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Browsing named entities in a specific section of George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 8. Search the whole document.

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Broadway (Virginia, United States) (search for this): chapter 1
at Lispenard's by the mass of the inhabitants. Drawn in an open carriage by a pair of white Chap. XLI.} 1775. June. horses, he was escorted into the city by nine companies of infantry, while multitudes, of all ages and both sexes, bent their eyes on him from the housetops, the windows, and the streets. Night had fallen before Tryon landed. Met by a company which he himself had commissioned, and by a few of the magistrates in military costume, he was attended noiselessly to a house in Broadway, keenly suffering from disappointment. He had expected to find the royalists in the undisputed ascendant; and he saw himself left almost alone, an object of suspicion, liable at any moment to arrest. The false informers of the ministry excused themselves by the suddenness of the change of measures and sentiments; but they frankly owned that the province would fall behind none in opposition to the king and parliament. Amazed and dejected at heart, Tryon masked his designs under an air of
Kingston, Mass. (Massachusetts, United States) (search for this): chapter 1
t from the heart. He was followed by David Wooster of Connecticut, an upright old man of sixty five, frugal of his means, but lavish of his life; by William Heath, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, a patriot farmer, who held high rank in the trainbands and had read books on the military art; vain, honest, and incompetent; by Joseph Spencer of Connecticut, a man past sixty, a most respectable citizen, but, from inexperience, not qualified for councils of war; by John Thomas, a physician of Kingston, Massachusetts, the best general officer of that colony; by John Sullivan, a lawyer of New Hampshire, always ready to act, but not always thoughtful of what he undertook; not free from defects and foibles; tinctured with vanity and eager to be popular; enterprising, spirited, and able. The last was Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island, who, after Washington, had no superior in natural resources, unless it were Montgomery. At a farewell supper, the members of congress all rose, as they drank a hea
France (France) (search for this): chapter 1
escape spending money even on himself. Claiming to have passed through the higher military ranks in some of the most respect able services of Europe, and to be a major general of five years standing, he had waited upon congress with the thought of being chosen commander in chief. Before he would consent to take rank after Ward, whom he despised, he exacted a promise of indemnity on renouncing his half pay; and at the very moment of his accepting employment from a body, which was looking to France for sympathy, he assured his king of his readiness to serve against the natural hereditary enemies of England with the utmost alacrity and zeal. Ever brooding over the risk he ran, he often regretted having hazarded his all in the American cause. Such was the man who, in the probable event of Ward's early resignation, was placed next in command to Washington. New York had been asked to propose the third major general; she had more than one citizen of superior military talent, but her pr
North America (search for this): chapter 1
f future greatness were blended with their pride as men of English descent. They spoke, therefore, to Englishmen as to countrymen and brothers, recapitulating their griefs, and plainly setting forth that the repeal of the laws of which they complained, must go before the disbanding of their army, or the renewal of commercial intercourse. On the same day thanks were addressed to the Chap. XLI.} 1777. July 6. lord mayor, aldermen, and livery of London, for their unsolicited sympathy. North America, it was further said, wishes most ardently for a lasting connection with Great Britain on terms of just and equal liberty; less than which generous minds will not offer, nor brave and free ones receive. The desire for harmony was so intense, that Richard Penn, a proprietary of Pennsylvania and recently its governor, a most loyal Englishman, bound by the strongest motives of affection and interest to avert American independence, was selected to bear the second petition to the throne.
