USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 18
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What a scene of sublime grandeur must this battle have pre- sented, to the citizens of Boston and the surrounding hills! The roar of cannon and musketry-the clashing of steel, as hand to hand the foeman met-the groans of the wounded and dying- the shouts of the combatants-the dense cloud of smoke which enveloped the peninsula, lit up transversely by streams of death . boding fire-the sheet of flame and crash of burning buildings and falling towers at Charlestown-the intense anxiety of those interested for the safety of friends and their property-the proba-
. For some further particulars relating to this battle, and the death of Pitcairn, see a sketch of the personal character of Gen. James Dana, insert- ed under Cobelskill.
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ble effect of that day's transactions, on the future prosperity of the colonies-combined to render it one of the most thrilling spectacles mortal eye ever witnessed. The British trumpeted this battle as a victory. "If they call this a victory, how many such can the British army achieve without ruin ?" asked the Ameri- cans.
The following anecdotes of the battle of Bunker's Hill, I find in a letter from Col. John Trumbull, the artist, to Daniel Putnam, a son of Gen. Israel Putnam, dated New York, March 30th, 1818. The letter is published in a reply of the latter to an unkind at- tack made by Gen. Dearborn, some time previous, in a public journal, in which the imputation of cowardice was cast upon the brave " Old Put"-who always dared to lead where any dared to . follow. The writer, though a native of the same county in which the old hero died, never heard of but one act in his adventurous life which evinced a want of judgment, and that was far from a cowardly one. It was that of his " entering a cavern to kill a wolf, and leaving his gun outside," until he entered a second time. Says Trumbull :
"In the summer of 1786, I became acquainted, in London, with Col. John Small, of the British army, who had served in America many years, and had known General Putnam intimately during the war of Canada from 1756 to 1763. From him, I had the two following anecdotes respecting the battle of Bunker Hill: I shall nearly repeat his words. Looking at the picture which I had then almost completed, he said: 'I don't like the situation in which you have placed my old friend Putnam ; you have not done him jus- tice. I wish you would alter that part of your picture, and intro- duce a circumstance which actually happened, and which I can never forget. When the British troops advanced the second time to the attack of the redoubt, I, with the other British officers, was in front of the line to encourage the men: we had advanced very near the works undisturbed, when an irregular fire, like a feu-de- joie, was poured in upon us; it was cruelly fatal. The troops fell back, and when I looked to the right and left, I saw not one officer standing ;- I glanced my eye to the enemy, and saw several young men leveling their pieces at me; I knew their excellence as marks- men, and considered myself gone. At that moment, my old friend Putnam rushed forward, and striking up the muzzles of their pieces with his sword, cried out, "For God's sake, my lads, don't fire at that man-I love him as I do my brother." We were so near
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each other that I heard his words distinctly. He was obeyed ; I bowed, thanked him, and walked away unmolested.'"
The other anecdote relates to the death of Gen. Warren :
" At the moment when the troops succeeded in carrying the re- doubt, and the Americans were in full retreat, Gen. Howe (who had been hurt by a spent ball, which bruised his ancle,) was lean- ing on my arm. He called suddenly to me: 'Do you see that ele- gant young man who has just fallen ? Do you know him ?' I looked to the spot towards which he pointed-' Good God, sir, I believe it is my friend Warren.' 'Leave me then instantly-run ; keep off the troops, save him if possible.' I flew to the spot: 'My dear friend,' I said to him, 'I hope you are not badly hurt.' He looked up, seemed to recollect me, smiled and died ! A musket- ball had passed through the upper part of his head."
The Congress which met in the summer of 1775, had not yet determined to throw off all allegiance to the British crown, and in July of that year, prepared a declaration of American griev- ances for the preceding ten years, with the causes which had led to them. They also drew up a respectful address to the King, in which they avowed boldly, that they were " resolved to die free- men rather than live slaves." This Congress established a gener- al post office and general hospital, and resolved to emit a paper currency. Its proceedings, however, effected nothing towards healing the difficulties with the mother country. In November, the House of Lords, at the motion of the duke of Richmond, met to interrogate ex-governor Penn, who had been two years gover- nor of Pennsylvania. He stated, in reply to certain questions, that he had resided four years in the colonies-that he was per- sonally acquainted with all the members of the American Con- gress-that the colonists were united-were, to considerable ex- tent, prepared for war-could make powder, small arms and can- non-were more expert at ship-building than Europeans -- and that if a formidable force was sent to America, the number of co- lonists who would be found to join it, would be too trivial to be of any consequence. The duke of Richmond then proposed the last petition of Congress to the King, as a base for a plan of ac- commodation, and urged the impossibility of ever conquering America, as the learned John Wilkes had emphatically done in
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the House of Commons, the preceding February : but the motion was lost. In December, Mr. Hartley made an effort to have hos- tilities suspended : and in the following February, Mr. Fox at- tempted the same thing ; soon after which, the King, by a treaty with the Prince of Hesse Cassel, made an arrangement to hire sixteen thousand troops of that Prince, to aid in subduing his American subjects. It was urged in vain, that they were setting the example for the colonies to call in foreign aid. In March of 1776, the duke of Grafton made another ineffectual attempt to open the eyes of the King and ministry, after which war was con- sidered as actually declared. It was thought by the court party, that one or two campaigns at most, would bring America in sack- cloth and ashes at the foot of the British throne.
