USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Claremont > History of the town of Claremont, New Hampshire, for a period of one hundred and thirty years from 1764 to 1894 > Part 20
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ARREST OF WILLIAM M'COY.
In town, at this time, was one William McCoy, before men- tioned, shrewd, cunning, and active, who was more than sus- pected of rendering service to the spies and emissaries of the British, and was a source of annoyance and vexation to every
233
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
good Whig. Many efforts had been made to detect him in the commission of some treasonable act, but he succeeded in keep- ing beyond the reach of his persecutors. Finally, one evening, he was discovered going in the direction of "Tory Hole," in company with a suspicious-looking stranger. This was enough. He was arrested and brought before Elihu Stevens, Esq., for trial. Notwithstanding that he succeeded in making the princi- pal witness against him contradict himself in several important particulars, yet he was found guilty of treason and ordered to be imprisoned to await trial at the next term of the superior court. When the sheriff, Ichabod Hitchcock, who had, a short time before, been arrested for the same offense and discharged, was about to start off with the prisoner for jail, he asked the justice if he had prepared the mittimus. The justice, with some impatience, replied, "Take my horse and carriage. If they will hold out long enough to get him to jail, it will be all the mit- timus he deserves."
ANOTHER ALARM.
In the month of May of 1779 the people were alarmed by the intelligence of a messenger from Vermont, that a party of In- dians, Tories, and English had made an attack upon Royalton, where they had destroyed several houses and taken a number of prisoners; that their course, so far as could be ascertained, was toward Connecticut river. The prospect of the approach of a large body of men friendly to the Tories, who infested this town in considerable numbers, could not but excite unpleasant feelings in the breasts of those who would be treated as rebels by the ad- vancing army. The Tories, on the other hand, were in high spir- its. For a long time they had anxiously looked for the complete triumph of the British, and now they regarded the wished-for event as near at hand. But the weak and defenseless condition of the Whigs by no means diminished their courage. Immediately a party of men was selected and sent off, with Lieut. Barnabas Ellis at their head, in the direction of the rendezvous of the enemy. They had not proceeded far, however, when news came that the foe
16
234
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
had retreated to Canada. Before the company started on the ex- pedition it was very prudently determined to examine " Tory Hole," where a considerable quantity of provisions were found concealed. These discoveries led to the belief that the movements at this spot had some connection with the designs of the party which made the descent upon Royalton.
CLAREMONT MEN ENGAGED AS SOLDIERS IN THE WAR.
The records of the town and its action in regard to matters con- nected with the Revolutionary War, and her men engaged in it as soldiers during its continuance, are very meager, and therefore re- sort to other sources is had for information. The rolls in the United States War Department and in the Adjutant General's office in New Hampshire are confessedly incomplete and imperfect, after years of painstaking labor spent upon them; and if errors and omissions are not made here it would be strange indeed. The fol- lowing names of the Claremont men who took up arms during that long struggle, the rank held, the organizations to which they were attached, and the casualties which happened to each, are gathered from all known sources.
Col. Samuel Ashley, Chaplain Augustine Hibbard. Lieut. Col. Joseph Waite, Capt. Oliver Ashley,
Lieut. Joseph Taylor,
Lieut. Barnabas Ellis,
Ensign Thomas Jones,
Sergt. Abner Matthews,
Privates David Lynch, James Gooden,
Henry Stevens, Jonathan Fuller,
Peter Fuller,
Benj. Towner, Jr., Reuben Spencer, Gersham York,
Jonathan York, Joseph York, Jr., Charles Lines.
Samuel Ashley, at the time of the breaking out of the war, was a resident of Winchester, but before its close removed to Clare- mont. He was a volunteer aid on the staff of Gen. John Stark at the battle of Bennington, on August 16, 1777.
Augustine Hibbard was chaplain of Gen. John Stark's brigade, and was at the battle of Bennington. In this battle Barnabas Ellis acted as lieutenant.
