hington and his men have suffered bitterly with
hunger and cold; and out of a list of eleven thousand men, three
thousand at Valley Forge lay sick at one time. But at last the spring
has come and Washington has now been nearly three years in service.
Listen! The order has gone forth! At 10:30 o'clock comes the signal,
and the firing of a cannon sees all men under arms! At 11:30 o'clock
the second signal is given and the march begins. It is May 7, 1778,
and Washington is assembling his men. Great news has come and it is
fitting to return thanks to Divine Providence--so reads his
proclamation.

Now comes the third signal, the firing of thirteen cannon! Another
signal! and the whole army breaks into a loud huzza "Long live the
King of France!" followed by a running fire of guns.

On this same day in the afternoon, Washington gives a banquet to his
officers, aides, and guests, to which they march arm-in-arm, thirteen
abreast. What does it mean? It means that Benjamin Franklin has been
heard from, and that an alliance with France, England's bitterest
enemy, has been made. Some day when you are in Washington, you may see
directly in front of the White House, Lafayette Park, and, knowing the
story of the Revolution, you understand why it is there. You also
understand why Washington's army on that May morning shouted, "Long
live the King of France."

But it is not our purpose here to tell the whole story: we can only
touch the high points. Again the army moves to White Plains and on to
Middlebrook and New Windsor; and Washington spends the winter (1781)
at Morristown, N. J. The end is approaching. He joins Lafayette at
Yorktown, Va., and on October 19th, Cornwallis, the British general,
surrenders to George Washington, commander-in-chief of the American
Army. Thus the conflict begun in one English settlement is ended in
the other. Massachusetts marks the beginning and Virginia the ending
of the War of the Revolution.

{329}

The War of 1812-1815

The War of 1812 was a naval war. It was a battle for rights--the
rights of our sailors, the rights of our commerce. American ships and
cargoes were being confiscated. France and England and the Barbary
pirates were engaged in a profitable war on our commerce, and last but
not least twenty thousand American seamen had been pressed into
service and were slaves on ships that were foreign, England especially
claiming the right to search American ships and press into service all
me