USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Cape Cod, the right arm of Massachusetts : an historical narrative > Part 18
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1794. Rev. Edward Cheever of Eastham died.
1797. Ineffectual attempt was made to divide the town of Sandwich, and make a separate township of Monument and Pocasset.
1798. Job Chase and others were incorporated, under the name of The Baptist Religious Society of Harwich.
1800. The death of Gen. Washington was observed in Orleans by a sermon preached by Rev. Mr. Bascom, which was afterwards pub- lished.
1802. Wellfleet voted "to repair the Indians' house in the north part of the town so as to make it comfortable."-A Methodist church, consisting of three persons, was organized in Wellfleet .- Capt. David Wood of Falmouth and four men died of yellow fever at Cape Fran- cois, Aug. 10.
1804. Capt. Joshua Crowell of Falmouth and four men were lost in Boston bay, by the capsizing of their vessel.
1807. Rev. Oakes Shaw, pastor of West Barnstable church, died Feb. 11th, in the 47th year of his ministry .- Rev. Gideon Hawley of Mashpee died, Oct. 3 .- Rev. Jonathan Bascom, pastor of Orleans church, died March 8, after a ministry of 35 years.
1809. Methodist Episcopal church gathered in Falmouth through the instrumentality of Rev. Erastus Otis .- Holmes Allen, councillor at law, died in Barnstable.
1810. Gen. Joseph Otis, of Barnstable, died Sept. 23, aged 82 .- It is
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CAPE COD.
recorded that a bass viol was purchased this year for the choir in Orleans meeting-house, the first instrument of music ever employed there .- Brewster voted to remonstrate against the appointment of Edward O'Brien as postmaster of that town, "he being a foreigner, and, in the opinion of the inhabitants, an alien."
1811. Leave was granted to Samuel Wing and others of Sandwich . "to erect a dam and works of a cotton factory on the stream between the upper and lower ponds, at a place near Wolf-trap Neck, so-called." -Hon. Ebenezer Bacon of Barnstable died .- Rev. James Barnaby was called to the pastorate of the Baptist church in West Harwich.
CHAPTER XIV.
WAR OF 1812-15.
The Administration forced to declare War-Sentiment of this County defined-Congressman Green superseded by Hon. John Reed- Votes for Governor in 1813 and 1814-"County Congress" endorse the administration-History set right-Bombardment of Fal- mouth, by Brig Nimrod - British Privateer "Retaliation" captured by Capt. Weston Jenkins and companions-Operations in Hyannis Harbor-Cape Vessels captured in Cape Cod Bay-Communica- tion with New York via Buzzard's Bay-Adventurous trip to Boston of Capts. Mayo and Knowles-Tribute demanded of Eastham, Brewster and Orleans-Orleans refused, and resisted with force-Demonstration upon Barnstable-Cape men in the naval forces and privateers- Peace restored.
AR with Great Britain now became inevitable. The government of that country adhered tenaciously to its policy relating to neutrals, and American vessels continued to be seized by British cruisers and condemned in British admiralty courts. Early in 1812, Congress passed an aet laying an embargo for ninety days on all vessels within the United States. This was well understood to be preparatory to a declaration of hostilities, an event for which the country was unprepared, for which the government had no desire, but which was forced upon the reluctant Madison by the younger element of his supporters, led by Clay, Calhoun and Lowndes. The formal declaration was made June 18, of that year. It is well understood that the war party made the President's
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CAPE COD.
acquiesence in their policy the condition of their support for his re-election. The Federalist leaders, especially those of New England in general, and Massachusetts in particular, had all along been most bitter in their denunciations of what was styled by them, "the timid and yielding policy of Mr. Madison's administration ;" they had demanded a more determined and aggressive attitude; but when war was declared, they evinced a bitter hostility to a measure which they knew would prostrate the commercial interests of the nation, and bring temporary disaster upon their peculiar industries. They were partly in the right, and partly in the wrong, in their position. Appreciating the national weakness and deficiencies, our government had hesitated at the taking of strong grounds ; but goaded by constant and continued insults and outrages by Great Britain, had at length been led to assume a more aggressive position. The declaration was passed in the house, by a vote of 74 to 49, and in the senate by 19 to 13, and was signed by the President June 18, 1812. The reasons assigned in this manifesto were: the impressment of American seamen by the commanders of British ships of war; the British doctrine and system of blockade; the orders in council ; and lastly, various depredations committed by British subjects on the commerce of the United States. Five days later the British government revoked its orders in council, a step which, had it been taken a little before, would doubtless have prevented hostilities at that time ; but we had no telegraphic cables, and war had begun before the intelligence of this change of policy could reach this country.
