USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, from its first discovery to the year 1830; with dissertations upon the rise of opinions and institutions, the growth of agriculture and manufactures, and the influence of leading families and distinguished men, to the year 1874; > Part 13
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ment. The united forces waited three weeks for the ice to disap- pear and yet were not discovered by the enemy so near them. Various ingenious plans were proposed for the capture of the city ; but finally they resolved to attempt it in the ordinary way. On the last day of April, 1745, one hundred vessels, bearing only eighteen guns and three mortars, and carrying the New England troops, sailed into the bay of Chapeau-Rouge in sight of the frowning battlements of Louisburg. Her walls were defended by one hundred and eighty-three pieces of heavy ordnance and sixteen hundred men. One-fifth of this number were deemed sufficient to repel any attacking force. The besiegers were not tacticians, but farmers, fishermen, mechanics and lumbermen. But they had been inured to toil and privation in the Indian wars. They could do and dare all that might become men. Besides the guns in the city, the harbor was defended by two batteries, containing in both sixty heavy cannon. Yet the New England troops landed at once, and "flew to the shore like eagles to the quarry." The French who came down to repel them were driven into the woods. On the next day William Vaughan of New Hampshire led four hundred volunteers, chiefly from his own state, by the city, which he greeted on passing with three cheers, and took his stand near the northeast harbor. Here he set fire to some French warehouses. The smoke, driven by the wind into the royal battery, so annoyed the gunners that they spiked their cannon and retired to the city. Vaughan hired an Indian to creep through an embrasure and open the gate. He then entered and wrote to the Generalissimo as follows: " May it please your honor to be informed that, by the grace of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal bat- tery about nine o'clock, and am waiting for a reinforcement and a flag." Vaughan held the fort against those who came, to the number of one hundred, to retake it.
The preparations for the siege continued fourteen days. Dur- ing all the nights the troops were employed in dragging the heavy guns, on hastily formed sledges, across a deep morass. Though wading in deep mud, they brought them all safely within cannon-shot of the city. Several unsuccessful attacks were made upon the defences of the city ; finally it was resolved to breach or scale the walls. These were so strong that there was almost no probability of success. At length, on the fifteenth of June, it was announced in the city that a French ship-of-war of sixty-four guns, laden with supplies, had been decoyed into the midst of the English fleet and captured. This discouraged the garrison. They could not long hold out with their present sup- plies. The governor, Duchambon, a weak and irresolute officer, sent a flag of truce ; and terms of capitulation were agreed upon
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and the city was surrendered. Probably an enterprise was never undertaken which promised so little and yielded so much. The men, on entering the city, were astonished at their own temerity in the attempt. They could impute their success only to a divine interposition. They never could have taken the city by assault ; and it is probable that the siege would have soon been raised by the arrival of fresh supplies. They had been favored by the weather during their whole stay on the island ; which, soon after the surrender of the city, became so severe as to peril life in the morass where they had been at work.
The news of this victory was received with universal joy throughout the colonies, and with unfeigned surprise in Europe. Pepperell and Warren were made baronets, and parliament reïm- bursed to the colonies the expenses of the expedition. New Hampshire received, for her share, sixteen thousand three hun- dred and fifty-five pounds sterling. Vaughan, the most noble hero of the siege, obtained no recognition from the Court, and died in obscurity, while attempting to press his claims upon the royal notice in London. Warren, the English Admiral, claimed the honor of this victory ; and, under oath in the admiralty court, testified that himself "did subdue the whole island of Cape Breton." Still it is quite manifest to the candid reader of the history of that expedition, that probably it never would have been undertaken, and certainly never would have been success- ful, but for the skill, energy and heroic daring of New Hampshire men ; and of the New England volunteers, William Vaughan, not William Pepperell, was the soul of the whole enterprise.
