USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. I > Part 28
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In the meantime, the fleet under command of Sir William Phipps, Governor of Massachusetts, having sailed from Nan- tasket, made haste to reach Quebec. It was made up of nearly forty vessels, the largest carrying forty-four guns and two hundred men. Owing, however, to the many delays that he experienced, the number of his vessels, the adverse winds, and the strength of the river current, Sir William did not reach Quebec until the 5th of October.t
On the 8th, he landed the troops and advanced upon the town ; and on the 9th, the ships were drawn up before it and opened a full fire upon it, but did little injury to a place so formidable from its natural position.į
Frontenac, only a few days before, had returned to Que- bec, after learning that the land army which he had started in search of had retreated to Albany, and now set himself about the defense of the fortress with great ability. He opened such a deadly fire upon the English ships from his batteries that they were obliged to withdraw, and on the 11th of the month the troops were compelled again to embark. The terrible winds that beset the St. Lawrence in the autumn, and herald the approach of the dead season that binds the noblest of all our northern streams in fetters of ice, soon after scattered the vessels of the English fleet and warned Sir William to return home. Had he arrived at
* Trumbull, i. 383 ; O'Callaghan, ii. 289.
+ Hutchinson, i. 354 ; Holmes ; Trumbull.
# Trumbull, i. 384. About this time, Leisler wrote to Governor Treat, " We rejoice to understand the victorious success of Sir William Phipps at the east- ward ;"-alluding, possibly, to the capture of Port Royal a short time before.
333
LEISLER IMPRISONS GEN. WINTHROP.
[1690.]
Quebec a week earlier than he did, he would have found the town, on account of the absence of Count Frontenac, com- pletely defenceless. But Frontenac having learned of the retreat of Winthrop, of whom he was in pursuit, hastened back to the fortress in time to save it.
Had Milborn been faithful in the discharge of the duty assigned him in the campaign, notwithstanding the timidity of the five nations and the late sailing of the fleet, it is prob- able that both branches of the expedition would have proved successful, and that the daring deeds that have since associa- ted the brightest names of British history with that of Que- bec, would never have been performed.
That the campaign was a failure was not the fault of Con- necticut, whose valor has always been found equal to con- tend with every thing that dared to meet it, save the insuper .. able obstacles of nature.
The abuse heaped by Leisler, and by the miscreant Mil- born himself, upon Winthrop and the gentlemen of Albany who were of the council of war, was even more disgraceful than the negligence or cowardice of those maligners that had been the cause of the retreat of which they complained. Several of the principal gentlemen of Albany, among whom was Robert Livingston, Esq., were obliged to fly from New York and take refuge in Hartford, where they were protected from violence .*
But Leisler's arrogance did not stop with persecuting the citizens of New York. After the main army had crossed the Hudson river, and while General Winthrop himself was on the west bank, and of course unprotected, Leisler brutally seized his person and attempted to go through the formalities of court-martialing the commander-in-chief of New Eng- land, who was in no way responsible to him, and who had been sent out more to protect the colony that he pretended to govern, than for any other cause. For several days Win- throp lay under arrest, and might have been murdered in cold blood had it not been for the timely interference of a
* See O'Callaghan ; Trumbull, i. 384.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
party of Mohawks, who, while the mockery of the trial was going on, crossed the river, broke through the guards that surrounded the prisoner, and bore him off in triumph .*
When we consider the character of Winthrop and Living- ston, the defenseless condition of New York, and the efforts that Connecticut had made during the preceding winter to save the inhabitants of Schenectady and Albany from a doom that their recklessness seemed rather to covet than to shun, we are at a loss whether to admire more the ruffianly impudence or the heartless ingratitude of this transaction.
While Winthrop was in close confinement, the authorities of Connecticut addressed a letter to Leisler, reminding him, though in a courteous way, of the same obligations that he must have forgotten. "A prison," they say, "is not a catholicon for all state maladies, though so much used by you." In another place they add, " If your adherence to Mr. Milborn (whose spirit we have sufficient testimony of,) and other emulators of the major's honor, be greater than to ourselves and the gentlemen of the bay, you may boast of the exchange by what profit you find."t
The severity of this language appears, to us who know the history of New York for the century next succeeding the date of the letter, to be rather a prophetic warning than a threat. But I ought not to speak more at length upon this topic, lest it should be thought that I am unable to make a distinction between the profligacy of an administration and the character of the people who are oppressed by it. New York was not to blame for the madness of a tyrant.
