USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Redding > The history of Redding, Connecticut : from its first settlement to the present time > Part 7
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By November 14th, as remarked, the troops were all safely ensconced in winter quarters. A few days after, with a terrible northeast snow- storm, winter set in-one of the longest and severest ever known in this region. The mercury sank to its lowest level, and the snow was so deep that all surface landmarks were obliterated, and people traveled in their sledges at will without regard to highways or fences. The poor soldiers, half clad, illy supplied with blankets, camp equipage, food and medicine, and housed in rude log huts, suffered terribly. Tales of the destitution of those times are still current in the town, having been handed down from father to son.
We have no account of the destitution at Putnam Camp from the diarists of the period, but from what has been recorded of other winter quarters, we infer that it was bitter in the extreme. Putnam wrote to Washington the spring before as follows: "Dubois Regiment is unfit to be ordered on duty, there being not one blanket in the regiment. Very
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few have either a shoe or a shirt, and most of them have neither stock- ings, breeches nor overalls. Several companies of enlisted artificers are in the same situation and unable to work in the field."
Dr. Thatcher, in his diary, kept at Valley Forge the winter before, adds to the picture :
"Thousands are without blankets and keep themselves from freezing by standing all night over the camp fires. Their foot prints on the frozen ground are marked in blood from their naked feet. For two or three weeks, in succession, the men were on half allowance, now without bread for four or five days, and again without beef or pork. A foreign visitor, walking through the camp, heard plaintive voices within the huts, saying "no pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum," and whenever he saw a mis- erable being flitting from one hut to another, his nakedness was covered only by a dirty blanket."
Washington, in his letters to Congress, also refers in affecting terms to the sad condition of the men in winter quarters.
At Lebanon and in Hartford, pitying, large-hearted Governor Trum- bull was making the utmost effort to succor the distressed troops, in which he was heartily seconded by the Connecticut Assembly. For in- stance, the latter body at its November session, 1776, enacted that the select men of each town should procure and hold in readiness for the soldiers, I tent, I iron pot, 2 wooden bowls and 3 canteens for each £1000 of the grand list of said town ; and in January, 1778, it ordered that each town must provide I hunting shirt, 2 linen shirts, 2 pair linen overalls, I pair stockings, 12 pair good shoes, and one-half as many blankets for the continental soldiers. But the towns were so impoverished that, in many cases. they could not respond to the requisitions, and the soldiers suffered accordingly .*
Before describing the final breaking up, let us look in upon the camps, and spend a day there with the soldiers. At sunrise, reveille calls them from their beds. After their frugal breakfast, at ten o'clock comes "par- ade," or as we would term it, "guard mount."
The continental soldier, when presentable, made no doubt a gallant show in his uniform of blue and buff with bayonets glistening and silken standards waving .**
Once every two months the rules and regulations of Congress were read to the men on parade, and there was often some general order or
*In 1778, the town of Redding petitioned the Legislature for relief. "Forty- nine of her citizens," says the petition, "have gone to the enemy; six are dead or prisoners ; nine are in the corps of artificers; twenty-eight men are in the Con- tinental Army, and one-hundred and twelve in the train bands," leaving scarcely none to man the farms and produce money or supplies to meet the requisitions.
** The standard of the First Connecticut Regiment was yellow, of the Second, blue; of the Third, scarlet; of the Fourth, crimson; of the Fifth, white; of the Sixth, azure.
Photo by Miss Mary C. Boughton.
This old Revolutionary elm is said to be the largest elm in Connecticut. One foot above the ground it has a girth of thirty feet six inches. The spread of its branches is one hundred and twelve feet.
On the site of the cottage in the background (now owned by Miss Eleanor Dayton) stood the house of the Widow Sanford, where the Continental of- ficers banqueted in 1779.
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felicitation of the Commander on some event of interest communicated at the same time. The sutler's tents were open until the "retreat" was beaten at sunset, and which sent every soldier to his quarters. Telling stories and singing patriotic songs were almost the only evening amuse- ments of the soldiers. There were two talented young poets in the camp at this time, whose stirring lyrics sung around the camp fires were well calculated to cheer and animate the soldier, and lead him to forget, or en- dure with cheerfulness his privations. These two poets were Col. David Humphrey, aide-de-camp to General Putnam, and Joel Barlow, who had just graduated at Yale College, where he had distinguished himself by his patriotic commencement poem, the Prospect of Peace. Barlow was a native of Redding, and his brother, Colonel Aaron Barlow, was a meri- torious officer in the continental service, and the personal friend of Put- nam. Both poets later rose to eminence, Humphrey becoming aide-de- camp to, and later the friend and companion of Washington; Barlow, after filling various offices, died in Poland in 1812, while our Minister to France.