235
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
Lieut. Col. Joseph Waite was of Col. Thomas Bedel's regiment.
At a meeting at Hanover of the people of that and other towns in the vicinity, on the fifth of July, 1776, to provide men to protect the frontiers, it was "Voted to raise two hundred and fifty men, Exclusive of officers to go to Newbury [Vermont] to fortifie, scout and guard there for three months unless sooner discharged." These two hundred and fifty men were divided into four companies, and Oliver Ashley was appointed captain of one of them.
Lieut. Joseph Taylor was of Capt. Jason Wait's company. More extended notices of Col. Ashley, Chaplain Hibbard, Lieut. Colonel Waite, and Lieut. Joseph Taylor will be found in the biographical chapter.
Reuben Spencer, while on guard duty in the night, at Winter Hill, in February, 1776, fell upon a sharp stone and injured his left knee so badly as to render him unfit for duty, and he was discharged. By reason of this injury that leg was amputated at the thigh in December, 1783, for which he was granted a pension of twenty shillings per month.
Privates Jonathan Fuller and Charles Lines were killed at the battle of Saratoga, on the 19th of September, 1777.
In 1777 the following-named men, belonging in Claremont, were enrolled in different organizations, the most of them for two and three years, several of whom were in Col. Joseph Cilley's regiment of the Continental line :
Samuel Bates, Ebenezer Matthews,
Joel Rice, Asa Stearnes,
Joel Royce,
Thomas Wright, William Vinton,
Daniel Stearns, Joseph Wright, John Clark,
Sam Stone,
Thomas Osgood,
Charles Lines, Amos Rice,
Jonathan Walker.
William Vinton was mortally wounded in the battle of Saratoga, on the nineteenth of September, 1777, and died of his wounds.
Jonathan Walker died in the service on June 6, 1778.
236
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
COL. BENJAMIN BELLOWS'S REGIMENT, AT TICONDEROGA, MAY, 1777.
Augustine Hibbard, Chaplain.
Thomas Sterne, Surgeon.
CAPT. OLIVER ASHLEY'S COMPANY.
Oliver Ashley, Capt.,
Jonas Stewart,
Samuel Ashley, Lieut.,
Josiah Stevens,
Asa Jones, do.,
Elisha Stevens, .
Barnabas Ellis, Sergt.,
Roswell Stevens,
Jeremiah Spencer, do.,
Barnabas Brooks,
Moses Spafford, do.,
Charles Higsby,
Gresham York, Corporal,
Levi Higsby,
Joseph Clark, do.,
Amariah Knight,
Benj. Brooks, do.,
Samuel Tuttle,
Amos Conant, do., Privates.
Ebenezer Matthews,
Beriah Murry,
Joel Matthews,
Levi Warner,
Wm. York,
Daniel Warner,
Benj'n Clark,
Edward Goodwin,
Thomas Osgood,
Nath'I Goss,
David Atkins,
Thomas Dustin,
Gideon Lewis,
Josiah Hatch,
Hezekiah Rice,
Luther Cotton,
Daniel Ford,
Oliver Elsworth,
Thomas Jones,
Asahel Brooks,
Joseph Ives,
Joseph York,
Joseph Norton.
Edward Ainsworth,
This regiment and most of these men were at Saratoga, in Sep- tember, 1777. The names of many of them are found on different rolls.
In consequence of the evacuation of Ticonderoga by the Ameri- can army the New Hampshire Committee of Safety requested the members of the legislature to meet them on the seventeenth of July 1777, for consultation. The council and house of repre- sentatives met on the day appointed, and resolved themselves into a committee of the whole to join the committee of safety for a conference. The state at that time was destitute of money
Eleazer Clark,
237
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
and means, and "had done all that the citizens generally sup- posed it could do in the way of furnishing troops; but the alternative was before them of assisting to check the advance of Burgoyne's army by sending a force to Vermont, or of hav- ing the battlefield of the future transferred to their own ter- ritory."
