USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hingham > History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
JOSEPH BLAKE.
257
Military History.
PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
SUFFOLK SS.
To the Honble Josiah Willard Esq. Secretary
In pursuance of an act of the Great and Gen' Court of the Province aforsd, the following is the account of the Selectmen of the town of Hing- ham in the County aforsd of their expense in the support of the French called Neutrals late Inhabitants of Nova Scotia sent to said town by order of the Committee appointed to dispose of the same, the family sent to sd town were Anthony Ferry & wife & five small children and one single woman in all Eight, this accompt is from the First day of June 1756 to the tenth day of Nov' 1756 for tools & provisions &c is twelve pounds fourteen Stirling and four pence
£12:14:4
DANIEL BEAL
Selectmen ENOCH LINCOLN
8 of The Town JOSEPH THAXTER of Hingham.
This family was subsequently increased by the arrival of an aged mother and by the birth of another child. The Ferrys were removed to Boston in 1760 by order of the committee. Some of. the old diaries contain references to the employment, from time to time, of one or another of the Acadians, about the farm-work then in hand. Here are a few extracts :
1760 April 18 Two French boys for husking corn
May 23 Employed the Frenchmen. Charge them with 38 lbs. Salt Beef Joseph Brow, Alexander Brow, Charles Trawhaw, Peter Trawhaw, John Trawhaw.
Oct 28 Employd the old Frenchman Alexander Brow and Peter Trawhaw also the other Brows and Trawhaws at Husking for several days
The fate of these families is lost in the obscurity of history. It is probable that they entirely died off or removed from Hing- ham, for no descendants of any of them are known to exist.
Among the men impressed and enlisted by Colonel Lincoln out of his regiment for service in Canada in 1759, were, besides Lieutenant Blake, Capt. Jotham Gay and Gideon Hayward, of all of whom he speaks as having been in the Nova Scotia expedition of 1755. Whether there were others or not is not known, as the rolls of Winslow's troops are not to be found.
After a year of open hostility, England on the 18th of May, and France on the 9th of June, 1756, at last declared war. The capture of Crown Point was by no means abandoned, but the French during the interval had constructed a powerful defence at Ticonderoga, and this too was included in the objects of a new expedition planned by Shirley, who chose John Winslow for its leader. Before the campaign commenced Shirley was removed and the command was first given to General Abercromby, who arrived in June, and then to the Earl of Loudon, who came in July.
VOL. I .- 17
258
History of Hingham.
In the mean time the raising of the new army went on. The method was to call for volunteers, but if the requisite number did not appear a draft was made, by the colonels of the militia regi- ments, of enough men to supply the deficiency. This will explain some facts to be hereafter related. A bounty of six dollars was offered to stimulate enlistments, and the pay of private soldiers was one pound and six shillings a month. If a man brought a gun his bounty was increased two dollars. If not, one was sup- plied, for which he was to account, as well as for powder-horn, knapsack, canteen, blanket, etc. Subsequently a coat of blue cloth, a soldier's hat, and breeches of red or blue were supplied. Probably this was the first American force of any considerable size wearing a uniform, although some regiments had done so previously ; it will be noted that the color was the same which has since become enshrined in the affections of the armies of the republic who have succeeded these troops. The regiments gen- erally were composed of ten companies of fifty men each. Besides their rations each man was promised and insisted upon having, a gill of rum daily. The troops mustered at Albany, and soon encamped a short distance up the Hudson.
One of the regiments was commanded by Richard Gridley, afterwards conspicuous for his services at Bunker Hill ; its major was Samuel Thaxter, who, in accordance with the custom of the time, was also captain of a company. This latter was from Hing- ham. There are several rolls in existence at different periods of its service. The first bears date of May 4, 1756, and contains the following names of men from this town : -
Samuel Thaxter, major and captain, Robert Tower, Joseph Blake, lieutenant, Wm. Hodge, James Fearing,
Jeremiah Lincoln, ensign, Jonathan Smith,
Knight Sprague, Jr.,
Caleb Leavitt,
Daniel Stoddard,
George McLaughlin,
Abel Wilder,
Elijah White,
Joseph Loring,
Joshua Dunbar,
George Law,
Israel Gilbert,
Joshua French.
