The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia Part 31

THE GREAT NORTHWEST RECLAIMED.

It was George Rodgers Clarke,[85] of Albemarle county, a Virginian and a Fredericksburg man, by the authority of Virginia's Governor, Patrick Henry, with volunteers from Virginia and Kentucky, explored and conquered the great Northwest Territory. This territory belonged to Virginia under original grant in her charter, but the British at this time held it, established strong posts there and encouraged the Indians to make war on the white settlements. The Continental Congress could spare no troops to reclaim this territory, though appealed to by Virginia to do so. For this dangerous task Geo. R. Clarke proffered his services, which were accepted by the Governor. Enlisting volunteers, he marched into that region, and by real ability, rare skill, heroic courage and patience in bearing every hards.h.i.+p and privation, captured Forts Kaskaskia and Vincennes and other posts, and floated the flag of Virginia over the whole of the Northwest Territory, it being designated Illinois county, Virginia.

This campaign cleared that entire country of the British, and secured to Virginia a clear t.i.tle to that vast territory, out of which the States of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and a part of Minnesota were afterwards carved, and which Virginia gave to the Union as a free-will offering, the most imperial gift that State or nation ever laid on the altar of country.[86]

[Ill.u.s.tration: R., F. & P. Railroad Company's Iron Bridge over the Rappahannock River. (See page 328)]

Senator Daniel W. Voorhees, of Indiana, in his defence of Cook, at Charlestown, now West Virginia, in 1859, one of the John Brown raiders, said in his opening remarks:

"The very soil on which I live, in my western home, was once owned by this venerable Commonwealth, as much as the soil on which I now stand. Her laws there once prevailed, and all her inst.i.tutions were there established as they are here. Not only my own State of Indiana, but also four other great States in the Northwest, stand as enduring and lofty monuments of Virginia's magnanimity and princely liberality. Her donation to the general government made them sovereign States; and since G.o.d gave the fruitful land of Canaan to Moses and Israel, such a gift of present or future empire has never been made to any people."

THE WEST EXPLORED.

It was Meriwether Lewis, of Albemarle, and Wm. Clarke,[87] of Fredericksburg, both Virginians, who explored that great stretch of country from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, and made it less difficult for John C. Fremont, who afterwards explored the same territory and received the proud appellation of the "Great Path Finder," which appellation rightly belonged to Lewis and Clarke.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

It was Thomas Jefferson, of Albemarle county, a Virginian, who, while President of the United States, made the "Louisiana Purchase," which brought to the possession of the United States more than one million square miles of territory. This immense territory belonged to the French government. It embraced the present States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Indian Territory, North and South Dakota, Montana, and parts of Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming and Colorado. The price paid was $11,250,000 in money and the a.s.sumption by the government of debts due our citizens by France, amounting to $3,750,000, making in all $15,000,000.

The purchase of this vast territory was bitterly opposed,--as all acquisitions of territory by the United States have been--especially in New England, where they threatened to secede from the Union, if it was consummated, and the legislation of Ma.s.sachusetts pa.s.sed and sent to the President and Speaker of the House a resolution to the effect that they would consider the adding of the Louisiana territory, to the domain of the United States, just cause for exercising their right of secession.[88]

THE FLORIDA PURCHASE.

It was James Monroe, of Fredericksburg, a Virginian, who purchased Florida from the Spanish government for $5,000,000, a land of "Fruits and Flowers," and a favorite health resort for winter tourists from all parts of the country. Its Spanish name Pascua Florida, translated, means Flowery Easter, which indicates that in Florida the flower season is perpetual.

ACQUISITION OF TEXAS.

It was Sam Houston, of Rockbridge county, a Virginian, who wrested the great State of Texas from Mexico and afterwards ceded it to the United States, John Tyler, of Charles City county, a Virginian, signing the bills for its admission three days before his presidential term ended. By this acquisition the government added to its possessions territory sufficient, it is said, to furnish comfortable homes for the present population of the United States, which would then be less crowded than many of the States of Europe.

THE MEXICAN WAR.

It was Gen. Winfield Scott, of Dinwiddie county, a Virginian, and Gen.

Zachary Taylor (Rough and Ready), of Orange county, also a Virginian, who subdued Mexico, by which there were added to the territory of the United States the great States of California, Arizona and New Mexico.

And thus it will be seen, that all of the territory acquired by the United States Government, from the union of the colonies for the common defence to the purchase of Alaska, except the Gadsden purchase, was secured through Virginians, who were born and raised, and many of them at the time lived, in or near Fredericksburg.

COMMODORE F. M. MAURY.

