USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 51
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* Those persons to whose name * is appended were in the battle of Bunker Hill; those with + appear from the records to have belonged to this town; the others are derived from various sources hereinbefore mentioned.
# Resided on the southern border of the town and were called of Dunstable, though afterwards living in Tyngsborough.
§ The names of these men are found on Colonel Gilmore's list as being in Walker's company. It is uncertain where they resided at time of enlistment, perhaps at Newbury, Vt. Colonel Gilmore has reason to believe they were Nashua men, although he does not credit them to this town. The compiler gives Nashua the benefit of the doubt.
il Israel Hunt, Sr., was born in Beverly, Mass., Aug. 27, 1758, and served in the army during the Revolutionary War. Although he could not be credited to New Hampshire during the war, he was a resident and a prominent citizen of Nashua from the year 1802 to the day of his death on March 2, 1850, a period of nearly fifty years. He volunteered in Dunstable for the war of 1812, but on account of his age and infirmities he was not accepted. (See biographical sketch).
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
WAR OF 1812.
Fox's history seems to be strangely deficient concerning the part taken by the inhabitants of Dunstable in the war with Great Britain in 1812-15. But it is not strange when one is brought to the knowledge that neither the archives of the United States nor the state of New Hampshire, nor the town itself, contain any roll of soldiers and sailors, from which such men as fought in that war-and ought to be credited to Nashua-can be correctly quoted. The state of New Hampshire furnished a large number of men for the War of 1812. But only authentic rolls of those troops were filed in the war department at Washington, and the authorities there declined to allow copies of them to be made. Therefore, for many years, and indeed prior to 1867, the rolls of the officers and men of New Hamp- shire in the War of 1812 were wanting on our state archives. In that year-1867-General Grant, then acting secretary of war, issued an order directing the assistant adjutant-general of the United States army, in charge, to furnish to the adjutant-general of New Hampshire such rolls and papers as he might wish to copy.
These rolls were then copied, and were published in the report of the adjutant-general for the year ending June 1, 1868 .* Therefore, while it is true that rolls are preserved that give the names of men who served from New Hampshire, it is also true that those rolls are incomplete for our purpose, because they fail, in a large majority of cases, to state the towns wherein such men resided or from which they enlisted. Consequently the writer has found it impossible to obtain a complete and accurate list of the names of the men from Nashua who served their country in that war.
"Coming events cast their shadows before." On Nov. 11, 1811, President Madison had called an extra session of congress and laid before it the state of our relations with Great Britain and recom- mended preparations for war. Congress was convinced not only of the hostile intentions of Great Britain who had committed a series of aggressions long continued without apology or redress, but also that there was "no hope of a change of policy on the part of that haughty power, and that a resort to arms was the only alternative for maintaining our rights, sustaining the national honor and protecting our citizens." Therefore, on June 18, 1812, the twelfth congress passed an act declaring war against Great Britain.
Anticipating this result, our general government had been making active preparations for war. President Madison made requisition on the governor of New Hampshire for its quota of militia pur- suants to an act of congress of April 10, 1812. On May 29, 1812, Gov. John Langdon issued general orders for detaching three thousand, five hundred men from the militia of the state and organizing them into companies, battalions and regiments, to be armed and equipped for actual service, and in readiness to march at the shortest notice. These orders were duly obeyed. The declaration of war found the militia of New Hampshire in as flourishing a condition as it had ever been at any period of its existence.
The governor, William Plumer of Epping succeeded John Langdon, June 5, 1812, who, from his position was commander-in-chief of the militia, though not a military man, was one of energy, patriotism, method and good executive ability. His predecessors in that office without an exception had been men engaged in the Revolutionary struggle, and had learned by experience the worth of a well regulated militia, and had carried out the maxim, "in time of peace prepare for war." The adjutant-general was a soldier of the Revolution and had been in that position since the adoption of the constitution, and many of the officers of the militia had been his comrades in arms in that great struggle. Such being the situation of our militia, compliance with the requisitions of the general government was met with the greatest promptness.t
In this war the state of New Hampshire not only had to furnish her quota of troops for the general government, but also to defend her seaboard and northern frontier. The harbor of the Piscataqua and the navy yard at Portsmouth were in danger, as was also the "Coos country," and the safety of our territory demanded the attention of the state government. In 1813, five companies of the militia were detached, four of them being stationed at Portsmouth, under Major Bassett, and one, under Capt. E. H. Mahurin, at Stewartstown, in the "Coos country." In 1814 an attack from the British fleet off
*Report of adjutant-general of New Hampshire, 1868, p. 10, et seq.
