History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 44

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317

USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 44

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1 "Shaw to Governor Trumbull, February, 1777: 'I suppose Gen Parsons has given you a history of the discovery we made of the cor- respondence carried on from our Neck on board the man-of-war.'- Shaw's Letter-Book (MS.).

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these piratical excursions were made had the familiar name of ' shaving mills.' They were the terror of the coast, often committing atrocious robberies.

" The present generation, living in peace and quiet, and looking round upon the goodly heritage that has fallen to their lot, think but little of those years of suffering through which these blessings were at- tained. They have no adequate conception of the scenes of alarm, panic, flight, destitution, poverty, bereavement, loneliness, and even famine through which their forefathers passed in the fierce struggle for liberty. During the whole war the inhabitants of New London could never lie down with any feel- ing of security that they might not be roused from their beds by the alarm-bell and the signal-fire, pro- claiming the invader at hand. There was, indeed, in the early part of the war no spoil to allure an enemy ; but the harbor, capacious, accessible, and secure, would furnish a fine winter refuge for their ships, and it would be a vast benefit to their cause to seal up the State and have the whole Sound to them- selves.

'During the winter of 1776-77 the frigates ' Ama- zon' and 'Niger' were stationed most of the time near the west end of Fisher's Island, so as effectually to blockade the mouth of the river. Several British vessels also wintered in Gardiner's Bay, and the Sound was the common haunt of the enemy. On the 3d of December, 1776, eleven ships passed Montauk Point and anchored within sight of the town. The next morning they were joined by a fleet of trans- ports and warlike vessels approaching eastward from New York, which gradually increased to one hun- dred in number. This fleet, which was under the command of Sir Peter Parker, while manœuvring in the Sound made a truly formidable appearance. They remained nearly three weeks, recruiting where they could on the shores and islands, often secretly sup- plied by faithless men from the coast, and stretching their wings from Gardiner's Bay to Fairfield. New London was in daily apprehension of a bombard- ment. The women and children and all valuable goods were removed. On Friday, December 20th, the admiral having collected together his transports and made his preparations, began to weigh anchor. At that moment the public consternation was greater, perhaps, than has ever been experienced before or since on this coast. When this magnificent fleet came abreast the mouth of the river it seemed sufficient to sweep the foundation of the town from its moorings. Astonishment and dismay filled the minds of the inhabitants as from hilltops and house- tops they gazed on the distant spectacle. After a short period of intense anxiety, a sudden relief was experienced as the leading ships passed off to the south and east of Fisher's Island, and it became ap- parent that Newport was to be the point of attack. The Governor had ordered out all the militia east of the river and threc regiments from the west side, but

the orders were countermanded when the destination of the fleet was ascertained.1

" The 14th of March, 1777, brought another breeze of alarm along the coast. A fleet of ten sail-the 'Amazon,' 'Greyhound,' 'Lark,' and seven trans- ports-came round the western point of Fisher's Island and anchored near the Groton shore. An im- mediate descent was expected, and tumult and terror reigned for a time in the town. The object of the squadron, however, was to obtain, as they had the year before, the stock of Fisher's Island, and this business they executed so thoroughly as almost to sweep the island clean of produce. They took not only sheep, cattle, swine, poultry, corn, potatoes, wood, and hay, but blankets, woolen cloth, sheeting, and other necessaries, for all which they made a rea- sonable compensation to Mr. Brown in British gold.

"While the enemy thus kept possession of the Sound the sloops and boats belonging to the coast melted away like summer snow. The 'Amazon' frigate kept a continual watch at the mouth of the river, capturing and destroying coasters and fishing- vessels without mercy. Through the whole year 1777 New London was blockaded almost with the strict- ness of a siege.

" April 12th, about thirty sail of armed vessels and transports passed along the mouth of the river; in fact, during the whole of this momentous summer the threatening aspect of a man-of-war was scarcely ab- sent from the vision of the inhabitants, and from the high grounds twenty were frequently in view at one time, either at anchor or flying east and west, where, at the two extremities of the Sound, the strong forces of the enemy held undisputed possession of Newport and New York. May and June were months of al- most continual aların.

