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 6
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Through the summer and autumn, our cruisers were continu- Our vessels ally on the eastern coast; nevertheless, the French privateers seized and took seven of our vessels and carried them into Port-Royal. Port-Royal. carried to Nor could the remaining towns and plantations in Maine prevent Kittery and York at- tacked. or escape attacks and losses, though they had regular sentries, nightwatches and videttes perpetually in service; for they lost, during the season, as many as twenty-one or two of their inhab- itants, killed or carried into captivity. In Kittery, at Spruce- Creek, five were slain and as many made captives. Among the former was Mrs. Hoel, a gentlewoman of very respectable connex- ions and fine accomplishments. Enoch Hutchins lost his wife and children ; John Rogers, three weeks after, was dangerously wounded ; and James Toby was shot. Another party of eighteen Indians, rushing from the woods, October 15th, seized Mr. Sto- ver's four children, near the garrison at Cape-Neddock, in York.
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A. D. 1705. One, being too young to travel, they knocked on the head, and another they afterwards killed, probably amid torture, out of re- taliatory revenge, according to savage usage; because one of the assailants was shot down on his retreat.
A. D. 1706. There were some apprehensions of an attack upon the frontier in the subsequent winter ; owing principally to intelligence receiv- ed from Col. Schuyler of Albany, that a force of 270 men was preparing to march from Canada to some place unknown. There- fore Governor Dudley, ever watchful of the enemy, gave orders for a circular scouting march, once a month, round the head of the towns, from Kingston, N. H. to Salmon Falls .- The enemy Cruelties of first appeared in Maine, at Kittery, April 29, where a party of the Indians at Kittery. them rising from an ambush, upon Mr. Shapleigh and his son, as they were travelling through the town, killed the father and car- ried the son to Canada. On their march, the savages exhibited a specimen of their barbarous disposition ; for they bit off the ends of their young prisoner's fingers, and to prevent their bleed- ing, seared them with burning-hot tobacco-pipes. There were likewise other instances of cruelty. One Sampson, an overgrown savage, undertook to hang Rebecca Taylor, his prisoner, with his girdle tied around her neck and drawn over the limb of a tree. But, unexpectedly, his girdle broke, and she, half suspended, fell. This so exasperated the monster, that he was about to plunge his hatchet into her head, when the noted Bomaseen, passing that way, humanely rescued the fair sufferer from her pains and perils.
Ravages in Massachu- Much mischief was perpetrated, this summer, by the Indians, betts and N. at Dover, Exeter, and Dunstable, in New-Hampshire ; and at Hampshire. Groton, Chelmsford, and Sudbury, in Massachusetts ; and hence the government resolved upon a more vigorous prosecution of the war. In a new tariff of bounties, for every Indian scalp, a regu- lar soldier was offered £10; a volunteer, without wages, £20, and without being furnished with rations or supplies, £50; yet, so shy and seldom seen were the savages, that it is said, every Indian scalped, killed or taken, cost the Province £1000.
The Indians tired of the war.
But, fortunately, the tribes considered the war a burden, and were heartily tired of it, as was conceded by the French them- selves. Usually, a war of three years' continuance is long enough for Indians. In the present war, they may have gratified their revenge,-certainly they had acquired no permanent advantage, no considerable booty, or other emolument. They had not utter-
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ly destroyed a single town or plantation in Massachusetts or New- A. D, 1706, Hampshire ; and those they had laid waste in Maine, yielded nothing to the destroyers. The white men of this age were well acquainted with the manner of savage warfare, and were more than a match for their foes. The unhappy natives saw their tribes wasted and distressed, liable to be utterly extirpated from the beloved land of their fathers ; and yet unable elsewhere to obtain a support for themselves and for their needy families.
A neutrality was proposed by the Canadian French, which is Forces de- supposed to have been rejected. Charlevoix" says, that Gov. against P. signed Dudley in this dilemma was 'much affected with the cries of Canada. Royal and ' the inhabitants, no longer able to improve their lands, which ' were continually ravaged by the Indians ; and he thought the 'only way to put an end to their distress, was to remove the ' French from Acadia,' It is true, the Governor had great rea- son to expect, that a complete conquest both of that country and Canada would soon be attempted ; since the promise of an arma- ment from England, the current year, remained unperformed, only because of some changes in the political affairs of the realm. He was exceedingly anxious to see Port-Royal reduced ; as such an event would complete the entire conquest of Nova Sco- tia, and convert it into an English Province. It would also serve to shew, that, though it were falsely said, the Governor's impolitic management of affairs towards that Province had cost Massachusetts £30,000, he was successful as well as indefatiga- ble in his labors and plans for the public good.
