USA > Maine > The history of the state of Maine; from its first discovery, A. D. 1602, to the separation, A. D. 1820, inclusive, Vol. II > Part 32
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June 11. War de- clared against all the eastern tribes ex- cept that at Penobscot.
vice irk- some.
To the eastern soldiery, this species of service, though in self-
* MS. Letter H. D. Mclellan, Esq. + MS. Letter of J. Woodman. Į Fort Halifax was now under the command of Wm. Lithgow, and Fort Western under that of James Howard.
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defence, was undesirable and irksome. A place in Colonel Pep- A. D. 1755. perell's regiment, or among the forces in Nova Scotia, where glory as well as wages, presented motives to military ambition, was altogether preferable to scouting on the frontiers, hunting for Indians in the forests, or acting the part of servile guards. Since the capture of Louisbourg, in the last war, there was manifest among the young soldiery of Maine, a glow of military ardor. The Independent companies, displeased with the duties of guards and rangers, assigned them, were slow to obey their orders; and drafts were made from the militia to perform the service. Yet Governor Shirley, though requested, was not prevailed upon to disband those spirited companies.
The force provided for the defence of our frontiers, consisted Defence of of 300 men, besides officers, who were formed into four parties ; frontiers. the eastern -50 scouted from Lebanon to Saco river; 60 from Saco to New-Boston, [Gray,] by way of Sebago pond and New-Glou- cester ; 90 from New-Boston to Fort Shirley, at Frankfort; and 100 from thence to the river St. Georges. For the two forts and the block-house on Kennebeck river, there were garrisoned 80 men, who were well supplied with all needed stores. A boun- ty of 18s. was offered, to every recruit who would furnish his own gun ; also the statute reward for captives and scalps. The enlistments were made for five months, from the 20th of June. But the recruits performed no signal exploits. Indeed, the bril- liant successes of Monkton and Winslow in Nova Scotia, which diffused so much joy through the country, seemed to strike the Indian tribes with dismay. They retired back, and we hear after this of no more mischief perpetrated by them this season, on our frontiers.
The settlements between the rivers Sagadahock and St. Georges, now deserved and received great attention. At Mus- river. congus and Meduncook, [Friendship,] there were forts; and at Pleasant-point, near the mouth of St. Georges river, at the Narrows above the garrison, and indeed in every neigh- borhood, there were block-houses, all of which were put in the best posture of defence, and were made the common re- ceptacles of the settlers' families and effects. The Tarratine tribe professed still to be neutral : and Capt. Bradbury, who had command of the garrison at St. Georges, was instructed by the VOL. II. 40
St. Georges'
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A. D. 1755. government to cultivate peace with them, and if possible, to es- trange them from the French interest. If any of them were abet- ters of the late mischief, nothing criminal was directly laid to their charge by the government ; and when the submissive pro- fessions of the tribe at the river St. John were known, fresh en- couragements were entertained, that those on the Penobscot might continue our ally.
Jealousies of the peo- ple.
But the people indulged themselves in jealousy and prejudice. Unacquainted with facts, and unaccustomed to discriminate, many were disposed to attribute all aggressions of the Indians to the savage dispositions of the race, and to avenge themselves on the first of these hated barbarians, they met. All friendly intercourse with them was looked upon as treachery. Even Capt. Bradbury did not escape the whispers of suspicion. It was basely rumored, that for the sake of personal gain, he traded with them and furn- ished them with arms and ammunition, to take the lives of his own countrymen. Though all such as were with him in the garrison, thought these rumors cruelly slanderous ; they neverthe- less gave him not only much pain and trouble, but actually frus- trated some of his plans. The people, particularly those at the neighboring block-houses, looked with an evil eye upon the par- ties of Indians, he treated with caresses and presents, and some- times unprincipled scouting parties plundered them of their ef- fects. Nor were the friendly individuals of the Indians them- selves always safe among us, though they were engaged, at the risque of their lives, in bringing intelligence to the garrison.
Cargill's affair.