If ever a war was justifiable, that of 1812-15 most undeniably was, whatever criticism may fairly be made upon the policy which preceded it. There probably would never have been an adequate acknowledgement of our commercial
237
WAR OF 1812-15.
rights and of the respect due our flag, until an assertion by force of our position as one of the nations of the earth. It would doubtless have been better had we never resorted to such palliatives as non-intercourse and embargoes, by which our vitality was sapped and our resources exhausted, without any compensating advantages. The longer the final decision was put off, the weaker was our position, and the war party reasoned rightly, that as Great Britain was determined to yield nothing unless under compulsion, the sooner the struggle came, the better for the country.
The maritime interests of New England were for the time destroyed. Our vessels lay rotting at the wharves, and our men were out of employment. A powerful opposition party at once sprang up, composed of those whose business had been prostrated, and others who felt that the government had managed our relations with Great Britain with a lack of discretion, and had rushed finally into a war which we were unprepared to wage with prospect of success.
Beyond the local and political contests, the earlier months of the war in this portion of New England were uneventful. Great Britain was at that time engaged in her tremendous struggle with Napoleon, and gave not much attention or thought to the American war. This afforded time, which was not very well improved, to put our seacoast in a state of defence. The operations of the enemy were not directed to our waters until the following year, when the whole coast of the United States was declared in a state of blockade, with the exception of the federal states of New England, a distinction not growing out of any understanding or overtures proceeding from them, but obviously made with the view on the part of the British government of widening the breach between them and the portion of the country most favorable to the war. It was a piece of strategy
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which probably produced but little effect. The people of New England were loyal to their country, however antag- onistic to the policy of the government. Having but slight participation in the events of the first years of the war, and feeling keenly its deprivations and disasters to their business interests, the unwonted number of her citizens who were at home participated more than was usual in public affairs, and the expressions of their discontent were frequent and vehement. The citizens of Yarmouth, July 8, 1812, drafted a memorial to the President, and appointed a committee to correspond with other sections of the county, "to consult for the general good and safety." Chatham expressed its opposition to the war in a memorial to the President, in which was expressed the "abhorrence of the people to any alliance with France." Other towns, though making no formal avowal of their sentiments, were lukewarm, if not hostile, in seconding the movements of the government.
The most hitter denunciations of the administration policy came from the commercial class. Our representative in Congress, Hon. Isaiah L. Green, who had voted for the declaration, doing so, as he said at the time, with a full consciousness that he was thereby imperilling his seat in the national legislature, was obliged to withdraw from Congress and give place to an opponent of the administration, Hon. John Reed succeeding to the position. Partisan rancor and personal hostility were carried to a great extreme, and the citizens of this county formed no exception to this condition. Perhaps the most correct estimate of the political sentiments of the people can be gained by a record of the votes cast for the state officers in the spring of 1813, after the declaration of war, and on the succeeding year. By this table it will be learned what were the political proclivities of each of the towns. The persons voted for in 1813 were
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WAR OF 1812-15.
Caleb Strong, the Federalist, anti-war candidate, and Joseph B. Varnum, administration, war candidate. The next year, Gov. Strong had for his opponent Mr. Dexter, also an upholder of the war :
1814.
1813.
Varnum.
Provincetown,
Strong. 88
Dexter. 59
Strong. 55
12
Chatham,
114
29
95
29
Harwich,
104
49
115
70
Dennis,
265
26
245
23
Barnstable,
176
261
168
240
Falmouth,
80
150
74
170
Sandwich,
152
180
144
157
Yarmouth,
245
23
265
23
Orleans,
21
101
41
103
Eastham,
53
31
73
18
Truro,
30
31
42
30
Wellfleet,
52
18
53
17
Brewster,
127
16
140
14
1507
974
1510
906
The foregoing figures make it apparent that there were here a considerable number of men of standing and influence who upheld the national government, and approved its policy, both in declaring war and in the method of conducting hostilities. Delegates to a county congress assembled in the summer of 1813 ; though not an official body, it voiced the sentiments of the minority. They resolved that " It becomes us, in imitation of the patriots of the Revolution, to unite in the common cause of the country, patiently bearing every evil, and cheerfully submitting to those privations which are necessarily incident to a state of war. We consider the war in which we are engaged as just, necessary and unavoid- able, and we will support the same with our lives and
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CAPE COD.
