USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Fitzwilliam > The history of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, from 1752-1887 > Part 19
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The Minute Men comprised all the males between sixteen and sixty-five years of age not belonging to the Training Band, with the exceptions stated above. What equipments they were required to possess and keep in order we are not informed.
In 1773 a census of the inhabitants of Fitzwilliam was taken by the selectmen, who were chosen at the first town meeting
223
TRAINING BAND-MINUTE MEN.
-viz., John Mellen, Edward Kendall, and Joseph Grow. The result was as follows :
Unmarried men between sixteen and sixty 18
Married 44
Males under sixteen 55
Total males 117
Females, married .
44
unmarried 53
Total females 97 97
Total population . 214
There was not a man in town over sixty years of age, and there was not a widow in Fitzwilliam; nor was there a slave, though ten were found in Cheshire County.
The proportionate number belonging to the Training Band and the Minute Men of this town in 1775, when the popula- tion had reached the number of two hundred and fifty, it is impossible to state. The former were, however, largely in the majority, and to this class those found " destitute,"' or deficient in the matter of equipments, as named above, must have chiefly belonged.
In every town in New Hampshire a Training Band was or- ganized, so that efficient regiments might be ready for service on any emergency ; and thus it was that this State was so fully and ably represented by two regiments at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775.
The Fitzwilliam Militia Company, whose organization has been already noted, was plainly its training band, and such companies were required to meet eight times each year for drill.
The battle of Bunker Hill proved that the New Hampshire patriots did not wait to be summoned to the defence of the country when its liberty was in peril.
General Stark, a veteran of the French and Indian War, was at his saw-mill when he was informed of the fight at Lex- ington. Going to his house, he changed his dress, mounted
224
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
his horse, and starting at once for Boston called his country- men to arms throughout the entire journey.
Medford was designated as the place of rendezvous, and in the hall of an old tavern there (called for a long time New Hampshire Hall) Stark was chosen colonel by a hand vote. Four days after the fight at Lexington, two thousand soldiers, from nearly every town in New Hampshire, had reported themselves for duty, and, we are assured, they did not wish to return to their homes " till the work was done." In May, 1775, the Provincial Congress of this State voted to raise two thousand men, to comprise three regiments. John Stark, James Reed, and Enoch Poor were placed at the head of these regiments, and they were the first from beyond Massachusetts that were placed under the command of Major-General Ar- temas Ward, the commander-in-chief of the forces assembled in the vicinity of Boston.
Through Colonel James Reed, who commanded the Second (afterward called the Third) Regiment of these New Hamp- shire soldiers, Fitzwilliam was brought at once into promi- nence at the battle of Bunker IIill.
Some account of this brave and patriotie man (who was one of the fathers of this town) has been already given in Chapter VII.
It may here be remarked, however, that James Reed, a na- tive of Woburn, Mass., and born in 1724, had served in the French and Indian War at the head of a company of provincial troops, and that he did excellent service in that capacity till peace was restored. Upon the breaking out of hostilities with Great Britain, he was among the first to hasten to the front, and was appointed, as we have seen, to the command of the Second New Hampshire Regiment, which was posted in the vicinity of Boston. June 13th, 1775, he took the station as- signed him on Charlestown Neck, and it is asserted that he was the first officer of his rank on the field, and his the only New Hampshire regiment actually on the ground and ready for action on the morning of the Bunker Hill battle. He was stationed with Colonel Stark on the left wing, at a rail fence about forty rods in the rear of the redoubt, toward the Mystic
225
CASUALTIES AT BUNKER HILL.
River, a position that they reached " under a shower of iron hail that was falling around them." Newly mown hay that they found upon the ground, stuffed between the rails of the fence, formed for the troops a breastwork that was better than nothing. Opposed to these New Hampshire troops was a Welsh regiment, that had gained great renown in the European wars, seven hundred strong. The next day only eighty-three of its men were fit for duty. "On the ground where the mowers had swung their seythes in peace the day before," said Colonel Stark, in his report, " the dead lay as thick as sheep in a fold." Twice during the action the New Hampshire troops drove back the foe in their front, and kept them in check, while their fellow-patriots from Massachusetts and Con- necticut escaped from their exposed position. Colonel Stark's regiment lost fifteen killed and missing, while sixty were wounded. Of Colonel Reed's regiment three were killed, one was missing, and twenty-three were wounded.
