Chapter XVIII: Part 18

As might be expected, there has been an increase in the numbers of the domesticated animals held in the various countries of the world, but this increase has been far from uniform, and cannot be measured either by the growth of the population or the degree of prosperity. Evidently the density of population, the development of manufactures, and the fertility of the soil have had much influence.

In the United Kingdom there were 1,500,000 horses in 1800, and but 2,000,000 in 1898. During this time the cattle had increased from 5,000,000 to 11,000,000; the sheep from 25,000,000 to 31,000,000; and the swine from 3,000,000 to 3,700,000. Thus, while the cattle doubled in numbers during the century, the horses increased but one third, the sheep one fourth, and the swine one fourth. As in the same period the population of the country was augmented from 16,200,000 to 40,000,000, or two and one half times, it is not difficult to see why England has become the world’s greatest market for animals and animal products.

It is important to note the increase in animals in a few of the principal countries of Europe. In France there were 1,800,000 horses at the beginning of the century, and there were 3,418,000 in 1896. The cattle increased from 6,000,000 to 13,334,000; the swine from 4,500,000 to 6,400,000; the goats from 800,000 to 1,500,000; while the sheep decreased from 30,000,000 to 21,200,000. That is, in round numbers, the horses, cattle, and goats doubled, the swine increased nearly 50 per cent, but the sheep were diminished one fourth. The population advanced from 27,350,000 to 38,500,000, or about 40 per cent.

In Germany, from 1828 to 1892, the horses increased from 2,500,000 to 3,836,000; the cattle from 9,770,000 to 17,500,000; the goats from 700,000 to 3,000,000; the swine from 4,500,000 to 12,174,000; and the sheep decreased from 17,300,000 to 13,600,000. The population increased during the same time from 29,700,000 to 49,500,000.

In European Russia, from 1828 to 1888, the horses were increased from 12,000,000 to 20,000,000; the cattle from 19,000,000 to 23,840,000; the sheep from 36,000,000 to 47,500,000; while the swine decreased from 15,800,000 to 9,200,000. The population during this period increased from 45,000,000 to 90,000,000.

These are the countries in which there is most interest on account of their influence upon the markets of the world. In regard to Europe as a whole, owing to the lack of statistics, we can only estimate approximately as to the condition at the beginning of the century. From such data as are available it appears that there were about 20,600,000 horses, 61,800,000 cattle, 157,500,000 sheep, and 36,600,000 swine. The population of Europe at that time is placed at 175,000,000. In the year 1900 there will be in Europe not far from 44,250,000 horses, 108,000,000 cattle, 180,575,000 sheep, and 56,800,000 swine. The population will reach about 380,000,000.

From these figures it would appear that, taking all of Europe, the human population has increased more rapidly than have any of these species of domesticated animals. In other words, the population is 2.17 times what it was at the beginning of the century, while there are but 2.14 times as many horses, 1.75 times as many cattle, 1.55 times as many swine, and 1.14 times as many sheep.

This growing deficiency in the stock of animals, coupled with an increasing consumption of meat per capita, has led to the importation of great numbers of animals and large quantities of meats and other animal products. The resulting trade has stimulated the production of animals in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States of America, Australia, and Argentina, in all of which there has been a marvelous development.

There are no reliable statistics as to the number of animals in the United States at the beginning of the century. Some have estimated that there were only 300,000 horses, 600,000 cattle, and 600,000 sheep; but the writer is of the opinion that there were from 500,000 to 1,000,000 horses, at least 3,000,000 head of cattle, and from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 sheep. In 1840, with a population of 17,063,000, there were 4,300,000 horses, 14,900,000 cattle, 19,300,000 sheep, and 26,300,000 swine; while in 1899 the number is placed at 15,800,000 horses and mules, 44,000,000 cattle, 39,000,000 sheep, and 38,600,000 swine.

In 1888 the horses of Canada numbered 1,100,000, the cattle 3,790,000, the sheep 2,600,000, and the swine 1,205,000. In the same year Mexico was credited with 2,000,000 horses, 3,000,000 cattle, 2,000,000 sheep, and 5,000,000 goats. Taking the whole of North America, and making allowances for the increase since 1888 in Canada and Mexico, it may be fairly assumed that at the close of the century there will be about 19,000,000 horses and mules, 55,000,000 cattle, 50,000,000 sheep, and 40,000,000 swine.

In South America, Argentina far outstrips all other countries in animal production. The horses, which in 1864 numbered 3,875,000, had increased by 1895 to 4,447,000; the cattle increased in the same period from 10,215,000 to 21,702,000; the sheep, from 23,110,000 to 74,380,000. The population in 1895 was only 3,964,000. In Uruguay there were, in 1895, 402,348 horses, 5,248,000 cattle, and 14,333,000 sheep. In Paraguay there were, in 1896, 246,000 horses and 2,100,000 cattle. The last returns from Chili (1882?) give 450,000 horses, 1,530,000 cattle, and 2,500,000 sheep. As to the condition in Brazil, we have no reliable statistics.

The animal industries of Australasia have shown the most wonderful development during the century. In 1800, there were but 200 horses, 1040 cattle, and 6100 sheep. In 1810, there were 1130 horses, 12,440 cattle, 25,900 sheep, and 9540 swine. In 1896, there were 1,923,554 horses, 12,701,600 cattle, 110,524,000 sheep, and 1,000,000 swine.

In Asia there are large numbers of animals, but it is impossible to give statistics, except for British India, where, in 1895, there were 1,152,000 horses, 49,000,000 cattle, and 17,200,000 sheep.

