The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 38

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038

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In the 8th regiment ( Col. Huntington's ) THOMAS HAYDEN, of Windsor, served as Sergeant-Major; SAMUEL STOUGHTON, of Windsor, was Ensign in 4th company, of which EBENEZER FITCH BISSELL Was First Lieutenant. This company was mostly of Simsbury, and com- manded by Capt. Elihn Humphrey.

EBENEZER FITCH BISSELL was "a gentleman, though not of the most easy and familiar turn: yet for his steady. correct attention to the duties of his station he was well respected." He was advanced. while in camp, to the captainey of the 7th company, 17th regiment.

Of Ensign (Samnel in official roll) STOUGHTON it is said: " Sickness detained him long out of camp. He was a tall, well-made man, and possessed a good military appearance."

From THOMAS HAYDEN'S letters to his family we have mostly gleaned the following names of Windsor men, although they do not seem to have been in his company :

DAVID GIBBS, sick. Oet .. 1775.

HEZEKIAH HAYDEN. MARTIN DENSLOW, sick. Oct .. 1775.

Sgt. [JESSE] THRALL .. DANIEL. BROWN, sick.

JESSE WALL, sick.

ALPHEUS MUNSELL, served at Roxbury as an army blacksmith.

Mr. RoE. sick with pleurisy.

ELIJAH HOSKINS ( Wby. ) died in March, in camp at Roxbury, aged about 42.

ELIPHALET LOOMIS ( Why.) died in April, on return from the camp, aged abont 20 years.

Dec., 1775. or Jan., 1776, JOHN GILMAN ( Why. ), died in camp. aged about 18. ( Why. (h. Rer.) VOL. I .- 40

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

The following document also preserves the names of a number of Windsor men who did military service during the year 1775 :

" To JOHN LAWRENCE, Esq .. Treasurer for the State of Connecticut :

"These may Certify that we the Subscribers of the Civil Authority and select men of the Town of Windsor, Do hereby abate to Mr. Joab Griswold Collector of the Colony Tax made upon the list made and computed for 1775, and a Tax of 4d. on the Pound. the following persons Heads who were non commissioned Officers or Soldiers in the army in the year 1725, are as follows

" Job. Allyn

Jonathan Loomis

Wm Davise

Increase Mather

Alpheus Munsell

Roger Rowel

Lemuel Welch

William Parson

Jacob Judd George Woleo11 John Robert

Cornelius Russell

Elnathan Filley

Daniel Eley

Elijah Marshall .Ir

Samuel Munrow

Phineas Drake 3.

Varon Lyon

Isaac Pinney. . Iun.

Nath' Stanley

William Phelps 3.

Shubel Barber

Lanscott Phelps

Jesse Thrall

Elijah Griswold

Roger Mills

Martin Holcomb, Jun

Reuben Loomis

Solomon Clark, Jun.

Thomas Allyn .In

James Wilson

William Manley

Israel Warner

Moses Cook

Edward Barnard Jun

David Filley

Zacheus Phelps

Jonathan Bidwell

John May

Moses Drake

Luke Thrall

Simvon Grayham (Two Heads)

Oliver Winchell

Stephen Fosbury

Theophilus ITide

.John Fosbury

AAshbel Stiles

Joseph Fitch

Thomas Hayden

Jonah Gillet, Juin

Martin Denslow

Jonathan Gillet

Sam" Wing

Ezekiel Case

Ezekiel Thrall

John Rowel. Jun

Oliver Clark

Isane Skinner

Samuel Gibb

Thomas Grillet

David Gibb

Abiel Wilson

Eleazar Gaylord

Aaron Webster

" Being sixty six in number, amounting to the sum of $1188, upon the Public List of the Poles and Ratable Estate of the Inhabitants of the Town of Windsor, made and Computed for August, 1775. Which said sum we hereby abate to the said Collector.

"HENRY ALLYN. Just. pear.

" DANIEL BISSELL , Selectmen

-- ISAAC PINNEY of

PELA MILLS Windsor."

A lifelike picture of the winter encampment is given by the Rev. William Emerson, chaplain in the army. "The generals, Washington

Elias Brown

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WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTION, 1775.

and Lee, are upon the lines every day. New orders from his excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinction is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his place and keep in it, or to he tied up and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime. Thousands are at work every day from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is surprising how much work has been done.

