USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 129
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 129
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" Benjamin Giles.
Uriah Wilcox.
Samuel Hurd.
Phineas Wilcox.
Jesse Kelsey.
Nathan Woodbury.
Benjamin Bragg.
Jedediah Reynolds.
Jesse Wilcox. Absalom Kelsey.
Isaac Newton.
Jesse Bailey.
Joseph Buel.
Jeremiah Jenks.
Nathan Hurd.
Ezra Parmelee.
Robert Lane.
Joel Bailey.
James Church. Abraham Buel.
Amos Hall.
Jesse Lane. Daniel Buel.
Aaron Buel.
Josiah Dudley.
Josiah Stevens.
Daniel Dudley.
Ephraim Towner. Jedediah Reynolds,Jr.
Semer Kelsey. Ebenezer Merritt.
William Stanard.
John Lane.
"Newport, June 20, A.D. 1776-The Inhabitants of Newport that is requested (sic) have all signed the Association.
" JOSIAH STEVENS, Selectmen "SAMUEL HURD, of New- " AARON BUEL, port."
It is matter of interest to consider the pre- ceding thirty-four names not only as patriots, ready and willing with arms to oppose the hos- tile proceedings of the British fleets and armies, but as the fathers of the town and the male heads of every family then resident in New- port.
Further on we find that, at a meeting of the inhabitants held on July 24, 1776, Samuel Hurd was chosen captain, Jeremiah Jenks lieu- tenant and Uriah Wilcox ensign.
On August 16, 1776, the Committee of Safe- ty certify to the following report :
"The number of able-bodied effective men in the township of Newport is Thirty-Six-the number of muskets fit for service is fourteen-the muskets that are not fit-five-which will be made fit forthwith- seventeen muskets wanted."
May 27, 1777, at a town-meeting " Voted : To raise eighteen pounds, lawful money, to buy a town's stock of ammunition, viz .: forty pounds powder, one hundred pounds lead and ten dozen flints."
About that time the war-cloud hung dark over Northern New England and New York. Burgoyne, with an army of about eight thou- sand men, was at the north end of Lake Cham- plain, preparing to ent his way through and meet another British army proceeding from New York, and thus separate New England from the Confederacy. Ticonderoga was in his path. The excitement in this particular section of the country was intense. This was the nearest approach to us on the north and west of " hostile British armies."
The alarm company, or minute-men, from the towns were called out June 17, 1777. Officers of the alarm company in Newport were chosen as follows :
Ezra Parmelee, capt. Isaac Newton, 2d lieut.
Christopher Newton, 1st Joshua Warner, ensign. lieut.
The names comprising the alarm company that left on June 29, 1777, for the defense of Ticonderoga are as follows :
Capt. Ezra Parmelee and Nathan Hurd. officers as above. Absalom Kelsey.
Matthew Buel. Ebenezer Merritt.
Daniel Buel. Jesse Wilcox.
Jeremiah Jenks. Abraham Buel.
Jesse Lane.
Stephen Hurd.
Josiah Stevens.
Thomas Lane.
Joseph Buel.
The capture of Ticonderoga by Burgoyne occurred July 6, 1777. Our men had started for its relief, but were detained at Charlestown, No. 4, or Bellows' Falls, in order that General Bellows might perfect his arrangements for the
David Brown.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
march, and while there news came of the evacua- tion of the fortress by the Americans ; without proceeding farther, they were discharged and came home.
The names of Revolutionary soldiers credited to this town are nearly as follows :
Thomas Carr.
Samuel Thompson.
Robert Durkee.
Samuel Washburn.
John McGregor.
Amos Hall, Jr.
Philip W. Kibbey.
Phineas Chapin.
John Pike.
Solomon Dunham.
Richard Goodwin.
Joel Kelsey.
William Haven.
Samuel Sischo.
Jonathan Wakefield.
Silas Wakefield.
Simeon Buel.
Elias Dudley.
Daniel Chapin.
Joel McGregor.
Theophilus Goodwin.
Jesse Kelsey.
Daniel Stearns.
Josiah Wakedeld.
Robert Woodward.
Hezekiah Reynolds.
Joel McGregor, whose name occurs in this list, was a native of Enfield, Conn., born No- vember 22, 1760. He enlisted in the Conti- mental army April 17, 1777, and was five years in the service. He was some eight months a prisoner in the "Old Sugar-House" in New York City, where he suffered much from cold and hunger. He died at his home, at North Newport, in November, 1861, aged one hundred and one years.
Joel Kelsey, another of these patriots, was a native of Killingworth, born August 6, 1761. He enlisted in 1777 ; was also a British pris- oner in the same "Old Sugar-House," in New York, where he endured great hardships. After the war he married, January 12, 1786, Jemima Buel, of Connecticut, and settled on the East Mountain, where he died March 6, 1860, aged nearly one hundred years.
Joel McGregor and Joel Kelsey, both Joels, and citizens of this town, were the two last names of Revolutionary heroes on the pension- roll of the State of New Hampshire.
The War of 1812-14 does not seem to have been of particular interest to the people of New- port. We have no means of knowing how the
enlistments were made, or any of the attending circumstances.
The names of seventeen men are credited to
Newport as soldiers in that war as follows:
Barnabas Brown. Samuel Hoyt.
William Carr.
Jared Lane.
Calvin Call. Daniel Muzzy.
Charles Colby.
Stephen Pike.
Robert Durkee. David Reed.
Solomon Dunham. Zaccheus Shurtleff.
Daniel Dudley.
Nathan Wilmarth, Sr.
Jacob Dwinells. Hartford Wilmarth.
Lama McGregor.
Calvin Coyle, who died July 23, 1880, aged eighty-four years, was the last survivor of the number.
The Mexican War of 1846-47 was regarded only in its political aspects in this remote cor- ner of the Union. This war was the result of the annexation of Texas, by which the area of slave territory was increased. Fifty thousand volunteers were called for by the government, and the recruits were mostly from the Southern States. It resulted, not only in a settlement of the Texas question, but in the acquisition of a large amount of Mexican territory on the Pa- cific coast, and, also, the defeat of the Whig party under the head of Webster and Clay.
The war for the preservation of the Union received a most enthusiastic support in the town of Newport. A long-delayed crisis had arrived ; the time for argument had passed ; the resort to arms had come.
The call of President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand volunteers received prompt attention. On the 22d of April, 1861, the citizens of the town, without distinction of party, crowded the town hall ; addresses were made, and with the utmost unanimity of feeling, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars was pledged for the fitting out and support of such as might volunteer to fill the quota of the town. This action was after- ward ratified at a meeting of the town legally warned.
Ira MeL. Barton, a young lawyer of the
231
NEWPORT.
town, having received authority for the pur- pose, recruited the first company of volunteers for three months' service and was commissioned its captain.
The company served its time in the First New Hampshire Regiment, under Colonel M. W. Tappan. The town made appropria- tions during the war in aid of the volunteers amounting to $70,491.78.
Each quota was promptly filled without the necessity of a draft for that purpose.
Captain John B. Cooper did efficient service in recruiting and afterwards in the field during the war.
The whole number of soldiers enlisted from the town during the four years of the war was two hundred and forty.
Those that survived the conflict returned to receive the plaudits of the people, and the dead have not been forgotten. The country has not been ungrateful to its brave defenders. Liberal appropriations have been made by the govern- ment in their behalf, and for the support of their widows and children.
The names of those enlisted are as follows:
Ira McL. Barton, capt.
M. W. Home.
Thomas Sanborn, sur.
Moses Hoyt.
Dexter G. Reed, 2d lieut.
Henry S. Howard.
Edgar E. Adams, 1st lieut.
E. S. Home.
Ervin T. Case, capt.
Abiel L. Haven.
Henry W. Badger.
John W. Bradley.
James C. Parker.
Nathan T. Brown.
Asahel Putnam.
Geo. P. Beane, died.
Hazen Barnard, wgr.
Nathaniel Bright, corp.
Lucius P. Reed.
B. B. Barton.
Wallace L. Recd.
Wm. H. Belknap.
Davis B. Robinson.
Jonathan Blake.
John D. Roberts.
Josiah H. Bacon.
Elmidore Roberts.
Asa Richardson.
Edgar Boyden. Albert Boyden, killed. Ziba C. Barton.
George C. Roundy. Alonzo Reed.
George Bates.
George Richardson.
Clarke E. Craige. Preston Reed.
J. P. Reddington, died.
Chas. H. Little, serg.
Wm. Delano, com. serg. Michael Kelliher. Geo. W. Kelsey. John C. Kelley.
Jas. M. Russell, serg. Austin Reed, 3 mno., died. E. D. Whipple, serg. M. S. Wilcox, serg. Geo. A. Chase, serg. D. W. Home, serg. Wm. W. Page, serg. A. J. Hastings, q .- serg. Alvin A. Young.
Sylvester Spaulding, serg. John R. Hall, 1st serg. Gilford L. Hurd, serg. R. M. J. Hastings, corp. Chas. A. Puffer, corp. Chas. C. Gilmore, corp. Elijah Hutchinson, corp. Peter Crowell, corp.
Chas. H. Crandall, serg. Edwin R. Miller, corp. Henry M. Haines, corp. Joel S. Blood, corp. Henry Tompkins, corp. E. C. Kelsey, corp.
P. C. Hutchinson, corp. Bela H. Wilcox, corp .. Hiram M. Austin, serg. Richard W. Allen.
John Phillips, died. James C. Parish.
John Peterson. J. S. Preston.
Dexter W. Allen.
George Anderson.
Edwin A. Perry.
Philander H. Peck, died.
James Armstrong.
John M. Page. Clarence F. Pike.
John B. Cooper, capt.
Wm. A. Hutchinson.
Chas. C. Shattuck, capt.
L. B. Hastings.
Benj. R. Allen, capt.
Robert Harris.
George Howard.
J. W. Hastings, capt.' Edw. Nettleton, 1st lieut. Truman L. Heath, 1st lieut.
A. C. Home. Hugh Higgins. Alamendo Heath.
Amos Hastings.
Antoine Hockman, killed.
Arthur H. Ingram.
S. S. Ingalls. F. A. Johnson.
E. B. Johnson.
Chas. A. Jackson.
William Kennedy, died of wounds.
John Conners. Michael Crumney.
Roswell J. Kelsey. Frank J. Latimer. Joseph Leeds, died. Frederick H. Lull. Edgar Lacy.
Chester S. Marshall. Chauncey Marshall.
Sullivan Marston. Perry Miner. John Munnegan. Peter McGlone. D. M. Marshall. James McCarty. Francis Mullen. Andrew J. Moody. Freeman W. Nourse. Joseph Nelson.
Patrick Owens. S. B. Ordway. N. R. Osmer, killed. Edmund Parker.
Wm. H. Perry.
Thos. Anderson.
J. A. Putnam, died. Samuel L. Pike.
Sumner F. Hurd, Ist lieut. P. H. Wellcome, 2d lieut. A. V. Hitchcock, q-m. Jolin A. George, 2d lieut. Sam Nims, hos. std.
Paul S. Adams, hos. std.
Benj. Howe, 2d lieut.
Jesse T. Cobb, 1st serg.
D. Z. Robbins.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Hial Comstock, died. Truman C. Cutting.
Warren Colby, killed.
George Comstock.
James Call.
Alva S. Chase.
Henry Cutting.
Edward Cochran, killed.
Chas. Collins.
George F. Cram.
Jonathan Crowell, died.
Henry Currier, died.
Wm. Collins.
C. H. Comstock, died.
Reuben Craige.
E. F. Corbin.
David Carlisle.
J. R. Corey. John Canny.
Wm. Snow. Arthur Sykes, died.
William Smith.
Chas. St. Clair.
Daniel Dowder.
Lewis Daffer.
H. W. Davis.
Harry Downs. Pat Donohue.
W. O. Emerson, died.
Win. G. Egan.
Frank Elkins.
D. W. Fitch, died.
Chas. D. Worcester.
George C. Foss, died of Sylvester B. Warren, corp. wounds.
L. J. Fitch. W. H. Flanders.
John Foote. C. F. Foote.
C. M. Farr, serg.
Jolın Finnigan. C. H. Fellows.
Ira P. George, wounded. Daniel W. George.
A. P. Goodrich. J. R. Hutchinson.
Geo. A. Hutchinson, died. Wm. Hoban. C. H. Hall, died.
B. F. Haven, died in rebel prison.
HI. A. Reynolds. John Ryan. Lawrence Reath. Oliver F. Stearns. Andrew J. Sawyer. Gardner Sweet. Ruel Swains. Israel Sanborn, died. Daniel Spaulding. Edward Siddell.
John II. Hunter. George Williams.
Henry H. Haven, corp.
Wm. C. Hurd.
John C. Harris.
Thos. A. Gilmore, serg. Bela Nettleton. Willard Reed.
Wm. A. Humphrey.
The following natives of Newport were en- listed in other places, and served during the Civil War :
George H. Cheney, on staff of General Nickerson, division provost-marshal.
Mason W. Tappan, colonel First New Hampshire Regiment.
Samuel J. Allen, M.D., surgeon in a Vermont regi- ment.
Belah Stevens, surgeon at Washington, D. C. Joseph A. Chapin, hospital steward.
M. V. B. Wilmarth, Third Michigan Cavalry. Milton E. Pike, Vermont Volunteers.
Job Puffer, Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment. Elias B. Bascom, captain in the Fifth Iowa Regi- ment.
Wallace Bascom, Second Massachusetts; shot at Gettysburg.
James Parmelee Bascom, Ninth New Hampshire. E. M. Kempton, Third New Hampshire. Hiram C. Hall, Croydon.
Albert Nettleton, son of Daniel, First Regular Army. Commodore George E. Belknap, United States Navy. George W. Brown, volunteer, lieutenant United States Navy.
Nathan T. Brown, master's mate.
Charles J. Belknap, United States Navy.
Henry S. Belknap, captain's clerk United States Navy.
But one native, or citizen of Newport, was among those marked as deserters.
Soon after the close of the war an institution or secret society, made up of Union soldiers, was organized by Dr. B. F. Stephenson, in Dakota, Ill., which proved to be the first post of the " Grand Army of the Republic," as from that its posts and camp-fires have spread all over the land.
Frederick Smythe Post, No. 10, was estab- lish in Newport in the spring of 1868. Its charter members were Major W. H. H. Allen
J. E. Dean, died. Frank P. Dudley.
Ira C. Dowlin.
Eli Tompkins, died of wounds. Frank S. Taylor.
Simon A. Tenney, corp.
John P. Tilton.
Patrick Tuffer. D. W. Thompson, died.
Chas. C. Webber.
Albert Wright, died. Mareine Whitcomb. Richard A. Webber. A. A. Wyman. George Williams. Chas. E. Wiggin.
James P. Wheeler, died in hands of the enemy.
Calvin H. Whitney. Calvin W. Wright. Wm. Wallace, corp. David G. Wilmarth. John Wilson. Charles Williams, died of wounds.
Martin L. Whittier. Chas. B. York.
Wm. S. Sischo. John H. Shattuck.
Daniel L. Straw. Joseph Sennott. C. H. Stockwell. Moses P. Sinclair. Simon C. Smith.
Chas. F. Smithı.
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NEWPORT.
Captain John B. Casper, B. R. Allen, Paul S. Adams, Charles H. Little and others, There are about seventy-five veterans connected with this post. The objects of the institution are " To cherish and keep alive the memory of our experiences during the war. To care for the disabled and unfortunate of our number and all worthy Union soldiers, their widows and orphans. To faithfully observe ' Memorial Day,' -May 30th,-and annually strew flowers and evergreens upon the graves of our departed com- rades. To foster a spirit of loyalty to our gov- ernment and honor its flag as the emblem of National Unity. The cardinal principles of the order are Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty."
This institution proves to be a source of great interest and benefit to the veteran soldiers as they continue to gather at stated times around its camp-fires.
The citizen soldier is indigenous to this coun- try. The necessity for a defensive attitude on the part of the colonists of America is apparent from the beginning.
They were invaders, and as such were at all times subject to the assaults of the Indian people whose possessions they were grasping.
There was no standing army to protect their advance as they pushed their settlements into the wilderness. They were dependent on their own craft and personal valor for the defense of themselves and their families.
They carried their arms and ammunition to the clearings where they wrought and to the meeting-houses where they worshipped God, each individual the embodiment of a War Department and terrible as an army with ban- ners.
They fought in the interest of the old coun- try through the Indian and French and Indian Wars, and aided largely in driving France from the possession of the Canadas. They then turned round and fought the mother-country until she was-we will not say pleased, but obliged to let them go with a benediction of objurgations. Hence the colonial people were
a military people-a citizen soldiery, in the best sense of the term.
After the Revolution the idea of order at home and defense from without centred in a militia system instead of a standing army, and to that end, and to keep alive and cultivate a martial spirit among the people, a State militia system was organized, which made it obligatory upon the citizens at a certain age to enrollment and the performance of military duty. From this came the May trainings and the regimental fall musters that, ycar after year, for more than fifty years, disposed the citizen soldiery of this town and State in martial array and brought such delight to both sexes and all ages and con- ditions of our people as they looked upon the gay uniforms, waving plumes and martial evo- lutions of the companies belonging to the old Thirty-first Regiment upon the common, or listened to the harangues and wittieisms of the peddlers and hucksters that swarmed upon its margins.
Finally, the militia system of the State became a vehicle by which designing politicians sought influence and preferment. Its grand old mus- ters came to be little better than political and partisan mass-mectings, and the system was overthrown and abandoned in disgust. This was the situation when the Civil War burst upon the country. Since that time a new military system has been organized in the State, which has promise of usefulness for the time to come.
In the spring of 1883, under recent legisla- tion, Company D, Second Regiment New Hamp- shire National Guards, was successfully recruit- ed and formed in the town of Newport. Col- onel White, of the Second Regiment New Hamp- shire National Guards came from Peterborough to preside at the organization of the new com- pany, to be known as the Newport Rifles. Ashton W. Rounsevel was chosen captain, Fred W. Cheney first lieutenant, and C. E. Dud- ley second Lieutenant. The building known as Bennett's Hall has been leased and fitted up as an armory and drill-room. The martial
234
HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
spirit of our people will not be permitted to de- cline. The citizen, under certain regulations, should be instructed in the use of arms and tac- ties, and in nowise consent to delegate the na- tional defense exclusively to a standing army.
Among the citizens of Newport who have held positions in the State militia are the fol- lowing :
Ralph Metcalf, Governor and commander-in-chief. Edmund Burke, aid to Governor Hubbard.
Edmund Wheeler, aid to Governor Williams. Martin W. Burke, aid to Governor Weston.
Samuel M. Wheeler, aid to Governor Stearns.
Edward Wyman, brigadier general Third Divi- sion.
Simeon Wheeler, Jr., inspector, staff Brigadier-Gen- eral Wyman.
Bela Nettleton, aid to Brigadier-General Carey.
Benjamin F. French, quartermaster, Brigadier-Gen- eral Glidden.
William H. Cheney, aid to Brigadier-General Glid- den.
John S. Parmelee, aid to Brigadier-General New- ton.
Henry E. Baldwin, quartermaster, staff of General Newton.
David Dickey, brigade inspector, staff of General Wyman.
Edmund Burke, inspector, staff of General Newton.
Colonels .- Phineas Chapin, Erastus Baldwin, Wil- liam Cheney, James D. Walcott, Benjamin Carr, Jo- siah Stevens, Jr., Edward Wyman, Jessiel Perry, Charles Corbin, Jacob Reddington, Daniel Nettleton, Benjamin M. Gilmore.
Majors .- Josiah Stevens, Jesse Wilcox, Erastus Newton, John H. Patch, Josiah Wakefield, Cyrus B. Howe, Sullivan G. Pike.
Adjutants .- Calvin Call, Cyrus Barton, Edmund Wheeler, Simeon Wheeler, Francis Boardman, Lewis Smith, Hartford Sweet, John Day, Lyman Gould.
The Thirty-first Regiment New Hampshire Militia, to which reference has been made, was comprised of citizens legally qualified to per- form military duty, from the towns of Goshen, Sunapee, Newport, Croydon, Grantham and Springfield. The annual musters were held by appointment in the different towns, but more
frequently in Newport, on account of its central position and desirable parade-ground. The scenes and incidents in connection with these parades made a lasting impression upon the mind of the writer when a lad, and have been by him committed to verse, which is here pre- sented, to close this chapter on military affairs, in the following
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE BALLAD.
CANTO I.
As Time is ever on the wing We may as well rehearse,- And thus preserve, as best we can, In this our homely verse,-
The annals of the "Thirty-first,"- That regimental corps,
That grandly marched and counter-marched In the good old days of yore.
Already much of interest Thal held the local ear,
And caused a smile to lookers-on, Can never reappear.
And hence we travel back in time Full fifty years or more
To find a theme on which to rhyme, That ne'er was rhymed before.
We hear again in memory The booming of the gun
That broke the silence of the morn, And hailed the rising sun.
While wide-awake and listening, Expectant youngsters lay, And heard the echoes crash along That told of muster-day.
We hear the deep-toned basso-drum, The stirring reveille ;
" Ear-piercing fife," and clarionet, In martial revelry.
We see the gorgeous Stars and Stripes Emblazoned on the sky, As from the flag-staff on the mall So gallantly they fly.
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NEWPORT.
Anon, the Wendall men arrived, At fat John Silver's Inn ; And drummer Stephen Scranton came, And fifer Asa Winn.1
And there they took of sugared grog And smoked, and chewed, and spit, As independent yeomen could ; And plied their rustic wit.
In later times, the Knowlton boys, Both standing six feet four,- In pride of strength and martial mien Led on this valiant corps.
Then came the Goshen Infantry, No infants sure were there. With bayonets glittering in the sun, And banner high in air.
And " John the Man," and " John the Boy," " Ben Rand and Walker Lear, Accoutered as the law directs In rank and file appear.
Some measured fully six feet four, And marched with powerful stride, While others, scarcely four feet six, Like ducklings, waddled wide.
The canteens dangling at their side Smelt of New England rum, And tall Scott Tandy played the fife,- Short Sammy beat the drum.
And John C. Calef,3 then a lad, A youngster full of life, Came with these Goshen fusileers, And played the second fife ;
And now, at nearly four-score years, With recollection clear, The legends of his early time Delights to quote and hear.
And Belknap Bartlet, known to fame, And William Wonder (ful) Pike, Were members of that martial band Prepared to blow and strike.
1 Musicians in the War of 1812-14. " The two John Sholes, of Goshen. 3 Of Gloucester, Mass.
Conspicuous among the rest Was Captain Maxfield seen, As in command he proudly strode, Along the village green.
His white duck pants, somewhat too short, Were held by straps of leather From underneath his ample soles, And in his hat a feather.
In Croydon, Grantham, all around, The morning gun was heard, And distant Springfield felt the sound, Or Pollard + sent them word.
Thus early roused, the mountain boys, To thwart the morning fog, And brace their stomachs for the day Took lustily of grog.
And Captain Stone, the Grantham chief, Was drier than the rest, And anxious comrades wiped his chin And straightened down his vest.
CANTO II. And on they came, the rank and file, Colonel and brigadier, And all the country folks that could From hamlet far and near.
And here they met our flood-woods, formed In orderly platoons, Artillery, Light Infantry, And dashing, plumed dragoons.
Those gallant troopers certainly Enrapt our youthful gaze, And well deserve in this our lay A stanza in their praise.
Their broidered coats and epaulets, Brass buttons, sashes, straps,- And fiercest thing of all to see, Their frowning bear-skin caps.
We know that jokes were often made, And sometimes gibes and jeers, At the expense of that brave troop, Not worth their horses' leers.
# A newsy citizen.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The troops sometimes lost their wits, Or heedless played the elown ; Their "stock " not all of Morgan breed Would sometimes tumble down.
But horse and rider left their trail Along the sands of time, Else naught had been to gather up In this historic rhyme.
"Advancing backwards " from the line, See Nathan Wilmarth (Jr.) stand, A stalwart form, "an eye like Mars' To threaten and command."
And stately was the plume that waved Upon his glossy tile, Before the " Old South Company " When formed in rank and file.
He marched it up and down the street, That corps so truly brave,- And when the discipline grew slack, He "wished they would behave."
Another feature of the day That gave the occasion tone, Was a distinguished windy band, Made up of Pikes alone.
And Luther, Ransom, Calvin John, Sul, and Abiel D., Each on his favorite instrument Made thrilling harmony.
While "Major Saxie," mace in hand, Most gorgeously arrayed, Pranced high before this piek'rell band To mark the time they played.
And on the ground was Calvin Call, A man of some renown, A soldier of the " War of Twelve," A farmer of the town.
A blue dress-coat he often wore, With buttons bright and flat, And on his head was always seen That famous bell-crowned hat.
A man decided in his views,- Out-spoken, some would think,- He made his speech town-meeting days And sometimes took a drink.
But other things we would discuss Instead of local trifles ; The Springfield men that marched so well And then the "Grantham Rifles."
The Springfield Infantry came down And quartered on the ground, Behind the Baptist Meeting-house Where ample space was found.
To form the company and drill, Or lounge in easy way, And find a solace for the toil That came with muster-day.
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