History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 69

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 69

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Our ancestors therefore found it essential to their continuance here, to organize for defense. At the meeting of the Court of Assistants in September, 1630, the first step was taken in this direction by the appointment of Captains Underhill and Patrick, doubtless old English soldiers, as military instruct- ors (probably charged also with the early organiza- tion of the forces), and an assessment was levied upon the various settlements for their maintenance. Salem's share toward this comfortable billet for these old veterans was three pounds.

In the following April the same authority di- rected that the companies should be drilled by their officers on each Saturday : Captain Underhill or Patrick no doubt superintended the operation, and with the latitude presumably allowed to the military hope of the pious colonists, were doubtless some- times permitted to be well sustained with strong waters and to swear freely at both officers and men, after the fashion of military instructors in all ages. Every man was at this time required to bear arms, and the colony seemed to be establishing itself on a sound military basis. Several cannon were brought to Salem about this time.

In August of the same year (1631), a considerable hostile body of Tarrentines or Eastern Indians,-pro- bably from Maine,-made their appearance in the vicinity of Salem, and caused much alarm to the set- tlers, as they were reputed to be puissant in warfare with the unpleasant habit of eating their captives. The people, however, fell in at once, and dragging out their six pounders, discharged them into the woods in the supposed direction of the enemy : whereat the Tarrentines, being unaccustomed to the sound of heavy ordnance, and apparently finding it disagreeable, took themselves off without further de-

lay. This bloodless victory scored one for the Salem men, and must have been a gratifying result of their first engagement with the euemy.

About this time Captain John Endicott com- manded an expedition composed of Salem men aud other colonists to the number of ninety, to beat up the Indians who had gathered about Block Island with mischievous intent and had committed some depredations. The Fabian policy of the gentle savage prevented any general fight, although a few Indians were picked off by some accurate long-range practice, aud the general effect of this energy and promptness appears to have been salutary.

While bearing a hand generally upon the simple fortifications and block-houses built for the safety of the colony, the Pnritau warriors of Salem keptup their military habits by frequent drills, though they do not seem to have been engaged with the Indians again until 1636. It was on the occasion of a parade of the Salem company during this interval that the Cross of St. George was cut out of its colors by the pious sword or command of Capt. John Endicott, whose mili- tary and religious instincts seem to have been quite equally developed. This a-sertion of the puritan dis- like of papistical emblems, raised a considerable breeze on both sides of the Atlantic, and the offense to the authority of the Crown was only condoned after suitable apologies. In August, 1636, hostilities hav- ing broken out with the Pequod Indians, a force of four small companies under Captain Endicott, one of which comprised the Salem contingent and was commanded by Ensign Davenport, of this place, was sent out against the enemy. Marching westward they had some skirmishes with the Indians, and re- turned September 14th, after inflicting on them consi- derable loss, while themselves losing but two men killed and a few wounded. The military officers ap- pointed for Salem that winter were, Captain William Trask, Lieutenant Richard Davenport and Eusign Thomas Reade.

The following year Salem furnished two officers, Captain Trask and Lieutenant Davenport, and twenty- eight men as a part of the quota of one hundred and sixty from the Massachusetts Colony, who, under the general command of Captain Stoughton, marched to join the Connecticut forces in the campaign against the Pequod chief, Sassacus, who had assumed a hos- tile attitude. Before the arrival of the Massachusetts reinforcement, Colonel Mason had severely defeated the Indians, but they gallantly rallied, and the forces of the colonists having united, nearly exterminated them in a second engagement where Lieutenant Davenport and a party of his Salem men particularly distinguished themselves. Lieutenant Davenport was promoted, and in 1644 was appointed as captain to the command of the castle in Boston harbor. Later on he became a colonel, but had then removed from Salem.

There followed a considerable period during which

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the settlers were not harassed by the Indians to any great extent; but realizing their constant danger, their vigilance was not relaxed and the military were kept in a good and increasingly efficient condition, with numbers continually augmenting, while the gar- rison and outpost duty they were required to perform was arduous and constant.