Mr. Simonds endeavored to ascertain the number of each class of live stock in the world in 1890, and his conclusions may be accepted as approximately correct. He placed the total number of horses in all countries at 63,469,000, the asses and mules at 10,318,000, the cattle at 309,807,000, the sheep at 588,935,000, the swine at 102,526,000, and the goats at 59,971,000.

III. IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS OF ANIMALS.

The increased number of animals now held in various parts of the world does not give an adequate idea of the enlarged production of animal food products, as compared with one hundred years ago. During the last century there has been constant improvement in the various breeds of animals, with a view to perfect their form and shorten the time required for their growth. The breeder has learned how to stimulate development, and has fixed the quality of early maturity, through hereditary influence, until it is now transmitted with the same regularity as are other characteristics.

Cattle are no longer fed until they are three or four years old before being sent to the butcher, and it has been found that they can be made to yield an equal quantity of beef of better quality at eighteen months to two years. It is the flesh of such young animals which has been much discussed under the title of “baby beef.” Not only is this beef commended on account of its tenderness, its high nutritive value, and the more even distribution of fat through the muscular tissue, but because this shortening of the feeding period enables the farmer to produce a greatly increased quantity of human food from the same number of acres. That is, by reducing the age at which bullocks are marketed from three and one half years, as was formerly the rule, to twenty months, it is possible for the same farm to produce one third more animals in a given series of years.

It may be admitted that not all of the stock of beef-producing animals, nor even the greater part of it, has acquired this extreme degree of early maturity, but most of it has developed somewhat in this direction. The large-boned, gaunt, and long-horned cattle of Texas have nearly disappeared, and even in Mexico they are being rapidly replaced by others of better quality. The most important fact is that breeds exist which can be depended upon for the speedy transformation of the entire stock of cattle when the necessity arises.

A similar hastening of maturing has been accomplished with the mutton breeds of sheep, with numerous varieties of swine, and to a considerable extent with poultry.

The development of the dairy breeds of cattle has also been remarkable. It can be best appreciated by contrasting the half wild cows of our Western plains, which yield but two or three quarts of milk a day at their best, and none for half of the year, with the highly specialized types which produce twenty to thirty quarts daily when in full flow, and with which the milk secretion continues from year to year without interruption.

The yield of butter has been increased equally with that of milk, and among the dairy breeds there are some which are specially valued because of their aptitude for butter production. While the unimproved cow yields but one fourth to one half pound of butter a day, good specimens of the best breeds produce from one and one half to three pounds, and in numerous instances still greater quantities.

In the production of wool there has also been a wonderful advance. The fibre has been increased in length, the fleece has been distributed more uniformly over the surface of the body, and the quality of the fibre has been modified to conform to the requirements for manufacturing the infinite varieties of fabrics demanded by modern civilization. The fleece of to-day is probably three times as heavy as that of a century ago.

The improvement in the Merino type has been truly wonderful. Not only have the beautiful long and silky wools of the Rambouillet and Saxony breeds been developed by persistent selection, but the body of the Merino, formerly small and almost useless for its flesh, has been brought to a standard closely approaching that of the best mutton breeds.

It is unfortunate that the changes of fashion have, during the latter part of the century, made the production of the extra fine wools less profitable than the coarse varieties, and that, as a consequence, many flocks which had been bred to the very highest degree of perfection in this direction have gone to the shambles, and their peculiar points of excellence have been lost.

With poultry, a vast number of varieties and strains have been developed, among which the most fastidious taste may readily find its ideal. Some of these have been perfected from the standpoint of utility, while with others the guiding principle has been purely æsthetic. Thus there are breeds which are characterized by their size, rapid growth, and excellence of flesh; others which have been developed simply as egg-producing machines and which have even lost the maternal instinct for incubation; and still others in which the beauty, the complication, and the perfection of the feathering constitute the principal claims to attention.

The standard weights of the heavy varieties, such as Brahmas and Cochins, is now 11 lbs. to 12 lbs. for cocks, and 8½ lbs. to 9½ lbs. for hens. In the United States, there has been developed a distinct American class of medium weight fowls, of which the Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes are the most popular varieties. The cocks of these varieties weigh from 8½ lbs. to 9½ lbs., and the hens 6½ lbs. to 7½ lbs. They are valued both for their flesh and for egg production. The rapid multiplication of varieties by modern breeders is illustrated by the Wyandottes, which came into existence during the last third of the century, and of which there are now five distinct varieties: the Silver, Golden, White, Buff, and Black.

The breeder’s art has been most successfully brought to bear in stimulating the function of egg production. Not many years ago, an average yield of 125 to 150 eggs annually from the hens of even a small flock was considered all that it was possible to obtain, but at present there are varieties which may be relied upon to produce more than 200 eggs annually. In some instances, it is alleged that an average of nearly 300 eggs a year has been reached in small flocks which have been given special care.

It should not be forgotten that there has also been great improvement in the various breeds of horses. The heavy draught horses have been bred into a more compact form, with better legs and feet and less sluggish disposition. The most noticeable advance has, however, been in the lighter grades of horses, and this has largely been accomplished by infusing the blood of the English thoroughbred. The French, by systematically breeding the heavy mares of the country to thoroughbred stallions with careful selection of the offspring, produced an extremely valuable breed of carriage-horses, known there as the _demi-sang_, and which have been imported into the United States as French coach-horses. These animals, beautiful in form and action, have been brought to a high degree of perfection, and the breed is so well established that its good qualities are reliably transmitted from generation to generation.

There are also German coach-horses and similar breeds in several other countries, which have been established by following the same general plan as that adopted by the French. These breeds are peculiarly the product of the nineteenth century, and are in their most valuable condition as the century closes.

