IN THE WONDERFUL LAKE REGION
It began to rain on Sunday shortly after the battle firing was over,
and the next day, Monday, August 30, was a day of rest.
It was also necessary, in consequence of the very poor and insufficient
provisions, as well as the want of enough pack horses, to cut down
to one-half the rations of flour, salt and meat. However, as the
country through which they were to march was rich in vegetable food,
Sullivan issued orders, stating the facts, and asking that “the troops
will please to consider the matter and give their opinion as soon as
possible.” So late that afternoon the whole army was drawn up in the
separate brigades and regiments. Then the question was put whether they
would advance, taking the risk of hunger.
“Without a dissenting voice, the whole army cheerfully agreed to the
request of the General, which was signified by unanimously holding up
their hands and giving three cheers.” Neither the remembered horrors
of Valley Forge, nor the risk of possible starvation could discourage
the army. With many a laugh and joke, the men moved forward to their
“Succotash Campaign.” They were happy to know that the heavier
artillery, the two howitzers and brace of six pounders were to be sent
back. The labor of drawing ammunition wagons and heavy cannon up and
down hills would be much reduced. Nevertheless, the four three pounders
and caissons, taken along with the Coehorn, meant much chopping in the
woods to make a path.
On Tuesday, the line of march was taken up through the broken, swampy,
and mountainous country. For their night’s camp the men were happy
to find a level plain, but the next day they had to go through Bear
Swamp, which was then a horrible dark quagmire six miles long. Having
a clay bottom, the black mire held the water which flowed tortuously
through the spongy soil, in which the vegetation of centuries had
made a peaty mass, which the recent rains had made as unstable as a
jelly and slippery as soap. Here was the divide of waters between the
Susquehanna and the Saint Lawrence rivers, flowing into the Atlantic
at Labrador or Hatteras. The Indian trail through this soggy country
passed through defiles, over mounds and through ravine after ravine,
rough and scrubby, while through all meandered a stream of dark water.
Only with the most tremendous toil were the Continentals able to get
through, and the rear guard did not reach hard ground until long after
noon next day. The cannon were pulled through only by the toil of
hundreds of men at the drag ropes, or by laying on the worst places
corduroy, or a rough road of trees and brushwood. Many horses were
mired and abandoned, and scores of packs with precious bags of flour
and ammunition were lost. Altogether it was a most terrible experience,
much worse than in the Pennsylvania swamp, called “The Shades of
Death,” which they had traversed.
For years afterwards, that horrible night formed the blackest memory
and gave the most disturbing element to the dreams of the old soldiers.
In our time, as we travel through this drained and dry valley between
the green walls of the hills on either side, we wonder as we look over
the celery gardens where Bear Swamp was. Within half a century after
Sullivan’s march and return, the forests were cleared and the Chemung
canal, bearing millions of cubic feet of timber to the great cities,
and especially to build the Maryland privateers for the War of 1812,
traversed and drained the swamp. To-day smiling farms and vegetable
gardens on either side of the well laid beds of the steam railway and
electric trolley line fill the sunny and beautiful valley.
Just beyond this horrible swamp of 1779 lay the village of Sheaquaga,
or “French Catherine’s town,” three miles from Seneca Lake, on the site
of the present town of Havana, or Montour Falls. It was the capital
of the Indian Queen Catherine Montour, and contained her “palace.” It
consisted of about forty “long,” or apartment, houses of timber and
bark, with splendid cornfields, orchards, and fenced enclosures, in
which were horses, cows, calves and hogs. It looked as though the army
would have, for a little while at least, meat rations. Here had been
the home of Catherine, sister of Queen Esther and granddaughter of
Adam Montour, who was the offspring of Count Frontenac. A Dutch family
had also lived here among the Indians. It seemed strange to our men to
find feather beds and other evidences of civilization so far in the
wilderness. Some of it was the plunder from Cherry Valley and Wyoming.
The town was deserted, but our troops had to wait all day Thursday for
the pack horses and cattle that emerged one by one, or in parties,
from the darkness of the dreadful swamp. They found an old squaw, whom
they compelled to give information about the Indians. Then they built
for her a hut and left her some provisions. Moving northward along the
eastern shores of Seneca Lake, through open woods and level country,
they found corn roasting in the fire, their supper left untasted and
all the evidences of the hasty movement of a large body of Indians.
The next day they moved as far as North Hector, to a village consisting
of one very large apartment house with several rooms and fires. To this
day the new timber, grown up in the place of the old forest cut through
for the artillery, can be easily discerned. Resuming their march, they
came on Sunday, September 5, to Kendaia, or Apple Town. This was an
Indian village of the first class, over twenty large, long apartment
houses built of timber and bark, some of them well painted. There
were apple and peach orchards, with many hundreds of trees ripening
their fruit, and a cemetery, in which there were tombs erected to
the chiefs and made of hewn and painted planks. Here they met with a
white captive, Luke Sweetland, whom the Indians had kept employed in
making salt. All this lake region is underlaid with beds of the purest
chloride of sodium, and in times of peace the Senecas and Onondagas
drove a thriving trade with the other tribes in this necessity of life.
They made their salt by boiling the brine from salt springs. To-day at
Ithaca and Ludlowville the white crystals fill daily a freight train.
On the sixth of September the evening gun sounded at Indian Hollow.
On the seventh day they reached the great Seneca town of Kanadesaga,
lying on both sides of Castle Creek near what is now Geneva, N. Y.
Here had dwelt Old Smoke, the Indian King, and his son who married a
daughter of Catherine Montour. In 1756, during the Old French War, Sir
William Johnson had built a fort, or stockade, in this town, which was
regularly laid out with the open square, in which the fort stood, in
the center. Orchards and gardens were plentiful, especially on the
north and northeast. Although Sullivan had expected to fight a battle
here, and had deployed his regiments for assault, yet the town was
found to be entirely deserted, except that a little white boy three
years old, captured from one of the settlements, was found playing,
though nearly starved. The circular mound, on which the councils of
the chiefs and orators were held, still stands, a monument of a nearly
vanished race. Gleefully the troops marched in and through the town,
with pumpkins and squashes skewered on their bayonets.
The Continentals were now in that renowned lake region of New York
famous among the Indians not only for its salt springs, but for its
abundance of fish and fruit, and the general fertility of the soil.
The forest was still dense all around them, except the more frequent
openings, but the Indian villages were numerous and with luxuriant
vegetable gardens. In these, onions, peas, beans, squashes, potatoes,
turnips, cabbages, cucumbers, watermelons, carrots and parsnips were
plentiful, while great cornfields stretched farther off into the
clearings and to the very edge of the forest, and orchards of apple,
peach and mulberry trees were within easy reach.
It was this great store of vegetable food found everywhere ready that
decided Sullivan and his brigade commanders, after a council of war,
to push on further westward, despite the very scanty supplies of meat
and flour rations. So the horses and the men unable to proceed further
by reason of sickness or lameness, were sent back to the fort at Tioga
Point, Captain Reed of Massachusetts with fifty men forming the escort.
Thence he was to return again, as we have seen, to Kanawaholla, near
the present city of Elmira, with supplies for the army on its return.
The main army, facing the setting sun, camped at Flint Creek September
9, and on the next day at noon reached Canandaigua, so named because
here the trading Indians on the trail, or red commercial travellers
on the road, “took off their pack” to rest. It was an Indian town of
twenty-three large houses, with standing crops, all of which, as at the
other places, were given to the torch. It is said that the women and
pappooses hid themselves on Squaw Island, in the lake near the town.
