USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > The Norwich jubilee. A report of the celebration at Norwich, Connecticut, on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, September 7th and 8th, 1859. With an appendix, containing historical documents of local interest > Part 7
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TO COLONEL ETHAN ALLEN: SIR :- Whereas, agreeable to the power and authority to us given by the colony of Connecticut, we have appointed you to take the command of a party of men and reduce and take possession of the garrison of Ticonderoga and
* The entire paper may be looked for in the first volume of the collections of the Conn. Hist. Society, soon to be published in Hartford.
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its dependences, and as you are now in possession of the same, you are hereby directed to keep the command of said garrison for the use of the American colonies, till you have further orders from the colony of Connecticut, or from the continental congress.
Signed per order of the committee.
EDWARD MOTT, chairman of committee.
Ticonderoga, May 10th, 1775.
So we see that the hero of Ticonderoga was commissioned by a Preston major, sent out by a Norwich captain, in spite of the pro- test of a Norwich colonel who acted under the authority of a Mas- sachusetts commission.
Norwich may furthermore claim the honor of furnishing for the army the most distinguished surgeon of the day, Dr. Philip Tur- ner, surgeon general of the eastern department of the army. He was born in 1740, the son of Philip Turner, of Scituate, Mass., who removed to Norwich early in life, and married here. The ancestor of the family in this country is Humphrey Turner, who came from Essex, England, in 1630, and settled in Scituate, Mass. Dr. Philip Turner studied medicine with the famous Dr. Elisha Tracy, of Norwich, whose eldest daughter he married. He entered the army as early as 1759, and remained in it during the French war, till after the peace of 1763. In March, 1760, he was appoint- ed surgeon's mate in the fourth regiment of Connecticut troops, and in 1761, in the first regiment. At Fort Edward, and elsewhere, he saw much service, and early became noted as the most skillful operative surgeon of New England. At the opening of the revolutionary struggle, he was commissioned by governor Trumbull as physician and surgeon of the troops sent to New York, and at a little later period, on the organization of a medical depart- ment in the continental army, he was named by congress, surgeon general of the eastern department. On the change in the organi- zation of the department, but one surgeon general was appointed, and Dr. Turner withdrew from active service.
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In 1777 he was appointed director general of the general mili- tary hospital. Several years after the war was over, he removed in 1800 to New York, to take charge of the government hospitals, and in 1815 he died in that important post, at the age of 75 years.
The high reputation which Dr. Turner sustained in the army
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might be shown by numerous papers of the day, but one of the most interesting is a letter from colonel Jedediah Huntington to his father, general Jabez Huntington. It was never intended to be made public, but as this assembly may be considered a sort of family meeting, I may, perhaps, be permitted to read it. It is dated at camp Kingsbridge, (near New York,) Oct. 2, 1776, and appears to have been called forth by a consciousness that the ap- propriation made for the payment of a skillful surgeon was not adequate to his maintenance in the army. I read again from the autograph.
"HON'D SIR :- I am sorry to find that Doctor Turner has not a sufficient Inducement to continue in the army where he is eminent- ly usefull and necessary ; it is of great Importance to Individuals and Publick that every Life and Limb should be saved. Doctor Turner is blessed with a natural Insight into Wounds and Dex- terity in treating them peculiar to himself. Doctor Morgan is well pleased with him and would retain him in Service if he had it in his Gift to reward him with as much Pay as he knows he has reason to expect. I heartily wish our assembly who attend with Pleasure and without Parsimony to the necessities and Convenience of the army, would provide the Troops with a Physician who is esteemed by us as almost essential to the Service-suppose he saves one Limb, that would not be otherways saved, that Limb may save the Publick some Hundreds. You and many others, members of assembly, are well acquainted with Dr. Turner's Character and manner of Living-he is not aspiring after wealth, no one doubts he has Right and in Duty ought to stand for a reasonable Reward of his merits and Services. I wrote you yesterday by the private Post to which refer you and remain with Duty and Respect your affectionate Son.
JED. HUNTINGTON."
As no truer man was living than colonel Jedediah Huntington, so no tribute could be more honorable than his eulogy of Dr. Tur- ner.
