USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume II > Part 2
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1765 with his commission in his pocket, was also misled by his own view of the situation, strengthened by Franklin's equally mistaken view.
Meantime the requirements of the Stamp Act made it obligatory on every governor of the American Colonies to take an oath to cause "all and every of the clauses [of the Act] to be punctually and bona fide observed." The limit of time for administering this oath was fast drawing to a close when Governor Fitch called his council together for that pur- pose. When at last the issue was reached, and it was pro- posed to administer the oath, probably after a heated debate, Jonathan Trumbull, Eliphalet Dyer, Hezekiah Huntington, Elisha Sheldon, Matthew Griswold, Shubal Conant, and Jabez Huntington-naming them in the order adopted by Stuart, Trumbull's biographer-indignantly withdrew from the council, refusing to witness the ceremony, which, as Dyer insisted, was "contrary to the oath the Governor and Coun- cil had before taken to maintain the rights and liberties of the people." A minority of the council to the number of four remained; and as the oath could be administered by three members, the number was sufficient, and the hateful ceremony was performed. The political future of Governor Fitch, able, intelligent, and faithful though he was, was fatally poisoned by this event. Notwithstanding a carefully pre- pared pamphlet which he issued in due season for the next election, giving his reasons for his course, he failed to re- tain his office, and even a quaint political ballad issued be- fore the following election proved of no effect in restoring him to office.
Equally fatal to the political career of Jared Ingersoll was his acceptance of the office of stamp-master. Upon his ar- rival in New Haven he found the people in a ferment.
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Since we know how a popular catchword applied to the object of its wrath can work upon an excited crowd at such a time, we may well imagine that the ingenious suggestion that In- gersoll's initials and those of Judas Iscariot were identical caught the ear of the people, and soon brought their wrath to a white heat. The all-potent town meeting, the arbiter of Connecticut's political convictions, brings its full force to bear upon him. On the 17th of September, 1765, he is requested, by vote of the town, to resign his office at once. We cannot fail to admire his resolute stand, as he tells the people that he will apply to the General Assembly for con- firmation in his office, and forthwith sets out for Hartford for this purpose. Governor Fitch accompanies him on a part of his journey, but before reaching Wethersfield, Ingersoll, riding alone, finds himself silently accompanied, at first by a few men, next by a reinforcement of thirty or so, and at last by a force of about five hundred, armed with staves from which the bark had been peeled to render them conspicu- ous. This force was composed of men of eastern Connecti- cut, under the leadership of John Durkee of Norwich. They had adopted the name Sons of Liberty, which, singularly enough, Ingersoll himself had probably furnished them in his report of Colonel Barré's ringing speech in the British Parliament. On reaching Wethersfield, a halt was called, and Ingersoll was requested then and there to resign his of- fice. The parley which ensued shows no small firmness on his part; but such was the determined and ominous attitude of the Sons of Liberty that he at last signed a paper stating that he resigned of his "own free will and accord," remark- ing, as he signed it, "the cause is not worth dying for."
There is no doubt that an unfortunate accident which disabled Colonel Israel Putnam at this time was a sore trial
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to this sturdy hero, who was one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, and upon whom the command of the expedition against Ingersoll would probably have devolved. His sub- stitute-if he was a substitute-in this command, Major John Durkee, was a man of the same heroic mould as Put- nam, having served with him in the French and Indian wars. We hear of Durkee, later, at the battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Trenton and Monmouth, in Wyoming (see Vol. 1), and in Sullivan's campaign against the Iroquois.
If Putnam did not have the satisfaction of witnessing In- gersoll's resignation, he soon afterwards had an opportunity of performing some rather important service in stamping out the Stamp Act in Connecticut. His biographer and con- temporary, General David Humphreys, reports an interview of Putnam's with Governor Fitch which certainly left no doubt in the Governor's mind of the results of any attempt on his part to enforce this odious measure; for Putnam in- sists in this interview that unless the stamped paper which may be placed in the governor's hands is locked up in a room the key of which shall be given to "us," and if access to this room should be refused, the governor's house "will be levelled with the dust in five minutes."
