Peterson's American wars: a history of the wars of the United States containing a history of the Revolution and of the Wars of 1812 and Mexico, with biographical sketches of all the prominent American military heroes engaged in those wars

Front matter

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PETERSON'S AIVIERICAN WARS.

Preface

The following work has long been a favorite scheme of the author. When the idea of it first occurred to him, there was scarcely any book of a similar character. Some of the biographies were composed five or six years ago, and were given to the public as fugitive contributions ; others are of a later date; but nearly all were ready for the press a twelve-month since. Just as they arrived at this point, however, the announcement of a publication somewhat resembling this, induced the abandonment of the enterprise, with the natural reflection, that in America at least, the delay recommended by Horace was not always advisable. Subsequently, how-

6 PREFACE.

ever, the writer was persuaded to prosecute his undertaking, and the result, with but little alteration, is before the reader !

It was the original intention to have given, in one volume, a complete gallery of the military heroes of the United States, those of the war of 1812, as well as those of the war of Independence. The war with Mexico, however, frustrated this design, it being found 4ihat the material would swell to two volumes. The " Heroes of the War of 1812," and the '' Heroes of the War vrith Mexico," will together complete a second volume, which is now passing through the press.

The design of this work is to furnish brief, analytical por-^ traits of those military leaders who, either from superior ability, or superior good fortune, have played the most prominent parts in the wars of the United States. Each biography is made the frame, as it were, for a battle picture, the combat chosen being that in which the hero of the memoir principally distinguished himself This has always appeared to the author the only true way to give a military portrait. What would a sketch of Hannibal be, without Cannae ; or one of Bruce without Banno.ckburn ? The battle in which a great hero distinguishes himself, becomes a part of his biography. His fame, and sometimes even his character cannot be understood without it. The author has desired, accordingly, to write a book which should not only tell when Warren was bom, where Putnam spent his youth, or who were the ancestors of Greene and Wayne, but to enshrine as far as his feeble pen has power, the memory of those immortal heroes with Lexington, Bunker Hill, Eutaw arrd Stony Point.

In executing this plan, it became necessary to omit many

PREFACE. 7

whose rank would seem to claim admission, and to introduce others whose subordinate positions have caused them heretofore to be overlooked. Thus the author has given sketches of Colonel Henry Lee, of Captain Kirkwood, of Ethan Allen, and of others ; bnt none of several Major-Generals. He hesitated for some time, whether Howard and Pickens ought not to be included with Williams and Sumpter ; whether the services of Captain Washington in the cavalry, and those of Clarke on the western frontier, did not entitle them to a place. He has admitted, perhaps, more foreigners than some may think necessary ; but it must be recollected that the army was indebted for most of its discipline and military science to these men. He has also included Hamilton and Burr; but they have never heretofore been assigned their due prominence; and moreover their biographies allowed the author to bring the history of the nation down to the present century, an important addition to the completeness of his work as a whole.

The author does not pretend to claim exemption from errors — no annalist can, least of ail an annalist of the American revolution ! Many of the details of that period are involved m inextricable confusion. Whether Mercer suggested the march on Princeton ; whether Putnam brought on the battle of Bunker Hill ; whether Montgomery harangued his men before the second barrier of Quebec ; whether Arnold was present at Stillwater ; whether the legend of Horse-Neck is true ; whether the battle of the Assunpink, so unaccountably neglected by most writers, was a mere skirmish or a desperate conflict ; whether any of the British, at Brandywine, crossed the river lower than Jeffries' Ford ; whether the name of Wood Creek,

S PREFACE.

in 1777, was extended to the arm of the lake between Skeen&- boro' and Ticonderoga ; whether the surprise at Trenton originated with Washington ; whether Burr intended to dismember the Union — these, and other mooted points, perplex the historical student, and will, perhaps, always, continue to perplex him. The author has contented himself merely with stating his opinions, discussion being foreign to the character of this work. As a general rule, however, he has applied to the decision of all such questions, the logical maxim of the law, that, where a fact is distinctly stated by a credible eye-witness, circumstantial testimony against it is of little value.

