USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The history of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638-1889 > Part 28
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In 1746-7 " a committee was chosen to show cause to the General session why the wife and children of Edward Joyn should not be deemed inhabitants of the town."
In 1747 " an agent or agents were appointed to prosecute such person or persons as have Broken the meeting house Bell Belonging to said Town, now hanging in the School house near the East meeting house, In said town."
CHAPTER XVIII.
1725-1750.
Third French and Indian War. - Sudbury Soldiers at Cape Breton. - Fort No. 4, N.H .- Capt. Phineas Stevens. - Sketch of His Life. - His Service in Connection with the Building and Defense of the Fort. - Capt. Josiah Brown. - Engagement with French and Indians about the Fort. - Petition of Captain Brown. - Petition of Jonathan Stan- hope. - Battle between the Forces of Captain Stevens and General Debeline. - Expedition of Captain Hobbs. - Battle between the Com- mands of Captain Hobbs and Chief Sackett. - Sketch of Capt. Josiah Brown. - List of Captain Brown's Troopers.
He cometh unto you with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney-corner. - SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
HAVING considered the records of a short interval of peace in this period, we again turn to the annals of war. England and France were again to engage in strife. This war has had various names. It has been called in America " King
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George's War," but in England " The War of the Austrian Succession." It has also been called " The Cape Breton War," and " The French and Indian War." The latter term is appropriate, but might tend to mislead, since other wars have occurred with these parties. A suitable term for it may be " The Third French War."
The war was declared in 1744, and continued till the peace of Aix-la-chapelle, in 1748. Its principal event was the capture of Louisburg, a French stronghold at Cape Bre- ton, which had been called, because of its strength, the Gibraltar of America. It had been built since the peace treaty of Utrecht, at great expense, but after a forty-nine days' siege it fell into the hands of the English. The troops for its capture were from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The men suffered much before the place surrendered, but when the work was at length accomplished there was rejoicing throughout the province. Sudbury soldiers assisted at the capture of this place. The following is a list of some of the men : -
Samuel Osborne, Silas Balcom, John Underwood, Samuel Balcom, John Rice, Reuben Vose, Ruben Moore, John Nixon [at this time of Framingham, afterwards of Sudbury], Lieut Estabrook, Lieut. Augustus Moore, Abijah Walker, Micah Parmenter, Jas. Balcom, Eben Mossman, James Balcom.
Besides service in connection with this prominent event in the war, there was another service with which Sudbury sol- diers were connected, which, though less prominent than the one just mentioned, was of vast importance to the country. This was the work of a border guard, or manning the fron- tier forts. As in other contests between England and France, when hostilities broke out in America there was a wild border conflict with a mixed savage and civilized foe. Tribes not friendly to the English, nor bound to them by treaty alle- giance, hastened to aid their old allies, the French, in Can- ada, and strewed their pathway thither with sad marks of. their mission and of their impatience to begin the strife.
A confederation thus formed by the Indians and French meant terror to the English frontier. Predatory bands of
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savages again took the trail. The woodlands again resounded with their rude shouts ; and the sunny hillsides and fair inter- vales by the northern New England streams were again trod and retrod by the Indian in his sly search for human prey.
To protect these defenseless places, and form a rendezvous into which the people could flee, and at the same time fur- nish quarters for such a military guard as might be sent to intercept the foe, was of very great importance. To accom- plish these objects there was erected by the province and the towns a cordon of block-houses and forts. Several of these were situated in the vicinity of the Connecticut River, of which the most northerly was called No. 4, and was at what is now Charlestown, N.H. This fortification was notable for the frequent attack and repulse of the enemy. . It was in the direct track of the French and Indians as they swept down from Canada, by way of Lake Champlain and Montreal, on their way to the frontier towns of Massachusetts. To take this fort was considered of great importance by the enemy, who hovered about it as a coveted prize ; and it was of equal importance to the English to retain it.
In the holding of this wilderness fortress, and in military operations in the vicinity, Sudbury soldiers had a prominent share. The commander of the fort was Phineas Stevens, a native of Sudbury; he was a noted Indian fighter, and an ambassador to Canada to negotiate for the ransom of prisoners.
CAPT. PHINEAS STEVENS.