The discipline of the colonial soldier seems to have been carefully looked after at this time, for we read that it was enacted that "any disobeying his officer should be set in the bilboes or stocks, or be whip- ped." Military officers also directed the arms that men should carry in going from home, and particu- larly when attending church. The sight of a stal- wart citizen of Salem of to-day, heavily armed and marching up and down the sidewalk in front of the First Church door narrowly watching every ap- proach, while Sunday morning service was in pro- gress ; and the subsequent exit of the congregation at its close, each man with a heavy matchlock carry- ing a bullet of fifteen to the pound, on his shoulder, would strike us as rather odd; but it was quite the correct thing in the sixteen-forties at the very same place.

As a sample of the good fighting stuff of which the ancient Salemite was constructed, it might not be out of place to draw attention to the military talents of that distinguished Salem divine, the Rev. Hugh Peters, who officiated in the First Church at about this time, and who doubtless imbibed some of the belligerent spirit of his colonial parish : for, some time later being in England, he served as chaplain of one of the "Ironsides " regiments of Cromwell's army, and on one occasion in Ireland, we are told, took command of the regiment, and handled it in action like a born soldier. It is to be regretted that the active part he took in the affairs of the English Com- monwealth ultimately cost him his head.

In the summer of 1645 war was declared by the colonists against the Narragansett tribe, and the Salem military marched with other troops against them. The Indians, however, do not seem to have laid in sufficient ammunition or had their tomahawks properly sharpened, for they " weakened," if the ex- pression may be permitted, and sued for peace, which was concluded before the combatants came to blows. In October of that year the officers appointed for the Salem company were: Captain William Hathorne; Lieutenant William Clark and Ensign William Dixey, while John Endicott, who had previously held that commission, was continued as sergeant-major- general, which, though now an obsolete title, was then given to the commander-in-chief of the forces of the colony.

Fifteen years later we find the military estab- lishment of what had now become the County of Essex, well organized and containing two troops of cavalry, one of which was composed of men of Salem, Manchester, Lynn and Riverhead, under Captain

George Curwen and Lieutenant Thomas Putnam of Salem, and Cornet Walter Price of Manchester.

Captain Thomas Lathrop of Salem, though he may afterwards have been of Beverly, was, in 1663, ap- pointed to command the Eastern foot company of the town. It would appear that at this carly date there were two standing companies of infantry and part of a company of cavalry furnished by the town of Salem, which, considering the probable population of the settlement, must have comprised a large part of its able-bodied men.

Quiet continued to prevail until in 1675 the sudden uprising of Philip, Chief of the Wampanoags, with his tribesmen and allies, dispelled the fancied se- curity of the colonists and called into immediate ac- tion their well-appointed and trained forces. Never- theless, so well had this astute warrior laid his plans and so carefully had they been kept from the knowledge of those whom it was his purpose to anni- hilate, that his preconcerted attack was a complete surprise and for a time it seemed as if the accomplish- ment of that purpose was by no means impossible.

Towns were destroyed in an hour, large numbers of the people were massacred and the outlying settle- ments were abandoned by the inhabitants who flocked toward the larger towns to the eastward. In the hasty muster and advance of the troops to succor their hard-pressed brethren, their eagerness in some cases outran caution, and in the first contact with the insidious foe they had difficulty in holding their own and met with some severe reverses.

Captain Lathrop, before mentioned, while in com- mand of a picked body of young men of the Essex companies, called by contemporaneous writers "the flower of Essex," was convoying a supply train, and being ambuscaded in Deerfield while crossing Muddy Brook, was killed with seventy of his men-nearly his entire force. Hearing the noise of the firing, Captain Mosely hastened from the upper part of Deerfield with his company, and finding the Indians engaged in scalping Lathrop's men, attacked them without hesitation, though greatly outnumbered, and drove them off with severe punishment. The com- pany of Captain Moscly seems to have contained many Salem men and his lieutenants, Savage and Pickering, both of Salem, did much in aid of his victory by their resolution and gallantry. As in Lathrop's company there were also a number of Sa- lem young men, this town shared in the general mourning of the county over the disaster that befell them.

