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Title: The Little Book of the Flag
Author: Tappan, Eva March, 1854-1930
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Little Book of the Flag" ***
THE LITTLE BOOK
OF THE FLAG
BY
EVA MARCH TAPPAN
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO DALLAS
SAN FRANCISCO
The Riverside Press Cambridge
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
CONTENTS
I. THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS 1
Flags under which the early colonists sailed--The English
"ancient flag"--The "meteor flag," "Union Jack," or "King's
Flag"--Endicott cuts the cross from the English flag--The
militia object to the cross on the flag--A flagless fort--Dr.
Cotton's decision.
II. THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS 8
Flags common among the colonists--The New England
Alliance--The pine-tree flag and coins--Flags of the
militia--The red coat flag.
III. LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES 14
The demand for liberty--Opposition to the Stamp Act--Oliver
hanged in effigy--The Liberty Tree in Boston--The liberty
pole in New York--The Albany plan--The snake design.
IV. THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS 20
The Bedford flag--Flags at the beginning of the
Revolution--Sergeant Jasper saves the flag--The
rattlesnake on the flag.
V. WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE 27
The Philadelphia Light Horse Troop--The army at
Cambridge--The backwoodsmen--Indians offer their
services--General Putnam unfurls a scarlet flag--The
Liberty Tree.
VI. THE "GRAND UNION FLAG" 32
The "Grand Union Flag"--Possible sources of the design--First
raised in Somerville--Flags on sea and land--Flag hoisted over
the Alfred by John Paul Jones--Franklin's letters of marque.
VII. THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG 39
The flag of the United States as decreed by Congress--The
Betsy Ross flag--Significance of the Colors--Captain Jones
put in command of the Ranger--The "quilting party"--The
Drake strikes her colors to the Ranger--The United States
flag is saluted by the French--The flag goes down with the
Bon Homme Richard.
VIII. FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE 48
The Fort Stanwix flag--Pulaski's banner--The first Fourth
of July celebration--General use of "thirteen"--Copley's
delay to paint in the flag--A Nantucket skipper carries the
flag to London--The last battle of the Revolution--The New
Haven peace rejoicing.
IX. THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS 56
The flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars decreed by
Congress--Worn by "Old Ironsides"--Leads against
Tripoli--Seen at Constantinople--Among the Indians of the
Louisiana Territory--"The Star-Spangled Banner"--Marking
the birthplace of Washington.
X. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 63
Congress decrees the present flag--No law for the
arrangement of the stars--The manufacture of bunting--Flags
for the navy--Flags for the War Department--"Old Glory."
XI. THE FLAG IN WAR 70
The flag at Chapultepec--The surrender of Fort Sumter--The
flag raised again at Fort Sumter--The Arizona flag of the
Rough Riders.
XII. THE FLAG IN PEACE 77
Perry opens Japan to the world--Raising the flag over the
legation in Sweden--Hauling down the flag in Cuba--The flag
at the North Pole--The flag on Westminster Palace.
XIII. HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG 85
FLAG ANNIVERSARIES 90
SELECTIONS
The Star-Spangled Banner _Francis Scott Key_ 93
The Flag in the Darkness _Benjamin Harrison_ 95
A Song for Flag Day _Wilbur D. Nesbit_ 96
The Flag goes by _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 98
What the Flag stands for _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 100
Union and Liberty _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 101
Your Country and your Flag _Edward Everett Hale_ 103
The Home Flag _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 104
Old Flag _Hubbard Parker_ 105
Britannia to Columbia _Alfred Austin_ 107
Makers of the Flag _Franklin K. Lane_ 109
Our Flag _Margaret Sangster_ 112
Our History and our Flag _William Backus Guitteau_ 113
The American Flag _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 115
The Flag of our Country _Robert C. Winthrop_ 116
America _Samuel Francis Smith_ 117
INDEX 119
THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
THE FLAGS THAT BROUGHT THE COLONISTS
More than three hundred years ago a little sailing vessel set out from
Holland, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and followed down our coast from
Greenland. Its captain, Henry Hudson, was in search of a quick and easy
route to Asia, and when he entered the mouth of the river that is named
for him, he hoped that he had found a strait leading to the Asiatic
coast. He was disappointed in this, but the Indians welcomed him, the
mountains were rich in forests, and the ground was fertile. "It is the
most beautiful land in all the world," declared the enthusiastic navigator.
Henry Hudson was an Englishman, but he sailed in the employ of the Dutch
East India Company, and soon the flag of this Company was well known
along the Hudson River. It was the old flag of Holland, three horizontal
stripes, of orange, white, and blue, with the initials of the Company on
the white stripe. Hudson had not found a new route to Asia, but he had
opened the way for the fur-trade. In a few years the Dutch had
established trading-posts as far north as Albany. They had also founded
a city which we call "New York," but which they named "New Amsterdam."
So it was that in 1609 the Dutch flag first came to the New World.
Nearly thirty years after the voyage of Henry Hudson, a company of
Swedes made a settlement on the Delaware River. This had been planned
by the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. "That colony will be
the jewel of my kingdom," he said; but the "Lion of the North" was
slain in battle, and his twelve-year-old daughter Christina had become
queen. That is why the loyal Swedes named their little fortification
Fort Christiana, and over it they raised the flag of their country, a
blue banner with a yellow cross.
In course of time the Swedes were overpowered by the Dutch, and then
the Dutch by the English; so that before many years had passed, the
only flag that floated over the "Old Thirteen" colonies was that of
England. This was brought across the sea by the settlers of our first
English colony, Jamestown, in Virginia. Moreover, they had the honor
of sailing away from England in all the glories of a brand-new flag
made in a brand-new design. The flag of England had been white with a
red upright cross known as "St. George's Cross"; but a new king, James
I, had come to the throne, and the flag as well as many other things
had met with a change. James was King of Scotland by birth, and the
Scotch flag was blue with the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew. When
James became King of England, he united the two flags by placing on a
blue background the upright cross of St. George over the diagonal
cross of St. Andrew; and he was so well pleased with the result that
he commanded every English vessel to bear in its maintop this flag,
"joined together according to the form made by our own heralds," the
King declared with satisfaction. It was the custom at that time to
call "ancient" whatever was not perfectly new, and therefore the flag
used before James became king was spoken of as the "ancient flag,"
while the new one became the "King's Flag" or the "Union Jack." This
change was made in the very year when the grant for Virginia was
obtained, and therefore the little company of settlers probably sailed
for America with the "King's Flag" in the maintop and the "ancient
flag" in the foretop.
On land, among the colonists, sometimes one flag was floated and
sometimes the other. In Massachusetts the red cross of St. George seems
to have been much in use; but before long that red cross began to hurt
the consciences of the Puritans most grievously. To them the cross was
the badge of the Roman Catholic Church. Still, it was on the flag of
their mother country, the flag that floated over their forts and their
ships. The Puritan conscience was a stern master, however, and when one
day John Endicott led the little company of Salem militia out for a drill,
and saw that cross hanging over the governor's gate, the sight was more
than he could bear, and he--but Hawthorne has already told the story:--
Endicott gazed around at the excited countenances of the people,
now full of his own spirit, and then turned suddenly to the
standard-bearer, who stood close behind him.
"Officer, lower your banner!" said he.
The officer obeyed; and brandishing his sword, Endicott thrust it
through the cloth, and, with his left hand, rent the red cross
completely out of the banner. He then waved the tattered ensign
above his head.
"Sacrilegious wretch!" cried the High Churchman in the pillory,
unable longer to restrain himself, "thou hast rejected the symbol
of our holy religion!"
"Treason, treason!" roared the Royalist in the stocks. "He hath
defaced the King's banner!"
"Before God and man, I will avouch the deed," answered Endicott.
"Beat a flourish, drummer!--shout, soldiers and people!--in honor
of the ensign of New England. Neither Pope nor Tyrant hath part in
it now!"
With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the
boldest exploits which our history records.
Endicott was one of the court assistants, but he was now removed from
his position and forbidden to hold any public office for one year. He
was fortunate in being permitted to retain his head.
Endicott had been punished, but the Puritan conscience was not yet at
rest, and now many of the militia declared that they did not think it
right to march under the cross. The whole militia could not well be
punished, and the commissioners for military affairs were as doubtful
as the honest militia men about what should be done. "We will leave it
to the next General Court to decide," they said, "and in the meantime
no flags shall be used anywhere."
This seemed a comfortable way to settle the question, but unluckily
there was a fort on Castle Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor,
and when an English vessel came sailing in, its captain refused to pay
any attention to a fort without a flag. Then the officer in command
rose to his dignity and made the ship--maybe with the aid of a ball
across her bows--strike her colors. The captain complained to the
authorities that the commandant of this flagless fort had insulted his
flag and his country. The authorities were just a bit alarmed. To
insult a flag and a country was a serious matter. "What shall we do to
make amends?" they queried. "Let the officer who proffered the insult
come on board of my vessel and say in the presence of the ship's
company that he was in fault," replied the captain. This was done, and
the sky cleared.
But the troubles of the colonists were by no means over. The mate of
another vessel declared with considerable emphasis that these people
were all rebels and traitors to the King. Surely the thought of such a
report as this going back to England from a tiny colony clinging to
the edge of the continent was enough to alarm the boldest. Discussions
were held, and Dr. John Cotton was appealed to.
A canny man was this Dr. John Cotton, and he decided that inasmuch as
the fort belonged to the King, it was proper that it should display
the King's Flag, whatever it might be,--"while vessels are passing,"
he added shrewdly; but that, as for the militia, each company might
have its own colors, and not one of them need bear a cross. So the
great tempest passed by.
CHAPTER II
THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS
In some of the colonies at least, the people must have led a rather
somber life, with little pleasure, much hard work, and much
discomfort; but they fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their
warfare preferred to hide behind trees rather than to flourish
banners, and the white men soon learned to follow their example.
Nevertheless, it always seemed to the minds of the colonists a little
irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of some sort when they
were setting out on an expedition.
Probably we do not know one in twenty of all the designs for banners
that entered the fertile minds of these colonists, but they were so
numerous that if they had all been displayed at the same time, they
would have almost hidden the settlements. Not all colonists were as
afraid of a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury,
Massachusetts, a certain company of foot rejoiced in a flag of vivid
green. In the upper corner next the staff was a square of white
containing a red cross. The kindly councilor, who had ordered the flag
to be made in England "with all convenient speed," evidently had some
sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his letter to the company,
"The number of bullets to be put into your colors for distinction may
be left out at present without damage in the making of them." Another
flag, belonging to a company of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have
been something quite out of the common, for it was of damask and silk
and adorned with silver fringe. A real artist must have used his brush
upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on both sides a
Cornett on rich crimson damask, with a hand and sword and invelloped
with a scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; and for all
that gorgeousness, generously painted "on both sides," the charge was
the moderate one of £5 2_s._ 6_d._ This was made for what was known as
the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry from Essex, Middlesex,
and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts, and was probably used in King
Philip's War.
Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole of his foot, he took
possession for his sovereign of all the land in sight and all the land
which joined that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies soon
conflicted. The good folk of New England made an alliance to defend
themselves against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They managed to be
good allies for forty years without a flag. Then came one brilliant
enough to make up for the delay, and sent to them across the sea by no
less a man than King James II himself. This was of white with a St.
George's cross of red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown and
under it the King's monogram in black. A few years later matters in
England had changed. King James II had proved to be a very poor sort of
sovereign, and it was made clear to him that for his health and
comfort--possibly for his head--it would be wise for him to leave the
country. This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing the royal seal
into the Thames on his way. It is small wonder that New Englanders
preferred a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited so long a time
before getting it. When it was finally chosen, it proved to be red with
a white canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross into four
squares. In one of these squares was the representation of a pine tree.
This representation can hardly have been a work of art, for one
historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled a pine tree
than a cabbage." Evidently the brave colonists were not artists.
Nevertheless, even if the good folk of Massachusetts could not draw a
pine tree, they were fond of it, and their General Court decreed that it
should be stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. Now it was the
right of the King to coin money, and when Charles II heard that the
ambitious colonists were making it for themselves, he was not pleased.
