USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 21
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
close, and succeeded in compelling the sloop Preble to cut her cables and to anchor in shore of the line, where she was of no more service during the en- gagement. The gun-boats, emboldened by this success, now directed their efforts towards the Ticonderoga, against which they made several very gallant assaults, bringing the boats, upon two or three occasions, within a few feet of the schooner's side. They were, however, as often beaten back, and the schooner during the remainder of the day completely covered that extremity of the line.
While these changes were taking place at the lower end of the line, a change was also made at the other extremity. The Eagle having lost her springs and finding herself exposed to the fire of both the Linnet and Confiance, dropped down and anchored between the Saratoga and Ticonderoga, and a little in shore of both. From this position she opened afresh on the Confiance and the British gun-boats, with her larboard guns. This change relieved the brig, but left the Saratoga exposed to the whole fire of the Linnet, which sprung her broadsides in such a manner as to rake the ship on her bows.
The fire from the Saratoga and Confiance now began materially to lessen, as gun after gun on both vessels became disabled, until at last the Saratoga had not a single available gun, and the Confiance was but little better off. It there- fore became necessary that both vessels should wind, to continue the action with any success. This the Saratoga did after considerable delay, but the Con- fiance was less fortunate, as the only effect of her efforts was to force the vessel ahead. As soon as the Saratoga came around she poured a fresh broadside from her larboard guns into the Confiance, which stood the fire a few minutes and then struck. The ship then brought her guns to bear on the Linnet, which surrendered in about fifteen minutes afterwards. At this time the British gun- boats lay half a mile in the rear, where they had been driven by the sharp fire of the Ticonderoga and Eagle. These boats lowered their colors as soon as they found the larger vessels had submitted, but not being pursued, for the Ameri- can gun-boats were sent to aid the Confiance and Linnet which were reported to be in a sinking condition, they escaped, together with a store sloop which lay near the point of Cumberland Head during the battle.
The engagement continued for two and a half hours, and was the most severely fought naval battle of the war. The Saratoga had 28 men killed and 29 wounded ; the Eagle 13 killed and 20 wounded ; the Ticonderoga 6 killed and 6 wounded, and the Preble 2 killed. The loss on the gun-boats was 3 killed and 3 wounded. Total killed and wounded 110, being equal to every 8th man in the fleet. Besides, the Saratoga had been hulled 55 times and was twice on fire ; the Eagle was hulled 39 times. The carnage and destruction had been as great on the other side. The Confiance had 41 men killed and 83 wounded ; the Linnet reported her casualties at 10 killed and 14 wounded, but the killed and wounded probably exceeded 50; the Chub was reported at 6 killed and 10 wounded, and the Finch at 2 wounded. No account is given of
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THE WAR OF 1812.
the loss on the gun boats, but, from their close and severe contest with the Ticonderoga, it must have been large. The total of killed and wounded on the British side was equal to at least one-fifth the whole number of men in their fleet. The Confiance had been hulled 105 times. So severe had been the con- test, that at the close of the action there was not a mast in either fleet fit for use.
Among those killed on the side of the British were Captain Downie, who fell soon after the action commenced, Captain Alexander Anderson of the Ma- rines, Midshipman William Gunn of the Confiance, and Lieutenant William Paul and Boatswain Charles Jackson of the Linnet. Among the wounded were Mid- shipman Lee of the Confiance, Midshipman John Sinclair of the Linnet, and Lieutenant James McGhee of the Chub. The American officers killed were Peter Gamble first lieutenant of the Saratoga, John Stansbury, first lieutenant of the Ticonderoga, Midshipman James M. Baldwin, and Sailing-master Rogers Carter. Referring to the death of three of these officers, Mr. Cooper, in his History of the Navy, says: " Lieutenant Gamble was on his knees sighting the bow gun, when a shot entered the port, split the quoin, drove a portion of it against his breast, and laid him dead on the quarter-deck without breaking his skin. Fifteen minutes later one of the American shot struck the muzzle of a twenty-four on the Confiance, dismounted it, sending it bodily inboard against the groin of Captain Downie, killing him also without breaking the skin. Lieu- tenant Stansbury suddenly disappeared from the bulwarks forward, while su- perintending some duty with the springs of the Ticonderoga. Two days after the action, his body rose to the surface of the water, and it was found that it had been cut in two by a round shot." .
