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 27
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ard wherever it was set up. Her volunteers were found in every fierce encounter by sea and land. Whole companies, from vari- ous parts of the state, marched together to the war. Her sailors fitted out privateers and preyed upon the commerce of the haughty "mistress of the seas." Mr. Brewster in his " Rambles about Portsmouth " has this graphic picture of privateering in that town : "Here we are in the memorable year, 1812, on the old wharf at Point of Graves, beholding the first privateer fit- ting out after the declaration of war. That schooner is the Nancy ; and that man with two pistols in his belt and his vest pockets filled with loose gunpowder is Captain Smart. There is a large company of spectators on the wharf looking at the little craft. But off she goes to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and, like a small spider entrapping a bumble-bee, she soon returns
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with her prize." No less than fourteen ships sailed from the same port, on the same errand, during the first year of the war. These privateers were commissioned by the United States, "to take, burn, sink and destroy the enemy wherever he could be found, either on high seas or in British ports," and with unpar- alleled success they executed their mission. British merchant- men laden with valuable cargoes were captured by them, and large fortunes were acquired by these hardy navigators. They probably proved more annoying to the English people than our ships of war. Our sailors also fought with Perry on Lake Erie, and with Macdonough on Lake Champlain ; and by their bravery and energy contributed to the glorious victories under both those peerless officers. On the land they also followed Miller and McNiel to the very cannon's mouth ; and with them shared the perils of the desperate onset and the honors of triumphant victory. The army and navy of the Republic were small, but more than two thousand New Hampshire freemen were found in these departments of the public service. The land campaigns during the first year of the war were generally disastrous. The disgraceful surrender of General Hull, with two thousand men, at Detroit, and the defeat of General Van Rensselaer on the borders of Canada, near the beginning of the war, chilled the popular enthusiasm and appalled the stoutest hearts in the coun- try. The republicans were mortified and disheartened. They ascribed their failures to the opposition of the federalists, who in turn charged them with incapacity and reckless folly.
The absence of many voters in the army and navy and the in- creased popular discontent changed the politics of the state. In March, 1813, Governor Gilman, after a retirement of eight years, was again called to the gubernatorial chair. This office he held for three years in succession. Both branches of the legislature were also opposed to the existing administration, and, of course, to the vigorous prosecution of the war. They were willing to act on the defensive in case of an invasion of the soil of New Hampshire, but would not consent that the militia of the state should be led into the territory of the enemy for ag- gressive warfare. Canada has been the Scylla against which our hopes have often been wrecked, from the impetuous Arnold to the last Fenian officer who has meditated its conquest. The in- vasion of this province gave occasion to the federalists to deny the power of the president to call out the militia of the states and place them under the officers of the United States. The governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to comply with the requisitions of General Dearborn, on the ground that they were the proper judges of the necessity of such a call and at that time they saw no reason to enforce it. They admitted
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the right of the president to command the militia of the states in person, but he could not delegate that power to others. Gov- ernor Gore of Massachusetts, in the senate of the United States, expressed the common state-rights views of his party as follows : " The president is commander-in-chief of the militia when in the actual service of the United States ; but there is not a title of authority for any other officer of the United States to assume the command of the militia."
Governor Plumer, writing to John Quincy Adams of the peo- ple of New Hampshire, says : "Though dismemberment has its advocates here, they cannot obtain a majority of the people or their representatives to adopt or avow it." During the whole period of the war, the parties in New Hampshire were so nearly equal that neither of them dared to advance very ultra opinions. They were a mutual check upon each other. "Neither party was strong enough to feel confident of success and neither so weak as to despair of victory." Such a political condition is really the best pledge of integrity and the strongest antidote to corruption in the administration of a republic.
During the year 1813 the northern frontier was the chief theatre of war upon the land. General Harrison commanded the army of the "West," near the head of Lake Erie. General Dearborn, the commander-in-chief under the president, and a New Hampshire man by birth, held the "Centre," on the Nia- gara river. General Hampton, on the borders of Lake Cham- plain, had charge of the department of the "North." The Ind- ians mingled freely in the fight, but generally, as in the Revo- lutionary war, were found on the side of the British. Many bloody battles were fought with various success. If we contem- plate only the contests upon the land, it would be difficult to affirm that our country made progress during the year. At sea and on the lakes, the American navy was in a majority of cases triumphant. Of the campaign of 1814, the results were gen- erally favorable to the Americans. In two of the engagements of this year, the battle of Chippewa and that of Niagara, New Hampshire troops were particularly conspicuous.
