
scattered, but the people themselves were as a whole the best kind of
citizens. They would not permit religious persecution, and defeated the
effort to make the Church of England the colony church. As a
consequence, the Carolinas became, like Maryland and Pennsylvania, a
refuge for thousands of those who were persecuted in the name of
religion.
GEORGIA.
Georgia was the last of the thirteen original colonies to be settled,
and, though it long remained the weakest of them all, its history is
very interesting. It, too, was a country of refuge for those suffering
persecution, but their affliction was different in its nature from those
of whom we have made record.
One of the remarkable facts connected with the government of nations
claiming the highest civilization, hardly more than a century ago, was
the brutality of their laws. Many crimes, comparatively trifling in
their nature, were punishable with death. One of the most cruel of these
oppressive laws was that which permitted a man to throw into prison a
neighbor who was unable to pay the money he owed. If a poor tenant fell
ill, and could not pay his landlord, the latter could have him flung
into jail and kept there until the debt was paid. Since the debtor was
unable to earn a penny while in prison, and probably his wife and
children were equally helpless, the landlord thus deprived himself of
all possibility of getting his money, while the wretched debtor
literally "rotted" in prison. Thousands died in dreadful misery, merely
because they were poor.
[Illustration: COLONIAL PLOW WITH WOODEN MOULD-BOARD. 1706 (State
Agricultural Museum, Albany, N.Y.)]
This system of allowing imprisonment for debt prevailed in our own
country until within the memory of men still living. It makes one's
cheeks tingle with shame and indignation to recall that Robert Morris,
who devoted all his wealth and energies to raising money for the
patriots during the Revolution, who furnished Washington with thousands
of dollars, and but for whose help the war must have failed, became poor
after independence was gained and was imprisoned for debt.
The system caused such horrible suffering in England that the pity of
all good men was stirred. Among these was James Edward Oglethorpe, one
of the most admirable characters in modern history. He was a brave and
skillful soldier, eminently just, of the highest social position and a
member of Parliament. He determined to do something practical for the
perishing debtors in English jails. He, therefore, asked George II. to
give him a grant of land in America to which the imprisoned debtors
could be sent, and the king, whose heart also seemed to be touched,
promptly did so. It was said of Oglethorpe that the universal respect
felt for him made certain that any favor he asked of his own associates
or friends would be willingly granted.
[Illustration: ANCIENT HORSESHOES PLOWED UP IN SCHENECTADY CO., N.Y.
(In the New York State Agricultural Museum.)]
The king not only presented him with valuable equipments, but Parliament
granted him a liberal sum, to which wealthy citizens added. He had the
best wishes of his entire country when he sailed for America with one
hundred and fourteen persons. He named the new colony Georgia in honor
of the king, and began the settlement of Savannah in 1733, Darien and
Augusta being founded three years later. It need hardly be said of such
a man, that, like Penn and Baltimore, he bought the lands anew of the
Indians and retained their friendship from the start. On one of his
visits to England he took a party of red men with him, entertained them
at his country place and presented them at court.
The Spaniards claimed Georgia as their own territory, and raised a large
force with which to expel Oglethorpe, whose colony had been increased by
the arrival of other immigrants, but the English officer handled his men
with such extraordinary skill that the Spaniards were utterly routed.
[Illustration: A COLONIAL FLAX-WHEEL.]
It would be supposed that Georgia would have been one of the most
successful of the original colonies, since seemingly it possessed every
advantage, but such was far from the fact. One cause for this was the
"coddling" the pioneers received. They were harmed by too much kindness.
Had they been compelled to hew their own way, like their neighbors, they
would have done better. They were like children spoiled by being granted
too many favors.
[Illustration: HIAWATHA, FOUNDER OF THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE
The Iroquois League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations, who founded in the New York
wilderness a barbaric republic, with bonds of union that might serve in
many respects as a model for civilized nations.]
Another cause was the poor laws by which the people were ruled. Slavery
at first was forbidden within its borders, though it was tolerated all
about them. Then, in 1747, the trustees yielded to the general demand
and admitted slavery. Other rules caused discontent, and many settlers
moved away. Population appeared to be at a standstill, and finally the
trustees in 1752 surrendered their rights to the crown. More liberal
laws followed and the prosperity increased.
[Illustration: SILK-WINDING.
(Fac-simile of a picture in Edward Williams' "Virginia Truly Valued."
1650.)]
Of General Oglethorpe, it may be added that he lived to reach his
ninety-eighth year. It was said of him that he was the handsomest old
man in London, and people often stopped on the streets to look at and
admire him. He always had a warm regard for the American colonies.
Indeed, it was this marked friendship for them which prevented his
appointment as commander-in-chief of the British forces during the
Revolution.
GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
It will thus be seen that, beginning with Virginia, in 1607, the
American colonies had grown in a little more than a century and a
quarter to thirteen. These were strung along the Atlantic coast from
Maine to Florida, and in 1750 their population was about 1,260,000. This
was vigorous growth. All the colonists, although born on this side of
the Atlantic, considered themselves Englishmen, and were proud of their
king, three thousand miles away across the ocean. With such loyal
subjects, the English crown had the best opportunity in the world to
become the most powerful of all the nations.
[Illustration: A COMFORTIER, OR CHAFING-DISH.
(New York State Cabinet of Natural History, Albany.)]
But Great Britain was not free from misgiving over the rapid growth of
her American colonies. Nothing looked more probable than that before
many years they would unite in one government of their own and declare
their independence of the British crown. Then was the time for the
display of wise statesmanship, but unhappily for England and happily for
the colonies, such wise statesmanship proved to be lacking on the other
side of the water. The colonies displayed great industry. They grew
tobacco, rice, indigo, and many other products which were eagerly
welcomed by the British merchants, who exported their own manufactures
in exchange for them. The inevitable result was that England and the
American colonies increased their wealth by this means. Not only that,
but the colonies voted ships, men, and money to help the mother country
in the wars in which she was often involved.
As early as 1651, Parliament passed the first of the oppressive
Navigation Acts, which forbade the colonies to trade with any other
country than England, or to receive foreign ships into their ports. This
act was so harsh and unjust that it was never generally enforced, until
the attempt, more than a century later, when it became one of the
leading causes of the American Revolution.
[Illustration: EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND.]
[Illustration: PLACES OF WORSHIP IN NEW YORK IN 1742.
1. Lutheran. 2. French. 3. Trinity. 4. New Dutch. 5. Old Dutch. 6.
Presbyterian. 7. Baptist. 8. Quaker. 9. Synagogue.]
CHAPTER III.
THE INTERCOLONIAL WARS AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
King William's War--Queen Anne's War--King George's War--The French and
Indian War--England and France Rivals in the Old World and the New--The
Early French Settlements--The Disputed Territory--France's Fatal
Weakness--Washington's Journey Through the Wilderness--The First Fight
of the War--The War Wholly American for Two Years--The Braddock
Massacre--The Great Change Wrought by William Pitt--Fall of
Quebec--Momentous Consequences of the Great English Victory--The Growth
and Progress of the Colonies and Their Home Life.
KING WILLIAM'S WAR.
If anything were needed to prove the utter uselessness and horrible
barbarity of war, it is found in a history of the strife in which the
American colonies were involved through the quarrels of their rulers,
thousands of miles away on the other side of the Atlantic. Men lived for
years in America as neighbors, meeting and exchanging visits on the most
friendly terms, and with no thought of enmity, until the arrival of some
ship with news that their respective governments in Europe had gone to
war. Straightway, the neighbors became enemies, and, catching up their
guns, did their best to kill one another. Untold misery and hundreds of
lives were lost, merely because two ambitious men had gotten into a
wrangle. The result of such a dispute possessed no earthly interest to
the people in the depths of the American wilderness, but loyalty to
their sovereigns demanded that they should plunge into strife.
As time passed, Spain and Holland declined in power, and England and
France became formidable rivals in the New World as well as in the Old.
In 1689, when William III. was on the throne of England, war broke out
between that country and France and lasted until 1697. The French,
having settled in Canada, were wise enough to cultivate the friendship
of the Indians, who helped them in their savage manner in desolating the
English settlements. Dover, New Hampshire, was attacked by the French
and Indians, who killed more than a score of persons and carried away a
number of captives. In other places, settlers were surprised in the
fields and shot down. Early in 1690, another party came down from
Canada, and, when the snow lay deep on the ground and the people were
sleeping in their beds, made a furious attack upon Schenectady. The town
was burned and sixty persons tomahawked, while the survivors, half-clad,
struggled through the snow to Albany, sixteen miles distant.
The Americans in retaliation attempted to invade Canada, but the result
was a disastrous failure. The war continued in a desultory way, with
great cruelties on both sides, until 1697, when a treaty signed at
Ryswick, Holland, settled the quarrel between King William and James
II., by deciding that the former was the rightful king of England. The
suffering and deaths that had been inflicted on this side of the
Atlantic produced not the slightest effect upon the quarrel between the
two claimants to the throne.
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.
In 1702, England got into a wrangle with France and Spain. This time the
Iroquois Indians took no part, because of their treaty with France,
although in the previous war they fought on the side of the English. In
the depth of winter in 1703-4, Deerfield, Massachusetts, was attacked
and destroyed. Forty-seven of the people were tomahawked and more than a
hundred carried into captivity. Their sufferings were so dreadful on the
long tramp through the snow to Canada that nearly all sank down and
died. Maine and New Hampshire were devastated by the hordes, who showed
no mercy to women and children. Another English invasion of Canada was
attempted, but failed like its predecessor. The aimless, cruel war
continued until 1713, when a treaty of peace was signed at Utrecht in
Holland, by which England secured control of the fisheries of
Newfoundland, while Labrador, Hudson Bay, and Acadia or Nova Scotia were
ceded to Great Britain. The result in both instances would have been the
same had the English and French settlers and the Indians continued on
amicable terms.
KING GEORGE'S WAR.
In 1740, the War for the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe and
soon involved most of the European nations. Because George II. was on
the throne of England, the struggle is known in this country as King
George's War.
A notable event in America was the capture of the fortress of Louisburg,
one of the strongest fortifications in the world, mainly by New England
troops. It was a grand achievement which thrilled this country and
England, and caused consternation in France. A treaty of peace was
signed in 1744 at Aix-la-Chapelle, a town in western Germany. New
England was enraged to find that by the terms of this treaty Louisburg
was given back to France, and all her valor, sacrifice, and suffering
went for naught.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON RIOTERS AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS., IN 1786.]
It has already been shown that England and France, who had long been
rivals in the Old World, had become equally bitter rivals on this side
of the Atlantic. On the west, the thirteen English colonies were walled
in by the Allegheny Mountains, beyond which none of the settlers had
advanced. All the country lying between these mountains and the
Mississippi was claimed by France, who was pushing southward through it,
and had given it the name of New France or Louisiana. The first French
settlement within the northwestern part of our country was the mission
of St. Mary, near Sault Ste. Marie, now in the State of Michigan, it
having been established in 1668. Several others of minor importance were
planted at different points.
England did not oppose the acquirement of Canada by the French early in
the seventeenth century, but no serious attempt was made by that people
to colonize the territory within the United States until 1699, when
D'Iberville crossed the Gulf of Mexico in quest of the mouth of the
Mississippi. When he found it, he planted a settlement at Biloxi, now in
Mississippi, but removed it in 1702 to Mobile. The Mississippi Company,
a French organization, obtained in 1716 a grant of Louisiana, and in
1718 sent out a colony that began the settlement of New Orleans.
It will thus be seen that by 1750 the French had acquired large
possessions in North America. They were, determined to hold them, and,
to do so, established a chain of sixty forts reaching from Montreal to
the Gulf of Mexico. These forts were the foundations of many important
cities of to-day, such as New Orleans, Natchez, Detroit, Vincennes,
Toledo, Fort Wayne, Ogdensburg, and Montreal. To the rear of the main
chain of forts were others like Mackinaw, Peoria, and Kaskaskia.
Extensive as was the territory thus taken possession of by the French,
they were fatally weak because of their scant population, amounting to
less than 150,000 souls, while the English colonies had grown to
1,500,000. The French traders were just about strong enough to hold the
Indians in check, but no more.
Thus with the French on the west and the English on the east of the
Alleghanies, the two rival forces were slowly creeping toward each
other, and were bound soon to meet, when the supreme struggle for
possession of the North American continent would open. By-and-by, the
French hunters and traders, as they climbed the western slope of the
mountains, met the English trappers moving in their direction. Being the
advance skirmishers of their respective armies, they often exchanged
shots, and then fell back to report what they had seen and done to their
countrymen.
The fertile lands of the Great West had long attracted attention, and
many efforts had been made to buy them at a cheap price to sell again to
settlers. In 1749, the Ohio Company was formed by a number of London
merchants and several prominent Virginians. The lands they bought lay in
western Pennsylvania, which Virginia claimed as part of her territory.
This company proved its earnestness by sending out surveyors, opening
roads, and offering tempting inducements to settlers.
The French were equally prompt and took possession of the country
between the Alleghanies and their main chain of forts. They built a fort
at Presq' Isle, on the site of the present city of Erie, and began
erecting a new chain of forts southward toward the Ohio. Governor
Dinwiddie of Virginia saw the danger of permitting this encroachment,
and he wrote a letter of remonstrance to the French commander, which was
placed in the hands of GEORGE WASHINGTON, to be carried five hundred
miles through wilderness, across mountains and dangerous rivers, to the
point in western Pennsylvania where the French officer was building his
forts upon disputed ground.
[Illustration: YOUNG WASHINGTON RIDING A COLT.
One summer morning, young George, with three or four boys, was in the
field looking at a colt, given him by his mother, and when the boys said
that it could never be tamed, George said: "You help me get on its back,
and I'll tame it."]
The journey was a long and perilous one, but Washington, who was a
magnificent specimen of vigorous young manhood, performed it in safety,
and brought back the reply of the French commander, which notified
Governor Dinwiddie that he not only refused to vacate the territory, but
would drive out every Englishman he found within it.
This meant war, and Virginia made her preparations. She raised about 400
men and placed them under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington,
who was more familiar with the country than anyone else. The Ohio
Company at that time were putting up a fort on the present site of
Pittsburg, and Washington hurried forward to protect it. The Frenchmen
understood the value of a post at the junction of the Alleghany and
Monongahela Rivers, and also started on a race for it. They arrived
first, captured the fort, strengthened it, and gave it the name of Fort
Duquesne. That done, they set out to meet Washington, who was descending
the Monongahela.
OPENING OF THE WAR.
The meeting between these forces brought on the first fight of the
French and Indian War. It was the advance party of each which met, and
it is said that the first musket was fired by Washington himself. The
French had enlisted a number of Indians, but Washington killed or
captured nearly all of them as well as the whites. The main body of the
French, however, was so much more powerful than his own, that Washington
moved back a few miles and built a fortification which he named Fort
Necessity. There, after a brisk fight, he was compelled to surrender,
July 4, 1754, on the promise that he and his men should be allowed to
return to Virginia. That province was so well pleased with his work that
he acted as its leading officer throughout the remainder of the war.
A peculiarity of the French and Indian War must be noted. For two years
it was entirely an American war, not extending to Europe until 1756. For
the first time the English colonies acted together. They saw the value
of the territory in dispute and were ready to make common cause for its
possession. England was inclined to let them do the best they could
without help from her. She advised that they form some plan for united
action. In accordance with this suggestion, a meeting was held at Albany
in 1754, composed of delegates from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York,
and the New England colonies. Benjamin Franklin, the great philosopher,
proposed the "Albany plan of Union," which was agreed upon.
When this was submitted to the king, he saw too much of American
independence in it, and promptly rejected it, while the colonies did the
same on the ground that it gave the king too much power. There was much
significance in this action.
EXPULSION OF THE CANADIANS.
It was now so evident that war must soon come that England and France
began sending troops to America. At the same time, the respective
governments continued to profess--diplomatically--their strong
friendship for each other. In June, 1755, a force consisting of British
regulars and colonial troops sailed from Boston and captured the few
remaining French forts in Nova Scotia. The inhabitants were gathered
together in their churches, placed on ships, and then distributed
southward among the English colonies. This act has been often denounced
as one unworthy of the British people.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S FIRST VICTORY
"Washington was at the head of his men with a musket in his grasp. The
instant he saw the Frenchmen he discharged his gun at them, and gave the
order to his men to fire. Hence it came about that the first hostile
shot in the French and Indian War was fired by George Washington."]
BRADDOCK'S MASSACRE.
Among the English officers who arrived in 1755 was General Edward
Braddock. He was brave and skillful, but conceited and stubborn. When
Washington, who was one of his aides, explained to him the character of
the treacherous foes whom he would have to fight and advised him to
adopt similar tactics, the English officer insultingly answered that
when he felt the need of advice from a young Virginian, he would ask for
it. He marched toward Fort Duquesne and was within a few miles of the
post, when he ran into an ambush and was assailed so vehemently by a
force of French and Indians that half his men were killed, the rest put
to flight, and himself mortally wounded. Washington and his Virginians,
by adopting the Indian style of fighting, checked the pursuit and saved
the remainder of the men.
[Illustration: BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.]
In the spring of 1756, England and France declared war against each
other and the struggle now involved those two countries. For two years
the English, despite their preponderance of forces in America, lost
rather than gained ground. Their officers sent across the ocean were a
sorry lot, while the French were commanded by Montcalm, a brilliant
leader. He concentrated his forces and delivered many effective blows,
capturing the forts on the northern border of New York and winning all
the Indians to his support. The English fought in detached bodies and
were continually defeated.
ENGLISH SUCCESSES.
But a change came in 1758, when William Pitt, one of the greatest
Englishmen in history, was called to the head of the government. He
weeded out inefficient officers, replaced them with skillful ones, who,
concentrating their troops, assailed the French at three important
points. Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, which had been captured more
than a hundred years before, during King George's War, was again taken
by a naval expedition in the summer of 1758. In the autumn, Fort
Duquesne was captured without resistance and named Fort Pitt, in honor
of the illustrious prime minister. The single defeat administered to the
English was at Ticonderoga, where Montcalm commanded in person. This was
a severe repulse, in which the English lost in the neighborhood of 1,600
men. It was offset by the expulsion of the French from northwestern New
York and the capture of Fort Frontenac, on the present site of Kingston
in Canada.
[Illustration: MARTELLO TOWER ON THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM, WHERE WOLFE WAS
KILLED.]
One wise step of Pitt was in winning the cordial support of the
provincials, as the colonists were called, to the British regulars. Our
ancestors thus gained a most valuable military training which served
them well in the great struggle for independence a few years later.
WOLFE'S GREAT VICTORY.
The year 1759 brought decisive success to the English. Knowing that they
intended to attack Quebec, Montcalm drew in his troops to defend that
city. It therefore was an easy matter for the English to capture
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort Niagara, General Wolfe, one of the
very ablest of English leaders, left Louisburg with a fleet and sailed
up the St. Lawrence. He found the fortifications of Quebec at so great
an elevation that he could make no impression upon them. Three months
passed in idle waiting and the besiegers were almost disheartened. Wolfe
himself was so distressed by anxiety that he fell ill. The sagacious
Montcalm could not be induced to come out and give battle, and there
seemed no way of reaching him.
[Illustration: A DUTCH HOUSEHOLD.
As seen in the early days in New York.]
But the lion-hearted Wolfe would not be denied. He found a path leading
up to the Heights of Abraham, as the plain above was called, and,
selecting a mild night in September, his troops floated down the river
in their boats and landed at the foot of the cliff. All night long the
English soldiers were clambering up the steep path, dragging a few guns
with them, and, when the morning sun rose, it shone on the flashing
bayonets of the whole army drawn up in battle array before the walls of
Quebec.
The astonished Montcalm, instead of remaining within the city, marched
his army out and gave battle. In the fight both Wolfe and Montcalm were
fatally wounded. Wolfe lived long enough to learn that the French were
fleeing before his victorious troops. "Now, I can die happy," he said,
and shortly after expired. When Montcalm was told he must die, he
mournfully replied: "So much the better; I shall not live to see the
surrender of Quebec."
MOMENTOUS RESULTS OF THE WAR.
This battle was one of the decisive ones of the world, for, as will be
seen, its results were of momentous importance to mankind. The conquest
of Canada followed in 1760, and the other French forts fairly tumbled
into the possession of the English. Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas, was
so angered at the turn of events that he refused to be bound by the
terms of the surrender. He brought a number of tribes into an alliance,
captured several British posts in the West, and laid siege to Detroit
for more than a year, but in the end he was defeated, his confederacy
scattered, and Pontiac himself, like Philip, was killed by one of his
own race.
The war was over, so far as America was concerned, but England and
France kept it up for nearly three years, fighting on the ocean and
elsewhere. In 1762, Spain joined France, but received a telling blow in
the same year, when an English expedition captured the city of Havana.
In this important event, the provincials gave valuable aid to the
British regulars. The colonies also sent out a number of privateers
which captured many rich prizes from the Spaniards.
By 1763, Great Britain had completely conquered France and Spain, and a
treaty of peace was signed at Paris. France and Spain agreed to give up
all of North America east of the Mississippi, and England ceded _Cuba to
Spain in exchange for Florida, exchanging Florida in 1783 for the Bahama
Islands. The former_ was a victory for Spanish diplomacy, since Florida
was practically worthless to _Spain_, while Havana, _the capital of
Cuba_, was an enormously wealthy city, and the island possessed
marvelous fertility and almost boundless resources.
France, after her wholesale yielding to England, paid Spain her ally by
ceding to her all her possessions west of the Mississippi, including the
city of New Orleans. This enormous territory, then known as Louisiana,
comprehended everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi
River, from British America to the Gulf of Mexico. In extent it was an
empire from which many of the most important States of the Union have
been carved. When it is remembered that these changes were the result of
a war in which the capture of Quebec was the decisive conflict, it will
be admitted that there was ample warrant for pronouncing it one of the
great battles of the world.
The thirteen original colonies were now "full grown." Their population
had increased to 2,000,000 and was fast growing. Their men had proven
their bravery and generalship in the French and Indian War. Many of them
had developed into fine officers, and all compared favorably with the
British regulars. Their loyalty to England was proven by the 30,000
lives that had been given that she might conquer her traditional rival
and enemy.
The adventurous spirit of the colonists was shown by the fact that many
began crossing the Alleghanies into the fertile district beyond, where
they were in continual danger from the fierce Indians. James Robertson
led a party of emigrants who made the first settlement in Tennessee in
1768, and the famous Daniel Boone and a company of immigrants were the
pioneers in Kentucky in 1769. No effort was made to settle the country
north of the Ohio until after the Revolution.
[Illustration: MEMORIAL HALL, HARVARD COLLEGE.]
The intellectual progress of the colonies was remarkable. The first
printing press was set up at Cambridge in 1639, and newspapers and books
were in general circulation. Harvard College was founded in
Massachusetts in 1638; William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1692; Yale, in
Connecticut, in 1700; the College of New Jersey (now Princeton
University), in 1746; the University of Pennsylvania, in 1749; and
King's College (now Columbia), in New York, in 1754. Much attention was
given to education, commerce was greatly extended, the oppressive
Navigation Act being generally disregarded, and thousands of citizens
were in prosperous circumstances.
More significant than all else was the growth of the sentiment of unity
among the different colonies. Although properly known as provincials, to
distinguish them from the British, they now, instead of speaking of
themselves as New Englanders or Virginians or Englishmen, often
substituted the name "Americans." The different colonies were looked
upon as members of the same great family, ready to make common cause
against a danger threatening any one of them. Some of the bolder ones
began to express the thought that it would be a fine thing if they were
all independent of the mother country, though for years the sentiment
assumed no importance.
Now was the time for England to display wisdom, justice, and
statesmanship toward her subjects in America. Had she treated them as
she now treats Canada and Australia and her other colonies, there never
would have been a Revolution. No doubt in time we should have separated
from her, but the separation would have been peaceable.
[Illustration: BIBLE BROUGHT OVER IN THE "MAYFLOWER" IN PILGRIM HALL,
NEW PLYMOUTH.]
But while Great Britain has always been immeasurably above Spain in her
treatment of her American subjects, she was almost as foolish, because
she chilled the loyalty that had been proven in too many instances to be
doubted. The mother country was laboring under the weight of burdensome
taxes, and, since the colonies had always been prompt in voting money
and supplies as well as men to assist England, Parliament thought she
saw a way of shouldering a large part of this burden upon the Americans.
Her attempts to do so and the results therefrom properly belong to the
succeeding chapter.
HOME LIFE OF THE COLONISTS.
A few facts will assist in understanding the events that follow.
Slavery, as has been stated, was legal and existed in all the colonies,
but climatic conditions caused it to flourish in the South and decline
in the North. All the colonies were Protestant, though religious liberty
was permitted everywhere.
The laws were amazingly strict and would never be submitted to in these
times. To illustrate: a watchman in Hartford rang a bell every morning
as notice to all adults to rise from their beds. Massachusetts had
fourteen and Virginia seventeen offenses that were punishable with
death. Some of the minor punishments were unique. If a woman became a
common scold, she was placed near her own door, with a gag fastened in
her mouth, that all might see and beware of her example. For other
offenses, a man was ducked in water or put in the stocks. A stock was a
strong framework, through which the feet or both feet and hands were
thrust and held fast, while the pillory was a framework through which
the head and hands of a criminal were imprisoned. Besides the disgrace
attending such punishment, it was very trying. The whipping-post was
quite common long after the Revolution, and it is still occasionally
used in Delaware.
[Illustration: AMERICAN STAGE-COACH OF 1795, FROM "WELD'S TRAVELS."
(Probably similar in form to those of the later colonial period.)]
Men and boys dressed much alike, and the fashions for women and girls
were similar. The breeches of the men suggested the present style of
knickerbockers, the rich making quite a display of silver buckles and
buttons. The breeches of the poorer people were made of coarse cloth,
deerskin, or leather, the object being to obtain all the wear possible.
The wealthy used velvet, and the men and women were as fond of display
as their descendants.
In the earliest days, all the houses were made of logs, and oiled paper
took the place of glass for windows. Carpets were an unknown luxury.
Often the floor was the smooth, hard ground. The cooking was done in the
big fireplace, where an iron arm called a crane was swung over the fire
and sustained the pots and kettles. Coal and matches were unknown, a
fire being started by means of a piece of steel and flint or with the
help of a sun glass.
Coffee and tea were great luxuries, but nearly every family made its own
beer. Rum and hard cider were drunk by church people as well as others,
the only fault being when one drank too much. The important cities and
towns were connected by stages, but most of the traveling was done on
foot or horseback. Since most of the settlements were near the sea or on
large rivers, long journeys were made by means of coasting sloops. When
a line of stages in 1766 made the trip between New York and Philadelphia
in two days, it was considered so wonderful that the vehicles were
called "flying machines."
Regarding the state of religion in the colonies, Prof. George F. Holmes
says:
"The state of religion among the people differed greatly in the
different provinces. The Church of England was the established religion
in New York, Virginia, and the Carolinas. In Maryland, the population
remained largely Roman Catholic. In New England the original Puritanism
was dominant, but its rigor had become much softened. A solemn and
somewhat gloomy piety, however, still prevailed. The Presbyterians were
numerous, influential, and earnest in New Jersey. There, but especially
in Pennsylvania, were the quiet and gentle Quakers. In Carolina and
Georgia, Moravians and other German Protestants were settled, and
Huguenot families were frequent in Virginia and South Carolina.
"Everywhere, however, was found an intermixture of creeds, and
consequently the need of toleration had been experienced. Laxity of
morals and of conduct was alleged against the communities of the
Anglican Church. In the middle of the eighteenth century a low tone of
religious sentiment was general. The revival of fervor, which was
incited then by the Wesleys, was widely spread by Whitefield in America,
and Methodism was making itself felt throughout the country. The
Baptists were spreading in different colonies and were acquiring
influence by their earnest simplicity. They favored liberty in all forms
and became warm partisans of the revolutionary movement."
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL
When the third attack was made, and the Americans' ammunition was
exhausted with the first volley, a desperate hand-to-hand struggle
followed. General Warren was fighting heroically when a British officer
recognized him, seized a musket from a private and shot him dead.]
CHAPTER IV.
THE REVOLUTION--THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND.
Clauses of the Revolution--The Stamp Act--The Boston Tea
Party--England's Unbearable Measures--The First Continental
Congress--The Boston Massacre--Lexington and Concord--The Second
Continental Congress--Battle of Bunker Hill--Assumption of Command by
Washington--British Evacuation of Boston--Disastrous Invasion of Canada.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.
England was never guilty of greater folly than in the treatment of her
American colonies after the close of the French and Indian War. As has
been said, she was oppressed by burdensome taxation and began seeking
excuse for shifting a large portion of it upon the shoulders of her
prosperous subjects across the sea, who had always been ready to vote
money and give their sons to help in the wars which were almost solely
for the benefit of the mother country. It has been shown that the
intercolonial conflicts were of no advantage to the colonies which were
dragged into them and suffered greatly therefrom. Since the surrounding
territory would soon be necessary for the expansion of the Americans,
they had much to gain by the defeat of the French and their expulsion
from America; but they had done their full share, and it was unjust to
demand further sacrifices from them.
PASSAGE OF THE STAMP ACT.
Hardly had peace been declared, when, in 1764, the British government
asserted that it had the _right_ to tax her colonies. The latter paid
little attention to the declaration, but were rudely awakened in 1765 by
the passage of the Stamp Act, which was to go into effect in November of
that year. It decreed that thenceforward no newspapers or pamphlets
could be printed, no marriage-certificate given, and no documents used
in lawsuits, unless stamps were attached, and these could be bought only
from British agents.
It was ordered further that the oppressive Navigation Acts, which had
been evaded for a hundred years, should be rigidly enforced, while
soldiers were to be sent to America to see that the orders were carried
out. Since these troops were to be paid from the money received for the
stamps, it will be seen that the Americans would be obliged to bear the
expense of the soldiers quartered upon them.
Now we use revenue stamps to-day and no one objects, but the difference
in the two cases is that we tax ourselves for our own expenses, and our
representatives grade the taxes so as to suit the people. If we do not
think the taxes equitable, we can elect other representatives, pledged
to change them. But it must be remembered that we never had a
representative in the British Parliament, whose English members did just
as they pleased. That was "taxation without representation."
The news of the action of the British government threw the colonies into
an angry mood and they vehemently declared their intention to resist the
Stamp Act. They did not content themselves with words, but mobbed the
stamp agents, compelled others to resign, and, when the date arrived for
the act to go into effect, they refused to buy a single obnoxious stamp.
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.
The Stamp Act Congress, as it was called, met in New York City, October
7, 1765. There were representatives from all the colonies except four,
but they supported the others. Lacking the authority to make any laws,
it issued a bold declaration of rights and sent petitions to the king
and Parliament, setting forth the American grievances. The sturdy
resistance of the colonies alarmed England. They had many friends in
Parliament, including the illustrious Pitt, and, at the beginning of
1766, the act was repealed. The Americans were so delighted that they
almost forgot that England in repealing the act still asserted her right
to tax them.
Several years now followed in which the colonies quietly resisted the
efforts of England to tax them. This was done by a general agreement not
to buy any of the articles upon which taxes were laid. The men who did
this and opposed the mother country were known as Whigs, while those who
stood by England were called Tories.
DEFIANT ACTS BY THE AMERICANS.
But violence was sure to follow where the indignation was so intense and
widespread. There were continual broils between the British soldiers and
citizens, the most serious of which occurred in Boston on March 5, 1770,
when the soldiers fired upon the citizens who had attacked them, killed
three and wounded several. This incident, known in history as the
"Boston Massacre," added to the mutual anger. In North Carolina, William
Tryon, the Tory Governor, had a battle with the patriots at Alamance in
1771, killed a large number, and treated others so brutally that many
fled across the mountains and helped to settle Tennessee. In 1772, a
British vessel, the _Gaspé_, which was active in collecting duties from
Providence, was captured and burned by a number of Rhode Island people.
England offered a reward for the capture of the "rebels," but, though
they were well known, no one would have dared, if so disposed, to arrest
them.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.
The British Parliament was impatient with the colonies, and threatened
all sorts of retaliatory measures. In 1770, Parliament took the tax off
of all articles except tea, upon which it was made so light that the
luxury was cheaper in America with the tax than in England without it.
The Americans, however, were contending for a principle, and
contemptuously rejected the offer. When the tea ships reached
Charleston, the cargoes were stored in damp cellars, where they soon
molded and spoiled. At New York, Philadelphia, and other points they
would not allow the ships to land their cargoes, and they sailed back to
England. A similar reception having been given the vessels in Boston,
the British officers refused to leave the harbor. Late at night,
December 16, 1773, a party of citizens, painted and disguised as
Indians, boarded the ships and emptied 342 chests--all on board--into
the harbor.
[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON. An immense assemblage
gathered here on the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, and stirring addresses
were made by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams. The "Boston Tea Party"
followed.]
The "Boston Tea Party" thrilled the colonies and exhausted the patience
of England, who felt that the time for stern measures had come. Her
dallying course had only encouraged the rebels, and as in the story,
having tried in vain the throwing of grass, she now determined to see
what virtue there was in using stones.
ENGLAND'S UNBEARABLE MEASURES.
The measures which she passed and which were unbearable were: 1. The
Boston Port Bill, which forbade all vessels to leave or enter Boston
harbor. This was a death-blow to Boston commerce and was meant as a
punishment of those who were leaders in the revolt against the mother
country. 2. The Massachusetts Bill, which was another destructive blow
at the colony, since it changed its charter by taking away the right of
self-government and placing it in the hands of the agents of the king.
3. The Transportation Bill, which ordered that all soldiers charged with
the crime of murder should be taken to England for trial. 4. The Quebec
Act, which made the country east of the Mississippi and north of the
Ohio a part of Canada. These acts were to be enforced by the sending of
troops to America.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.
The result of the passage of these harsh measures was to unite all the
colonies in a determination to resist them to the last. The necessity
for consultation among the leaders was so apparent that, in response to
a general call, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia,
September 5, 1774, all the colonies being represented except Georgia,
which favored the action.
This Congress adopted a declaration of rights, asserting that they alone
were empowered to tax themselves, and it named a number of acts of
Parliament that were a direct invasion of such rights. An address was
sent to the king and to the people of Great Britain, but none to
Parliament, which had deeply offended the Americans. The agreement known
as the Articles of Association pledged our ancestors not to buy goods or
sell them to Great Britain until the obnoxious acts were repealed by
Parliament. It declared further that, if force was used against
Massachusetts by England, all the other colonies would help her in
resisting it. Before adjournment, a new Congress was called to meet in
the following May.
The language of the First Continental Congress sounds bold, but the
people themselves were bolder. Companies of armed men began drilling
everywhere, and the Americans were eager for a conflict with the
detested "red coats." The excitement was more intense in Massachusetts
than anywhere else, and it was plain that the opening gun of the
impending Revolution would be fired upon her soil. The affairs of the
colony were directed by a provincial congress, which collected a
quantity of guns and ammunition, and ordered the enrollment of 20,000
"minute men," who were to hold themselves ready to answer any call at a
minute's notice.
General Gage was the British commander in Boston, and he was so alarmed
by the aggressive acts of the Americans that he began to throw up
fortifications on the neck of land connecting the town with the
mainland. His alert spies notified him that the Americans had collected
a quantity of military supplies which were stored at Concord, some
twenty miles from Boston. Gage ordered 800 troops to march secretly to
Concord and destroy them.
Guarded as were the movements of the British, the Americans were
equally watchful and discovered them. Paul Revere dashed out of the
town on a swift horse and spread the news throughout the country. In the
gray light of the early morning, April 19, 1775, as the soldiers marched
into Lexington, on the way to Concord beyond, they saw some fifty minute
men gathered on the village green. Major Pitcairn ordered them to
disperse, and they refusing to do so, a volley was fired. Eight
Americans were killed and a large number wounded, the others fleeing
before the overwhelming force. Thus was the shot fired that "was heard
round the world."
The British advanced to Concord, destroyed the stores there, and then
began their return to Boston. All the church bells were ringing and the
minute men were swarming around the troops from every direction. They
kept up a continuous fire upon the soldiers from behind barns, houses,
hedges, fences, bushes, and from the open fields. The soldiers broke
into a run, but every one would have been shot down had not Gage sent
reinforcements, which protected the exhausted fugitives until they
reached a point where they were under the guns of the men-of-war. In
this first real conflict of the war, the Americans lost 88 and the
British 273 in killed, wounded, and missing. General Gage was now
besieged in Boston by the ardent minute men, who in the flush of their
patriotism were eager for the regulars to come out and give them a
chance for a battle. Men mounted on swift horses rode at headlong speed
through the colonies, spreading the stirring news, and hundreds of
patriots hurried to Boston that they might take part in the war for
their rights. Elsewhere, the fullest preparations were made for the
struggle for independence which all felt had opened.
[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY, America's greatest orator; member of the
Second Continental Congress.]
As agreed upon, the Second Continental Congress assembled in
Philadelphia, May 10, 1775. It included some of the ablest men in
America, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph, of Virginia; Benjamin Franklin
and Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania; John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John
Hancock, of Massachusetts; John Jay, of New York; and Roger Sherman and
Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The former Congress had talked; the
present acted. By general consent it was accepted as the governing body
of the colonies. The forces around Boston were declared to be a
Continental army, money was voted to support it, and Washington was
appointed its commander.
Meanwhile, British reinforcements under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne
arrived in Boston, swelling Gage's army to 10,000 men. They occupied the
town, on the peninsula which covers the middle of the harbor, while
around them on the hills of the mainland was a larger force of
Americans, without uniforms, poorly clothed, badly armed and
undisciplined, but overflowing with patriotism.
A little to the north of Boston a second peninsula extended into the
harbor. It has several elevations, one of which, Bunker Hill, the
patriots determined to seize and fortify. Colonel Prescott with a
thousand men set out one dark night to perform the task, but, believing
Breed's Hill more desirable, since it was nearer Boston, he set his men
to work upon that.
(The name "Bunker" is more euphonious than "Breed's," and the latter is
now generally known by the former name. Upon it has been built the
Bunker Hill Monument.)
Although close to the British sentinels, the Americans toiled through
the night without discovery. When the sun rose June 17, 1775, the enemy
in Boston were astonished to see a line of intrenchments extending
across the hill above them, with the Americans still working like
beavers. They continued without interruption until noon, when the
British were seen coming across the harbor in boats. They were the
regulars, finely disciplined, and numbered nearly 3,000, who, landing
near Charlestown, formed in fine order and advanced with precision
against the 1,500 patriots, eagerly waiting for them behind their
intrenchments.
It was about the middle of the afternoon that the British columns
marched to the attack, covered by a heavy fire of cannon and howitzers,
Howe himself commanding the right wing. The steeples and roofs of Boston
swarmed with people, breathlessly watching the thrilling sight.
Charlestown had been fired and four hundred of its houses laid in ashes.
[Illustration: THE MONUMENT ON BUNKER HILL.]
The Americans behind their breastworks were impatient to open fire, but
Prescott restrained them until they could "see the whites of the eyes"
of their enemies. Then in a loud, clear voice he shouted "_Fire_!" There
was an outflame of musketry along the front of the intrenchments, and
scores of troops in the first rank fell. The others hesitated a moment,
and then turned and fled down the slope. There their officers formed
them into line, and once more they advanced up the slope. The delay gave
the Americans time to reload, and they received the troops with the same
withering fire as before, sending them scurrying to the bottom of the
hill, where with great difficulty the daring officers formed them into
line for a third advance. The British cannon had been brought to bear,
and the ships and batteries maintained a furious cannonade. The patriots
were compelled to withdraw from the breastwork outside the fort, and the
redoubt was attacked at the same moment from three sides. The spectators
were confident of seeing the invaders hurled back again, but saw to
their dismay a slackening of the fire of the Americans, while the
troops, rushing over the intrenchments, fought with clubbed muskets.
At the very moment victory was within the grasp of the patriots, their
recklessly fired ammunition gave out, and they began sullenly
retreating, fighting with clubbed weapons. As it was, their retreat
would have been cut off, had not a company of provincials checked the
British until the main body of Americans had fallen back. The battle of
Bunker Hill was over and ended with the defeat of the patriots, who had
lost 150 killed, 270 wounded, and 80 taken prisoners. General Gage gave
his loss as 224 killed and 830 wounded. Among the killed was Major
Pitcairn, the leader of the English troops who fired upon the minute men
at Lexington. The American Colonel Prescott had his clothing torn to
shreds by bayonet thrusts, but was not hurt. A British officer,
recognizing the brilliant Warren, snatched a musket from the hands of a
soldier and shot him dead.
Prescott and Putnam conducted the retreat by way of Charlestown Neck to
Prospect Hill, where new intrenchments commanding Boston were thrown up.
The British fortified the crest of Breed's Hill. General Gage, in
reporting the affair to his government, used the following impressive
language:
"The success, which was very necessary in our present condition, cost us
dear. The number of killed and wounded is greater than our forces can
afford to lose. We have lost some extremely good officers. The trials we
have had show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have
supposed them to be, and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged
among them for a few years past, joined with uncommon zeal and
enthusiasm. They intrench and raise batteries; they have engineers. They
have fortified all the heights and passes around the town, which it is
not impossible for them to occupy. The conquest of this country is not
easy; you have to cope with vast numbers. In all their wars against the
French, they never showed so much conduct, attention, and perseverance
as they do now. I think it my duty to let you know the situation of
affairs."
General Washington, accompanied by his aide, Mifflin, Joseph Reed, his
military secretary, and General Lee, arrived at Cambridge, July 2, 1775.
He was joyfully welcomed, and he and his companions remained for a few
days the guests of President Langdon of Harvard College. On the 3th of
July, Washington's commission was read to a part of the army and to the
provincial congress of Massachusetts, and he assumed command of the
Continental forces.
[Illustration: NOMINATION OF WASHINGTON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE
CONTINENTAL ARMY.]
A prodigious task confronted him. The undisciplined and wretchedly clad
swarm came and went as they chose, none having enlisted for more than a
brief term. About 2,000 were sick or absent on furlough, out of a total
of 16,771 soldiers. Several thousand more were needed to resist the
attack that it was believed the enemy would soon make. But the British
had received so severe treatment that it required weeks for them to
recover, and the summer became oppressively hot. England recalled Gage,
who sailed for home in October, and was succeeded by Howe. Washington
closely besieged the enemy in Boston. Throwing up intrenchments, he
steadily approached the city, and day by day and week by week the
situation of Howe became more critical. When winter arrived, Washington
formed the plan of crossing Charles River on the ice, but at a council
of war the majority of officers declared the scheme too hazardous.
Washington now decided to fortify and occupy Dorchester Heights, which
would command the city and in a large degree the harbor. General Knox
brought a number of cannon from Ticonderoga, that were dragged over the
Green Mountains on sleds. Their arrival did much to cheer the spirits of
the patriots, who numbered about 14,000. The commander called upon
Massachusetts to furnish him with 6,000 militia, which was partly done.
[Illustration: FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, "THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY."]
With a view of concealing his real purpose, Washington kept up a
bombardment of the British lines throughout the nights of March 2, 3,
and 4, 1776. On the night last named, General Thomas moved with 1,200
men from Roxbury and took possession undetected of the higher hill which
commanded Nook's Hill, nearer the city. General Howe was amazed the next
morning when he saw what had been done, for his position had become
untenable. Preparations were made to embark men in boats and attack the
Americans, but a violent storm prevented. Then it was agreed that but
one thing could be done, and that was to evacuate Boston.
The evacuation took place March 17th. The British destroyed a great
deal of property, but left many supplies behind which fell into the
hands of the Americans. Washington entered the city on the 19th, the
main body of troops following the next day. The street through which he
rode still bears his name. The Massachusetts Legislature voted their
thanks to the great man, and Congress ordered a commemorative medal in
gold and bronze to be struck. This medal is now in the possession of the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
When Howe sailed away, he took with him more than a thousand Tories, who
dared not remain behind and meet their indignant countrymen. Instead of
going to New York, as he originally intended, the British commander went
to Halifax, where he waited for reinforcements and gave his thoughts to
forming campaigns for the conquest of the colonies.
DISASTROUS INVASION OF CANADA.
While the siege of Boston was in progress, the Americans fixed upon a
plan for the invasion of Canada. The mistake, which has been repeated
more than once, was in believing that the Canadians, if given the
opportunity, would make common cause against Great Britain. General
Philip Schuyler was placed in command of the expedition, but fell ill,
and Richard Montgomery, the second in command, took charge. He was a
valiant Irishman, who had done brilliant service in the British army,
and was full of ardor for the American cause.
In several unimportant skirmishes, his men were so insubordinate and
cowardly that he was disgusted, and expressed his regret that he had
ever taken command of such a lot of troops. Nevertheless, he pressed on
from Ticonderoga, while Schuyler at Albany used every effort to forward
him supplies. St. John was invested, and the impetuous Ethan Allen, one
of his officers, hastened to Chambly to raise a force of Canadians. He
recruited nearly a hundred, and, being joined by a few Americans, set
out to capture Montreal. The promised reinforcements did not reach him,
and, being attacked by a powerful force, he made the best defense he
could, but was finally compelled to surrender, with all of his men who
had not escaped. Allen was sent to England, where he was held a prisoner
for a long time.
The British fort at Chambly was besieged, and surrendered October 18th.
With its capture, the Americans secured six tons of powder and seventeen
cannon. The fort of St. John was captured November 3d. By that time,
Carleton, the British commander, was so alarmed that he abandoned
Montreal, which surrendered on the 20th. Taking possession, Montgomery
issued a proclamation, urging the Canadians to unite with the colonies
in the war for independence, and to elect representatives to the
Continental Congress.
Benedict Arnold, at the head of eleven hundred men, had withdrawn from
the camp before Boston, September 13th, and was pressing forward to join
Montgomery. His course was up the Kennebec, through the gloomy
wilderness to the Chaudière, down which he passed to Point Levi. The
journey was of the most trying nature. The weather became bitterly cold,
and the stream was too swift at times for them to make headway against
it, except by wading the chilly current and slowly dragging the boats
against it. At other places, even this was impossible, and the heavy
boats had to be laboriously carried around the falls and rapids.
Finally the time came to leave the river and plunge into the snowy
forests, where all would have been lost, had not a small party, sent in
advance, "blazed" the trees. There was plenty of ice in the swamps, but
none was strong enough to bear their weight, and they sank through to
their knees in the half-frozen ooze. Toiling doggedly forward, a month
passed before they reached Duck River, by which time they were in a
starving condition. Their provisions gave out, and they ate dogs and
candles. Some, in their extremity, chewed boiled moccasins for the
infinitesimal nourishment to be extracted from them. Roots and the bark
of saplings were devoured, and the wonderful courage of Arnold was all
that prevented the men from throwing themselves on the ground and giving
up. So many fell ill and died that Colonel Enos, in command of the rear
division, turned about with his men and returned to Cambridge.
Nothing, however, could shake the dauntless courage of Arnold. He pushed
on, and, obtaining a few cattle, was able to give his men temporary
relief. Winter was closing in, the weather was growing colder every day,
many men were barefoot, and without any protection against the icy rain
except the branches of the leafless trees. The wonder is that the whole
band did not perish.
Finally on the 4th of November, the famishing band caught sight of the
first house they had seen in weeks. Traveling now became better, and
about a week later they reached Point Levi, opposite Quebec. There they
had to wait several days to procure canoes, with which the seven hundred
men, resembling so many shivering tramps, crossed the St. Lawrence and
huddled together under the Heights of Abraham.
What earthly hope could such a body of men, without cannon, with injured
muskets and powder, and cartridges partly spoiled, have in attacking the
walled town of Quebec? None, unless the Canadians made common cause with
them. Following the steep path up which Wolfe and his brave men had
climbed seventeen years before, the gaunt Americans struggled after
their intrepid leader.
The next act in the grim comedy was to send forward a flag of truce with
a demand for the surrender of Quebec. General Carleton must have smiled
at the grotesqueness of the proceeding, when he sent back a refusal. A
few shots followed, when Arnold, finding he had not half a dozen rounds
of ammunition apiece for his men, and was in danger of being attacked
himself, retreated to a point twenty miles below Quebec, where
Montgomery joined him on the 1st of December and assumed command.
The Americans now numbered 3,000, and had six field-pieces and five
light mortars. They set out for Quebec, in front of which they encamped
four days later.
Of all the series of disastrous invasions of Canada, none was more
dismal and pathetic than that of Montgomery and Arnold. The winter was
unusually severe for a region which is noted for its intensely cold
weather. The ground froze to the hardness of a rock, and, unable to make
any impression in it with shovel and pick, the besiegers threw up walls
of ice, which the cannon of the defenders sent flying into thousands of
fragments. The men grew mutinous, and, realizing the desperate
situation, Montgomery ordered an assault to be made on the last day of
the year.
The plan was for the first division under Montgomery to move down the
river and attack the lower town near the citadel, while the second
division under Arnold was to pass around the city to the north, assault
by way of the St. Charles, and unite with Montgomery in his attack upon
the Prescott gate. The other two divisions were to remain in the rear of
the upper town and divert the garrison by feint attacks.
A blinding snowstorm was raging and the men could hardly distinguish one
another. Success depended upon surprise, but the defenders had learned
of the intended attack, and Montgomery had hardly started when the
battery delivered a fire which instantly killed him and both his aides.
Their deaths threw his men into a panic, and they fled in such haste
that they escaped the fate of their leaders.
Meanwhile, Arnold had moved, as agreed upon, with his division along the
St. Charles, the men bending their heads to the icy blast and protecting
their muskets under their coats. As soon as the garrison caught sight of
the dim figures they opened fire, but the Americans pressed on and
carried the first barricade. Arnold, however, received a severe wound in
the leg, and, suffering great pain, was carried to the rear. Daniel
Morgan, one of the bravest officers of the Revolution, succeeded to the
command, and, with his riflemen at his heels, was the first to climb the
ladders placed against the barricade. Two musket-balls grazed the
leader's face, which was scorched by the flash, and he was knocked down;
but he instantly sprang to his feet and called upon his men to follow
him. They did so with such dash that the enemy took refuge in the houses
on both sides of the street.
But for the disaster that had overtaken Montgomery, Quebec probably
would have been captured, but Morgan's command was in darkness, the
driving snow interfered with firing, and they knew nothing of the town.
Only a few of the troops found the next barricade, and, when they
climbed the ladders, were confronted by leveled muskets whose fire was
very destructive. Not only that, but the British, who had taken refuge
in the houses in the streets, kept up their firing.
[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, NEW YORK, WHERE MONTGOMERY WAS
BURIED.]
The Americans fought for a long time with the greatest heroism, but
after the loss of sixty, the remainder, with the exception of a few
that had fled, were obliged to surrender. The fragments of the helpless
army fell again under the command of the wounded Arnold, who, despite
the hopelessness of the attempt, still pressed the siege of Quebec. He
had sent an urgent message to Schuyler for reinforcements. They
straggled through the wintry forests to his aid, some 3,000 arriving in
the course of the winter. Carleton, who was too wise to venture out on
the plain as Montcalm had done, felt secure behind the walls, and gave
little heed to the ragged swarm huddled together in front of the town.
General Wooster brought fresh troops in March and assumed command. He
lacked military skill, and two months later was succeeded by General
Thomas. The latter saw that he had no more than a thousand effective
troops under his control, and decided to withdraw the ill-starred
expedition. Carleton, who had received large reinforcements, attacked
him on his retreat and captured a hundred prisoners and nearly all the
stores. The sufferings of the Americans were now aggravated by smallpox,
which broke out among them and caused many deaths, General Thomas being
one of the victims. General Sullivan succeeded him in command. He lost a
number of prisoners and retreated to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, thus
bringing the disastrous expedition to a close in the month of June,
1776.
It is proper that tribute should be given to the humanity of Carleton,
the British commander. He caused search to be made in the snow for the
body of Montgomery, and, when it was found, it was brought into the city
and buried with the honors of war. Other parties scoured the woods for
the suffering Americans, who were placed in the hospital and received
tender care. Those who voluntarily came in were allowed to go as soon as
they were strong enough to travel, and to the needy ones Carleton
furnished money. A half-century later the remains of Montgomery were
brought to New York and deposited beneath the monument in St. Paul's
churchyard.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER V.
THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED).--THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE
SEA.
Declaration of Independence--The American Flag--Battle of Long
Island--Washington's Retreat Through the Jerseys--Trenton and
Princeton--In Winter Quarters--Lafayette--Brandywine and Germantown--At
Valley Forge--Burgoyne's Campaign--Fort Schuyler and Bennington--Bemis
Heights and Stillwater--The Conway Cabal--Aid from France--Battle of
Monmouth--Molly Pitcher--Failure of French Aid--Massacre at
Wyoming--Continental Money--Stony Point--Treason of Arnold--Paul Jones'
Great Victory.
DIFFERENT THEATRES OF WAR.
The Revolution, beginning in New England, gradually moved southward.
After the first few conflicts it passed into the Middle States, which
for nearly three years became the theatre of the war. Then it shifted to
the South, which witnessed its triumphant close.
It has been shown that, despite this change of scene, the colonies were
ardently united from the beginning in the struggle for independence. It
should be remembered, however, that, for a considerable time after the
beginning of actual fighting, the Americans were not struggling so much
to gain their liberty as to compel England to do them justice. But for
the stubbornness of George III., who at times was insane, the reasonable
prayers of the patriots would have been granted, and our ancestors would
have been retained as subjects of the crown.
But the most far-seeing of Americans comprehended the inevitable end,
which must be subjection to tyranny or independence. The trend of events
so clearly indicated this that steps were taken looking toward the
utter and final separation of the colonies from the mother country.
Congress was still in session in Philadelphia, and early in June the
question of declaring American independence was brought forward by
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, who introduced a resolution, seconded by
John Adams, of Massachusetts, declaring the colonies free and
independent States. The matter was of so momentous importance that it
was debated long and earnestly by the able members, but since there was
no doubt that definite action would soon take place, a committee was
appointed to draw up the Declaration of Independence. The members were
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and R.R.
Livingston. The immortal document was the work of Thomas Jefferson, the
assistance of the other members being so slight that it is not worth
mention.
[Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. (Washington's statue in
front.)]
The debate over the Declaration, after it was read to Congress, was
earnest, and considerable difference of opinion developed, but on the
4th of July it was adopted and signed by every member present, excepting
one, while the absent delegates afterward attached their signatures.
Thornton, the member from New Hampshire, signed it precisely four
months after its adoption. John Hancock, being President of the
Congress, placed his name first in his large, bold hand, and it
appropriately stands by itself.
As soon as the Declaration was adopted, it was ordered that copies of it
should be sent to the various assemblies, conventions, and committees or
councils of safety, to the commanding officers of the Continental
troops, and that it should be proclaimed in each of the United States
and at the head of the army.
It was received everywhere with delight. Bells were rung, bonfires
kindled, and eloquent addresses made. The old Liberty Bell, still
carefully preserved in Independence Hall, sent out its note over the
city and across the Delaware. How appropriate is the inscription on the
bell, cast many years before anyone dreamed of the American Revolution:
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof."
[Illustration: THE LIBERTY BELL, AS EXHIBITED AT THE NEW ORLEANS
EXPOSITION.]
THE AMERICAN FLAG.
Now that the nation was born, it required a flag under which to fight
for its independence. Various patterns had been used. The one first
raised over the American troops at Boston contained thirteen stripes, as
at present, but, in place of white stars in a blue field, it displayed a
union of the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George. Numerous designs were
submitted to Congress, but the first recognized Continental standard was
that raised by Washington, January 2, 1776. By resolution of Congress,
June 14, 1777, this was replaced by the pattern as it is to-day,
excepting in the number of stars. The rule is that whenever a new State
is admitted to the Union its representative star shall appear in the
blue field of the banner on the 4th of July following its admission.
Despite the enthusiasm with which the Declaration of Independence was
received everywhere, the affairs of the States (as they must now be
called) were by no means encouraging. Montgomery and Arnold were engaged
upon their disastrous invasion of Canada, and the city of New York was
in grave peril from the enemy. Moreover, England was not to be
frightened by the Declaration of Independence. The angered king and
Parliament put forth more strenuous efforts than before to conquer their
rebellious subjects.
GENERAL LEE IN NEW YORK.
When Washington entered Boston after the British evacuation, he
immediately sent six of his best regiments to New York, which he was
convinced would soon be attacked. General Charles Lee had been placed in
command there and Washington intended to follow. The people in New York
were alive to their danger and Lee did his utmost to strengthen the
defenses. An intrenched camp was laid out on Columbia Heights, on the
Brooklyn side, to guard the town against an attack from the sea, and
another intrenched camp was erected on the New York side, between Fulton
and Wall Streets. This was named Fort Stirling and was an important
position, since it permitted the batteries to sweep the channel, or, in
case of the occupation of the city by an enemy, they could be bombarded.
A fort was built opposite Hell Gate to defend an approach by way of the
Sound, while works were placed below Canal Street to cover the river.
There were no fortifications, however, on the Jersey shore.
Lee ruled with a high hand in New York, showing no consideration to the
Tories and making himself highly popular with the revolutionary party.
Having been placed in command of the southern department, he left New
York, and Lord Stirling (an American who inherited his title) succeeded
him. He put forth every effort to make the city impregnable, following
the advice and orders of Washington, who knew the necessity of such
rigorous measures.
BRAVE DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON.
The British plan of campaign was to capture the city of New York,
overrun the State, push the war in the South, and invade the Northern
States from Canada. The South Carolinans, as soon as they heard the news
of Lexington, began fortifying the harbor of Charleston. These included
the barricading of the streets, in case of the capture of the harbor
defenses. General Lee, as soon as he arrived, inspected the defenses and
gave it as his opinion that they were not strong enough to resist the
British fleet and the forts would be knocked into ruins.
"Then," said Colonel Moultrie, "we'll fight behind the ruins."
"You have no means of retreat."
"Since we shall not retreat, no means are needed."
Lee, although still apprehensive, yielded to the bravery of the
defenders and agreed to do his utmost to assist them in their defense.
On the 17th of June, 2,500 British troops landed with the intention of
wading across to Sullivan's Island, but found the supposed ford too
deep. Delays followed, and on the 28th the fleet under Admiral Parker
opened the attack on the fort. The palmetto logs of which it was
composed were the best possible material, since they were too spongy to
be shattered, and seemed to absorb the ponderous balls hurled against
them. The return fire of the garrison wrought great havoc among the
vessels, and the battle raged fiercely for hours.
When everything was obscured by the blinding smoke, the flag staff of
the fort was cut away by a cannon ball. It had scarcely fallen, when
Sergeant William Jasper sprang through one of the embrasures, caught up
the flag, climbed the wall amid a frightful fire, waved it defiantly at
the enemy, fastened it to a pike, fixed it in place, and then coolly
leaped down among his comrades.
[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY ON GOVERNOR'S ISLAND, IN NEW YORK
HARBOR. (Presented to the United States by Bartholdi.)]
That night Admiral Parker withdrew his fleet, having lost more than two
hundred in killed and wounded, while of the Americans only ten had been
killed and twenty-nine wounded. The triumph of the patriots was
absolute, and General Lee in a letter to Washington wrote that he was
enraptured by the coolness and bravery of the defenders. In honor of the
gallant conduct of Colonel Moultrie, the fort was given his name, and
the whole country was inspired by what was certainly one of the most
remarkable achievements of the Revolution.
AN UNSATISFACTORY SITUATION.
The progress of the war, however, was less satisfactory in the North. On
the same day that the British attacked Fort Moultrie, a part of the
fleet from Nova Scotia appeared off Sandy Hook, with the purpose of
attacking the city. Before Lee left for the South, he expressed the
opinion that no fleet could capture it, but Washington, after arriving
and inspecting the defenses, failed to share his confidence, and
strengthened the works in every way possible.
Believing Governor's Island a place of strategic importance, General
Putnam had seized it before the arrival of Washington, and threw up a
number of breastworks, occupying also Red Hook on Long Island. Then
Paulus Hook (now Jersey City) was fortified and hulks were sunk in the
channel between Governor's Island and the Battery. The erection of Fort
Lee, up the Hudson, was begun during the summer, on the Palisades, while
Fort Washington was built on the New York side. By the time the fleet
arrived, about a hundred cannon and mortars were ready for service.
GENERAL HOWE'S FIRST MOVE.
Governor Tryon, formerly of North Carolina, was now Governor of New York
and a bitter Tory. There were thousands who thought like him, and they
welcomed General Howe, whose intention was to land on Long Island, but
the strong defenses of the Americans caused him to disembark his troops
on Staten Island. Admiral Howe, brother of the general, arrived soon
after, and, in August, the Hessians swelled the British force to 32,000
men. The Hessians were natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and were hired
by England. De Heister, their commander, was a veteran of many
campaigns, and they formed fully one-fourth of the enemy's forces.
Compared with this formidable array, the Americans presented a pitiful
plight. They were scarcely one-half as numerous, were poorly armed and
disciplined, most of them without uniforms, while many were lacking in
courage, as their commander was to learn to his cost.
General Howe's first move was to send two ships and three tenders up the
Hudson, aiming to cut off Washington's communication with the country
and Canada. At the same time, he wished to take soundings of the river
and encourage the Tories, who were more plentiful than would be
supposed. Several weeks were spent in this work, during which one of
the tenders was burned by the Americans.
[Illustration: AN OLD NEW YORK MANSION.]
AMERICAN DEFEAT ON LONG ISLAND.
In the latter part of August, the British troops were moved from Staten
Island to Gravesend Bay on Long Island, and it was evident that Howe,
instead of bombarding New York, meant to advance upon it from across
Long Island. In anticipation of this movement, Washington had stationed
General Greene's division at Brooklyn. Unfortunately that admirable
officer was ill, and General Sullivan took his place. He boastingly
declared that no force of the British could carry his fortification,
and, indeed, was so foolishly confident, that Washington superseded him
with Israel Putnam, who was no better, for he left the pass on the
British right unguarded. Quick to discover the oversight, the enemy took
advantage of it, and in the battle of Long Island, fought August 27th,
the Americans suffered disastrous defeat. Sullivan was caught between
two fires, and, fighting with the energy of desperation, most of his men
cut their way through the English line and reached Brooklyn. Lord
Stirling's division was surprised in the same manner and few escaped the
enemy. By noon the victory of the British was complete.
Washington with deep anguish witnessed the overwhelming disaster. He
hurriedly crossed to Brooklyn and sent forward every man that could be
spared, but nothing availed to check the panic of the rest of the
forces, who were chased to the foot of the lines in Brooklyn. Howe was
so confident of bagging the whole lot that, in order to save loss of
life, he resorted to regular approaches.
The situation of the Americans could not have been more critical, for,
when the British fleet passed up the river, their supplies would be cut
off. Three hundred patriots had been killed and wounded, and among the
prisoners were Lord Stirling and General Sullivan. The Americans in
Brooklyn numbered 10,000, while the enemy were twice as numerous.
When it looked as if all hope was gone, the elements came to the relief
of the sorely beset patriots. A violent head-wind held back the ships,
and a tremendous downpour of rain on the 28th and 29th suspended
operations. It was so clear that the only course open was to evacuate
Brooklyn, that the work was begun and pressed incessantly for thirteen
hours, the rain and fog hiding the movement from Howe. Too weak to hold
the city against him, there was nothing left to do but to retreat,
future movements being guided by events.
CAPTURE OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH.
Four ships ascended the river, September 13th, and anchored a mile above
the city. Others followed. The movement, however, was a feint, intended
to cover General Howe's attack by land. Before the latter, the Americans
made such a cowardly flight that Washington and other officers were
filled with irrestrainable rage, struck many with the flat of their
swords, and threatened to run them through. But nothing could check the
panic, until they joined the main body at Harlem. In this manner, the
city of New York fell into the hands of the British, who captured 300
prisoners, a number of cannon, and a large quantity of stores. The
American army pulled itself together on Harlem Heights, while the enemy
encamped in front, their right resting on the East River and their left
on the Hudson, with both flanks supported by armed ships.
NATHAN HALE, THE "MARTYR SPY."
While General Howe occupied New York, one of the most pathetic incidents
of the Revolution occurred. It was of the highest importance that
Washington should gain information of the intentions and the strength of
the enemy. In order to do so, Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut,
voluntarily entered the British lines disguised as a spy. He did his
work with shrewdness and skill, but on his return, and when about to
re-enter the American lines, he was recognized and captured. When
accused, he admitted his identity and business, and without trial was
condemned to death. He was brutally treated by the provost-marshal, who
refused him a light to read his Bible, and destroyed the letters he
wrote to his mother. He was hanged the morning after his capture, his
last words being: "My only regret is that I have but one life to give to
my country."
The months passed without any important movement on either side. Howe
made careful preparations and Washington closely watched him. The
Continental army was divided into four divisions, commanded respectively
by Generals Heath, Sullivan, Lincoln, and Lee (who had lately returned
from the South). At a council of war it was decided that Harlem Heights
could not be held against the enemy, but at the urgent request of
General Greene, a strong garrison was left in Fort Washington. It
numbered 3,000, and was under the command of Colonel Robert Magaw of
Philadelphia.
CONTINUED RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS.
In accordance with the plan agreed upon, Washington fell slowly back and
was attacked at White Plains. He inflicted severe loss on the enemy, but
continued to retreat, whereupon Howe turned back and assailed Fort
Washington with such an overwhelming force that Colonel Magaw
surrendered.
Washington's fear now was that the British would press a campaign
against Philadelphia, the capital. Accordingly, he crossed to New
Jersey, and, with General Greene, took position at Fort Lee. The enemy
threatened it with such a large force that it was abandoned and he began
his retreat through New Jersey, with Cornwallis, the ablest of the
British generals, in close pursuit. The two armies were frequently so
near each other that they exchanged shots.
THE DARK DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION.
The "dark days" of the Revolution had come. Winter was at hand, and
hundreds of the ragged Continentals, as they tramped over the frozen
roads, left the bloody prints of their bare feet on the ground. Many
lost heart, and the desertions were so numerous that it looked as if the
whole army would crumble to pieces.
The remark has often been made of Washington that he never won a battle,
but the wonder is that he did so well with the miserable force under his
command. His greatness, however, rests upon a much broader foundation.
He, far more than any other man, saw the end from the beginning, and
embodied within himself the spirit of the struggle for American
independence. He was the Revolution. Had he been killed, the struggle
would have stopped, for no one could have been his successor. Subjected
to trials whose exasperating nature it is impossible for us to
comprehend, he never lost heart. He pressed forward with sublime faith
that no disaster, defeat, or misfortune could weaken. Moreover, let it
not be forgotten that he fought from the opening to the close of the
struggle without accepting a cent in the way of payment.
When Washington reached the little town of Trenton, he was joined by
Stirling, the junction raising the force to 5,000 men. General Lee,
disobeying orders, marched so tardily that he was captured at Basking
Ridge, N.J., by a company of British horse. Investigations that have
since been made leave no doubt that Lee purposely allowed himself to be
taken, and that while in the enemy's hands he offered to do all he could
in the way of betrayal of his country. Washington crossed the Delaware
into Pennsylvania, just as Cornwallis entered the upper end of the town.
The great man, knowing the universal depression, saw that a blow must be
struck to raise the drooping spirits of his countrymen. Otherwise the
struggle would collapse from sheer despair. As for the enemy, they gave
scarcely a thought to the shivering ragamuffins on the other side of the
river. The Hessian commander, Colonel Rall, had occupied the town with
his men, and they prepared to enjoy life to the full. Rall drank toddy,
smoked, and played cards, while the wintry winds roared outside. Perhaps
a feeling akin to pity moved him when he thought of the starving,
freezing Continentals who were foolish enough to rebel against the rule
of the great and good King George III.
BATTLE OF TRENTON.
Washington determined to attack the Hessians in Trenton. He divided his
army into three divisions, sending one to Bristol, opposite Burlington,
another remained opposite Trenton, while he himself marched several
miles up stream to a point since known as Washington's Crossing.
The movements down the river were to be directed against the enemy's
detachments at Bordentown, Burlington, and Mount Holly, but the stream
was so choked with masses of floating ice that neither division was able
to force its way over. Washington, with 2,500 of the best officers and
men in the army, crossed the stream in the face of a driving storm of
snow and sleet, and, reaching the village of Birmingham, several miles
inland, divided his force. Sullivan took the road which runs close to
and parallel with the river, while Washington, with Greene, followed the
Scotch road. The latter joins the upper part of the town, while the
river road enters the lower end. The plan was for the two divisions to
strike Trenton at the same time and attack the Hessians in front and
rear. It was hardly light on the morning succeeding Christmas, 1776,
when Washington drove in the sentinels and advanced rapidly in the
direction of Sullivan, the report of whose guns showed that he had
arrived on time and was vigorously pressing matters.
The rattle of musketry and the boom of cannon roused the startled
Hessians, who made the best defense possible. Colonel Rall leaped from
his bed, and, hastily donning his clothes, strove to collect and form
his men. While doing so he was mortally wounded. The moment quickly came
when his situation was hopeless. Supported on either side by a sergeant,
Rall walked painfully forward to where Washington was seated on his
horse, and, handing his sword to him, asked that mercy should be shown
his men. Washington assured him his request was unnecessary. Rall was
carried to a building, where, as he lay on the bed, he was visited by
Washington, who expressed his sympathy for his sufferings, which soon
were terminated by death.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE.]
The battle of Trenton, as it is known in history, was remarkable in more
than one respect. The Americans captured 950 prisoners, six guns, a
large number of small arms, killed twenty and wounded nearly a hundred
of the enemy. Of the Americans, four were wounded and two killed, and it
is probable that these deaths were due to the extreme cold rather than
the aim of the Hessians, whose work is very suggestive of that of the
Spaniards in the late war.
The moral effect of the victory, however, was almost beyond estimate.
The threatening clouds that had so long darkened the land were
scattered, and the glorious sun of hope burst through and cheered all.
The triumph may be summed up in the expression that it marked the
"turning of the tide." Reverses were yet waiting for the Americans, but
the war for independence was steadily to advance to its triumphant
conclusion.
THE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY.
The situation of Washington at Trenton, however, was critical.
Cornwallis with his powerful force was at Princeton, ten miles distant,
and was sure to advance against him as soon as he learned of the reverse
at Trenton. Washington, therefore, recrossed the Delaware on the same
day of the victory, with his prisoners and captured war material. One
result was that the British, as soon as they learned what had taken
place, abandoned South Jersey.
Washington remained three days in Pennsylvania, when he again crossed
the Delaware and re-entered Trenton. More than 3,000 reinforcements
joined him, and 1,400 New England soldiers, whose terms of enlistment
were expiring, were so inspired by the victory that they volunteered for
six weeks longer. Robert Morris, to whom we have referred as the
financier of the Revolution, raised $50,000 in specie and sent it to
Washington to be used in paying the troops, who very sorely needed it.
As soon as Cornwallis was told by his scouts that Washington had
returned to Trenton, he advanced against him with a force of 7,000 men,
determined to wipe out the disgrace of a few days before. This was on
the 2d of January, 1777. Greene held the British commander in check
until the close of the day, when he was able to drive the Americans to
the eastern shore of the Assunpink Creek, which runs through the middle
of the town and was spanned by a wooden bridge. There was brisk fighting
at this bridge, but the cannon of Washington were so effective that the
British troops gave up the attempt to force a passage until the morning
of the following day.
WASHINGTON'S CRITICAL SITUATION.
The two armies encamped in sight of each other on opposite banks of the
Assunpink, their camp-fires and sentinels in plain sight. The situation
of the American army could not have been more critical. Behind it was
the Delaware filled with floating ice and in front the superior army of
Cornwallis, confident of capturing Washington and his forces on the
morrow.
But when the raw wintry morning dawned, Cornwallis was astounded to hear
the booming of cannon in the direction of Princeton, ten miles behind
him. Washington had withdrawn his entire force, and, reaching the
college town by a roundabout course, was driving the British troops
before him. The chagrined and angered Cornwallis hurried to Princeton
in order to avert the threatened disaster.
BATTLE OF PRINCETON.
But Washington had already won a victory, scattering the British forces
right and left. Although he lost a number of brave officers and men, he
killed sixty of the enemy and captured 250 prisoners. When Cornwallis
arrived the Americans were gone, and the British troops hurried to
Brunswick (now New Brunswick) to protect the stores there. Washington
withdrew to Morristown, where he went into winter quarters and remained
until May, much of the time being devoted to making forays upon the
enemy, who now and then retaliated in kind.
[Illustration: "GIVE THEM WATTS, BOYS!"
The spirit shown by our sturdy patriots is well illustrated by the story
of the minister, who, when in one battle there was a lack of wadding,
brought out an armful of hymn books and exclaimed: "Give them Watts,
boys!"]
Washington left Morristown on the 28th of May, aware that Howe intended
to make a campaign against Philadelphia. There was considerable
manoeuvring by the two armies, Howe trying to flank Washington, who
was too alert to be entrapped, and no material advantage was gained by
either side.
About this time a number of foreign officers joined the American army.
The most distinguished was the Marquis de Lafayette, who served without
pay and won the gratitude of the whole country because of his devotion
to the cause of American independence and his intimate friendship with
Washington.
Meanwhile, being driven out of New Jersey, the British pushed their
campaign against Philadelphia by way of the Chesapeake. In August, 1777,
Sir William Howe sailed from New York with 16,000 troops, and, on the
24th, reached the head of Elk River in Maryland. At Brandywine, on the
11th of September, the American army was defeated with severe loss,
Lafayette being among the wounded. Washington entered Philadelphia the
next day, and, crossing the Schuylkill, posted his troops on the eastern
bank of the river, with detachments at the ferries where it was thought
the enemy were likely to attempt to cross. General Wayne concealed
himself and 1,500 men in the woods, intending to attack the British in
the rear, but a Tory betrayed his presence to the enemy, who in a
furious assault slew 300 of his men. This disaster is known in history
as the Paoli Massacre.
BRITISH OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA.
Howe, having gained control of the Schuylkill, crossed with his army,
and, advancing to Germantown, took possession of Philadelphia on the
27th of September. The main body remained in Germantown, while the
American army, now reinforced to 11,000, were on the eastern side of the
Schuylkill, eighteen miles distant. Howe was engaged in reducing the
forts on the Delaware to open a passage for his fleet, when Washington
advanced against the force at Germantown, hoping to surprise it. He
would have succeeded, but for several obstacles wholly unexpected. The
stone building known as the "Chew House" offered a stubborn resistance
and defied the cannon fired against it. The delay caused by the attempt
to reduce it gave the enemy time to rally. Besides, the dense fog
disorganized the attack, and more than once bodies of Americans fired
into one another. On the verge of victory, a retreat was ordered and the
Americans fell back, after having suffered a loss of 1,200 men. Congress
on the approach of the enemy fled to the little town of York,
Pennsylvania.
WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE.
While the British were holding high revel in Philadelphia, the
Continentals shivered and starved at Valley Forge, twenty miles away.
Thousands of the men were without shoes and stockings. In each log hut
were twelve privates, who had scarcely any bedding, and who kept from
freezing at night by the mutual warmth of their bodies. The farmers of
the neighborhood were so unpatriotic that Washington was often compelled
to take straw and grain from them by force, giving in return an order
upon the government for the property thus used. It is said that Isaac
Potts, a Quaker at whose house Washington made his headquarters, was
passing through the woods one day, when he heard the voice of some one
in prayer. Peering among the trees he saw Washington on his knees,
beseeching the help of heaven in the struggle for liberty. When Potts
returned to his home and related the incident to his wife, he added that
he could no longer doubt the success of the Americans, since he had
heard Washington praying for it.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE.]
It has been shown that one of the most important campaigns planned by
the British was that of invading New York from Canada. If successful,
New England would be cut off from the other States and forced to submit.
Formidable preparations were made for this movement. An army of more
than 7,000 British and Hessian troops, in addition to a corps of
artillery, was placed under the command of General Burgoyne, who was
accompanied by several members of Parliament, who had crossed the ocean
for the pleasure of witnessing the overthrow of the rebellious
Americans. The route was from Canada by way of Lake Champlain to Albany,
where the army was to be joined by a strong force to be sent up the
Hudson from New York. Clinton failed to carry out his part, because of
the delay in sending to him from London a detailed account of the
intended plan of campaign.
A CLEVER STRATAGEM.
At Crown Point, Burgoyne was joined by a number of Indian allies, a
proceeding which greatly incensed the patriots. It was arranged that
another body of British troops under Colonel St. Leger, including
Indians and Tories, were to ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and
advance across the State by way of the Mohawk to Albany. Carrying out
this programme, St. Leger invested Fort Schuyler at the head of the
Mohawk, with a force of 1,800 men. While General Herkimer was hurrying
with some militia to the relief of the garrison, he was ambuscaded by a
detachment of British and Indians and killed, but an advance from the
fort drove off his assailants. St. Leger persisted in his siege of the
fort, and Benedict Arnold marched with a brigade to attack him. His
force, however, was so weak that he saw the folly of assault, and had
recourse to an ingenious and successful stratagem. He sent an
underwitted boy, who had been arrested as a Tory, into the British camp
with the story that the reinforcements just arrived for the Americans
numbered several thousand, the fable being confirmed shortly after by an
Indian scout. St. Leger was so frightened that he fled to Canada,
leaving his tents and most of his military stores.
The Americans abandoned Fort Ticonderoga before the advance of Burgoyne,
who reached Fort Edward, while General Schuyler crossed the Hudson and
assumed position at Saratoga. Burgoyne crossed the river on the 13th and
14th of September, and General Gates, lately appointed to the command of
the northern department, advanced toward the enemy and encamped a few
miles north of Stillwater. On the night of the 17th, the two armies were
within four miles of each other, and, two days later, Burgoyne attacked
Gates. The loss on each side was severe, but the result was indecisive.
A danger of another character threatened the invading army. Provisions
and supplies were running out, and it was impossible to obtain more. No
help arrived from Clinton, the desertions were numerous, and, realizing
his desperate situation, Burgoyne determined to drive the Americans from
their position on the left and then retreat to Canada. He made a
determined attempt, but was defeated with the loss of several hundred
men, including a number of his best officers, nine pieces of artillery,
and the encampment and equipage of a Hessian brigade.
SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE.
General Gates now disposed his forces so as almost completely to
surround Burgoyne, who called a council of war, at which it was agreed
that nothing was left for them but to capitulate. Accordingly, October
17, 1777, he surrendered his army to General Gates. This consisted of
5,763 officers and men, including the disappointed members of
Parliament. All the Indians having fled, none was left of them to
surrender. The spoils of war included a fine train of artillery of
forty-two pieces, 5,000 muskets, and a vast quantity of ammunition and
stores. The prisoners were treated with great kindness, their captors
sharing their food with them.
The news of the loss of one of her most important armies caused dismay
in England and unbounded rejoicing in America. It was the climax of the
triumph at Trenton, and renewed hope thrilled the country from New
England to Georgia.
THE CONWAY CABAL.
Congress awarded a gold medal to Gates for his capture of Burgoyne, and
he was placed at the head of the new board of war. He was puffed up over
his victory, for which most of the credit was due to Schuyler and
Arnold. Finding congenial spirits in General Mifflin and an Irishman
named Conway, both members of the board, including also General Charles
Lee, who had been exchanged, a plot was formed for displacing Washington
and putting Gates in supreme command of military affairs. The "Conway
Cabal" utterly failed, for there were precious few in the country who
did not appreciate the lofty character of Washington, and none except
the plotters felt sympathy with any attempt to dim the lustre of the
name that will always be among the brightest in history.
AID FROM FRANCE.
One of the immeasurable advantages that followed the capture of Burgoyne
was our alliance with France. That country sympathized with us from the
first, though her traditional hatred of England had much to do with the
sentiment, but hitherto her assistance had been secret. She wished a
good pretext for coming out openly, and this was furnished by the
capture of Burgoyne. Franklin was in France as our representative, and
his quaint wit and homely wisdom made him very popular at the gay court.
He urged the claims of the United States so forcibly that the king
yielded, and concluded a treaty, February 6, 1778, by which the
independence of the United States was acknowledged and relations of
reciprocal friendship formed with our country. This was the first treaty
made by the United States with a foreign country. France agreed to send
a fleet of sixteen war-vessels, under D'Estaing, and an army of 4,000
men to our assistance. Great Britain at once declared war against
France, and offered to give the United States freedom from taxation and
representation in Parliament if they would join in the hostilities
against her old enemy. The Americans were incapable of so perfidious a
course, and were now fully determined on securing their independence.
Spain joined France, in 1779, in the war against Great Britain (because
of the relations of the ruling families), and Holland for commercial
reasons united with them in 1780. Thus Great Britain soon found her
hands full.
Congress decided, while Washington was at Valley Forge, that the army
should consist of 40,000 foot, besides artillery and horse. Washington
had 12,000, while the total American force under arms was barely 15,000.
At the same time the British had 30,000 troops in New York and
Philadelphia, besides 3,700 in Rhode Island.
EVACUATION OF PHILADELPHIA.
The British army occupied Philadelphia from September, 1777, until June
the following year. Admiral Howe's fleet lay in the Delaware, and
General Howe, who was of a sluggish temperament, was superseded by Sir
Henry Clinton, between whom and Cornwallis the relations soon became
strained. With a view of concentrating the British forces, and, since
the French fleet was known to have sailed for America, it was decided
that the army in Philadelphia should be removed to New York. Wishing to
strike France, it was determined to make a descent upon the French West
Indies, for which 5,000 troops were to be detached from the army.
[Illustration: AN OLD COLONIAL HOUSE OF GERMANTOWN.]
BATTLE OF MONMOUTH.
Clinton found that he had not enough transports to take his troops to
New York, and a considerable number started overland. On the same day
that he marched out of Philadelphia, Washington's vanguard entered it.
On the 28th, Clinton was encamped near Monmouth Court-House, New Jersey
(now Freehold), with Washington close upon him. With five miles
separating the two armies at night, Lee, who had command of 5,000 men,
moved them nearer the enemy, Washington having ordered him to attack in
the morning as soon as Clinton began moving.
The days were the longest in the year and the heat frightful. At the
earliest dawn, Washington was notified that the enemy had started toward
New York. He ordered Lee to advance and open battle without delay,
unless he saw urgent reasons for not doing so. Washington at the same
time pushed forward with the main body to his support.
The attack was made about eight o'clock, but the reports of the
movements were so confusing that those of the Americans became
disjointed; but everything was going in their favor, when greater
confusion caused a falling back of the patriots, with the result that at
noon Lee's whole division was in retreat, and he had started to follow
them when he came face to face with Washington himself.
Those who saw the meeting never forgot it. It required immense
provocation to rouse Washington's anger, but he was in a savage mood,
and in a voice of thunder demanded of Lee the meaning of his retreat.
Lee was confused, but, breaking in upon him, the commander ordered him
to the rear, while he took command. The battle lasted until five o clock
in the afternoon, scores on each side succumbing from the heat. While
the advantage was with the Americans, the battle was indecisive, and
Washington anxiously waited for daylight to complete his victory; but
Clinton moved away in the night, and, reaching Sandy Hook, was taken
aboard of Howe's fleet and landed in New York on the 5th of July.
Washington marched to the Hudson, crossed at King's Ferry, and took
position near his former camp at White Plains. Lee was court-martialed
and dismissed for his conduct, and, as stated elsewhere, it has been
proven that he was a traitor to the American cause.
There are several interesting facts connected with the battle of
Monmouth, on whose grounds a fine monument was erected some years ago.
Among the British grenadiers slain was a sergeant who was seven feet
four inches in height. So many of these grenadiers were killed that
thirteen were buried in one grave. Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, their
commander, was among the slain. On the pews and floor of the old Tennent
church, still standing on the scene of the battle, may be seen the dark
stains from the wounds of several soldiers who were carried within the
quaint structure.
THE STORY OF MOLLY PITCHER.
It would never do to omit the story of Molly Pitcher from the account
of the battle of Monmouth, for the incident is true, and is
commemorated on one of the bronze reliefs of the monument. Her husband
was a cannoneer, who with his companions suffered so much from thirst
that Molly was kept busy carrying water for them from a neighboring
spring. While thus engaged, her husband was killed before her eyes, and
there being no one available to handle the piece, an officer ordered its
removal. Molly asked the privilege of taking her husband's place.
Permission was given, and she handled the cannon with skill throughout
the entire action.
The incident was told to Washington, who after the battle asked that she
be presented to him. He complimented her warmly, and conferred upon her
the rank of lieutenant, while Congress gave her half-pay during life.
The State of Pennsylvania, where she afterward made her home at
Carlisle, added to this, so that she lived in comfort for the rest of
her days. Her right name was Mary McAuley, and she died in Carlisle in
1833, a fine slab of marble marking her last resting-place.
DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE AID FROM FRANCE.
Despite the great expectations roused by the friendship of France and
the arrival of her fleet, it gave little aid to the Americans until the
Yorktown campaign. D'Estaing had a fine opportunity of forcing his way
into New York, destroying the British fleet and blockading Clinton, but
he lacked the courage to do so. Then he sailed for Newport, Rhode
Island, to attack the British forces there, but matters were so delayed
that Howe arrived with a fleet of equal strength. While they were
manoeuvring for position, a violent storm arose, and, at the close,
D'Estaing sailed to Boston for repairs, taking all his troops with him,
while Howe returned to New York.
The Americans were indignant over the desertion of their allies. The
French officers were insulted on the streets of Boston, and one of them
was killed in a brawl. Sullivan and Greene were so outspoken that it
required all the shrewdness of Washington and Congress to prevent an
open rupture.
THE WYOMING MASSACRE.
In the month of July, 1778, a band of Tories and Indians entered the
lovely valley of Wyoming, under the leadership of Colonel John Butler,
whose cousin, Colonel Zebulon Butler, was commander of the old men and
boys left in the town by the departure of nearly all of the able-bodied
men to fight in the Continental armies. The patriots made a brave
defense, but they were overcome and put to flight. Women and children
ran to the woods, in which they were overtaken and tomahawked; others
died from exposure, while a few succeeded in reaching the towns on the
upper Delaware. This sad massacre has made the name of Wyoming known
throughout the world, and gives a sad pathos to the monument which was
erected in 1824 over the bones of the victims.
PUNISHMENT OF THE IROQUOIS.
Some months later, Cherry Valley in New York suffered a similar
visitation from the Indians, who now learned for the first time that a
power had grown up in this country which could not only punish, but
could do so with unprecedented vigor. The red men were so troublesome
that Congress saw it would not do to defer giving them a much-needed
lesson. The guilty Indians were the Iroquois in central New York. In
1779, General Sullivan led an expedition against them. He showed no
mercy to those that had denied mercy to the helpless. Hundreds were
killed, their houses burned, their fields laid waste, and the whole
country made such a desert that many perished from starvation.
THE CONTINENTAL CURRENCY.
One of the "sinews of war" is money. It is impossible for any nation to
carry on a war long without funds. The Americans were poor, but they
issued paper promises to pay, which were known as Continental money. As
the war progressed, and more money was needed, it was issued. In 1778,
it took eight paper dollars to equal one of gold or silver. More was
necessary and more was issued. Besides this, the paper and printing were
of such poor quality that the British in New York made a great many
counterfeits that were exchanged with the farmers in the vicinity. The
value of the currency decreased until the time came when it was
absolutely worthless.
[Illustration: (Continental Currency)]
When Clinton occupied New York and Washington was encamped on the Hudson
above, there were many forays against each other. The design of the
British commander was to force his way to the Highlands, seize the
passes and gain full command of the Hudson. He had already secured Stony
Point, and Washington formed a plan for retaking it, which was intrusted
to the brilliant Anthony Wayne.
In the middle of July, Wayne took command of four regiments of
infantry, which marched twelve miles through the insufferably hot
night, when they reached a point about a mile from the fort. Wayne went
forward while his men were resting and made a careful reconnaissance.
Rejoining his troops, he divided them into two columns, and, to prevent
any mistake as to their identity, a piece of white paper was pinned to
each hat. All the superfluous clothing was flung aside. He impressed
upon his men that the bayonet alone was to be used, and, to prevent the
discharge of a gun by some nervous soldier, he ordered his officers to
cut down the first man who took his musket from his shoulder without the
order to do so.
The two divisions approaching from opposite sides were to attack the
fort at the same moment. Before it was reached, the pickets discovered
them and opened fire. The garrison was aroused, and, hurrying to their
posts, cried out tauntingly:
"Come on, you rebels! we're waiting for you!"
"We'll be there," was the reply; and the patriots kept their word,
carrying matters with such a rush that the flag was speedily lowered.
While leading his men, Wayne was struck in the forehead by a musket-ball
and fell to the ground. Believing himself mortally wounded, he asked to
be carried forward that he might die within the fort. While his men were
assisting him, it was found that he had only been stunned. He recovered
a moment later and was among the first to enter the defenses.
The American loss was slight, and they secured nearly six hundred
prisoners, with a lot of valuable stores. The fort was destroyed before
they left, the ruins being occupied some days later by a British force.
THE INFANT AMERICAN NAVY.
Thus far we have had nothing to tell about the infant American navy. At
the beginning of the war, in 1775, Washington sent several privateers to
cruise along the New England coast, and Congress established a naval
department. Thirteen ships were fitted out and two battalions of seamen
enlisted. The opportunity of capturing prizes from the enemy was very
alluring to the skillful American seamen, and so many dashing privateers
started forth in quest of them that in the course of three years fully
five hundred ships, sailing under the English flag, were captured. Some
of the daring cruisers did not hesitate to enter British waters in
search of the enemy.
GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES.
No braver man than John Paul Jones ever trod the quarter-deck. On the
first chance he displayed so much courage and skill that he was made a
captain. He was cruising off Solway Firth near his birthplace one night,
when he rowed ashore on the coast of Cumberland, with only thirty-one
volunteers, and burned three vessels in the harbor of Whitehaven and
spiked a number of cannon in the guard-room of the fort. England was
alarmed, declared him a pirate, and put forth every effort to capture
him.
In 1779, Paul Jones, as he is more generally known, put to sea in
command of the _Bon Homme Richard_, and accompanied by two consorts, the
_Alliance_ and the _Pallas_. The _Richard_ was an old East Indiaman,
given him by the king of France and named in compliment to Franklin, who
had published "Poor Richard's Almanac" for so many years that he was
often identified with the publication.
When Jones was off Scarborough, he sighted the Baltic fleet of
merchantmen homeward bound, and escorted by the frigates _Countess of
Scarborough_ and the _Serapis_. The latter carried fifty guns and the
former twenty-two, while Jones had forty-four guns and three hundred and
seventy-five men, two-thirds of whom were prisoners of war, since he had
greatly weakened his crew in order to send home the many prizes
captured.
[Illustration: PAUL JONES]
The moment Jones identified the enemy, he signaled to his consorts to
join him in pursuit. Night had closed in and the moon was shining, when
the captain of the _Serapis_ hailed Jones, who answered by opening fire.
The enemy was equally prompt, and thus one of the most famous fights in
naval history began. It is almost past comprehension how Jones fought so
terrifically when the disadvantages under which he labored are known.
Firing had scarcely begun when one of the guns on the lower deck
exploded, killing several men. The survivors ran above, and the piece
was not used again during the fight.
Jones tried to close with the _Serapis_, but, finding he could not bring
his guns to bear, he allowed his ship to fall off. The prisoners, who
outnumbered his crew, were kept busy extinguishing the fires that
continually broke out, by being told that it was the only way to save
themselves from death by burning. In the midst of the terrific fighting,
when the _Richard_ seemed doomed, Captain Pearson of the _Serapis_
shouted:
"Have you struck?"
"Struck!" replied Jones; "I am just beginning to fight."
[Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN BON HOMME RICHARD AND SERAPIS.]
While the ships were lurching, one of the enemy's anchors caught the
quarter of the _Richard_ and the two held fast, thenceforward fighting
side by side. They were so close indeed that the _Serapis_ could not
open her starboard ports, and the cannon were fired through the
port-lids, which were blown off; but the main deck of the _Richard_ was
so high that the broadsides of the enemy injured no one, though they did
great damage to the vessel. This tremendous battle lasted for two hours,
the muzzles of the guns scraping one another, and the cannon being
discharged as fast as they could be loaded. The _Richard_ was soon
shattered to that extent that she began sinking. Fire broke out
repeatedly on both vessels, and finally Jones was able to work only
three of his guns. At this crisis, he found that his consort, the
_Alliance_, Captain Landais, was firing into him as well as the
_Serapis_; but not heeding him, he continued his battle with the
_Serapis_, whose sailors fought as bravely as his own.
The fearful struggle was decided by a sailor in the rigging of the
_Richard_, who was engaged in throwing hand-grenades on the deck of the
_Serapis_. One of these dropped into the hatchway and exploded a mass of
eighteen-pound cartridges, which killed twenty and wounded twice as many
more. Captain Pearson placed himself at the head of his boarders and
made a rush for the deck of the _Richard_. Jones, leading his own men,
drove them back. The explosion of the grenades silenced the main battery
of the _Serapis_, and Captain Pearson himself hauled down his colors,
both crews in the awful confusion believing for some minutes that it was
the _Richard_ that had surrendered.
When day dawned, the riddled _Richard_ was settling fast, and Jones had
barely time to remove his crew to the _Serapis_ when his own vessel went
down. Four-fifths of his men had been killed or wounded.
[Illustration: BRITISH CAPTAIN SURRENDERING HIS SWORD TO PAUL JONES.]
Investigation of the conduct of Captain Landais in firing into the
_Richard_ led to the conclusion that he was insane, and he was deprived
of his command. Jones did no more special service for the Americans. For
his unsurpassable achievement he received the thanks of Congress, and
the king of France presented him with a gold sword. After the war he
became a rear-admiral in the Russian navy, and died in Paris in 1792.
One of the saddest and most shocking events of the Revolution was the
treason of Benedict Arnold, who had won a brilliant reputation for his
bravery and generalship. He was quick-tempered, treacherous, and
extravagant, and disliked by most of his men, despite his extraordinary
daring. His first resentment against Congress was the failure of that
body to make him one of the first five major-generals, in the face, too,
of Washington's urgent recommendation for such promotion, which was made
after Arnold's splendid services at Saratoga.
He was placed in command at Philadelphia, while recovering from the
wounds received at Saratoga. He married a Tory lady, and his misconduct
caused his trial by court-martial, which sentenced him to be reprimanded
by the commander-in-chief. Washington performed the unpleasant duty with
delicacy, but its memory rankled and was increased by his anger against
Congress for its refusal to allow his claims for expenses in the
Canadian expedition. Influenced also, no doubt, by the Tory sentiments
of his wife, he determined to take the step which has covered his name
with everlasting infamy.
On the plea that his wounds were not yet healed, he induced Washington
to place him in command at West Point, the most important post in the
country and the principal depot of supplies. He opened a correspondence
with Sir Henry Clinton at New York, and agreed for a stated sum of money
and an appointment in the British army to surrender the post to a force
which Clinton was to send against it. When a point in the negotiations
was reached where it was necessary to send a trusted agent to meet
Arnold, Clinton dispatched Major John André, who went up the Hudson in a
sloop, and, September 22, 1780, met Arnold at the foot of Long Clove
Mountain. Everything being agreed upon, André started to return to the
sloop, but found that, owing to its having been fired upon by a party of
Americans, it had dropped down stream. Obliged to make his way to New
York by land, he assumed the dress of a civilian, and, furnished with a
pass by Arnold, he set out on horseback.
[Illustration: THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRÉ
Much sympathy was felt in America for André, but the justice of his
being hung as a spy was never questioned. His three captors, Paulding,
Van Wart and Williams, were honored with medals and $200.00 a year each
for life, and monuments were erected to their memories by our
Government.]
When near Tarrytown, he was stopped by three Americans, Isaac Van Wart,
John Paulding, and David Williams, who demanded his identity and
business. One of the three happened to be wearing a British coat, which
he had exchanged for one of his own while a prisoner of war, and the
fact led André to think they were friends. Before he discovered his
mistake, he had made known that he was a British officer, and he was
ordered to dismount and submit to a search. The fatal papers were found
on him, and, seeing his business was known, he offered everything he
had, besides the promise of a large sum of money from Sir Henry Clinton,
to be allowed to go. His captors refused and conducted him to North
Castle, where he was given up to Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson. That
officer had the proof before him in the papers that Arnold was the
unspeakable traitor, but with a stupidity difficult to understand, he
sent a letter to Arnold acquainting him with the capture of André.
[Illustration: ESCAPE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.]
Arnold was eating breakfast at his house near the Hudson, when the note
was brought to him by the messenger. Knowing what it meant, he called
his wife to him, told her of his danger, kissed his sleeping boy in the
cradle, ran out of the house, mounted his horse and galloped at headlong
speed for the river. There he sprang into a boat and ordered the men to
row with all haste to the sloop, still at anchor a short distance down
stream and waiting for André. Since these men had no suspicion of the
truth they obeyed orders, and Arnold, by waving a white handkerchief
over his head, prevented the Americans on the shore from firing at him.
He reached the sloop in safety and was carried to New York.
The fact that André was wearing a civilian suit at the time of his
capture made him a spy, according to the laws of war, and the
court-martial before which he was called sentenced him to be hanged.
Clinton was greatly distressed by the impending fate of his favorite
officer and did his utmost to secure his release by Washington. It was
intimated to Clinton that Washington might be induced to exchange André
for Arnold, but such an act by the British commander would have covered
his name with infamy, and he was too honorable even to consider it.
André accepted his fate bravely, only asking that he might be shot
instead of hanged, but even that boon was denied him. General Greene,
who presided at the court-martial, insisted that such leniency would
have been an admission of a doubt of the justice of his sentence. André
was hanged October 2, 1780. King George III. caused a mural tablet to be
erected to his memory, and his remains were removed to England in 1821
and placed in Westminster Abbey. A pension was conferred upon his mother
and his brother was created a baronet. Sad as was the fate of André, and
general as was the sympathy felt for him in this country, there can be
no question of the justice of his sentence. He was a spy, and, had he
succeeded in his mission, might have caused the failure of the war for
independence.
Arnold received more than $30,000 as a reward for his treason. He was
disliked by the British officers, and Cornwallis did not hesitate to
show his contempt for him. He engaged in several raids against his
countrymen, but since he always fought "with a rope around his neck," he
was never trusted with any important command.
He removed to England with his family after the war, and his sons
received commissions in the British army. It is worth noting that all
did creditable service, and their descendants became worthy members of
the community, a fact which no one can regret, since they could be held
in no way responsible for the horrifying crime of their ancestor, who,
despised by all around him, died in London in 1801.
CHAPTER VI
THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED).
Capture of Savannah--British Conquest of Georgia--Fall of
Charleston--Bitter Warfare in South Carolina--Battle of Camden--Of
King's Mountain--Of the Cowpens--Battle of Guilford Court-House--Movements
of Cornwallis--The Final Campaign--Peace and Independence.
CONQUEST OF GEORGIA.
The wave of war continued to roll southward. The British had met with
such meagre success in the Northern and Middle States that they turned
their efforts toward the conquest of the South. In the latter part of
December, 1778, an expedition from New York compelled the small garrison
at Savannah to surrender. British troops from Florida then reinforced
the expedition, Augusta and other towns were captured, and the whole
State was brought under British control. General Benjamin Lincoln, the
American commander, had too few troops to offer successful resistance,
and the Tories gave much trouble.
In September, 1779, Lincoln crossed into Georgia and, with the aid of
the French fleet under D'Estaing, made an attempt to recapture Savannah.
The attack was made with the greatest bravery by the allies, but they
suffered a disastrous repulse, and D'Estaing again sailed for the West
Indies. Georgia was brought so completely under British control that a
royal governor and officers were installed. The Whigs were treated with
great cruelty, and for two years the struggle in the Carolinas assumed a
ferocious character. It was civil war in its most frightful form.
Neighbor was arrayed against neighbor. Every man was compelled to be a
Whig or Tory, and when one party captured another, it generally executed
the prisoners as traitors. There were many instances in which those of
the same family fought one another with the utmost fury, and the horrors
of war were displayed in all their dreadful colors.
For a long time the British kept a strong force at Newport, but they
were withdrawn, and a strong expedition was sent South to capture
Charleston.
BRITISH CAPTURE OF CHARLESTON.
General Lincoln had a garrison of 3,000, his forts, and a number of
vessels, with which he was confident of making a successful defense of
the city. The ships, however, were so inferior to those of the enemy
that Commodore Whipple sank all except one at the mouth of Cooper River
to block the channel, and added his men and guns to the defenses of
Charleston.
Clinton's force was about double that of Lincoln, and he made his
approaches with care and skill. By April 10th he was within a half-mile
of the city, and, Lincoln having refused the demand for surrender, the
enemy opened fire. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, the best cavalry leader
the British had in the country, scattered the patriot cavalry at the
rear of the city, which was fully invested. Reinforcements arrived from
New York, and the siege was pushed vigorously. The garrison made a
sortie which accomplished nothing. Tarleton continually defeated the
American cavalry at the rear, many guns were dismounted, food and
supplies were exhausted until all hope was gone, and on the 12th of May,
1780, Lincoln surrendered his army and the city.
This was one of the severest blows of the war. Clinton secured the city
and more than 400 pieces of artillery. He treated his prisoners kindly,
but lost no time in following up his success. Tarleton destroyed the
command of Colonel Abraham Buford, numbering 400 men, and thus
effectually quenched all organized resistance for a time in South
Carolina.
Clinton would have completed the conquest of the South by advancing into
North Carolina, had he not learned that a French fleet was expected on
the coast. This led him to return to New York with the main army, while
Cornwallis was left behind with 4,000 men to complete the unfinished
work as best he could.
In the spring of 1780, Washington sent reinforcements to the South, with
a regiment of artillery under Baron De Kalb, a German veteran who had
come to America with Lafayette. Although one of the finest of officers,
he could scarcely speak a word of English, and General Gates, on June
13, 1780, was ordered by Congress to assume command of the southern
department. He proved unequal to the difficult task, for not only were
the troops few and miserably disciplined and armed, but they were in a
starving condition. The summer was one of the hottest ever known, and,
although reinforcements were expected, Gates decided not to wait before
putting his forces in motion. Reinforcements reaching him after a time,
he marched against Cornwallis, who was eager to meet him.
AMERICAN DEFEAT AT CAMDEN.
The battle was fought at Camden, and was conducted with such skill by
Cornwallis that the raw and untried patriots were utterly routed. The
centre and left wings were swept from the field, but the right under De
Kalb fought with splendid heroism, and it required the whole army of
Cornwallis to drive it from the field. In the fight De Kalb received
eleven wounds, and died the next morning.
The battle of Camden marked the complete destruction of Gates' army. The
militia scattered to their homes, convinced that it was useless to fight
longer, while Gates with a few adherents continued his flight for nearly
two hundred miles. Two days later, Colonel Sumter with eight hundred men
was attacked on the Wateree by Tarleton, who killed half his force and
recaptured his prisoners and booty.
PATRIOT PARTISANS.
Confident that the complete conquest of the South was close at hand,
Cornwallis gave every energy to the work. This was rendered difficult by
the activity of Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, and other
partisan leaders, who were acquainted with every mile of the country,
and on their horses made swift marches, struck effective blows, and were
off again before pursuit could be made. The wonderful work of Marion in
this respect caused him to be known as the "Swamp Fox of the Carolinas."
Many of Tarleton's troopers fell before the fire of these daring
rangers, who occasionally were strong enough to capture important posts.
It is worthy of mention in this place that to Sumter was the distinction
of attaining the greatest age of any officer of the Revolution. At his
death, in 1832, he was in his ninety-ninth year.
AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE.
As illustrative of the spirit of the Southern colonists, we may be
pardoned for the digression of the following anecdote. The fighting of
Marion and his men was much like that of the wild Apaches of the
southwest. When hotly pursued by the enemy his command would break up
into small parties, and these as they were hard pressed would subdivide,
until nearly every patriot was fleeing alone. There could be no
successful pursuit, therefore, since the subdivision of the pursuing
party weakened it too much.
"We will give fifty pounds to get within reach of the scamp that
galloped by here, just ahead of us," exclaimed a lieutenant of
Tarleton's cavalry, as he and three other troopers drew up before a
farmer, who was hoeing in the field by the roadside.
The farmer looked up, leaned on his hoe, took off his old hat, and,
mopping his forehead with his handkerchief, looked at the angry soldier
and said:
"Fifty pounds is a big lot of money."
"So it is in these times, but we'll give it to you in gold, if you'll
show us where we can get a chance at the rebel; did you see him?"
"He was all alone, was he? And he was mounted on a black horse with a
white star in his forehead, and he was going like a streak of lightning,
wasn't he?"
"That's the fellow!" exclaimed the questioners, hoping they were about
to get the knowledge they wanted.
"It looked to me like Jack Davis, though he went by so fast that I
couldn't get a square look at his face, but he was one of Marion's men,
and if I ain't greatly mistaken it was Jack Davis himself."
[Illustration: TARLETON'S LIEUTENANT AND THE FARMER (JACK DAVIS).]
Then looking up at the four British horsemen, the farmer added, with a
quizzical expression:
"I reckon that ere Jack Davis has hit you chaps pretty hard, ain't he?"
"Never mind about _that_," replied the lieutenant; "what we want to know
is where we can get a chance at him for just about five minutes."
The farmer put his cotton handkerchief into his hat, which he now slowly
replaced, and shook his head: "I don't think he's hiding round here," he
said; "when he shot by Jack was going so fast that it didn't look as if
he could stop under four or five miles. Strangers, I'd like powerful
well to earn that fifty pounds, but I don't think you'll get a chance to
squander it on me."
After some further questioning, the lieutenant and his men wheeled their
horses and trotted back toward the main body of Tarleton's cavalry. The
farmer plied his hoe for several minutes, gradually working his way
toward the stretch of woods some fifty yards from the roadside, where he
stepped in among the trees and disappeared. You understand, of course,
that the farmer that leaned on his hoe by the roadside and talked to
Tarleton's lieutenant about Jack Davis and his exploits was Jack Davis
himself.
One day a British officer visited Marion under a flag of truce. When the
business was finished Marion urged him to stay to dinner, and the
officer accepted the invitation. The meal consisted of only baked sweet
potatoes. Noting the surprise of his guest, Marion explained that the
fare was the regular food of himself and soldiers, but, in honor of the
guest, the allowance had been increased that day. This anecdote, which
seems to be authentic, was supplemented by the officer's return to
Charleston, where he resigned his commission, declaring that it was
useless to try to conquer such men. Marion led a spotless life, held in
high esteem by friend and enemy, and his name will always be revered
throughout this country, especially in the South.
PATRIOT VICTORY AT KING'S MOUNTAIN.
The next battle took place at King's Mountain, October 8, 1780.
Cornwallis had sent Colonel Ferguson with about 1,100 men to rouse the
Tories in North Carolina. He met with slight success, and fortified
himself on King's Mountain, between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, and on
the border between North and South Carolina. Aware of his danger, he
sent messengers to Cornwallis urging him to forward reinforcements
without delay. The Americans captured every one of the messengers, and
of course no reinforcements arrived.
The patriots consisted mainly of North Carolina and Kentucky riflemen,
numbering 1,500, all excellent marksmen. They attacked in three separate
columns, each of which was repulsed by Ferguson's men, who fought with
coolness and bravery. Then the Americans united and attacked again.
Ferguson was mortally wounded, and his successor was so hard pressed
that he surrendered. Four hundred of his men fled, three hundred were
killed, and eight hundred laid down their arms, while the loss of the
Americans was no more than twenty.
King's Mountain was a brilliant victory for the Americans and caused
Cornwallis to retreat into North Carolina. His men suffered greatly, and
the commander himself falling ill, the command was turned over to Lord
Rawdon, then a young man and famous afterward in India as the Marquis of
Hastings.
GENERAL GREENE'S SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH.
The failure of Gates led Congress to send the Quaker General Greene to
the South. Next to Washington, he was the most skillful leader of the
Revolution, and, despite his discouragements and difficulties, he
speedily demonstrated the wisdom of the step that placed him where he
was so much needed.
DEFEAT OF TARLETON.
Greene sent Daniel Morgan, the famous commander of the Virginia
riflemen, into South Carolina with a thousand men to gather recruits.
Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton with the same number after him. The
forces met at the Cowpens, near Spartanburg, in January, 1781. This time
the terrible Tarleton found that he had met his master. Morgan utterly
routed him, as was proven by the fact that Tarleton lost a hundred men
killed, besides ten commissioned officers. A large number were wounded,
and six hundred prisoners, his two guns, his colors, eight hundred
muskets, a hundred horses, and most of his baggage train were captured.
Of the Americans only twelve were killed and about fifty wounded.
Tarleton himself had a narrow escape, but got away with a handful of
men.
GREENE'S SKILLFUL RETREAT.
Determined to punish the audacious Morgan, Cornwallis started after him
with his entire army. Greene and Morgan, having united, fell back, for
their troops were too few to risk a battle. Their retreat across North
Carolina into Virginia has never been surpassed in this country. Three
times the British army were at the heels of the Americans, who avoided
them through the fortunate rise of the rivers, immediately after they
had crossed. Cornwallis maintained the pursuit until the Dan was
reached, when he gave up and returned to Hillboro.
BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE.
Having obtained a number of recruits, Greene turned back into North
Carolina, and the two armies encountered at Guilford Court-House (now
Greensboro), in March, 1781. Some of the American militia gave way, but
the rest bravely held their ground, and, when compelled at last to
retreat, did so in good order. Cornwallis had been handled so roughly
that he did not venture to pursue the Americans.
[Illustration: DARING DESERTION OF JOHN CAMPE
From the American to the English ranks, for the purpose of associating
himself with the traitor Benedict Arnold, seizing him and getting him
alive into the hands of the Americans.]
Cornwallis now withdrew to Wilmington, while Greene moved across
North Carolina after the British forces under Lord Rawdon. Several
engagements took place, the principal one being at Hobkirk's Hill, near
Camden. Greene inflicted severe losses upon the enemy, but was compelled
to retreat, and spent the summer among the hills of the Santee, in the
neighborhood of Camden. Advancing toward the coast, he fought the last
battle in the State, at Eutaw Springs, near Charleston, September 8,
1781. The advantage was with the British, but the victory was one of
those that are as disastrous as defeat. Their loss was so heavy that
they retreated during the night and took shelter in Charleston. Greene
had completed his work with admirable effectiveness. Without winning
victories he had, by his caution, skill, celerity of movement, and
generalship, almost cleared the South of the enemy, for the only points
held by them were Charleston and Savannah, where they were closely
hemmed in for the rest of the war.
[Illustration: (CORNWALLIS)]
MOVEMENTS OF CORNWALLIS.
Meanwhile Cornwallis was at Wilmington, where he learned of Greene's
movements too late to intercept him. He was confident, however, that
Rawdon was strong enough to overthrow Greene, and he moved northward
into Virginia to join the forces already there, and complete the
conquest of the State. No serious opposition was encountered by him, and
Tarleton plundered the country as he passed through it. Entering
Virginia, Cornwallis found himself opposed by Lafayette, with 4,000
troops, which was hardly one-half the force under his own command.
Orders came from Clinton in New York for Cornwallis to seize upon some
suitable place near the coast, easily reached by the British vessels.
Cornwallis selected Yorktown, on the peninsula between the James and
York Rivers, where he fixed the headquarters of the army, and began
throwing up fortifications.
OUR FRENCH ALLIES.
The time had come when the friendship of France for America was to
accomplish something. In the summer of 1780 Rochambeau landed at Newport
with 6,000 troops, and later they were marched to Washington's camp,
near Peekskill and Morristown. Confident that he now had an army that
could achieve important results, Washington made preparations to attack
Clinton in New York. Rochambeau gave him every help, the allies working
together with the utmost cordiality and enthusiasm.
THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN.
Clinton was in a constant state of apprehension, for he had good cause
to fear the result of the attack that impended. Washington's plan,
however, was changed, in the summer of 1781, by the news that a French
fleet and a strong force would soon arrive in Chesapeake Bay and shut
off Cornwallis from all assistance from Clinton. Washington decided to
march southward and capture Yorktown and Cornwallis, meanwhile keeping
Clinton under the belief that he meant to attack him. So well was the
secret kept that Clinton's suspicions were not aroused until several
days after the departure of the allied armies.
De Grasse, the commander of the French fleet, arrived in Chesapeake Bay
August 30th. Thus Cornwallis was blocked off from the sea, and enough
soldiers were landed to prevent the British commander's escape by land.
On the same day Washington and Rochambeau, after making a feint toward
Staten Island, began a rapid march through New Jersey to Philadelphia,
and thence to Elkton, Maryland. Officers and men were in high spirits,
for they knew they were on the eve of great events. The citizens of
Philadelphia shared the feeling, and cheered the men as they marched
through the streets. On the way southward Washington made a hurried
visit to Mount Vernon, which he had not seen since the opening of the
war.
Aware of the grave danger threatening Cornwallis, a British fleet made
an effort to relieve him, but the more powerful French fleet easily beat
it off. The allied armies boarded the waiting ships at Elkton, and,
sailing down the Chesapeake to James River, joined Lafayette's force in
front of Yorktown.
[Illustration: THE SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN]
The historical siege of Yorktown opened September 30, 1781. The French
and American armies were ranged in a half-circle in front of Yorktown.
Cornwallis was indignant at the apparent desertion by Clinton, and wrote
to him in the middle of September: "This place is in no state of
defense. If you cannot relieve me very soon, you must expect to hear the
worst." Word came from Clinton that a fleet of twenty-three ships and
more than 5,000 troops would sail to his relief about the 5th of
October.
The French soldiers in their gay uniforms and the Continentals in their
rags maintained an ardent but friendly rivalry in pressing the siege.
Washington aimed and applied the match to the first gun that was fired
into Yorktown. Governor Nelson, being asked to direct the bombardment,
selected the house which he believed to be the headquarters of
Cornwallis, and calmly saw it battered to ruins. It was his own home.
The condition of the defenders hourly grew worse. The lack of forage
compelled them to kill most of their horses, whose bodies drifted down
the river. As is generally the case at such times, sickness broke out
among the British troops, and 2,000 of the 7,000 were in the hospital.
The allies steadily worked their way forward by means of parallels, and
finally the guns along the entire front of Cornwallis were dismounted
and his shells expended.
His situation had become so desperate that no one could have condemned
him for surrendering, but, before doing so, he resolved to make a
determined effort to extricate himself from the trap in which he was
caught. His plan was to abandon his sick, baggage, and all incumbrances,
cross the river in the darkness to Gloucester, attack and scatter the
French force stationed there, and then hasten northward through
Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New York.
This attempt would have been made, but, after a part of the army had
crossed, a violent storm scattered the boats and compelled their return.
The result quenched the last spark of hope in the breast of Cornwallis.
He opened negotiations with Washington, and the terms of surrender were
signed October 18th.
THE SURRENDER.
At two o'clock the next afternoon, the British troops marched slowly out
of Yorktown, drums beating, muskets shouldered, and colors cased. The
American line was drawn up on the right of the road and the French on
the left, its extent being fully a mile. Washington allowed no idle
spectators present, and repressed every sign of exultation on the part
of the captors.
General O'Hara, riding at the head of the troops, saluted when he came
opposite Washington, and apologized for the absence of Cornwallis, who
was suffering from illness. When O'Hara's sword was offered to
Washington, he replied that General Lincoln had been designated to
receive it. There was poetical justice in this, since it was Lincoln who
had been obliged to surrender Charleston to Clinton the previous year.
The prisoners numbered 7,247 English and Hessian soldiers and 840
sailors. Seventy-five brass and thirty-one iron guns were also secured,
including the accoutrements of the army. Clinton with the promised
relief arrived off the Chesapeake on the 24th, and learned to his
consternation that every British soldier in Virginia was a prisoner of
war. With indescribable sadness he sailed back to New York, feeling, as
did everyone else, that English rule in America was ended and American
independence won.
Washington dispatched a courier with the glorious news to Philadelphia.
Riding at headlong speed and changing his horse frequently, he reached
the national capital on the evening of the 23d. In those days the city
was provided with watchmen, who made the tour of the streets crying the
hour. That night the cry rang out--
"PAST TWO O'CLOCK AND CORNWALLIS IS TAKEN."
Windows flew up, lights twinkled from every house, men rushed out
half-clothed, cheering, flinging their hats in air and embracing one
another in their joy. All the bells were set ringing, and the whole city
gave itself over to rejoicing. It was stirred to its profoundest depths
by the thrilling tidings, for even the dullest knew it meant the
independence for which the patriots had struggled throughout more than
six suffering years.
Congress assembled at an early hour and marched to the Dutch Lutheran
Church, where all united in giving thanks to God for His great mercy and
blessing. The aged doorkeeper of Congress was so overcome with joy that
he dropped dead. Washington directed that divine service be held at the
heads of the regiments, in gratitude for the "particular interposition
of Providence in their behalf."
THE NEWS IN ENGLAND.
It would be difficult to describe the dismay caused in England when the
news crossed the ocean. Lord North strode up and down his room, flinging
his arms above his head and moaning, "My God! it is all over!" While
others were equally stricken by the tidings, America had many friends in
that country who had opposed from the beginning the attempt to subjugate
the colonies. Even those who voted for the war measures were now loud in
insisting that no more blood and treasure should be wasted in continuing
hostilities. They demanded the removal of the ministers who advised the
contrary, and the House of Commons declared by vote that anyone who
favored the continuance of the war was a public enemy.
While the surrender at Yorktown virtually ended the struggle, Washington
was too wise to disband the army. No more battles took place, but the
country remained in an unsettled condition for a long time, and the
embers of hate often broke into flame. It is claimed that the last blood
shed in the Revolution was that of Captain Wilmot, shot in a skirmish in
September, 1782, at Stone Ferry.
TREATY OF PEACE AND ITS TERMS.
It had been agreed by both parties that hostilities should stop, and
commissioners were appointed to arrange the terms of peace. The
preliminary articles were signed at Versailles, November 30, 1782, but
the final treaty was not executed until September 3d of the following
year. On April 19, 1783, the eighth anniversary of Lexington, Washington
at the headquarters of the army officially declared the war at an end.
By the final treaty, England acknowledged the United States to be free
and independent, with Canada as a boundary on the north, the Mississippi
River on the west, and Florida, extending westward to the Mississippi,
on the south. Spain, which still owned Louisiana west of the
Mississippi, now received Florida from Great Britain.
The American army was disbanded, and officers and men went to their
homes dissatisfied because they had not been paid for years. Washington
presented himself before Congress at Annapolis and resigned his
commission. The British evacuated Savannah in July, 1782, Charleston in
December, and New York City, their last post, November 25, 1783. The
forts north of the Ohio, however, were held by English garrisons for
about twelve years longer.
[Illustration: UNITED STATES CAPITOL, WASHINGTON.]
CHAPTER VII.
ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
The Method of Government During the Revolution--Impending Anarchy--The
State Boundaries--State Cessions of Land--Shays' Rebellion--Adoption of
the Constitution--Its Leading Features--The Ordinance of 1787--Formation
of Parties--Election of the First President and Vice-President.
War is not only a blight to mankind, but it inflicts wounds that can
never heal and brings a train of woe and suffering which lasts for
years. The social system is disorganized, industry checked, resources
exhausted, and a debt entailed whose burden is felt for generations. The
United States had won the priceless boon of independence, but the States
were exhausted and in the lowest depths of poverty. They were like those
who, having lost everything, are compelled to begin life anew.
[Illustration: A PLANTATION GATEWAY.
(Entrance to the Estate of William Byrd, at Westover, Va.)]
WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
While the war was under way, the States were held together by the one
common danger, and the Continental Congress managed the affairs of the
Union, but the body was without any authority to govern, and whatever it
did in that direction was only what the people permitted. The State
governments were tangible, for State constitutions had been formed and
the Legislatures received direct authority from the people. When they
chose to disobey Congress they did so, and no penalty could be visited
upon them. As the end of the war approached, the authority of the
respective States increased and that of Congress dwindled until it was
but a mere name and shadow.
The Articles of Confederation were agreed upon by Congress in 1777. They
defined the respective powers of Congress and were not to go into effect
until a majority of the States should agree to them. Within the
following two years all yielded their assent except Maryland, which did
so March 1, 1781.
DISPUTE OVER STATE BOUNDARIES.
The cause of this prolonged delay was the dispute over western
territory. Few persons suspect the extent of the wrangling over the
respective boundaries of the States. When the charters were granted by
England, the western boundaries of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were defined, and
consequently they could not ask for an extension of them. New York
insisted that she had no western boundary. The remaining six States had
their western boundaries named as the Pacific Ocean, which was at a
distance that no one dreamed of at the time. They asserted that the
transfer of Louisiana to Spain fixed the Mississippi River as the limit
in that direction.
Among these claims none was so remarkable as that of Virginia. The most
that her sister States asked was that their northern and southern
boundaries should run parallel to the westward, but Virginia insisted
that her northern boundary extended northwest, which, if allowed, would
have given her all of the present States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Her claim was crossed by those of
Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The States whose western boundaries had been settled were indignant over
the injustice of the claims of the others, for, since the whole thirteen
assisted in wresting the territory from Great Britain, they asserted
that all should share it. Some of the States sold lands in the west,
whose ownership was disputed by other States, and Maryland, as
intimated, refused her assent to the Articles of Confederation until
assured that these western claims would be abandoned.
HOW THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED.
It was evident that the only way out of the confusion was by the
surrender of these claims, and New York set the example in 1780. In
response to the earnest request of Congress, Virginia did the same in
1784, Massachusetts in 1785, Connecticut in 1786, South Carolina in
1787, North Carolina in 1790, and Georgia in 1802. The result was that
the western boundaries of the States named were fixed as they are
to-day, and the United States came into the possession of a large
territory. Connecticut held fast to a large strip of land in
northeastern Ohio, which is still known as the Western Reserve. The same
State, which had settled Wyoming in Pennsylvania, claimed it for a time,
but finally gave it up.
It took but a short time to demonstrate the utter worthlessness of the
Articles of Confederation. Congress, the central governing power, had no
authority to lay taxes, punish crimes, or regulate foreign or domestic
commerce. Its whole function was to give advice to the respective
States, which, as might be supposed, paid little or no heed to it.
Furthermore, the stronger States made laws inimical to the smaller ones,
and Congress was powerless to remedy it. Naturally Great Britain
oppressed American commerce, and there was no way of checking it.
The prosperity which most of the people expected to follow peace did not
appear. The Continental currency was not worth the paper it was printed
on. Even at this late day, when a man uses the expression that an
article is "not worth a Continental," it is understood to mean that it
has no value at all.
WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM.
The condition of no one was more pitiful than that of the heroes who had
fought through the Revolution and won our independence. They went to
their poverty-smitten homes in rags. While Washington was at his
headquarters at Newburgh, in 1783, an anonymous paper was distributed
among the troops calling upon them to overthrow the civil governments
and obtain their rights by force. They even dared to ask Washington to
become their king, but that great man spurned the offer in a manner that
prevented it ever being repeated. But his sympathy was aroused, and he
finally secured five years' full pay for the officers, and thus averted
the danger.
At that time the Northern and Middle States contained about a million
and a half of people and the Southern a million. Virginia had 400,000
inhabitants, and was the most populous, with Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts next, each having 350,000. The present Empire State of New
York was one of the weak States, the city containing about 14,000,
Boston 20,000, and Philadelphia 40,000. It was estimated that the debt
of the respective States was $20,000,000 and of the country $42,000,000.