The conquest of Louisburg led to more enlarged plans of in- vasion. Shirley, full of enthusiasm and prompted by patriotism, conceived the plan of wresting from the French their entire pos- sessions on this continent. He met Warren and Pepperell at Louisburg after their victory, and consulted them concerning the feasibility of his plan. He then wrote to the British minis- try urging it upon their notice. His proposition seemed wise ; the British secretary of state, the Duke of Newcastle, in April, 1746, sent a circular letter to all the governors of the colonies, as far south as Virginia, to raise as many men as they could spare and form them into companies of one hundred each and hold them ready for action. It was his purpose that the New England troops should meet the British fleet and army at Louis- burg, and thence proceed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. The soldiers from New York and the southern provinces were ordered to meet in Albany, to march thence to Crown Point and Mon- treal. The colonies were to meet all the necessary expenses and depend on England for a reimbursement. In New Hampshire there was some delay, because the governor had no authority
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without the royal consent to issue bills of credit to meet the de- mands of the army. Shirley, the moving spirit of the whole en- terprise, persuaded Wentworth to rely on the English honor to pay the bills, as they had done in case of Louisburg, and issue the sum required. It was thought by some persons that, although New Hampshire and Massachusetts had their own governors, one mind controlled both. New Hampshire voted to raise and support one thousand men and two ships of war. Col. Atkinson was appointed commander. The New Hampshire troops were ordered to march to Albany ; but the small-pox prevailing there, they diverted their course to Saratoga. It was feared that Nova Scotia and Cape Breton would be captured by the French. Or- ders were therefore issued for the troops from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to sail for that region and "drive the enemy out of Nova Scotia." But before this decree could be executed, a report came that a large fleet from France had arrived at Nova Scotia under the command of Duke D'An- ville. The people of New England now began to fear a war on their own shores and possibly the conquest of all their territory. Hence every hand was employed in self-defence. Old forts were repaired; new ones were built; and all the strongholds were strengthened. A new battery of sixteen heavy guns was added to the fort at the entrance of Piscataqua harbor ; and another of nine thirty-two pounders placed at the extremity of Little Harbor. While these works were in progress, news was brought by some prisoners released from the French, that great distress and confusion prevailed on board their fleet. The of- ficers were divided in council. English letters which had been intercepted by a French cruiser were brought to Chebucto, a bay near Halifax, where the fleet lay. An English fleet was ex- pected to follow the French to America. So these letters in- formed them. This news created dissension among the officers. The men were wasted by pestilence ; eleven hundred were buried at Halifax and hundreds more in the sea; the fleet was crip- pled by storms ; and under such circumstances they could do nothing. The commander, utterly dispirited, committed suicide ; and the second in command, in a fit of insanity fell on his own sword. They resolved, however, to attack Annapolis, but as they sailed from Chebucto they were overtaken by a storm ; some of their ships were wrecked and the rest returned home. So ended this magnificent plan of conquest. The result only finds a par- allel in the dispersion of the Spanish Armada in the reign of Elizabeth.
During all this time the English had been unaccountably re- miss in action. Seven times the fleet sailed from Spithead, and seven times returned. Only two English regiments ever reached
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Louisburg. The whole summer was wasted and nothing accom plished. The colonies were in an agony of suspense, and were sending their forces to different points, where the danger seemed imminent, without advantage to any one. After the cloud of peril from France was dissolved, Colonel Atkinson marched with his regiment to the shores of lake Winnipiseogee. There they passed a winter in plenty, with no foe near them. They were without discipline, without employment, and soon without morals. They spent their time in sporting, hunting and fishing. Some deserted ; all became weary of this listless mode of life. The following summer was spent in idleness and disorder till they were finally disbanded. But, during all this period of inac- tion, the frontiers of New England were harassed beyond en- durance by the French and Indians. Before the adjustment of the boundary between the two states, many townships had been granted, both by Massachusetts and New Hampshire, within the limits of the latter state as fixed by George II. The valleys of the Merrimack, Ashuelot and Connecticut rivers had been ex- tensively explored and settled. As late as 1745 many of these towns were known only by their numbers, by Indian names, or by local peculiarities. For example, Charlestown was called Number-Four ; Westmoreland, Great Meadow; Walpole, Great Fall ; Hinsdale, Fort Dummner ; Keene, Upper Ashuelot ; and Swanzey, Lower Ashuelot. On the Merrimack, Concord was known as Penacook; Pembroke, Suncook ; Boscawen, Contoo- cook ; Hopkinton, New Hopkinton ; Merrimack, Souhegan-East ; and Amherst, Souhegan-West. On the Piscataqua and its branches were the towns of Nottingham, Barrington and Roch- ester. All these settlements* were on the frontiers of the state as it was then occupied ; and were peculiarly exposed to hostile attacks from the savages, both Indian and French, for they dif- fered but little in their mode of warfare. The French had more knowledge and of course were more criminal. They were ever ready to
"Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war, "
and the innocent were torn and inangled without pity. The people of New Hampshire were willing to receive all the new territory which the king decided to give them ; but they were not willing to defend it. They maintained that the towns granted and the forts built by Massachusetts ought to be protected by her. The defence of her own frontiers required this. On the west side of Connecticut river stood Fort Dummer. Hinsdale,
* A line drawn from Rochester to Boscawen, Concord, Hopkinton, Hillsborough, Keene and Westmoreland constituted the frontier of the New Hampshire settlements. These towns were the points of attack by the Indians in "King George's"War." In these and adjacent towns about one hundred persons were killed, wounded or captured during the war from July 5 1745, to June 17, 1749.
