Part 19

During the War of 1812 the Pacific Fur Company retired from its positions in the Columbia valley and the Hudson Bay Company absorbed its English rival, the Northwest Fur Company. The English built a strong fort at Astoria which they called Fort George. But several years after the conclusion of the war between England and America, the Pacific Fur Company resumed possession of its posts in the Columbia, with the backing of the United States government, under the authority of the Treaty of Ghent and the Hudson Bay Company, and though events proved that it could maintain an amicable joint household with Astor’s corporation at Astoria, began to look about for a site for headquarters of its own. Since the Columbia River at that time seemed destined to become the dividing line between English and American possessions, a site was chosen on the north side of the river, about 120 miles above its mouth. Here a strong post was established in 1825 and named Vancouver, in honor of the British mariner. The site was not deemed as suitable for the purposes of a fort as a situation a short distance away, so a second Fort Vancouver was built on the last chosen spot. This is the Fort Vancouver of the present day, and the site of the city of Vancouver, Washington.

The new post was made the Pacific head-quarters for the Hudson Bay Company and became a great mart of trade from California to Alaska and for innumerable little stations in the Rocky mountains and the hinterland thereof. The fort, itself, was an imposing structure with a picket wall twenty feet high, buttressed with massive timbers inside. It enclosed a parallelogram five hundred feet by seven hundred feet and contained forty buildings, including a governor’s residence of generous proportions. The lands outside of the fort proper were cultivated and were exceedingly productive. The employees of the company were comfortably housed and formed a happy community, and to the point came red men in various garbs, hunters, trappers and woodsmen, a picturesque throng in craft of all description.

This is a sketch of the post in 1816, the year in which, through the treaty between England and America, it became a possession of the United States. In 1810 a company of United States Artillery, under Captain J. H. Hathaway, took possession of the place in the name of the republic and the stars and stripes waved where the lion of St. George had held the breeze. It is an interesting commentary of the times to remember that to reach their destination Captain Hathaway and his soldiers were obliged to sail around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, the voyage consuming many months. In the Spring of 1850 a company of mounted riflers arrived at the post overland from Fort Leavenworth.

An additional interest is given Fort Vancouver by knowing that at various periods prior to the Civil War Grant, Sheridan, McClellan, Hooker, and other of the famous United States leaders of the Civil War were stationed here. It was in a campaign against the Indians not far distant from Fort Vancouver that General Sheridan fought his first battle.

FORT YUMA

AT HEAD OF NAVIGATION, COLORADO RIVER--CALIFORNIA

The comedian of Uncle Sam’s military posts is old Fort Yuma on the Colorado River at the southwestern extremity of California. To mention the name in a barrack-room where there are seasoned soldiers is to call forth a reminiscent smile and the old story of the hen that laid hard-boiled eggs. These and that other one of the officers, who when they die at Fort Yuma and appear before his Satanic Majesty (by some strange miscarriage of justice) shiver with cold and send back to the fort for their blankets.

Other posts in Uncle Sam’s itinerary are hot, but Fort Yuma spends all of its time in heating up with a passion for its work and an unrelenting attention to detail that have become legendary. During the months of April, May, and June no rainfall comes, and the average temperature is 105° in the shade. Of course the post does much better on some occasions, and at other times it falls below this batting average.

The most active days of Fort Yuma as a military post were found just before and for a few years subsequent to the Civil War, though that great conflict had no part in Yuma’s past. During the days that California was having its mind made up for it to become a part of the United States, and during the days in which it was beginning the great experiment indicated, Yuma was of much importance as a base for United States troops. In addition to this it exercised and has always exercised a restraining influence upon those restless spirits of the desert, the Apache Indians. Being situated on the border between the United States and Mexico, it has some little to do in seeing that the customs regulations of this country are preserved. And it has always secured importance from being one of the stations on the old Santa Fé trail.

After receiving the Gila at a point 100 miles from its mouth, the Colorado River turns suddenly westward and forces its way through a rocky defile, 70 feet high and 350 yards long and 200 yards wide, thus cutting off a narrow rocky bluff and leaving it as an isolated eminence on the California side of the river. Here stands Fort Yuma, grey and sombre above the green bottom lands of the river, which are covered with a dense growth of cottonwood and mesquite. Chains of low serrated hills and mountains limit the view on nearly every side--all bare and grey save when painted by the sun with delicate hues of blue and purple.