The bloody battle of Chippewa, a town on the Canada shore, about two miles above Niagara Falls, was fought on the fifth of July, 1814. General John McNiel, major of the eleventh regi- ment, succeeded to its command by the fall of his superior officer Colonel Campbell. He was attached to the forlorn hope, a single brigade, which was required to cross a bridge of Street's creek under the fire of a British battery. McNiel showed all the coolness and self-possession which characterized General Stark in leading his regiment over Charlestown Neck to meet the enemy on Bunker Hill. For his gallant conduct on this
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occasion he was promoted by congress. On the twenty-fifth day of the same month was fought the battle of Bridgewater, one of the most sanguinary engagements of the whole war. The Ameri- cans lost eight hundred and fifty-eight men ; and the English eight hundred and seventy-eight. Their force was greatly supe- rior. The battle began at sunset of a hot and sultry day and continued till midnight. The moon shone calmly on the fierce conflict, and the roar of the cataract ceased to be noticed, while the booming of cannon occupied every moment, rolling in terrific reverberations over divided and hostile territories. In the in- tense excitement of battle, the men heeded not the rush of waters nor the din of war. So Livy informs us that an earthquake passed during the fight at Lake Trasimenus, and the combatants knew it not.
On that memorable evening Colonel McNiel, while reconnoi- tering the enemy's line, received a shot in the knee from a car- ronade, which crippled him for life. He still clung to his horse, till he was so weakened by the loss of blood that his men were obliged to carry him to a place of safety. The conduct of Col- onel Miller of Peterborough has been so graphically described by Mr. Barstow in his history of New Hampshire, that I will quote the narrative :
"The British artillery, posted on a commanding height, had annoyed our troops during the earlier part of battle. 'Can you storm that battery?' said General Ripley to Miller. 'I'll try, sir,' replied the warrior; then turned to his men, and, in a deep tone, issued a few brief words of command : 'Twenty- first, attention ! Form into column. You will advance up the hill to the storm of the battery. At the word, " Halt," you will deliver your fire at the port- light of the artillerymen, and immediately carry their guns at the point of the bayonet. Support arms-forward-march !' Machinery could not have moved with more compactness than that gallant regiment. Followed by the twenty-third, the dark mass moved up the hill like one body, the lurid light flickering on their bayonets as the combined fire of the enemy's artillery and infantry opened murderously upon them. They flinched not, faltered not. The stern, deep voice of the officers, as the deadly cannon-shot cut yawning chasms through them, alone was heard -- ' Close up-steady, men-steady.' Within a hundred yards of the summit, the loud 'Halt' was followed by a volley, sharp and instantaneous as a clap of thunder. Another moment, rushing under the white smoke, a short, furious struggle with the bayonet, and the battle was won. The enemy's line was driven down the hill, and their own cannon mowed them down by platoons. This brilliant success decided the fate of the conflict, and the American flag waved in triumph on that hill, scorched and blackened as it was by the flame of artillery, purpled with human gore and encumbered by the bodies of the slain."
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CHAPTER LXXIV.
THE HARTFORD CONVENTION.