Montreal (Canada) (search for this): chapter 1
l army was adopted. Two more companies of riflemen were asked of Pennsylvania, that the eight from that colony might form a battalion. The Green Mountain Boys, if they would but serve, were allowed the choice of their own officers; and as Carleton was making preparations to invade the colonies, and was instigating the Indian nations to take up the hatchet against them, Schuyler, who was directed to repair to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, received authority to take possession of St. John's, Montreal, and any other parts of Canada. To the Indians agents were sent with presents and speeches, to prevent their taking any part in the commotions. Alliances with them were forbidden, except where some emissary of the ministry should have concerted with them acts of hostility, or an offensive league. On the sixth of July, congress set forth the causes July. and necessity of taking up arms. After recapitulating the wrongs of America, they asked in words which Edmund Burke ridiculed as the
John Adams (search for this): chapter 1
ors of the battle at Charlestown, he was escorted out of Philadelphia by the Massachusetts delegates and many others, with music, officers of militia, and a cavalcade of light Chap. XLI.} 1775. June. horse in uniform. I, poor creature, said John Adams, as he returned from this pride and pomp of war, I, worn out with scribbling for my bread and my liberty, low in spirits and weak in health, must leave others to wear the laurels which I have sown; others to eat the bread which I have earned. oved, and not before. So firm a declaration should have been followed by assuming powers of government, opening the ports to every nation, holding the king's officers as hostages and modelling a general constitution. Such was the counsel of John Adams. Franklin also knew that there was no longer a time to negotiate or entreat. In the ashes of Charlestown, along the trenches of Bunker Hill, he saw the footsteps of a revolution that could not be turned back; and to Strahan, the go between th
James Warren (search for this): chapter 1
genius for command, or firmness of mind. The continent took up arms, with only one general officer, who drew to himself the trust and love of the country, with not one of the five next below him fit to succeed to his place. On the twenty first of June, Thomas Jefferson, then thirty years of age, entered congress, preceded by a brilliant reputation as an elegant writer and a courageous and far-sighted statesman. The next day brought tidings of the Charlestown battle. At the grief for Warren's death, Patrick Henry exclaimed: I am glad of it; a breach on our affections was needed to rouse the country to action. Congress proceeded at once to the election of eight brigadiers, of whom all but one were from New England. The first was Seth Pomeroy, a gunsmith of Northampton, the warmhearted veteran of two wars, beloved by all who knew him; but he was seventy years old, and on his perceiving some distrust of his capacity, he retired from the camp before receiving his commission. The
Abercrombie (search for this): chapter 1
nd of the war, the courage of the insurgents in this battle of the people, and their skill as marksmen, never wore out of mind. The loss of officers was observed to be disproportionately great; and the gloom in the quarters of the British was deepened by the reflection, that they had fought not against an enemy, but against their fellow-subjects and kindred; not for the promotion of civil or religious freedom, but for the supremacy of one part of the empire over another. Those who, like Abercrombie, died of their wounds, wanted consolation in their last hour, for they had no hope that posterity would mark their graves or cherish their memory. On the day of the battle, the continental congress elected its four major generals. Of these, the first, from deference to Massachusetts, was Artemas Ward. Notwithstanding his ill health, he answered: I always have been, and am still ready to devote my life in attempting to deliver my native country. The American people with ingenuous c
Joseph Spencer (search for this): chapter 1
led him, and neither rude taunts, nor inconsiderate disregard of his rank, nor successful intrigues, could quench his hearty and unpretending zeal. For the fourth major general, the choice fell upon Israel Putnam, of Connecticut. Wooster and Spencer, of the same colony, stood before him in age and rank; but the skirmish at Noddle's Island had been heralded as a great victory, and the ballot in his favor is recorded as unanimous. Of Massachusetts by birth, at the ripe age of thirty seven he old man of sixty five, frugal of his means, but lavish of his life; by William Heath, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, a patriot farmer, who held high rank in the trainbands and had read books on the military art; vain, honest, and incompetent; by Joseph Spencer of Connecticut, a man past sixty, a most respectable citizen, but, from inexperience, not qualified for councils of war; by John Thomas, a physician of Kingston, Massachusetts, the best general officer of that colony; by John Sullivan, a lawy
Nathaniel Greene (search for this): chapter 1
ncompetent; by Joseph Spencer of Connecticut, a man past sixty, a most respectable citizen, but, from inexperience, not qualified for councils of war; by John Thomas, a physician of Kingston, Massachusetts, the best general officer of that colony; by John Sullivan, a lawyer of New Hampshire, always ready to act, but not always thoughtful of what he undertook; not free from defects and foibles; tinctured with vanity and eager to be popular; enterprising, spirited, and able. The last was Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island, who, after Washington, had no superior in natural resources, unless it were Montgomery. At a farewell supper, the members of congress all rose, as they drank a health to the commander in chief of the American army; to his thanks, they listened in stillness, for the sense of the difficulties which lay before him suppressed every festal cheer. A kind of destiny has thrown me upon this service; thus Washington announced the cutting stroke of his departure to his wif
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