On the second day of this session' "the committee of the whole recommended that the militia of the state be divided into brigades, the first to comprise the regiments in the eastern por- tion of the state, and be under the command of Brigadier Gen- eral William Whipple, and the second to comprise those in the western portion of the state, and be under the command of Brigadier General John Stark. The committee also recom- mended that four companies of rangers be raised in the second brigade to scout on the frontiers, under orders of General Stark. These recommendations were adopted by the legislature the same day. Letters from Ira Allen, secretary of the council of safety of Vermont, earnestly entreating that troops be sent to their assistance, were then read in committee of the whole, of which Hon. Meshech Weare was chairman. The matter of furnishing men was fully discussed, and it was generally conceded that the exigency of the occasion required the raising and forwarding of a portion of the militia at once. The main question was as to obtaining money to pay and equip them. The treasury of the state was empty, and no way of replenishing it presented itself, until the patriotic John Langdon arose, and said: 'I have one thousand dollars2 in hard money, I will pledge my plate for three thousand more. I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum, which I will sell for the most it will bring. They are at the service of the state. If we succeed in defending our fire- sides and our homes, I may be remunerated. If we do not, then the property will be of no value to me. Our friend Stark, who so nobly maintained the honor of our state at Bunker Hill, may safely be entrusted with the honor of the enterprise, and
1 State Papers, Vol. XV, page 139.
2 Some historians say three thousand.
238
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
we will check the progress of Burgoyne.' This patriotic offer was received with enthusiasm, and the legislature at once voted that one fourth of Stark's brigade, and one fourth of Thornton's and Webster's regiments, of General Whipple's brigade, be drafted and marched immediately for the defense of this and the neigh- boring states. This force was to be under the command of General Stark, who accepted the commission with the under- standing that he was to exercise his own judgment in the man- agement of his troops, and be accountable to and take orders from the authorities of New Hampshire, and no other.
" A draft was unnecessary; men enlisted with alacrity, and were forwarded to Charlestown by detachments, that place hav- ing been designated for rendezvous. As soon as five hundred men had arrived in Charlestown, the impetuous Stark moved on with them to Manchester, Vt., leaving orders for others to fol- low. They reached that place August 7, were re-enforced by some of the 'Green Mountain Boys,' and received information of the enemy's intention to capture the stores at Bennington. He pressed forward and reached that town on the ninth, accompa- nied by Col. Seth Warner.
"The battle occurred on the sixteenth, and the result, as is well known, cheered and encouraged the Americans, disheart- ened the enemy, and led to the surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga on the seventeenth of October following."
On the twenty-first of July, 1777, the following-named Clare- mont men enlisted in the army - but for what periods is not known -in Capt. Abel Walker's company of Col. David Ho- bart's regiment, and all of them were engaged in the famous battle of Bennington, on the sixteenth of August, 1777, under General John Stark.
And here it may be recorded that according to the "Roll of the New Hampshire Soldiers at the Battle of Bennington," a most valuable addition to the state's military history, compiled by the Hon. George C. Gilmore, of Manchester, "The battle of Bennington, fought August 16, 1777, under the command of
239
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
Gen. John Stark, with 2,000 men - 1,467 of whom were New Hampshire men, as appeared by the rolls, or 73 men of every hundred."
Moses Allen,
Barnabas Ellis, Judah Benjamin, Joseph Clark, Oliver Cook,
Levi Higbee, Stephen Kidder, William Osgood, Asahel Powers,
Silas Royce,
Dan Clark,
John Spencer,
James Dunfee,
James Spooner,
Ebenezer Fielding,
Henry Stevens,
Daniel Ford,
Joseph Woods,
Amasa Fuller,
Christopher York,
Edward Grannis,
Josiah Hatch,
John Verry, Joseph Ellis.
