Chapter XLIX: Conclusion: Of the CIVIL War (35)

Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the American army, was born June 13, 1786, near Petersburg, Virginia. He is descended from a Scotch family, who were obliged to take refuge in America after the rebellion of 1745. After completing his preparatory education, he spent a year or two at William and Mary college, and afterward studied the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1806. In the autumn of 1807, he emigrated to South Carolina, intending to practice his profession at Charleston, but meeting with difficulties in the attainment of his object, he returned to the north. The political events of the country were then rapidly approaching the crisis of 1812; a bill had passed through Congress to enlarge the army, and Scott having applied for a commission, was appointed, in 1808, captain in a regiment of light artillery, and was ordered the following year to join the army in Louisiana, under the command of General Wilkinson. For some act of insubordination toward his commander he was suspended for a year, but he again joined the army before the commencement of the war. Shortly after that event, he received a lieutenant-colonel’s commission, and was posted at Black Rock, on the Niagara frontier. His first active service was at the attack of Qeenstown heights, where he took command of the American force after all the superior officers were killed or wounded. This affair, as is well known, ended disastrously, and Scott, with the survivors of his men, became prisoners-of-war. From Queenstown he was sent to Quebec, and shortly after exchanged. In the following year he distinguished himself at the attack on Fort George, in the descent upon York, and the capture of Fort Matilda, on the St. Lawrence. In March, 1814, he was made brigadier-general; July 3, in the same year, he captured Fort Erie, and on the fifth he fought the bloody battle of Chippewa, in which both sides claimed the victory. On the 25th of the same month was fought the still more sanguinary battle of Niagara or Lundy’s Lane. In this well-fought contest, General Scott was badly wounded, and his life is said to have been despaired of for some weeks. Philadelphia and Baltimore having been threatened with an attack, Scott was requested to take command of the forces in that vicinity. On his way to the scene of his duties, he passed through Princeton, and the learned dignitaries of the college in that town conferred upon the general the honorary degree of master of arts, a curious compliment, probably having some reference to the art of war. About the same time he was promoted to the rank of major-general, the highest grade in the army, he being at that time but twenty-eight years of age. On the conclusion of the peace, in 1815, he was tendered the post of secretary of war, but declined to accept it; and the same year he paid a visit to Europe, principally for the purpose of improving himself in his profession. About 1833 he brought the Black-Hawk war, in the north-western frontier, to a successful termination, and he was shortly after in command at the commencement of the Seminole war in Florida; but this not being so successful as was anticipated, he was ordered home and deprived of his command. In 1837-’38 he was stationed on the Niagara frontier to enforce the neutrality of the United States during the ‘patriot war’ in Canada; and soon afterward he superintended the removal of the Cherokee Indians beyond the Mississippi. By the death of General Macomb, in 1841, General Scott became commander-in-chief of the army. The scene of his next exploits was Mexico. After some difficulty with the president and secretary of war, General Scott was permitted to lead a force to Vera Cruz. The events of that campaign are recent and well known. San Juan de Ulloa was captured March 27, 1847; the battle of Cerro Gordo was fought on the 18th of April; the battle of Contreras on the 19th of August; and the battle of Churubusco on the following day; and after the storming of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, the city of Mexico was captured September 14, 1847.

ZACHARY TAYLOR.

Zachary Taylor was born in Orange County, Virginia, in November, 1784. He was the second son of Col. Richard Taylor, whose ancestors emigrated from England about two centuries ago, and settled in Eastern Virginia. The father, distinguished alike for patriotism and valor, served as colonel in the revolutionary war, and took part in many important engagements. About 1790 he left his Virginian farm, and emigrated with his family to Kentucky. He settled in the ‘dark and bloody ground,’ and for years encountered all the trials then incident to border life. The earliest impressions of young Zachary were the sudden foray of the savage foe, the piercing warwhoop, the answering cry of defiance, the gleam of the tomahawk, the crack of the rifle, the homestead saved by his father’s daring, the neighboring cottage wrapped in flames, or its hearth-stone red with blood. Such scenes bound his young nerves with iron, and fired his fresh soul with martial ardor; working upon his superior nature they made arms his delight, and heroism his destiny. Zachary was placed in school at an early age, and his teacher, who now resides in Preston, Connecticut, still loves to dwell on the studiousness of his habits, the quickness of his apprehension, the modesty of his demeanor, the firmness and decision of his character, and a general thoughtfulness, sagacity, and stability, that made him a leader to his mates and a pride to his master.

