USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Easthampton > Historical address delivered at the centennial celebration, in Easthampton, Mass., July 4, 1876 > Part 3
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Bunker Hill convinced both parties that there was mettle in the provincials. This was a revelation to the British, and an inspiration to the continental lead- ers and people. One of the events of that glorious day is matter of local pride to us. Colonel Pomeroy, the veteran of eighty years, was early on the field, a volunteer like Warren, without a command. When the day was lost, he was among the last to leave the field ; and, waving his shattered musket, he sought, as Putnam was also doing, (but both of them in vain,) to rally the troops upon Bunker Hill, after they had been driven, without ammunition, from the entrench- ments on Breeds Hill.
In July, 1775, the Continental Congress declared : " Our cause is just, our union is perfect, our internal resources are great, and we solemnly declare, before God and the world, that, exerting all the means and power which our Creator hath bestowed, we will em- ploy the arms, which our implacable enemies have com- pelled us to use, with unabating perseverance, and at every hazard, for the preservation, of our liberties, being resolved to die free men, rather than live slaves. But we have not raised an army with the ambitious design of separating from Great Britain and establishing independent States."
The logic of events is mightier than the purposes of men. Our people did not intend independence at that time. But God intended independence, and in his good time it came. "Whom the gods will de- stroy they first make mad." The king and his min- istry were madly bent upon subjugating the colonies, 4
26
INDEPENDENCE DAWNING.
and they would hear to nothing short of it. They employed troops of hireling soldiers from the conti- nent. They sought to stir up the merciless savages of our forests to butcher and scalp us. By such measures they rapidly drove the people to resolve upon separation.
No one can fail to notice the correspondence be- tween Independence and Emancipation, in this par- ticular. Neither was at first intended by the people, who were God's instruments in effecting them ; but the course of events, and a good Providence, drove us to both.
Gradually the minds of the leaders of public opin- ion in Massachusetts, had been drawing toward the conclusion that the true course was to strike for abso- lute independence. When they urged the idea upon their brethren in the States to the southward, they did not always meet a favorable response. But the king and his ministry were their best allies, constantly furnishing them with fresh arguments. The transfer of the theater of war to New York and the South, was most opportune in preparing the way for this event. The act of Parliament interdicting trade with all the colonies, and making their goods upon the high seas liable to seizure and forfeit, and their persons to im- pressment, conspired, with other acts, to hasten the decision.
All this while the clergy were lending their power- ful aid to the patriotic cause. The Provincial Con- gress urged that they should adapt their discourses to the times. This they were not slow to do. Their sermons breathed the spirit of freedom, and not sel- dom were powerful philippics against their oppressors. Their prayers were powerful with God in procuring
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PATRIOTISM OF THE CLERGY.
his intervention, for they were men of faith. "We have from our pulpits," says Thatcher, " most fervent and pious effusions to the throne of divine grace, in behalf of our bleeding, afflicted country." At one of their annual gatherings, they sent an address to the Provincial Congress, expressing their " sympathy for the distresses of their much injured and oppressed country," and commending them and the army to the protection and guidance of God. After a fearless election sermon by Gad Hitchcock of Pembroke, from the words " when the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked bear rule the people mourn," Gage refused the request of the as- sembly to order a fast, alleging that "the request was only to give an orportunity for sedition to flow
from the pulpit." The clergy, in turn, refused to stultify themselves, when he requested them to ren- der thanks to God that their liberties had been pre- served to them. Edward Everett says of them, that they " rendered services second to no others, in en- lightening and animating the popular mind on the great question at issue."
During the intense excitement in Boston over the Stamp Act, Rev. Jonathan Mahew, pastor of the West church, denounced the act with unmitigated se- verity. Of Rev. Dr. Cooper of Brattle Street, pastor of Hancock, Warren, and many other leaders of the people, the London Political Register for 1780, says : " though a minister of peace, and, to all outward ap- pearance, a meek and heavenly man, yet he was one of the chief instruments in stirring up the people to take arms." The annual election sermons of this pe- riod, preached before the Governor and General Court, are specimens of patriotic address, which em-
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PATRIOTISM OF THE CLERGY.
phatically attest the courage, patriotism, and foresee- ing wisdom of the authors.
