Part 3 (2/2)
The following incident, we are informed by Mrs. Ellet, was communicated to a minister--Rev. J. H. Saye--by two officers in the Revolutionary war. One of them was in the skirmish referred to; the other lived near the scene of action; hence, it may be relied on as authentic. The name of the heroine is unknown, which is greatly to be regretted:
”Early in the war, the inhabitants on the frontier of Burke county, North Carolina, being apprehensive of an attack by the Indians, it was determined to seek protection in a fort in a more densely populated neighborhood in an interior settlement. A party of soldiers was sent to protect them on their retreat. The families a.s.sembled, the line of march was taken towards their place of destination, and they proceeded some miles unmolested--the soldiers marching in a hollow square, with the refugee families in the centre. The Indians who had watched these movements, had laid a plan for their destruction. The road to be traveled lay through a dense forest in the fork of a river, where the Indians concealed themselves, and waited till the travelers were in the desired spot. Suddenly the war-whoop sounded in front, and on either side; a large body of painted warriors rushed in, filling the gap by which the whites had entered, and an appalling crash of fire-arms followed. The soldiers, however, were prepared; such as chanced to be near the trees darted behind them, and began to ply the deadly rifle; the others prostrated themselves upon the earth, among the tall gra.s.s, and crawled to trees. The families screened themselves as best they could. The onset was long and fiercely urged; ever and anon amid the din and smoke, the warriors would rush, tomahawk in hand, towards the centre; but they were repulsed by the cool intrepidity of the back-woods riflemen. Still they fought on, determined on the destruction of the victims who offered such desperate resistance. All at once an appalling sound greeted the ears of the women and children in the centre; it was a cry from their defenders--a cry for powder! 'Our powder is giving out,'
they exclaimed. 'Have you any? Bring us some, or we can fight no longer!' A woman of the party had a good supply. She spread her ap.r.o.n on the ground, poured her powder into it, and going round, from soldier to soldier, as they stood behind the trees, bade each who needed powder put down his hat, and poured a quant.i.ty upon it. Thus she went round the line of defence, till her whole stock, and all she could obtain from others, was distributed. At last the savages gave way, and, pressed by their foes, were driven off the ground. The victorious whites returned to those for whose safety they had ventured into the wilderness.
Inquiries were made as to who had been killed, and one running up, cried, 'Where is the woman that gave us the powder? I want to see her!'
'Yes!--yes!--let us see her!' responded another and another; 'without her we should have been all lost!' The soldiers ran about among the women and children, looking for her and making inquiries. Directly came in others from the pursuit, one of whom observing the commotion, asked the cause, and was told. 'You are looking in the wrong place,' he replied. 'Is she killed? Ah, we were afraid of that!' exclaimed many voices. 'Not when I saw her,' answered the soldier. 'When the Indians ran off, she was on _her knees in prayer_ at the root of yonder tree, and there I left her.' There was a simultaneous rush to the tree--and there, to their great joy, they found the woman safe, and still on her knees in prayer. Thinking not of herself, she received their applause without manifesting any other feeling than grat.i.tude to Heaven for their great deliverance.”
HUMANITY OF HARTFORD LADIES.
As the rivers farthest flowing, In the highest hills have birth; As the banyan broadest growing, Oftenest bows its head to earth, So the n.o.blest minds press onward, Channels far of good to trace; So the largest hearts bend downward, Circling all the human race.
MRS. HALE.