Many anecdotes are used in this narrative which have never been in print. The one relating to Washington's address at Trenton — " Now or never, this is our last chance" — is of this description. It came from the lips of a private soldier, who always had told it in the same way, and whose veracity was unimpeachable ; he was accustomed to say that Washington spoke under evident agitation, and that only himself, and a few others close at hand, heard the words. The dramatic character of the address may induce some to discredit it ; but when the attending circumstances are considered, this becomes a proof of its authenticity. Far be it from the author to invade history with fiction ! Nothing can be more reprehensible than the practice, which has too much prevailed, of inventing anecdotes in relation to historical characters and passing them off as realities. Forgers in literature should be as infamous as other forgers. But neither can we excuse those who studiously banish everything picturesque from their pages, as if history grew correct in proportion as it became

PREFACE. 9

stupid. Rather should we preserve those stirring anecdotes, which illustrate a crisis, and which, to use the metaphor of Coleridge, tell a story " by flashes of lightning."

The narrative of the war is intended not so much for a perfect history, as for a short, but as far as possible, comprehensive review of the contest. It forms, it is believed, a proper introduction for a work intended, like this, for the people. The style, in consequence, is different from that which a more pretending narrative should exhibit.

Of the various authorities the author has consulted, he has found '' Sparks' American Biographies," the most generally correct ; and he desires to acknowledge, in this public manner, the assistance he has derived from that series. He would express his obligations in other quarters also, if the list would not swell this preface to an unwarrantable length.

Contents

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER, BOOK I, . -

EOOK n, - - -

Book I The Origin Of The War

HE American Revolution naturally divides itself into five periods. The first dates from the passage of the Stamp Act to the battle of Lexington. This Avas a period of popular excitement, increasing in an accelerated ratio, until it burst forth with almost irresistable fury at Lexington and Bunker Hill. The second reaches to the battle of Trenton. During this period the popular enthusiasm died away, and recruits were difficult to be obtained for the army : consequently the American forces were made up chiefly of ill-disciplined militia, wholly incapable of opposing the splendid troops of England. As a result of this, the battle of Long Island was lost, and Washington was driven across the Delaware. In this emergency, even the most sanguine of the patriots were beginning to despair, when the commander in chief made his memorable attack ai Trenton, and rescued the country from the brink of ruin. The third period brings us up to the important alliance with France, It was during this period that 4 c 25

86 HISTORY OF

a regular army, having some pretentions to discipline, was first formed ; that the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth- were fought; and that Burgoyne surrendered. It was a period when, notwithstanding the fortunes of the country occasionally ebbed, the cause of Independence on the whole steadily advanced. The fourth period embraces the war at the south. During this period the military operations of the British at the north were comparatively neglected ; indeed England now began to regard the conquest of the whole country as impossible, and therefore resolved to concentrate all her energies on one part, in hopes to subdue it at least. The fifth and last period, which had nearly proved fatal, after all, to Independence, comprises the capture of Cornwallis; witnesses the deliverance of the nation from a financial crisis ; and finally beholds Independence acknowledged, and the enemy's troops withdrawn from our shores. To each of these periods we shall devote a book : the first we shall now portray.

There can be no question but that the colonies would eventually have detached themselves from the mother country, even if the severance had not occurred at the period of which we write. While the provinces were young and feeble, they naturally looked to the parent state for countenance ; but Avhen they grew to manhood, the sentiment of Independence and the consciousness of importance sprang up together in their bosoms. In everything the colonies found themselves pinched and controlled by the supremacy ot England. They were not allowed to trade where or when they pleased : they were compelled to pay a certain portion of the product of their mines to the king : and in many other ways they were made continually to feel that their existence was permitted, not so much for their own benefit, as for that of the parent state. Originally seeking a refuge in the new world because of religious and political tyranny at home, their independent spirit had increased, rather than diminished : and this naturally, in consequence of the agricultural life they led, and the democratic character of their colonial governments. There were, long before the Revolution, a few observing intellects Avho prognosticated, in consequence of these things, an ultimate disruption between America and England. The Swedish traveller, Kolm, twenty years before the contest, has re corded the prophecies of such minds. But the great body of the people, not yet pressed on directly by the aggressions of the mother country, were insensible of wrong.