In order that no imputation might rest upon the character of Major-General Winthrop, the General Assembly, in Octo- ber following, went into a full investigation of his conduct. Evidence was heard not only from Albany, but from the New England officers who had been of the council of war; even the Indians who had participated in the affair, and who could testify as to the deficiency of canoes and provisions,
Trumbull, i. 384; see also Doc. Hist. New York, ii. 288, 289.
t O'Callaghan, ii. 289.
335
WINDHAM INCORPORATED.
[1692.]
were examined. Unanimously the Assembly resolved, " That the general's conduct in the expedition had been with good fidelity to his majesty's interest, and that his con- finement at Albany on the account thereof, demanded a timely vindication." *
A committee of two magistratest was also appointed in the name of the Assembly, to thank General Winthrop for his services, and to assure him of their readiness on all future occasions to avail themselves of his fidelity, valor, and prudence.Į
In May 1692, Windham was incorporated. The tract of land embraced in it was a very fine one, and had been de- vised by Joshua, son of Uncas and sachem of the Mohegans, to John Mason, James Fitch, and twelve others, many years before.§ The territory thus given, comprised also the towns of Mansfield and Canterbury. Settlements were begun both at Windham and Mansfield in 1686. Windham has long been a town of historical importance, and was made a county seat in 1726.
The Mohawks gave Count Frontenac as much trouble as the English, and proved very destructive enemies. After he was relieved from the embarrassments attending the English expedition against Canada, he determined to embrace the earliest opportunity to subdue these Indians. With this view he collected an army of about seven hundred French and Indians, and sent it forth, well provided for the hardships
* Colonial Records, MS.
+ Captain James Fitch and Captain Daniel Wetherell.
# Leisler wrote to Gov. Bradstreet (Sept. 15, 1690,) as follows : "I have used all arguments and means possible to reinforce for Canada ; but by Major Win- throp's treachery and cowardice, with the rest of his tools, hath rendered this work altogether impracticable." "Mr. Livingston, that betrayer of the province, and arch-confederate with yourselves, being willing to have exposed us to the remaining inhabitants ; however, God be thanked, we had those that made early provision against these devices."
Hutchinson, the historian of Massachusetts, justly remarks : " Winthrop's character seems to have been made a sacrifice to Leisler's vanity and madness." § Colonial Records, MS.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
of a winter campaign similar to the one that had resulted so disastrously at Schenectady.
In the middle of January 1693, this army set out from Montreal for the Mohawk country. This warlike tribe occupied a number of fortified places called by our early records "castles." After suffering the extremest hardships, the invading army reached the first of these strongholds on the 6th of February. Here they took four or five men, and passed on to the second, where they met with the like suc- cess. Most of the Indians who ordinarily lived in it were absent. At the third, they were more fortunate. Here about forty warriors were assembled for a war-dance, pre- paratory to their departure upon an expedition against their enemies. They made a stout resistance, but were over- powered by numbers, after having killed thirty of the assail- ants. In this expedition the French took about three hun- dred of the five nations. Most of them were women and children.
Colonel Schuyler, of Albany, at the head of about two hundred men, pursued the French army with such energy that they were glad to retreat. His forces were more than doubled within a few days after he took the field, by the allied Indians who flocked to his standard. About the middle of February, he came to the place where the French army was encamped. Three times they commenced a deadly attack upon him and were driven back.
Schuyler was nearly destitute of provisions, and while he was waiting to be supplied with them, and with reinforce- ments from Albany, the enemy, taking advantage of a severe snow-storm, deserted their camp on the night of the 18th, and set off on their return for Canada. The next day, Cap- tain Simms, with eighty men and a good supply of provisions, joined Schuyler, who immediately resumed the pursuit. He pressed so close upon the French that he would have over- taken them had they not crossed the north branch of Hud- son's river upon a floating cake of ice, and thus effected their
337
[1693.]