It is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a portrait- ure of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of sail cloth ; some partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone or turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry ; others are curiously wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy." To complete the picture we will quote the words of a Simsbury soldier :

" For every six soldiers there was a tent provided. The ground it covered was about six or seven feet square. This served for kitchen, parlor, and halt. The green turf, covered with a blanket, was our bed and bedstead. When we turned in for the night we had to lie perfectly straight, like candles in a box; this was not pleasant to our hip bones and knee joints, which often in the night would wake us, and beg to turn over. Our household utensils, altogether, were an iron pot, a canteen or wooden bottle holding two quarts, a pail and wooden bowl. Each had to do his own washing. and take his turn at the cooking."

It has been our privilege to read many of the letters written home by the soldiers in this motley camp to their friends and families in Windsor. Though not of sufficient importance to publish, yet they con- lain many homelike passages of touching interest ; queries of, and kind messages for friends : little bits of camp gossip and daily incident, with not unfrequently a request to be furnished with a new vest, or blanket, or a cheese, And these were not minor wants or luxuries, but necessities. For at this time the army was suffering for want of means and food. Recruits came in tardily, the army itself was weakened, its spirit was lowered, and, as the cold weather approached, it sorely felt the necessity of fuel and comfortable clothing. Some regiments ate their rations raw for want of fuel to cook them. Sickness was raging in the camp, and. the terms of enlistment beginning to expire, many of the soldiers pre- ferred to go home.

Added to these trials was the dispiriting effect of the failure of the expedition against Quebec. In the month of August previous a plan had been devised to invade Canada by an expedition which, entering that country by way of the Kennebec River, should co-operate with

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

another, under Gen. Schuyler, approaching by the northern lakes. Eleven hundred hardy men, accustomed to frontier life, many of them veterans of the old French war, were selected from the army for this service. The chief command was given to Col. Benedict Arnold, whose eminent bravery and acquaintance with the country to be invaded peculiarly fitted him for the perilous undertaking. His subordinate officers were Lient .- Cols. ROGER Exos, of Windsor, and Christopher Groene: and Majors Meigs and Bigelow ; while the rifle corps were commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan, famous as a partizan leader in the subsequent history of the war.

Arnold's detachment marched from Cambridge on the 13th of Sup- tember, 1775, and embarking at Newburyport on eleven transports, set sail for the mouth of the Kennebec River. At Gardiner they found 200 batteaux awaiting them, and in these they pushed on to Norridgework Falls. fore began the perils and toils of a march which has no parallel in the history of our Revolutionary struggle. The hardy voyageurs were obliged to carry all their batteaux, provisions, and stores around the falls, into navigable water, a mile and a quarter above. This severe labor consumed seven days, and had to be repeated at Carremine Falls. At length, however, in spite of a current so rapid that the men waded through the stream, pushing their boats before them. the little band reached the great carrying-place, twelve miles below the junction of the Dead River with the Kennebee. By this time their number had been reduced by sickness and desertion to about 950, yet their spirits were cheerful and their courage unshaken. Twenty-five days' provisions still remained, and Arnold determined to push on to the French settlements on the Chaudiere, estimated at ten days' distance. "The great carrying płace was a portage of fifteen miles, broken by three ponds. Oxon dragged the batteaux part of the way on sleds, and the baggage and stores were carried on the shoulders of the men. Over craggy knolls and tangled ravines, through deep morasses, creeks, and ponds, they pursued their journey, sometimes carrying their vessels, and the vessels sometimes bearing them, until they reached the Dead River. The ponds afforded an abundance of delicious salmon-trout, and want of food had not yet been among their privations. The surface of the Dead River was smooth, and the waters flowed on in a gentle enrrent in the midst of the magnificent forest. now rendered gorgeous by the brilliant hues imparted to foliage by early frost. Occasional falls inter- rupted their progress, but the labors of the men were far less severe than hitherto. Suddenly the monotony of the vast forest was broken by the appearance of a lofty mountain covered with snow, at the foot of which Arnold encamped three days, raising the Continental flag over his tent.

