History of the city of Nashua, N.H., Part 50

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 652

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 50

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" Previous to the battle the New Hampshire troops were stationed at Medford, and formed the left wing of the American army. 'These troops,' says Major Swett, t 'were hardy, brave, active, athletic and indefatigable. Almost every soldier equalled William Tell as a marksman, and could aim his weapon at an oppressor with as keen a relish. Those from the frontiers had gained this address against the savages and beasts of the forests. The country yet abounded with game, and hunting was familiar to all; and the amusement most fashionable and universal throughout New England was trial of skill with the musket.'

"At eleven o'clock on the morning of the battle, the New Hampshire troops received orders to reinforce Colonel Prescott at Charlestown. ‘About fifteen charges of loose powder and balls were distributed to each man, and they were directed to form them into cartridges immediately. Few of the men, however, possessed cartridge boxes, but employed powder horns, and scarcely two of their guns agreeing in calibre, they were obliged to alter the balls accordingly.'#

"As soon as the British troops landed at Charlestown, the New Hampshire regiments were ordered to join the other forces on Breed's Hill. A part were detached to throw up a work on Bunker Hill, and the residue, under Stark and Reed, joined the Connecticut forces under General Putnam, and the regiment of Colonel Prescott, at the rail fence. This was the very point of the British attack, the key

* I N. H. Hist., Coll., 231. Original returns in secretary's office

+ Bunker Hill Battle, 20.

# Major Swett's Bunker Hill Battle, 40.

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of the American position. Here Captain Walker's company was formed, awaiting the attack. To be stationed there, in the post of danger, was a high honor, and well did the New Hampshire troops merit it, although not a few paid for the distinction with their lives.

"As soon as the British moved forward to the attack, our troops under Stark, engaged in fortifying Bunker Hill under the direction of Putnam, joined their brethren. The battle commenced. The Americans, forbidden to fire upon the enemy until 'they could see the whites of their eyes,' swept them down by companies. Again and again were the British driven back, and not until their scanty supply of ammunition was exhausted, and the British assaulted the works at the point of the bayonet, did the Americans retire from their position. Even then they retreated like the lion, disputing every step with stones and clubbed muskets, and lay upon their arms during the night at Winter Hill, directly in the face of the enemy.

" The number of Americans engaged in the battle was fluctuating, but may be fairly estimated at little more than two thousand men. Their loss was one hundred and fifteen killed, three hundred and five wounded, and thirty captured; in all four hundred and fifty. The New Hampshire regiments lost nineteen men killed, and seventy-four wounded, a large proportion of those engaged. The British loss was one thousand and fifty-four, including eighty-nine officers. One regiment, the Welsh fusileers, lost every officer except one .*

"None of Captain Walker's company were killed ; two only were wounded-Joseph Greeley and Paul Clogstone. The latter died soon after. William Lund of this town, however, who was in another company, was killed in the battle. The original return of Captain Walker, including articles lost by the company, in the battle and in the retreat, is now on file in the office of the secretary of state. It is as follows : 'Six great coats, thirty-one shirts, twenty-four pairs of hose, eighteen haversaks, one pistol, one fife, two guns, one cartridge box, five straight body coats, two jackets, ten pairs of trousers, six pairs of leather breeches, two pairs of shoes, twelve blankets.' ' The unusual heat of the day com- pelled them to lay aside their knapsacks, which were lost in the excitement and hurryof the retreat."

The editor of this chapter has been unable to learn with certainty what flag, if any, the New Hampshire soldiers used for their colors at the battle of Bunker Hill.

The "embattled farmers " of Lexington had neither uniforms nor colors ; but two months later, at the fight at Bunker Hill, when the American minute men had become more like a trained army, there were flags in their lines. These ensigns were apparently of sev- veral different designs and patterns. One is described as red, bearing only the defiant motto, "Come if you dare." Another, is chronicled by Lossing, on the authority of a Mrs. Manning, whose father was a soldier in the battle. It was blue, with a white canton quartered by a red St. George's cross, and a pine tree in the top inner corner. In his well-known picture of the fight which hangs in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington, John Trumbull has painted a red flag with a white field, bearing a green pine tree. His authority is not known, and he may or may not have been correct.