+ Report of adjutant-general of N. H. 1868.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
our coast was expected to be made upon the navy yard at Portsmouth, and upon the town itself, and was probably only prevented by the presence of the state militia, which, upon the call of Governor Gilman, rushed to their protection with its former alacrity and patriotism.
More than three thousand men of the militia of New Hampshire were at Portsmouth and upon the shores of the Piscataqua, at the call of our state government in 1814* but it is impossible, for reasons stated hereinbefore, to give the names of such of these patriotic men as were from Dunstable who either enlisted or were detached from the militia for that service.
We cannot claim many soldiers from Dunstable in this war. That it was not owing to any lack of patriotism or military spirit is evident from the fact that this town, and its successor, Nashua, has always done its full share towards maintaining the dignity of our government and its prowess in arms. That this war was not a popular one in this section of country is true, but during that period our population was small-the population in 1810 is given as one thousand and forty-nine-in 1817 the total number of inhabitants was one thousand, one hundred and forty-two. It was not until after the year 1820 that the public attention was turned toward the unusual facilities afforded by the power of the Nashua river and Salmon brook for manufacturing. With the factories, population rapidly increased.
The editor therefore feels constrained to bring to a close that part of the military history of Nashua pertaining to the War of 1812 by giving a list of the names of those men that are found in the rolls of the New Hampshire troops* as of Dunstable, (N. H.)
Squire Blanchard, Isaac Conery, Mark Harris, Zephaniah Kittredge, Haven Parker, David Philbrick, John Smith, George Glym, Hezekiah Hamlet, Leonard Harris, Gould Robbins, Russell Robbins, Luther Robbins, Joseph Blood, John Courey (Conery.)
THE INDIAN STREAM WAR AND THE FLORIDA WAR.
Any published account of the military history of New Hampshire or of any town in it, would seem to be incomplete unless it alluded to any war in which the state was concerned. But justice will here be done if the compiler of this chapter passes over with only very brief reference to the "Indian Stream War" and the Florida War, for the reason that very few, if any men from Nashua served in either of them.
The Indian Stream War seems really to have been only a "tempest in a teapot," although at one time it seemed likely that the difficulty would produce a rupture between the governments of the United States and Great Britain.
The matters in dispute arose from the inertness of the two governments to definitely agree upon and establish the boundary lines between the state of New Hampshire and the province of Lower Canada described in the treaty of peace concluded at Paris in September, 1783.
The difficulty was definitely settled by the earnest action of the government of New Hampshire who sent armed men into the territory in the fall of 1835, and the malcontents residing in the disputed territory either quietly submitted to the laws, or immigrated to Canada. No Nashua men are known to have taken part in this war.
The reader is referred to the report of the adjutant-general of New Hampshire for the year ending June 1, 1868, pages 269-287, and also a paper prepared by Edgar Aldrich as the annual oration of the New Hampshire Historical society and delivered Sept. 12, 1894. This valuable and interesting paper was published in full, with maps, in the October (1894) number of the Granite Monthly.
The intelligent reader is aware that the war with the Seminole Indians, commonly called the Florida War, was the most protracted and cruel one in the history of the United States. It com- menced in earnest in 1835 and did not end by proclamation until 1848. It cost the nation nearly thirty millions of dollars and thousands of valuable lives. Many men of New Hampshire-and several from Hillsborough county-took an active part, but the rolls and files to which the writer had access are so incomplete and the records are so misty that it is well nigh impossible to give a correct list of Nashua men who served in the army of the United States and for whom the town should have credit.
