USA > Maine > The history of Maine, from the earliest discovery of the region by the Northmen until the present time; including a narrative of the voyages and explorations of the early adventurers, the manners and customs of the Indian tribes, the hardships of the first settlers, etc > Part 33
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The thirtieth town in the State, Pepperellborough, was incor- porated in the year 1772. It was formed by cutting off a sec- tion from Biddeford, and was named in honor of William Pepperell.3 After bearing that name for thirty-seven years, it
1 "The late Dr. Benjamin Vaughan of Hallowell, an early settler there, formerly a member of the British Parliament, but obliged to flee from England because of his sympathy for and interest in the American colonies, was accus- tomed to take his distinguished visitors to Winthrop. He would come by the charming view of Cobbosseconte Lake at East Winthrop, over the old Meeting- House Hill, and return by the Narrows Pond; and he often said this ride gave him the most interesting scenery in New England." - Historic Address by the Hon. S. P. Benson, p. 35.
2 Collections of Maine Historical Society, vol. iv. p. 113. For a more minute description of this lovely region and its early settlement, see the admirable his- torical discourse of the Hon. Samuel P. Benson, one of the most illustrious of the sons of Winthrop, given at the centennial celebration of the first town-meeting held in the place.
8 "William Pepperell was, at this time (1739), colonel-commandant of the Yorkshire Regiment; a gentleman whose moral worth and military talents had already given him an elevated rank in the confidence of the public." - William- son, vol. iv. p. 200.
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was changed to Saco, which, by a gradual growth, has become one of the most important towns in the State.
Governor Hutchinson became a vigilant and unscrupulous advocate of unlimited prerogative in behalf of the crown of England. The colonies were now in peace and comparatively rich and prosperous. The great object of the English Govern- ment was to gather all the reins of power into its own hands, to tax the people in every adroit way in which it could be done without raising too loud a clamor, and to thwart the colonists in all their endeavors to secure popular rights. The tyrannical government claimed the right of appointing the governors, of removing the judges at will, of framing the laws, and of imposing taxes at its pleasure ; while, at the same time, the right was denied the Americans of being represented in parlia- ment.
The detail of these encroachments, which gradually brought the Americans and the English into battle array against each other, belongs rather to the general history of the United States than to that of Maine. To overawe the people, a fleet of war- ships entered Boston Harbor on the 28th of September, 1768. Under cover of its guns, seven hundred British regulars were landed, and with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, marched through the streets to an encampment on the common. Gen. Thomas Gage was placed in command, with orders to enforce, by bullet and bayonet if necessary, all the requisitions of the ministry.
The blood of the Bostonians, and of nearly all the American people, almost boiled with indignation. There were but little more than two millions of white people scattered along the coast for hundreds of leagues of this New World. The most powerful empire then upon the globe, and, if we consider the destructive enginery of war in their hands, we may say the most powerful empire that ever existed, was rousing all its energies of fleets and armies to crush out the liberties of these feeble colonies. For such an infant David to venture to engage in battle with such a gigantic Goliath, was the bravest, perhaps we should say the most reckless measure, ever undertaken on earth.
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The king of England, by an act of parliament, " for the bet- ter regulation of the government of the province of Massachu- setts Bay," appointed the governor. This governor, thus en- ' tirely at the disposal of the king, appointed the justices of the supreme court and the sheriffs. Jurors were no longer to be appointed by freeholders, but by the sheriffs. By this law the king was placed in absolute control.1 In apprehension that the people might resist the soldiery, and be defended by the colonial courts, a law was passed that, if any one were indicted for cap- ital offence, he might be sent to England for trial.
The people began to meet in conventions, pass resolutions of remonstrance, petition for redress, and to organize for resistance, , should circumstances compel a resort to that dire extremity. There were here and there various acts of violence, but no serious conflict until the battle of Lexington roused the whole country to arms.
The little village of Lexington was situated about twelve miles north-west of Boston. A few straggling houses partially surrounded a small unfenced green, or common. Here the meeting-house and public tavern stood, forming, with a few other houses, one of the boundaries of the common. Near this green the road divides. The left branch, still bearing to the north-west, leads to the village of Concord, about six miles farther on. Here, about eighteen miles from Boston, the Ameri- cans had deposited some provisions and military stores.
