The Columbiad: A Poem Part 15

Coast of France rises in vision. Louis, to humble the British power, forms an alliance with the American states. This brings France, Spain and Holland into the war, and rouses Hyder Ally to attack the English in India. The vision returns to America, where the military operations continue with various success. Battle of Monmouth. Storming of Stonypoint by Wayne. Actions of Lincoln, and surrender of Charleston.

Movements of Cornwallis. Actions of Greene, and battle of Eutaw. French army arrives, and joins the American. They march to besiege the English army of Cornwallis in York and Gloster. Naval battle of Degra.s.se and Graves. Two of their ships grappled and blown up. Progress of the siege. A citadel mined and blown up. Capture of Cornwallis and his army. Their banners furled and muskets piled on the field of battle.

Thus view'd the Pair; when lo, in eastern skies, From glooms unfolding, Gallia's coasts arise.

Bright o'er the scenes of state a golden throne, Instarr'd with gems and hung with purple, shone; Young Bourbon there in royal splendor sat, And fleets and moving armies round him wait.

For now the contest, with increased alarms, Fill'd every court and roused the world to arms; As Hesper's hand, that light from darkness brings, And good to nations from the scourge of kings, In this dread hour bade broader beams unfold, And the new world illuminate the old.

In Europe's realms a school of sages trace The expanding dawn that waits the Reasoning Race; On the bright Occident they fix their eyes, Thro glorious toils where struggling nations rise; Where each firm deed, each new ill.u.s.trious name Calls into light a field of n.o.bler fame: A field that feeds their hope, confirms the plan Of well poized freedom and the weal of man.

They scheme, they theorize, expand their scope, Glance o'er Hesperia to her utmost cope; Where streams unknown for other oceans stray, Where suns unseen their waste of beams display, Where sires of unborn nations claim their birth, And ask their empires in those wilds of earth.

While round all eastern climes, with painful eye, In slavery sunk they see the kingdoms lie, Whole states exhausted to enrich a throne, Their fruits untasted and their rights unknown; Thro tears of grief that speak the well taught mind, They hail the aera that relieves mankind.

Of these the first, the Gallic sages stand, And urge their king to lift an aiding hand.

The cause of humankind their souls inspired, Columbia's wrongs their indignation fired; To share her fateful deeds their counsel moved, To base in practice what in theme they proved: That no proud privilege from birth can spring, No right divine, nor compact form a king; That in the people dwells the sovereign sway, Who rule by proxy, by themselves obey; That virtues, talents are the test of awe, And Equal Rights the only source of law.

Surrounding heroes wait the monarch's word, In foreign fields to draw the patriot sword, Prepared with joy to join those infant powers, Who build republics on the western sh.o.r.es.

By honest guile the royal ear they bend, And lure him on, blest Freedom to defend; That, once recognised, once establisht there, The world might learn her profer'd boon to share.

But artful arguments their plan disguise, Garb'd in the gloss that suits a monarch's eyes.

By arms to humble Britain's haughty power, From her to sever that extended sh.o.r.e, Contents his utmost wish. For this he lends His powerful aid, and calls the opprest his friends.

The league proposed, he lifts his arm to save, And speaks the borrow'd language of the brave:

Ye states of France, and ye of rising name Who work those distant miracles of fame, Hear and attend; let heaven the witness bear, We wed the cause, we join the righteous war.

Let leagues eternal bind each friendly land, Given by our voice, and stablisht by our hand; Let that brave people fix their infant sway, And spread their blessings with the bounds of day.

Yet know, ye nations; hear, ye Powers above, Our purposed aid no views of conquest move; In that young world revives no ancient claim Of regions peopled by the Gallic name; Our envied bounds, already stretch'd afar, Nor ask the sword, nor fear encroaching war; But virtue, coping with the tyrant power That drenches earth in her best children's gore, With nature's foes bids former compact cease; We war reluctant, and our wish is peace; For man's whole race the sword of France we draw; Such is our will, and let our will be law.

He spoke; his moving armies veil'd the plain, His fleets rode bounding on the western main; O'er lands and seas the loud applauses rung, And war and union dwelt on every tongue.

The other Bourbon caught the splendid strain, To Gallia's arms he joins the powers of Spain; Their sails a.s.semble; Crillon lifts the sword, Minorca bows and owns her ancient lord.

But while dread Elliott shakes the Midland wave, They strive in vain the Calpian rock to brave.

Batavia's states with equal speed prepare Thro western isles to meet the naval war; For Albion there rakes rude the tortured main, And foils the force of Holland, France and Spain.

Where old Indostan still perfumes the skies, To furious strife his ardent myriads rise; Fierce Hyder there, unconquerably bold, Bids a new flag its horned moons unfold, Spreads o'er Carnatic kings his splendid force, And checks the Britons in their waiting course.

Europe's pacific powers their counsels join, The laws of trade to settle and define.

