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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will not buy nor sell any India tea whatever after this third day of February, until the act that lays a duty on it is repealed."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 ? 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 graphie 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.
BUSSSELVCHARCOUNT SE
LAST BLOCK HOUSE OF FORT HALIFAX.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION : FALMOUTH IN ASHES.
The British Fleet -The Doom announced - The Conference - The Bombard- ment - The Expedition to Quebec-The Repulse -Friendliness of the Indians-New Towns incorporated - The British repulsed at Machias - `Anecdote of John Adams -Arrival of the French Fleet - The Foe estab- lished at Biguyduce - Terrible Naval Disaster of the Americans - Barbarism of the English - The Capture of Gen. Wadsworth - His Brave Defence - His Escape.
T THE storm of British vengeance was rapidly gathering, which was to doom unhappy Falmouth to destruction. On the 8th of June the " Senegal," a war vessel of sixteen guns, arrived, and cast anchor in the harbor. Four days after, the Tory Coulson came with his new ship, and anchored by the side of the " Sene- gal." Coulson hoped, under the menace of such a force, to obtain masts for his ship. But as he was a declared enemy of the town, and the Provincial Congress had passed a resolve to prevent Tories from conveying their property out of the country, the people would not allow him to take the masts.
Again both vessels departed, and nothing of special interest occurred until the 16th of October. That morning quite a fleet was seen entering the harbor. Capt. Mowatt led the way in the " Canseau." He was followed by a ship-of-war, the " Cat," two armed schooners, and a bomb-sloop. These five vessels anchored abreast of the town, bringing their broadsides to bear upon it. In consequence of strong head-winds, this was not accomplished until the next day.
Late in the afternoon a flag of truce was sent on shore, with a letter to the town authorities. The officer bearing the letter landed at the foot of what was then called King Street. An
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immense throng of the excited people met him, and followed him, without noise or violence, to the Town House, where he delivered the letter. It was a document ludicrous for its bad grammar, but clear in its terrible announcement. In brief it was as follows : -
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" You have long experienced Britain's forbearance in withholding the rod of correction. You have been guilty of the most unpardonable rebel- lion. I am ordered to execute just punishment on the town of Falmouth. I give you two hours in which you can remove the sick and the infirm. I shall then open fire, and lay the town in ashes." 1
Terrible was the consternation which this letter created. For a moment there was perfect silence. All seemed stupefied. There was scarcely a moment's time for deliberation. Three gentlemen were chosen to visit Mowatt, and see if it were not possible to avert the threatened calamity. But Mowatt was inflexible. He said that his orders were peremptory, and that he had risked the loss of his commission by allowing his humanity so far to influence him as to give them any warn- ing whatever; that he was ordered to anchor "opposite the town with all possible expedition, and then burn, sink, and destroy." 2
It is worthy of remark that the three gentlemen of the com- mittee were all Episcopalians, and members of Rev. Mr. Wis- wall's parish, and thus supposed friends of the English. It was late in the afternoon. A long, cold October night was at hand. Mothers and babes, the sick and the dying, were to be driven out into the bleak fields shelterless ; there, with tears of agony, to see their homes, their furniture, their clothing, their provis- ions, all consumed by the cruel flames. A more barbarous order was never issued by a band of Mohawk savages.3
The committee expostulated with Mowatt upon the cruelty of his order. They were his friends. They had treated him
1 See this letter in full, in Willis's History of Portland, p. 517.
2 Burning of Falmouth, by William Gould, p. 12.
8 " The vessels came here directly from Boston; and no doubt can be euter- tained that the order for the destruction of the town proceeded from Admiral Graves, who then commanded in this station." -- History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 518.
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with great hospitality on his previous visit. There were several Tory families in the place who had already suffered much from their adherence to the British Government. Their homes must be consumed with the rest. The flames would make no discrimi- nation. Mowatt was confused and perplexed, and manifested some shame in view of the barbarous order he was called upon to execute.
