4 d a ae as 4 s o d dH d da H X Ii i z e a I d s q b l ha Y rr d k la Y Yf f Yd d 0 r kc s sw w t r rS S j SURRENDER SURRINDER OF THE HESSIAN TROOPS TO GENERAL WASHINGTON AT TRENTON From an Old PaInting Courtesy of the Mabel Brady Garvin of American Arts and Sciences Yalo University 4 1 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON III gifts which e we l bestow ul UI ulon on our friends f i lends nt at time are as waned varied as thel I Ton wishes and our ability to ful 1111 till them Similarly tb lh Uti Christmas gifts presented t ti tl 1 our nation at nt one time or another an nn another lot other have bale been n a varied among them thou a n battle n a tI treaty tic tic-it elt of peace pence an unpopular and disastrous war nr the thc world orld tallest obelisk lad ind one of Its most als to a 11 man mm and lind last but not last several eral babies destined for fame In the of their countr country first In point of time am undoubtedly first In Importance was as the battle It had Its beginnings s on diy dip 1770 and although h It MIS not fought fou ht until the following fol following lowing 10 In div day the lie victory ry which result d was till finest Onest gift this nation has ever er celled re-celled re re- eels ceh ed edIt edIt It Is doubtful If most ofIS of us IS fully the thc magnitude of Islington's ashington's achievement that cold December morning 1 8 years ao ago To elate Its sl It Is necessary to tal tai e a Into account the lie situation which confronted the corn com minder In chili f as ns lie he lode tode to toward McConI es e s terry ferry through the thc sunset of tint that dismal christ Christmas Christmas mas diy to cross the HIP Delaware The fortunes of American revolutionists rc were ere at 1 a low 10 ebb In a year and a n half haIr of lighting fighting they had Ind scored ed but t two 0 real rc-il they successes successes had hod forced the out of Boston Hoston and ind had hod kept them out of Charleston In August flash ashIngton Inton In ton had lot lost the of Long Lone Island with n a aloi 10 loss S s of COO GOO killed and 1000 1 captured In hotem No O em Oember ber he had I lot lost t New Mw Nework ew fork ork city and with lIh It 2000 2 GOO soldiers solders trapi ed ell at lort I ort 11 I eat Port rort I Lee e had fallen fillen to the and with It large supplies of guns uns food and clothing BT By a masterful retreat through New v e Jersey he lie had fA saved etl the tile remnants of his army arm But the end of the same game seemed not far au a awi ay 1 His troops were d dwindling as hundreds of tile the militia departed deported for their homes I 1 he lie hind barely G left leCt and ind many of these were ere soldiers whose term of duty dut would expire at nt the end of the year Canada hid Ind been ben lost the British hid r yr CLARA BARTON landed at Newport ind lud were ere threatening to cut cutoff off ocr New Neu 1 the MI Middle States were ere 5 swarm swarmIng arm lag with Tories who ho were ere giving aid to the British So certain was Lor Lord 1 Corn Corna a Ills that the thear war ar wis almost over o that he was packing up rip to return to I 1 Small wonder onder that Thomas Paine on December 10 should 1 write his Immortal words These arc the times limes that try men s 8 souls Certainly the great soul of the commander In chief wis lS SOl sorely ely tried trie In those dark darb days dais s lor the whole hole cause couse of liberty rested on his broad brond shoulders lIe 1 needed a victory Ictor needed it desperately If It It wito was lS to be saved ed i ed result of that desperate need was the decisIon to attack attach the mercenaries un under under under der Colonel It Hill 1 II with lIh whom hom Cot lIlli had garrisoned Trenton It was as at nt best n a gamble nut But Washington ashington took tool the and chance dunce and won I Athe At Atthe Atthe the Insl COl cot cost t of four men wounded and amnot 1 not one killed he I 1 upon the enemy U a i 10 loss of 22 killed hilled S 81 Si I wounded and captured priceless But Hut lie he did something more moro lie He won non on the prIce I less s advantage of time to recoup hIs Ills forces to tol l are the way wiy lY for Saratoga and the I rench tench ance and to save e the InC Intuit rat republic from dying d In In Its swaddling clothes That was ns S gift to the nation In 1776 S a Hut But It If Christmas 1776 was bright with vie Ic tory Christmas 1777 was as correspondingly dark durl with ft Ith despair 1 I or It was wis spent at nt Valley I ore ore or and onel on Christmas diy Ihy Washington ton noted In his orderly boot book tint that the army was hutted for Cor thE winter In cabins that were little more than plies piles of logs thrown n up lustily hastily around holes In the ground He lie also reported that at tills thIs time the army had Ind not not a n single hoof of any kind hind to slaughter and und D net t more than tinn lIt t twenty lie flue barrels or of flour Hour f Few men nn had more than tinn one shirt m un only the UK 1111 kAy of one ono and some nome none nit lit nil all Owing ing to the lack of blankets numbers