Another excursion eastward, was undertaken by the estimable Colonel Hilton, in January, 1707 ; and a shallop was sent to Casco with stores and provisions for his forces, consisting of 220 at Black- men. So mild and unsettled was the weather, however, and point. open the winter, that they were unable to prosecute their march to the extent intended ; yet in pursuing an Indian track upon which they struck, near Black-point, they surprised and killed four savages, and took captive a middle aged squaw with a pap- poose. To save her life, she conducted them to a party of eighteen, lying asleep on a neck of land not far distant and un- guarded ; all of whom except one, they killed about break of
A. D. 1707. Col. Hil- ton's success
* 2 Charlevoix's N. F. p. 313.
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A. D. 1707. day, and took the other a prisoner .* This occasioned the great- er joy and triumph, because of the difficulty, at this period, of coming across the Indians or finding their haunts.
Col March's expedition against l'. Royal.
May 26.
Early in the spring, the Governor raised two regiments for the eastern service ; and gave the command of them to Cols. Wainwright and Hilton. The officers embarked with the troops, at Nantasket, May 13, in 23 transports, convoyed by the Dept- ford man of war and the Province galley, and furnished with a competent number of whale-boats. The chief command of the expedition was given to Col. March ; who was well beloved by the soldiers, and had behaved bravely in several scouts, and ren- counters with the enemy, though never tried in service difficult like the present. Arriving at Port-Royal, on the 26th, about 1000 men were disembarked ; and a skirmish ensued, in which Subercase had his horse shot under him and retired ; while the inhabitants took shelter in the fort. Misapprehending its force and condition, a council of war supposed it "was more than a match for our raw undisciplined army ;" and the forces all re- embarked, June 7, in a disorderly manner.} Several of the officers went to Boston for further orders; and some of the transports put in at Casco, and one at Portsmouth. The Gov- ernor at Boston, being thrown off his guard by the inciting influ- ences of passion and chagrin, declared if another vessel arrived, not a man should come ashore " on pain of death." He was de- termined, and at last by dint of effort, was able to effect a rally and return to the siege of Port-Royal. Yet thinking it inexpe- dient actually to supersede Col. March in the command, the Governor appointed three gentlemen of the Council, supervisors of the enterprize now so boldly renewed. The troops relanded before the town, August 10 ;- but the spirits of March were crippled and his health affected,-the men were sickly, and dis- heartened,-the enemy's forces were increasing ; and no means could inspire an union, firmness and skill equal to the emergency. In ten days the whole affair was at an end ; yet the army though sufficiently mortified, really sustained no greater loss than sixteen killed and as many wounded.
Aug. 10.
* The report of this affair with little variation from the truth, was in cir- culation at Portsmouth, on the morning it happened, though 60 miles dis- tant .- Penhallow's Indian War, p. 40.
+ 2 Charlevoix, p. 318-321.
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In consequence of this unfortunate expedition, the French A. D. 1707. were much more able to arouse the Indians to a renewal of their All the eas- spoliations. Beginning tlie last of June, 1707, they, in the course men's as- tern settle- of three months, made bold advances against Kittery, Berwick, sailed. York, Wells, Casco and Winter-Harbor, being all the surviving towns and garrisons in Maine. As if actuated by personal malevo- lence towards William Carpenter, a party pushed forward to his dwellinghouse, in Kittery, and slew him and all his family. Four Kittery. men, riding in company with Mrs. Littlefield, on the road between York and Wells, were waylaid, August 10th, and all slain except Aug. 10. one, who hardly escaped an equally expected fate. Mrs. Little- Wells. field had money to the amount of $200 about her person, of all which, it is said, the same bloody hands plundered her. After- wards Mr. Littlefield, Lieutenant of the latter town, was taken and carried to Canada. The savages seemed both to hate and fear all men of military titles, rank, or character. But fishermen were mere playthings in their clutches. Lurking about Casco, Casco. they intercepted a fishing smack, sailing among the Islands, and, as in like cases, they made an easy conquest of her and her crew, killing three of them and taking the other two prisoners.