Joseph Ellis was lieutenant of Captain Walker's company. Between 1777 and 1782, the following-named Claremont men entered the Continental army :
Thomas Osgood, Ebenezer Matthews,
Thomas Powers, Amos Snow, Samuel G. Allen,
Solomon Harris, Asaph Butler, Gideon Kirkland,
Ezra Butler,
Gideon Caterling.
At a town meeting on March 12, 1776, Dea. Matthias, Stone, Dea. Joseph Rice, Mr. Barnabas Ellis, Mr. William Osgood, Mr. Stephen Higbee, Mr. Thomas Goodwin, and Mr. Lemuel Hubbard were chosen a Committee of Safety for the town of Claremont.
At a town meeting on the second of February, "Voted and chose Lieut. Joseph Ives, Selectman in the room of Captain Joseph Taylor, as he expects soon to join the American Army."
At a town meeting, on the nineteenth of March, 1778, " Voted to raise the remainder of their quota of men to fill up the Conti- nental Battalion by assessing and bringing those Inhabitants of the above town to an average that have done nothing towards raising the above mentioned men, and also voted to give each man credit for what service he or they have done in the militia."
By an act of the United States Congress establishing a Conti-
240
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
nental army for the year 1781, the number of men apportioned to New Hampshire was 1,354, including those in the service whose term did not expire during that year. The legislature of this state, in January, 1781, passed an act providing for apportioning the men to be raised to the several towns. Towns were to receive a bounty of twenty pounds for each man who passed muster, the money to be paid in four years from the date of muster, with six per cent interest. The number apportioned to Cheshire county - which then included Sullivan county - was 230.
The following is copied from "New Hampshire State Papers," Vol. XVI, pages 607, 608, and 609 :
On account of the Bounties and Hires given to Soldiers in the Continental Army and Militia during the late War by the Inhabitants of the Town of Clare- mont and by whom respectively paid :
Capt. Oliver Ashley,
£ 306 18
Amasa Andrews,
£ 15
Amos Cowls,
10
Amos Conant
10
David Dodge,
14
0
Christopher York,
9
John Alden,
70
2
Abel Rice,
30
Jonas Steward,
12
Ichabod Hitchcock,
112
Jesse Matthews, Jun'r,
35
Abner Meggs,
3
Asa Jones,
114
6 Asa Meacham,
4 16
Barnabas Ellis,
50
Timothy Grannis,
9
Joseph Spaulding,
57
Reuben Rice,
50
Thomas Osgood,
12 10
Oliver Ellsworth,
12 12
Timothy Dustin,
15
William Sims,
9
Timothy Cowls,
60
John Alden,
70
2
Ebn'r Edson,
5
Elihu Stevens,
6
David Rich,
8 14
Samuel Tuttle,
25
Elisabeth Ives,
25
David Matthews,
5
Josiah Stevens,
24
Matthias Stone,
40
Gideon Kirtland,
10
Benj'm Brooks, Jun'r,
10
Asa Leet,
10
Eben'r Rice,
11
L't Sam'll Ashley,
50
Asahel Brooks,
12
Levi Purdee,
10
Amos Judd,
10
Ezra Jones,
15
Nehemiah Rice,
10
Josiah Rich,
18
Amos Conant,
10
Oliver Tuttle,
75
Bill Barnes,
9
Ebne'r Conant,
19
James Alden,
19
John Sprague,
25
Reuben Petty,
150
Thomas Dustin,
10
John Cook,
33
141
Beriah Murry,
15
£ 1563 941
241
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
The foregoing Accounts is a True Coppy as we Collected them from the be- fore Named Persons also we have in Closed the Avoucher to the Said Accounts.
Test
AMBROSE COSSIT, BILL BARNES, Selectmen. NATH'EL GOSS,
Claremont Dec'r 27th Anno Domini 1787.
To the Secretary of the State of New Hampshire.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE WAR OF 1812 AND TEXAN WARS.
