USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > The history of Portland, from its first settlement: with notices of the neighbouring towns, and of the changes of government in Maine, Part II 1700-1833 > Part 17
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C. S.] Destruction of Falmouth. 157
balls and the bursting of bombs. The last house that was burnt was the Rev. Mr. Smith's, which stood directly fronting King-street ; it caught from Capt. Sandford's, which stood on the north-west corner of King-street, just before dark, and was the only house burnt on that side of Congress-street.1
On the 20th of October, Pearson Jones was dispatched to the head-quarters of the army with information of the calamity, and an express was also forwarded to the continental Congress. This was received in Philadelphia November 1, and Congress ordered a copy to be transmitted " by the delegates to their respective assemblies, conventions and committees of safety."
The situation of the inhabitants after the fire was one of great suf- fering and distress ; many families who before that event were in comfortable circumstances, had lost all their property and were turned houseless, at the commencement of winter, upon the hand of charity ; while on every quarter poverty and desolation met the' unhappy sufferers. On the 26th of October the town held a meet- ing and raised a committee to procure subscriptions for the relief of the distressed poor of the town.2 On the 10th of November the provincial Congress on the petition of Samuel Freeman, then a member from this town, granted £250 to the sufferers, and ordered 15 bushels of corn to be distributed to cach family whose loss de- prived them of the means of purchasing any.3 In 1776 one half of the taxes on the town for 1775 were abated, and in 1779, on the petition of Enoch Freeman and others, a grant was made of £2000 to purchase bread and other necessaries of life for the poor of the town, to be distributed under the direction of the selectmen.+
' For a list of the houses which survived the conflagration, and are now standing, see Appendix VIII. Capt. Mowatt died suddenly on board of his ship in Hampton Roads March 1797.
" The committee consisted of B. Titcomb, R. Pagan, R. Codman, William McLellan, Stephen Waite, Benjamin Winslow and Nath'l Carle.
"Letters were sent to the Congress by Enoch Moody, chairman of a commit- tee, and by Samuel Deane, which were committed with the petition, and the following report was made : " Whereas, by the late unparalleled inhumanity of the British forces in burning the greatest part of Falmouth, many of the in- habitants of that town are reduced to great distress and want, and stand in need of immediate relief, therefore resolved that there be allowed," &c. £250 &c.
4 This apparently large amount wasreally small, being in paper exceeding- ly depreciated. In an appeal from the town "to all friends of humanity in Europe" in 1723, it is said that "not less than 1000 persons, including our wives and children, were instantly reduced to a state of unspeakable distress."
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Revolutionary War. [P. II.
In August 1776, a committee was appointed to petition the con- tinental Congress for some remuneration for the losses sustained by the people in the cause of American liberty ; the petition was pre- sented by Samuel Freeman.1 The application was not successful ; having been rejected on the ground that all the towns on the coast being liable to similar visitations, it would be unsafe to establish a precedent which might embarrass the future operations of govern- ment. At the same meeting a committee consisting of Joseph Noyes, Enoch Moody, Daniel Ilsley, and Richard Codman, together with the selectmen of the town, was raised, to adjust and liquidate the accounts of the losses sustained by the fire. The committee, after a careful investigation, ascertained the losses to amount to £51,527. 13.2 The town did not sit down quietly under these losses ; they applied repeatedly to the national Congress, and the State Legislature, and at length sought abroad for relief which in the embarrassed state of the country, they could not obtain at home. After hostilities were over, they sent earnest appeals to the people of England, Ireland and France in 1783, and employed the services of Dr. Franklin and Gov. Pownal to give them effect ; but all in vain, we have no evi- dence that any thing was ever realized from those applications.3 At length however, in 1791, after having long and in various ways be- seiged the hearts of the members of the general court, they obtained a grant of two townships, each six miles square, situated in the coun- ty of Somerset, and now called Freeman and New Portland.+
The intimation that was given in Mowatt's letter, that his orders' did not confine him to the destruction of this town alone, produced great alarm in all the sea-ports on this coast, and their inhabitants immediately proceeded to construct such fortifications as it was in their power to throw up. Some deserters from the fleet had report-
1 The committee was Theophilus Bradbury, John Waite and Joseph Noyes.
? This is the amount stated in the petition to Congress ; the following is the language of the committee : "They take leave further to inform your honours that an exact estimate has been taken of their loss, which they verily believe is moderate and just, the accounts of individuals having been examined and liquidated by an impartial committee appointed for that purpose, it amounts to the sum of £54,527. 13s." Some additions were afterwards made ; for a statement of the whole, with the names of the sufferers, see Appendix IX.
