USA > Massachusetts > Historical collections, being a general collection of interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to the history and antiquities of every town in Massachusetts, with geographical descriptions > Part 46
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" The movements of the British made it evident their intention was to march a strong column along the margin of the Mystic, and turn the redoubt on the north, while another column attacked it in front; accordingly, to prevent this design, a large force be- came necessary at the breastwork and rail fence. The whole of the reinforcements that arrived, amounting in all to 800 or 1,000 men, were ordered by General Putnam, who had been extremely active throughout the night and morning, and who had accompa- nied the expedition to this point.
"At this moment thousands of persons of both sexes had collect- ed on the church-steeples, Beacon Hill, house-tops, and every place in Boston and its neighborhood where a view of the battle- ground could be obtained, viewing, with painful anxiety, the movements of the combatants-wondering, yet admiring the bold stand of the Americans, and trembling at the thoughts of the formidable army marshalled in array against them.
" Before 3 o'clock, the British formed, in two columns, for the attack. One column, as had been anticipated, moved along the Mystic river, with the intention of taking the redoubt in the rear, while the other advanced up the ascent directly in front of the redoubt, where Prescott was ready to receive them. General Warren, president of the provincial congress and of the commit- tee of safety, who had been appointed but a few days before a major general of the Massachusetts troops, had volunteered on the occasion as a private soldier, and was in the redoubt with a musket, animating the men by his influence and example to the most daring determination.
"Orders were given to the Americans to reserve their fire till the enemy advanced sufficiently near to make their aim certain. Several volleys were fired by the British, with but little success ; and so long a time had elapsed, and the British allowed to advance so near the Americans without their fire being returned, that a doubt arose whether or not the latter intended to give battle-but the fatal moment soon arrived : when the British had advanced to within about eight rods, a sheet of fire was poured upon them, and
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continued a short time, with such deadly effect that hundreds of the assailants lay weltering in their blood, and the remainder re- treated in dismay to the point where they had first landed.
"From day-light to the time of the British advancing on the . works, an incessant fire had been kept up on the Americans from the ships and batteries-this fire was now renewed with increased vigor.
" After a short time the British officers had succeeded in rally- ing their men, and again advanced, in the same order as before, to the attack. Thinking to divert the attention of the Americans, the town of Charlestown, consisting of 500 wooden buildings, was now set on fire by the British. The roar of the flames, the crash- ing of falling timber, the awful appearance of desolation presented, the dreadful shrieks of the dying and wounded in the last attack, added to the knowledge of the formidable force advancing against them, combined to form a scene apparently too much for men bred in the quiet retirement of domestic life to sustain; but the stillness of death reigned within the American works, and nought could be seen but the deadly presented weapon, ready to hurl fresh destruction on the assailants. The fire of the Americans was again reserved till the British came still nearer than before, when the same unerring aim was taken, and the British shrunk, terrified, from before its fatal effects, flying, completely routed, a second time to the banks of the river, and leaving, as before, the field strewed with their wounded and dead.
" Again the ships and batteries renewed their fire, and' kept a continual shower of balls on the works. Notwithstanding every exertion, the British officers found it impossible to rally the men for a third attack ; one third of their comrades had fallen ; and finally it was not till a reinforcement of more than 1,000 fresh troops, with a strong park of artillery, had joined them from Boston, that they could be induced to form anew.
" In the mean time every effort was made on the part of the Americans to resist a third attack ; Gen. Putnam rode, notwithstanding the heavy fire of the ships and batteries, several times across the neck, to induce the militia to advance, but it was only a few of the resolute and brave who would encounter the storm. The British receiving reinforcements from their formidable main body-the town of Charlestown presenting one wide scene of destruction-the probability the Americans must shortly retreat-the shower of balls pouring over the neck-presented obstacles too appalling for raw troops to sustain, and embodied too much danger to allow them to encoun- ter. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the Americans on the heights were elated with their success, and waited with coolness and determination the now formidable ad- vance of the enemy.
