USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 13
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 13
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During the five years next preceding 1812, the entire country was in a state of nominal peace; still, throughout these years there was gath- ering in the political horizon that dark cloud which was destined to again plunge the nation into foreign war. The events which led to the second war with Great Britain were numerous. The United States had scrupulously observed the provision of the peace treaty made with Great Britain at the close of the Revolution. There had been maintained, too, a strict neutrality during the progress of the Napoleonic war with the British kingdom, when every consideration of gratitude should have induced a participation in it against the mother country. The embargo laid by Congress on the shipping in American ports was found so inju- rious to commercial interests that it was repealed, and the non inter- course act passed in its stead. In April, 1809, the English ambassador in Washington opened negotiations for the amicable adjustment of diffi- culties, and consented to a withdrawal of the obnoxious "orders in
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council" so far as they affected the United States, on condition that the non-intercourse act be repealed. This was agreed upon, and the presi- dent issued a proclamation announcing that on the 10th day of June, trade with Great Britain might be resumed ; but the English govern- ment refused to ratify the proceedings, whereupon the president re- voked his proclamation, and the non-intercourse act again became op- erative. On the 12th of June, 1812, President James Madison sent a confidential communication to Congress, in which he recapitulated the long list of British aggressions, and declared it the duty of Congress to consider whether the American people should longer passively submit to the accumulated; wrongs and insults perpetrated by the British ; and at the same time he cautioned the house to avoid entanglements in the contests and views of other powers. War was formally declared on the 19th day of June, 1812, but the measure was not universally supported throughout all parts of the Middle and New England States. The op- posing element was embraced in the Federal party, its chief ground of opposition being that the country was not prepared for war. The Fed- eralists constituted a large and influential minority of the political ele- ment of Congress, and had a considerable following in the several states not active in politics. They asked for further negotiations, and met the denunciations made by the ruling party (that is, the Democratic and Republican, for it went by both names,) upon the English government with savage and bitter attacks upon Napoleon, whom they accused the majority with favoring.
Before war had been formally declared the president, apprehending coming events and in pursuance of an act of Congress, issued an order for the detachment of 100,000 militia to be prepared for any emergency. Of these troops to be raised 3,000 were apportioned to Vermont, and Governor Galusha immediately issued orders for raising his designated contingent. At that time this state had something like 15,000 militia- men, with 11,000 muskets, 5,000 bayonets, 6,000 cartridge boxes, to which the United States government added 2,500 muskets. On the 6th of November, 1812, the Vermont Legislature authorized and directed the raising of sixty-four companies of infantry, two of artillery and two of cavalry, to be divided into two brigades for service as troops of the United States for a period of one year. Also, during the same year an
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act was passed that prohibited, under severe penalties, any person pass- ing from Vermont into Canada, and contra, without permission from the governor; and also forbid the transportation of any merchandize, prop- erty or goods across the line. This order or act gave rise to great dis- satisfaction and many abuses, and out of it grew many suits against en- forcing officers, which were prosecuted both in the courts of the United States and in Franklin county. So great indeed was the opposition to the act that it was finally repealed in November, 1813. The troops raised by Vermont for the regular army were in the Eleventh, Twenty-sixth, Thirteenth and Thirty-first regiments of infantry. The Eleventh was organized in 1812, and served throughout the war. The other three were raised in 1813 to serve one year, and but a portion of the last two was in the Plattsburgh battle September II, 1814.
During the year 1812 in this particular region there occurred no events of importance; the authorities employed the occasion in the or - ganization of the regiments for United States service, who were moved to Plattsburgh, and comprised about half the force stationed at that place. They were under command of Major-General Henry Dearborn, a Massachusetts officer. The duty of the troops at Plattsburgh was to guard the northern frontier of New York and the Champlain region of Vermont against any British invasion from Canada in this locality. On the 16th of November General Dearborn moved his force north ward and crossed the line into the province, designing an attack upon the enemy under Major Salaberry. On the 20th an attack was made and resisted by the Canadians and Indians, but, by an unfortunate mistake, two de- tachments of the Americans found they were firing upon each other, the British escaping in the meantime. After this affair the troops re- turned to Champlain and thence to Plattsburgh. The Eleventh Regi- ment was sent to Burlington and the militia discharged.