3 It may be interesting to preserve the evidence of these facts, I have there- fore placed in Appendix No. X. the appeal to the Irish, with a letter from Gov. Bowdoin and Gov. Pownal.
+ For further particulars relating to these townships, we must refer to Ap- pendix XI.
C. 8.]
Measures of defence. 159
ed that it was the intention of the British to take possession of the Neck and improve the harbour for the king's ships during winter. This information caused alarm in the surrounding country, and peti- tions were presented to the provincial Congress by Jeremiah Powell of North-Yarmouth, and Isaac Parsons of New-Gloucester, referring to this rumour and requesting protection. The arrival of the ship Cerberus on the first of November, created new fears, and our peo- ple sent an express to the neighboring towns to summon volunteers, who arrived in numbers sufficient to protect the remains of Falmouth. The commander of the ship sent on shore to forbid the people throw- ing up any entrenchments, but they entirely disregarding his threats, proceeded with the greatest alacrity to construct breast-works and batteries on Munjoy's hill, working all day on Sunday to complete them. All the artillery they had was two 6 pounders, which they fitted in a battery, and with which they made preparations to attack the Cerberus ; but she did not tarry to give them an opportunity to try their skill.1
The government, on the representation of the designs of the enemy, voted that four hundred men should be raised for the defence of Maine, to be stationed at Falmouth, and that the militia should be mustered in case of invasion. The troops arrived the latter part of November; Gen. Joseph Frye, to whom the command of the station was assigned, came here November 25.2 Many persons who had been driven from town returned under protection of the troops, and the few houses which were standing were over crowded, and could illy accommodate the additional number of persons whom the state of things brought upon the Neck. Mr. Smith who had retired to Wind- ham, came to town to preach November 25, but was obliged to re- turn, not having been able to get lodgings.3 In the latter part of 1775, the distressed situation of the people, particularly in Maine, was laid before the provincial Congress, and £1200 were granted from the treasury for their relief.
" The soldiers who crowded into town, took possession of some of the best houses which remained ; Capt. Pride's company occupied Dr. Deane's, which was then two stories, and nearly new.
2 Gen. Frye moved to Fryeburg after the war, and died there in 1794, aged 83.
3 Rev. P. T. Smith of Windham, preached here for his father, December 10th, 1775, from this striking passage, " When he saw the city, he wept over it." In discoursing over the ruins of his native town, we may suppose him to have been pathetic and interesting.
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Revolutionary War. [P. II.
Notwithstanding the narrow circumstances in which the inhabitants of the Neck were now placed-deprived of their commerce, cut short of the ordinary supplies,1 they abated nothing of the spirit with which they engaged in the great cause of freedom. In December a committee was chosen to join other towns in convention, to consid- er measures for the general safety of the county of Cumberland and this town in particular.2 In February, the town voted to recommend to the committee of safety to encourage the manufacture of salt petre, in the same month thirty of our people enlisted in the continental army. May 21, a committee was chosen to repair the forts on the - Neck," and on the same day the following vote was passed, which shows that the people here had made up their minds in advance on the great question which was agitating the continent: " Voted unan- imously, as the determination of this town that if the honorable Amer- ican Congress should for the safety of the united colonies declare them independent of the kingdom of Great Britain, the inhabitants of this town in meeting now assembled, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support the Congress in the measure.">4
1 April 14, 1776, Mr. Smith says, " No lodging, eating nor horse-keeping at Falmouth." (Neck).
2 The following letter from James Sullivan, afterwards governor of Massa- chusetts, may be interesting ; it was addressed to Samuel Freeman at Wa- tertown. Mr. Sullivan was then commissary of the troops stationed here :
"FALMOUTH, 31st January, 1776.
