Training manual } war department

That we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

81. The winning of the West. — In a brief space of time, 50 years, was accomplished the stupendous task, entitled by President Roosevelt "the winning of the West," an accomplishment made possible by the sturdy character of the men and women who so fearlessly and laboriously carried on once they set their faces toward tho golden West.

Accustomed to frugality and hard labor, inured to hardships and privation, stern in self-discipline and faith, mighty in determination and self-reliance, they not only left to posterity an inheritance of fertile land, virgin forests, great water resources, and untold mineral wealth, but, greater than the sum of all material gain, they passed on to this and succeeding generations the principles and traditions of independence, liberty, and justice, an example of the worth of clean living, high purpose, and great faith that should be an inspiration to every loyal American.

In the original grant of charter to the several Colonies by Great Britain, the western limits were practically undefined. Several of the Colonies claimed territory extending westward as far as the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio to the Great Lakes.

Northwest Territory. — In the compromises made, composing the differences between the Colonies, it was agreed to define the western boundaries of such Colonies to more restricted areas, dedicating the disputed territory to the United States, to be known as the "Northwest Territory," which at the time was occupied by French and British trading posts.

This area included what are now the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. All territory lying west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Gulf of Mexico to an undetermined northern limit, was then a possession of Spain known as the "Louisiana Territory," transferred by Spain to France and then sold in 1803 to the United States.

With the exception of a few venturesome spirits who found their way across the mountains south of the Ohio River and as far west as the Mississippi, this land of ours was an unknown wilderness to the settlers of the Colonies. Alive with deer, buffalo, and small game, rich in timber, fertile of soil, watered by numberless rivers and lakes, America at the close of the War of the Revolution still awaited discovery.

Slow development. — The thrilling story of the winning of the West is a series of events accomplished not by military force but rather by the efforts of a host of hardy pioneers who, with indomitable fortitude and incredible labor, won in succession the swamps, rolling prairies, forests, plains, rugged mountains, and the fruitful Pacific slope.

No single individual dominated this vast domain. It was the rank and file who conquered in this battle of the wilderness. Its conquest was not quickly accomplished. As in all great movements, leadership was developed, with here and there a man who became identified with some particular period or section.

Daniel Boone. — A native of North Carolina, born and developed tinder conditions' that gave him physical strength and endurance beyond the average, courage, daring, and self-reliance, he was peculiarly fitted for what he declared to be the mission of his life — "ordained of God to settle the wilderness." He was the highest type of wilderness explorer. Living to the age of 86, he will continue to
live throughout the annals of our history as an outstanding type of the earliest American. He exemplified in his life the value of clean living, high principles, and hard labor.

Settlement of Kentucky. — Undaunted by the unknown dangers of great swamps and forests, matching wits and woodcraft with the roving bands of hostile Indians, he led the first group of settlers across the Blue Ridge Mountains into the rich country of Kentucky. Here, amidst untold hardships, privations, and danger, there was set up the beginning of what has grown to be a mighty State, rich in natural resources and richer still in the treasure of its manhood and womanhood, descendants of the sturdy stock of Daniel Boone and those who followed him. These hardy pioneers bred into the succeeding generations that strength of purpose, endurance, initiative, and determination which has contributed so much to the richness and virility of American character.

62. George Rogers Clark. — Capt. George Rogers Clark saved the settlers in Kentucky from massacre by the Indians and was the hero of the conquest of the Northwest Territory, now represented by Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Military expeditions. — He led his small force of less than 200 men against the French outposts of southern Illinois. With their capture he turned his attention to the British garrison at Fort Sacksville on the Wabash River at Vincennes, Ind.

In the capture of this fort Captain Clark and his sturdy band accomplished one of the most difficult marches in military history. Crossing the "drowned lands" of southern Illinois in the month of February, 1779, they carried on through water oftentimes above their waists, without provisions or supplies other than that carried upon their backs. Through a wilderness untraveled and unknown by white men, this small band of backwoodsmen took the British by surprise, demanded and received the unconditional surrender of the garrison. By this remarkable exploit America was forever rid of foreign domination, and title to this region was given to the United States.

His monument. — Capt. George Rogers Clark was among the greatest of the forefathers of the mid-West. By the inspiration of his spirit, fortitude, and courage, this handful of men acquired possession of this inland empire of America. By acts of heroism, serving without pay, and assuming the debts contracted in this campaign, Captain Clark magnified his devotion to his country. The memorial to his self-sacrificing service is not to be found in tablets or statues of bronze, but rather in the great Commonwealths that now comprise this territory — the heart of America.