Engravings of these two flags are given on this page, and it is probable that the volunteers from Dunstable fought under one and perhaps both of these flags.

The pine tree appeared on several Revolutionary flags. It was a favorite symbol of New England and is familiar to coin collectors on the colonial money. When Washington was besieging the British forces in Boston, his floating batteries on the Charles river carried a white banner bearing a green pine tree and the words, "An appeal to Heaven." This same flag was among those at Bunker Hill, for General Warren is said to have rallied his men by pointing to the inscription on their standard.t

* 2 N. H. Hist. Coll., 145. Mrs. Adams' letters. Original papers in office of secretary of state.

+ Richard H. Titherington in Munsey's Magazine, July, 1895. pp. 401, et seq.

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"The bond of allegiance to Great Britain was severed by this battle, never to be again united. The people of New England expected a Declaration of Independence, and awaited it impatiently, long before the Fourth of July, 1776. In February, 1776, we find the officers of this town warning the annual meeting, not as heretofore, 'in his majesty's name,' but, 'in the name of the people of the state of New Hampshire.'

"At this meeting the 'spirit of '76' was strongly manifested. 'Samuel Roby, Noah Lovewell, William Walker, Joseph Eayrs, Joseph French, Jr., Capt. Benjamin French and Thomas Butterfield were chosen delegates to the county congress.'

"Jonathan Lovewell, Robert Fletcher, Joseph Eayrs, Capt. Benjamin French, Noah Lovewell, Samuel Roby, Joseph Whiting and Thomas Butterfield were chose a committee of safety."

"Samuel Roby, Benjamin Smith, Thomas Butterfield, John Searls, David Alld, James Blanchard, William Walker, John Wright and Henry Adams were chosen a committee of inspection to see that no British goods were sold in town."

"In November, 1776, in consequence of the great depreciation of paper money, the exorbitant prices asked by the speculators who had forestalled the markets, and the consequent discouragement to the exertions of those who were laboring to sustain the heavy public burdens, a meeting was holden at Dracut to petition congress and the state legislature upon the subject ; and to devise such other measures as might be necessary for the protection of the people. A large number of delegates were present, and Dunstable was represented by Capt. Benjamin French, Capt. Noah Lovewell and Joseph Eayrs. The convention met November 26, 1776, at the house of Maj. Joseph Varnum, and prepared a petition to the legislature, praying that the resolves of the continental congress of 1775, respecting prices, might be enforced more strictly .*

"Early in 1776 New Hampshire raised three regiments of two thousand men, which were placed under the command of Colonels Stark, Reed and Hale. They were sent to New York to join the army under General Sullivan for the invasion of Canada. They proceeded up the Hudson, and down the lakes to Canada, but were obliged to retreat to Ticonderoga. A part of Captain Walker's company enlisted in these regiments. They suffered severely, and lost one-third of their number by sickness and exposure.i Of those who were in the army at this time, in the company commanded by Capt. William Reed, and said to belong to Dunstable, we find the following names : Joel Lund, ensign, Silas Adams, James Blanchard, Peter Honey, John Wright, Jr., Jonathan Butterfield, John Lovewell, Oliver Wright, Nehemiah Wright, Daniel Wood, Timothy Blood, Asa Lovejoy, Daniel Blood, Jonathan Wright.

"The following persons were in the company of Capt. Daniel Wilkins, in Col. Timothy Bedell's regiment, which was stationed on our northern frontier ; Philip Abbot Roby, Ebenezer Fosgett (or Fosdick), Joseph Farrar, James Harwood and Reuben Killicut.