On Saturday, September 11, the Stars and Stripes were unfurled at the
foot of Honeoye Lake, where stood the Indian village of twenty long
houses. All these except one, selected for a fortified storehouse,
were set on fire. The walls of this strongest dwelling were still
further strengthened with kegs and bags of flour, and a ditch dug and
_abatis_ made. Then two three pounders were mounted and their black
noses poked out of the port holes cut through the walls. Here the sick
and disabled, amounting to nearly three hundred, were left, in camp.
The weakest found quarters in the rooms and bunks of the Indian house.
Then the whole army, now able to move as a light armed corps, pressed
forward to the goal, which was the big Indian town in the Genesee river
valley, near what is now Cuylerville, below Geneseo, N. Y. Delayed
by storm and rain next day, only eleven miles were made to Adjuton,
a village of eighteen houses, near Conesus Lake, where had lived two
celebrities, Captain Sunfish, a negro, and Big Tree, a Seneca chief.
The fresh evidences of savages near at hand, were very manifest on the
Indian path leading to the Genesee town.
It may be wondered what had become of the motley British force after
their defeat at Newtown. As a matter of fact, two hundred fresh Indian
warriors had joined Brant just after the battle. They were clamorous
to advance at once against the Americans, but those who had a taste of
grape shot and bursting bombs were unwilling to make a stand. So the
whole force of red and white allies of King George had retreated to the
north and west, making camp near Avon, in Livingston County. Keeping
out their scouts on the hilltops, they were well informed of Sullivan’s
movements.
Now, knowing that he had left Conesus, evidently to attack the big
town of the Senecas, Brant and Butler chose a strong position. It was
remarkably like that of Braddock’s field, in Pennsylvania, wherein the
pride of England’s infantry were changed, from red-coated soldiers,
in the glory of lusty life, to heaps of bleaching bones. On a bluff,
parallel with the western side of Conesus Lake, well forested, but
full of deep ravines, Butler posted his men in ambush. He hoped that
Sullivan would advance with his men up the well known trail between two
ravines. He had broken down the old, rude bridge over the stream, but
he knew that the Continental pioneers would be likely to build another
out of the oak and hickory which abounded here. Here he expected to
post his men and watch for the opportunity when the scouts should
announce the nearness of Sullivan, who was without artillery. With his
fresh reinforcements Butler was confident of victory.
WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.
ITHACA, N. Y.
(_To be continued._)
THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS
IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, WITH PARTICULAR
REFERENCE TO CONDITIONS IN THE ROYAL COLONY OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER VI--_Concluded_
It is also important to remember that the press appealed to a very
much smaller percentage of the population in colonial times than it
does to-day. “In Boston with a population of 8000, Campbell succeeded
in selling but 3000 copies of his News Letters when it was the only
newspaper printed in America.”[1] Later the circulation of all the
papers increased, but it was still but a small proportion of the
colonists who received first hand the opinions of the editor. And
this body of subscribers was for the most part of the professional
class or the wealthier part of those in trade, persons naturally of a
conservative temper and apt to look with disfavor on any strong attack
on or disregard of legalized and established authority.
In New York, owing to the peculiar way in which the press was
introduced, it for the first forty years of its existence did nothing
to put itself in antagonism to the government; in Massachusetts it at
first was given a subvention by the General Court; in South Carolina
a comparatively large sum was offered to any printer who would
brave the dangers of the climate and establish a press. With these
exceptions its early days were passed under governments which viewed
with dislike or suspicion any attempts on the part of the printers to
take an intelligent part in the questions that were interesting the
people. For this reason the press in all the colonies early assumed a
position of antagonism to the constituted authority and in return the
government took every opportunity to hurt it by means of prosecutions
in the courts or inquisitorial proceedings before the Governor and his
Council. It is interesting to note however that these proceedings lost
almost all their terrors as the period of the Revolution approached,
for the press received more and more the support of the people, who had
learned to appreciate the wide circulation which the newspapers gave
to the new doctrines; thus we constantly find the grand juries refusing
to find true bills against the printers, in this way reducing the
Governor to the use of Informations which were looked on with suspicion
by the people and seldom resulted in a verdict of Guilty.
But the greatest influence of the press was exerted through the
flood of hand-bills and pamphlets which ever increased in volume as
the period of the Revolution drew near. Printed in large numbers
and circulating everywhere, we find Governors reporting to the home
government that it was impossible to stop them, and that they were
doing incalculable harm.
If now we attempt in a very brief way to review the whole matter of the
struggle for the liberty of the press we shall find:
First: That the system in vogue in America, as in England, up to the
close of the seventeenth century, was a system of administrative
control by the Crown through appointed officers called Censors, to whom
all writings had to be submitted before publication and who either gave
or refused permission to print. That this Censorship was shared by
Church and State in some instances only complicated the situation.
Second: With the failure to pass the Licensing Bill in 1695 the press
became in all parts of the English dominion freed from this censorship;
but a system of judicial control took its place, for all publications
were now subject to the law of libel, and an attack on the dominant
party was held by the courts to be a libel, and a censure of the
Governor to be a personal reflection on the King. In Franklin’s case
in England in 1731,[2] it was laid down by Lord Raymond that the court
alone was to judge of the criminality of a libel, to the jury was given
only the right to decide as to the fact of publication.
In England that doctrine continued in force until the passage of Mr.
Fox’s Libel Bill in 1792. But fifty-eight years earlier the Zenger case
(in 1734) had established in principle the freedom of the press in the
colonies, by settling the right of juries to find a general verdict in
libel cases. We have said “in principle,” for this right, which the
colonists soon grew to consider as a part of their common law, was yet
in practice more or less nullified in the different colonies according
as the Governor was able to impose his will on the courts or was
opposed by an intelligent public opinion.
In other words, liberty of the press did not and could not exist in
the colonial period, but the people accepted the principle and when
they obtained the opportunity incorporated it in Bills of Rights and
State Constitutions. The Continental Congress in issuing, on Oct. 21st,
1774, an “Address to the people of Canada” proceeded to detail and
enlarge upon the rights to which English subjects were entitled, and
among them placed the freedom of the press.[3]
We see the same point made by State after State.
Maryland, 1776: “That the liberty of the press ought to be inviolably
preserved.”
Virginia, 1776: “That the freedom of the press is one of the great
bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic
governments.”
Pennsylvania, 1776: “That the people have a right to freedom of speech,
and of writing, and of publishing their sentiments; therefore the
freedom of the press ought not to be restrained.”
Georgia, 1777: “Freedom of the press and trial by jury to remain
inviolable forever.”
Vermont, 1777: “That the public have the right to freedom of speech and
of writing and publishing their sentiments; therefore the freedom of
the press ought not to be restrained.”
South Carolina, 1778: “That the liberty of the press be inviolably
preserved.”
Massachusetts, 1780: “The liberty of the press is essential to the
security of freedom in a state; and ought not, therefore, to be
restrained in this commonwealth.”
New Hampshire, 1784: “The liberty of the press is essential to the
security of freedom in a state; and it ought, therefore, to be
inviolably preserved.”
Pinckney’s Plan of 1787: “The Legislature of the United States shall
pass no law touching or abridging the liberty of the press.”
Delaware, 1792: “The press shall be free to every citizen who
undertakes to examine the official conduct of men acting in a public
capacity, and any citizen may print on any subject, being responsible
for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for publications
investigating the proceedings of officers, or where the matter
published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be
given in evidence; and in all indictments for libels, the jury may
determine the facts and the law, as in other cases.”
