Page:Historic towns of the southern states (1900).djvu/42

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

soldiers from Puritan New England. The name of Wilmington brings to mind the daring exploits of the blockade-runners; that of Charleston recalls the heroic defence of Fort Moultrie, the occupation by the British, the threatened bloodshed of the Nullification crisis, the capture of Sumter and the magnificent resistance offered the Federal arms throughout the Civil War. Like Charleston, Savannah can tell of encounters with Spaniards and British undergone gloriously by her sons, although she doubtless does not yet relish having been Sherman's Christmas gift to the nation. Mobile and New Orleans are forever associated with the illustrious name of Farragut, and the latter can boast of being the scene of the most splendid victory in our annals, that won by Jackson and his backwoodsmen over the picked troops of Wellington. As for the great siege of Vicksburg that set the seal upon Grant's fame, or for the battle of Nashville that gave almost equal renown to Thomas, men will not forget them even when Tolstoi's dreams of universal peace have become a blessed reality.

But peace hath her victories no less renowned than war, as these chapters all tell us in