\nThis is the time of year when boys and girls in our junior high school\u00a0have been thinking about the kind of course they wi II choose to complete their\u00a0high school education. Most of them must make a preliminary choice when they\u00a0enTer the ninth grade, the last year at junior high. The choice muST be defini\u00a0Te when they enter the first year at sen i or high schoo I.<\/p>\n
The choi ce these young peop Ie mu.st make is between the co liege preparatory\u00a0course and one of the other courses designed for those who are not going to college.\u00a0Li steni ng to thi s program toni ght must be a number of persons who know\u00a0some boy or gi r I now in juni or high school, a young person whom you can i nf I uence\u00a0to make the right choice.<\/p>\n
There are certa i n Iy some boys and girl s who ought not to choose the co liege\u00a0preparatory course. One ought to be sure that his chi Id is mentally capable of\u00a0pursuing a college program, with its concepts of abstractions, its demand for\u00a0the correlation of knowledge, and iTS value judgments. But in this respect it\u00a0is easy to make a mistake. Many a boy whom his teachers have thought too dul I\u00a0to go TO co liege has, by perseverance and hard work, earned a co liege degree,\u00a0and too many toys with high intelligence quotients have failed in college. If\u00a0my 35 years as col lege teacher and administrator have taught me anyThing, it is\u00a0that I ack of abi Ii ty is not the ch i ef cause of fa i lure in college. What predominantly\u00a0causes fai lure is lack of motive. When a young man or young woman believes\u00a0that the game is not worth the candle, when he or she has no drive for\u00a0the task, di saster looms.<\/p>\n
Never before in our national history has there been such a demand for college\u00a0trai ned youth. More and more of them are goi ng to college every year. But\u00a0we are sti II missing a lot of them who ought to go. But it is no use To drive\u00a0them there. It is our job, rather, to he I p These boys and gi r Is understand,\u00a0while they are still in junior high school, that a college education assures\u00a0them of considerable advantage in our modern, highly competitive society, but\u00a0that those four years in college mean, not four years of sophisticated loafing\u00a0at a kind of academi c country club, but four years of hard work, four years\u00a0spent in the mastery of ideas, in persistenT use of man’s sharpest instrument,\u00a0his brain. If a boy or girl loafs through high school, the chances are thaT he\u00a0or she wi II try to loaf through college. There was a time when that could be\u00a0done. But today 1 when every college is fi I fed to overf lowing, when in our best\u00a0col leges three out of every four app I i cants must be turned away, when there is\u00a0always someone else ready to take the loafer’s place, loafing through college\u00a0isn’t easy. So, tell these young friends of yours, unless they are ready TO\u00a0show by hard work in their col lege preparatory course in senior high school that\u00a0they have developed a habit of academic work, any college to which they may apply\u00a0wi II be very skepti ca I about the i r i ntenTi on to work hard in co liege.<\/p>\n
What about the fi nanci a I barrier to a college education? Must a young person\u00a0gi ve up the dream of college because of I ack of money? want to di scuss\u00a0that subjeCT with you next week. But tonighT I promised you the story of Asa\u00a0Redington’s experiences at Yorktown, so let us now return to that leading ciTizen\u00a0of WaTe rvi II e, as he appeared in the Revo I ut i onary Arf!rY in 1781.<\/p>\n
Toward the end of August in 1781 Asa Redington’s regiment sai led from Annapolis\u00a0for the mouth of the James River in Virginia. It was not the first Time\u00a0Asa had been at sea in one of the old tubs of Revolutionary days, and he was\u00a0probably nOT too much surprised when the sloop, its hold laden with hogsheads\u00a0of tobacco, sprang a leak and had to make harbor somewhere on the Virginia shore.<\/p>\n
