USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 1 > Part 51
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"The King's proclamation was posted on the pillar of the hay scales which then stood near the northeast corner of the Market house, " the building now occupied by the Board of Trade. "It had not been there more than fifteen or twenty minutes when Mr. Joseph Aplin, a dis- tinguished lawyer, came up to see what had collected the crowd. Lift- ing his cane he struck it down and it soon mingled with the filth of the street."
This proclamation of the king was soon followed by the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the affair, consisting of Joseph Wanton, governor of Rhode Island, Daniel Horsemanden, chief justice of New York, Frederick Smythe, chief justice of New Jersey, Peter Oliver, chief justice of Massachusetts, and Robert Auchmurty, judge of the vice-admiralty court at Boston. This commission entered upon a strict inquiry concerning the whole affair. The commission and in- structions were issued in September, 1772; in June, 1773, this august body made its report, in which it was stated that they were unable to discover any of the persons connected with the burning of the Gaspee.
And yet the details of the affair were generally discussed among the people and even incriminating correspondence passed between resi- dents of the town and those of neighboring Colonies, for within two weeks from the day of this startling occurrence Solomon Drowne, jr., of Providence, wrote to his brother at Mendon, Mass., the following letter, which was doubtless sent by the public post :
"Providence, June ye 23rd 1772.
"Dear Brother :
"If I had no other motive to embrace this opportunity of writing to you, yet gratitude would oblige me. Doubtless you have 30-1
G
R
DIEUEI
MON DRUI
By the Honorable JOSEPH WANTON, Efquire, Governor.
(L. S.) Captain General, and Commander in Chief, of and over the English Colony of Rhode-Ifland, and Providence Plantations, in New-England, in America.
A PROCLAMATION.
HEREAS on Tuesday, the ninth Inftant in the Night, a Num- ber of People, unknown, boarded His Majefty's armed Schooner the Gafpee, as the lay aground on a Point of Land, called Nanquit, a little to the fouthward of Pawtuxet, in the Colony aforefaid, who dangeroufly wounded Lieutenant Willam Dud- ing/lon the Commander, and by Force took him with all his People, put them into Boats, and landed them 'near Pas- tuxet ; and afterwards fet Fire to the faid Schooner, whereby fhe was entirely de . ftroyed :
I HAVE, therefore, thought fit, by and with the Advice of fuch of His Ma- . jefty's Council, as could be feafonably convened, to iffue this Proclamation, ftrid- ly charging and commanding all His Majefty's Officers within the faid Colo- ny, both Civil and Military, to exert themfelves with the utinoft Vigilance, to dif- cover and apprehend the Perfons guilty of the aforefaid atrocious Crime, that they may be brought to condign Punifhment. And I do hereby offer a Reward of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS, Sterling Money of Great- Britain, to any Perfon or Perfons who fhall difcover the Perpetrators of the faid Villainy, to be paid immediately upon the Conviction of any one or more of them.
AND the feveral Sheriffs in the faid Colony are hereby required, forthwith, to caufe this Proclamation to be pofted up in the moft public Places, in each of the Towns in their refpective Counties.
GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Newport, this Twelfth Day of June, in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of His Moff Sacred Majefly, GEORGE THE THIRD, by the Grace of God, King of Great-Britain, and fo forth, Annoq; Dom. One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seventy-two.
J. WANTON.
By bis Honor's Command, HENRY WARD, Sec'ry,
GOD SAVE THE KING.
PROCLAMATION
ISSUED BY GOVERNOR WANTON FOR THE APPREHENSION OF THE "GASPEE" CON- SPIRATORS. REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE POSSESSION OF HOWARD W. PRESTON, ESQ., PROVIDENCE.
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
heard of the skirmish down the river, and of the burning of the armed Schooner, and badly wounding the captain; so I shall write no more concerning the affair (though I was on the wharf when the boats were manned and armed and knew the principal actors), lest it should be too much spread abroad; and perhaps you have seen the thundering proclamation in the newspaper, and the reward of £100 sterling offered to any person or persons who shall discover the perpetrators of the said villainy, as it is called.
"The clock strikes eleven. We take no notice of time but from its loss ..
"From your affectionate brother "and sincere friend "Solomon Drown junr."
