USA > Connecticut > A history of Connecticut > Part 13
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168
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1759.
sand soldiers into the field, if they did all that Pitt asked of them. The words of any other man would have aroused but little response : as it was, many felt the demand laid upon them was beyond the resources of the colony. The earnest plea of Governor Fitch finally overcame every objec- tion ; and the Assembly, at its meeting in May, decided to levy the full number of troops.
By the end of May the provincial army had joined the forces of General Amherst at Albany. In July the English general began the march towards Crown Point, over ground that was sadly familiar to the Connecticut troops. Mont- calm realized that it would not now do for him to run great risks at any distance from Quebec, the stronghold of the French power. A handful of men might repulse a general like Abercrombie, but he knew that Amherst was an officer worthy to lead the brave men who were anxious to wipe out the record of past incompetence and defeat. Follow- ing the orders of Montcalm, the French troops did not op- pose the march of the English, but withdrew behind the fortifications of Ticonderoga. After a brief cannonade, that did but little execution, the enemy blew up their magazine, and retired to Crown Point. General Amherst at once sent forward his light rangers in pursuit ; and without making any resistance, the English troops were permitted to take posses- sion. The French, however, were unwilling to leave the country. Thirty-five hundred men strongly fortified Isle- aux-Noix, and four large armed vessels were on Lake Cham- plain. General Amherst did not think it safe to advance towards Quebec until the enemy were driven from the lake. Under his direction, Captain Loring built a sloop of sixteen guns, and a large raft to carry six cannon. Meanwhile the army was busily employed in repairing the forts at Ticon- deroga and Crown Point. It was a summer of fatiguing work for the Connecticut troops ; but they endured it with brave hearts, thankful that at last they had won the strong-
169
PERIOD OF THE LAST FRENCH WARS.
1759.]
holds of the enemy. After the sloop and raft were launched, an attack was made upon the French ships, and two of them destroyed. One of the prominent actors in this enterprise was Israel Putnam, now lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Connecticut Regiment.
While these almost bloodless victories were being won, Fort Niagara was besieged and taken by Sir William John- son. But the great and final triumph of this remarkable campaign was the capture of Quebec. An expedition under General Wolfe, a young soldier of thirty-three years, whose genius Pitt had discerned, entered the St. Lawrence, and anchored below the city. Unable to draw Montcalm from the inaccessible heights bordering the river, it seemed as if there was nothing for him to do but to retire, and leave the country in the enemy's hands. He had learned of a narrow path by which it was possible to reach the summit of the Heights of Abraham, overlooking Quebec. In the silence and darkness of the night, the long line of boats dropped down the river, to the spot where this narrow path was to be found. As the boat bearing Wolfe and other officers moved along the stream, in the solemn hush of the hour, he repeated the stanzas of Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard," and as he closed, quietly said, " I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec."
At the head of his brave soldiers he guided the way up the narrow path, where two men could not go abreast. The morning found them upon the heights. Montcalm, with rash courage, made an attack, which the English easily repulsed. Wolfe ordered a charge against the French lines. While leading his men in this onset, and at the very moment of vic- tory, a ball pierced his breast, and he fell mortally wounded. " They run," said the officer who held the dying general in his arms. "Who run?" he faintly asked. When told it was the French, he replied, " Then, I die happy."
The capture of Quebec, and the submission of Canada
170
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1760.
after Montreal was taken by Amherst in 1760, effectually broke the power of France in America. In the campaign of 1760, Connecticut again furnished her full number of five thousand men. The glad tidings of victories that made the year 1759 memorable in English history, infused new courage into the hearts of the colonists. Among the heroic sons of Connecticut who were with Amherst when Montreal sur- rendered, we find the names of Major-General Phineas Lyman ; Colonels, Nathan Whiting, David Wooster,1 and Eleazer Fitch ; Lieutenant-Colo- nels, Nathan Payson, Joseph Spencer, James Smedley, and Israel Putnam.
