USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1734 to the year 1800 > Part 25
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Many of those in Pittsfield, in anticipation of unwelcome visits at times like these, prepared themselves hiding-places. That of Woodbridge Little was in the open space left, according to cus- tom, around the chimney of old-fashioned houses. The cottage occupied by Mr. Little is still standing in good preservation, being the pretty residence of Mr. F. C. Peck, where the Tory's hiding- place may still be seen. One of the brothers Ashley - the only Tories in The West Part - had his refuge in a crevice among the rocks, at the base of the Taconics, known as the Diamond Cave. Another was accustomed to fly to a cavern in the rocky banks of Roaring Brook, in New Lenox.
An instance of the minor troubles to which "inimical persons " were liable is related of Ashley. West Street, on which he re- sided, is legally seven rods wide; but less than one-half that width suffices for the purposes of travel, and, from time immemorial, it has been the privilege of the farmers on each side to mow and some- times to cultivate the superfluous space. In early times, it was per- mitted them to enclose their crops until harvest. This Ashley, in 1776, had done with the portion which lay along his farm; and it was covered with a fine growth of corn, when, for some reason he went into hiding. But unluckily for him, while thus absent, a party of young ploughmen took their nooning near by; and one of them, of mischievous wit, suggested that it would never do to permit such encroachments upon the highway, especially by a Tory, and that it was no more than their duty to maintain the rights of the town. No second suggestion was needed. "In
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the twinkling of a goad-stick," says the rustic tradition, " the fence was on the original limits; " and the cattle of the neighborhood feasted that afternoon at the expense of George's friend. But the end was not yet. That night the volunteer conservators of the integrity of the highway carelessly left their plough standing in the field; and, on the next morning, the tongue was found to have been chopped completely off. It had been hacked and mangled in a manner which showed it to have been the work of weak hands ; and, as it was known that only Ashley's wife and daughters were at the house, there was no difficulty in fixing upon the authors of the mutilation. A " council of war " was at once called ; and the party proceeded to the house, where, undeterred by the screams of the girls, they searched until the mother was dragged from the closet in which she had ensconced herself, when they escorted the frightened dame to one of the horse-blocks, which, for the convenience of mounting pillions, then stood before every door. On this they compelled her to stand while the plough was brought, and its wounds bound up in bandages, as if it were a mangled human limb.
When overt acts of treason against the liberties of America were proved, the punishment was more severe. In May, 1776, John Graves, son of Moses,1 aided in the escape of Capt. McKay, an officer of the royal artillery, and his servant, one McFarlane, from the Hartford jail; which must have been effected in some mysterious way, the doors and windows being afterwards found secured as usual. Graves piloted the fugitives through the country, lodging at the house of fellow Tories, until he reached Pittsfield. Here they recruited at the house of Graves and his brother, who furnished them with horses, with which they set out in the hope of reaching Canada. But at Lanesborough they were suspected, knocked down, and, according to their own story, " beaten and abused in the grossest manner after being tied." 2 That was not the manner of "the country fellows" of that section ; and the probability is, that Capt. McKay, who was a brave and spirited man, resisted his captors strenuously, and got soundly mauled for his pains.
Be that as it may, the recapture created a sensation in the neigh-
1 Brother of the Moses Graves known to the last Pittsfield generation.
2 Major French's Journal, Coll. Conn. Hist. Soc., vol. i. p. 207.
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borhood, and Graves was sent back with his friends. An ex- amination showed that he was not only concerned in Mckay's escape, but had made two similar trips between Pittsfield and Hartford. The Connecticut committee, however, thought that, although he had committed an offence in that colony, it was better that he should be tried at home, and wrote to the Massachusetts Board of War a letter in which they described him as " appearing to be a low-spirited, insidious fellow, and to entertain strong prej- udices against the liberties of America." 1 The board ordered the sheriff of Berkshire to receive and commit him for trial.2 He was finally banished. An anecdote connected with this affair illustrates the feeling of the people towards the Tories. McKay was entertained at Stockbridge by Gideon Smith, a notorious loyalist ; and, the fact coming to the knowledge of the committee, it was deemed necessary to "handle " him. The hue and cry was raised ; and a party, of which Sharpshooter Linus Parker was one, repaired to the delinquent's house. His family reported him not at home; but the seekers, confident that he was secreted in the barn, summoned him, with a promise of quarter, to surrender. Upon this he appeared at a half-open door, peered curiously around, and, after some parley, came out and gave himself up. Smith and Parker were, nevertheless, on very friendly terms; and after the war, the former being, with his wife, on a visit to the latter's house, Smith reverted to the incident described, and said that when he opened the door of the barn, being an extraordinary runner, he felt certain of effecting his escape; but, seeing Parker with his famous rifle in hand, he was afraid to make the attempt. " And now, Parker," said he, " I want to know if you would really have shot me." -" As quick as I ever shot a deer !" was the reply. " Then it would have been all over with me," said his friend, trembling with emotion at the memory of the danger he had escaped.