Yet much the boldest movement made this year, was on the A severe 21st of September, by a party of 150 Indians, coming in 50 ca- Saco. noes* to Winter-Harbor. Here they attempted to take possession of two shallops lying at anchor, while Capt. Austin, Mr. Har- mon, John Cole, sergeant of the garrison, and five others were on board. By waiting till the enemy was near, and then all fir- ing at once, they threw the savage flotilla into great confusion. Recovering themselves, (as the narrator says,) the Indians re- turned a discharge of musquetry, with so much spirit, that our men were forced to abandon one of the shallops ; and entering the other, we cut her cables, endeavored to spread the sails, and put to sea. The Indians, instantly taking possession of the little prize, had up the mainsail, before ours was half mast; and plied their oars and paddles so dexterously on each side, as to render their pursuit fearful. Their bark however, was a dull sailor, and themselves unskilful mariners ; and when they saw they were falling astern of their competitors, a number of them, in a dozen canoes, by means of fishlines, undertook to tow her ahead. In
* They usually appeared " three in a canoe."
skirmish at
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A. D. 1707 the chase, a breath of air breezed up, and by hauling her too near the wind, she came several times to stays,-which greatly retarded her progress. A perpetual firing was kept up by the parties on each other ; and so near together were they at times, -so smart was the skirmish,-and so daring the Indians, that they attempted to seize the blades of the oars, as our men were rowing. The engagement lasted about three hours ; and when the chase ceased, our men had scarcely five charges of pow- der left. Our loss was only one man, Benjamin Daniel, fatally wounded in his bowels ; who exclaimed, I am a dead man, but give me a gun to kill one more before I go :- Yet the brave man had not strength to fire. About nine of the enemy were killed in this well-fought skirmish, and twice as many wounded.
Berwick again beset.
The last outrage of the Indians this season, in Maine, was at Berwick ; where a small scouting party of them killed two, as they were returning from public worship. This aroused the in- habitants, and a band of them, acquainted with their paths, laid in wait for them, and thus by having the first fire, threw them into such consternation, that they dropped their packs, contain- ing three, scalps and some articles of value, and fled to the woods.
The misery of Maine.
This was a most trying year to the remaining people of this Province. They could not even stir abroad, though well armed, without imminent hazard of their lives. They were under the ne- cessity of crowding their families into garrisoned houses, and tilling lands, only where they were situated within call from the sentry-boxes. The lumber trade and fishery were wholly at an end ;* the means of a livelihood were extremely slender ; and all anticipations of speedy relief appeared truly desperate, as the fifth summer had now closed, without any prospect of peace.
A. D. 1708. A year of some res- pite.
But happily for the Province, it lost only two of its inhabitants in the next year, 1708 ;- these were Robert Read and David Hutchins, who were killed at Kittery. In the succeeding year, the people suffered comparatively nothing from the enemy's in- cursions ; and therefore hopes began to be entertained, that the days of extreme darkness and distress were passed.
Various rumors however, during the current season continually
* Gov. Dudley's speech, 1709.
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agitated the public ; and scouts were all the time in service. A. D. 1708 Spy-boats were also kept out along the coast between Piscataqua Alarming and Winter-Harbor. At length, a story was sent into circulation, rumors. by way of Albany, that there was a great army collecting in the north, which consisted of Canadian volunteers and Indian warriors from different tribes,-such as the Algonquins, the Hu- rons, the Mohawks, and the St. Francois Indians-to be joined by the Abenaques and Tarratines ; and that the whole force was preparing to attack suddenly some part of the New-England frontiers. This was a French manoeuvre to unite all these na- tives, and bring them, if possible, to act in concert against the common enemy. The Hurons commenced their march, July July 16. 16; when one of them accidentally killed his companion ;- an event, which all considering an ill omen to the expedition, they turned back. The Mohawks said their men were affected with a contagious distemper, and refused to proceed. Nevertheless; Vaudreuil, nowise discouraged, sent to his officers fresh orders; -directing them to prosecute the enterprise, even if "the Al- gonquins and St. Francois Indians themselves should leave him also." Therefore two hundred of them or more proceeded on ; and, though disappointed, in not receiving a re-enforcement at the place appointed, from the Abenaques and Tarratines, they surprised Haverhill, in the night of August 29, and made it a Haverhill heap of ruins. But they proceeded no farther ;- for the eas- August 29. destroyed. tern Indians were quite needy, and heartily desirous of peace. If we may credit a letter of Subercase to a friend, 'the Mick- ' maks were naked ; and the Indians on the Kennebeck and Pe- ' nobscot would be so too, had they not carried on a trade with ' the English, through the medium of the natives about Hudson ' river, where a pound of beaver was worth a crown, and goods ' were sold at a reasonable price.' "Thus," says Charlevoix, "our own enemies relieved our most faithful Indian allies in their " necessities ; while they were daily hazarding their lives in our "service."*
To weaken the enemy, or hold him more effectually in check, A. D. 1709. Nicholson's
and to retrieve the political character of the government, in some expedition measure sullied by former expeditions against Port-Royal ; anoth- Scotia. against N.