fortunes." Also, "That the Hon. Isaiah L. Green, our congressional representative, has done nobly, and deserves well of his country." "That although the present chief magistrate of this commonwealth is not the man of our choice, yet his councils we will follow and his orders cheerfully ohey, so far as are compatible with the spirit and meaning of the Federal Constitution ;" a qualification sufficiently broad to cover all contingencies that might arise. They also put on record this national sentiment : "But our allegiance to the United States, and attachment to its constitution we hold paramount to every other duty ;" also, " We have the fullest confidence in the wisdom, firmness and patriotism of the President and Congress, of whose doings we cordially approve." That this was campaign talk, not shared by a large majority of the voters, has already been made apparent. But it misled a local historian to assert that the national administration was sustained and that "the party which advocated war measures was politically ascendant in this county."* No statement could be more untrue or misleading, if the sentiments of the voting portion of the population afforded any indication of the opinions of the county. The undeniable facts, that Mr. Green was obliged to relinquish his seat in Congress to an anti-war candidate, and that Gov. Strong, a bitter opponent of Mr. Madison and the war, was sustained by an overwhelming majority the two succeeding elections, indicate the trend of opinion and sentiment in this county in the period under review.
The earlier campaigns of the war were carried on languidly, and were, upon the whole, disastrous to the American cause upon the land. The gallant achievements of our navy alone relieved the operations of the year from
*Freeman's History of Cape Cod, vol. I, pages 597-8. Blake's Hist. of Cape Cod.
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WAR OF 1812-15.
disaster and humiliation. So far as our seacoast towns were concerned, we were not subjected to alarms of hostile invasions, but the loss of employment to our people, the difficulty of obtaining the supplies for subsistence, and consequent distress and dissatisfaction were everywhere apparent.
In 1814, Great Britain, having been relieved for a time of the pressure of a continental war, by the subjugation and banishment of Napoleon Bonaparte, was enabled to turn her attention to affairs in America. A large fleet was sent over, and operations were actively inaugurated on the coast of Massachusetts, their place of rendezvous being in Provincetown harbor, whence they sent out their tenders and barges to the surrounding coasts. Every harbor and creek which was capable of the egress of sailing crafts was subject to a strict surveillance, and hostile demonstrations were made on the villages on the inside shores of the Cape. On the south shore, as in the Revolutionary war, armed vessels made threatening incursions upon the coast and caused considerable alarm. Early in January, 1814, three boats from the British vessel Albion attempted to land at Wood's Hole, but were driven off by a company of militia. It was reported that several of the invaders were killed or wounded.
Jan. 23, 1814, the town of Falmouth was excited by a demonstration by H. B. M. brig Nimrod. A demand had been made for several pieces of artillery, which had been employed to annoy the British cruisers, and the Nantucket packet sloop, which had been detained by the citizens, believing its crew to be either friendly to the enemy or neutral. The demand, so far as the cannon was concerned, was refused. Capt. Weston Jenkins, who was in command of the local militia, is reported to have tauntingly asked the
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CAPE COD.
British commander to "come on and get them." A flag was then sent by the commander of the Nimrod, giving two hours in which to remove the women and children, at the end of which time the bombardment was to commence. A scene of confusion ensued, while the sick and non- combatants were removed to places of safety. In the meantime the neighboring militia came pouring into the town. About noon the cannonade commenced and continued until near nightfall, some guns being fired after dark. A demonstration of landing was made, but the determined look of the militia in the entrenchments deterred the enemy from the attempt. In the morning the brig sailed away, after firing a few shots at the militia at Nobsque Point. No casualties to life or limb were reported. The damage to buildings and salt works was considerable. Eight 32 lbs. balls were shot through one house .*
This repulse by no means released the town from anxiety and immunity from the incursions of the British cruisers. As in the Revolutionary War, thirty years before, they hovered on the coast and committed repeated acts of aggression upon the town. They were not, however, permitted to do so, without frequent evidence of the fact that the citizens were ready to wage an aggressive, as well as a defensive warfare. Oct., 1814, was signalized by a daring and successful exploit, by Falmouth men under the command of Capt. Weston Jenkins. The British privateer Retaliation, Capt. Porter, had been active in annoying the inhabitants of the town during the preceding months. Capt. Jenkins, who was in command of the military company of the town, called for volunteers to capture the annoying intruder. Thirty-two men offered their services. They
*The principal sufferers were Elijah Swift, Silas Jones, Thomas Bourne, Job Hatch, Rev. Henry Lincoln, Shubael Hatch, Jr., in damages to buildings and salt works .- [Boston Centinel, Feb. 2.