II III I ill iii ro to sit up nil all nUit hv by Ores fires hair i 11 as Is this tills pl picture ture It deserves a place to In this li lor or the which jn r l o r ud nil his ragged starving star C Continentals give g tl ti t he tic nation tint that Christmas In 1777 was as an nn exam Ie he of fortitude and devotion which has been at ar to their countr countrymen men for a nil nd a half hilf and which should be an or all time to come S a a a 1 Sl Six years cars later another and a n brighter Christ da day dai came to George Washington ashington It was as lr h he year icar ear liS 1753 1783 The He wis won on On 9 4 4 the commander comm In chief bide bade fm fore e ell to his officers in the historic scene In tn ern In ew 1 ork lork city On Decem l r cr 23 In the statehouse nt at Annapolis he I stood tood lefore the lie Continental confess ess In mother another his one scene his scene Ills as commander In of the Continental army irmi Then rhen writes TohnI I In his George Geore Washington ashington elf a biography published last year icar ear b bi by the company On Christmas 1 I ve to e he set out from Annapolis tad md reached his belo beloved ed Mount ernon tint that lime ame diy day Ills IlIa aides ilker alker Dauid 1 1 ebb obb and ind D ld Di 1 e rode with him and theIr presence added to the gaiety of the Clu Christ Christmas It runs mas Illes In Washington hud had toys tois to s and bool books and other oilier ge gewgaws s a for the Custis children and the Christmas of 1783 nt at Mount lernon was as a n merry and hippy happy one S i e a t If 1783 wis a n happy one for the master of Mount Vernon Velnon Christmas 10 years ears later was suns ns a i 1 S sid sad one for the nation because or of him I lor or on December 14 1799 liOCI the mister master of Mount 1 croon ernon had died So the Christmas cele a fortnight later was as shallo shadowed eel by hy thE passing of one who ho had Ind been first In uric r first firstIn firstIn firstIn In i c e ice and first In the hearts of his countr country countrymen countrymen men But In hl the midst of their sorrow v they thy were mal lug log plans for Cor in ln enduring tribute to his memory On December 23 his Ills fellow John bun Marshall Introduced Into the United States house of representatives a n resolution pro prou pro u iding that hint a marble monument be erected b by bythe bithe the United States In the city citi dt of Washington However It was ns not until 1833 that several se erdl influential citizens of the 11 lie he by John all then chief justice just of the Supreme court of the United States organized the lie liea a 1 Monument society an and 1 financed construe construe- construction tion Uon ion of the memorial until It rose to the ht hel of feet flet but Lut another 15 years were ere to ding by before congress es gate gi l e suction to the project and ind another SO G e years us to elapse clipse before the monument was as to be completed Finally on December 0 1854 the capstone was as set In place and day of that year saw the foot sl aft pointing skyward ard to remind of oC the heIghts to w which hick had hall risen the mm man In whose honor this gift to the lie nation had bad been erected S 1 a e eThe The treaty of peace pene which was once such a 11 gift to the nation was as the Treaty of Client Ghent which In 1814 brought to i a close cloe e our second w war ar with Ith 1 I 1 Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities offered to arbitrate not because lecause of any fen cut desire for Cor world peace pence but because cessation would illow allow GI Creat eat to tier her strength against Prince 1 with Ith whom was as then But the offer olTer was disregarded und and for a year leir the war ar dr along In a n series of disasters to the American arms ed relle only bv by occasional victories at nt sea sen e 1 I was as bitterly opposed to the war ar and for forthe forthe the first time In our history long long before beCore South Souti i C trolina ewer er e er dreamed of It there was as a threat of secession In the pring spring of 1813 lIn Madison accepted Rus Itus sin sla s offer of mediation iud and 1 appointed James nO flay Hai ird and AIL Altert crt to join John Jolin Quincy Adams minister at nt St Petersburg ns as a puce pence III lice commissioners slut But I declined ti to lease ha la n ii party pirty to such an arrangement and made It known n tint that she would consider only direct I these hese were ere opined opened In Client lel lum In August A 1814 with witia Ith Jonathan and Henry Clay added to the American I rom then lien on progress s was slow The hid had been heen Instructed to make no concel concessions to the main linin demands of the lie Amer Ions Icons IDS but instead IntelI to try to Bain as many from ruin them as possible This Tills combined with Ith their arro lInt ant attitude irritated the Americana 1111 who ho were re er suspicious lolls of lly l every t tui- tui by y the lie I J specially was as this true of c Ad mis whose hObe e Irascibility Increased as the lon con d on and on and only the tact and ICY of Gallatin more