Nor were they content with uttering their sentiments only in the pulpit. They were always present in the town meetings, aiding in the deliberations and decis- ions of the people. They encouraged the people as they went forth to do battle in the just cause. Em- erson of Concord, rallying and encouraging his parish- ioners in the gray dawn of that eventful morning which made Lexington and Concord household words, is a sample of our clergy of that day, not many of whom had his opportunity, though many of them had his spirit. They were ever ready as chaplains, or even as soldiers, to encounter the perils of the field.
At this very time of which we are speaking, Rev. Robert Breck, for almost half a century pastor of the old First Church in Springfield, though sixty-two years of age, was with Colonel Porter's Hampshire regiment, amid the snows of Canada, with Arnold and Wooster, seeking in vain to retrieve the disaster of Montgomery's defeat and heroic death. Colonel Porter's diary repeatedly mentions him ; now preach- ing, though opportunities in that fearful campaign were rare; now accompanying him to confer with other officers ; now leaving the regiment and going to spend a few days with the sick at Fort George at the
head of Lake George. Long before the collision came Rev. Jonathan Judd of Southampton, pastor of some of our people, had shown his patriotism and readiness to share the sacrifices of his parishioners, by sending to them a communication in which he says, " if such a day of difficulty and distress should come," (referring to the operation of the Stamp Act,) " I will join with a committee of yours; and they and I will reduce
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INDEPENDENCE FORECAST.
the salary as low as it can be reasonably thought proper." When the " day of difficulty and distress" came, the pastor was, no doubt, ready for his share of sacrifice.
Several months before the declaration, Massachu- setts refused to recognize the king's authority, in the caption of public documents ; and these were accord- ingly issued in the name of the Government and the people. In May, 1776, the legislature passed an order calling on the people to express their opinion as to formal and entire separation from Great Britain; and requesting them to instruct their representatives.
The responses were not equivocal. The record of one of our towns shall serve as a sample. "At a full meeting of the inhabitants of Belchertown, held at the. meeting-house, June 25, 1776, Dea. Aaron Ly- man was chosen moderator. The question was put by the moderator, whether, should the honorable Continental Congress, for the safety of the United Colonies in America, declare their independence of the kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said inhabi- tants, would solemnly engage, with their lives and fortunes, to support them in the measure; and it passed in the affirmative by a universal vote." As did Belchertown so did Hampshire; so did Massachu- setts, with substantial unanimity. They expressed their opinion ; they instructed their representatives ; but they, of course, referred the decision to the Con- tinental Congress.
Many leading men wrote to the delegates in Con- gress, to urge the measure. And here the foresight and patriotism of Hampshire's great civilian, Major Hawley, shone with peculiar lustre. "Hawley," says Bancroft, "was the first to discern through the dark-
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INDEPENDENCE DECLARED.
ness, the coming national government of the republic, even while it still lay far below the horizon ; and he wrote from Watertown, where the General Court was held, to Samuel Adams : 'The eyes of all this Conti- nent are fastened on your body, to see whether you act with firmness and intrepidity, with the spirit and dispatch which our situation calls for. It is time for your body to fix on periodical, annual elections ; nay, to form into a Parliament of two houses.'"
Samuel Adams also received a message from James Warren. "The king's silly proclamation will put an end to petitioning. Movements worthy of your au- gust body are expected. A declaration of independ- ence and treaties with foreign powers." "This intel- ligence will make a plain path for you, though a dan- gerous one," wrote Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams. "Let us separate. Let us renounce them."
In an autograph letter of June 18th from Elbridge Gerry, one of our representatives in Congress, to Colonel Elisha Porter of Hadley, then in command of a Hampshire regiment in Canada, Gerry tells Porter : " Things are going on well in the colonies, in respect to independency, confederation, etc .; and the ques- tion relative to the former is to be agitated in Con- gress the 1st of July."
The eventful day came. All the colonies were represented. The delegates of each colony, except New York, had received full power of action. The debate upon the proposition was not concluded until the next day; when the delegates from twelve col- onies, the thirteenth afterwards acceding, unanimous- ly voted that " these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."
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MAJOR HAWLEY.