Mr. Stevens was born Feb. 20, 1706 (see Chap. IX.), and went to Rutland with his father, Dea. Joseph Stevens, about 1719. Aug. 14, 1723, he was taken captive by the Indians, and carried to Canada. He was afterwards redeemed, and taken home. In 1734 he married his cousin, Elizabeth Stevens, of Petersham, Mass. He lived for a time at Rut- land, and moved from there to Charlestown, N.H. He was a prominent citizen of that place, in both civil and military matters, in its early history. His name was on the proprie- tors' book about 1743 as a petitioner for a proprietors' meet- ing ; and the same year he was on a committee for providing
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a " learned and orthodox minister to preach the Gospel." The same year he received a commission as lieutenant of militia from Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire. In 1744 he was commissioned by Governor Shirley of Massachu- setts as lieutenant of volunteers for the defense of the fron- tier. The next year he was appointed by the same authority as captain for service against the French and Indians.
Captain Stevens was repeatedly commissioned to go to Canada to negotiate for the deliverance of prisoners. In 1752 he negotiated for the deliverance of John Stark of New Hampshire, who was afterwards General Stark who commanded the continental forces at the battle of Benning- ton. The ransom of Stark was an Indian pony, valued at one hundred and three dollars. This amount was paid back by Stark in money, which he earned as a hunter on the Androscoggin, Maine.
Since to narrate all the services of Captain Stevens at No. 4 and elsewhere in this war would take considerable space, we will only present a few facts which may set forth something of his military history and the arduous nature of his work. A settlement was begun at No. 4 about 1740, and shortly afterwards Mr. Stevens went there and became one of the three proprietors who settled the place. At that time No. 4 was the most advanced post of English civilization in the northwest. It was surrounded by dense forests, and much exposed to the French and Indians in their incursions from the north. The foe to which the people were exposed was exceedingly fierce and cruel. Such a combination of bad qualities as was manifested by the enemy that came from Canada was seldom seen,
FORT NO. 4.
About three years after the settlement began, the prospect of war was so great that the proprietors of No. 4 held a meet- ing and decided to erect a fort, and made an assessment to meet the expense. Lieutenant Stevens was one of the asses- sors to apportion the sum of three hundred pounds towards the work. He was also one of a committee appointed to keep the fort in repair, and "to take care that no person
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come to dwell in any of the houses within the fort but such as they the said committee shall approve." The fort was built under the direction of Col John Stoddard of Northamp- ton, Mass., who had formerly superintended the building of the block-house at Fort Dummer in central Massachusetts. The fort contained about three-quarters of an acre, was built in the form of a square, and had about one hundred and eighty feet on a side. The walls were made of squared timbers, and put together after the manner of a log-house. Inside the enclosure were houses, which were owned by pri- vate parties previously to their enclosure in the fort, but were bought up and afterwards called province houses. One of these belonged to Lieutenant Stevens, for which he received thirty-five pounds. These houses were placed against the walls of the fort, and so arranged that they could at once be put in a state of defense if the enemy got inside the fort. On the north side the fort had a stockade of tim- bers about a foot in diameter, which were placed end-wise in the ground, and were about twelve feet high.
New Hampshire having but little interest in defending a place so far from their other settlements, and Massachusetts feeling under no obligations to protect them, because out- side her limits, the little company provided its own means of defense. The assistance subsequently rendered by Massa- chusetts was on account of the protection afforded by this fort to her settlements on the south.
The fort was scarcely finished when war was declared by England against France and Spain. A few soldiers were stationed to defend the little stronghold, and Capt. Phineas Stevens was placed in command. In the early part of the war the fort was unmolested; but April 19, 1746, about forty French and Indians came into the vicinity, and did disastrous work. Several men were captured, and a saw and grist mill was burned. May 2d another raid was made, and one man was killed. On May 24th, Capt. Daniel Paine of Dudley, Mass., was sent to assist in defending the place. Shortly after his arrival, some of his men ventured out to see the place where the man had been killed a few days before, when they were suddenly assailed by the savages, who killed
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five of them and captured one. Captain Stevens with a few men rushed to the rescue. He engaged the savages, and forced them to retire, as it is supposed, with the loss of sev- eral men. At about this time Captain Stevens was rein- forced by a troop of horse from Sudbury, under command of Capt. Josiah Brown.
