THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 



101 



at Fort Schuyler, which stood on the site 

 of the present city of Rome, N. Y. On 

 August 2 a force composed of British and 

 Indians attacked the fort, which was de- 

 fended by Col. Peter Gansevoort with 

 some 600 men. In the afternoon rein- 

 forcements — 200 men of the Ninth 

 Massachusetts Regiment under Lieuten- 

 ant Colonel Mellon — arrived by way of 

 the Mohawk River from Albany, bring- 

 ing ammunition and supplies. 



They also brought with them news- 

 paper accounts of the newly enacted flag 

 resolution, and immediately the fort was 

 ransacked for material with which to 

 make the new national emblem. The am- 

 munition shirts of the soldiers furnished 

 the white stripes ; a red petticoat belong- 

 ing to the wife of one of the men sup- 

 plied the red stripes, and Captain Abra- 

 ham Swartwout's blue cloth cloak was 

 requisitioned to provide the blue field of 

 the union. 



In Avery's History it is set forth that 

 the flag was made on Sunday morning 

 and was displayed the same afternoon 

 from a flagstaff raised on the bastion 

 nearest the enemy. Then the drummer 

 beat the assembly and the adjutant gen- 

 eral read to the defenders the congres- 

 sional resolution "particularizing the in- 

 signia of the flag of the new republic." 



There are vouchers extant showing that 

 the Continental treasury reimbursed Cap- 

 tain Swartwout for the loss of his cloak, 

 but the red petticoat remained a gift of 

 the humble soldier's wife to the first of 

 the Stars and Stripes to undergo fire. 



FIRST SALUTE TO THE STARS AND STRIPES 



All Americans recall with especial 

 pleasure and pride that the first official 

 salute to the Stars and Stripes was ac- 

 corded by that nation to which, more 

 than to any other, the United States owes 

 its existence — France, the blood-ally of 

 our darkest days, now, in turn, valiantly 

 succored by us in her hour of sorest need. 



Again John Paul Jones figures as the 

 chief actor in this flag episode. He sailed 

 from Portsmouth on November 1, 1777, 

 as a bearer to France of the glad tidings 

 of the surrender of Burgoyne. Here is 

 the officer's own account, contained in a 



report to the Marine Committee of Con- 

 gress, of how the salute was obtained : 



"I am happy in having it in my power 

 to congratulate you on my having seen 

 the American flag for the first time recog- 

 nized in the fullest and completest man- 

 ner by the flag of France. I was off their 

 bay (Quiberon) that day, the 13th (of 

 February), and sent my boat in the next 

 day to know if the Admiral (Admiral 

 La Motte Picquet) would return my sa- 

 lute. He answered that he would return 

 me, as a senior American Continental 

 officer in Europe, the same salute which 

 he was authorized by his court to return 

 to an Admiral of Holland, or of any other 

 republic, which was four guns less than 

 the salute given. I hesitated at this, for 

 I had demanded gun for gun ; therefore 

 I anchored in the entrance of the bay, 

 at a distance from the French fleet, but 

 after a very particular inquiry on the 

 14th, finding that he had really told the 

 truth, I was induced to accept his offer, 

 the more so as it was an acknowledg- 

 ment of American independence. The 

 wind being contrary and blowing hard, 

 it was after sunset before the Ranger got 

 near enough to salute La Motte Picquet 

 with thirteen guns, which he returned 

 with nine. However, to put the matter 

 beyond doubt, I did not suffer the Inde- 

 pendence to salute until the next morn- 

 ing, when I sent word to the Admiral 

 that I should sail through his fleet in the 

 brig and would salute him in open day. 

 He was exceedingly pleased and returned 

 the compliment with nine guns" (see page 

 290). 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OE OUR COEORS 



America's most gifted poets and ora- 

 tors have vied with one another in setting 

 forth the significance of the red, the 

 white, and the blue of the Star Spangled 

 Banner. In the words of Henry Ward 

 Beecher : "A thoughtful mind, when it 

 sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag, but 

 the nation itself. And whatever may be 

 its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly 

 in the flag the government, the principles, 

 the truths, the history, that belong to the 

 nation that sets it forth. The American 

 flag has been a symbol of Liberty, and 

 men rejoiced in it. 