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on the east side, had in common the same name. Massachusetts had erected and maintained this border defence till the royal de- cision gave it to New Hampshire. The assembly declined to pro- tect this post, because of its remoteness and the expense. It was also without access by regular roads. The governor dissolved the assembly that refused this reasonable expense and called another, whom he eloquently besought to assume the burden. They also refused ; and Massachusetts undertook the defence of this and other posts established above it on the Connecticut.
All the horrors and atrocities of former Indian wars were re- newed. There was no safety for private houses. Every oc- cupied house must be turned into a garrison. No field labor could be performed with safety. Harvests were destroyed, houses burned, cattle killed and men, women and children in- humanly massacred or dragged into slavery. No man walked abroad unarmed. It was unsafe to step out of the stockade to milk a cow or feed an animal. The lurking foe seemed omni- present. They were scattered in small parties along the whole frontier. When people wanted bread, they were obliged to visit the mills with an armed guard. Indians often lay in ambush about the mills. The upper towns on the Connecticut and Mer- rimack were all visited. Some of them were decimated ; others lost only one or two inhabitants.
The year 1746 was memorable in the history of Concord, then called Rumford. This region, in early times, had been the home of the far-famed Passaconaway the great sachem of Penacook. It was therefore a favorite resort of the Indians, both in peace and war. From an address delivered by Mr. Asa McFarland, on the occasion of the erection of the Bradley monument, the fol- lowing description of Concord, as it then was, is copied :
"Where pleasant villages have grown up, north of us, set a few houses and give a garrison to each of these outposts. Immediately west of this monument let there be a few lots reserved from barrenness, and a guard-house there also. Over our broad intervals, let a few acres be under culture; and just as well tilled as would naturally be the case in a new and terror-stricken frontier town. Let thick forests clothe most of the soil, and animals dwell therein which make night hideous. Let bears rustle in the farmer's corn- field, and wolves howl around his sheep-folds; let moose and deer go down at noon to drink at a stream, from the far distant sources of which the species now flee before the huntsman."
Such was the settlement which hostile Indians approached, on Sunday, August 10, 1746. Capt. Ladd, from Exeter, had come with his company to Rumford to protect the citizens. The Con- cord and Exeter soldiers united numbered about seventy. The men, not excepting the clergyman, worshiped with arms at hand and sentinels stationed without. The Indians dared not make their attack on the Sabbath. The next day eight of the
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company were sent out on the Hopkinton road to perform some special service. About three-fourths of a mile from the settle- ment they fell into an ambuscade, and five of their number were killed and hewn to pieces by the Indians. On the twenty- second of August, 1837, Richard Bradley, a descendant of Samuel Bradley the leader of that heroic band of martyrs, erected a fitting monument to their memory on the spot where they fell. This is a noble granite shaft which, being cut from " the everlasting hills, " will, without doubt, transmit the history of their patriotism to the latest posterity.