At length he consented to delay the bombardment until nine o'clock the next morning, if the people would consent to the humiliation of entirely disarming themselves, by delivering to him all the cannon, small arms, and ammunition in the place. If eight small arms were sent before eight o'clock that evening, he would postpone the destruction of the town until he had sent an express to Boston, and received further instructions.
The committee told him frankly that they did not think that the citizens would accept those terms. They returned to the town, and communicated them to the authorities. An anxious multitude was assembled at the Town House to learn the result of the conference. As with one voice the heroic people rejected the humiliating proposal. They however, in order to gain time for the removal of the women, the children, the sick, and as many of their effects as possible, sent the eight small arms, with a message to Mowatt, that they would summon a town meeting at an early hour in the morning, and give him a definite reply before eight o'clock.
In the morning the meeting was held. The citizens, with heroism worthy of Sparta in her brightest days, resolved that they would not surrender their arms to save their property. This answer was sent back at eight o'clock the next morning by the same committee. The members were allowed half an hour to row ashore and escape beyond the reach of the bombard- ment.
Promptly at nine o'clock, the signal of attack was run up to the mast-head of the flag-ship, and at the same moment the blood-red pennant of British vengeance was unfurled from all the other vessels.1 It was a beautiful autumnal morning, with
1 The Burning of Falmouth, by William Gould, p. 14.
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a cloudless sky, a gentle breeze, and an invigorating atmosphere, The whole lovely expanse of bay and island and continent seemed to repose in the smiles of a loving God. Falmouth was charmingly situated, on the southern slope of a gentle emi- nence facing the bay. It was the largest and richest town in the State. There were about four hundred dwelling-houses, quite compactly built, though each had its garden. Some of these dwellings were quite elegant in their structure. There were also capacious churches, a library, and several public build- ings of importance, together with many barns and store-houses.
Such was the town which was destroyed, and such the day on which this atrocious act of crime and inhumanity was perpe- trated. The bombardment was terrific. From nine o'clock in the morning until six in the evening an incessant storm of can- non-balls, bombs, carcasses, shells, grape-shot, and bullets, fell upon the doomed town. In the mean time one hundred men were landed in boats to apply the torch to the buildings which might be out of the range of shot and shell.1
No resistance could be of any avail. The inhabitants ran great risks in their endeavors to save their furniture, while this tempest of war was raging around them. The town soon presented a roaring volcanic sheet of flame. Most of the build- ings were of wood, which had been thoroughly dried in the sum- mer sun. Dreadful was the spectacle which the evening of that awful day presented. Two hundred and seventy-eight dwell- ing-houses were in ashes, in addition to other public and private buildings, which brought the whole number destroyed up to four hundred and fourteen. We cannot here enter into the details of individual misery. Many cases were truly heart- rending.
Edmund Burke says that to speak of atrocious crime in mild language is treason to virtue. There can be no language too strong in which to denounce this fiend-like outrage.2 A very
1 History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 319.
2 We are in cordial sympathy with the spirit manifested by the Rev. Samuel Deane, D.D., who was then pastor of the Congregational church in Portland, and who witnessed the bombardment. He wrote, -
"That execrable scoundrel and monster of ingratitude, Capt. H. Mowatt of Scotland, who had been treated with extraordinary kindness a few months before
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careful estimate was made of the amount of the losses experi- enced. They reached the enormous sum, in those days, of fifty- four thousand five hundred and twenty-seven pounds, thirteen shillings. This was lawful money, which was then equivalent to two hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty-nine dollars in silver.1
Soon after this the General Court commenced rearing some fortifications at Falmouth, and sent four hundred soldiers to aid in guarding the coast of Maine. Gen. Washington projected an expedition against Quebec. The force consisted of about eleven hundred men, mainly infantry. Col. Benedict Arnold, whose gallantry was established, and whose patriotism was then unsullied, was placed in command. The troops rendezvoused at Newburyport, Mass., and sailed thence, in ten transports, for Fort Weston, which, it will be remembered, was at the head of tide-water on the Kennebec River. They ascended the river still farther in boats, and marched along the pathless banks, encountering the most exhausting difficulties, until they reached a point about thirty miles above Norridgewock. It was then about the 12th of October.
