Fremont weekly freeman. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1850-1853, 1850-10-12

On the 3d ct December, IT'S the Conti-
snental nAg was displayed for the first lime
Il vas on that day hoisted on board tho flag.
ship Of Eseck Hopkins, who, onthe 9Th of the
proceeding month, had been appointed com.
mander-in-chief Of the first American heet.
The 3d day Of December,then, is the birth
day Of the American flag. Why not celebrate
il annually as a navy festival? Let it be OBJ
served as our ocean holiday at all our naval
stations and on board Of our vessels of war, at
home and abroad
The writer of the above is under mistake
in regard both to the nature of the flag and
the dale Of It's appearance. He takes for
granted that the national banner first display
ei in the revolutionary struggle, was that Of
the stars and stripes; this is not the fact; nor
isit true that any Continental coIors were
lioisted for the first time on the Sd day of
December. l775. The birthday of the A
meFican flag, if il be fixed at all, must be the
i4th Of June. l777. 1t is impossible, however,
10 determine the day on which the banner of
she stars and stripes first actually waved to
the breeze, or the dsly when any colors of
distinctly American character were devised or
unfuEied for the first time.
The 6rst attempt at an American flag APP
pears to be that Of old Endicott of Salem, who
N 1884 cut the cross Of St George out Of tie
dag Of Old Eagland, as savory Of poperY and
prelacy. We are unable to say how far the
pure red flag thus formed was adopted !JF the
New Enolahders But the Old England ma.
tional coloss we're generally worn by the Con-
tiaentaI vessels ill the breaking ont of the re.
voluton. Its remarkable, however, that the
Thought Of raising national standard of their
own. seems never 10 have been abandoned by
the people Of New England. Mention is made
of colonial flag as early as 1886. The first
national emblem adopted here was that Of the
New England pine tree. which was stamped
on The silver coins of Massachusetts nearly 200
years ago. Probably Il was on the colonial
iag ahovc mentioned. as representation of
one drawn ia l70l exhibits the pine tree COM
bined with the English cross. This 50 Tar as
We csn discover, is the first actual description
Of the American piHe-tree flag. though un-
do4bEealy il was used at much earlier date.
I'd tontinued in use, more or less, sill superse-
ded by the stars and stripes.
There is no means of knowing whether the !
New England troops who fought in the old
French war, on the lakes Of Canada and at
Cape Breton, bore any eolors distinct from the |
Enklish. though it is likely they did, as the
several states had their colony arms, and these
appear TO have been inscribed on the standards
If the malitia This was the practice when
the New England troops marched to Bos on,
after the battle Of Lexington.
A letter dated April %, 1875 says of the
Connecticut troops: we fix on our standards
aud drums the colony arms, with the motto
2aii lrasssfH it sustiRet round it in letters of
gold which We constrne thus-'God, who
lransplauted US hither viii support ns.' The
accounts Of the battle Of Bunker H;;ll make no
mention Of amy standard being used by the A.
mericans, though at public celebration in
1925, 4 iag was displayed, which, according
to tradition, was hoisted IN the redoubt on the
top the bill II is said 10 have borne an IN
scription which the British officers in Boston
attempted in vain toread with the help of their
telescopes, till Whig told it was Come If
you dare On the 18th of July, ITS, after
the battle, we read in the Essex Gazette of
far hoisted on Prospect Hill, bearing or one
side the motto--sAa appeal to Heaven, and
on the other side Qui frdnstas lst sustinet.'- -
See Frothingham's History Of the Siege of
Boston.
The pinc-tFee flag, however. seems te have
over all others and soon became the
national ensign. Col. Reed, in a letter writ
ten from the beseiging army at Boston, Octo-
Der goth. IT'S, says to Coils. Glover and Moy- !
lan-sPIease TO fix upon some particular color
for Gag, and signal by which our vessels
may know eachother. What do you think of
4 white ground, a tree in the middle-the mot
to-sAR appeal to Heaven This is the flag of
our floating batteries. This suggestion was
adopted. and the pine-tree flag became the
ensign Of the American ships-of-war, public
and private Il was adopted By the legisla-
ture of Massachusetts IS the naval flag of the
colony on the 29th of April, 1776.
Paul Jones declared that he was the first
man who hoisted the Continental flag on board
3 national ship-of-war Jones was appointed
Lieutenant Of the Alfred-the flagship of
Commodore Hopkins, on the 22d of Decem.
Der, l775. The Alfred lay at Philadelphia,
where Jones hcisted the flag on that or some
subsequent day. Il was doubtless the pine
tree flag. but this had been unfurled upon the
ocean by the New England private armed yes
sells for some time previous. An English pa
per of January. 1873, has the following:
The flag taken from provincial priyateer
is now deposited in the Admiralty. The field
IS white bunting, with spreading green tree !;
the motto-sAn appeal to Heaven
We have in our own possession two very
rare pictures, the only ones of the kind, per-
haps. in existence They are full-leugth por-
rats Of Com Hopkins and Gen. Gates, with
he American flags as they existed in 1776
and 1777.
These pictures are engravings finely color
ID, and cemcnted by transparent varnish to
glass plates. in order to preserve the tinting in
II Is freshness. Theywere executed in Lon
Ion by some friend Of the American cause
F}ank7 ~ KIor,kfnr. .wras done in I776 Ii rem
.esents the Commodore, sword in hand, stand
az on the quarter deck of ship, in the old
Continental blue and buff uniform, and cock
"a hat Another ship in the background bears .
lHo flags. the pine tree ensign, with the motto
- an appeal to Heare1,' and another exhib-
ting q sattlesnake with the motto Don't
read on me- The rattlesnake flag is said to
have originated at the south. According to
,oue accounts il was hoisted on board the Al
red and the Alliance, but of this We have no
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