Haym by George

By Jackson Grin and Spencer Grin

Many people know George is George Washington, the father of our country. Many, however, do not know the details of his brilliant career as a soldier, his stand on slavery, and his fervor in establishing the freedoms we hold dear. Nor do they know that despite his superb leadership we would have lost the revolutionary war and our chance to become an independent nation if it were not for foreign intervention.

Few know Haym Salomon, the savior of our country. Who was he, and why was he important?

He was a Jewish Polish immigrant who was mainly responsible for financing the American Revolutionary War. He was caught by the British and sentenced to death as an American spy. How he escaped the hangmans noose and became a friend of George Washington is part of the story.

George Washington said, Haym Salomon provided the funds for our army when everyone, including all the colonies, refused. If it were not for Haym Salomon, we could not have fought the Revolutionary War and won our independence, nor survived as a newborn nation.

The lives and times of George Washington and Haym Salomon are inextricably woven into the fabric of the Revolutionary War, our fight for independence, and the ideals upon which this nation was founded. This book, therefore, encompasses much of the magnificent contributions of these two patriots and the actual events that led to the difficult birth, and early survival, of the United States of America and the principles forever enshrined to protect our democracy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514487570

Jackson Grin

Jackson Grin is a history buff and a young and proud resident of Connecticut .This is his first historical novel. It is the story about the difficult birth of this nation and of two patriots, the founder, George Washington, and the savior, Haym Salomon, of these United States of America. Many great men such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Samuel Adams, to name but a few, also contributed much to the birth of this country. Particular attention is drawn to two Connecticut residents who made everlasting contributions for the freedoms we hold dear. One is the young Nathan Hale, who, at age twenty-one, gave his life for his country. The second is Roger Sherman, who devised the grand compromise that gave us the checks and balances, which is the basis for our democracy. Spencer Grin, JD, PhD, was a colleague of Norman Cousins and coauthored a biography about him entitled Why This Man Matters: Norman Cousins. He also wrote Meditation at Sunrise and coauthored The Golden Age Essays. He was the publisher of World Magazine and the Saturday Review and was a founder and former president of the National Society for Literature and the Arts. Additional information can be found at www.spencergrin.com.

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Copyright © 2016 by Jackson Grin & Spencer Grin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover Photos: George Washington, Haym Salomon

Rev. date: 05/23/2016

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1:    A Patriot Executed

Chapter 2:    The Search Begins

Chapter 3:    Sons Of Liberty

Chapter 4:    Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

Chapter 5:    The Shot Heard Round The World

Chapter 6:    The Impossible Trek

Chapter 7:    A Declaration Of Independence

Chapter 8:    New York Is Burning

Chapter 9:    The Sheer Brutality Of War

Chapter 10:    Valley Forge: Winter Of Discontent

Chapter 11:    Salomon Foils The Hangman

Chapter 12:    I Have Just Begun To Fight

Chapter 13:    The Mutiny

Chapter 14:    The Power Of Seduction

Chapter 15:    The Final Victory

Chapter 16:    The Connecticut Grand Compromise

Chapter 17:    Washington’s Stand On Slavery

Chapter 18:    The First Inaugural

Chapter 19:    To Bigotry Give No Sanction

Chapter 20:    The President Bids Farewell

Chapter 21:    Statues Honoring Salomon & Washington

Dedicated

to

The Family.

Although separated by generations, a unique magical bond exists within the family, with memories of Anne and Caron which are forever in our hearts.

The Family: All for one, and one for all.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

WE, THE AUTHORS, gratefully acknowledge with gratitude the contribution made by the teachers of the world who help to disseminate the vast trove of knowledge of the ages, and to the librarians and search engines for their repository of such knowledge.

Thanks also to Rita Joy Grin for her insightful comments during the composition of this work.

We owe a special note of gratitude to Mrs. Regina Krummel, a Professor of English, whose sage advice helped edit our manuscript.

PROLOGUE

MANY PEOPLE KNOW George is George Washington; the father of our country. Many, however, do not know the details of his brilliant career as a soldier, his stand on slavery, and his fervor in establishing principles of our democracy which we hold dear. Nor do they know that despite his superb leadership we would have lost the revolutionary war and our chance to become an independent nation, if it were not for foreign intervention.

Few know Haym Salomon; the savior of our country.

Who was he and why was he important?

He was a Jewish Polish immigrant who was mainly responsible for financing the American revolutionary war. He was caught by the British, and sentenced to death as an American spy. How he escaped the hangman’s noose, and became a friend of George Washington is part of the story.

George Washington said,

Haym Salomon provided the funds for our army when everyone including all the colonies refused. If it were not for Haym Salomon we could not have fought the revolutionary war and won our independence, nor survived as a newborn nation.

The lives and times of George Washington and Haym Salomon are inextricably woven into the fabric of the revolutionary war, our fight for independence, and the ideals upon which this nation was founded. This book, therefore, encompasses much of the magnificent contributions of these two patriots, and the actual events which led to the difficult birth, and early survival, of these United States of America, and the principles forever enshrined to protect our democracy.

CHAPTER 1

A PATRIOT EXECUTED

IT WAS A good year. It was a bad year. Like the vicissitudes of life, the ups and downs; the victories and defeats in a war do not conform to any calendar.

It was in the year 1775 that the American colonial army won an important battle during the revolutionary war and captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British. Shortly thereafter, in 1776, the British were victorious in a battle and gained control of New York City.

General George Washington, who had resigned his commission as the youngest colonel in the British army to lead the colonies in their fight for independence, stood in front of his officers in 1776, and asked for a volunteer to spy on the British.

