Legacy (2 page)

always willing to make leaps in the dark. 'Worse. The contra affair. Central America.' As I had done earlier when Zack threw tho loaded words at me, she sort of choked, gre pale, and disclosed much more than I had: 'A one who worked closely with the contras, a Norman did, has got to be under suspicion. since Norman. . .' 'Stop right there!' I interrupted, and Zack, lo ing at both of us with the affection he had oft displayed in the past, especially since his divor had left him without a real home of his own, sa 'Relax, you two. Let me do the worrying.' And left our house with a very worried look.

15

Jared Starr 1726-1787

At six-thirty Friday morning our doorbell jangled, and it was Zack; 'Couldn't sleep. Kept devising alternate strategies, came up with about eight, none outstanding.' When Nancy joined us in her bathrobe she said: 'Join the club. We couldn't sleep, either.' And when she brought out the coffee' she said, as she handed Zack his: 'You will keep us out of trouble, won't youT and he said: 'That's my job.' He didn't waste time on social niceties. Sitting with his two hands clasped about his cup to keep them warm, he asked: 'Norman, didn't you tell me once at the Point that some of your family, I mean one or two of your ancestors way back, weren't they involved in the Army? Our national history and all thaff 'Nearly all of them.' 'Refresh me.' I went to the bookshelf by the fireplace, took down my 1985 World Almanac and placed paper markers at the two pages my family was proud of, and handed it ot him: 'Four forty-three, look who signed the Declaration of Independence, toward the bottom of the list, under the S's.' The print was quite small, but there after the noble name of Roger Sherman, Connecticut, came that of Jared

16

Starr, Virginia. Major in the Continental Army, served in the final battle of the Revolution at Yorktown, 1781. ' Quite a record. He'll prove very helpful to us. Didn't you also say he signed the Constitution?' 'That was his son. Look on page four forty-seven,' and there, in minute print under the heading Vir- ginia, came two names, the first more distin. guished than the second: James Madison, Jr., Simola Starr. I could see that Zack was impressed, but al this point he didn't care to say so: 'Didn't you have a rather well-known general in your family, too! Civil War, maybeT 'General Hugh Starr, always fought close t( General Lee. Many battles. Attested to the sur. render at Appomattox, then lived to eighty-eight firing Confederate fusillades all the way.' 'Anyone else we can use to keep you out of jailT 'Well, my father won the Congressional Medal oJ Honor at Saipan in 1944.' 'He did? You never told me.' 'Rather simple. Marines formed the two outei flanks, Army the middle. Both generals werE named Smith, "Howling Mad" the Marine was ir. charge. Ralph was the Army general leading th( infamous Twenty-seventh Division, mostly Nem York National Guard. Clerks and shopkeeperf principally, with my father as a West Point ligh, colonel attached to lend some professionalism. 'Divide&commands are hell, as we learned at th( Point. This was classic. Two conflicting doctrines The Marines roared ahead, leaving enemy hedge hogs behind. The Army, properly methodical cleaned out everything, but to tell the truth, we dic lag ... Hell of a mess. Finally, "Howling Mad' relieved Ralph of command. Said the MarineE

would finish the job alone. Unprecedented. 'My father went ape. Later claimed he had not been told of the order to hold fast where he was and let the Marines take over. Led his men on a fantastic surge forward, performed what they called "incredible feats of valour." Lost his left leg, and earned a place in Army history for getting a court-martial on Saturday and notice of his Con- gressional Medal of Honor on Monday.' Zack reflected on the history of my four military ancestors, and said: 'You Starrs are patriots, aren't you? If we play this right, no Senate investi- gation can touch you.' 'But the culpability?' 'What do you meanT 'It always seemed to me, during the various courts-martial on which I served, that there were two conditions. Legal guilt and moral culpability. They're not always the same.' This irritated him slightly: 'Forget the legal niceties. Attending to them is my job. That's what I get paid for.' This was apparently his standard advice to clients, but this time we both laughed, because he wasn't getting paid. 'How do you plan to use this background stuffT 'I'm not sure yet, but what I want you to do, ancL you can help him in this, Nancy, is review what you've just told me. Get it lead-pipe solid in your mind, because this afternoon before the Senate it just might become important, if they elect to go down those garden paths.' When he left us at seven, we dug out some family heirlooms, old papers and pamphlets that my grandfather Richard had collected. He was proud ,of our family, and spent his wasted life trying to prove that the Starrs were more distinguished than