"But it is only for their own use," said a courtier who favored the
colonies, and taking a New England coin from his pocket, he showed it to
the King. "What tree is that?" demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That,"
said the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which saved Your
Majesty's life." "Well, well," said the King, "those colonists are not
so bad after all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps they were,
even if their likenesses of pine trees could not be distinguished from
cabbages and oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," is
written about this inartistic coinage.
So the story of the flags went on. Besides the English flag every
little company of militia had its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere
in the corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore nothing but a
tree. The colonists did not trouble themselves about being artistic or
choosing colors of any special significance; if the ground of the flag
was of one color and the cross or whatever other figure was chosen was
of another, they were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had a
specially elegant flag--blue with a silver crescent--to use on
"dress-up" days. After a time even the Indians were sometimes
furnished with flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union Jack
as a protection. He presented them also with a red flag to indicate
war and a white one as a sign of peace; and probably the fortunate
Indians felt with all this magnificence quite like white folk.
In 1745, when that remarkable expedition of New Englanders--which had
"a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers,
fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"--set off to capture Louisburg
from the French, they sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was
written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is our leader." It was on
this same expedition that a new flag was hoisted, the like of which
was never seen before. An officer discovered that a battery on the
shore of the harbor was apparently vacant. There was no flag flying
from the staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It looked as if
that battery might be taken easily. On the other hand it was also
quite possible that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy the
colonists within. The officer concluded to run the risk--of losing the
life of some one else. Holding up a bottle of brandy before the
thirsty gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, will you
creep in at that embrasure and open the gate?" The red man grunted
assent, crept in, and opened the gate. Then the officer and twelve men
took possession. Soon a message went from the officer to his general
as follows: "May it please your honor to be informed that by the grace
of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal battery
about nine o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement and a flag."
Sometimes the colonists were wanting in the grace of patience, and
this was one of the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided
that, although he could not provide reinforcements, he could provide a
flag; so up the staff he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He
nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung out in the wind, much
to the alarm of the citizens, who sent one hundred men in boats to
recapture the battery. The hundred men fired, but the brave little
company kept them from landing and held their position till the
general could send help.
CHAPTER III
LIBERTY AND LIBERTY POLES
After the middle of the eighteenth century there was much talk among
the colonies of liberty. It is possible that not all the people were
quite clear in their minds what that "liberty" might mean; but
whatever it was, they wanted it. England required nothing more of her
colonies than other nations required of theirs. The colonies asked
nothing of England that would not be granted to-day as a matter of
course. The difficulty was that the mother country was living in the
eighteenth century, while the colonists were looking forward into the
nineteenth. A demand for liberty was in the air. The pole on which a
flag was hung was not called a flag pole, but a liberty pole.
Most of the flags on these liberty poles bore mottoes, many of them
decidedly bold and defiant. When the Stamp Act was passed, the wrath of
the people rose, and now they knew exactly what they wanted--"No
taxation without representation." The stamped paper brought to South
Carolina was carefully stowed away in a fort. Thereupon three volunteer
companies from Charleston took possession of the fort, ran up a blue
flag marked with three white crescents, and destroyed the paper. New
York's flag had one word only, but that one word was "Liberty."
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had a banner inscribed "Liberty, Property,
and no Stamps." In Newburyport, Massachusetts, there was a regular
patrol of men armed with stout sticks. "What do you say, stamps or no
stamps?" they demanded of every stranger, and if he had a liking for a
whole skin, he replied emphatically, "No stamps." One wary newcomer
replied courteously, "I am what you are," and was uproariously cheered.
In going from one colony to another, it was not uncommon for a man to
get a passport from the sons of Liberty to attest to his standing as a
"Liberty man." When the stamps made their first appearance, Boston
tolled her church bells and put her flags at half-mast. Indeed, a new
sort of flag appeared in the shape of an effigy of Oliver, the stamp
distributor, swinging from the bough of a great elm which stood by the
main entrance to town. The Chief Justice ordered this image to be
removed. "Certainly," replied the people politely, "we will take it down
ourselves this very evening." So they did, but they laid it upon a bier
and marched in a long procession through the old State House. Here, in
the Council Chamber, the Governor and his Council were deliberating.
Shouts came up from below, "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps!" and
"Death to the man who offers a piece of stamped paper to sell!" "Beat an
alarm," the Chief Justice commanded the colonel of the militia. "But I
cannot," replied the colonel, "my drummers are in the mob." The
procession marched on, burned the effigy in front of the distributor's
house, gave three rousing cheers, and went home. In New York, when the
rumor spread that a ship laden with stamps was approaching, all the
vessels in the harbor put their colors at half-mast.
When every distributor of stamps had resigned his office, there was
another outburst of banners. Charleston, South Carolina, hoisted a
liberty flag, surmounted by a branch of laurel. The tree in Boston on
which the effigy of the stamp distributor had been hung had become an
important member of colonial society. It had been formally named the
"Liberty Tree," and the ground under it was called "Liberty Hall."
Banners were often swung from its branches, and notices were nailed to
its trunk. Fastened firmly to the trunk was a tall liberty pole, and
whenever any one caught a glimpse of a red flag waving from the top of
the pole, he knew that the Sons of Liberty were to hold a meeting.
When the Stamp Act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was the very center
of rejoicing. At one o'clock in the morning, the church bell nearest
it was rung joyfully. At the first rays of dawn, the houses about it,
even the steeple of the church, all blossomed out with banners, and at
night the tree itself was aglow with lanterns. In New York a liberty
pole was set up with a splendid new flag on which was inscribed, "The
King, Pitt, and Liberty." It almost seemed as if "liberty" meant
having whatever sort of flag might suit one's whim.
This New York pole had rather a hard time. British soldiers cut it down
twice, and when a third pole was raised, sheathed with iron around its
base, they managed to cut that down also, although it bore the legend,
"To His Most Gracious Majesty George III, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." The
city authorities would not risk planting another pole on city land, and
thereupon the Sons of Liberty bought a piece of land for themselves, and
marched up in brilliant procession; first a full band, playing with all
its might, then six horses, made gorgeous with bright ribbons, drawing
from the shipyard a fine new pole, sheathed in iron two thirds of its
length. It was escorted by the Sons of Liberty in full numbers. Three
flags floated over the little procession, but their mottoes were not so
impressively loyal as the earlier ones. These read, "Liberty and
Property." Nevertheless, "liberty" did not yet mean separation from the
mother country; it meant only freedom in making some of their own laws;
and what was known as the "Union Flag" did not refer to any union of the
colonies, but rather to the union of Scotland and England. This flag,
the regular flag of England, was red, with the crosses of St. George and
St. Andrew on a blue field forming the Jack.
Once, however, more than twenty years before the Revolutionary War,
there had been some talk of a union of colonies, beginning with the
suggestions of the most far-sighted man in America, Benjamin Franklin.
In 1754, when war between France and England was on the point of
breaking out, there was a meeting at Albany of delegates from several
colonies. They had come to see if they could make sure of the aid of
the Six Nations of Indian tribes; and here the sagacious Franklin
brought forward his plan for a union. His scheme was for the colonies
to elect a Grand Council, which should meet every year in
Philadelphia, to levy taxes, enlist soldiers, plan for defense, and,
in short, to attend to whatever concerned all the colonies. Whatever
affected them separately was to be managed by the colony interested.
This Council was to have much the same powers as our Congress of
to-day; but there must be a place in the scheme for the King, of
course; so Franklin proposed that the King should appoint a president
who should have the right to veto the acts of the Grand Council. This
was the "Albany Plan." Franklin was much in earnest about the matter,
and had a cut made for the _Pennsylvania Gazette_ picturing a rather
unpleasant device, a snake sliced uncomfortably into ten parts, the
head marked "NE," for New England, and each of the other pieces with
the initials of some one of the other nine colonies. With the motto,
"Unite or die," this work of art appeared for a number of issues at
the head of the _Gazette_; but many years passed before the colonies
began to make any practical use of the wisdom of Franklin in 1754.
CHAPTER IV
THE LAND OF MANY FLAGS
When Paul Revere galloped through the villages of Middlesex, calling
"for the country folk to be up and to arm," there was not much spare
time for collecting flags, and probably when
"The farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,"--
they did not trouble themselves to flourish a flag before they shot.
Yet, if we may trust a family tradition, at least one flag waved over
the plucky farmers. It seems that for a long while one member or another
of the Page family of Bedford had been accustomed to carrying the colors
of the militia, and therefore when the alarm was given and Nathaniel
Page started for Concord, it was as natural for him to seize his flag as
his gun. Moreover, this story has the bunting to back it up, for the
Bedford flag remained in the Page family until presented to the town a
century after the close of the war. It is rather a pity that it did not
come a little sooner, for an old lady of Page descent confessed that in
her giddy girlhood she had irreverently ripped off the silver fringe to
make trimming for her ball dress.
The Revolution was fairly on, and two months later, the battle of
Bunker Hill was fought. Possibly the colonists thought of spades
rather than standards when they were throwing up the fortifications,
and yet I fancy that to these flag-loving fighters a battle without a
banner would have seemed like an undignified riot. Some writers say
positively that no flag was to be seen--rather a difficult statement
to prove. The daughter of one of the soldiers declared that her father
helped hoist the standard known as the "New England Flag." "He called
it a 'noble flag,'" she said. "It was blue with the red cross of St.
George in a white corner, and in one section was a pine tree." The
artist Trumbull, who painted the picture of this battle now in the
Capitol at Washington, made the flag red instead of blue, but both
were familiar colonial flags, and there is no reason why both should
not have waved over the famous hill. Tradition says that one flag bore
the motto, "Come if you dare." General Gage is said to have had
difficulty in reading it, but maybe that was because of its audacity.
Some verses written soon after the battle say that
"Columbia's troops are seen in dread array,
And waving streamers in the air display";--
but, unluckily, the poet forgot to mention the color of those "waving
streamers." In Savannah, after the battle, but before any news of it
could have arrived, the independent Georgians hoisted a Union flag and
suggestively placed two pieces of artillery directly under it. New York
chose a white flag with a black beaver thereon. Rhode Island had also a
white flag, but with a blue anchor instead of a beaver, and a blue
canton with thirteen white stars. Her motto was "Hope." Connecticut
meant that there should be no mistake in the whereabouts of her
regiments, for she gave them flags of solid color: to the first, yellow;
the second, blue; the third, scarlet; and so on with crimson, white,
azure, another shade of blue, and orange. For a motto Connecticut chose
"Qui transtulit sustinet"; that is, "He who brought us here sustains
us." Massachusetts chose for her motto "An Appeal to Heaven." Charleston
had a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper corner next to the
staff and inscribed upon her banner the daring words, "Liberty or
Death." Later she adopted a rattlesnake flag. Her troops wore blue and
had silver crescents on the front of their caps, inscribed with the same
motto. It is small wonder that timid folk were alarmed and whispered to
one another, "That is going too far; it looks like a declaration of
war." This blue and silver flag was planned by Colonel Moultrie. When
Fort Moultrie--which received this name because of his brave
defense--was shelled the following year, the anxious folk in the town
watched with troubled faces, for it was doubtful whether the little fort
with its scant supply of ammunition could sustain the attack. Suddenly
the crescent flag fell from its staff. A groan ran through the
crowd--Colonel Moultrie had struck his flag! "Forward!" cried one among
them, and they marched to the water's edge to fight for their homes.
Within the little fort one William Jasper, a sergeant, saw that a ball
had cut down the flag and it had fallen over the rampart. "Colonel," he
said to his commander, "don't let us fight without a flag." "What can
you do?" demanded Colonel Moultrie, "the staff is broken." Sergeant
Jasper was a man of few words and many deeds. He leaped through an
embrasure, walked the whole length of the fort in a heavy fire from the
ships, caught up the flag, brought it safely back, and fastened it to a
sponge-staff. Then, in the midst of cheers,--in which I fancy the
British also joined,--he fastened the rescued banner upon the bastion.