Before reaching the fort the traveller passes through a long road shaded by young cottonwoods and mesquite interspersed with an impenetrable growth of arrow-bush and cane. Then he comes to a bend of the river where the water loses the ruddy tint which gives it its musical name of “Colorado” and, finally, he brings up at the fortification, which in the distance appeared heavy and forbidding but which near at hand resolves itself into a collection of substantial adobe houses inclosed by deep verandas with Venetian blinds which shut out every direct ray of sunlight.

All the buildings at the post are of sun-dried brick and neatly plastered within and without. They are one story in height, have large rooms with lofty ceilings and facilities for the freest ventilation. The roof and walls are double, inclosing an air chamber. Each house is surrounded by a veranda and adjacent houses have their verandas in communication, so that the occupants may pass from one to another without exposing themselves to the heat of the sun.

What entitles the post to the name of fort are certain unpretentious intrenchments scattered along the slopes of the bluff overlooking the river and commanding the bottom lands adjacent. They are not visible from the river and the visitor is not aware of their existence until he steps to the edge of the bluff and looks down upon them. The parade is a stony lawn. Not a blade of grass is to be seen and everything is of that ashy light-grey color so trying to the eyes. It is a relief to gaze out upon the green bottom lands through which one passed before ascending to the top of the eminence where stands the fort.

Being so excessively dry the air at this post plays strange pranks with articles made for use in less arid climates, as many a young officer’s wife has found to her cost when bringing trunks and other household paraphernalia to her new home. Furniture put together in the North and brought here falls to pieces; travelling chests gape at their seams, and a sole-leather trunk contracts so much that the tray must be pried out by force.

Ink dries so rapidly upon the pen that it requires washing off every few minutes and a No. 2 pencil leaves no more trace upon a piece of paper than a piece of anthracite coal would leave. To use a pencil it is necessary to have it kept immersed in water before calling upon it for service. Newspapers require to be unfolded with care, for if handled roughly they crumble. Boxes of soap that weigh twelve pounds when shipped to Fort Yuma weigh only ten pounds after having been there for several weeks. Hams lose 12 per cent. in weight and rice 2 per cent. Eggs lose their watery contents by evaporation and become thick and tough. The effort to cool one’s self with an ordinary fan is vain, because the surrounding atmosphere is of higher temperature than the body. The earth under foot is dry and powdery and hot as flour just ground, while the rocks are so hot that the hands cannot be borne upon them.

“The story of the dog that ran across the parade at mid-day on three legs barking at every step may be correct,” writes an officer who was stationed there, “though I have never seen it tried.”

VALLEY FORGE--YORKTOWN--VICKSBURG--LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN--GETTYSBURG--THE “CRATER”

In the nature of the case field fortifications are temporary erections, earthworks thrown up for an immediate emergency; but, occasionally some bright deed or some momentous consequence gives these defences a fame more enduring than walls of stone planned with deliberation and executed with leisured care.

Who has not heard of Valley Forge and the heroic winter of 1777-1778 which Washington spent there with his meagerly clad men? Valley Forge is now a public reservation about twelve miles north of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. Excursion trains run out from that city to the park, so it is easy of access. The grounds cover hundreds of acres, but the principal points are plainly marked and may be quickly reached.

One of the most interesting souvenirs of Washington’s immortal encampment at Valley Forge is the little stone house which the great commander used as his headquarters. An unpretentious, substantial structure of the typical style of building of the days in which it was constructed, it is in excellent preservation, strong and sturdy as on the day of its erection. The building contains numerous Washington relics and curios collected by the State authorities or presented to the park by men and women of various parts of the nation.

One of the most conspicuous objects of the reservation is the Memorial Arch erected by the United States government to the memory of the men and officers who shared the privations of that terrible winter at this spot. It is of Roman character and stands on a commanding eminence in the central part of the grounds. Near at hand is planned the Washington Memorial Chapel, which the Future may complete, or leave unbuilt, as it sees fit.

Fort Washington, a small redoubt or earth, is not far from the Arch and has been carefully preserved against the encroachments of Time. The lines of the earthworks may also be made out.

A historic site is Yorktown, Virginia, the sleepy little village on the peninsula between the James and York rivers Cornwallis surrendered to Washington and the French allies in 1781, thus making sure of American Independence, and where the Army of the Potomac encamped under McClellan in 1862, throwing up massive earthworks. The traces of both Cornwallis’ and McClellan’s encampments are easily to be made out to-day.

The American and French forces marched from Williamsburg, September 28, 1781, driving in the British outposts at Yorktown as they approached and taking possession of the abandoned outworks. Forming a semicircular line about two miles from the British intrenchments they completely invested the enemy, the York River enclosing his forces to the northeast. October 17, Cornwallis offered to discuss terms of surrender.