Gen. Gage sent out a detachment of from eight hundred to a thousand regular soldiers, secretly and at midnight, to seize and destroy them. It was the night of the 18th of April, 1775, when the troops, in boats, crossed the Charles River, and, in the darkness, commenced a rapid march toward Concord. Every precaution had been adopted by Gen. Gage, to prevent any intelligence of the movement from spreading into the country. He hoped to take the place by surprise, to destroy the stores, and to return to Boston before any resistance could be organized.2
1 Ancient Charters, p. 785.
2 See account of the expedition, by Frederic Hudson, in Harper's Magazine, vol. i .; also History of the Battle at Lexington, by Elias Phinney.
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In Boston there were stationed ten regiments of veteran British troops ; and several men-of-war rode at anchor in the harbor. Notwithstanding all the efforts for secrecy, vigilant eyes watched every measure of the arrogant, insulting, detested soldiery. In addition to many other watchful ones, Paul Revere had arranged with a friend, to signal any important movement. He had a fleet horse on the other side of the river, with which he could speedily spread the alarm. Mr. Longfellow, our own poet, a native of Portland, Me., has given deathless renown to this midnight ride, in his own glowing verse, -
" Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April in seventy-five : Hardly a man is now alive Who remembereth that day and year. He said to his friend, ' If the British march, By land or sea, from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light, - One if by land, and two if by sea, - And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride, and spread the alarm, Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm.' "
The signal appeared. Revere mounted his horse, and galloped along the road to Lexington, shouting the alarm to every family as he passed. In almost every dwelling there were minute-men, with guns and ammunition, ready to rush forth at the first warn- ing. Hancock and Adams were both at Lexington. One object of the British expedition was to capture them.
Revere reached Lexington. The village was roused. The alarm spread like wild-fire. A small group of men, with their guns in their hands, pallid not with fear, but with intensity of emotion, gathered in the gloom upon the green, to decide what to do in the terrible emergence. There were but between sixty and seventy present. The report was, that there were between twelve and fifteen hundred disciplined, thoroughly armed British regulars approaching under the command of experienced gen-
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erals, who had obtained renown in the wars of Europe. Of course a forcible resistance was not to be thought of.1
In the mean time the alarm was spreading from farmhouse to farmhouse in all directions. The village church bells were rung, signal guns were fired, and there was mustering in " hot haste." The British troops marched rapidly, arresting any person they encountered by the way. A little before five o'clock, the solid column appeared but a few rods from Lexington Green, marching at double-quick time. Seeing dimly the unformed group of Americans upon the green, they halted for a moment, doubled their ranks, and then rushed on. Quietly and with no signs of resistance the Americans awaited the approach of the troops. No war had been declared. The Americans had been guilty of no act of violence. They supposed that the British were on the march to seize the stores in Concord. Still even this was uncertain, and they waited to learn what were the in- tentions and the will of the hostile band.
The troops came along upon the run. When within a few rods their commander, Lieut .- Col. Smith, shouted, " Lay down your arms and disperse, you damned rebels !" Then, turning to his men, he exclaimed, " Rush on, my boys ! Fire !"
It was a mean and cowardly act, to order at least eight hundred soldiers to fire upon a confused group of farmers, amounting to not more than seventy at the most. Even the British troops recoiled from such shameful butchery, and with- held their fire. The infurate colonel discharged his pistol at the Americans, and, brandishing his sword like a maniac, again shouted, "Fire ! God damn you, fire !" At this second summons the soldiers in the first platoon discharged their muskets, but took care to throw their bullets over the heads of those whom they seemed to be assailing.
1 At the same time that Paul Revere commenced his midnight ride, Ebenezer Dorr rode over the Neck, disguised as a farmer, with a flapped hat and scantily filled saddle-bags. He bore the following despatch from Gen. Warren to Hancock and Adams :-
" A large body of the king's troops, supposed to be a brigade of about twelve hundred to fifteen hundred, were embarked in boats from Boston, and have gone over to land on Lechmere's Point, so called, in Cambridge ; and it is suspected that they are ordered to seize and destroy the stores belonging to the colony deposited at Concord."