63. Lewis and Clark. — In May of 1804, Capts. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., in obedience to the following order issued by President Jefferson by authority of Congress:

Go up the Missouri to its sources; find out, if possible, the fountains of the Mississippi and the true position of the Lake of the Woods: cross the stony mountains, and having found the nearest river flowing into the Pacific, go down it to the sea.

The expedition. — Outfitting in St. Louis, Captain Lewis and Captain Clark, with four sergeants and twenty-three privates of the Regular Army, and an Indian interpreter, began the long, tedious journey up the swift current of the Missouri, reaching its headwaters approximately one year later. Crossing the Rocky Mountains, through the Bitter Root Range, they found the Clearwater River. Proceeding down its course through exceedingly rough country to tho Snake River, in what is now Idaho, they continued on to the Northwest to the junction of the Snake with the lordly Columbia.

Launching their canoes upon the broad reaches of this most beautiful stream in October, 1805, they drifted down to the Pacific Ocean, reaching their destination November 7, one month later. Returning from there to St. Louis, with their surveys and maps of the regions explored, they completed the required journey in a little over two years' time.

Claim of United States to territory established. — How little was known of the great domain secured to the United States in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory is revealed in part by the wording of the President's order. How much was learned and its importance to the Nation was contained in part in the report those two intrepid Army officers gave upon their return. The most important result obtained was the firm establishment of the claim of the United States by overland exploration, its first claim being made through the earlier discovery of this north Pacific country by Capt. Robert Gray, of Boston, who sailed his ship from the Pacific Ocean up a great river in 1792, naming it the Columbia, in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus.

The new country. — The Lewis and Clark expedition gave the people their first idea of the vast area, enormous natural resources, and grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. They were the forerunners of what soon became a mighty host of emigrants into the land of the setting sun.

64. Rev, Marcus Whitman. — Thirty years after the Lewis and Clark expedition Rev. Marcus Whitman packed all his earthly possessions in a wagon and, with his bride, trekked across the plains

and mountains, over what became known as the Oregon Trail, to the Walla Walla country as a missionary to the Indians. Impressed with the beauty and richness of the country, he seemed to have lost sight of his special mission, as seven years later he took the trail back to civilization, there to urge his countrymen to follow him in the possession of this new land.

Western emigration. — Acting as guide for this band of emigrants, recruited largely in New England, he led them ever westward in the all but impossible journey of nearly 4,000 miles. The story of the hardships and perils, the labor, sickness, and starvation, the fight with Indians and nature, serves again to prove the sturdiness, self-reliance, and courage of the pioneers of America.

Sterling qualities of racial stock. — Every advancing step in the progress of our Nation emphasizes the sterling qualities of the racial stock that, handed down to succeeding generations, has given the urge and the will to do, the fruits of which are today enjoyed by a prosperous and happy posterity.

Boundary adjustment. — These men and women, who so bravely followed Whitman over the Oregon Trail, saved that great country to the United States. The cry in 1846 was "The British must go — The whole of Oregon or none — 54-40 or fight." In the spirit of fair play and justice, the differences with Great Britain were adjusted, the boundaries were fixed, and another great step in the expansion and settlement of our Nation was accomplished.

85. Gen. John C. Frémont. — As a junior officer of the United States Army, at the age of 29 years, Frémont was designated by the Secretary of War to explore a route from western Missouri to the "South Pass."

Exploration of the Southwest. — In accomplishing his mission he followed the Arkansas River to its source in the Rocky Mountains. On a later expedition he made his way through Utah to the Great Salt Lake and then through the deserts of Nevada and across the Sierra Nevada, where he found his journey leading through the mammoth trees and along the roaring torrents of the California country, reaching the Mexican city of Monterey, some 130 miles south of San Francisco on the Pacific Ocean.

Mexican War. — Through exercise of diplomacy he was able to remain in this vicinity until after the outbreak of the Mexican War, when he headed a revolt against that Government and freed the territory of California from Mexican authority, becoming the governor of the territory which was ceded to the United States by treaty following the conclusion of the war with Mexico.

A contemporary. — Contemporary with Frémont, another brilliant young Army officer, Colonel Kearney (afterwards brigadier general), fought his way across the plains of Texas to Santa Fe, N. Mex., and after its capture continued across the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California to a union of his small army with Frémont in California.

