USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19
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The first jail stood near the northeast corner of Court-House Square, about on the site of the present Strong block. On the 29th day of October, 1798, the Legislature passed an act the preamble of which recited that " Whereas, many persons from the county of Chittenden, for the want of a gaol in said county, have been imprisoned in the gaol in Vergennes, and are there still de- tained, at a great distance from their families, friends and connections, notwith- standing a good and sufficient gaol is now erected at Burlington, in said county of Chittenden "; therefore, the said prisoners were ordered transferred from Vergennes to Burlington without delay. This humane provision attests that with all the tortures of the whipping-post, the early Vermonters were not want- ing in regard for the rights and feelings even of their prisoners at law. In those days imprisonment for debt was not uncommon. On the 5th of November, 1799, the "gaol" in Burlington was made also the " gaol " of the United States.
The land on which the jail is now situated was purchased by the county
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THE WAR OF 1812.
from Lyman King, in August, 1807, for $100, being the whole of city lot No. 353, and a part of lots 354, 367 and 368. The deed stated that it was to be " occupied as the site of a county gaol and such other buildings as said county shall direct." In the rear of this lot a stone jail was erected and a jail-house of wood occupied the site now taken up by its successor. At one o'clock on the morning of the 30th of January, 1851, Stetson's block, including the jail, was destroyed by fire, the loss to the county being about $10,000, with an in- surance of $6,000. The present jail buildings were at once built in the place of those that were burned.
CHAPTER VII.
THE WAR OF 1812.
Growth of the County - Relations Between the United States and Foreign Countries - Party Feeling - Beginning of Hostilities -- The British at Plattsburgh - American Forces on the Lake - Action at St. Armand - Governor Chittenden's Proclamation - MacDonough's Fleet - The Battle of Plattsburgh.
T OWARDS the end of the Revolution the current of immigration began to turn to the north, and they who had been forced to abandon their little clearings along Lake Champlain returned to find that nature had reasserted her dominion over this portion of the earth. Considering the comparative sparseness of population with which New England then extended her frontiers ; the slow and laborious methods of travel and transportation; the scarcity of money ; and all the perils from cold, from sickness and from famine, which waylay and beset the path of the pioneer, the rapidity with which the forests were felled, and cabins, school-houses and meeting-houses erected, presents a phase of human energy and perseverance gratifying to contemplate. In the year 1791, eight years after the Revolution, the population of the entire county numbered 3,875 souls. Charlotte was the most populous town, lead- ing off with 635 inhabitants, while Williston followed with 471, Hinesburg with 454, Shelburne with 389, Jericho with 381, Essex with 354, and Burlington stood seventh in order with a population of 332. According to the census of 1810, the relation was wholly different. Burlington was the largest town, hav- ing 1,690 inhabitants; Charlotte was second, having 1,679; Milton third, with 1,548; Hinesburg fourth, with 1,238 ; Jericho and Williston were abreast, with 1, 185, and Westford next, with 1, 107. The inhabitants of the county num- bered 14,449.
In the event of another war it is plain that an invavsion by the enemy from the north would be attended with greater difficulties from a more effect- ual resistance, and at the same time would be productive of greater distress to
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
the settlers. Such proved to be the case. Great Britain had not ceased to insult and injure the United States with every aggravation since she had ac- knowledged herself conquered in 1783. Causes of complaint increased to such a degree that as early as 1807 commercial intercourse with that country was interdicted by act of Congress. On the 3d of April, 1812, Congress laid an embargo for ninety days on all shipping within the jurisdiction of the United States, and on the following 18th of June the same body declared war with Great Britain. It may not be supposed that the people of this country were at one in regard to the necessity and prudence of this act. The friendly aid which France had rendered the United States, in the first war with Great Brit- ain, had engendered an almost universal feeling of affection towards her in the hearts of the American people. Eager for the more general diffusion of the blessings of liberty, they had watched the progress of the French Revolution with the deepest interest, and for a time believed that the result of that terrible struggle would be the establishment of a more nearly perfect republic than the United States. But when France engrafted upon her new government the chimerical schemes of her infidel philosophy, and abolished the time-honored restraints of law and religion, many of the people in this country who had been warmest in their praises of her desire for liberty recoiled with disgust at her establishment of unbounded licentiousness. Thus, between those who con- tinued their friendship for France and those who were alienated, arose a divis- ion, not in sentiment alone, but in opinions respecting the administration of public affairs ; the former favored a form of government even more democratic ithan that of the United States, while the latter believed the necessity of strength- ening the hands of government by a centralization of its power. The former were the Republicans of that period, and the latter the Federalists. Having discarded the French Republic as a model government, the Federalists exam- ined and commended the plastic stability of England, and bitterly opposed the passage of the act declaring war with that country. The administration in power being Republican, made the repeal of the British orders in council, the discontinuance of the plundering of American commerce, and of the impress- ment of American seamen by the British the sine qua non of peace.