" Once more the British, aided by their reinforcements, advanced to the attack, but with great skill and caution. Their artillery was planted on the eastern declivity of the hill, between the rail fence and the breastwork, where it was directed along the line of the Americans, stationed at the latter place, and against the gate-way on the north-eastern corner of the redoubt ; at the same time they attacked the redoubt on the south-eastern and south-western sides, and entered it with fixed bayonets. The slaughter on their ad- vancing was great; but the Americans, not having bayonets to meet them on equal terms, and their powder being exhausted, now
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slowly retreated, opposing and extricating themselves from the British with the butts of their pieces.
"The column that advanced against the rail fence was received in the most dauntless manner. The Americans fought with spirit and heroism that could not be surpassed, and, had their ammuni- tion held out, would have secured to themselves, a third time, the palm of victory; as it was, they effectually prevented the enemy from accomplishing his purpose, which was to turn their flank and cut the whole of the Americans off; but having become perfectly exhausted, this body of the Americans also slowly retired, retreat- ing in much better order than could possibly have been expected from undisciplined troops, and those in the redoubt having extri- cated themselves from a host of bayonets by which they had been surrounded.
" The British followed the Americans to Bunker Hill, but some fresh militia, at this moment coming up to the aid of the latter, covered their retreat. The Americans crossed Charlestown Neck about 7 o'clock, having in the last twenty hours performed deeds which seemed almost impossible. Some of them proceeded to Cambridge, and others posted themselves quietly on Winter and Prospect Hills.
"From the most accurate statements that can be found, it ap- pears the British must have had nearly 5,000 soldiers in the battle ; between 3 and 4,000 having first landed, and the reinforcement amounting to over 1,000. The Americans, throughout the whole day, did not have 2,000 men on the field.
" The slaughter on the side of the British was immense, having had nearly 1,500 killed and wounded, 1,200 of whom were either killed or mortally wounded; the Americans about 400.
" Had the commanders at Charlestown Heights become terrified on being cut off from the main body and supplies, and surrendered their army, or even retreated before they did from the terrific force that opposed them, where would have now been that ornament and example to the world, the Independence of the United States ? When it was found that no reinforcements were to be allowed them, the most sanguine man on that field could not have even indulged a hope of success, but all determined to deserve it; and although they did not obtain a victory, their exam- ple was the cause of a great many. The first attempt on the commencement of a war is held up, by one party or the other, as an example to those that succeed it, and a victory or defeat, though not, perhaps, of any great magnitude in itself, is most powerful and important in its effects. Had such conduct as was here exhibited been in any degree imitated by the immediate commander in the first military onset in the last war, how truly different a result would have been effected, from the fatal one that terminated that unfortunate expedition !
" From the immense superiority of the British, at this stage of the war, having a large army of highly disciplined and well-equipped troops, and the Americans pos- sessing but few other munitions or weapons of war, and but little more discipline than what each man possessed when he threw aside his plough and took the gun that he had kept for pastime or for profit, but now to be employed for a different purpose, from off the hooks that held it,-perhaps it would have been in their power, by pursuing the Americans, to Cambridge, and destroying the few stores that had been collected there, to implant a blow which could never have been recovered from : but they were completely terrified. The awful lesson they had just received, filled them with horror, and the blood of 1,500 of their companions, who fell on that day, presented to them a warning which they could never forget. From the battle of Bunker Hill sprung the protection and the vigor that nurtured the tree of liberty, and to it, in all probability, may be ascribed our independence and glory.
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" The name of the first martyr that gave his life for the good of his country on that day, in the importance of the moment, was lost, else a monument, in connexion with the gallant Warren, should be raised to his memory. The manner of his death was thus related by Col. Prescott :
"' The first man who fell in the battle of Bunker Hill was killed by a cannon ball which struck his head. He was so near me that my clothes were besmeared with his blood and brains, which I wiped off in some degree with a handful of fresh earth. The sight was so shocking to many of the men, that they left their posts and ran to view him. I ordered them back, but in vain. I then ordered him to be buried in- stantly. A subaltern officer expressed surprise that I should allow him to be buried without having prayers said ; I replied, " This is the first man that has been killed, and the only one that will be buried to-day. I put him out of sight that the men may be kept in their places. God only knows who, or how many of us, will fall before it is over. To your post, my good fellow, and let each man do his duty." '
"The name of the patriot who thus fell is supposed to have been POLLARD, a young man belonging to Billerica. He was struck by a cannon ball, thrown from the line- of-battle ship Somerset."
