22 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
A centennial means a hundred years and does seem a long stretch of time, and rather strangely, I have heard accounts given by Major Croghan, at only second hand, for it happened that in 1845-6 when my father, the late General Thomas J. Wood, U. S. A., who graduated from West Point in 1845, was serving on the staff of General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, Major Croghan, at that time Colonel and Inspector General, was also on the staff of General Taylor and quite a friendship sprang up between the grizzled veteran of 1812 and the young boy fresh from West Point and my father often told me of hearing Colonel Cro- ghan tell of his services during the War of 1812, especially of the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson. So you can see that probably I have re- ceived the "freshest" news on this subject of any one in the State of Ohio. Very sincerely, GEORGE H. WOOD, The Adjutant General. Colonel Webb C. Hayes, Fremont, Ohio.
In introducing the Hon. S. D. Fess, orator of the day, Mr. Overmyer spoke of the good fortune of the committee in having been able to secure so able and well known an orator, writer and historian as Dr. Fess to deliver the principal address of the |
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about to raze the old South Church in Boston to make way for a hand- some modern office building, the citizenship of that New England city was aroused and readily responded to the call to complete plans whereby such a consummation would be made an impossibility. |
The Centennial of Croghan's
Victory. 23
A few days ago I stood on the famous
estate of Gen. Washington,
at Mount Vernon, and allowed my mind to
rest upon the tardiness of
State and Nation and people to preserve
this, the most famous spot in
America, which was not finally
accomplished until an invalid southern
girl gave herself to the task. It is now
perpetually assured. But not so
with Monticello, Montpelier, The
Hermitage, and so forth.
In the midst of such vicious neglect,
what a tonic one receives to
come face to face with the magnificent
work of such organizations as
the Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Society, the Colonial Dames, the
Daughters of the American Revolution,
the Daughters of 1812, and kindred
associations!
I have known something of these
activities in the past, and espe-
cially in this most fertile section of
Ohio, historically speaking; hence my
delight in being enabled to come. I
desire to congratulate this community
first upon its position in history and,
second, in having such leaders as
Col. Hayes and others to direct you.
Most places are satisfied with but a
single historical event, but in
your case you have a succession of
events that will pass as first in rank.
Here we have the wondrous activities
between the French and English
as well as the Indian in the final
determination of national control. The
tablets dating back to 1745, then 1754
to 1763, refer us to one of the
most historically significant struggles
on the continent. History refers
to this struggle as the French and
Indian War. In Europe it is known
as the Seven Years' War, although it
lasted nine years-1754 to 1763.
From 1688 to 1815 twelve wars were waged
between England and
France for supremacy upon the sea.
During these one hundred and
twenty-seven years fifty-four of them
were spent in actual fighting. One
of these dozen wars was our French and
Indian, in which Fremont and
vicinity played so prominent a place.
All along the shores of lakes,
and especially at the mouths of the
various rivers, the French took the
precaution to plant leaden plates with
inscriptions, to make sure their
title in the case of a contest. When the
dispute was transferred from
forum to field, which caused this place
to be overrun by French and
Indians and finally secured to the
English by the closing of the war
scenes on the Plains of Abraham, the
first distinctive step to the build-
ing of the modern state of democracy was
taken.
While history dismisses the event by stating
that the English took
possession of the North American
Continent, it does not express the full
meaning of the results. The final
struggle which closed at Quebec was
more than a contest between two nations
for the control of a continent.
It was a contest between two most
distinctive systems of government.
On the one hand the contention was the
establishment of an ecclesiasti-
cism, on the other the building of an
Anglo-Saxon democracy. On the
one hand it demanded a union of church
and state, on the other the
American tripod of free state, free
church, and free school. Had France
24 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
won in 1763, this new world would have
become the chief home of a
French ecclesiastical dynasty. Instead
it was reserved as the virgin soil
in which were planted the seeds of
liberty in government, based upon
freedom in church, school, and state,
and which within the short period
of one hundred and fifty years has
become the riddle of the world. Little
did our ancestry think of what the
future held. They could not believe
that by 1913 this planting would produce
a nation of one hundred mil-
lions of people, a population two and
one-half times that of the mother
country, ten times that of her largest
colony-United Colonies of Aus-
tralia-sixteen times that of Canada, and
more than all the other Eng-
lish-speaking peoples of the world
combined. No wonder that Salisbury
in an outburst of oratory said upon one
occasion, "Had it not been for
the unwise policy of an English King the
capital of the British Empire
in all probability would today be on the
North American Continent."
