The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-04-05

lpi thV CUlltICUCU uuu UGtU UTOu Ou
by tllreo or four volunteer artillorymen.
las am told), aad not by regular SOL
diers, and to escape this fire had moved
down tho river, and thus, by this So
called accident, Andre was Obliged TO
cross tho river and come over on this
side. (This Ia not Il new story, except
Us 10 thoirrogularity Of tho proccoding)
Standing hero by tho monument at
this late day, ono can, MS | have rn-
marked. call back tho actors into life,
and imagine tho whole thrilling drama
| going on once moro before hia eyes.
There Ia n bronze, life slze statue OF the
typical militiamGu OF that day sur-
mounting tho monument. llo looks
worry much like Logan county, Wost
Virginia, woodsman; Ia lanl; and ca
dayerous, wears lop.sided, soft hat.
and n colonial coat Of the baclwoods
sort, and altogether does not suggest n
fellow whom Fortuna Is looking for
with IN immortal wreath In her hand.
Yet such was tho fact. She, yea, tho
| very Goddess Of Liberty herself, was
out that day In quest OF three OF tho
humblcst men, perhaps, in this county
OF WostClics,or, OF which thoy were all
| jehrs, and intent on actually ,hrusting
everlasting honor and immortality on
them, and she succeeded, and this Ii
how 1t comes that John Paulding, Isaac
Van Wart and David Williams arc so
we'll known to every American school
boy to-day.
Some mon, wo arc told, arc "born great,
othors become great and somo have great
ness thrust upon them" 1t would seom
rs IL this was case OF being conscript-
| cd by famo almost n0lenS r0lcTl&. Still,
you will recall that TGnnyson speaks Of
men who have achieved distinction be.
cause they wero "t0 true occasion true
This was ",rue occasion" II ever there
was one, and tho three militiamon
would sccm TO have boon truc to 1t.
When Abraham Lincoln was asked
for his family history no told his bic
grapher that he had none. 81 am child
OF obscurity, mine are the short and
simple annals OF tho poor" So Of these
three militiamen; they were, II possible,
morc'obscure than Lincoln; thcirs. toe,
were the 'short and simple annals Of
the poor" But like Lincoln they occupy
al Illuminated page in our national his.
tory. And all becausc they were ito
true occasion true" "ITus" is the
word on which the local historian here
lays stress. They earned tho evcr.ast.
ing gratitude OF their countrymen by
simply being "true" 10 tho occasion.
On one page their names are written in
letters Of gold, while on the other, tho
name OF Benedict Arnold is written in
black. 1le took the bride that they re-
fused. lie, tho incumbent Of high
place. sold his native land for gold,
while thoy, poor and abscurc, put aside
all Andres offers and carried him
captive to our nearest post.
AN USGRArEyCL CONGRESS.
There was man in Congress in 1917
who said that oil this was very pretty
and very sentimental, but i. wasn't
true. That man was Colonel Tall.
madge, the came man who had charge
OF Andre ION the other aide Of the
river) from the day after his capture
until his execution on the I'd OF Octo-
Der. Just nine days elapsed from his
capture 10 his death. Andre told this
colonel, and he told Congress thirty
seven years attcrward, that these men
were patriots for revenue only; that
they searched him for plunder and not
for papers; that it was money they
were alter and not treason; and. strange
to say, Congress believed him and
would not give Pauldiug, Van Wart
and Williams an increase OF pension.
They were getting 5000 per year, and
Paulding had pe.itioned for an Increase.
| Colonel Tallmadge then told the story
that andre had told to him. aud, in
effect. the verdict Of Congress would
had made Colonel Tallmadge believe
that If no had had tho ready money
where with to have cashed his promises
to these men he would never have been
held rs n prisoner.
And yet these men, yet all living, i'm
mediately following this statement in
Congress, all mado solemn oath that it
was not true; but that the very contra
~ was truo, vi:.: that putting aside all
oilers OF Andre they had but one
thought as soon rs they realized his
true character, which was to carry him
to post in our lines and thus serve
their country. Isaac Van Wars de-
posed aud said that this was tho truth
as he should answer to that Omniscient
Being in whose presence ho must
shortly appear.
The state OF New York gave each one
OF these men farm, but whether Con-
gress increased their pension Of 5000
per year does not appear in any records
that have boon able to lay hands on.
Much more serious than its refusal was
the imputation on their patriotism. 1t
showed that 4 glamour attached even ut
that day TO the words Of Andre, because
he was adjutant general OF the British
army and because he died brayely on
the gallows, aud because he was edu-
Gated, we'll born and well raised. while
these poor fellows, because they were
obscure and poor, had no glamour at
taching to their act. Back in tho days
OF Rome it was said that republics are
ungrateful. 1presume the three militia
men when they flied their oaths in
refuta,ion OF Colonel Tallmadgc's slur
and the vote OF Congress, felt that this
was indeed true. Tho posthumous
recognition accorded them BY this
monumen, here was long deferred; it
only como as late as October I, 1853
seventy-threc years after the deed they
performed. Exactly one hundred years
after that deod (would you believe it?)
q monument was set up on the other side
OF the river, on the very spot OF his ex-
ecution, to Major Andre. by IN anglo
maniac named Cyrus W. Field, in con-
junction with Dean Stanley and Canon
Farrar, OF England. which monument,
as also its successor in 1885, was blown
up by tho people over there, and exists
| now only as an uniracraut memory.