On the 17th of June, 1825, the corner stone of an obelisk was laid on the battle-ground, by Gen. Lafayette, to commemorate the battle fought fifty years before. On this occasion, an immense concourse of citizens, from various parts of the country, assem- bled to witness the interesting ceremonies of the day. The fol- lowing account of the proceedings is from Snow's History of Boston.
"The day was temperate and fair, and all the arrangements made to honor it were executed with punctuality and good order. A procession was formed about half past 10, A. M., near the state house, under the direction of Brig. Gen. Theodore Lyman, Jr. The military escort was composed of 16 companies, and a corps of cavalry, all volunteers and in full uniform. . Next to them followed the survivors of the battle, about 40 in number, and after them about 200 other revolutionary officers and soldiers, each wearing an appropriate badge ; then the subscribers to the monument, in columns six deep, all wearing the badge of the B. H. M. Association. The Masonic frater- nity succeeded. This section of the procession was very splendid, and numbered at least 2,000 members, all with their jewels and regalia. The president and officers of the association, the chaplains and committees followed. General Lafayette, in a coach and four, came next, accompanied by Gen. Lallemand, and followed by a car- riage in which were the general's son and suite. The governor and state officers, distinguished persons from the different states, officers of the army, navy and militia, in uniform, and a large body of private citizens, closed the procession.
"In this order, the whole moved through Park, Common, School, Washington, Union, Hanover and Prince streets to Charles River bridge, and thence through the Main, Green, and High streets, in Charlestown, to the Monumental square. The front of the procession had nearly reached the bridge when the rear of it left the common. Arrived at the spot intended for the monument, (which is a little to the east of the site of the monument to Warren,) the procession formed in squares around it; and the stone, being squared, levelled and plumbed by the grand master, the gene- ral, and the Hon. Daniel Webster, (president of the association,) was declared in due form to be true and proper, and the ceremonies closed with the customary religious services. Cheers from the multitude of witnesses, and salutes from Bunker's and Copp's Hills, announced the moment of the fact to the thousands who could not be gratified with the sight of it.
"' The procession then moved to an amphitheatrical area, where preparations had been made, on a most ample scale, for the accommodation of the auditors of the address of the president of the association. They included a large portion of the north-eastern declivity of the battle-hill. On each side of the bower, seats with awn- ings had been prepared, and were filled by over one thousand ladies, from all parts of the Union. In the centre of the base, a rural arch and bower, surmounted by the American eagle, was formed for the government of the association and some of the guests, in front of which, after the venerable Mr. Thaxter had addressed the Throne of Grace, the orator, sub cælo, pronounced an address, which none but its author is capable of doing justice to in a summary, and which will be read with a pleasure equalled only by that which electrified the vast assemblage who listened to it for
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nearly one hour and a quarter. It is enough for us to say, that it was in every par- ticular worthy of the celebrity of the orator, and that his address to the silver-headed worthies of the Revolution, and to the distinguished Guest of the Nation, filled every heart with transport.'
" After the close of the address, the company repaired to Bunker's Hill, where a sumptuous entertainment was provided, at which more than four thousand persons partook. The guests separated at a seasonable hour, and the festivities of the occa- sion terminated with a private party at the residence of a distinguished citizen."
The depth to which the corner stone was laid was found in- sufficient to resist the action of frost. It was taken up in 1827, and relaid to a greater depth, and the base, 50 feet in diameter, was completed. From this base, according to the plan, the monu- ment is to rise two hundred and twenty feet. When completed it will form an obelisk, 30 feet square at the base and 15 at the top. It will consist of 80 courses of Quincy granite, each course 2 feet 8 inches in thickness ; and will be the highest of the kind known in the world, and only below the height of the Egyptian pyramids. At present, the monument is raised to only about 60 feet.