The American trotting horse has without doubt been one of the most remarkable triumphs of the breeder’s art which the century has seen. Originating in considerable obscurity, but undoubtedly owing much of its excellence to the thoroughbred, the trotter was born with the century, and has continually increased its speed until the very end. It now gives promise of continuing its evolution through at least a considerable part of the twentieth century. In the decade from 1800 to 1810, the best recorded speed at this gait was 2:59; from 1810 to 1820, the time was lowered to 2:48½; from 1830 to 1840, it reached 2:31½; from 1840 to 1850, the limit was 2:28; from 1850 to 1860, 2:19¼; from 1860 to 1870, 2:17¼; from 1870 to 1880, 2:12¾; from 1880 to 1890, 2:08¾; and from 1890 to 1898, 2:03¾.

This extraordinary and constantly progressing increase in speed during the century has excited the interest and admiration of the world. It is, however, quite generally admitted that too much attention has been given to speed and not enough to disposition, size, conformation, and soundness, to bring the animals to their highest value for other than racing purposes.

Owing to the relatively small extent of agricultural territory and the great development of manufactures, Great Britain has become the best market in the world for animals and animal products. The purchases of cattle, sheep, beef, and mutton have been particularly large. Considering, first, the importations of cattle, it is found that during the five years from 1861 to 1865 inclusive, the average number was 174,177; from 1866 to 1870, the average was 194,947; from 1871 to 1875, 215,990; from 1876 to 1880, 272,745; from 1881 to 1885, 387,282; from 1886 to 1890, 438,098; from 1891 to 1895, 448,139; and for the two years 1896 and 1897, 590,437.

This unparalleled growth in the consumption of foreign cattle has had a marked influence in encouraging the development of the cattle industry of some other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina. The export trade of the United States has developed even more rapidly than the import trade of Great Britain. In 1871 this traffic was in its infancy, and but 20,530 head of cattle were exported, valued at $400,000. By 1879 the number had increased to 136,720, valued at $8,300,000. Then came the British restrictions prohibiting American cattle from leaving the docks where landed, and requiring their slaughter on these docks within ten days from their arrival. These regulations were a rude shock to the American cattle grower, and led to measures here for the control and eradication of the cattle diseases which were cited by the English authorities as the cause of their unfavorable action.

Although the pleuro-pneumonia, about which most apprehension was expressed, has long since been extirpated, and an elaborate inspection service has been organized to prevent any affected animals from leaving our shores, the restrictions have been continued. Fortunately, the trade was only temporarily embarrassed, and has continued its growth notwithstanding this obstruction. In 1889 these exports first exceeded 200,000, and the following year reached 394,836. Since that time the number has fluctuated between 287,000 and 392,000, until 1898, when it reached the enormous aggregate of 439,255, valued at $37,800,000. Not quite all of these cattle have gone to Great Britain, but that has been the destination of by far the greater part.

The exports of sheep have varied widely, according to the fluctuations of the markets at home and abroad. From 1870 to 1873 the number varied from 39,000 to 66,000; from 1874 to 1889, it varied from 110,000 to 337,000. In 1890 the exports were but 67,500; in 1891, 60,900; in 1892, 46,900; and in 1893, 37,200. Beginning with 1894, the exports of sheep again increased, reaching in that year 132,000; in 1895 they were 405,000; and in 1896, 491,000. In 1897 there was a decrease to 244,000, and in 1898 a further decrease to 200,000, valued at $1,213,000.

The export trade in horses and mules was inconsiderable, varying from 2000 to 8000 a year until 1895, when 14,000 horses and 4800 mules were shipped to foreign ports. This trade increased in 1896 to 25,126 horses and 6534 mules, together valued at about $4,000,000. In 1897 a further increase was made to 39,532 horses and 7753 mules, the value being $5,400,000. And, finally, in 1898 there were exported the largest number ever sent from this country, amounting to 51,150 horses and 6996 mules, valued at $6,691,000.

Swine are not exported in very large numbers, as they do not stand shipping well. The largest number sent abroad was 158,581, in 1874, the value of which was $1,625,837. In 1897 and 1898 there were only 16,800 exported each year. Very few of these cross the ocean.

This resumé of the development of the international traffic in live animals and the status of the animal industry would not be complete without some reference to the markets for animal products. The quantity of foreign meat consumed in Great Britain is most remarkable. The imports of fresh beef, which from 1861 to 1865 averaged but 15,772 cwts., had increased in the years 1891 to 1895 to an average of 2,020,668 cwts., and in 1897 exceeded 3,000,000 cwts. The proportion of this supplied by the United States is indicated by the returns for 1896, giving a total of 2,659,700 cwts. of imported beef, of which this country furnished 2,074,644 cwts.

Great Britain also imported 3,193,276 cwts. of fresh mutton in 1897, more than nine tenths of it being frozen carcasses from Argentina and Australasia. Of fresh and salted pork, the United States supplied 4,183,800 cwts. out of a total of 6,563,688 cwts. The principal other animal products imported by that country are, 1,750,000 cwts. of lard, 276,458 cwts. of rabbits, and 1,683,810,000 eggs.

The continent of Europe consumes considerable quantities of lard and salted pork, which are largely furnished by the United States, notwithstanding the unfavorable attitude of the governments towards such traffic and the existence of many annoying and injurious regulations. Fresh meats from America have been practically excluded.

The British markets for dairy products and wool have also had considerable influence upon the prosperity of the animal industries in various parts of the world. The rapidly increasing demand for dairy products is worthy of attention. In 1877 there were imported into the United Kingdom 1,637,403 cwts. of butter and margarine. In 1897 the imports had been raised to 3,217,801 cwts. of butter and 936,543 cwts. of margarine, or a total of 4,154,344 cwts., being two and one half times the quantity imported in 1877.