It is said that scarcely an individual escaped on board of either the Confi- ance or Saratoga, without some injury. MacDonough was twice knocked down; once by the spanker-boom, which was cut in two and fell upon his back, as he was bending his body to sight a gun ; and again by the head of a gunner, which was driven against him, and knocked him into the scuppers. Mr. Brum, the sailing-master of the Saratoga, had his clothes torn off by a splinter, while winding the ship. Mr. Vallette, acting lieutenant, had a shot-box, on which he was standing, knocked from under his feet, and he, too, was knocked down by the head of a seaman. Very few escaped without some accident, and it ap- pears to have been agreed on both sides, to call no man wounded who could keep out of the hospital. Midshipman Lee, of the Confiance, who was wounded in the action, thus describes the condition of that vessel: "The havoc on both sides is dreadful. I don't think there are more than five of our men, out of 300, but what are killed or wounded. Never was a shower of hail so thick as the shot whistling about our ears. Were you to see my jacket, waistcoat and trowsers, you would be astonished how I escaped as I did, for they are literally torn all to rags with shot and splinters; the upper part of my hat was also shot away.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
There is one of our marines who was in the Trafalgar action with Lord Nelson, who says it was a mere flea-bite in comparison with this."
As soon as the British fleet was observed approaching Cumberland Head on the morning of the IIth, Sir George Provost ordered General Powers's bri- gade and a part of General Robinson's brigade, consisting of four companies of light infantry, and the Third Battalions of the Twenty-seventh and Seventy- sixth, to force the fords of the Saranac, and to assault the American works. The advance was made, and the batteries were opened the moment the action on the lake commenced.
The British attempted to cross the river at three points; one at the village bridge, where they were repulsed by the artillery and Smith ; one at the upper bridge, where they were foiled by the pickets and riflemen, guards under Cap- tains Brooks, Richards, under Captain Grovenor and Lieutenants Hamilton and Smith, supported by a detachment of militia; and the third at the ford near "Pike's Cantonment," where they were resisted by the New York militia, under Major-General Mooers and Brigadier-General Wright. At this latter point several companies succeeded in crossing, driving the militia before them towards Salmon River. The British advanced, firing by platoons, but with such carelessness of aim as to do but little injury. At Salmon River the militia were joined by a large detachment of the Vermont volunteers, and were soon afterwards re-enforced by Lieutenant Sumpter with a party of artillery and a field-piece. Here they rallied and were drawn up to meet the attack of the British troops who were rapidly approaching. Just at this moment an officer rode up to the ranks proclaiming the welcome intelligence that the British fleet had surrendered. With three hearty cheers the militia immediately pressed forward against the enemy, who having been at the same moment recalled, were now rapidly retiring toward the ford. In their retreat a company of the Seventy-sixth lost their way among the thick pines, where they were sur- rounded and attacked by several companies of militia and Vermont volunteers. Three Lieutenants and twenty-seven men were made prisoners, and Captain Purchase and the rest of the company killed.1 The rest of the British detach- ment regained the north bank of the Saranac with much loss.
Although no further attempt was made to cross the river, the British bat- teries continued their fire upon the American works until sundown. This fire was returned by the guns of Fort Brown, which were managed during the day with great skill by Captain Alexander Brooks and the corps of veteran artil- lery under his command.
Sir George Provost had now under his command over 13,000 troops, more than half of whom had served with distinction under Wellington, while the American force did not not exceed 1,500 regulars fit for duty, 2,500 Vermont
1 It is said Captain Purchase was shot down while waving a white handkerchief over his head, as a notice that he had surrendered.