GOV. FLETCHER ARRIVES IN NEW YORK.
escape. As it was, he took from them most of the captives that had fallen into their hands .*
Letters soon arrived at Hartford, informing Governor Treat of the state of the western forces, and urgently calling for two hundred soldiers to repair to Albany for the defense of the king's dominions. On the 21st of February, a special Assembly was called, and one hundred and fifty men, under command of Captain John Miles, were immediately placed at the governor's disposal, to send wherever he should deem it most for his majesty's interest to order them. The next day fifty of them were on the march for Albany.t
The Assembly had scarcely adjourned, when new dis- patches arrived by express from Sir William Phipps, gover- nor of Massachusetts, asking for one hundred Englishmen and fifty Indians, to aid in protecting the eastern settlements both in Maine and Massachusetts.
On the 6th of March, another special Assembly was called, and the necessities of Massachusetts were responded to by Connecticut, by raising a company of sixty Englishmen and forty Indians, who were placed under the command of Cap- tain William Whiting. The activity of our little colony, the alacrity with which her troops were sent to relieve the northern, eastern, and western borders of the neighboring colonies is in perfect keeping with her previous and subse- quent history.
The halcyon days of our republic were destined again to be interrupted by the old question of jurisdiction. The anomalous authority of Leisler was now over in New York,į ' but his successor was no less likely to prove dangerous to the liberties of our people. On the 29th of August 1692, Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, the new governor, arrived from England with a commission that vested him with full powers
* Trumbull. t Colony Records, MS.
# Leisler and Milborn were executed in New York city for treason, May 16, 1691; Leisler having previously been succeeded in the office of chief magistrate of New York by Col. Henry Sloughter, who died in July of the same year. Col. Fletcher succeeded Sloughter.
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338
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
to command the whole militia of Connecticut and the neigh- boring provinces .* This commission of course took for granted the fact that the charter had been surrendered or forfeited, a proposition not likely to be received with much favor by Governor Treat and the other authorities, nor by the excited militia who had shared so many battles, and who had withstood the landing of Sir Edmund Andross at Saybrook ; and who already looked upon the Charter Oak with as much reverence as the ancient nations bordering upon the Medi- terranean entertained for the shrine of their favorite oracle. As the charter had never been given up, and as the command of the militia was given by it to the colony, the General As- sembly of course could do nothing less than resist this arbi- trary demand. However, out of respect to the people, the question was referred to the freemen, whether they would petition the king to preserve to them the control of the militia and their other chartered rights.
At a special Assembly held on the 1st of September 1693, it was ordered that a petition should be presented to the throne in relation to this vital matter. This petition was to be presented by Maj. Gen. Fitz John Winthrop, who was made the agent of the colony for that purpose, and who was desired to repair as soon as possible to England, and use all his endeavors to keep the jurisdiction of the colonial govern- ment entire.t
He was instructed to tell the king what hardships the people had encountered in the infancy of the colony, without the help of the mother country, and what dangers still sur- rounded them; that if the military power should be then taken from them, placed under the command of strangers, and removed out of the limits of the colony to New York or Boston, the citizens of Connecticut would be left utterly defenseless, and their families and property would be at the mercy of their enemies ; that an absent stranger would
* Trumbull, i. 390.
t Colonial Records, MS. Mr. Saltonstall was appointed to accompany Gov. Winthrop to England.
339
INSTRUCTIONS TO GEN. WINTHROP.
[1693.]
be but a poor judge of the wants of people who lived so remote from him, whose sympathies were not with them, and who could be expected to know nothing of the internal wants of the country, whose institutions he was ignorant of, and whose society was of a different texture, and had different wants from that in which he had been reared ; that in case of insurrection the military power would thus be unavailable to restore the inhabitants to their wonted tranquillity ; that the settlements in the colony, unlike the villages and hamlets in England, were thinly inhabited and remote from each other, rendering it necessary to put upon the military list all males who had arrived at the age of sixteen years, and thus, were the militia withdrawn to some other colony, Connecti- cut would be left in the keeping of magistrates, professional gentlemen, infirm old men and helpless women, who might hope in vain to be able to guard a line of sea-coast and frontier wilderness formidable enough to the people in their best estate. Winthrop was further instructed to say to the king that the entire population of the colony was satisfied with the charter government, and prayed that it might be perpetuated.