In 1775, the colonies adopted a plain red flag. By a resolution of Congress, the flag of the United States, consisting of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, was adopted June 14th, 1777. On the 13th January, 1794, two new states having been added to the compact, the stars and stripes were increased to fifteen each. In January, 1817, by an act of Congress, it was resolved that it should consist of thirteen stripes, and a star for every additional state.
If matters were every day becoming worse in England, in the latter part of the year 1775, and the early part of '76, they were assuming an aspect no more favorable to a reconciliation in the colonies. Many events had transpired after the battle of Bunker's hill, which served to feed the flame of discord. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, had pursued a course which rendered him not only odious to a majority of the colonists, but which tended greatly to unite the anti-tea party. The governor of North Ca- rolina, also proved himself to be a tool of the British ministry : while Governor Tryon, of New York, in his efforts to please his master, became so unpopular, that he was obliged, in the course of the year to follow the example of Gov. Dunmore, and seek personal safety on board of an armed vessel.
The British, in 1775, burnt Stonington in Connecticut, Bristol in Rhode Island, and Falmouth in Massachusetts ; and during the
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same year, the colonists, in several expeditions, had conquered a good part of Canada. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, had for some time been arming the slaves, and instigating them to im- brue their hands in the blood of their masters ; and on the first of January, 1776, he burnt Norfolk. On the 17th of March follow- ing, the British having been compelled to evacuate Boston, Washington entered it, to the great joy of its patriotic citizens. A fleet under Sir Peter Parker, with several thousand British and Hessian troops, arrived on the coast of America early that year. Sir Henry Clinton, after leaving Boston, intended to take posses- sion of New York, but finding General Lee there to oppose him, he sailed with the British fleet to attack Charleston, South Caro- lina. Lee, learning his intentions, managed to arrive there before him, and prepare the city for an attack. A fort was quickly thrown up on Sullivan's Island, of palmetto trees and sand, com- manding the entrance to the harbor.
On the 31st of May, the enemy under Commodore Parker and Sir Henry Clinton, attacked it with a strong force, but were re- pulsed with severe loss, by the troops under Col. Moultrie, whose name it afterwards bore. The conduct of two sergents, Jasper and McDonald, deserves particular notice.
Says the biographer of Marion: "A ball from the enemy's ships carried away our flagstaff. Scarcely had the stars of liberty touched the sand, before Jasper flew and snatched them up and kissed them with great enthusiasm. Then having fixed them to the point of his spontoon, [a kind of spear,] he leaped upon the breast-work amidst the storm and fury of the battle, and restored them to their daring station-waving his hat at the same time and huzzaing, 'God save liberty and my country forever!' A cannon shot from one of the enemy's guns entered a port-hole and dreadfully mangled McDonald, while fighting like a hero at his gun. As he was borne off in a dying state, he said to his comrades, " Huzza, my brave fellows ! I die, but don't let the cause of liberty die with me!" The day after the action, many citizens of Charleston of the first rank of both sexes visited the fort, to tender in person their thanks for its gallant defence, and by it
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their own protection. Among them was Gov. Rutledge, dis- tinguished for his patriotic zeal and devotion to the cause of his country. In the presence of the regiment to which Jasper be- longed, he loosed his own sword and presented it to him, tender- ing him at the time a commission. The brave sergeant with heart-felt thanks declined accepting the latter, because he could not read. Let parents who neglect to educate their children, consider well the reason this young man gave, for not accepting proffered honor. Nor was this a solitary case, hundreds of dar- ing spirits in the course of the war, were obliged to decline for the same reason the laurels their own valor had won, and see them adorn the brow of their less meritorious brethren.
A Mrs. Elliot, (whose husband was colonel of artillery:) on the occasion above referred to, presented the regiment with a beauti- ful American standard, richly embroidered by her own hands. It was delivered to Jasper, who, on receiving it, declared he never would part with in life. He kept his promise; for some time after in an effort to bear off those colors in an attack on Savannah, he was mortally wounded. A short time before his death, he was visited by Major Horry. He spoke with freedom of his past life and future prospects, and dwelt with evident sa- tisfaction on the virtues of his mother. How true it is, that mothers generally lay the foundation for man's future greatness- future happiness. The last moments of many a poor soldier and weather-beaten tar, have added their testimonny to the fact, that lasting advice may generally be traced to the affectionate and pious mother. Jasper sent the sword presented him by Gov. Rutledge, to his father, as a dying memento of his own patriot- ism. He also left with Major Horry his tender regards for the Joncs family,* in whose fatc he had, by a daring exploit, become
* His acquaintance with the Joneses originated as follows:
In disguise, and accompanied by his trusty friend Newton, he visited a British post at Ebenezer, where they tarried several days. Before leaving, they learned that a party of ten or twelve American prisoners were confined there in irons, to be sent back to Savannah, from whence some of them had deserted the British service. The friends begged permission to see them, among whom were a Mr. Jones, his weeping wife, and smiling boy. The
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interested; giving evidence in death, that a just reward attends the good deeds of the virtuous.