Some wise writer has remarked that he cared not who made the laws of a nation if he could write the songs.
When the war of the revolution broke out, there was resident in Norwich, among other choice spirits, Mr. Nathaniel Niles, now al-
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most equally famous as a political and theological writer, known in early life as Rev. Mr. Niles, (though he was never ordained,) and later as Judge Niles of Vermont. He had graduated at Princeton, in 1766, and studied theology with Rev. Dr. Bellamy. He excelled as a preacher, but was never settled in the ministry, probably on account of his infirm health. Removing to Norwich, he married there a daughter of Mr. Elijah Lathrop, and engaged in manu- facturing. He often represented the town in the general assembly, until he removed to Vermont, where he died in 1828, aged 88.
While living in Norwich he wrote an ode which was set to music, and became as great a favorite among the soldiers of the continental army as the Marseillaise in France. It was composed at his own fireside the very evening the news of the battle of Bunker's Hill reached Norwich. "I remember," says his son, " in my early youth, hearing an aged negro servant who followed my father's family to Vermont, repeatedly describe the emotions of the whole family while he read that impromptu production for the first time by candle light." If the young musicians of Norwich wish to see in the faces of older singers, who regulated their notes with the old fashioned pitch pipe, such a glow of enthusiasm, as pleasant recollections alone call forth, let them ask the question, "Do you remember the ' American Hero,' an ode which was often sung in the revolutionary army?" Perhaps it will be their pleasure, as it has been mine, to hear the answer, "I have not sung it for many a year, but I never can forget its stirring melody." It begins,
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight of Death and Destruction in the field of battle, Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans ?
The tune was called "Bunker Hill." **
[Governor Buckingham, the president of the day, here interrupt- ed the speaker and said,-" The first impression on my mind of the battle of Bunker's Hill was made by hearing sung this ode. Per- haps it may produce a similar emotion in the minds of the audi- ence, which it did in my own. I should like to have it tried." The choir then sang the ode, with thrilling effect, many of the older persons joining with them.]
* See Note N.
1
NILES'S ODE.
THE AMERICAN HERO .- A SAPPHIC ODE. BY NATHANIEL NILES, OF NORWICHI.
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight Of death and destruction in the field of battle,
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight Of death and destruction in the field of battle,
0
2
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight Of death and destruction in the field of battle,
2
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight Of death and destruction in the field of battle,
..
?
Where blood and carnage, Where, &c, clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans ? 1 CI
Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans? 1
0
Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans ?
1 2
Where blood and carnage, Where, &c, clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans?
Death will invade us by the means appointed, And we must all bow to the king of terrors ; Nor am I anxious, if I am prepared, What shape he comes in.
Infinite goodness teaches us submission, Bids us be quiet under all his dealings ; Never repining, but for ever praising God our Creator.
Well may we praise Him; all His ways are perfect; Though a resplendence infinitely glowing, Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals, Struck blind by luster!
Good is Jehovah in bestowing sunshine ; Nor less his goodness in the storm and thunder : Mercies and judgments both proceed from kindness- Infinite kindness !
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Oh then exult, that God forever reigneth! Clouds which around Him hinder our perception, Bind us the stronger to exalt his name, and Shout louder praises !
Then to the wisdom of my Lord and Master, I will commit all that I have or wish for: Sweetly as babes sleep will I give my life up When call'd to yield it.
Now Mars, I dare thee, clad in smoky pillars, Bursting from bomb-shells, roaring from the cannon, Rattling in grape shot, like a storm of hail stones, Torturing Æther !
Up the bleak Heavens let the spreading flames rise, Breaking like Ætna through the smoking columns, Low'ring like Egypt o'er the falling city, Wantonly burnt down.
While all their hearts quick palpitate for havoc, Let slip your blood hounds, nam'd the British lions : Dauntless as deatlı-stares, nimble as the whirlwind, Dreadful as demons !
Let oceans waft on all your floating castles, Fraught with destruction horrible to nature ; Then, with your sails fill'd by a storm of vengeance, Bear down to battle!
From the dire caverns made by ghostly miners, Let the explosion, dreadful as volcanoes, Heave the broad town, with all its wealth and people, Quick to destruction !
