USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 17
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Boston was under discussion in March of this year, Gov. John- ston, who opposed the measure, said in a speech on that occasion, " I now venture to predict to this house, that the effect of the pre- sent bill must be productive of a general confederacy, to resist the power of this country." Gen. Conway was again found the champion of equal rights, and when the bill was under discussion to destroy the chartered privileges of the colony, he closed a brief but pertinent speech with the following sentence: "These acts respecting America, will involve this country and its ministers in misfortunes, and, I wish I may not add, in ruin." It has often been asserted that the whole bench of Bishops in England, who are legally constituted members of Parliament, were in favor of forcing the colonies to submit to the unwise acts of the mother country. As there was one most honorable exception, I take pleasure in making it more generally known. The Rev. Dr. Jona- than Shipley, Bishop of St. Asaph, was the nobleman to whom I allude. When the bill for altering the charter of the colony of Massachusetts was under discussion, he prepared a speech replete with wisdom, and containing the most convincing proofs, that the British government were in the wrong and were pursuing a course illy calculated to bring the colonies again to prove profitable to England. He showed the evil of making the governors depend- ent on the crown, instead of the governed, for support. Said he :
Your ears have been open to the governors and shut to the peo- ple. This must necessarily lead us to countenance the jobs of in- terested men, under the pretence of defending the rights of the crown. But the people are certainly the best judges whether they are well governed ; and the crown can have no rights incon- sistent with the happiness of the people." [Speaking of the act of taxation, he said : ] " If it was unjust to tax them, [the Ameri- cans] we ought to repeal it for their sakes; if it was unwise to tax them, we ought to repeal it for our own." [He exhibited the fact that the whole revenue raised in America in 1772, amounted only to eighty-five pounds.] "Money that is earned so dearly as this [said he] ought to be expended with great wisdom and econo- my. My lords, were you to take up but one thousand pounds more from North America upon the same terms, the nation itself would be a bankrupt." [He added, in another place:] " It is a strange idea we have taken up, to cure their resentments, by increasing their provocations, to remove the effects of our own ill conduct, by
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multiplying the instances of it. But the spirit of blindness and infatuation has gone forth. *
* Recollect that the Americans are men of like passions with ourselves, and think how deeply this treatment must affect them."
The able and argumentive speech of the learned Bishop, which was not delivered in the House for want of an opportunity, was published soon after, but, as he had anticipated, "not a word of it was regarded." While the declaratory bill of the sovereignty of Great Britain over the colonies was under discussion, in March, Mr. Pitt, then lord Chatham, again opposed the principle of taxa- tion without representation, and closed an animated speech as fol- lows :
" The forefathers of the Americans did not leave their native country, and subject themselves to every danger and distress, to be reduced to a state of slavery : they did not give up their rights ; they looked for protection, and not for chains, from their mother country ; by her they expected to be defended in the possession of their property, and not to be deprived of it; for should the pre- sent power continue, there is nothing they can call their own; or, to use the words of Mr. Locke, ' what property have they in that which another may by right take, when he pleases, to himself ?'"
The news in the colonies of the passage of the unjust laws above mentioned, carried with it gloom and terror. The better informed saw the approaching contest, yet firmly resolved to live or die freemen. From the north to the south the same spirit was manifested, and the kindest sympathy felt for the Bostonians, who were considered as suffering in the cause of liberty. The first day of June, when the Boston port-bill began to operate, was observed in most of the colonies as a day of fasting and prayer.
Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts was recalled early in 1774, and General Gage appointed his successor ; but the inter- ests of the people found no material benefit from this change of rulers. On the 17th of June, the general court of Massachusetts, at the suggestion of a committee in Virginia, recommended the calling of a Congress at Philadelphia, on the first Monday of the following September. At a numerous meeting of the inhabitants of the city of New York, convened in an open field on the sixth
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of July, with Alexander McDougal in the chair, a series of spirit- ed resolutions were adopted, among which was the following :
" Resolved, That any attack or attempt to abridge the liberties, or invade the constitution of any of our sister colonies, is imme- diately an attack upon the liberties and constitution of all the oth- er British colonies."
