Chapter VI: Concluded (2)

The word “yard,” too, is important. He does not say Catholic _graveyard_--but _churchyard_. Holy Trinity best fills the idea of a small space attached to a building--a church--and having the commonly called “yard,” a small enclosed place--in this case, at the side of the church, right “under the humble walls.” No other Catholic churchyard in 1793, could have been “under the walls” of any church but this. St. Joseph’s had ceased to be a place of interment; St. Mary’s was, and yet is, a large graveyard. It is not a “little churchyard,” and interments cannot be said, even in imagination of poetry, to have been “under the walls” of the church, as big in 1793 as to-day, save by about twenty feet.

While, of course, there was no real Evangeline or Gabriel in Philadelphia, and no real burial anywhere, the sole discussion is confined to the churchyard Longfellow saw, in 1824, and in 1847, had in mind as the burial place of the two. No place so well fills the possibilities, even the probability, as Holy Trinity’s “little churchyard,” at Sixth and Spruce.

How Longfellow came to write Evangeline has been narrated; how Lowell thought the “tradition” a fit one for a story, but that Longfellow desired he be allowed to use it for a poem.

In “The Neutral French or the Exiles of Nova Scotia,” by Mrs. Williams, issued in 1841, will be found the same story, but with New York as the scene of action. That doubtless was the source of suggestion to Longfellow.

MARTIN I. J. GRIFFIN.

PHILADELPHIA.

CAPTAIN JAMES DUNCAN’S DIARY OF THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN

Colonel Hazen’s regiment was the second regiment of the kind and was known as “Congress’s Own,” because under authority of a resolution of Congress of January 20, 1776, permission was granted to enlist one thousand Canadians or more for one year, as was done in a previous case under Colonel James Livingston. This regiment was not chargeable to any State, and hence its name, “Congress’s Own.” The troops were sometimes called “Canadian forces.”

Colonel Moses Hazen was appointed Colonel and Edward Antill Lieutenant Colonel, by Congress. In the early part of 1776 about 500 Canadians were secured for the regiment; but the evacuation of Canada reduced the number to less than 100 by the time it reached Albany. Colonels Hazen and Antill then went to Philadelphia to lay the matter before Congress. As a result they received authority to recruit anywhere within the United States. Hazen went to New York and the New England States; Antill to Pennsylvania and the Middle States. The latter was the more successful in securing recruits.

In the early part of 1781 the regiment moved from West Point down the Hudson and joined the army en route for Yorktown, when it participated in the siege. After the surrender of Cornwallis it was ordered to Lancaster, Pa., where for ten months it guarded English prisoners. Then it moved to New York, and was finally disbanded at White Plains in November, 1783.

In this regiment served James Duncan, first as a Lieutenant, commission dated November 3, 1776, and next as Captain, commission dated March 25, 1778.

James Duncan was a native of Philadelphia, where he was born in 1756. He graduated at Princeton College and was studying for the ministry when the war broke out. As related by himself afterward, “The beating of the d-- drums past my window made such a noise that I could not study;” so he concluded to enter the army. He became a member of Colonel Hazen’s regiment, and continued with it till the close of the war. For his services he received from Pennsylvania 500 acres of land. This tract was situated in the Shenango valley, in what is now Mercer County. When Adams County, Pa., was formed, Captain Duncan was appointed first Prothonotary, and held the position until 1822. During the twenty-one years he filled this office, he was never beyond the sight of his Court House; and during that time he never opened his office at night nor allowed a candle or lantern to be used in his office, so carefully did he regard his duty to preserve the public records.

Captain Duncan removed to Mercer County, Pa., in 1822, and lived there to the time of his death, which occurred June 24, 1844, in his 89th year.

The diary which is here presented was kept by Captain Duncan with great care. As a scholarly man and a good military officer, he was thoroughly competent to make careful and reliable observations. These memoranda were in his own handwriting. From this record the author of this paper made an exact copy in 1899, and it is an important contribution to the history of the Siege of Yorktown.

THE DIARY PROPER

CAMP BEFORE YORK, Oct. 2, 1781.--It may not be amiss to take notice of a few remarkable occurrences prior to the commencement of this journal. The army were never so universally deceived in regard to the operations of the campaign as at this time. New York was thought to be the object, and no maneuver left untried to confirm this opinion, when all on a sudden, the army decamped from W. Plains, crossed the North river, and proceeded by a circuitous route to Springfield, in New Jersey, where, after a halt of a few days (in order the better to deceive the enemy), they took their route for Trenton, at which place the artillery stores with our regiment and some other troops embarked. We were now no longer at a loss to know our place of destination. We arrived at Christiana Bridge and thence marched by land to the head of Elk, where the French troops with the rest of our army joined us in a very short time. Here we were delayed for 6 or 7 days, being busily employed in embarking ordnance stores of all kinds on board the vessels. In the meantime the French troops with some other corps of our army proceeded by land for Baltimore. The bay not being able to furnish a sufficient number of vessels, the Rhode Island regiment with ours was obliged to embark on board a number of flat-bottomed boats, which had been constructed at Albany and brought to this place. We set out on this arduous and very hazardous undertaking about Sept. 15 and arrived at Williamsburg the 26th. On our passage, we hugged close the Western shore, but the many bays and mouths of rivers we were obliged to cross rendered it exceedingly dangerous. I think the rivers in their order were as follows, viz: Elk, Susquehannah, Petapsco, Severn, Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, Pequankitank, York and James. The bays were numerous. Among the largest is Mock Jack,[6] better than 20 miles across.