After leaving school, the military spirit of young Taylor was constantly fanned by the popular excitement against the continual encroachments of England; and soon after the murderous attack of the British ship Leopard upon the Chesapeake, in 1808, he entered the army as first lieutenant in the 7th regiment of infantry. He soon gained distinction in border skirmishes with the Indians, and the declaration of war with England found him promoted to the rank of captain. Within sixty days after the commencement of hostilities in 1812, the imbecility of Hull lost to the country its Michigan territory, and fearfully jeoparded the whole northwestern region. It was of the utmost importance to entrust the few and feeble forts of that great dominion to men of established valor and discretion. Captain Taylor was at once invested with the command of Fort Harrison, situated on the Wabash, in the very heart of the Indian country. The defenses of this post were in a miserable condition, and its garrison consisted of only fifty men, of whom thirty were disabled by sickness. With this little handful of soldiers, the young commander immediately set about repairing the fortifications. He had hardly completed his work, when, on the night of the 4th of September, an alarm shot from one of his sentinels aroused him from a bed of fever, to meet the attack of a large force of Miami Indians. Every man was at once ordered to his post. A contiguous block house was fired by the enemy, and a thick discharge of bullets and arrows was opened upon the fort. The darkness of the night, the howlings of the savages, the shrieks of the women and children, the fast approaching flames, and the panic of the debilitated soldiers, made up a scene of terror, but could not shake the determination nor the judgment of the young chieftain. He inspired his men with his own courage and energy. The flames were extinguished, the consumed breastworks were renewed, and volley answered volley for six long hours till day break enabled the Americans to aim with a deadly precision that soon dispersed their foes. This gallant repulse, at odds so unfavorable, prompted a report from Major General Hopkins to Governor Shelby that ‘the firm and almost unparalleled defense of Fort Harrison had raised for Captain Zachary Taylor a fabric of character not to be affected by eulogy;’ and forthwith procured from President Madison a preferment to the rank of brevet major, the first brevet, it is said, ever conferred in the American army.

Major Taylor continued actively engaged throughout the war; but being without a separate command, he had no opportunity to again signalize himself by any remarkable achievement. After the treaty of peace, he remained at the West, faithfully performing his duties at different military posts, and preparing himself for any future call to more active service. In 1832, he was promoted to the rank of colonel; and soon after the opening of the Florida war, he was ordered to that territory. Here he was in constant service, and distinguished himself for his discretion and gallantry in circumstances of the most trying difficulty and peril. His entire career won for him universal esteem and confidence.

The greatest achievement of Colonel Taylor in Florida was his victory of Okee-Chobee, which was gained on the 25th of December, 1837. The action was very severe, and continued nearly four hours. The Indians, under the command of Alligator and Sam Jones, numbered about 700 warriors, and were posted in a dense hammock, with their front covered by a small stream, almost impassable on account of quicksands, and with their flanks secured by swamps that prevented all access. Colonel Taylor’s force amounted to about 500 men, a portion of whom were inexperienced volunteers. By an extraordinary effort, the stream in front was crossed, under a most galling fire of the enemy, by our soldiers, who sunk to the middle in the mire. A close and desperate fight ensued, during which the five companies of the sixth infantry, who bore the brunt of the fray, lost every officer but one, and one of these companies saved only four privates unharmed. The enemy’s line was at last broken, and their right flank turned. They were soon scattered in all directions, and were pursued until near night. The American loss was 26 killed and 112 wounded; that of the Indians was very large, but never definitely ascertained. Throughout the whole engagement, Colonel Taylor was passing on his horse from point to point within the sweep of the Indian rifles, emboldening and directing his men, without the least apparent regard for his own personal safety. This victory had a decisive influence upon the turn of the war; and the government immediately testified their sense of its importance by conferring upon its gallant winner the rank of brigadier-general by brevet.

In the following May, General Taylor succeeded General Jesup in the command of the Florida army, and in this capacity, during two years, he rendered vast services to the country by quelling the atrocities of Indian warfare, and restoring peace and security to the southern frontier. In 1840, at his own request, he was relieved by Brigadier-general Armistead, and was ordered to the southwestern department. Here he remained at various head-quarters until government had occasion for his services in Texas.

The project for the annexation of Texas, which was first officially broached in the last year of President Tyler’s administration, acquired more and more weight and influence, until finally, in March, 1845, an act to that effect was passed by both Houses of Congress, and was soon after ratified by the Texian government. Mexico, although the independence of Texas had been long before _de facto_ secured, stoutly protested against the annexation. The special American envoy sent to the Mexican capital to attempt an adjustment of this and other difficulties, was refused a hearing, and great preparations were carried on by the Mexican government for another invasion of Texas. In June, General Taylor received orders to advance with his troops over the Sabine, and protect all of the territory east of the Rio Grande, over which Texas exercised jurisdiction. He accordingly marched into Texas, and in August concentrated his forces, amounting to about 3000 men, at Corpus Christi. Receiving orders from Washington to proceed to the Rio Grande, the general, with his little army, moved westward in March, 1846; and after considerable suffering from the heat and the want of food and water, reached the banks of the river opposite Matamoras on the 28th of the month. Colonel Twiggs, with a detachment of dragoons, in the mean time took possession of Point Isabel, situated on an arm of the Gulf, about 25 miles east. General Taylor took every means to assure the Mexicans that his purpose was not war, nor violence in any shape, but solely the occupation of the Texian territory to the Rio Grande, until the boundary should be definitively settled by the two republics.

