All Essays - The Border Trilogy, All The Pretty Horses,

All The Pretty Horses John Grady Cole, the last in a long line of west Texas ranchers, is, at sixteen, poised on the sorrowful, painful edge of manhood. When he realizes the only life he has ever known is disappearing into the past and that cowboys are as doomed as the Comanche who came before them, he leaves on a dangerous and harrowing journey into the beautiful and utterly foreign world that is Mexico. In the guise of a classic Western, All the Pretty Horses is at its heart a lyrical and elegiac coming-of-age story about love, friendship, and loyalty that will leave John Grady, and the reader, changed forever. When his mother decides to sell the cattle ranch he has grown up working, John Grady Cole and his friend Lacey Rawlins set out on horseback for Mexico, a land free of the fences and highways that have begun to invade west Texas, a land where the boys are not able to read the look in a man's eye. As they approach the Rio Grande, they are joined by the youthful and mysterious Jimmy Blevins, whose fine horse, hot-blooded temper, and talent with a pistol are as certain an omen of trouble as the desolate and forbidding landscape stretching out before them. In a violent and freakish thunderstorm, Blevins loses all his worldly possessions; and the foolhardy attempt to recover them soon brands the boys as horse thieves. On the run, they split up, with John Grady and Rawlins finding refuge on a hacienda where few questions are asked and a talent for breaking horses is still a source of honor, and where they fall into a routine as familiar to them as the shape of their saddles. At night, John Grady rides the patron's prized sire through the mountains beyond the hacienda in the company of Alejandra, the patron's beautiful daughter. But in a land as bound by honor and reputation as this is, the white-hot love between John Grady and this girl is as dangerous as anything they will face. When soldiers arrive to take John Grady and Rawlins away, the boys know it has nothing to do with Jimmy Blevins, but is instead because of some deeper, more elusive transgression that John Grady has committed in the name of love. With no one to plead their case, their fate is dire indeed. John Grady and Rawlins find themselves in a Mexican prison governed by stark violence. But in the hands of Cormac McCarthy this place takes on a dreamlike quality; it is not right or wrong, good or evil, but merely as inevitable a part of life as the sun setting in the West, something that must be faced in order for one to survive. All the Pretty Horses is the first volume in the Border Trilogy (the second volume is entitled The Crossing; and the third, The Cities of the Plain), and this name implies that the text is as much about the arid and desolate landscapes and blood-red skies of the great Southwest as it is about the people who inhabit the region. Together the land and sky form a lyrical tapestry that colors and alters the narrative in subtle and unexpected ways. John Grady's journey leaves him wiser but saddened, yet out of this heartbreak comes the resilience of a man who has claimed his place in the world. There is no record of John Grady passing through customs on his return to the United States, but we realize he has much to declare. Written with the lyricism that has made McCarthy one of the great American prose stylists, All the Pretty Horses is at once a bittersweet and profoundly moving tale of love, loss, and redemption and a stunning portrait of Mexico. of fate and the weight of manhood.