The weather in general was very favorable excepting at the time of our crossing the mouth of Rappahannock, when on a sudden, a furious wind arose, which occasioned a very rough sea. A number of boats were dismasted, sails torn to pieces, and the whole in the utmost distress. We, however, all made round the point into a safe harbor, excepting Colonel Antill[7] who, missing the point, was obliged to stretch for Given’s island. After repairing our rigging it was determined to proceed a safer course than that which Colonel Antill took, by sailing across Pequankitank bay into the mouth of a river which forms Given’s island. In this attempt I shipped water several times and had all my sail torn to pieces. Some of the boats were more prudent and did not cross that day. However, we all arrived safe, and were detained there two days by the storm. Three vessels sailing in the bay were the same day foundered. A miraculous escape! I cannot but mention the very polite treatment we received from the inhabitants of Given’s island.

I have said we arrived at Williamsburg the 26th; the 27th and 28th were detained at this place in making preparations for the siege, and on the 29th the allied army moved down toward York (distant from Williamsburg about 12 miles), and made a short halt about two miles distant from the enemy’s outworks when a few shots were fired from the French pieces at some of Tarleton’s horse, who immediately dispersed. In the course of the night three deserters came in with little or no intelligence that could be depended on. On the morning of the 30th we had orders to approach the enemy’s works. After marching a short distance we were ordered to load, and proceed within half a mile of the enemy’s works on the left. One brigade of infantry was halted, while the First brigade, commanded by Gen. Muhlenburg, crossed a small morass and paraded in order of battle, marched a small distance in front; but the enemy not firing, they wheeled to the right and took their post in the line; a picket was now turned out (the better to favor reconnoitering parties) which advanced in front nearly half way to the enemy, until they were obliged to retreat by the fire of a field piece from the enemy’s works. (It was said his excellency, the commander-in-chief, was in front of this picket the whole time reconnoitering.) The sentries were, however, continued at their posts and regularly relieved the whole day. One of the sentries was so unfortunate as to receive a wound on his foot from a cannon ball, which obliged the surgeons to make an immediate amputation of his leg. We sustained no other harm from their firing, although they frequently overshot us. The remainder of the day was employed in reconnoitering the enemy; and toward evening the whole army encamped nearly on the ground they had before occupied. Before we proceed it may be proper now to take some notice of the different corps and the arrangement of the army. The Marquis de Lafayette’s division of L. infantry, composed of Muhlenburg’s and Hazen’s brigades on the right of the front line, and nearest the enemy; the Baron Steuben’s division, composed of the Marylanders, Pennsylvanians and Virginians on the left of the front line. The Jersey troops in the rear of the infantry, & the York in rear of Steuben’s division, with the park of artillery and sappers and miners in the center, forming the second line; the militia forms the corps de reserve, and the French troops, commanded by Count Rochambeau, on the left of the whole. We passed this night with little or no disturbance from the enemy, but guess our agreeable surprise when on the morning of the ensuing day (Oct. 1) we found the enemy had evacuated all their front works, and retreated about half a mile. We knew of no other way to account for this than that their works being too extensive and weak, they were afraid of a storm.

This morning Col. Scammel[8] was unfortunately wounded and taken by the enemy, as he was too closely reconnoitering, and sent on parole to Williamsburg. No sooner were the enemy’s works evacuated than they were taken possession of by our pickets, supported by the whole army, who marched up for that purpose, and continued on the lines a great part of the day, although the enemy at certain times fired very briskly from their pieces. About 8 o’clock this morning the French grenadiers attacked and carried a small battery, with the loss of four killed and six wounded. Ten companies were ordered out early this morning for fatigue, of which I had the honor to command one. Until 11 A. M. we were employed in cutting and stripping branches for gabions. On being furnished with shovels, spades, pickaxes, etc., we were ordered up to the lines, where we continued inactive until about an hour before sunset. In the meantime, the engineers were employed in reconnoitering the enemy’s works, and fixing on proper places to break the first ground. Let me here observe that the enemy by evacuating their works had given us an amazing advantage, as the ground they left commanded the whole town, and nothing but the reasons before alleged could have justified them in so doing, as by contrary conduct they must have very much retarded the operations of the siege.