At a special session of the General Assembly held in Sep- tember, 1765, Eliphalet Dyer, William Samuel Johnson, and David Rowland were appointed commissioners to the congress to be held in New York in the following October, to adopt petitions of the united colonies for the repeal of the Stamp Act. A portion of the instructions given to these com- missioners reads thus :
"In your proceedings, you are to take care that you form
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no such junction with the other Commissioners as will sub- ject you to the major vote of the Commissioners present."
Under these instructions, and with no power to do more than to report the action of the Stamp Act Congress, the com- missioners were prevented from signing the petitions adopted, and thus Connecticut does not appear as a party to them. William Samuel Johnson, however, was one of a committee at this congress to draw up a petition to the King. Upon the report of the commissioners, the General Assembly, at its session in October, promptly voted to adopt as its own the several petitions to the King and to Parliament, and to forward these petitions to Richard Jackson, the agent of the Colony, with instructions to use them to the best possible: advantage.
This rather peculiar action on the part of Connecticut. forms a striking example of the faculty she had acquired by long experience of adopting measures of the kind in her own way. Although it appears in this instance like a refinement of conservatism, there can be no question as to the effectiveness. of the method adopted, for the petitions were doubtless touched by the royal hand or "spurned by the royal foot" at the same time with the originals adopted by the Stamp Act Congress. Coming, too, as a repetition of these origin- als under the independent action of a colony which had al- ready presented a very able petition on its own behalf, this way of presentation must have been a gain rather than a loss of influence.
The clergy and the town meeting had already practically moulded public opinion. Perhaps no single influence was as. potent as that of the Reverend Stephen Johnson of Lyme, who with the assistance of John McCurdy succeeded in pub- lishing under various pseudonyms and anonyms a series of ar-
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ticles in the New London Gazette, beginning in September 1765, which were widely read and reprinted not only in Con- necticut, but in other colonies, eloquently urging resistance to the Stamp Act. And as far westward in the colony as Stam- ford, we find the Reverend Noah Welles preaching to a similar effect.
Of the town meetings, the most notable early record to be found is in Norwich on the 7th of April 1765, and reads as follows :
"Whereas a question arose in the mind of the Clerk of this town soon after he was chosen, whether or no he might with safety proceed in his office on the report of an act of Par- liament imposing Stamp papers, &c. Wherefore it is unani- mously agreed to a man in a full town meeting and it is hereby desired that the clerk proceed in all matters relating to his office as usual ;- And the town will save him harmless from all damages he may sustain thereby."
Turning again from the eastern to the western portion of the colony, we find the citizens of Litchfield County, in a combined town meeting held in February, 1766, resolving "That the Stamp Act is unconstitutional, null and void, and that business of all kinds go on as usual." In other parts of the colony, as in the town of Windham, for example, on the 26th of August 1765, Jared Ingersoll was hung and burned in effigy, together with others supposed to be of- ficially connected with the then proposed enforcement of the Stamp Act.
Instances like these might be multiplied; but it is enough to say that Connecticut was thoroughly aroused, and thor- oughly alive to the injustice of the measure, which, owing to the liberal privileges enjoyed by the people under their charter, bore more heavily upon them than upon others more
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accustomed to royal control. Nearly seventy-five years be- fore this time Governor Benjamin Fletcher of New York, in a rather prejudiced report to the home government, had stated that the cry, "No taxation without representation" was often heard in Connecticut.
The repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated by an address of thanks to the King, and by a public thanksgiving on the 23d of May 1766, and for some years afterwards Connec- ticut resumed her usual peaceful attitude, but with eyes and ears alert for every item of news from her less fortunate neighbor, Massachusetts. When the non-importation agree- ments were entered into, and the committees of corre- spondence organized, no colony performed her promises and duties more faithfully than Connecticut. And when the Bos- ton Port Bill was enacted, supplies of all kinds were liber- ally forwarded for the relief of the people of the nighboring colony whom Lord North vainly supposed he could starve into submission.