4
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THE WAR OF 1812.
volunteers under Major-General Strong, 600 of whom had just arrived, and General Wright's brigade of Clinton and Essex militia, 700 strong, under command of Major-General Mooers. With his superior force Provost could have forced the passage of the Saranac and have crushed Macomb by the mere weight of numbers. But the victory would have been attended with great sacrifice of life, and would have led to no permanent advantage to the British. MacDonough was in command of the lake, reinforcements of regulars were hastening to the support of Macomb, the militia were rising en masse in every quarter, and within two weeks Provost would have been surrounded, his sup- plies from Canada cut off, and an only alternative left to force his way back with the loss of half his army, or to have surrendered. In a dispatch to Earl Bathurst, after referring to the loss of the fleet, he says: "This unlooked-for event depriving me of the co-operation of the fleet, without which the further prosecution of the service was become impracticable, I did not hesitate to ar- rest the course of the troops advancing to the attack, because the most com- plete success would have been unavailing; and the possession of the enemy's works offered no advantage to compensate for the loss we must have sustained in acquiring possession of them."
This was a just and merited compliment to the skill and bravery of the American regulars and militia. The former were few in number, but resolute and unflinching. Among the latter the greatest enthusiasm now prevailed. They had become accustomed to the "smell of powder," and animated by the recollection of MacDonough's victory, were ready to oppose any force that might attempt the passage of the Saranac. It is due to the patriotism of the citizens of Vermont to mention the fact that as soon as Governor Chittenden received information from General Macomb of the invasion of the enemy, he issued a spirited address calling on the Vermont militia to rally to the aid of their countrymen on the opposite side of the lake. This address was most nobly responded to, for when the requisition of the president for a reinforce- ment of 2,000 militia to the aid of General Macomb reached the governor, he replied that the order had not only been anticipated, but far exceeded by the voluntary enrollment of his fellow-citizens. The same enthusiasm pervaded the militia on the New York side. When Major-General Mooers's orders were received for the militia of Warren and Washington counties to assemble en masse and march to the frontier, there appeared under arms 250 men more than had ever mustered at an inspection or review.
Acting upon the considerations stated in his dispatch to Earl Bathurst, Sir George Provost prepared for an instant and hasty retreat. As soon as the sun went down he dismantled his batteries, and at nine o'clock at night sent off his heavy baggage and artillery, which were quickly followed by the main army; the rear guard, consisting of a light brigade, started a little before daybreak, leaving behind them vast quantities of provisions, tents, camp equipage, am-
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
munition, etc. The sick and wounded were also left behind, consigned to the generosity and humane care of General Macomb. So silent and rapid was the retreat that the main army had passed through Beekmantown before its ab- sence was known in the American camp. The light troops, volunteers and militia were immediately sent in pursuit. They followed the retreating column as far as Chazy, and took a few prisoners. The roads were muddy and very heavy at the time, which not only prevented further pursuit, but de- layed Provost's retreat. The last of the British army did not leave Champlain until the 24th.
General Macomb, in his returns, states the number of killed, wounded and missing of the regular force under his command, during the skirmishes and bombardment at 123. The only commissioned officer killed was Lieutenant George W. Runk, of the Sixth Regiment, who was severely wounded on the 7th and died the next day. The loss among the volunteers and militia was small. The loss of the British has never been correctly ascertained. Their accounts fix the casualties of the expedition at under 200 killed and wounded, and 400 hundred lost by desertion. This, however, is far below the true num- ber. At the time, the American officers believed the total loss of the British, from the time they first crossed the lines until they again entered Canada, in killed, wounded and prisoners, and by desertion, was over 2,000 men. Seven- ty-five prisoners were taken.1
On the 12th the Vermont volunteers returned home, and on the 13th the New York militia were disbanded by General Macomb, and orders issued countermanding the march of thousands who were flocking to the frontier.
On the morning of the 13th of September the remains of the lamented Gam- ble, Stansbury, Baldwin, Carter and Baron were placed in separate boats, which, manned by crews from their respective vessels, proceeded to the Confiance, where they were joined by the British officers with the bodies of Downie, An- derson, Paul, Gunn and Jackson. At the shore of the lake the procession was joined by a large concourse of the military and citizens of Plattsburgh, who accompanied the bodies to the village burial-ground. Near the center of the grave-yard, beneath the shade of two pines,' now rests the ashes of those gal- lant officers. The sailors and marines who fell in the engagement were buried on Crab Island, side by side, in one common grave.