The engineers having fixed on and chained off the ground in two different places to erect their works within point blank shot of the enemy, the parties were called on. Five companies were ordered to an eminence on the right and five to another on the left. It happened to be my fate to be stationed on the left, a place the most dangerous of the two, as it was nearest to the enemy, and more exposed to the fire from the enemy’s batteries [enemies batteries--copy]. We were now conducted to a small hollow near the ground. Five men were ordered by the engineer to assist him in clearing away the rubbish, staking out and drawing the lines of the work. This was in the face of open day, and the men went with some reluctance; a little before this we had a shot from the enemy which increased their fears. At dusk of evening we all marched up, and never did I see men exert themselves half so much or work with more eagerness. Indeed, it was their interest, for they could expect nothing else but an incessant roar of cannon the whole night. I must confess I too had my fears, but fortunately for us they did not fire a shot that whole night. I am at a loss to account for it, for the moon shone bright, and by the help of their night glasses they must certainly have discovered us. We were relieved about daybreak, and scarcely had we left the trenches when the enemy began their fire on both works from three pieces.

_Oct. 2._--The works were so far finished in the course of the preceding night that the men worked in them this day with very little danger, although the enemy kept up an almost incessant fire from two pieces of artillery. A drummer, rather too curious in his observation, was this day killed with a cannon ball.

_Oct. 3._--Last night four men of our regiment, detached with the first brigade, were unfortunately killed (on covering party) by one cannon ball; one of the men belonged to my own company (Smith), a loss I shall ever regret as he was, without exception, one of the finest men in the army. A militia man this day, possessed of more bravery than prudence, stood constantly on the parapet and d-- his soul if he would dodge for the balls. He had escaped longer than could have been expected, and, growing foolhardy, brandished his spade at every ball that was fired till, unfortunately, a ball came that put an end to his capers. This evening our brigade was ordered for an evening party, and in the course of the night a deserter went to the enemy, informing them of our situation, in consequence of which they directed a few shots our way, but did no harm.

_Oct. 4._--This morning, on leaving the ground, the enemy were complaisant enough to favor us with a shot, but did no execution. Fatigues were continued in the works as usual, and suffered little or no harm. This day’s orders give us an account of Tarleton’s defeat on the Gloucester side on the 3d. He was attacked by Duke Leziome’s[9] legion and the militia grenadiers, commanded by Mercer. Tarleton lost 50 men, killed and wounded, the officer who commanded his infantry killed, and himself badly wounded, with very little loss on our side.

_Oct. 5._--We had more firing from the enemy last night than any night since the commencement of the siege, but don’t learn that they did any other harm than delay the operation of the works. This day the regiment was employed in cutting and making fasseines, and a regiment from every brigade in the army ordered out for some extra fatigue duty this evening.

_Oct. 6._--The parties did not go out, and nothing extraordinary happened this day.

_Oct. 7._--The regiments ordered for the extra duty were last night employed in drawing the line of circumvallation. This line extends itself to the river on each side the town, and at all places nearly equally distant and better than 200 yards in front of the former works. The enemy discovered us, although the night was pretty favorable, but the chief of their fire was directed against the French. They were, no doubt, much astonished in the morning to find themselves so completely hemmed in on all sides, and trenches so deep that we could sustain little or no harm from their fire. The trenches were this day to be enlivened with drums beating and colors flying, and this honor was conferred on our division of light infantry. And now I must confess, although I was fond of the honor, I had some fear, as I had no notion of a covered way, and more especially as I was posted in the center with the colors. We, however, did not lose a man in relieving, although the enemy fired much. The covered way was of infinite service. Immediately upon our arrival the colors were planted on the parapet with this motto: _Manus Haec inimica tyrannis_. Our next maneuver was rather extraordinary. We were ordered to mount the bank, front the enemy, and there by word of command go through all the ceremony of soldiery, ordering and grounding our arms; and although the enemy had been firing a little before, they did not now give us a single shot. I suppose their astonishment at our conduct must have prevented them, for I can assign no other reason. Col. Hamilton gave these orders, and although I esteem him one of the first officers in the American army, must beg leave in this instance to think he wantonly exposed the lives of his men. Our orders were this night that if the enemy made a sortie and attempted to storm the trenches we were to give them one fire from the barquet, rush over the parapet and meet them with the bayonet.

_Oct. 8._--Some time before daylight this morning we were very much surprized at the conduct of a picket that had been posted some little distance in front of our works. They were fired upon by the enemy, never returned a single shot and retreated into our works in the utmost disorder. Captain Weed, who commanded the picket, was again ordered out, but the enemy had retired. How he will be answerable for his conduct time will discover as I dare say he will soon be obliged to give an account. One man of our picket was killed, though some think it was by our men, as there had been other parties ordered out.

The fire of the enemy was this day chiefly directed against the parties employed in erecting batteries. We were relieved about 12 o’clock and sustained no harm during our tour excepting two men badly wounded; but we had scarcely left the trenches when a man working on the parapet had his arm shot off. As soon as we arrived in camp we changed our ground further to the right. Nothing extraordinary happened the remainder of the day.

_Oct. 9._--Last night the troops in the trenches, as well as a great part of this day, were busily employed in finishing the batteries, and about 4 o’clock this afternoon an American battery was opened, consisting of three 24-pounders, three 12’s and four 10-inch mortars. The enemy’s fire was chiefly directed against this battery, and the others that were nearly finished.