" In July, 1776, Capt. William Barron raised a company for Canada, in which there were the fol- lowing Dunstable men : John Lund, first lieutenant, Richard Whiting, second sergeant, Abijah Reed, third sergeant, John Fletcher, second corporal, Ephraim French, Benjamin Bailey, Charles Butter- field, William Butterfield, Abraham Hale, John Comb, Thomas Blanchard, Thomas Killicut, Israel Ingalls, Medad Combs, Levi Lund, Thomas Harris, Peter Henry, James Jewell, William Stewart.

" In consequence of the loss sustained by the New Hampshire regiments, Jonathan Blanchard of this town was sent by the legislature to Ticonderoga in October, 1776, to recruit the army. In December, 1776, Captain Walker of this town raised a company from Dunstable and vicinity. It was attached to a regiment commanded by Colonel Gilman of which Noah Lovewell of this town was quartermaster, and ordered to New York. Among those who enlisted we find Phineas Whitney, Silas Swallow, Joseph Dix and Jacob Adams.

In 1777, also, three regiments, consisting of two thousand men, were raised in this state for three years and placed under the command of Colonels Cilley, Hall and Scammel ; Stark and Poor having been promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. The same quota of troops was furnished by New Hampshire during the war, besides voluntary enlistments in other regiments, which were very

* 2 N. H. Hist. Col1., 50.

+ I Belknap, 370.

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

numerous. In every levy of two thousand men, the proportion to be furnished by this town was about sixteen. More than twice this number, however, must have been constantly in the army .*

"In March, 1777, the town offered a bounty of one hundred dollars to every soldier who would enlist, and a large number joined the army. Besides those already mentioned we find the following : Jonathan Emerson, lieutenant in Cilley's regiment ; James Blanchard, quartermaster in Scammel's regiment ; John Butler and James Harwood killed at Hubbardton, Vt., July 7, 1777, on the retreat from Ticonderoga, John Manning taken prisoner there, and afterwards re-taken; Simeon Butterfield, David Alld, Israel Ingalls, John Lund, William Gibbs, Paul Woods, Eliphalet Manning, John Man- ning, James Seal, Isaac Adams, Noah Downs, Jeremiah Keith, who served in a Massachusetts regiment ; Ephraim Blood, William Mann and John Crocker, in the artillery corps. Just before the battle of Saratoga, Lieutenant Alld returned for volunteers, and a large number from this town and vicinity hastened to join the army, and arrived in season to compel and witness the surrender of Burgoyne. In November, 1777, the town voted to raise 'seven hundred and thirty-five pounds lawful money to defray the extraordinary expenses of the present war.'

"By the constitution of 1776 no provision was made for a governor, or any chief executive officer of the state. The legislature was itself the executive, and upon every adjournment, therefore, it became necessary to give to some body the power of acting in case of emergency during the recess. This power was vested in a committee of safety, varying in number from six to sixteen, composed of the wisest, best and most active men in the different sections of the state, and those who had shown themselves the truest friends of their country. Their duty was like that of the Roman dictators- 'ne quid respublica detrimenti caperet'-to take care that the republic received no injury; and a corresponding power to effect this object was given them. Of this most responsible committee, two members belonged to this town. Jonathan Lovewell was a member from June 20, 1777, to January 5, 1779, and Jonathan Blanchard from January 6, 1778.1

"The complaints of the people respecting the high prices of all the necessaries of life still continuing and the recommendations of congress having no effect upon many of the extortioners, it was then recommended that a convention should be holden at New Haven, Conn., January 15, 1778, to be composed of delegates also appointed by the legislatures of the several states. Its object was 'to regulate and ascertain the price of labor, manufactures, internal produce, and commodities imported from foreign ports, military stores excepted, and also to regulate the charges of inn-holders, and to make report to the legislatures of their respective states.' Jonathan Blanchard of this town and Col. Nathaniel Peabody were appointed delegates from New Hampshire, and acted accordingly.