Asa was nOT qui te sure of the name of the p I ace, but thought it was ca lied Porpoise\u00a0Harbor. There the sloop was abandoned as unseaworthy. Asa’s regimenT\u00a0pitched their tents on the shore and, as soldiers have done in thousands of\u00a0years of warfare, lived off the country. In th i s case the I i vi ng was good, for\u00a0Asa said of it: “We procured plenty of provisions from the farmers around us\u00a0and lived like he roes for about a week, when we aga i n emba rke din anothe r 0 I d\u00a0hulk and set sai I for the mouth of the James River, which we reached in two\u00a0days.”<\/p>\n
Asa comments That the sight which greeted them when they reached the James\u00a0River was the impressive array of the French Fleet under a commander whom Asa\u00a0ca lIs the “Count de Grape”. Asa meant the Count de Grasse, who’ had agreed wi th\u00a0George Washington That his fleet would set up a nava I blockade of Yorktown,\u00a0whi Ie the troops of de Grasse’s ships went ashore to join the other French\u00a0forces under Lafayette.<\/p>\n
In order to inTerpret Asa Redington’s comments on his subsequent days near\u00a0Yorktown, let us see what history has to say about That last great action of\u00a0the Revolution. De Grasse’s fleet arrived off Yorktown on August 30. Lafayette’s\u00a0force, augmented by the troops from deGrasse’s ships, hemmed in Cornwa\u00a0II i s by land. Then on September 5 the Briti sh made a desperate effort to relieve\u00a0Cornwal lis. A British fleet under Admiral Graves appeared off shore, and\u00a0de Grasse sai led OUT to give battle. After one sharp, indecisive action, the two\u00a0fleets maneuvered for advantage, unt i I Count Barras, wi th a French squadron from\u00a0Newport, suddenly reinforced de Grasse’s fleet. Before such superior numbers,\u00a0Graves was forced to retreat, leavi ng the French in command of the sea off Yorktown.<\/p>\n
Cornwallis’ fate was now sealed. De Grasse sent ships up Chesapeake Bay\u00a0to b ring the fu II STrength of the forces unde r Wash i ngton and Rochambeau to Wi 1-\u00a0liamsburg, where they were all assembled by September 24. On the 28th the whole\u00a0force of 9,000 Americans and 7,800 French marched from Williamsburg to begin the\u00a0siege of Yorktown. On the 30th they forced the British to abandon their outer\u00a0fortifications, thus permitting the attackers to bring up siege guns capable of\u00a0hammering all parts of the river line by October 9. On the 14th an American\u00a0regiment under the command of A lexander Ham; Iton captured ten important redoubts\u00a0on the right of the British line. Seeing his position to be hopeless, Cornwa\u00a0I lis planned to escape by p u I ling hi senti re force across “the York Ri ver) but\u00a0nature interfered. A heavy storm forced him to abandon the plan, and on October\u00a017 he opened negotiations for surrender. The papers were signed on the 18th and\u00a0finally on the 19th of October, 1781 the British force of 8,000 men laid down\u00a0thei r arms.<\/p>\n
Such is the account of “the historians. Now let us see what this al I looked\u00a0like, whi Ie it was happening, from the viewpoint of a common soldier in Washington’s\u00a0army. Asa says that, soon after his regiment’s arrival, they were employed\u00a0in dragging up heavy cannon to be used in the siege of Yorktown; then\u00a0they ma rche d to j oi n the o”the r troop s wh i ch we re as semb lin g be fore the town. I t\u00a0was then early in October. !’We were at once set to work”, wrote Asa, t;making\u00a0fasci ne ga Ileries preparatory to the .si ege.” Now what were fasci ne ga Ileri es?\u00a0Fasci ne is a word deri ved from the Latin Tffasces”, the bund Ie of sti cks or fagots\u00a0wh i ch was one of the symbol s of authori ty in repub I i can Rome. In f’ledi eva J\u00a0and early modern warfare the word was applied to a long bundle of sticks tied\u00a0together and used in bui Iding earthworks. What Asa Reding”ton and his comrades\u00a0were doing was bui Iding earthworks behind which the attacking batteries could\u00a0functi on.<\/p>\n