"On the 20th of July a squadron appeared on the coast, bending its course as if about to enter the mouth of the river. The alarm-guns were fired and the militia set in motion, but it proved to be a fleet of transports and provision-vessels bound to England under convoy of the 'Niger' frigate. They passed by without any hostile demonstration but that of firing several shot at the armed schooner 'Spy,' which they chased into the harbor. The next day the 'Spy' slipped out of the river and cut off from the fleet two vessels that had lingered to take in wood.

"In August the 'Cerberus' frigate lay for some time at anchor off Niantic Bay, west of New London. A line was one day seen from the ship floating upon the water at a little distance, which the tender of the ship was ordered to examine. It was drawn up with great caution, and found to be one hundred and fifty fath- oms in length, and to have a machine attached to the end of it weighing about four hundred pounds. This, upon being hauled into the schooner, exploded

2 " Col. John Douglass was encamped here with his regiment. In Jan- uary, 1777, Col. Johu Ely's regiment, on duty at New London, was ordered to Providenee. He was remanded with four companies in March.

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on the deck, and, as was currently reported at the time, killed several men.1 The machine was undoubt- edly one of the marine torpedoes invented by Mr. Bushnell to blow up ships. This ingenious gentleman and patriotic soldier made other attempts to destroy a British vessel with his machine, but failed.

"In September thirty or forty sail of English ves- sels were at one time in the Sound, many of them taking in wood from the Long Island shore.

" In November, about the 14th, a fleet of vessels of all descriptions, passing from Newport to Gardiner's Bay, encountered a gale of wind, by which the 'Syren' frigate of twenty-eight guns was driven ashore at Point Judith and fell into the hands of the Ameri- cans, with her crew (two hundred men) and equip- ments. She was stripped of her guns, stores, and everything movable and burnt, Sunday, Nov. 15th.

"The military organization for the coast defense was arranged anew for the year 1777. The three posts of New London, Groton, and Stonington were placed under the command of Maj. Jonathan Wells, of Hartford. Two companies were raised and stationed at New London, one of artillery, consisting of fifty men, of which Nathaniel Saltonstall was captain ; the other of musketry (seventy men), of which Adam Shapley was captain. Two corresponding companies stationed at Groton were commanded .by Wm. Led- yard and Oliver Coit, and a company of musket-men was stationed at Stonington under Capt. Nathan Palmer. This was the stationary force for the year, but being totally inadequate to the necessity, a regi- ment was raised expressly to defend the coast of New London County. Before this could be enlisted, Cols. Latimer, Ely, and Throop and Majs. Buel and Gallop performed tours of duty at New London and Groton with parts of their respective regiments.

" In March, 1778, Capt. William Ledyard was ap- pointed to the command of the posts of New London, Groton, and 'Stonington, with the rank and pay of major. Under his direction the works were repaired and strengthened and additional batteries erected. William Latham was captain of artillery at Groton, and Adam Shapley at New London. These appoint- ments, it must be remembered, were not made by Congress or the commander-in-chief, but emanated from the Governor and Council of Safety.

" Early in this year a French ship called the ' Lyon,' Capt. Michel, came into port with a valuable assort- ment of West India goods. This cargo was very op- portune, being mostly purchased by the naval agent for the State and Continental service. She had salt on board, which was then of pressing importance to the army, and linen and other articles useful for the clothing of soldiers. The 'Lyon' lay about three months in the harbor.2 Several privateers were in at

the same time recruiting, and the collisions that took place among the seamen, soldiery, and populace kept the town in a state of riot and disorder. The jail was forced, prisoners released and recaptured, and mobs occasionally triumphant over the law. When a maritime war is raging what can be expected in a seaport but misrule and demoralization ?

" Flags of truce engaged in the exchange of pris- oners were often arriving and departing from New London. The return home of American prisoners excited very naturally a deep interest. Their ap- pearance alone, without a word spoken, was sufficient evidence that they had borne a rigorous confinement under merciless keepers. In July, 1777, a flag that had been sent to Newport with a band of well-fed, healthy English prisoners to be exchanged returned with a company of Americans who were actually dying from starvation and close confinement. 'They had but just life enough remaining,' said the Gazette, 'to answer the purpose of an exchange.' Some were wasted to skeletons, others covered with vermin, or disfigured with eruptions, or dying of fever. Early in August two other exchanges were negotiated, and some fifty more arrived in the same condition. Un- wholesome and scanty fare, crowded quarters, the want of fresh air, and uncleanliness had brought them to the verge of the grave. Some indeed died in the cartel before they reached the harbor, and some soon after their arrival. The few that remained, meagre, pale, and tottering, crept slowly along the highways begging their way to their homes.