About the time the attack was made on Fort Moultrie, Con- gress appointed Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll commissioners to carry addresses into Canada, but they affected very little; the Canadians being then, as they have ever since been, too loyal to appreciate liberty.
Early in May, 1776, Congress took measures to sound the co- lonies on the propriety of casting off all allegiance to the mother country. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, gave notice that on a future day he would move for a declaration of Independence. From the time of his notice the press proved a powerful auxiliary in the popular cause. Many essays and pamphlets were publish- ed and distributed on the subject, and one from the pen of Thomas Paine, entitled Common Sense, aided much in preparing public opinion to sanction the step about to be taken. On the Ist of July it was introduced, and the three following days it was ably discussed, when the vote was taken and six states were enrolled for and six against the declaration, and one equally divided. One of the delegates from Pennsylvania, it is said, was influenced to leave the House, and thus a majority of one vote in a committee
two friends were much interested in the fate of the Joneses, and soon after left the camp and retired to a neighboring wood, where they pledged their lives to rescue the prisoners or perish in the attempt. They remained in the British camp until the prisoners, under a guard of a sergeant, corporal, and eight soldiers set forward for Savannah. About two miles from the place of destination, Jasper and Newton secreted themselves near a spring, a little distance from the road, where the party soon after halted. Watching their opportunity, they sprang from they covert, and seizing two muskets that were resting against a tree, they shot two soldiers who were keeping guard, and reached them in time to strike down with clubbed muskets, two others who were in the act of taking up their arms. Seizing the two loaded guns they gained command of those left by five of the party near the road, and the other six surrendered themselves prisoners. The heroes liberated the captive Americans, and placing guns in their hands, nfter stripping the four dead soldiers, led the party in safety to the American garrison at Purysburg. When the affray at the spring commenced, Mrs. Jones fainted to the earth, but recovering and finding her husband and boy safe, she became frantic with joy, and viewing her deliverers in the light of angels, she called down heaven's blessings upon them.
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of the whole, decided the fate of the declaration. Thomas Jef- ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and R. R. Livingston were appointed to draft a Declaration of Indepen- dence. Each prepared one, but that of Jefferson was, with a few slight alterations, adopted, on the fourth of July, 1776 ; and read as follows.
"THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
" When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires, that they should declare the causes which im- pel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evi- dent-that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new govern- ment, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former system of government. The history of the pre- sent king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an ab- solute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be sub- mitted to a candid world.
" He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and ne- cessary for the public good.
" He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation, till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has ut- terly neglected to attend to them.
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"He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature-a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
" He has called together legislative bodies, at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public re- cords, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
" He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for oppos- ing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
" He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large, for their exer- cise ; the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dan- ger of invasion from without and convulsions within.
" He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreign- ers; refusing to pass others, to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
" He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
" He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the ten- ure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
" He has erected a multitude of offices, and sent here swarms of officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
"He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.
" He has affected to render the military independent of, and su- perior to, the civil power.
" He has combined with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction, foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giv- ing his assent to their acts of pretended legislation :
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment for any murder they should commit on the inhabitants of these states :
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world :
For imposing taxes on us without our consent :
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury :
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended of- fences :
For abolishing the free system of English law in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarg- ing its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit in- strument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies :
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments :
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power, to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever :
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" He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.
"He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
"He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mer- cenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
" He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the exe- cutioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
" He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
"In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for re- dress, in the most humble terms: our petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked, by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
" Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British breth- ren. We have warned them from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature, to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emi- gration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind-ene- mies in war ; in peace, friends.
"We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our intentions, DO, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all po- litical connexion between them and the state of Great Britain, is and aught to be totally dissolved ; and that as free and independ- ent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- tract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
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of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress. JOHN HANCOCK, President.
Attest. CHARLES THOMPSON, Secretary.
New Hampshire. Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
Massachusetts Bay. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
Rhode Island, &c. Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery.
Delaware. Cæsar Rodney, Thomas M'Kean, George Read,
Maryland. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Caroll of Ca- rollton.
Connecticut. Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
New York. William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris.
Virginia. George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
North Carolina. William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, Joha Pean.
New Jersey. Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Franeis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark.
Pennsylvania. Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, John Morton, George Clymer, James Wilson, George Ross.
South Carolina. Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, jr. Thomas Lynch, jr. Arthur Middleton.
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