Thomas Slander,
A roll of about the same time added the names of Thomas Cushing, Zebulon Stodder.
Another roll, bearing date Oct. 11, 1756, gives the following names of Hingham men, in addition to those previously mentioned ;
Noah Beals, George Lane, Isaac Gross, John Lincoln.
We also learn from it that Ensign Lincoln was killed or taken ; an account of his capture and escape is given later ; that John
259
Military History.
Canterbury, Joshua Dunbar, Israel Gilbert, Wm. Holbrook, George Randallwining, Thomas Slander, Josiah Tourill, Robert Tower, and Elijah White were already dead in the service, while Jona- than Smith, James Fearing, Wm. Hodge, and Wm. Jones were sick at Albany or elsewhere.
The men might well be sick, if the accounts of regular British officers of the camps of the New England troops are not exagger- ated. Lieut .- Colonel Burton describes them as dirty beyond de- scription, especially that at Fort William Henry ; he speaks more favorably of the camp at Fort Edward, but says that, generally speaking, there were almost no sanitary arrangements, that kitchens, graves, and places for slaughtering cattle were all mixed, that the cannon and stores were in great confusion, the advance guard was small, and little care taken to provide against surprise. The several chaplains in the camp present a similar moral picture of the army. Meanwhile, on the 14th of August, Oswego surrendered to the French, and all thoughts of the capture of Ticonderoga or Crown Point were, for the time, abandoned. Of the miserable jealousies of the colonies, the dis- graceful failures of a campaign conducted by twelve hundred thousand people against eighty thousand, and the lessons it teaches of the superiority in military matters of an army over a mob, of the trained soldier over the political civilian, only the briefest mention can be made. The summer and autumn of 1756 fur- nishes a striking illustration, and perhaps an unusually pointed one ; for here were men, many of them, used to discipline, and experienced in more than one war, sacrificed to the lack of methods, discipline, and leadership, indispensable in the success- ful conduct of war. The opposite of all this was true in the French camps, and the results were equally different.
Loudon had ten thousand men posted from Albany to Lake George. Of these about three thousand provincials were at the- lake under Winslow, with whom was Gridley and his regiment. Montcalm was at Ticonderoga with an army of about five thou- sand regulars and Canadians.
On the 19th September, Captain Hodges, of Gridley's command, and fifty men were ambushed a few miles from Fort William Henry by Canadians and Indians, and only six escaped.
Bougainville, aide-de-camp to Montcalm, who was with the expedition says that out of fifty-three English, all but one were taken or killed ; he adds that a mere recital of the cruelties com- mitted on the battle-field by the Indians made him shudder. Among the dead was Captain Hodges, and undoubtedly also Israel Gilbert, Thomas Slander, Elijah White, and Robert Tower; Ensign Jeremiah Lincoln, then apparently a lieutenant, was, with others, captured. These men all belonged to Major Thaxter's company.
Mr. Lincoln, in the history of the town, says that a man named Lathrop, who also belonged here, was killed at the same time.
260
History of Hingham.
Lieutenant Lincoln was taken to Quebec, where, after spending the winter, he made his escape in the night with three others. Two of these became so exhausted that they went to surrender to the French at Crown Point, while Lincoln and his companion finally reached Fort Edward after great suffering, during which they were obliged to subsist upon the bark of trees.
In November the army dispersed, leaving a small garrison at Lake George. The provincials returned to their homes, while the English regulars were billeted in different parts of the country ; those at Boston being sent to Castle William.
To the lists already given as serving in the Crown Point army, there should be added the following taken from a note in Mr. Lincoln's private copy of his history : -
Ralph Hassell, James Hayward,
Seth Stowers,
Elijah Lewis,
John Blancher, Jonathan Taunt, Jedediah Newcomb.
