USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Redding > The history of Redding, Connecticut : from its first settlement to the present time > Part 6
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The following orders show the route taken by the army in the fall of 1778 from the Highlands to Redding :
" HEAD QUARTERS, FREDERICKSBURG, Oct. 16, 1778.
"To morrow being the Anniversary of the Surrender of Gen'l Bur- goyne and his Troops to the Arms of America under the Command of Major Gen'l Gates, it will be Commemorated by the firing of thirteen cannon from the Park of Artillery at 12 0:Clock."
" HEAD QUARTERS, Oct. 22, 1778.
"Nixon's, Parson's and Huntington's Brigades are to march to mor- row morning at 7 'o'clock from the Line under the command of Major Gen'1 McDougall-Orders of March-Gen'l Nixon's Brigade leads, Huntington's follows, Parson's brings up the Rear, Commanding Officers of Corps will be answerable for the conduct of their men while on the March. Artillery to March in Centre of each Brigade-the Baggage of Gen'1 Officers to March in Rear of the Troops, the other Baggage will march in the same order. Forage and Commissary Waggons in the rear of the Whole."
" NEW MILFORD, Nov. 5, 1778.
"The Honorable, the Continental Congress having on the 12th of Oc- tober passed a Resolution to discourage prophaneness in the Army it is inserted in this Division for the information of Officers, and Gen. Mc- Dougall hopes for their aid and Countenance in Discouraging and Sup- pressing a Vice so Dishonorable to human Nature, to the commission of which there is no Temptation enough."
" CAMP, NEW MILFORD, Oct. 26, 1778.
"His Excellency the Commander in Chief has Directed the troops to remain here till further orders-and be in Readiness to March at the shortest Notice as Circumstances shall require. While the Division is Reposed, two days bread will be on store Continually, Baked."
PUTNAM
MAIN ENTRANCE, PUTNAM CAMP.
معدي
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
These interesting extracts might fitly conclude the story of the army's encampment in Redding; there are, however, some entries in the parish records, proving that amid the horrors of war sly Cupid found a chance to inflict his wounds, that are worthy of insertion. They are given as entered by the Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett :
"Feb. 7, 1779. I Joined together in marriage James Gibbins a sol- dier in the army and Ann Sullivan."
"March 18th, 1779. I joined together in marriage John Lines, a sol- dier in the army, and Mary Hendrick."
"March 30, 1779. I joined in marriage Daniel Evarts a soldier, and Mary Rowland."
"Apr. 15, 1779. I joined in marriage Isaac Olmsted a soldier, and Mary Parsons."
"Apr. 28, 1779. I joined in marriage Jesse Belknap an artificer in the army, and Eunice Hall."
"May 4, 1779. I joined in marriage William Little, Steward to Gen. Parsons, and Phebe Merchant."
"May 23, 1779. I joined in marriage Giles Gilbert an artificer in the army, and Deborah Hall.".
"March 9, 1780. I joined in marriage William Darrow a soldier, and Ruth Bartram."
. In the month of June, 1781, Count de Rochambeau and the Duke de Lauzun marched a column of French troops across Connecticut and took post in Ridgefield, within supporting distance of Washington's army on the Hudson. They passed through Redding on the march, and encamp- ed over night, it is said, on the old parade-ground. Their supply-train numbered eight hundred and ten wagons, most of them drawn by two. yoke of oxen and a horse leading.
CHAPTER V. Putnam Memorial Camp-Ground. HISTORICAL.
In a History of Redding, published in 1880, the author de- scribed the site of Putnam's winter quarters of 1778-9, and predicted that "it will in time no doubt become a favorite place of resort." On the setting of the Connecticut Legislature in January, 1887, Hon. Isaac N. Bartram, of Sharon, introduced the following resolution, Aaron Tread- well, owner of the site, having previously agreed to present the land as a free gift to the State :
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
"Resolved by this Assembly, that a committee consisting of one Sen- ator and four Representatives be appointed to investigate and report at once on the practicability and desirability of obtaining for the state the old Israel Putnam Camp Grounds in the town of Redding, on which traces of said encampment still exist, and the erecting thereon of a suit- able monument or memorial."
The resolution passed, and Senator Cole of Bethel, Messrs. Bartram of Sharon, Gorham of Redding, Wessells of Litchfield, and Barbour of Branford, of the House, were appointed a committee to visit the grounds and report. Early in February this committee, accompanied by a num- ber of interested members, proceeded to Redding. They were met at the station by a delegation of citizens of Redding and escorted to the winter quarters which they inspected. To this committee, by request, Charles B. Todd presented a plan for the lay-out of the grounds, which he later embodied in an article on the winter quarters in the New York Evening Post, and which was widely copied by State papers.