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WAR OF 1812-15.
embarked on board of the little sloop "Two Friends," at Wood's Hole; being becalmed, they rowed to Tarpaulin Cove, where the privateer lay at anchor. Arrived within three-fourths of a mile of the Retaliation, its gun was fired, which Capt. Jenkins chose to consider as a signal to stop ; and no sooner was anchor dropped than a boat put off from the privateer with the captain and five men. Capt. Jenkins's men, with two or three exceptions, kept out of sight until the boat was alongside and had made fast ; then, at a signal previously agreed to, twenty men rose up and pointed their muskets into the boat, demanding a surrender, which was at once made. Then, putting twelve men into the privateer boat, they also got the sloop under way, boarded the privateer and captured her without resistance. They brought their prize into Falmouth, and its cargo, consisting principally of plunder, was landed there. The privateer had five guns, a crew of twelve men, and two American prisoners.
Hyannis harbor, the only eligible roadstead on the southerly shore of the Cape beside Wood's Hole, was the scene of considerable excitement during the year 1814. July 16, the shipping records report, "The privateer Yankee, from a cruise, arrived at Hyannis Wednesday, landed upwards of a hundred packages of dry goods, and would proceed on to Bristol."* Landing of goods was sometimes effected which did not find a record in the public prints. Cargoes of wine, spirits, and Southern products, which had run the blockade and had not been reported to the govern- ment officers, were several times seized by the revenue authorities, and condemned. t
The north, or bay shore of the Cape, was, as before
*Boston Centinel.
+Collector Green's Letter Book, in possession of Maj. S. B. Phinney.
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CAPE COD.
remarked, strictly blockaded, the British fleet near Boston harbor having undisputed control of Provincetown harbor and its surrounding waters. Provincetown itself was nearly depopulated. All intercourse with Boston from the Cape was attended with extreme risk. Fishing and coasting vessels were closely watched and confined to their waters, where not unfrequently they were subject to attack and destruction from the enemy. During June, launches from the British ships captured in the bay the sloop Mariner, Nye, of Sandwich, for Boston ; schs. Betsey, Nickerson ; Nightingale, Atkins ; Beauty, Holmes ; and the Fly, all of Provincetown. They were liberated, after the captors had taken out their cargoes, fish and oil. They also captured and released sloop Experiment, of Truro, for Sandwich from Boston. The sch. Two Friends, of Provincetown, was taken off Gloucester by British privateer Shannon, and sent to Nova Scotia. The sch. Victory, of Yarmouth, Capt. Timothy Hallet, was captured while on a fishing voyage, by H. B. M. Frigate Leander. Capt. Hallet, who was held a prisoner on board the Victory, afterwards saved the frigate from shipwreck, by warning the sailing master of his dangerous proximity to the shoals ; and he received therefor an order on the governor at Halifax for his vessel, and a safe conduct to his home for vessel and crew .*
Under the date of June 2d, 1814, is the following : Arrived at Hyannis, sch. Kutuzoff, Capt. Alexander, 14 days from Savannah, with a full load of cotton and rice. It was chased by an English privateer schooner, which fired several shots at its adversary. The Kutuzoff was run ashore, and the cargo immediately landed. A four-pounder belonging to the prize-ship London Packet was on the beach, and about 100 militia collected to repel the enemy *Old Yarmouth.
