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By Frank R. Stockton
Originally published in 1896
THE person whose story we are now about to tell
was not a Jerseyman ; but, as most of the incidents
which make him interesting to us occurred in
this State, we will give him the benefit of a few
years' residence here.
This was General Charles Lee, who might well
have been called a soldier of fortune. He was born
in England, but the British Isles were entirely too
small to satisfy his wild ambitions and his roving
disposition. There are few heroes of romance who
have had such a wide and varied experience, and who
have engaged in so many strange enterprises. He
was a brave man and very able, but he had a fault
which prevented him from being a high-class soldier;
and that fault was, that he could not bear restraint,
and was always restive under command of another, and,
while always ready to tell other people what they
ought to do, was never willing to be told what he
ought to do.
He joined the British army when he was a young
man; and he first came to this country in 1757, when
General Abercrombie brought over an army to fight
the French. For three years, Lee was engaged in the
wilds and forests, doing battle with the Indians and
the French, and no doubt he had all the adventures
an ordinary person would desire. But this experience
was far from satisfactory.
When he left America, he went to Portugal with
another British army, and there he fought the Spanish
with as much impetuosity as he had fought the
French and Indians.
Life was absolutely tasteless to Lee without
very strong sprinkle
of variety. Consequently he now tried
fighting in an entirely
different field, and went
into politics. He became a Liberal, and with
his voice fought the
government for whom
he had been previously
fighting with his sword.
But a few years of this satisfied him; and then he
went to Poland, where he became a member of the
king's staff, and as a Polish officer disported himself
for two years.
It is very likely that in Turkey a high-spirited man
would find more opportunities for lively adventure
than even in Poland. At any rate, Charles Lee
thought so; and to Turkey he went, and entered into
the service of the Sultan. Here he distinguished
himself in a company of Turks who were guarding a
great treasure in its transportation from Moldavia to
Constantinople. No doubt he wore a turban and baggy
trousers, and carried a great scimiter, for a man of
that sort is not likely to do things by halves when he
does them at all.
Having had such peculiar experiences in various
armies and various parts of the world, Lee thought
himself qualified to occupy a position of rank in the
British army, and, coming back to England, he endeavored
to obtain military promotion. But the government
there did not seem to think he had learned
enough in Poland and Turkey to enable him to take
precedence of English officers accustomed to command
English troops, and it declined to put him above such
officers, and to give him the place he desired. Lee was
not a man of mild temper. He became very angry at
the treatment he received, and, abandoning his native
country again, he went to Russia, where the Czar
gave him the command of a company of wild Cossacks.
But he did not remain long with the Cossacks. Perhaps
they were not wild and daring enough to suit his
fancy, although there are very few fancies which would
not be satisfied with the reckless and furious demeanor
generally attributed to these savage horsemen.
He threw up his command and went to Hungary,
and there he did some fighting in an entirely different
fashion. Not having any opportunity to distinguish
himself upon a battlefield, he engaged in a duel; and
of course, as he was acting the part of a hero of
romance, he killed his man.
Hungary was not a suitable residence for him after
the duel, and he went back to England, and there he
found the country in a state of excitement in regard
to the American Colonies. Now, if there was anything
that Lee liked, it was a state of excitement,
and in the midst of this political hubbub he felt as
much at home as if he had been charging the ranks
of an enemy. Of course, he took part against the
government, for, as far as we know, he had always
been against it, and he became a violent supporter of
the rights of the colonists.
He was so much in earnest in this matter, that in
1773 he came to America to see for himself how
matters stood. When he got over here, he became
more strongly in favor of the colonists than he had
been at home, and everywhere proclaimed that the
Americans were right in resisting the unjust taxation
claims of Great Britain. As he had always been
ready to lay aside his British birthright and become
some sort of a foreigner, he now determined to become
an American; and to show that he was in earnest, he went down to Virginia and bought a farm
there.
Lee soon became acquainted with people in high
places in American politics; and when the first Congress
assembled, he was ready to talk with its members,
urging them to stand up for their rights, and
draw their swords and load their guns in defense of
independence. It was quite natural, that, when the
Revolution really began, a man who was so strongly
in favor of the patriots, and had had so much militaryexperience in so many different lands, should be allowed
to take part in the war, and Charles Lee was
appointed major general.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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