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The Americans thought that this was done to frighten them, and that the muskets of the English were loaded only with powder. They therefore remained calmly at their post, neither running away in panic, nor returning the fire. The troops now discharged a volley in earnest. Eight of the Americans fell dead, and ten were wounded. A few guns were discharged at the English, as the panic-stricken Americans fled in all direc- tions. John Parker fell wounded. He fired his gun at the foe, and was again loading it when a British soldier ran him through with the bayonet. Resistance was hopeless, but a few others discharged their guns as they fled, or lay wounded on the ground. The English continued to fire so long as a single re- treating American could be seen within gun-shot.1
Thus was the dreadful war of the American Revolution ushered in. History records many atrocious crimes perpetrated by the government of Great Britain ; but, among them all, perhaps there is no one more unnatural, cruel, and criminal than this endeavor to rivet the chains of despotism upon her own sons and daughters, who were struggling against the hardships of the wilderness, and who had come to these solitudes that they might enjoy civil and religious liberty. There were thousands of the noblest men in England who detested these infamous measures, and who remonstrated against them with the utmost vehemence. Lord Chatham on the floor of Parliament exclaimed, in words we have already quoted, " Were I an American, as I am an Englishman, I would never lay down my arms, - never, never, never ! "
. The English suffered but little from the few bullets which were thrown at them in return. One man was shot through the leg, and one was wounded in the hand. The verdict which the civilized world has pronounced upon this attack is, that it was a cold-blooded and cowardly massacre. In the dreadful struggle which ensued, our unhappy land was doomed to woes, inflicted by what was called the mother country, far exceeding any
1 There is some diversity in the details which are given of this conflict ; but the general facts, as given above, are beyond all dispute. There were probably on the green at Lexington fifty or sixty farmers with muskets, and thirty or forty unarmed spectators.
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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, APRIL 19, 1775.
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sufferings which had been endured in the warfare with sav- ages.
After a delay of but twenty or thirty minutes, the king's troops resumed their march six miles farther to Concord. They reached the place without opposition. Before leaving Lexington they drew up on the common, fired a triumphant salute, and gave three cheers in token of their great victory. Concord con- sisted then mainly of a little cluster of dwellings, scattered around in the vicinity of a large meeting-house. The regulars destroyed all the ammunition and stores they could find.1 Be- coming alarmed by the indications of a popular rising, and of the gathering of the farmers to assail them, they commenced a rapid retreat.
The troops marched into the village of Concord about seven o'clock. It was one of the most lovely of spring mornings. Nearly a hundred minute-men had assembled in the vicinity of the court-house, and re-enforcements from the neighboring vil- lages were fast approaching. The retreat of the British soon became a precipitate flight. The Americans, rapidly increasing, pressed upon them with great bravery, firing into their ranks from every grove, and stone wall, and eminence where they could find a natural rampart. Hour after hour the fugitives were assailed by a galling and destructive fire, continually in- creasing in severity. It was with the utmost difficulty that the officers could preserve any order. All was confusion. It is said that the whole country was so aroused, that it seemed as if men came down from the clouds. The British retreated, as they advanced, with flanking parties, and with van and rear guards.
With the Americans there was no military order. "Every man was his own general." Not a shout was heard. Scarcely a word was spoken. The English thought only of escape. The Americans, exasperated by months of oppression, insolence, and insult, thought only of shooting down the haughty foe who had affected to regard them with the utmost contempt. At one or
1 " While at Concord the enemy disabled two twenty-four pounders, destroy- ing their carriages, wheels, and limbers; sixteen wheels for brass three-pounders; two carriages with wheels for two four-pounders; about five hundred weight of balls, which they threw into the river and wells; and stove about sixty barrels of flour." - Gordon's Account.