" It is not proposed to erect a pleasure park, but a memorial. The men it is designed to commemorate were strong, rugged, simple. Its leading features, therefore, should be of similar character and of such an historical and antiquarian cast as to direct the thought to the men and times it commemorates. The rugged natural features in which the pro- posed site abounds should be retained. I would throw over the brooks arched stone bridges with stone parapets such as the troops marched over in their campaigns through the Hudson valley. The heaps of stone marking the limits of the encampment should be left undisturbed as one of the most interesting features of the place. One might be reconstruct- ed and shown as it was while in use. A summer house on the crag guarding the entrance, might be reared in the form of an ancient block- house, like those in storming or defending which Putnam and his rangers learned the art of war. Such a structure, at this day, would be an his- torical curiosity. I know of but two in the world-one on Sugar Island, at the mouth of the Detroit River, and another at Mackinac Island, in the Straits of Mackinaw. For the monument I would suggest a cairn of stones from the neighboring limestone quarry, to be surmounted by a pyramidal monolith of granite, ten feet high, each of its four faces bear- ing an inscription as follows :
For the north face:
On this spot, and on two others situated one and two miles to the westward respectively, Gen. Putnam's division of the Continental Army encamped during the severe winter of 1778-9, enduring untold priva- tions, in the belief that their sufferings would inure to the benefit and happiness of future millions.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
On the reverse :
The men of '76 who suffered here.
To preserve their memory so long as time endures, the State of Connec- ticut has acquired these grounds and erected this monument, A. D. 1887.
On the east face the names of the division and brigade commanders ; on the west an extract from Putnam's address, slightly changed.
All the world is full of their praises Posterity stands astonished at their deeds.
This plan, modified as to details, both by Mr. Todd himself, and from suggestions by John Ward Stimson, Superintendent Isaac N. Bartram and Engineers Hull and Palmer, has since been followed in the lay-out of the Camp. The Special Committee, on February 9th, submitted the following report :
Your Committee * visited the site on February 3d, and found it to be a sloping hillside facing the east, diversified with crags and plateaus and forming the west wall of the valley of Little River, an affluent of the Saugatuck. The ground is two miles from Bethel, the nearest railroad station, and five from Danbury, at which point railroads from all parts of the state converge. A fine forest covers the greater part of the site ; brooks flow through it falling in cascades over the crags, and the general situation is commanding and delightful.
The heaps of stone marking the site of the log huts in which the brigades were quartered, are forty-five in number and are arranged op- posite each other in long, parallel rows defining an avenue some ten yards wide and five hundred feet in length. These, with others scattered among the crags, admirably define the limits of the encampment, and form one of the best preserved and most interesting relics of the Revolution to be found in the State, if not in the Country. It was here that Putnam and his brigades wintered in 1778-9.
The owner of the site, Aaron Treadwell, offers to donate so much land as the State shall decide to take for the purpose of preserving in- tact forever the old Camp Ground, and for erecting thereon a suitable memorial. Your Committee would recommend the acceptance of the offer of Aaron Treadwell as a gift to the State, and the appropriation of fifteen hundred dollars for the erection of a suitable memorial thereon. They, also, recommend the appointment of a Committee of four, by his Excellency, the Governor, to receive for the State, a deed of said site, and for the laying out of the grounds and the erection of a memorial.
A resolution, embodying these recommendations, was passed on April 2Ist.
1
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
The committee appointed by Governor Lounsbury in accordance with the resolution, comprised Hons. Samuel B. Gorham of Redding, and Isaac N. Bartram of Sharon, Messrs. Charles B. Todd and Aaron Treadwell of Redding. This Committee caused to be erected during the summer of 1888 the present monument. It was apparent, however, that the tract of twelve acres which had been presented by Mr. Treadwell, very inade- quately preserved the autonomy of the former camp. The line of bar- racks originally extended through the adjoining fields North nearly a quarter of a mile, and to bring the limits of the former winter quarters more within the control of the State, Mr. O. B. Jennings, of Fairfield, purchased the Read property on the north for five hundred dollars, and generously donated it to the State.