It is sometimes stated in the accounts of the destruction of the Gaspee that a boat containing a number of men from Bristol, under the leadership of Capt. Simeon Potter, took part in this expedition. This is apparently based upon the testimony given by one Aaron Briggs, a negro, before the King's Commission, on January 14, 1773, who testified with great minuteness to the part he took in the attack, being led to do so "by reason of illegal threats from Capt. Linzee of hanging him (the said Aaron) at the yard arm, if he would not dis- cover who the persons were, that destroyed the Gaspee". His testi- mony, however, was so conflicting that the commissioners placed no confidence in it, and stated in their report to the king that "most of the circumstances and facts related in both of his examinations, are contradictions repugnant to each other, and many of them impossible in their nature". The testimony was also adduced that the negro Aaron was "a person much addicted to lying". No further evidence than that of the lying negro has been found to give any ground for this belief that a boat's crew from Bristol took part in this affair.
The names of only a few of these who took part in the night's work have been handed down. In the different accounts which have from time to time appeared the following names have been ascertained : Capt. Samuel Dunn, Capt. Benjamin Page, Capt. Turpin Smith, Capt. John B. Hopkins, Joseph Bucklin, Captain Shepard, John Brown, Abraham Whipple, Ephraim Bowen, John Mawney, Captain Harris, Joseph Jencks, Justin Jacobs, Simeon H. Olney, Joseph Tillinghast.1
"This list contains more names than have hitherto been brought together; and for this reason the source from whence each was obtained will be useful in establishing its authenticity.
On all of the lists which have been prepared there appears the name of Benjamin Dunn. This name is found in the account prepared by Col. Eph- raim Bowen, when he was in his eighty-sixth year. Bartlett, in his account of the affair, in R. I. Colonial Records, vol. vii, p. 72, gives a short biographical account of each of the persons named in Bowen's narrative, with the exception of Benjamin Dunn, which would lead to the conclusion that he could find no reference to such a person. Mawney, in his account, mentions a Capt. Samuel
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Bartlett, in his account of the Gaspec affair, prepared from the Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and printed in the Colonial Records, vol. 7, concludes his aeeount in these words, and no better eonelusion can be made.
"We elose this publication, with the remarks of Judge Staples, inas- much as they contain the legal opinion of an eminent jurist, who had carefully examined the testimony ; and who, as a diligent historian, is familiar with all the events connected with the Gaspee affair: In reviewing the report of the commissioners our surprise is not so much excited at the conclusion to which they came from the evidenee before them, as at the small amount of testimony they collected. It would be doing great injustiee to the memories and characters of Governor Wanton, Judges Horsmanden, Oliver and Auchmurty, to suppose that they suppressed any evidence, or did not exert themselves to the ut- most to proeure testimony. The course they afterwards took in the war of the revolution, when they joined the ministerial party in the country, is a sufficient guaranty that they were, by no means luke- warm in the service of His Majesty. They were surrounded, too, at the time of their sessions, by the officers of the erown, and individuals high in rank and standing, who were eager in the chase of those who insulted their sovereign, in the person of his representative, Lieut. Dudingston.
"Under these circumstances it is passing strange, that no persons could be found, who could indentify those engaged in the enterprise, or that the great reward offered on the oceasion should not have in- dueed some one to have turned informer. That the enterprise was suddenly conceived, there ean be no doubt; but every circumstance shows, that no great care was used to preserve secrecy. They were called together by the beating of a drum in the streets. The collecting of boats, the assembling at a public house, the embarking from a public wharf, all must have attracted the notice of the inhabitants. Among them were some little conscious of the crime they were com-
Dunn, with whom he was "very intimately acquainted", and a Capt. Samuel Dunn lived in Providence and died there in 1790; but the name of Benjamin Dunn does not appear upon the records of this period. It is quite reasonable to suppose that Colonel Bowen, in his old age, had forgotten the names of his companions in the affair, which occurred sixty odd years before, and thus perpetuated the name of a person who took no part in it. The names of Benjamin Page, Turpin Smith, John B. Hopkins, Abraham Whipple, Ephraim Bowen and John Brown, John Mawney and Joseph Bucklin are found in Bowen's narrative. Those of Simeon H. Olney, Joseph Tillinghast, Joseph Bucklin, John Brown, Abraham Whipple, and Samuel Dunn are found in Dr. Mawney's narrative. The name of Justin Jacobs appears in John Howland's account in Stone's life of Howland, while the names of Captain Shepard, Cap- tain Harris, and Joseph Johnson appear in a list found in the preface to Catherine Williams's life of Barton and Olney; where she obtained them is, of course, impossible now to determine, but she lived and wrote during the life-time of many of the men who were engaged in the war for Independence. Solomon Drown, jr., while not an active participant, certainly lent encourage- ment to it by his presence and sympathy.
