History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 28

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

USA > Maine > Penobscot County > History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 28

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The fleet left Halifax August 26th, and on Thursday, September Ist, rode in the Harbor of Castine, sounded, and came to anchor. So formidable was their appearance that the troops at the garrison and their commander, supposing all resistance would be worse than futile, did not so much as wait for a summons to surrender, but instantly discharged the cannon, blew up the fort, and fled for safety up the bay. In the course of the day a large body of troops was set on shore, possession was taken of the fortification; the court-house and other buildings were entered and occupied as barracks for the soldiers, and parts of the best dwelling-houses were taken for the accommodation of the officers. A flag was soon dispatched across the bay to Belfast with a message to the people that, if they made no resistance, they should not be injured. Still it was followed by General Gosselin with six hundred men in two armed vessels, who took possession of the town. To parties of the soldiery, longing for fresh provisions, and eager for the enjoyment of a rural range, permission was given to visit the neighboring plantations ; and after reveling upon the rarities, the best and most palatable they could find, the whole party in a few days returned to Castine.

A part of the fleet, consisting of the Dragon, the Sylph, and Peru- vian, the Harmony, a transport, and a prize-tender, all under Captain Barrie, carrying about five hundred infantry, riflemen or "sharpshoot- ers," and a small train of light artillery, under Colonel Henry John and Major Riddle, proceeded without delay up the waters of the Pen- obscot, and came to anchor in Marsh Bay, where the shipping lay, about four or five leagues below Bangor Harbor, during the night.

A few weeks previously, the United States corvette Adams, a sloop- of-war, rated at 18 guns and mounting 24, had been with extreme difficulty taken up the river by her commander, Captain Charles Morris, and was then lying at the mouth of the Sowadabscook stream, in Hampden, for repairs. It seems she had met with the sin- gular success of capturing, within the short space of three months, a ship, two brigs, and a schooner, and was afterwards, on the seventeenth of August, cast upon the shores of the Isle of Holt in stress of weather, and was hardly preserved from total wreck. Captain Morris was now engaged in refitting her for another cruise; and as soon as tidings by a herald from Castine were communicated to him and Brigadier-General Blake, of Brewer, and the news spread that the fleet was ascending the river, all had the best reason to suspect the object of the enemy was the destruction of the Adams and the capture of two valuable merchant- vessels, the Decatur and the Victory, at anchor off Hampden village. Morris, without loss of time, hoisted out the cannon upon Crosby's wharf, and formed two batteries, one of fourteen guns upon that place and the other of nine guns upon a commanding eminence, fifty rods below, and not far from the water, from which he was able to rake destructively any approaching ship. To the militia, who by the gener- al's orders were coming in by companies during the day, mixed with volunteers, Morris offered a supply of muskets and ammunition, if they were destitute ; and determining to make all possible resistance, he assigned to Lieutenant Wadsworth the command of the hill battery, and that on the wharf to Lieutenant Lewis.

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

In the afternoon he met General Blake, his officers, and some of the most influential citizens, in a council of war, where he was much cha- grined to find indecision and disunion, which, with the discouraging remarks made, directly tended to raise doubts as to the expediency of resistance or our ability to repel the enemy. He and others assured their opposers that no one ought to repose confidence of safety in British magnanimity. "No," said he, "our arms must be our defence. Keep the enemy from outflanking me, and I will prevent his ascending the river by the battery. These are our respective duties, and we must discharge them." But the whole day was spent in query, without any specific, well-digested plan of operations, and without the energy indispensable to military control. No entrenchment, nor yet the slightest breastwork, was prepared; nay, if there were in all the delib- erations any real result, it was that a line of battle be formed, resting the right wing on the meeting-house, and the left on the high ground towards the hill battery. By the adjutant's returns at night, the whole number in arms was about five hundred militiamen from the vicin- ity, principally belonging to Colonel Grant's regiment, a part of Cap- tain Trufton's troop of horse, and Captain Hammond's company of artillery, with two brass 4-pounders. They had also taken from the Adams an 18-pound carronade, mounted, which was planted in the highway, near the meeting-house and well manned.