About this time, the motto, " United we stand, divided we fall !" originated in Hanover, Virginia ; while almost at the same in- stant the motto, " Join or die !" had its origin in Rhode Island. On the first day of September, the following circumstance gave a new impulse to the spirit of independence in the colony of Massa- chusetts. Gov. Gage had ordered a military force to take posses- sion of the powder in the provincial arsenal at Charlestown, near Boston. It was rumored abroad, that the British fleet in the har- bor were bombarding the town, and thirty thousand men, in less than two days, mostly armed, were on their way to Boston. An- other circumstance took place in that city, about the same time, which added oil to the lamp of liberty. Gov. Gage deprived John Hancock of his commission as colonel of cadets ; a volun- teer body of governor's guards. The company took offence at the act, and instantly disbanded themselves. The late governors, Bernard and Hutchinson, repeatedly represented to the British ministry, that the colonies could never form a union. They had hoped as much, and taken no little pains to prevent such an event ; but when the fifth of September arrived, delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies met in convention, Georgia alone excepted : she soon after joined the confederacy. Peyton Randolph, of Vir- ginia, was chosen president, and Charles Thompson, of Pennsyl- vania, secretary of this body. Patrick Henry was the first to ad- dress the meeting. While in session, this Congress passed reso- lutions, approving the course of the citizens of Boston-opposing the acts of Parliament-advising union, peaceable conduct, etc. They remonstrated with General Gage against fortifying Boston Neck-recommended a future course to be pursued by the colo- nies-setting forth clearly the present evils, their causes and re- medies. They advised economy and frugality-the abstaining
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from all kinds of intemperance, festivities, and the like-requir- ing committees to report all the enemies of American liberty, that their names might be published. They also addressed a pe- tition to the king-a memorial to the citizens of England-an address to the people of the colonies-and another to the French inhabitants of Quebec, Georgia, Nova Scotia, and other British provinces not represented. In their petition to the king, they simply asked to be restored to their situation in the peace of 1763, in humble, strong and respectful terms. They urged the colonies " to be prepared for every contingency." They invited the co- operation of the British colonies not represented in that congress, in their resistance to oppression ; and adjourned on the twenty- sixth of October, after a session of fifty-two days, to meet again on the tenth of the following May. Says Mr. Allan, author of the American Revolution :
" That an assembly of fifty-two men, born and educated in the wilds of a new world, unpractised in the arts of polity, most of them unexperienced in the arduous duties of legislation, coming from distant colonies and distant governments, differing in religion, manners, customs and habits, as they did in their views with re- gard to the nature of their connexion with Great Britain-that such an assembly, so constituted, should display so much wisdom, sagacity, foresight and knowledge of the world, such skill in ar- gument, such force of reasoning, such firmness and soundness of judgment, so profound an acquaintance with the rights of man, such elevation of sentiment, such genuine patriotism, and above all, such unexampled union of opinion-was indeed a political phenomenon, to which history has yet furnished no parallel."