Here a small fort was built, and a small division left in gar- rison. A series of terrible disasters ensued. There were gales of almost wintry wind, floods of rain, swollen torrents, swamps, rugged hills, tangled forests, and failing provisions. There was reason to fear that the whole army would actually perish of hunger in the wilderness. Many barrels of food were lost, with
by the town of Falmouth, obtained an order from Graves, one of King George's admirals lying at Boston, to burn and destroy the said town.
" He came before it on the 17th of October, 1775, and near sunset made known his infernal errand, by a flag, with a letter full of bad English and worse spelling; at the same time proposing to spare the town, and endeavor to get the order re- versed, if the cannon and arms, with some persons as hostages, were delivered into his hands. The inhabitants assembled, and voted by no means to submit to this infamous proposal. Therefore he spent the next day in cannonading, bombarding, and throwing an immense quantity of carcasses and shells into the defenceless town, and kindling some fires with torches, whereby more than three-quarters of the buildings were reduced to ashes, and the remaining ones greatly torn and damaged; by which horrible devastation many hundred persons were reduced to extreme distress.
" If you do not like the words execrable scoundrel, you may substitute infamous incendiary, or what you please." - Diary of Rev. Samuel Deane, p. 241.
1 History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 524.
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silver, clothes, guns, and ammunition. Upon reaching the mouth of Dead River, far away in the savage wilderness, Col. Enos, in command of the rear guard, and having the sick under his care, abandoned the enterprise, and returned. He had with him about one-fourth of the army. For this movement he was at first severely denounced; but a court-martial decided that he had not acted unwisely in so doing.
Arnold, with his small force, pressed on across the country, a distance of about one hundred miles, toward the Chaudière. He had to force his way through wilds never before trodden but by Indians and the beasts of the forest. On the 30th of Octo- ber he reached, through toils and sufferings which cannot be adequately described, the northern end of Lake Megantic, where the River Chaudière flows from that vast sheet of water. Their distress was then so great, and their remaining provisions so small, that Arnold divided all the supplies among the compa- nies, and directed them to press on, regardless of military order, in search of the Canadian villages.
For a month they toiled along without seeing a house, or any human being save their own disheartened and emaciated com- panions. Every morsel of food was consumed before they had arrived within thirty miles of the first Canadian village. They killed their dogs, and devoured them. They boiled, and then broiled upon the fire and ate, their breeches, moccasins, and bayo- net-belts, which were made of tanned moose-hide. On the 4th of November they reached the mouth of De Loup River. In that northern latitude it was cold, dreary, and stormy. Quebec, on the St. Lawrence, was still ninety miles north of them. Many died of fatigue and hunger. Often a man would drop down in such utter misery, that in less than five minutes he would be dead.
The situation of the army was awful. To retreat was im- possible ; for there was nothing but certain starvation before them in the wilderness. To stop where they were, was inevita- ble death. To march forward was almost hopeless. They were in utter destitution. The men tottered along so feebly that they could scarcely shoulder a gun. Washington, with his charac- teristic humanity, had instructed these troops to abstain from every act of violence upon the people of Canada.
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" I charge you," he wrote, " that you consider yourselves as marching, not through an enemy's country, but that of your friends and brethren ; for such the inhabitants of Canada and the Indian nations have approved themselves in this unhappy contest between Great Britain and America."
Col. Arnold had been furnished with money, in specie, to the mount of about four thousand dollars. His troops now began to reach thriving Canadian and Indian villages. With great "heerfulness the inhabitants supplied him with food. With recruited energies the army pressed on, hoping to find Quebec undefended and without a garrison. On the 8th of November they reached Point Levi, on the southern bank of the river opposite Quebec. The appearance of the American troops, „emerging from the vast and dreary wilderness, was as unex- pected as if they had descended from the clouds. It is said, that, could they have immediately crossed the river, Quebec might have been taken.