By orders in council, the British government had declared that all vessels trading with France were liable to seizure, and that all such vessels, clearing from a hostile port, must touch at a British port to pay customs duties. This amounted to confiscation of American ships. British naval officers claimed and exercised, in a most arrogant and offensive manner, the right to search American vessels- ostensibly for British subjects - but often impressed from them American seamen, and compelled their service in the British navy, against absolute proof and the strong protestations of the American commanders and the men themselves.
President Madison urgently requested the withdrawal of this Order in Council, and the discontinuance of the oppressive and unjust practice of the impressment of American seamen, both which requests were insultingly refused. In November, 1811, the president called an extra session of congress, laid before that body these grievances, and recommended preparation for war. In the early part of 1812 the American Congress - convinced that there was no hope of a change of policy or practice in these respects on the part of Great Britain, and that a resort to arms was the only alternative to protect the persons and pro- perty of American citizens and maintain the honor of the nation - on the eighteenth of June passed an act declaring war against Great Britain.
This declaration of war was not at first a popular measure in
243
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
New England, but a large majority of the people stood by the President. In May, Governor John Langdon, of New Hampshire, issued general orders for the detachment from the militia of the state of three thousand five hundred men, who were to be armed and equipped for actual service, and held in readiness to march on short notice. This detachment was mostly from regiments in the eastern part of the state. During the continuance of this war of nearly three years, Claremont, it is believed, did her full duty and furnished her share of men for the army.
The company and regimental rolls which have been preserved in the United States and state military departments are acknowl- edged to be quite imperfect, while many of them have been lost or destroyed; and the town records afford but little information upon the subject. Hence the names of all Claremont men who served during that war cannot be obtained.
VOLUNTEERS FROM CLAREMONT.
Below are given the names of all the Claremont men known to have served during this war. Undoubtedly there were others who either volunteered or were detached from the militia.
IN CAPTAIN JOSEPH KIMBALL'S COMPANY.
NAMES.
RANK.
DATE OF ENLIST- MENT.
FOR WHAT TIME.
David Dean.
Ensign Sergeant do Private
Sept. 12, 1814.
Three months.
James Osgood.
Isaac F. Hunton
66
66
66
Samuel Stone *
James McDaniels
Charles C. Stewart.
66
66
66
Benedick Taylor
66
66
66
66
Shaler Buel
66
66
Andrew Bartlett.
66
66
66
Henry G. Lane
66
66
66
Benjamin Perkins.
66
66
66
..
* Samuel Stone was discharged for disability, Nov. 7, 1814.
244
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
IN CAPTAIN REUBEN MARSH'S COMPANY.
NAMES.
RANK.
DATE OF ENLIST- MENT.
FOR WHAT TIME.
Charles A. Saxton
Corporal Private
Sept. 26, 1814.
Sixty days.
Asa Barker ..
66
66
66
66
James Fisher
66
66
66
66
Samuel Petty.
66
66
66
66
Robert Angel.
66
66
66
Barnes Gilbert.
66
66
60
66
66
66
James McLoffing.
In anticipation of the declaration of war, active preparations had been made by the government to carry it on before the decla- ration came.
The militia of New Hampshire was well organized and in as good condition to respond to a call as it ever had been. Gov- ernor Langdon's term of office expired on the 5th of June, 1812, and he was succeeded by William Plumer. His heart and hand were in the cause, and his energy, patriotism, and great execu- tive ability were exerted to aid the government of the United States. Governor Plumer was ably seconded by the adjutant general, Michael McClary, of Portsmouth, who was a soldier in the Revolution, and every requisition of the government upon New Hampshire was met with great promptness.
At this time all able-bodied men from sixteen to forty years of age were enrolled in the training band, with certain exceptions, such as clergymen, doctors, members of congress and of the legis- lature, etc. Men from forty to sixty years of age were exempted from the training band and enrolled in what was called the alarm list. Every non-commissioned officer and private of both the training band and alarm list was required to keep in readiness a musket and bayonet, with all necessary appendages and accou- terments and ammunition, suitable for a marching soldier. The training band was to be mustered four times, and the alarm list twice a year.
