USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Acushnet > History of the Town of Acushnet, Bristol County, State of Massachusetts > Part 7
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"Theirs is a deathless heritage ; their deeds Blossom, like flowers, upon the page of time; And whether told in prose, or glowing rhyme, Seem writ in shining gold to him that reads."
The British probably remained in the road and upon the fields west of the river the balance of the night, meantime relaying the bridge, and were prepared soon after the dawn of the Lord's day to cross the river and continue the havoc of war.
In some manuscripts of Capt. Lemuel Akin, then living in Fairhaven, is found the following interesting narrative of what, occurred on the march of the enemy through Acushnet on that eventful Sabbath. The writer states that after the encounter at the river crossing,
"A party left the main body, and went north as far as the old gambrel-roofed house of Doctor Tobey, still standing. I believe it was a general baking day in these parts, for there they found in the cellar an oven full of bread, and pork and beans. These they soon dispatched, and robbed the house of what they wanted; and endeav- ored to destroy the rest. But the British pilferers in going down the cellar left the door wide open, and that effectually prevented their seeing another door immediately behind it, leading to a room where their most valuable clothing was deposited, and by that means was saved. Another instance of the same kind occurred at Bartholomew Taber's. "
They burned several houses at the head of the river, among others one belonging to Captain Crandon, who, to revenge himself on the British (marauders, would not suffer his new house to be placed over his old cellar, nor suffer the cellar to be filled up, until his son, having the management in some measure of his father's business, accomplished it.
It was at Acushnet Village that Lieutenant Metcalf was mortally wounded. He was from Boston, and belonged to the Continental army.
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The first building they burned after leaving the head of the river was a house on the premises now owned by David Russell, then occu- pied by Colonel Edward Pope. Eldad Tupper, a Tory, and well acquainted in these parts, acted as their guide, and could inform them of all holding office or commissions. As they proceeded south, and near by, they came to Stephen and Thomas Hathaway's. The latter was a man of handsome property in those days, and without children ; but he had a ward living with him, Jonathan Kempton, who event- ually inherited it. At the time the fleet anchored he was at the lower end of Sconticut Neck ; and left immediately for home to remove the household furniture to a place of safety. After packing up, he took a small trunk, containing quite a valuable quantity of silver plate; and as he stepped to the door to leave the house, he was met by their advance guard, who told him they would relieve him from any further care of the trunk. After taking what things they wanted from the house, they collected beds and bedding in a chamber, and set fire to them, and very luckily shut the doors. They took Mr. Kempton a prisoner, and told him they should carry him to New York. He entreated them to let him have his liberty. After carrying him to the end of a long lane leading to the house, they consented, after taking one of the two pairs of breeches that he had on-that he had two on they knew from having robbed him of his watch; but they informed him they must fire at him as a deserter, which they did, but whether with an intention of hitting him or not, he never knew. The ball, however, hit a large cherry tree, one of a number that lined a long passage or lane leading to the house. Mr. Kempton returned to the house in time to extinguish the fire.
They proceeded on in something of a hurry, burning now and then a house or a store, and destroying property and frightening men, women and children, who generally, Indian-like, fled to the woods with what little they could carry for safety.
Capt. Thomas Crandon was actively identified with our army and all such persons were marked for the destruction of their property. His dwelling house was on the south side of the road east of the bridge. It stood on the spot where the fifth building from the bridge now stands, a house occupied by Walter R. Spooner, on a lot marked E described in a subsequent article on "The Triangle."
Tradition that appears reliable is that they burned the house of Stephen West, which stood on the top of the hill nearly opposite the Precinct cemetery. This property was later owned by George F. Bartlett, who was at one time collector of the port of New Bedford. Mr. Bartlett made careful investigation of this matter and was satisfied beyond a doubt that the tradition was a fact. -
After leaving Thomas Hathaway's place they burned a grocery store belonging to Sergt. Micah or Obed Hathaway, which stood near a well that is now in the highway, on its east side, about 400 feet north of the town line. Eldad Tupper knew that several of the Hathaways were serving in the American army. This knowledge he, of course, imparted to the British, which caused them to deal especially severe with members
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of their families and their property. They marched from the south line of Acushnet over what is now Main and Adams streets. On the latter street they burned Bartholomew West's house, that stood on the ruins of John Cooke's dwelling, which the Indians burned 100 years before. Next they applied the torch to a store stocked with merchandise, standing nearly opposite to what is now the residence of Edward A. Dana's heirs. The store was the property of Capt. Obed Nye, father of Mrs. Dana. Coins and other relics have since been found there.