When the expedition moved forward a heavy rain set in, which sent

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WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTION, 1775.

down such heavy torrents from the hills that the river arose eight feet in one night, overflowing its banks and filling its channels with rafts of drift-wood. So suddenly did this freshet occur that the water came roaring down the valley where the soldiers were encamped so unexpect- celly and powerfully that they had barely time to retreat to their batteaux before the whole plain was overflowed. Seven boats were overturned and their provisions lost, and others were in imminent peril in the midst of the flood. They were yet thirty miles from the head of the Chandiere, and but about twelve days' provisions remained. The storm and expos- ure made many siek, and despondeney supplanted cheerfulness, for the future seemed pregnant with misery. A council of war was held, and it was decided to send the sick and feeble back, and to press forward with the healthy. Arnold wrote to Greene and Enos, who were in the rear, to select as many of their best men as they could supply with fifteen days' provisions, and come on with them, leaving the others to return to Norridgework. Enos, either through a false construction of the order or willful disobedience, returned to Cambridge with his whole division. His appearance excited the greatest indignation in the Continental camp, and Enos was looked upon as a traitor for thus deserting his companions and endangering the whole expedition. He was tried by a court martial. and, it being proved that he was short of provisions, and that none could be procured in the wilderness, he was acquitted. He never was restored in public estimation, however, and soon afterwards left the army.'

In the meanwhile Arnold, with the rest of the troops, pressed onward. The rain changed to snow, and ice formed upon the water in which the men waded to push the batteanx as they passed the numerous ponds and marshes near the sources of the Dead River. Seventeen falls wore passed, and on a bleak day, marching through snow two inches deep, they reached the Highlands which separated the waters of New England from Canada."

Soon they came to Lake Megantie, on whose eastern shore the little army encamped to recruit from their latigning march, while Arnold, with thirteen men in batteaux and canoes, and Capt. Hanchet, with a party of fifty-live men on shore, proceeded down the Chaudiere to the French settlements, to procure provisions. The voyage was frightful in the extreme. The rapid current boiled and foamed over a rocky bottom, . and they were without guides, but they lashed themselves to the bateaux and embarked upon the stream. Soon they were among the rapids. Three boats were broken to pieces, their contents upset, and the hapless

I The circumstances of this case are most forcibly stated in the admirable defense of Enos' conduct, made by Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden of Wilkesbarre, Pa., in an article entitled fin. Roger Enex : I Lost Chapter of Arnold's Expedition to Canada, 1775. published in the Magazine of American History.

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

voyageurs left struggling with the waters, but no lives were lost. For seventy miles there was a constant succession of falls and rapids, with their accompanying dangers. At last they reached Sartigan, where the hospitable French furnished them with provisions, which were inmedi- ately sent back to the approaching army. They reached the troops at an opportune moment, for they had slaughtered their last ox some days before, and had even been reduced to the extremity of using dog's flesh. sand-roots, and the leather of their shoes and moccasins, for food.

Pushing on with renewed strength, the army reunited at Sartigan, and on the 9th of November, after this terrible march of thirty-two days through gloomy forests, emerged at Point Levi, opposite Quebec.

Their sudden appearance, mysterious and unheralded, gave rise to the most exaggerated rumors of their numbers, and the Canadians were in a tumult of alarm. Arnold's intention was to have taken advantage of this, and strike a bold and decisive blow; but a heavy storm of wind and sleet prevented him from crossing the River St. Lawrence until the evening of the 13th. Then, under the very guns of a frigate which had been placed in the stream to intercept him, Arnold safely landed his forces at Wolf's Cove, and scaling the heights where Wolf had ascended sixteen years before, stood at dawn upon the Plains of Abraham. And as the little band of patriots mustered there before the grim battlements looming fearfully through the gray light of morn, it is not strange that their hearts sank within them, and that for the first time they realized the full extent of their own hardihood. They numbered but 750 men, without artillery, and half of their muskets were spoiled and useless. They learned also that now reinforcements had added to the enemy's strength. Arnold, however, made a feint of attack, hoping to draw out the English, and relying on the French.