"After the Declaration of Independence, which was the abolition of all existing government, it became necessary to form some plan of government, both for the state and the union. The people in their primary assemblies had commenced and carried on the Revolution, and they entered with the same zeal into the discussion of their political rights and duties, and the best mode of preserving and perpetuating them. February 9, 1778, in town meeting, 'the articles of confederation formed by the honorable continental congress having been taken into consideration were consented to unanimously.'

"April 17, 1778, Capt. Benjamin French and Dea. William Hunt were chosen delegates to the convention, which was to be holden June 10, 1778, for the purpose of forming a constitution for the state. We may see with what jealousy the people watched their servants, and regarded the powers of government, from the fact that they appointed a committee of eleven, viz: Cyrus Baldwin, Joseph Whiting, Robert Fletcher, Jonathan Lovewell, Capt. Daniel Warner, Joseph Eayrs, Capt. Benjamin Smith, Lieut. David Alld, Col. Noah Lovewell, Lieut. Joseph French and Lieut. Jacob Taylor ‘to assist said members during the convention's session.'. So early was the right of instruction claimed, practiced and acknowledged. A bill of rights and a constitution were drafted accordingly, and an able

*The regiment of militia to which Dunstable was attached, was then commanded by Col. Moses Nichols of Am- herst. It embraced the following towns, containing the number of males between the ages of sixteen and fifty, in each respectively : Amherst, three hundred and twenty-one; Nottingham West (Hudson), one hundred and twenty-two ; Litchfield, fifty-seven ; Dunstable, one hundred and twenty-eight; Merrimack, one hundred and twenty-nine ; Hollis, two hundred and thirty-four ; Wilton, one hundred and twenty-eight, Rindge, twenty ; Mason, one hundred and thirteen. This was the basis for all drafts for soldiers for the army. In May, 1777, one hundred fifty-five men were drafted from the regiment, or one in every eight.

+2 N. H. Hist. Col1., 39.

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

address to the people issued, signed by John Langdon, president of the convention. But the people would not sanction either. Their experience of royal usurpation and the fear of giving too much power to their rulers prevailed, and both were negatived by a great majority. This town 'voted unanimously to reject them.'

"In August fourteen men went from this town to Rhode Island, as volunteers, with Col. Noah Lovewell. The town voted to pay them a bounty of about thirty-five dollars each. Of this number were James Jewell, Eleazer Fisk, Isaac Foot and others. During this year a very large number of soldiers from this town were in the army in New York and at the South.

"In December, 1778, Col. Noah Lovewell was chosen 'representative for one year,' being the first representative elected by the town under the constitution.

"How many soldiers were furnished to the army from this town during that long and bloody struggle, it is impossible now to ascertain with correctness, but the number continued to be very large during the war. It is estimated that New Hampshire sent to the army at various times, 14,000 men, a number nearly equal to the whole able-bodied population of the state at the commencement of the wars, and of whom 4,000 died in the service.

"The whole male population of this town in May, 1775, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, was only one hundred and twenty-eight, and nearly every inhabitant, either as a volunteer upon an alarm, or as a drafted man, was at some period in the service. They were in almost every fight from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and their bones are mouldering upon many a battlefield from Massachusetts to Virginia. When the news of 'the Concord fight' flew hither on the wings of the wind, our 'minute men' saddled their horses and hastened to the scene of conflict, and, although they did not reach there in season to share in its dangers, they formed a portion of that fiery mass of undisciplined valor which 'hung upon the steps of the retreating foe like lightning on the edge of the cloud.' They were at Bunker Hill in the post of danger and honor, and shared largely in the glory of that day. They were at Ticonderoga, where, borne down by sickness, by pestilence, and by want, they were compelled to retreat, fighting step by step, in the face of a victorious enemy. They were at Bennington, under Stark, where the first gleam of light broke in upon the darkness which was lowering over our prospects, cheering every heart to new efforts, and at Stillwater and Saratoga, where this first omen of victory was converted into a triumph most glorious and enduring.