No wonder that in 1878 W. E. Gladstone,
eulogizing the achievements
of the two nations, shouted, "Oh,
brave mother; Oh, braver daughter,
you have done more in one year than we
in eight. You have passed us
in a canter." When a citizen in
1913 contemplates the meaning of that
contest one hundred and fifty years ago
and then remembers this was a
part of the battle ground, and there
"Old Betsy," a real participant in
the struggle, it has a new significance.
But the significance of this place will
not be confined to fighting
the French in the Seven Years' War or
the Indians led by Pontiac in
1763. The records indicate that here at
this very place were held during
the Revolutionary War perhaps as many as
2,000 prisoners, and "Old
Betsy" had a part in that greater
struggle. The war that closed in 1763
by the treaty of Paris decided America
as the chief theater of an
Anglo-Saxon democracy. However, under
the mother country it had
certain effete customs which were
unwelcome to the American pioneer
who braved the sea and faced death that
he might be free from many
of these customs. Some of these people
left England for the Continent,
others remained to fight the battles on
native soil with Pym, Hampden,
and Cromwell, while others embarked on
the unknown sea in search of
the New World. Arbitrary government,
taxation without representation,
and so forth, are usually detailed as
the cause of the War of the Revolu-
tion. That is true, but is not the whole
truth. England recognized in
a way the feudal system with its
corollary customs of primogeniture and
entailed estates. She had secured the
latter two customs in Virginia and
Pennsylvania. England also believed then
as she does now in hereditary
government; that some men are born to
rule, others to serve. We
denied it and took our stand upon the
principle that the right to govern
must come from the consent of the
governed. The George III idea was
the head of the nation both ruled and
reigned, while we held the head
of the Nation the servant of all the
people. This was a fundamental
principle first established by us as the
most significant step in self-govern-
The Centennial of Croghan's
Victory. 25
ment ever taken. England believed in the
life tenure in office, while our
slogan was short terms and quick and
decisive responsibility. While it
is true the ostensible cause of the
Revolutionary War was no taxation
without representation, or better, no
legislation without representation,
the real result of that war was to give
full play to the new democracy
planted years before, free from the
effete customs of continental Europe
or the mother country. In that
world-wide significant struggle this part
of the country was an interesting field.
No citizen of our day can know the utter
contempt in which Eng-
land held the colonies the first two
decades of our national life, and
the consequent humility of our
representatives at her court. A perusal
of the writing of Franklin, and
especially John Adams, as well as Jeffer-
son, will shed some light on this
treatment. The conduct of Citizen
Genet reflects the regard France had for
us as a national entity in the
countries of the world. The contempt
with which England refused to
remove her forts, and which was not
fully done until after the Jay
treaty of 1796, as well as the X Y Z
mission of France, in 1798, and
the miserable conduct of Minister Merry,
all show with what small
respect our Nation was regarded in
Europe. The episode of the Carolina
was not to be unexpected, as well as the
famous orders in Council of
England and the Berlin and Milan decrees
of France, which forced us
to declare the embargo of 1807. Europe
was using the new Republic
as a handy man to have around to be
treated as a football, if desirable.
The administration wisely attempted to
avoid war until the jingoes
declared Madison could not be kicked
into a war. England became so
arrogant, having impressed at least
5,000 American seamen into the Brit-
ish service upon the monstrous doctrine
"Once an Englishman always
an Englishman," augmented by the
ruling that one speaking the English
language is an Englishman until he could
prove he was not, and that by
documentary evidence, that to further
submit seemed dishonor, and war
was declared in June, 1812. It is not my
purpose to detail this struggle.
Our school children are familiar with
the brilliant performances upon
the sea, and no less familiar with our
disasters and, in one instance, dis-
honor upon the land. As has been said
here, on this very spot took place
the one distinct land operation that
redeemed the American name. Cro-
ghan and Fort Stephenson-the name and
fame are household furniture
of these people here. It would be but a
repetition of the most familiar
item of our history for me to detail the
operations here one hundred
years ago today. A mere mention of the
spectacular defense of this his-
toric spot by that gallant boy, just
past his majority, and his brave bend
of 160, who repulsed the English
regulars, under the ignoble Proctor.
is sufficient on this occasion, which is
designed to call up the larger
results on the world's struggles, in
which this place was one of the chief
battle grounds, and which in turn became
the chief gateway of the current
of progress which virtually has enveloped
the world; for this battle in
26 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
this second war of independence made
possible the victory on Lake Erie,
which we are celebrating this year.