SHAYS' INSURRECTION.
Rioting and disorder are always sure to follow so deplorable a condition
of affairs. Daniel Shays, formerly a captain in the Continental army,
headed a mob of 2,000 men in Massachusetts, who demanded the stoppage of
the collection of taxes and the issuance of a large amount of paper
money for general use. When they had dispersed the Supreme Court,
sitting at Springfield, General Lincoln was sent with 4,000 troops to
put down the rebellion. Lincoln placed the judges in their seats, and
then, when the rioters were about to attack him, he gave them a volley.
The rioters scattered and the rebellion ended. Fourteen of the
ringleaders were afterward sentenced to death, but were reprieved and
finally pardoned.
THE MEETING AT ANNAPOLIS.
Shays' rebellion was one of the best things that could have happened,
for it showed the country more clearly than before that it was on the
verge of anarchy, and that the remedy must not be delayed. Long before
this, Washington comprehended the serious peril of the country, and he
was in continual consultation with men whose worth and counsel he
valued. The result was that a meeting of commissioners from Maryland,
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York met at Annapolis in
September, 1786. They held an earnest discussion, but as only a minority
of the States were represented, nothing positive could be done, and an
adjournment was had with a recommendation that each State should send
delegates to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787. The prestige of
Washington's name gave so much weight to the recommendation that at the
appointed date all the States were represented except Rhode Island.
The wisdom of Washington was again manifest in a letter which he wrote
some months before the meeting of the Constitutional Convention, and
which contained the following:
"We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion of
human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that
without the intervention of a coercive power, men will not adopt and
carry into execution measures best calculated for their own good. I do
not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged
somewhere a power that will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a
manner as the authority of the State governments extend over the several
States.... I am told that even respectable characters speak of a
monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds
speaking; thence acting is but a single step. But how irrevocable and
tremendous! What a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions!
What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are
incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis
of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious!"
When the news reached Washington of the disorders in New England, he was
greatly troubled. "What stronger evidence can be given," he asked, "of
the want of energy in our government than these disorders? If there is
not a power in it to check them, what security has a man for his life,
liberty, or property? The consequences of a bad or inefficient
government are too obvious to be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereigns pulling
against one another, and all tugging at the federal head, will soon
bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and energetic constitution,
well checked and well watched to prevent encroachments, might restore
us to that degree of respectability and consequence to which we had the
fairest prospect of attaining."
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787.
Washington was placed at the head of the delegation from Virginia.
Although he hoped that he would be permitted to spend the rest of his
days in the domestic quiet of Mount Vernon, his patriotism would not
permit him to decline, even though he saw the certainty that the action
would bring him forward once more into public affairs. Only a part of
the delegates met in Philadelphia, May 14, 1787, and an adjournment was
had from day to day until the 25th, when, a majority being present, the
convention organized and unanimously chose Washington as chairman. For
four months it sat with closed doors, meeting in the same room in
Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and
where the chair is still preserved in which Washington sat.
[Illustration: SENATE CHAMBER.]
What an assemblage of great and noble men, all of whose names have
become historical! With the peerless Washington at the head, there were
James Madison, afterward President of the United States; Benjamin
Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin West, Edmund Randolph, Robert
Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Sherman, Clymer, Read, and Dickinson. It may
well be imagined that among those men the discussions, which were
continued several hours daily, were of the most interesting nature.
Inevitably there was a diversity of views, and the arguments at times
grew warm, but with such an aggregation of statesmanship and wisdom, the
best results were certain. Steadily the wonderful Constitution was
moulded into shape, and on the 17th of September was signed by all the
delegates except Randolph and Mason, of Virginia, and Gerry, of
Massachusetts. It was then submitted to Congress, which forwarded it to
the respective States for acceptance or rejection--the assent of nine
being necessary to make it operative.
So important a document was sure to elicit earnest discussion and many
able men opposed its adoption. At that early day appeared the germs of
the present political parties. The problem was as to the right division
of power between the national or central government and the respective
States. Those who favored the widest latitude to the States were called
Republicans, while their opponents were given the name of Federalists.
The views of the latter predominated in the main, though the
Constitution was really a compromise between its supporters and
opponents.
The beneficent features of the instrument were so manifest that its
adoption soon followed. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified it,
and, being the ninth State, its provisions became operative throughout
the Union. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not assent, and the
Constitution went into effect without their vote. These two States had
issued a good deal of paper money, and disliked the Constitution because
it forbade such action. The opposition of the other States was caused by
the fear that too much power was conferred upon the central government.
To remove this not wholly unreasonable objection, the first ten
amendments were adopted and ratified in 1791.
FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION.
The Constitution supplied the great requirement without which the
government itself would have been a nullity: the power to act supplanted
the power simply to advise. The government consists of three
departments: a legislative or Congress, which makes the laws; an
executive department, consisting of the President and his officers, to
execute the laws made by Congress; and a judiciary department (the
Federal courts), which decides disputed questions under the laws. The
Constitution is our supreme law and must be obeyed by the general
government, the State governments, and the people; if not, the general
government punishes the offender.
Congress, or the legislative department, consists of two branches, the
Senate and House of Representatives. Each State, no matter what its
population, is entitled to two Senators, who serve for six years and are
elected by the respective State Legislatures; the Representatives are
apportioned according to the population, are voted for directly by the
people, and serve for two years. In this admirable manner, each State is
protected by its Senators against any encroachment upon its rights,
while the populous States receive the recognition to which they are
entitled through the House of Representatives.
Congress, the two branches acting together, lay taxes, borrow money,
regulate commerce, coin money, establish post offices, declare war,
raise and support armies and navies, and employ militia to suppress
insurrections. All States are forbidden to do any of these things,
except to impose their own taxes, borrow for themselves, and employ
their own militia. A majority of each house is enough to pass any bill,
unless the President within ten days thereafter vetoes the act (that is,
objects to it), when a two-thirds vote of each branch is necessary to
make it a law. Treaties made by the President do not go into effect
until approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
[Illustration: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.]
The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four
years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is
commander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of
officers, it being necessary that most of the appointments shall be
confirmed by the Senate. In case of misconduct, the President is to be
impeached (charged with misconduct) by the House of Representatives and
tried by the Senate. If convicted and removed, or if he should die or
resign or be unable to perform the duties of his office, the
Vice-President takes his place and becomes President. With this
exception, the Vice-President presides over the Senate, with no power to
vote except in case of a tie. No provision was made for a successor in
the event of the death of the Vice-President, but in 1886 the
Presidential Succession Law was passed, which provides that, in case of
the death or disability of the President and Vice-President, the order
of succession shall be the secretaries of State, of the treasury, of
war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, and the secretaries
of the navy and of the interior.
The judiciary department, or power to decide upon the constitutionality
of laws, was given to one supreme court and such inferior courts as
Congress should establish. The judges are appointed by the President and
Senate and hold office during life or good behavior. The State courts
have the power of appeal to the supreme court of the United States,
whose decision is final, the questions being necessarily based upon
offenses against any law of Congress, or upon the doubtful meaning of a
law, or the doubt of the constitutional power of Congress to pass a law.
At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, three-fifths of the
slaves were to be counted in calculating the population for the
Representatives. Fugitive slaves were to be arrested in the States to
which they had fled. New Territories were to be governed by Congress,
which body admits the new States as they are formed. Each State is
guaranteed a republican form of government, and the vote of
three-fourths of the States can change the Constitution through the
means of amendments. The provisions regarding slavery, as a matter of
course, lost their effect upon the abolishment of the institution at the
close of the Civil War.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.
Congress remained in session in New York, while the Philadelphia
convention was at work upon the Constitution, and during that period
organized a territorial government for the immense region northwest of
the Ohio, which belonged to the United States. The enterprising nature
of the American people asserted itself, and hundreds of emigrants began
making their way into that fertile section, where the best of land could
be had for the asking. But the Indians were fierce and warred
continually against the settlers. Most of these had been soldiers in the
Revolution, and they generally united for mutual protection. The Ohio
Company was formed in 1787, and, in order to assist it, Congress passed
the Ordinance of 1787, of which mention has been made.
Slavery was forever forbidden in the Territory northwest of the Ohio,
and the inhabitants were guaranteed full religious freedom, trial by
jury, and equal political and civil privileges. The governors of the
Territory were to be appointed by Congress until the population was
sufficient to permit the organization of five separate States, which
States should be the equal in every respect of the original thirteen.
From the Territory named the powerful and prosperous States of Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin were afterward formed.
SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST.
The Indian titles to 17,000,000 acres of land in the Territory had been
extinguished by treaties with the leading tribes, despite which the red
men contested the advancing settlers with untiring ferocity. Flatboats
were attacked on their way down the Ohio, and the families massacred;
blockhouses were assailed, and the smoke of the settlers' burning cabins
lit the skies at night. The pioneer path to the fertile region was
crimsoned by the blood of those who hewed their way through the western
wilderness.
Until formed into States, the region was known as _The Northwestern
Territory_. In 1788, Rufus Putnam, of Massachusetts, at the head of
forty pioneers, founded the settlement of Marietta, and within the same
year 20,000 people erected their homes in the region that had been
visited by Daniel Boone and others nearly twenty years before.
No sooner had the ninth State ratified the Constitution than the
Congress of the Confederation named March 4, 1789, as the day on which,
in the city of New York, the new government should go into effect.
The time had come for the selection of the first President of the United
States, and it need not be said that the name of only one
man--WASHINGTON--was in people's thoughts. So overmastering was the
personality of that great man that he was the only one mentioned, and
what is most significant of all, not a politician or leader in the
country had the effrontery to hint that he had placed himself "in the
hands of his friends" in the race for the presidency. Had he done so, he
would have been buffeted into eternal obscurity.
Whatever may be said of the ingratitude of republics, it can never be
charged that the United States was ungrateful to Washington. The people
appreciated his worth from the first, and there was no honor they would
not have gladly paid him.
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
The date of the 4th of March was fixed without special reason for
launching the new government, and it has been the rule ever since,
though it often falls upon the most stormy and unpleasant day of the
whole year. Some of the States were so slow in sending their
representatives to New York, that more than a month passed before a
quorum of both houses appeared. When the electoral vote for the
President was counted, it was found that every one of the sixty-nine had
been cast for Washington. The law was that the person receiving the next
highest number became Vice-President. This vote was: John Adams, of
Massachusetts, 34; John Jay, of New York, 9; R.H. Harrison, of Maryland,
6; John Rutledge, of South Carolina, 6; John Hancock, of Massachusetts,
4; George Clinton, of New York, 3; Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, 2;
John Milton, of Georgia, 2; James Armstrong, of Georgia, Benjamin
Lincoln, of Massachusetts, and Edward Telfair, of Georgia, 1 vote each.
Vacancies (votes not cast).
John Adams, of Massachusetts, therefore, became the first
Vice-President.
[Illustration: AN OLD INDIAN FARM-HOUSE.]
CHAPTER VIII.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON--1789-1809.
Washington--His Inauguration as First President of the United
States--Alexander Hamilton--His Success at the Head of the Treasury
Department--The Obduracy of Rhode Island--Establishment of the United
States Bank--Passage of a Tariff Bill--Establishment of a Mint--The Plan
of a Federal Judiciary--Admission of Vermont, Kentucky, and
Tennessee--Benjamin Franklin--Troubles with the Western Indians--Their
Defeat by General Wayne--Removal of the National Capital Provided
for--The Whiskey Insurrection--The Course of "Citizen Genet"--Jay's
Treaty--Re-election of Washington--Resignation of Jefferson and
Hamilton--Washington's Farewell Address--Establishment of the United
States Military Academy at West Point--The Presidential Election of
1796--John Adams--Prosperity of the Country--Population of the Country
in 1790--Invention of the Cotton Gin--Troubles with France--War on the
Ocean--Washington Appointed Commander-in-Chief--Peace Secured--The Alien
and Sedition Laws--The Census of 1800--The Presidential Election of
1800--The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution--Thomas
Jefferson--Admission of Ohio--The Indiana Territory--The Purchase of
Louisiana--Its Immense Area--Abolishment of the Slave Trade--War with
Tripoli--The Lewis and Clark Expedition--Alexander Hamilton Killed in a
Duel by Aaron Burr--The First Steamboat on the Hudson--The First Steamer
to Cross the Atlantic--England's Oppressive Course Toward the United
States--Outrage by the British Ship _Leander_--The Affair of the
_Leopard_ and _Chesapeake_--Passage of the Embargo Act--The Presidential
Election of 1808.
[Illustration: MARY BALL, AFTERWARD THE MOTHER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.]
WASHINGTON.
The name of Washington will always stand peerless and unapproachable on
the pages of human history. In great crises, Heaven raises up men for
its appointed work. As soldier, statesman, and patriot, he combined in
his own personality the full requirements of the prodigious task than
which no greater was ever laid upon the shoulders of man. Through
trials, sufferings, discouragements, disappointments, abuse, ill
treatment, opposition, and misunderstandings, he never lost heart; his
lofty patriotism was never quenched; his sublime faith in God and the
destiny of his country never wavered, and, seeing with the eye of
undimmed faith the end from the beginning, he advanced with serene
majesty and unconquerable resolve to the conclusion and perfection of
his mighty work.
It has been said of Washington that he embodied within himself the
genius of sanity and the sanity of genius. We can conceive of Lincoln,
Grant, or any other great man losing his mind, but like the snowy crest
of a mountain, rising far above the plain, he stood by himself, and it
is impossible to think of him as losing even in the slightest degree the
magnificent attributes of his personality. As has been stated, his was
the single example in our history in which the fate of our country
rested with one man. Had he fallen in battle at any time between
Lexington and Yorktown, the Revolution would have stopped and
independence been postponed indefinitely. But when Heaven selects its
agent, it shields him in impenetrable armor, and, though Washington was
exposed to innumerable personal perils in the wilderness and in battle,
when his comrades were smitten with death around him, he never received
the slightest wound, and lived to see his work finished, when, in the
quiet of his own home at Mount Vernon, he lay down, folded his arms, and
passed to his reward.
[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732-1799.) Two terms, 1789-1797.]
George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February
22, 1732. There is a general misunderstanding as to his family. He had
three half-brothers, one half-sister, and three brothers and two
sisters. His half-brothers and sister, children of Augustine Washington
and Jane Butler, were: Butler (died in infancy), Lawrence, Augustine,
and Jane. His brothers and sisters, children of Augustine Washington and
Mary Ball, were: Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred
(died in infancy).
Washington's father died when the son was eleven years old, and his
training devolved upon his mother, a woman of rare force of character.
He received a common school education, but never became learned in
books. He early showed a liking for military matters, was fond of the
sports of boyhood, and was manly, truthful, and so eminently fair in
everything, that his playmates generally selected him as umpire and
cheerfully accepted his decisions. He became an expert surveyor, and, at
the age of sixteen, was employed by Lord Fairfax to survey his immense
estate. The work, which continued for three years and was of the most
difficult nature, attended by much hardship and danger, was performed to
the full satisfaction of his employer.
[Illustration: INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.]
Washington grew to be a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. He was
six feet two inches tall, with a large frame and a strength surpassing
that of two ordinary men. No one in the neighborhood was his equal in
horsemanship, running, leaping, throwing, swimming, and all manner of
athletic sports. He was of the highest social rank, wealthy, and a
vestryman and member of the Episcopal Church. He was rather fond of pomp
and ceremony, somewhat reserved in manner, and at times seemed cold and
distant, but with a character that was without flaw or stain. It has
already been said that he served throughout the Revolution without
accepting a penny for his services. He kept an account of all he
received from the government, but sometimes forgot to note what he paid
out. In such cases he balanced his books by paying the deficit from his
own pocket, so that it may be truthfully said he not only won
independence for his country, but paid for the privilege of doing so.
Washington from his first services in the French and Indian War was so
identified with the history of his country that the account of one
includes that of the other. Having told of his election to the
presidency, it, therefore, remains to give the principal incidents of
his administration.
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION.
A special messenger reached Mount Vernon with news of Washington's
election on the 14th of April, and two days later he set out for New
York. The journey was one continual ovation, special honors being shown
him at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and New York, where they
attained their culmination. He arrived on the 23d of April, and the
inauguration took place a week later. Amid impressive ceremonies, the
oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor of the
State of New York, in Federal Hall, on the present site of the
sub-treasury building. Washington stood in a balcony of the senate
chamber, in full view of the great multitude on the outside. He showed
considerable embarrassment, but was cheered to the echo and was greatly
touched by the manifestations of the love of his fellow-countrymen.
At the opening of his administration, Washington became ill and no
important business was done until September. On the 10th of that month,
Congress created a department of foreign affairs, a treasury department,
and a department of war. Thomas Jefferson was nominated to the first,
Alexander Hamilton to the second, and General Henry Knox to the third.
All were admirable appointments.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, was one of the most remarkable
men identified with the history of our country. He was born in the West
Indies in 1757, and, while a child, displayed extraordinary ability.
When fifteen years old, he was sent to New York City and entered King's
(now Columbia) College. A patriotic speech made when he was only
seventeen years old held his hearers spellbound by its eloquence. At
twenty, he organized a company of cavalry and performed excellent
service on Long Island and at White Plains. Washington was so impressed
by his brilliancy that he placed him on his staff and made him his
military secretary. Many of the best papers of the commander-in-chief
received their finishing touches from the master hand of Hamilton. He
was in Congress in 1782-1783, and helped to frame the Constitution.
When the New York Convention assembled to ratify the new Constitution,
three-fourths of its members were strongly opposed to it, but Hamilton
by the sheer force of his eloquent logic won them over and secured the
assent of the State to the adoption of the Constitution. He was one of
our most brilliant statesmen and the foremost Federalist of his time.
HAMILTON'S WISE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCES.
The greatest problem which confronted the country was that of finance,
and Hamilton grasped it with the skill of a master. Hardly had he
received his commission, when Congress called upon him for a plan to
provide for the public debt and to revive the dead national credit.
Hamilton's first answer was that the country would begin by being
honest, and that every dollar of the confederation, then amounting
almost to $80,000,000, should be paid, the United States assuming all
debts due to American citizens, as well as the war debt of each State.
This bold and creditable ground greatly improved public credit, before
any provision was made for the payment of the vast debt.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
(1757-1804).]
Hamilton's plan was to fund the entire debt and issue new certificates.
It was vehemently opposed, especially the provision that the State debts
should be assumed by the general government; but solely by his wonderful
ability he carried the measure through Congress. The debate sharpened
the lines between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists or Republicans.
It will be remembered that at that time neither North Carolina nor Rhode
Island had adopted the Constitution. The former called a convention,
and, on the 13th of November, 1789, ratified it, but Rhode Island
continued to sulk until Providence and Newport withdrew from the State,
and Massachusetts and Connecticut made ready to parcel the State between
them. This frightened her, and, on May 29, 1790, she joined her
sisters.
The following year Hamilton gave another proof of his power by carrying
through Congress, in the face of the strongest opposition, a measure for
the relief of the financial straits of the government. The only banks in
the country were one each in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, all of
which were State institutions. He advocated the establishment of a bank
in which the government should be one-fifth owner of the capital stock
of $10,000,000 and a preferred borrower to the same amount. It was to be
under private management. In the face of the strong opposition, the act
creating it was passed, and it was chartered for twenty years. The
subscriptions required that one-fourth should be paid in specie and the
rest in six per cent. certificates of the bank. Within two hours after
the subscription books were opened the entire amount of stock was
subscribed. The United States Bank was destined to play an important
part in national affairs in after years.
PASSAGE OF A TARIFF BILL.
Having provided the means for funding the debt and for borrowing money,
it yet remained to find some way of earning the money. The method was so
apparent that Congress lost no time in passing a tariff bill. A law
placed a duty on imported and domestic spirits, and, in February, 1792,
a protective tariff bill was enacted. This provided that the materials
from which goods are manufactured should not be taxed, while articles
competing with those made in this country were prohibited. A mint was
also established in Philadelphia for coining money.
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY ORGANIZED.
The plan for the Federal judiciary was perfected on the lines proposed
by Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The national judiciary consisted of a
supreme court, having a chief justice and five associate justices, who
were to hold two sessions annually at the seat of the Federal
government. Specified jurisdiction was given to the circuit and district
courts, and each State was made a district; the Territories of Maine and
Kentucky were provided for in the same manner, and the remaining
Territories were grouped into three circuits. When the matter in dispute
amounted to $2,000, an appeal could be taken from the lower courts to
the supreme court. The President was to appoint a marshal in each
district, possessing the general powers of a sheriff, and the interests
of the government were placed in the hands of a district attorney.
The first chief justice of the United States was John Jay, of New York,
while Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, was made attorney-general. The
associate judges were John Rutledge, of South Carolina; James Wilson, of
Pennsylvania; William Cushing, of Massachusetts; Robert H. Harrison, of
Maryland; and John Blair, of Virginia.
Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791; Kentucky, June 1,
1792; and Tennessee exactly two years later. These three States were all
that were formed during the presidency of Washington.
[Illustration: BEN FRANKLIN MOULDING CANDLES IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP.]
Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia, April 17, 1790, at the age of
eighty-four years. Since he was one of the greatest of all Americans, he
is entitled to fitting notice. He was born in Boston in 1706, and was
the youngest of seventeen children. His father was a tallow chandler and
soap boiler, a trade which Benjamin detested. He was apprenticed to his
brother, who was a printer, and while a boy gave evidence of his
remarkable keenness and brilliant common sense. Rebelling against the
discipline of his brother, he ran away, tramping most of the distance
to Philadelphia. There he secured a situation and showed himself so
skillful and tasteful a printer that he never lacked for work. He
established a paper in Philadelphia in 1729, and began the publication
of _Poor Richard's Almanac_ in 1732, the year in which Washington was
born. The wit, homely philosophy, and keen penetration shown by Franklin
attracted wide attention and gave the almanac an enormous circulation,
which lasted as long as it was published. Many of his proverbs are still
popular and widely quoted.
In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster of the British colonies,
and, as a delegate to the Albany Convention in 1754, proposed an
important plan for colonial union. From 1757 to 1762, and again from
1764 to the Revolution, he was agent of Pennsylvania in England; part of
the time also for Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia. Returning to
Philadelphia in 1775, he was at once chosen a delegate to the
Continental Congress. Few persons, in looking at his handsome signature
on the Declaration of Independence, would suspect that it was written
when he was seventy years old. It has been shown that he was one of the
committee of five who drew up the Declaration, and in the following
autumn was sent to Paris to join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. His
services there were of the highest importance. He had a leading part in
the negotiations of the treaty of peace in 1783, after which he
negotiated a favorable treaty with Russia. He returned to America in
1785, and was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and
1787. He was an influential member of the Constitutional convention, and
probably was second to Washington in popularity. His funeral in
Philadelphia was attended by more than 20,000 persons.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN'S GRAVE.]
Franklin's researches in electricity, though slight as compared with the
discoveries since made by Edison, Tesla, and others, extended his fame
to Europe. By means of the kite which he sent aloft in a thunderstorm,
he proved that the lightning in the atmosphere is identical with that
developed by frictional electricity. This discovery led to the invention
of the lightning-rod for buildings, which has been the means of saving
property beyond estimate. He was the inventor also of an economical
stove and other useful contrivances. He made himself wealthy, and the
fortune which he left at his death was the foundation of the splendid
institution of learning known as the University of Pennsylvania.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS
In this memorable battle of August 20, 1794, General Wayne visited a
final defeat upon the Indians at Maumee Rapids, putting an end to the
war in the Northwest, which for nearly four years had terrorized and
devastated the territory now occupied by the States of Indiana, Ohio and
Illinois.]
DISASTROUS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE WESTERN INDIANS.
Returning to the history of Washington's presidency, mention must be
made of the troubles with the western Indians, who, as has been stated,
fought relentlessly against the advance of civilization into their
hunting grounds. Between 1783 and 1790, 1,500 persons were killed by the
red men near the Ohio. It being clear that peace could not be secured
except by a thorough chastisement of the Indians, Congress gave General
Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, authority to call
for 500 militia from Pennsylvania and a thousand from Kentucky, to which
were added 400 regulars. Under General Harmar they marched against the
Indian villages.
In the campaign the Indians outgeneraled Harmar, who, after inflicting
some damage, was defeated and lost 200 men in killed and wounded. The
defeat encouraged the savages, who became more aggressive than ever.
General St. Clair organized a second expedition consisting of 2,000 men,
including cavalry and artillery, with which in October, 1793, he entered
the Indian country, only to suffer a more disastrous defeat than General
Harmar, and in which the losses were so dreadful that the news caused
consternation in Philadelphia. Washington had cautioned St. Clair
against the very mistakes he made, and he completely lost his temper. He
paced up and down his room, giving such expressions to his feelings that
those around him were awed into silence. By-and-by, he seemed to regret
the outburst, and, when the trembling St. Clair some time later
presented himself, the President received him without reproach; but St.
Clair was overwhelmed by his disgrace and resigned his command.
WAYNE'S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS.
Washington determined that no more blunders should be made, and
appointed Anthony Wayne to the command of the next expedition. He raised
a large force, moved cautiously, and took every precaution against
surprise, as Washington had told him to do. He had 4,000 men under his
command, and the consummate woodcraft and tricks of the red men failed
to deceive him. At Fallen Timbers, near the present city of Toledo, he
met a large force, August 20, 1794, of Canadians and Indians, completely
routed them, killed a great many, with slight loss to himself, and so
crushed the confederation of tribes that they gave no more trouble for a
long time. A year later, 1,100 chiefs and warriors met the United States
commissioners at Fort Greenville and signed a treaty of peace, by which
they ceded to the government an immense tract of land lying in the
present States of Michigan and Indiana. An impetus was given to western
emigration, which suffered no interruption for many years.
THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYLVANIA.
One of the acts of Congress was to declare that Philadelphia was to be
the national capital for ten years, from 1790, when it was to be removed
to a point on the Potomac River, where the city of Washington now
stands. One measure which Hamilton induced Congress to pass caused
trouble. It doubled the duty on imported spirits and taxed those
distilled in this country. So much dissatisfaction appeared in North
Carolina and Pennsylvania that the law was modified, but it did not end
the discontent. The officers sent to Pennsylvania to collect the taxes
were resisted and the militia sympathized with the rioters, whose
numbers swelled to 7,000 under arms. When they began to talk of
appealing to England, Washington lost patience and sent a large body of
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey militia to the section.
They were under the command of General Henry Lee, governor of Virginia,
and arrived on the scene in October, 1794. Order was soon restored, and
the ringleaders, expressing sorrow for their acts, were not punished.
This seems to be the rule in our country, except that repentance on the
part of criminals is not required.
"CITIZEN GENET."
The action of "Citizen Genet" caused a flurry during Washington's
presidency. The "Reign of Terror" had begun in France, where the most
appalling revolution in history had taken place. The tyranny of the
rulers had driven the people to frenzied desperation, and, overthrowing
the government, their massacres were not checked until literally
hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Since their rebellion was
begun against tyranny, and France had helped us in our war for
independence, there was general sympathy for the people in our own
country, though everyone was shocked by the deeds that soon horrified
the civilized world.
Having established a government, the revolutionists sent Edward Charles
Genet to this country as its representative. He was warmly welcomed at
Charleston, where he landed in April, 1793. He was too discourteous to
go to Philadelphia to present his credentials, and began enlisting
recruits for France and intriguing for an alliance with us. Since France
was fighting England, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Holland, it can be
understood how desirable such an alliance would have been to her.
Washington was too wise to be misled, and he issued a proclamation of
neutrality, forbidding citizens of the United States to equip vessels to
carry on hostilities against the belligerent powers. Genet paid no
attention to this, but kept on enlisting men and fitting out cruisers
in American waters. His course became so intolerable that Washington
demanded his recall. This demand was complied with, and he was ordered
to return home. No one knew better than he that if he showed himself in
France he would lose his head. So he stayed in this country until his
death in 1834.
JAY'S TREATY.
[Illustration: CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY.]
The course of England became so unjust toward the commerce, because of
her war with France, that Chief Justice John Jay, in May, 1794, was sent
as envoy extraordinary to that country to demand redress. A treaty was
agreed upon and ratified by the Senate in June, 1795, which provided
that the British garrisons should be withdrawn from the western posts by
June 1, 1796; free inland navigation upon lakes and rivers was
guaranteed to both nations, except that the United States was excluded
from the territory of the Hudson Bay Company; British vessels were
admitted to the rivers and harbors on our seacoast, but our shipping was
shut out from the rivers and harbors of the British provinces, with the
exception of small vessels trading between Montreal and Quebec; our
northeastern boundary was to be fixed by a commission; the payments of
debts incurred before the war were guaranteed to British creditors, if
such debts were collectible by an American creditor; Great Britain was
to pay for losses resulting from irregular captures by her cruisers;
citizens of either country were allowed to hold landed possessions in
the territory of the other; private property was not to be confiscated
in time of war; trade between the United States and the West Indies was
free to the vessels of both nations, but American vessels were forbidden
to carry West Indian products from the islands or from the States to any
other part of the world. The last clause was to be in force only two
years, when further negotiation was to take place. In addition, the two
years' limit was applicable to the right of American vessels to trade
between the East Indies and the United States, but in time of war they
were not to take thither any rice or military stores; free commerce was
established between the British dominions in Europe and the United
States; the regulation of duties was provided for, as well as the
appointment of consuls and the rules of blockade; privateering was
regulated; what was contraband of war was defined, and it was agreed
that piracy should be punished; ships of war could enter the ports of
either country; criminals escaping from one country to the other were to
be surrendered; and, in the event of war between the two countries,
citizens in hostile territory were not to be molested.
Although this treaty possessed many good points, and was the best
obtainable by our envoy, it gave so many advantages to Great Britain
that it roused bitter enmity in this country. Public meetings were held
in the leading cities, where it was denounced as cowardly and made for
the express purpose of avoiding a war with England. The feeling rose so
high that Jay was burned in effigy, Hamilton was assaulted at a public
meeting, the British minister insulted, and even Washington himself
treated with disrespect. Better judgment prevailed, when the passions
cooled, and it is now admitted that Jay's treaty, when all the
circumstances are considered, was a commendable one.
SECOND ELECTION OF WASHINGTON.
It was Washington's wish to retire to private life on conclusion of his
first term, but he could not disregard the demand from all quarters. No
competitor appeared in the field against him, and for a second time he
was unanimously elected. His vote was 132; that cast for the candidates
for the minor office being, John Adams, Federalist, 77; George Clinton,
of New York, Republican, 50; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Republican,
4; Aaron Burr, of New York, Republican, 1; vacancies, 3. This vote made
John Adams again Vice-President.
Since Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans (or as now called the
Democrats), and Hamilton of the Federalists (afterward the Whigs), and
the two, as members of Washington's cabinet, were able and aggressive,
they were continually disputing. Sometimes they sorely tried
Washington's patience, who, appreciating the ability of both, often had
hard work to prevent an open rupture. On the last day in 1793, Jefferson
resigned his office as secretary of foreign affairs and retired to
private life at Monticello, Virginia. A year later Hamilton resigned as
minister of finance. Through his efforts public credit had been
restored, and industry and trade had revived. He well deserved the
eloquent tribute of Daniel Webster: "He smote the rock of the national
resources, and abundant streams of revenues burst forth. He touched the
dead corpse of public credit, and it sprung upon its feet."
As Washington's second term drew to a close, a universal demand was made
that he should serve again. Despite the fact that the two great
political parties were fairly organized, and each contained many able
men, no one would have had the temerity to offer himself as a
competitor; but he was growing old, his strength had been worn out in
the service of his country, and the rest he yearned for could no longer
be denied him. He, therefore, issued his immortal Farewell Address to
his countrymen and withdrew to Mount Vernon, where he peacefully passed
away December 14, 1799, mourned by the whole country and revered by the
civilized world.
The Farewell Address contains counsel that can never lose its value to
America. After thanking his fellow-countrymen for the confidence they
had always shown in him, and the support he had received from them, he
said that the love of liberty was so interwoven with every ligament of
their hearts that no recommendation of his was necessary to fortify that
attachment. The unity of government, by which they were made one people,
had also become very dear to them.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S BEDROOM, MT. VERNON, IN WHICH HE DIED.]
"It is justly so," he said, "for it is a main pillar in the edifice of
your real independence--the support of your tranquillity at home, your
peace abroad; of your safety, of your prosperity; of that very liberty
which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee that, from
different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken,
many artifices be employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of
this truth--as this is the point in your political fortress against
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most
constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously)
directed--it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the
immense value of your national union to your collective and individual
happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable
attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as the
palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its
preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest
even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly
frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion
of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now
link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of
sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common
country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The
name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must
also exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation
derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference,
you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles.
You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the
independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and
joints efforts; of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."
[Illustration: THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON RECEIVING MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
Previous to his departure for Europe, in the fall of 1784, the Marquis
de Lafayette repaired to Fredericksburg to pay his parting respects to
Washington's mother and to ask her blessing.
Conducted by one of her grandsons he approached the house, when, the
young gentleman observing, "There, sir, is my grandmother," the Marquis
beheld, working in her garden, clad in domestic-made clothes and her
gray head covered by a plain straw hat, the mother of "his hero, his
friend, and a country's preserver." The lady saluted him kindly,
observing, "Ah, Marquis, you see an old woman; but come, I can make you
welcome to my poor dwelling without the parade of changing my dress."]
Washington next pointed out the mutual advantages derived from one
another in the different sections of the Union, and impressively warned
his countrymen against the danger of sectional parties and the baneful
effects of party spirit. He commended the Constitution, which could be
amended, whenever the necessity arose, as beneficent in its provisions
and obligatory upon all. Other wholesome counsel, which he added, made
the Farewell Address a priceless heritage to the generations that came
after him.
The immediate effect of the paper was excellent. The various State
Legislatures voted thanks to Washington, and were warm in their praises
of his wise and patriotic services as President. The regret was
universal that the country was so soon to lose his valuable counsel and
guidance.
WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY ESTABLISHED.
During the Revolution Washington recommended the excellent location of
West Point as the proper one for a military school of instruction. An
act establishing the United States Military Academy at that place was
passed March 16, 1802. It provided that fifty students or cadets should
be given instruction under the senior engineer or officer, assisted by
the corps of engineers of the army. As the institution grew,
professorships of mathematics, engineering, philosophy, etc., were
added, and the academy was made a military body subject to the rules and
articles of war. A superintendent was designated in 1815, and the
present system of appointing cadets was instituted in 1843. The rigid
course, steadily elevated, probably prevents fully one-half of those
entering from graduating, and, a comparison of the West Point Military
Academy with similar institutions establishes the fact that it is the
finest of the kind in the world.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1796.
The presidential election of 1796 was a close one, the result being:
John Adams, Federalist, 71; Thomas Jefferson, Republican, 68; Thomas
Pinckney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 59; Aaron Burr, of New York,
Republican, 30; Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, Republican, 15; Oliver
Ellsworth, of Connecticut, Independent, 11; George Clinton, of New York,
Republican, 7; John Jay, of New York, Federalist, 5; James Iredell, of
North Carolina, Federalist, 3; George Washington, of Virginia, John
Henry, of Maryland, and S. Johnson, of North Carolina, all Federalists,
2 votes each; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina,
Federalist, 1 vote. Since it required 70 votes to elect, it will be seen
that John Adams was barely successful, with Jefferson close to him.
John Adams, the second President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts,
October 19, 1735. He graduated at Harvard, at the age of twenty, and was
admitted to the bar three years later. He was one of the most active and
influential members of the First and Second Continental Congresses. It
was he who by his eloquent logic persuaded Congress to adopt the
Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, his strenuous political
opponent, declared that Adams was the pillar of its support and its
ablest advocate and defender. It was Adams who suggested the appointment
of General Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental army.
During the progress of the war, he criticised the management of
Washington, but, long before the death of the Father of his Country,
candidly acknowledged the injustice of such criticism.
[Illustration: JOHN ADAMS.
(1735-1826.) One term, 1797-1801.]
The services of Adams were not confined to his early efforts in Congress
nor to his term as President. He did important work as commissioner to
France and Holland, and as minister plenipotentiary to negotiate a
treaty of peace with Great Britain. He obtained large loans and induced
leading European powers to make excellent treaties with his country.
Adams and Franklin framed the preliminary treaty of Versailles, and, as
the first American minister to England, he served until 1788. He
received the thanks of Congress for the "patriotism, perseverance,
integrity, and diligence" displayed while representing his country
abroad. When John Adams assumed the duties of the presidency, he found
the country comparatively prosperous and well governed.
The South was the most prosperous. Until 1793, its principal productions
were rice, indigo, tar, and tobacco. The soil and climate were highly
favorable to the growth of cotton, but its culture was unprofitable, for
its seeds were so closely interwoven in its texture that only by hard
work could a slave clean five pounds a day. In the year named, Eli
Whitney, a New England schoolteacher, living in Georgia, invented the
cotton gin, with which a man can clean a thousand pounds of cotton a
day. This rendered its cultivation highly profitable, gave an importance
to the institution of slavery, and, in its far-reaching effects, was the
greatest invention ever made in this country.
TROUBLES WITH FRANCE.
The matter which chiefly occupied public attention during the
administration of the elder Adams was our difficulties with France. That
country had hardly emerged from the awful Reign of Terror in which a
million of people were massacred, and it was under the control of a set
of bloody minded miscreants, who warred against mankind and believed
they could compel the United States to pay a large sum of money for the
privilege of being let alone. They turned our representatives out of the
country, enacted laws aimed to destroy our commerce, and instructed
their naval officers to capture and sell American vessels and cargoes.
[Illustration: THE COTTON GIN, INVENTED IN 1793.
A machine which does the work of more than 1,000 men.]
President Adams, who abhorred war, sent special ministers to protest
against the course of France. The impudent reply was there would be no
stoppage until the men who controlled the French government were paid
large sums of money. This exasperating notice brought the answer from
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney which has become historical: "Millions for
defense, but not one cent for tribute."
Although war was not declared, it prevailed on the ocean during the
latter half of 1798. Congress convened, abolished the treaties with
France, strengthened the navy, and ordered it to attack French vessels
wherever found. Several engagements took place, in all of which the
French men-of-war were whipped "to a standstill." The most important of
the naval battles was between the _Constitution_, under Commodore
Truxton, and the French frigate _L'Insurgente_, in which the latter was
captured. A messenger was sent to Mount Vernon, carrying the appointment
of Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. He found the
great man in the harvest field; but when Washington donned his
spectacles and read the paper, he replied that he was then as always
ready to serve his country in whatever capacity he could. He accepted
with the understanding that he was not to be called into the field until
actual hostilities took place on the land, and that Alexander Hamilton
should until then be the commander-in-chief.
Doubtless a destructive war would have resulted, but for the fact that
Napoleon Bonaparte, as a stepping-stone to his marvelous career,
overturned the French government and installed himself as emperor. He
saw the folly of a war with the United States, when he was certain soon
to be embroiled with more powerful neighbors near home. He offered fair
terms of peace to our country in 1799, and they were accepted.
THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS.
One of the gravest mistakes made by the Federalists in Congress was the
passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Irritated by the mischief-making
of foreigners, a law was enacted which permitted the President to arrest
any alien in the country whose presence he considered dangerous. The
acts under which this was to be done were known as the Alien Laws. The
most detested measure, however, was that which authorized the arrest of
any person who should speak evil of the government, and was known as the
Sedition Law. There were arrests and punishments under its provisions,
and the majority of the people were bitterly hostile to it. It was
unquestionably a direct invasion of the liberty of speech. The claim
that no editor, public speaker, or private citizen should be allowed to
condemn an action of the government which he disproved was unbearable,
but it was in direct line with the Federal policy of a powerful central
government, and as directly opposed to Republican principles. The
feeling became so intense that at the next presidential election the
Federal party was defeated and never afterward gained control of the
government.
REMOVAL OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TO WASHINGTON.
The census of 1800 showed that the population of the country had
increased to 5,308,483. In that year, the national capital was removed
from Philadelphia to the straggling, partly built village of Washington,
standing in the woods, and without any of the structures that have made
it one of the most attractive cities in the world.
The presidential election of 1800 was an exciting one. Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr, both Republicans, received 73 electoral votes, while
John Adams, Federalist had 65; Charles C. Pinckney, Federalist, 64; John
Jay, Federalist 1. The vote between the leaders being a tie, the
election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where, after
thirty-eight ballots, Jefferson was elected, with Burr, the next highest
candidate, Vice-President. The preceding election, as will be
remembered, gave a President and Vice-President of different political
parties, always an undesirable thing, and this fact, added to the
difficulties of the election just over, led to the adoption in 1804 of
the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which requires the electors
to vote separately for the President and Vice-President.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, was born at
Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. His father, a
wealthy planter, died when his son was fourteen years old, and he
entered William and Mary College, where he was the most assiduous
student in the institution. Jefferson was as fond as Washington of
athletic sports, and, though he was of less massive build, he attained
the same stature, six feet two inches. In college, he was an awkward,
freckle-faced, sandy haired youth, who, but for his superior mental
attainments, would have commanded little respect. Except for his
fondness for hunting and horseback riding, he never could have acquired
the physique which allowed him to spend ten, twelve, and sixteen hours
of every twenty-four in hard study.
[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON.
(1743-1826.) Two terms, 1801-1809.]
Jefferson was undoubtedly the most learned of all our Presidents. He was
not only a fine mathematician, but a master of Latin, Greek, French,
Spanish, and Italian. He was an exquisite performer on the violin, and
it was said of him, by one of the most noted European musicians, that he
never heard an amateur play the king of instruments as well as the slim
Virginian.
Jefferson married a wealthy lady and named his attractive home
Monticello. His great ability caused his election to the Virginia
Legislature while a young man, and he was soon afterward sent to
Congress. Lacking the gifts of oratory, he had no superior as a writer
of fine, classical, forceful English. Among the many excellent laws he
secured for Virginia was the separation of Church and State. He was the
author of a parliamentary manual for the government of the United States
Senate, which is still an authority, and of our present system of
decimal currency; but the reader does not need to be reminded that his
fame will go down to posterity chiefly as the writer of the Declaration
of Independence; but Jefferson felt almost equally proud of the fact
that he was founder of the University of Virginia, which, abandoning the
old system, introduced the "free system of independent schools." He also
proposed for his State a comprehensive system of free public schools.
Although wealthy, he went almost to the extreme of simplicity. His dress
was as plain as that of the Quakers; he wore leathern shoestrings
instead of the fashionable silver buckles; and strove to keep his
birthday a secret, because some of his friends wished to celebrate it.
He was opposed to all pomp, ceremony, and titles. He is universally
regarded as the founder of the Democracy of the present day, and was
undeniably one of the greatest Presidents we have had.
WELCOME LEGISLATION.
The administration of Jefferson proved among the most important in the
history of our country. Congress promptly abolished the tax on distilled
spirits and a number of other manufactures, a step which enabled the
President to dismiss a large number of revenue collectors, whose
unwelcome duties had entailed considerable expense upon the country. The
obnoxious Sedition Law was repealed, and the Alien Law so modified that
it was shorn of its disagreeable features.
ADMISSION OF OHIO.
In the year 1800, a line was run through the Northwest Territory from
the mouth of the Great Miami to Fort Recovery and thence to Canada.
Three years afterward, the territory thus defined was admitted to the
Union as the State of Ohio. The Indiana Territory included the portion
west of the line named, with Vincennes as the capital. The Mississippi
Territory was organized so as to extend from the western boundaries of
Georgia to the Mississippi.
The punishment administered to France in 1798 naturally gave that
country a respect for the United States, and in 1802 our relations with
her became quite friendly. Bonaparte, having established a truce with
the nations around him, found time to give some attention to the
American republic. He seemed to believe he could establish a French
colonial empire, not only in the West Indies, but in the immense
province of Louisiana. Had Bonaparte succeeded, he would have acquired
control of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing would have
pleased England more than to see so serious a check placed upon our
growth, and nothing would have displeased our countrymen more than to be
shut off from the Father of Waters and the right to emigrate westward.
They were ready to go to war before submitting to such deprivation.
PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA.
No one was more keenly alive to the situation than Jefferson. He
carefully instructed our envoy at Paris to make the strongest possible
representations to the French ruler of the grave mistake of the course
he had in mind, which must inevitably result in an alliance with Great
Britain in sweeping France from the seas and driving her from the West
Indies. Bonaparte was too wise not to perceive that this was no empty
threat, and that his visionary French empire in the West would prove an
element of weakness rather than strength. Nothing was plainer than the
truth that the stronger the United States became, the more dangerous
would it be for his traditional enemy, England. He, therefore, proposed
to sell Louisiana to the United States.
This was the very thing for which Jefferson had been skillfully working
from the first. The bargain was speedily completed. On April 30, 1803,
Louisiana came into our possession for the sum of $11,250,000, we
agreeing at the same time to pay certain debts due from France to
American citizens, amounting to $3,750,000, so that the total cost of
Louisiana was $15,000,000.
It must not be forgotten that the Territory of Louisiana, as purchased
by us, was vastly more extensive than is the present State of that name.
It included the area from which have been carved the States of
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas,
Montana, part of Kansas, Wyoming and Colorado, and the Territory of
Oklahoma, the whole area being 1,171,931 square miles, as against
827,844, which was all the territory occupied previous to 1803.
Peaceable possession was taken on the 20th of December following. The
governorship of the Territory was offered to Lafayette, and declined by
him, but he received a grant of 12,000 acres within its limits.
SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED.
At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, it was agreed that the
slave trade should be permitted for twenty years. It was abolished,
therefore, in 1808, and the penalty for engaging in it was made
punishable with death. At the time of the purchase of Louisiana, it was
believed that it included Texas, but the United States gave up this
claim in 1819 to Spain in return for the cession of Florida.
It seems incredible, but it was true, that for twenty years we had been
paying a large tribute to Algiers on condition that she would not molest
our commerce. Other nations did the same, because it was more convenient
than keeping a navy in those far-off waters. A treaty with Morocco had
been signed, in 1787, under which we also paid her tribute. The people
of the Barbary States naturally waxed insolent, and when we were slow in
sending our tribute they imposed a heavy penalty, which we meekly paid.
WAR WITH TRIPOLI.
One of the most disgusted men was Captain William Bainbridge, when
obliged to carry the tribute in 1800 to the Dey of Algiers, who informed
him that the Americans were his slaves, and must do as he ordered. The
indignant officer expressed the hope that the next tribute he delivered
would be from the mouths of his cannon. The following year the ruler of
Tripoli became ruffled because we did not send him as much tribute as he
thought he was entitled to, and actually declared war against us.
The flurry of 1798 with France had caused a considerable increase in our
navy, which was furnished with plenty of daring officers, who afterward
made names for themselves. They eagerly welcomed a war of that nature
which of necessity was a naval one. The operations were confined to the
Mediterranean, on whose shore are the Barbary States.
The first real fight took place in August, 1801, between the
_Enterprise_, a vessel of twelve guns, and a Tripolitan vessel of
fourteen guns. It occurred off Malta, and lasted for two hours, when the
Tripolitan hauled down his flag. Thereupon the Americans left their guns
and were cheering, when the enemy treacherously fired a broadside into
the _Enterprise_. Nothing loth, Lieutenant Sterrett renewed the battle
with such vigor that in a few minutes the flag was lowered a second
time, only to renew the fighting when the enemy saw an advantage.
Thoroughly exasperated, Lieutenant Sterrett now determined to complete
the business. The vessel was raked fore and aft, the mizzen-mast torn
away, the hull knocked to splinters, and fifty men killed and wounded.
Then the American officer caught sight of the captain leaping up and
down on the deck, shrieking and flinging his arms about, as evidence
that he was ready to surrender in earnest. He threw his own flag
overboard, but Lieutenant Sterrett demanded that his arms and ammunition
should follow, the remainder of the masts cut away, and the ship
dismantled. That being done, Sterrett allowed him to rig a jury mast and
told him to carry his compliments to the Dey.
The war against the Tripolitans was very similar to that against the
Spaniards in 1898. The _Enterprise_ had not lost a man, although the
Americans inflicted severe loss on the enemy. In July, 1802, the
_Constellation_, in a fight with nine Tripolitan gunboats, drove five
ashore, the rest escaping by fleeing into the harbor. More than once a
Tripolitan vessel was destroyed, with all on board, without the loss of
a man on our side.
But the war was not to be brought to a close without an American
disaster. In 1803 the fine frigate _Philadelphia_, while chasing a
blockade-runner, ran upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, and, being
helpless, a fleet of the enemy's gunboats swarmed around her and
compelled Captain Bainbridge and his crew to surrender. The frigate was
floated off at high tide and the enemy refitted her.
A GALLANT EXPLOIT.
One night in February, 1804, the _Intrepid_, a small vessel under the
command of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, one of the bravest of American
naval officers, approached the _Philadelphia_, as she lay at anchor,
and, being hailed, replied, through a native whom he had impressed into
service, that he was a merchantman who had lost his anchors. The
Tripolitans allowed the vessel to come alongside without any suspicion
on their part. Suddenly a score of Americans sprang up and leaped
through the port-holes of the frigate. It took them but a few minutes to
clear the deck, when the vessel was fired in several places and the men
safely withdrew. The _Philadelphia_ burned to the water's edge.
Early in August, Commodore Preble bombarded the town of Tripoli from his
mortar boats. During a fight with the gunboats James Decatur, a brother
of Stephen, received the surrender of one he was fighting, and stepped
on the deck to take possession. As he did so, the captain shot him dead.
Stephen had just destroyed a gunboat when he learned of this treacherous
occurrence and dashed after the craft, which he boarded. Recognizing the
captain from his immense size, he attacked him, and, in a desperate
personal encounter, in which he narrowly escaped death himself, killed
the Moor.
THE BOMB KETCH.
The Americans fixed up the _Intrepid_ as a bomb ketch, storing a hundred
barrels of powder and missiles and a hundred and fifty shells on deck.
Under command of Captain Richard Somers, and accompanied by twelve men,
the vessel ran slowly into the harbor one dark night. The intention was
to fire a slow-match and then for the officer and men to withdraw in
boats. Captain Somers was discovered by the enemy, and in some unknown
way the ketch was blown up with all on board, and without doing any
material harm to the shipping and fortifications in the harbor.
Commodore Preble was superseded in November by Commodore Barron, who
arrived with the _President_ and _Constellation_. This gave the
Americans ten vessels, carrying 264 guns. Hostilities were pressed with
so much vigor that the Dey of Tripoli became anxious to make peace
before the terrible fleet from the West destroyed him and his people.
Accordingly, a treaty was signed on the 3d of June by which the
Tripolitans were given $60,000 for the prisoners in their hands, and the
payment of tribute to them was ended.
EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK.
In those comparatively modern days the vast region west of the
Mississippi was almost unknown. President Jefferson recommended a
congressional appropriation for the exploration of the country. The
appropriation being made, a party of thirty men left the Mississippi,
May 14, 1804, under command of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark. Both had had a good deal of experience in the Indian country, and
they ascended the Missouri in a flotilla for 2,600 miles. To the three
streams which form the Missouri they gave the names of Jefferson,
Gallatin, and Madison. A detachment was then left in charge of the
boats, and the remainder, riding the horses they had captured and tamed,
made their way across the mountains. They discovered the two streams
which bear their names, and traced the Columbia to its outlet in the
Pacific Ocean.
The expedition was absent for two years, and its report on returning
added much to our geographical knowledge of the section. They were the
first party of white men to cross the continent north of Mexico. Captain
Lewis was appointed governor of Missouri Territory in 1806, and was
acting as such when he committed suicide in 1809. Captain Clark was also
governor of Missouri Territory, and afterward superintendent of Indian
affairs. He died in St. Louis in 1838.
THE BURR AND HAMILTON DUEL.
No one read the wicked character of Aaron Burr more unerringly than
Alexander Hamilton. He saw that he was ready to ruin his country for the
sake of gratifying an insatiate ambition. Hamilton was always outspoken
in expressing his opinions; and the hostility between the two became so
bitter that Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Although the latter had
had a son killed through the barbarous code within the preceding year,
he was foolish enough to accept the challenge, and the duel was fought
at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 12, 1804. Hamilton fired in the air, but
Burr aimed straight for his antagonist and inflicted a wound from which
he died the next day.
Although Burr presided in the Senate after the duel, the whole country
was shocked by the occurrence, and his friends fell away from him. In
1804, when Jefferson was re-elected to the presidency, George Clinton
took the place of Burr as Vice-President. Burr then engaged in a plot to
form a new empire in the southwest, the precise nature of which is
uncertain. He found a few to join with him, but it came to naught, and
in 1807 he was tried at Richmond, Virginia, on the charge of treason,
but acquitted. He spent some years in wandering over Europe, and then
returned to resume the practice of law in New York. He died in obscurity
and poverty on Staten Island in 1836.
[Illustration: DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM NAVIGATION FOLLOWING FULTON'S
DISCOVERY.]
A notable event of Jefferson's administrations was the first voyage of a
steamboat up the Hudson. This was the _Clermont_, the invention of
Robert Fulton, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765.
This boat was slightly over one hundred feet in length and about twenty
feet broad, with side paddle-wheels and a sheet-iron boiler brought from
England. There was general ridicule of the idea of moving boats by steam
against a current, and the craft was called "Fulton's Folly." The crowd
which gathered on the wharf in New York, August 1, 1807, indulged in
jests which were not hushed until the craft moved slowly but smoothly up
stream. Heading against the current, she made the voyage to Albany in
thirty-two hours. She met with some mishaps, but after a time made
regular trips between that city and New York, at the rate of five miles
an hour.
OCEAN STEAMERS.
This incident marked an epoch in the history of the West, where the
first steamboat was built in 1811. Within a few years, they were plying
on all the important rivers, greatly assisting emigration and the
development of the country. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was
the _Savannah_ in 1819. The screw propeller was introduced by the great
Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, in 1836. Really successful ocean
navigation began in 1838, when the _Sirius_ and _Great Western_ made the
voyage from England to the United States.
[Illustration: ROBERT FULTON.]
OPPRESSIVE COURSE OF ENGLAND.
The devastating war raging between England and France was destructive to
American commerce and interests. The star of the wonderful Napoleon
Bonaparte was rapidly in the ascendant, and his marvelous military
genius seemed to threaten the "equilibrium of the world." England had no
love for the United States and played havoc with our shipping. Her
privateers infested our coasts, like swarms of locusts. Because of her
immense naval superiority, she pestered us almost beyond bearing. She
stopped our vessels off-shore, followed them into rivers and harbors,
overhauled the crews, and in many cases took sailors away under the plea
that they were English deserters. Her claim was that "once a British
subject, always a British subject;" no sworn allegiance to any other
government could release the claim of England upon him.
Our vessels were prohibited from carrying imports from the West Indies
to France, but evaded the law by bringing imports to this country and
then reshipping them to France. England peremptorily ordered the
practice to stop and declared that all vessels thus engaged should be
lawful prizes to her ships. This action caused general indignation in
this country and thousands of citizens clamored for war.
Jefferson never lost his self-poise. While a thorough patriot, he knew
the meaning of war. He sent a message to Congress on the subject in
January, 1806, and the question was one of earnest and prolonged
discussion, ending in the adoption of a resolution to prohibit certain
articles of British manufacture.
But matters rapidly grew worse. In May following England declared the
coast of Europe, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, in a state
of blockade. Bonaparte retaliated with the famous Berlin Decree, which
blockaded the British Islands. In the spring of 1807 the British ship
_Leander_ fired into a coasting vessel and killed one of the men. The
President issued a proclamation forbidding the _Leander_ and the two
ships in her company from entering any of the waters of the United
States; calling upon all officers to apprehend the captain of the
_Leander_ on a charge of murder; prohibiting all communication between
the shore and the ships, and warning all citizens from giving them aid
under penalty of the law. Envoys were sent to England to adjust the
trouble, but their efforts came to naught.
THE AFFAIR OF THE LEOPARD AND CHESAPEAKE.
Matters were in this tense state when the most glaring outrage of all
was perpetrated. The British ship-of-war _Leopard_, of fifty guns, was
cruising off the capes of Virginia, hunting for the American frigate
_Chesapeake_, which she claimed had a number of English deserters on
board. The _Chesapeake_ was hailed, and the English captain asked
permission to send dispatches on board. Such courtesies were common, and
Captain James Barron, the American commander, willingly complied with
the request. When the boat arrived, a letter was presented to Captain
Barron, containing the orders of the British admiral to search the
_Chesapeake_ for a number of deserters, who were mentioned by name.
Captain Barron sent word that he had no knowledge of any deserters, and
refused to submit. Thereupon the _Leopard_ fired several broadsides into
the _Chesapeake_, which, being entirely unprepared for battle, was
obliged to strike her flag, three men having been killed and eighteen
wounded. Four men were then selected from the crew of the _Chesapeake_,
three of whom were negroes, all declared to be deserters, and taken on
board the _Leopard_.
The country was thrown into a tumult of excitement, and the President,
by proclamation, closed all American harbors and waters against the
British navy, prohibited any intercourse with such vessels, and sent a
special minister to England to demand satisfaction. Congress was called
together, and a hundred thousand men in the different States were
ordered to hold themselves in readiness for service. The action of the
captain of the _Leander_ was disavowed, reparation offered, and the
offending admiral was recalled, but the reparation promised was never
made, and Great Britain refused to give up the right of search.
THE EMBARGO ACT.
Although the action of England was anything but satisfactory, it averted
war for the time. In December, Congress passed the Embargo Act, which
forbade all American vessels to leave the coast of the United States.
The belief was that by thus suspending commerce with England and France,
the two countries would be forced to respect our neutrality. The real
sufferers, however, were ourselves; New England and New York, whose
shipping business was ruined, denounced the act in unmeasured terms.
Thus the administration of Jefferson, which had brought so much material
prosperity to the country and was so prolific in beneficent events,
closed amid clouds and threatened disaster.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1808.
In the presidential election of 1808, the electoral vote was as follows:
James Madison, of Virginia, Republican, 122; Charles C. Pinckney, of
South Carolina, Federalist, 47; George Clinton, of New York, Republican,
6. For Vice-President, George Clinton, Republican, 113; Rufus King, of
New York, Federalist, 47; John Langdon, of New Hampshire, 9; James
Madison, 3; James Monroe, 3. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Clinton became
respectively President and Vice-President.
CHAPTER IX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, 1809-1817.
THE WAR OF 1812.
James Madison--The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts--Revival of the
Latter Against England--The _Little Belt_ and the _President_--Population
of the United States in 1810--Battle of Tippecanoe--Declaration of War
Against England--Comparative Strength of the Two Nations on the
Ocean--Unpopularity of the War in New England--Preparations Made by
the Government--Cowardly Surrender of Detroit--Presidential Election
of 1812--Admission of Louisiana and Indiana--New National Bank
Chartered--Second Attempt to Invade Canada--Battle of Queenstown
Heights--Inefficiency of the American Forces in 1812--Brilliant Work
of the Navy--The _Constitution_ and the _Guerrière_--The _Wasp_ and
the _Frolic_--The _United States_ and the _Macedonian_--The
_Constitution_ and the _Java_--Reorganization and Strengthening of the
Army--Operations in the West--Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson--American
Invasion of Ohio and Victory of the Thames--Indian Massacre at Fort
Mimms--Capture of York (Toronto)--Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett's
Harbor--Failure of the American Invasion of Canada--The _Hornet_
and _Peacock_--Capture of the _Chesapeake_--"Don't Give Up the
Ship"--Captain Decatur Blockaded at New London--Capture of the
_Argus_ by the Enemy--Cruise of the _Essex_--The Glorious Victory of
Commodore Perry on Lake Erie--Success of the American Arms in
Canada--Battle of the Chippewa--Of Lundy's Lane--Decisive Defeat of the
Enemy's Attack on Plattsburg--Punishment of the Creek Indians for the
Massacre at Fort Mimms--Vigorous Action by the National
Government--Burning of Washington by the British--The Hartford
Convention.
JAMES MADISON.
James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, was born at
Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751, and died June 28, 1836. He
received the best educational facilities and graduated from Princeton
College at the age of twenty. He devoted himself so closely to study
that he permanently injured his health. In 1776, he was elected a member
of the Virginia Legislature, and was offered the mission to France,
after the return of Jefferson, but declined it. Again he had the chance
of becoming Jefferson's successor, when the latter resigned as secretary
of State, but refused through fear of causing differences in
Washington's cabinet. He was a Federalist at first, but changed his
views and became an earnest Republican. Jefferson made him his secretary
of State, and he served throughout both administrations. He was a
cultured gentleman, an ardent friend of Jefferson, and carried out his
policy when he became President.
THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT.
Just before the close of Jefferson's last term, Congress repealed the
Embargo Act and passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade all trade
with England. This was in 1809, and the law was abrogated in the
following year. Our relations with England, however, continued to grow
more irritating, until it became clear that war was at hand. Congress
gave notice that if either Great Britain or France would repeal their
offensive decrees, the Non-Intercourse Act would be revived against the
other. Bonaparte immediately announced that he revoked his decrees, but
instead of doing so, he enforced them more rigidly than before, thus
accomplishing what he sought, that of arraying the United States against
Great Britain. The Non-Intercourse Law was revived against Great
Britain, whose conduct became more exasperating than ever. Our whole
coast was under surveillance, and many of our merchant vessels were
captured without any excuse whatever.
[Illustration: JAMES MADISON. (1751-1836.) Two terms, 1809-1817.]
In the dusk of early evening, May 16, 1811, the British sloop _Little
Belt_, while occupied in holding up American vessels, hailed the frigate
_President_ off the coast of Virginia. Deeming the reply of the American
not sufficiently respectful, the _Little Belt_ fired a shot at the
_President_, which instantly let fly with a broadside, followed by
several others, that killed eleven men and wounded twenty-one. The
incident added to the angry excitement in both countries and brought war
nearer.
BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.
The population of the United States in 1810 was 7,239,881, somewhat more
than a third of Great Britain and Ireland. Our growth in the West was
rapid. There was a continual stream of emigration thither, and the
Indians, seeing how rapidly their hunting grounds were passing from
them; combined to resist the invasion. This was done under the
leadership of Tecumseh, the ablest Indian that ever lived. In this
course he was incited by British agents, who, knowing that war was
coming, were anxious to do the Americans all the harm they could. The
outrages of the red men became so numerous that General William Henry
Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territory, gathered a large, force
and marched against them. Near the present city of Lafayette, while
encamped at a place called Tippecanoe, he was furiously assailed (Nov.
7, 1811) by the Indians. Tecumseh was absent at the time, and the battle
was brought on, against his orders, by his brother, called "The
Prophet." The loss was severe on both sides, but the Indians were
decisively defeated.
By this time the American people were clamoring more loudly than ever
for war with England. The congressional candidates were obliged to
declare whether they favored or opposed the war. Those who opposed it
were beaten at the polls. Congress, which had been making preparations
for some time for hostilities, declared war against England, June 18,
1812. It is a regrettable fact that we could not know that almost on the
same day England suspended the Orders of Council, so far as they
affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable been in existence at the
time, there would have been no war.
ENGLAND'S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH.
England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her
strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had
1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which
carried less than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by
144,000 men. The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few
gunboats of little value. Indeed, the relative strength of the warring
nations was so disproportionate that the intention of the United States
at first was not to attempt a conflict on the ocean. Captains Bainbridge
and Stewart, however, persuaded the government to allow our little navy
to try its hand.
Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some
advantages for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them
to find the enemy than for the latter to find them, because of the
disproportion between the number of their vessels. More important,
however, than all was the fact that our navy contained no politicians.
The men were brave sailors, and marvelously skillful in handling guns.
With these conditions they were sure to win glory on the ocean.
Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the
incidents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant
so long on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless.
She held the surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant
for doing so. Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the
insignificant American navy. When such a mistake is made the
consequences are sure to be disastrous to the one committing the
blunder.
Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has
been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to
the politicians. They have the "pull," as it is called, with the
government, and secure the appointment of men as leaders who are
totally lacking in military skill. When defeat has followed defeat, with
exasperating regularity, the government gradually awakes to the fact
that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a politician in
charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the same
position, merely because his father was a good soldier and has become a
politician.
THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN SOME SECTIONS.
Moreover, it must be remembered that our country was by no means a unit
in favoring the second war with England. It was popular in most of the
Middle States and the South, but bitterly opposed in New England. When
the news reached Boston of the declaration of war, the shipping hung
their flags at half-mast. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey,
through their Legislatures, protested against it, but, as in the
Revolution, the general enthusiasm swept away all opposition.
An increase of the regular army was ordered to 25,000 men, in addition
to the call for 50,000 volunteers, while the States were asked to summon
100,000 militia, to be used in defense of the coast and harbors. The
government authorized a loan of $11,000,000, and Henry Dearborn, of
Massachusetts, was made the first major-general and commander-in-chief
of the army, while the principal brigadiers were James Wilkinson,
William Hull, Joseph Bloomfield, and Wade Hampton, the last being father
of the general of the same name who became famous as a Confederate
leader in the War for the Union.
A SHAMEFUL SURRENDER.
The opening battle of the war was one of the most shameful affairs that
ever befell the American arms. General William Hull, who had made a
creditable record in the Revolution, was governor of Michigan Territory.
He was ordered to cross the river from Detroit, which was his home, and
invade Canada. He showed great timidity, and learning that a British
force, under General Brock, was advancing against him, he recrossed the
river and returned to Detroit, before which General Brock appeared, on
the 12th of August, at the head of 700 British soldiers and 600 Indians.
In demanding the surrender of the post, he frightened Hull, whose
daughter and her children were with him, by telling him he would be
unable to restrain the ferocity of his Indians, if the Americans made a
defense.
The soldiers were brave and eager to fight, but, to their inexpressible
disgust, the siege had been pressed but a short time when Hull ran up a
white flag and surrendered, August 16th. With the submission of Detroit
went the whole territory northwest of Ohio.
The country was angered and humiliated by the act. Twenty-five men were
given in exchange for Hull, and he was placed on trial, charged with
treason, cowardice, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was convicted
on the last two charges and sentenced to be shot. In recognition of his
services in the Revolution, however, the President pardoned him, and he
died, without ever having gained the respect of his countrymen, in 1825.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1812.
Before proceeding with the history of the war, a few incidents not
connected with it should be recorded. In the presidential election of
1812, the electoral vote was: for President, James Madison, Republican,
128; De Witt Clinton, of New York, Federalist, 89. For Vice-President,
Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, Republican, 131; Jared Ingersoll, of
Pennsylvania, Federalist, 86. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Gerry were
elected.
Louisiana was admitted as a State in 1812, being a part of the immense
territory of that name purchased from France in 1803. Indiana was
admitted in 1816, and was the second of the five States carved out of
the old Northwest Territory. It will be recalled that the United States
Bank was chartered in 1791 for twenty years. Its charter, therefore,
expired in 1811. In 1816, Congress chartered a new bank, on the same
plan and for the same length of time. The public money was to be
deposited in it or its branches, except when the secretary of the
treasury choose to order its deposit elsewhere.
BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS.
Returning to the history of the war, it has to be said that the second
attempt to invade Canada was more disastrous if possible than the first,
and more disgraceful to American arms. The troops on the Niagara
frontier were mainly New York militia, with a few regulars and recruits
from other States, all under the command of Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Resolved to capture the Heights of Queenstown, he sent two columns
across the river on the morning of October 13, 1812. They were led by
Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, cousin of the general and a brave
officer. The engagement was a brisk one, the colonel being wounded early
in the fight, but his troops gallantly charged the Heights and captured
the fortress. General Brock was reinforced and attacked the Americans,
but was repulsed, Brock being killed. The fierceness of the battle is
shown by that fact that the three commanders who succeeded Brock were
either killed or severely wounded.
Under the attack of superior forces, the Americans had managed to hold
their ground and they now began to intrench. Meanwhile, the 1,200 New
York militia on the other side of the river had become frightened by the
sounds of battle, and when called upon to cross refused to do so, on the
cowardly plea that they had enlisted to defend only their State.
Lieutenant-Colonel Winfield Scott had taken command of the brigade and
was engaged in intrenching, when the enemy, again reinforced, drove his
troops, after two attacks, to the river, where they were hemmed in and
compelled to surrender. The American loss in killed and wounded was
fully a thousand. General Van Rensselaer was so disgusted with the
conduct of his militia that he resigned his command, and was succeeded
by General Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, whose conduct led to the
general conviction that he was mentally about as near to being an idiot
as it is possible for a man to be and still retain a little ground for
being thought otherwise.
The first thing General Smyth did was to issue a proclamation of so
bombastic a character that his friends were humiliated. He made several
starts toward Canada, but in each instance recalled his troops, and
acted so inexplicably that the militia were on the point of revolting,
when he was deprived of his command. This closed the military operations
for the year 1812, and the story is enough to crimson the cheek of every
American with shame.
BRILLIANT WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.
On the ocean, however, the record was brilliant and as astonishing to
friends as to enemies. Hardly had the news of the declaration of war
reached New York, when Commodore John Rodgers put to sea in the
_President_, the same vessel that had taught the _Little Belt_ her
severe lesson. Some time later Rodgers sighted the frigate _Belvidera_
and gave chase. He killed a number of the crew, but the vessel managed
to escape. Continuing his cruise, he captured a number of merchantmen
and retook an American prize. The luckiest ship in the American navy was
said to be the _Constitution_, afterward popularly known as "Old
Ironsides." Under command of Captain Isaac Hull, nephew of the disgraced
general of Detroit, she engaged the sloop-of-war _Guerrière_ off the
coast of Massachusetts. The battle was a desperate one, but
extraordinary marksmanship prevailed, and the enemy were compelled to
strike their flag after a loss of 79 killed and wounded, while that of
the Americans was 7 killed and 7 wounded.
The victory caused deep chagrin in England and corresponding rejoicing
in the United States. Congress gave Captain Hull a gold medal and
distributed $50,000 among his crew.
In October, the sloop-of-war _Wasp_, Captain Jacob Jones, met the
British brig _Frolic_ off Cape Hatteras. Since the vessels were of
precisely the same strength, the contest could not have been a more
perfect test of the bravery and efficiency of the ships of England and
our own country. As respects bravery, it was equal, for the men on both
sides fought with a courage that could not have been surpassed. When
the crew of the _Wasp_ boarded the _Frolic_, they found no one on deck
except the man at the wheel and two wounded officers. The vessels were
so damaged that on the same day the British ship _Poicters_ captured
both.
During the same month (October 25th), Commodore Stephen Decatur, in
command of the frigate _United States_, encountered the British frigate
_Macedonian_ off the Island of Madeira, and captured her after a battle
of two hours, in which he lost twelve men, while that of the enemy was
more than a hundred. The _Macedonian_ was so shattered that only with
the greatest difficulty was she brought into New London.
The command of the _Constitution_ was now turned over to Bainbridge, who
sighted the frigate _Java_ off the coast of Brazil, December 29th. In
the terrific battle that followed he lost 34 men, but killed 120 of the
enemy, tore out every mast, and burst her hull with round shot. The
_Java_ was blown up, and the prisoners and wounded were taken to Boston,
where Bainbridge received a right royal welcome.
[Illustration: THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR.]
This ends the history of the first half-year of the war of 1812. While
everything went wrong on land, the ocean showed only a succession of
brilliant victories. England, chagrined and humiliated, declared that
her flag had been disgraced "by a piece of striped bunting flying at the
mast-heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws."
REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.
Congress took measures for strengthening and reorganizing the army. The
pay and bounty of the soldiers were increased; the President was
empowered to raise twenty additional regiments of infantry, to borrow
money, and to issue treasury notes, and provisions were made for adding
four ships-of-the-line, six frigates, and as many vessels of war on the
Great Lakes as might be needed. The army was organized into three
divisions: the Army of the North, under General Wade Hampton, to act in
the country about Lake Champlain; the Army of the Centre, under the
commander-in-chief, General Henry Dearborn, to act on the Niagara
frontier and Lake Ontario; and the Army of the East, under General
Winchester, who soon after was superseded by General William Henry
Harrison.
IN THE WEST.
The last-named officer did his utmost to drive the British out of
Detroit. His troops were volunteers, brave but undisciplined, and
displayed their most effective work in scattered fighting and against
the Indians; but their success was not decisive. When the swamps and
lakes of the Northwest were sufficiently frozen to bear their weight,
Harrison repeated his attempts to expel the British from Detroit. His
advance, under General Winchester, was attacked on the River Raisin by
the British, led by General Proctor. Winchester was as prompt as General
Hull in surrendering. Proctor allowed his Indians to massacre the
wounded prisoners, most of whom were Kentuckians. Thereafter, when the
Kentucky troops rushed into battle they raised the war-cry, "Remember
the Raisin!"
The disaster to Winchester caused Harrison to fall back to Fort Meigs,
which stood near the site of the present town of Defiance. There, in the
spring of 1813, he was besieged by Proctor. A force of Kentuckians
relieved him, after severe loss, and Proctor retreated. Some months
later he again advanced against Fort Meigs, but was repulsed, and
marched to Fort Stephenson, where Fremont now stands.
The besiegers consisted of 3,000 British and Indians, while the garrison
numbered only 160, under the command of Major George Croghan, only
twenty years of age. When Proctor ordered the youth to surrender he
threatened that, in case of resistance, every prisoner would be
tomahawked. Major Croghan replied that when the surrender took place
there would not be a single man left to tomahawk. Although Croghan had
but a single cannon, he made so gallant a defense that his assailants
were repulsed, and Proctor, fearing the approach of Harrison, withdrew
from the neighborhood.
BATTLE OF THE THAMES.
Perry's great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813, as related
further on, gave the Americans command of that body of water. Harrison's
troops were placed on board of Perry's vessels and carried across from
Ohio to Canada. They landed near Malden and Proctor fell back to
Sandwich, with the Americans following. He continued his retreat to the
Thames, where, with the help of Tecumseh, he selected a good
battle-ground and awaited the Americans, who attacked him on the 5th of
October. Proctor fled early in the battle, but his regulars fought
bravely. The 1,500 Indians, under the lead of Tecumseh, displayed
unusual heroism, but, when the great Tecumseh fell, they fled in a
panic. The American victory was overwhelming and complete.
Tecumseh's irresistible eloquence had roused the Creeks to take the
warpath in the South. The danger became so imminent that 500 of the
inhabitants took refuge in a stockade known as Fort Mimms, Alabama,
thirty-five miles above Mobile. The sentinels, believing there was no
danger, were careless, and on August 21, 1813, nearly a thousand Creeks
attacked the place, which was surprised and captured after feeble
resistance. More than 200 were tomahawked, the negroes being spared to
become slaves of the Indians.
CAPTURE OF TORONTO (YORK).
In April of this year, General Dearborn crossed Lake Ontario from
Sackett's Harbor to Toronto (then known as York), which was the capital
of Upper Canada and the chief depot for the supply of the western
garrisons. Under a sharp fire, General Zebulon Pike drove the enemy from
the works. The explosion of a magazine in the fort caused the death of
General Pike in the moment of victory.
The operations left Sackett's Harbor almost unprotected, and led to an
attack by the British admiral, Sir James Yeo, and General Prevost. The
commander of the garrison appealed to General Jacob Brown, a militia
officer of the neighborhood, who hurriedly gathered a small force and
added it to the defenders. In the attack which followed Brown showed
great skill, and General Prevost, believing his retreat was about to be
cut off, fled in a panic, leaving 300 dead and wounded. In the
engagements in that section during the remainder of the year, General
Brown was about the only officer who displayed any military ability, his
skill eventually placing him at the head of the United States army.
The fighting that followed was mainly in favor of the British, who
recaptured York. Eight hundred Americans were made prisoners at Beaver
Dams, and, as the autumn approached, the enemy found themselves in
command of a powerful squadron.
INCOMPETENT COMMANDERS.
There was much dissatisfaction with General Dearborn, the head of the
army. He was in ill-health, never led his troops in person, and missed a
good opportunity of capturing Montreal. He was relieved in June and
succeeded by General Wilkinson, who arrived at Sackett's Harbor in
August. He began preparations for invading Canada, but was so laggard in
his movements that the enemy had abundance of time in which to make
ready. The St. Lawrence seemed to be fortified at every point, but
General Brown, by brave fighting, opened the way for the flotilla.
General Wilkinson reached St. Regis, November 11th, at which point
General Wade Hampton was to co-operate with him. But that officer, owing
to a lack of provisions, had fallen back to Plattsburg, hoping to keep
open his communications with the St. Lawrence. This obliged General
Wilkinson to retreat, and Wilkinson, Hampton, and other officers
quarreled like so many children.
Disaster and disgrace seemed to follow the American land forces during
the first two years of the war, but the fault lay wholly with the
officers, who were incompetent, and many times lacking in patriotism.
The soldiers were brave, but were comparatively powerless with such poor
commanders.
Once again the American navy performed brilliant work, though,
unfortunately, the record was marred by a sad disaster. On February
24th, Captain James Lawrence, who had made several minor captures from
the enemy, riddled the English brig-of-war _Peacock_, while in command
of the _Hornet_, and, in a fierce engagement of fifteen minutes,
compelled her to surrender and hoist a signal of distress. She went down
so quickly that several of the _Hornet's_ crew, who were giving aid,
sank with her, besides thirteen of the enemy. Captain Lawrence treated
his prisoners so kindly that, upon reaching New York, they gave him a
letter of thanks.
CAPTURE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BY THE SHANNON.
Captain Lawrence's fine work caused him to be promoted to the command of
the _Chesapeake_, then refitting at Boston. Captain Broke (afterward Sir
Philip, B.V.), commander of the _Shannon_, cruising off Boston,
challenged Lawrence to come out and fight him. The American promptly
accepted the challenge. It was a piece of unwarrantable recklessness,
for the _Chesapeake_ was not yet ready for the sea, and his crew was
undisciplined and in a surly mood, because some promised prize money
had not been paid them. Moreover, it is said that most of the sailors
were under the influence of liquor.
The _Chesapeake_ sailed gaily out of the harbor on the 1st of June,
followed by a number of pleasure boats and barges crowded with
spectators, while the hills swarmed with people, many with glasses, all
anxious to witness the triumph of the gallant young captain. A woeful
disappointment awaited them.
The battle was a terrific one. In a short time the rigging of the
_Chesapeake_ was so mangled that she became unmanageable, and could not
escape a raking fire which did frightful execution. Captain Lawrence was
twice wounded, the last time mortally, and was carried below at the time
the enemy were preparing to board. He ordered that the colors should not
be struck. "Tell the men to fire faster," he cried; "_don't give up the
ship!_"
Boarders swarmed over the _Chesapeake_ and a few minutes later she was
captured, the loss of the Americans being 48 killed and 98 wounded, that
of the enemy being about half as great. Lawrence lived four days, most
of the time delirious, during which he continually repeated the appeal,
"_Don't give up the ship!_" The impressiveness of the circumstances and
the words themselves made them the motto of the American navy in many a
subsequent engagement.
[Illustration: MRS. JAMES MADISON
(DOLLY PAYNE).
During the burning of Washington in 1812 by the British, Dolly Madison's
heroism saved the Declaration of Independence from destruction. She
broke the glass case containing it and fled.]
Lawrence was one of the bravest of men, and entered the navy when only
seventeen years old. He helped Captain Decatur in burning the
_Philadelphia_, in the harbor of Tripoli, during the war with that
country. His body was taken to Halifax and buried with the honors of
war, several of the oldest captains in the British navy acting as
pall-bearers.
CAPTAIN DECATUR CHECKED.
An exasperating experience befell Captain Decatur. On the day of the
capture of the _Chesapeake_, he was compelled to take refuge in the
harbor of New London, to escape a powerful squadron. He was in command
of the _United States_, the _Macedonian_, and the _Hornet_. Chafing with
impatience, he made repeated attempts to get to sea, but he declared
that in every instance the blockading squadron were notified by means of
blue lights displayed by Tories on shore. He was thus held helpless
until the close of hostilities. This betrayal by his own countrymen
caused much resentment throughout the country, and the enemies of the
Federal party gave it the name of "Blue Lights," and Connecticut was
often taunted for her disloyal course in the war, though the offenders
were probably few in number.
By this time, England had acquired so wholesome a respect for the
American navy that orders were issued that two or three vessels should
always cruise in company, and under no circumstances should a single
vessel engage an American, where there was the least preponderance
against the British. The Americans were the only nation against whom
such an order was ever issued.
Captain William Henry Allen, in command of the brig _Argus_, boldly
entered the English Channel and destroyed much shipping of the enemy.
Many vessels were sent in search of him, and on the 14th of August he
was captured by the _Pelican_. Soon afterward the brig _Enterprise_
captured the British _Boxer_ off the coast of Maine. The fight was a
desperate one, both commanders being killed. They were buried side by
side in Portland.
THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX.
In the spring of 1813, Captain David Porter (father of Admiral David
Dixon Porter), in command of the _Essex_, doubled Cape Horn and entered
the Pacific, where until then no American frigate had ever been seen. He
protected American vessels and nearly broke up the British whaling trade
in that ocean. He made so many captures that he soon had almost a fleet
under his command, and was able to pay his men with the money taken from
the enemy. Every nation in that region was a friend of England, and he
seized the Marquesas Islands, where he refitted his fleet and resumed
his cruise. Early in 1814, he entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso,
where he was blockaded by two British vessels that had long been
searching for him. Regardless of international law, they attacked the
_Essex_, which was in a crippled condition and unable to close with
them, and finally compelled her surrender.
OPERATIONS ON THE LAKES.
Thus far our record of the exploits of the American navy has been
confined to the ocean, but the most important doings of all occurred on
the lakes. At the beginning, our force upon these inland waters was
weak. On Lake Ontario, there was but one small vessel, while the British
had several. Both sides began building war-vessels. The American fleet
was commanded by Commodore Chauncey and the British by Sir James Yeo.
They alternated in gaining command of the lake. Meanwhile, the
ship-builders were so busy that from about a dozen vessels on either
side they increased the number to more than a hundred each by the close
of the war.
PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY.
One of the grandest of all triumphs was gained by the American navy in
the early autumn of 1813. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Lake
Erie to build a navy. Perry at that time was not thirty years old and
had never seen a naval battle. By August, he had a squadron of two large
and seven small vessels, carrying 54 guns and 416 men, with which he set
out to find Commodore Barclay, who had two large and four small vessels,
with 63 guns and 440 men.
The two squadrons met at the western end of Lake Erie on the 10th of
September. Barclay centred such a furious fire upon the _Lawrence_,
Perry's flagship, that in two hours she was in a sinking condition.
Perry entered a small boat, and, exposed to a sharp fire, was rowed to
the _Niagara_, on which he hoisted his flag. The battle was renewed,
and, while the enemy was trying to form a new line of battle, Perry ran
the _Niagara_ directly through the fleet, delivering broadsides right
and left. The other vessels were prompt in following her, and poured
such a raking fire into the enemy that fifteen minutes later Barclay
surrendered. The British commander had but one arm when the battle
opened, and, before it ended, his remaining arm was shot off. He lost
200 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, while the Americans had 27
killed and 96 wounded.
It has already been shown that this victory was of the utmost
importance, for Proctor was waiting to invade Ohio, if it went his way,
while General Harrison was also waiting to invade Canada, in the event
of an American triumph. In sending news of his victory to General
Harrison, Perry, in his hastily written dispatch, used the words which
have been quoted thousands of times: "We have met the enemy and they are
ours." It will be recalled that Harrison immediately embarked his troops
on Perry's ships, and, crossing the lake, pursued Proctor to the Thames,
where he decisively defeated him and ended all danger of an invasion of
Ohio by the enemy.
The American government now began to heed the benefit of the severe
lessons of defeat. The worthless generals were weeded out, and the army
in western New York reorganized so effectually that the country was
cheered by a number of victories--proof that the rank and file were of
the best quality and that their previous defeats were due to their
leaders.
On July 3, 1814, Gens. Scott, Ripley, and Brown crossed the Niagara from
Black Rock to Erie with 3,000 men. Brown's ability had become so
manifest that by this time he was a major-general. When he appeared in
front of Fort Erie, it surrendered without resistance. Brown pursued a
British corps of observation down the river until it crossed Chippewa
Creek and joined the main body. Brown withdrew and united also with the
principal forces of the Americans, who attacked the British on the 5th
of July, in their strong intrenchments behind the Chippewa. They were
completely defeated, routed out of their defenses, and driven up the
shore of Lake Ontario. Their Indian allies were so disgusted with the
defeat of the British and the furious fighting of the Americans that all
deserted the British commander.
BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE.
The British army received reinforcements and turned back to meet the
Americans who were pursuing them. The armies met, July 25th, at Lundy's
Lane, within sight of Niagara Falls, where the fiercely contested
battle, beginning at sunset, lasted until midnight. The British
commander was wounded and captured and the enemy driven back. The loss
of the Americans was serious. Scott was so badly wounded that he could
take no further part in the war, Brown was less severely injured, and
Ripley withdrew with the army to Fort Erie.
An exploit of Colonel James Miller deserves notice. At a critical point
in the battle, General Brown saw that victory depended upon the
silencing of a battery of seven guns stationed on a hill, that was
pouring a destructive fire into the Americans.
"Colonel," said he, "can you capture that battery?"
"I can try," was the modest reply, and a few minutes later Colonel
Miller was in motion with his regiment. The darkness enabled the men to
conceal themselves under the shadow of a fence, along which they
silently crept until they could peep between the rails and see the
gunners standing with lighted matches awaiting the order to fire.
Thrusting the muzzles of their guns through the openings, they shot down
every gunner, and, leaping over the fence, captured the battery in the
face of a hot infantry fire. The enemy made three attempts to recapture
the battery, but were repulsed each time. When General Ripley retreated,
he left the guns behind, so that they again fell into the hands of the
British from whom they had been so brilliantly won.
The enemy soon received reinforcements and besieged the Americans in
Fort Erie. Brown, although still suffering from his wound, resumed
command and drove his besiegers once more beyond the Chippewa. The
Americans evacuated Fort Erie on the 5th of November, and recrossing the
Niagara went into winter quarters at Black Rock and Ontario. There were
no more military operations during the war between Lakes Erie and
Ontario.
THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.
General Wilkinson was so inefficient with the Army of the North that he
was superseded by General Izard, who advanced with his force to the aid
of General Brown at Fort Erie. This left Plattsburg uncovered, and the
British decided to attack it by land, and to destroy at the same time
the American flotilla on Lake Champlain.
Sir George Prevost, at the head of an army of 14,000 men, entered
American territory on the 3d of September, and three days later reached
Plattsburg. The garrison withdrew to the south side of the Saranac, and
prepared to dispute the passage of the stream. Commodore Downie appeared
off the harbor of Plattsburg, with the British squadron, September 11th.
The American squadron, under Commodore Macdonough, was in the harbor,
and consisted of two less barges than the enemy, 86 guns, and 820 men,
while the English commander had 95 guns and more than a thousand men.
During the battle which followed the British land forces made repeated
attempts to cross the Saranac, but were defeated in every instance. The
battle on the water lasted less than three hours, during which Commodore
Downie was killed, his vessel sunk, and the remainder sunk or captured.
The destruction of the British squadron was complete, and the land
forces withdrew during the night. England was so dissatisfied with the
action of Sir George Prevost that he was dismissed from command. No more
serious fighting took place in that section during the war.
PUNISHMENT OF THE CREEK INDIANS.
Mention has been made of the massacre at Fort Mimms in Alabama by the
Creeks, August 30, 1813. Tennessee acted with prompt vigor. General
Jackson at the head of 5,000 men marched into the Creek country and
punished the Indians with merciless rigor. After repeated defeats, the
Creeks made a stand at the Great Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River.
There a thousand warriors gathered, with their wives and children,
prepared to fight to the last. The desperate battle was fought March 27,
1814, and at its close 600 Indians were killed and the remainder
scattered. The spirit of the Creeks was crushed, and General Jackson's
exploit made him the most popular military leader in the Southwest.
Matters looked gloomy for the Americans at the beginning of 1814.
England sent a formidable force of veterans to Canada, and another to
capture Washington, while the main body expected to take New Orleans,
with the intention of retaining the city and province of Louisiana upon
the conclusion of peace.
PREPARING FOR THE FINAL STRUGGLE.
The American government gathered up her loins for the great struggle.
The President was authorized to borrow $25,000,000, and to issue
treasury notes to the amount of $5,000,000. Such sums are but bagatelles
in these days, but in 1814 the credit of the government was so poor that
the notes depreciated one-fifth of their face value. One hundred and
twenty-four dollars were offered as a bounty for every recruit, while
the pay, rations, and clothing were placed upon a generous scale. An
order was issued increasing the regular army to 66,000 men, and an
embargo laid with the aim of stopping trade under British licenses was
repealed in April.
The British cruisers kept the Atlantic coast in continual alarm.
Entering Delaware Bay they burned every merchant vessel in sight. When
the people of Lewiston refused to sell food to them, they bombarded
their homes. In Chesapeake Bay Admiral Cockburn plundered private
dwellings. Among the places sacked and burned were Lewes, Havre de
Grace, Fredericktown, and Georgetown. More leniency was shown the New
England coast because of her opposition to the war. Another inexcusable
proceeding on the part of the invaders was that of persuading many
slaves to leave their masters and join the enemy. This business
compelled England, after the close of the war, to pay the United States
one million and a quarter dollars, on the award of the Emperor of Russia
to whom the question was submitted.
CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON.
But this year saw the crowning disgrace to the American arms. The
mismanagement of affairs left our national capital defenseless. In
August, 1814, Sir Alexander Cochrane carried a British army up the
Chesapeake on board his squadron. Commodore Barney with his few ships
had taken shelter in the Patuxent. Paying no attention to him, Ross
landed his 5,000 veterans within 40 miles of Washington and advanced
against the city. The government had awakened to the threatened peril a
short time before, and placed 500 regulars and 2,000 undisciplined
militia under the command of General William H. Winder.
Winder took a strong position at Bladensburg and awaited Ross and
Cochrane. The British army met with no opposition, and, upon reaching
Marlborough, found that Commodore Barney, acting under the orders of the
secretary of war, had burned his fleet and hurried to Washington. The
English commander arrived in sight of Washington on the 24th of August.
His approach to Bladensburg was over a bridge defended by artillery from
Barney's flotilla, which were handled by Barney and his sailors. They
fought with the utmost heroism, repelling the British again and again;
but the militia fled, and, when Barney was wounded and his command
helpless, he surrendered. General Ross complimented him for his bravery
and immediately paroled him.
This was the only check encountered by the British in their advance upon
Washington. General Winder had learned enough of his militia to know
that no dependence could be placed upon them, and he fled to Georgetown.
The President, heads of departments, and most of the citizens joined in
the stampede, and the advance guard of General Ross entered the city
that evening.
[Illustration: BURNING OF WASHINGTON.]
The British commander offered to spare the city for a large sum of
money, but no one was within reach with authority to comply with his
demand. Ross claimed that his flag of truce had been fired on, and he
ordered the city to be burned. In the conflagration that followed, the
President's house, the department offices, numerous private dwellings,
the libraries and public archives, many works of art in the public
buildings, the navy yard and its contents, a frigate on the stocks, and
several small vessels were destroyed. The patent office and jail were
the only public property spared. The burning of Washington was an
outrage which was generally condemned in England.
After a rest and the reception of reinforcements, Ross marched against
Baltimore, which he declared should be his winter quarters. While on the
road he was mortally wounded by an American sharpshooter in a tree. Such
a brave defense was made by Forts McHenry and Covington, guarding the
narrow passage from the Patapsco into the harbor of Baltimore, that the
British fleet and the land forces were repelled. The success of this
defense inspired Francis S. Key to write our famous national song, _The
Star-Spangled Banner_.
THE HARTFORD CONVENTION.
The war became intensely unpopular in New England. Its shipping suffered
severely, and the demands for peace grew more clamorous. On the 15th of
December, 1814, a convention of delegates, appointed by the Legislatures
of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont,
met in Hartford and held secret sessions for three weeks. An address was
agreed upon charging the national government with carrying on a policy
injurious to New England. Amendments were proposed to the Constitution,
and a committee was selected to confer with the government at Washington
and to propose that the revenues of New England should be applied to her
own defense. An agreement was made that if their proposed action failed,
and peace was not soon made, the convention should meet again in the
following June. There was open talk of a withdrawal from the Union, and
doubtless grave results would have followed had the war gone on. The
Hartford Convention and the "Blue Lights" of Connecticut gave the final
death-blow to the Federal party.
A TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED.
Despite the progress of the war, peace negotiations had been going on
for a long time. Russia, whose system of government has always been the
exact opposite of ours, has shown us marked friendship in many
instances. As early as 1813 she offered to mediate between Great Britain
and the United States. The President appointed five commissioners, John
Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert
Gallatin, who were sent to Ghent, Belgium, where they were met by Lord
Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams, the commissioners for Great
Britain. After long negotiations, the commissioners reached an agreement
on the 24th of December, 1814. The treaty did not contain a word about
the search of American vessels for alleged deserters, which was the real
cause of the war, nor was any reference made to the wrongs done our
commerce, and the rights of neutral nations were not defined. The Orders
of Council, however, died of themselves, Great Britain never again
attempting to enforce them. It was agreed that all places captured by
either side during the progress of the war or afterward should be
surrendered, and provisions were made for fixing the boundary between
the United States and Canada.
In those days, when the ocean telegraph was not thought of and there
were no swift-going steamers, news traveled slowly, and it did not reach
Washington until February 4, 1815. Meanwhile, the most important battle
of the war had taken place and several captures were made on the ocean.
The Creek Indians had been so crushed by General Jackson that they ceded
a large part of their lands to the Americans. They were sullen, and when
a British squadron entered the Gulf of Mexico they eagerly did all they
could to help the enemy. The squadron, by permission of the Spanish
authorities took possession of the forts of Pensacola, and fitted out an
expedition against Fort Bower at the entrance to Mobile Bay. They
attacked the fort, September 15th, by sea and land, but were repulsed.
Among the land assailants were several hundred Creek warriors, who thus
received another lesson of the bravery of American soldiers.
General Jackson, in command of the southern military district, was
enraged by the course of the Spanish authorities. He marched from Mobile
at the head of 2,000 Tennessee militia and a number of Choctaws, stormed
Pensacola, November 7th, drove the British from the harbor, and
compelled the Spanish governor to surrender the town.
GENERAL JACKSON'S GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS.
Having completed his work in this summary fashion, he returned to
Mobile, where he found an urgent call for him to go to the defense of
New Orleans, which was threatened by a powerful force of the enemy. The
invasion, to which we have referred in another place, was a formidable
one and had been arranged a long time before. General Jackson reached
New Orleans, December 2d, and began vigorous preparations. He enlisted
almost everybody capable of bearing arms, including negroes and
convicts. One of the most famous freebooters that ever ravaged the Gulf
of Mexico was Lafitte, to whom the British made an extravagant offer for
his help, but he refused, and gave his services to Jackson.
Jackson's vigor filled the city with confidence, but he was so strict
that dissatisfaction was expressed, whereupon he declared martial law;
in other words, he took the city government into his own hands and ruled
as he thought best. He neglected no precaution. Fort St. Philip,
guarding the passage of the Mississippi at Detour la Plaquemine, was
made stronger by new works, and a line of fortifications was built four
miles below the city, on the left of the river, and extended eastward to
an impassable cypress swamp. It was a disputed question for a time
whether Jackson used cotton bales in the defenses of New Orleans, but it
is established that he placed them on the tops of the intrenchments.
Cannon were also mounted at different points. The militia under General
Morgan, and the crews and guns of a part of the squadron of Commodore
Patterson, held the west bank of the river. These precautions enabled
the defenders to enfilade the approaching enemy. A detachment guarded
the pass of Bayou St. John, above the city, and a number of gunboats
awaited to dispute the passage of the river between Lake Pontchartrain
and Lake Borgne.
The British fleet appeared at the entrance to this channel, December
14th, and was immediately assailed by the American flotilla, which was
destroyed before it could inflict serious damage. Left free to select
the point of attack, the British sent a force in flat-bottomed boats to
the extremity of the lake, where they landed in a swamp. They repelled
an attack by Jackson, who fell back toward the city. On the 28th of
December the British were within half a mile of the American lines. They
began a fire of shells, but were repulsed by Jackson's artillery.
The defenders numbered some 3,000 militia, who were stationed in a line
of intrenchments a mile long and four miles from the town. This line was
protected by a ditch in front, flanked by batteries on the other side of
the river, and, in addition, eight other batteries were in position.
The British worked slowly forward until on the first day of the year
they were within less than a quarter of a mile of New Orleans. As the
best material at hand from which to erect breastworks they used
hogsheads of sugar and molasses, which were sent flying in fragments by
the American cannon. Several attacks upon the defenders were repulsed
and the final assault delayed for a number of days.
Sir Edward Pakenham, a veteran of the Peninsular wars, and a
brother-in-law of Wellington, the conqueror of Napoleon, was in command
of the reinforcements. While the advance went on slowly, 3,000 militia
joined Jackson. They were composed mainly of Kentucky and Tennessee
riflemen, the finest marksmen in the world. They were men, too, who did
not lose their heads in battle, but, kneeling behind their
intrenchments, coolly took aim and rarely threw away a shot.
On the morning of Jan. 8, 1815, the English army advanced against the
American intrenchments. They numbered nearly 8,000 veterans, and England
never placed a finer body of men in the field. The American riflemen,
with shotted cannon and leveled rifles, calmly awaited the command to
open on the advancing host. They were formed in two lines, those at the
rear loading for those in front, who were thus enabled to keep up an
almost continuous fire.
[Illustration: WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON.]
Before the outburst of flame the British dissolved like snow in the sun,
but the survivors with unsurpassable heroism persisted until it was
apparent that not a man would be left alive if they maintained their
ground. Then they fell back to decide upon some other method of attack.
Angered by his repulse, Pakenham ran to the head of a regiment bearing
scaling ladders and called upon his men to follow him. Only a few
succeeded in piercing the American lines. Pakenham fell, mortally
wounded; his successor was killed, and the third in command was so badly
injured that he could give no orders. "All that were left of them"
retreated. From the opening to the close of the battle was less than
half an hour, during which the British lost 2,500 in killed, wounded,
and prisoners, one-third being killed. On the American side eight were
killed and thirteen wounded. A few days later the British withdrew to
their ships and sailed for the West Indies, where they learned of the
signing of the treaty of peace.
WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.
It will be noticed that as the war progressed the principal fighting
changed from the ocean to the land. Several encounters took place on the
sea, but they were mostly unimportant, and did not always result
favorably for us. In September, 1814, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in command
of the privateer _Armstrong_, while lying in the harbor of Fayal, one of
the Azores, was attacked by a fleet of boats from three British
frigates. He fought all through the night, and, although outnumbered
twenty to one, made one of the most remarkable defenses in naval annals.
On the 16th of January following, the _President_ was captured by the
British ship _Endymion_. On the 20th of February, while Captain Charles
Stewart was cruising off Cape St. Vincent, in the _Constitution_, with
no thought that peace had been declared, he fell in with two British
brigs, the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_. It was a bright moonlight night,
and, after a brief engagement, in which Stewart displayed consummate
seamanship, he captured both vessels.
But peace had come and was joyfully welcomed everywhere. The war had
cost us heavily in men, ships, and property; the New England factories
were idle, commerce at a standstill, and the whole country in a
deplorable state. But everything now seemed to spring into life under
the glad tidings. The shipping in New England was decked with bunting,
and, within twenty-four hours after the news arrived, the dockyards rang
with the sound of saw and hammer.
WAR WITH ALGIERS.
The Barbary States did not forget their rough treatment at the hands of
the United States a few years before. During the war they allowed the
British to capture American vessels in their harbors, and sometimes
captured them on their own account. In 1812 the Dey of Algiers compelled
the American consul to pay him a large sum of money to save himself,
family, and a few friends from being carried off into slavery. We were
too busily occupied elsewhere to give this barbarian attention, but in
March, 1815, war was declared against Algiers, and Commodores Decatur
and Bainbridge were sent to the Mediterranean with two squadrons to
conduct operations.
They did it to perfection. After capturing several frigates, they
approached the city of Algiers and demanded the immediate surrender of
every American prisoner, full indemnity for all property destroyed, and
the disavowal of all future claims to tribute. The terrified Dey eagerly
signed the treaty placed before him on the quarter-deck of Decatur's
ship. The Pasha of Tunis was compelled to pay a round sum on account of
the American vessels he had allowed the British to capture in his harbor
during the war. When he had done this, the Pasha of Tripoli was called
upon and forced to make a similar contribution to the United States
treasury.
FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
The negro had long been a disturbing factor in politics, and, in 1816,
the National Colonization Society was formed in Princeton, N.J., and
immediately reorganized in Washington. Its object was to encourage the
emancipation of slaves by obtaining a place for them outside the United
States, whither they might emigrate. It was hoped also that by this
means the South would be relieved of its free black population. The
scheme was so popular that branches of the society were established in
almost every State. At first free negroes were sent to Sierra Leone, on
the western coast of Africa, under the equator. Later, for a short time,
they were taken to Sherbrooke Island, but in 1821 a permanent location
was purchased at Cape Mesurado, where, in 1847, the colony declared
itself an independent republic under the name of Liberia. Its capital,
Monrovia, was named in honor of the President of the United States. The
republic still exists, but its functions were destroyed by the war for
the Union, which abolished slavery on this continent, and Liberia has
never been looked upon with great favor by the colored people of this
country.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1816.
It has already been shown that the course of the Federal party in the
War of 1812 ruined it. The Federal nominee for the presidency was Rufus
King, of New York. He was a native of Maine, a graduate of Harvard
College, and had served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. It
was he who in 1785 moved the provision against slavery in the Northwest
Territory, and he was an active member of the Constitutional Convention
of 1787, afterward returning to Massachusetts and giving all his
energies to bringing about the ratification of the Constitution. He was
United States senator from New York in 1789-1796; was minister to
London, 1796-1803; and again a United States senator, 1813-1825.
John Eager Howard, the candidate for the vice-presidency, had hardly a
less claim upon the recognition of his countrymen, for he joined the
patriot army at the outbreak of the Revolution, and fought with marked
gallantry at White Plains, Germantown, Monmouth, and Camden, and won
special honor at the Cowpens in 1781. He was afterward governor of
Maryland, declined the portfolio of war in Washington's cabinet, and was
United States senator from 1796 to 1803.
These facts are given to show the character and standing of the
candidates of the Federalists in the presidential election of 1816. The
following was the result: For President, James Monroe, of Virginia,
Republican, 133; Rufus King, of New York, Federalist, 34. For
Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, Republican, 183; John
Eager Howard, of Maryland, Federalist, 22; James Ross, of Pennsylvania,
5; John Marshall, of Virginia, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, 3.
Vacancies, 4. Thus Monroe became President and Tompkins Vice-President.
[Illustration: FIRST TRAIN OF CARS IN AMERICA.]
CHAPTER X.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829.
James Monroe--The "Era of Good Feeling"--The Seminole War--Vigorous
Measures of General Jackson--Admission of Mississippi, Illinois,
Alabama, Maine, and Missouri--The Missouri Compromise--The Monroe
Doctrine--Visit of Lafayette--Introduction of the Use of Gas--Completion
of the Erie Canal--The First "Hard Times"--Extinction of the West Indian
Pirates--Presidential Election of 1824--John Quincy Adams--Prosperity of
the Country--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the
Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional Action
on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828.
JAMES MONROE.
James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was born at
Monroe's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758, and died
July 4, 1831. It will be noticed that four out of the first five
Presidents were natives of Virginia, and in course of time three others
followed. It will be admitted, therefore, that the State has well earned
the title of the "Mother of Presidents."
[Illustration: JAMES MONROE.
(1758-1831.) Two terms, 1817-1825.]
Monroe received his education at William and Mary College, and was a
soldier under Washington. He was not nineteen years old when, as
lieutenant at the battle of Trenton, he led a squad of men who captured
a Hessian battery as it was about to open fire. He studied law under
Jefferson, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and, when
twenty-five years old, was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He
was minister plenipotentiary to France in 1794, but his course
displeased the administration and he was recalled. From 1799 to 1802 he
was governor of Virginia, and, in the latter year, was sent to France by
President Jefferson to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he
was again governor of Virginia, and shortly afterward appointed
secretary of State by Madison. He also served as secretary of war at the
same time, and, as the treasury was empty, pledged his private means for
the defense of New Orleans. Monroe was of plain, simple manners, of
excellent judgment and of the highest integrity. While his career did
not stamp him as a man of genius, yet it proved him to be that which in
his situation is better--an absolutely "safe" man to trust with the
highest office in the gift of the American people. Under Monroe the
United States made greater advancement than during any previous decade.
Everything united to make his administration successful. The Federal
party having disappeared, its members either stopped voting or joined
the Republicans. Since, therefore, everybody seemed to be agreed in his
political views, the period is often referred to as "the era of good
feeling," a condition altogether too ideal to continue long.
TARIFF LEGISLATION.
Shortly after Monroe's inauguration he made a tour through the country,
visiting the principal cities, and contributing by his pleasing manner
greatly to his popularity. The manufactures of the country were in a low
state because of the cheapness of labor in Great Britain, which enabled
the manufacturers there to send and sell goods for less prices than the
cost of their manufacture in this country. Congress met the difficulty
by imposing a tax upon manufactured goods brought hither, and thereby
gave our people a chance to make and sell the same at a profit. The
controversy between the advocates of free trade and protection has been
one of the leading questions almost from the first, and there has never
been and probably never will be full accord upon it.
THE SEMINOLE WAR.
Perhaps the most important event in the early part of Monroe's
administration was the Seminole war. Those Indians occupied Florida, and
could hide themselves in the swampy everglades and defy pursuit. Many
runaway slaves found safe refuge there, intermarried with the Seminoles,
and made their homes among them. They were not always fairly treated by
the whites, and committed many outrages on the settlers in Georgia and
Alabama. When the Creeks, who insisted they had been cheated out of
their lands, joined them, General Gaines was sent to subdue the savages.
He failed, and was caught in such a dangerous situation that General
Jackson hastily raised a force and marched to his assistance.
Since Florida belonged to Spain, Jackson was instructed by our
government not to enter the country except in pursuit of the enemy. "Old
Hickory" was not the man to allow himself to be hampered by such orders,
and, entering Florida in March, 1818, he took possession the following
month of the Spanish post of St. Mark's, at the head of Appalachee Bay.
Several Seminoles were captured, and, proof being obtained that they
were the leaders in a massacre of some settlers a short time before,
Jackson hanged every one of them.
Advancing into the interior, he captured two British subjects, Robert C.
Ambrister, an Englishman, and Alexander Arbuthnot, a Scotchman. There
seemed to be no doubt that the latter had been guilty of inciting the
Indians to commit their outrages, and both were tried by court-martial,
which sentenced Arbuthnot to be hanged and Ambrister to receive fifty
lashes and undergo a year's imprisonment. Jackson set aside the verdict,
and shot the Englishman and hanged the Scotchman. He then marched
against Pensacola, the capital of the province, drove out the Spanish
authorities, captured Barrancas, whose troops and officials were sent to
Havana.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN'S DECLARATION OF WAR.]
Jackson carried things with such a high hand that Spain protested, and
Congress had to order an investigation. The report censured Jackson; but
Congress passed a resolution acquitting him of all blame, and he became
more popular than ever.
Spain was not strong enough to expel the Americans, and she agreed to a
treaty, in October, 1820, by which East and West Florida were ceded to
the United States, the latter paying Spain $5,000,000. The Sabine River,
instead of the Rio Grande, was made the dividing line between the
territories of the respective governments west of the Mississippi.
Jackson was the first governor of Florida, and, as may be supposed, he
had a stormy time, but he straightened out matters with the same iron
resolution that marked everything he did.
STATES ADMITTED--THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
A number of States were admitted to the Union while Monroe was
President. The first was Mississippi, in 1817. The territory was claimed
by Georgia, which gave it to the United States in 1802. Illinois was
admitted in 1818, being the third of the five States formed from the old
Northwest Territory. Alabama became a State in 1819, and had been a part
of the territory claimed by Georgia. Maine was admitted in 1820, and, as
has been shown, was for a long time a part of Massachusetts, and
Missouri became a State in 1821.
The strife over the admission of the last-named State was so angry that
more than one person saw the shadow of the tremendous civil war that was
to darken the country and deluge it in blood forty years later. The
invention of the cotton gin in 1793 had made cotton the leading industry
of the South and given an enormous importance to slavery. The soil and
the climate and economic conditions caused it to flourish in the South,
and the lack of such conditions made it languish and die out in the
North.
Missouri applied for admission in March, 1818, but it was so late in the
session that Congress took no action. At the following session a bill
was introduced containing a provision that forbade slavery in the
proposed new State. The debate was bitter and prolonged, accompanied by
threats of disunion, but a compromise was reached on the 28th of
February, 1821, when the agreement was made that slavery was to be
permitted in Missouri, but forever prohibited in all other parts of the
Union, north and west of the northern limits of Arkansas, 36° 30', which
is the southern boundary of Missouri. The State was admitted August
21st, increasing the number to twenty-four. The census showed that in
1820 the population of the United States was 9,633,822. The State of New
York contained the most people (1,372,111); Virginia next (1,065,116);
and Pennsylvania almost as many (1,047,507).
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1820.
It was in the autumn of 1820, during the excitement over the admission
of Missouri, that the presidential election occurred. The result is not
likely ever to be repeated in the history of our country. There was no
candidate against Monroe, who would have received every electoral vote,
but for the action of one member, who declared that no man had the right
to share that honor with Washington. He therefore cast his single vote
for Adams of Massachusetts. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins,
Republican, received 218; Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, 8; Daniel
Rodney, of Delaware, 4; Robert G. Harper, of Maryland, and Richard
Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1 vote each. Monroe and Tompkins were therefore
re-elected.
THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
South America has long been the land of revolutions. In 1821, there was
a general revolt against Spain in favor of independence. Great sympathy
was felt for them in this country, and, in March, 1822, Congress passed
a bill recognizing the embryo republics as sovereign nations. In the
following year President Monroe sent a message to Congress in which he
declared that for the future the American continent was not to be
considered as territory for colonization by any foreign power. This
consecration of the whole Western Hemisphere to free institutions
constitutes the MONROE DOCTRINE, one of the most precious and jealously
guarded rights of the American nation. The memorable document which
bears the President's name was written by John Quincy Adams, his
secretary of State.
America could never forget Lafayette, who had given his services without
pay in our struggle for independence, who shed his blood for us, and who
was the intimate and trusted friend of Washington. He was now an old
man, and, anxious to visit the country he loved so well, he crossed the
ocean and landed in New York, in August, 1824. He had no thought that
his coming would cause any stir, and was overwhelmed by the honors shown
him everywhere. Fort Lafayette saluted him as he sailed up New York Bay,
and processions, parades, addresses, feastings, and every possible
attention were given to him throughout his year's visit, during which he
was emphatically the "nation's guest." Nor did the country confine
itself to mere honors. He had been treated badly in France and was poor.
Congress made him a present of $200,000 in money, and sent him home in
the frigate _Brandywine_, named in his honor, for it was at the battle
of the Brandywine that Lafayette was severely wounded.
An important invention introduced into this country from England in 1822
was lighting by gas, which soon became universal, to be succeeded in
later years by electricity. Steamboat navigation was common and travel
by that means easy. On land we were still confined to horseback and
stages, but there was great improvement in the roads, through the aid of
Congress and the different States.
COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL.
The Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo and Albany, was begun on the 4th of
July, 1817, its most persistent advocate being Governor De Witt Clinton.
It was costly, and the majority believed it would never pay expenses.
They dubbed it "De Witt Clinton's Ditch," and ridiculed the possibility
that it would prove of public benefit. In October, 1825, it was opened
for public traffic. It is 363 miles long, having the greatest extent of
any canal in the world. It passes through a wonderfully fertile region,
which at that time was little more than a wilderness. Immediately towns
and villages sprang into existence along its banks. Merchandise could
now be carried cheaply from the teeming West, through the Great Lakes,
the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River, to New York City and the Atlantic.
Its original cost was $7,600,000, and its earnings were so enormous that
in many single years they amounted to half that sum. It is now operated
by the State without charge to those using it.
No combination of statesmen are wise enough to prevent the occasional
recurrence of "hard times." Nearly everyone has a cure for the blight,
and the intervals between them are irregular, but they still descend
upon us, when most unexpected and when it seems we are least prepared to
bear them. No one needs a long memory to recall one or two afflictions
of that nature.
THE FIRST "HARD TIMES."
The first financial stringency visited the country in 1819. The
establishment in 1817 of the Bank of the United States had so improved
credit and increased the facilities for trade that a great deal of wild
speculation followed. The officers of the branch bank in Baltimore were
dishonest and loaned more than $2,000,000 beyond its securities. The
President stopped the extravagant loans, exposed the rogues, and greatly
aided in bringing back the country to a sound financial basis, although
the Bank of the United States narrowly escaped bankruptcy--a calamity
that would have caused distress beyond estimate.
Amid the stirring political times our commerce suffered from the pirates
who infested the West Indies. Their depredations became so annoying that
in 1819 Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame, was sent out with a small
squadron to rid the seas of the pests. Before he could accomplish
anything, he was stricken with yellow fever and died. Other squadrons
were dispatched to southern waters, and in 1822 more than twenty
piratical vessels were destroyed in the neighborhood of Cuba. Commodore
Porter followed up the work so effectively that the intolerable nuisance
was permanently abated.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1824.
There were plenty of presidential candidates in 1824. Everybody now was
a Republican, and the choice, therefore, lay between the men of that
political faith. The vote was as follows: Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee,
99; John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, 84; Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
37; William H. Crawford, of Georgia, 41. For Vice-President: John C.
Calhoun, of South Carolina, 182; Nathan Sandford, of New York, 30;
Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, 24; Andrew Jackson, 13; Martin Van
Buren, of New York, 9; Henry Clay, 2.
This vote showed that no candidate was elected, and the election,
therefore, was thrown into the House of Representatives. Although
Jackson was far in the lead on the popular and electoral vote, the
friends of Clay united with the supporters of Adams, who became
President, with Calhoun Vice-President. The peculiar character of this
election led to its being called the "scrub race for the presidency."
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President, was born at Braintree,
Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and was the son of the second President.
He was given every educational advantage in his youth, and when eleven
years old accompanied his father to France and was placed in a school in
Paris. Two years later he entered the University of Leyden, afterward
made a tour through the principal countries of Europe, and, returning
home, entered the junior class at Harvard, from which he graduated in
1788. Washington appreciated his ability, and made him minister to The
Hague and afterward to Portugal. When his father became President he
transferred him to Berlin. The Federalists elected him to the United
States Senate in 1803, and in 1809 he was appointed minister to Russia.
He negotiated important commercial treaties with Prussia, Sweden, and
Great Britain, and, it will be remembered, he was leading commissioner
in the treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close. He was
a man of remarkable attainments, but he possessed little magnetism or
attractiveness of manner, and by his indifference failed to draw warm
friends and supporters around him. Adams was re-elected to Congress
repeatedly after serving out his term as President. He was seized with
apoplexy while on the point of rising from his desk in the House of
Representatives, and died February 23, 1848.
[Illustration: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
(1767-1848.) One term, 1825-1829.]
The country was highly prosperous during the presidency of the younger
Adams. The public debt, to which the War of 1812 added $80,000,000,
began to show a marked decrease, money was more plentiful, and most
important of all was the introduction of the steam locomotive from
England. Experiments had been made in that country for a score of years,
but it was not until 1829 that George Stephenson, the famous engineer,
exhibited his "Rocket," which ran at the rate of nearly twenty miles an
hour.
INTRODUCTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.
The first clumsy attempts on this side were made in 1827, when two short
lines of rails were laid at Quincy, near Boston, but the cars were drawn
by horses, and, when shortly after, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was
chartered, the intention was to use the same motor. In 1829, a steam
locomotive was used on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad, followed
by a similar introduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The first
railroad chartered expressly for steam was granted in South Carolina for
a line to run from Charleston to Hamburg. The first locomotive made by
Stephenson was brought across the ocean in 1831. The Americans set to
work to make their own engines, and were successful in 1833. It will be
noted that these events occurred after the administration of Adams.
THE CHEROKEES IN GEORGIA.
Most of the country east of the Mississippi was being rapidly settled.
Immense areas of land were sold by the Indian tribes to the government
and they removed west of the river. The Cherokees, however, refused to
sell their lands in Georgia and Alabama. They were fully civilized, had
schools, churches, and newspapers, and insisted on staying upon the
lands that were clearly their own. Georgia was equally determined to
force them out of the State, and her government was so high-handed that
President Adams interfered for their protection. The governor declared
that the Indians must leave, and he defied the national government to
prevent him from driving them out. The situation of the Cherokees
finally became so uncomfortable that, in 1835, they sold their lands and
joined the other tribes in the Indian Territory, west of the
Mississippi.
AN IMPRESSIVE OCCURRENCE.
One of the most impressive incidents in our history occurred on the 4th
of July, when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. It was just half a
century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, of which
Jefferson was the author and whose adoption Adams secured.
Adams attained the greatest age of any of our Presidents, being nearly
ninety-one years old when he died. He retained the brightness of his
mind, his death being due to the feebleness of old age. When he was
asked if he knew the meaning of the joyous bells that were ringing
outside, his wan face lighted up, and he replied: "It is the 4th of
July; God bless it!" His last words, uttered a few minutes later:
"Jefferson still survives."
[Illustration: "JOHNNY BULL," OR NO. 1.
(The first locomotive used.)]
It was a natural error on the part of Adams, but Jefferson had passed
away several hours before, in his eighty-fourth year. He died quietly,
surrounded by friends, with his mind full of the inspiring associations
connected with the day. His last words were: "I resign my soul to God,
and my daughter to my country."
An important issue of the younger Adams' administration was the tariff.
Naturally the South were opposed to a protective tariff, because they
had no manufactures, and were, therefore, compelled to pay higher prices
for goods than if admitted free of duty. A national convention was held
at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1827, to discuss the
question of the protection of native industry. Only four of the
slave-holding States were represented, but the members memorialized
Congress for an increase of duties on a number of articles made in this
country. In the session of 1827-28, Congress, in deference to the
general sentiment, passed a law which increased the duties on fabrics
made of wool, cotton, linen, and on articles made from lead, iron, etc.
The Legislatures of the Southern States protested against this action as
unjust and unconstitutional, and in the presidential election of that
year the entire electoral vote of the South was cast against Adams.
The "Era of good feeling" was gone and politics became rampant. The
policy of a protective tariff became known as the American System, and
Henry Clay was its foremost champion. Their followers began to call
themselves National Republicans, while their opponents soon assumed the
name of Democrats, which has clung to them ever since, though the
National Republicans changed their title a few years later to Whigs.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1828.
The presidential election of 1828 resulted as follows: Andrew Jackson,
Democrat, 178; John Quincy Adams, National Republican, 83. For
Vice-President, John C. Calhoun, Democrat, 171; Richard Rush, of
Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49; William Smith, of South Carolina,
Democrat, 7. Jackson and Calhoun therefore were elected.
CHAPTER XI.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON, VAN BUREN, W.H. HARRISON, AND TYLER,
1829-1845.
Andrew Jackson--"To the Victors Belong the Spoils"--The President's
Fight with the United States Bank--Presidential Election of
1828--Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury Among
the Various States--The Black Hawk War--The Nullification
Excitement--The Seminole War--Introduction of the Steam
Locomotive--Anthracite Coal, McCormick's Reaper, and Friction
Matches--Great Fire in New York--Population of the United States in
1830--Admission of Arkansas and Michigan--Abolitionism--France and
Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the United States--The Specie
Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel
Webster--Presidential Election of 1836--Martin Van Buren--The Panic of
1837--Rebellion in Canada--Population of the United States in
1840--Presidential Election of 1840--William Henry Harrison--His
Death--John Tyler--His Unpopular Course--The Webster-Ashburton
Treaty--Civil War in Rhode Island--The Anti-rent War in New York--A
Shocking Accident--Admission of Florida--Revolt of Texas Against Mexican
Rule--The Alamo--San Jacinto--The Question of the Annexation of
Texas--The State Admitted--The Copper Mines of Michigan--Presidential
Election of 1844--The Electro-magnetic Telegraph--Professor Morse--His
Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President, ranks among the greatest of those who
have been honored with the highest gift their countrymen can confer upon
them. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, at Waxhaw Settlement, on the
line between North and South Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were
wretchedly poor and he received only a meagre education. His father died
just before the birth of his son, who enlisted in the patriot army when
but thirteen years old, and was captured at the battle of Hanging Rock.
When a British officer ordered the boy to clean his boots, he refused.
He was brutally beaten for his stubbornness; he told the officer that he
might kill him, but he could never make a servant of him.
Shortly afterward he was seized with smallpox and was abandoned to die,
but his mother secured his release and nursed him back to health. She
died soon afterward, and, while still a boy, Andrew was left without a
single near relative. At the close of the Revolution, he took up the
study of law, pursuing it in a desultory way, until his removal to
Nashville, at the age of twenty-one years. He threw his law books aside
when the Indians began their outrages, and we have told of his striking
services as a soldier and military leader, culminating with his great
victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still widely
celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he possessed
many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray
personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a
thousand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core,
intensely patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. He would stand
by a friend to the death, unless he became convinced of his
unworthiness, when he instantly became his unrelenting enemy.
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON.
(1767-1845.) Two terms, 1829-1837.]
He fought numerous duels, and stood up without a tremor in front of one
of the most famous of duelists. When his opponent's bullet tore a
dreadful wound in his breast, he resolutely repressed all evidence of
pain until he had killed his antagonist, in order that the latter should
not have the pleasure of knowing he had hurt Jackson.
While carrying one arm in a sling from this wound, he led a strong force
into the Creek country. When the men were close upon starvation, they
mutinied. Jackson rode in front of them, pistol in hand, and declared he
would shoot the first one who refused to obey his orders. Not a man
rebelled. At the same time he divided all the food he had among them,
which consisted solely of acorns. Nevertheless, he pressed on and
utterly destroyed the Indian confederation.
Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife,
the unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his
own character. Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence
upon those with whom he comes in contact. In Jackson's estimation, the
only living person whose views were right upon every question was
himself. He was intolerant of opposition, and merciless in his enmity of
a personal opponent. He made mistakes, as was inevitable, and some of
them wrought great injury; but even his opponents respected while they
feared him, and the qualities which we have indicated gave him a warm
place not only in the affection of his own generation but in the
generations that came after him.
When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his
home, known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his
declining years in quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and
died of consumption, June 8, 1845.
"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS."
It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his
authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends,
and, on the principle of "To the victors belong the spoils," that an
administration to be successful must be composed of those of the same
political faith with its head, he began a system of removals from
office. The total number of such removals made by his predecessors was
seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A year after his
inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, since
their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates,
in pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President
adopted no halfway measures.
He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he
wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number
of boon associates, who became known as his "Kitchen Cabinet."
JACKSON'S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK.
One of the President's unbearable aversions was the United States Bank.
He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his
first message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had
failed to establish a uniform and sound currency and that its existence
was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire
in 1836, and Congress passed an act renewing it for fifteen years.