_Oct. 10._--Last night the men were busily employed in finishing the batteries, and early this morning four more were opened against the enemy, viz.: One American battery on our left, consisting of four 18-pounders; the grand French battery, consisting of 11 24-pounders, two 13-inch mortars, two howitzers, and six 10-inch mortars; and another French battery of four 18-pounders and two howitzers. The fourth is on the left of the French, but am not able as yet to ascertain the number of guns. About 12 o’clock this day our division relieved the trenches, and from that time the enemy fired but very little until the evening. This afternoon our American bomb battery was opened of four 10-inch mortars. A flag came out with Secretary Nelson. He informs us our fire did great execution last night; that we had killed 11 or 12 of their officers, that his black servant was killed by his bedside, and that the first gun fired killed two commissarys as they were sitting at their wine.

_Oct. 11._--Last night commenced a very heavy cannonade, and the enemy returned the fire with no less spirit. Being apprehensive of a storm, they often fired in every direction. The largest of the enemy’s vessels was set on fire by the bursting of a shell or a red hot ball from some of our batteries, and communicated it to another, both of which were burnt down. They must have lost a considerable quantity of powder in the last, as there was an explosion which made a heavy report. The whole night was nothing but one continual roar of cannon, mixed with the bursting of shells and rumbling of houses torn to pieces. As soon as the day approached the enemy withdrew their pieces from their embrazures and retired under cover of their works, and now commenced a still more dreadful cannonade from all our batteries without scarcely any intermission for the whole day. We were relieved about noon this day, and went home very much fatigued.

_Oct. 12._--Last night we began the second parallel and extended it better than half round the enemy. This parallel is better than three hundred yards in front of the other, and close upon the enemy’s right works. No sooner had the morning made its appearance and the enemy discovered our very near approach, than they commenced a very heavy fire from the batteries and in the course of the day no little surprised us by opening five royals, as we were in hopes they had no shells, by their not giving them on the first parallel.

_Oct. 13._--Last night we were employed in strengthening the line, and began a French battery and a redoubt. We lost several men this night, as the enemy by practice were enabled to throw their shells with great certainty. About noon this day our division relieved the trenches, and about 2 o’clock advanced to the second parallel. Capt. White and one private of Col. Wee’s regiment were this day killed by a horizontal shell. The militia suffered much this afternoon.

_Oct. 14._--The enemy last night kept up a continual blaze from several pieces of cannon of nine royals and some howitzers. Early in the night the fire was chiefly directed against the French, who were just on our left, but about 10 o’clock our people [began] to erect a battery. They soon discovered us, and changed the direction of their fire. It happened to be our lot to lie in the trenches just in the rear of the battery exposed to all their fire; and now were I to recount all the narrow escapes I made that night it would almost be incredible. I cannot, however, but take notice of a remarkable and miraculous one indeed. About midnight the sentry called “A shell!” I jumped up immediately to watch the direction, but had no suspicion of its coming so near until it fell in the center of the trench, within less than two feet of me. I immediately flung myself on the banques among some arms, and although the explosion was very sudden and the trench as full of men as it could possibly contain, yet not a single man was killed and only two of my own company slightly wounded. I should not forget here that Capt. Hughes and Dr. Anderson, two intimate friends and very worthy officers, were sitting close by me at this time. We all counted it a most miraculous escape. Fatigue parties were still continued at work in the open face of day at the battery, although they suffered much. Ten men of Col. Barber’s regiment were killed and wounded in a very few minutes, five of whom belonged to Capt. Pry’s camp. Our division was relieved about 12 o’clock, and on our march home two of our men were wounded by the bursting of a shell. About 5 o’clock this day we were again ordered for the trenches.

_Oct. 15._--I have just said we were ordered yesterday to the trenches. The French grenadiers were ordered out the same time, and all for the purpose of storming two redoubts on the enemy’s left. Our division arrived at the deposite of the [copy defective.--J.] a little before dark where every man was ordered to disencumber himself of his pack. The evening was pretty dark and favored the attack. The column advanced, Col. Guinot’s[10] regiment in front and ours in the rear. We had not got far before we were discovered, and now the enemy opened a fire of cannon, grape shot, shell and musketry upon us, but all to no effect. The column moved on undisturbed and took the redoubt by the bayonet without firing a single gun. The enemy made an obstinate defense (but what cannot brave men do when determined?). We had 7 men killed and 30 wounded. Among the latter were Col. Guinot, Maj. Barber and Capt. Olney. Fifteen men of the enemy were killed and wounded in the work, 20 were taken prisoners besides Maj. Campbell, who commanded, a captain and one ensign. The chief of the garrison made their escape during the storm by a covered way.

Captain Duncan’s diary, it will be observed, closes with the record of October 15. The failure to complete it for the remaining days of the siege is to be accounted for by the fact that he and his command were so actively employed in military operations that neither time nor opportunity to write was afforded him.

Fortunately, we are enabled to complete the record by referring to the “Military Journal of the Revolution,” written by Dr. James Thacher (born in Barnstable, Mass., Feb. 14, 1754, died in Plymouth, Mass., May 24, 1844), who as Surgeon’s Mate and Surgeon served in the Revolutionary War. As Surgeon of a Massachusetts regiment he was present at the siege of Yorktown. His diary very appropriately supplements Captain Duncan’s record. What follows is a condensation:

_Oct. 16._--Early in the morning, Col. Abercrombie with about four hundred men, made an attack on two unfinished French redoubts, and succeeded in spiking seven or eight pieces of cannon. The French advanced and recaptured the redoubts.