After the Federal Convention came together in 1787 it was proposed
to insert in the Constitution, “the liberty of the press shall be
inviolably preserved.” This was defeated by six states against five.[4]
But when the different States afterwards sent to the first Congress the
proposals from which the first ten Amendments were selected we find in
nearly all some reference to the liberty of the press. The article on
the subject from Massachusetts was selected and now appears as a part
of the First Amendment to the Constitution, “Congress shall make no
law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”[5] And since
that time nearly every Constitution drawn up by the different States
has contained an admission of the principle so long contended for by
supporters of the rights of the press, that, as David Hume says, “its
liberties, and the liberties of the people must stand or fall together.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrews, Alexander--History of British Journalism; 2 vols. London,
1859.
Anson, Sir Wm. R.--Law and Custom of the Constitution; 2 vols. Oxford,
1886.
Barry, John Stetson--The History of Massachusetts; 3 vols. Boston,
1855.
Booth, Mary L.--The History of the City of New York. New York, 1880.
Bradford, Wm.--New England’s Spirit of Persecution Transmitted to
Pennsylvania. New York, 1693.
Brodhead, John Romeyn--History of the State of New York; 2 vols. New
York, v.d.
Brown, David Paul--The Forum; 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1856.
Brown, Henry B.--The Liberty of the Press; Am. Law Review, 34, 321.
Buckingham, Joseph T.--Specimens of Newspaper Literature, with
Personal Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Reminiscences; 2 vols. Boston, 1852.
Burk, John D.--The History of Virginia from its first Settlement to
the Present Day; 4 vols. Petersburg, Va., 1805.
Burn, John Southerden--The Star Chamber. London, 1870.
Chalmers, George--Political Annals of the Present United Colonies from
the Settlement to the Peace of 1763. London, 1780.
Collier, Edward--Essay on the Law of Patents and the General History
of Monopolies. London, 1803.
Cucheval-Clarigny, M.--Histoire de la Presse en Angleterre et aux
Etats Unis. Paris, 1857.
De Peyster, Frederic--Early Political History of New York. New York,
1865.
Duane, Wm.--Canada and the Continental Congress, An Address delivered
before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1850.
Dunlap, Wm.--History of New York; 2 vols. New York, 1839.
Eastman, F. S.--History of New York. New York, 1831.
Fisher & Strahan--Law of the Press. London, 1895.
Force, Peter--American Archives; 9 vols. Washington, v.d.
Ford, Paul Leicester--Journal of Hugh Gaine. New York, 1901.
Fowle, Daniel--Total Eclipse of Liberty. Boston, 1755.
Franklin, Benjamin--Autobiography. New York, 1849.
Fraser, Hugh--Privileges of the Press in relation to Libel; Law
Quarterly Review, 7, 158.
Gentz, F. von--Reflections on the Liberty of the Press in Great
Britain, London, 1820 (trans.)
Gordon, Wm. D. D.--The History of the Rise, Progress and Establishment
of the Independence of the United States of America; 4 vols. London,
1788.
Grant, James--History of the Newspaper Press. London, 1840.
Hall, Robert--An Apology for the Freedom of the Press and for General
Liberty. London, 1793.
Harrison, W. L. S.--Proceedings at the Printers Banquet held at the
N. Y. Typographical Society, on the Occasion of Franklin’s Birthday,
1850. New York, 1850.
Hening, Wm. Waller--Statutes at Large of Virginia; 16 vols. New York,
1823.
Howell, T. B.--State Trials; 30 vols. London, v.d.
Hildeburn, Charles--Sketches of Printers and Printing in Colonial New
York. New York, 1895.
Hudson, Frederick--A History of Journalism. New York, 1873.
Hunt, F. Knight--The Fourth Estate; Contributions Towards a History of
Newspapers and of the Liberty of the Press; 2 vols. London, 1850.
Hutchinson, Thomas--History of Massachusetts; 2 vols. Salem, 1795.
Jefferson, Thomas--Notes on the State of Virginia. London, 1787.
Jones, Horatio Gates--Andrew Bradford, Founder of the Newspaper Press
in the Middle States of America; An Address delivered at the Annual
Meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1869.
Lechford, Thomas--Note-Book. Am. Antiquarian Society; Vol. VII, 1885.
Leake, Isaac Q.--Memoirs of the Life and Times of General John Lamb.
Albany, 1850.
Lincoln, Wm.--History of Worcester, Mass. Worcester, 1862.
Massachusetts--MS. Records of the Colony.
McAdam, David--History of the Bench and Bar of New York; 2 vols. New
York, 1897.
McMaster, John Bach--A Free Press in the Middle Colonies. Princeton
Review; Vol. I (N. S.)
Munsell, Joel--Annals of Albany; 10 vols. Albany, v.d.
New York--The Colonial Laws of; 5 vols. Albany, 1894.
New York--Votes and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Colony
of. 1691-1765; 2 vols. New York, 1765.
New York--Votes and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Colony
of. 1766-1776. Albany, 1820 (reprint).
New York--Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council, Albany.
New York, 1861.
North, S. N. D.--Constitutional Development of the Colony of New York.
Mag. Am. Hist. III, 161.
O’Callaghan, E. B.--Documents relative to the Colonial History of the
State of New York; 11 vols. Albany, v.d.
Odgers, W. Blake--The Law of Libel. Philadelphia, 1887.
Pennsylvania--Minutes of the Provincial Council of; 3 vols.
Philadelphia, 1852.
Proud, Robert--History of Pennsylvania; 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1798.
Ross, Peter--A History of Long Island. New York, 1903.
Rutherfurd, Livingston--John Peter Zenger. His Press, His Trial, and
a Bibliography of his Imprints and those issued by his Wife and Son.
Also a reprint of the Trial. New York, 1904.
Satterlee, Herbert L.--Political History of the Province of New York.
New York, 1885.
Taylor, Hannis--The Freedom of the Press. Argument ex parte John L.
Rapier, before Supreme Court of U. S., n.p., n.d.
Taylor, Henry Osborn--Development of Constitutional Government in the
American Colonies. Mag. Am. Hist. II, 705.
Thomas, Benjamin Franklin, Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. Boston, 1874.
Thomas, Isaiah--History of Printing; 2 vols. Albany, 1874.
The Tryal of John Peter Zenger. London, 1738.
Wallace, John William--Address on Wm. Bradford. Albany, 1863.
Wallace, John William--Col. Wm. Bradford. Philadelphia, 1884.
LIVINGSTON ROWE SCHUYLER.
NEW YORK CITY.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hudson, History of Journalism, p. 57.
[2] Howell’s State Trials XVII, 1243.
[3] Wm. Duane, “Canada and the Continental Congress,” p. 20.
[4] Journal of Convention, p. 217.
[5] Elliot’s Debates, Vol. I, p. 183.
RELICS OF COMMODORE JOHN BARRY IN PHILADELPHIA
Apropos of the proposed erection here of a monument to the memory of
Commodore John Barry, it is interesting to know that in addition to his
tomb in St. Mary’s Churchyard, on Fourth street below Locust, where he
was buried, there are many other relics of the great naval commander in
this city, which was his home and where he maintained both a town and
country residence. In Fairmount Park, too, is a monument not known to
many people, where one of the five figures of the fountain erected by
the Catholic Total Abstinence Society is a statue of Barry. It is of
heroic size and the inscription, besides reciting some of his principal
exploits on the sea, describes him as the first commodore of the United
States navy.
Nearly all the other relics are in the possession of Mrs. W. Horace
Hepburn of this city, who is a great-grandniece of Barry, and also
a granddaughter of Commodore Bainbridge, and to whom they have been
handed down. They are of many kinds and, taken altogether, would form
quite a museum. Some of them are particularly valuable as records
of history, among these being the logs of the _Alliance_ and other
warships which Barry commanded. Another documentary relic is the
commission as captain and commander of the frigate _United States_
issued to Barry to “take rank from the fourth day of June, 1804.” It
is dated February 22, 1797, however, and is signed by Washington. On
the margin it is numbered “one,” showing it to have been the first
captain’s commission issued in the navy of the new constitutional
government.