Party feeling ran high throughout the country, and from this virulence Ver- mont and Chittenden county were not exempt. Political opponents hotly stigmatized each other as Tories, traitors and enemies to their country. The intercourse and harmony of neighbors and families were interrupted, and for a time the country seemed in danger of being embroiled in a civil war. The Republican, afterwards the Democratic party, in Chittenden county, were led by such men as Cornelius P. Van Ness, Nathan B. Haswell, Jabez Penniman, Heman Lowry and others, arrayed against Daniel Farrand, George Robinson, David Russell, Martin Chittenden, and their associates, leaders of the Fed- eralists.
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At Williston the Federalists called a convention at which Daniel Farrand presided as chairman. The administration was denounced in the most bitter invective. A series of resolutions was passed and an address to the people adopted, in which, among other things, it was declared that "the war was not waged to obtain justice from Great Britain, but to aid the cause of the most infamous of tyrants,1 that of all the calamities which God in his wrath ever suffered to fall on the head of guilty man, war stands pre-eminent; that the government which shall plunge into its horrid vortex, until compelled by abso- lute necessity, stands guilty in the sight of Heaven and is responsible for every life that is lost ; that the time has at length come when silence becomes crimi- nal ; . that the military power is vested in the vilest hands; and when the citizens are threatened with being tarred and feathered, the elective franchise comes as a rich gift from the beneficence of Heaven, to purchase our deliverance."
Hildreth says concerning this violent antagonism, as early as 1797 : "That vehement and virulent party spirit, and close drawing of party lines, which had of late displayed itself in Congress, rapidly spreading throughout the whole coun- try, had made itself conspicuously felt in the elections which succeeded the ad- journment of the called session. The opposition had greater hopes of Ver- mont than of any other New England State. Chittenden, so long the gover- nor, had leaned to their side. But on his declining a re-election, the Federal- ists succeeded, by a very close vote, in choosing Isaac Tichenor. The opposi- tion, however, obtained a majority in the Lower House of the Legislature, and it was only by one vote that Nathaniel Chittenden, the Federal candidate, was chosen to supply Tichenor's place in the United States Senate." This bitter- ness of feeling continued without abatement until some time after the declara- tion of war, when the common sentiment of hostility to an invading enemy absorbed all intestine strife.