It was Matthew Fontaine Maury, of Spotsylvania county, and later a resident of Fredericksburg, a Virginian, who marked out the tracks of speed and safety for mariners of every clime over the ocean's bosom, and showed the beds on the bottom of the seas, where the cable lines now safely lie, of whom all the officers of the maritime nations came to learn, on whom kings and emperors bestowed orders, medals and decorations, and of whom the great Humboldt said he had created a new science.[89]

The following paper, on this great man's life, character and achievements, to whom the world is so greatly indebted, was prepared by Rev. J. S. Dill, D. D., then a resident of this place, and pastor of the Baptist church, for this volume:

"On the 14th of January, 1806, only ten miles from the city of Fredericksburg, in the county of Spotsylvania, was born Matthew Fontaine Maury. He came of goodly stock, for there mingled in his nature, in equal parts, the st.u.r.dy religious life of the French Huguenots and the gallantry of the English Cavalier. On his mother's side he belonged to the Minor family, of Virginia, while his name testifies that his paternal ancestors were among those who, from the persecutions of France, stretched their arms to the New World.

"When Maury was five years old, his parents emigrated to Tennessee and settled near the present town of Franklin. Thus, in the primeval forests of Tennessee, far away from the ocean's tuneful chant, there grew up the lad, who was to become 'The Pathfinder of the Seas.'

"The early educational advantages of young Maury were but scant. An accident, disqualifying him for farm service, gave him his best opportunity at an academy, and this he did not fail to use. Maury looked to the army for a profession, but his parents denied him. When, without their knowledge, he then secured his appointment to the navy, they again objected, and he left home without his father's blessing.

In 1825, an inland lad of nineteen years, Maury was a.s.signed to duty as a mids.h.i.+pman on the Brandywine. It became evident that he had resolved to master his profession, and his promotion was rapid. In 1831 he was appointed master of the sloop of war Falmouth, which was ordered to Pacific waters. Diligently he sought information as to the best track for his vessel. Finding no reliable chart for his guidance, he realized the need of such help and his mind began at once to grapple with that problem, the solution of which afterwards immortalized him."

WONDERFUL WORKS ON NAVIGATION.

"At home for a time in 1834, he was married to Miss Ann Herndon, of Fredericksburg, and from this time on we find much of his family life woven into the history of our city. On Charlotte street, between Princess Ann and Prince Edward, still stands the house[90] where he lived and his children were born. At this time he published his first book--a 'Treatise on Navigation'--which for many years, even after the Civil war, was made a text book in the naval academy at Annapolis. His pen now became active in newspaper articles that startled the country, and there even arose a sentiment to elevate him to the portfolio of Secretary of the Navy.

"In the fall of 1839, by the upsetting of the stage in which he was travelling, his knee was severely fractured. But this untoward accident, under the guiding hand of G.o.d, put him into the very position in which he was to perform his life-work. His lame leg being unseaworthy, he was placed in charge of the 'Depot of Charts and Instruments,' at Was.h.i.+ngton.

Here he grasped his great opportunity. Here, at the capital of the nation, he wrought for twenty years, and these two decades, from 1841 to 1861, mark the high tide of his service to the world.

"At Was.h.i.+ngton Maury found the vast acc.u.mulation of the 'log books' of the United States wars.h.i.+ps, stored away as mere rubbish. This he utilized as valuable data. He also set in operation plans for still more complete and accurate collections of all kinds of hydrographic and meteorologic observations. With all this before him, with pains-taking toil, he prepared his wonderful 'charts and sailing directions.' His work took ultimate form in a series of six 'charts' and eight large folio volumes of 'sailing directions,' and these comprehended all waters, in every clime, where fly the white sails of civilized commerce.

"The charts exhibit, with wonderful accuracy, the winds and currents, their force and direction, at different seasons, the temperature of the surface waters, the calm belts and trade winds, the rains and the storms.

The eight volumes of 'sailing directions,' are brim full of the most valuable nautical information, and are perfect treasures to the intelligent seaman. This effected a revolution in the art of navigation.

The practical result was that the most difficult of all sea voyages--that from New York to San Francisco, around Cape Horn--has been shortened by forty days; and it has been estimated, that in shortening the time and lessening the dangers of sea voyages, there has been a saving to the world's commerce of not less than $40,000,000 annually.

"In writing about these sea routes he has mapped out, Maury has this to say: 'So to shape the course on voyages as to make the most of winds and currents at sea, is the perfection of the navigator's art. How the winds blow and the currents flow along this route or that, is no longer matter of opinion or speculation. The wind and the weather, daily encountered by hundreds, who have sailed the same voyage before him, have been tabulated for the mariner; nay, his path has been literally blazed for him on the sea; mile posts have been set upon the waves, and finger-boards planted and time-tables furnished for the trackless waste.'

"The simple 'Depot of Charts and Instruments,' over which Maury was placed, soon became the 'National Observatory,' with this man of genius as its superintendent. The vast work was international and, in 1853, brought about the great Brussels conference. On his return from this conference, ladened with honors, Maury stood before the world as the founder of the twin sciences of hydrography and meteorology. No less a man than Alexander von Humboldt declared him the founder of a new science."