Of nearly equal importance as a record is the certificate of Barry’s
membership in the Society of the Cincinnati. With this Mrs. Hepburn
has also the handsome jewelled badge of the order presented to him by
Lafayette. It is in the regular form of the organization’s emblem, but
is very ornate. It was manufactured in France. Also in Mrs. Hepburn’s
possession is Stuart’s original portrait, a copy of which, by Colin
Campbell Cooper, was presented to the city by the Hibernian Society
in 1895, and now hangs in Independence Hall. The Stuart portrait was
painted in this city.
Among the relics is a set of china, much of which was used on the
frigate _Alliance_. Among these is a punch bowl and pitcher in white
china, with a good picture of the frigate under full sail on each.
This china was probably made in France, but that point has not as
yet been definitely determined. What were also probably used on the
ship are a number of glass goblets and other glassware, which are not
particularly fine as to design and manufacture, but are none the less
cherished as relics. There is also a considerable quantity of French
china, with the monogram S. B., for Sarah Barry, on it, and a number of
dinner plates, which were probably used in his house. Pertaining more
closely to the commander’s seafaring career are one of his swords, a
gun, and a full-dress uniform, the latter consisting of yellow nankeen
knee breeches and vest, with a blue frock coat with immense brass
buttons. The size of these garments emphasizes the well-known fact
that the commodore was a very large man. Originally among the relics
were a pair of silver knee buckles, which, before the collection came
into the hands of its present owner, were melted down and made into
teaspoons. How big they were may be inferred from the fact that they
made six spoons. Mrs. Hepburn has these spoons, but says she would much
prefer to have the silver in its original form of buckles. Commodore
Barry’s watch is also in the collection, as is a large solid silver ale
tankard, which was probably used on land.
Barry’s tomb in St. Mary’s churchyard is one of the most impressive
mementos of him because of the inscription which it bears. The original
tomb was erected by the commodore’s widow, but this became dilapidated
through the ravages of time and the inscription, written by Dr.
Benjamin Rush, a copy of which has been preserved in the Ridgeway
branch of the Philadelphia Library, was barely decipherable as early
as 1865. In 1876 the tomb was repaired, and now bears the following
inscription:
“Sacred to the memory of Commodore John Barry, father of the American
navy. Let the Christian patriot and soldier who visits these mansions
of the dead view this monument with respect and veneration. Beneath
it rest the remains of John Barry, who was born in County Wexford,
Ireland, in the year 1745. America was the object of his patriotism,
and the aim of his usefulness and ambition. At the beginning of the
Revolutionary War he held the commission of captain in the then limited
navy of the colonies. His achievements in battle and his renowned naval
tactics merited for him the position of commodore, and to be justly
regarded as the father of the American navy. He fought often and bled
in the cause of freedom, but his deeds of valor did not diminish in him
the virtues which adorned his private life. He was eminently gentle,
kind, just, and charitable, and no less beloved by his family and
friends than by his grateful country. Firm in the faith and practices
of the Roman Catholic Church, he departed this life on the 13th day
of September, 1803, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. In grateful
remembrance, a few of his countrymen, members of St. Mary’s Church and
others, have contributed towards this second monument, erected July 1,
1876. _Requiescat in Pace._”
Commodore Barry’s deeds as a naval officer, the fact that he commanded
the _Lexington_, the first armed cruiser; that he captured and brought
to Philadelphia the first prize; that he fought the last naval battle,
and many other such points in his brilliant record, are all embalmed
in the nation’s history. In private life he was a loyal friend and a
good citizen, social in his tastes, hearty in his manner, and genial to
all. He was a sailor before joining our navy, having been placed in the
merchant marine service by his father when a mere boy. He came to this
country when probably about twenty-one years old, reaching Philadelphia
from the island of Barbados, in command of the schooner _Barbados_.
This was ten years before the Revolution, and from that time until
the opening of the war he followed his career in these waters, and
in command of vessels sailing between here and England. He was twice
married, and both wives were buried in the same grave in St. Mary’s
churchyard. His second wife, Sarah Austin, and her sister, Mary, are
said to have made and presented to John Paul Jones the flag of the _Bon
Homme Richard_. Commodore Barry died in 1803, at his country residence,
“Strawberry Hill.” This was not the Strawberry Hill in Fairmount Park,
but was located on Frankford Road, at Gunner’s Run. The body was
brought to his city residence, on the south side of Chestnut Street,
between Ninth and Tenth Streets, on a site about opposite the _Record_
building, where the funeral took place.--_Philadelphia Record._
BUSHNELL’S “TURTLE”
The successful use in the Russian-Japanese war (as is supposed, for no
official statement has come from the Japanese officials) of submarine
boats has obscured the historic fact that one hundred and thirty years
ago the first attempt of the kind was made in the harbor of New York.
It is a fact that is not generally known, but which is of official
record--that the first serious attempt in this line was the work of a
Yale undergraduate. It was while a freshman at Yale, in the year 1771,
that David Bushnell, an ingenious Connecticut boy, conceived the idea
of a submarine vessel as a desirable means of defensive warfare. He
kept at the problem throughout the four years of his college course,
and by the time of his graduation, in 1775, had made several successful
trial trips with his _American Turtle_, as his peculiar contrivance
was called. The plans of this vessel were carefully examined a few
years ago by Commander F. W. Barber, U. S. N., whose conclusion was
that “it seems to have been the most perfect thing of its kind that has
ever been constructed, either before or since the time of Bushnell.”
Bushnell invented not only the first submarine boat of which there is
any intelligent record, but the first torpedo as well. He discovered
the principle of modern torpedo-mining--that is, the utilization of the
pressure of the water to develop the desirable intensity of action in
an explosion near the vessel to be destroyed. Furthermore, he was the
first man to give the torpedo its modern name. All these triumphs he
accomplished while an undergraduate student at Yale.
He gathered an assemblage of what he called “the first personages in
Connecticut” to prove to them that this strange thing could be done. He
first exploded two ounces of powder four feet under water, and later
blew up a hogshead filled with stones, a wooden bottle, and a two-inch
oak plank, greatly to the astonishment of his learned associates. After
this preliminary display of what he could do, young Bushnell’s theories
were held in greater respect throughout the rest of his college course.
He had one great idea, however, and this was the possibility of
constructing a boat that could sail under the enemy’s ship, attach to
it a magazine with a sufficient charge of powder to destroy the vessel
and all its men--the operator, meanwhile, getting safely away. He kept
hard at work throughout his four undergraduate years, and by the time
he was graduated had constructed such a machine and experimented with
the most encouraging success.
He finished his vessel at an opportune time. He had its complicated
mechanism complete and in fine running order when the Declaration
of Independence was signed, and the war between England and America
was under full way. He naturally had some difficulty in gaining a
respectful hearing from the leading men on the colonial side. Although
afterwards he was praised by Washington as “a man of great mechanical
powers, fertile in inventions, and a master of execution,” his first
real encouragement came from another Connecticut man, Israel Putnam.
Bushnell explained his contrivance to Putnam, who after carefully
examining the vessel, was much struck with its ingenuity and its
possibilities of success. He gave the young inventor full permission
to go ahead, and declared his intention of being present at the first
trial.