Territorial acquisition. — As a result of the splendid work of these men coupled with the success of Generals Scott and Taylor in old Mexico, there was added to the domain of the United States the last of the great southwestern area, a territory of nearly 1,000.000 square miles, a section of our country which within one year thereafter became the goal of the adventurous spirits of the world due to the discovery of fabulous gold deposits along many of the water courses flowing to the Pacific Ocean from the western slopes of the mountains bordering eastern California.

66. Eli Whitney, a pioneer of modern industry. — Invention of cotton gin. — A school-teacher from Massachusetts living in Georgia in 1793 invented a machine called the cotton gin, by use of which a negro could easily clean 300 pounds of cotton a day, demonstrating thereby, as no previous invention had done, the value of machinery in replacing or augmenting manual labor. The whole question of cotton production and cotton manufacture was changed through the use of this invention.

Previous to the invention of the cotton gin, cotton yarns were spun and woven into cloth by hand in private homes. Necessarily, by this slow method of manufacture, but small quantities of cotton were used.

Development of cotton industry. — So rapid was the development of the industry, stimulated by this new "gin," that within the next 20 years exports of cotton to Liverpool increased tenfold.

As a result of this invention a cotton factory was erected in Massachusetts to produce cloth like that made in England. Here was constructed the first loom operated by water power in America. In 1814 there was builded at Waltham, Mass., the first cotton mill in the world, in which the raw material direct from a Whitney cotton gin was spun into thread, woven into cloth, and printed with colors, all under one roof.

Influence on country. — The production of cotton was stimulated and made one of the leading industries of the country. Cotton exports enormously increased; allied industries developed; communities grew rapidly into cities.
The invention of the cotton gin created unforeseen social, economic, arid political conditions; it largely put a stop to the discussion of slavery; the southern planters and northern manufacturers of cotton found it to their mutual interest to keep the negro in bondage, since by his labor they were rapidly growing rich.

Due to climatic conditions the manufacture of cotton goods was carried to New England, thus opening a new channel of employment, causing in following years a radical change in the nationality of the citizens of these Northern States.

Interchangeability of mechanical parts. — While Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin, because of the theft of his model and tools from the shed in which he conducted his experiments, he was not enabled to perfect his invention.

He instituted the interchangeability of parts which has greatly influenced modern industry. In 1798 he secured a contract from the Government for the manufacture of firearms, being "the first to effect the division of labor by which each part was made separately." It was from this invention that he made his fortune.

67. Robert Fulton, a pioneer of steam navigation. — It is proper and fitting to designate Robert Fulton as the pioneer of modern transportation by reason of his success in driving the Clermont in the year 1807, against the current of the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.

Other inventors. — It is true that no less than eight men had at various times and places propelled boats by steam power prior to this accomplishment by Robert Fulton, yet none of them carried out their experiments to a successful issue.

Fulton's success was largely due to his cleverness and ingenuity coupled with the fortunate circumstance of a partnership formed with Robert Livingston, a man of wealth, also interested in solving the problem of steam navigation.

Legislative grant. — Livingston was so sure of final success through his own various experiments as to induce the Legislature of the State of New York to pass a bill granting exclusive right to navigate the waters of that State by steam power upon condition that a boat of 20 tons be driven by steam at a minimum speed of 4 miles an hour against the current of the Hudson, this feat to be accomplished within one year from the date of grant. He failed in his effort. Later ho was appointed minister from the United States to France.

The "submarine". — In 1803, while in Paris, Fulton demonstrated his "submarine" in the River Seine. Encouraged by the success of this experiment, Fulton and Livingston ordered a steam engine from Watt & Boulton in England, to be shipped to America, where Fulton found it on his return in 1806.

The "Clermont." — In the following year the Clermont was built and launched in East River. Its successful trip opened the way to a complete revolution of water transportation. Within the next few years, so rapid was the adoption of this new method of travel, steamboats came into use upon the principal rivers and the Great Lakes, rendering splendid assistance in establishing easy communication between distant sections of our country traversed by the great waterways.

Progress in water transportation. — To fully appreciate the value of tho contribution made by Fulton and Livingston to the economic development and enrichment of America, one has only to review the remarkable progress made in water transportation, contrasting the present accomplishments with those of 100 years ago.

Through his vision, patience, and persistence he found success where others had failed, and in so doing opened the way to the rapid development of this mighty agency in the advance of civilization.

68. Samuel F. B. Morse, a pioneer of modern communication. — Without our present facilities of communication, modern civilization could not continue. Deprived of telegraph, telephone, and radio, the wheels of industry would be stopped and the economic welfare of nations destroyed. We can not too greatly emphasize this benefaction conferred upon all people through the accomplishment •of Samuel Morse and the brilliant men who followed him with improvements upon his basic invention, the telegraph.