The winds being light and adverse, the Dragon did not weigh anchor during the day; but the residue of the squadron, with great exertion, ascended a couple of leagues into Bald Hill Cove, and landed at sunset on the west bank, two miles below Morris' batteries, about five hundred light troops, including a small train of artillery. The militia continued under arms, and Morris' men stood by their guns all night, for it was reported by our videttes that the enemy was unques- tionably preparing to move both by land and water as early as day- light, and before, if favored by the wind and weather. But the night was rainy and dark, and the morning foggy; so that the enemy did not appear upon the land in view of our lines till about eight of the clock. As he advanced with a quick step, our soldiery were com- manded to reserve their fire till he was near, and then take aim. They discharged a few rounds, when it was perceived that the line was broken near the centre, and the men had begun to retreat without orders. The example was contagious; and all the exertions of the officers to rally them anew were without effect. Major Chamberlain, Captain Trafton, Adjutant Gilmore, and David J. Bent, a non- commissioned officer of the artillery, who had command of the great gun in the highway, - all discovered activity and valor. Bent was the last to leave the ground; and most of the officers and many of the sol- diers were filled with pain and regret to witness a retreat in the midst of confusion, which could not be without dishonor.

The moment the armed vessels, which were preceded by barges full of soldiers, were discovered by Captain Morris, he opened a raking fire of grape and canister shot upon them from the battery, which he con- tinued with spirit and effect, for about twenty or twenty-five minutes, when he perceived that the militia were retreating and the British would, if he remained there, soon outflank him in the position taken. He therefore spiked his guns, set fire to the Adams, and the store- house, and retreated with his brave companions to Bangor, and thence, through a back, woody road, to Kennebec.

Within one hour after the firing was begun, the vessels and the village of Hampden were in full possession of the enemy. Hence succceded a scene of abuse, pillage, and destruction, which was a disgrace to the British name. Sixty or seventy of the principal inhabitants were seized and put under hatches, and at sunset were removed to the cabin of the Decatur, where they were restrained during the night, without fresh air, fresh water, or any quiet sleep. Next day, it is true, all except ten or twelve of the principal men were admitted to their parole, while those still kept in custody were put on board a prison-ship, where they were detained till another day, before they were set at liberty. The people were treated with abusive language, their houses and stores were rifled, their cattle killed, some of their vessels were burnt, and a bond was exacted from the town in the penal sum of twelve thousand dollars, conditioned to deliver certain others at Castine in October. Suffice it to say that the losses and damages sustained by the people of Hamp- den, as subsequently ascertained, amounted to forty-four thousand dollars. In the midst of the rapine a committee waited on Captain Barrie, and told him they expected at his hand the common safeguard of humanity, if nothing more. He replied, "I have none for you. My business is to burn, sink, and destroy. Your town is taken by storm, and by the rules of war we ought to lay your village in ashes, and put its inhabitants to the sword. But I will spare your lives, though I mean to burn your houses." A messenger was then de-

spatched to General Sherbrooke, at Castine, upon the subject, who re- turned an order not to burn without dire necessity.

The enemy's vessels proceeded without delay up the river, and at the same time about two-thirds of the troops took up their march by land towards Bangor. From this place flags of truce were sent by land and water to the advancing commanders; but the best terms which could be obtained, were "unconditional submission." When the Peru- vian, Sylph, Harmony, and transports entered the harbor, a few Con- greve rockets were thrown from them over the village, two cheers were given, and all the shipping anchored at the mouth of the Kenduskeag. Barrie rode up on horseback, in company with Colonel John and Major Riddle, at the head of the detachment. Arriving about noon, he first demanded of the inhabitants provisions and barracks for troops, and threatened to give them leave to plunder the village, if there was not a compliance with his requirements instantly. The court-house, two school-houses, a dwelling-house, and one other building were opened to receive them; cattle and sheep were butchered, and several barrels of pork were turned out to them from the stores; all the bread in the bake-house was taken; the best of liquors and garden vege- tables were furnished, and two of the better dwelling-houses were en- tered and occupied as the resort of the commissioned officers. Also the enemy took the town's stock of powder, the field-pieces which were at Hampden, a quantity of merchandise, previously seized by a cus- tom-house officer for breach of the revenue laws; upwards of fifty dollars post-office money were exacted and taken, and also the military arms and other like articles owned by the inhabitants; also one hundred and ninety-one men were compelled to report themselves, by their own signatures, prisoners of war. They were then admitted to their parol, and the safety of their families promised them, upon a stipulation not to serve against His Britannic Majesty or his allies during the war, un- less regularly exchanged.