The continuance of the war for three years exhausted the re- sources of the country, not then abounding in wealth, increased the burdens of taxation and enhanced the prices of all the necessaries of life. In such a state of distress it was easy to excite popular discontent. When the citizens were again and again told that the administration had wasted the treasures of the nation upon profitless schemes of conquest, and had shed the blood of thousands of brave men to redress imaginary wrongs, a majority of the people of New England adopted these views of the war. Many boldly maintained that the soldiers and revenues of the eastern states should be withheld from the control of congress, and devoted to their own defence. The northern states were also urged to make a separate peace with the enemy, and leave the general government to its fate. On the fifteenth day of December, 1814, a convention was holden at Hartford, Conn., to consider the interests of New England in distinction from the whole country, and, if deemed necessary, to provide for an independent northern confederacy. Only two delegates represented New Hampshire. The convention delib- erated in secret. Its history has since been written, and the men who participated in it affirm that nothing treasonable was proposed or advocated. Still the existence of such a conven- tion, at such a crisis, sectional in character, hostile to the admin- istration, and sitting with closed doors, cast suspicion upon its authors and abettors and subjected them, in subsequent years, to political outlawry. It is said that Governor Gilman proposed a special session of the legislature, to consider the question of sending delegates from New Hampshire to this convention ; but a majority of the council, being republicans, refused their con- sent. Consequently only two counties, Grafton and Cheshire, were represented at Hartford. This assembly, after its adjourn- ment, published an address to the people, reciting the grievances of New England and proposing such amendments to the consti- tution of the United States as they supposed would prevent their future recurrence. The unexpected cessation of the war pre- vented the further discussion of these matters. The public dis- tress was relieved by peace; and the convention and its pro-
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posed reforms became subjects of bitter denunciation with the republican party. Says Schele De Vere :
"Up to the civil war, we were subdivided politically and socially. In one aspect we had states, each with its own image and superscription : a Mas- sachusetts, haughty, self-conscious in its subtle refinement, or a South Caro- lina, equally proud of its aristocratic culture and good breeding; the one producing thinkers and statesmen, the other, poets and politicians. But they had no thought in common, and no neutral ground on which they would condescend to meet; hence, they were farther apart in their thoughts and their writings than Frenchmen and Germans. The painful lack of national feeling exhibited in the Hartford Convention was but reproduced in the reckless attempt at nullification; and at that time, either state would have seen the other perish without a thought of the nation's greatness or the na- tion's honor."
CHAPTER LXXV.
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DOMESTIC AFFAIRS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE PRECEDING AND DURING THE WAR FOR "SAILORS' RIGHTS."
While the cloud of war was distinctly visible above the politi- cal horizon, but prior to its commencement, several local mat- ters of public interest occupied the attention of the people. It was customary in the early history of our country to raise money by lottery for the general welfare. Roads were built, literary in- stitutions founded and religious societies aided, by such ques- tionable means. A lottery had been authorized by the legisla- ture, for the construction of a road through the Dixville Notch in the northern part of the state. Tickets had been issued, ex- ceeding the prizes by the sum of thirty-two thousand one hun- dred dollars ; but through the failure of agents, the loss of tick- ets and the expense of management, only fifteen hundred dollars came into the state treasury. This unprofitable and demoraliz- ing process of raising funds was at this time discontinued ; and, with the moralists of the present day, its former existence ex- cites profound regret. During the year 1811, the people of New Hampshire were greatly disturbed by the failure of three of their principal banks. . The announcement of the bankruptcy of three such institutions in a small state, and nearly at the same time, produced unusual commotion in business circles. Men had not then become accustomed to the almost daily defalca- tions of officials entrusted with corporate funds. Banks then seldom suspended specie payments ; and the absolute failure of a
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moneyed institution was almost as rare as an earthquake. The Hillsborough, Cheshire and Coös Banks, by illegal issues and excessive loans, had thrown so many of their bills upon the market that they were unable to redeem them and were com- pelled to suspend payment. The directors could not escape censure ; for the public could justly charge their losses either upon their carelessness or dishonesty. Those men who incurred the public displeasure with great difficulty regained their former popularity.
During this year the legislature decreed a fixed salary to the judges of the court of common pleas, instead of the uncertain fees which they had previously received. This principle has since been applied to other offices, such as judges of probate and high sheriffs.
In 1812, provision was made for the erection of a state prison. It was built of granite, in a thorough and substantial manner, at an expense of thirty-seven thousand dollars. It was placed un- der the control of the governor and council. During its entire history, to the present time, it has ranked among the best regu- lated penitentiaries in the country. The reformation of crim- inals has been a special object with the managers of this insti- tution. Moral and religious instruction has been imparted, and in many instances the prisoners have been improved in charac- ter and conduct. Before the erection of this prison, eight crimes were punishable with death in New Hampshire. In 1812 the criminal code was revised, and the number of capital offences was reduced to two,-treason and murder. Imprisonment was substituted for the whipping-post and pillory. With the progress of civilization and religion, severe penalties have everywhere been mitigated ; and death has been confined to those crimes which imperil the very existence of the state. In England, petty larceny used to be punished with death ; and it was no uncom- mon thing to see a score of criminals executed together on a single morning. In 1836 a new law swept from the statute- book twenty-one capital offences ; and since that date the num- ber has been reduced to three, and executions have become quite rare in England.