During the summer of 1812 preparations were made on Lake Champlain to oppose the naval force that might be sent by the British from Isle aux Noix. Nothing of interest occurred, however, until the 3d of June, 1813. Some British gun-boats having made their appearance within the American lines, the sloops Growler and Eagle sailed from Plattsburgh on the 2d, under the com- mand of Lieutenant Sidney Smith, with the intention of attacking them. At dark they arrived within a mile of the boundary line, and at dawn on the fol- lowing day gave chase to three British gun-boats which they discovered. They were unhappily driven by a south wind so far in the channel that they found it difficult to return. The Eagle not being sufficiently strong for her weight, sank in shoal water ; but her crew were saved. Until the Eagle went down the Growler had kept up a desperate fight for four hours, but at last yielded to the British. The shores were lined with British soldiers, who, from
1 Napoleon.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
the narrowness of the channel, were enabled to do considerable execution. On the 30th of July the British, in two large sloops of war, three gun-boats, and about forty bateaux, laden with troops, sailors and marines, numbering about 1,400, crossed the line at Champlain, and on the day following landed at Plattsburgh, and immediately began the work of devastation. On their ap- proach, General Mooers issued an order calling out the militia; and when the enemy arrived, about 300 from Plattsburgh and the neighboring towns had col- ected. This force being deemed incompetent to oppose the British, retired a few miles into the interior, where it was afterwards joined by the residue of the regiment to which it belonged and a regiment from Essex county, N. Y., but at a period too late to prevent the depredations of the enemy. Although the officer who had command of the expedition assured the civil authority of Plattsburgh that private property should be respected, and that citizens without arms should not be molested, yet these promises were no sooner made than violated. The enemy were not satisfied with destroying the public buildings such as the block-house, arsenal, armory, hospital, and military cantonment, nor did they limit their destruction of private prop- erty to such as they could eat, drink or carry away; but wantonly destroyed everything destructible that fell in their way. The barracks which they de- stroyed had been built by the soldiers and were computed to be worth $25,- 000. After perpetrating the foregoing and many other outrages they em- barked on the 1st of August, retreating with such precipitation that they left their picket guards behind them, twenty-one of whom were made prisoners. After their retreat they came to Burlington and fired a few shots, but retired as soon as the cannon from our batteries began to play on them.
On the 20th of August the American naval force on Lake Champlain con- sisted of the President, carrying twelve guns ; the Commodore Preble, with eleven : Montgomery, eleven ; Frances, six ; two gun-boats, of one eighteen pounder each ; and six scows of one twelve pounder each ; making in all forty- eight guns. With this force Commodore MacDonough sailed from Burlington to the line in September, and offered battle to the British; but they declined and retired into Canada. His report to the secretary of the navy was as follows :
" UNITED STATES STOOP President. NFAR PLATTSBURGH, Sept. 9, IS13.
" SIR :- I have the honor to inform you, that I arrived here yesterday from near the lines, having sailed from Burlington on the 6th instant, with an intention to fall in with the enemy, who were then near this place. Having proceeded to within a short distance of the lines, I received information that the enemy were at anchor : soon after they weighed and stood to the northward out of the lake. Thus if not acknowledging onr ascendeney on the lake, evincing an unwillingness (although they had the advantage of situation, owing to the narrow ness of the channel in which their galleys could work, when we should want room) to determine it. I have the honor to be, S.c.,
" Hon. W. Jones, See. of the Nagy.
THOMAS MCDONOUGH."
The northern army was concentrated at Burlington under command of General Hampton, and consisted of about four thousand men. At one time even the university buildings were converted into barricks for the accommoda-
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tion of the troops. Early in September this army embarked at Burlington, and landed at Cumberland Head, near Plattsburgh. On the 9th they proceeded to Chazy and attacked the enemy's advanced post at Odletown. Seeing that it was impracticable to invade Canada by that route Hampton returned to Champlain and took the route to Chateaugay, where he arrived on the 25th. In the mean time Colonel Clark was detached and ordered to attack a small British force at St. Armand, on Missisco Bay. He found them drawn up under Major Powell, wholly unsuspicious of an attack by land ; and after a lively action of ten minutes they surrendered themselves prisoners of war. The force of the Americans in this engagement numered 102, while the number of prisoners taken and sent to Burlington was 101. Nine of the enemy were slain and fourteen wounded. Another engagement took place at Chateaugay on the 26th of October, between the army under Hampton and a force of the British, but as Hampton was unsuccessful and the season far advanced, he soon returned into winter quarters at Plattsburgh.