In July a melancholy affair occurred, which filled all good men with grief, and greatly embarrassed the government. Capt. James Cargill of Newcastle, with a commission for raising a scouting company, enlisted several men about the St. Georges' river, and led the whole on an excursion towards the margin of Penobscot bay. Near Owl's head [in Thomaston,] they dis- covered a party of Indian hunters, and without taking any trouble to ascertain whether they were friends or enemies, or rather knowing, as many believed, that they belonged to the Tarratine tribe of that region, they instantly shot down twelve of the num- ber, and took their scalps ; obliging the remainder to save them- selves by flight. On their return, they met with Margaret, a friend- ly squaw, who had been at the garrison on one of her wonted ex- peditions of intelligence and kindness, whom they also fired upon
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and mortally wounded. In the agonies of death, she held up A. D 1755. her infant to her murderers, and told them, 'take it to Capt. ' Bradbury.' Unmoved by this tender though trifling request, one of them more barbarous than a savage, uttered a base taunt, and then despatched it before the eyes of its expiring mother .*
No other equally base treatment towards the eastern Indians Its result. can be found in history. It was a shameful violation of the rights of common neighborhood, and a treacherous invasion of a solita- ry Indian ally, at a crisis, when their amity and their aid were never more needed. While the transaction was universally cen- sured ; Margaret's fate was deplored, especially by the garrison, who well knew the value of her messages. All the humane and good among the settlers confidently predicted a verification of the old adage, that reckless manslayers never die quietly in their beds ; and so far as notice or remembrance followed them, the prediction was literally fulfilled. Cargill was apprehended for trial on a charge of murder ; a letter of condolence was sent by government to the suffering party ; their brethren, who had lately visited Boston, returned laden with presents and soothed with favors ; and the tribe were invited to come under a safe-conduct and prosecute the offenders,-full assurance being given, that law and justice would be measured to them by severest rules. But subsequent events prevented their attendance ; and after a con- finement of two years, Cargill was discharged.
Still the government was unchangeably anxious to secure their The faith alliance and aid against the other tribes ; and as soon as the deep of the Tar- and alliance wound lately inflicted ceased to bleed, the General Court offered ed. ratines test- to all who would enter into the public service, the same pay and rations as other soldiers had ; and also similar support or pen- sions to their invalids, women and children. Prior to the late unhappy occurrence, nine of their leaders had been called into St. Georges' fort to hear the Governor's letter upon the subject ; when the inhabitants and garrison rose in arms, and would not permit their departure, till they would signify their determination to enter into the service according to treaty. Seeming to com- ply with the requisition, they at last wrote to know when they must go against the Indians of Canada, who, they said, had struck them, as well as the English; and sent three of their
* Eaton's MS. Nar. p. 12-13 .- See post, A. D. 1757.
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A. D. 1755. brethren to Boston, evincive of their sincerity and good faith. But they were now, both offended and aggrieved. The fresh injuries they had received, rankled in their bosoms, and could not be forgiven, nor pass unrevenged. To reconcile enraged Indians, or to excite enduring sympathies for them among the English, is a task equally difficult.
Lieutenant- Governor's address to them.
To bring the subject to an issue, the Lieutenant-Governor, October 2, addressed to the tribe a letter of this purport ;- 'You must perceive, that it is impossible for us in the present ' rupture, to distinguish the men of your tribe from others with ' whom we are at war; and should any of your people be killed ' by our forces, when pursuing the enemy, you must impute the ' misfortune, to your disregard of the proposals made by us, for 'your safety. You are permitted to trade only at St. Georges' ' fort ; and should it be found on enquiry, that any of your tribe ' were concerned in the late mischiefs, war will be proclaimed ' against you. If you will come in with a flag of truce, you shall ' be protected from all wrongs and insults, and if need be, have " a guard to defend you. By complying with the articles of the ' existing treaty, and sending, within eight days after demand ' made, 20 men to join us in arms against the enemy, you are ' assured of receiving every token of our favor; whereas a re- "fusal will be considered a breach of the treaty, sufficient to au- ' thorize our declaration of war against the tribe.'
They delay against the enemy.
