USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume I > Part 44
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Over thirty-three hundred men were enlisted from Massachusetts to take part in the expedition, which was to be led by William Pepper- ell, a rich merchant of Kittery. Essex County contributed heavily to the manpower. Several men came from each small village such as Essex, including Aaron Porter, the maternal grandfather of Rufus Choate, and larger numbers from the more populated towns. For example, Gloucester sent forty-five soldiers, while Haverhill formed several companies of militia. The expedition sailed from Boston in March, 1744. The French commander, Duchambon, held out until June, when he capitulated. The number of killed on the French side was placed at three hundred, and on the English side one hundred and thirty. The capture of Louisburg, which was supposed to be impreg- nable, made a tremendous impression not only throughout the colonies but also in England, and in consequence of it William Pepperell was knighted. But much to the disgust of the people in the colonies, Louisburg was restored to France at the Peace of Aix-la-chapelle in
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1748 in exchange for Madras, India. The expedition had cost Mas- sachusetts $261,700, which sum the British Government repaid by sending two hundred chests of Spanish dollars and one hundred casks of copper coins.
In 1755 Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, wrote to the Gov- ernor of New York: "It would be needless for me to observe to you how His Majesty's colonies upon this continent are surrounded with the encroachment of the French. They have long since marked out for themselves a large empire upon the back of it, extending from Cape Breton to the Gulf of Mexico, . . . with the numerous power- ful tribes of Indians inhabiting it and they are now finishing the extreme parts of a communication between Louisburg and Quebec across the Isthmus of Nova Scotia and Bay of Fundy at one end and a junction of Canada with the Mississippi by a line of Forts upon the Great Lakes and Rivers at the other. It has fallen to the lot of the most eastern colonies to be hemmed in by a part of their encroach- ments. I have concerted measures for dislodging the French from their forts in Nova Scotia and driving them out of that province."
This letter demonstrates the determination of the executive author- ity to take final action against the French. Among many other things, he fully realized the great importance of the Grand Bank fishery to Gloucester, an industry, which was continually interfered with by the French. In May, 1755, the situation became so critical that , Shirley commissioned John Winslow to raise two hundred volunteers to scatter among the colonies the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia. These so-called Acadians had been inducing the Indians to make raids against the northern settlements cf Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts volunteers were placed under the command of Colonel Monckton and sailed in May, 1755, in three small frigates. When the Acadians realized what was about to happen, they sent to Louisburg for aid, but in the presence of the British fleet resistance was futile; and after a short struggle, the Acadians hoisted the white flag and surrendered. The inhabitants were summoned to meet at a certain place and were told they must emigrate. Five ships came to carry them away, and seven thousand of these poor people were scat- tered among the colonies all the way to Louisiana. For example, a family of twenty-two Acadians was brought to Andover. The seven
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sons and thirteen daughters were cared for by the town as best as might be. Others came, many of whom became self-supporting. These exiles gradually made their way to the hearts of the people upon whom they were so helplessly cast, since they were industrious and frugal-the women working in the fields, pulling flax, and har- vesting. Fifteen Acadians were brought to Boxford and were sup- ported until 1760, when they were sent back again to Canada.
In the summer of 1759 a fleet in the St. Lawrence cut off succor for the French and enabled Wolfe, the British commander, to lay siege to Quebec, the chief stronghold of Canada. Almost inacces- sible cliffs guarded the approaches from the river side, and Mont- calm, the French leader, hoped to avoid a combat until the northern winter compelled his enemy to raise the siege. Wolfe, however, in mid-September, found a path which enabled him to scale the heights and force Montcalm to battle. The prize of victory was the pos- session of Quebec, and the next year saw the fall of Montreal and the completion of the conquest of Canada. By the treaties of Paris, in 1763, France yielded to Great Britain Canada and all claims, to ter- ritory east of the Mississippi and retained only two little islands in the St. Lawrence, of importance to fishermen.