Captain Nathan Hale steps forward and says,

General Washington, I volunteer for this mission.

Washington inquires,What credentials have you?

Captain Hale salutes; stands erect, and proudly responds.

My five brothers and I volunteered, and joined the militia to fight against the oppressive British empire. I graduated with first-class honors from Yale College at age 18, then proceeded to become a teacher in Connecticut. I became a member of the militia when the Revolution began and was appointed a lieutenant. I was promoted to captain. Although I am only 21 years old, I feel very well qualified to undertake this mission.

George Washington returns the salute and says,

I agree that you have the qualifications and patriotism to undertake this dangerous job. I hereby appoint you as an official spy for our side. Good luck and God speed.

Hale leaves, and goes into his own tent to make ready. A soldier arrives with a bag full of clothes and explains that he has been sent by General Washington to deliver a disguise.

You will be dressed as a Dutch schoolmaster, and will be able to fit in with the general population.

Hale takes out the clothes and puts them on. When he gets to the shoes he removes the silver buckles, and says to the soldier.

Silver buckles do not go with the outfit of a school teacher. Dressed in the proper attire, Nathan Hale starts on his mission to spy on the enemy.

He soon accomplishes his mission, and is on an American ship sailing across Long Island Sound from Norwalk, Connecticut. His ship is being chased by several British War Ships. Finally the American ship is surrounded and captured, and Nathan Hale is taken prisoner. He is in possession of secret British documents which indicate the number of Redcoats that are being assigned to fight the colonists, as well as their strategy in the Northeast. A British officer upon seeing these documents accuse him of being an American spy, and he is shackled and taken from the ship to prison where he is interrogated. After the interrogation he is taken by four armed redcoats, with his hands tied and legs shackled, in front of a British military tribunal which reviews the documents in his possession when he was caught. The senior member of the British Tribunal then pronounces sentence.

These documents show impressive undercover work. You are a sly and cunning man, but we have caught you in the act of transporting many British intelligence secrets. This is an act of espionage, and the sentence for such acts against the crown is execution.

Nathan Hale is then marched past a row of cells occupied by American prisoners. He recognizes Haym Salomon, the financial broker and one of the Sons of Liberty, who was also captured by the British and imprisoned. As he passes Salomon’s cell, he shouts out, Haym. Hearing his outcry one of the escorting redcoats deliver a blow to his head, with the admonition for Hale to remain quiet, and not talk.

They escort Hale past a number of other cells, and then unlock a door where another Redcoat stands guard in the special section of cells where prisoners facing death await the hangman’s noose. The four guards bring Hale to one of the empty cells and roughly push him inside.

The next day the guards come to escort Nathan Hale to the gallows. On his way past the cells Haym Salomon yells out from his cell,

"Captain Hale, be not afraid. Repeat after me, and Salomon starts reciting the 23rd psalm in a loud voice.

The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. The guards hearing the biblical recitation, out of respect, halt the march.

Nathan Hale is repeating the words, and the guards wait so that Salomon and Hale can complete the prayer.

He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Before Captain Hale could thank Haym Salomon, the guards start moving again, pushing Hale forward, and unlocking a door to the outdoors. They then escort Hale up the steps to the gallows where a noose is placed around his neck.

The executioner in a British uniform solemnly says,

On this day of September 22, in the year 1776, you will be executed for your acts of treason. Do you have any last words?

Captain Nathan Hale standing erect, and showing no signs of fear, speaks from his heart his most famous lines,

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

Back at the Continental army encampment a soldier enters General Washington’s tent, and in a glum voice says,

General Washington; I am sorry to be the bearer of very sad news. Captain Nathan Hale was captured by the British and hung, and Haym Salomon was also arrested and is in prison.

Washington in a slow and somber tone replies,

My God; what a tragedy. Hale was a young, bright, courageous and good man. Such is the nature of war; some of the best and brightest young men are cut down long before their time. He lost his life in service of his country, but the valuable information he passed on, before his capture, will save many lives. His valor and sacrifice will long be honored and remembered. I do hope that the same fate does not await our friend, Haym Salomon.

In the meantime Hyam Salomon becomes ill during his imprisonment. A guard noticing that Salomon is curled up on his bunk and is shivering enters the cell, and then reports to the British Commandant of the prison. Sir; one of the prisoners is severely ill with a high fever. The Commandant orders the transfer of Hyam Salomon with the words, We can not manage prisoners who are very ill. See to it that he is confined to Sugar House prison where there are facilities to handle sick and infirm prisoners.

Salomon, still shivering with a high fever is taken from his cell and put in a separate infirmary cell. As night falls Hyam Salomon’s fever is still raging. In his delirium he starts dreaming and thinking back to how far he had come from the days when he came to America to escape the antisemitic pogroms in Poland, and joined the Sons of Liberty to fight the oppression that the British empire had imposed on the colonies.

He had come to America penniless, and within a short time had become the leading broker and financier in colonial America.

But of course, even dreaming in his delirium and racked with fever, he could not imagine that almost two and half centuries later he would be the object of a search for his true role in America’s quest for independence.

CHAPTER 2

THE SEARCH BEGINS

A SIXTEEN YEAR old stamp collector, named Charlie, is sitting at a desk in the living room of his parent’s apartment in Brooklyn New York. It is spring in 2015. From his apartment, the East River is glistening in the sun, and the magnificent span of the Brooklyn Bridge can be seen. He is hunched over with a magnifying glass in his hand peering at a 1975 United States postage stamp. The inscription on the stamp says,

"Financial Hero, Businessman and Broker. Haym Salomon