CHAPTER VIII.

I)b their ragged regimentals Stood the old Continentals.
— " Lyric of the Revolution."
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day, Under the rose the blue.
Under the lilies the gray.
— " F'uneral Hymn."
In 1775, Washington was elected commander-in-chief of the American Army, and on the very same day that he received his commission, the battle of Bunker's Hill was fought, in which Major-General Joseph Warren, Gi-and Master of Massachusetts, lost his life. According to a national biographer. " this was the first grand offering of American Masonry at the altar of liberty, and the ground- floor of her temple was blood-stained at its eastern gate."
(General Washington Avas initiated in the Fredericksburg- Lodge, Virginia, in November, 1752. and became a Master Mason in August, 1753. In 1779 he declined the office of Grand Master of Virginia, but accepted that of Master of Alexandria Lodge, Xo. 22, in his native State, in 1788. As President of the United States he was sworn in — April 30, 1789 — on the Bible of St. John's Lodge, New York. In 1793 he laid the corner-stone of the Capitol, and is described in the official proceedings as " Grand Master pro. tern., and Worshipful Master of No. 22, of Virginia." His death occurred in 1799, and he was buried with Masonic honours on December 18th of that year. On the following day the news of his death reached Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting, and a national tribute was paid to his memory on the 26th of December. The Masonic Fraternity were
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among the chief mourners, and Major-General Henry Lee, a member of Congress and also a " brother," was the orator of the day. The now famihar words, "First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen," which so justly describe the estimation in which Washington was regarded by the American nation, were used on this occasion by General Lee in his address.
Henry Lee — father of the great Confederate General, Robert E. Lee — who was popularly known as " Light Horse Harry," commanded an independent partisan corps in 1778, and three years later joined the army of General Greene, in whose retreat before Lord Cornwallis, "Lee's Legion" formed the rear-guard.
Ten Lodges in all were at work in tlie American Army during the Revolution, the earliest of which, " St. John's Regimental " was granted a warrant by the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, in July, 1775.
"American Union" (p. 142) in the Connecticut Line, though of later date, was the first Lodge organised in the Continental Army, with which it is described as having moved as a pillar of light in parts of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Washington Lodge, in the Massachusetts Line — at whose meetings the Commander-in-Chief was a frequent visitor — -was constituted at West Point, in 1779. The first Master was General John Patterson, and the first Wardens Colonels (afterwards Generals) Benjamin Tupper and John Greaton.
Army Lodge, No. 27, in the Maryland Line, received a warrant from Pennsylvania, in 1 780. The first Master was General ^lordecai Gist, and the Wardens, Colonel (after- wards General) Otlio Williams and Major Archibald Anderson.
No records of the American Field Lodges of the Revolu- tion have been preserved, except a portion of the minutes of " American L^nion," and some returns of the " Washington Lodge." The latter merely inform us that in 1782, two hundred and fifty names had been borne on the roll of the Lodge. The former are of a more interesting character. The principal officers of the army, and the general in com- mand, are frequently named as visitors, and at all the
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banquets, while the fii'st toast was " Washington " or " Congress," the second was invariably — " Warren, Mont- gomery, and Wooster," followed by the Dead March.
Dr. Warren (p. 138) was the first man of distinction to lay down his life in the cause of American lil)erty. Richard Montgomer}' was of Irish l)irth, and after serving at Louis- burg, Martinique and Havana, entered the American Army as Brigadier-General, and was killed at the attack on Quebec in December, 1775.
The services of David Wooster as a naval and military officer extended over forty years, through four wars, with Spain, with France, with France again, and finally with England. He was mortally wounded, as a Major-General in the American Army, while leading an attack on the British troops in 1777.
There is an abundance of testimony to show that while Commander-in-Chief of the American Army, AVashington both countenanced the formation and encouraged the labours of the Army Lodges, that he found frequent oppor- tunities to visit them, and that he thought it no degradation to his dignity to stand there on a level with his brethren.
In December, 1777, the army retired to Valley Forge, and it was there — according to evidence which seems to be of a trustworthy character — that General Lafayette was initiated. The French officer, though he had been received very warmly and kindly by General Washington, experienced much uneasiness from the circumstance that he had never been entrusted with a separate command. During the winter he learned that there was a Lodge working in the camp. Time hanging heavily on his hands, and the routine of duty being monotonous, he conceived the idea that he would like to be made a Mason. His wish, on being made known to the Lodge, was soon gratified, the Commander-in-Chief being present and in the chair at the time of his initiation.
"After I was made a Mason," said Lafayette, "General W^ashington seemed to have received a new light. I never had from that moment any cause to doubt his entire con- fidence. It was not long before I had a separate command of great importance."