In our own state, imprisonment for debt disgraced our juris- prudence till the year 1841. This law was no respecter of per- sons. Any man, high or low, wise or foolish, might by misfor- tune or imprudence become its victim. The judicial records of the state show that the learned and the ignorant, the honorable and the degraded, have been inmates of the same prison, some- times occupants of the same cell. In 1805, Hon. Russell Free- man, who had been a councilor in the state and speaker of the house of representatives, was imprisoned in Haverhill jail for
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debt. Two other persons were confined in the same room for the same cause. Josiah Burnham, one of the debtors, a quar- relsome and brutal fellow, enraged at the complaints made of his ravenous appetite and ungovernable passions, fell upon Mr. Freeman and his companion and murdered them both. This atrocious deed of blood excited general indignation throughout the state against the perpetrator. He was tried and hung for the offence in the following year, and Rev. David Sutherland, of Bath, preached a sermon to the immense crowd that assembled to witness the execution. The barbarous law that immured debtors in jail like felons, and in company with felons, the double murder in one room, the eagerness of the people to see the gallows and the culprit hang upon it, all show the manners and morals of the times. Such scenes are among the things of the past; and other crimes, less revolting but equally sinful, have usurped their place.
Parties that have gained power by severe struggles often resort to questionable measures to retain it. So good laws are some- times repealed and bad laws enacted ; old institutions pulled down and new ones set up; courts reconstructed and constitu- tions amended to suit the exigencies of the majority. At the June session of the legislature in 1813, the "superior court of judicature " was changed to "the supreme judicial court." With a change of name came a change of officers. Only one of the judges of the old court was retained. Arthur Livermore, who had been chief justice, was appointed associate justice in the new court. Jeremiah Smith of Exeter, who had formerly held the same position, was made chief justice and Caleb Ellis of Claremont was selected to fill the remaining seat. The feder- alists professed a desire to make the court more efficient ; and maintained that, as the officers were created by the legislature, the same body had a right to vacate them. The republicans denounced the measure as illegal because the judges were com- missioned "during good behavior" and could be removed only by impeachment. Such ought to be the tenure of a judge's office ; but majorities seldom regard the rights of individuals if the interests of their party are in conflict with them. Two of the old judges determined not to submit to the new law. Rich- ard Evans and Clifton Claggett, in the autumnal sessions of the courts in the counties of Rockingham, Strafford and Hills- borough, appeared and opened the courts as in former years, ordering the jurors to be sworn and clients to be heard. Thus two sets of judges were at the same time holding rival courts, each claiming supreme power under the state constitution. The lawyers, jurors and a majority of the people recognized the new court. In Hillsborough county the high sheriff escorted the old
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judges to the court-house ; while the new court, attended by his deputies, were obliged to perform the business before them in a school-house. Shortly after these judicial collisions Governor Gilman called together the legislature, and Josiah Butler, sheriff of Rockingham county, and Benjamin Pierce, sheriff of Hills- borough county, were removed by address ; and from that time the new court ceased to be interrupted. It is not creditable to any party to attempt to destroy the independence of the judiciary from motives of mere political expediency. Judges may be legally removed for sufficient cause ; but want of sympathy with an existing administration does not furnish ground of impeach- ment or removal.
During the session of 1813, Kimball Union Academy was in- corporated. It was liberally endowed and named by Hon. Daniel Kimball of Plainfield. Its funds have since been largely in- creased by the widow of its founder. It has been one of the most excellent of literary institutions ; and to-day ranks among the very best classical and English academies of our country.
Besides the ordinary calamities incident to a state of war, the loss of men and means, the increase of prices and taxes, the town of Portsmouth was visited by a destructive conflagration in November, 1813. Nearly four hundred buildings were laid in ashes. Many of the finest dwelling-houses and stores were burnt. An area of fifteen acres was devastated. The heavens at night were so illumined by the blaze that the light was seen at the distance of one hundred miles. This calamity, coming as it did, after the ruin of her commerce and fisheries by war, pro- duced great suffering among the citizens of Portsmouth. Aid in money and provisions was liberally furnished to the homeless from different parts of New England.