Fasci ne was a I so used ins trengthen i ng the upper face of a trench, as is\u00a0made clear by Asa’s next assignment. H3 says, “I was one of a trenching party\u00a0that marched on the ground about 9 o’clock one dark night. Besides my knapsack,\u00a0gun and bayonet, I took on my shoulder a bunch of fascine and an entrenching\u00a0shovel. We began digging where a line of white pine strips had been laid on the\u00a0ground to mark the course of the trench. We formed in line, “three feet apart,\u00a0laid down our arms and knapsacks, and began to break ground. The soi I was light\u00a0and sandy and we made quick work of the job. By daylight we had thrown up a\u00a0mound of earth I1’Ore than’ half a mi Ie long, drgging a trench four feet deep and\u00a0eight feet wi de, comp I ete I y coveri ng us from Sri ti sh she I Is.”<\/p>\n
Do you remember the phrase in the Star Spang led Banner, ‘~bombs b ursti ng in\u00a0air”? Of course Francis Scott Key wrote those lines about the War of 1812, but\u00a0what he meant occurred also in the Revolution and is made clear by the following\u00a0comment of Asa Redington’s: “During the night, whi Ie we were digging, the\u00a0British sent up many skyrockets, which burst high in the air, giving a great\u00a0light. Their purpose was to discover any intruder, but somehow they fai led to\u00a0see us unti I day light, when the fact of our comp leted trench confronted them.!f<\/p>\n
Now let us see what Asa says about the capture of the critical positions, \u00a0the two redoubts: “The enemy had two redoubts some di stance from the ma i n batteries,\u00a0which constantly annoyed us with their cannon. Orders were given to\u00a0storm those redoubts in the night. The one nearest the French lines was assigned\u00a0as thei r task, and the other was to be assaulted by the Americans under Colonel\u00a0Ham; Iton. Both parties rushed to the attack at about the same moment on a dark\u00a0night. was with Hami Iton’s party and entered the works with him. The enemy\u00a0had time to fire only one volley, which did little execution. think we lost\u00a0on lye i ght men. The works were qui ck I y carri ed and a II the enemy in them, except\u00a0a few were captured. We were not permi tted to load a musket, but depended\u00a0wholly on the bayonet. The French were not as lucky as we were. They met with\u00a0stronger resi stance, lost many men, but fi na II y won the posi ti on. f!<\/p>\n
Asa te lis us how sh i rkers or cowards were treated in his regi ment. t-e\u00a0wrote: trA man named Lewi s, a sergeant in our regiment and a fi ne port Iy looki ng\u00a0man, rather given to boasting of his powers, was one of our attacking party under\u00a0Hami Iton. At the enemy’s first fire Lewis dropped to the ground and sang\u00a0out, ‘Oh, God, I am a dead man.’ Wi thout heedi ng him at al I, we passed ri ght\u00a0over him to the assault. After we had won the fight and some order had been\u00a0restored, men were sent back to pick up the dead and wounded. Lewis was not to\u00a0be found, but the next morning he showed up, safe and sound, without a scratch\u00a0on him. This was too much to be passed over in si lence. Our company commander,\u00a0Captain Chase, ordered a large wooden sword, which was slun~ to Lewis’ side with\u00a0a cord line, and without other arms he was compelled to pass through the American\u00a0I j nes under guard, and exp I a into every off i cer he passed, ‘I wear th is for\u00a0cowardice’. This was cutting punishment indeed. Lewis was immediately taken\u00a0sick and in about a week he was dead.”<\/p>\n
At one point in his memoirs Asa Redington refers to the general who. after\u00a0the war, was to become an important citizen of Maine, the proprietor of the vast\u00a0Waldo lands~ and the bui Ider of a mansion at Thomaston. I refer of course to\u00a0General Henry Knox. When Asa noticed the general, that dignitary was undignifiedly\u00a0flat on his back. But let Asa tell it in his own words: ~’One afternoon,\u00a0sitting in The redoubt we had captured from the enemy, one of their shel Is fel I\u00a0not six feeT away, whirled on the ground and rol led along with the fuse spurting\u00a0fire. Every man of us, including General Knox, threw himself flat on the qround.<\/p>\n