With the Battle of Plattsburgh closed all active operations upon the Cham- plain frontier. For several months, however, the inhabitants were kept in a
1 The following list of British officers killed or wounded during the invasion was published in the London Gazelle of the 19th and 26th of November, 1814 :
KILLED .- Captain (Brevet Lieut. Col. ) James Willington and Ensign John Chapman, of the 3d Buffs ; Capt. John l'urchase, 76th Regtment, foot.
WOUNDED .- Captain T. Crosse, A. D. C., (slightly) ; Lieut. R. Kingsbury, severely, (since dead); Lieut. John West, (severely) ; Lieutenants Benson and Holmes, (slightly); all of the 3d Buffs. Captain L. Westropp, (severely ) ; Lieut. C. Brohier and Adjutant Lewis, (slightly) ; of the 58th Regi- ment, foot.
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state of alarm, as it was rumored that the British authorities contemplated another campaign. Major-General Mooers, of New York, and Major-General Strong, of Vermont, ordered their respective divisions of militia to hold them- selves in readiness for active service. General Macomb remained at Platts- burgh with a small force, and caused two redoubts to be thrown up a short distance to the south of Fort Moreau, which he named Fort Tompkins and Fort Gaines.
The Treaty of Ghent was signed on the 24th of December, 1814, and, on the 17th of February following was ratified by the United States Senate. With the publication of this treaty all fears of further hostilities ceased.1
CHAPTER VIII.
EARLY CUSTOMS.2
Value of Historical Study-Making a Home in the Wilderness -- Pot and Pearl Ashes- The Cat-Whipper-The Primitive Store-Lumbering -- Religious Observances -- The Sign Post -The Schoolmaster-The Doctor -- Amusements-A Practical Joke-Meager Traveling Facil- ities-Material Progress-Comparative Morality.
TERMONT, from her isolated position and from the peculiar individuality I of her people and history, has been much less indifferent to her past than most of the other States. Many a Vermonter, especially of the earlier days, has treasured up in his memory traditions, genealogies and bits of history which lend dignity and interest to places that otherwise would possess only the dreariness of the unromantic present. The influence of this loyalty to her past has been very apparent in shaping the character and influence of Vermonters. It has increased their active devotion both to State and nation, and has lent an individuality to the Vermonter which has more than once been a passport to success. 1
In spite of American contempt for a servile adherence to the past, a commu- nity as well as an individual is strongly upheld by what lies behind. We cannot separate ourselves from the past, and to ignore our obligations to it is often to detract from our present power. That there is a growing irreverence for the past, with its antiquated notions, here as well as elsewhere, needs no demon- stration. The true cause lies in the misconception which the thought of the
1 The following is a copy of MacDonongh's letter to the secretary of the navy : United States Ship Saratoga, off Plattsburgh, Sept. 11, 1814.
SIR: The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Champlain, in the cap- ture of one frigate, one brig and two sloops of war of the enemy.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Sir,
To WM. JARVIS.
T. MACDONOUGH.
2 Prepared by John W. Buckham.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
day is fostering, that superiority consists, not in strength or beauty of charac- ter, nor even in bodily or mental vigor, for all these our fathers eminently pos- sessed, but rather in the conveniencies and advantages of material advance- ment, or the possession of telephones and electric lights, or possibly in the in- creased refinements of social life and customs, and most of all in the superior knowledge with which modern science has replaced the crude conceptions of the past. In the possession of these facilities, which are after all not of essential value, the present generation holds the past in a certain pitying contempt which necessarily diminishes historical interest, except as history furnishes the mate- rial for ridicule and pharisaic self-congratulation.
With these words of introduction we will consider somewhat in detail the occupations and customs of the early Vermont settlers. The earliest permanent settlements in the county we find to have been, Ist, that of Remember Baker and Ira Allen at Winooski Falls, who were engaged, as Thompson tells us, in the manufacture of anchors ; 2d, a farming community in Charlotte; 3d, on the lake shore in Shelburne, a lumbering camp under two men named Logan and Pottier. These three settlements, or "clearings," with their respective employments, may represent the three principal occupations of the early inhabitants of the county-manufacturing, husbandry and trade. Of these husbandry was by far the most general employment, and in truth the other two are hardly worthy to be mentioned as independent occupations until a later period.