* Archives of N. H. See Adjutant-General's Report, 1868.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
It is known that John Lawrence Noyes, who was a brother of Col. Leonard W. Noyes of Nashua, was a major in the service and was actively engaged during this war. It is also known that Timothy E. Parks, who is still living and resides in Nashua at the age of seventy-five, served in the Seminole War three years, from 1838 to 1841, as private, company F, Eighth regiment, U. S. A. Andrew Kelly, who has resided in Nashua some time and is now seventy-four years of age, served in the United States marine corps, from which he was discharged at Indian Key, Florida, in February, 1842. Mr. Kelly was in several skirmishes with the Seminole Indians during the Florida War. He also served his country, in the Union army, as a private in company C, Seventeenth Massachusetts regiment.
In this, as in every other war in which the United States has been engaged, their arms were triumphant, and if the world judges solely by the result of the last resort, an "appeal to arms," this nation has always been in the right.
THE MEXICAN WAR.
The scope of this chapter would not permit, nor is it the desire of the editors or publishers of this history to comment upon or even to mention the political causes which led up to the hostile rupture between the United States and its sister republic, Mexico. It is enough to say that the difficulties or differences that had long existed between the governments of those two nations were not settled by diplomacy or arbitration, but culminated in open war in the spring of 1846.
The state of New Hampshire not only contributed its quota of soldiers for this war, but, also many officers and men who distinguished themselves and added luster to the military prowess and glory of the state. But the compiler hereof has met with the same difficulty concerning the men who served from Nashua in the Mexican War, that he stated on the first page of his narration of the War of 1812 in this chapter. As a matter of justice to all parties interested, he dee's it not only proper but necessary to repeat the statement referred to, which is as follows: "While it is true that rolls are preserved that give the names of men who served from New Hampshire, it is also true that those rolls are incomplete for our purpose because they fail, in a large majority of cases, to state the towns wherein such men resided or from which they enlisted. Consequently the writer has found it impossible to obtain a complete and accurate list of the names of men from Nashua who served their country in that war.
The portion of this history under the heading, "The Mexican War," will consequently be unsatis- factory not only to the writer but to the reader, as was that portion under the heading, "The War of 1812."
The military spirit of the men of Nashua showed itself early in this war. Both the Nashua Gazette and The Nashua Telegraph newspapers in their editions of June II, 1846, published the proceedings of a meeting held in the court-room of the townhouse on the evening of the third of June "to organize a company of volunteers to serve in the Mexican War." That record is as follows :
The meeting was called to order by Capt. Daniel M. Fiske and organized by choosing Henry Lawrence, chairman and Henry Onion, secretary. It was voted that any person present wishing to become a member of the company might do so by signing the roll. It was voted to choose the officers and non-commissioned officers by ballot. Daniel M. Fiske was unanimously chosen captain, C. James Emery was unanimously chosen first lieutenant, Dustin L. Bowers was chosen second lieu- tenant, William L. Dudley was unanimously chosen first sergeant; Henry Lawrence, George R. Kimball, and George W. Gilman were chosen sergeants.
Voted, That a committee of five be appointed by the chair to draft resolutions to be presented to the meeting. Messrs. William L. Dudley, H. C. Smith, Henry Onion, Joel R. Langdon and David P. Barber were appointed.
It was proposed that the time of enlistment should be changed from during the war to twelve months, but the proposition was rejected by a large majority.
The committee on resolutions reported the following, which was unanimously adopted :-
RESOLVED, That we, having volunteered to form a company of infantry in this state, in obedience to the requirements of the act of congress entitled "An act providing for the prosecution of the existing war between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," will willingly lend our aid to defend our country and institutions from the invasions of a foreign foe.
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RESOLVED, That it is the unanimous sense of this meeting that the Hon. Franklin Pierce be, and he is hereby recommended to the executive of this state to be appointed to take command of the "New Hampshire Volunteer Forces."
RESOLVED, That we have the utmost confidence in the courage and patriotism of the officers that we have chosen and will cheerfully march with them to the most distant section of the union to maintain our rights, or to any post of danger our country may call us to defend.
RESOLVED, That we will obey orders and do our duty, that we may never be ashamed to call the regiment to which we belong ours.
It was voted that the proceedings of this meeting be presented to the editors of each of the news- papers published in Nashua and Nashville. Voted to adjourn.
HENRY ONION, Secretary.
The military company thus organized did not enter active service but, as will be seen hereinafter, many men from Nashua served their country as soldiers and sailors in this war.
