very deep soundings, from 45,000 to 48,000 feet, had been
found off the coast of South America, but this report was altogether
discredited on additional investigation in these localities. The ship
Challenger, which in 1872-74 made a voyage round the globe for the
express purpose of taking deep sea soundings in all the oceans,
found the greatest depth touched in the Pacific Ocean less than 3,000
fathoms, and the lowest in the Atlantic 3,875 fathoms, as given above.
THE ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION.--It is not positively known how many men
from the colonies served in the war. The official tabular statement
indicates a total off recorded years of enlistment and not a total of
the the men who served. Hence, a man who served from April 19, 1775,
until the formal cessation of hostilities, April 19, 1783 counted
as eight men in the aggregate. In this basis of enlisted years, the
following table gives the contribution various States: New Hampshire,
12,497; Massachusetts, 69,907; Rhode Island, 5,908; Connecticut,
31,939; New York, 17,781; New Jersey, 10,726; Pennsylvania, 25,678;
Delaware, 2,386; Maryland, 13,912; Virginia, 26,678; North Carolina,
7,263; South Carolina, 6,417; Georgia, 2,679; Total, 233,771.
THE WORLD'S DECISIVE BATTLES.--The fifteen decisive battles of the
world from the fifth century before Christ to the beginning of the
nineteenth century of the present era, are as follows:
The battle of Marathon, in which the Persian hosts were defeated by
the Greeks under Miltiades, B.C. 490.
The defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, B.C. 413.
The battle of Arhela, in which the Persians under Darius were defeated
by the invading Greeks under Alexander the Great, B.C. 331.
The battle of the Metanrus, in which the Carthaginian forces under
Hasdrubal were overthrown by the Romans, B.C. 207. Victory of the
German tribes under Arminins over the Roman legions under Varus,
A.D. 9. (The battle was fought in what is now the province of Lippe,
Germany, near the source of the river Ems.)
Battle of Chalons, where Attila the terrible King of the Huns, was
repulsed by the Romans under Aetius, A.D. 451
Battle of Tours, in which the Saracen Turks invading Western Europe
were utterly overthrown by the Franks under Charles Martel, A.D. 732.
Battle of Hastings, by which William the Conqueror became the ruler of
England, Oct. 14, 1066.
Victory of the French under Joan of Arc over the English at Orleans,
April 29, 1429.
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