The whole tract now comprised thirty-two acres, and needed to be fenced and made accessible. by means of roads, walks, etc. Messrs. Hull and Palmer, engineers of Bridgeport, were accordingly employed by the committee to make a topographical survey and map, and prepare a plan or lay-out. This plan, with the engineer's estimate of cost, etc., was submitted to the Connecticut Legislature of 1889, at an early date, and a Joint Select Committee of one senator and six representatives was raised to proceed to Redding, view the monument and grounds, and re- port. This Committee, consisting of Senator Bartram of Sharon, Repre- sentatives Sharp of Pomfret, Miller of Redding, Day of Brooklyn, Chichester of Wilton, Burlingame of Canterbury, and Sunderland of Danbury, visited the Camp early in February, 1889, and were again hos- pitably received and entertained by the citizens of Redding. They re- ported in favor of the whole amount called for in the engineer's estimate -$20,608.55, and an act appropriating this amount passed both Houses and was signed by Governor Bulkley, June 19, 1889. A commission of seven persons "to be appointed by the Governor," had previously been created, and had been authorized "to accept on behalf of the State any gifts of real estate or money which might be offered to the State, * and to take charge of the Camp Ground until August 1, 1891, or until their successors were appointed." Section 2 authorized the commission "to cause said Camp Ground to be fenced and otherwise suitably im- proved as they should deem meet and proper, provided they did not ex- ceed the amount of money that might be given, together with the amount appropriated by the State therefor, including pay for their own services."
"Said commission to report in full their doings, and the amount by them expended to the next general assembly."
Under the second act, Governor Bulkley appointed the following gen- tlemen as commissioners : Isaac N. Bartram of Sharon, Charles B. Todd of Redding, Oliver B. Jennings of Fairfield, Clement A. Sharp of Pom-
--
PUTNAM CAMP COMMISSION.
From left to right. John H. Jennings, George G. Parker, William Ward, William H. Hill, Clarence Hickok, Charles H. Peck, Thomas A. Evans.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
fret, Oland H. Blanchard of Hartford, Samuel S. Ambler of Bethel, and James E. Miller of Redding.
The work of restoring the winter quarters and of laying out the grounds was begun by this commission in July, 1889, and largely com- pleted by the autumn of 1890. A stone house for public comfort and as a museum of relics, a fountain with a jet of water playing on a bed of Connecticut mineral, a walk between the stone heaps and some minor details were left unfinished. It is to be regretted that succeeding com- missions did not in all respects carry out the original plan, thus pre- serving its unity. The present commission appointed by Governor Rob- erts in 1905, comprising John H. Jennings of Southport, William Ward of Naugatuck, William H. Hill of Redding, Thomas A. Evans of Bethel, Charles S. Peck of Danbury, Clarence T. Hickok of Bethel, and George A. Parker of Hartford, has done much to bring the grounds more into harmony with the original design.
Since the gift of Mr. Jennings there have been several gifts of land to the State. In 1893, Isaac N. Bartram in order that the entire site might belong to the State, purchased of Henry Adams twenty-three acres on the east of the Jennings gift and presented it. In 1900, the heirs of Mr. O. B. Jennings presented a large tract of woodland on the north. The total area of the Camp is now one hundred and two acres.
DESCRIPTIVE.
No Revolutionary relic at all approaching in completeness the Israel Putnam Memorial Camp Ground in Redding can be found in America, and a brief description of the encampment and of the strength, equipment and organization of the army that occupied it can but be of interest in this connection.
Col. Humphrey tells us that it was the whole right wing of the Con- tinental Army, which had rendezvoused at White Plains that summer, thence marched to Fredericksburg, and thence to Redding, leaving de- tachments to garrison the Highlands. Major-General Israel Putnam was Commander-in-Chief; Major-General Alexander McDougall, Divi- sion Commander ; Brigadier-General John Nixon, Commanding the first Continental brigade ; Brigadier-General Jedediah Huntington, Command- ing the second Continental brigade; Brigadier-General Samuel Parsons, Commanding the third Continental brigade; Brigadier-General Enoch Poor, Commanding a brigade of the New Hampshire line; Colonel Moses Hazen, Commanding a corps of infantry, and General Sheldon, Com- manding a corps of cavalry. It would be interesting to know precisely how many men were encamped here, but it is difficult to fix the exact number. Col. Humphrey says, that in this summer of 1778, three armies were mobilized at White Plains, forming the right wing of the Grand
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
Army ; that it contained sixty regiments of foot, in fifteen brigades ; four batteries of artillery ; four regiments of horse, and several corps of State troops. Not all of this army came to Redding, as before remarked, but from the extent of the three camps, it is evident that a large portion of it was encamped here.