The quantity of cheese imported in 1877 was 1,653,920 cwts., and had increased to 2,603,608 cwts. in 1897.

The country supplying the largest quantity of butter in 1896 was Denmark, with France second, Sweden third, Holland fourth, and Australasia fifth. Nearly all of the margarine came from Holland. The largest quantity of cheese came from Canada, the United States being second, with less than half the quantity furnished by her neighbor to the north, and Holland third.

The quantity of wool imported by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, United States, and other consuming countries, increased from 200,000 tons, in the decade 1821–1830, to 3,300,000 tons in 1871–1880. This wool came principally from Australia, River Plate, South Africa, Russia, and Spain.

The excess of imports of wool into the United Kingdom over the exports were, in 1892, 312,217,111 lbs., and in 1896, 383,845,450 lbs. Of the total quantity imported by the United Kingdom in 1896, the United States supplied but 4,500,000 lbs., while Australasia furnished 477,600,000 lbs.; Cape of Good Hope, 70,000,000 lbs.; British East Indies, 43,000,000 lbs.; Natal, 21,000,000 lbs.; France, 20,000,000 lbs.; Turkey, 16,500,000 lbs.; and Belgium, 11,400,000 lbs.

The tendency of the last decade of the nineteenth century has been to displace horses and adopt mechanical motors. The great increase of steam railroads, cable cars, electric cars, bicycles, and automobile vehicles has so reduced the demand for these animals that their value has decreased over fifty per cent. While there is still a good market for horses suitable for carriage use, for drays, for army service, and for agricultural purposes, buyers are becoming more critical and the future is uncertain. As it is five or six years after a breeding establishment is started before any of the horses produced can be placed upon the market, the effect of this uncertainty is to discourage would-be horse breeders and influence them toward other enterprises.

The end of the century also finds the sheep industry in a depressed condition on account of over-production. The vast quantities of wool grown in Australasia and South Africa have clogged the markets to such an extent that Australian wool in the London market has dropped from 15d. per pound in 1877 to 8¼d. in 1897, and South African wool from 15¾d. to 7½d. during the same period. Other wools have fallen in about the same proportion. Although sheep are raised for the production of mutton as well as wool, and the tendency in the United States has been towards the breeding of mutton sheep, the value of these animals has been reduced about one half.

There have been periods of depression with the cattle and swine industries, but prices have been well sustained. The European markets are yearly requiring larger supplies, and the stock of beef-producing cattle in the United States, in proportion to the population, is rapidly diminishing. The decreased number is in a slight degree counterbalanced by earlier maturity; but when due allowance is made for this, it is plain that the United States has not the surplus of beef which it boasted a few years ago. At the same time, our meat trade in the markets of the world is threatened with more serious competition from South America, Australasia, and even Russia.

The century closes in a period of wonderful achievements in the extension of transportation facilities and in the education of the masses in all parts of the world. The producer in South America, Africa, and Australasia keeps abreast with the most enlightened stock-growers of Europe and America in his knowledge of the best breeds, the most economical methods of feeding, and the most desirable handling of his products. There is no animal product so perishable but that it can now be sent from the antipodes to London in good condition. All of this has brought surprising changes in the traffic between different countries and in the modification of industries to meet new conditions. The producers of the most distant parts of the world are aggressively entering our nearest markets. Competition is becoming more intense, and commercial rivalry is assuming more the appearance of warfare than heretofore. The nations of the world are actively engaged in assisting their people in this struggle. They diffuse information as to the best and most economical methods of production, they seek out new markets, they subsidize transportation lines, they assist in the introduction of new kinds of goods, they sustain their subjects in the most aggressive practices, they exclude the products of competing countries by tariffs and hostile sentiment, by discriminations, by unpacking, delaying, or damaging goods, under the pretext of inspection, and by burdensome charges and regulations. Some countries have gone so far as to absolutely prohibit competing products for comprehensive but indefinite sanitary reasons.

The outcome of this commercial warfare cannot be foreseen. The struggle has been, and is, fiercest over the international traffic in animals and animal products. The greatest forces of the world are to-day contending as to what the future shall be. The United States has only recently begun to realize that it also must take part in this commercial struggle, if it would retain markets for its products and secure prosperity for its people. Its trade has been unjustly prohibited and discriminated against, its merchants have been unfairly treated and insulted, and its protests have been treated with ill-disguised contempt. Notwithstanding all these efforts at repression, American trade has gone on increasing at an amazing rate, the forbearance of the government having been far overbalanced by the energy of the people. Having grown to be one of the greatest powers of the world, with magnificent resources yet undeveloped, the United States will no doubt maintain its position and continue to supply the markets of the world with the best animals, the best meats, and probably with the best dairy products.

LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY

BY MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER, U. S. ARMY.

I. WARS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The progress of the nineteenth century, in everything that pertains to civilization, arts, and sciences, has been greater than the total progress in any decade of centuries in the history of the world, and this is equally true in regard to the art and science of WAR; for the expenditure of blood and treasure in the prosecution of the wars and the fighting of the battles of this century far exceeds that of any other like period.

The first year of the nineteenth century dawned upon the United States at peace with the world. In September, 1800, Napoleon, finding that he could not coerce the young nation into “an entangling alliance,” and fearing lest the United States should join England in opposing him, found it his best policy to conclude a peace. The brilliant achievements of the newly organized navy, under Commodore Truxton, not only illuminated these early pages of our history, but established a prestige never yet forfeited; for the history of this branch of our service is unparalleled from the first effort, during the Revolution, of Esek Hopkins, to that of George Dewey at Manila, and Sampson and Schley at Santiago.