* 4 Charlevoix, p. 100-20, 3d vol. p. 452-65.
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A. D. 1709. er was about to be undertaken .* Of this, Francis Nicholson, late Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, was appointed Commander- in-Chief, and Samuel Vetch, before mentioned, a late trader to Nova Scotia, well acquainted with the Acadian settlements, was Adjutant-General. In England, they had obtained the queen's promise, to send over several ships of war to aid in the enter- prise. But none arriving, the whole project failed .- The Mo- 'Treachery of the Mo- hawks. hawks, though they had lately joined the English, were both jeal- ous and treacherous. One of their speakers in a great assembly previously holden, said with boldness,-' You know the English ' and French are each a great people ; if one of them should ' destroy the other, the conqueror will strive to make us slaves.' Besides this, there was a report, that these Indians threw skins into the stream, where the English soldiery had lately encamped, near lake Champlain, which gave the water poisonous qualities.t
Governor's scouts.
In February, the Governor says, 'twenty days since, accord- 'ing to my former usage, I marched a scout of 150 men from ' Casco bay to all the old settlements or lodgements of the In- ' dians in the Province of Maine, in order to keep them from ' their dwelling-places, and convince them their new masters, the ' French, were unable to defend them ; though they have suppli- ' ed them with ammunition, and assisted them to carry on the war ' against us, about thirty years .- So bigoted,' adds he, 'are the ' French to the Romisli religion, so inveterate against all protes- ' tants, and such their colonial contiguity to New-England, that ' we shall never be long at rest, until Canada and Nova Scotia ' shall constitute a part of the British Empire.' The Indians themselves might be easily rendered tranquil, were they removed from French influence ;- for they were, this year, actually suing for peace ; a delegation being sent from Kennebeck to Boston, with a flag of truce. Nor were the eastern tribes generally en- gaged with the French in their movements, either the last or present year. They had been told of some disagreeable things, stated of them in Canada, which had given affront; and at the instance of their delegates, the government sent Mr. Lewis Bane, of York, to Sagadahock, clothed with authority to make arrange- ments for negotiating a treaty.
'The Indians sue for peace.
* To meet the expense, £15,000 were emitted in bills ; and July 17, the Govenor says, 1,200 men are raised, and 17 transports provided .- 7 Mass. Rec. p. 426. + Penhallow.
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But the conquest of Port-Royal, in the spring of 1710, was A. D. 1710. the great and absorbing topic. Nicholson had been several New expe- months in England, pressing upon the ministry the most weighty against Port dition arguments and solicitations in favor of the enterprise ; and on the July 15. Royal. 15th of July, the fleet arrived in Boston, himself being on board. In conformity to the queen's command, four regiments were im- mediately raised in New-England, commanded by Charles Hob- by and Col. Tailer of Massachusetts, Col. Whiting of Con- necticut, and Col. Walton of New-Hampshire. There were besides, a royal regiment of marines, commanded by Col. Red- ding. Nicholson, as before, was Commander-in-Chief, and Vetch, Adjutant-General ;- the officers being commissioned by the queen. The fleet consisted of the Dragon, Chester, and Martin, 4th rates ; the Leostaffe, and Feversham, 5th rates ; the Star, a bomb-ketch ; the Province galley ; a tender, and four transports from England, and 24 colony transports, *- in all, 36 sail, besides hospital and store ships, and open floats, carrying boards and necessaries for the cannon.
They sailed September 18th, and all arrived safely before Port- Sept. 24. Royal, on the 24th, except one transport, commanded by Capt. Taye, which, running ashore at the mouth of the river, was lost, and 26 men in her, drowned. The forces were landed without opposition. Subercase, the Governor, had only 260 effective men with him ; and the most of these he was afraid to employ beyond the limits of his out-works, through fear of their desertion. As the army was marching towards the fort, several men were killed by particular aim of the inhabitants, cowering behind houses and fences. Our engineers had three batteries open, Oct. 1, within 100 yards of the fort, from which a heavy cannonading was commenced, and continued without intermission. Suber- case, in the evening was summoned to surrender, when he agreed upon a cessation of arms, and the next day, signed articles of capitulation.+ By these, the fortress, munitions of war and other effects of the French crown, were transferred to the Queen of England ; the inhabitants within a league of the fort,} with
Capitula- tion of Su- bercase and , P. Royal.