The beginning of the year 1863--to make a jump from the Revolution to the Civil War--saw the turning of the tide for the United States, and it was in this year that the decisive battles of Vicksburg, Gettysburg and Chattanooga were fought. The battle-grounds of each of these engagements have been created national parks and are maintained in such a fashion that the visitor may follow the movements of the troops in those great clashes.

After the capture of the posts north of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, and the opening of the mouth of the river by Farragut’s taking of New Orleans in 1862, Vicksburg was the only remaining defence of the Confederacy on the Mississippi, and the sole remaining link between the Confederacy’s east and west portions. The principal works of the city were on a commanding eminence, giving a clear sweep of the river and the surrounding country, which was swampy and almost impassable. They were competently manned, capably officered and well supplied.

The place, altogether, was deemed almost impregnable. To follow out all of the steps by which its reduction was brought about is not the province of this chapter. The United States troops under the comparatively unknown commander, U. S. Grant, began to operate at the end of January, 1863, and on July 4 concluded their task in the unconditional surrender of the main fortification of the Confederates. The surrender of Vicksburg came one day after the conclusion of the battle of Gettysburg which occupied the first three days of July.

The reservation of the Vicksburg National Park contains 1,255.07 acres and was acquired pursuant to an Act of Congress approved February 21, 1899.

The grounds of the Gettysburg National Park, Adams County, Pennsylvania, comprise 2,054 acres and their acquisition was commenced in 1873. The scenes of the principal movements of the battle have been marked with suitable monuments. The battle of Gettysburg proved conclusively that the South could not invade the North. It was the last gallant attempt of a completely invested country to strike a fatal blow before the strangle-hold of its enemy should bring the end.

The largest of the national military parks is Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Park, which comprises 5,688 acres in the State of Georgia, in addition to nearly 150 acres in the State of Tennessee, the park being situated on the line between the States. In Tennessee is located Lookout Mountain. The acquisition of this reservation began under the provisions of an Act of Congress approved August 19, 1890.

On the outskirts of Petersburg, Virginia, the remains of Forts Haskell and Steadman, the scene of the “Crater” episode, and part of the defences of the capital of the Confederacy which fell before Grant in 1865, have been preserved as a private enterprise. For a small consideration the “Crater” and the earthworks will be shown to the visitor. The Federal forces opposed to Fort Steadman--at the suggestion of a miner from Chambersburg, Pa., it is said--constructed a long tunnel from their lines to beneath the Confederate stronghold. An enormous quantity of powder was here, and when it was set off a body of soldiers was to charge through the breach and take the Confederate positions.

The powder was exploded and the plan was successful in so far that it blew several hundred men into eternity, but when the attacking column reached the cavity in the ground its men became confused, giving the Confederates time to reform and to pour in a terrible fire upon the Union men concentrated in the broken ground below. The result was terrible carnage of United States troops. The “Crater” had become a death trap. Nearly three thousand men were killed in it in thirty minutes, the most disastrous loss the Federal forces suffered in so short a time during the war.

The “Crater” to-day is a peaceful spot glorified by tall trees which keep the scene in continual gloom. The depression in the ground is ten feet or more in depth and about two hundred feet in diameter. A short walk brings one to the entrance to the tunnel where the lines of the United States were stretched.

INDEX

Adams, Fort, Newport, R. I., 222-231

Alamo, Texas, 279-284

Allen, Ethan, 63, 70

Amsterdam, Fort, 37

André, Major, 156

Andros, Edmund, Royal Governor of Mass., 29, 107

Annapolis Royal, 2, 84-92

Arnold, Benedict, 64, 82; his treason, 154 et seq., 169, 171, 238

Atares Castle, Havana, 206

Baltimore, Fort at, 180-189

Battery, The, New York City, 46

Belfast, Me., 90

Belle Rive, Louis St. Ange de, Commanding Chartres, 12; stationed at Vincennes, 14; surrenders Chartres to English, 14

Boston, Fort at, 25-35

Boston Tea Party, 31

Bourbon, Fort, on the Mississippi, 263

Bowie, James, inventor of Bowie knife, 281

Braddock, 18; his march and death, 19, 53, 127

Bradford, Wm., 106

Brownsville, Pa., 21

Burgoyne, General, 64

Burnet, Governor of New York, 122, 123, 124

Cadillac, La Motte, 132

Caen, Emery de, 75

Canseau, Nova Scotia, expedition against, 2; fleet arrives at, 7

Castine, Baron Vincent de, 103, 104

Castle Garden, New York City, 46

Castle St. Louis, Quebec, 72, 77, 82

Castle William, Boston, 25, 35

Castle Williams, New York Harbor, 46

Champlain, Memorial Light House, 67

Champlain, Samuel, 49, 50, 51, 52, 60, 72, 73; dies at Quebec, 76

Charles, Fort, Me., 107

Charleston, South Carolina, Fort at, 241-250

Chartres, Fort, site selected, 11; disastrous expedition leaves, 12; second fort built, 12; surrenders to English, 14