Still shall the banner of the King of Heaven Never advance where I'm afraid to follow : While that precedes me, with an open bosom, War, I defy thee !
Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle, While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's head, Stings me with serpents, fiercer than Medusa's, To the encounter.
Life for my country and the cause of freedom, Is but a trifle for a worm to part with ; And if preserved in so great a contest, Life is redoubled.
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But Norwich furnished not only statesmen to plan, surgeons to heal, and poets to inspire the army ; it sent forth gallant soldiers for the sterner service of the camp. To enumerate their services would require a volume. I have already alluded to the efficiency of the four brothers Huntington, who were active in various posts of importance and difficulty, from the beginning to the close of the war, and although, at this time, I can not dwell upon their mani- fold achievements, our country could not if it would, it would not if it could, dispense with the services of any one of these distin- guished patriots .*
Jedediah, the eldest, after graduating at Harvard college, in 1763, engaged in business at Norwich until the war broke out. He was one of the earliest to respond to the call for troops, and being already colonel in the Connecticut militia, he marched, in the spring of 1775, to Boston, with his men. During the perilous winter which preceded the evacuation of that city by the British troops, he remained at Roxbury, undergoing the hardships of the camp, while his spirits were oppressed by the death of his wife, (a daughter of governor Trumbull,) who had chosen to accompany him. From that time onward, to the close of the war, we trace him in active service. In 1777, he was appointed brigadier gene- ral, the duties of which post he faithfully and honorably dis- charged. At one time he was an aid of general Washington, and a member of his family ; and throughout life he was honored with the warm friendship of that great man. Many of the letters of general Huntington, written in succession from the camps at Roxbury, New York, Kingsbridge, Peekskill, Valley Forge, West Point, and a number of less important stations, are still pre- served. Addressed to his father, and father-in-law, his brothers, and brothers-in-law, who were all deeply concerned to hear the army news, they are models of correspondence, free and familiar, while, at the same time, accurate and business like. Almost inva- riably, they close with a devout reference to the Almighty power on whom the issue of the battles would depend.
* Just before the delivery of this discourse, the kindness of Mrs. Henry Strong, and Mrs. Wolcott Huntington, placed in my hands a very large number of letters exchanged by these members of the Huntington family during the revolutionary war. So much light is thus thrown upon those times, that I withhold from the press, the biographical sketches which I had prepared in this connection, in order that a deliberate perusal of the correspondence may render them more accurate and full.
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His brother, Andrew, acted as a commissary, collecting the rich offerings which Norwich and vicinity made for the army, and for- warding them to various posts.
Joshua, after having been in the active army at Bunker Hill, was appointed to build a frigate for the continental congress. The result of his labors, "The Confederacy," launched in the Thames, not far below the landing, did good service in the infantile navy of the rising republic.
Ebenezer, the youngest of the four, was a senior in Yale college when the news reached New Haven of the battle of Lexington. He had previously written home for a work not included in the regular course of studies -- a handbook of infantry tactics-and now he requested leave of absence. As this permission was not granted, he left without dismission, and joining a company of vol- unteers, marched on to Boston. Rising from one office to another, he remained in the army till the victory of Yorktown, in which he participated .*
I might tell you of Durkee, " the bold Bean Hiller;" of Tracy, who fell an early victim to the cause of freedom; of Joseph Trum- bull, the first commissary general of the United States; of Williams and the Fannings; of Kingsbury; of Peters, the hero of Groton; of Edward Mott, already mentioned in the exploits at Ticonderoga, and his older and more eminent brother Samuel, chief engineer of the northern army ; of Nevins, the prompt and faithful carrier of tidings ; of Dyer Manning, the famous drummer ; of John Trum- bull, the publisher of the Norwich Packet; of Elijah Backus, the armorer at Yantic, whose anchors and guns were of service at sea and on land. Most of these persons were natives of Norwich, and all of them residents here during the war.