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
mitting, and the penalty they were incurring. Mr. John Howland says, that on the morning after the affair Justin Jacobs, a young man, was parading himself on 'The Great Bridge', then the usual place of resort, with Lieutenant Dudingston's gold laced beaver on his head, detailing to a circle around him, the particulars of the transaction, and the manner in which he obtained the hat from the cabin of the Gaspee. It required sharp words to induce him to retire and hold his peace. There were others, probably equally indiscreet ; and yet not an individual could be found who knew anything about the affair."
For many years after the war four of the survivors of the Gaspee party occupied a prominent place in the parades; on the Fourth of July they rode in a coach, carrying a silk banner on which was in- scribed their names, Turpin Smith, Ephraim Bowen, Benjamin Page, and John Mawney. This old, faded and tattered banner is preserved in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society. This society has also obtained a silver goblet, which was taken from the Gaspee by Abraham Whipple on the morning of June 10, 1772, a gift from Mr. David Fisher, of Kalamazoo, Micli., a descendant of Com. Whip- ple; this interesting relic has "passed through the hands of three of his descendants" and has never been out of the family until now. This is the only relic of the affair of that June night that is known to exist. In 1840, during the Harrison and Tyler campaign, a log cabin was built on the lower part of the lot on College street where the court house now stands. In this cabin were displayed several canes made of timber that came from the schooner Gaspee, contributed by Ephraim Bowen. Perhaps some of these may yet be preserved.
Early in December, 1776, Job Watson, from his watch tower on Tower Hill, saw far out on the ocean the dread object for which he had been watching so long. The news that a squadron of vessels was headed toward Narragansett Bay was hurriedly sent through the Colony. The alarm companies assembled at their stations, and excitement ran high. On Saturday, the 7th day of December, "the British fleet of eleven vessels of war, convoying seventy transports, having on board six thousand troops", sailed into Narragansett Bay, up the west passage, around the north end of Conanicut Island, and anchored in Newport harbor.
As soon as the intelligence of the arrival of the British fleet, and their occupation of the island of Rhode Island, reached Governor Cooke at Providence, he dispatched a letter to General Washington, apprising him of the threatening situation in Narragansett Bay. It was dated at "Providence, December 8, 1776, Past 10 o'clock P. M.". It had been a day of trouble and anxiety to the people of Rhode Island. Messengers had brought to the governor the latest accounts of affairs on the island, and now, well into the night, he wrote :
"Sir :- It is with great concern, I give you the disagreeable intelli-
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
gence that the enemy with a fleet consisting of seventy-cight ships of war and transports, entered the harbor of Newport yesterday.
"We had about six hundred men upon Rhode Island, who were obliged to evacuate it, with the loss of about fifteen or twenty heavy cannon ; having taken off the ammunition and stores, and the greatest part of the stock. The enemy have full possession of the island.
"I am informed by General West and Licutenant Baron, of the Providence, that they landed this morning about eight o'clock, with eight thousand men, who marched in three divisions; one towards Newport, the second towards Howland's Ferry and the third to Bristol Ferry; where they arrived time enough to fire upon the boats that brought over our last men, but without doing damage.
"I have sent repeated expresses to the Massachusetts Bay and Con- necticut.
"The forces of the former are upon the march as I believe the latter, also.
"In great haste "I am your Excellency's most obedient "humble servant "Nicholas Cooke."
Sunday morning the troops, under the command of Sir Henry Clinton, disembarked, part of them landing at Long Wharf, in New- port, while the main body of the army landed in Greensdale, in Middletown, near the residence of the Hon. Nathanael Greene, a grandson of General Greene. The island of Rhode Island was now practically in the hands of the enemy. That Sunday night was devoted to excesses of the wildest kind, for the soldiers celebrated their first hours ashore in revelry and pillage. Many of the islanders hurriedly left their homes, taking only such personal effects as they could con- veniently get together, while those who remained were subjected to all manner of abuse and insults, and were compelled to take into their homes the officers of the king's regiments.