The early part of the year 1813 was occupied in enforcing the provisions of the Vermont non-intercourse act, and in this business Colonel Clark with the Eleventh Regiment was employed on the north- ern state lines, both in this state and New York. In this service the Eleventh was assisted by the militia under Lieutenant- Colonel Edward Fifield, but on May 13th Colonel Clark's command was ordered to Sackett's Harbor, leaving the militia alone on frontier duty. During the
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
month of June Lieutenant Macdonough received intelligence of depre- dations committed by several British gun-boats at the north end of the lake, whereupon he ordered Lieutenant Smith to command an expedi- tion of the two sloops Growler and Eagle for the purpose of destroying the enemy's boats, should they again appear on the lake. On the 2d of June, Smith proceeded to Rouses' Point and anchored about a mile south of the line. The next morning he sailed on down to the Riche- lieu, discovered the gun-boats and at once gave chase, having the wind in his favor; but this favor soon worked to Smith's disadvantage, as he found himself within firing distance of the British works at Isle aux Noix. He then sought to beat back against the wind, but the enemy had begun an attack by both land and water with the result that both American vessels fell into the hands of the British, together with their crews. The captured vessels were refitted by the British, their names changed to Finch and Chub, and used against the American fleet at Plattsburgh in September, 1814, when Macdonough retook them. In July, 1813, after the American troops had been moved to Sackett's Harbor, the British under command of Colonel Murray, their strength comprising two war sloops, three gun boats and forty-seven long-boats, with more than 1,400 men, made a voyage up the lake as far as Platts- burgh, where they plundered the town, destroyed its main defenses and much public and private property. This was done with the full knowl- edge of Major-General Wade Hampton, commander of the American forces at Burlington, he having near 4,000 men within twenty miles of the scene; yet he did nothing to prevent it. After the British had left the town he sent a party there who captured the picket-guard of twenty- one men left by Colonel Murray. On his return down the lake, Mur- ray sent two long-boats to Swanton, where they destroyed the barracks and plundered the dwellings of several citizens. At the same time Mur - ray sent two sloops and other boats to destroy American transportation boats beyond Burlington. On passing Burlington they fired several shots at the place, but withdrew beyond range as soon as the bat- teries opened fire. On the 2d of August, of the same year, the British made another and more determined attack upon Burlington, bringing into action two armed sloops and several galleys. Their fire was re- turned from the shore batteries, and several of the American vessels
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DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
sailed out into the lake, but no engagement took place. The British took a number of merchant boats well laden with provisions, and de- stroyed others. At this time Burlington was garrisoned with more than 3,000 available troops. To offset the British attacks and outrages, the secretary of war determined upon a general campaign against Cana- dian posts, to be commanded by General Wilkinson, whose authority gave him control over all the troops of the ninth military district, in- cluding Vermont and northern New York. Hampton retained com- mand of the Vermont troops, and was to co-operate with the general movement of forces into Canada, and did so, in part ; but he failed to agree with his superior regarding the plans of the invasion and attack upon Montreal, with the result of a virtual failure of the expedition, and the Vermont troops had no part in whatever battles did occur that brought to them any special honor. Hampton resigned his command in April, 1814. In November of the same year Governor Chittenden fell into a dispute with the Vermont militia, on account of the fact of a portion of the Third Brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dixon, crossing the lake and joining Hampton's command in New York; the governor contending that the Vermont troops were to operate exclu- sively in the defense of their own state, except under extreme condi- tions. In his displeasure Governor Chittenden issued a proclamation in which he severely criticised the conduct of the state militia, and which was received and replied to by the troops in much the same spirit in which it was given.