On Sunday all the troops presentable were formed in column and marched to the Congregational Church at Redding Centre, where they listened to the sermons of the eloquent and patriotic Parson Bartlett, pas- tor of that church.
There were also chaplains of their own in camp, one of them being Abraham Baldwin, of New Haven, who later drafted the Constitution, and became a Senator of the United States from Georgia.
One of the recreations of the officers was in practising the rites and amenities of Free Masonry. While the army lay at Redding, American Union Lodge, which followed the fortunes of the army, was re-organized "on application of a number of gentlemen, brethren of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons."
Agreeable to the application a summons was issued desiring the mem- bers to meet "At Widow Sanford's,* near Redding Old Meeting House, on Monday 15th inst. (February, 1779), at 4 o'clock past M." At this meeting General Parsons was elected Master. Records of several meet- ings of the Lodge at "Redding viz. Mrs. Sanford's" follow. On March 25th the Lodge gave a state dinner which is thus described :
Procession began at half-past 4 o'clock, in the following order :
Bro. Whitney to clear the way.
The Wardens with their wands.
The youngest brother with the bag. Brethren by juniority.
*Who was she? According to Mr. John Nickerson, town clerk of Redding, who has made a study of the subject, she was daughter of Col. John Read, 3d, and widow of Sanford, and lived just east of the Congregational parson- age on the site of the cottage now owned by Miss Eleanor Dayton.
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The Worshipful Master with the Treasurer on his right hand sup- porting the sword of justice, and the Secretary on his left hand support- ing the bible, square and compass.
Music playing the Entered Apprentice March.
Proceeded to Esq. Hawley's where Brother Little delivered a few sen- timents on Friendship. The Rev. Dr. Evans and a number of gentlemen and ladies being present.
After dinner the following songs and toasts were given, interspersed with music, for the entertainment of the company :
Songs : Hail America ;** Montgomery; French Ladies' Lament;
That seat of science, Athens, And earth's great Mistress, Rome, Where now are all their glories ? We scarce can find the tomb. Then guard your rights, Americans, Nor stoop to lawless sway, Oppose, oppose, oppose, oppose, My brave America.
Proud Albion's bound to Cæsar And numerous lords before, To Picts, to Danes, to Normans, And many 'Masters more. But we can boast, Americans, We never fell a prey, Huzza, Huzza, Huzza, Huzza, For brave America.
We led fair fredom hither, And lo, the desert smiled, A Paradise of pleasure Was opened in the wild. Your harvest, bold Americans, No power shall snatch away, Assert yourselves, yourselves, Ye sons of brave America.
Torn from a world of tyrants, Beneath the western sky We formed a new dominion, A land of Liberty. The world shall own its Masters here, The heroes of the day. Huzza, Huzza, Huzza, Huzza, For brave America.
God bless this maiden climate, And through her vast domain Let hosts of heroes cluster, Who scorn to wear a chain. And blast the venal sycophants, Who dare our rights betray, Preserve, Preserve, Preserve, Preserve, Our brave America.
** The song, Hail America, was the most popular in the army. We give it entire. It was sung to the tune of the British Grenadier :
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Lift up your heads my heroes, And swear with proud disdain, The wretch who would enslave you Shall spread his snares in vain. Should Europe empty all her force, We'd meet them in array, And shout and shout, and fight and fight, For brave America.
Some future day shall crown us The masters of the inain, And giving laws and freedom To England, France and Spain. When all the isles o'er ocean spread, Shall tremble and obey Their Lords, their Lords, their Lords, The Lords of brave America.
Mason's Daughter ; On, on, My Dear Brethren ; Huntsmen ; My Dog and Gun.
Toasts : General Washington ; The Memory of Warren ; Montgomery and Wooster; Relief of the Widows and Orphans; Ladies of America; Union, Harmony and Peace; Social Enjoyment ; Contentment.