The territory of the Province of Massachusetts was not occupied or threatened during the long war, yet the colony pledged its resources, raised and expended large sums by taxes and loans, and raised great numbers of troops. No forced levies were ordered, as the traditional method was to raise volunteers. These wore their own clothing and frequently bought their own muskets with an extra bounty of two dollars, but later there was provided a uniform with red and blue breeches, a powder horn, and other necessary equipment. An early form of appeal is the following, prepared for recruiting officers :
"PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY "BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR. "I do hereby authorize and enjoin to beat his drums anywhere within the Province for enlisting volunteers for his Majesty's service in a regiment of foot to be forthwith raised for the expedition against Crown Point. And the Colo- nels with the other officers of the regiments within the Prov- ince are hereby councilled not to give the said any
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obstruction or molestation herein, but on the contrary to afford him necessary encouragement and assistance for which this is a sufficient warrant.
"Given under my hand at Boston day 1756, twenty-ninth year of his Majesty's Reign.
"W. SHIRLEY."
When sufficient soldiers did not respond to this appeal by broad- side, officers were employed to solicit.
Much assistance was given by the Essex population. Even such a small settlement as Merrimac furnished thirty-two. The coastal towns such as Marblehead had received direct injury from the French, in that their fishing industry had been severely handicapped. Their response was rapid, and many men joined the naval service. In addi- tion to their regular pay, the troops at the end of their service received a bounty and a share in the booty. The subscribers were entitled to two hundred and fifty acres of land, but the exact position of the land was usually undefined; thus it afforded an excellent opportunity by influence upon the royal governor to secure a most desirable allowance of land.
The next important war was that of the American Colonies' revolt against the Mother Country, Great Britain. It is necessary here to dwell upon the various measures passed by the English Parliament which were considered repressive by the colonies. The Stamp Act had been greatly resented in Massachusetts. Boxford noted in a town meeting, in 1770,
"that they will to their utmost encourage the product and manufacture of all such articles as have formerly been imported from Great Britain and used among them; they will not use foreign tea, nor suffer it to be used in their families (save in case of illness ) until the duty shall have been entirely taken off."
As public opinion gradually became more hostile to England, there were increasing evidences of preparation for any emergency that might arise. In December, 1774, it was resolved by the town of Andover "that one-fourth of all the soldiers of the town enlist themselves; and for their encouragement they are promised pay for every half day they shall exercise in the art military." Gloucester
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made preparations early in 1775 by buying small arms, musket balls and cartridges. A company of minute men was organized. The Brit- ish, under General Gage, had ten regiments, adding up to about four thousand men, in Boston. These soldiers were often sent out on prac- tice marches and once attempted to seize a store of munitions at Salem. The loyalists urged General Gage to do something to the leaders of the Provincial Congress and, after a great deal of vacilla- tion, he decided to seize the stores of munitions at Concord. On April IS he gave orders for the flower of the army to proceed, half grena- diers and half infantry. By ten o'clock of that night Paul Revere knew of the arrangement, was rowed across to Charlestown, from which he rode furiously to Concord, spreading the alarm to the inha- bitants on the way. The regular army, delayed by lack of provisions, arrived at Lexington the next morning, where eighty Minute Men were lined up behind a stone wall. The Americans fired first, several of them were killed by the British fire, and Pitcairn, the British com- mander, quickly went on his way to Concord, where he destroyed most of the military stores. The Minute Men there thought that the town was being burned, and attacked the greatly outnumbered British at a bridge over the Concord River. The English became confused and fled, taking two hours and a half to go from Concord to Lexington, so hemmed in were they by thirty-five hundred Minute Men. At the end of the march the British found that seventy-three of their num- ber had been killed. Thirty-five hundred Americans had fired at least one shot and one shot in every ten from the Americans had hit some- body.