Never was a people more sorely pressed. Desirous of keep- to take arms ing peace with the Provincial government, unwilling to separate from their brethren and immemorial allies, and dreading the cen- sures of the catholics, if they failed to take arms against the English, they deliberated till the cup of conciliation was exhaust- ed. A committee of both houses, to whom the subject was re- ferred, reported, that the Commander-in-Chief be desired to pro- claim war against them immediately ; and the report was accept- ed by the House, though rejected by the Council. Shortly after- wards the members of the House sent a message to him, stating, that they had taken into further consideration, the danger and mischiefs to which the people in the Province, especially in the eastern parts, were continually exposed, from the local situation of the Tarratines, who refused or delayed improperly to join the English, and perhaps were abetters of the depredations commit- ted by others, and therefore repeated to him their request. But
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he replied, that it was contrary to his Majesty's instructions to A. D. 1755. declare war without the advice of the Council ; and hence the Nov. 5. War declar- subject was postponed to Nov. 5, when a Proclamation of war ed against was issued and published against them, and the same premiums Penobscot. the tribe at offered for scalps and prisoners, as in other cases. Provision was next made for the winter establishment, in which there were stationed at fort Halifax, and the store-house at Cushnoc 80 regular soldiers ; at Saco truck house 15; at fort George in Brunswick 5; at fort Frederic 20; and at St. Georges' 35 ; all the others in the eastern service being discharged .*
These mingled scenes of civilized and savage warfare, and the Nov. 18. gloom of the season, were rendered more direful by the shock of quake. Earth- an earthquake, the most violent one ever before known in this hemisphere. It happened, Nov. 18, at about 11 minutes after 4 in the morning. Its direction was from north-west to south-east, and it was heard and felt through the whole country, from Ches- apeake bay, to Halifax in Nova Scotia. It commenced with an undulatory motion, and lasted at least four minutes. In Boston it did considerable damage to brick houses as well as chimnies ; and many in Falmouth were injured in like manner. According to the Rev. Mr. Smith, in his Journal,-" it seemed as if it would
shake the house to pieces." Neither of the four great earth- quakes,t which had previously shocked this country since its first settlement, could compare with this. It had a surprizing effect upon the moral sensibilities of the community. The houses of public worship were frequented and filled by all or- ders of people ; and the 23d of December was observed as a day of humiliation and prayer, on account of the awful dispensa- tion.į
An act passed the next day, for the distribution of the French French neutrals through the Province, and the support or relief of them in the different towns, as beneficiary paupers. A number were assigned to Maine. The overseers of the poor were required to make suitable provision for them at the charge of the Province, unless they were remunerated by the crown or by the govern- ment of Nova Scotia. Bigoted to the Romish religion, necessi- tous, disaffected and unhappy, they entertained a settled uncon-
* 9 Jour. H. Rep. p. 248. t Namely, A. D. 1638-1658-1663-1727.
# 2 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 216 .- Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake, Nov. 1, 1755 .- 2 Smollett, p. 562,
Neutrals.
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A. D. 1755. querable dislike of the English, their habits and sentiments ;- and being exiles from their native land, which they loved and longed to see, they were neither enterprizing nor industrious, but an intolerable burthen to the government. According to a Com- mittee's report, Jan. 25, 1760, there were, even at that time, 1,017 of this miserable people within the Province .*
A. D. 1756. A plan of operations and campaigns, for the year, 1756, was January 17. settled in January, at New-York, in a Council of the colonial Four expe- ned. ditions plan- Governors ; Shirley being at that time, Commander-in-Chief of the troops on the American station. It was agreed, that 10,000 men proceed against Crown Point ; 6,000 against Niagara ; 3,000 against Fort du Quesne ; and 2,000 up the Kennebeck river, to destroy the settlements on the Chaudiere, and by rang- ing to the mouth of that river, keep all the neighboring parts of Canada in alarm.
Embarrass- ments of the Province.
When Governor Shirley returned, and laid before the two branches of the General Court, the quotas of men and supplies, to be furnished by the Province; the House stated to him the reasons which rendered a compliance impracticable. They said, it did not then contain so many inhabitants, as it did at the commencement of the last war ; the people were ready to sink under the burden of taxes incurred by the expeditions of the preceding year ; and the government had stretched its credit to the utmost, without being able to borrow money sufficient to pay off their troops lately returned. Only 1,200 men were required at the opening of the last year, and yet the number had been augmented, in the course of the season, to 4,000 and more, be- sides the eastern scouting companies. Nay, the Crown Point expedition itself, cost the Province more than £80,000, exclu- sive of charges for the support of the sick and wounded. Nor were the Provincial troops, by any means satisfied with the treat- ment they had received in the preceding campaigns ;- particu- larly, as they had not been permitted to return home, at the ex- piration of their enlistments. On the contrary, soldiers had been taken from their ranks, to fill up the standing regiments ; and even Winslow and most of his brave men were still in Nova Sco- tia. Another complaint was, the invidious distinctions made be-
* 10 Jour. of House Rep. p. 305 ;-- also 9 Jour. p. 219, 266 .- In 1758, Nova Scotia paid £394 to Massachusetts by way of remuneration for re- lieving those transported neutrals.