After encamping opposite Matamoras, the American general prepared with great activity for Mexican aggression, by erecting fortifications, and planting batteries. The Mexicans speedily evinced hostile intentions. General Ampudia arrived at Matamoras with 1000 cavalry and 1500 infantry, and made overtures to our foreign soldiers to ‘separate from the Yankee bandits, and array themselves under the tri-colored flag!’ Such solicitations were of course spurned with contempt. The American general was summoned to withdraw his forces at the penalty of being treated as an enemy; he replied that, while avoiding all occasion for hostilities, he should faithfully execute the will of his government. General Arista soon after arrived at Matamoras, and, superseding Ampudia, issued a proclamation to the American soldiers, begging them not to be the ‘blind instruments of unholy and mad ambition, and rush on to certain death.’ He immediately threw a large body of troops over the river, in order to cut off all communication between General Taylor and his dépôt at Point Isabel. A detachment of 61 soldiers, under Captain Thornton, was waylaid by a Mexican force of ten times their number, and after a bloody conflict and the loss of many lives, was obliged to surrender. With but eight days’ rations, and the country to the east fast filling up with the Mexican troops, the position of General Taylor became very critical. He at once resolved, at every hazard, to procure additional supplies; and, leaving the fort under the command of Major Brown, he set out with a large portion of his army, on the 1st of May, for Point Isabel. He reached that place the next day, without molestation. Soon after his departure, the Mexicans opened their batteries upon Fort Brown. The fire was steadily returned with two long eighteen and sixteen brass six pounders by the garrison, which numbered about 900 men. The bombardment of the fort was kept up at intervals from batteries in its rear, as well as from the town, for six days. The Americans, though possessed of little ammunition, and having to mourn the fall of their gallant commander, sustained the cannonade with unyielding firmness until the afternoon of the 8th, when their hearts were thrilled with exultation by the answering peal of General Taylor at Palo Alto.

On the evening of the 7th, the American general, with about 200 men and 250 wagons left Point Isabel for the relief of Fort Brown, and after advancing seven miles encamped. The next morning he resumed his march, and at noon met 6000 Mexican troops under Arista, with 800 cavalry, and seven field pieces, in line of battle, on a plain flanked at both sides by small pools, and partly covered in front by thickets of chaparral and Palo Alto. General Taylor at once halted, refreshed his men, advanced to within a quarter of a mile of the Mexican line, and gave battle. The conflict first commenced between the artillery, and for two hours, Ringgold’s, and Duncan’s, and Churchill’s batteries mowed down rank after rank of the enemy. The infantry remained idle spectators until General Torrejon, with a body of lancers, made a sally upon our train. The advancing columns were received with a tremendous fire, and faltered, broke, and fled. The battle now became general, and for a time raged with terrific grandeur, amid a lurid cloud of smoke from the artillery, and the burning grass of the prairie. It rested for an hour, and then again moved on. The American batteries opened with more tremendous effect than ever; yet the ranks of the enemy were broken only to be refilled by fresh men courting destruction. Captain May charged upon the left, but with too few men to be successful. The chivalrous Ringgold fell. The cavalry of the enemy advanced upon our artillery of the right to within close range, when a storm of cannister swept them back like a tornado. Their infantry made a desperate onset upon our infantry, but recoiled before their terrible reception. Again they rallied, and again were they repulsed. Panic seized the baffled foe, and soon squadron and column were in full retreat. The conflict had lasted five hours, with a loss to the Americans of 7 killed and 37 wounded, and to the Mexicans of at least 250 killed and wounded.

In the evening, a council of war was held upon the propriety of persisting to advance upon Fort Brown, in spite of the vastly superior force of the enemy. Of the thirteen officers present some were for retreating to Point Isabel, others for intrenching upon the spot, and only four for pushing ahead. The general, after hearing all opinions, settled the question by the laconic declaration, ‘I will be at Fort Brown before to-morrow night, if I live.’ In the morning the army again marched.

The enemy were again met most advantageously posted in the ravine of Resaca de la Palma within three miles of Fort Brown. About 4 P. M. the battle commenced with great fury. By order of General Taylor, May, with his dragoons, charged the enemy’s batteries. The Mexicans reserved their fire until the horses were near the cannons’ mouth, and then poured out a broadside which laid many a poor fellow low. Those of the dragoons not disabled rushed on, overleaped the batteries, and seized the guns. The enemy recoiled, again rallied, and with fixed bayonets returned to the onset. Again they were repulsed. The ‘Tampico veterans’ came to the rescue, were met by the dragoons now reinforced with infantry, and all but seventeen fell sword in hand after fighting with the most deperate bravery. This decided the battle. The flanks of the enemy were turned, and soon the rout became general. The Mexicans fled to the flat boats of the river, and the shouts of the pursuers and the shrieks of the drowning closed the scene. A great number of prisoners including fourteen officers, eight pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of camp equipage fell into the hands of the victors. The American loss was 39 killed and 71 wounded; that of the enemy in the two actions was at least 1000 killed and wounded. Fort Brown was relieved, and the next day Barita on the Mexican bank was taken by colonel Wilson without resistance.

The victories of the 8th and 9th filled our country with exultation. Government acknowledged the distinguished services of General Taylor by making him Major-general by brevet; congress passed resolutions of high approval; Louisiana presented him with a sword, and the press everywhere teemed with his praise.