But the men were greatly exhausted. There was a high, piercing wintry wind, roughening the wide surface of the stream. Boats could not readily be procured. Thus the golden oppor- tunity was lost. The British authorities fortified the city. Arnold had about seven hundred men at Point Levi, fifty of whom were friendly Indians. On the first of December, Gen. Montgomery arrived with three armed schooners, six hundred men, and a supply of food, clothing, and ammunition. They made a united attack upon Quebec, on the 31st of December. The assailants were repelled, Montgomery fell, and the Ameri- cans evacuated Canada.
The General Court, that winter, organized Maine into a mili- tary division. A brigadier-general was appointed over the militia in each county. All able-bodied males, between sixteen and sixty, were enrolled to do military duty, with the exception of settled ministers of the gospel, Quakers, colored men, and Indians.
The awful war of the Revolution was raging south of Maine, while a small garrison was stationed at Falmouth with a battery of six cannon. The cruelties perpetrated by the British Gov- ernment were so great that every hour the resentment of the
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Americans, against the unnatural mother country, was increas- ing. On the 4th of July, 1776, the Continental Congress declared these colonies to be free, sovereign, and independent.
The Indians of Maine had, thus far, remained quiet. Trading- houses had been established at Fort Pownal, near where Bangor now stands, and at Machias. The Penobscot and Passama- quoddy Indians were cordially friendly to the Americans. Ten of the chiefs of the tribes still farther east repaired to Massa- chusetts, and entered into a treaty of alliance with the govern- ment, engaging to send six hundred men to join the army of Gen. Washington. The small settlements of Camden and Machias raised two hundred men for the defence of the country. Thirty men, ten of whom were Indians, were stationed at Fort Pownal for the defence of the valley of the Penobscot.
On the 7th of November, 1776, the town of Warren was incorporated. It was named in honor of Gen. Warren who fell at Bunker Hill. This was the thirty-fifth town of the State, and was the first one which had been incorporated on St. George's River, though that valley had been settled for about forty years. There were for many years two settlements in this region, - one at Warren, and one at Thomaston. St. George's Fort was their common resort in times of peril. They were called the "Upper and Lower Towns." In the year 1753, seventy emigrants from Sterling, in Scotland, settled in a cluster in this vicinity. Subsequently their village took the name of the city which they had left.
England found that her colonies developed unexpected ener- gies. Our cruisers were remarkably successful. During the war they captured prizes to the amount of about seven million dollars. Amidst many reverses and many woes, the victory at Trenton filled the country with exultation. Our ally France, in the spring of 1777, sent to the colonies a large amount of arms and military stores. For the defence of the coast of Maine, companies were raised and stationed at Falmouth, Cape Eliza-
1 Warren contains twenty-seven thousand acres. The river is navigable to Andrews Pond, for vessels of one hundred tons. Shad and alewives were for- merly taken in immense quantities in the river. The natives marked a tree, near the first falls, above which they forbade the English to tish. - JIS. Narrative of Warren by Cyrus Eaton, as quoted by Williamson, vol. ii. p. 456.
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beth, and Boothbay. At the latter place there was a battery of five cannon, the largest of which was a twelve-pounder. They were supplied with fifty rounds of cartridges.1
Machias became a very important place. It was raised to a continental establishment. There was an important mill privi- lege here which attracted settlers. Three hundred volunteer soldiers were placed there in garrison. Ample stores for trade with the Indians were shipped to that place, that their continued
LOWER FALLS, EAST MACHIAS, ME.
friendship might be secured. The Indians remained friendly, and many of them enlisted in the service of the Americans.
On the 11th of January, 1777, the flourishing plantation of Fryeburg was incorporated. The place had renown as the former seat of a large village belonging to the tribe of Sokokis Indians. It was also the theatre of Lovewell's disastrous fight in the year 1725. The Indians called the place Pegwacket.2
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