The characteristic courage and genius of Putnam found oppor- tunity to do good service. After Amherst had entered the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario, he found two armed vessels pre- pared to contest his passage. The English were in open boats, and the channel was so narrow GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER. that they would have been ex- posed to a deadly fire in attempt- ing to pass the French ships. Putnam, with a thousand men, undertook to get them out of the way. With a picked crew of old comrades, he led the long line of boats. A beetle and some wedges were the strange weapons that he proposed to use in fastening the rudders of the French vessels, and ren- dering them useless. By his orders, the men were stripped naked to their waists ; and as they silently, but with sinewy strength, rowed their boats near the ships, the commander of one, in his alarm, ran it aground, and the other struck her colors without firing a gun.
The way was now clear until they reached Isle Royal,
171
PERIOD OF THE LAST FRENCH WARS.
1761.]
where the river was commanded by a fortress of consider- able strength. While the English general was undecided as to the best plan of attack, Putnam made a suggestion that was at once acted upon. As usual, it involved great risk on his own part. A number of boats were fitted with a net- work of stout sticks on each side, that were bullet-proof, and afforded a screen for the men within. A plank, twenty feet in length, was provided for each boat, and fixed so that it could be raised or lowered with ropes. This was to serve as a sort of scaling-ladder, when the boats were run against the sides of the rude earth and wood works of the fortress, that was close to the water. As soon as his preparations were completed, Putnam at once advanced ; but in this case, the very novelty of the attack struck terror to the hearts of the enemy, and they surrendered without the slightest re- sistance. The occupation of Montreal by General Amherst, early in September, was the virtual conquest of Canada. Days of public thanksgiving were celebrated throughout New England, and Connecticut sent congratulations to his Majesty on the various triumphs of British valor.
The war was not yet over. In the spring of 1761 Pitt asked for two-thirds the number of men that Connecticut had furnished in the previous year. The main purpose of this campaign was to put in order all of the forts and mili- tary posts that had fallen into the hands of the English. The service was arduous, if not dangerous, and was cheer- fully performed. At the close of the campaign of 1761, most of the regulars, with a large body of provincial troops, embarked for the West Indies, where they were met by a fleet from Great Britain. One thousand men were from Connecticut, in command of General Lyman, and next under him was Lieutenant-Colonel Putnam. The transport that carried Putnam, with five hundred men, was overtaken by a storm that drove them upon the rocks off the coast of Cuba. By means of a rude raft, the men were safely landed.
172
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1763.
After the storm had abated, they were taken on board an- other vessel, and carried to Havana. The climate proved more fatal than the dangers of ambuscade and battle. Only a little remnant of the brave men who had come from Connecticut lived to return.
With the peace of 1763 the last of the French wars came to an end. Connecticut, in proportion to her population, had furnished more men, and given of her treasure more freely, than any other colony.
The eight years in which this struggle was prolonged proved a school of stern discipline, that was to prepare for a greater conflict in the near future.
1 DAVID WOOSTER was born at Strat- ford, 1711, and graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1738. He was captain of a sloop- of-war at the siege of Louisburg, and was a brigadier-general in the campaign of 1758-60. IIe was one of the first to suggest the expedition against Ticonder-
oga early in 1775, and the same year he was appointed brigadier general in the Continental Army. He succeeded Mont- gomery in Canada, and was mortally wounded at Ridgefield, in a skirmish with Tryon, after the burning of Dan- bury.
173
THE STORY OF THE STAMP ACT.
1764.]
CHAPTER XXIX.
1764-1765.
THE STORY OF THE STAMP ACT.
INTHE war of the Revolution was not a sudden uprising. The causes that finally led the colonies to take up arms against the mother country, may be traced back to their early history. It was the struggle of a liberty-loving people against the tyranny that sought to dictate and govern them without regard to their consent or will. At the close of the French war, the loyalty of the colonies to the mother country was still strong in sentiment and feeling. Had the policy and views of Pitt prevailed in the councils of Great Britain, this might have continued. He was wise enough to see that a people who had contended so vigorously for their rights in times of weakness, would not submit to arbitrary control now that they were conscious of their growing strength.