As soon as means could be procured, General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande, took Matamoras without opposition, and made colonel Twiggs its governor. The army soon received large volunteer reinforcements, and on the 5th of August the American general left Matamoras for Camargo, and thence proceeded through Seralos to Monterey, where he arrived the 19th of September. The Mexicans, under General Ampudia, had placed this strongly fortified town in a complete state of defense. Not only were the walls and parapets lined with cannons, but the streets and houses were barricaded and planted with artillery. The bishop’s palace on a hill at a short distance west of the city was converted into a perfect fortress. The town was well supplied with ammunition, and manned with 7000 troops of the line, and from 2000 to 3000 irregulars. The attack commenced on the 21st, and two important redoubts without the city, and an important work within, were carried with a loss to the Americans in killed and wounded of not less than 394. At three the next morning, a considerable force under General Worth dragged their howitzers by main strength up the hill, and assaulted the palace. The enemy made a desperate sortie, but were driven back in confusion, and the fortification was soon taken by the Americans with a loss of only 7 killed and 12 wounded. The next night, the Mexicans evacuated nearly all their defenses in the lower part of the city. The Americans entered the succeeding day, and by the severest fighting slowly worked their way from street to street and square to square, until they reached the heart of the town. General Ampudia saw that further resistance was useless, and, on the morning of the 24th, proposed to evacuate the city on condition that he might take with him the personel and materiel of his army. This condition was refused be the American general. A personal interview between the two commanders ensued, which resulted in a capitulation of the city, allowing the Mexicans to retire with their forces and a certain portion of their materiel beyond the line formed by the pass of the Rinconada and San Fernando de Presas, and engaging the Americans not to pass beyond that line for eight weeks. Our entire loss during the operations was 12 officers and 108 men killed, 31 officers and 337 men wounded; that of the enemy is not known, but was much larger. The terms accorded by the conqueror were liberal, and dictated by a regard to the interests of peace; they crowned a gallant conquest of arms with a more sublime victory of magnanimity.

General Taylor could not long remain inactive, and with a bold design to seek out the enemy and fight him on his own ground, he marched as far as Victoria. But by the transfer of the seat of the war to Vera Cruz, he was deprived of the greater portion of his army, and was obliged to fall back on Monterey. Here he remained until February, when, having received large reinforcements of volunteers, he marched at the head of 4,500 men, to meet Santa Anna; and on the 20th, took up a position at Buena Vista, the great advantages of which had previously struck his notice. On the 22d, a Mexican army of 20,000 made its appearance, and Santa Anna summoned the American commander to surrender. General Taylor, with Spartan brevity, ‘declined acceding to the request.’ The next morning the ten-hours’ conflict began. We shall not attempt to rehearse the history of that fearful battle: it is written forever on the memory of the nation. The advance of the hostile host with muskets and swords and bayonets gleaming in the morning sun; the shouts of the marshaled foemen; the opening roar of the artillery; the sheeted fire of the musketry; the unchecked approach of the enemy; the outflanking by their cavalry and its concentration in our rear; the immovable fortitude of the Illinoians; the flight of the panic-stricken Indianians; the fall of Lincoln; the wild shouts of Mexican triumph; the deadly and successful charge upon the battery of O’Brien; the timely arrival of General Taylor from Saltillo, and his composed survey, amid the iron hail, of the scene of battle; the terrible onset of the Kentuckians and Illinoians; the simultaneous opening of the batteries upon the Mexican masses in the front and the rear; the impetuous but ill-fated charge of their cavalry upon the rifles of Mississippi; the hemming-in of that cavalry, and the errand of Lieutenant Crittenden to demand of Santa Anna its surrender; the response of the confident chieftain by a similar demand; the immortal rejoinder, ‘General Taylor never surrenders!’ the escape of the cavalry to a less exposed position; its baffled charge upon the Saltillo train; its attack upon the hacienda, and its repulse by the horse of Kentucky and Arkansas; the fall of Yell and Vaughn; the insolent mission, under a white flag, to inquire what General Taylor was waiting for; the curt reply ‘for General Santa Anna to surrender;’ the junction, by this ruse, of the Mexican cavalry in our rear with their main army; the concentrated charge upon the American line; the overpowering of the battery of O’Brien; the fearful crisis; the reinforcement of Captain Bragg ‘by Major Bliss and I;’ the ‘little more grape, Captain Bragg;’ the terrific carnage; the pause, the advance, the disorder, the retreat; the too eager pursuit of the Kentuckians and Illinoians down the ravines; the sudden wheeling around of the retiring mass; the desperate struggle, and the fall of Harden, McKee, and Clay; the imminent destruction, and the rescuing artillery; the last breaking and scattering of the Mexican squadrons and battalions; the joyous embrace of Taylor and Wool; and Old Rough and Ready’s ‘’Tis impossible to whip us when we all pull together;’ the arrival of cold nightfall; the fireless, anxious, weary bivouac; the general’s calm repose for another day’s work; the retreat of the enemy under the cover of darkness――are not all these things familiar to every American schoolboy? The American loss was 267 killed, 456 wounded, and 23 missing. The Mexicans left 500 dead on the field, and the whole number of their killed and wounded was probably near 2000. History tells not of a battle more bravely contested and more nobly won: and well did the greatest warrior of the age, in learning it, exclaim, ‘General Taylor’s a general indeed!’