Confiscation and banishment were inflicted in several instances ; but generally those who received these punishments had already joined the king's forces. In 1778, the General Court passed "an act to prevent the return to the State of certain persons who had left it, or either of the United States, and joined the enemies thereof." The list of those thus proscribed contained, in all, three
1 Mass. Ar., vol. clxv.
2 Mass. Ar., vol. ccx. p. 270.
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hundred and eight names, of which the following were from Pittsfield: Jonathan Prindle, Benjamin Noble, Francis Noble, Elisha Jones, John Graves, and Daniel Brewer. Francis Noble settled at St. John, New Brunswick, and was one of the refugees to whom the lands upon which that city is built were granted, in compensation for their sufferings for the Crown. His twin-brother, Benjamin, was banished at the same time, and repaired to New York, where he was killed before the return of peace.1
The commencement of Jones's troubles has been related.2 In May, 1776, the Pittsfield committee, "in observance of an order from the Great and General Court, dated April 23, directing them to take possession of all the estates of absconding Tories," made return, as regarded Jones, that " they had the greatest reason to think he had fled to the ministerial army, and joined the same against the Colonies," and that they had accordingly " taken pos- session of his real and personal estate." The former embraced three hundred acres of land and four lots, upon one of which was the homestead, a very superior farm-house, on Wendell Square ; and, on another, saw and grist mills. These they had leased, ac- cording to the legislative order, for one year from April, " with some small reserve for the proper support of Mrs. Mehitable Jones, wife of said Elisha, and their six children." An inventory of the personal property " found in the hands and possession of the said Mehitable " was also returned; and in the list are enumerated " one negro man named Prince, about twenty-four years old, who left his master Jones about a year ago, and enlisted in Col. Sar- gent's regiment,3 and Titus, negro boy, aged eleven."
Woodbridge Little and Israel Stoddard, after their experience in the spring of 1775, had maintained a circumspect course, and, as they claimed, complied outwardly with all the requirements of the national and State legislatures. But they had been watched with suspicious jealousy by the local committees : and a post-bag, which passed secretly back and forth between the Tories of Berkshire and their friends in New-York City, was captured by High Sheriff Israel Dickinson ; 4 and the contents showed that all the loyalists
1 Sabine's American Loyalists.
2 See chap. xiii.
3 Enlisted as Prince Hall. In 1772, Jones advertised two runaway mulatto slaves in the " Courant."
4 This post-bag is still in possession of the sheriff's grandson, Israel Dickinson, Esq., of Lafayette, Ind.
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of the county, for some purposes at least, were closely banded in a secret organization, - the high with the low ; those who outwardly maintained a show of respect for the Revolutionary authorities, as well as those who malignantly opposed them. Probably on ac- count of the evidence thus obtained, Messrs. Little and Stoddard were " handled " with a severity from which they appealed to the powers at Boston. But, in the spring of 1777, the increasing de- pression of American affairs, and the dangers which threatened the patriotic cause, still more emboldened the Tories, who had, through the disasters of the previous year, been gaining confidence, and showing themselves in their true colors; so that it became necessary to deal with them in earnest. And, in June, William Williams, John Brown, and Stephen Crofoot, selectmen of Pitts- field, - being, as they declared, " obliged thereto by an act of the General Court," - called a town meeting for the express " purpose of discovering who are the internal enemies of this and the other United States of America," and also "to hear what Jonathan Hobby and Jonathan Weston have to offer."
