USA > New Hampshire > Colony, province, state, 1623-1888: history of New Hampshire > Part 31
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General Peabody was undoubtedly possessed of abilities far above the average, and rendered valuable service as a legislator
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to his State and country, and in his professional capacity to the sick and suffering. We can make allowance for faults of tem- per, and even for more serious defects, in one who so staunchly defended the rights of his country in the hour of her sorest
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trial, and bore so important a part in laying the foundations of the nation's prosperity and greatness.
Where the town-house now is, Joseph Gilman lived in 1776, in the gambrel-roofed house which, having been reduced one story in height, now occupies a place on the north side of Franklin
TOWN HOUSE, EXETER.
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street. Mr. Gilman was bred to mercantile pursuits, and for several years before the Revolution was a member of the firm of Folsom, Gilman & Gilman, which did a large business in Exeter, in trade, in shipbuilding, and in ventures at sea. A printed shop-bill of the concern has been preserved, which shows that almost as great a variety of merchandise found a sale among the good people of Exeter three or four generations ago as now.
Noah Emery, a name handed down for generations there, was a paymaster in Colonel Isaac Wyman's regiment, and com- missary. In the latter capacity he had the charge of a large amount of stores, which tradition says were housed in a build- ing in Spring street, familiarly termed "the State's barn." It is of Paymaster Emery that a story is told, that being ordered to carry some dispatches by night on horseback in a strange part of the country, he crossed a bridge on his way, which he did not discover till the next day had been previously stripped of its planking. His horse had cautiously felt his way over it, upon the timbers, while the rider was all unconscious of the fearful risk he was running. The statement would hardly be credited, if there were not authentic accounts of other similar occurrences. The duties performed by Mr. Emery under the direction of the State authorities must have kept him very busy. He was employed frequently in the purchase, forwarding, and distribu- tion among the troops of the various needed supplies, and was relied on to transact much incidental business. Indeed, toward the close of the war, he and John Taylor Gilman, afterwards governor of the State, appear to have attended to most of the wants of the New Hampshire troops. Perhaps Colonel Elipha- let Giddings, the collector of the " beef tax," should be included with them.
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Dr. Samuel Tenney was a surgeon in one of the Rhode Island regiments. He had previously settled in Exeter, and returned and married a wife there at the expiration of his service. He was a person of uncommon literary and scientific attain- ments, and contributed articles to the publications of the Ameri- can Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a topographical account
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of Exeter to the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He felt a warm interest in political matters, also, and was for seven years a representative in Congress. He likewise held the office of judge of Probate, and was highly respected.
Another citizen of Exeter who served in the medical depart- ment of the army was Dr. William Parker, jr. He was a grandson of Judge William Parker of Portsmouth, whose father is alleged, against all probability, to have married a daughter of the Eng- lish patrician house of Derby. Dr. Parker died in Exeter of yellow fever, which he contracted from a patient.
1 The provincials professed perfect loyalty, and assumed self- government only during " the present unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain." But as the struggle went on, the popular ideas became modified, and the public came at length to comprehend that it was idle to expect to reunite ties which the sword had sundered.
A few sagacious minds had foreseen this from the outset. It is due to the able leaders of the popular movement in New Hampshire that it should be generally known that they contem- plated the assumption of independence, and suggested it in an eloquent official letter from their convention of delegates to the Continental Congress as early as the 23rd of May, 1775. This is the first allusion to the subject in any known communi- cation from an organized body in the country.
As the sentiment of the whole people became gradually ripe for the final step of separation from Britain, movements were made in the colonial legislatures looking to that result. In New Hampshire a committee of both Houses reported, on the fifteenth of June, 1776, instructions to "our delegates in the Continental Congress to join with the other colonies in declar- ing the Thirteen United Colonies a FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATE ; solemnly pledging our faith and honor that we will on our parts support the measure with our Lives and Fortunes."
From this time forward there was impatience in the breast of every true friend of liberty to blot out the very memory of subjection, to make way for the new and glorious career that was
I Governor (. H. Bell.
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opening for the infant nation. The action of Congress was waited for, anxiously, longingly, eagerly.
