Hero Tales from American History Part 1

Hero Tales From American History.

by Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Hence it is that the fathers of these men and ours also, and they themselves likewise, being nurtured in all freedom and well born, have shown before all men many and glorious deeds in public and private, deeming it their duty to fight for the cause of liberty and the Greeks, even against Greeks, and against Barbarians for all the Greeks."--PLATO: "Menexenus."

TO E. Y. R.

To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fas.h.i.+on the story of some Americans who showed that they knew how to live and how to die; who proved their truth by their endeavor; and who joined to the stern and manly qualities which are essential to the well-being of a masterful race the virtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an ideal.

It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially good thing for young Americans, to remember the men who have given their lives in war and peace to the service of their fellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring and personal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions of the nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift, industry, obedience to law, and intellectual cultivation are essential qualities in the makeup of any successful people; but no people can be really great unless they possess also the heroic virtues which are as needful in time of peace as in time of war, and as important in civil as in military life. As a civilized people we desire peace, but the only peace worth having is obtained by instant readiness to fight when wronged--not by unwillingness or inability to fight at all. Intelligent foresight in preparation and known capacity to stand well in battle are the surest safeguards against war. America will cease to be a great nation whenever her young men cease to possess energy, daring, and endurance, as well as the wish and the power to fight the nation's foes. No citizen of a free state should wrong any man; but it is not enough merely to refrain from infringing on the rights of others; he must also be able and willing to stand up for his own rights and those of his country against all comers, and he must be ready at any time to do his full share in resisting either malice domestic or foreign levy.

HENRY CABOT LODGE. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, April 19, 1895.

CONTENTS

GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON--H. C. Lodge.

DANIEL BOONE AND THE FOUNDING OF KENTUCKY--Theodore Roosevelt.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE BATTLE OF TRENTON--H. C. Lodge.

BENNINGTON--H. C. Lodge.

KING'S MOUNTAIN--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE STORMING OF STONY POINT--Theodore Roosevelt.

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS--H. C. Lodge.

THE BURNING OF THE "PHILADELPHIA"--H. C. Lodge.

THE CRUISE OF THE "WASP"--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS--Theodore Roosevelt.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE RIGHT OF PEt.i.tION--H. C. Lodge.

FRANCIS PARKMAN--H. C. Lodge.

"REMEMBER THE ALAMO"--Theodore Roosevelt.

HAMPTON ROADS--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE FLAG-BEARER--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE DEATH OF STONEWALL JACK--Theodore Roosevelt.

THE CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG--Theodore Roosevelt.

GENERAL GRANT AND THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN--H. C. Lodge.

ROBERT GOULD SHAW--H. C. Lodge.

CHARLES RUSSELL LOWELL--H. C. Lodge.

SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK--H. C. Lodge.

LIEUTENANT CUs.h.i.+NG AND THE RAM "ALBEMARLE"--Theodore Roosevelt.

FARRAGUT AT MOBILE BAY--Theodore Roosevelt.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN--H. C. Lodge.

"Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king.

Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all I shall not look upon his like again."--Hamlet

HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY

WAs.h.i.+NGTON

The brilliant historian of the English people [*] has written of Was.h.i.+ngton, that "no n.o.bler figure ever stood in the fore-front of a nation's life." In any book which undertakes to tell, no matter how slightly, the story of some of the heroic deeds of American history, that n.o.ble figure must always stand in the fore-front. But to sketch the life of Was.h.i.+ngton even in the barest outline is to write the history of the events which made the United States independent and gave birth to the American nation. Even to give alist of what he did, to name his battles and recount his acts as president, would be beyond the limit and the scope of this book. Yet it is always possible to recall the man and to consider what he was and what he meant for us and for mankind He is worthy the study and the remembrance of all men, and to Americans he is at once a great glory of their past and an inspiration and an a.s.surance of their future.

* John Richard Green.

To understand Was.h.i.+ngton at all we must first strip off all the myths which have gathered about him. We must cast aside into the dust-heaps all the wretched inventions of the cherry-tree variety, which were fastened upon him nearly seventy years after his birth. We must look at him as he looked at life and the facts about him, without any illusion or deception, and no man in history can better stand such a scrutiny.

Born of a distinguished family in the days when the American colonies were still ruled by an aristocracy, Was.h.i.+ngton started with all that good birth and tradition could give. Beyond this, however, he had little. His family was poor, his mother was left early a widow, and he was forced after a very limited education to go out into the world to fight for himself He had strong within him the adventurous spirit of his race. He became a surveyor, and in the pursuit of this profession plunged into the wilderness, where he soon grew to be an expert hunter and backwoodsman. Even as a boy the gravity of his character and his mental and physical vigor commended him to those about him, and responsibility and military command were put in his hands at an age when most young men are just leaving college. As the times grew threatening on the frontier, he was sent on a perilous mission to the Indians, in which, after pa.s.sing through many hards.h.i.+ps and dangers, he achieved success. When the troubles came with France it was by the soldiers under his command that the first shots were fired in the war which was to determine whether the North American continent should be French or English. In his earliest expedition he was defeated by the enemy. Later he was with Braddock, and it was he who tried, to rally the broken English army on the stricken field near Fort Duquesne. On that day of surprise and slaughter he displayed not only cool courage but the reckless daring which was one of his chief characteristics. He so exposed himself that bullets pa.s.sed through his coat and hat, and the Indians and the French who tried to bring him down thought he bore a charmed life. He afterwards served with distinction all through the French war, and when peace came he went back to the estate which he had inherited from his brother, the most admired man in Virginia.

At that time he married, and during the ensuing years he lived the life of a Virginia planter, successful in his private affairs and serving the public effectively but quietly as a member of the House of Burgesses.

When the troubles with the mother country began to thicken he was slow to take extreme ground, but he never wavered in his belief that all attempts to oppress the colonies should be resisted, and when he once took up his position there was no shadow of turning. He was one of Virginia's delegates to the first Continental Congress, and, although he said but little, he was regarded by all the representatives from the other colonies as the strongest man among them. There was something about him even then which commanded the respect and the confidence of every one who came in contact with him.