True to the Old Flag - A Tale of the American War of Independence

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Informations

• Publié par: endu
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 22
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg EBook of True to the Old Flag, by G. A. Henty #22 in our series by G. A. Henty Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: True to the Old Flag A Tale of the American War of Independence Author: G. A. Henty Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8859] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 15, 2003] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG *** Produced by Distributed Proofreaders TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG A TALE OF THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE By G. A. HENTY Author Of "With Clive In India," "The Dragon And The Raven," "With Lee In Virginia," "By England's Aid," "In The Reign Of Terror," "With Wolfe In Canada," "Captain Bayley's Heir," Etc. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. A FRONTIER FARM II. AN INDIAN RAID III. THE REDSKIN ATTACK IV. THE FIGHT AT LEXINGTON V. BUNKER'S HILL VI. SCOUTING VII. IN THE FOREST VIII. QUEBEC VIII. QUEBEC IX. THE SURPRISE OF TRENTON X. A TREACHEROUS PLANTER XI. THE CAPTURE OF PHILADELPHIA XII. THE SETTLER'S HUT XIII. SARATOGA XIV. RESCUED! XV. THE ISLAND REFUGE XVI. THE GREAT STORM XVII. THE SCOUT'S STORY XVIII. THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH XIX. IN AN AMERICAN PRISON XX. THE WAR IN SOUTH CAROLINA XXI. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE PREFACE. MY DEAR LADS: You have probably been accustomed to regard the war between England and her colonies in America as one in which we were not only beaten but, to some extent, humiliated. Owing to the war having been an unsuccessful one for our arms, British writers have avoided the subject, and it has been left for American historians to describe. These, writing for their own countrymen, and drawing for their facts upon gazettes, letters, and other documents emanating from one side only, have, naturally, and no doubt insensibly, given a very strong color to their own views of the events, and English writers have been too much inclined to accept their account implicitly. There is, however, another and very different side to the story, and this I have endeavored to show you. The whole of the facts and details connected with the war can be relied upon as accurate. They are drawn from the valuable account of the struggle written by Major Steadman, who served under Howe, Clinton, and Cornwallis, and from other authentic contemporary sources. You will see that, although unsuccessful,—and success was, under the circumstances, a sheer impossibility,—the British troops fought with a bravery which was never exceeded, and that their victories in actual conflict vastly outnumbered their defeats. Indeed, it may be doubted whether in any war in which this country has been engaged have our soldiers exhibited the qualities of endurance and courage to a higher degree. Yours very sincerely, G. A. HENTY . TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG. CHAPTER I. A FRONTIER FARM. "Concord, March 1, 1774. "MY DEAR COUSIN: I am leaving next week with my husband for England, where we intend to pass some time visiting his friends. John and I have determined to accept the invitation you gave us last summer for Harold to come and spend a few months with you. His father thinks that a great future will, ere many years, open in the West, and that it is therefore well the boy should learn something of frontier life. For myself, I would rather that he stayed quietly at home, for he is at present over-fond of adventure; but as my husband is meditating selling his estate here and moving West, it is perhaps better for him. "Massachusetts is in a ferment, as indeed are all the Eastern States, and the people talk openly of armed resistance against the Government. My husband, being of English birth and having served in the king's army, cannot brook what he calls the rebellious talk which is common among his neighbors, and is already on bad terms with many around us. I myself am, as it were, a neutral. As an American woman, it seems to me that the colonists have been dealt with somewhat hardly by the English Parliament, and that the measures of the latter have been highhanded and arbitrary. Upon the other hand, I naturally incline toward my husband's views. He maintains that, as the king's army has driven out the French, and gives protection to the colony, it is only fair that the colonists should contribute to its expenses. The English ask for no contributions toward the expense of their own country, but demand that, at least, the expenses of the protection of the colony shall not be charged upon the heavily taxed people at home. As to the law that the colony shall trade only with the mother country, my husband says that this is the rule in the colonies of Spain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and that the people here, who can obtain what land they choose and till it without rent, should not grumble at paying this small tax to the mother country. However it be, I fear that troubles will come, and, this place being the head and focus of the party hostile to England, my husband, feeling himself out of accord with all his neighbors, saying a few loyal gentlemen like himself, is thinking much and seriously of selling our estate here and of moving away into the new countries of the West, where he will be free from all the disputation and contentious talk which occupies men's time here. "Indeed, cousin, times have sadly changed since you were staying here with us five years ago. Then our life was a peaceful and quiet one; now there is nothing but wrangling and strife. The dissenting clergy are, as my husband says was the case in England before the great