Engaged also in this service was the Hingham sloop "Sea. Flower," commanded by John Cushing, a brother-in-law of Gen- eral Lincoln. Here is a copy of a paper at the State House : -
A Portledge Bill of sloop Sea Flower, Jno Cushing master and sailors in His Majesty's Service in the Crown Point Expedition
1756
Jno Cushing master Sept 30
Jnº Burr mate
Seth Davis pilot
Samuel Tower sailor
Timothy Covell 66
Isaiah Tower Joseph Blake
To hire of Sloop Sea Flower 74 tons at 2/8 per ton a month from Sept 30 1756 to Dec 15
On the back of this is an acknowledgment by Benjamin Lincoln for Capt. John Cushing of the receipt of 27 2/8 £.
Captain Cushing married Olive, daughter of Colonel Lincoln, and resided at South Hingham. John Burr, his mate, at this time lived on Leavitt street. Samuel and Isaiah Tower were brothers. Besides all these, Isaac Joy served in Colonel Gridley's own com- pany, and Robert Townsend, Jr., in Captain Read's company, in Colonel Clapp's regiment. Mr. George Lincoln says that Nehemiah Joy was also in the service at Lake George.
The next year Loudon with the best of the army sailed from New York for Halifax, leaving Lake George comparatively un- guarded, with the hope of taking Louisburg, - an expedition, by the way, that proved a total failure. Meanwhile Montcalm gath- ered an army at Ticonderoga, and by the end of July he had
261
Military History.
eight thousand French, Canadians, and savages encamped there. Parkman gives a wonderful picture of this army and its march towards Fort William Henry. On the third of August it appeared before the fort, which was commanded by Lieut .- Colonel Monro, a Scotch veteran. With him were twenty-two hundred men in- cluding eight hundred from Massachusetts, under Colonel Frye, who arrived on the first of the month. The siege began on the fourth, while General Webb at Fort Edward did nothing but send to the colonies for militia which could by no possibility arrive in time. They however made the attempt, even as far as from east- ern Massachusetts. After a brave defence the garrison surren- dered, and the next day, the tenth, occurred the frightful massacre of the prisoners, which has cast the only serious stain upon the character of Montcalm.
In the intrenched camp where they had passed the night, and as they were about to march under escort for Fort Ed- ward, the English army with many women and children were startled by the warwhoop of the Indians. Immediately the hor- rible butchery commenced. Probably towards a hundred were slain, and some two hundred carried into captivity. Among the latter was Zebulon Stodder, whom Colonel Lincoln writes of under date of July 25, 1758, as being heard from in Canada. Knight Spragne escaped after being partially stripped. In an account afterwards he said that fifteen out of fifty of the company to which he belonged were killed that day. His captain was stripped naked, as were many soldiers and women he passed in his flight towards Fort Edward. Spragne's captain was probably still Major Thaxter, although we have no roll of the company at this time. Major Thaxter was stripped of his clothing, bound to a tree, and about to be roasted alive, when he was saved by a French officer. Seth Stowers, who subsequently became a captain in the Revolutionary service, at the commencement of the attack upon the prisoners stuffed his coat with articles of clothing taken from the military stores, and darted into the woods. He was immediately pursued by a number of the Indians. As the fore- most got dangerously near, he would throw some of his burden as far as possible to one side. The greed of his pursuers for plun- der was so great, that they would stop to recover the abandoned garment, thus enabling him to gain slightly upon them. Re- peating the ruse as long as the articles held out finally gave him sufficient advantage to elude pursuit. Other Hingham men who escaped death were Thomas Gill, Thomas Burr, and Elijah Lewis ; there were probably many more. Thomas Burr became a lieuten- ant in the company commanded by Capt. Peter Cushing in the Revolution, and Elijah Lewis was also a soldier in that war, as were Lot Lincoln and Thomas Hersey, both previously named as on Captain Thaxter's rolls, Hersey becoming a captain in the service of the patriot army.