Jackson vetoed the measure, and the two-thirds majority necessary to
pass it again could not be obtained.
By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the
treasury, who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons
for the step. Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and
when he very properly refused, the President removed him. He made Roger
B. Taney, afterward chief justice of the United States, his new
secretary of the treasury, and that pliable official promptly
transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been selected.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832.
Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was
bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the
presidential election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was
cast: Andrew Jackson, 219; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican,
49; John Floyd, of Georgia, Independent, 11; William Wirt, of Maryland,
Anti-Masonic, 7. For Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New
York, received 189 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National
Republican, 49; Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, Independent, 11; Amos
Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti-Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of
Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular vote, Jackson had more than a
hundred thousand in excess of all the others in a total of one million
and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory."
[Illustration: SAMUEL HOUSTON.
One of "Old Hickory's" volunteers, afterward famous in the Texan War for
Independence.
(1793-1863).]
It rarely happens in the history of any country that the government
finds itself in the possession of more money than it wants. It became
clear, however, that not only would the public debt soon be paid, but a
surplus would accrue. In view of this certainty, Henry Clay secured the
passage of a bill in 1832, which reduced the tariff, except where such
reduction came in conflict with home labor. Several years later, the
surplus, amounting to $28,000,000, was divided among the States.
BLACK HAWK WAR.
In the year named occurred the Black Hawk War. The tribes known as the
Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes lived in the Territory of Wisconsin. The
Sacs and Foxes made a treaty with the United States in 1830, by which
they ceded all their lands in Illinois to the government. When the time
arrived for them to leave, they refused, and the governor called out a
military force to compel them to remove beyond the Mississippi. Black
Hawk, a famous chieftain of the Sacs, left, but returned at the head of
a thousand warriors, gathered from the tribes named, and began a savage
attack upon the settlements. The peril was so grave that the government
sent troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson to Rock Island. On the way
thither, cholera, which had never before appeared in this country, broke
out among the troops and raged so violently that operations for a time
were brought to a standstill.
When Atkinson was able to do so, he pushed on, defeated the Indians, and
captured Black Hawk. He was taken to Washington, where he had a long
talk with President Jackson, who gave him good advice, and induced him
to sign a new treaty providing for the removal of his people to the
Indian Territory. Then Black Hawk was carried on a tour through the
country, and was so impressed by its greatness that, when he returned to
his people, he gave no more trouble. It is worth remembering that both
Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War.
NULLIFICATION MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
South Carolina had long been soured over the tariff measures, which,
while they helped the prosperity of other sections of the Union, were
oppressive to her, because there were no manufactures carried on within
her borders. When Congress, in the spring of 1832, imposed additional
duties, she was so angered that she called a convention in November, at
which her governor presided. The new tariff was declared
unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and notice was given that
any attempt to collect the duties would be resisted by South Carolina,
which, unless her demands were granted, would withdraw from the Union
and establish herself as an independent government. Other States
endorsed her action and the situation became serious.
President Jackson hated the tariff as much as South Carolina, but his
love for the Union was unquenchable, and, having sworn to enforce the
laws, he was determined to do it in the face of any and all opposition.
Because Vice-President Calhoun sided with his native State, Jackson
threatened to arrest him. Calhoun resigned, went home, and was elected
United States senator.
President Jackson issued a warning proclamation on the 10th of December,
but South Carolina continued her war preparations, and the President
sent General Scott, with the sloop-of-war _Natchez_, to Charleston, with
orders to strengthen the garrison in the harbor. Scott displayed great
discretion, and won the good-will of the citizens by his forbearance and
courtesy. The other Southern States condemned the rash course of South
Carolina, within which gradually appeared quite a number of supporters
of the Union. Then Clay introduced a bill in Congress, which became law,
providing for a gradual reduction of duties until the 30th of June,
1842, when they were to reach a general level of twenty per cent.
Calhoun, now a member of the Senate, supported the compromise, and the
threatened civil war passed away for the time.
SECOND SEMINOLE WAR.
Trouble once more broke out with the Seminoles of Florida. The
aggravation, already referred to, continued. Runaway slaves found safe
refuge in the swamps of the State and intermarried with the Indians. A
treaty, known as that of Payne's Landing, was signed in May, 1832, by
which a number of chiefs visited the country assigned to the Creeks, it
being agreed that, if they found it satisfactory, the Seminoles should
remove thither. They reported in its favor, but the other leaders,
incensed at their action, killed several of them, and declared, probably
with truth, that they did not represent the sentiment of their people,
and doubtless had been influenced by the whites to make their report.
The famous Osceola expressed his opinion of the treaty by driving his
hunting-knife through it and the top of the table on which it lay.
It being clear that the Seminoles had no intention of going west,
President Jackson sent General Wiley Thompson to Florida with a military
force to drive them out. The Indians secured a delay until the spring of
1835, under the promise to leave at that time; but when the date
arrived, they refused to a man. Osceola was so defiant in an interview
with General Thompson that the latter put him in irons and held him
prisoner for a couple of days. Then the chief promised to comply with
the terms of the treaty and was released. He had not the slightest
intention, however, of keeping his promise, but was resolved to be
revenged upon Thompson for the indignity he had put upon him.
In the month of December, 1835, while Thompson and a party of friends
were dining near Fort King, with the windows raised, because of the
mildness of the day, Osceola and a party of his warriors stole up and
fired a volley through the windows, which killed Thompson and four of
his companions. Before the garrison of the fort could do anything, the
Seminoles had fled.
DADE'S MASSACRE.
On the same day of this tragical occurrence, Major Francis L. Dade set
out with 140 mounted men to the relief of General Clinch, stationed at
Fort Drane, in the interior of Florida, where he was threatened with
massacre. Dade advanced from Fort Brooke at the head of Tampa Bay, and
was not far on the road when he was fired upon by the Indians from
ambush. Half the men were killed, including Major Dade. The remainder
hastily fortified themselves, but were attacked in such overwhelming
numbers that every man was shot down. Two wounded soldiers crawled into
the woods, but afterward died. "Dade's Massacre" caused as profound a
sensation throughout the country as did that of Custer and his command
forty years later.
The Seminole War dragged on for years. General Scott commanded for a
time in 1836, and vigorously pressed a campaign in the autumn of that
year; but when he turned over the command, in the spring of 1837, to
General Zachary Taylor, the conquest of the Seminoles seemingly was as
far off as ever. Taylor attempted to use a number of Cuban bloodhounds
for tracking the mongrels into the swamps, but the dogs refused to take
the trail of the red men, and the experiment (widely denounced in the
North) was a failure.
In October, while Osceola and a number of warriors were holding a
conference with General Jessup under the protection of a flag of truce,
all were made prisoners, and Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in
Fort Moultrie in 1838. The war dragged on until 1842, when General
Worth, after it had cost $40,000,000 and many lives, brought it to an
end by destroying the crops of the Seminoles and leaving to them the
choice between starvation and submission.
[Illustration: OSCEOLA'S INDIGNATION.]
GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMFORTS OF LIFE.
The steam locomotive, of which we have given a brief history, came into
general use during the presidency of General Jackson. When he left
office 1,500 miles of railway had been built, and many more were being
laid in different parts of the country. It wrought a social revolution
by bringing all parts of the country into close communication, making
settlement easy and the cost of moving crops slight. Anthracite coal was
tested in 1837, and, because of its great advantages, was soon widely
used. McCormick's reaper was patented in 1834, and gave an enormous
impetus to the cultivation of western lands. In the early days fire was
obtained by the use of flint and steel or the sun-glass. Friction
matches appeared in 1836, and quickly supplanted the clumsy method that
had been employed for centuries.
On the night of December 16, 1835, New York City was visited by the most
destructive fire in its history. The weather was so cold that the
volunteer fire department could do little to check the conflagration,
which destroyed 648 buildings, covering seventeen blocks and thirteen
acres of ground. The value of the property lost was $20,000,000.
THE COUNTRY IN 1830.
The population of the United States in 1830 was 12,866,020, and the
postoffices, which in 1790 numbered only 75, had grown to 8,450. The
sales of the western lands had increased from $100,000 to $25,000,000 a
year, a fact which explains the rapid extinguishment of the public debt.
[Illustration: WESTERN RAILROAD IN EARLIER DAYS.]
Two States were admitted to the Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michigan in
1837. The former was a part of the Louisiana purchase, and was
originally settled by the French at Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan was
the fourth State formed from the Northwest Territory, and was first
settled by the French at Detroit in 1701.
Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when William Lloyd Garrison,
in his Boston paper, _The Liberator_, demanded the immediate abolition
of slavery. Anti-slavery societies were organized in different parts of
the country and the members became known as abolitionists. The South was
incensed by the agitation, which reached its culmination in the great
Civil War of 1861-65.
FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS.
President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which
he came in contact. We had been pressing a suit against France for the
injuries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but
that country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to
Congress that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill.
France flared up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen
wars would not have moved him to recall his words. England, however,
mediated, and France paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no
time in settling a similar account with us.
President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to
his countrymen. It was well written and patriotic; but his last official
act, which was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends.
The speculation in western lands had assumed such proportions that the
treasury department, in July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the
collectors of the public revenues to receive only gold and silver in
payment. This circular caused so much confusion and trouble that, at the
beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it would have given
great relief. Jackson held the bill in his possession until the
adjournment of Congress, and thus prevented its becoming a law.
The stormy years of Jackson's presidency brought into prominence three
of the greatest of Americans. All, at different times, were members of
the United States Senate, where their genius overshadowed those who
under other circumstances would have attracted national attention. These
men were John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.
JOHN C. CALHOUN.
[Illustration: JOHN C. CALHOUN. (1782-1850).]
The first named was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, March 18, 1782,
and, graduating at Yale, studied law and early developed fine qualities
of statesmanship. He was elected to the House of Representatives in
1811, and became at once the leader of the younger element of the
Democratic party. He was a vehement advocate of the war with Great
Britain, and, in 1817, was appointed secretary of war under Monroe,
serving to the close of his presidency. It has been shown that he was
elected Vice-President with Adams. Elected again with Jackson, the two
became uncompromising opponents, and he resigned in 1832, immediately
entering the Senate, where he was accepted as the leader of the "State
rights" men.
His services as senator were interrupted for a short time when, in
1844-45, he acted as secretary of State in Tyler's administration. He
was determined to secure the admission of Texas and by his vigor did so,
in the face of a strong opposition in the North. He re-entered the
Senate and resumed his leadership of the extreme southern wing of the
Democratic party. He died in Washington, March 31, 1850, while Clay's
compromise measures were pending.
Calhoun ranks among the foremost of American statesmen, and as the
champion of the South his place is far above any who appeared before or
who have come after him. As a speaker, he was logical, clear, and always
deeply in earnest. Daniel Webster said of him: "He had the indisputable
basis of all high character--unspotted integrity and honor unimpeached.
Nothing groveling, low, or meanly selfish came near his head or his
heart."
HENRY CLAY.
[Illustration: HENRY CLAY. (1777-1852).]
Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in the "Slashes," Virginia. He
studied law, and at the age of twenty removed to Kentucky, which is
proud to claim the honor of having been his home and in reality his
State. His great ability and winning manners made him popular
everywhere. He served in the Kentucky Legislature, and, before he was
thirty years old, was elected to the United States Senate, of which he
was a member from 1806 to 1807. He soon became recognized as the
foremost champion of the cause of internal improvements and of the
tariff measures, known as the "American System." His speakership of the
Kentucky Assembly, his term as United States senator again, 1809-11, and
as a member of the House of Representatives in 1811, followed rapidly.
Against precedent, being a newcomer, he was chosen Speaker, and served
until his resignation in 1814. He was as strenuous an advocate of the
war with Great Britain as Calhoun, and it has been stated that he was
one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent in 1814. The
following year he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and
acted without a break as Speaker until 1821. He was the most powerful
advocate of the recognition of the Spanish-American States in revolt,
and but for Clay the Missouri Compromise would not have been prepared
and adopted.
Absent but a brief time from Congress, he again acted as Speaker in
1823-25. President Adams appointed him his secretary of State, and he
retired from office in 1829, but two years later entered the Senate from
Kentucky. For the following twenty years he was the leader of the Whig
party, opposed Jackson in the bank controversy, and secured the tariff
compromise of 1833 and the settlement with France in 1835. He retired
from the Senate in 1843, his nomination for the presidency following a
year later. Once more he entered the Senate, in 1849, and brought about
the great compromise of 1850. He died June 29, 1852.
Clay's vain struggle for the presidency is told in the succeeding
chapter. It seems strange that while he was indisputably the most
popular man in the United States, he was not able to secure the great
prize. The American Congress never knew a more brilliant debater, nor
did the public ever listen to a more magnetic orator. His various
compromise measures in the interest of the Union were beyond the
attainment of any other man. His fame rests above that which any office
can confer. His friends idolized and his opponents respected him. A
strong political enemy once refused an introduction to him on the ground
that he could not withstand the magnetism of a personal acquaintance
which had won "other good haters" to his side. John C. Breckinridge, his
political adversary, in his funeral oration, said: "If I were to write
his epitaph, I would inscribe as the highest eulogy on the stone which
shall mark his resting-place, 'Here lies a man who was in the public
service for fifty years and never attempted to deceive his countrymen.'"
DANIEL WEBSTER.
[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER. (1782-1852).]
Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire,
and died October 24, 1852. He was educated at Exeter Academy and
graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801. After teaching school a short
time in Maine, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1805, and
began practice at Boscawen, in his native State. Two years afterward, he
removed to Portsmouth, where he speedily became a leader at the bar and
served in Congress from 1813 to 1817. At that time he was a moderate
Federalist. He settled in Boston in 1818, and assumed a front rank among
lawyers by his argument before the United States Supreme Court in the
celebrated "Dartmouth College Case," which involved the obligation of
contracts and the powers of the national government. He was congressman
from Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827, was chairman of the judiciary
committee, and attracted great attention by his speeches on Greece, then
struggling for independence, and his pleas in favor of free trade.
Webster's fame as an eloquent orator was already established. As such,
he was the greatest that America ever produced, and many claim that he
surpassed any who spoke the English tongue. Among his masterpieces were
his speeches at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial; at the laying of
the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument, 1825; and his eulogy on
Adams and Jefferson, 1826.
When he entered the United States Senate in 1827, he immediately took
rank beside the giants, Calhoun and Clay. He was an advocate of the
protective tariff of 1823, and in 1830 reached the highest point of
thrilling and eloquent logic in his reply to Robert Young Hayne, of
South Carolina, who asserted that any State had the right to disobey
such laws of Congress as she deemed unconstitutional. Webster's speech
is a classic, never surpassed in its way, and the debate won for him the
proud title of "Expounder of the Constitution."
Naturally Webster opposed nullification, and he and Calhoun had many
earnest contests worthy of two such masters of logic. W.H. Harrison
appointed him his secretary of State, and he remained with Tyler until
1843. In 1845, he was again sent to the United States Senate, but in
1850 he alienated many of his former supporters by his speech in favor
of Clay's compromise measures, He was secretary of State in 1850-52, and
his death called out more addresses and testimonials than any other
since that of Washington.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1836.
The following was the electoral vote cast in 1836: Martin Van Buren, of
New York, Democrat, 170; William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 73; Hugh
L. White, of Tennessee, Whig, 26; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts,
Whig, 14; Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, Whig, 11. For
Vice-President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Democrat, 147; Francis
Granger, of New York, Whig, 77; John Tyler, of Virginia, Whig, 47;
William Smith, of Alabama, Democrat, 23. The vote for Johnson as
Vice-President was not sufficient to elect him, but he was chosen by the
House of Representatives.
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born December 5, 1782, at
Kinderhook, N.Y., and died July 24, 1862. He became eminent as a lawyer,
and his skill as a Democratic politician caused him to be known as the
"Little Magician." He held a number of public offices, being State
senator, United States senator, 1821-28; governor of New York, 1828-29;
and secretary of State under Jackson, 1829-31, when Jackson appointed
him minister to England, but his political opponents secured his defeat
in the Senate. Becoming Vice-President under Jackson, he presided in the
Senate from 1833 to 1837. Jackson was so pleased with Van Buren that he
chose him as his successor. He was the Free Soil candidate for the
presidency in 1848, and thereby brought about the defeat of Cass by
Taylor.
The administration of Van Buren was one of the most unpopular we have
ever had, and through no fault of his. A great deal of the prosperity of
Jackson's term was superficial. He had been despotic, as shown in his
removal of the United States Bank deposits and the issue of the specie
circular of 1836. Confusion ensued in business, and an era of wild
speculation followed a distribution of the surplus in the treasury among
the States. The credit system took the place of the cash system, banks
sprang up like mushrooms, and an immense amount of irredeemable money
was put in circulation.
[Illustration: MARTIN VAN BUREN.
(1782-1862.) One term, 1837-1841.]
These institutions were known as "wild-cat banks," and their method of
defrauding the public was as follows: They bought several hundred
thousands of cheap bills which, having cost them practically nothing,
they used in offering higher prices for public lands than others could
pay in gold and silver. They trusted to chance that their bills would
not soon come back for redemption, but if they did so, the banks
"failed" and the holders of the notes lost every dollar.
The fraud was a deliberate one, but the establishment of the national
banking law since then renders a repetition of the swindle impossible.
THE PANIC OF 1837.
Van Buren was hardly inaugurated when the panic of 1837 burst upon the
country. The banks were forced to suspend specie payment, many failed,
and mercantile houses that had weathered other financial storms toppled
over like tenpins. In two months the failures in New York and New
Orleans amounted to $150,000,000. Early in May, a deputation of New York
merchants and bankers called upon the President and asked him to put off
the collection of duties on imported goods, to rescind the specie
circular, and convene Congress in the hope of devising measures for
relief. All that the President consented to do was to defer the
collection of duties. Immediately the banks in New York suspended specie
payments, and their example was followed by others throughout the
country. The New York Legislature then authorized the suspension of
specie payments for a year. This left the national government without
the means of paying its own obligations (since no banks would return its
deposits in specie) except by using the third installment of the surplus
revenue that had been promised to the States.
The country was threatened with financial ruin, and Congress convened in
September. The President in his message proposed the establishment of an
independent treasury for the custody of the public funds, and their
total separation from banking institutions. Such a bill failed, but it
became a law in 1840. Congress, however, obtained temporary relief by
authorizing the issue of $10,000,000 in treasury notes.
The fact remained, however, that the country was rich, and though much
distress prevailed, the financial stress began to lessen as more healthy
methods of business were adopted. In 1838 most of the banks resumed
specie payments, but the effect of the panic was felt for years. Since
the distress occurred while Van Buren was President, the blame was
placed by many upon the administration.
At that time the present Dominion of Canada was divided into two
provinces, known as Upper and Lower Canada. Dissatisfaction with some of
the features of Great Britain's rule caused a rebellion in Lower Canada
in 1837. Much sympathy was felt for them in this country, and especially
in New York, from which a force of 700 men seized and fortified Navy
Island, in Niagara River. There were plenty of loyalists in Canada, who
made an attempt to capture the place, but failed. On the night of
December 29, 1837, they impetuously attacked the supply steamer
_Caroline_, killed twelve of the defenders, set the boat on fire, and
sent it over Niagara Falls.
President Van Buren issued a proclamation forbidding all interference in
the affairs of Canada, and General Wool was sent to the frontier with a
military force strong enough to compel obedience. He obliged the
insurgents on Navy Island to surrender and pledge themselves to refrain
from all unlawful acts. These vigorous measures soon brought quiet to
the border, and England's wise policy toward the disaffected provinces
has made Canada one of her most loyal provinces.
The population of the United States in 1840 was 17,649,453, further
evidence of the real prosperity of the country. Railroad building went
on vigorously, there being fully 4,000 miles in operation at the close
of Van Buren's term.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840.
The following was the presidential vote of 1840: William Henry Harrison,
of Ohio, Whig, 234; Martin Van Buren, 70. For Vice-President, John
Tyler, 234; E.M. Johnson, 48; L.W. Tazewell, of Virginia, Democrat, 11;
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 1.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. (1773-1841.) One month, 1841.]
William Henry Harrison, ninth President, was born February 9, 1773, in
Virginia, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of Virginia. The son
graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, and took up the study of
medicine, but was fond of military matters, and, entering the army of
St. Clair, he displayed great bravery and skill. He helped General Wayne
win his victory over the Indians in 1794, and was rapidly promoted. He
became secretary of the Northwest Territory in 1798, and the following
year was made delegate to Congress. In 1800, he was appointed governor
of Indiana Territory, and was acting as such when he won his decisive
victory at Tippecanoe, in the autumn of 1811. An account has been given
of his brilliant services in the War of 1812.
He attained the rank of major-general in the regular army, but resigned
in 1814. He was congressman from 1816 to 1819, United States senator
from 1825 to 1828, and United States minister to the United States of
Columbia, 1828-29.
President Harrison wore no hat or overcoat while delivering his
inaugural. Although accustomed to the hardships of the frontier, and
naturally one of the most rugged of men, he was now old and weak in
body. His imprudence, added to the annoyance from the clamorous
office-seekers, drove him frantic. He succumbed to pneumonia and died on
the 4th of April, just one month after his inauguration. He was the
first President to die in office, and an immense concourse attended his
funeral, his remains being interred near North Bend, Ohio.
JOHN TYLER.
As provided by the Constitution, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was
immediately sworn into office as his successor. Like many of his
predecessors, John Tyler was a native of Virginia, where he was born
March 29, 1790. He possessed great natural ability and was a practicing
lawyer at the age of nineteen, and a member of the State Legislature at
twenty-one. When thirty-five, he was chosen governor of Virginia, and
was a United States senator from 1827 to 1836.
Since he was the first President not elected to the office, there was
considerable discussion among the politicians as to his precise
_status_. It was contended by some that he was chief executive "in
trust," and was therefore bound to carry out the policy of his immediate
predecessor. Tyler insisted that he was as much the President, in every
respect, as if he had been elected by the people to that office, and in
this insistence he was unquestionably right.
Tyler quickly involved himself in trouble with the Whigs. They passed an
act to re-establish the United States Bank, whose charter expired in
1836, though it had continued in operation under the authority of the
State of Pennsylvania. President Tyler vetoed the bill. He suggested
some modifications, and it was passed again, but to the indignant
amazement of his party he vetoed it a second time. He was declared a
traitor and widely denounced. All his cabinet resigned, with the
exception of Daniel Webster, who, as stated elsewhere, remained until
1843, in order to complete an important treaty with England then under
negotiation.
THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY.
This was known as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Our northeastern
boundary was loosely defined by the treaty of 1783, and it was finally
agreed by Great Britain and the United States to refer the questions in
dispute to three commissions to be jointly constituted by the two
countries. The first of these awarded the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay
to the United States; the third established the boundary line from the
intersection of the forty-fifth parallel with the St. Lawrence to the
western point of Lake Huron. It remained for the second commission to
determine the boundary from the Atlantic to the St. Lawrence. The
question was a bone of contention for many years, and at last was
referred to Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. These two gentlemen met
in a spirit of fairness, calmly discussed the matter, and without the
slightest friction reached an agreement, which was signed August 9,
1842, and confirmed by the Senate.
CIVIL WAR IN RHODE ISLAND.
Rhode Island had been governed down to 1842 by the charter received from
Charles II., in 1663. This charter permitted only the owners of a
certain amount of property to vote. Dissatisfaction gradually grew until
1842, when two political parties were formed in the little State, one
favoring a new constitution and the other clinging to the old. The
former carried the Legislature, after adopting a State constitution, and
elected Thomas W. Dorr governor. Their opponents elected Samuel W. King,
and both placed armed forces in the field. When civil war was imminent,
the national government interfered and Dorr's forces were dispersed
without bloodshed. Dorr was arrested, and on his trial found guilty of
treason. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but offered liberty
on condition of taking the oath of allegiance. He refused, and, in June,
1845, was unconditionally released. Meanwhile, the general
dissatisfaction with the colonial charter led to the calling of a
convention, which adopted a new constitution, that went into effect in
May, 1843.
[Illustration: JOHN TYLER. (1790-1862.) One partial term, 1841-1845.]
THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK.
It has been shown that when the Dutch were the owners of New York State
many of them took possession of immense tracts of lands, over which they
ruled like the feudal lords in ancient England. These grants and
privileges were inherited by their descendants and were not affected by
the Revolution. Among the wealthiest patroons were the Van Rensselaers,
whose estates included most of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Stephen
Van Rensselaer was easy-going and so wealthy that he did not take the
trouble to collect the rents due from his numerous tenants, who, at his
death, in 1840, owed him nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. His
heirs determined to collect this amount and set vigorous measures on
foot to do so. The tenants resisted, furious fights took place, and the
military were called out, but the tenants remained resolute in refusing
to pay rent. The disturbances continued and were known as "The Anti-Rent
War." The eastern towns of Rensselaer County and the Livingston manor of
Columbia County were soon in a state of insurrection, and many outrages
were committed. In Delaware County, while a deputy-sheriff was trying to
perform his duty he was killed. The civil authorities were powerless to
suppress the revolt, and, in 1846, the governor declared the County of
Delaware in a state of insurrection, and called out the military. They
arrested the ringleaders, and the murderers of the deputy-sheriff were
sentenced to imprisonment for life. Conciliatory measures followed, most
of the patroon lands were sold to the tenants, and the great estates
gradually passed out of existence.
A SHOCKING ACCIDENT.
A shocking accident occurred on the 28th of February, 1844. Mr. Upshur,
secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, secretary of the navy, and a number of
distinguished ladies and gentlemen were taken on an excursion down the
Potomac, by Commodore Stockton, on the steamer _Princeton_. For the
entertainment of his guests, the commodore ordered the firing of an
immense new gun that had been placed on board a short time before. It
had been discharged several times, and, upon what was intended and
indeed proved to be the last discharge, it exploded, killing Mr. Upshur,
Mr. Gilmer, Commodore Kennon, Virgil Maxey, lately minister to The
Hague, and several of the visitors, besides wounding seventeen sailors,
some of whom died. Although Commodore Stockton lived many years
afterward, he never fully recovered from the shock. The accident cast a
gloom throughout the whole country.
ADMISSION OF FLORIDA.
One State, Florida, was admitted to the Union during Tyler's
administration. Its early history has been given, it having been bought
from Spain in 1819. It was made a State in 1845.
Texas now became a subject of national interest. Although the United
States made claim to it as a part of the Louisiana purchase, the claim
was abandoned in 1819, when Florida came into our possession. In 1821, a
colony of Americans formed a settlement in Mexican territory, encouraged
to do so by the home government. Others emigrated thither, among whom
were many restless adventurers and desperate men. By-and-by they began
talking of wresting Texas from Mexico and transferring it to the United
States. There is little doubt that in this design they received
encouragement from many men holding high places in the United States.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION.
The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a
convention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the
Mexican Republic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced
to San Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a
mission-house known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a
single star, floating defiantly above it. In this body of fearless men
were the eccentric Davy Crockett, formerly congressman from Tennessee;
the Bowie brothers, one of whom was the inventor of the Bowie knife;
Colonel Travis, and others as dauntless as they. They had several rifles
apiece, and maintained a spirited defense, night and day, for ten days,
under the incessant attacks of the Mexicans. Finally, when the brave
band was reduced to less than a dozen, they surrendered under the
promise that their lives would be spared. Santa Anna caused the massacre
of every one.
"Remember the Alamo!" became the war-cry of the Texans, and, in the
following month, under the command of Sam Houston, they virtually
destroyed the Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner. Houston was
more merciful to him than he had been to the Alamo prisoners, and
protected him from the vengeance of the soldiers. He was very glad to
sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas.
The Mexican government, however, repudiated the action of its president,
and a guerrilla warfare was waged by both sides for several years
without any progress being made in the conquest of the province. Texas
organized itself into an independent republic, elected Sam Houston
president, and secured recognition from the United States, England, and
several European governments. While making no organized effort to
conquer Texas, Mexico insisted that the province was her own.
ADMISSION OF TEXAS.
One of the first steps of Texas, after declaring her independence, was
to apply for admission into the Union. There was great opposition in the
North because its admission would add an enormous slave area to our
country. For the same reason the South clamored that it should be made
a State. Calhoun, who succeeded Upshur as secretary of State, in March,
1844, put forth every effort to bring Texas into the Union. Clay's
opposition lost him the support of the South in his presidential
aspirations. President Tyler, who favored its admission, made an
annexation treaty with Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. Then
a joint resolution was introduced, and, after a hot discussion, was
passed with the proviso that the incoming President might act, if he
preferred, by treaty. The resolution was adopted March 1, 1845, by the
Senate, three days before the close of President Tyler's term. Calhoun
instantly dispatched a messenger to Texas with orders to travel with the
utmost haste that the new State might be brought in under the
resolution. President Tyler immediately signed the bill, and the
"Lone-Star" State became a member of the Union. On the last day but one
of the close of his term he signed the bills for the admission of
Florida and Iowa, but the latter was not formally admitted until the
following year.
THE COPPER MINES OF MICHIGAN.
There were many events of a non-political nature, but of the highest
importance, that occurred during Tyler's administration. Copper took its
place as one of the great mineral productions of the United States in
1844. The Indians at last abandoned their claims to the country near
Lake Superior, in northern Michigan, and the explorations that followed
proved that the copper mines there are the richest in the world.
Numerous companies were formed and copper-mining became the leading
industry of that section. An interesting discovery was that many of the
mines had been worked hundreds of years before by the Indians.
The wonderful richness of the gold deposits in California, the vast
mineral resources of Missouri and Tennessee, and the untold wealth of
the petroleum bed under the surface of Pennsylvania were unsuspected.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1844.
The presidential election of 1844 hinged on the question of the proposed
annexation of Texas. It has been stated that the Whigs nominated Henry
Clay, who opposed annexation. Van Buren lost the Democratic renomination
through his opposition to annexation, and the Southern Democrats secured
the candidacy of James K. Polk. The Abolitionists did not think Clay's
opposition to annexation quite as earnest as it should be, and they
placed William Birney in nomination. As a result Clay lost the State of
New York, and through that his election to the presidency. The electoral
vote was as follows:
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 170; Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
Whig, 105. For Vice-President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania,
Democrat, 170; Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Whig, 105. This
secured the election of Polk and Dallas. James G. Birney and Thomas
Morris, candidates of the Liberty party for President and
Vice-President, received no electoral vote, but, as stated, caused the
loss of the State of New York to Clay, thereby throwing enough electoral
votes to Polk and Dallas to give them success.
THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.
The convention which placed Polk in nomination was held in the city of
Baltimore. A railway train was waiting to carry the news to Washington,
and, as soon as the passengers could hurry on board, it steamed at the
highest speed to the national capital. When the people left the cars an
hour later they found, to their inexpressible amazement, newspaper
extras for sale containing the news of Polk's nomination. In answer to
their questions they were told that it had been received from Baltimore
by TELEGRAPH.
[Illustration: SHOP IN WHICH THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED
FOR EXHIBITION BEFORE CONGRESS.]
This was on the 29th of May, 1844, and was the first public message sent
by magnetic telegraph. It marked an era in the history of civilization.
Investigation seems to establish that Professor Joseph Henry, of the
Smithsonian Institute, was the real inventor of the electro-magnetic
telegraph, though that honor has been given and will continue to be
given by most people to Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, whose relation to
the telegraph was much the same as that of Fulton to the steamboat. He
added to the ideas of those before him and first brought them into
practical use.
Professor Morse deserves all the credit he has received as one of the
greatest of inventors. He studied painting when young and became an
artist of considerable skill. As early as 1832 he conceived the idea of
an electro-magnetic telegraph and began his experiments. The project
absorbed all his energies until he became what is called in these days a
"crank," which is often the name of one who gives all his thoughts and
efforts to the development of a single project. He drifted away from his
relatives, who looked upon him as a visionary dreamer, and when his
ragged clothes and craving stomach demanded attention, he gave
instruction in drawing to a few students who clung to him.
Light gradually dawned upon Morse, and he continued his labors under
discouragements that would have overcome almost any other man. He
secured help from Alfred Vail, of Morristown, N.J., who invented the
alphabetical characters and many essential features of the system,
besides furnishing Morse with funds, without which his labors would have
come to a standstill. There was not enough capital at command to
construct a line of telegraph, and Morse and his few friends haunted
Congress with their plea for an appropriation. Ezra Cornell, founder of
Cornell University, gave assistance, and, finally, in the very closing
days of the session of Congress in 1844, an appropriation of $30,000 was
made to defray the expenses of a line between Baltimore and Washington.
[Illustration: THE SPEEDWELL IRON WORKS, MORRISTOWN, N.J.
Here was forged the shaft for the Savannah, the first steamship which
crossed the Atlantic. Here was manufactured the tires, axles and cranks
of the first American locomotive. Shop in which Vail and Baxter
constructed the first telegraph apparatus, invented by Morse, for
exhibition before Congress.]
The invention, like most others of an important nature, was subjected to
merciless ridicule. A wag hung a pair of muddy boots out of a window in
Washington, with a placard announcing that they belonged to a man who
had just arrived by telegraph; another placed a package on the wires,
and called to his friends to see it whisked away by lightning; while
many opposed the apparent experimenting with the electric fluid, which
they believed would work all sorts of mischief. Nevertheless, the
patient toilers kept at work, often stopped by accident, and in the face
of all manner of opposition. The first line was laid underground, and,
as has been shown, carried the news of Polk's nomination for the
presidency to Washington.
Professor Morse was in Washington, and the first message was dictated by
Annie Ellsworth, March 28, 1844, and received by Alfred Vail, forty
miles away in Baltimore. It consisted of the words, "What hath God
wrought?" and the telegram is now in the possession of the Connecticut
Historical Society. It may be said that since then the earth has been
girdled by telegraph lines, numbers of which pass under the ocean,
uniting all nations and the uttermost extremities of the world.
In the preceding pages we have done little more than give the results of
the various presidential campaigns. The two leading political parties
were the Whigs and the Democrats, and many of the elections were of
absorbing interest, not only to the participants, but to the country at
large. Several were distinguished by features worthy of permanent
record, since they throw valuable light upon the times, now forgotten,
and were attended in many instances by far-reaching results.
It seems proper, therefore, that a chapter should be devoted to the most
important presidential campaigns preceding and including one of the most
memorable--that of 1840--often referred to as the "hard cider
campaign."
[Illustration: CAMPAIGN SPEECHMAKING IN EARLIER DAYS.]
[Illustration: OLD GATES AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.]
CHAPTER XII.
FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840.
The Origin of the "Caucus"--The Election of 1792--The First Stormy
Election--The Constitution Amended--Improvement of the Method of
Nominating Presidential Candidates--The First Presidential
Convention--Convention in Baltimore in 1832--Exciting Scenes--The
Presidential Campaign of 1820--"Old Hickory"--Andrew Jackson's
Popularity--Jackson Nominated--"Old Hickory" Defeated--The "Log-Cabin"
and "Hard-Cider" Campaign of 1840--"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"--Peculiar
Feature of the Harrison Campaign.
The presidential nominating convention is a modern institution. In the
early days of the Republic a very different method was pursued in order
to place the candidates for the highest office in the land before the
people.
THE ORIGIN OF THE "CAUCUS."
In the first place, as to the origin of the "caucus." In the early part
of the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the
shipping business in the North End of Boston held a meeting for
consultation. That meeting was the germ of the political caucuses which
have formed so prominent a feature of our government ever since its
organization.
The Constitution of our country was framed and signed in the month of
September, 1787, by the convention sitting in Philadelphia, and then
sent to the various Legislatures for their action. It could not become
binding until ratified by nine States. On the 2d of July, 1788, Congress
was notified that the necessary nine States had approved, and on the
13th of the following September a day was appointed for the choice of
electors for President. The day selected was the first Wednesday of
January, 1789. The date for the beginning of proceedings under the new
Constitution was postponed to the first Wednesday in March, which
happened to fall on the 4th. In that way the 4th of March became fixed
as the date of the inauguration of each President, except when the date
is on Sunday, when it becomes the 5th.
Congress met at that time in the city of New York. It was not until the
1st of April that a quorum for business appeared in the House of
Representatives, and the Senate was organized on the 6th of that month.
The electors who were to choose the President were selected by the
various State Legislatures, each elector being entitled to cast two
votes. The rule was that the candidate receiving the highest number
became President, while the next highest vote elected the
Vice-President. The objection to this method was that the two might
belong to different political parties, which very condition of things
came about at the election of the second President, when John Adams was
chosen to the highest office and Thomas Jefferson to the second. The
former was a Federalist, while Jefferson was a Republican, or, as he
would have been called later, a Democrat. Had Adams died while in
office, the policy of his administration would have been changed.
There could be no doubt as to the first choice. While Washington lived
and was willing thus to serve his country, what other name could be
considered? So, when the electoral vote was counted on the 6th of April,
1789, every vote of the ten States which took part in the election was
cast for him. He received 69 (all); John Adams, 34; John Jay, 9; R.H.
Harrison, 6; John Rutledge, 6; John Hancock, 4; George Clinton, 3;
Samuel Huntingdon, 2; John Milton, 2; James Armstrong, Benjamin Lincoln,
and Edward Telfair, 1 each.
THE ELECTION OF 1792.
At the next election, in 1792, the result was: Washington, 132 (all)
votes; John Adams, 77; George Clinton, 50; Thomas Jefferson, 4; Aaron
Burr, 1; vacancies, 3. It would have been the same at the third election
had the illustrious Father of his Country consented to be a candidate;
but he was growing feeble, and had already sacrificed so much for his
country, that his yearning for the quiet, restful life at Mount Vernon
could not be denied him. So he retired, and, less than three years
later, passed from earth.
THE FIRST STORMY ELECTION.
What may be looked upon as the first stormy election of a President took
place in 1800. When the electoral votes came to be counted, they were
found to be distributed as follows: Thomas Jefferson, 73; Aaron Burr,
73; John Adams, 65; Charles C. Pinckney, 64; John Jay, 1. Jefferson and
Burr being tied, the election was thrown into the House of
Representatives, where the contest became a memorable one. The House met
on the 11th of February, 1801, to decide the question. On the first
ballot, Jefferson had eight States and Burr six, while Maryland and
Vermont were equally divided. Here was another tie.
[Illustration: A TYPICAL VIRGINIA COURT-HOUSE.]
Meanwhile, one of the most terrific snowstorms ever known swept over
Washington. Mr. Nicholson, of Maryland, was seriously ill in bed, and
yet, if he did not vote, his State would be given to Burr, who would be
elected President. Nicholson showed that he had the "courage of his
convictions" by allowing himself to be bundled up and carried through
the blizzard to one of the committee rooms, where his wife stayed by his
side day and night. On each ballot the box was brought to his bedside,
and he did not miss one. The House remained in continuous session until
thirty-five ballots had been cast without any change.
It was clear by that time that Burr could not be elected, for the
columns of Jefferson were as immovable as a stone wall. The break, when
it came, must be in the ranks of Burr. On the thirty-sixth ballot, the
Federalists of Maryland, Delaware, and South Carolina voted blank, and
the Federalist of Vermont stayed away. This gave the friends of
Jefferson their opportunity, and, fortunately for the country, Thomas
Jefferson was elected instead of the miscreant Burr.
THE CONSTITUTION AMENDED.
As a result of this noted contest, the Constitution was so amended that
each elector voted for a President and a Vice-President, instead of for
two candidates for President. It was a needed improvement, since it
insured that both should belong to the same political party.
During the first term of Washington, the country was divided into two
powerful political parties. Men who, like Washington, Hamilton, and
others, believed in a strong central government, with only such
political power as was absolutely necessary distributed among the
various States, were Federalists. Those who insisted upon the greatest
possible power for the States, yielding nothing to Congress beyond what
was distinctly specified in the Constitution, were Republicans, of whom
Thomas Jefferson was the foremost leader. Other points of difference
developed as the years passed, but the main distinction was as given.
After the election of John Adams, the Federalist party gradually
dwindled, and in the war of 1812 its unpatriotic course fatally weakened
the organization.
THE COUNTRY DIVIDED IN PARTIES.
The Republican party took the name of Democratic-Republican, which is
its official title to-day. During Monroe's administration, when almost
the last vestige of Federalist vanished, their opponents gradually
acquired the name of Democrats, by which they are now known. After a
time, the Federalists were succeeded by the Whigs, who held well
together until the quarrel over the admission of Kansas and the question
of slavery split the party into fragments. From these, including Know
Nothings, Abolitionists, Free Soilers, and Northern Democrats, was
builded, in 1856, the present Republican party, whose foundation stone
was opposition to the extension of slavery. Many minor parties have
sprung into ephemeral life from time to time, but the Democrats and
Republicans will undoubtedly be the two great political organizations
for many years to come, as they have been for so many years past.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE METHOD OF NOMINATING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.
It will be noted that the old-fashioned method of nominating
presidential candidates was clumsy and frequently unfair. Candidates
sometimes announced themselves for offices within the gift of the
people; but if that practice had continued to modern times, the number
of candidates thus appealing for the suffrages of their fellow-citizens
might have threatened to equal the number of voters themselves. The more
common plan was for the party leaders to hold private or informal
caucuses. The next method was for the legislative caucus to name the
man. The unfairness of this system was that it shut out from
representation those whose districts had none of the opposite political
party in the Legislature. To adjust the matter, the caucus rule was so
modified as to admit delegates specially sent up from the districts that
were not represented in the Legislature. This, it will be seen, was an
important step in the direction of the present system, which makes a
nominating convention consist of delegates from every part of a State,
chosen for the sole purpose of making nominations.
[Illustration: THE WHITE HOUSE AT WASHINGTON, D.C.]
The perfected method appeared in New Jersey as early as 1812, in
Pennsylvania in 1817, and in New York in 1825. There was no clearly
defined plan followed in making the presidential nominations for 1824,
and four years later the legislative caucus system was almost
universally followed. After that, the system which had been applied in
various States was applied to national matters.
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTION.
In the year 1826, William Morgan, a worthless character, living in
Batavia, New York, attempted to expose the secrets of the order of Free
Masons, of which he had become a member. While he was engaged in
printing his book, he disappeared and was never afterward seen. The
Masons were accused of making way with him, and a wave of opposition
swept over the country which closed many lodges and seemed for a time to
threaten the extinction of the order. An anti-Masonic party was formed
and became strong enough to carry the election in several States. Not
only that, but in September, 1831, the anti-Masons held a National
nominating convention in Baltimore and put forward William Wirt, former
attorney-general of the United States, as their nominee for the
Presidency, with Amos Ellmaker, candidate for the Vice-Presidency. The
ticket received seven electoral votes. The noteworthy fact about this
almost forgotten matter is that the convention was the first
presidential one held in this country.
CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE IN 1832.
The system was now fairly launched, for in December of the same year the
National Republicans met in convention in Baltimore and nominated Henry
Clay, and in May, 1832, Martin Van Buren was nominated by a Democratic
convention. He was renominated at the same place and in the same manner
in 1835, but the Whigs did not imitate their opponents. In 1840,
however, the system was adopted by both parties, and has been followed
ever since.
Our whole country seethes with excitement from the hour when the first
candidate is hinted at until his nomination is made, followed by his
election or defeat a few months later. Some persons see a grave peril in
this periodic convulsion, which shakes the United States like an
earthquake, but it seems after all to be a sort of political
thunderstorm which purifies the air and clarifies the ideas that
otherwise would become sodden or morbid. It is essentially American, and
our people's universal love of fair play leads them to accept the
verdict at the polls with philosophy and good nature.
And yet there have been many exciting scenes at the nominating
conventions of the past, as there doubtless will be in many that are yet
to come. Coming down to later times, how often has it proved that the
most astute politicians were all at sea in their calculations. The
proverbial "dark horse" has become a potent factor whom it is not safe
to forget in making up political probabilities.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1820.
Probably the most tranquil presidential campaign of the nineteenth
century was that of 1820, when James Monroe was elected for the second
time. He was virtually the only candidate before the country for the
exalted office. When the electoral college met, the astounding fact was
revealed that he had every vote--the first time such a thing had
occurred since Washington's election.
But there was one elector who had the courage to do that which was
never done before and has never been done since: he voted contrary to
his instructions and in opposition to the ticket on which he was
elected. Blumer, of New Hampshire, explained that, as he viewed it, no
President had the right to share the honor of a unanimous election with
Washington, and, though an ardent friend of Monroe, he deliberately cast
his one vote for Adams, in order to preserve Washington's honor
distinct. His motive was appreciated, and Blumer was applauded for the
act, Monroe himself being pleased with it.
"OLD HICKORY"
It is hardly necessary to repeat that this incident has not been
duplicated since that day. Andrew Jackson, "Old Hickory," was probably
the most popular man in the country when the time came for naming the
successor of Monroe. It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that when
the project of running him for the presidency was first mentioned to
Jackson, he was displeased. It had never entered his head to covet that
exalted office.
"Don't think of it," he said; "I haven't the first qualification; I am a
rough, plain man, fitted perhaps to lead soldiers and fight the enemies
of our country, but as for the presidency, the idea is too absurd to be
held."
But what American cannot be convinced that he is pre-eminently fitted
for the office? It did not take long for the ambition to be kindled in
the breast of the doughty hero. His friends flattered him into the
conviction that he was the man of all others to assume the duties, and
the "bee buzzed" as loudly in Jackson's bonnet as it ever has in that of
any of his successors.
ANDREW JACKSON'S POPULARITY.
It cannot be denied that "Old Hickory" was a great man, and though he
was deficient in education, lacking in statesmanship, and obstinate to
the last degree, he was the possessor of those rugged virtues which
invariably command respect. He was honest, clean in his private life, a
stanch friend, an unrelenting enemy, and an intense patriot--one who was
ready to risk his life at any hour for his country. In addition, he
never knew the meaning of personal fear. No braver person ever lived.
When the sheriff in a court-room was afraid to attempt to arrest a
notorious desperado, Jackson leaped over the chairs, seized the ruffian
by the throat, hurled him to the floor, and cowed him into submission.
When a piece of treachery was discovered on a Kentucky racecourse,
Jackson faced a mob of a thousand infuriated men, ruled off the
dishonest official, and carried his point. He challenged the most noted
duelist of the southwest, because he dared to cast a slur upon Jackson's
wife. It mattered not that the scoundrel had never failed to kill his
man, and that all of Jackson's friends warned him that it was certain
death to meet the dead-shot. At the exchange of shots, Jackson was
frightfully wounded, but he stood as rigid as iron, and sent a bullet
through the body of his enemy, whom he did not let know he was himself
wounded until the other breathed his last.
Above all, had not "Old Hickory" won the battle of New Orleans, the most
brilliant victory of the War of 1812? Did not he and his unerring
riflemen from the backwoods of Tennessee and Kentucky spread
consternation, death, and defeat among the red-coated veterans of
Waterloo? No wonder that the anniversary of that glorious battle is
still celebrated in every part of the country, and no wonder, too, that
the American people demanded that the hero of all these achievements
should be rewarded with the highest office in the gift of his
countrymen.
JACKSON NOMINATED.
Jackson, having "placed himself in the hands of his friends," threw
himself into the struggle with all the unquenchable ardor of his nature.
On July 22, 1822, the Legislature of Tennessee was first in the field by
placing him in nomination. On the 22d of February, 1824, a Federalist
convention at Harrisburg, Pa., nominated him, and on the 4th of March
following a Republican convention did the same. It would seem that he
was now fairly before the country, but the regular Democratic nominee,
that is, the one named by the congressional caucus, was William H.
Crawford, of Georgia. The remaining candidates were John Quincy Adams
and Henry Clay, and all of them belonged to the Republican party, which
had retained the presidency since 1800. Adams and Clay were what was
termed _loose_ constructionists, while Jackson and Crawford were
_strict_ constructionists.
"OLD HICKORY" DEFEATED.
The canvass was a somewhat jumbled one, in which each candidate had his
ardent partisans and supporters. The contest was carried out with vigor
and the usual abuse, personalities, and vituperation until the polls
were closed. Then when the returns came to be made up it was found that
Jackson had received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay
37. "Old Hickory" was well ahead, but his strength was not sufficient to
make him President, even though on the popular vote he led Adams by more
than 50,000. Consequently the election went to the House of
Representatives, where the supporters of Clay combined with those of
Adams and made him President. Thus came the singular result that the man
who had the largest popular and electoral vote was defeated.
It was a keen disappointment to Jackson and his friends. The great
Senator Benton, of Missouri, one of the warmest supporters of "Old
Hickory," angrily declared that the House was deliberately defying the
will of the people by placing a minority candidate in the chair. The
senator's position, however, was untenable, and so it was that John
Quincy Adams became the sixth President of our country.
JACKSON'S TRIUMPH.
But the triumph of "Old Hickory" was only postponed. His defeat was
looked upon by the majority of men as a deliberate piece of trickery,
and they "lay low" for the next opportunity to square matters. No fear
of a second chance being presented to their opponents. Jackson was
launched into the canvass of 1828 like a cyclone, and when the returns
were made up he had 178 electoral votes to 83 for Adams--a vote which
lifted him safely over the edge of a plurality and seated him firmly in
the White House.
[Illustration: OLD SPANISH HOUSE ON BOURBON STREET, NEW ORLEANS.]
It is not our province to treat of the administration of Andrew Jackson,
for that belongs to history, but the hold which that remarkable man
maintained upon the affections of the people was emphasized when, in
1832, he was re-elected by an electoral vote of 219 to 49 for Clay, 11
for Floyd, and 7 for Wirt. Despite the popular prejudice against a third
term, there is little doubt that Jackson would have been successful had
he chosen again to be a candidate. He proved his strength by selecting
his successor, Martin Van Buren.
THE "LOG-CABIN AND HARD-CIDER" CAMPAIGN OF 1840.
The next notable presidential battle was the "log-cabin and hard-cider"
campaign of 1840, the like of which was never before seen in this
country. General William Henry Harrison had been defeated by Van Buren
in 1836, but on the 4th of December, 1839, the National Whig Convention,
which met at Harrisburg to decide the claims of rival candidates,
placed Harrison in nomination, while the Democrats again nominated Van
Buren.
General Harrison lived at North Bend, Ohio, in a house which consisted
of a log-cabin, built many years before by a pioneer, and was afterward
covered with clapboards. The visitors to the house praised the
republican simplicity of the old soldier, the hero of Tippecanoe, and
the principal campaign biography said that his table, instead of being
supplied with costly wines, was furnished with an abundance of the best
cider.
[Illustration: THE MARIGNY HOUSE, NEW ORLEANS.
(Where Louis Philippe stopped in 1798.)]
The canvass had hardly opened, when the _Baltimore Republican_ slurred
General Harrison by remarking that, if some one would pension him with a
few hundred dollars and give him a barrel of hard cider, he would sit
down in his log-cabin and be content for the rest of his life. That
sneer furnished the keynote of the campaign. Hard cider became almost
the sole beverage of the Whigs throughout the country. In every city,
town and village, and at the cross-roads, were erected log-cabins, while
the amount of hard cider drank would have floated the American navy. The
nights were rent with the shouts of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and
scores of campaign songs were sung by tens of thousands of exultant,
even if not always musical, voices. We recall that one of the most
popular songs began:
"Oh, where, tell me where, was the log-cabin made?
'Twas made by the boys that wield the plough and the spade."
There was no end to the songs, which were set to the most popular airs
and sung over and over again. You would hear them in the middle of the
night on some distant mountain-top, where the twinkling camp-fire showed
that a party of Whigs were drinking hard cider and whooping it up for
Harrison; some singer with a strong, pleasing voice would start one of
the songs from the platform, at the close of the orator's appeal, and
hardly had his lips parted, when the thousands of Whigs, old and young,
and including wives and daughters, would join in the words, while the
enthusiasm quickly grew to a white heat. The horsemen riding home late
at night awoke the echoes among the woods and hills with their musical
praises of "Old Tippecanoe." The story is told that in one of the
backwoods districts of Ohio, after the preacher had announced the hymn,
the leader of the singing, a staid old deacon, struck in with a Harrison
campaign song, in which the whole congregation, after the first moment's
shock, heartily joined, while the aghast preacher had all he could do to
restrain himself from "coming in on the chorus." There was some truth in
the declaration of a disgusted Democrat that, from the opening of the
canvass, the whole Whig population of the United States went upon a
colossal spree on hard cider, which continued without intermission until
Harrison was installed in the White House.
And what did November tell? The electoral vote cast for Martin Van
Buren, 60; for General Harrison, 234. No wonder that the supply of hard
cider was almost exhausted within the next three days.
PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN.
As we have noted, the method of nominating presidential candidates by
means of popular conventions was fully established in 1840, and has
continued uninterruptedly ever since. One peculiar feature marked the
Harrison campaign of 1840. The convention which nominated Martin Van
Buren met in Baltimore in May of that year. On the same day, the young
Whigs of the country held a mass-meeting in Baltimore, at which fully
twenty thousand persons were present. They came from every part of the
Union, Massachusetts sending fully a thousand. When the adjournment took
place, it was to meet again in Washington at the inauguration of
Harrison. The railway was then coming into general use, and this greatly
favored the assembling of mass-conventions.
[Illustration: FREMONT, THE GREAT PATHFINDER, ADDRESSING THE INDIANS AT
FORT LARAMIE.]
CHAPTER XIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, 1845-1849.
James K. Polk--_The War with Mexico_--The First Conflict--Battle of
Resaca de la Palma--Vigorous Action of the United States
Government--General Scott's Plan of Campaign--Capture of Monterey--An
Armistice--Capture of Saltillo--Of Victoria--Of Tampico--General
Kearny's Capture of Santa Fé--Conquest of California--Wonderful March of
Colonel Doniphan--Battle of Buena Vista--General Scott's March Toward
the City of Mexico--Capture of Vera Cruz--American Victory at Cerro
Gordo--Five American Victories in One Day--Santa Anna--Conquest of
Mexico Completed--Terms of the Treaty of Peace--The New Territory
Gained--The Slavery Dispute--The Wilmot Proviso--"Fifty-Four Forty or
Fight"--Adjustment of the Oregon Boundary--Admission of Iowa and
Wisconsin--The Smithsonian Institute--Discovery of Gold in
California--The Mormons--The Presidential Election of 1848.
JAMES K. POLK.
[Illustration: JAMES K. POLK.
(1795-1849.) One term, 1845-1849.]
James K. Polk, eleventh President, was born in Mecklenburg County, North
Carolina, November 2, 1795, and died June 15, 1849. His father removed
to Tennessee when the son was quite young, and he therefore became
identified with that State. He studied law, was a leading politician,
and was elected to Congress in 1825, serving in that body for fourteen
years. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, his next
advancement being to the presidency of the United States.
The President made George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, his
secretary of the navy. It was he who laid the foundation of the United
States Naval Academy at Annapolis, which was opened October 10, 1845. It
is under the immediate care and supervision of the navy department and
corresponds to the Military Academy at West Point.
Everybody knew that the admission of Texas meant war with Mexico, for
that country would never yield, until compelled to do so, the province
that had rebelled against her rule and whose independence she had
persistently refused to recognize. Texas was unable to withstand the
Mexican army, and her authorities urged the United States to send a
force for her protection. General Zachary Taylor, who was in camp in
western Louisiana, was ordered to advance into and occupy Texan
territory.
Mexico had always insisted that the Nueces River was her western
boundary, while Texas maintained that the Rio Grande was the dividing
line. The dispute, therefore, was really over the tract of land between
the two rivers. Our country proposed to settle the question by
arbitration, but Mexico would not consent, claiming that the section
(known as Coahuila) had never been in revolt against her authority,
while Texas declared that it was a part of itself, and its Legislature
so decided December 19, 1836.
General Taylor established a camp at Corpus Christi in the latter part
of 1845, at the mouth of the Nueces. With nearly 5,000 troops, he
marched, in January, to the Rio Grande to meet the Mexicans who were
preparing to invade the disputed territory. Taylor established a depot
of provisions at Point Isabel on the Gulf, and, upon reaching the Rio
Grande, hastily built Fort Brown, opposite the Mexican town of
Matamoras.
Some time later the Mexican forces reached Matamoras, and General Arista
on the 26th of April notified Taylor that hostilities had begun. To
emphasize his declaration, Captain Thornton with a company of dragoons
was attacked the same day, and, after the loss of sixteen men in killed
and wounded, was compelled to surrender to a much superior force. This
was the first engagement of the war and was fought on ground claimed by
both countries.
BATTLE OF PALO ALTO.
The Mexicans acted vigorously and soon placed Taylor's lines of
communication in such danger that he hurried to Point Isabel to prevent
its falling into the hands of the enemy. He left Major Brown with 300
men in charge of Fort Brown. The Mexicans were exultant, believing
Taylor had been frightened out of the country. But that valiant officer
paused at Point Isabel only long enough to make its position secure,
when he marched rapidly toward Fort Brown. Reaching Palo Alto, on the
road, he found the way disputed by fully 6,000 Mexicans, who were three
times as numerous as his own army. Attacking the enemy with great
spirit, he routed them with the loss of a hundred men, his own loss
being four killed and forty wounded.
Resuming his march toward Fort Brown, Taylor had reached a point within
three miles of it, when he was brought face to face with a much larger
force at Resaca de la Palma. The battle was a severe one, and for a long
time was in doubt; but the tide was turned by a dashing charge of
Captain May with his dragoons. Despite a destructive fire of grapeshot,
the horsemen galloped over the Mexican batteries, cut down the gunners,
and captured the commanding officer. Taylor then pushed on to Fort Brown
and found it safe, though it had been under an almost continuous
bombardment, in which Major Brown, the commandant, was killed.
[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE IN ONE OF THE BATTLES OF THE MEXICAN WAR.
"Always to be found where the fighting was the fiercest."]
WAR DECLARED BY CONGRESS.
News of these battles was carried north by carrier pigeons and
telegraph, and the war spirit of the country was roused. Congress on
the 11th of May declared that war existed by the act of the Mexican
government, and $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of the President,
who was authorized to accept 50,000 volunteers. The call for them was
answered by 300,000, who were eager to serve in the war.
GENERAL SCOTT'S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
General Scott, as head of the army, formed a careful plan of campaign
for the conquest of Mexico. Of the three divisions, General Kearny, with
the army of the west, was to cross the Rocky Mountains and conquer the
northern Mexican provinces; General Scott himself, with the army of the
centre, was to advance from the coast into the interior of the country,
making the city of Mexico, the capital of the republic, his objective
point; while General Taylor, with the army of occupation, was to seize
and hold the Rio Grande country. The work of mustering in the troops was
intrusted to General Wool, who, some time later, established himself at
San Antonio, and sent many soldiers to the different commands.
CAPTURE OF MONTEREY.
Within less than two weeks after his victory at Resaca de la Palma,
Taylor crossed over from Fort Brown and captured Matamoras. Then he
turned up the right bank of the Rio Grande and marched into the
interior. The Mexicans retreated to the fortified town of Monterey,
where they were so powerful that Taylor waited for reinforcements before
attacking them. His forces amounted to 6,600 by the latter part of
August, and he then advanced against Monterey, which was defended by a
garrison of 10,000 men.
The city was invested on the 19th of September. Two days sufficed for
General Worth to capture the fortified works in the rear of the town,
and on the next day the remaining defenses on that side were carried by
storm. At daylight, on the 23d, the city in front was captured by
assault. The Mexicans maintained a vicious defense from their adobe
houses, but the Americans, charging through the streets, battered in the
doors, chased the defenders from room to room and over the housetops
until they flung down their arms and shouted for mercy. The commander
was allowed to evacuate the city, and fell back toward the national
capital.
OTHER VICTORIES.
Taylor was about to resume his advance when the enemy asked for an
armistice, saying the authorities wished to negotiate for peace. Taylor
agreed to an armistice of eight weeks, but the proposal was a trick of
the enemy, who spent every hour of the respite in making preparations to
resist the Americans' advance. Santa Anna, who was undergoing one of
his periodical banishments, was called back and given the presidency.
When the armistice granted by Taylor expired, the Mexicans had an army
of 20,000 in the field, and, under orders from Washington, the American
commander moved forward. The first town captured was Saltillo, seventy
miles southwest of Monterey. It was taken by General Worth, with the
advance, on the 15th of November, 1846. In the following month Victoria,
in the province of Tamaulipas, was captured by General Butler, who,
advancing from Monterey, united with Patterson at this place. Their
intention was to move upon Tampico, on the coast, but they learned that
it had surrendered to Captain Conner, commander of an American squadron.
Meanwhile, General Wool, marching from San Antonio, arrived within
supporting distance of Monterey. Such was the situation when General
Scott reached the army and took command.
GENERAL KEARNY'S OPERATIONS.
General Kearny, in command of the army of the west, left Fort
Leavenworth, in June, 1846, on the way to conquer New Mexico and
California. He had a long and laborious march before him, but he reached
Santa Fé on the 18th of August, and it was easily captured and
garrisoned. New Mexico was powerless, and the whole province
surrendered. Then Kearny, at the head of 400 dragoons, set out for the
Pacific coast, but he had not gotten far on the road when he met a
messenger who informed him that California had been conquered by Colonel
John C. Fremont, acting in conjunction with Commodores Sloat and
Stockton. Kearny sent most of his men back to Santa Fé and pushed for
the Pacific coast, with a hundred dragoons. He arrived in November, and
joined Fremont and Stockton.
CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.
Fremont acquired the name of the "Pathfinder" because of his exploring
expeditions in the far West. He explored a portion of the Rocky
Mountains in 1842, and, in the following two years, conducted an
expedition with much skill and success through the regions of Utah, the
basin of the Columbia, and the passes of the Sierra Nevada. He was in
charge of a third expedition in 1846, and was in California when the
Mexican war broke out. He received the dispatches as if they were news
to him, but there is good reason to believe that the government had sent
him thither, in order that he might be on the ground and do the very
work he did. He urged the pioneers to declare their independence. They
ardently did so, raised the "Black Bear Flag," and gathered around
Fremont, who continually defeated the superior forces of Mexicans.
The town of Monterey, eighty miles south of San Francisco, was captured
by Commodore Sloat with an American squadron, and San Diego was taken
soon afterward by Commodore Stockton, in command of the Pacific
squadron; learning which, Fremont raised the American flag in the place
of that of California, and, joining the naval commanders, advanced upon
Los Angeles, which submitted without resistance. In a short time the
immense province of California was conquered by what may be called a
handful of Americans.
THE WONDERFUL MARCH OF COLONEL DONIPHAN.
Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan had been left at Santa Fé with his small
force of dragoons. At the head of 700 men, he performed one of the most
remarkable exploits of the war. Riding directly through the enemy's
country for nearly a thousand miles, he reached the Rio Grande on
Christmas day and won a battle; he then crossed the river and captured
El Paso, and, heading for Chihuahua, was met by a Mexican force on the
banks of Sacramento Creek. They outnumbered Doniphan's force four to
one, and displayed the black flag, as notice that no quarter would be
given. The Americans lay flat on the ground, and the first volleys
passed harmlessly over their heads. The Mexicans made the mistake of
believing they had been decimated by the discharge, and charged upon
what they supposed were the few survivors. They were received with a
withering volley, and assailed with such fierceness by the Americans
that they were utterly routed. Chihuahua thus fell into the possession
of Colonel Doniphan, but, since the term of the enlistment of his men
had expired, he could advance no further. He then conducted them to New
Orleans, where they were mustered out of service. They had marched a
distance of 5,000 miles, won several victories, suffered not a single
defeat, and were back again in their homes all within a year.
General Scott had landed on the coast for the purpose of marching into
the interior to the national capital. In order to make his advance
resistless, he withdrew the larger part of Taylor's army and united it
with his own. Taylor felt he was used unjustly, for both he and Wool
were threatened by Santa Anna at the head of 20,000, men, but bluff "Old
Rough and Ready" made no protest and grimly prepared for the danger. The
greatest number of troops he could concentrate at Saltillo was about
6,000, and, after placing garrisons there and at Monterey, he had only
4,800 remaining, but, undismayed, he marched out to meet Santa Anna.
Four miles away, he reached the favorable battle ground of Buena Vista,
posted his men, and awaited attack.
The Mexican commander was so confident of overwhelming the Americans
that, in his message to Taylor, he assured him he would see that he was
personally well treated after his surrender. General Taylor sent word
that he declined to obey the summons, and the messenger who carried the
message to Santa Anna added the significant words: "General Taylor
_never_ surrenders."
[Illustration: BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA
Captain May leaped his steed over the parapets, followed by those of his
men whose horses could do a like feat, and was among the gunners the
next moment, sabering them right and left. General La Vega and a hundred
of his men were made prisoners and borne back to the American lines.]
The American army was placed at the upper end of a long and narrow pass
in the mountains. It was flanked on one side by high cliffs and on the
other by impassable ravines, which position compelled the enemy to
attack him in front.
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA.
The battle opened early on the morning of February 23d, with the
Mexicans swarming through the gorges and over the hills from San Luis
Potosi. The first assault was against the American right, but it was
beaten back by the Illinois troops; the next was against the centre, but
it was repelled by Captain Washington's artillery; and then the left
flank was vehemently assailed. A mistaken order caused an Indiana
regiment to give way, and for a time the whole army was in danger; but
the Mississippians and Kentuckians gallantly flung themselves into the
breach, the Indiana and Illinois troops rallied, and the Mexicans were
driven tumultuously back. In this brilliant exploit Colonel Jefferson
Davis, with his Mississippi regiment, played a prominent part.
[Illustration: GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.]
"A LITTLE MORE GRAPE, CAPTAIN BRAGG."
The next charge was upon Captain Bragg's battery, but that officer, in
obedience to General Taylor's famous request, "A little more grape,
Captain Bragg," scattered the Mexican lancers in every direction. The
success was followed up by a cavalry charge, which completed the
discomfiture of the enemy, who fled with the loss of 2,000 men.
Buena Vista was a superb victory for the Americans, but it cost them
dear. The killed, wounded, and missing numbered nearly 800. Among the
killed was Colonel Henry Clay, son of the Kentucky orator and statesman.
The battle completed the work of General Taylor, who soon afterward
returned to the United States. The glory he had won made him President
less than two two years later.
Returning once more to General Scott, he entered upon the last
campaign, March 9, 1847. Old army officers of to-day contrast the
admirable manner in which he did his preliminary work with the
mismanagement in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Impatience was
expressed at his tardiness in getting his troops ready on the transports
at New York. To all such complaints, the grim old soldier replied that
he would embark when everything was ready and not a single hour before.
As a consequence, his men landed at Vera Cruz in the best condition,
there was not the slightest accident, and every soldier when he stepped
ashore had three days' rations in his knapsack. Twelve thousand men were
landed, and in three days the investment of Vera Cruz was complete. Then
a Mexican train was captured and the troops had provisions in abundance.
CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ.
The city having refused to surrender, the bombardment opened on the
morning of March 22d. The water-side of Vera Cruz was defended by the
castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, built a century and a half before by Spain
at enormous cost. Commodore Conner assisted throughout the four days
that the cannonade lasted. The success of the bombardment made the
Americans confident of capturing the castle by assault, and they were
preparing to do so when the authorities proposed satisfactory terms of
surrender, which took place March 29th.
The direct march upon the capital now began, with General Twiggs in
command of the advance. The road steadily rises from the coast and
abounds in passes and mountains, which offer the best kind of natural
fortifications. When Twiggs reached one of these passes, named Cerro
Gordo, he found that Santa Anna had taken possession of it with 15,000
troops. The whole American army numbered only 9,000, and it looked as if
they were halted in front of an impregnable position, but it must be
captured or the whole campaign would have to be abandoned.
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO.
There was no hesitation on the part of our troops, who, under the lead
of the bravest and most skillful of officers, attacked with their usual
energy and daring. The Mexicans made the best defense possible, but
within a few hours they abandoned every position and were driven in
headlong confusion from the field. They lost 3,000 prisoners, among whom
were five generals, while the escape of Santa Anna was so narrow that he
left his cork leg behind.
The American army pressed on to Jalapa, which made no resistance, and
furnished a large amount of supplies, and Puebla, a city of 80,000
inhabitants, was occupied on the 15th of May. There the ground was high
and the air cool and salubrious. The men were exhausted from their
arduous campaign, and Scott decided to give them a good rest, so as to
be fully prepared for the final struggle. Besides it was necessary to
receive reinforcements before venturing further. Santa Anna, realizing
that the critical period of the struggle was at hand, put forth every
energy to collect an army to beat back the invaders.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO.
"Captain Lee led the way, and showed the men just what to do. They
lowered the cannons by ropes down the steep cliffs and hauled them up on
the opposite hillside."]
Early in August the American army had been increased to 11,000 men, and,
leaving a small garrison at Puebla, Scott set out for the beautiful city
of Mexico. No serious resistance offered until they reached Ayotla,
fifteen miles from the capital. There it was found that the regular
road bristled with forts, and, although there was no doubt that all
could be carried, the American commander wisely decided to move his army
around to the south, where he could advance over a comparatively
undefended route. Without any difficulty he reached San Augustine, which
was within ten miles of the capital.
Had the positions been changed, a force ten times as great as the
Americans could not have captured the city of Mexico, and yet it fell
before a force only one-third as numerous as the defenders.
A DAY OF VICTORIES.
The fighting began before sunrise, August 20, 1847, and when night came
five distinct victories had been won. The fortified camp of Contreras
was captured in about fifteen minutes. Shortly after the fortified
village of San Antonio was taken by another division of the army. Almost
at the same time, a division stormed one of the fortified heights of
Churubusco, while still another captured the second height. Seeing the
danger of his garrisons, Santa Anna moved out of the city and attacked
the Americans. The reserves immediately assailed, drove him back, and
chased him to the walls of the capital, into which the whole Mexican
force crowded themselves at night.
It was in accordance with the nature of Santa Anna that he should set
2,000 convicts loose that night on the promise that they would fight
against the Americans. Then he stole out of the city, whose authorities
sent a delegation to Scott to treat for peace. This trick had been
resorted to so many times by the Mexicans, who never kept faith, that
the American commander refused to listen to them. An advance was made,
and in a short time the city was completely in our possession.
SANTA ANNA.
At Puebla there were 2,000 Americans in the hospital under charge of a
small guard. Santa Anna attacked them, thinking that at last he had
found a foe whom he could beat; but he was mistaken, for reinforcements
arrived in time to drive him away. This terminated for a time the career
of the treacherous Santa Anna, with whom the Mexican people were
thoroughly disgusted.
It is proper to state at this point that Santa Anna while in command of
the Mexican army made a direct offer to General Taylor to betray his
cause for a large sum of money, and he actually received an installment,
but circumstances prevented the completeness of the bargain. This
miscreant was president and dictator of Mexico in 1853-55, was banished
and returned several times, and was still plotting to recover his power
when he died, in his eighty-second year.
The capture of the capital of Mexico completed the victorious campaign.
The entrance into the city was made September 14, 1847, the American
flag raised over the palace, and General Scott, with a sweep of his
sword over his head, while his massive frame made a striking picture in
front of the palace, proclaimed the conquest of the country. All that
remained was to arrange the terms of peace.
TERMS OF PEACE.
In the following winter, American ambassadors met the Mexican congress
in session at Guadalupe Hidalgo, so named from the small town where it
was situated. There was a good deal of discussion over the terms; our
ambassadors insisting that Mexico should surrender the northern
provinces, which included the present States of California, Nevada,
Utah, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico and portions of
Colorado and Wyoming, as indemnity for the war. Mexico would not
consent, and matters drifted along until the 2d of February, 1848, when
the new Mexican government agreed to these terms. The treaty was
modified to a slight extent by the United States Senate, adopted on the
10th of March, ratified by the Mexican congress sitting at Queretaro,
May 30th, and proclaimed by President Polk on the 4th of July. Thus
ended our war with Mexico.
By the terms of the treaty, the United States was to pay Mexico
$15,000,000, and assume debts to the extent of $3,000,000 due to
American citizens from Mexico. These sums were in payment for the
immense territory ceded to us. This cession, the annexation of Texas,
and a purchase south of the Gila River in 1853, added almost a million
square miles to our possessions, nearly equaling the Louisiana purchase
and exceeding the whole area of the United States in 1783.
It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that the governing of the new
territory caused so much trouble that more than once it was seriously
proposed in Congress that Mexico should be asked to take it back again.
General Sherman was credited with the declaration that if the identity
of the man who caused the annexation of Texas could be established, he
ought to be court-martialed and shot. However, all this changed when the
vast capabilities and immeasurable worth of the new countries were
understood. The section speedily developed a wealth, enterprise, and
industry of which no one had before dreamed.
THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
The real peril involved in the acquisition of so much territory lay in
the certainty that it would revive the slavery quarrel that had been put
to sleep by the Missouri Compromise, nearly thirty years before. The
North demanded that slavery should be excluded from the new territory,
because it was so excluded by Mexican law, and to legalize it would keep
out emigrants from the free States. The South demanded the authorization
of slavery, since Southern emigrants would not go thither without their
slaves. Still others proposed to divide the new territory by the
Missouri Compromise line. This would have cut California in two near the
middle, and made one part of the province slave and the other free.
Altogether, it will be seen that trouble was at hand.
Before the outbreak of the Mexican War, Congressman David Wilmot, of
Pennsylvania, introduced the Proviso known by his name. It was a
proposal to purchase the territory from Mexico, provided slavery was
excluded. The introduction of the bill produced much discussion, and it
was defeated by the opposition of the South.
THE OREGON BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
Great Britain and the United States had jointly occupied Oregon for
twenty years, under the agreement that the occupancy could be ended by
either country under a year's notice to the other. Many angry debates
took place in Congress over the question whether such notice should be
given. The United States claimed a strip of territory reaching to
Alaska, latitude 54° 40', while Great Britain claimed the territory
south of the line to the Columbia River. Congress as usual had plenty of
wordy patriots who raised the cry of "Fifty-four forty or fight," and it
was repeated throughout the country. Cooler and wiser counsels
prevailed, each party yielded a part of its claims, and made a middle
line the boundary. A minor dispute over the course of the boundary line
after it reached the Pacific islets was amicably adjusted by another
treaty in 1871.
STATES ADMITTED.
It has been stated that the bill for the admission of Iowa did not
become operative until 1846. It was the fourth State formed from the
Louisiana purchase, and was first settled by the French at Dubuque; but
the post died, and no further settlements were made until the close of
the Black Hawk War of 1832, after which the population increased with
great rapidity.
Wisconsin was the last State formed from the old Northwest Territory. A
few weak settlements were made by the French as early as 1668, but, as
in the case of Iowa, its real settlement began after the Black Hawk War.
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE.
James Smithson of England, when he died in 1829, bequeathed his large
estate for the purpose of founding the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In
1838, his estate, amounting to more than half a million dollars, was
secured by a government agent and deposited in the mint. John Quincy
Adams prepared a plan of organization, which was adopted.
The Smithsonian Institution, so named in honor of its founder, was
placed under the immediate control of a board of regents, composed of
the President, Vice-President, judges of the supreme court, and other
principal officers of the government. It was provided that the entire
sum, amounting with accrued interest to $625,000, should be loaned
forever to the United States government at six per cent.; that from the
proceeds, together with congressional appropriations and private gifts,
proper buildings should be erected for containing a museum of natural
history, a cabinet of minerals, a chemical laboratory, a gallery of art,
and a library. The plan of organization was carried out, and Professor
Joseph Henry of Princeton College, the real inventor of the
electro-magnetic telegraph, was chosen secretary.
[Illustration: THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.]
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.
For many years hardy hunters and trappers had penetrated the vast
wilderness of the West and Northwest in their hunt for game and
peltries. Some of these were in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company,
whose grounds extended as far toward the Arctic Circle as the rugged men
and toughened Indians could penetrate on their snowshoes.
At points hundreds of miles apart in the gloomy solitudes were erected
trading posts to which the red men brought furs to exchange for
trinkets, blankets, firearms, and firewater, and whither the white
trappers made their way, after an absence of months in the dismal
solitudes. Further south, among the rugged mountains and beside the
almost unknown streams, other men set their traps for the beaver, fox,
and various fur-bearing animals. Passing the Rocky Mountains and Cascade
Range they pursued their perilous avocation along the headwaters of the
rivers flowing through California. They toiled amid the snows and storms
of the Sierras, facing perils from the Indians, savage beasts, and the
weather, for pay that often did not amount to the wages received by an
ordinary day laborer.
Little did those men suspect they were walking, sleeping, and toiling
over a treasure bed; that instead of tramping through snow and over ice
and facing the arctic blasts and vengeful red men, if they had dug into
the ground, they would have found wealth beyond estimate.
The priests lived in the adobe haciendas that the Spanish had erected
centuries before, and, as they counted their beads and dozed in calm
happiness, they became rich in flocks and the tributes received from the
simple-minded red men. Sometimes they wondered in a mild way at the
golden trinkets and ornaments brought in by the Indians and were puzzled
to know where they came from, but it seemed never to have occurred to
the good men that they could obtain the same precious metal by using the
pick and shovel. The years came and passed, and red men and white men
continued to walk over California without dreaming of the immeasurable
riches that had been nestling for ages under their feet.
[Illustration: GOLD WASHING--THE SLUICE.]
One day in February, 1848, James W. Marshall, who had come to California
from New Jersey some years before, and had been doing only moderately
well with such odd jobs as he could pick up, was working with a
companion at building a sawmill for Colonel John A. Sutter, who had
immigrated to this country from Baden in 1834. Going westward, he
founded a settlement on the present site of Sacramento in 1841. He built
Fort Sutter on the Sacramento, where he was visited by Fremont on his
exploring expedition in 1846.
Marshall and his companion were engaged in deepening the mill-race, the
former being just in front of the other. Happening to look around, he
asked:
"What is that shining near your boot?"
His friend reached his hand down into the clear water and picked up a
bright, yellow fragment and held it between his fingers.
"It is brass," he said; "but how bright it is!"
"It can't be brass," replied Marshall, "for there isn't a piece of brass
within fifty miles of us."
The other turned it over again and again in his hand, put it in his
mouth and bit it, and then held it up once more to the light. Suddenly
he exclaimed:
"I believe it's gold!"
"I wonder if that's possible," said Marshall, beginning to think his
companion was right; "how can we find out?"
"My wife can tell; she has made some lye from wood-ashes and will test
it."
[Illustration: GOLD WASHING--THE CRADLE.]
The man took the fragment to his wife, who was busy washing, and, at his
request, she boiled it for several hours with the lye. Had it been
brass--the only other metal it possibly could have been--it would have
turned a greenish-black. When examined again, however, its beautiful
bright lustre was undiminished. There was scarcely a doubt that it was
pure gold.
The two men returned to the mill-race with pans, and washed out probably
fifty dollars' worth of gold. Despite the certainty of his friend,
Marshall was troubled by a fear that the fragment was neither brass nor
gold, but some worthless metal of which he knew nothing. He carefully
tied up all that had been gathered, mounted a fleet horse, and rode to
Sutter's store, thirty miles down the American River.
Here he took Colonel Sutter into a private room and showed him what he
had found, saying that he believed it to be gold. Sutter read up the
account of gold in an encyclopedia, tested the substance with aqua
fortis, weighed it, and decided that Marshall was right, and that the
material he had found was undoubtedly gold.
It was a momentous discovery, repeated nearly a half-century later, when
the same metal was found in enormous quantities in the Klondike region.
Colonel Sutter and his companions tried to keep the matter a secret, but
it was impossible. Marshall, being first on the ground, enriched
himself, but by bad management lost all he had gained and died a poor
man. Colonel Sutter tried to keep intruders off his property, but they
came like the swarms of locusts that plagued Egypt. They literally
overran him, and when he died, in 1880, he was without any means
whatever; but California has since erected a handsome statue to his
memory.
For the following ten or twenty years, it may be said, the eyes of the
civilized world were upon California, and men rushed thither from every
quarter of the globe. There was an endless procession of emigrant trains
across the plains; the ships that fought the storms on their way around
Cape Horn were crowded almost to gunwales, while thousands halved the
voyage by trudging, across the Isthmus of Panama to the waiting ships on
the other side. California became a mining camp and millions upon
millions of gold were taken from her soil.
THE MORMONS.
By this time the Mormons engaged much public attention. Joseph Smith, of
Sharon, Vermont, and Palmyra, New York, was the founder of the sect. He
claimed to have found in a cave a number of engraved plates, containing
the Mormon Bible, which was his guide in the formation of a new form of
religious belief. Although polygamy was not commended, it was afterward
added to their peculiar faith, which is that sins are remitted through
baptism, and that the will of God was revealed to his prophet, Smith, as
it was to be revealed to his successors.
The most grotesque farce in the name of religion is sure to find
believers, and they soon gathered about Smith. The first Mormon
conference was held at Fayette, N.Y., in 1830. As their number
increased, they saw that the West offered the best opportunity for
growth and expansion, and, when there were nearly 2,000 of them, they
removed to Jackson, Missouri, where they made a settlement. Their
practices angered the people, and, as soon as they could find a good
pretext, the militia were called out and they were ordered to "move on."
Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, they laid out a city which they
named Nauvoo. Some of them were wealthy, and, as they held their means
in common, they were able to erect a beautiful temple and numerous
residences. Converts now flocked to them until they numbered fully
10,000. Their neighbors were displeased with their presence, and the
feeling grew into indignation when the Mormons not only refused to obey
the State laws, but defied them and passed laws of their own in open
opposition. In the excitement that followed, Joseph Smith and his
brother Hyram were arrested and lodged in jail at Carthage. Lynch-law
was as popular in the West as it is to-day in the South, and a mob broke
into the jail and killed the Smith brothers. This took place in June,
1844, and the Illinois Legislature annulled the charter of Nauvoo.
[Illustration: GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.]
The experience of the Mormons convinced them that they would never be
allowed to maintain their organization in any of the States. They,
therefore, gathered up their worldly goods, and, in 1846, set out on the
long journey to the far West. Reaching the Basin of Utah, they founded
Great Salt Lake City, which is one of the handsomest, best governed, and
cleanest (in a physical sense) cities in the world.
While referring to these peculiar people, we may as well complete their
history by anticipating events that followed.
In 1857, our government attempted to extend its judicial system over
Utah Territory. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, until then
had not been disturbed, and he did not mean to be interfered with by any
government. He insulted the Federal judges sent thither and drove them
out of the Territory, his pretext being that the objectionable character
of the judges justified the step. Our government, which is always
patient in such matters, could not accept this explanation, and Alfred
Cumming, superintendent of Indian affairs on the Upper Missouri, was
made governor of Utah and Judge Delano Eckels, of Indiana, was appointed
chief justice of the Territory. Knowing that he would be resisted,
Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston was sent thither to compel obedience to
the laws.
The United States troops, numbering 2,500, entered the Territory in
October and were attacked by the Mormons, who destroyed their supply
train and compelled the men to seek winter quarters near Fort Bridges.
Affairs were in this critical state when a messenger from the President,
in the spring of 1858, carried a conciliatory letter to Brigham Young,
which did much to soothe his ruffled feelings. Then, by-and-by, Governor
Powell of Kentucky and Major McCulloch of Texas appeared with a
proclamation of pardon to all who would submit to Federal authority. The
Mormons were satisfied, accepted the terms, and in May, 1860, the United
States troops were withdrawn from the Territory.
Since that time our government has had many difficulties in dealing with
the Mormons. Although polygamy is forbidden by the laws of the States
and Territories, the sect continued to practice it. In March, 1882,
Congress passed what is known as the Edmunds Act, which excluded Mormons
from local offices which they had hitherto wholly controlled. Many
persons were indicted and punished for the practice of polygamy, while
others abandoned it. Brigham Young, who had become governor of Deseret
in 1849, and two years later was appointed governor of Utah, died in
1877, at which time he was president of the Mormon church. The practice
of polygamy was never fully eradicated, and Utah, at this writing, is
represented in the United States Senate by men who make no attempt at
concealing the fact that they are polygamists.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1848.
The former Democrats and Whigs who were friendly to the Wilmot Proviso
formed the Free Soil party in 1848, to which also the Abolitionists
naturally attached themselves. The regular Whigs and Democrats refused
to support the Wilmot Proviso, through fear of alienating the South. The
Free Soilers named as their nominees Martin Van Buren, for President,
and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President; the
Democrats selected Louis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and William
O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President; the Whig candidates were
General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, for President, and Millard
Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President. At the electoral vote Zachary
Taylor was elected President and Millard Fillmore Vice-President.
CHAPTER XIV.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857.
Zachary Taylor--The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress--The Omnibus
Bill--Death of President Taylor--Millard Fillmore--Death of the Old
Leaders and Debut of the New--The Census of 1850--Surveys for a Railway
to the Pacific--Presidential Election of 1852--Franklin Pierce--Death of
Vice-President King--A Commercial Treaty Made with Japan--Filibustering
Expeditions--The Ostend Manifesto--The "Know Nothing" Party--The Kansas
Nebraska Bill and Repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
[Illustration: ZACHARY TAYLOR.
(1784-1850.) One partial term, 1849-1850.]
General Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States, was born
at Orange Court-House, Virginia, September 24, 1784, but, while an
infant, his parents removed to Kentucky. His school education was
slight, but he possessed fine military instincts and developed into one
of the best of soldiers. His services in the war of 1812 and in that
with Mexico have been told in their proper place. His defense of Fort
Harrison, on the Wabash, during the last war with England, won him the
title of major by brevet, that being the first time the honor was
conferred in the American army.
No man could have been less a politician than "Old Rough and Ready," for
he had not cast a vote in forty years. Daniel Webster characterized him
as an "ignorant frontier colonel," and did not conceal his disgust over
his nomination by the great party of which the New England orator was
the leader. It was Taylor's brilliant services in Mexico, that made him
popular above all others with the masses, who are the ones that make
and unmake presidents. Besides, a great many felt that Taylor had not
been generously treated by the government, and this sentiment had much
to do with his nomination and election.
THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT.
The "irrepressible conflict" between slavery and freedom could not be
postponed, and when, on the 13th of February, 1850, the President sent
to Congress the petition of California for admission as a State, the
quarrel broke out afresh. The peculiar character of the problem has
already been stated. A part of California lay north and a part south of
36° 30', the dividing line between slavery and freedom as defined by the
Missouri Compromise, thirty years, before. Congress, therefore, had not
the power to exclude slavery, and the question had to be decided by the
people themselves. They had already done so by inserting a clause in the
Constitution which prohibited slavery.
There were violent scenes on the floor of Congress. General Foote, of
Mississippi, was on the point of discharging a pistol at Colonel Benton,
of Missouri, when bystanders seized his arm and prevented. Weapons were
frequently drawn, and nearly every member went about armed and ready for
a deadly affray. The South threatened to secede from the Union, and we
stood on the brink of civil war.
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850.
It was at this fearful juncture that Henry Clay, now an old man,
submitted to the Senate his famous "Omnibus Bill," so called because of
its many features, which proposed a series of compromises as follows:
the admission of California as a State, with the Constitution adopted by
her people (which prohibited slavery); the establishment of territorial
governments over all the other newly acquired Territories, with no
reference to slavery; the abolishment of all traffic in slaves in the
District of Columbia, but declaring it inexpedient to abolish slavery
there without the consent of the inhabitants and also of Maryland; the
assumption of the debts of Texas; while all fugitive slaves in the free
States should be liable to arrest and return to slavery.
John C. Calhoun, the Southern leader, was earnestly opposed to the
compromise, but he was ill and within a few weeks of death, and his
argument was read in the Senate by Senator Mason. Daniel Webster
supported the measure with all his logic and eloquence, and it was his
aid extended to Clay that brought about the passage of the bill, all the
sections becoming laws in September, 1850, and California, conquered
from Mexico in 1846, took her place among the sisterhood of States.
Webster's support of the fugitive slave law lost him many friends in the
North, and, has been stated, rendered his election to the presidency
impossible.
On the 4th of July, 1850, the remains from Kosciusko's tomb were
deposited in the monument in Washington, and President Taylor was
present at the ceremonies. The heat was terrific and caused him great
distress. On his return home he drank large quantities of ice-water and
milk, though he was warned against the danger of doing so. A fatal
illness followed, and he died on the 9th of July. Vice-President
Fillmore was sworn into office on the following day.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[Illustration: MILLARD FILLMORE.
(1800-1874.) One partial term, 1850-53.]
Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born at Summer Hill, New
York, February 7, 1800. He learned the fuller's trade, afterward taught
school, and, studying law, was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, where he
attained marked success. He was State comptroller for one term and
served in Congress for four terms. He died in Buffalo, March 7, 1874.
Fillmore was a man of good ability, but the inferior of many of those
who preceded him in the exalted office. He was a believer in the
compromise measures of Clay, and performed his duties conscientiously
and acceptably.
Fillmore's administration is notable for the fact that it saw the
passing away of the foremost leaders, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, with
others of less prominence. They were succeeded in Congress by the
anti-slavery champions, William H. Seward, of New York; Charles Sumner,
of Massachusetts; and Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio. From the South, too,
came able men, in Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; John Y. Mason, of
Louisiana; and others. The giants had departed and their mantles fell
upon shoulders that were not always able to wear them as fittingly as
their predecessors.
The slavery agitation produced its natural effect in driving many of the
Southern Whigs into the Democratic party, while a few Northern Democrats
united with the Whigs, who, however, were so disrupted that the
organization crumbled to pieces after the presidential election of
1852, and, for a time, no effective opposition to the Democratic party
seemed possible.
THE NEED OF A TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILROAD.
The population of the United States in 1840 was 23,191,876. General
prosperity prevailed, but all felt the urgent need of a railroad
connecting Missouri and California. The Pacific coast had become a
leading part of the Union and its importance was growing every year. But
the building of such a railway, through thousands of miles of
wilderness, across lofty mountains and large rivers, was an undertaking
so gigantic and expensive as to be beyond the reach of private parties,
without congressional assistance. Still all felt that the road must be
built, and, in 1853, Congress ordered surveys to be made in order to
find the best route. The building of the railway, however, did not begin
until the War for the Union was well under way.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1852.
When the time arrived for presidential nominations, the Democratic
convention met in Baltimore, June 12, 1852. The most prominent
candidates were James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, and
William L. Marcy. There was little variance in their strength for
thirty-five ballots, and everybody seemed to be at sea, when the
Virginia delegation, on the next ballot, presented the name of Franklin
Pierce of New Hampshire.
"Who is Franklin Pierce?" was the question that went round the hall,
but, on the forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes to 11 for all the
others, and the question was repeated throughout the United States.
Pierce's opponent was General Winfield Scott, the commander-in-chief in
the Mexican War, who had done fine service in the War of 1812, and ranks
among the foremost military leaders of our country. But, personally, he
was unpopular, overbearing in his manners, a martinet, and without any
personal magnetism. No doubt he regarded it as an act of impertinence
for Pierce, who had been his subordinate in Mexico, to presume to pit
himself against him in the political field. But the story told by the
November election was an astounding one and read as follows:
Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, Democrat, 254; Winfield Scott, of New
Jersey, Whig, 42; John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, Free Democrat, 0;
Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 0. For Vice-President: William
R. King, of Alabama, Democrat, 254; William A. Graham, of North
Carolina, Whig, 42; George W. Julian, of Indiana, Free Democrat, 0.
The Whig convention which put Scott in nomination met also in Baltimore,
a few days after the Democratic convention. Webster was confident of
receiving the nomination, and it was the disappointment of his life
that he failed. The "Free Democrats," who placed candidates in
nomination, represented those who were dissatisfied with the various
compromise measures that had been adopted by Congress. The only States
carried by Scott were Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN PIERCE.
(1804-1869.) One term, 1853-1857.]
Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New
Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College,
he became a successful lawyer. He always showed a fondness for military
matters, though not to the extent of neglecting politics and his
profession. He was elected to his State Legislature and was a member of
Congress from 1833 to 1837, and, entering the Senate in 1839, he
remained until 1842, afterward declining a cabinet appointment from
President Polk. He volunteered in the Mexican War, commanded a brigade,
and showed great gallantry in several battles. He died October 8, 1869.
Mr. King, the Vice-President, was in such feeble health that he took the
oath of office in Cuba, and, returning to his native State, died April
18, 1853, being the first vice-president to die in office. One
remarkable fact should be stated regarding the administration of Pierce:
there was not a change in his cabinet throughout his whole term, the
only instance of the kind thus far in our history.
A TREATY WITH JAPAN.
It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to
the world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other
country, and wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854,
Commodore M.C. Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced
the government to make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the
beginning of the marvelous progress of that country in civilization and
education, which forms one of the most astonishing records in the
history of mankind. Japan's overwhelming defeat of China, whose
population is ten times as great as our own; her acceptance of the most
advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of her rulers have
carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading powers and
justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is
sometimes applied to her people.
FILIBUSTERING.
Pierce's administration was marked by a number of filibustering
expeditions against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them
succeeded, and a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish
authorities. The American government offered to purchase Cuba of Spain,
but that country indignantly replied that the mints of the world had not
coined enough gold to buy it. Could she have foreseen the events of
1898, no doubt she would have sold out for a moderate price.
In August, 1854, President Pierce directed Mr. Buchanan, minister to
England, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and Mr. Soule, envoy to Spain,
to meet at some convenient place and discuss the question of obtaining
possession of Cuba. These distinguished gentlemen met at Ostend on the
9th of October, and adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, from which place they
issued, on the 18th of October, what is known as the "Ostend Manifesto
or Circular," in which they recommended the purchase of Cuba, declaring
that, if Spain refused to sell, the United States would be justified "by
every law, human and divine," in wresting it from her. This declaration,
for which there was no justification whatever, caused angry protest in
Europe and in the free States of our country, but was ardently applauded
in the South. Nothing came of it, and the country soon became so
absorbed in the slavery agitation that it was forgotten.
THE "KNOW NOTHINGS."
Patriotic men, who feared what was coming, did all in their power to
avert it. One of these attempts was the formation of the "Know Nothing"
party, which grew up like a mushroom and speedily acquired a power that
enabled it to carry many local elections in the various States. It was a
secret organization, the members of which were bound by oath to oppose
the election of foreign-born citizens to office. The salutation, when
one member met another, was, "Have you seen Sam?" If one of them was
questioned about the order, his reply was that he knew nothing, from
which the name was given to what was really the Native American party.
It soon ran its course, but has been succeeded in its cardinal
principles by the American Protective Association of the present day.
Meanwhile, the slavery question was busy at its work of disintegration.
The Democratic party was held together for a time by the Compromise of
1850, to the effect that the inhabitants of the new Territories of New
Mexico and Utah should be left to decide for themselves the question of
slavery. In a few years the settlements in Nebraska and Kansas made it
necessary to erect territorial governments there, and the question of
slavery was thus brought before Congress again. The Missouri Compromise
forbade slavery forever in those sections, for both of them lie to the
north parallel of 36° 30'. Stephen A. Douglas, however, and a number of
other Democratic leaders in Congress claimed that the Compromise of 1850
nullified this agreement, and that the same freedom of choice should be
given to the citizens of Kansas and Nebraska as was given to those in
Utah and New Mexico. This policy was called "Squatter Sovereignty."
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
The bill was bitterly fought in Congress, but it passed the Senate by a
vote of thirty-seven to fourteen, and after another fierce struggle was
adopted in the House by a vote of 113 to 100. It received several
amendments, and the President signed it May 31, 1854. Thus the Missouri
Compromise was repealed and the first note of civil war sounded. The
question of slavery was opened anew, and could never be closed without
the shedding of blood to an extent that no one dreamed.
[Illustration: LUCRETIA MOTT.
The advance agent of emancipation. (1793-1880.)]
FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
The enforcement of the fugitive slave law was resisted in the North and
numerous conflicts took place. During the attempted arrest of Anthony
Burns in Boston a deputy-sheriff was shot dead, and Federal troops from
Rhode Island had to be summoned before Burns could be returned to
slavery. Former political opponents began uniting in both sections. In
the North the opponents of slavery, comprising Democrats, Free-Soilers,
Know Nothings, Whigs, and Abolitionists, joined in the formation of the
"Anti-Nebraska Men," and under that name they elected, in 1854, a
majority of the House of Representatives for the next Congress. Soon
after the election, the new organization took the name of Republicans,
by which they are known to-day. Its members, with a few exceptions among
the Germans in Missouri and the Ohio settlers in western Virginia,
belonged wholly to the North.
CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS.
Kansas became for the time the battle-ground between slavery and
freedom. Societies in the North sent emigrants into Kansas, first
furnishing them with Bibles and rifles, while the pro-slavery men
swarmed thither from Missouri, and the two parties fought each other
like Apache Indians. In the midst of the civil war, a territorial
legislature was formed, and in many instances the majority of the
candidates elected was double that of the voting population in the
district. Governor A.H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed
governor of the Territory, and, finding himself powerless to check the
anarchy, went to Washington in April, 1855, to consult with the
government. While there he was nominated for Congress, and defeated by
the fraudulent votes of the pro-slavery men.
[Illustration: HENRY WARD BEECHER.
The Great Pulpit Orator and Anti-Slavery Agitator.]
Meanwhile, two State governments had been formed. The pro-slavery men
met at Lecompton, in March, and adopted a Constitution permitting
slavery. Their opponents assembled in Lawrence, August 15th, and elected
delegates, who came together in October and ratified the Topeka
Constitution, which forbade slavery. In January, 1856, the people held
an election under this Constitution. In the same month President Pierce
sent a message to Congress, in which he declared the formation of a free
State government in Kansas an act of rebellion, while that adopted at
Lecompton was the valid government. Governor Reeder was superseded by
William Shannon. A committee sent by Congress into the Territory to
investigate and report could not agree, and nothing came of it.
The civil war grew worse. A free State government, with General Joseph
Lane as its head and supported by a well-armed force, was formed at
Lawrence. The town was sacked and almost destroyed, May 20, 1856. On the
4th of July following, the free State Legislature was dispersed by
Federal troops, upon order of the national government.
John W. Geary now tried his hand as governor. His first step was to
call upon both parties to disarm, and neither paid any attention to
him. Finding he could not have the support of the President in the
vigorous policy he wished to adopt, Governor Geary resigned and was
succeeded by Robert J. Walker of Mississippi. He showed a disposition to
be fair to all concerned, but, before he could accomplish anything, he
was turned out to make room for J.W. Denver. He was soon disgusted and
gave way to Samuel Medary. Before long, it became evident that the
influx of northern settlers must overcome the pro-slavery men, and the
struggle was given up by the latter. A constitution prohibiting slavery
was ratified in 1859 and Charles Robinson elected governor.
VIOLENT SCENES IN CONGRESS.
Nebraska lies so far north that it was not disturbed. Acts of
disgraceful violence took place in Congress, challenges to duels being
exchanged, personal collisions occurring on the floor, while most of the
members went armed, not knowing what minute they would be assaulted. In
May, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, for utterances made
in debate, was savagely assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South
Carolina, and received injuries from which he did not recover for
several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his brutal act and
re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority.
The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it
placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the
country by the vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics:
James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174; John C. Fremont, of
California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native
American, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky,
Democrat, 174; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114; A.J.
Donelson, of Tennessee, Native American, 8.
JAMES BUCHANAN.
[Illustration: JAMES BUCHANAN.
(1791-1868.) One term, 1857-1861.]
James Buchanan, fifteenth President, was born in Mercersburg,
Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from Dickinson College in
1809. He became a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to
Congress in 1821. Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office.
President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon
returning home, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He
left that body, in 1845, to become Polk's secretary of State. In 1853,
he was appointed minister to England, where he remained until his
election to the presidency in 1856. He died at his home in Lancaster,
June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon Buchanan prove his ability,
though he has been often accused of showing timidity during his term of
office, which was of the most trying nature. He was the only bachelor
among our Presidents.
STATES ADMITTED.
Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a part of the
Louisiana purchase. Troubles over the Indian titles delayed its
settlement until 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid.
Oregon was admitted in 1859. The streams of emigration to California
overflowed into Oregon, where some of the precious metal was found. It
was learned, however, in time that Oregon's most valuable treasure mine
was in her wheat, which is exported to all parts of the world. Kansas,
of which we have given an account in the preceding pages, was quietly
admitted, directly after the seceding Senators abandoned their seats,
their votes having kept it out up to that time. The population of the
United States in 1860 was 31,443,321. Prosperity prevailed everywhere,
and, but for the darkening shadows of civil war, the condition of no
people could have been more happy and promising.
THE DRED SCOTT DECISION.
Dred Scott was the negro slave of Dr. Emerson, of Missouri, a surgeon in
the United States army. In the discharge of his duty, his owner took him
to military posts in Illinois and Minnesota. Scott married a negro woman
in Minnesota, and both were sold by Dr. Emerson upon his return to
Missouri. The negro brought suit for his freedom on the ground that he
had been taken into territory where slavery was forbidden. The case
passed through the various State courts, and, reaching the United States
Supreme Court, that body made its decision in March, 1857.
This decision was to the effect that negro slaves were not citizens, and
no means existed by which they could become such; they were simply
property like household goods and chattels, and their owner could take
them into any State in the Union without forfeiting his ownership in
them. It followed also from this important decision that the Missouri
Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 were null and void, since
it was beyond the power of the contracting parties to make such
agreements. Six of the justices concurred in this decision and two
dissented.
[Illustration: LUCRETIA MOTT PROTECTING THE NEGRO DANGERFIELD FROM THE
MOB IN PHILADELPHIA.
When Daniel Dangerfield, a fugitive slave, was tried in Philadelphia,
Lucretia Mott sat during all his trial by the side of the prisoner. When
the trial was ended Dangerfield was set at liberty, and Mrs. Mott walked
out of the court-room and through the mob which threatened to lynch him,
her hand on the colored man's arm, and that little hand was a sure
protector, for no one dared to touch him.]
This decision was received with delight in the South and repudiated in
the North. The contention there was that the Constitution regarded
slaves as "persons held to labor" and not as property, and that they
were property only by State law.
JOHN BROWN'S RAID.
While the chasm between the North and South was rapidly growing wider, a
startling occurrence took place. John Brown was a fanatic who believed
Heaven had appointed him its agent for freeing the slaves in the South.
He was one of the most active partisans on the side of freedom in the
civil war in Kansas, and had been brooding over the subject for years,
until his belief in his mission became unshakable.
Brown's plan was simple, being that of invading Virginia with a small
armed force and calling upon the slaves to rise. He believed they would
flock around him, and he fixed upon Harper's Ferry as the point to begin
his crusade.
Secretly gathering a band of twenty men, in the month of October, 1859,
he held them ready on the Maryland shore. Late on Sunday night, the
16th, they crossed the railway bridge over the Potomac, seized the
Federal armory at Harper's Ferry, stopped all railroad trains, arrested
a number of citizens, set free such slaves as they came across, and held
complete possession of the town for twenty-four hours.
Brown acted with vigor. He threw out pickets, cut the telegraph wires,
and sent word to the slaves that their day of deliverance had come and
they were summoned to rise. By this time the citizens had themselves
risen, and, attacking the invaders, drove them into the armory, from
which they maintained fire until it became clear that they must succumb.
Several made a break, but were shot down. Brown retreated to an
engine-house with his wounded and prisoners and held his assailants at
bay all through Monday and the night following.
News having been sent to Washington, Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived
Tuesday morning with a force of marines and land troops. The local
militia of Virginia had also been called out. The situation of Brown was
hopeless, but he refused to surrender. Colonel Lee managed matters with
such skill that only one of his men was shot, while Brown was wounded
several times, his two sons killed, and others slain. The door of the
engine-house was battered in and the desperate men overpowered. The
enraged citizens would have rended them to pieces, had they been
allowed, but Colonel Lee protected and turned them over to the civil
authorities. Brown and his six companions were placed on trial, found
guilty of what was certainly an unpardonable crime, and hanged on the 2d
of December, 1859.
Many in the South believed that the act of Brown was planned and
supported by leading Republicans, but such was not the fact, and they
were as earnest in condemnation of the mad proceeding as the extreme
slavery men, but John Brown's raid served to fan the spark of civil war
that was already kindled and fast growing into a flame.
[Illustration: HARPER'S FERRY]
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860.
The presidential campaigns that had been pressed heretofore with a
certain philosophic good nature, now assumed a tragic character. The
South saw the growing preponderance of the North. New States were
continually forming out of the enormous territory in the West, the
opposition to slavery was intensifying, and its overthrow was certain.
Senator Seward had announced the "irrepressible conflict" between
freedom and the institution, and the only remedy the South saw lay in
secession from the Union, for they loved that less than slavery. They
announced their unalterable intention of seceding in the event of the
election of a president of Republican principles. The Republicans placed
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, in nomination. Jefferson Davis saw that
the only way of defeating him was by uniting all the opposing parties
into one. He urged such a union, but the elements would not fuse.
The Democratic convention assembled in Charleston in April, 1860, and
had hardly come together when the members began quarreling over slavery.
Some of the radicals insisted upon the adoption of a resolution favoring
the opening of the slave trade, in retaliation for the refusal of the
North to obey the fugitive slave law. This measure, however, was voted
down, and many were in favor of adopting compromises and making
concessions for the sake of the Union. Stephen A. Douglas was their
candidate, but no agreement could be made, and the convention split
apart. The extremists were not satisfied with "squatter sovereignty,"
and, determined to prevent the nomination of Douglas, they withdrew from
the convention. Those who remained, after balloting some time without
result, adjourned to Baltimore, where, on the 18th of June, they placed
Douglas in nomination, with Herschel V. Johnson as the nominee for
Vice-President. Their platform was the doctrine that the people of each
Territory should settle the question of slavery for themselves, but they
expressed a willingness to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.
The seceding delegates adjourned to Richmond, and again to Baltimore,
where, June 28th, they nominated John C. Breckinridge for President and
Joseph Lane for Vice-President. Their platform declared unequivocally in
favor of slavery being protected in all parts of the Union, where the
owners chose to take their slaves.
The American party, which called themselves Constitutional Unionists,
had already met in Baltimore, and nominated John Bell for President and
Edward Everett for Vice-President. Their platform favored the
"Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws." This
platform was of the milk-and-water variety, appealing too weakly to the
friends and opponents of slavery to develop great strength. The question
of African slavery had become the burning one before the country, and
the people demanded that the political platforms should give out no
uncertain sound.
Amid uncontrollable excitement, the presidential election took place
with the following result:
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican, 180; Stephen A. Douglas, of
Illinois, Democrat, 12; John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 72;
John Bell, of Tennessee, Union, 39. For Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin,
of Maine, Republican, 180; Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, Democrat,
12; Joseph Lane, of Oregon, Democrat, 72; Edward Everett, of
Massachusetts, Union, 39.
On the popular vote, Lincoln received 866,352; Douglas, 1,375,157;
Breckinridge, 845,763; Bell, 589,581. Lincoln had the electoral votes of
all the Northern States, except a part of New Jersey; Virginia,
Kentucky, and Tennessee supported Bell, while most of the Southern
States voted for Breckinridge. The Democratic party, which, with the
exception of the break in 1840 and 1848, had controlled the country for
sixty years, was now driven from the field.
SECESSION AND FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
The hope was general that the South would not carry out her threat of
seceding from the Union, and, but for South Carolina, she would not have
done so; but that pugnacious State soon gave proof of her terrible
earnestness. Her Convention assembled in Charleston, and passed an
ordinance of secession, December 20, 1860, declaring "That the Union
heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North
America is dissolved." The other Southern States, although reluctant to
give up the Union, felt it their duty to stand by the pioneer in the
movement against it, and passed ordinances of secession, as follows:
Mississippi, January 9, 1861; Florida, January 10th; Alabama, January
11th; Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, January 26th; and Texas,
February 23d.
In the hope of averting civil war numerous peace meetings were held in
the North, and Virginia called for a "peace conference," which assembled
in Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of
those in the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was
made president of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were
rejected by the Virginia and North Carolina delegates and refused by
Congress, which, since the withdrawal of the Southern members, was
controlled by the Republicans.
The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed "The Confederate States of
America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander
H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. A constitution and flag, both
resembling those of the United States, were adopted and all departments
of the government organized.
As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the
government property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern
United States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service
of the Confederacy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort
Pickens at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South
Carolina authorities began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the
steamer _Star of the West_ attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it
was fired upon, January 9th, and driven off. Thus matters stood at the
close of Buchanan's administration, March 4, 1861.
[Illustration: THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.]
CHAPTER XV.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865.
THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861.
Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson
Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort
Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops in
Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of England and
France--Friendship of Russia--The States that Composed the Southern
Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign
in Western Virginia--General George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull
Run--General McClellan Called to the Command of the Army of the
Potomac--Union Disaster at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in
Missouri--Battle of Wilson's Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at
Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The
Trent Affair--Summary of the Year's Operations.
Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President, ranks among the greatest that has
ever presided over the destinies of our country. He was born in Hardin
(now Larue) County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809, but when seven years
old his parents removed to Indiana, making their home near the present
town of Gentryville.
[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
(1809-1865.) Two terms (died in office), 1861-1865.]
His early life was one of extreme poverty, and his whole schooling did
not amount to more than a year; but, possessing a studious mind, he
improved every spare hour in the study of instructive books. At the age
of sixteen the tall, awkward, but powerful boy was earning a living by
managing a ferry across the Ohio. He remained for some time after
reaching manhood with his parents, who removed to Illinois in 1830, and
built a log-cabin on the north fork of the Sangamon. He was able to give
valuable help in clearing the ground and in splitting rails. With the
aid of a few friends he constructed a flat-boat, with which he took
produce to New Orleans. Selling both goods and boat, he returned to his
home and still assisted his father on the farm. In the Black Hawk War he
was elected captain of a company, but did not see active service.
By this time his ability had attracted the notice of friends, and at the
age of twenty-five he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, in which
he served for four terms. Meanwhile he had studied law as opportunity
presented, and was sent to Congress in 1846. He opposed the war with
Mexico, but, among such giants as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and
others, he could not make any distinctive mark; but his powerful common
sense, his clear logic, his unassailable integrity, his statesmanship
and grasp of public questions, and his quaint humor, often approaching
the keenest wit, carried him rapidly to the front and made him the
leader of the newly formed Republican party. In 1858 he stumped Illinois
for United States senator against Stephen A. Douglas, his valued friend.
His speeches attracted national attention as masterpieces of eloquence,
wit, and forceful presentation of the great issues which were then
agitating the country. He was defeated by Douglas, but the remarkable
manner in which he acquitted himself made him the successful candidate
of the Republican party in the autumn of 1860.
[Illustration: FROM LOG-CABIN TO THE WHITE HOUSE.]
Lincoln was tall and ungainly, his height being six feet four inches.
His countenance was rugged and homely, his strength as great as that of
Washington, while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which
his bitterest opponent never questioned, won for him the name of
"Honest Abe." He was one of the most kind-hearted of men, and his rule
of life was "malice toward none and charity for all". He grew with the
demands of the tremendous responsibilities placed upon him, and the
reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader has been surpassed
by no previous President and becomes greater with the passing years.
MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER.
All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was the
strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the
Confederates intended to take possession of it, secretly removed his
garrison from Fort Moultrie on the night of December 26, 1860. Anderson
was in a trying position, for the secretary of war, Floyd, and the
adjutant-general of the army, Cooper, to whom he was obliged to report,
were secessionists, and not only refused to give him help, but threw
every obstacle in his way. President Buchanan was surrounded by
secessionists, and most of the time was bewildered as to his course of
duty. He resented, however, the demand of Secretary Floyd for the
removal of Anderson because of the change he had made from Moultrie to
Sumter. Floyd resigned and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, an
uncompromising Unionist, who did all he could to hold up the President
in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew
stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the
North. An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as
attorney-general, for he was a man of great ability and a relentless
enemy of secession.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
[Illustration: JEFFERSON DAVIS.]
Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern
Confederacy that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February,
was born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were
natives of the same State, with less than a year's difference in their
ages. Davis was graduated at West Point in 1828, and served on the
northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk War. He was also a lieutenant of
cavalry in the operations against the Comanches and Apaches. He resigned
from the army and became a cotton-planter in Mississippi, which State he
represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned to assume the colonelcy
of the First Mississippi regiment.
Colonel Davis displayed great gallantry at the storming of Monterey and
at the battle at Buena Vista, and on his return home was immediately
elected to the United States Senate, in which he served 1847-51 and
1857-61. From 1853 to 1857 he was secretary of war under Pierce. He was
one of the Southern leaders, and had already been mentioned as a
candidate for the presidency. He resigned his seat in the United States
Senate in January, 1861, upon the secession of his State, and, being
elected Provisional President of the Southern Confederacy February 9th,
was inaugurated February 18th. In the following year he and Stephens
were regularly elected President and Vice-President respectively, and
were inaugurated on the 18th of the month.
INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, on the
11th of February for Washington. He stopped at various points on the
route, and addressed multitudes that had gathered to see and hear him. A
plot was formed to assassinate him in Baltimore, but it was defeated by
the vigilance of the officers attending Lincoln, who took him through
the city on an earlier train than was expected. General Scott had the
capital so well protected by troops that no disturbance took place
during the inauguration.
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.
The Confederate government sent General Beauregard to assume charge of
the defenses in Charleston harbor. Finding the fort was being furnished
with supplies, he telegraphed to his government for instructions. He was
ordered to enforce the evacuation. Beauregard demanded the surrender of
the fort, and, being refused by Major Anderson, he opened fire, early on
the morning of April 12th, from nineteen batteries. Major Anderson had a
garrison of 79 soldiers and 30 laborers who helped serve the guns. He
allowed the men to eat breakfast before replying. In a few hours the
supply of cartridges gave out, and blankets and other material were used
as substitutes. The garrison were kept within the bomb-proof galleries,
and did not serve the guns on the open parapets, two of which had been
dismounted by the fire from the Confederate batteries, which after a
time set fire to the officers' barracks. The flames were extinguished,
but broke out several times. The smoke became so smothering that the
men could breathe only by lying flat on their faces. Finally the
position became so untenable that Anderson ran up the white flag in
token of surrender. No one was killed on either side.
The news of the surrender created wild excitement North and South and
united both sections. While the free States rallied to the Union, almost
as one man, the Unionists in the South became ardent supporters of the
cause of disunion. It was now a solid North against a solid South.
[Illustration: FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE
DISTANCE.]
Three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called
for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and Congress was
summoned to meet on the 4th of July. Few people comprehended the
stupendous work that would be required to crush the rebellion. While the
South was hurrying its sons into the ranks, 300,000 answered the call of
President Lincoln, who on the 19th of April issued another proclamation
declaring a blockade of the Southern ports.
UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE.
Many of the Confederates demanded that an advance should be made upon
Washington, and, had it been done promptly, it could have been captured
without difficulty. Realizing its danger, the national government called
upon the States for troops and several regiments were hurried thither.
While the Seventh Pennsylvania and Sixth Massachusetts were passing
through Baltimore, they were savagely assailed by a mob. A portion of
the Sixth Massachusetts were hemmed in, and stoned and pelted with
pistol-shots. They remained cool until three of their number had been
killed and eight wounded, when they let fly with a volley which
stretched nearly a dozen rioters on the ground, besides wounding many
others. This drove the mob back, although they kept up a fusillade until
the train drew out of the city with the troops aboard.
ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES.
The Confederates in Virginia continued active. They captured Harper's
Ferry and the Norfolk Navy Yard, both of which proved very valuable to
them. Their government issued "letters of marque" which permitted
private persons to capture merchant vessels belonging to the United
States, against which the Confederate Congress declared war.
The border States were in perhaps the most trying situation of all, for,
while they wished to keep out of the war, they were forced to act the
part of buffer between the hostile States. The secessionists in
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri made determined efforts to bring about
the secession of those States, but the Union men were too strong. The
armies on both sides received many recruits from the States named, which
in some cases suffered from guerrilla fighting between former friends
and neighbors.
Kentucky, whose governor was a secessionist, thought she could hold a
neutral position, but the majority of the citizens were Union in their
sentiments. Besides, the situation of the State was such that it was
soon invaded by armed forces from both sides, and some of the severest
battles of the war were fought on its soil.
THE WAR AS VIEWED IN EUROPE.
The prospect of the splitting apart of the United States was pleasing to
all the European powers, with the single exception of Russia. France was
especially urgent in favoring an armed intervention in favor of the
Confederacy, but England would not agree, nor would she recognize the
Confederate States as an independent nation, for, had she done so, the
United States would immediately have declared war against her. In May,
however, England declared the Confederacy a belligerent power, thereby
entitling it to make war and man war vessels, which could take refuge in
foreign ports. While this recognition was of unquestionable help, it
would not have amounted to a great deal had not England permitted the
building of swift and powerful cruisers, which were turned over to the
Confederates, and did immense damage to Northern commerce.
When June arrived, the Southern Confederacy was composed of eleven
States: South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. As soon
as Virginia seceded (May 23d), the capital was removed from Montgomery
to Richmond. It was clear that Virginia would be the principal
battle-ground of the war, and the Confederate volunteers throughout the
South hurried into the State.
An intelligent knowledge of the direction from which danger was likely
to come was shown by the placing of troops in western Virginia to meet
Confederate attacks, while soldiers were moved into southern Kentucky to
defend Tennessee. In Virginia they held the line from Harper's Ferry to
Norfolk, and batteries were built along the Mississippi to stop all
navigation of that stream. The erection of forts along the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts for protection against the blockading fleets soon walled in
the Confederacy on every hand.
THE MILITARY SITUATION.
General Scott for a time held the general command of all the United
States forces. But he was old and growing weak in body and mind, and it
was evident must soon give way to a younger man. The national forces
held the eastern side of the Potomac, from Harper's Ferry to Fort
Monroe, and a small section of the western side opposite Washington.
While enlisting and drilling troops, they strove to hold also Kentucky
and Missouri, succeeding so well that their grip was never lost
throughout the war.
[Illustration: A SKIRMISHER.]
With the opposing forces face to face, continual skirmishing was kept
up. This had no effect on the war itself, but was expressive of the
martial spirit which animated both sides. General B.F. Butler, who had
great executive but slight military ability, was in command at Fort
Monroe. While there he refused to surrender a number of fugitive slaves
that had fled into his lines, declaring them "contraband of war." The
phrase was a happy one and caught the fancy of the North.
UNION DISASTER AT BIG BETHEL.
Butler fortified Newport News, which is a point of land at the junction
of the James River and Hampton Roads. Fifteen miles away was a
Confederate detachment, on the road to Yorktown, where the main body was
under the command of General J.B. Magruder, a former artillery officer
of the United States army. The Confederate position at Big Bethel was a
strong one and had a garrison of more than a thousand troops. A short
distance in front was Little Bethel, where a small detachment was under
the command of Colonel D.H. Hill, also a former member of the United
States army.
General Pierce advanced to the attack early on the morning of June 9th.
The two columns mistook each other, and not until 10 men were killed was
the sad blunder discovered. An assault quickly followed, but the
assailants were defeated with the loss of 14 killed and 49 wounded.
Among the slain was Lieutenant John T. Greble, a brilliant West Point
officer, who ought to have been in command of the brigade, with which he
doubtless would have achieved a success. The incompetency of the
political leader cost dearly, but the government was yet to learn that
full-fledged officers are not to be found among men who have made
politics their life profession.
SUCCESSFUL UNION CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.
The only place where there were any Union successes was in western
Virginia. Colonel Wallace with a detachment of Indiana Zouaves--a
favorite form of military troops at the beginning of the war--made a
forced march at night over a mountain road, from Cumberland, in
Maryland, to Romney, where the Confederates had a battery on a bluff
near the village, guarded by a number of field-pieces. By a spirited
dash, the Union troops captured the position and drove the defenders
into the woods. Unable to overtake them, Colonel Wallace returned to
Cumberland.
This incident had important results. General Jo Johnston, one of the
best commanders of the war, was at Harper's Ferry, and, fearing for his
communications, he evacuated the post, and marched up the Shenandoah
Valley to a point near Winchester.
GENERAL McCLELLAN.
The operations in western Virginia brought into prominence an officer
who was destined to play an important part in the war. He was George B.
McClellan, born in Philadelphia in 1826, and graduated at West Point in
1846. He rendered fine service in the Mexican War, after which,
resigning from the army, he was for several years engineer for the
Illinois Central Railroad and afterward a railroad president. He was
appointed a major-general at the opening of the Civil War, and, with
15,000 troops, mostly from the Western States, he advanced against the
Confederates in western Virginia under the command of General Garnett,
also a graduate and formerly an instructor at West Point. Garnett held a
position west of the principal line of the Alleghanies, which covered
the road leading from Philippi to Beverly. Colonel Pegram was placed in
charge of the hill Rich Mountain, a short distance south of Garnett.
McClellan advanced against these two positions. Colonel Rosecrans, with
four regiments and in the face of a blinding rainstorm, followed a
circuitous path through the woods, and charged up the elevation against
a strong fire. The Confederates were driven from their position and down
the other side of the hill. Colonel Pegram, finding his position turned,
retreated in the direction of Beverly. Rosecrans pursued and Garnett
turned to the north, aiming for St. George on the Cheat River. Pegram
had surrendered with 600 men, the remainder joining Garnett, who was
hard pressed by General Morris. Despite the obstructions thrown in his
path, he overtook the fugitives on the 13th of July at Carrick's Ford on
the Cheat River. There the Confederates were routed and Garnett shot
dead at the head of his troops. The remnant of his force fled in
disorder, and succeeded in reaching Monterey on the eastern side of the
mountains.
[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.
(1826-1885).]
The campaign in western Virginia was a brilliant Union success. A
thousand prisoners, seven guns, 1,500 stands of arms, and twelve colors
were captured, with slight loss to the victors. All the credit of this
success was given to McClellan, and, since the North was yearning for
some leader with the halo of success attached to his name, they at once
proclaimed "Little Mac" as their idol, destined to crush secession and
re-establish the Union in all its strength and former glory.
In September General Robert E. Lee was sent into western Virginia to
regain the ground lost, but he failed and was driven out of the section
by Rosecrans, the successor of McClellan. Before this took place,
however, the opening battle of the war had been fought elsewhere.
"ON TO RICHMOND!"
The removal of the Confederate government from Montgomery to Richmond
was unbearably exasperating to the North. It may be said that the
secession flag was flaunted in sight of Washington. The New York
_Tribune_, the most influential journal of the North, raised the cry
"_On to Richmond_!" and the pressure became so clamorous and persistent
that the government, although conscious of the risk of the step, ordered
an advance against the Confederate capital. Congress, which had met July
4th, appropriated $500,000,000 for carrying on the war, and authorized
President Lincoln to call out 500,000 volunteers for crushing the
rebellion.
The Union army across the Potomac from Washington numbered about 40,000
men and was under the command of General Irvin McDowell. It was only
partly disciplined, had a few good and many incompetent officers, was
composed of fine material, but of necessity lacked the steadiness which
can only be acquired by actual campaigns and fighting.
General Beauregard, with a Confederate army not quite so numerous, held
a strong military position near Manassas Junction, some thirty miles
from Washington, and connected with Richmond by rail. General Jo
Johnston had a smaller Confederate army at Winchester, it being his duty
to hold General Patterson in check and prevent his reinforcing McDowell.
At the same time Patterson, to prevent Johnston from joining Beauregard,
planned an offensive movement against the Confederate commander at
Winchester.
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
McDowell's plan was to advance to Fairfax Court-House, and then, turning
south, cut Beauregard's communications. The first movement was made on
the afternoon of July 16th. General Mansfield with 16,000 men remained
in Washington to protect the capital from surprise. The advance was
slow, occupying several days. McDowell discovered six Confederate
brigades posted along the creek known as Bull Run, and he decided to
begin his attack upon them. While General Tyler was sent across the
stone bridge to threaten the Confederate front, Hunter and Heintzelman
were directed to make a detour and attack the enemy's front and rear.