The following day the Governor came to the fort, asked for Sergeant
Jasper, presented him with his own sword, and gave him hearty thanks in
behalf of his country. Then he said, "I will gladly give you a
lieutenant's commission," but the honest man refused. "I am only a
sergeant," he said. "I don't know how to read or write, and I am not fit
to keep company with officers." Colonel Moultrie then gave him a roving
commission, and he often made some little trip with half a dozen men and
returned with a band of prisoners before any one realized that he had
gone. The wife of Major Elliot presented the regiment with a pair of
beautiful silken colors, which were afterwards carried in the assault
upon Savannah. The standard-bearers were shot down; another man seized
them, but he was also shot; then Sergeant Jasper caught them and
fastened them on the parapet, when he too was fatally wounded by a ball.
"Tell Mrs. Elliot," he said, "that I lost my life supporting the colors
she gave to our regiment." A tablet in honor of the brave sergeant was
long ago placed in Savannah.
The rattlesnake as an emblem seems to have been somewhat of a favorite
among the colonists. Besides Franklin's snake of the many
initials--which, indeed, might have stood, or coiled, for any sort of
serpent--there was the one borne by Patrick Henry's men when they
forced the Governor of Virginia to pay for the powder which he had
carried away from the colonial magazine. Then, too, there was a third
variety of snake, the one that stretched itself across a colonial
naval flag and proclaimed--from the top of the mast--"Don't tread on
me." On another flag the rattlesnake appeared coiled in the roots of a
pine tree and ready to strike. The Culpeper Minute Men of Virginia had
a coiled snake on their flag. In the winter of 1775 there appeared in
the _Pennsylvania Journal_ an article setting forth the propriety of
choosing the rattlesnake to represent America. The style of the
article and its keenness are like Franklin, but there is no proof that
he was its author. Whoever did write it notes that the "rattler" is
peculiar to America; that the brightness of its eyes and their lack of
lids fit it to be an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack
and never surrenders, never wounds till it has given warning. The
writer had counted the rattles on the naval flag, and found them to be
exactly thirteen, the number of the colonies. He had also noted that
the rattles were independent of one another, and yet most firmly
united; and that while one rattle alone is incapable of producing any
sound, the ringing of the thirteen together is sufficient to alarm the
boldest man living. Whether Franklin wrote this or not, let us at
least be thankful that these arguments did not prevail, and that on
the flag of the United States there are stars and not serpents.
CHAPTER V
WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE
Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on
his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was
escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth
having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined
with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver
cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the
letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of
pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword
and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of
the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company.
The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from
the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The
flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two
heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a
fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only
forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It
is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a
graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are
figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For
these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:--
"For these we strive; what brighter name
Can man achieve or beauty see,
Than worth to share his country's FAME,
Or perish for her LIBERTY?"
It is a precious relic for its associations, and still more precious
because the canton is made of thirteen stripes, blue and silver
alternating. Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, and so
far as is known, this was the first time that the colonies were
represented, as on our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes.
Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported
the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had
his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been a discouraging
glimpse. A few wore uniforms, but most of the men had come in "what
they had." The men of a few companies were provided with tents, others
slept in the halls of Harvard College, in the pews of the Episcopal
Church, or in private houses. Still others had built their own huts,
of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or brush. Powder and artillery
were scanty, and the commander-in-chief had been furnished with no
money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, however, for the members of
the Continental Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in reality
had no control over any money except what was in their own pockets.
Officers and men chatted together as freely as if in their own homes;
and if an order did not impress a man as being wise, he sometimes
stopped and patiently explained to the officer why he thought another
course was better.
Twelve of the most independent companies, and yet the most vigilant
and best disciplined of all, were composed of backwoodsmen who had
come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. A little later, five
Indians came to Cambridge to help fight for liberty. They were
welcomed cordially and entered the service. It is probable that every
little company marched to Cambridge under its own colors, but of
course there was no flag representing the colonies as a whole.
Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill, Major-General Israel
Putnam took up his stand on Prospect Hill. One month later he called
together all the troops under his command, and read them the statement
issued by the Continental Congress which declared just why the
colonies had had recourse to arms. The chaplain made an address and a
prayer, at the end of which the troops responded, "Amen." Then there
was unfurled a scarlet standard, which it is said John Hancock had
just presented to General Putnam and his men in recognition of their
bravery at Bunker Hill. Tradition says this standard bore on one side
the motto of Connecticut, "Qui transtulit sustinet," and on the other
a pine tree and the motto of Massachusetts, "An Appeal to Heaven."
It is a little strange that the Massachusetts colonists did not put
the likeness of an elm on any of their banners, for so much of their
history was associated with the "Liberty Elm." A few flags on both
land and sea were inscribed "Liberty Tree," but no exercise of the
imagination can make the pictured tree look in the least like an elm.
Under the Liberty Elm of Boston the meetings of the Sons of Liberty
were held, as has been said, and here it was that the resolutions were
adopted which resulted in dropping three hundred and forty chests of
tea into Boston Harbor. The Liberty Tree of Charleston, South
Carolina, was a beautiful live-oak. It is said that under this tree
Christopher Gadsden, even before the Stamp Act, ventured to speak of
the possible independence of the colonies. Here, as in Boston, the
patriots came together to discuss the way to liberty, and with hand
clasped in hand solemnly promised that when the hour for resistence
should come, they would not be found unready. There is something
refreshing in the thought of all the free, open-air discussion that
went on under the Liberty Trees. There was no stifling of thought in
closed rooms with bolted doors. Every new idea, daring as it might be,
was blown upon by the free winds of heaven. Naturally, the British
commanders hated these trees and thoroughly enjoyed destroying them
whenever they had opportunity. The Boston tree was cut down even
before the battle of Lexington. In 1780 Sir Henry Clinton cut down the
live-oak in Charleston, piled its severed branches over the stump, and
set fire to them. Even the iron-girt Liberty Pole of New York was cut
down by the red coats in 1776. It is little wonder that Thomas Paine's
poem on the "Liberty Tree" was so roundly applauded. This closes:--
"But hear, O ye swains,--'tis a tale most profane,
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain,
To cut down this guardian of ours.
From the East to the West, blow the trumpet to arms,
Through the land let the sound of it flee,
Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree."
CHAPTER VI
THE "GRAND UNION FLAG"
During the summer following the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonies
had a congress without authority, a commander-in-chief without money,
and an army without discipline, equipments, or flag--or rather, with
so many flags that they must have had little significance except to
the respective groups of men who had marched under each. Before
Christmas a flag was designed and made, but how, where, and by whom is
not known. Neither Washington nor Franklin gives any information, and
the _Journal_ of Congress says nothing about its designer or maker. It
is true that a committee of three,--all signers of the Declaration of
Independence a few months later,--Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania,
Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, whose son Benjamin was afterwards to
become President of the United States, and Thomas Lynch, of South
Carolina, were sent by Congress to Cambridge, to discuss with
Washington and others many necessary questions, but there is no proof
that the design of a flag was among them. The flag, however, was made.
This was what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." The British flag,
red with a blue union, marked by the upright cross of St. George and
the diagonal cross of St. Andrew, was known as the "Union Flag,"
because it typified, as has been said before, the union of England and
Scotland. The new flag retained the blue union with its two crosses,
but instead of a red field it had red and white stripes. These
thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies; the blue union
suggested that the colonies still clung to the mother country.
Where the idea of using stripes came from is a question that has never
been solved. The Philadelphia Troop had thirteen stripes on their
banner, but they were blue and white. Washington's coat of arms
contained red and white stripes; but Washington was too modest a man
to suggest using his own family arms, and as to any one's suggesting
it for him, it must be remembered that he was not yet the revered
"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia planter of forty-three
years who had been successful in fighting the Indians, and who,
because of his good judgment and uprightness of character, had been
made a member of the Virginia Legislature and then of the Continental
Congress. The flag of the Netherlands--but chosen thirty years after
the Pilgrims left that country for America--was red, white, and blue,
in three horizontal stripes. The ensign of the English East India
Company was a flag of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes with a
white canton containing a red St. George's Cross; but there is no
reason to suppose that this inspired the flag of the colonies. Bunting
was scarce and Franklin was always a thrifty soul. If that committee
of three did design the flag, it is not at all unlikely that Franklin
suggested utilizing the standards they already had, and changing their
character by stitching on white stripes. To deface the flag of Britain
was a serious offense, and maybe it was thought just as well that the
name of the originator of this "Grand Union" should not be on record.
The flag was first raised on the 1st of January, 1776, in what is now
Somerville, on Prospect Hill, and was saluted with thirteen guns and
thirteen rousing cheers. It was seen by the British troops in Boston,
and for some reason they took it as a sign of submission brought about
by the King's hostile proclamation, which they supposed had been read
in Cambridge. Washington wrote:--
Before the proclamation came to hand, we had hoisted the Union
Flag in compliment to the United Colonies. But, behold, it was
received in Boston as a token of the deep impression the speech
had made upon us, and as a signal of submission. By this time, I
presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a
formal surrender of our lines.
The colonists had adopted a flag, but all sorts of colors continued to
be borne on both sea and land. On the sea the favorite seems to have
been a white flag displaying a green pine tree. One year after the
battle of Lexington, Massachusetts formally decreed that this flag
should be used on her vessels, and that their officers should wear a
green and white uniform. Even two years later than this, the Pine-Tree
Flag was borne by floating batteries on the Delaware River. Sometimes
the British ran up an American flag to deceive the colonial vessels,
and sometimes the colonists ran up a flag made of horizontal red and
white stripes to persuade the British that it was one of their own
signal flags. Sometimes rattlesnake flags were used.
Congress ordered the building of war vessels as promptly as possible,
five cruisers first of all. The Alfred, on which John Paul Jones was
lieutenant, became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief Esek Hopkins.
This vessel was of English build and had been employed in commerce for
nine or ten years, making two voyages to the Indian Ocean during that
time. She had space for two hundred and twenty men, and had sixteen
guns, carried for the benefit of pirates. She had been put in full
repair and had now become a frigate of twenty-eight guns. Such was the
first vessel of the Continental Navy. An old account of the
embarkation of Commodore Hopkins at Philadelphia says:--
The Alfred was anchored at the foot of Walnut Street. On a
brilliant morning early in February, 1776, gay streamers were
seen floating from every masthead and spar on the river. At nine
o'clock a full-manned barge threaded its way among the floating
ice to the Alfred, bearing the commodore, who had chosen that
vessel for his flagship. He was greeted with thunders of
artillery and the shouts of the multitude.
When he stepped on board the deck of the Alfred, Captain Saltonstall
gave a signal, and Lieutenant Jones hoisted a new flag prepared for
the occasion. It is believed to have displayed a union with thirteen
stripes crossed by a rattlesnake in some position, with the ominous
motto, "Don't tread on me." When the flag reached the mast-head, the
crowds cheered and the guns fired a salute,--as well they might, for
this was the first ensign ever flung to the breeze on an American
man-of-war. Paul Jones appreciated the honor of raising it, but he was
no admirer of the rattlesnake flag. In his journal he wrote:--
I was always at loss to know by what queer fancy or by whose
notion that device was first adopted. For my own part, I never
could see how or why a venomous serpent could be the combatant
emblem of a brave and honest folk fighting to be free. Of course
I had no choice but to break the pennant as it was given to me.
But I always abhorred the device.
Three weeks after the Alfred was put in commission, the little fleet
sailed away from Philadelphia amid the cheers of thousands of people.
One of the eye-witnesses said that the ships wore the Union Flag with
thirteen stripes in the field. Of the admiral's flag an English writer
said, "We learn that the vessels bearing this flag have a sort of
commission from a society of people at Philadelphia, calling
themselves the continental congress." Scornfully as he spoke of
Congress, there is at least one record of which it may be proud.
Franklin, under its authority, issued letters of marque with a lavish
hand, but, hard-pressed as the colonists were, he bade John Paul Jones
"not to burn defenseless towns on the British coast except in case of
military necessity; and in such cases he was to give notice, so that
the women and children with the sick and aged inhabitants might be
removed betimes." Moreover, he bade all American cruisers if they
chanced to meet Captain Cook, the great English explorer of that day,
to "forget the temporary quarrel in which they were fighting and not
merely suffer him to pass unmolested, but offer him every aid and
service in their power."
CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG
The "society of people at Philadelphia calling themselves the
continental congress" had had, so far as records go, nothing to do with
choosing any flag. The "Grand Union" unfurled at Cambridge was regarded
as symbolizing the union of colonies, but no one knows who designed it
or chose it. To alter the design of our flag to-day would be a very
serious matter, but the colonies were so accustomed to the making of
flags according to the whim of some militia company or some sea captain
that the appearance of a new design, especially one so slightly changed
from the familiar flag of the mother country, cannot have created any
great sensation. Moreover, flags were not for sale at department stores;
they had to be ordered, and in this time of war, bunting was not easy to
procure. Flag-makers were few, and many a captain sailed away with a
flag manufactured by his wife's own unaccustomed hands.
July 4, 1776, less than fifteen months after the battle of Lexington,
it was declared in Congress "That these united colonies are, and of
right ought to be, free and independent states." June 14, 1777, the
following resolution was adopted:--
_Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be
thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new
constellation.
So much for the share that Congress had in the flag. The story of the
making of the first flag with stars and stripes is as follows. Betsy
Ross, or, to speak more respectfully, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom Ross,
lived on Arch Street, Philadelphia, in a tiny house of two stories and
an attic. She was called the most skillful needlewoman in the
city, and there is a tradition that before Washington became
commander-in-chief, she embroidered ruffles for his shirts--quite an
important branch of fine sewing in those days. Whether she ever
embroidered the great man's ruffles or not, it is said that, whenever
folk wanted any especially fine work done, they always went to "Betsy
Ross." She could do more than sew, for she could draw freehand the
complicated patterns that were used in quilting, the supreme proof of
artistic ability in the household. One day three gentlemen entered her
house through its humble doorway. One was her uncle by marriage,
Colonel Ross; one is thought to have been Robert Morris; one was
General Washington. The commander-in-chief told her that they had come
from Congress to ask her if she could make a flag. "I don't know," she
replied, "but I can try." Then they showed her a rough sketch of a
flag and asked what she thought of it. She replied that she thought it
ought to be longer, that a flag looked better if the length was one
third greater than the width. She ventured to make two more
suggestions. One was that the stars which they had scattered
irregularly over the blue canton would look better if they were
arranged in some regular form, such as a circle or a star or in
parallel rows. The second suggestion was that a star with five points
was prettier than one with six. Some one seems to have remarked that
it would be more difficult to make; and thereupon the skillful little
lady folded a bit of paper and with one clip of her scissors produced
a star with five points. The three gentlemen saw that her suggestions
were good, and General Washington drew up his chair to a table and
made another sketch according to her ideas.
Mrs. Ross could make wise suggestions about flags, but how to sew them
she did not know; so it was arranged that she should call on a shipping
merchant and borrow a flag from him. This she soon did. He opened a
chest and took out a ship's flag to show her how the sewing was done.
She carried it home to use as a guide, and when she reached the little
house on Arch Street, she set to work to make the first flag bearing the
stars and stripes. To try the effect, it was run up to the peak of one
of the vessels in the Delaware, and the result was so pleasing that it
was carried into Congress on the day that it was completed. Congress
approved of the work of the little lady. Colonel Ross told her to buy
all the material she could and make as many flags as possible. And for
more than fifty years she continued to make flags for the Government.
This is the account that has come down to us, not by tradition merely,
but by written statements of Mrs. Ross's daughters, grandchildren, and
others, to whom she often told the story. Mrs. Ross says that this
sample flag was made just before the Declaration of Independence,
although the Resolution endorsing it was not passed until June 14,
1777. This, however, would not argue to the incorrectness of the
account, for Congress had a fashion of writing with the utmost brevity
the results of its deliberations, and not putting in a word about the
discussions that must have taken place before the passing of a
resolution. Affairs of the utmost importance were on hand, and after
all it was the usefulness and convenience of the flag, rather than its
sentiment or the fact of its having congressional authority, that was
most in the minds of men, and it is not impossible that this design
was in use long before the date of its official recognition by
Congress. The one real weakness in the story is its lack of
contemporary evidence.
The significance of the new flag no one has expressed better than
Washington. "We take the star from Heaven," he said, "red from our
mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we
have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to
posterity representing liberty."
On the day of the passing of the resolution about the Stars and
Stripes, another one was passed, which read as follows:--
_Resolved_, That Captain John Paul Jones be appointed to command
the ship Ranger.
"The flag and I are twins, born the same hour," said Captain Jones.
The Ranger was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and there her
captain went to take command. She had no flag, but the captain was a
favorite whereever he went, and a group of Portsmouth girls soon held
a "quilting party," but made a flag instead of a quilt. Moreover, as
silk enough of the proper colors could not be found in the stores of
Portsmouth, they made it from breadths of their best silken gowns,
red, white, and blue, the story declares. Then Jones sailed away to
see how his little Ranger would behave when she met a British
man-of-war. He soon found out, for the Ranger and the Drake met in
combat, and for the first time a British man-of-war struck her colors
to the new flag. This same little silken flag was the first to receive
a genuine foreign salute. Early in 1778 the Ranger spoke the French
fleet, off Brest Roads. Captain Jones was willing to take chances in a
sea fight, but not in the matter of a salute, and he sent a courteous
note to the French commander, informing him that the flag worn by the
Ranger was the new American standard, which had never yet received a
salute from any foreign power. "If I offer a salute, will it be
returned gun for gun?" he queried. The reply was that the same salute
would be given as to an admiral of Holland, or any other republic;
that is, four guns less than the salute given. Captain Jones anchored
in the entrance of the bay and sought for further information. He
found that the reply of the admiral was correct and according to
custom. Therefore, on the following day, he sailed through the French
fleet, saluting with thirteen guns, and receiving nine. This was an
acknowledgment of American independence, and the first salute ever
paid by a foreign naval power to the Stars and Stripes. It is true
that a salute had been given to the American brig, the Andrea Doria,
before this, by the Governor of one of the West Indian Islands; but a
salute which his Government immediately disowned and for which he was
called home is rather an individual than a national salute. Then, too,
there is no proof that the flag flown by the Andrea Doria was the
Stars and Stripes.
After a while Jones was put in command of the Bon Homme Richard, a
larger vessel than the Ranger, but she flew the same little silken
flag. Off Flamborough Head he came up with the British Serapis. After
two hours of fighting, Captain Pearson of the Serapis shouted, in a
moment's lull, "Have you struck your colors yet?" "I haven't yet begun
to fight," was Jones's reply. The two ships were lashed together, guns
burst, cartridges exploded, wide gaps were torn out of the sides of
both vessels. "Have you struck?" cried the British captain. "No!"
thundered Paul Jones. At last the Serapis yielded; but the Bon Homme
Richard was fast sinking. Captain Jones left her and took possession
of the Serapis. The American vessel rolled and lurched and pitched and
plunged. The little silken flag that had never been conquered waved in
the morning breeze for the last time, and then went down, "flying on
the ship that conquered and captured the ship that sank her."
When Paul Jones returned to America he met one of the young girls who
had given him the flag. He told her how eagerly he had longed to give it
back into the hands of those who had given it to him four years earlier.
"But, Miss Mary," he said, "I couldn't bear to strip it from the poor
old ship in her last agony, nor could I deny to my dead on her decks,
who had given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of taking it with
them." In his journal he wrote eloquently and almost as simply:--
No one was now left aboard the Richard but her dead. To them I gave
the good old ship for their coffin, and in her they found a sublime
sepulcher. She rolled heavily in the long swell, her gun-deck awash
to the port-sills, settled slowly by the head, and sank peacefully
in about forty fathoms. The ensign-gaff, shot away in action, had
been fished and put in place, soon after firing ceased, and our
torn and tattered flag was left flying when we abandoned her. As
she plunged down by the head at the last, her taffrail momentarily
rose in the air; so the very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of
the Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered and
unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had given them the good
old ship for their sepulcher, I now bequeathed to my immortal dead
the flag they had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet!
This is the story of the Portsmouth flag. At first its truth was
accepted without a doubt; then it was seriously questioned. Within the
last few years, new evidence in the shape of family tradition has
strengthened its position.
CHAPTER VIII
FLAGS ONE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE
Probably the flag made by the skillful fingers of Mrs. Elizabeth
Griscom Ross was sewed with the tiniest of stitches imaginable; but it
is absolutely certain that the flag which made its appearance August
3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, afterwards Fort Stanwix, was not put
together with any such daintiness of workmanship. For twenty days the
little fort in the New York wilderness, where Rome now stands, was
besieged by British and Indians. Reinforcements brought the news of
the adoption of the new flag. The troops within the fort had no flag,
and therefore, in true American fashion, they set to work to make one.
There was not even a country store to draw upon for materials, so they
made the best of what they had. As the story has been handed down, a
white shirt provided the white stripes and the stars, and the
petticoat of a soldier's wife the red stripes. As for the blue ground
for the stars, it was cut from the cloak of Captain Abram Swartwout.
The result was not very elegant, but it was a flag, and it was _the_
flag, and the besieged men were as proud of it and stood for it as
bravely as if it had been made of damask with the daintiest of
needlework. August 22, 1777, the fort was relieved, and after a few
days Captain Swartwout began to be anxious about his blue cloak.
Colonel Peter Gansevoort, who commanded the fort, had promised him a
new one to take the place of the one which he had sacrificed for the
flag, but it had not arrived. Seven days he waited. At the end of the
seventh day he sent a note from Poughkeepsie, where he then was, back
to the fort, saying: "You may Remember Agreeable to Your promise, I
was to have an Order for Eight Yards of Broad-Cloath, on the
Commissary for Cloathing of this State In Lieu of my Blue Cloak, which
we Used for Coulours at Fort Schuyler. An opportunity Now presenting
itself, I beg You to send me an Order." Broadcloth was broadcloth in
those days, and a "Blue Cloak" was not so easily obtained. It is no
wonder he wrote it with capitals. It is to be hoped that the good
captain received his order; but it must have been a very large cloak
to require eight yards of "Broad-Cloath."
Another interesting banner was that borne by Count Pulaski, a gallant
Pole, who came to help in the struggle for freedom. He visited
Lafayette when the Frenchman was wounded and in the care of the
Moravian Sisterhood in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The embroidery of
these Sisters was very beautiful, and Pulaski engaged them to make him
a banner, which they did. On one side were the letters "U.S.," and on
the other the thirteen stars in a circle, surrounding an eye which is
rather uncomfortably set in a triangle. They made a mistake in
spelling their Latin motto, but the crimson banner, with its silver
fringe and its exquisite embroidery, was very handsome. Longfellow's
poem about this banner, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," is
excellent poetry, but hardly accurate history. It is quite probable
that the good women sent the banner forth with their blessing, but it
is rather doubtful whether they said anything like the following:--
"Take thy banner, and if e'er
Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier,
And the muffled drums should beat
To the tread of mournful feet,
Then this crimson flag shall be
Martial cloak and shroud for thee";--
for the beautiful little banner was only twenty inches square! When
Lafayette visited this country in 1824, this little flag was borne in
the procession which welcomed him to Baltimore.
In the midst of the grief and horrors of war, there was one day when all
the armed ships in the Delaware River were ablaze with the colors of the
United States in token of rejoicing. It was July 4, 1777, the first
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thirteen cannon were
fired, a great dinner was served to the members of Congress and the
officials of the army and of the State. The Hessian band, which had been
captured at Trenton six months previously, performed some of their
merriest music. Toasts followed the dinner, each one honored by a
discharge of artillery and small arms and a piece of music by the
Hessians. At night the city was illuminated and the streets resounded
with hurrahs and the ringing of bells. Then came fireworks, which began
and ended with thirteen rockets in honor of the thirteen United States.
"Thirteen" appeared not only as the number of stars on the flag, but
everywhere else, and at Valley Forge, in the rejoicing over the new
alliance with France, the officers marched up to the place of
entertainment thirteen abreast and with arm linked in arm. A
disrespectful English paper declared that the "rebels" ate thirteen
dried clams a day, that it took thirteen "Congress paper dollars" to
equal one English shilling, that "every well-organized rebel household
has thirteen children, all of whom expect to be major-generals or
members of the high and mighty congress of the thirteen United States
when they attain the age of thirteen years."
