USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > New Ipswich > The history of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 1735-1914, with genealogical records of the principal families > Part 10
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92
Colonel Hale's Regiment
and twenty men, was commanded by Col. Enoch Hale of Rindge, the major and adjutant being Joseph Parker and Isaac Howe, both of New Ipswich. Each of its three compa- nies contained men from the same town, the greater part of them being in the company of Capt. Robert Fletcher of Tem- ple, the roll of which is here given omitting names of men believed to be from other towns.
Moses Tucker, Lieut.
John Knight
Benjamin Williams, Ensign
Joseph Pollard
Simeon Gold, Serjt. Maj.
Nehemiah Stratton
John Brooks, Serjt.
William Spear
Leonard Parker, Serjt.
Thomas Spaulding
Whitcomb Powers, Corpl.
Peter Fletcher
Jonathan Davis, Corpl.
James Tidder
Francis Appleton
John Thomas
Stephen Adams Jr.
William Webber
Allen Breed Ebenr. Bullard
Jonas Wheeler
Nathan Champney
Abel Dutton
Henry Carlton
Samuel Farnsworth
Benjamin Gibbs
David Haws
William Hodgkins
Daniel Kenney
Jona. Kenney
Josiah Walton
Nathan Cutter
Samuel Wheeler
The second company, commanded by Capt. Samuel Twitchell of Dublin, seems to have contained the following New Ipswich men: Ephraim Adams, Benjamin Cutter, John Knowlton, Daniel Morse, Ezra Morse, Isaac Proctor; and the third company, commanded by Capt. James Lewis of Marl- borough, had Moses Tucker, first sergeant, and Samuel Adams, corporal.
Still the Rhode Island problem remained unsolved, and in June, 1779, the regiments of militia were called upon to fur- nish a third time three hundred men for the same duty. Of this number, Col. Enoch Hale was directed to raise eighteen, and if New Ipswich maintained the same ratio to the other towns of the regiment that she had two years previously, the town quota was necessarily three; it is recorded that on July 5 that number of men were mustered into service for six months to the credit of the town by Col. Thomas Heald, one of them, however, coming from Temple, one from Westmore- land, leaving only Isaac Taylor as a New Ipswich resident, and he in other places is credited to Temple, unless there were two soldiers bearing that name.
93
History of New Ipswich
A little later the following men were mustered in to aid in filling the three New Hampshire Continental regiments, all being credited to New Ipswich, although some of them may have been so in the most technical sense only. The list was: Jonathan Parker, James Whipple, Hezekiah Wetherbee, Heze- kiah Sartwell (Sawtell probably), Asahel Powers.
No record is found of the New Ipswich men who joined the expedition against the Indians near Seneca Lake, nor of the thirty-one others who went under Capt. Joseph Parker on the enduring Rhode Island concern, both mentioned in the former history as among the activities of the year, and therefore nothing can be added to the brief mention there given.
The review of the events from 1775 to 1779 shows a change analogous to that which the older men of the present recall in the later years of the Civil War. The enthusiasm of the first months had paled, and however firm the determination yet remained, the expectation of marked victories to be achieved during a few weeks' campaign had passed like the dreams of childhood. The picturesque element in the strife had disappeared, and the necessity of an equable distribution of the burdens of the war in constantly increasing measure controlled the methods employed for the maintenance of the army in the field. Soldiers still were found to fill the quota required of each regiment or town, and this without resort to a draft; but the nominal volunteering became more and more a business proceeding, a service in the field in response to a bounty which greatly tended to equalize the burden. The following statement by the editor of the Revolutionary Papers before mentioned indicates the extent to which the commer- cial element had of necessity become closely incorporated with patriotic movements of that date. He writes :
"On the 16th day of June, 1780, the legislature passed an act ordering six hundred men to be raised to recruit the three regiments in the continental army from this state. The com- mittee of safety was directed to give orders to the regimental commanders to raise their several quotas. * * *
The men were to furnish their own clothing, knapsacks, and blankets, and serve till the last day of December next follow- ing, or be liable to a fine of five hundred dollars. They were to be paid forty shillings per month 'in Money equal to In- dian Corn at Four Shillings a Bushel, Grass-fed Beef at Three
94
Three-Months Men
Pence per Pound, or Sole-Leather at Eighteen Pence a Pound.' They were also to have five pounds each for clothing money, two dollars in paper currency per mile for travel, and money for rations until they could draw continental rations." In response to this very definite proposal the six men required of New Ipswich volunteered. They were John Goold, Allen Breed, Henry Carlton, Peter Bullard, Ebenezer Bullard, and Samuel Walker. These men probably served in New Jersey.
