Will Carleton was born in Hudson, Michigan, October 21, 1845. He is best known by his domestic ballads, “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse” and “Betsey and I Are Out.” The “Neutral Ground” of the poem--Westchester County, New York--was so called because it was held neither by the British nor the American armies during the Revolutionary War. This locality is the scene of some of the most stirring passages in Cooper’s _Spy_. =Last stanza.= =Putnam.= See “Mary Butler’s Ride.” 9. THE SONG OF MARION’S MEN. By William Cullen Bryant. William Cullen Bryant, “the father of American song,” was born in Cummington, Massachusetts, November 3, 1794. For fifty years he was the editor of the New York _Evening Post_. He died in New York City, June 12, 1878. In “Thanatopsis” and “To a Waterfowl” his genius finds its highest expression. Francis Marion, one of the most noted partisan leaders of the Revolution, was born near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1732. He was of Huguenot ancestry. He took part in the Cherokee war of 1761, and rendered conspicuous service throughout the struggle of the colonies for independence, particularly during the last two years. It is said that the brilliant British cavalry leader, Colonel Tarleton, first gave him the name of “swamp-fox.” He died at his plantation near Eutaw, South Carolina, in February, 1795. 10. HOW WE BURNED THE “PHILADELPHIA.” By Barrett Eastman. Barrett Eastman, a Chicago journalist, was born in Chicago, January 25, 1869. “The destruction of the _Philadelphia_, which Lord Nelson, then commanding the British blockading fleet off Toulon, called ‘the most bold and daring act of the age,’ was effected on the night of February 9, 1804. In the party, numbering but seventy-five officers and men all told, were Stephen Decatur, Jr., James Lawrence, Joseph Bainbridge, Thomas Macdonough, and many others who rose to distinction.”--B. E. Stephen Decatur, who commanded the expedition against the _Philadelphia_, was of French descent, and was born in Sinnepuxent, Maryland, January 5, 1779. He first saw service against the French, was active in the war of 1812, and chastised the Algerines in 1815. He was killed in a duel by Commodore James Barron on March 22, 1820. 11. THE “SHANNON” AND THE “CHESAPEAKE.” By Thomas Tracy Bouvé. Thomas Tracy Bouvé was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, June 23, 1875. He is the author of several other stirring ballads. Lawrence (James), was born in Burlington, New Jersey, October 1, 1781. He was prominent in Decatur’s expedition to destroy the _Philadelphia_. He commanded the _Hornet_, which sank the brig-of-war _Peacock_, a victory which led to his being appointed to the _Chesapeake_. It was from Boston harbor that he sailed to meet the _Shannon_, June 1, 1813. He died at sea five days later. =Stanza 5.= =Hingham=, a town of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, fourteen miles southeast of Boston, on Massachusetts Bay.