No plainer indication of the will of the people at this time can be found than in the election of William Pitkin to succeed Thomas Fitch as governor in 1766. Pitkin and his entire council were well known to be opposed not only to the Stamp Act itself, but to its enforcement after it became a law. At the death of Governor Pitkin in 1769, Jonathan Trumbull, whose sentiments had been clearly defined in his refusal to witness the administering of the Stamp Act oath, was elected to fill the vacancy. He was destined, as we shall see, to play an important part in the history of his native colony and state through the long period of the Revolu- tion and the events which led to it. He was at this time 'fifty- nine years old, and had had an experience of more than thirty years in public life, holding at the same time for nearly
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all this period positions as a judge in the County Court and the Superior Court. At the time of his election he had failed in the large mercantile ventures in which he was engaged; and his failure and political views were used by his opponents as arguments against his election, apparently with such suc- cess that he did not receive, in 1770, a majority of the free- men's votes, but he was elected by the General Assembly un- der the Act providing for such cases. The quaint political campaign ballad of 1769 to which reference has been made, after reciting in verse the merits of the various governors beginning with Winthrop, closes with the following stanza, "Will" meaning Governor Pitkin, "his Purser" meaning Jon- athan Trumbull, then candidate for governor, and "Pitch" meaning ex-governor Fitch:
"Now Will is dead, and his Purser broke, I know not who'll come next, Sir; The Seamen call for old Pitch again ;- Affairs are sore perplexed, Sir. But the Gunners and some midshippers Are making an insurrection, And would rather the ship should founder quite Than be saved by Pitch's inspection.
CHORUS.
"But this is what I will maintain, In spite of Gunners and all, Sir,- If Pitch can save the Ship once more, 'Tis best he overhaul her."
The "Gunners," no doubt refer to such men as Israel Put-
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nam, John Durkee, and other leaders opposing Fitch, and the "Seamen," are intended to represent his supporters.
At this time William Samuel Johnson was in England act- ing for Connecticut in the then celebrated Mohegan case, in which the tribe of Indians which gave the name to the case attempted, at the instigation of the Mason family, to enforce claims for land of which they alleged that they had been unjustly deprived. While this case was, during this and the two following years dragging its tedious course through the British tribunals, Johnson was, while waiting the issue, in faithful attendance at Parliament, and in constant correspondence with Governor Trumbull regarding the measures discussed and adopted concerning the American colonies. Perhaps the most important result of this corre- spondence was the repeal by Connecticut of an independent colonial import duty which she had, in her own independent way, imposed on all foreign goods imported into the colony by non-resident merchants. At about this time some hopes were entertained that the differences between the colonies and the Mother Country would be amicably adjusted, and no means were left unused which might attain that end without sacrificing the rights of freemen. At the same time the then recent reduction of £500,000 in the British land tax was something which the intelligent men of this colony did not propose to compensate by the payment of the duties im- posed by the Townshend Act. Non-importation strictly observed, followed; committees of correspondence were promptly formed, the Boston tea-party, and the Continental Congress followed, and the stupid policy of George III. and his sycophants soon resulted in "the shot heard 'round the world."
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CHAPTER II COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES
A T the time of the battle of Lexington no col- ony showed a more complete and careful or- ganization than Connecticut. For a full year before this time the militia had, by direction of the General Assembly, perfected its organ- ization and discipline. The town meetings, too, had not been idle; and a very important part of their business had been to collect munitions of war and to hold them ready for any emergency. In October 1774, the selectmen of the various towns of the colony had been required by the Gen- eral Assembly to provide a double quantity of powder, balls and flint, and additional training duties were required of the militia in the following January.