No resistance had been made by the inhabitants of this town, except by those in the military companies at Hampden, and therefore it was expected that private rights and property would be respected. But owners were sadly disappointed, for, the soldiery and the marines com- ing ashore, entered ten or twelve stores on the southerly side of the Kenduskeag, and by Barrie's permission, plundered them of their contents. They also rifled such dwelling-houses as the inhabitants had deserted; books and valuable papers were pillaged from lawyers' offices and other places, and four vessels on the stocks in the village and its precincts were threatened with flames. At this menace there was great perturbation; as the flames of the vessels, enraged by a fresh breeze then blowing, would probably lay the whole village in ashes. To prevent the fatal catastrophe the selectmen of the town, by the ad- vice of their neighbors, promised to give the enemy a bond, professing to bind the corporation in the penal sum of thirty thousand dollars, to deliver the four vessels at Castine before the close of the ensuing October. When this bond was delivered the next morning, which was the Sabbath, Captain Barrie and Colonel John gave a written assur- ance that all private property, both in Bangor and Orono, including every unfinished vessel, should be preserved, such only as were in the river being excepted.

The troops were kept under arms through the night, and it was truly a fearful one to all the families who knew nothing of the ar- rangement. In the morning preparations were manifestly on foot to take away or destroy all the shipping in the harbor and to leave the place. The movement commenced soon after noon. There were in the harbor at this time seventeen vessels, also three more on the Brewer side of the river not launched. These and ten others were burnt, and the rest taken down the river. Several were partly loaded; some, being moved only a short distance, got ashore, and were seen in flames at twilight and the dusk of the evening .* The losses and dam- ages sustained by the people of Bangor, and the owners of vessels there, were found on a subsequent investigation to exceed forty-five thousand dollars.

The enemy returned to Hampden in the afternoon, carrying with him, besides other booty, eighteen or twenty horses; and the land-forces en- camped during the night on the acclivity toward the hill-battery. His stay in Bangor was about thirty hours. The next day, September 5th

* Mr. Williamson's foot-note: " Burnt, the brig Caravan, schooners, Nep- tune's Barge, Thinks-I-to-Myself, Eunice and Polly, the Gladiator, the three Brothers, the sloop Ranger; three unlaunched vessels in Brewer, and one in Bangor, notwithstanding the stipulation. There were also three others in the harbor that were destroyed. Names not recollected-fourteen in all. They car- ried away the Bangor packet; schooner Oliver Spear; the Hancock, which was retaken ; the Lucy, which was lost ; the Polly, which was ransomed, and the beautiful boat Cato, which could not be recovered-six.

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Isce Hododon

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

the Decatur and the Kutusoff, at Hampden, were burnt, and the soldiers and sailors committed upon the inhabitants various acts of wanton mischief, such as the destruction of household furniture, books and papers. They also broke off the pivots and breechings of the cannon on the hill, and threw those on the wharf into the river.

On Tuesday, the 6th, the enemy proceeded to Frankfort, where the vessels came to anchor and the commodore demanded of the inhabit- ants forty oxen, one hundred sheep, and an unknown number of geese. He also required them to surrender their arms and ammuni- tion, a part of which only was delivered, and in general the sturdy re- publicans of this town were slow to obey any of his commands. Denouncing venegance against them for their delays, he re-embarked the troops on the 7th, and returned to Castine.

So much public indignation and chagrin were occasioned by the feeble efforts which the militia at Hampden made to resist the enemy's progress, that the Government of the State instituted an examination into the conduct of General Blake by a military court of enquiry. But they acquitted him of censure and suspicion. Immediately the general put Colonel Grant and Major Chamberlain under arrest, who were subsequently tried by a court-martial at the same place; and the com- mand of the former was suspended two years, but the latter was honor- ably discharged.

The court of enquiry before which General Blake ap- peared, was composed of Major-General Sewall, of Augusta, and Brigadier-General Irish, of Gorham, and Payson, of Wiscasset. It occupied the court-house at Bangor about a week. In the spring of 1816 the other court was held, sitting several days. It consisted of twelve members, presided over by Major-General Rich- ardson, of New Yarmouth, with Mr. John Wilson, of Belfast, as judge-advocate. The militia were paid an aggregate of twelve hundred dollars for their brief term of service.