Governor Martin Chittenden was opposed to the war, and took grounds against the power of the national government for drafting and calling out the militia of the State, supporting his position by the argument that the militia were for the protection and defense of the State alone. A brigade of Vermont militia, which had been drafted into the service of the United States, and marched to Plattsburgh, were, on the Ioth of November, discharged by the following proclamation of Governor Chittenden:
By His Excellency MARTIN CHITTENDEN, EsQ., Governor, Captain-General, and Commander-in- Chief, in and over the State of Vermont:
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, it appears that the Third Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of this State has been ordered from our frontiers to the defense of a neighboring State :- And whereas it further ap- pears, to the extreme regret of the Captain-General, that a part of the Militia of the said Brigade have been placed under the command and at the disposal of an officer of the United States, out of the juris- diction and control of the Executive of this State, and have been actually marched to the defense of a sister State, fully competent to all the purposes of self-defense, whereby an extensive section of our own Frontier is left, in a measure, unprotected, and the peaceable good citizens thereof are put in great jeopardy, and exposed to the retaliatory incursions and ravages of an exasperated enemy : And, whereas, disturbances of a very serious nature are believed to exist, in consequence of a portion of the Militia having thus been ordered out of the State :
Therefore-to the end that these great evils may be provided against, and, as far as may be, pre- vented for the future :
Be it known-that such portion of the Militia of said Third Division, as may now be doing duty in the State of New York, or elsewhere, beyond the limits of this State, hoth Officers and men are hereby ordered and directed by the Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia of the State of Vermont, forthwith to return to the respective places of their usual residence, within the territorial limits of said Brigade, and there to hold themselves in constant readiness to act in obedience to the order of Brigadier-General Jacob Davis, who was 'appointed by the Legislature of this State to the command of said Brigade.
And the said Brigadier-General Davis is hereby ordered and directed, forthwith, to see that the Militia of his said Brigade be completely armed and equipped, as the Law directs, and holden in con- stant readiness to march on the shortest notice to the defense of the Frontiers ; and, in case of actual invasion, without further Orders, to march with his said Brigade, to act, either in co-operation with the
.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
troops of the U. States, or separately, as circumstances may require in repelling the enemy from our territory, and in protecting the good citizens of this State from the ravages of hostile incursions.
And in case of an event, so serionsly to be deprecated, it is hoped and expected, that every citizen, without distinction of party, will fly at once to the nearest post of danger, and that the only rallying word will be-" OUR COUNTRY."
Feeling, as the Captain-General does, the weight of responsibility, which rests upon him with re- gard to the Constitutional duties of the Militia, and the sacred rights of our citizens to protection from this great class of community, so essentially necessary to all free countries ; at a moment, too, when they are so imminently exposed to the dangers of hostile incursions, and domestic difficulties, he can- not conscientiously discharge the trust reposed in him by the voice of his fellow-citizens, and by the Constitution of this and the U. States, without an unequivocal declaration, that, in his opinion, the Military strength and resources of this State, must be reserved for its own defense and protection, exclu- sively-excepting in cases provided for, by the Constitution of the U. States; and then, under orders derived only from the Commander-in-Chief.
Given under my hand at Montepelier this 10th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and thirteen; and of the United States the thirty-eighth.
By his Excellency's Command, SAMUEL SWIFT, Secretary.
MARTIN CHITTENDEN.
This proclamation met with the most obstinate resistance from the officers of the brigade, who refused to obey it, although they returned before their term of service expired, and no further notice was taken of the transaction. The following is the protest of the officers :
CANTONMENT, PLATTSBURGH, NOV. 15, 1813.
To His Excellency, MARTIN CHITTENDEN, ESQ., Governor, Captain-General, Commander-in-Chief, in and over the State of Vermont.
SIR :- A most novel and extraordinary Proclamation from your Excellency, "ordering and directing. such portion of the Militia of the Third Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Vermont, now doing dnty in the State of New York, both officers and men, forthwith to return to their respective places of their residence," has just been communicated to the undersigned officers of said Brigade. A meas- ure so nnexampled requires that we should state to your Excellency the reason which induce us and absolutely and positively to refuse obedience to the order contained in your Excellency's Proclamation. With dne deference to your Excellency's opinion, we humbly conceive, that when we are ordered into the service of the United States, it becomes onr duty, when required, to march to the defence of any section of the Union. We are not of that class who believe that our duties as citizens or soldiers, are circumscribed within the narrow limits of the Town or State in which we reside ; but that we are under a paramount obligation to our common country, to the great confederation of States. We further con- ceive that, while we are in actnal service, and during the period for which we were ordered into ser- vice, your Excellency's power over us as Governor of the State of Vermont, is suspended.