_Oct. 17._--From the American line of works at least a hundred pieces of heavy ordnance were playing upon the British lines, and doing great destruction. The whole peninsula trembled under the incessant thunderings of the immense field pieces. Great destruction was the result. The great havoc upon Cornwallis’s position was apparent to his besiegers, compelling him to ask for suspension of hostilities with a view to capitulation.

_Oct. 18._--It was ascertained that Cornwallis attempted, on the night of the 16th, to escape by crossing to Gloucester Point with a portion of his command. A heavy storm prevented his execution of the plot, and with difficulty his men returned to their positions. On this day Washington communicated the terms of capitulation, and allowed two hours for their acceptance.

_Oct. 19._--The surrender actually occurs. Gen. O’Hara, as the representative of Cornwallis, who seems to have recoiled from the humiliation of surrender, apologized to Washington for the non-appearance of his chief, and conducted the further operations of the capitulation. General Lincoln on the American side accepted the tokens of surrender.

_Oct. 20._--In general orders Washington thanks officers and men, both French and American, for their services in the campaign.

_Oct. 21._--This being Sunday, some of the troops participated in divine service. Mr. Evans preaching an appropriate discourse, which was listened to by Generals Lincoln and Clinton.

Yorktown was the site of the closing battle of the American Revolution.

The surrender included 7,247 regular troops, 840 sailors, and 225 guns.

The British loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 550; that of the Americans and French some 300.

W. F. BOOGHER.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] (Now Mobjack).

[7] Edward Antill, who was with Arnold at Quebec. This is the first mention of him in active service that I have seen after that time.--(ED.)

[8] Alexander Scammell was born in Mendon (now Milford), Mass., in 1746; died in Williamsburg, Va., Oct. 6, 1781. Having graduated at Harvard in 1769, he taught for a year or two. In 1772 he was employed at Portsmouth, N. H., in surveying and exploring operations. Having studied law with General Sullivan, he assisted him in his legal business for a time.

Dec. 10, 1776, he became Colonel of 3rd N. H. regiment, but was soon transferred to the 1st regiment. Was wounded at Saratoga, Jan. 5, 1778, while serving under General Gates. In 1780 he was appointed Adjutant General of the army, and became a member of Washington’s staff. Preferring active field work, he was assigned again to the command of his regiment. As officer of the day, Sept. 30th, he was employed in reconnoitering the enemy’s position at Yorktown. He was captured by Hessian dragoons and was treacherously and mortally wounded by them after his surrender. He was the highest American officer killed during the siege. His loss was universally felt and expressed.

[9] Duc de Lauzun.

[10] Gimat, aid to La Fayette.

A PORT OF THE LAST CENTURY

When white frosts and keen, starry nights have turned the foliage of the Niagara gorge into a riotous color scheme is the best time to visit Queenston Heights, and walk the grass-grown thoroughfares of the forgotten hamlet at their base.

It is the best time, because the picnic and tourist season is over, and one’s contemplation of the beautiful view which every point affords is not disturbed; and as for the cluster of roof-trees lying below, it is more picturesque in its autumnal nakedness.

Three-score years ago this village was the second town of importance in the province of Upper Canada. Named for Queen Charlotte, Queenston began life auspiciously in 1787 with a dock, a distillery, and a tavern; and so rapidly did it grow that the opening century found the dock transformed into a wharf flanked with store-houses, the population doubled, and those infallible signs of prosperity in a new country--a grist- and a saw-mill--running on full time.

Situated at the head of the St. Lawrence route, and at the foot of the Chippewa portage, Queenston had every advantage at the start. It was the natural _dépôt_ and point of departure for the western trade, now growing rapidly with the opening of new territory. Across its narrow wharf, and up the Chippewa road, flowed for over a quarter of a century, a continuous tide of traffic, which eddying here, débouched on the near shore of the upper lakes, or spent itself in the wilderness of the far west.

Hither swarmed the motley crowd that follows the hunter’s trail and the pioneer’s axe--fur-traders, settlers, speculators, Indians, emigrants, and adventurers.

Government land in Canada was very cheap as compared with the price of land in the “States,” and this fact alone accounts for the great influx into Canada of Americans, immediately after the close of the War.

This land boom, so wisely fostered, was too soon paralyzed by the War of 1812, and nowhere did the hardships of that war fall more heavily than upon the new port of the lower Niagara. When the hastily-planned and ill-executed assault upon Queenston Heights was made, it was only defended by a small battery upon which a solitary field-piece was mounted. Those extensive earthworks west of the monument were an afterthought. They were not built until 1814.

General Brock was killed below this redan; and the heaviest fighting must have been along the foot of the ledge. A small cenotaph marks the spot where Brock fell. This little monument is more interesting from the fact that King Edward himself, as Prince of Wales, placed the block in position in 1860.