Johnston, who had hurried up from Winchester, had decided to hasten the
battle through fear of the arrival of Patterson with reinforcements for
McDowell, but the latter, moving first, Johnston was compelled to act on
the defensive.
[Illustration: FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861
On July 16, 1861, the first great battle of the Civil War was fought,
resulting in the complete defeat of the Union army, which fled in panic
from the field. Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit they could
easily have captured Washington city. The total loss to the Union army
in killed, wounded, captured and missing was 3,334 men; that of the
Southern army, 1,982. The Confederates gained another victory at Bull
Run in 1862.]
Tyler and Hunter were tardy in their movements, but by noon McDowell had
turned the Confederate left and uncovered the stone bridge. Instead of
using the advantage thus secured and assuming position at Manassas
depot, he kept up his pursuit of the fleeing Confederates to the woods.
There, when everything seemed to be going the way of the Union array, it
was checked by General T.J. Jackson's brigade, whose firm stand in the
face of seeming disaster won for him the soubriquet of "Stonewall"
Jackson, first uttered in compliment by General Bee, by which name the
remarkable man will always be remembered.
[Illustration: STATUE OF McCLELLAN IN CITY HALL SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA.]
The stand of Jackson enabled Johnston to rally the right and Beauregard
the left, but matters were in a critical shape, when Kirby Smith, who
had escaped Patterson in the valley, rushed across the fields from
Manassas with 15,000 fresh troops. This timely arrival turned, the
fortunes of the day. McDowell was driven from the plateau he had
occupied, and the whole Union army was thrown into a panic and rushed in
headlong flight for the defenses of Washington. Nothing could stay their
flight, and the city was overrun with the terrified fugitives, who
swarmed into the railroad trains, fled to the open fields beyond,
spreading the most frightful rumors, while many did not believe
themselves safe until at home in the North.
Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit, they could have easily
captured Washington. They failed to do so, because they did not know
how beaten and disorganized the Union forces were. The Union losses in
this first great battle of the war were: Killed, 470; wounded, 1,071;
captured and missing, 1,793; total, 3,334. The Confederate losses were:
Killed, 387; wounded, 1,582; captured and missing, 13; total, 1,982.
GENERAL McCLELLAN APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
Bull Run was a bitter humiliation for the North, but it served a good
purpose. The national government understood for the first time the
formidable nature of the task before it. Its determination to subdue the
rebellion was intensified rather than lessened, but it now went about it
in the right way. Incompetent officers were weeded out, careful and
vigorous measures set on foot, and, what was the most popular movement
of all, General McClellan was called to the command of the Army of the
Potomac. He took charge August 20th, and set about organizing and
disciplining the magnificent body of men. No one could surpass him at
such work, and he had the opportunity of establishing himself as the
idol of the nation. That he failed to do so was clue to an inherent
defect of his nature. He shrank from taking chances, lacked nerve and
dash, distrusted himself, and was so slow and excessively cautious that
he wore out the patience of the government and finally of the nation
itself.
General Scott's old age and increasing infirmities compelled him in
November to give up the command of the Union armies, and all hopes
centred upon McClellan. He kept drilling the Army of the Potomac, and by
the close of the year had 150,000 well-trained soldiers under his
command. The impatience of the North began to manifest itself, but no
general advance took place, though the Confederate line was gradually
pushed back from its threatening position in front of Washington to its
first position at Bull Run. The Confederacy was also busy in recruiting
and drilling its forces. Knowing that Richmond was the objective point
of the Union advance, the city was surrounded with formidable
fortifications.
DISASTER AT BALL'S BLUFF.
On the 19th of October General McCall was ordered to occupy
Drainesville, eighteen miles northwest of Washington. At the same time,
General Stone was directed to keep watch of Leesburg, from which the
patrols afterward reported a weak Confederate force. An advance was
ordered, whereupon Colonel Evans, who had given the Confederates great
help at Bull Run, concentrated his forces on the road leading from
Leesburg to Washington, and, on the morning of the 21st, had assumed a
strong position and was ready to be attacked.
[Illustration: FORTIFYING RICHMOND.
In the foreground we see R.E. Lee and two other confederate officers
directing the work.]
The Union troops were ferried across the river in three scows, two
skiffs, and a life-boat, which combined would not carry one-fourth of
the men. When all were over they advanced to Leesburg, where no
Confederate camp was found, but the enemy in the woods attacked them.
Colonel E.D. Baker, a civilian officer from California, hurried across
the river with 1,900 men and took command. The enemy was reinforced and
drove the Unionists back. Colonel Baker was killed and the Federals
fled in a panic to the Potomac, with the Confederates upon them. The
fugitives swarmed into the boats and sank three of them; others leaped
over the bank and swam and dived for their lives, the enemy shooting and
bayoneting all who did not surrender. When the horrible affair was over,
the Union loss was fully a thousand men. This occurrence was in some
respects more disgraceful than Bull Run.
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI.
Claiborne F. Jackson, governor of Missouri, was a strong secessionist,
and did all he could to take the State out of the Union, but the
sentiment against him was too strong. St. Louis was also secession in
feeling, but Captain Nathaniel Lyon kept the disloyalists in subjection
so effectively that he was rewarded by being made a brigadier-general.
Governor Jackson by proclamation called out 50,000 of the State militia
to repel the "invasion" of the State by United States troops. Sterling
Price, a major-general of the State forces, was dispatched to Booneville
and Lexington, on the Missouri River.
Colonel Franz Sigel, with 1,100 Union troops, had an engagement in the
southwestern part of the State and was compelled to retreat, but he
managed his withdrawal so skillfully that he killed and wounded a large
number of his pursuers. General Lyon joined Sigel near Springfield, and
the Confederates, under General Ben McCulloch, retreated to Cowskin
Prairie, on the border of the Indian Territory.
BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK.
Both sides were reinforced, the Unionists being under the command of
General John C. Fremont, who had been assigned to the department of the
West, which included Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. The two
armies met early in August near Wilson's Creek. The Confederates were
the most numerous, but were poorly armed and disciplined. The battle was
badly mismanaged by both sides, and General Lyon, while leading a
charge, was shot dead. His men were defeated and retreated in the
direction of Springfield.
Missouri was now overrun with guerrillas and harried by both sides.
Colonel Mulligan made a desperate stand at Lexington in September, but
an overwhelming force under General Price compelled him to surrender.
Price moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who
also occupied Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho passed an
ordinance of secession, but most of the State remained in the hands of
the Federals until they finally gained entire possession.
General Fremont's course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued
what was in reality an emancipation proclamation, which President
Lincoln was compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and
so extravagant that he was superseded in November by General Hunter,
who was soon sent to Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General
Halleck. The fighting in the State was fierce but of an indecisive
character.
The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance
of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a
graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General
U.S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became
known that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp
at Belmont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his
gunboats.
OPERATIONS ON THE COAST.
A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board,
under command of General B.F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August,
1861, captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establishing
themselves at that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining
coast of North Carolina. A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in
November under Commodore Dupont and General T.W. Sherman and captured
Port Royal. The fleet was so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred
vessels and transports, that the garrisons were easily driven out of the
forts, after which the land forces took possession of them. The islands
between Charleston and Savannah were seized, and in September a Union
fleet took possession of Ship Island, not far from the mouth of the
Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New Orleans.
THE TRENT AFFAIR.
It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from
England and France. The Confederate government thought they could be
induced to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective
governments. Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell,
of Louisiana, both of whom had been United States senators, were
appointed commissioners, the former to England and the latter to France.
They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took
passage on the British steamer _Trent_ for England. Captain Charles
Wilkes, of the steamer _San Jacinto_, knew of their intended sailing and
was on the lookout for them. Before they were fairly on their way,
Captain Wilkes stopped the _Trent_, and, despite the protests of the
captain and the rebel commissioners, he forcibly took them off and
carried them to the United States.
In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war
with England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American
vessels by British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as
persistent in her claim to the right to make such search. The positions
were now reversed, and England expressed indignation, and demanded the
return of the commissioners and a disavowal of the act of Captain
Wilkes. The position of our government was untenable, and Secretary
Seward gracefully confessed it, and surrendered the prisoners, neither
of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest benefit to the
Confederacy.
SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.
The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two real
battles of the war--Bull Run and Wilson's Creek--had been won by them.
In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they had
also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the
North and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which
to learn war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling
of firearms and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive,
and fighting, as may be said, on inner lines.
It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved
Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite
the strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive
minority in each State. Washington, which more than once had been in
danger of capture, was made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in
the West was cut off and formed into a separate State. In wealth and
resources the North vastly preponderated. An immense army had been
raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, the sentiment
overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the
manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of
hundreds of ships for the navy and the furnishing of supplies and
equipments to the armies.
[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON.
This memorable battle of February, 1862, was the first serious blow to
the Confederate cause. It was also Grant's first victory of importance,
and marks the beginning of his rise to fame. Fifteen thousand prisoners
were taken. Grant generously allowed the Confederates to retain their
personal baggage, and the officers to keep their side arms. General
Buckner expressed his thanks for this chivalrous act, and later in life
became Grant's personal friend.]
CHAPTER XVI.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862.
Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate Line of
Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg Landing or
Shiloh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of Louisville--Battle of
Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone River--Battle of Pea
Ridge--Naval Battle Between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the
Two Vessels--Capture of New Orleans--The Advance Against
Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula Campaign--_The First Confederate
Invasion of the North_--_Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous
Union Repulse at Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the Wars Operations_--_The
Confederate Privateers_--_The Emancipation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks
and Bond Issues_.
CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON.
The fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert
Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in
chief command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern
Kentucky, from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two
powerful forts had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary
line. One was Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort
Donelson, twelve miles away, on the Cumberland.
Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger,
numbering 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky,
and the lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U.S. Grant, at
Cairo. Under Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest
leaders in the Union army. In January, with a division of Buell's army,
he attacked the Confederates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In
the battle, General Zollicoffer, the Confederate commander, was killed.
Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River,
intending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew
H. Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though
most of the garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson.
CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.
Upon learning that Fort Henry had fallen, Grant steamed up the
Cumberland to attack Fort Donelson, which was reinforced until the
garrison numbered some 20,000 men. It was a powerful fortification,
with many rifle-pits and intrenchments on the land side, and powerful
batteries commanding the river. The political General Floyd was in chief
command, the right wing being under General Simon B. Buckner and the
left in charge of General Gideon J. Pillow.
On the afternoon of February 14th, Commodore Foote opened the attack
with two wooden vessels and four ironclad gunboats. The garrison made no
reply until the boats had worked their way to within a fourth of a mile
of the fort, the elevation of which enabled it to send a plunging fire,
which proved so destructive that two of the boats were disabled and
drifted down current, the other following. Some fifty men were killed,
and among the wounded was Commodore Foote. He withdrew to Cairo,
intending to wait until a sufficient force could be brought up from that
point.
[Illustration: UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR
HOWITZER.]
But General Grant, like the bull-dog to which he was often compared,
having inserted his teeth in his adversary, did not mean to let go.
Placing his troops in front of the works, it did not take him long to
invest the whole Confederate left, with the exception of a swampy strip
near the river. The weather, which had been unusually mild for the
season, now became extremely cold, and some of the Union men were frozen
to death in the trenches. The garrison also suffered greatly, but the
siege was pressed with untiring vigor. Seeing the inextricable coils
closing round them, the defenders made an attempt to cut their way out,
but Grant with true military genius saw the crisis and ordered an
advance along the whole line, the gunboats giving all the help they
could.
The situation of the garrison was so dangerous that a council of war was
held that night. Floyd and Pillow were frightened nearly out of their
wits. They rated themselves so high as prizes for the Federals that they
determined to make their escape before the surrender, which was
inevitable, was forced. Buckner was another sort of man. Disgusted with
the cowardice of his associates, he quietly announced that he would stay
by his men to the last. Floyd stole out of the fort with his brigade and
crossed the river in boats, while Pillow followed in a scow, a large
number of the cavalry galloping by the lower road to Nashville.
Grant was ready for the assault at daylight the next morning, when he
received a note from General Buckner proposing an armistice until noon
in order to arrange terms of capitulation. Grant's reply became famous:
"No terms except immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted;
I propose to move immediately upon your works." Buckner was
disappointed, but he had no choice except to submit. He was greatly
relieved to find that his conqueror was a chivalrous man, who granted
better terms than he expected. The privates were allowed to retain their
personal baggage and the officers their side-arms. The number of
prisoners was 15,000, and the blow was the first really severe one that
the South had received. As may be supposed, the news caused great
rejoicing in the North and was the beginning of Grant's fame as a
military leader--a fame which steadily grew and expanded with the
progress of the war.
Jefferson Davis saw the mistake he had made in intrusting important
interests to political generals. He deprived Floyd of his command, and
that officer dropped back to the level from which he never ought to have
been raised. Pillow had done some good work in the Mexican War, but he
was erratic and unreliable, and he, too, was summarily snuffed out.
Buckner, a West Point graduate, upon being exchanged soon afterward, was
assigned to an important command and proved himself an excellent
soldier.
CHANGE IN THE CONFEDERATE LINE OF DEFENSE.
The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson compelled a change in the
Confederate line of defense. General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew
from Bowling Green to Nashville, but fell back again upon learning of
the fall of Fort Donelson, and assumed position near Murfreesboro',
Tennessee. All the northern part of that State, including the Cumberland
River, was given up by the Confederates, and, when the new line was
established, the centre was held by Beauregard at Jackson, the left by
Polk at New Madrid, and the right by Johnston at Murfreesboro'. Thus the
Confederates were driven out of Kentucky and the northern part of
Tennessee. It was a serious check for the Confederacy.
CAPTURE OF ISLAND NO. 10.
General Grant gave the enemy no rest. In order to retain possession of
Island No. 10, it was necessary for them to hold the outpost of New
Madrid. In the latter part of February, General Pope led an expedition
against that place, while Commodore Foote made a demonstration in front
with his gunboats. Through cold and storm the Unionists bravely pushed
their way, and the garrison of New Madrid were compelled to take refuge
on Island No. 10, and in the works on the Kentucky side of the river.
Operations were then begun against Island No. 10. By digging a canal
twelve miles long, which permitted the gunboats to pass around the
defenses, and by energetic operations in all directions, the Confederate
position was rendered untenable, and the post, with a large amount of
war material, was surrendered to Commodore Foote.
Meanwhile, General Grant, after the occupation of Nashville, went down
the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, while General Buell, with the
other portion of the Union army, started for the same point by land.
Aware of this division of the Federal forces, General Albert Sidney
Johnston hastily concentrated his own divisions with the intention of
crushing the two Union armies before they could unite. When Johnston
arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing on the 3d of April he had
40,000 men, divided into three corps and a reserve.
BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING.
Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is called in the South, consists of
a high bluff, a half-mile in extent, where General W.T. Sherman had been
ordered to take position and prepare for the arrival of 100,000 men.
Grant was not prepared for the unexpected attack. Buell was some
distance away with 40,000 troops, and the Union commander had a somewhat
less force on his side of the Tennessee River. Only a few defenses had
been thrown up, and the men were scattered over the ground, when at
daylight on Sunday morning, April 6th, the Confederates furiously
assailed the outlying divisions of the Union army and drove them back
upon the main body. They steadily gained ground, and it looked as if
nothing could save the Union army from overwhelming disaster.
When the attack was made Grant was on the opposite side of the river in
consultation with Buell. Hurrying to the scene of the furious conflict,
it looked as if his army was on the edge of inevitable destruction, but
he handled his demoralized forces with such masterly skill that the
panic was checked, and on the river bank, over which they had been
well-nigh driven, an effective stand was made and the Confederates were
checked, the gunboats giving invaluable assistance in saving the army
from defeat. The night closed with all the advantage on the side of the
Confederates.
The darkness, however, was of immeasurable value to the Federals.
Buell's army was brought across the river and other reinforcements
arrived, so that in the morning Grant found himself in command of fully
50,000 well-equipped troops. The greatest advantage gained by the
Federals, however, came during the previous day's fighting, when
everything was going the way of their enemies. General Albert Sidney
Johnston, while directing operations, was struck by a shot which
shattered his knee and mortally wounded him. He spoke only a few words
as he was lifted from his horse, and the command devolved upon
Beauregard, much his inferior in ability. He was unable to restrain the
troops from plundering the captured Union camps; and when on the second
day Grant launched his regiments against them, they were driven
pell-mell from the field, and did not stop their retreat until they
reached Corinth, Mississippi.
[Illustration: A RAILROAD BATTERY.]
Little fear of the Union troops being caught a second time at such a
disadvantage. They were established on the upper part of the Tennessee,
prepared to strike blows in any direction.
EVACUATION OF CORINTH.
The withdrawal of Beauregard to Corinth made that point valuable to the
Unionists, because of the large number of railroads which centre there.
It was strongly fortified, and no one expected its capture without a
severe battle. General Halleck, who was high in favor with the
government, assumed command of the Union armies and began an advance
upon Corinth. He moved slowly and with great caution, and did not reach
the front of the place until the close of May. While making preparations
to attack, Beauregard withdrew and retired still further southward. No
further Union advance was made for some time. The important result
accomplished was in opening up the Mississippi from Cairo to Memphis and
extending the Union line so that it passed along the southern boundary
of Tennessee.
Beauregard resembled McClellan in many respects. He was excessively
cautious and disposed to dig trenches and throw up fortifications rather
than fight. Jefferson Davis always had a warm regard for General Braxton
Bragg, whom he now put in the place of Beauregard. By the opening of
September, Bragg had an army of 60,000 men. Kirby Smith's corps was at
Knoxville and Hardee and Polk were with Bragg at Chattanooga.
They were ordered to march through Kentucky to Louisville, threatening
Cincinnati on the way. Kirby Smith's approach threw that city into a
panic, but he turned off and joined Bragg at Frankfort.
A RACE FOR LOUISVILLE.
By this time the danger of Louisville was apparent, and Buell, who was
near Nashville, hastened to the defense of the more important city.
Bragg ran a race with him, but the burning of a bridge, spanning the
river at Bardstown, stopped him just long enough to allow Buell to reach
Louisville first. This was accomplished on the 25th of September, and
Buell's army was increased to 100,000 men.
BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE.
Disappointed in securing the main prize, Bragg marched to Frankfort,
where he installed a provisional governor of Kentucky and issued a
high-sounding proclamation, to which few paid attention. Bragg had
entered one of the richest sections of the State, and he secured an
enormous amount of supplies in the shape of cattle, mules, bacon, and
cloth. His presence in the State was intolerable to the Union forces,
and Buell, finding a strong army under his command, set out to attack
him. Bragg started to retreat through the Cumberland Mountains on the
1st of October, with Buell in pursuit. A severe but indecisive battle
was fought at Perryville, and the Confederates succeeded in carrying
away their immense booty to Chattanooga, while the Union army took
position at Nashville.
The government was dissatisfied with the sluggishness of Buell and
replaced him with General William S. Rosecrans. He posted a part of his
army at Nashville and the remainder along the line of the Cumberland
River. Advancing against Bragg, he faced him in front of Murfreesboro',
some forty miles from Nashville. On the 30th of December brisk firing
took place between the armies, and when they encamped for the night
their fires were in plain sight of each other.
BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO' OR STONE RIVER.
The opposing forces were on both sides of Stone River (this battle is
generally referred to in the South by that name), a short distance to
the northwest of Murfreesboro'. By a curious coincidence, each of the
respective commanders formed the same plan of attack, it being to mass
his forces on the left and crush his enemy's right wing. A terrific
engagement lasted all day, and night closed without any decisive
advantage to either side, though the Confederates had succeeded in
driving back the Union right upon the left and occupying a considerable
portion of the field formerly held by the Federals.
The exhaustion of the armies prevented anything more than skirmishing on
New Year's day, 1863, but on the afternoon of January 2d the furious
battle was renewed. Rosecrans ordered an advance of the whole line, and
the Confederate right wing was broken and the flank so endangered that
Bragg was compelled to withdraw his entire army. The only way for him to
retain Tennessee was to abandon Murfreesboro'. Accordingly, he retreated
to a point beyond Duck River, about fifty miles south of Murfreesboro',
which was occupied by the Federals, January 5, 1863.
Other important events took place in the West. General Sterling Price
wintered in Springfield, Missouri, in the southern part of the State,
and gained a good many recruits and a large amount of needed supplies.
He was attacked by Sigel and Curtis on the 12th of February, and
continued his retreat to the Boston Mountains, where he was reinforced
by McCulloch, Van Dorn, and Albert Pike, and felt himself strong enough
to turn about and attack Curtis, who was in the neighborhood of Pea
Ridge.
BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.
The Union right was commanded by General Sigel, the left by General
Carr, and the centre by General Jefferson C. Davis. Sigel was surprised
and came very near being cut off, but he was master of the art of
retreating rather than of advancing, and he extricated his Germans with
astonishing skill and joined the main army. General Curtis changed his
front, and in the attack his right wing was driven back, obliging him
that night to take a new position a mile to the rear. The fighting next
day was at first in favor of the Confederates, and for a time the Union
army was in a critical position; but with great bravery and skill the
enemy's left was turned, the centre broken, and their forces driven in
disorder from the field.
In this battle Albert Pike used 2,000 Indian allies. They belonged to
the "civilized" tribes, and good service was expected from them; but
they were unaccustomed to fighting in the open, could not be
disciplined, and in the excitement of the struggle it is alleged they so
lost their heads that they scalped about as many of the Confederates as
Unionists. At any rate, the experiment was a failure, and thereafter
they cut no figure in the war.
INDECISIVE FIGHTING.
The enemy were so badly shaken that they retreated toward the North to
reorganize and recruit. Reinforcements from Kansas and Missouri also
joined Curtis, who advanced in the direction of Springfield, Missouri,
upon learning that Price was making for the same point. Nothing
followed, and Curtis returned to Arkansas. He had been at Batesville in
that State a few months when he found himself in serious peril. His
supplies were nearly exhausted, and it was impossible to renew them in
the hostile country by which he was surrounded. An expedition for his
relief left Memphis in June, but failed. Supplies from Missouri,
however, reached him early in July.
Curtis marched to Jacksonport, and afterward established himself at
Helena on the Mississippi. In September he was appointed commander of
the department of Missouri, which included that State, Arkansas, and the
Indian Territory. There were many minor engagements, and the Unionists
succeeded in keeping the Confederates from regaining their former
foothold in Missouri and north of Arkansas. It may be said that all the
fighting in that section produced not the slightest effect on the war as
a whole. The best military leaders of the Confederacy advised President
Davis to withdraw all his forces beyond the Mississippi and concentrate
them in the East, but he rejected their counsel, and his stubbornness
greatly weakened the Confederacy.
Having given an account of military operations in the West, it now
remains to tell of the much more important ones that occurred on the
coast and in the East, for they were decisive in their nature, and
produced a distinct effect upon the progress of the war for the Union.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MERRIMAC.
It has been stated that early in the war the Norfolk navy yard was
burned to prevent its falling into the possession of the Confederates.
Among the vessels sunk was the frigate _Merrimac_, which went down
before much injury was done to her. She was a formidable craft of 3,500
tons, 300 feet in length, and had mounted 40 guns. The Confederates
succeeded in raising her, and proceeded to work marvelous changes in
her structure, by which she was turned into the first real armor-clad
ever constructed. She was protected by layers of railroad iron, which
sloped like the roof of a house, and was furnished with a prow of cast
iron which projected four feet in front. Pivot guns were so fixed as to
be used for bow and stern chasers, and the pilot-house was placed
forward of the smoke-stack and armored with four inches of iron. She
carried ten guns, one at the stern, one at the bow, and eight at the
sides, and fired shells. Her iron armor sloped down at the sides, so
that she looked like an enormous mansard-roof moving through the water.
Her commanding officer was Commodore Franklin Buchanan, formerly of the
United States navy, while under him were Lieutenant Catesby R. Jones,
the executive officer, six other lieutenants, six midshipmen, surgeons,
engineers, and subordinate officers, in addition to a crew of 300 men.
She was rechristened the _Virginia_, but will always be remembered as
the _Merrimac_.
[Illustration: SECRETARY STANTON'S OPINION ABOUT THE MERRIMAC.
"The whole character of the war will be changed."]
Of necessity this craft, being the pioneer of its kind, had many
defects. She could move only very slowly, and her great length of 300
feet and poor steering apparatus required a half-hour for her to make a
complete turn, while her draft of 22 feet confined her to the narrow
channel of the Roads. Still she could go faster than an ordinary sailing
vessel, and her resistless momentum and iron prow enabled her to crush
any vessel afloat as if it were an egg-shell.
Great pains were taken by the Confederates to keep secret the
particulars of her building; but it was known in Washington that a
strange craft was in course of construction at Norfolk, with which it
was expected to capture Washington and devastate the leading cities
along the Atlantic seaboard. Ericsson, the famous Swedish inventor, was
engaged near New York in building a smaller vessel upon the same
principle, and he was pressed to make all possible haste in finishing
it; for, though the government did not suspect the terrible
effectiveness of the _Merrimac_, they meant to take all reasonable
precautions against it.
AWFUL WORK OF THE MERRIMAC.
There were lying at Hampton Roads at that time five Union vessels,
which, being so close to the dangerous craft, were on the alert day and
night for her appearance. About noon on March 8th a column of dark smoke
in the direction of the Norfolk navy yard, followed by the forging into
sight of the huge hulk, left no doubt that the long-expected _Merrimac_
was coming forth upon her errand of death and destruction. In her
company were three gunboats ready to aid her in any way possible. The
steam frigate _Minnesota_ and _Roanoke_ and the sailing frigates
_Congress_, _Cumberland_, and _St. Lawrence_ immediately cleared their
decks for action.
The _Minnesota_ and _Roanoke_ moved out to meet the _Merrimac_, but both
got aground. In the case of the _Minnesota_ this was due to the
treachery of the pilot, who was in the employ of the Confederates. The
_Cumberland_ swerved so as to bring her broadsides to bear, and opened
with her pivot guns, at the distance of a mile. The aim was accurate,
but the iron balls which struck the massive hide of the _Merrimac_
bounded off like pebbles skipping over the water. Then the _Congress_
added her broadsides to those of the _Cumberland_, but the leviathan
shed them all as if they were tiny hailstones, and, slowly advancing in
grim silence, finally opened with her guns, quickly killing four marines
and five sailors on the _Cumberland_. Then followed her resistless
broadsides, which played awful havoc with officers and men. Swinging
slowly around, the _Merrimac_ next steamed a mile up the James, and,
turning again, came back under full speed. Striking the _Cumberland_
under the starboard bow, she smashed a hole into her through which a
horse might have entered. The ship keeled over until her yardarms were
close to the water. The terrific force broke off the prow of the
_Merrimac_, but her frightful shots riddled the _Cumberland_ and set
her on fire. The flames were extinguished, and the _Cumberland_
delivered broadside after broadside, only to see the enormous missiles
fly off and spin harmlessly hundreds of feet away.
Lieutenant George U. Morris, of the _Cumberland_, ran up the red flag
meaning "no surrender," and with a heroism never surpassed maintained
the unequal fight, if fight it can be called where there was absolutely
no hope for him. Finally the _Cumberland_ went down to her cross-trees,
in fifty-four feet of water. Lieutenant Morris succeeded in saving
himself by swimming, but of the crew of 376, 121 lost their lives.
The _Cumberland_ being destroyed, the _Merrimac_ headed for the
_Congress_, which had run aground. She replied with her harmless
broadsides, but the _Merrimac_ held her completely at her mercy, raking
her fore and aft, and killing 100 of the crew, including the commander.
It being evident that not a man could escape, the white flag was run up
in token of surrender. The hot firing from the shore preventing
Commodore Buchanan from taking possession of the _Congress_, whereupon
he fired her with hot shot.
During the fighting, Commodore Buchanan fearlessly exposed himself on
the upper deck of the _Merrimac_, and was badly wounded in the thigh by
a Union sharpshooter, whereupon the command was assumed by Lieutenant
Jones. By that time it was growing dark and the _Merrimac_ steamed back
to Sewall's Point, intending to return the next morning and complete her
appalling work of destruction.
CONSTERNATION IN THE NORTH.
The news of what she had done caused consternation throughout the North.
President Lincoln called a special cabinet meeting, at which Secretary
Stanton declared, in great excitement, that nothing could prevent the
monster from steaming up the Potomac, destroying Washington, and laying
the principal northern cities under contribution. The alarm of the bluff
secretary was natural, but there was no real ground for it.
THE MONITOR.
The Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, had completed his _Monitor_, which
at that hour was steaming southward from New York. Although an ironclad
like the _Merrimac_, she was as different as can be conceived in
construction. She resembled a raft, the upper portion of which was 172
feet long and the lower 124 feet. The sides of the former were made of
oak, twenty-five inches thick, and covered with five-inch iron armor.
The turret was protected by eight-inch plates of wrought iron,
increasing in thickness to the port-holes, near which it was eleven
inches through. It was nine feet high, with a diameter of twenty-one
feet. She drew only ten feet of water, and was armored with two
eleven-inch Dahlgren guns, smooth bore, firing solid shot weighing 180
pounds.
The pilot-house was made of nine-inch plates of forged iron, rose four
feet above the deck, and would hold three men by crowding. The _Monitor_
was one-fifth the size of the _Merrimac_, and her appearance has been
likened to that of a cheese-box on a raft. She was in command of
Lieutenant John L. Worden, with Lieutenant S. Dana Green as executive
officer. Her crew consisted of sixteen officers and forty-two men, and
she left New York on the morning of March 6th, in tow of a tug-boat. The
greatest difficulty was encountered in managing her, the men narrowly
escaping being smothered by gas, and, had not the weather been unusually
favorable, she would have foundered; but providentially she steamed into
Hampton Roads, undiscovered by the enemy, and took her position behind
the _Minnesota_, ready for the events of the morrow.
[Illustration: JOHN ERICSSON.
The famous constructor of the Monitor.]
The _Merrimac_ was promptly on time the next morning, and was
accompanied by two gunboats; but while steaming toward the remaining
Union vessels the _Monitor_ darted out from behind the _Minnesota_ and
boldly advanced to meet her terrible antagonist. They silently
approached each other until within a hundred yards, when the _Monitor_
fired a shot, to which the _Merrimac_ replied. The firing was rapid for
a time and then became slower, with the intervening space varying from
fifty yards to four times that distance. A number of the _Merrimac's_
shots struck the _Monitor's_ pilot-house and turret, the crash doing no
harm except almost to deafen the men within. Most of the shells,
however, missed or skipped over the low deck of the smaller boat.
The latter was able to dodge the rushes of the larger craft and play all
around her, but the terrible pounding worked damage to both, the
_Monitor_ suffering the most. The iron plate of the pilot-house was
lifted by a shell, which blinded Lieutenant Worden, and so disabled him
that he was forced to turn over the command to Lieutenant Green. Worden,
who lived to become an admiral, never fully recovered from his injuries.
The firing, dodging, ramming, and fighting continued for four hours, but
the _Merrimac_ was unable to disable her nimble antagonist, and slowly
steamed back to Norfolk, while the _Monitor_ returned to her former
position, and was carefully kept in reserve by the government against
future perils of a similar character.
FATE OF THE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR.
Neither of the vessels was permitted to do further service. Some months
later, upon the evacuation of Norfolk, the _Merrimac_ was blown up to
prevent her falling into the hands of the Unionists, and the _Monitor_
foundered off Hatteras in December, 1862. The battle wrought a complete
revolution in naval warfare. The days of wooden ships ended, and all the
navies of the world are now made up mainly of ironclads.
More important work was done by the Union fleets during this year. The
government put forth every energy to build ships, with the result that
hundreds were added to the naval force, many of which were partial and
others wholly ironclad.
OTHER COAST OPERATIONS.
A month before the fight between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_, a
formidable naval expedition under Commodore Goldsborough and General
Ambrose E. Burnside passed down the Atlantic coast and captured Roanoke
Island. St. Augustine and a number of other places in Florida were
captured by troops from Port Royal. Siege was laid to Fort Pulaski, at
the mouth of the Savannah River, and it surrendered April 11th. The
advantage of these and similar captures was that it gave the blockading
fleets control of the principal harbors, and made it easier to enforce a
rigid blockade. There were two ports, however, which the Union vessels
were never able to capture until the close of the war. They were
Charleston and Wilmington, North Carolina. The latter became the chief
port from which the Confederate blockade-runners dashed out or entered
and were enabled to bring the most-needed medical and other supplies to
the Confederacy, while at the same time the owners and officers of the
ships reaped fortunes for themselves.
CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS.
One of the primal purposes of the war was to open the Mississippi, which
was locked by the enemy at Vicksburg and New Orleans. As a necessary
step in the opening of the great river, an expedition was fitted out for
the capture of New Orleans. Well aware of what was coming, the
Confederates had done all they could to strengthen the defenses of the
city. Thirty miles from the mouth of the Mississippi were the powerful
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on opposite sides of the river. They
mounted 100 heavy guns, and six powerful chains were stretched across,
supported by an immense raft of cypress logs. Thus the river was closed
and no fleet could approach New Orleans until these obstructions were
removed or overcome. When this should be done, it was still seventy-five
miles to New Orleans.
Above the boom of hulks and logs was a fleet of fifteen Confederate
vessels, including the ironclad ram _Manassas_, and a partly completed
floating battery armored with railroad iron, and known as the
_Louisiana_. It has been stated that the ironclads of those days were
only partly protected by armor.
The naval and military expedition which sailed for New Orleans in the
spring of 1862 consisted of six sloops of war, sixteen gunboats, five
other vessels, and twenty-one mortar-schooners, the last being under
charge of Captain David D. Porter, while Commodore David G. Farragut had
command of the fleet. The troops, mostly from New England, were
commanded by General B.F. Butler.
Farragut crossed the bar, April 8th, and spent several days in making
his preparations for bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The
bombardment began April 27th, 1,400 shells being thrown in one day.
Farragut then called his captains together and told them he had resolved
to run by the forts. The only question, therefore, was as to the best
means of doing it. It was decided to make the attempt at night. The
darkness, however, was of little benefit, since the enemy's huge
bonfires on both shores lit up the river as if it were noonday. Previous
to this, Lieutenant C.H.B. Caldwell, in the gunboat _Itasca_, had
ascended the river undiscovered in the darkness and opened a way through
the boom for the fleet.
Farragut arranged the fleet in two columns, his own firing upon Fort
Jackson, while the other poured its broadsides into Fort St. Philip. The
flagship _Hartford_ led the way under cover of Porter's mortar-boats and
the others followed. There was a furious fight between the fleets, but
every Confederate was either captured or destroyed.
Farragut steamed on to the city, silencing the batteries along the
banks, and, at noon, a messenger was sent ashore with a demand for the
surrender of the city. General Lovell was in command of 3,000 troops,
intended for the defense of New Orleans, but he fled. The mayor refusing
to haul down the secession flag, the Union troops took possession,
raised the Union banner over the mint, and placed the city in charge of
General Butler. The citizens were in such a savage mood that Commodore
Farragut had to bring them to their senses by a threat to bombard the
city.
General Butler ruled with great strictness, and virtually held New
Orleans under martial law. A Confederate won the applause of his friends
by climbing to the top of the mint, hauling down the flag, dragging it
through the mud, and then tearing it to shreds. Butler brought him to
trial before a military commission, and, being found guilty of the
unpardonable insult to the flag, he was hanged.
The fall of New Orleans, one of the leading cities, was a severe blow to
the Confederacy. The only points where the Mississippi was strongly held
by the enemy were at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and attention was
already turned to them. Farragut having completed his work, for the time
took command in the Gulf of Mexico.
[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1865.]
The most momentous events of the year occurred in the east and marked
the struggle between the Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia, as it came to be called.
THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND.
McClellan continued to drill and train his army through the fall of
1861, and well into the following year. It numbered nearly 200,000 men
and was one of the finest organizations in the world. In reply to the
expressions of impatience, the commander invariably replied that a
forward movement would soon be begun, but the weeks and months passed
and the drilling went on, and nothing was done. Finally, the government
gave the commander to understand that he must advance.
McClellan's plan was to move against Richmond, from the lower part of
Chesapeake Bay, by way of Urbana on the Rappahannock. While this had
many advantages, its fatal objection in the eyes of the President was
that it would leave Washington unprotected. He issued an order on the
27th of January directing that on the 22d of February there should be a
general land and naval movement against the enemy's position on the
Potomac, and that, after providing for the defense of Washington, a
force should seize and occupy a point upon the railway to the southwest
of Manassas Junction. McClellan was offended by the act of the President
and protested, but Mr. Lincoln clung in the main to his plan, and, since
the delay continued, he issued orders directing the formation of the
army into corps and naming the generals to command them. Another order
made arrangements for the intended advance, and it was left to McClellan
to carry them out.
[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1884, BEFORE ITS REMOVAL TO CHICAGO.]
Reliable information reached Washington that General Joseph E. Johnston,
commander of the Confederate forces at Manassas, was engaged in
withdrawing his lines with a view of taking a stronger position nearer
Richmond. General McClellan began a forward movement with the Army of
the Potomac on the 10th of March. The truth was that Confederate spies
in Washington had apprised Johnston of the intended advance of McClellan
from the lower Chesapeake, and his action was with a view of checkmating
the Union commander. Instead of carrying out this plan, McClellan
marched to Centreville and occupied the vacated intrenchments of the
enemy. The general hope was that Johnston would be forced to give
battle, but the roads in Virginia, at that season, were one sea of mud,
which made progress so slow that the Confederates had time in which to
withdraw at their leisure.
Crossing the Potomac into Virginia, with the main army, McClellan made
his first headquarters at Fairfax Court-House. About that time he
received news that he was relieved of the command of the other
departments, his authority being confined to the direction of the Army
of the Potomac. He was directed by the President to garrison Manassas
securely, see that Washington was protected, and, with the rest of his
force, assume a new base at Fort Monroe, or "anywhere between here and
there," and, above all things, to pursue the enemy "by _some_ route."
McClellan's four corps commanders were Sumner, McDowell, Heintzelman,
and Keyes, and they and he agreed upon a plan of campaign. The
difficulties of transporting nearly 100,000 men to Fort Monroe were so
great that two weeks were occupied in completing the transfer. In order
to prevent the Confederates from getting in his rear, McClellan directed
Banks to rebuild the railroad from Washington to Manassas and Strasburg,
thus keeping open communication with the Shenandoah Valley, where the
enemy were in force, a fact which caused the government much uneasiness
for the national capital. Indeed, it was a part of the effective plan of
Johnston to embarrass the campaign against Richmond.
Banks occupied Winchester about the middle of March and sent a force
under Shields to Strasburg. He found Stonewall Jackson there with such a
strong force that he fell back to Winchester, where, after the
withdrawal of the main body by Banks, he was attacked by Jackson, who
was repulsed.
In pursuance of the new plan of campaign, McClellan made Fort Monroe his
first base of operations, using the route through Yorktown and West
Point for the advance to Richmond. He expected to fight a great battle
on the way thither, for the enemy could not fail to read the meaning of
his movements. McClellan reasoned that this battle would take place
between West Point and Richmond, and his intention was to advance
without delay to the former position and use it as his chief depot for
supplies. His plan was to make a combined naval and military attack on
Yorktown, send a strong force up the York River, aided by the gunboats,
and thus establish his new base of operations within twenty-five miles
of the Confederate capital.
It was not long before he began calling for reinforcements, and the
government, instead of aiding him, took away piecemeal many of the
troops upon which the commander had counted to aid him in his campaign.
He wanted 150,000 men and a large increase of cannon. The 10,000 men,
composing Blenker's division, were detached, as the President informed
him, to support Fremont, but Mr. Lincoln promised to withdraw no more
from the main army.
McClellan remained at his headquarters near Alexandria until most of his
forces were well on the road to the Yorktown peninsula. He left on the
1st of April and the troops were landed three days later. Then a force
of 56,000 men with 100 guns started for Yorktown.
But for the inherent timidity and distrust of McClellan, he might have
captured Richmond, by marching straight ahead to the city, for the
Confederate force opposed to him was but a fragment of his own, and
could have been trampled underfoot. The Confederate intrenchments were a
dozen miles in length, and were defended by Magruder with a force that
allowed less than a thousand men for each mile.
Instead of pushing on, McClellan began a regular siege of Yorktown.
Immense siege guns were dragged through the muddy swamps, and the musket
was laid aside for the spade and shovel, which the men applied week
after week, until worn out and with thousands prostrated by sickness.
The delay, as a matter of course, was improved by the Confederates in
strengthening the defenses of their capital. At the end of a month, the
Union army advanced, whereupon Magruder fell back to other
fortifications nearer Richmond. The whole month had been worse than
thrown away by McClellan, for it had given the enemy all the time they
needed to complete their defenses.
The Confederate army was increased, and reinforcements were sent to
McClellan, whose forces were fully 20,000 in excess of those under
Johnston, but the Union leader magnified the strength of the enemy and
continued to call for more troops. It was this unvarying demand that
brought the impatient remark from Secretary of War Stanton:
"If I gave McClellan a million men, he would swear the rebels had two
millions, and sit down in the mud and refuse to move until he had three
millions."
The Confederates fell back to Williamsburg, at the narrowest part of the
peninsula, between the James and York Rivers, and began fortifying their
position. The Union gunboats ascended to Yorktown, where the Federal
depots were established. Longstreet, in command of the Confederate rear,
halted and gave battle with a view of protecting his trains.
The engagement took place on May 5th. The Unionists were repulsed at
first, but regained and held their ground, the night closing without any
decided advantage to either army. Longstreet, however, had held the
Federals in check as long as was necessary, and when he resumed his
retreat McClellan did not attempt to pursue him.
The Confederates continued falling back, with McClellan cautiously
following. The delay secured by the enemy enabled them to send their
baggage and supply trains into Richmond, while the army stripped for the
fray. They abandoned the Yorktown peninsula altogether and evacuated
Norfolk, which was occupied by General Wool. It was this movement which
caused the blowing up of the _Merrimac_, referred to elsewhere.
From this it will be seen that both shores of the James were in
possession of the Union forces. The Confederate army withdrew within the
defenses of Richmond on the 10th of May, and the Federal gunboats, after
steaming up the river to within twelve miles of the city, were compelled
to withdraw before the plunging shots of the batteries, which stood on
the tops of the high bluffs.
Following the line of the Pamunkey, McClellan's advance-guard reached
the Chickahominy on the 21st of May, and could plainly see the spires
and steeples of Richmond, which was thrown into a state of great alarm.
Rain fell most of the time, and the rise of the Chickahominy carried
away the bridges, made the surrounding country a swamp, and badly
divided the Union army.
[Illustration: MOIST WEATHER AT THE FRONT.]
One of the most effective means employed by the Confederate commander
against the Union advance was by creating a diversion in the Shenandoah
Valley and fear for the safety of Washington. Rather than lose that, our
government would have sacrificed the Army of the Potomac. General
Johnston had sent Stonewall Jackson into the Valley, where Banks was in
command. He was another of the political generals, wholly unfitted for
the responsibilities placed in his hands.
At the opening of hostilities, Banks was so confident that he
telegraphed the government that Jackson was on the eve of being crushed;
but it proved the other way. Banks was completely outgeneraled and sent
flying toward Washington. His troops marched more than thirty miles a
day, and would have been captured or destroyed to a man had Jackson
continued his pursuit, but his forces were fewer in numbers, and he
allowed the exhausted and panic-stricken fugitives to find refuge in
Washington.
This routing of Banks frightened Washington again, and McDowell was
hastily called from Fredericksburg to the defense of the capital. This
was the very thing for which the Confederates had planned, since it kept
those reinforcements away from McClellan, who was ordered by President
Lincoln to attack at once or give up his plan. Still cautious and
wishing to feel every foot of the way, McClellan pushed a reconnaissance
in the direction of Hanover Court-House.
When fire was opened on the Confederates most of them fell back to
Richmond. General Jo Johnston, perceiving that the Union army was
divided by the swollen Chickahominy, quickly took advantage of it, and
prepared to hurl a force of 50,000 against the Union corps, which
numbered a little more than half as many. A violent rain so interfered
with his plans that 10,000 of his troops were unable to take part in the
battle. In the disjointed struggle which followed, the Confederates were
successful at what is known as the battle of Seven Pines, but were
defeated at Fair Oaks. Both were fought on June 1st.
GENERAL LEE BECOMES CONFEDERATE COMMANDER.
In the fighting on the morrow, General Johnston, while directing the
attack of the right, was desperately wounded by an exploding shell,
which broke several ribs and knocked him from his horse. General G.W.
Smith succeeded him in command, but three days later gave way to General
R.E. Lee, who in time became the supreme head of the military forces of
the Confederacy, and retained his command to the last.
McCLELLAN'S TARDINESS.
The corps commanders believed that if McClellan would press matters
Richmond could be captured, but the Union leader devoted several weeks
to building bridges. It rained incessantly and the health of the men
suffered. Many more died from disease than from bullets and wounds, and
McClellan's tardiness gave the enemy the time they needed in which to
make their combinations as strong as possible. Stonewall Jackson,
although placed in a perilous position in the Shenandoah Valley,
skillfully extricated himself and united his corps with the troops that
were defending Richmond.
GENERAL STUART'S RAID.
While McClellan was engaged in constructing bridges over the
Chickahominy, and no important movement was made by either army, General
J.E.B. Stuart, the famous cavalry leader, left Richmond, June 13th, with
a strong mounted force, and, by rapid riding and his knowledge of the
country, passed entirely around the Federal army, cutting telegraph
wires, burning bridges, capturing wagons and supplies, frightening
McClellan, and returning to Richmond, after two days' absence, with the
loss of only a single man.
The Union commander was discouraged by the withdrawal of McDowell to the
defense of Washington, by the uncertainty regarding the disposition of
the enemy's corps, and by the belief that they were much more numerous
than was the fact. He decided to change the base of his operations from
the Pamunkey to the James. Both he and Lee fixed upon the same day--June
26th--for an offensive movement; but Lee was the first to act. On the
afternoon of that day a vehement attack was made upon the Union right.
The assault was repulsed, after a furious struggle, and it marked the
beginning of that fearful series of battles known as the Seven Days'
Fight.
THE SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT.
Feeling insecure, McClellan fell back, and the terrific fighting,
beginning June 26th, at Mechanicsville, continued with scarcely any
intermission until July 1st. Both armies were well handled and fought
bravely, but McClellan kept steadily falling back. Lee was not satisfied
with simply defeating the Union army; he strained every nerve to destroy
it, but he was defeated in his purpose, and, as the hot afternoon of
June 30th was drawing to a close, the last wagon train of the Union army
reached Malvern Hill, and preparations were hurriedly made to resist the
assault that every one knew would soon come.
Malvern Hill was a strong position. In addition the Federals had the aid
of the gunboats. Indeed, the place was so well-nigh impregnable that the
warmest admirers of General Lee must condemn his furious and repeated
assaults upon it. He suffered a disastrous repulse, and in the end
withdrew to the defenses of Richmond, while McClellan took position at
Harrison's Landing. All the Union troops had arrived by the night of
July 3d, and their commander began to study out a new plan for another
advance against the Confederate capital. Before anything could be done,
he was peremptorily ordered to withdraw his army from the peninsula. The
movement was begun with the purpose of uniting the troops with those of
General Pope, who was to the southeast of Washington, and placing them
all under his command.
Pope had 40,000 troops between Fredericksburg and Washington. Learning
the situation, Lee kept enough men to hold Richmond, and sent the rest,
under Stonewall Jackson, against Pope in the north. Jackson executed the
task intrusted to him in his usual meteoric fashion. Despite the risk
involved, he threw himself between Pope and Washington and struck here,
there, and everywhere so rapidly that the Union general became
bewildered, his associate officers disgusted, and everything was
involved in inextricable confusion.
SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
The second battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, opened early on August 29th
and lasted until dusk. The fighting was desperate, Jackson standing
mainly on the defensive and waiting for Longstreet, who was hurrying
forward through Thoroughfare Gap. At night Jackson withdrew so as to
connect with Longstreet. Believing the movement meant a retreat, Pope
telegraphed to that effect to Washington. But he was grievously
mistaken, for the Confederates were rapidly reinforced, as was
discovered the next day, when the battle was renewed and pressed
resistlessly against the Federals. In the afternoon Lee arrived on the
ground, and, taking command, ordered an advance. Pope retreated, and
that night crossed Bull Run and took position behind the field works at
Centreville. Other corps joined him, and on the 1st of September Lee
made a demonstration against the Union right flank. Pope now became
terrified, as he saw that Washington was threatened, and he began a
tumultuous retreat toward the capital, pursued and harassed by the
Confederates, until at last the whole disorganized army found rest and
safety behind the fortifications at Washington. Pope had been
disastrously defeated, and the second campaign against Richmond was one
of the worst failures conceivable.
McCLELLAN RECALLED TO COMMAND.
Pope had done the best he knew how, but the task was beyond his ability,
and he was glad enough to be relieved of his command, which was assumed
once more by McClellan, who still retained a great deal of his
popularity with the rank and file. Pope's division had been styled the
Army of Virginia, but the name was now dropped, and the consolidated
forces adopted the title of the Army of the Potomac, by which it was
known to the close of the war.
The success of the Confederates had been so decisive that the Richmond
authorities now decided to assume the aggressive and invade the North.
It was a bold plan thus to send their principal army so far from its
base, and General Lee did not favor it, but the opportunity was too
tempting for his superiors to disregard. One great incentive was the
well-founded belief that if the Confederacy gained a marked advantage,
England and France would intervene and thus secure the independence of
the South.
The neighboring State of Maryland was viewed with longing and hopeful
eyes by Lee and his army. It was a slave State, had furnished a good
many men to the Confederate armies, and, had it been left to itself,
probably would have seceded. What more likely, therefore, than that its
people would hasten to link their fortunes with the Confederacy on the
very hour that its most powerful army crossed her border?
THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND.
The Confederate army began fording the Potomac at a point nearly
opposite the Monocacy, and by the 5th of September all of it was on
Maryland soil. The bands struck up the popular air, "Maryland, my
Maryland," the exultant thousands joining in the tremendous chorus, as
they swung off, all in high spirits at the belief that they were
entering a land "flowing with milk and honey," where they would find
abundant food and be received with outspread arms.
Frederick City was reached on the 6th, and two days later Lee issued an
address to the people of Maryland, inviting them to unite with the
South, but insisting that they should follow their free-will in every
respect. The document was a temperate one, and the discipline of the
troops was so excellent that nothing in the nature of plundering
occurred.
But it did not take Lee long to discover he had made a grievous mistake
by invading Maryland. If the people were sympathetic, they did not show
it by anything more than words and looks. They refused to enlist in the
rebel army, gave Lee the "cold shoulder," and left no doubt that their
greatest pleasure would be to see the last of the ragged horde.
While at Frederick, Lee learned that the Union Colonel Miles was at
Harper's Ferry with 12,000 troops, held there by the direct order of
General Halleck, who was the acting commander-in-chief of the United
States forces. Lee determined to capture the whole body, and, detaching
Stonewall Jackson with three divisions, ordered him to do so and return
to him with the least possible delay.
Military critics have condemned this act of Lee as one of the gravest
blunders of his career. His advance thus far had been resistless, and it
was in his power to capture Baltimore, and probably Philadelphia and
Washington; but the delay involved in awaiting the return of Jackson
gave McClellan, who was a skillful organizer, time to prepare to meet
the Confederate invasion.
Jackson lost not an hour in capturing Harper's Ferry, the defense of
which was so disgraceful that had not Colonel Miles been killed just as
the white flag was run up he would have been court-martialed and
probably shot. Many suspected him of treason, but the real reason was
his cowardice and the fact that he was intoxicated most of the time. Be
that as it may, Harper's Ferry surrendered with its garrison of 11,500
men, who were immediately paroled. The Confederates obtained seventy-two
cannon, 13,000 small arms, and an immense amount of military stores.
Scarcely had the surrender taken place, when Jackson, who had hardly
slept for several days and nights, received orders from Lee to join him
at once. He started without delay, but he and his men were almost worn
out. It is likely that by this time Lee was aware of the mistake he had
made when he stopped for several days while his leading assistant went
off to capture a post that was of no importance to either side.
McCLELLAN'S PURSUIT OF LEE.
Leaving a strong garrison to defend Washington, McClellan, at the head
of 100,000 troops, set out to follow Lee, who had about 70,000 under his
immediate command. The Union leader reached Frederick on the 12th of
September, and there a curious piece of good fortune befell him.
In the house which had been used as the headquarters of General D.H.
Hill was found a copy of an order issued by General Lee, which detailed
his projected movements, and contained his instructions to his various
leaders. It was priceless information to General McClellan, who made
good use of it.
Lee manoeuvred to draw McClellan away from Washington and Baltimore,
that he might attack them before the Union commander could return to
their defense. Lee left Frederick on September 10th, after Jackson had
started for Harper's Ferry, and, marching by South Mountain, aimed for
Boonsboro'. Stuart and his cavalry remained east of the mountains to
watch McClellan, who was advancing with every possible precaution. Lee
expected Harper's Ferry would fall on the 13th, but the surrender did
not take place until two days later. The Confederate army being divided,
McClellan tried to take advantage of the fact, hoping to save Colonel
Miles at Harper's Ferry. It did not take Lee long to perceive from the
actions of the Union commander that in some way he had learned of his
plans.
It would not be interesting to give the details of the many manoeuvres
by each commander, but before long Lee saw he could not hold his
position at South Mountain, and he retreated toward Sharpsburg, near the
stream of water known as Antietam Creek. He was thus on the flank of any
Federal force that might attempt to save Harper's Ferry. Naturally he
held the fords of the Potomac, so that in case of defeat the way to
Virginia was open.
[Illustration: GENERAL LEE'S INVASION OF THE NORTH.
The Confederate army under General Lee twice invaded the north. The
first invasion was brought to a disastrous end by the Battle of
Antietam, September 17, 1862. The second invasion ended with greater
disaster at Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. Gettysburg was the greatest and
Antietam the bloodiest battles of the war.]
Still Lee and Jackson were separated by a wide stretch of mountain,
river, and plain, and McClellan was aware of the fact. He had the
opportunity to cut off each division in detail, but lacked the nerve and
dash to do it. There were subordinates in the Army of the Potomac who
yearned for just such a chance, but McClellan's timidity and excessive
caution deprived him of another golden opportunity, as it had done
before and was soon to do again.
The position of Lee was among a range of hills, which, following the
form of a crescent, extended from the lower point of Antietam Creek to a
bend in the Potomac. Jackson was straining every nerve to join Lee, but
his men were taxed beyond endurance, and many of them fell by the
roadside from utter exhaustion, only a portion reaching Sharpsburg on
the 16th. The full Confederate army did not exceed 40,000, while
McClellan, who arrived on the opposite side of Antietam Creek, that
afternoon, had 70,000. Instead of attacking at once, he waited two days,
and thus gave Lee time to gather many thousand stragglers.
[Illustration: ANTIETAM BRIDGE.]
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM OR SHARPSBURG.
Finally, when McClellan had no excuse for further delay, and the enemy
was in fine form, he opened the attack on the morning of the 17th. To
reach Lee the Union commander had to cross the creek, which was spanned
by three bridges, each defended by Confederate batteries.
The first attack was by Hooker on the enemy's left, where he drove
Jackson back, after he had been reinforced by Hood, cleared the woods,
and took possession of the Dunker Church, which stood slightly north of
Sharpsburg. A little way beyond the Confederates made a stand, and,
being reinforced, recovered most of the ground they had lost. General
Mansfield was killed and Hooker received a painful wound in the foot.
When their two corps were retreating in confusion, Sumner arrived,
rallied them, and made a successful stand. Seeing the critical
situation, Lee hurried every available man to that point. This left only
2,500 troops in front of the bridge, where Burnside had 14,000.
McClellan sent repeated orders for him to advance, but he paid no
attention until one o'clock, when he crossed without trouble, and then
remained idle for three more hours. The heights were soon captured, and
a position secured from which the rebel lines could be enfiladed. A.P.
Hill arrived at this juncture from Harper's Ferry with 4,000 men, and
drove Burnside in a panic to the creek. Fighting soon ceased, both sides
too much exhausted to keep up the terrific struggle, the position of the
two armies being much the same as at first.
This fierce battle had wrenched and disorganized both armies, but
McClellan, who had much the larger body, could have destroyed or
captured those in front of him, had he followed the urgent advice of his
officers, and given the enemy no rest. But he decided to await
reinforcements, which arrived to the number of 14,000 that night. Then
he resumed his preparations, and on the morning of the 19th advanced
against the enemy, only to find there was none in front of him.
LEE'S RETREAT.
The retreat of Lee was deliberate. Having accurately gauged the
commander in front of him, he spent all of the 18th in completing his
preparations, and made no move until the next morning. Then, protected
by batteries on the opposite bank, he crossed the Potomac, and on the
20th drove back a Union reconnaissance. The government, impatient with
McClellan's tardiness, urged and almost ordered him to follow up Lee,
but the commander preferred to guard against being followed up himself
by the Army of Northern Virginia. Thus again a golden opportunity
slipped away unimproved.
Naturally each side claimed a victory at Antietam or Sharpsburg, as it
is called in the South, but such a claim in either case is hardly
justifiable. It may be said, on the one hand, that Lee's invasion of the
North was brought to a disastrous end by his check at Antietam, but the
claim of Lee was that his failure to secure the expected recruits from
Maryland, and his distance from the base of supplies, necessitated such
a withdrawal on his part, for it is established that he was opposed to
the northward advance from the first.
On the other hand, he had received a serious check, but his army
remained intact and was as well prepared as ever to contest the campaign
against Richmond, a campaign which had to be pushed to a successful
conclusion before the war could end. The one grand opportunity of
General McClellan's life was presented to him at the close of the battle
of Antietam, and, failing to seize it, it never came again, and his
military career ended with failure.
Antietam was, in comparison to numbers engaged, the bloodiest battle of
the Civil War. The Union loss was 2,108 killed; 9,549 wounded; 753
missing; total, 12,410. The Confederate loss was 1,886 killed; 9,348
wounded; 1,367 captured and missing; total, 12,601.
The government was insistent that McClellan should push his advance
against Richmond, but the favorable autumn wore away and the wet season
arrived before a plan of campaign was formulated. This was to cross the
Blue Ridge Mountains from Harper's Ferry, following the southeastern
side of the range, leaving detachments to guard all the passes, and thus
threaten the Confederate communications in the Shenandoah Valley.
McCLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE.
Accordingly, on the 25th of October, the Army of the Potomac once more
faced toward the Confederate capital. In the course of a week, it held
the whole region southwest of the Blue Ridge and was near the army of
General Lee, who fell back, cautiously followed at a safe distance by
the Union commander. On the night of November 7th, while McClellan was
talking in his tent with Burnside, a messenger arrived from Washington
with an official order, relieving McClellan of the command of the Army
of the Potomac and appointing Burnside as his successor. McClellan
promptly turned over the care of the army to him, and, as directed,
proceeded to Trenton, N.J., to await further orders.
It may be added that General McClellan never served again in the army.
He resigned in 1864, and was nominated the same year for President of
the United States, but received only 21 electoral votes. He was
Democratic governor of New Jersey 1878-1881, and died at his home in
Orange, N.J., October 29, 1885.
Burnside, although a fine corps commander, was not qualified to command
the splendid body over which he was thus placed. He devoted a number of
days to acquainting himself with his vastly enlarged duties. The six
corps were united into three divisions of two corps each, Sumner
commanding the right, Hooker the centre, and Franklin the left, while
General Sigel had charge of a body of reserve.
After consulting with General Halleck, it was decided that the Army of
the Potomac should make a rapid march down the Rappahannock, cross by
pontoon-bridges at Fredericksburg, and then advance upon Richmond by way
of Hanover Court-House.
Everything depended upon initiating the movement before it was
discovered by the enemy, but the delays, which perhaps were unavoidable,
revealed the truth to Lee. When Sumner's division reached a point
opposite Fredericksburg they saw the Confederates on the other side
awaiting them. Still the force was so meagre that Sumner wished to cross
and crush it, but Burnside would not permit. The delay gave Lee time to
bring up his whole army and make his position impregnable. He stationed
a battery some miles below the town to prevent any Union gunboats coming
up stream, while every ford was closely guarded.
Burnside faltered before the position that was like a mountain wall, but
the North was clamorous for something to be done, and he decided to make
the hopeless attack. One hundred and forty-seven cannon were posted, on
the night of December 10th, so as to command the town and cover the
crossing of the river. Unable to prevent this, Lee made his preparations
to annihilate the Unionists after they had crossed.
UNION DISASTER AT FREDERICKSBURG.
In the face of a brisk fire, a force was sent over the river and
occupied the town, while Franklin laid his bridges two miles below and
crossed without trouble. When the cold, foggy morning of December 13th
broke, the whole Army of the Potomac was on the southern shore and the
Confederate army was on the heights behind Fredericksburg.
As the fog had cleared to some extent, General Franklin advanced against
the Confederate right, but, misunderstanding Burnside's order, he made
only a feint. Fighting was kept up throughout the day, and once General
Meade forced a gap in the enemy's line, but he was not reinforced, and
was driven back with severe loss.
The attack on the right having failed, Sumner threw himself against the
left. This required the seizure of Marye's Hill, and was hopeless from
the first. As the Union troops emerged from the town they were in fair
range of an appalling fire that mowed down scores. Still they pressed on
with a courage that could not be surpassed until one-half lay dead and
dying, when the rest staggered backward out of the furnace-blast of
death. The gallant Hancock gathered up the fragments of the shattered
line, and, uniting them with his own men, numbering 5,000 in all, he led
a charge, which in a brief while stretched 2,000 dead or wounded. Still
the survivors held their ground and were joined by others, who fell so
fast that it was soon evident that every man would be killed. Then
grimly remarking, "I guess we have had enough killed to satisfy
Burnside," Hancock ordered the brave fellows to fall back.
Burnside was frantic over the repeated failures. He was determined that
the heights should be carried, and ordered Hooker, his only remaining
general, to do it. Hooker went across with his three divisions, made a
careful reconnoissance, and saw that to carry out the command meant the
massacre of all his troops. He returned to Burnside and begged him to
recall his order. He refused, and Hooker attempted to obey, leading
4,000 of as brave men as ever shouldered a musket; but before they could
reach the stone wall 1,700 lay helpless on the icy earth and the
remainder fled.
Had not night been at hand, Burnside would have ordered another charge
and sacrificed hundreds of more lives, but he concluded to let the men
live until the next morning. Already 1,200 had been killed, almost
10,000 wounded, and several thousand were missing. The commanders
gathered around Burnside and insisted that the army should be brought
across the river before it was annihilated, but he refused. He was
resolved on sacrificing several thousand more under the ghastly name of
a "charge." At last, however, he became more reasonable and listened to
his officers. Perhaps the shrieks of the wounded, who lay for two days
and nights where they had fallen without help, produced some effect in
awaking him to a sense of his horrible blundering and incompetency, for,
when the bleak, dismal morning dawned, the intended "charge" was not
ordered. The Army of the Potomac had been wounded so well-nigh unto
death that it could not stand another similar blow.
[Illustration: LATEST MODEL OF GATLING GUN.]
On the cold, rainy night of December 15th, the wretched forces tramped
back over the river on the pontoon-bridges, having suffered the worst
defeat in the army's whole history. It was in the power of Lee to
destroy it utterly, but it slipped away from him, just as it had
slipped away from McClellan after the battle of Antietam.
The Union losses at Fredericksburg were: Killed, 1,284; wounded, 9,600;
missing, 1,769; total, 12,653. The Confederate losses were: Killed, 596;
wounded, 4,068; captured and missing, 651. Total, 5,315.
SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS.
The eventful year had been one of terrible fighting. It had opened with
the Union successes of Forts Henry and Donelson, followed by Pea Ridge,
Pittsburg Landing, and Corinth in the West, the naval battle between the
_Merrimac_ and _Monitor_, the capture of Roanoke Island and of New
Orleans. Bragg's invasion of Kentucky was injurious to the Union cause,
while, as we have seen, the campaign against Richmond had been a series
of disastrous failures. Still, taken as a whole, the year showed a
decisive step forward. The Union line had been advanced across the State
of Tennessee, substantial progress had been made in opening the
Mississippi, and the blockade was enforced with a rigidity that caused
great distress in the Confederacy.
Both sides felt the terrific strain of the war. The Confederacy in April
passed a conscription act, which made all able-bodied males between the
ages of eighteen and thirty-five years soldiers for the war. All such
were taken from the control of the State of which they were residents
and placed at the disposal of President Davis until the close of the
war. This conscription act was soon made much more severe in its
provisions.
THE CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS.
One source of help to the Confederacy was her privateers, which wrought
immense damage to northern shipping. England assisted in fitting them
out. Despite the protests of Minister Adams, many of these were allowed
to put to sea. One of the first was the _Oreto_, afterward known as the
_Florida_. She succeeded in eluding the blockade at Mobile, through
flying the British flag, delivered her valuable freight, received her
armament, and came forth again in the latter part of December and began
her wholesale destruction of American merchantmen.
The privateer _Sumter_ was driven into Gibraltar, and so closely watched
by the _Tuscarora_ that Captain Semmes, her commander, sold her, and
made his way to England, where the English built for him the most famous
privateer the Confederacy ever had--the _Alabama_--of which much more
will be told further on.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
The national government had learned by this time the full measurement
of the gigantic task before it. By the close of the year, 1,300,000
volunteers had been called for, and the daily expenses amounted to
$3,000,000. The conviction, too, was growing that slavery was the real
cause of the war, and the time had come to treat it with less
consideration than many leading officers and men whose patriotism could
not be doubted were disposed to show toward the "peculiar institution."
President Lincoln was one of the wisest men who ever sat in the
executive chair, and none read so unerringly the signs of the times as
he. The Abolitionists were impatient with his slowness, while many of
the doubting thought he went too fast. He waited until the right hour,
and then issued his Emancipation Proclamation.
[Illustration: UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON.]
This appeared soon after the battle of Antietam, and it is said was the
fulfillment of the pledge President Lincoln had made to heaven that, if
Lee's invasion was turned back, he would issue the great paper, which,
in effect, would see free 4,000,000 bondsmen. In it he warned the
seceding States that in every one which failed to return to its
allegiance by the first of January, 1863, he would declare the slaves
free. The warning was received with scorn, as was expected. From the
date named, therefore, all the armed forces of the Union treated the
slaves as free wherever encountered. Before long colored men were
enlisted as soldiers and sailors, and they bore no inconsiderable part
in the prosecution of the war.
"GREENBACKS."
It will be understood that the revenue of the government was altogether
unequal to the vast demands upon it. Taxation was increased, and, in
1862, the government began the issue of its own paper money. The backs
of the bills being printed in green ink, these bills were known as
"greenbacks." They were made a legal tender, despite considerable
opposition to the measure. The law gave any person owing a debt, no
matter if contracted in gold and silver, the right to pay the same with
greenbacks. Since it is impossible to regulate the value of money except
by the law of supply and demand, the bills, as compared with gold,
depreciated a good deal in value.
The act of February 25, 1862, authorized the issue of $150,000,000, and
further issues were made on June 11, 1862, and March 3, 1863. The
depreciation of greenbacks was such that the price of gold averaged 2.20
throughout 1864, and at one time reached 2.85. In other words, a
greenback dollar was worth only thirty-five cents. Another method of
raising money was through the sale of bonds, of which many millions were
issued. To encourage their sale, the National Banking System was
established in 1863. This required all banks that issued currency to
deposit a slightly larger amount of bonds in Washington. Thus the banks
were compelled to help the government by loaning it money.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, JULY 1, 1862
Malvern Hill was a very strong position taken by General McClellan in
his retreat before the army of Lee. General Lee made furious and
repeated assaults upon this well-nigh impregnable position, each time to
meet an inevitable repulse, and in the end a defeat accompanied by
severe losses, which necessitated his withdrawal to Richmond.]
CHAPTER XVII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863.
The Military Situation in the West--Siege and Capture of Vicksburg--The
Mississippi Opened--Battle of Chickamauga--"The Rock of
Chickamauga"--The Battle Above the Clouds--Siege of Knoxville--General
Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--His Plan of
Campaign Against Richmond--Stonewall Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh
Corps--Critical Situation of the Union Army--Death of Jackson--Battle of
Chancellorsville--Defeat of Hooker--The Second Confederate
Invasion--Battle of Gettysburg--The Decisive Struggle of the War--Lee's
Retreat--Subsequent Movements of Lee and Meade--Confederate
Privateering--Destruction of the _Nashville_--Failure of the Attacks on
Charleston--The Military Raids--Stuart's Narrow Escape--Stoneman's
Raid--Morgan's Raid in Indiana and Ohio.
There were now such immense armies in the field and military operations
were conducted on so vast a scale that the reader must carefully study
the situation in order to gain an intelligent idea of the progress of
the momentous events. We will give our attention first to operations in
the West.
THE SITUATION IN THE WEST.
There were four Union armies in that section. The first was the one
under Rosecrans, which, on the opening days of the year, won the victory
at Murfreesboro' or Stone River, an account of which is given in the
preceding chapter. The second was near Holly Springs, under General
Grant; a third was in New Orleans, under General Banks, who had
succeeded General Butler; and the fourth was in Arkansas. The main
object of all these armies was to open the Mississippi. When that should
be accomplished, the Confederacy would be split in two. Hundreds of
thousands of beeves were drawn from Texas and the country beyond the
Mississippi, and to shut off this supply would be one of the most
effective blows that could be struck against the rebellion.
GRANT BEFORE VICKSBURG.
General Sherman had failed to capture Vicksburg, and General Grant
assumed command of the forces besieging it. He saw that the defenses
facing the Mississippi and the lower part of the Yazoo were too powerful
to be taken by storm. He decided as a consequence to turn the rear of
the lines, and, securing an entrance into the upper part of the Yazoo,
reach the rear of the batteries at Haines' Bluff.
In this important work he received valuable help from the ironclads of
Admiral Porter. With one of them he opened communication with the
squadron in the lower part of the Mississippi and disabled a Confederate
steamer under the guns of Vicksburg. Two of the boats groped their way
through the swamps and wooded creeks, where nothing more than canoes and
dugouts had ventured before, obtained a great deal of cotton and burned
much more, disregarded the torpedoes and fought the rebels along the
banks, explored new routes, and in the end both were captured by the
enemy.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL PORTER.]
Several ingenious plans were tried to capture these formidable
fortifications. One was an attempt to force a passage into the Upper
Yazoo. Another was to open a new channel for the Mississippi. Both were
failures, but the levees along the Yazoo were cut and many acres in the
rear of Vicksburg overflowed, while a great deal of Arkansas and
Louisiana was flooded. The object of all this was to shut off the
supplies of Vicksburg. Admiral Farragut now strove to pass from the
lower Mississippi by the Port Hudson batteries to Vicksburg. The effort
was made on the night of March 14th, which was of inky darkness. The
approach was discovered by the enemy, who kindled large bonfires on the
bank which revealed the passing vessels. The latter opened on the
batteries with great effect, but only two, including the flagship, were
able to get past, the thirteen being forced to turn back. The
_Mississippi_ ran aground and was set on fire and abandoned. With the
two vessels in hand, Farragut blockaded the mouth of the Red River and
gave valuable help to General Grant, but the land forces advancing from
Baton Rouge to aid in the attack on Vicksburg turned back upon learning
of the failure of Farragut's fleet to run past the batteries.
General Grant had set out to capture Vicksburg and nothing could turn
him from his purpose. His aim was to sever the Confederate
communications with the east by turning the defenses of the Yazoo and
the Mississippi. General McClernand was sent in the latter part of March
to occupy New Carthage to the south, while General Banks, by advancing
from New Orleans, threatened Port Hudson in conjunction with the fleet
lying near.
Banks' force was so large that the most the enemy could do was to delay
his advance by burning bridges and obstructing the river. In the latter
part of April, he established himself at Simmsport, near the junction of
the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi. Admiral Porter, who was lying with
his fleet above Vicksburg, now made the attempt to join Farragut below,
and it proved one of the most exciting experiences of the war.
RUNNING THE BATTERIES.
Naturally a dark night--April 16th--was selected, and eight gunboats,
three transports, and several barges loaded with supplies silently
dropped down the river in the impenetrable mist, while the thousands of
Union troops intently watched the hulls as they melted from sight in the
gloom. The hope was general that they would be able to float past
undiscovered, and, when an hour of intense stillness went by, the
watchers and listeners began to breathe more freely, though their
anxiety was only partly lifted.
[Illustration: DAVID G. FARRAGUT.]
Suddenly two crimson lines of fire flamed along the river front, and the
earth trembled under the stupendous explosion. The ships had been
detected, and the river was swept by a tempest of shot and shell that it
seemed must shatter to fragments every one of the craft. It should be
remembered that these batteries extended for a long distance along the
shore, and they opened one after the other, as the ships came opposite.
Thus the fleet became the target of battery after battery, and had a
continuous and extended gantlet to run before reaching safety.
The gunboats returned the fire as they swept by, and many of their shots
were effective, but in such a duel the advantage is always with the land
batteries. One of the transports was disabled, and another, directly
behind her, had to stop to avoid running into the injured craft. The
crew of the former, finding themselves the centre of a terrific fire,
launched the yawl, and, leaping into it, pulled for the shore. They had
scarcely left their vessel when it was fired by a shell, and, aflame
from stem to stern, it drifted down stream. Meanwhile, the transport
that had grounded was towed out of danger. With this exception, the
whole fleet got safely past, the loss being only one man killed and two
wounded on Porter's flagship.
General Grant was greatly pleased with this success. A few nights later
a second attempt was successful. He was thus enabled to send supplies to
the army, with which he intended to attack Vicksburg on the south.
Gradually shifting his own position, he reached a point opposite Grand
Gulf, a short distance below the mouth of the Big Black River.
CAPTURE OF GRAND GULF.
Although Grand Gulf was strongly fortified its quick capture was a
necessity. McClernand had been ordered several times to attack it, but
he was so laggard that Grant himself undertook the task. It proved one
of extreme difficulty, and he was obliged to make a change of plans, but
he handled his troops with admirable skill and with such effect that the
Confederate commander's position at Grand Gulf became untenable and he
withdrew. Grant rode into town and found the place in the possession of
Admiral Farragut.
The success was so brilliant that Pemberton, the Confederate general
commanding the forces at Vicksburg, became alarmed and telegraphed to
General Jo Johnston for reinforcements, but Johnston was too much
occupied with Rosecrans in Tennessee to spare any of his men, and about
all he could do was to send encouraging words to his subordinate.
GRANT'S FINE GENERALSHIP.
General Grant never displayed his great genius more strikingly than in
the operations before Vicksburg. For days and nights he seemed scarcely
to eat or sleep. He was here, there, and everywhere, and was familiar
with all the minute details of his momentous enterprise. General
Pemberton confessed in his reports that the amazing activity of Grant
"embarrassed him."
Grand Gulf was made the base of operations, and, well aware that
reinforcements would be hurried to the garrison, Grant hastened his
movements. While pressing his attack he learned that Johnston was at
Jackson with a strong force, with which to reinforce Pemberton. He
immediately dispatched McPherson and Sherman thither, and, after a
fierce fight, Jackson was captured. Grant learned from deserters that
Johnston, the chief Confederate commander in that section, had sent
peremptory orders to Pemberton to leave Vicksburg and attack him in the
rear. The latter, with his usual promptness, met this danger, and, by
decisively defeating the enemy at Champion Hill, he accomplished the
splendid feat of keeping Johnston out of Vicksburg and Pemberton in. It
was a great exploit, for Jo Johnston was one of the ablest generals of
the war, and the fine campaign which he had planned was brought to
naught. Not only was he kept out of Vicksburg, but it was made
impossible for him to send any help to Pemberton, around whom the Union
commander was drawing the coils more tightly each day.
[Illustration: GRANT AFTER THE BATTLE OF BELMONT.]
Still the defenses of Vicksburg were too powerful to be captured by
storm, and Grant did the only thing possible--he besieged the city. The
siege began about the middle of May. The garrison had provisions for
barely two months, from which they had to supply the inhabitants of the
town. Jo Johnston saw the peril and set to work with such vigor to raise
a force to send to the relief of Pemberton, that Grant was hurried into
making an assault on the rebel works. This took place before daylight on
the morning of May 19th. Though successful at first, the Federals were
repulsed. A grand assault was undertaken three days later and pressed
with the utmost bravery, but it resulted in another repulse, in which
the loss of the assailants was three times greater than that of the
defenders. Porter tried to help with his fleet, but his vessels were so
badly injured by the batteries that they were compelled to withdraw from
action.
This failure showed that it was useless to try to capture Vicksburg
except through a regular siege, which was pressed henceforth without
intermission. Shells were thrown into the doomed city night and day; the
people lived in caves, on short rations, and underwent miseries and
sufferings which it is hard to comprehend in these days. All the time
Grant was edging closer and closer. Parallels and approaches were
constructed; mines sunk and countermining done. Several attempts were
made to relieve Vicksburg, but the bulldog-like grip of Grant could not
be loosened, and the condition of the garrison became much like that of
Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.
FALL OF VICKSBURG.
The defenders displayed the greatest bravery and endurance, and held out
until the time came when it was apparent that it was a choice between
surrender and starving to death. That man who prefers to starve rather
than submit to a magnanimous foe is a fool. Pemberton had 21,000 troops
under his command, but 6,000 were in the hospitals, while Grant had
fully 60,000 soldiers waiting and eager to make the assault. On the 3d
of July, a flag of truce was displayed in front of Vicksburg, and a
message was sent to the Union commander, asking for an armistice with a
view of arranging for the capitulation of Vicksburg. Grant's reply was
his usual one, that the only terms he could accept were unconditional
surrender, and he, therefore, declined to appoint commissioners.
The commanders then met between the lines, and Grant agreed that the
garrison should be paroled and allowed to go to their homes, and that
the city, stores, arms, and supplies should belong to the conquerors.
Although the Union commander's terms "unconditional surrender" sounded
harsh, they always proved of a generous nature. There was a good deal of
criticism in the South of Pemberton for selecting the 4th of July for
making his submission, since the Union people would be sure to make a
greater ado over it. Pemberton's explanation was that he believed Grant
would be more disposed to give him liberal terms on that date than on
any other, and it would not be strange if he was partly right.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CAPTURE.
The capture of Vicksburg was one of the most important Union successes
of the war. In his official report, Grant thus summarized the results of
his campaign: "The defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of
Vicksburg; the occupation of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi; and
the capture of Vicksburg, its garrison and munitions of war; a loss to
the enemy of 37,000 prisoners, at least 10,000 killed and wounded, and
hundreds, perhaps thousands, who can never be collected or reorganized.
Arms and munitions of war for an army of 60,000 men have fallen into our
hands, beside a large amount of other public property and much that was
destroyed to prevent our capturing it."
Thus one of the great objects of the war was accomplished. The
Mississippi was opened throughout its entire length and the Confederacy
cut in twain. That President Davis felt the gravity of the blow (to
which one still more decisive was added about the same time) was proven
by his proclamation calling into service all persons in the Confederacy
not legally exempt, who were between the ages of eighteen and forty-five
years. He also appointed the 21st of August as a day of fasting,
humiliation, and prayer.
Grant's magnificent success greatly increased his popularity in the
North. His praises were in every one's mouth; he was declared to be the
ablest military leader that had yet appeared, and more than one saw in
him the coming saviour of the Union.
Perhaps it is slightly premature to say that the Mississippi was opened
from the hour of the surrender of Vicksburg. Port Hudson held out, but
its fall was a corollary of that of the more important city. It had
stoutly resisted several attacks, but, realizing the hopelessness of his
situation, the Confederate commander surrendered on the 9th of July, and
the opening of the Mississippi was fully completed.
ROSECRANS' CAMPAIGN.
The reader will recall that the battle of Murfreesboro' took place at
the very beginning of the year. Rosecrans, the Union commander, never
repeated the brilliant skill he had shown in fighting Bragg on Stone
River. He seemed to think that that repulse of the enemy was sufficient
to last a good while, for he remained idle throughout the several months
that followed. There were a number of brisk skirmishes and fights, but
none was of importance. When June arrived without anything of account
having been accomplished, the government suggested to Rosecrans that it
was time he took steps to drive Bragg into Georgia and thus secure
Eastern Tennessee, where the sentiment was strongly Union.
Rosecrans hesitated, but upon receiving a stronger intimation that he
ought to be up and doing, he began a series of movements, in the latter
part of June, which caused Bragg to withdraw to Chattanooga, where he
intrenched himself. Burnside then advanced from Ohio into Eastern
Tennessee, but was so delayed that Bragg was heavily reinforced from
Virginia. To protect his communications, he fell back, however, upon
the approach of the Federal army, which occupied Chattanooga.
Unaware of the increased strength of the enemy, Rosecrans divided his
army into three columns, separated by wide spaces of mountains, and
marched in loose order against his foe, observing which Bragg determined
to overwhelm each of the columns in detail.
The first demonstration was against General George H. Thomas, who
commanded the Federal left, and was encamped at the foot of Lookout
Mountain. That splendid officer eluded the enemy launched against him,
and effected a junction with the other two corps.
At the same time the centre of the three columns was attacked, but the
assault was repulsed, and the reunited Union army on the 18th of
September stood on the western bank of the Chickamauga, which stream was
well named, for the Indian word means "the river of death." The position
was twelve miles from Chattanooga, and it was a perilous one, for, as
has been stated, Bragg had been heavily reinforced, and Longstreet with
a powerful column of veterans from Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was
approaching. He, therefore, decided to make an attempt to recover
Chattanooga.
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
The Confederates crossed the Chickamauga, and, on the morning of the
19th, Rosecrans opened the battle by attacking the enemy's right wing.
The entire armies were soon involved, and the fighting lasted until
nightfall, with the result in favor of the Confederates. Although forced
from several positions, they gained and held the road leading to
Chattanooga, and the Union troops were driven almost to the base of
Missionary Ridge.
Late that night, Longstreet arrived with his fire-seasoned veterans. He
was one of Lee's best lieutenants, and it was arranged that the battle
should be renewed the next morning at daybreak, with Longstreet
commanding the left wing. From some cause, the Confederate attack was
delayed until ten o'clock, the delay giving the Federals time to throw
up a number of breastworks. Against these Bragg repeatedly charged with
his right wing, but was repulsed each time.
Thomas, in command of the Union left, also repelled a sharp attack, but
Longstreet routed Rosecrans, and, discerning a gap caused by the
transfer of the Union centre to strengthen the left, Longstreet led his
men impetuously into the opening, thus splitting the Union army in two.
Striking in both directions, he threw the two divisions into such
disorder and confusion that the frightened Rosecrans galloped in hot
haste to Chattanooga to secure his supply train and the pontoon-bridges
over the Tennessee. At the same time, he telegraphed the terrifying
tidings to Washington that the whole Union army had been beaten.
"THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA."
At a crisis in the tremendous battle, General Hood, one of the
Confederate leaders, was wounded, and a halt was made until another
officer could be brought up to take his place. Short as was the delay,
it gave the Unionists time to rally and strengthen their endangered
points. Despite this advantage, the telegram of Rosecrans would have
been verified and the magnificent army destroyed except for one man. He
was George H. Thomas, the heroic commander of the Union left. Longstreet
launched his veterans against him again and again, but he beat them back
in every instance. Never did men fight more bravely than those
Americans, arrayed against each other, and never was finer generalship
displayed than by General Thomas, whose wonderful defense that day won
for him the name by which he will always be remembered--"The Rock of
Chickamauga."
[Illustration: GEORGE H. THOMAS.
"The Rock of Chickamauga."]
Holding his heroes well in hand, Thomas was ready to renew the battle
the next day, but Bragg did not molest him. The Confederates, however,
had won a victory, for they drove the Federals from the field and
retained possession of it. Thomas fell slowly back toward Chattanooga,
presenting a firm front to the enemy.
Chickamauga ranks as one of the great battles of the war. The Union
losses were: killed, 1,656; wounded, 9,749; missing, 4,774; total,
16,179. The Confederate losses were: killed, 2,268; wounded, 13,613;
captured and missing, 1,090; total, 16,971.
SUPERSEDURE OF ROSECRANS BY THOMAS.
Rosecrans' conduct of this battle caused his supersedure by Thomas,
while several division commanders were suspended, pending an inquiry
into their course. President Davis removed General Leonidas Polk, who
was thought to have shown hesitancy of action at critical points. Bragg,
however, was the most blamable, for, with the advantage overwhelmingly
in his favor, he refused to permit Longstreet to follow up his success.
One of the peculiarities of the Confederate President was his strong
likes and dislikes. He was a personal enemy of Jo Johnston, and more
than once humiliated him, but he was also a friend of Bragg, and, in the
face of indignant protests, retained him in chief command in the
southwest.
As soon as the Union army reached Chattanooga intrenchments were thrown
up. Bragg appeared before the town on the 23d, and, finding the position
too strong to be carried by assault, he laid siege to it. The situation
of the army became so dangerous that great uneasiness was felt in
Washington, where the wise step was taken of sending General Grant
thither, with his appointment to the command of the entire West.
Abundant reinforcements were hurried to the imperiled point, the entire
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from the Army of the Potomac forming the
principal commands. The Federals became much the stronger, but Bragg did
not abandon his siege of Chattanooga.
Recalling the advance of Burnside from the Ohio to the relief of
Rosecrans, it should be stated that he did not arrive in time to take
part in the battle of Chickamauga, but occupied Knoxville on the 9th of
September. Bragg sent Longstreet with a strong force to attack Burnside,
the Confederate commander thereby weakening his army, which could ill
stand it. Grant arrived at Chattanooga on the night of October 20th, and
telegraphed Burnside to hold Knoxville at all hazards, while he gave his
attention to Bragg.
Sherman came up with his troops November 15th, and a week later Grant
had an army of 80,000 men on the ground, while the removal of Longstreet
left Bragg with only 50,000. His line, twelve miles long, embraced two
elevations commanding a view of Chattanooga Valley. Lookout Mountain was
on the south, while Missionary Ridge on the east was not quite so high.
The Confederate left wing rested on the former, and the right on
Missionary Ridge, with the Chattanooga flowing between. Bragg was
justified in considering his position impregnable.
THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
Grant, however, held a different opinion. On the night of the 23d the
enemy's picket lines were forced back and an improved position secured.
The following morning, Hooker, having already crossed the river, was
ordered to attack the position on Lookout Mountain. His movements were
hidden for a time by a dense fog, and it was his intention to stop as
soon as the enemy's rifle-pits at the base were captured; but, when this
was accomplished, the men were carried away by their enthusiasm, noting
which Hooker ordered them to charge the Confederate position. Up the
mountain the cheering, eager fellows swept with irresistible valor. The
Stars and Stripes was planted on the crest and 2,000 of the fleeing
Confederates were made prisoners. The fog still lay heavy in the valley
below, a fact which has led to the battle being called the "Battle above
the Clouds."
DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES.
The following morning was also foggy, but, when it lifted, Sherman's
corps was seen advancing against the Confederate right, close to
Chickamauga station. In the face of a heavy artillery fire the Federals
pressed on, but at the end of an hour they were compelled to retreat. By
order of Grant the attack was renewed, but another severe repulse
followed. Next a general movement against the left centre was ordered,
and this was successful. The enemy was driven in confusion toward
Ringgold, to the southeast, while a large number of prisoners and a vast
amount of supplies were captured.
General Hooker pursued and drove the Confederates out of Ringgold, but
they assumed so strong a position at Taylor's Ridge that Grant ordered
him not to attack, but to remain and hold Ringgold, Sherman, in the
meantime, marching against Longstreet. Bragg had blundered so much in
conducting this disastrous campaign that President Davis was forced to
replace him with Hardee.
RAISING OF THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE.
Meanwhile, Longstreet was besieging Burnside at Knoxville, where the
15,000 Union troops were threatened with starvation. The town was
invested November 17th, and the next day some of the outworks were
carried. Well aware that Grant, after his defeat of Bragg, would hurry
to the relief of Knoxville, Longstreet attacked on the 29th, but
suffered a bloody repulse. He stubbornly held his ground until he
learned that Sherman was close upon him, when he withdrew and started on
his march to Virginia. The campaign soon ended in Tennessee, which was
virtually recovered to the Union.
The reader will note that we have described the leading events in the
West and Southwest from the opening of the year to its close. Once more
it is necessary to return to January, 1863, in order to give a history
of the most important campaign of all--that against Richmond, which was
defended by the formidable Army of Northern Virginia, under the command
of General Robert E. Lee.
BURNSIDE SUPERSEDED BY HOOKER.
Burnside's management of the attack on Fredericksburg in December, 1862,
was so incompetent and disastrous that it was impossible for him to
retain the chief command. Knowing that several of his generals had
severely criticised him, Burnside sent a list of names to Washington,
giving the government the choice of removing them or accepting his
resignation. Prominent on Burnside's "black list" was the name of
Hooker. On the 26th of January Burnside's resignation was accepted, and
Hooker was made his successor.
The morale of the grand organization had been injured by its wretched
leadership, but the material itself could not have been finer. Hooker
set resolutely to work, and, by the 1st of May, the army was well
trained and disciplined, and numbered 130,000 men, of whom fully 12,000
were cavalry. Lee had about half as many troops.
Knowing it would not do to remain idle when the beautiful spring weather
came, Hooker had been carefully planning for another campaign against
Richmond. He had won a fine reputation for himself as a fighter and
skillful corps commander, and the hopes were high that he would lead his
superb army directly into the rebel capital. Everything seemed to be in
his favor, and the campaign opened promisingly.
THE NEW CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND.
Hooker's plan was to assail Lee at two points. The Rappahannock and
Rapidan were to be crossed a short distance west of Fredericksburg, and
the left wing attacked. While this was going on, Hooker's own left wing
was to occupy the heights and secure possession of the Richmond
Railroad. The powerful Union cavalry were to ride around Lee's position
and cut off his retreat to Richmond. This involved the destruction of
the railroads and bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers.
This important movement was begun April 27th. The main portion of the
corps of Meade, Howard, and Slocum, numbering 36,000 men, marched thirty
miles up the Rappahannock and crossed the stream without resistance. A
force then moved ten miles down the other side of the river, driving
away several Confederate detachments, and opened the way for Couch with
12,000 men to cross and join the other three corps. Taking different
routes, the 48,000 advanced toward Chancellorsville, which had been
named as the rendezvous. They were soon followed by Sickles with 18,000
men.
It was not until the Union movement had progressed thus far that Lee
read its purpose. He hastily called in his divisions, and, on the
forenoon of May 1st, the Army of Northern Virginia was drawn up in
battle-line in front of that dense-wooded district known as the
Wilderness.
Exultingly confident, Hooker ordered an advance that day from near
Chancellorsville toward Fredericksburg. Hardly had he started when he
learned that Lee was moving against him; he, therefore, paused and threw
up defenses. His aim was to flank Lee, and, to prevent it, the
Confederate commander took desperate chances. Keeping up a rattling
demonstration in front he sent Stonewall Jackson with 30,000 men around
the right of the Union army. Had Hooker known of this daring movement,
he could easily have crushed each division in detail.
STONEWALL JACKSON'S FLANK MOVEMENT.
Jackson carried out his programme with fearful completeness. Without his
purpose being suspected, he traveled fifteen miles, reaching the road
leading from Orange to Fredericksburg, on the southern side of the
Rapidan. He was thus within two miles of General Howard's Eleventh
Corps. The men were preparing supper with no thought of danger, when the
air was suddenly split by thousands of "rebel yells," and the graybacks
rushed out of the woods and swept everything before them. The whole
Eleventh Corps broke into a wild panic, and ran for their lives toward
Chancellorsville.
The German division especially, under the command of Carl Schurz, were
irrestrainable in their terror.
The majority, however, stood their ground bravely, and their commanders
put forth every effort to stop the wild stampede. A partial success was
attained, and the artillery poured in a fire which checked the pursuit.
Fortunately night was at hand, and the fighting soon ceased. The
position of the Union army was critical in the extreme. It was squeezed
in between Chancellorsville and the fork of the two rivers. What fate
awaited it on the morrow?
[Illustration: THOMAS J. ("STONEWALL") JACKSON.]
At this juncture, the Confederate cause received the severest blow in
its history. That remarkable man, Stonewall Jackson, was confident that
the destruction of the Union army was at hand, and he was impatient for
the morrow that he might complete the fearful work. In the dusk of early
evening he rode forward, accompanied by several of his staff, to
reconnoitre the Union position. Passing beyond the outer line of
skirmishers, the party halted in the gloom and peered toward the Federal
lines. Dimly discerned by a South Carolina regiment, they were mistaken
for the enemy, and a volley was fired at them. One of the staff was
killed and two wounded. Comprehending the blunder, Jackson wheeled and
galloped into the woods, but before the shelter could be reached, the
South Carolinians fired a second time.
Jackson was struck twice in the left arm and once in the right hand. His
frightened horse whirled about and plunged away. A limb knocked off his
hat and came near unseating him, but he managed to keep in the saddle
and guide his steed into the road, where one of his staff helped him to
the ground and supported him to the foot of a tree where he was laid
down. He was suffering so keenly that he could not walk, and was carried
on a litter to the rear. For a part of the way, all were exposed to such
a hot artillery fire that they had to pause several times and lie down.
[Illustration: HOUSE IN WHICH STONEWALL JACKSON DIED.]
The wound grew so bad that the arm was amputated, but pneumonia
followed, and Jackson died on Sunday, May 10th. His last words, uttered
in his delirium, were: "Let us cross over the river and rest under the
shadow of the trees."
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.
The fighting at Chancellorsville was renewed at daylight, May 3d.
General Stuart succeeded to the command of Jackson's corps. The
superior numbers of the Union army and its compact formation gave it
all the advantage. It needed but one thing to insure overwhelming
success: that was competent leadership, and that was the one thing which
it did not have.
[Illustration: THE FATAL WOUNDING OF "STONEWALL" JACKSON
After his first great victory at Chancellorsville, "Stonewall" Jackson
believed that the destruction of the Union army was at hand, and in his
impatience for the morrow, that he might complete the work, he rode in
the dusk of the evening beyond his outposts to reconnoiter. A South
Carolina regiment mistook his party for the enemy and fired upon them,
mortally wounding their great commander.]
With the weaker army still separated, it forced the Federals back toward
the river, where Hooker was compelled to form a second line. Holding him
there, Lee turned toward Sedgwick, who was at Fredericksburg with 25,000
men. He had a good opportunity to assail Lee in the rear, but failed to
do so, and gave his efforts to capturing Marye's Heights, which was
defended by a weak garrison. It was easily taken, and Sedgwick sent a
column in the direction of Chancellorsville. On the road it encountered
some breastworks, thrown up by the force which Lee had dispatched to
check Sedgwick's advance. He was driven back, and the rebels, having
been reinforced, recaptured Marye's Heights. Sedgwick made a hurried
retreat, and thenceforward formed no factor in the battle.
Having disposed of him, Lee turned again upon Hooker. Early on the 5th,
he placed a number of his guns within range of United States Ford and
dropped a few shells among the wagon trains. Nothing, however, was
accomplished on this day, except that the dry and parched woods were set
on fire, and many of the wounded who were unable to help themselves were
burned to death. Every horror that can be conceived as to war was added
to the awful scene.
RETREAT OF THE UNION ARMY.
A heavy rainstorm caused the Rapidan and Rappahannock to rise so rapidly
that Hooker decided, after consulting his officers, to get back while he
had the chance to do so. The bridges were covered with pine boughs, and,
with the noise of the wheels deadened by the crashing thunder, the
wagons and artillery made the passage without discovery. By the
following morning, the entire Army of the Potomac was once more across
the Rappahannock and marching back to its old camp at Falmouth, and once
more the advance against Richmond had ended in woeful disaster.
The losses of the Unionists at Chancellorsville were: killed, 1,606;
wounded, 9,762; missing, 5,919; total, 17,287. The losses of the
Confederates were: killed, 1,665; wounded, 9,081; captured and missing,
2,018; total, 12,764.
THE SECOND CONFEDERATE INVASION.
After such a frightful Union defeat, it was no wonder that the
Confederates again decided to invade the North. Lee was not favorable to
the plan, but he must have felt that the prospect of success was better
than ever before. He made his preparations with great care, and
strengthened his army to 75,000 men, divided into three corps, commanded
respectively by Longstreet, Ewell, and A.P. Hill. He had in addition
15,000 cavalry under General J.E.B. ("Jeb") Stuart.
The northward march was begun the first week in June. Longstreet and
Ewell advanced upon Culpeper, while Hill remained near Fredericksburg,
aiming to deceive Hooker as to his intentions. Hooker quickly perceived
that most of the rebel army had disappeared from his front, but it was a
mystery to him where it had gone. A reconnoissance developed the
direction taken by the two missing corps. Unsuspicious of the grand
project that was in the mind of the Confederate commander, Hooker moved
down the Shenandoah Valley, taking the same course as Lee, but with the
Blue Ridge Mountains between them.
LEE'S PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS.
Passing through the defiles in this range, Lee dropped down on Milroy at
Winchester before he dreamed of danger. Most of his 7,000 men were
captured, but Milroy and a few escaped by a hurried flight at night. All
doubt now had vanished as to the intentions of Lee; he was aiming for
Pennsylvania, at the head of a powerful, well-organized army; Washington
and probably Philadelphia were in peril. The only check that could block
its way was the Army of the Potomac, and Hooker lost no time in moving.
He reached Fairfax Court-House on the night of the 14th, thus placing
himself on the flank of Ewell. The Confederates, however, held the
mountain passes securely and nothing effective could be done.
[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE.
Confederate Commander-in-chief at Gettysburg.
(1807-1870).]
On the 22d the headquarters of Lee were at Beverly, ten miles from
Winchester, with which Lee kept up communication through A.P. Hill's
corps, which was between Culpeper and Front Royal. Ewell, without
hesitation, forded the Potomac into Maryland, while his cavalry pushed
on into Pennsylvania.
By this time the government was so alarmed that President Lincoln, on
the 15th of June, called by proclamation on the governors of Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia to furnish 100,000 militia
for the protection of those States. Pennsylvania, the one in greatest
danger, was so laggard that she asked New Jersey to come to her help,
and that little State gallantly did so.
GENERAL MEADE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
Hooker deserved credit for appreciating his own unfitness for the
command of the army that was again to fight Lee. He crossed the Potomac
June 26th, making a movement which threatened Lee's communications, and
resigned the next day. At Frederick, on the 28th, he published an order
to the effect that the army had been placed in charge of Major-General
George G. Meade.
This was an excellent appointment. Although Meade was born, in 1815, in
Cadiz, Spain, he was an American, because his father was the United
States naval agent at the time. Meade was graduated from West Point in
1835, and won distinction in the war with the Seminoles and with Mexico.
The appointment was a surprise to him, but it pleased everybody, and he
modestly took hold, resolved to do the best he could.
MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL MEADE.
He adhered to the general plan of Hooker. His army numbered about
100,000, and no braver men lived anywhere. Nearly all of Lee's troops
were north of the Potomac, partly in Maryland and partly in
Pennsylvania. On the 27th of June the whole army was at Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania; but Lee was greatly hampered by the absence of Stuart and
his cavalry. That dashing officer was very fond of making raids, and,
giving a wider meaning to the permission of Lee than that general
intended, he was off on another of his bold ventures, with no certainty
as to when he would return. It was upon him that Lee was obliged to
depend for news of the Union army. Receiving none, he was on the point
of advancing against Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, when he
paused upon receiving the first reliable news of the Army of the
Potomac.
Meade had pushed his advance beyond Middleton, where his left was lying
when he took command of the army at Frederick. This action of the Union
commander looked as if he intended to cross the mountains and attack the
Confederate rear. Ewell's corps was at York and Carlisle, but still
there was no knowledge whatever of the whereabouts of Stuart.
Lee now attempted to draw Meade away from the Potomac by concentrating
his army to the east of the mountains. Hill and Longstreet advanced to
Gettysburg, while Ewell was ordered to do the same. Lee himself lagged
in the hope that Stuart would join him, and because of that, Meade, who
was keenly on the alert, arrived in the neighborhood of Gettysburg
first. On the last day of June, he was within a few miles of the town,
while Lee was somewhat to the north and making for the same place.
Stuart and his cavalry had harassed the Army of the Potomac in Virginia,
but, unable to stay its advance, they crossed the Potomac, and, moving
to the east of Meade, entered Carlisle shortly after Ewell had left for
Gettysburg. Stuart's delay was owing to the fact that he did not know
Lee's whereabouts.
THE FIRST DAY AT GETTYSBURG.
The two mighty armies were now within striking distance of each other.
It was yet early in the day when a collision took place between a
Confederate division and Reynolds' Corps on the western side of the
town. Reynolds was one of the best officers in the Union army. He was
engaged in directing the movements of his troops when he was struck in
the head by a rifle bullet and instantly killed. General Doubleday
succeeded him in command, but was unable to drive back the enemy. Howard
arrived with the Eleventh Corps early in the afternoon and took charge
of the whole force. These were mainly composed of Germans, who were so
overwhelmingly stampeded by Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville. They
did not appear to have recovered from that panic, for they fled
pell-mell through Gettysburg, with the enemy whooping at their heels.
Nearly all who did not run were cut down or they surrendered.
Meade had sent Hancock to take chief command, and, aided by Howard, he
rallied the shattered corps on the crest of Culp's Hill, behind the
town. The keen eye of Hancock was quick to see that it was here the
decisive struggle must take place, and he sent an urgent message to
Meade, fifteen miles away, to lose not an hour in hurrying his troops
forward. Meade followed the counsel. Some of his men arrived that night,
some the next morning, while those from the greatest distance did not
come in until the following afternoon.
The line as formed by Hancock extended along Cemetery Hill on the west
and south of Gettysburg. It was a formidable position, and Lee, after
carefully studying it, decided to await the arrival of Longstreet and
Ewell with their corps before making his attack. Events proved that the
decision was a disastrous mistake on the part of the Confederate
commander.
When the sultry first day of July drew to a close, the Federal right
held Culp's Hill, the centre Cemetery Hill, the left was along Cemetery
Ridge, and the reserve on the right. This line curved in the form of a
horseshoe, with the projecting portion facing Gettysburg. Sedgwick, it
will be remembered, had not arrived, but the force was composed of a
hundred thousand veterans who had 200 cannon at command.
That night the Confederates were in Gettysburg and a part of the country
to the east and west. Ewell formed the left and held the town; Seminary
Ridge was occupied by Hill's Corps, and confronted the centre and left
of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. When Pickett's division came up on
the 3d, it was placed on the right of Hill's position and faced Round
Top.
Most of the succeeding day was spent by both armies in preparing for the
tremendous death-grapple. At about five o'clock in the afternoon, having
become convinced that the left and left centre of the Union line were
the weakest points, Lee directed his efforts against them. They were
held by Sickles, who made a blunder by advancing a portion of his force
beyond the battle-line and seizing a ridge. It was because of this
blunder that the first Confederate attack was made at that point.
Longstreet and Ewell opened with a sharp cannonade, under cover of which
Hood's division impetuously assaulted Sickles' left. He drove his right
wing between Sickles left and Little Round Top, and was steadily
succeeding in his purpose, when one of those apparently trifling things,
for which no one can account, interfered and brought about momentous
results.
[Illustration: GEORGE G. MEADE.
The Union commander-in-chief at Gettysburg.]
Little Round Top was the key to the position, and yet it had no real
defenders. Had Hood known this, he could have seized it without the
slightest difficulty. Perceiving its importance, he began working his
way toward it, and only some extraordinary interference could prevent it
speedily falling into his possession.
But General Gouverneur Warren, chief engineer, and his officers had
climbed Little Round Top and were using it as a signal station. Soon the
shots began flying so fast about them that they made hurried
preparations to leave. Warren, however, saw the importance of holding
the hill, and told his associates to make a pretense of doing so, while
he looked around for a force to bring to the spot.
Fortunately, a large body of reinforcements were hurrying past to
Sickles, who had sent an urgent call for them. Without hesitation,
General Warren detached a brigade for the defense of Little Round Top.
They ran up the slope, dragging a battery with them. Hardly had they
done so, when Hood made a fierce charge. The fighting was of the most
furious nature, and it looked for a time as if the yelling Texans would
carry the hill, but they were forced back, and, pressing their way up
the ravine at the foot, turned the left Union flank, but were forced
again to retire by a bayonet charge.
Sickles called for reinforcements when attacked by Longstreet, but with
their aid he could not hold his position. He was rushed back by the
terrific fighter, and Longstreet gained and held the key-point of the
line against the repeated assaults of the Union troops. Not only that,
but he was resistlessly advancing, when more reinforcements arrived and
attacked him just as he reached a wheatfield and grove of woods on the
western side of Plum Run. The Confederates were beginning to give way,
when Hood, having carried Sickles' extreme left, arrived. A vehement
charge carried Hood through two divisions that were doubled back on
their main line on Cemetery Ridge; Sickles' left having been crushed,
his centre and right were assailed, and the latter was driven back. In
the fighting Sickles lost a leg as well as his entire advanced position.
The close of the 2d of July brought brilliant, but only partial, success
to the Confederates. After reaching Cemetery Ridge, Longstreet's men
were repulsed by Hancock. The Confederate commander fell back to the
western side of the wheatfield, where he remained until morning. Ewell,
impetuously attacking the Union right centre at Cemetery and Culp's
Hill, kept back Federal reinforcements from reaching the left, which
Longstreet was pounding, drove out the Federal artillery and infantry,
and held the works. This was a most important success, and, if Ewell
could maintain his position throughout the morrow, General Lee would
have a chance of taking Meade's line in reverse. The conclusion of the
second day, therefore, left matters in dubious shape for both sides.
While the Confederates had made gains, they were not decisive. Still
they were such as to cause grave concern on the part of Meade and his
brother officers, who held a long, anxious consultation, and discussed
the question whether it was not wise to fall back and assume a new and
stronger position. The decision was to remain where they were.
THE THIRD DAY.
Naturally Lee strengthened his force near where Ewell had secured a
lodgment within the breastworks of Culp's Hill, with the purpose of
making his main attack there; but Meade could not fail to see the
utmost importance of driving out the enemy from his position. He shelled
it at daylight on the 3d, and sent a strong body of infantry against the
intruders. The Confederates made a desperate resistance, but in the end
were expelled, and the Union line re-established.
It will be seen that this miscalculation of Lee compelled him to change
his plans. Sitting on his horse, riding back and forth, often halting
and scanning the battlefield through his glasses, and continually
consulting his officers, he finally decided to direct his supreme effort
against the Union centre. Success there meant the defeat and rout of the
Union army, for, if the two wings could be wedged apart, they would be
overwhelmed and destroyed by the charging Confederates.
But the impressive fact was as well known to the Federals as to their
enemies, and nothing was neglected that could add to the strength of
their position. All night long troops kept arriving, and in the
moonlight were assigned to their positions for the morrow. It took Lee
several hours to complete his preparations for the assault upon the
Union centre. At noon he had 145 cannon posted on Seminary Ridge,
opposite Meade's centre, while Meade had 80 pieces of artillery lined
along the crest of Cemetery Hill.
PICKETT'S CHARGE.
At noon the Confederates opened with all their cannon, their object
being to silence the batteries in front, to clear the way for the charge
against the Union centre. The eighty Federal pieces replied, and for two
hours the earth rocked under the most prodigious cannonade ever heard on
this side of the Atlantic. Then the Union fire gradually ceased, and, as
the vast volume of smoke slowly lifted, a column of 5,000 gray-coated
men were seen to issue from the Confederate lines more than a mile away
and advance at a steady stride toward the Union intrenchments. Their
bayonets shone in the afternoon sun, and their fluttering battle-flags,
the splendid precision of their step, and their superb soldierly
appearance made so thrilling a picture that an involuntary murmur of
admiration ran along the Union lines, even though these same men were
advancing to kill and wound them.
They formed the division of General George E. Pickett, and no more
magnificent charge was ever made. They advanced in a double line, their
own artillery ceasing firing as they gradually passed within range with
beautiful regular step, which seemed to hasten, as if even with their
perfect discipline they could not restrain, their eagerness to join in
the death-grapple.
The Union artillery remained silent until half the space was crossed,
when it burst forth, and the Confederates went down by the score. The
gaps could be seen from every point of the immense field, but those who
were unhurt immediately closed up and continued their dauntless advance
without a tremor. Coming still closer under the murderous artillery
fire, they broke into the double-quick, and it looked as if nothing
could check them.
Waiting until within a few hundred yards, the artillery and musketry
blazed forth again. Through a misconception of orders, the Confederate
line had become disjointed, and the supports of Pickett were repelled
and a large number killed or taken prisoners, but Pickett's own division
came on unfalteringly, let fly with a volley at the breastworks in front
of them, and then, with their resounding yells, dashed up the crest of
Cemetery Ridge and drove out the defenders at the point of the bayonet.
[Illustration: CUSHING'S LAST SHOT.]
Immediately the hand-to-hand fighting became like that of so many
tigers. Guns were clubbed, men wrestled and fought and struck with their
bare fists, while a fire was converged upon the assailants of so
murderous a nature that even the daring Pickett saw that every one of
his men would be killed, if they remained. He gave the order to fall
back, and the survivors broke into a run down the slope for their own
lines.
[Illustration: Drawn by W.B. DAVIS.
PICKETT'S RETURN FROM HIS FAMOUS CHARGE.
"General, my noble division is swept away."]
Pickett's charge ranks among the famous in modern history, and was one
of the most striking incidents of the war. The double column which
marched across that fire-swept field numbered 5,000 of the flower of the
Confederate army. Thirty-five hundred were killed, wounded, or taken
prisoners. Of the three brigade commanders, one was killed, the second
mortally wounded, and the third badly hurt. One only of the fourteen
field officers returned, and out of the twenty-four regimental officers,
only two were unhurt. The ferocity of the charge resulted in many deaths
among the Unionists, and General Hancock was painfully wounded, but
refused to leave the field until the struggle was over.
And all this valor had gone for naught. The Southerners had attempted an
impossible thing, and the penalty was fearful. Unspeakably depressed,
General Lee saw the return of the staggering, bleeding survivors, and,
riding among them, he did all he could to cheer the mute sufferers by
his sympathetic words. He insisted that the failure was wholly his own
fault, and that not a word of censure should be visited upon anyone
else.
The expectation of the Confederates was that the Federals would follow
up this repulse with an immediate advance, and preparations were
hurriedly made to repel it; but the ammunition was low on Cemetery
Ridge, and the furious struggle had exhausted the defenders. Day was
closing and the great battle of Gettysburg was ended.
THE FEARFUL LOSSES.
The Union losses were: killed, 3,070; wounded, 14,497; missing, 5,434;
total, 23,001. The Confederate losses were: killed, 2,592; wounded,
12,706; captured and missing, 5,150; total, 20,448. To quote from Fox's
"Regimental Losses in the American Civil War:" "Gettysburg was the
greatest battle of the war; Antietam the bloodiest; the largest army was
assembled by the Confederates in the Seven Days' Fight; by the Unionists
at the Wilderness."
THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE WAR.
Gettysburg has been styled the Waterloo of the Southern Confederacy.
"Highest tide" was reached by its fortunes during those three first days
in July, 1863. Lee put forth his supreme effort, and the result was
defeat. He and his leading generals clearly saw that their cause had
received its death-blow, and, as one of them expressed it, the fighting
thenceforward was for terms. They were not yet conquered, and severe
work remained to be done, but never again did the Lost Cause come so
near success. Its sun, having reached meridian, must now go down until
it should set forever in gloom, disaster, and ruin.
General Lee could not fail to perceive that all that remained to him was
to leave the country before overtaken by irretrievable disaster. He
withdrew Ewell's Corps that night from Gettysburg and posted it on
Seminary Ridge, where intrenchments were thrown up. The town was
occupied by Meade, and the dismal morrow was spent by the Confederates
in burying their dead and removing their wounded. At night the retreat
was begun by the Chambersburg and Fairfield roads, which enter the
Cumberland Valley through the South Mountain range. Great battles always
produce violent storms, and one of these added to the unspeakable
wretchedness of the homeward march. Finding Lee was retreating, Meade
sent Sedgwick in pursuit. The rear guard was overtaken on the night of
the 6th, but its position was too strong to be attacked and the Union
army took a route parallel to that of the Confederate. There was
considerable skirmishing, but nothing decisive occurred, and the
retiring army reached Hagerstown, where it found the fords of the
Potomac so swollen as to be impassable. Lee, therefore, intrenched, and
stayed where he was until the 13th, by which time the river had fallen
sufficiently to be forded, and he once more re-entered Virginia. Meade,
fearful that the great prize was about to escape him, made strenuous
efforts to intercept him, but failed, and returned to the Rappahannock,
while Lee established himself in the neighborhood of Culpeper.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO GETTYSBURG CEMETERY.]
A period of inactivity now followed. Both Meade and Lee sent strong
detachments from their armies to the southwest, where, as we have seen,
they had the most active kind of service at Chickamauga, Missionary
Ridge, Knoxville, and other places. When Lee had considerably depleted
his forces, Meade thought the prospect of success warranted his making a
move against him. Accordingly, he sent his cavalry across the
Rappahannock, whereupon Lee withdrew to a position behind the Rapidan,
which was so strong that Meade dared not attack, and he, therefore,
attempted a flank movement. Before, however, it could be carried out, he
was called upon to send two more of his corps to the southwest, because
of the defeat of Rosecrans at Chickamauga. These corps were the Eleventh
and Twelfth under the command of Hooker.
This withdrawal compelled Meade to give up his purpose, and he remained
on the defensive. By-and-by, when the troops were returned to him, he
prepared once more to advance, but Lee anticipated him by an effort to
pass around his right flank and interpose between him and Washington.
Crossing the Rapidan on the 9th of October, he moved swiftly to Madison
Court-House, without detection by Meade, who did not learn of it until
the next day, when his outpost was attacked and driven back on the main
army at Culpeper. This was proof that the Union right flank had been
turned, and Meade immediately started his trains toward the
Rappahannock, following a few hours later with his army. On the further
side of Bull Run, he fortified himself so strongly that Lee saw it was
useless to advance further, and, on the 18th of October, he returned to
the line of the Rappahannock.
Meade started for Richmond on the 7th of November. The Confederates were
found occupying earthworks on the north of the Rappahannock. An
impetuous assault drove them out and across the river. Meade pushed on
to Culpeper, and Lee hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan.
Meade's judgment was that no further advance should be made, but the
clamor of the North forced him to try another of the many attempts to
capture Richmond. He crossed the river on the 26th and 27th of November,
his aim being to divide the Confederate army by a rapid march on Orange
Court-House. But it seemed as if the flood-gates of heaven were then
opened. The rain fell in torrents day and night, and the country became
a sea of mud and water. Bridges had to be laid to connect different
portions of the army, and all offensive movements were for a while out
of the question. The delay gave Lee time to form his troops into a
compact mass, so that when the Unionists were ready to attack, it was so
evident that another Fredericksburg massacre would follow that the plan
was abandoned.
In truth, Lee felt so strong that he was disposed to advance himself,
but was dissuaded by the belief that some blunder of the Union commander
would give him a better opportunity, but Meade was too wise to do so. On
the 1st of December he returned to his old quarters on the Rapidan. The
weather had become extremely cold, and both armies went into winter
quarters.
The principal military movements of this year have now been described,
but it remains to tell of the operations on the seacoast and of the
leading military raids.
PRIVATEERING.
The Confederates displayed great activity and ingenuity in the
construction of ironclads and in running the blockade. Their vessels
continually dodged in and out of a few of the leading ports, the
principal one being Wilmington, North Carolina. The profits in a single
cargo of a blockade-runner were so enormous that the owners were
enriched by several successful voyages, while a single one would
reimburse them for the loss of their ship. Under such circumstances it
was no wonder that they took desperate chances, and firms were organized
who paid liberal salaries to the officers of vessels, who advertised
among their friends the regular dates of their departure, and, the worst
of it was, they were very regular in keeping them.
The _Alabama_ and other privateers were busy on the ocean, and the
Confederates strained every nerve to send others to sea. The _Nashville_
was a fine steamer that was in the Ogeechee River, Georgia, waiting for
a chance to slip out and join the commerce destroyers. She had a
valuable cargo of cotton, and the Federal cruisers were alert to prevent
her escape. They would have gone up the river after her, but there were
too many torpedoes waiting for them, and the guns of Fort McAllister
were too powerful.
Captain Worden, of the old _Monitor_, was now in command of the
_Montauk_, and he was delighted on the night of February 27th to observe
the _Nashville_ lying stuck fast in shallow water above Fort McAllister.
The opportunity was too tempting to be neglected, and the next morning,
despite a hot attack from the fort, he fired into the _Nashville_ until
she broke into flames and soon after blew up.
FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS ON CHARLESTON.
Naturally the desire was strong in the North to humble Charleston, where
the baleful secession sentiment was born and brought all the woe upon
the country. General Beauregard was in command of that department, and
he made every preparation for the attack, which he knew would soon come.
In a proclamation he urged the removal of all non-combatants, and called
upon the citizens to rally to the defense of the city.
A fleet of ironclads was always lying outside of Charleston, watching
for an opportunity to give its attention to the forts or city. One
tempestuous night in January a couple of rams dashed out of the harbor,
and, in a ferociously vicious attack, scattered the ironclads, and
compelled a gunboat to surrender. Thereupon the Confederates claimed
that the blockade had been raised, but no one paid any attention to the
claim.
An expedition was carefully organized for the capture of Charleston, and
placed in command of Admiral Samuel F. Dupont. The fleet, numbering a
hundred vessels, left the mouth of the North Edisto River on the 6th of
April, and on the same day crossed the bar and entered the main channel
on the coast of Morris Island.
A dense haze delayed operations until the following day, when a line of
battle was formed by the ironclads, the wooden vessels remaining outside
the bar. A raft was fastened to the front of the _Weehawken_, with which
it was intended to explode the torpedoes. The cumbrous contrivance
greatly delayed the progress of the fleet, which advanced slowly until
the _Weehawken_ had passed the outer batteries and was close to the
entrance to the inner harbor. Then Fort Moultrie fired a gun, instantly
followed by that of Fort Sumter, and the batteries on Sullivan and on
Morris Island. Then a hawser, which the Confederates had stretched
across the channel with the purpose of clogging the screws of the
propellers, was encountered, the _Weehawken_ was compelled to grope
around for a better passage, and everything went wrong. The _New
Ironsides_ made an attempt to turn but became unmanageable, two other
ironclads ran afoul of her, and matters were in a bad way when Admiral
Dupont signaled for each one to do the best it could.
After a time, eight ironclads secured position in front of Fort Sumter,
at distances varying from a third to half a mile. This placed them in
direct range of 300 heavy guns which concentrated their appalling fire
upon them, the shots following one another as rapidly as the ticking of
a watch. The _Keokuk_, which ran close to Fort Sumter, was struck ninety
times, in the course of half an hour, in the hull and turrets, and
nineteen shots pierced her sides close to and below the water-line. Her
commander with great difficulty extricated her from her perilous
position, and she sank the next day.
The fight was another proof of the fact that, in all such engagements,
the preponderating advantage is with the land batteries. The ships of
the squadron were severely injured, but they inflicted no perceptible
damage upon the forts. Admiral Dupont had gone into the battle against
his judgment, and he now signaled for the ships to withdraw. All with
the exception of the _New Ironsides_ returned to Port Royal on the 12th
of April.
This failure caused great disappointment in the North and to the
government. Admiral Dupont was ordered to hold his position inside of
Charleston bar, and to prevent the enemy from erecting any new defenses
on Morris Island. The admiral replied that he was ready to obey all
orders, but, in his judgment, he was directed to take an unwise and
dangerous step. Thereupon he was superseded by Rear-Admiral Dahlgren,
and preparations were begun for a combined land and naval attack upon
Charleston.
[Illustration: ATTACK ON CHARLESTON, AUGUST 23D TO SEPTEMBER 29, 1863
"After a time eight ironclads secured position in front of Fort Sumpter,
at a distance varying from a third to half a mile. This placed them in
direct range of 300 heavy guns, which concentrated their appalling fire
upon them, the shots following one another as rapidly as the ticking of
a watch."]
One of the best engineer officers in the service was General Quincy A.
Gillmore, who had captured Fort Pulaski at Savannah the previous year.
He was summoned to Washington, and helped the government to arrange the
plan of attack upon Charleston. The most feasible course seemed to be
for a military force to seize Morris Island and bombard Fort Sumter from
that point, the fleet under Dahlgren giving help. There was hope that
the monitors and ironclads would be able to force their way past the
batteries and approach nigh enough to strike Charleston.
Accordingly, a sufficient detachment was gathered on Folly Island, which
lies south of Morris Island, and batteries were erected among the woods.
On the 10th of July, General Strong with 2,000 men attacked a force of
South Carolina infantry at the southern part of Morris Island, and drove
them to Fort Wagner at the opposite end. The Confederates were
reinforced, and, in the attack on Fort Wagner, the Federals were
repulsed and obliged to retreat, with heavy loss.
On the night of the 18th, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a
determined assault was made upon Fort Wagner, one of the newly formed
negro regiments being in the lead. The fighting was of the most furious
character, but the Federals suffered a decisive defeat, in which their
losses were five times as great as those of the defenders.
General Gillmore carried parallels against the fort, and the ironclads
assisted in the bombardments; but, though it continued for weeks, the
city of Charleston seemed to be as far from surrender as ever. A part of
the time the weather was so intolerably hot that operations were
suspended.
Gillmore, however, was so near Charleston that he was able to reach it
with his heaviest guns, and he prepared to do so. His principal piece
was a Parrott, which threw a 100-pound ball, and was christened the
"Swamp Angel."
The first shot was fired at midnight, August 22d. As the screeching
shell curved over and dropped into the sleeping city, with its frightful
explosion, it caused consternation. The people sprang from their beds
and rushed into the streets, many fleeing to the country. Beauregard
sent an indignant remonstrance, telling Gillmore that all civilized
nations, before bombarding a city, gave warning that the non-combatants
might be removed. Gillmore explained his reason for his course, and
agreed to wait until the following night before renewing the
bombardment.
At that hour it was resumed, with the promise of grave results, but at
the thirty-sixth discharge the Swamp Angel exploded, and thus terminated
its own career. General Gillmore continued to push his parallels against
Fort Wagner. Although the ironclads could not pass the obstructions to
the inner harbor so as to help, Gillmore persevered, and finally
rendered Forts Wagner and Gregg untenable. The evacuation occurred on
the night of September 6th. As soon as the Federals took possession,
they had to make all haste to repair the ramparts to protect themselves
against the fire from Fort Moultrie and James Island, whose guns were
immediately turned upon them.
By this time, Fort Sumter was in ruins, its artillery could not be
served, and its garrison comprised only a detachment of infantry. Upon
being summoned to surrender by Dahlgren, the commander invited the
admiral to come and take the fort. The effort to do so was made by a
military force and the ironclads on the 9th of September, but failed. No
more important attempts followed. The result had shown that the defenses
of Charleston were practically impregnable, and, though shells were
occasionally sent into the forts and city, the latter was not captured
until near the end of the war, and then it was brought about, as may be
said, by the collapse of the Confederacy itself.