The imperial Moscovite around him draws Each Baltic state to join the righteous cause; Whose arm'd Neutrality the way prepares To check the ravages of future wars; Till by degrees the wasting sword shall cease, And commerce lead to universal peace.

Thus all the ancient world with anxious eyes Enjoy the lights that gild Atlantic skies, Wake to new life, a.s.sume a borrow'd flame, Enlarge the l.u.s.tre and partake the fame.

So mounts of ice, that polar heavens invade, Tho piled unseen thro night's long wintry shade.

When morn at last illumes their glaring throne, Give back the day and imitate the sun.

But still Columbus, on his war-beat sh.o.r.e, Sees Albion's fleets her new battalions pour; The states unconquer'd still their terrors wield, And stain with mingled gore the embattled field.

On Pennsylvania's various plains they move, And adverse armies equal slaughter prove; Columbia mourns her Nash in combat slain, Britons around him press the gory plain; Skirmish and cannonade and distant fire Each power diminish and each nation tire.

Till Howe from fruitless toil demands repose, And leaves despairing in a land of foes His wearied host; who now, to reach their fleet, O'er Jersey hills commence their long retreat, Tread back the steps their chief had led before, And ask in vain the late abandon'd sh.o.r.e, Where Hudson meets, the main; for on their rear Columbia moves; and checks their swift career.

But where green Monmouth lifts his gra.s.sy height, They halt, they face, they dare the coming fight.

Howe's proud successor, Clinton, hosting there, To tempt once more the desperate chance of war, Towers at their head, in hopes to work relief, And mend the errors of his former chief.

Here shines his day; and here with loud acclaim Begins and ends his little task of fame.

He vaults before them with his balanced blade, Wheels the bright van, and forms the long parade; Where Britons, Hessians crowd the glittering field, And all their powers for ready combat wield.

As the dim sun, beneath the skirts of even, Crimsons the clouds that sail the western heaven; So, in red wavy rows, where spread the train Of men and standards, shone the fateful plain.

They shone, till Washington obscured their light, And his long ranks roll'd forward to the fight.

He points the charge; the mounted thunders roar, And rake the champaign to the distant sh.o.r.e.

Above the folds of smoke that veil the war, His guiding sword illumes the fields of air; And vollied flames, bright bursting o'er the plain, Break the brown clouds, discovering far the slain: Till flight begins; the smoke is roll'd away, And the red standards open into day.

Britons and Germans hurry from the field, Now wrapt in dust, and now to sight reveal'd; Behind, swift Washington his falchion drives, Thins the pale ranks, but saves submissive lives.

Hosts captive bow and move behind his arm, And hosts before him wing the sounding storm; When the glad sea salutes their fainting sight, And Albion's fleet wide thundering aids their flight; They steer to sad Newyork their hasty way, And rue the toils of Monmouth's mournful day.

But Hudson still, with his interior tide, Laves a rude rock that bears Britannia's pride, Swells round the headland with indignant roar, And mocks her thunders from his murmuring sh.o.r.e; When a firm cohort starts from Peekskill plain, To crush the invaders and the post regain.

Here, gallant Hull, again thy sword is tried, Meigs, Fleury, Butler, laboring side by side, Wayne takes the guidance, culls the vigorous band, Strikes out the flint, and bids the nervous hand Trust the mute bayonet and midnight skies, To stretch o'er craggy walls the dark surprise.

With axes, handspikes on the shoulder hung, And the sly watchword whisper'd from the tongue, Thro different paths the silent march they take, Plunge, climb the ditch, the palisado break, Secure each sentinel, each picket shun, Grope the dim postern where the byways run.

Soon the roused garrison perceives its plight; Small time to rally and no means of flight, They spring confused to every post they know, Point their poized cannon where they hear the foe, Streak the dark welkin with the flames they pour, And rock the mountain with convulsive roar.

The swift a.s.sailants still no fire return, But, tow'rd the batteries that above them burn, Climb hard from crag to crag; and scaling higher They pierce the long dense canopy of fire That sheeted all the sky; then rush amain, Storm every outwork, each dread summit gain, Hew timber'd gates, the sullen drawbridge fall, File thro and form within the sounding wall.

The Britons strike their flag, the fort forgo, Descend sad prisoners to the plain below.

A thousand veterans, ere the morning rose, Received their handcuffs from five hundred foes; And Stonypoint beheld, with dawning day, His own starr'd standard on his rampart play.

From sack'd Savanna, whelm'd in hostile fires, A few raw troops brave Lincoln now retires; 2l With rapid march to suffering Charleston goes, To meet the myriads of concentring foes, Who shade the pointed strand. Each fluvial flood Their gathering fleets and floating batteries load, Close their black sails, debark the amphibious host, And with their moony anchors fang the coast.

The bold beleaguer'd post the hero gains, And the hard siege with various fate sustains.

