Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I, Part 77

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I > Part 77

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

451

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND

guards, with the advice of the war council, and to draft men from the militia and pay them by orders drawn on the general treasury. A month later, in June, the Governor reported that the federal garrisons had been withdrawn from Fort Adams and Fort Walcott, and asked the General Assembly to devise means of defending the state.

The war spirit was rising in Rhode Island, in face of the abandonment of federal pro- tection. Several independent military companies that had permitted their charters to lapse sought renewal of incorporation and reorganization, among them the Federal Blues of War- ren, Captain General Cavaliers, Tiverton and Little Compton Dragoons, Kentish Troop, Cum- berland and Smithfield Light Dragoons and Washington Cavalry; and new companies were chartered, including the North Kingstown Guards, Independent Company of Riflemen of Cumberland, and Civil Guards of Providence. The General Assembly directed the Governor to write to Washington that Rhode Island was not satisfied with the proposal that the Narra- gansett Bay forts should be manned by militia ; and to complain that the abandonment of Rhode Island had been completed by the removal of seamen from the gunboat flotilla at Newport .* Stern measures to strengthen the militia were approved. A grant of $300 to purchase two six-pound fieldpieces for the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery was author- ized, and the Governor was directed to procure two fieldpieces for the Washington Artillery, and to continue the patrol guards in service.

Early in 1814 the Governor in a message to the General Assembly complained of the indifference of the federal government to the protection of New England. The Assembly declared April 7 a day of prayer and fasting, and adopted resolutions that called for an exami- nation of the exact nature of the relation existing between state and nation. One resolution declared : "It is the most sacred duty of the legislature always to guard, defend and secure the sovereign rights of the state from all encroachments, and to protect its citizens from all arbitrary infringements of their inalienable privileges, by whomsoever such encroachment and infringement may be meditated or attempted," and authorized the appointment of a commit- tee of two Senators and three Representatives to inquire: "First, in what spirit the Constitu- tion adopted by the state on the thirtieth day of May, A. D. 1790, for the establishment of a limited federal government has been administered? Second, whether any, and if any, what encroachment has been made or attempted upon the sovereign rights of the state and upon the inalienable rights of the citizens thereof? Third, what measures it will be advisable for this government to pursue more effectually to guard, protect and secure the rights and privileges of the state and of the citizens thereof from arbitrary encroachment and violation?" The

committee was directed to report on the third day of the next session of the Assembly, but there is no record that a report was presented. With the success of the allied armies in Europe and the exile of Napoleon to Elba, England was free to deal with America and began to move Wellington's veteran troops across the Atlantic. By midsummer of 1814 New Eng- land was threatened with invasion; Stonington, Connecticut, was bombarded by a British fleet, August 9-12; the Capitol at Washington was burned, August 24; Nantucket negotiated a "treaty of neutrality" with a British fleet, August 31; General Jackson defended New Orleans and defeated Pakenham December 23-January 15.

The Rhode Island General Assembly undertook vigorous measures for defence at the June session. The Governor was authorized to call out the militia, whole or in part, or to draft a state force from the militia and chartered commands, or to raise a state force to be received by the President into the service of the United States. Fortifications were ordered built to defend exposed towns. The Governor was directed to send a message to the Presi- dent, asking for advice on means of defence. The Governor assigned militia companies to patrol and guard duty, and artillery was placed at Tiverton, near Stone Bridge; at Little

*Perry had gone to Lake Erie.

452

RHODE ISLAND-THREE CENTURIES OF DEMOCRACY

Compton ; at Barber's Heights in North Kingstown; at Warren and East Greenwich. Gen- eral Swift, United States Army engineer, visited Rhode Island and inspected the defences in September. Providence was fortified, by repair of the Revolutionary forts at Robin Hill and Field's Point, construction of Fort William Henry at Field's Point, and small forts guarding the roads from Pawtuxet, Cranston, and Hartford. On the east shore, in Massachusetts ter- ritory, earthworks were constructed on Fort Hill and at Kettle Point. A guard ship was stationed in the river between Field's Point and Kettle Point, and a river watch was main- tained. Farther down the river, near Pawtuxet, hulks were prepared for sinking to block the channel against an approaching fleet. Zechariah Allen kept a record of the labor, aggregating 3100 days, performed in the construction of the defences of Providence by the United Train of Artillery, Greene Association, Marine Artillery, Volunteer Company, Cadets, students of Brown University, "gentlemen of the bar," Freemasons, "free people of color," by other vol- unteers and inhabitants of Providence not otherwise classified, and inhabitants of Glocester, Scituate, Smithfield, Johnston, Burrillville, Foster, Cumberland and North Providence, of Rhode Island towns, and inhabitants of Seekonk, Massachusetts. The alarm and watching continued until news of the signing of a treaty of peace was received on February 12, 1815.