The resolves of Congress were strictly observed, by all the thir- teen colonies, a system of commercial non-intercourse with the mother country was maintained, and the militia were drilled and preparations made for any emergency. In December following, Maryland alone resolved to raise £10,000, for the purchase of arms and ammunition for her defence. In January, 1775, colo- nial difficulties were the cause of warm discussions, in both Houses of the mother government. On a motion for an address to his Majesty, to give immediate orders for removing his troops from Boston, Lord Chatham delivered a powerful speech. He asserted
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that the measures of the preceding year, which had placed their American affairs in so alarming a state, were founded upon mis- representation-that instead of its being only a faction in Boston, as they had been told, who were opposed to their unlawful go- vernment, it was, in truth, the whole continent. Said he,
"When I urge this measure for recalling the troops from Bos- ton, I urge it on this pressing principle-that it is necessarily pre- paratory to the restoration of your prosperity." [He termed the troops under General Gage,] " an army of impotence-and irrita- tion-I do not mean to censure the inactivity of the troops. It is a prudent and necessary inaction. But it is a miserable condition, where disgrace is prudence ; and where it is necessary to be con- temptible. Woe be to him who sheds the first, the unexpiable drop of blood in an impious war, with a people contending in the great cause of public liberty. I will tell you plainly, my lords, no son of mine, nor any one over whom I have influence, shall ever draw his sword upon his fellow subjects." [He stated, that from authentic information he knew that the whole continent was unit- ing, and not commercial factions, as had been asserted. Speaking of the principles which united the Americans, he said,]-" 'Tis liberty to liberty engaged, that they will defend themselves, their families and their country. In this great cause they are immova- bly allied. It is the alliance of God and nature-immutable, eter- nal, fixed as the firmament of Heaven. When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America, when you consi- der their decency, firmness and wisdom, you can not but respect their cause and wish to make it your own-for myself I must de- clare and avow that, in all my reading and observation, and it has been my favorite study-I have read Thucidydes, and have stu- died and admired the master states of the world-that for solidity and reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of different circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Phila- delphia. I trust it is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts to impose servitude on such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation-must be vain-must be futile. To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the King, I will not say that they can alienate his subjects from his crown, but I will affirm that they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I shall not say that the King is be- trayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone."
Lord Chatham was nobly sustained by Lord Cambden, but they were of a small minority, and their reasoning was buried in the popular will of that immortal mortal, Lord North. A favo- rite measure of the latter gentleman, for healing the dissensions
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in the colonies was adopted, which was in substance, that if any colony would consent to tax itself for the benefit of the mother country, Parliament would forbear to tax that colony, as long as the contribution was punctually paid. One would suppose that head brainless that looked for a very beneficial result from the passage of such a law. In March of this year, the celebrated Edmund Burke delivered a long and able speech in Parliament in favor of conciliating colonial difficulties-but to no purpose. An effort was made by the British ministry, when they found the Americans uniting, to create a separation of interest, and prevent a union of the northern and southern, by conciliating the middle colonies, but without effect : the motto, United we stand, had gone forth, and no political manouvering could annual it. At this pe- riod, there were not a few in the colonies, who, from reverence, timidity or sinister motives, clung to the authority of the mother country. The most of those, however, were recent immigrants from England and Scotland, and a multitude of officers dependent on the Crown and its authority, for a continuance of kingly honors. These adherents to British authority were called Tories, and the friends of liberty and equal rights were called Whigs ; names originated many years before in England. To compel New Eng- land to submit to the acts of Parliament, they were prohibited, in the course of this year, from fishing on the banks of Newfound- land; and armed vessels were sent to enforce the law. This pro- hibition was severely felt, as several colonies were extensively en- gaged in that business.