At length the wished-for moment arrived. An express dashed into the village of Exeter, bearing a letter addressed to the Convention of New Hampshire, and authenticated by the manly signature of John Hancock. The legislature had ad- journed, but the president was there, perhaps waiting for the im- portant missive. It was determined that the contents of the letter, containing the glad tidings of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, should be forthwith publicly read.
The honor of pronouncing for the first time in New Hamp- shire the impressive periods of that unequalled production, was appropriately devolved upon John Taylor Gilman. No firing of cannon or ringing of bells was needed to give eclat to the occasion ; the general joy was too sincere and heartfelt to . find expression in noisy demonstrations. Meshech Weare, the president of the State, Mathew Thornton, who was himself soon to set his hand to the instrument, General Folsom and Colonel Pierce Long and Ebenezer Thompson, all members of the Com- mittee of Safety, and tried and true patriots, were present. The news had spread with the speed of lightning through the town. The farmer dropped his scythe in the swath, the mechanic left his saw in the kerf, and even the goodwife forsook her spin- ning wheel, while all gathered to hear the words which they felt were to give them freedom and a country. But perhaps there was no one of the audience whose heart was thrilled more deeply by the immortal declaration than Colonel Nicholas Gilman, the father of him who read it. He had put his whole life and energy into the cause of his country ; he foresaw that nothing but formal separation from the parent state would prevent his dearest hopes from going down in darkness; he welcomed the words which rent the brightest jewel from Britain's crown with joy and thankfulness unutterable. The reader, from filial as well as patriotic sensibility, shared his emotion, and there were pauses when the rush of feeling o'ermastered speech.
Exeter has witnessed many returns of the anniversary of our National Birthday, and has listened to the utterances of lips
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touched with the living coal of eloquence ; but the first reading of the Declaration of Independence, on the 18th of July, 1776, enchained the attention with a significance and power which have never since been paralleled. 1
The executive power was, by the form of government adopted by the House of Representatives in 1776, retained by the legisla- ture during their sessions, and during recesses was entrusted to a Committee of Safety.
The Declaration of Independence was issued by the Conti- mental Congress July 4, 1776; and the colonies took an irrevocable step toward establishing a distinct government. Within a few days it was published in all the shire towns of New Hampshire by beat of drum. The single question was whether the colonies should become conquered provinces or independent States.
The very name of royalty became hateful to the people. Pic- tures, escutcheons, even signboards which reminded of royalty, were defaced or taken down. The coin, with effigy of the King, was in disrepute.
The new Assembly established courts of justice, and en- couraged the fitting out of privateers. Paper money was made legal tender ; and the name State of New Hampshire was adopted. The whole system of English law, except so far as it conflicted with the new order of things, was adopted.
The frigate Raleigh, thirty-two guns, was launched at Ports- mouth in May, 1776, sixty days after the keel was laid. Powder mills were also established.
Two thousand men were enlisted, under the same officers as the preceding year ; a garrison of three hundred men was posted at Portsmouth ; and a regiment, under Colonel Timothy Bedel, was raised in the western part of the State for the invasion of Canada.
The three New Hampshire regiments under General John Sullivan served at New York, and later as part of the force sent to relieve the American army, which was retreating from
1 Governor C. H. Bell.
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Canada. During the campaign the troops suffered greatly from small-pox, nearly one third of their number dying.1
2 In 1777 Colonel Weare was appointed chief justice of the State. He was thus invested with the highest legislative, exe- cutive, and judicial authority at the same time, a fact that proves the entire confidence of the people in his capacity and honor. When the new constitution was adopted in 1783, and a presi- dent was wanted under the same, the eyes of all the people of the State turned to Meshech Weare. He accordingly was elected the first president of New Hampshire. On account of ill health President Weare resigned the office before the close of the polit- ical year and was succeeded by John Langdon. After his re- tirement from the chief magistracy, Meshech Weare lived for the most part in seclusion and the undisturbed enjoyment of those rights and privileges which he, in common with his countrymen, had labored so long, so arduously, and so successfully to obtain and secure. At length, in his seventy-third year, it became evi- dent that the patriot's days were numbered. He died on the 14th of January, 1786. His remains were interred at Hampton Falls, with all the honors due to a hero whose patriotism had been pure, and whose acts had added so eminently to the glory of his native State.