Congress declared war against Mexico May 13, 1846. The primary cause of this war grew out of a dispute with Mexico over the western boundary line of the newly acquired territory of Texas. The immediate cause was the attack on a small reconnoitering party of United States troops under Captain Thornton, from Gen. Zachary Taylor's "Army of Occupation" on the east side of the river Rio Grand del Norte by a superior force of Mexicans under General Torrejon, in which the entire party was killed or taken prisoners.
The slaughter or capture of the troops under Captain Thornton was soon followed by the famous battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and the brave defence of Fort Brown.
In planning the aggressive action in Mexico, it had been determined to attack Vera Cruz and its strongly fortified castle of San Juan de Ulloa and in case of success, to march upon the capital of Mexico, "the city of the Montezumas." Accordingly, in November, 1846, Gen. Winfield Scott was ordered from Washington to the Rio Grande to set on foot that expedition. He arrived on the Rio Grande, Jan. 1, 1847. The troops from General Taylor's command were turned over to him, as before named, and he soon left for the island of Lobos, the place of general rendezvous of the fleet and the various detachments. General Patterson marched with his division from Victoria to Tampico, and there embarked; Generals Scott and Worth sailed from the Brazos, and the remainder of the troops were to proceed directly from the United States to Lobos. Congress had authorized the raising of ten new regiments to serve during the war. These were to be raised and organized. During the month of February, the various detachments arrived that had been ordered to the rendezvous at Lobos, and, although many of the supplies had not arrived, General Scott determined to lose no time by delay, and, on March 6, the whole fleet hove in sight off Vera Cruz. The debarkation of the troops was fixed for March 9, and was effected on that day with the most perfect order and regularity. The beaching was a splendid sight. General Patterson was the ranking officer, being a full major-general, and took command of the forces when landed, and they had serious work to do. The arsenal and the malebran were defended and the following day these were both taken, and the sand hills cleared of the foe that crowned them, and the Mexican forces driven within the walls of Vera Cruz, so that upon the landing of General Scott on the evening of the second day, he had no enemy to obstruct his operations save from the walls of the city and the castle. A succession of severe " northers" succeeded and prevented the landing of the mortars and guns, so that it was not until March 22, that General Scott demanded the surrender of the city. The demand was refused, and then a tremendous fire was opened upon the city, both seaward as well as landward, Commodore Tatnall having been ordered to commence a simultaneous fire upon the town from the flotilla under his command. At length, battery after battery being added to the line of investment, and horrors upon horrors added to the suffering inhabitants the livelong night of the twenty-fifth, nothing being heard but the booming of cannon, the explosion of bombs, the crash of falling houses, the shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying ; on the morning of March 26, 1847, the batteries ceased playing. Articles of capitulation were signed on the twenty-seventh, and on March 29, the Mexican forces marched out of town, laid down their arms, and went their way in the interior. Thus fell the boasted impregnable fortress of the Mexicans, leaving General Scott an open way to the interior, whither he marched with most commendable dispatch on his way to the capital. At the heights of Cerro Gordo he met the combined Mexican forces under Santa Anna, and on April 17, 1847, gained the memorable "battle of Cerro Gordo," hurling Santa Anna
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from his supposed impregnable position, and driving his demoralized troops in hot haste towards the capital. Jalapa, Perote and Puebla offered little resistance to his conquering army, and at the latter town General Scott reposed his army and awaited his expected reinforcements. These consisted of the Ninth United States infantry, under Col. Truman B. Ransom, and other detachments, amounting in all to two thousand, five hundred men, under the command of Brig .- Gen. Franklin Piercet of New Hampshire. The Ninth regiment of United States infantry had been recruited in New Hampshire under the anspices of Col. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, as its colonel, Abner B. Thompson of Maine as its lieutenant-colonel, and Gen. Truman B. Ransom of Maine, as its major, their commissions severally bearing the date of Feb. 16, 1847. March 3 Colonel Pierce was appointed a brigadier- general by President Polk and assigned to take command of the detachment of troops about to be sent to reinforce General Scott, and on March 16 Major Ransom was promoted colonel of the regiment in his place.