Before telling how this great body was organized, officered and con- trolled, it will be proper to sketch briefly the Commanders. With the history and exploits of General Putnam every school boy is familiar. The quaint old colonial house at Danvers, Mass., where he was born, is still standing. The incidents of the wolf den, of the powder magazine at Fort Edward, his gallantry at Bunker Hill and on many revolutionary fields are twice-told tales and need not be recounted here.
General Alexander McDougall, the second in command, was a native- of Scotland, having been born in the Island of Islay, in 1731. He settled when quite young in New York city, and when the contest between Eng- land and the Colonies began espoused warmly the patriot cause. He was appointed June 30, 1776, Colonel of the first regiment raised for the war in New York city. From this time his promotion was rapid. He was made Brigadier General August 9th of the same summer ; Major General October 20, 1777, and with his command was in the Battle of White Plains, White Marsh, and Germantown. He had been in command of the Highlands during this summer of 1778. In 1780 he was a delegate from New York to the Continental Congress. He died in New York, June 8, 1786.
John Nixon, senior Commander of the Connecticut Brigades, was born in Philadelphia, in 1733, his father being a well-to-do ship merchant there. He was port warden of Philadelphia in 1766. An ardent patriot he early opposed the tyranny of King George, and in 1776 was commis- sioned Colonel of a Philadelphia regiment to succeed John Cadwallader, who was made Brigadier General. He served with distinction in the battle of Princeton, and suffered with Washington at Valley Forge.
Jedediah Huntington was a native of Norwich, Connecticut, a mer- chant and graduate of Harvard College. He entered the army as Colonel at the beginning of the war, and gained the distinction of having served under every general officer in the Revolution, except Stark.
Samuel H. Parsons was born in Lyme, Connecticut, May 14, 1737, and was the son of the distinguished clergyman, Rev. John Parsons. He was an able lawyer, and at the opening of the war was King's Attorney for New London County, which office he resigned to enter the patriot army. He originated the design of seizing Ticonderoga; was commis- sioned Colonel of the 6th Connecticut Regiment, April 26, 1775, and Brigadier General in the Continental Army by Congress in August, 1776. He won the perfect confidence of Washington, and there is evidence that he was employed by him on secret service to discover the designs
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
of Sir Henry Clinton. During this winter through Squire Heron, an ostensible loyalist of Redding Ridge, he carried on a correspondence with Clinton, undoubtedly with the knowledge of Washington and Putnam, Heron being to Clinton a bitter tory, but in reality a friend to the colonies. After the war General Parsons was a prominent figure in the settlement of Ohio.
General Enoch Poor, Commander of the New Hampshire Line, was born in Andover, Massachusetts, June 21, 1736. After the battle of Lex- ington he raised three regiments in New Hampshire, and took command of one. Congress in February, 1777, commissioned him Brigadier Gen- eral. He had served with honor in the campaign against Burgoyne the summer previous, having led the attack at Saratoga, and had been present at the Battle of Monmouth in the summer of 1778. He died in Camp, near Hackensack, the year after leaving Redding, 1780, and was buried with military honors.
Let us next consider the regiments encamped here and learn what we can of their formation, discipline, dress, accoutrements, and the rou- tine of life at the camp. Sheldon's and Hazen's corps seem to have been all the Continentals here, the rest being "state troops" of Connecticut and New Hampshire .*
Both classes, state and continental, were, however, modeled largely on the plan of the old militia system of the Colonies, and had been largely recruited from that source. The militia system of Connecticut, just prior to the Revolution, was one of the most perfect and effective ever devised. The bloody French and Indian Wars from 1745, down, had been her school and drill master. Let us study this system briefly. It was or- ganized in 1739, with the Governor as Captain-General and Commander- in-Chief. Thirteen regiments were formed at that time from the "train bands," the militia unit, each commanded by a Colonel, Lieutenant-Col- onel, and Major, who were commissioned by the Governor. A regiment might also include a troop of horse. There was an annual "muster of arms" on the first Monday of May, several "company" trainings a year, and a "regimental muster" once in four years. In 1756 two "company reviews" were instituted to be held yearly on the Ist of May and Ist of October. In 1767 the Fourteenth Regiment was formed of Cornwall, Sharon, Salisbury, Canaan and Norfolk. In 1769, the Fifteenth was formed of Farmington, Harwinton and New Hartford. In 1771 the Sixteenth, of Danbury, Ridgefield, Newtown and New Fairfield. In 1774 the Seventeenth, of Litchfield, Goshen, Torrington and Winchester, and the Eighteenth, of Simsbury, New Hartford, Hartland, Barkhamsted