than once sated sn sa It Horn from breaking up After n a deadlock that listed lasted for Cor some time theme thele lame carne flOm Dona America the news s of the him Ih defeat it lt I 1 his combined with Ith a change In the lie diplomatic situation In I which made It advisable for to conclude a 1 race Lace I as aa quickly as possible put ancud an cud to the wrangling of the peace commIssioners and on rue r r e an agreement was as reached 1 rom the he Am point of clew lew the pence was IS almost t us as unsatisfactory us as the lie war ar had 1 lie he Issue hsue of or of ol n was as not mentioned and settle settlement nut of iii Ion long standing disputes over r 1 t Iown les the e 1 Newfoundland fisheries and amid na Igl Lion don of the Mississippi was as wa postponed for Cor the I ut It did put an end to hostilities an and that lint was as the tho lie Christmas gift of the American commissioners to their nation nationS S a a When hen lien on Christmas rte r r e ISO Irs Mrs I Carson the tho wife Ife of oC n a farmer former In Madison county Kentucky gave cave birth to a son she little realized I that hers was as a Christmas gift to tho rho nation whose hose fame was to equal If not surpass that of her e Daniel Boon More than n a century later Inter one of her son s biographers Stanley Stan tan icy ley estal was as to record the lie day of her all tra allis tra all allas lS as the time when hen an under undersized dyed to towheaded handy bandy leed eyed blue blue e cd ed boy sped Into the world orld lustily with an uncontrolled excite which no liter later adventure could arouse In him Small bandy I legged leg ged cd blue e blue eyed d and sandy haired he rein rem lined Ined to the lie end of his days and to this tills unimpressive e appearance the sun lIMed added freckles Yet this ho boi bey t topically lIy backwoods as ashe ashe asIre he heas was as and no different from other lads of his Ills family and ind community was to exhibit K ra 5 a 4 v- v y yF af yr r F t ts thid s hid KIT CARSON such suh character display such buch competence competelle e and e such fame as to distinguish few fe other lone adventurers ad In history 1 his bo boys boy's name was as l Christopher Carson Curon Cars ou bet better better better ter known to hero pin m 10 boy boyhood boyhood boyhood hood as Kit hit Larl Carson Laron on hunter trapper fur 11 trader scout Indian lighter II and a man mun ten times more desen Ing of the title of pathfinder than tinn theman the theman theman man he guided the pompous strutting egotist 1 remonta remont a a a a a a a aI I If teen years ears after aCter Mrs Irs I Carson hind had presented her Christmas bUt to the nation a aNew New ew I mother orrel offered cd to it a U gift that was ns similar and nud yet et ast vastly different In many ways wi s In the lie lintton home In North Forth orth hs Miss on Christmas day di a baby was as born Ier Per hips If the child 1 had hUll been Jen a boy he ml might ht e ha followed follo In the footsteps of oC I ether ither Barton Carton who hind hall fought In the lie Resolution Ite under Mad lIall ayne 1 1 ne But Hut the baby was as a girl and anti although Clam Clata was liS destined to go to war nr It was as notto notto not notto to hel help cause couse pain and suffering 1 but to aile- aile slate Inte It It At the lie of the Ch II war ur she slie turned her Iter energies les to caring for the sick un and 1 wounded soldiers and led In the S corn com mission She lIe served sen ed In the army of the Ioto m mic IC aided tile the Anderson Ilse prisoners upon their release an 1 1 lifter after tint that was as ended endell ed nt at ashington the bureau of records of mIssing men and traced out the lie fate of nun men In 1567 she Il I 1 for the benefit of ol ollier her lier health and ii was as at ene ene a a when hen hc 1 I ma acu 11 war oar ar opened she hp joined at lit once nce In III the work orl of the H lied d Cross CroS society founded In helped 1 to organize or the hospital and ind nursed the sick and wounded wounded- 1111 elL Upon her return to tills thIs huts country in 1871 1873 she shein In iu i a nio mU to secum of the lied Hul ClU Cruss 9 bodd by the th United States 10 and finally during the tru lion of President Arthur S saw siw IW her labors labon rewarded reward rL ed she I 1 Clime president of the brinch lr mch of the society when hen It wa was all founded In 1 1882 In the lie great firs fires In Michigan she tended the work orl of succoring the afflicted and gIn gave c aid to the sufferers by the lion Is on the th Oho OhIO and Mississippi rl rivers ers In 1884 and at nt the th great Johnstown II Hood flood In 1 ISSO 89 bo So o to the end of her days d di lS s which came cime In WI 1912 Clam Clan r 1 Barton labored In the Interests r c r f the American lied Hed Cross Crocs and sufferers from dis astir today ii ho look 1001 to tint that gl greatest mother III the world orld for Cor lId aid In time tune of need canell can well ell J be grateful to the New I J n lund r for her herI gift to the nation nearly n a I I IbO C m by Ly Western W N iT a tr Union Ual I