WAR WITH BARBARY STATES.—In 1803 the United States determined to end the piracy of the Barbary States, and an expedition under Commodore Preble was sent to the Mediterranean. The Philadelphia, while pursuing a pirate, was grounded off the coast of Tripoli, and captured by the Tripolitans, who made slaves of the crew and prisoners of the officers. In February, 1804, Captain Decatur, with seventy-six men from his ship, the Intrepid, boarded the Philadelphia, killed or drove off the Moors, fired the vessel, and returned without the loss of a man, although fiercely attacked by the shore batteries. In July, Commodore Preble, with his squadron, laid siege to Tripoli, but his bombardment was ineffective. General Eaton, consul to Tunis, induced Hamet, the brother of Yusef, who had usurped the sovereignty of Tripoli, to furnish him a troop of Arab cavalry and a company of Greeks. With these, and a band of Tripolitan rebels and a force of American sailors, he crossed the Barcan Desert, stormed and captured Derne, an eastern seaport of Yusef. The latter was glad to make peace, and a treaty was signed June 4, 1805.

INDIAN WARS.—From 1809 to 1811 fighting with the Indians in the South and Northwest was constant. General Harrison and the celebrated Indian chief Tecumseh were the principal actors.

WAR OF 1812.—The contest between England and France for the dominion of the seas was the cause of the war of 1812. England declared the German and French coast to be in a state of blockade. Napoleon, in 1806, made the same declaration regarding British ports. In 1807, England prohibited trade with the coast of France. American commerce was injured and almost destroyed by the combined action of the two powers. Four years were consumed in negotiations, with constant aggressions on the part of England, and on June 19, 1812, Congress declared war. The great error of the campaign was the attempted invasion of Canada. Had the war been made entirely upon the seas, an early peace might have ensued.

The war began on the Lakes, and, repulsed in the effort to make a stand on the Canada shore, and falling back, Hull surrendered Detroit, August 5. Again, at Queenstown, October 13, the Americans were defeated with the loss of a thousand men. Altogether the first year of the war was a disastrous one on land.

At sea, the navy, consisting of not more than a half-dozen frigates, with its magnificently disciplined officers, had been eminently successful. On August 13, the Essex, Captain Porter, captured the British sloop Alert; on August 19, Captain Hull, commanding the Constitution, destroyed the Guerriere off the Gulf of St. Lawrence; October 18, the Wasp, Captain Jones, captured the Frolic, but later in the day both the Frolic and the Wasp fell into the hands of the British ship Poictiers. October 25, Captain Decatur, with the frigate United States, captured the Macedonian off the Azores; on December 29, after a desperate fight in the South Atlantic, Captain Bainbridge, commanding the Constitution, defeated the British ship Java.

The campaign of 1813 opened on the Canadian frontier with the several divisions in command of Generals Harrison, Dearborn, and Hampton. On June 8, General Winchester, with eight hundred Kentuckians, drove the British and Indians, under Proctor, from Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, but returning with a force of fifteen hundred, they obliged Winchester to surrender, which he only consented to do under Proctor’s promise to protect the Americans from the Indians; which promise Proctor treacherously disregarded, and marched away, leaving the sick and wounded Kentuckians to be massacred. Henceforth the Kentucky war cry was, “Remember the River Raisin,” and many were the British and Indians who had cause to dread that slogan. May 5, General Harrison, reinforced by General Green Clay and his Kentucky troops, repulsed the British and their dusky allies under Tecumseh. July 21, they returned four thousand strong, but were again repulsed.

The Americans, by wonderful exertion and hard work, built and equipped, at Erie, a squadron of nine ships with fifty-five guns, the command of which was given to Commodore Perry. September 10, Perry won his grand victory on Lake Erie, over the English squadron of six ships and sixty-three guns. This was the turning point of the war, and Perry’s name goes down to posterity with the immortal names that never die. On October 5, General Harrison, conveyed by Perry’s ships, landed his forces in Canada and completely destroyed Proctor’s army, Tecumseh being among the slain. So ended the war in the Northwest.

In the meantime, General Dearborn was fighting with varying success in Upper Canada. Jackson, in the South, was avenging the Fort Mimms massacre, finally crushing the Creeks early in the next year. The British, under the odious Admiral Cochrane, plundered and ravaged and burned everything in reach, from Lewistown to the Carolina coast, seizing the negroes and selling them in the West Indies. During this year the American navy continued to be successful, meeting few losses, though the fighting was even more desperate.

July 5, 1814, the Americans defeated the British at Chippewa; and on the 25th was fought the battle of Lundy’s Lane, where Generals Brown and Scott were wounded. In this desperate battle, eight hundred men were lost on either side; and though the battle was undecisive, it had the effect of a victory for the Americans. August 14, five thousand troops, under General Ross, were landed on the Patuxent, and, defeating General Winder, who made a stand with a handful of men near Bladensburg, proceeded to the city of Washington. After burning the capitol and White House, and other buildings, they hastily withdrew. The attempt to take Baltimore proved abortive, and on September 14 the British reëmbarked. It was at this time that Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.” August 15, the enemy were repulsed at Fort Erie with the loss of one thousand men, and a month later were finally driven back. The whole British squadron on Lake Champlain surrendered to Commodore MacDonough after a terrific fight for several hours, on September 17, and on the same day the British army of twelve thousand was forced to retreat from Plattsburg by General Macomb’s force of forty-five hundred.