When the war had come to an end, the artist Copley was in London working
on the portrait of an American, Elkanah Watson. In the background of the
portrait was a ship supposed to be bearing to America the news of the
acknowledgment of Independence. The rising sun was shining upon the
place where the flag should have been, but no flag was there. Copley's
studio was often visited by the royal family, so he waited. But a day
came when the artist heard the speech of the King acknowledging the
Independence of America. He went straightway to his studio and painted
in the flag floating in the rays of the rising sun.
Soon after the close of the war, a wide-awake skipper of Nantucket, who
had some whale oil to sell, appeared at London. Nantucket was so
helpless for both offense and defense that it had remained neutral, and
the captain had received from Admiral Digby a license to go to London. A
London magazine of the time said, "This is the first vessel which has
displayed the thirteen rebellious stripes of America in any British
port." Nobody knew exactly what to do, but apparently the whale oil was
soon sold, for the enterprising whaler returned directly to Nantucket.
In October, 1783, most of the British troops had sailed away from the
United States, but Sir Guy Carleton was delayed in New York waiting
for vessels. When the day came for him to leave the city, a strong,
determined woman who kept a boarding-house brought out a United States
flag and ran it up on a pole in front of her house. Down the street
came a British officer with headlong speed. "We do not evacuate this
city until noon. Haul down that flag!" he shouted angrily. "That flag
went up to stay, and it will not be hauled down!" declared the
indignant housekeeper, and went on sweeping in front of her door.
"Then I will pull it down myself," thundered the irate officer, and
set to work. But the halyards were entangled, and all the officer's
swearing and scolding did not help matters. The militant lady of the
broom then applied her weapon to the officer. The powder flew from his
wig in a cloud, and at last he himself had to fly, leaving the flag to
float serenely on the morning breeze. This encounter has been called
the last battle of the Revolution.
Before leaving Fort George, at the foot of Broadway, in New York, the
British soldiers mischievously nailed their flag to the top of the
pole, took down the halyards, greased the pole from top to bottom, and
knocked off the cleats. They did not know how well the American boys
could climb; in a very short time new cleats were nailed on, the
English flag was pulled down, and the Stars and Stripes floated from
the top of the pole.
News of King George's proclamation did not reach the United States
till the middle of April, and then there was rejoicing, indeed. It is
no wonder that the joy of the country at the closing of the war burst
out in celebrations and silken flags. The diary of President Stiles,
of Yale, tells what took place in New Haven. It reads as follows:--
_April 24, 1783._ Public rejoicing for the Peace in New Haven.
At sunrise thirteen cannon discharged in the Green, and the
continental flag displayed, being a grand silk flag presented by
the ladies, cost 120 dollars. The stripes red and white, with an
azure field in the upper part charged with thirteen stars. On
the same field and among the stars was the arms of the United
States, the field of which contained a ship, a plough, and three
sheaves of wheat; the crest an eagle volant; the supporters two
white horses. The arms were put on with paint and gilding. It
took ---- yards. When displayed it appeared well.
The patriotic ladies who presented the flag had taken the arms and
motto, "Virtue, Liberty, Independence," from the title-page of a
family Bible; but unluckily, this Bible, having been published in
Philadelphia, displayed the arms and motto, not of the United States,
but of Pennsylvania. The moral is, learn the arms of your country.
CHAPTER IX
THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STRIPES AND FIFTEEN STARS
The worthy fathers of our country were long-sighted men. In many
respects they peered far into the future and they laid well the
foundations for a great republic. One thing, however, they forgot;
when they chose a design for a flag with thirteen stripes and a circle
of thirteen stars, they did not realize that the number of States
would probably increase, and that these States would wish to be
represented on the flag. In 1791 Vermont was admitted as a State, and
in 1792 Kentucky also came into the Union. In 1794 the Senate passed a
bill increasing to fifteen the number of both stripes and stars. This
bill was sent to the House, and then came exciting times. Some members
thought it of great importance not to offend new States by giving them
no recognition on the flag. Others called it dishonorable to waste
time over what one man called "a consummate piece of frivolity," when
matters "of infinitely greater consequence" ought to be discussed.
Another declared that the Senate sent the bill for the want of
something better to do. Yet another honorable member did not think it
worth while either to adopt or reject the proposed law, but supposed
"the shortest way to get rid of it was to agree to it." Whether to
"get rid of it" or not, the bill was passed, and went into effect May
1, 1795.
This flag of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars was the one worn by the
frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides." When, in 1830, it was reported
that this vessel, with its magnificent record, was to be broken up,
Holmes wrote his stirring poem, "Old Ironsides," which ends:--
"Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!"
It was this flag under which we went forth to three wars, each one
fought to uphold the rights of American citizens. The first was with
France, the second with Tripoli, and the third with Great Britain. It
had long been the custom for nations using the Mediterranean Sea to pay
tribute to the pirates of Tripoli. In 1800 Captain Bainbridge carried
the annual tribute to Algiers. It seemed that the Dey wished to send an
ambassador to Constantinople, and under threat of capture Captain
Bainbridge was ordered to carry him there. The captain obeyed, but very
unwillingly. When the new flag appeared at Constantinople, it was
reported to the Sultan that a ship from the United States of America was
in the harbor. "What's that?" he demanded. "I never heard of that
nation." "They live in the New World which Columbus discovered," was the
reply. The Sultan had heard of Columbus, and he sent to the frigate a
bouquet of flowers in welcome, and a lamp in token of friendship.
The Dey of Algiers became dissatisfied with the tribute paid by America,
and declared haughtily that if he did not receive from our country a
handsome present within six months, he should declare war. This he did,
but to his great surprise a small American fleet, under the fifteen
stars and stripes, sailed up to his city and began to bombard it. It was
not long before he became the very picture of meekness. He freed all his
American captives, paid well for all the property that he had destroyed,
and the Mediterranean Sea became safe for commerce.
In 1803 the United States purchased from France the immense Louisiana
Territory. The French flag was hauled down and the flag of the United
States was raised in token of the change of ownership. This country
had first been in the hands of Spain, and the Spaniards had presented
flags to various Indians. When Lieutenant Z. M. Pike made a journey of
exploration in the new territory, he came to an Indian village where
there was quite a display of Spanish banners. The Lieutenant made a
little speech to the Indians, and said among other things that the
Spanish flag at the chief's door ought to be given up to him and the
flag of the United States put in its place. The Indians listened, but
made no reply. Lieutenant Pike spoke again to the same effect. "Your
nation cannot have two fathers," he said. "You must be the children of
the Spaniards or else of the Americans." The red men sat in silence
awhile, then an old man arose, walked slowly to the door, took the
Spanish flag down, and put the American in its place. Then he gave the
flag of Spain to his followers, bidding them, "Never hoist this
again--while the Americans are here." Surely, the old chief must have
been akin to Dr. John Cotton of Colonial fame. This scene occurred in
what is now Kansas, and is thought to have been the first raising of
the United States flag in that State.
The banner of fifteen stripes and fifteen stars has a proud record,
for this was the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The
Star-Spangled Banner." Every one knows the story of the poem, how the
author and an agent for the exchange of prisoners went on board a
British vessel in 1814 to try to secure the release of a physician who
had been captured. The English admiral granted their request, but as
he was about to attack Fort McHenry, he told them that they would not
be permitted to return at once, but must remain on their own vessel,
with a British guard, until the fort was reduced. If this order had
been carried out, they would have been on board to-day, for the fort
never was reduced. All day the Americans could see the Stars and
Stripes flying over its ramparts, in spite of attacks by sea and by
land. Night came, and it was only by "the rockets' red glare, the
bombs bursting in air," that they knew whether the fort yet stood. At
length the firing ceased, and all was darkness. They could do nothing
but wait for the first rays of morning in the hope that "by the dawn's
early light" they could catch a glimpse of the flag and know that the
fort had not yielded, that "our flag was still there," and that the
British were retreating. Then it was that Key wrote, on the back of an
old envelope, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and put into it such a
thrill of sincerity that it is just as throbbing with life and
patriotism as it was on that September dawn a century ago. The banner
that inspired the poem is in the National Museum in Washington.
Francis Scott Key died in Baltimore in 1843, and is buried in
Frederick, Maryland. Over his grave a large national flag flies day
and night, never removed save when wear and tear make a new flag
necessary. In Baltimore a noble monument has been reared in his honor.
It is surmounted by the figure of the poet, who waves his hat with one
hand and with the other points joyfully toward the fort. The figure is
so life-like that one almost expects it to cry,--
"And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
A few months after "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written, a plan was
formed to rear in the city of Baltimore a monument in honor of George
Washington. It was fitting that the place of his birth should also be
marked, and a few days before the laying of the corner-stone of the
monument, a little company sailed from Alexandria, Virginia, to Pope's
Creek, Westmoreland County, where Washington was born. With them they
carried a simple freestone slab on which was chiseled his name and the
date of his birth. Wrapped in the banner of fifteen stars, it was borne
reverently to its resting-place by the hands of the descendants of four
Revolutionary patriots.
CHAPTER X
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said Lowell, and so it was with the
flag. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed
in 1795 then represented each State; but in less than one year it was
out of date. Tennessee had come into the Union. Then followed Ohio,
Louisiana, and Indiana. Here were four States with no representation
in the colors of the country. Then, too, people began to realize that
in giving up the thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant
"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical association. At length
the matter came before Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it
remained there. Occasionally there was some little discussion about
it. One member proposed that the matter be postponed indefinitely.
"Are you willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded another.
Yet another thought it unnecessary to insist upon thirteen stripes,
and thought they might as well fix upon nine or eleven or any other
arbitrary number as thirteen. The committee pleaded for the
significant thirteen, and so it went on. At length Peter H. Wendover,
of New York, through whose efforts Congress was held to its duty,
called the attention of the House to the fact that the Government
itself was paying no respect to its own laws in regard to the flag;
that the law demanded fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that
moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; that the navy yard and
the marine barracks were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that
during the first session of the preceding Congress the flag floating
over their deliberations had had, from some unknown cause or other,
only nine stripes.
It is small wonder that after such an arraignment as this the
lawmakers aroused themselves. The following bill was passed, and was
signed by President Monroe, April 4, 1818:--
SECTION 1. _Be it enacted, etc._, That from and after the fourth
day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen
horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have
twenty stars, white in a blue field.
SECTION 2. _Be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every
new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the
flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of
July next succeeding such admission.
So it was that the flag of the United States was finally decided upon.
Captain S. C. Reid designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag,
which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives a
few days after the law legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years
later, in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain Reid. The one weak
point in this law was that the arrangement of the stars on the blue
field was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. Captain Reid
arranged them in one large star; but it was evident that if this plan
was continued, as new States were admitted, the stars would become too
small to be seen distinctly. The Navy Commissioners issued the order
that in naval flags the stars should be arranged in five rows, four
stars in a row; but for many years merchant vessels paid small
attention to this decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government
inquired, with all respect, "What is the American flag?" Twenty years
later an observant man in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of
July by noting the numerous fashions in which the stars were arranged.
He said that all flags had the thirteen stripes--though not always in
the proper order--but that he had counted nine different fashions in
which the stars were arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a
lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel in the river flaunted
an anchor formed of stars. It was suggested that Congress ought to
order some regular arrangement, but Congress did not take the hint.
The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in
1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars,
now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each.
This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by
Congress.
Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land.
Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm;
it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to
endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make
bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been
tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865,
however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting,
and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in
the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the
lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to
work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in
Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in
the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first
time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a
banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the
tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since
the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy
has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and
must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail.
Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the
stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the
canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the
staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached.
Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in
the navy, but these are made entirely by hand.
A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign
countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags
are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment
of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because
the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in
bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War Department buys what
are needed. Manufacturers make large numbers for general sale; between
nine and ten million a year even in times of peace.
The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to have been given to the flag
by Captain William Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, became
a shipmaster, and at length made his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
When the Civil War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, even
though his own family were against him. More than thirty years before
this date, just as he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends
made him a present of a handsome American flag. When the breeze first
caught it and spread out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old
Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the years of his life. The
flag went to Tennessee with him, and was hung out on every day of
public rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate neighbors
tried their best to get possession of that flag; but they did not
realize the resources of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and
he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into his comforter. No
wonder that he had not the least objection to having his house
searched for it. When the Union troops entered the city, Captain
Driver asked permission to run up his flag over the State Capitol.