Major General John Stark in the American Revolution

Major General John Stark in the American Revolution The son of Scottish immigrant Archibald Stark, John Stark was born at Nutfield (Londonderry), New Hampshire on August 28, 1728. The second of four sons, he moved with his family to Derryfield (Manchester) at age eight. Educated locally, Stark learned frontier skills such as lumbering, farming, trapping, and hunting from his father. He first came to prominence in April 1752 when he, his brother William, David Stinson, and Amos Eastman embarked on a hunting trip along the Baker River. Abenaki Captive During the course of the trip, the party was attacked by a group of Abenaki warriors. While Stinson was killed, Stark fought the Native Americans allowing William to escape. When the dust settled, Stark and Eastman were taken prisoner and forced to return with the Abenaki. While there, Stark was made to run a gauntlet of warriors armed with sticks. In the course of this trial, he grabbed a stick from an Abenaki warrior and commenced attacking him. This spirited action impressed the chief and after demonstrating his wilderness skills, Stark was adopted into the tribe.   Remaining with the Abenaki for part of the year, Stark studied their customs and ways. Eastman and Stark were later ransomed by a party sent from Fort No. 4 in Charlestown, NH. The cost of their release was $103 Spanish dollars for Stark and $60 for Eastman. After returning home, Stark planned a trip to explore the headwaters of the Androscoggin River the following year in an attempt to raise money to offset the cost of his release. Successfully completing this endeavor, he was selected by the General Court of New Hampshire to lead an expedition to explore the frontier. This moved forward in 1754 after word was received that the French were building a fort in northwest New Hampshire. Directed to protest this invasion, Stark and thirty men departed for the wilderness. Though they did find any French forces, they did explore the upper reaches of the Connecticut River. French Indian War With the beginning of the French Indian War in 1754, Stark began to contemplate military service. Two years later he joined Rogers Rangers as a lieutenant. An elite light infantry force, the Rangers performed scouting and special missions in support of British operations on the northern frontier. In January 1757, Stark played a key role at the Battle on Snowshoes near Fort Carillon. Having been ambushed, his men established a defensive line on a rise and provided cover while the rest of Rogers command retreated and joined their position. With the battle going against the rangers, Stark was sent south through heavy snow to bring reinforcements from Fort William Henry. The following year, the rangers took part in the opening stages of the Battle of Carillon. Briefly returning home in 1758 following his fathers death, Stark began courting Elizabeth Molly Page. The two were married on August 20, 1758 and ultimately had eleven children. The following year, Major General Jeffery Amherst ordered the rangers to mount a raid against the Abenaki settlement of St. Francis which had long been a base for raids against the frontier. As Stark had adopted family from his captivity in the village he excused himself from the attack. Leaving the unit in 1760, he returned to New Hampshire with the rank of captain. Peacetime Settling in Derryfield with Molly, Stark returned to peacetime pursuits. This saw him acquire a substantial estate in New Hampshire. His business efforts were soon hampered by a variety of new taxes, such as the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, which quickly brought the colonies and London into conflict. With the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 and occupation of Boston, the situation reached a critical level. The American Revolution Begins Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 and the start of the American Revolution, Stark returned to military service. Accepting the colonelcy of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment on April 23, he quickly mustered his men and marched south to join the Siege of Boston. Establishing his headquarters in Medford, MA, his men joined thousands of other militiamen from around New England in blockading the city. On the night of June 16, American troops, fearing a British thrust against Cambridge, moved onto the Charlestown Peninsula and fortified Breeds Hill. This force, led by Colonel William Prescott, came under attack the next morning during the Battle of Bunker Hill. With British forces, led by Major General William Howe, preparing to attack, Prescott called for reinforcements. Responding to this call, Stark and Colonel James Reed rushed to the scene with their regiments. Arriving, a thankful Prescott gave Stark the latitude to deploy his men as he saw fit. Assessing the terrain, Stark formed his men behind a rail fence to the north of Prescotts redoubt on top of the hill. From this position, they repulsed several British attacks and inflicted heavy losses on Howes men. As Prescotts position faltered as his men ran out of ammunition, Starks regiment provided cover as they withdrew from the peninsula. When General George Washington arrived a few weeks later, he was quickly impressed with Stark. Continental Army In early 1776, Stark and his regiment were accepted into the Continental Army as the 5th Continental Regiment. Following the fall of Boston that March, it moved south with Washingtons army to New York. After aiding in bolstering the citys defenses, Stark received orders to take his regiment north to reinforce the American army that was retreating from Canada. Remaining in northern New York for much of the year, he returned south in December and rejoined Washington along the Delaware. Reinforcing Washingtons battered army, Stark took part in the morale-boosting victories at Trenton and Princeton later that month and in early January 1777. At the former, his men, serving in Major General John Sullivans division, launched a bayonet charge at the Knyphausen regiment and broke their resistance. With the conclusion of the campaign, the army moved into winter quarters at Morristown, NJ and much of Starks regiment departed as their enlistments were expiring. Controversy To replace the departed men, Washington asked Stark to return to New Hampshire to recruit additional forces. Agreeing, he left for home and began enlisting fresh troops. During this time, Stark learned that a fellow New Hampshire colonel, Enoch Poor, had been promoted to brigadier general. Having been passed over for promotion in the past, he was incensed as he believed Poor was a weak commander and lacked a successful record on the battlefield. In the wake of Poors promotion, Stark immediately resigned from the Continental Army though he indicated that he would serve again if New Hampshire was threatened. That summer, he accepted a commission as a brigadier general in the New Hampshire militia, but stated that he would only take the position if he was not answerable to the Continental Army. As the year progressed, a new British threat appeared in the north as Major General John Burgoyne prepared to invade south from Canada via the Lake Champlain corridor. Bennington After assembling a force of around 1,500 men at Manchester, Stark received orders from Major General Benjamin Lincoln to move to Charlestown, NH before joining the main American army along the Hudson River. Refusing to obey the Continental officer, Stark instead began operating against the rear of Burgoynes invading British army. In August, Stark learned that a detachment of Hessians intended to raid Bennington, VT. Moving to intercept, he was reinforced by 350 men under Colonel Seth Warner. Attacking the enemy at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, Stark badly mauled the Hessians and inflicted over fifty percent casualties on the enemy. The victory at Bennington boosted American morale in the region and contributed to key triumph at Saratoga later that fall. Promotion At Last For his efforts at Bennington, Stark accepted reinstatement into the Continental Army with the rank of brigadier general on October 4, 1777. In this role, he served intermittently as commander of the Northern Department as well as with Washingtons army around New York. In June 1780, Stark took part in the Battle of Springfield which saw Major General Nathanael Greene hold off a large British attack in New Jersey. Later that year, he sat on Greenes board of inquiry which investigated the betrayal of Major General Benedict Arnold and convicted British spy Major John Andre. With the end of the war in 1783, Stark was called to Washingtons headquarters where he was personally thanked for his service and given a brevet promotion to major general. Returning to New Hampshire, Stark retired from public life and pursued farming and business interests. In 1809, he declined an invitation to attend a reunion of Bennington veterans due to ill health. Though unable to travel, he sent a toast to be read at the event which stated, Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils. The first part, Live Free or Die, was later adopted as the state motto of New Hampshire. Living to the age of 94, Stark died on May 8, 1822 and was buried in Manchester.