USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Charlestown > History of Charlestown, New-Hampshire, the old No. 4 > Part 9
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In the month of September, 1757, Lord Loudoun applied to Gov- ernor Wentworth, for a number of Rangers to continue with him the whole winter. On the 26th of December, the same year Lord Loud- oun again wrote to Governor Wentworth as follows :
" The point I mean to write on at present is the Rangers I applied to you for in September last, in conjunction with the other provinces, which I can have no doubt you will have settled with the assembly before this can come to your hands, as you so well know the bad con- sequences, that do attend any Province breaking off from a general measure.
Therefore, I shall take that for granted and now must desire that you will march them directly to No. 4 which is in your own Province, and who call loudly for protection which they think the Connecticut Rangers I have placed there, are not sufficient for without your Ran- gers are there likewise. You will observe I have destined them for the station easiest for them to go to, and where they may be employed in the immediate protection of your own Province."
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January 19th, 1758, Lord Loudoun wrote again to Governor Went- worth, from New York,
"SIR: I am sorry to find by your letter of December 23d, that your Province has been so very long on determining in Conjunction with the other Provinces, to furnish a body of Rangers for the general ser- vice ; and the more so as it not only has a very bad effect in the other Provinces, but at the same time leaves your own frontiers exposed, for the defense of which I had alloted them in conjunction with the other troops, who are now on the spot, but without them are two weak for that purpose, by which measure both your own Province and the troops I have provided for its security are exposed to danger."
On the 10th of January, the Assembly voted to raise a company of fifty Rangers, and information was forwarded to Lord Loudoun to that effect, who, on the 27th, replies to Governor Wentworth as follows:
" SIR : I had the favor of your letter on the 12th, with a copy of the vote of the Assembly for raising of fifty Rangers. There is a mistake in the number, and as the whole were so small, it was not worth while to take notice of it on either side, but for the precedent which I hope will never be insisted on hereafter. (The number called for was sev- enty.)
I dare say from your good management, that small number will be marched for No. 4 before this letter can arrive, and if they are not, I must desire no time may be lost in sending them off as that place is always in danger of an attack in the spring, and the force there is not sufficient till joined by the people from you."
On the 27th of February, Governor Wentworth writes in relation to these Rangers in a letter (probably to Theodore Atkinson.)
"SIR : Captain Gage thinks he can raise a company of fifty men to do duty on Connecticut River, but as Lord Loudoun intended them for the winter season, and that being over, it will be best that some resolve pass to enable me to make them a part of the forces for the next campaign, which as soon as I hear from Lord Loudoun I expect to have directions about."
The winter had thus passed away and the Rangers requested to be raised for the protection of No. 4 were not sent. During the winter the township had been garrisoned by Connecticut troops; but May 11th, 1758, Governor Wentworth received a letter from Governor Fitch of Connecticut acquainting his excellency that the Rangers be- longing to that Government that were posted at, and about No. 4,
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would soon be discharged, and desired some method might be taken for placing a garrison in those places.
New-Hampshire, notwithstanding the discouragements arising from the loss of Fort William Henry, and other disasters the year previous, raised in the summer of 1758, a regiment of eight hundred men, which was placed under the command of Colonel John Hart. A portion of the regiment was ordered to join the expedition against Louisburg and the remainder did duty under Lieutenant Colonel John Goffe on the western frontiers. One hundred of Goffe's detachment was sta- tioned as a garrison at No. 4. In relation to this, Hall, in his history of Eastern Vermont, remarks, " For the defense of her own frontiers, Massachusetts made the usual provision ; while New-Hampshire chang- ing the method upon which she had so long acted, voted men and sup- plies for the protection of the forts within her own boundaries which had before been maintained by the magnanimity of the Bay Province." No special force, however, besides the Regiment of Colonel Hart, was raised by New-Hampshire for the protection of her frontiers.
During this year the incursions of the Indians were not numerous. They appeared only once in Charlestown, at which time they killed Asahel Stebbins and took Mrs. Stebbins and Isaac Parker, a soldier, prisoners. They also slaughtered a large number of cattle which were feeding in the adjacent woods. Some writers place this incursion in August, others, in September.