Cornwallis, towering at the British van, In these fierce toils his wild career began; He mounts the forky streams, and soon bestrides The narrow neck that parts converging tides, Sinks the deep trench, erects the mantling tower, Lines with strong forts the desolated sh.o.r.e, Hems on all sides the long unsuccour'd place, With mines and parallels contracts the s.p.a.ce; Then bids the battering floats his labors crown, And pour their bombard on the shuddering town.

High from the decks the mortar's bursting fires Sweep the full streets, and splinter down the spires.

Blaze-trailing fuses vault the night's dim round, And sh.e.l.ls and langrage lacerate the ground; Till all the tented plain, where heroes tread, Is torn with crags and cover'd with the dead.

Each shower of flames renews the townsmen's woe, They wail the fight, they dread the cruel foe.

Matrons in crowds, while tears bedew their charms, Babes at their sides and infants in their arms, Press round their Lincoln and his hand implore, To save them trembling from the tyrant's power.

He shares their anguish with a moistening eye, And bids the b.a.l.l.s rain thicker thro the sky; Tries every aid that art and valor yield, The sap, the countermine, the battling field, The bold sortie, by famine urged afar, That dreadful daughter of earth-wasting War.

But vain the conflict now; on all the sh.o.r.e The foes in fresh brigades around him pour; He yields at last the well contested prize, And freedom's banners quit the southern skies.

The victor Britons soon the champaign tread, And far anorth their fire and slaughter spread; Thro fortless realms, where unarm'd peasants fly, Cornwallis bears his b.l.o.o.d.y standard high; O'er Carolina rolls his growing force, And thousands fall and thousands aid his course; While in his march athwart the wide domain, Colonial dastards join his splendid train.

So mountain streams thro slopes of melting snow Swell their foul waves and flood the world below.

Awhile the Patriarch saw, with heaving sighs, These crimson flags insult the saddening skies, Saw desolation whelm his favorite coast, His children scattered and their vigor lost, Dekalb in furious combat press the plain, Morgan and Smallwood every shock sustain, Gates, now no more triumphant, quit the field, Indignant Davidson his lifeblood yield, Blount, Gregory, Williamson, with souls of fire But slender force, from hill to hill retire; When Greene in lonely greatness takes the ground, And bids at last the trump of vengeance sound.

A few firm patriots to the chief repair, Raise the star standard and demand the war.

But o'er the regions as he turns his eyes, What foes develop! and what forts arise!

Rawdon with rapid marches leads their course, From state to state Cornwallis whirls their force, Impetuous Tarleton like a torrent pours, And fresh battalions land along the sh.o.r.es; Where, now resurgent from his captive chain, Phillips wide storming shakes the field again; And traitor Arnold, lured by plunder o'er, Joins the proud powers his valor foil'd before.

Greene views the tempest with collected soul, Arid fates of empires in his bosom roll; So small his force, where shall he lift the steel?

(Superior hosts o'er every canton wheel) Or how behold their wanton carnage spread, Himself stand idle and his country bleed?

Fixt in a moment's pause the general stood, And held his warriors from the field of blood; Then points the British legions where to steer, Marks to their chief a rapid wild career, Wide o'er Virginia lets him foeless roam, To search for pillage and to find his doom, With short-lived glory feeds his sateless flame, But leaves the victory to a n.o.bler name, Gives to great Washington to meet his way, Nor claims the honors of so bright a day.

Now to the conquer'd south he turns his force, Renerves the nation by his rapid course; Forts fall around him, hosts before him fly, And captive bands his growing train supply; A hundred leagues of coast, in one campaign, Return reconquer'd to their lords again.

At last Britannia's vanguard, near the strand, Veers on her foe to make one vigorous stand.

Her gallant Stuart here ama.s.s'd from far The veteran legions of the Georgian war, To aid her hard-pusht powers, and quick restore The British name to that extended sh.o.r.e.

He checks their flight, and chooses well their field, Flank'd with a marsh, by lofty woods concealed; Where Eutaw's fountains, tinged of old with gore, Still murmuring swell'd amid the bones they bore, Destined again to foul their pebbly stream, The mournful monuments of human fame; There Albion's columns, ranged in order bright, Stand like a fiery wall and wait the shock of fight.

Swift on the neighboring hill as Greene arose, He view'd, with rapid glance, the glittering foes, Disposed for combat all his ardent train, To charge, change front, each echelon sustain; Roused well their rage, superior force to prove, Waved his bright blade and bade the onset move.

As hovering clouds, when morning beams arise, Hang their red curtains round our eastern skies, Unfold a s.p.a.ce to hail the promised sun, And catch their splendors from his rising throne; Thus glow'd the opposing fronts, whose steely glare Glanced o'er the shuddering interval of war.

From Albion's left the cannonade began, And pour'd thick thunders on Hesperia's van, Forced in her dexter guards, that skirmisht wide To prove what powers the forest hills might hide; They break, fall back, with measured quickstep tread, Form close, and flank the solid squares they led.