On the 27tli of December, 1779 — the head-quarters of
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the Amay being then at Morristown, New Jersey — "American Union Lodge" met to celebrate the festival of St. John. At this meeting a committee was appointed from the Lodges in each Line, and the Staflt of the Army, to consider the expediency of a General Grand Master being elected to preside over all the Lodges in the Kepublic. There were present on the occasion thirty -six members of "American Union" and sixty-eight visitors, one of whom was General Washington.
The Masons of the various Lines met three times in convention, and though the name of Washington as Grand Master designate does not appear in their address to the Army, yet it was formally signified to the Masonic governing bodies of America then existing, that he was their choice.
The idea of a General Grand Master or Superintending Grand Lodge has often been revived, but on no occasion, except when it was first mooted by the Army Lodges of the Revolution, with the faintest chance of being carried into effect.
The principal northern forces under AVashington Avere stationed on the banks of the Hiidson, near Newburg, during the winter of 1782. So well established, at this time, had the Camp Lodges become, and so beneficial in their influence, that an assembly-room or hall was bxiilt, to serve {among other purposes) as a Lodge-room for the Military Lodges. The scheme was entrusted to General Gates to carry into execution, and all the regiments were called upon for their quota of workmen and materials. The building was used for the first time in .the early pai't of 1783, and " American Union " met there in the June of that year, preparatory to celebrating with " Washington Lodge," at West Point, the festival of St. John.
A venerable brother. Captain Hugh Maloy, aged 93, residing at Bethel, in the State of Ohio, was still living in 1844, who had been initiated in 1782 in General Washington's marquee. On that occasion also, the General occupied the Master's chair, and it was at his hands that the candidate received the light of ^lasonry.
The following Generals of the Continental Army were among the Masonic compeers of the founder and first President of the United States : —
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Richard Caswell, who led the troo|)s of North Carolina— of which State he was afterwards governor and Grand Master — under General Gates, and was engaged at the disastrous hattle of Camden in 1780.
Mordecai Gist, who fought gallantly for his country from the commencement to the close of the Revolutionary War, was Master of Army Lodge, No. 27 ; president of the convention of Masons from the Military Lines at Morristown, New Jersey ; and, finally. Grand Master of South Carolina.
James Jackson, who served with distinction in the Continental Army, was afterwards Governor and Grand Master of Georgia.
Morgan Lewis, who accompanied General Gates as chief of the stafl' in the campaign of 1776, and commanded a division in the subsequent war with Great Britain in 1812-15, was Governor of New York in 1804, and Grand Master from 1830 luitil his death in 1844.
Israel Putman (p. 86) comm;inded a regiment in the expedition which captured Havana, and was a prominent figure in the war of the Revolution. His tombstone bears the inscription : — " He dared to lead where any dared to follow.'-'
Rufus Putman (p. 144), "the Father of the North-West," was for some time chief engineer of the American Army, and commanded a brigade under General Wayne in 1792. He was made a Mason in " American Union Lodge" in 1779, and elected Grand Master of Ohio in 1808.
John Sullivan, one of the most famous of the Generals of the Revolution, was elected Govei'uor of New Hampshire in 1786, and Grand Master in 1789.
Anthony Wayne, whose popular title was " Mad Anthony," won great renown by his captui'e of Stony Point (New York), only bayonets being used. He succeeded St. Clair in command of the Western Army, and gained a brilliant victory over the Miami Indians in 1794. A monument to his memory was erected by the Masonic fraternity at Stony Point in 1857.
The Baron de Kalb, mortally wounded at the battle of Camden, was buried with military and Masonic honours by his victorious enemies ; Count Casimir Pulaski, the famous
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cavalry leader, killed at Charleston iu 1779 ; and Benedict Arnold, whose unsurpassed gallantry and devotion during the earlier stages of the war, were, alas, totally obscured by the infamy which characterised his proceedings towards its close.
Commodore James Nicholson (an active member of the fraternity) was placed in 1776 at the head of the list of captains in the Continental Navy, a position which he retained until the close of the war. His brothers, Samuel and John, were also Masons and Naval captains. The former, who served with Paul Jones (p. 112), in the engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and Serajns, afterwards received the command of the frigate Deane, in which he cruised very successfully ; Stephen Decatur was a member of the same Lodge as Commodore James Nicholson, and like the latter a captain in the United States Navy from its first establishment. He commanded the Delaivare sloop of war, and afterwards the Philadelphia ; Commodore Edward Preble, a member of the "Ancient Landmark Lodge" in Portland (Maine), entered the Navy in 1779, and commanded the American Squadron at the bombardment of Tripoli, in 1804; and Commodore Whipple, a member of " American Union Lodge " during its early days at Marietta, who burned the Oaspe in 1772, one of the most brilliant officers of the land or sea service.