The Provinces were generally encouraged by the military operations of 1758. Louisburg had been taken, which was a great success, and the English also had secured possession of Fort Frontenac and destruc- tion of Fort Du Quesne on the Ohio, where now stands the city of Pitts- burg, the contention for which began the war ; but the defeat of Aber- crombie at Ticonderoga and his subsequent inactivity once more sunk the spirits of the inhabitants of the western frontiers of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire to a very low ebb, and filled them with new ap- prehensions of attacks from the savage enemies. But Massachusetts, full of the energy with which her citizens have always been animated, (did not admit of any slackening of effort but) still kept her forts well garrisoned and her rangers out upon the scouting service, though probably with no great hope of security against an enemy so repeated- ly elated with success. But their hopes were soon revived by the ar- rival of General Amherst, with six veteran regiments from Louisburg, who immediately pressed on through the woods to Albany, and took command of the army in that quarter ; and though the season was too
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far advanced for offensive operations, the effect of the presence of Am- herst in that section upon the public mind was salutary : soon after Amherst's arrival, Abercrombie left the army and sailed for England.
During the winter of 1758, Charlestown was garrisoned with one hundred regular troops from the army, which were under the com- mand of Captain Cruikshanks ; and the winter passed away quietly, as usual, without any incursions of the enemy ; and the plan for opera- tions for 1759 was such as to encourage the expectation, that the fron- tiers would be relieved from the depredations to which they had been so long exposed. The plan was for General James Wolf to conduct an expedition against Quebec, and General Amherst another against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. To aid in the latter expedition the troops which had garrisoned Charlestown under Captain Cruikshanks were withdrawn to join the army on the Hudson-and General Am- herst applied to the Governor of Massachusetts to raise an equal num- ber of Provincials to take their places at Charlestown, which was promptly done. The men were raised from Colonel Israel Williams' regiment in the county of Hampshire, and placed under the command of Captain Elijah Smith, and were ordered to the fort of Charlestown on the fourth of May.
" The army destined to attack Ticonderoga assembled at Albany about the 1st of June under General Amherst, and, on the 22d of July, he arrived before Ticonderoga and invested it with twelve thousand men, Provincials and regulars. The enemy immediately abandoned their advanced lines which had proved so fatal to Abercrombie's army the preceding year and retired within their main work.
Amherst pressed the siege as vigorously as possible, and in a short time was ready to open his batteries ; but M'de Bourlemaque, the French commander, finding he had to oppose a general of skill as well as cour- age, partially dismantled his fort, blew up some of the bastions and leaving most of his heavy artillery, retired down the lake to Crown Point, and Amherst took possession of the place. A few days after, the French evacuated Crown Point and retired to their posts at the northern extremity of lake Champlain, and Amherst immediately occupied the abandoned post and commenced additional works."
The capture of these important posts immediately relieved the fron- tiers of New England from incursions from the western quarter, and a general joy spread through the long distressed Provinces. Crown Point had been in possession of the French for nearly thirty years ; and from that place predatory parties had issued and involved the
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frontiers of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire in blood and slaugh- ter ; and numerous were the prisoners who had there suffered the dis- graceful and cruel treatment of the savages. One other post from which the Provinces of New-Hampshire and Massachusetts had suf. fered similar cruelties still remained in the hands of the enemy. This was the village of St. Francis, situated at the mouth of the river of that name, between Montreal and Quebec. From its easy communica- tion with the upper part of the Connecticut river, this place had long been a focus of murder and devastation and many a captive had there suffered barbarities intolerable; and the place was loaded with the plunder of the English Colonies. General Amherst now resolved to put an end to these barbarities by destroying the place."
" Major Robert Rogers, who had so frequently distinguished him- self as a partisan during the war, was selected for the arduous service with his hardy rangers and a detachment of regular troops ; and he received the following orders from the commander in chief.
CAMP AT CROWN POINT, Sept. 13, 1759.