This Perry's victory in turn made
possible the victories on the
Thames and the second naval triumph on
Champlain. Notwithstanding
the British attack on Washington and the
burning of the Capitol, the
young Republic gathered new strength
from the triumph at Lundy's Lane
and the numerous engagements on the sea,
which forced peace the
latter part of December, 1814, although
the one most spectacular of all
engagements, that of New Orleans, was
fought several days after the
treaty, on January 8, 1815.
From the time of this war, although our
distinguished commis-
sioners did not secure a reversal of the
contention on the main points
of issue, the new Republic was
henceforth looked upon in Europe as a
growing giant, demanding an immediate
recognition. Our Navy had won
its plaudits and was the topic of
enthusiastic comment both in Europe
and America. Our diplomacy, as
represented by J. Q. Adams, Henry
Clay, and others less distinguished, had
won great respect. Our domestic
enterprises along manufacturing and
commercial lines were gaining by
leaps and bounds. Henceforth our
representatives were received in all
European courts with marked deference
and respect. The ending of this
war was the beginning of the Nation's
development. From that day to
1860 we had one unbroken triumph in
material progress, save a short,
unhappy difference with Mexico.
At this time and here it would probably
be out of order for me
to rehearse the events which drove us
into the most gigantic war known
to man. Suffice it to say, as the French
and Indian War was a struggle
between two systems of government, and
the Revolutionary War was a
struggle for a larger political liberty,
and the War of 1812 was a struggle
for the recognition of national rights,
the Civil War, the greatest of all,
was a struggle between two
civilizations, differentiated by natural differ-
ences over which law and legislation had
little effect. And as the region
of Sandusky played a part in all the
early wars, so Fremont played a
distinct part in this greatest of wars.
The nation recognized that part
by placing at its head one of its
citizens, who had won his rank in that
war for human rights.
This greatest of all wars which placed
2,000,000 soldiers in the field
to battle as Greek against Greek at the
staggering outlay of over one
thousand million dollars, at the cost of
lives to the number of 600,000
ended at last with two decisive results,
viz., the freedom of a race and,
what was a thousand times of greater
importance, the preservation of the
Union. The first result was inevitable.
The civilization of the nineteenth
century had pronounced against slavery
and its day was at hand. Had
it not come as the result of war it
would have come as the result of an
awakened national conscience. But the
perpetuity of the Union was not
at all an assured fact. Only an American
could believe it possible. Eu-
The Centennial of Croghan's
Victory. 27
rope expressed her conviction in its
impossible continuance through Mac-
aulay, De Toqueville, Gladstone, and
others. Even the great English
Commoner proclaimed that Jefferson Davis
had given to the world a
second republic that would rival the
first.
It is not for the present historian to
estimate the importance of
this result of the Civil War. It must be
left to the future discriminating
interpreter of great events who to
properly estimate the importance to
history must view the event in its
influence, not upon our country alone
but upon the Governments of the world.
When the war ended, assuring
the stability of American
self-government, Democracy's cause took on
new life, and the places where it was
planted received new fertilizing
impulses, and what were up to that time
vague semblances of republican
government became dynamic forces regnant
with order. Here and there
throughout the world mutterings of
unrest under arbitrary rule became
distinctive demands. It took possession of Italy. It startled every
Government in Europe, the last to show
it most was Portugal. It
changed in a night's time monarchial
Brazil into a Republic. It has
covered the seas with its fragrant bloom
in the United Colonies of Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and has
touched on the Empire of South
Africa. It awakened Russia, and has even
revolutionized the yellow race
in its influence upon Japan, and last,
but not least, China, which on Feb-
ruary 12, 1912, passed from the control
of the Manchu dynasty, under
which the Celestial Empire had continued
for over four thousand years,
to that of the national assembly, and
thus wrote the page of American
influence in the Far East.