Music: Grand March ; Dead March ; Country Jig; Mason's Daughter.
The festivities were concluded with a speech by Rev. Waldo. At half-past 7 o'clock the procession began returning to the lodge room in reverse order from the afternoon procession, music playing the Mason's Daughter.
On April 7th they dined at 3 o'clock, going in procession as before, and dining together "with a number of respectable inhabitants, gentlemen and ladies ; the Rev. Dr. Evans delivered a discourse suitable to the oc- casion ; after dinner there were the usual songs and toasts, and at six o'clock the procession returned to the lodge room. Thanks were pre- sented to the Rev. Dr. Evans for his discourse, and to Rev. Mr. Bartlett and the other gentlemen and ladies who favored the lodge with their com- pany at dinner."
Bro. Belden's bill for the "two feasts" is given :
£ S d
For Thursday March 25th .45 0 3
Wednesday April 7th. 81 14 II
Bro. Sills bill, April 7th . 19 14 0 Bro. Little's bill, March 25th. I II 0
Bro. Little's bill, April 7th 4 16 0
The last meeting was held in Redding, April 16th, 1779, the Con- necticut line having about that 'time marched to the Highlands for the summer campaign.
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CHAPTER VI. General Parsons and William Heron-A Chapter of the Secret Service of the Revolution.
There were sold in London in 1882, at auction, and purchased by Dr. Thomas Addis Emmett, of New York, two volumes in manuscript of the Private Intelligence of Sir Henry Clinton while commanding in New York. These volumes were subsequently published in the Magazine of American History and created no little comment from the fact that cer- tain letters therein from William Heron of Redding Ridge, to General Oliver de Lancey, Clinton's Adjutant General, indicated Heron as an emissary of the British, and that General Parsons was in communica- tion with them with a view of selling out his country, as Arnold had re- cently done. The letters, which form so serious an indictment of the two patriots, begin February 4th, 1781, when Heron wrote from Redding that he had hoped to see him (de Lancey) in New York before that time, but had failed to obtain a flag of truce. He added that he had been to Hartford and to the camps in the Highlands; to the former to sound the members of the Secret Convention (which had been held in Hartford the November before) as to what had been done there; to the latter to discover the feeling of the officers and soldiers in the Continental camp, and had succeeded to his entire satisfaction, and he proceeded to tell Clinton that the object of the Convention was to form a closer union of the Eastern and York colonies, make Washington Dictator, and raise money and supplies for the army (all of which had, no doubt, been borne to Clinton by his numerous spies months before). In the Highlands, he added, he spent a night with Parsons and Stark, both of whom were his friends, and gave a very gloomy picture of the destitution and dis- content of the soldiers (which also was perfectly well known to the British Commander).
In another letter Heron cautions his correspondent against paying any great attention to the reports of those who only "take up on hear- say." "Some of this class," he continues, "deceive persons in high office with you. They have no access to those from whom perfect knowledge can be obtained," "Believe me," he continues, "there are but few who are let into the secrets of the cabinet, nor could I know them were it not for my intimacy with some of the principal officers in the civil and mili- tary departments arising from my having been a member of the Legisla- ture and being still continued one of a committee appointed by the As-
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sembly to examine into the staff department." While absent he would "have made it a part of his business to acquire a perfect knowledge of the state of the French at Rhode Island, but finding a person charged with that duty, who he believed would do it with tolerable accuracy, he had not done so." Again : "Private dispatches are frequently sent from your city to the chief here by some traitors. They come by way of Setauket (L. I.), where a certain Brewster receives them at or near a certain woman's."
In another letter he gives the name of one Bradley, a tory in Fair- field, where dispatches for him might be left and where he would leave his communications.
An admirable example of the manner in which Heron informed the British Commander of important events after they had occurred, was his account of the attempt by Colonel Humphreys, Washington's aide-de- camp, to seize the person of the British Commander-in-Chief by a rush upon his headquarters at No. I Broadway. "A daring enterprise was lately concerted at the quarters of the chief here," he writes, and goes on to describe the attempt after it had failed. So much was this the case that after a time de Lancey began to grow suspicious, and com- plained that Heron's information was either stale or of no importance.
The most important task Heron had been given was the winning over to the British cause of his friend General Parsons, and de Lancey now began prodding him to effect this. Heron replied that he had sounded Parsons in several interviews, and he recounts one of their conversations.