In Florida the Spaniards had allowed, if not encouraged, the English to use their territory to fit out expeditions against the United States. Jackson, with two thousand men, took possession of Pensacola on the 7th of November, driving out the British.

December the 28th the British opened fire on New Orleans; again, on January 1, 1815; and on January 8 Packenham, with twelve thousand men, made his supreme effort. Jackson’s force was now about six thousand. The British were driven to their ships after losing two thousand killed and wounded, their general being among the slain. The American loss was seven killed and six wounded. The war was kept up on the ocean until March, the last capture being that of the British brig Penguin by the American sloop-of-war Hornet, in the South Atlantic.

The treaty of Ghent had been signed on the 24th of September, 1814, and the news of the glorious victory at New Orleans reached Washington simultaneously with that of the signing of the treaty. The war had been so distasteful to the people of New England that Massachusetts and Connecticut had passed laws directly antagonistic to those of the United States, and hostilities between the Federal and State governments were feared, which, perhaps, were only averted by the ending of the war. The issues leading to the war of 1812 were left unsettled by the treaty, but England never again attempted to interfere with American shipping.

SECOND WAR WITH BARBARY STATES.—Immediately on the close of the war of 1812, the Algerians, supposing that the American navy was badly crippled, began again their depredations on American commerce. Commodore Decatur was sent to the Mediterranean with a squadron, and once more gave them an American drubbing. June 17, 1815, he destroyed two Algerine vessels; June 28, in front of the city of Algiers, he demanded the release of all American prisoners, indemnification for all property destroyed, and a relinquishment of all claims for tribute from the United States. The Dey quickly assented to the terms, and signed a treaty of peace. Tunis, Tripoli, and Morocco were likewise brought to terms, the United States thus taking the lead of all the other powers in its determination to break up the piracy of the Barbary States.

MEXICAN WAR.—The Republic of Texas became, by its own request and by Act of Congress, one of the United States July 4, 1845. Mexico prepared for war; the United States took measures to protect the new State. March 8, 1846, General Zachary Taylor marched with fifteen hundred men to a point on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, where he erected Fort Brown.

To the secretary of war, William L. Marcy, and to General Winfield Scott was due the plan of campaign, the battles of which, like instantaneous flashes of victory from the beginning of the war until its close, illumine the pages of American history. Then, as now, Congress was slow to respond to the needs of the military branch of the government.

April 24, 1846, hostilities began. General Taylor advanced into Mexico and, May 8, won the brilliant victory of Palo Alto, and again, the next day, the battle of Resaca de la Palma. Taylor’s force was less than one third the number of the enemy, whose loss was one thousand. These two battles crushed the flower of Santa Anna’s army. Taylor returned to the relief of Fort Brown, where the brave garrison had sustained a cannonade for 168 hours. September 24, Monterey and its garrison of nine thousand men were taken by General Taylor with six thousand.

February 23, 1847, Taylor gained the glorious victory of Buena Vista, in which the Mexican loss was 2000, the American, 714. At times the Mexicans were within a few yards of Bragg’s guns. “A little more grape, Captain Bragg,” was Taylor’s celebrated order, the execution of which decided the day. The American loss was severe in officers. Taylor’s force, depleted by more than two thirds, which had been sent to reinforce General Scott, was barely forty-five hundred; the Mexican troops numbered twenty thousand. Captain Fremont, assisted by Commodores Sloat and Stockton, had subjugated California; General Kearney and Colonel Doniphan, Northern Mexico. Doniphan defeated the Mexicans at Bracito, December 25, 1846, and at Sacramento, February 8, 1847, and took possession of Chihuahua, a city of forty thousand inhabitants, and marched to join General Wool at Saltillo, March 22.

Early in January, 1847, General Scott reached the mouth of the Rio Grande, where he awaited the eight thousand troops sent by General Taylor. This raised his force to twelve thousand. These were landed at Sacrificios. The Americans debarked just below Vera Cruz between sunset and ten o’clock on the night of March 8 without a single accident. With wonderful skill the investiture of Vera Cruz and the castle of St. John de Ulloa was completed. On March 22 the Governor of Vera Cruz was summoned to surrender. Day and night the mortar batteries played upon the city, the fleet ably assisting; and on the 29th the stars and stripes floated above the walls of city and fortress. The Americans lost but two officers and a few soldiers. April 18, the magnificent victory at Cerro Gordo, where three thousand Mexicans were captured, was won; April 19, Jalapa was taken; April 22, Pecote, the strongest of Mexican forts, was captured; and May 15, Puebla surrendered to General Worth. Ten thousand prisoners, seven hundred cannon, ten thousand stands of arms, and thirty thousand shot and shells were captured within two months. When the army entered Puebla it numbered but forty-five hundred.

Reinforcements reaching him, Scott set out from Puebla to the valley of Mexico on August 7. August 20, the heights of Contreras were assailed and taken, and the battle of Churubusco—with nine thousand Americans against thirty thousand Mexicans—was fought and won. September 8, Molino del Rey was taken; September 13, the heights of Chapultepec. The Mexicans fled from the capital, and the victorious American army marched in and took possession of the city, September 14, 1847. Here Scott and his noble warriors rested until the treaty was concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, and peace was proclaimed, July 4, by President Polk. Guadalupe Hidalgo, New Mexico, and California were ceded to the United States, $15,000,000 paid to Mexico, and the debts due from Mexico to American citizens were assumed by the United States.