The General Assembly continued to direct measures for defence. The Governor reported additional muskets received from the federal government, and in September the Assembly authorized the raising of a state loan of $100,000 to defray the rapidly growing expenditures. At the same session a draft of militia was ordered to fill the ranks of the state corps in active service, and the Governor was authorized to march the militia out of the state should occa- sion arise. Letters were sent to other states, offering cooperation and assistance in joint mili- tary operations, and asking similar cooperation and assistance should need arise in Rhode Island. The Governor was also authorized to accept the services of volunteer companies of artillery, to erect fortifications, and to engage an official secretary to assist him. Governor Jones was less optimistic in October, 1814, than he had been earlier in the year. The loan project had not been completely successful, in spite of the attractive offer of interest, and men had not flocked to the colors to enlist for active service. The state administration had begun to experience, on the part of the inhabitants of the state, some of the coldness and indifference that it had displayed in relations with the federal administration. The people of Rhode Island, apparently, had learned that it was "Mr. Madison's War."

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION-The General Assembly accepted an invitation to send delegates to a convention called to meet at Hartford on December 15, 1814. The committee to which the invitation was referred for consideration before action roundly abused the fed- eral government for "oppression," the report asserting : "We are not alone in these calamities. Our sister states of the south have been almost equally oppressed and abused. They are beginning to assert their rights, and with us they will never suffer our common rights under the Constitution to be prostrated by a government we have ourselves created." Resolutions accepting the invitation were milder in tone and corresponded harmoniously with the call to consider the propriety of adopting "some mode of defence suited to the circumstances and exigencies of these states," and to consult upon proposed amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Rhode Island resolutions follow : "Whereas, this General Assembly, having long witnessed with regret and anxiety the defenceless situation of the state, did at the last session request his excellency the Governor to communicate with the executives of our neighboring sister states upon the subject of common defence by our mutual cooperation ; and, whereas, these states feeling equally with us the common misfortunes and the necessity of united exertion, have appointed and invited us to appoint delegates to meet and confer upon our calamitous situation, and to devise and recommend wise and prudent means for our

453

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND

common relief, resolved," etc. The Assembly was far from unanimous; the vote was thirty- nine to twenty-three, and the minority protest was excluded from the minutes because of "its indecorous language and foul aspersions on the motives of the majority." Daniel Lyman, Samuel Ward, Benjamin Hazard and Edward Manton were chosen as delegates.

To the Hartford convention of 1814 Connecticut and Massachusetts sent delegations authorized by the state legislatures. The Vermont and New Hampshire delegates were chosen by counties, and thus did not represent their state governments. The convention consisted of twenty-six able and distinguished men; the Rhode Island delegation was thus qualified: Daniel Lyman, Revolutionary veteran, who had risen to the rank of major, as a lawyer achieved reputation, and in 1814 was Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. Samuel Ward, son of Governor Ward, one of Christopher Greene's companions on the Quebec expedition, and later colonel in the Continental army, had been appointed delegate to the Annapolis conven- tion of 1786. Benjamin Hazard, lawyer, had been a member of the General Assembly for many years. Edward Manton, though less conspicuous, was highly esteemed in Rhode Island. Twenty-three of twenty-six delegates were lawyers or judges. The convention was in secret session for three weeks, while a regiment of federal troops lay encamped at Hart- ford on "recruiting service." If radical Federalists expected a project for disunion from the convention they were disappointed at the outset by the choice of a conservative presiding officer ; as it was, the report of the convention was an able discussion of relations between the states and the federal government, and included seven suggested amendments to the Consti- tution of the United States. The convention, however, incurred the odium of being traitor- ous, was unwise in imposing secrecy, and destroyed the political prospects not only of its members, but of the Federalist party as well. Connecticut and Massachusetts legislatures on receiving the convention report appointed representatives to lay the measures proposed before Congress. Governor Jones presented the report to the General Assembly in Rhode Island, but peace had been proclaimed and no action was taken. Besides peace, the nation was rejoicing, in spite of the reverses and disappointments that unpreparedness had entailed, in Perry's victory on Lake Erie, McDonough's achievement on Lake Champlain, the exploits of the navy, and Jackson's battle at New Orleans. One of these belongs to Rhode Island history.