A wise government would have temporized with the colonies and endeavored to avert as long as possible the breach which it saw to be inevitable ; but England, at the period of the Revolution, was ruled by a ministry Avhich either could not or would not understand America. In an evil hour for Great Britain it was resolved to draw a revenue from the colonies by direct taxation. In vain Burke lifted his warning voice. "The fierce spirit of liberty/' he said, "is stronger in the English colonies probably than with any other people of the earth.'' In vain a few discerning minds in England pointed to the examples of Pitt and Walpole, former prime-ministers, both of whom had refused to tax America. Said the latter shrewdly, "I will leave that measure to some one of my successors who has more courage than I have." The Grenville ministry, brave with the audacity of ignorant folly, resolved to undertake what others had shrunk from, and draw a revenue from America, not only incidentally as of old, but directly by a certain fixed tax.

As a preliminary measure, however, two acts were passed, having reference to the trade and finances of the provinces. The first of these imposed heavy duties on indigo, cofi"ee, silk, and many other articles, imported into the colonies from the West Indies, besides requiring the customs to be paid in gold or silver : by this act a very lucrative branch of commerce was at once destroyed. The second declared the paper money, which had been issued by the provinces to defray the expences of the war just closed, not a legal tender in the payment of debts. Each of these laws was equally irritating. But had the ministry stopped here, no immediate opposition would have been aroused ; for the colonies had been too long accustomed to old commercial restrictions to take offence at new ones. But these measures proving insuificient to raise the revenue which the ministers desired to reap from America — a direct tax was resolved upon, and the Stamp Act accordingly brought forward.

It has often been a subject of surprise that Great Britain should ever have entertained the idea of taxing America without her consent, or should have persisted in it after discovering her opposition. But, when we consider the attending circumstances, all astonishment ceases. England had just come out of an expensive war, which though in reality produced by her own aggressions on this continent, she persuaded herself was undertaken for the defence of her colonies ; and therefore it seemed but natural that the pro < vinces should be made to pay a part of the cost. This was un questionably the first view taken of the subject by the majority of the middle class of Englishmen. As the dispute advanced, this selfish desire to lighten their own burdens, received a new ally in the national obstinacy which would not brook opposition. Up to a comparatively late period of the war, these causes, combined with a feehng of contempt for America, as a province, produced a very extraordinary unity of sentiment among the country gentlemen in parliament, and the middle classes out of it, in favor of England persisting in her claim.

In further confirmation of this view, is the fact that, from the hour when the dispute first began, up to the breaking out of the Revolution, the parliament, whether in the hands of a tory or whig ministry, never abandoned the assertion of its right to tax America. In 1766, when the Rockingham administration desired to repeal the Stamp Act, it was found necessary to preface it by a declaratory act, asserting the right of the mother country to bind the colonies in all cases whatever. In 1770, when Lord North brought in his bill to remove the obnoxious duties, he retained the duty on tea, expressly to reserve the right of parliamentary taxation. It is a lamentable truth, y et one to which the historian must not shut his eyes, that with the exception of a portion of the whigs, of the merchants engaged in the American trade, and of a few comprehensive minds hke those of Burke and Chatham, the great body even of intelligent Englishmen, regarded the provinces as factious colonies, and sustained, if they did not urge on the government in its domineering course. Moreover, the King, from first to last, was the uncompromising foe of conciliation. When these facts are understood, the riddle becomes plain. The coldness with which parliament and the people received the various appeals of the American Congress, prior to the Avar, is no longer a mystery ; the headlong obstinacy of the mother country ceases to astonish, for men are never so guilty of folhes as when angry: and the inefficiency of subsequent concessions, which the Americans have been blamed for not receiving in a more generous spirit, becomes apparent, since never, during the whole progress of those conciliatory movements, did England abandon the disputed claim. While the irritating cause is left in the wound, palliatives are but a mockery.