The historians of the battle of Bunker Hill award the high- est praise to the New Hampshire troops and their leaders, for their cool courage and genuine bravery in that memorable conflict.
Before the battle, June 17th, Colonel Reed wrote to the Committee of Safety as follows :
I repaired to Medford and their I met with Capt. Hinds, Whiteumbe, Town. Hutchins, Man, Marcy and Thomas. Whitcombe and Thomas I took out of Coll. Stark's Regiment for the 2 Companys that was assigned me-then I was informed by Coll. Stark that Medford was so full of sol- diers that it was necessary for some to take some other quarters-then I aplayed myself to Gen. Ward and there received orders in these words.
Head Quarters June the 13. 1775.
General Orders.
That Coll. Reed quarter his Regiment in the houses near Charlestown Neck and keep all necessary Guards between his Barracks and the Ferry and on Bunker Hill.
J. Ward Sectary.
Then Sirs on the 13th I marched my Regiment from Medford to Charlestown Neck and with the assistance of Mr. Turfts, one of the Selectmen of Charlestown, I got my men into good Barracks and then
15
226
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
raised my gard consisting of 1 Capt. 2 Luts. 4 Sergeants 4 corporals and 40 privates.
I am, Gentelmen your obliged servant
J. Reed.
Other documents of great interest regarding the battle of Bunker Hill and the preparations for it should here be intro- duced, especially as such a prominent place in it was assigned to Fitzwilliam and New Hampshire generally.
Here is a copy of " Col. Reed's Return June ye 14, 1775," three days before the battle :
Col. James Reed.
Lieutenant Col. Gilman.
Major Hale.
Fit for service. 54
Unfit.
Capt. Jacob Hinds' Co
10
Josiah Crosley's Co.
44
15
Philip Thomas' Co ..
46
5
68
Benjamin Mann's Co.
49
16
William Walker's Co
46
19
Levi Spauldings' Co.
44
14
Ezra Town's Co.
53
9
66
John Marcy's Co
48
28
Hezekiah Hutchins' Co.
44
21
Adjutant Stephen Peabody.
Quarter Master Isaac Frye, rank of Captain.
Quite a number of those reported above as unfit for service were probably able to enter the fight three days later, as Colonel Reed led into the battle on June 17th five hundred and thirty-nine men .*
Of the " abont one thousand men" who erected the forti- fications on Bunker Hill, one hundred and ten or more men were said to belong to New Hampshire. Prescott com- manded these men.
On June 17th, the day of the battle, Colonel Reed's regi- ment was moved to the front soon after noon, and at two o'clock orders came for all to move, when Colonel Reed's regiment joined Colonel Stark's.
* For many of the facts and calculations that immediately follow, the writer of this history is indebted to the Rolls of the New Hampshire Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, compiled by llon. Isaac W. Hammond and published by the State.
Jonathan Whitcombs' Co.
59
11
227
NEW HAMPSHIRE TROOPS AT BUNKER HILL.
Before they had reached the positions assigned them, they encountered two regiments (supposed to have been from Massa- chusetts or Connecticut, or from both) that had halted before the raking fire from the British fleet, when Major McClary. from Epsom, who was killed on the retreat, rode forward and said to the commanders of those regiments, that if they did not intend to move on he desired them to open their ranks and let the New Hampshire regiments pass. This was done, and Colonels Stark and Reed marched their men deliberately to the Ilill. Colonel Reed's regiment seems to have been on the right of the other New Hampshire troops, and these troops, with Captain Knowlton's company of Connecticut men on the right of them all, appear to have made a continuons line from the redoubt to the river. The New Hampshire men held their position till the redoubt was taken, when they retired in good order without having been defeated. The historian Bancroft asserts that " Prescott's troops would have been cut off but for the unfaltering courage of these provincials."
Drake says, " The weight of the first and second attacks" of the British troops " was borne by the defenders of the rail fence, where General Howe in person attacked with the very flower of his army, supported by artillery."
The computation has been made that the American troops actually engaged in the fight numbered but nineteen hundred and eighty five men, and that of these twelve hundred and thirty were from New Hampshire. Mr. Hammond's enumer- ation of these twelve hundred and thirty is as follows :
Colonel Stark's Regiment 593
Colonel Reed's 539
Dow's Company under Prescott. 59
Other New Hampshire men in Prescott's Regiment .. 50 From Plaistow in Colonel Frye's Regiment. 4
1245
Deduct deserters and some sick 15
and it will leave of New Hampshire men . 1230 or considerably more than half of the entire force of the pa-
228
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
triots that were actually engaged in the conflict. The num- bers of the killed and wounded have been already given, but the name of no Fitzwilliam soldier is found in these lists.