FOUNDER OF WEATHER BUREAU.

"The limits of this sketch forbid more than a bare mention of the many other directions in which the genius of this wonderful man blessed the world. The great Atlantic cable, that flashes the news from continent to continent, is one of the radiant sparks that flew from his anvil as he wrought. Cyrus Field declared, at its completion, 'Maury furnished the brains, England gave the money, I did the work.' He established the river gauges of the Mississippi and the daily observations that give our best knowledge of that great river. He established the great circle routes for ocean steams.h.i.+p travel, and the 'steam laws' now used in ocean travel are his. He applied his system of meteorology to land as well as sea, and outlined the work of the 'signal service' and 'weather bureau' of to-day.

"The 'National Observatory,' under Maury, comprehended in all essential particulars what now is divided into no less than four departments at Was.h.i.+ngton. In 1855 Maury published his popular work 'The Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.' The work has pa.s.sed through twenty editions, and has found its way into the languages of Continental Europe. It is the very poetry of his great science, a.n.a.lyzing and tabulating millions of observations of the sea--its currents and its climates, its winds and rains and storms, its myriads of animal life, and marvellous formations of sh.o.r.e-lines and bottoms--he found his way to the heart of nature and laid before us, like an open book, her majestic laws.

And never did scientific man touch nature in more devout spirit. In all he saw the handiwork of G.o.d. Investigations into the broad-spreading circle of phenomena, connected with the winds of heaven and the waves of the sea, never failed to lift his mind to the Creator. As he pondered these things, he heard a voice in every wave that chipped its hand, he felt a pressure in every breeze that blew, he knelt and wors.h.i.+pped G.o.d."

STOOD WITH THE SOUTH.

"The life of Maury fell on times when there were at work other currents than those of sea and river. Political pa.s.sions blew to a gale and the nation drifted to Civil war. His supreme sense of duty, and loyalty to his own State, was the current that bore him away from Was.h.i.+ngton and stranded him in the final wreck of the Southern Confederacy. In those unhappy times no man sacrificed more than Maury. He not only resigned his high position at Was.h.i.+ngton, but turned his back upon tempting offers from Russia and France, in order to suffer affliction with his own people. In the Civil war he rendered most valuable service by introducing submarine torpedo warfare, and inventing a sure method of explosion by electricity. Much of his time was spent in England purchasing navy supplies and perfecting inventions in navy warfare.

"After the war, Maury turned to Mexico and joined his fortunes to the Emperor Maximilian; but the tragic end of this friend and patron, again left him stranded. When, in 1868, the enactment of a general amnesty removed his political disabilities, Maury accepted the Chair of Meteorology in the Virginia Military Inst.i.tute, and there spent the closing years of his life. He greatly rejoiced in this return to old friends and scenes, and addressed himself with ardor to congenial pursuits. But a const.i.tution, not the strongest, gave way to the storms of the last years. The middle of October, 1872, on his return from a fatiguing lecture tour, as he crossed his threshold he said 'I am come home to die.' For four long months he lay weak and suffering. The end came on the 1st of February. 1873. A heavenly breeze bore him to the anchorage beyond the sea, and the trusting child of nature rested with his G.o.d.

"Than Matthew Fontaine Maury no American has received higher honors from foreign countries. Orders of Knighthood were bestowed upon him by the Emperor of Russia, King of Denmark, King of Portugal, King of Belgium, and the Emperor of France; while Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Holland, Sardinia, Bremen and France, struck gold medals in his honor The Pope sent him a full set of all the medals struck during his pontificate; Maximilian decorated him with 'The Cross of Our Lady Guadaloupe;' while Germany bestowed upon him the great 'Cosmos Medal,' struck in honor of Von Humboldt. It is the only duplicate of that medal in existence. He became corresponding member of more literary and scientific circles, and received more honorary diplomas, at home and abroad, than any other man known to history.

"Our own National Government has failed to honor his memory by appropriate memorial, yet his name is so woven with his great science that it must live. The Hon. Mellin Chamberlain, late Librarian of Congress, in calm judicial tone, has declared, 'I do not suppose there is the least doubt that Maury was the greatest man America has ever produced.'

"A bill to honor Commodore Maury, with an appropriate monument, lies mouldering in the archives of Congress. It will some day see the light.

During the last years of Maury's life the smoke of a great conflict gathered about him and hid his face from the National Government; but the smoke is fast lifting, and the healthy breezes of a great national fraternity will soon blow it far away. Then his nation will look upon his face and see the clear outlines of his character--then will he take his own proper place in America's galaxy of the great."

THE LADIES' MEMORIAL a.s.sOCIATION.