Near here the detachment of the enemy that demolished Fort Phenix may have joined the main column. In this connection Elijah Macom- ber's statement of the movements of this detachment will be interesting reading. He related that :
"A little before 9 o'clock, after some of the vessels which had been set on fire on the New Bedford side of the river had drifted down towards the fort, the detachment which had landed on the east side of the river near Fort Phenix, advanced upon the fort. Two guns were fired upon the fleet and after spiking the guns the garrison retreated to the north leaving their colors flying. The British, supposing the fort to be still garrisoned, opened a heavy fire upon it, but not being answered with a return fire, soon ceased.
"The garrison men arranged along a low stone wall a short distance to the north of the fort waiting to discover the exact position of the enemy in order to make their retreat successful. They were soon discovered by the British, who opened fire upon them and wounded a man by the name of Robert Crossman, a ball passing through one wrist and across the other. A hasty retreat was then commenced and the enemy, not knowing the exact position or strength of the Americans, did not make a vigorous pursuit.
"The whole garrison, with the exception of the wounded man and two others, John Skiff and his father, who were taken prisoners, succeeded in making their escape to the woods, which were some distance north of Fairhaven, where they lay through the night and until the British had passed them on their way from the head-of-the- river.
"Before the fort was evacuated a train of powder was placed from the magazine to the platform. The British entered the fort, and after destroying the ramrods, sponges, etc., touched a match to the train of powder and blew up the magazine, but probably sooner than was intended, because at least one man was destroyed by the explosion, as fragments of his gun, cap and accoutrements were after- wards found nearby.
"After burning the barracks, guard-house and other buildings connected with the fort, the detachment moved northward, destroy- ing vessels, stores, etc., and formed a junction with the detachment which landed on the west side of the river, somewhere near the head of Acushnet."
After the demolition of the fort they followed the river bank up to the wharves at Oxford, destroying property, while the work of destruc- tion was going on on the west side of the river, and remained in that
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locality till their comrades came down from Acushnet Village the follow- ing morning. Meantime, Captain Ingraham's company was probably watching from their cover the movements of the enemy indicated by the trail of fire they left behind them and concluded their plan was to cross the stream at the head-of-the-river and join the detachment at Fairhaven. Capt. Ingraham decided the better part of valor was to remain secreted where they were till the enemy passed by them to Sconticut Neck. This prevented Captain Ingraham from re-enforcing the brave band in the encounter at our village bridge.
After leaving the Dana farm the incendiaries applied the torch to a schoolhouse near the head of Mill road, which was consumed. Down nearly to Huttlestone avenue they found Zeruiah Wood's house without inmates and burned that. The family had fled to the woods and when they returned they were homeless. On the Sconticut Neck road they burned the John West house, a picture of the chimney of which is given on another page. There is no report of any depredations committed beyond this point. At a signal from the troops after they reached the head of the Neck the fleet came to the east side of Clark's Point and took on board the troops from the shore of the Daniel W. Deane farm. This ended twenty-four hours of
"War's desolation"
in the lives and homes of the inhabitants of this town.
General Grey's order issued the day before he landed his forces contains this sentence: "The commanding officers are answerable that no houses or barns are set on fire by the soldiers, unless by orders from Major General Grey." Notwithstanding this, there were at least two houses with all their furnishings burned in New Bedford, a half dozen in Acushnet, and several in Fairhaven. For these cruel, infamous acts and the hardships that resulted therefrom to the households of these homes, General Grey must be held responsible.