. The accession of George III. placed a king upon the Eng- lish throne who had neither the wisdom nor desire to follow the advice of the great statesman of whose power he was jealous. He determined to impress upon the colonists a sense of dependence upon the royal will, and enforce a system of direct taxation. King George and his advisers claimed that it was no more than just that America should be taxed to pay a portion of the enormous debt that had been partly incurred in the defence of the colonies. But this plea was only a pretext for carrying out plans that would
174
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1764.
have destroyed their independent existence, and placed all of their interests at the mercy of the king and his counsellors. The colonists did not object to raising money to be used for the common welfare, but they were unwilling to be taxed by a Parliament in which they had no direct representation.
It was in the spring of 1764 that Lord Grenville brought before the House of Commons a plan of taxing the colonies. The House advised the passage of an Act requiring that all deeds, receipts, and other legal documents, should be written
FIRST STATE HOUSE IN NEW HAVEN. (Begun in 1763; occupied in 1764.)
or printed on stamped paper ; this paper to be sold by tax- collectors, and the money to be paid into the royal treasury. King George, and many prominent leaders in official power, would have been glad to destroy the colonial charters, and give the control of the colonies into the hands of military officers. Lord Grenville was wise enough to see that any extreme measures of this kind would be disastrous ; but he thought the Stamp Act would meet with but slight opposi- tion, and afford the needed financial relief. He little under- stood the temper of the colonies. When the news reached New England of the proposed law, Connecticut was the first to take action in regard to the matter.1 A committee was ap-
175
DISCUSSION OF STAMP-TAX.
1765.]
pointed to assist Governor Fitch in preparing a protest. This paper was sent to Richard Jackson, the agent of the colony in England, with directions to " firmly insist on the exclusive right of the colonies to tax themselves, and on the privilege of trial by jury." Jared Ingersoll was sent to London to aid Jackson in the effort to secure the rejection of the obnoxious bill. Being asked by one of the secretaries of the treasury to give his views regarding the proposed measure, he made answer in a letter in which he said, " The people think, if the precedent of a Stamp Act is once established, you will have it in your power to keep us as poor as you please. The people's minds, not only here, but in the neighboring provinces, are filled with the most dreadful apprehension from such a step taking place; from whence I leave you to guess how easily a tax of that kind would be collected." Farther on he writes, "As for your allied plan of enforcing the Acts of TSHILLING trade and navigation, and preventing smuggling, let me tell you that enough BRITISH STAMP. would not be collected here in the course of ten years to defray the expense of fitting out one, the least frigate for an American voyage; and that the whole labor would be like burning a barn to roast an egg." In homely, blunt terms like these, the freemen of Connecticut warned the British ministers of the folly of attempting, by arbitrary and unjust measures, to fill the royal treasury.
When Mr. Ingersoll reached England, in the winter of 1764, he found the Stamp Act already drawn, but was successful in securing a revision of some of its worst fea- tures. While the bill was under discussion, the cause of the colonists did not lack eloquent advocates. The reply of Colonel Barre to Townshend, one of the crown ministers, was a masterpiece of impassioned eloquence. In February, 1765,
176
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1765.
the Stamp Act passed through both Houses. Illness pre- vented Pitt from raising his voice in protest against this unjust proceeding. "When the resolution was taken to tax America, I was ill and in bed," he afterwards said. "If I could have endured to be carried in my bed, so great was the agitation of my mind for the consequences, I would have solicited some kind hand to have laid me down on this floor, to have borne my testimony against it."
The English Government understood very well that the colonies were earnestly opposed to the Stamp Act, but they had no thought of the storm of wrath and resistance which it would arouse. It was a surprise to many of the leaders of public affairs in America. Franklin, who had with great zeal and wisdom represented the interests of colonial rights in England while the bill was under discussion, after its pas- sage saw no other way open than to quietly submit. Gov- ernor Fitch and Jared Ingersoll, with other prominent citizens who had done all in their power to oppose the scheme of taxation that struck a deadly blow at the liberties of the colony, counselled submission. They mistook the feeling of the people. During the two years that the Stamp Act had been under discussion, there was but little manifestation of public interest. They were unwilling to believe that Eng- land would do so great a wrong. These days of waiting proved but a calm before a furious storm. When the pas. sage of the Act was known, the colonies were stirred as never before. Connecticut was among the first to give ex- pression to the fixed determination to resist what she consid- ered an act of outrageous tyranny. The clergy were still the leaders of public opinions, and they were united in de- nunciation of the great wrong.2 Societies were organized under the name of "Sons of Liberty," the secret purpose of which was to resist the Stamp Act by violent measures, if necessary. This powerful organization spread rapidly through the northern colonies, and did efficient service.