THE AROOSTOOK FLURRY.

This war, or rather "rumor of war," broke out in 1839, following a year or two of excited public agitation. Great Britain after the War of 1812, claimed the whole of the St. Johns River, about one-half of which had been occupied by Maine, and demanded all territory above the 46th degree of north latitude. The King of the Netherlands, to whom the dispute was referred, made a very singular and unjust decision, that the boundary should run midway between the lines claimed, respec- tively, by the United States and the British Government. His decision was not satisfactory to the people of Maine ; the disputed tract was overrun by timber-thieves and other plunderers; and in 1838 there were signs of a serious outbreak. Governor Edward Kent of Bangor, then in the executive chair, took steps to strengthen the militia force, and General Wool was sent by the Federal Government to inspect the fortifications on the Maine rivers and coast. During the winter the Legislature met in secret session and authorized Sheriff Strickland, of Penobscot county, to call out two hundred volunteers, march to the northward, and drive off the trespassers. The first company raised, under the command of Cap- tain Stoser Rines, left Bangor February 5, 1839, and three days afterwards reached the scene of action in Township No. 10, now Masardis, in Aroostook county, and, after some show of resistance on the part of the lum- bermen and squatters, their mission was accomplished. Mr. Abbott says, in his History of Maine :

Captain Rines advanced to the mouth of the Little Madawaska. Hote he met with a reverse, was captured with a company of his men,

and they were hurried off in a sleigh to Frederickton jail, in New Bruns_ wick. The sheriff and his forces retreated. The trespassers, much elated, armed themselves, about three hundred in number, and bade de_ fiance to the American authorities. The sheriff, learning of the cap- ture, retired to Number Ten and fortified his party while he repaired as rapidly as possible to Augusta, to report the posture of affairs.

The Governor of New Brunswick called out one thou- sand of his militia ; the Legislature of Maine appropri_ ated eight hundred thousand dollars for the protection of its territory, and a draft of 10,343 men from the State forces, most of whom, within a week, were on the dis- puted ground or marching thither. Congress took action, authorizing the President to support the claims of Maine with fifty thousand troops and the expenditure of ten mil- lions of dollars ; General Scott, commander of the army, with his staff, came to Augusta, to maintain "the peace and safety of the entire Northern and Eastern frontiers.', Things looked for a time very much like war; but, through the efforts of General Scott, both sides withdrew their forces ; prisoners taken by either party were released ; the Aroostook region, previously in Penobscot and Wash- ington counties, was erected into a separate county by the Maine Legislature ; and matters remained comparatively quiet until 1842, when a convention, since famous as the " Ashburton Treaty," was concluded between Lord Ash- burton, British Minister to the United States, and Dan- iel Webster, then Secretary of State, by which the State lost a portion of the tract, in dispute, but of little value, for which it received one hundred and fifty thousand dollars from the General Government, besides two hun- dred thousand dollars for expenses incurred mainly in the flurry of 1839. By way of exchange for the lost territory, Great Britain ceded to the United States much more valuable tracts on the shores of Lakes Superior and Champlain - so that the victory rested decidedly, after all, with the American side. Mr. Abbott says in concluding his account of the transaction : "Impartial judgment must pronounce the conduct of Maine, in this whole affair, to have been patriotic and wise."

Penobscot county, from its situation with regard to the scene of possible war, had the greatest share in the active movements of the time. All the expeditions to the Aroostook country were fitted out at Bangor, and marched to the tented field therefrom. At one time a line of mounted videttes, furnishing ready communication when needed, stretched from Bangor all the way to Mas- ardis. Governor Washburn, in his Orono Centennial address, has furnished the following amusing reminisen- ces, concerning the incidents of the war in that place.

Rumors of battles,-the approach of Mohawk Indians, and the bloody Bluenoses were rife upon your streets, but yet were unable to stifle the sense of the ridiculous and quench the love of fun that ruled the hour, breaking out now in disrespectful remarks at the expense of the glorious company of videttes and martyrs; now in Otis Bank's offering a dolla for the head of Thomas Hill, a carpenter and Englishman, who was loya to his native land; and again, in sending a crowd of anxious patriots and wonder-mongers from Whitney's bar-room to my office, to see General Wool, and where they were soberly introduced, by the grace- less wag who had sold them, to Artegus Lyon, the colored man. But the war ended, and a brace of your own poetasters celebrated the scare and fight in which it begun, in a parody on Hohenlinden, which, as it may serve to renew the events and haps of that stirring (but somewhat ridiculous) time, I will venture to present to you :

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

THE SCARE OF THE RESTOOK !*

On Restook, when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, Muffling the current in its flow, O Restook, rolling rapidly.