When the war began the Southerners were the superiors of the Northerners
as regarded their cavalry. Horseback riding is more common in the South
than in the North, but it did not take the Union volunteers long to
acquire the art, and, as the war progressed, the cavalry arm was greatly
increased and strengthened. One of the natural results of this was
numerous raids by both sides, some of which assumed an importance that
produced a marked effect on the military campaigns in progress, while in
other cases, the daring excursions were simply an outlet to the
adventurous spirit which is natural to Americans and which manifests
itself upon every opportunity and occasion.
ONE OF GENERAL STUART'S RAIDS.
Mention has been made of the embarrassment caused General Lee during his
Gettysburg campaign by the absence of Stuart with his calvary on one of
his raids. In the autumn, Stuart started out on a reconnaissance to
Catlett's Station, where he observed French's column in the act of
withdrawing from the river, whereupon he turned back toward Warrenton.
Taking the road leading from that town to Manassas, he found himself
unexpectedly confronting the corps of General Warren. Thus he was caught
directly between two fires and in imminent danger of defeat and capture,
for his force was but a handful compared with either column of the
Federals. Fortunately for the raider, he and his men were in a strip of
woods, and had not been seen, but discovery seemed certain, for their
enemies were on every hand, and the slightest inadvertence, even such as
the neighing of a horse, was likely to betray them.
Stuart called his officers around him to discuss what they could do to
extricate themselves from their dangerous situation. No one proposed to
surrender, and it looked as if they would be obliged to abandon their
nine pieces of horse artillery and wait until night, when they might cut
their way out.
[Illustration: THE SWAMP ANGEL BATTERY BOMBARDING CHARLESTON.]
Stuart did not like the idea of losing his guns. At any rate, he would
not consent, until another plan which had occurred to him was tried.
Several of his men were dismounted, and each was furnished with a musket
and infantry knapsack. The uniform was not likely to attract notice in
the darkness, in case they met any Federals. These messengers were
ordered to pick their way through the Union lines to Warrenton, where
they would find General Lee, who was to be told of the danger in which
Stuart was placed. The Confederate commander could be counted upon to
send prompt help. Fortunately for Stuart, two of his men succeeded in
getting through the Union lines and reaching Lee.
At the best, however, the night must pass before help could arrive, and
it need not be said that the hours were long and anxious ones to the
troopers hiding in the woods, with the Federal camp-fires burning on
every side, and the men moving about and likely to come among them at
any moment. They were so close, indeed, that their laughter and
conversation were plainly heard.
The alert horsemen suddenly observed two Union officers coming toward
them. Their careless manner showed they had no thought of danger, and
they were strolling along, when several dark figures sprang up from the
ground, shoved their pistols in their faces, and warned them if they
made the least outcry they would be instantly shot. The prisoners saw
the shadowy forms all around them, and were sensible enough to submit
and give no trouble. The night gradually wore away, and just as it was
growing light, and while the Union division on the heights of Cedar Run,
where they were posted to protect the rear of General Warren, were
preparing breakfast, they were alarmed by the firing of musketry from
the advance of a Confederate column coming up the Warrenton road.
"That means that Uncle Bob has sent us help!" was the gratified
exclamation of Stuart to his delighted friends; "we must take a hand in
this business."
The cavalry opened fire on the Union lines, which were thrown into some
confusion, during which Stuart limbered up his guns and quickly rejoined
Ewell.
STONEMAN'S RAID.
As has been stated, General Hooker at the opening of the battle of
Chancellorsville was confident that he was going to defeat Lee. In order
to cut off his retreat, he sent General Stoneman, with 2,300 cavalry, on
April 28th, to the rear of the Confederate army. Stoneman crossed the
Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, where his force was divided. One-half, led
by General Averill, headed for the Orange Railroad, a little way above
Culpeper, then occupied by Fitzhugh Lee, with a force of 500 men. He was
attacked with such vigor that he hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan,
burning the bridges behind him. Averill, instead of pursuing, turned
about and made his way back to Hooker, in time to accompany him in his
retreat to the northern bank of the Rappahannock.
Meanwhile, Stoneman crossed the Rapidan on the 1st of May, and galloped
to Louisa Station, on the Virginia Central Railroad, a dozen miles to
the east of Gordonsville. There he paused and sent out several
detachments, which wrought a great deal of mischief. One of them
advanced to Ashland, only fifteen miles from Richmond, while another
went still closer to the Confederate capital. These bodies of troopers
caused much alarm, and a general converging of the enemy's cavalry
caused Stoneman to start on his return, May 6th. For a time he was in
great danger, but his men were excellently mounted, and, by hard riding,
they effected a safe escape along the north bank of the Pamunkey and
York Rivers, and rejoined their friends at Gloucester.
GRIERSON'S RAID.
During the siege of Vicksburg a daring raid was made in the rear of the
city by Colonel B.H. Grierson. In this instance his work was of great
help to General Grant, for he destroyed the Confederate lines of
communication, and checked the gathering of reinforcements for
Pemberton. Grierson, who conceived the plan of the raid, left La Grange
on the 17th of April with three regiments of cavalry. After crossing the
Tallahatchie, he rode south to the Macon and Corinth Railroad, where the
rails were torn up, telegraph lines cut, and bridges and other property
destroyed. To do the work thoroughly detachments were sent in different
directions, and they spared nothing.
Grierson now changed his course to the southwest, seized the bridge over
Pearl River, burned a large number of locomotives, and forced his way
through a wild country to Baton Rouge, which he found in the possession
of Unionists. He had been engaged for a fortnight on his raid, during
which he destroyed an immense amount of property, captured several
towns, fought several sharp skirmishes, and carried off many prisoners.
John S. Mosby was the most daring Confederate raider in the East. Some
of his exploits and escapes were remarkable, and an account of them
would fill a volume with thrilling incidents. General Lee did not look
with favor on such irregular work, but accepted it as one of the
accompaniments of war, and it cannot be denied that Mosby gave him
valuable help in more than one instance.
MORGAN'S RAID.
John H. Morgan was famous in the southwest as a raider and guerrilla. At
the beginning of July, 1863, he seized Columbia, near Jamestown,
Kentucky, and advanced against Colonel Moore at Greenbrier Bridge. His
reception was so hot that he was obliged to retreat, whereupon he
attacked Lebanon, where there was considerable vicious fighting in the
streets. One of Morgan's regiments was commanded by his brother, who was
killed. The incensed leader set fire to the houses, and, although the
defenders surrendered, the place was sacked. Then the invaders retreated
before the Union cavalry who were advancing against them. Their course
was through Northern Kentucky, where they plundered right and left, and
spread dismay on every hand.
Reckless and encouraged by their successes, they now swam their horses
over the Ohio River, and, entering Indiana, gave that State its first
experience in war. The local militia were called out, but the
experienced cavalry easily brushed them aside. They knew, however, it
would be different when they met the regular Union cavalry who were
riding hard after them. To escape them, Morgan started for western
Virginia. When he entered Ohio, the State was terrified, and even
Cincinnati trembled, but the raiders had no thought of stopping until
they readied western Virginia, where they would be safe.
The telegraph had carried the news of Morgan's movements everywhere, and
the determination was general that he should not be allowed to escape
from the entanglements in which he and his men had involved themselves.
The militia guarded all the fords of the Ohio; gunboats steamed back and
forth; the roads were blocked by felled trees, and everything possible
was done to obstruct the band, who were so laden with plunder that their
exhausted animals had to proceed slowly.
It is stated by credible witnesses, who saw the formidable company
riding along the highway when hard pressed, that nearly every man in the
saddle was sound asleep. They dared not make any extended halt through
fear of their pursuers, and when they did pause it was because of their
drooping animals.
Reaching the Ohio at last, Morgan planted his field guns near Buffington
Island, with the view of protecting his men while they swam the river.
Before he could bring them into use, a gunboat knocked the pieces right
and left like so many tenpins. Abandoning the place, Morgan made the
attempt to cross at Belleville, but was again frustrated. It was now
evident that the time had come when each must lookout for himself.
Accordingly, the band broke up and scattered. Their pursuers picked them
up one by one, and Morgan himself and a few of his men were surrounded
near New Lisbon, Ohio, and compelled to surrender. He and his principal
officers were sentenced to the Ohio penitentiary, where they were kept
in close confinement until November 27th, when through the assistance of
friends (some of whom were probably within the prison), he and six
officers effected their escape, and succeeded in reaching the
Confederate lines, where they were soon at their characteristic work
again.
Morgan was a raider by nature, but, as is often the case, the "pitcher
went to the fountain once too often." While engaged upon one of his
raids the following year he was cornered by the Federal cavalry, and in
the fight that followed was shot dead.
Far below these men in moral character were such guerrillas as
Quantrell, who were simply plunderers, assassins, and murderers, who
carried on their execrable work through innate depravity, rather than
from any wish to help the side with which they identified themselves.
Most of them soon ran their brief course, and died, as they had lived,
by violence.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONCLUDED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONCLUDED), 1864-1865.
The Work Remaining to be Done--General Grant Placed in Command of all
the Union Armies--The Grand Campaign--Banks' Disastrous Red River
Expedition--How the Union Fleet was Saved--Capture of Mobile by Admiral
Farragut--The Confederate Cruisers--Destruction of the _Alabama_ by the
_Kearsarge_--Fate of the Other Confederate Cruisers--Destruction of the
_Albemarle_ by Lieutenant William B. Cushing--Re-election of President
Lincoln--Distress in the South and Prosperity in the North--The Union
Prisoners in the South--Admission of Nevada--The Confederate Raids from
Canada--Sherman's Advance to Atlanta--Fall of Atlanta--Hood's Vain
Attempt to Relieve Georgia--Superb Success of General Thomas--"Marching
Through Georgia"--Sherman's Christmas Gift to President Lincoln--Opening
of Grant's Final Campaign--Battles in the Wilderness--Wounding of
General Longstreet and Deaths of General Stuart and Sedgwick--Grant's
Flanking Movements Against Lee--A Disastrous Repulse at Cold
Harbor--Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley
--"Bottling-up" of Butler--Explosions of the Petersburg Mine--Early's
Raids--His Final Defeat by Sheridan--Grant's Campaign--Surrender of
Lee--Assassination of President Lincoln--Death of Booth and Punishment
of the Conspirators--Surrender of Jo Johnston and Collapse of the
Southern Confederacy--Capture of Jefferson Davis--His Release and
Death--Statistics of the Civil War--A Characteristic Anecdote.
THE WORK TO BE DONE.
Two grand campaigns remained to be prosecuted to a successful conclusion
before the great Civil War could be ended and the Union restored. The
first and most important was that of General Grant against Richmond, or,
more properly, against Lee, who was still at the head of the unconquered
Army of Northern Virginia, and who must be overcome before the
Confederate capital could fall. The second was the campaign of General
Sherman, through the heart of the Southern Confederacy. Other
interesting and decisive operations were to be pressed, but all were
contributory to the two great ones mentioned.
Several momentous truths had forced themselves upon the national
government. It had learned to comprehend the magnitude of the struggle
before it. Had the North and South possessed equal resources and the
same number of troops, the latter could not have been conquered any more
than the North could have been defeated had the situation been reversed.
But the North possessed men, wealth, and resources immensely beyond
those of the South. The war had made the South an armed camp, with
privation and suffering everywhere, while in the North a person might
have traveled for days and weeks without suspecting that a domestic war
was in progress. It was necessary to overwhelm the South, and the North
had not only the ability to do so, but was resolved that it should be
done. Its estimates were made on the basis of an army of a million men.
Large bounties were offered for soldiers, and, when these did not
provide all that was needed, drafting was resorted to. There had been
rioting and disorder in New York City and other places during the summer
of 1863, when there was a vicious revolt against drafting, but the
government persisted and obtained the men it needed.
THE RIGHT LEADER.
Another proven fact was that the war could not be successfully
prosecuted by a bureau in Washington. This attempt at the beginning had
brought disaster; but the excuse for this interference was that the
right leaders had not yet appeared. General after general was tried at
the head of the armies, and had either failed or come short of the
expected success. The events of 1863, however, indicated unerringly the
right men to whom the destinies of the nation could be safely intrusted.
Foremost among these was General Ulysses S. Grant. With that genius of
common sense, which always actuated President Lincoln, he nominated him
to the rank of lieutenant-general, the grade of which was revived by
Congress in February, 1864, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on
the 2d of March. In obedience to a summons from Washington, Grant left
Nashville on the 4th of the month, arrived on the 9th, and President
Lincoln handed him his commission on the following day.
"I don't know what your plans are, general," said the President, "nor do
I ask to know them. You have demonstrated your ability to end this war,
and the country expects you to do it. Go ahead, and you may count upon
my unfaltering support."
Grant modestly accepted the tremendous responsibility, which placed him
in command of all the armies of the United States, and he established
his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper, Va., March
26, 1864.
THE GRAND CAMPAIGN.
The plan of campaign determined upon by Grant was to concentrate all the
national forces into a few distinct armies, which should advance on the
same day against the opposing Confederate armies, and, by fighting
incessantly, prevent any one of them from reinforcing the other. The
armies of the enemy were themselves to be the objective points, and they
were to be given no time for rest. Sherman was to advance from Atlanta
against Johnston, who had an army larger in numbers than that of Lee;
Banks' army, as soon as it could be withdrawn from the disastrous Red
River expedition, was to act against Mobile; Sigel was to pass down the
valley of Virginia and prevent the enemy from making annoying raids from
that quarter; Butler was to ascend the James and threaten Richmond; and,
finally, the Army of the Potomac, under the immediate command of Meade,
was to protect Washington, and essay the most herculean task of all--the
conquest of Lee and his army.
Orders were issued by Grant for a general movement of all the national
forces on the 4th of May. Since they were so numerous, and began nearly
at the same time, it is necessary to give the particulars of each in
turn, reserving that of the most important--Grant's own--for the last.
BANKS' RED RIVER EXPEDITION.
One of the most discreditable affairs of the war was what is known as
Banks' Red River Expedition. That officer was in command at New Orleans,
when it was decided to send a strong force up the Red River, in quest of
the immense quantities of cotton stored in that region, though the
ostensible object was the capture of Shreveport, Louisiana, 350 miles
above New Orleans, and the capital of the State.
The plan was for the army to advance in three columns, supported by
Admiral Porter with a fleet, which was to force a passage up the Red
River. General A.J. Smith was to march from Vicksburg, with the first
division of the army, which numbered 10,000 men; Banks was to lead the
second from New Orleans, and Steele the third from Little Rock.
General Edmund Kirby Smith was the Confederate commander of the
Trans-Mississippi Department. Although he had fewer men than the
invaders, he prepared for a vigorous resistance. He sent Generals Price
and Marmaduke to harass Steele, directed General Dick Taylor to obstruct
the Red River as much as he could, while he made ready to make the best
fight possible.
Fifty miles above the mouth of the Red River stood Fort de Russy, which,
although considerably strengthened, was carried by assault, March 13th.
On the 15th, Porter's twelve gunboats and thirty transports joined
Franklin at Alexandria. The Federal cavalry occupied Natchitoches, on
the last day of the month, and in the van of the army; they arrived at
Mansfield on the 8th of April, several days after Admiral Porter had
reached Grand Echore on the Red River.
Meanwhile, the Confederate General Dick Taylor kept fighting and falling
back before the Union advance, but he was continually reinforced, until
he felt strong enough to offer the Federals battle. This took place on
the 8th, a short distance from Mansfield. The assault was made with
vehemence, and the Union troops, who were straggling along for miles,
were taken by surprise and driven into headlong panic, leaving their
artillery behind, and not stopping their flight until under the
protection of the guns of the Nineteenth Corps. Then a stand was made,
and Banks fell back to his old camping ground at Pleasant Hill. His
intention was to remain there, but his command was so disorganized that
he continued his flight. The Confederates had already chased them so
long that they were worn out, while Banks continued retreating until he
reached Grand Echore, where he breathed freely for the first time, since
he had the protection of the gunboats.
Disgraceful as was the overthrow of the land forces, a still greater
disaster threatened the fleet. Porter had gone further up the river, but
returned to Grand Echore upon learning of the defeat of Banks. He had to
sweep the shores continually with grapeshot, to clear it of the
Confederate sharpshooters, who succeeded in capturing two of the
transports and blowing up another with a torpedo. The Red River was low,
with the water falling hourly. The retreating army reached Alexandria on
the 27th of April, but the fleet was stopped by the shallowness of the
water above the falls, and the officers despaired of saving it. The only
possible recourse seemed to destroy all the vessels to prevent their
falling into the hands of the enemy.
HOW THE UNION FLEET WAS SAVED.
In this crisis, Colonel Joseph Bailey, of Wisconsin, submitted a plan
for a series of wing dams above the falls, believing they would raise
the water high enough to float all the vessels. The other engineers
scoffed at the project, but Porter placed 3,000 men and all that Bailey
needed at his command.
The task was a prodigious one, for the falls, as they were termed, were
a mile in length and it was necessary to swell the current sufficiently
to carry the vessels past the rocks for the whole distance. The large
force of men worked incessantly for nearly two weeks, by which time the
task was accomplished and the fleet plunged through unharmed to the
deeper water below the falls. The genius of a single man had saved the
Union fleet.
Banks, having retreated to Alexandria, paused only long enough to burn
the town, when he kept on to New Orleans, where some time later he was
relieved of his command. The Red River expedition was the crowning
disgrace of the year.
THE CAPTURE OF MOBILE.
After the fall of New Orleans, in April, 1862, Mobile was the leading
port of the Southern Confederacy. It was blockaded closely, but the
Confederate cruisers succeeded now and then in slipping in and out,
while a number of ironclads were in process of building, and threatened
to break the blockade. Admiral Farragut, the greatest naval hero of
modern times, after a careful reconnaissance of the defenses, told the
government that if it would provide him with a single ironclad, he
would capture Mobile. He was promised a strong land force under General
Granger and several monitors, which were sent to him.
Farragut, fully appreciating the task before him, made his preparations
with care and thoroughness. His fleet consisted of eighteen vessels,
four of which--the _Tecumseh_, _Winnebago_, _Manhattan_, and
_Chickasaw_--were ironclads, while the others were of wood. Admiral
Buchanan (commander of the _Merrimac_ in her first day's fight with the
_Monitor_) had less vessels, three gunboats, and the formidable ram
_Tennessee_. But he was assisted by three powerful forts, with large
garrisons--Gaines, Morgan, and Powell--which commanded the entrance,
while the _Tennessee_ was regarded by the Confederates as able to sink
the whole Union fleet.
[Illustration: BAILEY'S DAMS ON THE RED RIVER.]
The wooden vessels were lashed in couples, so as to give mutual help,
and with the _Brooklyn_ and _Hartford_ (Farragut's flagship) in the
lead, the procession entered Mobile Bay on the morning of August 5,
1864. As they came opposite the forts they opened fire upon them, and in
a few minutes the latter began their thunderous reply. The battle was
tremendous, and the smoke was so dense that Farragut, who was closely
watching and directing the action of the fleet, gradually climbed the
rigging, so as to place himself above the obstructing vapor. His height
was such that the captain of the vessel became anxious for his safety,
since if he was struck, as looked probable, he was sure to fall to the
deck or overboard. He, therefore, sent a man after him, with a rope in
hand. Amid the gentle remonstrances of the admiral, this man lashed him
fast to the rigging. When the increasing smoke made it necessary to
climb higher, Farragut untied the fastenings, and, after he had taken
several upward steps, tied himself again.
The harbor bristled with torpedoes, to which, however, Farragut and his
officers paid little heed. The _Tecumseh_, Commander T.A.M. Craven, was
hurrying to attack the ram _Tennessee_, when a gigantic torpedo exploded
beneath her, smashing in the bottom and causing her to sink so suddenly
that nearly a hundred men went down with her. The pilot and Craven were
in the pilot house, and, feeling the boat dropping beneath them, both
sprang to the narrow ladder leading out. They reached the foot together,
when the commander bowed and, pausing, said to the pilot: "You first,
sir." He had barely time to scramble out, when Captain Craven and the
rest went down.
The Union vessels pressed forward with such vigor that, with the
exception of the loss of the _Tecumseh_, the forts were passed without
the ships receiving serious injury. When, however, the battle seemed
won, the _Tennessee_ came out from under the guns of Fort Powell and
headed for the Union vessels. She believed herself invulnerable in her
massive iron hide, and selected the flagship as her special target. The
_Hartford_ partly dodged her blow and rammed her in return. The ram was
accompanied by three gunboats, which were soon driven out of action, but
the _Tennessee_ plunged here and there like some enraged monster driven
at bay, but which the guns and attacks of her assailants could not
conquer.
Tons of metal were hurled with inconceivable force against her mailed
sides, only to drop harmlessly into the water. She was butted and
rammed, and in each case it was like the rat gnawing a file: the injury
fell upon the assailant. She was so surrounded by her enemies that they
got in one another's way and caused mutual hurt.
But as continual dropping wears away stones, this incessant hammering
finally showed effect. Admiral Buchanan received a painful wound, and a
number of his men were killed; the steering-chains were broken, the
smoke-stack was carried away, the port shutters jammed, and finally the
wallowing "sea-hog" became unmanageable. Then the white flag was
displayed and the battle was over. Farragut had won his most memorable
battle, and the last important seaport of the Confederacy was gone.
Two days later Fort Gaines was captured, and Fort Morgan surrendered on
the 23d of the same month. The land force rendered valuable assistance,
and the blockade became more rigid. The coast line, however, was so
extensive that it was impossible to seal every port, and the Confederacy
obtained a good deal of sorely needed medical supplies through the
daring blockade-runners, which often managed to elude the watchful
fleets.
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO ADMIRAL FARRAGUT AT WASHINGTON.]
The Confederate cruisers were still roaming the ocean and creating
immense havoc among the Union shipping. Despite our protests to England,
she helped to man these vessels, and laid up a fine bill for damages
which she was compelled to pay after the close of the war.
THE CONFEDERATE CRUISERS.
During the year 1864, several new cruisers appeared on the ocean, one of
which, the _Tallahassee_, boldly steamed up and down off our northern
coast, and, in the space of ten days, destroyed thirty-three vessels.
The most famous of all these cruisers was the _Alabama_, which was built
at Birkenhead, England, and launched May 15, 1862. She was a bark-rigged
propeller of 1,016 tons register, with a length over all of 220 feet.
Her two horizontal engines were of 300 horse-power each. When
completed, she was sent on a pretended trial trip. At the Azores she
received her war material from a waiting transport, while her commander,
Captain Raphael Semmes, and his officers, who had gone thither on a
British steamer, went aboard. The _Alabama_ carried 8 guns and a crew of
149 men, most of whom were Englishmen. Thus fairly launched, she started
on her career of destruction, which continued uninterruptedly for
twenty-two months.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ALABAMA.
One of the many United States vessels that was engaged in a hunt for the
_Alabama_ was the _Kearsarge_, Captain John Ancrum Winslow. She was of
1,030 tons, carried 7 guns, and had a crew of 163 men, nearly all of
whom were Americans. On Sunday, July 12, 1864, while lying off the town
of Flushing, Holland, Captain Winslow received a dispatch from Minister
W.L. Dayton, at Paris, notifying him that the _Alabama_ had arrived at
Cherbourg, France. Winslow lost no time in steaming thither, and reached
Cherbourg on Tuesday, where he saw the cruiser across the breakwater
with the Confederate flag defiantly flying.
Winslow did not dare enter the harbor, for, had he done so, he would
have been obliged, according to international law, to remain twenty-four
hours after the departure of the _Alabama_, which would thereby gain all
the opportunity she needed for escape. He, therefore, took station off
the port, intending to wait until the cruiser came out.
This precaution, however, was unnecessary, for Semmes, grown bold by his
long career of destroying unarmed merchantmen, had resolved to offer the
_Kearsarge_ battle. He sent a challenge to Captain Winslow, couched in
insulting language, and the Union officer promptly accepted it.
The news of the impending battle was telegraphed far and wide, and
excursion trains were run from Paris and other points to Cherbourg. On
Sunday, June 19th, fully 15,000 people lined the shores and wharves, and
among them all it may be doubted whether there were more than a hundred
whose sympathies were not keenly on the side of the _Alabama_. France
was intensely in favor of the Southern Confederacy, and nothing would
have pleased Louis Napoleon, the emperor, better than to see our country
torn apart. He did his utmost to persuade England to join him in
intervening against us.
With a faint haze resting on the town and sea, the _Alabama_ steamed
slowly out of the harbor on Sunday morning, June 19th, and headed toward
the waiting _Kearsarge_. The latter began moving seaward, as if afraid
to meet her antagonist. The object of Captain Winslow, however, was to
draw the _Alabama_ so far that no question about neutral waters could
arise, and in case the _Alabama_ should be disabled, he did not
intend to give her the chance to take refuge in Cherbourg.
[Illustration: THE SINKING OF THE "ALABAMA," THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL
CONFEDERATE CRUISERS.
The battle between the _Kearsarge_ and the _Alabama_ took place off the
coast of Holland, June, 1864. "The famous cruiser was going down, and
the boats of the _Kearsarge_ were hurriedly sent to help the drowning
men. The stern settled, the bow rose high in the air, the immense ship
plunged out of sight, and the career of the _Alabama_ was ended
forever."]
Three miles was the neutral limit, but Captain Winslow continued to
steam out to sea until he had gone nearly seven miles from shore. Then
he swung around and made for the _Alabama_. As he did so, Captain Semmes
delivered three broadsides, with little effect. Then fearing a raking
fire, Captain Winslow sheered and fired a broadside at a distance of
little more than half a mile, and strove to pass under the _Alabama's_
stern, but Semmes also veered and prevented it.
Since each vessel kept its starboard broadside toward the other, they
began moving in a circular direction, the current gradually carrying
both westward, while the circle narrowed until its diameter was about a
fourth of a mile.
From the beginning the fire of the _Kearsarge_ was much more accurate
and destructive than her antagonist's. Hardly had the battle opened when
the gaff and colors of the _Alabama_ were shot away, but another ensign
was quickly hoisted at the mizzen. Captain Winslow instructed his
gunners to make every shot count. This was wise, for its effects became
speedily apparent. The _Kearsarge_ fired 173 shots, nearly all of which
landed, while of the 370 of the _Alabama_, only 28 hit the _Kearsarge_.
One of these, a 68-pounder shell, exploded on the quarter-deck, wounding
three men, one mortally. Another shell, bursting in the hammock
nettings, started a fire, which was speedily extinguished. A third
buried itself in the sternpost, but fortunately did not explode. The
damage done by the remaining shots was trifling.
One of the _Kearsarge's_ 11-inch shells entered the port of the
_Alabama's_ 8-inch gun, tore off a part of the piece, and killed several
of the crew. A second shell entered the same port, killed one man and
wounded several, and soon a third similar shot penetrated the same
opening. Before the action closed, it was necessary to re-form the crew
of the after pivot gun four times. These terrific missiles were aimed
slightly below the water-line of the _Alabama_, with a view of sinking
her.
About an hour had passed and seven complete revolutions had been
described by the ships, and the eighth had just begun, when it became
apparent that the _Alabama_ was sinking. She headed for neutral waters,
now only two miles distant, but a few well-planted shots stopped her,
and she displayed the white flag. Her race was run, and Captain Winslow
immediately ceased firing and lowered his only two serviceable boats,
which were hurried to the aid of the drowning men. A few minutes later
the bow of the _Alabama_ rose high in air, and then the noted cruiser
plunged downward, stern foremost, and disappeared forever in the bottom
of the ocean.
Cruising in the neighborhood of the fight was the English yacht
_Deerhound_, which now joined in rescuing the crew of the _Alabama_ at
the request of Captain Winslow. She was in duty bound to deliver the men
she saved to Winslow as prisoners of war, but, instead of doing so, she
watched her chance, and, under full steam, made for Southampton,
carrying forty-two, among whom were Captain Semmes and fourteen
officers. Semmes had flung his sword into the sea and leaped overboard
as the _Alabama_ was going down. His vessel had nine killed, ten
drowned, and twenty-one wounded, while on the _Kearsarge_ of the three
wounded only one died. A demand was made upon the English government for
the surrender of the men carried away by the _Deerhound_, but it was
refused.
FATE OF THE OTHER CRUISERS.
The Confederate cruiser _Georgia_ took on the guise of a merchant
vessel, but was seized off the coast of Portugal by the _Niagara_, and
sent to this country as a lawful prize. The _Florida_, while lying in
the neutral port of Bahia, Brazil, was attacked, October 7th, by the
_Wachuset_, captured, and taken to Hampton Roads. This action was
illegal, being similar to the attack made upon the _Essex_ in the harbor
of Valparaiso in the War of 1812. While awaiting decision as to the
legality of her capture, she was run into by a steam transport and sunk.
It may be doubted whether this method of settling the dispute was wholly
accidental.
The _Shenandoah_ did most of her destructive work in the far Pacific. As
a consequence she did not hear of the conclusion of the war until
several months afterward, and she was, therefore, virtually a pirate
fighting under a flag that had no legal existence. Her captain, when the
news reached him, steamed for England, and turned over his vessel to the
British government.
DESTRUCTION OF THE "ALBEMARLE" BY LIEUTENANT CUSHING.
Probably no more formidable ironclad was ever built by the Southern
Confederacy than the _Albemarle_. She had been constructed under great
difficulties, work being begun early in 1863, when, it was said, her
keel was laid in a cornfield. When finished she was 122 feet over all,
and was propelled by twin screws with engines of 200 horse-power each.
Her armament consisted of an Armstrong gun of 100 pounds at the bow and
a similar one at the stern.
The _Albemarle_ demonstrated on the first opportunity the appalling
power she possessed. The Federals had captured Plymouth, North Carolina,
which was attacked by the Confederates, April 17th and 18th. They were
repulsed mainly through the assistance of two wooden gunboats, the
_Miami_ and _Southfield_, but the _Albemarle_ came down the river on the
19th and engaged them. The shots of the gunboats did no more harm than
those of the _Cumberland_ and _Congress_ when fired against the
_Merrimac_. The _Southfield_ was crushed as so much pasteboard, and
sent to the bottom of the river, while the mangled _Miami_ limped off,
accompanied by two tugboats. The next day Plymouth surrendered to the
Confederates. In a fight some weeks later with the Union vessels, the
_Albemarle_ inflicted great injury, and withstood all the ramming and
broadsides that could be brought against her. She was a most dangerous
vessel indeed, and caused the government a great deal of uneasiness.
Several attempts were made to destroy her, but the Confederates were
watchful and vigilant. She was moored to the wharf, about eight miles up
the river, upon the shores of which a thousand men were encamped. They
patrolled the banks and kept bright fires burning all night. The crew of
the ram were alert, and a boom of cypress logs encircled the craft some
thirty feet from the hull, to ward off the approach of torpedoes. It
would seem that no possible precaution was neglected.
Among the most daring men ever connected with the American navy was
William Barker Cushing. He was born in 1842, and educated at the Naval
Academy. He was of so wild a disposition that many of his friends saw
little hope of his success in life. But, entering the service at the
beginning of the war, he quickly gave proof of a personal courage that
no danger could affect. He seemed to love peril for the sake of itself,
and where death threatened he eagerly went. He expressed confidence that
he could destroy the _Albemarle_ and asked permission to make the
attempt. His superior officers knew that if its destruction was within
the range of human possibility, he would accomplish it, and the ram was
so great a menace to the Union fleet that he was told to try his hand at
the seeming impossible task.
Although Cushing was a young man of unsurpassable bravery, ready at all
times to take desperate chances, there was what might be termed method
in his madness. He needed no one to tell him that in his attempt to
destroy the _Albemarle_, the slightest neglect in his preparations were
likely to prove fatal. He, therefore, took every precaution that
ingenuity could devise. Two picket boats were constructed with spar
torpedoes attached, and with engines so formed that by spreading
tarpaulin over them all light and sound was obscured. When traveling at
a low rate of speed, they could pass within a few yards of a person in
the darkness without his being able to hear or see anything. A howitzer
was mounted at the bow, and the spar, with the torpedo attached, was
fitted at the starboard bow.
The boats, having been completed in New York, were sent to Norfolk by
way of the canals. One of them was lost in Chesapeake Bay, but the other
reached its destination. Several days were spent in preparation, and the
night of October 27th was selected for the venture. It could not have
been more favorable, for it was of impenetrable darkness and a fine,
misty rain was falling. Cushing's companions in the picket boat were:
Acting Ensign W.L. Howarth, Acting Master's Mates T.S. Gay and John
Woodman, Acting Assistant Paymaster F.H. Swan, Acting Third Assistant
Engineers C.L. Steever and W. Stotesbury, and eight men whose names were
as follows: S. Higgens, first-class fireman; R. Hamilton, coal heaver;
W. Smith, B. Harley, E.J. Houghton, ordinary seamen; L. Deming, H.
Wilkes, and R.H. King, landsmen. He took in tow a small cutter, with
which to capture the guard that was in a schooner anchored near the
_Southfield_ that had been raised, and whose duty it was to send up an
alarm rocket on the approach of any expedition against the _Albemarle_.
It was intended to run ashore a little below the ram, board and capture
her by surprise, and take her down the river.
It was about midnight that the start was made. Several of the men were
familiar with the river, and the boat kept close to shore, where the
gloom was still more profound. No one spoke except when necessary and
then in the lowest tones, while all listened and peered into the drizzly
night. The straining ears could hear only the soft rippling of the water
from the prow and the faint muffled clanking of the engine. The speed
was slackened as they approached the schooner, whose outlines soon
assumed form. No one whispered, but all held themselves ready for the
rush the moment the guard discovered them.
Sentinels, however, are not always alert, and on this dismal night the
guard detected nothing of the phantom craft which glided past like a
shadow with the cutter in tow. This was the first stroke of good
fortune, and each man felt a thrill of encouragement, for only a mile
remained to be passed to reach the _Albemarle_.
A little way further and the boats swept around a bend in the river,
where, had it been daylight, they could have seen the ram. Here was
where the fires had been kept blazing the night through, but the guards
were as drowsy as those below, for they had allowed them to sputter and
die down to a few embers, while the sentinels were doubtless trying to
keep comfortable in the wet, dismal night.
Still stealing noiselessly forward, the men in the boat soon saw the
gloom slowly take shape in front. The outlines revealed the massive
ironclad lying still and motionless against the wharf, with not a light
or sign of life visible. The nerves of each of the brave crew were
strung to the highest tension, when the stillness was broken by the
barking of a dog. The canine, more vigilant than his masters, gave the
alarm, and instantly it seemed as if a hundred dogs were making night
hideous with their signals. Springing to their feet, the sentinels on
shore discerned the strange boat and challenged it. No reply was given;
a second challenge was made, and then a gun was fired. The guards seemed
to spring to life everywhere, more dogs barked, alarm rattles were
sprung, wood was thrown on the fires which flamed up, soldiers seized
their weapons and rushed to their places under the sharp commands of
their officers.
Cushing now called to the engineer to go ahead under full speed. At the
same moment, he cut the towline and ordered the men on the cutter to
return and capture the guard near the _Southfield_. The launch was
tearing through the water straight for the ram, when, for the first
time, Cushing became aware of the boom of logs which inclosed it. His
hope now was that these logs had become so slimy from lying long in the
water that it was possible for the launch to slip over them. With
wonderful coolness, he veered off for a hundred yards, so as to gain
sufficient headway, and then circled around and headed for the ram.
Standing erect at the bow, Cushing held himself ready to use the torpedo
the moment he could do so. A volley was fired, which riddled his coat
and tore off the heel of one of his shoes, but he did not falter. Then
followed the crisp snapping of the primers of the cannon, which showed
the immense guns had missed fire. Had they been discharged, the boat and
every man on it would have been blown to fragments.
"Jump from the ram!" shouted Cushing, as he rushed forward, with the
speed of a racehorse; "we're going to blow you up!"
The howitzer at the front of the launch was fired at that moment, and
then the boat slid over the logs, like a sleigh over the snow, carrying
the men directly in front of the gaping mouth of the 100-pounder
Armstrong.
The critical moment had come, and, crouching forward, Cushing shoved the
torpedo spar under the overhang, and waited till he felt it rise and
bump against the ship's bottom, when he jerked the trigger line. A
muffled, cavernous explosion was heard, the ram tilted partly over, and
an immense geyser spouted upward, filling the launch and swamping it.
The enormous cannon was discharged, but, aimed directly at the boat, the
aim was deflected by the careening of the ram, and the frightful charge
passed harmlessly over the heads of the men.
Cushing called to each one to lookout for himself, and leaped as far as
he could into the water. There he kicked off his shoes, and dropped his
sword and revolver. The incensed Confederates shouted to the Unionists
to surrender, and a number did so; but others, including Cushing,
continued swimming until in the darkness they passed out of range.
It surpasses comprehension how Cushing escaped. Nearly half his crew had
been struck before the launch was submerged, and Paymaster Swan and
another man were shot at his side. Cushing, Woodman, and Houghton leaped
into the water at the same time and swam in different directions, no one
knowing where he would come out. Houghton was a powerful swimmer, and,
keeping cool and husbanding his strength, he made shore a short
distance below, passed through the enemy's line to the mouth of the
river, and escaped unharmed.
Cushing continued swimming for nearly a mile, when hearing a splashing
near him he approached and found Woodman in the last stage of
exhaustion. Cushing gave him all the help he could, but he himself was
worn out, and, despite his efforts, Woodman slipped from his grasp and
was drowned. When about to give up Cushing's feet touched bottom and he
struggled to shore, where he sank in a collapse, unable to stir until
morning. By that time his strength had sufficiently returned to enable
him to stagger to a swamp where he threw himself down near a path. A few
minutes later, two officers walked by talking earnestly about the
sinking of the _Albemarle_, but the listener could not overhear enough
of their conversation to learn whether or not the ram had been
destroyed.
Growing stronger, he pushed into the swamp, until he reached a negro's
hut. There he made himself known, and was received kindly. Cushing asked
the negro to go to Plymouth and find out whether the _Albemarle_ had
been harmed. The African departed, and, when he returned at the end of
several hours, his arms were filled with food and his eyes protruding.
"Suah as yo's born, marse!" he gasped, "de _Albemarle_ am at de bottom
ob de riber!"
Such was the fact, for the exploding torpedo had gouged more than twenty
square feet out of the ram abreast of the port quarter, through which
the torrent rushed and carried it down in a few minutes. Cushing
remained with his dusky friend until night, when he tramped a long way
through swamp and wood to where an old skiff rested against the bank of
a small stream. Paddling down this to the river, he kept on until he
reached the Union vessels, where he was taken on board and welcomed as
deserved the hero who had accomplished that which was beyond the ability
of the whole fleet.
Before proceeding with our account of the closing military operations of
the war, it is proper to record several minor, but important, events.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1864.
The year 1864 was a presidential one. Although Hannibal Hamlin had
served acceptably as Vice-President throughout Lincoln's first term,
political wisdom suggested replacing him with a man more closely
identified with the struggle for the Union. Hamlin belonged to the State
of Maine, where the voice of disloyalty was never heard. Andrew Johnson,
as we shall learn in the next chapter, was what was termed a war
Democrat, who had risked his life in the defense of his principles. He
was nominated for Vice-President, while Lincoln, as was inevitable, was
renominated for the presidency. The nominees of the Democrats were
General George B. McClellan, the unsuccessful Union commander, and
George H. Pendleton, of Ohio. McClellan acted very creditably when,
finding that many believed him opposed to the war, he stated in
unequivocal language that he favored its prosecution until the Union was
fully restored. His platform may be described as a criticism of the
methods of the administration. His position drove away many who would
have supported a candidate in favor of peace at any price, but he
preserved his self-respect, although it helped to bring his decisive
defeat.
In the November election the result was: Lincoln and Johnson each 212
electoral votes; McClellan and Pendleton each 21. On the popular vote,
the Republican ticket received 2,216,067 and the Democratic 407,342
votes. Of course, no vote was cast in the eleven seceding States. The
result was emphatic proof that the North was unalterably opposed to
peace upon any terms except the full restoration of the Union. The great
successes, such as Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Mobile, and the destruction of
the Confederate cruisers, as well as the rapid exhaustion of the South,
contributed very much to the success of the Republican party.
DISTRESS IN THE SOUTH.
The distress in the South was intense and grew daily more so. The
Confederate money had so depreciated in value that a paper dollar was
not worth more than a penny, and by-and-by it had absolutely no value at
all. The farce of such a currency caused many grim jests among the
Confederates themselves. Thus an officer gave his colored servant five
thousand dollars to curry his horse, and another officer exchanged six
months of his own pay for a paper dollar. In truth, the Southerners were
fighting without pay, while their clothing and food were of the poorest
character. All the men being in some branch of the service, the women
had to look after the homes that were running to waste. The conscription
act was made so rigid that the drag-net gathered in the large boys and
men past middle life.
PROSPERITY OF THE NORTH.
It was far different in the North. The enormous demands of the
government for war supplies gave the country an unnatural prosperity.
Although prices were high, there was an abundance of money, which, while
depreciating to some extent, never did so to a degree to cause distress.
The resources were almost limitless, and the conviction was so general
that the war was near its conclusion, that the greenback currency and
the national bonds began to rise in value. The real dissatisfaction was
in the continual demand for more soldiers. In the course of the year
fully 1,200,000 men had been summoned to the ranks. Several drafts took
place, and bounties were paid, which in many instances were at the rate
of a thousand dollars to a man. A good many people began to declare this
demand exorbitant, and that, if the real necessity existed, the Union
was not worth such an appalling cost of human life.
WAR'S DESOLATION.
Behind all this seeming prosperity were thousands of mourning households
and desolate hearthstones in the North as well as the South. Fathers,
brothers, and sons had fallen, and would nevermore return to their loved
ones. The shadow was everywhere. Sorrow, broken-hearts, and lamentation
were in the land, for war, the greatest curse of mankind, spares neither
parent, child, nor babe. The exchange of prisoners, carried on almost
from the very opening of the war, ceased, because the Confederate
authorities refused to exchange negro soldiers. As a consequence,
multitudes of Union prisoners suffered indescribable misery in many of
the Southern prisons. This was especially the case in Andersonville,
Georgia, where a brute named Wirz, a Swiss, showed a fiendish delight in
adding to the tortures of those committed to his care. This miscreant
was afterward tried for his atrocities, found guilty, and hanged. He was
the only man executed for the part he took in the war. There was less
suffering in other places. The straits to which the Confederates
themselves were driven made it impossible in some instances to give the
care they would have given to their prisoners. In the early part of
1864, more than a hundred Unionists confined in Libby Prison, Richmond,
escaped by tunneling, but most of them were recaptured and returned to
confinement.
Nevada was admitted to the Union in 1864. It formed part of the Mexican
cession of 1848, prior to which time no settlement had been made in the
State. In that year the Mormons settled in Carson and Washoe Valleys. In
1859, silver was found to exist in vast quantities, and, in 1866, the
area of the State was increased by additions from Arizona and Utah.
CONFEDERATE RAIDERS FROM CANADA.
One of the most irritating annoyances resulted from the presence of
Confederates in Canada, who continually plotted mischief against the
North. In October, 1864, a band of them rode into St. Albans, Vermont,
which is only fifteen miles from the border, robbed the bank of a large
amount of money, burned a hotel, fired into a crowd of citizens,
committed other outrages, and galloped back to Canada, where thirteen
were arrested and thrown into prison. The legal proceedings which
followed resulted in the discharge of the prisoners on technical
grounds. General Dix, in command of the Eastern Department, issued
orders that in the future all such marauders were to be pursued and
shot down or arrested, no matter where they took refuge. Had these
measures been carried out, there would have been war with England, which
would never permit such invasion of her territory. General Dix's action
was disavowed by our government, while the Canadian authorities took
care to prevent any more similar outrages.
It has been stated that General Grant planned a forward movement of the
Union forces early in May of this year, with the purpose of keeping the
Confederate armies so incessantly engaged that they would have no
opportunity of reinforcing one another.
[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE NORTH END OF ANDERSONVILLE PRISON.
(_From a photograph._)
In the middle-ground midway of the swamp is the "Island" which was
covered with shelters after the higher ground had all been occupied.]
GENERAL SHERMAN'S ADVANCE TO ATLANTA.
General Sherman, the faithful lieutenant of Grant, was in command of the
three armies, respectively, of the Cumberland, of Tennessee, and of
Ohio, led by Generals Thomas, McPherson, and Schofield. General Jo
Johnston was Sherman's opponent, his commanders being Hardee, Hood, and
Polk. The troops were less numerous than the Federals, but they were the
finest of soldiers and were led by skillful officers.
Sherman made his preparations with care and thoroughness. Chattanooga
was his starting-point on his march through the South, and by the 1st of
May he had 254 guns, 100,000 men, and an immense amount of supplies at
that town. He began his famous march on the 7th of May. Johnston, who
saw his purpose, confronted him at Dalton, where an attack by Unionists
was repulsed; but Sherman resorted to flanking tactics, and Johnston
fell back, crossing the river, May 15th, and taking a new position at
Etowah, forty miles to the south of Resaca.
The great risk assumed by Sherman will be understood. It was necessary
to preserve his communications, for he had but a single railroad line
behind him. To do this, he had to leave strong detachments at different
points, thereby weakening his army as he advanced into Confederate
territory. Johnston, being among friends, was not obliged to do anything
of that nature. He could preserve his forces intact and add slightly to
them. By-and-by, the armies would be nearly equal in numbers, when
Johnston proposed to give battle to the invaders.
The Union army marched in three columns, their flanks guarded by
cavalry, and the columns always within supporting distance of one
another. The steady advance and retreat went on with occasional brisk
fighting. On the 14th of June, during an exchange of shots, the head of
General Leonidas Polk was carried away by a cannon ball. Now and then
Johnston attacked Sherman, but invariably without gaining any important
advantage.
At last Sherman grew tired of continually flanking his enemy, and made
the mistake of assaulting him. This was at Kenesaw Mountain on the 27th
of June. The attack was made with great gallantry, but the Unionists
were repulsed with the loss of 3,000 men.
Sherman returned to his flanking tactics, which were conducted with so
much skill that finally Johnston was forced into the defenses of
Atlanta. It was there he meant to make a stand and deliver battle on
something approaching equal terms. His generals were dissatisfied with
his continual falling back and protested. That Johnston was sagacious in
what he did cannot be questioned; but his old enemy, President Davis,
took advantage of the opportunity to remove him and place General Hood
in chief command.
Hood had not half the ability of Johnston, but he believed in fighting.
He assumed Johnston's place on the 17th of July. The news was pleasant
to Sherman, for he rated Hood at his true value as compared with
Johnston.
[Illustration: SHERMAN'S THREE SCOUTS
"Setting out at night they paddled continuously down the river until
daylight, when they ran the boat among the reeds and remained in hiding
until night came again."]
It had been a long and difficult march from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and
yet it may be said that Sherman had only reached his true
starting-point. He gave his soldiers a needed rest, and waited for
reinforcements. Those expected from Corinth, Mississippi, were routed by
General Forrest, but the needed men were obtained from other quarters,
and the three columns converged upon Atlanta, July 20th. The defenses
extended for three miles about the city, but were not quite completed.
McPherson secured possession of a hill that gave him a view of the city,
observing which Hood made a furious assault upon him on the night of the
22d. He came perilously near success, but, by hastening reinforcements
to the threatened point, Sherman was able to repel the attack. In the
fighting General McPherson, one of the best of the Union generals, was
killed.
[Illustration: DEATH OF GENERAL POLK.]
The plan of Sherman was to shut off Atlanta from the rest of the world.
By thus excluding its supplies, it would be starved into submission, as
was the case at Vicksburg. Accordingly, he began a series of works,
intended to be extended gradually around the city. This was difficult
and dangerous, as was proven when two columns of Union cavalry, failing
to effect a junction, through some misunderstanding, were separately
attacked and routed. Among the many prisoners taken was General
Stoneman, and the cavalry arm of the service was greatly weakened.
The impetuous Hood made a furious onslaught upon the Union army July
28th, renewing it several times, but was defeated with heavy loss in
each instance. Sherman, through the failure of one of his generals to
reach his assigned position in time, narrowly missed bagging Hood and
his whole army.
FALL OF ATLANTA.
But Sherman displayed masterly generalship by so manoeuvring as to
draw Hood away from the defenses and by thrusting his army between the
corps of Hardee and Atlanta. The only escape now for the Confederates
was to abandon the city, which was done on the 1st of September, many of
the citizens going with the retiring army. At nine o'clock the next
morning General Slocum, at the head of a strong reconnoitering column,
rode into Atlanta, and the mayor made a formal surrender of the place.
The news of the fall of Atlanta caused great rejoicing in the North, and
corresponding depression in the South. President Davis hurried to the
neighborhood to investigate for himself. He found matters so bad that
they could not be much worse. Hood, however, was as combative as ever,
and proposed to attack Sherman's lines of communication. It was a
dangerous proceeding, but Davis consented. On his way back to Richmond
he stopped at Macon and made a speech, in which he announced the plans
of Hood. This speech was published in the Southern papers, reached the
North, where it was republished, and in due time these papers went to
Sherman, It can well be understood that Davis' speech proved "mighty
interesting" reading to the Union commander.
FAILURE OF HOOD'S PLAN FOR THE RELIEF OF GEORGIA.
Hood's plan was simple. He proposed to march into Tennessee, and, by
threatening Sherman's communications, compel him to withdraw from
Georgia. But Sherman was not to be caught thus easily. He followed Hood
to the north of the Chattahoochee, and, then letting him go whither he
chose, turned back to Atlanta. Hood kept right on through northern
Alabama, and advanced against Nashville. General Thomas had been sent
by Sherman from Atlanta, with the Army of the Cumberland, to look after
Hood. General Schofield, in command in the southern part of the State,
fell back to Franklin, eighteen miles south of Nashville, where he was
attacked November 30th by Hood. It was a savage battle, but the
Confederates were held in check until night, when Schofield retreated
across the river, and took refuge in Nashville. There General Thomas
gathered all his troops, and threw up a line of intrenchments to the
south of the city. Hood appeared in front of them December 2d, and began
building works and counter batteries. He was certain of capturing the
place and its defenders by regular siege operations. Never did the
genius of Thomas shine more brilliantly than at the siege of Nashville.
He industriously gathered reinforcements, perfected his defenses, and
refused to move until fully prepared. The whole country became
impatient; even General Grant sent him urgent messages, and at one time
issued an order for his removal. But Thomas could not be shaken from his
purpose. Not until December 15th did he feel himself ready to strike,
and then he did it with the might of a descending avalanche. He sallied
forth, captured several redoubts, and drove back the Confederates for a
number of miles. He renewed the battle on the 16th, and utterly routed
Hood's army. The panic-stricken troops fled in confusion, drawing
Forrest and his cavalry into the disorganized flight, while Thomas
vigorously pursued until the fugitives scrambled over Duck River toward
the Tennessee, which was crossed on the 27th of December.
Hood's army was virtually destroyed. He lost more than 13,000 prisoners,
including several general officers, and many guns, while more than 2,000
deserters joined Thomas. The disgusted Hood asked to be relieved of his
command, and Dick Taylor, who had defeated Banks some months before in
Texas, assumed his place, but he really was left with no army to
command. The proud host which had promised so much existed no longer.
The Rock of Chickamauga had fallen upon it and ground it to powder.
SHERMAN'S MARCH FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA.
Sherman proved his confidence in Thomas by not waiting for him to
complete his wonderful task, before beginning his march from Atlanta to
the sea, 300 miles distant. Since it was impossible to maintain the long
and increasing slender line of communications behind him, Sherman made
no effort to do so. He "cut loose" entirely, proposing to live off the
granary of the South, through which his 60,000 veterans began their
famous tramp. Weeks passed, during which the national government heard
not a word from Sherman, except such as filtered through the Confederate
lines, and which was always tinctured by the hopes of the enemy. There
were continual rumors of the Union army meeting "a lion in its path,"
and of its being overwhelmed by disaster, but nothing of a positive
nature was learned, and naturally there was considerable uneasiness,
though Grant knew Sherman too well to feel any distrust of his success.
At the beginning of his march, Sherman aimed to deceive the enemy as to
his real destination. The secret was shared only with his corps
commanders and General Kilpatrick, leader of the cavalry. The advance
was in two columns, the right under General Howard and the left under
General Slocum. Atlanta was burned on the night of November 15th, and
Sherman himself rode out from the city the next day with the left wing.
It was impossible for the Confederates to present any serious opposition
to the invaders. Frantic appeals were issued to the South to rise and
crush the enemy, but they accomplished nothing. The bands of militia
were brushed aside like so many children, and the march "From Atlanta to
the Sea" was simply a huge picnic for Sherman and his army. The opening
of the Mississippi had sliced off the left limb of the Southern
Confederacy, and Sherman was now boring his way through the heart.
Milledgeville, the capital of the State, was reached on the 21st, but
before the Federals arrived the Legislature adjourned precipitately and
took to its heels. Governor Brown and most of the members ran to
Augusta, which was surrendered two days later, plundered, and partly
burned. Kilpatrick made a demonstration against Macon, and could easily
have captured it, but his movement was intended only as a feint. Rightly
surmising by this time that the seacoast was Sherman's destination,
General Hardee did all he could to obstruct the roads leading thither,
but he was powerless to check the invaders. Thousands of negroes
followed the army, singing the "Day of Jubilee has Come," but many of
the poor people perished amid the dismal wastes and barrens of Eastern
Georgia.
Finally Sherman passed down the peninsula formed by the Ogeechee and
Savannah Rivers and approached Savannah. The enemy were easily driven
from their field-works, and by December 10th all the Confederates were
forced into their lines and the whole Union army was in front of
Savannah. The 300 miles had been passed in twenty-five days and the
listening ears could now hear the faint boom of the distant Atlantic
breakers.
But Hardee was in Savannah with 15,000 men, capable of offering a strong
defense. To meet his heavy cannon, Sherman had only field artillery,
and, instead of making a direct attack, which would have involved
considerable loss of life, he decided to starve the garrison to terms.
Admiral Dahlgren was lying off the coast, but the mouth of the river was
commanded by Fort McAllister, and it was dangerous work to attempt to
communicate with the Union fleet. Sherman sent off three scouts, who
paddled cautiously down the river at night, hiding in the rice-fields by
day, until they finally succeeded in attracting the notice of a gunboat
which ran in and picked them up. The glorious news was carried to
Admiral Dahlgren, who immediately dispatched it North, where, as may be
supposed, it caused unbounded rejoicing.
Fort McAllister, fifteen miles below the city, was such an obstacle to
the co-operation of the fleet that Sherman determined to capture it. It
was taken with a rush on the 13th of December, and the way opened for a
supply of ammunition and heavy guns from Hilton Head. General Forster,
the Union commander of that department, was ordered to occupy the
railroad connecting Savannah and Charleston. When that should be done,
Savannah would be completely invested.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S UNIQUE CHRISTMAS GIFT.
On the 17th, Sherman demanded the surrender of the city. Hardee refused
and Sherman prepared to bombard it. But the Confederates, who still had
control of Savannah River, retreated across that stream on the night of
the 20th, and tramped into South Carolina. Sherman entered the city the
next day and wrote at once to President Lincoln "I beg to present you,
as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and
plenty of ammunition; also about 25,000 bales of cotton." It was a
unique Christmas gift indeed, and President Lincoln sent back the thanks
of the government and nation to the Union commander, his officers and
soldiers.
[Illustration: WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN.
(1820-1891.)]
One pleasing feature of Sherman's entrance into Savannah was the
widespread Union sentiment which manifested itself among the citizens.
They were tired of the war and glad to see this evidence that its close
was near. They did not destroy their cotton or property, but were quite
willing to turn it over to their conquerors. General Geary was appointed
commandant and ruled with tact and kindness. Here we will leave Sherman
for a time, and give our attention to the single remaining, but most
important, campaign of all--that of General Grant against Lee.
GRANT'S ADVANCE AGAINST LEE.
When the Army of the Potomac was ready to move against Lee and Richmond,
it consisted of three instead of five corps. Hancock commanded the
Second, Warren the Fifth, and Sedgwick the Sixth. Beside this, the Ninth
Corps, which included many colored troops, was under command of
Burnside, and was left for a time to guard the communications with
Washington. This force numbered 140,000 men, and, as has been stated,
was the largest number ever assembled by the Unionists.
In addition to this stupendous host, 42,000 troops were in and about
Washington, 31,000 in West Virginia, and 59,000 in the department of
Virginia and North Carolina. In South Carolina, Georgia, and at other
points were 38,000. General Lee had less than 58,000 under his immediate
command, and the whole number of Confederates in the region threatened
by Grant's 310,000 was about 125,000.
General Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac, and the
cavalry corps was under General Philip H. Sheridan. Best of all, the
veterans were now inspired by a feeling of confidence to which they had
long been strangers. They felt that they had a commander at last who was
competent to lead them to victory.
Lee was acting on the defensive and held a powerful position. Longstreet
was at Gordonsville, Ewell on the Rapidan, and A.P. Hill at Orange
Court-House. The Rapidan itself was held by small bodies of troops,
whose duty it was to keep watch of the movements of the Union army.
Grant's plan was to advance directly to Richmond. He intended to cross
the Rapidan, attack Lee's right, cut his communications, and compel him
to fight. At the same time Butler was to ascend the James from Fort
Monroe, seize City Point, and, advancing along the south bank of the
river, cut the Confederate communications south of the James, and, if
possible, capture Petersburg.
If Grant succeeded in defeating Lee, he intended to follow him to
Richmond. If he failed, he meant to transfer his whole army to the
southern side of the James, using Butler's column to cover the movement,
and attack from that quarter. At the same time, General Sigel was to
organize his army into two expeditions, one under General Crook in the
Kanawha Valley, and the other commanded by himself in the Shenandoah
Valley. The object of this campaign was to cut the Central Railroad and
the Virginia and Tennessee Road. Since the bulk of Lee's supplies were
received over these lines, the success of the plan would inflict a
mortal blow upon the Confederate army.
The Army of the Potomac began moving, May 3d, at midnight. The advance
was in two columns. The right, including Warren's and Sedgwick's Corps,
crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford, and the left, Hancock's Corps,
made the passage at Ely's Ford, six miles below. On the following night,
the bivouac was between the Rapidan and Chancellorsville.
THE BATTLES IN THE WILDERNESS.
Reading Grant's purpose, Lee determined to attack him in the dense,
wooded country known as the Wilderness, where it would be impossible for
the Union commander to use his artillery. Acting promptly, a furious
assault was made and the Confederates attained considerable success. The
ground was unfavorable for the Unionists, but Grant did not shrink. His
line was five miles long and mostly within the woods, where he could use
neither cavalry nor artillery with effect; but he made his attack with
such vehemence that after several hours of terrific fighting he drove
the flying Confederates back almost to the headquarters of Lee, where
Longstreet saved the army from overthrow and re-established the line.
WOUNDING OF GENERAL LONGSTREET.
Before noon the next day, Longstreet forced Hancock's left to the Brock
Road and determined to seize the latter. Had he done so, another
disastrous defeat would have been added to those suffered by the Army of
the Potomac at the hands of Lee. Longstreet was in high spirits and
determined to lead the movement in person. While riding forward, he met
General Jenkins, who was also exultant over what seemed certain success.
The two stopped to shake hands, and when doing so, they and their
escorts were mistaken by a body of Confederate troops for Union cavalry
and fired upon. Longstreet waved his hand and shouted to the men to stop
firing. They did so, but Jenkins had already been killed and Longstreet
himself was shot in the throat. He fell from his saddle and lay beside
the body of Jenkins. He was believed to be dead, but, showing signs of
life, was placed on a litter and carried to the rear, the soldiers
cheering as he was borne past. The reader will recall the strange
wounding of Stonewall Jackson, under almost similar circumstances, by
his own men. Longstreet recovered in time to take a leading part in the
closing incidents of the war.
This occurrence caused a feeling akin to dismay in the Confederate
ranks, and defeated the movement that was about to be undertaken.
General Lee was so disturbed that he placed himself at the head of a
Texas brigade, with the resolve to lead it in a charge that should be
decisive, but his men would not permit, and compelled him to resume his
place at the rear.
Grant's position was too strong to be carried and Lee was equally
secure. Meanwhile Grant carefully hunted for a weak spot in his enemy's
line, and decided that Spottsylvania Court-House was the place, and
thither he marched his army on the night of May 7th.
While this movement was in progress, Sheridan and his cavalry made a
dash toward Richmond in the effort to cut Lee's communications. The
vigilant Stuart intercepted them at Yellow Tavern, within seven miles of
the city, and compelled Sheridan to return, but in the fighting Stuart
received a wound from which he died the next day.
When Grant's advance reached Spottsylvania Court-House, the Confederates
were in possession, and repulsed the attempt to drive them out. While
the preparations for renewing the battle were going on, General Sedgwick
was struck in the head by a Confederate sharpshooter and instantly
killed.
GRANT'S REPULSE AT COLD HARBOR.
A series of flank movements followed, with fierce fighting, in which the
Union loss was great. Reinforcements were sent to Grant, and nothing
could deter his resolution to drive Lee to the wall. At Cold Harbor, on
June 3d, however, the Union commander received one of the most bloody
repulses of the war, suffering a loss of ten thousand in the space of
less than half an hour, and his losses from the Rapidan to the
Chickahominy--whither he moved his army--equaled the whole number of men
in Lee's army. The latter was within the defenses of Richmond, of which
the centre was Cold Harbor. Having much shorter lines, the Confederates
were able to anticipate the movements of the Army of the Potomac and
present a defiant front at all times.
Meanwhile matters had gone wrong in the Shenandoah Valley. On the 15th
of May, Sigel was utterly routed by Breckinridge. The Union officer
failed so badly that he was superseded by Hunter, who made just as
wretched a failure. The 15,000 troops under Breckinridge were sent to
reinforce Lee, when, had Sigel and Hunter done their duty, this force
would have been compelled to stay in the Shenandoah Valley.
Another movement that was meant to help Grant materially was that of
Butler, who was to threaten Richmond by water, while Grant and Meade
were assailing the city in front. But Butler was outgeneraled by
Beauregard, who succeeded in "bottling him up," as Grant expressed it,
at Bermuda Hundred, a peninsula formed by the James, twenty miles below
Richmond. There Butler was held helpless, while Beauregard sent a small
part of his meagre force to reinforce Lee.
[Illustration: GENERAL LEE DASHES TO THE FRONT TO LEAD THE TEXANS'
CHARGE.]
The terrible repulse which Grant received at Cold Harbor convinced him
that it was only throwing away life to persist in the campaign against
Richmond by the "overland" route. With characteristic decision, he
decided to move his army to the front of Petersburg and thus shut off
Lee's communication with the South. Holding his position in front of the
Confederate leader until June 12th, Grant crossed the Chickahominy and
advanced to City Point. Passing the James on pontoon-bridges, he marched
toward Petersburg, where the army arrived on the 15th. The next day the
Army of the Potomac was south of the James. Petersburg was immediately
attacked, but the defenders repelled every assault. The next day, Lee's
whole army entered the breastworks of the town. After repeated attacks
by the Unionists, Grant saw the impossibility of capturing Petersburg
by direct attack and he began its siege. Several times the Confederates
made sallies against threatening movements and drove the Federals from
the positions that had been gained at no little loss of life.
Early in July, Grant consented to allow Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasant, of
a Pennsylvania regiment belonging to Burnside's corps, to run a mine
under one of the approaches to the enemy's intrenchments before
Petersburg. It was believed, apparently with reason, that the explosion
would open a gap in the line through which the Federals might make a
dash and capture the town before the defenders could rally from their
confusion.
The mine was laid and four tons of powder were fired at daylight on the
morning of July 30th. A cavity was opened by the stupendous explosion,
200 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Instantly, the Union
batteries opened on those of the enemy, silenced them, and the
assaulting column charged. The dreadful mistake was made by the men of
halting in the cavity for shelter. The troops sent to their help also
stopped and huddled together, seeing which the terrified gunners ran
back to their abandoned pieces and opened upon the disorganized mass in
the pit. The slaughter continued until the Confederate officers sickened
at the sight and ordered it stopped. The horrible business resulted in
the loss of nearly 1,000 prisoners and 3,000 killed and wounded.
GENERAL EARLY'S RAIDS.
Since the entire Army of the Potomac was in front of Petersburg, the
Confederates took advantage of the opportunity to give Washington
another scare, in the hope, also, of compelling Grant to withdraw a
considerable body of troops from before Richmond. General Early was sent
thither with 8,000 men by General Lee, with orders to attack the
Federals in the valley. Sigel, whose great forte was that of retreating,
fell back before the advance of Early, crossed the Potomac, and took
position on Maryland Heights. Early moved up the Monocacy into Maryland,
causing great alarm in Washington. The President called upon
Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts for militia with which to
repel the invasion. They were placed under the command of General Lew
Wallace, who was defeated at Monocacy Junction, July 9th. Early attacked
Rockville, fourteen miles west of Washington, and Colonel Harry Gilmor,
himself a citizen of Baltimore, cut the communications between that city
and Philadelphia. He captured a railway train, and among his prisoners
was General Franklin, who was wounded and on his way north. The loose
watch kept over the captives allowed them to escape.
Early was in high feather over his success, and his cavalry appeared in
front of Washington, July 11th, and exchanged shots with Fort Stevens;
but a spirited attack drove them off, and they crossed the Potomac at
Edward's Ferry, and passed to the western side of the Shenandoah. Early
made his headquarters at Winchester and repelled several assaults upon
him.
The Confederate leader had been so successful that he soon made a second
raid. He crossed the Potomac, July 29th, and, entering Pennsylvania,
reached Chambersburg, from which a ransom of $200,000 in gold was
demanded. It not being forthcoming, the city was fired, and the
invaders, after some hard fighting, succeeded in getting back to the
southern shore of the Potomac.
SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.
These raids were so exasperating that Grant, who could not give them his
personal attention, determined to put an effectual stop to them. The
government united the departments of western Virginia, Washington, and
the Susquehanna, and placed them under the charge of General Sheridan,
who had 40,000 men at his disposal. Sheridan, whose force was three
times as numerous as Early's, was anxious to move against him, and Grant
finally gave his consent on the condition that he would desolate the
Shenandoah Valley to that extent that nothing would be left to invite
invasion.
[Illustration: GENERAL PHILIP H. SHERIDAN.]
In the first encounter between Sheridan and Early near the Opequan, a
small tributary of the Potomac, west of the Shenandoah, Early was routed
and sent flying toward Winchester, with the loss of many prisoners and
supplies. He was driven through the town, and his troops intrenched
themselves on Fisher's Hill, near Strasburg. They were again attacked,
on the 21st of September, and compelled to retreat further up the
valley. Early received a reinforcement, and secured himself at Brown's
Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where for the first time he was really
safe.
This left Sheridan free to carry out the orders of Grant to devastate
the valley, and he made thorough work of it. Nothing was spared, and the
burning and destruction were so complete that his homely remark seemed
justified when he said that no crow would dare attempt to fly across
the region without taking his rations with him.
Feeling that the situation was secure, Sheridan now went to Washington
to consult with the government. On the 19th of October the Union camp at
Cedar Creek was surprised and routed by Early, who captured eighteen
guns, which were turned on the fugitives as they fled in the direction
of Middletown. Their commander, General Wright, finally succeeded in
rallying them, mainly because the Confederates were so overcome at sight
of the food in the abandoned camps that they gave up the pursuit to
feast and gorge themselves.
"SHERIDAN'S RIDE."
Sheridan had reached Winchester, "twenty miles away," on his return from
Washington, when the faint sounds of firing told him of the battle in
progress. Leaping into his saddle, he spurred at headlong speed down the
highway, rallied the panic-stricken troops, placed himself at their
head, and, charging headlong into the rebel mob at Cedar Creek,
scattered them like so much chaff, retook the camps, and routed Early so
utterly that no more raids were attempted by him or any other
Confederates during the remainder of the war. Indeed, it may be said
that this disgraceful overthrow ended the military career of Jubal
Early. When some months later General Lee was placed at the head of all
the military affairs of the Confederacy, he lost no time in doing two
things: the first was to restore General Jo Johnston to his old command,
and the second to remove Early from his.
The stirring incident described furnished the theme for the well-known
poem of T. Buchanan Read, entitled "Sheridan's Ride."
Grant held fast to that which he won by terrific fighting. Petersburg
lies about twenty miles to the south of Richmond, and the strongly
fortified Union lines were nearly thirty miles in length, extending from
a point close to the Weldon Railroad, on Grant's left, across the James
to the neighborhood of Newmarket, on the right. Holding the inner part
of this circle, Lee was able for a long time to repel every assault.
The Confederate commander fought furiously to prevent his enemy from
obtaining possession of the Weldon Road, but late in August a lodgment
was effected from which the Federals could not be driven. Other
advantages were gained, but the close of the year saw Lee still
unconquered and defiant.
GRANT'S SLOW BUT RESISTLESS PROGRESS.
Early in February, 1865, Grant attempted to turn the Confederate right,
but was repulsed, though he gained several miles of additional
territory. Sheridan soon after destroyed the Richmond and Lynchburg
Railroad and the locks of the James River Canal, after which he joined
the Army of the James.
[Illustration: SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT, AT APPOMATTOX
COURT-HOUSE, APRIL 9, 1865.
"The two generals met at the house of Major McLean, in the hamlet of
Appomattox Courthouse, where Lee surrendered all that remained of the
Confederate Army, which for nearly four years had beaten back every
attempt to capture Richmond. Grant's terms, as usual, were generous. He
did not ask for Lee's sword, and demanded only that he and his men
should agree not again to bear arms against the Government of the United
States."]
But Lee was beginning to feel the tremendous and continued pressure. His
army numbered barely 35,000 men. A.P. Hill commanded the right wing,
stretching from Petersburg to Hatcher's Run; General J.B. Gordon, the
centre, at Petersburg; and Longstreet, who had recovered from his wound,
the left wing, north and south of the James; while the cavalry did what
it could to cover the flanks. This attenuated line was forty miles long.
Realizing the desperate straits, the Confederate authorities early in
1865 placed the entire military operations of the Confederacy in the
hands of Lee.
The latter planned to fall back toward Danville and unite with Johnston.
If successful this would have given him a formidable army; but Grant did
not intend to permit such a junction. Fighting went on almost
continually, the gain being with the Union army, because of its greatly
superior numbers and the skill with which they were handled by the
master, Grant. April 1st a cannonade opened along the whole Union line.
Lee's right wing had been destroyed, but the others were unbroken. At
daylight the next morning an advance was made against the Confederate
works. Lee was forced back, and he strengthened his lines by making them
much shorter.
The Confederates steadily lost ground, many were killed and taken
prisoners, and in a charge upon the Union left General A.P. Hill lost
his life. At last the enemy's outer lines were hopelessly broken, and
Lee telegraphed the startling fact to President Davis, who received it
while sitting in church, Sunday, April 2d. The Confederate President was
told that Lee could hold Petersburg but a few hours longer, and Davis
was warned to have the authorities ready to leave Richmond unless a
message was sent to the contrary. No such longed-for message arrived.
EVACUATION OF RICHMOND.
The counsel of Lee was followed. Jefferson Davis, the members of his
cabinet, and a number of leading citizens left the capital that night
for Charlotte, North Carolina. The whole city was thrown into the
wildest confusion; rioting and drunkenness filled the streets, buildings
were fired, and pandemonium reigned. General Witzel, who occupied the
Union works to the north of Richmond, learned the astounding news, and
the next morning rode into the city without opposition. The tidings were
telegraphed to Washington. The following day President Lincoln arrived,
and was quartered in the house formerly occupied by Jefferson Davis.
Martial law was proclaimed, and order restored in the stricken city.
But General Lee had not yet surrendered. No men ever fought more
heroically than he and his soldiers. On the Sunday that he sent his
message to President Davis, the commander found the only line of retreat
left to him was that which led to the westward, and even that was
threatened. Anticipating Lee's retreat, Grant used all possible energy
to cut him off. On the night of April 6th Lee crossed the Appomattox
near Farmville. That night his general officers held a consultation, and
agreed that but one course was left to them and that was to surrender.
Their views were communicated to Lee, but he would not yet consent to
that decisive step.
[Illustration: LINCOLN ENTERING RICHMOND.]
Grant was in Farmville on the 7th, and he sent a letter to Lee,
reminding him of the uselessness of further resistance and asking for
his surrender. Lee still declined, and continued his retreat. Then
Sheridan threw his powerful division of cavalry in front of the
Confederates, and Lee decided to cut his way through the ring of
bayonets and sabres by which he was environed. This desperate task was
assigned to the indomitable Gordon. He made a resistless beginning, when
he saw the impossibility of success. The news was sent to Lee, who
realized at last that all hope was gone. He forwarded a note to Grant,
asking for a suspension of hostilities with a view to surrender. The two
generals met at the house of Major McLean, in the hamlet of Appomattox
Court-House, on the 9th of April, where Lee surrendered all that
remained of the Confederate army, which for nearly four years had beaten
back every attempt to capture Richmond.
Grant's terms as usual were generous. He did not ask for Lee's sword,
and demanded only that he and his men should agree not to bear arms
again against the government of the United States. They were to
surrender all public property, but Grant told them to keep their horses,
"as you will need them for your spring ploughing." The soldiers who had
fought each other so long and so fiercely fraternized like brothers,
exchanged grim jests over the terrible past, and pledged future
friendship. The reunion between the officers was equally striking. Most
of them were old acquaintances, and all rejoiced that the war was at
last ended. General Lee rode with his cavalry escort to his home in
Richmond and rejoined his family. He was treated with respect by the
Union troops, who could not restrain a feeling of sympathy for their
fallen but magnanimous enemy.
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
The bonfires in the North had hardly died out and the echoes of the glad
bells were still lingering in the air, when the whole country was
startled by one of the most horrifying events in all history. President
Lincoln, on the night of April 14th, was sitting in a box at Ford's
Theatre in Washington, accompanied by his wife and another lady and
gentleman, when, at a little past ten o'clock, John Wilkes Booth, an
actor, stealthily entered the box from the rear, and, without any one
suspecting his awful purpose, fired a pistol-bullet into the President's
brain. The latter's head sank, and he never recovered consciousness.
Booth, after firing the shot, leaped upon the stage from the box,
brandished a dagger, shouted _"Sic semper tyrannis!"_ and, before the
dumbfounded spectators could comprehend what had been done, dashed out
of a rear door, sprang upon a waiting horse, and galloped off in the
darkness.
No pen can describe the horror and rage which seized the spectators when
they understood what had taken place. The stricken President was carried
across the street to a house where he died at twenty-two minutes past
seven the next morning.
About the time of his assassination, an attempt was made upon the life
of Secretary Seward, who was confined to his bed, suffering from a fall.
A male attendant prevented the miscreant from killing the secretary,
though he was badly cut. The best detective force of the country was set
to work, and an energetic pursuit of Booth was made. He had injured his
ankle when leaping from the box upon the stage of the theatre, but he
rode into Maryland, accompanied by another conspirator, named David E.
Harrold. At the end of eleven days they were run down by the pursuing
cavalry, who brought them to bay on the 26th of April. They had
crossed from Maryland into Virginia and taken refuge in a barn near Port
Royal, on the Rappahannock.
[Illustration: THE CIVIL WAR PEACE CONFERENCE.
Three commissioners from the Confederacy suggesting terms of peace to
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward in Fortress Monroe, January
1865.]
DEATH OF BOOTH.
The barn was surrounded and the two men were summoned to surrender.
Harrold went out and gave himself up. Booth refused and defied the
troopers, offering to fight them single-handed. To drive him from his
hiding-place, the barn was set on fire. Booth, carbine in hand and
leaning on his crutch, approached the door with the intention of
shooting, when Sergeant Boston Corbett fired through a crevice and hit
Booth in the neck. The wound was a mortal one, and Booth was brought out
of the barn and laid on the ground, where he died after several hours of
intense suffering. The body was taken to Washington and secretly buried.
There is good reason to believe that it was sunk at night in the
Potomac.
PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
The country was in no mood to show leniency to any one concerned in the
taking off of the beloved President. Of the five conspirators tried,
four were hanged. They were: Payne, Harrold, G.A. Atzeroot, and Mrs.
Mary A. Surratt, at whose house the conspirators held their meetings.
Dr. S.A. Mudd, who dressed Booth's wounded ankle, and was believed to be
in sympathy with the plotters, was sentenced to the Dry Tortugas for a
number of years. He showed so much devotion during an outbreak of yellow
fever there that he was pardoned some time later. John Surratt, the
assailant of Secretary Seward, fled to Italy, where he was discovered by
Archbishop Hughes, and the Italian government, as an act of courtesy,
delivered him to our government. On his first trial the jury disagreed,
and on the second he escaped through the plea of limitations.
The whole country mourned the death of President Lincoln. His greatness,
his goodness, and his broad, tender charity were appreciated by every
one. The South knew that they had lost in him their best friend. Had he
lived, much of the strife of the succeeding few years would have been
saved, and the bitter cup that was pressed to the lips of the conquered
South would have been less bitter than it was made by others. The
remains of the martyred President were laid in their final resting-place
at Springfield, Illinois, and the fame of Lincoln grows and increases
with the passing years.
SHERMAN'S NORTHWARD ADVANCES.
The army of General Jo Johnston did not surrender until after the death
of President Lincoln. Sherman, as will be remembered, made the city of
Savannah a Christmas present to the President. Leaving a strong
detachment in the city, Sherman moved northward with an army of 70,000
men, including artillery, the start being made on the 1st of February.
Charleston, where the first ordinance of secession was passed and which
had successfully defied every movement against it, now found itself
assailed in the rear. The garrison, after destroying the government
stores, the railway stations, blowing up the ironclads in the harbor,
bursting the guns on the ramparts of the forts, and setting the city on
fire, withdrew. This took place February 17th. The next day General
Gillmore entered Charleston and his troops extinguished the few
buildings that were still burning.
It has not been forgotten that Wilmington, North Carolina, had become
the great blockade-running port of the Southern Confederacy. The mouth
of Cape Fear River was defended by Fort Fisher, a very powerful
fortification. General Butler made an attempt to capture it in December,
but failed. Another effort followed January 15th, under General Alfred
Terry, and was successful. The defeated garrison joined Johnston to help
him in disputing the northward advance of Sherman.
There was severe fighting, especially at Goldsborough, but the Union
army was so much the superior that its progress could not be stayed.
There Schofield reinforced Sherman, who, feeling all danger was past,
turned over the command to his subordinate and went north to consult
with Grant, reaching his headquarters on the 27th of March. Soon after
the surrender of Lee, the whole Confederacy was in such a state of
collapse that the Union cavalry galloped back and forth through every
portion at will.
Returning to his command, Sherman moved against Johnston, April 10th.
Four days later, Johnston admitted in a communication to the Union
commander that the surrender of Lee meant the end of the war, and he
asked for a temporary suspension of hostilities, with the view of making
arrangements for the laying down of the Confederate arms. Sherman
consented, and these two commanders met and discussed the situation.
SURRENDER OF JO JOHNSTON AND COLLAPSE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
In the exchange of views which followed, the great soldier, Sherman, was
outwitted by Johnston and the Confederate president and cabinet, who
were behind him. They secured his agreement to a restoration, so far as
he could bring it about, of the respective State governments in the
South as they were before the war, with immunity for the secession
leaders from punishment, and other privileges, which, if granted, would
have been throwing away most of the fruits of the stupendous struggle.
Sherman thus took upon himself the disposition of civil matters with
which he had nothing to do. The more sagacious Grant saw the mistake of
his old friend, and, visiting his camp, April 24th, told him his
memorandum was disapproved, and notice was to be sent Johnston of the
resumption of hostilities. Two days later, Sherman and Johnston again
met, and the Confederate commander promptly agreed to surrender his army
on the same conditions that were given to Lee.
[Illustration: THE DESPERATE EXTREMITY OF THE CONFEDERATES AT THE END OF
THE CIVIL WAR.]
General J.H. Wilson and his cavalry captured Macon, Georgia, April 21st,
and, on the 4th of May, General Dick Taylor surrendered the remainder of
the Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, at which time also
Admiral Farrand surrendered to Admiral Thatcher all the naval forces of
the Confederacy that were blockaded in the Tombigbee River. At that
time, Kirby Smith was on the other side of the Mississippi, loudly
declaring that he would keep up the fight until independence or better
terms were secured, but his followers did not share his views, and
deserted so fast that he, Magruder, and others made their way to Mexico,
where, after remaining awhile, they returned to the United States and
became peaceful and law-abiding citizens. The troops left by them
passed under the command of General Brent, who, on the 26th of May,
surrendered to General Canby, when it may be said the War for the Union
was ended.
After the surrender of Johnston, Jefferson Davis and the members of his
cabinet became fugitives, under the escort of a few paroled soldiers. It
was feared they might join Kirby Smith and encourage him to continue his
resistance, while others believed he was striving to get beyond the
jurisdiction of the United States.
The party hurried through the dismal wastes of Georgia, in continual
fear that the Union cavalry would burst from cover upon them and make
all prisoners. In the early morning light of May 10th, Mr. Davis, while
asleep in his tent, near Irwinsville, Wilkinson County, Georgia, was
aroused by the alarming news that the camp was surrounded by Union
cavalry. He leaped to his feet and ran for his horse, but the animal was
already in the possession of a Federal trooper. His wife threw a shawl
over his shoulders, and he attempted to escape from the camp without
being recognized, but he was identified and made prisoner. He had been
captured by a squad of General J.H. Wilson's cavalry, under the command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard of the Fourth Michigan. His
fellow-prisoners were his wife and children, his private secretary,
Burton Harrison, his aide-de-camp, and Postmaster-General Reagan, all of
whom were taken to Macon, and thence to Fort Monroe, Virginia.
It was a serious problem, now that the president of the defunct
Confederacy was captured, what should be done with him. He was kept in
Fort Monroe until his health was impaired, when he was released on bail;
Horace Greeley, the well-known editor of the _New York Tribune_, being
one of his bondsmen. He had been indicted for treason in 1866, being
released the following year, but his trial was dropped on the 6th of
February, 1869. He passed the remainder of his life in Memphis, and
later at Beauvoir, Mississippi, dying in New Orleans, December 6, 1889,
in the eighty-second year of his age.
STATISTICS OF THE WAR.
The most carefully prepared statistics of the Civil War give the
following facts: Number of men in the Union army furnished by each State
and Territory, from April 15, 1861, to close of war, 2,778,304, which,
reduced to a three years' standing, was 2,326,168. The number of
casualties in the volunteer and regular armies of the United States,
according to a statement prepared by the adjutant-general's office, was:
Killed in battle, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of disease,
199,720; other causes, such as accidents, murder, Confederate prisons,
etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; total deserted, 199,105. Number of
soldiers in the Confederate service, who died of wounds or disease
(partial statement), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement), 104,428.
Number of United States troops captured during the war, 212,508;
Confederate troops captured, 476,169. Number of United States troops
paroled on the field, 16,431; Confederate troops paroled on the field,
248,599. Number of United States troops who died while prisoners,
30,156; Confederate troops who died while prisoners, 30,152. It is safe
to say that the number of men killed and disabled on both sides during
the War for the Union was fully one million. The public debt of the
United States, July 1, 1866, was $2,773,236,173.69, which on the 1st of
November, 1897, had been reduced to $1,808,777,643.40.
Mention has been made of the frightful brutalities of Captain Wirz, the
keeper of Andersonville prison. He richly merited the hanging which he
suffered on the 10th of November, 1865. As has been stated, he was the
only person executed for his part in the Civil War.
England, upon receiving news of the arrest of Jefferson Davis, declared
all ports, harbors, and waters belonging to Great Britain closed against
every vessel bearing the Confederate flag. The French government took
the same action a few days later.
More than a generation has passed since the close of the great Civil
War, which resulted in the cementing of the Union so firmly that the
bonds can never again be broken. Whatever resentment may have been felt
lasted but a brief while, and the late war with Spain removed the last
vestige.
[Illustration: HORACE GREELEY.
(1811-1872.)]
A little incident may serve as one of the thousand similar occurrences
which prove how perfectly the North and South fraternized long ago. The
officer who did the most effective work for the Union in the South
during the closing months of the war was General James H. Wilson, a
detachment of whose cavalry captured the fugitive Jefferson Davis. It
was General Wilson, who, on the 21st of April, 1865, rode into Macon,
Georgia, and took possession of the city. In the month of December,
1898, while on a visit to Macon, he made an address to the citizens,
from which the following extract is given:
THIRTY-THREE YEARS LATER.
FELLOW-CITIZENS: It is with infinite pleasure that I address myself in
words of peace to a Macon audience. [Cheers.] Thirty-odd years ago I
came into this town with 15,000 cavalry thundering at my heels.
[Laughter and shouts.] I was met with the roaring of cannon and the
firing of musketry. [Cheers.] I was greeted by the burning of warehouses
and the destruction of property, which I now profoundly regret.
[Cheers.] The welcome that was extended to me then was of the silent
quality. [Laughter.] An illustrious citizen, then your chief magistrate,
the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, after a four-hours' interview, speaking of me
then, said to another gathering of illustrious citizens, at the head of
which was Howell Cobb: "He is a clever young man, but, gentlemen, he
takes the military view of the situation." [Laughter.] That was a fact
then, but now I come among you and I receive a different welcome. I was
then a victor; to-day I am a captive. [Cheers.] I must say I am a
willing captive of your city. The fair women and the brave and excellent
gentlemen of your town have, by their open and generous hospitality,
imprisoned me deep down in their hearts, and I would be recreant to
every feeling of my own if I desired release from such pleasing bondage.
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S GRAVE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.]
CHAPTER XIX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT 1865-1877.
Andrew Johnson--Reconstruction--Quarrel Between the President and
Congress--The Fenians--Execution of Maximilian--Admission of
Nebraska--Laying of the Atlantic Cable--Purchase of Alaska--Impeachment
and Acquittal of the President--Carpet-bag Rule in the South--Presidential
Election of 1868--U.S. Grant--Settlement of the _Alabama_
Claims--Completion of the Overland Railway--The Chicago Fire--Settlement
of the Northwestern Boundary--Presidential Election of 1872--The Modoc
Troubles--Civil War in Louisiana--Admission of Colorado--Panic of
1873--Notable Deaths--Custer's Massacre--The Centennial--The Presidential
Election of 1876 the Most Perilous in the History of the Country.
THE SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT.
As provided by the Constitution, Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, took
the oath of office as President on the day that Abraham Lincoln died. He
was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808, and his parents
were so poor that they did not send him to school at all. When only ten
years old, he was apprenticed to a tailor, and anyone who at that time
had prophesied that he would some day become President of the United
States would have been set down as an idiot or a lunatic.
[Illustration: ANDREW JOHNSON.
(1808-1875.) One partial term, 1865-1869.]
Among the visitors to the tailor shop was a kind-hearted old gentleman
who was in the habit of reading to the boys and men. Andrew became
interested in what he heard, and, seeing how much better it would be for
him to be able to read for himself, set to work and learned. He removed
to Greenville, Tennessee, in 1826, and there married a noble woman, who
encouraged his ambition and helped him in his studies. Nature had given
him marked ability, and he became interested in local politics. The
citizens had confidence in him, for he was twice elected alderman, twice
mayor, was sent three times to the State Legislature, and in 1843 was
elected to Congress. He remained there for ten years, when he was chosen
governor of Tennessee, and, in 1857, became United States senator.
Johnson had always been a Democrat, and, when the political upheaval
came in 1860, he supported Breckinridge. While he favored slavery, he
was a Unionist in every fibre of his being, and declared that every man
who raised his hand against the flag should be hanged as a traitor.
Tennessee was torn by the savage quarrel, and for a time the
secessionists were rampant. When Johnson returned to his home in May,
1861, his train was stopped by a mob who were determined to lynch him,
but he met the angered men at the door with a loaded revolver and cowed
them.
It was such men as Johnson that President Lincoln appreciated and
determined to keep bound to him. He appointed him military governor of
Tennessee in 1862, and it need hardly be said that Johnson made things
lively for the secessionists, and did not forget to give attention to
those who had persecuted him. His personal courage and honesty won the
admiration of the North, and, as we have shown, led to his being placed
on the ticket with President Lincoln, when he was renominated in 1864.
The reader will not forget that the surrender of Johnson and the
capture, imprisonment, and release of Jefferson Davis occurred while
Johnson was President.
THE PROBLEM OF RECONSTRUCTION.
Reconstruction was the grave problem that confronted the country at the
close of the war. The question was as to the status of the States lately
in rebellion. It would not do to restore them to their full rights, with
the same old governments, for they might make better preparations and
secede again. Nothing was clearer than that slavery was the real cause
of the war, and the safety of the nation demanded that it should be
extirpated forever. The Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure and
simply freed the slaves, but did not prevent the re-establishment of
slavery. In December, 1865, therefore, the Thirteenth Amendment, having
been adopted by three-fourths of the States, was declared a part of the
Constitution. By it slavery was forever abolished, and one of the
gravest of all perils was removed.
President Johnson was a man of strong passions and prejudices. He had
been a "poor white" in the South, whose condition in some respect was
worse than that of slaves. He held a bitter personal hatred of the
aristocratic Southerners, who had brought on the war. His disposition at
first was to hang the leaders, but after awhile he swung almost as far
in the opposite direction. At the same time, he was not particularly
concerned for the welfare of the freed slaves, who were called
"freedmen."
THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY.
President Johnson termed his plan "my policy," and briefly it was: To
appoint provisional or temporary governors for each of the States lately
in rebellion. These governors called conventions of delegates, who were
elected by the former white voters of the respective States. When the
conventions met they declared all the ordinances of secession void,
pledged themselves never to pay any debt of the Southern Confederacy,
and ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, as proposed by Congress early in
1865, and which abolished slavery. Before the close of the year named,
each of the excluded States had been reorganized in accordance with this
plan. Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas took the step while Lincoln was
President.
The vexatious question was as to the treatment of the freedmen. The
South had no faith that they would work, except when compelled to do so
by slave-overseers. The new governments passed laws, therefore, to
compel them to work, under the penalty of being declared vagrants and
sent to jail, where they would be forced to hard labor. This method was
denounced in the North as a re-establishment of slavery under a new
name. The Republican majority in December, 1865, refused for a time to
admit any members from the States that had been in rebellion.
QUARREL BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT.
Thus a quarrel arose between the President and Congress. The latter
proposed to keep the States on probation for a time, before giving them
their full rights, while the President strenuously insisted that they
should be admitted at once on the same status as those that had not been
engaged in secession. To keep out the eighty-five members who had been
refused admission, Congress imposed a test oath, which excluded all who
had been connected in any way with the Confederate government. The
Republicans had a two-thirds vote in Congress which enabled them to pass
any bill they chose over the President's veto. While they had not
formulated any clear policy, they were resolved to protect the freedmen
in all their rights. The reorganization of Tennessee being satisfactory,
her members were received by Congress in 1866.
The congressional elections of this year intrenched the Republicans in
Congress, and they were sure of the power for the next two years to
carry through any policy upon which they might agree. By that time, too,
they had fixed upon their plan of reconstruction and prepared to enforce
it.
This policy was to allow the freedmen to vote and to deprive the
Confederate leaders of the right to do so. To accomplish this, the plan
was to place all the seceding States under military governors, who
should call new conventions to form State governments. The negroes and
not the leading Confederates had the power to vote for these delegates.
Provided the new governments allowed the freedmen the right of suffrage,
and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment (which excluded the leading
Confederates from office), then the Southern senators and
representatives would be admitted to Congress.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL.
The "civil rights" bill, which placed the blacks and whites on the same
footing, was vetoed by the President, March 27th. He pointed out the
danger of giving suffrage to 4,000,000 ignorant people, lately slaves,
and said unscrupulous men in the North would hasten South and take
advantage of their ignorance. This was precisely what took place. The
South was overrun by a set of scoundrels known as "carpet-baggers"
(because they were supposed to carry all their worldly possessions when
they reached the South in a carpet bag; in many instances a score of
trunks would not have sufficed to hold what they took back), whose rule
was worse than a pestilence, and forms one of the most shameful episodes
in our history. According to the old system, the negroes were counted in
making up the congressional representation of the South, and the
Republicans insisted that they were, therefore, entitled to vote. The
bill was passed April 9th, over the President's veto.
The story of the bitter quarrel between the President and Congress is an
unpleasant one. Words were uttered by him and by leading members of
Congress which it would be well to forget. The President became angrier
as the wrangle progressed, for, in the face of the hostile majority, he
was powerless. The fight continued through the years 1867 and 1868. In
June of the latter year, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North
Carolina, and South Carolina were re-admitted to Congress. The States
that had seceded were divided into five military districts, and
President Johnson, much against his will, was obliged to appoint the
governors. As a result of all this, the negroes were largely in the
majority in the South, and the Republican vote in Congress was greatly
increased. But in the North, the fall elections went mostly Democratic,
though not enough so to overcome the opposing majority in Congress.
During these exciting times there were several occurrences of a
different nature which require notice. The Fenians are men of Irish
birth who favor the independence of their country from Great Britain.
One of their favorite methods is by the invasion of Canada. In 1866,
about 1,500 of them entered Canada from Buffalo, and some skirmishing
occurred, but the movement was so clearly a violation of law that the
President sent a military force to the frontier and promptly stopped it.
[Illustration: LOG-CABIN CHURCH AT JUNEAU, ALASKA.]
EXECUTION OF MAXIMILIAN.
France had taken advantage of our Civil War to make an attempt to
establish a monarchy in Mexico. French troops were landed, an empire
proclaimed, and Maximilian, an Austrian archduke, declared emperor. He
went to Mexico in 1864, where he was compelled to fight the Mexicans who
had risen against his rule. With the help of the strong military force
which Louis Napoleon placed at his disposal, he was able to maintain
himself for a time. With the conclusion of the war, our government
intimated to Emperor Napoleon that it would be politic for him to
withdraw from Mexico, although we were quite willing to allow Maximilian
to remain emperor if it was the wish of the Mexicans. Napoleon acted on
the warning, but the misguided victim chose to stay, and was captured by
the Mexicans in 1867 and shot. That was the end of the attempt to
establish an empire in Mexico, which has long been a prosperous and
well-governed republic.
ADMISSION OF NEBRASKA.
Nebraska was admitted to the Union in 1867. It was a part of the
Louisiana purchase and was made a Territory in 1854, by the
Kansas-Nebraska act. Being located much further north than Kansas, it
escaped the strife and civil war which desolated that Territory. It has
proven to be a rich agricultural region, though it suffers at times from
grasshoppers, drought, and storms.
The attempts to lay an Atlantic telegraph cable resulted in failures
until 1866, when a cable was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland. Since
then other cables have been successfully stretched beneath the ocean
until it may be said the world is girdled by them.
PURCHASE OF ALASKA.
In 1867 our country purchased from Russia the large tract in the
northwest known as Russian America. The sum paid was $7,200,000, a price
which many deemed so exorbitant that it was considered a mere pretext of
Secretary Seward, who strongly urged the measure, in order to give
Russia a bonus for her valuable friendship during the Civil War.
Inclusive of the islands, the area of Alaska is 577,390 square miles.
The country was looked upon as a cold, dismal land of fogs and storms,
without any appreciable value, but its seal fisheries and timber have
been so productive of late years that it has repaid its original cost
tenfold and more.
WIDENING OF THE BREACH BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT.
One of the acts passed by Congress in March, 1867, forbade the President
to dismiss any members of his cabinet without the consent of the Senate.
The President insisted that the Constitution gave him the right to do
this. Secretary of War Stanton, who had resigned by his request, was
succeeded by General Grant, who gave way to Stanton, when the latter was
replaced by the Senate, in January, 1868. On the 21st of February the
President dismissed him and appointed Adjutant-General Thomas secretary
_ad interim_. Stanton refused to yield, and remained at his office night
and day, with a company of friends and a military guard. Several demands
for the office were made by General Thomas, but all were refused. It was
believed the President would send troops to enforce his order, but he
did not proceed to that extremity.
IMPEACHMENT AND ACQUITTAL OF THE PRESIDENT.
On the 24th of February the House of Representatives passed a resolution
to impeach the President. This was simply to accuse or charge him with
the commission of high crimes and misdemeanors. In such cases the trial
must be conducted by the Senate. A committee was appointed to prepare
the articles of impeachment, which, in the main, accused the executive
of violating the civil tenure act in his removal of Secretary Stanton,
though other charges were added.
When the President is impeached, the Constitution provides that his
trial shall take place before the Senate, sitting as a court. The trial
occupied thirty-two days, lasting until May 26th, with Chief Justice
Chase presiding, on which day a vote was taken on the eleventh article
of impeachment. Thirty-five senators voted for acquittal and nineteen
for conviction. One more vote--making the necessary two-thirds--would
have convicted. Ten days later the same vote was given on the other
charges, whereupon a verdict of acquittal was ordered.
[Illustration: A SOUTHERN LEGISLATURE UNDER CARPET-BAG RULE.
The carpet-baggers debauched the negroes, sending some of the most
ignorant of them to the Legislature, where their personal conduct was a
disgrace and they voted away vast sums of money for adventurers who
bribed them with a pittance.]
SAD CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
The country was in a lamentable condition. Congress censured the
President, who expressed his contempt for that body. General Sheridan,
whom the President had removed from the governorship of Louisiana, was
complimented for his administration, and Congress declared that there
was no valid government in the South, the jurisdiction of which was
transferred to General Grant, the head of the army.
By this time the carpet-baggers had swarmed into the sorely harried
region like so many locusts. They secured the support of the ignorant
blacks, by falsehood and misrepresentations, controlled the State
Legislatures, and had themselves elected to Congress. Enormous debts
were piled up, and negroes, who could not write their names, exultingly
made laws for their former masters, who remained in sullen silence at
their homes and wondered what affliction was coming next. The colored
legislators adjourned pell-mell to attend the circus; hundreds of
thousands of dollars were stolen, and extravagance, corruption, and
debauchery ran riot. As a public man remarked, one general
conflagration, sweeping from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, could
not have wrought more devastation in the South than the few years of
carpet-bag governments.
Yet all such evils are sure to right themselves, sooner or later. The
means are apt to be violent and revolutionary, and sometimes breed crime
of itself. It was not in the nature of things that the whites should
remain passive and meek under this unspeakable misrule. They united for
self-protection. One of the bands thus formed was the Ku-Klux, which in
time committed so many crimes in terrorizing the negroes that they were
suppressed by the stern arm of the military; a revolt of the best people
took place, and soon after 1870 the blight of carpet-bag government
disappeared from the South.
TRUE RECONCILIATION.
Despite the turbulence and angry feeling, the work of reconciliation
went on of itself. Northern capital entered the promising fields of the
South; former Union and Confederate leaders, as well as privates,
respected one another, as brave men always do, and became warm friends.
While many of the former went South, hundreds of the latter made their
homes in the North, where they were welcomed and assisted in the
struggle to "get upon their feet." This fraternal mingling of former
soldiers and the friendly exchange of visits between Union and
Confederate posts brought about true reconciliation, despite the
wrangles of politicians.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1868.
Before, however, this was fully accomplished, the presidential election
of 1868 took place. The most popular hero in this country, as in others,
is the military one, and the great value of General Grant's services in
the war for the Union made it clear, long before the assembling of the
nominating convention, that he would be the candidate of the Republican
party. He was unanimously named, with Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the nominee for
Vice-President. The Democrats placed in nomination Horatio Seymour, of
New York, and General Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. The result in
November was as follows: Republican ticket, 214 electoral votes;
Democratic, 80. The election was a striking proof of the popularity of
the great soldier.
Andrew Johnson was hopeful of a nomination from the Democrats, but his
name was scarcely mentioned. He lived in retirement for a number of
years, but was elected United States senator in 1875, and he died at his
home July 31st of that year.
THE EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT.
Ulysses S. Grant had already become so identified with the history of
our country that little remains to be added to that which has been
recorded. He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. Appointed
to West Point, he gave no evidence of special brilliancy, and was
graduated in 1843 with only a fair standing. He did good service in the
war with Mexico and was brevetted captain, but resigned his commission
in 1854 and went into business, where he attained only moderate success.
He was among the first to volunteer when the Civil War broke out. The
opportunity thus presented for the full display of his military genius
rapidly brought him to the front, the culmination of his career being
reached when he compelled the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox
Court-House in April, 1865, thereby bringing the long and terrible war
to a triumphant conclusion. He was a man of simple tastes, modest, but
with an unerring knowledge of his own abilities, thoroughly patriotic,
honest, chivalrous, devoted to his friends, and so trustful of them that
he remained their supporters sometimes after receiving proof of their
unworthiness. The mistakes of his administration were due mainly to this
trait of his character, which it is hard to condemn without reservation.
[Illustration: ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT.
(1822-1885.) Two terms, 1869-1877.]
The country being fairly launched once more on its career of progress
and prosperity, the government gained the opportunity to give attention
to matters which it was compelled to pass by while the war was in
progress. The first most important step was to call England to account
for her help in fitting out Confederate privateers, when we were in
extremity. It required considerable tact and delicacy to get the
"Alabama Claims," as they were termed, in proper form before the British
authorities, for they felt sensitive, but it was finally accomplished.
The arbitration tribunal which sat at Geneva, Switzerland, in June,
1872, decreed that England should pay the United States the sum of
$15,500,000 because of the damage inflicted by Confederate cruisers upon
Northern commerce. The amount was paid, and friendly relations between
the two countries were fully restored.
[Illustration: MRS. JULIA DENT GRANT.]
Our rapid growth had long since made the building of a railroad from the
East to the Pacific a necessity that continually grew more urgent.
Construction was begun as early as 1863, but the Civil War caused the
work to lag, and at the end of two years only one hundred miles had been
graded and forty laid. The progress then became more vigorous.
The road consisted of two divisions. The first was from Omaha, Nebraska,
to Ogden, Utah, a distance of 1,032 miles, while the western division,
known as the Central Pacific, covered the distance of 885 miles between
Ogden and San Francisco. Steadily approaching each other, these long
lines of railway met on the 10th of May, 1869, when the last spike, made
of solid gold, was driven, and the two locomotives, standing with their
pilots almost touching, joined in a joyous screech of their whistles.
The important event was celebrated with much ceremony, for it was worthy
of being commemorated.
RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED.
The vexatious work of reconstruction was completed during the early
months of 1870. Virginia had held out against the terms prescribed by
Congress, but her senators and representatives were admitted to their
seats in the latter part of January; those of Mississippi in the
following month, and those of Texas in March, at which time the
secretary of State issued a proclamation declaring the adoption of the
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees negro
suffrage. For the first time in almost twenty years, all the States were
fully represented in Congress.
THE CHICAGO FIRE.
On the 8th of October, 1871, Chicago was visited by the greatest
conflagration of modern times, with the single exception of that of
Moscow. Like many events, fraught with momentous consequences, it had a
trifling cause. A cow kicked over a lamp in a stable on De Koven Street,
which set fire to the straw. A gale swiftly carried the flames into some
adjoining lumber yards and frame houses. All the conditions were
favorable for a tremendous conflagration. The fire swept over the south
branch of the Chicago River, and raged furiously in the business
portion of the city. The main channel of the river was leaped as if it
were a narrow alley, and there were anxious hours when thousands
believed the whole city was doomed. As it was, the fire-swept district
covered four or five miles, and fully 20,000 buildings were burned. It
is believed that 250 lives were lost, about 100,000 people made
homeless, and $192,000,000 worth of property destroyed.
[Illustration: THE BURNING OF CHICAGO IN 1871.]
Chicago's affliction stirred the sympathy of the whole country.
Contributions were sent thither from every State, and everything was
done to aid the sufferers who had lost their all. With true American
pluck, the afflicted people bent to the work before them. Night and day
thousands toiled, and within the space of a year a newer and more
magnificent city rose like a Phoenix from its ashes. Chicago to-day is
one of the grandest and most enterprising cities in the world.
SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY.
We had made a treaty with England in 1846 which located the line of our
northwestern boundary along the 49th parallel westward to the middle of
"the channel" separating the continent from Vancouver's Island, and
then southward through the middle of the channel and of Fuca's Strait to
the Pacific Ocean. It was found, however, there were several channels,
and it was impossible to decide which was meant in the treaty. The claim
of England included the island of San Juan, she insisting that the
designated channel ran to the south of that island. Naturally, we took
the opposite view and were equally insistent that the channel ran to the
north, and that San Juan, therefore, belonged to us. The two nations
displayed their good sense by referring the dispute to arbitration and
selected the Emperor of Germany as the arbitrator. He decided in 1872 in
our favor.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1872.
It was a curious presidential election that took place in 1872. The
South was bitterly opposed to the Republican plan of reconstruction and
a good many in the North sympathized with them. One of the strongest
opponents of Grant's renomination was the _New York Tribune_, of which
Horace Greeley was editor. The Republicans who agreed with him were
called "Liberal Republicans," while the Straight-out Democrats retained
their organization. Naturally, the regular Republicans renominated
Grant, but Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, took the place of Schuyler
Colfax as the nominee for the Vice-Presidency. Horace Greeley, who had
spent his life in vigorously fighting the principles of the Democratic
party, was now endorsed by that organization after his nomination by the
Liberal Republicans, with B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, as his running
partner.
[Illustration: SECTION OF CHICAGO STOCK-YARDS, THE LARGEST IN THE
WORLD.]
The election was a perfect jumble. Eight candidates were voted for as
President and eleven for Vice-President. Grant received 286 electoral
votes and carried thirty-one States. Greeley was so crushed by his
defeat that he lost his reason and died within a month after election.
His electors scattered their votes, so that Thomas A. Hendricks, the
regular Democratic candidate, received 42; B. Gratz Brown, 16; Charles
J. Jenkins, 2; and David Davis, 1.
THE INDIAN QUESTION.
The second term of Grant was more troublous than the first. The
difficulties with the Indians, dating from the first settlement in the
country, were still with us. At the suggestion of the President, a grand
council of delegates of the civilized tribes met in December, 1870, in
the Choctaw division of the Indian Territory. The subject brought before
them was the organization of a republican form of government, to be
under the general rule of the United States. A second convention was
held in the following July and a provisional government organized. A
proposal was adopted that the United States should set aside large
tracts of land for the exclusive occupancy and use of the Indians. These
areas were to be known as "reservations," and so long as the Indians
remained upon them they were to be protected from molestation.
This scheme seemed to promise a settlement of the vexed question, but it
failed to accomplish what was expected. In the first place, most of the
Indians were unfriendly to it. No matter how large a part of country you
may give to a red man as his own, he will not be satisfied without
permission to roam and hunt over _all_ of it.
A more potent cause of trouble was the origin of all the Indian
troubles, from the colonial times to the present: the dishonesty and
rascality of the white men brought officially in contact with the red
men. Not only did these miscreants pursue their evil ways among the
Indians themselves, but there was an "Indian ring" in Washington, whose
members spent vast sums of money to secure the legislation that enabled
them to cheat the savages out of millions of dollars. This wholesale
plundering of the different tribes caused Indian wars and massacres,
while the evil men at the seat of the government grew wealthy and lived
in luxury.
THE MODOC TROUBLES.
Trouble at once resulted from removing the Indians to reservations that
were inferior in every respect to their former homes. The Modocs, who
had only a few hundred warriors, were compelled by our government to
abandon their fertile lands south of Oregon and go to a section which
was little better than a desert. They rebelled, and, under the
leadership of Captain Jack and Scar-faced Charley, a number took refuge
among some lava beds on the upper edge of California. On the 11th of
April, 1873, a conference was held between the Indian leaders and six
members of the peace commission. While it was in progress, the savages
suddenly attacked the white men. General Edward S. Canby and Dr. Thomas
were instantly killed, and General Meachem, another member, was badly
wounded, but escaped with his life.
The war against the Modocs was pushed. After much difficulty and
fighting, they were driven to the wall and compelled to surrender.
Captain Jack and two of his brother chiefs were hanged in the following
October. The remaining members were removed to a reservation in Dakota,
where they have given no further trouble.
CIVIL WAR IN LOUISIANA.
In the early part of this year, civil war broke out in Louisiana because
of the quarrels over reconstruction measures. The difficulty first
appeared two years earlier, when opposing factions made attempts to
capture the Legislature by unseating members belonging to the opposing
party. Matters became so grave that in the following January Federal
troops had to be used to preserve the peace. In December, 1872, another
bitter quarrel arose over the election of the governor and members of
the Legislature. The returning board divided, one part declaring William
P. Kellogg elected, while the other gave the election to John McEnery,
the candidate of the white man's party. Most of the negro vote had been
cast for Kellogg.
As a consequence, two rival State governments were organized. McEnery
was enjoined by the United States district court from acting, because,
as was asserted, the returning board which declared him elected had done
so in defiance of its order.
In the face of this prohibition, McEnery was inaugurated. The question
was referred to the Federal government, which declared in favor of
Kellogg. Thereupon the McEnery government disbanded, but in the latter
part of 1874 McEnery again laid claim to election. D.P. Penn, his
lieutenant-governor, and his armed followers took possession of the
State House. A fight followed in which Kellogg was driven from the
building, twenty-six persons killed and a large number wounded. Kellogg
appealed to Washington for help. McEnery, who was absent during these
violent proceedings, now returned and took the place of Penn. President
Grant ordered his supporters to disperse and General Emory forced
McEnery to surrender. The peace was broken in January, 1875, over the
election of members to the Legislature, and the Federal troops were
again called to restore order. A congressional committee was sent South
to investigate, and finally the quarrel was ended and Kellogg was
recognized as the legal governor.
ADMISSION OF COLORADO.
Colorado became the thirty-eighth State in August, 1876. The name is
Spanish, and refers to that part of the Rocky Mountains noted for its
many colored peaks. Colorado has more than thirty peaks within its
borders whose height is quite or nearly three miles. The wild,
mountainous region was explored in 1858 at two points, one near Pike's
Peak and the other in the southwestern portion. Both exploring parties
discovered gold, which, while abundant, is hard to extract. The
Territory was organized in 1861, and the principal discoveries of the
enormous deposits of silver have been made since 1870. The date of
Colorado's admission has caused it often to be referred to as the
"Centennial State."
THE PANIC OF 1873.
We had learned the meaning of hard times in 1837 and again in 1857. Once
more, in 1873, the blight fell upon the country. There were various
causes, all of which, in one sense, were the war. Prices had become
inflated, money was plentiful, and cities, towns, and people had become
extravagant. A mania seemed to seize municipal corporations for
indulging in "improvements," which brought ruinous debts upon the
municipalities. Enormous sums of money were invested in the building of
new railroad lines where the country was not developed sufficiently to
repay the expenditures. The quantity of goods brought into this country
was much in excess of that exported, a fact which turned the balance of
trade, as it was termed, against us. This required the sending abroad of
a large amount of money.
As illustrative of the extravagance in railroad building, it may be said
that, in the single year 1871, 8,000 miles were put in operation.
Instead of using ready money with which to build these lines, bonds were
issued by the railroad companies, which expected to pay the debts out of
the future earnings of the roads. In the course of five years
$1,750,000,000 were invested in railroad projects. The same speculative
spirit pervaded mining and manufacturing companies, which also borrowed
money by issuing bonds. A great amount of these were sold abroad, after
which the home market was industriously worked through the newspapers,
which overflowed with glowing promises. Thousands of poor widows,
orphans, and the trustees of estates invested all their scanty savings
in these enterprises.
Then the failures began. The banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company,
Philadelphia, one of the greatest in the United States, suspended, and
the whole country was alarmed. Next came the panic, which reached its
height in a few months. This was followed by dull times, when factories
closed, and multitudes were thrown out of employment. Several years
passed before the country fully recovered from the panic of 1873.
NOTABLE DEATHS.
Many noted men died during those times. The bluff, aggressive, and
patriotic Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's war secretary, passed away in
December, 1869, shortly after his appointment to the bench of the
supreme court by President Grant. General R.E. Lee, who had become
president of the Washington and Lee University, died at his home in
Lexington, Virginia, in 1870. Among others of prominence who died in the
same year were General George H. Thomas and Admiral Farragut. In 1872,
William H. Seward, Horace Greeley, Professor Morse, and General George
H. Meade breathed their last, and in the year following Chief Justice
Chase and Charles Sumner died. Millard Fillmore and Andrew Johnson, as
has been stated, died respectively in 1874 and 1875.
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.]
The Democrats now gained a majority in the House of Representatives for
the first time since 1860. Among the members elected from the South were
several distinguished military leaders of the Southern Confederacy,
besides Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, who had been its
vice-president.
It was about this time that gold was discovered among the Black Hills,
which by treaty belonged to the Sioux Indians, since the section was
within their reservation. White men were warned to keep away, and steps
were taken by the military authorities to prevent them entering upon the
forbidden ground. But no risk or danger is sufficient to quench men's
thirst for gold, and thousands of the most desperate characters hurried
to the Black Hills and began digging for the yellow deposit.
CUSTER'S MASSACRE.
The Sioux are fierce and warlike. They have given our government a great
deal of trouble, and, finding their reservation invaded by white men,
they retaliated by leaving it, burning houses, stealing horses, and
cattle, and killing settlers in Wyoming and Montana. Their outrages
became so serious that the government sent a strong military force
thither under Generals Terry and Crook, which drove a formidable body of
warriors under the well-known Sitting Bull and others toward the Big
Horn Mountains and River.
[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE CROOK.]
Generals Reno and Custer rode forward with the Seventh Cavalry to
reconnoitre, and discovered the Indians encamped in a village nearly
three miles long on the left bank of the Little Big Horn River. Custer,
who was an impetuous, headlong officer, instantly charged upon the
Indians without waiting for reinforcements.
This woeful blunder was made June 25, 1876. All that is known of it has
been obtained from the Indians themselves. They agree that Custer and
his men dashed directly among the thousands of warriors, and that they
fought with desperate heroism, but Custer and every one of his men were
killed. The number was 261. General Reno held his position at the lower
end of the encampment on the bluffs of the Little Big Horn until
reinforcements arrived. Soldiers were sent to the neighborhood, and
there was more sharp fighting. It was a long time and there was much
negotiation necessary before the Sioux could be persuaded to return to
their reservation in Dakota.
On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States was one hundred years old.
Preparations had been on foot for several years to give it a fitting
celebration. A bill was passed by Congress as early as March, 1871,
providing that an exhibition of foreign and American arts, products, and
manufactures should be held under the auspices of the government of the
United States. A centennial commission was appointed, consisting of
General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut; Professor John L. Campbell, of
Indiana; Alfred T. Goshorn, of Ohio; and John L. Shoemaker, of
Pennsylvania. Naturally Philadelphia, where the Declaration of
Independence was written and signed, was selected as the most fitting
place to hold the celebration. Fairmount Park, one of the largest and
finest in the world, was set apart for the buildings.
The invitations sent to other nations were courteously accepted, the
following being those that took part: The Argentine Confederation,
Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador,
Egypt, France (including Algeria), German Empire, Great Britain and her
colonies, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan,
Liberia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Orange Free State,
Persia, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunis,
Turkey, United States of Colombia, and Venezuela.
To furnish room for the display of the myriads of articles, five
principal buildings were erected, viz.: the Main Building, 1,876 feet
long and 464 feet wide; the Art Gallery or Memorial Hall, Machinery
Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The exhibition was
formally opened by President Grant, May 1st, and closed by him six
months later. The daily attendance began with about 5,000, but rose to
275,000 toward the close. The total number of visitors was some
10,000,000, and the total receipts, as officially given out, were
$3,761,598. The exhibition was a splendid success in every sense.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876.
Few people to-day understand the danger through which the country passed
in the autumn and winter of 1876. In June, the two great political
parties put their presidential tickets in the field. That of the
Republicans was Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and William A. Wheeler, of
New York; of the Democrats, Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A.
Hendricks, of Indiana. The Independent Greenback party also nominated a
ticket, at the head of which was the venerable philanthropist, Peter
Cooper, of New York, with Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio, the candidate for the
vice-presidency.
There was little difference between the platforms of the two leading
parties. The Democrats declared for _reform_ through all the methods of
the administration. The Republicans were equally loud in their calls for
the reform of every political abuse, and for the punishment of any and
all who made wrongful use of political offices. They also insisted that
the rights of the colored men should be safeguarded, and denounced the
doctrine of State sovereignty, of which there was little to be feared,
since it had been effectually killed by the war.
The Greenbackers made considerable stir. They also used the shibboleth
of reform, but put the currency question before all others. Although the
government was committed to the redemption of the national legal-tenders
and bonds in gold, the Greenbackers insisted that this was impossible,
and was also unjust to the debtor class. They claimed, further, that it
was the duty of the government to provide a national paper currency,
based not on specie, but on bonds bearing a low rate of interest. The
Republicans and Democrats maintained that the government could not
abrogate its promises of redeeming the currency and bonds in gold.
The Greenback party polled 81,740 votes, the Prohibition 9,522, and the
American 2,636, none gaining an electoral vote. For several days after
the November election, it was generally believed that the Democrats had
been successful, though a few Republican papers, notably the _New York
Times_, persistently claimed that the Republican ticket had been
successful.
[Illustration: MEMORIAL HALL OF 1876.]
There was a dispute in four States. In Louisiana, the returning board
threw out the returns from several parishes on the ground of
intimidation and fraud, thereby placing 4,000 majority to the credit of
the Republicans. The Democrats insisted that the rejected votes should
be counted, and, had it been done, Tilden would have been elected.
In South Carolina, two bodies claimed to be the legal Legislature and
both canvassed the returns, one giving a plurality of 800 to the
Republican ticket and the other a smaller majority to the Democratic.
Precisely the same wrangle occurred in Florida, where each side claimed
a majority of about a hundred. Matters were still more complicated in
Oregon, where a Republican elector was declared ineligible, because he
held the office of postmaster at the time he was chosen elector. The
governor proposed to withhold the certificate from him and give it to a
Democrat. Had everything claimed by the Republicans been conceded, they
would have had 185 and the Democrats 184. It was necessary, therefore,
for the Republicans to maintain every point in order to secure their
President, for it was beyond dispute that Tilden had received 184
electoral votes. On the popular vote, he had 4,284,885 to 4,033,950 for
Hayes. Each party charged the other with fraud, and thousands of
Democrats were so incensed at what they believed was a plot to cheat
them out of the presidency that they were ready to go to war. Had they
done so, it would have been the most terrible peril that ever came upon
the Republic, for the war would not have been one section against the
other, but of neighborhood against neighborhood throughout the land.
[Illustration: SAMUEL J. TILDEN (1814-1886.)]
As if nothing in the way of discord should be lacking, the Senate was
Republican and the House Democratic. The election being disputed, it
fell to them to decide the question--something they would never do,
since they were deadlocked. This was so apparent that thoughtful men saw
that some new and extraordinary means must be found to save the country
from civil war.
Congress, after long and earnest discussion, passed a bill creating an
Electoral Commission, to which it was agreed to submit the dispute. This
commission was to consist of fifteen members, five to be appointed by
the House, five by the Senate, and the remaining five to consist of
judges of the Supreme Court.
The Senate being Republican, its presiding officer, the Vice-President,
named three Republicans and two Democrats; the House naturally appointed
three Democrats and two Republicans; while of the Supreme Court, three
were Republicans and two Democrats. This, it will be noted, gave to the
commission eight Republicans and seven Democrats. The body by a strict
party vote decided every dispute in favor of the Republicans, and on the
2d of March, 1877, two days before inauguration, Rutherford B. Hayes was
decided President-elect of the United States.
[Illustration: THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION WHICH DECIDED UPON THE ELECTION
OF PRESIDENT HAYES.
Composed of three Republican and two Democratic Senators, three
Democratic and two Republican Representatives, three Republican and two
Democratic Justices of the Supreme Court; total, eight Republicans and
seven Democrats. By a strict party vote the decision was given in favor
of Mr. Hayes, who, two days later, March 4, 1877, was inaugurated
President of the United States.]
CHAPTER XX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR, 1877-1885.
R.B. Hayes--The Telephone--Railway Strikes--Elevated Railroads--War with
the Nez Perce Indians--Remonetization of Silver--Resumption of Specie
Payments--A Strange Fishery Award--The Yellow Fever Scourge--Presidential
Election of 1878--James A. Garfield--Civil Service Reform--Assassination
of President Garfield--Chester A. Arthur--The Star Route Frauds--The
Brooklyn Bridge--The Chinese Question--The Mormons--Alaska Exploration
--The Yorktown Centennial--Attempts to Reach the North Pole by Americans
--History of the Greely Expedition.
THE NINETEENTH PRESIDENT.
[Illustration: RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES (1823-1893) One term,
1877-1881.]
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware County, Ohio, October 4,
1822, and was graduated from Kenyon College at the age of twenty years.
In 1845 he completed his legal studies at Harvard University, and
practiced law, first at Marietta, in his native State, then at Fremont,
and finally in Cincinnati. He entered the military service, at the
beginning of the war, as major, and rose to the rank of brevet
major-general. His career as a soldier was creditable. While still in
the service, in 1864, he was elected to Congress, and was governor of
Ohio in 1867, 1869, and again in 1875. His popularity as chief
magistrate of one of the leading States led to his nomination to the
presidency, to which, however, it must be conceded, he had not a clear
title. He died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893.
President Hayes proved his desire to strengthen the fraternal feeling
between the North and South by appointing as a member of his cabinet
David McKey, his postmaster-general. Mr. McKey was from Tennessee, and
had served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Hayes' administration
on the whole was uneventful, though marked by a number of incidents
which deserve mention. It was in 1877 that the first telephone for
business purposes was put into use. It connected the residence of
Charles Williams, in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his business office
in Boston, three miles distant. Alexander Bell, of the latter city, was
the inventor of the instrument, which is now in general use throughout
the country, and serves to connect points more than a thousand miles
apart.
RAILWAY STRIKES.
In the summer of 1877 occurred one of the most violent outbreaks among
labor men that has ever been known in this country. There was unrest in
the mining districts over the question of wages, and the dissatisfaction
spread to the principal manufacturing points. When the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad made a reduction of 10 per cent. in the pay of its
employees it was followed, July 14th, by a partial strike on their line.
The men had the sympathy of workmen throughout the country, and the
strike spread to the Pennsylvania, Erie, New York Central, and their
western connections, including the Missouri and Pacific, and a number of
less important lines west of the Mississippi.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is one of the most intelligent
and conservative labor organizations in the country. It has won the
respect of corporations as well as of the community-at-large by its
fairness and its refusal to engage in strikes, except as a last resort
against grievances. Its members are located in all parts of the country,
and include a good many thousands. In the strike named the Brotherhood
took the lead, and the firemen, brakemen, and other railroad employees
joined them. The result was the stoppage of the wheels of commerce and
the ruin of vast amounts of perishable freight, to say nothing of the
expensive delays of all kinds. The railroad companies called upon the
various State authorities for protection in operating their lines, but,
as is generally the case, the militia were either in sympathy with the
strikers or were afraid of them. As a final resort, an appeal was made
to the United States government, whose soldiers understand only one
duty, that of obeying orders.
The strikers stopped all trains in Baltimore and Martinsburg, West
Virginia, and defied the authorities. The militia were scattered, but a
few regulars were sufficient to raise the blockade. On the 20th of July,
in an attempt of the rioters to resist the clearing of the streets in
Baltimore, nine persons were killed and a score wounded. The strike
extended until it included the whole country, with the exception of the
cotton-growing States.