This action brought matters to a crisis; and, at the meeting, " Woodbridge Little, Israel Stoddard, Moses Graves, J. Hobby, J. Weston, and Joseph Clark made their appearance before the town, and upon their confession, declaration, and taking the oath of al- legiance to the United Independent States of America, were re- ceived as the friends of these States." The allegiance thus sworn appears to have been faithfully maintained ; and Mr. Little, at least, received the favor and confidence of his fellow-citizens, being elected selectman, and delegate to the county conventions in 1781 and subsequent years, and representative in 1788, 1789, and 1790.
But this happy reconciliation was preceded by an incident of not so pleasant or creditable a character. Under the orders of the legislature, fifteen Tories were arrested, and placed under guard at the tavern of Col. Easton ; and it is related that a soldier, whose temper had been soured by ill-treatment when a prisoner in the hands of the enemy,1 begged the privilege of standing sentinel over them. His request being granted, he imposed perfect silence upon those under his charge, and prohibited intercourse among them on penalty of instant death. On the slightest pretence of in- fraction of his orders, he presented his loaded musket at the head
1 In the diary of Mr. Allen, the return of several soldiers, broken down by the cruelties practised in the British prison-ships, is noted.
.
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of one or another of the frightened party. It was evident that the man was seeking a pretext for killing one of them ; and the greatest terror prevailed, especially, it is said, on the part of Mr. Little. It is to be hoped that so ill qualified a guardsman was relieved as soon as the facts came to the knowledge of his officers.
During the military operations in Westchester County, after the retreat from Long Island in the fall of 1776, Col. Simonds of Wil- liamstown led a corps of levies from the three Berkshire regiments to re-enforce the army of Washington. Of this regiment, which served from the 30th of September until the 17th of August, Rev. Thomas Allen was chaplain ; and Pittsfield also contributed Lieut. William Barber and fifteen men to its ranks. We know nothing of its service there except what is contained in the follow- ing extract from Mr. Allen's diary, regarding the battle of White Plains, and the few days immediately preceding it : -
" WEDNESDAY, Oct. 23. - This day I went with Rev. Mr. May and Dr. Guitteau, to Frog's Neck, and brought off a colt. On our return, I saw our men bringing in a Ilessian on a sort of bier, who was wounded in the leg. There had been an action just before between a party of our men and the enemy, of whom we killed ten or twenty, and took two prisoners. The wounded Hessian's leg was broken ; and, as our men brought him in, the sur- rounding multitude behaved in the most rude, inhuman, and unmanly man- ner; some calling out, "Dash out his brains," others damning him, and still others upbraiding and insulting him in an indecent manner. But the poor Hessian behaved like a man, and pulled off his hat to the multitude. He was a rifleman, dressed in green, faced with white, and wore a green cockade upon his hat. He was of dark complexion, caused, I suppose, by the long passage which he had of twenty weeks, he having arrived but three weeks before.
" THURSDAY, Oct. 24. - At night, struck our tents, and moved up four miles towards White Plains. This night, encamped without a tent upon the ground.
" FRIDAY, Oct. 25. - All day under arms, in expectation of an attack from the enemy, who now appeared, paraded in sight, marching and counter- marehing. A great battle appeared to be at the door. This night, also, lay on the ground, under a brush shelter.
" SATURDAY, Oct. 26. - The sun rose elear. The enemy near ; a great bat- tle drawing on. Our soldiers this morning brought in a regular, James Marrow, of the Thirty-fifth Regiment. Gen. Leslie commands the brigade ; Col. Kerr commands the Thirty-fifth Regiment, one of the four which make up the brigade. This soldier affirms that the regulars' muskets were all charged ; and it was his opinion they would attack us before to-morrow morning. He
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further deposed that there were ten brigades of regulars in this neighbor- hood. Yesterday forgot to dine; to-day made an excellent dinner on bread and butter only, being in continual expectation of a cannonade from the enemy, who lay in plain sight, at the distance of a little more than half a mile. Kindled up the fires at dark ; and, soon after, began our retreat, with Gen. Bell's brigade, in most excellent order, keeping out on flank guard.