A list of the Hingham men not included in the surrender, be-
262
History of Hingham.
longing to Major Thaxter's company, is as follows; the men were probably on some detail away from the fort: -
Johnson Anderson, James Cannidy, Joseph Dwelly, James Hayward,
Benjamin Joy,
Stephen Randall,
Freeman Smith,
Joshua Bates.
Another account gives the name of Townsend Smith.
To these lists there should be added a list of invalids, whom Lieutenant Blake reported as belonging to Hingham and able to march, and who were probably members of Thaxter's company. The date is June, 1757, and it is not unlikely that these men were at Fort William Henry and included in the surrender. It would appear from Knight Sprague's account that a large proportion of the company were murdered, and this may explain the fact that little more appears to be known concerning them. They were as follows : -
George Phillips, Moses Bradbury, James Bunker, James Brayman,
Benjamin Sampson, Reuben Donnells, Dennis Morrison, Samuel Winchester.
Major Samuel Thaxter, scarcely less famous than his able grandfather Col. Samuel Thaxter, was a brave soldier as well as a prominent and trusted citizen in civil affairs. He was reported in Hingham as having lost his life in the massacre which followed the surrender, and a funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Gay. After the sermon Mr. Caleb Bates was engaged in driving his cows at Hockley, when whom should he meet but the Major him- self coming home on horseback. Throwing up both hands in astonishment, Mr. Bates exclaimed, "Good God, Major, is that you ? Why, we have just buried you !"
Major Thaxter was a quick-tempered and kind-hearted man. On one occasion he got into considerable trouble by killing some of his neighbors' dogs, who were worrying deer driven into the town by a severe storm. He had a number of children, among them Dr. Gridley Thaxter, doubtless named after his old colonel, who served with credit in the Revolutionary army. The Thaxter home was on North Street ; and not far from him, after the war, came to live his old commander, Gen. John Winslow, and his lieu- tenant, Joseph Blake. General Winslow resided until his death on Main Street, where is now the house of Mr. John Siders. The church-bells tolled when his body was removed to Marshfield. Lieu- tenant Blake lived where the Bassett house is, opposite the Old Meeting-house on Main Street ; his son Joshua was a. lieutenant in the United States navy. We can imagine that these three old veterans spent many an hour together in the after years, recalling the stirring events of the last French and Indian war.
263
Military History.
To General Webb's request for militia to march to the relief of Fort William, there was immediate response from the colonies, and Massachusetts especially wasted no time in getting a large number of men into the field. We already know the uselessness of the effort ; indeed, Monro had already capitulated several days before the troops from eastern New England started ; although this was of course not known until later. Upon receipt of the necessary orders, Col. Benjamin Lincoln commanding the third Suffolk regiment, at once detached from his command the com- pany in Hingham commanded by Ebenezer Beal, and started it on the march the 15th of August. The roll of Hingham men in the company was as follows : -
Ebenezer Beal, Capt., Daniel Lincoln, Lieut., Benjamin Cushing, Ensign,
Joseph Stowers, Sergt., Nath" Stodder,
John Fearing,
Daniel Tower,
John Blancher,
Solo: Dunbar,
Obadiah Lincoln, "
Sam' Dunbar,
David Farrow, Corp.,
David Wilder,
John Keen,
Zach Loring,
Elisha Tower, Jr., "
Sam1 Gill, Jun.,
Abijah Whiten, Drum.,
Joseph Sprague,
Peter Lincoln, Private,
Asa Burr,
Obadiah Stowell, “
John Wilent,
Joshua Remington,
John Wheelwright,
Matthew Lincoln,
John Pratt,
Ezra French,
Calvin Cushing,
Philip Nye,
Price Pritchart,
David Waterman,
Jacob Beal,
Ephraim Marsh,
Frederick Bate,
William Murch,
Job Tower,
Isaac Gross,
Simeon Bate,
Consider Jones,
Hosea Orcutt,
Jotham Loring,
Benjamin Beal,
Isaac Burr,
Japhet Hobart,
Ignatius Orcutt,
Elisha Lincoln.