SIR-Since I wrote you last, I received a resolve of court, wherein I find I am directed to assist in raising 238 men in the county of York. I shall obey the orders, and do my best, and make no doubt but the men may be had, which will leave the sea-coast of the county entirely without fire-arms, for our arms were taken from our people on the last of December, by order of Congress ; an enlistment for Cambridge will strip us of inen for this winter, and if our guns are again stopped, we shall be in the spring without fire-arms. I venture to affirm as a fact, that more than half the men of Biddeford and Peppendboro' are now in the camp at Cambridge. The 400 men at Falmouth, can never be raised, every one who can leave home is gone or going to Cambridge. The officers appointed here have no commissions, nor has Gen. Frye any orders or instructions. You might have sent the commissions before now, if you had attended to the safety of your own county ; and hope you will send them by the first conveyance. If the general court should order another reinforcement, they must draw upon this part of the province for women instead of men, and for knives and forks instead of arms, otherwise they cannot be obeyed.
I am your humble Serv't, JAMES SULLIVAN."
3 One was on Munjoy's hill, another on the hill in Free-street, where Mr. Anderson's house stands.
4 The general assembly, on the 10th of May, passed an order, recommend- ing the several towns in the province to instruct their representatives on the subject of independence.
161
Privateers.
C. S.]
In June the general court made provision for stationing a company of 50 soldiers here, for which they sent 10 cannon. The company was enlisted in this neighbourhood to serve until December, and the command given to Capt. John Preble.1 Capt. Joseph Noyes was appointed to muster the company ; Wm. Frost was commissary of the forces stationed in and near Falmouth this year, for the defence of the sea-coast. In November another company of 50 inen was stationed at Cape-Elizabeth for the defence of the harbour, and with the one stationed on the Neck was continued in service until March, at the same time all the other soldiers here were ordered to be dis- missed .? This year the militia of the county were reorganized, and in December the general court appointed the following officers to the first regiment in Cumberland, viz. Peter Noyes Colonel, Nathaniel Jordan Lt. Colonel, James Merrill 1st Major, and James Johnson 2nd Major ; these persons all lived in Falmouth ; in the same month every fourth man of the militia was ordered to be drafted to supply the army.
After 1775, the town was not again visited by the enemy, and the harbour became a resort for privateers. A number in the course of the war were built and fitted out here by merchants residing in other places, particularly in Salem.3 Our own people made a humble at- tempt in 1776, to make reprisals upon the enemy ; in the summer of that year a number of persons united and fitted out a sloop called the Retrieve, as a privateer; she mounted 10 guns, and was com- manded by Capt. Joshua Stone of this town. She was not success- ful, and was soon taken and carried to Halifax.4 'The next enter- prise of the kind undertaken by our inhabitants, was fitting out the
1 Capt. Preble was son of Gen. Preble, he had served at Penobscot, and was an Indian interpreter.
2 In July 1776, the general court ordered a levy of every 25th man to fill up the army. 2 Brad. 174. Falmouth was exempted from this draft; 39 were levied in the county.
3 John Archer who had been a merchant in this town before the war, and moved to Salem, was largely concerned in these private expeditions ; he had several privateers, some of which he fitted out here ; he was successful. He returned to this place after the war and built a house in Fore-street, west of Union-street ; but became intemperate, and sunk from the condition of a respectable merchant to be a common lumper.
4 Capt. Arthur Mclellan was an officer on board of her ; after her capture, Capt. McLellan sailed from Salem as prize-master on board a well appointed private armed ship of 22 guns. They captured two rich brigs at once, by running between them and firing a broadside into each ; one mounted 16 guns.
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Revolutionary War. [P. II.
ship Fox by John Fox, Deacon Titcomb and others ; she was poor- ly provided with the material of war ; she had but four iron guns and no swords ; they substituted scythes fitted into suitable handles for boarding pikes.1 When out but eight days, they fell in with a letter of marque of 18 guns, a fine ship, with a valuable cargo, which they surprised and captured and carried into Boston. This rich prize furnished them with all the arms and equipments necessary for a pri- vateer, and remunerated the owners amply for their expenditure. She made several cruises during the war, but never with a success at all comparable with the first. In her subsequent cruises she was commanded by Capt. Stone. In 1778, the brig Union was fitted out here mounting 12 guns, 6 of which were of wood ; nothing bril- liant or profitable attended her career.
