The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Matathon to Waterloo

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Harper & Brothers, 1851 - Battles - 364 pages

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Page 133 - Then leave the poor Plebeian his single tie to life — The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, and of wife, The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vexed soul endures, The kiss, in which he half forgets even such a yoke as yours. Still let the maiden's beauty swell the father's breast with pride; Still let the bridegroom's arms infold an unpolluted bride.
Page 325 - This article is inadmissible in any extremity. Sooner than this army will consent to ground their arms in their encampments, they will rush on the enemy determined to take no quarter.
Page 37 - The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow ; The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear ; Mountains above, Earth's, Ocean's plain below ; Death in the front, Destruction in the rear ! Such was the scene...
Page 170 - If this be so, the victory of Arminius Ac -32 to deserves to be reckoned among those signal deliverances which have affected for centuries the happiness of mankind; and we may regard the destruction of Quintilius Varus, and his three legions, on the banks of the Lippe, as second only in the benefits derived from it to the victory of Charles Martel at Tours, over the invading host of the Mohammedans.
Page 4 - The victory of Charles Martel has immortalized his name, and may justly be reckoned among those few battles of which a contrary event would have essentially varied the drama of the world in all its subsequent scenes ; with Marathon, Arbela, the Metaurus, Chalons, and Leipsic.
Page 319 - ... in making bridges and temporary causeways, the British army moved forward. About four miles from Saratoga, on the afternoon of the 19th of September, a sharp encounter took place between part of the English right wing, under Burgoyne himself, and a strong body of the enemy, under Gates and Arnold. The conflict lasted till sunset. The British remained masters of the field ; but the loss on each side was nearly equal (from five...
Page 319 - Clinton embarked about 3000 of his men on a flotilla, convoyed by some ships of war, under Commander Hotham, and proceeded to force his way up the river. The country between Burgoyne's position at Saratoga and that of the Americans at Stillwater was rugged and seamed with creeks and watercourses ; but after great labor in making bridges and temporary causeways the British army moved forward. About four miles from Saratoga, on the afternoon of the...
Page 283 - I know the danger, yet a battle is absolutely necessary, and I rely on the bravery and discipline of the troops, which will make amends for our disadvantages.
Page 308 - The time will therefore come when one hundred and fifty millions of men will be living in North America,* equal in condition, the progeny of one race, owing their origin to the same cause, and preserving the same civilization, the same language, the same religion, the same habits, the same manners, and imbued with the same opinions, propagated under the same forms. The rest is uncertain, but this is certain ; and it is a fact new to the world — a fact fraught with such portentous consequences as...
Page 307 - This gradual and continuous progress of the European race toward the Rocky Mountains has the solemnity of a providential event ; it is like a deluge of men rising unabatedly, and daily driven onward by the hand of God.

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