But for situation, no monument in the country can compare with that which marks the place of General Brock’s sepulchre. Standing on the very crown of the Heights, this shaft dominates a wonderful picture. The monument itself is of the usual British type, and the figure surmounting it might be Nelson, so very like is it to that hero’s attitude in stone.

The house into which General Brock was carried dying stands, a grey-stone ruin by the untraveled way. Other wounded soldiers besides Brock were carried into that low-roofed house to die. Diagonally across from this place is the house in which Laura Secord was living when she saved the British stores at De Cew’s.

It is not generally known that this famous Canadian heroine was born and lived in Massachusetts, until her twentieth year. In 1795 her father, Thomas Ingersoll, a Revolutionary soldier, came to Canada to buy land; and shortly after the family arrived at Niagara, Laura married James Secord of Queenston.

During the second year of the War of 1812, the Niagara frontier of Canada was in possession of the American forces, and American soldiers were billeted upon every family on the border.

Hearing some officers, whom she was thus forced to entertain, discussing a plan for seizing the stores at the De Cew house, some eighteen miles away, she determined to inform the officer in command at that place. It meant a long, dangerous journey on foot, over hill and bog land and through a densely wooded country swarming with hideous savages from the Grand River, the allies of the British. But Laura Secord was equal to the occasion. Though she had started from home before daylight, night overtook her on the journey. Her courage and promptness saved the stores, and the officer in command sent her home under the protection of a guard.

When the Prince of Wales visited Canada he sent her one hundred dollars, the first recognition made of her services to her adopted country.

As we stroll farther along the King’s highway we come to the Wadsworth cottage, a rough-cast dwelling with sills much below the level of the street. This was a tavern at the time of the battle, and in the front room to the left, General Scott was detained as a prisoner. It was here, while waiting for his captors to complete arrangements for his removal to Fort George, that an Indian in the barroom deliberately took aim at the General through the open door, and would have shot him but for the presence of mind of Captain Thaddeus Davis, a British officer, who promptly knocked the gun from the Indian’s hands.

Screened by a clump of maples and rank shrubbery that speaks of an old-time garden, is a ruined stone house, rather more pretentious than those that date back to the period of the War. It is spoken of by the townspeople as the “blue-stone house.” In this house in 1824 William Lyon Mackenzie printed the first numbers of the _Colonial Advocate_, the first paper printed in Upper Canada.

“We are not in want, neither are we rich,” he says candidly in his prospectus. O, golden age! Our strenuous present admits of no such happy medium! Mackenzie is remembered no more as an agitator. The measures of justice for which he contended in the bitterness of poverty and exile, have long since been granted and enjoyed.

If plenty of relics of historic Queenston abound, no trace of its one-time prosperity remains. Gone the shipping and trade along with the store-houses bursting with pelts, and rum, and merchandise. Gone that horse railway to Chippewa, built to relieve congested traffic. Gone the bank, with its funds, and the unlucky thirteen taverns that tradition says lined the principal street. Gone, too, that first bridge that spanned the river, built in 1851, just too late to divert from newer channels the ebbing current of commerce.

The great cataract being more accessible by the Queenston route, all the distinguished visitors to our shores in former years came to this port. Chateaubriand was here as early as 1790. Lafayette, Thomas Moore, the Bourbon princes, and Louis Napoleon saw the town enjoying the top-most wave of prosperity. It is said that Moore’s poem beginning, “I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled,” was inspired by the breakfast fire of one of Queenston’s houselets.

But if these later annals are more brilliant, they seem to belong less to the Queenston of to-day than that earlier history which gives the delightful old place a notable part in the making of a Great Dominion.

N. R. BENEDICT.

BUFFALO, N. Y.

INDIANA COUNTY NAMES

The influence of the strong men of any time upon their time and community is strikingly illustrated by a study of the origin of the names of the counties of Indiana, which has just been completed by an old resident of the State after the work of collecting the scattered material in odd moments during the last twenty years. The result as completed shows that seventy-eight of the ninety-two counties were named after men prominent nationally or locally, in war and in peace; men of foreign birth and foreign training, of foreign birth and native training, and native birth and native training. And the strong influence of men whose personality so dominated small communities, men whose names have not been handed down as taking part in the affairs of the nation, is shown by the fact that of the seventy-eight men whose names have been given to counties of the State, forty-one were men whose life and work, influential as it must have been in the particular communities wherein they lived, were not of sufficient prominence to save them from almost utter oblivion in State or National history.

Of the thirty-eight counties that have been named from what might be called well-known men, men of more than local prominence, seven were named for Presidents of the United States: Madison, Monroe, Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Harrison (William Henry Harrison), and Adams (John Quincy Adams); sixteen were named for men prominent in military history--Clark, for George Rogers Clark; Decatur, for the commodore; De Kalb, for the famous German of Revolutionary days; Fayette, for La Fayette; Marion, for General Francis Marion; Morgan, for General Daniel Morgan; Perry and Porter, for Commodores Perry and Porter; Pulaski, for the Polish soldier; Putnam, for General Israel Putnam; Steuben, for Baron Steuben; Wayne, for “Mad Anthony”; Kosciusko, for the Polish soldier; Knox, for General Knox, one of the first secretaries of war; Greene, for General Nathaniel Greene; Warren, for General Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, and Stark, for Captain John Stark, victor at the battle of Bennington.