The Stamp Act became a law on the 22d of March, 1765. Its direct eff'ect was only the imposition of stamp duties on certain papers and documents used in the colonies. As it however embodied a great principle, of which itself was but the entering wedge, the provinces took the alarm the more readily, perhaps, inconsequence ot the prevailing irritation in reference to the navigation laws, and the rigor with which they had begun to be enforced. At first, however, there was no public expression of discontent. The country

THE STAMP ACT.

PATRICK HEiratT.

seemed to stand at gaze, struck dumb with astonishment. Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Assembly, led the way in giving voice to the popular feeling. He introduced into, and passed through that body a series of resolutions declaratory of the right of Virginia to be exempt from taxation, except by a vote of the provincial legislature, with the assent of his majesty or substitute : a right which the citizens of Virginia, the resolutions further asserted, inherited from their English ancestors, and had frequent])^ had guaranteed to them by the King and people of Great Britain : a right, to attempt the destruction of which, would be subversive of the constitution, and of British and American freedom. It was, while advocating these resolutions, that the memorable scene occurred which Wirt graphically portrays. The orator was in the full torrent of declamation against the tyrannical act, when he exclaimed, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third'' — But here he was interrupted by loud cries of "treason, treason,'' resounding through the house. Henry paused, drew himseJf up lo liis loftiest height, and fixing his undaunted eye on the speaker,

c* elevated his voice while he finished the sentence, "and George tne Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." The boldness of the man, and of his words, were electric; not only on the Assembly, but on the people at large. The retort hit the popular nerve, and thrilling through the nation, quickened the pulse and fired the heart of patriotism. It was like the spark of fire to the dry prairie : instantaneously the whole country was in a blaze.

Massachusetts was the next colony to give an impetus to the; career of Revolution. The other provincial Assemblies had passed acts similar to that of Virginia ; but shrewd men saw that it required something more to produce a permanent efi'ect. As early as 1754, the plan of a general league, to carry on the ordinary government of the colonies, had been rejected by the ministry, after having been adopted by the provinces. A similar league suggested itself now as of use in this emergency. Simultaneously, the idea of a Congress of the colonies struck different minds in opposite sections of "America. It was reserved for Massachusetts, however, to give this sentiment a voice. On the 6th of June, 1765, her legislature resolved it was expedient that a general Congress of deputies from all the provinces should meet at New York on the first Tuesday of October, to consult on their grievances.

In the meantime the first riot of the Revolution occurred, and at Boston, from that time forth the head-quarters of turbulence and disaffection. Distributors of stamps had already been appointed for the several colonies, though the Stamp Act was not to go in operation until the 1st of November. On the morning of the 14th of August, an effigy of Andrew Oliver, the distributor of stamps for Massachusetts, was discovered hanging from a tree on the town common, since known as the " liberty tree." At night a large mob assembled, which burned the effigy, and afterwards attacked the stamp office and residence of Oliver. The next day this obnoxious individual resigned. The popular leaders now strove to check further violence : but the mob was not satisfied until it had committed other disgraceful outrages. Before the excitement subsided, the papers of the court of admiralty had been destroyed, the dwellings of the collectors of customs had been razed to the ground, and the beautiful garden, the richly furnished mansion, and the valuable library of state papers belonging to the lieutenant governor. Hutch inson, had been sacrificed to the popular phrensy. In the othei colonies the distributors of stamps averted a similar tumult by resigning.