There is no known portrait existing of Governor Wcare. His is the only face missing in the collection of portraits of the chief magistrates of New Hampshire which hang on the walls of the council chamber at the State Capitol. There is, however, definite and authentic information as to what manner of man he was. Colonel J. M. Weare gives this description of Governor Weare, derived from his father, who remembered how his famous rela- tive looked : "Meshech Weare was six fect and an inch in height, slimmish, and very straight. The Weare family for genera- tions have been tall and slender. The governor's hair was black before it turned silvery, his eyes a dark gray or hazel, surmount- ed by overhanging brows. His features were large but noble, and indomitable will and lordly majesty was stamped on every line and lineament of his countenance." Such is the portrait of New
I Belknap.
2 Fred Myron Colby.
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Hampshire's great Revolutionary governor, as given by one of his name. We have no doubt that it is a true one ; at any rate it entirely agrees with our conception of him.
The house in which he lived is one of those fine old home- steads with which the mind readily associates all manner of in- teresting and romantic tales. It is in the best of old-fashioned styles, large, substantial, the square post being forty-four by forty feet, and the ell nearly as large, with a huge chimney at either end, the general aspect impressing one with a sense that it is a contented old house, eminently respectable, and possessing a weight of dignity which is the growth of many years. The four large elms that toss their branches in the breeze in front of the house, and whose leaves shimmer with their bright green in the sunlight, have heavy trunks, rough and moss covered. One of them was transplanted by the governor more than one hundred and thirty years ago. The house itself was built in 1735, by Mr. Shaw, the father of the governor's second wife.
Here Washington was seen once, coming in from Cambridge in his carriage drawn by four horses, looking wonderfully like an English nobleman, with his courtly manners and rich suit, but with his face grave and solemn with the cares and responsibili- ties of his exalted position. Perhaps with him came his step- son and aide-de-camp, John Parker Custis, on his fair, aristocratic Virginian face the shadow of that destiny that had marked him for an early grave.
Hither also came the Wentworths, uncle and nephew, who held viceregal sway at Portsmouth, the one portly, florid, some- what pompous, dressed in diamonds and lace and broadcloth, like an English earl, the other handsome, chivalric, enterprising, his eyes keen, his manners democratic, wearing his pride and his dignities graciously, as became one of his race. And the ladies of their heart have stepped daintily across the oaken floor on their high-heeled shoes, and rustled their brocades and tossed their stately head-dresses as they received the addresses of the lady of the house.
Now and then, coming down from Raymond, suddenly entered the room the stiffly attired form of John Dudley, judge, and
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member of the Committee of Safety, middle sized, rugged faced, gravely spoken. Somewhat sober was his face, but his smile was hearty, and his eyes had the calm, steady, enduring gaze that looks out from the portraits of those leaders of his race, the provincial governors and the belted earls that bore the Dudley name. Here he was met by another man, alert and slender and long, a man with a wise, superior look, free from severity and condescension, who mingled curiously Athenian philosophy, fine and æsthetic, and Yankee " cuteness," cool and practical- Josiah Bartlett, member of Congress, signer of the Declaration, and subsequently the first governor by that name of New Hampshire.
Sometimes came Langdon, the genial, courtly, wealthy mer- chant and ardent patriot ; more often came Nathaniel Folsom, of Exeter, with buoyancy of step, and active, abrupt manner ; Nicholas Gilman with watchful eyes, big brained and trusty; and John Sullivan, impulsive, brilliant, his head full of law, and his face showing the soldier's dash and bravery.
More than once was seen here Theodore Atkinson, the son of Theodore Atkinson of Newcastle, and the father of Theodore Atkinson, councillor and secretary of the Province, and himself for forty years the wealthiest and most prominent citizen of New Hampshire, sheriff, naval officer, councillor and secretary, colonel for many years of the first state regiment of militia, and the first major-general of troops that the Province ever had. He was Colonel Weare's coadjutor at the Albany congress, a man lively, social, fond of merriment and good living, whose last days were afflicted by that patrician disease, the gout.