The sympathies of a free people are always aroused when a nation is struggling for freedom. Hence the war between the Turks and Greeks not only called forth the eloquence of American orators, but the mothers and daughters of the land, reminded of the long struggle of their husbands and fathers for liberty, were alive to the interests, and prayed much for the ransom of the latter people. Nor was this all; the sufferings to which the war reduced the Greeks, so much moved the hearts of females that, in one instance at least, they made a demonstration of their sympathy worthy of record. The ladies of Hartford, Connecticut, sent out a s.h.i.+p to the women of Greece, containing money, and articles of wearing apparel, wrought by themselves expressly for an offering to suffering humanity. Mrs. Sigourney, the Secretary of the Ladies' Committee, wrote the following letter to accompany the contribution:
”_United States of America, March 12th, 1828._ _The Ladies of Hartford, in Connecticut, to the Ladies of Greece._
”SISTERS AND FRIENDS,--From the years of childhood your native clime has been the theme of our admiration: together with our brothers and our husbands, we early learned to love the country of Homer, of Aristides, of Solon, and of Socrates. That enthusiasm which the glory of ancient Greece enkindled in our bosoms, has preserved a fervent friends.h.i.+p for her descendants: we have beheld with deep sympathy the horrors of Turkish domination, and the struggles so long and n.o.bly sustained by them for existence and for liberty.
”The communications of Dr. Howe, since his return from your land, have made us more intimately acquainted with your personal sufferings. He has presented many of you to us in his vivid descriptions, as seeking refuge in caves, and, under the branches of olive trees, listening for the footsteps of the destroyer, and mourning over your dearest ones slain in battle.
”Sisters and friends, our hearts bleed for you. Deprived of your protectors by the fortune of war, and continually in fear of evils worse than death, our prayers are with you, in all your wanderings, your wants and your griefs. In this vessel (which may G.o.d send in safety to your sh.o.r.es!) you will receive a portion of that bounty wherewith He hath blessed us. The poor among us have given according to their ability, and our little children have cheerfully aided, that some of you and your children might have bread to eat and raiment to put on. Could you but behold the faces of our little ones brighten, and their eyes sparkle with joy, while they give up their holidays, that they might work with their needles for Greece; could you see those females who earn a subsistence by labor, gladly casting their mite into our treasury, and taking hours from their repose that an additional garment might be furnished for you; could you witness the active spirit that pervades all cla.s.ses of our community, it would cheer for a moment the darkness and misery of your lot.
”We are the inhabitants of a part of one of the smallest of the United States, and our donations must therefore, of necessity, be more limited than those from the larger and more wealthy cities; yet such as we have, we give in the name of our dear Saviour, with our blessings and our prayers.
”We know the value of sympathy--how it arms the heart to endure--how it plucks the sting from sorrow--therefore we have written these few lines to a.s.sure you, that in the remoter parts of our country, as well as in her high places, you are remembered with pity and with affection.
”Sisters and friends, we extend across the ocean our hands to you in the fellows.h.i.+p of Christ. We pray that His Cross and the banner of your land may rise together over the Crescent and the Minaret--that your sons may hail the freedom of ancient Greece restored, and build again the waste places which the oppressor hath trodden down; and that you, admitted once more to the felicities of home, may gather from past perils and adversities a brighter wreath for the kingdom of Heaven.
”LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY, ”_Secretary of the Greek Committee of Hartford, Connecticut._”
”MOTHER BAILEY.”
No braver dames had Sparta, No n.o.bler matrons Rome.
W. D. GALLAGHER.
Anna Warner was born in Groton, Connecticut, on the eleventh of October, 1758, and married Captain Elijah Bailey of the same town, in 1774. He partic.i.p.ated in the hards.h.i.+ps and dangers, and she in the trials of the struggle for Independence. He is dead; she is still living.[7]
[7] We are informed by the Postmaster of Groton, in a letter dated the tenth of December, 1850, that Mrs. B. is still living, and that her mind is somewhat impaired. She is now in her ninety-third year.
She was a witness of the terrible ma.s.sacre at Fort Griswold, in Groton, on the sixth of September; and the following morning she hurried off to the scene of carnage, a distance of three miles, to search for an uncle who was among the brave defenders. She found him among the fatally wounded: at his request that he might see his wife and child before he died, she ran home, caught and saddled a horse for the feeble mother, and taking the child in her arms, carried it the whole distance, that it might receive the kisses and benediction of its dying father!
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