" LORD'S DAY, Oct. 27. - Arrived at break of day at White Plains, hav- ing performed a march of above twelve miles in the night. Lay down after daylight for sleep on the ground. This day, thirteen Hessian prisoners were taken, and two were killed. Yesterday, Dr. Danielson, surgeon's mate to Dr. Mather, was killed within our encampment on Valentine's Hill. He refusing to stop, they fired upon him, and he fell dead. Dr. Wright of New Marlboro' was buried this day at White Plains. Such a confused Sab- bath I never before saw. This day encamped on White Plains, in our tent again, having been marvellously preserved in our retreat.
" MONDAY, Oct. 28. - About nine o'clock, A.M., the enemy and our out- parties were engaged. About ten, they appeared in plain sight, filing off in columns to the left and towards our right wing, but no additional force of ours was as yet directed that way. At length, the enemy came up with our right wing, and a most furious engagement ensued, by eannonade and small arms, which lasted towards two hours. Our wing was situated on a hill, and consisted of, perhaps, something more than one brigade of Maryland forces. The cannonade and small arms played most furiously, without cessation ; I judged more than twenty cannon a minute. At length, a re-enforcement of Gen. Bell's brigade was ordered from an adjacent hill, where I was. I had an inelination to go with them to the hill where the conflict was raging, that I might more distinctly see the battle, and perhaps contribute my mite to our success. Just as we begun to ascend the hill, we found our men had given away, and were coming off the hill in some confusion, at which moment elevated shot from the enemy's camp came into the valley, where we were, very thiekly, one of which took off the fore part of a man's foot, about three rods from me, of which I had a distinct view, as would be sup- posed. I saw the ball strike and the man fall; and, as none appeared for his help, I desired five or six of those who had been in battle to carry him off. Others I saw carrying off wounded in different parts; and, with the rest, I retreated again to the main body on the hill, which was fortified, from which I had just before descended. Our men fought with great bravery : they generally, one with another, shot seven cartridges before they were ordered to retreat. They were sore galled by the enemy's field-pieces. Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing, from the best information I can obtain, is about two hundred. The enemy's loss "
The fragment of Mr. Allen's diary closes here.
In November, at about the time when Col. Simonds's regiment
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returned to Berkshire, that of Col. Patterson, leaving its fatal en- campment at Mount Independence, repaired to Albany, where it took shipping for Esopus, on the Hudson. Marching thence across the country, it joined Washington at Newtown, Pa., just in season to take part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
But such had been the sufferings of the corps, that leaving Washington at New York, on the 21st of April, a well-appointed regiment more than six hundred strong, it returned to him in No- vember with barely two hundred and twenty men, many of whom were greatly enfeebled ; and yet it had seen less than two months' service in the field. Of the brave men who were missed from its ranks, some were invalided at home; but the greater portion, victims of disease, battle, or the tomahawk of the lurking savage, were in their graves, - if graves were accorded them.
CHAPTER XV.
PITTSFIELD IN THE SECOND CANADA CAMPAIGN. - ARNOLD'S PERSE- CUTION OF BROWN AND EASTON.
[SEPTEMBER, 1775-1778.]
Arnold arrives at Quebec. - Montgomery arrives. - Projected Assault on the City. - Brown charged with creating Dissensions. - The Charge considered. - Assault on Quebec. - Death of Montgomery. - Arnold continues the Siege. - Brown's the most advanced Post. - Expects to be a Uriah there. --- Small-Pox in the Army. - Attempt to set up Inoculation in Pittsfield. - Pat- terson's Regiment marches to Canada. - In the Affair of the Cedars. - Evae- uation of Canada. - Miserable Condition of the Army at Crown Point. - Schuyler and the Berkshire Committees. - Arnold's Charges against Brown and Easton. - They demand a Court of Inquiry. - Singular Difficulty in obtaining it. - Brown impeaches Arnold of Treason and other Crimes. - Appeals to the Public. - Publishes a Hand-Bill against Arnold. - Remarkable Interview between Brown and Arnold. - An ex-parte Trial. - Gross Injustice to Brown. - His spirited Remonstrance and Resignation.
E ARLY in August, 1775, Washington found that he could very well spare from the army at Cambridge a detachment of a thousand or twelve hundred men,1 for a movement against Quebec by the way of the Kennebec. River. This expedition had been suggested by Col. Brewer of Massachusetts; but the commander- in-chief placed at its head Arnold, who was at Cambridge, filling the camp with' his loud-mouthed complaints of the treatment which he had received at Ticonderoga.