The occasion for this preliminary experiment was soon at hand. The
movements of General Washington about Long Island had been accompanied
by the arrival of a large British fleet from Halifax under Admiral Lord
Howe, brother of the commander of the British army. Putnam had been
left with 4000 men in New York, and sent for Bushnell, inviting him
to test his submarine boat against one of the enemy’s ships. Bushnell
was himself physically incapacitated from managing his machine, for it
required considerable strength. He had, however, taught his brother
its fine points, and the latter in many trials had demonstrated
his skill. At the critical time, however, the latter fell ill of a
fever and a substitute had to be found. Ezra Lee of Lyme, Conn., was
finally decided upon as the fittest man for the place. Lee had already
volunteered to go in a fire-ship, and his bravery was unquestioned.
Bushnell spent several days teaching Lee the management of the
boat--altogether too short a time, as subsequent events showed. The
British fleet lay a little above Staten Island, the flagship, against
which it was determined to operate being the _Eagle_.
It was a queer craft, the like of which no man had ever seen, in
which Ezra Lee embarked one dark night in August, 1776, with the firm
intention of destroying the pick of the British fleet. Its shape
suggested a turtle or rather two upper turtle shells, securely fastened
together. A brass crown, resembling a hat, represented the head of the
turtle; it was provided with glass windows, which supplied light while
the boat was on the surface, and with several round doors, which were
opened before submersion for the admission of air. The turtle rested
in the water with its tail downwards, being held in position by a
permanent lead ballast in the hold of 500 pounds. This was supplemented
by 200 pounds of the same metal, which could be released at the will
of the navigator, enabling him to rise suddenly to the surface. The
turtle was made of oak, put together in the strongest manner; it was
seven and one-half feet long and six feet high. It admitted only one
person, who had room enough either to stand up or sit down. There were
two air-tubes, one for letting the fresh air in and another for letting
the foul air out. These were ingeniously arranged so that they operated
whenever the boat was brought to the surface and closed immediately
after it was submerged. There were no means of generating or supplying
air while the contrivance was under water. Sufficient atmosphere to
last the operator thirty minutes was supplied before the trial began,
after the exhaustion of which he was obliged to rise to the surface.
The question of light presented a still greater difficulty. A candle
exhausting the air too rapidly, Bushnell was obliged to find some less
embarrassing substitute. He finally noted the points of the compass by
two pieces of fox-fire wood--that is, wood that emitted a phosphoric
light. The same method was used to determine the depth of the water.
For this Bushnell constructed a peculiar contrivance, the secret of
which is unknown, consisting of a glass tube, filled with water, in
which a cork floated up and down. This cork was also covered with
fox-fire, and by its rise and fall the operator could determine the
depth to which his vessel was submerged. The boat was propelled back
and forth by a paddle in front, shaped like the arm of a windmill. The
operator turned this with a crank, and could go either forwards or
backwards, as he desired. It was precisely the same principle as the
modern screw, with the exception that it was placed in the bow instead
of the stern of the boat. Another “oar,” identically the same, was
arranged at right angles with the first, by means of which the vessel
could be guided up or down. The progress of the boat was necessarily
slow, but it is said that a strong man, with a favoring tide and
current, could propel it three knots an hour. The rudder, also turned
by a crank, could be used for sculling when desired. In the bottom of
the vessel were two large water tanks, into which the water was let by
a spring. It was by this means that the boat made its descent. There
were two pumps, which the operator worked with his feet, for the
expulsion of the water when he desired to rise. In case these failed to
work, the two hundred pounds of lead on the bottom could be released,
after which the rise was very sudden. The operator sat upright, with
his head in the crown of the vessel, and by a dexterous use of his
hands and feet, had little difficulty in completely mastering his boat.
It required considerable practice, however, and unusual strength.
This was Bushnell’s submarine boat, but it was only one feature of his
invention. His other discovery, the torpedo, was ingeniously combined
with his vessel. On the stern of the boat, just above the rudder, on
the outside, was a large cask, made of two pieces of oak, carefully
caulked and tarred, and bound together with iron. The interior was dug
out and contained a charge of powder. Within was a gun-lock, which was
arranged to strike fire whenever a clock-work attachment ran down. The
magazine was fastened to the boat by a screw, which could be unscrewed
from within. It was contrived so that when the magazine should be
disengaged from the vessel the clock-work should be set agoing. The
clock-work ran down in about thirty minutes, when the gun-lock went
off and ignited the charge. A short cable attached the magazine to
another screw in the top of the vessel. From within the operator could
fasten this screw into the bottom of a vessel and fill his own boat
at the same time. He could, therefore, sail safely away, leaving the
magazine attached to the bottom of the enemy’s man-of-war, and await
developments.
There was no evident reason why the attempt upon the _Eagle_ should
not have a satisfactory issue. Sergeant Lee was obliged to wait
several nights for a favorable opportunity. Finally, at eleven o’clock
one night in August, he embarked on his dangerous voyage. General
Putnam was on the wharf when he pushed off, and kept a constant watch
throughout the next few hours. Lee was towed by whale-boats as near the
ships as the oarsmen dared to go, and was then cast off. He discovered
that it was too early to make the attempt. The tide was running strong,
and, in spite of all that he could do, it carried him far beyond the
ships. He rowed aimlessly around until the tide slowed up, when he
made directly for the man-of-war. He drew so near under the stern of
the ships that he could see the British sailors and hear their voices.
At a favorable moment he let the water into the reservoirs and sank.
Everything up to this point worked splendidly. He had no difficulty in
managing his boat under the water, and took up a favorable position
directly under the keel of the man-of-war, near the stern. He at once
proceeded to attach the screw to the bottom of the vessel, when he
struck a formidable opposition. He had not figured on the copper
with which the bottom of the ship was covered, and which resisted
all his attempts to fasten the screw. At every attempt the boat
rebounded from the vessel’s bottom. Lee finally moved to another part
of the ship, and in so doing lost his hold completely, and rose with
tremendous velocity to the surface. He came within two or three feet
of the man-of-war, upon whose destruction he had been bent--a rather
uncomfortable circumstance, especially as it was nearly daylight. He
at once, therefore, filled the reservoirs and sank again. As it would
soon be morning, however, and as he had four miles to row, he decided
to abandon his attempt to blow up the man-of-war, and instead to look
out for his own safety. Bushnell never blamed Lee for his failure
to execute the plan, owing to the fact that he had had such slight
preparation for the task.
There was naturally much disappointment over this initial failure,
and especially when a British frigate came up and anchored off
Bloomingdale, and Lee made another equally unsuccessful attempt. His
intention this time was to go up to the stern of the vessel and,
without sinking, screw in his magazine close to the edge. Discovered
by the watch, he dove under the frigate, but went too deep and came up
on the other side. In the year 1777, however, Bushnell sent one of his
machines against the _Cerberus_, a British frigate, lying at anchor
between New London and the mouth of the Connecticut River. The machine
instead fell in with a schooner, anchored astern of the frigate, which
had escaped Bushnell’s observation. It blew up the schooner, completely
demolishing it, and killed three men. Bushnell was very much cast down
by the failure of his contrivance, which he believed had never had a
fair show. At the end of the war he went to France, and was present
during the stirring scenes of the Revolution. His relatives lost all
track of him, and supposed that he had died in a French prison or upon
the guillotine, until, in 1826, they received information of his death
in Georgia.
B. J. HENDRICK.
ANTHONY WALTON WHITE
[_Concluded from January Number._]
At the end of the “Western Insurrection,” in 1794, General White issued
the following address to the troops:
BEDFORD (PA.), _December 5, 1794_.
The dismission and sudden departure of the Cavalry, by Troops, from
Pittsburgh to their respective states and counties, prevented the
General of Cavalry from conveying in Orders, at that place and period,
the thanks and good wishes of the Commander-in-Chief, so handsomely
and friendly expressed in the following extract from his Excellency’s
last Orders, viz.: “To the Officers of every description he presents
his warmest thanks, for the faithful and able support which he has
derived from their exertion, in every stage of the execution of the
objects intrusted to his direction; and he intrusts them to convey
to his fellow-soldiers, in the most lively terms, his respectful
attachment, and his best wishes for their safe return, and happy
meeting with their friends.”