Before the close of the month of June, the legislature voted to raise 945 men for a term of three months, to reën- force the army at West Point. Sixty-three of this number were to be furnished by Col. Enoch Hale's regiment, from which it would seem that the quota of New Ipswich was either eleven or twelve. A careful examination of the rolls of the sixteen companies composing the two regiments into which this levy was divided fails to determine with full satis- faction the names of the New Ipswich men there included. But the following list is probably approximately correct.
In the company of Capt. Benjamin Spaulding: Daniel Adams, Ensign, Isaac Preston, Sergt., Jeremiah Underwood, Abel Dutton, John Breed, William Upton, Eli Upton, Asa Pratt.
In the company of Capt. Jonas Kidder: Simeon Fletcher, Jonathan Davis, Joseph Davis.
Some time during the year a sally of tories from Canada into the state of Vermont, proceeding as far as Royalton, awakened a spontaneous movement like those of the earlier years, and sixty-five men, all or very nearly all of whom were from New Ipswich, started on horseback to meet the especially offensive attack. This force, under the command of Lieut .- Col. Thomas Heald, was divided into two companies, the rolls of which are given below. They were gone only four days, during which the smaller company travelled forty- five miles, for which they presented an account amounting to £34 10s., and the larger thirty-five miles, with an account of £90 2s. They were:
Edmund Bryant, Capt. Isaac Clark, Lieut.
Silas Davis
John Gould
Benjamin Williams, Lieut. Jeremiah Prichard Thomas Brown
Joseph Stickney Jr.
Benjamin Adams Jr.
John Adams
Josiah Walton
Amos Baker
John Brown Jr.
Samuel Speer
95
History of New Ipswich
William Speer Jr. John Cutter William Prichard Jonathan Fletcher Ephraim Adams Jr. Elijah Davis
Josiah Brown
Thomas Kidder
Thomas Fletcher Jr.
William Clary
Edmund Town
Joseph Parker, Capt.
Ephraim Hildreth
Moses Tucker, Lieut.
Joseph Warren
James Chandler, Ens.
Jesse Walker
John Brooks, Sergt.
Amos Boynton
Leonard Parker
Joel Baker
Allen Breed, Sergt. William Faris
Samuel Fletcher
Ebenezer Knight
Stephen Adams Jr.
Ebenezer Fletcher
Nathaniel Pratt
Thomas Spaulding
Isaac Farwell
Timothy Fox
Edmund Farwell
William Shattuck
John Gowing Robert Cambell
Jonathan Twist
William Hodgkins
Thad Taylor
Levi Farr
Reuben Taylor
Nathaniel Farr
Hezekiah Hodgkins
Isaac Bartlett Jotham Hoar
John Wheeler, Jr.
It may be noticed that two of the names on the Royalton Alarm list, John Gould and Allen Breed, are also included in the six names of men enlisting on the six-months call of the year, and recorded as serving from July 2 to December 14. Evidently therefore the Royalton event was earlier than July. The records mention it as an occurrence of the year 1780 several times, but give no more definite date.
In February, 1781, the town was called upon to furnish twelve more soldiers for the Continental army, and is credited with the following recruits, eight of whom had before been credited with from one to five terms of service.
Nehemiah Stratton Phineas Adams
Stephen Adams
Jesse Walker
Samuel Walker
John Bullard
Peter Bullard
Joel Baker
Amos Baker
Joseph Proctor
John Adams
John Thomas
A few names more complete the roll of names found on record of New Ipswich Revolutionary soldiers. The "Muster
96
Stephen Pierce
Enos Knight Jr. Samuel Cummings
John Pratt
Edward Pratt
The Soldier's Equipment
Roll of a Company of Men Commanded by Capt. Othniel Thomas In Colo. Runnell's Regt. of New Hampshire Militie (1781)" found in the Pension Bureau at Washington, D. C., contains the following names of soldiers, two of whom are said to "go for" the town of "Ipswitch," and four for "Ips- wich :" Reuben Baldwin, James Turnar, John Goold, Paul Sticknee, Ephraim Hildreth, John Gould, Jr.