177
THE STAMP ACT REPUDIATED.
1765.]
Public meetings were held in every part of the colony to protest against the offensive law, and many of the towns went so far as to authorize their clerks to receive and record deeds and other legal documents without regard to the Stamp Act. Newspapers and pamphlets, filled with paragraphs of keen satire and bold denunciation, were scattered everywhere. Copies of the Act were carried in processions, and buried with derisive funeral ceremonies ; and caricatures of the British ministers were openly circulated with defiant bold- ness.
Governor Fitch still thought it the best and prudent course to sustain the law. This opinion was not shared by all of his council. When the proposition was made to take the oath, Colonel Trumbull refused to witness the ceremony, and, rising, indignantly left the room, followed by a majority of those present.
Mr. Ingersoll, who had done all in his power to oppose the bill, after its passage decided to accept the position of stamp agent for Connecticut. Franklin urged him to take the place, and no one doubted his motives in accepting it. The people of Connecticut, however, were not pleased with this action. They did not propose to pay stamp-duties, or allow one of their citizens to act as an agent of the odious law. Ingersoll in vain attempted to conciliate his fellow-townsmen of New Haven, and show them that it was for their interest to buy the stamps. He was visited by a crowd of citizens, who inquired impatiently if he would resign. "I know not if I have power to resign," was his evasive reply.3 He promised, however, if he received any stamps, to reship them, or leave his doors open so that the people could do as they pleased with them. Not long after this, a company of the "Sons of Liberty " from Norwich, New London, Windham, Lebanon, and other towns, started out on horse- back, with eight days' provisions, determined to find the stamp-master, and compel him to resign. He had set out
178
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1765.
for Hartford, accompanied by Governor Fitch, to attend the Assembly that was soon to open. On the way they were met by two men with peeled clubs, who stated that a large com- pany were not far away. The governor ordered them to return, and tell their associates to disperse. To his surprise, they refused to do so. "We look upon this," they said, "as the cause of the people : we will not take directions from any one." They withdrew after Ingersoll sent a mes- sage that he would meet them at Hartford.
The day on which the Assembly was to open, Ingersoll resumed his journey alone. He had reached a point two or three miles from Wethersfield when four or five men ap- peared, and soon after an escort of thirty persons. They rode on in silence until they saw the road before them filled with a crowd of five hundred stalwart men on horseback, each bearing a ponderous peeled club in imitation of the baton carried in those days by officers of the peace. Two militia officers in full dress headed the procession, and three trumpeters awoke the echoes with their blasts. The com- pany rode two abreast, and with military courtesy opened ranks to receive Mr. Ingersoll. Having reached Wethers- field, they demanded his resignation. "Is it fair," he re- plied, " that the counties of New London and Windham should dictate to all the rest of the colony ?" - " It don't signify to parley," they answered : " here are a great many people waiting,. and you must resign." - " I wait," he said, " to know the sense of the government." He was allowed the privilege of entering a house near by, but the doors were carefully guarded. He managed to send word to the governor and the Assembly of his situation, and hoped to receive relief. For three hours he was able to keep off the people by evasive proposals. "This delay," said some of them, "is his artifice to wheedle the matter along till the Assembly shall get insnared in it." The impatient crowd outside was growing more angry, and threats of violence
179
INGERSOLL'S RESIGNATION.
1765.]
were freely uttered. Durkee, the leader of the Sons of Lib- erty, finally came to the house where Ingersoll was waiting in hope that the crowd would disperse, and gave him warning that he could " keep the people off no longer." The stairway and hall were filled with stalwart men, whose faces showed their determination. "The cause is not worth dying for," said the intrepid man, who would never have flinched had he not felt that after all this band of earnest men were in the right. A formal resignation was given him to sign, which reads as follows : -
" WETHERSFIELD, Sept. 19, 1765.