It was a favorite practice of the Indians to carry their prison- ers away to Canada. They received a reward from their sale ; and the French, by the exorbitant prices demanded for their redemption, paid the expenses of the war. The prospect of an expedition to Canada, in 1746, induced many soldiers who were on duty on the frontiers to enlist in the army of invasion. The protection of those exposed towns being withdrawn, the inhabi- tants were obliged to leave their farms to be pillaged, their houses to be burnt. They buried some articles of property and carried others with them; but the most of their goods were left to be appropriated or destroyed by the enemy. In the spring of 1747 Massachusetts resumed her protection of these deserted forts and towns. In March of that year, Capt. Phineas Stevens, who commanded a company of rangers, numbering thirty men, came to Number-Four and took possession of it. It was a common stockade fort made of the trunks of trees about fourteen feet in length, set in the ground. It covered about three-fourths of an acre. Within ten days after the arrival of Capt. Stevens, this fort was surrounded by a mixed army of French and Indians, numbering from four to seven hundred men. A simultaneous attack was made on all sides, under the command of an experi- enced leader, Gen. Debeline. When the ordinary modes of as- sault failed, they attempted to burn it. Says Capt. Stevens in his report :
"The wind being very high, and everything exceedingly dry, they set fire to all the old fences, and also to the log house about forty rods from the fort, to the windward, so that in a few minutes we were entirely surrounded by fire,-all which was performed with the most hideous shouting from all quar- ters, which they continued in the most terrible manner till the next day at ten o'clock at night, without intermission; and during that time we had no opportunity to eat or sleep."
Among other modes of assault, they loaded a carriage with combustibles, rolled it up to the paling, and thus set the fort on fire. But even this failed to do its work. The French officer then demanded a surrender through a flag of truce accompanied by fifty men. The men within unanimously resolved to fight. Finding the fort impregnable, the enemy left it. Only two of its
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brave defenders were wounded. This was the most gallant achievement of the whole war. Commodore Sir Charles Knowles was so highly pleased with the conduct of Capt. Stevens, that he presented him with an elegant and costly sword as a reward of his bravery. The township, when incorporated, took the name of Charlestown in commemoration of this act of justice from Sir Charles.
The lower towns did not escape attacks. Hopkinton, Con- cord, Suncook, Rochester, Nottingham, Winchester and Hins- dale all lost some of their valued citizens. The war was carried on with great want of skill and energy, if not with positive in- difference, by the English. After the failure of Shirley's pro- posed invasion of Canada, they made no aggressive movements. It was suspected, by some persons, that England allowed this dangerous enemy to harass the colonies, that they might feel more keenly their dependence on the mother country. This was the expressed opinion of Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveler. They were already enforcing that restrictive policy in trade which, in after years, led to the Revolution. The colonies were required to buy and sell only in English ports. If they discovered any silver or gold, it was the perquisite of the king. In fact, they were making their children perfect through sufferings ; and bit- terly did they rue their neglect of them in after years.
The Indians killed fewer of their captives than in former years. They valued their redemption money too highly. They also discontinued some of their former modes of torture, such as roasting their prisoners by a slow fire, cutting out their tongues, cutting off their noses, and carving away morsels of their flesh to be thrown in their faces. They compelled none to run the gauntlet ; they even showed pity to the sick and feeble. This does not indicate the existence of compassion, but a develop- ment of avarice. They wished to save their captives that they might sell them for money.
Near the close of 1748, a treaty of peace was concluded be- tween England and France, at Aix la Chapelle. "Humanity had suffered without a purpose, and without a result." No ques- tion in dispute had been settled. Neither party had made any · acquisition of wealth or territory. England yielded up Cape Breton, whose conquest had shed such glory on the colonial arms, and received in return Madras. The spirit of war slum- bered only a few years, and all the old questions in dispute were again revived in the subsequent "French and Indian war." The fruit of King George's war, to the colonists, was debt, dis- grace and degradation. The soldiers, accustomed to camp-lifc, carried its loose morality into rural life and society lost its purity, industry and economy.
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CHAPTER XXXV.
REVIVAL OF MASON'S CLAIM.