For the campaign of 1814 the cabinet formed a plan of action some- what similar to that of the preceding year, only on a more comprehen- sive and extended scale. It was decided to send a strong expedition into Canada for the reduction of various British strongholds, Croghan to proceed against the enemy on the upper lakes, Brown on the Niagara frontier, while General Izard was to operate in the Champlain region with a view to cut off communication on the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Kingston. In the distribution of troops for these move- ments the Vermont men were so divided as to form a part of two dis- tinct commands : Clark's detachment of the Eleventh Regiment was to join in the expedition against the Niagara frontier, and the remainder, with Colonel Fassett's Thirtieth and Colonel Dana's Thirty-first, were
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
to form a part of General Izard's forces. Without attempting a detail of the preliminaries, it is sufficient to say that Colonel Clark, on the 17th of March, 1814, entered the enemy's country and took a position at Missisquoi Bay, after having made a sweep to the northward, close to Isle aux Noix, in which he took a few prisoners, a number of cattle and horses, and sixty stand of arms. Early in April he broke camp, crossed the lake and joined General Wilkinson's command, and with that army moved on toward La Colle Mills. Here' a spirited engagement took place, lasting some hours, but the British were so strongly intrenched behind the heavy stone walls of the mills that all efforts to dislodge them were fruitless. The loss to the British was very light, on account of the strengh of their works, while that of the Americans was consid- erable, they being forced to fight from an open position. During the battle a regiment of British relief troops came to the field, but were quickly repulsed by the Americans, and with some loss. The artillery proving insufficient to breaking the walls of the mill, the Americans re- tired and went to their camping place.
By the early part of April the British had a considerable fleet of war vessels on Lake Champlain, and their movements were such as to indi- cate an attack upon Macdonough's boats that were building in Otter Creek. Therefore upon application being made to him, Governor Chit- tenden ordered out the militia of Franklin, Chittenden and Addison counties, 500 to be posted at Burlington, and 1,000 at Vergennes, to guard shipping and public property on the lake. By the 22d a strong fortress or battery was built at the mouth of Otter Creek, which being accomplished the militia were discharged. On the 14th of May the British appeared in force on the lake and at once began an attack on the battery at Otter Creek, but which made a determined resistance. The sudden appearance of Macdonough with his new war sloop and several gallies, which also gave battle to the British, had the effect of driving them off, with the loss of two of their boats. The enemy, too, met with a further loss by an attempt at seizing some government stores on Boquet River. Soon after this battle Macdonough came on the lake with his entire fleet, and anchored in Cumberland Bay, off Plattsburgh, where he afterward achieved a signal victory. Following these occur- rences, no further important events were enacted in the lake region for
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DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
some months, but elsewhere the public attention was diverted by the campaigns progressing with much vigor. On the 2d of July Fort Erie fell; and following up that victory, Scott drove the British to the Chip- pewa Plains, where, on the 4th, another battle took place, with success to the American arms. On the 25th of July occurred the famous night battle at Lundy's Lane, in which the Americans were worsted, but not seriously beaten ; and on the night of August 15th was the third battle at Fort Erie. In each of these engagements was a strong contingent of Vermont men.