But Restook saw another sight, The Rakercbost on their flight, And following fast, with main and might, The Posset frighten'd dreadfully.

Then Jameson§ to old Ashbel|| said, "Come pile your carcass on my sled, Far better so than be abed With Cushman, [ in sweet reverie."

Then shook the ice, so hard and even; Then rushed the teams by number 'Leven ;* And ere the clock had pointed seven, They left Masardist speedily.

But faster yet that band shall fly From Mohawk# furies drawing nigh, Bluenose braves, with fire in the eye, And Restook, rolling rapidly.

'Tis morn, but scarce a weary man Will stop to drink from jug or can ; . With tuckered legs and faces wan, They push for the Cumberlassi. §

Now, Posse, all your blankets wave ; You rush'd from glory and the grave; Your heels did well your bacon save, Your flint-locks and your toggery !

Few, few shall meet where many part ! Of all that force no trembling heart Felt British shot or savage dart, Or found a soldier's sepulchre.

It may naturally be supposed that a large share of the Maine militia who actually saw service in the Aroostook difficulty were from the Penobscot Valley. The resi- dences of many of the officers who served are given with their names; so that part of them can be readily identified as from this county. In the case of enlisted men no such guide is furnished; and it is not probable that a full roster of the Penobscot contingent in this war can now be made. The best that was practicable has been done, however; and by the courteous and intelli- gent aid of the Adjutant-General's office, at Augusta, it is believed that a tolerably complete roll is herewith pre- sented :

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Major-General Isaac Hodsdon, Bangor. John L. Hodsdon, Aid to Major-General, Exeter. Oliver Frost, Aid to Major-General, Bangor. William H. McCrillis, Aid to Major-General, Bangor. Division Inspector Joseph C. Stevens, Bangor.

Division Quartermaster Joseph Gilman, Dixmont. Assistant Division Quartermaster Henry Warren, Bangor. Assistant Division Quartermaster Ebenezer G. Rawson, Bangor. Assistant Division Quartermaster Paul Varney, Bangor. Assistant Division Quartermaster Daniel Wood, Bangor. Captain Henry E. Prentiss, Bangor. Superintendent of Videttes Elijah L. Hamlin, Bangor. Assistant Superintendent of Videttes Samuel Smith, Bangor.

* The Aroostook river is usually called " Restook " by the Provincials.

+ A company of Oldtown lumbermen, commanded by Captain Stover Rines.

# Posse comitatus, from Penobscot county.

§ John G. Jameson, of Oldtown.

li Ashbel Hathorn, of Bangor.

T Judge G. G. Cushman, legal adviser, who, while asleep with Thomas Bart- lett, at Fitzherberts's, near the New Brunswick line, was take prisoner by the Bluenoses and sent to Fredericton.

* This is now the town of Dalton.

t The present town of Masardis, eleven miles from Dalton.

: The report was that the fugitives were pursued by five hundred Mohawk In- dians and New Brunswickers.

§ A small river at Lincoln Centre.

Forage Master John Sargent, Bangor.

Joshua Carpenter, Aid to Brigade-Major, Lincoln or Bangor. Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Cummings, Bangor.

Lieutenant-Colonel Moses H. Young, Bangor. Quartermaster Daniel T. Jewett, Bangor. Chaplain Joseph C. Lovejoy, Orono. Surgeon Paul Ruggles, Carmel.

Surgeon's Mate Lewis Watson, Bangor.

Sergeant-Major Charles Barnard. Sergeant-Major George Noyes. Principal Musician Lemuel Ellis. Drum-Major John M. Shaw.

Major of Artillery James Smith.

Lieutenant and Adjutant of Artillery Amos Packard, Hampden.

Quartermaster of Artillery Samuel P. Leighton, Bangor.

Captain Eliphalet Miller. Captain David Dow.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 28

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100