Nath" Lincoln,
Micah Nichols,
Isaac Lincoln, Jun.,
Nehemiah Joy,
There was also a company containing a number of Hingham men, under the command of Capt. Ebenezer Thayer of Braintree, in Colonel Lincoln's regiment, which marched at the same time. Their names were : -
Stephen Cushing, Lieut., David Cushing, Cornet,
Noah Nichols, Corporal, Joseph Cushing, Private,
Benjamin Thaxter, " Thomas Barker,
264
History of Hingham.
David Lincoln, Private,
Lot Lincoln, Private,
Thomas Lothrop, " Joseph Loring, 66 John Burr, Caleb Joy,
Uriah Oakes,
Obadiah Beal, "
Benjamin Garnet, "
It will be recalled that soon after the termination of the war with Philip, permission was granted to Capt. Joshua Hobart, and others, to form a small troop of horse in Hingham, Wey- mouth, and Hull, and that John Thaxter became its first com- mander. With the foot companies of Hingham and other towns in the vicinity, this troop was attached in 1680 to a new regiment under Major Wm. Stoughton. It would seem that subsequently the troop came to be composed almost entirely of men belonging to Hingham and Braintree, and that was still the fact when, August 12th, 1757, it marched to the relief of the fort, which had already surrendered. By the above roll it will be seen that a majority of its officers were from the former place. Its service ended the 23d of the same month.
In July, 1757, Pitt, who shortly before had been dismissed from office, became the controlling force in foreign affairs and in the department of war. With him there came a new light to Eng- land and the colonies ; the tide of defeat and disaster was checked, hope was reawakened, and a vigor and wisdom instilled into the conduct of public affairs, which eventually led to the triumph of the British arms and the conquest of Canada.
Early in June, 1758, Admiral Boscawen and General Amherst, with eighteen frigates and fire-ships, twenty-three ships of the line and a fleet of transports, on board of which were eleven thousand six hundred soldiers, all regulars except five hundred provincial rangers, appeared before Louisbourg. Amherst's briga- diers were Whitmore, Lawrence, and Wolfe. July 27th the fort surrendered after a determined resistance, and over five thousand men became prisoners in the hands of the English. In the siege Jotham Gay, who commanded a company from Hingham shortly after and perhaps at this time also, is said to have participated.
Among the Massachusetts regiments raised for the prosecution of the war was one commanded by Col. Joseph Williams. It was recruited early in 1758, and contained a company of Hingham men, commanded by Capt. Edward Ward, who had already served at the capture of Louisbourg in 1745. The roll of this com- pany was as follows : -
Edward Ward, Captain,
Isaac Smith, Sergt.,
Nath11 Bates, Joseph Beal, Private, Lott Lincoln, Corp., James Howard, " Mordica Bates, James Lincoln, «
Joseph Battles, Jr .. "
265
Military History.
Joseph Carrell, Private,
Thomas Lothrop, Private,
Primus Cobb, negro, "
John Neal,
66
Robert Dunbar,
Flanders, negro, 66
Seth Dunbar, 66
Micah Nichols, 66
Solomon Dunbar, Jr., "
Joshua Remington, 66
Jonathan Farrow, 66
Obadiah Stowell,
66
Ezra French, 66
Nath1 Stoddard, 66
Nath" Garnet, Jr., 66
Oliver Southward,
66
Norman Garnett,
Jerome Stevenson,
Isaac Gross, 66
Solon Stevenson,
Ezra Garnett,
Daniel Tower, Jr.,
66
Noah Humphrey, 66
Joseph Tower, Jr.,
66
Japhet Hobbart
Shadrich Tower, 66
Peter Jacob, Jr.,
David Waterman,
66
Nath1 Joy,
Solomon Whiton,
66
Elisha Keen,
Jonathan Whiton,
Elijah Lewis,
Jonathan Ward,
66
Another roll of this company, probably one of a few months earlier, contains these names, not included above : -
Thomas Colsen,
Calvin Cushing,
David Bate,
Thomas Colson,
Abner Bate,
James Lincoln.