The victory of Buena Vista was the last and crowning achievement of General Taylor’s military life. His department in Mexico was entirely reduced by it to subjection, and the subsequent operations of his army were few and unimportant. At the close of the war he retired from Mexico, carrying with him not only the adoration of his soldiers, but even the respect and attachment of the very people he had vanquished. Louisiana welcomed him with an ovation of the most fervent enthusiasm. Thrilling eloquence from her most gifted sons, blessings, and smiles, and wreaths from her fairest daughters, overwhelming huzzas from her warm-hearted multitudes, triumphal arches, splendid processions, costly banners, sumptuous festivals, and, in short, every mode of testifying love and homage was employed; but modesty kept her wonted place in his heart, and counsels of peace were, as ever, on his tongue. His prowess in conflict was no more admirable than his self forgetfulness in triumph.

His last great deed had hardly ceased to echo over the land, before the people began to mark him out for their highest gift. He coveted no such distinction, and constantly expressed a wish that Henry Clay might be the chosen one. But the popular purpose grew stronger and stronger, and General Taylor was named for the presidency by one of the great political parties of the country. During the political contest he remained steadfastly true to himself. He neither stooped nor swerved, neither sought nor shunned. He was borne by a triumphant majority to the presidential chair, and in a way that has impelled the most majestic intellect of the nation to declare, that ‘no case ever happened in the very best days of the Roman Republic, where any man found himself clothed with the highest authority of the state under circumstances more repelling all suspicion of personal application, all suspicion of pursuing any crooked path in politics, or all suspicion of having been actuated by sinister views and purposes.’

The inaugural address of President Taylor was redolent with old-fashioned patriotism, and breathed the very spirit of Washington. And his subsequent administration, though beset by sectional strifes of fearful violence, was conducted with wisdom, firmness, equanimity, and moderation, on great national principles, and for great national ends. Owing to his profound deference to the coördinate branches of government, and his inability to either dictate or assume, his policy in reference to some of the exciting questions of the day was not, during the short period of his administration, fully proclaimed to congress, and pressed upon its adoption; but, though a southern man and a slaveholder, he had deliberately and explicitly declared himself in favor of the prompt and untrammeled admission of California into the Union. He was taken away in the midst of the controversy, just as he was about to submit his views upon the subject to the representatives of the people. His last public appearance was in doing homage to Washington, on the birthday of our liberties, and his last official act was adding a new guaranty to the peace of the world, by signing the convention recently concluded between our country and Great Britain respecting Central America. Disease soon did its work. Confronting Death with the fearless declaration, ‘I AM PREPARED――I HAVE ENDEAVORED TO DO MY DUTY,’ the old hero succumbed――his first and last surrender.

General Taylor married in early life a lady of Virginia, and was connected either by affinity or blood, with many of the most noted families of the Old Dominion. His excellent consort, a son, and a daughter, survive him. In person, General Taylor was about five feet eight inches in height, and like most of our revolutionary generals, was inclined to corpulency. His hair was gray, his brow ample, his eye vivid, and his features plain but full of firmness, intelligence and benevolence. His manners were easy and cordial, his dress, habits, and tastes simple, and his style of living temperate in the extreme. His speeches and his official papers, both military and civil, are alike famed for their propriety of feeling and their chastity of diction. His private life was unblemished, and the loveliness of his disposition made him the idol of his own household and the favorite of all who knew him. His martial courage was only equaled by his Spartan simplicity, his unaffected modesty, his ever wakeful humanity, his inflexible integrity, his uncompromising truthfulness, his lofty magnanimity, his unbounded patriotism, and his unfaltering loyalty to duty. His mind was of an original and solid cast, admirably balanced, and combining the comprehensiveness of reason with the penetration of instinct. Its controlling element was a strong, sterling sense, that of itself rendered him a wise counselor and a safe leader. All of his personal attributes and antecedents made him preëminently a man of the people, and remarkably qualified him to be the stay and surety of his country in its day of danger.

A braver soldier never wielded sword――
A gentler heart did never sway in council.
But he is dead――and millions weep his loss.

JOHN E. WOOL.

John E. Wool, a distinguished American general, was born in Newburgh, New York, in 1789. He received but a scanty education, and passed the greater part of his youth in the store of a merchant at Troy, in the situation of clerk. He afterwards commenced the study of law, but at the end of a year he gave up the idea of following this profession, and, war having been declared with Great Britain, he procured a captain’s commission in a regiment of infantry, and joined the forces under General Van Rensselaer, on the Niagara frontier. In the course of this war he distinguished himself greatly. For his services at Queenstown he was promoted to the rank of major; and for his gallant conduct at Plattsburgh he was made lieutenant-colonel, by brevet. During the interval of peace which followed the treaty of Ghent, Colonel Wool performed several important services. In 1832, he was despatched to Europe, for the purpose of procuring information on military matters; and in discharge of that duty he traveled through France and Belgium, and was present at Antwerp during the siege of that city by the French. In 1836, he superintended the removal of the Indians from the Cherokee country to the Arkansas; and, in 1838, he was placed in command of the Maine frontier during the troubles arising out of the boundary question. In 1841, he had risen by successive steps to the rank of brigadier-general. During the war with Mexico, General Wool was attached to the army under General Taylor; and it was to his skill and energy that the Americans were greatly indebted for the victory of Buena Vista. For his services on this occasion he was appointed major-general by brevet. Since the conclusion of the Mexican war, General Wool has been in command of the northeastern division of the American army, and now resides in the city of Troy.