The staff roll of Colonel Reed's regiment shows that the pay of Colonel Reed commenced April 23d, 1775, or four days after the fight at Lexington, and that he received twelve pounds per month for his service, with the allowance of one penny per mile for travel.
Colonel James Reed's return, June 21st, 1775, or four days after the Bunker Hill battle.
Col. James Reed.
Lieutenant Col. Gilman.
Major Hale.
Capt. Whitcomb's Co .52 fit for duty. 14 unfit. 17
Thomas' Co.
Town's Co 52 4 66
8
Hinds' Co. 39 “
24
66 Crosby's Co. 41 66
16
Mann's Co 49 4 66
16
Walker's Co. 51 .
15 66
Spaulding's Co .36 "
17
Marcy's Co. 42 4
26
Hutchins' Co. 54 4 4
9
Adjutent Stephen Peabody.
Quarter Master Isaac Frye, Captain.
These returns show considerable changes in Colonel Reed's regiment in the space of seven days, proving that recruits had joined some of the companies, while others had lost more or less by the casualties of the Bunker Hill battle.
Colonel Reed's "return of losses" was as follows :
1 Corporal and 3 privates killed, 2 Sergeants and 26 privates wounded.
He returned also under the head of
Clothing and Implements lost in retreat
103 Blankets
36 Gunns
133 Coats
1 Bagonet
26 Waistcoats
5 Swords
62 pair Breeches
4 Cartridge Boxes
189 pair Stockings 47 pair Shoes
99 Haversacks
3 Pistols
218 Shirts 1 Fife
46 pair Trowses 4 Hatts
3 Drumms.
229
NEEDHAM MAYNARD'S STATEMENT.
To these statements and copies of documents respecting the part assigned to the New Hampshire troops in general, and to the men from Fitzwilliam in particular, in the battle of Bunker Hill, the following may here be added, which was taken in substance from the lips of Needham Maynard and committed at once to writing, some years after the close of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Maynard was from Framingham, Mass., but soon after the return of peace he became a resident of Fitzwilliam, and for a number of years was somewhat active in the affairs of this town .*
On the morning of June 17th, 1775, the colonels in command of the regiments about to move upou Bunker Hill were in anxious consulta- tion regarding the movement of their troops, and especially in respect to a Commander-in-Chief to lead them in the conflict, when General Warren rode up, unattended.+ The regimental commanders at once said to him, in substance, that they were only colonels, that there was not a general among them, and proposed that he, General Warren, should take command over them, and lead them in the approaching battle.
He declined the proposition, saying that he was not prepared for such a position, that he had no staff officers, not even an aid, when one of the colonels, turning to a young soldier standing by, said, here is Need- ham Maynard, of Framingham, Mass., and he is just the man for your aid. General Warren at once offered Maynard the position, and upon his acceptance of the same, he was immediately appointed, and entered upon his duties. In the fight that followed, Mr. Maynard carried General Warren's commands to the colonels aud received messages from them to their Commander-in-Chief, going back and forth along the line of the rail fenee till General Warren was shot. With the help of others Mr. Maynard took up the dying general, and removed him to the spot where he breathed his last .;
* Captain Needham Maynard's name first appears upon the records of Fitzwilliam under date of March 15th. 1787, when he bid off the contract for building a pound in this town for fourteen pounds sterling. IIe was admitted to the church here, Septen- ber, 1786.
t Joseph Warren, M.D., an ardent patriot, was appointed a Major-General four days before the Bunker Ilill battle, but had not been assigned to any command. To en- courage the soldiers within the lines he appeared upon the field, June 17th, as a volun- teer, and for this reason was able to accept the offer of leadership made to him by the colonels in command. llis age was thirty-five years.
+ This statement of Mr. Maynard, which is deemed perfectly reliable, has, it is under- stood, first appeared in print in the new Ilistory of Framingham, Mass., by Rev. J. II. Temple. This valuable and, as far as possible, exhaustive work has just been given to the public. We are indebted to Mr. Temple for the privilege of inserting in this history a portion of Mr. Maynard's testimony concerning the arrangements of the Bunker Hill battle.
230
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
In Congress March 14, 1776.