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY'S EXPEDITION TO LAKE ERIE-The Rhode Island General Assem- bly, in 1813, complained that men enlisted for the gunboat flotilla at Newport for defence of Narragansett Bay had been withdrawn by the federal government for service elsewhere. One hundred fifty had left Newport, led by the late commander of the flotilla, Oliver Hazard Perry ; they were, for the most part, native sons of Rhode Island, like him, including sailors and shipwrights, men and boys. Son of Captain Christopher Raymond Perry, of Rhode Island, and Sarah Alexander, whom his father met and wooed while he was a naval prisoner of war at Newry, County Down, Ireland, Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kings- town, August 23, 1785. When fifteen years of age he was a midshipman on his father's vessel, and subsequently participated in the Mediterranean service against the pirates with Decatur, Bainbridge, Somers and Preble. In 1809 Perry commanded the "Revenge," schooner, fourteen guns; and in 1812, at the outbreaking of the war he was assigned to command the gunboat flotilla at Newport. There on December 6, 1812, he saw the "Macedonian," British man-of-war, brought into port captive after a furious naval battle in which Decatur was the victor. Perry chafed at his own inactivity, and rejoiced when, in February, 1813, following his own request for appointment elsewhere, he was ordered to proceed from Newport to Lake Erie.

With him as volunteers went 149 officers, sailors and boys. One-third, under sailing- master Almy, departed on the day that orders were received; Perry never delayed. As many

454

RHODE ISLAND-THREE CENTURIES OF DEMOCRACY

more, under sailing-master Champlin, left two days later, on February 19; the remainder, under sailing-master Taylor, went forward on February 21. Perry himself, with a younger brother, left Newport on February 22, after transferring his command and giving proper attention to other details of service. What would be, in modern times a journey of somewhat less than two days in comfortable railway coaches, was then a long trek overland; there were no railways, and no smooth roads and automobiles in 1813. Perry and his comrades had started across country on a great adventure; they had been ordered to build a fleet in the wilderness, and with it wrest control of the lakes from the British fleet commanded by Com- modore Barclay, a veteran British naval officer who had served with Nelson. Meeting Com- modore Chauncey, commanding a squadron on Lake Ontario, at Albany, Perry continued on, in part through the wilderness, to Sackett's Harbor, which he reached on March 3. There the entire Rhode Island party was detained for two weeks by Commodore Chauncey, who feared a British attack upon his squadron. When, eventually, Perry was permitted to pro- ceed, one-third of his original forces remained with Commodore Chauncey as reinforcements. Eight days later Perry was at Buffalo. On March 25, he inspected the navy yard at Black Rock, and the next day set out in a sleigh over the frozen lake for the harbor of Erie.

"There," wrote Bancroft, "he found that the keels of two brigs had been laid, and three gunboats nearly finished by New York mechanics, under the direction of Noah Brown as master-shipwright; but no precautions for defence had been taken; not a musket was employed to guard against a sudden attack of the enemy; nor had the ice been used for the transportation of cannon from Buffalo." The young commander acted at once. Before night he organized a guard out of the villagers of Erie, ordered sailing-master Dobbins to repair to Buffalo, to bring up forty seamen, muskets, powder, and, if possible, cannon; and wrote to the navy agent at Pittsburgh to hasten the movements of a party of shipwrights, on their way from Philadelphia. He found time to make a hurried journey to Pittsburgh to assure prompt forwarding of men and supplies. No inconsiderable part of Perry's task lay in organizing transportation of men, munitions and supplies, and every available resource was utilized.