Chebucto Bay, 93, 94, 97

Chicago, Illinois, 21; historical Society, 23

Cincinnati, Ohio, 24

Citadel of Halifax, 93-97

Citadel of Quebec, 72-83

Clark, Fort, Illinois, 24

Clark, George Rogers, 23, 24, 144, 145

Clinton, Fort, New York City, 46

Clinton, Fort, New York, 148, 149

Columbus, Fort, New York, 36-48

Constitution, Fort, New Hampshire, 161-166

Constitution, Fort, New York, 150

Cornbury, Governor of New Amsterdam, 41

Covington, Fort, 187

“Crater,” The, near Petersburg, Virginia, 303

Crevecœur, Fort, 15

Crockett, Davy, falls at Alamo, 283

Crown Point, 53, 66-71

Damariscotta, 3

Davenport, Captain Richard, 28

Davis, Jeff, cell at Fort Monroe, 235

Dearborn, Fort, 21, 22, 23

Dearborn, General, Secretary of War, 35

Defiance, Mount, 64

De Soto, 142, 201

Diamond, Fort, 45

Dieskau, 54, 55, 56, 69

Donop, Count, 177

Dorchester, Mass., 32

Douglas, Fort, Utah, 289 et seq.

Drake, Sir Francis, menaces Havana, 203

Duchambon, successor to Duquesnel, 8

Dufferin Terrace, Quebec, 72, 83

Dummer, William, Governor of Mass., 29

Dumplings, Fort, near Newport, R. I., 231

Duquesne, Fort, erected, 18; falls to England, 19

Duquesne, Governor-General of Canada, 18

Duquesnel, Commandant of Louisburg, 2

Edward, Fort, New York, 57

Erie, Pa., 20

Falls of Minnehaha, 268

Federal Hill Fort, Baltimore, 188, 189

Fetterman, Wyoming, 288 et seq.

Franklin, Pa., 21

Frederick, Fort, Maine, 105-112

Frenchman’s Bay, Me., 88

Frontenac, in command at Quebec, 77, 78, 79, 110

Frontenac, Fort (Kingston, Canada), 114, 127

Gage, Fort, 23, 24

George, Fort, at mouth of Columbia River, Ore., 292

George, Fort, Me., 98-104

George, Fort, New York City, 37

Gettysburg, 302

Governor’s Island, New York Harbor, 36, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44-48

Griswold, Fort, Conn., 167-172

Hamilton, Fort, New York, 45

Havana, Cuba, Forts at, 201-206

Heald, Captain Nathan, 22, 23

Heights of Quebec, 72-83

Hennepin, Friar Louis, and his map, 114

Holmes, Major, 140

Holmes, Fort, Michigan, 131-140

Howe, Sir William, 59

Independence, Fort, Boston, 25-35, 148

Irving, Washington, 36

Jackson, Fort, Louisiana, 263-267

Jay, Fort, New York, 36-48

Johnson, William, of New York, 53, 54, 55, 56, 69, 104, 117, 119

Johnston, General Albert Sidney, 284

Kaskaskia, Illinois, 143

Keogh, Fort, Montana, 289

Key, Francis Scott, 180, 187

Kirke, Admiral Sir David, attacks Quebec, 74

Kosciuszko, 151

Lafayette, Fort, 45

La Fuerza, Cuba, 201-206

Laramie, Fort, Wyoming, 273-278

Larrabee, Captain Lieutenant John, 30

La Salle, Robert Cavelier, 114, 131

Laurel Moat, Havana, 206

Leavenworth, Fort, Kansas, 287 et seq.