Governor Weare owned a considerable estate, and was a farmer as well as a lawyer, legislator, and patriot. The land lay north and west of the mansion and was very fertile. Corn and wheat and fruit were grown on the farm. When the American army lay before Boston in the winter of 1775 and '76, President Weare sent a cart load of provision from his farm to help feed the New Hampshire troops. He prided himself on his neat stock, and improved breeds of cattle, traces of which are yet to be seen in that vicinity. He left a valuable estate, which has come down nearly intact to the present day.
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On an eminence near the old house in Hampton Falls is a monument. Upon a broad pedestal rises an obelisk of pure white marble to the height of twenty feet. On one side is in- scribed the name "Meshech Weare," on the other one reads the dedication, " Erected A. D. 1853 by the State of New Hamp- shire, to perpetuate the memory of her illustrious son, whose early efforts, sage counsel, and persevering labors contributed largely toward establishing his country's independence and shaping the future destiny of his native State." It is a deserved tribute to a noble patriot.1
2 In March, 1777, a new regiment was completed ; but Stark did not take command of it. Certain prominent members of Congress, and officers of high rank and aristocratic associations, more familiar with the polite usages of town society than with the simple manners of the frontier settlers, were displeased with the rugged and unbending character and blunt speech of this backwoods colonel, and used their influence against him with such effect, that in the new list of promotions made that winter by. Congress his name was omitted, and several officers of lower rank were promoted over him. This slight was so keenly felt that he immediately tendered his resignation to the New Hamp- shire authorities, and retired, temporarily, to his home. He was not however destined to remain long inactive. Within three months from his retirement, the menacing state of affairs fol- lowing the capture of Ticonderoga by the British, and the ad- vance of Burgoyne's army, threatening to overrun the New Eng- land States, called him again to the field. New Hampshire rose to the emergency, and raised a brigade for independent action against the flank of the invading army. At the request of the State Council, Stark accepted their commission as brigadier, and took command; and within two weeks from the capture of Ti- conderoga he was organizing and drilling his force for the com- ing fray.
The battle of Bennington, fought and won on the 17th of August, 1777, by the little army of 1750 men under his com- mand, has been made familiar to all readers of history. Of this
2 General George Stark. I Fred Myron Colby.
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force, New Hampshire furnished 1000, Vermont 500, and Mas- sachusetts 250. Stark's plan of the battle was sagacious ; some- what irregular in its details, as looked upon from the usual mili- tary standpoint, but perfectly adapted to the frontier habits of his brave men ; and it proved eminently successful. The enemy lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about 1200 men - prob- ably two-thirds of his entire force in action. The loss on the American side was less than 100. The disciplined European troops, fighting for the king's shilling, moving at the word of command like machines, and firing their muskets from the hip without aim, were no match, even when partially protected by cannon and breastworks, for the skilled marksmen of the fron- tier, fighting for their homes.
The Bennington battle, in point of numbers engaged, was not a great one ; but it turned the tide of war at a critical period, and led to immediate results of momentous consequence to the country. Washington wrote of it immediately as "the great stroke struck by General Stark near Bennington." Bancroft's history pronounces this "victory one of the most brilliant and eventful of the war." Baroness Reidsell, then in the British camp, wrote, " This unfortunate event paralysed at once our operations."
General Stark did not report to Congress the result of the battle of Bennington, because his command was an independent one, and his commission was from the State of New Hampshire. His little army consisted wholly of State militia from New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. 1
The same parties who had a few months previously withheld his promotion were now busy in denouncing his independent action.
Philadelphia being in possession of the British, Congress held its sessions at the more remote point of York, in Pennsylvania. Communication was slow, letters being carried by couriers on horseback, who were obliged to make long detours because of hostile intervening country.
I Colonel Thomas Stickney, who served with distinction at the battle of Bennington, was a useful and distinguished citizen of Concord, and lived where Dr. Hiland now lives, on Main Street. The magnificent elms which shaded the house are remembered by the older inhabitants. In early days, when Indian alarms were common, the house was fortified. It is still the property of a descendant of the Continental soldier.
