Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-06-25

Il ~
n Ton, the first setback for Burgoyne.
In Havana harbor lie the Lexington
2lnd Concord of our war against Spain.
I Above Manila bay frowns our Ticon-
$1eroga, wrenched from Spain by blow
as daring as that which gave us our first
Tortress in the Revolution.
Like Ethan Allen, you had to educate
ythe enemy up to the situation
i Like Ethan Allen, you delivered the
blow first, then the talk.
Said your great prototype when de-
Imanding the surrender of the fortress of
fTiconderoga from the British comman-
! dant, ''In the name of the great Jehovah
sand the Continental congress. I"
N That was slap at the divine right of
kings.
(. The first shell from your flagship, cut
Z ting the air where the wand of Spanish
royalty has held sway for centuries,
gave out an eagle scream, announcing
4 to Spain and any powers lurking in the
1 background that the United States of
4 America has an eastern problem to solve.
Z Furthermore, she'll solve that prob
\ lem alone, which is another slap at the
divine right of kings. 1t puts the divine
! right of humanity on top.
J, Spain and the powers stood aghast at
I the thought that ancient sovereignty
7 should be disturbed by men whose grand
fathers were subjects You cleared
the air by Yankee shot from a Yam
\ kee gun on Yankee ship, fired by
fnrsf hn flo o.
first holsted ON the ocean by the gallant
Paul Jones, you carry sovereignty in
your gunroom lockers and deal it out
where it will do the most good.
You are Yankee of the Yankees.
Soberly, one can examine the record
of the Green Mountain boys from Allen
to Dewey and keep making steam for
fresh volleys of hurrahs all the time.
After the colonial patriots drew first
blood from the redcoats sent to Lexing-
ton and Concord to teach them lesson
something more was needed to tell Eng
land and the whole world what was up.
There was that ancient fortress of I'll
conderoga ON the northern frontier
which England had maintained at the
cost of untold treasure and blood in con-
tests with the French and the Indians
Some patriot counselor who had little
faith in England's 'sense of honor" in
redressing the wrong done at Lexington
and elsewhere suggested that the an
cient fortress be taken as a signal that
Great Britains flag was not to be toler-
ated in the colonies longer than would
be necessary to wipe out the garrisons
defending it.
Aliens Green Mountain boys were
chosen to strike the first aggressive
blow against the dominion of mighty
England. They were the men for the
task Mountaineers were they who had
fought and won in the grim battle
against nature in the bleak northern
highlands. Fighting the British was no
new thing for them. A civil warfare
between the patriot element in the Green
mountains and the Tories, backed by
allies wearing the uniform of the king,
had been going on for years.
Ethan Allen had no cannon, no
mounted squadrons, no firm battalions
to take against Britain's lofty and
strongly armed fortress In a diplomatic
way his little band of so souls was arm
ed with the sovereignty of manhood
burning in their breasts; in a martial
way with their hunting rifles and shot
guns By stealthy march they reached
the front of the fort one morning before
daylight Allen drew up his line and
told the men that he had led them to
that point in order to make dash into
the heavily armed and well manned
fortress of Ticonderoga. 1t was life
and death undertaking, he said, and he
would wait for them to deliberate and
for any so disposed to back out. He
didn't have to wait. Not soul backed
out
''Forwardr' was the next word, and
the little party marched up to the gate
and dashed past the sentry into the fort.
Such tactics are not laid down in books
ON military strategy. Experts would
have told the Green Mountain soldier
that the correct thing would be to sum-
mon the British commandant to surren-
der and in order to intimidate him so
maneuver his band that it would appear
to be 500 instead of only so strong. IL
this old ruse didn't work, he must
draw off to distance and wait for re-
endorsements.
Allen thought differently In the
terse language of General Forrest he
had ''the bulge on the enemy What
signifed 100 cannon looking down on
his devoted band so long as their gun
ners lay asleep in their hunks? Allen
and his nountaineers rushed in and COW
cred the exits from the sleeping barracks
with their rifles. The commandment
wanted to parley. He wished to know
what authority the leader Of the invad-
ers had for humping kings officer
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