The powerful Narragansett tribe, having at length allied themselves with Philip, the colonists deter- mined to avail themselves of the inclement weather of approaching winter that would draw the Indians together, and, with a very strong force, to deal this tribe a crushing blow that should render them pow- erless for future harm. Thirty-one men, under Cap- tain Gardner, were drawn from the Salem companies

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and joined the force that marched southward to at- tack the stronghold in Rhode Island, where a large part of the Narragansetts were gathered. In the at- tack upon this palisaded fort in a morass, which was signally successful and utterly broke the power of that formidable tribe, Captain Gardner and six other men of Salem were killed and eleven wounded, which would indicate that the men from this town were not shirking their work to any great extent.

Hostilities continued during the following year and while the enemy had been much weakened and the military had begun to get hold of their work and were equal to the Indians when they could find them, yet with such subtle foes and in a country full of difficulty for moving columns, constant vigilance had to be exercised, and the troops had little rest. More men were impressed from Salem for active ser- vice. Those remaining strengthened the main fort here and built "garrisons " (block-houses), for the protection of the farm people outside of the town. These were all garrisoned, and the military of Salem must have been nearly all on duty during this time, at home or with the active forces. Lieutenant John Pierce and Ensign Gardner were appointed in the winter of 1676 to the foot company lately con- manded by Captain Gardner, who fell at the Narra- gansett Fort.

In the spring of this year Captain George Curwen, of Salem, who was commanding a troop of cavalry in the field, had a difficulty with a Major Henchman, his superior officer, and the General Court,-which useful body, by the way, seemed to be available for any service from expounding doctrine, to sitting as a general court-martial-sentenced the gallant captain to dismissal and a fine of £100. As, however, he seems to have been too good an officer to lose, and quite likely the General Court finding that they had blundered about the evidence, he was presently re- stored to his rank. Although the record is silent on this point, it is also to be hoped that he got back his hundred pounds.

In September of that year, Major William Hathorne, with part of the Salem contingent bore a hand in the final surprise of Qnecheco, where the greater number of the Indians remaining in arms were captured and King Philip's war ended; that gallant chief having been killed the previous month.

Civilization has its advantages, and looking at the question practically, it is perhaps best that its on- ward march should not be obstructed by a few sav- ages. Nevertheless it is difficult to withhold admira- tion for this man Philip and his brave followers, who, believing that the English were driving them from the land of their fathers, died in the effort to preserve their inheritance as gallantly as did Leonidas or Winkelreid. As to the Indian methods of warfare, if they made more cruel work of it than the pious Puritan did on several occasions, the chroniclers have much misled us.

Early in 1677 some Eastern or Maine Indiaus rather disgusted the Salem ship-owners by capturing a number of their vessels that were on that coast, pro- bably engaged in fishing. Exactly how it was done is not clear, and the fact is rather surprising ; for while dashing fighters on land, the red mau has rarely gone in much for naval distinction. However, in some way or another in this case they managed to pick up "no less than thirteen ketches and captivate the men," so goes the record. The ketch was a small schooner-rigged vessel which was much used in those days. As was quite customary, on receipt of this intel- ligence, a fast was immediately ordered, while an armed ketch with a crew of forty men and doubtless the destructive hig guns that had proved so noisily ef- fective on a previous occasion, was dispatched as a man-of-war to the rescue. "The Lord gave them success," is the brief and pious record of this first of Salem's long list of maritime victories. Matters rather calmed down after this naval exploit for a dozen years or so, and the good Puritans of Salem in the absence of war's alarms, were able to improve their material condition and to indulge in those fierce doctrinal squabbles in which their souls took stern enjoyment. But their military matters were not neglected, and in 1689 Jonathan Walcott was ap- pointed captain, and Nathaniel Ingersoll and Thomas Flint, respectively lieutenant and ensign of the new company formed at Salem village, afterward the town of Danvers. Samuel Higginson, of Salem, was abont this time serving as lieutenant-colonel of the South Essex regiment that embraced the Salem companies and those of adjacent towns.