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Upon receipt of the news that General Stark was acting in- dependently of the regular Northern army, and being yet un- aware of the victory that had been won by him five days before, a resolution was introduced in Congress censuring him for not submitting to army regulations.
But on the next day an express courier arrived from General Schuyler communicating the result of the Bennington battle ; and Congress, magnanimously forgetting the previous irritation, passed a resolve of thanks to General Stark, and appointed him a brigadier in the army of the United States.
Soon after the Bennington battle, General Stark, with his volunteers, joined the main American army of Gates; but the three months' enlistment of the men having expired, they said they had performed their part, and must return to their farms where their harvests now waited for them.
The general being then without a command, proceeded to New Hampshire to make his report to the Council. His return was a triumphal march. He was waited upon by committees of congratulation wherever he came, and was received with the warmest demonstration of the people's gratitude.
By order of the Council of New Hampshire, he immediately proceeded to enlist a new army of volunteers ; and such was the confidence in him as a commander, and so enthusiastic were the people, in view of the possible capture of Burgoyne, that in a few days nearly 3000 men enrolled themselves under his standard.
With this fresh army of New Hampshire volunteers he im- mediately advanced, by order of the Council of the State, to Fort Edward, in Burgoyne's rear. This fort he captured; and after securing the garrison, and leaving a strong detachment of his own troops to maintain the post, proceeded, on the 7th of October, with 2500 men, to occupy the sole remaining line of retreat for the British army.
By this movement Burgoyne became completely surrounded, and General Stark earnestly advised General Gates to attack the British camp and compel an unconditional surrender. But a capitulation was deemed most prudent, and Burgoyne soon after delivered up his entire army at Saratoga.
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The capture of Burgoyne put an end, for the time being, to military movements at the north, and General Stark returned to New Hampshire to obtain recruits and supplies for operations elsewhere.
It becomes our duty, says Judge George W. Nesmith, to put in our claim in behalf of the brave men of New Hampshire who participated in the two memorable struggles under General Gates of September 19th and October 7th, preliminary to the important surrender of General Burgoyne and his army on the 17th of the same October, 1777. The truth of history will allow us to claim for our men, who then fought, a more prominent place than has generally been assigned to them. A brief statement of the recorded facts as they occurred on those eventful days, we think will justify our position, without reflecting any injustice upon those distinguished men from other States who so bravely and successfully co-operated with us. As safe author- ity, we rely much upon the historical record of General James Wilkinson, as published in the second volume of his "Memoirs of his own Times." He acted under General Gates as deputy adjutant-general of the Northern army, and was an eye-witness to many of the events described by him, had good means of knowing the truth, communicated the orders of the commanding general, and has left for our guidance a faithful official record of the troops ordered into each battle, and especially a full return under his hand of the killed, wounded, and missing of each corps engaged in the battle of September 19th. From the evidence furnished from such sources, confirmed by other original documents, we are enabled to gather a correct comparative estimate of the achievements and sacrifices of the New Hampshire men who partici- pated in this engagement.
This battle of September was fought almost entirely by the left wing of the American army. Wilkinson says that only about 3000 of our troops were en- gaged, and they were opposed by 3500 of the best men of Burgoyne's army. The battle was obstinately fought, and without immediate decisive advantages or results to either side. The ground on which they contended was broken or uneven, and much of it covered with trees. The Americans used no can- non. The British employed a battery of about six pieces, which were taken and retaken several times, but were finally left in the possession of the enemy. Each party took and lost some prisoners. The British loss was reported to exceed 600, while the American loss in killed, wounded, and missing, as re- turned by Wilkinson, amounted to 321. Of this number, So were killed, 218 wounded, and 23 missing. Of the Americans engaged, we first mention Col. Morgan's regiment of riflemen, not exceeding in number 400 men ; second, Major Dearborn's battalion of infantry, partly made up from Whitcomb's Rangers, Col. Long's regiment and some new volunteers, supposed to not exceed 300; third, Gen. Poor's brigade of infantry, which was reported on the 4th of October, subsequent to the battle, then to embrace 1466 men, and probably must have numbered at least 1600 in its ranks at the time of the battle. It lost 217 men in killed, wounded, etc., on that day. The balance
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