In April 1777, a company of 80 men was stationed on the Neck, the command of which was given to Abner Lowell, and another of 40 men at Cape-Elizabeth." The whole effective population of Fal- mouth at the commencement of this year was but about 710 men ; upon which drafts were continually made for the army.3 In June, an expedition was planned against Nova Scotia to prevent the depreda- tions of the enemy from that quarter ; Col. John Waite of this town was appointed muster-master. But after considerable progress was made in raising men, it was abandoned as too burdensome for the finances of the country. The news of the capture of Burgoyne, which took place in October, was received here with the same ex- travagant joy that it met in every other part of the country. Mr. Smith says, our people are mad in their rejoicing. It is not to be wondered at, that in that dark day of our prospects, so brilliant a victory should have produced the most sincere and heart-felt joy ; it was a bright harbinger of future success, and inspired the public mind with confidence.
" She was pierced for 20 guns.
'The pay of these troops was for a Captain £6. per month ; Ist Lieut. £4 .; Sergeants and Gunners £2. 8s. Privates £2. In January a requisition was made on Massachusetts for 5000 blankets ; the proportion of this County was 123, of which Falmouth's share was 25, Cape Elizabeth 13.
3By order of the general court a return was made in Jan. 1777, of the males of 16 years and upwards, in each town in the County, as follows : Falmouth 786, including 64 Quakers, 12 negroes, and 1 mulatto ; Brunswick 198, in- cluding 4 belonging to Falmouth ; Scarboro' 471, including 6 from Falmouth; North Yarmouth 404, including 2 from Falmouth; Harpswell 189, 1 from Falmouth ; Cape Elizabeth 350. (Gen. Court files.)
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163
Sufferings and sacrifices.
C. S.]
1778.] This town was not wanting in spirit on any occasion, not- withstanding its impoverished means. So signally did they display their self-devotion that they received the special commendation of the general court. In the resolve for raising 2000 men in April 1778, the government mentioned the conduct of Falmouth "as highly commendable, manly and patriotic in their glorious exertions to raise volunteers to reinforce the continental army." In April the town raised a company of fifty volunteers for Gen. Washington's army, to each soldier of which they paid a bounty of £60. provided he furnished himself with equipments and served in the army till the last of November. In December the town generously voted to in- demnify those persons who had or would supply the families of those soldiers who were engaged in the army ; many persons came forward and furnished the supplies. The general court had recommended a measure of this kind to encourage enlistments. In the course of the summer the small pox broke out here ; five young men were innocu- lated and got well ; a pest-house was built the same month and forty- one persons entered it for the first class ; the disorder was of a mild character. In the course of the year 1778, the French openly espoused our cause and rendered very effectual assistance to our arms. War was declared against her by England, which was carried on by both parties on this continent and in our seas ; the result of the cam- paign was on the whole successful to the American cause.
1779.] The war had been carried on thus far at great sacrifices and sufferings on the part of the colonies ; it had been sustained by issues of paper money which had enormously depreciated.1 Many people
"The whole amount of continental money issued from June 22, 1775 to November 1779, was 241,552,780 dollars. The depreciation was rapid ; by an Act of the general court, the rate of depreciation on all contracts was as follows : for every $100 in gold or silver, in January 1777, $105 in paper of the United States was to be received ; in July $125 in paper ; in October 8275 ; 1778, January, $325; April 8400; July $425; October 8500 ; 1779, January 8745; April 81104; July $1477; October $2030; 1780, January 82934; April 84000; from April 1 to the 20th, 1780, one Spanish dollar was equal to $ 10 in paper of the old emission ; May 25, it was equal to $60 ; the paper depreciated gradually until February 27, 1781, when one Spanish dollar was worth $75 in paper. At that time a new emission was made of paper which was a little short of $2 for $1 of silver. This however continually depreci- ated until October 1, 1781, it stood at $4 to $1.