* State troops were not regularly mustered in, but were lent Washington by their respective states when a special danger threatened, or for a certain purpose. They were usually under the orders of the Governor and Council of their states.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
and Colebrook. In October to meet the coming storm, four additional regiments were formed. The Nineteenth, from East Windsor, Enfield, Bolton and that part of Hartford east of Connecticut River. The Twen- tieth, from the military companies of Norwich. The twenty-first, from Plainfield, Canton, Voluntown, and the South Company of Killingly ; and the Twenty-second, of Tolland, Somers, Stafford, Willington and Union. In May, 1776, two more regiments were formed, one in Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania, then a part of Connecticut, and the other in Middletown and Chatham. Later, in 1776, the Twenty-fifth was formed of East Haddam, Colchester and the Society of Marlborough, while the cavalry troops were organized into five regiments of light horse. So that when the struggle opened, Connecticut had twenty-five regiments of foot and five of horse, armed, officered, and to some extent drilled, that could be called to her defence. All males between sixteen and fifty were liable to serve in these regiments. Not a few of the men were veterans seasoned in the French and Indian wars. The Assembly of 1776, mob- ilized this force into six brigades, appointed a Brigadier-General for each brigade, and two Major-Generals to command the whole. There were then 26,000 men in the colony capable of bearing arms; 1,000 of them beyond the Delaware. These men served in the Continental army in two ways-as enlisted men when they left the state service and were known as continental or regular soldiers, and as militia ordered by the Governor or Assembly to some threatened point, when they were known as state troops. In August, 1776, for instance, Governor Trumbull ordered all the militia west of the Connecticut River-14 regiments-to march to the defence of New York.
The Continental service was modeled much after that of Connecticut. The main difference between the continental and the militiaman was, that the former took an oath "to be true to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or op- posers, whatsoever, and to observe and obey all orders of the Continental Congress, and the orders of the General and officers set over me by them," while the state troops swore fealty to their State only. Congress, July 18, 1775, provided that the company should comprise a captain, two lieu- tenants, an ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, a clerk, drummer, fifer and sixty-eight privates. Connecticut at its October session made the same provision, although before that time the State companies had con- sisted of one hundred men.
The camp equipment of the militia, provided the full quota had been maintained, seems to have been sufficiently liberal. An order of 1775, enumerates, "90 marquees or officer's tents, 500 private tents, cloth for 48 tents, and for 500 tents, 1,092 iron pots of 10 quarts each-if not pots then tin kettles ; 1,098 pails, 2 brass kettles of 10 gallons each for each company, 2.500 wooden bowls, 4 frying pans per company, 6,000 quart
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
runlets, 60 drums, 120 fifes, I standard for each regiment, a medicine chest and apparatus not to exceed £40 in cost, a set of surgical instru- ments for the corps, 70 books in quarto of one quire each, 2 reams of writing paper, 10 of cartridge paper, I cart for each company, etc."
The Continental soldier had to furnish himself with a good musket, carrying an ounce ball, a bayonet, steel ramrod, worm, priming wire and brush, cutting sword or tomahawk, cartridge box containing twenty-three rounds of cartridges, twelve flints and a knapsack. Each man was also to provide himself with one pound good powder and four pounds of balls. The rations of the militia were also sufficiently liberal, provided they could have secured them-3/4 pound of pork, or one pound beef, I pound bread or flour, 3 pints beer Friday, beef fresh two days in the week, 1/2 pint rice or pint of meal, 6 ounces butter, 3 pints peas per week, a gill of rum per day when on fatigue, and no other time. Milk, molasses, can- dles, soap, vinegar, coffee, chocolate, sugar, tobacco, onions in season, and vegetables at the discretion of the field-officers are mentioned. The pay of officers and men was as follows: Major General, £20 per month ; Brigadier General, £17; Colonel, £15; Lieutenant-Colonel, £12; Major, LIO; Chaplain, £6; Lieutenant, £4; Ensign, £3; Adjutant, £5, IOS ; Quar- ter master, £3; Surgeon, f7, IOS; Surgeon's mate, £4; Sergeant, £2, 8s ; Corporal, £2, 4s ; fifer and drummer, £2, 48; private, f2. If they found their own arms fio for use of the latter. The musket prescribed by Connecticut must have a barrel 3 feet 10 inches long, 3/4 inch bore, bay- onet blade 14 inches long, iron ramrod, good lock and stock well mounted with brass, and the name of the maker on it. Is, 6d, was given each man who supplied himself with 3 pounds of balls, 3s for a pound of powder, and 3d for six flints; otherwise they were supplied out of the Colony stock.
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