Six signers of the Declaration of Independence were honored in the naming of counties--Huntington, Carroll, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, and Jay. De Witt Clinton is honored in the naming of Clinton County. The eight other counties named for men of more than local prominence are Benton, after Thomas H. Benton; Boone, after the frontiersman; Clay, after Henry Clay; Fulton, after the inventor of the steamboat; Marshall, after the great Chief Justice; Henry, after Patrick Henry; Jennings, after Jonathan Jennings, Indiana’s first governor, and Posey, another governor, appointed to succeed Harrison.

Howard County is the only Indiana county that has changed its name. Its first name was Francisville, the name of a famous Indian chief, but on account of the universal esteem in which Colonel T. A. Howard, a prominent citizen of the community, was held, the name was changed.

Grant County was named for two Grant brothers, Samuel and Moses, early settlers in this region. Parke, for Benjamin Parke, one of the earliest of the educators in the State. He founded the State Law Library, was the first president of the Indiana Historical Society, and coöperated in the founding of the Vincennes Library and University.

Vigo County was named for Colonel Francis Vigo, a Sardinian, whose services were invaluable to General Clark in the capture of Vincennes. The bell now hanging in the court house at Terre Haute was bought with the $500 set apart in his will to show his appreciation of the people giving his name to the county.

Four counties--Delaware, Miami, Tippecanoe, and Wabash--received Indian names. St. Joseph County was named after the river running through it, named by the early French settlers. Switzerland was so named because most of the early settlers were Swiss, coming to grow grapes on the plan followed in the old country. The scheme failed. Ohio County was named for the river; Lake, for Lake Michigan; Elkhart, for a small island in the river that flows through the county. Laporte was named by the French. Three counties--Orange, Vermilion, and Randolph--were named after counties in other States--Vermilion for an Illinois county directly over the line, Orange and Randolph for North Carolina counties.

Of the remaining counties three were named after men of only local prominence: Allen, for Colonel John Allen, a Kentuckian who fell at the battle of River Raisin; Bartholomew, for General Joseph Bartholomew, State Senator, and identified with the early Indian wars; Blackford, for a judge of that name; Brown, for General Jacob Brown, one of the heroes of the War of 1812; Cass, for General Lewis Cass.

Crawford County was named for Colonel William Crawford, Washington’s land agent in the West, who was finally taken prisoner by the Indians and burned at the stake; Daviess, for Joseph H. Daviess, distinguished lawyer; Dearborn, for General Henry Dearborn, once secretary of war.

Toussaint Dubois, a Frenchman who had charge of the spies under General William Henry Harrison, has the name of Dubois County as a memorial. Floyd County was named after Colonel John Floyd, an old Indian fighter; Fountain, for Major Fountaine of Boone County, Kentucky, who was killed in the battle of Maumee, October 22, 1790.

General John Gibson, after whom the county of that name was called, was secretary of war, who repeatedly acted as territorial governor of the State in the absence of General Harrison. He was taken captive by the Indians, made himself one of them for a long time, finally going blind. Hendricks County was named after William Hendricks, the State’s first representative in Congress, and governor from 1822 to 1824.

Jasper County was named after Sergeant Jasper, the Revolutionary hero; Johnson, for John Johnson, one of the early judges of the Supreme Court; Lawrence, for Captain James Lawrence, an esteemed citizen of the community; Martin, after Major Martin, a citizen of Newport, Ky.; Montgomery, for General Richard Montgomery.

There is some question as to the origin of the name of Newton County. Some investigators contend that it was named after a sergeant in the Revolutionary war, while others give the more poetic explanation that at the time of the organization of the county one of the commissioners, who was somewhat of an astronomer, was an ardent admirer of Sir Isaac Newton, and saw that the county was named after him.

Noble County was named after Governor Noble; Owen, after Colonel Owen of Kentucky, who was killed in the battle of Tippecanoe; Pike, after Zebulon M. Pike, killed at the capture of York; Ripley, for General E. W. Ripley, an officer of 1812; Rush, for Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent citizen; Scott, for General Charles Scott, the Revolutionary soldier and later governor of Kentucky; Spencer, for Captain Spier Spencer, who fell at the battle of Tippecanoe; Sullivan, for Daniel Sullivan, who was killed by the Indians on the road from Vincennes to Louisville while carrying public papers; Tipton, for General John Tipton, who served in Congress; Vanderburg, for Henry Vanderburg, captain in the Revolution, member of the Legislative Council of the Northwest, and presiding judge of the first court organized in the Territory; Warrick, for Colonel Jacob Warrick, who fell at Tippecanoe; Wells, for Captain W. H. Wells, killed by the Indians while carrying papers from Fort Wayne to Fort Dearborn, now Chicago; White, for Captain Isaac White, killed at Tippecanoe; and Whitley, for Colonel William Whitley, who was killed in the battle of the Thames.--_Indianapolis News._

INDIAN LEGENDS

_IV._

THE DANCING GHOSTS

That beautiful phenomenon known to the white man as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is called by the Chippewa Indians _Je-bi-ne-me-id-de-wand_, or the Dancing Ghosts. The legends accounting for it are numerous, and the following, which was related to the translator by a Chippewa hunter, named _Kehes-Chock_, or Precipice Leaper, is quite as fantastic as the phenomenon itself. That it is a very ancient tradition is evident from the fact that the sacrifice to which it alludes has not been practiced by the Chippewas for at least a century (1850).