Opening of the Erie Canal. — Morse trained himself to think. Of all the thousands whose attention was engaged by the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, he alone caught the significance of the passage of time in relaying the message heralding that event. The signal was delivered by cannon placed at intervals between Buffalo and New York City, the successive reports of which, conveyed from one emplacement to the next, consumed one and a half hours of time in delivering the message a distance of 500 miles.

Invention of the telegraph. — Reason and logic compelled him to believe that electricity made to travel many miles over a copper wire in an instant of time could by some method be interrupted in its passage so as to produce certain signals susceptible of interpretation.

Busy in his profession as an artist in London, Italy, France, and at home, the idea of the control of electricity ever persisted in his mind. With the passage of years his patience was rewarded with the invention of a crude telegraphic instrument and a system of dot and

dash signals to be used therewith. Forming a partnership with Alfred Vail, they labored together in the perfection of the device until their funds were exhausted.

Appropriation from Congress. — Undismayed, their persistent appeal to Congress for assistance was finally rewarded with an appropriation of $80,000 for the erection of a telegraph line a distance of 40 miles between the cities of Baltimore and Washington. With the completion of its construction, on the morning of May 24, 1844, in the presence of the chief officers of the Government, in the Supreme Court room of the Capitol, Professor Morse, operating the key of his instrument, successfully transmitted to the wonder of all present that first and memorable message, "What hath God wrought?"

Improvement and amplification. — Morse was a man of vision. He predicted the day when telegraph lines would span the earth and bridge the seas, yet even his far-seeing mind could never have encompassed the stupendous results which have come from his creation as a rich boon to all mankind.

Men great in scientific accomplishments have followed with improvements and amplifications upon his invention. Alexander Bell and associates applied his principle in perfecting the telephone; Thomas Edison improved the technique as telegraph operator and inventor, following his own powers of deduction into still broader fields. Marconi and others enriched his creative efforts in the field of wireless communication. Each passing year witnesses other improvements and accomplishment, all a living testimonial to Samuel Morse, the man of vision, who, standing apart from the crowd, sold himself to a great idea, persisted against all odds until his efforts were crowned with success.

69. Capt. John Ericsson, pioneer of the modern battleship. — John Ericsson, a native of Sweden, directed his inventive genius to improvements in steam navigation. He claimed the invention of the screw propeller but was unable to prove priority.

Coming to the United States in 1839, he built the first screw propeller warship, the Princeton. This was the first steamship ever constructed with her boilers and engines below the water line, and was the beginning of the steam marine of the world.

The "Monitor." — Ericsson would probably have remained unknown to the nation at large had it not been for his achievement during the Civil War. Using the revolving turret patents of Theodore Ruggles Timby, he combined a structure with all machinery below the water line, leaving the turrets alone exposed to attack. This small vessel, known as the Monitor, called in derision "The Yankee Cheese-Box," in its victory over the Merrimae made Ericsson famous in a day.

The navy and merchant marine. — This caused a revolution in naval development among the world powers, increasing the effectiveness of fighting ships, thereby greatly strengthening the offensive and defensive forces of nations in proportion to their naval tonnage.

Through the genius of John Ericsson, the modern navy and merchant marine has become one of the greatest factors in the development and security of nations.

70. Maj. Walter Reed, conqueror of yellow fever. — Maj. Walter Reed, a surgeon in the United States Army, conducted a long series of experiments in Cuba and discovered the source of yellow fever to be in the Stigomyia mosquito. The dream of his youth had been to bo permitted to alleviate in some degree the sufferings of humanity, and all his efforts, without a thought of self, were spent in striving toward this goal. Within a few months after this discovery, Havana, which had been ravaged by this disease for more than 150 years, was cleared of the disease.

71. Maj. Gen. William C. Gorgas, conqueror of malaria. — Through the efforts of Maj. Gen. William C. Gorgas, who was in command of the medical and sanitary organizations of the United States Army in Panama, this pestiferous district was converted into a healthy region. The French enterprise on the Isthmus of Panama was completely wrecked by the fevers common to that region; 75 per cent of the employees from France died from the disease within a few months after they had landed on the Isthmus. As a result of the intensive efforts of Doctor Gorgas the situation was conquered and Panama has become one of the healthiest spots on the continent.

QUESTIONNAIRE

What is the value of biography?

What in general were the ideals and accomplishments of the great Americans?

Describe briefly the influence of George Washington on the Nation.