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tween the Provincial troops and the British regulars ; the officers A. D. 1756. commissioned by the crown, taking post and precedence of those from the Provinces, who had the same rank and held commis- sions of an older date. The wisdom too of another expedition, as projected against Crown Point, was boldly called in question ; and in short, the ill success of the war drew down upon Shirley, so long as he continued to be Commander-in-Chief, a crush of censures and invectives.
In this dilemma, he agreed to loan the Province £30,000 ster- A loan of ling out of the king's money in his hands, to be repaid by direct tained. £30,000 ob- taxes upon the people, the two following years ; and hence, the Legislature voted to raise 3,500 men, who were to be command- 3,500 men ed by Major-General Winslow, called for that purpose out of raised, to be . voted to be Nova Scotia. But owing partly to an unjust detention in service eral Wins- under Gen- of a battalion, sent the year preceding into Nova Scotia, and the low. impressment of sailors by the king's ships, from the eastern ves- sels and even from the fishing craft, the enlistments were so slow, that on the 26th of May, General Winslow had only 2,600 men May 26. upon the rolls.
In June, the king of Great Britain published a declaration of War de- war against France !- and the same month, General Aber- against clared crombie, arriving with an army, took the chief command from France. General Shirley, which he held till he was himself superseded, Abercrom- General late in July, by the earl of Loudoun. Recalled for the ostensi- bie. ble purpose of giving the ministry a minute account of American doun. Lord Lou- affairs, Gov. Shirley embarked from Boston, Sept. 25, and was Shirley never afterwards in the Governor's chair. His intermarriage with chair and leaves the a catholic lady, when he was last in Europe, and his ill success ince. the Prov- in managing the present war, had rendered him unpopular, and Sept. 25. finally caused his removal from the government of Massachusetts to that of the Bahamas .*
The force appointed in March, for the protection of the fron- s. Wheel- tiers in Maine, consisted of 300 men exclusive of officers, and wright of the troops in service there, during the winter. These recruits ry General. Commissa- were divided into scouting parties, and directed to range from place to place, mostly according to the plan and order of the pre-
* Gov. Shirley returned to Roxbury in 1770, and died there the follow- ing year, in April, " a poor man," though very respectfully interred. He was Governor of the Province from July 1740, to Sept. 1756. Nor was a successor appointed till the middle of the following year.
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A. D. 1756. ceding year. John Wheelwright of Wells, Commissary General, and superintendent of the Indian trade, was instructed to take care of the munitions of war in the eastern country ; to see that the forts and garrisons were in a defensible condition ; and to procure all extra supplies necessary for the Kennebeck expedition.
The In- dians attack Burton's garrison.
A general alarm,
The settlements which the Indians seemed to have marked first for destruction, this spring, were those upon the river St. Georges'. Benjamin Burton, had reared a commodious fortifi- cation around his house, near the mouth of the river, [in Cush- ing,] which might be well guarded by 7 or 8 men. Yet the In- dians commenced their outrages by an attack, March 24, upon that place ; in which they killed two men and scalped a third, leaving him half-dead. The next news was the story of a young man by the name of Knights, who, having escaped from the enemy, three days after he was taken, came into North-Yarmouth and told that 120 Indians, divided into small parties, were pre- paring to fall upon the frontiers at different places, and spread desolation from Saco to Brunswick. Alarmed by this intelli- gence, Captains Ilsley, Milk and Skillings, with companies sud- denly collected, and Captain Smith with a re-enforcement from North-Yarmouth and New-Casco, went out in search of the sav- ages ; but they were too well acquainted with the woods and with ambush, to be discovered. Still it was certain, there were plun- dering parties hovering around the settlements ; for depredations were committed by the Indians at several different places about the same time.
The Indians at Bruns- wick and New-Glou- cester.