While these scenes were being enacted in other localities the British and American forces were being strengthened and increased on both land and water in the Lake Champlain region, and it remained only a question of time and opportunity when one or the other should com- mence an aggressive movement. In early August Generals Macomb and Bissell, both being in General Izard's command, were at Champlain, watching the movements of the British under Sir George Prevost, the latter having the greater strength, yet showing no immediate intention to move. At this juncture General Izard received orders to proceed with 4,000 men to the Niagara frontier, which he did reluctantly, know- ing that so great a reduction of the army would leave the region almost entirely at the mercy of the enemy. On the 29th of August Izard set out for the west, and on the 30th the British moved toward the south, General Brisbane taking possession of Champlain, while Macomb and Bissell retired before the enemy's approach. Sir George Prevost, the British commander, employed tactics much similar to those of Bur- goyne of Revolutionary times : he issued a proclamation, in which he assured the people not under arms that they had nothing to fear, that their property should not be molested, and that the better way to keep it secure was to remain at home. But at that time, however, strong as may have been the British commander's opinion to the contrary, the people through whose country he was about to pass had but little sym- pathy for the cause of Great Britain; and however much of disaffection might have originally existed in Vermont, or elsewhere, regarding the advisability of carrying on the war, that sentiment had been wiped out by subsequent events, and now the whole people were a unit in defeat- ing British success. But the proclamation had the effect of arousing
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the country, for it informed them of the invasion and gave them an op - portunity to meet it.
At this time the British army amounted to 14,000 men, well armed, and in thorough discipline, and admirably commanded, while the whole American force numbered only about 3,500 serviceable men, com- manded by General Macomb, a brave and efficient officer, but whose army was not trained nor well equipped. Knowing the weakness of his force, Macomb at once called upon New York and Vermont for assist- ance, which was promptly given, and so enabled him to strengthen and fortify the defenses at Plattsburgh. One of these was Fort Brown, which was garrisoned by Vermont men, from the Thirtieth and Thirty- first Regiments of infantry. Macomb acted on the defensive, and sent out detachments to skirmish with the enemy, and retard their advance by destroying bridges and placing obstructions in their road. But the British gradually advanced, both by land and lake, each force co-oper- ating with the other. The Saranac was at length crossed, and Platts- burgh reached. Both armies now began preparations for the coming battle, while on the lake Macdonough's fleet was anchored in Cumber- land Bay, off shore and beyond range of the forts. This left the Brit- ish fleet to take whatever position best suited Commander Downie.
On the morning of the IIth of September the British boats passed round Cumberland Head and neared the Americans. This was the sig- nal for the battle both on land and water. For a brief account of the battle between the land forces the writer quotes from the report made by General Macomb to the secretary of war on the 15th of September, four days after the engagement. " It was ascertained before daylight on the 6th that the enemy would advance in two columns on the two roads before mentioned, dividing at Sampson's, a little below Chazy village. The column of the Beekmantown road proceeded most rapidly; the militia skirmished with his advance parties, and, except a few brave men, fell back most precipitately in the greatest disorder, notwithstanding the British troops did not design to fire on them, except by their flankers and advance patrols. The night previous I ordered Major Wool to ad- vance with 200 men to support the militia and set them an example of firmness. Also Captain Leonard of the light artillery was directed to proceed with two pieces, to be on the ground before day, yet he did not
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DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
make his appearance until 8 o'clock, when the enemy had approached within two miles of the village. Major Wool with his party disputed the road with great obstinacy, but the militia could not be prevailed upon to stand, notwithstanding the exertions of their general and staff officers, although the fields were divided by strong stone walls, and they were told the enemy could not possibly cut them off. Finding the enemy's columns had penetrated within a mile of Plattsburgh, I dis- patched Lieutenant Root to bring off the detachment at Dead Creek, and to inform Lieutenant Colonel Appling that I wished him to fall on the enemy's right flank. The colonel fortunately arrived just in time to save his retreat and to fall in with the head of a column debauching from the woods. Here he poured in a destructive fire from his riflemen at rest, and continued to annoy the column until he formed a junction with Major Wool. The field pieces did considerable execution among the enemy's columns. So undaunted, however, was the enemy that he never deployed