THE CIVIL WAR.—It is not here the place to rehearse or to discuss the causes which led to America’s Civil War, a war perhaps the most stupendous recorded in history. Looking backward, after the bloody foot-prints have been well nigh obliterated by the growth of a generation, we can see that the trend of human progress, the political problems confronting the federated States, in the solution of which were evolved elements of discord, the inherited antagonism between the Puritans of the North and the Cavaliers of the South, all combined to make the conflict inevitable. For more than a decade of years grievances had been growing and rumblings were heard, like the imprisoned fires beneath the surface of the earth, until the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, pledged to a policy believed to be inimical to the South, caused the outburst of the volcano, whose fierce fires and molten lava for four years spread desolation over the land.

Time and milder judgment have very nearly smoothed away the wrinkles of discord, and the close of the century finds the nation a reunited people, whose new compact is written in the life-blood of her sons on the battlefields of the recent war with Spain.

December 20, 1860, South Carolina; January 9, 1861, Mississippi; January 10, Florida; January 11, Alabama; January 18, Georgia; January 23, Louisiana, and February 1, Texas, one by one asserted their supposed right to withdraw from the federal compact, and enacted ordinances of secession in their several state conventions. Each State, as it took action, claimed and possessed itself of all government property, forts, guns, ammunition, within its borders, and armed its militia for garrison duty. A convention of delegates from the seceded States, held February 4, 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama, organized a new federation, to be known as the Confederate States of America, chose Jefferson Davis President and Alexander Stephens Vice-President, and set the whole machinery of a provisional government in working order. July 20, Richmond became the capital of the Southern Confederacy. Virginia seceded April 17; Arkansas, May 6; North Carolina, May 20, and Tennessee, June 8. Kentucky declared neutrality.

Lincoln, upon assuming the executive chair, March 4, 1861, found the treasury depleted, the army of only sixteen thousand men scattered in the West, and many of its best officers already with the Confederacy. The navy had been sadly neglected by Congress, partly because this branch of the service had been steadily antagonized by the West, so that at the beginning of the war, both as to vessels and armament, it was by no means in a condition for active service. As in the army, some of its most valuable officers had espoused the cause of their native States, and the South Atlantic and Gulf ports, being in possession of the new federation, left the United States vessels no place of refuge. With unlimited means at command, the Union navy increased the number of its vessels to 588—75 of them ironclads—with 4443 guns and 30,000 men, before the end of 1862. Torpedoes and steel rams were first used during this war, and monitors, just invented, were used by the United States. With a nucleus of 10 vessels, around which to build its navy, the Confederacy had, by November, raised the number to 34. Until the blockade became effective, “cotton was king;” for, in October, 1861, the Nashville, running out with a heavy consignment, brought back into Charleston in exchange a cargo worth $3,000,000. Vessel after vessel was bought from English shipbuilders, among them the celebrated Alabama, which, in the fourteen months of her service, captured sixty-nine prizes, and destroyed ten million dollars’ worth of merchandise. The armored ram Stonewall was bought in France.

April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was forced to surrender to the Confederates, and the first shot at the old flag ushered in the long, bitter struggle.

Troops were called for by Lincoln. Lieutenant-General Scott, the veteran hero of Mexico, was in command of the army. In three months, three hundred thousand men were in the field. One hundred thousand had swarmed to the Confederate ranks. General McClellan was sent to the front and, after the resignation of Scott in the latter part of the year, was made commander of the army.

July 21, the battle of Bull Run was fought. The Union troops were disastrously routed and retreated in confusion to Washington. The army did little more during this year.

April 21, after setting fire to and destroying the Navy Yard and ships, Norfolk was evacuated by the Union forces. The frigate Merrimac, which had been sunk, was raised by the Confederates, plated with iron, renamed “Virginia,” and became the scourge of the shipping off the Virginia coast.

The navy, as is usual, and because of its very organization, got in its effective work much earlier than did the army, and the seizure of the forts and ports on the coast of the seceded States began at once. Fort Hatteras was taken August 29; Port Royal, in South Carolina, November 7. November 7 a naval officer, by overhauling an English mail steamer and taking off Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who had been appointed commissioners of the Confederate States to France and England, very nearly caused a complication with the latter power. Mr. Seward’s diplomacy settled the incident amicably, and the commissioners were allowed to proceed upon their mission, which, however, proved futile. By the close of the year, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, at first doubtful, were securely in the Union, though many of their citizens were in the Southern army.

1862.—February 6, General Grant, commanding the army of the Tennessee, with the assistance of Commodore Foote and his gunboats, captured Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, and, on the 16th, Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. The Federal forces had reached the number of four hundred and fifty thousand, of which McClellan had two hundred thousand.

May 23, at Front Royal, and May 25, at Winchester, “Stonewall” Jackson defeated the Union troops and forced them across the Potomac. Banks, Fremont, and McDowell, concentrating their forces, bore down on Jackson, who slipped through their lines, and, on June 9, defeated Shields at Fort Republic.

The cry of the Northern press was, “On to Richmond,” and McClellan endeavored to obey the command. He had arrived not far from the city, between the York and James rivers, when he was defeated in the bloody battle of Seven Pines, May 31 and June 1. The Confederate General Johnston was wounded, and General Lee was assigned to the command of the army of Northern Virginia, which he retained until the end.

The Seven Days’ battles, from June 25 to July 1, were fought at fearful cost to the Confederates; nevertheless, “it was a glorious victory,” and the siege of Richmond was raised. Lee advanced toward Washington, met the armies of Banks and Pope, and defeated them in the second battle of Bull Run, August 29 and 30, and at Chantilly, September 1 and 2, forcing Pope’s army to retreat to Washington. The clamor in the South had been, “On to Washington.” Lee crossed the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry and took twelve thousand prisoners. McClellan, who had been recalled, met the Confederates at Sharpsburg (Antietam), September 17, and fought a battle with undecisive results. Each side lost about ten thousand men, and Lee returned.