Jefferson's draft of the declaration of the reasons for the act, and of the principles upon which they proposed to proceed, was debated and amended on the third, and was given to the world on the fourth. And so, for now a hundred years, we have stood be- fore the world, free and united States. Let us give God the glory. Vain would have been the help of man. Futile would have been the efforts of patriot statesmen and patriot soldiers, except that a just God stretched out his arm of might to defend a just cause ; and that a wise God gave foresight to the men, who, at that and in subsequent periods, have shaped our Government.
MAJOR JOSEPH HAWLEY.
The civil history of the period requires, as its com- plement, the military history, even as the statesmen could by no means have given us independence, if the people had refused to fight. But before I sketch our part in these gloomy events, I would pay an additional word of passing tribute to Hampshire's great com- moner, our townsman, Maj. Joseph Hawley. He was, probably, the foremost lawyer of the Hampshire bar at this time, though Colonel Worthington of Spring- field, and Esquire Lyman of Suffield, (which was then in Hampshire,) were forensic foemen worthy of his steel. Through all this period he was a member of the General Court, and, as Hildreth says, the most in- fluential of all the country members. Few had more to do than he in shaping the policy of the colony; in disputing with the royal governors their encroach- ments upon our rights ; or in bringing to pass the final issue. Upon the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament recommended, and Governor Bernard demanded in- demnity for the persons who had suffered in the riots
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MAJOR HAWLEY.
consequent upon the attempted execution of the act. The matter was long pending, and frequently in hot dispute, in which the governor found Major Hawley one of his staunchest opponents. The firm resolves in answer to the governor's ungracious speech, and the bill which finally settled the matter, were pre- pared by James Otis, Jr., Samuel Adams, Samuel Dexter, and Joseph Hawley, of whom Bradford re- marks: "They were the most active and influential patriots of that period."
In May, 1770, Hutchinson, acting governor, ille- gally ordered the General Court to meet in Cam- bridge instead of Boston. This provoked strong oppo- sition, which was conducted especially by Samuel and John Adams, Major Hawley, and John Hancock.
In June, 1772, it was proposed that the governor and the superior judges should be paid from the treasury of Great Britain. The effect of this meas- ure would have been to make all these officers indifferent to the voice of the representatives of the people. Of course it evoked hot opposition. The several messages to the governor from the house, upon this subject, were prepared by Major Hawley, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, W. Heath, and J. Warren.
In January, 1773, in a long address to the General Court, Hutchinson advocated the absolute suprem- acy of Parliament, whose mandates, he claimed, the colonies "ought to obey without hesitation or in- quiry." Here again, in making up the reply of the house, the ability and resolution of Hawley were re- quired. With him, in the preparation of the reply, were associated Samuel Adams, John Hancock, J. Foster, and William Philips. With 'Samuel Adams he
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MAJOR HAWLEY.
had most friendly relations, to whom his legal knowl- edge and sound sense were often of great service.
When the Massachusetts delegates to the first Con- tinental Congress were on their way to Philadelphia, at Springfield they received from the Hampshire statesman a note, in which he said : " We must fight, if we can not otherwise rid ourselves of British taxa- tion. Fight we must finally, unless Britain retreats. Our salvation depends upon a persevering union. Every grievance of any one colony must be held as a grievance of the whole."
Nor was it only in opposition to England that his services were called into requisition. As an example of other services, it may be mentioned that a stand- ing dispute of this period, between New York and ourselves, as to our boundary, was at length adjusted while he was chairman of the commission on the part of our State.
Bradford, in a brief description of the leaders of this period in our house of representatives, James Otis, Jr., Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, James Bowdoin, Samuel Dexter, Joseph Hawley, Thomas Saunders, and Joseph Gerrish, compares Hawley to Otis. " Ardent, zealous, and eloquent; and, in his writings against the friends of arbitrary power, full of severity and sarcasm." Of him, Dr. Dwight says : " He was one of the ablest and most influential men in Massachusetts Bay, for a considerable period be- fore the Revolution-an event in which few men had more efficiency. He was a very able advocate. Many men have spoken with more eloquence and grace. I have never heard one speak with more force. His mind, like his eloquence, was grave, austere and powerful." The following good story is told of him
5
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MAJOR HAWLEY.