It is recorded that the general frequently showed no quarter to American soldiers, and in many instances ordered them bayoneted in cold blood in an inhuman, unsoldierly, barbarous manner. On account of his common practice of ordering men under his command to take the flints out of their muskets when about to enter upon an engagement, that they might be confined to the use of the bayonet, he acquired the name of the "No flint general." He states in his reports of the casualties at the Battle of Acushnet Bridge that the British "rushed on them (the Yankees) with their bayonets," thus executing his characteristic military movement when in action. There is abundant evidence besides the above facts to prove that General Grey was a heartless monster.
General Grey made the following return of property destroyed :
8 sail of vessels, from 200 to 300 tons, most of them prizes.
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6 armed vessels, carrying from 10 to 16 guns.
A number of sloops and schooners of inferior size, amounting in all to 70, besides whale boats and others; among the prizes were three taken by Count D' Estaign's fleet.
26 store houses at Bedford; several at McPherson's Wharf, Cranes Mills and Fair Haven. These were filled with very great quantities of rum, sugar, molasses, tea, coffee, medi- cines, tobacco, gun powder, sail cloth, cordage, etc. Two large rope-walks.
Captain Gordon, who was called an excellent judge of valuations, estimated the loss in the brief space of twenty-four hours at $422,000.
Those who had sustained losses in this affair demanded compensa- tion therefor. The subject was discussed for five years when Governor John Hancock to be prepared- to formally present the claim to Great Britain requested each town which had met with such losses to forward to the secretary of state a concise statement of the damage sustained by them. In response to this request the selectmen of Dartmouth consisting of Colonel Edward Pope of Acushnet section, Stephen Peckham and Jabez Parker, sent the following brief statement of the damage to the inhabit- ants of that town :
Sir :
Dartmouth, January 17, 1783.
By requisition from his excellency, the governor, we here trans- init a true account (so far as is come to our knowledge) of the property, real and personal, which was wantonly destroyed at Dartmouth on the fifth day of September, 1778, by the British troops under the command of General Gray, excepting property belonging to the public and to persons non-residents in this town which was very considerable. We suppose equal in value at the least to the property destroyed belonging to the inhabitants of this town.
Real estate as valued the same year by the
assessors in solid coin. 11,241 Pounds
Personal estate as given in by each indi-
vidual to the selectmen under oath 94,719 Pounds
Total 105,960 Pounds
The enemy landed their troops, being about 400 in number, two miles to the southwest of Bedford, (a settlement so-called in said Dartmouth) and marched to Bedford a little after the setting of the sun and set fire to all the stores and some of the best of the houses, and all the shipping lying at the wharves, and at the same time boats came from their ships and set fire to all the vessels that lay in the harbor at anchor, after which they proceeded up the west side of the ,river, burning some houses, barns, etc., pillaging others of whatever was valuable, breaking windows, doors, etc., till they had marched down the east side of the river making about twelve miles in the whole march, committing many cruelties on defenseless persons both men and women, by stripping them of their wearing apparel, etc. They began their embarkation the next day about two or three
.
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o'clock in the afternoon, and remained in the harbor until the eighth day of September following, and then sailed to Marthas Vineyard.
Several persons who were great sufferers moved out of said town immediately after the destruction of their property which we have not been able to ascertain. We are, Sir, your humble servants,
STEPHEN PECKHAM, JABEZ PARKER, EDWARD POPE,
Selectmen of Dartmouth.
To John Avery, Esq.
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The above statement that there were 400 British troops in the raid is an error, doubtless made somewhere in print or writing. Colonel Edward Pope of this town, who was engaged in the affair, wrote that there was between 4,000 and 5,000 of them. This appears reasonable in the light of General Grey's report that the fleet consisted of two frigates, one brig of war and thirty-six transports. There is more record evidence that 4,000 or more of the British foree.
On Sept. 6, the last day of the raid, General Grey wrote a letter to General Clinton, dated on board his flagship, "the frigate Carysfoot off Bedford harbor," in which he says: "I am happy to be able to acquaint you that I have been so fortunate, in the fullest manner, to execute the service your Goodness entrusted me with at Bedford and Fairhaven. We landed yesterday evening at six o'clock; the enemy had a very few hours notice of our approach ; the troops all reembarked this morning by twelve o'clock. * The only battery they had was on the Fair Haven side, an enclosed fort with twelve pieces of cannon, which was abandoned, and the cannon properly demolished by Captain Scott, and the magazine blown up. Not one house in Bedford and Fairhaven, I think, was consumed that could be avoided, except those with stores." This last sentence looks very suspicious with the light of facts turned upon it. It will be observed that he made an itemized report of the property destroyed, including "rum," but no allusion was made to twenty or more dwellings burned, which it is not possible he was unaware of. Furthermore, it seems reasonable that General Grey was willfully guilty of these infamous acts.
