The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-02-26

| N'lkSs AN u pun the COLll-
X r. mander in chief of
HSESeSN-sT t h American
F armies. He was bat
Nx\ Ting for govern
ment that had no head. and was con-
stantly menaced or interfered with by
congress, many members of which
were secretly, if not openly hostile to
him. The several states, too, were in n
perpetual state of fault-finding, and
their governors and legislatures seemed
never so happy as when they could
throw obstacles in his path.
a man naturally of a high temper.
as was shown in his rebuke of Lee at
Monmouth. and in his righteous rage
at the. cowardice of the recruits at
Kipp's Bay, in New York. he held his
passion in complete subsection, calmly
dignifiedly and silently disregardingt the
adverse criticism OF the carping. i'm
PEELED by lofty patriotism. which sub
ordinated self to country. At no time
in all the period of the war did lac have
the hearty, unanimous support of con-
gress and of the states. but his lofty
courage, high sense of duty and in
vincible purpose to make America free
raised him to height from whence he
could look down with indifference upon
the factionists beneath.
Perhaps at no time in all the contest
did his great soul undergo greater
travail than at Valley Forge. in the
winter of 1717-177S. At this historic
point, but 90 miles from Philadelphia.
ON the picturesque Schuylkill, bis
hungry and exhausted army of 1900
Ihen arrived on n bitter cold day in
December. and bivouacked that night in
the open air upon the hard and frozen
ground.
Two thousand of these men were alb
solutely shoeless, and left drops of
their blood along the paths trod by
their lacerated feet. An equal num-
Der were in tatters. the naked flesh be-
ing exposed in many places to the Bit
ing wind from the north. OF all the
command there was scarcely a single
company that presented a respectable
appearance, or one man who was COM
fortably clad. The army. indeed, was
Il horde of ragamuffins, held together.
first. by their unfaltering devotion to
Washington, and, secondly, by their
patriotism. When Baron Steuben saw
these poor fellows. he cried aloud in
establishment and declared that
no person upon earth save Washington
could hold together such motley band
OF sufferers.
The privations of these men were in
tense. True, within a short time they
had built for themselves huts of logs
and earth, but such was the intensity of
the cold that many nights they burst
not lie down, being compelled to sit
close by roaring blazes to keep from
freezing to death.
During many weeks there was not an
ounce of meat in camp. W lille the bread
that was supplied the brave fellows
was totally inadequate to their neces-
sites. Their bodies wasted and their
depleted physical condition made them
more keenly susceptible to the dread
influences of the inclement weather.
The great sympathetic heart of the
chief was moved as by a storm of trou-
bic. Earnestly he turned to congress
and besought that body to relieve the
wants of the heroes who were defend-
ing the country. He asked nothing for
himself; did not refer to his own pr1va-
tions or the agony that was piercing
his soul as knife that is sharpened to
keenest edge and driven into the body
by the hand of a putative dear friend.
Knowing that congress could afford
succor if it would and realizing in ali
its bitterness the ingratitGde of that
power towards those under him, he
depressed. nevertheless, every sugges.
ton of reproach in his communication.
contenting himself with clearly and
graphically portraying the dire need
for helpful action and expressing his
lively and profound sympathy for the
humble, heroic martyrs under his COM
nand. How pathetic his concluding
words that his grief was intensified in
that witnessing the agony and bloody
sweat of those under him he yet was I'M
aole to afford them any succOr.
The clouds had indeed gathered thick
in his sky, with not single thread of
silver in their lining. Retrospecting
he saw three years of war with but
barren victory or two for the CONT
nentals, while the vista revealed his own
hosts fleeing again and again before the
common enemy and nearly all the i'm