There was a time when all the inhabitants of the far North were afflicted by a famine. It was in the depth of winter, and the weather had for a long time been so cold that even the white bear was afraid to leave his hiding place. The prairies were so deeply covered with snow that the deer and the buffalo were compelled to wander to a warmer climate, and the lakes and rivers were so closely packed with ice that it was only once in a while that even a fish could be obtained. Such sorrow as reigned throughout the land had never before been known. The magicians and wise men kept themselves hidden in their cabins. The warriors and hunters, instead of boasting of their exploits, crowded around their camp-fires, and in silence meditated upon their unhappy doom. Mothers abandoned their children to seek for berries in the desolate forests, and the fingers of the young women had become stiff from idleness, for they had not any skins out of which to make the comfortable moccasin. From one end of the Chippewa country to the other was heard the cry of hunger and distress. That the Great Spirit was angry with his people was universally believed, but for what reason none of the magicians could tell. The chief of the Chippewas was the oldest man in the nation, and he was consulted in regard to the impending calamity. He could give no reason for the famine, but stated that he had been informed in a dream that the anger of the Great Spirit could be appeased by a human sacrifice. How this should come to pass, however, he could not tell, and therefore concluded to summon to his lodge all the medicine-men who lived within a day’s journey, for the purpose of consulting with them. He did so, and when the council was ended it was proclaimed that three Chippewas should be immediately bound to the stake and consumed. They were to be selected by lot from among the warriors of the tribe; and, when this sad intelligence was promulgated, a national assembly was ordered to convene.

The appointed time arrived, and, in the presence of a large multitude, the fatal lots were cast, and three of the bravest men of the tribe were thus appointed to the sacrifice. They submitted to their fate without a murmur. Whilst their friends gathered around them with wild lamentations, and decked them with the costliest robes and ornaments to be found in all the tribe, the youthful warriors uttered not a word about their untimely departure, but only spoke in the most poetical language of the happy hunting grounds upon which they were about to enter. The spot selected for the sacrifice was the summit of a neighboring hill which was covered with woods. Upon this spot had three stakes been closely erected, around which there had been collected a large pile of dry branches and other combustible materials. To the stakes, at the hour of midnight, and by the hands of the magicians, unattended by spectators, were the three warriors securely fastened. They performed their cruel duty in silence, and the only sounds that broke the stillness of that winter night were the songs and the shoutings of the multitude assembled in the neighboring village. The incantations of the priests being ended, they applied a torch to the faggots, and, returning to their village, spent the remainder of the night in performing a variety of strange and heart-sickening ceremonies.

Morning dawned, and upon the hill of sacrifice was to be seen only a pile of smouldering ashes. On that day the weather moderated, and an unusual number of hunters went forth in pursuit of game. They were all more successful than they had been for many seasons, and there was an abundance of sweet game, such as the buffalo, the bear, and the deer in every wigwam. A council was called, and the patriarch chief proclaimed the glad tidings that the Great Spirit had accepted their sacrifice, and that it was now the duty of his children to express their gratitude by a feast--the fast of _bitter roots_.

The appointed night arrived, and the bitterest roots which could be found in the lodges of the magicians were collected together and made into soup. The company assembled to partake of this feast, was the largest that had ever been known, and, as they were to conclude their ceremony of thankfulness by dancing, they had cleared the snow from the center of their village, and on this spot were they duly congregated. It was a cold and remarkably clear night, and their watchfires burnt with uncommon brilliancy. It was now the hour of midnight, and the bitter soup was all gone. The flutes and the drums had just been brought out, and the dancers, decked in their most uncouth dresses, were about to enter the charmed ring, when a series of loud shoutings were heard, and the eyes of the entire multitude were intently fixed upon the northern sky, which was illuminated by a most brilliant and unearthly light. It was a light of many colors, and as changeable as the reflections upon a summer sea at the sunset hour. Across this light were constantly dancing three huge figures of a crimson hue, and these did the magicians proclaim to be the ghosts of the three warriors who had given up their bodies for the benefit of their people, and who had thus become great chiefs in the spirit-land. The fire by which their bodies had been consumed had also consumed every feeling of revenge; and ever since that remote period it has been their greatest pleasure to illume by their appearance on winter nights the pathway of the hunters over the snowy plains of the north.

CHARLES LANMAN.

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO DR. STUART

(An important autograph letter of Washington, addressed to Dr. David Stuart, of Fairfax, Va., who was the husband of Mrs. Washington’s niece. He gives his views on Government salaries, and mentions Jefferson, and others).

PHILADELPHIA, _March_ 3rd., 1793.

Dear Sir;