SERVICES OF CAPTAIN BROWN'S COMPANY.
On the 17th of June, shortly after their arrival, this com- pany was called into action, and had a severe engagement with the enemy in a meadow not far from the fort. The following is an account of the affair published July 1, 1746 :
We hear that on Thursday, the 19th, ult., at a plantation called No. 4, Capt. Stevens, of the garrison there, and Capt. Brown, of Sudbury, with about fifty men, went out into the woods to look for horses and, coming near a causeway there were obliged to pass, their dogs being on the hunt before them, and barking very much, they suspected some Indians were near ; whereupon, keeping a good lookout, they discovered a great num- ber of them, supposed to be a hundred and fifty, lying in ambush, wait- ing for them on the other side; so that if they had passed over, in all probability, most of them might be cut off.
The Indians on finding themselves discovered, suddenly started up, and a smart engagement immediately ensued, in which, it is supposed, that the English fired first and engaged them so closely and briskly that they soon drew off, and being followed by our men retreated into a large swamp; whereupon the English returned to the garrison, not car- ing to venture, after such numbers, into so hazardous a place. (Farmer & Moore, Vol. III., p. 294.)
Captain Brown, in a petition to the General Court in behalf of himself and his troops, states as follows concern- ing this battle : --
That whereas on the 19th day of June 1756 in his Magestie's service, at a place called No. 4, on the western frontier, the said Josiah Brown with his troop had a very warm and dangerous engagement with a num- erous party of the Indian enemy, together with painful travel, and with other hardships and difficulties attending. In which engagement by good evidence and the most certain accounts we can get a considerable number of said enimies were slain and others sore wounded. [The pur- port of the petition was that the Court might afford them such "encour- agement" as it thought best.]
By order of said troop, at their meeting on the 25th Dec. 1750.
(State Archives, Vol. LXXIII., p. 733.) JOSIAH BROWN.
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Captains Stevens and Brown had no men killed outright in this engagement, but Jedediah Winchell was mortally wounded and shortly afterwards died. Jonathan Stanhope, David Parker, and Noah Eaton were wounded. Stanhope was from Sudbury, and Eaton from Framingham. Mr. Stan- hope subsequently presented two petitions to the General Court, one of which is as follows : -
In the battle with the Indians at No. 4, June 19, when I was a Trooper in his majesty's service, I received a shot which broke my arm all to pieces, and caused me great pain, and cost for the injuries, and has inca- pacitated me from obtaining a subsistance for myself, and I have very little hopes of ever having the use of it again. The account of the time I have lost and expenses which I have been exposed to since I was wounded is as follows :
To sixteen weeks at said No. 4, when I lay confined with my wound to the first months when I had Province billeting at 6-3 per week besides said billeting £1. 5. 0
To 12 weeks more when I found myself altogether and had no Province pay nor billeting at 12-6 pr wk. 7. 10. 0
And to my son's attending on me then and finding himself from the 23d of June to the 17th of October following, being 16 weeks and 3 days : to my son's nursing and attending me the said 16 weeks, at 5 per week 4. 2. 6
And to 9 weeks board when he had neither Province pay nor billeting at 7-6 per week 3. 7.6
£16. 5.0
At the close of military operations, in 1746, Massachusetts withdrew most of her soldiers stationed in the vicinity of the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. The chief reasons for this were that the place was outside her own limits, and that New Hampshire refused to co-operate in defending it. No. 4 being deprived of troops, it was for a time abandoned. The people in the vicinity were obliged to leave their home- steads, and take refuge in the older settlements. During the winter that followed the evacuation of No. 4, the enemy did not venture far from their quarters in Canada. Mean- while an effort was made to again man the deserted forts. A prominent person in the furtherance of this project, it is sup- posed, was Captain Stevens. He communicated with Gov- ernor Shirley, and stated that a force of one hundred men
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should be sent to several of the frontier posts to "go and waylay the streams the enemy come upon when they issue out from Crown Point." The authorities did not grant the request by allowing all the men that were asked for, but only so many as it was thought would repel an attack made on the forts. The matter of taking measures for such agress- ive work as was proposed by Stevens was deferred.