When news of the engagements arrived in Essex County, earnest preparations were initiated. In Gloucester a committee of safety was formed and enlistments were vigorously pushed. Four com- panies were enlisted. Newburyport had appointed a committee of safety just before the battle of Lexington. The news of Concord was the final signal for action. A company was at once mustered and started off for Boston. Companies of Minute Men from Haverhill left for Cambridge in answer to the first call of the American Rev- olution. One company of militia was left behind to protect the town and complete the spring work. On the very morning of the 19th the alarm had reached Danvers, to be met with instant response, and two hundred men hurried to the scene of action. These success- fully reached Cambridge before the British returned from Concord.
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A Danvers account says: "News of the fight came on the evening of the 19th. Were the men safe? Most of them. Were any hurt ? Some. Were any -? Yes, young wife of a few weeks, your husband was one of the first martyrs to liberty."
Earl Perry, an Englishman, wrote about the British retreat as follows :
"The rebels attacked in a very scattered, irregular manner, but with perseverance and resolution, nor did they ever dare to form into any regular body. Indeed, they knew too well what was proper to do. Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob will find himself much mistaken. They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about, having been employed as Rangers against the Indians and Canadians, and this country being so much covered with wood, and hilly, is very advantageous for their method of fighting. You may depend upon it, that as the rebels have now had time to prepare, they are determined to go through with it, nor will the insurrection here turn out so despicable as is per- haps imagined at home. For my part, I never believed, I confess, that they would have attacked the King's troops, or had the perseverance I found in them yesterday."
In diaries and letters we are given vivid impressions of the stir- ring forenoon in several of the Essex towns. A boy five years old at the time said in after years he remembered being awakened at his home in Lynn by the sudden firing of a musket under the window. He heard the neighbor's boys calling for his brothers, nineteen and seventeen. They said the regulars were out and that the Minute Men were gathering. The alarm was heard in Lynnfield early in the morning. An eleven-year-old boy harnessed the horse and drove his father to the meeting-place of the Minute Men in the center of the village. A house being built in Lynn was left without a carpenter. A young woman watched the Danvers men as they passed, noting particularly their gray homespun stockings. Many times she drew water from the well for the thirsty Minute Men as they hurried along the road. The next day, she saw, carried by a cart, the bodies of seven of the same men whom she knew by their gray stockings. The captain of the Danvers company said that some of his soldiers in their
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eagerness for the fight actually ran most of the way, accomplishing the sixteen miles in four hours. One left his work, put on his wedding suit. and said to his bride: "If I die, I must die in my best clothes."
In Andover the bells were rung and the alarm drum was sounded. Oxen were left standing in the field and food lay untasted on the table. A man was ploughing near his house in Methuen when the news came. Knowing he would lose no time, his wife hastened out of the house to bid him "Good-bye," but she found only the oxen and plough stand- ing there. Hurrying along the road to the top of the hill she could just see her husband in the distance running at full speed. At her loud call he waved his hat and was soon out of sight. From Box- ford, one Lieutenant Peabody, also at his field labors, heard the North Andover meetinghouse bell and bidding farewell left his fam- ily, not to return for months.
Amesbury authorized her selectmen to raise one hundred pounds to aid in the war. The citizens declared "that they would abide by and defend the Members of the Continental Congress with their lives and fortunes if they think expedient to declare the colonies inde- pendent of Great Britain."
The English soldiers quartered in Marblehead were withdrawn and a vessel was sent by the British Government to lay about the harbor and search every boat that entered port, obtaining all ammuni- tion and arms that might be sent to the colonies. One vessel contain- ing guns and powder managed to land in the night and secreted the chest of guns and other supplies. When independence was declared in July, 1776, a messenger rode into Marblehead, giving out the news, and it was counted so great a thing that within a few weeks, when printed copies of the document were obtained, the town clerk was instructed to transcribe the same in the records of the town.
Rockport was just a thriving little fishing settlement; when it heard of the British march to Concord it sent men to Gloucester to secure arms. Several English boats were captured nearby, one of which was loaded with cattle, which were taken ashore and sold at auction. At Andover a Committee of Inspection and Safety was formed to see to it that the non-consumption agreement be lived up to, that every kind of extravagance and dissipation be discontinued. They were to recommend a reduction in the articles of expense of
Essex-34
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
mourning material, to inspect the traders of the town and, if the rules had been violated, to publish their names. They were further to encourage the people to improve the breed of sheep and to increase their number, at the same time to promote agriculture, arts, and manufactures.