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two points the British made a brief stand, when something like a battle ensued, and several fell on each side. At length, how- ever, the British were driven almost upon the full run before the Americans, in a race for life. Their sufferings from thirst, hunger, and exhaustion were dreadful. They would all have been inevitably killed or captured, had not a re-enforcement of eleven hundred troops, with two field-pieces, come from Boston to their relief.1
An eye-witness writes, " When the distressed troops reached the hollow square formed by the fresh troops for their recep- tion, they were obliged to lie down upon the ground, their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase." This re-enforcement met the retreating British troops near Lexington, about two o'clock in the afternoon. For a short time the fire of the field-pieces seemed to stagger the Americans ; but they soon became accustomed to the crashing of the balls through the forest, and resumed the pursuit. It was, however, necessary to practise increased caution in attack- ing a desperate foe so greatly augmented in strength.
The British were savage in their vengeance. Buildings were shattered and despoiled as far as possible. Many would have been laid in ashes had not the close pursuit of the Americans enabled them to extinguish the flames. Several of the aged and infirm, unable to flee, were bayoneted in their dwellings. Houses were set on fire where. women were helpless in bed with new-born babes. No alternative was left them but to be consumed by the flames, or, with the infants on their bosoms, to rush into the streets.
At seven o'clock in the evening, the exhausted, bleeding, breathless troops reached Charlestown. They took refuge on Bunker Hill. Here they were protected by the guns of vessels of war in the harbor. According to the best estimate which can be made, the casualties on each side were as follows : -
Americans killed, 49; wounded, 36; missing, 5. British 73 172 26.2
1 See the minute and admirable account, by Mr. Frederick Hudson, in Harper's Magazine, vol. 1.
2 Harper's Magazine, No. 300, p. 804.
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The battle of Lexington sounded the tocsin of alarm through- out all the colonies. The news reached York in the evening of the same day. The next morning a company of sixty men, with arms, ammunition, and knapsacks full of provisions, set out on their march for Boston. This was the first company organized in Maine for the war of the Revolution. On the 21st of April, Falmouth sent a strong company ; soon after, Col. James Scammon, of Biddeford, led a full regiment to Cam- bridge, where the American troops were being rendezvoused.1 The little town of New Gloucester raised twenty men. In a few days, more than fifteen thousand patriotic Americans had left for the battlefield their homes and their farms, in seedtime, the most important season of the year. Every man was appar- ently ready to pledge his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor, in defence of the liberties of America.
Falmouth was the seat of justice for Cumberland County. Here there was established the most remote custom-house in New England. There was an Episcopal church here, under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Wiswall.2 This church became the nucleus of a party of crown officers and their political friends, who were hostile to popular government, and warmly advocated the claims of the British crown.
But many of the prominent citizens, together with the over- whelming majority of the people, were earnestly patriotic. Many conventions had been held, where strong resolutions were passed condemning the encroachments of the crown. A very bitter feeling sprang up between the people and the royalist office-holders. These advocates of the crown denounced Fal-
1 "Col. Scammon was well fitted to shine in the military profession; possess- ing vigor of mind and body, and a gayety of temper which secured the good will and attachment of all such as were under his command." - History of Saco and Biddeford, by George Folsom, p. 283.
2 Rev. Mr. Wiswall graduated at Harvard College, and in 1756 settled in the ministry as a Congregationalist, over the Casco parish in Falmouth. In 1764 he changed his religious sentiments, went to England to receive ordination, and re- turning became pastor of an Episcopal church, which had just been organized on the Neck. On the breaking out of the Revolution, he joined the royalist party, took refuge on board the British fleet, and sailed for England. At the close of the war he returned to Nova Scotia, and took charge of a parish in Cornwallis, where he remained until he died. - History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 370.
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mouth to the British authorities, as second only to Boston in its rebellious spirit.
When the odious Stamp Act was passed, in 1765, an English vessel brought packages of the hated stamps to Falmouth, and they were deposited in the custom-house. The people assem- bled, marched to the custom-house, seized the stamps, carried them in solemn procession through the streets, and burned them.
When the tax was imposed upon tea, a popular assemblage expressed their hostility to the despotic act in the following terms : " Resolved, that we will not buy nor sell any India tea whatever after this third day of February, until the act that lays a duty on it is repealed."
When the English Government closed the port of Boston, in 1774, the bell of. Falmouth meeting-house was muffled, and tolled funereally from sunrise to sunset. By vote of the town, a county convention was held to deliberate upon the alarming state of affairs. Thirty-three delegates met, from nine towns, in " Mrs. Greele's little one-story tavern." Among other im- portant measures, one was that each member pledged himself not to accept any commission under the late acts of parliament.