ATTACK OF GENERAL DEBELINE.
In March, 1747, Captain Stevens was ordered to go with thirty men and take possession of No. 4. He arrived there on the 27th. A few days later the place was furiously assailed by the French and Indians, under the leadership of General Debeline. Captain Stevens, in his report made to Governor Shirley, dated April 9, 1747, gives the following account of the attack : -
Our dogs being very much disturbed, which gave us reason to think that the enemy were about, occasioned us not to open the gate at the usual time ; but one of our men, being desirous to know the certainty, ventured out privately to set on the dogs, about nine o'clock in the morning; and went about twenty rods from the fort firing off his gun and saying, Choboy to the dogs. Whereupon, the enemy, being within a few rods, immediately arose from behind a log and fired: but through the goodness of God, the man got into the fort with only a slight wound. The enemy being then discovered, immediately arose from their ambush- ments and attacked us on all sides. The wind being very high, and everything exceedingly dry, they set fire to all the old fences, and also to a log-house about forty rods distant from the fort to the windward; so that within a few minutes we were entirely surrounded with fire - all which was performed with the most hideous shouting and firing, from all quarters, which they continued, in a very terrible manner, until the next day at ten o'clock at night, without intermission ; during which time we had no opportunity to eat or sleep. But notwithstanding all their shoutings and threatenings, our men seemed not to be in the least daunted, but fought with great resolution ; which, doubtless, gave the enemy reason to think we had determined to stand it out to the last degree. The enemy had provided themselves with a sort of fortifica- tion, which they had determined to push before them and bring fuel to the side of the fort, in order to burn it down. But instead of performing what they threatened, and seemed to be immediately going to undertake, they called to us and desired a cessation of arms until sunrise the next morning, which was granted : at which time they would come to a par-
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ley. Accordingly the French General Debeline came with about sixty of his men, with a flag of truce, and stuck it down within about twenty rods of the fort in plain sight of the same, and said if we would send three men to him he would send as many to us, to which we complied. The General sent in a French Lieutenant with a French soldier and an Indian.
Upon our men going to the Monsieur, he made the following pro- posals, viz. - that in case we would immediately resign up the fort, we should all have our lives and liberty to put on all the clothes we had, and also to take a sufficient quantity of provisions to carry us to Mon- treal, and bind up our provisions and blankets, lay down our arms and march out of the fort.
Upon our men returning, he desired that the Captain of the fort would meet him half-way, and give an answer to the above proposal, which I did, and upon meeting the Monsieur, he did not wait for me to give an answer, but went on in the following manner, viz. - that what had been promised he was ready to perform, but upon refusal he would immediately set the fort on fire, and run over the top, for he had seven hundred men with him, and if we made any further resistance, or should happen to kill one Indian, we might expect all to be put to the sword. " The fort," said he, " I am resolved to have or die. Now do what you please, for I am as easy to have you fight as to give up." I told the General, that in case of extremity his proposal would do; but inasmuch as I was sent here by my master, the Captain General, to defend this fort, it would not be consistent with my order to give it up unless I was better satisfied that he was able to perform what he had threatened; and furthermore I told him that it was poor encouragement to resign into the hands of the enemy, that upon one of their number being killed, they would put all to the sword, when it was probable that we had killed some of them already. "Well," said he, "go into the fort, and see whether your men dare to fight any more or not, and give me an answer quick, for my men want to be fighting." Whereupon I came into the fort and called all the men together, and informed them what the French General said, and then put it to vote which they chose, either to fight on or resign ; and they voted to a man to stand it out as long as they had life. Upon this, I returned the answer that we were determined to fight it out. Upon which they gave a shout, and then fired, and so continued fighting and shouting until daylight the next morning.
About noon they called to us and said "Good morning," and desired a cessation of arms for two hours that they might come to a parley ; which was granted. The General did not come himself, but sent two Indians, who came within about eight rods of the fort and stuck down their flag and desired that I would send out two men to them, which I did, and the Indians made the following proposal, viz. - That in case we would sell them provisions, they would leave and not fight any more ; and desired my answer, which was, that selling them provisions for
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money was contrary to the laws of nations, but if they would send in a captive for every five bushels of corn, I would supply them. Upon the Indians returning the General this answer, four or five guns were fired against the fort, and they withdrew, as we supposed, for we heard no more of them.