The storm which had so long been gathering over this conti- nent, was now about to descend in all its fury. On the 19th day of April, 1775, Gen. Gage sent from Boston a detachment of 8 or 900 troops, under the command of Col. Smith and Maj. Pit- cairn, to destroy a collection of military stores, accumulated at Concord by the friends of liberty. At Lexington, a small village which they had to pass, a company of sixty or seventy militia were ' paraded near the village church. Maj. P. riding forward, ex- claimed, Disperse, you rebels-throw down your arms and dis- perse ! The militia hesitated, and the Maj. firing a pistol, ordered
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a company under Capt. Parker, to fire upon them : the command was obeyed, and eight were killed and several wounded. The militia dispersed, and the troops marched on to Concord. Some of the stores had been removed, what remained were destroyed. The minute men of that town had assembled before the arrival of the regulars, but being too weak to oppose the latter, retired on their approach. As the report of the firing upon the militia at Lexington spread with almost lightning rapidity, from the ring- ing of bells, firing of signal guns, &c., the country was soon in arms. Finding themselves reinforced, the Concord militia ad- vanced, and a skirmish ensued, in which several were killed on both sides. The British troops, seeing that they were to have hot work, as almost every male citizen between the ages of ten and eighty were arming for the fight, began to retreat. In their course they were fired upon from all manner of concealments. Every stone-wall, tree, stump, rock, old barn or workshop, sent forth its unerring bullet into the ranks of the enemy. Had not the British been reinforced by about 900 men under Lord Percy, few of the first detachment would ever have reached Bos- ton alive. The British loss in this battle, called the battle of Lexington because it commenced and much of it was fought in that town, in killed wounded and prisoners, was 273; and that of the Provincials, 87. General Gage had thought, previous to the battle of Lexington, that five regiments of British infantry could march from Maine to Georgia. Possibly he had entered the right school, to learn how to appreciate American valor with more certainty. Thus closed the opening scene of a tragedy, destined to last eight long years. The news of this battle spread rapidly through the New England provinces. The plow was left in the furrow-the chisel in the mortice-the iron in the forge ; and the hand that had placed it there, grasped the missile of death, and hastened to the vicinity of Boston. In a few days, a large army was assembled under the command of Generals Ward of Massachusetts, and Putnam of Connecticut, and closely invested the town.
While matters stood thus, in and around Boston, a plan for
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the capture of the fortresses of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Skeenesborough, now Whitehall, commanding the route of inter- communication between the colonies and Canada; was conceiv- ed and boldly executed. The fortresses were all surprised and captured, as was a sloop of war near the outlet of Lake George, without bloodshed, by colonels Ethan Allen, and Seth Warner, with two hundred and thirty Green Mountain boys, and officers Dean, Wooster, Parsons, and Arnold, and forty other brave spirits of Connecticut. On the evening of the 10th of May, as the invaders approached Ticonderoga, a sentinel snapped his gun at Colonel Allen and retreated, followed by the latter and his brave comrades. On gaining possession of the fortress, the com- mander was found napping. Colonel Allen demanded of him the immediate surrender of the fort. "By what authority, sir ?" It is possible the thought may not have entered the mind of the rebel chieftain, that such a question would be propounded ; but his fruitful genius instantly prompted the following, singular, and laconic reply-" In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con- tinental Congress." As may be supposed, the summons was from too high a power to be resisted.
A minute account of the battle of Lexington, with depositions to prove that the British troops shed the first blood, were trans- mitted without delay to England, by the provincial legislature of Massachusetts then in session ; closing with the following sen- tence : Appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we de- termine to die, or be free. The Colonial Congress again assem- bled, on the very day their authority had been so successfully an- ticipated, by the intrepid Allen at Ticonderoga. Preparations at this time, were every where being made in the colonies, for the maintenance of the stand taken against oppression, by a resort to arms. A new impulse seemed given to the spirit of opposi- tion, by the defeat of the British troops at Lexington, and the capture of the northern military posts ; but a majority of Con- gress, had not as yet formed the resolve, to aim at a final sepa- ration from the mother country. John Hancock, in consequence of his having been proscribed by the British government, was
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chosen president of this Congress. As military preparations were making, a resort to arms had commenced, and it was pretty evident that others must follow; Congress saw the necessity of giving to those preparations a head, and most fortunately ap- pointed THE WORLD'S MODEL MAN-GEORGE WASHINGTON, to that honorable post. He received the appointment of commander-in- chief while a member of Congress, on the 22d of May, and be- gan immediately to prepare for his laborious duties. He arrived at the American camp on the 3d day of July. Georgia having sent delegates to the Congress of 1775, all the colonies were then represented.