THE STAMP ACT. 31

In October, 1765, the Congress assembled pursuant to recommendation. Deputies from nine colonies were in attendance. The attitude of the assembly was firm but conciliatory, A petition to the King, and a memorial to parliament, were prepared and signed by all the members present. In these documents the affection of the provinces to the person of the King as well as to his government was enlarged on ; but at the same time the determination of the colonies to preserve their liberty was explicitly expressed. It was declared that the constitution guaranteed to British subjects immunity from taxation, unless by their own representatives ; while it was argued that the remote situation of the colonies practically forbade this representation, unless in their own provincial assemblies. In conclusion a prayer was made for the redress of their wrongs. This petition and memorial had no effect, for the reasons we have before explained. The only benefit of the Congress was the bringing together leadnig men from the different colonies, by which a certain sort of imity of purpose was obtained, and a way opened for future assemblies of the kind. In the end, it led to a closer acquaintance between the provinces, gradually removing the local prejudices that had formerly prevailed; and this, ultimately, to that feeling of a common interest almost amounting to nationality, without which the war of Independence would have failed in its first year. Thus, from comparatively small beginnings, does Providence work out his great designs.

The 1st of November, the day on which the Stamp Act was to go into effect, at last arrived. The colonists had meantime resolved not to wear English goods until the illegal law was repealed. On this occasion, therefore, the citizens were all in homespun, rich and poor alike. At Boston the bells were tolled and the shops closed. At Portsmouth, N. H., a coffin inscribed " Liberty, setat cxlv years," was borne in funeral procession, interred to the sound of minute guns, and an oration pronounced over its grave. Everywhere the people acted as if some great calamity had happened : men spoke of freedom as if she had forever departed from their midst. Meantime the Stamp Act became practically nugatory. The citizens refused to use the stamped paper. The regularly appointed officers declined the obnoxious duty. The attorneys determined to employ ordinary paper, as of old, in legal documents, in defiance of the law. Vessels were cleared without the stamped papers, no collector being wilUng to brave the popular odium. Even the royal governors had .0 bend to the storm and grant dispensations

S3

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

In the midst of the general depression and gloom came a sudden gleam of hope. The Grenville administrati:Dn went out of office, and was succeeded by that of the Marquis of Rockingham. The' new ministry was composed chiefly of whigs. One of its first acts was to agitate the repeal of the obnoxious law. Dr. Franklin, at that time in London, was called before the bar of the House of Commons, in order to be interrogated respecting the opinions of his countrymen and the condition of the colonies. His clear and intelligent answers, united to the moderation of his sentiments, produced a great effect on the public mind. After the passage of the declaratory act to which we have before alluded, the Stamp Act itself was repealed, March -the 15th, 1766. The intelligence was

RECEPTION OF NEWS OF THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.

r.eceived in America with transports of joy. At first the repeal was accepted as a boon, instead of being received as a right. All hostile thoughts were immediately laid aside : importations were renewed, homespun was discarded. But this extravagant joy was of short duration. As soon as the first burst of enthusiasm was over, and men began to comprehend more exactly the true condition of things, it was found that England still asserted her obnoxious claim, though for the time being she waived its exercise. This alarming fact disturbed the public mind with fears for the future. The tone of the royal governors, who acted an instructions from the ministry at home, was, moreover, supercilious and domineering to the last degree.

In the short space of a year the worst suspicions of the colonists were verified. The Rockingham administration was overthrown, and succeeded by one in which Charles Townshend was cons])icuous. That gentleman revived the idea of taxing America. Accordingly, in June, 1767, a bill was signed by the King, imposing rilE NEW TAX BILL. 33

duties on glass, tea, paper and colors imported into the colonies This bill was thought to be such a one as the provinces could not complain of, since they had heretofore made a distinction between external and internal taxes : and the probability is, that, if such a bill had been originally passed in place of the Stamp Act, it would have received little or no opposition. But times had changed. The colonies had been taught to distrust the parent state ; they had learned to examine into their own rights. The spirit of resistance which at first had flowed in a feeble and insignificant current, began to widen and deepen with new sources of complaint, until, finally, even greater concessions than it had originally asked, proving insufficient to restrain it — it rolled on, bearing down all opposition, and involving everything in its overwhelming torrent.