and his colleague in the General Court, Mr. Strong. (Probably Caleb Strong, then a young man just ris- ing of thirty years of age, who had recently been admitted to the bar, but who afterwards became no less eminent than Hawley ; serving twenty-five years as county attorney ; several times in the Governor's council and State senate ; member of the convention which framed the constitution ; one of our first United States senators, to which position he was re-elected ; and governor of the State eleven years, including the period of the second war with England, to which he, in common with the dominant party in the State, was opposed.) Hawley, it seems, was subject to seasons of despondency. On their return from the General Court at one time, he was deploring the poor prospect of success in the Revolutionary struggle. "We shall * both be hung," said he to Mr. Strong. "No, Major Hawley," was the reply, "probably not more than forty will be hung ; we shall escape." " I'll have you to know," said Hawley, " that I am one of the first three," and the next day he made an eloquent and patriotic speech to his fellow-citizens. And he was not so far wrong as many men are in their esti- mate of themselves.
At this time we were a part of Northampton, and have no local Revolutionary history, except what we have in common with that town and Southampton. The history of this patriot and statesman is, there- fore, matter for just pride to us as a town; for he was our representative, sent to the General Court by the votes of our ancestors, whom he served in that body repeatedly, preferring to remain there rather than to sit in the council, to which he was several times elected by his colleagues. Not that
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INVASION OF CANADA.
Northampton can monopolize his fame. His name adds luster to old Hampshire and the whole Com- monwealth; for he was one of the Revolutionary worthies.
1149143
MILITARY HISTORY OF THE PERIOD.
But the story of our people's share in the military history must needs be told; for, though sad, it was patriotic, and was the inevitable sequel of the decis- ions of our civic leaders. The people were the ones who saw and felt the fighting. All honor to them, for their patient and heroic sacrifices.
Between the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga had been captured. It seemed to Haw- ley and others, that the government ought to organ- ize a force to hold the defensible positions about the lower Champlain, if nothing more; and they accord- ingly urged the measure. It was, on the whole, judged expedient to push northward rather than re- main at lower Champlain ; and thus to secure Canada if possible. Montgomery, one of the ablest of our gen- erals, was placed in charge ; and met victory till he reached Quebec. Here everything was against him. To co-operate with him, Washington had detached a portion of his own force about Boston, and sent them, under Arnold, by way of the Kennebec, and through the forests of Maine. Lemuel Bates and others from Southampton belonged to this expedition. One of Arnold's captains was a Hampshire man, Elihu Ly- man, brother of Captain Josiah Lyman of Belcher- town, of whom mention will soon be made. The march of Arnold was attended with incredible hard- ships, in the form of hunger, fatigue and cold, almost beyond endurance. Among the troops were some
Their mother was a 1 Cast Nathan
+
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TROOPS SENT TO QUEBEC.
sailors, who became so ungovernable, that Captain, afterwards Major, Lyman was deputed to take them back to Boston. This he finally succeeded in doing, although many times on the homeward march his life was in great peril from them. Arnold at length reached Quebec, but with ranks greatly thinned, and with only five rounds of ammunition to a man. Montgomery soon joined him, but the combined force numbered not more than 1,200 men ; and the time of many of these was soon to expire. To make the sit- uation more deplorable, it was the dead of Winter. A desperate, and, as it proved, disastrous assault was made in the teeth of a howling storm, on the last night but one of 1775. The gallant Montgomery fell ; and with him many brave men suffered death or capture. But the dauntless spirit of Arnold was not yet quelled ; and he determined to maintain the siege as far as possible. Montgomery's fall roused the spirit of the colonists, who determined to retrieve the disaster.
Without waiting to consult Congress, Washington recommended Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, each to raise and send forward a regi- ment. The command of our regiment he gave to Col. Elisha Porter of Hadley, in a letter which Por- ter's descendants preserve as the most precious among numerous documentary relics of their ances- tor. Washington desires him "to use the utmost diligence and dispatch possible, to complete the regi- ment, and march it into Canada by the shortest and best way, that, from your knowledge of the country, and from the best information you can get, you think will be the most expeditious. The necessity of reinforcing our troops posted, and forming the
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COL. PORTER'S DIARY.
blockade of Quebec, is too apparent to need dwell- ing on. I would have you order each company to march as fast as they are raised, the whole put- ting themselves under command of the general or commanding officer in Canada, as fast as they arrive there."