The arrival of the British fleet at Newport produced the most intense excitement in Providence. A town meeting was immediately convened "by warrant on Sabbath Day morning, December 8th, 1776", and the following preamble and resolution adopted, Stephen Hopkins being moderator :
"Whereas, a large body of the Enemy have arrived in the Narra- gansett Bay and it is probable soon intend to attack this Town, and in order that proper defence may be made it is Voted That the Hon. Stephen Hopkins, Esq., Col. Joseph Nightingale, Col. James Angell, and Mr. Sumner be and they are hereby appointed a Committee to Examine the most suitable places for Erecting and making proper Batteries and intrenchments for the defence of the Public against the Enemy". They were directed to notify the governor as soon as they
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THE WARS AND THE MILITIA.
had decided where such works should be built, that he might order the troops immediately to begin the work. It was further voted that every male inhabitant of sixteen years of age and upward assemble at the Court House Parade at three o'clock the same day, armed and equipped for active service.
And that Sabbath morning the inhabitants of Providence were aroused to the alarming situation of the Colony, by hearing the town crier with his bell, and the town sergeant with his drum, as they hurried through the streets of the town, hoarsely announcing that the enemy was within the borders of the State and their homes and lives were in danger.
The utmost activity was now necessary to guard against any surprise or attack on the town. The militia was constantly on duty, and steps were taken to put the town in the best possible position for defense. The State troops were posted at various points along the shores of Nar- ragansett Bay, and a constant watch was kept upon all move- ments of the enemy.
GEN. WILLIAM BARTON, The Captor of Gen. Prescott.
In the month of June, 1777, a regiment of Rhode Island troops, under the command of Colonel Stanton, was stationed in the town of Tiverton, almost opposite the northern end of the island of Rhode Island. With this regiment was Major Will- iam Barton, a young officer, be- longing in the town of Warren.
About a year previous to this, when the British ships, under the command of Wallace, had been annoying and pillaging the unprotected settlements along the Bayside, Barton was sta- tioned at Newport. Here he remained until the arrival of the
British army, when it became necessary for him to withdraw with his command and take up his station at Tiverton. Shortly after his arrival here he received his commission as major in Stanton's regi- ment. His stay at Newport had enabled him to thoroughly familiar- ize himself with the island and its surroundings, and the information thus obtained was destined to be of the greatest use to him, as subse- quent proceedings will show.
In December, 1776, Gen. Charles Lee, of the American army, who had been for a short time commander-in-chief of the Rhode Island
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
department, while passing from the Hudson to join Washington on the Delaware, had been surprised, near Baskinridge in New Jersey, by a British scouting party and captured, and at the time when Barton was stationed at Tiverton was still a captive in the hands of the enemy. Barton was an ardent admirer of General Lec, having doubtless come in contact with him while Lce was stationed in Rhode Island, and he entertained for him a very high opinion; he felt the disgrace keenly, that so eminent an officer should be forced to remain a prisoner on account of there being no one of so high a rank in the hands of the American forces for whom Lee could be exchanged.
It was not until nearly a century had expired that the true charac- ter of Lec became known. Barton shared the same opinion that was held by many at the time and regarded him with the highest admira- tion, and thus it came about that the act which brought Barton undy- ing fame was induced by a desire to rescue from captivity "the most
PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION OF THE TWO SIDES OF A MEDAL STRUCK UP IN COMMEMORATION OF THE BRITISH OCCUPANCY OF RHODE ISLAND.
These medals are of brass and are said to have been made in Holland. From the original in the collection of Mr. George T. Paine of Providence.
worthless character which the Revolution brought to notice." If, in assigning a place in history to those whose perfidy and baseness are their only claims to recognition, then in writing the name of Lee it must precede that of Arnold. The more Barton thought of this mat- ter the more feasible appeared a scheme which he had at different times considered, of surprising the British General Prescott, in com- mand of the English forces at Newport, and making a prisoner of him.
At this time Prescott frequently visited the house of a man named Overing, about five miles above Newport, on the west road leading to Bristol Ferry, and Barton's plan was to cross Narragansett Bay from the mainland, seize Prescott and carry him to the American camp.