I might take you to the navy and tell you of the "Confederacy" and the "Spy ;" of captain Harding and captain Niles, the latter of whom is particularly distinguished by a valiant exploit which was of marked importance to the united colonies. The ratification of the treaty with France was sent across the ocean by three sepa- rate vessels, and the only one which eluded the vigilance of the English vessels was that of captain Niles .* But I forbear, for " the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak, and of Sam-
* His portrait was included by colonel Trumbull in his celebrated picture of the surrender of lord Cornwallis.
t See Note O.
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son, and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel, * * * who escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
Yet I seem to hear from some before me, the murmur that the speaker mentions a score of officers in the state and army, but he has not spoken of the people, nor what the multitude were about while this struggle was in progress. Let the record answer. The same love of liberty which had been manifested in the days of the stamp act, burst forth again at the opening of the actual revolution.
On the 1st of June, 1774, the odious port bill-by which lord North had hoped to starve the people of Boston into submission to the king-began its operation. "Pay for that tea, or be block- aded," was the alternative submitted to the capital of New Eng- land. You know the choice of Boston.
A circular was sent through the country, asking countenance from the other colonies, and requesting aid for the Boston poor- in danger of actual starvation. On the receipt of this circular in Norwich, a town meeting was called by the selectmen, in a docu- ment which is an amusing illustration of the caution which was exercised by the conservative men of the day, and also of that sovereignty of the people, so eminently characteristic of a New England town. In a dozen lines the inhabitants are summoned " to take into consideration the melancholly situation of our civil Constitutional Liberties, Rights and Privileges which are Threat- ened with Destruction by the Enemies of his Majesty's Happy Reign," and in a single line at the close of the call they are also bid- den " to take into consideration some memorials for Highway, Praid for in Said Town and also to act upon any Thing Else that may be fairly offered." In more senses than one they were to mend their ways!
The meeting was held on the 6th of June, at the town house, and was so crowded that an adjournment was immediately made to the neighboring meeting house. A committee, of which Mr. Samuel Huntington was chairman, was appointed, "to draw up some sentiments proper to be adopted, and resolutions to be come into in this alarming crisis of affairs Relative to the natural Rights and Privileges of the People."
On the same day, on receiving the report of the committee, it was " Voted, that we will, to the utmost of our abilities, assert and
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defend the Liberties and immunities of British America; and that we will co-operate with our Brethren in this and the other Colonies, in such reasonable measures as shall in General Congress, or oth- erwise, be Judged most proper to Relieve us from Burthens we now feel, and secure us from greater evils we fear will follow from the Principles adopted by the British Parliament Respecting the town of Boston."
At the same meeting, it was also voted, "that captain Jedediah Huntington, Christopher Leffingwell, Esq., Doct. Theophilus Rogers, Capt. William Hubbard and Capt. Joseph Trumbull be a standing Committee for keeping up a Correspondence with the Towns in this and the neighboring Colonies, and that they trans- mit a copy of these Votes to the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Boston."
Fortunately, some of the correspondence which this assembly called forth, has recently come to light.
The town meeting had hardly adjourned before Joseph Trum- bull, in the name of the committee, forwarded to Boston the reso- lutions which had been adopted.
"Stand firm," he writes, "in your Lots, and from the apparent Temper of our People, we may assure you of every support in the Power of this Town to afford you in the glorious struggle."
A few days later, another letter went forward from Norwich to Boston, proposing material aid, to which Samuel Adams replied, " that the valuable Donation of the worthy Town of Norwich will be received by this Community with the Warmest Gratitude, and dispos'd of according to the true Intent of the Generous Donors. * * * The Part which the Town of Norwich takes in this Struggle for American Liberty, is truly noble."
In August, captain Christopher Leffingwell, in behalf of the committee, sends forward the first installment of the donation, " being two hundred and ninety-one sheep, which [we] wish safe to hand," and Joseph Warren, in acknowledging the safe arrival of the welcome flock, remarks that "Mr. Gage" (for so the vicegerent of Great Britain was entitled) "is astonished at the spirit of the people. He forbids their town meetings, and they meet in counties. If he prevents county meetings we must call provincial meetings, and if he forbids these, we trust that our worthy breth- ren on the continent, and especially of the Town of Norwich, in
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Connecticut, will lend us their helping arms in time of danger, and will be no less conspicuous for their fortitude than they now are for their generosity."*
You may smile if I tell you that the record of this transaction is so complete that we even have the drover's account book of the expense he incurred in going to Boston. At each station he mentions what he received and paid. One entry is-At Col. Put- nam's, one mug of flip, gratis.
