Newark post., 1910-08-31
SEPTEMBER THE THIRD

SEPTEM MBER THIRD stands for
one of Delaware's proudest claims,
yet our tendency is to allow this day |
to pass unnoticed
AS the anniversary OF the only bat |
tie fought on Delaware soil its signiti- |
cance may be slight; but as the skirm-
ish in which the stars and stripes first |
Hoated over the struggling Americans |
and inspired them to do their best, it |
is OF national Importance.
The sight of his fog ever strs emo
tion in a patriots breast. How many
of us can imagine its significance when
seen in the midst of the smoke OF
battle? Thousands have thrilled over
the sight of its folds as it has led the
charge and urged them on to victory.
Are they not all-and the genera
ton that follows them-interested in
the story of the first time that flag did
so lead our men? Is not the whole
setting in which this first occurred OF
absorbing interest to all?
On Delaware soil this little bit OF
history was enacted, yet Delaware's
SONS have been slow to tell OF the
event--so slow that strangers can ex-
plain our reticence only on the
ground of & question in our own mind
as to its certainty.
Yet all the evidence points to Our
claim being a good one-and we have
every right to believe in it.
In June, I777, Congress resolved
that flag should be adopted and the
design as drawn by Washington was
put in the hands of Mistress Betsy
Ross.
When Howe's unexpected action in
| sailing southwark up the Chesapeake
| and so overland toward Philadelphia
was discovered, the American army
| began a hurried march to the south, to
put themselves between that city and
| the enemy.
When the army marched through
the city, one OF the accounts mentions
''the flags flying" as an item of spec
| ial interest. What more reasonable
to suppose than that the order lett
with Mistress Ross seven weeks be-
| fore had been rushed to a conclusion
and the flag lately adopted by Con
| gress had been put in the hands of the
| men?
| During the days that preceded the
| Battle of Brandywine our entire sec
ton was reconnoitered by General
| Maxwell and his men who were sent
out for the purpose of harassing the
enemy.
| That their work was effective is
suggested by the determination with
which the British drove them away,
| making the attack with a number
larger than the body which they were
| TO encounter
A search of the records Of the time
| will only strengthen our belief that
| Maxwells band introduced the stars
| and stripes to the dust and smoke of
battle along the bank OF the Christiana
by Cooch's Bridge, where the monu-
! ment now stands.
A Delawarean would scarcely refute
the claim We talk about it among
| ourselves and mentally list it with
| Caesar Rodney and Constitutional
fame, but our zeal must carry us far
ther-to the spreading of our claim.
1 Abroad, wheii we converse with the
natives of other States, these facts
are heard as bits Of fresh news and the
obscurity in which we have allowed
them to lay makes them question Our
sincerity.
| NCW OH HdS lolu liiSs itil Siail
wix story and appreciated and made
much of the improvised flag used in
that skirmish.
Is it not time for ali our loyal sons
to make known this larger and
prOuder claim?
AS this anniversary rolls round, let
us all make the pilgrimage, if not in
reality at least in fancy, to this old
battle-ground, and find the enthusiasm
which shall force us to tell the story
and let it spread to the limits of our
land