"They wintered at Valley Forge with Washington, where, 'without shoes or stockings, their pathway might be tracked by their blood.' They were at Trenton and Princeton, where, under the very eye of Washington, they surprised and captured the Hessians, and gave new hope and courage to the disheartened nation. They fought at Germantown and Monmouth, and at the memorable conflicts on Long Island. At Monmouth, the New Hampshire regiment, under Cilley and Dearborn, was 'the most distinguished, and to their heroic courage the salvation of the army was owing.' General Washington acknowledged the service, and sent to enquire what regiment it was. 'Full blooded Yankees, by G-d, sir,' was the blunt reply of Dearborn. And at Yorktown, when the whole British army capitulated, they were there with Scammel, a glorious and fitting finale to the great Revolutionary drama, whose opening scene was at Lexington.

"Of those who, during this long period, when the fears of even the stout-hearted prevailed over their hopes, and darkness seemed resting upon their freedom, rallied around the standard of their country, and perilled 'their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor' in its defence, not one now survives. Their service was no holiday sport, and to them, their exertions, and their sufferings, do we all owe the birth-right of our liberty."

The following list of soldiers from that part of Dunstable which is now in New Hampshire has been gathered from Fox's history and from all the sources to which the compiler has had access. Some of the names sound strange to Nashuans of the present day, but most of them are known posi- tively to have served in the armies of the Revolution from 1775 to 1783. The names of those who were in the battle of Bunker Hill are taken from the lists of rolls prepared by Col. George C. Gilmore of Manchester, who has devoted several years of careful research in his effort to make them accurate. The compiler hereof desires to make grateful acknowledgement to Colonel Gilmore for his cheerful assistance in going over and comparing his voluminous papers with the writer.

In 1891 Colonel Gilmore published a " Roll of New Hampshire soldiers at the battle of Bennington. Aug. 16, 1777." In his introduction to that roll Colonel Gilmore uses the following words: "In

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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.

April, 1775, when the British soldiers held Boston, two thousand New Hampshire men were in the ranks under command of Stark, Prescott, Reed and others, and on June 17, 1655, names appear on the rolls as taking part in the battle of Bunker Hill.

The battle of Bennington was fought Aug. 16, 1777, under command of Gen. John Stark with two thousand men, of whom one thousand four hundred and sixty-seven were New Hampshire men as appears by the rolls, or seventy-five men out of every hundred. A goodly number of these men were from Nashua, but it has not seemed to be advisable to list them separately. There is no doubt that perhaps hundreds of Nashua men, other than those named below, served their country in the Revo- lution, but it is now impossible to get accurate lists of them from the fact that official rolls are now nowhere to be found. If such rolls ever existed they may have been burned in the war office, when the British destroyed the city of Washington in the year 1812. At all events, the researches of the compiler as well as of others who have given far more time to the matter have failed to discover them.