You will, this night, set out with the detachment, as ordered yester- day, viz., of two hundred men, which you will take under your com- mand and proceed to Missisqui Bay. From thence you will proceed to attack the enemy's settlements on the south side of the St. Lawrence, in such a manner as shall most effectually disgrace and injure the en- emy, and redound to the honor and success of His Majesty's arms.
Remember the barbarities committed by the enemy's Indian scound- rels on every occasion, where they have had opportunities of showing their imfamous cruelties towards His Majesty's subjects. Take your revenge; but remember that although the villains have promiscuously murdered women and children of all ages, it is my order that no wo- men or children should be hurt. When you have performed this ser- vice, you will again join the army, wherever it may be.
Yours, &c., JEFF AMHERST. Camp at Crown Point, Sept. 13, 1759. To Major Rogers.
The destination of this expedition was kept a profound secret from the army, who were given to understand in the public orders of the previous day, that it was to march in a different direction.
The evening after receiving his orders, with every equipment nec- essary to ensure success, Rogers started out on his adventurous expe- dition. He proceeded in batteaux down the lake to Missisqui Bay, the distance of which, from Crown Point, was computed to be not far from
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a hundred miles, using the greatest circumspection to avoid discovery by the enemy. Everything went on well until the fifth day, when, while they were encamped on the eastern shore, a keg of gun-powder accidentally exploded, wounding Captain Williams and several men, who had to be sent back to Crown Point, with a party to conduct them. This reduced the force of Rogers to one hundred and forty-two men, officers included. But, pursuing his voyage, he arrived, on the twentieth of the month, at Missisqui Bay, without having been discovered, where he secreted his boats and provisions sufficient to carry them back, on their return, under the bank of a creek overhung with brush-wood and, as a guard to which, he left two trusty Indians, with orders that, should the boats be discovered by the enemy, to follow his trail and give him information.
This arrangement made, Rogers struck out into the wilderness. But, only the second day after, he was overtaken by the trusty fellows whom he had left to watch the provisions and boats, who brought him the un- welcome news that four hundred French and Indians had discovered his boats, and sent them away under the charge of fifty men, and that the remainder of the company were on his trail, in rapid pursuit. This intelligence Rogers kept to himself, and quickly devised meens to meet the altered circumstances of his situation. For this he despatched Lieutenant Mc Millen with ten men, two of whom were rangers, through the woods to Crown Point, to inform General Amherst of what had taken place, and request him to send provisions from Charlestown up the Connecticut to the mouth of the Great Ammonoosuc River, near Coos intervals, by which route he intended to return.
One of two things he now knew that he must do ; he must either fight his enemies or out-march them. But as the latter appeared to be the only feasible way by which he could have a prospect of accomplishing the ob- ject of his expedition, he determined to press forward with a speed which would distance all the enemies on his track. The travelling was horrid from the sunken nature of the country, which, in many places, was covered with water mid-leg deep, and, often for long distances, a spruce bog, in which it became necessary to prepare a sort of hammock from the boughs of trees to enable the men to repose at night ; and this after a day's march, continued from early dawn until darkness.
On the tenth day after leaving the Bay, Rogers struck St. Francis River about fifteen miles above the village, and with some difficulty, forded it, as the water was five feet in depth, and running in a rapid current. It was now good marching ground, and the men pressed on
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with celerity till on the 22d day after their departure from Crown Point, one of them, by climbing a tree, discovered the village of St. Francis at three miles distant, when the party were ordered to halt and refresh themselves. At eight o'clock in the evening, Major Rogers, Lieutenant Turner and Ensign Avery left the company and went for- ward for the purpose of reconnoitering the place. They found the In- dians engaged in a high frolic or dance, evidently entertaining no ap- prehensions of an enemy in the vicinity. They returned about two o'clock in the morning, and at three Rogers advanced with the whole party, within three hundred yards of the village, where the men were lightened of their packs and formed for action.
About an hour after this, the Indians broke up their dance, and re- tired to their cabins for repose ; and soon the whole village was wrap- ped in a profound slumber, the more oblivious from the weariness in- duced by their late diversion. About half an hour before dawn, the troops, having been arranged in three divisions for the purpose of mak- ing simultaneous attacks, in as many directions, were ordered to ad- vance. Never was a place more completely surprised, nor in a con - dition less capable of making resistance. The assault was made in the usual Indian mode of attack, on similar occasions, and the rangers re- membering the instructions of Amherst to " take their revenge " dealt death and destruction around them on every side, and with unsparing hands. Amid the partial darkness, it scarcely being possible to dis- tinguish age or sex, men, women and children fell indiscriminately be- fore the resistless fury of their terrible onslaught. Many were killed in their cabins, others, attempting to fly, were shot or knocked on the head. Some rushed to the river, but were pursued by the excited ran- gers and their canoes sunk, and they were drowned or destroyed in some other way. When it became light enough to have a clear view of the scene, the prospect was truly horrible, and had it not been for the sight of six hundred scalps of their countrymen, suspended upon poles and waving in the air, the assailants might have been moved to pity. But this most horrid spectacle added such new vigor to their rage, that no sympathy for the sufferers found place in their breasts, and the slaughter was still continued without discrimination or mercy. The scene ended by a general conflagration of the cabins, (with the ex- ception of some store houses) in which many Indians, who had con- cealed themselves, in their cellars and house lofts, and would not come out, were consumed. At seven o'clock in the morning all was over ; and Rogers, in his report, says, " By that time we had killed two hun-
1
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dred Indians and taken twenty women and children prisoners. Fif- teen of the latter I suffered to go their own way, and brought home with me two Indian boys and three girls."
The report continues, " When the detachment paraded, Captain Og- den was found to be badly wounded, being shot through the body, but still able to perform duty. Six privates were wounded, and one Stock- bridge Indian killed. I ordered the party to take corn out of the reserved houses for their subsistence home, which was the only provis- ion to be found. While they were loading themselves, I examined the captives, who reported that a party of three hundred French and In- dians were down the river, four miles below us, and that our boats were waylaid. I believed this to be true, as they told the exact number of the boats and the place where they had been left. They also stated that two hundred French had, three days before, gone up the river to Wigwam Martinique, supposing that I intended to attack that place. A council of war now concluded that no other course remained for us, than to return by Connecticut River to No. 4." ( Memoir of Rogers, in life of Stark, pp. 448-49.)
This resolve being taken, Rogers, after an hour's rest commenced his march up the St. Francis, and by Memphremagog lake for Coos on the Connecticut. For eight days the detachment continued togeth- er, when, their provisions being entirely expended, Rogers found it nec- essary to divide it into several parties, that subsistence might more casily be procured, giving them orders to assemble at the junction of the great Ammonoosuc and Connecticut Rivers, where he expected to find provisions which were to be forwarded by the order of General Amherst from Charlestown.
Two days after separating, the party under Ensign Avery were over- taken by the Indians-seven were captured, and two escaped. Anoth- er party of about twenty, under Lieutenants Dunbar and Turner, were attacked and the principal part were killed or taken, including the two officers. The company under Rogers, after a most wearisome march, reached the Coos Meadows, where they were expecting to find food, in a most fearful state of starvation ; but no provision being found, so great was their disappointment, that several of them died before the next day. Provisions had been sent by General Amherst's order by a party from Charlestown under command of Lieutenant Samuel Ste- vens, but hearing guns which he supposed to be those of the enemy the Lieutenant and his attendants immediately made their retreat down the river, taking their provisions with them. About two hours after,
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Rogers and his men arrived to find their camp-fire still burning, and fired several guns for the purpose of bringing them back, but without success. Subsequently, Rogers wrote concerning their situation.
" Our distress ou this occasion was truly inexpressible. Our spirits, greatly depressed by the hunger and fatigue we had already suffered, now almost entirely sank within us; seeing no resource left, nor any reasonable hope that we should escape a most miserable death by fam- ine. At length I came to a resolution, to push as fast as possible to- wards Number Four, leaving the remains of my party, now unable to march further, to get such wretched subsistence as the barren wilder- ness could afford, till I could get relief to them, which I engaged to do within ten days. I taught Lieutenant Grant, the commander of the party, the use and method of preparing ground nuts and lily roots, which, being cleansed and boiled, will serve to preserve life. I, with Captain Ogden and one ranger, and a captive Indian boy, embarked upon a raft we had made of dry pine trees. The current carried us down the stream in the middle of the river, where we endeavored to keep our wretched vessel by such paddles as we had made out of small trees or spires split and hewed." (Rogers' letter to General Amherst.)