While the controversy was pending respecting the boundaries of New Hampshire before the king, in 1738, the wise politicians of Massachusetts found a lineal descendant of Capt. Mason, who bore the name of John Tufton Mason. A claim was set up for him to the lands originally granted to his ancestor, on a plea of a defect in the sale made by John and Robert Mason, in 1691, to Samuel Allen. The purchaser then thought that he was dealing with honest men and securing a valid title to the premises deeded to him. But in that conveyance, by a fiction of law, the lands were supposed to be in England instead of New Hampshire, so that they might be under the control of the king's court. Possibly Mr. Allen chose that it should be so. This fiction, however, was the means of vacating the title, and the estate reverted to the heirs of Mason. In the excitement of parties, intriguing politicians resolved to gain by purchase what they feared they should lose by litigation. They first pur- chased that portion of Mason's grant that lay within the juris- diction of Massachusetts for five hundred pounds. Tomlin- son, the vigilant agent of New Hampshire, hearing of this ne- gotiation, approached Mr. Mason, who had been sent to London to promote the interests of Massachusetts, and proposed to buy his claim on New Hampshire. He offered to sell it to the assembly of the state for one thousand pounds in New England currency. The bargain was not immediately closed but left for future controversy. After the final adjustment of the lines, in 1741, Mason returned to America, but did not urge the sale of his claim for several years. In 1744 it was brought before the assembly by Gov. Wentworth, but the intense excitement about the Louisburg expedition prevented definite action upon it. Mason himself joined the expedition. On his return, in 1746, he notified the assembly that he should sell to others if they failed to close the bargain immediately. After discussion, they accepted his terms ; but it was too late. On the very day of their acceptance he conveyed the property, by deed, to twelve of the leading men of Portsmouth, for fifteen hundred pounds.
This deed led to long and angry disputes between the pur- chasers and the assembly. They at one time agreed to sur- render their claim to the assembly, provided the land should be
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"granted by the governor and council." The assembly were jealous of these officials and would not accept the offer. The people murmured, and the legislators threatened ; but the new proprietors stood firm. They proceeded to grant new townships on the most liberal terms, asking no reward for the land occupied by actual settlers, only insisting on immediate improvements in roads, mills and churches. They reserved in every town one right for a settled minister, one for a parsonage and one for a school, and fifteen rights for themselves. This generous conduct gained them friends and they soon became popular with all parties. The heirs of Allen threatened loudly to vindicate their claim, but never actually commenced a suit. So the matter ran on, under this new proprietorship, till the Revolution, like a flood, swept away all these rotten defences and gave to actual settlers a title, in fee simple, to their farms.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE REPRESENTATIVES OF NEW TOWNS.
When war was at their doors, and the scalping-knife gleamed above their heads, the people gave no heed to domestic quarrels or "private griefs." They fought till the foe disappeared, then public war was exchanged for political contests. The governor and the legislature were seldom in harmony. The chief magis- trate was the representative of the king, the assembly of the peo- ple ; hence mutual jealousies and mutual hostility sprang up. Governor Wentworth had resolved to protect those towns and forts that had been acquired from Massachusetts by the new boundary line. He introduced into the legislature of 1748 six new members, from towns that had been cut off from Massachu- setts. The house refused them seats. Here was open war be- tween the executive and the legislative branch of the govern- ment. Precedents were cited to sustain both parties. The tri- ennial act of 1727 was deficient, because it did not decide who should issue the writs that were necessary to the election of new members. The house claimed that they alone should determine who should sit with them in making laws. The governor main- tained that the right to send representatives was founded on royal commissions and instructions ; and that he, acting under the king's direction, alone held the right of issuing writs for new
9
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elections. The controversy was suspended during the war. At its close, in 1749, it assumed new importance.
For three years the governor and council waged incessant war with the assembly. The public interests were neglected. The treasurer's accounts were not audited ; the recorder's office was closed ; and the soldiers, who had so heroically defended the frontiers of the state, were unpaid. The public bills of credit depreciated from fifty-six to thirty per cent .; and the gov- ernor's salary declined in the same ratio. The excise could neither be farmed nor collected. No authenticated documents could be obtained ; in a word, no public business could be trans- acted. The people were suffering a sort of papal interdict, un- der a royal governor and a democratic legislature. An attempt was made to remove the governor ; but he had the ear of the English minister and the papers were not presented. The peo- ple again agitated the project of annexation to Massachusetts ; but all desperate remedies failed, and in due time the parties became weary of the fight. In 1752 a new assembly was called. They met in better temper. Moderate councils prevailed ; a popular speaker was elected. Meshech Weare, a man of rising merit, in favor with both parties, occupied the chair. A re- corder was chosen, who entered at once upon his duties ; the treasurer's accounts were settled ; the governor's salary was in- creased ; and an era of good feelings commenced. Thus the new representatives gained their seats, and the public business again commanded the attention of the assembly.
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