LIST .*

David Adams,* David Adams, Jr.,* Henry Adams, Isaac Adams, t Jacob Adams,+ Richard Adams,* Silas Adams, t David Alld, John Alld, Ebenezer Bancroft, # Jonathan Bancroft, Benjamin Bayley, * Eliphalet Bayley,* Eleazer Blanchard,* James Blanchard, t quartermaster of Scammel's regiment, John Blanchard, + Nathaniel Blanchard, Oliver Blodgett, Jacob Blodgett,* James Brown, * lieutenant, John Butler, killed at Hubbardton, Vt., July 7, 1777, Abel Butterfield, Charles Butterfield, Jonathan Butterfield,t Josiah Butterfield, Samuel Butterfield,t Simeon Butterfield,* Thomas Butterfield, William Butterfield,* Ephraim Blood,t Daniel Blood,t Reuben Blood,+ Simeon Blood,+ Timothy Blood,+ Moses Chandler,* Moses Chamberlain,§ Silas Chamberlain, § Thomas Clark, John Cockle,t John Clogstone, Paul Clogstone,* died at Cambridge, July 15, 1775, of wounds received in the battle of Bunker Hill, Thomas Colburn,* Joseph Combs, died in the army, Medad Combs,* corporal, John Conery, t Samuel Conery, Stephen Conery, t William Cox, William Dandley, James Dandley, Abel Danforth,* Jonathan Danforth,* John Davidson,* Castor Dickinson, (colored), Joseph Dix, Noah Downs,t Jonathan Emerson,* lieutenant under Cilley, Jonathan Emerson,* Joseph Farrar, David Fisk, Eleazer Fisk, Nathan Fisk, John Fletcher, Isaac Foot, Ebenezer Fosdick,* Richard Francis, Benjamin French, Jr., killed in the army, John French, Theodore French, William Gibbs,t Archibald Gibson,* James Gibson,* David Gilson, t David Gilson, Jr., + Abraham Hale, Jonathan Harris,* died in the army, Ebenezer Harris, William Harris,* a drummer, William Harris, Jr., Archibald Harrod, James Harrod, t died in the army in December, 1777, James Harwood,* killed at Hubbardton, Vt., July 7, 1777, John Harwood, Thomas Harwood, Simeon Hills,* Abijah Honey, Calvin Honey, + died in the army, John Honey, John Honey, Jr., died in the army, Joseph Honey,t Peter Honey,* Peter Honey, Jr., died in the army, William Honey, Israel Hunt, Sr., | William Hunt, Israel Ingalls, James Jewell, Nathaniel Jewell, Jeremiah Keith , +Nathaniel Kemp, Reuben Killicut, Charity Killicut, Joseph Lamson, Jr., + Thomas Lancy, William Lancy, Asa Lovejoy, Henry Lovewell,* Ichabod Lovewell, John Lovewell, sergeant, * § Jonathan Lovewell, + Jonathan Lovewell, Jr., Nehemiah Lovewell,* Noah Lovewell,t quartermaster of Colonel Gilmore's regiment, Richard Love- well, Stephen Lovewell, (colored), Levi Lund, Joel Lund,t an ensign, John Lund, * sergeant, Jonathan Lund, Samuel Lund, * Thomas Lund, William Lund,* killed at Bunker Hill, William Mann, t killed in the army, Eliphalet Manning, t John Manning, taken prisoner at Ticonderoga and afterwards retaken, Ebenezer Perry, Thomas Perry,t- William Powell, Jonathan Powers, William Quinton,t Abijah Reed,* corporal, David Reed, + Benjamin Robbins, John

- Pike, Robbins, Jr., Philip A. Robey,* William Robey,* William Robey, second lieutenant, Abbot Roby,* Samuel Roby, Thomas Roby, William Roby, an ensign, and died in the army, Jason Russell,* James Seal,t Daniel Searles, John Searles, Daniel Shed, t David Smiley, t Benjamin Smith, John Snow, Jr., * Joseph Snow, died in the army, Joel Stewart, * Joseph Swallow, * Silas Swallow,t Mansfield Taplin,* § Benjamin Taylor, Benjamin Taylor, Jr.,t Jacob Taylor, Ben- jamin Temple, Levi Temple, William Walker,* captain in Reed's regiment and major, Daniel Warner,* sergeant, (quartermaster), Joseph Whiting, Oliver Whiling,t Samuel Whiting,+ Benjamin Whitney,+ Phineas Whitney,* Sylvanus Whitney,* Daniel Wood,t Oliver Woods,* died at Cambridge, Oliver Woods, Jr., Paul Woods,* fifer, John Wright, Jr.,t Jonathan Wright,t Nehemiah Wright,* Oliver Wright.+

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History of the city of Nashua, N.H., Part 50

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company Number of Pages: 652

Author: Parker, Edward Everett, 1842- ed; Reinheimer, H., & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Nashua, N.H., Telegraph Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 652