In this letter General Grey refers to Captain Andre. This was the unfortunate Major John Andre of Revolutionary war fame. He was on the general's staff and no doubt in the grand march of the British through Acushnet. He was later on the staff of General Clinton, and subsequently made Adjutant General of the British Army. Major Andre was hanged for complicity in the treason of Benedict Arnold, at Tappan, N. Y., in 1780, when only 29 years of age.
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At one time in the Civil war of 1861-65, one silver dollar was worth three paper dollars. We thought this a tremendous inflation of the currency and business was alarmingly unsettled. But in the Revolu- tionary war the inflation was twenty times greater-one silver dollar was worth sixty paper dollars. When financial affairs had reached this point and public credit was considered absolutely ruined, a convention was held in Concord to aid in restoring it and "to take in Consideration the Prices of Merchandise and Country Produce." They "Affixed the Price" at which should be sold various articles, among which was Indian corn, $20 per bushel; white bran, $30 per bushel; West Indian Rum, $60 per gallon. "The Honable Walter Spooner Esq" of this town was one of the 185 delegates and was made president of the important gathering.
This fearful invasion caused such want and suffering that the town of Dartmouth, at its annual meeting in March, 1780, appointed a com- mittee including Jireh Swift and Captain Thomas Crandon "to supply the soldiers' families during the ensuing year," and appropriated a sum of money therefor. The General Court of the same year appropriated $6,000 for their relief. Among the recipients of this aid were the Hathaways, whose store on Fairhaven road was burned, to recompense them in a measure for, their loss. Acushnet was a long time in recovering from this tremendous shock and loss of property.
A careful estimate fixes the total number of men furnished the army of the Revolutionary War by Dartmouth to be five hundred, besides those in the navy. The entire population of the town at that date was 6,500, so that it is safe to conclude that one of every thirteen of the inhabitants, including women and children, were in the service.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR INCIDENTS
Fort Phenix had just been completed when the Revolutionary war broke out. The following is an extract from a letter in regard to building the fort: "Royal Hathaway states that Benjamin Dillingham was Captain and his father, Eleazer Hathaway, was Lieutenant of the company that built Fort Phenix, and his impressions were that it was begun previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and that it was about two years in building." Royal Hathaway of Acushnet also stated that there were eight companies of soldiers raised in the township of Dartmouth, and that his father succeeded Captain Dillingham in command of one of them, and was stationed at the fort at one time.
Captain Benjamin Dillingham's company consisted of men who lived in the vicinity of Acushnet Village, and many, if not all, of the following members were residents of this town: Eleazer Hathaway, James Spooner, Jonathan Cushman, Thomas Crandon, Reuben Hathaway, David Hath- away, Daniel Bennett, Elisha Parker, Jonathan Hathaway, Elnathan Jenney, David Pope, David Spooner, Lemuel Cushman, John Hathaway,
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Jethro Taber, Silas Hathaway and Jesse Keen. In the roster of the com- pany are also the names of John Skiff and Elijah Maccomber, whose names are mentioned on another page in connection with the war. This company was with the army in the vicinity of Boston as early as March, 1776.
- Stephen Hathaway's house is now standing on the east side of Fair- haven road about 300 feet south of the brook. Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway were of the Friends' Society. Alarmed, especially for the safety of their children, they had secreted them in the woods at the eastward, and their table silver and other water proof articles they had lowered into the well, which is there today. The advance of the army had doubtless received information that Friend Hathaway was well-to-do and made an immediate demand for money. Mr. Hathaway failed to respond and they commenced a search of the house. A desk now in existence plainly indicates where they attempted to pry it open with a bayonet. The commanding officer rode into the yard while the vandals were vigor. ously engaged in plundering and to him Mr. Hathaway complained. The officer assured him he did not propose to molest Quakers and called the soldiers out of the house. For this gracious act Mrs. Hathaway treated the officers to a hastily prepared lunch. When the unwelcome visitors had departed she was unable to find some of her valuables.