The Indians in this year, instigated by the French, gave signs of restlessness, and in July seventy men were told off from the Essex lower regiment of foot, that included the Salem companies, to join in the de- fence of the frontier towns. Captain B. Gedney, who declined, and subsequently Captain S. Sewell, Lieu- tenant Robert Kitchen and Ensign Edward Flint were appointed officers of the West Salem company.

The companies of Salem seemed to have been well filled, for Capts. Sewell and John Price were presently ordered to organize four companies from their com- mands. The names of the new officers commissioned in consequence of this mobilization do not appear. As the savages became more threatening in their demonstrations and things were looking rather blue, a fast was now ordered in Salem. It is pleasant to ob- serve the practical military preparations that in each emergency accompanied the prayers of our excellent ancestors. They were ever buckling on the sword, as it were, even while they were in the act of bending the knee.

In Angust Captain Simon Willard marched with a contingent from Salem and vicinity to Casco Bay, while the Essex lower cavalry troop, possibly still under the efficient command of our old friend Captain .Curwen, were ordered to Newichewannock.

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Late in the fall Captain Willard writes to the gov- ernor for supplies for the Casco Bay outpost, and takes occasion to say that " the parents of his soldiers "are much displeased because they have not already "returned as was promised." What effect this state- ment had upon the governor does not appear, but it is to be hoped that the displeasure of their parents was not visited upon the unhappy young recruits themselves when they ultimately turned up in Salem.

In 1690 war was declared against the French by the Colonists, who were much harassed by them in the fisheries and by their Indian allies in the Eastern set- tlements. Great military activity prevailed and while a few Salem men form part of the one hundred and sixty from Massachusetts reporting at Albany, four companies under Maj. John Price, Capts. Sewell and Walcot, and other officers whose names are not given, join the larger New England force preparing to at- tack Port Royal, the French stronghold in Nova Sco- tia Benjamin Gedney, of Salem, now a colonel, and apparently held in high estimation, was appointed to command this expedition, but he declined the honor in favor of Sir William Phipps, who this year captured the place.

No especial mention is found of the conduct of the Salem portion of the beleaguering force, but it requires little penetration to feel quite assured of their gallant- ry on every opportunity, and it is pleasant to observe that Colonel Gedney is upon his return, placed upon the committee to divide the plunder obtained from Port Royal, which was very valuable. Let us hope that he saw to it that Salem received her just share thereof.

The cavalry (Essex lower troop) now under com- mand of Captain Brown, of Salem, are in the field again this year, though the direction of their service is uncertain-probably to the eastward-while three hundred and eight men of Colonel Gedney's regiment, doubtless then under his command, from Salem and vicinity, rendezvous late in the year, and take part in the unsuccessful expedition against Montreal and Quebec, Captain John Curwen being one of the offi- cers, with no doubt others from Salem.

A desultory warfare was continued with the French and their Indian allies for a long period, during which there is little to be gleaned in the chronicles, of the doings of the Salem soldiery. In fact little actual fighting was done by any body in this part of the coun- try, though the seouts and Indians had no end of quiet amusement in the depths of the forest, bush- whacking and scalping each other to their heart's content.

In 1692 Colonel Gedney went down to Wells, Me., with an escort of thirty troopers (probably of the Essex lower troop) and made a peace with the Maine In- dians, independently of the French, which appears to have endured until 1695, when, by the bad faith, ac- cording to Colonel Gedney's account, of one Captain Chubb in command at Kittery, the Indians again

took up arms, obliging the colonel to march on that place with four hundred and sixty men. We pre- sume that this imposing force, combined with Colonel Gedney's diplomatie abilities, restored the broken peace, for there do not seem to have been any further difficulties in that region for some little time there- afterwards.

In 1703 we find the Governor ordering the impress- ment of twenty men for the "Flying Horse," an armed cruiser of Salem. As the good people of the town with solemn pleasure watched the fitting out of this vessel, how little did they realize the very large number of armed cruisers that were, in later times, to be sent from their harbor ! It appears that the buc- caneers of the Spanish main, who had for many years been making things very unpleasant for treasure-ships and settlements in the vicinity of the equator, now began to extend their operations to the northward and appeared occasionally off the New England coast. Hence arose the necessity for this incipient naval force.