18

the facts justified, but he did come up with a sur prising batch of material. I had barely begun refreshing myself on ol Jared Starr, when the phone rang: 'Norman? Zacl Great news! I've persuaded the Senate staff t postpone your appearance till Monday mornin~ Do your homework.'He did not even wait for me t respond, but since the urgency in his voice made clear that he was totally involved in my case, I fe the least I could do was follow his instructions. S before heading for the White House, I considere the case of the rambunctious founder of our clan.

Jared Starr was a gritty old fellow, seven generi tions back, and he would probably have made som. dramatic contributions to the writing of our Const tution had he not been such an ardent patriot. first attracted public attention in rural Virginia i 1774 when he boldly supported Patrick Henry i the agitation for freedom. Two years later, i Philadelphia, ho affixed his challenging signatur to the Declaration of Independence, and withot returning to his farm, volunteered to serve i General Washington's ragtag army, in whiph h rose to the rank of major. He fought in many hopeless battles, usually a the oldest man in his detachment and, as he told h children in later years, 'I became a master retreat.' In the closing months of the war he met u with one man who would prove to be the outstan ing experience of his life: he was seconded to

regiment led by a dashing West Indian immigra Alexander Hamilton, whom he described eve tually as 'the bravest man I've ever known and th brightest.' At the culminating Battle of Yorktown in 178

19

Starr followed Hamilton on a daring charge into British lines which helped turn the tide of this engagement. 'Had I looked behind me,' said Hamilton at the dinner celebrating the end of the Revolution, 'and not seen Jared Starr puffing along like a wearied dog at the end of a chase, I doubt I would have had the courage to enter the enemy lines.' Then, bending a pewter spoon, Hamilton fashioned a rude medal, which he stuck into a tear in Jared's blouse. 'Honours of battle,' he cried with the icy enthusiasm which character- ized him. After the British surrender, Starr retired to his Virginia farm, where he watched with growing despair as the thirteen states of his new nation fumbled and stumbled their way toward chaos. But in these doom-filled days he sought guidance and reassurance from Hamilton through the series of letters the two patriots exchanged: 'Dear Colo- nel Hamilton, I see chaos threatening from all sides. Our Continental Congress can assess taxes on each of the thirteen states but cannot force them to pay. It can call for an army to protect us, but not conscript any soldiers from the states to serve. What can we do to save our nationT Hamilton's responses never varied: 'We must either put backbone into our present form of government or construct a better,' and just as Starr in his remote corner of Virginia had sup- ported Patrick Henry in the call for freedom, he now echoed Alexander Hamilton's comparable cry for reform. In the spring of 1786 neither Hamilton nor Starr was yet brave enough to openly call for abandonment of the inept Articles of Con- federation, under which the new states were try- ing to govern themselves, but each knew that the

20

other was at least contemplating a radical new form of government. in the late summer, Hamilton and a few others like him invited the thirteen states to send dele- gates to an informal gathering in Annapolis, Mary- land, for a discussion of steps that might have to be taken if the precious American experiment in self- government was to be saved. But despite the grow- ing anarchy only five states bothered to respond - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia - and even they sent only twelve parti- cipants in all. The Annapolis adventure was a failure, but Hamilton of New York and Starr of Virginia were resolute fighters who badgered the others with prophecies of doom if something was not done, so that in the end the twelve plotters mustered the courage to send a rallying cry to all the states: 'Let us convene a grand assembly in Philadelphia in the spring of next year.' Hamilton, who could rarely abide vagueness, made a motion: 'Make it the fourteenth of May 178 7,' and in a loud voice Starr cried: 'Second the motion!' and it was done. As the two friends parted, Hamilton said: 'Starr, we've work to do between now and May,' and the Virginian nodded as he turned to start south. He had taken only two steps when he felt his right arm grabbed forcefully from behind. It was Hamilton, and leaning close to Starr's ear, he said: 'Jared, we either lay the groundwork for a new

nation ... or watch the old one sputter out like a spent fire.' The solemnity of this challenge awed Starr, and for a moment he surveyed the backs of the dele- gates as they said their farewells. 'Colonel, I think