It is needless to say that most of the campaigns of the whole war were participated in by men of Essex County. The above material shows quite adequately how sudden and patriotic was the response when the time came.
The ultimate freedom gained by the United States was greatly aided by the service rendered by our private armed vessels. New- buryport commissioned about seventy privateers, while Salem prob- ably sent out during the war a larger tonnage of private armed vessels than any other Massachusetts port. Marblehead lost more vessels in proportion to her population than any other Massachusetts town. Gloucester's important ship, the brig "Gloucester," of eight- een guns and one hundred thirty men, after taking two prizes, was never again heard from. From 1780-83 Gloucester commissioned twenty-four armed vessels. When the war was ended she had lost almost all her armed vessels and one-third of her poll-paying popula- tion. In 1775 Captain Hill captured and brought into Beverly har- bor the schooner "Industry." Her cargo was sold and the ship delivered over into public service. The merchants and seamen were highly patriotic, but their patriotism was mixed at times with their own personal interest, which was privateering. This latter appealed to the spirit of gambling and also offered a congenial employment to mariners who were neither fit for nor content in land service. It afforded merchants a chance to employ their capital and ships in a speculative but alluring business, while all engaged in it could feel that they were doing their bit for the best interest of State and country. Many distinguished Massachusetts naval officers came from such towns as Salisbury, Newburyport, Marblehead, Gloucester, Salem, and Beverly.
The success in this legalized piracy was probably the greatest con- tribution of seaboard Massachusetts to the War of Independence. Six hundred and twenty-six letters-of-marque were issued to Massa- chusetts vessels by the Continental Congress. Privateers were of little use in naval operations as the disastrous Penobscot expedition
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proved, but they were of the greatest service in preying on the enemy's commerce, interrupting his communications with America, terrifying the English and supplying the patriot army with munitions, stores, clothing-at English expense.
Economically, privateering employed the fishermen and all those people who depended upon shipping. As privateers required speed, the builders did away with high quarter-decks, eased waterlines, and substituted a nearly El-shaped cross section for the barrel-shaped bottom.
The "General Pickering," of Salem, with fourteen guns and forty- five men, beat the British privateer "Achilles," of three times her size and armament, in one of the most gallant sea fights of the Revolu- tion. Before the war, Salem was merely a fishing port, but privateer- ing gave her seamen a broader horizon and her merchants a splendid ambition. Large profits were made in the early years of the war, but later the British tightened their blockade and captured a large part of the American fleet, driving up the insurance rate to forty per cent. in 1780. The Derbys of Salem are said to have been the only privateering firm to retain a favorable balance when peace was concluded.
The United States did not recruit its own troops, but apportioned the number desired among the several states. The Continental pay for privates was liberal compared with that of European soldiers, but prices rose, and men with farms to care for and families to support made a painful sacrifice in leaving their homes and fields for military service. This difficulty was met by giving a cattle bounty. In 1776 Massachusetts voted to raise five thousand men and offered liberal bounties. Then to men engaging to serve for the whole war the State offered pay of twenty shillings a month in addition to the pay given by the Continental Congress. Besides money bounties special advan- tages were often given to men in the army, such as exemption from poll and personal property taxes. On one occasion, at least, their real estate was exempted from a tax levied for the purpose of raising troops. In 1778 it was voted by Andover "to procure for each soldier in the Continental Army doing duty for this town, two pairs of stock- ings, one pair of shoes and a blanket." This was to alleviate the destitution at Valley Forge.