Thomas Hathaway lived on what is now the Laura Keene place. The house probably stood very near the site of the present house, as Captain Akin writes of a "long lane leading to the house." Trees standing there now indicate the location of the lane. This family also lowered their silverware into the well. Some of these articles are now in possession of Mrs. Captain James Allen and her daughter Louise Allen, now residing at Long Plain. 1
Captain Thomas Crandon's house was situated just east of the village bridge on the south side of the street and as he was in the service his house was a shining mark for the enemy's torch.
Among the men who were incarcerated in Dartmoor and other Eng. lish prisons were Jacob Taber, and Elisha Tobey, of New Bedford; Joseph Briggs of Fairhaven and Samuel Parker of Acushnet. Mr. Parker was one of the crew of a ship sent from Bedford Village to London by Daniel Rick- etson & Son in 1777, laden with a cargo of oil. From there on the passage to Bremen she put into Greenock, Scotland, for repairs and while there was captured by the British. It is recorded that Edward Pope, later Judge Pope, of Acushnet, was a prisoner of war on Saturday night, but succeeded in making his escape before morning. Nathaniel Spooner of this town was captured on the privateer "Hope." He was exchanged in 1777, and later served in the army or navy. Caleb Spooner was a prisoner.
Early in the war an interesting incident occurred in which an eminent
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citizen of Acushnet took a prominent part. General Washington's head- quarters were at Cambridge. It was learned that the British Admiral at Newport, R. I., was being made aware of the secrets of American civil and military affairs. How this information was obtained was a great mystery. Finally a cypher letter, which proved to be written by an officer on General Washington's staff, to the British Admiral at New- port, fell into Washington's hands., No one was found who could decipher it till some one in the camp suggested there was a Chaplain with the troops at Dorchester who could read it. This Chaplain proved to be Rev. Samuel West, D. D., of Acushnet Village, who was with the Dart- mouth volunteers. Chaplain West was summoned into the presence of Gen- eral Washington, who decided after a brief interview, to allow the Doctor to endeavor to decipher the mysterious document, which was a difficult task. A tent was prepared for him and a detail from his townsmen of Captain Thomas Kempton's company was assigned to guard duty about his quarters. Chaplain West commenced his labors immediately after the sentries cried "lights out!" and in the hush of the night, with no sound but the steps of the guard as they paced their beats and their as- surance to the camp that "All is well !" he pluckily worked at his puzzling task of finding the key to the cypher of the suspicious communication. At daylight he requested the sentry at his tent to call the "corporal of the guard," by whom he sent a message to headquarters that he was pre- pared to report to the commanding officer his efforts, which proved the contents of the letter to be of treacherous information. Captain Kempton assured his son Thomas, and Jireh Swift, who was in the war, declared to his son Jireh, Jr., and both of these sons were known to the writer, that the above incident occurred as related above. The success of Doctor West placed a feather in the caps of the Acushnet boys and the hurrahs that filled the air indicated their great delight in the remarkable accomplishment of their popular Chaplain. It was subsequently learned that the writer of the cypher letter was Dr. Benjamin Church of General Washington's staff, and a classmate at college of Dr. West. Doctor Church was arrested, incarcerated in the prison at Cambridge, and subsequently was given a hearing before the General Court. While in prison he wrote a long letter of explanation and defence, a copy of which may be found in one of the volumes of the Massachusetts Historical Collection.
A REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO
One of the interesting characters of the Revolu- tionary period was Deliverance Bennett. He said we was born at Long Plain, in this town, Nov. 11, 1750. Ile relates that at the age of nineteen he joined the American army for three years, receiving a bounty of three hundred dollars. The company was ordered to march on the Sabbath from Elder
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Lewis's meeting-house on the County road, where they assembled to hear "a farewell discourse from our parish minister, Rev., Mr., Lewis." The route from there was through the Peckham road to Long Plain, Middleborough, Bridgewater to Boston, where they joined the Continental forces.
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