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pubOne.info present you this new edition. TO E. Y. R. To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fashion the story of some Americans who showed that they knew how to live and how to die; who proved their truth by their endeavor; and who joined to the stern and manly qualities which are essential to the well-being of a masterful race the virtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an ideal.

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Histoire

USA

History of the Americas

États-Unis

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819935254
Langue	English

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HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
By Henry Cabot Lodge, and TheodoreRoosevelt
Hence it is that the fathers of these men and oursalso, and
they themselves likewise, being nurtured in allfreedom and
well born, have shown before all men many andglorious deeds
in public and private, deeming it their duty tofight for
the cause of liberty and the Greeks, even againstGreeks,
and against Barbarians for all the Greeks. "—PLATO:
“Menexenus. ”
TO E. Y. R. To you we owe the suggestion of writingthis book. Its purpose, as you know better than any one else, is totell in simple fashion the story of some Americans who showed thatthey knew how to live and how to die; who proved their truth bytheir endeavor; and who joined to the stern and manly qualitieswhich are essential to the well-being of a masterful race thevirtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to anideal.
It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is anespecially good thing for young Americans, to remember the men whohave given their lives in war and peace to the service of theirfellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring andpersonal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions ofthe nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift, industry,obedience to law, and intellectual cultivation are essentialqualities in the makeup of any successful people; but no people canbe really great unless they possess also the heroic virtues whichare as needful in time of peace as in time of war, and as importantin civil as in military life. As a civilized people we desirepeace, but the only peace worth having is obtained by instantreadiness to fight when wronged— not by unwillingness or inabilityto fight at all. Intelligent foresight in preparation and knowncapacity to stand well in battle are the surest safeguards againstwar. America will cease to be a great nation whenever her young mencease to possess energy, daring, and endurance, as well as the wishand the power to fight the nation's foes. No citizen of a freestate should wrong any man; but it is not enough merely to refrainfrom infringing on the rights of others; he must also be able andwilling to stand up for his own rights and those of his countryagainst all comers, and he must be ready at any time to do his fullshare in resisting either malice domestic or foreign levy.
HENRY CABOT LODGE. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WASHINGTON,April 19, 1895.
HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
WASHINGTON
The brilliant historian of the English people [*] has written of Washington, that “no noblerfigure ever stood in the fore-front of a nation's life. ” In anybook which undertakes to tell, no matter how slightly, the story ofsome of the heroic deeds of American history, that noble figuremust always stand in the fore-front. But to sketch the life ofWashington even in the barest outline is to write the history ofthe events which made the United States independent and gave birthto the American nation. Even to give alist of what he did, to namehis battles and recount his acts as president, would be beyond thelimit and the scope of this book. Yet it is always possible torecall the man and to consider what he was and what he meant for usand for mankind He is worthy the study and the remembrance of allmen, and to Americans he is at once a great glory of their past andan inspiration and an assurance of their future.
* John Richard Green.
To understand Washington at all we must first stripoff all the myths which have gathered about him. We must cast asideinto the dust-heaps all the wretched inventions of the cherry-treevariety, which were fastened upon him nearly seventy years afterhis birth. We must look at him as he looked at life and the factsabout him, without any illusion or deception, and no man in historycan better stand such a scrutiny.
Born of a distinguished family in the days when theAmerican colonies were still ruled by an aristocracy, Washingtonstarted with all that good birth and tradition could give. Beyondthis, however, he had little. His family was poor, his mother wasleft early a widow, and he was forced after a very limitededucation to go out into the world to fight for himself He hadstrong within him the adventurous spirit of his race. He became asurveyor, and in the pursuit of this profession plunged into thewilderness, where he soon grew to be an expert hunter andbackwoodsman. Even as a boy the gravity of his character and hismental and physical vigor commended him to those about him, andresponsibility and military command were put in his hands at an agewhen most young men are just leaving college. As the times grewthreatening on the frontier, he was sent on a perilous mission tothe Indians, in which, after passing through many hardships anddangers, he achieved success. When the troubles came with France itwas by the soldiers under his command that the first shots werefired in the war which was to determine whether the North Americancontinent should be French or English. In his earliest expeditionhe was defeated by the enemy. Later he was with Braddock, and itwas he who tried, to rally the broken English army on the strickenfield near Fort Duquesne. On that day of surprise and slaughter hedisplayed not only cool courage but the reckless daring which wasone of his chief characteristics. He so exposed himself thatbullets passed through his coat and hat, and the Indians and theFrench who tried to bring him down thought he bore a charmed life.He afterwards served with distinction all through the French war,and when peace came he went back to the estate which he hadinherited from his brother, the most admired man in Virginia.
At that time he married, and during the ensuingyears he lived the life of a Virginia planter, successful in hisprivate affairs and serving the public effectively but quietly as amember of the House of Burgesses. When the troubles with the mothercountry began to thicken he was slow to take extreme ground, but henever wavered in his belief that all attempts to oppress thecolonies should be resisted, and when he once took up his positionthere was no shadow of turning. He was one of Virginia's delegatesto the first Continental Congress, and, although he said butlittle, he was regarded by all the representatives from the othercolonies as the strongest man among them. There was something abouthim even then which commanded the respect and the confidence ofevery one who came in contact with him.
It was from New England, far removed from his ownState, that the demand came for his appointment ascommander-in-chief of the American army. Silently he accepted theduty, and, leaving Philadelphia, took command of the army atCambridge. There is no need to trace him through the events thatfollowed. From the time when he drew his sword under the famous elmtree, he was the embodiment of the American Revolution, and withouthim that revolution would have failed almost at the start. How hecarried it to victory through defeat and trial and every possibleobstacle is known to all men.
When it was all over he found himself facing a newsituation. He was the idol of the country and of his soldiers. Thearmy was unpaid, and the veteran troops, with arms in their hands,were eager to have him take control of the disordered country asCromwell had done in England a little more than a century before.With the army at his back, and supported by the great forces which,in every community, desire order before everything else, and areready to assent to any arrangement which will bring peace andquiet, nothing would have been easier than for Washington to havemade himself the ruler of the new nation. But that was not hisconception of duty, and he not only refused to have anything to dowith such a movement himself, but he repressed, by his dominantpersonal influence, all such intentions on the part of the army. Onthe 23d of December, 1783, he met the Congress at Annapolis, andthere resigned his commission. What he then said is one of the twomost memorable speeches ever made in the United States, and is alsomemorable for its meaning and spirit among all speeches ever madeby men. He spoke as follows:
"Mr. President:— The great events on which myresignation depended having at length taken place, I have now thehonor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and ofpresenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands thetrust committed to me and to claim the indulgence of retiring fromthe service of my country.
Happy in the confirmation of our independence andsovereignity and pleased with the opportunity afforded the UnitedStates of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfactionthe appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in myabilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which, however, wassuperseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, thesupport of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage ofHeaven.
The successful termination of the war has verifiedthe most sanguine expectations, and my gratitude for theinterposition of Providence and the assistance I have received frommy countrymen increases with every review of the momentouscontest.
While I repeat my obligations to the Army ingeneral, I should do injustice to my own feelings not toacknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguishedmerits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person duringthe war. It was impossible that the choice of confidential officersto compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me,sir, to recommend in particular those who have continued in serviceto the present moment as worthy of the favorable notice andpatronage of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty to close thislast solemn act of my official life by commending the interests ofour dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and thosewho have the superintendence of them to His holy keeping.
Having now finished the work assigned me, I retirefrom the