In September, 1774, when the rumor reached Norwich that the citizens of Boston had been massacred, a company of near five hundred marched immediately (although it was a Sabbath morn- ing) to carry relief. Colonel Durkee commanded them.
In the same month, a meeting of delegates from New London and Windham counties was convened in Norwich. William Wil- liams and Jonathan Trumbull were there from Lebanon; colonel Salstonstall and Mr. Shaw, from New London; Mr. McCurdy, from Lyme; Dr. Perkins, from Plainfield; colonel Israel Putnam, from Pomfret, and other such men, to the number of forty dele- gates. Their address to the general assembly of Connecticut, breathes forth the free spirit of the town in which they were gath- ered.
There were then three companies of militia and one at the land- ing-commanded by Jedediah Huntington, Samuel Wheat, Isaac Tracy, and Gershom Breed. About this time they were consti- tuted the 20th regiment, under lieutenant colonel Huntington.
Through the anxious winter which followed, many were the discussions, at the fire-side and the shop, which involved the most important principles of civil government. Dark clouds were gath- ering. Early in the next spring, the town committee of corres- pondence appointed some fifty gentlemen of influence and wealth, "to solicit the further Charitable Contributions of the Humane and Sympathizing Inhabitants of the Town, for Relieving and al- leviating the Distresses of the Poor of that Devoted Town [Boston] and make return of their doings and collectings, at a meeting of the sd Gentlemen and others to be holden at the Court House in this Town on the third Tuesday of april next."
The very day appointed for this second meeting was the eve of the battle of Lexington.
So began the revolution in Norwich. "Well begun is half * See Note P.
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done," says the proverb. Not so, said our fathers. They foresaw a long and arduous war, and they prepared to meet it. Resolu- tions and correspondence were indeed important, but only to pre- pare the way for more significant demonstrations. As Lexington found Norwich ready, so Bunker's Hill bore witness to the prompt- ness with which the town responded to the earliest call for troops. As an illustration, I may mention that one evening colonel Joshua Huntington received a commission, and before dawn the next morning sixty brave men had been enlisted by him, so popular was he, and so patriotic they. The same spirit continued through- out the war. Over and over again were contributions made for the army. "The gifts of Norwich to its soldiers," writes a distin- guished officer from the memorable camp at Valley Forge, "are cheering indeed."
· General Jabez Huntington gave up his fortune to the colony, permitting even the leaden weights by which his windows hung to be cast into bullets; and his generous example was imitated by others, each being liberal in proportion to his means.
Let me read to you the summary which Miss Caulkins gives .* Speaking of the earlier periods of the contest, she says, "the town's quota of soldiers was always quickly raised, and the neces- sary supplies furnished with promptness and liberality. The re- quisitions of the governor were responded to from no quarter with more cheerfulness and alacrity. In September, 1777, when extra- ordinary exertions were made, in many parts of New England, to procure tents, canteens, and clothing for the army, many house- holders in Norwich voluntarily gave up to the committee of the town, all they could spare from their own family stock, either as donations, or, where that could not be afforded, at a very low rate. The ministers of all the churches, on thanksgiving day, exhorted the people to remember the poor soldiers and their families.
"In January, 1778, a general contribution was made through the town for the army. The ladies, with great industry, assembled to make garments, and bring in their gifts. The whole value of the collection was placed at a low estimate at £1,400-[continental money, probably ; real value, uncertain.]
"Cash, £258; pork, cheese, wheat, rye, sugar, corn, rice, flax, and wood in considerable quantities ; 386 pair of stockings, 227 do. of shoes, 118 shirts, 78 jackets, 48 pair overalls, 15 do. breeches,
* History of Norwich, page 235.
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208 do. mittens, 11 buff caps, 9 coats, 12 rifle frocks, and 19 handkerchiefs.
"Every year while the war continued, persons were appointed by the town to provide for the soldiers and their families at the town expense; but much also was raised by voluntary contributions."
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