The French, however, were deterred by fear of the English garrison, who in turn were too wary to place the city at the power of enemies within by issuing forth against the inconsiderable force which menaced them without. Consequently, after indulging in some ineffectual brav- ado, Arnold, finding himself deficient in stores and ammunition, and learning that further reinforcements to the enemies were approaching. hastily retired to Point aux Trembles, twenty miles above Quebec, there to await the arrival of Montgomery's army. On the Ist of December Montgomery appeared with a most welcome supply of clothing for Arnold's half-naked troops, and, taking the chief command, the combined forces, of less than 1,000 men, again set out, in the face of a severe snow storm, for Quebec. Reaching that place on the 5th, they invested the city as well as they could with so insignificant a force : and three weeks were spent in fruitless endeavors to intimidate the British commander to surrender, or to batter down an entrance with the light guns which

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WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTION. 1775.

they possessed. Now mutiny and dissatisfaction began to develop them- selves, and the small-pox broke out in the camp. In the face of all these Tearful dangers a council of war determined upon a regular assault. At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 31st of December, in the midst of a driv- ing storm of snow, which the winds were whirling into almost impassa- ble drifts, the attack was commenced by three columns, commanded respectively by Montgomery, Arnold, Livingston, and Brown, which, approaching the town by different routes, were to meet at a certain point. Slowly and cautiously Montgomery's command crept up to the lower town by the road, under Cape Diamond. Stealing upon the little. and as they hoped unprepared, battery, they were suddenly met by a ter- rifie storm of iron hail, which for ten minutes belched forth death, and then ceased, for there was none to slay. The gallant Montgomery and his aids lay dead, and the few who lived fled in dismay from the terrible havoc. Meantime Arnold, at the head of his division, was struggling through the heavy snow-drifts in the Sault an Matelot, when he received a wound which obliged him to retire. and the command devolved on Morgan, under whom the brave troops stood battling in the narrow pass for three long hours. And just as they had succeeded in storming the battery they were surprised by an overwhelming force of the enemy, to whom they were obliged to surrender. Thus ended this rashest of all rash attempts to take Quebee: 160 of the American forces were killed and wounded, and 426 surrendered, while less than 500 escaped and retired to a short distance from the town, where. under Arnold's com- mand, they remained till the following spring. Gen. Wooster then came from Montreal with a large force, and took the chief command. An attempt was made to beleaguer and occupy the city, which, however, proved futile, and the patriot arms were obliged to leave Canada without anything to boast of except their intrepidity in a good cause.

Those who surrendered themselves were kindly treated, and finally sent home to their anxious friends and families.

It may be thought by some that we have devoted more space to this expedition than is proper in a local history. We have, however, chosen to dwell upon it because, as one of the most remarkable exploits of mod- ern history, it must always be interesting to those who love to recall the brave deeds of our revolutionary struggle, and because WINDSOR men shared the toils of that wonderful wilderness march, faced the fury of the elements, and the wilder storm of British artillery, and languished in the gloomy depths of a British prison.

In the escalade which was made by Arnold's division Capt. SETH HANCHETT, of Suffield, and ELIJAH MARSHALL, of Windsor, were the first to mount the barrier. And clear above the rattle of musketry was heard the encouraging voice of the former: "Walk up, Marshall, our mothers

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

are at home praying for ns, and the enemy can't hurt us." Aye, that was the secret of America's success in the Revolution : her canse was just, her Washington a praying general, and her brave sons, amid the temptations of camp life and the danger of battle, never forget that mothers. wives, and daughters at home were praying for them.

THEOPHILUS HIDE lost his gun and was killed in the assault.

Among the prisoners we find the names of ELIJAH MARSHALL, before mentioned. DANIEL ROYCE' (5th Co.), and STEPHEN FOSBURY (of Why.), who died in Canada, January 1, 1776, with small-pox, during his imprisonment, aged 20.

Although these and other reverses tended to depress the hearts of America's patriotic defenders, yet the energy of Washington triumphed over every obstacle. He vigorously pushed forward his preparations for the siege of Boston, and, having secretly fortified Dorchester Heights, commeneed the bombardment of the city on the 3d and 4th of March. In the darkness of the night, the American army had done its work well ; and the sun, as it rose on the morn of the 5th, revealed to the astonished foe the adjacent heights bristling with cannon and men. Howe was astounded and chagrined. " I know not what I shall do," he exclaimed. " The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month." The tables were indeed turned. The British army in the city and the fleet in the bay were in an extremely critical situation. Esteeming " prudence the better part of valor," Howe abandoned the town, and on the 18th the American army entered it in trinmph.

Quite a number of Windsor men were present at this scene, but we have been able to get but few of their names. Sgt. THOMAS HAYDEN, bc- fore mentioned, was at Roxbury when the fortifications were thrown up. and is said to have constructed some of them, a duty for which his busi- ness of carpenter and architect peculiarly fitted him. HEZEKIAH HAYDEN.3 LEMUEL WELCH, NATHANIEL LAMBERTON, and INCREASE MATHER WOIU also there. EZRA HAYDEN was at Dorchester.