Before the echo of the last shot at Concord had died away, Israel Bessel was despatched with orders to spread the news "quite to Connecticut" that hostilities had begun, and all persons were requested "to furnish him with fresh. horses as they may be needed." The news had reached New London and Windham Counties by the 20th, and New Haven by the 21st. From thence swift post-riders soon carried the tidings to the extreme western part of the col- ony, and to New York. The effect appears to have been an instantaneous uprising, and the hurrying forward of troops to the scene of action. Within eight days of the receipt of the news at New Haven, Captain Benedict Arnold, in com- mand of the Second Company of Governor's Foot Guards to the number of fifty-eight men, had reached Cambridge. This company had been chartered by the General Assembly on the 2d of March 1775, and has fully maintained its or- ganization to this day. The First Company of Governor's Foot Guards is the only military organization of longer standing, having been chartered in October 1771. This com-
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pany also enlisted at a later date in a body, as volunteers in the Burgoyne campaign of 1777. Having reached Rhine- beck on their march to the front, they were met with the news of Burgoyne's surrender; and as their services were not needed, they returned home. The despatch of the Second Company was hastened by Arnold's summary demand for ammunition and supplies, which was at first refused as being irregular, but soon granted, upon his evidently sincere and emphatic statement that he would take them by force if he could get them in no other way.
In various other portions of Connecticut similar organiza- tions or even squads of men hurried forward to the front, either by direction of a colonel, a captain, or in some cases even a pastor with members of his flock, as in the case of the Reverend Nathaniel Eells of Stonington. The number of men who marched at this alarm cannot be accurately stated; but in the judgment of those best qualified to make the estimate, the number was not less than four thousand. The population had now grown to 191,392 whites, according to the census of 1774. The short term of service of the men who marched at the Lexington alarm was promptly paid for by act of the General Assembly in the following May, al- though they had gone to the "relief of people in distress" without authority from that body.
On receipt of the news from Lexington on the 20th of April, Governor Trumbull at once called a special session of the General Assembly, which convened on the 26th. It was a session characteristic of patriotism tempered by the tradi- tional conservatism and prudence which we have already noted. It opens with an embargo on the removal of pro- visions from the colony, followed by the appointment of William Samuel Johnson and Erastus Wolcott to wait upon
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General Gage at Boston, with a letter written by the Gov- ernor; and almost in the same breath six regiments are mobilized. At the same time, while an embassy is being sent to treat with General Gage and persuade him to abandon his hostile attitude, a semi-private party, consisting of Samuel Wyllys, Jesse Root and Ezekiel Williams of Hartford, Sam- uel Bishop, jr., and Adam Babcock of New Haven, Samuel Holden Parsons of New London, Silas Deane of Wethers- field, William Williams of Lebanon, Charles Webb of Stam- ford, Joshua Porter of Salisbury, Thomas Mumford of Gro- ton and Christopher Leffingwell of Norwich, are supplied with money from the treasury of the colony, on their per- sonal notes, with which money they equip the expedition to Ticonderoga, under Captain Edward Mott of Preston, Cap- tain Noah Phelps of Simsbury and Bernard Romans, a for- eigner, then residing in Hartford, who proved somewhat troublesome.
Here then we have in this unique little commonwealth, ne- . gotiations for peace, active preparations for war, and the equipment and, as it resulted, the entire responsibility and credit for the first offensive military operation of the Ameri- can Revolution.
The result of the embassy to General Gage was peculiar. Johnson unwillingly undertook the duty assigned him, and later reported privately-for there was no General Assembly in session on his return-that he and Mr. Wolcott had, with some difficulty, found General Gage, and held an interview with him, in which strong hopes of peace and reconciliation were held out; but on returning to Charlestown they found their horses missing, and found themselves in the hands of the sheriff, who haled them before the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, where, after a somewhat searching examin-
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ation, they were allowed to proceed to their homes. The public official action of Massachusetts was more conciliatory, consisting, as it did, of a letter to Con- necticut deprecating in courteous terms the course pur- sued. In the meantime John Adams had paid a visit to Connecticut which had strengthened the hands of the peo- ple, if they needed strengthening; the embassy to General Gage appears to have been forgotten, and its only recorded result is the very diplomatic reply of that gentleman, which may be read in the Public Records of the Colony of Connec- ticut, vol. 14; p. 442, or in Force's American Archives, 4th ser. vol. 2; p. 482, where may also be found Governor Trumbull's letter to which this is a reply. In March of the same year, Governor Trumbull had also addressed a letter of similar purport to the Earl of Dartmouth, by vote of the General Assembly.