If it is true, as your Excellency states, that we " are out of the jurisdiction or control of the Execu- tive of Vermont," we would ask from whence yonr Excellency derives the right or presumes to exercise the power of ordering us to return from the service in which we are now engaged ? If we were legally ordered into the service of the United States, your Excellency must be sensible that yon have no author- ity to order us out of that service. If we were illegally ordered into the service, our continnance in it is either voluntary or compulsory. If voluntary, it gives no one a right to remonstrate or complain ; if compulsory we can appeal to the laws of our country to redress against those who illegally restrain us of our liberty. In either case we cannot conceive the right your Excellency has to interfere in the business. Viewing the subject in this light, we conceive it our duty to declare unequivocally to your Excellency, that we shall not obey your Excellency's order for returning, but shall continue in the service of our country until we are legally and honorably discharged. An invitation or order to desert the standard of our country will never be obeyed by us, although it proceeds from the Governor and Captain-Gen- eral of Vermont.
Perhaps it is proper that we should content ourselves with merely giving your Excellency the reasons which prevail upon us to disregard your proclamation ; but we are impressed with the belief that our duty to ourselves, to the soldiers under our command and to the public, require that we should ex-
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pose to the world, the motives which produced, and the objects which were intended to be accomplished by such extraordinary proclamation. We shall take the liberty to state to your Excellency, plainly, our sentiments on the subject. We consider your proclamation as a gross insult to the officers and soldiers in service, inasmuch as it implies that they are so ignorant of their rights as to believe that you have authority to command them in their present situation, or so abandoned as to follow your insidious ad- vice. We cannot regard your proclamation in any other light, than as an unwarrantable stretch of executive authority, issued from the worst motives, to effect the basest purposes. Is is, in our opinion, a renewed instance of that spirit of disorganization and anarchy which is carried on by a faction to over- whelm our country with ruin and disgrace. We cannot perceive what other object your Excellency could have in view than to embarrass the operations of the army, to excite mutiny and sedition among the soldiers and induce them to desert, that they might forfeit the wages to which they are entitled for their patriotic services.
We have, however, the satisfaction to inform your Excellency, that although your proclamations have been distributed among the soldiers by your agent delegated for that purpose, they have failed to pro- duce the intended effect-and although it may appear incredible to your Excellency, even soldiers have discernment sufficient to perceive that the proclamation of a Governor, when offered out of the line of his duty, is a harmless, inoffensive, and nugatory document. They regard it with mingled emotions of pity and contempt for its author, and as a striking monument of his folly.
Before we conclude, we feel ourselves in justice to your Excellency, bound to declare that a knowledge of your Excellency's character induces us to believe, that the folly and infamy of the proclamation to which your Excellency has put your signature is not wholly to be ascribed to your Excellency, but chiefly to the evil advisers, with whom we believe your Excellency is encompassed.
We are, with due respect, your Excellency's obedient servants,
LUTHER DIXON, Lieutenant-Colonel, ELIJAH DEE, Junior Major, JOSIAH GROUT, Major,
CHARLES BENNET, Captain,
ELIJAH W. WOOD, Captain, ELIJAH BIRGE, Captain, MARTIN D. FOLLET, Captain,
AMASA MANSFIELD, Captain,
T. H. CAMPBELL, Lieutenant,
DANIEL DODGE, Ensign,
SANFORD GADCOMB, Captain,
JAMES FULLINGTON, Qr. Master,
SHEPARD BEAL, Lieutenant,
JOHN FASSETT, Surgeon, SETH CLARK, JR., Surgeon's Mate, THOMAS WATERMAN, Captain, BENJAMIN FOLLETT, Lieutenant, HIRA HILL, Surgeon's Mate.
On the 4th of December the enemy made his appearance on the lake with six heavy galleys, manned seemingly with more than 400 men, and followed close after our look-out boat, which was bringing the intelligence. They set fire to a small shed which had been in public use, the smoke of which gave the first intimation of their approach. It being calm, four of our galleys, under Lieutenant Cassin, weighed and were ordered in pursuit of them. The direc- tion was to bring them to action, if possible, and hold them until the sloops should come up. The chase continued for three hours without effect. It is presumed that they thought the Americans had gone into winter quarters, and that Plattsburgh was the object of their visit.
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