The first field Lodge after the Peace of Versailles (1783), was formed in the " Legion of the United States," com- manded by General Anthony Wayne, in 1793, and it is said that nearly all the members were killed in the Indian War. In 1814, some officers of the Northern Army applied to New York for a "marching warrant," which was referred to the grand officers, and later in the same year a Military Lodge was established by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, to be held wherever the Master for the time being should be stationed in the United States.
General Andrew Jackson at various times commanded armies in the field, but is best known in connection with his decisive victory over the British at New Orleans m 1815, which put an end to the war. He subsequently became President of the United States and Grand Master of Tennessee.
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General William H. Winder, who commanded on the losing- side at Bladensburg, the other eventful battle of the same war (1814), was elected Grand Master of Maryland in 1821.
Generals Stephen Austen, the liberator of Texas, and "Sam" Houston, the recognised hero of the Texan War of Independence, were Freemasons ; also Colonel David Crockett, backwoodsman and Member of Congress, who fought on the same side, and after a hard siege surrendered to General Santa Anna, by whose oi'der he was put to death with the other survivors in 1836.
Two or more Lodges accompanied the American Army during the Mexican War. The chief commanders. Generals Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, were not members of the Craft, but the latter alwa\-s entertained a high opinion of the Institution. Shortly after his inauguration as President of the United States, in 1849, he said that many of his personal friends and officers of the army with whom he had been associated were Masons, and that he should have been one himself had circumstances been more favour- able to his joining a Lodge, and he added, " I would do so now, but have got to be too old."
William J. Worth served during the last war with England, and was present at the actions of Chrystler's Farm, Chippewa, and Lundy's Lane. In 1842 he commanded the army which defeated the hostile savages in Florida, and subsequently greatly distinguished himself in the leading battles of the Mexican War. A moniiment was dedicated to his memory by the Grand Lodge of New York in 1857.
John A. Quitman, Grand Master of Mississippi, commanded a division of General Scott's army, and when the city of Mexico was taken, he was made its Governor until peace was proclaimed.
Field Lodges were freely established on both sides during the late Civil War, but the experience of that great conflict was decidedly unfavourable to their utility. The practice was to issue dispensations, and when the regiments in which they were held were mustered out of the service, or the individuals to whom they were granted returned to civil life, the Lodges ceased to exist. More than a hundred of these dispensations were issued during the war, the largest
222
number granted by any single Grand Lodge being thirty- three, which was the case in the State and Masonic juris- diction of Indiana. There are no Lodges in the standing army of the United States, and for this a sufficient reason will be found in the fact, that the few regiments of the Regular Army are generally — if not invariably — divided into small fractions, separated at widely different posts.
The brethren holding high military rank during the Civil War were very numerous, as may be imagined from the circumstance that " Miner's Lodge," No. 273, Galena (Illinois), consisting of about fifty members, alone supplied five Generals to the Federal Army. Among them were John A. Rawliugs (p. 89), Ely S. Parker, a Seneca Indian, and William R. Rowley (all of whom were on the Staff of General Grant), together with John Corson Smith, who served throudi all the grades from private soldier to general officer, and has since been Lieutenant-Governor and Grand Master of his State.
The following brethren commanded armies in the field : — George B. McClellan ; Winfield Scott Hancock, whose bayonet charge at Williamsburg won from McClellan the com- pliment, which became proverbial, that "Hancock was superb " ; N. P. Banks ; John A. McClernand ; John A. Logan ; George E. Pickett, who led the famous final assault on the Union lines at Gettysburg in 1863 ; Robert E. Patterson ; and Benjamin F. Butler, against whose life a plot was formed by Confederate prisoners, but given up on their learning that he was a Freemason. .
Among the Masonic veterans of the war, General James A. Garfield was, and Major William McKinley now is, the President of the United States. Generals Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumpter fame, and Albert Pike, scholar, orator, poet, and man-of-letters, were also of the Fraternity. The valuable library of the latter at Little Rock, Arkansas, was about to be destroyed by the Federal troops during the war, but General Thomas H. Benton (Grand Master of Iowa), in command of the Union forces, interposed, and, by making the house his head-quarters, not only preserved the library but also the residence.
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General Nelson A. Miles now commands the American army, and another General (and Mason), Paissell A. Alj^er, has just vacated the office of Secretary of War.
Dispensations for the formation of Military Lodges were issued by the Grand Lodges of Kentucky and North Dakota during the late Avar with Spain. Many prominent officers of the army and navy who took part in that short conflict are Freemasons, and among them General William R. Schafter and Admiral Schley, the former of whom com- manded the American land forces before Santiago de Cuba, and the latter the squadron which performed such brilliant service off the coast.
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