In a New Hampshire record New Ipswich is credited with Silas Whitney and Ezra Meriam, recruits of July 15, 1782.
From the Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls preserved in the State House at Boston the following names of New Ips- wich men are taken. Col. William Prescott's regiment, Capt. John Nutting's company, Samuel Cummings; Capt. Joseph Moor's company, John Sawtell; Capt. Abijah Wyman's com- pany, Samuel Kinney ; Col. Jonathan Brewer's regiment, Capt. Thomas Drury's company, Abraham Abbot. Seth Wheeler was lieutenant in the company of Capt. John Parker of Litch- field, in the regiment of Col. Timothy Bedel, with the North- ern division of the army under Gen. Montgomery in 1775; and captain under the same colonel on service in Canada from December 15, 1777, to March 3, 1778.
It is believed that the foregoing is practically a complete outline of the work of New Ipswich in the field during the birth-struggle of the nation. In comparison with the broader and more fierce contests required in later years that the nation might continue to live, perchance in the thought of some this earlier story is almost insignificant. In truth, that initial strife presented very little of what is sometimes called the "glory of war." In the provincial army gorgeous uniforms, or in most cases any costumes that could receive such a name, were conspicuous by their absence. The graphic description of the departure of Capt. Stephen Parker's company for Still- water in 1777, given in the former history of the town as related by one who remembered the event, tells the thought- ful reader so much of the home conditions of those days left unwritten that it is repeated here.
"To a man, they wore small-clothes, coming down and fastening just below the knee, and long stockings with cow- hide shoes ornamented by large buckles, while not a pair of boots graced the company. The coats and waistcoats were loose and of huge dimensions, with colors as various as the barks of oak, sumach, and other trees of our hills and swamps could make them, and their shirts were all made of flax, and
97
8
History of New Ipswich
like every other part of the dress, were homespun. On their heads was worn a large round-top and broad-brimmed hat. Their arms were as various as their costume; here an old soldier carried a heavy Queen's arm, with which he had done service at the conquest of Canada twenty years previous, while by his side walked a stripling boy, with a Spanish fusee not half its weight or calibre, which his grandfather may have taken at the Havanna, while not a few had old French pieces, that dated back to the reduction of Louisburg. Instead of the cartridgebox, a large powderhorn was slung under the arm, and occasionally a bayonet might be seen bristling in the ranks. Some of the swords of the officers had been made by our Province blacksmiths, perhaps from some farming utensil; they looked serviceable, but heavy and uncouth. Such was the appearance of the Continentals to whom a well-appointed army was soon to lay down their arms. After a little exercising on the old Common, and performing the then popular exploit of 'whipping the snake,' they briskly filed off up the road, by the foot of the Kidder Mountain, and through the Spafford Gap, towards Peterboro, to the tune of 'Over the hills and far away.'"
Furthermore, it may be thankfully realized that the weap- ons of the warfare of those days were such as gave compara- tively slight occasion for scenes of such appalling glory as are depicted in the panoramas of mutilation and death at Gettysburg and other battles of the Civil War.
At the close of the Revolution the population of New Ipswich was 1033, of which number only 206 were ratable polls. But this small population sent into the field for a longer or shorter time about 275 men, no small number of whom, either by a single enlistment or several briefer ones, served nearly or quite three years. As has been seen, the collection of scattered records has necessitated a considerable modification of the traditional number of New Ipswich sol- diers, but these documents give very little aid in any attempt to make more definite or complete the record of deaths and injuries among the New Ipswich men that is given in the former history. It is there stated that "but one or two were killed in battle; eight or ten were very severely wounded, among whom were Josiah Walton, Ebenezer Fletcher, Jeremiah Fletcher, and Jonas Adams; and about twenty died of sick- ness in the army, or soon after they were brought home, of whom were John Adams, Simeon Hildreth, Daniel Hall,
98
Deacon Adams's Resolution
Samuel Campbell, Jonathan Wheat, Samuel Foster, Ephraim Forster and Asa Perham." David Scott is recorded as having lost his life at Bunker Hill, but although he was in the com- pany of Capt. Ezra Town, there seems to be very little doubt that he was of a Peterborough family and resident in that town.
