Part 2
About the first of January, 1776, the immortal Washington unfurled his Flag in compliment to the United Colonies, but it was so nearly like the British Flag, that the Bunker Hill patriots objected to it, because it was a blue Flag with the St. George and St. Andrew’s crosses combined; too much like the Flag of the Britons. Nearly every regiment had its own colony Flag. All sorts of devices, corresponding with the variegated coats of the Continental troops, or militia, scarcely two alike. They were styled “Colony Rebel Flags;” still, the “Colony Rebel Flags” were all used as rallying Flags, until they were eclipsed by the starry Flag, called “The Appeal to Heaven,”—“The Star Spangled Banner.”
WASHINGTON’S ORDER,
FOR “THE FLAG OF THE UNION.”
TO General Putnam, desiring him in the most pressing terms, to give _positive orders_ to all the Colonels to have “Union Colors” immediately completed for their respective regiments; and Colonel Kitzema received the two first regimental silk “stars and stripes” from the secret committee of Congress, through General Putnam, and Colonel Curtenieus; whilst the brilliant Banner of the Union floated from the top of Washington’s headquarters in New York City.
The real truth was, that previous to the “Declaration of Independence,” the leaders of our armies, the Governors of the thirteen colonies, and the Continental Congress were afraid to publicly unfurl an INDEPENDENT UNION FLAG; even Washington’s combined crosses were discountenanced, disapproved of, and treated with indifference; but, the boldness of Colonel George Ross and John Ross, with the dashing, daring seamanship of PAUL JONES, the firm patriotism, industry, and energy of that devoted friend of Independence, the IMMORTAL BETSY ROSS, who forced the “Flag of Liberty” forward, as true patriots of America, bid defiance to all Tory opposition, and flaunted the Stars and Stripes from the highest pinnacles of our land, the “UNION STANDARD,” that was never styled a “REBEL FLAG,” or Flag of any single Colony or State, but was styled “THE APPEAL TO HEAVEN,” made the cherished Flag of Independence, the triumphant Flag of Earth!
THE RATTLESNAKE FLAG,
OF 1775, THAT CHARMED AND INCITED THE TROOPS OF VIRGINIA TO ACTION.
THE Flag of Virginia was a rattlesnake with blue tongue forked like lightning, and with thirteen rattles, looking like a fierce Anaconda coiled, but with head and tail up, painted on white silk, having the motto, “Don’t tread on me!” It was considered as an emblem of wisdom, and of endless duration as a representative of America, an animal found in no other part of the world. The eye of this creature excels in brightness that of any other animal; it has no eyelids and is therefore an emblem of vigilance. It never begins an attack nor ever surrenders, it is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. It never wounds until it has given notice to its enemies of their danger. Its wounds, however small, are decisive and fatal. The power of fascination attributed to it resembles America. Those who look steadily in its eyes are delighted, and involuntarily advance toward, and having once approached it, never leave it.
THE FLAG AT YORKTOWN.
AT the battle of Yorktown, October 19, 1781, the French troops triumphantly carried our American Stars and Stripes, with the spread eagle on the blue field, for the eagle was their adoration, and they stormed the redoubts, led on by the chivalric and heroic Generals Muhlenberg and Lafayette, who immediately hoisted that Flag upon the turret of the fortifications. The instant that Lord Cornwallis spied it, he was terror stricken. The waving of that Flag compelled him to surrender; for that Flag was the proclamation of Victory! and IT ended the war in a blaze of glory.
THE FLAG WITH ITS MESSAGE.
WHEREVER the Flag of Betsy Ross went, it waved majestically and above suspicion; no temptation or opposition could deter it, for her godly prayer went with it, and upon every Flag she forwarded, she pinned her printed message, viz: “EVERY MAN THAT IS AGAINST THIS FLAG IS A TRAITOR.” Aye! where the battle was the hottest, and amidst the hail of fire where the bullets fell the fastest and thickest, that Flag cheered the wounded and dying patriots to shout “FIGHT ON! FIGHT ON! FIGHT ON!” And when the brave Commander Lawrence saw that the Flag on his Frigate still waved, though wounded and dying, he cried out, in these immortal words, “Don’t give up the ship!”