If the peace negotiations thus independently undertaken by Connecticut showed no result beyond needless alarm in Mas- sachusetts, these negotiations were none the less important in crystallizing public opinion, and in establishing a convic- tion that the time for a treaty of peace with Great Britain could only come at the close of a fierce and long struggle. From this time forward we shall see but little, if any further independent attempts on the part of this little common- wealth to conduct the affairs of the war, but we shall see if we read events in their true light, how this same sense and exercise of individual power contributed to concerted action among the original thirteen states. Perhaps no more striking instance of this altruistic spirit of harmony in the common cause can be found than in the attitude of Connecticut in the Susquehanna case. In 1775, we find Governor Trumbull writing to our agent in London to refrain from pressing the
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case, and later in the same year writing to the president of Congress requesting that measures be taken to put a stop to the controversy introduced by Pennsylvania regarding it, in the belief that nothing should be allowed to prevent har- monious action among the colonies at this critical time. The Susquehanna case could wait; but the struggle for liberty could not wait.
The successful surprise and capture of Ticonderoga oc- curred on the 10th of May 1775. There is less dispute re- garding the claim of Connecticut to the full credit for this undertaking than in some other affairs of this eventful year; but as some Massachusetts historians assert the claims of their own state, it is well to get at the facts. On the 28th of April, a self-constituted "committee" composed of Samuel Wyllys, Silas Deane, Samuel Holden Parsons, Christopher Leffingwell, Thomas Mumford and Adam Babcock, who were afterwards joined by others whose names have been al- ready stated, secured the first installment of money from the treasury, and despatched Noah Phelps and Bernard Ro- mans from Hartford with authority to raise men as near the scene of action as possible. Captain Edward Mott fol- lowed on the 29th, taking with him Jeremiah Halsey, Epa- phras Bull, William Nichols, Elijah Babcock and John Bige- low, and arrived at Salisbury on the 30th, joining Phelps and Romans, and by a few recruits augmenting the company to sixteen. On arrival at Bennington, they proceeded, as Mott's diary says, "to raise men as fast as possible." Among the men thus raised were Colonel Ethan Allen and about one hundred Green Mountain Boys who had had some ex- perience in border skirmishing with New York authorities, and recognized Allen alone as their leader. On the 8th of May the plan of attack was formed, and the command en-
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trusted to Allen, and on the same evening Benedict Arnold appeared, exhibiting a commission from the Provincial Con- gress of Massachusetts which empowered him to take charge of an expedition for the capture of Ticonderoga. This com- mand was refused him, not only by the Green Mountain Boys, but by the Connecticut men as well, and Arnold at last consented to act as a volunteer in the expedition. Fort Ti- conderoga was taken in the early morning of May 10th un- der the ringing demand of Ethan Allen "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," or words to that effect, though the first session of the second Continental Congress was yet to come.
Arnold, upon his arrival at Cambridge had so urged upon Warren and others the necessity for taking this fort, that a commission had been granted him by Massachusetts for that purpose, on the 3d of May. He had enlisted no recruits at the time of joining the Connecticut expedition and attempting to assume command of it. The Provincial Congress of Mas- sachusetts on receiving the news of the bloodless victory of May 10th, promptly requested Connecticut to hold the fort "until the advice of the Continental Congress could be had," and Colonel Hinman's regiment was soon despatched from Connecticut for the purpose.
Some accounts of this expedition have been written in such a way as to lead to the inference, at least, that Ethan Al- len and his men had independently planned a similar expedi- tion of their own. It is impossible, after a careful search, to find evidence sustaining this view. On the other hand, Al- len readily accepted a document issued by Edward Mott, "chairman of the Committee," stating that
"Whereas, agreeable to the Power and Authority to us given by the Colony of Connecticut, we have appointed you
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