They bade him be sure to inform the king how unanimous the people were in their rejoicings over that happy event, the revolution of 1688, that had placed at the head of a new dynasty so gracious and acceptable a sovereign, and that if their prayer was granted, the militia should be, as it had before been, held at the service of the crown, to defend its honor, and the integrity of the king's empire as well in Mas- sachusetts and New York as in Connecticut. They further instructed him to say, that in defense of his majesty's inter- ests in the recent troubles in New York they had expended more than three thousand pounds and had freely shed their blood .*
It was also left discretionary with the agent whether he should venture to depart from the tone of supplication and assume an attitude of defense, setting up the charter and the rights vested by it in the authorities of the colony.
* Colonial Records, MS. ; also Trumbull, i. 390, 392.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
At the same time, an agent was sent to New York with a view of conciliating Governor Fletcher so far as could be done without compromising the claims set up under the charter. William Pitkin, Esq., was the agent designated for this mission. He was charged to pay his respects to Gover- nor Fletcher, and treat with him, if possible, in relation to the militia. Owing to the obstinacy of Fletcher, the embassy proved to be a failure.
Finding all his efforts to get control over the militia un- availing, Governor Fletcher resolved to try coercive meas- ures. On the 26th of October, therefore, he came to Hart- ford while the Assembly were in session, and in the king's name demanded at their hands the surrender of the militia, as they would answer to his majesty for their conduct. He insisted on receiving from them a direct answer whether they would or would not comply with his orders. He sub- scribed himself as " Lieutenant to his majesty, and command- er-in-chief of the militia, and of all the forces by sea or land, and of all the forts and places of strength in the colony of Connecticut."*
With the same pompous authority he commanded that the militia should be summoned under arms in order that he might beat up for volunteers. As if they designed to smooth his path to authority, the officers complied with the order, and called the train-bands together. Up to this point every- thing was encouraging. But here to his surprise the Assem- bly took a resolute stand. A very favorable time it was for the legislature to assume a bolder front, now that the guns of the train-bands were seen to glisten in front of the Assembly House. Governor Fletcher had invoked some troublesome spirits that he might not be able to quell now that they were before him. In vain did he argue and remonstrate with the Assembly, and in vain did he expatiate upon the ample powers given him by his commission. The republican authorities either would not or could not comprehend how those powers were consistent with the charter.
* Fletcher's Letter on file.
341
[1693.] CAPTAIN WADSWORTH AND THE TRAIN-BANDS.
In Fletcher's name, Colonel Bayard sent a letter into the Assembly, wherein he had carefully set down the object of his visit, and how remote it was from his intentions to inter- fere in any way with the civil rights of the colony. His excellency, said Bayard, will leave you as he found you, in the full enjoyment of your own. In Fletcher's name he also tendered to Governor Treat a commission authorizing him to command the militia. He insisted that he was contending for the recognition of the mere abstract right on the part of the king to control the military force, but that practically the colony would have the same authority as before. This "inherent, essential right" existing in his majesty, he said his excellency had come to see after, and that he would never set his foot out of Connecticut until it was acknowledged. He further said that he would issue his proclamation to the people, and then he should be able to distinguish the disloyal from those citizens who were peaceably disposed .*
If he had dropped the letter into the Connecticut river, it would have produced as much effect upon the flow of the current as it did upon the Assembly. They reiterated that they could not give up the command of the militia, and Gov- ernor Treat with his usual firmness, said it was impossible for him to receive a commission from the hands of Governor Fletcher. This peremptory demand on the one hand and refusal on the other, brought matters at once to an open issue.