The following were the prices of articles in Falmouth in 1779, which may be graduated by the foregoing scale : January, wood 820 a cord ; April, In- dian meal $30 a bushel ; May, corn $35 a bushel, and coffee $3 a lb. ; June, molasses $16 a gallon .; coffee $4 a lb. and sugar $3. June 10, Mr. Smith
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Revolutionary War. [P. II.
who were needed to cultivate the soil, had been drawn off to supply the waste of war, while the consumption of provisions had vastly increased. In addition to these unfavourable circumstances, the season of 1778 had been peculiarly unfortunate, one half of the crops having been cut off by the severity of the drought. In the early part of this year provisions were extremely scarce and high ; in January Mr. Smith observes, "it is wonderful how the people live here on the Neck for want of bread, there being little to be bought, and that so monstrous dear ;" and in April he says, " a grievous cry for bread." This combination of evils called upon the people for the exercise of their utmost patience and fortitude. The government did all they could to relieve the scarcity, they voted £200,000, and appointed a committee to procure flour and grain from the south. Fortunately the season of 1779 was wonderfully forward and pro- ductive, and saved the country from the horrors of a famine. Mr. Smith remarks at different periods of its progress, "never was the corn so forward," " a wonder of a potatoe year, so many, so large and so good," and at the close, October 24, he exclaims, " never such a fine season."
In the midst of this summer, the arrival of an English fleet in Pe- nobscot bay, and the capture of Bagaduce point, upon which Cas- tine is situated, in June, produced a strong sensation throughout the States. The united feeling of government and people was to drive the enemy from the soil and preserve the integrity of our territory. The government immediately organized a force to consist of 1500 men, wholly from Massachusetts, and a fleet consisting of 19 armed vessels, and 24 transports, was put in requisition for the occasion. The fleet was commanded by Com. Saltonstall, and the land forces by Gen. Solomon Lovell ; Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, at that time
says, "a man asked $74 for a bushel of wheat meal." By the scale in June, $100 silver dollars were worth 1312 in paper, so that the molasses was about $1,20 a gallon in silver ; coffee about 30 cents, and sugar about 23 cents, and the flour about $5,75 a bushel. In November 1788, Mr. Smith says, "Common laborers have 84 a day, while ministers have but a dollar, and washer-women as much. It is a melancholy time on many accounts. Lawful money is worth no more than old tenor ; creditors don't receive an eighth part of their old debts nor ministers of their salary." In 1780, by a Resolve of Congress, a large amount of depreciated paper was taken out of circulation and a new emission of bills was made by the State of far less amount and to be considered equal to specie. This passed for a short time at par, but soon followed the fate of its predecessors, a natural consequence of the heavy debt and a want of confidence in the ability of government.
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C. 8.]
Bagaduce Expedition. 165
Adjutant General of the militia of Massachusetts, being the second in command. One regiment under the command of Col. Mitchell of North-Yarmouth, was raised in this neighbourhood, to which Falmouth and Cape-Elizabeth contributed two companies ; Capt. Joseph McLellan of this town, was commissary of supplies. The expedition was popular, and the people engaged with alacrity and zeal in it ; the company which was formed on the Neck consisted of volunteers from the families of the most respectable inhabitants.1 Our soldiers sailed on the 18th of July in a transport sloop from this town, commanded by Capt. Wm. McLellan, for Townsend, now Boothbay, the place of rendezvous, where they remained a few days for the other forces. But notwithstanding the spirit with which the people engaged in this enterprise, and the ardent hopes entertained of its success, the result was very disastrous. The expedition was hastily got up and measures were concerted without sufficient pru- dence and caution. To increase the difficulties, on the arrival of the forces in the Penobscot, the commanders of the fleet and army disa- greed in their plan of attack. It was however, determined to make an assault upon the garrison and take it if possible by storm ; for this purpose the troops were landed on the north side of the promon- tory at sunrise, where they climbed a precipitous bluff amidst a heavy fire from the enemy's battery on the height. Capt. Warren's com- pany from this town was the first that ascended the cliff and formed, when the enemy fled to their entrenchments." They were closely pursued through a wood which covered this part of the hill ; our troops were eager to follow them to their entrenchments, but were ordered by the general to stop, and were moved back to the edge of the wood, where they threw up breast works and made preparations for a regular seige. It was believed that had our soldiers not been checked in their first onset, they would have been able from their superior force to have entered and dislodged the enemy from their unfinished works ; such is believed to have been the opinion of Gen. Wadsworth, whose conduct in the whole course of the expedition merited unqualified approbation ; he was in the midst of every dan- ger and suffering ; and our soldiers said if the chief command had
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