The most dangerous outbreak was in Pittsburg, where an immense mob held
control of the city for two days. Disorder and violence reigned, and the
authorities were powerless. When on the 21st soldiers appeared on the
streets they were assailed with stones and pistol-shots, and they
replied with several volleys which killed and wounded a number of
rioters. This only added fuel to the flames, and the mob became more
savage than ever. The soldiers were attacked so furiously that they ran
into a roundhouse of the railway company for protection. There they were
besieged, and oil cars were rolled against the building and fired with
the purpose of burning the soldiers to death. The firemen were not
allowed to put out the flames, and it was several days before the
defenders were rescued.
The infuriated mob applied the torch to the buildings of the railroad
company, gutted cars, scattered or carried off the contents, burst open
and drank barrels of whiskey, and raged like so many wild beasts. Before
the terrific outbreak subsided, the Union Depot and all the machine
shops and railway buildings in the city were burned. Among the losses
were 126 locomotives and 2,500 cars laden with valuable freight. The
regular troops finally subdued the rioters, but not until a hundred
people had been killed and property destroyed to the value of five
million dollars.
There was rioting accompanied with violence in Chicago, Buffalo,
Columbus, Ohio, and at many other points. In Chicago, on the 26th of
July, nineteen persons were killed. St. Louis was disturbed, but there
was no special outbreak. In San Francisco a savage attack was made on
the Chinese and the managers of the lumber yards. At one period, on
6,000 miles of railroad not a wheel was turned, and 100,000 laborers
were idle or assisting in the rioting. Such violent ebullitions soon
expend themselves. By-and-by the men began returning to their work, and
within two or three weeks all the railroads were operating as usual.
About this time the elevated railway system was adopted in New York
City. It has proved so convenient that many lines have been added in the
metropolis, and the same means of travel is used in other cities, though
of late years electric trolley cars have been widely introduced.
THE NEZ PERCE WAR.
When Lewis and Clark journeyed across the upper part of our country, at
the beginning of the century, they made a treaty with the Nez Perce
Indians, whose home was in the northwest. They were visited afterward by
missionaries, and no trouble occurred with them until after our war with
Mexico. A large section of their land was bought by the United States
government in 1854, and a reservation was set apart for them in
northwestern Idaho and northeastern Oregon. As in the case of the
Seminoles of Florida however, many of the chiefs were opposed to the
sale of their lands, and, when the date came for their departure,
refused to leave.
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces was one of the most remarkable Indians of
the century. He was shrewd, sagacious, brave, and remarkably
intelligent. General Wesley Merritt, of the United States army, has
pronounced his military genius of the highest order, and, in the
incidents we are about to narrate, his exploit in its way has never been
surpassed. A good many people will recall seeing Joseph at the
ceremonies at the tomb of General Grant in 1897, where his fine military
appearance attracted much attention.
In 1877, General Howard, commanding the department of the Columbia,
marched against the troublesome Nez Perces with a small force of
regulars. Being too weak to fight the soldiers, Chief Joseph, at the
head of his band, repeatedly eluded them with masterly skill. This
strange chase continued for hundreds of miles, Joseph keeping his women,
children, and impedimenta not only intact, but beyond reach of the
pursuers, who were filled with admiration of his genius. In the autumn
of 1877, the Nez Perces passed through the mountains of northern
Montana, where they were confronted by Colonel Miles and the regulars.
Even then Joseph could not be brought to battle, and crossed the
Missouri near the mouth of the Mussel Shell. In the Bear Paw Mountains,
however, his camp was surrounded and he was brought to bay. The Nez
Perces fought with great bravery, but were defeated. Joseph faced the
inevitable, and, walking forward to where General Howard was sitting on
his horse, handed him his rifle. Then, pointing to the sun in the sky,
he said: "From where the sun is in yonder heavens, I fight the white man
no more."
General Howard admired the valiant and chivalrous warrior, who had
conducted his campaign not only with rare skill, but without any of the
outrages and cruelties which seem natural to the American race. He took
his hand, and promised to be his friend. General Howard was able to keep
his promise, and secured such a favorable location for Joseph and his
band that they have been peaceable and satisfied ever since.
REMONETIZATION OF SILVER.
The money or currency question has long been a disturbing factor in
politics. During the war the silver currency had been out of
circulation, its place being taken for awhile by postage stamps and
afterward by "shinplasters," which were paper fractional parts of a
dollar. In 1873, Congress made gold the exclusive money standard. Silver
depreciated some ten per cent., and the "hard money" people opposed the
measures that were set on foot to remonetize silver; that is, to bring
it into circulation again. Such a bill was passed, then vetoed by the
President, promptly repassed over his veto, and it was ordered that the
coinage of silver should proceed at a rate not to exceed $2,000,000 a
month. About this time (December 18, 1878), gold and paper money for the
first time in seventeen years was of equal value.
In accordance with the law of 1875, specie payments by the United States
government was effected January 1, 1879. At that time there was an
accumulation of $138,000,000 in the United States treasury, nearly all
of it gold, representing forty per cent. of the outstanding bonds. The
mere knowledge of this fact so strengthened the public credit that,
instead of the anticipated rush on the 1st of January, only $11,000,000
was offered for redemption. The problem of specie payment proved to be a
bugbear.
[Illustration: GRANT AT WINDSOR CASTLE.]
THE FISHERY AWARD.
By the treaty of Washington, signed in 1872, Americans were allowed to
take fish of every kind, except shellfish, on the seacoasts and shores
and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of the provinces of Quebec, Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, and the adjacent islands,
without restriction as to the distance from shore. In return for this
privilege, our government agreed to charge a duty upon certain kinds of
fish brought by British subjects into American harbors. There were other
mutual concessions, and, in order to balance matters and make everything
smooth, the whole question was placed in the hands of an arbitration
commission, which began its sessions in the summer of 1877, at Halifax.
The commission included a member appointed by the Queen, one by the
President, and the third by the Austrian ambassador at the Court of St.
James. Our country was astounded by the verdict of this commission,
which was that the United States should pay the sum of $5,000,000 to the
British government. Even England was surprised, and our government was
disposed to refuse to accept the verdict; but to do that would have
established a bad precedent, and the sum named was paid to Great Britain
in the autumn of 1878.
THE YELLOW FEVER SCOURGE.
Yellow fever has been one of the most dreadful scourges that our country
has suffered. It first appeared on this continent in 1780, when Boston
was ravaged in the summer of that year. It afterward appeared in New
York and Philadelphia, especially in 1793 and 1797, after which its
visitations have been mainly confined to the South, where the sanitation
measures have been less rigid than in the North. It has been proven that
strict quarantine and absolute cleanliness are safeguards against its
entrance, though, after the frightful plague has once appeared in a
place, it is impossible to stamp it out. It subsides before the approach
of frost and cold weather, and the cure for those smitten is to carry
them to cool elevations. Thus far science has not been able to discover
the real nature of yellow fever, nor to provide a remedy. It has been
established, however, that it is due to bacilli or disease germs, as is
the case with cholera, consumption, and many other diseases, and there
is reason to believe a specific remedy will soon be brought to light.
One of the most destructive visitations of yellow fever was in the
summer and autumn of 1873. Memphis and New Orleans suffered the most,
and at one time those cities were abandoned by all who could leave them.
Other portions of the country contributed every possible assistance in
the way of medical help, nurses, and money, but before the scourge was
extirpated by cool weather fully 15,000 persons had succumbed.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1878.
The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago at the opening of
June. As General Grant had returned from his memorable tour round the
world, having been received everywhere with the highest honors, a
determined effort was now made to renominate him for a third term.
Roscoe Conkling, United States senator from New York, was the leader in
the movement, and the whole number of Grant's supporters was 306, who
without a break cast their vote for him thirty-six times in succession.
They failed because of the widespread opposition to any man holding the
exalted office for a longer period than Washington, the Father of his
Country.
The principal rivals of General Grant were James G. Blaine, of Maine,
and John Sherman, of Ohio. There being a deadlock, the supporters of
these two candidates united and thereby nominated James A. Garfield, of
Ohio, with Chester A. Arthur, of New York, as the nominee for
Vice-President.
[Illustration: GRANT IN JAPAN.]
The Democratic Convention, which met in Cincinnati in the latter part of
June, placed in nomination General Winfield S. Hancock, of New York, and
William H. English, of Indiana. The prospect of Hancock's election was
excellent, but he destroyed it by one of those unfortunate expressions
which more than once have defeated candidates for high office. When
questioned concerning the tariff he expressed the opinion that it was a
"local issue," a remark which many accepted as displaying ignorance of
the important subject, and they, therefore, voted against him. The
result was as follows: James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, 214
electoral votes; W.S. Hancock and W.H. English, 155; James B. Weaver and
B.J. Chambers, the Greenback candidates, received 307,306 popular votes;
Neal Dow and H.A. Thompson, the Prohibition, 10,305; and John W. Phelps
and S.C. Pomeroy, American, 707; but none of the three secured an
electoral vote.
James A. Garfield was born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November
19, 1831. While he was an infant his father died and he was left to the
care of his noble mother, to whom he was devotedly attached.
[Illustration: THE BOY JAMES GARFIELD BRINGING HIS FIRST DAY'S EARNINGS
TO HIS MOTHER.]
Garfield spent his boyhood in the backwoods, and at one time was the
driver of a canal-boat. He became strong, rugged, and a fine athlete,
and at the same time obtained the rudiments of an English education. At
the age of seventeen he attended the high school at Chester, and by hard
study acquired an excellent knowledge of Latin, Greek, and algebra. He
was a student at Hiram College, and became an instructor in 1854. The
same year he entered Williams College, from which he was graduated with
honor in 1856. He returned to Ohio, and was appointed a professor in
Hiram College. He indulged his taste for politics and law, and served
for a time in the State Senate, but was president of the college when
the war broke out. He at once volunteered, and was appointed
lieutenant-colonel and afterward colonel of the Forty-second Regiment of
Ohio Volunteers.
Garfield displayed remarkable ability in the military service, and had
he remained would have won high distinction. As a brigadier-general he
did fine work in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was chief-of-staff to
General Rosecrans, and showed great gallantry in the tremendous battle
of Chickamauga. He was in the field when elected to Congress in 1862.
His desire was to remain, but, at the personal request of President
Lincoln, he entered Congress, where it was felt his help was needed in
the important legislation before the country. The estimate in which he
was held by his fellow-citizens is shown by the fact that he served as a
member of Congress for seventeen years. In 1879 he was chosen United
States senator, but did not take his seat because of his nomination for
the presidency.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
The question of "civil service reform," as it is termed, assumed
prominence during the term of Hayes. This, as all understand, means that
the public offices should be filled not in accordance with politics, but
be determined by fitness. The charge has been made with reason that,
when public servants have become skilled in the discharge of their
duties, they are turned out to make room for the friends of the new
administration, where politics are different. In that way public service
is injured.
[Illustration: JAMES A. GARFIELD (1831-1881.) One partial term, 1881.]
The opponents of civil service reform maintain, on the other hand, that
there are thousands out of office who are just as capable as those in
office, and that the party ought to reward those that have helped it to
success. "To the victor belong the spoils" was the policy of Andrew
Jackson, and it has been followed in a greater or less degree ever
since. The cry of civil service reform was long a well-sounding motto
with which to catch votes, but no serious effort was made to enforce it.
Hayes tried his hand, but the clamor for political rewards was so
insistent that he gave it up, and matters dropped back into their old
ruts. The vexatious question was inherited by Garfield, and the hope was
general that he would not only make a determined effort, but would
succeed in carrying out the principles of real civil service reform.
The task soon proved beyond the capacity of himself or any human being.
It seemed as if nearly every man in the country had been the deciding
factor in the election of the President, while the "original Garfield
man" would have formed a full regiment. The executive threw up his
hands, and decided to pass over the plague to the next administration.
The quarrel produced a split in the Republican party itself, and two
wings were formed, known as "Half-breeds" and "Stalwarts." At the head
of the latter was the brilliant New York senator, Roscoe Conkling, who
had been so persistent in his efforts to renominate General Grant for a
third term. The leader of the Half-breeds was James G. Blaine, as
brilliant as Conkling, while both were strong personal opponents. The
Stalwarts claimed the right of dividing the offices, as had been the
custom for a century, the senators and representatives apportioning the
plums among the horde of claimants. The President was supported by the
Half-breeds in his claim that it was his province to bestow these gifts
as he saw fit.
The collectorship of the port of New York is one of the best offices at
the disposal of the administration. The President nominated Judge
William Robertson. He was personally distasteful to Conkling, and, when
he found himself unable to prevent his confirmation by the Senate, he
and Thomas C. Platt, the junior senator from New York, resigned their
seats. Both afterward sought and failed to secure a re-election from the
Legislature. Congress adjourned in June.
[Illustration: THE AGED MOTHER OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.]
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.
Relieved from the pressure of his duties, the President now made his
arrangements for placing his two sons in Williams College and joining
his invalid wife at the seashore. On the 2d of July, 1881, accompanied
by Secretary Blaine and several friends, he rode to the Baltimore
Railroad station to board the cars. He had just entered the building and
was chatting with his secretary, when a miscreant named Charles Julias
Guiteau stepped up behind him and shot him with a pistol in the back.
The wounded President sank to the floor and was carried to the executive
mansion, while the assassin was hurried to prison before he could be
lynched, as he assuredly would have been but for such prompt action by
the authorities.
The shock to the country was scarcely less than when Abraham Lincoln was
shot in Ford's Theatre. Although the wound of the President was severe,
it was not believed to be necessarily fatal. He received the best
medical attention, and prayers for his recovery were sent up from every
quarter of the land and across the sea. Daily bulletins of his condition
were issued and messages of sympathy were received from many crowned
heads on the other side of the Atlantic. The sufferer was removed on the
6th of September to Elberon, New Jersey, where it was hoped the
invigorating sea-air would bring back strength to his wasted frame.
These hopes were vain, and, on the 19th of September, he quietly
breathed his last. It may be noted that this date was the anniversary of
the battle of Chickamauga, where General Garfield performed his most
brilliant service in the war. Amid universal expressions of sympathy the
remains were borne to Cleveland, where a fine monument has been erected
to his memory.
[Illustration: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.]
Guiteau was a miserable "crank," who had long dogged the President for
an appointment, failing to obtain which he shot him. That his brain was
partly awry, with perhaps a taint of insanity, cannot be questioned,
but, none the less, it was shown that he clearly knew the difference
between right and wrong and was morally responsible for his unspeakable
crime. He was given a fair trial, and, having been found guilty, was
hanged on the 30th of June, 1882.
THE TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT.
Chester Alan Arthur, who was immediately sworn in as President, was born
in Vermont, October 5, 1830. He received his education at Union College,
from which he was graduated in 1849. He taught school for a time in his
native State, and then removed to the City of New York, where he studied
law and was admitted to the bar. His ability speedily brought him to the
front and gave him a lucrative practice. He was quartermaster-general of
the State of New York during the war and displayed fine executive
ability. When the war ended, he resumed the practice of law and was made
collector of customs for the port of New York in 1871. Seven years later
he was removed by President Hayes, and shortly after he entered the
presidential canvass of 1880. He died November 18, 1886.
Arthur took the oath of office in New York, on the day succeeding the
death of Garfield, and left at once for Washington. Chief Justice Waite
administered the oath again to him in the vice-president's room. Among
those present were General Grant, General Sherman, Senator Sherman, and
ex-President Hayes.
[Illustration: TABLET IN THE WAITING-ROOM OF THE RAILWAY STATION WHERE
GARFIELD WAS SHOT.]
While President Arthur showed slight disposition to change the policy of
the administration, he inherited many vexatious matters from his
predecessor. One of the worst of these was the "Star Route Frauds."
The rapid settlement of the West naturally created a demand for improved
mail facilities. In a number of places, fast mail routes had been
organized by the postoffice department, and these were designated on the
official documents by the figures of stars. The authorized expenditures
of the postoffice department were clearly defined, but a clause in the
law permitted it to "expedite" such routes as proved to be inefficient.
This opened the door for fraud, and, as is always the case, it lost no
time in entering.
The contracts were let at the legal rates, and then, availing themselves
of the legal authority, the same routes were "expedited" at immense
profits. The money thus stolen--and it amounted to immense sums--was
divided among the parties letting the contracts and the contractors.
Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, and Thomas J. Brady--formerly
second-assistant postmaster-general--were indicted for a conspiracy to
defraud the government and enrich themselves. All were prominent
politicians, and their trial attracted national attention. Although the
testimony seemed to establish the guilt of the parties accused, all
three escaped, the miscarriage of justice causing a qualm of disgust and
indignation among right-minded citizens.
One of the famous structures in the country is the Brooklyn Bridge,
which was completed and opened for traffic May 24, 1883. Operations on
it were begun January 3, 1870, and the towers were finished six years
later. The first wire reaching from tower to tower was strung August 14,
1876. Each of the four cables contains 5,296 wires, untwisted, lying
straight, and held in place by other wires coiled tightly around them.
The length of the main span is 1,595-1/2 feet; the two land spans are
930 feet each; the masonry approach on the New York side is 1,562 feet
long, and that on the Brooklyn side 971 feet. The total distance,
therefore, is about 6,000 feet, or more than a mile. The middle of the
main span is about 135 feet above the water in summer, and in winter,
owing to the contraction caused by cold, it is three feet more. The
height is such that nearly any ship can pass under the bridge without
lowering its top-mast. Twenty persons were killed during the
construction of the bridge. Although the day was inclement and
unfavorable, the opening of the structure to travel was attended with
many ceremonies, including civic and military processions, oratory,
salutes by naval vessels, and illuminations and fireworks in the
evening.
[Illustration: CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR.
(1830-1886.) One partial term, 1881-1885.]
THE CHINESE.
The State of California, on account of its situation, received thousands
of Chinese immigrants every year from across the Pacific. These people
live so meanly that they could afford to work for wages upon which a
white man would starve. Consequently they crowded out other laborers and
caused so much discontent that something in the nature of a revolt took
place against them. The grievance of the Californians was so
well-founded that Congress, while Hayes was President, passed a bill
which forbade the immigration of Chinese laborers to this country, and
requiring those already here to take out certificates, if they left the
United States, so as to identify themselves before being allowed to
return. President Hayes vetoed the bill, but it was passed in 1882. The
amazing ingenuity of the Chinese has enabled them to evade the law in
many instances, but their immigration was substantially checked.
Probably there is no more degraded community on the face of the earth
than the part in San Francisco known as "Chinatown." Most of the yellow
celestials live underground, where their unspeakable villainies are a
flaming reproach to the authorities that permit them.
[Illustration: THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.]
THE MORMONS.
The Mormons proved a thorn in the side of the body politic. Their
polygamous practices led to the passage in 1882 of Senator Edmunds' bill
which excluded polygamists from holding office. A good many persons
were convicted and sentenced for violation of the law, which was upheld
by the Supreme Court.
While this legislation did much to abate the crime, it cannot be said
that it effectually ended it, for, at this writing, one of the
representatives from the new State of Utah is the husband of several
wives, and it is apparent that still more severe legislation will be
required to stamp out the evil.
[Illustration: SCENE IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO.]
EXPLORATION OF ALASKA.
Attention was so generally directed toward Alaska, our recent purchase
from Russia, that an exploring expedition visited that country in 1883,
under the command of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. It should be stated
that the party, which was a small one, went thither without authority
from the government, its departure from Portland, Oregon, May 22d, being
secret. It was gone for several months, and brought back interesting and
valuable information. One bit of knowledge was new. The explorers
learned that the length of the great river Yukon is 2,044 miles, which
makes it the third in length in the United States, the fourth in North
America, the seventh in the western hemisphere, and the seventeenth in
the world. The area drained by this immense stream is 200,000 square
miles.
THE YORKTOWN CENTENNIAL.
We have learned of the centennial celebration of the birth of our
republic in Philadelphia. Many other celebrations of important events
were held in different parts of the country, the most important of which
was the commemoration of the great victory at Yorktown, which brought
the Revolution to a close and secured the independence of our country.
As was befitting, preparations were made on a grand scale for this
celebration. Thousands journeyed thither days before the exercises
opened. President Arthur arrived at ten o'clock on the morning of
October 18, 1881, in a government steamer, his approach being announced
by salute after salute, each of twenty-one guns, from the different
ships of the fleet.
The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Robert Nelson, grandson of
Governor Nelson, who commanded the Virginia militia at Yorktown and
directed the fire so as to destroy his own home, in which Cornwallis had
his headquarters, after which Governor Holliday, of Virginia, made the
address. At its conclusion, the sword was held up to view which was
presented to the horseman who rode at high speed to Philadelphia with
the news of the surrender of Cornwallis. Another interesting fact was
that W.W. Henry, the grandson of Patrick Henry, was sitting at that
moment on the platform.
The corner-stone of the monument was laid with Masonic ceremonies. The
chair in which the Grand Master for the occasion sat was one that had
been used by Washington when he was Grand Master of the Virginia Masons.
The sash and apron were presented to him at Mount Vernon in 1784, and
had been worked by Mrs. Lafayette. The gavel was made from a portion of
the quarter-deck of the United States frigate _Lawrence_, flagship of
Commodore Perry, when he won his great victory on Lake Erie in
September, 1813. Space cannot be given to enumerate the notables who
were present nor the eloquent addresses that were made. Among the guests
were descendants of Rochambeau, Steuben, and many German and French
friends. The centennial ode was written by Paul H. Hayne, the Southern
poet (who died in 1886), and the oration of the day was by Robert C.
Winthrop.
It was a graceful tribute to the friendly course of England, when
Secretary Blaine, at the reception which followed the ceremonies, read
the following order:
"In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily
existing between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust
and confidence of peace and good-will between the two countries for
all centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound
respect entertained by the American people for the illustrious
sovereign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne, it is
hereby ordered that at the close of these services, commemorative of
the valor and success of our forefathers in their patriotic struggle
for independence, the British flag shall be saluted by the forces of
the army and navy of the United States now at Yorktown. The secretary
of war and the secretary of the navy will give orders accordingly.
"CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
"By the PRESIDENT.
"JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State."
The final ceremonies of Yorktown occurred on the 20th of October, at
which time 9,000 sailors, regulars, and militia made an impressive
spectacle. They were under the command of General Hancock, and
represented all of the thirteen original States, including a number of
others. They passed in review before the President, both branches of
Congress, governors of the States and their staffs, and the French and
German guests of the government.
ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE.
One of these days the North Pole will be reached, but no one can say
when. For hundreds of years the attempt has been made again and again,
and daring navigators have penetrated far into those icy regions, where
the temperature for months at a time registers forty, fifty, and sixty
degrees below zero, only to perish or be turned back disappointed.
The first American expedition into the Arctic regions was conducted by
Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. He sailed from New York in the steamer _Advance_,
May 30, 1853. He reached Smith Strait, as far as Cape George Russell,
and then returned to Van Rensselaer Harbor for the winter. A number of
excursions were made from that point, and 125 miles of coast were traced
to the north and east. Two of the men penetrated to Washington Land in
latitude 82° 27', and discovered an open channel, which they named
Kennedy. Kane came home in 1855, having been further north than any
other explorer. He was obliged to abandon his ship and proceed overland
to the Danish settlements in the south, where he was met by a relief
party.
One of the members of this expedition was Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who, in
1860, attained 81° 35' north latitude, when he was forced to return
without having accomplished anything of importance. Sir John Franklin,
an English navigator, had been lost in the Arctic regions a number of
years before, and several expeditions had been sent in search of him,
but all failed to secure any definite information. In 1860, Dr. Charles
F. Hall, of Connecticut, led an expedition in quest of the lost
explorer. He was unfortunate enough to lose his boat and was obliged to
return. The most interesting discoveries made by Dr. Hall were a number
of relics of Frobisher's expedition to those dismal regions fully 300
years before. A second party, under Hall, found the same year several
relics of Franklin, and dissipated all possible hope that he or any of
his men were still living.
Dr. Hall was an enthusiastic explorer of those inhospitable regions and
spent five years among the Eskemos. Coming home, he organized a third
party, for, cheerless and dismal as are those frozen solitudes, they
seemed to hold a resistless fascination to all who have visited them.
This expedition reached 80° north latitude, where Hall died.
THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
In 1880, the proposal was made by an international polar commission that
the leading countries should unite in establishing meteorological
stations in the polar region. This was with no intention of helping
explorations toward the North Pole, but to permit the study of weather
phenomena and the actions of the magnetic needle, respecting which much
remains to be learned.
Congress appropriated funds with which to establish a scientific colony
for Americans, one at Point Barrow in Alaska and the other at Lady
Franklin Bay in Grinnell Land. These stations were to be occupied for
periods varying from one to three years.
The party designed for Lady Franklin Bay consisted of First Lieutenant
Adolphus W. Greely, U.S.A., Commander; Lieutenants F.S. Kislingbury and
James B. Lockwood, U.S.A., as assistants; and Dr. O. Pavy as surgeon and
naturalist. In addition, there were twenty-two sergeants, corporals, and
privates, all belonging to the army, and two Eskemos. All the other
attempts to establish circumpolar stations, numbering about a dozen,
were successful.
The steamer _Proteus_ conveyed the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, the
start being made from the harbor of St. John's, Newfoundland. It would
seem that every needed precaution had been taken to avert disaster.
Since the expedition had an attainable point fixed upon as its
destination, it would seem that it had only to establish a base, where
the government would deposit abundant supplies, to which Greely could
return when he chose or when he found himself compelled to retreat. Then
he could carry forward supplies on his sleds and leave them at different
points along his route, so that he would be sure of finding them on his
return. This scheme is so simple that it would seem that there was no
possible, or at least probable, way of going wrong. Yet misfortune has
been the fate of most of the Arctic expeditions.
It was arranged that two ships were to go to Lady Franklin Bay in the
summer of 1883 to bring back the explorers. These ships were to be the
steam whaler _Proteus_ and the United States gunboat _Yantic_, commanded
by Lieutenant E.A. Garlington; but the _Proteus_, when near Cape Sabine
and before she had landed her supplies, was crushed by the ice and sunk.
With great difficulty, Garlington and his men escaped from the wreck in
small boats and made their way to Upernavik, where they had left the
_Yantic_. The party then returned to the United States, without having
left an ounce of supplies at Lady Franklin Bay, where Greely expected to
find all he needed on his return.
Now let us follow the exploring party under Greely which left St.
John's, Newfoundland, July 7, 1881, in the _Proteus_, that was afterward
lost. Icebergs were soon encountered, but seven hundred miles were
passed without any land appearing. The days had lengthened, light
appearing shortly after midnight and lasting until ten o'clock the
succeeding night, but the fog was dense and all-pervading. On July 16th,
the _Proteus_ was steaming cautiously through the mist, when the icy
coast of Disco Island, several hundred feet in height, loomed up
directly ahead.
The most interesting sight was a vast iceberg in two parts, joined by an
immense overhanging arch, under which it would have been easy for the
ship to sail. The captain was too wise to make any such attempt. He
steamed to one side of it, and, when some distance beyond, fired a
signal gun for a pilot. The report was followed by a thunderous
rumbling, and, looking back, the crew saw the vast arch, weighing
thousands of tons, descend to the water with a crash that caused the
steamer to rock to and fro for several minutes. Had she been caught
beneath the mass, she would have been crushed like a tiny insect.
A landing was made at the settlement of Disco. In this squalid town all
the dwellings were mere huts, with the exception of those of the
inspector and governor. It was a strange sight to find in one of these
dwellings in the North a piano, billiard table, carpets, and many of the
luxuries of civilized life. The visitors were treated with the utmost
hospitality and took part in a dance in progress.
Returning to the _Proteus_ the party steamed through the fog to
Upernavik, which was reached on the 23d of July. They were never out of
sight of icebergs, but they caused no trouble, and were easily avoided.
By means of the steam launch, several men made a passage through inner
waters to Proven, a sparse settlement, where they procured some clothing
suitable for the high latitudes.
These settlements, far beyond the Arctic Circle, belong to Denmark,
which exercises a nominal control over them. One of the industries of
Proven is the furnishing of supplies to Arctic explorers. A liberal
quantity of fresh food was secured, beside two native guides and
thirty-two Eskemo dogs. It was near here that McClintock, the explorer,
was frozen in for an entire year; but the weather continued unusually
mild. A mountainous iceberg while drifting slowly with the current
sloughed off so much from one side that its centre of gravity was
displaced and the mountain of ice turned a complete somersault before it
settled to rest.
There is hardly any limit to the time in which provisions can be
preserved in the polar regions. A cache was found among the Gary Islands
which had been left by Sir George Nares years before, and nearly all was
in as good condition as when placed there. One of the strange phenomena
of the Arctic regions is the red snow, mentioned by Sir John Ross, which
was seen by the Greely party. This color is found to be due to myriads
of tiny plants deposited on the crust. That most eminent botanist,
Robert Brown, subjected it to careful examination and pronounced it to
be a unicellular plant of the order _Algæ_, and Dr. Greville, of
Edinburgh, gave it its name (_Protococcus nivalis_), by which it is now
known to the scientific world.
The steamer halted at Littleton Island on the 2d of August. A number of
articles were found at "Life-Boat Cove," that had been left by the
Polaris expedition in 1873. A quantity of coal was unloaded here to be
taken aboard on the return.
Steaming up Kennedy Channel, a deposit of provisions was made near
Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay. A short distance north, an immense
ice pack stopped the ship which repeatedly tried in vain to butt its way
through. It was compelled to drift with the pack until the 11th of
August, when an opening appeared and the _Proteus_ forced a passage to
Bellot Island, at the entrance to Discovery Harbor.
AT LADY FRANKLIN BAY.
The steamer had now reached Lady Franklin Bay, which was its
destination, and near which Fort Conger, a signal station, was to be
established. The ship was unloaded and a house built, the men living in
tents the meanwhile, and on the 19th of August, the _Proteus_ bade the
explorers good-by and started on her return to Newfoundland.
A number of musk oxen were shot in the vicinity, and now and then a
ptarmigan was bagged. The men moved into the house in the latter part of
August, and Lockwood directed the laying out of the observatory and the
digging of the foundation pier for the transit. The earth was frozen so
hard that it was like chipping solid ice. The house gave the men
comfortable quarters. On the first Sunday all work was stopped and
religious services held. The intention was to send an exploring
expedition along the northern coast of Greenland, and it was placed in
charge of Lockwood. It would have been given to Kislingbury, the senior
officer, but for the fact that he and Greely were not on good terms.
Men were sent to examine St. Patrick's Bay to the northeast, for a site
to establish a depot on the channel of exploration. Such a place was
found and the exploring parties were continually active, some of them
going a good many miles from camp. Game was plentiful, but the wolves
were fierce. Numbers were poisoned by means of arsenic mixed with meat
thrown in their way. It being the beginning of their Arctic experience,
the men enjoyed themselves to an extent that would hardly be supposed.
This was mainly because they were kept busy and the novelty of their
life had not yet worn off. One pleasant custom was that of celebrating
the birthdays of different members of the party, which was done with a
vigor that sometimes reached good-natured boisterousness.
When the sun sank far from sight on the 16th of October, every one knew
that it would not show itself again for four months. It will be
admitted, too, that the weather had become keen, for it registered forty
degrees below zero most of the time and the moisture within the house
was frozen to the depth of an inch on the window-panes.
With the coming of the long, dismal night the wolves became fiercer, and
prowled so closely around the building that no one dared venture far
from the door without firearms in his hands, and the men generally went
in company, ready for an attack that was liable to be made at any
minute.
INTOLERABLE LONELINESS.
Time always hangs heavy when one is forced to remain idle and the dismal
night stretches through a third or half of the year. On the 1st of
November, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by seven men, left the
dwelling to try the passage of the straits, hoping to push his way to
the place where Captain Hall made his winter quarters. They dragged a
heavily loaded sled after them, upon which rested a boat, which they
expected to use in case they reached open water. The men set out bravely
and toiled hard, but were compelled to turn back, finding it impossible
to make any progress.
No one can describe the horrible loneliness of such a life as the party
were now compelled to lead. They played cards and games, told stories,
and held discussions until all such things palled on their taste. Then
they grew weary of one another's company, and hours would pass without a
man speaking a word. Dr. Hayes has related that, when thus placed, he
has dashed out of the dwelling in desperation and wandered for miles
through the frozen solitudes, for no other reason than that the company
of his friends had become unbearable. He stated further that a rooster
on his ship deliberately flew overboard and committed suicide out of
sheer loneliness.
One means resorted to by the explorers for relieving the frightful
monotony was the publication of a paper called the _Arctic Moon_. The
contents were written and copies made by the hektograph process. Then
Greely formed a class in arithmetic, and Lockwood taught a class in
geography and grammar. Matters were quite lively on Thanksgiving Day
(the party being careful to note the passage of the regular days), when
foot-races were run and shooting matches indulged in, Greely
distributing the prizes.
One of the many curious facts regarding life in the Arctic regions is
that its rigors are often withstood better by the inexperienced than by
the experienced. The two Eskemo guides were the most depressed of the
whole party, and one of them wandered off in a dazed condition. When
found miles away, he was running as if in fear of his life, and it was
with great difficulty he was persuaded to return. The second native
would have run off had he not been closely watched.
In the middle of February, the thermometer fell to sixty-five degrees
below zero, an intensity of cold which few living men have experienced.
At such a terrible temperature pure brandy and glycerine freeze hard,
and a man, though heavily clothed, will perish in a few minutes. The
Eskemo dogs by choice slept in the snow outside rather than within the
building.
THE GRAVE OF DR. HALL.
On the last day of February, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by
Brainard, Jewell, Long, the two Eskemos, and a couple of dog teams,
started on a journey to Thank God Harbor, seventy-five miles away. The
journey was made without accident and the observatory was found still
standing, while near at hand was the grave of the Arctic explorer,
Captain C.F. Hall. The grave was marked by a metallic headboard, put up
by the English and the other by Hall's comrades. On the British board
are these words: "To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life in the
advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This tablet has been erected
by the British Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed in his footsteps
and profited by his experience." The American inscription is as follows:
IN MEMORY OF
CHARLES FRANCIS HALL,
LATE COMMANDER U.S. STEAMER POLARIS, NORTH POLE EXPEDITION,
DIED NOVEMBER 8, 1871.
"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME,
THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE."
The great ambition of Lieutenant Lockwood was to lead an expedition
along the northern coast of Greenland, to which Arctic explorers
hitherto had paid comparatively slight attention. His intelligence,
daring, and skill caused Greely to give him his full confidence and to
leave the entire arrangement of the venture in his hands.
Lockwood's intention was to start about the 1st of April. Sergeant
Brainard was to go with the supporting parties in advance to Cape Sumner
and leave supplies. Then when Lockwood's party reached the same point,
with all the provisions they could carry with comfort, the explorers
would be well supplied.
LOCKWOOD'S EXPEDITION TO THE FAR NORTH.
Amid the firing of pistols, waving of flags, and cheers, the start was
made by Lockwood on the 2d of April. Three days later, the party
dragging a sled laden with pemmican reached a snow-house, where they
found Brainard and his friends returning. There were thirteen in all,
and they were crowded in their close quarters, but the fact gave them
additional warmth.
[Illustration: A FUNERAL IN THE ARTIC REGIONS.]
It will be remembered that the long Arctic night was about ended. In the
misty light, a dark object was discerned on the top of a neighboring
iceberg, which being scrutinized was recognized as an eagle. It was
accepted as a good omen by the men, who cheered the noble bird that
vividly reminded them of their distant home.
The direction was now to the northeast. They crossed the straits at Cape
Beechy, pushing to within a few miles of the eastern shore, whence they
were to proceed directly to Fort Sumner. In order to follow the course
of the party intelligently the reader needs to keep a reliable map of
the Arctic regions before him.
Fort Conger stood close to the intersection of sixty-fifth meridian and
the eighty-second parallel, being a little south of the latter and east
of the former. From this starting-point, the route of Lockwood was
slightly south of northeast to its termination. Almost from the
beginning, the traveling was so difficult that the bravest explorers
could not have been blamed for turning back.
The ice was tumbled together in irregular masses many feet in thickness,
through which they often had to cut the way with axes for their sledges.
The wind rose to a hurricane, and was of piercing coldness, and so
filled with fine particles that they cut the face like bird-shot. Most
of the time they could not see one another when separated by a few feet.
Muffled to their eyes, the brave explorers fought their-way onward,
often compelled to stop and turn their backs to the gale, which almost
swept them off their feet. Frequently they crouched behind the piles of
ice to regain their breath while the furious wind roared above their
heads.
Toughened, as were all the men, some of them succumbed under the fearful
work. These returned to camp, and the party was reduced to nine. This
occurred on the 10th of April, very near where the 82d parallel crosses
the 60th meridian. There Lieutenant Lockwood came to a halt, and turned
back with the dogs to Fort Conger. The round journey was a hundred
miles, but it was necessary to get supplies that could be obtained in no
other way, and to secure new runners for their sledges, which were
battered by their rough usage.
Accompanied by the two Eskemos, Lockwood made a new start on the 14th of
April, and averaged two miles an hour until he reached his new camp.
From that point the nine men had three sledges, which they dragged, and
a fourth that was drawn by the dogs. With indomitable pluck they
struggled onward, and all were thrilled on the 25th of the month by the
knowledge that they had reached a point further north than had ever been
attained by an American, and they hoped to surpass all others.
The heroic explorers had by no means finished their task. At regular
points they cached their provisions against the return. If the reader
will locate on his map the intersection of the 55th meridian with the
parallel of 82° 20', he will have a point close to Cape Bryant, where
the supports of the party withdrew and started on their return to camp.
All who were now left were Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and
the Eskemo Frederick.
Lockwood apportioned rations for twenty-five days among the three.
Consequently the northward journey and the return must be made within
that time, since they believed it impossible to obtain food in that
fearful region. Shaking hands with their companions, who wished them
good-speed, the little party broke into two divisions, one tramping
southward, while the other resumed its laborious journey toward the
northeast.
Before Lockwood left Cape Sabine, Lieutenant Greely gave it as his
belief that his brave assistant might succeed in reaching Cape
Britannia, which lies about 40° east and 82° 45' north. The explorer
Beaumont saw this cape, but was unable to reach it. When Lockwood and
Brainard arrived there, however, they had no thought of stopping. A
cairn was built, a written account of their travels deposited, and five
days' rations left. Then the heroes bent to their herculean task again.
The Eskemo was left with the dogs, while the two white men, wrapped in
their furs, laboriously climbed an adjoining mountain, half a mile in
height. From the crest they scanned the snowy landscape, the very
picture of desolation. Twenty miles to the northeast, the direction they
were traveling, they made out a dark promontory, terminating in a rocky
headland and penetrating the Polar Ocean, while between it and them a
number of islands reared their heads and were separated by fiords. Half
of the remaining horizon was filled with the dismal ice of the Frozen
Sea.
They had no expectation of meeting with animal life in this world of
desolation, but they fired several times (and missed) at ptarmigan, and,
having wounded a rabbit, succeeded in running it down. It was a mystery
to them how this little animal found the means of sustaining life so
near the Pole.
It may be wondered how far these three men would have gone had it been
possible to travel. They became accustomed to the exhaustive work, but
the end of the journey was reached on the 13th of May, when they paused
on the edge of an immense fissure in the ice, extending indefinitely to
the right and left, and too broad to be crossed. They searched for a
long time, only to learn that it was utterly out of their power to go a
foot further. Nothing remained but to learn their exact location.
While Lockwood was preparing to take an observation, the sun was
obscured by fog. All the next day so furious a storm raged that they
could do nothing but huddle in their tent and wait for it to pass.
Finally, the conditions became favorable and Lockwood made his
observations with the utmost care. When they were completed the
astounding truth was revealed that their latitude was 84° 24-1/2' north
and 40° 46-1/2' west from Greenwich. This surpassed the achievement of
the Nares expedition sent out by England, in 1875-76, for the sole
purpose of reaching the furthest northern point possible. Lockwood and
Brainard, therefore, had attained the highest point, which up to that
time had never been reached by man. On the 7th of April, 1895, however,
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, penetrated to 86° 15',
which surpassed that of Lockwood and Brainard by 200 miles and was
within 225 miles of the Pole itself.
The return journey was as exhausting and trying as the outward one, but
the little party never lost courage. Fort Conger was reached early in
June, and, as may be supposed, the explorers received a royal welcome
from their comrades. The three men were suffering from snow blindness,
rheumatism, and various ills brought on by their exposure and terrific
labors, but all were in high spirits, as they might well be, when they
recalled the wonderful achievement they had made.
WEARY WAITING.
The brief summer was at hand. The snow melted during the middle of the
day and the first rain they had seen fell. On the 4th of July they had
shooting matches and engaged in a game of baseball. It can hardly be
said, however, that the American game has gained much of a foothold
north of the Arctic Circle.
All suffered from intense depression of spirits which could not be
shaken off. Again hours would pass without a man speaking a word. They
seemed mutually repellent and miserable. This sad condition resulted
from purely physical causes and no one could be blamed for it.
The company were now waiting for the _Proteus_ which was due. Several
reports that she was in sight threw all into pleasurable excitement, but
it need not be said they were doomed to disappointment, since the relief
ship was at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The little steam launch had
been repaired and enabled the party to explore the neighboring coasts
for a distance of several hundred miles. A number of musk oxen were
shot, but, except at certain seasons, their flesh is so strongly
impregnated with musk that it is unpalatable for food.
As the weary days passed without bringing the wished-for steamer, hope
sank. Many were sure some accident had befallen the ship and she would
never be seen again. If so (and of course such was the fact), more
months must pass before the news could be carried to the United States
and a new relief expedition be sent. It was hard thus to be forgotten by
their friends at home. As a last resort the party could retreat in their
boats, but all dreaded the almost hopeless recourse. Gradually the
summer drew to a close and once more they saw the low-sweeping sun dip
below the horizon not to appear again for months. The long, horrible
Arctic night again enveloped them in misery and gloom.
When the month of January came every member of the party, including
Greely himself, were convinced that their country had abandoned them and
they must look out for themselves. He announced that if no relief
appeared they would start for home not later than the 8th of August.
[Illustration: THE FARTHEST NORTH REACHED BY LIEUT. LOCKWOOD ON THE
GREELY EXPEDITION.]
Lieutenant Lockwood seems to have been about the only member of the
party who for a time kept up his high spirits. He was not satisfied with
what he had already done, and insisted upon another chance to push
northward. He had fixed upon the eighty-fourth parallel as the point
to reach, and he urged the matter so strongly that Greely, who greatly
admired his courage, gave his consent, though confident that he would
find it impossible to do as well as in the former instance.
A FAILURE.
Lockwood made his start on the morning of March 27, 1883, his companions
being the same as before. Two weeks later, as Greely was lying in his
tent, wondering how his friend was making out, Lockwood walked in with a
smile:
"Too much water," he said; "if it had only been ice, we could have
managed it, but we had no means of getting across the water. Better luck
next time."
The next time, however, never came. Greely, Lockwood, and Brainard
always remained on good terms, but it was not the case with some of the
others. Companionship, under such conditions, is a bore, and many a time
the three gentlemen named went off on explorations that occupied several
days, with no other object than to get away from those whose company was
distasteful beyond bearing.
THE START HOMEWARD.
Greely had given up all hope of receiving help from the United States
and determined to start for home as soon as his surroundings would
permit. His plan was to proceed to Littleton Island, where it was
possible they might find a vessel that would take them to Newfoundland.
The explorers, twenty-five in all, made their start southward, August 9,
1883. Their boats were the steam launch referred to, a whale boat, an
English boat, and a smaller one, which it was thought would prove useful
in the event of an accident.
For a time the progress was encouraging. The water was quite open, but
ice soon appeared. They saved their boats from being nipped by drawing
them up on a floe. When open water again showed, they took to the boats
and reached Sun Bay without mishap. Then they made their way to Cape
Lieber, twenty miles south from Fort Conger, where they were almost
overwhelmed in a blinding snowstorm. There they landed and waited for
the ice to move and open the way for them along the western shore of the
strait. A fog kept them there several days, and when they started again
it was in the midst of another blinding snowstorm. One of the incidents
of the struggle against ice and tempest was the falling overboard of
Lieutenant Greely and an accident to the launch. Scoresby Bay was
reached on the 22d of August, and found to be full of floating ice. It
was necessary again to save the boats by drawing them up on the floe. By
that time, too, the supply of coal had become so low that Greely held a
consultation with his officers over their situation, which was not only
dangerous but rapidly becoming more so. He proposed to abandon the
launch, and use the other boats with which to push along the western
shore, but the majority believed they had a chance of making Littleton
Island. Ere long it was found necessary to leave behind the smallest
boat, and when that was done most of the party believed all were doomed.
The elements and even the tides were against them.
The launch soon became useless and was abandoned. Resort was then had to
sledge travel, two carrying a boat between them, and all pulled by the
men. They had not gone far in this toilsome manner when another of the
boats had to be left behind, giving them only one. Even the courageous
Lockwood now expressed his belief that none of the party would escape
alive. Still it was better to die struggling than to sit down and fold
their hands.
Misfortunes crowded upon them. The current continued the wrong way and
the floe upon which they were drifting carried them toward Baffin Bay.
Sludge ice, the most troublesome of all, abounded, and their poor
rations grew scant. In the latter part of September enough of the floes
came in contact to permit the men to pass over them to solid land, some
twelve miles from Cape Sabine. A reconnoitering party in attempting to
reach that point was turned back by the open water. Another company,
however, got through and brought back important news. The _Proteus_ had
been wrecked and a couple of caches, left by English ships, together
with the stores brought from the wreck of the _Proteus_, were
discovered. As may be supposed, they formed a welcome addition to the
meagre stock of food.
THE LAST EXTREMITY.
It being inevitable that another winter must be passed in the land of
desolation, preparations were made for doing so. The spot selected was
between Cape Sabine and Cocked Hat Island. A hut was erected and the
supplies moved thither. Greely informed the men that he had decided to
reduce the rations so that they would last until the coming March. A
cairn was built at Cape Sabine in which was placed a record of what had
been done by the explorers.
All admitted the necessity of reducing the rations, but it was done to
that extent that the men suffered continually from hunger. They were
glad to eat mouldy potatoes, and, when, occasionally, a fox was shot,
nothing was left but the shining bones. If the preceding period was
horrible it was now more so, for all felt they had every reason for
depression, gloom, and despair. The meagre food made them more
susceptible to cold, and, although Greely strove to awaken an interest
in different educational subjects, the conditions were so woeful that he
accomplished little. It may seem strange, but it was natural that the
men's thoughts should dwell almost continually upon delicacies in the
way of eating. They talked about the choicest viands and smacked their
lips over tempting feasts which, alas! existed only in imagination.
Every man uttered a prayer of thanks when the 21st of December arrived,
for it meant that the appalling polar night was half over, but how
endless the other half seemed to them!
In the following month the feet of Corporal Ellison were so badly frozen
that they sloughed off, as did several of his fingers. Soon afterward
one of the men died. The brave Lockwood felt himself growing so weak
that he privately requested Greely to leave him behind, if he should be
alive, when the homeward start was made. Greely replied that under no
conceivable circumstances would he abandon any one if alive, provided he
himself survived the period of waiting.
An attempt was made in February to reach Littleton Island in the hope of
finding the relief ship or stores, but the open water compelled the men
to turn back. The same cause prevented their getting to the Greenland
shore, which could be seen when the weather was clear.
When the middle of March came all were placed on starvation rations.
None of the canned vegetables, coffee, or chocolate was left. The
straits remained open and shut them off from reaching Greenland, where
they might have found game. The bravest of the party lost heart and sank
into the apathy of despair. They felt themselves simply waiting for
death. Lockwood wrote in his diary: "I am glad that each day comes to an
end. It brings us nearer the end of this life, whatever that end may
be."
The fuel, which had been carefully husbanded, gave out in the latter
part of March. The famishing sufferers gathered their furs more tightly
around them and huddled together to secure the mutual warmth of their
emaciated bodies. The furs and shoes could be gnawed and eaten when the
last extremity arrived. Unexpectedly to all, Sergeant Lynn and one of
the Eskemos died at the beginning of April. When there was a chance to
shoot game the men were too weak to hunt for it.
Lieutenant Lockwood, the hero of the wonderful achievement narrated,
whose high spirits and exalted courage carried him through all manner of
perils, died early on the morning of April 9th, his death being due to
starvation. When the brave fellow had passed away there had not been a
mouthful of food within reach for several days.
Before this, it became evident that some one was stealing from the
scanty store. Investigation disclosed the wretched thief to be a man
named Henry. Greely warned him, for he was imperiling the lives of all.
He stole again, whereupon, by orders of Greely, he was shot. When the
final extremity came there is reason to believe that cannibalism was
indulged in, though not to much extent. There is no certainty, however,
on the matter, and the survivors denied having seen it.
THE RESCUE.
Though it may seem that the Greely party was forgotten at home, yet such
was not the fact. The loss of the _Proteus_ caused the gravest fears for
their safety, and, in the spring of 1884, the navy department fitted out
a new relief expedition, consisting of the _Thetis_, the _Bear_, and the
_Alert_, under Commander Winfield S. Schley, who made such a brilliant
record in our late war with Spain.
Commander Schley sailed from Brooklyn in May, and lost not an hour. He
left St. John's on the 12th, meeting a great deal of ice in Baffin Bay
and Smith Sound, but he fought his way through, and sent a strong party
ashore June 22d to hunt for signs of the missing explorers. The steam
launch of the _Bear_ took the party to Brevoort Island, where Lieutenant
Lockwood's letter was found, giving their location and stating that they
were nearly out of provisions. Since the letter was dated eight months
before, the dismayed commander and his officers believed it hardly
possible that any of the men would be found alive.
The _Bear_ was pushed on, and the launch started out again early the
next morning. Before sunset Greely's camp was discovered. Making all
haste forward, the relief party lifted the flap and breathlessly peered
in.
They saw Greely on his knees, muttering the prayers for the dying over
one of his comrades. He looked up, dazed, bewildered, and unable to read
the full meaning of what met his eyes. Around him, in different
postures, were stretched his comrades, some dead and the others close to
death. Those still living were Greely, Brainard, Biederbeck, Fredericks,
Long, Connell, and Ellison. A few days' later arrival on the part of the
_Bear_, and not one would have been breathing. As it was their lives
were still in great danger, and it was necessary to nurse them with the
utmost care. The remains of all who had died, with the exception of the
Eskemo, were brought back to the United States. During the halt in the
harbor of Disco, to leave the body of the Eskemo, Corporal Ellison, who
had been so badly frozen, died. The relief expedition reached St. John's
on July 17th and New York on the 8th of August.
In 1886 the prize of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain and
the back premium were awarded to Captain Adolphus W. Greely and Sergeant
David L. Brainard, for having attained the greatest results for the year
in adding to geographical knowledge by examinations or explorations. No
one can deny that this recognition and honor were well won.
The Greely expedition possesses so much interest that we have given
considerable space to the narration. Among the many explorations of the
far North, few or none equal this, not only in heroic daring but in
results accomplished. It may be said that the fate of the Sir John
Franklin party was made clear in 1880, by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka,
of the United States army, who discovered the skeletons of several of
the unfortunate explorers, together with various relics of the
expedition.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1884.
In the presidential election of 1884 the Democratic candidates were
Grover Cleveland, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The
Republican were James G. Blaine, of Maine, and General John A. Logan, of
Illinois. The chief issue with the Republicans was the tariff, while the
Democrats put forward that of civil service reform. There was much
bitter discussion, some of the leading Republican papers refusing to
support Blaine because of charges affecting his personal integrity. On
the other hand, Cleveland was attacked with scarcely less bitterness.
The quarrel between the leading parties caused some of the weaker ones
to put forward candidates, with a result as follows: Grover Cleveland
and T.A. Hendricks, 219; James G. Blaine and John A. Logan, 182; John P.
St. John and William Daniel, Prohibition, received 151,809 popular
votes; and Benjamin F. Butler and A.M. West, People's party, 133,825.
CHAPTER XXI.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (FIRST) AND OF HARRISON, 1885-1893.
Grover Cleveland--Completion of the Washington Monument--The Bartholdi
Statue--Death of General Grant--Death of Vice-President Hendricks--The
First Vice-President to Die in Office--George Clinton--Elbridge
Gerry--William R. King--Henry Wilson--Death of General McClellan--Of
General Hancock--His Career--The Dispute Between Capital and
Labor--Arbitration--The Anarchistic Outbreak in Chicago--The Charleston
Earthquake--Conquest of the Apaches--Presidential Election of
1888--Benjamin Harrison--The Johnstown Disaster--Threatened War with
Chili--The Indian Uprising of 1890-91--Admission of New
States--Presidential Election of 1892.
THE TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT.
[Illustration: GROVER CLEVELAND.
(1837-.) Two terms, 1885-1889--1893-1897.]
The city of Buffalo, N.Y., has the distinction of being the only one in
the United States which has furnished two presidents of the country.
Millard Fillmore hailed from Buffalo and Grover Cleveland went from that
city to occupy the highest office in the gift of the American people.
His native place, however, was Caldwell, New Jersey, where he was born,
March 18, 1837. He was the son of a clergyman and received a fair
education in the public schools, and became an instructor for a time in
an institution for the blind at Clinton, N.Y. He removed to Buffalo in
1855, and, having engaged in the study of law, soon became prominent at
the bar. He was appointed assistant district attorney in 1863, and in
1870 was elected sheriff of the county. His course gained the confidence
of the community and led to his election as mayor of Buffalo, in 1881,
though the city was naturally strongly Republican in politics.
Mr. Cleveland added to his popularity by his able administration and was
nominated for governor of the State in the autumn of the following year.
His success by the unprecedented majority of 192,854 attracted national
attention and led the Democrats to believe he was their most available
candidate for the presidency. His course as governor commended itself to
his friends, who were so numerous that, when his name was presented at
Chicago, he received 683 votes against 137 for all others.
It will be noted that Mr. Cleveland was the first Democratic President
since the opening of the war. He assumed his office with the best wishes
of the people, though it is worth noting in this place that the majority
by which he was elected was much less than a glance at the returns would
suggest. At a public reception of Mr. Blaine, during the canvass, a
clergyman referred to the Democratic party as that of "Rum, Romanism,
and Rebellion." This unfortunate expression drove away a number of votes
from Mr. Blaine, who was defeated in New York by a few hundreds only;
but they were sufficient to turn the thirty-six electoral votes to Mr.
Cleveland and secure his election by the majority already named.
COMPLETION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
For years preceding the Civil War, and for a long time afterward, the
Washington monument was a source of reproach and jest among the people,
because so long a period was allowed to pass before its completion. The
corner-stone was laid July 4, 1848, at which time Robert C. Winthrop,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, delivered the address. The
occasion was made notable by the presence of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay,
John C. Calhoun, and President Polk. The memorial to the greatest
American orator that ever lived was allowed to stand uncompleted for
thirty-seven years, its formal dedication taking place February 21st
(the 22d fell on Sunday), 1885. The address of the venerable W.W.
Corcoran, first vice-president of the Washington Monument Society,
formed in 1833, was read by Dr. J.C. Welling, president of Columbia
University, and the ceremonies were of an interesting character. The
Masonic services were conducted by the Grand Lodge of the District of
Columbia, which used the gavel that Washington had employed in laying
the corner-stone of the national capitol, September 18, 1793, while the
Bible was the one upon which he took his vows when made a Mason. A
second Bible was the one upon which he was sworn into office, April 30,
1789, when inaugurated President of the United States. This relic is now
the property of St. John Lodge, No. 1, of New York City.
[Illustration: THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.]
President Arthur's address was as follows:
"FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: Before the dawn of the century whose eventful
years will soon have faded into the past--when death had but lately
robbed the republic of its most beloved and illustrious citizen--the
Congress of the United States pledged the faith of the nation that in
this city, bearing his honored name, and then, as now, the seat of
the general government, a monument should be erected 'to commemorate
the great events of his military and political life.'
"The stately column that stretches heavenward from the plain whereon
we stand bears witness to all who behold it that the covenant which
our fathers made their children have fulfilled. In the completion of
this great work of patriotic endeavor there is abundant cause for
national rejoicing; for while this structure shall endure it shall be
to all mankind a steadfast token of the affectionate and reverent
regard in which this people continue to hold the memory of
Washington. Well may he ever keep the foremost place in the hearts of
his countrymen; the faith that never faltered; the wisdom that was
broader and deeper than any learning taught in schools; the courage
that shrank from no peril and was dismayed by no defeat; the loyalty
that kept all selfish purposes subordinate to the demands of
patriotism and honor; the sagacity that displayed itself in camp and
cabinet alike; and, above all, that harmonious union of moral and
intellectual qualities which has never found its parallel among men;
these are the attributes of character which the intelligent thought
of this century ascribes to the grandest figure of the last.
"But other and more eloquent lips than mine will to-day rehearse to
you the story of his noble life and its glorious achievements. To
myself has been assigned a simpler and more formal duty, in
fulfillment of which I do now, as President of the United States and
in behalf of the people, receive this monument from the hands of the
builder, and declare it dedicated from this time forth to the
immortal name and memory of George Washington."
The ceremonies at the monument being completed, those within the capitol
followed. General Sheridan was in charge of the military, and the
oration of Robert C. Winthrop, who was kept away by illness, was read by
Governor Long. John W. Daniel, a leading soldier on the side of the
Confederacy during the Civil War and afterward a member of Congress from
Virginia, delivered a graphic sketch of Washington, and closed with the
eloquent peroration:
"Long live the republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved
by all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed
of all lands and religions--long may it be the citadel of that
liberty which writes beneath the eagle's folded wings: 'We will sell
to no man, we will deny to no man right and justice.'
"Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free,
magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation,
hovered over by the guardian angel of Washington's example, may they
ever be worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave
who knew the rights of man--may they each be a column, and all
together, under the Constitution, a perpetual temple of peace,
unshadowed by a Cæsar's palace, at whose altar may freely commune all
who seek the union of liberty and brotherhood.
"Long live our country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it
stand, far removed in fact, as in space, from the Old World's feuds
and follies--solitary and alone in its grandeur and glory--itself the
immortal monument of him whom Providence commissioned to teach man
the power of truth, and to prove to the nations that their Redeemer
liveth."
It is worth noting that the Washington Monument with its 555 feet is the
highest in the world; the Cathedral at Cologne, 511 feet, is next; while
the height of the Great Pyramid is 486 feet. The cap-stone was put in
position December 6, 1884, and the whole cost of the monument was
$1,187,710, of which Congress furnished $900,000. An iron stairway of
900 steps and an elevator provide means for ascending the interior.
THE BARTHOLDI STATUE.
When a person enters New York harbor on his visit or return to the New
World, the most striking object upon which his eyes rest is the Statue
of Liberty. This represents the idea of Liberty enlightening the world,
as conceived by Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the eminent French
sculptor. He began circulating his subscriptions for the work through
France in 1874. The popularity of the scheme is attested by the fact
that contributions were received from 180 cities, forty general
councils, a large number of chambers of commerce and of societies, and
more than 10,000 subscribers. On the 22d of February, 1877, Congress
voted to accept the gift, and set apart Bedlow's Island for the site.
The statue was finished in 1883, and displayed to public view for some
time in Paris. Its official presentation to the minister of the United
States took place July 4, 1884.
The French transport _Isere_, with the Liberty statue on board, arrived
at New York, June 24, 1885, and was saluted and welcomed by a hundred
different vessels. The dedication ceremonies, October 28, 1886, were
among the most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of our
country. Among those on the reviewing stand, near the Worth Monument,
were President Cleveland, General Sheridan, the members of the
President's cabinet, M. Bartholdi, M. de Lesseps, representative of the
diplomatic corps at Washington, and many distinguished American
citizens.
The following facts will give an idea of the size of this great statue:
the forefinger is more than eight feet long; the second joint is about
five feet in circumference; the finger-nail is a foot long, and the nose
nearly four feet; the head is fourteen and a half feet high, and can
accommodate forty persons, while the hollow torch will hold twelve
persons. The copper sheets which form the outside of the statue weigh
eighty-eight tons. From the base to the top of the torch is slightly
more than 150 feet, which is 305 feet above low-water mark.
DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT.
In no event of Cleveland's first administration was the public more
deeply concerned than in the death of General Grant, the foremost
defender of the Union. After his return from his triumphant journey
around the world, he engaged in business in the city of New York. The
soul of honor himself, it was hard for him to believe the dishonesty of
others; but he became the victim of unscrupulous persons, and lost not
only all his own savings but those of many of his friends. He did
everything in his power to make good his losses, but succeeded only to a
slight extent. He was ruined financially, though a grateful nation would
never permit him to suffer want.
[Illustration: THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF GENERAL GRANT PASSING WEST POINT.]
It was at this sad period that a cancer developed at the root of his
tongue, and, though he received the best medical attention in the
country, the malignant excrescence soon made it evident that he was
beyond human help. He devoted himself heroically to writing his
memoirs, and, with the grim determination which was so marked a feature
of his character, he fought off the last great enemy until the valuable
work was finished.
General Grant's last days were spent with his family at Mount McGregor
in New York State, where he quietly breathed his last on the evening of
July 22, 1885. The body was embalmed and removed to the City Hall in New
York, where it was viewed by mourning thousands before its removal to
the last resting-place in Riverside Park. The final impressive scenes,
when the remains were deposited in the mausoleum on the banks of the
Hudson, took place in 1897.
DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS.
Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States, died November
25, 1885, at his home in Indianapolis, from paralysis of the heart. He
was born in Ohio in 1819, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in
1843. He was elected to the Indiana Legislature in 1848, and three years
later became Democratic member of Congress from the central district of
Indiana. He was chosen a United States senator in 1868, and strongly
opposed the impeachment of President Johnson. He was prominently named
several times for the presidency of the United States. In Indianapolis,
where he had long made his home, he was universally respected by members
of all parties.
OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS WHO DIED IN OFFICE.
Since Mr. Hendricks was not the first Vice-President to die in office,
it will be interesting to complete the list. George Clinton served one
term under Jefferson, and had nearly ended another under Madison, when
he died in 1812. His career had been extraordinary. He was a soldier in
the French and Indian War, was a sailor on a privateer, and became a
brigadier-general in the Revolution, but was unsuccessful in his defense
of the Highland forts in 1777. At one time he was a member of the
Provincial Congress and was the first governor of New York, serving for
eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795, and again 1801-04, when he became
Vice-President. His death occurred in Washington, and the eight
pall-bearers were Revolutionary soldiers.
It was a curious coincidence that the next Vice-President to die in
office was the immediate successor of Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, who died
November 23, 1814. He was a native of Massachusetts, a member of its
colonial House of Representatives and a delegate to the Continental
Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence and aided in framing
the Constitution, though he refused to sign it, on the ground that it
conferred too much power on the national government. He held a number of
important public offices and was governor of Massachusetts in 1810 and
1811. In the latter year, the Republicans (modern Democrats) carried
out a redistricting scheme by which the Essex district took a form which
many fancied bore a resemblance to a salamander. It was from this
incident that the word "gerrymander," so often heard in politics in
these days, took its name.
It will be recalled that when Franklin Pierce became President, the
Vice-President, William R. King, was an invalid in Cuba, where he took
the oath of office before the American consul. He was in the last stages
of consumption and died shortly after his return to his home in Alabama.
Henry Wilson, Vice-President with General Grant, died November 25, 1875,
his death being hastened, it is believed, by the news of the death of
his intimate friend, Senator Ferry, of Connecticut.
The death of General McClellan has already been mentioned as taking
place on the 29th of October, 1885. A few months later, February 9,
1886, General Hancock died at his home on Governor's Island.
DEATH OF GENERAL HANCOCK--HIS CAREER.
General Winfield Scott Hancock was an ideal American soldier and
officer, brave, chivalrous, courteous to foe as well as friend,
patriotic, a gentleman at all times and under all circumstances, genial,
remarkably handsome and prepossessing in manner, who made friends
everywhere. His conduct of political affairs in a section of the South
during the troublous reconstruction days won the commendation of his
government and the respect of the South, who pronounced him a "just
man," for whom they formed a strong personal affection. But for
Hancock's unfortunate slip, he assuredly would have been elected
President of the United States in 1880.
The two peculiarities of Hancock's birth was that he was a twin and was
born on St. Valentine's day, February 14, 1824, in Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania. Appointed to West Point, he found among his fellow-cadets
U.S. Grant, G.B. McClellan, Rosecrans, Longstreet, and Stonewall
Jackson.
Hancock entered the Mexican War as second lieutenant, taking part in
three engagements, receiving a wound and winning the brevet of first
lieutenant. He was appointed quartermaster in 1855, with the rank of
captain. Three years later he was a member of the expedition to Utah to
bring the Mormons to terms. When the Civil War broke out, he was at Los
Angeles, Southern California, where considerable sympathy was shown for
the Southern Confederacy. The tact of the United States forces in that
section held the State true, a patriotic speech of General Hancock
contributing greatly to the same end.
His patriotism would not allow him to remain idle, and, when he learned
of the grave condition of affairs in the East, he applied to be called
thither. The request was granted, and he was so anxious to serve his
country that he did not pause to call on his parents while on the way to
Washington.
Hancock's first appointment was as quartermaster-general in General
Robert Anderson's command in Kentucky; but McClellan, who knew his
worth, made a personal request of President Lincoln to appoint him
brigadier-general. His commission was dated September 23, 1861.
McClellan said of him: "He was a man of the most chivalrous courage and
of superb presence, especially in action; he had a wonderfully quick and
correct eye for ground and for handling troops; his judgment was good,
and it would be difficult to find a better corps commander."
[Illustration: CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA.
Equestrian statues of Generals Reynolds and McClellan ornament the
plaza, and one of General Hancock is to be erected on one of the vacant
corners.]
General Hancock gave invaluable help in moulding the Army of the Potomac
into the magnificent form it attained, and his brigade was conceded to
be the finest and most effective in the whole army at the time the
landing was made on the peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the James
River.
In the bloody battle of Williamsburg, his skill and personal courage
were of the highest order. Making a feint of retreating, he drew the
enemy after him into the position he intended, when he turned and
assailed them with a furious musketry fire. It was his men who captured
the first colors taken by the Army of the Potomac, and it was on that
occasion that Hancock used the expression which has been often quoted.
In the midst of the tumult and swirl of battle he shouted: "Now,
gentlemen, we will give them the bayonet!" Hancock received the personal
thanks of McClellan for his fine work.
He was always loyal to his superiors, McClellan, Burnside, McClellan
again, Hooker, and Meade, rapidly rising in prominence until at the
great battle of Gettysburg he contributed perhaps more than any single
man to the success of the Union arms. Among the titles applied to him by
his admiring countrymen were "The Superb" and "The Hero of Gettysburg."
The Confederates who came in contact with him expressed their admiration
of his dauntless courage and coolness. He was painfully wounded, but,
while lying on a stretcher, he sent a message to General Meade that the
Confederate army was in retreat. Meade replied with his grateful thanks
and sympathy, and Congress also thanked him.
His ardent patriotism placed him in the saddle before his wound had
healed, and at one time during the battle of the Wilderness he was
obliged to give up his command. At Chancellorsville he captured the
whole division of General Edward Johnson. When that officer was brought
into Hancock's tent the latter extended his hand to his old
acquaintance, exclaiming heartily, "How are you, Ned?"
"I refuse to take your hand," replied the humiliated prisoner.
"All right," said Hancock, "I shouldn't have offered it to you under any
other circumstances."
Hancock was in command of the Second Army Corps for the last time at the
battle of Boydton. His remarkable skill in training soldiers caused
Secretary Stanton to assign to him the task of organizing the First
Veteran Corps, composed of soldiers, all of whom had been in service two
years. He afterward commanded the Army of the Shenandoah, and was in
charge at Washington at the time of the assassination of Lincoln.
In 1869, he was transferred from the command of the division of the
Atlantic and assigned to that of Dakota, where he remained until 1872,
when he resumed command of the division of the Atlantic. His last public
appearance was when he commanded the military forces which assisted in
the funeral ceremonies of General Grant.
As a proof that General Hancock's skill with the pen was hardly less
than that with the sword, the following extract is given from an article
by him on the battle of Gettysburg:
[Illustration: ARBITRATION
The relations of capital and labor--mutually dependent the one upon the
other--both selfish and often unjust--have caused serious trouble in the
past decade of the world's history. Fair and equitable arbitration seems
to be the only safe and just way of settling disputes of this
character.]
"Cemetery Hill has since become consecrated ground. The place where
General Howard was superseded in command on the first day of the fight
is now covered with the graves of thousands of gallant soldiers whose
bones lie buried at the base of the beautiful monumental column which
commemorates their fame. Two of the marble statues ornamenting the
pedestal personify War and History. War, symbolized by a soldier resting
from the conflict, narrates to History the story of the struggle and the
deeds of the martyr-heroes who fell in that famous battle. In
remembrance of these noble comrades who laid down their lives for the
general weal, it were simply sacrilege for any survivor to pour into the
ears of History an incorrect account of the contest, still more to
assume to himself honors belonging perhaps less to the living than to
the dead.
"The historian of the future who essays to tell the tale of Gettysburg
undertakes an onerous task, a high responsibility, a sacred trust. Above
all things, justice and truth should dwell in his mind and heart. Then,
dipping his pen as it were in the crimson tide, the sunshine of heaven
lighting his page, giving 'honor to whom honor is due,' doing even
justice to the splendid valor alike of friend and foe, he may tell the
world how the rain descended in streams of fire, and the floods came in
the billows of rebellion, and the winds blew in blasts of fraternal
execration, and beat upon the fabric of the Federal Union, and that it
fell not, for, resting on the rights and liberties of the people, it was
founded upon a rock." General Hancock died February 9, 1886.
CAPITAL AND LABOR.
Perhaps the gravest problem which confronts our country is the eternal
strife between capital and labor. It is a problem which when solved will
prove one of the most beneficent boons that ever blessed mankind.
Disputes continually arise between employers and employees; strikes have
occurred without number, many of them attended by violence, the
destruction of property and lamentable loss of life. Arbitration is the
best and most sensible cure for the grave peril which at times has
seemed to threaten the safety of our institutions, and when the employer
and those dependent upon him for the support of themselves and families
meet in a friendly spirit and discuss their differences, they are
certain to reach an amicable agreement.
That men have the right to strike and combine against a lowering of
their wages or for the purpose of increasing them is beyond all dispute.
That they have the right to destroy property or prevent other men from
taking their places is contended by no intelligent person, but, so long
as human nature remains as it is, they will do so, with the result that
in almost every instance it is the laborers themselves who are the
greatest losers and sufferers.
One fact for which all ought to be grateful is that the murderous
anarchists who once plotted and struck with the venom of rattlesnakes
have either disappeared or ceased their evil work. They are scarcely
heard of in these days, and that it may ever remain thus is the fervent
wish of every patriotic and right-minded citizen.
It is inevitable that so long as the United States remains an asylum for
the persecuted and oppressed of all nations, it must receive many of the
miscreants that have been compelled to flee from their own countries to
escape the penalty of their crimes. Despite the ravings of the
anarchists, we have good-naturedly let them alone, not believing they
would ever dare to carry out any of the threats which they were so fond
of making. Thus they became emboldened and finally ventured to put their
execrable principles into practice.
There were a good many strikes in different parts of the country in the
early months of 1886. A number were settled by arbitration, such as the
strike on the elevated railroads in New York City, but others were
fought out to the bitter end.
A strike occurred on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the spring of
1886. The strikers became violent, destroyed property, and a number of
lives were lost. The end came in May, and, as is generally the case, it
was against the employes, many of whom were unable to regain the places
that had been taken by others.
ANARCHISTIC OUTBREAK IN CHICAGO.
The cry for eight hours, at the same rate of wages previously paid for
ten, was raised in New York and Chicago in May, 1886. Here and there a
compromise of nine hours was agreed upon with a half of each Saturday
for the employes, but in other cases the employers would not yield
anything. This issue led to the strike of 40,000 workmen in Chicago, who
were chiefly lumbermen, brickmakers, freight-handlers, iron-workers, and
men employed in factories. So many people were idle that business of all
kinds suffered. Naturally there were many parades and much
speech-making. That "an idle mind is the devil's workshop" was proven by
the appearance of the communistic red flag in some of the parades and by
the savage utterances of their speech-makers.
The pork packers and brewers amicably adjusted the strikes of their men,
but the majority of the employers refused to concede anything. Sunday,
the 2d of May, passed without incident, but the police knew the
anarchists were plotting and trouble was at hand. Probably 12,000
strikers gathered the next day at the McCormick Reaper Works on Western
Avenue, where they shattered the windows with stones. At the moment an
attack was about to be made upon the buildings, a patrol wagon dashed up
with twelve policemen, who sprang to the ground. Drawing their revolvers
they faced the mob and ordered them to disperse. They were answered with
a volley of stones. The policemen fired twice over the heads of the
rioters, thereby encouraging instead of intimidating them. Seeing the
folly of throwing away their shots, the policemen now fired directly at
the rioters, who answered with pistol-shots, but they did not hit any of
the officers.
Other patrol wagons hurried up, and the officers did not wait until they
could leap out before opening fire. Their brave attack forced back the
mob, and in the course of an hour the streets were cleared. The
terrified workmen were escorted by the policemen to their homes. But for
such protection they would have been killed by the infuriated rioters.
Tuesday was marked by many affrays between the officers and
law-breakers, but no serious conflict occurred. Placards were
distributed during the day, calling upon the "workingmen" to meet that
evening at the old Haymarket Place, and the organ of the anarchists
urged the men to arm against the police. At the meeting the most
incendiary speeches were made, and the speakers had roused the several
thousand listeners to the highest pitch of excitement, when Inspector
Bonfield at the head of a column of officers forced his way to the
stand, ordered the speaker to stop, and commanded the crowd to disperse.
He was answered with jeers and a storm of missiles. While the policemen
were calmly awaiting the orders of the inspector, some one in the crowd
threw a sputtering dynamite bomb at the feet of the officers.
[Illustration: OLD HAYMARKET PLAZA, CHICAGO.
This monument shows the spot where on May 3, 1886, a dynamite bomb was
thrown by anarchists into a group of policemen, killing seven, crippling
eleven for life, and injuring twelve others so they were unable to do
duty for a year.]
A moment later it exploded, killing seven and crippling eleven for life.
The enraged survivors dashed into the mob, shooting and using their
clubs with fearful effect. Within five minutes the crowd was scattered,
but many lay dead and wounded on the ground. In the investigation that
followed, it was shown that the anarchists had planned to slay hundreds
of innocent people and plunder the city. Their leaders were brought to
trial, ably defended, and the most prominent sentenced to death. One
committed suicide, a number were hanged, and others sentenced to long
terms of imprisonment. All of the latter were pardoned by Governor
Altgeld when he assumed office. Since that time, as has been stated, the
anarchists have given little trouble.
THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE.
The year 1886 was marked by one of the most terrifying visitations that
can come to any country. Earthquake shocks have been felt in different
places in the United States, and the earth-tremors are so frequent in
California that they cause little alarm, for very few have inflicted any
damage to property or life.
On the night of August 31st, the city of Richmond, Virginia, was thrown
into consternation by a series of earthquake shocks. The convicts in the
penitentiary became so panic-stricken that the militia had to be called
out to control them. The shock was felt still more violently in
Columbia, South Carolina. The buildings swayed as if rocked in a gale,
and hundreds of citizens rushed into the street in their night robes.
The scenes were less startling in Memphis, Nashville, Raleigh,
Chattanooga, Selma, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Mobile, St. Louis, Cleveland,
Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburg, while the tremor was felt as far north
as Albany, N.Y.
The most fearful visitation, however, was at Charleston, South Carolina.
Telegraphic communication was cut off with the rest of the world, and
for hours the horrifying belief prevailed that the city had been
entirely destroyed. Such, happily, was not the fact, though never in all
the stormy history of Charleston did she pass through so terrible an
experience.
Late on the evening named, the inhabitants found themselves tossed
about, with their houses tumbling into ruins. They ran in terror into
the streets, many not stopping until they reached the open country,
while others flung themselves on their knees and begged heaven to save
them.
The shocks that night were ten in number, each less violent than its
predecessor. Fires started in several quarters, and twenty houses were
burned before the firemen gained control. The next morning vibrations
again shook the city, all coming from the southeast and passing off in a
northwesterly direction. The first warning was a deep, subterraneous
rumbling, then the earth quivered and heaved, and in a few seconds the
terrific wave had gone by. When night came again, 50,000 people--men,
women, and children--were in the streets, none daring to enter their
houses. They fled to the open squares to escape being crushed by the
falling buildings. Many believed the day of judgment had come and the
negroes were frenzied with terror.
Singular effects of the earthquake showed themselves. In some places,
the covers were hurled from the wells and were followed by geysers of
mud and water. Some wells were entirely emptied, but they soon refilled.
The shocks continued at varying intervals for several weeks, though none
was as violent as at first. In Charleston fully a hundred people were
killed and two-thirds of the city required rebuilding. While damage was
done at other points, none equaled that at Charleston.
The country was quick to respond to the needs of the smitten city.
Contributions were forwarded from every point as freely as when Chicago
was devastated by fire. Tents, provisions, and many thousands of dollars
were sent thither. Even Queen Victoria telegraphed her sympathy to
President Cleveland. One of the mitigations of such scourges is that
they seem to draw humanity closer into one general brotherhood.
CONQUEST OF THE APACHES.
An important work accomplished during the first administration of
Cleveland was the conquest and subjection of the Apaches of the
Southwest. These Indians are the most terrible red men that ever lived
anywhere. They are incredibly tough of frame, as merciless as tigers,
and capable of undergoing hardships and privations before which any
other people would succumb. They will travel for days without a mouthful
of food, will go for hour after hour through a climate that is like that
of Sahara without a drop of moisture, will climb precipitous mountains
as readily as a slight declivity, will lope across the burning deserts
all day without fatigue, or, if riding one of their wiry ponies, will
kill and eat a portion of them when hunger must be attended to, and then
continue their journey on foot.
If a party of Apache raiders are hard pressed by cavalry, they will
break up and continue their flight singly, meeting at some rendezvous
many miles away, after the discouraged troopers have abandoned pursuit.
They seem as impervious to the fiery heat of Arizona and New Mexico as
salamanders. Tonight they may burn a ranchman's home, massacre him and
all his family, and to-morrow morning will repeat the crime fifty miles
distant.
No men could have displayed more bravery and endurance in running down
the Apaches than the United States cavalry. The metal-work of their
weapons grew so hot that it would blister the bare hands, and for days
the thermometer marked one hundred and twenty degrees.
Captain Bourke, who understands these frightful red men thoroughly,
gives the following description of the Apache:
"Physically, he is perfect; he might be a trifle taller for artistic
effect, but his apparent 'squattiness' is due more to great girth of
chest than to diminutive stature. His muscles are hard as bone, and I
have seen one light a match on the sole of his foot. When Crook first
took the Apache in hand, he had few wants and cared for no luxuries. War
was his business, his life, and victory his dream. To attack a Mexican
camp or isolated village, and run off a herd of cattle, mules, or sheep,
he would gladly travel hundreds of miles, incurring every risk and
displaying a courage which would have been extolled in a historical
novel as having happened in a raid by Highlanders upon Scotchmen; but
when it was _your_ stock, or your friend's stock, it became quite a
different matter. He wore no clothing whatever save a narrow piece of
calico or buckskin about his loins, a helmet also of buckskin,
plentifully crested with the plumage of the wild turkey and eagle, and
long-legged moccasins, held to the waist by a string, and turned up at
the toes in a shield which protected him from stones and the 'cholla'
cactus. If he felt thirsty, he drank from the nearest brook; if there
was no brook near by he went without, and, putting a stone or a twig in
his mouth to induce a flow of saliva, journeyed on. When he desired to
communicate with friends at home, or to put himself in correspondence
with persons whose co-operation had been promised, he rubbed two sticks
together, and dense signal smoke rolled to the zenith, and was answered
from peaks twenty and thirty miles away. By nightfall, his bivouac was
pitched at a distance from water, generally on the flank of a rocky
mountain, along which no trail would be left, and up which no force of
cavalry could hope to ascend without making noise enough to wake the
dead."
This graphic picture of the dusky scourge of the Southwest will explain
the dread in which he was held by all who were compelled to live away
from the towns. When practicable, the ranchmen combined against the
Apaches, but, from the necessities of the case, they were powerless to
extirpate the pests. Unsuccessful attempts were made by the military
forces, but nothing definite was accomplished until General George Crook
took the work in hand.
Crook was an old Indian campaigner who thoroughly understood the nature
of the difficult task before him. His preparations being completed, he
ordered his different columns to converge, December 9, 1872, on Tonto
Basin, which was one of the principal strongholds of the Apaches in
Arizona. The section is inclosed by the Mogollen, the Mazatzal, and the
Sierra Ancha Mountains, and the timbered region is so elevated that
during the winter months it is covered with snow. Crook himself took
station at Camp Grant, one of the most unattractive posts in the
country.
This officer having started on his campaign pushed it with untiring
energy. He had selected the best Indian fighters to be found anywhere,
and they pursued and rounded up the bucks with amazing skill and
persistency. As soon as they corralled a party of hostiles, they
impressed the best trailers and used them in running down the others.
The Indians were allowed no time to rest. When they had fled many miles,
and supposed their pursuers were left far out of sight, as had hitherto
been the case, they discovered them at their heels. Plunging into their
fastnesses in the mountains did not avail, for the white and the red
trailers could follow and did follow them wherever they took refuge.
The pursuing detachments frequently crossed one another's trails, often
met and kept within supporting distance. The danger which threatened the
Apaches was as present in the darkness as when the sun was shining. One
of the seemingly inaccessible strongholds was reached by the troopers
pushing the pursuit all through the night. As a proof of the skill of
the Apache trailers, it may be said they were often guided in the gloom
by the feeling of their feet, which told them when they were on the
trail of the enemy. Captain Bourke, whom we have quoted, was in command
of a detachment of the best Indian trailers and sharpshooters. He thus
describes the scene and incidents, when, after hours of stealthy pursuit
through the rough region, they came upon the hostiles, who believed
themselves beyond reach of the most persistent enemies of any race:
[Illustration: GENERAL CROOK'S APACHE GUIDE.]
"Lieutenant William J. Ross, of the Twenty-first Infantry, was assigned
to lead the first detachment, which contained the best shots from among
the soldiers, packers, and scouts. The second detachment came under my
own orders. Our pioneer party slipped down the face of the precipice
without accident, following a trail from which an incautious step would
have caused them to be dashed to pieces; after a couple of hundred yards
this brought them face to face with the cave, and not two hundred feet
from it. In front of the cave was the party of raiders, just returned
from their successful trip of killing and robbing in the settlement near
Florence on the Gila River. They were dancing to keep themselves warm
and to express their joy over their safe return. Half a dozen or more of
the squaws had arisen from their slumbers and were bending over a fire
and hurriedly preparing refreshments for their victorious kinsmen. The
fitful gleam of the glowing flame gave a Macbethian tinge to the weird
scene, and brought into bold relief the grim outlines of the cliffs,
between whose steep walls, hundreds of feet below, growled the rushing
current of the swift Salado.
"The Indians, men and women, were in high good humor, and why should
they not be? Sheltered in the bosom of these grim precipices, only the
eagle, the hawk, the turkey buzzard, or the mountain sheep could venture
to intrude upon them. But hark! What is that noise? Can it be the breeze
of morning which sounds 'click, click?' You will know in one second
more, poor, deluded, red-skinned wretches, when the 'bang! boom!' of
rifles and carbines, reverberating like the roar of a cannon, from peak
to peak, shall lay six of your number dead in the dust.
"The cold, gray dawn of that chill December morning was sending its
first rays above the horizon and looking down upon one of the worst
bands of Apaches in Arizona, caught like wolves in a trap. They rejected
with scorn our summons to surrender, and defiantly shrieked that not one
of our party should escape from the cañon. We heard their death-song
chanted, and then out of the cave and over the great pile of rocks,
which protected the entrance like a parapet, swarmed the warriors. But
we outnumbered them three to one, and poured in lead by the bucketful.
The bullets, striking the mouth and roof of the cave, glanced among the
savages in rear of the parapet, and wounded some of the women and
children, whose wails filled the air.
"During the heaviest part of the firing, a little boy not more than four
years old, absolutely naked, ran out at the side of the parapet and
stood dumfounded between the two fires. Nantaje, without a moment's
pause, rushed forward, grasped the trembling infant by the arm, and
escaped unhurt with him, inside our lines. A bullet, probably deflected
from the rocks, had struck the boy on top of his head and plowed around
to the back of his neck, leaving a welt an eighth of an inch thick, but
not injuring him seriously. Our men suspended their firing to cheer
Nantaje and welcome the new arrival; such is the inconsistency of human
nature.
"Again the Apaches were summoned to surrender, or, if they would not do
that, to let such of their women and children as so desired pass out
between the lines; again they yelled their refusal. Their end had come.
The detachment led by Major Brown at the top of the precipice, to
protect our retreat in case of necessity, had worked its way over to a
high shelf of rock overlooking the enemy beneath, and began to tumble
down great bowlders, which speedily crushed the greater number of the
Apaches. The Indians on the San Carlos reservation still mourn
periodically for the seventy-six of their relatives who yielded up the
ghost that morning. Every warrior died at his post. The women and
children had hidden themselves in the inner recesses of the cave, which
was of no great depth, and were captured and taken to Camp McDowell. A
number of them had been struck by glancing bullets or fragments of
falling rock. As soon as our pack trains could be brought up, we mounted
the captives on our horses and mules and started for the nearest
military station, the one just named, over fifty miles away."
This was one of the most decisive blows received by the hostiles. No
more murderous band had ever desolated the ranches of Southern Arizona.
It had been virtually wiped out by the troopers, who, complete as was
their work, lost only a single man.
A GREAT TRANSFORMATION.
This achievement may illustrate the manner in which the American
troopers did their work. A few days later a blow almost as destructive
was delivered at Turret Butte, and within a month a hundred and ten
Apaches in the Superstition Mountains surrendered to Major Brown and
accompanied him to Camp Grant. The Indians understood the character of
the man who was pressing them so remorselessly. They offered to
surrender to General Crook, who told them that, if they would stop
killing people and live peaceful lives, he would teach them to work,
find a market for their products, and prove himself the truest friend
they could have.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN WARRIOR.]
They accepted the offer, for they knew Crook could be trusted. Strange
as it may appear, he had all the Apaches within a month at work digging
ditches, cutting hay and wood, planting vegetables, and as peaceful and
contented as so many farmers in the interior of one of our own States.
This transformation included all the Apaches in Arizona, excepting the
Chiricahuas, who were not within the jurisdiction of Crook.
The terrible scourge that had so long desolated the Southwest was gone,
and all would have been well but for the vicious "Indian Ring" in
Washington, or, as it was more popularly known, the "Tucson Ring," who
secured legislation by which the 6,000 Apaches were ordered to leave the
reservation and go to that of San Carlos, where the soil is arid, the
water brackish, and the flies make life intolerable. As was inevitable,
the Indians were exasperated and revolted. They preferred to be shot
down while resenting the injustice than to submit quietly to it. Again
the reign of terror opened, and the blood of hundreds of innocent people
paid for the villainy of the rapacious miscreants who were beyond reach.
GERONIMO, THE FAMOUS APACHE CHIEF.
The most famous chief of the Warm Spring Apaches was Geronimo. Another
hardly less prominent was his cousin Chato, who joined the whites in
their attempts to run down Geronimo. They professed to hate each other,
but there is ground for believing the two were secret allies, and kept
up continual communication by which Geronimo was able to avoid his
pursuers and continue his fearful career.
General Crook took the saddle again, when Geronimo escaped from Fort
Apache in May, 1885, with a band of more than a hundred warriors, women,
and children. They traveled one hundred and twenty miles before making
their first camp. Try as they might, the cavalry could not get within
gunshot, and, though the chase was pressed for hundreds of miles, the
fugitives placed themselves beyond reach for a time in the Sierra Madre
Mountains.
But Crook never let up, and finally corralled Geronimo. He held him just
one night, when he escaped. The wily leader stole back to camp the next
night, carried off his wife, and was beyond reach before pursuit could
be made.
There was an agreement between the United States and Mexico by which the
troops of the former were allowed to follow any marauding Indians beyond
the Rio Grande when they were seeking escape by entering Mexico. General
H.W. Lawton (who won fame in Cuba during our late war with Spain and
still more in the Philippines) took the field with the Fourth Cavalry,
May 5, 1885. Lawton is a giant in stature and strength, with more
endurance than an Indian, absolutely fearless, and he was resolute to
run down the Apaches, even if compelled to chase them to the city of
Mexico.
And he did it. Geronimo was followed with such untiring persistency,
losing a number of his bucks in the attacks made on him, that in
desperation he crossed the Rio Grande and headed again for the Sierra
Madre. A hot chase of two hundred miles brought the Apaches to bay, and
a brisk fight took place within the confines of Mexico. The Indians fled
again, and Lawton kept after them. The pursuit took the troopers 300
miles south of the boundary line, the trail winding in and out of the
mountains and cañons of Sonora, repeatedly crossing and doubling upon
itself, but all the time drawing nearer the dusky scourges, who at last
were so worn out and exhausted that when summoned to surrender they did
so.
Geronimo, one of the worst of all the Apaches, was once more a prisoner
with his band. But he had been a prisoner before, only to escape and
renew his outrages. So long as he was anywhere in the Southwest, the
ranchmen felt unsafe. Accordingly, he and his leading chiefs were sent
to Fort Pickens, Florida, the others being forwarded to Fort Marion, St.
Augustine. Their health after a time was affected, and they were removed
to Mount Vernon, Alabama. The prisoners, including the women and
children, number about 400. A school was opened, whither the boys and
girls were sent to receive instruction, and some of the brightest pupils
in the well-known Indian School at Carlisle were the boys and girls
whose fathers were merciless raiders in Arizona only a few years ago,
and who are now quiet, peaceful, contented, and "good Indians." The
Apaches have been thoroughly conquered, and the ranchmen and their
families have not the shadow of a fear that the terror that once
shadowed their thresholds can ever return.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1888.
Although President Cleveland offended many of his party by his devotion
to the policy of civil service reform, he was renominated in 1888, while
the nominee of the Republicans was Benjamin Harrison. Other tickets were
placed in the field, and the November election resulted as follows:
Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman, Democrats, 168 electoral votes;
Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, Republicans, 233; Clinton B. Fisk
and John A. Brooks, Prohibition, received 249,907 popular votes; Alson
J. Streeter and C.E. Cunningham, United Labor, 148,105; James L. Curtis
and James R. Greer, American, 1,591.
[Illustration: BENJAMIN HARRISON. (1833-.) One term, 1889-1894.]
THE TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT.
Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His
father was a farmer, and _his_ father was General William Henry
Harrison, governor of the Northwest Territory, and afterward President
of the United States, and the first to die in office. His father was
Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence. Thus the twenty-third President possesses illustrious
lineage.
Benjamin Harrison entered Miami University when a boy, and was graduated
before the age of twenty. He studied law, and upon his admission to the
bar settled in Indianapolis, which has since been his home. He
volunteered early in the war, and won the praise of Sheridan and other
leaders for his gallantry and bravery. He was elected to the United
States Senate in 1881, and his ability placed him among the foremost
leaders in that distinguished body. As a debater and off-hand speaker,
he probably has no superior, while his ability as a lawyer long ago
placed him in the very front rank of his profession.
THE JOHNSTOWN DISASTER.
The Conemaugh Valley, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, is about
twenty miles in length. The city of Johnstown lies thirty-nine miles
west-southwest of Altoona and seventy-eight miles east-by-south of
Pittsburg. It is the seat of the Cambria Iron Works, which give
employment to fully 6,000 men, and is one of the leading industrial
establishments of the country. Conemaugh Lake is at the head of the
winding valley, eighteen miles away, and was the largest reservoir of
water in the world. It was a mile and a half wide at its broadest part,
and two miles and a half long. Most of the lake was a hundred feet deep.
The dam was a fifth of a mile wide, ninety feet thick at its base, and
one hundred and ten feet high. The mass of water thus held in restraint
was inconceivable.
The people living in the valley below had often reflected upon the
appalling consequences if this dam should give way. Few persons
comprehend the mighty strength of water, whose pressure depends mainly
upon its depth. A tiny stream, no thicker than a pipe-stem, can
penetrate deeply enough into a mountain to split it apart, and, should
the reservoir ever burst its bounds, it would spread death and
desolation over miles of country below.
There had been several alarms, but the engineers sent to make an
examination of the dam always reported it safe, and the people, like
those who live at the base of a volcano, came to believe that all the
danger existed in their imagination.
On the 31st of May, 1889, the dam suddenly gave way, sliding from its
base, like an oiled piece of machinery, and the vast mass of water shot
forward at the speed of more than two miles a minute. Seven minutes
after the bursting of the dam, the head of the resistless flood was
eighteen miles down the valley. A man on horseback had started, at a
dead-run, some minutes before the catastrophe, shouting a warning to the
inhabitants, some of whom, by instantly taking to flight up the
mountain side, were able to save themselves, but the majority waited too
long.
A FURIOUS TORRENT.
Imagination cannot picture the awful power of this prodigious torrent.
Trees were uptorn or flattened to the earth, houses, locomotives, and
massive machinery were tumbled over and over and bobbed about like so
many corks, and the flood struck Johnstown with the fury of a cyclone,
sweeping everything before it, as if it were so much chaff. Tearing
through the city and carrying with it thousands of tons of wreckage of
every description, it plunged down the valley till it reached the
railroad bridge below Johnstown. There, for the first time, it
encountered an obstruction which it could not overcome. The structure
stood as immovable as a solid mountain, and the furious torrent piled up
the debris for a mile in width and many feet in depth. In this mass were
engines, houses, trees, furniture, household utensils, iron in all
forms, while, winding in and out, were hundreds of miles of barbed wire,
which knit the wreckage together. In many of the dwellings people were
imprisoned, and before a step could be taken to relieve them fire broke
out and scores were burned to death.
[Illustration: INDIAN MOTHER AND INFANT.]
How many people lost their lives in the Johnstown flood will never be
known. The remains of bodies were found for months and even years
afterward. The official list, when made up, was 2,280, of which 741
bodies were unidentified; but there is little doubt that the loss was
fully twice the number given. Nothing of the kind has ever before
occurred in the history of our country, and it is to be hoped that such
a disaster will never be repeated.
Again the calamity awoke an instant sympathetic response. Provisions,
tents, and money were sent to the sufferers from all parts of the Union,
and nothing that could relieve them was neglected. Johnstown was soon
rebuilt, and to-day there are no signs of the fearful visitation it
received, only a comparatively short time since. On November 14, 1892,
at the payment of the annuity provided for the orphans of Johnstown, the
sum of $20,325 was distributed.
We came very near to having a war with Chili in the latter part of 1891.
On the 16th of October of that year, some forty men, attached to the
American warship _Baltimore_, lying in the harbor of Valparaiso,
obtained leave to go ashore. Sailors at such times are as frolicksome as
so many boys let out for a vacation, and it cannot be claimed that these
Jackies were models of order and quiet behavior. They were in uniform
and without weapons.
They had been in the city only a short time, when one of them became
involved in a wrangle with a Chilian. His companions went to his
assistance whereupon a native mob quickly gathered and set upon them.
The Chilians detest Americans, and, seeing a chance to vent their
feelings, they did so with vindictive fury. They far outnumbered the
sailors, and besides nearly every one of them was armed. The boatswain's
mate of the _Baltimore_, Riggin by name, was killed and several
seriously wounded, one of whom afterward died from his injuries.
Thirty-five of the Americans were arrested and thrown into prison, but
as they could not be held upon any criminal charge they were released.
The captain of the _Baltimore_ was the present Rear-Admiral Schley, who
rescued the Greely party of Arctic explorers, and gave so good an
account of himself, while in command of the _Brooklyn_, during the
destruction of Cervera's fleet off Santiago, July 3, 1898. When our
government learned of the affair, it directed Captain Schley to make a
full investigation. He did so, and his report left no doubt that the
Chilians had committed a gross outrage against our flag.
The next act of our government was to demand an apology from Chili and
the payment of an indemnity to the sufferers and to the families of
those who had been killed by the attack of the mob. Chili is a fiery
nation, and her reply was so insolent that preparations were set on foot
to bring her to terms by force of arms. At the moment, as may be said,
when war impended, she sent an apology and forwarded a satisfactory
indemnity, whereupon the flurry subsided.
A GREAT INDIAN WAR THREATENED IN 1890-1891.
A still greater danger threatened the country in the winter of
1890-1891, when we were menaced by the most formidable Indian uprising
that has ever occurred in the history of our country.
Indian wars hitherto had been confined to certain localities, where, by
the prompt concentration of troops, they were speedily subdued; but in
the instance named the combination was among the leading and most
warlike tribes, who roamed over thousands of square miles of the
Northwest. A fact not generally suspected is that the red men of this
country are as numerous to-day as they ever were. While certain tribes
have disappeared, others have increased in number, with the result that
the sentimental fancy that at some time in the future the red man will
disappear from the continent has no basis in fact. The probability is
that they will increase, though not so rapidly as their Caucasian
brethren.
The strongest tribe in the Northwest is the Sioux. It was they who
perpetrated the massacres in Minnesota in 1862. If necessary they could
place 5,000 warriors in the field, with every man a brave and skillful
fighter in his way. It was they, too, who overwhelmed Custer and his
command on the Little Big Horn in June, 1876. When it is added that the
squaws are as vicious fighters as their husbands, it will be understood
what a war with them means, especially since they have the help of
neighboring tribes.
For a long time there have been two classes of Indians. The progressives
favor civilization, send their children to Carlisle and other schools,
engage in farming, and, in short, are fully civilized. They remain on
their reservation and give the government no trouble. Opposed to them
are the barbarians, or untamable red men, who refuse to accept
civilization, hate the whites, and are ready to go to war on a slight
pretext, even though they know there can be but one result, which is
their own defeat.
The Indians are among the most superstitious people in the world. When,
therefore, a number of warriors appeared among them, dressed in white
shirts, engaging in furious "ghost dances," and declaring that the
Messiah was about to revisit the earth, drive out the white men, and
restore the hunting grounds to the faithful Indians, the craze spread
and the fanatical promises of the ghost dancers were eagerly accepted by
thousands of red men.
SITTING BULL.
The most dangerous Sioux Indian was the medicine man known as Sitting
Bull, already referred to in our account of the Custer massacre. He
always felt bitter against the whites, and had caused them a good deal
of trouble. He saw in the ghost dance the opportunity for which he
longed, and he began urging his people to unite against their hereditary
enemies, as he regarded them.
It soon became apparent that, unless he was restrained, he would cause
the worst kind of trouble, and it was determined to arrest him. The most
effective officers employed against the men are the Indian police in the
service of the United States government. These people did not like
Sitting Bull, and hoped they would have trouble in arresting him, since
it would give the pretext they wanted for shooting him.
Sitting Bull's camp was forty miles northwest of Fort Yates, North
Dakota, whither the Indian police rode on the morning of December 15,
1890, with the United States cavalry lingering some distance in the
rear. The taunts of Sitting Bull's boy Crowfoot caused him to offer
resistance, and in a twinkling both parties began shooting. Sitting
Bull, his son, and six warriors were killed, while four of the Indian
police lost their lives, among them the one who had fired the fatal shot
at the medicine man.
The remaining members of Sitting Bull's command fled to the "Bad Lands"
of Dakota, but a number were persuaded to return to Pine Ridge Agency.
There were so many, however, who refused to come in that the peril
assumed the gravest character. The only way to bring about a real peace
was to compel the disarming of the Indians, for so long as they had
weapons in their hands they were tempted to make use of them.
[Illustration: INDIAN AGENCY.]
It was the time for coolness, tact, and discretion, and the American
officers displayed it to a commendable degree. They carefully avoided
giving the Indians cause for offense, while insisting at the same time
upon their being disarmed.
On December 28th, a band of malcontents were located near Wounded Knee
Creek, by the Seventh Cavalry, who had been hunting several days for
them. They were sullen, but, when ordered to surrender their weapons,
made a pretense of doing so. Emerging from their tepees, however, they
produced only a few worthless weapons. Being sharply ordered to bring
the remainder, they suddenly wheeled and began firing upon the soldiers.
In an instant, a fierce fight was in progress, with the combatants
standing almost within arm's reach of one another.
SQUAWS AS VICIOUS AS WILDCATS.
Twenty-eight soldiers were killed and thirty wounded, while fully as
many of the Indians were shot down. In the fighting, the squaws were as
vicious as wildcats, and fought with as much effectiveness as the
warriors. A wounded officer was beaten to death by several of them
before he could be rescued. Finally, the Indians fled and joined the
malcontents, already assembled in the Bad Lands.
This affair made the outlook still darker. The Seventh Cavalry had just
reached camp on the morning of December 30th, when a courier dashed up
to Pine Ridge, with word that the Catholic Mission building was on fire
and the Indians were killing the teachers and pupils. The wearied
troopers galloped hurriedly thither, but found the burning building was
the day school, a mile nearer Pine Ridge. A strong force of Indians were
gathered beyond, and the Seventh attacked them. The Sioux were so
numerous that the cavalry were in great danger of being surrounded, when
a vigorous attack by the Ninth Cavalry (colored) on the rear of the
Indians scattered them.
Warriors continued to slip away from the agency and join the hostiles.
Their signal fires were seen burning at night, and recruits came all the
way from British America to help them. It was remarked at one time that
the only friendly Indians were the police, a few Cheyennes, and the
scouts, including a few Sioux chiefs, among whom American Horse was the
most conspicuous. He never wavered in his loyalty to the whites, and
boldly combated in argument his enemies, at the risk of being killed at
any moment by his infuriated countrymen.
THE ALARMING CLOUD DISSOLVED.
There were a number of skirmishes and considerable fighting, but General
Miles, who assumed charge of all the military movements, displayed
admirable tact. When the Sioux began slowly coming toward the agency, it
was under orders from him that not a gun should be fired nor a
demonstration made except to repel an attack or to check a break on the
part of the Indians. This course was followed, the troopers keeping at a
goodly distance behind the hostiles, who seemed more than once on the
point of wheeling about and assailing them, despite their promises to
come into the agency and surrender their arms.
The Sioux, however, kept their pledge, and, on the 15th of January,
1891, the immense cavalcade entered the agency. Everyone was amazed at
the strength displayed by the Indians, which was far greater than
supposed. In the procession were 732 lodges, and careful estimates made
the whole number 11,000, of whom 3,000 were warriors. Had these red men
broken loose and started upon the war trail, the consequences would have
been frightful.
While the weapons turned in by the Indians were only a few in number and
of poor quality, General Miles was satisfied the trouble was over and
issued a congratulatory address to those under his command. His opinion
of the situation proved correct, and the alarming war cloud that had
hung over the Northwest melted and dissolved. While there have been
slight troubles in different parts of the country since, none assumed a
serious character, and it is believed impossible that ever again the
peril of 1890-91 can threaten the country.
ADMISSION OF NEW STATES.
Several States were admitted to the Union during Harrison's
administration. The first were North and South Dakota, which became
States in November, 1889. The Dakotas originally formed part of the
Louisiana purchase. The capital was first established at Yankton in
March, 1862, but was removed to Bismarck in 1883. The two States
separated in 1889.
In November of the latter year Montana was admitted, and in July
following Idaho and Wyoming. Montana was a part of Idaho Territory until
May, 1864, when it was organized as a separate Territory. Idaho itself
was a part Of Oregon Territory until 1863, and, when first formed, was
made up of portions of Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Nebraska. The
boundaries were changed in 1864 and a part added to Montana. Wyoming
gained its name from the settlers who went thither from Wyoming Valley,
Pennsylvania. It first became a Territory in 1863.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1892.
The Republicans renominated President Harrison in 1892, with Whitelaw
Reid the candidate for Vice-President, while the Democrats put forward
ex-President Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson. The result of the
election was as follows:
Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrats, 277 electoral votes;
Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, Republicans, 144. Of the popular
vote, James B. Weaver and James G. Field, People's Party, received
1,041,028 votes; John Bidwell and James B. Cranfil, Prohibition,
264,133; and Simon Wing and Charles M. Matchett, Social Labor, 21,164
votes.
[Illustration: THE HERO OF THE STRIKE, COAL CREEK, TENN. In 1892 a
period of great labor agitation began, lasting for several years. One of
the most heroic figures of those troublous times is Colonel Anderson,
under a flag of truce, meeting the infuriated miners at Coal Creek.]
CHAPTER XXII.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND), 1893-1897.
Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill--The World's Columbian
Exposition at Chicago--The Hawaiian Imbroglio--The Great Railroad Strike
of 1894--Coxey's Commonweal Army--Admission of Utah--Harnessing of
Niagara--Dispute with England Over Venezuela's Boundary--Presidential
Election of 1896.
REPEAL OF THE PURCHASE CLAUSE OF THE SHERMAN BILL.
[Illustration: HENRY MOORE TELLER. Senator from Colorado. The most
prominent among the "Silver Senators."]
Grover Cleveland was the first President of the United States who had an
interval between his two terms. His inauguration was succeeded by a
financial stringency, which appeared in the summer and autumn of 1893.
There seemed to be a weakening of general confidence in all parts of the
country, and much suffering followed, especially in the large cities,
greatly relieved, however, by the well-ordered system of charity. Many
people thought that one cause of the trouble was the Sherman Bill, which
provided for a large monthly coinage of silver. Congress was convened in
extraordinary session August 7th by the President, who recommended that
body to repeal the purchase clause of the Sherman act. Such a repeal was
promptly passed by the House, but met with strong opposition in the
Senate. There is less curb to debate in that branch of Congress, and the
senators from the silver States, like Colorado, Idaho and Nevada, where
the mining of silver is one of the most important industries, did what
they could to delay legislation. Some of the speeches were spun out for
days, with no other purpose than to discourage the friends of the
measure by delaying legislation. Finally, however, a vote was reached
October 30th, when the bill passed and was immediately signed by the
President.
THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.
The most notable event of Cleveland's second administration was the
World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago. Properly the four
hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America should have taken
place in 1892, but the preparations were on so grand a scale that they
could not be completed in time.
[Illustration: Model of U.S. Man of War Built for exhibit at Worlds
Fair.]
The part of the government in this memorable celebration was opened by a
striking naval parade or review of the leading war-ships of the world.
They assembled at Hampton Roads, Virginia, coming from points of the
globe thousands of miles apart. Steaming northward to New York, the
review took place April 27, 1893. In addition to the thirty-five
war-ships, there were the three Columbian caravels sent by Spain and
presented to the United States. When ranged in two lines on the Hudson,
these ships extended for three miles, and represented, besides our own
country, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Brazil,
Holland, and Argentina. The steel-clad yacht _Dolphin_ steamed between
these two lines, bearing President Cleveland and his cabinet, while each
ship as she came opposite thundered her salute. No conqueror of ancient
or modern times ever received so magnificent a tribute.
Chicago, having won the prize of the location of the World's Fair,
selected the site on the 2d of July, 1890. This covered nearly 700
acres of beautiful laid-out grounds and parks, extending from the point
nearest the city, two and a half miles, to the southern extremity of
Jackson Park. The site selected by the directors was the section known
as Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance. The park has a frontage of one
and a half miles on Lake Michigan and contains 600 acres, while the
Midway Plaisance, connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, afforded
eighty-five acres more. It is 600 feet wide and a mile in length. Since
world's fairs have become a favorite among nations, the following
statistics will give a correct idea of the vastness of the one held in
Chicago, from May 1 to November 1, 1893:
London, 1857, 21-1/2 acres occupied; 17,000 exhibitors;
total receipts, $1,780,000
Paris, 1855, 24-1/2 " " 22,000 exhibitors;
total receipts, 6,441,200
London, 1862, 23-1/2 " " 28,633 exhibitors;
total receipts, 1,644,260
Paris, 1867, 37 " " 52,000 exhibitors;
total receipts, 2,103,675
Vienna, 1873, 280 " " 142,000 exhibitors;
total receipts, 6,971,832
Philadelphia, 1876, 236 " " 30,864 exhibitors;
total receipts, 3,813,724
Paris, 1878, 100 " " 40,366 exhibitors;
total receipts, 2,531,650
Paris, 1889, 173 " " 55,000 exhibitors;
total receipts, 8,300,000
Chicago, 1893, 645 " " 65,422 exhibitors;
total receipts, 33,290,065
The countries which made generous appropriations for exhibits were:
Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Denmark, Danish West Indies, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great
Britain, Barbadoes, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cape
Colony, Ceylon, India, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, New South Wales, New
Zealand, Trinidad, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, Haiti, Japan,
Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies,
Nicaragua, Norway, Orange Free State, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador,
San Domingo, Spain, Cuba, Sweden, Uruguay.
All the States in the Union entered heartily into the scheme, their
total appropriations amounting to $6,000,000. The original plan called
for ten main buildings: Manufactures, Administration, Machinery,
Agriculture, Electricity, Mines, Transportation, Horticulture,
Fisheries, and the Venetian Village; but there were added: the Art
Galleries, the Woman's Building, the Forestry, Dairy, Stock, Pavilion,
Terminal Station, Music Hall, Peristyle, Casino, Choral,
Anthropological, and many others.
OPENING OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.
The grounds and buildings were opened October 21, 1892, with appropriate
ceremonies by Vice-President Morton and other distinguished citizens.
The most important exhibits were as follows:
The Transportation Building displayed about everything that could be
possibly used in transportation, from the little baby-carriage to the
ponderous locomotive. The progress of ship-building from its infancy to
the present was shown, among the exhibits being an accurate model of the
_Santa Maria_, the principal ship of Columbus, which was wrecked in the
West Indies, on his first voyage. The Bethlehem steam hammer, the
largest in the world, was ninety-one feet high and weighed 125 tons.
Among the locomotives were the "Mississippi," built in England in 1834;
a model of Stephenson's "Rocket;" a steam carriage, used in France in
1759; and a model of Trevithick's locomotive of 1803. There were also
the first cable car built, the boat and steam fixtures made and
navigated by Captain John Stevens in 1804, and the "John Bull," used on
the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and which, it is claimed, is the oldest
locomotive in America.
[Illustration: MACHINERY HALL.]
The exhibit in the Mines and Mining Building were divided into 123
classes, including cement from Heidelberg, mosaics in Carlsbad stone,
French asphalt specimens, French work in gold, platinum, and aluminum,
silver and ores from nearly every part of the world, and ores from
different sections of our own country.
The Government Building was specially attractive, with its exhibits of
the several departments of the United States government. A case of
humming birds contained 133 varieties, and in another case were
represented 106 families of American birds. There were stuffed fowls,
flamingoes, nests, Rocky Mountain goats and sheep, armadilloes from
Texas, sea otters, American bisons, a Pacific walrus, 300 crocodiles of
the Nile, crocodile birds, fishes and reptiles, and an almost endless
display of coins and metals.
[Illustration]
The Department of Ethnology contained figures of Eskemos and specimens
of their industry, Canadian Indians, Indian wigwam, ancient pottery,
models of ruins found in Arizona, a brass lamp used at a feast 169 years
before Christ; scrolls of the law of Tarah, made in the tenth century in
Asia; silver spice-box of the time of Christ; phylacteries, used by the
Jews at morning prayers, except on Saturday; knife used by priests in
slaying animals for sacrifice.
[Illustration]
In the State Department thousands of people gazed with awe upon what was
believed to be the original Declaration of Independence as it came from
the hand of Thomas Jefferson. It was, however, only a close copy, since
the government under no circumstances will permit the original to leave
the archives at Washington. But among the original papers were the
petition of the United Colonies to George III., presented by Benjamin
Franklin in 1774; the original journal of the Continental Congress;
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; an autograph letter of George III.;
and various proclamations issued by Presidents, with their autographs
and letters, by Washington, Franklin, the Adamses, Jefferson, Madison,
Polk, Van Buren, Monroe, Lincoln, Grant, Arthur, and Hayes.
WONDERFUL HISTORIC RELICS.
[Illustration]
The most interesting historic papers were letters penned by Napoleon,
Alexander of Russia, and other foreign potentates, the Webster-Ashburton
treaty signed by Queen Victoria, and a shark's tooth sent as a treaty by
the king of Samoa. Precious relics were Washington's commission as
commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, his sword, his diary, and his
account books and army reports; the sash with which Lafayette bound up
his wound at Brandywine; the calumet pipe which Washington smoked when
seventeen years old; Benjamin Franklin's cane; the sword of General
Jackson; a waistcoat embroidered by Marie Antoinette; wampum made before
the discovery of America; camp service of pewter used by Washington
throughout the Revolution; Bible brought over by John Alden in the
_Mayflower_; and a piece of torch carried by "Old Put" (General Israel
Putnam) into the den of the wolf which he killed.
A section of one of the big trees of California was 20 feet in diameter
at the top and 26 feet at the base.
The dreadful sufferings of persons imprisoned for debt in England, which
led to the founding of Georgia, were recalled by a warrant for the
arrest and imprisonment of one of the unfortunates, issued in 1721.
There also were to be seen a page from the Plymouth records of 1620 and
1621; a land patent of 1628; the royal commission creating the common
pleas court of Massachusetts in 1696; a page from the horrible
witchcraft trials in Salem in 1692; a door-knocker brought to this
country in the _Mayflower_; and portraits of many historical persons.
In the War Department were shown a six-pounder bronze gun presented by
Lafayette to the colonial forces; the four-pounder gun that fired the
first shot in the Civil War; the rifled gun that fired the last shot;
cannon used in the Mexican War; cast-iron cannon found in the Hudson
River; Chinese cannon captured at Corea; cannon captured at Yorktown;
boot-legs from which the starving members of the Greely Arctic
expedition made soup; relics of Sir John Franklin; a wagon used by
General Sherman throughout all his marches; the sacred shirt worn by
Sitting Bull at the time of the massacre of Custer and his command on
the Little Big Horn.
EXHIBITS OF THE TREASURY AND POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENTS.
In the Treasury Department was represented the United States Mint in
operation, besides historic medals, ancient and modern coins, including
those of foreign countries, a ten-thousand gold dollar certificate and a
silver certificate of the same denomination.
The eyes of the philatelists sparkled at the treasures in the Postoffice
Department, which included all the issues of stamps from 1847 to 1893.
Some of the single stamps were worth thousands of dollars, and it would
have required a fortune to purchase the whole collection, had it been
for sale. The methods of carrying the mail were illustrated by a
representation of dogs drawing a sled over the snow and a Rocky Mountain
stage-coach. It would require volumes to convey an intelligent idea of
the display in the Patent Office, Interior Department, Geological
Survey, Agricultural Department, and the United States Commission.
[Illustration: THOMAS A. EDISON.
(1847-.)]
Everybody knows that wonderful discoveries have been made in
electricity, and no doubt we are close upon still greater ones. The name
of Edison is connected with the marvelous achievements in this field,
and there was much food for thought and speculation in the exhibits of
the Electricity Building. These, while profoundly interesting, were
mainly so in their hints of what are coming in the near future.
Machinery Hall was a favorite with thousands of the visitors. The
exhibits were so numerous that they were divided into eighty-six
classes, grouped into:
1. Motors and apparatus for the generation and transmission of power,
hydraulic and pneumatic apparatus.
2. Fire-engines, apparatus and appliances for extinguishing fire.
3. Machine tools and machines for working metals.
4. Machinery for the manufacture of textile fabrics and clothing.
5. Machines for working wood.
6. Machines and apparatus for type-setting, printing, stamping and
embossing, and for making books and paper making.
7. Lithography, zincography, and color painting.
8. Photo-mechanical and other mechanical processes for illustrating,
etc.
9. Miscellaneous hand-tools, machines and apparatus used in various
arts.
10. Machines for working stones, clay, and other minerals.
11. Machinery used in the preparation of foods, etc.
OTHER NOTABLE EXHIBITS.
The cost of the model of the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, where
the wearied Columbus stopped to crave food for himself and boy, was
$50,000. The relics of the great explorer were numerous and of vivid
interest.
Hardly less interesting was the reproduction of the Viking ship
unearthed in a burial mound in Norway in 1880, the model being precisely
that of the vessels in which the hardy Norsemen navigators crossed the
Atlantic a thousand years ago. It was seventy-six feet in length, the
bow ornamented with a large and finely carved dragon's head and the
stern with a dragon's tail. Rows of embellished shields ran along the
outside of the bulwarks, and all was open except a small deck fore and
aft, while two water-tight compartments gave protection to the men in
stormy weather. The rigging consisted of one mast with a single yard,
that could be readily taken down, but there were places for immense
oars, whose handling must have required tremendous muscular power.
The Agricultural Building had an almost endless variety of articles,
such as cocoa, chocolate, and drugs from the Netherlands; wood pulp from
Sweden; odd-looking shoes and agricultural products from Denmark and
from France, the most striking of which was the Menier chocolate tower
that weighed fifty tons; fertilizers and products from Uruguay; an
elephant tusk seven and a half feet long; woods, wools, and feathers
from the Cape of Good Hope; a Zulu six feet and seven and a half inches
tall; a Canadian cheese weighing eleven tons, with other exhibits from
various countries, and specimens of what are grown in most of our own
States. The articles were so numerous that a list is too lengthy to be
inserted in these pages.
[Illustration: THE VIKING SHIP.
1. Appearance when discovered. 2. After restoration. 3. Rudder, shield,
and dragon-head.]
The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building was of such unprecedented
size that its ground area was more than thirty acres, and its gallery
space forty-four acres. Its roof structure surpassed any ever made, and
it was the largest building in the world. So vast indeed was it that it
is worth our while to impress it upon our minds by several comparisons.
Any church in Chicago, which contains numerous large ones, can be placed
in the vestibule of St. Peter's at Rome, but the latter is only
one-third of the size of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. The
Coliseum of ancient Rome would seat 80,000 persons, but in the central
hall of the Chicago building, which is a single room without a
supporting column, 75,000 people could be comfortably seated, while the
building itself would seat 300,000 persons. The iron and steel in the
roof would build two Brooklyn bridges, and it required eleven acres of
glass to provide for the skylights. In its construction 17,000,000 feet
of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron were
used, with a total cost of $1,700,000. The ground plan was twice the
size of the pyramid of Cheops.
[Illustration]
We have recorded enough, however, to give some idea of the wealth of
treasures exhibited at Chicago in 1893, and which drew visitors from all
parts of the world. It is not worth while to refer at length to the
display of the foreign countries, for those who had the pleasure of
looking upon them will always carry their pleasant memory, while those
who were deprived of the privilege can gain no adequate idea from the
most extended description. The Midway Plaisance was a unique feature,
with its Hungarian Orpheum, Lapland Village, Dahomey Village, the
captive balloon, Chinese Village, Austrian Village, Cyclorama of the
volcano of Kilauea, the Algerian and Tunisian Village, the Ferris Wheel,
the never-to-be-forgotten street in Cairo, the numerous natives, and
other scenes that were not always on the highest plane of morality.
[Illustration]
THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES.
We as Americans are prone to forget some of the important events in our
history. The memory of them fades too soon. A hundred, years must pass
before our country will look upon another Columbian Exposition. That, in
the nature of things, will surpass the one in 1893, as far as that
surpassed the ordinary country fairs of our grandparents. When that
great year--1992--comes around, none of us will be here to look upon its
wonders. It seems proper, therefore, that, in dismissing the subject, we
should place on record the amount contributed by each State, without
which the grand success of the enterprise could never have been
attained.
Alabama.................. $38,000 Nebraska................. $85,000
Arizona.................. 30,000 Nevada................... 10,000
Arkansas................. 55,000 New Hampshire............ 25,000
California............... 550,000 New Jersey............... 130,000
Colorado................. 167,000 New Mexico............... 35,000
Connecticut.............. 75,000 New York................. 600,000
Delaware................. 20,000 North Carolina........... 45,000
Florida.................. 50,000 North Dakota............. 70,000
Georgia.................. 100,000 Ohio..................... 200,000
Idaho.................... 100,000 Oklahoma................. 17,500
Illinois................. 800,000 Oregon................... 60,000
Indiana.................. 135,000 Pennsylvania............. 360,000
Iowa..................... 130,000 Rhode Island............. 57,500
Kansas................... 165,000 South Carolina........... 50,000
Kentucky................. 175,000 South Dakota............. 85,000
Louisiana................ 36,000 Tennessee................ 25,000
Maine.................... 57,000 Texas.................... 40,000
Maryland................. 60,000 Utah..................... 50,600
Massachusetts............ 175,000 Vermont.................. 39,750
Michigan................. 275,000 Virginia................. 75,000
Minnesota................ 150,000 Washington............... 100,000
Mississippi.............. 25,000 West Virginia............ 40,000
Missouri................. 150,000 Wisconsin................ 212,000
Montana.................. 100,000 Wyoming.................. 30,000
----------
Total................$6,060,350
The islands composing the group known under the general name of Hawaii
have long been of interest to different nations, and especially to our
country. A treaty was made in 1849 between Hawaii and the United States,
which provided for commerce and the extradition of criminals, and in
1875 a reciprocity treaty was concluded. This gave a marked impetus to
the sugar industry, which was almost wholly in the hands of foreigners.
Further treaty rights were confirmed by Congress in 1891.
David Kalakaua became king of Hawaii in 1874. He had slight ability, and
was fonder of the pleasures of life than of measures for the good of his
country and subjects. He was displeased to see the hold gained by
foreigners in his country and their rapidly growing power. He joined
with the native Legislature in its cry of "Hawaii for the Hawaiians,"
and did all he could to check the material progress of the islands.
Progressive men, however, gained control, and in 1887 Kalakaua was
compelled to sign a new constitution which deprived him of all but a
shadow of authority. The white residents were granted the right of
suffrage and closer relations were established with the United States.
While engaged in negotiating a treaty with our country Kalakaua died, in
1891, in San Francisco, and his sister, Liliuokalani, succeeded him as
queen. She was much of the same mould as her brother, but of a more
revengeful nature. She was angered against the foreigners and the
progressive party, and alert for an opportunity to strike them a fatal
blow. She thought the time had come in January, 1893, when the leading
party was bitterly divided over important measures. She summoned the
Legislature and urged it to adopt a new constitution, which took away
the right of suffrage from the white residents and restored to the crown
the many privileges that had been taken from it. She was so radical in
her policy that her friends induced her to modify it in several
respects. She was thoroughly distrusted by the white residents, who did
not doubt that she would break all her promises the moment the pretext
offered. Nor would they have been surprised if a general massacre of the
white inhabitants were ordered.
So deep-seated was the alarm that the American residents appealed for
protection to the United States man-of-war _Boston_, which was lying in
the harbor of Honolulu. The commander landed a company of marines,
against the protest of the queen's minister of foreign affairs and the
governor of the island, although they were assured that no attempt would
be made to interfere with their rights. In the face of this assurance, a
revolt took place, the monarchy was declared at an end, and a
provisional government was organized, to continue until terms of union
with the United States could be agreed upon.
More decided steps followed. On February 1, 1894, the government was
formally placed under the protectorate of the United States, and the
Stars and Stripes was hoisted over the government building by a party of
marines. There was a strong sentiment in favor of annexation, and the
American minister was highly pleased.