DANIEL WEBSTER.

Daniel Webster was born in the town of Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18, 1782. His father, Major Ebenezer Webster, was one of the pioneers of the settlement in that quarter. He served with credit in the old French war, and also in the war of the revolution, especially under Stark, at Bennington. Major Webster established himself in a newly-granted township at the confluence of the Winnipisiogee and Pemigewasset, after the peace of 1763. In this region, then lying almost in a state of nature, the great orator and statesman was born, and passed the first years of his life. His opportunities of education were very deficient, and he was indebted for his earliest instruction to his mother, who was a woman of character and intelligence. For a few months only, in 1796, he enjoyed the advantages of Phillips’ Exeter academy. Here his education for college commenced; it was completed under the Rev. Dr. Wood, of Boscawen. He entered Dartmouth college in 1797, and during the four years of his study there, gave plain indications of future eminence. Soon after his graduation, he engaged in professional studies, first in his native village, and afterward at Fryeburg, in Maine, where at the same time he had the charge of an academy. He eked out his frugal salary by acting as a copyist in the office of register of deeds. He was moved to these strenuous exertions by the wish to aid his brother to obtain a college education. Having completed his law-studies in the office of governor Gore, of Boston, he was admitted to the bar of Suffolk, Massachusetts, in the year 1805. He immediately commenced the practice of law in his native state and county. His father, a man of sterling sense and character, who for the last twelve years of his life had been a judge of the court of common pleas, died in 1806, but not without the satisfaction of hearing his son’s first speeches at the bar. In 1807, Mr. Webster removed to Portsmouth in his native state, and soon became engaged in a most respectable and extensive, but not very lucrative practice. In 1812, he was chosen one of the members of congress from New Hampshire, and in due time was reëlected. Although among the youngest members of the house of representatives, and entirely without legislative experience, he rose at once to the front rank, both in the despatch of business and in debate. Among his associates in the house were Clay, Cheves, Lowndes, Calhoun, Forsyth, and other members of great ability. It was soon felt and admitted that he was worthy to be named with the ablest of them. It was the remark of Mr. Lowndes ‘that the south had not his superior, nor the north his equal.’ Finding the professional fields at Portsmouth inadequate to the support of a growing family, Mr. Webster removed to Boston in 1816. His professional reputation had grown as rapidly as his fame as a statesman. He placed himself at once by the side of the leaders of the Massachusetts bar. He had already appeared before the supreme court of the United States in Washington. By his brilliant argument in the Dartmouth college case, carried by appeal to Washington in 1817, he took rank among the most distinguished jurists in this country. In 1820, Mr. Webster was chosen a member of a convention called for the purpose of revising the constitution of Massachusetts. No one exercised a more powerful influence over its deliberations. He was offered, about this time, a nomination as a senator of the United States, but declined. In 1822, he yielded to the most pressing solicitations to become a candidate for the place of representative of the city of Boston in the eighteenth congress, and was chosen by a very large majority. This step involved a great sacrifice of professional interest. He took his seat in Congress in December, 1823, and early in the session made his celebrated speech on the Greek revolution, an effort which at once established his reputation as one of the first statesmen of the age. In the autumn of the same year he was reëlected by a vote of 4,990, out of 5,000 cast. In 1826 he was again a candidate, and not a hundred votes were thrown against him. Under the presidency of Mr. Adams (1825-29), he was the leader of the friends of the administration, first in the house of representatives, and afterward in the senate of the United States, to which he was elected in June, 1827. His great speech on the Panama mission was made in the first session of the nineteenth congress. When the tariff law of 1824 was brought forward, Mr. Webster spoke with great ability against it on the ground of expediency. He represented one of the greatest commercial constituencies in the Union; and his colleagues, with a single exception, voted with him against the bill. This law, however, forced a large amount of the capital of New England into manufactures; and in 1828 Mr. Webster sustained the law of that year for a more equal adjustment of the benefits of protection. The change which took place in his course in this respect was the result of the circumstances alluded to, and was approved by his constituents. Mr. Webster remained in the senate under the administration of Gen. Jackson, and Mr. Van Buren, a period of twelve years. During this time the most important questions were discussed, measures of the highest moment to the country were brought forward, and political events and combinations of the most novel and extraordinary character succeeded each other. Under all changes of men and measures, Mr. Webster maintained the position of a constitutional and patriot statesman, second to none who had ever devoted himself to the service of his country. In 1830, he made what is generally regarded the ablest of his parliamentary efforts, his second speech in reply to colonel Hayne of South Carolina. This gentleman in a speech on a resolution moved by Mr. Foote, of Connecticut, relative to the surveys of the public lands, had indulged in some personalities against Mr. Webster, had commented with severity on the political course of the New England states, and had laid down in rather an authoritative manner those views of the constitution usually known as the doctrines of ‘nullification.’ Mr. Webster was accordingly called upon to defend himself from the insinuations of the distinguished senator from South Carolina, to vindicate New England, and to point out the fallacies of nullification. To accomplish these objects, he employed all the resources of the most skillful rhetoric, polished sarcasm, and acute argument. The records of modern eloquence contain nothing of superior force and beauty. The second speech of Mr. Webster in this debate may be regarded as the greatest effort of this consummate orator. Shaping his public course by principle, and not by the blind impulse of party, Mr. Webster, though opposed to the administration of General Jackson, gave it a cordial support in its measures for the defense of the Union in 1832-’33. The doctrines of the president’s proclamation against the theories of South Carolina were mainly adopted from Mr. Webster’s speeches, and he was the chief dependence of the administration upon the floor of congress. When, however, the financial system of general Jackson was brought forward and fully developed, it was strenuously opposed by Mr. Webster. He foretold with accuracy the explosion which took place in the spring of 1837, and contributed materially to rally the public opinion of the country alike against the first phase of the new financial system, which was that of an almost boundless expansion of paper currency, issuing from the state banks, and against the opposite extreme, which was adopted as a substitute, that of an exclusive use of specie in all payments to or by the government. Mr. Webster maintained with great force of argument, and variety of illustration, the superior convenience of the financial system which had been adopted in the infancy of the government, with the approval of every administration, from that of Washington down, viz: that of a mixed currency of specie and convertible paper, kept within safe bounds by the law requiring all payments to be made in specie or its equivalent, and regulated by a national institution acting as a check upon the state banks. The clear and forcible manner in which these principles were inculcated by Mr. Webster contributed materially to the downfall of Mr. Van Buren’s administration. In 1839, Mr. Webster made a short visit to Europe. His time was principally passed in England, but he devoted a few weeks to the continent. His fame had preceded him to the old world, and he was received with the attention due to his character and talents at the French and English courts, and in the highest circles of both countries. On the accession of General Harrison to the presidency, Mr. Webster was placed at the head of his cabinet as secretary of state. His administration of the department during the two years he remained in it was signalized by the most distinguished success. The United States was at that time involved in a long standing controversy with Great Britain, on the subject of the northeastern boundary of Maine. To this had been added the difficult questions arising out of the detention of American vessels by British cruisers on the coast of Africa. Still more recently, the affair of M’Leod, in New York, had threatened an immediate rupture between the two governments. The correspondence between the United States’ minister, in London, in 1841, Mr. Stevenson and the British secretary of state for foreign affairs, Lord Palmerston, was of an uncompromising character. Other causes of mutual irritation existed, which the limits of this sketch do not permit us to enumerate.

