The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 Part 22

THE MEDALLIC HISTORY (p. 001)

OF

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

1776-1876.

No. 1.

PLATE I.

_March 17, 1776._

Georgio Was.h.i.+ngton svpremo dvci exercitvvm adsertori libertatis Comitia Americana. [Rx].[26] Hostibus primo fugatis.

[Footnote 26: [Rx]. Abbreviation of REVERSE.]

GENERAL GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

[_Boston retaken._]

GEORGIO WAs.h.i.+NGTON SVPREMO DVCI EXERCITVVM ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS COMITIA AMERICANA. (_The American Congress to George Was.h.i.+ngton, commander-in-chief of the armies, the a.s.sertor of liberty._) Undraped bust of General Was.h.i.+ngton, facing the right. DUVIVIER. Paris. F.

(_fecit_).

HOSTIBUS PRIMO FUGATIS. (_The enemy put to flight for the first time._) To the left, General Was.h.i.+ngton on horseback, surrounded by his staff, points toward the British fleet, which is leaving Boston.

The American army, in battle array in front of its intrenchments, (p. 002) makes ready to occupy the city. Exergue: BOSTONIUM RECUPERATUM XVII MARTII MDCCLXXVI. (_Boston retaken, March 17, 1776._) On a cannon, DUVIV. (_Duvivier_).[27]

[Footnote 27: See INTRODUCTION, pages x, xi, xiii, xvi, xxiii, xxv, xxviii; B, x.x.xvi; G, xlv; and H, xlvii.]

Although this medal was the first one voted by Congress, it was not struck until after that of the Chevalier de Fleury, which was voted three years later. Its designs, and those of the medals awarded to General Horatio Gates for Saratoga, General Nathaniel Greene for Eutaw Springs, General Daniel Morgan, Lieutenant-Colonels William Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton and John Eager Howard for the Cowpens, General Anthony Wayne and Major John Stewart for Stony Point, and Captain John Paul Jones for the capture of the Serapis, were composed by commissioners appointed by the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, at the request of Colonel David Humphreys and of Mr. Jefferson. The legend of the reverse of the General Was.h.i.+ngton medal, as originally proposed, was HOSTIBUS or ANGLIS PRIMUM FUGATIS. Several of the medals are treated of at length in the Introduction, to which, to avoid repet.i.tion, the reader is referred.

PIERRE SIMON DUVIVIER was born in Paris, November 5, 1731. He was the son of Jean Duvivier, a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and the grandson of Jean Duvivier, known as Duvivier "_le pere_," the first of this distinguished family of medal engravers, who lived in Liege at the beginning of the 17th century. Pierre Simon Duvivier was engraver-general of the Paris Mint prior to 1793, and executed medals of many eminent persons. America is indebted to him for those of General Was.h.i.+ngton, Lieutenant-Colonel de Fleury, Lieutenant-Colonel William Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton, and Lieutenant-Colonel John Eager Howard. He was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and died June 10, 1819.

GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON was born near Pope's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 1732. He lost his father when but ten years of age, and in 1752, in consequence of the death of his elder brother, came into possession of the estate of Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River, and other property. The same year he received a commission as major of militia, and in 1755 became colonel and aid-de-camp to (p. 003) General Braddock. On the death of that officer in the disastrous march against Fort Duquesne, Was.h.i.+ngton conducted the retreat, and was shortly afterward appointed commander of the Virginia troops. In 1774 he was elected member of the first Continental Congress, held in Philadelphia, and in the following year was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, taking command of the forces at Cambridge, July 3, 1775. On March 17, 1776, he compelled the British forces to evacuate Boston, for which Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal. He was commander-in-chief throughout the War of Independence, and resigned his commission as such, December 23, 1783, when he retired to Mount Vernon. He was delegate from Virginia to the National Convention which met in Philadelphia in May, 1787, to frame the Const.i.tution of the United States, and was chosen its president.

He was afterward unanimously elected first President of the United States, and was inaugurated in New York city, April 30, 1789. He was re-elected, and inaugurated a second time, March 4, 1793; refused a third term of office, and issued a farewell address, September 17, 1796. When a war with France was expected, in 1797, he was re-appointed commander-in-chief. General Was.h.i.+ngton died at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799.

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ORIGINAL DOc.u.mENTS.

_Resolution of Congress Voting a Medal to General Was.h.i.+ngton._

IN CONGRESS.

_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Congress, in their own name, and in the name of the thirteen United Colonies, whom they represent, be presented to His Excellency General Was.h.i.+ngton, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston; and that a medal of gold be struck in commemoration of this great event, and presented to His Excellency; and that a committee of three[28] be appointed to prepare a letter of thanks and a proper device for the medal.

Monday, March 25, 1776.

[Footnote 28: The members chosen were Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Hopkins.]