In all this time we had scarce opportunity to eat or sleep. The cessa- tion of arms gave us no matter of rest, for we suspected they did it to obtain an advantage against us. I believe men were never known to hold out with better resolution, for they did not seem to sit or lie still for one moment. There were but thirty men in the fort, and although. we had some thousands of guns fired at us, there were but two men slightly wounded, viz. John Brown and Joseph Ely. (Saunderson's "History of Charlestown, N.H.")
In the course of the year 1747 the people living near the Connecticut River suffered much from the enemy's incur- sions. As they could obtain little or no aid from New Hampshire, they again applied to Massachusetts. In Feb- ruary, 1748, the authorities allowed one hundred men each for Forts Massachusetts and No. 4; and directed that orders be issued to the commanding officers in those garrisons that a suitable number of men should be employed, until the following October, to intercept the French and Indians in their march to the frontier. At the same time a bounty was offered of a hundred pounds for an Indian scalp. Captain Stevens was again appointed to command at No. 4, and Capt. Humphrey Hobbs, another brave officer, was made second in command.
Shortly after Captain Stevens assumed command of No. 4, on March 15th, a party of Indians attacked some men near the fort who were out to gather wood. Captain Stevens sal- lied forth to the rescue, but no general engagement occurred, as the enemy, which consisted of only a small company, left the place, after killing, in their first onset, one person and wounding another and taking captive a third. As the spring advanced Captain Stevens and his men were engaged more or less in marchings and scoutings in the vicinity of No. 4, and from there to Fort Dummer in the central part of Massa- chusetts. June 24 forty men, under command of Captain Hobbs, started on a scouting expedition, designing to march through the wilderness to Fort Shirley, in Heath, Mass.
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After being out two days, they had an engagement with the Indians, which, it is said, lasted four hours, and in which one of the Sudbury soldiers was wounded. The fol- lowing account of the battle is from Saunderson's "History of Charlestown, N.H."
BATTLE BETWEEN CAPTAIN HOBBS AND CHIEF SACKETT.
Capt. Hobbs started out from No. 4, on the 24th of June. During the first two days of his march, he met with no interruptions, except such as were occasioned by the natural difficulties of the way. On the 26th, it being Sunday, after travelling a little distance, he halted at a place about twelve miles north-west of Fort Dummer, in the precincts of what is now the town of Marlborough, to afford his company an opportunity to refresh themselves ; and though he did not dream that he was pursued, or that the enemy was any where near, he still posted a guard on his trail, like a true officer, as carefully and circumspectly as if danger had been apprehended. The party then took possession of a low piece of ground, covered with alders intermingled with large trees, through which flowed a rivulet, and without any anticipation of being disturbed, had begun regaling themselves at their packs.
But, as was too frequently the case in those times, danger was nigh, though they had no apprehension of it ; for a large body of Indians had discoverd their trail, and made a rapid march for the purpose of cutting them off. Sackett, their chief, (reputed to be a half-blood,) was not only a courageous and resolute fellow, but was distinguished for a sagacity that rendered him no common antagonist.
Apparently certain of victory, on account of his numbers, which fore- stalled the necessity of a wily approach, he dashed down upon the trail of Hobbs, driving in the guards which he had posted in his rear, and instantly commenced an attack upon his main force with all the yells and demonstrations of a savage warfare.
Hobbs, though taken by surprise, was not in the least deprived of his self possession.
An old Indian fighter as he was, whose men were under a perfect discipline, it took but a moment to form them for action, and but a mo- ment more elapsed before each, by the advice of his commander, had selected the cover of a large tree, and stood ready to repel any assault of their oncoming foe. Confident of success, on account of the superi- ority of their numbers, which were more than four to one, to the force under Hobbs, the enemy without seeking cover, rushed forward with terrible shouts, as if they had determined at the outset to bear down all resistance ; but being met by a well directed fire, by which several of their number were killed, their impetuosity received such a check as to cause them to retreat for shelter behind the trees and brush.
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