Le Bœuf, Fort, 20, 21

Lee, Robert E., 181; resigns from U. S. Army, 284

Lescarbot, Marc, 86

Louisburg, Nova Scotia, importance of, 1; incentives to attack, 2; preparations against, 4; a novel plan, 5; expedition sails, 6; strongest outlying work, 8; siege progresses, 10; restored to France, 10

Louis de la Mobile, Fort, Alabama, 257

McHenry, Fort, Maryland, 180-189

McHenry, James, Secretary of War, 184

McKenzie, Sir William’s experiment in Nova Scotia, 88, 89

M’Lean, Colonel Francis, 100

Mackinac Island, State park commission, 140

Marion, Fort, Florida, 190-200

Marion, General Francis, 199

Marquette, Father, 131-132

Massac, Fort, Illinois, 21, 141-146

Matanzas Inlet, Florida, 192

Menendez, Juan, de Aviles, 193

Mercer, Fort, New Jersey, 175

Mermet, Father, 142, 143

Metropolis, Illinois, 141

Michillimackinac, Michigan, 131-140

Mifflin, Fort, Pa., 173-179

Monitor and Merrimac, seen from Fort Monroe, 240

Monroe, Fort, Virginia, 232-240

Montcalm, Marquis de, 57, 59, 60, 62, 69, 127, 128

Montgomery, Fort, Alabama, 212

Montgomery, Fort, New York, 148, 149

Montgomery, Richard, 82, 83

Montmagny, Governor of Canada, 76

Monts, Sieur de, discovers Annapolis basin, 82

Morgan, Fort, Alabama, 257, 262

Morro Castle, Cuba, 201-206

Moultrie, Fort, South Carolina, 200, 241-250

New London, Conn., 167 et seq.

Newport, R. I., Forts at, 222-231

Newport Artillery Co., 222

Niagara, Fort, New York, 113-121

Nonsense, Fort, 170

Ontario, Fort, New York, 122-130

Ordre de la Bon Temps, 86

Osceola, Monument at Fort Moultrie, 244

Oswego, New York, 122, 130

Pell, S. H. P., of New York, restores Ticonderoga, 65

Pell, William F., of New York, acquires Ticonderoga, 65

Pemaquid, Maine, 105, 106, 111

Pensacola, Florida, Fort at, 207-214

Pentagoet, or Castine, 103, 105, 107

Peoria, Illinois, 24

Pepperell, William, of Kittery, Maine, chosen to head expedition, 5; home still standing, 5, 30, 125

Phil Kearney, Fort, 285 et seq.

Philadelphia, Fort at, 173-179

Phips, Sir William, 29, 78, 79, 90, 108, 109

Pickens, Fort, Florida, 213

Pike, Lieutenant C. M., secures Fort Snelling reservation, 269

Pipon, Captain John, 29

Pitt, Fort, Block-house at Pittsburgh, 17

Plains of Abraham, 81

Port Henry, New York, 68

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Fort at, 161-166

Potrincourt, Baron, founds Annapolis Royal, 84, 85, 87

Presidio of San Francisco, Cal., 215-221

Presque Isle, a memorial of, 20

Principe Castle, Havana, 206

Pulaski, Fort, Georgia, 251-256

Putnam, Fort, 152

Putnam, General Israel, 148, 151

Quebec, 49, 51, 62; Historic Forts at, 72-83

Redstone Old Fort, 21

Renault, Phillippe Francois de, introduces negro slavery to Illinois, 11

Revere, Lieutenant Colonel Paul, 33, 100, 163

Ribaut, Jean, 192

Richelieu Cardinal, 73

Robinson, Col. Beverly, 156

Roxbury, Mass., 32

St. Augustine, Florida, Fort at, 190-200

St. Clair, General Arthur, 64

St. Denis, Juchereau de, 141, 142, 143

St. Frederic, Fort, New York, 67, 68, 69, 70

St. Louis, Fort, 14

St. Paul, Minn., foundation, 272

St. Philip, Fort, Louisiana, 263-267

Sam Houston, Fort, Texas, 279-284

Samoset sells land at Pemaquid, 106

San Antonio, Texas, Forts at, 284-289

San Carlos, Fort, Florida, 207-214

Sandusky, Ohio, 21

San Francisco, Cal., Presidio at, 215-221

San Marco, Fort, 197, 198

Scott, Fort Winfield, San Francisco, 220

Screven, Fort, Georgia, 254

Shippen, Margaret, 157-158

Shirley, William Governor of Mass., organizes expedition against Louisburg, 3; his list of instructions, 6, 53, 116, 125

Smith, Capt. John, sees Hampton Roads, 236

Snelling, Fort, Minn., 268-272

Stanwix, Fort, 129

Star Spangled Banner, 188

Starved Rock, Ill., 14

Stony Point, New York, 158-160

Sumter, Fort, South Carolina, 241-250

Ticonderoga, New York, 49-65, 147

Tracy, Uriah, 137

Travis, Col. William B., of the Alamo, 280

Trumbull, Fort, Conn., 167-172

Turnbull, Col. John, 33