It is very evident that by far the most serious sufferings which assailed, weakened, and often, despite the power of patriotism and indomitable Anglo-Saxon energy, discouraged the body of the soldiers so that the unconquerable leaders knew not how to meet the apparently impending disaster, were not those which are met where the excitement of the contest gives courage and endurance, but those due to lack of proper clothing, food, and shelter; to weakness and disease due largely to the inability to supply such necessities, but sometimes, it would seem, in part to a lack of appreciation of the greatness of the need by the provincial authorities. A characteristic incident is related of a leading citizen of New Ipswich which so well illustrates this difficulty that it is here again told. Dea. Ephraim Adams, although in the second half-century of life at the time of the first call to arms, did not hesitate to take the field with his juniors, but in the later years of the war was called to different duties by his fellow townsmen, and it is said that "while representing the town in the Provincial Congress, he attempted one day to call their attention to procuring suitable clothing for the soldiers during the then approaching winter, but without much success. On the following day he rose in his place with much solemnity, and read a resolution, in substance that it was the opinion of that body, that the soldiers from their state should have wool grow on their backs, to protect them from the cold during win- ter. This drew the attention of the House immediately, and a committee was chosen, of which he was the chairman, and his wishes were promptly carried into effect." It was a year or two previous to that incident, that a record still extant tells of the discharge of twenty-one newly enlisted soldiers because of their lack of clothes.
Still such incidents must not be considered without recog- nition of the almost insuperable difficulties before the home authorities at almost every point. Not the soldiers alone suffered ; their absence from the work so strenuously demanded in a new country of course demanded of their families exces-
99
History of New Ipswich
sive labor and the loss of absolutely needed comforts in very many cases; and still farther, the power of production was so much lessened that the provincial governments often knew not how to find the money imperatively demanded. Of course money rapidly disappeared, and, as is always the case under such conditions, the paper currency began to depreciate in value, making necessary a constantly increasing issue, with a resultant still more rapid depreciation, the lawful currency falling from nearly its full face value at the beginning of 1777 to only one hundred and twentieth of that value at the middle of 1781.
Supplies for the army were levied in kind, and in 1781 each town in the state was assessed a designated weight of beef for the support of the army, of which assessment New Ipswich was required to provide about one-eightieth part, which was 17,164 pounds. Another necessity, according to the ideas of that period, and especially for men working severely or especially exposed, was a supply of rum, and of this the town was called upon to find 122 gallons. Under such conditions it is no cause for wonder to read in the New Ipswich town record the record of action taken in January, 1782, when it was "Voted that the Selectmen shall procure clothing for the former Continental Soldiers, if they can." As the chairman of the selectmen that year, however, was Deacon Adams before mentioned, it may probably be assumed with safety that the selectmen could do it. The incident related on a later page, in the Locke genealogy, illustrates the exer- tions that were made to meet the necessities of the times.
Through this period of intense stress, when often the issue of the strife must necessarily have seemed doubtful, if not hopeless, to the Americans, New Ipswich kept steadily on, supplying about one-eightieth of whatever men or money or supplies were the part of New Hampshire. Evidently as the expectations of early success, born while the untrained Pro- vincials pursued the fleeing troops from Concord to refuge in Boston, faded and it became recognized that the war could not be carried on by a series of brief enlistments in response to some special peril, the question of recruits took precedence with a multitude of financial problems almost insoluble. At first enlistments were abundant without the payment of bounty or with a small one of perhaps £2, designed probably to meet any little expenses due to the sudden change of life.
100
Bounties and Pay
But before the year 1776 had passed the state offered a bounty of £20, although its value ere long was somewhat diminished by its payment being deferred for four years during which it was to draw interest at six per cent. But the necessity of an increased inducement became evident, and many devices were employed to enable the town to meet the requirements. New Ipswich secured the twelve recruits sent in response to the call in February, 1781, by dividing the town into twelve classes, each of which was to furnish one soldier by such means as might be found most expedient. The town records contain receipts for bounties signed by most of the men pre- viously named as sent on the call of April, 1777, and a few others not found in that list, each of whom seems to have received £20, although at that time the bounty for a three- months man was apparently £30. The next year the names are recorded of nineteen citizens headed by the pastor, Rev. Stephen Farrar, who had subscribed the sum of £118 for the purpose of hiring soldiers.