He began by relating to him a conversation he had with a gentle- man in New York in the highest confidence of the Commander-in-Chief, in which he thus spoke of him (Parsons) : "Don't you judge him to be a gentleman possessed of too much understanding and liberality of sentiment to think that the welfare of his country consists in an un- natural alliance with the enemies of the protestant religion, a perfidious nation with whom no faith can be kept, as all the nations of Europe have experienced," and went on to say that His Majesty's government, know- ing him to be possessed of great talents, and with great influence in the army and with the country, would wish to make use of him for the laudable and honorable purpose of lending his aid in terminating this unhappy war in an amicable reunion with the parent state. Should he undertake it, government would amply reward him both in a lucrative and honorary way and manner, besides making a provision for his son." "He listened with uncommon attention," Heron continues, and replied that it was a matter requiring deliberation and postponed it to another opportunity. Next morning he sent for him, said he was well disposed toward the proposition, doubted if he could influence the army, but thought he could bring the officers of the Connecticut Line over.
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Other letters to the same effect followed, Heron holding out the lure of winning over Parsons as a means of retaining the confidence of the British and affording him a pretext for visits to the British camp, where he used his eyes and ears with most excellent results for the patriot cause.
To a casual reader of the above correspondence, it would appear that both Heron and Parsons were engaged in treasonable communication with the British, and that was the impression given when the letters were first published. But those who know the men, and the methods by which Washington and his generals gained their information of the enemy's plans and movements, will see in it simply a ruse de guerre of a character often practiced by them and played by Heron and Parsons in this instance with a shrewdness and nerve that must awaken our hearty admiration. Parsons has been fully vindicated in a paper read by Mr. J. G. Woodward before the Connecticut Historical Society in 1896. But in that paper the author gave a very unfair and unjust portraiture of Heron as a base and conscienceless person, who, while active in the councils of the Whigs, was, for purposes of personal gain, selling in- formation to the British, and endeavoring to corrupt General Parsons as poor Arnold had shortly before been corrupted. But a brief examin- ation of the character of Heron, of his environment, and of his later career, will dissipate this false impression and do justice to one of the boldest, most efficient and incorruptible patriots of the Revolutionary age.
Who was William Heron? His origin and early youth is shrouded in mystery. He never spoke of it except to say that he was a native of Cork, Ireland, and had been educated at Trinity College, Dublin. We first hear of him as a teacher in the academy at Greenfield Hill; later as a capable surveyor and engineer laying out the colony roads. Just when he settled in Redding does not appear, but it was sometime prior to the Revolution. In personal appearance he was short, portly, florid, with a deep bass voice and a countenance well calculated to disguise the true sentiments of its owner.
General Parsons, in a letter to Washington, dated April 6, 1782, thus describes him: "I forgot to mention the name of Mr. William Heron of Redding, who has for several years had opportunities of informing him- self of the state of the enemy, their designs and intentions, with more certainty and precision than most men who have been employed. *
* He is a native of Ireland, a man of very large knowledge and a great share of natural sagacity, united with a sound judgment, but of as un- meaning a countenance as any person in my acquaintance. With this appearance he is as little suspected as any man can be. An officer in the department of the Adjutant General is a countryman and a very intimate acquaintance of Mr. Heron, through which channel he has been able
III. Historic Houses. RESIDENCE OF MISS EDITH EVERETT BURGESS. Redding Centre.
On the site of this house stood in the Revolution the house of Deacon Stephen Burr, uncle of Col. Aaron Burr. Col. Burr often visited there, and wrote in his diary in Paris: "My Uncle Stephen lived on milk punch, and at the age of eighty-six mounted, by the stirrup, a very gay horse and galloped off with me twelve miles without stopping, and was, I thought, less fatigued than I." (For sketch, see Connecticut Magazine, Vol. X, No. 2.)
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frequently to obtain important and very interesting intelligence. * He has frequently brought me the most accurate descriptions of the posts occupied by the enemy, and more rational accounts of their numbers, strength and designs than I have been able to obtain in any other way. As to his character, I know him to be a consistent national Whig; he is always in the field in any alarm and has in every trial proved himself a man of bravery. He has a family and a considerable interest in the state, and from the beginning of the war has invariably followed the measures of the country. In opposition to this his enemies suggest that he carries on illicit trade with the enemy, but I have lived two years next door to him and am fully convinced he has never had a single article of any kind for sale during that time. * I know many persons of more exalted character are also accused ; none more than Governor Trum- bull, nor with less reason. I believe the Governor and Mr. Heron as clear of this business as I am, and I know myself to be totally free from every thing which has the least connection with that commerce."