They appeared next at North-Yarmouth ; and at Flying-point they killed a man and took a woman captive. On the 3d of May, three men, well armed, went from Harpswell to Brunswick, and on their return in the afternoon, three Indians rose up among the trees and bushes at a place called Smith's Brook, and firing, wounded Young, one of the scout and took him prisoner. The others threw down their guns and fled. They were pursued by two of the assailants, about a mile ; who, when coming in sight of a house which was barricaded, gave up the chase. Return- ing, they bound Young, and carried him to Canada. In about a year he obtained his liberty, and took a water passage to Hali- fax, where he died of the smallpox .* New-Gloucester being
* MS. Let. of Rev. S. Eaton.
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greatly exposed to the ravages of the enemy ; a large block- A. D. 1756. house was erected there two years since, for an asylum and de- fence of the settlers, which had been offered to government with a request to make it a Provincial garrison. Indeed, so extreme- ly perilous was considered the condition of this people, that every inhabitant, in 1756, was promised the value of £2, old tenor, in provisions, who would abide in the place twelve months .*
At Wind-
In the morning of May 14, at 8 of the clock, t ten men, inhab- May 14. itants of New-Marblehead [Windham,] started from the fort with ham. an ox team and sled, to work upon the farm of Mr. Brown, one of the company, a mile distant. Armed with their guns as usual, they proceeded the greater part of the way, when Brown and Winship, who were in advance taking down the bars, received a shot from a body of at least 20 Indians in ambush. Brown having two balls lodged in his heart died instantly. A ball passed through the eye of Winship, and another entered his arm, and he fell. The Indians supposing his wounds fatal, scalped him as well as his companion. But though he feigned himself life- less, he was perfectly conscious of all that transpired. Hearing the report of the guns, four of the others hastened back to the fort, and the rest advanced in sight of the spot, the Indians still keeping themselves concealed. Abraham Anderson and Stephen Manchester, crept near the place with the utmost silence, and hid themselves behind a large log. The latter then raised his cap on the muzzle of his gun behind a tree ; when Poland, a noted Indian warrior, believing it to be a man's head, fired and lodged a heavy charge in the tree. As he turned and began to load his gun, Manchester rose and shot him to the ground. The Indians killed. Poland then raised a hideous yell and fled into the woods. The bodies of Brown and Winship being laid upon the sled, were returned to the fort. An alarm gun having been fired at that place, brought thither from Saccarappa,# where a company was stationed, a party of soldiers, who pursued the enemy till night. At a place called the Great Meadows, they overtook an Indian, bearing two packs and two guns, and shot him. On receiving the wound, he
* Prop. Rec. of New-Gloucester-A. R. Giddings, Esq.
t 1 Minot, p. 300 .- He says, " in the month of April"-erroneously .- Smith's Journal, p. 65, says, Capt. Skillings killed one, and the "Indians left 5 packs, a bow, and bunch of arrows.
# This was S. W. of Presumpscot river, and northerly of Stroudwater. VOL. II. 41
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A. D. 1756. was seen to fall ; but he rose, relieved of his burden, and made good his escape. One gun and also one pack was known to be Poland's, by a small looking-glass and some other articles it con- tained .- Manchester was a man of great courage,-perfectly acquainted with the woods and with the Indian manner of fight- ing. He knew Poland to be an inveterate enemy of the settlers, and once, in a time of peace, he went with his brother to the savage's camp with intent to despatch him. But, as several Indians were present,-when he raised his axe to strike at Poland's head, the courage of his brother failed him, and nothing was done .- ' Before I killed Poland,' Manchester says, 'I had a ' mind to give him a call; but on the whole, thought it better to " send him a leaden message :'-and through subsequent life, he said he always noticed the 14th of May, as " the day he sent the " devil a present."-Poland claimed all the lands on both sides of the Presumpscot river from its sources to its mouth ; and was resolutely determined never to make a lasting peace with the English, till what he claimed as a right should be restored. He was shrewd, subtle and brave,-and reputed to be a chief. Mr. Bolton, a redeemed captive, stated, after his return from Canada, that when he asked some of the party, what had become of Po- land, they said, ' he had gone to Mississippi with an hundred men.' But after peace, his comrades told, how they bent a stad- dle, till its roots on one side were turned up, then taking off one arm to be deposited in some holy catholic burying-ground, they placed his body beneath the roots, and let the tree spring to its former position .*
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