?i

most of these men came here honour-pledged to mend the present Articles and under no circum- stances to bring in a radical substitution.' Hamilton stood rigid: 'Do you think the miserable system we have today can be fixed? No! Neither do U 'Shouldn't we in decency expose our thinking nowT 'No,' Hamilton said, 'because today all would oppose us. But eight months from now, when we meet to solve the matter, all will see that our way is the only practical one.' They parted with a handshake. On his lonely ride home from Annapolis to Virginia, his thoughts and his horse his only com- panions, my fighting ancestor hammered out two -noorings, as if from great granite rocks, to which, for the rest of his life, two convictions would be lashed so securely that no storm could divert him: We've got to have a strong new government. But the rights of Virginia must be protected in what- ever changes we make. Had the times been placid, Jared would have gone home, agitated quietly among his neighbours for a new form of government, and reported to Philadelphia in May of 1787 ready to continue the bold work he had helped launch with the Declara- tion of Independence. He would surely have sup- ported Hamilton in the latter's drive for a powerful central government, even though it would be marked by many of the more successful aristo- cratic and monarchical characteristics of British rule. But the times were not placid. The ramshackle government by which former colonies tried to organize their Atlantic seaboard was so ridicu-

22

lously inefficient that it seemed about to collaps from any one of many weaknesses: the inability t impose or collect taxes; the lack of a strong cour system; our pathetic weakness in the face of likel~ invasions from Europe; and the absence of a effective way to settle internal arguments amo the states. Since everyone who loved Americ recognized these weaknesses, her enemies mus have seen them too. Then, as if to illustrate in one dramatic gestur the low estate into which American governme had fallen, in rural Massachusetts a rabbl rousing countryman named Daniel Shays said h could tolerate no longer the grievous hurts he an his kind suffered at the hands of the well-to-do Seeking redress, he launched a minor revoluti against the tyranny of the local courts, the banks and most other manifestations of government. He was forty years old that winter, an inspire agrarian so persuasive in his fiery harangues tha he collected about him a substantial following o Massachusetts farmers. They demanded only simple things: a larger s ply of paper money with which to pay their hea debts; an end to courts' throwing honest men int bankruptcy and jail; and general freedom fro what Shays called 'the oppressive government o the rich.' During the cold winter of 1786-87, Shays and hi wild men so terrorized western Massachusett that his Rebellion, as it was now formally calle~

threatened to expand into neighboring states. shudder passed along the Atlantic seaboard a anxious men asked: 'Is this a foretaste of destruc tion to comeT And those who were being desi ated by their various states to attend th

Philadelphia meeting spent the cold months won- dering: What can we do to stop this rot? George Washington wrote to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson in Paris wrote to George Mason in Virginia, and Hamilton corresponded with scores of patriots, all seeking a practical answer to the question which overrode all others: What can be done to save the nation? No one pondered the question more than Jared Starr, for he had helped launch this experiment in self-government and did not propose to sit idly by as men unwilling to make difficult decisions allowed it to break apart and crumble. So, when disruption threatened as a result of Shays'Rebellion, he knew what he must do. Riding north from his farm, he stopped in Phila- delphia to consult with the sturdy patriots of that bustling commercial city, went on to New York to assure Hamilton that Virginia would be sending first-class men to the impending convention, and then on to Boston, where he offered his support to the government that was struggling to put down Shays'Rebellion. 'How old are youT the colonel in charge of the local militia asked, and Starr said through clenched teeth: 'Sixty-one Washington and Hamilton.' 'We don't need grandfathers,' the colonel said, and he would not accept Jared into the formal militia. So Starr moved west under his own command, associated himself with an improvised force under General Benjamin Lincoln, and during a skirmish at the Springfield arsenal took two musket balls through his left hip. Disgusted by his carelessness and infuriated by

service under

24

I

the brazen manner in which the revolutionaries escaped to the north, Major Starr badgered the nurses who tried to attend him and refused the doctors permission to amputate his festering left leg. When it became obvious that he was about to die, he penned a letter of instructions to his son Simon back on their Virginia farm: