USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
3 Chase's Hanover, p. 327.
4 State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 556.
5 Chase's Hanover, p. 329.
6 Council Records, MSS. VII. 112; House Journal, MSS. XI. 351, XII. 419 ; Province and State Papers, vol. viii. pp. 834, 972 ; Potter's Mil. Hist. N. H., 2 Adj .- Gen's. Report, 1866, p. 284 ; State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 558.
7 Letter, Gov. John Wentworth to Timothy Bedel, August 5, 1768, manuscript among the Bedel Papers, in custody of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
533
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
self as representative of the crown, but it happened that no one was commissioned as a field officer who did not liold one or more civil offices of honor and emolument for the county. Besides the bestowal of the five important positions to which Colonel Hurd had been assigned, the governor made Colonel Fenton judge of probate and clerk of courts, Major Sewall register of probate, Lieutenant-Colonel Porter and Lieutenant-Colonel Hobart judges of the court of common pleas, and Major Simpson sheriff. When, however, the governor was compelled to abandon the province in 1775, Colonel Fenton, alone of all those recipients of executive favor, cast his fortunes with his chief and attempted to depart with him.1 He was, however, intercepted by the State author- ities and detained for a considerable period as a State prisoner. Colonel Porter was of the same mind, but more politic as to taking a stand openly against the revolt of the province. Major Simpson and Major Sewall took a conservative course and were non-committal. Colonel Hurd and Lieutenant-Colonel Hobart espoused the cause of independence promptly, openly, and effect- ively. Hobart was eventually made Colonel of Fenton's regiment, and Hurd became Councillor and member of the Revolutionary Committee of Safety for Grafton County.
The imperative necessity of a reorganization of the militia was manifest as soon as all reasonable hope of obtaining a redress of grievances without a final appeal to the arbitrament of war had vanished. Among the field officers, all having been appointed by the royal governor, a certain element, as might have been ex- pected, remained in sympathy with the mother country, lukewarm in the cause of independence, or in doubt as to the expediency of the movement. The last recorded session of the old Assembly is on July 18, the governor having retired to the fort July 11. The Fourth Provincial (Revolutionary ) Congress had, after the final dissolution of the last (royal) province Assembly, an open field as the only representative body exercising legislative powers in the province. Colonel Hurd was a member in attendance in the July session. This body, by vote on the 24th of August, 1775, the very day on which Governor Wentworth sailed for Boston on the "Scarborough," reorganized the regiments with strict reference to the exigency by which the Commonwealth was confronted. Timothy Bedel and Israel Morey, as well as Colonel Hurd, were influential Grafton County members of this congress. Morey was of Orford, and was made Colonel of Hurd's regiment, with
1 Biography, by Charles R. Corning, Proceedings Grafton and Coös Bar Associ- ation, vol. i. p. 151; Proceedings N. H. Society of Colonial Wars, 1901.
534
History of Littleton.
Charles Johnston, of Haverhill, as Lieutenant-Colonel, Jonathan Child, of Lyme, as First Major, and Jonathan Hale, of Haverhill, as Second Major.1 Colonel Morey was an energetic officer and a con - spicuous citizen during the entire war period. Besides the organ- ization and command of his regiment, constant attention to the defence of the frontier which it occupied, and compliance with calls upon his territory for oft-repeated levies of men and ma- terial for operations abroad, he acted as one of the chief execu- tives of the commissary department in the Connecticut Valley. The records are fragmentary and incomplete, but the following abstract will indicate something of the importance of this regi- ment in contributions for various lines of service in the course of the long conflict : - -
In 1776 the Assembly voted to raise 2,000 men for " the ser- vice," of which the Sixteenth (Twelfth) Regiment, Col. Israel Morey, of Orford, was to furnish forty-three.2
Men raised to fill up the three continental regiments, March, 1777 (total 2,063).
Col. Israel Morey's regiment, forty-three.3
Apportionment of men to be raised for service in Rhode Island, 1779 (total 280).
Colonel Morey's regiment, six.4
June 16, 1780, the Legislature passed an act ordering 600 men to be raised to recruit the three regiments in the continental army from this State; of these
Colonel Morey's regiment, sixteen.5
In the latter part of June, 1780, the Legislature voted to raise 945 men for a term of three months, to reinforce the army at West Point ; of these
Colonel Morey's regiment, two officers, twenty-six privates.6
June 22, 1780, the House of Representatives voted to raise 120 men to be sent to the " western frontiers of this State " to rein- force Major Benjamin Whitcomb. These men were to serve six months ; of these
Colonel Morey's regiment, five .?
" In October, 1780, a great alarm was occasioned by the destruction of Royalton, Vt., and from a report that 4,000 British troops had crossed Lake Champlain with the intention of proceeding to Connecti- cut River. At this time Mr. [Absalom] Peters marched at the head of
1 Province Papers, vol. vii. p. 578.
3 State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 559.
5 State Papers, vol. xvi. p. 58.
7 State Papers, vol. xvi. p. 166.
2 State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 256.
4 State Papers, vol. xv. p. 655.
6 State Papers, vol. xvi. p. 104.
535
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
six companies from the northern part of New Hampshire to Newbury, Vt .. the place designated for their rendezvous, and on his arrival was appointed aid to Major-General Bayley, which office he sustained until the close of the war." 1
April 5, 1781, the House of Representatives voted to raise two companies, to consist of sixty-five men each, to rendezvous at Haverhill by the 1st of June, and to be under the command of Lieut .- Col. Charles Johnston. It was subsequently voted not to send them so early ; but on the 30th of June a vote passed requir- ing them to be raised and forwarded immediately. The men were to be raised from the militia regiments commanded by Colonels Ellis of Keene, Chase of Cornish, Morey of Orford, Webster of Plymouth, and "the regiment of the late Colonel Bellows " of Walpole, and were to serve six months.2
From the Vermont records it appears that, in a call for 1,500 men for the defence of the northern frontier against the common enemy in 1781, 310 men were apportioned to the regiments on the east side of the river, two officers and forty-three non-com- missioned officers and privates being required from Morey's regiment.3
Other calls of a like character, of which no record has been preserved, would undoubtedly enlarge the account to the credit of Morey's regiment as an important factor in the great struggle.4
The local military government of the towns in the lower part of Morey's regiment all through the war period, which was also the period of their disaffection against the Exeter government, was very largely managed through the instrumentality of delegate con- ventions from the towns on both sides of the river. The details of the proceedings of these assemblies must be sought in the State Papers and historical collections of New Hampshire and Vermont.
The supreme effort on the part of New Hampshire in behalf of the cause of independence was made in 1777. Morey's regiment, on account of its location, was naturally subject to urgent calls for the reinforcement of the army by which General Burgoyne's forces were invested. David Hobart, of Plymouth, Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment of militia, commanded one of the provisional regiments of Stark's brigade at Bennington. His record in that battle was highly commended by General Stark. His fame in
1 Coll. N. H. Hist. Soc., vol. iii. p. 245.
2 State Papers, vol. xvi. p. 249.
3 Records of Governor and Council of Vt., vol. ii. p. 87.
See also State Papers, vol. viii. passim.
536
History of Littleton.
later years, however, was obscured by the fact that Stark's de- spatches made the name appear to be " Hubbard." Belknap, Bar- stow, and other historians have followed the error. Whiton does not mention Hobart by either name. He died, soon after the war, in Haverhill, Mass., to which place he had removed.1
The roll of the men of Stark's brigade, compiled by Col. George C. Gilmore, 1891, in which the residence of each individual is given by towns, credits Morey's regiment with a contribution of fifty men. Nearly or quite all of this contingent served in the regiment commanded by Colonel Hobart. Davenport Phelps, of Lyme, was Quartermaster on the regimental staff. Charles John- ston, of Haverhill, was Hobart's Lieutenant-Colonel, and John- ston's dramatic valor is still a conspicuous feature of the story of the battle.2
Colonel Hurd writes from Haverhill, under date of September 30, 1777, to the Committee of Safety as follows : -
" I congratulate with you on the success of our army to the North- ward & the glorious prospect there now appears of destroying the whole Force of our Enemys both North & South, & compleating the business of this campaign ; if the people do but continue their spirit & exertions. 'Tis rather unluckey tho' that General Stark's Brigade is so soon broke up, wch has struck a panic into the Enemy they will never recover ; - more of our men this way however are turning out at the earnest request of General Bayley from Castleton, & by orders of Colº Morey, who I hear was going off himself. I am extremely chagrin'd that. my infirm Limbs will not permit me to share the Toils & dangers of the field with my countrymen. I have spared two of my family & sent them off with horses and provisions for near a month ; - one of them, my son Jacob, tho' hardly of age sufficient, but a well grown lad of good heart & disposition, to supply his father's place." 3
No account is here taken of the so-called Ticonderoga alarms in the early part of 1777, to which due response was undoubtedly made by the men of Morey's regiment for the brief terms which characterized those somewhat desultory movements.
Gen. Jacob Bayley forwarded the following letter to Colonel Morey, dated September 22, 1777 : -
"SR - Success attend us as yet, in part we have cut of their Com- munication - we have taken Tic. side except the old fort hope soon to
1 Potter's Mil. Hist. N. H., p. 320; Farmer's Belknap, p. 374; Barstow's N. H., p. 257.
2 State Papers, vol. xv. p. 142; Granite Monthly, vol. xv. p. 85; Biography of Charles Johnston by J. Q. Bittinger.
3 State Papers, vol. viii. p. 700.
537
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
have all Lake George - Taken about 500 Prisoners we want help much our Divition is only 1500 men General Lincoln's gone to Join General Gates you and all the melitia Eastward must turn out with Horses and one months Provitions which will I hope put an end to the dispute this way. GenTl Arnold fought a battle two day ago on the Left of Genti Gates great numbers fell on both sides he took 250 Prisoners and three field peaces and the field - Pray turn out -" 1
Writing from Cornish, October 1, 1777, Colonel Morey makes the following report to Gen. Jonathan Chase : -
" SIR - This is to inform you that I have collected what men I could out of my Regiment (in so short a time) I marched them as far as this place hoping to find you at home - but as you was gone forward & as I have recª new orders from the Court of this state thro' the Hands of Brigadeer Gen1 Whipple to exert myself to the utmost & send all the Militia that can possibly turn out, I concluded to turn back & raise another Company & send forward as soon as possible - Capt Chandler commands the men which I have sent forward - I have directed him to put himself under your Command - my Adjutant Simeon Goodwin is gone forward & will serve if needed & he is a Man that may be re- lied on for his punctuality & fidelity - Gen1 Bayley will show you what further I have wrote respecting the men and soforth - I send my son Israel with the Men he is to wait on Capt Hayward when he comes - -
By reference to the rolls in State Papers, Vol. XV. pp. 379, 383, 385, we are able to identify the volunteers from Morey's regiment to whom the Colonel refers.
The officers of Morey's regiment with this battalion at the out- set were Major Jonathan Child, of Lyme; Adjutant Simeon Good- win, of Haverhill ; Chaplain Obediah Noble, formerly of Orange ; Capt. Jonathan Chandler, of Piermont; Lieut. Jonathan Derby, of Orford ; Ensign James English, of Lyme ; Capt. Joshua Hayward (or Howard), of Haverhill ; and Lieut. Thomas Hibbard, of Haver- hill. Major Child and Surgeon Frederick Obrey appear to have served in General Lincoln's command.2
Lieutenant-Colonel Webster of Hobart's Plymouth regiment accompanied this contingent with a company of twenty-four offi- cers and men from that regiment under Capt. John Willoughby.3
There were thirty men in Captain Chandler's company, and thirty-six in that of Captain Howard, besides the three officers of the field and staff. The detachment served under Colonel Chase.
1 State Papers, vol. xvii. p. 136.
3 State Papers, vol. xv. p. 381.
2 State Papers, vol. xv. p. 366.
538
History of Littleton.
The rolls of Chase's men give the number in this particular ser- vice as 142. Chandler's contingent and Willoughby's company gave Colonel Chase a regiment of 235 men.
The following certificate of service relative to the regiment is preserved : 1 -
H. Q. SARATOGA, Oct" 18th 1777.
These may Certify that Colo Chase with a Regiment of Volunteers have faithfully serv'd until this date in the Northern Army, and are now Discharged with Honor.
By order of General Gates, JACOB BAYLEY Brig" Gen1.
Another company of thirty-eight officers and men were engaged in this campaign under Capt. Joseph Hutchins, of Haverhill. Gen- eral Bayley certifies that they were in his brigade. Capt. John Sloan's company, raised in Lyme, Orford, Piermont, and the vicin- city in Coos, twenty-seven officers and men, were also in the same service.2
The roll of officers for Hutchins's company is given in Potter's Military History, Part II. p. 386. The officers named by Colonel Potter are : Joseph Hutchins, Captain ; Timothy Bedel, First Lieutenant ; Joseph Howe, Second Lieutenant ; Ezekiel Ladd, Ensign.
The period of service was from August 18 to October 5. This roll should be read in connection with that of the rank and file printed in State Papers, Vol. XV. p. 279.
It makes the full number of the company 38, and by that much increases the aggregate of men furnished from Morey's regiment for the Saratoga campaign.
In July, 1777, it appears by the record that 50 men were re- cruited from this regiment for the continental regiments, and the names, residences, and regiment to which each man was assigned are given in detail.3
These enlistments were in ample time for the Saratoga cam- paign, in which all the New Hampshire continental regiments which are referred to participated. The total strength of Morey's regiment being 347, as already officially stated, it is now shown by actual reference to the rolls and names of the men that nearly two-thirds of the regiment (234) volunteered for the Bennington and Saratoga campaigns, and that was equivalent to two-thirds of
1 State Papers, vol. xvii. p. 150.
2 State Papers, vol. xv. pp. 277-281.
8 State Papers, vol. xv. pp. 424, 425.
539
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
the entire body of men of military age within the territorial limits of the regiment.
In a letter addressed to Lieut .- Col. David Webster, reproduced in Hon. Alfred Russell's biography of that officer in the " Granite Monthly," Vol. XXX. p. 93, General Bayley formally thanks Colonel Webster for the services of himself and his regiment : -
HEADQUARTERS, SARATOGA, Oct. 18, 1777.
These may certify that Col. Webster, with a regiment of N. H. Vol- unteers, have faithfully served in the Northern Army until this date, and are discharged with honor.
By Gen. Gate's order, JACOB BAYLEY, Brig. Gen'l.
The letter does not specify the regiment to which reference is made, whether to the regiment with which Colonel Webster served or a regiment which he commanded. It could not have been the Eleventh, or Plymouth regiment of militia, for the same reason that two companies volunteering out of Morey's regiment were not Morey's regiment, and 142 volunteers from Chase's were not Chase's regiment.
Colonel Bedel's first regiment, 1775, serving in Canada, and the second, 1776, also operating in the same region, both contained companies raised within the area of Morey's regiment. Bedel's third, 1777, and his fourth, 1778, also contained large enlistments from Morey's militia, although Bedel's later regiments, with the exception of the contingent of 100 men under Lieutenant-Colonel Wheelock called to Albany, N. Y., in 1778, were not actually en- gaged in field service outside of New Hampshire or Vermont. Add to this exhibit the recruitments from the northern militia for many companies of rangers, of which the official rolls afford evi- dence, and it may fairly be assumed that the number of men in active service assignable to Morey's regiment very largely ex- ceeds the numerical strength of the regiment, notwithstanding the somewhat paradoxical nature of the claim.
The militia was governed by the existing province laws, modi- fied in some particulars by occasional legislation, until September, 1776, when a new system was established by act of the two houses of the Assembly. This law created two classes in the militia, the training band and the alarm list. All the able-bodied males in the State, with customary exemptions, between sixteen and fifty. years of age, were included in the train band, and an alarm list in which the liability to military duty in emergencies was extended
540
History of Littleton.
to sixty-five years.1 The companies, including those upon the alarm list, a field officer presiding, were to choose a captain, two lieutenants, and an ensign to each. The non-commissioned offi- cers were chosen by the companies.
Each officer and private soldier was "to equip himself and be constantly provided with a good firearm, good ramrod, a worm, priming wire and brush, and a bayonet fitted to his gun, a scab- bard and belt therefor, and a cutting sword or a tomahawk or hatchet, a pouch containing a cartridge-box that will hold fifteen rounds of cartridges at least, a hundred buckshot a jackknife and tow for wadding, six flints, one pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to his gun, a knapsack and blanket, a canteen or wooden bottle sufficient to hold one quart." Each town was to provide and deposit in some safe place, for use in case of an alarm, a specified number of spades, axes, and picks, and to provide arms and equipments for those unable to provide for themselves ; and parents, masters, and guardians were to provide for those under their care. Each company was to muster eight times a year, in- cluding the regimental musters.2
The law imposed very serious burdens upon the people, not only in personal services, but in the expense of equipment. A census taken in the fall of 1775 8 indicates approximately the amount of arms and military supplies in the hands of the people. The table on page 541 is an abstract of their returns, limited to the towns in Morey's regiment.
In a short time after Colonel Morey assumed command of the " North Regiment" it furnished a large contingent of men and military equipment for Bedel's regiment of rangers, which was ordered to Canada early in the winter of 1775-1776 to reinforce Montgomery's army. In the absence of Colonel Bedel and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Wait a part of this ranger regiment was surren- dered at a fort called "Cedars," under circumstances most discreditable to Major Butterfield, who was in command.4 This necessarily resulted in a serious loss of equipment which had been drawn from the western New Hampshire militia contributing the men and material for Bedel's regiment. The burden of replacing
1 A Conway return of June 10, 1775, in which all the men able to bear arms from sixteen years upward are enumerated, shows 61 men, with 10 on the alarm list, a total of 71. Of this 61, moreover, 11 were reported as already gone to the war. This may indicate approximately the respective proportions of men in the two classes in other northern towns. State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 246.
2 Potter's Mil. Hist. N. H., Adj .- Gen.'s Report, 1886, vol. ii. p. 281.
3 Province Papers, vol. vii. pp. 724-784.
4 Potter's Mil. Hist. N. H., Adj .- Gen.'s Report, 1866, vol. ii. p. 287.
541
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
the loss in arms and accoutrements from this disgraceful affair was a serious matter for the farmer soldiers of the frontier.1
The numerical strength of Morey's regiment can be ascertained with reasonable accuracy. The record, reprinted in State Papers, Vol. XIV. p. 556, which gives the statistics of enrolment for an apportionment of recruits called for to fill the three continental regiments in 1777, is apparently complete except as to Colonel Morey's regiment. The total strength of the regiment is given as 347. This is manifestly based on the census of the returns of the fall of 1775.2 The part which remains in the original manuscript
Names of towns.
Fire-arms fit for use.
Guns wanted.
Powder in- habitants have.
Powder town has.
Lead and bullets, etc.
Pistols.
Orford
13
29
30 lbs.
Lyme
30
31
38
Bath
8
24
8 lbs.
15
Cockburne (Columbia).
3
2
33
Colebrook
1
6
50
Piermont
1
31
16
Stratford
7
7
11
Apthorp
(Littleton and
Dalton)
Gunthwaite (Lisbon)
6
14
Northumberland .
7
15
10
Lancaster
8
7
11
Lyman
Landaff
1
lbs. lead, 2 dozen flints.
Morristown (Franconia and Lincoln ) .
3
3}
10 lbs. lead, 20 flints.
is indicated by italics. The part in Roman is reconstructed from the census returns above mentioned. The result is so nearly that given in the record summary that we have a right to assume our method of reconstruction of the statistics of enrolment for the regiment to be sufficiently accurate.
Orford
47
Lyme .
69
Bath
35
Carried forward 151
1 Memorial of Charles Johnston, Joseph Hutchins, Simeon Goodwin, and Joshua Howard, State Papers, vol. xii. p. 187; Memorial of Officers of Bedel's Regiment addressed to Major-General Gates and dated at Ticonderoga July 17, 1776, American Archives, series 5, vol. i. pp. 398, 399.
2 Province Papers, vol. vii. p. 724.
col tools
Haverhill
542
History of Littleton.
Brought forward . . 151
Cockburne
6
Colebrooke
1
Haverhill
86
Piermont .
43
Stratford 16
Apthorp (estimated) 1
5
Gunthwaite
11
Northumberland (State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 559, 7) 20
Lancaster (State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 559, 6)
17
Lyman (State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 559, 0) (estimated)
9
Landaff
9
Morristown
6
Reconstructed summary 378
Record (official) . 347
Variance . 31
The difference in the record statement 2 of the number of men in Lancaster, Northumberland, and Lyman, and the statistics as corrected by the census returns 3 with the uncertainty taken into account as to Lyman and Apthorp, from which necessarily only estimates are given, is not very important, and, due allowance being made according to the apparent requirements of the case, no serious historical error will be possible.
It may therefore be assumed, for the purposes of this narra- tive, that we have the territorial extent of the regiment outlined, and its numerical strength also, as nearly as it is practicable to state it from the records, read in connection with the census of 1775.
We are also enabled to locate most of the companies which constituted the regiment, and to give the roster of field and com- pany officers with the exception of one or two companies. This statement refers to the organization as it stood in September, 1775.
A LIST OF THE 12TH REGIMENT OF FOOT, COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, Sept. 5th, 1775.4
Commissioned 5th Sept., 1775.
Israel Morey, Esq., Colonel. Charles Johns[t]on, Esq., Lt .- Col.
Jonathan Child, Esq., Major .. Jonathan Hale, Esq., 2d Maj.
1 See Province Papers, vol. vii. p. 672, for authority for estimates.
2 State Papers, vol. xiv. p. 559.
State Papers, vol. vii. pp. 724-781. 4 State Papers, vol. xvi. p. 924.
543
The Militia in Northern New Hampshire.
Haverhill First Company.
Joshua Hayward, Capt.
Ebenezer Rice, 2d Lt.
Samuel Ladd, Lt. John Ladd, Ensign.
Orford 2nd Company.
Daniel Tillotson, Capt.
Eldad Post, 2d Lt.
Peletiah Bliss, Lieut. Jonathan Derby, Ensign.
John Sloan, Capt. Jabez Vaughn, 2d Lt.
Lyme 3rd Company. Benjamin Grant, Jr., Lt. James English, Ensign.
4th Company (Name of town and roster not in original.)
Piermont 5th Company.
Jonathan Chandler, Capt.
John Weed, Lt.
Azariah Webb, 2d Lt. Burgess Metcalf, Ensign.
Gunthwaite 6th Company.
Luther Richardson, Capt. Jacob Shuff, Lieut.
William Martin, 2d Lt. Timothy Bagley, Ensign.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.