As the train-bands were all ranged in due order, and as the senior officer, Captain Wadsworth, was walking up and down in front of the companies, Governor Fletcher advanced within hearing distance, and ordered his commission and instructions to be read. No sooner had Bayard begun to read, than Captain Wadsworth commanded that the drums should be beaten. This was done with such effect that the voice of the herald was entirely drowned in the din. "Si- lence !" said Gov. Fletcher, in a tone of offended authority. When the noise had subsided so that he could be heard, Bay-
* Col. Bayard's Letter on file.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
ard again began to read the commission. "Drum, I say, drum !" said Captain Wadsworth, and in an instant the voice was again lost in the thunders of martial music. "Si- lence, silence !" shouted the provincial governor. " Drum, drum, I say !" repeated Wadsworth; and then, turning to Fletcher and fixing his sharp resolute eyes upon him, he said -" If I am interrupted again, I will make the sun shine through you in a moment !" The tone in which these words were spoken was unmistakable. Governor Fletcher knew that death would be the consequence, if he should attempt a third time to enforce his orders. He prudently forebore, and as he saw the people constantly pouring into Hartford and thronging about him and his suite with lowering brows and angry gestures, he retired from the field, and adopting for himself the silence that he had in vain sought to restore to the ranks of the Connecticut militia, departed for his own jurisdiction .*
* This lively episode in our history, like the hiding of the charter, rests upon tradition; but it has been transmitted through such hands and with so little vari- ation, that its accuracy was never for a moment questioned. Such a tradition as this, is as worthy of trust as a record, and takes a much stronger hold on the im- agination. The story is in perfect keeping with the traits of our people. As usual, the authorities were only passive, while the active resistance came from a less responsible source. (See Trumbull, i. 393 ; also Holmes, i. 449.)
CHAPTER XVI.
CONSPIRACY OF DUDLEY AND CORNBURY.
CONNECTICUT, thus set free from the presence of another provincial tyrant, kept on in her old way under the charter. She soon had an opportunity of showing her loyalty to King William, and lost no time in making amends for what the senior captain of the train-bands had done to Governor Fletcher. How then could it be presumed for a moment that Governor Treat and the Assembly had approved of such lawless conduct ?
On the 7th of February 1694, a special Assembly was con- vened on account of a requisition that had been received from the king calling upon the colony to raise money for the defense of Albany. With much apparent alacrity, the legis- lature voted to comply with the demand, and accordingly a ax of one penny on the pound was laid to raise the sum of five hundred pounds .* The money was paid over into the hands of Colonel Fletcher. The magistrates were also di- rected to issue their warrants for the impressment of fifty bushels of wheat in each county, which was forthwith to be made into biscuit, and kept for the use of the soldiers in case of any sudden emergency.
In due time Major-General Winthrop, the agent of the colony, arrived in England and hastened to present her claims to his majesty. He drew up in writing a statement of the whole subject matter of his mission, embracing the in- structions under which he acted, together with such reasons and arguments as occurred to his own mind. After a full hearing, the king's attorney and solicitor-general gave an opinion favorable to the claims set up by the agent, and on
Colonial Records, MS.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
the 19th of April 1694, his majesty in council graciously de- cided in accordance with the report thus made. It was determined that Connecticut should place at the disposal of Governor Fletcher, during the war, one hundred and twenty men, and that the rest of the militia of the colony should be, as they ever had been, under the control of the popular governor .* This arrangement was perfectly satisfactory to Connecticut, as it virtually recognized the existence and authority of the charter.
The aid rendered by Connecticut in the war was constant and effective. The whole amount of taxes during the con- tinuance of hostilities, amounted to the enormous burden of about twenty pence on the pound ; so that at the close of the year 1695, the colony had drawn from the pockets of the people and paid out seven thousand pounds in the defense of New York and Massachusetts. When we consider that the ratable polls in the whole jurisdiction numbered less than two thousand four hundred, and that the grand list amounted to only £137,646, we can not but admire the self-sacrificing spirit of the citizens ; and especially when we remember that they submitted to this heavy drain from their resources from the most magnanimous and unselfish motives that ever actuated a people. To this £7,000 is to be added £3,000 for the untoward expedition against Canada under Winthrop.
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