CHELMSFORD.
IN 1652, about twenty persons from Woburn and Concord pe- titioned the general court for liberty to examine a tract of land "lying on the other (west) side of Concord river." This request was granted; and having, by a committee, examined the land, and having found others, to the number of thirty-nine in all, de- sirous of uniting with them in erecting a new plantation, they jointly petitioned the legislature for a grant of land, bordering upon the river Merrimac, near to Pawtuckett. They stated that there was a very " comfortable place to accommodate a company of God's people upon, who may with God's blessing do good in that place for church and state." They requested that said tract of land might begin on Merrimac river, at a neck of land on Con- cord river, and so to run up by said river south and west, into the country, to make up a quantity of six miles square. About the same time, a petition was presented to the legislature by Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury, agent and trustee for the Indians, for a grant of land lying about Pawtuckett and Wamesit falls, to be appropriated to the sole and exclusive use of the tribe inhabiting thereabouts. This land, called the Great Neck, was the principal habitation of the Pawtucketts, once the most powerful tribe north of the Massachusetts. Here they had erected wigwams, and bro- ken up land for planting. The court, taking into consideration both petitions, directed that both an Indian and an English plan- tation should be laid out.
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The plantation constituting the original Chelmsford was in the form of a parallelogram or oblong square. The town was incor- porated in 1655, and received its name from Chelmsford in Eng- land, county of Essex, which derived its name from the river
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Chelmer, on which it is situated. In 1656, the bounds of the town were enlarged. This additional tract comprised the whole of the territory now comprised within the town of Westford. To this tract the Indians had a common right with the inhabitants of Chelmsford. The tract on which the Indians lived was styled Wamesit. The Indians, from various causes, rapidly decreased, and having little or no use for their lands, sold them to the Eng- lish. The first English settlements made on the Indian planta- tion were on the borders of Concord river, upon a plat of ground much resembling a heater, which gave rise to the name of Concord River Neck. William How was the first weaver in the town. He was admitted an inhabitant as early as 1656, and granted twelve acres of meadow and eighteen of upland, " provided he set up his trade of weaving and perform the town's work." In the same year, 450 acres of land were granted to Samuel Adams, "provided he supply the town with boards at three shillings per hundred, or saw one log for the providing and bringing of another to be ready to work the next March." To this were added 100 acres more, in consideration of his erecting a corn mill, and to give him still far- ther encouragement, they passed an order, "that no other corn mill should be erected for this town, provided the said Adams keep a sufficient mill and miller."
Chelmsford is remarkably diversified by meadows and swamps, uplands and forest trees of various kinds, and intersected by brooks and rivulets. Upon the Merrimac and Concord, much of the land is alluvial and fertile. Thence proceeding south-west lies a pine plain, shallow and sandy, called Carolina plain, upwards of a mile wide, intersecting the north-east and south-west part of the town. The western part of the town is rocky. There are two villages in the town, one near the central part, the other, called Middlesex village, is in the north part of the town, where the Middlesex canal joins the Merrimac. The manufacture of glass has been carried on in this place for many years. The granite of this town is much used and highly valued for building. The University Hall, at Cambridge, many houses in Boston, and the Presbyterian church in Savannah, Georgia, were built of this stone. In 1837 there were seven air and cupola furnaces in this town, and one glass manufac- tory ; value of glass manufactured, $30,000; hands employed, 30; one scythe manufactory ; value of scythes manufactured, $12,500; twelve hands employed; capital invested, $10,750; 1 machine shop, which employed 20 hands; 1 hat manufactory; value of hats manufactured, $32,500. Population, 1,613. Distance, 9 miles from Concord, 4 from Lowell, and 25 from Boston.