The route from Dayton, in Ohio, to the lake was so difficult that the line of road through the forest and prairies could be traced by the wrecks of wagons, clinging with tenacity to the rich, miry soil; while the difficulties of transportation by land, along the lake shore, were insurmountable. Yet, to create a superior naval force on Lake Erie, it was necessary to bring sails, cordage, cannon, powder, military stores, from a distance of 500 miles, through a region of which a considerable part was uninhabited. There were shipwrights and seamen from Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, as well as New York and Ohio; stores of powder were transported from Delaware. Perry was the central point of confidence, for he turned everything to account. The white and black oak, and the chestnut of the neighborhood, often cut down on the day on which they were used, furnished the frames of the vessels; the outside planks were of oak alone, the decks of pine. To eke out the iron, every scrap was gathered from the village smithies and welded together.

Yet with all the difficulty of his position, Perry found time to join Chauncey, as a vol- unteer, in an attack on Fort George, at the outlet of the Niagara River. "As soon as night closed in" on May 23, "he threw himself into a four-oared open boat; rowing relentlessly through darkness, and against squalls and head winds, he reached Buffalo the next day, and on the evening of May 25 joined Chauncey. He was present at every point where he could be useful, under showers of musketry." The victory at Fort George opened the river and lake for traffic, and it was possible to move vessels and naval stores from Black Rock. The ships included the "Caledonia," captured from the British a year before, and three small schooners and a sloop, trading vessels converted into gunboats. By July 10, Perry's fleet was completely built ; only men were wanted, and these came slowly, while Perry fretted at enforced inactiv-

DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP

PERRY'S FLAG AT LAKE ERIE

455

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND

ity. Still he was drilling the men he had and fashioning them into a formidable fighting machine.

Perry succeeded, early in August, in moving his largest vessels, the brigs "Lawrence" and "Niagara," over the sandbar that closed the harbor of Erie to vessels except those of light draft, and drove the British fleet in retreat to Malden, where it awaited completion of a new ship called the "Detroit," which would overcome the erstwhile superiority of the Amer- icans. The rival squadrons met in battle on September 10. The British were stronger in ships ; in guns, 63 to 54; in long guns for action at a distance, 35 to 15; in effective fighting men, 450 to 350. The Americans could throw heavier broadsides at close range. Of the British, 150 were from the royal navy, 80 were Canadian sailors, 210 were soldiers. One- quarter of the Americans were from Rhode Island, daring fellows like Perry ; five of Perry's vessels had Rhode Island commanders, and 51 of 54 guns were captained by Rhode Islanders. One-fourth of Perry's force were sailors; one-fourth were volunteer landsmen from inland states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky; and one-fourth were negroes. Against odds of ships, guns and men Perry went into battle with confidence and determination, unfurling a blue flag on which in awkardly cut white letters were the last words of Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship!" Perry planned to fight at close quarters, thus to overcome with heavy broadsides from his short-range cannon the advantage which the British had in long-range guns.

The battle opened shortly before noon, and Perry, moving promptly to engage the enemy, received on the "Lawrence" the concentrated fire of three British ships. "On board the 'Lawrence' the shrieks of wounded and the crash of timbers shattered by cannon balls were still heard ; but its own fire grew fainter and fainter ; one gun after another was dismounted. Death had the mastery; the carnage was unparalleled in naval warfare; more than four- fifths of the effective officers and men on board were killed or disabled by wounds; the deck, in spite of the layer of sand, was slippery with blood, which ran down the sides of the ship; The wounded and the dead lay thickly strewn everywhere around. To fire the last gun Perry himself assisted. At last every gun in the ship's battery on the enemy's side was dismounted, every brace and bow-line was shot away; the vessel became unmanageable." Only twenty effective men remained on board, including Perry and his brother, a lad of thirteen years. Perry's fire had been effective, however, and the enemy had suffered severely.

Perry determined to transfer his flag to the "Niagara," which had been slow in moving to his support and was practically a fresh ship, still little harmed by the fire of the British. He changed from the garb of a common seaman, in which he had fought to escape identifica- tion by British marksmen posted in the rigging to pick off officers. With his brother and four seamen he rowed to the "Niagara," which had passed to windward of the "Lawrence," standing erect amid a rain of bullets from the British and cheers from the Americans, all of whom recognized the purpose of the manoeuvre. Taking command of the "Niagara," Perry at once closed with the enemy and in eight minutes raked the "Detroit," British flagship, which struck its colors. The American loss, principally on the "Lawrence," was 27 killed and 96 wounded. Before four o'clock Perry had written his famous message to General Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop." Perry returned to the "Lawrence" to receive the British surrender. The British power on the Lakes was broken, and the way was open for recuperation of losses earlier in the war.