This was granted, and with an escort he marched to the building and
ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with tears in his eyes, he
said, "I have always said that if I could see it float over that
Capitol, I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there,
gentlemen, and I am ready to die." The captain's own particular "Old
Glory" was full of years and weakened by service, and on the following
day he reverently took it down and ran up a flag that was new and
strong. For a quarter of a century he saw the Union flag float over
the Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death in 1886, his own
"Old Glory" was sent to the Essex Institute at his birthplace.
CHAPTER XI
THE FLAG IN WAR
"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields of three wars; the
Mexican, the Civil War, and the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico
victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, and the path to that
lay in the capture of the strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before
sunrise one bright September morning, the American guns began to roar.
All day long the Americans fired from below and the Mexicans from
above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim of the Mexicans was
anything but accurate, and in twenty-four hours the American troops
were pushing forward up the hillside, through a grove full of
sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, even over mines, which the
Mexicans had no chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of
musketry were fired at the assailants, but they dashed over the
redoubt, up, still up, to the escarpment, and over it they tumbled.
Meanwhile the Mexicans were standing on the city walls and peering out
from the spires of the cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed on
and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to the right, now to the
left, as point after point was taken. Now the Americans had reached
the main works. The scaling-ladders were planted and the men scrambled
over the wall. Even then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope,
for their banner still floated over the highest pinnacle. Suddenly it
disappeared, and the Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had
been won. On the second day after the first gun was fired at
Chapultepec, the American troops were following their flag into the
City of Mexico.
The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort Sumter. Shot came in a
whirlwind, half a score of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the
brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot balls from the furnace
in Moultrie dashed down like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were
ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. Ninety barrels of
powder were rolled into the water lest it should explode in the awful
heat. The men were stifled with fumes from the burning buildings. Over
the horrors of this attack the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from
the staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed the clouds of
smoke aside for a moment, the glories of the red, white, and blue,
clear and calm and unscathed.
Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one magazine exploded, black
clouds of smoke filled the fort, and for hours the men covered their
faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. Nine times the
flagstaff was struck by a shot, and at the ninth the flag fell.
Lieutenant Hall dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the flag,
and brought it away. The halyards were cut and tangled. The flag could
not be raised, but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of the
incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened it up on the ramparts.
The fort surrendered, but not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his
men left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" with fifty guns,
then lowered it, and, as the Major stated to the Government, "marched
out of the fort with colors flying and drums beating."
This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, when the war was
virtually over, Major Anderson, now General Anderson, was, by order of
President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to raise again the flag which
he had so unwillingly lowered. A special steamer carried from New York
to the fort a number of prominent citizens. Hundreds came from
elsewhere by land to Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel.
Two hundred officers of the navy were present and many army officers.
After the opening exercises, Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag and
drew forth the identical flag that had been hauled down four years
earlier. The banner was unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo,
and slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, every one
trying his best to catch hold of the rope and help raise it. Hats were
waved and the old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up "The
Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was fired by the guns on Fort Sumter,
and this was responded to by every fort and battery that had fired
upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward Beecher, orator of the day,
made a thrilling address. Of the flag he said:--
There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the storm of
that assault this glorious ensign was often struck; but,
memorable fact, not one of its stars was torn out, by shot or
shell. It was a prophecy.... Lifted to the air, to-day it
proclaims, after four years of war, "Not a State is blotted out!"
Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory to the
banner that has gone through four years black with tempests of
war, to pilot the nation back to peace without dismemberment!
And glory be to God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath
ordained victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of God,
we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and
Liberty, now and forevermore.
A few years later General Anderson died. He was buried at West Point
and was carried to his grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended
so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag passed by her gift into
the hands of the War Department.
One of the most interesting flags of the recent war with Spain was
borne by the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. A
squadron of men for this regiment left Phœnix, Arizona, on their way
to the field of war. It was noticed that they had no flag. The women
of the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of the Republic took
the matter in hand, for if this was not a case where relief was
needed, where should one be found?
Night and day were the same to these energetic women. They bought silk
and they sewed, all day and all night. The stores of Phœnix did not
provide just the right sort of cord, so the staff of the battle-flag
was daintily adorned with a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and
blue. Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented with all
courtesy and dignity to the two hundred men who were to form a part of
the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, better
known as the "Rough Riders."
The little silken flag came to glories that it had not dreamed of, for
the regular bunting flags were scarce, and therefore it held the most
prominent place in parades and was even set up as guest of honor
before the tent of Colonel Leonard Wood. In the attack on Santiago,
the little party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town on the
coast a few miles from the city, carried the flag with them. On a
transport in the harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the troops
climb the hill, had seen the raising of the flag and discovered with a
glass what it was. As the story is told:--
He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of the bulwark,
and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,--it's our flag up there!"
And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys could. Some one on
the hurricane deck grabbed the whistle cord and tied it down,
the band of the Second Infantry whisked up instruments and
played "A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, and every
man who had a revolver emptied it over the side. Almost in an
instant every whistle of the fifty transports and supply vessels
in the harbor took up the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men
were cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then guns of the
warships on the flanks joined in a mighty salute to the flag of
the Nation. And the flag was the flag of the Arizona squadron.
The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight of Las Guasimas,
where three thousand intrenched Spaniards were driven back by
nine hundred unmounted cavalry; it was at the front all through
the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill; it
waved over the trenches before Santiago, and was later borne
through the captured city to the transport.
CHAPTER XII
THE FLAG IN PEACE
One of the greatest achievements of our flag in peace was the opening
of Japan. In 1852 Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter from
President Fillmore to prepare the way for a treaty of peace and
friendship and commerce with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much
ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for its reception. When the
time had come, the officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and
white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, and last of all the
Commodore entered the boats. As the Commodore stepped into his barge,
a salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the two bands struck up
lively tunes and the boats made for the shore.
Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson standards, surrounded by
flags of all sorts and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were
drawn up in line, and the hills behind them were crowded with people.
When the Americans came to land, a procession was formed. First, the
marines and sailors, then the one flag of the procession, the Stars
and Stripes, its brilliant colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It
was borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered men among the
sailors of the squadron. After the flag came two of the younger men,
carrying a rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully wrapped in a
scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials of the Commodore and the
letter of the President. These were written on vellum, and the seals
were attached by cords of silk and gold, ending in tassels of gold.
Then came the Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall negro of
fine proportions and armed to the teeth. After the Commodore walked
the officers of the squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted
into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. The court interpreter
asked if the letter was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two
stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed the letter upon a handsome
box of red lacquer, which was ready to receive them. The Commodore
made a formal bow. The bands played our national airs, and all
returned to the vessels as ceremoniously as they had come.
This was the beginning of intercourse between the United States and
Japan. Two years later a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy
from Japan visited this country.
So it was that Japan was opened to the world. In 1901 the Japanese
Minister of Justice said: "Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the
turn of the key which opened the doors of the Japanese Empire. Japan has
not forgotten--nor will she ever forget--that, next to her reigning and
most beloved sovereign, whose rare virtue and great wisdom is above all
praise, she owes her present state of prosperity to the United States of
America." "Are you coming over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in
this country was playfully asked. "Fight the United States?" he
exclaimed. "The United States is our friend." And drawing himself up to
his full height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not forget. We know
what your Commodore Perry and your country have done for us."
The American flag was first seen in China in 1784. The Chinese said it
was "as beautiful as a flower," and for many years they always spoke
of it as the "flower flag."
A custom of great significance and value, that of raising the home
flag over legations and consulates in foreign lands whenever a home
holiday comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit of one of our
Ministers to Sweden, William W. Thomas, Jr. The following is his own
account of the event:--
On taking possession of the archives and property of the United
States at Stockholm, I was surprised to find there was no
American flag there. Talking with my colleagues, the Ministers
of other countries, I was informed that no foreign Minister at
Stockholm ever hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so
would be considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette.
What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my good friends, the
Swedes; that was the last thing a Minister should be guilty of.
And I certainly did not want to see an American holiday go by
without hoisting the American flag from the American Legation.
The question troubled me a great deal.
All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. I sent to
America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and halyards, and from
my own drawings I had carved an American eagle, which was gilded
and perched on top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I
concealed in the Legation, and bided my time.
Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has ever produced is
Gustavus Adolphus. His life and deeds belong not to Sweden
along, but to the world. Well, when the anniversary of the death
and victory of this great captain of the Swedish host came
round,--the 6th of November, 1883,--and when the great choral
societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and followed by vast
multitudes of the Swedish populace, marched through the streets
of Sweden's capital, and gathered about the mausoleum on the
Island of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang pæans in his
praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless of precedent
or custom, the flag of the free republic--aye! flag, flagstaff,
golden eagle, and all--was run out from the American Legation;
and the starry banner of America waved in unison with the yellow
cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest warrior for the
freedom of our faith.
This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It was praised by
both the people and the press. After this, it may well be
believed, the flag of America floated unchallenged in the
capital of the Northland. It waved on high on the birthday of
Washington, on that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of
our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on the Fourth of
July, that gave the Republic birth. But I hoisted our flag
impartially, on Swedish holidays as well as our own; and the
Stars and Stripes floated out as proudly on the birthday of King
Oscar as on that of Washington.
"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the
spot," commanded General Dix; but the United States may well be proud of
having herself hauled down her flag on one occasion not many years ago.
After the Spanish-American War had been fought, the treaty of peace with
Spain put Cuba into the hands of the United States, and the
star-spangled banner was raised and saluted. This was in 1899. The three
years following this act were busy ones with the War Department, for in
its control was left the management of all Cuban affairs. Cuba was
cleaned up, the yellow fever stamped out, schools were established,
peace restored, a constitution adopted by the people, and a president
elected. May 20, 1902, was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to
pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island had been made free, and
now she was coming to her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated
from every house. Ships displayed both the American and the Cuban flags.
When the moment arrived, General Leonard Wood read the transfer, and the
President-elect signed it in the name of the new Republic. To free Cuba
from oppression the United States had entered into war. Our country
sought nothing for itself, and now the freedom of the island was
attained, and the American forces were to be withdrawn.
After the signing of the transfer Governor-General Wood loosened the
halyards and the star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished
nobly that for which it had been raised. As it sank slowly down the
Union salute of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands of
General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted to its position and floated
proudly over a free country. A national salute of twenty-one guns was
fired in its honor, and the history of the Cuban Republic had begun.
As the _New York Sun_ said, "No country ever before conquered a
territory at great sacrifice to set up a government other than its own."
In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our flag has won the honors of
the Northland. Many others had gone _far_ north; for Peary it was
reserved to go _farthest_ north, to the Pole itself. This was no
chance success, brought about by fine equipment and favorable weather;
it was the fair result of careful preparation and hard work. The
Admiral wrote in his journal:--
The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal
for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it.
It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett said when turning
back, when speaking of his being in these exclusive regions, which
no mortal had ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!"
A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude the generous aid which
he had received, the Admiral wrote:--
Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of the great earth
stories, the story the world has been waiting to hear for three
hundred years--the story of the discovery of the North Pole.
Such is the history of the flag of the United States of America from
the time when a little group of colonies dared to raise their own
standard and oppose their feeble strength and their slender resources
to the trained armies and the ample wealth of England.
This was a century and a half ago. The Republic has come of age and has
accepted her rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. The
mother country rejoiced to do her honor, and on one brilliant April
morning in 1917 the cities of England flung out her banner beside their
own. In London the Stars and Stripes were everywhere--in the hands of
the people in the streets, on private houses, on public buildings, even
on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster Palace, where before that day no
other flag save the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever been
raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul four thousand people had
come together to thank God for the alliance between the mother country
and her eldest child, that in this war of the world "they should go
forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God"--to quote the text
of the Bishop of London. The two flags, of Great Britain and of the
United States of America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. The
thousands of people rose with reverence and sang, first, "The
Star-Spangled Banner," and then, "God Save the King." And so it was that
Great Britain and the United States took their stand shoulder to
shoulder in the world-wide struggle to make sure "that government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
CHAPTER XIII
HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG
Except the cross there is nothing that the American should hold more
sacred than the flag of the United States, because of its record in
peace and in war, and because it stands for the rights and the freedom
of one hundred million citizens.