in his whole march, always pressing on in column. Finding that every road was full of troops crowding us on all sides, I ordered the field pieces to retire across the bridge and form a battery for its protection, and to cover the retreat of the infantry, which was accordingly done. The enemy's light troops occupied the houses near the bridge, and kept up a constant firing from the windows and balco- nies, and annoyed us much. I ordered them to be driven out with hot shot, which soon put the houses in flames, and obliged these sharp- shooters to retire. The whole day, until it was too late to see, the en - emy's light troops endeavored to drive our guards from the bridge; but they suffered dearly for their perseverance. An attempt was also made to cross the upper bridge, when the militia handsomely drove them back. From the 7th to the IIth the enemy was employed in getting on his battering train, and erecting his batteries and approaches, and constantly skirmishing at the bridges and fords. By this time the mili- tia from New York and the volunteers of Vermont were pouring in from all quarters. The militia behaved with great spirit after the first day, and the volunteers from Vermont were exceedingly serviceable. It was reported that the enemy only awaited the arrival of his flotilla to make a general attack. About eight on the morning of the IIth, as was ex- pected, the flotilla appeared inside round Cumberland Head, and at nine
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bore down and engaged our flotilla at anchor in the bay off the town. At the same instant the batteries were opened on us, and continued throw- ing bomb-shells, shrapnels, balls, and congreve rockets until sunset, when the bombardment ceased, every battery of the enemy being silenced by the superiority of our fire. The naval engagement lasted but two hours, in full view of both armies. Three efforts were made by the enemy to pass the river at the commencement of the cannonade and bombardment, with a view of assaulting the works, and had prepared for that purpose an immense number of scaling ladders. One attempt to cross was made at the village bridge, and another at the upper bridge, and a third about three miles from the works. At the first he was repulsed by the regulars, at the ford by the brave volunteers and militia, where he suffered severely in killed, wounded, and prisoners; a considerable body having crossed the stream, but were either killed, taken, or driven back. The woods at this place were very favorable for the operations of the militia. A whole company of the Seventy-sixth (British) Regiment was here destroyed, the three lieutenants and twenty seven men prisoners, the captain and the rest killed. At dusk the enemy withdrew his artillery from the batteries, and raised the siege; and at nine, under cover of the night, sent off in a great hurry all the baggage he could find transport for, and all his artillery. At two the next morning the army precipitately retreated, leaving the sick and wounded to our generosity ; and Prevost left a note with a sur- geon, requesting the humane attention of the commanding general .. Vast quantities of provisions were left behind and destroyed, also an in- numerable quantity of bombshells, cannon balls, grape shot, ammuni- tion, flints, etc. A great deal has been found concealed in ponds and creeks, and buried in the ground, and a vast quantity carried off by the inhabitants. Such was the precipitancy of his retreat, that he arrived at Chazy, a distance of eight miles, before we discovered he had gone. The light troops, volunteers, and militia pursued immediately on learn- ing of his flight."
In this land engagement at Plattsburgh the Vermont volunteers and militia bore an important part and acquitted themselves with distin- guished honor, for all of which they were especially mentioned by sev- eral military authorities of high repute. No sooner had the news been
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spread abroad that the British army and fleet were coming up the lake, than the loyal sons of Franklin county, and others of the state, at once started for the scene of expected battle, and in the scenes that covered several days of constant skirmishing they were worthy actors, doing a full share to check the enemy's advance and hinder their movements. The names of the volunteers from towns of this county who saw service not only at Plattsburgh, but in various other places during the war, are known, and appear in connection with the history of the town in which they respectively belonged ; therefore, need not be repeated here. At the battle of Plattsburgh Bakersfield had a company of twenty-two men, commanded by Captain Stearns; Berkshire furnished for the same occasion six men, under Captain Elias Babcock; Fairfax sent a strong company under Captain Joseph Grout ; Fairfield was represented by Parson Wooster's company. The Georgia company numbered thirty- six men; Sheldon's contingent was small, having twelve men, com- manded by Captain Weeks; St. Albans furnished one large com- pany, under command of Captain Samuel H. Farnsworth and Lieut. Daniel Dutcher. Besides these were undoubtedly others of whom mention has never been made. The call for volunteers was so promptly and numerously responded to that many who served escaped notice by their union with the first troops they happened to reach after crossing the lake.
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