In the year 1704 a party of pirates, in a vessel com- manded by one Quelch, remained off and on the coast for a time, having a secret rendezvous in a honse near the entrance of Marblehead harbor. Where the armed cruiser was at the time is not clear, except that she was out of the way. However, the good people of Salem got along withont her very well, according to the record ; for, the character of the gang developing itself by some depredations, they were tracked to Gloucester, and Major Stephen Sewall, with one party, and Judge Samuel Sewall (who, by the way, was the chief pro- moter of the expedition), in personal charge of another, followed them down and carried their vessel by board- ing, killing or capturing the entire lot after a rattling fight. The survivors were promptly hanged as a sug- gestion of the insalubrity of the New England climate to gentlemen of their profession. The hint was not lost upon the unhanged residue, and it was not until eighteen years later that the exploit of the notorious Capt. Low in Marblehead harbor, indicated that these lively sea-rovers must have learned of the demise of the belligerent Salem justice, and had good hope of the immunity that they actually enjoyed on that oc- casion.

During the interval of comparative repose that en- sued for Salem and vicinity, in common with the rest of the colony, between King William's and Queen Anne's War, there is nothing to record. But this af- forded but a brief breathing-space, and soon the border towns were again suffering from Indian attacks, and the Colonists involved in expensive and abortive expeditions in the effort to conquer Canada, so much desired by England. The pressure of danger was not severely felt in Salem just now, since we find the town indulging in a rather acidulous controversy in 1706 with the Governor, as to whether Fort Anne, in Salem should be repaired by the town or the Province.

In August, 1708, Major Walter Turner, with Cap-

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tains John Gardner and Walter Price and a Salem contingent, join with other troops in pursuit of a party of French and Indians that had threaded the wilder- ness in one of their numerous raids and suddenly ap- peared near the northern towns. A sharp action, in which the enemy were discomfited and driven off, and John Gyles, of Salem, lost an arm, with a few others killed and wounded, was the net result.

There is little to record in the next few years of a military character that concerns Salem. Although until the peace of Utrecht, in 1711, there was constant warfare on the border.

In 1714 the town petition the General Court-hay- ing evidently had enough of the Governor in this matter-to repair and garrison Fort Anne. We are not told the result.

The peace of New England began to be again dis- turbed in 1720 by French intrigues among the Eastern Indians whose depredations on the border recom- mence, although it is uncertain as to what part Salem took in the Norridgewock episode and other border affairs that succeeded.

Soon after the opening of the French War, in 1745, we read that Capts. Grant, King, White and Covell, all of Salem, embarked with the troops bound for Cape Breton and the siege of Louisbourgh. Capt. George Curwen also took part in that brilliant and successful campaign, for an extract from a letter from him to his wife says "young Gray (of Salem) is killed, June 2d, in the attack upon a battery, and three more of Grant's men missing." The officers mentioned were doubtless in command of men from Salem and vicinity.

In the spring of 1746, a French fleet being reported off the coast with an army, preparing for an attack upon Boston, the Salem companies march to its protection. Perhaps this circumstance may have come to the knowledge of the French commander ; at any rate the force made no landing : as a matter of fact it never got very near Boston, if it were, as is probable, the one commanded by the Duke D'Anville.

In 1755 the final war between the French and Eng- lish on this continent was formally opened, so to speak, although, as usual, the Indians instigated by French officers and priests, had precipitated actual hostilities for a year or more before, and in the early part of the spring of this year Salem sends twenty-eight men, her quota of reinforcements to Col. Johnson's army operating towards Crown Point. To refresh the spirits of these men before their departure, the Rev. Mr. Clarke preaches them a sermon entitled, "a word in season to soldiers." We trust that in their con- duct at the ensuing battle of Lake George, the good effects of Mr. Clarke's exhortations were made mani- fest. Captain Samuel Flint on September 25th (1755) marches with his company to join the same army.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 69

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538