The trials and tribulations of our Revolutionary War are quite too well known to be treated in this medium. So far as the United
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Washington's Visit to The First Cotton Mail:
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Ort her 30, 1789
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5
"WASHINGTON'S VISIT TO THE FIRST COTTON MILL, BEVERLY, OCTOBER 30, 1789"
. From water color in sepia by George Elmer Browne. Essex Institute Collection
Courtesy of The Essex Institute
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MILITARY HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
States was concerned, the failure of Cornwallis ended the war. Eng- lish opinion would not support further efforts to subdue America, although its loss was greeted with lamentations as marking the extinc- tion of the glory and greatness of the empire and the establishment of the "uncontrolled superiority of France in Europe." By the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, hostilities in America ceased at once, the British Army and fleet were withdrawn from the territory of the United States and our independence was fully acknowledged. A former colony of England had become an independent member of the family of nations.
It was not long before the Napoleonic Wars aroused Europe and indirectly brought in the United States. We were still a people devoted to agriculture and commerce and as such dependent upon Europe for our manufactured goods. Our swift vessels were the favorite car- riers of the merchandise of South America, the West Indies, and the Far East to Europe. The Napoleonic Decrees and the British Orders in Council practically made all of our trade illegal with Europe. Fur- thermore, England needed every man she could get for her navy and was highly incensed when her sailors deserted by the hundreds to take advantage of the higher wages, the better food, and the more humane treatment accorded seamen on board the American vessels. British cruisers hovered off our shores from New England to Georgia, stop- ping our ships at will and taking off thousands of sailors on the ground that they were British deserters. It availed a man nothing to show his easily procured certificate of American naturalization, for the Eng- lish Government did not recognize the right of its citizens to transfer their allegiance to another country. In 1807, President Jefferson, in order to prevent our being actively drawn into the struggle, pro- hibited any American vessel from sailing for a foreign port. It was thought by Jefferson and his advisers that our commerce would be so indispensable to both England and France that its interruption would make them respect our neutrality. But this act aroused a strong pro- test at home, as it threatened to destroy the very trade which it was designed to protect. The merchants of New England, including those of Salem and Newburyport, preferred risking the loss of a few men and vessels to seeing their ships tied idly to the wharves and their merchandise spoiling in warehouses. Later the embargo was lifted, but by I811 a new group in Congress, greatly interested in American
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expansion, felt that Canada could easily be conquered and England could be beaten. War was declared in 1812.
To this War of 1812 maritime Massachusetts was flatly opposed. The war seemed immoral because it was waged against the "World's last hope" and, furthermore, it seemed unjust because Napoleon had done as much damage, if not more, to American commerce than Eng- land. In Congress a majority of the representatives from New England voted against the declaration of war. These seaboard com- munities of Essex County which furnished the bulk of the merchant seamen showed repeatedly by vote and deed their opposition to a war waged ostensibly in their behalf. Fifty-one of the leading ship owners of Massachusetts who had employed annually over fifteen hundred seamen for the last twelve years could remember but twelve cases of Americans being impressed from their vessels. When Cap- tain Lawrence's body, after his glorious death aboard the "Chesa- peake," was brought back to Salem for burial, the North Meeting- house was refused for the funeral ceremony, and its bell hung silent when the procession passed. A local militia company refused to do escort duty, and not a single representative of the State government attended in his official capacity.
Privateering was much the most popular form of service in mari- time Massachusetts; it paid better wages, was safer, and more fun than the army or navy. Marblehead, which supported the war, pro- vided seven hundred and twenty-six privateersmen, one hundred and twenty naval seamen, and only fifty-seven soldiers.
From Salem, forty vessels, most of which were men-of-war, sallied forth to carry on the war. There were also over one hundred private trading vessels which took a hand in fighting as well as trading. The privateer brig, "Grand Turk's," records give all the business details of commerce destroying. The owners paid all the expenses and received half the net proceeds of prizes. The remainder was divided into about one hundred and fifty shares, of which the captain got ten, the first lieutenant seven and a half, second lieutenant, sailing master and surgeon, each six; gunners and petty officers, each two, and ninety- five seamen each one. In addition, there was twenty dollars for whomever sighted a prize and half a share extra for the first to board one. No seaman was allowed to sell more than his half share in advance.
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