As the pressure became more stringent the bounty rose to £40, £50, £60, £70, and probably if search were made in the right place, still higher rates might be found.
The rate of pay promised to the soldiers, which at first ranged from £12 per month for a captain to £2 for a private, gradually rose, although only for privates and non- commissioned officers at first, but the usual rate for privates, although not entirely uniform, was apparently about £3 per month in 1776, £4 in 1777, and £5 in 1778. But now the pound which in lawful paper currency was at the beginning of 1778 worth a little more than six silver shillings, sank so rapidly that at the close of 1779 its purchasing value was little more than ten pence, so that the rise of pay in some regiments even as high as £12 per month really relieved the severity of the soldier's condition very slightly. Evidently this could not continue without absolute ruin, and payrolls of the next year show an effort to remedy the injustice, the sum due to each soldier being multiplied in one case by 67, and the product placed to his credit. And very soon rolls were made out known as "depreciation rolls" in which the attempt was made to transfer the loss from the soldier to the authority which had promised to pay him a certain sum.
But the immense amounts resulting from this process in many cases could not be found; the "times were hard" to an
101
History of New Ipswich
extent never seen by the people of New Ipswich at any earlier or later date. In many cases the government was unable to supply rations, as is shown by records now on file in which against each soldier's name is placed not merely his wages, earned and promised, but remaining unpaid, but also the num- ber of rations, often larger than the number received, for each of which he was to receive the sum of eight pence.
A consideration of these facts may perhaps lead to the con- clusion that even though the risk of sudden death or cruel mutilation was less in wars of the eighteenth century than in those that have followed, it does not follow that the men of those days were less worthy of respect for their bravery in war. They fought and conquered against fearful odds, and as has been said earlier, their courage was maintained under conditions in which they had little support from the excite- ment of personal combat. Of course it could not be expected that New Ipswich in a period of revolt against constituted authorities as audacious as the American purpose appeared to be, should have had no citizens who hesitated, or perhaps refused to enter into or approve the movement. Nor is it at all at variance with the lesson taught by all such uprisings that some of the most influential and prominent citizens should have been in this conservative class, which has been designated by the offensive term "tories." It is now generally recognized that even though the sturdy resistance to the pur- poses and efforts of men like Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson was a national duty, and the overthrow of their forces an ethical, as well as political necessity, none the less they were moved by a sense of duty; and it should also be recog- nized that the more or less positive "tories" of New Ipswich were not necessarily bad men, even though they must be considered to have been at that time bad citizens. Probably they believed the Revolutionary movement, a defiance of a nation believed to be the strongest of the world, by a handful of scattered colonists, to be utterly hopeless and certain to make any conditions which furnished ground for complaint much worse.
Further, some of them held offices, and had long felt the support of the enacted laws against popular feeling to be their duty, and the natural result followed. Fortunately, however, this conservative element among the leading citizens of the town did not hold the "tory" principles so aggressively that
102
New Ipswich Tories
very serious results ensued, although temporarily the names of Barrett, Champney, and Kidder were not held with what seems to the present time the excessive respect, almost rever- ence, that those days accorded to the leading families.
But the town records show that on May 22, 1775, the po- sition of the head of one of these families was considered, and it was "Voted that Charles Barret be not confined also that his plans and Principles are Notwithstanding Erroneous." It is not entirely easy to determine the relation between this action and the fact that the name Charles Barrett is on the roll of the men who had marched only a month before in response to the Concord alarm, although he is credited on that roll with only one day's service, a shorter period than that of any other of the ninety-seven names on the roll. Possibly his speedy return was a potent cause of the town's attention to his case. But whatever stress may have come in those days upon the bonds of town fellowship, they were not broken, and he is found, no later than in 1787, to have been con- sidered a sufficiently loyal American to represent the town in the legislature, which position he held continuously during seven years and also by two isolated elections afterward.
Judge Ebenezer Champney is said by his biographer in the former town history to have been "a moderate tory, and dep- recating a resort to arms, believed that with wise and pru- dent counsels all causes of disaffection might be satisfactorily adjusted. He wished to preserve his loyalty and the peace of the country; but like many others who forebore to take part in the contest, he lived to acknowledge the beneficent effects of that struggle which gave us our liberties and free institutions."
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