The little army which was intrusted to him consisted of two regiments of infantry and three companies of rifles, - about eleven hundred men in all.2 Leaving Cambridge on the 15th of Septem-
1 Am. Ar., 4th ser. vol. iii. p. 214.
2 Jabez Chandler (?), John Gardner, and Jonathan Bill enlisted out of Capt. Noble's minute-men into Arnold's expedition.
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ber, it arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec, on the 9th of November, with less than nine hundred effective men, who, in their march through the wilderness, had endured the severest suffering, and encountered innumerable dangers.
Eager to obtain distinction for himself, Arnold made some bold demonstrations against the city; but, learning that Carleton was approaching from Montreal, he retreated to Point Aux-Trembles, on the St. Lawrence, twenty miles above Quebec, where, on the 1st of December, Montgomery, with a beggarly remnant of the army of St. Johns, arrived, and took command of the combined forces, numbering not so many effective men in all as Arnold had brought with him to Point Levi : so rapidly were their battalions reduced by the expiration of enlistments and by disease.
Montgomery soon discovered that an attempt to enter Quebec by storm was a necessity ; and a plan was arranged of which the essential points were simultaneous night-assaults upon the upper and lower towns, by divisions led respectively by Montgomery and Arnold in person, with feints in two other quarters. But the general was greatly chagrined, when the corps selected for the attack were ordered to report for that duty, to find three compa- nies of Arnold's detachment refusing to serve under him, although eager for service in either of the other parties. Montgomery had been greatly struck with the superior discipline and subordination which Arnold's troops exhibited in contrast to his own, and was loath to encourage a proceeding which might lead to deterioration in qualities the lack of which he had deeply felt in his own com- mand; and he was, moreover, convinced that the dissatisfied com- panies had no just cause of complaint against their commander. He therefore refused to make the change which they demanded ; but their dissatisfaction was so great, that the proposed plan of assault was abandoned.
Montgomery attributed the disaffection of the three compa- nies to a certain "Capt. , who had incurred Arnold's dis- pleasure," and to a field-officer, who, as he thought, desired sep- arate command of the recusant corps; and he added, "I am much afraid my friend - is deeply concerned in this business. I will have an éclaircissement with him on the subject." The names given in blank are carefully erased in the original letter; 1 but it has
1 Am. Ar., 4th ser. vol. iv. p. 754.
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been assumed that the friend alluded to was Col. Brown, and that he was actually the originator of the trouble. There are many circumstances to favor the supposition that his name should actually fill the blank, although there is no evidence of it. But it will be observed, that the general expresses only a suspicion, whieli the éclaircissement which he intended might have entirely re- moved. If it had been well grounded, it could not have escaped the knowledge of the vigilant Arnold, who, if he had been able to prove so serious a military offence, would not have failed to make it prominent among the charges which he brought against his enemy in the acrimonious controversy which they carried on for the ensuing two years. So reckless was he in his accusations, that one cannot believe he would have waited even for a semblance of proof, had the rumor come to his ears, that Major Brown had been guilty of a crime so odious to every commander, and espe- cially to Washington and Schuyler, as incitement to mutiny.
Brown had had opportunity, in private life, before the war, to obtain an insight into the vileness of Arnold's character,1 and had learned him thoroughly. After-intercourse had revealed to him in the officer the same selfish wickedness which had characterized the jockey and tradesman. He was informed of his petty embezzle- ment of the wages he had "humbly engaged to see paid" to Capt. Noble's poor Pittsfield soldiers; he was familiar with the arrogance, slanderous malignity, and even worse, which he had manifested at Ticonderoga; and he fully believed that the in- cipient traitor, after learning that the Massachusetts committee would refuse him the place he claimed there, would, had he not been prevented by Col. Easton with a strong hand, have betrayed the little flotilla to the British commandant at St. Johns.
With this opinion of Arnold, Major Brown dreaded the conse- quences of the favor which so dangerous a man was winning with his superior officers. His deep feeling upon this point had been freely communicated to his friend and general, and hence prob- ably, if Brown was the person alluded to in Montgomery's last letter, arose his fear that one whom he loved and esteemed had been so imprudent as to tamper with Arnold's soldiers. Col. Brown's subsequent heroic and patriotic subordination of his just
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