There was a wealthy man in the place, Capt. Samuel Coulson, who had rendered himself very obnoxious to the people by his violent opposition to the popular sentiment, and his support of the measures of the crown. He had built a large ship. In May, 1775, a vessel arrived from England, bringing sails, rig- ging, and stores for the ship.
As England was laying a heavy duty upon all her products, an " American Association " had been formed in the several colonies to thwart the British monopoly of manufactures and trade. The committee in Falmouth met, and decided that the packages should be sent back to England unopened. Capt. Coulson sent to Boston, and secured the aid of a sloop of war, the " Canseau," under Capt. Mowatt, to enable him to land the goods. The excitement among the citizens was such that Mowatt hesitated in resorting to violent measures.
While affairs were in this menacing posture, Col. Samuel Thompson, a bold, reckless man, came from Brunswick, with fifty picked men, resolved to seize the sloop of war. They
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came in boats, and secretly encamped in a thick grove on Mun- joy's Hill. It so happened that the day of their arrival Capt. Mowatt and his surgeon, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Wiswall, were taking a walk upon this commanding eminence. The captain and his surgeon were seized and held as prisoners. The rash measure excited general consternation. The houses were entirely at the mercy of the guns of the sloop. The second officer in command threatened, that, if the prisoners were not released before six o'clock, he would open fire upon the town.1
Some of the prominent citizens called upon Col. Thompson, and entreated him to liberate the captives. The colonel refused, declaring that relentless war was now raging between the two countries ; but, finding the whole town against him, he, at nine o'clock, released them for the night, upon their giving their parole that at nine o'clock the next morning they would return to his encampment. Two citizens of Falmouth, Messrs. Preble and Freeman, pledged themselves as sureties of the prisoners.
Nine o'clock came, but Mowatt did not appear. Col. Thomp- son angrily arrested the two sureties, and held them all day without food. In the afternoon he sent to the sloop-of-war to inquire why Mowatt 2 did not keep his parole. He replied that his washerwoman had overheard threats to shoot him as soon as he appeared on shore.
The intelligence of the peril of Falmouth spread rapidly. Five or six hundred militia-men from the small settlements around, were in a few hours marching into the place. They were intensely excited. A sort of court-martial was established, to examine suspected citizens, that they might learn who could be relied upon as patriotic, and who were in sympathy with the enemy. Rev. Mr. Wiswall was summoned before this revolu- tionary tribunal, He declared, on oath, that he abhorred the
1 "Our women were, I believe, every one of them in tears, or praying or screaming; precipitately leaving their houses, especially those whose husbands were not at home, and widows; hurrying their goods into countrymen's carts, never asking their names, though strangers, and carrying their children either out of town or to the south end." - History of Portland, by William Willis, note, p. 509.
2 Mr. Williamson spells these names Mowett and Wiswell; Mr. Willis spells them Mowatt and Wiswall, as also Wiswell. I follow the spelling, and in the main the narrative, of Mr. William Goold, in his minute and graphic description of the "Burning of Falmouth."
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doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance. He was released. Several others were questioned, but none were con- demned.
Capt. Coulson's house was entered, and his wine freely drank. An intoxicated soldier fired two bullets which penetrated the hull of the "Canseau." A musket was discharged in return, but no harm was done. Gen. Preble and Col. Freeman were still held as captives, and treated with severity.
It was Tuesday, the 9th of May, when Mowatt was arrested. On Wednesday afternoon, the 10th, the militia marched into Falmouth. Thursday, the 11th, was observed as a day of fast- ing and prayer for God's interposition. It was a day of fearful excitement. The soldiers succeeded in capturing one of Mowatt's boats. He threatened to lay the town in ashes unless the boat, were returned. On Friday, the soldiers left the town and returned to their homes. Thompson's men took with them the captured boat. On Monday, the 16th, Mowatt, still breath- ing threatenings and slaughter, raised his anchors, and sailed for Portsmouth. He took with him Coulson and his new ship. But the end was not yet.
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