* That is, 14 were in the pay of Massachusetts-5 of Connecticut-3 of Rhode-Island, and 2 of New-Hampshire .- 2 Hutchinson's History, p. 164. t See particulars, Penhallow's Indian Wars,-1 Coll. N. H. Hist. Soc. p. 63-67.
Į The number of souls within these limits was 481 .- 2 Hutch. Hist. p. 167.
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A. D. 1710. their property, were, upon taking the oath of allegiance, to be protected, two years ; and the prisoners were to be transported to . France or be permitted to remove to Canada or Placentia, at their election .*
Col. Vetch, Governor.
Annapolis,
The English lost only 14 or 15 men, besides those who miser- ably perished in the transport. The place and the people within the protective privileges of the article, was called by General Nicholson, ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, in compliment to the queen. Leaving Col. Vetch, appointed Governor of the country, in com- mand of the garrison, and with him 200 marines, and 250 vol- unteers, he returned safely to Boston, Oct. 26, attended by the fleet and army. The expedition cost New-England £23,000, which were afterwards reimbursed by parliament. +
Levingston and Castine ada.
It was'agreed before Nicholson embarked from Annapolis, to sent to Can- send Major Levingston, a meritorious officer of the army, and Cas- tine the younger, who was among the French in the garrison, with despatches to Governor Vaudreuil in Canada ; informing him, that Acadia had fallen into the hands of the English ; that all its inhabitants, except those within the pale of Port-Royal, were prisoners at discretion ; and that if the barbarities, practised upon the frontiers of New-England by the savages, under his control, were not discontinued, reprisals would be made, or re- taliation inflicted, upon the French of Nova Scotia.t
Their jour pey.
The messengers with three Indian guides, proceeded to Pe- nobscot, where Castine spent a few days with his family, at 'Biguyduce ; Levingston in the mean time receiving from him every mark of hospitality and attention. They then paddled up the river in their canoes " to the Island of Lett, where they met " with fifty canoes, and twice as many Indians, besides women " and children."§ This was probably Oldtown. Here the In- dians detained them, several days; in which time, a prisoner taken shortly before at Winter-Harbor, had, in hunting with his master on a neighboring Island, effected his escape, carrying off both the Indian's canoe and gun. This so exasperated the native,
* Articles entire, Ib. p. 166-7 .- Subercase styled himself " Daniel Au- "ger of Subercase, Governor of I,'Accada, of Cape Breton Island and of " land from Cape Rosier, as far west as Kennebeck River."-Muss. Let, Book, p. 104-5. + 1 Halliburton's N. S. p. 88.
# 2 Charlevoix's N. F. p. 312-6 .- 39 Univ. Hist. p. 257-8.
§ Penhallow's Indian Wars .- 1 Col. N. H. Hist. Soc. p. 87.
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that he determined to kill the first white man he saw ; and there- A. D. 1710. fore the moment he again met with Levingston, he seized him by the throat, and drawing back his hatchet, would have despatched him with a single stroke, had not the noble-spirited Castine thrust himself between them, and rescued his companion from instant death. They left Oldtown, or Lett, Nov. 4, and were 42 days in the woods, before they arrived at Quebec. The day after they started, Levingston's canoe was overset, his gun and all he had were sunk, and one of the guides drowned. The other canoe, when the ice made, became leaky and entirely unsafe ; and hence they were obliged to leave it and perform the rest of their tedi- ous journey on land. They travelled by their compass ; and much of the weather was so stormy or foggy, that for nineteen days in succession, they never saw the sun. They travelled over some mountains, through dismal deserts, and around ponds and heads of rivers ; oftentimes fording streams unknown and dangerous, traversing swamps thick with spruces and cedars, and some days wading in snow knee-deep. To aggravate their sufferings and their fears of perishing,-six days before they could reach a human habitation, they had consumed all their provisions ; subsisting afterwards upon the leaves of wild vege- tables, the inner rinds of trees, and a few dried berries, they oc- casionally found.
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