Early in June, several transports filled with troops under the command of generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne, arrived at Boston. On the 17th, the battle of Breed's, now called Bunker's hill, was fought. An intrenchment was thrown up on the pre- ceding evening, by a body of one thousand men under Colonel Prescot. The intention was to have fortified Bunker's hill, but the officers sent to throw up the redoubt, found that less tenable, and built the fortification on Breed's hill. Ground was broken at twelve o'clock at night, and by daylight a redoubt had been thrown up eight rods square. In the morning, a reinforcement of five hundred men was sent to their assistance. Although a heavy cannonading was kept up from daylight by the British shipping, the Americans, encouraged by General Putnam and other brave officers, did not cease their labors. About noon, General Gage, astonished at the boldness of the American mili- tia, sent a body of three thousand regulars, under Generals Howe and Pigot, to storm the works. Generals Clinton and Burgoyne, took a station in Boston, where they had a commanding view of the hill. The towers of the churches-the roofs of the houses- indeed every eminence in and around Boston, was covered with anxious spectators ; many of whom had dear relatives exposed to the known danger, awaiting with almost breathless anxiety the deadly conflict. Many, and heart-felt were the prayers then offered up, for the success of the patriot band. About the time the action commenced, General Warren, who was president of the
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Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, joined the Americans on the hill as a volunteer. The British troops, having landed from their boats, marched to attack the works. The Americans, re- serving their fire until the white of the eye was visible, then open- ed a most destructive one, dealing death on every hand. Indeed, rank after rank was cut down, like grass before the mower. The enemy wavered, and soon retreated in disorder down the hill. Then might doubtless have been heard a stifled murmur of ap- plause, among the eye witnesses in Boston, who believed their countrymen fighting a just cause. And then too, might have been seen the lip of the British officer and rank tory, compress- ed with anger and mortification. While this attack was in pro- gress, the fire-brand of the licensed destroyer, by the diabolical order of Gen. Gage, was communicated to the neighboring vil- lage of Charlestown, containing some six hundred buildings, and the whole in a short time were reduced to ashes ; depriving about two thousand inhabitants of a shelter, and destroying property amounting to more than half a million of dollars. The British offi- cers with much difficulty, again rallied their troops, and led them a second time to the attack. They were allowed to approach even nearer than before; when the Americans, having witnessed the conflagration of Charlestown, themselves burning to revenge the houseless mother and orphan, sent the messenger of death among their ranks. The carnage became a second time too great for the bravery of the soldier-the ranks were broken, and the enemy again retreated, some even taking refuge in the boats. When the British troops wavered a second time, Clinton, vexed at their want of success, hastened to their assistance with a re- inforcement. On his arrival, the men were again rallied, and compelled, by the officers, who marched in their rear with drawn swords, to renew the attack. At this period of the con- test, the ammunition of the Americans failed, and the enemy entered the redoubt. Few of the former had bayonets, yet for a while they continued the unequal contest with clubbed muskets, but were finally overpowered. The American loss in numbers, was inconsiderable until the enemy scaled the works. They
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were forced to retreat over Charlestown Neck, a narrow isthmus which was raked by an incessant fire from several floating bat- teries. Fortunately, few were killed in crossing the Neck. The following anecdote is characteristic of Bunker bravery : While the Americans were retreating from the hill across Charlestown Neck, Timothy Cleveland, of Canterbury, Ct., was marching with others with trailed arms, when a grape shot struck the small part of the breech of his gun-stock, and cut it off. He had proceeded several rods before he was aware of his loss- but ran back and picked it up, declaring, " The darned British shall have no part of my gun." The gun-stock was repaired with a tin band, and was long after in the service of its patriotic owner, who was from the same county and under the command of Gen. Putnam .- Joseph Simms. The British loss in this, which was the first regular fought battle in the Revolution, was, in killed and wounded, one thousand and fifty-four, including many officers, among whom was Major Pitcairn of Lexington memory .* The American loss in killed and wounded, was four hundred and fifty-three ; and among the former was the talent- ed, the kind-hearted and zealous patriot, Gen. Warren ; who received a musket bullet through the head. He was a distin- guished physician in Boston, and warmly espoused the cause of his country, and yielded his life a willing sacrifice in her defence ; undying be his memory in the American heart !
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