It is with this regiment that this chapter has mainly to do, for the reason that the chief interest in men who served in the army in the Mexican War is centered in companies H and C. Company H was first commanded by Capt. Daniel Batchelder of Haverhill, and afterwards by Capt. George Bowers of Nashua.
Company C was first commanded by Capt. Stephen Woodman, but this company, as was the case with company H, sailed from Newport, R. I., on May 21, 1847, for the seat of war in command of its first lieutenant, who was John H. Jackson.
In this company served Thomas P. Pierce# as second lieutenant, and John F. Marsh, a private, both of whom became afterwards, and for many years, prominent citizens of Nashua.
The roll of Captain Bowers' company§ H, Ninth United States infantry, commonly called the New England regiment, as given in the military history of New Hampshire is as follows :-
Daniel Batchelder, | captain,
John W. Bewer, George E. Barnes,
Benjamin F. Osgood,
George Bowers,* Ist lieutenant,
Chester Perry,
Daniel H. Cram, 2d
Josiah Butler,*
James Powers,
Richard C. Drum, 2d
Guy Carleton,
Michael W. Page,
John Bedel, Ist sergeant,
Jeremiah E. Curry,
Benjamin E. Porter,
John C. Stowell, 2d sergeant,
Ferdinand Carson,
Arthur L. Pike,
Ezra T. Pike, 3d
Caleb Chamberlain, *
Asa Randall,
George C. Spencer, 4th "
Michael Cochran,
Nahum G. Swett,
Thomas F. Davis, Ist corporal, J. K. Ramsdell, 2d
Samuel Davis,
John Shaw,*
David Dunlap,
Suel Simpson,
+ Gen. Franklin Pierce, fourteenth president of the United States was the son of ex .- Gov. Benjamin Pierce of Hillsborough, where he was born Nov. 23, 1804. He was graduated from Bowdoin college with the class of 1824. He read law in the offices of Edmund Parker of Amherst, Levi Woodbury of Portsmouth, and at the law school at Northampton, Mass. He was admitted to the bar of the county of Hillsborough in 1827.
# Lieut. Thomas P. Pierce was born in Chelsea, Mass., Aug. 30, 1820. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the Ninth regiment, United States infantry, April 9, 1847. He was brevetted first lieutenant, Aug. 20, 1847, for gallant and distinguished conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco. Lieutenant Pierce led his company at Contreras. Captain Kimball's company from Vermont was immediately in front, and bringing his company to a halt, he exclaimed, "Steady, men; remember that you are 'Green Mountain Boys,' take good aim and do such execution upon the Mexicans as shall do credit to old Vermont. Ready, aim, fire!" The company fired and filed off. Company C came next, marching steadily up. "Halt !" cried Lieutenant Pierce; "Now boys, take steady aim and give the Mexicans such a fire as will make old Vermont ashamed of herself." When such was the coolness and rivalry of our soldiers, one ceases to wonder why six thousand men should have whipped thirty thousand Mexicans upon their own soil. Upon his return from Mexico, Mr. Pierce resumed his occupation as an ornamental painter. After General Pierce was elected president, Mr. Pierce was appointed postmaster at Manchester, March 28, 1853, and was re-appointed by President Buchanan, March 31, 1857. Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, he was appointed by Governor Goodwin colonel of the Second regiment of New Hampshire volunteers, and when that regiment was trans- ferred under the second call of President Lincoln for troops for longer service he resigned. Colonel Pierce afterward became a resident of Nashua and was for many years superintendent of the Nashua Card and Glazed Paper company. He died suddenly at Nashua in 1887, while acting as chairman of the committee of arrangements for entertaining Gov. Charles. H. Sawyer and the Amoskeag veterans.
§ Adjutant-General's report, N. H., 1868.
Captain Batchelder was detailed for recruiting service, May 20, 1847, at Newport, R. I., and First Lieut. George Bowers assumed command of the company.
*All those men having a * affixed to to their names are carried on the rolls as having enlisted from Nashua.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
Leonard Morrill, 3d corporal,
Joseph Duso,
Daniel M. Smith,
William D. Parker, fifer,
Foster Edson,
Henry Stevens,
George Sumner, drummer, Michael D. Lawton,
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