Beza Cushing,
Thomas Burr also served in this regiment, but in Captain Parker's company, - probably with other Hingham men whose names are not preserved. A journal kept by him gives some par- ticulars of the experience of the cominand ; and from this and a return of Colonel Lincoln, in 1759, showing former service of cer- tain enlisted men from his regiment, we learn something of the part which Hingham had in the conquest of Canada.
The fifth of July, 1758, Abercromby, with over six thousand regulars and nine thousand provincials, left his camp on the scene of Dieskau's defeat and Montcalm's victory, and embarked upon Lake George. The army was in nine hundred bateaux, a hun- dred and thirty-five whaleboats, and a number of flatboats carry- ing the artillery. The day was bright, and amid the romantic scenery the line, six miles in length, with gorgeous uniforms and waving banners, presented a superb spectacle. The life of the army, and its real commander, was Lord Howe, a brother of the brave general who led the English at Bunker Hill. In the even- ing, lying by the side of John Stark, then an officer of Rogers' rangers, he inquired about the situation and best manner of at- tacking Ticonderoga ; and the next day while at the head of the column with Major Israel Putnam and two hundred rangers, he fell dead under the fire of a small body of French commanded by Langy. The loss of Howe was the ruin of the army, and Aber- cromby preserved neither order nor discipline ; indeed, he was upon
266
History of Hingham.
the point of abandoning the expedition. Colonel Bradstreet, how- ever, opened the way for the army and it reluctantly followed his lead. In the mean time Montcalm, on the seventh, threw up a wonderfully strong defence, and here with thirty-six hundred men he awaited the English. At one o'clock on the eighth the attack commenced. At half-past seven the French general had won his great victory, and the British army, after losing two thousand men, was in full retreat, covered by the provincials. In this disastrous attempt Captain Ward's company probably participated, as Colonel Lincoln mentions a number of men as engaged at Lake George whose names occur on the above roll. He speaks also of Willian Russ as a soldier of his regiment on the same service.
After the defeat Abercromby reoccupied and refortified the camp which he had left but a few days previously. Colonel Brad- street obtained, after much persuasion, three thousand men, mostly provincials, and with these and a small number of Oneidas he embarked, August the twenty-second, in his fleet of whaleboats and pushed out onto Lake Ontario. His destination was Fort Frontenac, and as Thomas Burr, who was in this expedition, says in his diary, the troops came in sight of the French works on the twenty-fifth, and landed about dusk, and to quote the diary, " pitched against the fort" on the twenty-sixth. The next day the garrison surrendered, together with nine armed vessels and a large amount of stores and ammunition.
Forming a part of Colonel Bradstreet's command, and partici- pating in his triumph was Captain Ward's company of Hingham men, - if indeed, the whole of Colonel Williams' regiment was not in the expedition. Subsequently many of them were at the Great Carrying Place. This latter was the name of a post upon the Mohawk, then being fortified by General Stanwix, with whom Bradstreet left a thousand men on his return from his victory. Among them were Beza Cushing, Noah Humphrey, John Neal, Isaac Gross, Isaac Smith, James Hayward, David Tower, Jona- than Farrow, Townsend Smith, Joseph Carrel, Robert Dunbar, Solo. Whiten, William Garnett, and Thomas Lothrop. Not pre- vionsly named, but at Frontenac, in addition to others, were Ralph Hassell, and John Sprague ; they would scem to have enlisted in other companies in Colonel Williams' regiment.
May 4, 1759, Gov. Thomas Pownall sailed from Boston with a regiment commanded by himself, and constructed a fort upon the Penobscot. Among Colonel Pownall's captains was Jotham Gay, with a company from Hingham. Captain Gay's company scems however to have been sent to Halifax somewhat earlier, and a return sworn to by him indicates that it formed part of the garrison of that post from March until November of that year. Capt. Jotham Gay was born in Hingham, April 11, 1733, and as already seen, was in the king's service from 1755 until near the close of the last French war. Subsequently he was a colonel in the Continental army, and a representative from
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.