Shortly after the accession of General Harrison, the Melbourne administration was overturned in England, and Sir Robert Peel returned to power. This cotemporary change of government in the two countries was favorable to a settlement of the long-standing difficulties. Mr. Webster, after coming into the department of state, intimated to the British minister that the government of the United States was convinced of the impossibility of settling the boundary-line by adhering to the course hitherto pursued――that of topographical explorations, with a view to the literal execution of the treaty of 1783――but was prepared to adopt a conventional line, on the basis of mutual gain and concession, if such a line could be agreed upon. The new ministry, taking advantage of this overture, immediately determined to send Lord Ashburton as a special envoy to the United States, to negotiate upon this and the other subjects in controversy. Massachusetts and Maine were invited to take part by their commissioners in the negotiation; and on August 9, 1842, the treaty of Washington was ratified by the senate. By this treaty the boundary dispute, which had lasted fifty years, was happily adjusted. An amicable and efficient arrangement was made for joint action in the suppression of the slave-trade, and an agreement entered into for a mutual extradition of fugitives from justice. The other subjects of discussion at that period, between Great Britain and the United States, with the exception of the Oregon boundary, were happily disposed of in the correspondence accompanying the treaty. The terms of this important treaty were equally honorable and satisfactory to both parties. Mr. Tyler’s cabinet was broken up in 1842, but Mr. Webster remained in office till the spring of 1843, being desirous of putting some other matters connected with our foreign relations in a prosperous train. Steps were taken by him in the winter of 1842-’3, which led to the recognition of the independence of the Sandwich islands by the principal maritime powers. His last official act was the preparation of the instructions of General C. Cushing, as commissioner for negotiating a treaty with China. With the commencement of Mr. Polk’s administration, Mr. Webster returned to the senate of the United States. He remained a member of that body during the whole of the administration of Mr. Polk, and till the death of General Taylor. Though unconnected with the executive government, he rendered the most material service in the settlement of the Oregon dispute. It has been publicly stated by Mr. M’Gregor, the distinguished member of parliament for Glasgow, that a letter written to him by Mr. Webster, and shown to the British ministers, led them to agree to the adoption of the line of boundary which was established in 1846. Mr. Webster opposed the Mexican war on principle; and in the full persuasion, which events have confirmed, that acquisitions of territory would disturb the balance of the Union, and endanger its stability. He, however, concurred in granting the supplies which were required for the efficient conduct of the war. His second son, Major Edward Webster, with the entire approbation of his father, accepted a commission in the Massachusetts regiment of volunteers, and sunk under the exposures of the service in Mexico. He was a young man of great promise. In conformity with Mr. Webster’s anticipations, the acquisition of Mexican territory led to agitations on the subject of slavery, which, during the years 1849-’50, seriously threatened the Union. The question whether slavery should exist in California seemed likely to lead to the renewal of the Missouri controversy, aggravated by all the bitterness which has grown out of the struggles of the last fifteen years. Mr. Webster entertained the most serious apprehensions of an inauspicious result. The convention of the people of California having unanimously adopted a constitution by which that question was disposed of, without the interference of congress, Mr. Webster conceived the hope that, by mutual concession on other and less important points, the harmony of the South and North could be restored, and a severance of the Union averted. With a view to this consummation, he made his great speech of March 7, 1850. A very powerful influence was exerted by this speech on the public mind. While the debates on what have been called the ‘compromise measures’ were in progress in the senate, General Taylor died. The chair of state was assumed by President Fillmore, who immediately called Mr. Webster to the department of state. His administration of the office was marked with characteristic ability and success. In a series of public addresses of unsurpassed ability, made in different parts of the Union, he enforced the great duty of mutual concession, in reference to the sectional controversy which so seriously alarmed the country. In December, 1850, the famous Hülsemann letter was written, to which Kossuth has applied the epithet of ‘immortal.’ Mr. Webster, by his firm and judicious manner of treating the Cuba question, obtained of the Spanish government the pardon of the followers of Lopez, who had been deported to Spain. About the same time, he received from the English government an apology for the interference of a British cruiser with an American steamer in the waters of Nicaragua. This is the second time that the British government has made a similar concession at the instance of Mr. Webster. The first was in reference to the destruction of the ‘Caroline,’ at Schlosser. It has been affirmed that these are the only occasions on which the British government has ever apologized for the conduct of its affairs. Mr. Webster’s intellectual efforts were not confined to politics. He filled a place second to none of his cotemporaries at the American bar, and his discourses upon various historical and patriotic anniversaries are among the brightest gems of modern eloquence. The works of Mr. Webster have been lately published in six volumes, 8vo, with a biographical memoir by Mr. Edward Everett, from which the preceding sketch has been for the most part extracted. He died at his residence in Marshfield, Massachusetts, on the 24th day of October, 1852.