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_General Was.h.i.+ngton to the President of Congress._ (p. 004)

To John HANc.o.c.k, Esq., HEADQUARTERS, Cambridge, President of Congress. March 19, 1776.

Sir: It is with the greatest pleasure I inform you that, on Sunday last, the seventeenth instant, about nine o'clock in the forenoon, the ministerial army evacuated the town of Boston, and that the forces of the United Colonies are now in actual possession thereof. I beg leave to congratulate you, Sir, and the honourable Congress, on this happy event, and particularly as it was effected without endangering the lives and property of the remaining unhappy inhabitants.

I have great reason to imagine their flight was precipitated by the appearance of a work which I had ordered to be thrown up last Sat.u.r.day night on an eminence at Dorchester, which lay nearest to Boston Neck, called Nook's Hill.

The town, although it has suffered greatly, is not in so bad a state as I expected to find it; and I have a particular pleasure in being able to inform you, Sir, that your house has received no damage worth mentioning. Your furniture is in tolerable order, and the family pictures are all left entire and untouched.

Captain Cazeneau takes charge of the whole until he shall receive further orders from you.

As soon as the ministerial troops had quitted the town, I ordered a thousand men (who had had the small-pox), under command of General Putnam, to take possession of the heights, which I shall endeavour to fortify in such a manner as to prevent their return, should they attempt it. But as they are still in the harbour, I thought it not prudent to march off with the main body of the army until I should be fully satisfied they had quitted the coast. I have, therefore, only detached five regiments, besides the rifle battalion, to New York, and shall keep the remainder here till all suspicion of their return ceases.

The situation in which I found their works evidently discovered that their retreat was made with the greatest precipitation. They have left their barracks, and other works of wood at Bunker Hill, &c., all standing, and have destroyed but a small part of their lines. They have also left a number of fine pieces of cannon which they first spiked up, also a very large iron mortar, and, as I am informed, they have thrown another over the end of your wharf. I have employed proper persons to drill the cannon, and doubt not I shall save the most of them. I am not yet able to procure an exact list of all the stores they have left. As soon as it can be done, I shall take care to transmit it to you. From an estimate of what the quartermaster-general has already discovered, the amount will be twenty-five or thirty thousand pounds.

Part of the powder mentioned in yours of the sixth instant has already arrived. The remainder I have ordered to be stopped on the road, as we shall have no occasion for it here. The letter to General Thomas I immediately sent to him. He desired leave for three or four days to settle some of his private affairs, after which he will set out for his command in Canada. I am happy that my conduct in intercepting Lord Drummond's letter is approved of by Congress.

I have the honour to be, &c., Geo. WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

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_The President of Congress to General Was.h.i.+ngton._ (p. 005)

To General WAs.h.i.+NGTON. Philadelphia, April 2, 1776.

Sir: It gives me the most sensible pleasure to convey to you, by order of Congress, the only tribute which a free people will ever consent to pay--the tribute of thanks and grat.i.tude to their friends and benefactors. The disinterested and patriotic principles which led you to the field have also led you to glory; and it affords no little consolation to your countrymen to reflect that, as a peculiar greatness of mind induced you to decline any compensation for serving them, except the pleasure of promoting their happiness, they may, without your permission, bestow upon you the largest share of their affections and esteem.

Those pages in the annals of America will record your t.i.tle to a conspicuous place in the temple of fame which shall inform posterity that, under your direction, an undisciplined band of husbandmen, in the course of a few months, became soldiers; and that the desolation meditated against the country by a brave army of veterans, commanded by the most experienced generals, but employed by bad men in the worst of causes, was, by the fort.i.tude of your troops, and the address of their officers, next to the kind interposition of Providence, confined for near a year within such narrow limits as scarcely to admit more room than was necessary for the encampments and fortifications they lately abandoned. Accept, therefore, Sir, the thanks of the United Colonies, unanimously declared by their delegates to be due to you and the brave officers and troops under your command; and be pleased to communicate to them this distinguished mark of the approbation of their country. The Congress have ordered a golden medal, adapted to the occasion, to be struck, and, when finished, to be presented to you.

I have the honour to be, with every sentiment of esteem, Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, John HANc.o.c.k, President.

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_John Adams to General Was.h.i.+ngton._

To General WAs.h.i.+NGTON. Philadelphia, April 2, 1776.

Sir: I congratulate you, as well as all the friends of mankind, in the reduction of Boston, an event which appeared to me of so great and decisive importance, that, the next morning after the arrival of the news, I did myself the honour to move for the thanks of Congress to Your Excellency, and that a medal of gold should be struck in commemoration of it. Congress have been pleased to appoint me, with two other gentlemen, to prepare a device. I should be very happy to have Your Excellency's sentiments concerning a proper one.

I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient and affectionate servant, John ADAMS.

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