PERRY'S VICTORY RECOGNIZED-Fifty years after the battle the city of Cleveland erected a marble monument to Oliver Hazard Perry. At the dedication Dr. Usher Parsons, who had been fleet surgeon in Perry's squadron, in the course of his address, said: "This statue is a

456

RHODE ISLAND-THREE CENTURIES OF DEMOCRACY

work of rare artistic skill. The marble, drawn from classic Italy, has a fine grain, and hue, and polish, and when struck, gives the true ring of pure and durable material. Its magnificent pedestal is taken from the bank of the Pawcatuck in Rhode Island, thus associating the grate- ful and pleasing ideas of a noble marble statue, erected by citizens of Ohio, to perpetuate the name and fame of Perry, on a Rhode Island basis, ideas that in all future time will stir and warm the hearts of the sons and daughters of that state who in their westward pilgrimages will stop to survey and admire this beautiful specimen of native art." The original sculptor's model for the Cleveland monument, by William Walcutt, was used again in 1927-1928 for an enduring monument in bronze, which has been placed at the southern approach to the State House in Providence. The dedication of the Cleveland monument was a notable event. Bancroft, the historian, delivered the oration. Governor William Sprague, of Rhode Island and his staff, other state officers and members of the General Assembly, the First Light Infan- try and Marine Corps of Artillery attended. Besides Dr. Usher Parsons, Thomas Brownell, sailing-master of the "Ariel," was with the Rhode Island party.

The one hundredth anniversary of the battle was celebrated by the dedication of a Perry memorial at Put-in Bay. The memorial there consists of a plaza rising gradually to the level of 12 feet, 758 feet long and 461 feet wide, surrounding a Doric column 335 feet high. The column is 45 feet in diameter at the base and 35 feet at the top, and is, with the exception of the granite obelisk at Washington, the highest monument in the world. The memorial was an enterprise of the states bordering on the lakes, besides Kentucky and Rhode Island. At the same time the hulk of the "Niagara" was raised from the waters of the lake, after lying there for eighty years, rebuilt, reequipped and rigged, and sailed from Detroit to Buffalo. Lieutenant Governor Roswell B. Burchard of Rhode Island delivered the oration at the launching of the "Niagara." Again Rhode Island sent to the celebration the Governor and his staff, members of the General Assembly, and military companies.

Other memorials to Perry include a statue at Newport and a painting by Gary Melcher in the state reception room in the State House at Providence. The Newport statue was erected as a joint memorial by the state of Rhode Island, the city of Newport, and patriotic citizens of Newport, who contributed generously to a fund. It was dedicated September 10, 1885. The blue cotton jacket worn by Perry during the battle is in the cabinet of the Rhode Island Historical Society at Providence, with a sword presented to Perry by the common council of Albany. Perry's blue flag is preserved in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. An oil painting of Perry, in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Soci- ety, is framed in wood from the "Lawrence." Perry died in May, 1819, a victim of yellow fever ; he has been buried, since 1826, in Newport.

Tributes to Oliver Hazard Perry by historians and other writers indicate the significance attached to his victory at Lake Erie. Of these only a few are gathered here. "The personal conduct of Perry throughout the tenth of September was perfect," wrote Bancroft.

His keenly sensitive nature never interfered with his sweetness of manner, his fortitude, the soundness of his judgment, the promptitude of his decision. In a state of impassioned activity, his plans were wisely executed with entire coolness and self-possession. The mastery of the lakes, the recovery of Detroit and the Far West, the capture of the British army in the peninsula of Upper Canada, were the immediate fruits of his success. The imagination of the American people was taken captive by the singular incidents of a battle in which everything seemed to have flowed from the personal prowess of one man; and wherever he came the multitude went out to bid him welcome. Washington Irving, the chosen organ as it were of the country, pre- dicted his ever increasing fame. Rhode Island cherishes his glory as her own; Erie keeps the tradition that its harbor was his shipyard, its forests the storehouse for the frames of his chief vessels, its houses the hospit- able shelter of the wounded among his crews; Cleveland graces her public square with a statue of the hero, wrought of purest marble, and looking out upon the scene of his glory; the tale follows the emigrant all the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I, Part 77

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716