This praise, though flattering and justly due, cannot equal the
self-approbation every good citizen must experience, who has taken
so decided a part to check rebellion, restore order, and establish
the best of Constitutions. The nature of Cavalry service directed
the propriety of ordering a separation of the Brigade, after
passing the mountains, and now affords the General an opportunity
of congratulating those officers, who were favoured with separate
commands, on the success attending the design of the separation; as it
must be acknowledged, that the Brigade of Cavalry, with those three
very respectable Troops from the city of Philadelphia, commanded by
Captains Dunlap, Singer, and M’Connel, capturing in one day, and
almost at the same hour, every Insurgent of the western counties of
Pennsylvania, who had not previously fled from Justice, or signed
a submission to the laws to which they had so basely encouraged an
opposition. The complete execution of this enterprise expresses, in
lively colours, the great address of the Cavalry Officers, and the
military prowess of their respective Commands.
Deign, fellow-citizens and brother-soldiers, who have acted under the
General’s Orders, to accept of his warmest thanks for the cheerfulness
and promptitude you have shown in obeying and executing his Orders.
The satisfaction he experienced in commanding you can never be erased
from his mind. This became sometimes painful, by observing old
military rank, gray hairs, wealth, and character, placed, by choice,
in a subordinate situation, which unpleasant circumstance could only
be removed by beholding, at the same time, such honourable evidence of
this fact, that a true American will never embrace considerations of
this kind, to shield him from dangers and hardships, when called to
support the laws of his country, should they ever again be insulted or
opposed by any men or set of men, wickedly combined for that purpose.
Dictates of Justice direct the General of Cavalry to request Doctor
Charles Smith, Brigade Surgeon; Major Carle, Inspector of the Brigade;
Major Samuel Clarkson, Brigade-Quarter-Master, and Major John Striker,
Brigade-Forage-Master, to accept his thanks, for the attention they
have paid to their respective departments. Acknowledgements are also
due from the General to Le Chevalier D’Auterroches, his Aid-de-Camp,
and to Brigade-Major Dunham and Coejeman, for their faithful services.
Colonels Hubley and Gibbons, who honoured the General with acting
under his Orders as volunteer Brigade-Majors, will likewise please to
accept his unfeigned thanks for the aid he received from them. Major
James Dunham, who has the honour to bring up the rear of the Army, and
is intrusted with the deposite of their victories, has fully merited
that honour, by the great attention and humanity shown, by him, to
those unfortunate prisoners under his immediate charge; which has been
often noticed by the General, with the greatest satisfaction, during
the march to this place; and speaks in strong language, the goodness
of the Major’s heart. A continuation of the same attention, with every
precaution for the safety of those unhappy instruments of designing
men, is warmly recommended, till they shall be delivered up to the
Marshal of the state of Pennsylvania. To every individual of the
Cavalry, whom the General has had the honour to command, he now bids
an affectionate farewell; and sincerely wishes them every domestic
happiness.
ANTHONY W. WHITE,
_Brig. Gen. commanding the Cavalry
ordered on the western Expedition_.
(FROM CONTEMPORARY PRINTS)
NEW BRUNSWICK, _Feb. 3, 1795_.
On Monday, the 26th, seventy-five officers of the New Jersey cavalry,
met in this city and dined together at the White Hall Tavern, His
Excellency the Governor and suite honored them with their company at
dinner, after which fifteen toasts were drank. The next day all the
officers waited on General White, delivered the following address to
him, and partook of a cold collation at his house.
SIR.
With unfeigned satisfaction, we embrace this occasion, the earliest
we have been able to command, to make our warmest acknowledgements to
you for the very polite and friendly sentiment conveyed to us in your
last cavalry orders. This public testimony of your partiality to us
and interest in our happiness, has been fully evinced in many trying
circumstances. Raw and undisciplined as we were, to have met the
approbation of one, so complete in military science, cannot but vastly
enhance the pleasing sensations we derive, from having lent a willing
aid in support of our happy constitution. If we have acted with a
degree of reputation to ourselves; if we have rendered service to our
country, to you sir, are we much indebted for both these advantages.
Your activity, combined with an extensive knowledge of your important
duties, have at all times been eminently conspicuous; your zeal
for the public good, and an affectionate regard for the honor and
happiness of the New Jersey cavalry, have been too well noticed and
too sincerely approved, ever to be effaced from our remembrance. To
see the man, who has spent years in a continued struggle for freedom,
and bled in asserting our dearest rights, again at the call of his
country, step forward with that ardent enthusiasm which true liberty
ever inspires, did not fail to command our grateful admiration and
render us emulous of such virtue. May that sacred flame of liberty
which you have been so instrumental in lighting up and supporting,
long burn bright in this new world and extend its genial influence
from continent to continent, until tyranny shall disappear and the
whole world would be emancipated.
Accept sir, our warmest approbation of your conduct and our sincere
prayer that your life may be long continued, as useful to your
country, an honor to the New Jersey Cavalry, and full of every comfort
to yourself.
In behalf of the officers of the New Jersey Cavalry on the late
expedition.
BENJ. WILLIAMSON, _Maj._
Com. 1st. Reg. Jersey Cavalry.
January 27, 1795.
To which the General replied: That the polite and affectionate
address of his fellow citizens and brother soldiers, expressing their
approbation of his conduct added to the heart felt satisfaction he had
already experienced from his late honourable commands, claimed our
warmest acknowledgements, and sincerely wish that they might enjoy
every happiness and a tender of his friendship and services.
The officers spent several days together in that harmony and true
friendship, to be expected only from men warmly interested in the good
of their country, and the happiness of each other.
Judge Paterson, Major General Dayton and several gentlemen and
officers of character and distinction, visited the social board of
this patriotic band of citizen soldiers. We are told that they have
appointed Major Williamson of Essex, Major Meeker of Bergen, Major
Laddle of Morris, Major Baily of Sussex, Major Carle of Hunterdon,
Major Quay of Monmouth, Major Dunham of Middlesex, Captain Vanderveer
of Somerset, and Captains Wollcot and Shute of the Western counties, a
committee to wait on the Legislature with a memorial, praying redress
of certain grievances which the cavalry are subject to, from the
present militia law, and that the same may be formed into regiments,
we also hear that they have agreed to meet annually, at such time and
place as their General may please to fix.
On Thursday last, Anthony Walton White, Esq., Adjutant-General of
the Militia of New Jersey, accompanied by Generals Frelinghuysen and
Bloomfield, and politely attended by the members of Congress from this
State, waited upon the President of the United States, and, in behalf
of the officers of the New Jersey Militia, presented the following
address:
SIR.
The Commander-in-Chief, the General Officers, the General Staff and
Field Officers of the Militia of the State of New Jersey, feel in
common with their numerous fellow citizens who have addressed you in
the present critical situation of our nation, and most cordially join
them in expressing to you their high approbation of your conduct in
the management of its foreign concerns, and their indignation for the
insult offered to the honor and independence of the American people.
We come not, Sir, to dictate--whether peace can be preserved with the
safety of our national dignity, or whether an appeal is to be made to
arms, are questions intrusted to those in whose patriotism we confide,
and according to their decision we shall always be prepared to act.
But, Sir, at this eventful period, we deem it our duty, and feel it a
pleasure, respectfully to approach our Commander-in-Chief, and to make
him a solemn proffer of our lives and fortunes in the service of our
country. It is not, Sir, for soldiers to boast; but we know the troops
whom we have the honor to command; we have been eye witnesses to their
zeal in the cause of freedom; we have been their companions in many
toils and many sufferings, and if our beloved country calls, we shall
again cast the eye of confidence along their embattled ranks.