President Harrison was of the same mind, and authorized the presence on
the island of troops that might be needed to protect the lives and
property of Americans there, but he disavowed the protectorate. No
doubt, however, he favored the movement, but thought it wise to "make
haste slowly."
In a short time, a treaty was framed which was acceptable to the
President. It provided that the government of Hawaii should remain as it
was, the supreme power to be vested in a commissioner of the United
States, with the right to veto any of the acts of the local government.
The public debt was to be assumed by the United States, while
Liliuokalani was to be pensioned at the rate of $20,000 a year, and her
daughter was to receive $150,000. President Harrison urged upon the
Senate the ratification of the treaty, fearing that delay would induce
some other power to step in and take the prize.
[Illustration: JAMES G. BLAINE.
(1830-1893.)
Secretary of State under Harrison's administration.]
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S CHANGE OF POLICY.
Such was the status when President Cleveland came into office on the 4th
of March, 1893. His views were the very opposite of his predecessor's,
and he took steps to enforce them. He maintained there would have been
no revolution in Hawaii had not the force of marines landed from the
_Boston_. He withdrew the proposed treaty from the Senate, and sent
James H. Blount, of Georgia, to Hawaii as special commissioner to make
an investigation of all that had occurred, and to act in harmony with
the views of the President. On the 1st of April, Blount caused the
American flag to be hauled down, and formally dissolved the
protectorate. Minister Stevens was recalled and succeeded by Mr. Blount
as minister plenipotentiary. Steps were taken to restore Liliuokalani,
and her own brutal stubbornness was all that prevented. She was
determined to have the lives of the leaders who had deposed her, and to
banish their families. This could not be permitted, and the Dole
government refused the request to yield its authority to the queen.
The situation brought President Cleveland to a standstill, for he had
first to obtain the authority of Congress in order to use force, and
that body was so opposed to his course that it would never consent to
aid him. The provisional government grew stronger, and speedily
suppressed a rebellion that was set on foot by the queen. It won the
respect of its enemies by showing clemency to the plotters, when it
would have been legally justified in putting the leaders to death. The
queen was arrested, whereupon she solemnly renounced for herself and
heirs all claim to the throne, urged her subjects to do the same, and
declared her allegiance to the republic.
ANNEXATION OF HAWAII.
Let us anticipate a few events. In May, 1898, Representative Newlands
introduced into the House a resolution providing for the annexation of
Hawaii. Considerable opposition developed in the Senate, but the final
vote was carried, July 6th, by 42 to 21. The President appointed as
members of the commission, Senators Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; John
T. Morgan, of Alabama; Representative Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; and
President Dole and Chief Justice Judd, of the Hawaiian Republic. All the
congressmen named were members of the Committee on Foreign Relations and
Foreign Affairs.
The news of the admission of Hawaii to the Union was received in the
islands with great rejoicing. A salute of one hundred guns was fired on
the Executive Building grounds at Honolulu, and the formal transfer,
August 12th, was attended with appropriate ceremonies. A full
description of these interesting islands, their history and their
products, will be found in Chapter XXVI. of this volume.
THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1894.
One of the greatest railroad strikes in this country occurred in the
summer of 1894. Early in the spring of that year, the Pullman Car
Company, whose works are near Chicago, notified their employes that they
had to choose between accepting a reduction in their wages or having the
works closed. They accepted the cut, although the reduction was from
twenty-five to fifty per cent. of what they had been receiving.
When May came, the distressed workmen declared it impossible for them
and their families to live on their meagre pay. They demanded a
restoration of the old rates; but the company refused, affirming that
they were running the business at a loss and solely with a view of
keeping the men at work. On the 11th of May, 3,000 workmen, a majority
of the whole number, quit labor and the company closed their works.
The American Railway Union assumed charge of the strike and ordered a
boycott of all Pullman cars. Eugene V. Debs was the president of the
Union, and his sweeping order forbade all engineers, brakemen, and
switchmen to handle the Pullman cars on every road that used them. This
was far-reaching, since the Pullman cars are used on almost every line
in the country.
A demand was made upon the Pullman Company to submit the question to
arbitration, but the directors refused on the ground that there was
nothing to arbitrate, the question being whether or not they were to be
permitted to operate their own works for themselves. A boycott was
declared on all roads running out of Chicago, beginning on the Illinois
Central. Warning was given to every road handling the Pullman cars that
its employes would be called out, and, if that did not prove effective,
every trade in the country would be ordered to strike.
[Illustration: ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILWAY.]
The railroad companies were under heavy bonds to draw the Pullman cars,
and it would have cost large sums of money to break their contracts.
They refused to boycott, and, on June 26th, President Debs declared a
boycott on twenty-two roads running out of Chicago, and ordered the
committees representing the employes to call out the workmen without an
hour's unnecessary delay.
The strike rapidly spread. Debs urged the employes to refrain from
injuring the property of their employers, but such advice is always
thrown away. Very soon rioting broke out, trains were derailed, and men
who attempted to take the strikers' places were savagely maltreated.
There was such a general block of freight that prices of the necessaries
of life rose in Chicago and actual suffering impended. So much property
was destroyed that the companies called on the city and county
authorities for protection. The men sent to cope with the strikers were
too few, and when Governor Altgeld forwarded troops to the scenes of the
outbreaks, they also were too weak, and many of the militia openly
showed their sympathy with the mob.
Growing bolder, the strikers checked the mails and postal service and
resisted deputy marshals. This brought the national government into the
quarrel, since it is bound to provide for the safe transmission of the
mails. On July 2d a Federal writ was issued covering the judicial
district of northern Illinois, forbidding all interference with the
United States mails and with interstate railway commerce. Several
leaders of the strike were arrested, whereat the mob became more
threatening than ever. The government having been notified that Federal
troops were necessary to enforce the orders of the courts in Chicago, a
strong force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry was sent thither.
Governor Altgeld protested, and President Cleveland told him in effect
to attend to his own business and sent more troops to the Lake City.
There were several collisions between the mob and military, in which a
number of the former were killed. Buildings were fired, trains ditched,
and the violence increased, whereupon the President dispatched more
troops thither, with the warning that if necessary he would call out the
whole United States army to put down the law-breakers.
The strike, which was pressed almost wholly by foreigners, was not
confined to Chicago. A strong antipathy is felt toward railroads in
California, owing to what some believe have been the wrongful means
employed by such corporations on the Pacific coast.
There were ugly outbreaks in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, the
difficulty being intensified by the refusal of the militia to act
against the strikers. A force of regular soldiers, while hurrying over
the railroad to the scene of the disturbance, was ditched by the
strikers and several killed and badly hurt. The incensed soldiers were
eager for a chance to reach the strikers, but they were under fine
discipline and their officers showed great self-restraint.
END OF THE STRIKE.
The course of all violent strikes is short. The savage acts repel
whatever sympathy may have been felt for the workingmen at first. Few of
the real sufferers took part in the turbulent acts. It was the
foreigners and the desperate men who used the grievances as a pretext
for their outlawry, in which they were afraid to indulge at other times.
Then, too, the stern, repressive measures of President Cleveland had a
salutary effect. Many labor organizations when called upon to strike
replied with expressions of sympathy, but decided to keep at work.
President Debs, Vice-President Howard, and other prominent members of
the American Railway Union were arrested, July 10th, on the charge of
obstructing the United States mails and interfering with the execution
of the laws of the United States. A number--forty-three in all--was
indicted by the Federal grand jury, July 19th, and the bonds were fixed
at $10,000 each. Bail was offered, but they declined to accept it and
went to jail. On December 14th, Debs was sentenced to six months'
imprisonment for contempt, the terms of the others being fixed at three
months.
On August 5th, the general committee of strikers officially declared the
strike at an end in Chicago, and their action was speedily imitated
elsewhere.
COXEY'S COMMONWEAL ARMY.
One of the most remarkable appeals made directly to the law-making
powers by the unemployed was that of Coxey's "Commonweal Army." Despite
some of its grotesque features, it was deserving of more sympathy than
it received, for it represented a pitiful phase of human poverty and
suffering.
The scheme was that of J.S. Coxey, of Massillon, Ohio, who left that
town on the 25th of March, 1894, with some seventy-five men. They
carried no weapons, and believed they would gather enough recruits on
the road to number 100,000 by the time they reached Washington, where
their demands made directly upon Congress would be so imposing that that
body would not dare refuse them. They intended to ask for the passage of
two acts: the first to provide for the issue of $500,000,000 in
legal-tender notes, to be expended under the direction of the secretary
of war at the rate of $20,000,000 monthly, in the construction of roads
in different parts of the country; the second to authorize any State,
city, or village to deposit in the United States treasury
non-interest-bearing bonds, not exceeding in amount one-half the
assessed valuation of its property, on which the secretary of the
treasury should issue legal-tender notes.
This unique enterprise caused some misgiving, for it was feared that
such an immense aggregation of the unemployed would result in turbulence
and serious acts of violence. Few could restrain sympathy for the object
of the "army," while condemning the means adopted to make its purpose
effective.
The result, however, was a dismal fiasco. The trampers committed no
depredations, and when they approached a town and camped near it the
authorities and citizens were quite willing to supply their immediate
wants in order to get rid of them. But, while a good many recruits were
added, fully as many deserted. At no time did Coxey's army number more
than 500 men, and when it reached Washington on the 1st of May it
included precisely 336 persons, who paraded through the streets. Upon
attempting to enter the Capitol grounds they were excluded by the
police. Coxey and two of his friends disregarded the commands, and were
arrested and fined five dollars apiece and sentenced to twenty days'
imprisonment for violating the statute against carrying a banner on the
grounds and in not "keeping off the grass." The army quickly dissolved
and was heard of no more.
Similar organizations started from Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming,
and different points for Washington. In some instances disreputable
characters joined them and committed disorderly acts. In the State of
Washington they seized a railroad train, had a vicious fight with deputy
marshals, and it was necessary to call out the militia to subdue them.
Trouble occurred in Kansas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. The total
strength of the six industrial armies never reached 6,000.
ADMISSION OF UTAH.
On the 4th of January, 1896, Utah became the forty-fifth member of the
Federal Union. The symbolical star on the flag is at the extreme right
of the fourth row from the top. The size of the national flag was also
changed from 6 by 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 4 inches.
Utah has been made chiefly famous through the Mormons, who emigrated
thither before the discovery of gold in California. Its size is about
double that of the State of New York, and its chief resources are
mineral and agricultural. It forms a part of the Mexican cession of
1848, and its name is derived from the Ute or Utah Indians. Salt Lake
City was founded, and Utah asked for admission into the Union in 1849,
but was refused. A territorial government was organized in 1860, with
Brigham Young as governor. It has been shown elsewhere that in 1857 it
was necessary to send Federal troops to Utah to enforce obedience to the
laws. Polygamy debarred its admission to the Union for many years.
The constitution of the State allows women to vote, hold office, and sit
on juries, and a trial jury numbers eight instead of twelve persons,
three-fourths of whom may render a verdict in civil cases, but unanimity
is required to convict of crime. The constitution also forbids polygamy,
and the Mormon authorities maintain that it is not practiced except
where plural marriages were contracted before the passage of the United
States law prohibiting such unions.
It has been said by scientists that the power which goes to waste at
Niagara Falls would, if properly utilized, operate all the machinery in
the world. The discoveries made in electricity have turned attention to
this inconceivable storage of power, with the result that Niagara has
been practically "harnessed."
In 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company was incorporated, followed
three years later by that of the Cataract Construction Company. Work
began in October, 1890, and three more years were required to complete
the tunnel, the surface-canal, and the preliminary wheel-pits.
The first distribution of power was made in August, 1895, to the works
of the Pittsburg Reduction Company, near the canal. Other companies were
added, and the city of Buffalo, in December, 1895, granted a franchise
to the company to supply power to that city. The first customer was the
Buffalo Railway Company. November 15, 1896, at midnight, the current was
transmitted by a pole line, consisting of three continuous cables of
uninsulated copper, whose total length was seventy-eight miles. Since
that date, the street cars have been operated by the same motor, with
more industrial points continually added.
[Illustration: A GOLD PROSPECTING PARTY ON DEBATABLE LAND IN BRITISH
GUIANA.]
While our past history shows that we have had only two wars with Great
Britain, yet it shows also that talk of war has been heard fully a score
of times. Long after 1812, we were extremely sensitive as regarded the
nation that the majority of Americans looked upon as our hereditary foe,
and the calls for war have been sounded in Congress and throughout the
land far oftener than most people suspect. That such a calamity to
mankind has been turned aside is due mainly to the good sense and mutual
forbearance of the majority of people in both countries. England and the
United States are the two great English-speaking nations. Together they
are stronger than all the world combined. With the same language, the
same literature, objects, aims, and religion, a war between them would
be the most awful catastrophe that could befall humanity.
The last flurry with the "mother country" occurred in the closing weeks
of 1895, and related to Venezuela, which had been at variance with
England for many years. Until 1810, the territory lying between the
mouths of the Orinoco and the Amazon was known as the Guianas. In the
year named Spain ceded a large part of the country to Venezuela, and in
1814 Holland ceded another to Great Britain. The boundary between the
Spanish and Dutch possessions had never been fixed by treaty, and the
dispute between England and Venezuela lasted until 1887, when diplomatic
relations were broken off between the two countries.
Venezuela asked that the dispute might be submitted to arbitration, but
England would not agree, though the territory in question was greater in
extent than the State of New York. The United States was naturally
interested, for the "Monroe Doctrine" was involved, and in February,
1895, Congress passed a joint resolution, approving the suggestion of
the President that the question should be submitted to arbitration, but
England still refused. A lengthy correspondence took place between Great
Britain and this country, and, on December 17, 1895, in submitting it to
Congress, President Cleveland asked for authority from that body to
appoint a commission to determine the merits of the boundary dispute, as
a guide to the government in deciding its line of action, insisting
further that, if England maintained her unwarrantable course, the United
States should resist "by every means in its power, as a willful
aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by Great
Britain of any lands, or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over
any territory, which after investigation we have determined of right
belongs to Venezuela."
There was no mistaking the warlike tone of these words. The country and
Congress instantly fired up and the land resounded with war talk.
Congress immediately appropriated the sum of $100,000 for the expense of
the commission of inquiry, and two days later the Senate passed the bill
without a vote in opposition. The committee was named on the 1st of the
following January and promptly began its work.
But the sober second thought of wise men in both countries soon made
itself felt. Without prolonging the story, it may be said that the
dispute finally went to arbitration, February 2, 1897, where it should
have gone in the first place, and it was settled to the full
satisfaction of Great Britain, the United States, and Venezuela. Another
fact may as well be conceded, without any reflection upon our
patriotism: Had England accepted our challenge to war, for which she was
fully prepared with her invincible navy, and we were in a state of
unreadiness, the United States would have been taught a lesson that she
would have remembered for centuries to come. Thank God, the trial was
spared to us and in truth can never come, while common sense reigns.
[Illustration: COUDERT. WHITE. BREWER. ALVEY. GILMAN. VENEZUELAN
COMMISSION. Appointed by President Cleveland, January, 1896, to
determine the true boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela.]
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1896.
The presidential election in the fall of 1896 was a remarkable one. The
month of September had hardly opened when there were eight presidential
tickets in the field. Given in the order of their nominations they
were:
Prohibition (May 27th)--Joshua Levering, of Maryland; Hale Johnson, of
Illinois.
National Party, Free Silver, Woman-Suffrage offshoot of the regular
Prohibition (May 28th)--Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska; James H.
Southgate, of North Carolina.
Republican (June 18th)--William McKinley, of Ohio; Garret A. Hobart, of
New Jersey.
Socialist-Labor (July 4th)--Charles H. Matchett, of New York; Matthew
Maguire, of New Jersey.
Democratic (July 10th to 11th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska;
Arthur Sewall, of Maine.
People's Party (July 24th to 25th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska;
Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia.
National Democratic Party (September 8th)--John McAuley Palmer, of
Illinois; Simon Boliver Buckner, of Kentucky.
[Illustration: WM. JENNINGS BRYAN. Democratic candidate for President,
1896.]
As usual, the real contest was between the Democrats and Republicans.
The platform of the former demanded the free coinage of silver, which
was opposed by the Republicans, who insisted upon preserving the
existing gold standard. This question caused a split in each of the
leading parties. When the Republican nominating convention inserted the
gold and silver plank in its platform, Senator Teller, of Colorado, led
thirty-two delegates in their formal withdrawal from the convention. A
large majority of those to the National Democratic Convention favored
the free coinage of silver in the face of an urgent appeal against it by
President Cleveland. They would accept no compromise, and, after
"jamming" through their platform and nominating Mr. Bryan, they made
Arthur Sewall their candidate for Vice-President, though he was
president of a national bank and a believer in the gold standard.
In consequence of this action, the Populists or People's Party refused
to accept the candidature of Mr. Sewall, and put in his place the name
of Thomas E. Watson, who was an uncompromising Populist.
There was also a revolt among the "Sound Money Democrats," as they were
termed. Although they knew they had no earthly chance of winning, they
were determined to place themselves on record, and, after all the other
tickets were in the field, they put Palmer and Buckner in nomination. In
their platform they condemned the platform adopted by the silver men and
the tariff policy of the Republicans. They favored tariff for revenue
only, the single gold standard, a bank currency under governmental
supervision, international arbitration, and the maintenance of the
independence and authority of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Bryan threw all his energies into the canvass and displayed
wonderful industry and vigor. He made whirlwind tours through the
country, speaking several times a day and in the evening, and won many
converts. Had the election taken place a few weeks earlier than the
regular date, it is quite probable he would have won. Mr. McKinley made
no speech-making tours, but talked many times to the crowds who called
upon him at his home in Canton, Ohio. The official vote in November was
as follows:
McKinley and Hobart, Republican, 7,101,401 popular votes; 271 electoral
votes.
Bryan and Sewall, Democrat and Populist, 6,470,656 popular votes; 176
electoral votes.
Levering and Johnson, Prohibition, 132,007 popular votes.
Palmer and Buckner, National Democrat, 133,148 popular votes.
Matchett and Maguire, Socialist-Labor, 36,274 popular votes.
Bentley and Southgate, Free Silver Prohibition, 13,969 popular votes.
Despite the political upheavals that periodically occur throughout our
country, it steadily advances in prosperity, progress and growth. Its
resources were limitless, and the settlement of the vast fertile areas
in the West and Northwest went on at an extraordinary rate. In no
section was this so strikingly the fact as in the Northwest. So great
indeed was the growth in that respect that the subject warrants the
special chapter that follows.
[Illustration: CORNER AT TOP OF STAIRWAY NEW CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY,
WASHINGTON, D.C.]
CHAPTER XXIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND-CONCLUDED), 1893-1897.
THE GREAT NORTHWEST.
BY ALBERT SHAW, PH.D.,
_Editor "Review of Reviews," formerly editor of "Minneapolis Tribune."_
Settling the Northwest--The Face of the Country Transformed--Clearing
Away the Forests and its Effects--Tree-planting on the Prairies--Pioneer
Life in the Seventies--The Granary of the World--The Northwestern
Farmer--Transportation and Other Industries--Business Cities and
Centres--United Public Action and its Influence--The Indian
Question--Other Elements of Population--Society and General Culture.
"Northwest" is a shifting, uncertain designation. The term has been used
to cover the whole stretch of country from Pittsburg to Puget Sound,
north of the Ohio River and the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude.
Popularly it signified the old Northwestern Territory--including Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin--until about the time of the
Civil War. In the decade following the war, Illinois and Iowa were
largely in the minds of men who spoke of the Northwest. From 1870 to
1880, Iowa, Kansas, northern Missouri, and Nebraska constituted the most
stirring and favored region--the Northwest _par excellence_. But the
past decade has witnessed a remarkable development in the Dakotas; and
Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Montana, with Iowa and Nebraska,
are perhaps the States most familiarly comprised in the idea of the
Northwest. These States are really in the heart of the continent--midway
between oceans; and perhaps by common consent the term Northwest will, a
decade hence, have moved on and taken firm possession of Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming, while ultimately Alaska may succeed to
the designation.
[Illustration: ALBERT SHAW.]
But for the present the Northwest is the great arable wedge lying
between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and between the Missouri
River and the Rocky Mountains. It is a region that is pretty clearly
defined upon a map showing physical characteristics. For the most part,
it is a region of great natural fertility, of regular north-temperate
climate, of moderate but sufficient rainfall, of scant forests and great
prairie expanses, and of high average altitude without mountains. In a
word, it is a region that was adapted by nature to the cultivation of
the cereals and leading crops of the temperate zone without arduous and
time-consuming processes for subduing the wilderness and redeeming the
soil.
SETTLING THE NORTHWEST.
This "New Northwest," in civilization and in all its significant
characteristics, is the creature of the vast impulse that the successful
termination of the war gave the nation. No other extensive area was ever
settled under similar conditions. The homestead laws, the new American
system of railroad building, and the unprecedented demand for staple
food products in the industrial centres at home and abroad, peopled the
prairies as if by magic. Until 1870, fixing the date very roughly,
transportation facilities followed colonization. The railroads were
built to serve and stimulate a traffic that already existed. The
pioneers had done a generation's work before the iron road overtook
them. In the past two decades all has been changed. The railroads have
been the pioneers and colonizers. They have invaded the solitary
wilderness, and the population has followed. Much of the land has
belonged to the roads, through subsidy grants, but the greater part of
the mileage has been laid without the encouragement of land subsidies or
other bonuses, by railway corporations that were willing to look to the
future for their reward.
It would be almost impossible to over-estimate the significance of this
method of colonization. Within a few years it has transformed the
buffalo ranges into the world's most extensive fields of wheat and corn.
A region comprising northern and western Minnesota and the two Dakotas,
which contributed practically nothing to the country's wheat supply
twelve or fifteen years ago, has, by this system of railroad
colonization, reached an annual production of 100,000,000 bushels of
wheat alone--about one-fourth of the crop of the entire country. In like
manner, parts of western Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, that produced no
corn before 1875 or 1880, are now the centre of corn-raising, and yield
many hundreds of millions of bushels annually. These regions enter as
totally new factors into the world's supply of foods and raw materials.
A great area of this new territory might be defined that was inhabited
in 1870 by less than a million people, in 1880 by more than three
millions, and in 1899 by from eight to ten millions.
[Illustration: A DISPUTE OVER A BRAND.]
Let us imagine a man from the East who has visited the Northwestern
States and Territories at some time between the years 1870 and 1875, and
who retains a strong impression of what he saw, but who has not been
west of Chicago since that time, until, in the World's Fair year, he
determines upon a new exploration of Iowa, Nebraska, the Datokas,
Minnesota, and Wisconsin. However well informed he had tried to keep
himself through written descriptions and statistical records of Western
progress, he would see what nothing but the evidence of his own eyes
could have made him believe to be possible. Iowa in 1870 was already
producing a large crop of cereals, and was inhabited by a thriving,
though very new, farming population. But the aspect of the country was
bare and uninviting, except in the vicinity of the older communities on
the Mississippi River. As one advanced across the State the farm-houses
were very small, and looked like isolated dry-goods boxes; there were
few well-built barns or farm buildings; and the struggling young
cottonwood and soft-maple saplings planted in close groves about the
tiny houses were so slight an obstruction to the sweep of vision across
the open prairie that they only seemed to emphasize the monotonous
stretches of fertile, but uninteresting, plain. Now the landscape is
wholly transformed. A railroad ride in June through the best parts of
Iowa reminds one of a ride through some of the pleasantest farming
districts of England. The primitive "claim shanties" of thirty years ago
have given place to commodious farm-houses flanked by great barns and
hay-ricks, and the well-appointed structures of a prosperous
agriculture. In the rich, deep meadows herds of fine-blooded cattle are
grazing. What was once a blank, dreary landscape is now garden-like and
inviting. The poor little saplings of the earlier days, which seemed to
be apologizing to the robust corn-stalks in the neighboring fields, have
grown on that deep soil into great, spreading trees. One can easily
imagine, as he looks off in every direction and notes a wooded horizon,
that he is--as in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky--in a farming region which
has been cleared out of primeval forests. There are many towns I might
mention which twenty-five years ago, with their new, wooden shanties
scattered over the bare face of the prairie, seemed the hottest place on
earth as the summer sun beat upon their unshaded streets and roofs, and
seemed the coldest places on earth when the fierce blizzards of winter
swept unchecked across the prairie expanses. To-day the density of shade
in those towns is deemed of positive detriment to health, and for
several years past there has been a systematic thinning out and trimming
up of the great, clustering elms. Trees of from six to ten feet in girth
are found everywhere by the hundreds of thousands. Each farm-house is
sheltered from winter winds by its own dense groves. Many of the farmers
are able from the surplus growth of wood upon their estates to provide
themselves with a large and regular supply of fuel. If I have dwelt at
some length upon this picture of the transformation of the bleak,
grain-producing Iowa prairies of thirty years ago into the dairy and
live-stock farms of to-day, with their fragrant meadows and ample
groves, it is because the picture is one which reveals so much as to the
nature and meaning of Northwestern progress.
CLEARING AWAY THE FORESTS AND ITS EFFECTS.
Not a little has been written regarding the rapid destruction of the
vast white-pine forests with which nature has covered large districts of
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It is true that this denudation has
progressed at a rate with which nothing of a like character in the
history of the world is comparable. It is also true, doubtless, that the
clearing away of dense forest areas has been attended with some
inconvenient climatic results, and particularly with some objectionable
effects upon the even distribution of rainfall and the regularity of the
flow of rivers. But most persons who have been alarmed at the rapidity
of forest destruction in the white-pine belt have wholly overlooked the
great compensating facts. It happens that the white-pine region is not
especially fertile, and that for some time to come it is not likely to
acquire a prosperous agriculture. But adjacent to it and beyond it
there was a vast region of country which, though utterly treeless, was
endowed with a marvelous richness of soil and with a climate fitted for
all the staple productions of the temperate zone. This region embraced
parts of Illinois, almost the whole of Iowa, southern Minnesota, Kansas,
Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and parts of Montana--a region of
imperial extent. Now, it happens that for every acre of pine land that
has been denuded in Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northern Minnesota
there are somewhere in the great treeless region further south and west
two or three new farm-houses. The railroads, pushing ahead of settlement
out into the open prairie, have carried the white-pine lumber from the
gigantic sawmills of the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries; and thus
millions of acres of land have been brought under cultivation by farmers
who could not have been housed in comfort but for the proximity of the
pine forests. The rapid clearing away of timber areas in Wisconsin has
simply meant the rapid settlement of North and South Dakota, western
Iowa, and Nebraska.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL SPIRES, COLORADO.]
TREE PLANTING ON THE PRAIRIES.
The settlement of these treeless regions means the successful growth on
every farm of at least several hundred trees. Without attempting to be
statistical or exact, we might say that an acre of northern Minnesota
pine trees makes it possible for a farmer in Dakota or Nebraska to have
a house, farm buildings, and fences, with a holding of at least one
hundred and sixty acres upon which he will successfully cultivate
several acres of forest trees of different kinds. Even if the denuded
pine lands of the region south and west of Lake Superior would not
readily produce a second growth of dense forest--which, it should be
said in passing, they certainly will--their loss would be far more than
made good by the universal cultivation of forest trees in the prairie
States. It is at least comforting to reflect, when the friends of
scientific forestry warn us against the ruthless destruction of standing
timber, that thus far at least in our Western history we have simply
been cutting down trees in order to put a roof over the head of the man
who was invading treeless regions for the purpose of planting and
nurturing a hundred times as many trees as had been destroyed for his
benefit! There is something almost inspiring in the contemplation of
millions of families, all the way from Minnesota to Colorado and Texas,
living in the shelter of these new pine houses and transforming the
plains into a shaded and fruitful empire.
PIONEER LIFE IN THE SEVENTIES.
[Illustration: SLUICE-GATE.]
The enormous expansion of our railway systems will soon have made it
quite impossible for any of the younger generation to realize what
hardships were attendant upon such limited colonization of treeless
prairie regions as preceded the iron rails. In 1876 I spent the summer
in a part of Dakota to which a considerable number of hardy but poor
farmers had found their way and taken up claims. They could not easily
procure wood for houses, no other ordinary building material was
accessible, and they were living in half-underground "dugouts,"
so-called. There was much more pleasure and romance in the pioneer
experiences of my own ancestors a hundred years ago, who were living in
comfortable log-houses with huge fire places, and shooting abundant
supplies of deer and wild turkey in the deep woods of southern Ohio. The
pluck and industry of these Dakota pioneers, most of whom were Irish men
and Norwegians, won my heartiest sympathy and respect. Poor as they
were, they maintained one public institution in common--namely, a
school, with its place of public assemblage. The building had no floor
but the beaten earth, and, its thick walls were blocks of matted prairie
turf, its roof also being of sods supported upon some poles brought from
the scanty timber-growth along the margin of a prairie river. To-day
these poor pioneers are enjoying their reward. Their valley is traversed
by several railroads; prosperous villages have sprung up; their lands
are of considerable value; they all live in well-built farm-houses;
their shade trees have grown to a height of fifty or sixty feet; a
bustling and ambitious city, with fine churches, opera-houses, electric
illumination, and the most advanced public educational system, is only a
few miles away from them. Such transformations have occurred, not alone
in a few spots in Iowa and South Dakota, but are common throughout a
region that extends from the British dominions to the Indian Territory,
and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains--a region
comprising more than a half-million square miles.
THE GRANARY OF THE WORLD.
[Illustration: BETWEEN THE MILLS.]
Naturally the industrial life of these Northwestern communities is based
solidly upon agriculture. There is, perhaps, hardly any other
agricultural region of equal extent upon the face of the earth that is
so fertile and so well adapted for the production of the most necessary
articles of human food. During the past decade the world's markets have
been notably disturbed and affected, and profound social changes and
political agitations have occurred in various remote parts of the earth.
It is within bounds to assert that the most potent and far-reaching
factor in the altered conditions of the industrial world during these
recent years has been the sudden invasion and utilization of this great
new farming region. Most parts of the world which are fairly prosperous
do not produce staple food supplies in appreciable surplus quantities.
Several regions which are not highly prosperous sell surplus food
products out of their poverty rather than out of their abundance. That
is to say, the people of India and the people of Russia have often been
obliged, in order to obtain money to pay their taxes and other necessary
expenses, to sell and send away to prosperous England the wheat which
they have needed for hungry mouths at home. They have managed to subsist
upon coarser and cheaper food. But in our Northwestern States the
application of ingenious machinery to the cultivation of fertile and
virgin soils has within the past twenty-five years precipitated upon the
world a stupendous new supply of cereals and of meats, produced in
quantities enormously greater than the people of the Northwestern States
could consume. These foodstuffs have powerfully affected agriculture in
Ireland, England, France, and Germany, and, in fact, in every other part
of the accessible and cultivated globe.
[Illustration: BARREL-HOIST AND TUNNEL THROUGH THE WASHBURN MILL.]
THE NORTHWESTERN FARMER.
So much has been written of late about the condition of the farmer in
these regions that it is pertinent to inquire who the Western farmer is.
In the old States the representative farmer is a man of long training in
the difficult and honorable art of diversified agriculture. He knows
much of soils, of crops and their wise rotation, of domestic animals and
their breeding, and of a hundred distinct phases of the production, the
life, and the household economics that belong to the traditions and
methods of Anglo-Saxon farming. If he is a wise man, owning his land and
avoiding extravagance, he can defy any condition of the markets, and can
survive any known succession of adverse seasons. There are also many
such farmers in the West. But there are thousands of wheat-raisers or
corn-growers who have followed in the wake of the railway and taken up
government or railroad land, and who are not yet farmers in the truest
and best sense of the word. They are unskilled laborers who have become
speculators. They obtain their land for nothing, or for a price ranging
from one dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per acre. They borrow on
mortgage the money to build a small house and to procure horses and
implements and seed-grain. Then they proceed to put as large an acreage
as they can manage into a single crop--wheat in the Dakotas, wheat or
corn in Nebraska and Kansas. They speculate upon the chances of a
favorable season and a good crop safely harvested; and they speculate
upon the chances of a profitable market. They hope that the first two
crops may render them the possessor of an unincumbered estate, supplied
with modest buildings, and with a reasonable quantity of machinery and
live stock. Sometimes they succeed beyond their anticipations. In many
instances the chances go against them. They live on the land, and the
title is invested in them; but they are using borrowed capital, use it
unskillfully, meet an adverse season or two, lose through foreclosure
that which has cost them nothing except a year or two of energy spent in
what is more nearly akin to gambling than to farming, and finally help
to swell the great chorus that calls the world to witness the distress
of Western agriculture. It cannot be said too emphatically that real
agriculture in the West is safe and prosperous, and that the
unfortunates are the inexperienced persons, usually without capital, who
attempt to raise a single crop on new land. For many of them it would be
about as wise to take borrowed money and speculate in wheat in the
Chicago bucket-shops.
[Illustration: MOSSBRÆ.]
The great majority, however, of these inexperienced and capital-less
wheat and corn producers gradually become farmers. It is inevitable, at
first, that a country opened by the railroads for the express purpose of
obtaining the largest possible freightage of cereals should for a few
seasons be a "single-crop country." Often the seed-grain is supplied on
loan by the roads themselves. They charge "what the traffic will bear."
The grain is all, or nearly all, marketed through long series of
elevators following the tracks, at intervals of a few miles, and owned
by some central company that bears a close relation to the railroad.
Thus the corporations which control the transportation and handling of
the grain in effect maintain for their own advantage an exploitation of
the entire regions that they traverse, through the first years of
settlement. Year by year the margin of cultivation extends further
West, and the single-crop sort of farming tends to recede. The wheat
growers produce more barley and oats and flax, try corn successfully,
introduce live stock and dairying, and thus begin to emerge as real
farmers.
Unless this method of Western settlement is comprehended, it is not
possible to understand the old Granger movement and the more recent
legislative conflicts between the farmers of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas,
Minnesota, and the Dakotas, on the one hand, and the great
transportation and grain-handling corporations on the other. It was
fundamentally a question of the division of profits. The railroads had
"made" the country: were they entitled to allow the farmers simply a
return about equal to the cost of production, keeping for themselves the
difference between the cost and the price in the central markets, or
were they to base their charges upon the cost of their service, and
leave the farmers to enjoy whatever profits might arise from the
production of wheat or corn? Out of that protracted contest has been
developed the principle of the public regulation of rates. The position
of these communities of farmers with interests so similar, forming
commonwealths so singularly homogeneous, has led to a reliance upon
State aid that is altogether unprecedented in new and sparsely settled
regions, where individualism has usually been dominant, and governmental
activity relatively inferior.
[Illustration: ANCIENT BLOCK-HOUSE, ALASKA.]
TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER INDUSTRIES.
But agriculture, while the basis of Northwestern wealth, is not the sole
pursuit. Transportation has become in these regions a powerful interest,
because of the vast surplus agricultural product to be carried away, and
of the great quantities of lumber, coal, salt, and staple supplies in
general, to be distributed throughout the new prairie communities. The
transformation of the pine forests into the homes of several million
people has, of course, developed marvelous sawmill and building
industries; and the furnishing of millions of new homes has called into
being great factories for the making of wooden furniture, iron stoves,
and all kinds of household supplies. In response to the demand for
agricultural implements and machinery with which to cultivate five
hundred million acres of newly utilized wild land, there have come into
existence numerous great establishments for the making of machines that
have been especially invented to meet the peculiarities and exigencies
of Western farm life.
Through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, Indian corn has become a
greater product in quantity and value than wheat; while in Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and North and South Dakota the wheat is decidedly the
preponderant crop. Although in addition to oats and barley, which
flourish in all the Western States, it has been found possible to
increase the acreage of maize in the northern tier, it is now believed
that the most profitable alternate crop in the latitude of Minneapolis
and St. Paul is to be flax. Already a region including parts of
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas has become the
most extensive area of flax culture in the whole world. The crop has
been produced simply for the seed, which has supplied large linseed oil
factories in Minneapolis, Chicago, and various Western places. But now
it has been discovered that the flax straw, which has heretofore been
allowed to rot in the fields as a valueless product, can be utilized for
a fibre which will make a satisfactory quality of coarse linen fabrics.
Linen mills have been established in Minneapolis, and it is somewhat
confidently predicted that in course of time the linen industry of that
ambitious city will reach proportions even greater than its wonderful
flour industry, which for a number of years has been without a rival
anywhere in the world.
THE "TWIN CITIES."
The railroad system of the Northwest has been developed in such a way
that no one centre may be fairly regarded as the commercial capital of
the region. Chicago, with its marvelous foresight, has thrown out lines
of travel that draw to itself much of the traffic which would seem
normally to belong to Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth on the north, or
to St. Louis and Kansas City on the south. But in the region now under
discussion, the famous "Twin Cities," Minneapolis and St. Paul,
constitute unquestionably the greatest and most distinctive centre, both
of business and of civilization. They are beautifully situated, and they
add to a long list of natural advantages very many equally desirable
attractions growing out of the enterprising and ambitious forethought of
the inhabitants. They are cities of beautiful homes, pleasant parks,
enterprising municipal improvements; advanced educational
establishments, and varied industrial interests. Each is a distinct
urban community, although they lie so near together that they constitute
one general centre of commerce and transportation when viewed from a
distance. Their stimulating rivalry has had the effect to keep each city
alert and to prevent a listless, degenerate local administration. About
the Falls of St. Anthony, at Minneapolis, great manufacturing
establishments are grouping themselves, and each year adds to the
certainty that these two picturesque and charming cities have before
them a most brilliant civic future.
[Illustration: THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY, 1885.]
UNITED PUBLIC ACTION AND ITS INFLUENCE.
The tendency to rely upon united public action is illustrated in the
growth of Northwestern educational systems. The universities of these
commonwealths are State universities. Professional education is under
the State auspices and control. The normal schools and the agricultural
schools belong to the State. The public high school provides
intermediate instruction. The common district school, supported jointly
by local taxation and State subvention, gives elementary education to
the children of all classes. As the towns grow the tendency to graft
manual and technical courses upon the ordinary public school curriculum
is unmistakably strong. The Northwest, more than any other part of the
country, is disposed to make every kind of education a public function.
Radicalism has flourished in the homogeneous agricultural society of
the Northwest. In the anti-monopoly conflict there seemed to have
survived some of the intensity of feeling that characterized the
anti-slavery movement; and a tinge of this fanatical quality has always
been apparent in the Western and Northwestern monetary heresies. But it
is in the temperance movement that this sweep of radical impulse has
been most irresistible. It was natural that the movement should become
political and take the form of an agitation for prohibition. The history
of prohibition in Iowa, Kansas, and the Dakotas, and of temperance
legislation in Minnesota and Nebraska, reveals--even better perhaps than
the history of the anti-monopoly movement--the radicalism, homogeneity,
and powerful socializing tendencies of the Northwestern people. Between
these different agitations there has been in reality no slight degree of
relationship; at least their origin is to be traced to the same general
conditions of society.
The extent to which a modern community resorts to State action depends
in no small measure upon the accumulation of private resources. Public
or organized initiative will be relatively strongest where the impulse
to progress is positive but the ability of individuals is small. There
are few rich men in the Northwest. Iowa, great as is the Hawkeye State,
has no large city and no large fortunes. Of Kansas the same thing may be
said. The Dakotas have no rich men and no cities. Minnesota has
Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Nebraska has Omaha; but otherwise these
two States are farming communities, without large cities or concentrated
private capital. Accordingly the recourse to public action is
comparatively easy. South Dakota farmers desire to guard against drought
by opening artesian wells for irrigation. They resort to State
legislation and the sale of county bonds. North Dakota wheat-growers are
unfortunate in the failure of crops. They secure seed-wheat through
State action and their county governments. A similarity of condition
fosters associated action and facilitates the progress of popular
movements.
In such a society the spirit of action is intense. If there are few
philosophers, there is remarkable diffusion of popular knowledge and
elementary education. The dry atmosphere and the cold winters are
nerve-stimulants, and life seems to have a higher tension and velocity
than in other parts of the country.
THE INDIAN QUESTION.
The Northwest presents a series of very interesting race problems. The
first one, chronologically at least, is the problem that the American
Indian presents. It is not so long ago since the Indian was in
possession of a very large portion of the region we are now considering.
A number of tribes were gradually removed further West, or were assigned
to districts in the Indian Territory. But most of them were concentrated
in large reservations in Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota,
Montana, and Wyoming. The past few years have witnessed the rapid
reduction of these reservations, and the adoption of a policy which, if
carried to its logical conclusion with energy and good faith, will at an
early date result in the universal education of the children, in the
abolition of the system of reservations, and in the settlement of the
Indian families upon farms of their own, as fully enfranchised American
citizens.
OTHER ELEMENTS OF POPULATION.
[Illustration: LAKE-SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO.]
The most potent single element of population in the Northwest is of New
England origin, although more than half of it has found its way into
Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, by filtration
through the intermediate States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. But there has also been a vast direct
immigration from abroad; and this element has come more largely, by far,
from the northern than from the central and southern races of Europe.
The Scandinavian peninsula and the countries about the Baltic and North
Seas have supplied the Northwest with a population that already numbers
millions. From Chicago to Montana there is now a population of full
Scandinavian origin, which, perhaps, may be regarded as about equal in
numbers to the population that remains in Sweden and Norway. In
Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as in
northern Iowa and in some parts of Nebraska, there are whole counties
where the population is almost entirely Scandinavian. Upon all this
portion of the country for centuries to come the Scandinavian
patronymics will be as firmly fixed as they have been upon the Scotch
and English coasts, where the Northmen intrenched themselves so
numerously and firmly about nine hundred or a thousand years ago. The
Scandinavians in the Northwest become Americans with a rapidity
unequaled by any other non-English-speaking element. Their political
ambition is as insatiate as that of the Irish, and they already secure
offices in numbers. Their devotion to the American school system, their
political aptitude and ambition, and their enthusiastic pride in
American citizenship are thoroughly hopeful traits, and it is generally
believed that they will contribute much of strength and sturdiness to
the splendid race of Northwestern Americans that is to be developed in
the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Valleys. The Northwestern Germans
evince a tendency to mass in towns, as in Milwaukee, and to preserve
intact their language and national traits.
SOCIETY AND GENERAL CULTURE.
The large towns of the Northwest are notable for the great numbers of
the brightest and most energetic of the young business and professional
men of the East that they contain. While they lack the leisure class and
the traditions of culture that belong to older communities, they may
justly claim a far higher percentage of college-bred men and of families
of cultivated tastes than belong to Eastern towns of like population.
The intense pressure of business and absorption of private pursuits are,
for the present, seeming obstacles to the progress of Western
communities in the highest things; but already the zeal for public
improvements and for social progress in all that pertains to true
culture is very great. Two decades hence no man will question the
quality of Northwestern civilization. If the East is losing something of
its distinctive Americanism through the influx of foreign elements and
the decay of its old-time farming communities, the growth of the
Northwest, largely upon the basis of New England blood and New England
ideas, will make full compensation.
Every nation of the world confronts its own racial or climatic or
industrial problems, and nowhere is there to be found an ideal state of
happiness or virtue or prosperity; but, all things considered, it may
well be doubted whether there exists any other extensive portion, either
of America or of the world, in which there is so little of pauperism, of
crime, of social inequality, of ignorance, and of chafing discontent, as
in the agricultural Northwest that lies between Chicago and the Rocky
Mountains. Schools and churches are almost everywhere flourishing in
this region, and the necessities of life are not beyond the reach of any
element or class. There is a pleasantness, a hospitality, and a
friendliness in the social life of the Western communities that is
certainly not surpassed.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY, 1897-1901.
William McKinley--Organization of "Greater New York"--Removal of General
Grant's Remains to Morningside Park--The Klondike Gold Excitement--Spain's
Misrule in Cuba--Preliminary Events of the Spanish-American War.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT.
William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29,
1843, of Scotch ancestry, his father, David, being one of the pioneers
of the iron business in Eastern Ohio.
The parents were in moderate circumstances, and the son, having prepared
for college, was matriculated at Alleghany College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania, but his poor health soon obliged him to return to his
home. He became a schoolteacher at the salary of $25 per month, and, as
was the custom in many of the country districts, he "boarded round;"
that is, he made his home by turns with the different patrons of his
school. He used rigid economy, his ambition being to save enough money
to pay his way through college.
[Illustration: WILLIAM McKINLEY.
(1843-.) One term, 1897-1901.]
Destiny, however, had another career, awaiting him. The great Civil War
was impending, and when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was
flashed through the land, his patriotic impulses were roused, and, like
thousands of others, he hurried to the defense of his country. He
enlisted in Company E, as a private. It was attached to the Twenty-third
Ohio regiment, of which W.S. Rosecrans was colonel and Rutherford B.
Hayes major. Of no other regiment can it be said that it furnished two
Presidents to the United States.
For more than a year Private McKinley carried a musket, and on the 15th
of April, 1862, was promoted to a sergeancy. Looking back to those
stirring days of his young manhood, President McKinley has said:
"I always recall them with pleasure. Those fourteen months that I served
in the ranks taught me a great deal. I was but a schoolboy when I went
into the army, and that first year was a formative period of my life,
during which I learned much of men and affairs. I have always been glad
that I entered the service as a private and served those months in that
capacity."
McKinley made a good soldier and saw plenty of fighting. Six weeks after
leaving Columbus, his regiment was in the battle of Carnifex Ferry,
Western Virginia, where the only victories of the early days of the war
were won. It was the hardest kind of work, hurrying back and forth
through the mountains, drenched by rains, and on short rations most of
the time. The boy did his work well and was soon ordered to Washington,
where he became one of the units in the splendid Army of the Potomac
under General McClellan.
At Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the war, McKinley's gallantry was
so conspicuous that he was promoted to a lieutenancy. He was sent to
West Virginia again, where he was fighting continually. As an evidence
of the kind of work he did, it may be said that one morning his regiment
breakfasted in Pennsylvania, ate dinner in Maryland, and took supper in
Virginia.
Winning promotion by his fine conduct, he became captain, July 25, 1864,
and was brevetted major, on the recommendation of General Sheridan, for
conspicuous bravery at Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. The title, "Major
McKinley," therefore, is the military one by which the President is
remembered.
With the coming of peace, the young man found himself a veteran of the
war at the age of twenty-two, and compelled to decide upon the means of
earning his living. He took up the study of law, and was graduated from
the Albany, N.Y., law school, and admitted to the bar in 1867. He began
practice in Canton, Ohio, and, by his ability and conscientious
devotion, soon achieved success. He early showed an interest in
politics, and was often called upon to make public addresses. He
identified himself with the Republican party, and was elected district
attorney in Stark County, which almost invariably went Democratic. In
1876, he was elected to Congress, against a normal Democratic majority,
for five successive terms, being defeated when he ran the sixth time
through the gerrymandering of his district by his political opponents.
[Illustration: GREATER NEW YORK.
On January 1, 1898, Greater New York was created by the union of New
York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and Staten Island, into one
municipality. The city now covers nearly 318 square miles, contains over
three and one-half millions inhabitants, and, next to London, is the
largest city in the world.]
During his seven terms in Congress, Mr. McKinley was noted for his clear
grasp of national questions and his interest in tariff legislation. It
was in 1890 that he brought about the passage of the tariff measure
which is always associated with his name. In the same year he was
defeated, but, being nominated for governor, he was elected by 80,000
majority. As in the case of Mr. Cleveland, this triumph attracted
national attention, and his administration was so satisfactory that he
could have received the nomination for the presidency twice before he
accepted it.
The presidential administration of McKinley has proven one of the most
eventful in our history, for, as set forth in the following chapters, it
marked our entrance among the leading nations of the world, in the field
of territorial expansion beyond the limits of our own continent and
hemisphere. Before entering upon the history of this phase of our
national existence, attention must be given to important happenings of a
different nature. One of these was the organization of what is popularly
known as "Greater New York."
[Illustration: THE OBELISK IN CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK.]
"GREATER NEW YORK."
For a number of years, a prominent question among the inhabitants of the
metropolis and outlying cities was that of their union under one
government. The New York Legislature in 1890 appointed a committee to
inquire into and report upon the subject. After several years of
discussion, the Legislature provided for a referendum, the result of
which showed a large majority in favor of uniting the cities referred
to. A bill was carefully framed, passed both branches of the law-making
body by a strong vote in February, 1897, and was signed by the mayors of
Brooklyn and of Long Island City. Mayor Strong, of New York, however,
vetoed the bill, but the Legislature immediately repassed it, and it was
signed by Governor Black.
The expanded metropolis began its official existence January 1, 1898,
the government being vested in a mayor and a municipal assembly, which
consists of two branches elected by the people. The population at the
time named was about 3,400,000, the daily increase being 400. Should
this rate continue, the total population at the middle of the twentieth
century will be 20,000,000, which will make it the most populous in the
world, unless London wakes up and grows faster than at present.
The area of Greater New York is 317.77 square miles. Its greatest width
from the Hudson River to the boundary line across Long Island beyond
Creedmoor is sixteen miles, and the extreme length, from the southern
end of Staten Island to the northern limits of Yonkers, is thirty-two
miles. Within these bounds are the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Long
Island City, Jamaica, all of Staten Island, the western end of Long
Island, Coney Island, Rockaway, Valley Stream, Flushing, Whitestone,
College Point, Willets' Point, Fort Schuyler, Throggs' Neck,
Westchester, Baychester, Pelham Manor, Van Cortlandt, Riverdale, and
Spuyten Devil.
REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT'S REMAINS TO MORNINGSIDE PARK.
The removal of the remains of General Grant to their final resting-place
in the magnificent tomb on Morningside Heights, on the banks of the
Hudson, took place during the first year of McKinley's administration,
and was marked by ceremonies among the most impressive ever witnessed in
the metropolis of the country. The final tributes to the foremost
defender of the country were made by eloquent tongues, and pens, and by
the reverent affection of the nation itself.
[Illustration: JOHN SHERMAN.
Secretary of State under President McKinley; resigned 1898.]
There have been many attempts made to analyze the character of this
remarkable man. Some of his most intimate friends failed to understand
him. Among the best of these analyses is that of Lieutenant-General John
M. Schofield. In this our last reference to General Grant, the words of
his trusted confidant deserve record:
"General Sherman wrote that he could not understand Grant, and
doubted if Grant understood himself. A very distinguished statesman,
whose name I need not mention, said to me that, in his opinion, there
was nothing special in Grant to understand. Others have varied widely
in their estimates of that extraordinary character. Yet I believe
its most extraordinary quality was its extreme simplicity, so extreme
that many have entirely overlooked it in their search for some deeply
hidden secret to account for so great a character, unmindful of the
general fact that simplicity is one of the most prominent attributes
of greatness.
"The greatest of all the traits of Grant's character was that which
lay always on the surface, visible to all who had eyes to see it.
That was his moral and intellectual honesty, integrity, sincerity,
veracity, and justice. He was incapable of any attempt to deceive
anybody, except for a legitimate purpose, as in military strategy;
and, above all, he was incapable of deceiving himself. He possessed
that rarest of all human faculties, the power of a perfectly accurate
estimate of himself, uninfluenced by vanity, pride, ambition,
flattery, or self-interest. Grant was very far from being a modest
man, as the word is generally understood. His just self-esteem was as
far above it as it was above flattery. The highest enconiums were
accepted for what he believed them to be worth. They did not disturb
his equilibrium in the slightest degree. Confiding, just, and
generous to everybody else, he treated with silent contempt any
suggestion that he had been unfaithful to any obligation. He was too
proud to explain where his honor had been questioned.
"While Grant knew his own merits as well as anybody did, he also knew
his own imperfections and estimated them at their real value. For
example, his inability to speak in public, which produced the
impression of extreme modesty or diffidence, he accepted simply as a
fact in his nature which was of little or no consequence, and which
he did not even care to conceal. He would not, for many years, even
take the trouble to jot down a few words in advance, so as to be able
to say something when called upon. Indeed, I believe he would have
regarded it as an unworthy attempt to appear in a false light if he
had made preparations in advance for an 'extemporaneous' speech. Even
when he did in later years write some notes on the back of a
dinner-card, he would take care to let everybody see that he had done
so by holding the card in plain view while he read his little speech.
After telling a story, in which the facts had been modified somewhat
to give the greater effect, which no one could enjoy more than he
did, Grant would take care to explain exactly in what respects he had
altered the facts for the purpose of increasing the interest in his
story, so that he might not leave any wrong impression.
"When Grant's attention was called to any mistake he had committed,
he would see and admit it as quickly and unreservedly as if it had
been made by anybody else, and with a smile which expressed the exact
opposite of that feeling which most men are apt to show under like
circumstances. His love of truth and justice was so far above all
personal considerations that he showed unmistakable evidence of
gratification when any error into which he might have fallen was
corrected. The fact that he had made a mistake and that it was
plainly pointed out to him did not produce the slightest unpleasant
impression; while the further fact, that no harm had resulted from
his mistake, gave him real pleasure. In Grant's judgment, no case in
which any wrong had been done could possibly be regarded as finally
settled until that wrong was righted, and if he himself had been, in
any sense, a party to that wrong, he was the more earnest in his
desire to see justice done. While he thus showed a total absence of
any false pride of opinion or of knowledge, no man could be firmer
than he in adherence to his mature judgment, nor more earnest in his
determination, on proper occasions, to make it understood that his
opinion was his own and not borrowed from anybody else. His pride in
his own mature opinion was very great; in that he was as far as
possible from being a modest man. This absolute confidence in his own
judgment upon any subject which he had mastered, and the moral
courage to take upon himself alone the highest responsibility, and to
demand full authority and freedom to act according to his own
judgment, without interference from anybody, added to his accurate
estimate of his own ability and clear perception of the necessity for
undivided authority and responsibility in the conduct of military
operations, and in all that concerns the efficiency of armies in time
of war, constituted the foundation of that very great character.
"When summoned to Washington to take command of all the armies, with
the rank of lieutenant-general, he determined, before he reached the
capital, that he would not accept the command under any conditions
than those above stated. His sense of honor and of loyalty to the
country would not permit him to consent to be placed in a false
position, one in which he could not perform the service which the
country had been led to expect from him, and he had the courage to
say so in unqualified terms.
"These traits of Grant's character must now be perfectly familiar to
all who have studied his history, as well as to those who enjoyed
familiar intercourse with him during his life. They are the traits of
character which made him, as it seems to me, a very great man, the
only man of our time, so far as we know, who possessed both the
character and the military ability which were, under the
circumstances, indispensable in the commander of the armies which
were to suppress the great rebellion.
"It has been said that Grant, like Lincoln, was a typical American,
and for that reason was most beloved and respected by the people.
That is true of the statesman and the soldier, as well as of the
people, if it is meant that they were the highest type, that ideal
which commands the respect and admiration of the highest and best in
a man's nature, however far he may know it to be above himself. The
soldiers and the people saw in Grant or in Lincoln, not one of
themselves, not a plain man of the people, nor yet some superior
being whom they could not understand, but the personification of
their highest ideal of a citizen, soldier, or statesman, a man whose
greatness they could see and understand as plainly as they could
anything else under the sun. And there was no more mystery about it
all, in fact, than there was in the popular mind."
[Illustration: SPEAKER THOMAS B. REED.
Resigned as Speaker in 1899.]
To the widow of General Grant was given the right to select the spot for
the last resting-place of his remains, she to repose after death beside
her husband. She decided upon Riverside. It then became the privilege of
his friends to provide a suitable tomb for the illustrious soldier. The
funds needed, amounting to nearly half a million dollars, were raised by
subscription, ground was broken on the anniversary of Grant's birthday,
April 27, 1891, and a year later the corner-stone was laid by President
Harrison.
The tomb of General Grant, standing on the banks of the Hudson, is an
imposing structure, square in shape, ninety feet on each side, and of
the Grecian-Doric order. The entrance on the south side is guarded by a
portico in double lines of columns, approached by steps seventy feet in
width. The tomb is surmounted at a height of seventy-two feet with a
cornice and parapet, above which is a circular cupola, seventy feet in
diameter, terminating in a top the shape of a pyramid, which is 280 feet
above the river.
The interior of the structure is of cruciform form, seventy-six feet at
its greatest length, the piers of masonry at the corners being connected
by arches which form recesses. The arches are fifty feet in height, and
are surmounted by an open circular gallery, capped with a panneled dome,
105 feet above the floor. Scenes in General Grant's career are depicted
with sculpture on the plane and relieved surfaces in _alto rilievo_. The
granite of the structure is light in color, and the sarcophagus of
brilliant reddish porphyry. The crypt rests directly under the centre of
the dome, stairways connecting with the passage surrounding the
sarcophagus, where the remains of the widow of General Grant are
eventually to repose.
[Illustration: TOMB OF U.S. GRANT, NEW YORK.]
The ceremonies attending the removal of the remains on April 27, 1897,
included three impressive displays, the ceremony at the tomb, the parade
of the army--the National Guard and civic bodies--and the review of the
navy and merchant marine on the Hudson. Those who gathered to take part
in the final tribute to the great soldier included the President,
Vice-President of the United States, the Cabinet, many State governors,
prominent American citizens, and representatives of foreign nations.
From 129th Street to the Battery, and from Whitehall up East River to
the Bridge, thousands of American and foreign flags were displayed,
while the parade of men on foot included 60,000 persons.
Bishop Newman opened the exercises with prayer, and President McKinley
made one of the finest speeches of his life, the opening words of which
were:
"A great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, here finds its
earthly coronation. Even if this day lacked the impressiveness of
ceremony and was devoid of pageantry, it would still be memorable,
because it is the anniversary of the birth of the most famous and
best beloved of American soldiers."
[Illustration: REVIEW OF THE NAVY AND MERCHANT MARINE ON THE HUDSON,
APRIL 27, 1897.]
The President concluded with the words:
"With Washington and Lincoln, Grant had an exalted place in the
history and the affections of the people. To-day his memory is held
in equal esteem by those whom he led to victory, and by those who
accepted his generous terms of peace. The veteran leaders of the Blue
and Gray here meet not only to honor the name of Grant, but to
testify to the living reality of a fraternal national spirit which
has triumphed over the differences of the past and transcends the
limitations of sectional lines. Its completion--which we pray God to
speed--will be the nation's greatest glory.
"It is right that General Grant should have a memorial commensurate
with his greatness, and that his last resting-place should be in the
city of his choice, to which he was so attached, and of whose ties he
was not forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it that the great
soldier should sleep beside the noble river on whose banks he first
learned the art of war, and of which he became master and leader
without a rival.
"But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the
metropolis among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored
his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to
render the edifice worthy of the man, upon a site unsurpassed for
magnificence, has this monument been reared by New York as a
perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the certainty that, as
time passes, around it will assemble, with gratitude and reverence
and veneration, men of all climes, races, and nationalities.
"New York holds in its keeping the precious dust of the silent
soldier, but his achievements--what he and his brave comrades wrought
for mankind--are in the keeping of seventy millions of American
citizens, who will guard the sacred heritage forever and
forevermore."
[Illustration: ALASKA]
General Horace Porter, president of the Grant Memorial Association, made
an address, giving the history of the crowning work of the association,
rendering acknowledgment to those who had given valuable help, and
closing with a masterly and eloquent tribute to the great citizen whom
all had gathered to honor.
THE KLONDIKE GOLD EXCITEMENT.
There was much excitement throughout the country in 1897 over the
reported discoveries of rich deposits of gold in the Klondike, as the
region along the Yukon River in Alaska is called. These reports were
discredited at first, but they were repeated, and proof soon appeared
that they were based upon truth. In the autumn of 1896, about fifty
miners visited the section, led thither by the rumors that had come to
them. None of the men carried more than his outfit and a few hundred
dollars, but when they returned they brought gold to the value of from
$5,000 to $100,000 apiece, besides leaving claims behind them that were
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In July, 1897, a party of miners
arrived at Seattle from the Klondike, bringing with them nuggets and
gold-dust weighing more than a ton and worth a million and a half of
dollars. Besides this, other men continually came back with such
quantities of the precious metal that it was apparent that not only were
the reports justified, but, what is the exception in such cases, the
whole truth had not been told.
The natural consequence was that a rush set in for the Klondike, which
is the name of a tributary of the Yukon, and flows through the richest
gold fields, where the mining days of early California were repeated.
Dawson City was founded at the mouth of the Klondike, and in a short
time had a population of 5,000. Before the year closed, 500 claims were
located, with more taken up daily. As was inevitable, there was much
suffering, for the Yukon is closed by ice during the greater part of the
year, and the winter climate is of Arctic severity. The most productive
fields were found to be not in Alaska, but in the British provinces
known as the Northwest Territories. While many gathered fortunes in the
Klondike, the majority, after great hardships and suffering, returned to
their homes poorer than when they left them.
[Illustration: READY FOR THE TRAIL.]
SPAIN'S MISRULE IN CUBA.
The administration of McKinley occupies a prominent place in American
history because of our brief and decisive war with Spain. A full account
is given in the pages that follow, but it is proper in this chapter to
set forth some historical facts, that will serve to clear the way to a
proper understanding of the story of the war itself.
Spain may best illustrate the certain decline of the Latin race and the
rise of the Anglo-Saxon. When America was discovered, she was the
leading maritime power of the world, but she was corrupt, rapacious,
ferocious, and totally devoid of what is best expressed by the term
"common sense." So lacking indeed was she in this prime requisite that
she alienated, when it was just as easy to attract, the weaker nations
and colonies with which she came in contact. It has been shown in the
earlier chapters of this work that when her exploring expeditions into
the interior of America were obliged to depend for their own existence
upon the good-will of the natives, and when they could readily gain and
retain that good-will, they roused the hatred of the simple-minded
natives by their frightful cruelties. The chief amusement of the early
Spaniards was killing Indians. They did it from the innate brutality of
their nature, when they could have gained tenfold more by justice and
kindness.
The treatment of those poor people was precisely what on a larger scale
has been shown to her colonies. England wins and holds her dependencies
through her liberality and justice; Spain repels hers through her
treachery, falsehoods, and injustice. As a consequence, England has
become one of the mightiest nations in the world, while Spain has
steadily declined to a fourth-rate power. With the example of the
results of her idiocy, to say nothing of its dishonor, ever before her,
she has persisted in that idiocy, never learning from experience, but
always selfish, short-sighted, cruel, treacherous, and unjust.
The steadiness with which Cuba clung to the mother country won for her
the title of the "Ever Faithful Isle." Had she received any
consideration at all, she still would have held fast. She poured
princely revenues into the lap of Spain; when other colonies revolted,
she refused to be moved. It required long years of outrage, robbery, and
injustice to turn her affection into hate, but Spain persisted until the
time came when human nature could stand no more. The crushed worm turned
at last.
When Napoleon Bonaparte deposed the Bourbon King, Ferdinand VII., in
1808, and placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, Cuba
declared her loyalty to the old dynasty, and the king made many promises
of what he would do to prove his gratitude when he should come to his
own. This took place five years later, whereupon the king violated every
pledge he had made.
The truth gradually worked its way into the Cuban mind that the only
thing a Spaniard could be depended upon to do is to violate his most
solemn promises. Secret societies began assuming form in the island,
whose plotting and aim were to wrest their country from Spain, on the
ground of the non-fulfillment of the pledges made by Ferdinand VII. of
what he would do when he came to the throne.
Preparations were made for a revolt, whose avowed object was the
establishment of a Cuban republic. A certain night in 1823 was fixed
upon for a general uprising, but there were traitors in the councils,
who notified the authorities, and, before the date named, the leaders
were arrested and the revolt quenched ere a blow could be struck.
These severe measures could not quell the spirit of liberty that was
abroad. It was not long before the Black Eagle Society was formed. It
included many hundred members, had its headquarters in Mexico, and
boldly secured recruits in the United States. But again the cause was
betrayed by its members, the leaders were arrested and imprisoned, and
Spain was secure for a time in the control of the island.
As an illustration of that country's course against suspected citizens,
it may be said that in 1844 a rumor spread that large numbers of the
slaves on the plantations near Matanzas were making secret preparations
to rise and slay their masters. Investigation failed to establish the
truth of these charges, but many were put to the torture to compel them
to confess, and nearly a hundred were condemned and shot in cold blood.
[Illustration: GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA.
Hero of three wars for Cuba's freedom. Died of pneumonia in Washington,
D.C., December, 1898.]
Naturally the affairs of Cuba from its proximity were always of great
interest to the United States, and a number of filibustering expeditions
landed on the island and aided the Cubans in their futile revolts
against Spain. These attempts at their best could only keep the island
in a turmoil, and give Spain the pretext for using the most brutal
measures of repression.
In 1868 a revolution occurred in Spain itself, and Queen Isabella, one
of the worst rulers that sorely accursed country ever had, was driven
into exile. Cuba had not forgotten the lesson of the opening of the
century, and, instead of proclaiming her loyalty to the deposed dynasty,
she seized what promised to be a favorable opportunity for gaining her
own independence.
One of the fairest and most impartial publications anywhere is the
_Edinburgh Review_, which used the following language in giving the
reasons for the Cuban revolt of 1868:
"Spain governs the island of Cuba with an iron and blood-stained
hand. The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil, and
religious liberties. Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally
prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military commissions,
in times of peace; hence their being kept from public meetings, and
forbidden to speak or write on affairs of State; hence their
remonstrances against the evils that afflicted them being looked upon
as the proceedings of rebels, from the fact that they are obliged to
keep silence and obey; hence the never-ending plague of hungry
officials from Spain to devour the product of their industry and
labor; hence their exclusion from the art of government; hence the
restrictions to which public instruction with them is subjected in
order to keep them so ignorant as not to be able to know and enforce
their rights in any shape or form whatever; hence the navy and the
standing army, which are kept in their country at an enormous
expenditure from their own wealth to make them bend their knees and
submit their necks to the iron yoke that disgraces them; hence the
grinding taxation under which they labor, and which would make all
perish in misery but for the marvelous fertility of their soil."
The opportunity was a golden one for Spain to win back the affection of
Cuba by generosity and justice. What steps did she take to do so?
Although the Cubans were ground to the very dust by taxation, levied in
all cases by Spaniards, and not by their own officials, Spain proposed,
in 1868, to add to the burden. In October of that year Carlos M. de
Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo, raised the standard of revolt, placed
himself at the head of a handful of patriots, which were soon joined by
thousands, and in April, 1869, a republican constitution was adopted,
slavery declared abolished, Cespedes was elected president, Francisco
Aguilero vice-president, and a legislature was called together.
There never was hope of this insurrection securing the independence of
Cuba. The patriots were too few in number, too badly armed and equipped,
and not handled so as to be effective. But they caused great suffering
and ruin throughout the island. They instituted a guerrilla system of
warfare, and cost Spain many valuable lives. The wet and rainy seasons
came and went, and still the savage fighting continued, until at last
the rebels as well as the Spaniards were ready to welcome peace.
Martinez Campos was the Spanish commander, and he promised General
Maximo Gomez, leader of the insurgents, that the reforms for which he
and his comrades were contending should be granted on condition that
they laid down their arms. The pledge was a sacred one, and no doubt
Campos meant honestly to keep it. Unfortunately, however, there were
higher powers than he behind him. Gomez accepted the promises of a
brother soldier, and on February 10, 1878, the treaty of El Zanjon was
signed.
This treaty guaranteed representation to the Cubans in the Spanish
Cortes, and all who took part in the insurrection were pardoned.
Now the lesson of all this was so plain that the wayfaring man, though a
fool, had no excuse for erring. Spain had bitterly learned the temper of
the Cubans. She could not fail to see that but one possible way existed
for her to retain control of them, and, of course, that was the very way
she avoided. The Madrid authorities thought they did a wise thing when
they secured control of the polls, and made sure that the delegates
elected were their own. Schools, sewerage, roads, everything that could
help the island were neglected and taxation increased. The reforms
promised to the insurgents upon condition of laying down their arms
proved a delusion and a snare. Thus the "captain-general" had his name
changed to "governor-general," but his tyrannical powers remained the
same as before. The right of banishment was formally repealed, but the
outrages continued under another law that was equally effective, and so
on to the end of the chapter. Once again the Cubans had been fooled by
trusting to Spanish honor. They resolved that as soon as arrangements
could be effected, they would set another insurrection on foot, which
would be fought out to the death or until independence was secured.
[Illustration: GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ.
_The Washington of Cuba_ is the title applied to this hero, who, as
Commander-in-Chief of the patriot army, made Cuban liberty possible.]
Several important ends were accomplished by the Ten Years' War. Slavery
was abolished in 1886, and the island was divided into the present six
provinces. As in previous instances the United States was counted upon
for the greatest material assistance in prosecuting the revolution. The
spirit of adventure is always strong among Americans, and the
filibustering enterprises appealed strongly to them. The spice of danger
by which they were attended was their chief attraction. Our government
was bound by treaty to prevent them, so far as she could, and it went to
great expense in doing so. A number of expeditions were unable to get
away from New York, but others escaped the vigilance of officials, and
landed guns, ammunition, and men at different points on the island. One
of the greatest helps in this unlawful business was the dishonesty of
the officials employed by Spain to prevent the landing of supplies and
men. There was never any difficulty in bribing these officers, who
stumbled over one another in their eagerness to be bribed.
THE LAST CUBAN REVOLUTION LAUNCHED.
Meanwhile, the leaders in the former late revolt were consulting upon
the best steps to launch the new revolution. Maximo Gomez was living in
San Domingo, and, when he was offered the command of the revolutionary
forces, he promptly accepted the responsibility. The offer came to him
through José Marti, the head of the organization.
The grim veterans were resolute in their purpose. After studying the
situation, they agreed that a general uprising should be set on foot in
all the provinces on February 24, 1895. It was impossible to do this,
but the standard of revolt was raised on the date named in three of the
provinces.
One Spanish official read truly the meaning of the signs. He was
Calleja, the captain-general. Though the revolt in the province of
Santiago de Cuba looked trifling, he knew it was like a tiny blaze
kindled in the dry prairie grass. He wished to act liberally toward the
insurgents, but the blind government at Madrid blocked his every step.
Since it had played the fool from the beginning, it kept up the farce to
the end. They ordered Calleja to stamp out the rebellion, and he did his
utmost to obey orders.
Could the royal and insurgent forces be brought to meet in fair combat,
the latter would have been crushed out of existence at the first
meeting. But the insurgent leaders were too shrewd to risk anything of
that nature. They resumed their guerrilla tactics, striking hard blows,
here, there, anywhere that the chance offered, and then fled into the
woods and mountains before the regulars could be brought against them.
Such a style of warfare is always cruel and accompanied by outrages of a
shocking character. The Cubans were as savage in their methods as the
Spaniards. They blew up bridges and railroad trains with dynamite,
regardless of the fact that, in so doing, it was the innocent instead of
the guilty who suffered. They burned the sugar cane, destroyed the
tobacco and coffee plantations, and impoverished the planters in order
to shut off the revenues of Spain and deprive her forces of their needed
supplies; they spread desolation and ruin everywhere, in the vain hope
that the mother country could thus be brought to a realizing sense of
the true situation.
But Spain was deaf and blind. She sent thousands of soldiers across the
Atlantic, including the members of the best families in the kingdom, to
die in the pestilential lowlands of Cuba, while trying to stamp out the
fires of revolution that continually grew and spread.
The island was cursed by three political parties, each of which was
strenuous in the maintenance of its views. The dominant party of course
was the loyalists, who held all the offices and opposed any compromise
with the insurgents. They were quite willing to make promises, with no
intention of fulfilling them, but knew the Cubans could no longer be
deceived.
The second party was the insurgents, who, as has been shown, had
"enlisted for the war," and were determined not to lay down their arms
until independence was achieved. The autonomists stood between these
extremes, favoring home rule instead of independence, while admitting
the misgovernment of Cuba.
[Illustration: JOSÉ MARTI.
President of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Led into ambush and killed
by the Spaniards, May 19, 1895.]
The Spaniards were determined to prevent the coming of Antonio Maceo, a
veteran of the Ten Years' War, possessed of great courage and resources,
who was living in Costa Rica. They knew he had been communicated with
and his presence would prove a tower of strength to the insurgents.
Bodies of Spanish cavalry galloped along the coasts, on the alert to
catch or shoot the rebel leader, while the officials closely watched all
arrivals at the seaports for the feared rebel.
Despite these precautions, Maceo and twenty-two comrades of the previous
war effected a landing on the eastern end of the island. They were
almost immediately discovered by the Spanish cavalry, and a fierce fight
followed, in which several Cubans were killed. Maceo fought furiously,
seemingly inspired by the knowledge that he was again striking for the
freedom of his country, and he came within a hair of being killed. He
eluded his enemies, however, and, plunging into the thickets, started
for the interior to meet the other insurgent leaders. The abundance of
tropical fruits saved him from starving, and it was not long before he
met with straggling bodies of his countrymen, who hailed his coming with
enthusiasm. Recruits rapidly gathered around him, and he placed himself
at the head of the ardent patriots.
It was just ten days after the landing of Maceo that Gomez and José
Marti, coming from Santo Domingo, landed on the southern coast of Cuba.
They had a lively time in avoiding the Spanish patrol, but succeeded in
reaching a strong force of insurgents, and Gomez assumed his duties as
commander-in-chief. Recruits were gathered to the number of several
thousand, and Gomez and Marti started for the central provinces with the
purpose of formally establishing the government. Marti was led astray on
the road by a treacherous guide and killed.
Fully alive to the serious work before him, Captain-General Calleja
called upon Spain for help in quelling the rebellion. She sent 25,000
troops to Cuba and Calleja was relieved by Field-Marshal Campos. This
was a popular move, for it was Campos who brought the Ten Years' War to
a close, and it was generally believed he would repeat his success.
The first important act of Campos was to divide Cuba into zones, by
means of a number of strongly guarded military lines, extending north
and south across the narrower part of the island. They were called
"trochas," and were expected to offer an impassable check to the
insurgents, who, thus confined within definite limits, could be crushed
or driven into the sea with little difficulty.
[Illustration: ANTONIO MACEO.
Lieutenant-General in the Cuban Army.]
The scheme, however, was a failure. The rebels crossed the trochas at
will, kept up their guerrilla tactics, picked off the regulars,
destroyed railroad trains, and went so far as to shoot the messengers
who dared to enter their camp with proposals for making peace on other
terms than independence.
The Cubans were full of hope. They had their old leaders with them, men
who had led them in former campaigns and proven their courage and skill.
Recruits flocked to their standards, until it has been estimated that by
the close of the year fully 20,000 insurgents were in the field. With
such strong commands, the leaders were able to attain several important
successes. Considerable bodies of the regulars were defeated with
serious losses, and, in one instance, Campos succeeded in saving himself
and command only by the artillery he happened to have with him.
Campos had prosecuted the war through civilized methods, and, therefore,
fell into disfavor at home. He was not a representative Spanish
commander, and was now superseded by General Valeriano Weyler, who
arrived in Havana in February, 1896. This man had as much human feeling
in his heart as a wounded tiger. His policy was _extermination_. He
established two powerful trochas across the island, but they proved as
ineffective as those of Campos. Then he ordered the planters and their
families, who were able to pick up a wretched living on their places, to
move into the nearest towns, where they would be able to raise no more
food for the insurgents. It mattered not to Weyler that neither could
these reconcentrados raise any food for themselves, and therefore must
starve: that was no concern of his. As he viewed it, starvation was the
right method of ridding Cuba of those who yearned for its freedom.
[Illustration]
No pen can picture the horrors that followed. The woeful scenes sent a
shudder throughout the United States, and many good people demanded that
the unspeakable crime should be checked by armed intervention. To do
this meant war with Spain, but we were ready for that. A Congressional
party visited Cuba in March, 1898, and witnessed the hideous suffering
of the Cubans, of whom more than a hundred thousand had been starved to
death, with scores still perishing daily. In referring to what they
saw, Senator Proctor, of Vermont, said: "I shall refer to these horrible
things no further. They are there. God pity me, I have seen them; they
will remain in my mind forever, and this is almost the twentieth
century. Christ died nineteen hundred years ago, and Spain is a
Christian nation. She has set up more crosses in more lands, beneath
more skies, and under them has butchered more people than all the other
nations of the earth combined. God grant that before another Christmas
morning the last vestige of Spanish tyranny and oppression will have
vanished from the western hemisphere."
The ferocious measures of Weyler brought so indignant a protest from our
country that he was recalled, and his place taken by General Ramon
Blanco, who reached Havana in the autumn of 1897. Under him the
indecisive fighting went on much as before, with no important advantage
gained by either side. Friends of Cuba made appeals in Congress for the
granting of belligerent rights to the insurgents, but strict
international law demanded that their government should gain a more
tangible form and existence before such rights could be conceded.
Matters were in this state of extreme tension when the blowing-up of the
_Maine_ occurred. While riding quietly at anchor in the harbor of
Havana, on the night of February 15, 1898, she was utterly destroyed by
a terrific explosion, which killed 266 officers and men. The news
thrilled the land with horror and rage, for it was taken at once for
granted that the appalling crime had been committed by Spaniards, but
the absolute proof remained to be brought forward, and the Americans,
with their proverbial love of justice and fair-play, waited for such
proof.
Competent men were selected for the investigation, and they spent three
weeks in making it. They reported that it had been established beyond
question that the _Maine_ was destroyed by an outside explosion, or
submarine mine, though they were unable to determine who was directly
responsible for the act.
The insistence of Spain, of course, was that the explosion was
accidental and resulted from carelessness on the part of Captain Sigsbee
and his crew; but it may be doubted whether any of the Spanish officials
in Havana ever really held such a belief. While Spain herself was not
directly responsible for the destruction of the warship and those who
went down in her, it was some of her officials who destroyed her. The
displacement of the ferocious Weyler had incensed a good many of his
friends, some of whom most likely expressed their views in this manner,
which, happily for the credit of humanity, is exceedingly rare in the
history of nations.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT MCKINLEY AND THE WAR CABINET
LYMAN J. GAGE, JAS. WILSON, C.N. BLISS,
Sec'y of the Treasury. Sec'y of Agriculture Sec'y of the Interior.
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. JOHN W. JOHN D. WM. R. RUSSELL A. CHAS. EMORY
GRIGGS, LONG, DAY, ALGER, SMITH,
Attorney Sec'y of Sec'y Sec'y Postmaster
General. the Navy. of State. of War. General.]
The momentous events that followed are given in the succeeding
chapters.
[Illustration.]
CHAPTER XXV.
ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED), 1897-1901.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
Opening Incidents--Bombardment of Matanzas--Dewey's Wonderful Victory at
Manila--Disaster to the _Winslow_ at Cardenas Bay--The First American
Loss of Life--Bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico--The Elusive Spanish
Fleet--Bottled-up in Santiago Harbor--Lieutenant Hobson's Daring
Exploit--Second Bombardment of Santiago and Arrival of the Army--Gallant
Work of the Rough Riders and the Regulars--Battles of San Juan and El
Caney--Destruction of Cervera's Fleet--General Shafter Reinforced in
Front of Santiago--Surrender of the City--General Miles in Porto
Rico--An Easy Conquest--Conquest of the Philippines--Peace Negotiations
and Signing of the Protocol--Its Terms--Members of the National Peace
Commission--Return of the Troops from Cuba and Porto Rico--The Peace
Commission in Paris--Conclusion of its Work--Terms of the
Treaty--Ratified by the Senate.
"STRIPPING FOR THE FIGHT."
Enough has already been stated to show the real cause of the war between
the United States and Spain. It was, in brief, a war for humanity, for
America could no longer close her ears to the wails of the dead and
dying that lay perishing, as may be said, on her very doorsteps. It was
not a war for conquest or gain, nor was it in revenge for the awful
crime of the destruction of the _Maine_, though few nations would have
restrained their wrath with such sublime patience as did our countrymen
while the investigation was in progress. Yet it cannot be denied that
this unparalleled outrage intensified the war fever in the United
States, and thousands were eager for the opportunity to punish Spanish
cruelty and treachery. Congress reflected this spirit when by a
unanimous vote it appropriated $50,000,000 "for the national defense."
The War and Navy Departments hummed with the activity of recruiting, the
preparations of vessels and coast defenses, the purchase of war material
and vessels at home, while agents were sent to Europe to procure all the
war-ships in the market. Unlimited capital was at their command, and
the question of price was never an obstacle. When hostilities impended
the United States was unprepared for war, but by amazing activity,
energy, and skill the preparations were pushed and completed with a
rapidity that approached the marvelous.
War being inevitable, President McKinley sought to gain time for our
consular representatives to leave Cuba, where the situation daily and
hourly grew more dangerous. Consul Hyatt left Santiago on April 3d, but
Consul-General Lee, always fearless, remained at Havana until April
10th, with the resolution that no American refugees should be left
behind, where very soon their lives would not be worth an hour's
purchase. Lee landed in Key West April 11th, and on the same day
President McKinley sent his message upon the situation to Congress. On
April 18th the two houses adopted the following:
WHEREAS, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than
three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have
shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been
a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in
the destruction of a United States battleship with 266 of its
officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana,
and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President
of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898,
upon which the action of Congress was invited; therefore,
_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled--
First--That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.
Second--That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
government of the United States does hereby demand, that the
government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government
in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from
Cuba and Cuban waters.
Third--That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
United States, and to call into the actual service of the United
States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be
necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.
Fourth--That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said
island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination when that is completed to leave the government and
control of the island to its people.
[Illustration: CITY OF HAVANA AND HARBOR, SHOWING WRECK OF THE
BATTLESHIP MAINE.]
This resolution was signed by the President April 20th, and a copy
served on the Spanish minister, who demanded his passports, and
immediately left Washington. The contents were telegraphed to United
States Minister Woodford at Madrid, with instructions to officially
communicate them to the Spanish government, giving it until April 23d to
answer. The Spanish authorities, however, anticipated this action by
sending the American minister his passports on the morning of April
21st. This act was of itself equivalent to a declaration of war.
The making of history now went forward with impressive swiftness.
[Illustration: THE BATTLESHIP "MAINE" Destroyed in Havana Harbor,
February 15, 1898, by which the lives of two officers and 264 members of
the crew were lost. This disaster was popularly believed to have been
the work of Spaniards, and was a potent factor in hastening the war
between Spain and the United States.]
On April 22d the United States fleet was ordered to blockade Havana. On
the 24th Spain declared war, and the United States Congress followed
with a similar declaration on the 25th. The call for 75,000 volunteer
troops was increased to 125,000 and subsequently to 200,000. The massing
of men and stores was rapidly begun throughout the country. Within a
month expeditions were organized for various points of attack,
war-vessels were bought, and ocean passenger steamers were converted
into auxiliary cruisers and transports. By the first of July about
40,000 soldiers had been sent to Cuba and the Philippine Islands. The
rapidity with which preparations were made and the victories gained and
the progress shown by the Americans at once astonished and challenged
the admiration of foreign nations, who had regarded America as a country
unprepared for war by land or sea. On April 27th, following the
declaration of war on the 25th, Admiral Sampson, having previously
blockaded the harbor of Havana, was reconnoitering with three vessels in
the vicinity of Matanzas, Cuba, when he discovered the Spanish forces
building earthworks, and ventured so close in his efforts to investigate
the same that a challenge shot was fired from the fortification, Rubal
Cava. Admiral Sampson quickly formed the _New York, Cincinnati_, and
_Puritan_ into a triangle and opened fire with their eight-inch guns.
The action was very spirited on both sides for the space of eighteen
minutes, at the expiration of which time the Spanish batteries were
silenced and the earthworks destroyed, without casualty on the American
side, though two shells burst dangerously near the _New York_. The last
shot fired by the Americans was from one of the _Puritan's_
thirteen-inch guns, which landed with deadly accuracy in the very centre
of Rubal Cava, and, exploding, completely destroyed the earthworks. This
was the first action of the war, though it could hardly be dignified by
the name of a battle.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY.]
THE BATTLE OF MANILA.
It was expected that the next engagement would be the bombardment of
Morro Castle, at Havana. But it is the unexpected that often happens in
war. In the Philippine Islands, on the other side of the world, the
first real battle--one of the most remarkable in history--was next to
occur.
On April 25th the following dispatch of eight potent words was cabled to
Commodore Dewey on the coast of China: "Capture or destroy the Spanish
squadron at Manila." "Never," says James Gordon Bennett, "were
instructions more effectively carried out. Within seven hours after
arriving on the scene of action nothing remained to be done." It was on
the 27th that Dewey sailed from Mirs Bay, China, and on the night of the
30th he lay before the entrance of the harbor of Manila, seven hundred
miles away. Under the cover of darkness, with all lights extinguished on
his ships, he daringly steamed into this unknown harbor, which he
believed to be strewn with mines, and at daybreak engaged the Spanish
fleet. Commodore Dewey knew it meant everything for him and his fleet to
win or lose this battle. He was in the enemy's country, 7,000 miles from
home. The issue of this battle must mean victory, Spanish dungeons, or
the bottom of the ocean. "_Keep cool and obey orders_" was the signal he
gave to his fleet, and then came the order to fire. The Americans had
seven ships, the _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, _Raleigh_, _Petrel_, _Concord_,
_Boston_, and the dispatch-boat _McCullough_. The Spaniards had eleven,
the _Reina Christina_, _Castilla_, _Don Antonio de Ulloa_, _Isla de
Luzon_, _Isla de Cuba_, _General Lezo_, _Marquis de Duero_, _Cano_,
_Velasco_, _Isla de Mindanao_, and a transport.
From the beginning Commodore Dewey fought on the offensive, and, after
the manner of Nelson and Farragut, concentrated his fire upon the
strongest ships one after another with terrible execution. The Spanish
ships were inferior to his, but there were more of them, and they were
under the protection of the land batteries. The fire of the Americans
was especially noted for its terrific rapidity and the wonderful
accuracy of its aim. The battle lasted for about five hours, and
resulted in the destruction of all the Spanish ships and the silencing
of the land batteries. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was
estimated to be fully one thousand men, while on the American side not a
ship was even seriously damaged and not a single man was killed
outright, and only six were wounded. More than a month after the battle,
Captain Charles B. Gridley, Commander of the _Olympia_, died, though his
death was the result of an accident received in the discharge of his
duty during the battle, and not from a wound. On May 2d Commodore Dewey
cut the cable connecting Manila with Hong Kong, and destroyed the
fortifications at the entrance of Manila Bay, and took possession of the
naval station at Cavite. This was to prevent communication between the
Philippine Islands and the government at Madrid, and necessitated the
sending of Commodore Dewey's official account of the battle by the
dispatch-boat _MCCullough_ to Hong Kong, whence it was cabled to the
United States. After its receipt, May 9th, both Houses adopted
resolutions of congratulation to Commodore Dewey and his officers and
men for their gallantry at Manila, voted an appropriation for medals for
the crew and a fine sword for the gallant Commander, and also passed a
bill authorizing the President to appoint another rear-admiral, which
honor was promptly conferred upon Commodore Dewey, accompanied by the
thanks of the President and of the nation for the admirable and heroic
services rendered his country.
[Illustration: MAP OF CUBA]
The Battle of Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and
courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets may
have been, the world agrees with the eminent foreign naval critic who
declared: "This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool,
well-balanced judgment, discipline, and bravery. It was a magnificent
achievement, and Dewey will go down in history ranking with John Paul
Jones and Lord Nelson as a naval hero."
Admiral Dewey might have taken possession of the city of Manila
immediately. He cabled the United States that he could do so, but the
fact remained that he had not sufficient men to care for his ships and
at the same time effect a successful landing in the town of Manila.
Therefore he chose to remain on his ships, and though the city was at
his mercy, he refrained from a bombardment because he believed it would
lead to a massacre of the Spaniards on the part of the insurgents
surrounding the city, which it would be beyond his power to stop. This
humane manifestation toward the conquered foe adds to the lustre of the
hero's crown, and at the same time places the seal of greatness upon the
brow of the victor. He not only refrained from bombarding the city, but
received and cared for the wounded Spaniards upon his own vessels. Thus,
while he did all that was required of him without costing his country
the life of a single citizen, he manifested a spirit of humanity and
generosity toward the vanquished foe fully in keeping with the
sympathetic spirit which involved this nation in the war for humanity's
sake.
The Battle of Manila further demonstrated that a fleet with heavier guns
is virtually invulnerable in a campaign with a squadron bearing lighter
metal, however gallantly the crew of the latter may fight.
Before the Battle of Manila it was recognized that the government had
serious trouble on its hands. On May 4th President McKinley nominated
ten new Major-Generals, including Thomas H. Wilson, Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. J.
Sewell (who was not commissioned), and Joseph Wheeler, from private
life, and promoted Brigadier-Generals Breckinridge, Otis, Coppinger,
Shafter, Graham, Wade, and Merriam, from the regular army. The
organization and mobilization of troops was promptly begun and rapidly
pushed. Meantime our naval vessels were actively cruising around the
Island of Cuba, expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MANILA, MAY 1, 1898.
ADMIRAL MONTOJO. ADMIRAL DEWEY.
This illustration is historically correct. It shows the positions of the
vessels in that memorable battle which sounded at once the death knell
of Spanish authority in the East and West Indies.]
On May 11th the gunboat _Wilmington_, revenue-cutter _Hudson_, and the
torpedo-boat _Winslow_ entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to attack the
defenses and three small Spanish gunboats that had taken refuge in the
harbor. The _Winslow_ being of light draft took the lead, and when
within eight hundred yards of the fort was fired upon with disastrous
effect, being struck eighteen times and rendered helpless. For more than
an hour the frail little craft was at the mercy of the enemy's
batteries. The revenue-cutter _Hudson_ quickly answered her signal of
distress by coming to the rescue, and as she was in the act of drawing
the disabled boat away a shell from the enemy burst on the _Winslow's_
deck, killing three of her crew outright and wounding many more. Ensign
Worth Bagley, of the _Winslow_, who had recently entered active service,
was one of the killed. He was the first officer who lost his life in the
war. The same shell badly wounded Lieutenant Bernadon, Commander of the
boat. The _Hudson_, amidst a rain of fire from the Spanish gunboats and
fortifications, succeeded in towing the _Winslow_ to Key West, where the
bodies of the dead were prepared for burial and the vessel was placed in
repair. On May 12th the First Infantry landed near Port Cabanas, Cuba,
with supplies for the insurgents, which they succeeded in delivering
after a skirmish with the Spanish troops. This was the first land
engagement of the war.
[Illustration: CAMP SCENE AT CHICKAMAUGA.]
On the same date Admiral Sampson's squadron arrived at San Juan, Porto
Rico, whither it had gone in the expectation of meeting with Admiral
Cervera's fleet, which had sailed westward from the Cape Verde Islands
on April 29th, after Portugal's declaration of neutrality. The Spanish
fleet, however, did not materialize, and Admiral Sampson, while on the
ground, concluded it would be well to draw the fire of the forts that he
might at least judge of their strength and efficiency, if indeed he
should not render them incapable of assisting the Spanish fleet in the
event of its resorting to this port at a later period. Accordingly,
Sampson bombarded the batteries defending San Juan, inflicting much
damage and sustaining a loss of two men killed and six wounded. The loss
of the enemy is not known. The American war-ships sustained only trivial
injuries, but after the engagement it could be plainly seen that one end
of Morro Castle was in ruins. The Cabras Island fort was silenced and
the San Carlos battery was damaged. No shots were aimed at the city by
the American fleet.
Deeming it unnecessary to wait for the Spanish war-ships in the vicinity
of San Juan, Sampson withdrew his squadron and sailed westward in the
hope of finding Cervera's fleet, which was dodging about the Caribbean
Sea. First it was heard of at the French island, Martinique, whence
after a short stay it sailed westward. Two days later it halted at the
Dutch island, Curaçoa, for coal and supplies. After leaving this point
it was again lost sight of. Then began the chase of Commodore Schley and
Admiral Sampson to catch the fugitive. Schley, with his flying squadron,
sailed from Key West around the western end of Cuba, and Sampson kept
guard over the Windward and other passages to the east of the island. It
was expected that one or the other of these fleets would encounter the
Spaniard on the open sea, but in this they were mistaken. Cervera was
not making his way to the Mexican shore on the west, as some said, nor
was he seeking to slip through one of the passages into the Atlantic and
sail home to Spain, nor attack Commodore Watson's blockading vessels
before Havana, according to other expert opinions expressed and widely
published. For many days the hunt of the war-ships went on like a
fox-chase. On May 21st Commodore Schley blockaded Cienfuegos, supposing
that Cervera was inside the harbor, but on the 24th he discovered his
mistake and sailed to Santiago, where he lay before the entrance to the
harbor for three days, not knowing whether or not the Spaniard was
inside. On May 30th it was positively discovered that he had Cervera
bottled up in the narrow harbor of Santiago. He had been there since the
19th, and had landed 800 men, 20,000 Mauser rifles, a great supply of
ammunition, and four great guns for the defense of the city.
OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO.
On May 31st Commodore Schley opened fire on the fortifications at the
mouth of the harbor, which lasted for about half an hour. This was for
the purpose of discovering the location and strength of the batteries,
some of which were concealed, and in this he was completely successful.
Two of the batteries were silenced, and the flagship of the Spaniards,
which took part in the engagement, was damaged. The Americans received
no injury to vessels and no loss of men. On June 1st Admiral Sampson
arrived before Santiago, and relieved Commodore Schley of the chief
command of the forces, then consisting of sixteen war-ships.
[Illustration: RICHMOND PEARSON HOBSON.]
Admiral Sampson, naturally a cautious commander, suffered great
apprehension lest Cervera might slip out of the harbor and escape during
the darkness of the night or the progress of a storm, which would compel
the blockading fleet to stand far off shore. There was a point in the
channel wide enough for only one warship to pass at a time, and if this
could be rendered impassable Cervera's doom would be sealed. How to
reach and close this passage was the difficult problem to be solved. On
either shore of the narrow channel stood frowning forts with cannon, and
there were other fortifications to be passed before it could be reached.
Young Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, a naval engineer, had attached
himself to Admiral Sampson's flagship, _New York_, just before it sailed
from Key West, and it was this young man of less than thirty years who
solved the problem by a plan originated by Admiral Sampson, which he
executed with a heroic daring that finds perhaps no parallel in all
naval history. At three o'clock A.M., June 3d, in company with seven
volunteers from the _New York_ and other ships, he took the United
States collier _Merrimac_, a large vessel with 600 tons of coal on
board, and started with the purpose of sinking it in the channel. The
chances were ten to one that the batteries from the forts would sink the
vessel before it could reach the narrow neck, and the chances were
hardly one in one hundred that any of the men on board the collier would
come out of this daring attempt alive. The ship had hardly started when
the forts opened fire, and amid the thunder of artillery and a rain of
steel and bursting shells the boat with its eight brave heroes held on
its way, as steadily as if they knew not their danger. The channel was
reached, and the boat turned across the channel. The sea-doors were
opened and torpedoes exploded by the intrepid crew, sinking the vessel
almost instantly, but not in the position desired. As the ship went down
the men, with side-arms buckled on, took to a small boat, and, escape
being impossible, they surrendered to the enemy. It seems scarcely less
than a miracle that any of the eight men escaped, yet the fact remained
that not one of them was seriously injured. The Spaniards were so
impressed with this act of bravery and heroism that they treated the
prisoners with the utmost courtesy, confined them in Morro Castle, and
Admiral Cervera promptly sent a special officer, under a flag of truce,
to inform Admiral Sampson of their safety. The prisoners were kept
confined in Morro Castle for some days, when they were removed to a
place of greater safety, where they were held until exchanged on July
7th.
THE SECOND BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND THE COMING OF THE ARMY.
On the 6th of June the American fleet under Admiral Sampson bombarded
the forts of Santiago for about three hours. The gunners were all
instructed, however, to spare Morro Castle lest they should inflict
injury upon Hobson and his heroic companions, who were then confined
within its walls. Nearly all of the fortifications at the entrance of
the harbor were silenced. An examination after the fleet had withdrawn
revealed the fact that no lives were lost on the American side, and none
of the vessels were seriously injured. The Spanish ship _Reina Mercedes_
was sunk in the harbor, she being the only ship from the enemy's fleet
which ventured within the range of the American's guns.
The danger of entering the narrow harbor in the face of Cervera's fleet
rendered it necessary to take the city by land, and the government began
preparations to send General Shafter with a large force from Tampa to
aid the fleet in reducing the city. Some 15,000 men, including the now
famous Rough Riders of New York, were hurried upon transports, and under
the greatest convoy of gunboats, cruisers, and battleships which ever
escorted an army started for the western end of the island of Cuba.
But the honor of making the first landing on Cuban soil belongs to the
marines. It was on June the 10th, a few days before the army of General
Shafter sailed from Tampa, that a landing was effected by Colonel
Huntington's six hundred marines at Caimanera, Guantanamo Bay, some
distance east of Santiago. The object of this landing was twofold:
first, to secure a place where our war-ships could safely take on coal
from colliers, and, second, to unite if possible with the insurgents in
harassing the Spaniards until General Shafter's army could arrive.
Furthermore, Guantanamo Bay furnished the American ships a safe harbor
in case of storm.
In the whole history of the war few more thrilling passages are to be
found than the record of this brave band's achievements. The place of
landing was a low, round, bush-covered hill on the eastern side of the
bay. On the crest of the hill was a small clearing occupied by an
advance post of the Spanish army. When the marines landed and began to
climb the hill, the enemy, with little resistance, retreated to the
woods, and the marines were soon occupying the cleared space abandoned
by them. They had scarcely begun to compliment themselves on their easy
victory when they discovered that the retreat had only been a snare to
lure them into the open space, while unfortunately all around the
clearing the woods grew thick, and their unprotected position was also
overlooked by a range of higher hills covered with a dense undergrowth.
Thus the Spanish were able under cover of the bushes to creep close up
to our forces, and they soon began to fire upon them from the higher
ground of the wooded range. The marines replied vigorously to the fire
of their hidden foe, and thus continued their hit-and-miss engagement
for a period of four days and nights, with only occasional
intermissions. Perhaps the poor marksmanship of the Spaniards is to be
thanked for the fact that they were not utterly annihilated. On the
fourth day the Spanish gave up the contest and abandoned the field.
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE.]
Major Henry C. Cochrane, second in command, states that he slept only an
hour and a half in the four days, and that many of his men became so
exhausted that they fell asleep standing on their feet with their rifles
in their hands. It is remarkable that during the four days the Americans
lost only six killed and about twenty wounded. The Spaniards suffered a
loss several times as great, fifteen of them having been found by the
Americans dead on the field. It is not known how many they carried away
or how many were wounded.
THE LANDING OF SHAFTER'S ARMY.
On June 13th troops began to leave Tampa and Key West for operations
against Santiago, and on June 20th the transports bearing them arrived
off that city. Two days later General Shafter landed his army of 16,000
soldiers at Daiquiri, a short distance east of the entrance to the
harbor, with the loss of only two men, and they by accident. Before the
coming of the troops the Spanish had evacuated the village of Daiquiri,
which is a little inland from the anchorage bearing the same name, and
set fire to the town, blowing up two magazines and destroying the
railroad roundhouse containing several locomotives. As the transports
neared the landing-place Sampson's ships opened fire upon Juragua,
engaging all the forts for about six miles to the west. This was done to
distract the attention of the Spanish from the landing soldiers, and was
entirely successful. After the forts were silenced the _New Orleans_ and
several gunboats shelled the woods in advance of the landing troops. The
soldiers went ashore in full fighting trim, each man carrying thirty-six
rations, two hundred rounds of ammunition for his rifle, and a
shelter-tent.
While the troops were landing at Daiquiri, the battleship _Texas_,
hitherto considered as an unfortunate ship by the attachés of the navy,
completely changed her reputation and distinguished herself by assailing
and silencing, unaided, the Spanish battery La Socapa at Santiago, which
had hitherto withstood the attacks against it, though all the ships of
Commodore Schley's command had twice fiercely bombarded it without
result. Captain Philip and his men were complimented in warm terms of
praise by Admiral Sampson. The _Texas_ was struck but once, and that by
the last shot from the Spanish fort, killing one man and wounding eight
others, seriously damaging the ship.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. SAMPSON.]
THE VICTORY OF THE ROUGH RIDERS.
[Illustration: AMERICANS STORMING SAN JUAN HILL
The most dramatic scene and the most destructive battle of the Spanish
War.]
On June 24th the force under General Shafter reached Juragua, and the
battle by land was now really to begin. It was about ten miles out from
Santiago, at a point known as La Guasima. The country was covered with
high grass and chaparral, and in this and on the wooded hills a strong
force of Spaniards was hidden. Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's Rough
Riders, technically known as the First Volunteer Cavalry, under command
of Colonel Wood, were in the fight, and it is to their bravery and dash
that the glory of the day chiefly belongs. Troops under command of
General Young had been sent out in advance, with the Rough Riders on his
flank. There were about 1,200 of the cavalry in all, including the Rough
Riders and the First and Tenth Regulars. They encountered a body of two
thousand Spaniards in a thicket, whom they fought dismounted. The
volunteers were especially eager for the fight, and, perhaps due
somewhat to their own imprudence, were led into an ambuscade, as perfect
as was ever planned by an Indian. The main body of the Spaniards was
posted on a hill approached by two heavily wooded slopes and fortified
by two blockhouses, flanked by intrenchments of stones and fallen trees.
At the bottom of these hills run two roads, along one of which the Rough
Riders marched, and along the other eight troops of the Eighth and Tenth
Cavalry, under General Young. These roads are little more than gullies,
very narrow, and at places almost impassable. Nearly half a mile
separated Roosevelt's men from the Regulars, and it was in these trails
that the battle began.
[Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT.]
For an hour they held their position in the midst of an unseen force,
which poured a perfect hail of bullets upon them from in front and on
both sides. At length, seeing that their only way of escape was by
dashing boldly at the hidden foe, Colonel Wood took command on the right
of his column of Rough Riders, placing Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt at
the left, and thus, with a rousing yell, they led their soldiers in a
rushing charge before which the Spaniards fled from the hills and the
victorious assailants took the blockhouses. The Americans had sixteen
killed and fifty-two wounded, forty-two of the casualties occurring to
the Rough Riders and twenty-six among the Regulars. It is estimated that
the Spanish killed were nearly or quite one hundred. Thirty-seven were
found by the Americans dead on the ground. They had carried off their
wounded, and doubtless thought they had taken most of the killed away
also.
PREPARING FOR THE ASSAULT UPON SANTIAGO.
The victory of the Rough Riders and the Regulars at La Guasima, though
so dearly bought, stimulated the soldiers of the whole army with the
spirit of war and the desire for an opportunity to join in the conquest.
They had not long to wait. The advance upon Santiago was vigorously
prosecuted on the land side, while the ships stood guard over the
entrapped Spanish Admiral Cervera in the harbor, and, anon, shelled
every fort that manifested signs of activity. On June 25th, Sevilla,
within sight of Santiago, was taken by General Chaffee, and an advance
upon the city was planned to be made in three columns by way of Altares,
Firmeza, and Juragua. General Garcia with 5,000 Cuban insurgents had
placed himself some time before at the command of the American leader.
On the 28th of June another large expedition of troops was landed, so
that the entire force under General Shafter, including the Cuban allies,
numbered over 22,000 fighting men.
The enemy fell back at all points until the right of the American column
was within three miles of Santiago, and by the end of June the two
armies had well-defined positions. The Spanish intrenchments extended
around the city, being kept at a distance of about three and one-half
miles from the corporation limits. The trenches were occupied by about
12,000 Spanish soldiers, and there were some good fortifications along
the line.
It was the policy of General Shafter to distribute his forces so as to
face this entire line as nearly as possible. A week was consumed, after
the landing was completed, in making these arrangements and in sending
forward the artillery, during which time the battle of La Guasima,
referred to, with some minor affairs, had occurred. Meantime the ships
of Admiral Sampson had dragged up the cables and connected them by
tap-wires with Shafter's headquarters, thus establishing communication
directly with Washington from the scene of battle.
THE BATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CANEY.
The attack began July 1st, involving the whole line, but the main
struggle occurred opposite the left centre of the column on the heights
of San Juan, and the next greatest engagement was on the right of the
American line at the little town of El Caney. These two points are
several miles apart, the city of Santiago occupying very nearly the apex
of a triangle of which a line connecting these two positions would form
the base. John R. Church thus described the battles of July 1st and 2d:
"El Caney was taken by General Lawton's men after a sharp contest and
severe loss on both sides. Here as everywhere there were blockhouses
and trenches to be carried in the face of a hot fire from Mauser
rifles, and the rifles were well served. The jungle must disturb the
aim seriously, for our men did not suffer severely while under its
cover, but in crossing clearings the rapid fire of the repeating
rifles told with deadly effect. The object of the attack on El Caney
was to crush the Spanish lines at a point near the city and allow us
to gain a high hill from which the place could be bombarded if
necessary. In all of this we were entirely successful. The engagement
began at 6.40 A.M., and by 4 o'clock the Spaniards were forced to
abandon the place and retreat toward their lines nearer the city. The
fight was opened by Capron's battery, at a range of 2,400 yards, and
the troops engaged were Chaffee's brigade, the Seventh, Twelfth, and
Seventeenth Infantry, who moved on Caney from the east; Colonel
Miles' brigade of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-fifth Infantry,
operating from the south; while Ludlow's brigade, containing the
Eighth and Twenty-second Infantry and Second Massachusetts, made a
detour to attack from the southwest. The Spanish force is thought to
have been 1,500 to 2,000 strong. It certainly fought our men for nine
hours, but of course had the advantage of a fort and strong
intrenchments.
"The operations of our centre were calculated to cut the
communications of Santiago with El Morro and permit our forces to
advance to the bay, and the principal effort of General Linares, the
Spanish commander in the field, seems to have been to defeat this
movement. He had fortified San Juan strongly, throwing up on it
intrenchments that in the hands of a more determined force would have
been impregnable.
"The battle of San Juan was opened by Grimes' battery, to which the
enemy replied with shrapnell. The cavalry, dismounted, supported by
Hawkins' brigade, advanced up the valley from the hill of El Pozo,
forded several streams, where they lost heavily, and deployed at the
foot of the series of hills known as San Juan under a sharp fire from
all sides, which was exceedingly annoying because the enemy could not
be discerned, owing to the long range and smokeless powder. They were
under fire for two hours before the charge could be made and a
position reached under the brow of the hill. It was not until nearly
4 o'clock that the neighboring hills were occupied by our troops and
the final successful effort to crown the ridge could be made. The
obstacles interposed by the Spaniards made these charges anything but
the 'rushes' which war histories mention so often. They were slow and
painful advances through difficult obstacles and a withering fire.
The last 'charge' continued an hour, but at 4.45 the firing ceased,
with San Juan in our possession.
"The Spaniards made liberal use of barbed-wire fencing, which proved
to be so effective as a stop to our advance that it is likely to
take its place among approved defensive materials in future wars. It
was used in two ways: Wires were stretched near the ground to trip up
our men when on the run. Beyond them were fences in parallel lines,
some being too high to be vaulted over.
"The object of our attack was a blockhouse on the top of the hill of
San Juan, guarded by trenches and the defenses spoken of, a mile and
a half long. Our troops advanced steadily against a hot fire
maintained by the enemy, who used their rifles with accuracy, but did
not cling to their works stubbornly when we reached them. San Juan
was carried in the afternoon. The attack on Aguadores was also
successful, though it was not intended to be more than a feint to
draw off men who might otherwise have increased our difficulties at
San Juan. By nightfall General Shafter was able to telegraph that he
had carried all the outworks and was within three-quarters of a mile
of the city.
"Though the enemy's lines were broken in the principal places, they
yielded no more than was forced from them, and the battle was resumed
on the 2d. The last day saw our left flank resting on the bay and our
lines drawn around the city within easy gun-fire. Fears were
entertained that the enemy would evacuate the place, and the right
flank was pushed around to the north and eventually to the northwest
of the city."
In the fight at San Juan General Linares, commanding the Spanish forces
in Santiago, was severely wounded, and transferred the command to
General José Toral, second in authority.
THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET.
During the previous two days' fight by land the fleet of Admiral Cervera
in Santiago harbor had taken an active part in shelling our positions,
with no inconsiderable effect; and General Shafter, largely on this
account, had about despaired of taking the city, with the force at his
command. In fact, he went so far on the morning of July 3d as to
telegraph Washington that his losses had been greatly underestimated,
that he met with stronger resistance than he had anticipated, and was
seriously considering falling back to a position five miles to the rear
to await reinforcements. He was also anxious for an interview with
Admiral Sampson. The fleet had been shelling the enemy during the two
days' fight, but it was necessary that the navy and army should have an
understanding; and at 8.30 o'clock on Sunday morning Admiral Sampson
with his flagship _New York_ steamed eastward for the purpose of
conferring with the general.
[Illustration: THE OREGON.
One of the most renowned ships of the American Navy is the mighty
Battleship Oregon. Her famous run from San Francisco around Cape Horn to
take part in the Battle of Santiago has never been equalled by any
battleship in the world's history. After she won fame in the destruction
of Cervera's fleet she was ordered to Manila by Admiral Dewey "for
political reasons" and remained there throughout the Philippine War
hurling her 13-inch shells into the Insurgent ranks when occasion
required.]
General Miles telegraphed General Shafter, in response to his request to
hold his position, that he would be with him in a week with strong
reinforcements; and he promptly started two expeditions, aggregating
over 6,000 men, which reached Santiago on the 8th and 10th
respectively, in time to witness the closing engagements and surrender
of the city. But fortune again favored our cause and completely changed
the situation, unexpectedly to the American commanders of the land and
naval forces.
It was on Sunday morning, July 3d, just before Sampson landed to meet
Shafter, that Admiral Cervera, in obedience to commands from his home
government, endeavored to run his fleet past the blockading squadron of
the Americans, with the result that all of his ships were destroyed,
nearly 500 of his men killed and wounded, and himself and about 1,300
others were made prisoners. This naval engagement was one of the most
dramatic and terrible in all the history of conflict upon the seas, and,
as it was really the beginning of the end of what promised to be a long
and terrible struggle, it was undoubtedly the most important battle of
the war.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY.]
It had been just one month, to a day, since Hobson sunk the _Merrimac_
at the harbor's mouth to keep Cervera in, and for nearly one month and a
half the fleets of Schley and Sampson had lain, like watch-dogs before
the gate, without for one moment relaxing their vigilance. The quiet of
Sunday morning brooded over the scene. Even the winds seemed resting
from their labors and the sea lay smooth as glass. For two days before,
July 1st and 2d, the fleets had bombarded the forts of Santiago for the
fourth time, and all the ships, except the _Oregon_, had steam down so
low as to allow them a speed of only five knots an hour. At half-past
nine o'clock the bugler sounded the call to quarters, and the Jackies
appeared on deck rigged in their cleanest clothes for their regular
Sunday inspection. On board the _Texas_ the devout Captain Philip had
sounded the trumpet-call to religious services. In an instant a line of
smoke was seen coming out of the harbor by the watch on the _Iowa_, and
from that vessel's yard a signal was run up--"The enemy is escaping to
the westward." Simultaneously, from her bridge a six-pounder boomed on
the still air to draw the attention of the other ships to her
fluttering signal. On every vessel white masses were seen scrambling
forward. Jackies and firemen tumbled over one another rushing to their
stations. Officers jumped into the turrets through manholes, dressed in
their best uniforms, and captains rushed to their conning towers. There
was no time to waste--scarcely enough to get the battle-hatches screwed
on tight. Jingle, jingle, went the signal-bells in the engine-rooms, and
"Steam! Steam!" the captains cried through the tubes. Far below decks,
in 125 to 150 degrees of heat, naked men shoveled in the black coal and
forced drafts were put on.
One minute after the _Iowa_ fired her signal-gun she was moving toward
the harbor. From under the Castle of Morro came Admiral Cervera's
flagship, the _Infanta Maria Teresa_, followed by her sister armored
cruisers, _Almirante Oquendo_ and _Vizcaya_--so much alike that they
could not be distinguished at any distance. There was also the splendid
_Cristobal Colon_, and after them all the two fine torpedo-boat
destroyers, _Pluton_ and _Furor_. The _Teresa_ opened fire as she
sighted the American vessels, as did all of her companions, and the
forts from the heights belched forth at the same time. Countless geysers
around our slowly approaching battleships showed where the Spanish
shells exploded in the water. The Americans replied. The battle was on,
but at a long range of two or three miles, so that the secondary
batteries could not be called into use; but thirteen-inch shells from
the _Oregon_ and _Indiana_ and the twelve-inch shells from the _Texas_
and _Iowa_ were churning up the water around the enemy. At this juncture
it seemed impossible for the Americans to head off the Spanish cruisers
from passing the western point, for they had come out of the harbor at a
speed of thirteen and one-half knots an hour, for which the blockading
fleet was not prepared. But Admiral Sampson's instructions were simple
and well understood--"Should the enemy come out, close in and head him
off"--and every ship was now endeavoring to obey that standing command
while they piled on coal and steamed up.
Meanwhile, from the rapidly approaching _New York_ the signal
fluttered--"Close into the mouth of the harbor and engage the enemy;"
but the admiral was too far away, or the men were too busy to see this
signal, which they were, nevertheless, obeying to the letter.
It was not until the leading Spanish cruiser had almost reached the
western point of the bay, and when it was evident that Cervera was
leading his entire fleet in one direction, that the battle commenced in
its fury. The _Iowa_ and the _Oregon_ headed straight for the shore,
intending to ram if possible one or more of the Spaniards. The _Indiana_
and the _Texas_ were following, and the _Brooklyn_, in the endeavor to
cut off the advance ship, was headed straight for the western point. The
little unprotected _Gloucester_ steamed right across the harbor mouth
and engaged the _Oquendo_ at closer range than any of the other ships,
at the same time firing on the _Furor_ and _Pluton_, which were rapidly
approaching.
It then became apparent that the _Oregon_ and _Iowa_ could not ram, and
that the _Brooklyn_ could not head them off, as she had hoped, and,
turning in a parallel course with them, a running fight ensued.
Broadside after broadside came fast with terrific slaughter. The
rapid-fire guns of the _Iowa_ nearest the _Teresa_ enveloped the former
vessel in a mantle of smoke and flame. She was followed by the _Oregon_,
_Indiana_, _Texas_, and _Brooklyn_, all pouring a rain of red-hot steel
and exploding shell into the fleeing cruisers as they passed along in
their desperate effort to escape. The _Furor_ and _Pluton_ dashed like
mad colts for the _Brooklyn_, and Commodore Schley signaled--"Repel
torpedo-destroyers." Some of the heavy ships turned their guns upon the
little monsters. It was short work. Clouds of black smoke rising from
their thin sides showed how seriously they suffered as they floundered
in the sea.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL JOHN C. WATSON.
Commander of the Blockading Fleet at Havana.]
The _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_ dashed on after the cruisers, followed by
the other big ships, leaving the _Furor_ and _Pluton_ to the
_Gloucester_, hoping the _New York_, which was coming in the distance,
would arrive in time to help her out if she needed it. The firing from
the main and second batteries of all the battleships--_Oregon_, _Iowa_,
_Texas_--and the cruiser _Brooklyn_ was turned upon the _Vizcaya_,
_Teresa_, and _Oquendo_ with such terrific broadsides and accuracy of
aim that the Spaniards were driven from their guns repeatedly; but the
officers gave the men liquor and drove them back, beating and sometimes
shooting down those who weakened, without mercy; but under the terrific
fire of the Americans the poor wretches were again driven away or fell
mangled by their guns or stunned from the concussions of the missiles on
the sides of their ships.
Presently flames and smoke burst out from the _Teresa_ and the
_Oquendo_. The fire leaped from the port-holes; and amid the din of
battle and above it all rose the wild cheers of the Americans as both
these splendid ships slowly reeled like drunken men and headed for the
shore. "They are on fire! We've finished them," shouted the gunners.
Down came the Spanish flags. The news went all over the ships--it being
commanded by Commodore Schley to keep everyone informed, even those far
below in the fire-rooms--and from engineers and firemen in the hot
bowels of the great leviathans to the men in the fighting-tops the
welkin rang until the shins reverberated with exuberant cheers.
This was 10.20 A.M. Previously, the two torpedo boats had gone down, and
only two dozen of their 140 men survived, these having been picked up by
the _Gloucester_, which plucky little unprotected "dare-devil," not
content with the destruction she had courted and escaped only as one of
the unexplainable mysteries of Spanish gunnery, was coming up to join
the chase after bigger game; and it was to Lieutenant Wainwright, her
commander, that Admiral Cervera surrendered. The _Maine was_ avenged.
(Lieutenant Wainwright was executive officer on that ill-fated vessel
when she was blown up February 15th.) Cervera was wounded, hatless, and
almost naked when he was taken on board the _Gloucester_. Lieutenant
Wainwright cordially saluted him and grasped him by the hand, saying, "I
congratulate you, Admiral Cervera, upon as gallant a fight as was ever
made upon the sea." He placed his cabin at the service of Cervera and
his officers, while his surgeon dressed their wounds and his men did all
they could for their comfort--Wainwright supplying the admiral with
clothing. Cervera was overcome with emotion, and the face of the old
gray-bearded warrior was suffused in tears. The _Iowa_ and _Indiana_
came up soon after the _Gloucester_ and assisted in the rescue of the
drowning Spaniards from the _Oquendo_ and _Teresa_, after which they all
hurried on after the vanishing _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_, which were
pursuing the _Vizcaya_ and _Colon_, the only two remaining vessels of
Cervera's splendid fleet. From pursuer and pursued the smoke rose in
volumes and the booming guns over the waters sang the song of
destruction.
In twenty-four minutes after the sinking of the _Teresa_ and _Oquendo_,
the _Vizcaya_, riddled by the _Oregon's_ great shells and burning
fiercely, hauled down her flag and headed for the shore, where she hung
upon the rocks. In a dying effort she had tried to ram the _Brooklyn_,
but the fire of the big cruiser was too hot for her. The _Texas_ and the
little _Vixen_ were seen to be about a mile to the rear, and the
_Vizcaya_ was left to them and the _Iowa_, the latter staying by her
finally, while the _Texas_ and _Vixen_ followed on.
It looked like a forlorn hope to catch the _Colon_. She was four and
one-half miles away. But the _Brooklyn_ and the _Oregon_ were running
like express trains, and the _Texas_ sped after the fugitives with all
her might. The chase lasted two hours. Firing ceased, and every power of
the ship and the nerve of commodore, captains, and officers were devoted
to increasing the speed. Men from the guns, naked to the waist and
perspiring in streams, were called on deck for rest and an airing. It
was a grimy and dirty but jolly set of Jackies, and jokes were merrily
cracked as they sped on and waited. Only the men in the fire-rooms were
working as never before. It was their battle now, a battle of speed. At
12.30 it was seen the Americans were gaining. Cheers went up and all was
made ready. "We may wing that fellow yet," said Commodore Schley, as he
commanded Captain Clark to try a big thirteen-inch shell. "Remember the
Maine" was flung out on a pennant from the mast-head of the _Oregon_,
and at 8,500 yards she began to send her 1,000-pound shots shrieking
over the _Brooklyn_ after the flying Spaniard. One threw tons of water
on board the fugitive, and the _Brooklyn_ a few minutes later with
eight-inch guns began to pelt her sides. Everyone expected a game fight
from the proud and splendid _Colon_ with her smokeless powder and
rapid-fire guns; but all were surprised when, after a feeble resistance,
at 1.15 o'clock her captain struck his colors and ran his ship ashore
sixty miles from Santiago, opening her sea-valves to sink her after she
had surrendered.
Victory was at last complete. As the _Brooklyn_ and _Oregon_ moved upon
the prey word of the surrender was sent below, and naked men poured out
of the fire-rooms, black with smoke and dirt and glistening with
perspiration, but wild with joy. Commodore Schley gazed down at the
grimy, gruesome, joyous firemen with glistening eyes suspicious of
tears, and said, in a husky voice, eloquent with emotion, "_Those are
the fellows who made this day_." Then he signaled--"The enemy has
surrendered." The _Texas_, five miles to the east, repeated the signal
to Admiral Sampson some miles further away, coming at top speed of the
_New York_. Next the commodore signaled the admiral--"_A glorious
victory has been achieved. Details communicated later_." And then, to
all the ships, "_This is a great day for our country_," all of which
were repeated by the _Texas_ to the ships further east. The cheering was
wild. Such a scene was never, perhaps, witnessed upon the ocean. Admiral
Sampson arrived before the _Colon_ sank, and placing the great nose of
the _New York_ against that vessel pushed her into shallow water, where
she sank, but was not entirely submerged. Thus perished from the earth
the bulk of the sea power of Spain.
The Spanish losses were 1,800 men killed, wounded, and made prisoners,
and six ships destroyed or sunk, the property loss being about
$12,000,000. The American loss was one man killed and three wounded, all
from the _Brooklyn_, a result little short of a miracle from the fact
that the _Brooklyn_ was hit thirty-six times, and nearly all the ships
were struck more than once.
The prisoners were treated with the utmost courtesy. Many of them were
taken or rescued entirely naked, and scores of them were wounded. Their
behavior was manly and their fortitude won the admiration of their
captors. Whatever may be said of Spanish marksmanship, there is no
discount on Spanish courage. After a short detention Cervera and his
captured sailors were sent north to New Hampshire and thence to
Annapolis, where they were held until released by order of President
McKinley, August 31st.
THREATENED BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND FLIGHT OF THE REFUGEES.
On July 3d, while the great naval duel was in progress upon the sea,
General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago upon pain of
bombardment. The demand was refused by General Toral, who commanded the
forces after the wounding of General Linares. General Shafter stated
that he would postpone the bombardment until noon of July 5th to allow
foreigners and non-combatants to get out of the city, and he urged
General Toral in the name of humanity to use his influence and aid to
facilitate the rapid departure of unarmed citizens and foreigners.
Accordingly late in the afternoon of July 4th General Toral posted
notices upon the walls of Santiago advising all women, children, and
non-combatants that between five and nine o'clock on the morning of the
5th they might pass out by any gate of the city, all pilgrims going on
foot, no carriages being allowed, and stating that stretchers would be
provided for the crippled.
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER.]
Promptly at five o'clock on the following morning a great line of
pilgrims wound out of Santiago. It was no rabble, but well-behaved
crowds of men and women, with great droves of children. About four
hundred persons were carried out on litters. Many of the poorer women
wore large crucifixes and some entered El Caney telling their beads. But
there were many not so fortunate as to reach the city. Along the
highroads in all directions thousands of families squatted entirely
without food or shelter, and many deaths occurred among them. The Red
Cross Society did much to relieve the suffering, but it lacked means of
transporting supplies to the front.
[Illustration: THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO, JULY 17, 1898.
After a little ceremony the two commanding Generals faced each other,
and General Toral, speaking in Spanish, said: "Through fate I am forced
to surrender to General Shafter of the American Army the city and
strongholds of the City of Santiago." General Shafter in reply said: "I
receive the city in the name of the Government of the United States."]
While the flag of truce was still flying on the morning of July 6th a
communication was received from General Toral, requesting that the time
of truce be further extended, as he wanted to communicate again with the
Spanish government at Madrid concerning the surrender of the city; and,
further, that the cable operators, who were Englishmen and had fled to
El Caney with the refugees, be returned to the city that he might do so.