"Sign of a nation great and strong,
To ward her people from foreign wrong."
There are definite rules in regard to the use of the flag. The
following are the most necessary to know:--
The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should
not be left out at night unless under fire. It should not be allowed to
touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than a staff should be used.
In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, it should be run to the
top of the pole, and then lowered the width of the flag. Before being
retired, it should be run to the top again. On Memorial Day the flag
should be at half-mast until noon, and at the peak from noon until sunset.
When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; halt if you are
walking, and take off your hat.
In decorating, never drape the flag; always hang it flat. The Union
should be at the observer's left, whether the stripes are perpendicular
or horizontal. If our flag is crossed with the flags of other countries,
or carried in a parade beside them, it should always be at the right.
In unveiling a monument, the flag should never be allowed to drop to
the ground, but so arranged that it can be drawn up and will then
float over the monument.
If draped over a casket, the blue field should be at the head. If used
as the covering of an altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed
upon it, and the union should be at the right.
Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the flag union down.
Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played.
* * * * *
For those people who, whether maliciously or ignorantly, show any
disrespect to the flag, strenuous laws have been passed in most of the
States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand Army or a camp of Spanish
War veterans may put the name of the organization upon the flag, but no
other lettering is permitted. Any one who mutilates the flag or in any
way treats it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did John
Endicott in colonial days. The same respect is required to be shown to
the flags of all countries with which the United States is at peace.
The representation of the flag must not be used to advertise
merchandise, but it may be used on any publication designed to give
information about the flag, or to promote patriotism, or to encourage
the study of American history.
June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 on which the flag was
adopted, has been chosen as "Flag Day."
The length of a flag should be very nearly twice its height, or, to be
exact, in the proportion of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should
be three fourths the height of the whole flag; the height of the union
should be that of seven stripes.
Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been assigned to each State in
the order of its ratification of the Constitution and admission to the
Union. Beginning at the left upper corner and reading each row from
left to right, the stars of the separate States are as follows:--
_First row_
Delaware December 7, 1787
Pennsylvania December 12, 1787
New Jersey December 18, 1787
Georgia January 2, 1788
Connecticut January 9, 1788
Massachusetts February 6, 1788
Maryland April 28, 1788
South Carolina May 23, 1788
_Second row_
New Hampshire June 21, 1788
Virginia June 25, 1788
New York July 26, 1788
North Carolina November 21, 1789
Rhode Island May 29, 1790
Vermont March 4, 1791
Kentucky June 1, 1792
Tennessee June 1, 1796
_Third row_
Ohio February 19, 1803
Louisiana April 30, 1812
Indiana December 11, 1816
Mississippi December 10, 1817
Illinois December 3, 1818
Alabama December 14, 1819
Maine March 15, 1820
Missouri August 10, 1821
_Fourth row_
Arkansas June 15, 1836
Michigan January 26, 1837
Florida March 3, 1845
Texas December 29, 1845
Iowa December 28, 1846
Wisconsin May 29, 1848
California September 9, 1850
Minnesota May 11, 1858
_Fifth row_
Oregon February 14, 1859
Kansas January 29, 1861
West Virginia June 19, 1863
Nevada October 31, 1864
Nebraska March 1, 1867
Colorado August 1, 1876
North Dakota November 2, 1889
South Dakota November 2, 1889
_Sixth row_
Montana November 8, 1889
Washington November 11, 1889
Idaho July 3, 1890
Wyoming July 10, 1890
Utah January 4, 1896
Oklahoma November 16, 1907
New Mexico January 6, 1912
Arizona February 14, 1912
FLAG ANNIVERSARIES
January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen
stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge,
Massachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies.
January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing
to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the
Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it,
making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled
Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three
wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with
the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815.
February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a
British port by the ship Bedford, of Massachusetts, which arrived
in the river Thames on this date.
February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval
flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with
a rattlesnake diagonally across it.
February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes.
John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and
received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral
La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with
thirteen guns.
March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston
was on the day that town was evacuated by the British.
April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original
thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be
added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to
the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag.
April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the
first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British
man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag.
June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress.
This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the
making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross
of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and
white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field.
June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of
the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes
on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted
"the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775.
June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Nassau,
Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Nassau from the
British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes.
August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was
over Fort Stanwix, New York.
August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by
Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was
presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of
bunting. It is said to be now in the Essex Institute, at Salem,
Massachusetts.
September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at
the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its
adoption by the Continental Congress.
September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China
by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The
natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese
continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years.
September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its
first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing
from Boston.
October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in
Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was
hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in
the presence of both Russian and American troops.
SELECTIONS
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,--
'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto--"In God is our trust";
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS
BENJAMIN HARRISON
I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at
night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the
features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of
electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a
large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the
earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say
that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the
very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does
not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free
institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation.
A SONG FOR FLAG DAY
WILBUR D. NESBIT
Your Flag and my Flag!
And how it flies to-day
In your land and my land
And half a world away!
Rose-red and blood-red
The stripes forever gleam;
Snow-white and soul-white--
The good forefathers' dream;
Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright--
The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night.
Your Flag and my Flag!
And, oh, how much it holds--
Your land and my land--
Secure within its folds!
Your heart and my heart
Beat quicker at the sight;
Sun-kissed and wind-tossed,
Red and blue and white.
The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you--
Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue!
Your Flag and my Flag!
To every star and stripe
The drums beat as hearts beat
And fifers shrilly pipe!
Your Flag and my Flag--
A blessing in the sky;
Your hope and my hope--
It never hid a lie!
Home land and far land and half the world around,
Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound.
THE FLAG GOES BY
HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
Blue and crimson and white it shines,
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
Hats off!
The colors before us fly;
But more than the flag is passing by.
Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State:
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;
Days of plenty and years of peace;
March of a strong land's swift increase;
Equal justice, right and law,
Stately honor and reverent awe;
Sign of a nation, great and strong
To ward her people from foreign wrong:
Pride and glory and honor,--all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
And loyal hearts are beating high:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR
HENRY CABOT LODGE
The flag stands for all that we hold dear--freedom, democracy,
government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are
the great principles for which the flag stands, and when that
democracy and that freedom and that government of the people are in
danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which stands for them
all, and in order to defend the flag and keep it soaring as it soars
here to-day, undimmed, unsullied, victorious over the years, we must
be ready to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge to it
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
UNION AND LIBERTY
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
Flag of the heroes who left us their glory,
Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame,
Blazoned in song and illumined in story,
Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame!
Up with our banner bright,
Sprinkled with starry light,
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,
While through the sounding sky
Loud rings the Nation's cry,--
UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!
Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation,
Pride of her children, and honored afar,
Let the wide beams of thy full constellation
Scatter each cloud that would darken a star!
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee,
Bearing the standard of Liberty's van?
Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee,
Striving with men for the birthright of man.
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted,
Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw,
Then with the arms of thy millions united,
Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law!
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us,
Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun!
Thou hast united us, who shall divide us?
Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE!
Up with =our= banner bright,
Sprinkled with starry light,
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,
While through the sounding sky
Loud rings the nation's cry,--
UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!
YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG
EDWARD EVERETT HALE
"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put
a bar between you and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you
that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget
you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home,
boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to
your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back
to it when you are free. And for your country, boy,"--and the words
rattled in his throat,--"and for that flag,"--and he pointed to the
ship,--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though
the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens
to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to
another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that
flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with,
behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country
Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to
your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother."
THE HOME FLAG
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
And at the masthead,
White, blue, and red,
A flag unrolls the stripes and stars.
Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless,
In foreign harbors shall behold
That flag unrolled,
'T will be as a friendly hand
Stretched out from his native land,
Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless!
OLD FLAG
HUBBARD PARKER
What shall I say to you, Old Flag?
You are so grand in every fold,
So linked with mighty deeds of old,
So steeped in blood where heroes fell,
So torn and pierced by shot and shell,
So calm, so still, so firm, so true,
My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag.
What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag,
Upon the top of Bunker's Hill,
Who crushed the Briton's cruel will,
'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream,
Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream,
Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died,
That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag?
Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag,
Who, while the cannon thundered wild,
Sent forth a husband, lover, child.
Who labored in the field by day,
Who, all the night long, knelt to pray,
And thought that God great mercy gave,
If only freely you might wave, Old Flag?
What is your mission now, Old Flag?
What but to set all people free,
To rid the world of misery,
To guard the right, avenge the wrong,
And gather in one joyful throng
Beneath your folds in close embrace
All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag?
Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag,
Your stars shine out for liberty.
Your white stripes stand for purity,
Your crimson claims that courage high
For Honor's sake to fight and die.
Lead on against the alien shore!
We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag!
BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA
ALFRED AUSTIN
What is the voice I hear
On the winds of the western sea?
Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear
And say what the voice may be.
'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free.
And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail;
We severed have been too long.
Now let us have done with a worn-out tale--
The tale of an ancient wrong--
And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger
than death is strong."
Answer them, sons of the self-same race,
And blood of the self-same clan;
Let us speak with each other face to face
And answer as man to man,
And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can.
Now fling them out to the breeze,
Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose,
And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these--
A message of friends and foes
Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind
blows--
A message to bond and thrall to wake,
For wherever we come, we twain,
The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake,
And his menace be void and vain,
For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of
the main.
Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale;
We severed have been too long,
But now we are done with a worn-out tale--
The tale of an ancient wrong--
And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be
stronger than death is strong.
MAKERS OF THE FLAG
FRANKLIN K. LANE
[A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the Interior
to the employees of the Department of the Interior, on Flag Day,
1914.]
This morning as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a
most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say:
"Good-morning Mr. Flag Maker."
"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not
the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even
a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk."
"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice; "I know
you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday
straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or
perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or
helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or
pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in
Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming.
No matter; whichever one of these beneficient individuals you may
happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker."
I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:--
"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of
ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag
than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn
Club prize this summer.
"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of
Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into
the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag.
"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and
yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to
a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the
millions of our race. We are all making the flag."
"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!"
Then came a great shout from The Flag:--
"The work that we do is the making of the flag.
"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow.
"I am whatever you make me, nothing more.
"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become.
"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart breaks
and tired muscles.
"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of
work, fitting the rails together truly.
"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I
play the coward.
"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts
judgment.
"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try
for.
"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope.
"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the
most daring.
"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute
makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook,
counselor, and clerk.
"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow.
"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why.
"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution.
"I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you
believe I can be.
"I am what you make me, nothing more.
"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of
yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this
nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They
are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith,
because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the
makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making."
OUR FLAG
MARGARET SANGSTER
Flag of the fearless-hearted,
Flag of the broken chain,
Flag in a day-dawn started,
Never to pale or wane.
Dearly we prize its colors,
With the heaven light breaking through,
The clustered stars and the steadfast bars,
The red, the white, and the blue.
Flag of the sturdy fathers,
Flag of the royal sons,
Beneath its folds it gathers
Earth's best and noblest ones.
Boldly we wave its colors,
Our veins are thrilled anew
By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars,
The red, the white, and the blue.
OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG[1]
WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU
Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples and ages; but no
land has ever been dearer to its people than our own America. No
nation has a history more inspiring, no country has institutions more
deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our nation's
history, the young citizen sees Columbus, serene in the faith of his
dream; the Mayflower, bearing the lofty soul of the Puritan;
Washington girding on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles
from the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the farthest
west with north and south and east into one great Republic; the
tremendous energy of free life trained in free schools, utilizing our
immense natural resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the aid
of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields and noble workshops,
and busy schools and happy homes.
This is the history for which our flag stands; and when the young
citizen salutes the flag, he should think of the great ideals which it
represents. The flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law;
it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for equality of
opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the cause of humanity; it stands
for free public education, and for peace among all nations. When you
salute the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be
dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that he is the truest
American patriot who understands the meaning of our nation's ideals,
and who pledges his own life to their realization.
[Footnote 1: From _Preparing for Citizenship_. Houghton Mifflin Company,
1913, 1915.]
THE AMERICAN FLAG
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE
Flag of the free heart's hope and home!