War, pestilence and famine, like the Furies of ancient my- thology, usually do their work in company. During the con- tinuance of the war a malignant epidemic called "the spotted fever " prevailed in the northern states. Its attack was sudden and often fatal, sometimes decimating the population of small towns.
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CHAPTER LXXVI.
RESTORATION OF PEACE.
It is said that Franklin once reproved a man for calling the Revolutionary war "the war of Independence." "Sir," said he, "you mean the Revolution ; the war of Independence is yet to come. That was a war for Independence, but not of Independ- ence." Hence, we speak with propriety of "the second war for Independence ;" for, prior to this time, the United States had been only nominally free. They were socially and commercially dependent on Europe. England exercised a dangerous politi- cal influence in the American legislatures ; she had also gained an undue social influence at the hearths, and a controlling reli- gious influence at the altars, of the people, when, in 1812, the war for seamen's rights commenced. Had the United States submitted, as a large and influential party desired, to the inso- lent conduct of England upon the high seas, the blood of the Revolution would have been shed in vain. A three years' war taught this imperious "mistress of the seas " that there were blows to take as well as blows to give; and, although the terms of peace were adopted without allusion to "sailors' rights," still, by the tacit consent of both parties, that unwelcome cause of controversy was allowed to sleep, and American ships have since that day sailed unmolested over all waters, and "the right of search" has been confined to slavers or ships laden with goods which both nations declared contraband. In the Ashbur- ton treaty, Mr. Webster, acting for the United States, claimed that "the American flag shall protect all that sail under it." This principle was not denied by the English minister ; and the matter for which the war of 1812 was declared is now consid- ered forever settled. The last and the most glorious battle of that war was fought at New Orleans, on the eighth of January, 1815. General Andrew Jackson, who had previously subdued the Creek Indians in Florida, was the hero on that memorable occasion. The Americans lost only seven men killed and six wounded. The loss of the English was more than one hundred to one of the Americans. The treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, in Belgium, by the commissioners of the two nations on the twenty-fourth of December of the preceding year. Had the telegraphic wires then been in existence, the bloody battle of New Orleans would not have been fought; but that victory was
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worth more to the weaker party than all the previous conflicts of the war. Without it, the peace of the country would have been less secure. This was the most brilliant achievement of the war. Its moral influence was incalculable. The news of an honorable peace, immediately following it, was hailed every- where with lively demonstrations of joy.
The burdens of the war had been more severely felt in New England than in other sections of the country. There the op- position was most violent and party spirit most bitter. For three years the federalists retained the political ascendency in New Hampshire, and at the close of the war still enumerated, with apparent satisfaction, the heavy burdens which the state en- dured. Governor Gilman, at the June session of the legislature in 1815, congratulated the people on the restoration of peace, and added: "The calamities of the war have been severely felt ; the loss of the lives of multitudes of our countrymen, the ex- pense of treasure, depreciation of national credit, a large debt and multiplied taxes. What have we gained?" Time has an- swered that question which then seemed unanswerable. More than fifty years of profitable commerce and mutual respect be- tween the nations that prosecuted the war have proclaimed the success of the contest, more eloquently than Fame with her iron voice and hundred tongues could publish it. The war was waged for the freedom of the seas, and there the United States won the most successful and impressive victories. The majority of the legislature, though hostile to the war, did not fail to do jus- tice to the brave men whose valor had gained for the country imperishable renown. They affirmed that "the legislature, in common with their fellow-citizens, duly appreciated the impor- tant services rendered to their country, upon the ocean, upon the lakes, and upon the land, by officers, seamen and soldiers of the United States, in many brilliant achievements and decisive vic- tories, which will go down to posterity as an indubitable memo- rial that the sons of those fathers who fought the battles of the Revolution have imbibed, from the same fountain, that exalted and unconquerable spirit which insures victory while it stimu- lates the exercise of humanity and courtesy to the vanquished." At the March election in '1816, the republican party returned to power. Hon. William Plumer was elected governor by a major- ity of two thousand votes .* The legislature also had a majority of the same party. William Badger was elected president of the senate and David L. Morrill speaker of the house. The
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