This regiment was composed largely of Hampshire troops. The diary of Colonel Porter, covering a por- tion of their period of service, is a most interesting relic, among his papers. From it the following frag- mentary extracts are made, since it gives an authen- tic picture of the times, which will be of interest to us ; especially as some of our town's people form a part of the picture.
Porter's appointment was made January 19, 1776. For two months he was filling up the regiment, and dispatching companies to the front. February 4th, he went to Northampton, and gave orders to Captain Chapin and Lieutenant Hunt, who, it will be observed. commanded our company in the expedition. He got them off in advance of himself. March 22d, he got off Captain Josiah Lyman's, the Belchertown com- pany. He himself set out the next day. About the 29th, he met a man, three weeks from Quebec, who had seen Captain Chapin's company at St. Johns. Made the passage from Skeenesborough (now White- hall) to Ticonderoga in boats, he and Captains Lyman and Shepherd, with some of their men, cut- ting several miles through ice six inches thick. April 17th, set out from Ticonderoga with one hundred and forty-four men. Reached St. Johns on the 19th. Ordered by Arnold to join Wooster at Quebec, which they reached on the 27th, camping on the Plains of Abraham. Saw several of Captain Chapin's company,
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COL. PORTER'S DIARY.
which was five miles distant. All have had the small- pox but William Clark; mostly recovered. Drew ammunition. Carried ladders near to the walls, un- der cover of the fog. Under arms upon the heights. General Thomas took command. Enemy about to be strongly reinforced. Sent to Captain Chapin to bring off his men at once. In line of battle on the heights. Ordered to retreat. Marched fifteen miles. Halted at 8 p. M. Intermittent sleep. Off at mid- night. At sunrise got two loaves of bread for sev- enty men. Fired upon by ships. Marched thirty miles. Men from hospital, scarce able to walk, with the rest. Heavy cannonade. Can't make a stand for want of provisions, and of everything but can- non. Sick men from Quebec return, except William Clark of Captain Chapin's company, who was left dy- ing. John Davis and Walker of the same company, who were not able to be moved, doubtless perished. Half allowance of meat to-day. No meat for three days. Regiment ordered to St. Johns. Appointed commander of the garrison at Chambly. General
Thomas dies of small-pox. Captain Chapin one of the bearers. Heavy firing below St. Johns. Gen- eral Thompson and others prisoners. Worked till midnight with all my men, in getting up bateaux. Rained very hard. Then turned in. By light turned out on fatigue duty. Alarm in the afternoon. Worked all night in hauling bateaux up the rapids. Burnt the fort at Chambly. Marched to St. Johns. Colonel Stark's and my regiment brought up the rear. Council of War decides to retire to Crown
Point. One hundred and twenty-six of my regiment
sick. Had a present of fresh beef-a great rarity. Not enough bateaux. Marched along the shore,
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COMMITTEES OF SAFETY.
bringing up the rear. Lodged on the ground with- out a covering. Men in an ugly swamp. A good sermon by Mr. Breck. Clothing divided among the soldiers. July 16th received the agreeable news of independeney being declared by the Congress. About noon, two or three kettles of brandy grog evidenced our joy at the news, which we expressed in proper toasts.
At this time they were at Crown Point, and reached Ticonderoga the next day, where the army was di- vided into four brigades, Porter's regiment being assigned to Arnold's brigade. Here Colonel Porter was frequently employed in courts-martial, in one of which Arnold was tried for some misdemeanor and reported to Congress. A little later, Capt. Joseph Lyman of Northampton arrived with a company of ninety-nine recruits. The diary ends August 25th, at which time Colonel Porter reports that many of his men were sick of fever and ague and other diseases.
When the men of this regiment returned I am not able to ascertain. But it is certain that Colonel Por- ter had a command at the surrender of Burgoyne a year later; and it is to be presumed that the regi- ment was recruited, and continued through the cam- paign, which culminated in the victory at Saratoga.
The Committees of Correspondence and Safety played an important part throughout the province, in the home management of affairs. They were ap- pointed in every town, early in the great struggle, even before appeal was made to arms.
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