"In the month of December, 1778, by flags and cartels from New York, about five hundred prisoners arrived, released, said the Gazette, 'from the horrible prison-ships.' They were sick with various diseases, they had frozen limbs, and many were infected with the smallpox. They died all along the way through the Sound, and every day after their arrival for three weeks,-sixteen the first week, seventeen the next, and so on. About two hundred were Frenchmen, and of these fifteen died on the passage from New York. These poor foreigners were destitute of money and suitable clothing, and the high price of the neces- saries of life, the gloom of the winter season, and the loathsome diseases among them made it no light task to render them comfortable. The smallpox and ma- lignant fevers brought in by the prisoners were com- municated to those whose benevolent ministrations afforded them relief, and in this way were spread through the town. The prejudices against inocula- tion were so strong that, notwithstanding it had a re- solve of the General Assembly and a previous vote of the town in its favor, it had never been allowed. In- fected persons were carried apart and shut up by themselves, with the white cloth floating over them to betoken pestilence.

1 " This incident is more minutely related in Thatcher's Military Jour- nal, p. 123.

? " The ' Lyon' took in a cargo for Virginia and salled June 14th. A lillle south of Long Island she had an engagement of four hours' dura-

tion with a British frigate, and then escaped. On her voyage from Vir- ginia to France, laden with tobacco, she was captured by an English vessel of forty guns.

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" With respect to American prisoners, historic jus- tice calls upon us to state that those who were ex- changed in later periods of the war gave evidence of a beneficial change in the mode of treatment. The British had learned a lesson of humanity. In Au- gust, 1779, when the crew of the 'Oliver Cromwell' were released, they came home in good health, and frankly acknowledged that though they had been confined in those odious prison-ships, the 'Jersey' and 'Good Hope,' they had been kindly treated, provided with good food, the sick attended by physicians, and nothing plundered from them.

"In the year 1778 a prison-ship was fitted up at New London by order of Congress for the reception of British prisoners, with a guard attached to it con- sisting of a lieutenant, sergeant, corporal, and twenty privates.1 It was used only a short time.

"The events of the year 1779 seem like those of previous years rehearsed over, as in a scenic exhibi- tion, with only slight changes of names and drapery. In February a detachment of Continental troops, under the command of Col. Dearborn, was sent to aid the militia in the defense of New London. Brig .- Gen. Parsons had the superior military command of the district.

" N. Shaw to the Marine Committee of the Eastern Department, March 14th, 1779:

"' We are in such a wretched state in this town by reason of the small- pox, fever, and famine that I cannot carry on my business, and am lay- ing up my vessels as fast as they come in, for every necessary of life is at such an extravagant price that whenever I employ persons to do anything they insist upon provisions, which it is not in my power to give them.'

"On the 23d of March several scouting-vessels came in with the startling intelligence that a fleet of twenty sail had passed Hellgate and were coming east, with flat-bottomed boats, row-galleys, and sloops of war in train ; that a sixty-four and fifty-gun ship had left Sandy Hook to come south of Long Island around Montauk into the Sound ; that twenty-six sail of vessels had previously congregated at Sag Harbor, and that Gen. Clinton had left New York, and was mustering a large body of troops at Southampton. The same day a considerable force was seen to go into Gardiner's Bay, and about sunset the frigate 'Renown' appeared off the mouth of the river and anchored. To what could all these preparations tend but an attack upon New London ?