In 1813 the entire country was composed
of but 18 States. The
population of the entire United States
was little more than that of the
single city of Greater New York today,
while the wealth of the Nation,
as estimates were then made, was less
than that of New York City
today. In that day we had no standing in
the councils of the nations;
today no serious world problem is
proposed which does not enlist our
opinions. Our influence is not confined
to the interests of our own
people, but, as signified by the
expansive meaning of the Monroe
doctrine, we have assumed and maintained
the guardianship of the liber-
ties and welfare of the western world.
We have even gone beyond this
realm. When the call of Cuba was finally
heard, for the mere sake of
humanity, we responded when we were
morally certain the response meant
war, and with firm hand we bade Spain
either to modify her inhuman
policy or leave the work of governing
the people of Cuba to other hands.
We accepted the choice of Spain, the
arbitrament of the sword, and as a
consequence have assumed not only the
task of preserving order in Cuba,
but the far greater duty of modernizing
the peoples of the Philippines
by introducing the common-school
methods, and by the orderly processes
of evolution have witnessed within a
decade the sure evidences of a
transformed people, a changed
civilization through education, to be brought
28 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
about within a few generations. This
duty has been performed at a
frightful sacrifice to us.
All good citizens are hoping that the
unhappy country of Mexico
will be able to stop the atrocities of
rival leadership without interference
from without. For we can not brook
interference on the part of Europe,
at whatever cost. The Nation will hardly
surrender the Monroe doctrine.
If it maintains this principle, it is
then morally and legally obligated
to protect life and property of citizens
of other countries. On this occa-
sion I would not have this people
believe I extol war simply because
the historic incident we celebrate has
its interest in war, nor because in
our observations upon the growth of
democratic government we have re-
ferred to the specific results of
specific wars.
While the fruits of war in these
respects are marked, the fruits
of peace are even more so. Soon after
the treaty of peace that closed
the war in which Col. Croghan won his
fame, another treaty was signed
between our Nation and Great Britain,
which neutralized the waters of
the Great Lakes by limiting the size of
the defensive vessels to be main-
tained upon these waters, beyond which
neither nation could go. This
single line of agreement has made the
Great Lakes as well as the bound-
ary line between us and Britain and her
possessions here in the New
World a line of friendship which has
been maintained unbroken for 96
years. Had it not been for this
provision these waters would today be
frowned upon by mighty battleships,
which would have inevitably clashed
in 1860-1865 when English built ships
were supplied to the Confederacy.
What has been done on the Lakes has been
the dream of some
statesmen of this and other countries
may be done for the waters of the
sea, when all the powers may join in the
establishment of the court of
arbitral justice, which is an American
suggestion. While this is but a
dream, and may never assume any nearer
reality than a dream, the im-
mediate past is a partial justification
of the dream. The Hague confer-
ence was a real achievement for peace,
if in no other way than to allow
representatives of the twenty-six
nations, including all the first-class
powers, to sit under the same roof and
dispassionately discuss plans of
maintaining peace among the nations
represented. But it achieved some-
thing more substantial in the
establishment of The Hague tribunal, which,
by the way, was an American suggestion.
The first case to be submitted
to the court was the dispute between
Germany and Venezuela at the
initiation of our own country. The
second Hague conference gave more
promise, in that, instead of twenty-six
nations, forty-four were repre-
sented. It also adopted three additional
resolutions, viz., strengthened
The Hague tribunal by requiring any
disputant opening warfare against
another nation, until the willing party
had a chance to be heard before
the tribunal; second, it adopted the
Drago doctrine, which denies to one
nation to employ war methods to collect
a debt, until after the case is
The Centennial of Croghan's
Victory. 29
heard by the tribunal; third, it
recommended the establishment of the
court of arbitral justice.
To an American the activities leading to
these conferences and the
work in the conferences are most
pleasing. This Nation distinctively
stands for peace. Our bringing together
at Portsmouth the peace com-
missioners of Russia and Japan is but an
incident in the efforts of our
Nation to reduce war. The work of the
famous international peace
conferences was begun by Elihu Burritt
as far back as the forties. This
Nation was the first to give this work
governmental recognition when
President McKinley requested Secretary
John Hay to represent the Nation
officially in the conference held at
Boston. We are equally active in the
work of the Interparliamentary Union.
The almost five hundred various peace
associations organized in the
United States among the churches, the
colleges, the schools, the civic
organizations, the commercial bodies
indicate the awakening among us.