1 A Journal of the Expedition, published in Nur Eng. Hist. and then. Register. vi. 199.

2 This, with other Wintonbury names, from the manuscripts of the Rev. Hez. Bissell.

3 We make the following extract from one of his letters, addressed to his father, Dea. Nathaniel Hayden, dated " Camp at Roxbury, Jan'y 30, 1776."

" Honored Sir 11 is a sick time in the camp, several been carried to the hospital to-day, and a day or two past. Six I hear, are broke out with the Small- pox to-day & carried to Cambridge hospital (supposed) to be catched of the Deserters' which come in daily. We are in some fear from the enemy, our regiments are but about half full. Number is so small and duty is so hard & weather is so cold that we are in great danger of being sick. One John Gilman died last night in Capt. Bissell's company - one Indian man died this morning in the hospital - 12 unfit for duty in our company - Windsor men are tolerably well. But I blest be God am remarkably hearty. Pro- visions is plenty and good."

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WINDSOR'S SHARE IN THE REVOLUTION, 1776.

In 1776, the number of Connecticut regiments in the field was in- creased from eight to twenty-seven, largely composed of re-enlistments from the men of 1775-all enlisted men in the Continental army being specially exempted from the poll tax in the year 1776, and from arrest for debts during their term of service.

During the re-organization of the Continental army before Boston. December, 1775, to February, 1776, when soldiers were coming and go- ing, Washington called for New England regiments to guard the lines at various points, until the new army had been well established. One of the three Connecticut regiments sent for this duty was that of Col. ERASTUS WOLCOTT of East Windsor. They reached Boston about the end of January, 1776, and remained about six weeks. The only rolls preserved are those of Wolcott's regiment, which formed a part of the American army of occupation of Boston after the British had evacuated that city.

After the evacuation of Boston by the British, they concentrated their forees near New York city. This caused Gen. Washington to call upon Gov. Trumbull to order the whole of the standing militia of this State west of the Connecticut River. His urgent request was promptly responded to by the governor, and there were not less than 10,000 Con- necticut militia in the service near New York, among whom were very many " Windsor boys."

The little neighborhood of Pine Meadow, now Windsor Locks, con- sisted of nine families. The heads of all but one of these families were in the army.

In the disastrous battle of Long Island. August 27, 1776, the affair at White Plains, and the retreats through Westchester County, the Con- neetient troops suffered terribly. In the motley crowd which accompa- nied this retreat, it is related,' was " the wife of Major, afterwards Gen. Roger Newberry, in a carriage in which she had driven from Windsor to care for her sick husband. At one point her carriage was disabled, and they likely to fall into the hands of their enemies. She pleaded unsue- cessfully with the sick man to suffer the badges of his rank to be removed, but he escaped with them on. JABEZ HASKELL, then act- gabez Flashel ing as nurse to the sick, and who had succeeded in bring- ing off a munher of sick Windsor men as far as King's Bridge, was challenged by the guard at that point, and his.pass demanded. Charging bayonet, he shouted, " Here's my pass. Stand out of the way." and his invalid corps was soon beyond pursuit. One Windsor man who

1 Hist. Add. at Windsor Centennial, July 4. 1876, by J. H. Hayden.

VOL. I .- 41

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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

was struck by a spent ball, so increased his speed as to leave all his com- rades behind. Many fell at their posts, and many, less fortunate, were imprisoned within the gloomy walls of the Old Sugar House, or suffered the terrors of those floating charnels, the prison ships.1

Hezchical HaySen _ HEZEKIAH HAYDEN' enlisted into the army about the 1st of January, 1776, and served as a private soldier. July 2d, Washington had issued an order to the army, portraying the perilous condition of the coun- try, and the momentous interests at stake in the impending battle. Finding in this order what best expressed his own sentiments regarding the situation, the soldier copied from it until the drum-beat called him to lay aside his pen and resume his musket :

" CAMP NEW YORK, July 4, 1996.

----

" Honored Father and Mother:

" The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves: whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they con- signed toa state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will propably deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resist- ance, or the most abject submission. This is all we can expect. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die, Our country's honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us rely upon the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises if. happily, we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them.

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The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 38

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909 Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038