on the original status. The terms were accepted, and the party set out for Fort Bowie. On 29 March the Indians escaped to the mountains. Gen. Sheridan became dissatisfied, and, as Gen. Crook asked to be relieved, Gen. Nelson A. Miles took his place. The instructions given to the latter called for the ceaseless pursuit of the hostile Indians, and suggested “the active and prominent use” of the “regular troops” of the command. Then began one of the most exhausting and prolonged Indian campaigns on record. The Chiricahuas were followed with such sleuth-like pertinacity that even the endurance of the red men found its limit. The hardy old chief was given no time to rest or recruit; his followers were forced to keep moving until they yielded. But, even when reduced to such straits, Geronimo succeeded in making terms with his captors. When the news was received in Washington, it was supposed that the surrender was unconditional, and the president consequently ordered that the band should be kept as prisoners until they could be tried for their crimes or otherwise disposed of. It was subsequently ascertained that the “hostiles” had stipulated that they should be sent out of Arizona, and Gen. Miles had ordered them taken to Fort Marion, at St. Augustine. This order was countermanded by the president, and Geronimo and his fourteen adult companions were sent to Fort Pickens, Fla., where they now are (1887).
GERRY, Elbridge, statesman, b. in Marblehead, Mass., 17 July, 1744 ; d. in Washington, D. C., 23 Nov., 1814. His father, Thomas Gerry, came from Newton, England, to this country in 1730, and established himself as a merchant in
Marblehead. Elbridge was graduated at Harvard in 1765, and the subject for master's degree assigned to his class at the annual commencement afforded him an opportunity, under the guise of discussing the right of a people to evade ruinous innovations in trade and revenue laws, to give his
views on the principles of the stamp-act and the other oppressive revenue measures that had been lately enacted by the British government. Gerry, on leaving college, entered commercial life, and in a short time had amassed a considerable fortune. His public career began in 1773, when he sat in the general court of Massachusetts bay, as the representative of Marblehead, and from this time until
his death in 1814 he was, with short interruptions, in continuous piiblic life. In 1773 the assembly appointed a committee of correspondence, consisting of Hancock, Orne, and Gerry, whose duty it should be to keep informed on all governmental acts relative to the British colonies, and communi-
cate with the sister colonies thereupon. Gerry
was an active member of this committee, and
warmly supported Samuel Adams in his dealings
with Gov. Hutchinson. In 1774, despite the pro-
hibitory order of Gov. Gage, an assembly election
took place, and the delegates convened at Salem,
but adjourned first to Concord and then to Cam-
bridge. The members organized as a provincial
congress, and held sessions thereafter annually at
Cambridge and Watertown. Gerry was a conspicuous member of this revolutionary body, and as a committee of safety and supplies attended to
the collection of ammunition and provisions for
the militia. He drafted a bill, which was adopted
in 1775, providing for the fitting out of privateei's
and the establishment of an admiralty court for
the adjudication of prizes. The putting into
effect of this measure was the initiatory step to-
ward a national navy. In Janiiary, 1776, Mi-.
Gerry was chosen a delegate to the Continental
congress. Associated with him on the Massachu-
setts delegation were Hancock, the Adajnses, and
Paine. He acted on the standing committee on
the treasury, on that for providing the means of
furnishing supplies to the army, on the issue of
bills of credit, on the best methods of conducting
the business of legislation in congress, and others.
The committee on supplies, consisting of Sherman,
Gerry, and Lewis, attended Washington at his
headquarters near New York, to inquire into the
necessities of the troops and the best means of sup-
plying their wants, and as a result of their mission
some measures of reform in regard to furnishing
clothing, in the system of appointments and pro-
motions, in the enlistment of the militia, in tlie
administration of the quartermaster-general's de-
partment, and in the plan of hospital establish-
ments, were approved by congress. Mr. Gerry
early advocated the scheme for declaring the inde-
pendence of the colonies, and, when the proposi-
tion was before congress, promoted the passage of
the measure with all his powers of argument,
seconding at the final stages the motion for adop-
tion, and affixing his signature on its enactment.
Congress convened at Philadelphia, 4 March, 1777,
and Gerry attended the entire session, during
which he reported a resolution authorizing the
seizure of private property on the presentation of
certificates of value, as a substitute for the wretch-
ed system of supply, which had thrown on the
country a flood of depreciating currency. The
congress, having little appreciation of the embar-
rassments of the army, sent out a committee, com-
posed of Morris, Gerry, and Jones, to examine
Washington at his post on the Schuykill with re-
gard to the prosecution of a winter campaign to
make up for the
losses of the sum-
mer and autumn
of 1777. Their -
report expressed
some dissatisfac-
tion, conveying
the idea that a
more vigorous
exei'tion of the
military power
might be made.
The plottings of
the "Conway ca-
bal" had, without
doubt, an effect
upon the congres-
sional committee,
An image should appear at this position in the text. A high-res raw scan of the page is available. To use it as-is, as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/664}}". If it needs to be edited first (e.g. cropped or rotated), you can do so by clicking on the image and following the guidance provided. [Show image] |
but it is improbable that they contemplated lending themselves to the schemes for Washington's overthrow. The Massachusetts members did not escape from the charge of complicity, but Gerry's correspondence shows that the imputation was unfounded in his case, although he cherished resentment at the opposition of the army to congressional promotions. Mr. Gerry is credited with having, during this session, devised the plan of operations for Gates's campaign against Burgoyne.