Let our enemies flatter themselves that we are a divided people.
In New Jersey, Sir, with the exception of a few degraded and a few
deluded characters, to whose persons and to whose services the
invading foe shall be welcome the moment of their arrival, and whom we
engage to convey in safety to their lines--in New Jersey, Sir, there
is but ONE VOICE, and that is the voice of confidence in the federal
government: the voice of perfect satisfaction with your administration
of it; and the voice of firmness and determination to support the laws
and constitution, the honor and dignity of the United States; and,
Sir, for the defence of these, we do this day, in the presence of the
God of armies, and in firm reliance in his protection, solemnly pledge
to you our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
COMMANDER IN CHIEF AND GENERAL STAFF OFFICERS
Richard Howell, _Commander-in-Chief_.
Anthony W. White, _Adjutant-General_.
D. Woodruff, _Sec’ry to Commander-in-Chief_.
R. Boggs, _Judge Advocate_.
Aaron Ogden, }
J. Rhea, }
Mark Thompson, } _Aids to Commander-in-Chief_.
Aaron Dunham, }
B. Loyd, }
John Lacey, }
Wm. Wykoff, }
James F. Armstrong, }
John Croes, } _Chaplains to Commander-in-Chief_.
John Neilson, _Paymaster General_.
James Schureman, _Quarter-Master Gen._
Thomas Lowry, _Commissary General_.
N. Belleville, _Physician General_.
Moses Scott, _Surgeon General_.
Charles Smith, _Surgeon of Cavalry_.
MAJOR GENERALS
Elias Dayton,
Wm. Helmes,
F. Frelinghuysen,
Joseph Bloomfield.
BRIGADIER GENERALS
John N. Cumming,
Richard Dey,
John Doughty,
James Giles,
Elisha Lawrence,
John F. Morris,
Clarkson Edgar,
John Hilt,
Joseph Brearly,
Franklin Davenport,
John Heard,
A. V. Middlesworth,
Wm. Todd,
Clement Wood,
John Hardenburgh,
Wm. M’Kussack,
John Frelinghuysen,
Gershom Dunn,
Samuel Morford,
John Baird,
J. Veghte,
Andrew Lyle.
LIEUT. COLONELS
James Heddin,
Wm. Crane,
Jedediah Swan,
C. Ford,
Jacob Arnold,
Wm. W. Bell,
Thomas Blanch,
Nehemiah Wade,
Prudden Alling,
Samuel Quay,
Wessel T. Stout,
Barnes Smock,
James Green,
Elias Conover,
P. J. Stryker,
Henry Vanderveer,
James Henry,
E. Beatty,
Robert Ross,
Wm. M’Cullough,
Chs. Pemberton,
David Bishop,
David Schamp,
John Vancleve,
Jona. Black,
P. Hunt,
Thomas Heston,
Joshua L. Howell,
Daniel Benszett,
Dayton Newcomb,
Aula M’Calta,
Eli Elmer,
Joshua Sihnn,
I. Beekman,
Andrew Sinnickson,
Phinehas Carman,
Joseph Marsh,
Andrew M’Dowell,
C. Shipmons,
Thomas Paul,
Wm. Kolberdieu,
Wm. Gasill,
John M’Peck,
Richard Edsall,
Elias Ogden,
Solomon Broderick,
John Stevens,
John Stevenson,
Charles Reading,
Jona. Smith,
Jona. Porter,
Wm. Dumont,
Samuel Becks,
Robert Lucas,
Joseph M’Ilvaine,
Wm. Pearson,
John Lawrence,
Samuel I. Keer,
Wm. Dick,
John Forman,
Albemarle Collins,
Joel Gibbs,
Thomas Wilkins,
Samuel Flaninggam,
E. L. Whitclock,
Nathaniel Beach,
Matt Williamson, Jun.
Wm. Dayton,
Wm. Shute,
David Clark,
Nathan Ford.
MAJOR COMMANDANTS
Peter Keenon,
Ralph P. Lott,
James Dunham.
MAJORS
Cornelius Hoagland,
Benjamin Jackson,
James Craig,
Thomas Little,
Isaac Kip,
Jon. Vanbueren,
Samuel Reading,
Hiram Smith,
E. Vangelden,
James Conover,
James Cox,
Samuel P. Forman,
Gared Stillwell,
John Stillwell,
John Budd,
Wm. Colfax,
Abraham Pust,
Marmaduke Stokes,
John Tice,
James Williams,
Enoch Leeds,
Ephraim Buck,
Almerain Brooks,
Morris Beasley,
Jacob Hussy,
Robert G. Johnson,
Richard Fisher,
Wm. Gordon Forman,
J. H. Imlay.
To which the President returned the following:
ANSWER:
_To the Commander-in-Chief, the General Officers, the General Staff
and Field Officers of the State of New Jersey._
GENTLEMEN:
Among all the numerous addresses which have been presented to me, in
the present critical situation of our nation, there has been none
which has done me more honor, none animated with a more glowing
love of our country, or expressive of sentiments more determined
and magnanimous. The submission you avow to the civil authority,
an indispensable principle in the character of warriors in a free
government, at the same moment when you make a solemn proffer of
your Lives and Fortunes in the service of your country, is highly
honorable to your dispositions as Citizens and Soldiers, and proves
you perfectly qualified for the duties of both characters. Officers
and Soldiers of New Jersey have as little occasion as they have
disposition to boast. Their country has long boasted of their ardent
zeal in the cause of freedom and their invincible intrepidity in the
day of battle.
Your voice of confidence and satisfaction, of firmness and
determination to support the laws and Constitution of the United
States, has a charm in it irresistible to the feelings of every
American bosom; but, when in the presence of the God of armies, and
in firm reliance on his protection, you solemnly pledge your lives
and fortunes and sacred honor, you have recorded words which ought to
be indelibly imprinted in the memory of every American youth.--With
these sentiments in the hearts, and this language in the mouths of
Americans in general, the greatest nation may menace at its pleasure,
and the degraded and deluded characters may tremble lest they should
be condemned to the severest punishment an American can suffer--that
of being conveyed in safety within the lines of an invading enemy.
JOHN ADAMS.
Philadelphia, May 31st, 1798.
A. S. GRAHAM.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J.
[Illustration]
WHERE ARE EVANGELINE AND GABRIEL BURIED?
The priests and sextons of old St. Joseph’s, St. Mary’s and Holy
Trinity Churches, of Philadelphia, are often called upon by visitors to
the city, to point out the grave of Evangeline and her lover, Gabriel,
the delightful creatures of Longfellow’s fancy, in relating the
expulsion of the Acadians from their happy homes and their dispersion
along the coast of the British provinces.
Of course, Gabriel and Evangeline are buried nowhere, as they never
existed, save in the imagination of the poet. The poem he calls “A
Tale of Acadie,” a “mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the
forest.” Still, it is astonishing that so many who have read the poem
have believed in the actuality of the tradition in its relation of
chief characters, in its Evangeline and her lover, and have sought
their graves at these three Catholic graveyards. St. Joseph’s now has
no burial ground attached to the church. It had originally, but after
1759 the dead of the congregation were interred in the ground across
the street, and, after 1763, called St. Mary’s Street.
Longfellow’s poem represents the time of the meeting, death and burial,
as occurring during a pestilence. This was the yellow fever of 1793,
as no general epidemic had occurred in the city from the time of the
coming of the Acadians in November, 1755, until that awful pestilence
of 1793 ravaged the city.