In a few seconds the shel I burst without injuring anyone. As it fel I it destroyed\u00a0a lantern which was slung to the side of the man next to me, but it left the\u00a0man unharmed. I had been on my stomach. When I turned over and raised my head,\u00a0the first thing I saw was the big stomach of General Knox~ who lay prone on his\u00a0back. Knox picked himself up, shook off the dirt from his fat side and lauqhed\u00a0hearti Iy.”<\/p>\n
With his own eyes Asa Redington saw the white flag raised by the British on\u00a0October 17, indicating their readiness to talk terms of surrender. Then on the\u00a019th came the great capitulation. Let us see how Asa Redington described it:<\/p>\n
“The Br it ish marched out on the great road. On one side of that road were formed\u00a0the French troops, on the other side the Americans, the two lines facinq each\u00a0other. The British, formed in platoons, marched between these lines with\u00a0shouldered arms. They were hearty looking men, but appeared very cross and sullen.\u00a0The lines extended fully half a mi Ie. The British passed throuqh to the\u00a0end, grounded their arms, and retired unarmed back to Yorktown, feeling, I think,\u00a0very cheap. We were given <\/em>strict orders to speak not a single word, nor make\u00a0any gesture of triumph, and that order was strictly obeyed. Rt<\/p>\n Asa Red i ngton rema i ned at Yorktown for two weeks afte r the s urrende r, as\u00a0one of the guards keeping order in the badly shel led town; then on board a\u00a0French frigate he was transported to Annapolis. On board small pox broke out \u00a0and raised havoc <\/em>with the men. Asa and 70 others who had not yet come down with\u00a0the disease, but, like everyone else on board, had been exposed to it, were put\u00a0ashore in Virginia, where they made their way overland. As one by one they took\u00a0sick and several died, they made their way through Baltimore and Wi Imington to\u00a0Phi ladelphia, where Asa, now himself stricken with sma I I pox, was sent with two\u00a0companioas, Turner and Lord, to a hospital. With sma I I sacks of straw thrown on\u00a0the floor for beds, the three soldiers were placed side by side with Redington\u00a0in the middle. When Asa regained a few moments of consciousness the next morning,\u00a0he learned that both Lord and Turner were dead. Somehow Asa clung to life\u00a0and was able to leave the hospital in February, four months after the surrender\u00a0at Yorktown. Then WiTh four companions he made the long, arduous trek overland\u00a0to join his old regiment, now stationed at Saratoga, New York. He arrived at\u00a0Saratoga in March, 1782 and remained there, on the very <\/em>ground of Burgoyne’s\u00a0surrender five years before, unti I November.<\/p>\n The following March, when Asa was back again at West Point, news came of\u00a0signing of the treaty of peace between England and the United States. Certainly\u00a0Asa cou I d now go home, but it was not so soon to be. He te I I s us: TfSoon after\u00a0we received news of the treaty, the men who were engaged for the duration of the\u00a0war were discharged and returned to their homes. But those of us who had made\u00a0three year en Ii stmenTs must rema in unti lour terms exp i red.”<\/p>\n So from West Point Asa was transferred to Princeton, where he was in November,\u00a01783, when Washington broke up his quarters there, and went to West\u00a0Point to make his farewel I address to the Army. Then Asa tel Is how his army\u00a0career at I ast came to an end. rlSo Wash i ngton set his face towards Mount Ve rnon\u00a0in Vi rgi n i a. My regi ment went at once to West Poi nt, where on “_December 23,\u00a01783 I was di scharged from the Army of the United States, of America.”<\/p>\n We I I, there you have ita I I — the story of a pr i vate so I d i er in George\u00a0Wash i ngton ‘s army of the Revo,1 ution. No wonder Watervi lie, Ma i ne is proud of\u00a0such a man.<\/p>\n Year: 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #341, Broadcast June 9, 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}