" And now, as on similar occasions, the alarm-bells were rung and the bale-fires lighted. Families were broken up, effects removed, and the neighboring mil- itia came straggling in to the defense. But no attack was made. It was expected the next day, and the next, and a whole week passed of agitation and un- certainty. It was then ascertained that the trans- ports from New York had gone to Newport; that the fleet under convoy, which had halted in Gardiner's

Bay, was bound to New York; that a part of the other fleet had gone on a plundering expedition to the Vineyard Sound and Falmouth (now Portland, in Maine), and that on the opposite coast of Long Island, from whence the invading army was expected to em- bark, all was quiet and peaceful. No flat-bottomed boats were there, nor had been. The only force col- lected on that side of the island consisted of five hundred foot and fifty horse at Southold, and one hundred men with two field-pieces at Sag Harbor, which was a stationary arrangement to guard and assist the English vessels in taking off wood and hay. It is a little singular that the troops at Southampton had been assembled in consequence of unfounded re- ports of a similar nature that had been flying through the British lines. It was confidently affirmed in New York that Gen. Parsons was at New London with a body of four thousand men, making hasty but secret preparations for a descent upon Long Island. In consequence of this report, Gen. Clinton had hastened from New York with a flying force, to prepare a re- ception for the expected invader. In this manner rumor flew from side to side imagining evil, asserting its existence, and actually causing it to exist. False report, though but a breath of air, has a mighty agency in aggravating the calamities of war.

"The militia on duty at this time in New London were employed in erecting a fortification of timber, sods, etc., on Town Hill, which it was supposed would be of use in checking the advance of an enemy that mnight land below the harbor and march to attack the town in the rear. Near this spot the gallows had stood on which Kate Garrett, the Pequot woman, had perished ; it had likewise been noted for a large windmill. A breastwork was here thrown up and several field-pieces mounted. The inhabitants showed their appreciation of the work by the name which they bestowed on it, Fort Nonsense, the only name it ever received.

" The next alarm was on the 25th of June, when warning guns from Stonington gave notice of an ap- proaching fleet. Forts Trumbull and Griswold took up the notes and echoed them into the country. In the afternoon a squadron of about fifty sail, of which seven were ships and the others of various size and armament down to row-galleys, came within sight of the town. They anchored near Plum Island for the night, and the next morning, instead of turning towards the town, as had been feared, they made sail to the westward. The militia had come in, as was observed, 'with even greater cheerfulness and alac- rity' than on former occasions. The brigade of Gen. Tyler was on the ground, and being paraded, was dis- missed with addresses and thanks.

"Only ten days later (July 5th) a similar alarm agitated the coast. Expresses from the westward to Maj. Ledyard brought information that a fleet had left New York with preparations for a descent on the coast, and was on its way through the Sound.

1 " Council Records (Hinman), p. 531.

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The point of attack at this time proved to be New Haven, but New London was closely watched. The frigates 'Renown' and 'Thames' and the sloop-of- war 'Otter' were plying in the neighborhood, and it was thought an attack would soon be made. A large body of militia remained three weeks encamped near the town or in Groton. Gen. Tyler's brigade, from Preston and Norwich, was again noted for its promptness and martial spirit. The counties of Berk- shire and Hampshire, in Massachusetts, sent their mil- itia to aid in the defense of the coast. No attempt was, however, made by the enemy to land, except upon Plum and Fisher's Islands, which the crews of the British ships plundered of everything valuable to them, and then wantonly set fire to the hay and build- ings which they could not remove.

"The year 1780 shows but little variation of pic- ture from the three preceding years. The cold months were seasons of pinching poverty and distress ; sudden outbreaks of alarm and confusion were thickly scat- tered over the summer. Frigates and other vessels were continually passing up and down the Sound, and ships of the line were now hovering near Block Island, now anchoring at Point Judith, now running into Gardiner's Bay. On the 29th of July, the Gov- ernor having received information that twenty sail of shipping, with eight thousand troops on board, were in Huntington Harbor, Long Island, immediately ordered out a body of militia to the defense of New London, but on the 31st the much-dreaded fleet made sail for New York. On the 5th of August a fleet of fifteen vessels under the command of Admiral Graves anchored off the harbor, and there lay about twenty- four hours before running into Gardiner's Bay. This fleet had been on watch over the French at Newport, and came into the Sound to collect stock and recruit. In September another British fleet, said to be Admiral Arbuthnot's, came into Gardiner's Bay, and there re- mained through the months of October and No- vember.