245
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
In time of invasion or of war drafts from the militia were · made, unless a sufficient number to answer any requirement vol- unteered. The militia was organized into twenty-five regiments of infantry, divided into five brigades; three regiments of cavalry, forming another brigade; one independent corps of light horse, and one regiment of artillery. The military force of the state, ac- cording to Dr. Belknap, was computed as follows :
Twenty-five regiments of training band, at 750 each 18,750
Total of alarm list .
7,500
Three regiments, and one independent corps of cavalry 1,000
One regiment of artillery
300
Total
27,550
From this body of militia the New Hampshire men engaged in the war of 1812 were drawn, reinforced from time to time by volunteers.
Claremont at that time, as later, formed a part of the Fifteenth New Hampshire militia regiment, of which Timothy W. Hale was lieutenant colonel commandant; Isaac Chapman, major first battalion; Lebbeus Chase, major second battalion.
On the twenty-fourth of December, 1814, a treaty of peace was concluded at Ghent, and the war of 1812 was at an end.
TEXAN WARS.
In the struggle in Texas, under General Sam. Houston, one life from Claremont, at least, went down to its unknown grave. Robert Harris Upham, the second son of Hon. George B. Upham, born in 1810, fitted at Kimball Union academy and entered Dart- mouth college, remained there two or three years, but did not graduate. He then studied law in his father's office and at Steu- benville, Ohio. Upon the breaking out of the Texan war for independence he enlisted in a company raised by Captain Allen, at Cincinnati, went to the seat of war, joined the forces under General Houston, since which all traces of him have been lost.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
It was reported that he attained the rank of major, and it was currently believed at the time that his command was with those captured by Santa Aña, imprisoned at the fortress of Alamo, where, with their leader, David Crockett, all, to the last man, were, as helpless prisoners, massacred in cold blood in 1836. In the subsequent struggles, and during the decisive battles, the watchword of Houston's army was : "Remember the Alamo !"
It was here that Santa Aña was defeated, lost a leg, captured, but suffered to live, and after many and strange reverses was again the military dictator of Mexico, and met his crushing defeats in successive sanguinary battles with the armies of the United States under the command of Generals Taylor and Scott in 1846-47.
CHAPTER XVII.
WAR OF THE REBELLION.
ASSAULT ON FORT SUMTER.
The War of the Rebellion in the United States of America opened with an assault upon Fort Sumter on the twelfth of April, 1861, and closed with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, then serving his second term as president of the United States, on the fourteenth of April, 1865. It is not necessary now to recount the causes, running through many years, which led to the insurrection of the people of a portion of the states of the Union against the general government, and arrayed more than a million citizens in arms, involving the expenditure of immense treasure and the loss of the lives of hundreds of thousands of the country's bravest and best men on either side, carrying sorrow and mourning to many hearthstones and multitudes of loving hearts. The causes have passed away; and fortunate indeed is he who shall make a just and impartial history of the events and of the men and women who participated in them during the four years of that bloody war. This book has to do more immediately with what the town, in its corporate capacity, and her citizens as individuals, did during its continuance.
While momentous events were transpiring the people of Clare- mont had their share in them. Their coffers were opened; their young men were sent forth with a blessing -some of them never to return, others to come home maimed or broken in health for life, and a few to return at the end of the great struggle, weary and worn, crowned with victorious wreaths. With great unanimity the men raised their voices in behalf of the cause of their country,
248
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
and the women gave it hearty work with their hands, and unbid- den tears.
On the twelfth of April, 1861, South Carolina, having a few months previously, by her legislature, passed an act seceding from the Union of States, commenced open hostilities by firing from James's Island upon Fort Sumter, garrisoned by Maj. Robert An- derson and about seventy men under his command. Fort Sumter was besieged for two days, her sources of supply cut off, when, on the fourteenth of April, Major Anderson surrendered the fort to the rebels, himself and his command marching out and embarking on board the United States ship " Baltic " for New York.
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