This should be our position. If ever
peace is to be established in the
world permanently, we must take the
initiative. Our geographical situa-
tion, our vast wealth of resource, our
rank among the nations of the
world all point to this fact. This does
not mean we must abandon a
naval program. Probably the surest
guaranty of peace is the concentra-
tion of the war power in the hands of
the peaceful nations, to command
the peace of the world. We must always
maintain a sufficient armament
to police the seas, but it does not mean
we must enter the insane com-
petition of Europe to surpass all
nations in the building of dreadnoughts.
Our greatness will never be measured by
the size of the Army, nor the
number of battle ships. It will not even
be measured by the acreage of
our farms, the output of our mines or
our factories, nor the miles of
railroads. While all these are useful
and the fruits of peace, yet they
do not symbolize our real greatness.
Greatness nationally as individually
can not be measured by the bushel, nor
by the yardstick, nor even can
it be estimated by the dollar mark. The
real greatness of a nation
consists in the men and women of the
nation. Its measure is the amount
of character disseminated among its
people. The agencies of this great-
ness will be largely found in the homes,
the schools, the churches, the
civic organizations, the numerous other
agencies making for a finer sense
of justice of man with man in all his
activities, business, professional,
social, and all that make up his
everyday life.
Show me a nation that seeks this high
standard and dedicates its
powers of wealth and influence to this
end, and I will show you a nation
happy, prosperous, powerful, and the
guiding, if not the dominant, power
in the family of nations. God has
wonderfully blessed the people of this
country in many ways. The opportunity is
before us. Our responsi-
bility is clear. I believe we will fully
meet every reasonable obligation
placed upon us, always remembering that
our greatest problems are from
30 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
within our body politic, not from without. This argues the more that our national prosperity and happiness must be found within the dominion of a sublime manhood and a pure womanhood. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you and bid you good-by. |
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"When I received an invitation from Comrade Burgoon to come here to address you on this occasion in behalf of the G. A. R., I was exceed- ingly glad. When this invitation was supplemented by an invitation from Col. Hayes to be his guest as well, I was additionally glad to be able to accept. I knew something of the history of Fremont and vicinity and have many personal reasons why I am interested in this city. The 72nd regiment was in the same brigade to which I was assigned for two years. For Col. Buckland I have always felt the greatest respect as I consid- ered him one of the safest and grandest men of the army. He was a born leader of men. I also recall with pleasure my acquaintance with Col. LeRoy Crockett of Clyde, and I have the most kindly recollections of my friendship with Maj. Eugene Rawson. Again I want to call atten- tion to another friendship. In 1875 I was elected to the senate of Ohio at the time when Governor Hayes was just entering upon his third term. I was intimately associated with Governor Hayes, and so today with all recollections which came to me as I visited Spiegel Grove I could not but recall the memory of that gracious man, Rutherford B. Hayes. I also want to pay tribute to Mrs. Hayes, the greatest, sweetest lady who ever graced the White House. "I also want to say a word for the G. A. R. When the gateways at Spiegel Grove were decorated they complimented the G. A. R. in the significance of their inscriptions. I am glad to accept these honorable testimonials made in behalf of the G. A. R. Think of the significance |
22 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
A centennial means a hundred years and does seem a long stretch of time, and rather strangely, I have heard accounts given by Major Croghan, at only second hand, for it happened that in 1845-6 when my father, the late General Thomas J. Wood, U. S. A., who graduated from West Point in 1845, was serving on the staff of General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, Major Croghan, at that time Colonel and Inspector General, was also on the staff of General Taylor and quite a friendship sprang up between the grizzled veteran of 1812 and the young boy fresh from West Point and my father often told me of hearing Colonel Cro- ghan tell of his services during the War of 1812, especially of the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson. So you can see that probably I have re- ceived the "freshest" news on this subject of any one in the State of Ohio. Very sincerely, GEORGE H. WOOD, The Adjutant General. Colonel Webb C. Hayes, Fremont, Ohio.
In introducing the Hon. S. D. Fess, orator of the day, Mr. Overmyer spoke of the good fortune of the committee in having been able to secure so able and well known an orator, writer and historian as Dr. Fess to deliver the principal address of the |
|
|
about to raze the old South Church in Boston to make way for a hand- some modern office building, the citizenship of that New England city was aroused and readily responded to the call to complete plans whereby such a consummation would be made an impossibility. |