When the army lay in Redding in the winter of 1778-9, Parsons' head- quarters were at Esquire Betts', on Redding Ridge, diagonally across the wide main street from Heron's modest dwelling. It was then in all probability that the two men first met and formed those intimate rela- tions which led Parsons later to recommend Heron to Washington as one of the most promising of their secret service emissaries. Together during that winter the two men concocted a plot to outwit the British Commanders. To the Whigs Heron was to remain a Whig. To the Tories, then very numerous on Redding Ridge, he was to go privately and acquaint them with the fact that he was an emissary of the British Commander, and secretly acting as such. As occasion offered he was to slip down to the British camp in New York, see and hear all that Parsons and the patriot chief would wish to know, return and report. When he could not go himself, he was to send, his favorite messenger being, it is said, the gigantic Mohawk chief, Warrups, before referred to. The way he gained the British lines was to ride to Fairfield, leave his horse with a Tory there, cross the sound to Huntington on Long Island, or an adjacent part, and thence make his way into the enemy's lines at New York.
This mode of gaining information was a favorite one with Washing- ton and his generals. For instance, Sergeant Major Champe, of Lee's Legion, at the request of the latter, in a plot to capture the renegade Arnold, deserted to the British, and no doubt of his treachery existed in the minds of his comrades until his return to camp (having failed in his object) disabused their minds. Similarly Sergeant Daniel Bissell, of Windsor, deserted to the British for the purpose of gaining information for his chief, was officially proclaimed a deserter, and being unable to
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get the desired information, or to return, remained with the British an unwilling recruit for thirteen months. The most striking instance, how- ever, is that of John Honeyman, of Griggstown, Pa., Washington's most trusted scout, and of whom Stryker gives an extended account in his "History of the Battle of Trenton." None of his comrades, not even his wife, knew this man's true character. When Washington had a particularly difficult and dangerous piece of work to do, he employed John Honeyman. Such an occasion presented itself a few days before the famous descent on the Hessians at Trenton on Christmas night, 1776. It was vitally necessary for the success of his plan that the Chief should know, not only the number of the Hessians in their camp across the Delaware from his post, but also the disposition of each regiment, the position of every outpost, and of all scouts and videttes, together with the personal habits of the Hessian commander and the customs of his camp. John Honeyman was therefore sent for, secretly conducted to headquarters and in a secret interview with the commander-in-chief was told what was wanted and how to get it. Dressed as a drover, he went into the Hessian camp with fat beeves to sell, loitered about like a gap- ing rustic until he had obtained the desired information, and then, whip in hand and with a rope dangling from his shoulders as if to tie calves, he slouched out of the camp. Arrived outside the lines he saw two American scouts some distance off, made prisoner of a cow in an ad- joining barnyard, and led her off toward the British camp, snapping his whip meantime to attract the attention of the scouts. They at once pounced on him, bound him, carried him to American headquarters and into the presence of Washington. Ordering out every officer the Com- mander-in-Chief in half an hour was in possession of every fact neces- sary for his masterly coup. Honeyman was then placed in the guard house with the promise of a short shrift next morning, but during the night mysteriously escaped.
To return to Heron. The fact that he was of Irish birth is evidence that he was a pretty good hater of the British. Another strong proof of his patriotism is found in the fact that his townsmen were through- out the struggle honoring him with office, or placing him on committees to advance the patriot cause. For instance, April 2, 1777, he was placed on a committee to hire recruits for the Continental army. June 2d, 1779, he was appointed delegate to a county convention on monetary affairs; Dec. 27, 1780, on a committee to ascertain the length of time certain citizens of the town had served in the army; April 16, 1781, on Committee of Correspondence; Feb. 28, 1782, on committee to form citizens into classes for recruiting purposes. Also for four sessions during the war he served in the Assembly by vote of his townsmen, viz : May, 1778; October, 1779; January, 1780; May, 1781 ; while at the close
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