Resolved, That it be recommended to the several Assemblies, Con- ventions, and Councils or Committees of Safety of the United States, immediately to cause all persons to be disarmed within their respective Colonies, who are notoriously disaffected to the cause of America, or who have not associated and refuse to associate to defend by Arms the United Colonies against the hostile attempts of the British Fleet and Armies.
Extract from the minutes.
Charles Thompson Secretary. Colony of New Hampshire. Committee of Safety. April 12. 1776.
To the Selectmen of Fitzwilliam
In order to carry the Resolve of the Continental Congress (just given) into execution, You are requested to desire all males above twenty one years of age (lunatics, idiots and negroes excepted) to sign the decla- ration on this paper, and when so done to make return thereof with the name or names of all who shall refuse to sign the same, to the General Assembly or Committee of Safety of this Colony.
M. Weare Chairman.
The declaration alluded to above, a copy of which was sent to the selectmen of every town in New Hampshire, was as follows :
In consequence of the above Resolution of the Continental Congress, and to show our determination in joining our brethren, in defending the lives, liberties, and properties of the inhabitants of the United Colonies :
We the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with Arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies.
All of the men in the neighboring town of Rindge signed this declaration, while in Marlborough five were found who were reported as unwilling to sign. Throughout the State of New Hampshire the great mass of the men were both willing and glad to give their names to this declaration, and this com- mon pledge did much to strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of the patriotic people throughout the thirteen colonies. This declaration was doubtless signed, nearly or quite universally, in Fitzwilliam, but the paper was lost, as it
231
ACTS OF THE TOWN, 1776 AND 1777.
cannot be found among similar documents in the office of the Secretary of State at Concord.
The Declaration of American Independence, July 4th, 1776, soon followed, and the long and expensive war to secure our liberty was entered upon and prosecuted with new ear- nestness.
Owing to the damaged condition of the Town Record Book it is often difficult to determine with certainty the precise time when the town adopted certain measures of great public importance during the progress of the Revolutionary War.
1776. At the annual meeting, Major Asa Brigham, Major John Farrar, and Deacon John Locke were chosen a " Com- mittee of Safety" for the year, and it was voted to pay to Joseph Hemenway eighteen shillings for expenses and horse while attending the Provincial Congress. The town took no other action at this meeting respecting national affairs, which is not remarkable, since the Declaration of Independence was not made till nearly four months later, though, as it has been well observed, "in the beginning of 1776 the colonists were farmers, merchants, and mechanics, at its close soldiers."
1777. March 15th, the town
Voted and Chos a Comette of five men to agrea with and hire Eight men for three year or dureing the war with grate Britton to enter emedi- ately into the Contenental Sarvice this Comitty to Proportion the ser- vice don by thos that have heartofore sarved in this ware acording to time and place whare they Performed thare sarvice, and to proportion the mony that they agrea with the men for by a tax upon the town alowing Each mans poll to pay Eaquail alike and thar estats acording to what each man posesses.
Voted to Rase Mony to pay those that shall go into the Continental service, " the Cometey" " to make return of thare doings."
This committee appears to have reported at an adjourned meeting held in April. The eight men raised at this time are marked "F" in the list of revolutionary soldiers hereafter given. The Committee of Safety for this year consisted of Phinehas Hutchins, Asa Brigham, and John Mellen. The town chose Asa Brigham to represent this committee at a con- vention of the committees of safety of Cheshire County, to be held at Walpole in August.
232
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
1778, Deacon John Locke, Lieutenant John Angier, and Lieutenant Levi Brigham were the Committee of Safety. From the imperfeet condition of the records it is impracti- cable to state partienlarly what action was taken by the town upon national affairs this year.
In 1779 the Committee of Safety consisted of Francis Ful- lam, Joseph Hemenway, and Thomas Tolman, and it was
Voted to raise men to go into the war for the future upon an Everage that is for every man to pay in Proportion to what he possesses. Voted and alowed Stephen Harris Twenty Two pounds for his service Last Summer in Rhode island.
In June, 1780, the town voted to raise twenty-five hun- dred pounds to defray town charges and to pay the soldiers in the Continental Army, and a month later five thousand pounds were raised to pay soldiers, and six thousand pounds to purchase the town's share of beef that the State was called upon to furnish for the Continental Army.
In January, 1781, another appropriation, for the same pur- poses, was made, amounting to two thousand four hundred and thirty-four pounds. The Committee of Safety consisted of Joseph Hemenway, Samuel Patriek, and Ensign (Calvin ?) Clark.