This whole history is of deep interest, but it must suffice to say that Rogers, after various disheartening experiences, at length reached No. 4 in safety and redeemed his pledge to his brave followers by relieving them on the tenth day. In two hours after his arrival at Charlestown boats were despatched loaded with provisions up the river. Rogers himself went up with other canoes also laden with provisions two days after, for the relief of others of his party that might be coming on that way, the inhabitants assisting him in this affair. He likewise sent out expresses to Suncook (Pembroke) and Pennacook (Concord) that any who should straggle that way might be assisted, and provi- sions were sent up said rivers accordingly.
On returning from his expedition up the river, Major Rogers waited for his men at Charlestown, with whom, after they had been refreshed, he marched for Crown Point, where he arrived December 1st, 1759, and joined the army under Lord Amherst. Upon examination it was found that, after leaving the smoking ruins of St. Francis, he had lost three Lieutenants, and forty-six Sergeants and privates. A few of these were prisoners, but the greatest number of them perished miser- ably, by famine, in the wilderness.
The expedition, though it proved exceedingly dangerous and disas- trous to the men engaged, carried consternation and alarm into the
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heart of Canada, and filled the minds of the inhabitants with those fearful apprehensions which their incursions on the frontiers had caused others so frequently to experience.
"Not long after the evacuation of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, Gen- eral Amherst proceeded down the lake to penetrate into Canada, but, meeting with storms, he returned and took up winter quarters. Dur- ing the operations of Amherst at Lake Champlain, General Wolf, with about eight thousand men, sailed from Louisburg under Admirals Saunders and Holmes and landed near Quebec, and, after many diffi- culties thrown in his way, and a severe repulse at Montmorency, he by a daring movement gained the plains of Abraham, in the vicinity of Quebec, and brought Montcalm to a general action, in which the French were decisively defeated and both commanders killed ; and a few days subsequently Quebec surrendered to the British arms. In the western quarter Niagara also surrendered to General Johnson, after a siege of a few days." (Hoyt 306-9.)
" After the capitulation of the posts on Lake Champlain, General Amherst informed Governor Pownal of Massachusetts, that his opera- tions would effectually cover the frontiers from further incursions of the Indians; on which the Governor transmitted orders for discharging the frontier garrisons on the northwest quarter of the Province, excepting those at fort Massachusetts and West Hoosac; submitting it, however, to his discretion to retain such as he might consider necessary for the defense of any places still exposed. Conformably to his orders, Col- onel Williams, in the month of October, discharged the small garri- sons. That at Charlestown had previously been ordered by General Amherst to join the army on the frontiers of New York." (Hoyt 309.)
"Notwithstanding the capture of the French posts in 1759, another campaign was necessary for completing the conquest of Canada, and, during the winter, General Amherst projected a plan for attacking the unconquered posts of the province in three directions. The main ar- my, under the command of Amherst, was to ascend the Mohawk, pass down to Oswego, and, after capturing the posts on the St. Lawrence, to descend the river to Montreal; Colonel Haveland, with a smaller force, to embark at Crown Point and proceed to the same place, and General Murray, who succeeded to the command of the army at Que- bec, was to push up the St. Lawrence, and meet the other armies at Montreal, where the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, had concentrated his principal force. The several armies were early in motion and so exactly had their operations been concerted that Am-
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herst and Murray reached the vicinity of Montreal on the same day, where Haveland joined them on the next, with the force he had con- ducted through Lake Champlain. Vaudreuil, finding further resis- tance vain, demanded a capitulation, and, on the eighth of September, 1760, the whole province of Canada was surrendered to the British arms. (Hoyt 307-8.) At which event the joy that spread over the Province is hardly to be described." (Hoyt 309.)
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