" It would be a laborious but pleasing task to go around among families with a talisman to gain their confidence, read private letters, inspect documents, converse with the aged, take notes of tradition, and thus gather up and revive the fading names of patriots and heroes who assisted in the achievement of Amer- ican independence. It was an era of brave and self- denying men, and even confining our attention to the limited sphere embraced in this history, the number is not small of those who performed deeds worthy of remembrance. If only a few are here introduced, let it not be deemed that injustice is thereby shown to others who may be equally worthy but less generally known.

"Gen. Gurdon Saltonstall and three of his sons were employed in various grades of service during the whole war. The elder Saltoustall, before the close of 1776, was raised to the rank of brigadier-general, and sent with nine regiments of Connecticut militia

to take post in Westchester County, N. Y. He was then sixty-eight years of age. Winthrop Saltonstall, the oldest of the brothers, held the office of register of the Court of Admiralty. Dudley was a captain and then commodore in the navy. Gilbert, the youngest, was a captain of marines on board the ship 'Trumbull' in her desperate combat with the ' Watt.'

" Nathaniel Saltonstall, of another family, served in the war both as seaman and soldier. He was cap- tain of the old fort on the Parade, and commander of the ship 'Putnam.'

"Maj. James Chapman, of Selden's regiment, Wadsworth's brigade, was a man of strength and stature beyond the common standard, and as a soldier steady and brave. But what avail these qualities against the aim of the marksman or the force of a cannon-ball ! He was slain in what was called the orchard fight, near Harlem, when the army was re- treating from New York, Sept. 15, 1776. His son James, a youth of only fifteen years of age, was with him when he fell. His brother, Lieut. Richard Chap- man, was slain in Groton fort. John Chapman, a third brother, was first lieutenant of the ship 'Oliver Cromwell,' and after that was taken of the 'Putnam.' Joseph Chapman, a still younger brother, was an officer of the army.

"Col. Jonathan Latimer (of Chesterfield society) had served in several campaigns against the French upon the northern frontier, and during the war for independence was much of the time in the field.1 Two of his sons, George and Jonathan, were also in the service. Maj. Christopher Darrow (of the North Parish) fought bravely at Monmouth and on other battle-fields during the war. The Gallops of Groton, Ben-Adam and Nathan, were engaged in some of the earliest struggles, and both field-officers in 1777.

" William and Alexander P. Adams, grandsons of the former Minister Adams, Richard Douglas, Thomas U. Fosdick, Edward and George Hallam, Stephen Hempstead. George Hurlbut, John and William Ray- mond, William Richards,-these were all young men, starting forth impulsively at the commencement of the struggle, with high heroic purpose to serve their country, and if the sacrifice should be demanded, to suffer and die in the cause of liberty. William Adams served in the army during the siege of Boston, but afterwards enlisting in a private armed vessel, he died at Martinique, April 4, 1778. His brother, purser of the ship 'Trumbull,' was cut off at sea before the close of the war. Douglas, Fosdick, Hempstead, and Richards were in the service from 1776 to the dis- banding of the army. The last named, Capt. William Richards, was stationed in 1780 at Fairfield, and while

1 " Col. Latimer was the father of ten sons; himself and six of them measured forty-two feet. An ancient Mumford family of Groton ap- proached the same mark, having six members of the average height of six feet,-according to familiar report, 'thirty-six feet of Mumford in one family.'

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there was engaged in the expedition against Fort Slongo, on the opposite shore of Long Island. They crossed by night with muffled oars, took the works by surprise, and demolished them. Maj. Tallmage was the commander of the party. Capt. Richards led the attack upon the battery. Edward Hallam, after a tour of duty at Boston, and another at New York, was appointed commissary of troops at New London. William Raymond, taken prisoner in an early part of the contest, was carried to Halifax, and died while immured in Mill Island prison.

"George Hurlbut and Robert Hallam, with a mul- titude of others, shouldered musket and knapsack and started for Boston immediately after intelligence was received of the skirmish at Lexington. They subsequently joined Capt. Coit's company, and fought at Bunker Hill, one nineteen years of age, and the other twenty-one. Hallam's commission from Con- gress, giving him the rank of captain in Col. Durkee's regiment, was dated July 3, 1777, the very month that he was twenty years of age. He fought at Tren- ton, Princeton, Germantown, and Monmouth, but withdrew from the army at the close of the campaign of 1779.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 44

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1317

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317