General Shafter extended the truce until four o'clock on Sunday, July
10th, and the operators returned from El Caney to work the wires for
General Toral. During all this time the refugees continued to throng the
roads to Siboney and El Caney, until 20,000 fugitives were congregated
at the two points. It is a disgraceful fact, however, that while this
truce was granted at the request of the Spanish general, it was taken
advantage of by the troops under him to loot the city. Both Cuban and
Spanish families suffered from their rapacity.
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL NELSON A. MILES.]
THE LAST BATTLE AND THE SURRENDER OF THE CITY.
On July 8th and 10th the two expeditions of General Miles arrived,
reinforcing General Shafter's army with over 6,000 men. General Toral
was acquainted with the fact of their presence, and General Miles
urgently impressed upon him that further resistance could but result in
a useless loss of life. The Spanish commander replied that he had not
received permission to surrender, and if the Americans would not wait
longer he could only obey orders of his government, and that he and his
men would die fighting. Accordingly a joint bombardment by the army and
navy was begun. The artillery reply of the Spaniards was feeble and
spiritless, though our attack on the city was chiefly with artillery.
They seemed to depend most upon their small arms, and returned the
volleys fired from the trenches vigorously. Our lines were elaborately
protected with over 22,000 sand-bags, while the Spaniards were protected
with bamboo poles filled with earth. In this engagement the dynamite gun
of the Rough Riders did excellent service, striking the enemy's
trenches and blowing field-pieces into the air. The bombardment
continued until the afternoon of the second day, when a flag of truce
was displayed over the city. It was thought that General Toral was about
to surrender, but instead he only asked more time.
On the advice of General Miles, General Shafter consented to another
truce, and, at last, on July 14th, after an interview with Generals
Miles and Shafter, in which he agreed to give up the city on condition
that the army would be returned to Spain at the expense of America,
General Toral surrendered. On July 16th the agreement, with the formal
approval of the Madrid and Washington governments, was signed in
duplicate by the commissioners, each side retaining a copy. This event
was accepted throughout the world as marking the end of the
Spanish-American War.
The conditions of the surrender involved the following points:
"(1) The 20,000 refugees at El Caney and Siboney to be sent back to
the city. (2) An American infantry patrol to be posted on the roads
surrounding the city and in the country between it and the American
cavalry. (3) Our hospital corps to give attention, as far as
possible, to the sick and wounded Spanish soldiers in Santiago. (4)
All the Spanish troops in the province, except ten thousand men at
Holguin, under command of General Luque, to come into the city and
surrender. (5) The guns and defenses of the city to be turned over to
the Americans in good condition. (6) The Americans to have full use
of the Juragua Railroad, which belongs to the Spanish government. (7)
The Spaniards to surrender their arms. (8) All the Spaniards to be
conveyed to Spain on board of American transports with the least
possible delay, and be permitted to take portable church property
with them."
TAKING POSSESSION OF SANTIAGO AND RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG.
The formality of taking possession of the city yet remained to be done.
To that end, immediately after the signing of the agreement by the
commissioners, General Shafter notified General Toral that he would
formally receive his surrender of the city the next day, Sunday, July
17th, at nine o'clock in the morning. Accordingly at about 8.30 A.M.,
Sunday, General Shafter, accompanied by the commander of the American
army, General Nelson A. Miles, Generals Wheeler and Lawton, and several
officers, walked slowly down the hill to the road leading to Santiago.
Under the great mango tree which had witnessed all the negotiations,
General Toral, in full uniform, accompanied by 200 Spanish officers, met
the Americans. After a little ceremony in military manoeuvring, the
two commanding generals faced each other, and General Toral, speaking in
Spanish, said:
"Through fate I am forced to surrender to General Shafter, of the
American army, the city and the strongholds of the city of Santiago."
General Toral's voice trembled with emotion as he spoke the words giving
up the town to his victorious enemy. As he finished speaking the Spanish
officers presented arms.
General Shafter, in reply, said:
"I receive the city in the name of the government of the United States."
The officers of the Spanish general then wheeled about, presenting arms,
and General Shafter, with the American officers, cavalry and infantry,
chosen for the occasion, passed into the city and on to the governor's
palace, where a crowd, numbering 3,000 persons, had gathered. As the
great bell in the tower of the cathedral nearby gave the first stroke of
twelve o'clock the American flag was run up from the flag-pole on the
palace, and as it floated to the breeze all hats were removed by the
spectators, while the soldiers presented arms. As the cathedral bell
tolled the last stroke of the hour the military band began to play "The
Star-Spangled Banner," which was followed by "Three Cheers for the Red,
White, and Blue." The cheering of the soldiers were joined by more than
half of the people, who seemed greatly pleased and yelled "Viva los
Americanos." The soldiers along almost the whole of the American line
could see and had watched with alternating silence and cheers the entire
proceeding.
[Illustration: GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER.]
GENERAL SHAFTER'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICTORY.
Having assigned soldiers to patrol and preserve order within the city,
General Shafter and his staff returned to their quarters at camp, and
the victorious commander, who two weeks before was almost disheartened,
sent a dispatch announcing the formal surrender of Santiago. It was the
first dispatch of the kind received at Washington from a foreign country
for more than fifty years. The following extract from General Shafter's
telegram sums up the situation:
"I have the honor to announce that the American flag has been this
instant, 12 noon, hoisted over the house of the civil government in the
city of Santiago. An immense concourse of people was present, a squadron
of cavalry and a regiment of infantry presenting arms, and a band
playing national airs. A light battery fired a salute of twenty-one
guns.
"Perfect order is being maintained by the municipal government. The
distress is very great, but there is little sickness in town, and
scarcely any yellow fever.
"A small gunboat and about 200 seamen left by Cervera have surrendered
to me. Obstructions are being removed from the mouth of the harbor.
"Upon coming into the city I discovered a perfect entanglement of
defenses. Fighting as the Spaniards did the first day, it would have
cost five thousand lives to have taken it.
"Battalions of Spanish troops have been depositing arms since daylight
in the armory, over which I have a guard. General Toral formally
surrendered the plaza and all stores at 9 A.M. About 7,000 rifles,
600,000 cartridges, and many fine modern guns were given up.
"This important victory, with its substantial fruits of conquest, was
won by a loss of 1,593 men killed, wounded, and missing. Lawton, who had
the severe fighting around El Caney, lost 410 men. Kent lost 859 men in
the still more severe assault on San Juan and the other conflicts of the
centre. The cavalry lost 285 men, many of whom fell at El Caney, and the
feint at Aguadores cost thirty-seven men. One man of the Signal Corps
was killed and one wounded. Trying as it is to bear the casualties of
the first fight, there can be no doubt that in a military sense our
success was not dearly won."
Thus within less than thirty days from the time Shafter's army landed
upon Cuban soil he had received the surrender not only of the city of
Santiago, but nearly the whole of the province of that name--or about
one-tenth of the entire island.
THE WAR IN PORTO RICO.
It was General Miles' original plan after establishing a blockade of
Cuban ports to open the war in Porto Rico, and make no general invasion
of Cuba during the sickly season, but the enclosure of Cervera's fleet
in the harbor of Santiago changed the conditions and made it necessary
to move a military force to that point before going elsewhere.
Now that Santiago had surrendered, according to the original plan of
General Miles, the attention of the army and navy was again turned to
Porto Rico, and the work of fitting out expeditions to that island was
begun at once. There were three expeditions sent. The first under
General Miles sailed from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 21st; the second
under General Ernst on the same day sailed from Charleston, S.C.; the
third under General Brooke embarked at Newport News on July 26th. All of
these expeditions, aggregating about 11,000 men, were convoyed by
war-ships, and successfully landed. The first, under General Miles,
reached Guanica at daylight on July 25th, where a Spanish force
attempted to resist their landing, but a few well-directed shells from
the _Massachusetts_, _Gloucester_, and _Columbia_ soon put the enemy to
flight. A party then went ashore and pulled down the Spanish flag from
the blockhouse--the first trophy of war from Porto Rican soil. As the
troops began to land the Spaniards opened fire upon them. The Americans
replied with their rifles and machine guns, and the ships also shelled
the enemy from the harbor. Five dead Spaniards were found after the
firing had ceased. Not an American was touched.
Before nightfall all the troops were landed. The next day General Miles
marched toward Ponce. Four men were wounded in a skirmish at Yauco on
the way, but at Ponce, where General Ernst's expedition from Charleston
met them and disembarked on July 28th, the Spaniards fled on the
approach of the Americans, whom the mayor of the city and the people
welcomed with joy, making many demonstrations in their honor and
offering their services to hunt and fight the Spaniards. General Miles
issued a proclamation to the people declaring clearly the United States'
purpose of annexing them. The mayor of Ponce published this
proclamation, with an appeal from himself to the people to salute and
hail the American flag as their own, and to welcome and aid the American
soldiers as their deliverers and brothers.
On August 4th General Brooke arrived, and the fleet commander, Captain
Higginson, with little resistance opened the port of Arroyo, where they
were successfully landed the next day, and General Haines' brigade
captured the place with a few prisoners.
The Americans were then in possession of all the principal ports on the
south coast, covering between fifty and sixty miles of that shore. A
forward movement was inaugurated in three divisions--all of which we
will consider together--the object of General Miles being to occupy the
island and drive the Spanish forces before him into San Juan, and by the
aid of the fleet capture them there in a body, though the Spanish forces
numbered 8,000 regulars and 9,000 volunteers, against which were the
11,000 land forces of the Americans and also their fleet.
The town of Coamo was captured August 9th after half an hour of fighting
by Generals Ernst and Wilson, the Americans driving the Spaniards from
their trenches, and sustaining a loss of six wounded. On the 10th
General Schwan encountered 1,000 Spaniards at Rosario River. This was
the most severe engagement in Porto Rico. The Spaniards were routed,
with what loss is unknown. The Americans had two killed and sixteen
wounded.
On the 11th General Wilson moved on to Abonito and found the enemy
strongly intrenched in the mountain fastnesses along the road. He
ventured an attack with artillery, sustaining a loss of one man killed
and four wounded. On pain of another attack he sent a messenger
demanding the surrender of the town of Abonito; but the soldierly answer
was sent back: "Tell General Wilson to stay where he is if he wishes to
avoid the shedding of much blood." General Wilson concluded to delay
until General Brooke could come up before making the assault, and, while
thus waiting, the news of peace arrived.
Meantime General Brooke had been operating around Guayama, where he had
five men wounded. At three o'clock, August 12th, the battle was just
opening in good order, and a great fight was anticipated. The gunners
were sighting their first pieces when one of the signal corps galloped
up with the telegram announcing _peace_. "You came just fifteen minutes
too soon. The troops will be disappointed," said General Brooke, and
they were.
So ended the well-planned campaign of Porto Rico, in which General Miles
had arranged, by a masterly operation with 11,000 men, the occupation of
an island 108 miles long by thirty-seven broad. As it was, he had
already occupied about one-third of the island with a loss of only three
killed and twenty-eight wounded, against a preponderating force of
17,000 Spaniards.
After the signing of the protocol of peace General Brooke was left in
charge of about half the forces in Porto Rico, pending a final peace,
while General Miles with the other half returned to the United States,
where he arrived early in September and was received with fitting
ovations in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, at which latter city
he again took up his quarters as the Commander of the American Army.
THE CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES.
After Dewey's victory at Manila, already referred to, it became evident
that he must have the co-operation of an army in capturing and
controlling the city. The insurgents under General Aguinaldo appeared
anxious to assist Admiral Dewey, but it was feared that he could not
control them. Accordingly, the big monitor _Monterey_ was started for
Manila and orders were given for the immediate outfitting of expeditions
from San Francisco under command of Major-General Wesley Merritt. The
first expedition consisted of between 2,500 and 3,000 troops, commanded
by Brigadier-General Anderson, carried on three ships, the _Charleston_,
the _City of Pekin_, and the _City of Sydney_. This was the longest
expedition (about 6,000 miles) on which American troops were ever sent,
and the men carried supplies to last a year. The _Charleston_ got away
on the 22d, and the other two vessels followed three days later. The
expedition went through safely, arriving at Manila July 1st. The
_Charleston_ had stopped on June 21st at the Ladrone Islands and
captured the island of Guam without resistance. The soldiers of the
garrison were taken on as prisoners to Manila and a garrison of American
soldiers left in charge, with the stars and stripes waving over the
fortifications.
[Illustration: IN THE WAR ROOM AT WASHINGTON.
The above illustration shows President McKinley, Secretary Long,
Secretary Alger, and Major-General Miles consulting map during the
progress of the Spanish-American War. It is in this room that the plans
of conducting the war by land and sea, are formulated, and the commands
for action are wired to the fleet and the army.]
The second expedition of 3,500 men sailed June 15th under General
Greene, who used the steamer _China_ as his flagship. This expedition
landed July 16th at Cavite in the midst of considerable excitement on
account of the aggressive movements of the insurgents and the daily
encounters and skirmishes between them and the Spanish forces.
On June 23d the monitor _Monadnoc_ sailed to further reinforce Admiral
Dewey, and four days later the third expedition of 4,000 troops under
General McArthur passed out of the Golden Gate amid the cheers of the
multitude, as the others had done; and on the 29th General Merritt
followed on the _Newport_. Nearly one month later, July 23d, General
H.G. Otis, with 900 men, sailed on the _City of Rio de Janeiro_ from San
Francisco, thus making a total of nearly 12,000 men, all told, sent to
the Philippine Islands.
General Merritt arrived at Cavite July 25th, and on July 29th the
American forces advanced from Cavite toward Manila. On the 31st, while
enroute, they were attacked at Malate by 3,000 Spaniards, whom they
repulsed, but sustained a loss of nine men killed and forty-seven
wounded, nine of them seriously. This was the first loss of life on the
part of the Americans in action in the Philippines. The Spanish
casualties were much heavier. On the same day General McArthur's
reinforcements arrived at Cavite, and several days were devoted to
preparations for a combined land and naval attack.
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT.]
On August 7th Admiral Dewey and General Merritt demanded the surrender
of the city within forty-eight hours, and foreign war-ships took their
respective subjects on board for protection. On August 9th the
Spaniards asked more time to hear from Madrid, but this was refused,
and on the 13th a final demand was made for immediate surrender, which
Governor-General Augusti refused and embarked with his family on board a
German man-of-war, which sailed with him for Hong Kong. At 9.30 o'clock
the bombardment began with fury, all of the vessels sending hot shot at
the doomed city.
In the midst of the bombardment by the fleet American soldiers under
Generals McArthur and Greene were ordered to storm the Spanish trenches
which extended ten miles around the city. The soldiers rose cheering and
dashed for the Spanish earthworks. A deadly fire met them, but the men
rushed on and swept the enemy from their outer defenses, forcing them to
their inner trenches. A second charge was made upon these, and the
Spaniards retreated into the walled city, where they promptly sent up a
white flag. The ships at once ceased firing, and the victorious
Americans entered the city after six hours' fighting. General Merritt
took command as military governor. The Spanish forces numbered 7,000 and
the Americans 10,000 men. The loss to the Americans was about fifty
killed, wounded, and missing, which was very small under the
circumstances.
In the meantime the insurgents had formed a government with Aguinaldo as
president. They declared themselves most friendly to American occupation
of the islands, with a view to aiding them to establish an independent
government, which they hoped would be granted to them. On September 15th
they opened their republican congress at Malolos, and President
Aguinaldo made the opening address, expressing warm appreciation of
Americans and indulging the hope that they meant to establish the
independence of the islands. On September 16th, however, in obedience to
the command of General Otis, they withdrew their forces from the
vicinity of Manila.
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL.
Precisely how to open the negotiations for peace was a delicate and
difficult question. Its solution, however, proved easy enough when the
attempt was made. During the latter part of July the Spanish government,
through M. Jules Cambon, the French ambassador at Washington, submitted
a note, asking the United States government for a statement of the
ground on which it would be willing to cease hostilities and arrange for
a peaceable settlement. Accordingly, on July 30th, a statement,
embodying President McKinley's views, was transmitted to Spain, and on
August 2d Spain virtually accepted the terms by cable. On August 9th
Spain's formal reply was presented by M. Cambon, and on the next day he
and Secretary Day agreed upon terms of a protocol, to be sent to Spain
for her approval. Two days later, the 12th inst., the French ambassador
was authorized to sign the protocol for Spain, and the signatures were
affixed the same afternoon at the White House (M. Cambon signing for
Spain and Secretary Day for the United States), in the presence of
President McKinley and the chief assistants of the Department of State.
The six main points covered by the protocol were as follows:
"1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title
to Cuba.
"2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and an
island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States, shall be
ceded to the latter.
"3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and
harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which
shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the
Philippines.
"4. That Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies
shall be immediately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be appointed
within ten days, shall, within thirty days from the signing of the
protocol, meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and
execute the details of the evacuation.
"5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not more than
five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The
commissioners are to meet at Paris not later than October 1st.
"6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended and
notice to that effect be given as soon as possible by each government to
the commanders of its military and naval forces."
On the very same afternoon President McKinley issued a proclamation
announcing on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities,
and over the wires the word went ringing throughout the length and
breadth of the land and under the ocean that peace was restored. The
cable from Hong Kong to Manila, however, had not been repaired for use
since Dewey had cut it in May; consequently it was several days before
tidings could reach General Merritt and Admiral Dewey; and meantime the
battle of Manila, which occurred on the 13th, was fought.
On August 17th President McKinley named commissioners to adjust the
Spanish evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico, in accordance with the terms
of the protocol. Rear-Admiral Wm. T. Sampson, Senator Matthew C. Butler,
and Major-General James F. Wade were appointed for Cuba, and
Rear-Admiral W.S. Schley, Brigadier-General Wm. W. Gordon, and
Major-General John R. Brooke for Porto Rico. In due time Spain announced
her commissioners, and, as agreed, they met in September and the
arrangements for evacuation were speedily completed and carried out.
President McKinley appointed as the National Peace Commission,
Secretary of State Wm. R. Day, Senator Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota,
Senator Wm. P. Frye of Maine, Senator George Gray of Delaware, and Mr.
Whitelaw Reid of New York. Secretary Day resigned his State portfolio
September 16th, in which he was succeeded by Colonel John Hay, former
Ambassador to England. With ex-Secretary Day at their head the Americans
sailed from New York, September 17th, met the Spanish Commissioners at
Paris, France, as agreed, and arranged the details of the final peace
between the two nations. Thus ended the Spanish-American War.
HOME-COMING OF OUR SOLDIERS.
After Spain's virtual acceptance of the terms of peace contained in
President McKinley's note of July 30th, it was deemed unnecessary to
keep all the forces unoccupied in the fever districts of Cuba and the
unsanitary camps of our own country; consequently the next day after
receipts of Spain's message of August 2d, on August 3d, the home-coming
was inaugurated by ordering all cavalry under General Shafter at
Santiago to be transported to Montauk Point, Long Island, and on the 6th
instant transports sailed bearing those who were to come north. These
were followed rapidly by others from Santiago, and later by about half
the forces from Porto Rico under General Miles, and others from the
various camps, so that by the end of September, 1898, nearly half of the
great army of 268,000 men had been mustered out of service or sent home
on furlough.
It is a matter of universal regret that so many of our brave volunteers
died of neglect in camps and on transports, and that fever, malaria, and
exposure carried several times the number to their graves as were sent
there by Spanish bullets. Severe criticisms have been lodged against the
War Department for both lack of efficiency and neglect in caring for the
comfort, health, and life of those who went forward at their country's
call.
However, it must be remembered that the War Department undertook and
accomplished a herculean task, and it could not be expected, starting
with a regular force of less than 30,000 men, that an army of a quarter
of a million could be built up out of volunteers who had to be
collected, trained, clothed, equipped, and provisioned, and a war waged
and won on two sides of the globe, in a little over three months,
without much suffering and many mistakes.
THE TREATY OF PEACE.
December 10, 1898, was one of the most eventful days in the past
decade--one fraught with great interest to the world, and involving the
destiny of more than 10,000,000 of people. At nine o'clock on the
evening of that day the commissioners of the United States and those of
Spain met for the last time, after about eleven weeks of
deliberation, in the magnificent apartments of the foreign ministry at
the French capital, and signed the Treaty of Peace, which finally marked
the end of the Spanish-American War.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES PEACE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SPANISH WAR
Appointed September 9, 1898. Met Spanish Commissioners at Paris, October
1st. Treaty of Peace signed by the Commissioners at Paris, December
10th. Ratified by the United States Senate at Washington, February 6,
1899.]
This treaty transformed the political geography of the world by
establishing the United States' authority in both hemispheres, and also
in the tropics, where it had never before extended. It, furthermore,
brought under our dominion and obligated us for the government of
strange and widely isolated peoples, who have little or no knowledge of
liberty and government as measured by the American standards. In this
new assumption of responsibility America essayed a difficult problem,
the solving of which involved results that could not fail to influence
the destiny of our nation and the future history of the whole world.
On January 3, 1899, the Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, delivered the
Treaty of Peace to President McKinley, who, on January 4th, forwarded
the same to the Senate of the United States with a view to its
ratification. Below will be found the complete text of the treaty as
submitted by the President.
ARTICLE I.--Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and
title to Cuba.
And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by
the United States, the United States will, so long as such occupation
shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under
international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the
protection of life and property.
ARTICLE II.--Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies, and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones.
ARTICLE III.--Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known
as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within
the following line:
"A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth
parallel of north latitude and through the middle of the navigable
channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the
one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude
east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh
(127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the
parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4-45) north latitude
to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and
nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119-35) east of Greenwich,
thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen
degrees and thirty-five minutes (119-35) east of Greenwich to the
parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7-40) north,
thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes
(7-40) north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth
(116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a
direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel
of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree
meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one
hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of
Greenwich to the point of beginning."
The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars
($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of ratifications
of the present treaty.
ARTICLE IV.--The United States will, for the term of ten years from
the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty,
admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine
Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United
States.
ARTICLE V.--The United States will, upon the signature of the present
treaty, send back to Spain at its own cost the Spanish soldiers taken
as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American forces.
The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to them.
Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present
treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines as well as the island of
Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the commissioners
appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other
islands in the West Indies, under the protocol of August 12, 1898,
which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely
executed.
The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and
Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands
of colors, uncaptured war-vessels, small arms, guns of all calibers,
with their carriages and accessories, powder, ammunition, live stock,
and materials and supplies of all kinds belonging to the land and
naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the
property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field
artillery, in the fortifications and coast defenses shall remain in
their emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from
the exchange of ratifications of the treaty; and the United States
may, in the meantime, purchase such material from Spain if a
satisfactory agreement between the two Governments on the subject
shall be reached.
ARTICLE VI.--Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty,
release prisoners of war and all persons detained or imprisoned for
political offenses in connection with the insurrections in Cuba and
the Philippines and the war with the United States.
Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons made
prisoners of war by the American forces and will undertake to obtain
the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the insurgents
in Cuba and the Philippines.
The Government of the United States will at its own cost return to
Spain and the Government of Spain will at its own cost return to the
United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, according to
the situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or caused
to be released by them, respectively, under this article.
ARTICLE VII.--The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all
claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of
either Government or of its citizens or subjects, against the other
Government that may have arisen since the beginning of the late
insurrection in Cuba, and prior to the exchange of ratifications of
the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost
of the war.
The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its
citizens against Spain relinquished in this article.
ARTICLE VIII.--In conformity with the provisions of Articles I, II,
and III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba and cedes in Porto
Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island of Guam and
in the Philippine archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, barracks,
forts, structures, public highways, and other immovable property,
which, in conformity with law, belong to the public domain, and as
such belong to the Crown of Spain.
And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or cession, as the
case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, cannot in any
respect impair the property or rights which by law belong to the
peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of provinces,
municipalities, public or private establishments, ecclesiastical or
civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to
acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced
or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality such
individuals may be.
The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, includes
all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty relinquished
or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Peninsula. Where any
document in such archives only in part relates to said sovereignty, a
copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall be requested.
Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in
respect of documents in the archives of the islands above referred
to.
In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are
also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authorities
possess in respect of the official archives and records, executive as
well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to
said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such
archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private
persons shall, without distinction, have the right to require in
accordance with law authenticated copies of the contracts, wills, and
other instruments forming part of notarial protocols or files, or
which may be contained in the executive or judicial archives, be the
latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid.
ARTICLE IX.--Spanish subjects, natives of the peninsula, residing in
the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or
cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or may remove
therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of property,
including the right to sell or dispose of such property or of its
proceeds, and they shall also have the right to carry on their
industry, commerce, and professions, being subject in respect thereof
to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they
remain in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the
Crown of Spain by making before a court of record, within a year from
the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a
declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance, in default
of which declaration they shall be held to have renounced it and to
have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may
reside.
The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of
the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined
by the Congress.
ARTICLE X.--The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain
relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secure in the free
exercise of their religion.
ARTICLE XI.--The Spaniards residing in the territories over which
Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty shall be
subject in matters civil as well as criminal to the jurisdiction of
the courts of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the
ordinary laws governing the same; and they shall have the right to
appear before such courts and to pursue the same course as citizens
of the country to which the courts belong.
ARTICLE XII.--Judicial proceedings pending at the time of the
exchange of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over
which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be determined
according to the following rules:
1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private
individuals or in criminal matters before the date mentioned and with
respect to which there is no recourse or right of revenue under the
Spanish law shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in due
form by competent authority in the territory within which such
judgments should be carried out.
2. Civil suits between private individuals which may on the date
mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted to judgment before the
court in which they may then be pending or in the court that may be
substituted therefor.
3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the Supreme
Court of Spain against citizens of the territory which by this treaty
ceases to be Spanish shall continue under its jurisdiction until
final judgment; but such judgment having been rendered, the execution
thereof shall be committed to the competent authority of the place in
which the case arose.
ARTICLE XIII.--The rights of property secured by copyrights and
patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island de Cuba, and in Porto
Rico, the Philippines, and other ceded territories, at the time of
the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to
be respected. Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works not
subversive of public order in the territories in question shall
continue to be admitted free of duty into such territories for the
period of ten years, to be reckoned from the days of the exchange of
the ratifications of this treaty.
ARTICLE XIV.--Spain will have the power to establish consular offices
in the ports and places of the territories the sovereignty over which
has been either relinquished or ceded by the present treaty.
ARTICLE XV.--The Government of each country will, for the term of ten
years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country the same
treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance and
clearance dues, light dues and tonnage duties, as it accords to its
own merchant vessels not engaged in the coastwise trade.
This article may at any time be terminated on six months' notice
given by either Government to the other.
ARTICLE XVI.--It is understood that any obligations assumed in this
treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the
time of its occupancy thereof; but it will, upon the termination of
such occupancy, advise any government established in the island to
assume the same obligations.
ARTICLE XVII.--The present treaty shall be ratified by the President
of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty, the Queen Regent of Spain, and
the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington within six months
from the date hereof, or earlier, if possible.
In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed
this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
Done in duplicate, at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
WILLIAM R. DAY,
WILLIAM P. FRYE,
WHITELAW REID,
B. DE ABARZUZA,
W.R. DE VILLA URRUTIA,
CUSHMAN K. DAVIS,
GEORGE GRAY,
EUGENIO M. RIOS,
J. DE GARNICA,
RAFAEL CERERO.
The Queen Regent of Spain signed the ratification of the Treaty of Peace
on March 17, 1899, and the final act took place on the afternoon of
April 11th, when copies of the final protocol were exchanged at
Washington by President McKinley and the French ambassador, M. Cambon,
representing Spain. The President immediately issued a proclamation of
peace, and thus the Spanish-American War came to an official end. A few
weeks later the sum of $20,000,000 was paid to Spain, in accordance with
the treaty, as partial compensation for the surrender of her rights in
the Philippines, and diplomatic relations between the Latin kingdom and
the United States were resumed.
The territory which passes under the control of our government by the
above treaty of peace has a combined area of about 168,000 square miles,
equal to nine good States. It all lies within the tropics, where
hitherto not an acre of our country has extended; and, for that reason,
its acquisition is of the greatest commercial significance. These
islands produce all tropical fruits, plants, spices, timbers, etc. Their
combined population is upwards of 10,000,000 people, and among this vast
number there are few manufactories of any kind. They are consumers or
prospective consumers of all manufactured goods; they require the
products of the temperate zone, and in return everything they produce is
marketable in our country.
The Spanish forces withdrew from Cuba, December 31, 1898, and, on the
following day, the Stars and Stripes was hoisted over Havana. The
change of sovereignties in Porto Rico took place without trouble, but
there has been some disturbance in Cuba, and it is evident that
considerable time must elapse before peace will be fully restored and a
stable government established in the island.
Though the war with Spain was closed, serious trouble broke out in the
Philippines. Aguinaldo, who had headed most of the rebellions against
Spain during the later years, refused to acknowledge the authority of
the United States, and, rallying thousands of Filipinos around him, set
on foot what he claimed was a war of independence. Our government sent a
strong force of regulars and volunteers thither, all of whom acquitted
themselves with splendid heroism and bravery, and defeated the rebels
repeatedly, capturing strongholds one after the other, and, in fact,
driving everything resistlessly before them. The fighting was of the
sharpest kind, and our troops had many killed and wounded, though that
of the enemy was tenfold greater. All such struggles, however, when
American valor and skill are arrayed on one side, can have but one
result; and, animated by our sense of duty, which demanded that a firm,
equitable, and just government should be established in the Philippines,
this beneficent purpose was certain to be attained in the end.
[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL ELWELL S. OTIS]
On March 3, 1899, President McKinley nominated Rear-Admiral George Dewey
to the rank of full admiral, his commission to date from March 2d, and
the Senate immediately and unanimously confirmed the nomination, which
had been so richly earned. This hero, as modest as he is great, remained
in the Philippines to complete his herculean task, instead of seizing
the first opportunity to return home and receive the overwhelming honors
which his countrymen were eagerly waiting to show him. Finally, when his
vast work was virtually completed and his health showed evidence of the
terrific and long-continued strain to which it had been subjected, he
turned over his command, by direction of the government, to Rear-Admiral
Watson, and, proceeding by a leisurely course, reached home in the
autumn of 1899. The honors showered upon him by his grateful and
admiring countrymen proved not only his clear title to the foremost rank
among the greatest naval heroes of ancient and modern times, but
attested the truth that the United States is not ungrateful, and that
there is no reward too exalted for her to bestow upon those who have
worthily won it.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL DEWEY'S FLAGSHIP THE "OLYMPIA."]
[Illustration: GEN. ARTHUR MacARTHUR.]
[Illustration: GEN. CHARLES KING.]
[Illustration: GEN HENRY W. LAWTON.]
[Illustration: GEN. FRED. FUNSTON.]
POPULAR COMMANDERS IN THE FILIPINO WAR.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY (CONTINUED) 1897-1901.
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.
The Islands of Hawaii--Their Inhabitants and Products--City of
Honolulu--History of Cuba--The Ten Years' War--The Insurrection of
1895-98--Geography and Productions of Cuba--Its Climate--History of
Porto Rico--Its People and Productions--San Juan and Ponce--Location,
Discovery, and History of the Philippines--Insurrections of the
Filipinos--City of Manila--Commerce--Philippine Productions--Climate and
Volcanoes--Dewey at Manila--The Ladrone Islands--Conclusion.
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS "THE PARADISE OF THE PACIFIC."
The annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, by a joint
vote of Congress, July 7, 1898, marks a new era in the history of our
country. It practically sounded the death-knell of the conservative
doctrine of non-expansion beyond our own natural physical boundaries.
The only precedent approaching this act, in our history, is the
annexation of Texas. The Louisiana Territory, Florida, and Alaska were
acquired by purchase; California, New Mexico, and a part of Colorado
were obtained by cession from Mexico; Oregon, Washington, Montana, and
Idaho by treaty with Great Britain. Texas alone was annexed. The fact,
however, that it was a republic is the only circumstance which makes its
case analogous to that of Hawaii. Texas lay between two large nations,
and was obliged to seek union with one of them. It was within our own
continent and inhabited largely by our own people. Hawaii marks our
first advance into foreign lands, and ranges America for the first time
among the nations whose policy is that of expansion, by territorial
extensions, over the globe.
[Illustration: NATIVE GRASS HOUSE, HAWAII.]
Hawaii is called the "Paradise of the Pacific," and there is little
doubt that its climate, fertility and healthfulness justify the name.
It is one of the few spots upon earth where one can almost, to use a
slang phrase, "touch the button" and obtain any kind of weather he
desires. Mark Twain's suggestion to those who go to these islands to
find a congenial clime is about as practical as it is humorous--"Select
your climate, mark your thermometer at the temperature desired, and
climb until the mercury stops there." Everyone who visits Hawaii is
charmed with the country, and never forgets its novelty, stupendous and
delightful scenery, clear atmosphere, gorgeous sunlight, and profusion
of fruits and flowers.
"No alien land in all the world," writes Mr. Clemens, "could so
longingly and beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a
life-time, as that has done. Other things leave me, but that abides.
Other things change, but that remains the same. For me its balmy airs
are always blowing; its summer seas flash in the sun; the pulsing of its
surf beats in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping
cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits
floating like islands above the cloud rack; I can feel the spirit of its
woodland solitudes; I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils
still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago."
DISCOVERY AND LOCATION.
Captain Cook discovered the islands in January, 1778, and named them the
Sandwich Islands, after Lord Sandwich; but the native name, Hawaii, is
more generally used. There is good evidence that Juan Gaetano, in the
year 1555--223 years before Cook's visit--landed upon their shores. Old
Spanish charts and the traditions of the natives bear out this theory,
but they were not made known to the world until Cook visited them. It is
popularly believed that the original inhabitants of Hawaii came from New
Zealand, though that island is some 4,000 miles southwest of them. The
physical appearance of the people is very similar, and their languages
are so much alike that a native Hawaiian and a native New Zealander,
meeting for the first time, can carry on a conversation. Their ideas of
the Deity and some of their religious customs are nearly the same. That
the islands have been peopled for a long time is proven by the fact that
human bones are found under lava beds and coral reefs where geologists
declare they have lain for at least thirteen hundred years.
There are eight inhabited islands in the archipelago, Hawaii, Maui,
Kahoolawi, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau, comprising an area
of 6,700 square miles, a little less than that of the State of New
Jersey, and about five hundred miles greater than the combined areas of
Rhode Island and Connecticut. They extend from northwest to southeast,
over a distance of about 380 miles, the several islands being separated
by channels varying in width from six to sixty miles. They lie entirely
within the tropics, not far from a direct line between San Francisco and
Japan, 2,080 miles from San Francisco, which is nearer to them than any
other point of land, except one of the Carolines. The largest and most
southern island is Hawaii, which has given its name to the group.
[Illustration: RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG IN HONOLULU, AUGUST 12, 1898.
The cut in the corner shows the Royal Palace formerly occupied by the
Hawaiian Kings.]
THE HIGHEST AND LARGEST VOLCANOES.
The entire archipelago is of volcanic origin, but there are no active
craters to be found at the present time, except two, on the island of
Hawaii. Mauna Loa is the highest volcano in the world, being nearly
14,000 feet above the sea. It has an immense crater; but, while it still
sends forth smoke and has a lake of molten lava at the bottom, there
have been no eruptions for a number of years. Kilauea, the largest
active volcano on the globe, is about sixteen miles from Mauna Loa, on
one of its foothills, 4,000 feet above the sea, and is in a constant
state of activity. Its last great eruption occurred in 1894. This
volcano was described by the missionary Ellis in the year 1823, and
hundreds of tourists visit it every year. Its crater is nine miles in
circumference and several hundred feet deep. Under the conduct of
competent guides the tourists descend into the crater and walk over the
cool lava in places, while near them the hot flame and molten lava are
spouting to the height of hundreds of feet.
The largest extinct volcano in the archipelago is on the island of Maui,
the bottom of the crater measuring sixteen square miles. All of these
stupendous volcanic mountains rise so gently on the western side that
horsemen easily ride to their summits.
INHABITANTS OF THE ISLANDS.
When Cook visited Hawaii, he found the islands inhabited, according to
his estimate, by 400,000 natives. Forty years later when the census was
taken there were 142,000. These diminished one-half during the next
fifty years, and the native population of the islands in 1897 was only
31,019. The total population by the last census, when the islands became
a part of the United States, was 109,020, made up, in addition to the
natives mentioned, of 24,407 Japanese, 21,616 Chinese, 12,191
Portuguese, and 3,086 Americans. The remainder were half-castes from
foreign intermarriage with the natives, together with a small
representation from England, Germany, and other European countries.
[Illustration: HULA DANCING GIRLS, HAWAII.]
That the original Hawaiians must soon become extinct as a pure race is
evident, though they have never been persecuted or maltreated. They are
a handsome, strong-looking people, with a rich dark complexion, jet
black eyes, wavy hair, full voluptuous lips, and teeth of snowy
whiteness; but they are constitutionally weak, easily contract and
quickly succumb to disease, and the only hope of perpetuating their
blood seems to lie in mixing it by intermarriage with other races.
OLD TIMES IN HAWAII.
Prior to 1795, all the islands had separate kings, but in that and the
following year the great king of Hawaii, Kamehameha, with cannon that he
procured from Vancouver's ships, assaulted and subjugated all the
surrounding kings, and since that time the islands have been under one
government. Previous to this, the natives had been at war, according to
their traditions, for three hundred years. The fierceness of their
hand-to-hand conflicts, as described by their historians, has probably
not been surpassed by those of any other people in the world. The four
descendants of Kamehameha reigned until 1872, when the last of his line
died childless. A new king was elected, who died within a year, and
another was then elected by the people. It was to this last line that
Queen Liliuokalani belonged, and she was deposed by the revolution of
1893, led by the American and European residents upon the islands. These
patriots set up a provisional government and made repeated application
for admission to the United States, the tender of the islands being
finally accepted by a joint vote of Congress on July 7, 1898, since
which time the Hawaiian Islands have been a part of our country.
The manners and customs of the native Hawaiians are most interesting,
but space forbids a description of them here. Their religion was a gross
form of idolatry, with many gods. Human sacrifice was freely practiced.
They deified dead chiefs and worshiped their bones. The great king,
Kamehameha I., though an idolater, was a most progressive monarch, and
invited Vancouver, who went there in 1794, taking swine, cattle, sheep,
and horses, together with oranges and other valuable plants, to bring
over teachers and missionaries to teach his people "the white man's
religion."
THE WORK OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES.
But it was not until 1820, after the death of the great king, that the
first missionaries arrived, and they came from America. The year
previous, in 1819, Kamehameha II. had destroyed many of the temples and
idols and forbidden idol worship in the islands; consequently, when the
missionaries arrived they beheld the unprecedented spectacle of a nation
without a religion. The natives were rapidly converted to Christianity.
It was these American missionaries who first reduced the Hawaiian
language to writing, established schools and taught the natives. As a
result of their work, the Hawaiians are the most generally educated
people, in the elementary sense, in the world. There is hardly a person
in the islands, above the age of eight years, who cannot read and write.
In spite of education, however, many of the ancient superstitions still
exist, and some of the old stone temples are yet standing. What the
United States will do with these heathen temples remains to be seen. The
natives revere them as relics of their savage history, and as such they
may be preserved.
[Illustration: CHURCH IN HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
Built of lava stone. Seating capacity about 3000.]
Aside from the horrors of superstitions, the Hawaiians lead a happy
life, full of amusements of various kinds on the land and water--for
Hawaiian men, women and children live much of their time in the water.
Infants are often taught the art of swimming before they can walk. The
surf riding or swimming of the natives astonished Captain Cook more than
any of their remarkable performances. The time selected was when a storm
was tossing the waves high and the surf was furious. Then the men and
women would dive through the surf, with narrow boards about nine inches
wide and eight feet long, and, swimming a mile or more out to sea, mount
on the crest of a huge billow, and sitting, kneeling or standing, with
wild gesticulations, ride over the waves and breakers like gods or
demons of the storm. This practice has now ceased to be indulged in. But
the swimming of the Kanaka boys, who flock around incoming steamers, and
dive after and catch coins which tourists throw into the water, like so
many ducks diving after corn, shows what a degree of perfection the
natatorial art has attained among the native Hawaiians. Sledging down
the mountain sides, boxing, and tournament riding are other popular
amusements; and, with the exception of boxing, the women compete with
the men in the amusements.
PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE.
Sugar is king in Hawaii as wheat is in the Northwest. In 1890 there were
19,000 laborers--nearly one-fifth of the total population--engaged on
sugar plantations. Ten tons to the acre have been raised on the richest
lands. The average is over four tons per acre, but it requires from
eighteen to twenty months for a crop to mature. Rice growing is also an
important industry. It is raised in marsh lands, and nearly all the
labor is done by Chinese, though they do not own the land. Coffee is
happily well suited to the soil that is unfitted for sugar and rice, and
the Hawaiian coffee is particularly fine, combining the strength of the
Java with a delicate flavor of its own.
Diversified farming is coming more into vogue. Fruit raising will
undoubtedly become one of the most important branches when fast steamers
are provided for its transportation. Sheep and cattle raising must also
prove profitable, since the animals require little feeding and need no
housing.
"Almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be raised, many of those
belonging to the temperate zones thriving on the elevated mountain
slopes. Fruit is abundant; the guava grows wild in all the islands, and
were the manufacture of jelly made from it carried on, on a large scale,
the product could doubtless be exported with profit. Both bananas and
pineapples are prolific, and there are many fruits and vegetables, which
as yet have been raised only for local trade, which would, if cultivated
for export, bring in rich returns.
"Of the total exports from the Hawaiian Islands in 1895, the United
States received 99.04 per cent., and in the same year 79.04 per cent. of
the imports to the islands were from the United States. The total value
of the sugar sent to the United States in 1896 was $14,932,010; of rice,
$194,903; of coffee, $45,444; and of bananas, $121,273."
THE CHIEF CITY.
Honolulu, the capital city, is to Hawaii what Havana is to Cuba, or
better, what Manila is to the Philippine Islands. Here are concentrated
the business, political and social forces that control the life and
progress of the entire archipelago. This city of 30,000 inhabitants is
situated on the south coast of Oahu, and extends up the Nuuanu Valley.
It is well provided with street-car lines--which also run to a bathing
resort four miles outside the city--a telephone system, electric lights,
numerous stores, churches and schools, a library of over 10,000 volumes,
and frequent steam communication with San Francisco. There are papers
published in the English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese
languages, and a railroad is being built, of which thirty miles along
the coast are already completed. Honolulu has also a well-equipped fire
department and public water-works. The residence portions of the city
are well laid out, the houses, many of which are very handsome, being
surrounded by gardens kept green throughout the year. The climate is
mild and even, and the city is a delightful and a beautiful place of
residence. Hawaii is peculiarly an agricultural country, and Honolulu
gains its importance solely as a distributing centre or depot of
supplies. Warehouses, lumber yards, and commercial houses abound, but
there is a singular absence of mills and factories and productive
establishments. There are no metals or minerals, or as yet, textile
plants or food plants, whose manufacture is undertaken in this unique
city.
[Illustration: SUGAR CANE PLANTATION, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
About one-fifth of the entire population is engaged in sugar culture.
The average product is about three tons per acre.]
The Hawaiian Islands are, without question, on the threshold of a great
industrial era, fraught with most potent results to the prosperity and
development of that land. Its climate is delightful and healthful, and
its soil so fertile that it will easily support 5,000,000 people.
[Illustration: SENOR MONTERO RIOS
President of the Spanish Peace Commission whose painful duty required
him to sign away his country's colonial possessions.]
[Illustration: GENERAL RAMON BLANCO
Who succeeded Weyler as Captain-General of Cuba in 1897. He was formerly
Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.]
[Illustration: ADMIRAL CERVERA
Commander of Spanish Fleet at Santiago.]
[Illustration: SAGASTA
Premier of Spain during the Spanish-American War.]
[Illustration: PROMINENT SPANIARDS IN 1898]
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED).
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION."
Although Cuba is not a part or a possession of the United States, it has
since the war with Spain, in 1898, come under the protection of this
government, and is, therefore, entitled to a place in this volume. In
the hand of Providence, this island became the doorway to America. It
was here that Columbus landed, October 28, 1492. True, he touched
earlier at one of the smaller islands to the north; but it was merely a
halting before pushing on to Cuba. "Juana" Columbus called the island,
in honor of Isabella's infant son. Afterward it was successively known
as Fernandina, Santiago, and Ave Maria; but the simple natives, who were
there to the number of 350,000, called it _Cooba_, and this name
prevailed over the Spanish titles, as the island has finally prevailed
over Spanish domination, and it has come under the protection of America
with its Indian name, slightly changed to _Cuba_, remaining as the sole
and only heritage we have of the simple aborigines who have utterly
perished from the face of the earth under Spanish cruelty.
[Illustration: TOMB OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN THE CATHEDRAL AT HAVANA.
The ashes of the great discoverer were removed from this tomb to Spain
in December, 1898.]
In 1494 Columbus visited Cuba a second time, and once again in 1502. In
1511 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer, with a colony of
between three and four hundred Spaniards, came, and in 1514 he founded
the towns of Santiago and Trinidad. Five years later, in 1519, the
present capital Havana, or _Habana_, was founded. The French reduced the
city in 1538, practically demolishing the whole town. Under the
governor, De Soto, it was rebuilt and fortified, the famous Morro Castle
and the Punta, which are still standing, being built at that early date.
THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
The natives, whom Columbus found in Cuba, were agreeable in feature, and
so amiable in disposition that they welcomed the white man with open
arms, and, besides contributing food, readily gave up their treasures to
please the Spaniards. Unlike the warlike cannibal tribes of the Lesser
Antilles, known as the Caribs, they lived in comparative peace with one
another, and had a religion which recognized the Supreme Being. Columbus
held several conferences with these simple natives, who numbered,
according to his estimate, from 350,000 to half a million souls, and his
associations and dealings with them on his first visit were always
friendly and of a mutually pleasing nature. But when he returned to
Spain he left soldiers, who brutally maltreated them, until the natives
rose in revolt and exterminated every white man. Even Columbus himself,
in 1494, had to fight the Indians at the landing-place.
A salubrious climate, a fertile soil, and simple wants rendered it
unnecessary for the native to do hard work; and although it is well
proven that he did mine copper and traded in it with the mound builders
of Florida, yet the native was not accustomed to arduous toil, and
rebelled against it. This, perhaps, was unfortunate, for the perpetuity
of his race at that time depended upon this very quality. The Spanish
"friend" who came to the island was incapable of work. He neither would
nor could, under his ethics of self-respect, abase himself to labor, so
he proceeded to enslave the native to labor for him. The Cuban rebelled,
and fled before the superior Spanish weapons from the coasts to the
mountain fastnesses of the interior.
EXTERMINATION OF THE NATIVES.
Then began that cruel and long-continued war of extermination, of which
history has recorded the most shocking details. The conquest was begun
under Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer. The merciless
Velasquez was his general, and the frightful cruelties which he
inaugurated upon the simple natives have been continued for nearly four
hundred years by his successors in the island, though the annihilation
of the aboriginal tribes themselves was a brief and bloody work.
Velasquez rode them down and trampled them--regardless of age or
sex--under the iron hoofs of his war-horses, slashed them with swords,
devastated their villages, and bore them away into slavery. The Cuban
had no weapons; the mountain fastnesses could not hide him from his
relentless pursuer. African slaves, who were brought to the island in
Spanish ships, were armed and forced by their masters to chase the
natives, and not a forest or mountain top was a place of refuge for
these doomed children of the soil. One historian declares: "There is
little doubt that before 1560 the whole of this native population had
disappeared from the island. They were so completely exterminated that
it is doubtful if the blood of their race was even remotely preserved in
the mixed classes who followed African and Chinese introduction."
[Illustration: MAGNIFICENT INDIAN STATUE IN THE PRADO, HAVANA, CUBA.]
A PERIOD OF REST.
For nearly two hundred years after the extermination of the natives,
Cuba rested without a struggle in the arms of Spain. The early settlers
engaged almost wholly in pastoral pursuits. Tobacco was indigenous to
the soil, and in 1580 the Cuban planters began its culture. Later,
sugar-cane was imported from the Canaries, and found to be a fruitful
and profitable crop. The beginning of the culture of sugar demanded more
laborers, and the importation of additional slaves was the result. In
1717, Spain attempted to make a monopoly of the tobacco culture, and the
first Cuban revolt occurred. In 1723 a second uprising took place,
because of an oppressive government; but these early revolts against
tyranny were insignificant as compared with those of the last
half-century.
In 1762, the city of Havana was captured by the English, with an
expedition commanded by Lord Albemarle, but his fighting troops were
principally Americans under the immediate command of Generals Phineas
Lyman and Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. The story of Putnam's
command in this war is thrilling and sad. After first suffering
shipwreck and many hardships in reaching the island, they lay before
Havana, where Spanish bullets and fever almost annihilated the whole
command. Scarcely more than one in fifty lived to return to America. By
the Treaty of Paris, 1763, Cuba was unfortunately restored to Spain, and
it was afterward that her troubles with the "Mother Country," as Spain
affectionately called herself to all her provinces, began. The hand of
oppression for one and a quarter centuries relaxed not its grasp, and
year by year grew heavier and more galling.
DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTIONS.
Some of the most prolific seeds of modern revolutions may be said to
have been sown when the African slave trade assumed important
proportions, in 1791. About the same time began a large importation of
Chinese coolies, for which Cuba paid a bounty of $400 apiece to the
importer. These coolies bound themselves to the Spaniards for eight
years, for which they were paid $4.00 per month as wages. The new influx
of labor and the coming of Las Casas as Captain-General to Cuba, in
1790, mark the beginning of Cuba's great period of prosperity. This
enterprising ruler introduced numerous public improvements, established
botanical gardens and schools of agriculture, with a view to developing
and increasing Cuba's resources and commercial importance. Owing to his
wise administration, Cuba prospered and remained undisturbed for a long
while. An insurrection occurred among the slaves in 1812, which was
promptly put down with characteristic cruelty, and the blacks remained
"good niggers" for a third of a century. By the year 1844, the slave
trade with Cuba had grown to enormous proportions. In that year alone,
statistics tell us, 10,000 slaves were landed from Africa upon the
island. Another wild and fanatical insurrection occurred the same year
among them, which, as before, ended in failure. Seventy-eight of the
rebels were shot, and many otherwise punished. By 1850, the slaves had
so multiplied and the importation had been so large that the census
showed there were nearly 500,000 on the island.
Meantime, in 1823 and 1827, insurrections were attempted on the part of
the Creoles (descendants of Spanish and French settlers) and other free
Cubans. They failed, and the blood of the martyrs was seed in the
ground. Revolutionist and enslaved insurrectionist gradually drifted
together. They had a common cause--to struggle for freedom against
oppression. The bondsman was little or no worse off than the Creoles,
Chinese coolies, and free negroes--all native-born Cubans were shut out
from the enjoyment of true citizenship. They must do the work and pay
the tribute, but Spaniards, born in Spain, were alone allowed to hold
office of profit or trust under the government; and they looked with
inexpressible contempt upon the rest of the population, and, with the
backing of the army, preserved their domination in spite of their
inferior numbers. The governor-general was appointed from Spain and held
office from three to five years, and was expected to steal or extort
himself rich in that time. It is said not one governor-general ever
failed to do so.
[Illustration: DARING ATTACK BY THE PATRIOTS OF CUBA UPON A FORT NEAR
VUELTAS.]
THE TEN YEARS' WAR.
The first long and determined struggle of the oppressed people of Cuba
for liberty began in 1868. In that year a revolution broke out in Spain,
and the patriots seized the opportunity, while the mother country was
occupied at home, for an heroic effort to liberate themselves. They rose
first at Yara, in the district of Bayamo, and on October 10th of that
year made a declaration of independence. Eight days later the city of
Bayamo was taken by the patriots, and early in November they defeated a
force sent against them from Santiago. The majority of the South
American republics hastened to recognize the Cubans as belligerents;
but--though they held their own in guerrilla warfare against the Spanish
forces for ten years, fighting in the forests and bravely resisting all
the efforts of Spain to subdue them--there was not one great power in
the world willing to extend to the patriots the recognition of
belligerent rights. The cruelty of the Spaniards toward the soldiers
they captured, and to all inhabitants who sympathized with the patriots'
cause, was equaled only by the courage, fortitude, and exalted
patriotism which animated their victims. The following instances,
selected from scores that might be cited, are given in the Spaniards'
own words, translated, _verbatim_, into English:
SPANISH TESTIMONY OF HORRORS PRACTICED.
Jacob Rivocoba, under date of September 4, 1896, writes:
"We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright; on dying
they shouted, 'Hurrah for free Cuba! hurrah for independence!' A
mulatto said, 'Hurrah for Cespedes!' On the following day we killed a
Cuban officer and another man. Among the thirteen that we shot the
first day were found three sons and their father; the father
witnessed the execution of his sons without even changing color, and
when his turn came he said he died for the independence of his
country. On coming back we brought along with us three carts filled
with women and children, the families of those we had shot; and they
asked us to shoot them, because they would rather die than live among
Spaniards."
Pedro Fardon, another officer, who entered entirely into the spirit of
the service he honored, writes on September 22, 1869:
"Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we shoot all
those we find in the fields, on the farms, and in every hovel."
And, again, on the same day, the same officer sends the following good
news to his old father:
"We do not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or animal.
If we find cows, we kill them; if horses, ditto; if hogs, ditto; men,
women, or children, ditto; as to the houses, we burn them: so every
one receives his due--the men in balls, the animals in
bayonet-thrusts. The island will remain a desert."
These atrocities were perpetrated not alone by the common soldier. In
fact, the above reports come from men who were officers in the Spanish
army, and they show that such actions were approved by the highest
authority. A well-authenticated account assures us that General Count
Balmaceda himself went on one occasion to the home of a patriot family,
Mora by name, to arrest or kill the patriots he had heard were stopping
there; but, finding the men all absent, he wreaked his vengeance and
thirst for blood by butchering the two Mora sisters and burning the
house over their bodies.
PEACE AND FAIR PROMISES.
At last, Spain, seeing that she could neither induce the Cubans to
surrender nor draw them into a decisive battle; and finding,
furthermore, that her army of 200,000 men was likely to be annihilated
by death, disease, and patriot bullets, made overtures, which, by
promising many privileges to the people that they had not before
enjoyed, effected a peace. As a result of this war, slavery was
abolished in the island; but Spain's promises for fair and equitable
government were repudiated, and the civil powers became more
extortionate and severe than ever. This war laid a heavy debt upon
Spain, and Cuba was taxed inordinately. The people soon saw that they
had been duped. The world looked upon Cuba and Spain as at peace. To the
outsider the surface was placid, but underneath "the waters were
troubled." Such heroic spirits as Generals Calixto Garcia, Jose Marti,
Antonio Maceo, and Maximo Gomez, leaders in the ten years' struggle,
still lived, though scattered far apart, and in their hearts bore a load
of righteous wrath against their treacherous foe. While such men lived
and such conditions existed another conflict was inevitable.
THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM.
It was on February 24, 1895, that the last revolution of the Cuban
patriots began. Spain had heard the mutterings of the coming storm, and
hoped to stay it by visiting with severe punishment every Cuban
suspected of patriotic affiliations. Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, but a man
of fortune and education, a veteran of the ten years' war, and a Cuban
by birth, was banished to San Domingo. There were other exiles in Key
West, New York, and elsewhere. Jose Marti was the leading spirit in
forming the Cuban Junta in New York and organizing revolutionary clubs
among Cubans everywhere. Antonio Maceo was the first of the old leaders
in the field. He went secretly to Cuba and began organizing the
insurrectionists, and when war was declared the flag of the new
republic, bearing a lone white star in a red field, was flung to the
breeze. Captain-General Calleja declared martial law in the insurgents'
vicinity, and troops were hastily summoned and sent from Spain. The
revolutionists from the start fought by guerrilla methods of warfare,
dashing upon the unsuspecting Spanish towns and forces, and escaping to
the mountains before the organized Spaniards could retaliate.
Jose Marti and Jose Maceo--brother of the general--were prompt to join
the active forces, and on April 13, 1895, General Maximo Gomez, a native
of San Domingo, came over and was made commander of the insurgent
forces. This grizzled old hero, with nearly seventy years behind him,
was at once an inspiration and a host within himself. An army of 6,000
men was ready for his command, and the revolution took on new life and
began in all its fury. On May 19th the insurgents met their first great
disaster, when Jose Marti was led into an ambush and killed. But his
blood was like a seed planted, from which thousands of patriots sprang
up for the ranks. Within a few days there were 10,000 ill-armed but
determined men in the field. They had no artillery, nearly half were
without guns, and there was little ammunition for those who were armed.
THE PLANS OF CAMPOS THWARTED.
In April, 1895, Captain-General Calleja was replaced by Martinez Campos,
the commander in the preceding war, and one of the ablest of the Spanish
generals. He sought to conciliate the people and alleviate the
prevailing distress, but the rebels in arms had lost all faith in
Spanish honor, while the veteran Gomez proved so wily that Campos could
neither capture him nor force him into an engagement. Everywhere Gomez
marched he gathered new patriots. Near the city of Bayamo, Maceo
attacked Campos, and the Spanish commander barely escaped with his life.
He was besieged in Bayamo, and had to stay there until 10,000 soldiers
were sent to escort him home. That was the last of Campos' fighting. By
August, Spain had spent $21,300,000 and lost 20,000 men by death, and
39,000 additional soldiers had been brought into the island, 25,000 of
them the flower of the Spanish army, and she was also forced to issue
$120,000,000 bonds, which she sold at a great sacrifice, to carry on the
war.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN C.D. SIGSBEE
Commander of the "Maine" at the frightful catastrophe in Havana Harbor,
February 15, 1898.]
The patriots met September 13, 1895, at Camaguey and formed their
government by adopting a constitution and electing a president and other
state officers. This body formally conferred upon Gomez the commission
of commander-in-chief of the army. Before the close of the month, there
were 30,000 rebels in the field. Spanish war-ships patroled the coast,
but the insurgents held the whole interior of Santiago province, and
government forces dared not venture away from the sea. The same was true
of Santa Clara and Puerto Principe. Matanzas was debatable ground; but
Gomez made bold raids into the very vicinity of Havana. Spain continued
to increase her army, till by the year 1898 it numbered about 200,000
men.
As if the cup of Cuba's sorrow were not sufficiently bitter, or her
long-suffering patriots had not drunk deep enough of its gall, General
Campos was recalled, and General Valeriano Weyler (nicknamed "The
Butcher") arrived in February, 1896. He promptly inaugurated the most
bitter and inhuman policy in the annals of modern warfare. It began with
a campaign of intimidation, in which his motto was "Subjugation or
Death." He established a system of espionage that was perfect, and the
testimony of the spy was all the evidence he required. He heeded no
prayer and knew no mercy. His prisons overflowed with suspected
patriots, and his sunrise executions, every morning, made room for
others. It was thus that General Weyler carried on the war from his
palace against the unarmed natives, his 200,000 soldiers seldom securing
a shot at the insurgents, who were continually bushwhacking them with
deadly effect, while yellow fever carried them off by the thousands. How
many lives Weyler sacrificed in that dreadful year will never be known.
How many suspects he frightened into giving him all their gold for mercy
and then coldly shot for treason, no record will disclose; but the
crowded, unmarked graves on the hillside outside Havana are mute but
eloquent witnesses of his infamy.
[Illustration: SUNRISE EXECUTIONS.
Outside the prison walls, Havana. Weyler's way of getting rid of
prisoners.]
Under these conditions, Gomez declared that all Cubans must take sides.
They must be for or against. It was no time for neutrals and there could
be no neutral ground, so he boldly levied forced contributions upon
planters unfavorable to his cause, and extended protection to those who
befriended the patriots. Exasperated by Weyler's atrocities upon
non-combatant patriots, he dared to destroy or confiscate the property
of Spanish sympathizers.
THE DEATH OF GENERAL MACEO.
On the night of December 4, 1896, the insurgents suffered an irreparable
loss in the death of General Maceo, who was led into an ambush and
killed, it is believed, through the treachery of his staff physician.
Eight brothers of Maceo had previously given their lives for Cuban
freedom.
At the close of 1896, the island was desolate to an extreme perhaps
unprecedented in modern times. The country was laid waste and the
cities were starving. Under the pretext of protecting them, Weyler
gathered the non-combatants into towns and stockades, and it is
authoritatively stated that 200,000 men, women, and children of the
"reconcentrados," as they were called, died of disease and starvation.
The insurgents remained masters of the island except along the coasts.
The only important incident of actual warfare was the capture of
Victoria de las Tunas, in Santiago province, by General Garcia at the
head of 3,000 men, after three days' fighting. In this battle the
Spanish commander lost his life and forty per cent. of his troops were
killed or wounded; the rest surrendered to Garcia, and the rebels
secured by their victory 1,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition,
and two Krupp guns.
In the spring of 1898 the United States intervened. The story of our war
with Spain for Cuba's freedom is elsewhere related.
[Illustration: CLARA BARTON.
President of the American Red Cross Society.]
Spain has paid dearly for her supremacy in Cuba during the last third of
the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding the fact that the revenue from
Cuba for several years prior to the Ten Years' War of 1868-78 amounted
to $26,000,000 annually--about $18 for every man, woman, and child in
the island--$20,000,000 of it was absorbed in Spain's official circles
at Havana, and "the other $6,000,000 that the Spanish government
received," says one historian, "was hardly enough to pay transportation
rates on the help that the mother country had to send to her army of
occupation." Consequently, despite this enormous tax, a heavy debt
accumulated on account of the island, even before the Ten Years' War
began.
FEARFUL COST OF THE WAR.
At the close of the Ten Years' War (1878) Spain had laid upon the island
a public debt of $200,000,000, and required her to raise $39,000,000 of
revenue annually, an average at that time of nearly $30 per inhabitant.
But Spain's own debt had, also, increased to nearly $2,000,000,000, and
during this Ten Years' War she had sent 200,000 soldiers and her
favorite commanders to the island, only about 50,000 of whom ever
returned. According to our Consular Report of July, 1898, when the last
revolution began, 1895, the Cuban debt had reached $295,707,264. The
interest on this alone imposed a burden of $9.79 per annum upon each
inhabitant. During the war, Spain had 200,000 troops in the island, and
the three and one-half years' conflict cost her the loss of nearly
100,000 lives, mostly from sickness, and, as yet, unknown millions of
dollars. The real figures of the loss of life and treasure seem
incredible when we consider that Cuba is not larger than our State of
Pennsylvania, and that her entire population at the beginning of the war
was about one-fourth that of the State named, or a little less than that
of the city of Chicago alone. Yet Spain, with an army larger than the
combined northern and southern forces at the battle of Gettysburg, was
unable to overcome the insurgents, who had never more than one-fourth as
many men enlisted. But she harassed, tortured, and starved to death
within three years, perhaps, over 500,000 non-combatant citizens in her
attempt to subjugate the patriots, and was in a fair way to depopulate
the whole island when the United States at last intervened to succor
them.
THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND.
What the future of Cuba may be under new conditions of government
remains to be seen. Certainly, in all the world's history few sadder or
more devastated lands have gathered their remnants of population upon
the ashes of their ruins and turned a hopeful face to the future.
[Illustration: A SPANISH MESTIZA.]
But the soil, the mineral and the timber not even Spanish tyranny could
destroy; and in these lie the hope, we might say the sure guarantee, of
Cuba's future. In wealth of resources and fertility of soil, Cuba is
superior to all other tropical countries, and these fully justify its
right to the title "Pearl of the Antilles," first given it by Columbus.
Under a wise and secure government, its possibilities are almost
limitless. Owing to its location at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico,
which it divides into the Yucatan and Florida channels, on the south and
north, the island has been termed the "Key to the Gulf of Mexico," and
on its coat of arms is emblazoned a key, as if to imply its ability to
open or close this great sea to the commerce of the world.
Cuba extends from east to west 760 miles, is 21 miles wide in its
narrowest part and 111 miles in the widest, with an average width of 60
miles. It has numerous harbors, which afford excellent anchorage. The
area of the island proper is 41,655 square miles (a little larger than
the State of Ohio); and including the Isle of Pines and other small
points around its entire length, numbering in all some 1,200, there are
47,278 square miles altogether in Cuba and belonging to it. The island
is intersected by broken ranges of mountains, which gradually increase
in height from west to east, where they reach an elevation of nearly
8,000 feet. The central and western portions of the island are the most
fertile, while the principal mineral deposits are in the mountains of
the eastern end. In Matanzas and other central provinces, the
well-drained, gently sloping plains, diversified by low, forest-clad
hills, are especially adapted to sugar culture, and the country under
normal conditions presents the appearance of vast fields of cane. The
western portion of the island is also mountainous, but the elevations
are not great, and in the valleys and along the fertile slopes of this
district is produced the greater part of the tobacco for which the
island is famous.
FERTILITY OF SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS.
The soil of the whole island seems well-nigh inexhaustible. Except in
tobacco culture, fertilizers are never used. In the sugar districts are
found old canefields that have produced annual crops for a hundred years
without perceptible impoverishment of the soil. Besides sugar and
tobacco, the island yields Indian corn, rice, manioc (the plant from
which tapioca is prepared), oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangoes,
guava, and all other tropical fruits, with many of those belonging to
the temperate zone. Raw sugar, molasses, and tobacco are the chief
products, and, with fruits, nuts, and unmanufactured woods, form the
bulk of exports, though coffee culture, formerly active, is now being
revived, and its fine quality indicates that it must in time become one
of the most important products of the island.
As a sugar country, Cuba takes first rank in the world. Mr. Gallon, the
English Consul, in his report to his government in 1897 upon this Cuban
crop, declared: "Of the other cane-sugar countries of the world, Java is
the only one which comes within 50 per cent. of the amount of sugar
produced annually in Cuba in normal times, and Java and the Hawaiian
Islands are the only ones which are so generally advanced in the process
of manufacture." Our own Consul, Hyatt, in his report of February, 1897,
expresses the belief that Cuba is equal to supplying the entire demands
of the whole western hemisphere with sugar--a market for 4,000,000 tons
or more, and requiring a crop four times as large as the island has ever
yet produced. Those who regard this statement as extravagant should
remember that Cuba, although founded and settled more than fifty years
before the United States, has nearly 14,000,000 acres of uncleared
primeval forest-land, and is capable of easily supporting a population
more than ten times that of the present. In fact, the Island of Java,
not so rich as Cuba, and of very nearly the same area, with less
tillable land, has over 22,000,000 inhabitants as against
Cuba's--perhaps at this time--not more than 1,200,000 souls.
MINERAL AND TIMBER RESOURCES.
The mineral resources of Cuba are second in importance to its
agricultural products. Gold and silver are not believed to exist in
paying quantities, but its most valuable mineral, copper, seems to be
almost inexhaustible. The iron and manganese mines, in the vicinity of
Santiago, are of great importance, the ores being rated among the finest
in the world. Deposits of asphalt and mineral oils are also found.
The third resource of Cuba in importance is its forest product. Its
millions of acres of unbroken woodlands are rich in valuable hard woods,
suitable for the finest cabinet-work and ship-building, and also furnish
many excellent dye woods. Mahogany, cedar, rosewood, and ebony abound.
The palm, of which there are thirty-odd species found in the island, is
one of the most characteristic and valuable of Cuban trees.
CITIES AND COMMERCE.
The commerce of Cuba has been great in the past, but Spanish laws made
it expensive and oppressive to the Cubans. Its location and resources,
with wise government, assure to the island an enormous trade in the
future. There are already four cities of marked importance to the
commercial world: Havana with a population of 250,000, Santiago with
71,000, Matanzas with 29,000, and Cienfuegos with 30,000, are all
seaport cities with excellent harbors, and all do a large exporting
business. Add to these Cardenas with 25,000, Trinidad with 18,000,
Manzanillo with 10,000, and Guantanamo and Baracoa, each with 7,000
inhabitants, we have an array of ten cities such as few strictly farming
countries of like size possess. Aside from cigar and cigarette making,
there is little manufacturing in Cuba; but fruit canneries, sugar
refineries, and various manufacturing industries for the consumption of
native products will rapidly follow in the steps of good government.
Hence, in the field of manufacturing this island offers excellent
inducements to capital.
SEASONS AND CLIMATE.
Like all tropical countries, Cuba has but two seasons, the wet and the
dry. The former extends from May to October, June, July, and August
being the most rainy months. The dry season lasts from November to May.
This fact must go far toward making the island more and more popular as
a winter health resort. The interior of the island is mountainous, and
always pleasantly cool at night, while on the highlands the heat in the
day is less oppressive than in New York and Pennsylvania during the
hottest summer weather; consequently, when once yellow fever, which now
ravages the coasts of the island on account of its defective sanitation,
is extirpated, as it doubtless will be under the new order of things,
Cuba will become the seat of many winter homes for wealthy residents of
the United States. Even in the summer, the temperature seldom rises
above 90°, while the average for the year is 77°. At no place, except in
the extreme mountainous altitude, is it ever cold enough for frost.
[Illustration: A VOLANTE, THE TYPICAL CUBAN CONVEYANCE.]
THE EVACUATION OF HAVANA.
The complete transfer of authority in the island of Cuba from Spain to
the United States took place on Sunday, January 1, 1899. At noon on that
day Captain-General Castellanos and staff met the representatives of the
United States in the hall of his palace, and with due formality and
marked Spanish courtesy, in the name of the King and Queen Regent of
Spain, delivered possession of Cuba to General Wade, head of the
American Evacuation Committee, and he in turn transferred the same to
General Brooke, who had been appointed by President McKinley as Military
Governor of the Division of Cuba. No unpleasant incident marred the
occasion. General Castellanos spoke with evident yet becoming emotion on
so important an occasion. Three Cuban generals were present, who, at
General Castellanos' request, were presented to him, and the Spaniard
said, with marked grace and evident sincerity, "I am sorry, gentlemen,
that we are enemies, being of the same blood;" to which one of the Cuban
patriots courteously responded, with commendable charity, "We fought
only for Cuba, and now that she is free we are no longer enemies."
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE PUBLIC GROUNDS, HAVANA, CUBA.]
The formal transfer had scarcely taken place within the palace hall when
the flag of Spain was lowered from Morro Castle, Cabanas Fortress, and
all the public buildings, and the stars and stripes instantly arose in
its place on the flagpoles of these old and historic buildings. As its
graceful folds floated gently out upon the breeze, the crowds from the
streets cheered, the band played the most appropriate of all airs, while
voices in many places in the throng, catching up the tune, sang the
inspiring words of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED).
BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO.
It was in November of the year 1493, on his second voyage to the New
World, that Columbus landed upon a strange island in quest of water for
his ships. He found it in abundance, and called the place
_Aquadilla_--the watering place. As he had done at Cuba the year before,
the great discoverer held pleasant conferences with the natives, and
with due ceremony took possession of the island for his benefactors and
sovereigns--Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. From that day until it was
ceded to the United States in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American
War, Porto Rico remained one of the most attractive and valuable of
Spain's West Indian possessions.
[Illustration: A MARKET GIRL, PORTO RICO.]
The simple and friendly natives gladly welcomed their Spanish invaders,
who, with the same promptness which was manifested in Cuba, proceeded to
enslave and exterminate them. In 1510, Ponce de Leon founded the first
settlement on the site of the present village of Puerto Viejo. The next
year the noted invader founded San Juan, the present capital of the
island. One of the most interesting sights of this old city to-day is
the Casa Blanca, built at that period as the palatial residence of Ponce
de Leon. It was there, perhaps, after he had finished his conquest of
the island, that this famous old Spaniard listened to the wonderful
story of the natives, who served him as slaves, concerning the
mysterious country over the sea which had hidden in its forests a
fountain wherein an old man might plunge and be restored to all the
vigor of youth. It was there and thus, perhaps, while sitting at leisure
in his palace, that de Leon planned the voyage in search of that
"fountain of youth" which resulted in the discovery and exploration of
Florida.
[Illustration: SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO.
This city, the capital of Porto Rico, was founded by Ponce de Leon in
1511. It is a fine specimen of an old walled town, having portcullis,
gates, walls and battlements which cost millions of dollars. It is built
on a long, narrow island, connected with the mainland by a bridge. Its
population in 1899, estimated at 31,000.]
ANCIENT INHABITANTS.
As to the number of natives in Porto Rico when the Spaniards came old
chroniclers differ. Some say there were 500,000, others 300,000. It is
all surmise. Probably the latter figure is an over-estimate, for Cuba,
more than ten times as large, was not thought to contain more than half
a million inhabitants at most. A detailed account of their manners and
customs was written by one of the early Spaniards, and part of it is
translated by the British Consul, Mr. Bidwell, in his Consular Report of
1880. Some of the statements in this old book are most peculiar and
interesting. Within the last forty years archæologists have discovered
many stone axes, spear-heads and knives, stone and clay images, and
pieces of earthenware made by the aboriginal Porto Ricans, and these are
preserved in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, in Berlin, and
elsewhere. It is curious that none of these remains had been found prior
to 1856. On the banks of the Rio Grande there still stands, also, a rude
stone monument, with strange designs carved upon its surface.
From the earliest times, the island, with its rich produce and commerce,
was the prey of robbers. The fierce cannibal Caribs from the south made
expeditions to it before the white men came; and for many decades after
the Spanish conquest it suffered attacks from pirates by sea and
brigands upon land, who found easy hiding within its deep forests.
ATTACKS AND INVASIONS BY FOREIGN FORCES.
In 1595, San Juan was sacked by the English under Drake, and again,
three years later, by the Duke of Cumberland. In 1615, Baldwin Heinrich,
a Dutchman, lost his life in an attack upon the governor's castle, and
several of his ships were destroyed by a hurricane. The English failed
to capture it, fifty-three years later; and Abercrombie tried it again
in 1797, but had to give up the undertaking after a three days' siege.
It was one hundred and one years after Abercrombie's siege before
another hostile fleet appeared before and bombarded San Juan. That was
done by Admiral Sampson, May 12, 1898, with the United States squadron
of modern ironclad battleships and cruisers. In this engagement Morro
Castle, which, though impregnable a hundred years before, was unable to
withstand modern guns, and was in a large part reduced to ruins.
General Nelson A. Miles landed his United States troops on the island in
July, 1898, and on the 12th of August, before he completed his conquest,
hostilities were closed by the protocol of peace, and amid the rejoicing
of the natives "Beautiful Porto Rico" became a province of the United
States. The one and only attempt the Porto Ricans ever made to throw off
the Spanish yoke was in 1820; but conditions for hiding from the
soldiers were not so good as the Cubans enjoyed in their large island,
and Spanish supremacy was completely re-established by 1823.
THE ISLAND AND ITS POPULATION.
Porto Rico is at once the most healthful and most densely populated
island of the West Indies. It is almost rectangular in form--100 miles
long and 36 broad. Its total area is about 3,600 square miles--a little
larger than the combined areas of Rhode Island and Delaware. Its
population, unlike that of Cuba, has greatly increased within the last
fifty years. In 1830, it numbered 319,000; in 1887, 813,937--about 220
people to the square mile, a density which few States of the Union can
equal. About half of its population are negroes or mulattoes, who were
introduced by the Spaniards as slaves in the 16th and 17th centuries.
[Illustration: THE CUSTOM HOUSE, PONCE, PORTO RICO, AFTER THE RAISING OF
THE AMERICAN FLAG BY GENERAL MILES.]
Among the people of European origin the most numerous are the Spaniards,
with many Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians, Frenchmen, Chuetos
(descendants from the Moorish Jews), and natives of the Canary Islands.
There are also a number of Chinese, while the Gibaros, or small
land-holders and day-laborers of the country districts, are a curious
old Spanish cross with the aboriginal Indian blood. In this class the
aborigines are more fortunate than the original Cubans in having even a
trace of their blood preserved.
The island is said to be capable of easily supporting three times its
present population, the soil is so universally fertile and its resources
are so well diversified. Though droughts occur in certain parts of the
island, it is all extremely well watered, by more than one thousand
streams, enumerated on the maps, and the dry sections have a system of
irrigation which may be operated very effectually and with little
expense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are considerable rivers.
TIMBER IN ABUNDANCE AND VARIETY.
Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of the
interior, the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The main need
to set the interior teeming with a thrifty and healthy population is a
system of good roads. The interior, with the exception of a few
extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of rounded hills, covered with
such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their summits. At present
these forests are accessible only by mule tracks. "The timber of the
island," says our official report, "comprises more than five hundred
varieties of trees, and in the more elevated regions the vegetation of
the temperate zones is not unknown. On the hills is found a luxuriant
and diversified vegetation, tree-ferns and mountain palms being
abundant. At a lower level grow many varieties of trees noted for their
useful woods, such as the mahogany, cedar, walnut, and laurel. The
mammee, guaiacum, and copal, besides other trees and shrubs valuable for
their gum, flourish in all parts of the island. The coffee tree and
sugar cane, both of which grow well at an altitude of a thousand feet or
more, were introduced into the island--the former from Martinique in
1722, the latter from the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows
easily in the lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all
prolific. The banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after
planting, and like the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary life-time."
MINERALS AND MINING.
"The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his report,
"have been very little developed, the only mineral industry of any
importance being the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas, and Cabo
Rojo. Sulphides of copper and magnetic oxides of iron are found in large
quantities, and formerly gold to a considerable extent was found in many
of the streams. At present the natives still wash out nuggets by the
crude process in use in the time of Ponce de Leon. Marble, carbonates,
lignite, and amber are also present in varying quantities, and hot
springs and mineral waters occur, the best known ones being at Coamo,
near Santa Isabel."
COMMERCE.
The commerce of Porto Rico amounted, in 1896, to $36,624,120, exceeding
the records of all previous years; the increase, no doubt, being largely
due to the unsettled condition of Cuba. The value of the exports for the
same year was, for the first time for more than a decade, slightly in
excess of that of the imports; the former being valued at $18,341,430,
the latter at $18,282,690. The chief exports from the island are
agricultural products. The principal articles are sugar, coffee,
molasses, and tobacco; while rice, wheat, flour, and manufactured
articles are among the chief imports. The value of the sugar and
molasses exported to the United States during the ten years from 1888 to
1897 made up 95 per cent. of the total value of the exports to that
country. Fruits, nuts, and spices are also exported to a small extent.
Of the non-agricultural exports the most important are perfumery and
cosmetics; chemicals, drugs, and dyes; unmanufactured wood, and salt.
[Illustration: NATIVE BELLES, PORTO RICO.]
The leading article of import from the United States is wheat flour.
Corn and meal, bread, biscuit, meats, dairy products, wood and its
manufactures, iron, steel, etc., are also imported.
CITIES AND TOWNS.
San Juan, the capital, is situated on an island off the northern coast
of the mainland, with which it is now connected by the San Antonio
bridge. The city is a perfect specimen of a walled and fortified town,
with Morro Castle crowning the promontory at the western extremity of
the island. The population, including the inhabitants of Marina and
Puerta de Tierra, as well as those within the city walls, was estimated
in 1896 at 30,000, and consists largely of negroes and of mixed races.
Owing to the lack of a good water supply, and the general unsanitary
conditions which prevail, the city is unhealthy. The houses are all of
two stories, the poorer inhabitants occupying the ground floor, while
those better off live above them. There is no running water in the city,
the inhabitants being dependent for their supply upon the rainfall which
is caught on the flat roofs of the houses and stored in cisterns, and in
dry seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. The city is built upon
clay mixed with lime packed hard and impervious to water. Its
manufactures are of small importance.
[Illustration: THE MARKET PLACE, PONCE, PORTO RICO.]
The city of Ponce, with a population of 37,500, and in commercial
importance the second city of Porto Rico, is situated two miles from the
coast in the southern part of the island. With an ample water supply
conveyed to the city by an aqueduct it is, perhaps, the healthiest town
on the island. Playa, its port, having a population of 5,000, is
connected with it by a fine road.
The town of Arecibo, with a population of from 6,000 to 7,000, is
situated on the northern coast of Porto Rico, and is the port for a
district of some 30,000 inhabitants.
CLIMATE.
The climate of the island, though hot and humid, is healthful, except in
marshy districts and in cities where sanitary rules are neglected.
Yellow fever seldom occurs, and when it does it is confined to the
unsanitary towns and their surroundings, never appearing far from the
coasts. The thermometer does not fall below 50° or rise above 90°. The
heat is not so great as at Santiago, though the latter is one and a half
degrees further north. As in Cuba, there are but two seasons, the rainy
and the dry, the former lasting from July to December, the latter from
January to the close of June. The delightful, dry and salubrious
atmosphere of midwinter and spring, with its general healthfulness,
promises to bring this island into prominence both as a resort for
invalids and for homes to those who would escape the rigors of northern
winters.
Porto Rico is an ideal lazy man's country, and the overworked American
will, undoubtedly, come to make it more and more his Mecca for rest and
recuperation. Even the interior feels the soft, salt air from the ocean.
The people are kind-hearted, "easy-going," hospitable, and fond of
amusement. Every environment conduces to the dismission of all
worriment, to rest, sleep, and a happy-go-lucky state of mind.
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED).
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
"Most bounteous here in her sea-girt lands,
Nature stretches forth her hands,
* * * * *
And walks on gold and silver, and knows her power increased,
Nor fears the tyrant longer--'Our Lady of the East.'"--_Stoddard_.
The most important, and by far the most interesting, as well as the
least known of America's new possessions, gained by her war with Spain,
are the Philippine Islands. Comparatively few Americans have ever set
foot upon that far-away and semi-civilized land, the possession of which
enables America to say with England, "The sun never sets upon our flag."
[Illustration: FILIPINOS OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES.]
The Philippines lie almost exactly on the other side of the globe from
us. Approximately speaking, our noonday is their midnight; our sunset is
their sunrise. There are some 1,200 of these islands, 400 of which are
inhabited or capable of supporting a population; they cover about
125,000 square miles; they lie in the tropical seas, generally speaking,
from five to eighteen degrees north latitude, and are bounded by the
China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east; they are about
7,000 miles southwest from San Francisco, a little over 600 southeast
from Hong Kong, China, and about 1,000 almost due north from Australia;
they contain between 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 inhabitants, about
one-third of whom had prior to Dewey's victory, May 1, 1898,
acknowledged Spanish sovereignty to the extent of paying regular tribute
to the Spanish crown; the remainder are bound together in tribes under
independent native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all
told have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Mohammedans
and idolaters. There are no Protestant churches in the islands.
[Illustration: NATIVE HUNTERS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.]
THE STORY OF DISCOVERY.
[Illustration: THE ESCOLTA, LOOKING SOUTH.
This is the Broadway of Manila. Along this famous street the principal
retail shops of the city are situated. Chinese and half-castes are the
principal retail merchants. At the time of the capture of the city by
Admiral Dewey and General Merritt there were not over one dozen European
merchants in Manila. Not one American firm was there; the last one, a
Boston hemp dealer, having been driven out some years before.]
It was twenty-nine years after Columbus discovered America that Magellan
saw the Philippines, the largest archipelago in the world, in 1521. The
voyage of Magellan was much longer and scarcely less heroic than that of
the discoverer of America. Having been provided with a fleet by the
Spanish king with which to search for spice islands, but secretly
determined to sail round the world, he set out with five vessels on
August 10, 1519, crossed the Atlantic to America, and skirted the
eastern coast southward in the hope of finding some western passage into
the Pacific, which, a few years previous, had been discovered by Balboa.
It was a year and two months to a day from the time he left Spain until
he reached the southern point of the mainland of South America and
passed through the straight which has since borne his name. On the way,
one of his vessels deserted; another was wrecked in a storm. When he
passed through the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of
his original five ships, and they were the first European vessels that
ever breasted the waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the
unknown but placid sea--which he named the Pacific--the bold navigator
steered straight to the northwest. Five months later, about March
1st, he discovered the Ladrone Islands--which name Magellan gave to the
group on account of the thieving propensities of the natives--the word
_Ladrone_ meaning robber.
[Illustration: THE BEAUTIFUL LUNETA, MANILA's FASHIONABLE PROMENADE AND
DRIVE.
This most celebrated drive and promenade in the city of Manila is by the
old sea wall. The Governor and Archbishop, with their escorts and
striking equipages, came every afternoon to air themselves, and in the
cool of every summer evening, when the fine military band of the Spanish
army used to play. The whole population apparently came out to listen.
This was also the place of all great processions, executions, etc.]
After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing on the
north coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines.
The natives were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan to the island of
Cebu, which lay to the north, and which they reported to be very rich.
After taking possession of Mindanao in the name of his king, the
discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he made such demonstrations and gave
such descriptions of the glory and power of Spain that he easily formed
a treaty with the king of the island, who swore allegiance to his
new-found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized in the
Catholic faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against some of
the neighboring powers, and on April 25, 1521, was killed in a skirmish.
The spot where he fell is now marked by a monument.
FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE.
Trouble soon arose between Magellan's sailors and their new-found
allies. The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty-seven of
them were treacherously slain. The remainder, fearing for their lives,
escaped in their ships and sailed for home. It was soon discovered that
they had too few men to manage the three vessels, and one of them was
destroyed. The other two proceeded on their voyage and discovered the
spice island of Tidor, where they loaded with spices; but a few days
later one of the vessels sprang a leak and went down with her freight
and crew. The other, after many hardships, reached Spain, thus
completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES.
In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined to send
another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal inspired him
to conquer and christianize the islands. To shorten the long and
dangerous voyage, he decided to prepare and start with five ships from
the coast of Mexico. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the expedition,
consisting of four hundred soldiers and sailors and six Augustine monks.
In due time the expedition landed at Cebu. The formidable appearance of
the ships awed the natives, and on April 27, 1565--forty years after
Magellan's remnant had fled from the island--Legaspi landed and took
possession. In honor of the Spanish king the archipelago was given the
name of the Philippine Islands.
In 1570 Legaspi sent his grandson, Salcedo, to subdue the island of
Luzon, the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group. He
landed near the present site of Manila. The trustful natives readily
agreed to accept the Spanish king as their master, and to pay tribute.
Such slight tribal resistances as were offered were quickly subdued. The
next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit his grandson; and, seeing the
importance of the situation and its fine harbor, declared that city the
capital of the whole archipelago and the king of Spain the sovereign of
all the islands. Accordingly, he moved his headquarters to that point,
built houses and fortifications, and within a year had the city well
organized, when he died, leaving Salcedo as his successor in command. It
is remarkable how much these two men accomplished with so small a force;
but they did it not so much by arms as by cajoling and deceiving the
simple natives. Furthermore, they allowed the conquered people to be
governed by their own chiefs in their own way, so long as they paid a
liberal tribute to the Spanish crown.
STRUGGLES FOE SUPREMACY.
The history of the Philippines has been monotonous from their discovery
until the present, a monotony broken at times by periods of adventures
in which Manila has generally been the central scene. About 1580,
Lima-hong, a Chinese pirate, took the city with an armed fleet of
sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,000 men and 1,500 women. They met with
stubborn resistance, but succeeded in scaling the walls and entering the
city. The Spanish forces were driven into a fort, which the Chinese
stormed. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict followed, and the Chinese were
finally repulsed.
[Illustration: PHILIPPINE WARRIORS.]
Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch attempted to obtain
possession of the Philippines. They captured scores of Spanish
merchantmen and treasure ships. Many naval engagements followed, the
details of which read like the thrilling records of buccaneers and
pirates, rather than the wars between two civil powers. Finally, after
half a century of warfare, the Dutch were decisively beaten, and
abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much to the
disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra, and
other Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been
remarkably prosperous under the mild rule of the Netherlands.
MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH.
In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish
authorities. The governor heard of it, and a general massacre of the
Mongolians followed. It was even planned to destroy every Chinaman on
the islands, and they were in a fair way to do it, when, at length, the
Spaniards bethought themselves that by so doing they would practically
depopulate the islands of tradesmen and mechanics. Accordingly, they
offered pardon to those who would surrender and swear allegiance. A
century later, England sent a fleet under Admiral Cornish, with General
Draper commanding the troops, against Manila. After a desperate battle
the city fell, and the terms of surrender incorporated provisions for
free trade, freedom of speech, and, best of all, freedom in religion to
the inhabitants of the islands, and required Spain to pay England about
$4,000,000 indemnity. By the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war
between England and Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was
that Spain should retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English
troops were withdrawn, and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as
Cuba was by the same treaty) under the domination of their tyrannical
mistress, and remained under Spanish rule from that time until the
Americans freed them in 1898.
UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES.
In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the church,
as conducted by the friars and priests, was the cause. Such was the case
in 1622, in 1649, and in 1660. The occasion of the revolt of 1744 is a
fair example of the provocations leading to all. A Jesuit priest ordered
all his parishioners arrested as criminals when they failed to attend
mass. One of the unfortunates died, and the priest denied him rights of
burial, ordering that his body be thrown upon the ground and left to rot
in the sun before his dwelling. The brother of the man in his
exasperation organized a mob, captured the priest, killed him, and
exposed his body for four days. Thus was formed the nucleus of a rebel
army. The insurgents in their mountain fastnesses gained their
independence and maintained it for thirty-five years, until they secured
from Spain a promise of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the
colony.
Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1827, and 1844, but all were
suppressed. In 1872, the most formidable outbreak up to that time
occurred at Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of this
uprising also. Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to prohibit
friars from holding parishes. The promises were never carried out, and
the friars grew continually richer and more powerful and oppressive. Had
the plan of the insurgents not been balked by a mistaken signal, no
doubt they would have destroyed the Spanish garrison at Manila, but a
misunderstanding caused their defeat. The friars insisted that the
captured leaders should be executed, and it was done.
[Illustration: A NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANILA.
Every cottage, however humble, is surrounded by tropical trees and
flowers. The interiors are remarkably clean and cheerful. Bamboo enters
largely into the construction of all native houses and they are
generally covered with thatch.]
THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY.
In 1896, the insurrection broke out again. Its causes were the old
oppressions: unbearable taxes, and imprisonment or banishment, with the
complete confiscation of property of those who could not pay; no justice
except for those who could buy it; extortion by the friars; marriage
ceremony so costly that a poor man could not pay the fee; homes and
families broken up and ruined; burial refused to the dead, unless a
large sum was paid in advance; no provision and no chance for education.
Such were some of the causes that again goaded the natives to revolution
and nerved them with courage to achieve victory after victory over their
enemies until they were, promised most of the reforms which they
demanded. Then they laid down their arms, and, as usual, the
Governor-General failed to carry out a single pledge.
Such was the condition, and another revolt, more formidable than any of
the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his American fleet
entered Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and, by a victory unparalleled in naval
warfare, sunk the Spanish ships, silenced the forts, and dethroned the
power of Spain forever in a land which her tyranny had blighted for more
than three hundred years.
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details
concerning all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor
Worcester, of the University of Michigan, tells us that the population
comprises more than eighty distinct tribes, with individual
peculiarities. They are scattered over hundreds of islands, and one who
really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and towns far
behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid
volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the innermost
wilds. Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold men, led
by the love of science or by the spirit of adventure, have continued to
penetrate these dark regions, there are many sections where the foot of
civilized man has never trod; or, if so, he came not back to tell of the
lands and peoples which his eyes beheld.
DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY.
There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough exploration of
these islands. Spain persistently opposed the representatives of any
other nation entering the country. She suspected every man with a gun of
designing to raise an insurrection or make mischief among the natives.
The account of red tape necessary to secure guns and ammunition for a
little party of four or five explorers admitted through the customs at
Manila is one of the most significant, as well as one of the most
humorous, passages in Professor Worcester's story of his several years'
sojourn while exploring the archipelago.
In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no respect
for Spain's authority, and will have none for ours for years to come.
Two-thirds of them paid no tribute, and many of them never heard of
Spain, or, if so, only remembered that a long time ago white men came
and cruelly persecuted the natives along the shore. These wild tribes
think themselves still the owners of the land. Some of them go naked and
practice cannibalism and other horrible savage customs. Any explorer's
life is in danger among them; consequently most tourists to the
Philippines see Manila and make short excursions around that city. The
more ambitious run down to the cities of Iloilo and Cebu, making short
excursions into the country from those points, and then return, thinking
they have seen the Philippines. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Such travelers no more see the Philippine Islands than Columbus explored
America.
[Illustration: A TYPICAL MORO VILLAGE, SOUTHERN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.]
Even near the coast there are savages who are almost as ignorant as
their brethren in the interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only "thirty
miles from Manila is a race of dwarfs that go without clothes, wear
knee-bracelets of horsehair, and respect nothing but the jungle in which
they live." The principal native peoples are of Malayan origin. Of
these, to the north of Manila are the Igorrotes; in the islands south of
Luzon are the civilized Visayas, and below them in Mindanao and the Sulu
Archipelago are the fierce Moros, who originally came from the island of
Borneo, settling in the Philippines a short time before the Spanish
discovery. They are Mohammedans in religion, and as fanatical and as
fearless fighters as the Turks themselves. For three hundred years the
Spaniards have been fighting these savages, and while they have overcome
them in nearly all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said,
upward of $100,000,000 and sacrificed more than one hundred thousand
lives in doing so.
THE WARLIKE MOROS.
The fierce Moro warriors keep the Spanish settlers along their coasts in
a constant state of alarm, and the visitor to the towns feels as if he
were at an Indian outpost in early American history, because of the
constant state of apprehension that prevails. Fortunately, however, the
Moros along the coast have learned to distinguish between the Spaniard
and the Englishman or American, and through them the generosity of the
_Englese_, as they call all Anglo-Saxons, has spread to their brethren
in the interior. Therefore, American and English explorers have been
enabled to go into sections where the Spanish friars and monks, who have
been practically the only Spanish explorers, would meet with certain
death. The Mohammedan fanaticism of the Moros, and that of the Catholic
friars and Jesuits, absolutely refuse compromise.
The Negritos (little Negroes) and the Mangyans are the principal
representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants before the Malayan tribes
came. There are supposed to be, collectively, about 1,000,000 of them,
and they are almost as destitute of clothing and as uncivilized as the
savages whom Columbus found in America, and far more degenerate and
loathsome in habits.
THE CITY OF MANILA.
The Island of Luzon, on which the city of Manila stands, is about as
large as the State of New York, its area being variously estimated at
from 43,000 to 47,000 square smiles. It is the largest island in the
Philippine group, comprising perhaps one-third of the area of the entire
archipelago. Its inhabitants are the most civilized, and its territory
the most thoroughly explored. The city of Manila is the metropolis of
the Philippines. The population of the city proper and its environs is
considered to be some 300,000 souls, of whom 200,000 are natives, 40,000
full-blooded Chinese, 50,000 Chinese half-castes, 5,000 Spanish, mostly
soldiers, 4,000 Spanish half-castes, and 300 white foreigners other than
Spaniards. Mr. Joseph Earle Stevens, already referred to, who
represented the only American firm in the city of Manila, under Spanish
rule (which finally had to turn its business over to the English and
leave the island a few years since), informs us that he and three others
were the only representatives of the United States in Manila as late as
1893.
The city is built on a beautiful bay from twenty-five to thirty miles
across, and on both shores of the Pasig River. On the right bank of the
river, going up from the bay, is the old walled town, and around the
walls are the weedy, moats or ditches. The heavy guns and frowning
cannon from the walls suggest a troubled past. This old city is built in
triangular form, about a mile on each side, and is regarded as very
unhealthful, for the walls both keep out the breeze and keep in the foul
air and odors. The principal buildings in the old part of the city are
the cathedral, many parish churches, a few schoolhouses, and the
official buildings. The population in the walled city is given at
20,000. Up to a few years ago, no foreigner was permitted to sleep
within its walls on account of the Spaniards' fear of a conspiracy. A
bridge across the Pasig connects old Manila with the new or unwalled
city, where nearly all of the business is done and the native and
foreign residents live.
[Illustration: BRIDGE OVER THE PASIG RIVER.
This bridge connects the old walled city on one side of the river with
the new unwalled city on the other. Sea-going vessels ascend the river
up to the bridge.]
EARTHQUAKES AND TYPHOONS.
[Illustration: THE SHIPYARDS AND ARSENAL AT CAVITE.
Cavite is a city of about 5000 inhabitants, ten miles from Manila. The
Spanish arsenal and the only shipyards in the colony are located here.
It is the chief naval station of the islands, and has always been
considered the key to Manila from the sea. It was seized by the
insurgents in 1872, and again in 1896, and it was its forts that so
harassed Dewey with their bombardment, and it was one of the first
places occupied by the Americans after the fall of Manila.]
It does not take one long to exhaust the sights of Manila, if the
people, who are always interesting, are excepted. Aside from the
cathedral and a few of the churches, the buildings of the city are
anything but imposing. In fact, there is little encouragement to
construct fine edifices because of the danger from earthquakes and
typhoons. It is said that not a year passes without a number of slight
earthquake shocks, and very serious ones have occurred. In 1645
nearly all of the public buildings were wrecked and 600 persons killed.
A very destructive earthquake was that of 1863, when 400 people were
killed, 2,000 wounded, and 46 public buildings and 1,100 private houses
were badly injured or completely destroyed. In 1874 earthquakes were
again very numerous throughout the islands, shocks being felt at
intervals in certain sections for several weeks. But the most violent
convulsion of modern times occurred in 1880 when even greater
destruction than in 1863 visited Manila and other towns of Luzon.
Consequently there are very few buildings to be found more than two
stories high; and the heavy tile roofs formerly in use have, for the
most part, been replaced by lighter coverings of galvanized iron.
[Illustration: RAISING THE FLAG ON FORT SAN ANTONIO DE ABAD, MALATE.
This old fort was silenced by Dewey's guns August 13, 1898, with the
assistance of land forces under General Anderson. The Astor Battery on
shore under Captain March supported General McArthur's forces on the
right wing. It was the California and Colorado Volunteer Regiments, with
the Eighteenth Regulars, who finally drove out the Spaniards and
occupied the position where the Californians at once raised the Stars
and Stripes. The marks of Dewey's shells are seen on the side of the
fort.]
These light roofs, however, are in constant danger of being stripped off
by the typhoons, terrible storms which come with a twisting motion as if
rising from the earth or the sea, fairly pulling everything detachable
after them. Masts of ships and roofs of houses are frequently carried by
these hurricanes miles distant. The better to resist the typhoons, most
of the light native houses are built on bamboo poles, which allow the
wind to pass freely under them, and sway and bend in the storm like a
tree; whereas, if they were set solidly on the earth, they would be
lifted up bodily and carried away. Glass windows being too frail to
resist the shaking of the earthquakes and the typhoons, small,
translucent oyster shells are used instead. The light thus admitted
resembles that passing through ground-glass, or, rather, stained glass,
for the coloring in the shells imparts a mellow tinted radiance like the
windows of a cathedral.
[Illustration: A POPULAR STREET CONVEYANCE.
As elsewhere, carriages and street cars are used in Manila, but there
are hundreds of the above "native cabs," for carrying single persons
short distances, and they are liberally patronized.]
MANILA AS A BUSINESS CENTER.
The streets of Manila are wretchedly paved or not paved at all, and as
late as 1893 were lighted by kerosene lamps or by wicks suspended in
dishes of cocoanut oil. Lately an electric plant has been introduced,
and parts of the city are lighted in this manner. There are two lines of
street cars in Manila. The motive power for a car is a single small
pony, and foreigners marvel to see one of those little animals drawing
thirty-odd people.
The retail trade and petty banking of Manila is almost entirely in the
hands of the half-castes and Chinese, and many of them have grown
immensely wealthy. There are only about three hundred Europeans in
business in the whole Philippine group, and they conduct the bulk of the
importing and exporting trade. Manila contains a number of large cigar
and cigarette factories, one of which employs 10,000 hands. There is
also a sugar refinery, a steam rice mill, and a rope factory worked
partly by men and partly by oxen, a Spanish brewery and a German cement
factory, a Swiss umbrella factory and a Swiss hat factory. The single
cotton mill, in which $200,000 of English capital is invested, runs
6,000 spindles.
The statistics of 1897 show that the whole trade of Manila comprised
only forty-five Spanish, nineteen German, and seventeen English firms,
with six Swiss brokers and two French storekeepers having large
establishments. One of the most profitable businesses is said to be that
of selling cheap jewelry to the natives. Breastpins which dealers buy in
Europe for twelve cents each are readily sold for from $1.50 to $2.00
each to the simple Filipinos. Almost everything that is manufactured
abroad has a fine prospective market in the Philippines, when the
condition of the people permits them to buy.
A certain charm attaches to many specimens of native handiwork. The
women weave exquisitely beautiful fabrics from the fiber of plants. The
floors of Manila houses are admired by all foreigners. They are made of
hard wood and polished with banana leaves and greasy cloths until they
shine brightly and give an aspect of cool airiness to the room.
[Illustration: A WEDDING PROCESSION.
As in Asiatic countries, weddings in the Philippines are occasions of
great ceremony. No marriage would be considered "in style" without a
gorgeous procession.]
Any kind of amusement is popular with the Filipinos--with so much
leisure on their hands--provided it does not require too great exertion
on their part. They are fond of the theatre, and, up to a few years ago,
bullfighting was a favorite pastime; but the most prominent of modern
amusements for the natives and half-castes is cockfighting. It is said
that every native has his fighting cock, which is reared and trained
with the greatest care until he shows sufficient skill to entitle him to
an entrance into the public cockpit where he will fight for a prize. The
chickens occupy the family residence, roosting overhead; and, in case of
fire, it is said that the game "rooster" is saved before the babies.
Professor Worcester tells an amusing story of the annoyance of the
crowing cocks above his head in the morning and the devices and tricks
he and his companions employed to quiet them. The Manila lottery is
another institution which intensely excites the sluggish native, and
takes from him the money which he does not lose on the cockfights. Under
the United States Government this lottery will, no doubt, be abolished
in time. It formerly belonged to the Spanish Government, and Spain
derived an annual profit of half a million dollars from it.
GENERAL COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES.
It is hardly necessary, so far as the commercial world is concerned, to
mention any other locality outside of the city of Manila. To commerce,
this city (whose total imports in 1897 were only $10,000,000 and its
exports $20,000,000) is the Philippine Islands. Its present meagre
foreign trade represents only an average purchase of about one dollar
per inhabitant, and an average sale of two dollars per inhabitant for
the largest archipelago in the world, and one of the richest in soil and
natural resources. The bulk of these exports were hemp, sugar, and
tobacco; and, strange as it may seem, the United States received 41 per
cent. of her hemp and 55 per cent. of her sugar for the year 1897,
notwithstanding the fact that we had not one commercial firm doing
business in that whole vast domain.
The city of Iloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island of
Panay, and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has an
excellent harbor, and the surrounding country is very productive, having
extensive plantations of sugar, rice, and tobacco. The population of
Iloilo is only 12,000, but there are a few larger towns in the district,
of which it is the seaport. Though the city at spring tides is covered
with water, it is said to be a very healthful place, and much cooler
than Manila.
The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of the
same name, is a well-built town, and has a population of about 13,000.
From this point the bulk of the hemp for export comes.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ISLANDS.
It is impossible to speak of the other islands in detail. Seven of the
group average larger than the State of New Jersey; Luzon is as extensive
as Ohio, Mindanao equals Indiana; and, as we have stated before, about
four hundred of them are inhabitable, and, like Java, Borneo, and the
Spice Islands, all are rich in natural resources. They are of a volcanic
origin, and may be described in general as rugged and mountainous. The
coasts of most of the islands are deeply indented by the sea, and the
larger ones are well watered by streams, the mouths of which afford good
harbors. Many of the mountainous parts abound in minerals. Mr. Karuph,
President of the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in May, 1898, addressed a
letter to Hon. John Hay, at that time our ambassador to England, in
which he declares that the Philippines will soon come prominently
forward as a new center of the world's gold production. "There is not a
brook," says Mr. Karuph, "that finds its way into the Pacific Ocean
whose sands and gravel do not pan the color of gold. Many valuable
deposits are close to deep water. I know of no other part of the world,
the Alaskan Treadwell mines alone excepted, where pay ore is found
within a few hundred yards of the anchorage of sea-going vessels." In
addition to gold, iron, copper, lead, sulphur, and other minerals are
found, and are believed to exist in paying quantities. The numerous
mineral springs attest their presence in almost every part of the
principal islands.
[Illustration: DRYING SUGAR.
Large pans containing the sugar are set in the sun to evaporate the
moisture. No refining or clarifying machinery has been introduced into
the Philippine Islands.]
FORESTS AND TIMBER.
The forest products of the islands are perhaps of greater value than
their mineral resources. Timber not only exists in almost exhaustless
quantity, but--considering the whole group, which extends nearly a
thousand miles from north to south--in unprecedented diversity,
embracing sixty varieties of the most valuable woods, several of which
are so hard that they cannot be cut with ordinary saws, some so heavy
that they sink in water, and two or three so durable as to afford ground
for the claim that they outlast iron and steel when placed in the
ground or under water. Several of these woods are unknown elsewhere,
and, altogether, they are admirably suited for various decorative
purposes and for the manufacture of fine implements and furniture.
[Illustration: THE STRANGE WAGONS OF ALBAY.
The eighty-odd different tribes who inhabit the Philippines have varying
dialects, manners, and customs. The peculiar house-roofed wagons, shown
in the above illustration, are found in only one locality.]
Here also are pepper, cinnamon, wax, and gums of various sorts, cloves,
tea, and vanilla, while all tropical fruits, such as cocoanuts, bananas,
lemons, limes, oranges of several varieties, pineapples, citrons,
bread-fruits, custard apples, pawpaws, and mangroves nourish, and most
of them grow wild, though, of course, they are not equal to the
cultivated fruit. There are fifty-odd varieties of the banana in the
archipelago, from the midget, which makes but a single mouthful, to the
huge fruit eighteen inches long. There seems to be no limit to which
tropical fruits and farm products can be cultivated.
The animal and bird life of the Philippines offer a field of interesting
research to naturalists. There are no important carnivorous animals. A
small wild-cat and two species of civet-cats constitute about all that
belong to that class. The house-cats of the Philippines have curious
fish-hook crooks in the ends of their tails. There are several species
of deer in the archipelago. Hogs run wild in large numbers. The large
water buffalo (_carabao_) has been domesticated and is the chief beast
of burden with the natives. The _timarau_ is another small species of
buffalo, very wild and entirely untamable; and, though numerous in
certain places, is hard to find, and when brought to bay dies fighting.
Birds abound in all of the islands; nearly six hundred species have been
found, over fifty of which exist nowhere else in the world. One of these
species builds a nest which is highly prized by Chinese epicures as an
article of diet. Prof. Worcester tells us "the best quality of them
sometimes bring more than their weight in gold." Crocodiles are numerous
in fresh-water lakes and streams, attaining enormous size, and in
certain places causing much loss of life among stock and men as well.
Snakes also abound, and some of them are very venomous. Cobras are found
in the southern islands. Pythons are numerous, some of the smaller sizes
being sold in the towns and kept in houses to catch rats, at which they
are said to be more expert than house-cats.
All the domestic animals, aside from the _carabao_, have been introduced
from abroad. Cattle are extensively raised, and in some of the islands
run wild. The horses are a small Spanish breed, but are very strong and
have great endurance. Large European horses do not stand the climate
well.
CLIMATE, VOLCANOES, ETC.
The mean annual temperature of Manila is 80° F. The thermometer seldom
rises above 100° or falls below 60° anywhere in the archipelago. There
is no month in the year during which it does not rise as high as 91°.
January and December are the coldest months, the average temperature
being 70° to 73°. May is the warmest, the average being 84°. April is
the next warmest, with an average of 83°; but the weather is generally
very moist and humid, which makes the heat more trying. The three winter
months have cool nights. Malaria is prevalent, but contagious diseases
are comparatively few. Yellow fever and cholera are seldom heard of.
The Philippines are the home of many volcanoes, a number of them still
active. Mayon, in the island of Luzon, is one of the most remarkable
volcanic mountains on the globe. It is a perfect cone, rising to the
height of 8,900 feet, and is in constant activity; its latest
destructive eruption took place in 1888. Apo, in the island of Mindanao,
10,312 feet high, is the largest of the Philippine volcanoes. Next is
Canloon in Negros, which rises 8,192 feet above the sea. Taal is in a
lake, with a height of 900 feet, and is noteworthy as being the lowest
volcano in the world. To those not accustomed to volcanoes, these great
fire-spouting mountains, which are but prominent representatives of many
lesser ones in the islands, seem to be an ever-present danger to the
inhabitants; but the natives and those who live there manifest little or
no fear of them. In fact, they rather pride themselves in their
possession of such terrifying neighbors.
Such is an outline view of the Philippine Archipelago of the present
day. A new era has opened up in the history of that wonderful land with
its liberation from the Spanish yoke. The dense ignorance and
semi-savage barbarities which exist there must not be expected to yield
too rapidly to the touch of human kindness and brotherly love with which
the Christian world will now visit those semi-civilized and untamed
children of nature. Nevertheless, western civilization and western
progress will undoubtedly work mighty changes in the lives of those
people, in the development of that country, during the first quarter of
the twentieth century, which ushers in the dawn of its freedom.
THE BATTLE OF MANILA.
In all the annals of naval warfare there is no engagement, terminating
in so signal a victory with so little damage to the victors, as that
which made the name of George Dewey immortal on the memorable Sunday
morning of May 1, 1898, in Manila Bay. The world knows the story of that
battle, for it has been told hundreds of times in the thousands of
newspapers and magazines and scores of books throughout the civilized
world. But few, perhaps, who peruse these pages have read the simple
details of the fight as narrated by that most modest of men, Admiral
Dewey himself. We cannot better close this chapter on the Philippines
than by inserting Admiral Dewey's official report of the battle which
wrested the Filipinos from Spanish tyranny and placed nearly ten
millions of oppressed people under the protecting care of the United
States.
[Illustration: YOUNG MAN OF THE UPPER CLASS.
White duck or crash trousers and a silk or pina shirt make a fashionable
suit.]
[Illustration: AGUINALDO AT THE AGE OF 22.
Dressed in fine pina cloth shirt.]
[Illustration: DOING THE FAMILY WASH.
The glory of all Philippine women is their long and beautiful hair.]
[Illustration: NATIVE WOMAN FRUIT SELLER.
And customers, Manila.]
ADMIRAL DEWEY'S STORY OF MANILA.
"UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP OLYMPIA, CAVITE, May 4, 1898.
"The squadron left Mirs Bay on April 27th, arrived off Bolinao on the
morning of April 30th, and, finding no vessels there, proceeded down
the coast and arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay on the same
afternoon. The Boston and the Concord were sent to reconnoitre Port
Subic. A thorough search was made of the port by the Boston and the
Concord, but the Spanish fleet was not found. Entered the south
channel at 11:30 P.M., steaming in column at eight knots. After half
the squadron had passed, a battery on the south side of the channel
opened fire, none of the shots taking effect. The Boston and
McCulloch returned the fire. The squadron proceeded across the bay at
slow speed and arrived off Manila at daybreak, and was fired upon at
5:15 A.M. by three batteries at Manila and two near Cavite, and by
the Spanish fleet anchored in an approximately east and west line
across the mouth of Bakor Bay, with their left in shoal water in
Canacao Bay.
"The squadron then proceeded to the attack, the flagship Olympia,
under my personal direction, leading, followed at a distance by the
Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, and Boston in the order named,
which formation was maintained throughout the action. The squadron
opened fire at 5:41 A.M. While advancing to the attack two mines were
exploded ahead of the flagship, too far to be effective. The squadron
maintained a continuous and precise fire at ranges varying from 5,000
to 2,000 yards, countermarching in a line approximately parallel to
that of the Spanish fleet. The enemy's fire was vigorous, but
generally ineffective. Early in the engagement two launches put out
toward the Olympia with the apparent intention of using torpedoes.
One was sunk and the other disabled by our fire and beached before
they were able to fire their torpedoes.
"At seven A.M. the Spanish flagship Reina Cristina made a desperate
attempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short range, but
was received with such a galling fire, the entire battery of the
Olympia being concentrated upon her, that she was barely able to
return to the shelter of the point. The fires started in her by our
shells at the time were not extinguished until she sank. The three
batteries at Manila had kept up a continuous fire from the beginning
of the engagement, which fire was not returned by my squadron. The
first of these batteries was situated on the south mole-head at the
entrance of the Pasig River, the second on the south position of the
walled city of Manila, and the third at Molate, about one-half mile
further south. At this point I sent a message to the Governor-General
to the effect that if the batteries did not cease firing the city
would be shelled. This had the effect of silencing them.
"At 7:35 A.M. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for
breakfast. At 11:16 I returned to the attack. By this time the
Spanish flagship and almost all the Spanish fleet were in flames. At
12:30 the squadron ceased firing, the batteries being silenced and
the ships sunk, burned, and deserted.
"At 12:40 the squadron returned and anchored off Manila, the Petrel
being left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller
gunboats, which were behind the point of Cavite. This duty was
performed by Commander E.P. Wood in the most expeditious and complete
manner possible. The Spanish lost the following vessels: Sunk, Reina
Cristina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa; burned, Don Juan de
Austria, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Marquia del
Duero, El Correo, Velasco, and Isla de Mindanao (transport);
captured, Rapido and Hercules (tugs), and several small launches.
"I am unable to obtain complete accounts of the enemy's killed and
wounded, but believe their losses to be very heavy. The Reina
Cristina alone had 150 killed, including the captain, and ninety
wounded. I am happy to report that the damage done to the squadron
under my command was inconsiderable. There were none killed and only
seven men in the squadron were slightly wounded. Several of the
vessels were struck and even penetrated, but the damage was of the
slightest, and the squadron is in as good condition now as before the
battle.
"I beg to state to the department that I doubt if any
commander-in-chief was ever served by more loyal, efficient, and
gallant-captains than those of the squadron now under my command.
Captain Frank Wildes, commanding the Boston, volunteered to remain in
command of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving
Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the Olympia, and Gunner
J.C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, after orders
detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal staff was
excellent. Commander B.P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a volunteer
for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieutenant Brumby,
Flag Lieutenant, and Ensign E.P. Scott, aide, performed their duties
as signal officers in a highly creditable manner; Caldwell, Flag
Secretary, volunteered for and was assigned to a subdivision of the
five-inch battery. Mr. J.L. Stickney, formerly an officer in the
United States Navy, and now correspondent for the New York _Herald_,
volunteered for duty as my aide, and rendered valuable service. I
desire especially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C.G. Calkins,
the navigator of the Olympia, who came under my personal observation,
being on the bridge with me throughout the entire action, and giving
the ranges to the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the
excellence of the firing.
"On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron again went
to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military forces evacuated
the Cavite arsenal, which was taken possession of by a landing party.
On the same day the Raleigh and the Baltimore secured the surrender
of the batteries on Corregidor Island, paroling the garrison and
destroying the guns. On the morning of May 4th, the transport Manila,
which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was towed off and made a prize."
[Illustration: THE MOUTH OF THE PASIG RIVER.
The city of Old Manila is surrounded by water. On the west is the sea,
to the north is the Pasig River, while moats, connected with the river
by sluices, flank the other two sides. All the principal warehouses of
the city are on the Pasig, and ships deliver and receive their cargoes
direct, without the necessity of cartage.]
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED).
THE LADRONE, OR MARIANA ISLANDS.
It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day in March,
nearly 400 years ago, they beheld the verdant and beautifully sloping
hills of the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary months before they had
sailed from the coast of Spain, and all that time, first to the
southwest and then to the northwest, they had followed the setting sun.
Theirs were the first vessels manned by white men that had ever plowed
the trackless Pacific; and this was the first land ever seen by white
men within that unknown ocean.
It was a pitiable crew on those three small, weather-beaten ships, who
drew, that March morning, toward the coast of the present island of
Guam, which is now a possession of the United States. Hunger and thirst
had driven them to the verge of madness. They had eaten even the leather
thongs from their sail fastenings, and only a small mug of water per day
was the portion of drink for a man. "Land! Land!!" It was a glad cry
from the watch aloft. There were palm trees, cocoanuts, green grass,
tropical fruits, an abundance of fresh water, and--though naked--a
curious and friendly people. No wonder Magellan paused to rest himself
and his sailors.
Those little islands have never been of much value, and never can be.
Seventeen of them stretching in a row about six hundred miles from north
to south, and their total area, including their islets and reefs, is
variously estimated at from 400 to 560 square miles. Hence, there is but
about one-fourth more territory on the whole seventeen islands combined
than is included within the corporate limits of the city of Greater New
York.
A broad channel divides the Ladrones into two groups. The northern group
consists of ten islets, without inhabitants; the southern group has
seven islands, four of which are inhabited. The largest island,
_Guahan_, known to us as _Guam_, ceded to us by Spain, was taken by our
warship Charleston on July 4, 1898. This island contains the only town
in the colony. Its full Spanish name is _San Ignacio de Agaña_. It is
the capital of the archipelago, and contains more than half of the whole
population.
THE NATIVE INHABITANTS.
When first visited by Europeans, the archipelago contained from 40,000
to 60,000 souls, represented by two distinct classes, the nobles and the
people, between whom marriage, and even contact, were forbidden. But the
Spanish conquest soon ended this distinction by reducing all alike to
servitude. For a long time after Spanish occupation, the natives
complained and finally rebelled against the oppressive measures of their
rulers; but by the end of the seventeenth century they ceased their
resistance, and it was found by a census that fully half of them had
perished or escaped in their canoes to the Caroline Islands, and that
two-thirds of their one hundred and eighty villages had fallen to ruins.
Then came an epidemic which swept away nearly all the natives of Guam;
and the island of Tinian (one of the group) was depopulated and its
inhabitants brought to Guam.
[Illustration: NATIVE HOUSE AND PALMS, LADRONE ISLANDS.]
Nearly all the new arrivals soon died. In the year 1760, a census showed
a total of only 1,654 inhabitants left in all the islands, and the
Spaniards repopulated them by bringing Tagals from the Philippines.
These, mixed with the remaining natives and Spaniards, have steadily
increased. The population of the islands in 1899 was estimated at about
9,000. The people are generally lacking in energy, loose in morals, and
miserably poor. Their education has been seriously neglected. Their
religion is Catholic, no Protestant missions having been encouraged--we
might say, not allowed--there or in the Philippines or the Carolines.
TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, ETC.
The islands of the northern group are mountainous, the altitudes
reaching from 2,600 to 2,700 feet. There are evidences of volcanoes all
over the archipelago, and some mountains contain small craters and cones
not yet extinct. The climate of the Ladrones, though humid, is
salubrious, and the heat, being tempered by the trade winds, is milder
than in the Philippines. The yearly average temperature of Guam is 81°.
Streams are everywhere copious--though the clearing of the land has
diminished their size of late years. The original flora consists
generally of Asiatic plants, but much has been introduced from the
Philippines and other sources.
Cocoanuts, palms, the bread tree, and tropical trees and plants
generally, thrive. The large fruit bat which abounds in the Philippines
is indigenous to the Ladrones, and, despite its objectionable odor, is a
principal article of food. Swine and oxen are allowed to run wild, and
are hunted when needed. There are only a few species of birds; even
insects are rare; and the reptiles are represented by several kinds of
lizards and a single species of serpent. No domestic animals were known
in the islands until introduced by the Spaniards.
When the United States steamship Charleston opened fire on the little
city of Agaña, July 4, 1898, the people had not heard of the war, and
the governor said he thought "the noble Americans were saluting" him,
and was "deeply humiliated because he had no powder to return their
salute." It was an easy, bloodless victory. The governor and his
soldiers were carried to Manila as prisoners, and an American garrison
of a few men left to take charge of this new American territory in the
Pacific.
CONCLUSION.
Thus at the close of the nineteenth century, the Greater United States
assumes its appointed place among the foremost nations of the world, and
stands on the threshold of achievements whose grandeur no man dare
attempt to prophesy. We pause, awed, grateful, and profoundly impressed,
when we recall the mighty events, the amazing progress, and the
wonderful advancements in discovery, science, art, literature, and all
that tends to the good of mankind that are certain to give the twentieth
century a pre-eminence above all the years that have gone before.
The new era of our country has opened. The United States enters on the
first stage of the transformation from an isolated commonwealth into an
outreaching power with dependencies in both hemispheres. We can no
longer hold an attitude of aloofness from the rest of the world. With
vulnerable points in our outlying possessions, we must make ready to
defend them not only by force of arms but by diplomatic skill.
Entangling alliances as heretofore will be avoided, and the conditions,
complications, and policies of foreign powers must in the future possess
a practical importance for us.
The original thirteen States have expanded into forty-five, embracing
the vast area between the two oceans and extending from the British
possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. To them has now been added our
colonial territory, so vast in extent that, like the British Empire, the
sun never sets on our dominions. Where a hundred years ago were only a
few scattered villages and towns, imperial cities now raise their heads.
Thousands of square miles of forest and solitude have given place to
cultivated farms, to factories, and workshops that hum with the wheels
of industry. The Patent Office issues 40,000 patents each year. We have
three cities with more than a million population apiece, and twenty-five
with a population ranging from a hundred thousand to half a million.
Greater New York is the second city in the world, and, if its present
rate of growth continues, it will surpass London before the middle of
the coming century. Our population has grown from 3,000,000 at the close
of the Revolution to 75,000,000. When Andrew Jackson became President
there was not a mile of railroad in the United States. To-day our
mileage exceeds that of all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa
combined, and the employes, connected directly or indirectly with
railroads in the United States, number almost a million persons. The
half-dozen crude newspapers of the Revolution have expanded into more
than 20,000, whose daily news is gathered from every quarter of the
globe. The total yearly issue is more than three billions.
No country can approach the advancements we have made in invention, in
discovery, in science, in art, in education and in all the civilizing
agencies of mankind. Volumes would be required to name our achievements
in these lines. Our material property has been or is equally wonderful.
When the Civil War closed, our public debt was nearly $3,000,000,000. On
December 1, 1898, it was $1,036,000,000. Most of the leading nations
have great debts, but the United States is the only one which is
steadily decreasing its debt and at the same time enormously increasing
its resources. The debt of Great Britain is now about $87 per capita,
that of France $115, of Holland $100, of Italy $75, and of the United
States less than $15, with the security increasing all the time.
Let the thoughtful reader note these striking facts. European nations
generally, and some South American nations also, have been compelled to
resort to various methods of taxation to supply the sums needed for
ordinary governmental expenses, to meet the interest on the existing
debt, to provide resources for new expenditures, buildings, armament,
subsidies, and various public works. England has an income tax and many
stamp taxes, a house tax, and collects some 20 per cent. of its revenue
from direct taxation. France has a tobacco monopoly, registration taxes,
stamp taxes, tax on windows, and innumerable local taxes, one being the
octroi, or tax on goods entering cities. In addition to an income tax,
and many stamp taxes, Austria derives a good deal of its public revenue
from lotteries. Italy goes still further with her tobacco monopoly,
house tax, income tax, salt tax, octroi duties, stamp taxes, and heavy
legacy and registration taxes. In the United States, however, the public
revenues have been provided for and all public expenses met, and the
national debt reduced beside, without recourse to any direct taxation.
We have no government monopolies, and the Treasury maintains a healthful
condition from the receipts of customs and internal revenue payments.
Thus with the spirit of fraternity between all sections of the Union
stronger than ever before, with the spirit of patriotism more deeply
imbedded and all-pervading, with our moral, educational, and material
prosperity and progress greater than any time in our past history, and
never equaled by any nation, since the annals of mankind began--we face
the future, bravely resolved to meet all requirements, responsibilities,
and duties as become men whose motto is
IN GOD IS OUR TRUST.
_The End._
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