"I do hereby promise, that I never will receive any stamped papers which may arrive from Europe, in consequence of an Act lately passed in the Parliament of Great Britain; nor officiate as stamp-mas- ter or distributer of stamps, within the colony of Connecticut, either directly or indirectly. And I do hereby notify to all the inhabitants of his Majesty's colony of Connecticut (notwithstanding the said office or trust has been committed to me), not to apply to me ever after, for any stamped paper; hereby declaring that I do resign the said office, and execute these presents, of my own free will and accord, without any equivocation or mental reservation.
"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.
"J. INGERSOLL."
After he had signed his name, the crowd cried out, "Swear to it!" He begged to be excused from taking an oath. " Then shout 'Liberty and Property,' " said the now good- natured company. To this he had no objection, and waved his hat enthusiastically as he repeated the words. Having given three cheers, the now hilarious party dined together. By this time they were ready to start for Hartford with a thousand horsemen in the ranks. The highway was crowded with people curious to see the strange procession. Having reached the Capitol, Durkee drew up his cavalry four abreast, and, while the trumpeters blew their loudest blasts, they formed around the court-house in a semicircle. Ingersoll again read his resignation as stamp-officer, and shouted
180
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1765.
" Liberty and Property." With three exultant cheers the crowd quietly dispersed to their homes.
Colonel Putnam was a prime mover in this affair, but was unable to be present when it was carried out. Not long after, he was commissioned to wait on Governor Fitch, and inform him of the sentiments of the people. The following dialogue is said to have passed between them : -
Governor. "What shall I do if the stamped paper should be sent to me by the king's authority ? "
Putnam. "Lock it up until we shall visit you again."
Governor. " And what will you do then ?"
Putnam. "We shall expect you to give us the key of the room in which it is deposited; and if you think fit, in order to screen yourself from blame, you may forewarn us, upon our peril, not to enter the room."
Governor. "And what will you do afterwards ?"
Putnam. "Send it safely back again."
Governor. " But if I should refuse admission ?"
Putnam. "Your house will be levelled with the dust in five minutes."
While the colonies were in these vigorous ways expressing their determination to resist the execution of the unjust law, Pitt, now Earl of Chatham, with others, was unwearied in his efforts to secure its repeal. This was accomplished in just a year from its passage. The joy throughout New Eng- land found expression in days of thanksgiving, and various public demonstrations.
1 AT the October session of the Legis- lature, an elaborate paper was adopted, which, in connection with a full and just statement of the services of the colony in the war with the French, argued that " charging stamp-duties, or other inter- nal duties, by authority of Parliament, would be such an infringement of the rights, privileges, and authorities of the colonies, that it might be humbly and firmly trusted, and even relied upon, that the supreme guardians of the liber- ties of the subject would not suffer the same to be done."
2 IN Connecticut, says Bancroft, " the Calvinist ministers nursed the flame of piety and civil freedom. Of that vener- able band, none did better service than the American-born Stephen Johnson, pastor of the First Church of Lyme."
3 THE town-meeting, after electing Roger Sherman as the representative of New Haven, by public vote " earnestly desired Ingersoll to resign his stamp- office immediately." The answer he made was, "I shall await to see how the General Assembly is inclined."
181
THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.
1768.]
CHAPTER XXX.
1766-1775.
THE PEOPLE OF CONNECTICUT REPEL THE ACTION OF PARLIAMENT.
THE joy over the repeal of the Stamp Act was short-lived. - The doctrine that Parliament was everywhere supreme, had been more strongly asserted than ever. At the time the obnoxious bill was suppressed, they declared that they had a perfect right " to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." The Stamp Act was gone, but others still continued in force that in principle were the same. A year or two passed in comparative quiet. Broken in health, the Earl of Chatham was unable to contend in Parliament for the rights of America as he had once done. The bitter hatred of the king, who already looked upon the colonists as "rebels," and the active efforts of Lord Grenville and others, soon created irri- tation, and aroused the old feeling. Among those who saw that a crisis was approaching that might result in the separa- tion of the colonies from the mother country, was Jonathan Trumbull, the respected and beloved deputy-governor of Connecticut. He expressed the opinion, that, if " methods tending to violence should be taken to maintain the depend- ence of the colonies, it would hasten a separation."
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