The work of making a clearing and establishing a home was toilsome and difficult. Jerome Belknap, in his history of New Hampshire, describes its hard- ships thus : "They erect a square building of poles, notched at the ends to keep them fast together. The crevices are plastered with clay or the stiffest earth which can be had, mixed with moss or straw. The roof is either bark or split boards. The chimney, a pile of stones, within which a fire is made on the ground, and a hole is left in the roof for the smoke to pass out. Another hole is made in the side of the house for a window, which is occasionally closed with a wooden shutter. Ovens are built at a small distance from the house, of the best stones which can be found, cemented and plastered with clay and stiff earth." After the first hardships are past the life of the settler is some- what less burdensome. The new soil yields productively, and frugality and labor bring a sufficient return to supply his simple wants.
The farm implements which the early Vermonters possessed were few and crude. His plow was a wooden " bull-plow," his reaper wasa sickle, his thresh- ing machine a flail. The garments of the household were made by the "good wife." For the winter they were of wool from the backs of the "good-man's" own sheep. The lighter garments were of linen from the flax fields which every farm pos- sessed. The spinning-wheel which now stands in the fashionable parlor was then no ornament to be tied with ribbons and stand in toilless ease to be won-
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EARLY CUSTOMS.
dered at by curious grandchildren. Its busy wheel made ceaseless hum during many a long afternoon in the days of "homespun." The food of the farmer's family may be negatively described as not dainty. Pork and beef, vegetables, salt fish, corn bread and rye bread formed the staple fare-a diet well calcu- lated to render its partaker robust.
The cold of the long winters was moderated by the aid of huge open fire places wherein large sticks of wood cut " sled-length " roared and crackled through the winter evenings. Whether or not by keeping gigantic fires the dwellers managed to keep warm, certain it is that the heat given out by one of these open fires was very small in proportion to the fuel consumed. The writer has been told that a dish of water placed on the hearth within two feet of the fire would freeze on some of the bitter cold nights. In one instance we find an illustration of the danger which attended this method of warming. A family in one of the early settlements having " plentifully supplied the fire with wood, retired to rest. The flame was probably blown into the room, kindling the combustible matter within its reach. Thus by the smoke their slumbers were rendered heavier and heavier, till they slept the sleep of death. The morning came and the smouldering ruins and the naked bones revealed to the neighbors the painful calamity. At the funeral, for the burial of these bones, the theme of the pioneer pastor's discourse was: 'Suppose ye that they were sinners above all men, because they suffered such things ?'"
To speak of manufacturing and commerce as occupations of the early inhab- itants of the State is, as was said above, somewhat misleading. To be sure there was the making of maple sugar and of pot and pearl ashes, spoken of with much loftiness by the early historians of the State ; but these were rather a part of the farmers' and merchants' employment than separate industries. The maple sugar seems to have been very imperfectly manufactured, being, as an early writer says, "rough, coarse and dirty, and frequently burnt, smoky or greasy." The same writer (1809) says that there were about one thousand tons annually made in the State.
There were the usual artisans who were always to be found even in an agri- cultural community-blacksmiths, carpenters, and the shoemakers or cat-whip- pers. "Whip the cat " was the name given to the process by which the house- hold was supplied with foot gear. The shoemaker would present himself at the house of each family in turn and take up his abode there, using the hide of the cattle which the farmer himself had slaughtered, until the whole family were supplied with substantial shoes.
Of manufacturing, properly so called, the anchor forge already spoken of at Colchester is the only instance in this part of the State in the earliest days.
Trade, with the difficulties of transportation and amidst a self-supporting agricultural people, was but little more than a meager system of occasional bar- ter. As the population increased, division of labor and the birth of new wants led
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to the establishment in certain locations of general stores, where were to be found everything from a shoe-string to a wagon. Here the farmer bartered his but- ter and eggs for " general merchandise. " In some places it was the custom for the store-keeper to supply refreshment in a liquid form to each who came to trade. A story is told in one of the towns of the county of an old farmer who came to purchase a bit of wire, or something of that kind, bringing an egg to pay for it. After making the bargain the customer called for the usual reward in the shape of an egg punch, whereupon the unfortunate shop-keeper was obliged to break the egg into the glass and serve it up to his shrewd customer, losing thus time, profit, and goods by the transaction.
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