The Union army under Burnside, who had superseded McClellan, met a fearful repulse at Fredericksburg, December 13, with a loss of fourteen thousand. The Confederate loss was five thousand.

December 31, January 1 and 2, was fought the terrible battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where Bragg’s force was 35,000, and his loss in killed, wounded, and missing, 10,466. Rosecrans’s force was 43,400, and his loss 12,595.

March 8, the Virginia attacked the Union fleet at Fortress Monroe and destroyed the Cumberland and the Congress. The next day, the Monitor attacked the Virginia, and, after five hours’ fighting, succeeded in disabling her so that she returned to Norfolk. The Virginia was destroyed by the Confederates before evacuating Norfolk, May 10.

Admiral Farragut, with a fleet of 45 vessels, entered the Mississippi and bombarded the forts of St. Philip and Jackson. Despising the fear of mines and torpedoes, he continued on his course, defeating the Confederate fleet, and, together with General Butler, entered New Orleans April 25. During this year the navy, with the assistance of land forces, had retaken all important ports on the Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia coasts, seriously interfering with the blockade running, upon which the Confederacy depended for its foreign supplies. The year 1862 closed with no advantage having been gained on either side.

1863.—On January 1, Lincoln issued the threatened Emancipation Proclamation. This destroyed the last hope of the Confederacy for recognition by England. No event of importance occurred before the middle of spring, when Hooker, who had relieved Burnside, made another advance upon Richmond, and was routed by Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville, May 2, and on the 5th was forced across the Rapidan with a loss of seventeen thousand. The Confederate loss was less than five thousand. In Jackson’s death the Confederacy received a blow, the consequences of which may never be estimated.

Lee’s army again crossed the Potomac for an invasion of the North. The Union forces, under Meade, marched in an almost parallel line with Lee’s through Maryland into Pennsylvania. They met and fought at Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, one of the decisive battles of the world’s history. Lee was forced to again retire beyond the river. The Union could well afford the loss of twenty-three thousand men, but Lee’s loss of twenty thousand of the choice troops of his army was irreparable.

In the meantime, Grant had been sent to open the Mississippi, and after a six weeks’ siege, on July 4, Vicksburg, with nearly thirty thousand prisoners and vast quantities of stores, fell into his hands. These two almost simultaneous victories greatly encouraged the North, and formed the turning point in the history of the war. July 9, Banks’s victory at Port Hudson accomplished the desired possession of the Mississippi River.

Bragg, who had been sorely pressed by Rosecrans, made a stand at Chickamauga, defeating the Union General Rosecrans, September 19 and 20, and forcing him to retreat to Chattanooga, where he was besieged by Bragg. Grant, with Sherman, coming to his aid, the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge were fought, November 23 and 25, and Bragg was driven back into Georgia.

The Federal navy was gradually taking possession of the whole coast, and Charleston was tightly blockaded. In March the Confederate ship Nashville was sunk in the entrance of the Savannah River.

During this year both governments were forced to resort to conscription. Lincoln ordered a draft, and, in July, a three days’ riot in consequence prevailed in New York, during which two million dollars’ worth of property was destroyed.

1864.—In March, Grant was put in command of the whole Union army, the grade of lieutenant-general having been revived in his behalf. He left Sherman in command, repaired to Washington, and, May 3, started on the third campaign against Richmond, with a force of one hundred and forty thousand. Sherman, with one hundred thousand, was to march to Atlanta. The whole strength of the Union army at this time was about seven hundred thousand. Grant had spent some weeks in formulating his plans of campaigns, from the main features of which he never deviated. The Union had at last found the man, and at the same time had acquired the wisdom to leave the conduct of the war to his judgment; proving, also, that “there is no war on record that has not given its man to the world or shaped the destiny of some other.”

Crossing the Rapidan, Grant encountered the Confederates, and the fighting, on the 5th, 6th, and 7th, of the battles of the Wilderness, was terrific, but the result undecisive. At Spottsylvania he fought from the 8th to the 18th with fearful loss. June 1, he was repulsed at Cold Harbor, and again on the 3d, and fighting, more or less desultory, continued in that vicinity until the 12th. Since the opening of the campaign, the Union army had lost sixty thousand men; the Confederate thirty thousand. Grant moved on Petersburg and began the siege which lasted from June until the next April. The western part of Virginia had seceded from the eastern portion, and, June 20, was admitted into the United States.

To divert Grant, and, if possible, to raise the siege of Petersburg, in July, Lee sent General Early to threaten Washington and Baltimore, which he accomplished without, however, affecting Grant’s position. Returning laden with spoils, Early turned, and driving back the Federal troops invaded Pennsylvania, burning Chambersburg, and came back again bringing vast quantities of supplies. Sheridan was sent to dispose of Early and to ravage the valley. At Winchester, he met and defeated Early in a very severe fight on October 20, almost destroying the force under that general’s command. Sherman set out for Chattanooga on May 7, marching towards Atlanta. At Dalton he met General Johnston’s army of fifty thousand men. Johnston’s masterly retreat from Dalton to Atlanta is unrivaled in military history. He made a stand from May 25 to June 4 at Dallas, but, being outflanked, was obliged to fall back. The next stand was made at Great Kenesaw, on June 22, when he repulsed the Federals. On the 27th, Sherman made a powerful assault, but was again repulsed with a loss of four thousand, Johnston’s loss being four hundred; but, again outflanked. Johnston was forced across the Chattahoochie, and July 10 found the Confederate army entrenched in Atlanta.