February 14th, 1781, the town appointed a committee of five men-viz., John Mellen, Joseph Nichols, Caleb Winch, Thomas Tolman, and (Calvin ?) Clark-" to agree with and hier our Cooto of Continentle shoulders for the term of three years. "
February 19th the town " Voted and Excepted of what the Committee had dun in the hier of the Contenentle shoulders."
Also raised " twelve thousand Dollars for to pay our Con- tenentles at theair passing muster."
July 25th, 1781, the town " Voted to raise our Cotto of Beef for the army, which is 6834 pounds," and to give six dollars in hard money per hundred for said beef.
It was then voted to raise " 410 hard dollars to pay for said beef."
Also " Voted that our Continental shoulders should have - Dollars in Rume of one thousand paper dollars."
233
APPROPRIATIONS FOR ARMY.
Also " Voted to raise one hundred and twenty-six pounds to pay the Continental Shoulders their first year's pay."
November 5th, 1781, the town appropriated sixty dollars to pay the three months' men their hire.
Also appropriated forty-nine dollars to pay for nine gallons West India rum required by the army.
During the years 1782 and 1783 the town voted different amounts for the pay of its soldiers, but no record of the appro- priation of large sums during these years can be found.
In 1781 New Hampshire undertook to raise thirteen hun- dred and fifty-four able-bodied, effective men, to serve in the Continental Army for three years, or during the war, but in most of the towns their quota was very imperfectly filled. In the notification respecting these deficiencies which was sent to all the towns concerned, in March, 1782, Fitzwilliam appears to have lacked two men.
In Volume XIII. of the Early Town Papers of New Hampshire, under the head " Richmond," the following ap- pears :
" Stephen Harris was allowed £20-9-4 for Doctors' bills &c for his son Joseph, a soldier in Captain Jones' Company, Col. James Reeds' Regiment, who was left siek or wounded in the march from Ticonderoga to the Jerseys."
Joseph Harris was a son of Stephen Harris and belonged in this town, but as the Harris family resided near the Richmond line, it is probable that he was counted for a time upon the quota of Richmond rather than of Fitzwilliam. Such instances of enlistment in and military service for an adjoining town were not uncommon during the Revolutionary War.
In the same volume under the head "Surry" the following appears :
Mr Speeker Sir Whereas Col. Gideon of Exetor Was appointed a Collector of Beef (for the Continental Army) for 1780 and under him John Mellen Esgr for the County of Cheshire sd Mellen did in the year 1780 collect 7391bs of Beef more than he Recepted for to Col. Gideons and because sd returns do not agree with the Return on the Book of the Treasurer cant credit the town of Surry for any part of the Beef which was delivered to sd Mellen, therefore it is motioned that the House give
234
HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
orders that the Treasurer receive said Recepts and Credit the town of Surry for the same, which the Treasurer is ready to do upon receiving the order.
Portsmouth, Feb ye 22. 1786. Lemuel Holmes. Surry, Capt. Giddings returned 2600 lbs of Beef.
There was a discrepancy between the beef accounts of the State Treasurer and the Collector in regard to the amount fur- nished by Surry, on account of which disagreement Surry had received no credit for beef furnished in 1781, and the object of this motion was to enable the accounts to be properly set- tled. Mr. Mellen was a man of large business capacity, but in 1780 the whole of the county of Cheshire was assigned to him as the Collector of nearly or quite two hundred thousand pounds of beef from thirty-two towns, as the county was then constituted. In discharging the duties of such an office, it is not surprising that he occasionally made a mistake. A little later Colonel Daniel Webster was associated with Mr. Mellen to visit every town in the county that was deficient in this matter of beef supply. In the next call for beef for the army, which was made in 1781, Cheshire County was required to furnish the amount of two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred and forty-eight pounds. New Hampshire was called upon to furnish at this time one million, four hundred thousand pounds.
Much effort has been made, by consulting the town records, the rolls of the men from New Hampshire who were in the Revolutionary War, and the recorded and traditionary history of families and individuals, to give a complete list of the soldiers from Fitzwilliam who were in the Continental ser- vice, and, as far as possible, of the companies and regiments to which they belonged.
The attempt has been a difficult one, and probably not wholly successful, for the following reasons :
1. During all the earlier years of the war the regiments were designated, not by numbers as now, but by the names of their colonels ; and the companies were known in like man- ner by the names of their captains, so that, with a change of the higher officers for any reason, it became extremely difficult
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