On the 28th of June, 1776, the British Fleet and Army of Sir Henry Clinton commenced their furious “Attack on Fort Moultrie,” but, one circumstance serves to illustrate the daring, enthusiastic courage and love for the Flag of Independence which pervaded the American Troops. In the course of the engagement, the Flag staff of the Fort was shot away, followed by peals of derision from the minions of the Fleet, but Sergeant JASPER leaped down upon the beach, snatched up the Flag, fastened it to a sponge-staff, and while the ships were incessantly directing their broadsides upon the Fort, he mounted the merlon and deliberately replaced the Flag, shouting “IT STILL FLIES!” That warrior’s shout was echoed by the Garrison, and suddenly checked Sir Henry’s derision. The British Fleet and Army were greatly mortified by the _flying Stars and Stripes_, and were terribly repulsed by the brave defence of Fort Moultrie, whilst the whole Garrison were fiercely echoing and re-echoing the shout—“IT STILL FLIES!!” The news of this undaunted intrepidity and exulting victory spread throughout the continent, and Sergeant JASPER was honorably promoted by Congress for his unparalleled heroism. Yes, thank God, our Flag “IT STILL FLIES,” and never can be conquered.
THE CENTENNIAL FLAG.
AT the Centennial Celebration and World’s Exhibition at the city of Philadelphia, 1876, “THE FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS” waved from the highest pinnacles, but the flashing, glittering “STAR SPANGLED BANNER” far outshone them all; like a mighty _flame of Liberty_ flying through the skies, it blazed and waved, streamed and flew as the victorious Starry Banner of the Firmament, proclaiming by its expanding, snapping, cracking, sharper, louder sounds, the establishment of Freedom, Liberty, Independence, and the Union of the World! whilst in every house its graceful folds protected each and all in their own religious, family worship; the household Idol of Peace that ever and anon, silently wafted every daily prayer and song of praise, to the God of our Fathers, the true and holy Creator of the Universe.
PATRIOTIC SONGS.
THE following are copies of some of the printed SONGS and APPEALS that BETSY ROSS circulated and distributed with her own hands in the streets of Philadelphia, and from the front door of her Flag store and depot, to the troops on their way to Washington’s camp:
THE GALLANT VOLUNTEER OF 1776.
“Come on, my hearts of temper’d steel, And leave your girls and farms, Your sports, and plays, and holidays, And hark, away to arms! And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the flag of the brave, To conquest we will go.
A soldier is a gentleman, His honor is his life, And he that won’t stand by his flag, Will ne’er stand by his wife. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
For love and honor are the same, Or else so ne’er ally’d, That neither can exist alone, But flourish side by side. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
So fare you well sweethearts awhile, You smiling girls adieu, Ye made this starry flag divine, We’ll kiss it out with you. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
The sun is up, our banner shines, The hills are green and gay, And all inviting honor calls, Away! my boys, away! And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
In shady tents by cooling streams, With hearts all firm and free, _We’ll shout the freedom of the land, In songs of liberty_! And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
No foreign slaves shall give us law, No British tyrants reign, ’Tis INDEPENDENCE made us free, And FREEDOM we’ll maintain. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
We’ll charge the foe from post to post, Attack their works and lines, And with the stars and stripes aloft, We’ll capture their Burgoynes. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.
And when the war is over, boys, Then down we’ll sit at ease, Protected by the freemen’s flag, And live just as we please. When from conquest we shall go! shall go! shall go! With the red, white, and blue, From conquest we shall go.
Each hearty lad shall take his lass, All beaming like a star, And in her softer arms forget, The dangers of the war. When to conquest we did go! did go! did go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we did go.
THE RISING WORLD SHALL SING OF US, A THOUSAND YEARS TO COME, AND TO THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN TELL THE WONDERS WE HAVE DONE. When to conquest we did go! did go! did go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we did go.