By angel hands to valor given;
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY
ROBERT C. WINTHROP
There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its
folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a
foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its
endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because
it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.
It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the
Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation,
which receives a new star with every new State. The two together
signify union past and present.
The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky,
make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
upheld by all our hands.
AMERICA
SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,--
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet Freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,--
The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God our King.
INDEX
Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2.
"Albany Plan," 18-19.
Alexandria, 61.
Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38.
Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58.
America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52;
overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58.
"Ancient flag," the, 3.
Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again
in 1865, 72-73;
burial of, 74.
Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, 45.
Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, 40, 42.
Arizona, admitted to the Union, 66;
men from, at Santiago, 75.
Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, 1-2.
Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, 1.
Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople,
57-58.
Baltimore, 50, 61.
Bedford, the flag of, 20-21.
Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, 73.
Bethlehem, 50.
Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, 45-47.
Boston, arrival of stamps at, 15-16;
flag seen in, 34; 35.
Boston Harbor, 5;
tea dropped into, 30.
Brest Roads, 44.
Britain, 34.
British, besiege Fort Stanwix, 48.
Broadway, 53.
Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, 67.
Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, 21; 28, 29, 30, 32.
Bunting, not made in America until 1866, 66-67.
Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, 29; 34, 39.
Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, 53.
Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, 5-6.
Chapultepec, taken by Americans, 70-71.
Charles II, and the New England coinage, 11.
Charleston, the flag of, 11-12;
stamped paper in, 15;
liberty flag in, 16;
flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22;
Liberty Tree of, 30;
cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 31; 72.
China, the American flag in, 79.
Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, 2.
Civil War, the beginning of the, 71.
Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, 31.
Columbus, 58.
Concord, 20.
Congress, 19;
sends a committee to Cambridge, 32;
orders building of cruisers, 35;
orders a flag, 41; 42; 43;
celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 51;
decrees the star-spangled banner, 63-64.
_See also_ Continental Congress.
Connecticut, regimental colors of, 22;
motto of, 30.
Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, 58.
Constitution, frigate, 57.
Continental Congress, 27;
weakness of the statement issued by the, 29;
Washington a member of the, 33; 37;
declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, 39-40.
Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, 38.
Copley, paints in the flag, 52.
Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, 6-7;
Indian chief resembles, 59.
Cuba, given up to the Cubans, 81-82.
Culpeper Minute Men, 25.
Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, 75.
Declaration of Independence, 32, 40;
flag made before the, 42;
first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, 51.
Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, 2;
pine tree flag on the, 35;
stars and stripes on the, 42;
celebration on the, 51.
Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, 52.
Dix, General, 81.
Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," 68.
Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, 2;
overpowered by the English, 2;
opposed by New Englanders, 9-10;
government of, inquires concerning the American flag, 65.
Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, 1-2.
Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, 24.
Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, 4-5; 87.
England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, 2-3; 6; 18; 33;
flag of, pulled down in New York, 54; 66;
honors the Stars and Stripes, 84.
English East India Company, flag of the, 34.
Essex (county), 9.
Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, 69.
"Father of his Country," 33.
Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, 56-62.
Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, 77.
First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, 74.
_See_ Rough Riders.
Flag anniversaries, 90-92.
"Flag Day," 87.
Flag etiquette, 85-89.
"Flower flag," the, 79.
Flamborough Head, 45.
Fort George, 53.
Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, 60.
Fort Moultrie, 23.
Fort Schuyler.
_See_ Fort Stanwix.
Fort Stanwix, flag made at, 48-49.
Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, 71-72;
flag raised upon, 73.
Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, 39-40;
first anniversary of the, 51;
new stars to be added to the flag on the, 64;
honored in Sweden, 81.
France, war with, 57;
sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 58.
Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," 18-19; 24, 25, 26;
sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32; 34;
issues letters of marque, 37.
Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, 61.
French, opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10;
meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, 12-13.
Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, 30.
Gage, General, 21.
Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, 49.
George III, proclamation of, 54.
"God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84.
Grand Army of the Republic, 74, 86.
Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," 18-19.
"Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, 33;
designer not known, 34; 39.
Great Britain, second war with, 57, 84.
Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, 2; 80.
Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, 72.
Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, 30.
Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32.
Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort
Sumter, 72;
presents it to be raised, 73.
Harvard College, used by troops, 28.
Havana, 82.
Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, 4-5;
of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," 11.
Hemisphere, on a flag, 11.
Henry, Patrick, 25.
Hessians, 51.
Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, 1; 44.
Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, 56.
House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, 65.
Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, 1-2.
Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, 13.
Indiana, 63.
Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, 1;
method of warfare, 8;
given flags, 12;
volunteer at Cambridge, 29;
fought by Washington, 33;
besiege Fort Schuyler, 48;
raise the American flag, 59.
Island of Knights, 80.
James I, changes the flag of England, 3.
James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, 10.
Jamestown, founded, 2.
Japan, opened by Perry, 77-79;
embassy from visits the United States, 78;
the friend of the United States, 79.
Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, 23-24.
Jersey City, 65.
Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, 35-37;
forbidden to burn defenseless towns, 37;
put in command of the Ranger, 43;
receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, 43-45;
in command of the Bon Homme Richard, 45-47.
Journal, of Congress, 32.
Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, 59.
Kentucky, admitted as a State, 56.
Kettle Hill, battle of, 76.
Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," 60-61.
King Philip's War, flag used in, 9.
"King's Flag," 3;
displayed at Castle Island, 6-7.
Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, 49, 50.
Las Guasimas, 75.
"Last battle of the Revolution," 53.
Lexington, 31;
battle of, 35; 39.
Liberty, the demand for, 14.
"Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, 30.
"Liberty Hall," 16.
Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, 31.
"Liberty Tree," in Boston, 16, 17;
of South Carolina, 30;
Paine's poem on the, 31.
Lincoln, President, 72.
"Lion of the North," 2.
London, 52;
honors the Stars and Stripes, 84.
Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," 50.
Louisburg, the New Englanders at, 12-13.
Louisiana, admitted to the Union, 63.
Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, 58.
Lowell, quotation from, 63.
Lowell (city), bunting made in, 66.
Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32.
Maryland, 61.
Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, 4-7; 8, 9;
flag of the "Three County Troop" in, 9;
use of "pine tree" in, 10, 11, 15;
flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; 27;
motto of, 30;
decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, 35; 66; 68; 86.
Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, 58.
Memorial Day, 81.
Mexico, war with, 70.
Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, 70-71.
Middlesex (county), 9, 20.
Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled
Banner, 64.
Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, 50.
Morris, Robert, 40.
Mottoes on flags, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 36, 54.
Moultrie, 71.
Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, 23-24.
Nantucket, 52, 53.
Nashville, 68.
National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, 61.
Netherlands, flag of the, 34.
New Amsterdam, 2.
Newbury, flag of the militia in, 8-9.
Newburyport, patrol, of, 15.
New England, alliance of the folk of, 9-10; 18.
New Englanders, 10;
set off to capture Louisburg, 12.
"New England Flag," the, 21.
New Hampshire, 15, 43.
New Haven, peace rejoicing in, 54.
New Mexico, admitted to the Union, 66.
New World, 2, 58.
New York, founded by the Dutch, 2;
flag of, 15;
arrival of stamps at, 16;
liberty pole in, 17-18;
hoists flag with beaver device, 22; 27; 31;
State of, 48;
Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, 53; 64; 72.
_New York Sun_, 82.
North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, 83.
Ohio, admitted to the Union, 63.
"Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, 68-69;
in three wars, 70.
"Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, 57.
"Old Thirteen," 2.
Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, 15-16.
Oscar, king of Sweden, 81.
Page family, as color bearers, 20.
Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," 31.
Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul Jones, 45.
Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, 82-83.
Pennsylvania, 32, 50, 55.
_Pennsylvania Gazette_, 19.
_Pennsylvania Journal_, 25.
Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to
Japan, 77-79.
Philadelphia, 18, 37, 39, 40, 55.
Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, 27;
flag of the, 27-28, 33.
Phœnix, 74.
Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, 59.
Pilgrims, 34.
Pine tree, on flag, 10, 11, 21, 35;
used on the Delaware River, 35.
"Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, 11.
Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, 61.
Portsmouth, banner in, 15;
the "quilting party" flag, 43-47.
Poughkeepsie, 49.
Prospect Hill, 29;
flag raised on, 34.
Pulaski, Count, the banner of, 49-50.
Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, 4-7.
Putnam, Major-General Israel, 29;
flag presented to, by John Hancock, 30.
Quaker City, the, 27.
Ranger, command of, given to Jones, 43;
the flag of, and its salute, 43-45.
Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, 22;
a favorite emblem, 24-26; 35;
on flag of the Alfred, 37.
Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one
star, 65.
Revere, Paul, 20.
Revolutionary War, 21.
Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, 22.
Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, 4.
Rome, 48.
Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, 40-42.
Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, 40, 48.
_See_ Betsy Ross.
Ross, Colonel, 40, 42.
"Rough Riders," 74.
St. Andrew, the cross of, 3, 18, 33.
St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, 3;
cut out of the flag by Endicott, 4-5;
in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree
flag, 10; 18; 21; 32; 34.
St. Paul, Cathedral of, 84.
Salem, cross cut from the flag in, 4-5, 8, 68.
San Juan Hill, the battle of, 76.
Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, 75.
Savannah, flag hoisted at, 22, 24.
Scotland, the flag of, 3; 33.
Serapis, taken by Jones, 45-47.
Six Nations, 18.
Somerville, flag raised in, 34.
Sons of Liberty, 15;
put up a liberty pole, 17-18;
meetings of the, 30.
South Carolina, 11;
treatment of stamped paper in, 14; 30; 32.
Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, 59;
war with, 74, 81.
Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, 75.
Spanish-American War, 81, 87.
Stamp Act, 14;
repeal of the, 17; 30.
Stars and Stripes, first salute to, 45;
replace the English flag in New York, 54;
at Fort McHenry, 60;
at Chapultepec, 71;
fired upon at Fort Sumter, 71-72;
raised again at Fort Sumter, 72-73;
in Japan, 78;
in China, 79;
in Sweden, 81;
honored in England, 84;
behavior towards the, 85-87.
"Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, 60-61;
played at Fort Sumter, 73;
sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84.
Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, 54.
Stockholm, 80.
Suffolk (county), 9.
Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, 48-49.
Sweden, American flag raised in, 79-81.
Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, 2;
opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10.
Tennessee, admitted to the Union, 63; 68.
Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, 10.
"Thirteen," 51, 63.
Thirteen stripes, first used, 28.
Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, 79-81.
Trenton, 51.
Tripoli, war with, 57.
Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, 21.
"Union Flag," 18, 22;
made at Cambridge, 33;
worn by the Alfred, 37.
Union Jack, 3;
given to the Indians, 12; 18; 84.
United Colonies, 34.
"Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," 18.
United States, 26, 51, 52;
left by British troops, 53; 54, 55, 58;
buys the Louisiana Territory, 58-59;
flag of, decided upon, 63-65;
flag manufactured in, 67;
opens intercourse with Japan, 78; 80;
flag of, hauled down in Cuba, 81-82; 83, 84, 87.
Vermont, admitted as a State, 56.
"Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, 84.
Virginia, 2, 3, 25, 33, 61.
Washington, 21;
goes to Boston, 27-29; 32;
coat-of-arms of, 33; 34; 40;
visits Betsy Ross, 41;
significance of the flag expressed by, 43; 61;
monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, 61-62; 81.
Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, 52.
Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled
Banner, 64.
Westminster Palace, 84.
Westmoreland County, 61.
West Point, burial place of General Anderson, 74.
Wood, General Leonard, 75;
delivers Cuba to the Cubans, 82.
Yale, 54.
Transcriber's Note:
* Footnote moved to end of article on Pg 114.
* Moved frontispiece illustration to Pg 1.
* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained.
* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located
in the phrase "and marched in a log procession".
* Pg 43 "whereever" and Pg 107 "wherever" retained as printed.
* Pg 90 Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in
"February 3, 1783".
* Pg 92 Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30,
1787,-August 10, 1790".
* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase
"cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 30".
* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase
"Congress, 19".
* Pg 120 Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39".
* Pg 121 Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase
"Pearson, captain, yields to John Paul Jones".
* Pg 122 Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase
""Thirteen," 51".
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Little Book of the Flag" ***
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