HENRY CLAY.

Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in Hanover county, Virginia. His father was a Baptist clergyman, of small means, who died when his son was only five years of age. He was one of a large family of children, who were left under the care of their mother――a firm-minded and truly excellent woman. Henry’s early advantages consisted in the privilege of attending a common country Virginia school; and such were the circumstances of the widow, that thus early, he was obliged to contribute to the support of the family. His work was generally on the farm. At fourteen years of age he was placed in a small retail shop in Richmond, Va. The next year he entered the office of Mr. Tinsley, clerk of the high court of chancery, where among other valuable acquaintances, he attracted the notice and acquired the friendship of the distinguished and beloved Chancellor Wythe――one of the venerated signers of the declaration of independence. With him the poor orphan found a patron and a home. Under the direction of his great benefactor, and for the purpose of studying his profession, he entered the law office of Robert Brooke, attorney general of the State. In 1797 he moved to Lexington, Ky., where before he commenced the practice of the law, he devoted some months to severe study. Such were the youthful trials of this great man. The foundation of his long, eminent, patriotic and glorious career was thus, not family, nor wealth, nor titles, but talents, industry, integrity, and worth. Our space will not permit a full detail of a progress alike honorable to a people who saw and appreciated his value as a man, and to the patriot who devoted himself zealously to the public service. This commenced in 1797, when he took part in the debates relating to the call of a convention to form a constitution for Kentucky, and in 1798, when he zealously entered the field against the celebrated alien and sedition laws. As soon as he was eligible, he was elected to the legislature of Kentucky. He was a leading member until 1806, when he was sent to the senate of the United States, to fill the place occasioned by the resignation of General Adir. This, however, was only a fraction of a term; and at the close of the session, Mr. Clay was again chosen to a seat in the legislature. He was speaker several years. In 1809, he was a second time elected to the United States senate and to fill a fractional part of a term. This expired in 1811, when he was elected a member of the house of representatives. On the first ballot he was elected speaker, which office he filled with distinguished ability. It is no more than justice to remark, that thus far Mr. Clay had proved himself equal, and more than equal, to every place which he had been called upon to fill. Indeed, he was a member of the republican party, and so signal had been his eloquence, his patriotism, his influence and his efficiency, as to have attracted the eyes of the nation. He nobly sustained the administration of Mr. Madison and the war of 1812. After the conclusion of the treaty of Ghent, Mr. Clay, with Mr. Adams and Mr. Gallatin, went to London, where a commercial convention between this country and Great Britain was concluded. Mr. Clay was again elected to the house of representatives in 1815, and again made speaker. Subsequently, after two years absence from congress, he was reëlected in 1823, and again made the speaker, which place he filled until 1825, when he was appointed secretary of state by John Quincy Adams. Mr. Clay was speaker of the house from 1811 to 1825, with the exception of two years, during which time he voluntarily retired from congress.

Mr. Clay continued in the office of secretary of state until 1829. Two years later, in December, 1831, he was again elected to the senate of the United States, and continued a member of that body until March 31, 1842, when he resigned. Mr. Clay lived in elegant retirement at Ashland, until he was again (1849) elected to the senate. And here, after a brilliant parliamentary career, he closed his life, as his friend John Quincy Adams did, with his harness on――still serving the country for whose welfare his heart so fervently beat. He died on the 29th of June, 1852.

HON. JUDGE WOODBURY.