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WAR OF 1812-15.
had he attempted to land. The privateer sent one of its boats with combustibles and set fire to the prize ship, but it was extinguished without material injury .*
During that time and until the close of the war, a favorite mode of communication with the cities was by means of boats, and Boston harbor was so thoroughly blockaded, that intercourse by water was more frequent with New York than with the former city. Watching their opportunity, large fleets of whaleboats would sail to North Sandwich, to be carted thence across Buzzard's Bay from that point of departure, running near the shores as occasion required, until they reached the port of their destination. The exports were generally dried fish, or salted mackerel, and sometimes salt, which were bartered for flour and other necessaries of life. One person, at least, is known to have exchanged a cargo, at the rate of a bushel of salt for a barrel of flour. Men who had been commanders of first- class ships sometimes engaged in this business.
In the summer of 1814, Capt. Matthew H. Mayo and Capt. Winslow L. Knowles left Eastham in a whaleboat . loaded with rye, and arrived safely in Boston. Purchasing articles for domestic consumption and exchanging their boat for one somewhat larger, they started on their homeward journey. When near the Gurnet they discovered a pink- stern schooner at anchor, with five men on deck apparently fishing. Suddenly a gun was discharged, and they not stopping, another was also fired, the shot falling near them, when they hove to, and the schooner came up to their boat, Capt. Mayo in the meantime throwing overboard lis valuable glass, to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. They were taken on board of the schooner and conveyed to the British man-of-war Spencer, where they were kept
*Boston Centinel.
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CAPE COD.
three days. Capt. Knowles was then permitted to go to Boston to obtain $300, the price agreed upon for their ransom, but was advised to give up the scheme. At the end of seven days, Capt. Mayo was placed on the schooner which captured him, as a pilot, with the British officers and twenty men and ample armament, with orders to cruise in the bay. They were soon after overtaken by a severe northwest wind, and Capt. Mayo advised them to take shelter under Billingsgate Point, but when they acceded, he purposely anchored in bad holding ground. He went forward unobserved, and with his peu-knife, so cut the cable, that it soon parted; then, by his advice, they attempted to reach a harbor ten miles to the leeward. He had previously picked the lock of the first officer's writing- desk, and abstracted a pair of pistols, which he secreted under his jacket. The schooner soon grounded on Eastham flats, and the officers became suspicious ; but Capt. Mayo assured them they had struck on the outward bar and would soon drift over ; he advised them and the men to go below so that their numbers might not excite suspicion on shore. He gave the men a gimlet with which they tapped a cask of rum, and drank until they were intoxicated. The vessel soon began to heel over as the tide ebbed, and the officers, their suspicions being confirmed, ordered the men on deck for resistance, but they could not come. Capt. Mayo threw overboard all the arms that were on deck, drew his pistols and threatened to shoot any one who should advance. He then went on shore, gave information of his position, and the militia came and took possession of the vessel, cargo and crew, who were confined in a barn on shore ; but they were soon allowed to escape, and, taking a boat, reached the frigate in the bay. The U. S. marshal took possession of the crew's arms and baggage, and the vessel was claimed
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WAR OF 1812-15.
by parties in Duxbury, from whom it was captured, but the authorities awarded it to Capt. Mayo, who afterwards released it to the owners for $200. The British com- mander dispatched a barge to the shore with a demand for $200 for the prisoners' baggage and $1000 for desisting from an invasion of the town, threatening to land with sufficient force to burn the vessels, dwellings and salt works, if the demand were not complied with in twenty-four hours. The selectmen, as a committee of safety, visited the flag-ship, and upon their recommendation the town paid the $1200, taking a receipt with a written promise not to take or destroy the property of the town of Eastham during the war. This seems to have been a needless concession, as the forces were sufficient to repel the landing of the British and they would hardly have made an attempt. There was no thickly settled village, and the salt works were scattered over the town at some distance from the shore.
A demand was also made by the British commander upon the people of Brewster for a contribution of $4000 for immunity from invasion and destruction of property. A meeting was held on Sunday, Sept. 18, at which the subject was discussed, and committees appointed to consult with the other towns in the vicinity, and also to visit H. B. M. ship Spencer, and make the best terms possible with the commander. The meeting adjourned to the next day, when the committee reported. The adjoining towns had sufficient employment in attending to their own defence; and the British commander refused to abate a dollar of the $4000 demand, and they, therefore, felt obliged to give their security for the sum. The committee's report was accepted by a nearly unanimous vote, and measures taken to tax salt works, buildings of all descriptions, and vessels owned in town or frequenting or lying on the shores. The day before
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