Not long after Barton had formulated the plan a man named Coffin made his escape from the Island and was brought to Barton's head- quarters. From him Barton obtained many details regarding the location of the Overing house and the number of men whom Prescott
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THE WARS. AND THE MILITIA.
had with him for protection. The information thus obtained fully decided him to carry out the project. As secrecy was the greatest element of the success of such an undertaking, he kept the matter to himself for some days, but at last he went to Colonel Stanton and un- folded his plan to him. This officer was greatly impressed and assured him that it was worthy of being undertaken; he further agreed to furnish him such aid as he could give him.
Upon returning to his quarters he summoned a few of his confiden- tial friends among the officers and confided in them the existence of a plot involving a secret expedition, the details and object of which he declined to tell them. At this council were Colonel Stanton, Capt. Ebenezer Adams, Capt. Samuel Phillips, Lieut. James Potter, Lieut. Joshua Babcock, and John Wilcox. Barton asked if they had sufficient confidence in him to be willing to undertake this expedition without having anything further told them, and all assured him they had. This much, however, he did tell them, that it was necessary for the purpose of the mysterious affair that five whale boats be provided. In a few days these were obtained and the only thing now needed was men.
By the colonel's orders, the regiment was ordered paraded. Barton then addressed his soldiers, telling them he was about undertaking an expedition against the enemy and wished to have forty volunteers; he desired those who were willing to risk their lives with him to advance two paces. At this it is said the whole regiment advanced. To Barton this must have been a beautiful expression of their confidence in him, for none knew the nature of the work before them.1 With such a body of willing and fearless men it was a small task for Barton to select his company, and this he did, picking out those most proficient in the handling of boats.
The names of those who were selected and comprised the party were as follows : Capt. Ebenezer Adams, Lieut. Andrew Stanton, Lieut. John Wilcox, Lieut. Samuel Potter, Joshua Babcock, Samuel Phillips, Benjamin Prew, James Potter, Henry Fisher, James Parker, Joseph Guild, Nathan Smith, Isaac Brown, Clark Packard, Samuel Cory, James Weaver, Clark Crandall, Sampson George, Joseph Ralph, Jedediah Glenale, Richard Hare, Daniel Wale, Joseph Dennis, Bill- ington Crumb, James Haines, Samuel Apis, Alderman Crank, Oliver Simmons, Jack Sherman, Joel Briggs, William Bruff, Charles Hewitt,2 Pardon Cory, Thomas Wilcox, Jeremiah Thomas, John Hunt, Thomas Austin, Daniel Page, an Indian; Jack or Tack Sisson, negro; Howe or Whiting, boat steerer.
There seems to be some ground for the belief that Sergeant John
1 Life of Barton and Olney; Williams.
2For a more extended notice of this soldier, see Magazine of New England History, vol. i, p. 216.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Paul, of Col. Topham's regiment, was also a member of this party, and the evidence of this is found in a carefully prepared pamphlet by Edward J. Paul, printed in Milwaukee, 1887, and reprinted in the Magazine of New England History, vol. I, p. 98.
Everything being now in readiness, Col. Stanton handed to Barton the following order, the original of which is yet preserved among the manuscripts in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society :
"Headquarters Camp at Tiverton. "5th July 1777
"Lieut. Col. Barton,
"You will proceed to the Island of Newport and attack the Enemy when and where you think proper and make Report to me of your proceeding
"Jos : Stanton Jr. Colo."
that Quartos camped Viverton 5th July> Siunt Colo Burton.
you will parated to the full of
1
I attach the In iony when and where you think proper make Report to me of your profiling
VIST 2 .. . " 5. TY Jos: (Hanton ymColo ,
ORDER ISSUED TO WILLIAM BARTON BY COL. STANTON FOR THE EXPEDITION RESULTING IN THE CAPTURE OF PRESCOTT.
From the original in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society.
On the night of the 5th of July the party was assembled and em- barked from Tiverton and rowed out into Mount Hope Bay. Hardly had they entered this sheet of water before a violent thunder shower broke upon them. The wind blew with great violence and the boats became separated. It was not until late in the evening of the next day that the party again came together at Bristol, where they had agreed to meet if anything should occur to interfere with their plans. Here they decided to spend the night, but before retiring, Barton assembled his men in the boats and the party rowed down to Hog Island, a little island lying off Bristol Ferry and just beyond to the
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