The new tax bill was received in Massachusetts with peculiar disfavor. The legislature addressed a circular letter to the other colonies, requesting their aid in obtaining a redress of grievances, This gave great oifence to the English ministry, which sent out immediately a circular letter to the royal governors, in which the Massachusetts letter was denounced as factious. The governor of Massachusetts was ordered to require the Assembly to repeal the resolution on which the obnoxious epistle had been founded. On receiving a refusal he dissolved the Assembly. In the other provinces the ministerial letter was treated with equal disregard.

Meantime other causes of irritation were arising. The ministry had long desired to make the colonists support the royal troops quartered among them, which the colonists had continually refused. Before the dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly, it had maintained a triumphant altercation with the governor on this point. In New York, however, the ministry was more successful. In addition to their difficulties about the soldiery, came others in relation to the execution of the laws of trade. It had been usual to evade these laws very generally, but the commissioners now determined to exercise the utmost rigor ; and in consequence, a riot arose at Boston in reference to the sloop Liberty, OAvned by John Hancock, which nad just arrived from Madeira with a cargo of wines. The commissioners in the end, had to fly the town. In the very midsi of these disorders several transports appeared with troops, and as the selectmen refused to provide for them, they Avere quartered hi Fanueil Hall. More troops kept arriving, until, by the close of the year, the force in Boston amounted to four thousand men.

The attitude assumed by Massachusetts Avas particularly exaspe • rating to the ministry. Charles Townsnend was noAV dead, and 5

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

FANTJEIL HALL.

nad been succeeded by Lord North, who contmued to the end 0/ the war, with but a slight intermission, to be prime minister. But the pohcy of England was not altered. In retaliation for what was called the factious spirit of Massachusetts a petition to the King was passed, beseeching him, and in etfect authorizing the colonial governor to arrest and send to England for trial all persons suspected of treason. So glaring an outrage on the rights of the colonists was received in America with one general cry of indignation. For its boldness in denouncing this outrage, the Assembly of Virginia was dissolved by the royal governor, Lord Botetourt. But, nothing intimidated, the members met immediately, and recommended t.» their fellow citizens, again, the non-importation of British goods Most of the other colonies imitated this example. The popular sentiment warmly seconded the movement : committees were appointed to enforce compliance ; and the names of offenders were published in the newspapers and held up to public scorn as enemies of the country.

RIOT AT BOSTON. 35

In the meantime, the people of Massachusetts finding their general «ourt dissolved, boldly elected members to a convention ; the different towns choosing the delegates. This act was a virtual declaration of mdependence. The convention, however, did little beyond petition the governor for a redress of grievances, and recommend endurance, patience and good order to the people. In May, 1768, a new general court met, when the old difficulties about the troops were revived. The court began by refusing to sit while Boston was occupied by an armed force. The governor then adjourned the sittings of the body to Cambridge. The court next remonstrated against the quartering of soldiers in the capital. The governor, in return, sent it an account of the expenditures for the support of the troops, and demanded that the sum should be paid, and a provision made for the future. The court refused to comply, and on this the governor prorogued it.

The presence of the troops in Boston was naturally irritating to the inhabitants. A free people cannot brook an armed force. Frequent quarrels occurred between the townsfolk and the soldiery, but no serious difficulty arose until the fifth of March, 1770. On that day, however, an affray, in part premeditated on the side of the people, took place, in which the troops, as a means of self-preservation, finally fired on the mob. Three men were killed, and several womided, one of whom subsequently died. This affair has ever since gone by the name of the massacre. A colhsion was, perhaps inevitable, considering that the very presence of the soldiers was ar outrage ; but that the troops were not wholly to blame is proven b] the fact that a Boston jury acquitted the captain who gave the ordei to fire, and that Josiah Quincy and John Adams, both populai leaders, felt it their duty to join in his defence. In all such cases the guilt ought to rest on the government which commands, and not on the officer who executes ; yet great honor is due the jury, since, perhaps, in no other community, vmder equally exciting circumstances, could a similar verdict have been obtained.