But St. Joseph’s, in that year, had no burial ground at the church. The
latest interment I know of was that of Father Farmer, August, 1786.
Perhaps a few persons holding lots might have been permitted to inter
in that graveyard after the opening of St. Mary’s ground in 1759, but
most unlikely that Gabriel, an inmate of the city almshouse, would have
been brought there for burial, and later Evangeline laid in a grave
“side by side” by his.
So, though Old St. Joseph’s--mainly because it is called Old, and
because of the nearness of the Quakers’ Almshouse (torn down in 1874),
which many have supposed to have been the almshouse Longfellow had
in mind--is the most probable place of the burial of the lovers,
in the belief of many, including usually well informed “Penn,” of
the _Evening Bulletin_, who, on October 12, 1898, declared that as
Evangeline had long been a Sister, who knew the city and its seamy
side, she, like a good Catholic, could have saved his body from being
buried in the potter’s field, and would have carried it to the ground
of Old St. Joseph’s.
(It is to be remarked that Philadelphia had no Sisters of Mercy then,
nor Sisters of any Order until 1814, when the Sisters of Charity came
from Mrs. Seton’s to take charge of St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, on
Sixth Street.)
St. Mary’s, on Fourth Street, almost directly opposite to St. Joseph’s,
is not so often called at nor so frequently assigned as the supposed
place of interment.
To the opinions of those, who have supposed that either of these
“churchyards” was the one Longfellow had in mind when writing the poem,
I, years ago suggested that Holy Trinity Churchyard, on Sixth Street,
was the most likely place--the place most probable--the one which
Longfellow saw and years after had in mind.
The City Almshouse, at the time of the fever in 1793, was on Spruce
Street, south side, from Tenth to Eleventh Streets.
It was there when, in 1824, Longfellow visited the city.
On the same street from Eighth to Ninth, was then, and is now,
the Pennsylvania Hospital. Longfellow doubtless saw both, and the
recollection of either came to him when writing the poem, as the
place where Gabriel, dying, was attended to by Evangeline, in the
city poorhouse. Though there has been discussion as to which of these
institutions Longfellow had in mind, it could not be settled, because
the poet, in writing to Charles H. A. Esling, Esq., of Philadelphia,
now a resident of Germany, could not himself tell what building he had
in mind.
But the point with us is as to where the lovers were buried. They have
so impressed countless thousands, that one may almost consider them as
actual personages, who lived and moved and died, and were buried in our
city--but where?
When it is remembered that the Pennsylvania Hospital and the City
Almshouse were both on Spruce Street, and that either of these could
have been the scene of the meeting of Evangeline and Gabriel, what is
more probable, that, as Longfellow walked Spruce Street, in 1824, he
could, at the western entrance of Holy Trinity church have glanced at
the passageway to the entrance of the church and seen as you can to-day
see, the little churchyard attached to it? Then passing eastward, to
Sixth Street, and turning northward, he had to pass the church, when
again he saw “the little Catholic churchyard”--the only such in the
city in 1824, and the smallest even to-day.
Remember, Longfellow, in describing the burial place of the lovers,
wrote:
“Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping,
Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard.
In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed;
Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them.”
Mind, he says, “the little Catholic churchyard.” Many, I fear, have
thought of Old St. Joseph’s, “the little Catholic church,” and so,
have assigned to it the burial place, but it is “the little Catholic
churchyard,” which Longfellow speaks of, and the smallest such which
Philadelphia had in 1824, or could have had in 1793, the time of the
pestilence, was Holy Trinity, which dates from 1789. It best fills the
probabilities in the case: the almshouse at Tenth Street; the hospital
at Eighth; the little Catholic churchyard at Sixth Street.
The word “yard,” too, is important. He does not say Catholic
_graveyard_--but _churchyard_. Holy Trinity best fills the idea of a
small space attached to a building--a church--and having the commonly
called “yard,” a small enclosed place--in this case, at the side of the
church, right “under the humble walls.” No other Catholic churchyard
in 1793, could have been “under the walls” of any church but this. St.
Joseph’s had ceased to be a place of interment; St. Mary’s was, and yet
is, a large graveyard. It is not a “little churchyard,” and interments
cannot be said, even in imagination of poetry, to have been “under the
walls” of the church, as big in 1793 as to-day, save by about twenty
feet.
While, of course, there was no real Evangeline or Gabriel in
Philadelphia, and no real burial anywhere, the sole discussion is
confined to the churchyard Longfellow saw, in 1824, and in 1847,
had in mind as the burial place of the two. No place so well fills
the possibilities, even the probability, as Holy Trinity’s “little
churchyard,” at Sixth and Spruce.
How Longfellow came to write Evangeline has been narrated; how Lowell
thought the “tradition” a fit one for a story, but that Longfellow
desired he be allowed to use it for a poem.
In “The Neutral French or the Exiles of Nova Scotia,” by Mrs. Williams,
issued in 1841, will be found the same story, but with New York as
the scene of action. That doubtless was the source of suggestion to
Longfellow.
MARTIN I. J. GRIFFIN.
PHILADELPHIA.
[Illustration]
CAPTAIN JAMES DUNCAN’S DIARY OF THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN
Colonel Hazen’s regiment was the second regiment of the kind and was
known as “Congress’s Own,” because under authority of a resolution of
Congress of January 20, 1776, permission was granted to enlist one
thousand Canadians or more for one year, as was done in a previous case
under Colonel James Livingston. This regiment was not chargeable to any
State, and hence its name, “Congress’s Own.” The troops were sometimes
called “Canadian forces.”
Colonel Moses Hazen was appointed Colonel and Edward Antill Lieutenant
Colonel, by Congress. In the early part of 1776 about 500 Canadians
were secured for the regiment; but the evacuation of Canada reduced the
number to less than 100 by the time it reached Albany. Colonels Hazen
and Antill then went to Philadelphia to lay the matter before Congress.
As a result they received authority to recruit anywhere within the
United States. Hazen went to New York and the New England States;
Antill to Pennsylvania and the Middle States. The latter was the more
successful in securing recruits.
In the early part of 1781 the regiment moved from West Point down the
Hudson and joined the army en route for Yorktown, when it participated
in the siege. After the surrender of Cornwallis it was ordered to
Lancaster, Pa., where for ten months it guarded English prisoners. Then
it moved to New York, and was finally disbanded at White Plains in
November, 1783.
In this regiment served James Duncan, first as a Lieutenant, commission
dated November 3, 1776, and next as Captain, commission dated March 25,
1778.
James Duncan was a native of Philadelphia, where he was born in 1756.
He graduated at Princeton College and was studying for the ministry
when the war broke out. As related by himself afterward, “The beating
of the d-- drums past my window made such a noise that I could not
study;” so he concluded to enter the army. He became a member of
Colonel Hazen’s regiment, and continued with it till the close of
the war. For his services he received from Pennsylvania 500 acres
of land. This tract was situated in the Shenango valley, in what is
now Mercer County. When Adams County, Pa., was formed, Captain Duncan
was appointed first Prothonotary, and held the position until 1822.
During the twenty-one years he filled this office, he was never beyond
the sight of his Court House; and during that time he never opened
his office at night nor allowed a candle or lantern to be used in his
office, so carefully did he regard his duty to preserve the public
records.
Captain Duncan removed to Mercer County, Pa., in 1822, and lived there
to the time of his death, which occurred June 24, 1844, in his 89th
year.
The diary which is here presented was kept by Captain Duncan with great
care. As a scholarly man and a good military officer, he was thoroughly
competent to make careful and reliable observations. These memoranda
were in his own handwriting. From this record the author of this paper
made an exact copy in 1899, and it is an important contribution to the
history of the Siege of Yorktown.
THE DIARY PROPER