The origin of the first church in Chelmsford is not certainly known. Its existence probably commenced about the arrival of Rev. John Fiske, the first minister, in 1654 or 1655. He was past the meridian of life when he commenced the work of the ministry in this uncultivated and thinly peopled town. For several years there was no other minister nearer than Concord and Woburn. " Coming from a paradise of pleasure in England to a wilderness of
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wants," his patience and fortitude were put to a severe trial. His care for the souls of his flock committed to him was unremitting, while his medical skill imposed upon him arduous additional duties. His services as a physician were of inestimable value in the new townships where he resided after he came to America. Upon the earnest solicitation of his people he composed a new cate- chism for the use of their children. It was printed at their expense in 1657, by Samuel Green, Cambridge. It is styled the " Watering of the Plant in Christ's Garden, or a short Catechism for the en- trance of our Chelmsford children. Enlarged by a three fold Ap- pendix." After he had been many Lord's days carried to the church in a chair, and preached, as in primitive times, sitting, he, on Jan. 14, saw a rest from his labors .*
The following account of the visit of the Rev. John Eliot and Gen. Gookin to the Indians at Pawtucket falls, is from "Gookin's Historical Account of the Indians," written in 1674.+
"May fifth, 1694, according to our usual custom, Mr. Eliot and myself took our jour- ney to Wamesit or Pawtucket ; and arriving there that evening, Mr. Eliot preached to as many of them as could be got together, out of Mat. xxii. 1-14, the parable of the marriage of the king's son.
" We met at the wigwam of one called Wannalancet, about two miles from the town, near Pawtucket falls, and bordering upon the Merrimack river. This person, Wanna- lancet, is the eldest son of old Pasaconaway, the chiefest Sachem of Pawtucket. He is a sober and grave person, and of years, between fifty and sixty. He hath been always loving and friendly to the English. Many endeavours have been used several years to gain this Sachem to embrace the christian religion ; but he hath stood off from time to time, and not yielded up himself personally, though for four years past he hath been willing to hear the word of God preached, and to keep the Sabbath. A great reason that hath kept him off, I conceive, hath been the indisposition and aversion of sundry of his chief men and relations to pray to God, which he foresaw would desert him in case he turned christian. But at this time, May 6, 1674, it pleased God so to influence and overcome his heart, that, it being proposed to him to give his answer concerning prayer to God, after some deliberation and serious pause, he stood up and made a speech to this effect :
" Sirs, you have been pleased for four years last past, in your abundant love, to apply yourselves particularly to me and my people, to exhort, press, and persuade us to pray to God. I am very thankful to you for your pains. I must acknowledge, said he, I have all my days used to pass in an old canoe, (alluding to his frequent custom to pass in a canoe upon the river) and now you exhort me to exchange and leave my old canoe, and embark in a new canoe, to which I have hitherto been unwilling ; but now I yield up myself to your advice, and enter into a new canoe, and do engage to pray to God hereafter.
* Rev. Mr. Allen's History of Chelmsford, published 1820.
+ " Maj. General Gookin of Cambridge, the author of this account of praying towns, was the superintendent of all the Indians that had subjected themselves to the provin- cial government. He was accustomed to accompany Mr. Eliot in his missionary tours. While Mr. Eliot preached the gospel to the Indians, General Gookin adminis- tered civil affairs among them. In 1675, when Philip's war broke out, the English inhabitants generally were jealous of the praying Indians, and would have destroyed them, had not General Gookin and Mr. Eliot stepped forth in their defence. The Christian Indians were for a while kept on one of the islands in Boston harbor through fear of their becoming traitors and going over to the enemy. The issue proved that these fears were entirely groundless. Not a single praying Indian went over to the enemy. This fact affords abundant encouragement to civilize and christianize the savages of our western forests. This is the most effectual way to preserve our fron- tier settlements from savage butchery. General Gookin died in 1687, an old man, whose days were filled with usefulness."-Moore's Life of Eliot. .
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Drawn by J. W. Barber-Engraved by J. Downes, Worcester. CENTRAL PART OF CONCORD, MASS.
The above is a northern view in the central part of Concord village. Part of the Court-House is seen on the left. Burying-ground Hill (a post of observation to the British officers in the invasion of 1775) is seen a short distance beyond. The Unitarian Church and Middlesex Hotel are seen on the right.
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