So honest fellows here’s my hand, My heart, my very soul, With all the joys of Liberty, Good fortune and a bowl. And to conquest we will go! will go! will go! With the red, white, and blue, To conquest we will go.”
STIRRING APPEALS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY.
“My lads, you say you are going to fight for LIBERTY! these are words in everybody’s mouth, but few understand their real meaning. LIBERTY is not a power to do what we please and have what we desire; this may be the Liberty of a wolf or of a beast of prey, but is not the Liberty of a man considered as a member of society. TRUE LIBERTY is the being governed by laws of our own making; the inhabitants of every country to choose persons from amongst themselves, in whom they can confide; which persons so elected shall make laws to bind the whole. True CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY is the LIBERTY for which we are now contending, and may God in his blessings grant this to us all.
“Now, the King of England, has sent over fleets and armies to compel us to give up this invaluable privilege into his hands; but with the blessings of God, we will maintain it against him and all the world, so long as we have a man left to fire a musket. Let our constant prayer be GOD and LIBERTY.
“Our Congress have hitherto conducted us with wisdom and integrity, and although in some instances it may be thought they might have managed better than they have done, yet they have piloted us in safety through a tempestuous ocean, to the present period; and so God save the AMERICAN CONGRESS!”
WASHINGTON, THE IDOL OF AMERICA.
“My lads, I would speak a few words of the GENERAL and his ARMY, now encamped on the banks of the Schuylkill, enduring all the hardships of their homely situation with cheerful patience; and what is it think you blunts the keen edge of the northern winds, and makes content smile on the tops of frozen hills? I will tell you, it is the love of that “LIBERTY” I have sat before you, it is the consciousness of the justice of our cause. I suppose when you think of our incomparable GENERAL WASHINGTON, you figure to yourselves a stout, bulky man, of a terrible countenance, covered with gold lace, living in a magnificent house and having a great train of attendants around him. You are quite mistaken; he neither has nor needs any external ornaments. Would you hang farthing candles around the Sun to increase his lustre? His glory will admit of no addition. Your GENERAL is a plain man, plain in his dress and frugal at his board; yet a native dignity will command your respect, and the affability of his manners win your love. He is brave without ostentation; magnificent without pomp; and accomplished without pride. He is an honor to the human race and the Idol of America. And so God save GENERAL WASHINGTON and his ARMY.”
THE IMMORTAL FRANCIS S. KEY.
ON the night of September 15, 1814, whilst the British fleet, under the command of the English Admiral Cochrane, were bombarding Fort M’Henry, at the city of Baltimore, FRANCIS S. KEY, was divinely inspired with the sublime sight of the glorious Banner of the Union still waving over the Fort, and a thousand times reflected, multiplying and increasing in splendor, in every stream of fire throughout the skies, every glare meeting every leaping wave of the billowy Chesapeake Bay, the heavens and waters together joined, each wave glaring with new admired light; but, when the Fort resisted all the efforts of the British ships-of-war, and forced the Admiral to retire, amidst the joyous exultation, the great shouts of the countless hosts of freemen, “_Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously!_” “_The Flag of the Union still triumphs!_” Who? Oh! Who can imagine the feelings of Francis S. Key, as o’er his head the flying bombs sang terribly, spent their force in air, and roused all the internal powers of his poetic spirit, his inspired soul to sing still louder?
“Oh! say can you see by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming; Whose broad stripes and bright stars thro’ the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets red glare, and bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro’ the night that our Flag was still there. Oh! say does that star spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
CHORUS—Oh! say, does the star spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro’ the midst of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes; What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now, it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream; ’Tis the star spangled banner, oh! long may it wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
CHORUS—Oh! say, does the star spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, ’Mid the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country they’d leave us no more? Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; And the star spangled banner in triumph doth wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
CHORUS—Oh! say, does the star spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Oh! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand, Between their loved home and the war’s desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven rescued land, Praise the Power that made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, “IN GOD IS OUR TRUST;” And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
CHORUS—And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
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Transcriber’s Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.